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Published  Weekly  at  154  Wert  -4«th  Street,  New  York  38,  N.  Y.,  by  Variety.  Inc..  Annual  subscription  SlO.  Single  copie*,  23  cents. 
Entered  as  .  aecond-clas*  matter  December  22,  1905,  at  the  Post  Office  at  New  York.  N.  V.,  under  the  act  of  March  3.  1879. 
COPYRIGHT.  1957,  BY  VARIETY.  INC.  ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 

Vol.  209  No.  5 

NEW  YORK,  WEDNESDAY,  JANUARY  1,  1958  '  .  . 

PRICE  25  CENTS 

DISKS’ 


100,000,000  IN  ’58 


’Camera  Crew 


Bonn,  Dec.  30, 

The  East  Germans,  in  possession 
of  German  Wehrmacht  and  Storm- 
troop  him  archives  captured  by  the 
Bed  Army  at  the  end  of  the  war, 
are  conducting  their  own  kind  of 
backstairs  espionage  to  bring  the 
footage  up-tOrdate- for  propaganda 
purposes.. 

They’re  conducting  ‘braids”  into 
West  Germany  to  shoot  films  of 
former  Nazis  which  are  then 
matched  up  against  old  docu¬ 
mentary  pictures  to  “prove”  that 
they’re  once  again  in  positions  of 
“command”  in  the  West.  One 
such  incident  is  described  at  length 
in  the  West  German  news  weekly, 
Der  Spiegel,  which  is  patterned 
closely  after  Time  Magazine. 

The  story  starts  in  the  town  of 
Westerland  on  the  northsea  island 
Of  Sylt.  There,  early  in  1957,  two 
young  men.  arrived  with  cameras  to 
shoot — as  they  explained  to  Mayor 
Heinz  Reinefarth— a  documentary 
on  the  Sylt  'health  resort.  When 
they  were  through,  they  asked  the 
mayor  to  pose  for  some  shots  at 
“his  desk  and  in  front  of  the  city 
hall.  Then  they  departed  in  their 
little  Volkswagen  which  carried  a 
big  sign:  ;  South-German  Kultur- 
film,  Munich. 

Nothing  more  was  heard  from 
them  until,  recently,  the  East  Ger¬ 
mans  brought  out  a  documentary 
entitled  “Vacation  on  Sylt,’ 
(Continued  on  page  50) 


First  Contemporary 
Japanese  Play  on  B’way 

“Long  After  Love,”  by  Yukio 
Mishima,  opens  at  the  Actors’ .  Play¬ 
house  in  New  York  the  third  week 
in  January.  “Love”  is  a  reconstruc¬ 
tion  in  three,  scenes  from  three 
short  plays  of  the  five  the  Japa¬ 
nese  playwright  had  published  in 
the  U.S.  last  July  via  Alfred  Knopf: 

It’s  the  first  contemporary  Japa¬ 
nese  play  to .  be  produced  in  New 
York.  . 


1  French  2  U.S. 


Alan  Freed’s  Big  Beat 
Rocking  N.Y.  Paramount 
To  Whammo  185G  Gross 

Rock  ’n’  roll,  far  from  being 
dead,  as  some  voices  of  doom 
would  have  it,  Is  probably  in  its 
strongest  position,  judging  from 
the  lines  of  youngsters  waiting  to 
get  into  the  Paramount,  N.  Y., 
where  deejay  Alan  Freed  has 
brought  in  his  show.  At  one  ppint, 
there  were  an  estimated  30,000 
youngsters  trying  to  get  into  this 
3,400-seat  house.  On  Monday  (30), 
lines  were  so  long  that  the  film, 
“It’s  Great  to  Be  Young,”  was! 
eliminated,  and  there  were:  six  per¬ 
formances  during  the  day.  Admis-  ] 
sions  first  started  at  $2  but  were 
hiked  to  $2.50. 

Gross  for  the  week  is  expected 


Tradestqjs  fear  two  American- 
made  films  about  World  War  I,  and 
a  French  one  about  World  War  II," 
may  raise  controversial  issues,  and 
stir  national  pride  in  the  coming 
year.  They  are  “A  Farewell  to 
Arms,”  produced  by  David  O.  Selz- 
which  f  nick,  and.  “Paths  of  Glory,”  which 
fras  made  by'  Kirk  Douglas’  Bryna 
Productions.  The  French  film,  still 
on  the  drawing  boards,  is  Raoul 
Levy's  “The  Camp  Followers.” 

“Farewell”  depicts,  among  other 
things,  the  Italian  retreat  from 
Caporetto  on  the  Austrian  front. 
“Paths  Qf  Glory”  relates  an  inci¬ 
dent  in  the  French  Army,  when 
three  innocent  soldiers  were  exe¬ 
cuted  to  please  a  general's  vanity, 
“The  Camp  Followers”  is  about 
(Continued  on  page  48) 


By  HERM  SCHOENFELD 

With  the  New  Year  bowing  in 
with,  price  hikes;  more  record 
Clubs  and  intensified  merchandising 
angles,  the  disk,  industry  is  gear¬ 
ing  for  ^  another  year  .of  rapid 
growth.  Barring  a  broad,  recession 
on  the  general  economic  front,  in¬ 
dustry  execs  are  confident  that  the- 
disk  gross ;  will  hit  the  $400,000,-: 
000  level,  continuing  the  20-25% 
annual  rate  of  expansion,  of  the 
past  10  years.. 

Chief  reason  for  the  rapid  disk 
volume  buildup  is  the  fact  that 
distribution  has  now  completely 
broken  through  into  new  territory. 
While  conventional  retail  stores  are 
still  Of  major  importance,  the  main 
areas  for  recent  and  future  expan¬ 
sion  are  seen  in  the  new  outlets 
provided  by.  the  supermarkets, 
chain  stores,  clubs  and  direct  mail. 

Estimates  for  sales  via  the  rack- 
jobbers.  in  the  chain  and  variety 
stores  range  from  $45,000,000  to 
$60,000,000  for  1957,  as  against  a 
virtual  non-existent  gross  in  this 
(Continued  on  page  42) 


Ben  Hecht  is  putting,  up  half  the 
capital  for  the  forthcoming  off- 
Broadway  presentation  of  his  new 
play,  “Winkelberg,”  which  he’s  co¬ 
producing  with  Lee  Falk.  The  pro¬ 
duction.  is  financed  at  $12,500. 
Hecht  aiid  Falk  are  the  only  in¬ 
vestors,  each  with  a  $6,250  con¬ 
tribution; 

Besides  functioning  as  eo-pro- 
(Continued  on  page  55) 


Pulitzer  Contenders  Already  Viewed 


Little  Richard,  Biff-Money 
Teener,  Going  Evangelist 

Little  Richard  (Pennimah),  who 
is  in  his  middle  teens,  is  leaying 
show  biz  to  deyote  his.  time,  to  re¬ 
ligion.  He’s  preparing  himself  for 
an  evangelist's  career  in  the 
Seventh  Day  Adventists  Church.  A 
couple  Of  years  ago,  singer  Joyce 
Bryant  left  show -biz  to  enter  that 
church. 

Richard  had  a  number  of  hit  rec¬ 
ords  and  had  been  making.  as  high 
as  a  $1,000  guarantee  nightly. 
Agency  men  say  his  earnings  were 
around  $250,000  annually. 


On  Dietz’s  Plays 


As  and  when  Howard  Dietz’s  con¬ 
tract  as  vice-president  of  Loew’s 
Inc.,' in  charge  of  advertising,  pub- 
licity  and  exploitation,  is  settled 
for  50%,  pail  of  the  deal  will  call 
for  all  Dietz  stage  writings  (usu¬ 
ally  with  Arthur  Schwartz)  be  first 
offered,  to  Metro  for  financing.  This 
would,  include  plays  and/or  pic¬ 
tures, 

Dietz’s  contract  has  four  more 
years  to  go  under  his  basic  $2,000-a- 
week.,  For  the  four-year,  termer, 
at  $l,000v  as  consultant,  this  would 
permit  him  to  reactivate  his  stage 
writings.  ’Dietz  &  Schwartz  have 
(Continued  on  page  55) 


♦  After  what  was  generally  re¬ 
garded  as  an  unimpressive  start, 
the  Broadway  legit  season  has  as¬ 
sumed  distinction  in  recent  weeks 
with  a  flurry  of  major  critical  and 
bbxoffice  hits.  Over  a  period  of  less 
than  a  month  there  were  three  of 
the  top  hits  of  recent  years — a  mu¬ 
sical  and  two  straight  plays,  “The 
Music  Man,”  “Look  Homeward, 
Angel”  and  “The  Dark  at  the  Top 
of  the  Stairs.” 

Indicating  the  quality  of  the 
three  shows,  there’s  speculation  in 
trade  circles  that  the  trio  have  al¬ 
ready  wrapped  up  the  Pulitzer 
Prize  and  two  of  the  Critics  Circle 
awards.  According  to  Shuhert  Al¬ 
ley  scuttlebutt,  the  Pulitzer  fav¬ 
orite  is  “Look  Homeward,  Angel,” 
which  is  also  rated  the- too  con¬ 
tender  for  the  Critics’  best-play  ci¬ 
tation. 

“Dark  at  the  Top  of  the  Stains’* 
is  figured  an  outside  contender  for 
the  Pulitzer  and  Critics’  best-plav 
nods.  “Music  Man”  is  being  touted 
as  the  likely  best-musi"**!  cho;ce 
by  the'  critics,  with  “West  Side 
Story”  a  contender.  The  best-for¬ 
eign-play  selection  by  the  crit;cs 
would  probably  be  a  toss-up  at  the 
moment  between  “Time  Remem¬ 
bered,”  “Look  Back  in  Anger”  and 
“Romanoff  and  Juliet,”  but  the 
scheduled  “Summer  of  the  17th 
Doll”  and  perhaps  “The  Entertai 
er”  are  also  figured  as  possibilities. 

Inc  dentally,  Kennit  Bloomgar- 
den,  as  presenter  of  bath  “Music 
Man”  and  “Look  Homeward  Angel” 
(Continued  on  page  50) 


‘Nutcracker’ Ballet’s  Socko  $60,000; 
Kirstem  On  Center’s  $  Hair-Tearing 


By  ROBERT  J.  LANDRY 


Eight  performances  of  straight  ballet  for  the 
I  week  Dec.  24-29  grossed  just  short  of  $60,000  at 
J  the  N  Y.  City  Center.  This  is  in  the  b.o.  company  of 
to 'run  Jp  a  record-breaking"$185~* 1  such  Broadway  musicals  as  “My  Fair  Lady,”  “Ja- 
000,  passing. that  of  Johnnie  Ray,  maica,”  “West  Side  Story”  and  “Music  Mali;” 

Martin  &  Lewis  and  Bob  H^>e.  Ballet  question,  “The  Nutcracker”  cost  $80,- 

Tlie  house  had  its  biggest  day^Fn-  to  mount  five  years  ago  and  has  ever  since 
been  a  'Christmas; cleanup.  This  year  13  consecutive 
performances  were  scheduled,  several  Tor  12:30, 
2:30  and  5: 30  “matinees”  designed  to  draw  the 
children.  Thus  the  N.Y.  City  Bailer  probably  rates 
with  the -  Radio  City  Music.  Hall  as  the  top  must- 
see  of  the  town  for  the  scholastic  holidayers. 

At  full .  capacity  and  $3.80  top  this  house  can: 

;  l^ross  about  $8,900  per  performance.  Not  the  least  . 
’  I  significant  aspect  of  the  business  being  done  by 
the  N.Y.  City  Center  Ballet,  of  which  Lincoln  Kir- 
steiri  is  chief,  is  that  it  operates  without  subsidy, 

J  perhaps  the  Only  prestige  dance  company  in  the. 


day  (27);-  With  $32,110.  Show 
opened- Christmas  Day  with  a  rous¬ 
ing- $24,000. 

The.  package  will  also  have  the 
distinction  of  carrying  the  heaviest 
talent.'  niit.’  Spokesman  for  Freed 
said  that  the  cost _bf  music  and  per¬ 
formers  -would- run.  to- $148,000  for 
the  12  days  pf  its  run.  Prevailing 
belief  is  that  Freed  will  gross;  close 
to  $300,000  during  his  stand. 

Of  course,  should  subway 
(Continued  on  page  47) 


world  to  manage  that  financial  achievement.  Here¬ 
with  the  weekly  grosses  to  date: 

Nov.  19-24  . . . . $39,489.70 

Nov.  26-Dec.  1  ... _ _ _ _  .53,828,50 

Dec.  3  Dec.  8  _ _ , _ _ _ ... ... .... .  .-.45;007.40 

Dec.  10-Dec.  15  _ ... _ .Y.......  54,139,80 

Dec.  17-Dec.  23  _ _ .46,818.80 

Dec,  24-Dec.  29  _ _ ^ .60,000.00 » 

(Estimated  with  Monday  [usually  hot  openl  included,  in  this 
week.) 

Ballet,  which  will  mark  its  10th  anniversary  next 
fall,  relies  . upon  a  mailing  list  of  110,000  names  to. 
produce  an  advance  sale,  of  which  about  $150,000 
was  in  at  season’s;  start  (NOv.  19)  this  time!  Mail 
orders  frequently  run.  $6,000  a  day.  In  all  there 
are  40  individual  ballets  in  active  repertory-  but 
the  popularity— and  revenues— of .  “The  Nutcrack¬ 
er”  remains  unique.  (In  its  second  season  “The 
Nutcracker”  ran  seven  uninterrupted  weeks  of  con-! 
secuiive  performances,  believed  without  parallel 
(Continued  on  page  55) 


Wrong  Site,  Wrong  Year, 
But  Plaque  Unveiled  Oa 
1st  Pic  Made  in  H’wood 

Los  Angeles,  Dec.  39. 

Right  or  wrong,  there’s,  a  plaque 
on  a  furniture  store  at  7ch  and 
Main  Streets  that  marks  the  wind¬ 
up  of  the'  highly  touted  Golden 
Jubilee  celebration  of  the  film  in¬ 
dustry. 

Plaque  was  unveiled  last  week, 
supposedly  symbolizing  the  50th 
anniversary  of  the  first  film  pro¬ 
duction  in  Los  Angeles.  Site  sup¬ 
posedly  is  the  former  location  of 
a  Chinese  laundry  where  scenes 
for  “Count  of  MOnte  Cristo”  are 
believed  to  have  been  shot. 

However,  Mrs.  Hobart  Bosworth, 
widow  of  the  star  of  “Cristo”  and 
other  silent  films,  says  the  plaque 
is  two  years  and  five  blocks  re¬ 
moved  from  reality.  Site,  she  says, 
is  actually  7th  and  Olive  and  the 
time  was  1909  when  Selig  Poly¬ 
scope  Company  shot  “The  Su  tan’s 
Power.”  The  1907  f  i  1  m  i  n  g  of 
“Monte  Cristo,”  she  added,  was 
carried  on  at  the  beach  town  of 
Venice. 

Available  histories  of  the  film 
industry  appear  to,  support  her 
contention  —  but  the  ceremony 
went  off  as  scheduled.  / 


MISCELLANY 


Jayne  Mansfield,  in  Tokyo,  Expounds 
Femme  Figure;  Her  Future  Fix  Plans 


Tokyo*  Dec.  30.  4 

Actress  Jayne  Mansfield,  who  al-  j 


ACITOS  .myiic.  ATxaiiaj.xc±u,  VY11U  a*-  —  .IF  1  71  A  ■■ 

ways  looks  as  if  she  is  leaning  put  Vnf  yftllQg  LUIl  UdIV 
of  a  window,  said  she  feels  the  fe-  ■ 

male  figure  in  general  and  the  llffcpf  I  nral  TV  Willi 

bosom  nn  particular  were  being  VII5C1  LUtdi  i  f  If  UU 

tremendously  oversold  by  Ameri-  Mnrn  Vonlr  Rnnlnrifl 

can  commercialism.  IflUIC  ldun  DUUAlllg 

In  the  Far  East  touring  during 
the  Christmas,  holidays  with  the 


Glasgow,  Dec.  30. 

A  greaten  dumber  of  U.S.  acts 


Bob  Hope  Show  for  the  Armed!  must  be  brought  over  to  top  bills 
Forces  and  NBC-TV,  Miss  Mans-  at  the  Auld  Lang  Syne  “Palla- 
■  field  told  Variety:  “I  feel  that  it’s  dium,”  the  Empire  here.  That:  is 
very  unimportant  and  in  bad  taste  one  ^certain  factor  here  towards 
to  put  tht  emphasis  on  it.  I,  my-  solving  live  theatre  worries  as  indie 
self,  have  never  sought  any  pub-  tv  and  BBC-tele  make  further  in- 
licity  In  my  life.  I  went  along  roads  on  audiences.  While  many 
with  the  game  and  like  tumble-'  American  names;  still  head  the 
weed  .it  got.  bigger  and  bigger  (the  ..Glasgow  vaude  house  shows,  they 
publicity).’*  have  been  falling  off .  in :  number 

Regarding  her  publicity,  which  recently.  U.S.  vaude  .  and  tv  acts 
has  been  mainly  focused  on  her  are  high  in  popularity  rating  here, 
physical  attributes,  she  continued,  and  would  do  much  to  hypo  interr- 
4*I  wish  people  .would  stop  ,  talking  est  m  vaude,  which  is  not  dying  in 
about  ,  my  bosom  and  figure.  I  pa»ts  of  the  U.K. 
really  would:  I  feel  that  I  have  The*  Empire  vaudery  .at.  Edin- 
had  a  tremendous  amount  of  great  burgh,  the  Scot  capital,  badly  needs 
publicity  and  wonderful  breaks,  reshaping  on  its  policy  of  booking 
but  I  wish  it~hadn’t  had  that  em-  apts.  This  is  another  Moss  Eiri- 
A  ,  .  .  pires’  circuit  house,  arid  has  been 

WiU  I  be  accepted  in  serious  j  facea  with  falling  attendance  be- 
roles.  If  I  in  good.  Ill  be  ac-  cause  of  mediocre  acts  and  a  seem- 
ccpted  and  I  wouldn  t  want  ^o  do  jngiy  endless  procession  of  jazz 
!t-if  1  didnt  do  a  goodjob^  It  billtoppers.  Demand  for-  vaude 
would  be  very  foolish.  My  studio  €xists  but  apparently  isn’t  being 
is  very  intelligent  about  it.  When  satisfied  here. 

I  signed  contract  Sept.  15  last  The  big  talking  point  in  Scot- 
year,  Buddy  Adler  .said  I  d  spend  jgnd  has-been  the  arrival  of  coin-., 
a  year  doing  comedy,  m  flamboy-  merciaktv,  with  local  program  con- 
ant  roles.  After  that  he  sam  there  tract'  handled  by  Roy  Thomson,, 
would  be  no  more  sex  symbol  roles  Canadian  newspaper  owner  and 
but  roles  showing  me  as  the  ac-  boss  of  Scotsman  Publications, 
tress  w^  know  you  are.  Edinburgh:  It  has. brought  a  new 

J  impact  to  fireside  entertainment. 
,  I  think  the  studio  will,  go  fodder  Spread  of  tv  is  hitting  cine- 
along  with  me  and  let  me .  con- 1  mas;  an(j  exhibs  are  on  an  all  out 
centrate.  on  venous  roles.  There  campaign  to  get  a  tax  cut. 
is  talk  about  my  next  doing  ‘The  -  Major  Ghalns  Mull  Vaude 
Jean  Harlow  Story.  Universal  Major  circuits  have  been  experi- 
owns  a  script  called  ‘Sutton  Place/  Anting  with  Cine-variety  of  Show, 
based  on  the  true  story  of  a  mixed-  pU^ting  in  vaude  oner-night  shows 
up  girl  who  commits  suicide,  U-I  a  relief  between  pix.  One  exhib 
tried  to  boiTOW  me  for  the  part  running  a  .  small  house  in  Fife  has 
bl-n  k  dld£ *  work  «*■ ,  Mayba  ^°x  presented  a  rbck-’n’-roll  group  with 
will  buy  the,  property  for  me.  It’s  £0me  success.  The  Odeon  here 
(Continued  on  page  5Q)  staged  Bill  Haley's  Comets  to  solid 
biz*  arid  also  had  Paul  Anka 
Ifolrt  Qistrlpf  QaaItq  concert.  Count  Basie  and  the.  Jack 

11410  oictneL  otJcBS  Teagarden  outfits  also  notched  up 

To  Break  Ponti  Pact  .  worthwhile  biz  at  the  2,700-seat 

Rome  Dec  23  !  St.  Andrew’s  Hall. 

„  .  ±tome,  uec  ,  Resident  vaudecontinues  strong 

M  a  r  1  s  a  *  AUasio,  one  of  Italy’s  (Continued .  on  page  46) 


Rome  Dec  2^  ■  oi.  auiucw  » 

__  .  .  e’  ; ,  ,  r  Resident  vaude  continues 

M  a  r  i  s  a  *  AUasio,  one  of  Italy’s  (Continued  on  page  46 

fast-rising  young  femme  stars,  has  ■  ■  -  ■  ■  ~  ■ 

decided  to  break  Jier  contract  with 

Carlo  Ponti;  and  has  filed  a  peti-  Hammer  Films  PlaHS 
tion  to  that  effect  here.  Signed  in 
1955,  pact  was  slated  to  run  Dr.  Jekyll  Kemake 

through  Dec.  1962.  Actress,  who  re-  London,  Dec.  23. 

cently  co-starred  with  Mario  Lanza  [  james  Carreras,  the  Hamnier 


in  “Seven  Hills  of  Rome’’  (Metro),  FiliriS  topper,  who  has.  virtually 
claimed  in  her  letter  to  the  Carlo  cornered  the  horror  market  in 
Pdriti  Organization  that  her  deci-  Britain,  is  f0  remake  “Dr.  jekyU 
sion  was  motivated  and  justified  by  ^  Mr.  Hyde’’  in  the  spring.  Pie 
the  fact  that  “the  parts  .  .  .  -  re-  .will  be  in  color  and  is  due  to  start 
peatedly  a  s  s  i  g  n  e  d  ;to  her  have  rolling  at  its  Bray  Studios  next 
turned  out  to  be  both  artistically  March. 

and  morally  negative.”  Carreras  said  the  new  version  of. 

Miss  -AUasio  added  that  she  the  R.  L.  Stevenson  classic  will.be 
planned  to  fulfill  her  present  com-  an  entirely  new  concept  of  the 
mitment  with  Ponti  for  “Viaggio  story.  Hammer,  which  now  is  com- 
di  Piacere”  {Pleasure  Trip),  but  pleting  the  remake  of  “Dracula” 
that  she  hoped  that  her  situation  for  Universal,  is  due  to.  start  -‘The 
could  be  resolved  “as  soon  as  pos-  Revenge  of  Frankenstei  ”  for  Coi- 
sible.”  umbi#  by  the  end  of  this  year. 


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Philadelphia*  Dep.  30. 
i  Marian  Anderson  was;  honored 
|  by  the  city  of  Philadelphia  at  a 
luncheon  in  the  Barclay  Hotel  last 
week  (26)  in  recognition  of  her 
10-week  tour  through  Asia.  Par¬ 
ticipating  in  the  ceremony  was  Ed¬ 
ward.  R.  Murrow  who  presented 
films  of  the  trip  from  his  “See  It. 
Now”  session  displayed  tonight 
^  (Mon.)  on  CBS-TV. 
i  (^peaking-  of1,  the;  future  of  the 
*  Negro  entertainer  on  television, 

5  Miss  Anderson  said  She  did  not  re- 
.  gard  the  CariceUation  of  the  Nat 
’•  King  Cole  show  on  NBC-TV  as  the 
.  end  of  hope  for  Negro,  performers, 

!  .  “All  it  takes  is  one  man  of  courage, 

,  in  this  cake  g  sponsor*'  to  step’'  for- 
;  ward  and  prove  that  it  can  be  done. 
r  In  the  meantime,  we  must  have 
patience  arid  faith,’’  the  contralto 
;  declared. 

As  Maine  Goes,  So 
Go  Strips;  Oust 
Poor  Little  Eves 

Boston,  Dec.  30. 

Booking  of  peelers/  into  Maine 
nlteries  came  to  an  end.  Friday 
.  (27)  when1  the  Maine  Liguor  Com¬ 
mission  put  a  ban  on  strippers  in 
the  state’s  2Q0-odd  clubs  and  lios- 
telries,  cancelling  out.  rash  of  book- 
ings^jn  the  Pine  Tree  State  for  New 
"Year’s  Eve. 

Boston  hookers  of  exotics  had  lit¬ 
tle  ‘time  to  make  other  .  bookings 
for  the  holiday,  shows  and  conse¬ 
quently  New  Year’s  Eve  will  find 
plenty  of  disrobers  out  of  work. 
Acts  in  .  the  Maine  clubs  were 
booked,  through  Hub  agencies. 

The  surprise  ruling  by  the  Maine 
Liquor  Commission  caught  the 
bookers  and  exotics  . with  their  itin¬ 
eraries  down  and  contracts  show¬ 
ing.  The  .  new  Maine  rule  says  an 
entertainer  cannot  disrobe  “in  a 
manner  commonly  described  as  a 
strip  tease.”  It  also' bars  an  en¬ 
tertainer:  who  “disrobes  so  that  pri¬ 
vate  parts  of  their  bojly  are  wholly 
or  partially  exposed  to  view,  either 
directly  or  through  transparent  gar- 
ments.” 

The  liquor  solons  said  that 
banned  is  anyone  who  “indulges  in 
vulgar,-  suggestive,  indecent  or 
lewd  acts  of  language;  portrays, 
persons  of  the  opposite  sex;  indul¬ 
ges  in  any  sort  of  entertainment 
which  is  obscene,'  indecent,  im¬ 
moral  or  impure.”  ' 

The  old  law  merely  prohibited 
‘‘objectionable  or  improper”  enter- 
tairiment.  ‘ 

Tel  Am  Legit  at  Crest; 
Hebrew  Musical ‘Annie,’ 

3  Othdr  Openings  Due 

Tel  Aviv,  Dec.  30. 

.  The  legit  ^season,  here  has  hit 
its  peak  this  month,  .with  each  of 
the  city’s  four  theatres  presenting, 
a  local  preem.  Only  one  is  a  new 
Israeli  work. .  The  other  three  rep-  ( 
resent  first-time  Hebrew .  Versions  ' 
of  a  Shakespearean  classic,  a  Par¬ 
isian  original  and  a  Broadway  mu¬ 
sical. 

The  tuner,  presented  in  a  huge 
tent  by  the  Do  Re  Mi  operetta  com¬ 
pany,  is  “Annie  Get  Your  Gun.” 
George  Val  staged  the  offering, 
which  has  Edna  Bors,  a  Hungarian 
refugee,  playing  the  title  character. 
The  Bard  vehicle  is  “Romeo  and 
Juliet,”  put  on  by  the  Chamber 
Theatre. 

American-born  Rosita  Fernhoff, 
who  came  to  Israel  two  years  ago, 
is  alternating  in  the  role  of  Juliet  | 
with  Orna  PoTath.  Josef  Milo* 
founder-director  of  the  Chamber 
Theatre,  is  portraying  Romeo. 
Felicien  Marceau’s  French  play, 
“The  Egg;”  directed  by  Andre 
Barasac,  is  being  presented  by  tbe 
Habimah,  while  the  Ohel  has  “A 
Blessing  as  Well”  by  Israeli  play¬ 
wright  Moshe  Shamir. 

Steve  Broidy  on  Mend 
Palm  Springs,  Dec.  30. 

Steve  Broidy,  prexy  of  Allied 
Artists,  seriously  irijured  in  an  auto 
accident  ,  two  months  ago,  is  re¬ 
cuperating  at  his  desert  home  here. 

He  had  been  hospitalized  since 
Oct.  18.  -  '•  ”':- 


Wednegday^  January  1,  1958 


Politics  &  Prices  Wagging  the  Tail 
Of  Paris  Nitelife;  Names  Get  a  Rise 


Lotsa  Snafus  (Rhonda 
At  USO’s  Xmas-for-GI’s 

Frankfurt,  Dec.  30. 

“Operation  Starlift,”  the  USQ 
show-  provided  at  Christmas  time 
for  American  troops  in  Europe,  got 
off  to  a  bad  start  here  with  tiie 
last-minute  info  that  stiar  Rhonda 
Fleming  —  \vho  had  been  widely 
touted  in  all  the  radio  and  press 
publicity  here— wasn’t  coming. 

As  master  of  ceremonies,  Johnny 
Grant,  from  KMPC'in  Hollywood 
explained.  Miss  Fleming  had  been 
invited,  and  apparently  before  re¬ 
ceiving  her  answer,  information 
had  been  released  that  she  was 
coming.  But  she  was  unable  to  do 
the  tour  because  of  prior  commit¬ 
ments. 

However;  the  15-member  show 
drew  a  good  hand  from  a  fairly 
well  filled  audience  at  its  first  ap¬ 
pearance  in  Europe,  at  the  Idle. 
Hour  Theatre  in  Frankfurt. 

Previous  word  earlier  this  year 
had  been  that  the  American  Guild 
of  Variety  Artists  would  no  longer 
permit  top  names  of  its  members 
to  make  this  nearly  gratis  tour  for 
the  services.  At  the  last  minute, 
though,  they  relented.  And  Bob 
Hope  with  a  giant  cast  planed  off 
to  the  Far.  East,  arid  Johnny  Grant 
with  a  smaller  unit  to  the  European 
theatre. 

Grant  group  is  being  paid  only 
per-diem  pay  and  has  no  big  names 
in  the  cast.  Only  pay  exceptions 
are  the  three  musicians,  who  . are 
drawing  union  scale  under  the 
AGVA  demands,  presumably  in  be¬ 
half  of  the  AFM.  The  Bob  Hope 
show  including  Jayne  Mansfield 
and  Jerry  Colonna  will  be  tele¬ 
vised  for  later  release  of  one  of  its  ! 
appearances. 

Although  formerly  the  big  Xmas 
shows  for  the  troops  overseas  ex¬ 
tended  through  New  Year’s  as  'well/ 
this  year  both  Hope  and  Grant’s 
units  are  returning  to  Hollywood 
(Continued  on  page.  55) 

Fifth-Pleaders  Case 

Up  Week  of  Jan',  6 

Washington,  Dec.  30. 

U.  S.  Supreme  Court  has  re¬ 
scheduled  the  case  of  Wilson  v. 
Loew’s  for  the  week  of  Jan.  6. 
Tribunal  is  figured  to  get  to  the 
case  about  mid-week, 

.  Action  is  an-  appeal  by  more 
than  20  Hollywooders.  They 
allege  a  conspiracy  by  the  film 
studios  to  blacklist  them  because 
they  took  the  Fifth  Amendirient: 
before  the  House  Un-American 
Activities  Committee.  The  group: 
lost  in  the  state  courts  of  Cali¬ 
fornia.  Defendants  include  all  the. 
important  film  producers  and  the 
Un-American  Activities  Commit¬ 
tee. 


4  By  GENE  MOSKOWITZ 

Paris,  Dec,  30. 

.  Political  crises,  economic  ten¬ 
sions,  rising  prices, "etc.,  are  blamed 
for  the:  current  shifting  look  of 
the  riitery  picture  here.  The  days 
of  the  specialized,  offbeat  nitery 
seem  to  be  numbered,  for  patrons, 
both  foreign  and  French,  are  late-. 
ly  willing  to  shell  out  mainly  for 
strip  and  spec: 

,  In  the  face  of  adversity,  show 
biz  always  tries,  and  now  certain 
plush  boites  are  getting  name 
Values  in  spite  of  exorbitant  fees, 
arid  little  spots  are  slowly  gaining 
attention  via  new  young  and  deter¬ 
mined,  if  not  *  ite.  all  talented 
performers.  . 

Thus  the  lavish  taste,  ingenuity 
and!  meccano  marvels  of  the  Lido 
keep  it  a  mecca  and:  SRO  nightly, 
while  the  strip  joint,  Crazy  Horse 
Saloon,  is  also  always  packed.  The 
plush  danceries,  Jimmy’s  and 
L’Elepljant  Blanc,  also .  get  their 
monied  clientele;  "^lid^  flltto  such 
windup  places  as  the  Calavados; 
Les  Fleurs,  Mars  Club  .and  the 
burgeoning  discothecques— for  ex¬ 
ample,  the  EPI  Club  where  one 
gets  a'basket  of  food  to  eat  to  disk 
music,  the  Microtheque  and  others.. 

The  smart  cellar  spot  Au  Franc 
Pinot  gets  a  supper  crowd  for 
dance  also,  and  Chez  Gilles;  Fon¬ 
taine  Des  Quatres  Saisons  and 
L’Amiral  still  get  those  yenning 
some  cerebral  material  with  their 
revues,  plus  the  weightier  offbeat 
fare.  The  Pigalle  fleshpots  still  get 
the  tourists  and  the  .  jazz  crowd 
pays  attention  to  .  the  Club  Saint 
Germairi-Des-Pres  and  Metro  Jazz, 
with  those  desiring  some  flamenco 
flavor  going  for  the  Hispano 
boites  such,  as  Puerto  Del  Sol, 
Catalan,  and  Le  Guitar. 

But  some  small,  clubs  now  are 
beginning  to  get  the  restless  night- 
lifers*  and  budding  new  talent  is 
drawing  other  showfolks  scouting 
young  faves.  New  names  are  be¬ 
ginning  to  emerge,  but  these  still 
(Continued  on  page  .  50) 

Mex  Nat-1  Board  Bans . 
Yarik  Pic,  ‘Daughters’ 

Mexico  City,  Dec.  30. 

An  American  pic,  “Runaway 
Daughters”  (ARC),  is  the  first  to 
get  gonged  in  the  government’s  in¬ 
tensified  cinematographic  moral- 
ization  drive.  Congressman  Jorge 
Ferritis,  chairman  of  the  /National 
Cinematographic  Board,  which, 
rules  over  pix  censors,  verbally  an¬ 
nounced  that  “Daughters”  cannot 
be  exhibited  anywhere  in  Mexico 
because  juvenile  delinquency  is  its 
theme:  In  this  country,  it  is  titled 
“Adolescencia  Perdidia”  (L  os  t 
Adolescence). 

Ferritis  explained  that  the 
theme  (j.d.)  has  become  the  object 
of  the  censors’  special  attention. 
Understood  that  the  distributor 
failed  .  in  the '  argument  that 
“Daughters”  is  really  moral  be¬ 
cause  it  points  up  the  lesson  about 
crinie  neveri  paying. 


.  HAPPY  NEW  YEAR 


Trade  Mark  Registered 

1905  by  SIME  SILVERMAN/  Poblished  Weekly  by  VARI 

.  Syd  Silverman, .  President 

154  West  46th  St.,  New  York  36.  N.Y.  JUdson  2-2700 
Hollywood  28  .  ■  .: 

6404  Sunset  Boulevard,  Hollywood '  0-1141 
•  Washington  4  . 

1292  National  Press  Building,  STerling  3-5445 

Chicago  11 

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London  WC2 

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~  ABEL  GREEN,  EditoV  ' 


Chatter 

Film  Reviews ...... 

House  Reviews  ... . ... 

Inside  Music  ...... 

International 

Legitimate 

Literati 

Music 

New  Acts  . 


I  EX 

'fright  Club  Reviews. 
Obituaries 
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"  Radio  Reviews  ...... 

Record  Reviews  ..... 

Television 
Television  Reviews 
Tollvision 

T  V  Films  . . . 

Vaudeville 


DAILY  VARIETY 

(Published  in  Hollywood  by  Dally  Variety,  LtdJ 
^  $15  a.  year.  $20  Foreign. 


Wednesday,  January  1,  1958 


loews ‘lovable  Pension  Plan  May  GojVOGEL  FACES  IIP 


As  part  of  its  generalbelt-tightening  operation,  Loew’s  may  dis-. 
continue  its  employees  pension  fund.  For  the  past  two  years,  the 
company  has  been  pouring  approximately  $500,000  annually  into 
the  fund.  The  Loew’s  retirement  plan  requires  no  contributions 
from  employees. 

Prior  to  a  change  in  the  fund’s  operation  two  years  ago,  as  much 
as  $4,000,000  yearly  was  deposited  into  the  fund.  At  that  time,  all 
employees,  including  the  high-priced  executives  of  the  company, 
were  eligible  for  pension  payments.  Due  to  stockholder  pressure, 
however,  the  operation  of  the  fund  was  revised  and  only  employees 
making  up  to  $500  weekly  were  eligible.  However,  those  former 
members  of  the  plan  were  entitled  to  the  sums  already  deposited 
in  their  names. 

Under  the  Loew’s  plan,  employees  connected  with  the  company 
for  10  years  or  more  are  entitled  to  pensions  on  reaching  the  age 
of  65  (or  60  for  women).. If.  an  employee  exits  the  company  before; 
his  retirement  age,  he.  can  make  a  cash  settlement  at  a  reduced 
rate,  or  receive  payments  when  hie  reaches  65.; 


Louis  A.  Green  in  Vogel’s  Corner; 

Goal  Is  to  End  Open-For-Grabs 
Situation  Long  Harassing  Loews 


Loew’s;  Inc.  in  New  York  has  ,  \lhlQllAVI  I  Aflfl 

launched  one  of  the  most  drastic  kJlLllULlvlft  liylu 

economy  sweeps  in  the  history  of  '  '  ° 

the  industry.  Prior  to  the  Jan.  — : - .  •  . - : - - — - — - ♦ 

9  hoard  of  directors  meeting,  it’s  _ 

expected  that  the  homeoffice  staff  Coming-^-Un  TV  OCreens 
will  be  reduced  from  900  to  450,  Minneapolis,  Dec.  30. 

with  the  strong  possibility  of  even  In  early  i958  local  video 
the  latter  figure  being  substantially.  stations  will  be  shooting  away 


Calls  Name  Actors  Biz  Wreckers; 


Hollywood,  Dec.  30. 

Name  actors  have  become  the 
robber  barons  who  are  looting  the 
film  industry,  producer  William 
Alland  charged  yesterday.  And  un¬ 
less  something  is  done  soon;  prefer¬ 
ably  some,  system  of  cost,  control, 
.the  performers  ;wiil  have  priced 
themselves  and  the  industry  right 
out.  of  the  entertainment  market. 

“It  isn’t  just  the  salaries  they 
.demand,”  Alland  explained,  ‘‘it’s 
their  whole  approach  to  the  prob¬ 
lem  of  film  making.  Naturally, 
there  are  exceptions,  people  who 
work  hard  and  are  cooperative.  But 
many  of  our  top  stars  just  don’t 
want  to  face  up  to  the  economics 
of  our  business.  They?re  late,  they 
stall*  they  demand  script  changes, 
they’ve  got  a  dozen  and  one  tricks 
that  are  loosely  described  as  tem¬ 
perament,” 

By  any  name,  Alland  contended, 
these  'tricks  are  ruinous. 

‘‘Some  actors,”  he  pointed  out, 
“get  salaries  that  are  far  greater 
than  their  possible  value  to  a’  pic¬ 
ture.  Then  they  add  to  the  cost  by 
expanding  the  shooting  schedule 
through  their  non-cooperative ,  tac¬ 
tics.  The  day  .when  the  Industry 
could  afford  this  kind  of  attitude  is 
past.” 

Pictures  today  should  be  made 
within  definite  pricey  ranges,  Alland 
feels,  and  performers  who  unneces¬ 
sarily  add  to.  those  prices  should 
be  made  responsible  in  some.  way. 
It’s  also  true  of  producers  and 
directors,  he  adds,  since  they  are 
basically  responsible .  for  maintain¬ 
ing  budgets  and  schedules. 

“No  other  industry  operates  this 
way/*  Alland  declared  angrily.  “If 
the  auto  industry  knows,  for  exam-' 
pie,.;  that  there’s  a  market  for  a 
$2,000  car,  it  doesn’t  manufacture 

car  that  has:  to;  sell  for  $3,00Q. 
But  we  do  it  all  the  time.  Many 
pictures  made  .in  the  last  year  lost 
(Continued  on  page.  16) 


*War  &,Peace’  at  35c 

Minneapolis,  Dec.  .  30. 
Here’s  how  the  high  and  mighty 
super-pictpres  Wind,  up  here:  “War 
and  Peace”  (Par):  currently  is  on 
a  twin  bill  at  the  downtown  Aster 
for  35c.  .  :- 

Aster  is  a  ‘-last  run”  that  often 
gets  ‘product  several  years  old. 


reduced.  All  departments  of  the 
company  will  be  affected  by  the 
wholesale  axe  swinging.  The  word; 
“Here’s  your  head,”  will  reach  top 
executives,  as  well  as  lower  eche¬ 
lon  staffers. 

All  speed  has  been  orded  to  ac¬ 
complish  the  ruthless  cuts  before 
prexy  Joseph  R.  Vogel  submits  his 
report  to  the  board  on  Jan.  9.  The 
slicing  commenced  immediately  af¬ 
ter  the.  Christmas  holiday  when 
50  staffers  id  Various,  catergories 
■and ;  positions  were  handed  oner 
week  notices  on  Friday  (27). 

As  part  of  Vogel's  aini  to  trim 
expenses  to  the  bone,  the  sales  de¬ 
partment  will  be  reorganized.  Sev¬ 
eral  honieoffice  assistants  to  field 
sales  managers  will  be  dropped. 

Departing  from  the  .  company 
will  be  Ed  Saunders,  the  last  of 
the  original  franchise  holders 
(Philadelphia  and  Washington)  who 
was  general  sales  manager  of  the; 
old  Metro  company  before  the 
merger  In  1924  that  saw  the  emer¬ 
gence  of  the  .  Metro-Goldwyn- 
Mayer.  Until  recently,  Saunders 
had  been  assistant  general  sales 
manager,  but  he  became  a  h.o. 


With  ,  more  topnotch  oldie  fea¬ 
ture  films,  new  to  tv  here,  than 
ever  before,  it’s  indicated. 
For  example,  KMGM-TV  will 
screen  such  pix  as  “Every 
Girl  Should  Be  Married,” 
“Fury  at  Furnace  Creek,’’ 
:  “The  Ghost  and  Mrs.  Muir,” 
“Bachelor’s  Mother,”  “Stage 
1  Door”  and  “Guadelcanal 
Diary,”  showing  for  the  first 
time  here  on  tv.  Most  have  top 
stars. 

KMGM-TV  will  also  pop 
“African  Queen,”  “Moulin 
Rouge,”  “Red  River”  nnd 
“Night  of  the  Hunter.”  . 


Omaha  Film  Row 


gence  *  of  ~the"  Mefro-Gold^n-  x  l  ,  *,.r  °"iahai’  ®ec*  3®V  been  somewhat  impeded  by  the 
Mayer.  Until  recently.  Saunters  -maha  s  Flbn  RoW  lost  another  fact  that  the  various  individuals  in- 
had  been  assistant  general  sales  charter  member  last  week  when  volved  With  the  Loew’s  situation 
manager,  but  he  became  a  h.o.  Manager  joe  Jacobs  revealed  that  are  scattered  “from  Halifax  to  Cal- 

sales  executive  when  John  P,  Columbia  Pictures  will  close  its 

*-*•• saturday  — 

mer  sales  v.p.  Charles  M.  Reagan.  (4)*  holders’ meeting  late  in  February. 

Previous  to  Saunders,  two  other  New  office  for  the  Iowa  and  _  Green,  who  lives  in  the  same 
original  franchise  hblders  of  the  Nebraska  territories  will  be  in  Des  Park  Ave.  ^  apartment  building  as 
old  Metro  company— ^George  Hick-  Moihes,  with  Jacobs,  who  has  been  Vogel,  is  playing  a  key  role  in  lm- 
ey,  who  had  been  western  division  Columbia  manager  here  since  1939,  inS  up  what  he  hopes  to  be  a  har- 
manager*  and  Bob  Lynch,  who  had  in  charge.  Shipping  and  inspection  (Continued  on  page  16) 

been  Philadelphia  district  man-  departments  and  their  present  em-  - - - — ? - - 

ager— exited  the  company.  Their  ployes  will  remain  in  Omaha.  , 

association  with  Loew’s  goes  back  Coluihbia  thus  is  the  sixth  outfit  MAAlrAiHid* 

to  the  days  when  Richard  A.  Row-  to  drop  its  Omaha  offices  in  the  iillflS.  1T10SKOWI1A 
land  was  president  of  the  old,  past  year.  Others  included  War-  .  w 

Metro  company.  ,  “  ners,  Paramount,  M-G-M,  Republic  .  _  fy#  .  . 

The  upheaval  in- the  sales  de-  and  RKO.  'Still  on  film  row  are  |nlA  1/iiI/ia  DvaiI  • 

partment  will  see  the  elimination  Buena  Vista,  20th  Century-Fox,  I(1ID  YlUcO  L  1(1(1. • 

of  the  post  of  director  of  exhibitor  j  Unite#  Artists,  Allied  Artists  and  w  *  -  v  *■'  * 

(Continued  on  page  50)  Universal-International.  y 

National  Boxoffice  Survey  Eut t  Sff  caf*! 

— - - — : — Moskowitz,  veepee-treasurer  of 

Loew’s,  and  Charles  M.  Reagan, 

Holiday  Week  Booms  Biz;-‘Sayonara*  First,  ‘Peyton*  veepee  over  Metro  sales,  win  see 
i  in  *  .  _  .  the  former  shifting  into  television 

2d,  Days  3d,  Legend  4th,  ‘Sack*  5th  production  and  Reagan  concentrat¬ 

ing  more  on  his  University'of  Iridi- 

'  r  'T— - - r  ana  activities.  He’s  a  trustee  of 

First-run  biz  all  over  the  nation  lease  for  first  time  this  week  Is  ***  university  and  also,  incidental- 

.  .  x.  .  i  -Vu  ii  •  i  i-  .  .v.  ;  ly.  owns  some  theatres  m  the  Hoo- 

is  soaring  this  week,  with  all  m-  taking  eighth  position.  “Old  Yel-  si'r  state  on  whi6h  hell  {ocus  but 

dications  that  it  will  be  one  of  big-  ler"~(BV),  another  newie,  is  land-  from  his  new  base  in  1600  Broad- 
gest  Christmas  (and  New  Year’s)  ing:  ninth  place.  “Seven  Wonders  way. 

sessions  i  Fairly  decent  of  World”  (Cinerama)  is  finishing  Moskowitz  has  long  had  his 

weatter  in^  m°st  sectors  plus  a  10th.  “^eardfrFor Pxfadise"  (Cih- 

batch  of  strong,  new  product  is  ergma )  is  taking  11th  spot  while  „  rl_  ...  . 

bringing  patrons  out  In  **»**.  <?CingS)  hi/  $3,000*-week  contMct  before 

Typical  is  the  huge total  being reg-.  ro“"^s  -/A,  ,TT.  .March,  1958,  at  50%,  Marvin 

istered  in  New  York  City  where  «.Par  aLL  ^  Schenck,  a  nephew  of  former 

two  house  records  were  toppled  Pal  ae.  ^  tW°  mn"  Loew’s  Inc.  prexy  Nicholas  M. 

two  house  records  were  toppled  ber-up  fiims  this  round.  Schenck,  is  staying  on  until  next 

and  two  capacity  weeks  were  Several  new  films,  besides  those  March,  when  he  shifts  over  to  the 
chalked  up.  listed  in  Variety  ratings  this  William  Morris  agency  in  Holly- 


*  By  HY  HOLLINGER 

.  The  position  of  Louis  A.  Green, 
the  Wall  Street  investor  who  has 
emerged  as  a  key  figure  in  the 
Loew’s  Inc.  situation,  is  now  clear. 
Unless  prexy  Joseph  R.  Vogel 
“runs  the  show,”  Green  won’t  play 
at  all. 

Green,  chairman  of  the  finance 
committee  of  Grand  Union 'and  a 
director  of  the  Philadelphia  and 
Reading  Corp.,  the  latter  a  coal 
company  which  he  helped  pull  out 
of  .financial  difficulties,  lias  been 
busy  all  week  attempting  to  bind 
together  the  divergent  forces  that 
have  substantial  investments  in 
Loew’s.  It’s  understood  that  he  has 
made  some  progress  in  healing  the 
wounds  that  have  seriously  dis¬ 
rupted  Loew’s  operation  and  made 
the  company  “fair  game"  for  raid¬ 
ers  out  for  a  fast  buck. 

Green,  who  has  now  acquired 
more  than  100,000  shares  of  Loew’s 
stock,  has  already  had  talks  with 
Lehman  Bros,  and  Lazard  Freres, 
the  Wall  St.  banking  firms  With  a 
heavy  stake  in  Loew’s,  and  with 
Joseph  Tomlinson,  whose  180,000 
shares  make  him  the  largest  single 
shareowner;  Green’s  progress  has 


Chicago,  Dec.  30. 

Despite  Motion  Picture  Assn,  of 
America  and  Council  of  Motion 
Picture  Organizations  reports  to 
the  contrary,  Chicago’s  downtown 
theatres  have  no  intentions  of  clos¬ 
ing  during  the.  March  26  “Oscar” 
telecast. 

.  Dave  Wallerstei  ,  Balaban  & 
Katz  prexy,  states  there  are  no 
plans  for  B  &  K  closings  and  Other 
Loop  operators  deny  they  ever 
agreed  to  support  the  Academy  of 
Motion  Picture  Arts  &  Sciences’ 
telecast  by  a  dimout. 

:  ™  A  :  . 

Skouras  Off  to  Paris 

:  Spyros  P.  Skouras,  20th-Fox 
prexy,  is  preparing  for  another 
trip  to  Europe.  He’s  expected  to 
leave  early  next  week  for  Paris. 

Accompanying  him  will,  be  Mur-; 
ray  Siiverstone,  prez  of  20th-Fox 
international.  A. 


Now  Coordinated 


Tlollywood,  Dec.  30. 

Teet  Carle  and  Bill  Hendricks, 
repping  Academy’s  Public  Rela¬ 
tions  Branch  on  Board  of  Govern*; 
orsi  will  co-chairman  a  committee 
to  coordinate  film  industry  public 
relations  -activity  for  the  upcoming 
30th  annual  t©scar  :  Derby.  Duke 
Wales,  director  of  MPAA  public,  re¬ 
lations,  will  coordinate  program. 

Other  committeemen  include 
Henry  Rogers,  repping,  indie  pub¬ 
licists*  Bob  Bergen,  of  Harshe- 
Rotman  Inc.;  and  Casey  Shahan, 
.Coast  public  relations  director  of 
NBC. 

Roger  Lewis,  of  MPAA  office  in 
N.Y.,  who  will  cordinate  program 
in  the  ;.e$st, 'sat  in  on  meeting  here 
called  by  prexy  George  Seaton  and 
Valentine  Davies,  c  h  a  i  r  m  a  n  of 
Awards  Planning  Committee.  Need 
•for  industry-wide  cooperation  to 
I  assure  show’s  success  on  March  26 
was  stressed  by  Seaton., 

STERLING  HAYDEN  SETTLES 

Out-ofrCourt  End  To  Action  Vs. 

RKO  Pictures 

Los  Angeles,  Dec,  30. 

Oiit  of  court  settlement  for  an 
undisclosed  but  claimed  “substan¬ 
tial.  amount”  has  ended  Sterling 
Hayden’s  $35,000  breach  of  con¬ 
tract  suit  against  RKO  Teleradio 
Pictures  Inc. 

Hayden  Contended  he  was  hired 
in  February,  1956,  to  work  in  “Ten¬ 
sion  at  Tablerock”  for  six  weeks 
at  a  salary  of  $40,060  and  the  com¬ 
pany  later  disclaimed  the  agree¬ 
ment.  Hayden  said  that  during  the 
period  in.  question  he  was  only 
able  to  earn  $5,000  as.  a  result  of 
holding  himself  ready  for  the  as¬ 
signment,  so  he  sued  for  the  dif¬ 
ference. 


manager*  and  Boh  Lynch,  who  had  iit  charge.  Shipping  and  inspection 
been  Philadelphia  district  man-  departments  and  their  present  em* 
ager— exited  the  company.  Their  ployes  will  remain  in  Omaha, 
association  with  Loew’s  goes  back  Coluihbia  thus  is  the  sixth  outfit 
to  the  days  when  Richard  A.  Row-  to  drop;  its  Omaha  offices  in  the. 
land  was  president  of  the  old-  past  year.  Others  included  War- 
Metro  company.  ners,  Paramount,  M-G-M,  Republic 

The  upheaval  in;  the  sales  de-  and  RKO. 'Still  on  film  row  are 
partment  will  see  the  elimination  Buena  Vista,  20th  Century-Fox, 
of  the  post  of  director  of  exhibitor  Unite#  Artists,  Allied  Artists  and 
(Continued  on  page  50)  ’  Universal-International. 

National  Boxoffice  Survey 


and  two  capacity  weeks  were 
chalked  up. 


New  champion 


“Sayonara” J week,  show,  promise.  One  is  wood. 


(WB^whlch  wilt  come  Cose  fo  ^ ’doI^A 
$450,000  in  some  nine  keys.  Paired  on  longrun  in  Li  A.  “Bridge  on 
with  the  traditional  Christmas  River  Kwai”  (Col)  is  bearing  out 
stageshow  at  the  N.  Y.  Music  Hall,  the  promise  of  first  week  in  N.  Y. 

it  is  heading  for  an  all-time  high  in  the  Hub’ 

of  $224,000  at  that  house.  “Pey-  "nere  it  is  wow. 
ton  Place”  (20th)  is  a  strong  sec-  “Tarnished  Angels”  (U),  due  at 
ond,  and  a  pic  that  is  likely  to  be  N.  Y.  Paramount  next,  is  smash  in  . 
heard  from  additionally.  Philly  currently.  “Wind  Is  Wind” 


M-G  Music-Usk, 
TV  Under  1  Roof 


Theatreman  Turns  Supplier 
San  Antonio^  Dec.  30. 

Alamo  Concession  ^Supply  Co., 
has  been  opened  hire  with  Irving 
Cohen,  former  director  Of  drive-in 
theatres  for  the;  Jefferson  Amuses 
merit.  Co;,  as  prez  and  manager;  He 
resigned  Jefferson  berth  on  Nov.  1 
after  being  with  the  circuit  for 
more  than  20  years. 

.  In  addition  to  a  line  of  conces¬ 
sions  it  will  also  handle  supplies, 
and  equipment  from  the  Houston 
Popcorn  &  Supply  Co. 


Philly  currently.  “Wind  Is  Wind” 

‘•Around  World  in  80  Days"  is  sotko  on 

(UA),  long  in  No.  1  spot,  Is  wind-  N*  7'  v  .  . ...  . 

ing  up  third.  “Legend  of  Lost”  “Gervaise”.  (Cont)  is  bearing  out 
(UA)  is  copping  fourth  position,  the  terrific  opening  weeks  in  N.  Y. 


ir), .  okay  in  Chi,  is  socko  on  I  TVith  the  minimization  pf  the 
rd  N.  Y.  round.  Metro  sales  staff  (see  separate 

Gdrvaise"  ICont)  is  bearing  out  ^  ■*&***&*? 

tdrrifinnnonimfM  jn  N  v  lar  music-record-television  activi- 


UA)  is  copping  tourtn  ppsmon.  ties  will  be  focused  on  the  ninth 

Sad  Sack”  ^Paf),  first  last  wpek.  by^Unding  a  treat  taka  on  m.t.al  ^  of  the  1540  Broad  way  bXZ 


is  finishing  fifth. 

“Rairttree  County”  (M-G),  just 
getting  started  oh  its  continuous- 
run  engagements,  is  easily  climbing 
to  :  sixth '  spot.  “Don’t  Go  Near 


session  in -Philly.  In  N.  Y.,  it  is 
nearly  as  big  in  seventh  week  as 
the  second. 

“Kiss  Them  For  Me”  (20th)  is 


floor  of  the  1540  Broadway  home- 
office. 

Already  MGM-TV  and  MGM  Rec- 
cords  have  shifted  over  from  the 


IS  easily  cmnping  Aiicm  rut  iyic  »  Mayfair  Theatre  T»M~  Kn.„p 

Don't  Go  Near  doing  better  tbis_stama,  betog_  es- 1 


to  sixtn  spor.  uon  i  uo  wear  ^  was  under  lease  and  next  tn  mnw» 

Water,”  also  from  Metro,  which  pqcially  good  in  Portland  and  Pitt.  Jj  ^  ‘ (RotoS? 
id  but  in  Cireulation-for  first  time  “TaU  Stranger"  (AA)  Is  good  » Sutef  mS“co^>  5 
to  any  extent,  is  landing  seventh  [  Toronto.  which  Metro  and  20th  Century-Fox 

money;  (Complete  Boxoffice  Reports  on  are  partnered,  with  Loew’s  owning 

“Enemy  Below”  (20th),  .in /,re- .PapCs  8-9.)  the  dominant  shares. 


4 


Wednesday,  January  1,  1958 


PICTURES 


J'TVRlbfY 


* 


4-' 


By  WILLIAM  STEIF 
San  Francisco,  Dec.  30. 

An  Indian  film,  not  even  origin¬ 
ally  entered  in  Frisco  Film  Festival 
walked  off  with  two  of  the  four 
Golden  Gate  Awards.  “Father 
Panchali,”  substituted  for  “Apara¬ 
jito,”  was  named  best  film  of  the 
fete’s  1.4  entries  from  a  dozen 
nations  and  Satyajit  Bay  won  the 
best-director  award. 


Best-actor  honors  went  to  Heinz 
Buhmanri  for  his  Chaplinesque 
creation  in  the  title  role  of  ‘The 
Captain  of  Koepenick,”  West  Ger¬ 
many’s  entry.  Best-actress  award 
went  to  Dolores  Dorn-Heft  who  had 
the  femme  lead  in  the  U.S.  entry. 
Franc h. at  Tone’s  production  of 
“Uncle  Vanya.” 

Judges  were  the  drama  editors  of 
the  five  dailies  in  the  Frisco  area, 
Hortense  Morton  of  The  Examiner, 
Emilia  Hodel  Of  The  News,  Paine 
Knickerbocker  of  The  Chronicle, 
Bob  Hall  of  The  Call-Bulletin  and 
Theresa  Loeb  Cone  of  The  Oakland 
Tribune-  - 


India’s  double  victory  may  have 
particular  significance  when  the 
International  Federation  Of  Film 
Producers  convenes  in  February  to 
consider  sanctioning  festivals  for 
the  last  half  of  1958.  At  its  Novem¬ 
ber  meeting  Federation  postponed 
a  decision  on  sanction  applications 
for  last  six  months  of  next  year. 
One  reason,  it's  understood,  is  that 
it  wanted  to  see  if  Frisco  Art  Com¬ 
mission  could  actually  pull  off  fes¬ 
tival  it  had  been  blowing  so  hard 
about. 

This  was  first;  major  recognition 
of  Indian  film  industry— -indeed, 
first  major  recognition- of  any  Asia¬ 
tic  film  production  outside  Japan’s 
—  and  this  fact  should  provide 
Frisco  sanction  application  with  a: 
powerful  friend  at  court  in  Febru¬ 
ary.  since  India  is  world’s  second 
largest  film  producer  (more  than 
250  films  a  year). 

Substitution  of  “Pather..  Pan¬ 


chali”  for  “Aparajito”  was  the  In¬ 
dian  consulate's  doing,  since  it  was 
unable  to  deliver  film  originally 
scheduled.  Both  pictures  are  parts 
of  a*  trilogy  Ray  directed,  and 
“Pather  Panchali”  was  the  first, 
“Aparajito”  the  second  in  the  tri¬ 
logy-  - 

Sub  Draw's  Guffaws 

Bigger  foulup  occurred  closing 
night  of  the  festival.  Film  sched¬ 
uled  was  Italy’s  “H  Bigamo,”  with 
Vittorio  De  Sica.  It  was  to  have 
been  the  fete’s  15th  entry  and  fes¬ 
tival  co-ordinator  Irving  M.  Levin 
was  assured  it  had  been'  shipped 
from  New  York  10  days  earlier.. 

So  far  as  Levin  knows,  it’s  stuck 
on  a  siding  in  North  Platte,:  Neb:, 
for  the  film  never  showed — Still 
hasn’t.  Result  was  a  swift  substitu¬ 
tion  of  an  out-of-competition  pic¬ 
ture,  Italy’s  “Senso,”  which  left  a 
rather  sour  taste  in  the  mouths  of 
the  closing-night  audience.  Closing 
ight  had  been  reserved  for  spon¬ 
sorship  of  the  American  Associa¬ 
tion  for  the  United  Nations  with 
the  understanding  that  a  topnotch 
contender  would  be  shown.  As  it 
was,  audience  nearly  laughed 
“Senso”  right  out  of  the  1000-seat 
Metro  Theatre. 

Festival  got  no  financial  support 
from  Frisco  City  Fathers  and  was 
budgeted  at  a  minimal  $13,000  to 
$15,000. 

Surprisingly  eno  ug  h  ,  it  came 
fairly  close  to  breaking  even  — 
Levin,  divisional  director  of  the 
Naify  circuit's  seven  Frisco  thea¬ 
tres,  will  make  up  any  difference 
out  of  his  o\vn  pocket. 

Festival  drew  more  than  11,000 
persons  i  15  nights.  Admission 
charge  was  - $1.50  per  person. 

Drawing  power  of  the  individual 
films  can  be  seen  in  these  approxi¬ 
mate  attendance  figures: 

"Captain  of  Koepenick"  (Germany)  800 
"II  Grido"  (Italy).  ,  600 

"If  All  Guys!  in  World"  (France) 

"Age  of  Infidelity"  (Spain) 

"Pather  Panchali"  (India> 

"Moling  Mandfrigma"  (Phili 

(Polohdv 


"Kanal"  (Poland) 

"Throne  of  Blood"  (Japan) 
"Bolshoi  Ballet"  (Britain) 
"Uncle  Vanya"  (U.S.) 

"Three  Men  in  a  Boat"  (  ritai 
"Qivitoq"  (Denmark) 
"Freedom"  (Ghana) 


400 
.  750 
:  1,000 
600 
800 
850 
900 
800 
65Q 
..  750 
.  1,000 


These  figures,  of.  Course,  have  a 
certain  amount  of  water  in  them. 

The  African  film,  “Freedom,” 
was  produced  and  sponsored  by 
Frank  Bucliman's  Moral  Re-Arma¬ 
ment  group,  which  bought-  out  the 
<  Continued  bn  page  17) 


Sinha  Left  Wordless 

San  .  Francisco,  Dec.  30. 

Indian  consul-general  R.  R. 
Sinha  apparently  was  flabber¬ 
gasted  when  India’s  Satyajit 
Ray  was  named  best  director 
at  Frisco  Film  Festival.  He 
trotted  to  stage  of  Metro  The¬ 
atre,  accepted  Golden  Gate 
Awatd  for  Ray  and  made  a 
two-sentence  speech. 

.  Then  came  award  for  best 
film,  which  turned  out  to  be 
the  Ray-directed  “Pather  Pan¬ 
chali.”  This  time  Sinha  almost 
had  to  be  pushed  to  the  stage. 
When  lie.  got  there  he  beamed 
into  the  microphone,  finally 
said: 

“I  exhausted  all  my  vocabu¬ 
lary  on  the  first  one.” 


Alex  Harrison 


Arb  Hunk  Team 

That  elusive;  industry  goal-— an 
arbitration  system — again  cropped 
up  in  the  news  last  week  with  the 
appointment  of  Alex  Harrisbn, 
20th-Fox  sales  chief,  as  a  member 
of  the  distributors  committee  on 
arbitration  and  concilation.  Harri¬ 
son  succeeds  Charles.  M.  Reagan, 
former  Metro  sales  v.p.,  who  re¬ 
signed.  from  the  commitee  when  he 
exited  Loew’s  echelon. 

Reagan’s  departure  was  earlier 
cited  by  Abe  Montague,  Columbia 
sales  v.p.  ahd  chairman  of  ,  the  dis- 
tribs  committee,  as  the  reason  for 
postponing  a  scheduled  arbitration 
conference  with  the  exhibitor  rep¬ 
resentatives  two  weeks  ago.  Allied 
States  Assn.’s  Teps  immediately 
charged  the  distribS  with  stalling. 
However,  Ernest  G.  Stellings,  pres¬ 
ident  of  Theatre  Owners  of  Amer¬ 
ica,  felt  that  the  delay  was  justi¬ 
fied.  “If  I  \vere  the  only  remaining 
exhibitor  representative  on  the 
committee,”  he  said,  “i  wouldn’t 
want  to  take  it  upon  myg^If  to 
speak  for  all  of  exhibition,”  He 
pointed  out  that  with  Reagan’s  re¬ 
signation  Montague  remained  the 
only  sales  chief  on  the  committee. 
He  noted  that  the  other  members, 
of  the  distrib  group  were  lawyers. 

With  Harrison  joining  the  com¬ 
mittee,  the  distribs  have  Suggested 
a  date  for  the.  reconvening  of  the 
joint  meetings,  but  are  withholding 
announcement  of  the  date  until  all 
participants  have  agreed  on  its 
suitability. 


Stalemated  Collarites, 
IATSE,  Remonstrate’ 
i  At  8  B’way  Theatres 

iStalemited  in  negotiations  for  a 
new  contract  for  homeoffice  white 
collar,  employees,  the  Motion.  Pic¬ 
ture  Homeoffice  Employees  Union, 
Local  H-63,:  International  Alliance, 
of  Theatrical  Stage  Employees, 
launched  a.  series  of  demonstrations 
against  the  film  companies  late 
last  week.  First  action  took  place 
on  Friday  night.  (27)  when  mem-, 
bers  of  the  union  distributed  leaf¬ 
lets  in  front  of  eight  of  the  large 
Broadway  houses  playing  pictures 
of  the  major  film  companies. 

The  demonstration,  wfiich  is  ex¬ 
pected  to  be  repeated,  is  similar 
to  the  one  the  Screen  Publicists 
Guild  staged  when  it  protested  the 
firing  of  pub-ad  staffers  at  Warner 
Bros.  The  white  collar  protest  in¬ 
cluded  a  boycott  of  employee 
Christmas  parties  held  at  Columbia. 

.  Talks  between  the  union  and  the 
film  companies  were  deadlocked 
on  the  issue  of  increased  wages. 
The  film  companies  offered  a 
blanket  5%  increase,  but  the  union 
turned  it.  down  as  being  insuffi¬ 
cient.  The  union,  in  preparing  its 
ammunition  'for  the  protests,  is 
making  note  .of  the  fact  that  the 
film  companies  have  issued,  for  ^the 
most  part,  healthy  .financial  state¬ 
ments.  It  also  calls  attention  to  the 
fact  that  Universal  declared  an  ex¬ 
tra  25c  dividend  for  its  final  quar¬ 
ter, 

AT  $3.75 ‘RIVER  KWAT 
TOPS  IN  HUB  MEMORY 

Boston,  Dec.  30. 

Beil  Sack’s  Gary.:  theatre,  1,340- 
seater,  formerly  the  Plymouth 
legiter,  turned  hard  ticket  for  the 
first  time  with  Columbia’s  “Bridge 
on  the  River  Kwai,”  which  opened 
Thursday  (26)  to  play  10  shows  per 
week. 

However,  for  the  holiday  week, 
Dec.  27-Jan.  3,  a  2:30  matinee  is 
running  every  day.  Prices  are 
pegged  at;$l:5.0-$2;75.  New  Year’s 
Eve  show,  is  pegged  at  $3.30-$3.75, 
making  the  “River  Kwai”  highest 
priced  picture  in  Boston  memory. 

At  preem,  Thursday  (26),  for 
benefit  of  Archbishop;  Richard  J. 
Cushing  Fund,  presentation  to  the 
Archbishop  was  made  on  the  Gary 
stage,  by  District  Attorney  Garrett 
Byrne. 


Griffith.  Johnson,  MFFA  v.p.,  re¬ 
covering  at  home  from  a  bout  with 
pneumonia.  He’ll  be  out  several 
weeks: 


Columbia  Pictures  Investigates,  Nixes 
Outside  AM-Art  As  Too  Cosily 


Columbia  has  explored  the  pos¬ 
sibility  of  employing  an  outside  ad¬ 
vertising  agency  to  handle  the  ad¬ 
vertising  and' art  chores,  but  after 
a  thorough  investigation  nixed  the . 
idea  on  the  ground  that  such  an 
arrangement  would  cost  more  than 
its  present  operation. 

Sttfdy  was  prompted  by  Warner 
Bros.’  decision  to  eliminate  its 
eastern  advertising  and  art  de¬ 
partments  and  turn  the  work  over 
to  an  outside  ad  agency.  As  a  re¬ 
sult  of  the  investigation,  made .  by 
v.p.  Paul  Lazarus.  Jr.,  .it’s  under¬ 
stood  that  Col;  will  continue  to 
handle  the  work  in  its:  own  shop; 

Unlike  .  Warners,  whose  releas¬ 
ing  schedule  has  been  considerably 
reduced.  Col  continues  to  issue  ap¬ 
proximately  46  pictures  annually, 
including  house  pictures  as  well  as 
those  of  indies.  With  so  many.;  pic¬ 
tures  going  through  the  distribu¬ 
tion  hopper,  it  was  decided  that  it  ; 
Would  be  more  economical  to  han-  . 
die  the.  ad-art  tasks  “at  Home:”  It’s  J 
stressed,  however,  that  the  system  ] 
adopted  by  Warners  may.  proVaj 
beneficial  for  the  latter  company. ' 
iihder  its  releasing  and  operation-  • 
al  setup  which  utilizes  more  ef¬ 
forts  of  indie  producers. 

The  Col  decision,  proved  wel-  [ 


conae  news  to  pub-ad  staffers  who 
have  witnessed  the.  pinkslipping  Of 
many  of  their  colleagues  at  other 
film  companies.  Pub-ad  staffers  at 
20th-Fox  and  particularly  at 
United  Artists  were  assured  that 
efforts,  would  be  made  to  pirevent 
cuts.  These  assurances  proved 
the  only  ray  of  light  in  the  other¬ 
wise  :  bleak  picture,  confronting  the 
industry’s  pub-ad  staffers. 


lobetrolting 

Wolfe  Kaufman 

pithily  reports  a 

Hipster’s  First-Time 
Closeup  of  Israel 
(Shotc  Biz-Wise ) 

another  Editorial  Feature 
in  the 

52d  Anniversary  Number 
’of 

PfoRIETY 

OUT  NEXT  WEEK 


For  the  Ingenues  of  Yesterday 

The  old  year’s  part  is  all  but  played; 

The  new/one’s  in  the  wings; 

And  this  old  trouper’s  thoughts  are  sprayed 
With-  sweet,  nostalgic  things. 

I  drift  back  through  the  rose-lit  past 
And  sip  the  dreamy  wine' 

And  once  again  my  blood  runs  fast 
For  girls  of  aiild  lang  syne. 

To  the  girls  of  auld  lang  syne,  my.  pals, 

Let’s  drink  a  tear-stained  toast; 

Fof  they’re  thie  mothers  of  the  gals 
I’m  fondest  now  of  most. 

Tom  Weatherly 


Move  West  to  Be  Near  Tom  Piyor? 


Some  Strange  Reasons  Given  For  Possible  Ad-Pub 
Shift  to  Hollywood 


Chi  Film  Lineage 

Chicago,  Dec*  30. 

Film  ads  in  Chi  newspapers  hit 
record  highs  and  lows  during  De¬ 
cember,  On;  Christmas  the  Chi¬ 
cago  Tribune  ran  three  and  a  half 
pages — one  in  full  color— ^of  film 
ads,  with  a  box  announcing  this  as 
an  all  time  high  in  film  lineage. 
During  early  December,  however; 
linage  on  theatre  films  reached 
new  lows  .in  all  Chicago  papers. 

.  An  estimated  $75,000  was  spent 
during  Christmas  week  advertising 
attractions  at  downtown  theatres. 


Fast  Lab  Local 


Pension  Chocks 

The  Motion  Picture  Laboratory 
Technicians  Local  702,  Internation¬ 
al  Alliance  of  Theatrical  Stage 
employees,  representing  east  coast 
lab  workers,  has  commenced  pay¬ 
ments  to  its  members  under  the 
industry  pension  plan.  The  first 
monthly  checks  were  presented  to 
21  members  of  the  union  who  qual¬ 
ified  for  the  pensions. 

the  pension  plan  >vas  negotiated 
and  inaugurated  in  June,  1955  with 
employer  contributions  to  the  fund. 
The  fund  is  administered  by  three 
employer  trustees .  and  three  u  niori 
trustees. 

.  Employer  trustees  are  Alan  E. 
Freedman,  co-chairman,  DC  Luxe 
Laboratories;  Paul  Guffanti  of  Guf- 
fariti  Laboratories,  and  Leonard 
Cooper  of  Du  Art  Film  Laborator¬ 
ies  ,who  recently  replaced  Joseph 
E.  McMahon  of .  Consolidated  Film 
Laboratories.  Union  trustees  are 
George  Waugh,  co-chairman,  Paul 
P.  Press,  and  Richard  Graniaglia, 


20TH  SUES  PREMINGER 


Claims  Refusal  To  Return  Advance 
of  $60,000 


Los  Angeles,  Dec.  30. 

Suit  for  $60,000  was  filed  against 
Otto  Preminger  by  20th-Fox  which 
is  seeking  to  recover  money  it 
claims  to  have  paid  the  producer- 
director  for  services  he  refused  to 
render.  Superior  Court  action  is  - 
based  on  a- contract,  signed  in  No¬ 
vember  1955  under  Ayhich  Premin¬ 
ger  was  to  produce  or  direct  a  pic¬ 
ture  for  20th,  with  the  assignment 
to  he  determined  at  a  later  date. 

Studio  says.  Preminger  did  not 
render  any  services  and  has  re¬ 
-fused  since  last  February  to  repay 
$60,000"  paid  in  advance  under  the 
I  contract!  Action  asks  for  return  of; 
|  the  coin  plus  seven  percent  inter- 
est  from  February. 


N.  Y.  to  Europe 

'Franca  Baldwin 
Joey  &  Cindy  Adams. 
Justin  Gilbert 
Philip  Schweidel 
Richard  Tucker 

Europe  to  N.  Y. 

Inbal  Troupe  of  Israel 
Hedy  Fassler 
Erwin  von  Gross 
Talma  Herz 
Schrammel  Quartet 
jSara  .Lewi-Tanat  * 


Aping  a  trend  in  television,  sev- 
eral  of  the  film  companies  are 
turning  eyes  west  and  are  giving 
thought  to  shifting;  their  adminis¬ 
trative  functions  to  the  Coast 
This  line  of  thinking  is  being  ap¬ 
plied  particularly  to  the  ad-pub 
department^  where  the.  move  west 
has  been  a  matter  of.  debate  for 
some  time. 

Latest  to  be  said  contemplating 
moving  the  ad-pub  staff;  to  the 
Coast  is  Metro. 

But  other  top  execs  in  the  East 
also  are  giving  serious  thought  to 
the'  pros  and  cons  of  siich  a  shift, 
the  argument  being  that  much  is 
to  be  said  for  closer  contact  be¬ 
tween  production  on  one  hand  and 
distribution  and  advertising- 
publicity  on  the  other.  Also,  con¬ 
ditions  have  changed  somewhat,  so :. 
that  several  of  the  responsible  ad- 
pub  toppers  feel  that  a  transfer  of 
activities  to  the  Coast  might  be  de¬ 
sirable. 

It’s  pointed  out.  that,  with  the 
exception  of  the  national  maga- 
i  zines,  everything  can  be  “planted” 
Ion  the  coast.  The  New  York 
papers  are  important,  of;  course, 
but  as  one  exec  explained:  “If  we 
want  to  break'  the  New  York. 
Times,  we’d  rather  plant  the  Toin 
Pryor  column  in  Hollywood ;  than 
submit  news  at'  the  New.  York 
end  where,  at  best,  it  ends  up  with 
a  paragraph  in  the.  Local  News 
column.” 

.  An  added  inducement  to  the 
Coast  shift  is  the  rise  of  the  inde¬ 
pendent  producers, '  who.  like  to; 
keep  a  tight  reign  on  advertising- 
publicity.  It’s  noted  that  Warner 
Bros,  has  shifted  its  ad  depart¬ 
ment  under  Gil  Golden  to  the 
Coast. 

On.  the,  sales  and  administrative 
level,  the  West  also  looks  more  at¬ 
tractive.  Spyros  P.  Skouras,  20th- 
Fox  prexy,  not  long  ago  came  out 
flatly  in  favor  pf  moving  the  .  en¬ 
tire  20th  homeoffice  to  the  Coast, 
stating  that  the  closer  liaison  With 
production  would  be  a  good  thing. 

Some  feel  that,  under  the  in¬ 
dustry’s  “new  shape”  of  the 
future,  all  functions  will  be  cen¬ 
tered  on  the  Coast.  Smaller  of¬ 
fices  will  be  maintained  in  New 
York,  incorporating  sales  repre¬ 
sentation  for  contact  with  the 
Eastern  circuits  and  the  necessary 
ad-pub  functions.  “That  kind:  of 
setup  would  make  sense,”  obined 
an  ad^pub  exec  last  week.  “We’d 
know,  what  production  is  doing, 
and  they’d  be  on  top  of  us  all  the 
time.  The  combined  thinking 
would  be  beneficial,  all  around;  and 
it  would  eliminate  the  big  3, 000- 
mile  gap.” 

Here 'and  there  one  finds  execs 
who  feel  a  move  to  the  Coast 
would  harm  rather  than  help:  They 
take  the  view  that  the  New  York 
view  is  a  healthy  counterbalance  ;to. 
what  has  frequently  been  called 
the  “isolation”  of  Hollywood  from 
the  rest  of  the  country.' 


N.  Y.  to  L.  A. 

L.  Wolfe  Gilbert 
Robert  C.  Lewin 
Joe  Stefano 

L.  A,  to  N.  Y. 

Pearl  Bailey 
George  D,  Burrows 
Edward  Byrnes 
Hillard  Elkins 
Paul  Ford 
David  Lean 
Ella  Logan  . 

Joshua  Logan 
Sam  Spiegel 
Orson  Welles 


6 


FILM  BEVIEWS 


PA&i&i'? 


Weinesdayj,  JaAnay  1,  195# 


The  Beep  Six 

(COLOR) 


Routine  wartime  naval  drama 
starring:  Alan  Ladd.  Average 


A  Jaguar  Production  for  Warner  Bros, 
release.  Produced  by  Martin  Rackin. 

Stars  Alan  Ladd,  Dianne  Foster,  William 
endix  and  Keenan  Wynn.  Features 
James  Whitinore,  Efrem  Zimballst  Jr,  and 
Joey  Bishop.  Directed  by  Rudy  Mate. 
Screenplay,  John  Twist,  Rackin  and 

Barry  Brown,  based  on  novel  by  Martin 
ibner;  camera  (WarnerColor).  John 
Seitz;  editor.  Roland  Gross:  music,  David 
Buttolph.  Reviewed  in  N.  Y.  Dec.  19, 
*57.  Running  time,  105  MINS. 

Alec  Austen . . . . Alan  Ladd 

Susan  Cahill  .......i . Dianne  Foster 

Frenchy  Shapiro  .......  William  Bendix 

Lt.  Comdr.  Edge . .  Keenan  Wynn 

Cbmdr.  Meredith.  ......  James  Whitmore 

Lieut.  Blanchard  ... .  Efrem  Zimbalist  Jr. 

Ski  Krokowski  . .  Joey  Bishop 

Claire  Innes  .............  Barbara  Eiler 

Slobodjian  _ Ross  Bagdasarian 

Mrs.  Austen  . ‘  Jeanette  Nolan 

Paul  Clemson  . .  1  Walter  Reed 

Lieut.  Dooley  .............  Peter  Hansen 

Lieut,  (i.g.)  Swanson . Richard  Crane 

Collins  _ _ _  Morris  Miller 

A1  Mendoza . Perry  Lopez 

Pilot  . . .  .  i.i  Warren  Douglas 

Pappa  Tatos  .  Nestor  Paiva 


Like  Gary  Cooper  in  “The 
Friendly  Persuasion,”  Alan  Ladd 
in  “The  Deep  Six”  is  a  Quaker  who 
wrestles  with  his  own  conscience 
to  overcome  his  pacifist  training 
when  confronted  with  a  shooting 
war.  Except  for  this  plot  twist,  the 
Jaguar  production  for  Warner 
Bros,  release  is  a  standard  war¬ 
time  naval  drama.  Alan  Ladd’s 
name  on .  the  marquee  may  prove 
of  some  value,  but  the  picture  ap¬ 
pears  destined  for  a  fast  playoff 
and  average  boxoffice  results. 

The  screenplay  by  John  Twist, 
Martin  Rackin  (who  also  produced) 
and  Harry  Brown  from  the  novel 
by  Martin  Dibner  is  filled  with 
familiar  naval  characters/ and  he¬ 
roic  exploits.  The  enlisted  gobs-  in 
“The  Deep  Six”  act  no  differently 
than  the  sailors  in  hundreds  of 
other  pictures,  dealing  with  the 
U.  S.  Navy  in  peace  and  war. 
They’re  a  brave  (on  land  and  on 
sea), aggressive,  wise  -  cracking 
bunch,  always  chasing  dames.  Since 
this  is  a  wartime  drama, .  it’s  not 
too  difficult  for  a  cliche-spotter  to 
remark  early  in  the  unfolding,. 
“That  guy  is  going  to  get  killed.’’ 

It  appears  that  the  writers  "had 
some  higher,  things  in  mind  that 
just  don’t  come  off.  They  have 
teamed  Ladd,  as  a  Quaker,  with 
Williatn  Bendix,:  who  plays  a  Jew¬ 
ish  petty  officer,  against  Keenan 
Wynn,  an  executive  officer  up  from, 
the  ranis  who  is  hell  bent  for  re¬ 
venge,  has  a  killer  instinct,  and 
gives  evidence  of  bigotry. 

The  crew’s  reaction  to  Ladd’s 
pacifism  is  wholly  unrealistic.  As 
the  gunnery  officer,  he  hesitates  to 
give  an  order  to  fire ,  on  an  ap¬ 
proaching  plane.  At  first  a  hero, 
since  the  plane  turns  out  to  he  a 
friendly  one,  Ladd  is  held  in  dis¬ 
dain  when  word  spreads  around 
that  he  refused  to  fire  because  of 
his  Quaker  leanings.  As  a  result, 
he  Is  transfeired  to  damage  con¬ 
trol.  He  regains  his  heroic  stature 
when,  with  the  help  of  Bendix,  he 
removes  an  -unexploded  Japanese 
bomb  from  the  ship.  The  sailors, 
who  formerly  shunned  him,  walk 
over  sheepishly,  extend  their  hands 
arid  remark:.  “We  had  you  all 
wrong ,  Sir.” 

Ladd’s  pacifism  again  crops  up 
during  a  .voluntary  mission  to  res¬ 
cue  some:  U.  S.  airmen  on:  a  Japa¬ 
nese-held1  island.  This  time  Ladd 
has  to  prove  himself  to  his  pal, 
Frenchy  Shapiro  (Bendix).  As  a 
Japanese  patrol  advances,  Ladd 
freezes  at  his  gun.  However,  when 
the  enemy  riddles  his  pal,  his  trig-, 
ger  finger  unlooses  and  he  mows 
down  the  attackers.  Bendix,  with 
bullets  in  his  belly,  arid  sprouting 
blood,  smiles  benignly  and  says,  “I 
knew  you  had  it  in  you  all  along, 
Sir.” 

As  a  result  of  FrCnchy’s  death 
and  the  experience  on  the  island, 
Ladd  “finds”  himself  and  deter¬ 
mines  to  marry  the  beautiful  '*  art 
director  (Dianne  Foster)  of  the 
swank  advertising  agency  where  be 
had  worked  as  an  artist  before 
donnirig  his  naval  uniform.  He  had 
formerly  postponed  the  marriage 
because  ho  thought  it  unfair  for 
his  fiancee  to  risk  the  possibility 
of  becoming  a  widow. 

Performances  meet  the  needs  of 
the  script.  Iri  addition  to  Ladd, 
Miss  Foster,  Bendix  arid  Wynn, 
who  are  okay  in  their  portrayals, 
James  Whitmore  is  convincing  as 
the  dedicated  ship’s  captain.  Joey 
Bishop,  a  very  funny  staUdup  night 
club  comedian,  doesn’t  have  the 
material,  as  a  fast-talking,  dame- 
chasing  gob,  to  match  Ms  nitery 
exploits.  Efrem  Zimbaiist  Jr.,  as 
the  ship’s  doctor,  and  Ross.  Bag¬ 
dasarian;  as  an  American  sailor 
with  femme  cousins  in  every  port, 
come  across  nieely. 

Rudy  Mate’s  direction  Is  routine. 
John  Seitz’s  WarnerColor  photog¬ 
raphy  is  topriotch  as  are  the  over¬ 
all  production  values.  HoU. 


I  Wai  a  Teenge 
Frankenstein 

IP  ART  COLOR! 


Sock  shockerfor  exploitation 
market;  food  followup  to  “I 
Was  a  Teenage  Werewolf.” 

Hollywood,  Dec.  20. 

American-International  release  of  Her-, 
man.  Cohen  production:  Stars  Whit 
Bissell,  Phyllis  Coates,  Robert  Burton, 
Gary  Conway.  Directed  hy  Herbert  Li 
Strock.  •  Story-screenplay,  Kenneth  Lang¬ 
try;  camera  (black-and-white,  Pathe- 
color),  Lothrop  Worth;  editor,  Jerry 
Young;  music,  Paul  Dunlap.  Previewed 
Dec.  18,  *57,  Running  time,  72  MINS. 
Professor  Frankenstein. ...  : .  :Whit  BisseU 

Margaret  .... _ _ _  1 .  Phyllis.  Coates 

Dr.  Karlton  ............. Robert  Burton 

Teenage  Monster  ; ..... .Gary  Conway 

Sergeant  Burns  ............  George  Lynn 

Sergeant  McAffee  . . .  John  Cliff 

Dr.  Randolph  ........  Marshall  Bradford 

Arlene’s  Mother  ..... - .  Claudia  Bryar, 

Beautiful  Girl  . . *  Angela  Blake 

Dr.  Elwood  .............  Russ  Whiteman 

The  Jeweler  ........v  Charles-Seel 

Man  at  Crash  . . |...  Paul  Keast 

Woman  in  Corridor....  .Gretchen  Thomas 
Arlene  Joy  Stoner. 

Young  Man - .............  Larry  Carr 

Police  Officer  . . Pat  Miller 

This  follow-up  to  “I  Was  a  Teen¬ 
age  Werewolf,”  released  earlier  in 
year, .is  a  shocker  turned  out  on 
the  same  drill-press  but  of  sounder : 
fibre.  Well  developed  to  take  ad¬ 
vantage  of  thrf1  chill  possibilities  of 
subject,  film  is  a  sock  entry  for  its 
particular  market,  where  With  its 
companion  picture,  “Blood  of 
Dracula,”  package  may  bq  ex¬ 
ploited  for  handsome  returns.. 

The  Herman  Cohen  production' 
hits  a  gruesome  note  iri  certain  se¬ 
quences  as  the.  Kenneth  Langtry 
screenplay  lining  efforts  of  a  scien¬ 
tist  to  asseriible  a.  human  body  from 
parts  of  different  cadavers,  hut  it’s 
the  type  of  shuddery  action  which 
pays  off.  How  this  man-made  mon¬ 
ster  is  restored  to  life  isn’t  made 
clear,  hut  supposedly  this  spark  is 
the  result  of  experiments  per¬ 
fected  by  the  scientist,  a  descend¬ 
ant  of  Dr.  Frankenstein  who  ere-, 
ated  Ms  own  early  monster,  and  j 
cloudiness  does  not  affect  the 
moiMiting  suspense  ,  I 

Under  Herbert  L.  Strock’s  know¬ 
how  direction  the  story  line  is  given 
a  legitimacy,  and  characters  are 
persuasively  enacted  to  lend  sourid 
substance  to  general  Unfoldment. 
Film  is  in  Pathe-color  for  approxi¬ 
mately/  the  final  minute,  balance 
in  black-and-white. 

Whit  Bissell  plays  the  role  of  a 
brilliant  English  scientist  visiting 
in  this  country  whose  goal  is  to- re¬ 
create  a  new  human  body -which 
Will  respond  to  Ms  every  wish.  He 
enlists  the  unwilling  assistance  of 
ari  American  physicist,  and,  grad¬ 
ually  his  creation  is  bom,  firm  in 
young  body  but  still  possessed  of  a 
hideous  face.  After  a  new  face  is 
grafted  on,  taken  from  a  teenager 
kidnapped-  for  purpose,  Bissell 
plans  to  leave  for  England  where 
he  will  unveil  his  great  experiment 
but  is  killed  by  Ms  monster  as  he 
is  about  to  "disassemble”  Ms  Crea¬ 
tion  for  shipment  to  his  London 
lab.  Monster  himself  is  electro¬ 
cuted  when  he  somes  in  contact 
with  a  power  hoard  as  police  are 
moving  in.  ,  . 

Bissell  delivers  strongly  in  a  sin¬ 
cerely-delineated  characterization  j 
and  has  expert  backing  right  down 
the  line.  Robert  Burton  portrays 
his  uriwillirig  assistant,  shocked  at 
the  task  ahead,  and  Phyllis  Coates 
is  good  as  Bissell’is  fiancee,  acting 
as  his  secretary  and  left  to  be 
murdered  by  the  monster  after 
scientist  learns  she  has  discovered 
his  secret.  Gary  Conway  is  the 
monster,  with  good  makeup  created 
by  Philip  Schneer. 

Technical  departments  generally 
are  well  handled,  including  Lothrop 
Worth’s'  Camera  work,  Jerry 
Young’s  fast  editing,  music  score 
by  Paul  Durilap.  and  art  direction 
by  Leslie  Thomas.  w  Whit.  . 

Windows  Way 

(BRITISH-COLOR) 

Compact  well-made  drama 
with  Peter  Finch  as  a  dedi¬ 
cated  doctor  in  Far  East. 


London,  Dec.  23.. 

Rank  (John  Bryam)  production  and  .re¬ 
lease.  Stars  Peter1  Finch,  Mary  Ure.  Di¬ 
rected.  hy  Ronald  Neame,  Screenplay,  by 
Jill  Craigte.  from  novel  by  James  Ram¬ 
say  Ullinan:  editor.  Reginald  MQls;  cam¬ 
era.  Christopher.  Challis;  music.  James 
Bernard.  At  Lelceater-Square  Theatre, 
London.  Running  time.  108  MINS. 

Alec  Windom  ...  Peter  Finch 

Lee  Windom  .. .............  --i  Mary  Ure 

Anna  Vidal  ....... ,. . . , .  Natasha  Party 


...  Robert  Flemyng 
..  Michael  Hordern 

. .  John  Cairney 

....  Marne  Maitland. 

...  Gregoire  Aslan 
,. .  .Kurt  Siegenbers 
. ....  George;  Margo 

Amyan  . . ... . . ....... .  Sanny  Bin  Hussan 

Colonel  Lupat. ..............  Olaf  Pooley 

Rebel  Commander  .......  Martin  Benson 


George  Hasbrook  . 
Patterson  ......... 

Jan  Vidal  ......... 

Belhedroh  ........ , 

Lollivar 
Kasti  . 


The  popularity  of  Peter  Finch, 
one  of  Britain’s  top  screen  mum¬ 
mers,  Will  insure  “Windom’s  Way” 
as  a  safe  b.o.  bet  in  the  U.Ki  If 
Finch  yet  has  sufficient  pull  in 
America  then  exhibitors  there 
might  well  take  a  chance  on  this 
slowish,  but  well-made,  intelli¬ 
gent  drama.  There  are  two  or 
three  standout  performances  and 


a  distinct  authenticity  about  the 
Far  East  locale.  : 

Finch  is  a-  dedicated  doctor 
working  in  the  village  of  Selim,  a 
Far  East  island:  He  is  loved  and 
trusted  by  the  villagers  and  finds 
himself,  involved  in  their  political 
problems.  Mary.  Ure  is  his 
estranged  wife  who  comes  out  for 
a  trial  reconciliation  at  a  time 
when  the  locality  is  in  a  state  of 
unrest.  Finch’s  ideals  .  are  such 
that  he  tries  to  prevent  the  villa¬ 
gers  from  getting  up  in  arms  against 
the  local  police  and:  plantation 
manager.  -r 

The  .  acting  -throughout  this 
drama  is  first  class,  with  Finch 
particularly  convincing.  .Miss  Ure 
has  little  chance  in  the  colorless 
role  of  his  wife;  but  Natasha  Parry 
as  a  native  nursing  aster,  in  love 
with  Finch,  is  Warm,  sensitive  and 
technically  very  sound.  Other  ex¬ 
cellent  performances  are  chalked 
up  by  Marne  Maitland,  as  commis¬ 
sioner  for  the  Northern  Provinces; 
Michael  Hordern,  as  the  fussy  plan¬ 
tation  manager,  Jan  Vidal,  as  a 
sort  of  local  Trade  Union  leader; 
and .  little  Kurt  Siegenberg,  as  a 
young  urchin  devoted  to  Finch. 

Jill  Craigie  has  provided  a  slow 
moving,  but  literate  script.  Ron^ 
aid  Neame’s  direction  brings,  out 
qualities  of  dignity  and  credibil¬ 
ity.  -Uamera  work  and  music  ef¬ 
fects  are  sound  throughout.  “Win¬ 
dom’s  Way”  adds  up  to  a  sound 
drama  with  considerable  tension. 

Rich. 

Count  Five  and  Die 

(BRITISH-— 0-SCOPE) 


Reasonably  gripping,  but  shod¬ 
dily  directed,  .... metier  concern¬ 
ing-  wartime  espionage;  will 
serve  as  adequate  program 
filler  in  most  houses; 


I  .  London,  Dec.  23. 

1  20th-Fox  release  of  a  Zonic  (Ernest 
,  Gartside)  Production.  Stars  Jeffrey  Hun¬ 
ter,  Nisei  Patrick,  Annemarie  Duringer. 
David  Kossof,  Rolf  Lefebvre.  Directed  by 
['  Victor  Vicas.  .  Screenplay,  Jack  Seddon 
and  David  PursaU;  editor,  RusseU  Lloyd; 

!  camera,  Arthur  ..Grant;  music,  John  Wool¬ 
dridge.  'At  Rialto  Theatre;  London.  Run¬ 
ning  time,  92  MINS. 

Ranson  . . . . ,  Jeffrey  Hunter 

Howard  ...... . . Nigel : Patrick 

j  Rolando  - . .  Annemarie  Duringer 

‘Mulder  ..................  David  Kossoff 

Willem  ....... Claude  Kingston 

i  Piet  .  . . . .  Philip  Bond 

;  Faber  . -Rolf  Lefebvre 

Martins  . . . .  Larry  Bums 

Jan . ..................  Arthur  Gross 

Miller  . ..... ..... ... ... . . ..  .  .  Robert  Raglan 

Parrish,  . .... .. .. .........  Peter  Prowse 

Yet  another  British  war  film  is 
tossed  into  the  international  mar¬ 
ket,  with  “Count  Five  and  Die.” 
As  a  program;  filler,  it  fullfils  its 
purpose  and  should  click  commer¬ 
cially  in  a  modest  way  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic.  Though  a 
tense  little  number,  it  could  be  so 
milch  better;  being  marred  by 
casual  direction  by  Victor  Vicas, 
and  indifferent  editing. 

1  This  concerns  the  activities  of  a 
British  intelligence  .uriit  operating 
[in  London  during  pre-invasion 
days.  Its  purpose  was  to  bluff  the 
Nazis  into  believing  that  the  major 
invasion  strike  was  to  be  through 
Holland.  As  a  result  of  its  success, 
when  the  invasion  did  happen, 
iriany  of  the  German  forces  Were 
waiting,  in  vaip,  in  Holland. 

[  The  tittle  unit,  operating  behind 
j  the  facade  of  a  fake  film  company 
in  an  area  in  Soho,  is 'commanded 
by  Nigel  Patrick.  He  has  with  him 
Jeffrey  Hunter  as  an  American 
officer  and  a  staff  of  Dutch  patriots. 
Into  this  uriit  comes  a  new  mem¬ 
ber.  A  girl,  alleged  to  be  Dutch, 
but  rightly  suspected  by  Patrick  of 
being  a  German:  agent..  The.  pic’s 
[  atmosphere  is- built  up  by  bluff 
!•  arid  counter-bluff.  For  quite  awhile 
the  audience  is  steered  by.  red  her¬ 
rings;  into  not  knowing  quite  who. 
is  to  be  trusted.  Eventually  it  fin¬ 
ishes  up  as  a  straight  cloak-and- 
dagger  metier. 

The  acting  is  competent  without 
being  inspired.  For  Patrick,  the 
.film  is  a  chore  which  he  handles 
suavely,  without  adding  overmuch 
to  his  reputation.  Jeffrey  Hunter 
is  also  wholly  adequate  as  the  brie 
member,  of  the  gang  that  not  even 
the  most  naive  patron  could  sus¬ 
pect.  Annemarie  Duringer,  who 
plays  the  girl  spy,  is  not  over  en¬ 
cumbered  with  good  looks  but  has 
a  striking  personality  and  handles 
her  role  with  persuasion.  The  stars 
are  supported  by  a  five  cast  of 
actors .uuwhjch  David  Kossoff,  Rolf 
Lefebvre  arijd  Philip  Bond  make 
good  impressions. 

The  screenplay  by  David  Pursall 
arid  Jack  Seddon  somehow  man¬ 
ages  to  hold  the  tenuous  line  of 
suspense  for  the  full  .92  minutes, 
but  Russell  Lloyd’s  editing  is  Un¬ 
tidy.  The  audience  is  often  left  up 
in  the  air  because  certain  se¬ 
quences  are  not  allowed  to  unroll 
to  their  logical  conclusion.  Leslie 
Hodgson’s  sound  is  also  suspect. 
It  is  altogether  too  noisy  and  fussy 
and  as  a  result  some  dialog  is  lost 
in  a  welter  of  extraneous  noises. 

“Count  Five”  could  have  been 
an  extremely  good  thriller.  But  it 
falls  down,  and  appears  to  just 
miss.  Rich.*  : 


4444 4 4 4 ♦ 4  44 8  V 8  8 ♦ 4  ♦ 4+444  M444444  44 4444 4 ♦  ♦♦ >  »♦♦ 8  M » 

I  New  York  Sound  Track  ii 

4  ♦  ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ »4 ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦4  444 ♦44444 ♦ 44 ♦ »>  4 ♦ 84444 ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ 44 ♦♦♦♦»■ ! 

Success  story:  Headline  in  the  UNESCO  news  bulletin  reads.  “Films 
of  Shakespeare  Plays  Popular  in  Nigeria.”  Sir  Laurence  Olivier,  please 
rise  and  take  bow. 

Except  for  Robert  H.  O’Brieh,  who  received  a  contract  to  join  Loew’s 
as  financial  v.p.,  the  company  is  riot  ,  handing  out  long-term  pacts  tp 
new  executives  .  -  .  .  Kurt  Weinberg  resigned  as  column  publicist  for 
BuHd  Schulberg’s  “Across  the  Everglades,”  .  .  .  Three  Metro  pictures 
have  been  booked  for  the  Radio  City  Music  Hall  —  “Seven  Hills  of 
Rome,”  starring  Mario  Lanza;  “The  Brothers  Karamazov,”  headed  by 
Yul  Bryriner  arid  Maria  Schell;  and  “Merry  Andrew,”  starring  Danny 
Kaye  ,  .  .  Richard  Widiriark  signed  by  Metro  to  costar  with  Doris  Day 
in  the  filmizatidn  of.  the  Broadway  Comedy,  “Tunnel  of  Love:”  Gene 
Kelly,  will  direct  .  .  . 

Loew’s  prexy  Leopold  Friedmaii  inspecting  company’s  theatres  and 
viewing  new  product  on  the  Coast  .  .  .  Alan  Ladd  will  star  in  “The  Bad- 
landers,”  .  Aaron  Rosenberg’s  first  picture  for  Metro  release  .  .  .  20th- 
Fox.  released  Dorothy  Dandridge  from  a  picture  commitment  so  she 
could  play  Bess  iri  Samuel  Goldwyn’s  “Porgy  and  Bess.”  .  Rossano 
Braxn  will  costar  with  Deborah  Kerr  in  “The  Blessing”  for  Metro 

Pair  of  indie  producers  are  involved  in  a  hassle  over  the  title  “The 
Pusher,”  which  has  been  attached  to  projects  each  is  working  on  for 
early  filming.  Film  has  been  announced  in  the  East  by  Harold  Robbins, 
who  will  release  through  Republic.  In  Hollywood,  Milner  Brothers  Pic¬ 
tures  is  ready  to  go  before  the  cameras  next  morith  and  the  Milners 
claim  a  priority.  Their  project  probably  will  be  released  by  Allied  Ar¬ 
tists. 

N.Y.  Mirror  film  critic  Justin  Gilbert  and  his  wife,  dancer  Franca 
Baldwin,  off  on  a  European  jaunt  ,  .  .  Dale  Wasserman,  who  co  script¬ 
ed  “The  Vikings”  for  Kirk  Douglas*  Bryna  Productions,  signed  to  con¬ 
vert  Stanley  Wolpert’s  novel,  “Aboard  the  Flying  Swan,”  to  the  Screen 
for  producers  Roger  Tilton  and  Hugh  Johnston, 

Metro  has  assigned  Richard  Brooks  to  direct  the  filmization  of  Ten¬ 
nessee  Williams*  “Cat  on  a  Hot  Tin  Roof.”  .  .  .  Taina  Elg  will  be  the 
only  girl  in  the.  otherwise  all-maCe  cast,  of  “Imitation  General,”  new 
Metro  film  starring  Glenn  Ford  arid  featuring  Red  Buttons  .  .  Gold 
Medal  Studios  in  the  Brorii  now  has  rear  screen,  projection  equipment 
..... .Bernard  Westman  signed  to  provide  additional  music  of  “Our  Vir¬ 
gin  Island,”  the  Countryman  production  starring  John  Cassavetes  arid . 
Sidney  Poitier  .  .  .  Jack  Flynn,  Stanley  Warner  district'  manager,  act¬ 
ing  as  chairman,  with  Leon  Serin  and  Lou  Davidoff,  has  beeri  success- 
ful  in  getting  the  Township,  of  Upper  Darby,  Pa;  to  reduce  the  amuse¬ 
ment  tax  from  10%  to  5%. 

John  Woolridge,  London  composer  husband  of  actress  Margaretta 
Scott,  is  negotiating  a  deal  to,  write  music,  for  two  pix  in  Hollywood  for 
20th-Fox.  He  was  responsible  for  the  music  of  20th’s  British  produc¬ 
tion,  “Count  Five  and.  Die,”  which  is  recorded  by  Philips. 

Choreographer  Lee  Sherman  has  left  for  Paris;  where  he  will  put 
on  the  dance  sequences  for  the  film,  “Bal  Tabarin.’*  Sherman  recently 
designed  the  show  at  the  Cotton  Club'  in  Miami  .  .  .  Gil  Golden,  .War¬ 
ner  Brbs,  ad  chief,  and  family  entrained  for  the  Coast  over  the  weekr 
end.  He’ll  make  his  headquarters  there  from  now  on.  He’ll  be  followed 
soon  by  his  assistant,  Dick  Lederer  .  .  .  Some  eastern  drive-ins  weath¬ 
ering  the  winter  via  in-car  heaters  .  .  .  The  same  day  that  20thrFox  ac¬ 
claimed  Diane  Varsi  as  the  busiest  actress  of  the  year,  Coast  reports 
had  her  checking,  into  a  hospital  for  nervous  exhaustion  .  .  .  Vancou¬ 
ver’s  first  international  festival  (July  19-Aug.  16).  will  include  an  in¬ 
ternational  film  competish. 

Notes  From  Madrid:  Production  designer  Boris  Levin  expected  in 
next  morith  to  bluepririt  “John  Paul  Jones”  for  Spanish  ports,  terri¬ 
torial  waters  and  Madrid  interiors  .  .  .  Raoul  Levy  unit  returning  early 
in  January  to  get  additional  footage  needed  to  wrap  “Jewellers  By 
Moonlight” .  .  .  Warner  Bros,  director  .  Irving  Rapper,  guided  by  Span¬ 
ish  vet  assistant  director  Joe  Ochoa,  totalled  thousands  of  kilometer? 
during  ten-day  location  search  for  Rapper’s  upcoming  “Miracle”  .  .  , 
Ava  Gardner;  Who  flies  to  Rome  for  ‘.‘Goya”  fittings  and  story  huddles 
soon,  cut  a  Xmas  turkey  for  houseguests  at  her  Moraleja  finca  outside 
Madrid.  La  Gardner  has  been  a  stranger  in  town  and  newsmen  here 
persistently  clue  her  close-to-the-hearth  stance  with  a  recent  facial 
mishap  with  a  very  young  toro  .  .  .  Flamenco  star  Antonio  in  from 
Rome  arid  playback  recordings  with  Sir  Thomas  BeCcham  for  “Honey- 
mobriers,”  now  being  prepped  by  producer-director-writer  Michael 
Powell.  Local  reports  say  Moira  Shearer  is  now  missing  on  Powell’s 
cast  list .  .  .  Juan  Perez,  down  with  heart  attack  in  Paris  several  weeks 
ago,  back  at  his  Dipenfa-Filmayer  exec  desk  with  no  plans  for  a  film, 
purchase  mission  to  U.S.,  following  local  distrib  association  edict  ban* 
riing  further  purchasing  commission  activities  .  .  .  Anthony  Mann  in 
from  Hollywood  for  holiday  stay  with  wife  Sarita  Montlel,  now  grind¬ 
ing  “Buy  My  Violets”  for  Benito  Perojo. 

Bennett  Cerf,  panelist  on  “What’s  My  Line?”  who  also,  is  a  director 
of  Loew’s,  iri  quizzing  Cyril  Ritchard  as  “mystery  guest,”  put  his  ques- 
tion:  “There  are  a  number  of  block-busting  pictures  now  being  shown 
in  New  York.  Are  you  appearing  in  any.  of  them?”  The  blind-folded 
Cerf  ticked  off  “Sayonara,”  (WB)  “Raintree  County,”  (Metro)  “The 
Bridge  on  the  River  Kwai”  (Columbia)  and  “Paths  of  Glory”  (UA). 

Time  Mag  profile  on  Maria  Schell  gives  a  boost. to  Metro’s  “Brothers 
Karamazov”  but  reflects  unfavorably  on  the  actress’  private  and  pro¬ 
fessional .  personality.  It  calls  her  “an  uriashamed  tightwad,”  prone  to 
heavy  Germanic  mannerisms  in  her  portrayals  arid  a  performer  who 
forces  others  in  the  cast  to  overact  “in  self  defense.”  Piece  also  . men¬ 
tions  her  bad  figure  and  quotes  her  as  saying  “in  Europe,  people  look 
at  my  face,  not  at  my  body.” ...  Mike  Todd’s  Christmas  gifts  to  scribes: 
a  Swiss  musicbox  playing  the  tune  from  “80  Days”  and  a  “Do  It  Your¬ 
self  Anniversary  Party  Kit”  crammed  with  international  goodies  ^sur¬ 
rounding  a  hefty  western  ham.  Food  ,  package  is  a  solid,  tribute  to  the 
Todd  sense  of  humor  since,  in  the  instructions,  he  kids  himself.  “When 
uncorking  the  champagne  it  might  be  a  good  idea  to  slip  a  ton  dollar 
bill  to  your  domestic  help  which  should  help  to  set  the  mood  of  the 
Madison  Square  Garden  Party.” 

Height  of  pressageritry  elegance  is  Bill  Doll’s  hedgehopping  around 
the  country  attendant  to  the  non-Todd-AO  additional  openings  of  “80 
Days”  in  Mike  Todd’s  6-seat,  2-motor  Lodestar  plane,  which  has  a 
1, 400-mile  cruising  range.  Todd’s  permanent  pilot  is  making  the  tour 
with' Doll  on  his  40-city  o.o.  to  powwow  with  his  local  field  men.  It  Cli¬ 
maxed  Dec.  22  in  L.A.  and  Dec.  26  in  Frisco,  marking  the  first  anni¬ 
versaries  of  the  film’s  runs  in  those  two  key  cities. 

If  'the  industry  is  interested  in  a  business  building  publicity  cam* 
paign,  it  ought  to  gander  Ernie  Emeiiin(*s.  hep  bi-weekly  “Movie 
Memo,*’  issued  as  a  service  to  editors,  columnists  and  comriientators. 
Not  only  does  the  Loew’s  Theatres*  pub-ad  chiefs  bulletin  contain 
stories  plugging  new  pictures,  but  it  also  contains  provocative  all-in¬ 
dustry  pieces  which  have  been  receiving  widespread  pickup.'  As  part 
of  the  current  “Meriio,”  Emerling  includes  an  interesting  piece  of  ad¬ 
vertising  for  “Raintree  County”— interesting  from  a  journalistic  stand- 
|  point  because  the  front  and  back  pages  are  reproductions  of  actual 
front  pages  of  the  New  York  Times  of  April  15  and  10,.  1865,  with  ac* 
counts  of  the  assassination  and  death  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  Inside 
'pages  include  art  and  publicity  on  “Raintree.” 

January  issue  of  McCall’s  Mag  carries  a  six-page  "Danny  Kaye  Pic¬ 
ture  Book,”  going  back  to  the  comedian’s  salad  days  on  the  Borscht 
circuit  .  .  .-  Henry  Klinger,  associate  story  editor  at  20th,  vacationing 
in  Florida. 


Wednesday,  January  X,  1958 


PICTURES 


SUP  OF  THE  CENSORS’  BLUE  UP 


Despite  New  ‘A3’  Category,  Legion 
Hangs  Taiewell  to  Aims’  With  15’ 


Although  it  now  has  a  new  rat-  - 
ing,  A  3  (Unobjectionable  ..for 
Adults),  the  National  Legion  of 
Decency  last  week  put  “Farewell 
to  Arms”  into  its  B,  or  Objection¬ 
able  in  Part  for  All,  category.  Also 
B-Rated  was  “Man  on  the  Prowl.” 

There  have  been  indications  that 
the  Church  how  will  make  some 
efforts  to  alert  Catholics  to  the 
“dangers”  of  a  B-rated  film.  In 
the  past,  this  rating  has  made  little 
difference. 

In  objecting  to  “Farewell,”  the 
Legion  stated:  “In  the  guise  of 
dramatic  realism,  this  film  pre¬ 
sents  material  in  such  a  sensation¬ 
al:  and  excessive  manner  that  it 
is  judged  to  be  morally  unaccepta¬ 
ble  for  entertainment  motion  pic¬ 
ture  purposes.;  Furthermore,  there 
is  not:  sufficiently;  clear  moral  com : 
pensation  for  the  undue  emphasis 
on  illicit  love"  • 

(In  the  picture,  the  heroine,  Jen¬ 
nifer  Jones,  becomes  pregnant 
while  carrying  on  a  lengthy  affair 
with  Rock  Hudson.  She  finally 
dies  in  childbirth  after  agonizing 
pain  while  he,  who  has  been 
through  terrible  wartime  experi¬ 
ences,  ends  a  broken  man.) 

In  handing  a  B-rating  to  “Man 
on  the  Prowl,”  the  Legion  said  it 
tended  to  “justify  the  use  of  an 
immoral  principle  in  plot  solu¬ 
tion.” 

'God  treated  Woman’  On 
Continue  Their  Struggle 

Los  Angeles,  Dec.  30. 

Bulwarked  by  a  temporary  re¬ 
straining  order  issued  by  Superior 
Judge  Kurttz  .  Kauffman,  “And 
God  Created  Woman”  opened  its 
run  at  the.  Vagabond  Theatre  here 
last  week  and  will  continue  unmo¬ 
lested  at  least  until  Friday  (3).  At 
that  time,  Judge  Kauffman  will 
hear  arguments  on  why  the  re¬ 
straining  order  should  not  be 
ither  extended  or  discontinued. 

Attorneys  for  the  Vagabond  took 
the  unusual  step  of  seeking  the  re¬ 
straining  order  before  the  picture 
opened,  contending  that  when  po¬ 
lice  raided  the  theatre  recently 
and  halted  showings  of  “Fire  Un¬ 
der  Her  Skin,”  they  promised  to 
come  back  and  halt  “Woman”  on 
the  grounds  that  it  Was  “even 
hotter.” 

Brigitte's  Drooly  Mall 

Washington,  Dec.  30. 

Brigitte  Bardot  fans  get  very 
serious  about  it,  accbrding  to  Ed 
Rosenfeld,  Trans-Lux  manager 
here.  Rosenfeld  has.  received  26 
holiday  fan  letters  addressed  to 
France's  new  sexsatlon,  all  care  of 
the.  Plaza  Theatre,  275  seater  in 
the  Trans-Lux  chain. 

“And  God  Created  Woman,”  the 
Bardot,  starrer,  has* been  playing 
to  s.r.o.  crowds  here  for  eight 
weeks.  She  obviously  has  project¬ 
ed  only  too  well. 

CINERAMA  DECAMPS  BUFFALO 

Recent.  Grosses  Not  Meeting 
Operating  Net  at  Teck, 

Buffalo,  Dec.  30. 

Cinerama  will  close  “Search  for 
Paradise”  at  Teck  Feb.  1  an<*  de¬ 
part  Buffalo  permanently.  Local 
management  admits  receipts  have 
hot  met  expenses  and  that  Buffalo 
support  does  not  warrant  continu¬ 
ance.  Weekly  grosses  have  dropped 
from  over  $20,000  after  opening  in 
March  of  1355  to  $5,000  and  un¬ 
der  recently! 

Sub-lease  of  Teck  by  Stanley 
Warner  expires  next  March  when 
house  will  revert  to  Lowe's,  the 
original  lessee,  which  has  ten  years 
more  to  go. 

Cliff  Hall,  owner  of  El  Rancho 
Drive-in  at  Palatine  Bridge,  N.  Y., 
is  again  a  patient  in  the  Veterans 
Hospital  at  Albany.  He  underwent 
surgery  there  in  October  and  later 
Was  discharged. 


THEY  STILL  TALK  Dick  Nash’s  Word  To  Worrisome:  ^ 
“BUT  SHY  LESS  He’s  Not  Rewriting  Torgy  &  Bess’ 


Spiegel  on  World  Impact 
Of  American-Made  Films; 

;•  Mike  Wallace  In  his  last  Thurs¬ 
day  (26)  N.  Y.  Post  column  queried 
producer  Sain  Spiegel,  in  part  as 
follows: 

Q.  Aren't  movies  the  most  power¬ 
ful  propaganda  instrument  we 
have? 

Ai  Yes.  The  motion  pictures 
give  you  the  strongest  penetration 
of  any  method  of  propaganda  in 
the  world.  Six  months  after  a  wave 
of  rock  and  roll  in  America,  you 
have  a  wave  of  rock  and  roll  in 
the  slums  of  Bangkok.  It’s  In¬ 
credible. 

Q.  Well,  is  the.  motion  picture 
industry  living  up  to.  this  respbnsi- 
bility? 

A.  To  be  honest  about  it,  no. 

Q.  Why. 

A.  Because  in  Hollywood  we  live 
in  an  ivory  tower— or  an  ivory 
sewer!  We  have  absolutely  no  idea 
of  the  effect  that  our  movies  have 
on  people  abroad.  In  America,  we 
make  the  pictures  as  hard,  as. 
tough,  as  lewd  as  we  possibly  can 
for  home  consumption.  American 
audiences  know  how  to  separate 
the.  good  movies  from  the  sensa¬ 
tional.  But  when  one  of  these 
movies  is  shown  abroad  it's  con¬ 
sidered  typical  of  America. 

Q.  Well,  doesn’t  Hollywood  plan 
to  do  anything  about  this?  What’s 
the:  solution— censorship? 

A.  No.  I’m  so  wary  of  censorship 
that  I  don’t  believe  it’s  the  answer 
to  any  such  problem.  I  think  our 
responsibility  lies  in  explaining  the 
picture  properly  to  the  foreign  au¬ 
diences.  Take  a  picture  like  “Black¬ 
board  Jungle.”  I  think  we  should 
explain  that  these  are  not  average 
conditions  in.  Amerga,  but  that  they 
are  conditions  only  in  certain  parts, 
of  America.  Why  not  admit  it?  j 


ional  'Theatres 
Free  of  Gloom 


Kansas  City,  Dec.  30. 

A  healthy  upsurge  in  business! 
both  for  the  chain  and  the  entire 
motion  picture  industry;  is  antici¬ 
pated  by  National  Theatres  in 
1958,  according  to  a  circuit-wide 
telephone  conference  hookup  held 
last  Friday  (27)  by  President  Elmer 
C.  Rhoden  with  execs  in  each  of 
chain’s,  six  division  offices.  Rhoden 
conducted  mass  confab  from  here, 
with  Frank  H.  Ricketson  Jr.,  vee- 
pee  in  charge  of  theatre  opera¬ 
tions,  presiding  from  Denver. 

In  kudosing  the  “enthusiastic 
spirit”  of  the  men  In  the  field, 
Rhoden  stated,  “We  have  every 
right  to  be  enthusiastic  with  the 
top  product  we  have  to  sell  in  our 
theatres.”  Circuit#  topper  also 
called  attention  to  National’s  first 
picture,  “Cinemiracle  Adventure,” 
lensed  in  company’s  new  wide¬ 
screen  process,  “which  will  be  one 
of  the  greatest  advents  in  the  his- 
tpry  of  motion  pictures.” 

Rhoden  also  detailed  circuit’s  di¬ 
versification  program,  which  in¬ 
cludes  the  recent  acquisition  of  tv 
and  radio  stations  in  Kansas  City: 

Reporting  on  business  In  their 
own  territories,  each  echoing,  Rho¬ 
den  and  also  Ricket son’s  predic¬ 
tions  for  coming  year,  Were  John 
B.  Bertero,  Alan  May  and  M- 
Spencer  Leye,  Los  Angeles;  Wil¬ 
liam  H.  Thedford,  Frisco;  James 
Runte,  Seattle;  Robert  W.  Selig, 
Denver;  A1  Frank,  Milwaukee;  and 
Richard  P.  Brous,  Kansas  City. 
Hookup  lasted  39  minutes. 

First  meeting  of  1958  will  be 
held  by  execs  early  in  January  to 
review  company’s  program  for 
1958. 


By  FRED  RIFT 

Even  though  the  . bastion  of  film 
censorship  continued  to  crumble 
in  1957,  and  promises  to  weaken 
even  more  in  the  coming  year, 
three  lawyers  and  a  former  censor 
agreed  last  week  that  no  radical 
changes  Were  in  prospect  for  1958. 

The  consensus  of  opinion  among 
the  Censorship  experts  is  that  U.  S. 
Supreme  Court  already  has 
knocked  the  props  from  under  the 
various  city  and  state  censor 
boards,  but  that  the  High.  Court 
Can’t  be  expected  to  go  further: 
for  the  moment  in  the  direction  in 
which  it  already  has  moved,  l.e.,  to 
eliminate  pre-relase  censorship  of 
films  altogether. 

;  In  fact,  the  opinion  is  .  heard 
that  the  industry  may  be  better 
off  with  censorship  as  it  currently 
stpnds  than  with  no  formal  Censor¬ 
ship  at  .all,  and  instead  a .  rash  of 
local  boards  trying,  to  “protect”  ] 
community  morality,. 

There,  is,  further,  some  question 
as  to  the.  practicability  of  post-re¬ 
lease.  censbrship:  There  are  those 
who  say  it  satisfies  the  legal  mind 
which  tends  to  draw  fine  lines,  but 
that— from  the  purely  practical 
point  of  view— it  can  be  justi  as 
much  of  a  nuisance  as  pre-release 
censoring. 

The  Three  Experts  . 

The  three  lawyers — Ephraim 
London,  Sidney  Schreiber  and  Fe¬ 
lix  Bilgrey— all  of  whom  have 
fought  for  the  freedom  of  the 
screen,  all  note  and  appreciate 
what  Schreiber  termed,  “the  ero¬ 
sion”  that  ,  already  has  taken  place 
in  the  censor  field.  None*  how¬ 
ever,  seriously  expected  the  Su¬ 
preme  Court  to  take  the  final  step 
in  outlawing  pre-release  censor¬ 
ship: 

'“The  Court  gives  every  Indica¬ 
tion  that  it  intends  to  continue 
judging  cases  on  .  their  individual 
merit  as  it  has  done  in  the  past,” 
said  London.  “It  will  not  make  the 
basic  decision  and,  in  my  opinion, 
the  exhibitors  are  better  off  that 
way.  If  the  Court  does  rule  out 
the  censors,  we  probably  will  then 
see  a  great  deal  of  censoring  ac¬ 
tivity  on  the  .  city  level.  In  two  or 
three  years,  however,  films  Would 
be  treated  just  like  books.” 

London  said  he  was  certain  that, 
whatever  happened,  post-release 
censorship  would  always  be  there.. 
In  theory,  ;a  society  without  cen¬ 
sorship  would  be  Ideal,  he  held, 
but  in  practice  it  just  was  not  pos¬ 
sible. 

Arguing  along  the  same,  line  was 
Dr.  Hugh  M,  Flick,  the  former. 
New  York  censor  how  assistant  to 
the  N.  Y.  State  Education  Coin- 
missioiner  at  Albany.  Flick;  who 
had  the  reputation  of  being  the 
most  intelligent  and  enlightened 
censor  in  the  country,  said  he  felt 
certain  that  the  Supreme  Court 
was  moving  to  “knock  out  the  cen¬ 
sors  -as  we  know  them  today.”.  But, 
he  added: 

" Make  no  mistake.  The  phe¬ 
nomenon  of  censorship  trill  be 
icith  us  ahoays.  A  society  has 
the  right  to  protect  itself .  In 
the  instance  of  the  press,  a 
compromise  was  made .  With 
films,  things  are  in  the  transi¬ 
tion  stage,  A  new  formula 
must  be  found. 

In  Flick’s,  opinion,,  that  formula 
(.Continued  on  page  16) 


Four-Woman  Censor  Bd. 
Bans  Brigitte  Bardot 
To  Memphis  Gentlemen 

Memphis;  Dec-  30. 

French  import,  “And  God  Creat¬ 
ed  Woman  ”  starring  the  new  sex- 
pot  starlet;  Brigitte  Bardot,  is 
banned  in  Memphis  by  order  of  the 
four-woman  censor  -  board,  who 
went  together  and  were  unanimous 
in  ruling  that  Bardot,  highest  sal¬ 
aried  actress  in  French  films,  was 
“too  much  woman.”  The  Memphis 
ladies  will  not  allow  the  Memphis 
gentlemen  to  take,  .a  gander,  0 

Mrs.  B.  F.  Edwards,  who  serves 
as  chairman  of  the  group,  also  told. 
Variety,  the  pic  was  “lewd:  lasciv¬ 
ious  and  immoral,"  and  said,  “it 
could  not  be  shown  here  under  any 
circumstances  —  even  if  certain 
scenes  were  cut. 

West  ,  Memphis,  .  Ark.,  usual 
switch-over  for  aR  Memphis-banned 

releases,  is  dickering  to .  book  the 
filml  and  expects  to  do  boff  biz. 


Charles  Pathe,  94, 
Dies  in  Monaco 


Louis  Lasco 

Iran  written  aii  amuilng  guide  for. 
the  perplexed  on 

•j 

How  To  Look  At 
Movies 


another  Editorial  Feature 
in  tfie 

52d  Anniversary  Number 
of 

PfatlETY 

OUT  NEXT  WEEK 


Monte  Carlo,  Dec.  30. 

!  Charles  Pa  the,  French  film  pio- 

*  neer,  died  here  Christmas  Day  on 

-  the  eve  of  his  94th  birthday.  Origi- 

>  nator .  of  one  of  the  first  newsreels, 
■  Pathe’s  Gazette,  M.  Pathe  first  be¬ 
came  interested  in  picture  produc- 

-  tion  60  years  ago. 

'  He  began  by  setting  up  a  phono- 
\  graph  shop  in  Paris  in  1896  and 
two  years  later,  upon  seeing  the 

-  works  of  the  Lumiere  brothers,  he 

>  organized  a  picture  department  in 
£  association  with  his  brother,  Emile. 

In  subsequent  years  his  opera- 
\  tions  in  film  production  and  distri- 
'  button  were  expanded  to  world- 
.  wide  scope,  marking  progress  that 
he!  himself  described  as  “fantastic, 
unhopedfor.”  That  it  indeed  was 
’  fantastic  is  demonstrated  by  the 
'  fact  that  the  Pathe  Freres  started 
;  out  by  pooling  only  $500  each  for 
the  purchase  of  two  kinetoscope 

*  machines  .invented  by  Thomas  A. 

*  Edison,  and  were  soon  to  have  20 
,  such  machines,  each  placed  in  a 
l  separate  French  town.  Films  were 
;  rotated  on  a  week-to-week  basis, 
.  thus  was  originated  the  exchange 
(  distribution,  system. 

;■  Pathe  went  into  production  with 
l  a  camera  he  acquired  from  Louis 
t  Luiniere  and  acted  as  his  own  cam- 
t  eraman,  manufacturer,  shipping 
.  clerk  and  salesman.  He  went  ahead 
,  as  equipment  improved,  making 
early  features  .  and  ttie  newsreel, 
opening  offices  in  England  and  the 
United  States  and  exchanges  in  key 
cities  throughout  the  world.  In  1914 
a  producing  studio  was  set  up-  In 
jersey  City  where  the  “Perils  of 
Pauline”  serial  was  made. 

In  1917  the  American  branch  of 
Pathe  Freres  was  sold  to  the  Mer¬ 
rill  Lynch  banking  company.  The 
;  reel,  famed  for  its  crowing  rooster 
symbol,  was  taken  over  by  RKO 
which  in  turn  sold  It  to  Warners. 
WB  suspended  its  operation  in  Au¬ 
gust,  1956,  for  reasons  of  economy. 

Pathe  retired  in  1929.  His  broth¬ 
er,  Emile,  died  In  1937. 

KATZMAN’S  COLUMBIA  7 
IN '57  TO  BE  DOUBLED 

Hollywood,  Dec.  30. 

Sam  Katzman,  who  made  seven 
films  for  Columbia  release  in  1957, 
Will  produce  more  than  twice  tljat 
total  in  1958.  He’ll  do  six  in  the 
first  three  months  of  the  year, 
beginning  with  “Juke  Box  Jambo¬ 
ree”  and  “Pretty  Boy  Floyd.’’ 

Sextet,  Katzman  reported.  Will 
comprise  roughly  “one-third”  of 
his  1958  production  activities. 


►  '  The .  transference  of  a  classic 
from  one  medjum  ta  another  and 
particularly  from  a  novel  or  .  the 
stage  to  the  screen  Is  bound  to 
bring  forth  a  storm  of  protest  or 
comment  from  purists  and  experts. 
Everybody,  it  seems,  has  an  idea 
as  to-  how  it  should  be  done. 

This  is  the  hotseat  on  which 
N.  Richard  Nash  is  presently 
perching:  Nash  has  been  selected 
by  Samuel  Goldwyn  to  write  the 
screenplay  for  “Porgy  and  Bess.” 
Since  undertaking  the  assignment, 
the  playwright -  screenwriter  has 
been  bombarded  with  letters  and 
comments  from  friends  and  un¬ 
knowns  on  just  how  the  George 
Gershwin -  Ira  Gershwin  -  Dubose 
Heyward  classic  should  be  treated. 
In  addition,  there  have  *  been  a 
flood  of  misconceptions  about  what 
will  appear  in  the  film  version. 

Nash,  ,  who  Is  working  on  the 
Screenplay  in  New  York,  wants  to 
clarify  all  the  erroneous  notions 
and  at  the  same  time  present  an 
indication  of  what  he  hopes  to 
accomplish.  “I  don’t  know  where 
people  get  their  information,”  he 
said,  “but  somehow  there  appears 
to  be  an  impression  that  §on le  of 
the  best-known  songs,  including 
“Summertime,”  will  be  cut  An¬ 
other  misconception  is  that  Porgy 
will  no  longer  be  a  cripple.” 

Nash  emphasized  that  these  no¬ 
tions  were  completely  untrue^  He 
said  that  he  would  employ  all  the 
well-known  songs.  “My  feeling,” 
he  said,  “is  to  use  all  of  the  mu¬ 
sic.  Perhaps  some  cuts  will  be 
made,  where  George  Gershwin  in- 
1  dicated,  Ira  Gershwin,  who  has 
been  participating  In  my  Confer¬ 
ences  with  Goldwyn,  and  directir 
Rouben  Mamoulian  know  where 
thei  changes  should^  be  made.” 

Nash  stressed  that  “Porgy  and 
Bess”  does  not  require  any  im¬ 
provement.  “It  would  be  presump¬ 
tuous  of  me  to  assume  that  I  can 
improve  it.  My  aim  is  to  find  out 
how  I  can  fulfill  it  in  a  different 
medium.”  His  matin  objective,  Nash 
stated,  “is  to  open  the  picture  out 
where  the  play  would  not  allow  for 
it.  Not  to  do  it  that  way  would 
make  it  a  static  picture.”  He  pointed 
out.  that  he  has  been  extremely 
faithful  to  the  material  and  has 
developed  it  in  areas  Where  the 
confinement  of  the  stage  did  not 
permit. 

The  writer  revealed  that  he  had 
borrowed  some  material  from  the 
original  novel.  This  material,  he 
pointed  out,  does  not  alter  the 
basic  story,  but  reveals  new  facets 
of  character  in  relation  to  the 
work  the  residents  of  Catfish  Row 
perform.  For  example,  the  novel 
suggests,  that  they  are  fishermen, 
but.  in  the  play  they  are  never 
seen  performing  their  jobs.  “The 
new  material,”  Nash  noted,  “is  not 
brought  in  from  left  field.  It  helps 
to  enlarge  the  scope  of  the  opera 
and  is  introduced  only  in  relation 
to  the  demands  of  the  music.” 

The  picture,  Nash  reported,  will 
open  with  a  scene  showing  the 
Negroes  of  Catfish  Row  working  on 
a  wharf.  The  scene  will  be  accom¬ 
panied  by  the  singing  of  “Sum¬ 
mertime.”  Later,  the  scene  shifts 
to  Catfish  Row.  In  his  effort  to 
open  up  the  picture,  Nash  has  pro¬ 
vided  full-blown  accounts .  of  the 
hurricane,  the.  parade,  and  the  pic¬ 
nic.  “I  am  trying  to  fulfil  the 
material  to  the  extent  that  George 
Gershwin  had  in  mind  in  trying 
to  suggest  things  that  could  only 
barely  be  suggested  on  the  stage.” 

Nash  has  also  made  sure  that 
the  picture  conveys  accurately  the 
fact  that  it  is  a  period  piece  and 
that  it  presents  the  way  Negroes 
lived  in  a  section  of  the  south  in 
19l2.  “The  picture,”  he  said,  “will 
be  more  specific,  in  terms  of  the 
period  and  It  will  be  made  clear 
that  it  is  a  saga  of  a  bygone  day.” 

The  writer  expects  no  difficul¬ 
ties  with  Negro  groups  about  the 
subject  matter  or  the  manner  of 
presentation.  He  pointed  out  that 
before  the  musical  was  sent  abroad 
by  the  U.S.  State  Dept,  it  had  re¬ 
ceived  the  unanimous .  support  of 
all  Negro  groups. 


Wednesday,  January  1,  1958 


B  PICTUkE  GROSSES 


P^snEfr 


Mpk.  Junph’,  nater’  Wow  $12, ( 

Kaintree’  Bio  94G.  ‘fctvfnn’Snd 


Frisco;  ‘Raintree’  Rick 
16$ ‘Sack’ Hep  14G,  2d 


18G,  “ffond 


Minneapolis,  Dec.  30. 
The  normal  after  Christmas  box- 
office  rebound  is  being  greatly 
stimulated  currently  by  three  box- 
office  blockbusters  and  an  array  of 
sturdy  holdovers.  Within  memory, 
there  was  never  such  a  powerful 
trio  of  fresh  arrivals  as  “Peyton 
Place/'  “Raintree  •»  County”  and 
‘‘Don’t  Go  Near  the  Water”  hitting 
the  local  Loop  all  •  in  one  week 
prior  to  this  stanza. 

A  considerable  number  of  hefty 
holdovers  is  topped  by  the  hard- 
ticket  gold  mines  “Seven  Wonders 
of  World”  and  "Around  World  in 
8Q  Days”  in  their  73d  and  25th 
weeks,  respectively.  Then  there  are 
“Les  Girls”  in  its  eighth  stanza 
and  “Sad  Sack,”  “Legend  of  Lost’’ 
and  “My  Man  Godfrey.”  Newcom¬ 
ers  and  holdovers  will  get  1958  off 
to  an  encouraging  start. 

Estimates  for  This  Week 
Aeademy  (Mann)  (947;  $1.50- 
$2.65)— “Around  World”  (UA)  (25th 
wk).  Christmas  and  New  Year’s 
weeks’  daily  matinees  are  spelling 
added  coin.  Into  its  seventh  month, 
and  still  a  mighty  winner  with  $13,- 
000  this  round.  Last  week,  $12,000. 

Century  (SW-Cinerama)  (1,150; 
$1.75-$2.65)  —  “Seven  Wonders” 
(Cinerama)  (73d  wk).  Daily  mati¬ 
nees  and  announcement  of  “final 
weeks”  are  4  boosting  the  take. 
“Search  for  Paradise”  announced 
to  open  March  4.  Stout  $9,000. 
Last  week,  $8,000. 

Gopher  (Berger)  (1,000;  85-90) — 
“Don’t  Go  Near  Water”  (M-G). 
Wow  $12,000.  Last  week,  “Teenage 
Frankenstein”  (Indie)  and  “Blood 
of  Dracula”  (Indie)  (2d  wk),  $2,500 
tit  5  days. 

Lyric  (Par)  (1,000;  $1.25-$2.25)— 
“Raintree  Comity”  (M-G).  Well- 
liked  picture  a  hard-ticket  attrac¬ 
tion  with  seven  evening  and  three 
matinee  showings  weekly.  Lively 
39,500.  Last  week,  “Deerslayer” 

<  20th)  and  “Smiley”  (20th),  $2,800 
at  85-90c  scale, 

Radio  City  (Par)  (4,100;  85-90)— 
“Sad  Sack”  (Par)  (2d  •  wk).  A1-. 
though  still  plenty  healthy  goes 
out  after  six  days  to  make  way  for 
•‘Sayonara”  (WB).  Its  $13,000 
week-before-Christmas  initial  stan- 
>a  was  considered  remarkable. 
Fancy  $10,000  looms  this  session. 
Last  week,  $13,000, 

RKO  Orpheum  (RKO)  <2,800;  75- 
90) — “Legend  of  Lost”  (UA)  (2d 
wk).  Has  demonstrated  good  box- 
office  strength.  Still  nice  at  $7,000. 
Last  week,  $7,200. 

RKO-Pan  (RKO)  (1,800;  75-90)— 
“My  Man  Godfrey”  (U)  (2d  wk). 
Pic  has  met  general  approval  and 
doubtlessly  being  helped  by  favor¬ 
able  word-of-mouth.  Okay  $4,000. 
Last  week,  $4,000. 

State  (Par)  (2,300;  90-$  1.50)— 
“Peyton  Place”  (20th).  A  real  wick¬ 
et  winner.  Upped  scale  calls  for 
.31.50  after  5  pan.  but  the  public 
apparently  doesn’t  resent  the  high 
scale.  Looks  mighty  $18,000.  Last 
week,  “Tall  Stranger”  (AA)/ $4,500 
at  85-90C.  /' 

Suburban  World  (Mann)  (800;  85) 
—“Smallest  Show  on  Earth”  (In¬ 
die).  Okay  $1,500.  Last  week, 
'Game  of  Love”  (Indie)  and  “Sum- 
?ner  of  Happiness”  (Indie)  (2d 
.uns)  (2d  wk),  $1,000  in  4  days. 

World  (Mann)  (400;  85-$1^5)— 
‘Les  Girls”  (M-G)  (8th  wk).  Un¬ 
doubtedly  could  run  several  weeks 
longer,  but  these  are  final  seven 
lays,  with  “And  God  Created 
Woman”  -(Kings)  due  in  next, 
strong  $4,500.  Last  week,  $4,000. 


Ktt  Biz  Booms;  ‘Enemy’ 

Hot  $10,000,  legend’ 
Fine  19G,  ‘Sack’  15G,  2d 

Pittsburgh,  Dec.  30, 
Holidays  putting  a  smile  on  the 
Golden  Triangle  for  the  first  time 
in  weeks.  Downtown  holdovers, 
“Sad  Sack”  at  Stanley  and  “Legend 
of  Lost”  at  Penn,  both  are  higher. 
A  couple  of  hew:  ones,  “Enemy  Be- 
*ow”  at  Fulton  and  “Kiss  Them  for 
Me”  at  Harris,  are  solid  and  will 
hold.  “And  God  Created  Woman” 
at  Squirrel  Hill  is  a  sensation  and 
topp  ing  first  stanza’s  figures.  Long- 
nin  pix,  “Search  for  Paradise”  at 
Warner  and  “ArOund  World  in  80 
Days”  at.  Nixon,  are  recovering 
handily  from  the  seasonal  slump  of 
last  week. 

Estimates  for  This  Week 
Fulton  (Shea)  (1,700;  80-$I.25>— 
“Enemy  Below”  (20th).  Fine  no¬ 
tices  but  audiences  are  -predom¬ 
inantly  male  and  drawing  few 
femmes.  Enough  of  the  former,  to 
land  big  $10,000;  it  holds.  Last 
week,  “Monolith  Monsters”  (U)  .and 
(Continued  on  page  15) 


Estimated  Total  Gross 
This  Week  ... ...  $1,091,500 

(Based  oh  24  theatres) 


Hub;  Kwaf  $30,000 

Boston,  Dec.  30. 

With  big  pictures  on  the  scene, 
the  Hub  b.o.  is  booming  this  stan¬ 
za.  “Bridge  on  River  Kwai”  is 
smash  at  the  Gary  on  hard-ticket 
policy.  “Les  Girls”  is  terrifico  at 
State  and  Orpheum.  “Peyton 
Place”  looms  lofty  at  the  Memo¬ 
rial*  while  “Sayonara”  is  hefty  at 
the  Metropolitan.  “Across  Bridge” 
is  hotsy  at  the.  Kenmore.  “Old 
Yeller”  is  slick  at  the  Beacon  Hill. 
“Around  World  in  80  Days”  leads 
holdovers  With  a  smash  gross  in 
38th  week  at  the  Saxon.  “Search 
for  Paradise”  is  socko  in  sixth  at 
the  Boston. 

Estimates 'for  This  Week 

Astor  (B&Q)  (1,372;  $1.65-$2.75) 
— “Raintree  County*’  (M-G)  (11th 
wk). .  Oke  $6,000.  Last  week,  $7,000. 

Beacon  Hill  (Sack)  (678;  90-$1.25) 
—“Old  Yeller”  (BV).  Sock  $15,000. 
Last  week,  “Perri”  (BV)  (5th  wk-5 
days),  $3,000. 

.  Boston  (SW  -  Cinerama)  (1,354; 
$L25-$2.65)  ■ —  “Search  for  Para¬ 
dise”  (Cinerama).  (6th/ wk).  Smash 
$17,000.  Lari;  week,  $15,000. 

Copley  (Indie)  (961;  90-$1.25)— 
“Cabiria”  (Indie)  (2d  wk).  Neat 
$6,000.  Last  week,  $7,500. 

Exeter  (Indie)  (1,200;  60-$l;25)— 
“Admirable  Crichton”  (Col).  Sec¬ 
ond  week  ended  Saturday  (28). 
First  week  was  bice  $8,500. 

Fenway  (NET)  (1,378;  60-$1.10)— 
“Enemy  Below”  (20th)  ahd  “Plun¬ 
der  Road”  (20th).  Opens  Tuesday 
[  (31).  Last  week,  “Sad  Sack”  (Par) 

!  and  "Gun  Battle  at  Monterey” 
(AA),  hep  $5,000. 

|  Gary  (Sack)  (1,340;  $1.50-$2,75>— 
“Bridge  on  River  Kwai”  (Col). 
Smasheroo  $30,000.  Last  week, 
“And  God  Created  Woman” 
(Kings)  (8th  wk-10  days),  $15,000. 

Kenmore  (Indie)  (700;  85-$1.25) 
—“Across  Bridge”  (Rank),  Hotsy 
$11,000.  Last  week,  "Miller’s  Beau¬ 
tiful  Wife”  (DCA)  (4th  wk-10  days), 
$5,500. 

Paramount  (NET)  (1,700;  60-$l) 
—"Enemy  Below”  .  (20th)  and 
“Plunder  Road”  (20th).  Opens 
Tuesday  (31).  Last  week,  "Sad 
Sack”  (Par)  and  "Gun  Battle  at 
Monterey”  (AA),  big  $18,000. 

Saxon  (Sack)  (1,100;  $1.5Q-$3:30) 
—"Around  World”  (UA)  (38th  wk). 
Extra;  holiday  shows  pushing  to 
wham  $24,000,  Last  week,  $18,000. 

Pilgrim  (ATC)  (1,700;  60-$D— 
(Continued  on  page  15) 


San  Francisco,  Dec.  30. 

First-Tuns  .  here  currently  are 
booming,  with  "Sayonara,”  huge  at 
Paramount  and  rated  one  of  gear’s 
biggest  pix. .  "Raintree  County”  is 
terrific:  at  440-seat .  house  while 
“God  Created  Woman”  is  breaking 
the  record  at  400-seat  Larkin  and 
is  smash  at  400-seat  Clay.  Don’t  go 
to  Near  Water”  looks  excellent  in  | 
second  Warfield  round:  "Sad  Sack” 
is  great  in  second  session  at  St.  ] 
Francis;  “Enemy  .  Below”  looms 
nice  in  second  Fox  stanza.  "My 
Man  Godfrey”  shapes  okay  at 
Golden  Gate  while  “Legend  of 
Lost”  is  big  in  second  United  Art¬ 
ists  week. 

Estimates  for  This  Week 

Golden  Gate  (RKO)  <2,859;  90- 
$1.25)— “Man  Godfrey”  (U)  and 
“Hell  Canyon  Outlaws”  (Rep). 
Okay  $11,000.  Last  week,  "Silver 
Chalice”  (WB)  and  "Helen  of  Troy” 
(WB)  (reissues)  $6,000. 

Fox  (FWC)  (4,651;  $1.25-$1.50)— 
“Enemy  Below”  (20th)  and  “Deer- 
slayer”  (20th)  (2d  wk).  Nice  $10,000 
in  4  days.  .Last  week,  $13,000. 

Warfield  (Loew)  (2,656;  90-$1.25) 
—“Don’t  Go  Near-.  Water”  (M-G) 
(2d  Wk).  Excellent  $20,000.  Last 
week,  $21,000.  J 

Paramount  (Par)  (2,646;  90-$1.25) 
— “Sayonara”  (WB).  Huge  $45,000. 
Last  week,  “Long  Haul”  (Ceil)  and 
“Decision  Sundown”  (Col),  $9,500. 

St.  Francis  (Par)  (1,400;  90-$1.25) 
— “Sad  Sack”  (Par)  and  “Hard 
Man”  (Col)  (2d  wk).  Great  $14,000. 
Last,  week,  $15,000. 

Orpheum  (SW-Cinerama)  (1,458;. 
$1.75-$2.65)— “Seven  Wonders  of 
World”  (Cinerama).  (58th  wk).  Up 
to  solid  $15,000.  Last  Week,  $9,500. 

United  Artists  (No.  Coast)  (1,207; 
90-$1.25)— “Legend  of  Lost”  (UA) 
and  “Dalton  Girls”  (UA)  (2d  wk). 
Big  $12,500.  Last  week,  $16,000. 

Stagedoor  (A-R)  (440;  $1.25-$2)— 
“Raintree  County”  (M-G).  Power¬ 
ful  $16,000.  Last  week,  “Magnifi¬ 
cent  Seven”  (Indie)  and  “Happened 
In  Park”  (Indie). (2d  wk),  $1,300  in 
6  days. 

Larkin  (Rosener)  (400;  $1.50)— 
“God  Created  Woman”  (Kings). 
Record  $12,000.  Last  week,  "Game 
of  Love”  (Times)  (2d  wk),  $2,700 
in  6  days. 

Clay  (Rosener)  (400;  $1.50)  — 
“And  God  ^Created  Woman” 
(Kings).  Great  $9,500.  Last  week, 
‘•Only  French  Can”  (Indie)  (5th 
wk),  $1,700  in  .6  days. 

Vogue  (S.F.  Theatres)  (364;  $1.25) 
— “Pather  Panchali”  (Indie).  Oke 
$2,200.  Last  '  week,  "12  Angry 
Men”  (UA)  and  ^‘Bachelor  Party” 
(UA)  (2d  wk),  $1,500. 

Bridge  (Schwarz)  (396;  $l-$l-25) 
— “Fantasia”  (BV)  (reissue).  (2d 
wk).  Okay  $2,000.  Last  week, 
$1,000. 

Coronet  (United  California)  (1,- 
250;  $1.50-$3.75>— "Around  World 
in  80  Days”  <UA)  (53d  wk).  Terrific 
$30,000,  viai  extra  shows.  Last 
week,  317,000. 

Rio  (Schwarz)  (397;  $1.10)^"Let- 
ters  From  Windmill”  (Indie)  (3d 
wk).  Fair  $1,500.  Last  week, 
$1,400. 

Pr&idio  (Hardy-Parsons)  (774; 
$1.25-$1.50)— r  "Raising  A  Riot” 
(Cont)  (2d  wk).  Big  $3,000.  Last 
week,  $2,500. 


'Peyton’  Giant  23G,  Baltor'Sayonara 
Big  2#G*  ‘Joey  14G,  legend*  10G,  2d 


Baltimore,  Dec.  30. 

Nice  weather,  ,  the  holiday-week 
surge  and  a  bundle  of  blockbusters 
are  giving  extiibs  here  their  great¬ 
est  session  in  months.  "Peyton 
Place”  shapes  giant  at  the  Century 
while  "Sayonara”  is  very  big  at 
the  Stanley.  “Pal  Joey”  is  tall  at 
the  Hippodrome. 

"Legend  of  the  Lost”  looms  wow 
in  second  frame  at  the  Mayfair. 
“Seven.  Wonders  of  World”  shapes 
fine  at  the  Town.  “Around  World 
in  80  Days”  zoomed  with  a  final- 
week  tag  after  a  record  run  of  54 
weeks.  “Sad  Sack”  looks  nice  in 
second  round  at  the  New, 
Estimates  for  This  Week 

Centnry  (Fruchtman)  (3,100;  50- 
$1,50)  —  “Peyton  Place”  (20th); 
Giant  $23,000  or  thereabouts.  Last 
week*  “Monolith  Monsters”  (U) 
and  ‘Love  Slaves  of  Amazon”  (U), 
$4,000.. 

Cinema  (Schwaber)  (460;  50- 

$1.25)  —  “God  Created  Woman” 
(Kings)  (7th  wk).  Good  $5,000  after 
near  same  as  sixth. 

Film  Centre  (Rappaport)  (890; 
$1.25- $2.25)  —  “Around  World” 
(UA)  (54th  wk).  Zoomed  to  oke 


$8,000  after  $5,000  week  before. 

Five  West  (Schwaber)  (460;  50- 
$1.25)  —  “Ship  Was  Loaded” 
(Indie).  Okay  $4;0G0.  Last  ,  week, 
“Lost  Continent”  (Lopert)  (4th 
wk),  $2,800. 

Hippodrome  (Rappaport)  (2,300; 
50-$1.25)— “Pal  Joey”  (Col).  Loud 
$14*000.  Last  week,  “Long  Haul” 
(Col),  $5,000. 

Mayfair  (Fruchtmah)  (980;  50- 
$1:25)  .- — -‘‘Legend  of  Lost”  (UA) 
(2d  wk).  Wow  $10,000  after  about 
same  for  first.  : 

New  .  (Fruchtman)  (1,600;  50- 

$1.25)— “Sad  Sack”  (Par)  (2d  wk). 
Good  $10,000  after  near  same  iri 
first* 

.  Playhouse  (Schwaber)  (400;  50- 
$1.25)— “Panic  in  Parlor”  (DCA). 
Nice  $4,000.  Last  week,  “Spanish 
Gardener”  (Rank)  (3d  wk),  $2,500. 

Stanley  (SW)  (3,200;  50-$1.50*> 
—  “Sayonara”  (WB).  Big  $20,000 
or  near.  Last  week,  “Jamboree” 
(WB),  $4,000.  . 

Town  (SW  -  Cinerama)  (1,125; 
$1.25-$2.25)  —  -‘Seven  Wonders  of 
World”  (Cinerama).  Tall  $14,000 
for  9  days.  ..In  ahead,  "This  is 
Cinerama”  (Cinerama)  (16th  wk), 
$5,500. 


•y 


Smash  $27,000,  'Water  Torrid  15G 


Estimated  Total  Gross 
This  Week  . . $3,393,700 

(Based  on  20.  cities  and  220 
theatres,  chiefly  first,  runs,  in • 
eluding  N.  Y.) 


‘Water  Great  23G, 
Bet.;  ‘Legend’  24G 


Detroit,  Dec,  30. 

Only  three  neweomers  in  town, 
but  biz  is  on  the  upswing  this 
holiday  week.  “Don’t  Go  Near 
the  Water”  and  “All.  At  Sea”  are 
making .  big  splashes  at  the  Adams 
and  Krim,  respectively.;  “Man  in 
Shadow”  shapes  okay  at  the.Broad- 
way-Capitol.  Second  weeks  of 
“Legend  of  Lost”  at  the  ..Palms, 
“Sad  Sack”  at  the  Michigan  and 
“Enemy  Below”  at  the  Fox  are 
better  than  initial  seven-day  ex¬ 
posure.. 

Estimates  for  This  Week 


Fox  (Fox-Detroit)  (5,000;  90- 

$1.25)— "Enemy  Below”  (20th)  and 
“Escape  from  Red  Rock”  (20th)  (2d  i 
wk).  Smash  $18,000.  Last  week, 
$14,000. 

Michigan  (United  Detroit)  (4,000; 
90-$1.25)— “Sad  Sack”  (Par)  and 
“Hard  Man”  (Col)  (2d  wk).  Great 
$22,000.  Last  week,  $20,000. 

Palms  (UD).  (2,961;  90-$1.25)— 
“Legend  of  Lost”  (UA)  and  “Dal¬ 
ton  Girls”  (UA)  (2d  wk).  Great 
$24,000.  Last  week,  $22,500. 

Madison  (UD)  (1,900;  90-$1.25)— 
“Pal  Joey”  (Col)  (8th  wk).  Strong 
$10,000.  Last  week,  $8,000. 

Broadway-Capitol  (UD)  3,500;  90- 
$1.25)'— “Man  in.  Shadow”  (U)  and 
“Violators”  (U).  Okay  $12,000. 
Last  week,  “Monolith  Monster” 
(U)  and  “Love  Slaves  of  Amazons” 
(U),  $12,000. 

United  Artists  (UA)  (1,667; 
$1.25-$3)— “Around  World  in  80 
Days”  (UA)  (53d  wk).  Oke  $10,000. 
Last  week,  same. 

.  Adams  (Balaban)  (1,700;  $1.25- 
$1;50) — “Don’t  Go  Near  Water” 
(M-G).  Great  $23,000/  Last  week, 
“Les  Girls”  (M-G),  $3,500  in  five- 
day  seventh  week. 


Music  Hall  (SW-Cinerama) 
(1,205;  $1.50-$2.65)— “Seven  Won¬ 
ders”  (Cinerama)  (74th  wk).  Up 
to  $12,400.  Last  week,  $9,800. 

Krim  (Krim)  (1,000;  $1.25)— 
'AH  At  Sea”  (M-G).  Good  $8,000. 
Last  week,  "Saint  Joan”  (UA), 
$3,000. 


’eyton’  Sockeroo  236, 
Dearer;  Teller’  $26,000 


Denver,  Dec.  80. 

"Old  Yeller”  at  the  Denver  looks 
to  pace  city  by  a  narrow  margin, 
and  moves  to  the  Aladdin  for  an 
extended-run.  "Peyton  Place” 
shapes  mighty  at  1,247-seat  Cen¬ 
tre,  and  will  hold.  "Raintree  .  Coun¬ 
ty”  is  rated  big  at  Orpheum  while 
"Legend  of  Lost”  still  is  fine  in 
second  Paramount  session.  "Around 
World  in  80  Days”  goes  into  33d 
.week  at  the  Tabor  and  .will  stay 
through  the  National  Western 
Stock  Show. 


Estimates  for  This  Week 
Centre  (Fox)  (1,247;  90-$1.50)— 
"Peyton  Place”  (20th):  Mighty 
$23,000.  Holds.  Last  week,  "Esther 
Costello”  (Col),  $6,000. 


Denham  (Cockrill)  (1*428;  70-90) 
—"Sad  Sack”  (Par)  (2d  wk).  Fancy 
$11,000,  and  holding.  Last  week, 
same. 


Denver  (Fox)  (2,586;  70-90)— 
“Old  Yeller”  (BV).  Big  $26,000; 
moves  to  Alaadln.  Last  week,  on 
reissues. 


Esquire  (Fox)  (.742;  70-90— "How 
to  Murder  Rich  Uncle”  (Col).  Good 
$2,500.  Stays.  Last  week,  on  re¬ 
issues. 


Orpheum  tRKO)  (2,596;  90-$1.50) 
—“Raintree  County”  (M-G).  Big 
$25,000.  Continues.  Last  week,  on 
reissues. 

Paramount  (Wolfberg)  (2,200; 
70-90)— “Legend  of  Lost”  (UA)  and 
“Dalton  Girls”  (UA)  (2d  wk).  Fine 
$10,000.  Last  week,  $13,000. 

Tabor  (Fox)  (930;$1.25-$2.50)— 
"Around  World”  (UA)  (33d  wk). 
Fair  $3,500.  Stays  on.  Last  week, 
$2,000. 

Vogue  Art  (Sher-Shulman)  (442; 
75-90)— “Lost  Continent”  (Indie). 
Big  $2,500.  Last  week,  “Three 
Feet  in  Bed”  (Indie),  $700. 


Cleveland,  Dec.  30. 

Traffic-jamming  crowds  of  holi¬ 
day  ticket-buyers  are  bringing 
back  happy  times  this'  session  to 
Cleveland.  Rush  for  ducats  is 
boosting  "Peyton  Place”  to 
mighty;,  take  at  the  Hippodrome, 
to  pace  the  *  city.  "Sayonara” 
shapes  great  at  the  larger  Alien 
Theatre  while  “Enemy  /Below”  ' 
rated  fancy  at  the  Embassy. 

"Don’t  Go  Near  Water"  looms, 
excellent  at  the  Stillman  while 
“Sad  Sack”  is  fairly  good  in  5-day 
second  round  at  State.  “Around 
World.  In  80  Days'*  at  the  Ohio  in 
29th  Week iand  “Christmas  Holiday” 
in  26th  Palace  stanza  are -pushing 
far  ahead  of  hist  week’s  totals. 

Estimates  for  This  Week 

Allen  (S-W)  (3,800;  90-$1.50)— 
“Sayonara”  (WB).  Wow  $27,000 
or  near.  Last  week,  “Teenage 
Frankenstein”  (AI)  and  "Blood  of 
Dracula”  (AI),  $8,800. 

Embassy  (Community)  (1,200;  70- 
90)— "Enemy  Below”  (20th).  .Fancy 
$8,600.  Last  week,  "Bail  Out  at 
43,000”  and  "Buckskin  Lady”-  (UA), 
$2,800. 

Hipp  (Telem’t)  (3,700;  $1.25- 

$1.50)  —  "Peyton  Place”  (20th). 
Mighty  $30,000  or  over.  Last 
week,  "Monolith  Monsters”  (U.)  and 
‘‘Love  Slaves  of  Amazon”  (U), , 
$10,000. 

Lower  Mall  (Community)  (500; 
60-90)— ‘Torero”  (Indie). .  Modest 
$2,500,  Last  week,'  “It  Happened 
in  Park”  and  "Girl  on  Third  Floor” 
(Indie)  (reissues),  $2,000. 

Ohio  (Loew)  (1,244;  $1.25-$2.50) 
—“Around  the  World”  (UA)  (29th 
wk).  Pushing  to  big  $10,000,  after 
$6,000. 

Palace  (SW-Cirierama)  (1,523; 
$1.25-$2.40) — “Cinerama  Holiday” 
(Cinerama)  (26th  wk).  Soared  to 
great  $12,500.  Last  week,  $7,800. 

State  (Loew)  (3,500;  70-90)— 
‘‘Sad  Sack”  (Par).  (2d  wk).  Fairly 
good  $9,000  in  5  days.  Last  week, 
$16,000. 

Stillman  (Loew)  (2,700;  70-$1.20) 
—"Don’t  .Go  Near  Water”  (M-G). 
Excellent  $15,000.  Last  week- 
“Baby  Face  Nelson”  (UA)  (m.o.), 
$6,000. 


‘Sayonara’  Sock  $36,000, 
D.C.;  ‘Enemy’  Great  166, 
“Peyton’ Wham  31G,  2d 

Washington,  Dec,  30. 
There  are.  only  two  newcomers 
along  the  main,  stem  this  week, 
but  the  lineup  of  b.o.  blockbusters 
opened  at  downtown  theatres  right 
before  the  Yule  holiday,  are  mak* 
ing  happy  music  at  .  the  .  cash  regis¬ 
ter.  Both  new  entries,  "Sayonara^ 
day-bating  at  Metropolitan:  and 
Ambassador,  and  "Ehemy  Below,” 
at  the  Columbia,  are  sock.  Former 
is  the  biggest  draw  at  these  spots 
since  "Giant”  "Peyton  Place”  at 
Loews  Palace,  tops  the  city  for  sec¬ 
ond  consecutive  week  even  topping 
the  Opening  stanza.  "Don’t  Go 
Near  Water”  at  LoewY  Capitol  is 
also  topping  its  initial  week  With 
smash  prospects.  "Sad  Sack”  in 
second  week  at  Keith’s  is  skimming 
the  cream  of  matinee  trade. 

Estimates  for  This  Week 


Ambassador-Metropolitan  (SW) 
(1,490;  1,000;  90-$1.50) — "Sayonara” 
(WB).  Socko  $36,000.  Last  week, 
"Jamboree”  (WB),  $6,500. 

Capitol  (Loew)  (3,434;  85-$l. 25) 
—“Don’t  Go  Near  Water”  (M-G) 
(2d  wk).  Rousing  $26,000,  topping 
last  week’s  $25,000,  with  special 
New  Year’s  Eve  show  helping. 
Stays. 

Columbia  (Loew)  (1,154;  85- 

$1.25)— “Enemy  Below”  (20  th). 
Hotsy  $16,000,  and  holds.  Preemed 
Christinas  Day  to  long  queues.  Last 
week,  “April  Love”  (20th)  (4th 
wk),  $5,000. 

Keith's  (RKO)  (1,850;  85-$I.25>— 
“Sad  Sack”  (Par)  (2d  wk).  Brisk, 
$12,000.  for  final  6  days  after  $13,-. 
000  opener. 

Palace  (Loew)  (2,350;  90-$l. 50)— 
“Peyton  Place”  (20th).  (2d  wk). 
Wow  $31,000  after  $29,000  in  first. 
Holds. 


Plaza  (T-L)  (600;  90-$1.50)^ 

“God  Created  Woman”  (Kings) 
(8th  wk).  Hefty  $6,500  after  $6,000. 

Uptown  (SW)  (1,100;  $L25-$3)— 
"Around  World”  (UA)  (39th  wk). 
Schedule  stepped  up  to  15  shows 
per  week,  ahd  looks  like  dazzling 
$26,000.  Last  week,  $9,500  in  10 
shows.  Stays  on. 

Warner  (SW-Cinerama)  (l,300i 
$1.20-$2.40)  —  "Seven  Wonders’* 
(Cinerama)  (53d  wk).  Slides  into 
second  year  and  final  fortnight 
with  booming  $14,000  after  fine 
$12,000  last  week. . 


10 


INTERNATIONAL 


IStelEPf 


•VARIBTY'V  LONDON  OPjMCa 
1  W.  M»rWn,»  ftoct,  TrifUtir  MUST# 


London,  Dec.  23. 

The  pre-Christmas  slump  hit 
most  West  End  first-runs.  Hence, 
only  a  few  sturdy  holdovers  are.  re¬ 
cording  above  average  returns. 
Leading  the  field  is  "10  Command¬ 
ments,”  which  grossed  a  smash 
$17,800  in  its  third  Plaza  week. 

"Around  World  in  80  Days’’ 
chalked  up  a  mighty  $14,000  in  its 
25th  Astoria  round.  "Cinerama 
Holiday”  still  Is  excellent  at  $11,- 
000  in  99th  sesh  at  the  Casino. 

"The  Pajama  Game”  at  the  War¬ 
ner,  held  at  sturdy  $10,000  in  third 
round.  "Blue  Murder  at  St,  Tri  - 
ian’s”  shapes  fine  $9,000  in  first 
Gaumont  session  "Paths  of  Glory” 
is  heading  for  a  stout  $7;50Q  in 
opening  week  at  the  London  Pavi¬ 
lion.  "Windom’s  Way”  looks  not  so 
good  In  opening  round  at  Leicester 
Square  Theatre. 

Estimates  for  Last  Week 

Astoria  (CMA)  (1,474;  $1.20- 

$2.15)— "Around  World  in  80  Days” 
(UA)  (25th  wk).  Stout  $14,000. 

Carlton  (20th)  (1,128;  70-$2.15)— 
"Kiss  Them  For  Me”  (20th).  Fair 
$5,500. 

Casino  (Indie)  (1,337;  70-$2.15)-^ 
"Cinerama  Holiday”  (Robin)  (99th 
wk).  Down  to  $11,200,  but  excel¬ 
lent  for  length  of  run. 

Empire  (M-G)  (3,099;  55-$1.70)— 
"Barnacle  Bill”  (M-G)  (2d  wk). 
Modest  $8,400.  First  was  $9,500; 
"Davy”  (M-G)  follows  Jan,  2. 

Gaumont  (CMA)  (1,500;  50-$1.70) 
—"Blue  Murder  at  St.  Trinian’s” 
(BL).  Opening  with  fine  $9,000  or 
near. 

Leicester' Square  Theatre  (CMA) 
(1,376;  50-$1.70) — "Windom’s  Way” 
(Rank).  Disappointing  $5,500. 

London  Pavilion  (UA)  (1,217;  50- 
$1.70)— “Paths  of  Glory” '  (UA). 
Lively  $7,500. 

Odeon,  Leicester  Square  (CMA) 
12,200;  50-$1.70)— "Dangerous  Ex¬ 
ile”  (Rank)  (2d  wk).  Poor  $3,600. 
Opening  week  well  below  average 
at  $5,000, 

Odeon,  Marble  Arch  (CMA)  (2,-. 
200;  50-$1.70)— "Sad  Sack”  (Par) 
(2d  wk).  Moderate  $5,300. 

Plaza  (Par)  (1,902;  95-$2.80)— 
"10  Commandments’’  (Par)  (3d  Wk); 
Great  $17,800  on  a  week  which  has 
13  shows. 

Rialto  (20th)  (592;  50-$1.30)— 
"Young  and  Dangerous”  (20th)  and 
"Rockabilly  Baby”  (20th)  (2d  wk). 
Fair  $2,800  or  near.  First  was 
$3,100. 

Ritz  (M-G)  (432;  50-$1.30)— 

"Flesh  Is  Weak”  (Eros)  (5th  wk). 
Average  $2,200.  Last  week,  $2,500. 

Warner  (WB).  (1,785;  50-$1.70)— 
"Pajama  Game”  (WB)  (2d  wk). 
Sturdy  $10,000.  First  week,  $10,600.. 


French-German  Version 
Of  Cancan  Dancer’s  life 

Paris,  Dec.  30. 

A  French  film  project.  Which 
was  interrupted  due  to  "Moulin 
Rouge”  (UA),  made  here  in  1952 
by  John  Huston,  is  being  reacti¬ 
vated  again.  Called  "La  Goulue,” 
it  covers  the  life  of  the  famed 
cancan  dancer  who  appeared  as 
fairly  minor  character  in  the  Hus¬ 
ton  pic. 

Now  “La  Goulue”  will  he  made 
as  a  French-West  German  copro¬ 
duction  in  color  with  Monique  Bon- 
nay  plying  the  hard-drinking,  sen¬ 
sually  terping  Goulue.  Producers 
are  Tobis  Films  and  Films  .Geor^ 
gette  Le  Tourneur.  Miss  Le  Tour¬ 
neur  also  directs. 


Start  ‘World  Mnsic  Bank1 
In  Scandinavian  Lands; 
Rockefeller  lifts  Tab 

Fort  Wayne,  Ind.,  pec,  30; 
Igor  Buketoff  *  conductor  of  the 
Fort  Wayne  Philharmonic  Orches¬ 
tra,  left  before  the.  holidays  .for 
Scandinavia  for  the  official  launch¬ 
ing  of  the  World  Music  Bank  Plan 
which  Will  go  into  effect  “Jari.  1, 
with  the  formal  exchange  of  Scan¬ 
dinavian  and  American  musical 
works  in  Stockholm, 

.  Buketoff  received  word  of  a 
Rockefeller  grant  made  via  •  the 
American  Symphony  Orchestra 
League,  less  than  24  hours  before* 
he  left.-  ,  He  will  return  on  Jam  2(h 
after  also  visiting  Holland,  Bel¬ 
gium,  and  France,  all  On  behalf 
of  the  Music  Bank  plan: 

Buketoff  took?  with  him  . -three 
"sets”  of  recordings  "and  scores  of 
contemporary  American  music. 
One  set  will  be  kept  on  file  at  the 
Swedish  State  Radio  Station,  and 
the  other  two  will  he  circulated 
among  Music  Bank  coordinators  in 
Norway,  Sweden,  Denmark,  and 
Finland. 

The  Scandinavian  radio  stations 
have  agreed  to  use  all  the  Ameri¬ 
can  works  during  the  year,,  on  vari- 
ous'occasions.  In  exchange,  tape 
recordings,  records,  and  scores  of 
top  contemporary  Scandinavian 
music  will  be  used  in  America,  to. 
familiarize  Americans  with  the 
best  Scandinavian  music..  " 
Buketoff -hopes  that  the  World 
Bank  program  will  soon  circle  the 
globe,  making  available  the  best 
modern  works  in  all  countries  to 
music  lovers.  The  works  are  se¬ 
lected  by  juries  of  the  leading  mu¬ 
sicians,  conductors,  critics  and  com¬ 
posers  in  each  nation.  Buketoff 
first  went  abroad  in  the  interests 
of  the  plan  last  winter.  He  was 
sent  to  Europe  again  last  summer 
by  the  Rockefeller  Foundation,  to 
.lay  the  groundwork  for  putting  the 
plan  into  operation. 

ITALIAN  SWITZERLAND 
TO  GET  LEGIT  OUTFIT 

Lugano,  Switzerland;  Dec.  23. 
Italian-speaking  part  of  Switzer¬ 
land,  the  Tessin,  a  stepchild  of  this 
country’s  show  biz,  so  far  without  a 
single  legit  company  of  its  .  own,  is 
to  get  its  first  taste  of  native  legit. 
Foundation  of  a  "piccolo  teatro” 
(little  theatre)  company,  modelled 
after  the  Piccolo  Teatro  della  Citta 
do  Milano,  has  been  announced 
here.  .  It’s  slated  to  step  into  ac¬ 
tion  this  month./ 

Troupe  will  include  young  Swiss 
artists  having  some  experience  ip 
Italian  legit.  The  repertory  wiil 
will  be  made  up  Of  classical  as  well 
as  contemporary  ,  drama  and  com¬ 
edy*  Foundation  of  the  company 
has  been  made  possible  by  financial 
support  of  the  cantoqal  govern¬ 
ment,  the  communities  of  Lugano, 
Locarno  and  Bellinzona,  the  .Tes¬ 
sin’s  three  principal  cities  of  which 
the  latter  is  the  canton’s  capital, 
as  well  as  cultural  circles.  . 


I  ETIENNE  DECROUX  AT  TUFTS 

!  French  Mime  Dives  ’Public  I*esaon' 
With  Mart  Epstein 

Boston,  Dec.  30. 

Etienne  Decroux;  Parisian 
"dean”  of  mime,  who.  was  brought 
to  New  York  some  months  ago  by 
the  Actors  Studio,  home  of  "The 
j  Method,”  made  his  first  U  S.  public 
appearance  recently  at  the  Tufts 
U.,  outside .  BOston.  It  was  hilled 
as  "a  public  lesson  in  the  art  and 
science  of  mime  by  the  teacher  of 
Jean-Louis  Barrault  and  Marcel 
Marceau,” 

Decroux  speaks  only  French. 
Here  he  was  "explained”  by  his 
pupil,  Mark  Epstein,  brother  of  ac¬ 
tor  Alvin  Epstein.  This  is  the  ar¬ 
rangement  followed  at  the  Actors 
Studio  in  Manhattan.  (Decroux  is 
also  conducting  classes  at  the  Sen¬ 
ior.  Dramatic  Workshop  on  Broads 
way  for  Saul  Colin.) 

The  Boston  Herald  critic  covered 
last  week's  demonstration,  calling 
it  a  *  tantalizing  exhibition .  by  a 
striking  and  original  man.’’ 

Arg.  Release  Tax 
Held  Up  30  Days 

Buenos7  Aires,  Dec.  23. 

The  same  bafflement  as  to  the 
new  Film  Law  regulations  also  pre¬ 
vails  over  the  Treasury  Ministry’s, 
release  tax.  Foreign  distributors 
have  received  tips  to  pay  the!  tax 
although  these,  were  cancelled  in 
some  instances,  Yank  distribs 
have  received,  word  via  circular 
that  the  tax  was  applicable  to  films 
from  last  Oct.  1. 

But  hist  week,  the  Foreign  Of¬ 
fice  advised  the  American  embassy 
that  the  law  be  suspended  for  an¬ 
other  30  days,  or  the  third  week 
in  January  next  year,.  Robert  Cork- 
ery.  MPAA  troubleshooter  for 
Latin  America,  has  been  cabled  to 
visit  here  pronto.  The  Assn,  of  Ar¬ 
gentine  Distributors  has  protested 
the  tax  as  unconstitutional.  -  It  also 
argued  that  the.  tax  was  based  on 
exceptional  pix,  few  of  which 
grossed  anywhere  near  the  amount 
on  which  the  .  taxation  was  cal¬ 
culated. 


CRIX  CHEER ‘80  DAYS’ 
AT  LONDON  BENEFIT 

London,  Dec,  30. 
Opening  of  "Around  World  in  80 
Days”  (UA)  at  the  Gaiety,  Man¬ 
chester,  set  a  new  all-time  high 
when  the  preem,  with,  a  $75  top, 
grossed  almost  $20,000  for  charity. 
The  theatre,  an  indie  house,  con¬ 
trolled  by  Harold  Buxton,  has  a 
capacity  of  around  .1,300  seats. 
The  opening  night  gala,  in  aid  of 
newspaper  charities,  was  attended 
by  all  the  local  crix  who  stood  up 
and  cheered  at  the  end  of;  the 
show— a  scene  regarded  as  unpre¬ 
cedented  iii  this  country.  .  Within 
12  .hours  of  the  preem,  the  theatre 
was  sold  out.  for  five  weeks. 


Manrie  Sness  Back  to  N.Y. 

London;  Dec.  23, 

.  Maurie  .  Suess,  producer,  .of 
"Count.  Five  and.  Die,”  Zonic  Pro¬ 
duction  for  20th-Fox  release,  which 
opeds  in  the  West  End  this  week, 
went  back  to  New  York  to  line  Up  a 
new  filmusical  for  production  in 
Britain!  early  next  year. 

The  new  venture,  based  on  an 
original  script,  will  also  be  for 
20th-Fox  release.  A  top  Hollywood 
star  is  being  paged  for  the  lead. .  ' 


Vancouver  Stresses  Tanadianness’  Of 


1st  Russo-French  Co-Prod. 

Paris,  Dec.  23. 

France  has  already  done  pic  co¬ 
productions  with  various  Russo  sa¬ 
tellite  countries  (East.  Germany, 
Poland,  Hungary,  Czechoslavakia), 
and  even  Red  China,  but  the  first 
actual  French-Russian  coproduction 
will  be  made  next  spring  In  Russia. 
Producers  are  Mosfilm  and  Franco! 
London  Film. 

Russo  scripter  Constantin  Simon¬ 
ov  is  due  here  this  week,  to  work 
with  Gallic  writers  Charles  Spaak 
and  Elsa  Triolet;  The  film;  "Nor- 
mandie-Niemah  ”  will  detail  the 
adventures  of  a  group  of  French 
aviators  who  fought  alongside  the 
Russians  during  the.  laid  war; 
Planned  to  use  French  ,  arid  Russo 
directors.  , 


in 


Vancouver,  Dec.  30. 

Come  July  19  next;  Vancouver’s 
"first  annual”  International  Festi¬ 
val,  previously  tagged  Festival  of 
the  Arts,  will  involve  some  400 
artists..  Despite  the  term  "interna¬ 
tional”  the  Festival  is  stressing  that 
350  of'  the  participants  are  Cana¬ 
dians. 

This  slightly  parochial  preoccu¬ 
pation  is  figured  a  necessary  pub¬ 
licity  technique  for  Canada  itself. 
Hence  making  a  part-Canadian 
(Montreal-born)  of  the  Californian, 
George  London,  Met  Opera*  bari¬ 
tone  who  wiU  render  "Don  Gio¬ 
vanni”  here.  Joan  Sutherland,  who 
WiU  be  Donna  Arina  opposite  him,/ 


is  credited  to  the  Empire  by  birth 
and  appearing  in  Vancouver  by 
permission  of  Covent  Garden, 
London. 

Eight  countries  will  have  partici¬ 
pating  artists  here.  Included  are 
France,  Germany,  Holland,  Norway. 
Bruno  Walter,  William  Steinberg, 
Marcel  Maceau,  Gunther  Rennart 
and  Douglas  Seale  are  already  con¬ 
tracted.  : 


Festival  points  up  birth  of  Pier- 
ette  Alairie  and  Leopold  Simoneau 
in  Montreal,  Bernard  Turgeon  in 
Edmonton,  Milla  Andrew  and  Don 
McManus  in  Vancouver  itself. 
Though  horn  in  Czechstovakia,  an¬ 
other  artist,  Jan  Rubes,  is  now  a 
naturalized  Canadian.- 


Censorship  Setup  Stalls  Fresh  Law 


Only  ‘Giant’  Among  Top 
10  in  Swiss,  Weakest 
Showing  by  U.S.  in  Yrs. 

Zurich,  Dec.  23. 

The  second  half  of  1957,  ending 
this  month,  on  the  Swiss  film  mar¬ 
ket  proved  one  of  the  weakest  ses¬ 
sions  for  Yank  pix  here  in  years. 
Only  one  of  the  10  top-grossing 
films  during  that  period  (in  the 
five  key  cities  of  Zurich,  Basle,/ 
Berne,  Geneva  and  Lausanne), 
"Giant”  (WB),  came  from  the  U.S. 
With  a  total  running  time  of  10 
weeks  in  three  cities,  it  wound  up 
ninth. 

For  the- first  time,  three  Swiss 
films,  highest  number  in  years,  are 
included  in  the  list.  "Bakery 
Zuerrer”  (Gloriafilm)  holds  the 
top  spot,  foUowed  by  "Taxi  Driver 
Baenz”  (Praesens  Film)  In  second 
position  arid  "The  Tenth  of  May” 
(Neue  Film  A.  G.)  in  fourth,  posi¬ 
tion.  Although  Teleased  in  on1? 
the  three  German-speaking  cities 
of  Zurich,  Basle  and  Berne;  these 
three  entries  racked  up  a  combined 
running  time  of  61  weeks,  an  un¬ 
precedented  total  for  native  fare. 

Other  top  grossers  were  two.  Ital¬ 
ian  and  four  Gallic  entries,  the  far¬ 
mer  being  "Nights  of  Cabiria,”  in 
the  third  spot,  and  color  docu¬ 
mentary  "Empire  of  the  Sun,”  in 
fifth-  France’s  contributions  were 
two  Michele  Morgan  starrers,  "Re¬ 
tour  de  Manivelle”  and  “Marie  An¬ 
toinette”  plus  "Girl  Merchants” 
and  "Take  Care,  Girls.” 


HA  FILMS  GET M 
OF  MEX  PLAYING  TIME 

Mexico  City,  Dec.  23. 

Hollywood  continues,  by  far,  to 
be  the  top  foreign  provider  of  films 
for  Mexico.  The  National  Cinemato 
Board  estimates  that  pix  imports 
this  year  will  crowd  !l;600,  of  which 
Hollywood,  will  sripply  85.8%, 
France,  8.2%,  and  Great  Britain 
and  Italy,  2%  each. 

Mexico  has  film  pacts  with  the 
latter  three  lands.  Foreign  pix  will 
provide  the  natioriail  treasury  with 
some  $36,000  in  import  duties  this 
year,  NCB  reckons. 

FBFM  Asks  More  Voice 
For  Prods,  on  Council 

London,  Dec.  23. 

An  appeal  for  an  amendment  to 
the  Film  Act  to  allow  producers 
stronger  representation  on  the 
Films  Council  has  been  made  by 
the  Federation  of  British  Film 
Makers.  The  Federation  explains 
that  the  first  function  of  the  coun¬ 
cil  is  to  “keep  under  review”  the 
progress  of  the  industry  in  Great 
Britain  with  particular  reference 
to  production. 

The  federation  is  drawing  the 
attention  of  the  Board  of  Trade  to 
.the  fact,  however,  that  of  22  mem-, 
bers  on  the  council,  only  four,  ere 
representatives  of  film  makers.  It 
reckons  -the  total  should  be  in¬ 
creased  to  at  least  seven.  It  further 
proposes  that' at  least  five  of  the 
seven  reps  Should  have  no  signifi¬ 
cant  exhibition  or  distribution  In¬ 
terests. 

Syracuse  U.  Is  Buying 
Regent,  Local  Filmery 

-  Syracuse,  Dec.  30. 

Syracuse  U.  will  purchase  the 
Regent  Theatre  in  downtown  Syra¬ 
cuse  from  the  Kallet  Realty  Co. 
Title  to  the  property  will  be  taken 
after  Jan.  1. 

The  theatre,  with  a  seating  ca¬ 
pacity  of  1,100,  will  be  adminis¬ 
tered  by  University  College,  the 
adult  education,  division  of  Syra¬ 
cuse  U.  It  is  the  first  spot  in  the 
chain  founded  by  Myron  J.  Kallet, 
was  remodeled  15  years  ago  at  a 
reported  cost  of  $250,000.  It  is  air- 
conditioned  and  has  widescreen 
projection  equipment. 

The  theatre  will  be  used  by  the 
college  drama  department,  which 
stages  about  Six  plays  a  year  in 
Machinery  Hall  on  the  campus, 
where  seating  capacity  is  limited  to 
200.  It  will  also  provide  needed 
space  for  educational  conferences, 
institutes,  lectures  and  documen¬ 
tary  films  from  the  Audio-Visual 
Center. 


Borne,  Dec.  23. 

Despite  the  previously  optimistic 
outlook,  it  now  appears  unlikely' 
that  a  new  censorship  law  can  be 
passed  here  before  the  old  legisla¬ 
tion  lapses  Dec.  31.  Discussions 
on  the  question  have  become  more 
and  more  heated  via  political  inter¬ 
ventions  by  leftwing  parties,  as 
feared.  Observers  doubt  whether 
an  agreement  on  the  principal 
points  of  controversy  can  he 
reached  in  the  two  meetings  sched¬ 
uled  before  Italy’s  House  and  Sen¬ 
ate  recess  "for  the  holidays. 

This  would  leave  two  paths  open. 
One  would  be  for  renewal  of  the 
old  legislation  for  another  year  or 
proclamation  of  an  interim  law  to 
he  approved  in  final  form  within 
a  twOmonth  period  of  time.  An 
eventual,  third  solution,  expounded 
by  some  hut  felt  legally  doubtful 
by  others,  would  be  the  lapse  of 
all  censorship  legislation  in  this 
country  until  a.  new  law  can  be 
drawn  up  and  approved.' 

Principal  hitch  in  the  censorship 
hassle  concerns  the  wording  of  arti¬ 
cle  2  of  the  proposed  law.  The; 
Christian.  Democrats  want  it  to 
read  fully,  arid  name  "morals,  re¬ 
ligion,  public  order,  and  patriotio 
sentiments”  as  specific  items  to 
come  under  control,  while,  the  left¬ 
wingers,,  with  political  censorship 
in  mind,  want  controls  to  extend 
only  to  moral  questions. 

Other  hitches  have  developed 
in  recent  weeks  over  the  article 
empowering  the  censorship  bodies 
(called .  "revision”  bodies  In  the 
law,  because  "censorship”  as  such 
is  illegal  under  Italian  law)  to  pro¬ 
hibit  export  of  certain  pix,  deemed 
too  rigid  a  means  of  control  by 
some. 

Among  ‘'the  many  amendments 
proposed  during  th&  debates  in  re¬ 
cent  weeks  ,  was  one  asking  that 
future  censorship  in  this  country 
be  changed  from  preventive  to  "re¬ 
pressive.”  Also  that  it  he  placed  In 
the  hands  of  the  courts,  as  in  many 
other  countries  and  not  in  the 
hands  o t  the  governmental  offices 
involved  here.  .This  is  claimed  by 
many  local  crix  as  one  of  the  causes . 
leading  to  the  current  critical  situa¬ 
tion  in  the  Italian  pic  industry. 

Meanwhile,  an  observer  for  the 
exhib  sector  put  the  finger  on  what 
he  called  the  "true  censorship. 
According  to  this  source,  the  pos¬ 
sible  censorial  complications  a  pro¬ 
ducer  faces  at  the  start  of  a.  proj¬ 
ect  are  so  many  as  to  discourage 
all  but  the  strongest  from  even  ab> 
tempting  a  production  in  this  coun¬ 
try. 

This  exhib  observer  .  claims  an 
Italo  filmmaker  has  to  think  Of  all 
the  following  reactions  in  his  fight 
to  get  his  pic  onto  the  screens.  Will 
the  film  be  accepted  as  an  Italian 
pic?  Will  it  he  termed  technically 
acceptable?  .  Can  It  get  a  tax  re¬ 
bate?  A  quality  prize?  Will  the 
Banca  del  Laboro  ( principal  -source 
of  pic  finance)  approve  a  grant? 
Will  it  be  deemed  fit  for  export? 
WIU  it  be  accepted  as  a  co-produc¬ 
tion?  Will  it  be  accepted  (by  the 
Italian  commission)  as  a  candidate 
to  a  foreign  festival?  Arid  finally, 
what  will  the  Catholic  Film  Office 
reaction  to  it  be? 

Hendl  Will  Exit  Dallas; 
Symph  May  Get  IturbI 

Dallas,  Dec.  30. 

Walter  Hendl,  conductor  of  the 
Dallas  Symphony  orchestra  for  the 
last  seven  seasons,  has  submitted 
his  resignation,  effective  at  the 
close  of  the  current  season.  He  will 
remain  to  conduct  six  symphony 
performances  .  in  1958  and  fulfill 
his  contract. 

Jose  Iturbi,  who  guest  conducted 
the  orch  yesterday  (Mon.)  for  the 
first  time,  hut  is  a  frequent  piano 
soloist  with  local  symph,  has  been 
mentioned  as  Hendl’s  possible  sue? 
cessor.  The  pianist  said  he  hadn’t 
been  approached  about  the  open¬ 
ing,  but  left  such  a  possibility  open. 


faradiie*  Due  March  4 

Minneapolis,  Dec.  30. 

"Search  for  Paradise,”  the  fourth 
'Cinerama  offering,  is  scheduled  to 
open  here  March  4.  By  then  "Seven 
Wonders  of  the  World”  will  have 
run  83  weeks,  the  longest  engage¬ 
ment  by  far  at  tne  Century  Thea¬ 
tre. 

First  arid  second  Cinerama  films 
ran  66  and  54  weeks,  respectively, 
in  their  *  local  -engagements. 


11 


Wednesday,  January  1,  1958 


PSBuU&Tr 


.PICTURES 


Report  Stresses  Telepix  Growths 


With  a  strongly  improved  net  to 
report  for  1956-57,  Jack  L.  Warner 
last  week  put  a  new  emphasis 
on  his  .  company’s  television  ac¬ 
tivities.  In  his  letter  to  the  stock¬ 
holders,  he  noted  the  ever-growing 
demand  for  high  quality  tv  film 
production  and  Warners’  determiii- 
,  ation  to  meet  it. 

Warner  also  made  it  plain  that 
the  company  wasn’t  ignoring  the 
stirrings  in  the  toll  field.  “We  are 
maintaining  close  watch  on  all  de¬ 
velopments  in  this  Unsettled  field,’’ 
he  wrote. 

As  previously  reported,  the  War¬ 
ner  Bros.  annual  report  showed  a 
net  of  $3,415,000  for  the  year  ended 
Aug.  31 ,  1957.  That’s  the  equivalent 
of  $1.90  per  share  on  1,793,296 


Hollywood,  Dec.  30. 
King .  Brothers  Productions  has 
reported  a  net  profit  of  $46,049  for 
the  fiscal  year  ending  Aug.  31, 
1957,  a  30%  drop  from  the  preced¬ 
ing  year’s  profit  of  $66,314. 

Frank  King,  prexy  of  the  organ¬ 
ization;  explained  to  stockholders 
that  the  earnings  do,,  not  reflect 
business  done  by  “The  Brave  One.” 
This  income,  which  will  be  included 
in  figures  ending  Aug. .  31,  1958, 
will  be.  “substantial,”  prexy  said. 

_  _  Gross  earnings  for  the  1957  pe- 

shares  of  common  outstanding.  By  i  riod  more  than  trebled  the  pre- 
comparison  the  1955-56  net  wasjviQus  year  ($1,326,714  compared 
$2,098,000  or  84c  per  share.  How-:  with  $417,111)  but  expenses  more 
ever,  this  total,  didn’t  include  the than  quadrupled  ($1,242,236  corn- 
sale  of  the.  Warrier  library  to  tele-  pared  with  $291,656). 


St.  Paid  Theatres' 


Warner  reported  that  the;  com-  j 
pany  had  borrowed  .$7, 000, 000  un¬ 
der  the  $20,000,000  credit  agree-;1 
•merit  established  with  ;a  group  of 
banks,  comprising  the  First  Na¬ 
tional  Bank  of  Boston  and  five 
other  banks.  Since  Aug.  31,  1957, 

$2,000,006  has  been  repaid,  leaving 
War  n  e  r  s.  with  an  obligation  of 
$5,000,000. 

Warner  again  warned  that;  the 
first  quarter  of  1957-58  probably 
Would  show  a  loss  from  operations 
“because  of  the  decline  in  domestic 
and  foreign  film  rentals.” 

The  report  showed  that,  since '  strike  going  into  its  third  Week 
Aug.  31,  Warner  Bros.  had  pur- {arid  no  down-river  daily  publish- 
chased  36,800  shares  of  its  :o.\v  1 


In  Paper  Strike 

St.  Paul;  Dec.  30. 
With  the  St.  Paul  newspaper 


common  stock  on  the  N.  Y.  Stock } 


ing,  United  Paramount  (Minrte- 


Exchange  for  $743,000,  leaving  j.so^a  Amusemefit  Co.)  and  .  RKO 
1,756,496  shares  outstanding  after  "Theatres  playing  the  same  pictures 
deducting  725,751  shares  head  in  in  both  cities  day  and  date  state 

treasury.  .  ..  ,  i  in  their  Minneapolis  newspaper 

Film  rental  and  sales  for  the;  _  .  ..  ..  ,, 

year  ended  Aug.  31  were  $75.476.; ;  for  such  attractions  the  names 
improvement  Over  the  t  of  the  St.  Paul  houses,  too>  where 


$73,350,938  of  1956-57.  However,  ho 
breakdown,  was  given  on  how  much 
of.  the.  $75,476,000  Were  ,  actually 
film  rentals.  The  year  reflected  the 
Income  from  “Giant,”  which  War- 


they’re  on  view; 

Currently,  “Peyton  Place,”  ‘‘The 
Sad  S^ck,”  “Les  Girls”  arid  “Leg¬ 
end  of  the  Lost”  are  running  in 


riers  had  to  split  With  G  eo  r  g  e  /both  of  the  Twin  Cities. 


Stevens,  Edna  Ferbef  arid  Henry 
Ginzburg. 


400  HAIL  TED  SCHLANGER 


Quarter  Century  With  Stanley 
Circuit  In  Philadelphia. 


Philadelphia,  Dec.  30. 

Approximately  4Q0  guests  at¬ 
tended  the  silver  anriivefsary  din¬ 
ner  in  honor  of  Ted  Schlanger’s  25 
years  as  head  of.  the  Stanley  War¬ 
ner  theatre  chain  here.  Dinner 
reservations  mounted  so  rapidly 
that  program  had  to  be  moved 
three  times  from  smaller  rooms  in 
the  Bellevue-Straftord  and  finally 
wound  up  in  the  hotel’s  big  ball¬ 
room'. 

Dinner  chairman  Jay  Emanuel 
lined  up  array  of  industryites  for 
the  dais.  Among  those  present 
were  Sol  A.  Schwartz,  Leo  F. 
Samuels,  Irving  H.  Ludwig,  Lou  E. 
Gaudreau,  James  V.  O’Gara,  Wil¬ 
liam  J.  Heieneman,  Max  E;  Young- 
stein,  James  R.  Velde,  Milton 
Cohen;  Eugene  Picker,  John  F. 
Murphy,  Paul  Lazarus  Jr,,  Rube 
jackter,  Herman.  Robbins,  Maurice 
Goldstein,  Irving  Wormser,  Charles 
Boasberg,  Bernard  Krarize,  Cy 
Fabian,  Irwin  Sochim,  Edward  Fa¬ 
bian,  William  Goldman,  Jack  Bere- 
sin,  James  P.  Clark,  Joseph  Vogel 
and  Pennsylvania  Governor  Geprge 
M.  Leader. 


’80  Days’  Has  Socko  Year 

Los  Angeles,  Dec.  30. 

“Around  the  World  in  80  Days” 
hit  $1,360,000  at  windup  of  first 
years- of  the  Mike  Todd  attraction, 
Saturday  (21)  night  at  the  Carthay. 

Only  previous  film  showing 
locally  on  a  similar  roadshow 
basis,  which  topped  this  figure  for 
a  comparative  period  was  “Cine¬ 
rama  Holiday”  at  Warner  Holly¬ 
wood,  racking  lip  ft  tremendous 
$1,648,000. 

A  total  of  578,231  a  patrons 
viewed  “80  Days”  durihg  itts  first 
year  here.  For  52d  frame,  his¬ 
torically  the  worst  week  of  show 
biz',  year,  picture  did  $21;500. 
against  $18,300  preceding  week. 


St,  Paul  theatres  are  contract¬ 
ing  almost  the  total  radio  and  tele¬ 
vision  spot  announcements  avail- 
ablities  to  offset  the  newspaper 
loss.  ; 

Local  showhouses.  are  also  ad¬ 
vertising  in  a  ;  merchants’  weekly 
16-page,  shopping  guide  newspaper 
published  during  the  strike  over 
Wage  scales  arid,  working  hours 
that  has  suspended  the  two  Riddem 
owned  dailies;  -However,  at  this 
writing  the  houses  haven’t  signed 
up  to  advertise  in  a  tabloid  Which 
the  Twin  Cities  Newspaper  Guild 
and  three  other  unions  involved  in 
the  walkout  have  started  and  will 
publish  six  days  a  week  until  the 
strike  ends.  Called  the  Sentinel; 
tab  is  being  sold  at  newsstands 
and  drug  and  grocery  stores 
throughout  the  city  at  10c.  per 
copy;  There  is  no  home  carrier 
service. 


Briefs  From  Lots 


Hollywood,  Dec.  30. 

•Man  in  the  Net,”  mystery  novel 
by  Patrick  Quentin,  purchased  by 
The  Mirisch  Co.  . . .  Isobel  Lennart 
set  by  Fred  Zinnemarin  to  script 
“The  Sundowners”  .  .  .  Rod.  Cam¬ 
eron  formed  Cameron.  Enterprises 
for  travelog  production. .  Tom 
Giles  draws  director  reins  on  AB- 
PT  Pictures*  ‘‘Hell  Week”  ,  i  John 
Horton,  Universal  staff  producer, 
checked  off  lot  .  .  .  Dennis  Hopper 
secured  release  of  his  Warner  Bros, 
thespact. 

.Vincent  Sherman  returns  to; 
Warners,  with  a  long-term  direc¬ 
torial  contract  ...  Gramercy  Pic¬ 
tures,  indie  headed  by  Jules  . Levey; 
Arthur  Gardner  and  Arnold  Laven,. 
set  a  program  of  four  ,  films  for 
United  Artists  release  in  1958,  in¬ 
cluding;  “Custer’s  Last  Stand.” 
budgeted  at  $2,000;000  .  .  ...  Louis 
Prima  makes  his  debutr  as  a  dra¬ 
matic  player  in  “Bourbon  Street 
Blues,”  which  AB-PT  puts  before 
the  cameras  on  location  in  New 
Orleans  in  February.  Walt  Disney 
purchased  “Pete’s  Dragon  and  the 
U.S.A.,”  an  original  story  by  Seton 
I.  Miller  and  S.  S.  Field  for  a  fea¬ 
ture  to  star  moppet  Kevin  Corco¬ 
ran  .  . .  Lucho  Gatica#  Capitol  Rec¬ 
ords  artist  touted  as  .  the  Frank 
Sinatra  of  South  America,  being 
dickered  for  a  six-picture  deal,  in¬ 
volving  $100,000  by  Kovacs-Carillo 
Productions,  new  indie  which 
.hopes  toi  bow  with  “Lost  Paradise.” 

Stanley.  Kramer  bought  Howard 
Fast’s  novel  “My  Glorious  Broth¬ 
ers”  for  filming  late  in  1958  .  .  , 
Richard  Brooks  replaced  George 
Cukor  as  director  of  “Cat  on  ri  Hot 
Tin  Roof”  which  Avon  Productions 
will  iriake  at  MGM .  . .  CarlEsmond 
set  for  a  featured  role  in-  "Me,  and 
the  Colonel,”  William  Goetz  pro¬ 
duction  starring  Danny  Kaye,  Curt 
Jurgens 'rind  Nicole  Maurey  .  . 
Martin  Jurow  and  Dick  Shepherd 
purchased  Dorothy'  M.  Johnson's 
play  “The  Hanging  Tree’’  for  film¬ 
ing  under  the  BarOdri  Productions 
banner  for;  Warner  release  .  .  .  In¬ 
die  producerrdirector  Ronnie  Ash¬ 
croft  and  attorney  A.  M.  Lurie 
formed .. .  Hollywood  -  International 
Pictures  which  will  tee  with  “Shark 
Women”  next  month  .  .  .  Walt  Dis¬ 
ney  acquired  screen  rights  to  a 
pair  of  nature  novels  by  Sally  Car- 
righar,  “One  Day  at  Settle  Rock” 
and  “One  Day  at  Teton  Marsh,”  for 
filming  as  full-length  truer-life  pix 
.  . ,  Possibility  of  encountering  bad 
weathrir  Ih  final  stages  of  produc¬ 
tion  has  postponed  the  scheduled 
lensing  of  “Secret  of  the  Purple 
Reefs”  and  “Little  Savage”  in  the 
Philippines  beginning  next  month: 
producer  Jack  Leewood  and  asso¬ 
ciate  producer  Richard  Lyons  now 
have  set  November  starting  dates’ 
for  the  Regal  entries. 

NEIL  AGNEW  WILL 
HIT  ROAD  FOR  20TH 

:  Nell  Agnew,  vet  distribution  ex¬ 
ecutive,  has  joined/  20th-Fox  as 
Special  sales  representative  work¬ 
ing  out  of  the  homeoffice.  His  first 
assignment  will  be  “A  Farewell  to 
Arms.”  . 

Agnew;  at  one  tiirie  was.  sales 
v.p.  at.  Paramount,  then  became 
prez  of  Selznick  Productions.  His 
last  position  in  the  industry  was 
with  Motion  Picture  '  Sales  Corp. 
Agnew  will  work  under  Alex  Har¬ 
rison,  20th  gerieral  sales  manager 
arid  he  will  travel  in  the  field.* 


||Standuig  Heaifline:  December  Slumps; 
‘Joey,’ ‘April,’  ‘Girls,’  ‘Nelson'  Toppers 
In  Boxoffice  Tally  For  Pre-Xmas 


December’s  Winners 


“Around  World”  (UA). 
“Pal  Joey”  (Col). 

“April  Love”  (20th). 

^Les  Girls”  (MtG*. 

‘•7  /Wonders”  (Cinerama). 
“Baby  Face  Nelson”  (UA). 
“Paradise”  (Cinerama),. 
“Created  Woman”  (Kings). 
“Commandments”  (Par). 
“Bombers  B-52”  (WB). 
“Pern”  <BV): 

“Kiss  For  Me”  (20th) 


(Variety's  regular  weekly 
.  boxoffice  reports  are  summar¬ 
ized  each  month ,  retrospective¬ 
ly.  Based  on  an  average  of  24 
key  situations ,  the  source  dgtfi 
constitute  an  adequate  sam¬ 
pling  of  current  releases  but  is 
hot ,  of  course,  fully  definite. 
An  index  of  relative  grossing 
strength  in  the  V.  S.-Caiiada 
..market,  the  monthly  report 
does  hot  pretend  to  express 
total  rentals.) 


Acad  s  Music  End 


On  Oscar  Score 


Hollywood,  Dec.  30. 

Music  Branch  Of  the  Academy  of 
Motion  Picture  Arts  rind  Sciences 
called  off  its  hassle  and  decided  to; 
accede  to  the  Board  of  Governors  ] 
decision  reducing  Music  Awards 
from  three  to  two.  As  a  result;  the  ] 
Oscar  sweepstakes  will  feature  a 
ballot  race  for  “Best  Song”  rind  for  ] 
“Best  Use  of  Music  in  a  film.”  In 
the  latter  category,  scores  for  dra¬ 
matic  pictures  will  compete  against 
scores  front  musicals;; 

jMiisic  branch,  also  rescinded  a 
previous  ‘Vote  of  censure”  against 
the.  Board  of  Governors  and  passed 
a  resolution  of  confidence  in  the 
integrity  of  the  board; 

However,  it  was  reported,  meiri- 
bers  of  the  Music  Branch  plan  to 
launch  a  campaign  for  reinstate¬ 
ment  of  separate;  Scoring  awards 
next  year;  To  that  end,  prominent 
members  who  resigned  in  protest—' 
notably/  Adolph  Deutsch  and  Mik- 
los  Rosza— will  be  asked  to  return 
on  the  grounds  that  a  better  battle 
can  be  waged  within  the  frame¬ 
work  of  the  Acridemy  father  than 
outside  it. 

Furorei  erupted  when  the  Acad¬ 
emy  announced  that  it  was  drop¬ 
ping  former  awards  for  best 
scoring  of  a  dramatic  film  and  best 
scoring  of  a  musical in  favor  of  one 
scoring  award.  Opposition  centered 
around  the  fact  that-the  composers 
were  being  asked  to  judge  between 
two  different  forms  of  musical 
work,  rather  than  determining  the 
best  ,  work  in  any  Category. 

Vote  to  accept  the  Board  de¬ 
cision  for  only  one  scoring  award 
came  after  Acad  prexy  George 
Seaton  appeared  at  the  meeting 
and  reviewed  the  history  of  the 
change.  He  read  from  minutes  of 
meetings  to  show  that  it  had  been 
under  study  since  1954  and  pointed 
put  that  Awrirds  in  six  other  cate¬ 
gories  also  pad  been  reduced  this 
year. 


Pressed  by  the  down-the-line  or¬ 
der  to  economize,  several  of  the 
film  companies  are  again  investi¬ 
gating  merger  possibilities  in  cer¬ 
tain  territories;  abroad. 

Conversations  so  far  haven't  got¬ 
ten  anywhere,  but— hiore  than  ever 
—the  will  to  do  something  is  there. 
That’s  particularly  true:  for  some 
of  the:  smaller  territories,  anid 
countries  where  licenses  are  too 
limited  to  make  individual  Opera¬ 
tions  worthwhile. 

..  However,  more  than  in  the  U.S., 
there  are  handicaps.  For  instance, 
explained  one  exec  last  week,  as¬ 
suming  that  two  companies  in  a 
given  territory  decided  to  pool 
their  facilities,  or  to  distribute  for 
one  another  (as  Metro  and  20th-Fox 
are  doing  in  some  spots),  the  local 
government  can  be  expected  to 
throw  up  roadblocks. 

Not  only  are  there  Certain#  legal 
obstacles,  but  the  unions— protect¬ 
ed  by  the  government  which  wants 


j  to  assure  employment— are  apt  toffees,”  said  an  exec.  “Instead  of 


present  stich  demands  that  there 
would  be  no  real  savings  in  closing 
up.  The  unions  threaten  to  ask  the 
kind  of  severance  pay  that;  actually 
makes  it  worthwhile  to  continue 
operations.  .  # 

Example, of  native  union  strength 
in  many  territories  is  cited  in  a 
deal  under  which  one  company  was 
going  to  release  a  package  of  re¬ 
issues.  Union  demanded  employ¬ 
ment  of  extra  tewinders  and  the 
Whole  deal  fell  through. 

The  companies  have  another 
choice,  and  that  is  to  sell  out  to 
local  distributors.  That  eliminates 
the  cost  of  running  exchanges,  but 
it  also  Tobs  them  of  control.  “We 
don’t  like  to  be  in  foreign  hands,” 
was  one  coiriment.  There  are  some 
teiTltbries  where  companies  oper¬ 
ate  in  this  fashion  (Turkey,  for  in¬ 
stance)  hut  most  of  the  majors 
would  rather  conduct  their  own 
sales,  despite  the  costs  involved/ 
“We  still  have  to  pay  distribution 


that.  We’d  rather  be  on  own  own. 

Situation  is  different  again,  in 
such  territories  as  Spain,  where  the 
Yank  outfits  are  strictly  limited  as 
to  both  licenses  and  remittances, 
and  the  branch  upkeep  just  isn’t 
worth  while.  Several  U.S.  distrib¬ 
utors  admit  that,  were  it- not.  for 
the  current  stalemate  there,  .they'd 
long  have  closed  in  Spain.  Iri  coun¬ 
tries  like  France,  where  the  ma¬ 
jors  get  110  permits,  they  supple¬ 
ment  their  release  list  with  local 
or  foreign  films.  Same  is  true  for 
Italy./ 

Though  to  a  somewhat  lesser  ex¬ 
tent#  the  lack  of  enthusiasm  for 
mergers  overseas  is  due  to  the  fear 
that  ,  a  loss  of  identity  may  be  in¬ 
volved.  The  coiripanies  act  and 
think  competitively  abroad,  and 
mergersr— even  if  only  in  the  area 
of  physical  handling— go  against 
their  grain.  At  the  same  time,  it's 
admitted  that;  they’re  inevitable, 
despite,  the  resistance  generated  to 
the  idea  by  the  local  personnel. 


By  MIKE  WEAR 

Proverbially  the  worst  single 
month  in  show  business,  December 
this  year  ran  true  to  form  at  the 
first-run  boxoffice.  In  fact,  most  ex¬ 
hibitors  complained  that  unseason¬ 
ably  mild  weather  part  of  the 
month  plus  a  batch  of  remarkably 
weak  product  made  some  weeks 
worse  than  usual.  However/  tile 
uiual  year-end  pick-up  during  the 
Christmas-New  Year’s  week  al¬ 
ready  was  indicated  as  the  month 
closed,  with  a  big  array  of  new# 
strong  product .  measuring  up  to 
highest  expectations. 

Still  in  No.  1  spot  for  the  mohth 
of  December  was  “Around  the 
Worljj  in  80  Days”  (UA>.  making 
the  seventh  month  it  has  wound 
up  as  national  -boxoffice  champ. 

“Pal  Joey”  (Col)  finished  sec¬ 
ond,  the  same  as  in  November.  It 
hit  first  place  one  week  duririg  the 
month.  “April  Love”  -  (20th),  a 
newcomer,  captured  third  money# 
showing  marked  strength  for  this 
type  of  picture. 

“Les  Girls”  (M-G).  third  in  ^No¬ 
vember,  was  a  close  fourth-place 
winner.  This  musical  displayed, 
sustained  stamina.  “Seven  Wonders 
of  World”  (Cinerama)  finished 
fifth  as  compared  with  fourth  place 
in.  the  preceding  month. 

“Baby  Face  Nelson”  (UA),  sur¬ 
prisingly  big  at  the  wickets,  came 
in  sixth  by  a  wide  margin.  “Search 
For  Paradise”  (Cinerama)  wound 
up  seventh.  “And  God  Created 
Woman”  (Kingsley),  though  play¬ 
ing  only'  arty  and  small-seater 
houses,  copped  eighth  place. 

“10  Commandments”  (Par)  took 
ninth  money.  "Bombers  B-52” 
(WB)  finished  in  10th  spot.  “Perri” 
(BV),  which  was  12th  in  Novem¬ 
ber;  was  11th  while  “Kiss  Them 
For  Me”  (20th)  was  12th. 

Probably  the  biggest  lineup  of 
potentially  strong  to  great  grossers 
will  pace  the  key  city  first-runs  in 
January,  many"  having  been 
launched  late  in  December.  Scat¬ 
tered  playdates  or  single  preems 
make  a  true  line  on  some  of  these 
pix  impossible.  However,  “Sad 
Sack”  (Par)  showed  enough .  in 
the  final  week  of  the  month  to  tab 
it  as  one  of  Jerry  Lewis’  bigges*. 
R  wound  up  first  that  week,  with 
further  playdates  set  for  January. 

“Peyton  Place”  (20th)  looms  as 
a  blockbuster  on  the  basis  of  ini¬ 
tial  engagements.  “Bridge  on  River 
Kwai”  (Col)  is  rated  in  somewhat 
like  a  category,  being  great  on 
initial  two  dates, 

“Legerid  Of  Lost”  (UA)  likewise 
looms  as  a  smash  boxoffice  bet 
since  winding  up  a  big  third  in 
final  week  of  December  op  Scat¬ 
tered  playdates.  “Sayonara”  (WB) 
also  shapes  as  a  biggie  predicted 
on  its  showing  at  the  N.  Y.  Music 
.Hall. 

“Enemy  Belovy  *  (20th),  also  nev\ 
did  well  enough  the  first  week  out 
to  place  fifth.  “Farewell  To  Arms” 
(20th)#  another  newie,  was- rated 
hefty  on  its  preem  week  in  Los 
Angeles,  “Paths  of  Glory”  (UA), 
also  new,  was  terrific  opening  week 
in  L.  A.  “Witness  For  Prosecution” 
also  from  United  Artists#  was  rated 
torrid  in  L.  A. 

“Raintree  County”  (M-G),  11th 
in  November,  .  lagged  last  -month 
being  runner-up  pic  just  two  dif¬ 
ferent  weeks  but  never  doing  too 
much.  It  gets  the  continuous-run 
treatment,  now  with  the  day-date 
engagement  in  N.  Y.  shaping  socko. 
“Graf  Spee”  (Rank)  showed 
enough  to  finish  ninth  one  week. 

“This  Iri  Russia”  (U)  did  excel¬ 
lent  biz  in  several  arty  houses  early 
in  the  month.  “Tin  Star”  (Par) 
wound  up  fifth  one  week  in  Decem¬ 
ber  but  did  not  go  far  after  that, 
“Rodan”  (Indie)  was  a  runner-up 
film  another  stanza. 


MEStEFr 


Wednesday,  January  F,  1958 


an  open  letter  to  exhibitors 
front  20th  about 

TOMMY  SANDS 


1/6  at  20th  have 

sm  BOY  SING  T+  "  a  r°m  cut  a 

Sta»'V!  idol  moo.  l»«iWioe  of  to 

- is  *«-.  * 

ks**e  you  bft,  *  Stro^  that  *>„  „ 

book  the  Di,**  ■  aee  t0MUY  Sam** 


W  sac  is  M  an  Produce,  J  ~  , 

.  *®*  «H  for  a.„. 


so°n.  This  is  x. 

3  18  the  kind 
can  become  *  . 


enthusiasm 


[M 


Wednesday,  January  I,  1958 


VARIETY 


PICTURES  13 


DOES  PARIS  ‘OVER-ESTIMATE’  U.S. 


Minneapolis,  Dec.  30. 

.  Against  the  Christpias  day  opening  of  new.  screen  attractions 
all  along  the  line,  Har.p.ld  Field’s  St;  Louis  Park  used  one  of  the 
largest  display  ads.  on  local  riewspaper  amusement  pages— the 
first  time  an  uptown  theatre  here  ever  has  Vied  with  the  loop  first* 
run  houses  in  this  respect  ' 

The  three-column  16-inch  spreads  cost :  the  suburban  theatre 
more  than  $200  per  each.  It  was  showing  Bank's  /Pursuit  of;  the 
Graf  Spee”  in  the  earliest  subsequent-run  28-day  clearance,  slot. 

Display  ad  partook  of  ,  an  institutional  nature  in  that  it  hot  only 
plugged  the.  picture,  but  also  called  attention  to  the  yarious  im¬ 
provements  at  the  showhouse  made  at  a  Substantial  eqst  recently 
and  its  free  coffee  “eappucino”  for  patrons,  the  last  named  an  ex¬ 
clusive  item. 

“We  .  wanted  to  regain  the' momentum  that  our  improvements 
gave  us  and  that  we  lost  during  the  10-day.  pre-Christmas  slump 
that  this  theatre  arid  most  others  suffered,”  explained  Field. 


Hazard  Reeve*  Assumes  Terminus  of  Stanley  Warner 
Deal-— Sperling  May  Help  Medium’s  Expansion 

With  Stanley.  Warner’s  exclusivi-  WAR  IN  GREENWICH  VILLAGE 
ty  on  the  production  and  exhibi-  .  " 

tion  of  Cinerama  films  expiring  at  Rivalry  Produces  $306,000  Ahti- 
the  end  of  1958,  Cinerama  Inc.,  trust  Vs  Brandt 

the  patent  holder  and  equipment  7 

manufacturing  and  .  ihstallation  Product  dispute  between  two/ 
firm,  has  commenced  negotiations  theatres  in  New  York’s  Greenwich 
with  other  organizations  to  pro-  village  section  erupted  last  Week 
duce  and  exhibit  the  three-strip  ii;ito  a  $300,000  treble  damage  an- 
hlrns.  .  titrust  suit  brought  in  N.Y.  Fed- 

It’s  probably  close  to  a  deal  with  eral .-Court  by  one  of  the  houses 
indie  producer  Milton  Sperling  for  against  Brandt  Theatres  Inc.  and 
the  production  of  a.  series  of  films  Distributors  Corp.  of  America, 
in  the  Cinerama  process.  If  so,  plaintiff  in  the  actioq,  which  also 
Sperling  may  take  on  the  produc-  as£s  an  injunction,  is  Luxor- 
tion  of  “The  Eighth  Day,”  a  film  Bieecker'  Amusement  Corp;,  oper- 
dealing  with  the  peacetime  rises i  of  ]  ;atpj.  0f  the  Waverly  Theatre, 
atomic  energy.  Cinerama  Inc*  has  -  since  last  July,  it’s  charged,  the 
been  making  preparations  to  pror  j  defendants  favored  the  Braridt- 
duce  such  a  film  for  more  than  a . bpoked .  Greenwich  Theatre  over 
year-  .  .  ,  •  (  the  Wayerly  although  both  houses 

Sperling,  son-in-law  of  f or mer  .  bad  piaye<j  product  day  and  date 
Warner  Bros.  prexy  Hainy  M  War-  fpr  is  years.  WaVerly,  located  some 
ner,  has  long  been  associated  with  ejgbt  blooks  from  the  Greenwich, 
WB  as  an  .indie  producer,  operating  demanded  day  and  date  pix  from 
through  his  U,  S.  Pictures  Co.  Cut  but  assertedly  was  turned 

riously,  WB  recently  made  a  deal  dQwn  -- 

to  produce  films  in  the  Cmemira-  Sui‘t  also  Claims  that  on  July 
cle  process,^  which  is  similar  to  3Q  1957  after  the  Wayerly  was  no- 
Cinerama.  Former  is  ^also  a. three-  tided  jbe  Greenwich  was  going  to 
strip  process,  but  is  projected  get  priority  on  DCA  products,  a 
from  a  single  booth  employing  Brandt  rep  offered  to  prevail  upon 
.three  projectors.  Cinerama,  on  DCa  to  provide  the  plaintiff’s  thea- 
the  other  hand,  is  projected  fiom  tre  with  day  and  date  films  if  it 
three ; separate  booths.  There  have  bired  Brandt  as  its  booker.  De- 
been  indications  that  Cinerama  f6ndants’  alleged  scheme,  it’s  cori- 
considers  the  Cinerairacle  process  tended,  is  a  conspiracy  in  violation 
,a  patent  infringement,  but  so.  far  I  Qf  the  antitrust  laws.  \ 
no  action  has  been  taken.  It  s  un-  r  .  .  ,  •  .  > 

derstood  that  Cinemiracle  has  been 

placed  on  notice;  but  no  moves  -JV*  f  *f  IV .  I 

will  be  mide  until  National  The-  |JiQfr|r|||Q  I  1011 1 A  1*0 
atres,  which  controls  Cinemiracle,  1/JOll  1VD  1/vlllUl  V 
officially'  launches  the  process  in  a  * 

Hazard  Reeves,  prexy  of  Cine-  |jQA  flf 

rama.  Inc.,  has  long  been  pitching  VtHVlvvO  Uvv  VI 
for  additional  productions  in  the  ; 

Cinerama  process,  maintaining  HI  (TV  .  I  Y  } 

that  only  by  having  more  product  I  A|*f|y  K  AOnchAfir 

available  Could  the  process,  surr  1  Cl  111  llUCltldllU  TV 

Vive,  and  expand.  In  addition  to 

the  possible  agreement  with  Sper-  There’s  concern  among  distribu- 
ling,  Cinerama  Inc.  has  been  dis-  tion  executives  over  the;  ease  with 
cussing  a  co-production  arrange-  which  the  term,  “roadshow*”  is.  be- 
ment  with  Cinerama  Productions  ing  bandied  about  in  the  industry. 
Corp.,  Which  turned  oyer  its  rights  Feeling  is  that,  in  their  eagerness 
to  Stanley  Warner  and  has  since  to  hypo  expensive  productions  at 
been  operating  as  a  watchdog  firm  the  boxbffice,  the  companies  may 
in  the  collection  of  royalties  from  be  going  overboard  on  the  road- 
SW.  show  policy. 

Both  Cinerama  Inc.  and  Cine-  Actually,  many  see  roadshowing 
rama  Productions  Corp.  have  long  '  0f  big  films  as  the  start  of  an  evo- 

been  uhhappy  with  the  tieup  with  |  lution  that,  eventually,  will  see 
Stanley  Warner  and  have  been  j  only  a  couple  of  thousand  key 
waiting  anxiously  for  the  expira-  j  houses  surviving  with  top  product, 
tion  of  the  exclusive  contract;  Un- 1  Around  them,  there  will  be  a  satel- 
der  the  original  deal,  sighed  in ;  lite  layer  of  convenient  suburban 
August  of  1953,  Stanley  Warner /locations,  and  then  there  will  be 
can  continue  the  exhibition  of  j  drive-ins.  The  run-of-the-mill  pix 
Cinerama  films  after  1958  on  an ;  will,  be  shown  on  ty  in  the  homes, 
non-exclusive  basis.  Howqveivr  Pending  such  a  new  pattern,  if 
Stanley  Warner  when  it  entered  indeed  it  comes  ahout,  roadshowing 
the  deal  with  Cinerama,  had  to  ob- !  can  be  overdone  and  its  attractive- 
tain  permission  from  the  Dept,  of  :  ness  can  be  killed  by  over-use,  the 
Justice  to  acquire  theatres  for  the  argument  runs.;  The  minute  you 
Cinerama  films;  An  extension  of  roadshow  inferior  product  —  in 
the  D.  of  J.’s  greenlight  will  be  re-  other  words*  use  the  -  roadshow  to 
quired  for-  Stanley  Warner  to  con-  artificially  create  importance  for  a 
tinue  the  exhibition  of  Cinerama  release— the  pubUc  will  be  disap- 
films  in  certain  theatres  past  1958,  pointed  and  will  refuge^  pay  the 

Reeves,  who  also  heads.  Reeves  high,  prices,  said  one  distribution 
Soundcraft  Corp.,  feels  that  the  re-  map  last  .week 
lease  of  Cinemiracle  will  in  no-way-  He  noted  that  the  effects  are 
hurt  Cinerama.  He  has  maintained  cumulative;  and.  frequently  arent 
that  Cinerama  is  a.  superior  proc-  immediately  noticeable.  You  show 
ess /  He  has  claimed  that  by  plac-  a  man  adwappmrtUnB^ture.jm 
ing.  the  thre'e  projectors- together  terms  of  joW  he  wto^kod  to  pay 
in  thp  neiiterrif  a  theatre  the  par-  for  it,  and  youll  still  have  the  at- 

ifciplSionnMSom » by Cte 

SarJatb  flattStt  s*een‘  S  tip  1 

«U  has  been  making  i  ^tailed  sistande  towards  juture  jilms,”  be 

is  a  theory  that  this  is 
operation,  has  muted  tnat  ■  xtur  r^cnpptc  ton  "Rnr1  in- 

^  og  a,- 


Distribs  Deplore 
Careless  Use  Of 
Term  'Roadshow’ 


There’s  concern  among  distribu¬ 
tion  executives  over  the;  ease  with 
which  the  term,  “roadshow*”  is  be¬ 
ing  bandied  about  in  the  industry. 
Feeling  is  that,  in  their  eagerness 
to  hypo  expensive  productions  at 
the  boxoffice,  the  companies  may 
be  going  .overboard  on  the  road¬ 
show  policy. 

Actually,  many  see  roadshowing 
of  big  films  as  the  start  of  an.  evo¬ 
lution  that,  eventually,  will  see. 
only  a  couple  of  thousand,  key 
houses  suryivlrig  with  top  product.. 
Around  them,  there  will  be  a  satel¬ 
lite  layer  of  convenient  suburban 
locations,  and  then  there  will  be 
drive-ins!  The.  run-of-the-mill  pix 
will,  be  shown  on  ty  in  the  homes. 

Pending  such  a  new  pattern,  if 
indeed  it  comes  ahout,  roadshowing 
can  be  overdone  and  its  attractive¬ 
ness  can  be  killed  by  over-use,  the 
argument  runs.  “The  minute  you 
roadshow  inferior  product  —  in 
other  words,  use  the  -  roadshow  to 
artificially  create  importance  for  a 
releaseT— the  public  will  be  disap¬ 
pointed  and  will  refuge  lo  pay  the 
high,  prices,”  said  one  distribution 
mandast  week. 

He  noted  that  the  effects  are 
cumulative  and  frequently  aren’t 
imiriediately  noticeable,  “You  show 
a  man  a  disappointing  picture,  in 
terms  of.  what  He  was  asked  tot  pay . 
for  it,-  and  you’ll  still  have  the  atr 
tendance,  on -your  books.  But  in  x 
number  pf  customers  you’ll  have 
built  up  a  resentment  and  a  re¬ 
sistance  towards  future  films,”  he 
opined.  . 

Thei'e  is  a  theory  that  this  is 
true  in  other  respects,  too.  For  in-;, 
stance,  iri  terms  of  inisleading  ad-  j 
(Continued  on  page  16)  3 


GRAND  JURY  QUESTIONS 
THEATRE-RIOT  KIDS 

Houston;  Dec.  30. 

About  20  teenagers  spent  the  day 
here  telling  the  ^Harris  County 
Grand  Jury  what  they  knew  about 
the  Nov.  27  midnight  iracas  which 
damaged  the  Brunson  Theatre  iri 
Baytown,  Tex.  Grioup  was  ques¬ 
tioned  about  the  demonstration  by 
a  few  of  the  1,200  youngsters  pres¬ 
ent  at  the  t  h  e  a  t  r  e  wheri  eggs, 
pickles,  brickbats  and  other  things 
started  flying  toward  the  stage. 

Five  youngsters  are .  charged  with 
malicious  ihischief  in  the  distiirb- 
ance  which  has  caused  the  discon¬ 
tinuance  of.  midnight  movies  at  the 
Baytown  theatres. 

.Although,  the  youths  were  not 
destructive  in  the.  grand  .jury  wait¬ 
ing  room,  their  presence  was  her 
ginning  to  wear  on  the  nerves  of 
the  bailiffs  by  the  end  of  the  day. 

This  Is  Nice*  Too 
Baytown,  Tex,  Dec.  30. 

Reprisal,  by  arson  was  suspected 
in  the  fire,  here  that  desti-oyed  the 
car.  of  an  usher  Who  works  in  the 
B  r  u  n  S  o  n  Theatre  which  was 
wrecked  here  by  rioting  teenagers 
Thanksgiving  eve.  Car  belonged  to- 
Bob  Porter;  and  was  parked  on  ‘  a 
lot  of  the  Robert  E.  Lee .  High 
School  .  . 

.  Police  chief  Roy  Montgomery, 
said  he:  suspected  arson  and  would 
ask  the  district  attorney’s  office  iri 
Houston  to  assigri  a  special  investl- 
gator  to  aid  his  officers  in  solving 
the  case* 


Dept.  Store  Twist 


Selznicks  'Arms 


Hollywood,  Dec..  30. 

Exhibition  pattern  for  “A  Fare¬ 
well  to  Arms”  in  Los*  Angeles, 
W'here  it’s  being  roadshown  day- 
and-daite  downtown  ,  and  in  seven 
suburban  houses,;  will  be  adopted 
.  by  20th-Fox :  in  other  areas  of  the . 
ebuntry.  Next  probably,  will  be 
Chicago  6r  Milwaukee. 

The  L.  A.  houses  are  showing 
“Farewell”  at-,  advanced  prices, 
W'ith  starting  times  staggered .  and 
Clearly  indicated  in  the  press. 
David  O.  Selznick  pic  has  opened 
in  44  California  theatres.  In  New 
York,  ,  it’s  skedded  for  the  Roxy 
Theatre,  with  no  indications  that 
the  normal  clearance  syslfem  w;ill 
be  abandoned. 

It’s  felt  at  20th  that  the  “Fare¬ 
well”  release  method  may.  Serve  as 
a  paper  for  the  future;  Avith  the  es¬ 
tablished  clearance  system,  involv¬ 
ing  a  two  Jo  six  week  Ayaiting  peri¬ 
od  for  th<?  nabes  after  the  down¬ 
town  run,  being  replaced  by  si¬ 
multaneous  -  showings.  20th  and  : 
Selznick  iielieye  that  *like  the  de¬ 
partment  stores,  the  industry  must 
bring  the  merchandise  to  where 
people  live. 

David  O.  Selznick  evaluates  the 
pattern  used  here  by  20th;  for 
“Farewell  To  Anus”  as  an  applica¬ 
tion  to  films  of  the  departirient 
store  chai  pattern— selling  the 
same  goods  simultaneously  down¬ 
town  and  in  the  suburbs. 

Film  might  ,  ordinarily  have 
played,  only  the  relatively  small  ca¬ 
pacity  Chinese  but  With  the  added 
seven- houses  had  7,500  locations  to 
fill  at  $2.  This  enabled  an  Open¬ 
ing  week  of  $67,000  and  a  Christ¬ 
mas-New  Year’s  span  of  $125,000, 

Showmen  ^re  coriimenting  that 
this,  is  a  twist,  an  end-run  around 
-obsolete  release  systems  and  a  way 
to  rake  iri  the  dough  needed  in  to: 
day’s  financing. 

CHICAGO 

Elmer  Fitzgibbons,  18  years  on 
Paramount  Pictures  publicity  staff 
here,  pirik-slipped  recently.  Wal¬ 
ter  Hoff niari  of  Paramount’s  Seattle 
Office  takes  over  p:a.  chores  here. 

A1  Raymer  separated  from  In¬ 
diana  Illinois  Theatre  Circuit  when 
that  organization  gave  up  its  Film 
Row  headquarters  here  last  week. 
Raymer  is-  now.  associate  riianager . 
here  with  Schoenstadt  Theatres. 


French  films  during  the.  year  has  made  a  valuable  contribution, 
just  passed  were  the  Only  foreign  Maternati  says  his  semi-govern- 
language  films  to  register  any  sig-  mental  bureau  could  emp'oy  a  irian 
nificant  headway  iri  the  U.  S.  This,  ---paid  for  by  the  French  produc- 
very  progress  is  posing  for  the  ers— -to  devote  himself  solely  to 
French  the  difficult  question  of:  coriimercial  liaison,  an  activity 
Where  do  ice  go  from  here?'  which,  he  feels,  would  pay  for'it- 
.  As,  far  as  the  art  houses  are  self  and  would  fit  well  into  the 
concerned,  the  French  product  is  framework  of  the  bureau, 
doing  as  well  as  it  can  be  ex-  Indies  in  N.  Y.  are  watching  the 

pected  to  do!  In  fact,  the  better  French  -  moves  with  considerable 

Frerich  releases  '  have  no  problem  interest  arid  with.  a  .  certain  amount 
at  all  finding  -specialized  outlets  frustration.  On  the  one  hand 
in  most  places  where  such  outlets  they  can  point  to  definite  progress, 
exist;  and  Some  dubbCd.  French  °ri  the  other  they’re  being  told  in 
imports  have:  managed  to  pene-  so  many  words  that  they  aren’t 
trate  well  beyond  the  art  circuit,  doing  a  perfect  job*  “Just  let  the 

But  the  French  now  are  at  odds  French  producers,  men  like 

over  ways  and  means' of  strength;-  < Georges)  Loureau  and  (Henri) 
ening  and  broadening  their  foot-  Deutschmeister  make  good  pictures 
hold  in  the  States,  arid  they  are  ter  the  American  market  and  they, 
getting  some  conflicting  advice.  won’t  have  to  worry  about  the  re- 
In  France  (as  per  last  week’s  is-  turns,”  was  one  indie  comment, 
sue  of  Variety), -there  exists  in  “But,”  he  added,  “you  can’t  ex- 
some  quarters  s  tri  o  rig  sentiment  Pect  us  to  do  miracles  when;  they 
for  new  moves  leading  to  “depth”  give  us  a  good  one  every  tlirea 
distribution  anchored  to  the7  ac-^ ^  "years,  and  then  expect  us  to  do 
quistipn  of  showcases.  In  fact,  a  equaiy  Well  with  their  lemons." 
new  c  omp  a  ny- — Finacines— has  That  reaction  to  French  films 

-been  created,  to  explore  that  ?av-  isn’t  uniform  in  the  States  is  a 
enue  of  approach.  matter  of  record.  For  instance,. 

In  New  York,  where  the  French  “God  Created  Woman”  is  a  big 
have  their  Film  Office  under  Jo- 1  but  “Four  Bags  Full”  <“Tra- 
seph  Maternati  now  entering  its  versee  De  Paris,”)  a  much  better 
third  year,  things  look  different,  ^m  artistically,  is  disappointing. 
The  iriipression  is  gained  that  Ma-  “  Grand  Maneuvre  shou  d  have 
terriati  doesn’t  favor  any-  leasing,  fought  On  but  didn’t,  but  the  medi-. 
Of  theatres,  or  other  Frerich  ’at-  here.  “Diabolique”  shaped  as  a  big 
tempts  to  gain  “depth”  penetration,  f grosser. 

Instead,  he  wou’d  like  to  see  the  — ' — * - 

Film.  Office  act  more  as  a  liaison  _ 

in  commercial  dealings  between  llAMlA|  ||AVVA 

the  French  producers  and  the  riRl  JlrVlIHI  U2VS 
American  distributors.  *  vuju 

Sfaternati’s  Logic  /CYfTf  C  ’/I  \  A 

Maternati  argues  that  the  ( /W  Af  |T|*ACCI  Ac 

French  film  has  progressed  strong-  \u  /A  HI  vlvvv/  ilu 

ly  in  1957  via  the  Indies  and  with 

the  assistance  of  his  office  Which  |T  1  *|  ^f'  '  |  • 

functions  primarily  in  the  pub-  H«r|||9|  RlAClOlHifl 

licity  and  contact  area  while  -  liAllIBI  ilUuUU&iU 

multarieously  serving  as  a  base  for  '  ^ 

the  French  industry  in  New  York,  !  Minneapolis  Dec  30 

In  Ms  report  on  1957  .to  Jacques  ,  Memories  of  the  good  old  d*» 


Exhib  Nostalgia 


the  French  industry  in  New  York,  ]  .  Minneapolis  Dec  30 

t  i  liSl  his  report  on  1957  Jo  Jacques  i  Memories  of  the  good  old  days 

.  A - —  of  the  French  Centre  j  j>or  exhibitors  were  awakened  by 

National  du^Cmematografie,  Ma-]  testimony  in  the  concSling 
ternati  says  36  French  .films  yyeie .  of  the  Federal  court  trial  of  cir- 
S’tS  °'™ers  Bhbensteih  &  Kaplan’s 


released  in  '57  against  only  23  in; 
1956.  He’s  strongly  optimistic  re 


ivoxK  tne.s  scrongiy  opumisuc  re  $540,000  anUtrust  conspiracy  suit 
in  against  major  distributors'and  the 
TT* i Wr In rh  Minnesota  Amusement  Co.  (United 
more  cities  idayed  more.  French  paramount)  here. 

films  during  the  past  year,.  Ma-  JoKn  Branton,  vice  president  in 
’ll  charge  of  buying  and  booMn“t<»-. 
*  tified  that  hack  in  1936  such  local 

shaking  and  many  dee 

°VKs|S  that  Ken&s  in 

fWsa  TT  c  arncfciA  Asroe-  *9  onnnon  f°r  example,  on  a  flat  rental  that 


^  tU„V.S-  ^edever^.000^ 


in  1957.  Actually,  while  their  to  ^ little^2^ 

number  has  increased,  quaiity-wise  sr2>^'+VlA  , _ .  .....  .  ,  . 

the  French  releases  have  been  dis- 

appointing.  The  moneymakers  S  ‘d  ^  M£C 

vrert  all  released  towards 

end  of  :  the  year— "God  Created  ia”*tWctt“.^.*'eorfjnf  to  tl,e 
Woman,”  "Rama,"  “Gervaise”  Brantw;  Jeshmony.  At  the  same 

and  “Nana.”,  “Woman,”  starring  l™f,i25w  K.o  an  m  st!ff 
Brigitte  Bardot,  uiiquestlonabiy  Up- *° 

shanpg  one  nf  the  hipcrpctl 90  /0  are  customary  terms  for  sim- 
French  earned  in  thi  IT  - S  Jhere  Har  product*  it  Was  brought  out. 


Brigitte  Bardot,  unquestionably  S?-  te  ,  UP-  *0 

shonpc  «  One  nf  the  hipcrpctl 90  /0  are  customary  terms  for  sim- 

French  earners  in  the  u.- S  wdiere 

most  houses  are  playing  it  dubbed.  n  ^ ataman m  tjOS+ 

wrt  x  n  •  aw.  X1.A*  [  g00(*  0ld  days  many  independent 

What  Price  Depth.  theatres  in  plajing  positions  sub- 

.  Importers  in  New  York  take  a’ !  ordinate  to  those  of  the  affiliated 
dim  view  of  the  repeated  French  !  circuit  theatres,  earned  greater 
plan's  to  gb  for  depth  In  the  States.  ■«  profits  because  of  their  much  more 
They  argue  that  the  French,  eh-  favorable  film  deals, 
couraged  by  several  successes,  •  R.  &  F.f  the  plaintiffs,  allege  the 
“overestimate”  the  inarket  iri  their  j  competing:  affiliated  circuit  neigh- 
eagerness  to  expand  the  incoriie  j  borhood  Arion,  although  being  an 
from  the  territory.  Indies  say  that. !. inferior  theatre  and  charging  the 
With  some  exceptions  such  as  a  same  admission,  received  seven 
particularly  ;  sexploitational  film  ;  days  discriminatory  and  preferen- 
which  comer  along,  only  once  in- a  [  tial  .  clearance  over  their  Holly- 
while,  the  French  actually  are  bet- |  wood  and  that,  in  consequence, 
ter  off  serving  the  limited  mafket  they  suffered  financial  damage 
rather  than  going  for  mere  booking  Theer  has  been  conflicting  tes- 
vol.ume  which  Can;  cost  more  than  timony  regarding  whether  the 
it’s  worth.  .  plaintiffs  had  protested  against  the 

French  insistence  on  acquiring  -  alleged  clearance  discrimination 
outlets  is  a  puzzlement  to  the  in- :j  arid  had  asked  for  an  earlier  Hol- 
dies  who;  have  no  trouble  getting  lywood  run.  The  defense  al«o- 
playdates  when  they  offer  product ;  sought  to  show  that  the  Hollywood 
that  appears  to  have  a  b.0.  poten- ;  had  prospered  more  than  the  Arion 
tial.  Distribs  can’t  understand  despite  the  later  run. 
what  the  French  could  gaixt  by  j  Federal  Judge  G.  H.  Nordby 
running  their  films  i  their  own  now  has  the  case  under  considera- 
theatres  if  the  pictures  don’t  at- :  tion  and  is  expected  to  return  a 
tract  an  audience*  It’s  here-  that '  decision  within  the  next  several 
it’s  argued  that  the,  French  cam-  months.  He  also  presided- sans  jurv 
paigners  get  off  course  by  .  failing  jn  t'ow  other  similar  local  suits  in 
to  recognize  the  realities  of  the  I  one  of  which  the  exhibitors,  also 
mar?etV  ./  .  .  iu  .  L  represented  by  Lee  Loevengeri,  the 

The  indies  also  hold  that  their  .  R.  &  K.  attorney*  won  a  $135,000 
system  7 of  distribution  works  well ,  judgment. 

arid  is  economical..  Many  of  them  ■  '  _ 

argue  that,,  if  jhe  Frerich  really!  Cardinal  Animation  Service  Inc., 
want .  to  contribute,  they  Should  ,  0f  New  York,  has  changed  its  riant* 
spend  their  coin  on  helping  to  to  Pelican  Filmservicc  Corp.  ac- 
publicize  releases,  locally  or  na- :  cording  to  a  certificate  filed  in  Al- 
tionally.  ■  Several  feel  that,  in  this .  bariy  by  Stanley  Friedenbcrg. 


Wednesday,^  January  1,  1958 


"RAINTREE  COUNTY' 

Eyery  opening  BIG! 

"DON’T  go  near 
THE  WATER" 

Breaking  records  in  first  engagements! 

"SEVEN  HILLS  OF  ROME" 

Next-attraction  Radio  City  Music  Hall! 

"THE  BROTHERS 
KARAMAZOV" 

Follows  "Seven  Hills”  at  Music  Hall! 

"MERRY  ANDREW" 

First  New  York  Preview  tke 
Talk  of  tke  Town! 

"ALL  AT  SEA" 

,First  four  spots  forecast  a  feast 
for  tke  Ians! 

"THE  SAFECRACKER" 

Spell-kinding  preview  reveals 
sock  drama! 

"SADDLE  THE  WIND" 

Rickly  fills  tke  demand  for 
kig- scale  westerns! 

"THE  SHEEPMAN" 

Ditto  for  tkis  powerful  attraction! 


Lemer-Loewe’s  first  score  since  tke 
famed  "My  Fair  Lady"! 

EYES  ON  M-G-M! 


15 


V edneeday,  January  1,  1958  PB&IETY  PICXCBBS 


PICTURES 


P^Rmrr 


Hollywood  Production  Pulse 


ALLIED  ARTISTS  . 

Starts,  This  Y ear  , ...... .28 

This  Gate,  Last  Year  ......  19 


COLUMBIA 

Starts ,  This  Year  . . ,■ . .  ,33 
This  Date,  Last  Year  . . .  .  .38 


"ME  AND  THE  COLONEL" 

-  (William  Goetz  Prod.) 

(Shooting  in  France)  .  : 

Prod. — William  Goetz 
Dir. — Peter  Glenville 
Danny  Kaye,  Curt  Jurgens.  .Nicole 
Maurey,  Akim  Tamiroff,  Martita  Hunt, 
Francoise  Rosay 
(Started  Nov.  18) 


WALT  DISNEY 

Starts ,  This  Year . ...... ...  2 

This  Date,  Last  Year . .....  I 


"THE  NAKED  AND  THE  DEAD" 

(RKO  Piets.) 

(Shooting  ini  Panama) 

Prod.: — Paul  Gregory 
Dir.— Raoul  Walsh 

Aldb.  Ray,  Cliff  Robertson.  Raymond 
Massey,  L.  Q.  Jones,-  James  Best,  Joey 
Bishop,  Richard  Jaeckel,  Jerry  Paris, 
..Greg  Roman.  William  Campbell,  Rob¬ 
ert  Gist 

(Started  Dec.  12) 


INDEPENDENT 

Starts,  this  Year. 1 39 
This  Date,  Last  Year _ _  .97 

"ACROSS  THE  EVE RG LADES" 
(Schulberg  Prod.) 

(Shooting  in  Florida) 

Prod. — Stuart  Schulberg 
Dir.— Nicholas  Ray 

Christopher  Pliuiuher,  Burl  Ives,  Gypsy. 


"OUR  VIRGIN  ISLAND" 

(Shooting  at  New  Elstree  Studios) 

Prod. — Grahame  Tharpe  and  Leon  Clore 
Dir.— Pat  Jackson 

John  Cassavetes,  Si  Vir¬ 

ginia  Maolrpll  • 

(Started:  Oct.  7) 

I  PARAMOUNT  !' 

Starts,  This  Year  7.  •.  .  > .....  2 
This  Date,  Last  Year  ....  .  -0 

"ANOTHER  TIME— ANOTHER  PLACE" 

(Kaydor  Productions) 

.  Prod— J  oseph. .  Kaufman 
Dir.— Lewis  •  Allen 

Lana  Turner,  Barry  Sullivan,  Glynis 
Johns  ,i 

(Started  Sept.  .30) 


"THE  LAW  AND  JAKE  WADE" 

Prod. — William  Haw£4 
Dir. — John  Sturges 

Robert  Taylor,  Richard  Wldmark,.  Burt. 
Douglas,  Patricia  Owens.  Robert  Mid¬ 
dleton,  Henry  Silva,  Eddie  Firestone 
(Started  Nov^  .12). 


PARAMOUNT 

Starts,  This  Year. ........  16 

This  Date,  Last  Year.  * .....  17 


Conway,  Sammy  Rennick,  Tony  Ga- 
(  lento.  Peter  Falk,  Pat  Henning;  Fred 
Grossing er,  Toby  Bruce, :  Mackinlay 
.  Kantor 
(Started  Nov. 

[  "TOM  THUMB" 

(Galaxy  Piets.). 

(MGM  Release) 

(Shooting  in' England) 

Prod.— George  "Pal 

..Russ  Tamblyn,  Alan  Young,.  Terry 
Thomas,  Peter  Sellers,  June  Thorburn, 

.  ..  Bernard  Miles 
:  (Started  Nov.  .25) 

"SEPARATE  TABLES" 
(Hecht-Hill-Lancester) 

(UA  Release) 

Prod.— Harold  Hecht 
I  Dir. — Delbert  Mann 

i  Burt  Lancaster,  Rita  Hayworth.  Deborah 
I  Kerr,  '  David:  Niven,  Wendy  Hiller, 
-Gladys  Cooper,  Catheleen  Nesbitt, 
Felix  Aylmer,  May  Hallatt,  Rod  Tay- 
Iori  Audrey  Dalton,  Priscilla  Morgan. 
(Started  Dec.  9) 

."GANG-  WAR" 

(Regal  Films) 

(For  20th-Fox  Release) 

Prod.— Harold  Knox 
Dir. — Gene  Fowler  Jr. 

Kent  Taylor,  Gloria  Henry,  Charles 
Bronson,  .  Jennifer  Holden,  Gloria 
Grayir,  John  Doucette,  Dan  Simmons 
(Started  Dec.  13) 


"THE  BUCCANEER" 

Prod- — Henry  Wilcoxon 
Dir. — Anthony  Quinn 
Yul  Brynner,  Charlton  Heston,  Charles 
Boyer,  Claire  Bloom,  Inger  Stevens, 
Henry  Hull,  E.  G.  Marshall,  George 
Matthews,  Theodora  Davitt.  Douglass 
Dumbrille,  .  Ashley  Cowan.  -Manuel 
Rojas,  Bruce  Gordon,  Robert  F, 
Simon,  John  Dierkes,.  Robin  Hughes, 
Iris  Adrian,  Leonard  Graves,  Jerry 
Hartlehen,  Steven  Mario.  Fran  - Jef¬ 
fries,  Robert  Warwick,  Onslow 
Stevens,  Jack  KrusChen,  Julio  de 
Diego,  Reginald  Sheffield,  Stephen 
Chase,  Lome  Green,  Judd  Holdren,’ 
Gean  De  Briac,  Sidney  Melton,  Mickey 
Finn  . 

(Started  Sept.  30) 

"ROCK-A-BYE  BABY" 

(York  Prods!) 

Prod. — Jerry  Lewis’ 

Dir.— Frank  Tashlin  . 

Jerry  Lewis,  Marilyn  Maxwell.  Connie. 
Stevens.  Reginald  Gardiner,  Baccalon, 
Hairs  Conneid 
(Started  NoVi  35) 


IN BRITAIN 


20th  CENTURY-FOX 

Starts ,  This  Year. ....... .25 

This  Date,  Last  Year ....  ...  .  25 


"THE  BARBARIAN  AND  THE  .  SSHA" 
(Shooting  in  Japan) 

Prod.— Eugene  Frenke 
Dir. — John.  Huston 

John  Yflayrie,  Eko  Anda,  Sam  Jaffe, 
So  Yamamura 
(Started  Oqt.  14> 

"TEN  NORTH  FREDERICK" 

Prod. — Charles  'Brackett 
Dir.— Philip  Dunne 

Gary  Cooper,  Stay  Packer,  Diane  Varsi, 
Geraldine  Fitzgerald.  .  Tom  Tully. 
Stuart  Whitman,  John  Emery;  Philip 
Ober,  Joe  McGuinn,  Nolan  Leary, 
Helen  Wallace 
(Started  Dec.  2) 


UNIVERSAL 

Starts,  This  Year  .31 

This  Date,  Last  Year. ....  .32 

•NEVER  STEAL  ANYTHING  SMALL" 

Prod. — Aaron  Rosenberg  ■ 

Dir. — Charles  Lederer  . 

James  .  Cagney,  Shirley '  Jones.  Roger 
Smith,  £ara  Williams,  Royal  Dhno. 
Virginia  Vincent,  *  Jack  .  Albertson, 
Horace  McMahon,  Robert  Wilkie 
(Started  Oct.  3D 
"AND  RIDE  A  TIGER" 

Prod; — Ross  Hunter 
Dir.— Helmut  Kautncr 
June  Allyson,  Jeff  Chandler,  Sandra 
Dee,  Conrad  Nagel,  Charles  Coburn, 
Hayden  Rorke 
(Started  Dec.  2) 


WARNER  BROS. 

Starts,  This  Year . . ... . ,  .  .20  . 

This  Date,  Last  Year. .  . .  74 


RANK 

Starts,  This  Year 
This  Date,  Last  Year 


i—ftlBlO  CITY  MUSIC  KALI— i 

Rockefeller  Center  •  Cl  6-4600 

MARLON  BRANDO 

la  TicNkwa  mi  TitMcthrJ) 
A.Wonwr  Bfo*.  ndure 


"A  NIGHT  TO  REMEMBER"  . 

Prod.— William  McQuitty'. 

Dir.— Roy.Baker  - 

, .  Kenneth  More,  David  McCallum,  ill 
.  Dixoii  .- 

(Started.  Oct.  14)  : 

"NOR.  THE  MOON  BY  NIGHT"  • 

(Shooting  in  Africa  and  Pinewood) 

Prod. — John  Stafford 
.  Dir.— Ken  Annakin 

....  Belinda  Lee,  .  Michael  Crai  Patrick 
McGoohan 
(Started  Noy.  ID 
"THE  WIND  CANNOT 
„  •  Prod. — Betty  Box 
Dir. — Ralph  -  Thomas 
Dirk  Bogarde,  Yoko  Tani,  Ronald  Lewis 
(Started  Dee.  16) 

BRITISH  LION 

Starts,  This  Year  9 

This  Date,  Last  Year. .....  12 

"THE  PACK" 

Prod.— Sergei  Nolbandov  . 

Dir.: — Brian  Desmond  Hurst 
Michael  Redgrave,.  Tony  Britton 
(Started;  Oct.  ?U 


Censor’s  Slip 

[  Continued  from  page  7  s 


ASSOCIATED-PATHE 

Starts,  This  Year  . . . -  ..A 

This  Date,  Last  Year  .....  :/4. 

"ICE  COLD  IN  ALEX" 

Pro  — W.  A.  Whittaker 
Dir. — J.  Lee-Thompson 
John  Mills,  Sylvia  Syms,  Anthony 
Qvayle>  Harry  Andrews 
(Started  Sept.  16)  ; 

"WONDERFUL  THINGS'' 

(Everest  Productions) 

Prod. — Anna  Neagle 
Dir.— Herbert  Wilcox  .  . 

Frankie  Vaughan,  Jackie -Lane,  Jeremy 
•Spencer 
(Started  Nov.  5) 

- '  ■  ’  - — - — r- — - ■ - J 

ANGLO  A’LG’MATED 

Starts,  This  Year  ......... .8 

This  Date,  Last  Year  . .  .  .  4 

"THE  DUKE  WORE  JEANS" 

(Insignia  Films) 

ProiL— Peter  Bogey 
Dir.— ^Gerald  Thomas. 

Tommy  Steele,  June  ..Laverick,  Michael 
Medwin  .  : . 

(Started;  Oct.  28) 

"4  5  SPECIAL" 

Exec.  Prod.— Herbert  Smith 
Asst.  Prod. — Josephine.  Douglas 
r  Dir.— Alfred  Shaughhessy 

Dickie  Valentine,  Joan  Rdgah,  Lonnie 
Donegan, .  Buss  Hamilton 
[,  (Started  Nov.  25), 

I  COLUMBIA 

Starts,  This  Year  .  -  .  .6 

This  Date,  Last.  Year  ..... .4 

"THE  KEY" 

(Highroad  Productions) 

Prod. — Carl  Foreman 
Dir;— Sir  Carol  Reed  .  . 

William  Holden,  Sophia  Loren, 

Howard 

(Started  Aug.  7) 

"THE  REVENGE  OF  F RANKE NST.EI 
(Hammer  Films)  . 

Prod.— Anthony  Hinds 
Dir.— Val  Guest 
Casting 

(Starts  Dec..  30) 


20TH-FOX 

Starts,  This  Year 
This  Date,  Last  Year  . . 


"SMILEY  GETS  THE  GUN" 

(Canberra  Film  Productions) 

(Shooting  in  Australia) 

:  Prodl— Anthony  Kimniins 
;  Dir.— Anthony-  Kimmins 

-  Chips  Rafferty,  Sybil  Thorndike  j  Keith 

Calvert  • 

(Started  Nov.  11) 

"HARRY  BLACK"  . 

(Shooting  in  India) 

Prod.— John  Brabourne 
Dir.— Hugo  Fregonese 
:  Stewart  Granger,  ..Anthony  Steel, 
bqra  Rush. 

(Starting  Jan..  2) 

METRO 

Starts,  This  Year  . .....  .  .7 

This  Date,  Last  Year  ......  ,4 

"TOM  THUMB." 

(Galaxy :  Productions) 

Prod.— George  >  Pal 
.  Dir.— George  Pal 

Russ  Tamblyn,  Alan  Young,  Terry 
.  Thomas,.  Peter  Sellars,.'.  Jessie.  Mat¬ 
thews 

(Started  Nbv.  25) 

"NOWHERE  TO  GO" 

(Ealing  .Films)-., 

Prod. — Michael  Balcon 
.  Dir.— Seth  Holt- 

George  Nader,  Bernard  Lee 

-  (Started  Dec. 

P  UNIVERSAL  ” 

Starts,  This  Year  . i ....... .1 

This  Date,  Last  Year  . v . . .  .  0 

"DRACULA" 

(Hammer  Film  Productions) 

Prod. — Anthony  Hinds  . 

-Dit .—Terence  Fisher,- Peter  Cushing 
Christopher :  Lee 
(Started  Nov.- 5) 

WARNER  BROS. 

Starts,  This  Year  ........ .5 

this  Date,  Last  Year  .......  7 

"INDISCREET"  ' 

Prod.— Stanley  Donen 
Dir.— Stanley  Donen 
'  Ingrid .  Bergman,  Cary  Grant 
(Started  -Nov.  18)  _ 

EROS  FILMS 

.  L  Si'dris,  This  Year  ....... .14 

This  Date,  Last  Year  ......  12 

"CAT  AND  ’MOUSE" 

(Anvil  Films) 

Prod. — Paul  Rotha 
Dir.— Paul  Rotha 

•  Lee .  Patterson, .  Ann .  Sears;  Hilton  Ed¬ 
wards,  Victor  Madderri,  Diana  Faw¬ 
cett*  George  Rose,  Reddy  McMillan  • 
(Started  Nov.  .25) 

"A  QUESTION  OF  ADULTRY" 

(Raystro  Productions) 

Prod. — Raymond  Stross 
Dir. — Don  .'Cbaffey  i 

Julie  London,  Anthony  Steel,  Basil 
Sydney,  Geoffrey  Keen 
(Started.  Dec.  2) 

"VA" 

(Criterion  Filin .  Productions) 

.  Prod.— George  Maynard 
Dir.—Vernon;  Sewell 
Michael  Rennie,  Patricia  Medina*  David 
Knight,  MiUy  Vitale 
(Started  Sept.  30) 


Define  ‘Roadshow’? 

Continued  from  pgge  13 

vertising,  pictures:  that,  run  too 
long,  etc.  It's  figured  that  this  may 
be  part  of  the  recent  decline,  since 
the  public  has  been  urged  many 
times  to  see  pix  that  didn’t  live  up 
to  top  standards;  Industry’s  atti¬ 
tude’  generally  is .  that  the  critics 
are  siiperHcritical  and  that  the  pub- 
lic-^now  consisting  60%  of  young 
peopie-^is  willing  to  accept  almbst 
anything.;. 

There  now  are  those  who  believe 
'that,  while  this  theory  may  be  su¬ 
perficially  true,;  the  public  has  de¬ 
veloped  a  growing  critical  sense 
Which,  while  riot  necessarily  analy¬ 
tical,  provides  a  sense  of  the  in¬ 
adequate  and  the  disappointing. 
This,  in  turn,  has  affected  attend¬ 
ance  Vover  an .  extended  period  of 
time. 

Filiris  currently  roadshowing  ‘  in¬ 
clude  ‘‘Cinerama,”  “Around  the 
World  in  *80  .  Days,”  “Ten  Com- 
maridmerits,”  “Bridge  .Over  the 
River  Kwai,”  arid,  in  the ..  future, 
.“Farewell  to  Arms”  (on  a  limited 
roadshow),  probably  “Old  Man  and 
the  Sea-”  the  Cinemiracle  films 
from  Warnen  .Bros.,  etc.;  “Raintree 
County”,  started  out  as  a  roadshow, 
but  was  switbhed.  A  number  of 
upcQiriing  -  releases  i#re  slated  for 
the  roadshow  treatment.  i 


;  could  consist  either  of  classifying.; 
i  films  for  adults  and  juveniles,  or 
in  an.  educational  program  for 
parents,  urging  ott  them  to  wake 
up  to  their,  own  responsibilities. 

“The  trouble  is,  and  this  isn’t 
sufficiently  recogfinized,  that  no 
regulation  will  work  properly  un¬ 
less  it  has  the  support  of  the 
people.  And  the  people  will  not 
support  a  censor  unless  he. is  en¬ 
lightened  and  responsible.  This- 
lias  been  one  of  the  troubles  of 
the  past  arid  it  will  continue  to 
plague  films  in  the  future.  There 
is  nothing  more  dangerous  and 
deadly  than  an  ignorant  censor.” 

Actually,  the  only  important 
censor  case  to  reach  the  Supreme 
Court  in.  1957  was  “The  Game'  of 
Love,”  which  had  been  banned  in 
Chicago.  The  ban  had  been  up¬ 
held  by  the  lower  court  and  was 
upset  by  the  Supreme  Court.  Pend¬ 
ing  fbr  1958  is  “Lady;  Chatterly’s 
■  Lover,”  which  was  banned  in  New 
.  York  and  is  heading  for  the  High 
I  Tribunal,  and  “God  Created  Wom- 
I  an,”  recently  banned  in  Rhode  Is- 
*  land.  Both  films  are  released  by 
{  Kingsley  .  International,  .with  the 
{ cases  handled  by  London.  The 
[banning,  of  ‘Mom  and  Dad”  , in 
Kansas  also  may  go  to  court. 

The  only  active  censor  boards 
left  now.  are  in  New  York,  Vir¬ 
ginia,  Maryland  .  and  Kansas,  with 
.  Maryland  now  tending  to  follow 
closely  the  N.  Y.  decisions.  In  ad¬ 
dition,  some  29  cities  have  active 
censor  boards,  among  them  Chi¬ 
cago  and  Detroit. 

The  theory  that  the  industry 
should  go  along  with  a  "good”  cen¬ 
sor  Is  contradicted  sharply  by  Fe¬ 
lix  Bilgrey,  attorney  for  Times 
Film,  which  has  been  most  active 
in  battling  it  out  with  various  cen¬ 
sors.  Bilgrey  won  important  anti- 
censor  victories  in  Maryland  and 
Massachusetts. 

,  “It’s  foolish  to  go  along  .with  a 
‘good*  censor  because,  tomorrow, 
he  may  be  replaced,”  argued  Bil¬ 
grey.  ‘This  is  a  long  and  contin¬ 
uing  fight.  I  believe  there  is  a 
chance  that  the  Supreme  Court 
will  reverse  its  current  stand  and 
go  beyond  the  narrow  issue  in  vio¬ 
lation  of  what  is  their  preferred 
practice.  The  Supreme  Court 
moves  slower  than  the  lower  court. 

“But  it  did  make  the  very  basic 
decision  in  the  ‘Miracle’  case,  in 
which  motion  pictures  got  a  new 
legal  meaning  and  standing,  beifig 
raised  from  there  entertainment  to 
be  part  of  the  field  of  communica¬ 
tions  and  thus  eligible  for  Consti¬ 
tutional  guarantees  of  the  freedom 
of  speech  and  expression.  Even- 
tually,''!  am  sure  the  Court  will  go 
all  the  way.” 

According  to  current  estimates, 
the  total  cost  of  censorship  to  the 
film  industry  now  runs  to  about 
$500,000  annually,  which  doesn’t 
include  such  items  as  the  shipping 
of  prints,  manpower,  etc.  What  an¬ 
noys  many  in  the  industry  is  that 
the  remaining  boards,  while  fully 
operative  in  that  all  pix  are  sub¬ 
mitted,  are  barely,  effective.  The 
only  censorship  basis  left  ,  in  the 
New.  York  statute,  for  instance,  is 
obscenity;  aiid  under  the  Supreine 
Court  rulings  it’s  very  clear  that  a 
film  really  must  be  extreme  to 
qualify  under  that  definition. 

Whether  the  distributor  would 
be  well  served  under  a  changed 
procedure,  under  which  there 
would  be  no  pre-release  banning, 
but  a  picture  could  be  closed  up 
after  a  single  showing,  is  question¬ 
able.  Practically,  there  would  be 
little  difference.  From  the  lawyers’ 
point  of  view,  the  burden  of  proof 
in  such  a  case  would  then  be  up 
to  the  censors  rather  than  the  dis¬ 
tributor  or  the  theatre,  aiid  the 
issues  automatically  would  have  to 
be  hashed  out  in  Court. 


:  Wednesday,  January  19  1958 


1 

T|HecH-Lancaster: 
5  ‘Were  Expanding 


Bill  Alland 

.Sis  Ubntlnned  from  pace  3  555 
money  only  because  they  weren’t 
brought  in  oil  realistic  budgets— 
not  because  they  weren’t  seen  by 
enough  people. 

‘There’s  something  radically 
wrong,”  he  added,  “when  a  picture 
can  gross  $5,000,000  and  still  riot 
break  even.” 

The  answer,  he  feels,  is  In  rigid 
cost  controls  that  are  realistically 
based  on  boxoffice  potentials.  As 
ail  arbitrary  yardstick,  he  suggests 
the  average  picture  be  made  for 
around  $250,000  with  the  big  pic¬ 
tures  to  have  a  ceiling  of  $1,000,000 
-^except  for  the  occasional  prop¬ 
erty  that  has  blockbuster  potential 
and  justifies  additional  expanse*  | 


The  first  independent  production 
company  to  so  expand.  Hecht-Hill- 
Lancaster  is  in  process  of  setting 
up  a  staff  of  field  men  to  work  with 
the  United  Artists  exploitation  de¬ 
partment.  At  the1  same  time  Ber¬ 
nard  M.  Kamber  has  been  appoint¬ 
ed  H-H-L’s  national  director  of  ad-, 
pub  and  exploitation. 

>  In  addition  to  the  field  reps  pub¬ 
licity  departments  have  been  set 
up  in  Hollywood  and  New  York, 
all  under  Kamber’s  direction,  with 
the  job  of  hari’dling  the*  unit’s  12- 
picture  program  as  announced  for 
UA  release. 

Kamber,  who  was  an  indie  pub¬ 
licist  woirking  with  H-H-L  on.  a 
special  assigriinent  basis,  joined 
H-H-L  last  year  as  exec  assistant 
in  charge,  of  the  N.  Y.  office. 

Robert  Schiffer  is  continuing  as 
H-H-L’s  publicity  coordinator  on 
the  Coast. 


Lows  A.  Green 

^  Continued  from  •  page  3 
monious  board  of  directors.  If. 
Green  succeeds  in  his  peacemaking 
efforts,  he  will:  serve  on  the  board 
of  directors.  He  Is  believed  also 
anxious  to  induce  one  of  his  asso¬ 
ciates,  another  Wall  St.  ^investor 
who  is  in  semi-retirement,  to  serve 
on  the  board.  .  Asked  about  this, 
Green  prefers  tq  withhold  the 
name*  "of  this  individual  at  this 
time,  but  has  stressed  that  “he  will 
be  a  tremendous  asset  to  us.” 

As  To  19-Man  Board 

The  new  Loew’s  “peacemaker” 
is  represented  as  feeling  that 
Loew’s  current  19-man  board  is  too 
unwieldy  to  conduct  the  com¬ 
pany’s  business  properly.  He  has 
been  pushing  for  a  reduction  of 
the  board  to  10,  but  it’s  understood 
that  he  has  run  into  some  opposi¬ 
tion  on  this  problem.  Some  offi¬ 
cials  of  Loew’s,  it’s  said,  feel  that 
it  would  be  embarrassing  to  ask 
certain  board  members  to  step 
down  after  they  ..agreed  to  serve  on 
the  board  to  'help  Vogel  and/or 
Tomlinson  in ,  the  recent  proxy 
fight;  At  any  rate,  the  question  of 
the  composition  of  the  new  board 
is  expected  to;  be  settled  in  a. week 
or  two.  The  new  nominees  will!  be 
listed,  in  the  proxy  statement  for 
the  annual  meeting  which  will  be 
sent  to  stockholders  shortly  after 
the  meeting  of  the  present  board 
on  Jan.  9. 

Green  is  reported  to  be  entering 
the  Loew’s  situation  with  “no 
strings  attached,  no  pre-conceived 
notions  and  with  a  clear,  untram¬ 
meled  mind.”  It’s  stressed  that  his 
aim  is  to  build  up  and  revitalize 
the  harassed  Company  and  that  he 
will  not  be  a  party  to  any  liquida¬ 
tion  scheme.  ' 

Green's  eritry  in  the  Loew’s  riiat- 
ter  comes  at  a  time  when  the  com¬ 
pany  is  expected,  to  release  one  of 
the  most  disastrous  year-end  finan¬ 
cial  statements  in  its  history.  The 
report,  for  the  fiscal  year  ending 
last  August,,  will  show  no  earnings 
and  a  possible  loss;  It’s  agreed  by 
those  involved  in  Loew’s  that 
“there’s  a  whale  of  at  lot  doing” 
that  must  be  Accomplished  to  ex¬ 
tricate  it  from  its  serious,  financial 
plight. 

Green,  although  not  regarded  as 
a  “movie  man,”  is  highly  regarded 
as  a .  financial  expert  “who  knows 
how  to  add  columns”  and  who  can 
help  in  the  bootstrap  operation  that 
is  required  at  Loew’s. 

Meanwhile,  Loew’s  precarious 
position  has  made  jthe  company  a 
target  for  individuals  and  syndi¬ 
cates  seeking  to  make  quick  gains 
by  obtaining  control  of  the  com¬ 
pany.  Much  of  these  efforts,  how¬ 
ever,  represent  wishful  thinking 
and  has  resulted  in  considerable 
loose  talk  involving  numerous 
groups.  Various  .  syndicates  havG 
been  making  inquiries  on  Wall  St,, 
but  there  has  been  no  significant 
development. 

‘NoahYArk’  Makes  Port 

Fort  Worth,  Dec.  30,  . 

“Noah’s  Ark”  (Indie)  has  grossed 
the  biggest  single  day’s  biz  here  at' 
the  Bowie  Theatre  since  the  house 
was  taken  Over  by  the  Cinema  Arts 
Theatre  Circuit  in  1955. 

The  pic  Was  made  on  a  Darryl 
Zannck  script  in  1929  and  is  cur¬ 
rently  being  reissued  and  is  playing 
to  nice  bouses  throughout  the  state. 


IS 


TOffXVISIOX 


pASUEiY 


Vedneaday,  January  1,  1958 


Big  Time  Sports’ Bid  In  Philly 


On  ToIItesIoii  Venture 

By  JAY  TOMSON 


Washington,  Dec.  30.  -f 

First  application  to  use  a  televi¬ 
sion  channel  for  pay-see  was  filed 
last  week  with  the  Federal  Com¬ 
munications  Commission.  Hereto¬ 
fore,  alL  for  pay  plans  have  in¬ 
volved  wired  services  which  do 
not  require  FCC  approval. 

The  new  applicant  is  Philadel¬ 
phia  Broadcasting  Co.  which  whs 
granted  UHF  channel  29  in  Philly 
in  March,  1956.  However,  it  never 
attempted  to  build  and  go  on  the 
air  because  the  -Philadelphia  ai;ea 
has  only  VHF  stations  arid  is  silt¬ 
rated  with  VHF  receivers. 

Last  October,  when  the  FCC 
ruled  it  would  consider  applica¬ 
tions  for  home-toll  tv,  after  March 
1,.  1958,  it  provided  they  must  come 
from  areas  Which  have  a  qiinimum 
of  four  commercial  stations. 

Philadelphia  has '  three  and  a 
fourth,  assigned  to  Wilmington, 
Dela.  (30  miles  away)  has  moved 
its  transmitter  so  that  it  virtually 
blankets  the  Philadelphia  area. 

Philadelphia  Broadcasting  CO. 
proposes  to  convert  its  Ch.  29  to 
Skiatfon’s  Subscriber-Vision  sys¬ 
tem.  'Company,  would  send  a 
scrambled  UHF  signal  which  would 
be  decoded  by  an  IBM  punch  card 
sent  to .  subscribers  for  their  sub¬ 
scription  attachments.  Urideir  this 
system,  the  UHF  attachment  would; 
permit  subscribers  to  receive,  free, 
programs  transmitted  with  o  u  t 
charge  by  any  other  :UHF  stations. 
Philadelphia  is  now  readying  a 
hew,  education  station,  WHYY-TV 
in  the  UHF  band. 

Basically,  the  29ers  would  oper¬ 
ate  a  “big  time  sports"  station.  It 
would  seek  to  offer  full  seasons  of 
home  and  away  games  of  the  Phil¬ 
adelphia  National  League  Baseball 
Team;  the  Philadelphia  Eagles 
(professional  football);  Philadel¬ 
phia  professional  basketball  games; 
and  the  home  basketball  games 
played  by  five  Philadelphia  col¬ 
leges. 

In  addition,  it  would  offer  “spe¬ 
cial  .events”— stage  presentations, 
motion  pictures,  symphonies,  op¬ 
eras,  etc.,  it  says  in  its  application. 

*  There  woiild  be  two  categories  of 
subscribers: — ■ 

(1.)  Domestic  (sets  in  the  home), 
paying  $30  annually  for  the  basic 
sports  schedule;  plus  $1  apiece  for 
the  non-sports  “specials.” 

(2.)  Commercial  (sets  in  tap- 
rooms,  restaurants,  etc.)  paying 
SI  00  annually  for  basic  sports,  plus 
$5  apiece  for  “special”  events. 

Customers  Would  be  billed  quar¬ 
terly.  Philadelphia  Broadcasting 
estimates  it  has  a  potential  of  300- 
000  customers.  It  already  has  an 
exclusive  deal  with  the  Philadel¬ 
phia  Warriors  (pro  basketball)  and 
is  working  bn  arrangements  with 
the  others,  its  explained.  It  prom¬ 
ises  no  commercials, 

Nomikos  Buys  Grand, 

Chi  Action  First-Run 

Chicago,  Dec.  30. 

The  first-run  Grand  Theatre  was 
sold  last  week  to  Van  Nomikos  by 
the  Clark-Grand  Theatre  Corp.,  in 
which  Van  Nomikos  was  a  partner. 
This  is  the  third  house  bought  by 
Nomikos  here  iu  the  last  few. 
months,  the  others  being  the  Pan¬ 
theon  and  De  Luxe! 

Nomikos  declares  the  Grand  Will 
continue  its  first-run  policy.  The 
house  has  been  one  qf  the  four 
main  downtown  outlets  for  action 
and  horror  combos. 


Versatile  Jack  Poppele 

Biding  two  horses  dept. : 
Jack.  R.  Poppele  alumnus  of 
WOR,  f  ormer  prez  of  the  Tele¬ 
vision  Broadcasters  Assn.,  is 
on  the  board  of  Skiatron  Elec¬ 
tronics  (Subscriber  -  Vision) 
and  also  active  in  the;  manage¬ 
ment  of  Teleglobe.  ... 

Latter  competes,  with  Skia¬ 
tron  in  the  tolf  field. 


Barker  to  Create 


Viewer  Interest 

“Teaser”  element  in  toilcasting 
wais  stressed  in  New  York  last 
week,  by  Solomon  Sagall,  prexy.  of 
the  Teleglobe  pay-as-you-see  sys¬ 
tem,  Which  claims  to  be  the  sim¬ 
plest  pay-tv  method  yet  to  hit  the 
market; 

Sagall  said  that  a  “barker”  was 
needed  in  any  pay  system  to  create 
viewer  interest  and  that  the  Tele¬ 
globe  method*  was  ideal  in  provid¬ 
ing  the  “coming  attraction”  trailer 
via  its  wired,  sound  outlet. 

Teleglobe,  which  has  applied  to 
the  Federal  Communications  Com¬ 
mission  for  a  commercial  license, 
works  this  way:  The  picture  is 
telecast  by  the  station  in  regular 
fashion  and  without  scramble.  The 
sound  *  “diverted”  to  a  central 
switchboard  from  where  it’s  piped 
into  the  home  and  reproduced  via 
a  separate  speaker.  Use  of  the 
speaker  automatically  registers  on 
the  central  board  and  is  metered 
for  eventual  billings;  While,  not  in 
use,  the  Teleglobe  line  can  provide 
uninterrupted  hi-fi  music  as  a 
“bonus.”. 

According  to'S^gall,  the  Tele¬ 
globe.  system  has  the  advantage 
over  systems  in  that  it  doesn’t 
require  any  modification  in  the  tv 
set  and  can  be .  serviced  easily. 
Furthermore,  Sagall  claimed,  its 
basic  costs  are  much  smaller  than 
those  of  other  systems,  there  being 
no  decoding  device  involved.  Sa¬ 
gall  said  the  Telqglobe  installation 
could  be  made  for  $10  and  his 
Speaker  could  he  produced  for  $15 
in  mass  production. 

Other  decoding  devices  have; 
been  estimated  to  cost  anywhere 
between  $25  and  $75  in  mass:  pro¬ 
duction. 

Says  Sagall:;  the  local  telephone 
company  will  install  the  wire  in 
the  home,  but  Teleglobe  will  do 
the  billing.  Teleglobe’s  competi¬ 
tors  claim  that  the  phone  company 
is’nt  that  cooperative. 

Furthermore,  it’s  argued,  the 
film  companies  are  going  to  hesi¬ 
tate  before  allowing  a  multi-mil¬ 
lion  dollar  production. to  go  on  the 
air  unscrambled,  even  .  without 
sound.  Yet,  Sagall  insists  that 
this  pictures- withputrsound ; policy 
is  precisely  the  type  of  teaser  that 
will  get  people  to  call  for  sound, 
i.e.,  pay  for  what  they  see.’  “If 
anyone  wants  to .  watch  pictures 
without  soupd,  they're  welcome,” 
he  maintained. 


Vancouver,  Dec.  30. 

In  spite  qf  published  statement 
by  J.  .  J.  Fitzgibbons,  prexy  of 
Famous  Players  of.  Canada,  that 
parenbParaniount’s  Telemeter  is 
slated  for  Canada  communities  by 
end  of  1958  ( Variety,  Aug.  28.), 
indications,  this  area  promise 
less. 

Ear-to-groiunders  assert  that.  Fitz- 
gibbonS’  recent  visit,  here  on  an 
announced  survey  of  the  home-toll 
situation  netted  a  near  no-dice  re¬ 
sponse,  a  conclusion  largely  drawn 
from  the  fact  that  Fitz  departed 
Without  making  any  statement. 
Press,  theatre,  radio  and  video  in¬ 
terests  are  left  somewhat  piqued 
and  unsatisfied* 'particularly  since 
the  circuit  had  indicated,  some  two 
years  ago,  that  Vancouver  was  to 
be  the  Canadian  proving-ground  for 
Telemeter  installations  and  pro¬ 
gramming.  At  .that  time,  and  since, 
“rumor-tism”  plus  press  blurbs 
stated  that  Famous  Players  would 
use.  an  established  wired-tv  system 
for.  the  purpose. 

How  Far  Is  Summer? 

Maynard  Joiner,  circuit’s  head¬ 
man  here,  repeats  “Nobody  knows 
anything  at  this  point,”  But  one  of 
the  city’s  bigger  exhibitors  still 
says  that  ‘‘Vancouver  Telemeter 
will  be  an  actuality  by  next  sum¬ 
mer,  and  Toronto  will  have  com¬ 
pleted  its  test-fun  by  then.” 

Joiner  did  add,  however,  that  FP 
is  manufacturing  Telemeter  boxes 
—a  fact  which  questions  the  dearth 
of  information  available '  on  Tele¬ 
meter’s  local  pr osp e cts —  and 
stressed  frequently,  “there’s  noth¬ 
ing  on.  Telemeter  to  write  about.” 

Management  of  CJOR,  which  is 
p  a  r  e  n  t  of  city’s  Tru  Vu  wired 
home-tv  system*  said  there  have 
been  no  developments  regarding 
the  proposal,  two  years  ago,  that 
Telemeter’s  trials  use.  Tru  Vu  cir¬ 
cuits. 

Don  Shiel,  manager  of  Tru  Vu, 
confirmed  this,  and.  said  that  at  the 
northwest  NCTA  convention  last 
October  the  consensus  Was  that  in-* 
stallation  and  operating .  costs  of 
city-wide  pay-tv  wotild  be  .  prohibi¬ 
tive.  His  ow  opinion.  Was  that  the 
proposed  systems  Would  not  be 
practicable  in  cities  as  large  and 
spread  as  Vancouver. 

Burke  Burkhart,  sales  manager 
of  city-incorporated  K  V  O  S  - T  V 
(Bellingham,  Wash.),  said,  that  al¬ 
though  he  had  watched  the  toll-tv 
situation  closely  there  had  been  no 
recent  audible  rumblings  that  Tele¬ 
meter  or  similar  metropolitan  pay- 
tv  systems  are  likely  to  become  an 
early  reality. . 

Theatre  managers  polled  denied 
any  knowledge  of  impending  Tele¬ 
meter  or  other  cable-theatre  pro¬ 
jects  in  this  area. 

Bud!  J.  Sheppard,  manager  of 
Fred  Welsh  A  n  t  e  n  n  a .  Systems; 
which  is  installing  cable-tv  in  nu- 
inerous  interior  towns  and  cities, 
skid  that,  “Trail  Will  probably  be 
the  first  pay-as-you-see  first-run 
rhovie:  system.”  He  a  dde  d  that 
Traill. which*  is  s  u  rr  o  u  n  d  e  d  by 
mountains/  already  has  3500  home- 
toll  tv  Sets*  ■  <The,  second  largest  tv- 
adaptation  (system)  ’  .Canada.” 
Sheppard-  predicted  Trail  would  be 
another  Bartlesville-type  experi¬ 
ment  “Within  six  months.” 

V  Associated  Prudential  .'Theatres 
Inc.*  of  New  York,  has  filed  a  cer¬ 
tificate  on  change  of  directors  and 
of  purposes,  with  the  Secretary  6f. 
[State  in  Albany,  through  attorney 
John  J.  Slattery,  Manhattan. 


) 


‘At  Home’  for  Christmas 

Kansas  City,  Dec.  36. 

A  number  of  theatres  resumed 
in  the  area.  Christmas'  day.  Fox- 
Midwest  reopened  the  .  Tower  with 
20th’s  “Peyton  Place,”  although 
Jiouse  had  been  only  temporarily, 
dark  following  the  end  of  its  rec- 
drd-run  on  “Around  the  World  in 
80  Days”  which  wound  early  in 
December. 

Dickinson  Operating!  Co.  re¬ 
opened  the  Rialto  Theatre,  St.Joe, 
after  it  was  c’osed  about  three 
months.  It  has.  Kgrsey  Clark  as 
manager,  shifted  from  the  Leawood 
Drive-in,  K.C.,  which  recently 
closed  for  the  season.  Rialto  is  a 
South  side  house  iq  St.  Joe  run¬ 
ning  on  a  Subsequent;  policy. 


Day  trine  on  rranKensteui 


San  Francisco,  Dec.  30. 

Author  was  David  Frankenstein,  14-year-old  son  Of  The  Chron-r 
icle’s  art  and  music  critic.  A1  Frankenstein,  who-reviewed  ”1  Was  a 
Teenage  Frankenstei  which  was  opening  at  Sherrill  Corwin’s 
United  Artists;  The  young  critic  began:  “This:  year  Frankenstein 
movies  have  tried  to  stage  a  comeback.  The  public  seems  to  eat 
up  this  sort  of  corn.  After  the  original  ‘Frankenstein’  and  then 
‘The  Bride  of  Frankenstein,’  we  recently  had  ‘The  Son  of  Frank¬ 
enstein’  and  now  T  Was  a  Teenage  Frankenstein’  This  is  what 
is  called  ‘progress  through  the  years.’  ”  . 

David  discussed  the  film's  plot  at  some  length  and  concluded: . 

“Then  the  creature  thinks  the  cops,  are  going,  to  hurt  him  so  he 
throws  himself  against  the  electrical  equipment  and  electrocutes 
himself.  What  a  corny  story,  What  a  corny  ending! 

“There  was  pretty  good  acting  all  the  way  around,  but  Professor 
Frankenstein,  who  was  supposed  to  be  an  Englishman,  has  quite 
an  American  accent.  I  am  proud  of  my  name,  but  movies  with 
such  low-caliber  stories  make  me  wish  that  Mary  Shelley  had 
named  her  character  Smith,” 


Levey  Big-Viskms  ToD  m  1958 

Confidence  that  Skiatron’s  Subscriber-Vision  system  will  be'  in 
operation  in  some  key  jcities  during  1958  was  expressed  last  week 
by  Arthur  Levey,  prez  of  Skiatron'Electronics  and  Television  Corp. 
“We  are  moving  forward  swiftly  in  toll-tv  despite  last  ditch  oppo¬ 
sition,”  he  held. 

Levey’s  expression  of  confidence  came  on  the  eve  of  what  many 
in  the  pay-tv  field  consider  as  a  crucial  period,  when  Congress  can 
he  expected  to  take  up  the  toll  question  in  one  way  or  another. 
The  Federal  Communications  Commission,  though  assuming  it  has 
the  authority  to  rule  in  the  toll-tv  sector,  has  left  open  the  door  for 
Congressional  intervention. 

Within  the  next  60  days,  the  opponents  of  pay4as-you-see  can’ 
be  expected  to  launch  an  energetic  drive  to  get  Congress  to  block 
any  over-the-air  tests  of  subscription  video.  The  Commission  has 
no  authority  over  closed-circuit  transmissions  such  as  the  one  cur¬ 
rent  at  Bartlesville,  Okla* 

Feeling  generally  is  that  Congress  will  not  step  in  to  disturb 
the  current  situation  under  which  the  FCC  is  taking  applications 
from  stations  and  systems,  to  be  ruled  on  after  March.  In  order  to., 
stop  the  Commission,  Congress  would  have  to  actually  legislate, 
and  that  Would  involve  a  new.  and  thorough  re-stiidy  of  the  Fed¬ 
eral  Communications  Act.  Furthermore,  the.  returning  Congress 
is  expected  to  be  busy  with  the  missile  program  and  other,  more 
urgent  matters. 

Levey  charged  that  the  “highly  vocal”  opposition  to  pay  tele¬ 
vision  had  sold  the  public  a  bill  of  goods  based  on  one-sided  i 
formation.  “These  corporate  interests  are  afraid  to  let  Americans 
decide  whether  or  not  they  want  to  pay  modest  fees'  for  much 
better  programs  than  now  are  offered  by  advertising-supported 
talent,”  he  held. 

Toll-tv  foes  have  long  claimed  that,  apart  from  new  movies,  pay 
systems,  will  have  little  else  to:  offer  that  is  radically  new,  and  that 
the  public  ih  fact  will  be  asked  to  pay  for  what  it  now  essentially 
gets  for  free.  Extremists  even  say  that,  if  the  pay*  methods  go 
through,  the  public  Will  end  up  with  toll  plus  ads. 

Levey  said  he  was  encouraged  by  the  Los  Angeles  issuance  of  a 
franchise  to  Skiatron  (and  to  Telemeter);  RKO  Teleradio  Pictures’ 
intention  of  filing  for  toll  licenses;  Skiatron’s  deal  with  Britain’s 
Rediffusion  and  the  support  for  pay  methods  being  gathered  among 
film  producers. 


Exhibitors  Committee  Claims  Pay-See  Already 
Adequately  ‘Tested’  and  a  Flop 


SAN  FRANCISCO 

L.  S.  (Ben)  Hamm,  lawyer  and 
exhibitor,  elected  to  a  fourth  term 
as  president  of  Frisco  Variety 
Club’s  Blind  Babies.  Foundation. 

Jack  Blumenf eld,  exec  of  Bltim- 
enfeld  circuit,  broke  both  ankles 
and  a  collarbone  when  his  private 
plane  crashed  near  Mexico  City. 
He’s  hospitalized  there. 

Lee  Dibble  and  Dan  McLean  of 
downtown  Embassy  Theatre  held 
13th  annual  youngsters  theatre 
party  in  co-operation  with  Moose 
Lodge.  . 

Frisco  Variety  Club  held  eighth 
annual  Yule  party  for  blind  chil¬ 
dren. 


DALLAS 

Elmer  Bradley  (Bill)  Coleman, 
field  man  for  Metro  out  of  local 
exchange  since  1928,  will  retire 
Jan.  3.  He  will  then  have  com¬ 
pleted  30  years  with  the  company. 
Coleman  had  charge  of  the  world- 
preerti  of  “Gone  With  Wind"  in  At¬ 
lanta  in  1939. 

Bill  Milligan,  owner  of  Poly  The¬ 
atre  at  Ft,  Worth  who  obtained  an 
in  junction  against  picketing,  by 
the:  projectionist  Local  330  last 
Sept.  13,  signed  a  contract  with 
the  union. 

Jim  Carty  named  manager  nf 
Bordertown  Drive-In  at  El  Paso 
operated  by  Lone  Star  Theatre 
Circuit.  He  was  formerly  manager 
of  the  Irvington  Drive-In,  Houston, 
prior  to  going  to  El  Paso. 


MINNEAPOLIS 

Depositions  being  taken  here  in 
$125,000  federal  court  anti-trust 
brought  by  Northwest  Sound;  Serv¬ 
ice  owner  O.  E.  Maxwell  against 
RCA  Service  and  RCA  Victor: 

As  a  Yuletide  gesture  for  those 
compelled  to  spend  the  day  away 
from,  home.  Hotel  Radisson*  the 
city’s  leading  'hostelry,  presented 
every  guest  with  a  gratis  ticket  to 
“Around  the  World  in  80  Days” 
and  alstf  treated  them  to  free 
brunch. 

Circuit  owner  Ted  Maim  has  an¬ 
nounced  that  because  of  press  of 
other  duties  he’ll  not  be  a  candi¬ 
date,  for  re-election  as  prexy  of 
local  independent  exhibitors’  or¬ 
ganization. 

Paramount  branch  manager  Jess 
McBride  spending  his  two-week 
vacation  visiting  relatives  in  St. 
Louis.  .  . 

O.  E.  Maxwell,  Northwest  Sound 
Service  head,  back  in  harness  after 
recovery  from  surgery. 

20th-Fox  exploiteer  Chick  Evans 
in  from  K.C.  to  beat  the  drum  for 
“Peyton  Place/’ 


The  Joint  Committee  on  Toll  TV, 
the  exhibitor  group  which  is  op¬ 
posed,  to  all  and  any  forms  of  pay- 
see,  has  called  for  a  halt  in  toll- 
vision  tests.  In  a  letter  to  Sen*. 
Warren  S.  Magnuson,  chairman  qf 
the  Senate  Commerce  Committee, 
the  exhibitor  group  stated  that  “to 
permit  a  test  over  the  airwaves  at 
this  time  in  the  face  of  the  over¬ 
whelming  voice  of  the  people,  in 
oppositidn  to  toll  tv  would  cause 
Irreparable  damage.” 

The  Joint  Committee’s  letter,, 
signed  by  ^co-chairman  Philip  F. 
Harling,  pointed  to  tests  already- 
made  in  Palm  Springs  and  Chicago 
and  one  now  taking  place  in  Bart¬ 
lesville,  OHi  The  Chi  and  Palm 
Springs  tests,  according  to  Harling, 
“proved  absolutely  nothing  in  spite 
of  the  great  claims  of  success  by 
its  sponsors,”  Harling  suggested 
that  if  the  Senator  is.  looking  for  a 
test  he  should  refer  to  the  Bartles¬ 
ville  experiment. 

.  Letter  to  Magnuson  was 
prompted  by  his  statements  toll- 
vision  should  be  given  “serious 
attention”  by  his  committee  and 
that  the  “proposal  should  be  given 
a,  fair  trial  to  determine  whether 
it  will  be  approved  by  viewers.” 

Referring  to  the  tests  already 
made,  Harling  asked  “If  these  tests 
were  so  good  and  so’ successful  why 
didn’t  the  sponsors  expand  arid 
pursue  the  installation  of  their 
equipment?”  Harling  asked,  too. 
Where  are  the  people  *  \vhq  are 
clamoring  for  toll,  if  it  is  in  the 
public  interest  as  the  medium’s 
proponents  claim.  He  stated  that 
every  audience  poll  taken  to  date 
has  indicated  that  the  public  is  at 
least  25  to  1  against  any  form  of 
toU  tv. 

The  Joint  Committee  also  told 
the  Senator  that  it  makes  no  dif¬ 
ference  to  the.,  public  how  it  re¬ 
ceives  toll  tv,  whether  by  air  or 
by  wire.  ‘The  proponents,”  Har¬ 
ling  declared,  “are  endeavoring  to 
avoid  spending  risk  capital  and 
seek  to  foist,  the  cost  of  their  ex¬ 
periment  onto  the  back  of  the 
American  people  because  by  using 
air  waves  they  would  deprive ;  a 
person  of  a  free  channel.” 

The  question  of  giving  the  toll 
tv  proponents  “a  chance,”  Harling 
maintained,-  is  “a  subterfuge”  be¬ 
cause  if  the  toll,  advocates  were 
sincere  in  their  desire  to  feive  the 
public  something  unusual,  “they 
can  experiment  from  now  until 
doomsday  with  subscription  tv  by. 
wire,  at  their  expense  and  hot  the 
public’s.” 


Wednesday,  January  I.  MSB 


PSSSIETY 


RADIO-TELEVISION 


19 


:  THE  IDES  OF  MARCH 


The  ABC-TV  Year-End  Story 

Ther®  are^  some  significant  aspects  of  “the  ARC-TV  story”  at 
year-end  that  do  not  show  up  on  the  ratings  as.  projected  on  a  na- 
tionai  basis  but  which  could  well  serve  as  a  ""sneak-preview”  of 
things  to  come  in  the  overall  scheme  of  a  truly  big  three-network 
competitive  picture. 

First  and  foremost  Is  the  ABC  onwardrand-upward  position  in 
narrowing  the  gap  on  Nielsen  share-of-audience  based  on  three- 
network  Competitive  markets  (in  contrast  to  the  lag  that  shows  up 
on  national  projections  due  to  the  delayed  telecasts  and  limited 
exposure:)  This  is  important  in  terms  of  ABC’s  “shape  of  things 
to  come”  since  it  reflects  the  far  more  enviable  Status  of  ABC  in 
fighting  it  out  with,  other  networks  show-by-show  and  as  a  har¬ 
binger  of  an  era  when  ABC  will  be  blanketing  most  homes  with  its 
own.  affiliations;  the  kind  of  new  strength  to  be  reflected,  for  ex¬ 
ample,  in  the  December  Nielsens  by  the  new  WHDH-TV  affil  in 
Boston  and  the  soon-due  Pittsburgh  affiliation. 

Figures  compiled  by  ABC  for  the  multi-network  areas  where,  a 
three-web  competition,  exists  (and  already  accounting  for  85%  of 
homes)  Offer  some  revealing  data,'  showing  how  ABC  has 
narrowed  the  gap  from  a  30%  lag  in  ’53  to  a  mere  5%  for  ’57— 
which  translates  into  ABC  reaching  six  homes  for  every  seven  by 
the  competition  (Back  in  '53  ABC  had  a  13.8  share  against  NBC’s 
42.4  and  CBS’  43.8.  In  ’57  the  score  was  29.6  for  ABC,.  34.7  for 
NBC  and  35.7  for  CBS.) 

Some  vital  statistics:  On  a  national  Nielsen  projection,  “MaVe- 
rick,”  runs  behind  Ed  .  Sullivan,  Steve  Allen,  Jack  Benny  and 
“Bachelor  Father,”  even  slightly  behind  “Sally.”  In  the  competi-. 
tive  markets  it  tops  them  all:  Exhibit  2:  “Millionaire”  tops  “Oz- 
zie  and  Harriet”  on  the  national  ratings  by  a  five-point  spread. 
Based  on  a  competitive  market  report,  it’s  only,  a  two-point  spread 
in  favor  of  “Millionaire.”  On  the.  national  Nielsens,  “Real  Mc¬ 
Coys”  trails  “Dragnet.”  In  competitive  markets,  it’s  the  No.  1 
show,  topping  “Dragnet”  and  trouncing  “Climax,” 

...Then*  there’s  the  cost-per-thousand  story  as  compiled  by  ABC, 
the  network  claiming  a  “first  time”  status  on  the  new  turn  of 
events.  Based  on  October  costs  figures  and  the  two  Nielsen  No¬ 
vember  reports  for  every  commercial,  nighttime  minute  (exclusive, 
of  specs,  since  ABC  has  none ) ,  Leonard  Goldenson.  Sc  Co.  proudly 
flaunt,  a  $3.06  cost-per-thousand  to  advertisers  compared  to  CBS- 
TV’s  $3.00  and  NBC’s  $3.54.  In  fact  all  three  networks’  figures 
are  far  below  original  estimates,  (At  the  start  of  the  season  it  _ 
looked  as  though  a  $5  cost-per-thousand  would  be  the  prevailing 
tab  for  clients. )  Downward  revision  was  made  possible  by  .  the 
sharp  increase  in  audiences  this  season. _  . 


Mayor  Wagner  to  Get  Proposal 

N.Y.  TV  Centre 


On  Thursday  (Jan.  2)  a  proposal  4 
will  be  made  to  Mayor .  Robert  F.  ’ 
Wagner  and  the  N.  Y.  C.  Council 
that  the  area  on  Manhattan’s  west 
side  waterfront  between  67th  and 
71st;  Street  be  converted  into  that 
long-demanded  television  centre. 
<At  one  time  CBS  had.  the  same 
site  under  consideration.)  The 
proposal,  which  embraces  a  centre 
over  the  railroad  tracks  that  will, 
cost  between  $40,000,000  and  $50,- 
000,000,  will  be  offered  by  Vito  P. 
Battista,  director  of  the  Institute  of 
Design  &  Construction  and  an  un¬ 
successful  mayoralty  candidate 
on  the  United  Taxpayers  ticket. 

“The  Mayor,  in  this,  case,  has  to 
take  the  first  step.”' Battista  said. 
The  practicing  city  planner  and 
architect  said  that  this  was  the  first 
plan  for  a  tv  centre,  to  keep  more 
tv  production  from  moving  to  Hol¬ 
lywood,  that  suggested  utilizing, 
land  on  the  periphery  of  Manhat¬ 
tan.” 

Since  the  networks  have  not 
taken  any  steps  to  get  Wagner  to 
start  on.  a  centre,  Battista  ex¬ 
plained,  “it  ..would  do  for  him  to. 
encourage  investors  in  the  centre 
by  giving  them  a  50%  real  estate 
(Continued  on  page  35) 


Max  Factor,  which  Is  giving  the 
hoot  to  the  live  Guy  Mitchell  mu¬ 
sical,  has  bought  the  new  half-hour, 
telefilmed  situation  comedy  star¬ 
ring  the  husband-wife  team,  Anne 
Jeffreys  and  Robert  Sterling:.  As 
of  Jan.  20,  the  new  show,  “Jacques 
Sc  Jill”  will  take  over  the  ABC 
Monday-at-8  30-minute  anchorage. 

Factor  has  a  52-week  time  com- ; 
mitment  with  ABC-TV,  which  car¬ 
ries  the  cosmetic  company  through 
next  September,  and.  Mitchell  pnly 
runs  15  weeks.  “J&j,”  about  com¬ 
petitive  model  agency  operators  in 
New  York,  was  produced  by  Hal 
Roach  Jr.  William  MoitIs  closed 
the  new  program  pact  with  Factor. 
Alex  Gottlieb  created  and  is  writ¬ 
ing  the  comedy  stanza. 

The  Sterlings  were  also  starred 
in  the  “Topper”  skein. 


Weighty  Stuff 

Regina,  Sask,,  Dec.  30. 

Promotional  gimmick  by  radio 
station  CKCK,  Regina,  is  a  contest 
in  which  listeners  are  asked#  to 
guess  the  total  weight  of  the  staff. 

Prize  is  an  expense-paid,  three- 
day  stay  in  New  York  for  two. 


By  GEORGE  ROSEN 

Coine.  March  and  the  expiration 
of  26-week  cycles  on  network  tv 
programming  and  approximately, 
half  of  the  new  singing-musical 
shows  will  pass  into  limbo.  At  the 
fend  of  the  39-week  season  it’s  now 
fairly  certain  that  not  a  single 
vocalist  among  the  new  crop  of 
’57-58  entries  will  survive  into 
next  season,: 

Within  thie  area  of  “trends” 
"cycles,”  it  shapes  up  as  perhaps 
the  major  and  most  costly  holo¬ 
caust  in  tv  annals  (in  sharp  con¬ 
trast,  for  example,  to  the  Westerns, 
which  made  it— and  made  it  big). 
In  the  aggregate,  the  tv  networks’ 
giant  affliction  of  “tonsjlitis”  will 
represent  a  $50,000,000  to  $60,000,- 
OQO  down-the-drain  programming- 
production  casualty. 

Oddly  enough,  had  it  been  any 
other  year  but  this,  with'  the 
stepped-up  fears  of  an  increasingly 
soft  market,  the  Guy  Mitchell 
treatment  (he  gets  the  axe  in  Janu¬ 
ary)  would  have  been  applied  to 
many  of  the  shows  long  since,  re¬ 
gardless  of  firm  commitments,  But 
two  major  factors  have  contributed 
toward  the.  ,•  perpetuation  of  the 
weak  entries;  (1)  the  dearth  of 
good  suitable  replacement  shows; 
(2)  the  desire  of  the  networks  hot 
to  antagonize  any  of  its  clients  at 
a  time  when  sponsor  money  is  hard 
to  come  by.  Last  season,  as  in  pre¬ 
vious  seasons,  a  CBS  or  an  NBC 
wouldn’t  have  condoned  a  “weakie” 
monopolizing  Choice  time  period. 
Regardless  of  how  the  sponsor  felt 
about  it,  the  networks,  would  have, 
given  it  the  boot  after  four  or  five 
weeks,  even  thought  it  meant  costly 
settlements,  with  major  considera¬ 
tion  given  only  to  strengthening 
the  program  Tosters.  Those  days 
apparently  are  gone,  at  least  for 
the  forseeable  future. 

Unfortunately  the  networks’  anx¬ 
ieties  don’t  stop  ,  there.  There  is 
increasing  concern  over  the  whole 
economic  picture,  particularly  as  it 
applies  to  the  ’58-59  semester. 
NBC  prexy  Robert  Sarnoft,  for  one, 
takes  a  somewhat  dim  view  of  the 
(Continued  on  page, 3 5)  j 


Rival  Networks  Can  Draw  From 
Researching  Same  Set  of  Figures 


Stanton  Foundation 
Gets  New  Nameplate 

Albany,  Dec,  30. 

Frank  Stanton,  CBS,  Inc.,,  prexy, 
has  filed  for  a  change  in  name  of 
the  Stanton  Foundation  Inc.  to  Fru 
Foundation  Inc.  Stanton  Founda¬ 
tion  was  .chartered  in  1953  to  re¬ 
ceive  and  administer  funds  ex¬ 
clusively  for  scientific,  research, 
educational,  literary  and  charitable 
purposes, 

The  foundation  is  authorized  to 
operate  throughout  the  U.  S. 


To  Plug  TV  Show 

CBS.  Radio  has  turned  down  an 
unspecified  amount  of  business 
from  U.S.-  Steel  because  the  com¬ 
mercials.  comprised  .plugs  for  the 
company’s  television  show,  “The 
U.S.  Steel  Hour.”  Radio  web  turned 
away  the  business  even  though  the 
“Steel  HoUr”  Is  televised  on  its 
sister  network,  CBS-TV. 

Amount  of  billings  Involved 
isn’t  known,  since  negotiations 
never  got  far  enough  for  an  actual 
order  to  be  framed.  Understood, 
however,  that  U.S.  Steel  wanted  to 
use  a  saturation  campaign  on  CBS 
to  plug  the  tv’er.  .BBD&O,  U.S. 
Steel’s  agency,  went  to  CBS  and 
asked  whether  it  could  purchase 
the  network’s  five-minute  “impact 
plan”  segments  in  order  to  plug 
the  tv’er,  and  the  network  imme¬ 
diately  said  no.. 

Reasons  for  the  turndown  are 
(Continued  on  page  34) 


OUT  NEXT  WEEK! 


The 


52nd  Anniversary  Number 


Of 


Forms  Closing  Shortly 


Usual  Advertising  Rates  Prevail 


Special  Exploitation  Advantages 


Copy  and  space  reservations  may  be  sent  to  any  Variety  of flee 


NEW  YORK  34 
154  W.  44th  St. 


HOLLYWOOD  21 
4404  SiiRMt  Uvd. 


CHICAGO  *11 
412  N.  Mlchigdi  Ave, 


LONDON,  W.  Or  S 
•  St.  Morris's  Pteeei 
Trafalgar  Sqsara 


One  of  the  more  unpleasant  man¬ 
ifestations  of  the  new  television 
season’s  heightened  inter-network 
competition  has  been  the  almost 
frenzied  acceleration  of  claims  and 
counterclaims  by  the  usually  con¬ 
servative  network  researchers. 
They’ve  virtually  all  gone  off  the 
deep  end,  to  the  point  where  some 
are  actually  distorting  figures  to 
make  their  promotional  points. 

ft’s  no  longer  just  a  question  of 
which  rating  service  d’ya  read  but 
a  matter  of  how  to  read  the  fig¬ 
ures  supplied  by  the  same  service. 
It’s  as  easy  as  pie — and  has  already 
happened— for  researchers  from 
two  different  networks  to  take  the 
same  raw  data  and  come  up  with 
strikingly  different  conclusions, 
even  to  their  rating  averages. 

As  the  research  data  has  as-, 
sumed  increasing  importance  in  the 
light  of  the  fierce  competition, 
even  the  brass  has  fallen  for* its 
own  research  material.  For  one 
thing,  every  research  department  is. 
working  overtime,  with  at  least  a 
couple  of  people  on  the  phone  for 
days  every  couple  of  weeks  getting 
the  Nielsen  advances  before  they’re 
published.  For  another,  one  net¬ 
work  went  so  far  as  to  order  over¬ 
night  ratings  for  the  entire  De¬ 
cember  Trendex  week,  at  a  cost  of 
thousands  of  dollars,”  when  it  could 
have  had  all  the  data  for  free.  Rea¬ 
son  was  it  couldn’t  wait  for  the 
two  to  three  weeks  it  takes  Tren¬ 
dex  to  publish  the  material  but 
wanted  the  results  the  next  morn¬ 
ing. 

Maybe  it’s  the  overwork  but  the 
researchers  themselves  have  be¬ 
come  so  rating-conscious  that  the 
infection  has  spread  and  either  to 
please  their  bosses  or  because  they 
themselves  have  gone  overboard, 
they’re  abandoning  all  standards 
of  research  practice  to  paint  a 
rosy  picture  where  perhaps  only  a 
slightly  pink,  one  exists.  Some  ex¬ 
amples: 

One  network  reported  a  fat  hike 
in  its  average-minute  .  nighttime 
audience  over  last  year.  But  in 
its  last-year  figures,  it  included  the 
low-rated  co-op  program  periods 
while  in  this  year’s  comparison  it 
stuck  to  commercial  programs. 
Hence  the  percentage  gain  was 
heightened  artificially  over  the  last- 
year  figures. 

Another  web  recently  made  an 
analysis  in  which  it  claimed  five 
out  of  the  Top  10  Nielsens,  but 
neglected  to  say  that  this  was  in 
the  total  audience,  category,  which 
has  little  meaning  to  Madison 
Ave.’s  timebuyers.  Same  analysis 
talked  about  half-hour  wins,  but 
neglected  to  state  that  the  count 
was  taken  in  the  *7:30  to  11  p.  m. 
period,  which  eliminated  one  win 
for  a  rival  web  at  Sunday  at  7, 

(  Continued  on  page  35 ) 


‘Perry  Mason  Boy 

Bristol-Myers  looks  set  to  move 
int<Faltemate-week  sponsorship  of 
CBS-TV’S  “Perry  Mason”  series, 
giving  the  Saturday  night  whodunit 
SRO  status  for  at  least  the  next  13 
weeks.  Current  bankrollerg  are 
Purex,  which  has  the  full  7:30  to 
8:30  hour  every  other  week,  and 
Libbey-Owens-Ford,  which  has  a 
skip-week  half-hour.  B-M  would 
share  the  LOF  week. 

“Mason”  has  been  one  of  the 
season’s  sleepers,  making  solid  in¬ 
roads  against  its  NBC-TV  competi¬ 
tion,  “People  Are  Funny”  and  the 
first  half  of  the  Perry  Como  stanza. 
Latest  Nielsens  on  the  show  give 
it  over  a  25  in  the  average  audience 
category.  With  Purex  and  LOF  in 
Since  the  start  of  the  season,  CBS- 
TV  had  to.  wait  until  how  to  biake 
a  Nielsen  case  for  itself  in  order 
to  sell  out  the  stanza. 

The  Bristol-Myers  deal,  which  is 
(Continued  on  page  34) 


2<y 


.  radio-television 


VJaa sir 


For  Themselves  in  Bid  For  WATV 


Washington,  Dec,  30.  4 

The  proposal  of  the  New  Yorlci 
State  Board  of  Regents  tq  take  over 
channel  13  for  a  bi-state  educa-j 
tional  tv  station  is  now  at  the  point 
where  it  can  be  considered  by  the 
Federal  Communications  Commis-j 
sion,  U 

This  point  was  reacqed  last  week 
with  the  filing  of  a  comprehensive  | 
and  carefully-documented  brief-  in 
which  the  Regents  reply  to  the  ob¬ 
jections  of  WATV  and  National! 
Telefilm  Associates  and  also  offer  a 
modus  operahdi  by  which  the  Com-| 
mission  can  convert  a  commercial  j 
channel  to  education  without  de¬ 
priving  WATV  of  the  money  ($2,-1 
550,000  plus)  it  would  receive  by 
celling  the  station  to  NTA, 

It  is  a  persuasive  document  which  | 
the  Regents  submitted  and  it  is 
designed  to  show  that  its  proposal 
to  obtain  the  channel  is  much  easier 
to  execute  than  It  may  have  first 
appeared  in  the  petition  to  institute 
rule  making  proceedings  to  set 
aside  the  channel  for  educational 
use. 

Pointing  but  that  WATV  is.  ap¬ 
parently  fearful  that  such  proceed¬ 
ing  would  extend  beyond  March 
31,  the  deadline  in  its  contract  with 
NTA  for  FCC  approval,  the  Regents 
say  they  are  willing  to  accept  "any 
mechanism**  which  might  be  de¬ 
vised  to  prevent  this.  Rut  “to  allay 
the  fears  of  WATV,’*  they  offer  the 
following  method: 

“Assume  the  Commission  should 
Institute  rule  making  with  the  view 
to  withdrawing  channel  13  from 
commercial  use  in  the  New  York 
area,  reserving  it  for  educational 
use  there,  and  assigning  instead  for 
commercial  channel  25,  new  re-| 
served  for  education. 

“The  notice  of  rule  making  might 
state  that  the  reservation  of  chan¬ 
nel  13  for  educational  use  would 
pertain  only  until  Sept.  30,  1958. 
The  notice  might  invite  comments 
by  a  fixed  date  and  answers  by  a 
la'  er  date. 

“The  notice  might  also  state  that,] 
unless  assurances  adequate  and 
satisfactory  to  the  Commission  are 
furnished  to  WATV  by  the  date 
fixed  for  receiving  comments  that| 
WATV’s  interests  will  be  protected 
in  the  event  channel  13  should  be 
reserved  for  education,  the  rule! 
making  proceedings  would  be  dis¬ 
missed  forthwith.” 

If  such  a  “simple”  notice  were  is¬ 
sued  soon,  according  to  the;  Re¬ 
gents,  WATV  would  be  assured  of 
its  money  long  before  March  31. 
“WATV  is  not  entitled  to  ask  for 
more,**  the  brief  declares. 

As  for  questions  raised  by  WATV 
regarding  the  ability  of  the  Re¬ 
gents  to  raise  the  necessary  funds* 
the  Board  points  out  that  it  has 
jurisdiction  over  a  state  educational 
system  representing  an  investment] 
far  in  excess  of  $2,000,000,000  and 
(Continued  on  page  35) 


JOHN  OUTLER,  VET 
B’CASTER,  RETIRING 

Atlanta,  Dec.  30. 

James  M.  Outler,  general  man¬ 
ager  of  WSB-TV  and  AM,  and  a 
prominent  figure  ip  American 
broadcasting' for  over  25  years,  is 
retiring.  He  was  honored  at  a  ban¬ 
quet  tonight,  (Mon.)  marking  his 
retirement  from  active  duties. 

Atlanta  Journal  columnist  Ernest 
Rogers,  longtime  friend  and 
business  associate*  served  as  toast¬ 
master.  He.  also-  made  the  formal 
presentation  to  Outler  of  a  14-foot 
cruiser  tendered  by  fellow  execs 
and  senior  employes  of  the  station. 
The  vet  exec  was  given  an  18- 
horsepower  motor  by  WSB  em¬ 
ployes  at  the  station’s  Christmas 
party. 

J.  Leonard  Reinsch,  exec  direc¬ 
tor  of  WSB,  in  his  address  spoke 
of  Outler’s  many  contributions  to 
the  industry,  including  his  services 
with  the  National  Assn,  of  Radio 
and  Television  Broadcasters.  He 
has  served  as  a  member  of  the 
stations  planning  and  advisory 
committee  of  NBC  and  as  chair¬ 
man  of  the  NARTB  board  of  direc¬ 
tors  in  ’56-’57. 

NBC.  AFTRAln 


Are  At  It  J^ain 

A  new  meeting  was  slated  to 
take  place-  last  night,  Monday  (30), 
between  the  Radio  &  Television 
Directors  Guild  and  the  National 
Assn,  of  Broadcast  Employees  & 
Technicians  to  iron  out  differences 
resulting  from  the  decision  hand¬ 
ed  down  several  weeks  ago  by 
AFL-CIO  high  chief  George  Mea- 
ny.  Meany  Said  that  RTDG  pro¬ 
gram  directors  had,  in  certain  spe¬ 
cified  instances,  the  Tight  to  give 
direct  orders  to  cameramen,  and, 
afterwards,  NABET.  contended  that 
this  raised  the  problem  at  NBC- 
TV  (where  the  fight  first  arose)  and 
also  at  ABC-TV  as  to  the  differen¬ 
tiation  between  a  “program  cue” 
and  a  “technical  cue.” 

So  far  nothing  has  come  out  of. 
the  meetings  between  the  two  atr 
odds  unions.  RTDG  still  maintains 
that  “there  are  no  problems,  ex¬ 
cept  those  that  will  arise  from  the 
Way  NABET  decides  to.  handle  im¬ 
plementation”  of  directions .  given 
by  program  directors. 

NABET  said  that  the  union  has 
not  gotten  into  the  ABC  issue  yet. 
Both  unions—  work  out  of  that 
Shop  as  well  as  NBC.  “ABC  is  not 
part  of  the  original  problem.  The 
award  (by  Meany)  only  involved 
NBC,”  a  NABET  spokesman  said. 

The  unions  ’met  twice,  before 
going  into  another  session:  last 
night 


NBC-TV  and  American  Federa¬ 
tion  of  Television  &  Radio  Artists 
had  a  powwow,  before  Xmas  in 
which  the  network  and  the  actors’ 
union  crossed  swords  on  the  issue 
of  extra  payments  for  the  sale  Of 
live  shows  overseas  by  the  netr 
work.  Union,  still  wants  to  work 
out  a  system  of  payments,  which 
appear  on  kinescope  when  sold 
abroad,  but  the  network  implied 
that  it  wanted  to  bring  the  matter 
to  arbitration. 

AFTRA  did  not  okay  the  arbitra¬ 
tion*.  »Yet  the  union  did  .  not  spiff 
what  its  plans  are  to  force  payment 
by  the.  network.  At  this  stage,  it 
has  become  something,  of  a  guess¬ 
ing  game.  With  the:  network  trying 
to  anticipate  the  actors’  next  move. 
It  iS  held  possible  that  if  NBC  goes 
ahead  with  plans  to  sell  live-on- 
kinescope  programs !  to  foreign  tv 
outlets,  the  union.  Will  ultimately 
sue  for  back  payments. 

AFTRA,  in  a  letter,  demanded 
a  written  communique  from  NBC- 
TV  listing  all  the  live  programs 
the  web  purports  having  sold  Over¬ 
's.  NBC  didn’t  come  across  with! 
a  letter  or  a  detailed  breakdown; 
but  AFTRA  did  learn  that  the  web 
sold  “Festival  of  Music,”  recent 
special,  to  West  German  tv  and  has 
sold  other  programs  to  stations  in 
Mexicp,  Cuba  and  Canada. 

It’s  not  likely  that  the  union  will 
kick  up  a  fuss  about  Canadian  sales 
at  this  juncture,  because:  Canada 
generally  conceded  to  be,  for 
practical  purposes,  a  part  of. the 
U.S.  tv  coverage  area.  But  it’s  held 
almost  certain  that  in  all  other, 
countries  AFTRA  seeks  extra  pay¬ 
ments  for  its  performers  on  live 
shows. 


ED  McMAHON 


Host 

BRIDE  AND  GROOM 

THANKS  TO;  John  Buddy  and 
J.bhn  Masterdon— Bride  and  Groom— 
Procter  and  Gamble— Cheer— ^Gen¬ 
eral  Baking  Col,  Coin’!. 

Agency:  LESTER  LEWIS  ASSOC. 
Direction:  MAJOR  ARTISTS  REP. 
CO. 


3d  Straight  Year; 
’57  Profits  Down 

For  the  third  consecutive  year, 
RCA  sales  topped  the  billion-doffar 
mark,  With  the  1957  total  reaching 
a  new  estimated  high  of  $1,180,000,- 
000,  up  5%  over  1956.  But  earnings, 
RCA  board  chairman  David  Sarnoff 
said  in  his  year-end  Statement  last 
week,  are  expected  to  fall  slightly 
below.  1956  despite  a  small  increase 
over  the  previous  period  for  the 
first  nine  months. 

Gen.  Sarnoff  blamed  the  antici¬ 
pated  profit  dip  on  two  factors, 
“the  softening  of  general  economic 
conditions  in  the  fourth  quarter 
and  the  highly  competitive  situa¬ 
tion  in  the  r  a  d  i  o ;  t  v  industry.” 
Latter  refers  to  NBC  operations, 
which  Gen.  Sarhoff  didn’t  detail* 
but  Which  although  on  a  gross  bill¬ 
ings  basis  are  expected  to  exceed 
last  year,  will  come  up  with  smaller 
profits  due  to  the  network’s  absorp-; 
tion  of :  additional  programming 
costs., 

Gen.  Sarnoff  . was,  bullish  on  the- 
future,  however,,  predicting  that 
the  electronics’  industry’s  total  vol¬ 
ume  in  ’58  will  exceed  the  .1957 
volume  of  $12,000,000*000  and  that 
it  will  he  double  this  amount  in 
10  years.  He  predicted  advances 
on  four  fronts, .  color  television, 
automatic  systems,  electronic  com¬ 
ponents  and  nuclear:  research  and 
atomic  power. 

'Significant  improvement  in  the 
quality  of  both  transmission  and 
reception  of  color  television”  in 
the  past  year  has  brought  tint  to 
a  point  “where  the  color  picture 
received  in  the  home  now  exceeds 
the  expectation  of  even  c o  1  or’s 
strongest  advocates,”  he  said. 
“While  the  sales  of  color,  sets  have 
not  as  yet  attained  the  desired 
volume,  there  is  .encouraging  .  evi¬ 
dence  -throughout  the  country,  that 
a  mass-market  for  :color  tv  is  close 
at  hand.” 


WEBSTER  JO  CKNW 

Vancouver,  Dec.  30. 
Jack  Webster,  longtime  ..local 
radio  newscaster  who  netted  toff 
kudos  here  for.  his  reportage,, 
joins  CKNW*  New  Westminster, 
Jan..  1, 

.  Webster  has  been  with  Scot 
indie  tv  since  early  summer! 


Vanda  s  Oats*  Bikes  &  Lollypops 

Philadelphia,  Dec.  30. 

Sixty  youngsters  were  turned  loose  on  bicycles  in  the  ranch- 
styled  backyard  of  WCAU-TV’s  studios  here  yesterday  (Sun.)  in  a 
half-hour  one-shot  “western”,  in  which  the  kiddies  were  starred. 
Titled  “Kid  West”  and  produced  by  WCAU-TV  v.p.  Charles  Van¬ 
da,  the  show  had  the  juves  riding  tneir  bikes,  shooting  cap  pistols* 
chewing  licorice,  smoking  lollypops  and  lining  up  for  milk  and  ice-  . 
cream  at  the  “Last  Shake”  saloon’s  bar. 

Program:' featured  all  the  western  cliches,  with  the  youngsters, 
only  a  few  of  them  acting  pros,  staging  a  dancehall  sequence 
(complete  -with  line),  a  gUnfight,  a  badman  entering  and  quieting 
down  the  saloon,  etc.  Program  was  staged  on  the  frontier  setting  - 
originally  used  for  the  “Action  in  the  Afternoon”  series  fed  to 
CBS-TV  during  the  1954  season;  Local  viewers  \vere  asked  to  write 
in  comments  oh  the  program;  which  was  .  also  closed-circuited- to 
CBS-TV  execs  in  New  York  tp  gander  as  a!  possible  network  entry. 


_  Vedncgday,  Jaiiaarj  l,  l958 

♦  m  t  M  tiMIIII  mi  ♦  t »  ♦>♦>»♦♦»»♦  ♦  ♦  ♦♦  »>m  i  H  i  > ♦ 

:  TV-Radio  Production  Centres 

M  MM  ♦*+♦♦+>♦♦4  ♦  M  I  M  ♦  » 

IN  NEW  YORK  CITY 

Two  CBStTV  stars  pulled  into  Gotham  over  the  weekend  to  launch 
intensive  publicity-promotion  campaigns.  Hazel  Court  arriving  from 
London  to  plump  for  “Dick  Sc  the  Duchess”  and  Richard  Boone  arriv¬ 
ing  from  the  Coast  via  Chicago  for  his  “Have  Gun,  Will  Travel”  series 
.  .  .  Xavier  Cugat  and  Abbe  Lane,  who .  cancelled  their  scheduled  De¬ 
cember  appearance  on  the  Steve  Allen  show  because  of  the-  rehearsal 
requirements  of  “Oh  Captain,”  in  which  they’re  starred,  will  do  the  Al¬ 
len  sho#  instead  this  Sunday  (5),  commuting  from  Philadelphia  where 
the  show  will  have  opened  .  >  .  Sal  Mineo  doing  a  ttanscription  for  the 
Boy’s  Clubs  of  America  to  be  sent  to  2,500  radio  stations  for  use  the 
week  of  April  7  ...  William  Windom,  who’s  understudying  Richard 
Burton  in  ‘Time  Remembered”  on  Broadway,  playing  a  leading  role 
in  “Hotel  Cosmopolitan”  oh  CBS-TV  this  week  »  .  .  CBS.  conductor  Al¬ 
fredo  Antonini  off  to  Key  West  for  a  two-week  rest  after  winding  up 
his  .conducting  chores  for  “The  Twentieth  Century”  and  "The  Seven 
Lively  Arts”  .  .  .  CBS-TV’s  "Brighter  Day”  soaper  marks  its  fifth  anrii 
this  week  . . ,  NBC  newscaster  Bob  Wilson  named  chairman  of  the.  Tel¬ 
evision  Industry’s  Committee  for  the  N.Y.  division  of  the  March  of 
Dimes  .  .  .  Greer  Johnson’s  adaptation  of  Harlan  Ware’s  “The  Great 
Obstacle  Courtship"  set  for  “Matinee  Theatre,”  Johnson’s  third /such 
adaptation  assignment  in  recent  weeks  . ...  Bill  Leonard  marks  his  12th 
year  with  WCBS  New  Year’s  Eve, 

Brace  Chapman’s  “The  Answer  Man”  program  will  ,  become  a 
midday  feature  of  MBS  starting  Monday  (6)  .  .  .  John  Wingate,  host, 
on  WABD’s  “Night  Beat,”  will.be  feted  Sunday  (29)  in  connection  with 
a  news  commentator,  award  given  by  the  National  Variety  Club  of 
America. 

Metropolitan  Educational  Television  Assn,  presented  the  Motet  Choir 
of  the  Marines  College  of  Music  in  a  performance  of  choral  pieces  of 
the  15th  and  16th  centuries  on  WPIX  Tuesday  (31)  morning. 

Special  half-hour  telecast,  “Men  and  Missiles,”  filmed  produc¬ 
tion  of.  the  Aircraft  Industries  Assn,  of  America*  will  be  presented  by 
WPIX  tomorrow  night  (Wed.)  at  8:30. 

Irving  G.  Kirk  named  controller  of  Young  radio  and  ;tv  reps.  Kirk; 
who  joined  the  Young  org  in  1954,  has  been  accountant  in  charge  of 
bookkeeping  and  billing.  His  new  position  will  include  financial  plan¬ 
ning  and  budget  control  .  '.  .  Tom  Tausig,  formerly  .associated  with 
Young  &  Rubicam  and  Ted  Bates,  has  been  named  assistant  director 
of  advertising  of  P.  Lorillard  Co.  Tausig  will  report  to  Manuel  Yeffen, 
veepee  and  director  of  advertising  and  marketing  ...  Lee  M.  Vanden- 
Handel  has  joined  the  radio  department  of  Peters,  Griffin,  Woodward, 
station  reps,  as  ah  account  exec.  Vanden-Handel  was  formerly  asso¬ 
ciated  with’  the  Force  Advertising  Agency. 

IN  CHICAGO 

WCFL  already  has  sold  out  next  summer’s  complete  sked  White 
Sox  radio  ballcasts  and  the  adjacent  “Scoreboard”  arid  “Huddle”  shows 
besides.  Sponsors  are  Budweiser,  Oklahoma  Oil,  General  Finance  and 
General  Cigar.  It’s  the  ninth  consecutive  year  of  the  ballcasts  on  the 
station;  with  Rob  Elson  and  Don  Wells  continuing  on  the  play-by-play 

•  .  -  Joe  Diehl,  who  scripts  John  Harrington’s  WBBM-WBBM-TV  shows, 
is  penning  a  weekly  column  for  Pro  News  .  .  .  Marty  O’Shaughnessy, 
former  Chi  Variety  staffer  and  later  editor  of  TV  Forecast  magazi 
now  residing  in  Phoenix,  Ariz.  as  associate  editor  of  TV  Views  .  .  . 

.  .  .  WMAQ  adding  two  new  sports  shows,  one  with  Tom  Mercein  in 
the  a  m.,  the  other  with  Johnny  Erp  in  the  early,  evening  .  .  .  WSBT-. 
TV,  South  Bend,  oldest  UHF  station  in  the  country,  celebrated  its  fifth- 
anni  last  week. 

...  Jim  Bowden  moving  to  New  York  to  helm  the  former.  John  E; 
Pearson  reppery,  which  he  has  bought  out  and  for  which  he  had  been 
v.p.  in  charge  of  midwest  operations  ...  WGN-TV  holding  a  two-day 
salqp  clinic  at  Sheraton  tomorrow  (Thurs.)  ahd  Friday  for  New  York 
and  Chi  salesmen,  with  Brad  Eidmann  presiding.  Frances  Norwich, 
who  posts  her  1,200th  telecast  of  “Ding  Dong  School”  tomorrow,  !will 
address  the  first  sesh. 

IN  BOSTON 

“Operation  Movie  Van,’’  transporting  of  724  MGM  films  from  Cul¬ 
ver  City,  Calif,  to  WNAC-TV,  Boston,  completed,,  but  film  director 
Jim  Pike  and  entire  staff  busy  checking  and  cataloging  big  package 
with  unreeling  of  first  film  set  for  fortnight  away  .  .  .  WCSHTV,  Port¬ 
land,  Me.,  broadcast  six  requests  for  opinions  on  NBC’S.  “Tonight”  show 
and  came  up.  with.  1,600  replies  in  a  week,  landslide  for  J.  Paar*  with; 
less  than  two  dozen  nixes  .  .  .  WHDH-TV’s  new  public  service  show  is 
“Dateline  Boston,”  live  and  in  compatible  color  at  6  p,m.  Monday 
through  Friday.^  WNAC-TV’s  “Noel  Ngw  England,”  was  prepared  by 
Jim  Pike,  film  director;  H.  Jeff  Forbes,!  producer;  and  Ed  Gilman,  cam¬ 
eraman;  and  the  trio,  traveled  with  sound  engineers  throughout  the 
N.  E.  states  searching  out  unusual  scenes  of  preparations  for  the  holi¬ 
days  .  .  .  Alfred  H. .  LaFrance  has  joined  the  WNHC-TV,  New  Haven, 
sales  staff  .  .  .  Coca-Cola  Bottling  of  Boston  bought  an  additional  sked 
of  20  sec-SB’s  and  10-sec  Si’s  on  .WBZ-TV  .  .  ,  Station  also  nabbed  N. 
E.  Tel:  &  Tel.  for  full  sked  of  20-Sec  announcements  ...  A  special  re¬ 
mote  half-hour  telecast  for  Myers  Bros,  Parking  System  demoing  the 
firm’s  new  automatic  parking  garage  in  Boston  has  been  set  up  by 
WBZ-TV  for  Sunday  (5)  with  Rex  Trailer,  WBZ-TV  cowboy  ,  personality 
and  sidekick,  Pablo,  on  deck. 

IJV  PITTSBURGH  .  . 

Jon  Arthur,  who  had  his  own  radio  program,  “No  School  Today,”  on 
the  ABC  network  for  years,  has  come  back  to  the  old  home  town  to 
head  up  Ch.  2’s  daily  early  morning  show,  from  7  to  8  a.m.  It  started 
when  CBS  dropped  the  Jimmy  Dean  strip  ...  Bob  Tracey,  KDKA  dee- 
jay,  vacationing  this  week  and  Jim  Williams  is  pinchhitting  for  hini  .  . 
Herb  L  Dorfan  named  manager  of  new  Canonsburg  station,  WCNG 

•  Mrs.  Ray. Scott  accompanied  her  husband  to  New  Orleans  for  New 
Year’s;  he’s  broadcasting  the  Sugar  Bowl  game  for  NBC  radio  .  . .  Call 
letters  of  KQV  will  shortly  be  changed,  now  that  ABC  has  taken  over 
the  property  . .  .  Baking  company  begins  picking  up  the:  tabs  of  A1  Mc¬ 
Dowell’s  1  p.m.  newscasts  on  KDKA  Saturdays  and  Sundays  *  ...  Bill 
McClinton  leaving  WSTV-TV  in  Steubenville  to  become  publicity  di¬ 
rector  here  for  WIIC  under  promotion  head  Caley  Augustine. 

IJV  MINNEAPOLIS 

WCCO-TV  presented  on  the  air  its  $1,000  Minnesota  Statehood  Cen¬ 
tennial  prize-winning  script*  “They  Called  it  Minnesota,”  authored  by 
Macalester  college  professor  Royal  Moore  ...  .  Fred  Vant  Hull,  KUOM- 
TV  announcer-newscaster,  a  former  U.  of  Minnesota  football  star  and 
a  pblio  victim  himself,  chosen  as  toastmaster  for  “March!  of  Dimes” 
sports  banquet  at  the  Statler  hotel.  New  York,  March  13  .  .  .  KSTP 
Radio  called  its  ne.ws  detailing  of  the  gory  story  of  a  nearby  Plainview, 
Wis.,  murderer  and  grave  robber  and  bis  “house  of  horrors”  where 
authorities  found  many  dismembered  female  bodies  “reporting  in 
depth”  which  it  promised  . for  other  news  . events  from  time  to  time.  In 
adVance  of  the  broadcast,  which  included  use  of  recordings  with  wit¬ 
nesses  who  had  entered  the  house,  the  station  issued  several  warn- 
(Continued  on  page  34) 


Wednesday,  January  I,  1958 


RADIO-TELEVISION  £1 


AVL’S  ’57  FANDANGO 


Truman:  Man  of  the  Hour 

S.  Truman  had  himself  a  hall  at  last  Friday’s  (27)  Over- 
seas  Press  Club  luncheon-reception  for  CBS' overseas  correspond* 
ents  corps.  The  former  President  never  said  a  word,  though  he  got 
up  to  take  a  bow,  but  the  CBS  newsmen  said  It  all  for  him,,  heaping 
praise  on  HST  during  their  two-muiute  addresses  and  in  the  q.  &  a, 
period,  and  at  the.  same  time,  damning  the  present  Eisenhower  for¬ 
eign  policy  in  Europe  and  the  mid-East 

.  Another  ringsider  at  the  luncheon  who  had  a  somewhat  less  en¬ 
joyable  time  was  CBS  prexy  Frank  Stanton,  who  sat  a  table  away 
from  Truman  but  expressed  no  sign  of  greeting  and  who  sat  pok^r- 
faced  through  the  luncheon  as  his  newsmen,  particularly  Eno 
Sevareid,  blasted  away  at  IkeV  foreign  and  domestic  policy:.  Stan¬ 
ton,  though  betraying  no  signs  of  distress,  was  probably  wonder¬ 
ing  what  ever  happened  to  CBS?  no-editorializing  policy,  even 
though  this  was  a  private  Fourth  Estate  party. 

CBS  newsmen,  not  all.  of  whom  indulged  in  criticism,  were 
Sevareid,  Winston  Burdette,  Daniel  Schorr,  Ed  MUrrow  (who  act¬ 
ed  as  chairman  of  the  group),  David  Schoeribrun,  Peter  Kalischer, 
Alexander  Kendrick  and  Ernest  Leiser.  Truman  was  so  elated  at 
the  bouquets  they  threw  him  that  at  the  instant  the  luncheon  end- 
::  ed,  he  sprung  up  and  raced  to  the  lower  dais  to;  shake  each  of  them 
by  the  hand  and  engage  in  conversation.  Truman  was  a  surprise 
guest  at  the  Waldorf-Astoria  affair,,  showing  up  with  the  New  York 
Times  delegation,  which  included  his  son-in-law,  Clifton  Daniell, 
and  assistant  m.e.  Robert  Garst. 


ICY. 


3  TV  Webs  to  Pass  Half-Billioo 
Billings  m  '57;  CBS’  $235,1 


Marc  Brandel  is  that  rare  speci¬ 
men  of  a'  television  playwright 
who,  after  three  and  a  half  years 
of  video  scrivening,  has  a  spectacu¬ 
larly  unemotional  attitude  vis-a-vis 
the  medium.  •„ 

“I  guess  my  main  complaint  is 
that.  I  have  no  beef,”  said,  Brandel 
the  other  day  while  placidly  put¬ 
ting  away  his  second  Scotch.  The 

Eacific  position  may  be  the  English 
i  him,  Brandel  is  London-born, 
though  he’s  beeff  resident  in  this 
country  for  20  years.  He  is  a  few 
years  away  from  40. 

The  biggest  thing  that  ever  hap¬ 
pened  to  him  in  a  public  and  trade 
way  found  him  as  unruffled  as  if 
be  were  to  have  three  of  his  scripts 
Shown  within  a  month  on  a  like 
number  of  top  shows.  (This  is  a 
reality,  for  which  see  below-)  This, 
was  when-  Way  way  back  on  Nov.  6, 
the  wire  services  vibrated  to  the 
rhythm  Of  ‘‘there  is  no  bitchiness 
like  show,  bitchiness.”  These  were 
the  words  writ  by  him  for  Betsy 
Palmer  in  Kraft  TV  Theatre’s  “The 
Category  Is  Murder.”  This  was  the 
“original  rewrite”  of  Brandel’s 
after  Kraft's  agency,  J.  VTalter 
Thompson,  tossed  out.  the  original 
Version,  by  George  Harmon  Coxe. 

Aside  from  the  saucy  phrase,  the 
play. got  more  attention  qualita¬ 
tively  than  any  previous  Brandel 
Work  for  tv.  Brandel  never  said 
anything  about  it  at  the  time,  but I 
it  became  known  through  a  friend¬ 
ly  third  party  that  he  was  more 
philosophical  than  angry  at  the.  fact 
that,  with  the  attention  focussed 
on  “The  Category  Is  Murder”  only  I 
Coxe’s  name  was  credited..  He.  had  i 
(Continued  on  page  35) 

Gen.  Mills’  New 
Pact  on  ‘Ranger 

Details  of  the  new  General  Mills- 
Jack  Wrather  pact,  Which  will  run 
into  1960,  reveal  that  the  bank- 
roller  now  has  the  right;  to  run  all 
the  extant  “Lone  Ranger”  half- 
hour  telefilms.  The  pact,,  beginning 
next  August  or  shortly  thereafter, 
gives  GM  the  right  to  take  the 
films,  to  be  run  at  the  rate  of  two 
a  week  for  104  weeks,  from  a  pool 
of  182  black  &  white  half-hour^  and 
39  color  shows.  /-  .  .. 

As  was  previously  reported,,  the 

sponsor  planned  to  take  an  option 
on  new  “Ranger'’  production  with 
producer  Wrather.  The  contract 
gives  the  breakfast  food  company 
option  to  make  anywhere  from  13 
to  39  new  half-hours.  The  present 
pact,  ending  in  August,  obligated 
GM  to  take  39  half-hours  in  color, 

all  of  which  are  now  completed. 

Sponsor  has  not  decided  how  it 
will  play  the  208  programs  over  the 
■;  two-year  period,  but  it  is  held  prob¬ 
able  that  the  two-a-week  formula 
Will  continue  on  separate  networks, 
fis  now  is  the  case  with  ABC-TV 
and  CBS-TV. 


Balderston  Retires 

Philadelphia,  Dec.  30. 

William  Balderston,  chairman  Of 
the.  board  of  Philco  Corp.,  an¬ 
nounced  his  retirement  (25).  after 
marking;  26  years  with  the  com¬ 
pany. 

Balderston  joined  Philco  in  1930 
to  handle  sales  of  automobile  rad¬ 
ios.  The  pioneer  engineering  and 
promotional  work  of  his  division 
is  credited  with  the  popularity  that 
car  .  radios  have  attained  with  the 
public. 


Resolve  Ws 
Revlon  Status; 
Shift  to  Frl 


Late  yesterday  (Mon.),  Revlon, 
after  a  series  of  counter-offers  by 
ABC-TV,  decided  emphatically  to 
stick  to  Its  original  decision  of 
some  days  ago  and  slot  “Walter 
Winchell  File”  8:30  on  Friday  be¬ 
ginning  this  week. 

ABC-TV  earlier  yesterday,  in  an 
effort  to  keep  Its  word  to  the  co¬ 
sponsors  of  “Colt  45,"  tried  to  keep 
the  8:30  time  clear  for  a  shift  of 
the  cowboy  show,  so  it  offered  Rev¬ 
lon  an  alternative  of  10  p.  m.,  Ini 
“Colt’s"  current  time,  A  week 
ago,:  Revlon  played  its  last  Winchell 
telefilm  at  its  initial  9:30,  Wednes¬ 
day  time. 

For  the  moment  at  least,  “Colt 
45”  looks  to  be  staying  right  where 
it  is  on  ABC. 

Late  last  week.  It  looked  as 
though  Revlon  Was  going  to  take 
(Continued  on  page  35) 

Tonight’  Registers 
A  New  2-Year  High 
On  Audience  Returns 

“Tonight”  has  hit  its  highest 
fating  nationally  in  the  past  two 
years,  and  has  reached  the  greatest 
number  of  homes  in  .  its  entire  his¬ 
tory.  The  ARB  December  ratings, 
which  cover  the  show  in  87  mar¬ 
kets,  give  it  a  6.2  average  rating, 
the  best  since  two  years,  ago  when 
the  Steve  Allen  version  reached  a 
6.9,  but  in  fewer  markets. 

In  terms,  of.  homes  reached,  the- 
“Tonight”  segment  reached  an 
average  of  1,741,000  homes  per 
night  during.  December,  biggest 
ever  for  the  late-night  entry.  That’s 
due  to  the  expansion  of  the  “To¬ 
night”  lineup  to  ah  alltime  high 
of  over  99  -stations.  In  New  York, 
incidentally,  ARB  found  that  “To¬ 
night”  topped  the  WCBS-TV  “Late 
Show”  four  nights  out  of  five,  first 
time  in  history  that’s  happened  on 
any  fating  service’s  charts; 


By  JACK  BERNSTEIN 

The  year  1057  along  Madison 
Ave.  saw  the  advertising  agencies 
play  “musical  ehairs”  with  multl- 
million  dollar  accounts,  agency 
presidents,  and  with  themselves,  in 
their  yen  for  mergers.  It  was  the 
year  of  plenty.  Plenty  of  accounts 
shifted  agencies,  plenty  of .  presi¬ 
dents  packed  up  their  goods  and 
moved  on  to  other  agencies,  plenty 
of  dollars  were  spent  by  sponsors 
to  hypo  their  Wares,  and  plenty  of 
mergers  took  place  In  the  efforts 
of  smaller  agencies  to  compete 
with  their  brothers  in  the  traded 

The  biggest  stories  of  the  1957 
turmoil  along  agency  row  were  the 
merger  of  Erwin,  Wasey  and 
Ruthrauff  &  Ryan;  Buick’s  deci¬ 
sion  to  cut  loose  from  the  Kudner 
agency  with  its  $20  'million  bill¬ 
ings,  and  the  Frey  report  which 
shook  the  industry  by  its ’heels  In 
declaring  that  the  commission  sys¬ 
tem  was  unfeasible  to  advertisers 
and  sponsors  alike. 

Blow-By-Blow 

For  a  monthly  blow  by  blow  ac¬ 
count  here’s  what  the  agencies  and 
the  top  level  execs  did  or  said  in 
1957: 

January:  Chtysler  Corp.  decided 
to  fall  in  line  with  General  Motors 
in  the  move  to  drop  dealer  assess¬ 
ment  for  cooperative  advertising. 

|  The  Noxzeme  Chemical  Co.  shifted 
its  account  to  Mac  Manus,  .  John  &  : 
Adams  from  Sullivan,  Stauffer, 
Colwell  &  Bales.  ^  Bakers  Fran¬ 
chise  Corp.,  makers  of  Lite  Diet 
low  calorie  white  bread,  fed  Emil 
Mogul  their  account  which  was  for¬ 
merly  handled  by  Kastor,  Farrell, 
Chesley  &  Clifford.  In  the  same 
month  Norman,  Craig  &  Kummel 
was  appointed  to  handle  the  ad¬ 
vertising  for  the  entire  Du  Barry 
Cosmetic  line  formerly  handled  by 
SSC&B  and  worth  a  reported 
$1,000,000.  Lewin,  Williams  &• 
Saylor  elected  Sidney  M,  Weiss, 
former  exec  veepee  and  treasurer, 
as"  president  and  upped  A.  W. 
Lewin  to  chairman  of  the  board. 
Colgate  Palmolive  picked  Cunning¬ 
ham  &  Walsh  to  be  its  agency  for 
Brisk  toothpaste  worth  $3,000,000 
a  year  to  the  agency  and  dropped 
William  Esty.  James  H.  Cobb,  di¬ 
rector  of  advertising  of  American 
Airlines' joined  Burke,  Dowling  & 
Adams  as  v.p.  and  general  man¬ 
ager  of  the  New  York  office.  Jan¬ 
uary  saw  Walker  B.  Sheriff  liqui¬ 
date  his  agency  and  sign  up  with 
Roche,  Williams  &  Cleary.:  Jet  Bon 
Ami  came  out  wtih  the  pronounce¬ 
ment  that  it  would  sink  two-thirds 
of  its  budget  into  tv  via  Ruthrauff 
&  Ry$n.  Emerson  Foote  quit  Mc¬ 
Cann  Erickson.  He  had  been  ex¬ 
ecutive  vice  ..president,  J.  W. 
Thompson  inaugurated  its  color 
studio.  Paul  R.  Smith,  senior  vee¬ 
pee  and  creative  director  of  Cal¬ 
kins  &  Holden  Wound  up  the  ; 
month  by  saying  that  “today’s  ad¬ 
vertising  agency,  more  than,  any 
other  single;  institution,  is  a  nerve 
center  of  today’s  culture-” 

Benton’s  Blast  at  Webs 

February:  Two  advertising  agen¬ 
cies  which  were  concerned  with 
overcommercialization  on  early 
morning  radio  asked  Stations  to 
provide  them  - with  their  logs  of 
advertisers.  The  request  was  made 
(Continued  on  page  32) 


No  Key,  No  B’cast 

Boston,  Dec.  30. 

WMEX  went  on  the  air  two 
hours  late  one  day  this  week 
when  two  disk  jocks  and  the 
station  owner,  Bob  Richmond, 
forgot  the  keys. 

First  Larry  Welch,  disk  jock, 
showed  up  to  open  the  station 
and  sign  on  at  6  a.m.  He  had 
no  key  on  him  and  decided  to 
wait  for  A1  Alford,_disk  jock, 
who  came  along  a  few  minutes 
later,  also  with  no  key.  Next 
came  Bob  Richmond,  station 
owner,  who  found  the  two  dee- 
jays  locked  out.  He  searched 
his  pockets,  and  again,  no  key. 

The  trio  then  trooped  into  a 
nearby  coffee  shop  and  put  in 
a  call  to  a  station  official  20 
miles  away  to  the  north,  of 
Boston  in  Beverly,  who  came 
rushing  in  to  open  the  station 
door.  So,  the  station  signed  on 
at  8  a.m.  instead  of  6  a.m.,  and 
Richmond  went  out  and  had 
three  sets  of  duplicate  keys 
made. 


Kemp  &  Pearson 
In  Economy  Step 

..  American  Broadcasting  Network 
has  been  forced  to  lop  off  two  of 
its.  two-.,  new  live,  personality 
shbws.  The  8  to  9  p.m.  Bill  Kemp 
strip  and  the.  tWo-hour  Saturday, 
morning  Johnny  Pearson  shows 
are  getting  the  axe  the  first  week 
in  January. 

Elimination  of  the  Kemp  strip, 
even  though  the  7:15  to  8  Merv 
Griffin  show  is  being  extended  to 
.9  p.m:  to  fill  in,  will  result  in  sub¬ 
stantial  savings  for  the  radio  web 
and,  the  parent  AB-PT.  Kemp,  as 
with  each  of  the  other  live  hour 
cross-the-boarders,  cost  in  the 
vicinity  of  $16,000  weekly.  By 
eliiminating  the  Writing  staff  for 
Kemp,  producer  A1  Coughlin,  the 
Neel  Hefti  band  and  the  other  live 
talents,  a  good  part  of  the  coin 
(Continued  on  page  35) 

ARB’s  Top  25  for  Dec. 
Again  Shows  NBC  Segs 
Cl  osing  Gap  Vs.  CBS 


CBS-TV  Is  headed  for  a  $235,- 
000,000  year  In  1957,  second  time 
the  network  Will  have  topped  the 
$2 00-million  mark.  At  the  19- 
month  mark,  the  network’s  billings 
for  ’57  stand  at  $195,811,480,  or 
6.8%  ahead  of  the  same  period  in 
1956.  Total  ’56  gross  was  $223,- 
520,382,  and  on  the  basis  of  the 
first  10  months,  the  CBS  gross  for 
the'  year  should  top  $235,000,009. 

All  three  networks  have  shown 
gains  over  1956  in  the  10-month 
billings  standings,  as  reported  by 
PIB,  but  CBS  continues  to  show 
both  the  greatest  volume  and  the 
greatest  gain  over  last  year,  NBC- 
TV’s  10-month  billings  stand  at 
$156,206,019,  only  2.3%  ahead  of 
last  year,  and  on  that  basis  it 
doesn’t  appear  as  if  the  web  will 
reach  the  $200-million  mark  this 
year,  since  last  year  its  billings 
were  $187,921,123. 

ABC-TV  has  registered  a  4.7% 
increase  for  the  10-month  period, 
up  to  $66,376,706.  On  a  projected 
basis,  ABC’s  gross  billings  for  ’57 
should  reach  $80,000,000,  as  com¬ 
pared  with  the  1956  total  of.  $76,- 
726,129. 

Putting  them  all  together,  net¬ 
work  television  will  .easily  pass  the 
half-billion  mark  this  year,  for  the 
first  time.  Last,  year,  the-  three 
networks  totalled  $488,167,634, 
while  in  1957,  the-  three-network 
total  should  hit  about  $510,000,000. 
That’s  a  gross  revenue  figure,  of 
course,  and  isn’t  necessarily  re¬ 
flective  of  the  network  earnings,, 
which  in  the  case  of  two  of  the 
webs,  NBC  and  ABC,  is  expected  to 
be  down  because  of  heightened  ab¬ 
sorption  of  program  costs,  while 
in  the  case  of  CBS,  only  a  slight 
increase  is  anticipated  in  network 
operating  profits. 


New  Sales  Pattern 
For  TV  "Matinee’ 


Hal  Block 

makes  seme  hwrioron 

Predictions  Par  A 
Better  TV  Tomorrow 


another  Editorial  feature 
In  the 

52d  Anniversary  Number 

of 

JffotlETY 

OUT  NEXT  WEEK 


. .  .Closing  of  the  gap  between  CBS 
and  NBC  shows  up  again  in  the 
December  ARB  Top  25  list,  with 
Columbia  retaining  its  supremacy 
with  12  out  of  25,  NBC  dosing  In 
with  10  and  ABC  still  a  pOor  third 
with  three.  The  ABC  trio,  inci¬ 
dentally,  '  are  all  Westerns,  with 
“Maveripk”  making  the  list  for  the 
first  time  and  “Disneyland”  long 
a  Top  25  occupant,  out '  entirely. 
Ratings,  which  cover  the  week  of 
Dec.  1-7,  follow: 

Guhsmoke  CBS  45.9 

Perry;  Como ,. NBC  42.9 

LasSie  ...  i . . . CBS  41.5 

Lucille  Ball-Desi  Arnaz.  CBS  38.7 
Tales  of  Wells  Fargo. . .  NBC  35.0 

Wyatt  Earp  .  .  .  . . ABG  34.1 

You  Bet  Your  Life .....  NBC  33.9 

Danny  Thomas  ........  CBS  33.8 

G.E.  Theatre  ..........  CBS  33.8 

Alfred  Hitchcock  . , . . . .  CBS  33.5 

Ernie  Ford  - - - NBC  33.5 

Have  Gun,  Will  Travel . .  CBS  -  33.3 
People  Are  Funny. ....  NBC  32.9 

Ed  Sullivan  . ,. ..... . .  CBS  31.9 

What’s  My  Line.. CBS  31.6 
Steve  Allen  .  NBC  31.5 

Restless  Gun  .........  NBC.  31.4 

I've  Got  a  Secret.  .....  CBS  31.3 

Cheyenne  .  ABC  31.2 

$64,000  Question  CBS  31.2 

Twenty  One  , . . .... . . .  NBC  30.8 

Loretta  Young  Presents.  NBC  30.5 
Father  Knows  Best. . .  . .  NBC  29.9 
Jack  Benny  v .... . ... ..  CBS  29.6 

Maverick  . . . ... . .  ABC  29.6 


NBC-TV’s  “Matinee  Theatre" 
daytiraer  is  switching  away  from 
the  participating  sales  basis  on 
which  it  has  heretofore  operated 
to  regular  quarter-hour,  segmented 
sales,  a  la  the  rest  of  the  NBC  day¬ 
time  structure.  Along  with  the 
switch  to  segmented  sales,  the 
show’s  commercial  pattern  is  be¬ 
ing  changed  to  one-minute  com¬ 
mercials. 

Previously,  the  show  was  set  up 
to  allow  two  commercials  per  15 
minutes,  each  blurb  running  90 
seconds.  Advertisers  customarily 
bought  pairs  of  90-second  blurbs 
and  in  effect  occupied  quarter-hour 
segments  anyway.  Under  the  new 
setup,  each  quarter-hour  will  have 
three  one-minute  commercials, 
but  advertisers  will  have  to  pur¬ 
chase  a  minimum  of  three  consecu¬ 
tive  one-minute  blurbs,  or  the 
equivalent  of  a  quarter-hour  seg¬ 
ment. 

Switch  from  the-  90-second 
blurbs  to  one-minuters  allows  ad¬ 
vertisers  greater  flexibility,  since 
they  can  use  one-minute  commer¬ 
cials  previously  filmed  for  other 
shows  or  for  spot  use.  Some  “Ma¬ 
tinee”  advertisers  have  been  using 
their  one-minute  filmed  spots  on. 
the  show  anyway,  but  were  forced 
to  use  live  leadins  and  leadouts,  in 
effect  wasting  30  seconds  on  each 
commercial. 

GBS-TV’s ‘Beat  The  Clock' 
Solid  Daytime  Status 

Daytime  version  of  “Beat  the 
Clock”  on  CBS-TV  is  now  solidly 
in  the  black  as  a  result  of  pur¬ 
chases  by  Lever  Bros,  arid  Bristol- 
Myers,  each  of  which  bought  a 
weekly  quarter-hour  in  the  Bud 
Collyer  starrer.  Lever  deal  was 
set  through  SSC&B  and  the  B-M 
buy  via  Doherty,  Clifford,  Steers  & 
Shenfield. 

Show  is  now  comercial  in  7J/£ 
out  of  its  10  weekly  quarter-hour 
segmets,  and  is  SRO  three  days  of 
the  week. 


22 


TV-FIUMS 


P'ARIETt  y 


Wednesday,  January  I,  1958 


^Country  Telefilm  Horizon  To 
Open  Up  in  *58,  Sez  Fmeshriber; 

‘30 %  of  Total  Biz  jn  2-4  Years 

Ifftfrempit/i  Vetp  I 


With  new  foreign  markets  open¬ 
ing  up  virtually  by  the  week,  the 
end  of  1958  will  witness  a  fertile 
telefilm  sales  field  in  at  least  50 
foreign  countries,  according  to  Bill 
Fmeshriber,  Screen  Gems  director 
of  international  operations.  Pres¬ 
ently,  the  Columbia  Pictures  sub¬ 
sidiary  has  programs  sold  in  34 
countries  throughput  the  world. 

Reporting  that  the  Screen  Gems 
foreign  operation  is  now  “very 
nicely  in  the  black”— and  that  in* 
volves  costs  of  maintaining  repre¬ 
sentation  in  every  major  country 
that  has;  television  as  well  as  dub¬ 
bing  costs — Fineshriber  is  hopeful 
that  “in  two  to  four  years,  foreign 
Sales  will  account  for  30%  of  total, 
gross  revenues”  for  Screen  Gems, 
but  he’s  less  sanguine  than  other 
telefilm  execs  on  the  present  extent 
of  foreign  business  though  bullish 
on  its  growth ;  potential. 

So  quickly  has  foreign  television 
been  mushrooming,  he  reports, 
that  it's  reasonably  easy  for  a  dis- 
trib  to  recover  his  dubbing  and 
sales  costs  the  first  time  around, 
particularly  in  Latin  America,  A. 
Spanish  dub,  which  costs  about 
$1,200  per  half-hour  episode,  can 
be  recovered  via  a  sale  to  Cuba, 
Puerto  Rico  and  Mexico,  With  the 
rest  of  Latin  America  coming  in 
as  profit.  Similarly,  on  a  French 
dub,  which  costs  the  same  amount, 
sales  to  France,  Luxembourg, 
Monte  Carlo  and  French-speaking 
Belgium  covers  the  costs,  with  the 
Montreal-Quebee  French-language 
sales  coming  in  as  profit.  German 
market  is  at  about  the  break-even 
point  so  far  as  a  dub  is  concerned, 
but  the  rapid  growth  of  German  tv 
plus  the  probability  of  more  com¬ 
mercial  time  and  a  commercial  net¬ 
work  made  that  country  a  bullish 
prospect  too. 

18  New  Program  Bales 
Just  back  from  a  two-month  tour 
of  Europe,  his  first  since  joining 
Screen  Gems,  Fineshriber  reported  ] 
18  new  program  sales  in  England 
and  on  the  Continent.  Screen 
Gero,s,  he  said,  now  has  15  half- 
hour  programs  plus  serials,  car¬ 
toons  and  features  (about  50  of  the 
latter)  sold  in  England,  France, 
Germany,  Italy,  Belgium,  Holland, 
Denmark,  S  w  e  d  e  n ,  Switzerland, 
Monte  Carlo  and  Luxembourg,  and 
has  deals  pending  in  Portugal  and 
Spain. 

Running  down  the  Continental 
markets,  first  after.  England  both 
in  circulation  and  potential  is  Ger¬ 
many,  with  14250,000  sets  and  a 
growth  rate  of  30-35,000  new  tv 
homes  per  month.  Fineshriber  re¬ 
cently  sold  the  first  full  half-hour 
sponsorship,  “Father  Knows  Best,” 
to  Mokri  cigarets,  in.  the.  three-city 
German  web’s  six-nights-weekly 
half-hour  commercial  strip  at  7:30 
to  8  pm.  Though  the  German  web 
goes  to  more  cities,  the  commer¬ 
cial  operation  is  piped  to  Munich, 
Frankfurt,  Baden-Baden  and  soon 
to  West  Berlin. 

France  and  Italy  are  running 
about  even  in  tv  circulation,  with 
about  600,000  sets  each,  but  Fine- 
shriber  believes  that  with  the  soft¬ 
ness  of  the  French  economy,  Italy 
will  soon  overtake  France  as  the 
No.  3  European  market,  though  ih 
the  long  run.  France  must  move 
ahead.  Belgium,  represents  two  pro- 
(Continued  on  page  34) 

‘DECOY’  CHALKING  UP 
SOME  FANCY  RATINGS 

“Decoy”  is  kicking  tip  a  rating 
stir  in  many  markets  in  which  it’s 
being  aired. 

In  New  Orleans,  the  Pyramid 
Production,  distributed  by  Official 
films,  hit  a  21.0  American  Research 
Bureau  rating  on  WDSU-TV  at  10 
p.  mi,  against  “Gray  Ghost,”  WWL- 
TV,  which  drew  the  next  highest 
rating,  of  14.0  over  WWL-TV;  Okla¬ 
homa  City,  “Decoy”  on  KWTV  at 
9  p.  m.,  drew  a  19.9  against  18.6 
for  “Cavalcade  of  Sports”,  on  WKY- 
TV?  Boston,  WBZ-TV  with  “Decoy” 
hit  a  19.9  on  Sunday  at  10:30 
p.  m.  against.  11.6  for  "What’s  My 
Line’  ’on  WHDH-TV,  and  in  Buffalo 
placing  second  with  a  23.1  against 
“Highway  Patrol,”  which  drew  a 
26.4.  Ratings  cover  the  Novem¬ 
ber  ARB  periods  for  all  markets 
except  Buffalo,  which  was  rated  in 
October. 


William  Rosensohn 

details  some  of  the 

Vital  Statistics  of 
Closed-Circuit  TV 

another  Editorial  Fecit vre 
In  the 

52d  Anniversary  Number 

of 

PfotlETY 
OUT  NEXT  WEEK 


Screen  Gems  In 
O’Seas  Expansion 

Screen  Gems  is  expanding  its.  Eu¬ 
ropean  sales  and  service  activities/ 
The  Columbia  Pictures  subsid  is 
opening  a  new  Paris  office  and  , ex¬ 
panding  its  London  office  with  the 
addition  of  Continental  personnel 
from,  Columbia  who’ve  been  active 
in  Screen  Gems  work  on  an  ex- 
officio  basis.  Flock  of  new  appoint¬ 
ments  were  set  by  Bill  Fineshriber, 
SG  director  of  international  opera¬ 
tions,  during  his  recent  European 
trip.  ■ 

New  Paris  office  will  be  manned 
by  George  Blaug,  who’s  been  work¬ 
ing  for  Columbia  International  in 
Frankfurt  and  who;  becomes  SG 
European  sales  r ep;  and  Edward 
Libermann,  who’s  been  repping  SQ 
out  of  the  Columbia  Paris  office; 
Both  report  to  Jack  Cron,  Screen 
Gems  Ltd.  managing  director.  Who. 
continues  to  hq  in  London.  Blaug; 
will  also  work  in  Germany,  With 
Charles  Munsel,  who  headquarters 
in  Frankfurt  but  also  supervises 
German  dubbing  in  Munich. 

-  In  the  London  office,  Isobelle  Ib- 
bott  has  been  upped  to  traffic  man- 
ager  for  United  Kingdom  and  the 
Continent,  and  Doreen  Newell  has 
been  named  exec  secretary  under 
Cron,  while  a  couple  of  new  staff¬ 
ers  have  been  named  to  the  traffic- 
servicing  operation, 

‘26  Men’  Stars  Join  In 
Personal  Appearance  Trek 

Pointing  up  the  sponsor-personal 
appearance  tie,  Tris  Coffin  and 
Kelo  Henderson,  stars  of  “26  Men,” 
have  been  booked  by  Hood  Dairies 
fpr  a  six-day  tour  of  New  England, 
starting  Jan.  11. 

H.  P,  Hood,  regional  sponsors 
of  the  ABC  Film  Syndication  show, 
has  set  the  two  “Arizona  Rangers” 
for  p.  a.’s  in  Boston,  Providence, 
Hartford,  Springfield,  Burlington 
and  Portland,  Me.  The  gun-sling- 
ers  will  do  the  supermarket-  tour 
in  those' cities,  as  well  as  on  the 
air  appearances,  press  confabs,  etc. 
Before  returning  to  Phoenix,  where 
13  more  episodes  are  to  be  shot, 
the  duo  will  stop  oyer  in  Albany 
on  Jan.  181 


‘Silent  Service’  Spread 

“Sileht  Service,”  California  Na¬ 
tional’s  half-hour  series  in  syndi¬ 
cation  since  last  March,  has /hit 
150  tv*  stations. 

Since  the  150  stations  cover  172 
markets,  according  to  the  com¬ 
pany,  the  stanza  reaches  97.2%  of 
U.S.  tv  homes.  jJl 


UA  Eyes  Theatres 
Oseas  For  AAP’s 
WB  Re-Releases 

With  the  battle  seemingly  going 
in  favOr  Of  United  Artists  getting 
controlling  interest  of  Associated 
Artists  Productions  Eliot  Hyman; 
prexy  of  the;  latter,  took  off 
for  a  fortnight,  to '  Florida.  In 
his .  absence,  there  was  consid¬ 
erable  talk  that  now  UA  is 
closely  allied  with  AAP,  the  Hol¬ 
lywood.  major  would  begin  using 
its  strong  overseas  theatrical  dis¬ 
tribution  arm  to  re-release  AAP’s 
Warner  Bros,  features  in  Euro¬ 
pean  theatres. 

It  is 'believed  that  certain  War¬ 
ner  features  were-  withheld  from 
European  television  in.  order  to 
gain  from  theatrical  re-release. 

Conversely,  that  UA  controls 
AAP,  UA  wiU  ultimately  turn 
its  own.  features,  the  ones  in  tv 
release,  oyer  to  the  stronger 
AAP  telefilm  distribution  setup. 
The  speculation  is  also  that  UA, 
theatrically,  and  AAP,  in  televi¬ 
sion,  will  retain  their  separate  cor¬ 
porate ;  identities. 

Meantime,  Norman  Katz,  AAP’s 
foreign  tv  sales,  chief,  inked  a  deal 
with  Swiss  Television  last  week 
for  Zurich  and  Geneva  stations, 
which  bought  a  “large  batch”  of 
Warner  features,  according  to  a 
flash  memo  he  sent  to  AAP’s  N.Y. 
headquarters.  Katz  said  its  the 
largest  film- buy  by  Swiss  tv  to 
date.  He  also  closed  a  deal  with 
ATV,  Birmingham,  .  England,  for 
AAP’s  "Popeye”  cartoons.  The  an¬ 
imations  are  now  appearing  On  all 
commercial  British  stations,  AAP 
reports. 


TV  Film  Chatter 


Kenneth  M,  Flower  named  ac¬ 
count  exec  in  San  Francisco  by 
CBS  Film  Sales,  reporting  to  Ed¬ 
ward  Hewitt,  whose,  appointment 
as  San  Francisco  manager  was 
made  recently.  Flower  previously 
worked  fn  the  sports  department 
at  KNX,  Los  Angeles,  and  in  pro¬ 
duction  at  KHJ-TV,  Los  Angeles 
.  .  .  CoL  Richard  F.  Lynch,  head 
of  the  U.  S.  Civil  Defense  Council, 
commended  a  recent  “Fury”  epi¬ 
sode  for  its  portrayal  of  the  need 
to  prepare  for  possible  disaster . . . 
Charles  Barry,  Metro  TV  v.p.,  to 
the  Coast  .  .  .  “Here’s  to  Health,” 
specially  selected  group  of  En¬ 
cyclopaedia  Britannica  Films  slant¬ 
ed  to  pre-school  and  early  school 
youngsters,  made  its  debut  Mon¬ 
day  (30)  on  WOR-TV.  Air  time  is 
1:45  to  2  p.m.  .  .  .  William  N. 
Kirshner  has  .joined:  Pilot  Produc¬ 
tions  as  director  of  sales  promo¬ 
tion.  He  formerly  was  associated 
with  Fred  A.  Niles  Productions, 
Chicago,' 

HOLT'S  NEW  >ILOTS 

Hollywood,  Dec.  30. 

Nat  Holt,  producer  of  “Tales  of 
Wells  Fargo,”  on  NBC,  is  mapping 
several  new  pilot  properties,  in¬ 
cluding  “Canadian  Pacific.” 

Holt  lenses  his  “Fargo”  series  at 
Republic,  utilizing  Revue’s  facili¬ 
ties. 


National  Telefilm  Associates  has  moved  its  offices  from  55th  Street 
and  57th  Street  to  larger,  quarters  in  the  Coliseum  building,  taking 
over  an  entire  floor  and  bringing  all  NTA  departments  under  One  roof, 
only,  department  left  out  of;  the  moreover  is.  the  Kennis  Film  Service. 
NTA’s  shipping  subsid,  which  recently  moved  to  new  quarters  at  43rd 
Street. 

In  4he:  sales  division,  Pete  Rodgers  has  been  named  sales /manager 
of  NTA’s  west  Coast  division,  reporting  tO.  Berne  Tabakin,  v.p.  in  charge 
of  NTA’s  Coast  division.  Rodgers  has  been  with  NTA  since  1955  as  a 
sales  exec. 

Upcoming,  negotiations  on  new  code  for.  film  teleblurbs  will  very 
probably  find  demands. for  ‘‘considerable  increases”  on  part  of  Screen 
Actors  Guild.  . 

Persistent  reports  are  that  demands  will  be  pretty  stiff,  and  SAG 
spokesman  admitted  boosts  seem  likely  to  be  in  the  cards;  However, 
he  underlined,  that  membership  is  being  consulted,  both  on  Coast  and 
in  N.Y.,  on  negotiation  terms,  which  haven’t  been  finalized  yet. 
Talks  commence .  Jan.  .  20  in  Gotham,  with .  major  ad  agencies  and 
teleblurb  producers. 


New  SAG  Vs.  AFTRA  Threats  On 
Teleflm  Coml  Jurisdiction 


CBS-TV  Dinctor  of  Public  Attain 

Irving  Gitlin 

details  Why  he  sees  the 

Public  Hungry  for 
Some  New  Experience 

{The  Ratings  Say  So] 

*  *  * 

another  Editorial  Feature 
In  the 

52d  Anniversary  Number 

of 


Py&UETT 

OUT  NEXT  WEEK 


Isaacs  To  4  Star 
On  Carson  Series 


Hollywood,  Dec.  30. 

Charles  Isaacs,  who  recently 
ankled  his  post  as  producer-writer 
of  NBC-TV’s  “Giselle  MacKenzie 
Show”  will  he  exec  consultant  on 
the  first  five  stanzas  of  a  new  series 
which  Four  Star  Films  will  make 
starring  Jeannie  Carson. 

Firm  has  earmarked  a  record 
$1,600,000  budget  to  cover  seven 
pilots  and  25  stanzas  of  Its  current 
half-hour  series  during  the  first  six 
months  of  1958.  New'series  include 
a  Jane  Russell  starrer,  which  Vin¬ 
cent  Fennelly  will  produce  from 
Richard  Carr’s  script;  three  west¬ 
erns,  “Doc  Holliday,”  “The  Tall 
Man”  and  “Wanted:  Dead  or 
Alive;”  plus  “I  Love  a  Mystery” 
and  “Night  .  Court.”  Four  star  al¬ 
ready  has  completed  pilots  for 
“Battle  Flag”  and  “Adventures  of 
Mike  Scott.” 


9-MARKET  BREWERY 
SALE  ON  fSEA  HUNT’ 

Chicago,  Dec.  30. 

G.  Heilman '  Brewing  Co,  has 
purchased  Ziv’s  "Sea  Hunt,”  Lloyd 
Bridges  starrer  for  its  Old  Style 
beer  in  nine  midwest  markets. 
Sudsery  will  sponsor  the  skein  in 
Chicago,  and  Rockford  ill.;  in  La 
Crosse,  Milwaukee,  Madison,  Green 
Bay,  Wausau  and  Eau  Claire,  Wis.; 
and  in  Waterloo-Cedar  Rapids,  la., 
starting  the  first  week  in  Febru¬ 
ary. 

Buy  was  made  through  Compton 
Advertising  in  Chi. 


Dicker  Two  Canadian  ] 
Shows  For  Syndication 

Vancouver,  Dec.  30. 

Two  CBUT  live  quarter  hours, 
“Meet  Lorraine,”  with  vocalist  Lor¬ 
raine  McAllister  and  “The  Rhythm 
Pals,”  hillbilly  show  temporarily 
dropped  because  of  budgetary  rea¬ 
sons,  are  being  eyed  for  telefilm 
syndication. 

It’s  felt  here  that  syndicatidn  of 
such  small  nut  productions  would 
I  be  somewhat  of  an  antidote  to  the 
current  cutback  policy  of  Canadian 
Broadcasting  Corp. 


‘Wire  Service’  to  BBC 

.  Hollywood,  Dec,  30. 

Don  Sharpe  has  returned  after  a 
London-Paris-N.Y.  trip  in  which 
he  completed  the  sale  of  “Wire 
Service”  to  the  British  Broadcast¬ 
ing  Co.  Telefilm  series,  which 
starts  on  BBC  on  Friday  (3)  ,  marks 
the  first  hour-long  film  Series  to  be 
aired  on  British  tv. 

In  Paris,  Sharpe  met  with  Mau¬ 
rice  Chevalier  to  set  up  four  tv 
shows  to  be  shot  in  the  French  cap¬ 
ital,  with  filming  slated  to  start  in 
the  faU  of  ?58.  Exec  Nat  Wolff 
planes  to  the  Coast  next  week  to 
confer  with  Sharpe  and  Warren 
Lewis  on  1958-’59  production  plans. 

Eade*'  Telepix  Pact 

.  ,  London,  Dec.  30. 

Film  director  Wilfred  Eades  has 
been  inked  by  ABC-TV  to  direct  12 
teleplays  over  the  next  three  years. 
Eades,  who  was  at  Associated-Brit- 
ish  before  turning  to  tv,  has  al¬ 
ready  produced  several  dramas 
for  the  programmers  during  the 
past  few  months. 


*  Key  members  of  Screen  Actors 
Guild  in  New  York  are  threatening 
to  demand  a  new  vote  to  take  juris¬ 
diction  of  telefilm  commercials  but 
of  .the  hands  of  the  screen  union 
and  possibly  turn  it  over  to  the 
American  Federation  of  Television 
&  Radio  Artists.  The  threat  was 
posed  as  the  result  of.  serious  in¬ 
ternal  conflict  over  the  demands  td 
be  made  at  the  upcoming  collective 
bargaining  talks  between  SAG  and 
commercial  producers  and  advertis¬ 
ing  agencies; 

Some  100  announcers;  actors  and 
models  who  do  teleblurbs  under 
SAG  jurisdiction  have  signed  a 
paper,  it  was  learned,  demanding 
that  their  needs  be  considered  by 
the  union.  A  spokesman  for  the 
group,  who  said  that  they  are  seek¬ 
ing  at  least  100  more  names  to  send 
to  SAG’s  national  headquarters  in 
Hollywood,  disclosed  that  the  union 
rejected  some  of  their  collective 
bargaining  demands  before  SAG 
ever  got  into  actual  negotiation1 
with  employers. 

He  said  the  SAG  had  some  jus¬ 
tification  for  turning  down  the  de¬ 
mands  but  that  the  latest  rejection 
was  simply  one  of  a  long  string  of 
gripes  that  the  membership  had, 
and  that  “if  this  negative  attitude 
continues  we’ll  go  to  the  National 
Labor  Relations  Board  to  demand 
a  new  vote  on  who  will  handle  us 
in  film  commercials.”  He  indicated 
a  desire  for  AFTRA,  which  has 
been  limited  to  live  television  juris¬ 
diction,  to  take  over. 

New  York  announcers  had  pre¬ 
pared  a  revolutionary  demand  to 
be  {pade  of  the  agencies  insofar 
as  nationally  spotted  film  blurbs 
are  concerned.  Arguing  that  .an¬ 
nouncers,  actors  and  models  don’t 
get*  a  lot  of  loot  from  telefilm 
pitches  since  agencies  and  sponsors 
tend  to  eliminate  them  if;  they’ve 
done  Work  for  a  competitor  and 
since  there  is  a  growing  amount  of 
product  conflict,  SAG  rank-and-file 
asked  that  rerun  payments  be 
based  on  four-week  cycles  instead 
Of  the  current  13-weeks.  This  would 
enable  actors  to  collect  residuals 
on  national  spot  blurbs  three  times 
in  13  weeks  Instead  of  once.  The 
demand  was  Initiated  by  New  York 
gabbers. 

When  the  Gotham  pitchmen  met 
recently  with  those  of  Chicago  and 
Los  Angeles,  they  were  outvoted 
and  the  demand  was  thumbed  out. 
The  nix  vot e  jvas  later  Compounded 
by  the  SAG  officialdom,  which 
again  turned  down  the  new  rerun 
pattern  on  national  spot  commer¬ 
cials. 

Chicago,  it  Was  explained,  was 
afraid  that  higher  rerun  fees  would 
run  the  little  remaining  production 
out  of  Chi.  On  the  Coast,  there  is 
a  different  problem,  the  N.  Y. 
spokesman  declared.  He  said  that 
the  tendency  there  Is  to  hire  biff 
name  announcers  who  get  well 
above  scale  and  hence  don’t  need 
to  worry  about  ordinary  residual 
fees. 

;  The  spokesman,  an  announcer, 
objected  to  the  repeated  difficul¬ 
ties  that  commercial  performers 
have  had  with  SAG.  As  spokesman 
for  the  group,  of  dissatisfied,  an¬ 
nouncers,  whom  he  said  numbered 
(Continued  on  page  35) 


AUSTRALIANS  MAKING 
TELEFILM  BAN  STICK 

Sydney,  Dec.  24. 

To  date,  no  outside  program 
source  has  broken  down'  the  ban 
set  by  Australia’s  commercial  tele¬ 
vision  .stations.  Nearly  three 
months  ago,  the  four  commercial 
tv  .  stations  in  Sydney  and  in  Mel¬ 
bourne  proclaimed  that  they  Would 
not.  permit  telefilm  programs, 
bought  in  .the  U.S.  by  other  than 
themselves,  on  their  channels; . 

The  proclamation  followed 
government  ruling  allowing  adveN 
tising  agencies  and  others  to  use 
American  dollar  allocations  to  buy 
foreign  telefilm  for  exposure  In 
Australia.  The  stations  contended 
that  since  they  had  collectively 
spent  in  the  vicinity  of  750,000 
pounds  for  U.S.  vidfilms  (and  since 
all  of  them  were  not  bought  by  ad¬ 
vertisers),  to  Insure  their  own  ex¬ 
penditures  they  Would  not  allow 
anybody  *  else’s  programming  on 
theirchannols. 

Certain  agency  sources  spoofed 
the  proclamation,  but  so  far  it  has 
held  lip  strongly. 


Wednesday,  January  1,  195S 


J'SSU&TY 


TV-FIOfS 


23 


The  eight  filmed  “Playhouse  90”  shows  which  Screen  Gems  pro¬ 
duced  last,  season  for  CBS-TV  are  being  released  for  tv  rerun  pur- 
poses  as  part  of  a  new  112-picture  feature  film  package  by  Screen 
Gems.  Package,  tagged  the  “Triple  Crown”  package,  comprises  52 
,  ia  *6ature5,  52  from  Universal-International  and  the  eight 
“Playhouse  90"  pixi 

Package  includes  a  couple  of  Academy  Award  entries,  “All  Quiet 
^be  Western  Front”  and  Frank  Capra’s  “It  Happened  One 
,;  a  C0UPle  of  other  Capra  entries,  “Mr,  Smith  Goes  to  Wash- 
ington”  and.  “Lost  Horizons’’;  first  Deanna  Durbin  television,  release, 

‘  Christmas  Holiday,”  with  Gene  Kelly;  Bing  Crosby’s  “East  Side  of 
Heaven,”  “All  My  . Sons,”  “Brute  Force”  and  “My  Sister  Eileen.” 

Features  have  already  been  sold  in  10  markets,  though  Screen  . 
Gems  doesn’t  start  its  sales  campaign  until  next  week.  Films  have 
been  set  Oh  WBBMrTV,  Chicago;  WFIL-TV,  Philadelphia;  KRON- 
TV  San  Francisco;  WHCT-TV,  Hartford;  WISH-TV,  Indianapolis; 
WANE-TV*  Ft.  Wayne;  KUTV,  Salt  Lake  City;  KFMB-TV,  San  Di¬ 
ego;  ROVR-TV  Stockton  and.  in  Boise  - 


Production 
’58;  10  New  Projects 


Hollywood,  Dec.  30.  -f 

Ziv's  production  budget  for  ’58 
is  estimated  at  $16,000,000,  about 
$3,5OO;0OO  more  than  that  of  ’57, 
with  the  increase  reflecting  rising 
telefilm  costs  as  well  as  expanded 
activity. 

Only  part  of  the  added  costs  are 
attributable  to  new  union  agree¬ 
ments,  the  Chief  factors  listed  by 
the  company  as  being  added  ex¬ 
pense  of -location  shooting,  partici¬ 
pation  agreements  with  stars,  and 
the  increased  time  devoted  to  ^re¬ 
production  planning. 

In  1957,  Ziv  had  eight,  tv  series 
in  production,  all  of  them  involving 
extensive  location  shooting,  as  com¬ 
pared  to  the  three  series  Of  the 
previous  year  which  also  demanded 
extensive  location  shooting.  For 
*58,  Ziv  has  10  projects  lined  up, 
including  “Bat  Masterson.” 

In  a  yearend  report,  the  company 
stated  that  gross  dollar  volume  for 
all  Ziv  divisions  during  '57  rose 
53%.  above  ’56  levels,  reflecting  in¬ 
creased  sales  in.  all  divisions.  Net¬ 
work  sales  for  ’57  also  increased 
with  R.  J,  Reynolds  picking  up 
“Harbourmaster;.”  Bristol  -  Myers 
“Tombstone  Territory;"  and  Rise 
Shaving  Cream  and  Van  Heusen  a 
rerun  on  “West  Point.” 

The  international  .  division  has 
made  marked  gains  over  the  past 
year,  with  Ziv  now  being-  repre¬ 
sented  in  every  country  outside 
the  Iron  Curtain  that  has  tv.  The 
year  also  saw  the  virtual  day-and-j 
date  release  of  skeins  in  ■  the  for¬ 
eign  market  with  their  U.  S.  debut. 
Ziv’s  “Harbor.  Command”  and  “The 
New  Adventures  of  Martin  Kane" 
have  already  started  running  in 
21  and  20  foreign  markets,  re¬ 
spectively. 


Syndicate ‘Medic’ 

In  addition  to  its  new  syndi¬ 
cated  series  for  1958,  California 
National  is  shortly  going  to  release 
three  former  x^network  telefilm 
skeins  for  the  local  video  market. 
First  of  them  is  going  to  be 
“Medic,”  former  NBC-TV  skein. 

Company  is  now  working  out  ar¬ 
rangements  on  the  other  two  shows, 
which,  like  the  Richard  Boone- 
“Medic”  starrer,  have  not  played 
syndication  previously.  They  were 
riot  named  but  it  was  explained 
that  each  of  the.  brace  would  have 
78  or  more  haif-hours  available, 
for  purposes  of  daytime  stripping 
by  local  tv  outlets. 

TPA  Claims  O’Seas 


For  $%  of  Total 


Mpls.  KMGM-TVs 
Post-48  UA  Buy 

Minneapolis,  Dec.  30. 

In  what’s  believed  to  be  the  big- 
gest  television  deal  of  its.  kind  iri 
recent  months  here,  although  the 
purchase  price  was  not  disclosed, 
KMGM-TV  has  acquired  52  of  the 
post  1948  pictures  which  United 
Artists  is  releasing,  to  video.  Ac¬ 
quisitions  include  such,  outstanding 
oldies  as  “African  Queen,”  “Moulin 
ROuge,”  “Red  River”  and  ‘‘Night  of 
the  Hunter.” 

With  this  acquisition,  KMGM-TV, 
the  only  One  of  the  four  local  ty 
stations  without  any  network  affili¬ 
ation,  starts  1958  with  by  far  the 
local  biggest  and  most  impressive 
lineup  of  feature  films. 

In  addition  to  the  aforemen¬ 
tioned  UA  fiims  the  station,  W 
which  National  .Telefilm  Associ¬ 
ates  and  Metro  Pictures  own  a  75 
and  25%  interest,  respectively,  has 
the  entire  M-G-M  video  backlog 
along  with  RKO’s  arid  part  of  the 
20th-Fox  tv  library. 

This  compares  to  the  300  Warner 
Bros,  oldies  owned  by  .WTCN-TV 
(ABC)  and  the  86  20th-Fox  in  the 
hands  of  WCCO-TV  (CBS),  WTCN- 
TV  bought  its  six  WB  packages  m 
mid-1957.  The  20th-Fox  deal  was 
( Continued  on  page  32 ) 


The  growing  foreign  market  how 
reps  about  30%  of  Television  pro¬ 
grams  of  America's  total  gross  biz. 

TPA  jenjoys  a  higher  percentage 
than  most  syndicators,  getting  a 
good  ride  with  its  shows  in.  the 
lucrative  English-speaking  markets 
via  its  co-production  tie-ups  in  Can¬ 
ada-  Prexy  Milton  A.  Gordon  re¬ 
ported  a  hefty  gross  of  $2,000,000 
for  “Hawkeye,  The  Last  Of  the 
Mohicans,”  for  the  first  time 
arourid,  the  total  revenues  of*  the 
show  repping  grosses  from  the 
U.  S.,  .  Canada,  and  England. 

Most  major  syndiedtors  now  are 
realizing  from.  20  to  25%  of  their 
total  gross  biz  from  the  foreign 
field. 

.  Underscoring  the  dimensions  of 
the  foreign  market,  TPA  just  sold 
“Lassie”  in  the  Philippines,  with 
Canada  Dry  picking  up  the  tab, 
the.  Philippines  marking,  the  21st 
foreign  market  for  the  Jack  WTath- 
er  production.  The  dog-and-boy 
story  has  been  dubbed  in  French, 
Spanish,  German  and  subtitled  in 
Danish,  Swedish,  Flemish,  Japa¬ 
nese  and  Arabic  languages: 


Him  Syndication 
Names  Phil  Williams 

Phil  Williams  has  been  named 
v.p.  in  -  charge  of  syndicated  sales 
for  ABC  Film  Syndication,  replac¬ 
ing  Don  L.  Kearney,  resigned. 

Williams,,  who  leaves,  his  post  as 
eastern  spot  sales  manager  for  Ziv, 
will  assume  his  ABC  post  on  Jan. 
6.  Before  joining  the  Ziv  opera¬ 
tion  in  1952,  Williams  was  with 
Time  mag  for  15  years  in  sales,  pub¬ 
lic  relations  and  ad  capacities. 

John  Burns  will  continue  as  v.p. 
iri  charge  of  national  sales;  Wil¬ 
liam  Clark  as  v.p.  in  charge  of 
Coast  operations;  and  Richard! 
Morgan  as  v.p.  in  charge  of  opera¬ 
tions,.  .! 


The  high  rating  dust  kicked  up 
by  the  western  network  parade  has 
made  the  problem  of  crystal-ball 
guessing  the  telefilm  demands  of 
nets  and  sponsors  more  difficult 
than  ever;  according  to  Milton  A. 
Gordon,  prexy  of  Television  Pro¬ 
grams  of  America, 

At  this  point  in  the  season;  in 
previous  years,  there  were  a  vari¬ 
ety  of  successful  formats  on  the 
air.  Creating  a  favorable  atmos¬ 
phere  for  introing  a  new  show  in 
similar  Categories  for  the  following 
season, 

But  with  the  westerns  riding 
high,  what  will  the  sponsors  be 
buying  in  telefilms  comes  the 
spring  and  summer?  More  shoot- 
em-ups?  Or  to  pose  the  question 
differently,  what  do  you  program 
in  telefilms  against  a  western,  for 
evert  if  the  oaters.  increase  in  num¬ 
bers  next  season,  the  three  net¬ 
works,  aren’t  likely  to  be  pitting 
sagebrushes  against  one  another 
in  one  prime  slot  after,  another. 

The  sponsor;  too,  buying  the 
non-oater  skein  in  the  midst  of 
today’s  tv  tastes,  also  !  is  mighty 
worried  when  there’s  a  shoot-em-up 
facing  him  in  the  next,  network 
channel,  a  factor  which  makes  a 
national  sale  even  tougher  than 
previous  years.  Nevertheless,  TPA, 
along  with  other  telefilm  outfits, 
are  plunging  ahead  with  their  pro¬ 
duction  plans,  risky  as  the  biz.  is. 

Les  Harris,  CBS  Film  Sales  top¬ 
per,  alsp  sounding  off  on  likely 
telefilm  trends  for  next  season, 
feels  that  the, term  western  should 
be  expanded  under  the  general 
heading  of  Americana,  predicting 
that  there,  will  be  more  telefilm 
entries  under  that  general  Ameri¬ 
cana  heading  next  year. 

....  CBS  Film  Sales,  like  TPA,  in¬ 
cidentally,  hasn’t  got  an  oater  in 
its  production  roster  for  ’58.  But 
Harris  is  the  first  to  acknowledge 
that  they’ll  be  plentiful  next  year. 
He’s  of  the  opinion  though  that 
semi-historical  skeins  with  America 
as  the  backdrop  could  be  among 
next  year’s  trends.  He  points  to  the 
success  of  “The  Gray  Ghost”  in 
syndication,  as  one  reason  and  the 
resurgence  of  natioriaiirin  in  the 
U.  S,.  as  another  reason.  On  the. 
telefilm  upbeat  among  sponsors 
and  agencies  are  comedy  shows 
and.  mystery-detective  formats?  ac¬ 
cording  ;.  to  the  CBS  Film  Sales 
topper.  He  also  ,  sees  room  for  a 
few  kiddie  shows,  with  general 
family  appeal,  a  category  which 
haSri’t  had  many  telefilm  entries 
the  past  few  years.  Musical  shows 
on  film .’.'ate-  dead,  Harris  adds. 

The  success  of  horror  feature 
films  on  tv  has  perked  up.  some 
interest  for  a  horror  telefilm  series; 
but  CBS  Film  Sales  is  skirting  that 
format,  feeling  it  would  be  difficult 
week  after  week  to  horrify  the 
audience  with  the  same  running 
character  and  keep  within  the 
National  Assn,  of  Radio  and  Tele¬ 
vision  Broadcasters  Code; 

Despite  the  interest  in  science 
since  Sputnik,  Harris  reports  that 
at  this  stage  the  interest  of  spon¬ 
sors  and  agencies  in  science  shows 

“academic."  After  sounding  out 
a  number  of  agencies*  the  CBS 
Film  -  Sales  topper  finds  ,  agency- 
sponsor  clients  reluctant  to  get  hot 
on  science  shows  as  commercial 
vehicles. 


Production 
Nut  for  Ambitious  58  Schedule, 


‘Zorro’s’  Canada  Sponsor 

Toronto,  Dec-  30. 

Commencing  Jain,  4;  Dominion 
Seven-Up  will  preem .  its  new  39- 
week  tv  series,  “Zorro,”  produced 
by  Walt  Disney,  with  30-mins. 
stanza  going  to  36  coast-to-coast 
stations  on  the  Canadian  Broad¬ 
casting  Corp.  network. 

Deal  was  set  by  Vickers  &  Ben- 
sort,  Toronto. 


Metro  TV  Eyes 
A  Cal  Nat  Tie 
On  New  Skeins 


Metro  TV,  which  is  in  the  midst 
of  pilot  projects  for  national  sale 
next  spring,  is  holding,  talks  to  get 
into  the  syndication  biz  via  a  tieup 
with  California  National  Produc¬ 
tions,  the  NBC.  film  syndication  biz. 

Proposals  outlined  would  have 
Metro  serving  as  the  production 
arm  for  syndication  product,  with 
CNP  doing  thh  distribution.  CNP 
already  has  a  working  relationship 
with  Metro,  utilizing  Metro  Coast 
studios  for  production  of  “Union 
Pacific:”;  Talks  were  initiated  be¬ 
tween  Charles  Barry,  Loew’s  v.p. 
in  charge  of  Metro  TV,  and  Robert 
Levitt,  former  CNP  topper,  and 
now  are  being  carried  forward  by! 
the  new  CNP  prez  Earl  Rettig. 

In  the  .feature  sale  department, 
C.  Pete  Jaeger,  eastern  sales  man¬ 
ager,  has  .  resigned,  effective  today 
(1)..  Coming  east  to  replace  him 
will  be  Paul  Mowrey,  who  had  been 
Concentrating  his  efforts  in  the 
midwest.  Filling  Mowrey’s  spot  in 
the  midwest  will  be  newly-appoint¬ 
ed  Arthur  Breider,  a  former  Ziv 
sales  exec,  who  will  headquarter  m 
Cincinnati, 

The  pilot  projects  which  will  be 
given  the.  onCe-over  after  the  first 
of  the  year  include  a  western,  “The 
Desert  Rider,”  which  may  either 
be  a  30-minute  or  an  hour  show;' 
“Jeopardy,”  “Act  of  Violence,” 
both  in  the  mystery-adventure 
vein,  and  a  new  Jan  Clayton  prop¬ 
erty.  Miss  Clayton  whs  formerly 
the  mother  in  the  “Lassie”  series. 
Also  to  be  mulled  is  a  property 
proposed  by  Norman  Blackburn, 
co-producer  of  “Circus  BOy.”  His 
property  is  titled  “Cabin  Boy”  and 
concerns  the  adventures  of  a  Cabin 
boy  working  on  a  freighter. 


‘CONFESSION’  PITCHED 
FOR  NETWORK  SLOT 

Official  Films,  is  pitching  “Con¬ 
fession”  for:  national  sale;  as  a 
possible  replacement  for  .  air  axed 
network  program. 

The  offbeat  half-hour  series, 
filmed  by  Texas. tv  producer  Jack 
Wyatt,  consists  of  interviews  by 
Wyatt  with  various  convicts,  tied 
in  with  talks  with  clergymen  and 
psychiatrists  on  how  people  turn 
to  the  path  of  crime.  Carried  live 
locally  by  WFAA-TV,  Dallas,  the 
show  has  kicked  up  quite  a  stir. 

.  If  not  sold  nationally,  Official 
will  turn:  to'the  syndication  route, 
the  kickoff  depending  upon  coral- 
ling  a  large  regional.  Producer 
Wyatt  is  associated  with  distributor 
Jules  Weill  in  the  project. 


6RYNNER,  MIRISCH 
PLEDGE  UA  TV  TIE 

United  Artists  Television  is  mov¬ 
ing  ahead  on  its  plans  to  make  tv 
ties  with,  motion  picture  producers 
releasing  through  UA, 

Yul  Brynner  and  Walter  Mirisch, 
inking  multi-motion  picture 
deals  with  UA;  stated  that  they 
would  also,  join  UA  in  tv  projects. 
It’s  considered  likely  that  both 
Bryrtner  and  Mirisch  will  do  epi¬ 
sodes  for  UA.  TV’s  propjected.  an¬ 
thology  series,  tentatively  titled 
“UA  Playhouse.” 


Carnation  Milk  Inks 

‘Annapolis’  Reruns 

Carnation  Milk  has  inked  a  re¬ 
run  deal  on  Ziv’s  “Men  of  Anna¬ 
polis,”  renewing  its  sponsorship  of 
the  skein  in  17  western  markets. 

Carnation  originally  purchased 
the  series  in.  San  FranciscO,  San 
Diego,  Seattle,  Phoenix  and  Salt 
Lake  City  early  in  *57,  when  the 
series  was  introed.  The  Carnation 
deal,  via  Erwin,  Wasey,  Ruthrauff 
&  Ryan,  represents  one  of  the 
few  major  regionals  on  a  rerun 
syndicated  property. 


California  National  Productions 
Will  become  the  second  major  tele- 
filmer  to  Intensify  its  syndicated 
production  schedule  next  year,  and, 
like  the  pattern  Ziv  laid  down  a 
few  weeks  ago,  will  go  ahead  and 
do  six  full  series  in  1958.  This  is 
twice  as  much  as  the  NBC  subsidi¬ 
ary,  now  under  new  management, 
has  ever  done  in  a  12-month  period 
and  it’s  estimated  that  conserva¬ 
tively  the  overall  production  nut 
will  approach  $8,000,000.  . 

Twelve  half-hour  series  by  only 
two  companies,  in  the  face  of  a 
contention  in  other  quarters  that 
the  syndicated  television  market 
can  at;  best  .handle  nine  programs 
a  year,  is  a  decided  turnabout  in 
events.  It  appears  that  CNP  and 
Ziv  are  out  to  capitalize  bn  the. 
admitted  softened  market  facing 
the  three  tv  networks. 

Under  Robert  Cinader,  vice  pres¬ 
ident  in  charge  of  CNP  programs, 
outfit  Has  blueprinted  at  least  four 
first-run  series  for  syndication  by 
July.  There  will  be  two  others— 
perhaps  more  if  the  market  war¬ 
rants — in  the  latter'  half  of  1956. 

Intrigue  Series 

List  Includes  the.release  df 
'Union  Pacific”  on  Thursday  (2) 
for  syndicated  sale,  a  second  39 
half-hours  of  “Silent  Service"  start¬ 
ing  sometime  in  the  near  future, 
a  third  series  by  March  15  artd  the 
fourth  by  July.  The  third  skein  is 
expected  to  be  based  on  some  sort 
of  international  intrigue  format. 
CNP  has  not  decided  on  the  fourth, 
but,  for  the  moment,  company  is 
mulling  doing  a  newspaper  series 
or  “Captain’s  Courage,”  the  series 
it  previously .  announced  as  a  co¬ 
production  deal  with  Associated 
British,  to  be  shot  in  England. 

Other  strong  prospect  for  the 
syndicated  roster  of  CNP  is  “Dan¬ 
ger  is  My  Business,”  it  is  under¬ 
stood.  CNP  is  dickering  a  pact  With 
John  Wayne’s  Batjac  Productions 
to  lense  it,  although  Flamingo 
Films  was  originally  supposed  to 
have  had  a  deal  with  Wayne.  CNP 
was  mum  on  the  reported  deal. 

The  CNP  production  sked  is  in 
contrast  to  the  former  syndicated 
practice.  All  the  heavy  production 
and  selling  is  expected  to  take 
place  from  January  through  early 
fall,  whereas  in  years  gone  by  syn¬ 
dicators  worked  against  a  fall  sell¬ 
ing  pattern.  Now,  according  to 
Weller  (Jake)  KeeVer,  new  CNP 
general  manager  and  veep,  selling 
for  station-by-station  tv  is  almost 
a  year-round  matter. 

The  heavy  investments  by  CNP 
and  Ziv  in  syndication  in  1958  are 
based  on  a  succession  of  recent  tv 
factors.  Admittedly  some  of  them 
are  out-and-out  sales  points,  but 
for  a  company  to  back  up  a  pitch 
with  $8,000,000  is  mpre  than  talk. 

(1)  The  syndicators  got  an  ob¬ 
lique  boost,  by  their  own  calcula¬ 
tions,  from  a  market  study  made 
by  J.  Walter  Thompson  some 
(Continued  ort  page  35) 

‘You  Are  There 
Into  Syndication 

The  first  series  of.  CBS  public 
affairs  programming  off  network, 
“You  Are  There,”  will  be  released 
by  CBS  Film  Sales  in  February. 
There  will  he  78  episodes  of  the 
skein  available  for  the  syndication 
ride. 

CBS  Film  Sales  hopes  to  follow 
You  Are  There”  with  “Airpower,” 
Conquest”  and  “20th  Century.” 
CBS  Film  Sales  has  been  market¬ 
ing  without  much  success  filmed 
excerpts  from  old  “Omnibus’* 
shows,  which  roughly  fall  in  the 
public  affairs  category  though  pro¬ 
duced  under  outside  auspices.  The 
“You  Are  There”  skein,  though, 
reps  the  same  public  affairs  pro¬ 
gramming  in  syndication  as  ap¬ 
peared  on  the  net,  and  interest  in 
the  skein  is  reported  to  be  high. 


Wednesday,  January  1,  195& 


25* 


was  a  dynamic  year  for  television.  There  are 
now  three  and  a  half  million  more  television  homes  than  last 
year.  More  people  are  spending  more  time  watching  television 
than  a  year  ago.  And  the  three  networks'  share  of  audience 
has  increased  over  1956,  while  the  independent  stations'  declined. 

1957  also  saw  an  unprecedented  shift  of  audience  among  networks,  with 
NBC  emerging  as  the  Number  One  network  daytime  and  advancing 
into  a  virtual  stand-off  for  the  Number  One  nighttime  position. 

During  the  day  NBG  leads  the  Second  network  by  6%.  This  is 
an  audience  increase  of  30%  over  last  year  for  NBC  while  the 
second  network  has  declined  1 1%. 


At  night  NBCi's  average  audience  has  jumped  10%  in  twelve 
months  while  the  other  network's  has  dropped  10%. 

In  terms  of  nighttime  -half-hour  Wins  NBC  and  its  major 
competition  are  now  tied  with  21  apiece. 

In  the  completely  reprogrammed  7 : 30-8 :  00  PM  (NYT) 
Monday-Friday  strip,  NBC's  audience  is  71%  greater  than  a  year  ago. 

These  gains  are  naturally  reflected  in  NBC's  business 
ledger.  Sponsored  time  and  gross  network  billings  are  the 
highest  ever  recorded  by  the  network. 

While  advancing  in  audience  and  sales,  NBC  also  won  more  awards,, 
for  distinguished  programs  than  any  other  network.  During  1957 
it  gave  America  its  most  talked  about  productions— television  classics 
like  Green  Pastures,  PinocChio,  the  General  Motors  Fiftieth 
Anniversary  Show  and  Mary  Martin's  Annie  Get  Your  Gun.  NBC 
also  offered  the  nation's  educational  television  stations  their 
first  live  network  programming. 

By  all  yardsticks  of  leadership,  1957  was  a  year  of  substantial 


Source:  Nielsen  Television  Index . 

‘■C 


26 


TV-FILMS 


PISRiEff 


Wednesday,  January  1,  1958 


i - — nr 

" 

fflMETY-  ARB  City-By-City  Syndicated  Film  Chart 

VARIETY’S  weekly  chart  of  rity-by-city  ratings  of  syndicated  and  na* 
tional  spot  film  covers  40  to  60  cities  reported  by  American  Research  Bur¬ 
eau  on  a  monthly  basis.  Cities  will  be  rotated  each  week,  with.  the.  10  top- 
rated  film  shoics  listed  in  each  case ,  and  their  competition  shown,  opposite, 

’All  ratings  are  furnished  by  ARBf  based  on  the  latest  reports. 

This  VARIETY  chart  represents  a  gathering  of  all  pertinent  informa¬ 
tion  about  film  in  each  market,  which  can  be  used  by  distributors,  agencies, 
stations  and  clients  as  an.  aid  in  determining  the  effectiveness  of  a  filmed 
show  in  the  specific  market.  Attention  should  be  paid  to  time — -day  and.. 

time  factors,  since  sets-in-use  and  audience  composition  vary  according  to. 
time  slot,  i.e.,  a  Saturday  afternoon  children’s  show;  with  a  low  rating,  may 
have  a  large  share  and  an  audience  composed  largely  of'children,  with  cor¬ 
responding  results  for  the  sponsor  aiming  at  the  children9 s  market.  Abbre¬ 
viations  and  symbols  are  as  follows:  (Adv),  adventure,  (Ch),  childrens; 
(Co),  comedy;  (Dr),  drama;  (Doc),  documentary;  (Mus),  musical; 
(Myst),  mystery;  (Q),  quiz;  (Sp),  sports;  (W),  western;  (Wpm), 
women’s,  IS  umbered  symbols  next  to  station  call  letters  represent  .the  sta¬ 
tion’s  channel;  all  channels  above  13  are  UHF,  Those  ad  agencies  listed  as 
distributors  rep  the  national  sponsor  from  whom  the  film  is  aired. 

TOr  10  PROGRAMS 

BAY  AND 

NOVEMBER 

SHARE 

SETS  IN 

TOP  'COMPETING  PROGRAM 

AND  TYPE 

STATION 

QI9TRIB. 

TIME 

RATING 

,  CHI 

USE 

PROGRAM  .. 

STA. 

RATING 

PHILADELPHIA 

Approximate  Set  Count - 

—2,000,000 

Stations — 

-WRCV  (3),  WFIL  (6),  WCAU  (10) 

,  WVUE  (12) 

1.  Popeye  Theatre  (Ch) _ 

......  WFIL  .. 

......  ,-AAP. ..  ........ 

. .  Mon.-Fri.  6:00-6:30 

. . .  .30.0  . .... 

:..  70.8 _ 

. .  42.4 

Million  Dollar  Matinee. . , . 

.WCAU 

8.4 

2.  Highway  Patrol  (Adv). 

WCAU. , 

Zi 

Sat.  7:00-7:30  _ 

...i  63.1...... 

42.3 

Captain  David  Grief  . .  . 

.WRCV 

9.2 

3.  San  Francisco  Beat  (Dr) . 

....  WCAU. . 

....... CB  S.... . . 

. .  Sat.  10:30-11:00  .... 

,.,.23:9.;;^. 

....  4^5 - 

. .  49,3 

Your  Hit  Parade  ... 

WRCV 

..  ..  . .14.2 

4.  The  Honeymooners  (Co) . . 

....  WRCV.. 

.  .Tues.  7:00-7:30  .. ... 

. . :  .21.2  . .  .  i . 

. . .  52.5 . ..... 

.  .  40.4 

Newsreel  . . . 

.WFIL  ... 

. . 12.5 

5.  Sky  Kin*:  (Adv). . . 

. . . WCAU , . 

,.  Sat.  6:00-6:30  ...... 

...  190..... 

....  71.7 . 

26.5 

Weekend  News;  Weather. 

.  WFIL 

49 

6.  Silent  Service  (Adv) 

....  WFIL- . . 

_ _ NBC  . . 

..  .  Sun.  6:30-7:00  ... ... 

.,.17.9..... 

....  451...... 

..39:7 

Harbor  Comm:  nd . . . . . 

.WCAU 

. 12.1 

7.  Death  Valley  Days  (W):. 

. WRCV  . . 

Mon.  7:00-7:30 . . 

....17,1 ..... 

.,;.-39.0. ..... 

..  43.8 

Gray  Ghost. ... ...... . . . . . 

.WCAU 

.14.3 

8.  Byline  (Adv)  . . 

... . ,  WCAU.. 

..  Sat. 6:30-7:00 

...15:4 

....  51.2:,... . 

30.1 

Search  for  Adventure . ,  ... . 

.  WRCV 

7.0 

9.  Boots  &  Saddles  (W) _ 

...WRCV.. 

.......NBC. . . . 

...  Tues.  10:30-11:00  ... 

.14.9 ..... 

....  34.1. - 

.  ,  43.7 

Golden  Playhouse , . . . . .  . . . 

.  WCAU 

. 14.5 

10.  Golden  ’Playhouse  (Dr) . 

WCAU. . 

. .  ... ...  .  Official; . . 

.  ,  Tues.  10:^0-11:00  .. 

. . .  .14.5 

33  2 . 

. .  43.7 

Boots  &  Saddles - ..... . . 

.WRCV 

.....14,9 

DETROIT 

Approximate  Set  Count- 

—1,610,000 

Stations - 

—WJBK  (2),  WWJ  (4),  WXYZ  (7),  CKLW.  (9) 

1.  Death  Valley  Days  (W). . 

...  WWJ. .. 

... . . . .  Pacific-Borax  , 

Mon.  7:06-7:30 

....27:8.... 

.  .  .  .  58.3 . . .  i . . 

..  47.7 

Celebrity.  Playhouse, .... . . 

.WJBK 

. . 10.1 

2.  Highway  Patrol  (Adv). . . . 

....  WJBK  . . 

......  Ziv... _ 

Tues.  10:30-11:00  . . 

;  ,  .  .  25.3  . .... 

_  60.1 _ 

..  42.1 

Crusader  _ _ 

.  WWJ 

7.9 

3.  Amos  rn’  Andy  (Co)  .  . . . 

....WWJ... 

. . . .  CBS  . , . 

Wed.  7:00-7:30  ....... 

...24.4..... 

....  5i:0. . 

..  47.8 

Don  Ameche  . . . , ... ........ 

.  WJBK  . 

. .10:8 

4.  Popeye  The  Sailor  (Cb) . . 

....  CKLW.. 

AAP... . 

, . ,  Mon.-Sun.  6:00-6:30  . 

...  .24.2.,  . . . 

....  56.8.. 

42.6 

Frontier  Doctor  . ... 

.  WXYZ 

.13.0 

5,  Brave  Eagle  (W). 

_ CKLW. . 

. . cbs,  : . 

. .  Thurs.  6:30-7:00  . . . 

...20,8. . . 

....474...... 

.  .  43.9 

Marriage  Counselor. ... . . . . 

.WWJ 

9.4 

6.  Casey  Jones  (AdY) . 

....WWJ... 

...  Tues.  7:00r7:30 

..,-18.3..... 

38.4..,.., 

„  49.0 

Men  of  Annapolis 

.  WJBK  . 

.....17.0 

7.  Dr.  Christian  (Dr) . , 

..  ..WJBK.. 

Fri.  7:00-7:30 

_ 40.0..,.;. 

..  45.2 

Martin  Kane  .  . . . ,  r . . . 

.-WWJ  . •; 

,...hl.4 

Boots  and  Saddles ; . .  .V. . 

.  CKLW  . 

....  .11.4 

8.  The  Honeymooners  (Co) : 

WJBK,. 

......  CBS:. 

Sat.  10:30-a  1:00  .. 

...17.0 - 

....  34.6...... 

.  .  49.1 

Your  Hit  Parade  . . .  .  . .... . . 

.WWJ  ... 

. 17.7 

8.  Men  of  Annapolis  (Adv). 

_ WJBK.. 

Tues.  7:00-7:30  _ 

.,.,17.0 - 

,...34.7 . . 

.  .49.0 

Casey  Jones. ..  .\i 

.  WWJ  .. 

...  .  ,18.8 

8.  Topper  (Co)  - 

.....WXYZ.. 

.... ;  Wed.  6:30-7:00  .... 

...15.7 . 

. . . .  39.4 . 

'  39.8 

Charter  Boat ^  . 

.  CKLW  , 

10.  Annie  Oakley  <W). ... 

WXYZ . . 

. .  Tues. 6:30-7:00  .  .  ... 

.  .14.8  . 

_ 4U.0 _ 

. .  37.0 

Mickey  Rooney  .......... 

.CKLW  . 

.....12.5 

10.  Last  nf  the  Mohicans  (W). .  .  .  CKLW; . 

,. . . .  -TPA, ..... . ... , 

Thurs.  7:00-7:30  . 

....14.8.,... 

32.5..,.., 

..45.6 

Michigan  Outdoors . ....... 

.  WWJ  .  . 

10.  Wfairlyhirds  (Adv) 

WWJ... 

_  CBS.  ......... 

.  Fri.  6:30-7:00  .v, .... 

... .  ^.14.8  ... . . 

. ...  342.. _ 

..  43.3 

Frontier  Justice  • . 

.  wx;yz  v 

.... .13.0 

SAN  FRANCISCO 

Approximate  Set  Count - 

—1,350,000 

Station# — KRON  (4),  KPIX  (5),  KGO  (7) 

1.  Highway  Patrol  (Adv)  . . 

.....KRON., 

... . ....  Ziv 

Tues.  6:30r7:00  . . ., 

.  .  .  :  27.9  ...  •  ... 

....  58.4...,., 

..  47.8 

Name  That  Tune . . 

.KPIX  . 

....  .li:7 

2.  Search  for  Adventure  (Adv) . . .  KPIX: . . 

. . .  ..  .  .Bagnall. . ...  v . 

. .  Thurs:  7:30-8:00  . ; . 

.,,.27.1. 

....  45.9...... 

...  59.0 

Circus  Boy  : . . . . . 

.KGO  .... 

.....16-6 

3.  O.  Henry  Playhouse  (Dr) . 

...  ..KPIX... 

. . , . . . .  Gross-Krasne , .. . 

... .  Thurs.  7:00-7:30  ... 

,...22:7 . 

....47,9 _ _ 

...  47.4 

The  Honeymooners 

.  KRON  . 

. . . .  -  20.3. 

4.  The  Honeymooners  (Co) 

.KRON.. 

. .  .Thurs:  7:00-7:30  . . . . 

..  ..20-3..... 

....  42.8. _ 

...  47.4 

O.  Henry  Playhouse....... 

.  KPIX  . 

.....‘22.7 

5.  Science  Fiction  Theatre  (Adv).  KRON. . 

. .  Thurs.  6:30-7:00 

19.S..,.. 

....  47:4. ...... 

...  41.1 

Sgt.  Preston  of  the  Yukon. . 

.  KPIX  . 

6.  Men  of  Annapolis  (Adv) . 

KPIX, . , 

. .  Sat. 9:30-10:00  .... 

... .19.1 ..... 

....  33.7...... 

...  56,7 

Giselle  MacKenie , .  ? . . 

.  KRON  . 

....  .21.3 

7.  Secret  Journal  (Dr)  ..... 

....  .KPIX.,  . 

. .  .>. .  .MCA. . . , . . , . . ... 

.  .  .Sat:  16:00-10:30  .... 

...18,2.,... 

....  41.9 . 

...  43.4 

Mike  Wallace  Interviews . . . 

.  KGO  .. 

.....17.3 

8.  Harbor  Command  (Adv) . . 

. KRON.. 

Ziv.: . 

... .  Wed.  6:30-7:00. ...  ’  . 

_ i7.9  _ _ 

_ 50.9. 

35.2 

Last  of  the  Mahicans  .  * . . . . . 

.  KPIX 

8.3 

8.  San  Francisco  Beat  (Dr). 

.....KPIX... 

...  Sat.  10:30*11:00 

...  .17.9..... 

....  48.6...... 

. ,  36.8 

Biggie  Show ...........  i  . . 

.KGO  .. 

_ 11.0 

8.  Whirlybirds  (Adv). ....... 

. . . . . KRON  . 

.  .....  CBS.  .......  ;.. 

...  Fri.  6:30-7:00 

,  ;  .17.8  ... . . 

....46,2 . . 

...  38.5 

Leave  It  to  Beaver . . . 

.KPIX  . 

10.  Sheriff  of  Cochise  <W).  . . 

.....KRON.. 

......  NTA,  _ .  •  • 

..I  Sat.  6:30-7:00 

.....17.6,.... 

.  45.6 . . 

...  38.6 

Perry  Mason. . . 

.KPIX 

,.,..19.6 

BALTIMORE 

Approximate  Set  Count — -664,500 

Stations — 

-WMAR  (2),  WRAL  (11),  WJZ  (13) 

1.  Highway  Patrol  (Adv). .. v 

....  WMAR., 

. .  :  ZIV  . 

Sat.  7:00-7:30  ...... 

.  .  ,26.3 . 

....  55.4...... 

..  47.5 

Early  Show . . 

.  WJZ  . . . 

....  .12.5 

2.  Casey  Jones  lAdv). .  . .  .  . 

*....  WJZ.... 

...... .Screen  Gems : . . 

. .  .Mon.  7:30-8:U0  . 

-21.8 ....... 

....  41.1...... 

. .  53.0 

Robin  Hood . . 

.WMAR 

....  .  22.1 

3.  Popeye  the  Sailor  (Ch)  . .. 

.....wjz.... 

. AAP..,. . . 

.  ; .  Sat.  &  Sun.  5:30-6:00 
Mon.-Fri.  4:45  to  5:00 

..21.7..... 

....723.,... 

...  30.0 

Foreign  Legionnaire. ...... 

.  WBAL  . 

_  6,9 

4.  Brave  Eagle  (W)......., 

. . . ....  WMAR. 

......  CBS: _ .... 

Sat. 9:30-7:00 

....  48.6...... 

..40.1 

Early  Show . . .  . 

.WJZ  ... 

5.  Men  of  Annapolis  .(Adv) . . 

.....WMAR. 

...  Sat.  10:30-11:00  ..  . 

. .%  . .  18.8  ..... 

.  .  .  .  32.1 - 

.  .  58.5 

Late  Show.. ............... 

.  WJZ  .  .  . 

....  .18.9 

5.  Sheriff  of  Cochise  (W)  . . . 

.....  WBAL. : 

.......  NTA........... 

...Sat.  10:30-ll.u0  ... 

,,..13.8 

....  32.1 . 

..  58.5 

Late  Show . . 

.  WJZ  . . . 

.....18.9 

6.  Waterfront  (Adv) _ ;... 

.....WMAR.. 

. . .MCA........... 

..  .Mon.  6:30-7:00 .  . 

. 15.5,,... 

....  42.1...... 

.  .36.8 

WJZ 

..  ..  .17.7 
.....18.9 

7.  Amos  V  Andy  (Co) _ 

_ , .  WMAR. 

....... CBS..... _ 

. ,Mbh;-Fri.  6:00-6:30  . 

,....15.1..... 

....  38  6  . 

..  39.1 

Early  Show. . . 

.wjz 

8.  Man  Behind  the  Badge  (Myst).  WMAR. 

:Fri  6:30-7:00 

, . ...  .T4i4  .  ,  . , . 

....  39.7 . 

..  36.3 

Early  Show . . ; . . 

.WJZ  ... 

9.  Public  Defender  (Dr) . . . 

. WMAR. 

.  .Tues.  6:30-7:00,  ... . 

.14.0..... 

...,37.6...... 

.  .  37.2 

Early  Show. . . . 

.WJZ  ... 

....-21:0 

10.  Annie  Oakley  (W) . 

. WBAL.. 

. , .  Sat. 5:00r5:30  ..  . 

, , .  v  .13.7  i . . . » 

...;  60.1...... 

. .  22.8 

.WMAR 

: _ 4.4 

10.  City  Detective  (Myst)  . . . 

WMAR. 

_ ,:MCA . 

,,  .Wed.  6:30-7:00  .:. . 

.... .  13.7  . . . . . 

....  36.1. - - 

.,  38.0. 

Early  Show . . 

.WJZ  ... 

. 20:7 

CINCINNATI 

Approximate  Set  Count— 662,000 

Stations — WCW-T  (5),  WCPO  (9),  WKRC  (12) 

1.  Death  Valley  Days  (W) 

WKRC...... 

. . ,  Pacific-Borax 

.  .  Fri.  7:00-7:30 

. 28:9.... 

....  62.8... 

- -  46.0 

Pantomime  Hit  Parade. . . . 

.  WGPO  . . . 

HKdSi 

2.  Frontier  Doctor  (W)  ;. ...... ; 

.  WCPO, 

H-TV... 

Fri.  10:30-11:00  .... 

.  >  .27.0,. . . . 

....  53.0... 

Person  to  Person." ........ 

.WKRC  .. 

...18.9 

3.  Highway  Patrol  (Adv) . . 

.WKRC...... 

Ziv ......... . 

. . .,  Sat,  10:30-11:00  .... 

.,,24.8.... 

,  . . .  51.7.  i . 

Your  Hit  Parade- ........ 

.  WLW-T  .. 

...12.3 

4.  Kingdom  of  the  Sea  (Doc) . . . 

.  WLW-T. ... .. 

...Guild..,.:... 

_ Wed. 7:00-7:30  ..... 

...24  6... 

....  49,8. 

49.4 

Parade  of  Stars . . . , .  . ..... 

.WKRC  . . . 

. .  .10.8 

5.  Dr..  Christian  (Dr)  . . 

.WKRC _ 

.  .  ■.  Ziv.  .v..  ,.  y  .  . 

....  Mon; 7:00-7:30  ..... 

...,22.5.... 

,  . , .  50.2 . . . 

-  44.8 

Mama  . . 

.WLW-T  .. 

...11.9 

6.  Cisco  Kid  (W).....  ..... 

;WCPO  .  . . .  .  . 

...  Ziv. ......... 

.  /. .  Sun.  6:00-6:30  _ _ _ 

....22.3. ... 

.  .  50.8. 

43.9 

Best  of  MGM . . 

.WLW-T 

. .  ,10  .3 

7.  Ramar  of  the  Jungle  (Adv). . 

.WCPO...;.. 

...TPA 

.....  Sun.  6:30-7:00  _ _  _ 

_ 21.8... . 

.v...  45.3... 

......  48.1 

Twentieth  Century. ... . ... 

.WKRC  ... 

...15.6 

8.  Western  Marshal  (W) . ,  - 

WKRC... _ 

.  .  .  NBC.  .  .:....  , 

.....  Mon.  6:30-7:00 

21.5,... 

,  ,  .  52.6. 

40.9 

Pantomime  Hit  Parade . . . . 

.WCPO  ... 

. . .  9.1 

News — Huntley-Brinkley 

.  WLW-T  :  . 

...10.7 

9.  Stories  of  the .  Century  (W) . 

WKRC  -  . .  .  . 

. .  .  H-TV. . .  .  .  .  .  . 

.....  Tues. 6:30-7:00 

; . 20.4*.  .  . 

.....  49:8... 

......  41.0 

Pantomime  Hit  Parade ; . . . 

WCPO  ... 

. .  .10.7 

10.  26  Men  (W). . . 

..WLW-T..... 

.  .  .  ABC. .  ... , 

.  , Thurs.  7:00-7:30  , . . . 

...20:1.... 

r*...  46.5... 

......  432 

Assignment  Foreign  Legion .  WKRC  . . . 

..  .11,6 

Wedneaday,  January  I,  1933 


TELEVISION'  BEVIEWS 


™e  BIG  NEWS  OF  1957 
With  Robert  Trout,  commentator 
Producer:  Edwin  P.  Hoyt  (for  CBS 

News) 

Associate  Producer:  Fred  Stoll- 

mack 

Writer:  John  Luter 
60  Mins.,  Sun.  (29),  3  p.in. 
CBS-TV  from  N.Y. 

This  being  the  logical  time  of 
the  year  to  look  back,  review  and 
assess;  CBS^TV  did  just  that  Sun- 
“The  tiig  News  of 
1957,.  which  ran  fort  a;  full  hour 
and  was  followed  by  CBS  cor¬ 
respondents  from  all  over  the 
world  discussing  the  status  of  in¬ 
ternational  relations.  The  news 
review  of  ’57,  consisting  primarily 
of  newsreel  shots  connected  by 
Robert  Trout’s  terse .  commentary 
Was ,  well  written  and  well  edited 
though  made  little  attempt  to 
go  beyond  a  recap  of  visual  head¬ 
lines. 

-i'out.  made  a  good  anchor  man 
and  he;  apparently  saw  himself  as 
nothing  more  than  a  continuity, 
man,  introing  .the  various  news 
clips.  Ke  has  a  pleasant  voice  and 
on  unaffected  bearing  that  is  very; 
much  matter-of-fact,  though  one 
does  at  times  wish  he’d  color  his 
comments  with  a  little  more  emo¬ 
tion.  - 

But  in  this,  he  merely  followed 
the  format  of  the  whole  show, 
Which  apparently  was  designed  as 
a  non-editorial  review.  The  facts; 
of  course,  were  all  there  on  the 
screen.  Once  again,  the  soldiers 
moved  into  unruly  Little  Rock  and 
Gov.  Faubus  spoke  his.  defiance 
(though,  curiously,  the  show 
omitted  President  Eisenhower’s 
appeal  to  the  South  to  abide  by 
the  law);  Nikita  Krushchev  deliv¬ 
ered  his.  by  now  famous  prediction 
(on  a  CBS-TV  Interview)  that  the 
grandchildren  of  the  present 
American  generation  would  live 
under  socialism;  Queen  Elizabeth 
Visited  the  U.S.;  labor  racketeers 
appeared  before  McClellan’s  Con¬ 
gressional  committee  to  take  the 
F  i  f  t  h  Amendment;  •:  President 
Eisenhower’s  foreign  ,  policy  was 
examined;  with  special  emphasis 
on  the  Middle  East  situation,  and 
his  illness  was  recorded  with  the 
recent  Paris  NATO  confab  as 
climax. 

There  were  human  touches  re¬ 
calling  Hurricane  Audrey  and  the 
damage  it  wrought,  the  rescue,  of 
little  Benny  Hooper,  the  Sov;et 
satellite  and  the  rocket  race.  The 
Girard  case  was  mentioned  (though 
not  shown)  and  so  were  the  For¬ 
mosa  riots  and  the  Giants’  and 
Dodgers’  move  to  the  Coast.'  In 
all:  it  added  up  to  quite  a  year. 

The  clips  were  well  chosen  and 
John  -  Luter’s  commentary  was 
concise  and  carefully  objective. 

What  was  impressive  about  the 
various  films  used  was  that  so 
much  of  the  material  was  Collected 
by  CBS  News  and.  its  own  cor¬ 
respondents.  It  made  one  realize 
how  much  the  web’s  newsgather- 
ing  organization  has  grown  to  give 
viewers  a  tv  view  of  news  through¬ 
out  ..the  world.  There  were  some 
striking  shots,  including- the  one 
(not  exclusive  with  CBS)  of  the 
Vanguard  rocket  burning  up  on  its 
launching  pad  in  Florida.  On  the 
whole,  it  was- a  thorough  and  satis¬ 
fying  review  of  the  year’s  news. 

Hift. 


SUPERMARKET  QUIZ 
With  Jack  Brickhouse,  others 
Producer-director ;  Jack  Jacobson 
36  Mins,,  Mon.-Fri.,  1:30  pan. 
Participating 
WGN-TV,  Chicago 

Decidedly  the  man’s  man  while 
baseball  and  football  are  in.  season, 
-•WGN-TV’s  kingpin  sportcaster. 
Jack  Brickhouse  performs  a  switch 
to  ladies’  man  in  his  new  winter¬ 
time  vehicle:.  In  this  meet-the-girls 
formal  he’s  smooth  and  prepossess¬ 
ing,  ir  given  overly  to  the  non  se- 
quitur  and  hackneyed,  response, 
but  best  of  all  he  maintains  his 
masculinity  with  the  gals  and 
doesn’t  get  gooey  in  this  gotta- 
keep-it-from  gracious  role. . 

Show  remotes  daily  from  differ¬ 
ent  grocery  supermarkets  around 
the  city,  with,  the  stores  and  par¬ 
ticipating  sponsors  providing  the 
prizes,  namely  foodstuffs  by  the 
bagful.  Brickhouse  takes  on  the 
shoppers  three  at  a  time,  gives  'em 
the  once  over  lightly  interview, 
and  then  either  feeds  a-  multple- 
choice  stumper  (like  what  does  the 
“S’  in  Harry  S.  Truman  stand  for) 
or  sets  them  to  competitive  games 
for  the  prizes.  The  games  are  on 
the  moronic  side,  like  seeing  who 
can  blow  up  the  biggest  balloon 
blindfolded  or  who .  can  spike  the 
most,  marshmallows  with  •  a  tootn- 
pick  between  the  teeth,,  but  the 
participants  seem  to  enjoytheni. 

Turnover  in  contestants  is^  brisk, 
and  Brickhouse  can  work  five  or 
six  groups  into  a  single  session,  so 
Iotsa  folks  get  to  participate.  Race 
for  prizes  can  be  funny  in  a  pie^in- 
the-face  sort  of  way,  and  there  are 
the  inevitable  yocks  from  some  of 

the  extraordinary  types  who  hnd 

their  \yay  onto  the  show. 


PROLOGUE  1958 
With  John  Daly,  Quincy  Howe, 
Cecil  Brown,  John  Secondari, 
Edward  P..  Morgan,  John  Ed¬ 
wards,  Robert  Fleming,  Robert 
Sturdevant,  Yale  Newrifkan,  Don 
Goddard 

Producer:  Mary  Laing 
Director;  Marshall  Diskin 
60  . Mins.,  Sun.  (29),  9  pan. 

ABC-TV,  from  N.Y. 

In  “Prplogue  1958”  Sunday  (29) 
night,  ABC’s  news  ranks  spread 
themselves  thin,  going  after  eight 
or  nine  big  stories  that  took  place 
in  1957.  The  points  of  view  by  the 
network's  correspondents,  under 
John  Daly’s  aegis,  were  cautious, 
often  to  the  point  of  euphemism: 
Though  it  purported  to  offer  per¬ 
spective,  the  60-minute  telecast  at 
9  .  pm.  did  .  not  give  any.  And  it 
travelled  too  lightly  over  the  most 
important  issue  of  the  day— our 
foreign  policy. 

The  recapitulation  given  by  Daly, 
Quincy  Howe,  Cecil  Brown,  John 
Secondari,  Edward  P.  Morgan, 
John  Edwards,  Robert  Fleming, 
Robert  Sturdevant,  Yale  Newman 
and  Don  Goddard  seemed  only  a 
rehash  of  .what  people  already 
knew,  with  few  exceptions.! 

ABC  never  quite  came  to  grips 
with  domestic  or  foreign  issues  in 
any  rfeally  negative  or  trouble-: 
some  sense.  Its  commentators 
spoke  of  the  euphoria  we  live  unr 
der  but  didn’t  do  enough- to  cor¬ 
rect  this  state.  The  editorial  “we” 
was  used  in  place  of  top  govern¬ 
mental  and  political  names,  yet 
some  of  the  ABC  boys  seemed  fair¬ 
ly  bursting  to  call  a  spade  a  spade,, 
right ,  or  wrong.’  It  seems  worth 
an  error  or  two,  even  some  govern- 1 
mental  criticism,  in.  order  to  go 1 
out  on  a  limb  to  say  what  reporters 
felt  must  be  said. 

Unquestionably,  a  certain  amount 
of  ruthlessness  was  in  order  to 
shake  things  dp  a  little.  Only 
time:  anybody  really  stepped  on  a 
couple  of  toes  waswhen  Sturde¬ 
vant,  who  covers  Europe  for  ABC. 
accused,  the  French  government  of 
"gross  mismanagement,”  but  then 
the  French  are  geographically  and 
politically  remote  enough  so  that 
it's  not  likely  they’re  going  to  crack 
ABC's  knuckles.  Art. 


THE  ARTHUR  MURRAY  PARTY 
With  Kathryn  and  Arthur  Murray, 
Paul  Winchell,  Tallulah-  Bank- 
head,  Paul  Hartman,  Gertrude 
Berr,  Walter  Slezak,  Bil  and  Cora 
.  Baird,'  Sarah.  Vaughan,  Hedy] La¬ 
marr,  Rod  Alexander,  Buddy 
Holly  and  The  Crickets,  Gloria 
.  Stevens,.  Johnny  Smoker,  others 
Producer-Director;  Coby  Rnskin 
Writers:  Gordon  Anchinclow,  Jay 
Franklin  Jones 
60  Mins.;  Sat.  (28),  9  pjn. 

NBC-TV,  from'  New  York 
Tendency  to  parade  name  guests 
and  have  them  do  nothing  was 
hardly  ever  more  pronounced  in 
television  than  in  the  latest  ‘‘Arthur 
Murray  Party/’  at  lehst  in  the  first 
several  minutes  of  *the  60-minute 
special  last  Saturday  .(28),  The  un¬ 
sponsored  program  preempted 
Polly  Bergen  and  Gisele  Macken¬ 
zie  on  NBC-TV. 

Preciousness  and  cuteness 
abounded  in  the  first  half-hour 
after  9  p:m.  The  Bil  &  Cora  Baird 
puppets,  which  had  to  wait  till 
nearly  the  end  of  the  stanza  to  re¬ 
deem  themselves,  were  wasted  en¬ 
tirely  as  the  instrument  to  intro¬ 
duce  the.  several  guests.  Baird's  stuff 
is  almost  always  better.  The  fault 
of  the  awkward ;  introes  lies  chiefly 
with  the. meaningless  writing.  Only 
Tallulah  Bankhead,  -  vis-a-vis  a 
Braid  French  poodle,  managed  to 
capitalize  on  the  gimmick  (but  then 
her  confidence  and  charni.  made 
her  the  star  of  the  show),  although 
even  her  "introduction”  fell  apart 
when  it  ran  overlong.  Paul  Hart¬ 
man.  Gertrude  Berg,  Walter  Slezak, 
Safah  Vaughan*  Hedy  Lamarr  and 
Paul  Wirichell  were  each  wasted  in 
turn. 

An  ofay  crowd  called  Buddy 
Holly  and  The  Crickets  was  no  im¬ 
provement;  The  bespectacled  young 
Holly  had  only  the  noise  and  little 
of  the  rhythm  that  accompanies 
rock  ’  roll.  To  make  it  a  total 
waste  of  30  minutes,  hostess 
Kathryn  Murray,  who  is  no  Imo- 
gene  Coca,  waddled .  grotesquely 
through  an  attempt  at  ballet  pari 
ody.  However,  there  was.  squeezed 
into  this  portion  of  the  party  a 
song  by  Sarah  Vaughan.  She  was 
fine  even  though  the  tempo  of 
"Stairway  to  Paradise”  was  not 
really  typecast  for  her. 

It’s  when  Mrs.  Murray  and  her 
various  tv  programs  pursue  a  sim¬ 
ple  format  that  they,  take  on  a  folk¬ 
siness  that  is  sure  to  please  a  great 
many  horaescreeners.  That  was  the 
case  Saturday.  From  the  moment 
Arthur  Murray  gave  a  cha-cha 
lesson,  followed  by  a  clever  dance 
of  the  20s  by  the  Baird  sticks,  the 


-PROJECTION.  158 
With  Chet  Huntley,  Martin  Agren- 
aky,  Frank  Bonrgfibltzer,  David 
Brinkley,  John  Chancellor,  Leif 
Eid,  Joseph  C.  Harsch,  Welles 
Haugen,  Irving  R.  Levine,  Ed 
Newinan,  Robert  McCormick, 
James  Robinson 
Producer;  Chet  Hagan 
Director:  Robert  Priaulx 
60  Mins.,  Sun.  (29)  6  p.m. 

NBC-TV,  from  New  York 
That  NBC  News  has  some 
crackerjack  newsmen  on  its  domes¬ 
tic  and  foreign  staffs  should  come 
as  no:  surprise  to  the  trade,  but  it 
probably  was  surprising  to  the  pub- 
lict  which  got  a  good  look  at  them 
for  the  first  time  ever  Sunday  (29). 
when  the  network  assembled  j 
dozen  of  them  for.  "Projection  *58,’ 
the  first  of  what  is  intended  as  a 
yearly  wrapup  a  la  CBS'  longrun- 
ning  "Years  of  .Crisis”,  series. 
Indeed,,  even  to  the  trade,  the 
first-time  television  “unveiling” 
of  some  of  the  real  pros,  in  the 
group,  like  Rome  chief  Ed  New¬ 
man  arid  Vienna  chief  Frank  Bourg- 
holtzer.  was  something  of  a  revela¬ 
tion  which ’leads  to  the  question: 
where  '  has  NBC  been  keeping 
them  all  this  time?1  Answer  is 
"buried,”  at  least  on  television. 
but:  the  new  operation  of  NBC 
News  as  an  autonomous  depart¬ 
ment  at  the  network  should  end 
that  once  and  for  alL 
“Projection  *58”  wasn’t  all  that 
it  <  could  have  been  in  terms  of  a 
qualitative  wrapup,  partly  :  because 
some  of  the  correspondents  weren’t 
probing  enough  in  their  analyses 
of  the.  state  of  affairs  of  their  areas 
but  mainly  because  the  format  of 
the  show  was  restrictive  and  the 
atmosphere  cumbersome.  Rather 
than  giving  the  show  a  freewheel¬ 
ing1  flavor,  Chet  Hagan,:  the  NBC 
midwest  manager  brought  in  to 
produce,  the  special,  chose  to  define 
it  in .  terms  of  carefully  selected 
topics,  with  round-robin  discussion 
exploring  each  of  these  from  dif¬ 
ferent  viewpoint.  Hence/the  kick¬ 
off  topic  was  Sputnik,  with  each  of 
the  correspondents  getting  in  short 
licks  bn  this;  then  turning  to  Topic 
No.  2,  foreign  policy,  then  disarm¬ 
ament,  etc.,  and  wrapping  up  with 
predictions  for  '58.  . 

Such  an  approach,  limited  the 
newsmen  in  giving  a  cortiolete  de¬ 
scription  and  summary  of  the  back¬ 
grounds  and  problems  of .  their 
particular  areas  of  coverage— it 
left  lots  of  gaDs  and  made  for  some¬ 
times  superficial  coverage;  The 
arbitrary  choice  of  topics  left  no 
room  for  a  fullscale  description  of 
their  problems  and  policies  of  Red 
China,  for  example,  by  .  James  Ro¬ 
binson*  who  could  have  ,  occupied 
more  of  the  discussion: 

In  terms  of  form,  the  network 
provided  a  cumbersome  and  some¬ 
what,  ostentatious  setting,  a  studio- 
in-the-round  with  a  television  cam¬ 
era  planted  in  the  middle,  the  cor¬ 
respondents:  sitting  oh  platforms 
around  the  room  (with  rearscreen 
projection  units  at  their  backs)  and 
anchorman.  Chet  Huntley  strolling 
around  the.  room  to  talk  with  each 
of  them*  Setup  made  for  stiffness, 
the  cameraman  in  the  middle  was 
distracting  and  the  important  "re¬ 
action”  shots  that  should  be.  shown 
ini  a  discussion  like  this  couldn’t 
be  made. 

But  despite  its  deficiencies,  the' 
NBC  team :  proved  an  alert,  free- 
swinging  group  who  said  what  they 
thought  without  hesitation  or  fear 
of  the  political  angles.  They 
painted  a  grim,  but  not  entirely 
black, :  picture  in  foreign  affairs, 
pinpointed  the  faults  and  failures 
of  American  foreign  policy,,  and 
came  through  with  concrete  sug¬ 
gestions  for  its  improvements.  The 
chief  value  of  the  program  lay.  in 
proving  to  the  public  (and  per¬ 
haps  more  importantly  for  now,  to 
NBC  management)  that  NBC  has 
some  pretty  solid  citizens'  in  its 
hewsgathering  family  who  should 
be  oiled  up  for  more  frequent  rise. 
Program,  incidentally,  was  taped 
for  an  NBC  Radio  playback  a  half- 
hour  later.  Chan. 


Secret  Weapon9  in  TV  Triumph 


when  Mrs.  Murray  tried  to  keep  up 
with  Paul  Hartman  in  a  piece  of 
mime  that  was  somewhat  beyond 
her.  But  then  pros  Gloria  Stevens 
and  Johnny  Smoker  danced  a  pleas¬ 
ing  tango: 

Finally,  the  giiests  engaged  in  a 
dance  "contest,"  I.e;;  Slezak  (after 
plugging  Patrice  Munsel’s  ABC-TV 
show  in  glowing  and  unsolicited 
terms)  did  a  Viennese  waltz,  Hart¬ 
man  and  Mrs.  Berg  a  polka  from 
“King  and  I,”  Winchell  a  jitterbug. 
Miss  Lamarr  another  tango,  with 
TallU  and  Rod  Alexander  winding 
it  up  with  a  sock  waltz.  This  seg¬ 
ment  Was  nice,  but  when  Miss  La¬ 
marr.  fluffed  her  steps  it.  was 
slightly  embarrassing;  Art* 


YEARS  OF  CRISIS:  1957 
With  Edward  R.  Murrow,  Eric 
Sevareid,  Howard  K.  Smith,  Al¬ 
exander  Kendrick,  Winston  Bor¬ 
det^  Ernest  Leiser,  Daniel 
Schorr,  Peter  Kalischer 
Director:  Don  Hewitt 
69  Bids.,  Sun.  (29)  4  pjn.. 

CBS-TV,  from  New  York 

For  toe  ninth  consecutive  year 
CBS  assembled  its  far-flung  corre¬ 
spondents  for  another  New  York- 
originating  yearend  “Years  of  Cris- 
summing  up.  With  Edward  R. 
Murrow  once  more  as  anchor  man, 
the  Sunday,  afternoon  4  to  5  tele¬ 
cast,  was,  perhaps  to  no  one’s  sur¬ 
prise,  an  intelligent,  absorbing  and 
richly  rewarding  hour. 

Here  was  a  group  of  alert,  :vi- 
brant  and  knowledgable  men  so 
thoroughly  at  home  in  their  for¬ 
eign  .  bailiwicks  that  politics  and 
world  affairs  could  be  tossed 
around  with  clarity  and  belie vahil- 
ity.  in  a  language  unclouded  by 
pompous .  verbosity  or  cagey  with 
non-committal  fence-sitting. 

On  deck  were,  besides  Murrow, 
Eric  Sevareid,  chief  -Washington 
correspondent  for  CBS  News;  How¬ 
ard  K.  Smith,  the  former  CBS 
chief  correspondent  in  Europe  and 
currently  assigned  to  Washington; 
David  Schoenbrun  from  Paris; 
Winston  Bufdett  from  Rome;:  Ern¬ 
est  Leiser  from  West  Germany; 
Daniel  Schorr  from  Moscow;  Peter 
Kalischer  from  Tokyo  and  Alexan¬ 
der:  Kendrick  from  London.  Singly 
and  as  a  group,  they  were  a  credit 
to  toe  lofty  standards  CBS  has 
long  since  set  for  itself  in  news 
coverage.  And  if  these  Re  .egg¬ 
heads,  let’s  have  more  of 'them. 

.  As  an  evaluation  arid  individual 
appraisal  of  the  world  situation  in 
'57,  they  minced  no  words  about' 
our  loss  of  superiority  and  loss  of 
face,  yet  finished  up  with  a  re¬ 
buttal  that  listed  our  assets  4s  well 
as  our  liabilities. 

The  picture  loomed  dark  and 
ominous;  in  toe  words  of  Murrow’s 
own  summation:  “Qiir  lack  of  lead¬ 
ership  is  showing.”  Each  and  all 
showed  that  this  was  the  year  of  a 
change  in  toe  balance  of  power, 
with  Sputnikmanship,  as  the  policy 
of  the  Soviet  Union,  in  a  position 
to  sway  the  uncommitted  nations— - 
Asia*  India,  Japan— and  that  these 
could  easily  tip  the  balance.  Also* 
with  the  world  two-thirds  colored, 
“we  can  afford  no  more  Little 
Rocks.” 

Each  in  his  turn  naturally  em¬ 
phasized,  the  meaningfulness  of  the 
Sputnik  launching,  with  Schorr 
and.  Leiser  the  only  two  who  were 
not  completely  convinced  that  more 
and,  bigger  missiles  would  be  .toe 
only  answer*  Rather  they  favored 
attempts  at  negotiations  as  the  first 
steps  toward  co-existence,  Leiser 
even  going  so  far  as  to  state  that 
any  areas,  of  agreement  would  be 
progress  and  hope. 

The  Arab-Israel  impasse,  the 
Syrian  crisis,  the  French  Algerian 
question.  Red  China,  West  Ger¬ 
many’s  more  favorable  economic 
status^— all  came  with  the  orbit  of 
the  CBS  newsmen’s  in-depth  ana¬ 
lyses.  Their  appraisals  were  cap- 
sulized,  their  thinking,  concretized. 
This  was  no  guessing  game;  they 
had  convictions  arid  positive  think¬ 
ing  based  on  on-the-spot  observa¬ 
tion  backed  by  knowledge  and  they 
translated  their  opinions  into  an 
exciting  and  sometimes  awesome 
alert.  Rose. 


By  GEORGE  ROSEN 

Marian  Anderson  as  "The  Lady 
From  Philadelphia”  brought  a 
heart-warming  glow  to  millions  of 
Americans  last  night  (Mon.)  in  a 
special  60-minute  filmed  recording 
of  her  recent  Asian  concert  tour, 
for  toe  State  Dept  Through  Korea, 
the  Philippines,  Vietnam,-  Burma, 
Thailand,  Malaya  and  India  they 
called  her  “Our  Fair  Lady”;  to  the 
State  Dept,  she  was  “Our  Secret 
Weapon”;  to  the  millions  Whose 
fortune  it  was  to  tune  in  10  to  11 
p.m.  on  CBS-TV  through  toe  good 
auspices  of  toe  Ed  Murrow-Fred 
Friendly  "See  It  Now”  (and.the  one¬ 
time  sponsorship  underwriting  of 
I  T  &T)  it  was  a  cherished  experi¬ 
ence  which  will  not  soon  be  for¬ 
gotten. 

Not  :  only  in  her  singing,  but  in 
her  spoken  word  as  well  Miss  An¬ 
derson  communicated  a  lesson  in 
tolerance  and  understanding,  that 
toe  vast  horde  of  State  Dept,  offi¬ 
cials  and  attaches  could  not  pos¬ 
sibly  duplicate.  For  wrapped  up  in 
this  one  magnificent  personality 
and  artist  Was  the  personification 
of  all  that  is  good  and  meaningful 
in  a  troubled  world. 

The  "See  It  Now”  camera  crew 
accompanying  her  through  Asia 
caught  her  at  toe  very  peak  of  heir 
artistic  effectiveness.  But  the  story 


THE  LADY  FROM  PHILADEL¬ 
PHIA 

(See  It  Now) 

With  Marian  Anderson:  Ed  Mor¬ 
row 

Producers:  Murrow-Fred  Friendly 
60  Mins.;  Mon.  (30),  10  pan. 

IT&T 

CBS-TV  (film) 

(Mathes). 


It  told  far  transcended  that  of  a 
concert  tour.  It  would,  indeed,  bo 
difficult  to.  determine  which  aspect, 
of  this  superb  emissary’s  projection 
had  a  greater  value.  For  as  well 
known  as  is  her  fauous  voice,  when 
erased  in  the  dignity  of  Miss  An¬ 
derson’s  manner  and  the  warnvand 
deep  humility  of  her  personality, 
its  beauty  becomes  quite  overpow¬ 
ering.  The  unexpected  and  electri¬ 
fying  element  was  the  ability  of  the 
lady  from  Philadelphia  to  answer 
all  queries  and  articulate  so  simply 
yet  with  innate  clarity. 

Miss  Anderson’s  speaking  voice 
is  beautifully  pitched  and  her  per¬ 
sonal  charm  enchanting.  A  deeply 
religious  person,  she  has  a  great 
inner  security  and  her  private  the¬ 
ology  and  public  philosophy  gave 
opportunity  for  some  telling  truths. 

The  entire  format  of  toe  show 
was  a  gem.  The  expert  work  of  the 
cameraman  and  the  brilliant  edit¬ 
ing  of  the  film  produced  a  docu¬ 
ment  of  infinite  value  to  a  dis¬ 
turbed  world  and  an  hour  show  of 
great  enjoyment  There,  were  mo¬ 
ments  overwhelming  in  their  charm 
as,  for  instance,  when  the  children 
at  toe  Saigon  airport  welcomed  her 
in  chorusing  toe  Rodgers  &  Ham- 
merstein  "Getting  to  Know  You.” 
The  highlights  were  many,  as  in 
her  rendering  of  "You've  Got  to  Be 
Carefully  Taught”  from  "South 
Pacific”;  her  "Ave  Maria,*’  her 
“Lead  Kindly  Light,**  her  "Coming 
Through  the  Ryfe the  "Tramping” 
spiritual.  Y)r  when  Miss  Anderson 
seemed  selfless  and  above  human 
weakness  as  in  her  definition  of 
citizenship  arid  tolerance. 

In  her  very  moving  tribute  to 
Gandhi,  and  in  the  look  of  over¬ 
whelming  joy  that  w*as  shown  in  the 
]  eyes  of  the  young  concert  master  of 
THE  newly-formed  Bombay  Sym- 
j  phony  Orchestra  after  her  “Sam- 


CHR1STMAS  EVE  WITH 

GARROWAYS  , .  .  . 

With  Dave,  Pamela,  Paris  and  ;  son  and  Delilah”  aria,  moments  of 


Michael  Garroway,  Jane  Morgan, 
Jack  Haskell,  Barbara  Carroll 
Trio 

Producer-director:  Jac  Hein 
Writer:  Larry  Picard  . 

30  Mins.;  Tires.  (24),  id  pjn. 
NBC-TV,  from  New  YoQc 


eir  way  umv  „  n 

Brickhouse  carries  it  all  off  w  en.  -  .  ..  —  , 

With  a  minimum  of  embarrassing  stanza  improved  rts  pace  and  qual- 
momentS  Les. .  J  rty.  There  was  a  brief  letdown  I 


More  Television  Reviews 
Ori  Page  31 


poignant  beauty  and  great  meaning 
were  captured  on  film.. 

At  all  times  the  eyes  of  the  cam¬ 
era  catching  the  faces  of  the  many 
different  people  in  many  lands* 
young"  and  old  in  high  and  low 
places,  brought  back  to  our  audi- 
Bill  Sergenfs  participating  pro-  :  e?tes  at  home  toe  important  story 
trrame  xfoVToL  -  •;  of  people,  their  goodness,  their 

grams  operation  at  NBC-TV,  in  j.  sameness  and  their  humanity, 
departure  from  its  customary.  “To-1  Ed  Murrow  and  Fred  Friendly 
day”-"Tonight”  orbit,  turned  out  b;5ve  topped  themselves, 
a  fine  one-shot  in  “Christmas  Eve ;  "  ~~  “■ 

at  the^Garroways,”  a  half-hour  re-  >  Garroway  making  with  some  warm 
~  ’  '  and  fresh  Yuletide  philosophy  in 


mote  from  Garroway’s  newly  _ 

quired  East  Side  brownstone  which 
preempted.  “The .  Californians.” 
Despite  the  expense,  since  the  one- 
shot  sustaining  arid  NBC  had  to  pay 
preemption  costs  besides,  it  was 
entirely  a  worthwhile  effort. 

With  Garroway  and  his  wife 
Pamela,  their  two.  children  by  pre¬ 
vious  marriages,  Paris  and  Michael, 
Jane  Morgan,  Jack  Haskell  arid  the 
Barbara  Carroll  Trio  all  gathered 
comfortably  in  the  Garroway  living 
room,  the  show  gave  off  a  com¬ 
fortable,  low-key  and  wholly  nat¬ 
ural  arid  enjoyable  aura.  Most  of 
the  program  was  conversation,  with 


his  completely  natural  style  and 
engaging  family  and  guests  in  in¬ 
teresting  if  not  significant  Small¬ 
talk.  Miss  Morgan  and  HaskeTl 
sang,  Miss  Carroll  played  a  little 
piario,  but  all  staying  away  from 
the  customary  Christmas  catalog. 

Actually,  it  was  primarily  a  mood 
piece,  and  it  came  over  very  well 
as  such,  a  picture  of  family  and 
friends  at  home  spending  a  quiet 
and  comfortable  evening.  Televi¬ 
sion,  which  tends  to  get  strident 
on  such  occasions  as  Christmas, 
could  do  with  more  like  it. 

Chan. 


PUsuETf 


Wednesday,  January  1,  1958 


Jazz  as  explained  by  high  priest  of 
the  cool  sect,  Dave  Brubeck.  Other 
music  luminaries  interviewed: 
Horne.  Handy  and  Lombardo. 


A  Long  Island  family  laments  the 
loss  of  its  pet  penguin.  “This  Is  New 
York”  helps  find  her.  Reward ;  pet 
penguin  bites  announcer  Dugan. 


MARILYN 

More  talkea  about  than  talking, 

.  gives  rare,  on  -  air  appraisal  of 

■  *o's'  S?ud:0.  her  cook  v.  <*r.d  her 
amti-rer  to  p  av  role  of  Grushenka. 


‘THIS  IS  NEW  YORK” 

Reporters  Jim  McKay  and  Dave  Dugan  attack  New  York’s  news  stories  with  vigor  and  excitement.  They  can 


Wednesday,  January  1,  1958 


29 


J'B&iWff 


ONWGBS  RADIOS 

do  the  same  for  your  sales  stories.  When  they  do,  you’ll  get  audience  attention,  faith  and  response. 


Wednesday,  January  1,  1958 


PffittETr 


TELEVISION  REVIEWS  31 


.  . . . 


♦  ♦  ♦  ♦  »m 


Television  Followup  Comment 


Seven  Lively  .  Arts 

Aptly  subtitled  .  “H  o  1 1  y  W  o  o  u 
Around  the  World,”  Sunday’s  (29) 
?‘Seven  Lively  Arts”  hour  focused 
on  the  increased  amount  of  fea¬ 
ture  film-making  continents  away 
from  ‘Hollywood  &  Vine.  For  an 
understanding-  of  the  trend,,  Joe 
Hyams,  who  also  did  the  Arts 
script  with  Joe  Hurley,  interviewed 
independent  producers  David  O. 
Selznick,  Sam  Spiegel,  Kirk  Doug¬ 
las;  Joseph  L.  Mankiewicz,  Otto 
Preminger  and  John  Wayne. 

Filling  out  the  format  Were  clips 
from  pictures  each  of  the  guests 

recently  had  in  work. 

While  the  idea  of  giving .  Holly¬ 
wood  this  latter-day  onceover  ob¬ 
viously  had  merit,  the  program 
came  off  with  but  modest  enter¬ 
tainment  value  and,  indeed,  of¬ 
fered1  the  public  little  insight  on 
the  operations  in  .faraway  places. 

Communicated  were  only  hardly^ 
new  thoughts  anent  the  film  col 
ony’s  shift  from  assembly-line  pro; 
duction  to  independent  unit  work 
—only  indie  producers  were  con¬ 
sulted  on  the  program— and  the 
motivations  behind  the  lensing.  of 
pictures  abroad.  As  for  the  lat¬ 
ter,  authenticity  Was  stressed,  along 
with  a  couple  fleeting  suggestions 
about  money-saving,  tax  advantages 
and  the  opportunity  for  film¬ 
makers  to  have  quasi  vacations  as 
a  business  expense. 

Excerpts  on  view  served  well 
enough  as  samples  of  the  full  pro¬ 
ductions,  and  thus  constituted  so 
many  trailers,  but  rarely  could  get 
across  the  scope  of  the  theatrical 
product.  A  major  exception  to 
this  was  a  scene  front  '  .“Paths  of 
Glory’.’  spotlighting  Douglas  and 
Adolphe  Menjou  in  a  fang-and- 
claw  argument.  It  came  off  as  a 
separate  entity,  and' one  that  re¬ 
flected  the  flavor  and  force  of 


“Glory.” 

Other  pictorial  plugs  concerned 
Selznick’s  “Farewell  to  Arms,” 
Douglas’  other  production;  “The 
Vikings,”  Mankiewicz*  “Quiet 
American,”  Preminger’s  “Bonjour 
Tristesse,”  John  Wayne’s  “Legend 
of  the  .  Lost”  and  Bob  Hope  and 
Fernandel  in  “Paris  Holiday.” 

Of  the  producer  performers, 
Douglas  again  scored.  His  account 
of  wearing  two  hats,  one  the  pro¬ 
ducer’s  and  the  other  the  actor’s, 
was  to  the.  point  and  frank  and  his 
appearance  generally  was  colorful; 

Preminger,  in  answer  to  the 
Hyams’  queries,  aired  anew  his 
beef  about  the  Production.  Code 
and  its  “discriminatory”  adminis¬ 
tration. 

Mankiewicz  rapped  the  film  pi¬ 
oneers  for  beginning  aind  maintain-: 
ing.  operations  “as  an  industry.’  It 
should  be  billed  “an  art  form  ”  he 
insisted.  Picture-making  will  con¬ 
tinue,  he  went  on,  but  somewhat, 
akin  to  the  limited  scale  of  the 
legit  theatre  Spiegel  summed  iip 
the  indie  producer’s/ ;  requisites: 
“Good  judgment,  good  taste  aqd  a 
great  deal  of  luck.”  Continuity 
was  smooth  enough  except  for  an 
apparently  miscued  cut-in  on  Pre¬ 
minger,  Hyams’  interrogation  -was 
limited  to  broad,  surface-type  prob¬ 
ing: 

The  name-dropping  that  went  on 
in  advance  of  the  airer,  such  as 
Brigitte  Bardot,  seen  in  one  of  the 
clips,  doubtless  helped  draw  an 
audience.  Some  viewers  might 
have  felt  a  letdown.  Gene; 


Jerry  Lewis  Show 

.  Jerry  Lewis  is  probably  one  of 
the  most  ambitious  performers,  ex¬ 
tant.  Since  he  Went  into  business 
for  himself,  he  seemingly  thinks 
he  has  to  prove  a  lot  of  things., 
mainly  his  virtuosity.  There  seems 
to  be  a  prevailing  belief  that  he’s 
trying  to  become  the  world’s  young¬ 
est  elder  statesman  in  the  realm 
of  entertainment. 

During  Friday’s  (27)  hour  dis¬ 
play  over  NBC-TV,  there  were  mo¬ 
ments  though  not  many  that  in¬ 
dicated  that  Lewis  is  an  essenti¬ 
ally  funny  guy.  His  solo  bit  in 
which  he  transforms  the  teen¬ 
ager’s  workaday  clothes  into  a  full- 
dress,  suit  was  an  ingenious  bit  of 
business.  The  bit  with  :Hope  Em¬ 
erson  had  a  sound  premise  in  fact, 
but  the  unnecessary  exaggeration 
hilled  a.  lot  of  the  good  features  of 
this  piece. 

His  singing,  while  good  for  a 
comedian,  shouldn’t  be  allowed  to 
stand  on  its  own.  Especially  when 
contrasted  to  sound  voices  such 
as  Sammy  Davis  Jr.  backed  by 
Count  Basie  Orch  who  showed  the 
essential  weaknesses  in  Lewis’  song 
structure.  Ronnie  Deauville  «a  re¬ 
cent  subject  on  “This  Is  Your  Life” 
gave  a  brief ie  for  okay  results. 

.  Lewis  needs  to  sharpen  his 
sights.  Perhaps  his  .  attempts  at 
versatility  and  the  unwarranted 
Plugs  that  creep  into  his  script  at 


every  opportunity  should  be  eli¬ 
minated.  Lewis  can  be  funny, 
and  that’s  why  he  continues  to  get 
king-sized  ratings.  The  superflu¬ 
ities  in  his  show  bring  him  down 
several  pegs. 

One  of;  the’ best  features  of  the 
show  is  the  production  which  ,is 
the.  province  of  Ernest  Glucksman, 
who  provides  a  sound  basis  to  the 
lay  opt.  Jose. 


Perry  Como  Showr 

Even  the  charm  and  ease  of 
Perry  Como  couldn’t  turn  a  parade 
of  plaques  and  handshakes  into  an 
entertaining  session.  Comp 
trapped  himself  in*  a  production 
for  Look  mag’s  tv.  citations  for  1957 
on  his  NBC-TV  .  stanza  Saturday 
(28)  and  like  all  such  affairs  it 
was  a  tiresome,  display  of.  person¬ 
ality  palming  ahd  tired  acceptance 
speeches. 

.  Some  attempts  were  made  to 
spruce  it  up  with  lively  patter  and 
that  too  fell  short  of  its  mark. 
Audio  on  a  Coast  pickup  with.  Jack 
Benny  got  fouled  up.  which  didn’t 
help  matters]  any.  There  was  a 
running  gag  about  cue  cards  which 
seems  to  be.  a  requisite  on  such 
award  presentation,  programs.  The . 
cue  card  bit  was  really  pointed  up 
when  NBC  prexy  Bob  Sarnoff  came 
on  to  present  Como  with  the  mag’s 
citation  for  the  best  musical  series 
of  the  year.  With  the  crooner 
standing  at  his  side,  Sarnoff  stared  i 
dead  center  into  the  camera  to  de¬ 
liver  his  few  words.  It  had  a 
disturbing  visual  effect. 

An  example  of  why  the  show 
was  chosen  as  best  musical  series 
was  indicated  in  the  few  musical 
segments  alotted.  Como  sang 
niftily  on  “Good  News”  and  his 
current  RCA  Victor  release,  “Catch 
A  Falling  Star/’  Kay  Thompson 
had  a  rousing  bit  with  the  Ray 
Charles  Singers  on  “I  Love  A  Vio¬ 
lin”  and  Helen  Traubel  made  an 
effective  impression  with  “Hello 
Young  Lovers.” 

It  was  unfortunate  that  Loolr 
didn’t  leave  room  for  more. 

Gros. 

High  Adventure  With 
Lowell  Thomas 

The  junket  made  by  Lowell 
Thomas,  on  which  explorer  Peter 
Freuchen-  died,  to  the  DEW  line, 
America’s  northern  radar  defenses, 
and  to.  the  North  Pole  resulted  in 
a  stilted,  dull  television  show  a 
week  ago  Monday  (23).  Consider¬ 
ing  that  there  was  so  milch  talk 
which  could  have  been- duplicated 
easily  on  a.  sound  stage,  and  a 
host  of  film  shots  of  frozen  waste¬ 
land  that  could  have  been  taken 
frbm  ahy  decent  film  library,  the 
CBS-TV  (‘adventure”  unfortunate¬ 
ly  was  a  waste  of  time,  money  and 
life. 

Commentator  Thomas  was  ac¬ 
companied  on  his  trip  by  explorers 
Admiral  Donald  -MacMillan,  Sir 
Hubert  Wilkins  and  Col.  Bernt 
Balcheh,  who,  from  Thomas’  des¬ 
criptions  of  their  previous  polar 
exploits,  might  be  considered  men 
with  something  to  say,  but  the 
confabs  arranged  for  the  hOurlong 
film  show— taking  place  on  planes 
drinking  champagne  to  fete  reach¬ 
ing  the  Pole  and.  outside  of  DEW: 
line  stations,  etc.^appeared  to  he 
highly  rehearsed  and  awkward  and 
.they  shed  no  light  or  excitement 
on  the  scene.  Writers  were  Prosper 
Buranelli  and  LoWell  Thomas  Jr., 
who  doubled  as  an  interviewer  in 
the  early  stages  of  the  10-J1  p.m, 
stanza,  a  duty  for  which  he  showed 
no  special  inclination  or-  talent 

As  presented  by  Messrs.  Thomas, 
Thomas  Jr.  and  Buranelli,  .  the  tag 
“High  Adventure”  was  of  dubious 
accuracy..  Art. 


Howdy  Doody 

.  NBC-TV’s  “Howdy  Doody”  last 
Saturday  (28)  moved  into  that  select 
circle  of  shows  that  have  marked  a 
decade's  run  on  television.  . 

That’s  quite  a  feat  in  a  medium 
where  a  rapid  turnover  in  perform¬ 
ers  and  programs  is  routine.  Over- 
exposure,  a  contributing  factor  to 
the  demise  of  'many  ty  shows, 
doesn’t  enters  into  the  “Howdy 
Doody”  picture.  The  kiddie  show 
remains  pretty  much  the  same  but 
the  audience  constantly  changes. 

JuVes  who  were  watching  the 
show  when  it  bowed  on  tv  in  1947 
are  now  out  of  high .  school.  Some- 
are  going  to  college,  some  are 
working  and  some  are  in  the  armed 
services.  It’s  assumed  they  haven’t 
been  watching  the  program  for 
some  time  now,  but  their  younger 
brothers  and  sisters  have  filled  the 
gap. 

Illustrative  of  the  changing  audi¬ 
ence  for:  the  show  was  the  spotting 
on  last  Saturday’s  hour-long  anni 
stanza  of  three  youths  who  had 
been  members  of  the  program’s 
“peanut  gallery”  10  years  ago.  The 


trio;  all  attending  college,  were 
brought  on  in  line  With  a  takeoff 
oh  “This. Is  Your  Life,1 ’’.with  the 
puppet  Howdy-  Doody  as  the  sub¬ 
ject. 

An  added  feature  on  the  show 
was  showcasing  of  the  10  winners 
of  the  nationwide  Howdy  Doody 
smile  contest.  The  program,  how¬ 
ever,  like  all  the.,  other  “Howdy 
Doody”  sessions  was  strictly  for  the 
short  pants  set.  Jess. 


The  Twentieth  Century 

“The  Windsors,”  the  story  Of  the 
1936  British  governmental  crisis 
caused  by  the  abdication  of  King 
Edward  VIII  in  order  to  marry  the 
woman  he  loved,  was  interesting  as 
a  curiousybit  of  ancient  history  on 
“The  Twentieth  Century”  last  Sun¬ 
day  (29)  on  CBS-TV.  This  show 
covered  the  years  leading  un  to  the 
abdication  and  ended  abruptly  with 
the  marriage  of.  the  ex-king  to  Mrs. 
Wallace  Simpson.  . 

Stanza  suffered  by  an  apparent 
lack  of  significaint  film  clips  about 
the  early  life  pf  the  Prince  of 
Wales,  who  was/ later  to  become 
the  ..chief  actor  in  the  romantic 
drama,.  The  old  newsreel  shots 
were  chiefly  ceremonial  in  nature, 
showing  the  Prince  via  the  tele¬ 
scopic  end  of  the  -camera  in  his 
various  official  duties.  There  was 
not  even  a  shot  of  the  Prince  fall¬ 
ing  off  his  horse,  an  event  that  was 
always  good  for  a  headline  and  a 
laugh  back  in  the  1920s,  although 
Walter  Cronkite,  as  narrator,  did 
mention  it  in  passing,  Crqnkite’.s 
narration  was  generally  very  sym¬ 
pathetic  even  while,  echoing  com¬ 
ments  of  the  period  about  the 
Prince’s  “frivolous”  companions. 

•  The  1936  period,  when  the  ques¬ 
tion  of  abdication  cOme  to  the  fore, 
was  handled  with  some  dramatic 
impact.  But  even  for  this  compara¬ 
tively  recent  period,  .there  was  a 
lack  of  closeup  shots  on  any  of  the 
Participants.  Harold  Nicolson:  an 
M.P.  during  those  years,  ,  told  in  . 
retrospect  the  inside  story  <Jf  the 
Parliamentary  debate  on  the  sub¬ 
ject,  but  it  only  turned  into  a 
minor  anecdote  about  Winston 
Churchill.  Jierm. 


Steve  Allen  Show, 
j  A  good  holiday  show  was  served 
up  Sunday  (28)  night  by  Steve  Al¬ 
len,  with  the  yaudeo  layout  adding 
uo  to  an  engaging  houiv  over  NBC- 
TV.  There  were  one-line  laughs, 
yockrproducing  longer  stints,  and 
music,  some  stretches  clicking  bet¬ 
ter  than  others.  But  there  were 
few  dull  spots  and  the  entertain¬ 
ment  level  remained  pretty  high,  : 

The  gtfest  roundup  included 
Peter  Ustinov.  Margaret  O’Brien, 
Jerry  Vale,  Elaine  and  Mike  and ! 
Martha  Davis  &  Spouse.  The 
show  opened  Weak  with  Allen  in-.  | 
terviewing  his  regulars  Don 
Knotts,  Tom  Poston  and  Louis  Nye 
on  the  topic  of  New  Year’s  resolu¬ 
tions  and. 'getting  crazy  responses.  ] 
Allen  followed  singly  with  one-line 
’58  predictions  of  his  own,  getting 
off  some  niftv.  ones  in  the  batch, 
like  there  will  be  “skimmed  whis¬ 
key  for  fat  drunks,”  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  a.  filter  containing  20,000 
cigarets,  that  Murrow  will  smoke; 
one  of  his  fingers  by  mistake,  that 
Sinatra  Will  go  live  and  his  audi¬ 
ence  will  be  put  on  film. 

Peter  Ustanov  did  a  socko  take¬ 
off  on  a  German  cultural  mission¬ 
ary.  But  he  was  largely  wasted 
in  a  final  number  with  Allen, 
keyed  to.  New  Year’s  Eve  celebra¬ 
tions  in  N.Y.,  London,  Paris  and 
Moscow;  The  skit  had  some  funny 
moments,  but  it  was  labored. 

Allen  teamed  Up  with  Margaret 
O’Brien  in  a  pretty  good  takeoff 
on  parentr-teenage  problems,  Mar¬ 
tha  Davis  &  Spouse  delivered  a 
ehck  entertaining  interlude  with 
“Write  Myself  A  Letter.”  Comedy 
team  of  Elaine  &  Mike  did  an  off¬ 
beat  stint  that  built  as  they  went 
along.  Their .  turn  bed  Mike:  mi¬ 
micking  a  witless,  namedropping, 
brash  deejay  interviewing  a  not- 
too-bright  starlet.  Vocalist  Jerry 
Vale  was  okay  in  “Pretend  You 
Don’t  Love  Her”  in  a  static  set¬ 
ting.  All£n  hit  the  keys  on  one  of 
his  own  numbers  out  of  Mis  “Vene¬ 
tian  Serenade”  -disk,  the  stint  fea¬ 
turing  some  distracting  trick 
photography. 

Apparently  solid  contributions 
from  Allen’s  scripters  keep  the  60- 
minutes  rolling, ‘  despite  some  lag¬ 
ging  moments.-  Chief  writing 
credits  for  Sunday’s  outing  go  to 
Stan  Bums  and  Herb  Sargeant, 
working  Under  the  scripting  aegis 
of  Leonard  Stern.  Horo.  I 


Ed  Sullivan  Show 
Something  for  everybody  was 
contained  in  the  10-act  bill  served 
up  Sunday  night  (29).  in  Ed  .  Sul¬ 
livan’s  hour-long  vaudeo  session. 


There  was  a  dog  turn  for  the  kid¬ 
dies,  there  was  sflftie  femme  basket- 
bailers  for  the  sports  minded  and 
some  comics  were  on.  hand  for 
those  viewers  who  tastes  may  fancy 
levity! 

But  despite  the  presence  of  Red 
Buttons,  and  Roberta  Sherwood  as 
principals,  of  the  outing  the  layout 
failed  to  measure  up  to  the  quality 
of  some  of  Sullivan^.  previous 
shows.  Profusion'  of  acts  for  one 
thing  was;  reminscent  of  the  Broad¬ 
way  Palace's  former  marathon 
yaude  policy — a  turn  was  hardly 
started,  before  the  curtain  rang 
down  for  the  next  one. 

.  Buttons  was  only  mildly  amusing 
in  a  Stillman’s  gym  skit  in  which, 
he  depicted,  a;  punchy  fighter  in¬ 
terviewed  by  an  announcer.  Miss 
Sherwood  did  an.  appealing  “Fare¬ 
well  to  Arms,”  contribbed  “Lone¬ 
some  Road’  (accomped  by  her 
three,  sons)  and  returned  later  for 
her  familiar  “Lazy  River,”, 

Louis  Jordan  and  his  Tympany 
Five  reprised  their  “Caldonia”  for 
good  results.  The  De  Castro  Sis^ 
ters  (3)  dished  up  “Birth  of  the 
Blues”,  with  a  cha  cha  twist  while 
European  juggler  Jo.  Hanwey  im¬ 
pressed  with  his  manipulations  of 
balls  and  a  flower  vase  in  partic¬ 
ular.  Victor  Julian’s  cute  canine 
charges,  registered*  nicely. 

Opener  was  Norbu,  a  “gorilla” 
act  in  which  the  hairy  beast  spent 
most  of  its  time  roaming  about  the 
studio  audience  for  obvious  re-. 
suits.  Jackie  Kannon  made  a  good 
try  but  his  laugh,  routines  were 
hardly  of  a  genuine  rib-ticking  na¬ 
ture.  Sample:  “The  Army  is  work¬ 
ing  on  a  wonderful  secret  weapon 
^Elvis  Presley.”  . 

Basketball  contingent  was  iri- 
trOed  by  conferencier  Sdllivan  as 
The  All  American  Redheads.  They 
weren’t/on  Camera  long  enough  to 
score  points.  Sullivan  hosted 
in  his  usual  manner.  Plugs 
stressed  Mercury’s  new  Park  Lane 
model  as  well  as  the  Mercury  deal¬ 
ers’  used  car  bargains.  Gilb. 

Eddie  Fisher  Show 

Eddie  Fisher’s  Christmas  pres¬ 
ent  to  the  faithful  may  have  been 
a.  long  time  coming;  but  well  worth 
waiting  for— a  sparkling  musieal 
variety  .layout  brimful  of  enter¬ 
tainment  and  good  humor.  Good 
talent,  good  material,  imaginative 
production  and  skilled  technical 
work  all.  contributed  to  a  sliow  that 
registered’ Solidly. 

For  guests,  Fisher  had  the  in¬ 
comparable  Charles  ..  Laughton  as 
bellwether  of  a  troupe  of  visitors 
that  .  included  Cathy  Crosby  and 
•the  Lennon  sisters  and  some 
stranger  named  George  Gobel. 
Mostly,  the  guests  worked  with 
Fisher  to  hit  some  effective  high- 
spots,  notably  a  sketch  in  which 
Laughton:  (complete  with  plug  for 
“Witness  for  the  Prosecution”) 
portrayed  a  barrister  whose  cross- 
examination  permitted  Fisher  to 
utilize  Jyrics  from  three  songs  as 
“testimony.”  It  was  both  good  hu-  j 
mored  and  sprightly  and  derived 
ah  added  assist-  from  Laughton’s 
singing  ait  the  finale.  Another  i 
peak  was  Elaine  Dunn’s  “Toyland” 
dance  routine,  complete ,  with  su¬ 
perimposed  elves  and  there  was 
also  solid  impact  in  the  combina¬ 
tion,  of  Fisher,  Laughton  and  Gobel 
singing  “Brush  Up  Your.  Shake¬ 
speare.”  Writers  Mack  Benoff  and 
Martin  Ragaway  •  and;  S  kip  p  e  r 
Dawes,  who  was  credited  with 
“added  material,”  developed  added 
laughs  from  a  running  gag  about 
Gbhel’s  insistence  on  his  prowess 
as  an  actor,  the  “Mjm  with  1,000 
Faces”  theme  paying  off  with  a 
twist  finale  that  while  predictable, 
clicked; 

On  his  own,  Fisher  effectively 
vocaled  such  tunes  as  “I’ve  Got  My. 
Love  to  Keep  Me  Warm”  (a  pre- 
credits  opener  that  was  a  promise,, 
later  fulfilled,  of  a  good  show), 
“Fascination,”  his  familiar  “Lady 
of  Spain’-  and  a  Yule  tune,  joining 
With  Miss  Crosby  on  a  good  “Sil¬ 
ver  Bells”  routine  and:  with  the 
Lennon  Sisters  for  a  trio  Of  carols. 
Both  Miss  Crosby  and  the  Lennons 
had  a  solo  stint  to  good  effect  and 
Laughton,  in  nextrto-closihg  de¬ 
livered  one  of  his  readings,  this 
one  . a  ballad  by.  Henry  VHI  which 
was  intriguing  as  much  for  its 
own.  value  as  for  the  background  as 
described  by  Laughton! 

Show  represented  a.  top  credit 
for  producer  Gil  Roden  with  fine 
work  by  director  Barry  Shear  and 
competent  professional  work  from 
all.  concerned.  Kap. 

.  Armstrong  Circle  Theatre 
.  Biblical  admonition  that  it’s 
“more  blessed  to  give  thain  to  re¬ 
ceive”  more  or  less  sums  up  Arm¬ 
strong  Circle  Theatre’s  “The;  Shep¬ 
herd  of  Paris”  tfa  CBS-TV  Wed¬ 


nesday-  (25).  For  Michael'  Dyne’s 
.teleplay  about  a  French  priest  who 
embarks  upon  a  personal  crusade 
shortly  after  World  War  II  to  help 
the  poor  and  homeless  unquestion¬ 
ably  was  appropriate  Christmas 
Day  fare. 

But  aside  from  the  yarn’s  Yule- 
tide  aspects,  most  viewers  probably 
found  this  hour-long  drama  rather 
heavy  going.  Naturally,  scenes,  of 
men  on  the  verge  of  freezing  to 
death  and  infants  dying  for  want 
of  shelter  hardly  fall  into  a  pleas¬ 
ant  category.  And  this  spectre  of 
want  and  privation  continued  in 
semi-documentary  fashion  through¬ 
out  most  of  the  script. 

Before  not  too  many  minutes  had 
gone  by  it  was  clear  that  the 
French  authorities  were  woefully 
indifferent  to  the  suffering  of  the 
masses.  In  fact  their  indifference 
was  such,  the  teleplay  pointed  out, 
that  their  attitude  didn’t  change 
until  the  priest  made  an.  impas¬ 
sioned  plea  to  the  public  via  a 
radio  quiz  show. 

With  such  a  morbid  subject  to 
work  with,  it’s  no  wonder  that  di¬ 
rector  Paul  Bogart  seldom  had  a 
chance  to  accent  the  script’s  few 
joyful  moments.  Grim  story  was 
accompanied  by  equally  sombre 
performances  on  tne  part  of  the. 
long  cast.,  Martin  Brooks,  as  the 
bearded  priest,  gave  a  ring  of  sin¬ 
cerity  to  his  role  that  at  times  was 
reminiscent  of  a  Paul  Muni  biopic. 

;  Val  Avery  and  Paul  Savior  real¬ 
istically  portrayed  two  homeless 
men  who  were  guests  at  the  priest’s 
retreat.  Joan  Copeland  and:  Si 
Oakland,  evoked  sympathy  as  a 
couple  who  were  victims  of  a  cruel 
Parisian  winter  while  David  Hurst 
was  suitably  impressive  as  a  minor 
government  official.  Gilb. 


Kraft  Television  ""Theatre 

It  is  possible  that  solons  of 
“Kraft  TV  Theatre”  had  originally 
counted  on  -ft.  more  extensive  and 
meatier  treatment  of  Henry  Van 
Dyke’s  “The  Other  Wise  Man” 
than  was  shown  last  week  (25).  as 
the  longtime  SDonsor’s  Christmas 
Nj*zht  entry.  This  adaptation  by 
Rbbert  JL  Crean  attempted,  with 
brief  ahd  jumpy  strokes,  to  trace 
the  journey  of  the  “other  Magi” — 
Artaban  .the  scholar  and  priest- 
spanning  a  quart e"-century  in  his 
arduous,  frustrating  and  finally 
successful,  search  to  catch  up  with 
a  glimpse  of  Jesus,  beginning  in 
the  manger  ahd  ending  with  the 
crucifixion. 

It  was  all  too  episodic,  losing 
some  significance  and  meaning— 
apparently  the  Magi’s  ultra-dedica¬ 
tion  was  intended  to  be  portrayed 
—as  the  60-minute  len^h  accentu¬ 
ated  the  script’s  overall  slender¬ 
ness.  Once  it  had  been  established 
that  Artaban  would  give  up  his 
home,  his  parish,  his  friends,  and 
all  his  worldly  goods  in  exchange 
for  precious  jewels  as  an  offering 
to  the  Babe,  the  Youth  and  the 
Man  (whichever  'applied  in  the 
passage  of  time),  thp  rest  was 
nearly  anticlimactical.  There  were 
some  touching  scenes,  hut  only  in 
the  conventional,  Reyed-to-Christ- 
mastide  sense-r-such  as  being  de¬ 
layed  by  giving  succor  to  a  dying 
man  just  as  he  was  about  to  start 
on  his  journey;  through  bribery, 
saving  an  infant  from  being  mur¬ 
dered  by  King  Herod’s  soldiers  in 
the  very  stable  where  Jesus  was 
horn*  and,  toward  the  end  of  his 
travels  j  using,  his  last  piece  of 
jewelry  to  buy  off  a  young  girl 
from  slavery. 

Richard  Kiley  drew  what  he 
could  from  the  part  of  the  Magi  in 
the  only  role  that  had  any  sub¬ 
stance  save  for  that,  of  Carson 
Woods  as  the  Bov.  Robert  Pas- 
tene’s  King  Herod  role  Was  Wasp¬ 
ish  narrow,  but  Dolores  Vitina 
made  an  emotional  much  of  the 
small  part  of  the  woman  whose  in¬ 
fant  was  saved.  Alexander  Scour- 
by  was  the  narrator:  stilts  of  the 
painting  masters,  flashed  on  the 
Screen  as  ho  snoke,  were  vivid, 
providing  deft  fillips  where  action 
lagged. 

Kraft’s  end-up  crawl  seemed 
rather  pretentious  in  its  long  pa- 
rad0  of  performers  and  technical 
Credits,  Trait, 

Playhouse  90 

With  the  channels  looking  like 
desert  washes  being  flooded  by 
more  westerns  every  night.  “Play¬ 
house  90”  comes  ud  with  its  own 
film  entry  in  the  oater  field,  a  fine 
offering  tied;  un  in  a  bundle  that 
even  hurdles  the  crevasses  etched 
by  a  torrent  of  commercial  inter¬ 
ruptions.  "Lone  Woman”  may  not 
he  up  to  “Playhouse  90”  par,  but  It 
does  prove  a  western  can  be  more 
than  a  story  about  horses. 

Al  C,  Ward's  screennlav  from  his 
own  story  is  a  tight  affair  that,  on 
backward  glance,  covers  an  amaz- 
(Continued  on  page  34) 


32-  BABlO-TEIJiVISIOX  P^jfHETT 


Weflneaday,-  Janaary  1,1958 


Madison  Ave.’s  ’57  Fandango 

Continued  from  page  21 


by  William  Esty  and.  the  John,  W. 
Shaw  agency.  William  Benton, 
one  of  the  founders  of  B&B  in  an 
interview  on  WABD’s  “Nightbeat," 
blasted  the  networks  for  blocking 
pay  tv  in  the  U.  S.  H.  L.  McClinton 
resigned  as  president  of  Calkins 
&  Holden  in  a  hassle  with  J.  Sher¬ 
wood  Smith,  chairman  of  the 
board.  Raymond  SpectOr  liquidated 
his  shop  and  formed  a  new  agency 
which  is  wholly  owned  by  Hazel 
Bishop  Inc.  ' 

MARCH:  J.  Walter  Thompson 
opened  its  31st  office  abroad  in 
Lima?  Peru.  Allstate  Ins.  appoint¬ 
ed  Leo  Burnett  to  handle  its  ad¬ 
vertising.  BOb  Watson  became 
chairman  of  the  board  at  R&R. 
Warwick  &  Legler  which  had  the 
schick  account  for  only  eight 
months,  lost  it  to  Benton  &  Bowles. 
H.  L.  McClinton,  ex-Caulkins  & 
Holden  prexy,  joined  Reach,  Yates 
Sc  Mattoon  which  changed  its  name 
to  Reach.  McClinton.  With  the 
changeover  Prudential  Ins.  which 
was 'handled  by  McClinton  at  C&H, 
became  the  agency's  largest  ac¬ 
count.  Worth  a  reported  $5,000,000. 

APRIL:  The  “World  Trade 
Press’*  a  British  trade  publication, 
stated  that  the  British  Government 
would  discourage  further  attempts 
by  American  advertising  agencies 
in  setting  up  shop  there.  H.  K. 
Porter  appointed  R&R  to  handle 
its  $1,750,000  account.  Paul  R. 
Smith  was  Selected  to  succeed' 
McClinton  as  president  of  Calkins 
&  Holden.  A  prize  plum  was  lost 
by  Benton  &  Bowles  when  Stude- 
baker-Packard  decided  to  take  its 
$8,000,000  account  elsewhere.  The 
agency  and  Curtiss-Wright  Corp. 
which  holds  the  .  mortgage  on  Stud- 
.  ebnker-Packard,  parted  company 
after  a  series  of  "disagreements. 
BBD&O  picked  up  the  $1,000,000 
Western  Airlines  account,  from 
Buchanan.  Walter  Craig,  v.p.  in 
charge  of  radio  and  tv,  told  the 
Television  and  Radio  Advertising 
Club  of  Philadelphia  that  “if  agen¬ 
cies  created^  produced  and  owned 
network  shows,  they  could  come  up 
with  Small  budget  shows  that  ad¬ 
vertisers  could  afford."  Burke, 
Dowling,  Adams  picked  up  the 
Studebaker-Packard  account  re¬ 
signed  earlier  in  the  month  by 
B&B.  Charles  Brower,  veepee  of 
BBD&O  named  general  manager 
of  the  agency  and  chairman  .of  the 
executive  committee.  In  Chicago 
the  office1  of  Beaumont  &  ;Hdhman 
merged  With  Cunningham  &  Walsh. 
This  was  also  the  month  wheh; 
James  M.  Mathes,  chairman  of  the 
board  of  the  agency  by  the  same 
name  passed  away,  Mathes  was  as¬ 
sociated  with  the  N.  W.  Ayer  for 
many  years. 

The  Pabst  Switch  . 

M  AY :  Dancer-Fitzgerald-Sample 
was  reappointed"  to  handle  the 
army  recruiting  account  which 
runs  in  the  neighborhood  of  $1,- 
000,000.  Kastor  Farrell,  Chesley  & 
Clifford  was  named  as  the  agency 
for  Regimen,  a  weight  control 
product  and  representing  $1,500,000 
worth  of  billings;  Norman,  Craig 
&  Kummel  was  chosen  by  Pabst  to 
handle  its  $8,000,000  account. 
Along  with  the  change  of  agencies 
came  the  decision  to  drop  the  Wed¬ 
nesday  night  fights.  It  was  in  this 
month  that  Jack  F.  Christie,  radio 
and  tv  director  Of  the  Democratic 
National  Committee  said  ,  that  “the 
democrats  would  put  less  reliance 


on  advertising  agencies  in  the  next 
presidential  campaign.” 

JUNE:  Guild,  Bascom  &  Bonfigli 
resigned  the  $1,700,000  Regal  Pale 
Brewing  account.  Gardner  Agency 
was  selected  to  handle  Bromo  Qui¬ 
nine.  N.  W,  Ayer  lost  the  $3,000,- 
000  Doyle  Hawaiian  Pineapple  Co. 
business  to  Foote,  Cone  &  Belding.  | 
The  biggest  jolt  of  the  month  Was  i 
suffered  by  Robert  Orr  &  Assoc 
when  they  lost  two-thirds  of  their 
billings  as  a  result  of  Andrew  Jer-J 
gens  pulling  out  with  their  $4,000,- 
000  account.  Robert  F.  Granger,  ] 
chairman  of  D’Arcy  .  Advertising,  j 
told  the  53rd  annual  convention  of 
Advertising  Federation  of  America 
that  billings  would  increase  a  half 
a  billion  in  1957  and  would  reach 
10 *2  billion  dollars.  Charles  A. 
Holcomb  resigned  as  president  of 
H.  B.  Humphrey,  Alley  &  Richards 
and  was  succeeded  by  Deane  Upte- 
vrove  the  former  exec  veepee  Of 
the  agency,  June  saw  the  Lewis 
Howe  Co.  makers  of  Turns  and  Na¬ 
tures  Remedy  name  McCanii-Erick- 
son  to  handle  its  $2,000,000  account 
replacing  R&R  and  D-F-S.  Sea¬ 
grams  decided  to  consolidate  its 
V.O.  and  Golden  Ancient  Bottle  gin. 
brands  at  Warwick  &  Legler  and 
drooped  the  Roy  S.  Durstine 
agency., 

Norman  Tice  Kaufman 

JULY:  Elkin  Kaufman;'  onetime 
veepee  of  the  Weintraub,  resigned 
as  president  of  Norman,  Craig  & 
Kummel  and  .  was  replaced  by  Nor¬ 
man  B.  Norman.  Foote,  Cone  &* 
Belding  was  picked  by  the  Tide- 
Water  Oil  Co.  to  handle  Its  $5,000,- 
000  account.  The  Harry  B.  Cohen 
Agency  changed  its  name  to  .  Cohen 
&  Aleshirfc  ang  Edward  Aleshire 
was  named  president  of  the  firm 
with  Harry  B.  Cohen  moving  up  to 
chairman  of  the  board.  Robert  W. 
Orr  became  a  division  of  Fuller  & 

:  Smith  &  Ross.  Harry  W.  Chesley 
Jr.  in  the  same  month  Was  ap-. 
pointed,  president  of  D’Arcy  Adver¬ 
tising;  Donahue  &  Coe  picked  up 
the  lion’s  share  of  the  B-T  Babbitt 
account  worth  oyer  $2,000,000.  The 
Gumbinner  Agency  was  selected  to 
handle  Manischewit;  wine  made  by 
the  Monarch  Co.  and  representing 
$1,500,000.  This  was  the  month 
that  the  Federal  Trade  Commission 
charged  that  the  tv  commercials 
for  Lanblin  Plus  hair  shampoo 
tended  to  frightened  beauty  con¬ 
scious  young  girls.  Kroger  Co.,  a 
retail  food  chain  split  $6,000,000 
worth  of  billings  between  Camp- 
beli-Ewald  and  Campbell-Mithun. 
K  &  E  was  appointed  to  handle. 
Edsel’s  radio  and  tv  spot  drive 
worth  a  reported  $1,000,000.  Near 
the  end  of  the  month  a  hew  agency, 
Parkson  Advertising,  was  formed 
by  the  principals  of  Edward  Klet- 
ter  and  took  oyer  the  J.  B.  Wil¬ 
liams  account. 

AUGUST:  Cunningham  &  Walsh 
started  off  the  month  by  picking 
up  the  $4,000,000  Andrew  Jergens 
billings.  McCann  -  Erickson  was 
named  to  handle  the  $1,000,000 
S.S.S.  Co.  account  and  Guild;  Bas¬ 
com  &  Bonfigli  was  appointed  to 
handle  the  $1,000,000  Heidelberg 
Beer  business.  Along  this-  line 
Ileintz  &  Co.  was  named  the  agency 
to  handle  the  Regal  Pale  Brewing 
$1,700,000  account.  In  August  the 
Moran  Agency  out  on.  the  West 
Coast  merged  with  Fletcher  D. 
Richards  and  the  Coast'  agency  is 
to  be  known  as  Harrington,  Rich¬ 


ards  &  Morgan  a  wholly  owned 
division  of  Fletcher  D. Richards. 
The  Assh.  of  National  Advertisers 
told  its  members  that  it  was  pos¬ 
sible  to  sign  less  than  52-week  firm 
contracts  with  the  webs.  Helene 
Curtis  industries  selected  McCann-; 
Erickson  to  handle  its  products  re¬ 
placing  Earle  Ludgen.  Other  Who 
shared  in  the  pie  splitting  were 
Gordon  Bek  and  Edward  H.  Weiss. 
McCann  picked  lip  the  lions  share 
getting  $4,000,000  of  the  business. 
Armour  consolidated  its  advertis¬ 
ing  in  one  shop,  N.  W.  Ayer,  and 
dropped  Tatham-Laird.  This  rep¬ 
resented  a  $3,000,000  loss  to  the 
agency.  Young  &  Rubicam  which 
'  handled  P,  Lorillard’S  Kent  and 
Newport  cigs,  lost  the  business  to 
Lennen  &  Newell. .  Net.  gain  for 
L&N  was  $7,500,000  and  agency 
now  bandies  all  of  the  Lorillard 
business.  Y  &  R  made-  up  partially 
for  the.  loss  by  picking  up  $1,000, - 
000  of  *the  Beech  Nut  account. 

P&G’s  "Leadership 
SEPT.:  Procter  &  Gamble  during 
the  first  half  of  1957  spent  $29,- 
595,614  to  lead  aU  advertisers  and 
of  this  figure  $24,144,097  was  in 
network  tv.  Merger  of  Erwin, 
Wasey  and  Ruthrauff  &  Ryan  ad 
agencies  into  the  new  Erwin  Wasey, 
RuthraUff  &:  Ryan  with  estimated 
combined  billings  of  $80,000,000 


III  Defense  of  Fait 

i/aiffaire  Arthur  C.  Fatt, 
president  of  the  Grey  Agency, 
Who.  seems  to  have  stirred  the 
advertising  business  because 
of  his  frank  interview  tele¬ 
cast — and  the  aftermath .  can¬ 
cellation  of  some  $300,000 
business  by  client  Koly nos — 
is  best  summed  up  by  a  veter¬ 
an  .  advertising  executive,  as 
...  follows: 

“An  agency  is  hired  to  sell 
goods,  not  to  use  it.  That’s 
the  answer  to  the  Fatts  and 
other  admen  who.  may  or  may 
not  soundoff  about  their  cli¬ 
ents’  products.  If  the  “agency’s 
job  successfully  moves  the 
goods,  at  the  right  price,  that’s 
the  best  the.,  client  should  want 
“•or  expect.  Whoever  is  wrong* 
they  (the  client)  is  Wronger 
than  any  indiscreet  ad  agency 
executive.” 


was  formalized  this  month.  This 
was  the.  largest  merger  in  recent 
years.  Erwrtn  Wasey  president, 
Dave.  Williams,  took  on  the  presi¬ 
dency!  of  the  new  company  and 
R&R  board  chairman  Robert  M. 
Watson  became  chairman  of  the 
board  of  the  new  agency.  Vet  . net¬ 
work  film  exec  Ed  Madden  and 
agencyite  Howard'  Jones  bought 
into,  the  Russel  M.  Seeds  agency 
which  was;  renamed  Keyes,  Mad¬ 
den,  assumed  the  presidency  of  the 
firm.  Proctor  &  Gamble  placed 
its  first  major  network  radio  order 
;  in  two-and-arhalf  years  over  NBC. 
i  Emerson  Foote,  who  quit  'McCann-. 
Erickson  a  few  months  back  moved 
back  into  the  field  as  chairman  of 
the  board  of  Geyer  Advertising. 
The  American.  Assn,  of  Advertis¬ 
ing  Agencies  Were  irked  at  a 
swing  taken  at  the  4A’s  and  the 
agencies  in.  general  by  John  Mc¬ 
Carthy  in  an  article  entitled  “Is 
the  Bloom  off  Madison  Ave?”  El¬ 
kin.  Kaufman  who  resigned  as 
president  of  Norman,  Craig  & 
Kummel,  joined  Lennen  &  Newell 
as  a  senior  veepee.  Bond  Clothes 
named  Keyes  Madden  &  Jones  to 
handle  its’  $1,000,000  radio  and  tv 
advertising.  :  Warwick  &  Legler 


ZIV  SETS  THE  PACE  WITH 


#1  HIGHWAY  PATROL 
#2  DR.  CHRISTIAN 
#3  MEN  OF  ANNAPOLIS  18.5 


ARB,  Sept.  *57 


ZIV  TELEVISION  PROGRAMS  INC. 


At  Home  With  Dennis  James 

In  what  may  be  the  first  such  Hve  television  remote,  Dennis 
James  will  be  “at  home”  to  handle  the  commercials  for  the  New 
Year's  Night  “Big  Record”  headed  by  regular  Patti  Page. 

Last  week,  scores  of  CBS=TV  technicians  were  at  work  “casing” 
James’  snazzy  Echo  Haven  (New  Rochelle),  situated  m  a  kind  of 
promontory  with  a  commanding  view  of  Long  Island  Sound.  There 
will  be  three  spots  totalling  2  minutes  50  seconds — In  the  living, 
room,  the  gameroom  and  the  kitchen.  Kellogg’s  will  utilize  the 
unique,  precedental  setting  to  introduce  its  new  Signature  Box. 

In  addition  to  the  boss  of  the  house,  the  “Home,  James”  blurbs 
will  include  his  wife  Micky  and  their  18-month-old  daughter  Randy. 


and  the  La  Roche  agencies  were 
eleeted  to .  split  the  Revlon  $7,« 
000,000  account.  Edward  Cox, 
vice  chairman  of  the  board  at 
K&E  has  been  elected  chairman 
succeeding  Thomas  D’Arcy  Brophy. 
Glamorenes  budget  in  spot  tv  in¬ 
creased  $1,000,000  and  now  totals 
$2,000,000.  * 

Bypassing  15%  Commission 
OCTOBER:  A  new  agency.  Smith 
&  Dorian,  opened  its  doors  this 
month  and  operates  under •  the 
compensation  plan  which* bypasses 
..the  15%  commission,  system.  Head¬ 
ing  up  the  combine  are  Ron  .  T. 
Smith,  formerly  of  J.  Walter 
Thompson,  and  Marc  Dorian,  art 
director  to  several  agencies.  Seven- 
Up  scheduled  a  budget  of  $300,000 
on  four  tv  and  five  radio  shows 
for  its  annual  “December  Airlift.” 
George  Wolf  resigned  as  head  of 
radio  and  tv  at  the  newly  formed 
EWR&R.  Kastor,  Farrell,  Chesley 
&  Clifford  was  named  by  Mayoh 
Wagner  to  handle  his  reelection 
campaign.  October  saw  Tom  Mc- 
Avity,  of  NBC,  turn  in  his  resigna¬ 
tion  and  join  McCann-Erickson  as 
an  exec  in  the  radio-tv  depart¬ 
ment.  Regal  Advertising  Associ¬ 
ates,  a  new  agency  primarily 
geared  to  barter  time  for  film,  was 
formed  by  Sidney  Barbet  and 
Charles  Weigert,  both  former  mem¬ 
bers  of  Paul  Venze.  Associates,  of 
Baltimore.  The  month  of  October 
closed  with  Warwick  &  Legler  ob¬ 
taining  a  temporary  injunction 
against  Schick  Inc.,  for  using  an 
advertising  idea  presented  to 
Schick  When,  that  firm  was  in  the 
Warwick  &  Legler  stable.  This  was 
the  first  time  that  a  suit  of  that 
nature  has  been  brought  before 
the  courts,  agencies  never  before 
having  considered  ideas  or  gim¬ 
micks  to  be  their  own  property. 

Cunningham’s  Bombshell 
NOVEMBER:  Madis on  Ave. 
smarted  over  the  remarks  of  John 
Cunningham,  prexy  of  Cunning¬ 
ham  &  Walsh  who  before  the  Assn, 
of  National  Advertisers criticized 
television  programming  and  went 
on  to  say  that  tv  is  strangled  by 
the  boredom  factor  and  imitation. 
“Quiz  shows  and  the  smother  of 
sheriffs  and  the  larynx  have  down¬ 
graded  television  and  have  taken 
commercials  down  with  the  shows.”. 
ABC-TV  vice  prez,  Ollie  Treyz 
Said  that  “today  you  have  to  ad¬ 
vertise  your  advertising,”  in  a 
closed  circuit  telecast  to  Seyen-Up 
bottlers.  Also  in  November  the 
issue  of  coin  earned  in  agency-pro¬ 
duced  tv  shows  and  agency-bought 
packaged  shows  got  a  going  over 
when  Dr.  Albert  Frey  and  Kent 
neth  R,  Davis,  professors  of  mar¬ 
keting  at  Dartmouth  College  re¬ 
vealed  their  findings  before  the 
Assn.  of.  National  Advertisers  in 
Atlantic  City.  Madison  Ave.  was 
fired  up  by  the  findings  of  the 
:  Prey  study  which  primarily  delt 
With  the  traditional  15%  media 
commission  system.  Kenyon  &  Eck- 
hardt  picked  up  the  BrylcreCm  and 
Enos  Sparkling  Antacid  accounts 
from  Harold  F.  Ritchie.  The  two 
accounts  represent  a  billing  of 
$1,000,000.  Ted  Grunewald,  v.p. 
in  charge  of  radio  and  tv  at  Hicks 
&  Greist,  was  upped  to  a  director 
of  the  agency.  N.  W.  Ayer  in  No¬ 
vember  confirmed  reports  that  it 
would  consolidate  .its  media  de¬ 
partment  in  Philadelphia.  Madison 
Ave.  agency  boys  declare  that  it 
does  not  make  sense  to  allocate 
$40,000  to  $50,000  per  program  in¬ 
stallment,  because,  under  the  new 
three  network  dividing  of  audi¬ 
ences  neither  the  rating  nor  share- 
of-audience  justifies  liny  such  ex¬ 
travagance.  Also  along  agency 
row  top  level  Madison  Ave.  execu¬ 
tives  stated  that  the  agency  men 
should  stop  knocking  themselves 
and  drop  their  hang-dog  look  over 
their  tv  shows  and  instead  inform 
the  public  that  the  best  In  tv  is 
being  brought  their  way.  In  No- 
!  vember  the  satellite  theme  got  a 
big  play  by  the  advertising  agen¬ 
cies.  Dr.  Sidney  Roslow,  presi¬ 
dent  of  Pulse,  blasted  ad  agencies 
and  sponsors  for  Using  television 
ratings  as  a  scapegoat  for  dropping 
shows.  November  closed  out  with 
the  A1  Paul  Lefton  Agency  pick¬ 
ing  up  the  $2,000,000  account  of 


the  Beneficial  Management  Corp. 
Mutual  Broadcasting  shifted  its  ac¬ 
count  to  Weiss  &  Geller. 

DECEMBER:  Addressing*  the 
Minneapolis  Advertising  Club,  Bob 
Foreman,  BBD&O  radio  and  tv. 
head,  charged  that  ratings  “misuse 
and  overuse  are  injuring  television 
and  often  advertising  too.”  In  1957, 
over  100.  major,  advertisers  with 
billings  estimated  at  $180,000,000 
shifted  .agencies.  Grey  Advertis¬ 
ing'  lost  $300,000  worth  of  White¬ 
hall  Pharmacal  business  over  l’af- 
faire  Kolynos.  Arthur  Fatt  had 
Madison  Ave.  buzzing  after  he  ap¬ 
peared  on  WABD’s  “Nightbeat” 
and  proclaimed  that  he  thought  all 
toothpastes  were  equally  good. 
Terry  Clyne,  v.p.  in  charge  of  radio 
and  tv  for  McCann-Erickson  was 
named  a  senior  vice  president  and 
placed  in  charge  of  the  agency’s 
worldwide  radio,  and  tv  activities. 
George  Haight,  v.p.  moved  into 
Clyne’s  slot'  and  will  be  in  .  charge 
or  radio  and  tv  at  the  home  office. 
BBD&O  picked  up  the  remainder 
of  the  $3,000,000  W.  A.  Sheaffer 
Pen  account.  Compton  acquired  the 
business  of  the  Western  Advertis¬ 
ing  Agency  of  Los  Angeles.  Fletch¬ 
er  D.  Richards  made  ,  its  second  in¬ 
ternational  union  in  recent  months 
by  joining  with  Dillion  Cousins* 
Assoc.  Dillion-Cousins  had  $9,- 
000,000  in  Latin  American  billings. 
The  joint  merger  represents  over  ; 
$30,000,000  in  total  billings.  Kud- 
ner  Agency  got  its  worst  Xmas 
present  in  years  when  the  Buick 
Division  of  General  Motors  decid¬ 
ed  to  place  its  advertising  else¬ 
where.  It  was  the  largest  account 
shift  in  years  and  represented  a 
loss  of  $20,000,000.  Along  with 
the  loss  the  agency  had  a  top  level 
shakeup  with  C.  M.  Robirabaugh 
being  named  chairman  of  the  ex¬ 
ecutive  committee.  Mike  Kirk  head 
of  the  tv  department  resigned  his 
post  at  the  agency,  December  also 
saw  Ben  Duffy  step  down  as  presi¬ 
dent  and  chairman  of  the  executive 
committee  at  BBD&O  and  replaced 
by  Charles  H.  Brower,  who  had 
been  exec  veepee  and  general 
manager.  The  month  closed  out 
with  a  general  shakeup  of  Erwin 
Wasey,  Ruthrauff  &  Ryan's  top 
level  staff.  F.  Kenneth  Beirn,  sen¬ 
ior  veepee  and  former  R&R  prexy 
and  F.  Bourne  Ruthrauff,  senior 
veep  both  ankled. 


KMGM-TV 

— —  Continued  from  pate  23  55553 
closed  by  WCCO-TV  a  year  ago. 

KSTP-TV  (NBC).,  only  Uses  fea¬ 
ture  films  late  Saturday  and  Sun¬ 
day  nights  when  there’s  no  network 
"Tonight”  show.  Its  movies  are  in¬ 
expensive  pickup  packages. 

Otherwise,  KSTP-TV  confines  it¬ 
self  almost  entirely  to  network  and 
!  its  own  news,  weather  and  sports 
shows  along  with  half-hour  syndi-, 
cated  stuff  in  the  10:30-11  p.m.  slot. 
Ratings  show  .that  these  syndicated 
series  have  been  far  outdistancing 
competing  feature  films  in  audi¬ 
ence  appeal.  Incidentally,  KSTP- 
TV’s  time  is  entirely  sold  and  the 
operation  is  considered  one  of  the 
nation’s  most  profitable  among  in¬ 
dependent  stations. 

During  the  past  several  months, 
KMGM-TV  has  considerably  aug¬ 
mented  its  feature  film  program¬ 
ming  with  a  considered  number  nf 
half-hour  syndicated  stuff,  and  .  Its 
own  news  and  Weather  shows. 


Mgt.i  William  Morrft  Atcpcr 

_ _ _ V  % 


Wednesday,  January  lt  1958 


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Thank  you ,  Mr,  Gross,— 

It's  nice  to  have  a  good  review* 

But  it's  nicer  to  have  a  good  TRENDEX. 

ARTHUR  MURRAY  PARTY . . .  Trendex  20.6 

LAWREMCE  WELK.... .  16.6 

GALE  STORM  (first  %  hour)  17*3 

HAVE  GUN  (second  %  hour).. . ... ...  10.5 


34 


RADIO-TELEVISION 


PftteiMtrir 


Wednesday,  January  I,  195ft 


PEOPLE  IN  HOUSES 
With  Grace  Kelly,  others 
Producer:  United  Nations  Radio 
30  Mins.,  Wed,  (25);  10:30  pan. 

CBS  Radio,  (transcribed) 

On  Christmas  night,  CBS.  Radio 
and  the  United  Nations  broadcast¬ 
ing  division  combined  forces  to  de¬ 
liver  a  moving  documentary  pro¬ 
gram  on  the.  plight  of  Europe's  re¬ 
maining  39,000  refugees.  Grace 
Kelly,  Princess  Grace  of  Monaco, 
delivered  the  narration  in  telling 
style.  - 

Well-written  and  enlivened  by 
interviews  with  displaced  persons 
in  camps  ranging  from  Germany  to 
Trieste,  the  program  told ‘of  UN 
efforts  to  find  homes  for  the  D.P.’s. 
to  combat  lethargy  and  camp  pys- 
chosis. 

Fortunately,  the  message  always 
was  personalized;  with  each  iXP.- 
interviewed  ‘  standing  out.  as  an  in¬ 
dividual.  The  39,000  still  homeless 
represent  the  remainder  of  the 
millions  of.  refugees  left  in  the 
wake  of  World  War  IL  not  taking 
in  the  recent  political  emigrees 
from  Iron  Curtain  countries.  The 
UN,  as  explained  by  High  Com¬ 
missioner  for  Refugees  Auguste  R. 
Lindt,  hopes  to  close  all  the  re¬ 
maining  camps  by  .  I960,  finding 
homes  for  the  occupants  by  then. 

The  residue  mainly  are  people 
who  for  one  reason  or  another  can¬ 
not  get  through  national  immigra¬ 
tion  barriers  because  of  age.  sick- 
ness,  etc.  By  implication,  the  pro¬ 
gram  accented  what  would  have 
happened  to  the  millions  of -  Jews 
if  there  wasn’t  Israel  as  a  haven. 

Koto. 


SING  WITH  BING 
With  Bing  Crosby,  Paul  We$ton 
Orch,  Norman  Luboff  Choir, 
others;  Ken  Carpenter,  an¬ 
nouncer 

Producer-Director:  Sam  Pierce 
Writer:  Bill  Morrow 
60  Mins.;  Tues.  (24),  9  p.m. 
INSURANCE  CO,  OF  NO.  AMER¬ 
ICA 

CBS,  from  Hollywood 

(N.  W.  Aye r) 

"Sing  With  Bing"  is  developing 
into  a  standard  Christmas  eve  ra¬ 
dio  offering.  Aired  for  the  third 
successive  year  last  week  under:  the 
same  sponsor,  show  once  again  fea¬ 
tured  a  program  of  holiday  songs 
delivered  by.  Bing  Crosby  from 
Hollywood  and  numerous  choruses 
in  pickups  from  other  points  in  the 
U.S.  and  the  world.  Taped  in  ad¬ 
vance,  show  nonetheless  came 
through  with  the  right  holiday 
flavor.  The  sponsoring  insurance 
company  tolddts  story  lightly  and 
politely  via  announcer  Ken  Car¬ 
penter  in  some  half-dozen  plugs. 


The  commercial  note  was  muted,  by 
such  topical  phrases  as  "family  se¬ 
curity  and  happiness  through  in¬ 
surance,"  etc.,  all  designed  to  fit 
in  with  the  mood  of  the  holiday. 

Musically,  the  show  had  some 
standout  numbers.  Most  effective 
was  the  religioso  delivered  by.  the 
Vatican  Choir  in  the  Rome  pickup. 
Another  excellent  number ‘was  ren¬ 
dered  by  a  Dutch  children’s  choir 
f roir  the  Hague.  Other  numbers 
featured  Choirs  from  Minneapolis, 
Canada  and  Jerusalem  in  addition 
to  one  number  by  the  insurance 
company’s  chorus,  Windup  num- 
i  ber  spotlighted  Bing  Crosby’s  son, 
Gary,  now  a  U;S.  soldier  stationed 
in  Austria,  in  “Silent  Night,"  which 
was  reprised  in  German  by  an 
Austrian  choir.  . 

Crosby  pere  hosted  the  show  m 
his  usual  glib  style,  also  delivering 
several  -numbers,  including  Joy 
To  The  World,”  “White  Christy 
mas,”  “Away  In  A  Manger"  and 
“Jingle  Bells,”  with  backing  from 
the  Paul  Westoh  orch  and  Norman 
Luboff  choir.  Herm. 


Tuesday  hoiir,'t*SugaIfoot/,  by  get¬ 
ting  several '  participations  to  eat 
up  the  time  not  taken  by  regular 
sponsor  American  Chicle,  has  only 
19  one-minute  participations  avail¬ 
able  from  now  through  next  fall. 
Web  sez  the  show’s  Nielsens  are  de¬ 
livering  up  a  $3.20  cost-per-1,000. 


Bristol-Meyers 

1  '  -  Continued  from  page  19  ss 

being,  negotiated  through  Young  8c 
Rubicam,  should  be  firmed  |ip  by 
week’s  end. 

B-M’s  ABC-TV  Splurge 
Bristol-Myers  has  bought  into 
three  ABC-TV  shows.  Outfit  has 
taken  a  minute  a  week  in  both 
“O.S.S.,"  in  its  new.  Tuesday  time 
slot,  and  in  the  Sunday  “Scotland 
Yard  "  John  Daly’s  nightly  news 
strip  also  gets  two  one-minute  par¬ 
ticipations  .  a  Week,  one  on  Mon¬ 
day,  the  other  .Friday. 

B-M’^  “Q.S.S."  participation  be¬ 
gins  Jan.  7,  when  the  show  moves 
to  Tuesdays  from  its  present  un- 
sponsOred  Thursday  position. 
“Yard”  buy  starts  Jan,  5  and  Daly 
gets  his  B-M  twice-weekly  spots 
beginning  Feb.  3. 

According  to  the  network,  it 
has  been  making  participation 
sales  in  its  unsold  or  partially  sold 
shows— such  as  the  above-men¬ 
tioned  and  “Sugarfoot’r-rby  offer¬ 
ing  to  deliver  a  certain  number  of 
homes  per  1,000  on  the  latest  Niel¬ 
sens.  Web  says  this  is  not  a  cost- 
per-1,000  guarantee,  that  there 
is  no  . make-Up  time  for  these  par¬ 
ticipators  if  the  Nielsens  ,  ulitimate- 
ly  fluctuate  from  the  present  cost- 
per  return.  •  The  Whitehall  sales  in 
partially  sold  network  time  were 
made  the  same  way. 

Meantime,  the  alternate-week  i 


Fineshriber 

Continued  from  pace  22 
gram  sales  opportunities,  since  the 
country  operates  two  networks,  one 
in  Flemish  and:  one  in  French; 
Latter  requires  a  French  dub,  but 
the  Flemish  network  uses  English 
prints  with  superimposed  titles. 

Holland  has  about  200,000  sets, 
and;  the  growth  pattern  is  slow, 
but  Denmark  has  100,000  sets  and' 
four  stations  with  three  more 
under  construction.  Sweden  has 
60.090  sets  serviced  by  fqur  sta¬ 
tions,  and  in  these  two  countries, 
English  prints  are  used  with  home¬ 
made  automatic  superimposition 
devices. 

Screen  Gems  has  an  advantage 
in  some  of  its  feature  film  sales, 
since  many  of  the  old'  Columbia 
features  Were  dubbed  for  theatrical 
purposes,  and  SG  is  still  able  to 
sell  the  original  dubbed  version  for 
tv  Use.  In  some  cases,  the  pix  also 
have ,  titled  versions  in  Scandina¬ 
vian,  and  here  too  the  sale  is  made 
easier.  However,  EG  has  only  made 
about  100.  features  available  for 
release  to  tv  in  Europe  because  Of 
the  increasing  value  of  the  market, 
and  has  made  only  short  term  and 
one^  and'  two-run  deals  on  the  50 
it  has  actually  sold  so  as  not  to 
dissipate  their  future  value. 

As  an  indication  of  the  manner 
in  which  European  television  is 
growing,  Fineshriber  reported 
600%  .  jump  ,  in  Screen  .  Gems  sales 
in  England  and  on  the  Continent, 
and  while  so  drastic  a  hike  hasn’t 
come  from  all  other  areas  of  the 
world,  it’s  still  ah  indication  of 
the  way  the  foreign  field  is  grow¬ 
ing, 

:  As  to  coproduction  deals  abroad, 
Fineshriber  said  there  would  be  a 
minimum  of  two  during  the  coming 
year,  set  up  in  a' manner  similar  to 
"IyanhOe,”  Which  is  due  to  preem 
ndxt  week  on  all  three  commercial 
outlets  in  England,,  Associated- 
Rediffusion  In  London,  Granada- 
TV  in.  Manchester  and:  ABC-TV  in 
Birmingham.  "Ivanhoe,"  fully 
owned  by  Screen  Gems  but  being 
produced  in -  England  by  Sydney 
Box  and  British  crews,  qualifies  as 

“quota"  picture  and  .is  not 
counted  into  the  14%  quota  on 
American  product  prevalent  on  the 
commercial  outlets  in  England. 


ftadio-TV  Production  Centres 


Continued  from  paxe  20  ; 


/ 


TOP-RATED  AMONG  PERSONALITIES  WITH  ’/i  HOUR  SHOWS 


HIS 


1.  TENNESSEE 
ERNIE  FORD....... _ 


2.  PAT  BOONE  . , . . , .  . .  .23.6 

3.  FRANK  SINATRA  ... .  .  .  .  .  13.4 

■> 

4.  GUY  MITCHELL  10.0 


HERS 


1.  ROSEMARY  CL00NEY...26.9 


2.  POLLY  BERGEN  . . . . . . .  .17.8 

3.  GISELE  MacKENZIE . 16.5 

4.  PATRICE  MUNSEL  9.0 


BASED  ON  NIELSEN  REPORT 
2  weeks  ending  Nov.  23,  1957 


*THE  FORD  SHOW 

Thursdays  9:30  P.M.  NBC- TV 
Sponsored  by  Ford  Motor  Co. 


**THE  LUX  SHOW 

Thursdays  10:00  P.M.  NBC-TV 
Spnsored  by  Lever  Bros. 


ings  to  keep,  their  children  from  listening  .  .  On  competitive  bids  at 

a  $14,600  price  the  Minnesota  High  School  League  awarded  WTCN- 
TV  the  exclusive  privilege:  of  televising  its  1958  state  high  school  bas¬ 
ketball  championship  tournament  here  next  month  .  .  .  WDGY  scooped 
the  newspapers  on  a  prominent  St.  Paul  educator’s  sensational  charge 
that  the  school  administration  in  his.  city  lacked  its  teachers’,  confidence 
.  .  .  Redwood  TV  Improvement  Corp.  has  been  granted  FCC  permits 
to  erect  three  new  translator  stations  at  Redwood  Falls,  Minn.,  to  pick 
up  and  rebroadcast  Twin  Cities’  commercial  stations  WTCN-TV  and 
KMGM-TV  end  educational  station  KTCA-TV  programs.  It’s  believed 
to  be  the  first  time  a  tv  translator  station  ever  has  been  authorized 
to  rebroadcast  an  educational  station’s  programs. 

Iff  CLEVELAND 

Dick  Reynolds  named  KYW  disker  succeeding  Dick  Drury  while  Peto 
Myers  takes  over  Reynolds  spot  on  WJW  .  .  .  Joe  Mayer  left  WAKR 
to  become  WDOK’s  shellac  spieler  repl'acihg  morning  than  Ronnie  Bar¬ 
rett  .  .  .  Warren  Guthrie,  WJW-TV  newsman,  named  on  American 
Hearst  Assn,  tv  advisory  committee  .  .  .  Pete  French,  KYW-TV  news¬ 
caster,  added  to  station’s  travelling  road  show  .  .  ..  Norman  Wain  ap¬ 
pointed  WDOK  program  manager  ...  WGAR  has  banned  staffers  from 
television  shows  on  grounds  video  credits  don’t  reflect  on  their  audeo 
efforts  i .  .  Tom  Field  exiting  news,  berth  at  WRCV  for  WEWS  ll  p.m, 
cross-the-board  stint  replacing  John  B.  Hughes.  Field  had  .  left  KWY 
for  the  Philly  spot  .  Bill  Lemmon,  ex-WJW-exec,  back  from  Florida 
radio  stint  to  Realign  Muzak  ,  .  ■■.  Joe  Mulvihill  slated  for  radio  berth 
when  new  AM  operation,  starts  in  Suburban  Parma, 

IN  SAN  FRANCISCO  .  .  . 

Barteil  Broadcasters  reported  to  have  the  inside  track  on  buying 
McCawrKeating’s  KYA,  for  a  cool  $1*4  million  .  .  KSAY  thinking 

about  moving  away  from  its  r-and-b  format,  aimed  specifically  at  Frisco 
area’s  Negro  population,  to  a  format  appealing  to  a  broader  audience 
...  KPEN-FM,- Atherton,  moving  to  a  24-hour,  operation  .  .  .  Re* 
Murphy,  of  KLX,  Oakland,  got  the  bounce  .  . ':  John  Harvey,  of  KGO, 
no  longer  a  staff  man,  just  freelancing  .  .  .  KCBS  salesman  George 
Arnold  named  manager  Of  sales  development 'for  CBS.  Radio  Spot  Sales 
—he’ll  move  to  New  York  .  ..Chronicle's  Terry  OTlaherty,  currently 
on  the  Bob  Hope  junket  to  the  Orient,  named  one  of  the  judges  of  the 
Sylvania  TV  Awards  .  .  *  Copies  of  three  of  KPIX’s  "Adventures  in 
Print”  going  to  the  Library  of  Congress. 

IN  PORTLAND,  ORE  .  . 

Disk  jockey  Bruce  Vanflerhoof  and  radio  station  KGW  came  to  th4 
parting  of  the  Ways.  He  picked  up  his  pinkslip  on  the  way  out.  He  con¬ 
tinues  at  KGW-TV  though  . ,  .  William  Moyes  ankled  the  program  di¬ 
rectors  job  at  KGW-TV  to  put  bis  feet  under  a  desk  at  an  ad  agency 
outfit  .  .  .  KPTV’s  "High  Time"  is  getting  so  big  it  may  get  Ogled  by 
network  .  John  H.  Eichhorn,  manager  of  KGW-TV,  received  an  ABC 
network  award,  for  “Mystery  Sounds”  and  “Around  The  Clock”  pro¬ 
motions  .  .  .  James  H.  Burr,  winner  of  a  .Pall  Mall  award,  leaves  news¬ 
paper  biz  to:  take  over  job  as  director  of  news  and  special  events  at 
KGW  radio  ....  ;  KGW-TV  demonstrated  its  new  Ampex  tape  recorder 
last  week  to  the  press  and  to  the.  public  ;..  Blitz-Weinhard  Brewery’s 
"Story  of  the  Beer  Glass"  animated  ^commercial  Was  selected  tops  at. 
Hollywood  Screen  Cartoonists  5th  annual  film:  festival. 


TV  Followup  Comment 


;  Continued  from  page.  31 .; 


ing  amount  of  territory,  carefully 


carving  out  five  characters  with  a 
sure  hand.  Ralph  Levy,  who  both 
produced  and  directed,  keeps  these 
characters  moving  in  well-cohr 
ceived  fashion. 

For  a  while  it’s  not  too  easy  to 
picture  golden-voiced.  Kathryn 
Grayson  as  a  full-blooded  Chey¬ 
enne.  Indian,  but  a  meaningful  per¬ 
formance  changes  all,  that.  Scott 
Brady,  as  a  trader,  comes  up  with 
a  performance  as  fine  as  he’s  ever 
given:  And  Raymond  Burr,  Vin¬ 
cent  Price  and  Jack  Lord .  are  well 
cast,  each  boosting  the  story  up¬ 
ward. 

Brady  and  Burr  portray  the  Bent 
brothers,  two  thoughtful  men  who 
are  building,  a  successful  fur  trad¬ 
ing  business  in  the  Southwest  100 
years  ago.  When  Vincent  Price 
arrives  as  competition,  threaten¬ 
ing  with  violence  those  „  traders 
who  sell  to  the  Bents,  Brady  takes 
drastic  measures  by  asking  to 
marry  Lone  Woman  (Miss*  Gray¬ 
son),  thus  making  him  a  blood 
brother  and,  obviously,  a  built-in 
partner  in  a  beaver  fur  trading 
agreement  with  the  tribes.  Brother 
Burr  will  have  none  of  this  non¬ 
sense,  figuring  mixing  of  the  races 
isn’t  particularly  fit  for  a  gentle¬ 
man.  But  with  a  SqUaw  as  beau¬ 
tiful  as  Miss  Grayson,  Brady  really 
falls  in  16ve  with  her,  so  the  wed¬ 
ding  is  on. 

Price,  sneaky  Critter  that  he  is, 
tells  the  tribal  chief  ,  of  Brady's  real 
reason  for  marriage,  and  the  trad¬ 
ing  agreement  Is  off,  thus  bolster- 
-ing  Price’s  position  in  the  lucra¬ 
tive  market  of  beaver  skins. 

While  Brady  is  off  scouting  the 
pueblos  for  a  few  scattered  furs, 
one  of  "Price’s  buddies  (Jack  Lord); 
drops  in  on  Lone  Woman  to  have 
a  bit  of  fun.  But  she  shows  him 
so  much  kindness,  he  merely  sits 
and  talks  to  her  all  .  night.  Mean¬ 
while,  back  in  the  village.  Price 
has  murdered  an  enemy  of  Lords, 
and  the  Mexican  government  ac¬ 
cuses  Lord.  His  only  defense  is 
that  he  spent  the  night  with  the  ! 
beautiful  Indian  woman  but  he  i 
won’t  say  so,  feeling  it  would  do 
her  dishonor.  She;  however, 
comes  to  his  defenses  in  court  and 
is  backed  up  by  Burr  who  Watched  | 
them  talking  ail  night  and  finally  j 


realizes  the  truly  fine  woman  she 
is.  Price  is  accosted  by  Burr;  Price 
Wounds  .  Burr;  and  Brady  kills 
(Trice.  A  happy  ending,  if  ever 
there,  was  one. 

.  Technical  c  r  e  d  i  t  s,  especially 
Fleet  Sduthcott's  camera  work  in 
southern  Arizona,  are  excellent. 

Ron. 


U.S.  Steel 


5=  Continued  from  page  19  ssa 

multiple,  first,  the  web  feels  that 
by  allowing  commercials  plugging 
television,  it  is  inviting  a  tuneout 
by  its  own  listening  audience  and 
away  from  its  sponsored  programs; 
second^  acceptance  of  such  an  order 
would  antagonize  those  of  its  affil¬ 
iates  which  do  not  own  tv  stations; 
third,  acceptance  would  open  the 
door  to.  similar  commercials  plug¬ 
ging  shows  on  NBC  or  ABC;  with 
the  network  no  longer  having  re¬ 
course  to  turn  down  such  business. 

‘Similar  situation  occurred  locally 
in  New  York  a  year  ago,  when 
WCBS  Radio,  the  CBS  flagship, 
turned  down  an  order  from  its 
sister  flagship,  WCBS-TV,  plugging 
the  station’s  then-new  backlog  of 
Metro  and  Warner :  Bros,  features 
being  premiered  on  the  “Late 
Show”  and  "Early  Show."  The 
WCBS  refusal  of  the  business-^ 
which  came  in.  the  face  of  accept¬ 
ances  by  some  indie  stations  in 
New  York— was  '  based  on  the 
premise  that  it  would  open  the 
door  to  rival  tv’ers.  as  Well.  Subse¬ 
quently,  however,  WCBS  ahd 
WCBS-TV  Worked  out  a  deal  to 
trade  promotional  announcements, 
thereby  circumventing  the  problem 
of  opening  the  door  to  business 
from  rival  stations. . 


CViRYOAr  I 
ON  EVtRY CHANNEL  l! 


BROOKS 

COSTUMES 

3  W«U  N.Y.C. -Td.  n.  7-MOO 


Wednesday*  January  1*  1958 


ABC  Radio’s  7-Day  i 


$1,500,000  Take 

American  Broadcasting  Network 
last  week  had  the  best  concentra¬ 
tion  of  Tadio  biz  in  several  months. 
Eight  new  advertisers  on  the  net¬ 
work  brought  in  sales  (after 
agency  commission)  of  $1,500,000 
In  the  seven-day  period. 

Most  of  the  fresh  coin  went  into 
the  longtime  powerhouse,  Don 
McNeill’s  “Breakfast  Club,”  but 
gome  of  it  seeped  over  into  the  new 
ABN  live  programs.  Herb  (Oscar) 
Anderson  and  Jim  Backus.  The 
two  buys  in  Backus  were  the  come¬ 
dian’s  first  ABN  coin,  and  Jim 
Beeves  tallied  his  first  sale  as  well. 

In  addition  to  the  new  $1,500,- 
000,  the  network  grossed  another 
$2,500,000  in  the  past  month,  a 
good  portion  of  it  in  renewals  on 
shows  that  are  not  embodied  in  the 
hotirlong  live  strips  instituted  by 
prexy  Robert  Eastman  last  fail. 

The  eight  new  sponsors  are 
Americ  a  n  Cyanamid  beginning 
Feb.  0  on  McNeill;  Hudson  Vitamin, 
oh  Anderson  as  of  Jan.  9;  Knox 
Gelatine  with  McNeill  and  Backus 
on  Jan.  27;  Lever,  McNeill,  Ander¬ 
son,  Backus  and  Jim  Reeves  on 
Jan.  6;  C:  H.  Musselman,  McNeill, 
Feb.  18;  Olson  Rug,  McNeill,'  Jan. 
21;  Chas.  Pfizer,  McNeill,  Jan.  13, 
and  Philco*  McNeill,  Jan.  £0.  Like 
Philco,  some  of  these  accounts  rode 
with  McNeill  previously. 

WATV 

Continued  from  pace  20 
that  this,  system  will  spend  .over 
$1,500,000,000  in  the  current  school 
year  alone.  It  further  notes  that 
37%  of  the  entire  1957  state 
budget,  $595,000,000,  was  appropri¬ 
ated  to  the  Department  of  Educa¬ 
tion  which  is  under  the  control’ of 
the  Regents. 

“This,”  says,  the  brief,,  “is  thd 
nature  of  the  body  Which  WATV 
intimates  has  neither  the  money 
■or  the  capacity  to  go  forward  with 
its  plans." 

In  reply  to  questions  regarding 
the  Board’s  failure  to  .  move  on  its 
upstate  VHF  permits,  the  Regents 
take  WATV  and  NTA  to  task  for 
being  unaware  that  the  state’s  plans 
for  an  educational  network  center 
upon  basic  programming  facilities 
in  the  New  York  City  area.  When 
it  becomes  apparent  that  it  was  not 
feasible  to  proceed  in  New  York 
City,”  the  brief  asserts,  “the.  Board 
of  Regents  never  requested  approp¬ 
riations  to  activate  the  stations  in 
the  smaller  Communities  which 
would  be  dependent  on  New  York 
City  as  Its  principal  program 
source. 

Since  the  FCC  could  not  set 
aside  an .  unused  VHF  channel  for 
education  in  New  York  in.  the  1952 
allocations  because  all  seven  V’s 
were  occupied,  can  It  do  so  now? 
The  Board  answers  that  the  Com¬ 
mission  has  set  a  precedent  for  do¬ 
ing  so  in  its  deintermixture  actions 
and  points  to  the  withdrawal  of  a 
VHF  channel  from  commercial  use 
in  Evansville,  Ind.,  and  the  subst- 
tutibn  of  another  V  for  a  UHF 
channel  for  education: 

The  Regents  also  observe  that  for 
the  first  time  since  the  New  York 
City  allocations  there  is  “an  ex¬ 
isting  licensee  who  has  given  an 
unequivocal  indication  of  an  in¬ 
tention  to  abandon  television  op¬ 
eration,”  providing  opportunity  to 
correct  the  discrimination  against 
education  "Without  Imposing  on  any 
existing  licensee”  and  without  ma¬ 
terially  affecting  the  competitive 
pattern  .  of  commercial  tv  in  the 
New  York  area. 


Cal  Nat 

;  Continued,  from  page  23  ; 


Available 

6,000  sq.  ft.. 


months  ago.  J WT  prepared  for -its 
accounts  a  study  called  “Interur- 
bia,”  which  pointed  out  that  there 
are  14  interurbias  all  told/ interur¬ 
bias  being  the  interconnection  of  a 
series  of  large  cities.  The  implica¬ 
tion  (which.  Pat;  Weaver  has  been 
banking  on  also  for  his  live  Pro¬ 
gram  Service  15-city  network)  is 
that  a  national  bankroller  can  get 
a  majority  of  the  same:  audience 
he  buys  on  a  regular  network 
hookup  by  picking  key.  cities.  JWT 
said,  in  effect,  that  a  good  example 
of  interurbia  exists  along  the  east 
coast,  and  that  the  spreading;  of 
big  cities  like  greater  Boston  and 
greater  New  York  make  Maine  to 
Florida  virtually  a.  600-mile-long 
city.  Syndicators  are,  consequently, 
out  to  turn  major  bliiechippers  into 
large' regional  bankrollers,  who  can 
pick  and  choose  fewer  key  tv  mar¬ 
kets  and  with  greater  flexibility 
than  they  can  on  the  webs.  JWT; 
also  said  that,  there  are  12  times 
as  many  per  square1  mile  in  these 
14  interurbias  than  anywhere  else 
in  the  nation. 

Katz,  the  national  spot  reppery, 
bolstered  the  same  point,  but  more 
directly  in  favor  of  syndicators 
versus  networks/  A  late  study  by 
Katz  showed  that  by  buying  syn¬ 
dicated  shows  and  placing  them  on 
either  the  NBC  or  CBS  affiliates, 
depending  on  which  has  lower 
rates  (something  the  advertiser 
cannot  do  when  he  buys  a  net¬ 
work)  bankrollers  can  .  save  as 
much  as  $728,000  In  time  over  a 
spread  of  26  half-hours-  I 

Then,  too,  there  Is  evidence,  ] 
Which  the  syndicators  have,  mar- 
.  Mailed;  to  indicate  that  there  is 
little,  if  any,  difference  in  the 
quality  of  network  and  syndicated 
telefilm.'  Variety  recently  carried 
a  survey  on  this,  and  CNP  itself 
tried  to  make  capital  of  this  con¬ 
tention  by  going  a  step  beyond 
network  vidfilm  and ,  pointing  out 
that  in  many  respects  there  is  vir¬ 
tually  no  difference  in  the  quality 
of  its  telefilm  production  from  that 
of  filmed  theatricals. 

Cost  of  syndicated  product  is 
still  lower,  for  some  reason,  than 
network  telefilm  costs/ Despite,  re¬ 
ports  to  the  contrary,  the  average 
syndicated  half-hour  cost  is  some¬ 
where  around  $31,000  per  seg, 
while  web  .  costs  generally  run 
$9,000  or  $10,000  hiiffier. 


Ides  of  March 

■— i  crattHMi  fr«n  me  it' = 

upcoming  six-month  period  . —  the 
period  in  which  all  the  major  nets 
work  sponsors  will  be  allocating 
their  tv  budgets  for  next  season. 
Sarnoff  has  been  devoting  consider¬ 
able  time  to  researching  the  lec¬ 
ture  first-hand;  Isn’t  particularly 
elated  at  the  prospects,  Not  that  he 
envisions  any  Critical  turn  of 
events  or  a  need  to  Cry  "pauper,” 
but  he’s  nonetheless  c  o  h V  i  n  e  e  d 
that,  if  ’57-58  went  through 
the  agonies  of  a  late4>uyihg  period 
and  some  sponsorless  segments, 
next  season  will  probably  be  Worse. 

Perhaps  the  key  to  ’58-59,  says 
Sarnoff,  Will  be  the  auto  compan¬ 
ies,  since  it’s  the  antomotives  that 
have  set  the  pace  on  tv  budgeting 
in  recent  seasons.  How  the  *58 
models  sell  will  have  a  consider¬ 
able  bearing  ah  a  total  economic 
picture.  If  the  Buieks,  the  Fords, 
the-.  Pontiacs,  the  Plymouths,  the 
Chevrolets,  etc.,  are  obliged  to  ride 
through  a  recessive  climate*.  Sar- 
noff  frankly  acknowledges  that  tv 
—even  in  the  face  of  -  its  No;  1 
status  among  all  median-will  have 
no  alternative  but  to  grin  and  bear 
it.  ' 


1.  4cutting  rooms— equipped 

2.  2  35mm  projection  rooms 
-quippo* 

3.  12  offices 

4.  2  nitrate  film  yaluts  com¬ 
pletely  air-conditioned. 

5.  Easy  access  to  complete  re¬ 
cording,,  mixing,  transfer 

4.  Complete  35mm,  16mm 
b lack-and- while  and  color 
laboratory  faciliti 

Inquire  BOX  V- 11 58  VARIETY 

154  W.  MHtSt.,  New  York  36,  IfcY. 


N.Y.  TV  Center 

sssssi'  Continued  from  Rase  19  sis 

tax  abatement.  They  do  it  In 
housing  here,  and:  the  city  Would 
be  getting  other  benefits  indirect¬ 
ly  to  hiore  than  compensate  for 
the  abatement." 

He  said  that  by  building  over 
railroad  tracks  on  the  West  side 
instead  of  in  the  heart  of  Manhat¬ 
tan  as  the  previous  plans  have  pro¬ 
posed  it  WiH  not  offer  a  "reloca¬ 
tion  problem  of  '  either  people  or 
businesses.  There  is  ho  business 
j  there  now,  nothing,  only  air  and  a 
railroad  from  which  the  investors 
can  lease  the  land.” 

He  said  that  the  centre  would 
I  be  about  4,000,000  square  feet  in 
'size,  costing  $10  per  square  foot 
tqbuild,  and  could house  the  faclli- 


PSfiiEtr 


ties  of  ABC-TV,  NBC-TV  and  GBS- 
TV.  It  would  also  eliminate  the 
heed  for:  slow  and  hyper-costly 
trucking  from  the  widely  spread 
production  plants  now  extant  in 
New  York.  Moreover,  Battista  said, 
the  new.  centre  would  "induce  new 
hotels  to  build  nearby.” 

He  said  that  the  plant  to  build 
the  centre  “on  air  rights”  required 
first,  the  attention  of  Wagner, 
since  neither  the  Mayor  or  the  in¬ 
dustry’s.  entrepreneurs  have  come 
up  with  a  solid  move  so  far.  By 
letting  tv  escape,  Battista,  said, 
“the  city  is  losing  several  million 
dollars  a  year  in  sales  taxes  and 
business  losses  more  than  $100,“ 
000,000  a  year  as  a  result.” 

The  Reason  why  Battista  feels 
the  proposal  will  work  this  time 
When  it  failed  to  see.  the  light  of 
day  so  often  before,  apart  from 
“lacking  a  definite  plan  until  now,” 
is  because  the  Lincoln  Square, 
project  is  an  “imminent  reality:  for 
the  first  time.” 

Lincoln  Square  'project,  inci¬ 
dentally,  is  only  a  few  blocks  dis¬ 
tant  from  Battista’s  proposed  tv 
centre;  One  block  south  of  the 
site  is  a  large  tract,  where  the 
|  N.  Y.  Times  is  building  a  new 
[plant. 

.,  Battista  explained  that  not  only 
is  transportation  on  Manhattan’s 
fringes  but  that  the  Mayor  can 
institute  a  massive  parking  lot 
plan  near  the  tv  centre  as.  a  fur¬ 
ther  inducement  More  ,  details  go. 
before  the  top  city  officers  in  two 
[days; 


Brandel 

Continued  from  page  21 

missed  the;  one;  opportunity  for  a 
“killing”  with  his  name  attached;” 

There  may  be  some  solace,  for 
Brandel  in  the  fact  that  the  WGAE, 
noting  how  Brandel  was  thrown  for 
a  loss  in  this  .particular  instance, 
went  to  work.  Two  weeks  after  the 
Kraft  display,  Evelyn  P.  Burkey, 
the  guild’s  executive  director*  put 
in  a  request  to  Kraft  and  its  agency 
"that  all  material  written  by  any 
writing  participant  on  the  program 
be  provided  to  us  for  the  purpose 
of  a  credit  arbitration  as  provided 
for  in  the  July  18, 1957  amendment 
to  the  live  television  minimum 
basic  agreement.” 

On  Dec.  6,  after  a.  study,  the 
guild  wrote  the  Thompson  agency: 
"In  connection  with  yoiir  television 
program,  the  following  writing 
credits  have  been  approved  by  the 
Credits  Arbitration  Committee: 
*Written  by  George  Harmon  Coxe. 
Adapted  especially,  for  Kraft  Teler 
vision  Theatre  by  Marc  Brandel. 
Since  this  program  was  initially 
broadcast  on  Nov.  8*  1957,  we  un¬ 
derstand  that  this  decision  will  be 
made  effective  as  to  all  subsequent 
broadcasts’.” 

But  B  r  a  n  d  01’ a  name  did  get 
around  like  a  crazy  snowball  there- 
after— meaning  right  up  to  here. 
Between  about  the  third  week  in 
February  and  latter  part  of  March, 
this  will  be  his  track  record: 

“So.  Deadly  My  Love,”  on  CBS- 
TV’s  “Climax;”  “Tide  of  Corrup¬ 
tion;”  bn  same  network’s  “Studio 
One”  under  Gordon  Duff’s  Holly¬ 
wood-based  production  banner;  and 
a  return  to  the  Kraft  lists  with  “A 
Man  of  Authority.”  And  only  last 
week,  Brandel  got  the  nod  to  write 
the  pilot  script  for  a  projected] 
NBC  telefilm  series  called:  "Diag¬ 
nosis  Of  Murder.”,  Brandel’s  opus 
for  the  pilot  is  titled  4 ‘Black 
Widow.” 


]  SAG  Vs.  AFTRA 

.  ass'  Continue*  from  pass  U  fa- 

50  without  the  additional  actors 
and  models  on  the  petition  to 
SAG’s  front  office,  he  stated,  “We 
have  been  very  uhhappy  with  what 
SAG  has  been  able  to  secure  lit 
payments.”  He  said  SAG  does  not 
understand  the  problems  with  com¬ 
mercials  as  much  as  AFTRA;  Since 
teleblurbs  are  handled  in  much  the 
same  way  as  old  radio  blurbs. 

He  said  that  since  SAG  is  “star 
oriented”  and  based  In  Hollywood, 
“the  rank  and  file  of  SAG  have 
been  getting  short  shrift”  SAG 
told  us  that  the  kind  oi  compensa¬ 
tion  we  asked  on  national  spot  com¬ 
mercials  would  not  get  by  and  they 
would  not  ask  it  of  employers. 
That’s  a  dandy  note.” 

He  added  that  there  are  300  to 
400  New  York  performers  who  are 
on  the  whole  unhappy  with  their 
[SAG  lot,  i 


BADIO-TELEVISI«Hf 


Mutual  Haps  on  FH  BamKwagon) 

In  Ambitious  Natl  Relay  Prtject 


Network  Research 

■sssss  Continued  from  pare  19— s 

though  that’s  a  prime  network  pe¬ 
riod.  Same  analysis  kept  its  frame 
of  reference  in  average  raring  fig¬ 
ures,  but  suddenly  switched  base 
on  the  half-hour  wins  to  talk  in 
terms  of  share  of  audience — and 
it  was  only  coincidental  that  in 
share  terms,  it  was  tied  with  its  key 
rival  but  in  average  ratings,  it  was 
behind. 

Unhappy  part  of  the  entire  mess 
is  that,  by  and  large,  ih  a  loose  and: 
general  sense,  the  claims  have  a 
basis  in  fact.  But  in  going  over¬ 
board  on.  specifics  in  order  to  prove 
leadership  that,  doesn’t  necessarily 
exist,  the  researchers  are  defeating 
their  own  purposes.  It’s  a  case 
of  crying  “Wolf’  a  few  times  too 
often. 


Winchell 

— fa—  Continued  from  page  21  ifa— 

ABC-TV’s  Friday-10  slot,  .  but. 
Without  Winchell.  Revlon  was  mull¬ 
ing  a  new  half-hour  for  the  time 
as  co-sponsor  along  With  Turns. 
(Winchell  was  going  to  go  Thurs¬ 
day  at  9:30.)  But  the  Turns  deal 
didn’t  come  through.  Revlon  then, 
reverted  to  the  .originally,  planned 
8:30  anchorage,  keeping  Winchell. 
i  .  Evidently  wanting  to  hold  open 
the  8:30  period  for  Mennen  and 
Campbell/  bankrollers  of  “CoIt/r 
ABC-TV  went  into  a  meeting  with 
Martin  Revson  of  Revlon  yester¬ 
day,  to  offer  the.  sponsor  Thursday 
night  at;  9:30  in  the  time,  presently 
held  by  the  unsponsored  “O.S.S.," 
biit  in  the  face  of  "Playhouse  90”- 
Tennesseb  Ernie  competition,  Rev¬ 
lon  nixed  the  offer. 

,  None  of  the  new  ABC  proposals, 
according  to  Revlon,  Would  mean 
having  to  giye  up  WinchelL 


Kemp  &  Pearson 

S5555  Continued  from  page  21  = 

expenditure  Will  be  eliminated. 
Network  feels  that  extension  of 
the  single  Griffin  troupe  is  a  lot 
less  costly  than  running  both 
shows.  Price  on  the  Pearson  Week¬ 
ender  was  much  lower  than  the 
weekday  strips,  since  much  of  his 
talent  was  amateur  and  he  utilized 
Buddy  Weed’s  house  orch.  Gordon 
Auchincloss,  Pearson  producer,  is 
leaving  the  web,  but  there  is  a 
possibility  that  Coughlin  will  stay 
and  add  a  new  show  for  ABN.  Ul¬ 
timately,  web  hopes  to  replace 
Pearson’s  Saturday,  showcase. 

When  It  came  rime  to  decide  to 
kill  Kemp’s  strip,  web  was  con¬ 
fronted,  with  several  show  plans 
for  8  to  9  pjn.  that  didn’t  jibe  with 
the  live  music  format  Instituted 
this  fall  by  prexy  Robert  Eastman, 
but  by  extending  Griffin  the  web 
has  been  able  to  stick  by  and 
large  to  the  original  concept. 

Weyburn,  SaA.— Radio  station 
CFSL,  Weyburn,  hiss  gone  on  a  24- 
hour  schedule  with  newscasts 
every  hour.  The  station  has  only 
been  on  the  air  four  Months. 


►  In  an  effortito  improve  the  qual¬ 
ity  of  transmission  to  non-metro¬ 
politan  areas,  Mutual  has  em¬ 
barked  on  a  two-year  plan  to  utilize 
FM  bands  to  link  affiliates  of 
MBS.  * _ _ 

As  part  of  the  plan,  MBS  is 
seeking  its  full  complement  of 
seven  FM  stations.  Net  already 
has  filed  an  application:  with  the 
Federal  Communications  Commis¬ 
sion  for  an  FM  license  in  San 
Francisco,  and  has  joined  the  Jim 
Hartford  group  in  Los  Angeles 
which  has  a  construction  permit 
for  an  FM  station  there. 

Heart  of  the  plan  is  to  replace, 
transmission  over  Class  C  lines  of 
American  Telephone  and  Tele- 
i  graph  Cd.,  held  to  be  inferior  for 
today’s  broadcasting  purposes,  with 
FM  relay  stations  throughout  the 
„  country.  Project  envisions  the 
utilization  of  some  86  FM  stations 
for  relay  purposes. 

The  *  plan,  -  subject  of  experi- 
l  mentation  by  other  radio  nets,  and 
utilized  oh  a  regional  basis  by 
smaller  webs,  marks  the  first  time 
for  a  national  net  to  fembark  on 
such  a  program.. 

At  the  present  time,  AT&T  serv¬ 
ices  major  metropolitan'  areas  with 
Class  A  lines,  capable  of  handling 
frequencies  up  to'  5,000  cycles. 
Feeding  out  of  metropolitan  areas, 
AT&T  has  Class  C  lines,  capable 
of  handling  transmissions  up  to 
only  3,500  Cycles,  held  to  be  In¬ 
adequate  by  MBS,  which  has  about 
40%  of  its  450  affiliates  along  these 
C  lines. 

hi  order  to  bypass  the  C  line 
service.  Mutual  will  tiein.  with  FM 
stations,  utilizing  multiplex  side* 
band  transmission  for  feeds  be¬ 
tween  the  FM  outlet  and  MBS  af-  - 
filiates.  .Mutual  prez  Paul  Roberts 
estimates  that  the  cost  of  required 
conversion  equipment  to  AM  af¬ 
filiates  will  be  about  $200  per  sta¬ 
tion.  Roberts  said  that  MBS 
would  pay  a  fee  to  the  FM  relay¬ 
ing  station,  as  well  as  offering  af¬ 
filiation  contracts  to  FM  stations. 

The  project,  if.  successful,  will 
allow  Mutual  to  expand  its  AM 
network  to  600  stations,  Roberts 
stated.  He  maintained  that  cur¬ 
rently  it’s  uneconomical  for  Mutual 
to  link  up  with  many  small  indie 
stations  because  of  line  costs.  Be¬ 
cause  of  the  cost  factor,  the  net 
recently  had  to  turn  down  23  ap¬ 
plications  for  AM  affiliations,' 
Roberts  maintained.  Overall 
though,  there  won’t  be  much  sav¬ 
ing  in  line  charges,  with  the  net 
paying  the  bulk  of  its  line  bill  for 
Class  A  line  services. 

MBS  has  been  conducting  tests 
In  New  York  State  the  past  two 
months  on  the  practicality  of  the 
plan,  utilizing  the  five-station 
rural  FM  network.  It’s  hoped  to 
get  the  project  launched  in  New 
York  State  first  by  May,  1958,  and 
then  gradually  spread  the  FM  side¬ 
band  feed  setup  to  other  sections 
of  the  country. 

Atlanta— Louis  O.  Hertz  Jr.,  has 
been'  named  promotion  manager 
for  WAGA-TV.  Formerly  he  was 
on  the  animation  staff  of  UFA  on 
the  Coast*  producers  of  “Mr.  Ma- 
goo”  cartoons.  Prior  to  his  Air 
Force  stint,  he  was  associated  with 
WAfiT,  Birmingham  as  art  di¬ 
rector. 


THEY  LOVE  ME  IN 

ATLANTA 


Wednesday,  January  1»  1958 


Jocks ,  Jukes  and  Disks 


By  HERM  SCHOENFELD- 


Nat  Kina  Cola  (Capitol):  "BACK 
IN  MY  ASMS"  (Weiss  &  Barryt) 
is  a  lovely  ballad  tailormade  for 


is  a  lovely  ballad  tailormade  for 
Nat  Cole,  who  should  get  back  in 
the  hit  stride  with  this  one. 
"ANGEL  SMILE"  (Wlnnetont)  is 
a  neat  rhythm  ballad  also  with 
strong  chances. 

Patti  Page  (Mercury):  "BRING 
US  TOGETHER"  (Markst);  a 
bright  ballad  with  a  cute  lyric,  is 
delivered  in  fresh  style  by  Patti 
Page.  .  Could  go  all  the  way.  "BE¬ 
LONGING  TO  SOMEONE"  (Lear*) 
is  a  classy,  ballad  due  to  get  a 
share  of  spins. 

David  Rose  Orch  (M  G  M): 
"SWINGING  SHEPHERD  BLUES" 


(Hefti*)  is  served  up  in  a  colorful, 
Tast-tempoed  instrumental  by  the 
Count  Basie  orch.  “LI’L  DARLIN’” 
(Hefti*)  changes  pace  with  a  soft 
ballad  quietly  and  effectively 
handled  by  the  Basie  crew* 

Art  Lund  (Brunswick):  "LAGU¬ 
NA  MOON"  (Planetary*)  is  a 
pleasing  novelty  time  vocaUed  in 
fair  style  by  Art  Lund.  “ROUGH 
TOUGH  CREAM  PUFF"  (Reist). 
is  a  cute  rhythm  number  with  some 
chances. 

The  Gateway  Singers  (Decca): 
"ROVING  GAMBLER"  (Cham- 
piont),  a  folk  saga,  gets  an  authen¬ 
tic-sounding  slice  by  this  Vocal 
ensemble.  “THIS  LITTLE  LIGHT 


Best  Bets 


LAWRENCE  WELK 


NAT  KING  COLE  ........... . . ........  BACK  IN  MY  ARMS 

(Capitol)  Angel 

PATTI  PAGE  .  BRING  US  TOGETHER 

( Mercury )  Belong  To  Someone 


And  His  CHAMPAGNE  MUSIC 

3rd  Consecutive  Year 
.Dodge  Dancing  Party 
ABC-TV— Sat  #-10  P.M.,  E.S.T. 
For  Dodge  Dealers  of  America, 
Top  Tunes  and  New  Talent 
ABC-TV  Mon.  9:30-10:30  pm,  E.S.T. 
Dodge  and  Plymouth 
Coral  Records 
Thesaurus  Transcriptions 


DAVID  ROSE  ORCH . .  .SWINGING  SHEPHERD  BLUES 

{MOM)  . .  ......: . Rock  Fiddle 


(Benellt),  a  catching  tune  cut  pre¬ 
viously  by  the  Johnny  Pate  combo 
for  King,  gets  another  attractive 
ride  by  the  David  Rose  orch,  which 
plays  downs  the  usual  fiddle  gloss 
for  a  simple  flute  solo.  "ROCK 
FIDDLE"  (Rose*)  is  ah  okay  fiddle 
instrumental  with  a  rocking  beat. 

The  Platters  (Mercury):  “HELP¬ 
LESS"  (A.M.C.*)  is  a  standard-cut 
rock  ’n’  roll  ballad  that  gets  a 
similarly  grooved  slice  by  •  this 
combo.  “INDIFFRENT"  (A.M.C .*) 
is  a  fair  entry  in  the  same  idiom. 


OF  MINE"  (Champion t)  is  a  swing¬ 
ing  revivalist-type  number. 

.Larry  Soim  Orch  &  Chorus 
(Coral):  “CHA  CHA  CHA  FOR 
GIA”  (Northern*),  a  neat  latin- 
styled  entry*  is  handled  with  a 
light  beat  by  this  orch  and  choru& 
Good  change  -  of  -  pace  material. 
“MADRID"  (Peert)  is  less  com¬ 
mercial  material. 

Ray  .  Charles  Singers  (MGM): 
‘•YOU’RE  MY  GIRL"  (Styne  & 
Cahn*),  fine  ballad  that  the 


current  teenager  crop  can  under¬ 
stand,  is  delivered  in  perfect  taste 
by  this  polished  ensemble.  "LET 
IT  SNOW,  LET  IT  SNOW,  LET 
IT  SNOW”  (Cahn*)  is  another 
first-rate  slice  with  a  seasonal  peg. 

Buddy  Knox  (Roulette):  "WHEN¬ 
EVER  I’M  LONELY”  (Patriciat) 
is  a  catching  item  sold  with  a  clear, 
country-styled  delivery.  "SWING¬ 
IN’  DADDY”  (Patriciat).  is  routine 
rockabilly  material. 

Mindy  Carton  (Columbia):  “HID¬ 
DEN  IN  MY  HEART”  (Sunbeamt), 
(Continued  on  page  43) 


Moniaue  Tan  Vooren:  ''Mink  In 
Hi-Fi”  (RCA  Victor):  Tha  Belgian- 
born  chanteuse  bowi  smartly  on 
wax  with  this  sophisticated,  inter- 
nationalsongalog.  Miss  Van  Vooren 
[impresses  with  her  deep-throated 
pipes  and  sure  control  on  the 
|  familiar  standard,  the  torchy  "My 
Man”  done  in  French  and  English, 
a  spicy  calypso,  "My  Man  Is 
Good,”  several  French  tunes,  and 
a  varied  assortment  of  freph  songs 
in  English.  Skitch  Henderson’s 
orch  backs  lip  in  first-rate  style. 

"Bill  Frawley  Sings  The  Old 
Ones”  (Dot):  BUI  Frawley,  the  vet 
film  and  tv  player,  recalls  his  days 
as  a  vaude  trouper  in  this  medley 
of  oldies.  ..Frawley,  though  not 
exactly  a  polished  vocalist,  sings 
within  his  limitations  and  projects 
with  a  pleasing  nostalgic  flavor.  He 
strikes  a  responsive  chord  on  such 
tunes  as  "If  You  Were  The  Only 
Girl  In  The  World,”  “Carolina  In 
The  Morning,"  "Pretty  Baby.” 
"For  Me  and  My  Gal”  and  other 
perennial  faves.  Able  support  is 
furnished  by  the  Jack  HaUoran 
Singers  and  the  Perry  Botkin  orch. 

Lionel  Hampton:  "Hallelujah 
Hamp”  (Verve).  Playing  with  a 
small  combo,  Lionel  Hampton  in 
this  set.  displays  skill  and  .  taste 
that  have  made  him  the  standout 
exponent  of  the  vibes  in  jazz.  Al¬ 
though  more  recently  associated 
with  a  more  frantic  type  of  music, 
Hampton  here  is  at  his  best  on 
the  ballads.  He  is  standout  on 
"Tenderly”  and  "A  Foggy  Day,” 
and  also  hats  out  several  uptempo 
numbers  such  as  "Hamp’s  Boogie 
Woogie,”  "Indiana”  and  "AUelu- 
jah,’  with  powerful  drive.  He  gets 
a  chance  to  unwind  on  this  platter, 


taking  about  10  minutes  for  the 
“Tenderly"  rendition. 

fiiy  Oliver  Orch:  "Jimmie  Lunce¬ 
ford  in  Hi-Fi”  (Decca).  The 
Jihunie  Lunceford  band,  one  of 
top  organizations  during  the  hey¬ 
day  of  the  swing  era  in  the  late 
1930s,  is  saluted  in  this  set  by 
Sy  Oliver,  who  was  responsible 
for  most  of  the  arrangements  in 
the  old  Lunceford  book.  Using 
several  musicians  from  the  Lunce¬ 
ford  crew,  OUver’s .  band  delivers 
with,  a  smooth,  swinging  beat, 
which  may  lack  some  of  the  steam 
of  the  original  but  has  a  vitality 
of  its  own.  Collection  Includes 


“Four  or  Five  Times,”  "By  The 
River  Sainte  Marie,”  "Ahrt  She 


Sweet,”  “Dream  of  You.”  Oliver’s 
vocal  solos  on  several  numbers  are 
among  this  set's  ,  top  highlights. 

Dan  Dailey:  "Mr.  Musical  Com¬ 
edy”  (Tops).  This  is  a  tough  billing 
even  for  this  versatile  performer 
to  live  up  to,  particularly  on  wax 
where  Dan  Dailey’s  overall  talent 
can’t  ,  be  showcased.  The  vocals  in 
this  set  are  uneven,  Dailey  doing 
best  with  material  tunes  like  "One 
For  The  Road”  and  "I  Still  See 
Elisa.” 

"Love  Songs  of  Lebanon”  (Folk¬ 
ways).  With  the  political  focus  in¬ 
creasingly  on  the  Middle  East,  this 
package  of  Arabic'  music  becomes 
less  remote.  This  Interesting  col¬ 
lection  of  exotic  folk  songs  is  sung 
and  played  by  the  Sawaya  chorus, 
a  family  of  Arabic  descent  living 
in  Canada. 

Paul  Bley  Quartet:  ^Solemn 
Meditation”  (GNP).  This  youthful 
jazz  combo  delivers  some  subtle 
and  swinging  music  in  the  modern 
groove.  Group,  comprised  of  piano, 
(Continued  on  page  42) 


Bill  Carlisle  (RCA  Victor): 
"TINY  SPACE  MAN”  (Danbyt), 
a  cute .  piece  of .  material  cut  by 
Wes.  Bryan  for  United  Artists,  gets 
a  winning  ride  in  this  country  ver¬ 
sion.  "HOW  WILL  I  KNOW?” 
(United*)  is  another  okay  piece 
of  material  in  the  same  melodic 


RETAIL  DISK  BEST  SELLERS 


of  material  in  the  same  melodic 
groove. 

Buddy  Holly  (Decca):  "LOVE 
ME”  (Cedarwpodt),  a  simple- 
minded  tune,  is  delivered  by.  this 
singer  almost  in  caricature  of  the 
rockabilly  style.  "YOU  ARE  MY 
ONE  DESIRE”  (Copart)  is  so-so 
ballad  in  a  slow  tempo  not  suited 
to  this  singer’s  pipes. 

Tina  Robin  (Coral):  "BELIEVE 
ME”  (Nor-Va-Jakt),  a  big  ballad, 
is  belted  in  wide-open  style  by  this 
strong-voiced  songstress.  "EVERY¬ 
DAY”  (Peart)  is  a' attractive  rock¬ 
ing  item  also  effectively  projected 
by  Tina  Robin. 

Sal  Mineo  (Epic):  "CUTTIN’  IN” 
(Salmint),  ah  okay  juve-pegged 
number,  is  rocked  in  clipped 
rhythm  style  by  Sal  Mineo  for  good 
commercial  impact.  “LITTLE  PI¬ 
GEON”  (Nasht)  is  another  con¬ 
temporary-styled  time  with  a  cute 
idea.  , 

Yvonne  DeCarlo  (Imperial): 
"THAT’S  LOVE”  (Sheldont),  a 
rock  ’n’  roll  tune,  doesn’t  sound 
too  convincing  in  this  talk-sing  ver¬ 
sion  by  Yvonne  DeCarlo.  ‘THE 
SECRET  OF  LOVE”  (Travist)  is  a 
big  ballad  projected  in  fair  style. 

.  Joe  Williams  (R oule 1 1  e): 
"WHAT’S  NEW”  (Witmark*),  a 
fine  torch  standard,  is  delivered 
effectively  by  Joe  Williams,  vocal¬ 
ist  with  the  Count  Basie  band. 
"GEE  BABY,  AINT  I  GOOD  TO 
YOU”  (Capitol*)  is  a  solid  blues 
number  delivered  by  Williams  and 
the  Basie  orch. 

The  Fortunes  (Decca):  "TAR¬ 
NISHED  ANGEL”  (Northern*), 
title  song  of  the  Universal  pic,  is 
a  solid  contemporary  ballad  baited 
in  okay  rock  ’n’  roll  Style  by  this 
combo.  "WHO  CARES”  (Fairway- 
Malabarf)  is  another  slow-tempoed 
item  with  a  more  routine  idea. 

Joni  James  (MGM):  "DANSERO” 
(B&Ft),  a  lilting  ballad- with  an 
.  above-par  lyric,  is  delivered  in 
'relaxed,  pleasing  style  by  this 
songstress.  "LOVE  WORKS  MIR¬ 
ACLES”  (Grand*)  has  fair  impact. 

Steve  Rossi  (Robin);  “I’M 
GONNA  HATE  MYSELF”  (*>,  a 
neat  ballad  crooned  in  savvy  style 
by  Steve  Rossi,  gets  this  Coast 
label  off  to  a  promising  bow. 
"POINC1ANA”  (Markst)  the  oldie, 
is  also  handled  very  effectively  by 
this  singer. 

Bernie  Nee  (Columbia): -“MEDAL 
OF  HONOR  ’’(Shapiro-Bemstein*), 

•  a  cute  idea  with  a  catching  tune,  is 
delivered  with  a  gbod  beat,  by 
Bernie  Nee.  "LEND  ME  YOUR 
COMB”  (Daniels*)  is  a  -teenage- 
slanted  item  done  Up  in  rockabilly  j 
fashion, 

Barry  DeVorzon  (RCA  Victor): 
"Barbara  Jean”  (Devorzonf),  a 
teenage-pegged  tune,  is  handled  in 
easy  vocal  for  pleasing  results. 
"BABY  DOLL”  (DeVorzon)  is 
routine  rock  ’n-  roll  stuff. 

.  Count  Basie  Orch  (Roulette): 
"THE  KID  FROM  RED  BANK”  I 


[  ^yA&IETY~“ 

Survey  of  retail  disk  best 
sellers  based  on  reports  obi; 
tained  from  leading  stores  in 
21  cities  and  showing  com¬ 
parative  sales  rating  for  this 
and  last  week. 


National 
Rating 
This  Last 
wk.  wk. 


Artist,  Label,  Title 


■S  I 

a.  I  S 

If  I 

tf  1  < 


«  c  0  5  «  W 

II  4  ill 
U  §  § 1  ® 


4  1  I-  I  i  ? 

I  I  a  1  1  g 


DANNY  &  JUNIORS  (ABC-Par) 

.  At  the  Hop . .... 

PAT  BOONE  (Dot)  " 

April  Love. .  . . ... . . 

JIMMIE  RODGERS  (Roulette) 
Kisses  Sweeter  Than  Wine . . 
BUDDY  HOLLY  (Coral) 

Peggy  Sue.. ...., - ... 

FRANK  SINATRA  (Capitol) 

All  the  Way, .... . .  - 

SAM  COOKE  (Keen) 

You  Send  Me _  _ _ 

JERRY  LEE  LEWIS  (Sun) 

Great  Balls  of  Fire. . 

BILL  JUSTIS  (Phillips) 

Raunchy  ..  . . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ : .  .... 

BOBBY  HELMS  (Decca) 

Jingle  BeU  Rock. .............. 

ERNIE  FREEMAN  (Imperial) 

Raunchy  _ _ _ _ _ ... ....... . . 

ELVIS  PRESLEY  (Victor) 

Jailhonse  Rock, .... _ 

JOHNNY  MATHIS  (Columbia) 

Chances  Are . . 

BOBBY  HELMS  (Decca) 

My  Special  Angel 
G.  HAMILTON  IV  (ABC-Par)  < 
Why  Don’t  They  Understand:..;. 
WILL  GLAHE  (London) 
Liechtensteiner  Polka  . ......... 

HOLLYWOOD  FLAMES  (Ebb) 
Rnm  fiiwa  BUZZ . ..  ............ 

RICKY  NELSON  (Imperial) 

stood  up. _ _ 

ROGER  WILLIAMS  (Kapp) 

Till  . .... _ 

AMES  BROS.  (Victor) 

Melodie  D’Amour . . . . , ....  .  > ... 
RAYS  (Cameo) 

Silhouettes  . . ...... . . . 

LARRY  WILLIAMS  (Specialty) 
Bony  Moronie. .  ........ .  .  . . . . 

SAM  COOKE  (Keen) 

I’ll  Come  Running  Back  to  Yon. . 
RICKY  NELSON  (Imperial) 

Be  Bop  Baby . . .... . 

JOHNNY  MATHIS  (Columbia) 
Wild  Is  the  Wind. 

RICKY  NELSON  (Imperial). 
Waiting  in  School . . 


1  2  .,  8  2  1  ....  ..  5  3  1  1  ..1  3  5  4 


1  3  3  ...  ...  1  9....  3  9  ..  4  8  5 


5  5  ..  5  6  4 


4  7  .  2 


4  ....  1 


3  7  .. 


3  . .  7  2  1  . . 


4  . .  8  ..  4  .. 


5  1  ..  ...  5  ..  .  2  ..  5  ...  1 


..  ..  2  ..  3  ....  ..  3  ... 


...  8 


9  8  ...  ...  4 


9  7  1  ..  ..  4 


7  2  7 


2  10  7 


.  4  ..  .*  ..  ..  .* 


Wednesday,  January  1,  1958 


J'ARiEnnr 


MUSIC 


37 


100%  Relum  PnvOege  Extended 
To  Sets  by  RCA,  Also  (or  Jan.  Bow 


Following  through  on  its  recent¬ 
ly  announced  move  to  give  a  100% 
return  privilege  pn  all  single  re¬ 
leases,  RCA  Victor  has  extended 
the  same  guarantee  to  all  new 
album  releases.  The  Victor  policy 
is  similar  to  the  orie  Capitol  Rec¬ 
ords  'has  had  in  effect  for  some 
time. 

Under  the  new  Victor  setup, 
bowing  with  the  January  release, 
the  company  will  try  to  predeter¬ 
mine  the  sales  requirements  during 
the  first  60  days  of  a  specific  pack¬ 
age’s  release!  The  total  will  then 
be  allocated  among  distributors.  At 
the  end  of  180  days,  the  distribu¬ 
tors  wiU  be  allowed  to  return  any 
of  the  albums  in  their  stock.  This 
privilege  will  undoubtedly  be  ex¬ 
tended  by  the  distrib  to  the  dealers 
in  his  area. 

Victor,  at  the  same  time,;  is  con¬ 
tinuing  its  policy  of  100%  return 
•privileges  for  dealers  on  about  -320 
bestselling  albums  from  the  cata¬ 
log  as  well  as  merchandise  on  the 
Camden,  Vik,  Children’s  Blue  Bird 
labels  and  tapes. 

As  with  the  singles,  move  is  de¬ 
igned  to  get  maximum  dealer  dis¬ 
play  and  (support  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  the  retail  stores  can  now 
order  new  Victor  merchandise 
across-the-board  without  :any  dan¬ 
ger  of  getting  stuck  with  dead  in¬ 
ventory. 

Reserve  Decision  In  Suit 
Of  Songwriters  Vs.  Vallee 
And  Storyville  Records 

N."  Y.  Federal  Court  Judge  Ed¬ 
ward  J.  Dimock  reserved  deci- 
ion  last  week  in  the  suit  brought 
against  Rudy  Vallee  and  Storyville 
Records  by  two  songwriters,  Joseph 
Allan  McCarthy  and  Austen  Croom- 
Johnson,  for  alleged  infringement. 
Suit  involved  an  album  of  tunes 
cut  by  Story viUe  under  the  title 
of  “Rudy  Vallee’s  Drinking  Songs.” 

The. plaintiffs,  who  copyrighted 
the  six  songs  through  their  own 
firm,  Musicana  Corp„  claimed  they 
had  never  given  consent  to  either 
Vallee  or  Storyville  for  use  in  the 
album.  While  Vallee  testified  that 
he  thought  that  authorization  had 
been  received  from  the  writers, 
George  Wein,  head  of  Storyville 
Records,  stated  ’that  he  withdrew 
the  LP  from  circulation  as  soon,  as 
he  received  notice  of  the  alleged 
Infringement. 

Tunes  involved  are  ‘‘The  .  Man  of 
Distinction  ”  “The  Man  At  The  End 
of  the  Bar,”  “Don’t  Swat  A  Bar¬ 
fly,”  “Me  Father’s  Drinking  Cup,” 
“Bartender”  and  ‘.‘That  Old  Brass 
Rail.”  The  plaintiffs  claim  that 
50,000  disks  were  manufactured 
and  that  a  profit  of  over  $35,000 
w:-s  made  on  the  release.  They 
asked  for  .an  injunction,  aecouni  . 
ing  of  the  profits  and  damages. 

Crooni-Johnson,  incidentally,  is  a 
British  writer  longtime  resident  in 
the  U.  S.,  McCarthy  while  is  an 
ASCAP  member,  son  Of  Joe 
McCarthy  (and  Fred  Fisher). 


New  International  Series 
For  Seeco’s  Pkge.  Slant 

.Seeco  Records,  N.  Y.  label  oper¬ 
ated  by  Sidney  Siegal  who!  has 
been  chiefly  active  in  the  Latin- 
American  market,  has  formed  a 
new  line,  the  International  Series, 
aimed  at  the  pop  U.  S.  package 
market.  Initial  release  in  the  new 
series  comprises  .27  albums,  in¬ 
cluding  some  Latin-flavored  sets  as 
well  as  disks  cut  by  Skitch  Hender¬ 
son,  Hildegarde  and  others. 

Seeco  is  launching  a  disk  jockey 
promotion  for  the  new  line  via 
singles  which  have  been  culled 
from  each  of  the  27  albums  and 
dressed  Up  with  special  sleeves. 

Del-Fi  New  Label 

Newest  indie,  to  :enter.  the.  disk, 
field  is  Del-Fi  Records,  headquar¬ 
tering  on  the  Coast.  Firm  is  head¬ 
ed  by  Foster  Ragman  arid  Bob 
Keene. 

First  release  out  of  Del-Fi  is  by 
pianist  Henri  Rose.  Diskery  is  now 
lining  up  other  artists  for  a  singles 
and  an  LP  push. 


Distribs*  Pkg^.  Earful 

In  putting  the  100%  return 
privilege  On  albums  into  oper¬ 
ation  (see  separate. Story),  Vic¬ 
tor  is  creating  a  revolving  dis^ 
tributor  .  manager  panel  con¬ 
sisting  of  disk  managers  from 
four  or  five,  sections  of  the 
country.  They  will  meet  once 
a  month  in  New  York  for,  a 
preview  listening  session  ,  of 
the  new  album  releases.  Overr 
the  year,  disk .  managers  repre¬ 
senting  all  of  the  50  distribs 
will  have  served  on  the  panel. 

Serving  in  an  advisory  capa¬ 
city  on  the  panel  Will  be  reps 
of  Victor’s  artists  &  repertoire 
department,  advertising  and 
promotion,  sales,  planning  and 
marketing.  The  panel  will  de¬ 
termine  the  albums’  sales  ex¬ 
pectancy  during  the  first  60 
days. 


Commissions  New 
Works  for  Fest 

Sari  Francisco,  Dec.  30. 

Six  new  works  have  ,  been  com¬ 
missioned  for  the  biggest  music 
festival  in  Frisco"  area  history 
which  will  be  held  April  15  to  May 
23,  1958,  on  the  U.  of  California 
campus  at  Berkeley  and  will ‘  in¬ 
clude  17,  and  possibly  more, 
certs,  plus  a  number  of  lectures. 

Festival  purpose  is  to  dedicate 
the  university’s  riew  May  T.  Morri¬ 
son  Music  Building,  the  750-seat 
Alfred  Hertz  Memorial  Auditbriuin, 
the  Edmond  O’Neill  Memorial 
organ  and  the  Ansley  Salz  collec¬ 
tion  of  string  instruments,  all  cal¬ 
culated  to  inake  the  university’s 
music  department  one  of  the 
world’s  finest. 

Works  commissioned  for  the  fes¬ 
tival  are: 

(1)  A  ballet  by  Sir  Arthur  Bliss; 

(2)  Quintets  by  Ernest.  Bloch 
and  Roger  Sessions! 

(3)  Choral  works,  by  Randall 
(Continued  on  page  r42) 


MGM's  LP-EP  Spree 

MGM*  Records  is  launching  its 
1958  drive  with,  the  release  of  eight 
LP’s  and  three  extended  play  pack¬ 
ages.  Three  of.  the  LP’s  will  intro¬ 
duce  newcomers  to"  the  label,  GUy 
Luypaerts,  Carl  Eugster  and  Sa- 
vino. 

Others  in  the  first-of-the-ryear 
output  are  Peter  Todd  orch,  Gary 
Allen  orch,  Robert  Ashley,  Dick 
Hyman  and  a  set  by  the  late  Hanlf 
Williams. 


Iff 


United  Artists,  which ;  kicked  off 
its  disk  label  with  a  couple '■of  re¬ 
leases  early  in  Deceiriber,  now  has 
formally  launched  its  publishing 
operation  with  the  printing  of 
sheet  music  oil  three  songs.  Initial 
publication  was  made  by  Unart 
.Music,  a  Broadcast  Music  Inc. 
affiliate. ‘The  pic  company  also  has 
an  ASCAP  firm  under  the  United 
Artists  Music  tag. 

Initial  Sheet  publications  are 
“Legend  of  the  Lost,”  “Declaration 
of  Love”  and  “Lonesome  Love.” 
The  three  songs  were  among  the 
first  Mdes  to  be  issued  on  the  UA 
disk  label  with  singers  Joe  Valino 
and  Wes  Bryan,  Waiter  Kane  is 
selling:  agent  for  the  Unart  sheet 
music..  : 


OTHER  DISKERIES  EYE 
JAP  VICTOR  PRICE  COT 

Tokyo,  Dec.  30. 

A  20%  slash  in  disk  prices  was 
effected  by  the  Victor  Record  Co. 
of  Japan  in  its.  LP  arid  EP  releases, 
with  Japanese  affiliates  of  Capitol, 
Columbia,  Coral,  Decca,  Epic,  Lon¬ 
don,  ‘Mercury,  MGM  and  others 
expected  to  follow. 

Price  of  a  Victor  12-inch  classi¬ 
cal  LP,  for  example,  /  dipped  to 
1,900  yen  ($5.27),  from  2,300  yen. 
Cost  of  10-inch  classics  dropped  to. 
1,500  yen  ($4.16),  from  1,900  yeri, 
arid  45’s  were  cut  in  proportion,  as 
were;  pop  and  jazz  sellers. 

With  reduced  Cost  in  three-speed 
players,  a  record  boom  is  expected 
here  over  the  holidays. 


Falling  in  tine  off  4-Yr.  ASCAP  Pact 


Attention  Petrillo 

.  Honolulu,  Dec.  30. 

Musicians’  occupational  haz¬ 
ards  extend  into  ,  the  Armed 
Forces,  it  seems.  Pearl  Har¬ 
bor  Navy  Band  was  at  dock- 
side  the  other  day  giving  mu¬ 
sical  fanfare  for  the  arrival  of 
a  submarine.  A  mooring  line 
thrown,  from  the.  boat  conked 
one ,  Of  the  musicians  on  the 
head. 

Troubles  aside.  Pacific  fleet 
headquarters  band/  has 
amassed  some  kind  of  record 
this  year.  It’s  made  300  pub¬ 
lic  appearance  since  January. 


"Six-Five  Special’ 


jam  Musicant  upped  to  general 
business  manager -post  of  Tommy 
Valando’s  publishing  firms.  Laurel 
and  Valarido. 


By  BARRY  BARNETT 

London,  Dec.  30. 

Impact  created  by  the  state  tv 
Web’s  weekly  teenage  entertain¬ 
ment  offering,  “Six-Five  Special,” 
has  made  the  show  one  of  the  most 
coveted  airings  in  local  Tin  Pan 
Alley. 

Songpluggers,  with  few  enough 
really  big  programs  on  which  to 
Work,  are  falling  over  themselves 
to  get  an  airing  on  this  show,  which 
is  rapidly  building  itself  a  hefty, 
reputation*  as  No.  1  outlet  for 
new  songs. 

“Six-Five  Special,”  in  a  55-min- 
ute  Saturday  slot  at  the  time  which 
its  title  implies,  is  now  classed  as 
the  No.  3  on  th^  pluggers’  lists 
of  important  programs,  but  is  rapids 
Ty  easing  itself  into  a  position  to 
move  up  a  notch.  .. 

Currently,  the  league  topper  is 
the  BBC’s  ,  sound  radio  Sunday 
lunchtime  disk  program,  "“Two-Way 
Family  Favorites,”  which  operates 
between  London  and  Cologne  for 
service  personnel  stationed  abroad 
arid  their  families,  at  home.  The. 
shpw  runs  non-stop  for  75-iriin- 
utes,  with  alternate  disks  featured 
by1  dee  jays  iri  Britain  and  Ger¬ 
many.  Tin  Pari  Alley  awards  this 
airing  top  honpra  arid  full  .  points 
(Continued  on  page  38) 


The:  American  Society  of  Com¬ 
posers,  Authors  &  .Publishers  is 
sewing  up  its  new  four-year  deal 
with  the  television  industry  this 
week  following  acceptance  of  th® 
terms  by  the.  independent  tv  out¬ 
lets.  In  response  to.  a  telegram 
from  the  office  of  former  Judge 
Simon  H.  Rifkind,  reppjng  the  all- 
industry  television  committee*  a 
substantial  majority  of  the  250  sta¬ 
tions  participating  in  the  commit¬ 
tee  okayed  the  new  licensing  pact. 

After  getting  acceptance  from 
the  stations  repped  by  the  commit¬ 
tee,  Rif  kind’s  office  Wired  150  tv 
stations  outside  of  the  committee 
for  their  acceptance  of  the  terms. 
In  offering  to  extend  the  current 
pact  for  another  four  years,  ASCAP 
insisted  that  an  overwhelming  ma¬ 
jority  of  the  tv  outlets  go  along 
with  the  proposition.  It’s  expected 
that  the  answers  from  the  150  sta¬ 
tions  due  this  week  will  Okay  the 
general  terms  of  the  pact. 

The  new  pact  is'  identical  in  all 
respects  with  the  four-year  paper 
running  out  Dec.  31.  Under,  its 
terms,  ASCAP  will,  get  2.05%  of 
the  gross  from  the  independent 
stations  and  2.5%  from  the  video 
networks,  less  certain  deductions. 

Since  the  end  of  the  war, 
ASCAP’s  revenue  from  television 
has  risen  from  negligible  amount  to 
around  $10,000,000.  Television  is 
now  the  chief  source  of  ASCAP’s 
gross.  With  radio  a  close  runnerup. 
ASCAP’s  spectacular  rise  in  dis¬ 
tributions  over  the  past  decade 
have,  in  fact,  been  due  to  the 
emergence  of  television  while,  at 
(Continued  on  page  42) 


OUT  NEXT  WEEK  ! 


The 


Anniversary  Number 

Of 


Forms  Closing  Shortly  Usual  Advertising  Rates  Prevail 

Special  Exploitation  Advantages 

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NEW  YORK  M 
154  W.  44tfc  St. 


HOLLYWOOD  21 
4404  Sumer  Blvd. 


CHICAGO  11 
412  N.  Mtchigae  Ave. 


LONDON,  W.  C.  2 
•  St.  Morris's  Place 
TrafelqarSqeore 


CBS-TV’s  ‘Seelt  Now’ 

On  Marian  Anderson 
An  RCA  Victor  Pkge. 

RCA  Victor  has  picked  up  the 
rights  to  the  CBS-TV  Monday  night1 
(30)  “See  It  Now”  show  titled 
“The  Lady  From  Philadelphia.” 
The  Ed  Muriow-Fred  Friendly  pro¬ 
duction  is .  a  documentary  about  a 
40,000-mile  concert  tour  made  by 
Marian  Anderson,  a  Victor  artist, 
through  seven  countries  in  South¬ 
east  Asia  on  behalf  of  ANTA  and 
the  State  Dept. 

:  Victor  is  releasing  the  package 
this  week.  Deal  was  set  for  Vic¬ 
tor  via  Alan  Kayes,  manager  of 
Red  Seal  artists  &  repertoire,  and 
Friendly.  Kayes  helped  plan  Miss 
Anderson’s  tour  itinerary  with  her 
manager,  Sol  Hurok. 

Another  “See  It  Now”  sound¬ 
track,  based  on  a  similar  tour  made, 
by  Louis  Armstrong  and  his  combo. 
Was  released  recently,  but  by  Co¬ 
lumbia  Records, 


lifexler  Shoots  for  Kids 
h  Low-Price  Moon  Label 

Elliot  Wexler,  veteran  disk  dis¬ 
tributor,  has  now  entered  the  man¬ 
ufacturing  end  of  the  business 
with  a  new  low-priced  label.  Moon" 
Records,  which  will  retail  at  $1.49. 
Wexler  kicked  off  his  new  com¬ 
pany  last  week  with  a  release  of 
10  sets,  all  slanted  for  the  kiddie 
market,  with  repertory  consisting 
of  Mother  Goose  rhymes,  play 
songs,  fairy  tales,  etc.  Wexler  plans 
to  follow  up  his  initial  release  with 
LP’s  designed  for  the  general 
market. 

Wexler,  who  was  among  the  first 
to  enter  the  rackjobbing  field  ser¬ 
vicing  chain  stores,  is  now  lining 
up  distribution  for  his  disks  among 
the  supermarkets  and  other  syndi¬ 
cate  stores,  which  have  been  spot¬ 
lighting  the  low-priced  disks  as 
traffic  builders. 


Mills’  Bril  Shakenp 

London,  Dec.  30. 

Changes  in  the  top  brass  of  the 
London  h.q.  of  Mills.  Music  are 
due  to  take  effect  at  the  New 
Year.  Freddie  Poser,  formerly  pro¬ 
fessional  manager  of  B.  F*  Wood 
Music,  has  been  named  to  a  sim¬ 
ilar  post  with  Mills,  succeeding 
Mark  Pasquin. 

Gemma  Fancier  takes  over  the 
educational  department  from  Bar¬ 
bara.  Hayes.  Miss  Farmer  will  also 
be  organizing  secretary  of  the  Can- 
ford  Summer  School  of  Music, 
which  will  be  held  Aug.  10-24. 


MUSIC 


Les  Brown,  m  Far  East  Bemoans 
Dip  in  ftgOrchs,  Blames  AFM ‘Rule’ 


By  DAVE  JAMPEL  +* 

Tokyo,  Dec.  30. 

Bandleader  Les  Brown  termed 
the  state  of  the  big-band  business 
as  “precarious*'  and  proceeded  to 
voice  opinions  on  the  Ills  of  a 
situation,  contrasting  the  30  or  40 
top  bands  of  the  past  with  today’s 
half  a  dozen. 

Here  id  the  Far  East  touring  ; 
with  the  Bob  Hope  Show  and  Jayne 
Mansfield  during  the  Christmas 
holiday  season  for  U;  S.  serviceman 
and  NBC-TV,  Brown  indicated  that 
the  musicians*  union  itself  was 
stifling  band  progress. 

He  said:  “The  union  has.  a  rule, 
that  any  angel  that  puts  up  money 
and  backs  a  band  can  only  draw 
5%  of  the  profits.  In  the  late  1930’s 
all  the  bands  had  backers  who 
■were  drawing  50%.  Now  the  union 
doesn’t  allow  enough  money  for 
backers.  If  that  were  eliminated,  ■ 
we’d  get  more  financial  support.”  j 

Brown  also  took  to  task  Jhe  ' 
record,  companies  and  the  disk 
jockeys  for  their  wavering  interest 
In  bands. 

“Record  companies  haven’t  been  ' 
supporting  and  building  bands  as  £ 
In  the  past,”  he  noted.  “They  are  < 
going  with  the  trend  of  Singers  ] 
and  rock  and  roll  and  forgetting  it  j 
Was  the  bands  that  built  them.  It’s.  ] 
the  same  with  the  disk  jockeys:  c 
If  not  for  the  dance  band  there  ] 
wouldn’t  be  the  disk  jockey  today. 
They  show  themselves  as  being  un-  . 
grateful  by  not  playing  any  more  \ 
bands  than  they  do.  Of  course,  I  * 
realize  that  the  stations  control 
them  to  an  extent,  but  they  should 
play  more  bands.” 

Television  also  came  into  focus 
as  having  hurt  the  band  business 
Indirectly  by,  for  example,  having 
caused  a  situation  on  Broadway 
where  the  big  film  houses  no 
longer  have  regular  stageshows, 
once  a  lucrative  watering  place  for 
the  big  band. 

Directly,  Brown  pointed  to  tv  as 
not  using  bands.  He.  said,  “They 
tried  a  few  and  all  flopped  except 
Lawrence  Welk.  I  don’t  think  the 
presentation  was  right.  They  tried 
to  make  variety  shows  out  of 
bands.  Tommy  Dorsey  got  to  play 
one  ‘number  on  his  own  show.” 

Lower  Cost  Of-  Combos 

“In  the  old  days,”  Brown  con¬ 
tinued^  “there  were  about  30  or  40 
top  flight  bands*  Now  we're  lucky 
If  there  are  five  and  they  are  , 
mostly  the  old  names.  The  musi-  ■ 
ciafis  and  showmanship  aren’t  as 
good  as  they  used  to  be.  Guys 
can’t  offer  to  pay  topflight  must* 
cians.  The  rise  of  the  combo?  It’s 
economics — small  combo,  smaller 
payroll.  And  the  musicians  have 
no  big  bands  to  go  to.” 

Brown1  noted  that  he  finds  the 
best  loot  these  days  at  college 
dates  and  Army  clubs,  as  opposed 
to  ballrooms.  He  said  that  his  band 
goes  on  a  24-day  tour,  in  February 
with  only  three  ballroom  dates 
scheduled. 

“The  college  dances  are  still  the 
best  revenue,”  he  stated.  ‘‘Most 
bands  are  lucky  if  they  get  any 
work  between  Monday  and  Thurs¬ 
day.  Weekends  are  not  too  bad.  It 
works  in  reverse.  Because  of  the 
situation,  there  are  not  very  good 
bands,  no  new  ones.  They  are  not 
looking  for  new  sounds,  identifies-. 

(Continued  on  page  43) 


WALDORF  DISKS  AT 
LOW  $1.49  A  THROW 

Waldorf  Music  Hall  Records  is 
moving  into  a  lower  low-price  field 
with  the  launching  of  the  $1.49 
Colortone  label.  For  the  past  four 
years  Waldorf,  had  been  merchan¬ 
dising,  solely  jin  the  $1.98  bracket. 

The.  new  line  bows  this  week 
with  20  packages  featuring  such: 
titles  -  as  “A  Tribute  to  Eddy  : 
Duchin,”  “A  Tribute  to  the  Dor¬ 
seys,”  “Themes  From  Hollywood,” 
“Hollywood  Music  Hits”  and  a 
“Romantic  Echoes  of  Hawaii,” 
“Paris,”  “Italy,”  series. 


Lutz  to  Seeco-Dawn 

Abbott  Lut?  has  taken  over  as 
sales  manager  for  Seeco  and  Dawn 
Records.  Lutz’sThritim  target  will 
be  expansion  of  the  distributorship 
from  28  to  35  outlets. 

Before  joining  Seeco-Dawn,  Lutz 
had  been  sales  manager  at  Urania 
Records  and  merchandise  manager 
of  Columbia’s  LP  record  club. 


British  Disk  Bestsellers 

London,  Dec.  24. 

.  Mary’s  B  'y  Child  * , .  Belafonte 
(RC» 

Making  Eyes. .  .Adams  &  Otis 
(Capitol) 

Wake  Up  Susie. .  .Everly  Bros. 
(London) 

I  Love  You  Baby. . , . .  ..Anka 
.(Columbia) 

My  Special  Angel  .  .  .  Vaughan 
(HMV) 

Be  My  Girl  . . .  .Dale 

(Parlophone) 

All  The  Way. .... .  ..  .Sinatra 

(Capitol) 

Beet  Petite. . .> .-. ....  .Wilson 
(Vogue-Coral) 

Let’s  Have  Ball.. ......Atwell  • 

(Decca) 

Alone  . ...  .....  Clark 

(Pye-Nixa) 

Diahann  Carroll’s  Album 
Of  Spirituals  in  France 

Paris,  Dec;  30. 

Diahann  Carroll,  TJ.  S.  song¬ 
stress  who  clicked  in  her  European 
debut  at  the  Olympia  Theatre 
here,  is  cashing  in  with  a  disk 
followup .  via  the  Paris  office  of 
RCA  Victor,  which  assigned  her  to 
cut  an  album  of  spirituals  for  re¬ 
lease  in  France. 

A  tape  of  the  Paris  session  has 
been  sent  to  the  N.  Y.  Victor  of¬ 
fice  for  a  possible  U.  S.  release; 


PftniETr 


Alan  Freed 

knows  for  saro  I*  that 

Rock  W  Rott  Is 
Boffo  B.O, 


Wednesday,  January'  1,  1958 


British  Pluggers  Dream 


;  Continued  from  page  37  ; 


oat  of  fko  many  Editorial  Ftatiru 
in  the 

52d  Anniversary  Number 
of 

Pt&RIETf 

OUT  NEXT  WEEK 

URANIA’S  SIEG  BART 
IN  A  EUROPEAN  0.0. 

Sieg  Bart,  Urania  Records  prexy, 
is  currently  in  Europe  to  su¬ 
pervise  recording  sessions  with  the 
London  Philharmonic.  He  also 
plans  to  cut  new  sides,  in  Paris  and 
Vienna.  .. 

While  in  Europe,  Bart  expects  to 
expand  label’s  distribution  outlets 
in  France,  German  and  England, 
Meantime,  in  the  U.  S.|  Urania 
has  named  H.  W.  Daily  of  Hous¬ 
ton  and  Big  State  Distributing  Co. 
of  Dallas  to  handle  its  line  in  the 
southwest.  Both  distribs  are  kick¬ 
ing  off  the  line  with  a  push  on 
diskery’s  pop  packages,  “Music  for 
Playboys  to.  Play  By”  and  “Seven 
Winds”  both  by  Mahlon  Merrick’s 


out  of  a  possible  100  as  a  weighty  | 
influence  over  public  pop  music 
"taste. 

Runner-up  show  is  Associated  ! 
TeleVision’szany  late  Sunday  night 
networker,  ‘The  Jack  Jackson 
Show,”  a  30-minute  lineup  Of  the 
latest  disks,  mimed  in  the  major¬ 
ity  of  cases  by  the  recording  art¬ 
ists:  This  program  gets  a.  British 
Brill  Bldg,  rating  of  70. 

“Six-Five  Special”  almost  makes 
it  a  dead  heat  for  second  place 
with  a  supple  rating  of  around  68. 
Reason,  for  the  show’s  popularity! 
-—it  regularly  attracts  an  average 
audience  of  6*250,000,  the  BBC 
claims— is  its  natural,  easygoing] 
formula  and  its  hip  approach  to  j 
teenage  likes. 

youngsters  take  part  in  this  BBC-  j 
TV  airing  and  are  invited  to  the 
studio  where  they  dance  to  some 
of  the  current  hit  combos,  then 
settle  back  -to  Hsten  to  top  record¬ 
ing-personalities  putting  over  their 
latest  waxings.  Typical  lineup  for 
the  program  was  the  most  recent 
airing  last  Saturday  (21).  Apart 
from  featuring  the  resident  host 
and  hostess,  Pete  Murray,  himself 
a  deejay,  and  Josephine  Douglas, 
who  started  out  by  producing  the 
show  in  its  infant  days  several 
months  back,  it  boasted  the  bands 
of  Ken  Mackintosh,  Chris  Barber, 
and  Don  Lang  &  His  Frantic  Five, 
which  has  appeared  on  the  pro¬ 
gram  since  its  early  days*  along 
with  artists  like  Dennis  Lotis, 
Michael  Holliday  and  rock  ’ri’  roll-: 
ers  Terry  Dene  amd  Jim  Dale. 

The  program  has  caught  on  to 


such  sn  extent  that  it  is  to  be  made 
into  a  feature  picture  with  vocal¬ 
ists  Dickie  Valentine  and  Russ 
Hamilton,  along  with  skiffler  Lon¬ 
nie  Donegan.  It’s  reported  that 
artists;  after .  appearing  oii  the 
show,  jump  the  gun  on  offers  and 
ask  for  another  appearance,  It’s 
also  rumored  that  Russ  Tamblyn, 
here  for  work  on  George  Pal’s 
“tom  thumb,”  has  a  yen  to  make  a 
“Six-Five”  appearance  after  catch¬ 
ing  one  airing  on  the  program. 

Show’s  a  natch  for  pluggers,  with 
the  sales  of  disks  in  Britain  way 
up  at  its  highest  point  ever  in  the 
history  of  the  record  industry,  be¬ 
cause  the  people  that  made  it  so 
are  the  teenagers  who  are  out  on 
a  big  spending  spree. 

ABC-Par  Execs  to  Gab 


Following  its  eastern  distributor 
meet  in  New  York  Jan.  10,  the 
ABC-Paramount  brass  will  wing  to. 
the  Coast: for  a  gathering  of  its 
western  distribs.  In  the .  trek  will 
be  prexy  Sam  Clark,  national  sales 
topper  Larry  Newton  and  album 
veepee  Harry  .  Levine. 

Joining  the  trio  on  the  Coast  will 
be  Irwin  Garr,  diskery’s  national 
deejay  promoter.  He’ll  kick  off  the 
L.  A.  to  N.  Y.  promotion  trek  after 
the  meet. 

The  Coast  confab  will  follow  the 
same  lines  of  procedure  as  the 
Gotham  meet,  with  the  brass  laying 
Out  plans  and  policies  for  1958. 


RETAIL  ALBUM  BEST  SELLERS 


P — —  Variety  — — i 

Survey  of  retail  album  best 
sellers  based  on  reports  from  lead¬ 
ing  stores  and  showing  comparative 
ratings  for  this  week  and  last. 


National:. 

Rating 
This  Last 

wk.  wfc.  Artist,  Label;  Title 

AROUND  THE  WORLD  (Decca) 

1  2  Soundtrack  (DC  9046). .......... 

MY  FAIR  LADY  (Columbia) 

2  1  Original  Cast  (CL  5090).  - - - 

PAL  JOEY  (Capitol) 

3  5  Soundtrack  (W  192) . . . . 

RICKY  NELSON  (Imperial) 

4  ;  3  Ricky  (Imp  9048).:. . 

JOHNNY  MATHIS  (Columbia) 

5  4  Warm  (CL  1978) . 

ELVIS  PRESLEY  (Victor) 

6  7  Christmas  Album  (EIc  1037) _ _ 

*  BING  CROSBY  (Decca) 

7  6  Merry  Christmas  (8128) 

FRANK  SINATRA  (Capitol) 

8  8  Whefc  Are  You  (W  855) ...... ... . 

PAT  BOONE  (Dot) 

9  9  Pat’s  Great  Hits  (DCP  307) ...... 


~  a  w  a 

1  S'  i  2  5- 

■S  «  Q  g 

2  #  >3  1  2 


3  ..  7  3  2  3  7  5  1  2  2  ..  2  9  1  1,  4  ..  2  1  2  141 


2  .  5  1  17  6 


10  4  4  2  2  2  5  1  9  3  112 


5  3  1  .,  3  1  5  3  3  3 


3  7  6  7  . .  3 .  ...  101 


4  6  ..  2  ...  5  1  ..  ...  4  7  ..  ....  5  5  3  8  4  ,.  9  85 


7  2  2  ...  ...  8  4  ...  6  *.  ..  3  10  ..  4  10  3  6  2  6  81 


1  ..  ..  9  .  ..  4  ..  1  ..  7 


1  9  5  ...  4  58 


3  ..  ..  1  1 


7  9  ......  ...  3  ...  ....  47 


JANE  MORGAN  (Kapp) 
Fascination  (KXL  1066L  .... .... ... 

OKLAHOMA  (Capitol) 

Soundtrack  (SAQ  595) . ...... . . . . 

NAT  KING  COLE  (Capitol) 

Love  Is  the  Thing  (W  823) . . .  ♦  >  . . 
NAT  KING  COLE  (Capitol) 

One  of  Those  Things  (W  903). . . . . 

ROGER  WILLIAMS  (Kapp)  " 
Fabulous  Fifties  (KXL  5000) . . . . . 

GOGI  GRANT  (Victor) 

Helen  Morgan  Story  (OLC  1030). 
FRANK  SINATRA  (Capitol) 

A  Jolly  Christmas . 

MANTOVANI  (London) 

Christmas  Carols  (913). ... .  ♦ . . . . 

KING  &  I  (Capitol) 

Soundtrack  (T  740). . . . : . . , .  ■ 

JIMMIE  RODGERS  (Roulette) 

Jimmie  Rodgers  (25020). . ... ... 

JOHNNY  MATHIS  (Columbia) 
Wonderful,  Wonderful  (CL  1028). 
FRANK  SINATRA  (Capitol) 
Swinging  Affair  (W  803) .... . .  v . . 

HARRY  BELAFONTE  (Victor) 
Sings  the  Caribbean. (LPM:  1050)  -  • 
KATHY  LEE  (Commentary) 
Couch  and  Consultation..-,....,. 

TENNESSEE  ERNIE  (Capitol): 

Hymns  (T  756K,.. - - - 

MARTIN  DENNY  (Liberty) 
Exotica  (LRP  3034). ..... . ... , . . 


5  ..  ...  4  .4  46 


2  2  ..  ..  9  ...  ..  10  ;  4 


9  ..  32 


10  ..  5  ..  ..  2  ..  9  ..  ..  2 


9  7  6  5..  3  . . 


5  ..  6  7  ..  ..  7 


...  ..  10  ..  7  30 j 
8  ..  ...  6v  . .  24 


1  ..  ..  ..  9 


...  10  ....  19 


1  ..  ..  ....  .... 


8  10  8  4 


...  7  ..  ...  18 


..  ..  7.  ..  10 


..  ..  ....  4 


5  10  ..  ..  10  15 


8  ...  ,.  13 


...  ....  ..  4 


6  . .  1  8 


Wednesday,  January  1,  1958 


URniE&r 


MUSIC 


89 


%ftRIETY  Scoreboard 

OF 

TOP  TALENT  AND  TUNES 


Compiled  from  Statistical  Reports  of  Distribution 
Encompassing  the  Three  Major  Outlets 

Coin  Machines  Retail  Disks  Retail  Sheet  Music 

as  Published  in  the  Current  Issue 


NOTE:  The  current  comparative  sales  strength  of  the  Artists  and  Tunes  listed  hereunder  is 
arrived  at  under  a  statistical  system  comprising  each  of  the  three  major  sales  outlets  enu¬ 
merated  above.  These  findings  are  correlated  with  data  from,  wider  sources,  which  are  exclusive 
with  Variety.  The  positions  resulting  from  these  findings  denote  the  OVERALL  IMPACT  de¬ 
veloped  from  the  ratio  of  points  scored,  two  ways  in  the  case  of  talent  icdin  machines,  retail 
disks)  and  three  ways  in  the  case  of  tunes  (coin  machines,  retail  disks  and  retail  sheet  music). 


TALENT 


POSITIONS 


This  Last 
Week  Week 

.  ARTIST  AND  LABEL 

TUNE 

i 

1 

PAT  BOONE  (Dot) 

April  Love* 

2 

4 

DANNY  &  JUNIORS.  (ABC-Par) 

[Come  Running  Back  To  Youf 
*  |At  The  Hopf 

3 

3 

SAM  COOKE  (Keen) 

You  Send  Mef 

4 

2 

FRANK  SINATRA  (Capitol)  . 

AR  The  Way* 

5 

9 

JIMMIE  RODGERS  (Roulette)  .  . .....  ... 

.  .Kisses  Sweeter  Than  Winef 

6 

BOBBY  HELMS  (Deeca) 

(My  Special  Angelf 
/Jingle  BeH  Rock* 

7 

10 

JERRY  LEE  LEWIS  (Sun) 

Great  Balls  of  Firef 

8 

5 

BUDDY  HOLLY  (Coral) 

Peggy  Suef 

9 

8 

BILL  JUSTIS  (Phillips) 

Raunchyt 

10 

7 

ERNIE  FREEMAN.  (Imperial) . ., 

Raunchyt 

POSITIONS 

TUNES 

Week 

Week 

TUNE 

PUBLISHER 

1 

1 

-APRIL  LOVE— “April  Love”-F. . 

Feist 

2 

3 

>:‘ALL  THE  WAY— ‘Joker  Is  Wild”-F 

Mprayilie 

3 

2 

tRAUNCHY 

Hill  &  Range 

4 

7 

f KISSES  SWEETER  THAN  WINE 

Folkways 

5 

6 

fAT  THE  HOP 

S-Sealark 

6 

4-, 

fYOU  SEND  ME 

.-.T . .  .rHiguera. 

7 

f  GREAT  BALLS  OF  FIRE 

BRS 

8 

5 

f PEGGY  SUE 

Nor-Va-Jac 

9 

10 

^LIECHTENSTEINER  POLKA 

Burlington 

10; 

-CHANCES  ARE  .....  .,. . . . 

(*ASCAP  fBMT  P-Films) 


Jerry  Lee  Lewis  Forms 


Nasliville,  Dec.  30, 
f ...  Jerry  Dee , Lewis,  rock  V  roll 
'  singer  who  has  rocketed  with,  his 
i  Sun  Records’  diskings  of  “A  Whole 
i  Lot  of  Shakin’  Going  On”  and 
|  “Great  Balls  of  Fire,"  has  set  up 
■  a  Jerry.  Lee  Lewis  Enterprises  com- 
[pany  to  handle  music  publishing 
(and  merchandising  activity.  Oscar 
[Davis*  personal  manager  of  Lewis, 
[will  be  prexy  of  the  company,  while 
i  Jim  Denny,  head  of  his  own  artists 
bureau:  here,  will  he  v.  p.  and  treas¬ 
urer. 

j  The  music  company,  will' be  a 
subsidiary  of  Cedarwood  Music,  a 
country  &  western  firm  headquar¬ 
tering  here. 


RCA  Victor,  which  is  kicking  off 
;  its  disk  club  operation  in  January 
ibi  cooperation  With  the  Book-of- 
the-Month  Club,  *  offering  the 
[nine.  Beethoven  symphonies,  con¬ 
ducted  by  Arturo  Toscanini,  as  the 
introductory  premium  to  members. 
Disk  set,'  originally  issued  as  a  lim¬ 
ited  edition,  is;  a  $28  value  at  the 
current  .  Victor  price,  but  will  be 
worth  $35  when  Victor’s  prices  go 
up  from  $3.98  to  $4.98  starting  Feb. 
1,  Victor  is  running  off  100,000 
copies  ,  of  the  set  to  meet  the  an- 


Inside  Stuff— Music 

A  hip.  Japanese  girl  who  hit  Boston  two  years  ago  on  a  scholarship 
to  Berklee  School  of  Music,-  unknown  and  unheralded;  has  piled  up  a 
big  list  of .  credits  while  still  a  student  and  with  two  more  years  to  go.. 
Toshiko  Akiyoshi,  Tokyo  jazz  pianist  who  studies  musical  composition 
by  day  and  often  dobs  her  homework  in  George  Wein.’s.  Story ville  jazz 
spot  in  Boston  at  night,  has  been  named  one  of  the;  “Ten  Young  Wom¬ 
en  of  the  Year”  by  Mademoiselle  inag.  She  is  one  of  the  Merit  Awaird 
Winners,  honored  for  signal  achievement  during  the  past:  year. 

Norman  Granz  has  just  released  an  album, .  “Toshikp  at  Newport,” 
Covering  her.  jazz  88’ing  at  Newport  Jazz  Festival  last  summer,  arid  a 
second  package  is  skedded  in  another  month.  Storyville  label  has  just 
released  her  second  album  for  them,  “Toshiko,  Her  Trio,  Her  Quintet.’’; 
She  has  appeared  at  New  York’s  Hickory  House,  is ;  said  to  have  been 
the  first  jazz  artist  to  compose  swing  for  strings,  and  has  been  infeed 
to  appear  on  the  GBS-TV  “Seven  Lively  Arts”  show.  She  has  also  just 
been  elected  to  membership  ,  as  a  writer  m  ASCAP. 

It  may  be  that  Chicago  tastes  incline  more  to  classical  music  |han 
to  pops.  At  .  least  that’s  deduced  by  a  recent  Chicago  Sun-Times  editor¬ 
ial  from  statistics  unearthed  by  the  Music  Council  of  Metropolitan 
Chicago.  According  to  the  figures,  there  are  more  than  200  major  per¬ 
forming  musical  groups  in  the  city— including  orchestras,  bands  and 
choruses,  but  not.  church  choirs — and  the  average  membership  of  each 
is  80.  These  groups  perform  to  about  1,200,000  each  year,  an  audience 
Avhich  presumably  represents,  the  core  Of.  music  lovers  patronizing 
operas,  symphony  concerts  and  recitals.  Music  Council  figures  show 
the  longhairs  spend  about  $20,000,900  per  year  ih  Chi,  with  more  than 
half  the  figure  going  f or  musical  instruments. 

Dario  Soriar  who  exited .  this  week  as  head  of  Angel  Records,  found 
in  closing  down  his  N.Y.  office  ah  almost  ..complete  collection  of  Cetra- 
Soria  Records,  the  company  hp  had  founded  and  sold  to  ..Capitol  be¬ 
fore  setting  up  the  Angel  label  here.  Soria  has  donated  the  Cetra  cata¬ 
log  to  the  Donnell  Library  Center  in  Manhattan  which  has  an  exten¬ 
sive  lending  library  of  recorded  music.  Like  the.  Cetra -company,  Angel 
Records  also  has  wound  up  with  Capitol  via,  a  reorganization  “move 
made,  by  the  parent  compariy  of  both,  labels,  Electric  &  Musical  Indus¬ 
tries  (EMI)  of  England.  * 

,  Will  Morrissey,  veteran  showman  who  died  on  the  Coast  two  .weeks 
ago,  had  been  a  member  of  ASCAP  since  1948.  In  keeping  with  the 
Society’s  tradition,  ASCAP  picked  up  the  tab  for  Morrissey’s  funeral 
in  Los  Angeles.  Details  wore  handled  for  ASCAP  by  L,  Wolfe  Gilbert, 
chairman, of  the  Society’s  Coast  committee  and  a  board  member. 

Alex  Sherman  of  Ottawa  is  managing  a  i?ew  midtown  self-service 
record  shop  in  Montreal.  He  has  six  record  bars  in  Ottawa,  after 
starting  , one  12  years  ago,  and  was  one  of  the  group  who  brought 
Elvis  Presley  to  the  Canadian  capital  last  spring. 


The  Swiss  Movement  Is 


The  Big  Three’s  (Robbins.  Feist 
&  Miller)  international  publish¬ 
ing  operation  was  formally  set  up 
in.  London  last  week.  ; 

The  global  firm  will  be  known 
as  Affiliated  Music  Publishers  Ltd/ 
and  will  include  these  affiliated 
companies:  The  Robbins  Group 
(Robbins  Music  ICorp.  Ltd,,  Leo 
Feist  Ltd  ),  Feldman  Group  (B, 

.  Feldinan  Co.  Ltd.,  Herman  Darew- 
ski,  Diie-  Ltd.,  British  &  Continen¬ 
tal  Music  Agencies  Ltd.,  Editions 
Feldman),  .the  Francis,  Day  .& 
Hunter  Group  (Francis  Day  & 
Hunter  Ltd.,  Publications  Francis 
Day  and  various  Continental  sub¬ 
sidiaries). 

The  shareholders  of  Affiliated 
Music  Publishers  are  Robbins 
Music  Corp.  of  New  York  and  the 
Day  family  of  London. 

The  Robbins  group  of  com¬ 
panies  wi,l  continue  to  handle 
British  rights  for  the  American 
repertories  of  Robbins,  Feist  & 
Miller  and  local  world  copyrights. 
The  Feldman  -  Francis,  D  &  H 
group  will  continue,  its  represen¬ 
tation  of  foreign  rights  for  Ameri¬ 
can  publishers  and  world  copy¬ 
rights  of  foreign  composers.  At  the 
present  time,  the  Feldman  catalog 
includes  foreign  representation  of 
compositions  from  the  catalogs  of 
companies  comprising  Music  Pub¬ 
lishers  Holding  Corp.  (the  Warner 
Bros,  firms).  Other  publishers 
represented  by  the  Feldman-Fran- 
cis,  D&H  group  include .  Shapiro- . 
Bernstein,  Bourne,  and  .Mills, 
among  others: 

Autonomy  on  Rights 

Despite  its  shareholding  interest 
in  Affiliated,  the  Big  Three  Ameri¬ 
can  companies  will  continue  to  ex¬ 
ercise  autonomous  discretion  in 
assigning  rights  to  its  repertoire 
to  foreign  publishers.  Rights  for 
the  French  territory  will  continue 
with  Editions  France  Meiodie,  a 
company  which  the  Big  Three 
owns  completely.  In  Italy,  Germany 


ticipated  club  demand.  ,  -  .  J  - 

Urider  the  Club  setun  the  seven- ‘  anJ  Sweden’  the  respective  foreign 
under  tne  ciuo  setup  tde  seven  lrights  willbe  handled  as  hereto- 

platter  LP  package  will  be  made  j  fore  by  Edizionn  Curd,  Sidemton 
available  to  dub  subscribers  for  I  Verlag  arid  Reuter  &  Reuter.  In 
$3;98,  Members  in  turn  agree  to  t°^ler  countries,  as  well,  represen- 


Zurich,  Dec;  30: 

Pop  tunes  with  an  .  Italian  or 
Spanish  fiav'or  seem  just  what  the 
Swiss  public  craves  for.  Many  disks 
with  an  Italo  or  Latin  beat;  have 
outgrossed  Americari-style  pop  hits 
here  in  recent  years,,  notably  “Vaya 
Gbri  Dios’’  <Les  Paul-Mary  Ford), 
“That’s  Amore’’  .  (Dean  Martin), 
“Botcha  Me”  (Rosemary  Clooney), 
“Granada”  and  “Breeze”  and  I” 
(both  Caterina  Valerite)  and,  above 
all,  “Arrivederci  Roma.” 

Latest  example  is  the  Louis 
Prima  recording  of  “Buona  Sera”. 
(Capitol)  which  has  crashed  the 
local  disk  market  almost  overnight 
and  figures  now  ^  among  the  top 
sellers  in  this  country.  Other  fast- 
selling  U:S.  items  at  the  moment; 
as  revealed  by  a  recent  survey  of 
the^  top  Swiss  diskery,  Musikver- 
trieb  A.G.,  owned  by  Maurice 
Rosengarten,  are:  Nat  King  Cole’s 
“When  I  Fall  in  Love,”  Frank 
Sinatra’s  “All.  the  Way”,  from  nis 
as-yet-unreleased-liere  Paramount 
pic  “The  Joker  Is  Wild’*,  and  Peggy 
Lee’s  “Baby,  Baby,  Wait  for  Me,” 
thrush’s  first  recording  for  Capi¬ 
tol,  to  which  she  was  recently:  re¬ 
united  after -jm.  absence  of  seyeral 
years. 

Curious  angle  about  the  Nat  Cole 
number  is  that  it  was  never  re¬ 
leased 'as;  a  single  or  EP,  but  is 
included  in  a  33  1/3  album,  “Love 
Is  the  Thing,”  now  in  heavy  de¬ 
mand  merely  due  to  that  tune.  Also 
in  the  top  category  of  U.S.  pop 
singers  here  is  Pat  Boone,  released 
here  on  the  London  label,  whose 
‘Til  Be  Home  ”  “Dori’t  Forbid  Me” 
and  “Love  Letters  in  the  Sand”  are 
rising  steadily. 


buy  from  the  club  six  other  Victor 
Red  Seal  Records  within  12 
months.  The  six  additional  records, 
which,  can  be  chosen  from  at  least 
56  that  will  be  made  available 
within  the  year,  will  sell  at  the 
regular;  list  price  of  $4;98  plus  a 
nominal .  mailing  and  ban d  1 1  n  g 
charge. 

Victor  and  BOM  officials  are  no¬ 
tifying  prospective  members  that 
the.  Beethoven  package  offer  is 
!  subject  to  Change,  after  the  100.000 
1  run  is  exhausted  on  or  after  March 
'*■  15:  The  disk  , premium,  is  similar  in 
j  value  to  the  premiums  made  by 
i  the.  BOM  to  new  book  subscribers, 
j  Who  are  offered  expensive  diction- 
taries,  encyclopedias,  history  sets, 
etc,  ' 

While  BOM  will  conduct  a  cam¬ 
paign  for  disk  club  members  direct 
to  the  consumer,  Victor  is  concen¬ 
trating  ori  the.  disk  dealrir  arid 
already,  has  started  to  circulate 
material  ,  to  retailers  for  the  club 
promotion.  As  with  the  Columbia 
Records  LP  disk  club,  Victor  is 
giving  a  20%  cut  to  retailers  on 
all  purchases  made  through  the 
club  by  subscribers  signed  up  by 
the  dealer. 


Sues  Kapp  Label  Re  Tapes 

Latino  orch  leader  Carlos  Mo¬ 
lina,  has  filed  suit  in  N.  Y.  Federal 
Court  against  Kapp  Records,,  claim¬ 
ing  that;  the  diskery  has  released 
albums  froiri  his  tapes  without  con¬ 
sent.  He’s  looking  for  .  an  irijunc-. 
tion,  damages  sustained  and  an  ac- 
couriting. 

The  suit  -alleges  that  his  prop¬ 
erty  rights  in  the  tapes  are  being 
endangered  and  impaired  by  the 
manufacture  by  the  defendant.  Suit 
also  charges  that  the  defendant  has 
wrongfully  appropriated  plaintiff’s 
rights  as  owner  of  the  tape  on 
which  the-,  plaintiff  has  recorded 
his.  performances.  During  the  last 
two  years,  the.  Complaint  alleges,, 
the  defendant  has  been  in  unfair 
competition. 


tation  will  be  continued  as  before, 
for  the  most  part,  or  Changed  to 
suit  the  purposes  of  the  Big  Throe 
catalogs.  Paddy  Crookshanfc  is 
the  Big  Three’s  European  rep  head¬ 
quartering  in  London.  The  gen¬ 
eral  manager  of  the  Robbins 
group  in  London  is  Alan  Holmes; 
Ben  Nesbitt  is  general  manager  of 
the  Feldman  group;  for  Francis, 
D&H,  Fred  Day  heads  the  opera- 
tipn,.  with  Ray  Thackery  as  gen¬ 
eral  manager  iri  London  and  Jack 
Denton  in  Paris  ,  for  Feldman- 
Francis,  D&H. 

Formation  of  Affiliated  was  the- 
culmination  of  a  "year-long  nego¬ 
tiation  between  Mickey  Scopp, 
general  manager  of  the  Big  Three, 
and  Fred'  Day,  Julian  T.  Abeles 
represented  the  legal  interest  of 
the  Big  Three.  The  London  at¬ 
torneys  for  the  Big  Three  was 
Joyson-Hicks  &  Co.,  while  Link- 
later  &  Paines  represented  Fran¬ 
cis.  Day  &  Hunter. 


JAZZ  BUFFS’ ALL-NITER 
BRIT  ’S  JAN.  17  B0FF0  - 

London,  Dec.  ,30. 

An  all-night,  eight  arid  sl  half 
hour  jazz  session  is  being  organized 
by  Jazzshows  Ltd.,  at  Royal  Albert 
Hall,  Jan.  17.  This  will  be  the 
second  occasion  on  which  the  outfit 
has  sponsored  a  sleepless  night  for 
thousands  of  fans  at  this  venue. 
Last  year  it  attracted  3,500  ticket 
buyers  aud  it’s  expected  to  do  a 
repeat  performance  next  year. 

George  Webb,  w.k.  here  as  a 
traditional  pianist,  who  now  has  an 
interest  in  jazzshows,  says  that 
traditional  jazz  has  established  it¬ 
self  well  enough  here  to  more  than 
support :  such  a  venture.  Among 
bands  taking  part  vpll  be  those  of 
Humphrey  Lyttelton,  Chris  Barher 
[and  Ken  Colyer.  In  all,  eight  out¬ 
fits  will  be  playing  through  the 
night.'along  with  other^artists  from 
the ‘British  jazz  scene.  ’ 

Webb  tpld  Variety  that  it  was 
hoped  an  added  attraction  would 
be  the  appearance  of  a  U.S.  per¬ 
former  at  the  Carnival,  which  kicks 
off  at  10:30  p.m.  and  runs  through 
to  7  a.m.  Tickets  range  from  $3.50 
to  $42  for  a  box.; 


MUSIC 


Wednesday,  January  1,  1958 


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Wednesday,  January  1,  1958 


P^kXBfr 


RCA  VICTOR  STARTS  THE  NEW  YEAR  WITH  A  GREAT 


COMO-uon 


'  y 9,  ■^%w>  ”v  %  w*  — 


V*  y 


. 

WA 


■Wx-  - 


Perry  starts  another  record  run  with 


CATCH  A  FALUNG  STAR 


</.  MAGIC  MOMENTS 


WITH  MITCHELL  AYRES  ORCHESTRA  AND  THE  RAY 
CHARLES  SINGERS.  ARRANGEMENTS  BY  JOE  REISMAN 


Watch  for  thcaa  NBC-TV  network  ahowa  in  color  and  black-and-white  ...THE  PERRY  COHO  SHOW,  THE  GEORGE 
COREL  SHOW,  THE  EDDIE  FISHER  SHOW.  THE  PRICE  IS  RIGHT,  TIC  TAC  DOUGH.,  .all  aponaorod  by. . . 


MUSIC 


flSCAP 

fc— ^  Continued  from  page  37 

the  same  time,  radio  continued  to 
hold  its  own  as  a  source  of  coin. 
In  addition  to  radio  and  tv,  ASCAP 
also  earns  coin  from  its  licensing 
fees  on  night  clubs,  restaurants 
using  wired  service  music,  ball¬ 
rooms,  etc.  With  its  take  from  for¬ 
eign.  performance  societies 
now  around  $2,000,000  annually, 
ASCAP’s  gross  will  be  around  $25,- 
000,000  this  year. 

ASCAP’s  deal  with  the  tv  indus¬ 
try  succeeded  in  overcoming  the 
obstacle  presented  by  the  antitrust 
suit  brought  by  33  ASCAP  song- 
smiths  against  the  major  networks 
and  Broadcast  Music  Inc.  At  the 
outset  of  the  negotiations,  the  tv 
industry  stated  that  it  was  difficult, 
if  not  impossible,  to  bargain  with 
ASCAP  while  the  suit  was  hanging 
over  the  heads.  The  ASCAP  nego¬ 
tiators,  headed  by  the:  Society’s 
general  counsel,  Herman  Finkel- 
stein,  and  Oscar  Hammerstein  2d, 
insisted  that  ASCAP,  as  such,  had 
nothing  to  do  With  the  suit,  even 
though  some  of  its  members  Were  ! 
plaintiffs  in  the  action.  This  point 
of  view  ultimately  prevailed.  ’ 


Berkeley 

K Siimmi  Continued  from  page  37 

Thompson  and  William  Overton 
Smith; 

(4)  A  new,  eighth  symphony  by 
Darius  Milhaud. 

-Compositions  by  10  other  mod¬ 
ern  composers  will  also  be  per¬ 
formed,  most  for  the  first  time. 
The  10  are  Charles  Cushing,  Wil¬ 
liam  Demw;  Albert  Elkus,  Arnold 
Elstop,  Andrew  Imbrie,  Edward 
Lawton,  Joaquin  Nin-Culmell,  Sey¬ 
mour  Shifrin,  Henry  Leland  Clarke 
and  Jerome  Rosen. 

Among  organizations  scheduled 
to  participate  in  the  festival  are 
the  San  Francisco  Symphony,  the 
San  Francisco  Ballet,  the  Stanford 
U.  Orchestra,  the  Mills  College 
Chorus  and  all  of  the  University 
of  California's  own  ensembles,  in¬ 
cluding  the  Griller  String  Quartet. 

Stracke  &  Hamilton’s 
DI-Y  Folker  School 

Chicago,  Dec.  30. 

Folksingers  Win  Stracke  and 
Frank  Hamilton  are  heading  an 
operation  tagged  Old  Town  School 
oi  Folk  Music,  with  the  idea  of 
putting  the  ait  on  a  do-it-yourself, 
basis.  School  premiered  this  month 
With  an  enrollment  of  about  $0. 

Stracke  had  been  a  longtime 'fix¬ 
ture  oh  WBKB  here  with  a  tv 
moppet  show,  “Uncle  Win’s  Farm," 
and  earlier  this,  year  recorded  a 
folk  album  for  Bally.  Hamilton 
plays  on  a  number  of  folk  instru¬ 
ments  but  princi.  ally  the  five-string 
banjo.  Both  had  had  engagements 
this  year  at  the  Cate  of  Horn,  Chi's 
folk  music  nitery.  I 


a  wonderful 
seasonal  song 

BTYNEAND  CAHN'S 


PMilEff 


VARIETY 


JO  Best  Sellers  on  Coin  Machines  , 


1.  YOU  SEND  ME  (10) 


2.  RAUNCHY  (6) 

3.  APRIL  LOVE  (8) 

4.  GREAT  BALLS  OF  FIRE  (3) 

5.  ALL  THE  WAY  (2) 

6..  KISSES  SWEETER  THAN  WINE  (6) 

7.  SILHOUETTES  (10) 

8.  PEGGY  SUE  (3) 

9;  LIECHENSTEINER  POLKA  (1) 

10.  JAILHOUSE  ROCK  112) 


(  Sam  Cooke  . . Keen 

•  /  Teresa  Bremer  Coral 

f  Bill  justis  .............  Phillips 

.  { Billy  Vaughan  , . ....  Dot 

\ Ernie  Freeman  . . .Imperial 

Pat  Boone  .  Dot 

Jerry  Lee  Lewis  .... - Sun 

Frank  Sinatra  ......... ..Capitol 

Jimmie  Rodgers  . . .Roulette 


[Rays  . :  ... 

I  Steve  Gibson  . 


. . .  Cameo 
.ABC-Par 


Buddy  Holly  . .  C oral 

Will  Glahe  _ ......;  .London 

Elvis  Presley  .......... .  .Victor 


Second  Croup 


MY  SPECIAL  ANGEL  -. . . . . .... ... 

SUGARTIME 

WHY  DON’T  THEY  UNDERSTAND 
AT  THE  HOP 
PUT  LIGHT  IN  WINDOW 
LITTLE  BITTY  PRETTY  ONE  ... , . . 
STOOD  UP 

I’M  AVAILABLE  . .  .w...... ... .... 


THE  STROLL 
TILL  .  . 


f  Bobby  Helms  . . ,  Decca 

\  Sonny  Land  Trio  ....... .  .  .Prep 

McGuire  Sisters  . Coral 

George  Hamilton  . ... .  .ABC-Par 

Danny  Sc  Juniors  . . . .  ..ABC-Par 

.4  Lads  ....  Columbia 

Thurston  Harris  .....Aladdin 

Rickey  Nelson  .  .Imperial 

Margie  Rayburn  ...... .Liberty 

Diamonds  ....... .Mercury 

Roger  Williams . . . .  ..Kapp 


[ Figures  in  parentheses  indicate  number  of  weeks  song  has  been  in  the  Top  101 


RETAIL  SHEET  REST  SELLERS 


I  PftRiEift  -  : 

Survey  of  retail  sheet  music 
best  sellers -based  on  reports 
obtained  from  leading  stores  in  ] 
1 Z  cities  and  showing  cbm- 
parative  sates  rating *  for  this 
i  and  last  week.  ^ 

V  ASCAP  t  BMI 


Rational  t 

Rating 

This  Last  ^  ■ 

wk.;  wk.  Title  and  Publlsier  5 

-  '  •  _ .  >  •'  : _  -.Z- 

j  2  *  All  the  Way  (MaravilleL . ......  4 

2  1  .  *  April  Love  (Feist) . . . , . . .  . .....  1 

3  ,  4  *  Around  the  World  (Young).....  3 

4  3  ♦Fascination  (Southern) ........ .  5 

.5  5  "Liechtensteiner  Polka  (Burl.)...  6 

6  6  *Chances  Are  (Korwin)  . . . . . . . . .,.  ... 

I  7 ;  *Tammy  (Northern) - - - - . .. ; . . .  8 

8  8  *Tfll  (Chappell) . ; .  .U . .. 

9  II  .  tKIssCs  Sweeieg  (Folkways) ... . . .;  2 

10  10  tSilhouettes  (Regent) . . , : . .... 

II  9  tMelodle  D’JUnour  (Rayven). . . . .  .. 

12  .  14  fSpecial  Angel  (Merge) ... .... 

(H  &  R)  . . —  ....... 


It  I  I 

•s  i  «  • 
rt  £  |  I 

3  %  £  -5 

5  Q  s  &  . 


3  2  100 

"~1  9  84 


Wednesday,  January  I,  1958 


>  Disks’  Record  ’58 

IE  ,  Continued  from  page  1 

field  only  four  or,  five  years  ago. 
.  The  gross  of  the  various  disk  clubs 
is  a  closely  guarded  trade  secret, 
but  biz  for  Columbia’s  club  was 
strong  enough  to  pull  RCA  Victor 
into  a  similar  operation  with  the 
►  Book-otthe-Month  club.  One  trade 
exec  estimated  that  where  a  good 
►  sale  of  a  longhair  record  through 
’  conventional  outlets  would  be 
►  around  25,000  copies,  the  clubs  can 
►  move  Over  100JD00  copies  of  a  spe- 
’  cific  LP.  '  ^ 

■  Like  the  selling  through  the  su- 
I  permarkets,  the  disk  clubs. have  al- 
►  ready  shown  that  they  don’t  hurt 
*  sales  in  the  regular  disk  retail 
►  outlets;  On  the.  contrary,  persistent 
;  club  promotions  in  the  national 
;  mags  .are  stirring  greater  atten- 
.  tion  to  disks  in  general  and  are 
•  bringing  customers  into  the  stores 
‘  for  additional  merchandise. 

Pricewise,  the  industry- is  now 
;  facing  two  directions  at  once.  While 
’  Victor,  Capitol  and  some  smaller 
labels  are  going*  back  to  a  $A98 
;  price  on  longhair  disks,  there  is, 
at  the  same  time,  a  tremendous 
push  in  the  direction  of  low-priced 
’  LP’s.  RCA’s  Camden  line,  Colum¬ 
bia’s  Harmony  label  and  several 
independent  labels  such  as  Tods, 
Halo,  Design,  etc.,  have  been  build¬ 
ing  strongly  in  the  $1.49  to  $1.98 
LP  field  via  the  rackjobbers.  Tre¬ 
mendous  expansion  is  expected  in 
this  ,  direction  during  the  coming 
year. 

During  1958,  the.  industry  will 
mark  the  10th  year  of  the  introduc¬ 
tion  of  the  LP  by  Columbia  Rec¬ 
ords,  a  development  that  cued, 
alQng  with  the  subsequent  45  rpm 
disks  introduced  by  RCA,H»e  “vin- 
ylite  age  of  the  disk  industry."  At 
this  point,  the  disk  industry  ap¬ 
pears,  on  the  threshold  of  a  new 
era— the  “stereophonic  age”— 
which  may  provide  the  same  stimu¬ 
lus  as  did  the  introduction  of  the 
slew  speeds. 

while  stereo-disks,  which  already 
have  passetfout  of  the  laboratory 
stage  via  Western  and  London 
Records  demonstrations,  are  not 
slated -to  become  a  significant  con¬ 
sumer  item  during  1958,  stereo 
tapes  have  been  shaping  up  as 
good  sales  items,  even  though  lim¬ 
ited  by  the  high  tabs  to  a  compara¬ 
tively  limited  market  of  high-fidel¬ 
ity  fans.  Virtually  every  major 
company  is  now  in  the  stereo-tape 
market  together  with  almost  100 
Indie  companies.  Greater  merchan¬ 
dising  accent  is  due  to  be  placed  on 
tape  during  1958  in  line  with  the 
increasing  number  of  tape  record¬ 
ers  going  into  the  home. 

From  the  20th  Century-Fox  Film  I 

ADDII  lAVCit.  I 


♦Ivy  Rost  (Roncom) .... 


Album  Reviews 


i  Continued  from  page  K  ; 


IrkfV  Uv  UtfJwUiQ  vibes,,  drums  arid  bass,  is  akin  to 
JkET  SNOWS  the  Modern  .Jazz  Quartet  both  in 
.  '  its  makeup  and  its  experimental 
yjy  approach  to  jazz  chamber  music, 

•yxfi-  CAHM.  Eddy  Arnolds  “My  Darling,  My 

.  MUSIC  Darling”  (RCA  Victor).  Amidst  the 

*  COMPANY  raucous  sounds  of  so  many  current 

A  ***************** 

*  * 
+  *. 
J  Gluecklich.es  Neujahr!  * 

i  LIONEL  HAMPTON  j 

;  CURRENTLY  EUROPEAN  TOUR  * 

J  PRESENTLY  IN  .J 

t  GERMANY  J 

i— ASSOCIATED  BOOKING  CORPORATION-! 


JOE  GLASER,  Pros. 


745  PHth  Avo.  203  M.  Wafcash  Avo. 
Row  York  22.  N.Y.  Chlcoso,  ILL 
Phono:  Phono: 

PLaza  9-4500  CEntral  4-9451 


407  Lincoln  Rd.  041 9  Sunsot  Blvd. 
Miami  loach,  Fla.  H'wood  44,  Calif. 

Phono:  Phono: 

J  Efforson  0-0303  OLympla  2-9940 


pop  singers,  there’s  more  and  more 
to  be  said  for  the  honest,  unpreten¬ 
tious  style  of  Eddy  Arnold.  In 
this  ^  set,  Arnold  unreels  a  more 
sophisticated  program  of  standards 
than,  is  usually  associated  with 
country-bred  singers,  and  he  lends 
the  oldies  a  fresh  quality.  Songalog 
includes  such  oldies  as  “Paradise,” 
“Hands  Across  The  Table,’’ 
“You’re  My .  Everything’’  “Two 
Sleepy  People”  'and  the  title  song. 
Charlie  Grean  backs  up  expertly. 

Jack  Halloran  Singers:  “Songs 
for  An  Old  Fashioned  Girl”  (Dot). 
This  combo  dishes  up  a  highly  at¬ 
tractive  repertory  With  some  warm 
harmonizing.  Covering  a  wide 
variety  of  oltt  material,  the  quartet 
sings  such  numbers  as  “I’ll  Take 
You  Home  Again,  Kathleen,” 
“Juanita,”  “Camptown  Races,” 
“All  Through  The  Night,’’  “Twi¬ 
light  On  The  Trail"  and  “I  Wonder 
What’s  Become  of  Sally?’ 

LONGHAIR  DISKS 

Dukas:  “The  Sorcerer’s  Appren¬ 
tice”  .  (Columbia).  The  popular 
Dukas  work,  and  familiar  pieces 
by  Liszt,  Strauss  and  Weinberger, 
are  performed  in  glistening  style 
by  the  N.Y.  Philharmonic  under 
Dimitri  Mitropoulos. 

Mozart:.  “Symphonic  Concer- 
tante”;  Benjamin:  “Romantic  Fan¬ 
tasy”- (RCA  Victor);  These  diverse 


works  by  Mozart  and  the  contem¬ 
porary,  Arthur  .Benjamin,  arc 
played  with  strength  and  brilliance 
by  Jascha  Heifetz,  on  violin,  and 
William  Primrose,  on  viola,  with 
Izler  Solomon  conducting  the 
orchestra. 

•  .“Four  Favorites”  (Decca).  Con¬ 
sisting  of  “Finlandia,"  Les  Prel¬ 
udes,"  “Afternoon  of  A  Faun”  and 
‘Bolero,”  this  disk^presents  solid, 
these  symphonic  warhorses  in  ex¬ 
cellently  -  recorded  performances 
by  the  Berlin  Philharmonic  and 
the  BIAS  Symphony. 

Chopin:  Ballades  and  Impromp-: 

tus  (Capitol), .  Pianist  Agi  Jambor 
performs  these  lovely  Chopin 
pieces  with  thoughtful,  untempera- 
mental  musicianship. 

Bach:  Klavicr-Ubung  (Part  3) 

(Unicom).  These  Bach  works  for 
organ  and  choir  are  "executed  in 
superlative  style  by  organist  Andre 
Marchal  and  the-M.I.T.  chorus  con¬ 
ducted  by  Klaus  Liepman.  It  is 
the  first  in  a  series  of  organ  works 
played  by  Marchal. 

Carl  Orff:  Carmlna  Burana  (Van¬ 
guard).  Striking  stage  work  by  the 
German  modernist  Carl  Orff  is 
competently  performed  by  the 
Hartford  Symphony  under  Fritz 
Mahler  with  Sylvia  -  Stahlman, 
soprano,  and  John  Ferrante,  tenor, 
as  soloists.  Herm. 

Del  Vikings  group  will  make  a 
guest  appearance  on  WRGB-TV. 
Schenectady,  N.  Y.,  Friday  (3). 
Stewart  Air  Force  Band,  from  New¬ 
burgh,  will  show  at  the  same  time. 


LEO  FEIST,  INC. 


A 


frm  VtafM't 
taMUMtkMMfiMttto 


k 


katsumi 

LOVE  THEME1 

Mmm  OmI*  RCA  Vktar 


Wednesday,  January  1,  1958 


MUSIC 


43 


New  York 

Jennie.  Smith,  RCA  Victor 
thrush,  recuperating  at  Folyclinic 
Hospital  after  minor  surgery  .  . 
Irving  Fields  Trio  cutting  two  sides 
for  Mark  Records.  'The  Fields 
cohibo  opens  at  the  Balmoral  Hotel, 
Miami  Beach,  Jan;  221  . ,  .  A  "Name 
That  Tune"  game  has  been  adapted 
for  disks  by  Harry  Salter  and  will 
be  marketed  by  Milton  Bradley  .  . . 
David  O.  Alber  spending  a  few 
weeks  in  Miami  Beach  on  his  flack¬ 
ery  affairs  ...  The  Four  Voices  on 
a  deejay  trek  for  their  current  Co¬ 
lumbia  waxing  of  “Dancing  With 
My  Shadow"  .  Teddi  King  set 
for  a  brace  of  guest  shots  on  How¬ 
ard  Miller’s  tv  show  out  of  Chi¬ 
cago  .  .  .  A1  Martino  prepping  a 
nitery  act  in  Hollywood. 

George  Avakian,  Columbia’s  pop 
album  topper,  begins  work  on  a 
limited  basis  this  week.  He’s  been 
bedded  with  mononucleosis  and 
hepatitis  for  nearly  three  months 
.  .  Art  Mooney  up  from  Florida 

to  play  a  week  at  the  Arcadia  Ball¬ 
room  beginning  New  Year’s  Eve 
...  Connie  Francis  playing  a  week¬ 
end  date.  (Jan.  3-4)  at  the  Lamp- 
liter,  Valley  Stream,  L.L 

AI  Hibbler  takes  his  own  revue, 
into  the  Howard  Theatre,  Washing¬ 
ton,  Jan.  3  .  .  .  Trudy  Richards  be¬ 
gins  a  two-weeker  at  Eddys’,  Kan¬ 
sas  City,  Jan,  10  ...  ,  Kirk  Stuart 
joined  Della  Reese  as  pianist-ac¬ 
companist. 

London 

Paul  Ana  dickering  a  return 
visit  to  Britain  early  in  the  New 
Year  .  Deejay  Wilfred  Thomas 
begins  a  new  BBC  radio  record 
show  series  entitled,  "Date  With  A 
Disk,”  New  Year’s  Eve  .  .  .  Dave 
Brubeck  Quartet  will  open  its  Brit¬ 
ish  tour  with  concert  at  Royal  Fes¬ 
tival  Hall  Feb.  8..  Quartet’s  sched¬ 
uled  to  arrive  here  Feb.  7  ... 
Songstress  Ann  Shelton  will  be 
guest  star  with  the  new  Cyril  Sta¬ 
pleton  Show  Band  in  its  opening 
show  of  a  new  series  on  BBC-TV 
Jan.  9  ...  British  disk  sales  in 
October  totalled  7,900,000. 


I  is  with  Jerry  Fielding  for  Betty 
Hutton  engagement,  at  Sahara  in 
Las  Vegas.  Fielding  (Feldman)  is 
also  an  ex-Pittsburger  ,  ■,  .  Sam 
Zollinger,  local  musician,  has  his 
wife,  dancer  Vicki  Page,  with  him 
now;  she  has  joined  the  line  at  the 
New  Nixon  .  ,  Tony  Little  Trio 
had  its  option  picked  up  at  Carl¬ 
ton  House’s  Town  &  County 
Lounge, 


Philadelphia 

For  its  Feb.  roster  the  Red  Hill 
Inn  in  Jersey  has  lined  up  Mayhard 
Ferguson  (3-5),  J.  J,  Johnson  (9-11), 
Sarah  Vaughan  (14-19),  Modern 
Jazz  Quartet  (24-26) .  ..Della  Reese 
into  the  Celebrity  Room  for  a  week 
(Jan.  8-14)  .  .  Skipper  Dawes, 

WFIL  producer,  with  Eddie  Fisher 
in  early  days,  rejoined  staff  of  his 
former  prodigy  .  .  .  Vicki  Silvers, 
local  housewife  who  cleffed 
"Learnin’  the  Blues,”  has  latest 
tune,-  “Show  Me  Love,”  on  Vik 
label  last  week  .  .  .  Buddy  Morrow 
plays  New  Year’s  Eve  at  Sunny- 
brook  Ballroom  .  .  .  Bill  Godfrey, 
the  Antoine  of  the  Lawrence  Welk 
show,,  opened  at  Club  Interna¬ 
tionale. 


Scripttr 

Louis  Derman 

has  bn  amusing  piece  bn 

Plotting  The  Situation 
Comedy 


a  bright  Editorial  Featara 
ia  the 

52d  Anniversary  Number 

of 

PtotSIETY 
OUT  NEXT  WEEK 


Chicago 

Carl  Sands  orch  set  for  Brown 
Suburban  Hotel  for  four  frames, 
Jan.  6,  then  to  Muehlebach,  K.C., 
for  seven  weeks,  Feb,  14,  before 
returning  to  ^hamrock-Hilton,  Dal¬ 
las,  April  TO,  for  12  weeks  .  .  . 
Gerry  ‘Mulligan  Trio  pacted  for 
Chi’s  Blue.  Note  Feb.  19  for  two 
weeks  ....  Dorothy  JJonegan  Trio 
inked  for'  Embers,  Ft:  Wayne,  for 
two  frames,  Jan.  6. 


Pittsburgh 

James  Moody  orch  into  Crawford 
Grill  for  a  run  .  Benny  Benack 
band  again  sighed  for  annual  Auto 
Show  at  Hunt-Armory  week  of  Jan. 
19  .  .  .  Marilee  Miller  replaced 
Peter  Carew  in. Gold- Key  Room  at 
Dore’s  .  .  .  Herman  Middleman 
combo  tagged  for  New  Year’s  Eve 
party  at  Variety  Club  .  .  .  Johnny 
Puleo  &  Harmonica  Rascals  return 
to  the  Holiday  .  House  Feb.  24  .  .  . 
Ernie  Neff,  organist,  into  Tally  Ho 
indef.  .  .  ..Eddie  Koch,  former 
Pittsburgh'  musician-arranger,  who 
has  been,  living  on  the  west  coast, 


Kansas  Citjr 

-  Ken  Harris  orch  has  had  its 
option  lifted  ajid  will  stay  in  Ter¬ 
race  Grill  of  Hotel  Muehlebach 
through  Feb.  13  .  ; .  Billy  Albert  & 
Ardrey  Sisters  will  make 'for  New 
York  and  the  Elegante,  opening 
Jan,  8,  following  their  Jan.  2  closing 
in  Terrace  Grill . .  .  Marty  Allen  & 
Mitcli  DeWood  after  being  set  by 
GAC  for  the  Statler-  Hilton,  Dallas,, 
opening  last  week  (26),  play  the 
Copacabana,  N.Y.,  Jan,  9  .  .  . 
Rhythraettes  (ex-PC A)  shifted  re¬ 
cently  to  the  Brunswick  label  for 
their  platter  work  ,  .  i  Hotel 
Muehlebach  probably  Will  shift 
opening  days  for-  its  Terrace  Grill 
to  Monday  some,  time  in  January 
:  .  Stylemasters  Quartet  to  open  at 
Park  Lane,  Denver,  today  (Wed.) 
for  three  weeks,  and  then  head  for 
the  Coast  and  recording  sessions  on 
their  new  Capitol  contract. 


Sensational  I 

THE  STORY 
OF 

MY  LIFE 

M A R v Y  ROBBINS 
Co'urr;b:c3  r?eccrd'5 

FAMOUS  MUSIC  CORPORATION 


from  Sweden— the  captivating 

SWEDISH 

POLKA 

Rea  6oodwti  on  Capitol 
Gaaa  WluitwsM  n  Dana 
★  ★  ★ 


SLEIGH  RIDE 

100%  Kfterdad 
MILLS  MUSIC,  lie. 


Jocks,  Jukes,  Disks 

Continued  from  page  36 
from  the  upcoming  legit ;  musical, 
“The  Body  Beautiful,"  is  a  pleas¬ 
ant  ballad  handled  nicely  by  this 
songstress.  "JUST  MY  LUCK” 
(Suiibeamt),  from  the  same  show; 
is  a  rhythm  tune  with  some  tricky 
twists  that  mar  its.  pop  appeal. 

The*  Collins  Kids  (Columbia): 
"HOY  HOY”  (ProgresSivet)  is  a 
bright  rocking  tune,  belted  in  the 
current  style  by  this  duo  with 
driving  guitars,  in  the  background. 
"MAMA  WORRIES”  (Tannent)  is 
a  slow  rocking  item  with  a  very 
moral  lyric  that,  goes  “my  mama 
taught  me  what  to  do  when  a  fel¬ 
low  gets  too  close  to  you.” 

Don  Anthony'  (AMP):  "IT’S 
TIME  TO  WALTZ  AGAIN” 
(Wemart)  is  ain  okay  waltz  ballad 
crooned  in  fair  style  by  this  tenor. 
"ONLY  GOD  KNOWS”  (BrerHot) 
is  a  wordy  religioso  with  little 
impact. 

Mir,  Who  (Jet):  .  "MARIE” 
(Berlin*),  the  oldie,  is  handled,  of 
rather  manhandled,  in  this  vocal 
by  an  anonymous  singer.  "EASY 
TO  LOVE”  (Chappell*)  gets  a 
slightly  better  vocal. 

Jimmy  Dee  (Tin  Pah  Alleys;  "MY 
BROKEN  HEART”  (Juke  Box  Al¬ 
ley*)  is  an  okay  tearful  ballad  vo: 
called  in  wide-open  schmaltz  style 
by  Jimmy  Dee.  "IT’S  ONLY  YOU, 
I  LOVE”  (Juke  Box  Alley*),-  a  La¬ 
tin-flavored  entry,  is  not  in  Dee’s 
groove,  ...  . 

The  .  Silhouettes  (Ember):  "GET 
A. JOB”  (Bagby-Wildcatt)  is  a 
rocking  item  with  a  lot  of  noisy 
syllables  thrown  in.  It  goes  no¬ 
where.  "I  AM  LONELY”  (Bagbyt) 
i$  an  okay  slow  ballad  for  the  rock 
’n'  roll  idiom.  ** 

♦ASCAP.  tBML . 

EXTENDED  PLAY  SETS 

Hildegarde  (Blue  Army);  In  this 
religioso  package,  Hildegarde  ef¬ 
fectively  delivers  the  popular 
“OUR  LADY  OF  FATIMA,”  with 
a  recitative  for  peace  in  the  world; 
(‘REGINA  MUNDI,”  another  pop- 
ular-styled  hymn;  "HYMN  TO 
OUR  LADY  OF  FATIMA,”  and 
"BLUE  ARMY  MARCH,”  dedi¬ 
cated  to  the  Catholic  organization 
to  which  the  proceeds  of  this  disk 
are  going. 

"Project  Moon”  (Orbit).  Hitch¬ 
ing  onto  the  sputnik  interest,  this 
disk  is  a  deadpan  dramatization  of 
a  successful  launching  of  a  rocket 
to  the  moon.  Disk  is  replete  with 


all  sorts  of  rocket  engine  noises, 
and  musical  effects  simulating  out- 
of-this-wdrld  sounds.  Science-: 
oriented  juves  would,  find  this  in¬ 
teresting. 


Les  Brown  Sounds  Off 


;  Continued  from,  page  38  ; 


lion,  I  feel  that  they  have  gotten 
-away  from  dance  music.  They 
\  forget that  you  can’t  play  too  slow 
or  too  fast.  It  must  be  medium 
tempos.” 

Calling  Another  DOLA  Meet 
Brown,  who  is  president  of  the 
Dance  Orchestra  Leaders  of  Amer¬ 
ica,  ah  organizational  attempt  to 
pull  the  band  business  up  by  its 
ears,  sadly  reflected  that  the  body 
never  got  off  the  ground.  He  re- 
i  ported  that  at  a  meeting  Called  in 
New  York  just  before  Tommy  Dor¬ 
sey  died,  only  five  reps  appeared 
when  at  least  100  were  expected. 

I  Musing  on  the  apparent  apathy 
by  those  who  holler  the  loudest. 
Brown  said,  "Dorsey  had  a  secre¬ 
tary  call  them  up  and  tell  them 
about5  the  meeting.  Maybe  they 


weren’t  well-enoughed  briefed. 
Maybe-  they  didn’t  think  it  was 
important” 

He  said  he  will  call  another 
meeting  of  DOLA  in  January  in 
California  in  a  last-ditch  hope  to 
revive  the  group.  But  Brown*  was 
not  too  optimistic.  He  noted  the 
problems  of  a  meeting  by  saying, 
"Bandleaders -sprawl  all  over  the 
country.  If  we  call  a  meeting  in 
Chicago,  '  the  leader  playing  in 
Atlanta  or  New  York  can’t  get  off.” 

On  a  positive  note.  Brown  inter¬ 
jected,  "There  have  been  cycles 
before  and  bands  will  come  up 
again.  All  we  need  is.  one.  big  hit, 
like  Goodman  in  the  ’30s,  and  one 
will  help  the  other.  If  bands  were 
as  good  as  before,  the  public  would, 
be  coming  out.” 


44 


VAUDEVIIXE 


PSSEEfr 


Wednesday,  January  1,  1958 


Recent  settlement  of  the  Dick 
Jones  matter  by  the  American 
Guild  of  Variety  Artists  is  being 
protested  by  a  group  within  the 
union  on  the  ground  that  the  pres¬ 
entation  of  the  basis  for  the  $20,- 
000  settlement  by  the  national 
board  was  not  properly  laid  out  in 
a  mail  poll  of  the  board.  Jones, 
former  AGVA  eastern  regional 


"Boston,  Dec.  30. 
Valli’s,  new  nitery  in  back  of  the 
Shuhert  Theatre,  formerly  the  old 
Rio  Casino,  went  on  a  middle  east¬ 
ern  kick  in  entirely  new  format 
this  week  with  new  billing  as  “Al¬ 
giers  Room,”  featuring  Oriental 
teroers,  footers  and  pipers.. 

■  ....  ,  .  The  200^eater  led  off  with  Zehra, 

director  won  a  libel  award  in  the  j  Ev{i  Meiaya  and  Badia,  terpers; 


Come  to  the  Casbah 


Kleni  Barkapoulbu,  singer;  Phil 
Solomon,  Arabic  violinist;  Tony 
Abedahad,  outi;  Axiotic  Kehayis, 
bouzouki;  *  Kostas  .  Kamanis, .  Tony 
To wa,  Artie  Barsamian  prch;  and 
Blue  Notes  in  lounge. 

The  spot  w;hich  opened  with  Ital¬ 
ian  cuisine  is  now  on  the:  shishke- 
bab  and  kokoretsi  circuit. 


•  * 


N.  Y.  Federal  Court  recently. 

Protests  are  being  made  on  the 
basis  of  later  letters  sent  out  by 
Jackie  Bright,  national  administra* 
tive  secretary  of  the  union,  and 
Harold  Berg*  its  national  counsel. 

In  a  Dec:  18  note  sent  to  the  na¬ 
tional  board  ,the  letter  from  Berg  i 
points  Out  that  there  were  two 
typographical  errors  involved.  Berg 
wrote:  “I  believe  that  ydur  atten¬ 
tion  should  be  directed  to  typo¬ 
graphical  errors  in  my  Dec,  11  let¬ 
ter.  The  second  paragraph  states, 

‘This  case  is  not  set  for  trial.'  It 
should  have  read:  ‘This  case  as  now 
set  for  trial.’  (Editor’s  note: 

Variety  was  aware  of  the  typo 
and  made  the  correction  in  its  ver- 1  Kansas  City,  Dec.  30. 

sion  printed  in  the  Dec.  18  issue),  j  Show  biz  came  up  with  its;  35th 
“Also  the  first  paragraph  on  straight  benefit  for  patients  at  Jthe 
Page  2  should  have  read:  ‘In  ac-  {  Leeds  Sanatorium  With  a  roundup 
cepting  this'  settlement,  we  dis-{of  the  cream  of  talent  in  this  area 
pose  of  once  and  for  all  of  the  judg- j  at  the .  time.  Started  by  friends  of 
ment  insofar  as  it  affects  AGVA’s  j  Jack  Copelman,  a  patient  at  Leeds 
national  administrative  secretary,  j  after  he  was  gassed  in  action  in 
Jackie  Bright’.”  France,  the  affair  is  now  an  annual 

'  .  .  .  .  v  .  ..  event  with  gifts  for  the  entire  list 

The  original  version  sent  out  W  |of  patients  and  with  show  business 

Jwf  De«i 11  ^n,fcSe^tln^  i making  it  a  peak  entertainment  of 

this  settlement  we  would  dispose  !  ^  year 

once  and  for  all  of  the  judgment !  This  year’s  roster  of  talent  in- 


insofar  as  it  affects  AGVA,  and 
the  present  injunction  case  respon¬ 
sibility  against  AGVA  and  its  na¬ 
tional  board,  member*  and  em¬ 
ployees.” 

Wording  of  .Letter 

The  “insurgents”  point  to  a  pos¬ 
sibility  that  many  of  the  national 
.  board  members .  would  not  have 
voted  affirmatively  for  the  settle¬ 
ment  had  they  known  that  AGVA 
itself  was  not  involved,  and  that  it 
was  only  paying  off  the  settlement 
for  Bright  in  this  issue.  A  cause 
of  action  is  being  studied  and  fire¬ 
works  may  start  at  local  meetings. 
The  New  York  branch,  for  ex¬ 
ample,  is  to  meet  Jan.  8  at  the 
Great  Northern  Hotel,  and  the  mat¬ 
ter  is  likely  to  become  a  hot  issue 
at  that  time.. 

As  ,a  matter  of  fact,  at  a  recent 
meeting  of  the  N.  Y.  branch  exec 
board  a  motion  was  passed  asking 
Bright  and  Berg  to  meet  with  the 
board.  A  .motion  stated,  “The 
Committee  has  voted  unanimously 
that  your  appearance  is  imperative 
to  clarify  a  disturbing  situation 
that  has  arisen  regarding  Dick 
Jones  and  myself.  According  to  an 
article  in  Variety  of  Dec,  18, 
1957,  where  it  is  contemplated  that 
AGVA  money  he  used  to  settle 
this  case,  we  urge,  if  this  be  a  fact, 
that*  no  such  payment  be.  made 
prior  to  the  membership  meeting 
of  Jan.  3,  1958,  and  at  the  same 
time,  the  entire  membership  of 
AGVA  be  properly  advised  and 
consulted.”  -  However,  payment 
was  made,  before  the  resolution  was 
passed. 

Whether  any  action  can  be 
brought  up  is  problematical  since 
the  present  administration  now  con¬ 
siders  the  Jones  incident  closed. 
Settlement  with  the  former  east¬ 
ern  regional  director  was  made  on 
the  basis  of  $5,000  for  the  libel 
(Continued  on  page  46) 


OLD  ROMANIAN  DATES 
TED  LEWIS,  LAROSA 

.The  Old  Romanian  is  getting  ,  in 
on  the  name  bookings.  The  Broad¬ 
way  spot,  following  the  interim  run 
of  Lillian  Hayes  and  Sid  Gould  & 
Ralph  Young,  has  signed  Ted  Lewis 
for  four  weeks  starting  Jan.  15:  It 
also  put  in  a  bid  for 'the  prom 
trade  with  the  inking  of  Julius 
LaRosa  who  comes  in;  May  21. 

On  the  Ted  Lewis  bill  will  be 
Eddie  Chester,  the  original  shadow 
from  1925  to  1930.  Kathy  Basic 
and  Beyerly  Marshall  are  the 
others  so  far  lined  up  for  the 
Lewis  show. 


eluded  the  Coquettes  Trio,  Herb 
Sheldon,  the  Rhythmettes,  Allen  & 
DeWood,  Ruwe,  Louis  &.  ^Sunshine, 
Bill  Albert  &  Ardrey:  Sisters,  Rosa¬ 
lie  Bell,  Bill  Yearout,  Happy  Bru¬ 
no,  June  Hail,  Ronnie  Norman 
Duo,  Bumps  Love  Trio,  Larry  Cum¬ 
mings  Duo.  Pete  &  Repeat. 

Each  patient  received  $10  in 
cash,  plus  candy  and  - fruit,  and 
five  tv  sets  were  presented  to  vari¬ 
ous  persons.  Sparking  the  event 
are  Morry  Sol,  Brick  Wechsler  and 
Landon  Laird,  columnist  Of  the 
Kansas  City  Star,  with  talent  lined 
up  by  Joe  Page,  AGVA  rep,  and 
Don  Roberts,  AFTRA  rep. 


ST.  PAUL  SETS  NAMES 
FOR  STATE  CENTENNIAL 

I  St  Paul,  Dec.  30. 

St.  Paul’s  annual  Winter  Carni¬ 
val  festival,  Jan.  24-Feb.  2,  helping 
to  usher  in  this  state’s  Centennial 
Year  celebration,  has  lined  up  tele-, 
vision  and  radio  personalities  and 
one  film  notable.  It’s  e  x  p  e  c  t  e' d 
there’ll  be  additions  to  the  present 
list. 

Already  booked  for;  appearances 
in  the  various  events  are  Michael 
Ansara  (“Broken  Arrow-s”  -Co¬ 
chise),  George  Gobel,  Fran  Allison,. 
Jim  Backus,-  Richard  Simmons 
(“Sergeant  Preston  of  the  Yukon’4) 
and  Marilyn  Van  Derbur  ( “Miss 
America”  of  1957). 

Jack  Bailey  and  his  entire  NBC- 
TV  network  cast  will  Originate, 
their  “Queen  for  a  Day”  show  in 
the  St>  Paul  Auditorium  for  five 
of  the  Carnival’s  10  days. 


Hub’s  Blinstrub’s  to  Take 
A  Chance  on  die  Satchmo 

Boston,  Doc.  30.  * 
Stanley  Blinstrub  sets  a  prece¬ 
dent  with  his  booking  of  Louis 
Armstrong  for  a  week  stand  open¬ 
ing  Jan.  13  at  the  South  Boston' 
1,700-seilir. 

It’s  theTfirst  time  Blinstrub’s  has 
booked  a  jazz  attraction.  The  Hub 
nitery  op  is  w.k,  for  his  name  book¬ 
ing  policy,  and  in  the  past  has  had 
such  names  as  Hildegarde,  Tony 
Marti  ,  Eartha  Kitt,  Harry  Bela- 
fonte,  Frank  Parker,  Jack  Carter. 


Henny  Youngman  will  play  the 
new  Hotel  Carillon  in  Miami  Beach 
for  a  week  starting  Jab.  17. 

Comedian  is  also  hooked,  into  the 
Shamrock,  Houston  for  a  March 
engagement 


Higli  Cost  of  Celery 

Providence,  Dec.  30. 

When  Tubby  Boots,  the*  351- 
pound  comic,  asked  Gino  Mor- 
rocb,  boniface  of  the  El  Mor- 
rpco  Supper  Club  here,  for  a 
raise  on  his  third  return  date, 
Week  of  Dec.,  16-21,  owner 
Countered  with  ,  proposal  to 
feed  him  instead. 

Boots  took,  the  offer,  and 
after  the  second  night;  the 
nitery  owner  said,  “Forget  the 
food,  you  can  have  the  raise.” 
Roots’  gargantuan  appetite,  ap¬ 
palled  the  owner,  especially 
when  he  polished  off  three 
steaks  at  one  sitting. 


Mass,  to  Invoke  New  Safety  Rules 


Red  Buttons  replaces  the  ailing 
Milton  Berle  for  New  Year’s  Eve 
at  the  Latin  Quarter,  N.  Y.  It’ll 
mark  Buttons’  first  Broadway  cafe 
stand  in'  some  years.  .Berle  was 
forced  on  the  sidelines  by  a  torn 
ligament  sustained  Dec.  22  while 
clowning  with  the  Dunhills,  a  dance 
team  on  the  bill  with  him,  Myron 
Cohen  substituted  the  first  night, 
Henny  Youngman  did  two  nights 
and  Jack  Wakefield  continues  until 
Buttons  comes  in. 

LQ  manager  Eddie  Risman  had 
gone  dpwn.to  Florida  to  attend  the. 
season’s  premiere  of  the  Miami 
Beach  edition  of  the  LQ,  and  was 
forced  to  return  prior  to  the  preein 
to  line  up  substitute.  talent;  Under 
ordinary  circumstances,  when  there 
was  no. name  marqueed,  the  subs 
could  have  been  booked  by  long 
distance,  hut  with  Berle  having 
been  advertised,  top  available  tal¬ 
ent  had  to.  he  found. 

New  s.hoiv  with  Happy  Jesters, 
Marilyn  Ross  and  others  comes  in 
Thursday  (2). 


Georgia  to  Get  Bill 

In  the  Damp  Counties 

Atlanta,  Dec.  30. 

Rep.  M.  My-  (Muggsy)  Smith  of 
Atlanta  said  that  a  bill  would  he 
introduced  iri  the  Georgia  General 
Assembly,  making  it  legal  to  serve 
mixed  drinks  in  wet  counties.  As¬ 
sembly  convenes  in.  January.  -Ful¬ 
ton  County  legislator  said  he 
doubted  if  he  personally  will  offer 
the  measure;  but  predicted  it 
would,  be  introduced. 

It  is  understood  the '  bill  .  would 
make  the  serving  of  mixed  drinks 
in  wet  counties  a  local  -  option  af¬ 
fair.  Georgia  Court  of  Appeals 
in  November  outlawed  mixed  drink 
sales:  An  appeal  to  the  Georgia 
Supreme  Court  has  been  filed  in 
the  case. 

Meanwhile,  Henry  Bowden,  At¬ 
lanta.  associate  city  attorney,  has 
ruled  that  selling  mixed  drinks 
under  any  guise  is.  illegal;  Ho¬ 
tels  and  restaurants  in  Atlanta  long 
have  offered  mixed  beverages  un¬ 
der  a  ruling  by  the  State  Revenue 
Dep’t  .on  the  alcoholic  content  of 
drinks  and  by  authority  of  ' city-: 
issued  wine  pouring  licenses. 

Atlanta  Convention  Bureau  re¬ 
cently  declared  city,  would  lose 
half  of  its  annual  income  from 
conventions—  now  about  $23,000,- 
000 — if  mixed  drinks  caU’t  be  of¬ 
fered  to  Visiting  firemen  and  dele¬ 
gates. 

However,  it  is  almost  certain  that 
a  legislative  proposal  On  the  mixed 
drinks  situation  will  set  off  a  real 
hassle;  Dry  forces  naturally  will 
he  opposed  to  any  legislating  On 
the  Subject  and  possibly  will  turn 
it  into  a  new  move  to  dry  up  the 
state.  I 


Claire  &  Tony  Conway 

again  nostalgically  recall 

American  Circuses  : 
Groggy  But  Game 

another  Editorial  Faatiira 
In  tfca 

52d  Anniversary  Number 

of 

I^a&ie'ty 

OUT  NEXT  WEEK 


Blackpool,  Eng.,  Dec,  30. 

Reg  Varney,  English  comedian,  is 
pacted  .for  the  1953  summer  show) 
staged,  by  Bernard  Delf ont  on  North 
Pier  here,  opening  in  May. 

Margo  Henderson,  Scot  impres¬ 
sionist,  and  husband-partner  Sain 
Kemp,  leading  musical  act,  are  also 
set  for  a  Blackpool^summer  show. 
Leading  acts  in  the  town  will  in¬ 
clude  Lonnie  Ddnegan,  Al  Read, 
Eve  Boswell,  David  Whitfield,  Ken 
Dodd,  Josef  Locke,  Don  Lang,  Des; 
O’Connor.  Shirley.  Bassey  is  also 
likely. 

David  Nixon,  English  tv  magi¬ 
cian,  and  the  King  Bros.,  song-and- 
mtisiq  trioi  are  others  mentioned  as| 
possible  starters  for  the  U.  K.  “Las 
Vegas;” 

Vancouver’s  New 


Vancouver:  Dec.  30. 

Newest  on  the  nitery  beat  here, 
is  the  Macambo,  a  375-seater  lo¬ 
cated  downtown  just  west  of  the 
Vancouver  Sun  Bldg. 

Boniface  is  W.  “Mac”  McGonigal, 
w.k,  Canadian  west  coast  hypno¬ 
therapist,  Spot  has  been  refurb¬ 
ished  in  African  decor  and  bistro 
opened  last  week  (23)  with  tv 
singers  Eleanor  Collins  and  Pat 
Morgan  plus  a  terpline  (resident) 
staged  by  Jack  Card.  Ray  Lowdon 
quartet  provides  backing. 

McGonigal  plans  frequent  act 
changes  and  will- feature  “blues” 
nights,  “jazz,”  “schmaltz”  nights, 
etc.,  a  regular  weekly  basis. 


Cuisin*  undecided  but  will 
limited  to  four  items. 


Boston,  Dec.  30. 

Riding  device  safety  laws;  are  be¬ 
ing  sought  in  Massachusetts  with 
an  annual  fee  of  $50.  The  state 
department  of  public  safety 
stepped  into  the  picture  after  con¬ 
cern  on  lack  of  public  controls  re¬ 
garding  safety  of  roller  coasters, 
Ferris  wheels,  parachute  jumps, 
whips  and  other  devices.  The  de¬ 
partment  seeks  legislation  to  re¬ 
quire  state  licenses  for  amusement 
parks  and  amusement  rides. 

The  department  said  it  received 
a  legislative  mandate  to-  make  a 
thorough  survey  of  safety  condi¬ 
tions  in  the  ride  field  and  xecorh- 
mend  necessary  legislation  to  pro¬ 
vide  greater  safety.  Under  the  de¬ 
partments  recommended  program, 
permanent  amusement  parks,  beach 
resorts,  recreation  centers  and ... 
Other  such  areas,  would  be  required 
to  obtain  an  annual  state  license 
at  $50  each.  The  fee  would  apply 
to  carnivals,  circuses,  amusement 
parks  and  recreation  centers  as 
well  as  kiddieland  parks  ,  with  rides, 
it  was  indicated; 

Affidavit  Required 

Each  application  for  the  license 
would  have  to  he  accompanied  by 
an  affidavit  of  safety  for  each 
amusement  ride  or  device  by 
structural  or  mechanical  engineer 
(  registered;  under  state. law.  In.  addi¬ 
tion, 'evidence  of  compliance,  with 
state  insurance  lawsi  would  he  re¬ 
quired. 

The  report  on  conditions  in  the 
amusement  ride  field  said:  ‘‘Each 
year  these  amusement  rides  be¬ 
come  more  complicated  and  un¬ 
usual  and  provide  more  thrills 
than  the  year  before.  Some  of 
them  appear  so  dangerous  that 
the  customers  hesitate  to  ride 
them;  some  amusement  rides  re¬ 
main  untised  for  hours  before  a 
patron  acquires  enough  courage  to 
ride  them.”.' 

The  department  said  that  records 


JIMMY  ROGERS’ SROWK. 
IN  NATIVE  NORTHWEST 

Portland;  Ore.,  Dec.  30. 
Jimmy  Rogers  returned  to  his 
native  northwest  last  week  as  a 
‘known”  act  and  broke  records  at 
Tod  McCloskys  Frontier  Room 
in  Vancouver,  Wash,  (across  the 
river).  Nearby  Gamas,  Wash.,  is 
his  hometown,  and  singer  played 
many  of  the  spots  in  the  area  ,  as 
an  unknown. 

McClosky  had  his  225-seater  SRO 
week  in  advance  for  two  per¬ 
formances  nightly  during:  the  six- 
day  stint,  with  a  line  outside. 
Showcase  has  a  no  cover,  no  mini¬ 
mum  policy,  but  the  boniface 
tacked  up  a  $1  cover  charge  for 
this  money-maker.  Songstress 
Loray  White  was  also  on-  the  hill, 
along,  with  > Bob  McNeil’s  Ambas¬ 
sadors  who  played  for  the  show 
and  dancing. 


Injured  Girl  Wins  $1,375 
In  Rare  Skate-Rink  Suit 

—  Boston,  Dec.  30. 

In. the  first  case  of  its  kind  here, 
the  Supreme  Judicial  Court  of  Mas¬ 
sachusetts  ruled  Thursday  (26) 
that  a  North  Dartmouth  roller  skat¬ 
ing  rink  must  pay  $1,375  to  a  16- 
year-old  girl  who  was  injured  when 
the  lacing  snapped  On  one  of  her 
rented  shoe  skates. 

The  girl  received  a  twisted  ankle 
and  broken  ,  wrist  March  28,  1953, 
When  the  shoelace  broke  and  she 
fell.  The  Court  upheld  the  verdict 
of  a  Fall  River  jury,  which  found 
.against  Louis  D.  Prince,  Thomas  F. 
Collins  and  Max  Zand,  owners  of. 
Lincoln  Park  Recreation  Center,  in 
a  suit  brought  by  the  girl,  Lorraine 
Ducas,  v 

The  Supreme  Court  decision, 
written  by  Justice  Edward  A.  Cou- 
nhan  Jr.,  said:  .  .  the  attendant 
should  have  observed  the  condition 
of  the  shoelaces  when  he  handed 
them  to  the  plaintiff;  that  it  was 
apparent  that  the  laces  had  be¬ 
come  so  weakened  by  age  and  wear, 
to  be  defective.” 

No  merit  was  found  by  the  .  court 
in  the  rink  owners’  contention  that 
the  customer  assumed  the  risk  of 
injury.  She  testified  in  lower 
court  that  the  laces  were  knotted 
in  several  places  and  one  broke 
while  she  was  putting  on  the  shoes 
prior  to  the  ^accident. 


be;of  “one  large,  insurance  company 
.covering  a  majority  of  the  perma¬ 
nent  parks  and  peaches,  for  a 
period  of  two  to.  five  years,  show 
202  reported  accidents,  no  fatali¬ 
ties;  Most  of  the  accidents,  were 
minor  and  caused  by  attendants’ 
carelessness  and  patrons'  faults. 
In  the  past  few  months  there  have 
been  several  bad  accidents  arid,  one 
fatality;  one  bad  accident  on  a 
swing  and  one  on  a  Ferris  wheel. 
Certificate  of  Inspection 
Under  the  proposed  program,  no' 
municipality  could  issue  a  local 
permit  authorizing  the  use,  as¬ 
sembly,  or  construction  of  ah 
amusement  ride  unless  the.  ride 
owner  presented  a  certificate  of 
inspection  issued  by  the  district  in-, 
spector  of  the  state  department  of 
public  safety  or  a.  license  issued  by 
the  state  commissioner  of  public 
safety. 

investigation  of  the  ride  field 
came1  after  a.  fatal  accident  at  the 
Eastern  States  Exposition  i 
Springfield  last  September.  The 
recommended  program .  would  af¬ 
fect  resort  beach  spots  here  in¬ 
cluding  Revere,  Salisbury,  Para¬ 
gon  Park  at  Nantasket,  Ndrum- 
bega  Park,  and  others,  as  well  as 
fairs. 

The  report  and  recommendations 
are  expected  to  come  Up  for  dis¬ 
cussion  at  the  meeting  of  the  Mas¬ 
sachusetts  Agricultural  Fa  i  r  s 
Assn.  Jan.  20-21  at  Hotel  .  Brad¬ 
ford,  Boston,,  when  f airmen  from 
the  22  fairs  skedded  in  the  state 
in  1958  Will  assemble. 


AGVA  DOES  NOT  LEI 
AN  EGG  IN  HONOLULU 

:  Honolulu,  Dec.  30. 

Organizational  drive  by  the 
American  Guild:  of  Variety  Artists 
here  has  been  almost  100%  suc¬ 
cessful,  union’s  Coast  director, 
Irvin  P.  Mazzei,  declared  before 
hopping  back  to  the  mainland  for 
the  holidays.  Mazzel  will  return 
here  next  month'  to  finalize  con¬ 
tracts. 

The  Follies  Theatre  and  eight  of 
the  16  top  clubs  ^  have  already 
sighed  .minimum  basic  agreements 
With  AGVA.  Spots  are  Swing  Club, 
HubbaHuhba,  .  Ginza,  Pearl  City 
Tavern,  Oasis,  LeRoy’s,  The  Cloud 
and  Gimbasha.  Top  hotels  are  ex¬ 
pected  to  follow  suit  shortly. 

Mazzel  said  that  more  than  200 
dancers  and  singers,  comprising  ap¬ 
proximately  00%  of  the  talent  on 
the  islands^  have  joined  AGVA. 


Wednesday,  January  1^1958 


P^SL Wff 


NATURALLY... 

ALAN  FREED 

DOES  IT  AGAIN! 

All  Records  at 

PARAMOUNT 

NEW  YORK 

TOPPED! 

GREATEST  GROSSES  OF  ALL  TIME: 
ONE  DAY  ATTENDANCE  I  (f  O')  AAA 

RECORD  BROKEN  d> J4.UUU 


WEEKLY  ATTENDANCE 

RECORD  BROKEN 


My  deepest  gratitude  to  BOB  SHAPIRO,  HARRY  LEVINE  and  ray 
great  cast  of  STARS! 


VAUDEVILLE 


N.Y.AGVA  Raises  Eyebrows 


;  Continued  from  page  44  ! 


action  in  which  Jones  was  awarded 
$20,000  against  Bright  by  a  jury, 
and  the  other  $15,000  in  payment 
of  a  pending  damage  claim  he  had 
against  AGVA  for  wrongful  dis¬ 
missal.  The  union  and  members 
of  the  national  board  had  been  dis¬ 
missed  as'  defendants  in  the  libel 
action. 

Bright  Raps  ‘Variety* 

Bright  in  his  letter  to  members 
»  of  the  national  board  thanked  them 
for  their  affirmative  vote  and  then 
went  into  a  tirade  against  Variety. 
“I  call  your  attention  to  this  week’s 
Variety,  if  you  haven’t  read  it  al¬ 
ready,  particularly  as  to  the  mis¬ 
leading  statements  and  I  quote: 
‘$2,500  was  paid  for  Gus  Van.’ 
$2,500  was  never  paid  for  Gus 
Van,  I  believe  that  the  actual  net 
amount  for  that  trial  was  $500. 
Secondly,  that  the  administrator 
and  his  wife  had  to  curtail  a  junk¬ 
et  for  the  opening  of  the  Havana 
Riviera  Hotel  because  of  the  urg¬ 
ency  of  an  emergency  meeting  of 
the  national  executive  committee 
meeting  to  resolve  the  Jones  mat-; 
ter.  This  is  a  vicious,  unsupport¬ 
ed,  unsubstantiated  distortion  of 
the  truth.  In  fact,  it  is  a  deliber¬ 
ate  lie.  My  wife  and  I  had  been 
invited  to  attend  the  opening  of 
this  hotel  some' months  ago.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  three  or  four  weeks 
before  the  meeting  of  the- national 
executive  committee  took  place,  I 
had  informed  the  manager  of  the 
hotel  by  written  mail  that  I  could 
not  attend  ,and  thanked  them  for 
theinvitatioji.  I  had  even  discussed 
going  to .  Havana  with  Georgie 
Price,  our  president,  and  told  him 
at  that  time,  that  I  didn’tthink 
it  was  necessary  to  waste  a  day 
or  so  in  flying  down  and  back  to 


“THE  COMEDIAN’' 

Til*  Only  Rtal  Monthly 
PROFESSIONAL  GAO  SERVICE 
THE:  LATEST  —  THE  GREATEST  — 
THE  MOST-UP-TO-DATE  ST 
Now  In ,  Its  S7th  Issue,  containing 
stories,  ene-linors,  poomettes,  song 
titles,  hecklers,  audience  stuff,  mono¬ 
logs,  parodies,  double  gags,  bits. 
Ideas,  Intros,  Impressions  and  Im¬ 
personations,  political,  interruptions 
Thoughts  of  the  Day,  Humorous 
Views  of  the  Nows,  etc.  Start  with 
currant  Issue,  $15  yearly  —  1  years 
*38  —  3  years  $40  —  Single  Copies 
S8.lt  —  NO  C.O.D/S. 

BILLY  GUSON 

300  W.  54  St-  Now  York  11 


See.  another  opening.  The  true  rea¬ 
son  why  I  could  not  have  gone,  in 
aiiy  event,  was,  as  some  of  you 
may  "know,  that  my  baby  was.  oper¬ 
ated  on  both  his  eyes,  and  there¬ 
fore  I  could  pot  under jany  circum¬ 
stances  have  gone.  It"ls  quite  *p- 
parent,  if  you  read  the  Variety 
atpry,  that  the  communications  that 
were  sent  to  you  by  counsel  and 
myself  were  . printed  verbatim,. Word 
for  word.  Apparently,  this  infor¬ 
mation  could  only  Come  from  a 
member  of  the  national  board  or 
the  national  executive  committee. 

‘Distortion  of  Troth,*  He  Sex 

“It  is  also  quite  apparent  from 
reading  the  article  that  they  are 
distorting  the  truth  further  "when 
they  say  that  this  was  done  in  the 
utmost  secrecy  and  hush-hush  man-, 
her.  If  you  will' read  .the  letters 
that  were  sent  you  with  this  ref¬ 
erendum,  nowhere  can  you  find, 
that. you  are  to  keep  this  an  abso¬ 
lute  secret.  But  the  mere  fact  that 
you  are  a  national  bbard  member 
should  dictate  that:  any  and  all 
correspondence  that  is  sent  to  you 
from  AGVA’s  office  is  a  confidence 
unless  it  is  in  the  form  of  a  report 
to  be  read  to  your  individual 
branch  memberships.  Further  than 
that,  the  national  board  passed  a 
resolution  that  no  one  shall  give, 
out  a  press  release  Without  it  be¬ 
ing  properly- channeled  through  the 
administrative  offices  and  approved 
by  counsel.  Apparently  the  *  Va¬ 
riety  reporter  Is  not  interested  in 
knowing  what  the  true  facts  are; 
but  rather  is  willing  to  print  a  one¬ 
sided  story  without  verification 
from  AGVA.” 

From  the  wording  of  the  letter. 
Bright  doesn’t  know  the  .  exact 
amount  himself  since  he  states,  ‘‘I 
believe  that  the  actual  net  amount 
was  $500.”  Ip  addition  to  the 
amount  paid  out,  there  were  coun¬ 
sel  fees  and  reportedly  payment  to 
an  investigative  agency  to  look  into 
the  background  of  George  .  Ross, 
who  had  sued, Vail  for  assault. 

The  passenger  list  of  those  par¬ 
ticipating  in  the  Havana  Riviera 
junket,  issued  to  reporters  on 
board  the  chartered  National  Air¬ 
lines  plane  while  en  route  to  Ha¬ 
vana,  reflects  all  hut  the  last-min¬ 
ute  changes  in  the  flight’s  person¬ 
nel.  :  Line  number  four  of  thG  pas¬ 
senger  list  states:  “Bright,  Jack 
and  Shirley — AGVA  (Union  Repre¬ 
sentative).”  ! 


SEE f 


ALAN  FREED 


CHRISTMAS  ROCK  'N  ROLL  SHOW 

Now  brooking  all  previ  attendance  records 
at  the 

PARAMOUNT  THEATRE,  New  York 

seealan  FREED 

Ir  thg 

Paramount  Picture  Hit 

“MR.  ROCK  fN  ROLL” 

Now  playing  in  all  Cities 
Coast-to-Coast  and  in  Europe 
EXCLUSIV£  SCREEN  BOOKING 
JOLLY  JOYCE  AGENCY 

234  Watt  48tti  St.  1001  .Chestnut  $4, 

New.  York  City  PhUudelphia,  7,  Pa. 

PLaza  7-1786  WAInut  2-4677 


1958  EDITION 

COTTON  CLUB  REVUE 

Starring 

CAB  CALLOWAY 

COTTON  CIU,.  Miami  tank 
M?t.  SILL  MITTIEU,  Ul*  (roadway.  New  YoHi 


PTistEFir 


Circus  Review 

Le  Grand  Cirque  ’58 

.  Paris,  Dec.  25. 

Hubert  De  Malafosse  ..  presents 
the  Krone  Circus  of  "West  Ger¬ 
many  ^  in  two  parts,  ^  with  Frieda 
Sembach  Elephants,  Erika  &  Adio, 
Cristql  Sembach  Horses,  Gilbert 
Houcke  Tigers ,  Pierre  Alizes  (3), 
Ernest  Montego ,  Wllano,  Kosmar, 
Ariold.  (6),  'Danner  &  Collea.no, 
Rudi  Jjlata  (8),  Hansels  (5),  Maur¬ 
ice  Houcke  Haute  E cote,  Dorothy 
Seals,  Ballet  Gerard  (24).  At  Palais 
Des'  Sports;  $2.50  top. 

Every  year  this  indoor  sports 
arena  hosts  a  circus  for  the  holi¬ 
days.  Usually  making  one  up  from 
various  existing  outfits,  this  year 
it  has  imported  the  Krone  Circus 
from  West  Germany.  It  fills  the 
bill  but  indicates  that  this  old 
staple  aspect  of  show  biz  seems,  to 
be  fading.  Paris  has  the  all-year 
Cirque  D’Hiver  and  Cirque  Med¬ 
rano;  but  even  they  have  been 
adulterated  by  spec  and  music  hall. 
This  one  also  bears  these  marks 
via  dancing  girls,  but  has'  enough 
unique  acts,  movement  and  menag¬ 
erie  to  make  for  a  fine  entry,  and 
it  should  do  holiday  biz,  though  biz 
was 'so-so  at  show  caught. 

Two  rings  and  a  stage  are 
utilized.  After  the  usual  overture 
come  the  cowboys  and  Indians. 
Cristel  Sembach  puts  her  horses 
through  their  well  detailed  pranc¬ 
ing  aind  timing  and  A  recalcitrant 
mule  makes  for  laughs  while  Bim- 
'bo  and  his  clowns  (3)  try  to  tame 
it.  Ballet  Gerard  (24),  a  group  of 
girls,  dress  up  each  segment  with 
atmospheric,  terp  of  acceptable 
standard  as  they  swarm  over  the 
stage  and  the.  rings. 

Dorothy  Seals  do  their  svelte 
balancing  for  their  pieces  of  fish 
and  Frieda  Sembach  Elephants  go 
through  a  well  paced  group  of 
dances,  and  balancing.  Hansels  (5) 
come .  on  for  rapid,  darting  bare- 
back  acrobatics  with  Miss  Sembach 
coming  back  for  good  interludes 
with  one  horse  in  a  terp  routine 
and  four  in  a  haute  ecole  session. 

Puzztai  (7)  are  a  scintillating 
Magyar  teeterboard  group  with  the 
men  bounding  into  shoulder  stands 
on  a  group  already  three-high  and 
keeping  this  moving  for  one  of  the 
top  acts  of  its  type  extant.  Erika 
&  Adio  do  a  balletic  interlude  on 
the  backs  of  two  circling  horses 
for  mitts,  while  Maurice  Houcke 
ends  the  first  part  in  an  all-out 
show  of  the  horses^midget  and  big, 
plus  the  dancing  girls,  as  all,  in¬ 
cluding  the  horses,  waltz. 

;  Gilbert  Houcke  handles  his  seven 
tigers '  like  kittens  as  he  slaps, 
cajoles  them  and  works  them  sans 
whip  to  end  high  by  driving  out 
one  angry,  snarling  Cat  with  only 
his  knife.  This  looks  like  one  of 
the  top.  subjugation  numhers. 
Houcke  is  dressed  in  only  a  tiger 
skin. 

Danner  &  CoIIeano,  in  monkey 
skins,  up  for  some  fine  aero  stints 
on  trapezes  after  hlghjinks  In  the 
audience.  .  .Maurice  Houcke  then 
puts  camels  through  a  drill  sur¬ 
rounding  a  placid  hippopotamus. 
Pierre  Alizes  (3).  work  the  flying 
trapeze  in  a  smooth,  smart  group 
of  catches1  an<F  arabesques  for  ex¬ 
plosive  mitts.  Rudi  Llata  (8)  are 
Hispano  .  clowns  ;  with  risible  hits 
which  end  in  a  swirl  of  Spanish 
flamenco  as  their,  wives  join  in  for 
the  finale.  Wilano  &  Kosmar  do' 
tight  wire  stints  at  opposite  ends 
of  the  big  hall,  executing  somer¬ 
saults  and  balancing  of  top  quality. 

Arriola  do  a  fast  trampoline 
number  with,  bounding  accuracy 
and  Ernest  Montego  is  a  dynamic 
juggler  who  mounts  a  unicycle  for 
dextrous  juggling  with  all  free  ex¬ 
tremities^  Show  ends  in  fireworks 
and  the.  usual  parade.  Mask, 


Scot  Vawle  V$.  TV 

Continued  Mrom  page  2  sss' 

in  appeal  and  content,  with  the 
summer  revue,  “Five-Past  Eight,” 
operated  by  Stewart  Cruikshank, 
of  Howard  H.  Wyndham,  notching 
iip  new.  records  at  the  plushy  Al¬ 
hambra  Theatre  here,  and  also 
doing  nicely  at  the  King’s,  Edin¬ 
burgh.  Dick  Hurrah,  London  free¬ 
lance,  scored  as  megger  of  the 
long-ruiihing  Glasgow  show,  chang¬ 
ing  its  programs  every  third  week. 
Smalltime  resident  vaude  also 
maintains  its  following  with  No.  2 
comedians  like  Lex  McLean, 
Johnny  Victory;  Johnnie  Beattie, 
etc.  ■* 

Clancy  LQ  Banquet  Mgr. 

Daniel  j.  Clancy  has  .  been  re¬ 
tained  by  the  Latin  Quarter,  N.  Y.y 
as  banquet  manager  to  succeed  A1 
Mack, 

Mack,  ailing  and  unable  to 


Vefewlay,  January  1,  1958 


Inside  Stuff— Vaude 

Four  Coins  from  Canonsburg,  Pa.;  Perry  Como’s  hometown,  are  prac¬ 
tically  a  brother  act  now.  Jack  James,  18-year-old  younger  brother  of: 
Mike  and  George  James,  two  of  the  original  members  of  the  foursome, 
has  replaced  George iMaritellis,  who  was  recently  drafted  into  the  Army. 
Latter  retains  his  fourth  interest  in  the  turn  and  pays  Jack  James  a 
salary  until  Mantellis  gets  out  of  the  service  and  rejoins  the  four-, 
some.  Fourth  member  of  the  Coins  is  .  Jimmy  Gregorakis.  Coins  started 
in  Pittsburgh  several  years  ago,  getting  their  big  break  as  grand  prize 
winners  via  tv  on  the  old  “Wtikens  Amateur  Hour.”  They  were  known 
as  the  Four  Keys  then,  however. 

A  lot  of  anecdota  about  the.  backstage  occurences  at  New  York’s 
Radio  City  Music  Hall  is  related  in  the  Jan.  11  issue  of  the  Sateyes- 
post.  Joe  Alex  Morris  writes  about  the  plight  of  the  staff  when  three 
temperamental  elephants  refused  to  go  on  until  bathed,  and  how 
stagehand  suddenly  became  an  actor  When  a. juggler  fell  ill  and  he  re¬ 
placed- the  ailing  manipulator.  The  article  describes  the  facilities  of  the 
house  which  go  to  make  it  one  of  the  most  versatile  stageshow  spots 
anywhere.  ' 

Up  in  Boston,  bookers  are  having  a  rough  time  over  conflict  of  names 
of  two  locally-based  performers,  one  a  tap  and  baton  novelty  act,  .the 
other,  a  singer,  and.  both  named  Valerie  Carr.  Both  femmes  assumed 
the  same  monicker,  unbeknownst  to  each,  other,  they  contend,  and 
neither  is  going  to  give  in  and  take  another  name. 


Saranac  lake 

Saranac  Lake,  Dec.  30.  While  C 

It  was  a  gala  Christmas  Eve. 

Santa  Claus  ‘‘in  person”  made  his  vtoes  Ha* 
annual  appearance  here  and  gave  ring  .  Edw; 
the  patients  the  thrill  of  their  lives,  pirating  ; 
There  were  gifts  aplenty  that  kept  h 
Santa  busy  for  a  long  time  passing.  hjnffor  ’•« 
same  out  to  the  gang,  and  Hank  to  appear 
Hearn  did  a  very  good  job  of  it,  nrobably 
Every  patient’s  room  was  decorated  play  Ge< 
with  a  small  ChriStmas  tree  that  Rogers  p 
carried  a  pack  of  cheerfulness.  The  touche*;  to 
board  of  directors  of  the  Variety  x,ee  Kli 
Clubs-Will  Rogers  Fund  saw  to  it  public  Pi< 
that  every  patient  received,  an  ap-  time  work 
propriate  gift.  Herbert  Gladney  of  the  Will 
the  20th-Fox  Chicago  office,  chair-  skedded  f< 
man  Of  the  entertainment  commit-  r  to0]c  s 
tee,  aided  by  Elsie  Schreyer,  Helen  tendent  o 
Van  Note  and  Joe  Shambaugh,  rate  to  lick  th 
a  carnation  for  their  work  in  mak-  to  Ann  H 
ing  this  such  a  swell  affair.  in  handlii 

A  letter  to  the  editor  of  the  for.  the  ail 
Adirondack  Daily  Enterprise  from  Write  ti 
Jennifer  Ricky  and  Penny  Harvey;  — — 
‘‘Thanks  to  all  the  nice  people  who  *■■■■■■  ■ 

made  the  skating  rink  at  the  Wil- 
Jiam  Morris  Memorial  Park.  We  11  F 
little  children  just  love  having  a  ■ 
rink  of  our  own.” 

William  (IATSE)  Groff  of  Lan-, 
caster  (Pa.)  Projectionists  Local] 

682,  registered  for  the  general  rest . 
and  o.o.  period. 

The  Santa’s  jukebox  drive  for  the 
needy  children  of  the  actors’  col¬ 
ony  is  an  annual  event  held  by 
Johnny  Garwood  of  radio  station 
WNBZ  in  conjunction  with  the 
Saranac  Lake  Police  Force.  Most  VALLE) 

every  needy  kid  of  this  colony  gets 
what  he  wants  for  Christmas— a 
wonderful  gesture  started  seven  Mgt.:  Sin 
years  ago  by  Ray  Tunfer.  WNBZ  ■  r 
announcer  at  that  time.  —  . 

Victor  Kenyon,  president  of  the 
local  Chamber  of  Commerce,  an¬ 
nounced  that  this  season  Paul  Har¬ 
vey,  newscaster  of  the  American 
Broadcasting  Network,  "will  be 
crowned  king  of  the  coming  Winter 
Ice  Carnival,  Feb.  7-9.  During  his 
stay  in  Saranac  Lake  he  will  broad¬ 
cast  his  daily  hews  comments  from 
WNBZ. 

An  early  Santa  Claus,  Joseph 
Vaughey,  Denver  author,  shot 
down  our  chimney  with  first 
Christmas  gift  of  the  season.  It’s 

The  DEEP  INVER  BOYS 

Starring  HARRY  DOUGLASS 
9th  International  Tour 

HAPPYNEW  YEAR 

Direction:  WILLIAM  MORRIS  AGENCY 
I  Per*.  Mgr^  ED  KIRKEBY  “  ' 


a  yearly  event  with  him  to  bestow 
these  gifts.. 

While  George  V.  Martin,  author 
of  “Bells  of  St.  Mary,”  which" 
starred  Bing  Crosby,  and  “Our 
Vines  Have  Tender  Grapes,”  star¬ 
ring.  Edward  Robinson,  was  recu¬ 
perating  at  the  general,  hospital, 
he  made  Page  1  of  the  Daily  Adi¬ 
rondack  Enterprise  which  kudosed 
him  for  “Mark  It  With  A  Stone,” 
to  appear  in  Esquire  hiagazine  and 
^probably  will  be  produced  as  a 
play.  George  is .  back  at  the  Will 
Rogers  putting  the  finishing 
touches  to  his  new  venture. 

Lee  Klimick,  formerly  with  Re¬ 
public  Pictures  but  n6w  a  part- 
time  worker  in  the  main  office  of  . 
the  Wjll  Rogers  Hospital,  is 
skedded  for  a  minor  operation. 

It  took  six  weeks  for  oiir  superin¬ 
tendent  of  nurses,  Ruth  Norman, 
to  lick  the  Asiatic  flu.  A  salute 
to  Ann  Heuler,  who  replaced  her 
in  handling  the  pills  and  things' 
for,  the  ailing  gang  here.. 

Write  to  those  who  are  ill. 


KEN  BARRY 


HELD  OVER 

VALLEY  STREAM  PARK  INN 

LONG  ISLAND 

Mgt.:  Sin  A  Will  Wgbtr,  Hew  York 


\ li  £  i "  i  i’!i»  >  i ;  >(,ii  \1’!IS  !(> 

]  1 6  South  Michigan 


PHIL  LAWRENCE  ail  MITZI 

JUST  COMPLETED 

EUROPEAN  TOUR 

currently  held  over  fourth  week 

HOTEL  HENRY  GRADY— Atlanta 

JAN,  17-22 

AUTOMOBILE  SHOW  SAN  ANTONIO 

MGT.  KEN  GREENGRASS  D|R  GJ^C. 


Daniel  J.  Clancy  has  been  re- 1  ■AjB  HH  ■■  * 

tainqd  by  the  Latin  Quarter,  N.  Y.y  ■■■  n  *,7  SS2IE 

as  banquet  manager  succeed  A1  —  ■■■  Yuluvan* 

SHOW  Dac. 

Mack,  ailing  and  unable  ■■ 

SSlset1^  "hC  H°SPltaI  f0r  Joint  nlcatlons  to  MR.  MARK  i.  LEODY,  4«  W*s»  41th  Straat,  Naw  York,  N.  y" 


Wednesday,  January  1,  1958 


VACBEmU 


Yaude,  Cafe  Dates 


SetdeTommy StedeMgt  (}aS, CoUft  Awards BAA  15G  Vs.  HffSt 


New  York 

The  Haggete  go  into  the  Elegan¬ 
te  Brooklyn,  Jan.  25  .  .  .  Because 
of  illness  Jane  Froman  cancelled 
out  of  the  Eden  Roc,  Miami  Beach, 
on  date  skedded  to  start  Jan.  5  . .  . 

June  Valli  to  the  Ankara,  Pitts¬ 
burgh,  March  21.  Paul  Benson 
plays  that  spot  Jan.  20  ...  BUI  Tab- 
bert  inked  for  the  Queen  Elizabeth, 
Montreal,  June  30  for  three  weeks 
on  a  deal  set  by  Jimmy  Grady. 

Kansas  City 

Pat  Wilson  hies  to  New  York, 
after  finishing  her  present  stint  at 
Eddys’,  and  Warbles  a  couple  of 
days  on  the  Arlene  Francis  tele¬ 
show  raid  January.  Then  hurries 
back  to  Houston  to  open  at  the 
Crescendo  Jan.  15  .  .  .  Pepper 
Davis  &  Tony  Reese  due  back  at 
Eddys’  for  the  third  time,  opening 
Jan.  10  . . .  Gene  Austin  heads  for 
Las  Vegas  and  holes  up  for  a  spell 
for  some  songwriting,  after  his 
present  engagement  at  Eddys’. 
Austin  is  grooming  himself  for  a 
trip  abroad,  and  has  a  deal  pend¬ 
ing  for  a  drama  with  music  on  BBC 
from  London  in  February.  His  new 
singer,  Tommy  Dean,  will  accom¬ 
pany  him  abroad. 

Dallas 

Allen  ADeWood,  in  the  Statler- 
Hilton’s  Empire  Boom,  to  give  way 
to  Kirby  Stone  Four  on  Jan,  9  .  .  . 
Ray  Anthony  and  Enel  Box  bands 
into  new  Municipal  Aud.  (31)  for 
New  Year’s  party  sponsored  by 
Dallas  Jaycees  .  .  ..  Georgia  Jessel 
set  to  toastmaster  Southwestern 
Men’s  Apparel  Club  banquet  Jan.  6 
.  .  .  Don  Cherry  opens  Jan.  2  in 
Adolphus  Hotel’s  Century  Boom. 
Liberace  follows,  Jan.  18-29,  with 
Sonny  Howard  inked  for  Jan.  30- 
Feb.  12  and  Tito  Gnizar  dated  for 
Feb.  13-26  .  ;  .  Joaquin  Garay  into 
private  King’s  Club  for  two  frames 
.  .  .  Jon  St  Sondra  Steele  now 
playing  annual  holiday  session  at 
Cipangq  Club  ...  Bachelors  Club 

G  LAS  ON'S  FUN-MASTER  1 

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ZURICH, 

SWITZERLAND 


brought  back  Bobby  Batson  Sc 
Lienx  Dressier  for  another  run  .  ..  . 
Singing  pianist  Mai  Fitch  now  at 
Club  Marquis  .  .  .'Jean  Shannon  Sc. 
Brooks  Bros;  set  for.  Jan.  11-12  at 
Greater  Dallas  Club  .  .  .  Johnny 
Aladdin,  also  exotics  Wendy 
Knight,  Peggy  Steele  and  Toni 
Mohr,  due  Jan.  6-19  at  midtown 
Colony  Club,  with  Terri  (Cupcake) 
O’Mason  and  Dick  Broderick  suc¬ 
ceeding  Jan.  20  for  six  frames  .  .  . 
Theatre  Lounge  brought  in  come¬ 
dian  Jack  High  and  exotic  dancer 
Janie  Revlon  to  abet  the  bill  of 
three  other  strippers. .  ....  Leo  Ross, 
88’eiy  into  Pastory’s  Cafe  for  a 
stay. 

Atlanta 

Preparing,  for  gala  New  Year’s 
Eye  business,  Atlanta  dine  Sc  danc¬ 
ers  have  booked  sock  talent  to 
carry  them  through  holidays  .  . 
Henry  Grady  Hotel’s  Paradise 
Boom  is  leading  with  Harvey  Boys, 
hacked  up  by  .  Phil  Lawrence  Sc 
Mitzi,  terping  duo.  Gene  Silla, 
European  novelty  act,  and  Four 
Larks  .  ,  .  Atlanta  Biltmore  Hotel 
will  have  two  rooms  going  full 
blast/  with  singer  Freddie  MarteU 
in  Empire  Boom  and  Bay  Eberle 
band-  playing  for  dancing,  in  Ex¬ 
hibition  Hall  in  special  Eve  frolic 
spotlighting  thrush  Paula  George 
.  .  .  Manager  Danny  D  erne  try  will 
hold  open  house  at  Zebra  Lounge 
in  Howell  House  lobby  . .  .  Accor¬ 
dionist  Graham  Jackson  will  stroll 
and  entertain  customers  at  Luau, 
Polynesian-American  eatery  on 
Peachtree  St.  .  .  .  George  Petras, 
Ann  Arlington  and  the  Pjgalley  cast 
will  celebrate  New  Year  French- 
style  in  Leb’s  downtown  rendezvous 
.  .  .  Mark  Dinning  will  emcee  holi¬ 
day  show  at  Imperial  Hotel’s  Dom¬ 
ino  Lounge,  with  spotlight  on 
Marta .  Dane,  exotic  dancer,  plus 
singing  of  Dick  Broderick  .  .  . 
Yvette  Duval  one  of  the  newcom¬ 
ers  on  show  at  Club  Peachtree*  on 
bill  with:  Tamara  and  Joey  Atlee 

..Diane  Sinclair  heads  revue  at 
Clovis  Club,  featuring  comic 
(Sammy  Sweet  .  .  .  Jim  Scott  Duo 
is  holding  in  Dogwood  Lounge. 

Brit.  Blackpool’s  ! 

$21,000,000  Fix-Up 

Blackpool,  Eng.,  Dec.  30. 

Ah  ambitious  plan  for  redevelop¬ 
ing  the  heart  of  Blackpool,  leading 
north-of-England  show  biz  resort, 
has  been  outlined.  It  will  include 
the  famous  Golden  Mile#  prome¬ 
nade  of  sideshows  and.  carnivals. 

In  present  form,  the  $21,000,000 
scheme  would  take  15  years  to  com¬ 
plete. 

Scheme  would  embrace  two-tier 
promenades  and  three  new  multi¬ 
story  buildings,  Auto  parking  build¬ 
ings  are  also  planned; 

Upper  deck  of  a ‘two-tier  prom¬ 
enade  at  seafront  would  provide 
room  for  thousands  of  extra  deck 
chairs,  to  be.  used  by  summer 
visitors.  >• 

Plan  will  be  considered  by  local 
council  early  in  1958. 

Blackpool,  draws'  millions  of 
tourists  each  summer,  and  boasts 
over  a  dozen  live  reviles,  with  top 
show  biz  talent  from  U.K.  and 
America. 


-London,  Dee.  30. 

Legal  conflict  between  impre¬ 
sario  Harold  Fielding  and  Larry 
Pames  and  John  Kennedy,  man¬ 
agers  of  Britain's  top  rockster. 
Tommy  Steele,  over  the  accept¬ 
ances  of  future  bookings,  has  keen 
settled. 

A.  statement  outlining  the  set¬ 
tlement  said  that  under  a  revised 
agreement,  Fielding  .  had  been 
granted  promotional  '  and  sole 
booking  rights  for  a  number,  of 
years,,  and  his  agency,  in  conjunc¬ 
tion  With  Parnes  and  Kennedy  Will 
now  negotiate  overseas  visits  for 
Steele  to  South  Africa  and  other 
countries.  It  was  the  South  Afri¬ 
can  booking  which  led  to  the  ac¬ 
tion. 


N.Y.  Cafes  Having 
A  Picnic  at  Eve 


Organizations  are  supplying  the 
major  amount  of  business  coming 
in  for  New  Year’s  Eve.  Broadway 
niteries  readied:  to  hang  out ‘  the 
SRO  sign  on  Monday  (30)  and  an¬ 
ticipate  sellouts  by  the  end  of  the 
business  day  or  early  the  next  day. 
The  major  reason  why  bonifaces  re¬ 
fused  to  claim  sellouts  on  Monday 
was  that  many  reservations- hadn’t 
been  shored  up  by  advance  pay¬ 
ment  of  the  minimum.  However, 
most  of  thevorganizational  coin  had 
been  collected,  .  ar;d  prosperous 
business  was  anticipated. 

Although  most  hotels  anticipated 
sellouts  by  the  Eve  deadline,  space 
Was  going  slowly  in  some  situa¬ 
tions.  The  Waldorf-Astoria,  how¬ 
ever,  has  the  Starlight  Roof  sold 
out  for  a  party  by  RCA  Victor 
dealers.  Pearl  Bailey  will  appear 
in  three  rpomsr-r-the  Starlight,  the 
Empire  Boom,  where  a  $30  mini¬ 
mum  plus  tax  prevails;  and  the 
Norse  Grill,  With  a  $22.50  bottom. 
On  Monday  there  were  still  some 
reservations  open  in  the  other 
rooms.  The  inn’s  Sert  Boom  has  a 
private  dinner  dance.  The  Persian. 
Boom  of  the  Plaza  at  $27.50  was 
sold  out  last  week. 

For  some  years  how,  nitery  own¬ 
ers  have  felt  that  the  money  to  be 
derived  from  New  Year’s  Eve 
could  be  topped  by  a  good  Satur¬ 
day  night.  On  the  Eve,  they  point 
out,  there’s  Only  one  show,  while 
two  and  three  good  houses  can  be 
expected  on  a.  good  weekend  night. 

Toronto’s  Big  Top 

Toronto,  Dec.  30. 

Topping'  Toronto’s  niteries.  It 
will  cost  New  Year’s  Eve  party- 
goers  $50  a  couple,  plus  bar  bills; 
to  hear  Harry  Richman  for  one 
night  at  Le  Caberet.  The  tab  is 
$40  a  couple,  plus  drinks,  at  the 
Royal  York  Hotel  for  Nelson  Eddy. 
Bars  at  all  spots  close  at  1a.m. 
Lord  Simcoe  Hotel,  with  no  floor- 
show,  has  a  charge  of  $35  for  din¬ 
ing  and  dancing  only. 

Yanked  out  of  the  King  Edward 
Hotel,  on  last-minute  orders  of  the 
Ontario  Liquor  Control  Board  that 
its  regulations  forbid  a  performer 
under  21  to  appear  where  drinks 
are  sold,  was  Mary  Francis,  17,. re- 1 
cent  winner  of  an  Arthur  God¬ 
frey  “Talent  Scout”  show  and  j 
daughter  of  Magistrate  Frank  Ebbs. 


Berger,  Ross  &  Steimnan 
New  Management  Co, 

A  new  personal  management 
fiim,  Berger,  Boss  Sc  Steinman, 
has  been  formed  with  N.Y.  headr 
offices. 

.  Toppers  comprise  Sam  Berger, 
formerly  with -the  Hit  Parade  Man¬ 
agement  office  KaJ  Ross,  a  for¬ 
mer  disk  jockey,  mid  Harry  Stein- 
man,  pnetime  operator  of  the  La¬ 
tin  Casino,  Philadelphia,  and  Sugar 
Hill;  N.Y. 


I85G  Rock  V  Roll 

Continued  from  page  - 1 

strike  hit  New  York,  as  has  been 
threatened  for  New  Year’s  Day, 
it’s  expected  that  the  last  five  days 
will  be:  considerably  slimmer  for 
the  house:  However,  Freed  Is  ex¬ 
pected  to  walk  off  with  one  record 
week 

Freed  always  plays  either  Hie 
Broadway  or  Brooklyn  Paramount 
during  holidays  when  maximum 
gross  can  be  obtained.  He-ence 
played  the  N.  Y.  Par  during  a 
Washington’s  Birthday  period,  but 
that  take  was  considerably  below 
expectations  since  there  weren’t 
enough  school  holidays. 

At  one  point  the  line  stretched 
from  the  Par,  located  at  Broadway 
and  43d  St.,  down  to  Eighth  Ave., 
around  to  42d  St.  and  back  to. 
Broadway,  and  reached  across  the 
street  on  the  way  to  Sixth  Ave. 

O’scas  lor  Cindy  &  Me’ 

Comedian-author  Joey  Adams 
and  his  wife  Cindy,  start  Friday 
(3)  to  Europe  On  a  flight  which  will 
hit  London,  Paris,  Home' and  the 
French  Riviera; 

Trip  is  to  set  up  a  showplane 
they  will  head  for  Air  France  and 
booked  by  the  Tausig  Travel 
Agency,  which  starts  but  April  12. 


"  The  Burlesque  Artists  Assn,  last 
week  was  awarded  $15,000  by  a  jury 
in  the  U  S.  District  Court  in  Phila¬ 
delphia,  against  the  Hirst  burlesque 
circuit  BAA  bad  sued  the  theatre 
operators  for  $20,000  alleging 
breach  of  contract  during  the  pe¬ 
riod  from  1951-53  when  a  pact  be¬ 
tween.  both  parties  was  in  effect. 
Suit  had  started  Dec.  3  and  con¬ 
tinued  to  the  night  of  Dec.  24  when 
the  jury  completed  deliberations. 

The  victory  in  the  U.S.  court  now 
paves  the  way  for  Thomas  Phillips, 
who  had  been  executive  secretary  of 
the  BAA  since  Its  inception,  and 
who:  was  let  put  by  the  Associated 
Actors  and  Artistes  of  America, 
which  awarded  the  jurisdiction  to 
the  American  Guild  of  Variety 
Artists,  to  seek  court  action  on  a 
return  of  his  stewardship  of  that 
outfit.  With  the  decision  that  the 
BAA  is  a  valid  union,  Phillips  plans 
further  litigation. 

in  the  Philadelphia  test,  ,  attor¬ 
neys  for  PhiUips'aUeged  that,  since 
the  BAA  contract  with  Hirst  there 
was  a  provision  that  the.  circuit 
was  to  see  to  it  that  all  performers 
it  employed  would  he  members  in 
good  standing  of  the  union,.  Hirst’s 
failure  to  live  up  to  that  clause 
caused  the  BAA.  a  loss  in  dues 
and  membership. 

Representing  BAA  in  the  action 
was  the  law  firm  of  Schnader,  Har¬ 
ris,  Seagal  &  Lewis,  while  Blanc, 
Balder,  Steinbruch  &  Steinberg 
represented  the  Hirst  interests. 

Mpls.  Auto  Show  Books 
Georgia  Gibbs,  Dagmar 

Minneapolis,  Dec.  30. 

Stage  lineup  for  this  city’s  third 
annual  Auto  Show  In  the  Auditori¬ 
um,  Jan.  3-12;  will  comprise  Geor¬ 
gia  Gibbs,  Dagmar,  singer  Jim 
Eddy,  slackwire  artist  Dieter  Tasso 
and  the  Topnotchers,  comedy  in¬ 
strumental  trio. 

Produced  by  Max  Winter’s  Min¬ 
neapolis  Attractions  Inc.,  the  show 
is  sponsored  by  the  Minneapolis 
Automobile  Dealers  Assn.  There 
also  was  a  St  Paul  Auto  Show  for 
the  first  time  early  this  month. 


the  inimitable 


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London  Cafe  Eyes  TV  lie 
To  SharePay  on  VJ5.  Acts 

London,  Dec.  30. 

.  A  new  pattern  for  talent  booking 
in  niteries,  in  which  cafes  and  tv 
would  share  the  financial  load,  may 
be  established  in  the  New  Year. 
Harry  Morris,  boss  of  the  Colony 
restaurant  is  leaving  for  his  annual 
talent  prowl  next  month  with  the 
objective  of  finding  artists,  who 
can  be  used  on  video  as  Well  as  in 
his  cafe. 

The  move  was  motivated  by  a 
bid  by  both  tv  and  the  Colony  to 
ease  the  financial  strain  in  bring¬ 
ing  performers  over  from  America 
for  short  stints.  Normally,  a  tv  net¬ 
work  can  offer  an  artist  only  two 
or  three  dates  and  transportation 
and  other  charges  don’t  always 
justify  the  costs  involved.  Morris’ 
idea  is  to  share  the  costs  with  a  tv  : 
network  and  use  the  acts  as  cafe 
attractions  on  a  sharing  basis  with 
tv. 

.  Leslie  A.  MacDonnell,  who  runs 
his  own  talent  management  agency, 
will  probably  be  accompanying 
Harry  Morris  on  the  trip;  j 


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48 


HOUSE  REVIEWS 


P&tiMfr- 


Drew  Pearson  Lets  "Variety’  in  On 
Michael  O’Shea  s  GI  "Sahara  Safari 


Force  fatigue  shirts  and  hats.  They 
performed  a  close-order  drill  a  la 
the  Mpsic  Hall's  Rockettes*  with 
Ross  handling  the  GI  marching  or- 
•9  ders  backed  by  the  Four  Jumping 
1  Jacks  and  the  melodic  Air  Force 
I  Marching  Song.  Each  models  a 
dazzles  was  introed  individually 


By  DREW  PEARSON 

Tripoli,  Libya,  Dec.  24. 

Each  year  producer  -  director 
Michael  Sean  O’Shea  tags  our  an¬ 
nual  90-minute  volunteer  musical 
packages  with  a  title  geared  for 
local  consumption  by  servicemen 
stationed  at  overseas  military  bases 
played  yearly  during  the  pre-Xmas 
season.  For  this  year’s  trek  lo 
North  Africa,  "Sahara  Safari"  was 
a  fitting  label  but  GI  audiences  out 
front  were  quick  to  accept  my  re- 
christening  the  unit  “The  S.O.B. 
Follies  of  1958,”  proving  as  in  for¬ 
mer  years  that,  the  pewholders, 
from  brass  to  non-coms,  are  a 
pretty  hep  crowd.  They  dig  that 
Barry  S.  Truman-Drew  Pearson  bit 
as  solidly  as  they  do  rock  ’h’  roll 
and  any  references  to  the  hewer 
crop  of  tv  personalities  and  video 
commercials. 

After  break-in  performances  at 
Lajes  (Azores)  and  Port  Lyautey 
*  (Morocco),  the  entire  troupe  was 
given  *a  warm  welcome  by  the  Base 
Commander,  M/General  Richard  J: 
O’Keefe,  here  at  Wheelus  Air  Base: 

Saliara  Safari 
(TRIPOLI.  LIBYA) 

Drew  Pearson's  presentation  of 
a  musical  revue  produced  and  di¬ 
rected.  by  Michael  Sean  O'Shea. 

.  Stars  Clara  Cedrone  &  Damian 
Mitchell;  features  Joy  Hodges,  Bar¬ 
ney  Ross .  Siri,  Burt  Bacharach, 
Dorothy  Dennis,  Hartford  Agency 
Models  (5),  4  Jumping  Jacks;  Cqs- 
tumes,  Tina  Leser,  Violetta  Gio- 
vagnoni,  Dacee,  Peiser,  Elge&Bove. 
At  Wheelus .  Air  Force  Base  Thea¬ 
tre,  Dee.  17,  *57;  invitational .  audi¬ 
ences. 

The  variety  turn  got  off  to  a  flying 
start  at  the  local  base  theatre  with 
the  musical  combo,  the  Four  Jump¬ 
ing  Jacks  (members  of  USAF 
Band,  Bolling  Field.  Wash.,  D.  C.) 
rendering  a  pace-setter  version  of 
"Up  The  Lazy  River.**  followed  by 
"Sweet  Georgia  Brbwn”  and  a 
Latin -tempoed  rendition  of  "I 
Could  Have  Danced  All  Night.” 
The  handsome  quartet,  sporting 
charcoal  brown  civvies,  remained 
onstage  to  back  the'  rest  of  the 
show  under  the  musical  direction 
of  Burt  Bacharach,  composer-ac¬ 
companist  whose  impressive  cur¬ 
rent  disk  rep  as  a  tunesmith  en¬ 
hanced  this  “direct  from  Broad¬ 
way”  all-pro  cast. 

Utilizing  drums  (Bill  Walbridge), 
vibraharp  (Frank  Dwinnell),  accor¬ 
dion  (Dipo  Pozzobon)  and  piano- 
guitar  (Steve  Johnson!,  these  full- 
sounding  cats  got  solid  mitting 
with  their  socko  arrangements  and 
strong  rhythm  base,  Walbridge  de-. 
serted  the  drums  for  the  vocal  on 
"Sweet  Georgia  Brown”  and  had  to 
beg  off  to  repeated  salvos.  The 
personable  foursome,  who  plan  to 
continue  as  a  combo  upon  their 
discharge  from  the  USAF,  should 
have  it  made  in  the  not  too  distant 
future.  — 

Joy  Hodges,  pert  and  pretty, 
whose  legit-film-video  background 
preceded  her  first  appearance  as 
femcee-singer,  earned  wolf-whistles 
and  plenty  of  audience  attention  as 
she  opened  big  with  "Happy  to 
Make  Your  Acquaintance”  (a  fave 
from  "Mori;  Happy  Fella*”)  and 
segued  into  "Just  inTime.”  Gowned 
in  a  white  strapless  sequin-studded 
bouffant  creation,  she  fairly  floated 
on  and  off  stage  looking  for  all  the 
world  like  a  Xmas  tree  decoration. 
Having  belted  out  her  first  two 
numbers  to  plenty  of  palm-whack¬ 
ing,  she  ‘  whammed  over  her 
hostessing  chores  to  no.  less  effect. 
At  every  turn  "she  was  ^  charmer 
and  her  obvious  sincerity  and 
Pleasure  in  being  on  tap_  to 'enter¬ 
tain  the  boys  registered  with  every 
GI. 

Barney  Ross,  former  world’s  wel¬ 
terweight  and  lightweight  champ, 
whose  autobiog,  “No  Man  Stands 
Alone,”  has.  been  moving  in  the 
nation's  bookstalls,  came  on  to 
strong  applause.  After  a  three- 
minute  warmup  about  his  pugilistic 
background  (with  lots  of  questions 
and  answers  tossed  back  and  forth 
across  the  footlights),  Ross  ex¬ 
plained  the  purpose  of  his  being  a 
member  of  "Sahara  Safari”  was  to 
unveil  the  USAF’s  newest  secret 
weapon.  This  served  as  intro  to 
statuesque  Siri,  the  6’-3’*  glamazon 
who  has  earned  a  rep  in  legit-tv- 
cafe  circuits.  Billed  by.  Ross  as 
"Miss  Misguided  Missle  of  1958,” 
Siri  flipped  the  house  with  an  elec¬ 
trifying  entrance  garbed  in  a  Silver  i 
sprayed  space  suit.  Skin-tight  arid 
hardly  designed  and  executed  for 
strolling  on  this  or  any  other  plan¬ 
et,  the  sputnik-inspired  costume 
drew  deafening  applause  from  the 
orb-popping  spectators. 

Following  some  topical,  local-in^ 
terest  patter  devised  by  O’Shea, 


Ross  and  Siri  updated  the  lyrics  of 
"I  Can’t  Give  You  Anything  But 
Love,  Baby”  and  socked  across  the 
former  fighting  champ  as  a  master 
at  throwaway  gags  and  animation. 
Whenever  the  lyric  was  lost,  Ross 
recouped  with  sight  laughs  and  ad 
libs  that  would  have  been  a  credit 
to  a  Milton  Rerle.  Beyond  just 
standing  there  looking  like  a  sleek, 
well-stacked  space  rocket,  .  the 
platinum-tressed  Siri  worked  hard 
at  every  gag  and  proved  her  mettle 
as  a  comedienne.  This  all-in-one 
Monroe-Mansfield  chick  is  slick  in 
the  timing,  department,  too.  For 
their  wrap-up,  Ross  and  Siri  did  a 
cha-cha-cha  that  belies  description. 
They  romped  off  to  a  thunderous 
ovation  and  could  have  encored  re¬ 
peatedly. 

The  beautiful  Hartford  Agency 
Models  (Mae  Conley,  Ginriy  Gay- 
lor,  Louise  Manning,  Hope  Ryden, 
Joanne  Smith)  opened  with  a  mili¬ 
tary  march  parading  oversized  Air 


and  called  upon  to  identify  her 
hometown.:  Audience  members  and 
models  alike  represented  Brooklyn, 
L.  A.  and  Miami:  and  the  expected 
wolf  calls  were  ear-splitting.  For 
their  second  turn,  the  Hartford 
babes  went*overboard  on  eye-ap¬ 
peal  while  .  staging  a  Tina  Leser 
fashion  show  of  1958  swimsuits. 
Miss  Hodges  handled  the  commen¬ 
tary  on  these  by-the-beautiful-sea 
outfits  and  did  it .  tongue-in-cheek. 
If  anyone  was  listening,  femcee 
Hodges  was  throwing  away  lines 
that  were  gems  for  impromtu  gab¬ 
bing.  . 

.  At  the  halfway  mark,  Burt 
Bacharach  (of :  Famous  Music)  took 
Over  at  the  mike  and  accompanied 
himself  on  the  piano  while  singing 
a  medley  of  his  own  compositions 
Which  garnered  the  rapt  attention 
of  the  military  aisle-sitters.  He 
floored  the  happy  GI’s  with  his 
t  Jerry  Lewis  tune,  “Sad  Sack,”  gave 
them  "Story  of  My  Life”  .(Mary 
-Robbins’  current  click)  and  fin- 


New  Ads 


CHARLIE  APPLEWHITE 

Songs 

30  Mins. 

Adolphus  Hotel,  Dallas 

Young  Charlie  Applewhite,'  na¬ 
tive  Fort  Worthian  who  got  his 
show  biz  start  here,  as  a  singing 
waiter  in  1952-53^-and  plugs  that 
point—  is  debuting  his  new  nitery 
act.  He’s  skedded  for  followup 
dates  after  his  Army  release  in 
March.  Currently  he’s -  using  fur¬ 
lough  time  to  fill  a  fortnight  book¬ 
ing  in  the  Century  Room.,  w 
.  His  GI  stint,  where  he’s  been 
doing  radio  for  Special  Services, 
has  served  him  well.  He’s  no  longer 
the  wide-eyed,  naive  boy  who  got 
his  break  from  Milton  Berle  and 
was  showcased  On  the  latter’s  tv 
shows.  Now  he’s  confident,  has  an 
easy,  poised  manner  that  adds  to 
show  savvy,  so  he’ll  be  ready  and 
waiting  come  discharge  time.  He 
has  nifty  material  to  weave  around 
his  songs  and  his  piping  has  never 
been  better. 

Opening  to  a  packed  Century 
Room,  singer  was  off  fast,  belting 
"Almost  Like  Being  in  Love”  for 
hefty  response.  Between  tunes  he 
says,  "Sounds  corny,  but  it’s  the 
truth”  and.it  is.  He  deftly  details 
his  local  singing  waiter  stint,  his 
New.  York  door-to-door  agentry, 
and  his  Berle  break.  Dramatic  pat¬ 
ter  is  broken  by  sock  vocals.  “You’ll 
Never  Walk  Alone”  scores,  and  he  I 
builds  with  “Without  a  Song,”  sans 
backgrounding  until  halfway 
through. 

Roaming  ringside  with  a  hand- 
mike,  youngster  nabs  rapport  with 
w.k.  tunes,  “I  Love  Paris,”  ‘‘There’s 
a  Small  Hotel”  and  rates  yocks 
with  special,  topical  lyrics  to  “Will 
You  Still  Be  Mine?”  to  rib  local- 
ites.  Reprises  his :  Decca  waxing  of 
"Ebbtide”  and  tries  to  get  off  with 
“Lady  Is  a  Tramp,”  but  has  to 
return  for  a  begoff  "White  Christ¬ 
mas.”  When  he’s  permanently  in 
mufti,  Applewhite  is  a  sure  bet  as 
a  nitery  headliner.  Bark.. 

JUDY  BRUCE 
Songs  ; 

IS  Mins.. 

Hotel:  Yon  Steuben,  Wiesbaden. 

A  slender  young  redhead  from 
London,  Judy  Bruce  packs  a  wallop 
with  her  first  night  club  stint  here. 
She’s  a  well  dressed  and  very 
pretty  singer  who  lboks  like  "the 
lass  with  a  delicate  air”  and  sings 
With  lots  more  punch.  Her  yetr 
satile  voiceband  top  stage  presence 
reveal  her  pro  background  (she 
sang  in  ‘‘Damn  Yankees”  in  Lon¬ 
don).  She  does  some  standard  pop 
numbers;  her  British  accent  is 
hardly  a  drawback  with  the  heavy 
American  audience  here. 

But  she’s  really  sensational  in 
offbeat  material  such  as  a  Persian 
swing  number  called  "Climb  Up 
My  Garden  Wall,”  and  in  an  ap¬ 
pealing  cockney-accented  “Me  and 
My  Dog  Are  Lost  In  the  Fog.” 
She’s  a  newcomer  who  looks  like 
she’s  headed  for  the  bigtime. 

Haze. 

GASTOR  PARKER  JR.  &  EDDIE 
Comedy,  Juggling,  Songs 
14  Mins.  . 

Hotel  Von  Steuben,  Wiesbaden  •• 

Mobile -  faced  young  Gaston 
Parker  Jr.  is  one  of  the  most  un¬ 
usual  and  versatile  comics  to  come 
along  in  a  long  time.  The  funny 
Frenchman  With  the  cleverly 
planned  word  mistakes  starts  with, 
a  juggling  routine  reminiscent  of 
"the  world’s,  worst  juggler”  done 
by  Fred  Allen.-  Then.  he. swings 
out  on  a  guitar,  beating  in  on  the 
reverse  ,  side  like  a  bongo  while 


singing  some  'fast  French  ditties 
and  yodeling. 

Routine  ends  with  comedy  piano 
playing.  Accompanying  part  of  the 
business  is  a  plump  little  brunet 
French  girl  yclept  Eddie  who  sings 
operatic  arias  offkey  to  his  broken- 
down  piano  stylings.  Only  draw¬ 
back  of: the  whole  act  is  a  forced 
pratfall  finish  which  isn’t  as  suer 
cessful  as  the  other  stuff.  Act 
would  be  a  natural  for  tv  in  the 
States.  Haze. 

THREE  DEUCES 
Songs 
14  Mins. 

Hotel  Yon  Steuben,  Wiesbaden 

Three  Deuces  are  a  trio  of  good- 
looking  young  Canadians  who  are 
now  appearing  in  night  clubs  in 
Europe,  headlining  the  current 
show  at  this  American  Air  Force 
hotel  in  Germany.  Group  has  re¬ 
corded  for  Coral,  and  this  is  their 
first  nitery  stint  here.  While  they 
can  do  the  soft  and  sweet  numbers 
with  beautifully  blending  voices, 
their  act  is  a  little  slow-paced 
when  they  encounter  such  num¬ 
bers  as  “Love  Is  a  Many-Splen- 
dored  Thing”  and  "Old  Man 
RiVer.”  When  they  switch  to  rock 
and  roll,  however,  with  such  jump¬ 
ing  tunes  as  "Stop  You’re  Rocking 
the  Boat,”  "When  the  Saints  Go 
Marching  In”  and  a  splendid,  fast 
spiritual  called  “Rain  Rain  Rain,” 
they  stop  the  show. 

The  hoys  are'  well  tuxedoed  and 
a  most  attractive  trio  without  any 
of  the  forced,  unpleasant  man¬ 
nerisms  and.  striving  for  effects 
that  such  groups  occasionally  have. 
Act  shows  poise:  and  practice. 

•  Haz 


LUCERITO  TENA 
Flamenco 
10  Mins. 

El  Chico,  N.Y. 

.  Flamenco  dancer  Lucerito  Tena 
shows  a  great  feel  for  this  Iberian 
art.  Her  footwork  is  sound  and 
colorful,  she  shows,  a  respect  for 
the  traditions  of  the  dance,  and 
displays  A  great  vitality  in  pound¬ 
ing  out  the  wild  and  uninhibited 
dances-  banded  down  by  genera¬ 
tions  of  Spanish  gypsies. 

The  Senorita  is  dressed  in  color¬ 
ful  Spanish  garb.  She  uses  some 
of  the  traditional -frame  work  of 
the  various  terps,  but  also  shows 
an  ability  to  improvise  and  do 
takeoffs  on  accepted  patterns.  In 
the  'specialized  situations  where 
Castiliian  choreography  is  heeded, 
Miss  Tena  is  a  natural.  She  will 
have  concert  capabilities  when  her 
full  potential  ,  is  realized.  Jose. 

LES  CINQ  PERES 
Songs,.  Comedy 
20  Mins. 

Deauville,  Miami  Beach  { 

This  group  is  a  Parisian  import 
that  makes  a  lot  of  funny  noises, 
but  end-effect  wears  off  quickly  as 
the  quintet  of  mugging  males  re¬ 
arrange  groupings  while  working 
out  what  can  loosely  be  classed  as  I 
lampoons  in  song.  What  they  are 
trying  to  project  is  lost,  chiefly  be¬ 
cause  the,  language  barrier.  The 
avante  garde  air  of  it  all,  complete 
to  one  member  with  overlong  mus- 
tachios,  isthe  only  truly  comic  ef¬ 
fect  achieved.  Their  “harmonics” 
and  sOtirization  of  group  singing— 
if  that  is  what  they  are  trying- to 
conveys  is  hot  made  for  a  pop 
night  spot  audience. 

Perhaps  ih  the  intimeries  that 
cater  to  the  cultists  it  may  go  but; 
as  of  this  viewing,  not  for  the  com¬ 
mercial  rooms.  ?  Lary. 


Wednesday,  January  1,1958 


ished  up  with  a  hoffola  rendition  to  their  feet  cheering  loud  for  hig 
of  his  “Winter  Warm”  (Gale  long  shots.  As  with  the  personnel 
Storm’s  Dot  platter).  He  begged  concerned  with  the  variety  unit, 
off  with  his  latest,  "Magic  Mo-  "Sahara  Safari,”  the  Globetrotters 
ments”  (Perry  Como).  Could  have  and  U.S.  All  Stars  Went  along 
stayed  on  all  night.  Following  the  on  the  tour  without  reriumera* 
Hartford  dolls  in  those  Tina  Leser  tion.  Transportation,  accommoda* 
ensembles  wasn’t  an  easy  spot  to  tions  arid  all  meals  were  provided 
fill,  but  this  talented  youngster  by  the  U.S.  Air  Force  in  exchange 
held  the  spectators  all  the  way.  for  .the  talents  and  services  ren- 
'  In  the  next-to-closing  spot,  Dor-  defed.) 

othy  Dennis  (Mrs.  Alfred  A.  Strel-  - - - - - 

sin),  former  legit-erfe  singer,  has  paranAniit  NT  V 
a  rousing  opener  with  "Get  Happy”  m 

Which  she  sold  with  bounce  arid  Alan  Freed,  Sam  The  Man  Tay* 
energy.  Garbed  in  a  Violetta  lor  Orch,  Fats  Domino  &  Orch, 
GioVagnpni  sheath  of  shiminering  Jerry  Lee  Lewis,  Everly  Bros.,  Bud- 
pale  blue  satin,  this^  brunette  dy  Holly.  Cfickets,  Rays,  Danny  & 
stunner  palmed  her  audience  with  Juniors*  Paul  Arika,  Lee  Andrews 
"  ’Deed  I  Do.”  Stylish  and  loaded  &  The  Hearts,  Shepherd  Sisters, 
with  class,  Miss  Dennis  inspired  LfltZe  Joe,  The  Dubs,  Thurston  Har- 
tempestuous ,  ris.  The  Teenagers,  Jo  Ann  Camp . 

set  thatto  bell,  Twin  Tones,  Terry  Noland; 

Hodees  onl  the^Sck 4*™olV™’m  Great  to  be  Young ”  (Indie), 

Walkin’,”  which  they  warbled  to  reviewed  in  Variety  June  13,  ’56. 
hefty  on-beat  response  from  out  .  .  ~  _  . 

front  Tossing  in  some  r&r  leggery  A  periodic  madness  descends  al- 
didri’t  slow  up  matters,  either,  ternately  m>pn  Broadway  and 
Thev  flashed  offstage  in  a  blaze  of  Brooklyn  during  the  holiday  sea- 
elorv  leaving  the  jumping  GI’s  in  sons.  Alan  Freed  and  a  troupe  of 
an  uproar  rock  ’nr  rollers  and  hillbillies, 

Damian  Mit-  more  correctly  called  rockabillies 
.  during  this  cycle,  descend  upon 

N^ounSa^reeiUand^circuit  the  Paramount,  either  in  _BrookIyh 
drcuit'Sroycarsin  a  row  with  this  “‘'New  York,  and  succeed  tn  pop- 
onened  hie.  as  toting  the  theatre  with  warm 

SsuSfwith ^ri'swiftty-pac^  "Side  BoJUes,  mainly  in  the  juve  cate- 
By  Side”  patter-song.  When  the 

ainnen  were  through  rolling  m  Rock  V  roll  still  shows  its 
the  aisles  and  back  in  their  seats,  strength  for  the.  very  young.  The 
the  duo  hammered  away  at  the  juves  all  but  create  riots  in  and 
GI’s  once  more  and  whether  it  out  of  the  house,  and  probably 
was  an  updated  "Begat”  or  their  wouldn’t  stop  at  that  but  for  the 
sure  fire  “Mother”  bit,  -these  tremendous  number  of  uniformed 
youngsters  were  the  unquestioned  police. 

stars  of  the  show.  Their  popularity-  The  new  show  as  displayed  at 
was  further  insured  by  Insistent  the  Broadway  house  shows  little 
demands  fori  encores.  The  hard-  difference  in  any  respect  from  pre¬ 
working  team  had  to  fill  the  re-  vious  editions.  The  acts  sound  and 
quests  since  there  was  no  way  of  look  alike  and  the  audience  be- 
continuing  the  show  without  giving  havior  is  about  the  same  as  welL 
the  out-fronters  more  of  the  same.  At  show  caught,  it  was  difficult  to 
Their  rock  ’n’  roller,  show  without  distinguish  either  acts  or  numbers, 
giving  the  out-fronters  more  of  the:  With  the  kids  bobbing  up  and 
same.  Their  rock  *n’  roller,  "Li'l  screeching  continually,  neither 
Dartin'”  was  a  gasser,  and  to.  sound  nor  sight  was  permitted  in. 
prove  how  hep  the  lonely  GI’s  any  quarter  of  the  house.  Perhaps 
stationed  at  this  mammoth  North  the  kids  came  here  for  an  admis- 
African  air  base  are  on  tv  names  sion  as  high  as  $2.50  to  hear  them* 
and  shows,  Mitchell's  takeoffs  on  selves  perform.'  After  all,  they,  do 
Ed  Sullivan,  Elvis  Presley,  Wyatt  sing  along  with  all  the,  performers. 
Earp,  “Maverick”  and  “Have  Gun,  The  more  histrionic  of  them 
Will  Travel”  were  bigleague  right  scream,  some  organize  groups  that 
down  the  line.  Miss  Cedrone’s  sway  to  and  fro  and  nearly  all  of 
satirical  impressions  of  Ingrid  them  rhythmically  clap  their  harids 
Bergman,  Betty  Fqmess  and  an  and  stomp  their  feet. 

Italian  commercial  commentator  For  all  practical  purposes,  the 
were  standouts,  easily  recognized  kids  outnumber  and  outshout  those 
and  hysterically  received.  For  their  onstage.  Too  many  couldn’t  be. 
closer,  they  chirped  their  signoff,  heard  sufficiently*  to  judge  their 
“We  Love  You.”  In  a  sentence,  calibre,  but  the  tenor  of  the  audi- 
they  were  merely  sensational  and  ence  was  evident  at  all  times, 
deserved  having  the  show  built  However,  there  are  some  stand- 
around  them.  outs,  such  as  Jerry  Lee  Lewis,  a  . 

Back  to  open  the  finale  were,  wild  one,  who  kicks,  shouts  and 
the  Hartford  Models  In  elegant  does  everyhting  to  entice  atten- 
gowns  topped  off  .with  glamour  tion.  The  kids  get  into  a  frenzy, 
furs  by  Peiser.  These  haut  couture  Another  top  performer  is  Fats 
dolls  wrapped  it  up  with  the  entire.  Domino  who,  at  the  piano,  some- 
cast  onstage  singirig  a  reprise  of  times  provides  a  sense  of  logic  to 
"Happy  To  Make  Ypur  Acquaint-  the  proceedings.  Jo  Ann  Campbell 
ance”  and  finishing  with  “Merry  is  also  a  bright,  light,  infusing 
Christmas,  Happy  New  Year  to  some  charm  into  the  proceedings, 
all.”  Then  there  are  the  Everly  Bros., 

In  the  role  of  presenter  of  the  with  two  guitars,  who  hppe  to  be 
package,  Pearson  continued  to  performers  soriie  day.  Buddy  Holly, 
prove  to  he  gawky  and^-ill  at  ease  the  Crickets,  thg  Rays,  Danny  & 
when  surrounded  by  show  business  The  Juniors,  the  Teen  Agers,  Paul 
guys  an,d  dolls..  In  his  opener,  Anka,  Lee 'Andrews  8c  The  Hearts 
when  greeting  the  audience  and  (they  tried  to  be  sad  with  a  rendi- 
apprising  them  of  what  was  to  tion  of  "Teardrops”),  Shepherd 
follow,  he  pretty  huich  held  his  Sisters,  Little  Joe,  the  Dubs, 
own,  it  was  when  he  took  an  active  Thurston  Harris,  the  Teenagers 
part  in  the  stage  procedings  that  (sans  Frankie  Lymon),.  the  Twin 
his  hefty  know-how  on  the  lecture  Tones,  .Terry  Noland  and  the  or- 
platform  seemed  to  desert  him.  chestra  headed  by  Sam  "The  Man  ' 
As  a  "single,”  he'  managed  fairly  Taylor^  and  so  cn,  and  so  on.  Soon 
well,  even  to  ttie  point  of  extrac-  —nobody  can  tell  the.  difference— ■ 
ting  an -occasional  yock  from  his  the  sounds  come  out  very  even 
listeners.  and  in.  a  few  exceptions,  the  audi- 

The  man  who  rates  special  men-  ence  reaction  is  the  same, 
tion  and  thanks  for  the  success  Of  '  Jose.. 

these  shows  is  Michael  Sean  ■ 

O’Shea;  former ;  publicity  chief'  of 

the  American  Theatre  Wing,  who  ,»«■.  m  ■  ■  m 

casts,  rehearses  and  directs  the  "Mlljlafy  Pflflgr 

volunteer  units  in  New  York  be?  "■■■■ini  I  1 

tore  going  overseas.  His  show  biz  —  -  Continued  from  pace  1  * - 

savvy  is  apparent  and  from  the  . 

reception  accorded,  each  playdate,  the  Italian  army  in  Greece.  Pro* 
the  ex-GI  kriows  what  military  ducer  Levy  already  is  on  record  as 
audiences  want  and  expect,  sayirig  he  didn’t  expect  the  picture 
O’Shea  eschews  ever  appearing  to  be  shown  iri  Italy, 
during  a  performance,  preferring  The  subject  of  the  wai*.  particu- 
to.  remain  backstage  rather,  than  iarly  the  last  war,  is  a  ticklish  one 

,Th‘s  for  Hollywood  slnce-inevitably- 

Variety  sdlute  will  serve  ds  en  /ufaetiAn  1#  °  Jt i _ l 

acknowledgement  of  his  major 

contributions  to  the  shows  given  at  credits  arises.  Each  nation  jealous- 
every  American  air  base,  except  ^  8uards  its  military  traditions 
one,  from  the  Azores  to  Tripoli  and  takes  Pride  in  its  accomplish- 
during  the  10-day,  10,000  air  mile  ments.  Since  audiences  are  primar- 
junket.  ily  interested  in  identifying  with 

:  (Editor’s  note:  In  addition  to  the  their  own  army,  the  accent  inevit- 
“Sahara  Safari”  unit,  Pearson’s  ably  is  on  the  nationalistic  side. 
pre-Xmas  tour  of  American  air  Thus,  Britain  laughed  and  coni- 
bases  in  North  Africa .  included  a  plained  when  Errol  Flynn  captured 
s®1?6?  games  by  Abe  Saper-  Burma  in  one  film,  .and  it  com- 
?tSc  811(1  plained  again  when,  in  “The  Dam 

“Shown  Ml, the  States, 


Philadelphia’s  Dave  Zinkoff  <  han- 


tod  the'  announcing  ch.re¥,  with  sto^l^g  Foresees  were  cut  in 
John  Fox  as  referee:  Benny  Schirt-  iit 

zmger,  22-year-old  world  champion  ^enc^ma11 ;Who  i saw  Paths  of 

batonist.  did  his  specialty  with  $9^ ”Jast  week  thought  it  was 
flaming  batons  before- and  during  strong.  He.  felt,  that  many 
halves.  According  to  Pearson,  Hat-  Frenchmen  would  object,  particu- 
lem’s  Ghico  Burrell  was  a  “show-  krly  since  the  film- was  made  by: 
stopper”  with  his  comedy  antics  Americans  arid  concerns  itself 
while  Wayne  U.’s  George  Brown  solely  with  an  Incident  within  the 
brought  each  group  of  spectators  French  Army. 


49 


Veflnegdayr  Jannary  1,  1958 


NIGHT  CLUB  REVIEWS 


Waldorf-Astoria,  N.  Y> 

Guylaine  Guy,  Dor  nan  Bros ., 
Emit  COlemah  and  Bela  Bdbai’s 
Qrchs;  $3;$4  cover. 

For  the  Christmas  holiday 
stanza,  between  Harry  Belaf ante’s 
dosing  and  Pearl  Bailey’s  opening 
on  New  Year’s  Eve,  the  Empire 
Room  presented  Guylaine  Guy  and 
the  Dornan  Bros. 

Miss  Guy  is  a  pert,  extremely 
attractive,  pixie -like  French 
chanteuse  who  managed  to  im¬ 
press  despite  the  rudeness  of  pre- 
holiday  celebrants  on  opening 
night.  She  has  the  typical  husky 
•  voice  of  Gallic  chirpers,  but  avoids 
the  stereotype  with  ai  fresh,  bouncy 
quality  that  is  appealing.  Her 
repertoire  follows  the  pattern  of 
her  singing  countrywomen  and 
Includes  "Ca  C’est  Formidable,” 
which  Miss  Guy  ha$  recorded  for 
Victor,  “Le  Ciel,”  “Un  Gamin  de 
Paris”  and  a  Gallic  version  of 
“Tammy.”  She  is  particulary  effec¬ 
tive  with  a  1920s  jazz  tune  in  which 
she  is  backed  by  a  banjo.  “Encore,” 
in  a  beguine  tempo,  and  “La  Mer” 
are  also  scorers  for  the  petite 
French  import. 

The  Donian  Bros.— Charles  and 
Leo— are  familiar  entries  in  the 
posh  saloons.  While  their  material 
may  seem  corny,  it  has  the  ability 
to  hold  and  entertain  the  custom¬ 
ers.  Charles,  who  Carries  the  brunt 
om  the  act,  has  an  Edward  Everret 
Horton  quality  and  establishes  a 
rapport  with  the  clientele  quickly. 
He  tosses  off  gags,  speaks  to  ring- 
siders,  dances  around  the  room, 
and  joins  his  brother  in  a  number 
of  songs. 

Most  surprising  aspect  of  the 
act  is  the  ease  with  which  the 
Homans  can  induce  customers  to 
the  floor  for  audience  participa¬ 
tion  stuff.  They  have  the  paying 
customers  shaking  maracas  and 
beating  away  on  toy  drums.  On 
the  floor,  they  place  wigs  arid  hats 
on  the  victims  and  manipulate 
them  as  if  they  Were  puppets.  Act 
garners  beauCoup  laughs  and  mit- 
ting.  ‘  ....  - 

Emil  COleman’s  crew  provides 
Its  usualy  hep  backing  and  alter¬ 
nates  with  Bela  Babai’s  outfit  for 
the  dancing  pleasure  Of  the,  cus¬ 
tomers,  Holt. 


Flamingo,  Las  Vegas 

Las  Vegas,  DeC.  27. 

.  Judy  Garland,  Bobby  Van,  Don 
Kirk,  Flamingoettes  (13),  Jack 
Cathcart’s  Orch  (21);  choreogra¬ 
phy,  Jean  Devlyn;  special  material, 
Roger  Eden,  Jack  Cathcart;  Miss 
Garland’s  wardrobe,  Helen  Rose; 
produced  by  Sid  Luft;  $3  minimum .. 


Judy  Garland  returns  to  the  Fla¬ 
mingo  Room  for  a  two-framer,  this 
time  without  the  dancing  boys  to 
back  her.  The  emphasis  is  on  song, 
and  what  terplng  she  does  is  with 
Bobby  Van,  who  is  a  'fine  team¬ 
mate.  Miss  Garland’s  preem  audi¬ 
ence  found  her  in  excellent  voice 
and  with  a  pleasing  air  of  infor¬ 
mality— she  capped  off  the  turn  by 
bringing  12-year-old  daughter  Liza 
onstage  for  a  couple  of  numbers. 

Initiating  with  a  belting  “I  Feel 
A  Song  Coming  On,*  star  neatly 
Segues  into  a  "My  Fair  Lady”  med¬ 
ley,  then  revives  the  special  ma¬ 
terial  she  did  as  an  opening  num¬ 
ber  at  the  Palace  in  1951.  Other 
numbers  include  "When  You  Wore 
A  Tulip,”  “How  About  Me?”  and 
the  inevitable  "Over  The.  Rain-, 
bow.”  With  Van  she.  does  “You’re 
Just  In  Love,”  and  the  tramp-terp- 
chirp,  “A  Couple  of  Swells.” 

On  his  own.  Van  clicks  from  the 
beginning  with  a  special  “Hello  To 
Vegas”  song  &  dance,  and  displays 
lofty  prowess  as  a  hoofer  through¬ 
out  his  act.  He  gives  Variety  a 
free  plug  by  pulling  a  copy  Out  of 
his  pocket  and  telling  about  the 
time' he  was  reviewed  under  “New 
Acts”— then  repeats  the  sldt  which 
got  him  his  first  notice;  Keeping 
Variety  in  the  act,  be  goes  back 
50  years  for  an  impresh  of  an  act 
being  reviewed  at  that  time: 
George  M..  Cohan.  Van  is.  fresh 
and  fast,  serving  as  an  ideal  bal¬ 
ance  for  Miss  Garland; 

The  Flamingoettes  are  Involved 
in  an  especially  effective  produC-. 
tion  number  entitled  “Night  and 
Day,”  With  clever  choreography  by 
Jean  Devlyn  and  gorgeous  cos¬ 
tumes  by  Dave  Berman.  Don  Kirk 
sings  the  title  song  with  gusto. 
Jack  Cathcart  and  the  orch  deserve 
a  special  accolade  fOr  the  musical 
backing.  Duke, 

Bimbo's  3«5  dab,  S.  F. 

San  Francisco,  Dec.  20. . 

Mary  Meade  French,  Sheets  Min - 
ton*  Double-Daters  (4),  Dorothy 
Dorben  Dancers  ( 10)r~Allan .  Cole; 
Al  Wallace  Orch  (9);  $1-$1.50 
cover. 

0  Mary  Meade  French  is  a  tall, 
well -stacked  honey  blond,  who 
parlays  a.  lot  of  professional  savvy 
and  natural  charm  into  a  very  well- 
received  act.  She  has  a  good  sing¬ 
ing  voice,  smartly  fashioned  spe¬ 


cial  material  and  a  nice  change  of 
pace  in  songs. 

She  opens  with  “You  Do  Some¬ 
thing  to  Me,”  swings  into  a  take¬ 
off  on  shampoo  commercials  as  a 
number  of  top  pops  composers 
would  write  it,  rims  through  “My 
ideal”  and  "some  special  lyrics  for 
*  Little  Gal  Looking  for  Someone 
to  Love”  and  her.  own  version  of 
“Thanks  for  the  Memory,”  and 
Winds  up  with  a  chanteuse  bit, 
“Autumn  Leaves”  ,and  “Pigalle.” 
Customers  are  strong  for  her  17- 
mmute  act. 

Skeets  Minton,  using  half  a  doz- 
en  dummies,  relies  on  his  uncanny 
mimicry  of  singers .  for  his  ven- 
triloquial  act.  Unfortunately,  this 
doesn’t  come  off  very  well  because 
most  of  the  gags  between  songs  are 
ancient.  Example:.  "I  drove  up  to 
Reno  Sunday  night  and  all  the 
losers  were  coming  at  me  four- 
abreast  on  a  .  two-lane  highway.” 
This,  and  similar  Las  Vegas-type 
gags  should  be ;  permanently  re¬ 
tired;  They  are  so  jaded  by  repe¬ 
tition  that  they  don’t  even  raise  a 
titter  any  more,  especially  When 
used  by  a  low-pressure  comic,  such 
as  Minton,  at  a  dinner  show. 

Heldover  Double-Daters,  two 
guys  and  two  gals,  sing  and  dance 
‘This  Is  it”  and  “The  Old  Soft 
Shoe”  pleasantly,  and  emcee  Allan 
Cole  and  the.  Dorothy  Dprben  line 
turn  in  their  usual  excellent  show. 
AI  Wallace  orch  is  tops.  Hour-long 
show  is  set  for  three  weeks. 

Stef. 


,  EddysVK.  C. 

...  Kansas  City,  Dec.  26. 
Gene  Austin  (with  Tommy 
Dean),  Pat  Wilson,  Tony  DiPardo 
Orch  (8);  $1-$1.5Q  cover. 


Crooning  songwriter  Gene  Aus¬ 
tin  heads  the  bill  at  the  Eddy  Res¬ 
taurant  for  a  15-day  stand,  his  first 
engagement  in  this  plush  spot  and 
a  switch  for  him  since  he  played 
the  Hotel  Muehlebach  up  the. street 
about  a  year  ago.  An  unusual  book¬ 
ing  also  has  songstress  Pat  Wilson 
on  the  bill,  and  young  Tommy 
Dean  works  •  with  Austin,  although 
he  is  unbilled. 

The  result  is  a  crisp,  sparkling 
show,  possibly  a  bit  overlong  at  an 
hour,  but  certainly  approved  by 
the  customers.  Austin  is  an  un¬ 
usually  strong  night  club  entry, 
sitting  at  the  spinet  and  reeling  off 
a  couple  of  dozen  songs  with  which 
he  has  been  associated  as  writer  or 
plugger,  including  his  top  hits, 
“My  Blue  Heaven”  “Melancholy 
Baby,”  “How  Come  You  Do  Me 
Like  You  Do;”  and  the  newer 
“Tinkle  Song”  and  “Too  Late.” 
What  apparently  please  the  cus¬ 
tomers  is  his  ooooh  -woooo  song 
style,  as  well  as  the  numbers  them¬ 
selves,  for  they  give  rapt  attention 
throughout. 

Midway  he  brings  on  young 
Tommy  Dean  as  a  singing  “find” 
(and  a  distant  relative),  and  the 
youngster  pours  out  a  trio  of  songs' 
in  fine  style  with  his  own  guitar 
work  in  support.  Goodlboking  boy 
with  a  distinctive  voice  (showing 
the  Austin  influence,  to  be  sure), 
he’s  in  the  mold  of  today’s  young 
pop  singers. 

In  the  opening  spot.  Miss  Wilson 
has  a  bit  of  a  problem  pacing  her 
turn  when  trimmed  to  20  minutes, 
but  works  in  an.  effective  selection 
of  songs  all  specially  styled  for  her 
and  brightly  delivered.  She  has  an 
unusually  good  thing  in  a  cha- 
cha  arrangement  of  “Fascinatin’ 
Rhythm,”  makes  a  dramatic  bit  of 
“Limehouse  Blues”  and  surrounds 
them  with  hit  paraders  and 
standards.  Quin, 

Le  Vonvray,  N,  Y. 

Elmer  Gdrdon,  Michael  Sandeval 
A  Jimmy  Parker;  no  cover  or 
minimum.- 

New  York’s  eastside,  how  dotted 
with  a  myriad  of  small  rooms,  is 
showing  an  increasing  amount  of 
concern  for  entertainment.  The 
area  inherits  a  natural  lunch  busi¬ 
ness  from  the  flood  of  new  office 
buildings  up  and  under  constnic- 
tion.  However,  once  the  subways 
take  this  flow  of  citizens  out  of  the 
section,  the  upper  eastside  once 
again  becomes  a  quiet  and  pleasant 
place. 

Larry.  Wonderlibg,  a  vet  m  east- 
side  operations  and  who  periodi¬ 
cally  turns  the  dining  room  into 
a  cafe  operation,  has  this  time 
changed  his  format  with  a  series 
of  musical  turns.  His  major  bits 
are  the  piariistics  of  Elmer  Gordon 
and  the  piano-fiddle  team  of  Mi¬ 
chael  Sandeval  &  Jimmy  Parker. 
Gordon  plays  a  flashy  set  of 
ivories.  He  has  a  hard-hitting 
approach,  uses  a  lot  of  imaginative 
figurations  that  -  entice  attention. 
His  pianistics  take  in  a  wide  gamut, 
from  pops  to  classics  to  musicals. 

Sandeval  &  Parker  give  the  spot 
a  romantic  setting.  Parker  strolls 
with  the  violin,  evoking  moments 
of  Magyar  madness  as  Well  as  the 
easy  and  pleasant  items  adaptable 
from  the  Viennese  as  Well  as  the 
jops.  The  duo  gives  the  spot  a 
ot  of  color.  Jose,  i 


Latin  Quarter,  M.  B’eh 

Miami  Beach,  Dec;  27. 

.  Donn  Arden  production  of  “ Holi¬ 
day .  For  Love,”  with  Sue  Ctirson, 
Bernard  Bros.,  Queii  Clavijo,  Bob 
DeVoye  Trip,  Rudy  Cardenas,  Gina 
,Gerardi,  Martha  Errolle,  John  Ju- 
lianO,  Gene  Varrone,  Tony  Mack, 
Ray  Kyle;  Staged  by  Arden;  qrigU. 
nal  music  and  lyrics.  Pony  SJierrili, 
Phil  Moody;  costumes,  Fre  d  die 
Wittop;  musical  direction,  Walter 
lNye. 


With  ex-partner  Lou  Walters 
gone  to  his  own  spot  uprbeach, 
E.  M.  Loew  has  brought  in  Donn: 
Arden*  as.  producer  for  his  refur¬ 
bished  Palm  Island  landmark,  and 
obviously, ..he’s  handed  him  a.  hand¬ 
some  budget  for  initial  staging  un¬ 
der  the  new  regime.  Arden  has; 
come  through  in :  great  style.  His 
production  is  an  Opulent,  glittering 
affair  that  sustains  pace  and  imagi-. 
nation  in  group  concepts  through¬ 
put  the  90-odd  minutes  it  takes  up 
the  ceilihg-mirrored  new  stage  in¬ 
stalled.  The  solo  acts  around  which 
the  whole  is.  framed  are  all  worked 
in  smoothly*,  and  on  their  own  av¬ 
erage  out  as  show-stoppers  to 
heighten  overall  impact  bn  the 
audience;  Impression  is  left  that 
this  is  probably  the  best  show  seen 
in  this  room  in  several  seasons. 

The  Bob  DeVoye  Trio  initiate 
the  show-stops  with  •  their  fast, 
modern-adagio  routines;  Sue  Car- 
son  Whams  with  special  material 
tailored  to  her  “Wide-eyed  inno¬ 
cent”  approach  to  the  sly  lyric  and 
the  broad,  incisive  lampoons.  of  top 
singers  styles,  notably  Lena  Horne 
and  Pearl  Bailey;  ana  the  third  of 
the  topliner  three;  ,  the  Bernard 
Bros.,  are  back  after  a^couple  of 
years  to  again  big-hit  with  panto- 
biz  to  nutty  recording  mixups  that 
befit  their  flair  for  burlesquing 
their  platter  subjects.  The  heatfy 
mitting  is  on  a  continuous  rise. 

Credit  Arden’s  artful  stagings 
for  building  the  click  aura  via  his 
colorful  groupings,  and  clever  con¬ 
cepts  in  the  basic  book.  It’s  an  in¬ 
ternational  grabbag  to  allow ;  for 
addition  of  set-pieces  and  back-: 
grounds,  integral  parts  Of  the  pro¬ 
duction;  Tiny  Gina:  Gerardi  pro¬ 
vides  the  soubret  role  with  verve 
and  excitement;  Martha  Errpffe  is 
a  handsome  soprano  who  lends 
grace  to  her  numbers,  notably  in 
the  “La  Scala  Time”  operatic  in¬ 
sert  with  tenor  Gene  Varroiie. 
Rudy  Cardenas  and  his  fast  and 
furious  ball-and-hat  tricks  end  sock 
novelty;  Queti  Clavijo  raises  tabler 
cheers  with  her  expert  flamenco 
stomps  worked  out  on  a  tiny  drum 
as  stage.. 

The  line  arid  showgals  are  all 
lookers  who  handle  assignments  in 
assured,  effective  manner.  Arden’s 
Choreography  is  fluid  and  as  rioted, 
imaginative  arid  origirial  in  the 
patterning.  He  makes  excellent  use 
of  the  male  contingent,  both  in 
vocal  arid  dance  stuff,  to  stamp  the 
revue  as  one  of  the  best  in  town 
and  a  strong  lure  for  attracting  the 
patronage  to  the  island  location 
froiri  the  hotel-row  mainstem.  Wal¬ 
ter  Nye  rates  a  special  nod  for  his 
batoning,  a  chore  made  the  more 
difficult  by  use.  of  a  scrim'  to  sepa¬ 
rate  the  orch  from  the  production 
up  front .  The:  principals  remain 
until  mid-January,  When.  Milton 
Berle  and  company  arrive  for.  a 
six-week  stay.  Lary. 


Blue  Amgel,  If.  Y. 

Tom  Lehrer,  Felicia  Sanders, 
Dorothy  Loudon,  Elaine  May  A 
Mike:  Nichols,  '  Jimmy  Lyon  Trio, 
Bari  Howard;  $6  minimum. 

The  school  holidays  fill  a  gap  left 
by  Christmas  shopping  or.  pfe-New 
Year’s  .  Eve  doldrums  in  instances 
where  proper  attractions  have  been 
set.  In  the  case  of  the  Herbert 
Jacoby-Max  Gordon  operation,  fact 
that  Tom  Lehrer  is  on  the  bill  has 
brought  in  the  collegians  in  highly 
profitable  swarms.  Lehrer  came  to 
note  with  disking  of  an  album  of 
tunes  that  should  be  faves  of  the 
Jukes  family.  When  he  sings  about 
the  tender  joys  of.  poisoning 
pigeons  in  the  park,  or  the  stirring 
revival-type  tune  guaranteeing  that 
With  present  nuclear  weapons 
“We’ll  All  Go  Together,”  or  sings 
an  ode  to.  commercialism  of  the 
Christmas  holidays,  he  strikes  a 
responsive  note  in  the  youngsters 
and  elders  as  welL  No  doubt  some 
of  the  cerebrals  of  the  academic 
set  feel  the  same  way  he  does 
about  the  world  the  adults  set  up 
for  them,  arid  they  find  joy:  in  the 
fact  that  least  somebody  can  make 
light  of  it. 

Lehrer’s  humor  is  acerbic,  based 
on  topics  very  much  in  the  news 
and  founded  upon  realism.:  He’s  an 
annual  in  this  spot  around  .this 
time  of  year,  and  a  virtual  guarani 
tee  that  the  Blue  Angel  will,  fill  up. 
His  stature  as  a  performer  has  in¬ 
creased  during  his  periodic  visits 
here. 

The  rest  of  the  bill  is  equally 


sprightly.  Holdovers  Elaine  May 
&  Mike  Nichols  continue  .  to  firm 
up  their  hold  on  Blue  Angel  audi¬ 
ences*  blit  it  still  seems  like  al  spe¬ 
cialized  arid  precious  kind  of  hu¬ 
mor  whose  spark:  Of  life  Would  be 
destroyed  if  purveyed  before  mass 
audiences  on  the  slum  side  of  Park 
Ave. 

Others  have  been  here  previous¬ 
ly.  Felicia  Sanders  can  sing  sen¬ 
sitively  or  can  essay  a  comedy 
number  with  •  excellent ,  results. 
Dorothy  Loudon  can  also  extract 
the  maximuhi  humor  out  of  a  song 
arid  her  singing  essays  on  southern 
cookirig  and  other  assorted  sub¬ 
jects  make  for  an  eritertairiing 
semester.  The  backing  by  the  Jim¬ 
my  Lyon  Trio  arid  lifll  music  by 
Bart  Howard  are  other  plus  factors 
in  this  hospice,  Jose. 


Beverly  Hills,  Newport 

Newport,  Ky  ,  Dec.  27. 

Jack  E.  Leonard,  Trio  SHmeed, 
Tippy  &  'Cobiha,  Donn  Arden 
Dancers  (10)  with  Clay  Moridey, 
Roiiny  Mereh,  Ellie  Sta'.tin;  Gard¬ 
ner  Benedict  Orch  (10),  Jimmy 
Wilber  Trio,  Larry  Vincent;  $3 
minimum,  $4  Sat. 


A  merry  variety  blend  is  concoc¬ 
ted  for  Greater  Cincinnati  cafe 
society  during  the  holiday  fort- 
nighter  by  John  Croft,  impresario 
of  northern  Kentucky’s  ace  casino. 
Jack  E.  Leonard*  portly,  needling 
punster,  and  the  Tippy  &  Cobina 
irionkeyshineS  whip  up  gales  of 
laughter  arid  the  Swiss  Shmeeds 
supply  a  delightful  iritisical  novelty. 
The  highly  talented  Doriri  Arden 
ensemble,  with  Clay  Mondey  as 
•new  singing  emcee,  tops  off  two 
production  routines  with  a  candle¬ 
light  number  for  Noel  trim. 

This  is  Leonard’s  second  visit 
With  “New  Thin.  Fat  Man”  billing 
and  high-speed  delivery.  Barbs  at 
patrons  and  management  and  blue- 
plate  stag  spicingr  wind  through  bis 
half-hour  yockcycle. 

Mariuel  &  Marita  Viera’s  monks. 
Tippy  &  Cobiria,  are  up  to  their  old 
tricks  with  toggery  changes,  hike 
riding,  roller  skating,  piano  pound¬ 
ing,  organ  playing  and  imitations 
of  Durante,  Liberace,  et  aL  With 
them  this  trip  is  a  chimp,  Toto,  who 
is  heavy  on  name  takeoffs. 

.  The  Shmeeds,  chic  blonde  Claire 
and  her  brothers,  Willie  and  Wer¬ 
ner,  win  favor  in  an  18-minute  ses¬ 
sion  of  Alps  singing,  yodeling  and 
piano  and  daririet  capers  with 
dixieland  and  cha-cha  beats.  Show 
opening  Jan.  3  has  Patti  Moore  & 
Ben  Lessy,  arid  Eddie  Peabody. 

Koll 


ITof  elRadisHon,  Mpls. 

;  Minneapolis,  Dec.  28. 

Jana  Mason,  Don  McGrane  Orch 
(8);  $2.50-$3.50  minimum. 

Songstress .  .  Jana  Mason,  who 
clicked  when  she  recently  had  her 
Chance  at  uppercrust  bistro  show¬ 
casing  as  llth-hour  replacement 
for  the  ailing  Marie  McDonald  at 
New  York's  Persian  Room  and  who 
now  is- starting  to  reap  rewards  of 
that  success  in  tonier  supper  club 
bookings,  overcame  local  Flame 
Room  d  e  b  u  t  handicaps — and 
triumphantly. 

N  o  r  in  al  l  y  slim  night-after- 
Christmas  turnouts  for*  her  first 
two  shows  and  customers’  “show 
me”  attitude  toward  an  “unknown” 
newcomer  here  apparently  didn’t 
get  her  down,  in  the  least  and  she 
went  well  over  the  top  at  the  very 
outset.  ;  .  '  . 

It  shouldn’t  take  long  for  word- 
of-mouth  to  circulate  among  local 
cafe  society  that  in  the  ebullient 
Miss  Mason  the  intimate  class  sup¬ 
per  clubs  probably  have  a  real 
"discovery”  and  a  new  chantoosy 
who  seems  destined  to  take,  her 
place  with  their  Tegular  favorites. 
And  then;  it's  likely,  the  reserva¬ 
tions  will  pour,  in. 

The  petite  Miss  Mason  is  favored 
with  an  eye-filling  face  and  figure 
and  youth,  as. well  as  comedic  and 
dramatic  vocal  talents.  At  the  sup¬ 
per  show  she  immediately  arrested 
her  small  audiences  attention  in 
her  stunning  tight  fit,  low  cut  red 
gown  to  set  off  her  striking  physi¬ 
cal  attributes  admirably.  She  then 
wrapped  up  dffairs  with  a  lively, 
infectious  performance  notable  for 
its  good  humor;  exuberance,  vital¬ 
ity  and  explosiveness. 

Miss  Mason  also  has  the  advan¬ 
tage  of  smart  routining  of  not  too 
familiar  but  surefire,  numbers  that 
fit  her.  capabilities,  nicely  and  that 
are  made  distinctive  by  original 
arrangements  or  material.  Gestures 
and  movements  impart  production 
values  to  the  sorigalog.  Best  at 
ribrtickling  satiric  thrashing :  and 
belting  out  hot  numbers,  She  also 
handles  soft  stuff  effectively. 

As  always,  Don  McGuire’s  orch 
gives  the  performer  a  big  lift  arid 
supplies  plenty  of  entertainment 
on  its  own.  Miss  Mason  stays 
through  Jan.  8,  with  next  attrao 
tion  not  booked  at  this  writing. 

Rees. 


Deauville?  Miami  Beach 

Miami  Beach,  Dec.  29, 
Leon  LeonxdofJ  production  of 
•‘Pink  Champagne”  with'  The 
Goofets,  Steve  Gibson  &  Redcaps 
with  Danuta  Jo,  Le  Cinq  Peres, 
Janik  A  Amaut,  Eileen  O’Dare, 
CaracollUo  A  Maria  Rosa,  Mat  Mat¬ 
tox,  Cover  Girls  (8),  Danoe  Ensem¬ 
ble  *  (10);  choreography.  Rod 
Alexander,  Mat  Mattox;  costumes, 
Billy  Livingston  A  Guy  Kent;  sets,. 
Richard a  Rychtarik  and  Filmart 
Murals;  special  songs,  Al  Stillman 
A.  Bob  Allen;  musical  director,  Tito 
Puente,  with  Carmen  Cappola  con¬ 
ducting;  $ 5-$7.50  minimum. 


Leon  Leonidoffs  .first  attempt 
at  producing  a  revue  for  a  nitery 
here  is  a  dazzling  visual  staging 
that  suffers  from  bad  casting.  The 
new  Deauville’s  owners  have  gone 
allout  in  giving  Leonidoff  all 
the  extra  lighting,  specially  oper¬ 
ated  curtains  —  steam  included 
-hydraulic-lift  side-balconies  and 
irioving  walks  and  screens  he  asked 
for.  It’s  a  “first”  for  hotel-row  in 
provision  for  fullscale  shows,  even 
unto  flyers-^an  unheard  of  inm> 
vatiori  in  these  parts.  The 
choreography  by  Rod  Alexander 
and  Mat  Mattox,  latter  also  a  solid 
element  in  the  song-dance  leads 
for  the  group  numbers— has  flair 
and  imagination;  the  “Cover  Girls” 
add  beauty  to  the  pic  as  well  as 
being .  utilized  in  a  clever  manner 
with  .  the  dance  groups  to  leave  the 
impression  that  they  can  hoof  a 
bit  as  welL 

Rosemary  O’Reilly  is  a  tall,  eye¬ 
filling  lead  singer  and  scores  hand¬ 
ily;  ditto  the  whirlwind  spins  and 
butterfly  flips  of  Eileen  O’Dare. 
Other  plusses  are  Janik  &  Arnaut  > 
with  their  patented  snake  dance  in 
a  stunning  “Garden  of  Eden”  set¬ 
ting  enhanced  by  full  use  of  tricky 
lighting.  Imports  from  Madrid, 
Caracoliilo  &  Maria  Rosa  are  clicks 
with  their  native  and  flamenco 
dances,  a  seeming  must  for  pro¬ 
duction-minded  cafes  this  season; 

The  odd  features  in  the  plush 
production,  and  jarring  after  the* 
more  pacific  passages,  are  the 
Goofers  and  Steve  Gibson's  Red¬ 
caps.  The  Goofers,  with  their  fast 
instrumental-filled  turn  iri  which 
they  clown,  sing,  play  while  on 
pogo  sticks  and  swinging  in  the 
air,  are.  miscast.  Credit  them  with 
punching  away  until  the  aud  be¬ 
gins  hitting  the  palms  route.  The 
Redcaps  are  more  of  a  lounge  act 
(they  double  into  the  hotel's  all- 
night  Musketeer  Room)  than  for  a 
big  revue  spot.  Damita  Jo’s  solid 
thrashing  is  the  big  saver  for  them, 
the  rest  of  the  melange  hurt  by  the 
“comic”  member’s  swish  touches, 
unnecessary  and  detracting  from 
the  class  touch,  of  the  rest  of  the 
show.  Another  import:  Les  Cinq 
Peres  (see  New  Acts),  are  the 
weakest  cog  and  coming  in  fore¬ 
part  of  the  proceedings,  negate 
the;  impact  made  by;  a  brilliantly 
staged  opening  in  which  the  hotel’s 
closed-circuit  television  system  is 
utilized,  to  bring  the  cast  on  from 
lobby  through  the  club  to  'a  zingy 
musical  backgrounding  arid  onstage 
screen  preview. 

"  There’ll  obviously  be  somO 
changes  made,  with  the  bugs 
ironed -out;  for  an  expensive  pro¬ 
duction  with  all  the  . new  trappings, 
and  innovations,  the  big  click  spark 
is;  somehow,  missing.  Lary. 


Hotel  MueUebaefi*  K.  C. 

Kansas  City,  Dec.  23.* 
Billy  Albert  A  Ardirey  Sisters 
(2),  Guili  Guilt,  Ken  Harris  Orch 
(8)  with  Lorraine  Daly;  $1-31.50 
Cover. 


.  Billy  Albert  .&  Molly  and  Sally 
Ardrey  are  back  in  the  Terrace 
Grill  for  the  second  time  in  six 
months,  and  prove  to  be  as 
fresh  and  sprightly  as  on  their 
first  time  around  last  summer.  The 
format  is  the  same  with  the  two 
dolls  dancing  arid  singing  around 
Albert,  ,  who  warbles  and  strums 
his  guitar  arid  who  adds  a  terp  or 
two.  They  make  up  a  neat  musical 
comedy  package  presented  in  a 
lively  35  minutes,  their  variety  in¬ 
cluding  an  original  intro,  a  cha  eha, 
a  medley;  from  -My  Fair  Lady,” 
and  four  :or  five  special  song  & 
dance  sequences.  One  of  these  to  ; 
“Write  Myself  a.  Letter”  is  new  and 
especially  effective,  the  sisters 
going  in  for  a  sitdown  dance  with  , 
their  taps  imitating  a  typewriter. 
The  kids  are  goodlooking,  turn  is 
well  paced  and  expertly  done, 
handsomely  costumed  and  gets  a 
deserved  hand  all  the  way; 

The  hotel  has  an  unusual  policy 
switch^  in  holding  over  magico 
Guili  Guili,  a  very  seldom  occur¬ 
rence  here.  As  before,  his  tricks 
are  good,  his  accent  thick  and  his 
presentation  corny,  but  evidently 
crowd  pleasing.  Seems  incongruous 
that  he  should  follow  the  flashy 
musical  comedy  ast,  but  that’s  the 
way  the  hotel  is  doing  it  this  ses¬ 
sion.  Next  In  will  be  the  Four 
Coins,  opening  Jan.  3.  Quin. 


so 


PAKlhTt 


Wednesday,  Jimnary  lt  1958 


VARIETY  BILLS 


WEEK  OF  JANUARY  1 


Numerals  In  connection  witft  bills  below  InOlcato  opening  day  of  show 
whothor  full  or  split  week 

Letter,  in  parentheses  Indicates  circuit;  <l>  Independent;  <U  Loew;  (M)  Moss; 
<P>  Paramount;  <R)  RKO;  <S>  itoll;  <T)  Tivoli;  (W>  Warner 


new  york  city* 


Music  Hall  (P)  1 
Marvin  Worden 
Marjorie  Smith 
Adriano  Vitale 
Half  Bros. 

Rom  Bryun 
Eileen  O’Dare 
-Bryan  William 
Wm.  Upshaw 


Rockettea 

Raymond  Paige  Ore 

Roxy  1 . 

Winged  Victory 
Chorus 
Diane  Corby 
Skating  Squires 
Roxyette* 

Roxy  Orch 


AUSTRALIA 


MELBOURNE 
Tivoli  (T)  4 
Larry  Griswold 
Eagle  A  Man 
Johnny  Lockwood. 
A  Robins 
Rayes  Ac  Faye  ; 
RJgoletto  Bros.  Sc  A 
Anny  Berryer 
Medldck  &  Marlowe 
Winnetou  Sc  Squaw 
jihuny  Parkinson 
Barton  Sc  Stutch- 
berry 

Edit  Juhasz 
Frank  Ward 


SYDNEY 
Tivoli  (T)  C 
Shirley  Bassey 
Archie  Robbins 
Margo 
Lill  Berde 
Christine  &  Moll 
Neal  Sc  Newton 
Easton  Harmonica  3 
i  Jimmy  Jeff 
Biistei  Fiddess 
Darryl  Stewart 
Johnny  O’Connor 
Alwyn  LecMe 
Rae  Morgan 
i  Reg  Priestman 
Norman  Thorpe 


BRITAIN 


LONDON 
Metropolitan  (I) 
Albert  Whelan 
Dido  Henderson 
Hershel  Henlere 
Marie  Lloyd 
Jill  Jayes 
Ida  Barr 
Scotch  Kelly 
Nat  Travers 
Peggy  Maude 
J  Sc  S  Lamonte 
t  Matanzas 
Aerial  Kenways  _ 
SHREWSBURY 
Ossie  Noble 
Lana  -Sis 


4.Furre*  ... 
Gaydon  Sc  Westlake 
2  Silvas. 

!  SOUTHAMPTON 

Pauline  Penny 
Barry  Piddock 
Holloway  Sc  Pat 
Annette  Sc  Noel 
WOOLWICH 
Terry  Dene 
i  Chas  McDevitt 
Shirley  Douglas 
Willie  Harris 
Les  Hobeaux. 

Zom  „ 

Kennedy  Co. 
Worried  Men  Grp. 


NEW  YORK  CITY 


Ben  Sotr ' 
Kaye  Ballard 
Tony  Sc  Eddie 
Charles  Manna 
Three  Flames 
Jimmie  -Daniels 
Blue  Angol 
Tom  Lehrer 
Dorothy  .  Loudon 
Felicia  Sanders 
Mike  Nichols 
Elaine  May 
jimmy  Lyon  -Trio 
Casanova 
Virginia  Craig 
Chateau  Madrid 
Lucy  Fabery 
Goyo  Reyes  Ac 
Pepita 

Eddie  G  arson 
Ralph  Font  Ore 
El  Canay  . 

Candi  Cortez 
eopacatcana 
Louis  Armstrong 
Paul  Gilbert 
.  Holly  Twins 
Cindy  Tyson 
fbmmy  Devens 
Peggy  Womack 
Michael  DUrso  Grc 
Frank  Marti  Ore. 
Downstairs  Room 
Julius  Monk 
Ronny  Graham 
Ceil  Cabot 
Ellen  Hanley . 

Jenny  Lou  Law 
Gerry  Matthews 
Stan  Keen 
Gordon  Connell 
Hubbell  Pierce 
Lovey  Powell 
Warren  Vaughn 
Brooks  -  Morton 
El  Chico 
Marlsa  Terol. 
Lucerite  Tens 
Carlos  Sc  Myrna 
MeUltas  Del  Campo 
No.  1  Fifth  Avo 
Bob  Downey 
Harold  Fonville 
Joan  Bishop 
Hotel  Pierre 
Stanley  Melba  Ore 
Joe  Ricardel  Ore 
Rosalynda  St.  John 
Hotel  Plaza 
Carol  Channing 
Ted  Straeter  Oro 


Mark  Monte  Ore 
Hotel  Roosevelt 
Guy  Lombardo  Ore 
Hotel  Statler.. 
Les  Ac  Larry  Elgart 
Hotel  Taft 
Vincent  Lopez  Ore 
Hotel  St.  Regis 
Julie  Wilson 
Marshall  Grant  3 
Milt  Shaw  Oro 
Hay  Bari  Ore 
Latin  Quarter 
Betty  George 
Marilyn  Ross 
Happy  Jesters 
Boh  Kennedy 
Syncopated  Water* 
Jo  Lombardi  Oro 
B  Harlowe  Ore 
Le  Cupldon 
Monica  Boyar 
Old.Romanlan 
Lillian  Rayes 
Gould  Sc  Young 
McKenna  Line 
Show  Place 
Karen  Anders 
Barbara  Sbarma 
Wm.  Graham 
Kenneth  McMirieni 
Wm.  Nix 
Natalie  Charlson 
'..  Town  A  Country 
Johnnie  Ray 
Jean  Carroll 
Terrace  Ac.  Gray 
Buster  Burnell 
Ned  Harvey  Ore 
Slcarls  Ore 
Viennese  Lantern 
Vicky  Autler 
Jose  Duyal 
Ernest  -Schoen  Ore 
Paul  Mann 

Village  Barn 
Ralph  Michaels 
Snsan  Brady 
Zeb  Carver 
Ed  Smith 
Piute  Pete  ■ 
Bobby  Meyers  Ore 
Village  Vanguaro 

Bllli  T-irHn 
Orson  Bean 
Lee  Komtz 
Beverly  Kenny 
Waldorf-Astoria 
Guylalne  Guy 
Dornah  Bros. 
emii  Coleman  Ore 
Bela  Bahai  Ore 


CHICAGO 


Black  Orchid  I 

Lenny  Kent 
Trudy  Richards  | 

Joe.  Parnello  (Si 
iue  .  Angel 
••Calypso  Extrava¬ 
ganza" 

Princess  Abllla  Ac. 

King  Christian 
Lord  Christo 
Lord  Rafael  . 
Candelas  Trio 
Roger  McCall 
Blua  Note 
Duke  Ellington 
Chez  Paree 
Sam  Levenson 
Four  Lads. 

Chez  Adorables  6 
Ted  Eio  Rito  Ore 
Cloister  Inn 
Pat  Moran  (4) 
Ramsey  Lewis  Trio 
Concad  Hilton 
••Big  Top" 

Glenn  &  Coleen 

Menchassys 

Luparescos 


Holiday 

Roberta  Linn 
Dominique 
Hal  McIntyre  Ore 
Harolds  Club 
Carmen  Cavallaro 
Don,  Dick  *n*  Jim’y 
Patsy  Shaw 

Harrah's 

Jig  Adams  Dixie- ; 
land 

Marcia  Knight 
Misters  4 
Pro’s  Ac  Connie  4 
Denis  Ac  Rogers 
Mapos  Skvroom 
Marie  ¥£ilson 
Jay  Lawrence 


Desert  tnn 
Betty  Grable 
Dave  Barry 
Donn  Arden  Dncrs 
Carlton  Hayes  Ore. 
Dunes. 

"Minsky's  Treats 
of  Paris’* 

Carrie  Fiimell 
Chiquita  .Ac  -Johnson 
Tana  Leigh 
Lisa  London ... 
Francis  Brunn 
Deon  Robb 
Joe  De  Rita 
Irv  Benson 
Tommy  Raft 
Murray  Briscoe  . 
Garwood  Van  .Ore 
El  Cortez 
’Rhythm  on  Ice" 
George  Arnold 
Buster  Hallett  Ore 
El  Rancho  Vega* 
Joe  E.  Lewis 
Eyde  Gorme  . 

Dick  Rice  Orch 
Flamingo. 
Bobby  Van  . 

Judy-  Garland 
Flamingoettes  -. 
Jack  Cathcart  Ore 
Froment  Hotel 
Nitecaps 
Make  Believes 
The  Victors 
The  Castles  . 

Golden.  Nugget 
Hank  Penny 
Sue  Thompson 
Woodsons 
L  Ac  F-  Maynard 
Riviera 

Harry  Belafonta 


Paul  Castle 
Darlene  Sellik 
Jo  Ann  McGowan 
Fred  Napier 
Adrian  Swan 
Norman  Crider 
Tune  Tattlers  4 
Charlie  .Fisk  Ore 
Drake  Hotel 
Trade  Adams 
jimmy  Blade  Ore 
Gate  of  Horn 
Josh .  White 
Sam  Gary 
Elly  Stone - 
Paul  Clayton 
Jo  Mapes  - 
London  House 
Dorothy  Donegan 
Mister  Kelly's 
Mort  Sahl 
Teddi  King 
Marty  Rubensteln  h. 

Palmer  House 
Jaye  P.  Morgan 
Morgan  Bros.  4 
Kovachs  Ac  Kahov¬ 
sky 

Ben  Arden  Ore 


LOS  ANGELES 


Ciro's 

Amin  Bros..  (2) 
Bonaires  (4) 

Gen  Galian  Ore 
Coconut  Grovo 
Bob  Crosby 
Modernaires 
« F.  Martin.  Ore 
Crescendo 
Mel  Torme  ' 

Billy  Barnes  Revue 
Dave  Pen  Octet 
Interlude 
Frances  Faye 


Shelly .  Manne  Ore 

Large 

Arthui  L.  Simpkins 


Peggy  King 
Paul  Hebert  Ore 
Moulin  Rouge 
Billy  Daniels 
Statler  Hotel 
Fran  Warren 
Ed.  Bergman  Ore 


RENO 


Ben  Yost  Royal 
Guards.  4  : 

Nico 

Ed  Fitzpatrick  Ore 


Eastman  3 
Genie  Stone 
Charlita 
Billy  Regis  Ore 
.  Riverside 
Jimmy  Durante 
Eddie  Jackson 
Sonny  King 
Jack  Roth 
Jules  Ruffano 
Beverly  Richards: 
Starlets 

Bin  Clifford  Oro 


LAS  VEGAS 

Royal  Npvada 


Dukes  of  Dixieland 
Eddie  Bush  Sc 

Hawaiian* 

■  Sahara 

Betty  Hutton. 

Cee  Davidson  -  Ore 
Mary  Kaye  Trio 
.Sands 

Sammy  Davis  Jr. 
Rowan  Sc  Martin 
Copa  Girls 
Antonio  Horelli  Ore 
. .  San  Soucl 
Joe  E.  Ross 
Jennie  Lee 
Mabel'  Rea 
San  Soucl  Dancers 
Hoyt  Henry  Ore 
Showboat 
Terri  O’Mason 
Carol  King 
Garr  Nelson 
Showboat  Girls 
Vic  Artese  Ore 
.  Silvar  Slipper 
Hank  Henry 
Kuldip  Singe 
Joey  Cowan 
Patti  Waggib 
Annie  Maloney  -. 
Jimmy  Shaw 
Jimmy  Cavanaugh: 
Sparky  Kaye 
Mac  Dennison 
Geo.  Redmian  Orie 


Guy-Scalise  . 

Tropicana 
Dorothy  Kirsten 
Dick  Shawn 
Neile  Adams 
Nat  Brandywynne 


MIAMI-MIAMI  BEACH 


Americana 
Victor  Borge : 

Jackie  Heller 
Lee  Martin  Ore 
Maya  Orc- 

AValen 
Crew  Cuts 
Bobby  Dukoff  Ore 
Anita  Boyar 
Red  .  Smith  3 
Balmoral 
Charlie.  Farrell 
Rosina  Aston 
Sonny  Kendis  Ore 
Tana  Lena 

Carillion 

Andrews  Sister# 
Harvey  Stone 
Johnny  Conrad 
Dancers 

Jaques  Donnet  Ore 
Cafe  De  Pari* 
Senor  Wences 
The  Szonys. 

Nejla  Ate* 

DanieUe  LaMar 
Choppy  Ac  Models 
Billy  Fellows 
Jet  MacDonald 
Dick  EStes 
Ilona  Nagy 
Chidde  James 
Doug  Scott 
Croft  Twins 
Ruth  Wallis 
Lyda  Fairbanks 
Freddie  Bell  Bell- 
bops 

Cotton  Club 
Cab  Calloway  ' 

Step  Bros. 

Paul,  Mears .  St 
LaRalne 
Slappy  White 
Jimmy  Randolph 
Mari  Leighton 
Hinei  Bros. 

Norma  Miller  Dncrs 
Tune-Drops 
Ed  Barefield  Oro 
Deauville.. 
Leonidoff  Revue 
Janlk  Ac  Arnaiit 
Les  Cinq  Peres 
Steve  Gibson.  Red¬ 
caps  ' 

Damita  Jo 
The  Goofers 
Rosemarie  O’Reilly. 
Caracolilo  A  Marla- 
Rosa , 

Cover  Girls  (18) 
Tito  Puente  Ore 
Monte  Franklin  3 
Di  Lido 
Bea  Kalmus 
Bobby  Escoto 
Bernie  Sager 
Caney  Ore 

Eden  Roe 
Billy.  Daniels 
Myron  Cohen 
Mata  Sc  Hari 
Mai  Malkin  Ore  . 
Sonny.  Kendis  Ore 


Louis  Varona  Ore 
Empress 
Sallie  Blair 
Collins  Sc  Graham 
Stan  Loman 
Hal  Edward*  Ora 
Fontainebleau 
Gordon  MacCrao 
Augie  A  Margo 
Sacasas  Ore 
Pupi  Campo  .  Ore 
Latin  Quarter 
Sue  Carson. 

Bernard  Bros. 

Bob  DeVoye  Trio 
Rudy  Cardenas 
Quito  Clayero 
Gina  Guardi 
Martha  Errole 
Walter  Nye  Ore 
Lucerne 

Havana  Mardl  Gras 
Diosa  Costello 
Milos  Velarde 
Don  Casino 
Tonla  Flores 
Tony  A  Francella 
Juan  Romero 
•David  Tyler  Oro 
Luis  Varona  Ore 
Malayan 

Pete  Petersen  3 
Bhama 

Calypso.  Revue 
Murray  Franklin'S 
Terry  Haven 
Dick  HavWand 
Roy  Sedley 
Linda  Bishop 
Sue  Lawton 
Eddie  Bernard 
Nautilus 
Napoleon  Reed 
Carlos  A  Yvonne 
6yd  Stanley  Ore 
Riot  Room 
Don  Rickie* 

June  Perry 
Bobby  Sherwood  3 
sans  Soucl 
Mickey  Katz 
Dick  Hall 
Freddy  Calo  Ore 
Saxony 
Weela  Gallez 
Charles  A  Faye 
Henry .  Levene-  Ore 
Jimmy  Grippo 
Fred  Thompson 
Tommy  Angel 
sevine 
Dave  Fisher 
Benitez  Sis 
Bob  Sennett 
Muni  A  Ruth 
Johnny  Silvers  Ore 
Rey  Mambo  Ore 
.  Shelbern* 
Vagabonds 
Arlene  Fontana 
Capplellos 
Leonard  Young 
Len  Dawson  Ore 
Lord  Flea  Calypso 


HAVANA 


Capri 

Ethel  Martin 
Teal  Joy 
Dick  Curry 

Nacional 
Yma  Sumac 
Ray  Carson 
Maria  Magdalena' 
Parisien  Dncrs 
Dancing  Waters 
W.  Reyes  Ore. 

Riviera 
Jean  Fenn 
Jack  Cole 
Anita  Ellis 
Tybee  Afra 

Sans  Soucl 
Alan  Dean 


Gloria  A  Roland* 
Rolando  La  Serib 
Victor  Alverez 
Miriam'  Barrera* 
La  Serie  Ore 
Ortega  Ore 
.  •  Tropicana 

Erlinda  Cortes 
Alberto  Rochi:. 
Blanca  Varela: 
Gladys  A  Freddy 
Riveros 
Guaracheros 
Monica  Castel 
Tropicana.  Ballet 
S  Suarea  Orq 
\  Romeu  Orq 


LAKE  TAHOE 


.  Harrah's 
Jan  Stewart  3 
Penthouse  Three 
Joyce  Collins  3 
Marcia.. A  glister*  3 


Reno  Rene  3 
Wagon-  Wheel 
Nick  Esposito.  4 
Mllane  4 
Bud  .  Cheek  A 
Townsmen 


Pails  Niieries 

Continued  from  page  'I  'sss 
need  plenty  of  mileage  before  they 
•can  be  properly  pegged  as  coining 
show  biz  possibilities. 

On  the  Left  bank,  the  miniscule 
offbeaters  beginning  to  draw  are 
L’Echelle  De  Jacob,  Galerie  55, 
L’Ecluse,  Port  Du  Salut,  and  Col¬ 
lege  Inn.  Their  main  pegs  are- 
rising  singers.  Worthy  of  note  are 
Claude  Carrere,  Joel  Holmes,  Pi¬ 
erre  Perret,  Paul  Braffort,  Lucette 
BaiUat,  Bernard  Montangero. 

Carrere  is  a  dynamic,  direct  sin¬ 
ger  who  gets  his  effects  with 
smart  self-cleffed  ditties  which 
seem  to  sum  up  the  new  perfor¬ 
mer’s  attitude  towards  making  it 
sans  ,  the  black  pessimism  of  his 
predecessors,  with  a  moralistic 
tinge  to  his  outlook  nevertheless. 
Holmes  is  an .  optimistic,  belting 
singer,  who  looks  headed  for  big¬ 
ger  things.  Perret  has  some  good 
anarchic  material  but  unfortunate¬ 
ly  sounds  too  Riuch  like  the  un¬ 
conventional  song  star  Georges 
Brassens. 

Braffort  applies  technology  to 
sentiments  for:  an  offbeat  stint  that 
looks  to  become  a  specialized  sta¬ 
ple  entry.  Miss  Raillat  displays 
a  temperament  and  feeling  for  hu¬ 
man  foibles  sans  sentimentality,  a 
fact  which  should  be  putting  her 
into  a  star  status  soon.  Montan- 
gerq  Idols  to  develop  into  a  unique 
balladeer  with,  a  mixture  of  insight 
and  gentle  melancholy,  plus  good 
voice  and  presence. 

Meanwhile,  many  plush  boites 
are  shelling  out  big  money  for 
names.  The  advent  and  renais¬ 
sance  of  the  music  hall,  plus  the 
growth  of  disk  importance,  have 
skyrocketed  their  costs.  These 
niteries  are  taking  a  chance  on 
name  values  in  spite  of  fluctuating 
biz.  Drap  D’Or  has  the  smart 
mime-sOng  quartet  Les  Freres  Jac¬ 
ques;  Villa  D’Este,  the  bombastic 
belter  Dario  Moreno;  Le  Carroll’s, 
the  sultry,  . big-voiced  Dany  Dauber- 
son,  and  Suily’s  has  the  top  video 
pantomime  comic,  Fernand  Ray¬ 
naud, 

So  the  local  nitery  picture  is  not 
quite  in  sharp  fociis.  It  will 
depend  on  Parisian  fad:  conscious¬ 
ness,  as  well  as  the  pub  and  word- 
of-mouth  that  might  grow  from  it 
to  set  off  these  small  clubs  as  spe¬ 
cialized  spots,  a  la  the  Existential¬ 
ist  phase  right  after*  the  war. 
Meanwhile,  it  is  the  regulars  who 
get  those  living  by  night,  but  new 
talent  is  incubating  in  the  smaller 
hoites. 


Ti’ap’  Stormlrooper 

5SSSS  CoiitlRued  from  page  1 

was  devoted  in  large  part  to  Mayor 
Reinefarth.  It  turned  out  that  the 
mayor  had- been  a  high  officer  in 
the.  Hitler  Elite  Guard  and  a  gen¬ 
eral  of  police.  He  had  also  been 
in  charge  of  an  area  in  occupied 
Poland,  a  country  where  the  S.  S. 
(Elite  Guard)  was  guilty  of  wide¬ 
spread  murder  and  atrocities. 

The  film  presented  a  few  shots 
of  Sylt,  then  went  on  to  concen¬ 
trate  on  Reinefarth,  which  it  de¬ 
scribed  as; -“murderer  of  thousands 
of  Poles.”  The  picture,  apparent¬ 
ly  made  by  the  DEFA  (the  East 
German  production  monopoly),  was 
shown  both  in  the  East  zone  ther 
atres  and  on  tv. 

Shots  of  the- mayor  were  inter¬ 
laced  with  footage  showing  bodies 
dangling  from  gallows,  Jews  being 
deported,*  rows  of  executed  Poles, 
etc.  It  also:  presented  photostatic 
copies  purported  to  be  orders 
signed  by  Reinefarth.  However, 
comments  Der  Spiegel,  “the  com¬ 
mentary  in  the  film  establishes 
only  very  tentatively  the  connec¬ 
tion  between.  Reinefarth  and  the 
executions  and  deportations.” 

Der  Spiegel  quotes  Reinefarth  to 
the  effect  that  he  wasn’t  the  type 
of  fellow  .  the  East  Germans 
tried  to:  make  him  appear;  and  any¬ 
way,  complains  Herr  Mayor,  the 
DEFA  short  doesn’t  mention  that 
he  Was  cleared  of  all  guilt  by  a 
West  German  denazification  court. 

The  22-minute  documentary  is 
the  work  of  an  East  German 
couple,  Annelie .  arid  Andrew 
Thorndike,  the  latter  the  son  of 
a  former  UFA  executive.  They’ve 
been  cataloging  several  million 
feet  of  newsreel  and  other  footage, 
all  shot  by  the  Nazis,  With  typical 
German,  thoroughness,  the  S.  S. 
made  a  pictorial  record  even  of 
some  of  its  worst  atrocities  and 
mass  executions. 

According  to .  .Der  Spiegel,  the 


East  German  pair  plans  to  follow 
with  more  of  the  same  In  a  serie 
entitled  “The  Archives  Speak.' 
Their  aim  is  said  to  be  to 
“what  people  who  were  f 
Hitler,  but  who  never  got 
publicity,  are  doing  today.” 

Der  Spiegel  itself  contrib¬ 
utes  something  to  this  partic¬ 
ular  goal.  Under  the  heading 
“Crime”  and  the  subheading 
Murderers  Are  Among  Us,”  it 
lates  the  start*  of  a  trial  of  — 
men  who,  in  the  evening  of  March 
21,  1945,  murdered  a  group  of 
slave  laborers*  including  14  men, 
56  women  and  a  child,  “on  orders 
from  above.”  Der  Spiegel  details 
what  the  accused  are  doing  today 
(all  have  good  jobs)  and  how  they 
happened  to  pick  their  victims, 
They  told  the  laborers  that  those 
who  volunteered  would  go  to  a  new 
and  better  camp.  The  71  adults 
and  the  one  child  Who  agreed  to 
eo  were  taken  out  and  massacred. 


.j  show 
around 
much 


“The 
t  re- 
six 


Jayne  in  Tokyo 

Continued  from  pace  2  = 
the  kind  Of  thing  I  want  to  do  ...  . 
things  like  Deborah  Kerr  and  Dor¬ 
othy  Malone  play.  I'd  like  to  leave 
the  ultra-sexy  roles  to  Other  peo¬ 
ple.  You  don’t  have  to  expose 
yourself  to  make  people  realize 
that  you’re  girl.” 

Speaking  about  some  publicity 
she  didn’t  seek.  Miss  Mansfield 
explained  the  circumstances  of  the 
now-famous  Sophia  Loren  Holly¬ 
wood  reception  where  she  alleged¬ 
ly  leaned  forward  and  an  alert  INP 
photog  caught  her  in  a  pose  that 
left  her  virtually  undraped  from 
the  waist  up. 

Miss  Mansfield  stipulated  that 
the  scene  was  not  pre-arranged 
and  that  she  did  not  bend  over, 
but  was  pushed  into  the  picture 
by  the  overzealous  press  party. 
Then,  as  she  described  the  inci¬ 
dent,  “The  dress  did  not  behave 
like  it  did  when  I  was  standing 
straight.” 

Elaborating  on  her  desire- to  de- 
emphasize  her  bosom  emphasis, 
she  revealed,  “I  always  wanted  to 
be  petite.  I  wanted  to  be  five 
feet  tall  and  eighty  pounds  and 
straight  as.  a  stick.  And  look  at 
me  now.” 

:  Reviewing  her  prominent  circum¬ 
stance,  She  continued,  “1  didn’t 
want  to  be  ,  conspicuous.  I  just: 
wanted  to  sit  on  the  sidelines  and 
watch.  But  since  I  was  about  11, 
when  I  walked  outside  well, 
everyone  would  just  W  express 
themselves,"  she  said  after,  grasp¬ 
ing  for  a  descriptive  phrase. 

Mirror  Noted  The  Difference 

“I  never  noticed  that  I  had  a. 
large  bosom: until  I  looked  into  the 
mirror  and  said  maybe  I  do,”  she 
added. 

Since  that  fateful  moment  of 
truth,  Miss  Mansfield  has  grace¬ 
fully  made  the  adjustment  to  the 
statistical  fact  that  she  is  “differ¬ 
ent.” 

Asked  if  she  feels  those,  women 
are  justified  in  nursing  fears  from; 
having  been  short-changed  by  na¬ 
ture,  Miss  Mansfield  stated,  “Of 
course  not.  Bosoms  are  not  very 
important.  What’s  important  is 
what’s  inside.  My  idea  of  an  ideal 
woman  is  one  of  extreme  femininity 
who  comprises  all  the  qualities  of 
i  good  person — goodness,  fidelity, 
and  spirituality.'- 


Belated  Smashes 

—  Continued  from  pat*  1 
is  a  prospect  to  be  the  first  producer 
in  Critics  Circle  history  to  cop 
both  the  best-play  and  best-musical 
citations  for  a  single  season.  Also, 
Roger  L.  Stevens  could  score  a 
somewhat  similar  parlaly  in;  the 
best-musical  and  best-foreign-play 
categories  if  “West  Side  Story” 
and  “Time  Remembered”  were  to 
be  named. 

In  any  case,  this  has  turned  out 
to  be  a  bonanza  season  for  Bloom- 
garden — the  first  in  his  career. 
With  “Music  Man”  figured  to  make 
about  $20,000  weekly  profit  and 
“Look  Horileward,  Angel”  likely  to 
earn  about  $12,000  additional,  he’ll 
make  a  financial  cleanup.  He’s  un¬ 
derstood  to  have  given  out  only 
moderate  slices  of  the  two  shows 
to  his  respective  associates'.  Thea¬ 
tre  200  (Edward  Spector)  on  “An¬ 
ger.’,  and  Herbert  Greene  and  Frank 
Productions  (Frank  Loesser)  on 
“Music  Man.” 

Bloomgarden  has  previously  had 
smash  hits,  including  “Death  of  a 
Salesman”  and  “Most  Happy  Fel¬ 
la/’  in  particular,  but  they  were 
either  not  of  the  same  profit-mak¬ 
ing  potential  or  were  too  much  cut 
up  in  the  management  end  for  him 
to  make  a  killing. 


At  Half-Staff 

Continued  from  pace  J  ssa 

relations  and  the  cessation  of  “The 
Distributor," '  the  company’s  sales 
house  organ,  Mike  Simons,  who 
handled  exhibitor  relations  and 
edited  “The  Distributor,”  has  been 
dropped.  Elimination  of  Simons' 
entirq  department  is  seen  as  sav¬ 
ing  the  company  $100,000  annu¬ 
ally. 

More  to  Come 

The  lopoffs  In  the;  sales  depart¬ 
ment  is  expected  to  spread  to  the 
field  where  assistant  branch  and 
assistants  to  the  districts  sales 
chiefs  will  be  pinkslipped,  In  the 
homeoffice  operation,  the  Only 
sistant  sales  executives  to  reinaih 
will  be  Leonard,  Hirsch,.  assistant 
to:  eastern  sales  chief  Burtus  Bish¬ 
op  Jr.,,  and  Irving  Helfont,  as¬ 
sistant  to  western  sales  chief  Rob¬ 
ert  Mochrie. 

Another  homeoffice  department 
that  will  be  hard:  hit  by  the  econ¬ 
omy  Wave  Will  be  the  publicity- 
advertising  department.  This  unit 
of  the  company  will  be  cut  in  half 
from  About  50  staffers  to  about  25. 
It’s  expected  that  the  company  will 
settle  its  contract  With  Howard 
Dietz,  pub-ad  v.p.  who  has  been 
receiving  $100,000  annually.  Dietz, 
a  veteran  of  the  Loew’s  organiza¬ 
tion,  hhs  been  a  particular  target 
Of:  Joseph  Tomlinson,  the  Canadian 
industrialist  Who  has  challenged 
the  Loew’s  management.  Tbrnlin- 
son  might,  press  for  a  final  settle¬ 
ment  with  Dietz,  otherwise  it’s  ex¬ 
pected  that  he  will  go  on  half  sal¬ 
ary  as  a  consultant  for  the  four, 
years  that  remain  of  his  contract, 
Tomlinson’s  opposition  to  Dietz, 
who  is  said  to  have  submitted  his 
resignation,  has  been  mainly  be¬ 
cause  of  the  latter’s  association 
with  the  so-called  “old  guard” 
Which  included  former  prexy  Nich¬ 
olas  M^  ^chenck  and  former  v.p. 
and  treasurer  Charles  C.  Mosko- 
witz. 

The  pub-ad  cuts  will  affect  all 
units  of  the  department,  including 
;  advertising,  publicity,  exploitation 
and  art.  The  company’s  field  pub¬ 
licity  staff  has  already  been  re¬ 
duced  to  eight!  Not  too  long  ago 
it  was  cut  to  17  after  a  peak  of  34, 
There’S  a  possibility  that  a  sub¬ 
stantial,  portion  of  the  h.o.  pub-ad 
Work  wffl  be  shifted  to  the  Coast., 

Substantial  reductions  in  the 
homeoffice  and  field  International 
department  :  have  already  been 
made,  but  more  cuts  are  antici¬ 
pated.  The  status  of  the  talent, 
story  arid  play  departments  will 
also  be  reviewed.  In  addition  there 
will  be  a  hefty  lopoff  of  secretaries 
and  clerks.  Many  have  already  re¬ 
ceived  their  notices  and  more  will 
be  notified  before  Jan.  9. 

O’Brien  Axeing 

The  trimming  operation,  set  in 
motion  because  of  the  anticipated 
poor  year-end  financial  report,  has 
been  under  the  direction  of  Robert 
H.  O’Brien,  the  company’s  financial 
v.p.  Who  was  assigned  the  task  by 
Vogel.  O’Brien  called  in.  all  de¬ 
partment  beads  and  ordered  the 
retention  of  only  essential  person¬ 
nel  He  also:  impressed  On  the  de¬ 
partment  chiefs  the  necessity  for 
haste  in  carrying  out  the  cuts  and 
urged  them  to  accomplish  Hie  task 
by  the  year's  end. 

Friday  (29)  was  ironically 
dubbed  D-Day  by  the  Loew’s  staff¬ 
ers  caught  in  the  widespread 
sweep.  The  resentment  centered 
on  the  one  week’s  notice..  Staffers 
in  executive  positions  are  not  ex¬ 
pected  to  receive,  any  severance 
pay,  but  it’s  understood  the  com¬ 
pany  Will  “see  what  it  can  do  for 
them.'’  .  Many  will  receive  pay¬ 
ments  froin  the  company’s  pension 
fund. 

White  collarites  and  the  publi¬ 
cists,  tbanks  to  contracts  via  unions 
that  represent  them,  will  receive 
severance  payments.  The  white 
collarites,  members  of  the  Motion 
Picture  Homeoffice  Employees 
Union,  Local  H-63,  IATSE,  will  re¬ 
ceive  one  week’s  pay  for  every  year 
employed.  With  a  maxium  of  12 
weeks.  The  pub-ad  staffers,  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  Screen  Publicists. 
Guild,  will  receive  two  weeks  for 
each  year  employed,  with  a  maxi¬ 
mum  of  24  weeks. 

.  Although  ’  there  have  been  sub¬ 
stantial  cuts  at  the  studio,  addi¬ 
tional  reductions  are  contemplated. 
George  Muchnic,  who  will  succeed 
Eddie  Manriix  as  studio  manager, 
is  making  a  study  of  the  Coast  sit¬ 
uation  and  will  recommend  the  let- 
outs. 


Wednesday,  January  1,  1958 


JJEGITIMATE  51 


Madrid,  Dec:  23. 

Legit  continues  to;  dominate  the 
entertainment  scene  in  Madrid  as 
film  exhibs  /bemoan  weakest  holi¬ 
day  product  programming  in  years. 
Revival  of  public -interest  in  thea¬ 
tre  is  capped  this  week  with  four 
major  premieres  that  will  carry  the. 
legit  trend  more  than  a  pace  for¬ 
ward. 

On  Friday,  Dec.  13,  the  250- 
seater  Recoletos,  after  a  fair  suc- 
cess  run  with  Graham  .  Greene’s 
“The  Potting  Shed,’*  brilliantly 
opened  Alfonso  Paso’s  "Heaven  *t 
Home”  with  permanent  Recoletos 
stars  Mary  Carrillo  and  Enrique 
Diosdado.  Paso’s  ultra-modern  com¬ 
edy-satire,  blessed  by.  critics  arid 
applauded  at  opening,  is  expected 
to  remain  marqueed  at  the  vest- 
pocket  salle  through  the  winter 
months. 

Another  indication  of  strong  le¬ 
git  trade  is  Calvo  Sotelo’s  "Girl 
from  Valladolid."  Producer-direc¬ 
tor-stage  (and  screen)  star  Alberto 
Closas  started  to  rehearse  his  com¬ 
ing  musical,  "Good  Night, Bettina,” 
a  month  ago,  but  found  his  “Valla¬ 
dolid”  too  strong  at  the  boxoffice 
to  close.  This  week,  Closas  cele¬ 
brated  3  00  th  performance  (13 
shows  per  week  is  local  custom) 
and  is  holding  comedy  over  at  least 
until  after  the  fiestas. 

Most  anticipated  legit  event  of 
the  year,  Jose;  Tamayo’s  stage  pro- 
ductiori  of  William  Faulkner’s  "Re¬ 
quiem  to  a  Niin,"  opens  tonight  in 
the  Albert  Camus  version  and  stars 
noted  screen  actress  Aurora  Batis¬ 
ta,  returning  to  the  boards  in 
Madrid  after  seven  years’  absence. 
Tamayo’s  government  -  supported 
Teatro  Espanol  troupe,  one  of  the 
virtuoso  thesp  groups  in  Spain,  in¬ 
cludes  vet.  actor  Luis  Prendes  and 
t a  1  ente  d  teenager  Bert  (Anne 
Frank)  Riaza. 

Parenthetically,  Miss  Riaza’s  suc¬ 
cess  as  "Anne  Frank”  here  and  in 
Barcelona  makes  her  a  heavily- 
backed  candidate  in  local  film  cir¬ 
cles  for.  the  same  role  in  the  film 
version  being  prepped  by  George 
Stevens,  A.  Berta  Riaza  achieve¬ 
ment  dossier  has  been  forwarded 
to  the  U.S.  screen  director. 

Montreal  Critic  Warns 
‘My  Fur  Lady’  Depends 
Upon  Canadian  Jokes 

.  Montreal;  Dec,  30. 

Recent  report  in  Variety,  that 
"My  Fur  Lady,”  the  McGill  U.- 
briginated,  now-professional  musi¬ 
cal  currently  touring  Canada,  may 
be  booked  for  an  off-Broadway  en¬ 
gagement  brought  a  cautionary 
comment .  from  Walter  O’Hearn, 
drama  critic-columnist  of  the  Mon¬ 
treal  Star.  The  Canadian  aisle- 
sitter  wrote,  in  part, :  "A  small  tidal 
wave  called  ‘My  Fur  Lady’  may 
reach  off-Broadway.  Variety,  a 
journal  which  I  weary  Of  identify¬ 
ing  as  the  show-business  Bible,  is 
jny  authority  for-  this  statement. 
Variety  adds  that  the  show  may 
be  retitled  ‘For  Canadians  Only.* 

"This  would  be  a  good  idea  on 
two  counts.  It  would  avoid  con¬ 
fusion  with  a  musical  comedy  of 
a  similar  name  which  has  also  en¬ 
joyed  some  success.  (Who  knows? 
The  proprietors  of  *My  Fair  Lady’ 
might  even  sue).  Also*  it  would 
„warn  Americans  what  they  were 
in  for. 

"Labelled  Tor  Canadians  Only* 
the  show  might  do  business  in  one 
of  the  smaller  off-Broadway  dens, 
providing  the  supply  of  Canadians 
doesn’t  run  out.  At  the  same  time, 
1  hear  murmurs  of  disquietude. 
'My  Fur  Lady’  is  now  labelled  fully 
professional.  Last  time  it  visited 
Montreal,  by  which  time  it  had 
become  at  least  two-thirds,  profes¬ 
sional,  I  noted  that  it  bad  paid  in 
test  for  what  lit  might  have  gained 
in  polish.  Experienced  showmen, 
trained  observers  with  money  at 
stake,  have  told  me  that  this  proc¬ 
ess  has  continued, 

"But  as  a  professional  show,  *My 
Fur  Lady*  may  not  quite  be  ready 
for  Broadway,  or  off-Broadway.  The 
Innocent  charm  which  was  Its 
trademark,  will  have  faded  and 
the  jokes,  so  pointed  to  Canadians, 
may  not  survive  export.  Hero  in 
Canada,  when  visitors  from  the 
U.  S,  have  asked  about  the  show,  I 
have  advised  them  to  firing  along  0 
Canadian  interpreter..  For  a  New 
York  production  a  glossary  might 
he  needed." 


Plans  Pri?e  Play  Cycle 

Palm  Beach,  Dec.  30. 

A  10-week  season  of  Pulitzer 
Prize  arid  N,  Y;  Critics  Circle 
Award  plays  will  be  presented  at 
the  new  Royal.  Poinciana.  Play*, 
house,  here  next  April,  following 
the  windup  of  the  Initial  10-week 
star  season.  The  theatre  is  sched¬ 
uled  to  operi  Feb.  3  with  Robert 
Cummings  in  "Holiday  for 
Lovers." 

Other  productions  slated  for  the 
initial  10-week  stretch  include 
“Visit  to  a  Small  Planet,**  ’‘Happi¬ 
est  Millionaire!,”  "Boy  Friend"  and 
“Roberta.”  A  new  star  will’  be 
brought  in  .  |or  each  Weekly  pro- 1 
gram  change.  Besides  presenting 
established  play  and  musicals,  the 
house  will  also  go  in  for  tryouts. 

The  first  property  to  be  tested 
at  the  707-seater  will  be.  Paul 
Crabtree’s  "Lady  of  the  House,” 
formerly  titled  "Betty  Bibb."  .  It’s 
scheduled  to  open  . March  17  as.  a 
"pre-Broadway,  entry.**  Crabtree,, 
incidentally,  .  is  also  producer- 
director  at  the  Playhouse,  and 
Frank  J;  Hale  is  president. 

Trim  Tour  Sked 
Onl^k’TaUes’ 

The  "Middle  of  the  Night"  and 
"Separate  Tables"  road  tours  are 
being!  curtailed.  Bookings  run¬ 
ning  Into  March  and  April  have 
been  cancelled  on  both  shows. 

"Night,”  starring  Edward  G. 
Robinson,  will  close  Jan.  18,  at  the 
end  of  a  three-week  stand  at  the 
National  Theatre,  Washington. 
"Tables,”  co-starring.  Eric  Port- 
man  and  Geraldine  Page,  will 
close  Feb.  1,  after  a  two-ahd-a- 
halfrweek  booking  ftt  the.  Black-, 
stone  Theatre,  Chicago, 

The  Rdbinson-staTrer  had  been 
doing  generally  healthy  business 
until  a  few  weeks  ago,  When  it 
took  a  whipping  cm  a  one-Weeker 
at  the;  Hartman  Theatre,  Columbus, 
and  a  two-weeker  at  the  Cass  The¬ 
atre,  Detroit,  Hinterland  response; 
to  "Tables"  has  been  mostly  mild. 

"Night;"  touring  since  last  Qc- 
(ContiriUed  on  page  83) 


..  Pittsburgh,  Dec.  30, 
Soriie  75  American  concert  im¬ 
presari  riieeting  here  at  the  St. 
Moritz  hotel  in  annual  convention 
elected  as  president  Ralph  Frost  of 
the  U."  of.  Tennessee  in  Knoxville. 
Vice  presidents  elected  are  Aaron 
Richmond  of  Boston  and.  Archie 
Jones  of  Austin. 

Treasurership  went  to  Mrs.  S,  B, 
Everitts.  who  runs  Syracuse’s  morn-: 
ing  musicales  and .  Fay  Olmsted  of 
Pittsburgh’s  Music  Guild  became 
secretary. 


N.Y<  Radio  Review 


But  Can  They  Afford  Success? 


Riles  Shuberts 


Broadcasting  of  reviews  of  out- 
of-town  legit  tryouts  Was  started 
last  week  by  station  WQR,  New 
York,  and  immediately  drew  a  pro¬ 
test  and  threat  of  legal  action  by 
the  Shuberts. 

The  initial  review,  aired  last 
Thursday  (26),  covered  the  in¬ 
coming  Broadway  musical,  ‘The 
Body  Beautiful,”,  which;  opened  a 
break-in  run  that  night  at  the  Er- 
lariger  Theatre,  Philadelphia:  The . 
review  by  Rob  Laurence,  of.  the 
staff  of  WIP,  Philly,  and  originated 
over  that  station,  was  picked  Up  by 
phone  by  WOR  for  airing  in  New 
York, 

According  to  WOR  officials,  John 
Sbubert,  an  executive  of  the  Shu- 
bert  theatrical  firm,  telephoned 
John  A.  Gambling,:  on  whose  late- 
(Continued  on  page  52) 


Vanconrer  Season  Had 
$30,000  Deficit  in  1957 

Vancouver,  Dec.  30. 

„•  Theatre  Hinder  the  Stars  here 
will  have  to  come,  in  out  of  the 
rain.  That’s  the  reaction  of  Dorwin 
Baird,  the  operation’s  new  presi¬ 
dent,  to  a  $36,000  deficit  Incurred 
by  the  outdoor  venture  on  the  1957 
season.  Washout  performances  last 
summer  resulted  in  a  weather  in¬ 
surance  payoff  of  $19,100. 

.  Baird,  a  longtime,  local  radioman, 
feels  that  it’s  necessary  to  get  the 
civid  project,  indoors  and  figures 
that  to  do  so  would  entail  the  rais¬ 
ing  of  $500,000.  Meanwhile,  only 
three  productions  have  been  sched¬ 
uled  for  1958  at  the  Stanley  Park 
Amphitheatre  during  the  local 
centennial  celebration.  They  are 
"Show  Boat,”  "Damn  Yankees”  and. 
"The  King  and  I.” 


Set  for  Next  Summer 

Minneapolis,  Dec.  30. 

Minnesota  Statehood ;  Centennial 
commission  and  Minnesota  U.  offi¬ 
cials  have  acquired  a  175-foot 
stern-wheeler;  the  General :  John 
Newton,  for  conversion  into  a  206- 
seat  showboat  to  ply  the  Mississip¬ 
pi  River  next  summer,  presenting 
vintage  plays. 

l  Dr.  Frank  Whiting,  the  theatre’s 
director;  says  the  season  will  open 
about  next  June  15  and  the  plan 
is  to  play  a  week  ,  each  in  Minne¬ 
apolis  and  St  Paul  and  theii  two 
or  three  days  in  a  half-dozen  or 
more  other  Minnesota  and  Wiscon¬ 
sin  rivqr  towns; 


No  Road  Troupe? 

The  Theatre  Guild  has  apparent¬ 
ly  .scrapped  plans .  to .  send  out  a 
touring  edition  of  "Bells  Are  Ring¬ 
ing."  That's  indicated  by  the  dis¬ 
tribution  during;  the  last  two 
months  of  $80,000  profit  to  the 
management  and  backers  of  the 
original  Broadway  production  of 
the  musical,  starring  Judy  Holliday. 

In  making  the  distribution,  $40,- 
000  in  November  and  $40,000  in 
December,  the  producing  firm  re¬ 
leased  coin  it  had  been  withhold¬ 
ing  -for  the  financing  bf  the  con¬ 
templated  road  company.  No  other 
profit  divvy  had  been  made  since 
the  backers  were  repaid .  their 
$360,000  investment. 

The.  Guild,  had  planned  sending 
oiit  a  touring  company,  with  Gin¬ 
ger  Rogers  in.  the  role  played  by 
Miss.  Holliday.  However,  the  deal 
with  Miss  Rogers  fell;  through,  and 
the  film  star  moved  into  the  nitery 
field  instead; 

As  of  a  Nov.  30  accounting,  the 
musical,  cuirently  in  its  58th  week 
at  the  Sbubert  Theatre,  N.  Y.,  had 
earned  a  total  net  profit  of  $91,336 
after  taxes.  The  tuner  had  been 
a  steady  rollout  until  a  few  weeks 
ago. 


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-f  The  playwright’s  growing  status 
as  the  Croesus  of  show  business  is 
exemplified  by  William.  Inge’s  deal 
as  author  of  the  new  Broadway 
l  hit,  "The  Dark  at  the  Top  of  the 
1  Stairs.1*  He’s  making  a  cleanup  an 
the  show,  despite  the  fact  that  the 
*  film  rights  were  sold  in  a  pre-pro- 
j  duction  deal  as  a  hedge  against  a 
i  possible  negative  reception  by  the 
New  York  critics. 

1  The  regular  author  royalties  on 
l  the  play  are  the  Dramatists  Guild 
t  minimum  ({J%  of  the  first  $5,000 
Weekly  gross,  7%%  of  the  next 
$2,000  and  10%  Of  the  balance), 
averaging  slightly  over  $3,000  a 
’  week  on  the  capacity-plus  gross  of 
_  $33,000.  When  the  production  re- 
-  coups  its  approximately  $80,006 
J  cost,  Inge’s  royalty  will  go  to  a 
[  straight  10%,  boosting  his  take  to 
L  over  $3,300. 

j  The  sale  of  the  picture  rights  to 
Warners  is  understood  to  involve 
!  a  down  payment  of  $350,000,  plus 
bonuses  on  the  legit  production’s 
profitable  weeks  to  a  ceiling  of 
$450,000.  In  addition,  the  deal  calls 
for  payment  of  10%  of  the  profits 
of  the  film  version.  Inge’s  share  of 
the  picture  coin  is  60%. 

Assuming  that  "Stairs"  will  net 
I  around  $7,500  a  week,  it  should 
’  recoup  in  about  10  weeks,  or  by 
mid-February.  On  that  basis,  Inge’s 
author;  royalties  during  the  first 
_  year  should  total  somewhere 
a  around  $150,000-$170,000,  depends 
.  .ing  on  how  attendance  holds  up 
next  sumrner.  His  share  of  the 
3  $450,000  film  revenue  will  be  an- 
B  other  $270,000  (less  commissions). 
a  Has  Management  Share 
t  In  addition,  Inge  has  a  financial 
/  share  in.  the  "Stairs”  production 
i  through  a  corporate  setup,  Taufus 
x  Productions.  He’s  understood  get- 
_  ting  a  major  portion  of  the  12% 
slice  of  the  profits  that  go  to 
Taurus,  with  his  agent,  Audrey 
”  Wood  of  (Music  Corp.  of  America), 
a  in  for  a  share  as  president,  and 
r  ditto  attorney  Edward  E.  Colton 
as  vice-prez  and  treasurer  and 
,  John  R.  Fembach  as  a  director. 

Z'  If  Inge' and  Miss  Wood  had  not 
„  reportedly  been  somewhat  alarmed 
r  over  the  tepid  reviews  and  under- 
j  sellout  business  "Stairs”  received 
during  its  tryout  engagement  in 
’  Philadelphia,  they  might  have  ad- 
a  hered  to  their  earlier  decision  to 
'  hold  off  making  a  film  sale  until 
1  (Continued  on  page.  52) 

s  Threat  of  Strikes  In 
;  Paris  to  Close  State 
Operated  Legit,  Folies 

Paris,  Dec.  30. 

With  the  state  subsidized  houses 
closing  hero  for  the  holidays,  due 
to  threatened  technicians’  strikes, 
the  Folies-Bergere  may  also  soon 
go  in  for  three  month  layoffs  dur¬ 
ing  the  winter.. 

.  The  state  theatres  (Comedie 
Francaise,  Opera,  Opera-Comique) 
will  reopen  later  this  month  with 
salary  arbitration  with  the  workers 
in  view. 

With  the  Folies,  it  would  seem 
that  its  great  pull  appears  to  be 
a  bit  on  the  wane.  This  may  be 
because  the  Folies  has  been  keep¬ 
ing  the  same  show  for  five  years 
and  that  the  tourists  perhaps  are 
tiring,  of  the  same  fare. 

The  Lido  cabaret’s  yearly  show 
changes  and  renown  also  may  have, 
cut  into  Folies  take  because  most 
tourists  feel  that  one  big,  lush  pro¬ 
duction,  house  or  cabaret,  is 
enough. 

Strikers  Seek  15%  Raise 

Theatre  technicians  carried  out 
their  threatened  strike  in  the  state, 
subsidized  legit  and  lyric  houses, 
Dec.  24  to  Jan.  1.  Coming  at  the 
height  of  the  holiday  season,,  ace 
theatre-going  time,  it  was  another 
prestige  arid  financial  blow  to  the 
Comedie  Francaise,  Opera  and 
Opera  Comique.  The  Theatre  Na¬ 
tional  Populaire,  needing  no  set 
changes,  played  anyway.  The 
strikes  did  not  spread  to  private 
theatres  or  the  municipally  bank¬ 
rolled  Chatelet  and  Sara  Bern¬ 
hardt 

Workers  in  .  state  houses  have 
been  demanding  a  30%  increase 
which  was  refused  by  the  Bureau 
of  Arts  and  Letters.  Latter  offered 
a  10%  bike  but  technicians  held 
Out  for  15%.  At  any  rate  things 
look  to  get  stormier,  and  both  sub¬ 
sidized  and  private  houses  claim 
they  could,  not  exist  if  the  hikes 
were  granted. 


52 


LEGITIMATE 


P7&sn£Tr 


Wednesdayy  January- 1»  1958 


Shows  Out  of  Town 


slfaybe  Tuesday 

Philadelphia,  Dec.  28.  . 

Ethel  Linder  Berner  it  Jack  Lawrence 
production  of  three-act  comedy  by  Mel 
Tolkln  and  Lucille  Kallen.  Features  Rich¬ 
ard  Derr.  Patricia.  Smith.  Staged -by.  Paul 
Stewart;  settings  and  lighting.  Paul  Mor¬ 
rison;  .costurries.  Ann  Both.  At  the  Walnut 
Street  Theatre.  Philadelphia.  Dec.  2&  ’57; 
$4.20  top.  '  •> 

Mildred  .... .  .. . . . . . , . . .  V .  Myra  Carter 

Florence  - - ...........  Brett  Somers 

Jackie  Midge  Ware 


Vivian . . 

Addle  ....... 

Leonard  ...... 

Katy  ..... - 

Mark  . 

Dr.  Roper  ..... 

Sherman  ..... -  _ 

Lois  . ....... . .  Gloria  Case 

Arthur  .  Alan  Manson 

Larry _ ... _ I . .  Sonny  Sparks 


_  Sybil  Lamb 

. .  Zohra.  Lampert 
..  Louis  Edmonds 
.  ..  Patricia  Smith 
...  Richard  Derr. 
...  Ralph  Bell 
Bobert  Elston 


The  .  ineptly  and  vaguely  titled 
“Maybe  Tuesday”  is  probably  the 
best  of  its  kind  that  has  been 
shows  here  since  “The  Tender 
Trap.”  The  natural  comparison,  is 
with  “Doughgirls”  back  in  the  war 
years.  This  Mel  Tolkin-Lucille  Kal¬ 
len  farce  deals  with  a  group  of  girls 
sharing  a  New  York  apartment 
•just  as  “The  Doughgirls”  presented 
a  similar  array  of  femmes  living 
together  in  Washington. 

“Maybe  Tuesday”  seems  a  su¬ 
perior,  farce  in  that  it  manages  to 
combine  the  necessarily  brittle, 
punchy  mood  with  a  mood  of 
warmer,  friendlier,  more  sympathe¬ 
tic  comedy.  There  is,  to  be  sure,  the 
inevitable  dosage  of  sex,  but  it  is 
leavened  by  human  nature  and 
never  Seems  to  strain  for  laughs 
with  rowdy  lines,  double  entendres- 
or  smutty  Scenes. 

“Tuesday"  is  also  adult  and  per¬ 
ceptively  written.  Co-authors  Tolkin 
and  Miss  Kallen  have  been  given 
support  not  only  in  the  overall 
production,  but  also .  in  the  con¬ 
tributions  of  the  able  cast.  Out¬ 
standing  is  Richard  Derr  as  a  ro¬ 
mantic  young  man  whose  gal  isn’t 
quite  shre  whether  she  wants  to 
become  a  house-wife  and  mother  or 
continue  as  a  career  girl.  This  latter 
role  is  portrayed  by  the  other  fea¬ 
tured  performer,  Patricia  Smith, 
and  she  and  Derr  have  a  number  cf 
infectious  scenes  together. 

The  gals  living  in  the  same 
boarding  house  are  interesting  and 
colorful,  and  their  own  problems 
and  personal  stories  move  easily 
and  fluidly  along  with  the  main 
theme  involving  Derr  and  Miss 
Smith.  Myra  Carter,  Brett  Somers, 
Midge  Ware,  Sybil  Ware,  Zohra 
Lampert  are  engaging  distaff  per¬ 
formers,  Ralph  Bell  is  effective  as 
a  psychiatrist  and  Louis  Edmonds 
as  the  heroine's  boss. 

The  settings,  divided  between 
the  kitchen  and  living-room  of  the 
apartment  are  striking  and  easily 
interchangeable!  The  show  is  agree¬ 
able,  one  that  grows  on  an  audience 
even  after  the  final  curtain. 

Waters* 


Sunrise  at .  Campobello 

New  Haven,  Des.  26. 

Theatre  GuUd  it  Dore  Schary  produc¬ 
tion  of  three-act  (eight  scenes)  by  Dore 
Schary.  Stars  Balph  Bellamy;  features 
Mary  Fickett.  Henry  Jones.  Anne  Sey¬ 
mour,  Mary  Welch.  Ron!  Dengel,  Virginia 
Kaye,  Alan  Bunce.  Staged  by  Vincent 
Donehue;  scenery  and.  lighting.  Ralph 
_  Alswang;  costumes.  Virginia  Volland.  At 
Shubert  Theatre,  New  Haven.  Dec.  26, 
*57;  $4.80  top. 

Edward  ; . . .  .........  James  Earl  Jones 

Mrs.  Louis  Howe.. - - Virginia  Kaye 

Eleanor  Roosevelt  ........  Mary  Fickett 

James  Roosevelt  James  Bonnet 

Elliott  Roosevelt . Perry  Skaar 

Anna  Roosevelt  .  . .  Roni  Dengel 

Franklin  D.  Roosevelt  Jr.  Kenneth  Kakos 

John  Roosevelt . Jeffrey  Rowland 

Marie  . . . .  Ethel  Everett 

Louis; Howe  . .  Henry  Jones 

Mrs.  Sara  Roosevelt- ....  .Anne  Seymour 

Miss  Marguerite  Le  Hand - Mary  Welch 

Dr.  Bennet . . . . . .  James  Reese 

•  Franklin  Calder  ...........  William  Fort 


Gov.  Smith  . . . . . .'. . .  ■  Alan  Bunce 

Daly  . . . .  Jerry  Crews 

Policeman  — ............ ... .  Floyd.  Curtis 

Senator  Walsh  . . . .  Vincent  Dowling 

A  Speaker  - ..........  Edwin  Phillips 

Stretcher  Bearers  .Ed  Paul,  Victor  Dixffy. 

Fred  Cadmus 


“Sunrise  at  Campobello,”  Dore 
Schary’s  play,  based  on  a  segment 
in  the  pre-Presidential  life  of  the 
late  Franklin  D_  Roosevelt,  is  a 
good  documentary,  embellished 
with  interesting  dialog  and  poig¬ 
nant  theatrical  business.  It  is  com¬ 
petently  staged  and  well  acted,  with 
an  affecting  warmth,  particularly 
for  femme  audiences.  It  should  be 
good  for  a  comfortable  •  stay  on 
Broadway. 

The  script  does  not  impress  as 
a  great  play,  but  rather  as  an  in¬ 
teresting  drama  about  an  individual 
generally  regarded  as  a  great  per¬ 
sonality.  More  than  a  modicum  of  its 


NEW  DIRECTIONS 
MUSIC  ASSOCIATES 

Announces  its  sponsorship  of 

GALAXY  ENTERPRISES 

COACHING-DRAMA-VOICE 

Instruction,  psychological  approach. 
Analysis  and  Saif  Analysis. 
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CALL  GR  6-1529 


merit  lies  in.  the  fact  that  its  cen¬ 
tral  character  was  a  controversial 
international  figure.  Had  the  play 
been  Written  about  Joe  Doakes 
fighting  a  similar  battle,  many  of 
its  present  highlights  might  well 
have  emerged  as  run-of-the-mill. 

“Campobello” .  will  be  good,  prop 
aganda  for.  FDR  boosters  and  a 
fly  i%  the  ointment  for  his  detrac¬ 
tors.  Above  ail,  the  play  will  cause 
considerable  discussion. 

Schary  has  written  affectionately 
about  the  man  he.  greatly  admired. 
How  free"  the  author  has  been  in 
transmitting  events  and  conven¬ 
tions  to  the  written  page  is  a  moot 
question.  At  any  rate,  he  draws  a 
sympathetic  picture  of  the  late 
president  at  the  period  when  he  is 
stricken  with  polio  and  battles  to 
overcome  its  ravages. 

Intimate  glimpses  of  family  life 
— the  sensitive  spirit  of .  Eleanor 
Roosevelt,  the  affection  of  his  chil¬ 
dren,  the  domineering  attitude,  of 
his  mother,  Sara,  and  his  own 
dogged,  approach  to  his  personal 
struggle — are  included.  His  filial 
scene,  in  Madison  Square  Garden, 
in  which  he  is.  about  to  nominate 
A1  Smith  for  president,  makes 
stirring  curtain. 

Ralph  Bellamy  gives  a  skillful 
FDR  portrayal:  In  physique,  voice 
and  mannerisms  he  puts,  across  his 
fine  interpretation.  Mary  Fickett 
adds  qonsiderable  dramatic  quality 
as  Eleanor  Roosevelt:  Henry  Jones 
registers  solidly  as  FDR's  guiding 
genius,  Louis  Howe.  Anne  Seymour 
as  Sara  Delano  Roosevelt  and  Alan 
Bunce  as  Al  Smith,  have  standout 
individual  scenes.  Cast  members, 
in  toto,  offer  good  jobs  of  varying 
significance. 

Donehue’s  staging  has  plucked  a 
number  of  dramatic  highlights 
from  the  script  and  emphasized 
them  sagely  foi  telling  effect. 
Pedestrian  segments  are  yet  to  be 
eliminated,  but  this  means  only  a 
matter  of  smart  cutting.  Two  at¬ 
tractive  living  rooms  (at  Campo¬ 
bello  and  New  York)  set  the  mood 
nicely  'and  the  apparel  is  well 
Chosen. 

Properly  expanded,  “Sunrise” 
could  make  a  good  film.  Bone.. 

The  Body  Beautiful 

Philadelphia,  Dec.  26. 

Richard'  Kollmar  &  Albert  Seldeh  pro¬ 
duction  of  musical  comedy;  book  by 
Joseph  Stein  and  Will  Glickman.  music 
by  Jerry  Rock  and  lyrics  by  Sheldon 
Hasnick,  Directed  by  George  Schaefer; 
dances  and  musical  numbers  staged  by 
Herbert  Ross;  settings  and  lighting.  Wil¬ 
liam  and  Jean  Eckart.  At  Erlanger  Thea¬ 
tre.  Philadelphia,  Dec.  26,  J57;  $5  top. 

Dave - - - - - - - ... .  i .  Jack  Warden 

Albert  _ ..........  William  Hickey 

Harry  . ... . . . . . .  Lennie  Sattin 

Bob . . . .  Steve  Forrest 

Ann  . Mindy  Carson 

Eddie  .....................  Tom  Raskin 

Richie  ........ .... .... .....  Bob  Wiensko 

Trainer  . .  Jack  DeLon 

Florence  . . Jane  Romano. 

Mrs.  Stockton  ........  ,.Camila  Ashland 


Barbara  McNair 

. ; . . .  Helen  Silver. 

; ; . ..... ;  Kathle  Forman 

.......  Tommy  Halloran 

.........  Arinand  Bonay 

...........  Jeff  Roberts 

. _ Alan-Wceks 

Bob’s  Trainer  ........ ...Knute  Sullivan 

Gloria  . _ ; . .  •  Mara.  Lynn 

Pete  ..................  Richard  Debella 

PhU  ...................  Edmund  Gaynes 

Campbell  - . . .  .  . .  Mark  Allen 


Marge  _ _ 

Jane  ........ 

Kathy  ....... 

Danny . . 

George  ...... 

Artie  -.*.... 

Josh  .. 


There  will  have  to.  be.  a  whale  of 
a  lot  of  work  done  on  this  musical 
before  it  shapes  up  a^  a  Broadway 
candidate,  but  there  are  enough 
basic  materials  to  .  make  the  special 
doctoring  job  worth  trying.  As 
usual,  the  loose  ends  are  to  be 
found  in  the  book  Which,  for  origi¬ 
nality  and  spontaneity,  is  a  long 
way  off  the  standard  Joseph  Stein 
and  Will  Glickman  set  with  “Plain 
and  Fancy.”  . 

“The.  Body  Beautiful”  has  some 
affiliations :  in  character  with  “West 
Side :  Story,”  the  parallel  ’  being 
mostly  in  the  introduction  of  an 
octet  of  rough-tough  street  urchins 
who  sing  a  couple  of  the  show’s 
louder  arid  rowdier  numbers.  That 
doesn’t  mean,  however,  that  :this 
one  is  going  to  be  another  “West 
Side  Story”  by  any  stretch  of  the 
imagination.  It  might,  given  careful 
attention,  sharp  abridgment  and 
radical  libretto  changes,  get  by  as  a 
moderately  profitable  tuner. 

Right  now,  the  show’s  main  as-, 
sets  are  Mindy  Carson,  who  acquits 
herself  very  well  arid  belts  across  a 
couple  of  the  musical’s  better  num¬ 
bers  effectively.  From  Hollywood, 
the  producers  have  garnered  Steve 
Forrest  for  the  title  role.  He  por¬ 
trays  a  wealthy  college  boxing 
champion  who  decides  to  devote 
himself,  after  graduation,  to  being 
a  director  of  a.  group  ,  of  under¬ 
privileged  youngsters  in.  a  slum 
neighborhood. 

He  gets  the  idea  of  being  a  “pro” 
and  that’s  when  he  meets  his 
Waterloo— in  fact  a  lot  'of  them.. 
When  he  does,  finally  win  a  scrap 
(through  the  kind-heartedness  of  a 
sparring  mate)  he  gets  some  self 
satisfaction,  hut.  loses  his  girl’s  love 
and  the  respect  of  the  tough  boys 
of  his  district. 

The  show’s  best  comedy  contribu¬ 
tions  are  supplied  by  Jack  Warden 


Oscar 

Hamirierstein  2d 

has  writtia  a>  amuiagi  yat 
captioas  place,  on  masieal 
comadta*,  whaiala  ha 
wants  to  know 

Jokes  a  ‘Must’  ?r-But 
How  Many? 

another  Editorial  Faataro 
in  tha 

52d  Anniversary  Number 

of 

PRriety 

our  NEXT  WEEK 


as  the  herp*s  fight  manager  with 
a  Weakness  for  blondes.  He  is  a 
quiet  comic,  reminiscent  in  a  way 
Of  James  Gleason,  abb  he  gets  most 
of  the  show’s  laughs:  Forrest  has  an 
agreeable  personality  and  the 
physical  assets  that  go  with  the 
shoe’s  title,  but  his  vocal  ability 
isn’t  equal  to  the  score’s  require¬ 
ments. 

Lonnie  Sattin  is  outstanding  as 
the  friendly  sparring  partner  who 
“takes  a  dive”  to  help  his  pal,  and 
he  and  Barbara  McNair  team  in 
one  of  the  show’s  best  numbers, 
‘Fair  Warning.”  Qutside  of  that, 
the.  riiusical  outstanders  are  con¬ 
tributed  by  Miss  Carson  and  by 
the  octet  of  youngsters. 

The  producers  have  given  ‘“The 
Body  Beautiful”  an  all-out  physical 
setup.  It’S  a  nice  show  to  watch 
and,  spasmodically  an  amusing  one 
to  listen  to,  but  it  has  plenty  of 
low  spots  and  foggy  passages.  Only 
the  shrewdest  kind  of  ,  doctoring 
will  give  it  a  chance.  Waters. 


‘COLONY’ltiST  $13;392; 
RAISING  SCALE  IN  *58 

*  Manteo,  N.C.,  Dec.  30. 

Having  lost  $13,392  on  it’s  1957 
season,  “The  Lost  Colony”  will  in¬ 
crease  reserved-seat  admission 
from  $2.50  to  $3  next  summer  and 
wage  a  campaign  for  life  member¬ 
ships  in  the  Roanoke  Island  His¬ 
torical  Assn,  at  $100.  The.  group 
hopes  to  raise  $19,000  to  start  the 
season  in  the  clear.  . 

Adverse  factors  for  the  Paul 
Green  historical  pageant  in  the 
local  amphitheatre  last  summer  in¬ 
cluded  unfavorable  weather,  an 
unprecedented  mosquito  scourge, 
and  the  competing  Jamestown 
Festival  in  neighboring  Virginia. 
Although  the  matter  was  not  men¬ 
tioned  in  the  recent  report  of  Roan¬ 
oke  Island  Historical  Assn,  gen¬ 
eral  manager  R.  E.  Jordan,  the 
operation  will'  be  eligible  for  $10,- 
000  in  state  funds  on  the  basis  cf 
last  season’s  deficit. 


Miss  Isobel 

Leonard  Sillnlan  it  John  Roberta  pro¬ 
duction  of  three-act  (five  scenes)  drama 
by  Michael  Plant  and  Denis  Webb.  Staged 
by  Cedric  Hardwicke;  setting.  Peter  Lar¬ 
kin;  costumes.  Audre;  lighting,  Lee  Wat¬ 
son;  production  associate.  Jaqueline 
Adams.  Stars  Shirley  Booth;  features 
Nancy  Marchand,  Robert  Duke.  Edith 
King,  Peter  Lazer,  Kathleen  Maguire, 
John  Randolph.  At  Royale  Theatre,  N.Y., 
Dec.  .26.  '57;  $6.90  top  Friday-Saturday 
nights,  $5.75  weeknlghts  ($8.65  opening). 
Mrs.  Ackroyd  .. .,7.:. . ... .  Shirley  Booth 

EUeni  . .  Kathleen  Maguire 

Mrs.  Ling  . . .  Edith  King 

Miriam  Ackroyd . .  Nancy  Marchand 

Robin  . . . .  Peter  Lazer 

Howard  ; . . .  John  Randolph 

Nurse  .- . . . .  Dinnie  Smith 

Andrew  McNeil  . .  Robert  Duke 


Show  Mobbed  in  Paris 
Even  in  Chb  Theatre 

Paris,  Dec.  30. 

The  p|ay,  “La  Heine  De  Cesaree,” 
at  the  Arts  Theatre,  is  still  in -trou¬ 
ble  here.  Written  by  Robert  Bras- 
silach,  who  was  shot  for  collabora¬ 
tion  soon  after  the  last  war,  it  has 
been  the  target  of  resistance  groups 
who.  feel  it  is  a  dishonor  to  have 
this  piece  mounted. 

Many  disturbances  had  the  police 
closing  it  down,  but  it  was  allowed 
to  go  on  via  a  dub,  private-invite 
basis.  This  week  a  group  got  into 
the  theatre,  started  fights  and  did 
a  lot  of  damage  to  the  house. 

Directress  Alexandra  Rouby- 
Jariska  has  been  promised  firm 
police  protection  from  now  on.  Play 
concerns  the  aging  Israeli  Princess 
Berenice  who  leaves  her  young 
love  when  she  feels  that  her  age 
will  soon  part  them. 

Though  considered  ’  non-off  ensive 
by  most  crix,  and  not  anti-Semitic, 
the  resistance  groups  are  deter¬ 
mined  to  get  It  shutterfed.  Mean¬ 
while,  it  is  running  oh  curio  value 
and  reviews  were  fair. 


Toronto,  Dec.  30. 

Frances  Hyland  will  apparently 
have  to  figure  some  .way  of  becom¬ 
ing  'twins  by_next  season.  She’s 
been  cast  for  two  overlapping,  roles 
in  the  Stratford  (Ont.)  Shakespeare 
Festival  revival  of  “Winter’s  Tale.” 
The  two  characters  are  Hermione 
and  her  daughter  Perdita,  who 
meet  onstage  at  one  point  in  the 
Pla* 

At  a  recent  press  conference 
here.  Festival  managing  director 
Michael  Langham  was  asked  how 
the  seemingly  insoluble  staging 
problem  would  be  handled.  The 
British  director  shrugged.  That’s 
Douglas  Campbell’s  lookout,  he 
commented.  Campbell  is  to  stage 
Tale,"  with  Langharii  slated  to 
stage  the  other  two  Festival  re¬ 
vivals,.  “Henry  IV,  Part  I”  and 
‘Much  Ado  About  Nothing.”  „ 

Canadian-born  Miss  Hyland,  cur¬ 
rently  making  her  debut  appear¬ 
ance  on  Broadway  in  a  featured 
part  in  “Look  Homeward,  Angel,” 
will  withdraw  from  the  latter  show 
to  return  to  the  Festival  in  “Tale’ 
arid  “Henry.” 


(Dec.  30-Jan.  12) 

AOntle  Mam*.  (2d  Co.)  (Constance  Ben¬ 
nett^— Shubert.  Boston  (30-11). 

Back  to  Methuselah  (tryout)  (Tyrone 
Power,  Faye  Emerson,  Arthur  Treacher) 
—City  Aud,  Orlando.  Fla.  (6);  City  Aud., 
Sarasota,  Fla.  (7);  City  Aud.,  Ft.  Lauder¬ 
dale..  Fla.  (8);  Dade  County  Aud.;  Miami 
Peabody  Aud.,  Daytona 

Beach,  Fla  (11). 

piSSJWux,,",“I  «■*"*-*■*« 

Canadian  Players— Kohler  (Wis:)  Aud. 
(5);  Wisconsin  State  College  Aud..  Stevens 
Point  (7-8);  Lawrence  CoUege  Aud.,  Apple- 
ton,  Wis.  (9);  U.  pf  Wisconsin  Aud.,  Madi¬ 
son  (10-11).  . 

Cat  on  a  Hot  Tin  Roof  (Victor  Jory)— 
Royal  Alexandra,  Toronto  (30-4);  Her 
Majesty's.  Montreal  (8-11).  / 

Diary  of  Anna  Frank  (Joseph  Schild- 
kraut) — Lyceum,  Mpls.  (30-4);  Pabst, 
M'wkee  (6-ID. 

.Happiest  Millionaire  (Walter  Pidgeon)— 
Curran.  S  J.  (30-11). 

Long  Day's  JOurnay  Into  Night  (2d  Co.) 
(Fay  Bainter,  Anew  McMaster)— Shubert. 
Det.  (30-4);  Erlanger.. Chi  (6-U). 

Maybe  Tuesday:  (tryout)— Walnut,  Philly 
(30-11). 

Middle  of  tho  Night  (Edward  G.  Robin¬ 
son)— National,  Wash.  (30-11). 

Most  Happy  Falla— Riviera.  Det.  (30-11). 
Much  Ado  About  Nothing  (Katharine 
epburn.  Alfred  Drake)— Locust,  Philly 
(30-11). 

My  Fair  Lady  (2d  Co.)  (Brian  Aherne, 
Anne  Rogers) — Shubert,  Chi  (30-11). 

No  Time,  for  Sergeants  (N:Y.  Co") — 
Ford’s,  Balto  .  (30-4);.  Mosque,  Richmond 
(6-7);  Center.  Norfolk,  Va.  (8);  Chapel 
Hill  (N.  CJ;  .Memorial  Aud.  (10);  Aycock 
Aud.,  •Greensboro,  N.  C.  (ID; 

No  Time  for.  Sergeants  (2d  Co.)^-Hanna, 
Cleve.  (30-11). 

Oh  Captain  (tryout)— Shubert,  Philly  (11). 
Separate  Tables  (Erie  Portman,  Geral¬ 
dine  Page) — Hartford,  L.A.  (30-11). 

Sunrise  at  Campobello  (tryout)-  (Ralph 
Bellamy)— Colonial,  Boston  (30-11). 

Tunnel  of  Love  (Tommy  Noonan,  Wil-. 
Ram:  Bishop)— Alcazar.  S.F.  (30-11). 

Two;  for  the  Seesaw  (tryout)  (Henry 
FondaK-Forrest,  Philly  (30-ID  (Reviewed 
in  VARIETY,  Dec.  11.  '57). 

.  .Waltz  of  the  Toreadors  CMelvyn  Douglas, 
Paulette  Goddard)—American,  St.  L. 
(30-4);  Nixon,  Pitt.  (6-ID: 

Wfnesburg,  Ohio  (tryout)  (Dorothy  Mc¬ 
Guire,  James  Whitmore,  Leon  Ames)— 
Shubert,  NJEL-(4U1).. 


Grant  everyone  honorable  inten¬ 
tions— but  what  in  the  world  can 
they  all  have  had  in  mind?  The 
whole  thing  is  baffling. 

What  were  c  j-authors  Michael 
Plant  and  Denis  Webb  driving  at 
in  this  apparently  symbolic  drama 
about  an  old  widow  who  goes  off 
her  rocker  (or  is  she  only  faking?) 
in  her  San-  Francisco  apartment 
house  converted  from  a  mansion? 
What  could  co-producers  Leonard 
Sillman  and  John  Roberts  have 
seen  in  the  script?  And  why  was 
Shirley  Booth' attracted  to  it,  aside 
from  the  showy  role  of  the  dotty 
old  dame?  i 

One'  thing  is  clear.  “Miss  Isobel”  1 
is  not  for  Broadway,  or  pictures, 
or  likely  any  conceivable  commer¬ 
cial  market.  It’s  a  hopeless  effort — 
one  of  the  periodic  cases  of  many 
elements  adding  up  to  practically 
nothing. 

The  nice  old  heroine  makes  a 
companion  of  a  little  boy  in  the 
apartment  house,  befriends  the 
lad’s  mother  and  an  exotic  woman 
upstairs  who’s  apparently  married 
to  a  traveling  Chinese  business  man 
and  wears  oriental  clothes  and 
makeup.  She  also  strikes  up  an 
acquaintance  with  a  blind  war  vet¬ 
eran  from  the  hospital  next  door, 
and  fosters  his  romance  with  the 
little  boy’s  young  widowed  mother. 

She  keeps  what’s  left  of  her  for¬ 
tune  secreted  in  the  cloth  pages  of 
a  picture  album  and  when  her 
resentful  spinster  daughter  tries  to 
get  the  hoard  away  from  her  as 
marraige  bait  for  a  ne'er-do-well 
suitor,  the  old  damfe  slips  a  cog, 
imagines  she’s  back  in  girlhood 
and,  after  a  couple  of  maudlin  acts, 
lapses  into  babbling  infantilism. 
But  is  she  really  just  pretending, 
so  as  to  free  the  daughter  from 
maternal  attachment  and  the  little 
boy  from  a  stultifying  relationship, 
and  slip  her  nest  egg  to  the  urchin? 
It  isn't  clear.  Nor  is  it  believable. 

Miss  Booth  gives  .what,  appears 
to  be  a  skillful  performance  as  the 
riutty  (or  possibly  very  canny)  old 
gal,  although  it's  hard  to  be  sure, 
since  the  character  seems  synthetic 
and  is  in  what  amounts  to  a 
vacuum.  There  are  also  commend¬ 
able  atteinpts  by  Nancy  Marchand 
as  the  embittered  daughter  (who 
makes  an  abrupt  change  of  attitude 
for  no  palpable  reason),  John  Ran¬ 
dolph  as  the  worthless  suitor,  Peter 
Lazer  as  the  youngster,  Kathleen 
Maguire  as  his  mother,  Robert 
Duke  as  the  blind  vet  and  Edith 
King  as  the  Chinese-lzed  tenant 
from  upstairs. 

Cedrie  Hardwicke  has  provided 
what  may  well  be  competent  direc¬ 
tion,  Peter  Larkin  has  designed  a 
suitably  ornate  multiple  setting  of 
the  old  lady's  bederoom,  a  com¬ 
munal  kitchen  and  an  outside  sum¬ 
mer  house,  while  Aiidre  has  sup¬ 
plied  the  picturesque  costumes  and 
Lee  Watson  the  lighting.  But  what’s 
the  point -of  it  all?  Kobe. 


William  Inge 

—  Continued  from  pace  51 

after  the  play’s  New  York  opening. 
In  that  case,  as  it  turned  out,  they 
could  probably  have  gotten  an 
even  higher  price,  for  the  Tights. 

In  any  case,  Inge  appears  likely 
to  receive  $32O,0O0H$34O,OOO  in  au¬ 
thor  royalties  and  film  income  dur¬ 
ing,  the  play's  first  year  on. Broad¬ 
way,  plus  a  share  of  the  profits 
through  Taurus  Productions.  Pre¬ 
sumably,  too,  he  and  his  Taurus 
associates  can  dispose  of  the  cor- 
poratiori  through  a  capital  gains 
deal,  getting  the  author  a  more 
advantageous  tax  setup  than  he 
will  have  for  his  royalties  and  film 
income. 

If  Inge  and  Miss  Wood  and  Col¬ 
ton  (his  agent  and  lawyer,  respec¬ 
tively)  had  wanted  to  do  so,  they 
might  have  been  able  to  arrange 
a  capital-gain  setup  for  virtually 
the  whole  '  “Stairs”  production. 
It’s  understood  that  NBC  arid  CBS 
are  now  indicating  willingness  to 
provide  for  entire  financing  of  legit 
plays  in  return  for  25%  of  the 
profits. 

Under  such  circumstances,  Au¬ 
thors  could  presumably  form  their 
own  corporate  production  setup, 
taking  not  only  the  management's 
75%  share  of  the  profits,  but  also 
possibly  the  author  royalties  and 
film  revenue  as  corporate  income. 
Sale  of  the  firm  under  a  capital 
gain  deal  would  then  bring,  a  much 
larger  net  return  for  the  author* 

In  any  case,  the  playwright,  al¬ 
ready  the  key  element  in  legit,  is 
steadily  acquiring  greater  impor¬ 
tance  and  bargaining  position. 
More  than  ever,  a  Broadway  hit 
can  bring  him  higher  returns  than 
any  other  figure  in  show,  business 
and  perhaps  the  entire  arts  field. 


Ballerina  Alexandra  Danilova 
will  make  her  acting  debut  in  “Oh 
Captain,”  formerly  titled  “Cap¬ 
tain’s  Paradise.”  She’ll  also  dance 
in  the  musical. 


WOR-Shuberl 

^5  Continued  fi'om  page  51 

night  program  the  review  was 
heard  locally,  to  beef  at  the  stunt. 
Shubert  reportedly  claimed  that 
the  adverse  notice  would  hurt  the 
advance  sale  for  “Body  Beautiful,” 
which  is  to  open  Jan.  23  at  the 
Broadway  Theatre,  N.  Y.  The  the¬ 
atre  exec  is  also  said  to  have 
threatened  court  action  to  halt 
further  New  York  airings  of  tryout 
reviews. 

Robert  Leder,:.  WOR  manager 
who  arranged  the  review  tieup 
with  WIP,  asserts  that  Shubert’s 
legal  threat  constitutes  an  attempt 
at  intimidation  and.  infringement 
of  freedom  of  the  press.  He  said 
he  would,  meet  with  Shubert  this 
week  to  discuss  the  matter.  Inci¬ 
dentally,  “Body,  Beautiful”  drew 
generally  unfavorable  notices  from 
the  regular  newspaper  critics  in 
Philly. 


(As  usual  under  such  circum¬ 
stances,  the  protest  in  this  cast 
followed  the  broadcast  of  an  un¬ 
favorable  review.  It’s  hardly  like¬ 
ly  that  there  would  have  been  any 
objection  if  the  notice  had  been 
enthusiastic.  -It  seems  obvious , 
therefore ,  that  the.  Shubert  com¬ 
plaint  ii  against  adverse  comment, 
not  on. the  mere  fact  that  comment . 
was  expressed.— Ed.) 


Todd  Bolender  will  handle  the 
choreography  for  “Hearts  and  Dol¬ 
lars.” 


Wednesday,  January  1,  1958 _ ^ _ _ PSRitfff  LEGITIMATE  53 


54  CHATTER 


P^rieSt 


Wednesday,  January  1,  1958: 


Broadway 

The  Carl  CCleo)  Brissons  due 
back  from  Scandinavian  bookings, 
in  February. 

Bonnie  Lubin,  Famous  Artists 
veepee,  moves  to  MCA  in  an  ex¬ 
ecutive  capacity. 

Bandleader  Leo  Reis  man's 
daughter,  Maritza  Jane  Reisman.  a 
Vassar  junior,  -engaged  to.  Pvt. 

-^Douglas  iL  Aflathson,  Yale  ’55. 

Joyce  Grenfell  booked  for  a  One- 
week  stand  with  her  one-woman 
show  at  Huntington  Hartford  The¬ 
atre,  opening  Feb*  IT. 

George  Liberate,  who  recently 
went  into  personal  management 
buslnes',  named  entertainment  di¬ 
rector  for  Sans  Souci  Hotel,  Las 
Vegas. 

Sam  Jaeger,  One  of  Lindy’s 
‘‘character”  waiters,  has  been 
screened  for  the  “$64,000  Ques¬ 
tion”  and  will  participate  on  the 
tee  veer  in  a  show  biz  and  vaude¬ 
ville  category. 

Richard  Tucker  off  for  his. 
•‘debut  '  at  Covent  Garden  and 
on  the  continent  was  .  accompanied 
Monday  (30)  by  Mrs.  Tiicker  and 
autographed  copies  of  Francis 
"Robinson’s  “Caruso”  book  in¬ 
tended  for  David  L.  Webster  of 
the  London  opera  and  .  Ernest 
Schneider,  of  the  Vienna  Statoper. 

Las  Vegas 

By  Forrest  Duke 
(DUdley  2-6100.) 

As  a  result  of  his  click  here  at 
the  Sans  Souci,  Herkie  Styles  .inked 
for  a  stint -at  Chicagos  Black  Or- 
ch*d. 

Joey  Cowan,  replacing  the  va- 
cashing  Sparky  Kaye,  at  Silver 
Slipper,  reminiscing  with  pals 
about  the  days  20  years  ago. 

Champagne  wedding  reception 
was  given  by  Mr,  &  Mrs.  Hank 
Henry  for  Bob  Alda  and  his  bride 
Flora  Marino,  Italian  film  actress. 

Ron  Randall;  star  of  the  “OSS” 
tver.  and  his  bride,  Laya  Raki,  cut 
short  their  Sahara  stppover  on  a 
cross-country  tour  to  dash  into 
Hollywood  for  a  film  commitment. 

Joyce  Roberts  of  the  Bill  Norvas 
Singers  at' the  Tropicana,  and  Ron 
Lewis,  dancer  in  the  show,  team 
for  a  series ;  of  terp  engagements 
when  current  revue  ends  in  Feb¬ 
ruary. 


Copenhagen 

By  Victor  Skaarup 

“The  Rainmaker”  preemed  at 
AMe-Scenen  with  70-year-old  Peter 
Malberg  in  the  lead. 

Best-selling  record  is*  Lily  Bro- 
berg’s  “Each  Bird  Sings,”  a  medley 
of  old.  Danish  hits  with  community 
singing. 

.  South  American  revue  and  “Bra¬ 
zil  iana”  ballet  troupe,  with  Nelson 
Ferraz  and  Jorge  Pao,  guesting  at 
Merkiir  Teatre. 

New  field  for  popular  songs  has 
opened  here,  with  several  of  the 
State  Radio's  language  teachers 
playing  pops  to  teach,  the  listeners 
the  right  accent. 

*  German  singing  star  Catarina 
Valante  playing  lead  in  Palads- 
teatre's  new  musical  in  color, 
“Bravo,  Caterina.”  Her  records 
al~o  doing  fine  here. 

The  five  Danish  film  producing 
companies  are  making  more  pic¬ 
tures  than  ever.  Most  popular  stars 
are  reported  to  be  Poul.Reichhardt/ 
comic  Dirch  Passer  and  veteran 
Peter  Malberg,  who  this  winter, 
will  be  seen  in.  four  pictures; 

Madrid 

By  Ramsay  Ames 
( Castellana  Hilton  572200) 

Isabel  Garces  prepping  a  legit 
production  of  “Solid  Gold  Cadillac  ■’ 
fo-  coming  season: 

The  Chinese  National  Theatre, 
sponsored  by  the  embassy  Of  that 
country,  opened  at  the  Teatro  de  la 
Zarzuela. 

taly’s  Amadeo  Nazzari  here  to 
sla  opposite  Germany's  Katia 
Lpritz  in  “Manos  Sucias”  (Dirty 
Hands)  in  Barcelona. 

Director-author  Luis  Escobar 
presenting  his  “Historians  del  Es- 
lava”  at  his  Teatro  Eslava;  it's  a 
Storj'  of  old  Teatro  Eslaiva  since  it. 
opened  in  1871. 

Jean  Anouilh's  “Ornifle”  opened 
at  Teatro  Alcazar  starring  Rafael 
Rvelles.  Proceeds  for  opening 
night  went  to  victims  of  recent 
disaster  in  Valencia. 

Cuba's  dance  team  of  Orquidea 
and  Willy,  here  under  auspices  of 
the  Cuban  Tourist  Bureau  during 
the  ASTA  convention,  still  in  de¬ 
mand,  and  now  at  Club  Morocco, 

Director-actress  Ana  Mariscal, 
now  playing  in  Benito  Perojo’s ! 
Sara  Montiel-starrer,  “La  Viole- 
f era preparing  the  screen  adap¬ 
tation  ~  of  Miguel  Mihura’s  “Car- 
Iota.” 

John  Derek,  who  is  here  with 
his  wife,  will  not  do  a  film  in. 
Barcelona  with  Katia  Loritz  as  pre¬ 
viously.  Wants  to  do  a  story  of  his 

\vn,  and  currently  is  huddling 

'ith.  Spanish  producers  about  it. 

Actor'-direplor  Alherto  Closas 


sang  in  public  for  first  time  at  mag 
Triunfo's  big  gala  at  Teatro  Lope 
de  Vega.  He  will  do  likewise  in  his 
own  production  of  Italian  musical, 
“Buenas  Noches  Bettina,”  which 
he .  has  had  to  postpone  again,  _ 

Carmen  de  Lirio,  who  starred  in 
“La  Pecadora’’  (The  Sinner)  here 
for  Iquino  Productions  two  years 
ago,  returned  from  Mexico  and 
Cuba,  where  she’s  been  successful 
on  tele.  She.  has  new  contracts  for 
English  tele  and  for  Madrid's  caba¬ 
ret  Rex. 

Renato  Rascel’s  new  musical 
show,  written  by  Garinei-Giovan-. 
riini,  opened  here  for  Christmas 
week  after  record  tour  in  Italian 
north!  Called  “Un  Paio  D’AIi,” 
show  has  already  had  several .  U.S. 
bids. 


By  Dave.  Jampel 

(58-2056) 

A.  Ben  Fuller,  chairman  of  Aus¬ 
tralia’s  Pagewood  Studios,  visiting 
Japan  with  Mrs.  Fuller. 

Russian  coloratura  soprano  Alla 
Golenkova  here  for  recital  tour  at 
invitation  of  Mainichi  News  papers.' 

Cartoonist  Rube  Goldberg,  and 
wife  visited  son  artist  Thomas 
George  who  makes  his  home  in 
Kyoto.  -w. 

The  Shochiku  Girls’.  Opera  Group 
is  skedded  to  make  its  second  Asia 
jaunt  playing  Manila,  Hong.  Kong, 
Bangkok  and  Singapore. 

Former  actress  Anna  Steii  joined 
husband  Eugene  Frenke,  producer 
of  “The  Townsend  Harris  Story” 
(20th).  on  location  in  Japan, 

.  William  Holden  expected  to  visit 
late  in  December  for  opening  of 
“Bridge .  Over  River  Kwai,”  and 
will  bring  a  print  of  the  film. . 

Filipino  film  stars  of  LVN  Stu¬ 
dios  Tessie  Quintana,  .  Eddie.  Del 
Mar  and  Johnny  Reyes,  arrived  for 
location  work  on  ■‘Tokyo  960.” 

King  Records,  which  has  .been 
active,  in  jazz  recently,  recorded  the 
first,  Dixie  date  in  Japan  for  an 
LP  release:  riext  May  . as  the  first 
ini  a  three-part  series;  tracing  the 
evolution  -of  jazz. 

Walter  A.  Bouillet,  New  York  en¬ 
tertainment  buyer,  who  is  closely 
associated  with  A1  Shattuck,  for¬ 
mer  operator  of  the  rafled  Latin 
Quarter,  in  this,  area,  brought  a 
mass  of  U.  S.  acts  info  Japan  to 
play  the  military  circuit  and  Ja¬ 
panese  clubs  and  theatres.  Acts  in¬ 
clude  Rivieras,  dance  team;  Rex 
Owens,  -  pantomime;  comediennes 
and  the  Roman  Twins,  accordion- 
Peggy  and  Pam,  vocalist  Ellen  Dale 
ists. 


By  Eric  Gorrick 

(Film  House,  Sydney) 

Shirley  Bassey,  Negro  singer, 
held  over  at  Tivoli,  Sydney,  follow¬ 
ing.  solid  click.  ;  : 

Local  governmental  hluenoses 
nix  any  bid  for  Sabbath  cinemas 
in  Sydney  next  year. 

.  Inflow  of  tv  product  has  the 
censor  boys  working  overtime  to 
keep  pace  with  the  U.S.  fare. 

George  Eckert  here  to  produce 
“Damn  Yankees”  for  J,  C.  William¬ 
son  Ltd.  Preem  is  set  for  Her  Ma¬ 
jesty's,  Melbourne,  Feb.  1. 

Hoyts,  Greater  Union  Theatres 
and  Metro  are  reported  seeking 
drive-in  locations  Coast-to-coast  on. 
major  1956  ozoner  buildup. 

Dame  Sybil  Thorndike  and  Six* 
Lewis,  Casson  set  for  Yuletide 
preem .  of  “The  Chalk  Garden”  at 
Royal,  Sydney,  for  J.  C,  William¬ 
son.  ;- 

Larry  Adler  hack  to  U.S.  after 
run-around  for  Australian  Broad¬ 
casting  Commission.  Adler-  gave 
charity  show  to  aid  victims. bf  the 
forest  fires  here.  ' 

William  Orr’s  intimate  revue 
“Cross ...  Section”  at  independent 
Phillip  theatre,  Sydney,  is  cur¬ 
rently  in  sixth  month.  Cast  -is 
mainly  local  talent; 

Roger:  Livesey  and  Ursula  Jeans 
will  costar.  in.  “The  Great  Sebas¬ 
tians”  for  j:  C.  Williamson  Ltd;,  at 
Comedy,  Melbourri,  in.  January: 
Jerome  Mayer  will  direct^ 

Pittsburgh 

By  Hal  V. .  Cohen 

Ex-nitery  tenfir  Mike  Driscoll 
home  on  20-day  leave  from  Navy* 

Local  singer  Tim  (Johnny)  Kirby 
goes  into  the  New  Nixon  on  Friday 
(3).. 

Tom  Evans  named  head,  of 
finance  committee  for  Civic  Light 
Opera.  Assn. 

Testimonial  dinner  for  Jack  Judd 
and  Frank  Silverman,  set  for  Roose¬ 
velt  Hotel  Jan.  7. 

;  Eileen  Rodgers  ‘  came  home-  for 
holidays  accompanied-  by  Roz 
(GAO  Ross’  mother. 

Closing  of  “Separate  Tables”  on 
road  late  in  January  costs  Nixon 
another  subscription  show. 

Kiki  Paige,  Horizon  Room  thrush, 
house-guesting  with  Dancing  Evans 
Family  during  her  stay  here. 

Post-Gazette  editor  Andy  Bern- 
hard  and  his  wife  spent  last,  week 
in  New  York  taking  .iq.  the  sho^s-  * 


(COVeni  Garden  0135/6/7) 
Tessie  O’Shea  entertaining  Brit¬ 
ish  troops  in  Germany  over  the 
holidays.- 

Margaretta  Scott  inked  for  a  star 
role  in  a  new  British  pic,  “The 


Vocalist  Paula  Green  back,  per¬ 
manently  in  town  after  a  long  sing¬ 
ing  stint  in  Germany; 

Wendy  Craig  signed  for  three 
plays  at  the  Royal  Court,  including 
the  new  John  Osborne  opus. 

John  McMillan,  Associated-Re- 
diffusioh’s  pro g r a m  controller, 
back  in  town  after  a  Moscow 
quickie. 

Anna  Deere  Wimah  acquired 
British  and  American  rights  to 
Sylvia  Ramon's  play,  “Time  to 
Speak.” 

W.  H.  Jamieson,  Rank’s  publicity 
topper  in  Souths  America,  home  for 
holidays  and  guest  of  honor  at  a 
Savoy  party. 

More  than  ‘$29,000  collected  in 
Odeott  and  Gaumont  theatres  ih 
aid  nf  the  Royal-National  Institute 
for  the  Blind,  .  . 

.  Channing  Pollock,  Erich  Brenn, 
Pat  Dahl  and  Peter  Elliott  signed 
for  the  new  PigallC  revue, “Cham¬ 
pagne  Shower/’  which  preems  Jan. 
30. 

Executive  committee  of  the  Crit¬ 
ics’  Circle  tossed  a  lunch  to  honor 
Dolly  Hill,  long  member  of  Metro’s 
publicity  department,  on  her  re¬ 
tirement  She  was.  presented  with 
an  inscribed  dock. 

Enid  Jones  named  publicity  dir 
rector:  for  Daniel  Angel  Films.  Her 
first  assignment  will  be  on;  loan  to 
Mersham  Productions  for  “Harry 
Black,'*  which  starts  rolling  on  lo¬ 
cation  in  India:  next  month,  with: 
Stewart  ■  Granger,  Barbara  Rush 
and  Anthony  Steel. 


t 


Scotland 


By  Gordon  Irving 

(Glasgow:  KELvin  1590) 

Robert  Wotherspoori,  cinema 
exec,  in  from  trip  to  U.S. 

“South  Pacific,”  ih  Todd-AO  ver¬ 
sion,  set  for  Glasgow  in  April. 

Dave  Willis,  vet  comedian,  teed 
off  in  “Aladdin”  pantomime  at 
Rutherglen  Theatre,  near  Glasgow: 

Gala  preem  staged  for  “Round 
World  in  80  Days”  at  Gaumont, 
Glasgow,  in  aid  of:  Newspaper 
Press  Fund. 

Leslie  Harris,  Rank  flack;  trans¬ 
ferring;  to  London  base,  with  Hugh 
Mackie  coming  in  as  new  resident 
Scot  publicist. 


By  Les  Rees 

(2123  Fremont  Ave^  So.rFR  7-2609) 
f.  St.  .  Paul  Civic  Opera  Co.  offered 
“Carmen.” 

Edyth  Bush  Little  Theatre  of¬ 
fered  “Relvedere.” 

Songstress  Jana  Mason  into 
Hotel  Radisson  Flame  Room  for 
her  local  bow. 

James  Lombard,  Minnesota  U. 
conceits  and  lectures  director,  re¬ 
leased  from  hospital  where  he  was 
treated  for  heart1  attack. 

Closing  .  of  “Separate  Tables” 
deprives  Lyceum  here  of  one  of 
its. ;  promised  Theatre  Guild  sub¬ 
scription  season,  offerings. 

AI  Rosen,  back  with  “Diary  of 
Anne  Frank”  at  Lyceum,  was  Cine¬ 
rama  managing  director  when  it 
was  launched  at  Century  theatre 
here. 

Stage  lineup  for  third  annual 
Auto  Show  at  Auditorium,  Jan. 
3-12,  includes  Georgia  Gibbs,  Dag- 
mar,  Jim  Eddy,  Dieter  Tasso  and 
the  Topnotchers  Trio,  last-named 
back  for  third  time. 

Actress  Helen  Gahagan  joined 
her  husband,  Malyyn  Douglas,  dur¬ 
ing  “Waltz .  of  Toreadors”  engage¬ 
ment  here  and  .  addressed  Twin 
Cities  Hebrew  University  chapter 
dinner. 

When  Duluth  stagehands  union’s 
demands  for  employment  of  three 
men  at  $90  was  rejected,  the 
Duluth,  Minn.,  suburban  Clifton 
high  school  was  picketed  and  the 
“Great  Morton’s”  one-man  variety 
show  was  called  off. 


“A  Question  of  Adultery,”  to  film 
in  Elstree  Studios,  London. 

A  memorial  tablet  in  honor  of 
Ernst  Lubitsch  will  be  played' by 
the  City  of  Berlin  at  the  Zoo  Palast 
On  next  Jan.  28,  10  years  after  his 
death. 

Lilli  Palmer  to  film  “Eine  Frau 
die  Weiss  Was  Site-  Will”  (A  Woman 
who  Knows  What  She  Wants)  for 
Bavaria-Schorcht  Films.  Peter 
Schuette  plays  opposite  her. 

John  Osborne,  author  of  “The 
Entertainer,”  which  Gustav  Gru- 
eridgens  recently  produced  on  the 
stage  in  Hamburg,  sold  the  rights 
to  a  German  producer  for  *  pic. 

“Lola  Moritez/’  Union’s  three- 
version  film  from  last  year,  has 
been  shortened  and  will  be  shown 
again  under  a  new  title,  “Die  Tam 
zerin  des  Koenigs”-  (The-  Dancer 
for  the  Kings).  •.  .  .  .  ^ 

Scriptwriter  Hans  Wilhelm,  back 
in  Germany  after  a  year  in  Holly¬ 
wood,  working  on  script  for  a  film 
about  the  life  of  operetta  composer 
Emmerich  Kalman,  which  CCC 
will  film  next  year  as  the  “Kalman 
Story.”  .  .  _ 

The  film,  “Nachts  wenn  der  TeU- 
fel  kam,”  (Nights  when  the  Devil 
Came),  which  Holly woodiaii  Robert 
Siodmak  directed  for  Gloria  Films 
in  Germany,  handed  the  “especial¬ 
ly  worthy”  designation  of  tfee  Ger¬ 
man  Film  Classification  Board:.  - 
German  actress  Maria  Schell 
chosen  as  “best  foreign  actress  of 
the  year”  bv  the  French  and  the 
Belgian  Film  Theatre  Union  while 
German  actor  Curd  Juergens 
ranked  first  as  the  favorite  of  the 
French.  The  late  James  Dean  took 
top  place  with  the  Belgian  Theatre 
Union. 


Ireland 

By  Maxwell  Sweeney 
(22  Famey  Pk:  Dublin  684506) 

Dublin  Gate  Theatre  will  reopen 
after  reconstruction  Jan,  7. 

InbaL  (Israeli  Dance  Group)  In 
for  stint  at  Gaiety,  Dublin. 

Radio  producer  John  Stephenson 
convalescent  afteir  foot  injury. 

Michael  Miles  planed  to  London 
{mfter  recording  “Take  Your  Pick” 
sessions  in  Dublin. 

James  A.  Bell,  UA  London  ex¬ 
ploitation  topper,  in  to  supervise 
flak  for  “Around:  World  in  80  Days” 
opening  in  Dublin. 

Lord  Killanin,  producer  on  “Gid¬ 
eon’s  Day,”  directed  by  John  Ford 
for  Columbia,  heading  for  Holly¬ 
wood  with  finished  print. 

New  disc  label  “Ceolta  Eireann” 
(Music  of  Ireland)  making  its  ap¬ 
pearance  this  month;  will;  feature 
Irish  traditional  music  and  ballads. 

Dublin  Globe  Theatre :  skedded 
Peter  Ustinov’s  “Romanoff  and 
Juliet”  to  open  early  in  the  spring 
in  Dublin,  following  with  new  plays 
by  Irish  authors  James  Douglas 
and  Niall  Montgomery. 


HoUjwood 


Andre  dr  Toth  will  undergo  eye 
surgery  again. 

Jeri  Southern  recuping  from 
major  surgery  at  UCLA  Medical 
Center. 

Johnny  McGovern  (“Little  Bea¬ 
ver”)  went  ,  to  court  to  change  his 
name  to  John  Wilder, 

The  James  Stewarts  planed  to 
Concord,  N.H.,  to  look  over 
school  for  their  boys, 

Akim  Taimiroff  hospitalized  in 
Fontana,  Calif;  after  auto  accident; 

.Cathy  Crosby’s  pact  with  MCA 
approved  by  -court. 

Jane  Powell  in.  town  for  the 
holidays  before  returning  to 
Mexico  for  location  shooting  of 
“Typee.”  y, 

Metro  police  chief  W.  P.  (Whitey) 
Hendry  appointed  to  Public .  Rela¬ 
tion^  Committee  of  International 
Assn:  of  Police  Chiefs.  : 

William  Morris  Office  sent  Sy 
Marsh  to- Memphis  to  help  handle 
the  rash  of  details  attendant  on  El¬ 
vis  Presley’s  airaft  call. 

George  Stern,  Revue  Produc¬ 
tions  .veepee,  home  after  being 
hospitalized  for  a  sciatic  nerve 
condition  but  won’t  return  to  work 
at  once. . 

'Joseph  Mazzuca  of  USC  and  Pat 
Patridge  of  UCLA^woii  scholarship 
awards  from  Screen  Directors 
Guild  Educational  arid  Benevolent 
Fouridation. 

U.  S.=  Air  Force  handed  Stan 
Kenton,  a  trophy  for  his  “excep¬ 
tional  assistance  in  aiding  the  U.S. 
Air  Force  throughout  1957  during 
its  manpower  procurement  mis¬ 
sions.” 

UCLA  Medical  School  will  toss 
_  special  luncheon  for  Marion 
Davies,  Jan.  3  at  which-  she’ll  pre¬ 
sent  a  check  for  $1,500,000  for 
construct;0n  of  a.  new  children’s 
wing  of  University’s  Medical  Cen¬ 
ter. 


Frankfurt 

By  HazCT  Guild 
(24  Rheinstrasse;  776751) 

German  director.  Helmut:  Kaiit- 
ner  to  remain  in  Hollywood  until 
the  end  of  JanUary. 

Wolf  Rilla,  son  of  the  German 
actor  Walter  Rilla,  is  directing 
“The -  Scainp”  6n  the  stage  in 
London. 

German  director  Gustav  Gru- 
eitdgens  invited  'to  produce  “Ver- 
di’s  “Don  Carlos*’  at  Salzburg  Fes¬ 
tival  next  summer. 

Marianne  Koch,  who  filmed  for 
Universal  in  the.  U-S.  under  the 
name  of  Marianne  Co6k;  will  make 
a  picture  in  Poland: 

German  actor  Carl  Moohner 
.§igH?d.  fo^Jii§“9urth  ^nglisa  film. 


By  Guy  Livingston 
(344  Little  Bldg.;  HAncock  .6-8386) 

Chirp  Lila  Charney  current  at 
newly  refurbished  Cobb’s. 

Joe  Levine,  Embassy  Pictures 
prexy,  planed  out  for  Japan. 

Jeff  Harris,  Revere  booker,  elect¬ 
ed  prexy  National  Showmen’s  Asso. 

Sherm  Feller  now  doing  his 
WEZE  dee  jay  -chore  from  Hotel 
Bradford  lounge  nightly. 

Ben  Sack  preemed  “Bridge  on 
River-  Kwai”  at  his  Gary  for  Arch¬ 
bishop  Richard  J.  Cushing  benefit 
fund. 

Billy  Kelly,  Hub^based  comic,  off 
for  date  at  Palumbo’s,  Philadelphia, 
opening  Thursday  (2)  for  two 
frames. 

Frolic,  Revere,  ends  its  Buddy 
Thomas  line  revues  of  10  Saturday 
(4)  and  institutes  format  of  .five 
acts  .with  Cliff  Natale’s  orch  back¬ 
ing. 

Legit  lights  up  at  two  houses 
after  two  and  one-half  dark  Weeks 
with  “Auntie  Maihe”  at.  the  Shu- 
bert  and  “Sunrise  at  Campobello” 
at  Coloniial. 


By  Jeiry  Gaghan 
“Ice  Follies  of  .  1958  Opened 
Christmas  night  at  the  Arena: 

Viennese  producer  Paul  Czinner 
in  for  press  and  air  interviews  to 
plug  Its.  film,  “Bolshoi  Ballet.” 

Al  Fisher  and  Lou  Marks  forced 
to  set  back  opener  at  Sciolla’s 
three  days.  Comedy  team  was 
detained  in  N,Y.  for  work  on  pic¬ 
ture  “Have  Guitar,  Will  Travel” 
Lillian  Fitzgerald  subbing  for 
Daniito  Jo  with  Steve  Gibson  arid 
Red  Caps,  while  latter  is  on  Coast 
for  new  gowns  and/arrangements. 
Damita  Jo  (Mrs.  Gibson)  to  rejoin 
troupe  at  Miami  Beach’s  .  Hotel 
Deauville. 

Marian  Anderson;  accornpanied 
by  Edward  R.  Murrow,  came  here 
for  special  luncheon  at  the  Barclay 
last  week  (26).  Pix  of.  her  tour  of 
Southwest  Asia  will  hs  shown. 
F.  lm  is- later  to  be  run  on  Murrow’s 
‘See  It  Now”  coverage  of  the  con- 
lr  ito's  trip., 


By  Gene  Moskowitz 
(28  Rue *  Huchette;  Qdeon  4944) 

Jacques  Tati  finally  winding  his 
third  pic  "Mon  Oncle,”  his  first  in 
color.  It  was  in  the  making  almost 
two  years. 

Yatik  jazz  trumpeter  Miles  Davis 
did  an  improvised,  musical  score 
for  a  Gallic  suspense  pic,  “Elevator 
To  the  Gallows.” 

Imre  Feher  in  from  Budapest  for 
the  Opening  of  “In  Soldier’s  Dress,” 
the  second  Magyar  pic  to  get  a 
firstrun  showing  since  1949. 

Roland  Petit  and  Zizi  Jeanmaire 
go  back  to  ballet  in  a  new  dance 
show  they  will,  do  at  the  Alhambra- 
Maurice  Chevalier  next  February; 

Jean  Neguelesco  and  Henry  Eph- 
ron  in  to  pick. sites  for  forthcoming 
production  of  “A  Certain  Smile” 
(20th)  which  will  be -made  entirely 
in  France. 

Jean-Louis  Barrault  takes  time 
off  from  his  legit  company  here 
later  this  season  to  hop  to  London 
to  direct  the  Anglo  legit,  version  of 
Jean  Giraudoux’s  posthumous  play. 
“Pour  Lucrece/V 

The  seventh  tome  in  the  mem¬ 
oirs  of  Maurice  Chevalier,  “Artisan 
De  Frarice.”  is  out.  In  it  he  winds 
with,  details  of  his  new  pic  “Gigi” 
.(M-G),  video  projects  for  the  U.  S-, 
and  his  probable  return  to  the 
Gallic  scene  later  this  season. 

Marc  .  Spiegel  hibernating  for 
holidays  with  a  batch  of  Heeht-  - 
Hill-Lancaster  scripts  before  he 
takes. over  as  H-H-L  Continental 
veepee  in  charge  of  production  and 
pic  sales.  He  breaks  -iri-  the  new 
Motion  Picture  Export  Assn,  rep 
before  exiting  the  MHEA  next  Feb¬ 
ruary. 


Comic  Cliff  Norton  spent  holi¬ 
days  here  visiting  his  family. 

Plans,  are  now  under  way  for;  a 
coriiplete  refurbishing  of  Orchestra 
Hall. 

A.  Nelmar  Albino,  magician  and 
hypriotist,  in  Cook:  County  Hospital 
for  surgery. 

Audre  Deckman,  Chi  terper  for¬ 
merly  with  Ballet  Theatre,  joined 
dance  corps  of  “My  Fair  Lady” 
here.. 

Jack  Pitman  now  covering 
yaitde,  pictures  arid  music  for  Chi 
Variety,  replacing  Dave  (Leva) 
Levadi, .  * 

.  Bob  Scobey  Frisco"  Jazz  Band 
gave  dixieland .  concert  for  subur¬ 
ban  Butterfield  last  Sunday  (29)  at 
the  local  firehouse.  .  ^ 

Disk  jockey  Sam  Evans  formed 
E&E  music  piihbery,  starting  with, 
a  couple  of  tunes  penned  by  local 
accordionist  Tony  Bellus. 

Richard  Boone  and  MarviQ  Mil¬ 
ler  due  in  this  week  to  plug  their 
respective  CBS-TV  shows,  “Have 
Gun,  Will  Travel”  arid  “Million-? 
aire/’ 

James  C;  Petrillo,  prez  of  Ameri¬ 
can  Federation  of  Musicians,  gave 
his  21st  annual  Christinas  Day  pa  - 
ty  for  blind  members  of  Locals  10 
and  208.  More  than  200  attended 
at  Sheraton-Blackstorie  HoteL 


56 


P&RB^tr 


Wednesday,  Janiiary  I,  1958 


7:15  to  9:00  P.M. 

Monday  thru  Friday 

American  Broadcasting  Network 

Featuring 

BETTY  HOLT 
JULANN  WRIGHT 
JERRY  BRESLER'S 

Orchestra  and  Chorus 


ANNA  MARIA  ALBERGHETTI 
KAY  ARMEN 
EDDY  ARNOIJ) 

JIM  BACKUS 
ANNEBAXTER 
THEODORE  BICKEL 
JIMMY  BOYD 
KAY  BROWN 


BILLIE  BURKE  ' 

THE  CHORDETTES 
DOROTHY  COLLINS 
ALAN  COPELAND 
JILL  COREY 
CREWCUTS 
DAN  DAILEY 


NORMA  DOUGLAS 
IRENE  DUNNE 
JOAN  EDWARDS 
SUNNY  GALE 
GEORGIA  GIBBS 
FRANK  GIFFORD 
GOGI  GRANT 
DOLORES  GRAY 
HELEN  HAYES 
PEtERLIND  HAYES  and 
MARYHEALY 
ALHIBBLER 
HILDEGARDE 
CELESTE  HOLM 
NANCY  KELLY 
JUNE  LOCKHART 
JOHNNY  MATHIS 
MARION  MARLOWE 
MiGUIRE  SISTERS 
TERRY  MOQRE 
JANE  MORGAN 
JAYE  P.  MORGAN 
FOUR  MORGAN  BROS. 
TYRONE  POWER 
JOHNNIE  RAY 
DELLA  REESE 
TRUDY  RICHARDS 
DICKfROMAN 
DON  RONDO 
LU  ANN  SIMMS 
TERRI  STEVENS 
GLORIA  SWANSON 
ANDY  WILLIAMS 
ROGER  WILLIAMS 


•  •  •  For  guestingon  my  "live" 
radio  show  the  past  13  weeks. 

and  Special  Thanks  to 

THE  SPELLBINDERS 


Direct! 


Plus  Guest  Stars 
Produced  by 

LYN  DUDDY  and  JERRY  BRESLER 


Management — . 


DURGOM-KATZ  ASSOCIATES.  40  West  55  Street, 


New  YoHt,  19.  N.  Y. 


Men# 

fjewuf,  Bnediefi 


52nd  ANNIVERSARY  NUMBER 


CUCKI 


If  you  are  one  of  the  millions  of  people  Who  have  seen  Color  TV  recently, 
you  know  what  we  mean. 

Tti*  picture  Is  tremsndous.  It’s  bright,  clear,  natural  Living  Color 
F— proved  in  performance  in  tens  of  thousands  of  homes. 

Critics  are  cheering  Color  TV.  Almost  every  day  newspaper  TV 
reviews  point  out  how  much  enjoyment  color  has  added  to  program 
after  program. 

And  what  programming!  Now  in  color:  Steve  Alien,  Terry  Como, 
George  Gobel,  Eddie  Fisher,  Red  Skelton,  Rosemary  Clooney,  Dinah 
Shore,  Kraft  Theatre,  Matinee  Theatre,  The  Price  Is  Right,  Tic  Tac 
Dough,  Your  Hit  Parade,  Howard  Miller’s  Club  60  and  many  others. 
There  are  great  specials  and  sports  events— “Annie  Get  Your  Gun,” 


“Pied  Piper  of  Hamelin,”  NCAA  football.  Tournament  of  Rpses  and 
many  more.  On  NBC  alone,  color  shows  are  up  67%  over  last  year! 

Today  Cfrlor  TV  is  taking  its  place  among  the  great  scientific 
achievements  pioneered  and  developed  by  RCA.  From  the  Color  TV 
camera  to  the  TV  set  in  your  home,  Color  TV  carries  the  same  assurance 
of  dependability  and  quality  that  characterizes  all  RCA  products. 

Make  sure  that'  you  see  this  big,  bright  new  “Click!”  soon.  You 
can’t  know  what  you’re  missing  until  you  do. 


RADIO  CORPORATION  OF  AMERICA 


woe  (L  O 


)• 


WILLIAM  MORRIS  AGENCY  - 

NEW  YORK  BEVERLY  HILLS  CHICAGO  LONDON  PARIS  ROME 

★ 


SHOW  BIZ:  PAIN  IN  THE-BRAIN 


Jokes  a  ‘Must7— But  How  Many? 

Let  Musicals  Set  Own  Rules 


‘He  Who  Gets  Slapped’;  Legendary 
Feuds  in  the  Annals  of  Theatre 


By  OSCAR  HAMMERSTEIN  £d  A 

I  have;,  read  several,  articles  in. 
the  past  year  suggesting  that  musi¬ 
cal  plays  are  becoming  too  serious. 

I  have  seen  the  same  thought  re¬ 
flected  in  letters  to  dramatic  edi¬ 
tors,  and  in  the  comments  of  a  few 
columnists  and  critics.  It  seems 
odd  that  these  protests  should  be 
made  following  a  season  when  the 
three  biggest  musical  hits  were 
“Bells  ArC  Ringing”;  “L’il  Abner” 
and  “Happy  Hunting”,  but  let  us 
just  charge  that  to  the  perversities 
of  human  thinking  and  deal  with 
the  main  question; 

Why  should  a  musical  play  not 
be  serious?  Why  is  there  a  continu¬ 
ing  belief  on  the  part  of  some  peo¬ 
ple  that  a  musical  play  should  have 
certain  ingredients,  and  should  not 
have  certain  others? 

Plays  without  music  are  accepted 
on  their  own  terms  as  farces, :  com¬ 
edies,  dramas  or  tragedies.  But  cer¬ 
tain  specifications  are  made  for  lib¬ 
rettists.  Some  are.  positive,  some 
are  negative.  The  positive  ones  are 
that  a  musical  play  should  have 
jokes:  (how  many  I  .  .am  not  quite 
sure).  It  should  have  girl  numbers 
and  a  certain  amount  of  dancing 
(how  much  dancing  I  do  not 
know).  The  scenery  and  costumes 
should  be  pretty.  On  the  negative 
side  there  should  be  no  social  mes¬ 
sage  and  the  story  should  not  be 
“serious”. 

Into  these  discussions  comes  a 
phrase  called,  “the  old  days”;  Those 
old-tiihe  musical  comedies!  They 
were  the.  gay,  wild,  sweet  thirigs. 
Well,  certainly  some  of  them  were. 
There  might  be  a  fortune  in  reviv¬ 
ing  these  happy  creations.  If  they 
were  so  good  then,  they  should  be 
good  now.  I  suggest,  however,  that 
before  anyone  persuades  his 
friends  to  chip  in  the  necessary. 
$400,000  that  he  first  read  the 
books  pf  these  old  musical  come¬ 
dies  and  try  to  imagine  how  gay 
they  would  be  today. 

What  old  musical  plays  are  actu¬ 
ally  the  ones  that  have  been  most 
revived  in  stock  companies  over 
the  past  thirty  or  forty  years?  Only 
the  “serious”  ones.  “Show  Boat”, 
“Desert  Song”,  "Rose  Marie”,  “The 
S'.udent  Prince”,  "Blossom  Time”. 
These  are  sentimental,  romantic 
and  dramatic  in  intent.  All.  of  them 
do  not  wear  equally  well.  But  all 
of  .them  have  enough  substance  to 
have  endured.  The  gay,  sweet  wild 
ones  had  their  season  and  died, 
like  all- unsubstantial  things.  . 

I  did  not  start  this  short  piece 
with  the  intention  of  justifying  the 
"serious”  musical  play  as  against 
the  frivolous  musical  comedy. :  I 
love  frivolous  musical  Comedy,  and 
I  wish  that  I  Could  write  one, 

The  only  point  I  wish  to  make  is 
that  it  is  nonsense  to  .  say  what  a 
musical  play  should  or  should  not 
be.  It  should  be.  anything  it  wants 
to  be,  and  if  you  don’t  like  it  you 
don’t  have  to  go  to  it. 

There  is  only  one  absolutely  in¬ 
dispensable  element  that  a  musical 
play  must  have.  It  must  have  mu-| 
sic.  And  there  is  only  one  thing’ 
that  it  has  to  be— it  has  to  be  good. . 


Early  Press  Time 

This  52d  Anniversary  Num¬ 
ber  went  to  press  several  days 
ahead  of  the  normal  Tuesday, 
closing  deadline. 

As  result,,  certain  news  de¬ 
partment  are  telescoped,  viz., 
TV -Films  with  TV-Radio, 
Tolivision  with  Pictures,  and- 
C  e  r  t  a  i  n  other  departments 
have  been  omitted  or  Com¬ 
bined  with  others. 


TfcUeTheBoss; 


Film  Handouts 


By  HY  HOLLINGER 

Film  press  releases  are  not  .writ, 
ten  for  the  press.  They  are  writ¬ 
ten  for  the  press  agents’,  bosses. 
They  are  exercises  in  rtiumbo- 
jumbo  calculated  to.  titillate  the 
ego  of  the  Mr.  Big  in  authority. 

One  major  film  company  never 
casts  a  bit  player  or  hires  art  of¬ 
fice  boy  or  janitor  Without  the 
deed  being  heralded  with  art  an¬ 
nouncement  issued  under  the  name 
of  the  chief  executive.  Another 
company  rarely  delivers  a  handout 
without  employmg  the  word  “un¬ 
precedented,”  Eve rything  this 
company  does-^from  making  a  pic¬ 
ture  to  selling  it— is  “unprece¬ 
dented.’-  For  unknown  reasons .  of 
Webster  psychological  compulsion 
this  word  is  flagellated  in  miirte- 
(COntiniied  on  page  62) 


By  ABEL  GREEN 

These  are  the  words  of  our  year 
1957  in  a  show  business  of  nervous 
prophets;  and  of  a  political  atmos¬ 
phere  smoggy  with  Sputnik,  The. 
Russians  out-propagandized  the 
Madison  Avenue  gentry,  the  new 
White  House  masterminds,  provok¬ 
ing  the  quip,  "Washington  slipped 
here." 

Nobody  k  n  e  w,  in  1957,  at 
least  not  for  sure,  whither  show 
biz..  Which  Was  tire-  bigger  threat: 
Communism  .or  television?.  It  be¬ 
gan  to  look  like  the  amusement 
world’s,  new  head-knocker  might 
be  still  another  medium  not  yet 
in  existence,  namely  tolivision.  To 
tell  that  story  each  isSrte  ; 
Variety  .  established  a  .  new  news . 
.section. 

Otherwise  1957  was  the  roirtp  of: 
Rock  V  roll 
Harry  Belafonte 
Elvis  Presley 

Race  themes  in  screen  dram 
Subliminal  perception 
Yul  Brynner's  naked  -  noggin  ' 
Togetherness,  except  for  Meyer 
Levin 

The  Loew’s  feud 
Diisk  reign  of  the  .  teenagers 
By  1957  television  was  the  show¬ 
men’s  show  business  and talent's- 
pitchman’s  paradise.  It  was  clearer 
than  ever  that  this  is  the  lattCrday 
medicine  show.  Stars  are  lavishly 
payrolled  to  shill  for  the.  sell. 
Whether  it’s  for  Big  Business  or 
a  crap  table,  entertainment  per¬ 
sonalities  are  the  latterday  Medi¬ 
cine  Showmen  of  the  Electronic 
Age  of  Show  Business. 

Detroit  looks  to  Broadway,  Hol¬ 
lywood  and  Radio  City  to  bring  its 
multimillion  dollar  investments  to 
the  custoiners.  A  resort  or  a  hos¬ 
telry,  from  Havaria  and  Las  Vegas 
(Continued  on  page  50) 


Ushers  Lose  Glamour? 

Local  theatre  operators  are 
.  seeking  publicity  on  a  new 
subject— the  advantages  of  be¬ 
coming  a  usher. 

In  recent  years,  theatres 
have  had  considerable  diffi¬ 
culty  in  inducing  youngsters 
to  take  on  theatre  jobs.  As  a 
result,  they’ve  started  planting 
stories  on  the  “youth  page”  of 
local  .  dailies  to  induce  high 
school  students  to  take  jobs 
as  ushers: 

An  example,  is  a  two-column 
recent  story  in  the  Waterbury 
(Conn.)  Republican  under  the 
headline:  “Theatre  Jobs  Give 
Chance  to  See  Movies,  Earn 
Money.” 


French  Still  Snoot 
D.S.  Culture  As 
Chicle  &  Cola 


By  GENE  MOSKOWITZ 

Paris: 

Arts,  the  highbrow  weekly  here, 
has  been  solemiily  investigating  and 
deciding  whether  France  is  being 
“Americanized.”  The  account,  as 
given,  starts  with' the  Yank  soldier- 
liberators  marching  into  Paris 
chewing  gum,  pink-cheeked,  well 
scrubbed  and  cradle-conditioned  to 
brush  their  teeth  twice  a  day. 

A  pure  G.  T.  was  one  who  wept  on 
his  pillow  at  night  over  a  picture  of  i 
an  equally  pink-cheeked,  girl  back] 
'  (Continued  on  page  62) 


SACHA 


By  THOMAS  QUINN  CURTISS 


Paris. 

The  French  stage  suffered  its  greatest  loss  since 
the  death  of  Sarah  .Bertihardt  when  Sacha  Guitry 
died  last  July.  The  inimitable .  Sacha— few  needed  or 
used  further  identification- — during  his  lifetime  was 
a  symbol  of  Parisiart  chic,  gay ety  and  wit  and  now 
that  he  is  gone  the  French  critics  and  biographers 
are  as  busy  with  his  doings  as  the  American  critics 
and  biographers  are.  with  Eugene  O’Neill. 

His  full;  rich,  colorful  career  reads  like  some 
picaresque  novel  and  it  is  no  wonder;  that  writers 
itch  tb:  picture  this  extraordinary  mart  who  had 
genius  four  times:  as:  a  dramatic  author,  as  an  ac¬ 
tor,  as  a  motion  picture  director,  and  as  an  inter- 
natiortal  personality  who  was  always  “news.” 

Everything  about  him  has  the  air  of  fiction.  He 
was  bbrn  irt  St.  Petersburg  and  Czar  Alexander  III 
vyas  his  godfather.  Hence,  the  “Sacha,”  the  Rus¬ 
sian  diminutive  of  Alexander. 

The  son  of  the  finest  French  actor  of  his  day,  Lu¬ 
cian  Guitry,  who  was  the  partner  of  Sarah  Bern¬ 
hardt  arid  Rejane,  Sacha  was  born  to  the  theatrical 
purple.  “I  inherited  a  famous  last  name,  so  I  have 
made  iny  first  name  well  known,'' he  once  modestly 
allowed. 


As  a  child  he  met  the  entire  Parisian  bohemia  of 
the  early  ’90s:  Bernhardt,  Coqiielin,  Duse,  Manet, 
Renoir,  Zoia;  Octave  Mirbeau,  Jules  Renard,  Georges 
de  Porto-Riche,  Debussy.  At  seven  he  wrote  his  first 
sketch.  At  17  he  was  art  editor  of  Le  Rire  (The 
Laugh).  At  20— when  “Nono”  was  produced— he 
was  a  celebrated  playwright. 

He  married  five- times  .  and  four  of  his  wives  co- 
starred  With  him  in  his  plays:  Charlotte  Lyses, 
Yvonne  Printemps,  Jacqueline  Delubac  and  Lana 
Marconi.  Asked  why  he  wed  so  often  he  replied: 
“I  love  women  too  much  to  see  one  grow  old.”  He 
had  no  children;  “Three  Guitrys  in  ope  century 
would  be  too  much,”  he  once  remarked. 

He  Wrote  in  every  possible  theatrical  form:  come¬ 
dies,  tragedies,  dramas,  operettas,  revues,  films  roll¬ 
ed  facilely  from  his  pen.  His  plays  wear  well.  Dur¬ 
ing.  the  last  season  his  “Faisons  urt  Reve”  (Sleep¬ 
ing  Partners),  written  iir  1914  irt  three  days  (one 
day  for  each  act),  was  again  a  Paris  hit  and  we  have 
been,  promised  revivals  of  “Le  Veilleur  de  Nuit” 
(The.  Nightwatchman),  “La  Prise  de  Berg-op-Zoom” 
(Continued  on  page  62) 


By  HARRY  HERSHFIELD 

When  actors  approach  the  sub¬ 
ject  of  “teaming  up,”  the  begin¬ 
ning  and  ending  of  the  cohesion  is 
exemplified  by  the  chap  who  pro¬ 
posed  m  a  r- 

- -  riage.  “I  love 

you,  I  love 
you— will  you 
marry  m  e  ?’* 

She  replied. 
“No,  just  leus 
be  friends!” 
“No,  I  don’t 
care  for  you 
that  much!” 
c=a  m  e  h  i  s 
clincher. 

Harry  Hershfleld  Lft’s  toss  in 

a  few  quote 
lines  and  elaborate  on  the  subject 
at  hand,  later.  “He’ll. bite  the  hand 
that  feeds  him  and  then  blames 
him  for  his  indigestion  and  for  not 
having  any  bicarbonate  ready”  ;  .  . 
“He’ll  take  the  shirt  off  your  back, 
then  report  you  for  indecent  ex¬ 
posure”  .  .  .  “You’re  about  to  get 
your  ‘two  weeks  notice’  when  he 
doesn’t  notice  you  any  more”  .  . 

“He’ll  ‘introduce’  you  in  front  of 
the  footlights,  then  ‘reduce’  you 
backstage.”— He’ll  praise  his  part¬ 
ner  as  a  ‘pal’  and  ‘good  trouper* 
and  make  many  public  gestures  of. 
‘what  I  wouldn’t  do  for  him.’  then 
ending  up  like  the  yarn  of  the 
actor  buying  a  birthday  present 
for  his  partner.  Everything  that 
was  shown  by  the  clerk  wasn’t 
good  enough:.  “I  want  something 
for  his  birthday  that  is  more  ex- 
pensive  and  real  class.”  Finally  he 
got  something  right  and  the  clerk 
asked:  “Will  you  take  it  with  you 
or  shall  I  send  it  to  him?”  “Send 
it  to  him — I  don’t  speak  to  the 
j  bum!” 

Which  brings,  us  to  the  suppos¬ 
edly  inexorable,  unwritten  law  of 
the  theatre,  “The  show  must  go 
on!”  Why  it  must  “go  on?”  Artd 
how  the  phrase  started,  nobody 
seems  to  be  sure.  The  nearest  to 
the  answer  came  from  Phil  Silvers, 
when  he  said:  “Because  the  box- 
pffice  don’t  want  to  give  the 
money  back!”  And  if  the  money 
is  given  back,  the  show  and  per¬ 
formers  suffer. 

Actors  can  make  the  Coys  and 
Hatfields  look  like,  gymnasium- 
fighters..  The  irritations  of  show 
business,  and  in  many  Cases 
“there’s  no  business  like  the ‘show- 
off*  business,”  can  niake  for  the 
wrecking  of  the  best  controlled, 
best  invested  production.  What 
doesn’t  bother  workers  in.  any 
other  endeavour,  is  life  and  death 
to  some  performers.  Such  as  “top 
billing”  —  the  dressingrooms  — • 
publicity  sent  out  by  the  ■  show’s 
pressagept  —  comparative  salaries 
— applause  (and  that  to  a  point 
where  some  vaudevillians  would 
turn  on  the  shower  bath,  so  as  riot 
to  hear  that  applause  given  to  one 
on  the  stage  at  the  time). 

Other  causes  for  feuds:  invita¬ 
tions  to  major  events,  not  con¬ 
nected  with  the  theatre,  but  picked 
because  of  personal  popularity. 
And  backstage  love  affairs,  break- 
(Continued  on  page  62) 


4 


EDITORIAL 


Fifty-second  J/^RJETY  Anniversary _ _  January  8, 1958 

Little  Problem— Economics 


PERHAPS  never  before  in  the  52  years,  of  this  jour¬ 
nal’s  amusement  industry  chroniclings/has  Show 
Business  faced  such  criss-ctossing.  roads.  Where,  en¬ 
tertainment  is  heading  is  today  a  raging  debated  The 
debate  reminds  oldtimerS  of  the  gruesome  debacle  of 
vaudeville,  once  an  honored  profession,  the.  main  and 
original  preoccupation  of  this  paper.  When  it  hit'  the.  de¬ 
cline,,  thousands  .of  troupers  Were;  tumbled,  into  tech¬ 
nological.  unemployment..  The  switch  from  silents  to 
dialoged  films,  the  rise  first  of  radio,  and -  then  of  tele-- 
vision,  and:  now,  potentially,  of .:  toliyisioii  -all  .in  turn 
spell  out  the  proverb— only  change  is  certain. 


The  fashionable  hindsight  of  the  present  transitional 
period  centres  on.  the  “might-have-been”  if  Hollywood 
had  not  sold  Off  its  vaulties  to  the. television  film  syndic 
cators.  As  to  that,  there  is  also  the  What-might-have- 
haopened  sans  such'  residual  money  to  make  the  com- 
pany  statements  look  good  another  year  or  two.  IVLeah- 
while  the  lesson  is  before  all  eyes;  and  theatre  operators 
now  shudder— understahdably--'at  the  prospect,  of  a 
further  selloff.  of  not-so-old  movies,  those  released -  post? 
1948. 


Variety’s  own  experience,  its  own  folkloric  feeling;- 
if  you  will,  supports  the  view  that  show  business  may 
change,  and  change,  violently  as  to  whO-controls-what,  . 
but  that  the  essentials  are  only  re-confirmed.  Shakes¬ 
peare  said  it  rather  well  400  years  ago — “The  Plan’s  The 
Thing”— including,  in  that  term,  all  .the  multi-facpted 
aspects  of  talent. 


It  follows  that  the  prevailing  malaise  of  the.  picture ' 
industry  itself  is  at  the  moment,  inadequately  diagnosed 
and  ineffectively  treated.  This  accounts  for  a  heavy 
gloom. since  the  American  amusement  industry  has  long 
rested  upon  the  celluloid  .  spools  as— ralready— a  sub¬ 
stantial  portion  (close  to  60 rc )  of  television  also  does; 
Indeed  right  here  is  one  answer  to  the  creoe-hangers; 
television’s  own  needs  requires  and  dictates  that  the 
motion  picture  industry  shall  survive. 


Speaking  of  “  wh at-mi  ght-hav  e-beeri,”  hindsight  may 
speculate  that  Hollywood  could  have  partnered  \vith. 
television  a  good  10  years  ago.  Some  Of  the  necks, 
were  perhaps  pretty  stiff y it  would  now  seem,  although 
one  big  fact. must  be  taken  into,  account*,  all. showmen 
raised  in  the  tradition  of  brick-and-mortar  playhouses 
must  necessarily  seek  to  protect  the,  physical  theatre 
with  its  cash  window.  To  a-  true  dy ed-to-th e-fabric ' 
-oldtimer  the  closing  of  any  theatre,:  anytime^ 
tragedy. 


What  never  changes,  of  course,  is  the  importance  of 
talent^-whether  the  high  skills  of  the  dramatists  and. 
directors  and  the  virtuoso  type  of  actors— or  the  Bar- 
nums  who  con  l  ure  something  new  and  great  out  .  of  the 
familiar  and  oM,  as  per  DeMille  with  his  own  script  On. 
Scripture,  or  Todd  with  a  re-do  On  a  Jules  Verne  work; 
which  had  been  a'  best-selling  novel,  and  a  live  stage 
extravaganza  as  long  ago  as  the  1880’s., 


Parenthetically,  bulls-eye  marksmanship  .  among 
showmen  has  always  been  rare.  Variety  cudgels  mem¬ 
ory  ih.  vain  to  cite  a  banker  whomever. picked  a  hit  in 
advance,  though  there  have  been  real  estate  operators 
who  did.  Bankers  are  like  most  everybody  else— they 
know  a  smash  after  it  has  smashed.  . 


The  facts  stand.  The  onetime  blueehip  of  the  film 
industry,  Metro,  is  under  acute  reorganization  therapy. 
The  prosperous  but  much  reduced  RKO  Theatres  cir- 
uit  '  but  .  a  spinoff  of  another  onetime  Hollywood 
giant. 

?  ■■  ■■■  ^  ^ 

And  yet  Only  this  past  Christmas  week  the  Broadway 
Paramount  and  Radio  City  Music  Hall  set  new  records. 
By  coincidence,  the  Hall  is  also  marking  its.  quarter-of- 
a-century  as  a  Rockefeller  Center  landmark.  There  is 
a  thought-inducing  common  denominator  between  the 
|  Paramount,  whose  prime  draw  is  a  rock  ’n’  roll  show, 
and  the  Hall’s  traditional  stage  presentation  of  the 
Nativity,  both  having  potent  boxoffice  pull,  separate 
from  the  Screen  fare. 


.  It  is  a  reality  that  theatre,circuits  have  .dwindled  and 
it  may  be  that  thisratio  could  well  follow  the  Broadway 


pattern  of  a  quarter-of-a-century  ago;  when  there  were 
60  or  75  legit  houses  and  a  thriving  “subway  circuit.’* 
Today’s  total  is  half  that,  and  instead  of  the  subway  cir¬ 
cuit  a  frequently  exciting  and  dfftimes  thriving  off- 
Broadway  legit  theatre  has  come  into,  being. 


As  to  the  significant  growth  of  the  Off-Broadway 
legits,  Lawrence  Langner  is  a  prophet  with  honor  ip 
the  present  Anniversary  text  wherein  George  Alaii 
Smith  recalls  how  Langner  told  returning  GI’s  in  1946 
at  the  Theatre  Wing  School  that  if  they  wanted,  to  .  act 
they  had  better  first  become  theatre  operators,  This  is 
not  the.  least  vivid  underscoring  of  the  fact  that  the 
simplicities  of  yesteryear  are  no  more.  A  thing  called 
conomics  has  started  to  intrude  all  along  the  line  of 
entertainment. 


Show  business,  as  never,  before,  enjoys  a.  kirigsize 
grip  bn  America’s  increased  and  constantly  increasing 
population.  Selectivity  is  the  prime  difference  now, 
as  compared  to  the  World  War.  II  era.  for  example. 
With  selectivity  cOmes  a  demand  for  a  higher  standard. 
When  RCA  board  chairman  David  Sarnoff  deprecated 
.  the  possible  growth  .of  films .  oh  tv  and;  Observed  to 
Variety  that  he  valued  “television  as  something  more 
than  another  distribution  arm  for  the  motion  picture 
industry,”  he  also  forecast  the  boxoffice  doldrums  of 
Hollywood  when  he  stated  that  “in,  a  competition  of 
mediocrity,  the  free  medium  must  \yi  There,  are; 
many  mediocre  old  film  features  for  free  on  tv. 


That  is  the  answer  to  feevee  or  freevee.  Even  the 
most  ardent  proponents  of  toll  vision  see  a  retarded  time¬ 
tabling  of  installations  and  inexhorable  psychological 
resistance  from  a  public  which  has  been  conditioned  to 
get  its  entertainment  gratis!.  The  perpetuation  Of  the 
cash-on-the-till  boxoffice  pattern  which,  for  half- 
century,  has  paid  Hollywood  big  dividends  will  depend 
wholly  op  the  quality  of  the  product.. 


Looking  back  on .  the  history  of  :the  latterday  picture 
business',  perhaps  another  exterior  forced-dike  pay-see — 
may:  be  the  panacea.  Bell  Labs  brought  Vitaphone  to 
Warner  Bros..  Soon  thereafter  Western  El ectric ’s  ERPI 
(Electrical  Research  Products  Inc.)  brought  sound-on-, 
film  to  the  talkers,  displacing  the :  oversize  Phonograph 
recording  principle  of  Vitaphone,  RCA’s;Ph otophone, 
the  Germans’  Tobis  Klangfilm  and  France’s  Sonprfilm 
:  added  further  refinements  to  Soundtracks-on-film .  fbr 
uniform  global  projection.  Color,  too,  came  from  an 
exterior  source.  Still  later,  while  3-D  was  more  or  less 
,  a.  Hoi Tywood  development,  CinemaScope  was  imported 
from  France,  via  Spyros.  Skouras’  negotiations  with  (the 
now  late)  Prof.:  Henri  Chretien,  and  Mike  Todd  had  to 
enlist  the  American  Optical  Co.  for  his  widescreen 
technique.  Cinerama,  like  stereophonic  sound,  was 
more  closely  related  to  intra-Hollywood  studio  devel¬ 
opment.  And  thus,  it  may.  prove,  that  still  another  ex¬ 
terior  influence,  pav-see,  could  once  again  succor  the 
picture  business.  Hollywood,  traditionally  ever  re¬ 
sourceful,  always  has  been  quick  to  capitalize  on  and 
implement  the.  scientific  tools  with  its  own  brand  of 
celluloid  artistry. 

One  thing  is  for  sure— no  matter  the,  turn,  as  Adolph 
Zukor.  once  put  it,  “The;  public  always  decides!” 


Talent  today  commands  economic  rewards  never  be¬ 
fore  known  or  dreamed  of  in  show  biz  history.  Talent 
today,  whether  in  front  of  or  in  back  of  the  camera  or 
microphone,  has  been  the  force  that  undid  the  Holly¬ 
wood  major  studios,  per  se,  and  superimposed  a  series 
of  independent  talent  (writer-director-producer-actor) 
setups ;  on  the  Hollywood  scene.  The  same  is  true  in 
the  tv  medium. 


Akin  to  the  American  motion  picture  girding  the 
globe,  television’s  impact  must,  become  universal.  Al¬ 
ready  in  one  short  decade  more  than  50,000,000  an¬ 
tennae  dot  the  earth  as  they  receive  sight-plus-sound  en¬ 
tertainment  in  the  home:  Some  $42,000,000  is  ear¬ 
marked  for  transAtlantic  facilities  which,  by  1962,  will 
permit  more  than  600  connections  instead  of  the  cur¬ 
rent  36  and  thus  will  the  Old  World  be  linked  by  televi¬ 
sion  with  the  Western  Hemisphere.  Over-the-horizon 
telecasts  from  the  U.  S  to  islands  in  the  Caribbean  are 
already  history. 


The  horizons  for  Show  Biz  remain  unlimited  in  the 
sights  of  this  publication. 


January  g,  1958 


Fifty-tecond  J^^RIETT  Anniversary 


What’s  ‘British?’  | 

*'*'*  By:  LORD  .ARCHIBALD 

London:  .from  the.  fact  that  as  the  law 


“What  is  a  British  Film?”  mSy 
seem  at  first  glance  to  be  a  strange 
choice,  of  subject  to  write  about  in 
an  American  journal.  It  is  a  sub¬ 
ject,  that  has  been  the  cause  of 
much  controversy  in  Great  Britain 
for  many- months  past  arid  it  is  of 
considerable  importance  to  some 
American  producers  arid  to  some 
American  distributing  companies. 

A  British  quota  film  ‘  defined 
by  British  Acts  of  Parliament  and. 
in,  particular  by  the  Ciriernato- 
graph  Films  Act  of  1938,  as  amend¬ 
ed  by  the  Cinematograph  Films, 
Act  of  1948.  Without,  goi  '  to  too 
much  detail,  the  definition  under, 
the  .present  law  provides  that: 

The  maker  of  the  film  must 
be  either  a  British  subject  or 
a  British  company; 

The  studio,  if  any,  used  i 
riiaking  the  filrii  must  be  situ¬ 
ated  within  Her  Majesty's  Do¬ 
minions';  and  ' 

A  specified  amount  of  labor 
costs  must  have  been  paid,  or 
be  payable*  to  British  subjects 
or  persons  domiciled  in  some 
part  of  Her .  Majesty’s  Domin¬ 
ions. 

There  are  now  a  great,  many  dif¬ 
ferent  arrangements  :  in .  vogue  for 
the  production  of  British  quota 
films.  Let  us  have  a  look  at  some, 
of  these"  arrangements. 

(a)  They  may  be  made  .by  a 
wholly  British  company,  rising  Brit-; 
ish  finances  for  release  through  a 
British  distributor. 

(b)  They  :may  be  made  by  a 
wholly  British  company  using, part¬ 
ly  British  and  partly  American 
finance  for  release  through  an 
American  distributor. 

(c)  They  may  be  made  by  a: 

wholly  British  company  Using  only 
American  finance  for  release 
through  an  American  distributor. 

(d)  They  may  be  made  by  a 

company  that  is  technically  a  Brit¬ 
ish  company  which  complies  with 
the  .provisions  of.  the  Film  Acts, 
..but-  -which  is  :in.  fact  a  subsidiary 
of  an  American  company,  arid  in 
this  case .  Ariiericari  .finance  will  be 
used  and ...  release  will  be  through 
an  American  distributor; 

There  are  powerful .  elements  in 

the  British  industry  who  argue 

that  only  the  films  produced,  under 
category  (a)  conditions  ;  should 
qualify  as  British  films  for  the 
purposes  of  receiving  payments 
from  the  British  Film  Production 
Fund,  foimerly  known  as  the  Eady 
Fund.  There  are  those  With  less 
extreme  views  who  would  perinit 
films-  that  are  produced .  under 
category  (b)  conditions  also  to  qual¬ 
ify.  for  payments  from  the  British 
Film  Production  Fund.  Both  groups 
“the  extreme  and  the  not  .  so.  ex¬ 
treme — unite  in  arguing  that  films 
produced  under  ,  the  conditions  of 
categories  (c)  and  (d)  should  be.  ex¬ 
cluded  altogether  from  the  benefits 
of  the:  British  Film  Production 
Fund. 

There  nothing  approaching 
Unanimity. in  the  trade  on  this  is¬ 
sue.  Many  people,  including-  my¬ 
self,  believe  that  .all  the  films  pro¬ 
duced  under  the  various  categories 
are  of  value  to  the  British  film 
industry  and  must  be  treated 
equally  as  far  as  the  Production 
Fund  is  ;  concerned.  There  is  brie 
threat  in  our  position,  however, 
which  I  think  must  be  faced  Up  to 
yery  frankly.  The  Cinematograph 
Films.  Act  of  1948  is  due  to  be  re¬ 
vised  by  .  Parliament  within  the 
next  eighteen  months.  The  views 
of  all  sections  of  the  industry  about 
its  amendment  are  now  being 
sought  by.  the  Board  of  Trade  ,  and 
in  the  months  to  come  argument 
will  rage  furiously  around  propos¬ 
als  for  amending  the  definition  of 
a  British  quota,  filrii-  From  the 
point  of  view,  of  parliamentary 
draftsmanship,  it  would  riot  be  dif¬ 
ficult  to  provide  a.  definition  that 
permitted  ali  the  films,  in  the  cate¬ 
gories  I  have  set  out  to  count  as 
Exhibitors’  Quota,  but  divide  them 
into  two  classes,  one  of  which 
would  be  entitled,  to  benefits /from 
the  Production  Fund,  while  the 
other  was  excluded.  That  is  why 
it  is  important  to  face  up  now  to 
the  threat  which  I  have  mentioned 
above. 

What  is  that  threat?  It  arises 


'.  Behind  the  Platinum  Curtain,  Or 
■■  Through  Darkest  Beverly  Hills 


stands  at  present  it -is  possible,  for, 
let  us  say,  an  American  producer 
to  do  the  following:  Working  in 
Hollywood  or  iri  New  York  he  can 
choose  .his  subject,  and  get  his 
shooting  script  prepared;  he  can 
line  up,  an  American  director  and 
one  or  two  American  stars;  he  can 
then  take  this:  whole  package  oyer 
to  Great  Britain  and  under  the 
umbrella  of  a  British  registered 
company  he  can  make  that,  film  in 
a  .British  studio,  or  partly,  in  a 
British  studio  and  partly  on  a  for¬ 
eign  location,  or  indeed,  wholly  in 
a  British .  dominion.  When  his  film 
has,  been  completed  and  registered 
as  British  "Quota,  it  is  released  in 
Britain  as  a  British  film:  arid  gets 
its  share  from  the  Production 
Fund:  and.  it  may  then  be  released 
throughout  the  rest  of  the.  world 
as  an  American  film.  Meanwhile, 
the  producer  returns  to  Hollywood 
and  resumes  his  normal  production 
activities,  there. 

It  is,  argued,  arid  there  is  weight 
to  the  argument,  that  such  a  film 
is  riot  really  a  British  film,  ,  but  an 
American  ./film  made  on  locatiori. 
It.  is  that  type  of  filrii  which  pro¬ 
vides  the  emotional  drive  for  dis¬ 
crimination.  There,  are  only  one 
or  two.  such  films  in  any  year  and 
it  is  quite  proper  arid  sensible  to. 
argue-  that  they  are  riot  really, 
worth  bothering  about;  that,  in 
fact,  it  would  be  a  mistake  tbi 
change  a  law  which  by  and  large 
has.  worked  well,  in  order  to  catch 
this  insignificant  number. 

I  should  like  to-  make  it  clear 
just  how  narrow  that  particular 
category  of  films  is.  If  a  British 
company,  the  Subsidiary  of  an 
American  company,  is  in  fairly 
regular  production  in  Great  Brit¬ 
ain,  then  I  would  not  regard  its 
films  as  .falling  into  the  “danger¬ 
ous”  category-  even  if  the  sugges¬ 
tions  and.  approval  of  the  American 
parent  company  had  to  be  obtained 
before  production  was  begun, .  nor 
even  if  an  American  producer 
and/or.  director  is  sent  over  to  take 
charge.  The  element  of  continuity 
is  an  important,  one  in  establish¬ 
ing  whether  the  British  production: 
is  British  in  the  true  sense  of  the 
term.  It  is  only  where  the  Holly¬ 
wood  producer  quite  .  obviously 
brings  his  package  over  to  Britain 
to  get  the  benefit  of  British.  Quota 
arid  Production  Fund: 


By  MAURICE  ZOLOTOW 

November  12,  1957,  marked  the 
end;  of  a  terrifying  era  fbr  actors. 
On  this  day,  the  publisher  of  Con¬ 
fidential,  a  periodical  which  had, 
during  the 

rKtlr7^' — - — - iri  past  feW  years, 

v  driven  Holly-/. 

Jlk  woo  d  and 

jia  Broadway  ce: 

*'  lebrities  into 

states  of  sheer 
panic,  with  its 
e  m  b  arrassing. 

M'  an(l  often  por- 

.  nographic- ire- 
np  ports  of  their; 

— : — _ — -  ...  sal-  -  sexual  pas:.. 

M.  Zolotow  ..  tj"1®1 s»;  ■  agreed 

that  it  would 
cease  and.  desist,  from  publishing 
revelations  of  the  amatory,  acts  of 
actors  arid  actresses.  In  return,  the 
sovereign:  state  of  California  agreed 
to  halt,  its  prosecution  of  Confi¬ 
dential  charges  of  criminal. 
libeL 

For; the  first  time  in  our  history, 
governmental  power  has  been  used 
to  alter  the  editorial  content  of  a 
natiorial  magazirie,  whose  circula;- 
tion  is  in  excess  of  4,000,000,  It. 
has  been  shown  that  the  cost  of 
defending  such  a  charge  is  so  ex¬ 
pensive  that  by  merely  threatening 
an  infiriite  Series  of  prosecutions 
any  publication  can  be  gradually 
choked  to  death. 

Regardless  of  One’s  personal, 
opinion  of  Confidential  arid  the 
ehtics  of  its  publisher,  writers  and 
editors,  many  may  regard  the  use 
Of  the  judicial  power  to  muzzle  a 
magazme— any  magazine— as  an 
act  discouraging  to  freedom  ..and 
controversy  It  was.  rather  ironic 
that  the  various  liberal  organiza¬ 
tions,.  always  quick  to  spring  to  the 
defense  of  unpopular  political  pub-, 
licatiOns,  did  not  See  the  impor¬ 
tance  of  the  underlying  issue  in 
this;  case.  Perhaps,  they  do  riot 
think  that  sex  is  protected  by  the 
First  Amendment. 

Personal  opinion  pf  Confidential 
aside,  many  -may  have  preferred 
to  see  Confidential  vanquished  by 
the  good:  taste  Of  the  .  American 
public — if  there  is  .  such  a  thing— 
-{Continued  on  page  61) 


By  JERRY  1 

Pacific  Palisades,  Calif.  1 

It  was  Grouchb  Marx,  himself  a  J 
Beverly  Hills  resident,  ,  who  ob-  j 
served  that  the  news  of  a  child  y 
being  born  within  the  city  limits  ] 
With,  only  a  silver  spoon  his  ! 
mouth  throws  the  city  fathers  into  5 
immediate  action.  < 

The  parents  of  any  tot  entering  j 
the  scene  with  less  than  a  14-karat 
gold  ladle  automatically,  become.  j 
eligible  for  Care  packages.  . 

.  Located  in  a-  part  of  the  coun- 
try  where  the  bizarre  is  sedate, 
Beverly.  Hills  manages  to  hold  its  . . 
head  above  the  filtered  swimming  ; 
pool  water  by  documented  proof: 
of  being  the  only  U.  S.  community 
where  more  sweaters  are  . knitted 
for  dogs  than  for  Children:  < 

Your  correspondent  speaks  from  j 
experience,  arid  has  the  cancelled  t 
checks  to  prove  it.  No :  homesick'  \ 
GI,  yearning  for  normal  life,  ever  ( 
sweated  out  his  discharge  more  - 
ankiously  than  we.  awaited  the  end  I 
of  Our  lease. 

These  paragraphs,  are  not  in-  i 
dieted  as  bitter  complaints  against  i 
the  plush  community  where  even  i 
the  peasants  use  engraved  deposit  1 
slips,  instead,  it.  comes  because  ] 
Of  the  recent  announcement  that  J 
California  has  picked  up  another  ’ 
million  citizens  since  the  1950  cen-  1 
sus.  Some  of  you  maybe  harbor-  •’ 
ing.  the  notion  of  joining  this  new  i 
parade  of  V8  Covered  Wagons,  i 
If  you  have  given  any  thought  to  1 
tenting  iri  Beverly  Hills,  these  ex-  ] 
periences  of  one  who  escaped  alive  1 
with  his  entire1  family  may  be  of  1 
some  value.  ' 

|  ;  .;  •  ,  POlitlCS  | 

For  those  content  with  your  pres-  ^ 
ent  slums,  the  Beverly  Hills  tribal  , 
customs .  should  prove  interesting  j 
as  a  study  of  a  native,  group  cling-  ] 
irig  to  its  traditions  and  cere-  • 
monies:.  Where  else,  for  instance;  ; 
were  Ike  and  Adlai  swamped  by  , 
write-in  votes  for  Elsa  Maxwell? 

Don  Loper,  a  local  couturier 
who  ^.charges  no  more  for  a  smock  i 
than  the  cost  of  an  average  collec¬ 
tion,  pf  crown  jewels,  ran  a  bad 
secorid  tO  Elsa.  At  first*  it  was  pre- 
i  dieted  that  Loper,  who  campaigned 


Tlie  By-Liners  In  Tills  Issue 

(Regular  Staffers  and  Correspondents  Omitted) 


Joey  Adams  . . 

.  91 

Sir  Henry  French 

180 

Col:  Barney  Oldfield 

18 

Glendon  Allvine  ....... 

.  38 

Robert  Gessner  /. 

.  .39 

Harriet  F:  Piipel 

34 

.Norman  Anthony 

93 

L.  Wolfe.  Gilbert  . . . . . . . 

;  217. 

Theodore  Pratt 

28 

Jules  Archer.  . . 

.  26 

Irving  Gitlin 

94 

Milton  M.  Raison 

267 

Lord  Archibald 

5 

Mort  Green 

96 

JO  Ranson  . . 

,  35 

Robert  Baral 

269 

Hazel  Guild 

179 

Dibk  Richards 

248 

Barry  Barnett  ........ 

.  213 

.  25Q 

.  11 

Lucius: Beebe  _ ..... 

.  22 

Nathan  L.  Halpern  . . ; . . 

.  43 

Williairi  Rosensohn  .  ► . . . 

.  43 

Edward  L.  Bernays  . . ... 

14 

Oscar  Hammerstein  2d 

3 

Harry  Ruby  .  ......... 

.  12 

Claude  Binyon 

.13 

Otto  A.  Harbach .  . ...... 

,  216 

Norman  B.  Rydge 

17 

Jim  Bishop 

10 

Robert  F.  Hawkins 

17 

Mariie  Sacks 

101 

Hal  Block  . 

96 

Stockton.  Helffriqh 

91 

Sol  Saks 

10 

Allen  Boretz  . . 

101 

Harry .  Hershfield 

3 

Henry  Salomon 

98 

Harold  A.  Bowden 

266 

Hans  Hoehri  . . . . 

.  18 

William  Saroyan  . 

*  7. 

Edwin  Bronner. 

268 

George.  Jessel ..  . 

.  263 

Sherwood  Schwartz 

97 

Eugene.  Burr 

105 

Eric  Johnston 

11 

Frank,  Scully 

12 

Sidney  Burton 

271 

Merle  S.  Jories 

97 

Henry  Sherek 

268 

Kay  Campbell 

20 

Milt  Josefsberg 

92 

Phil  Silvers 

102 

Eddie  Cantor 

13 

Wolfe  Kaufman 

12 

Victor  Skaarup  ..... . . . 

.  i03 

Bruce  Catton  . . 

.  31 

Ralph  T.  Kettering 

270 

George  Alan  Smith 

264 

Carroll.  Carroll 

.  92 

Arthur  Kpber 

28 

H,  Allen  Smith 

96 

Bennett  A.  Cerf  . ; . 

.  92 

Sam  Kurtzinan 

105 

Pete  Smith 

34 

Milbourne  Christopher 

248 

Lawrerice  Langner 

265 

Bernard  Sobel 

264 

Ralph  M;  Cohn  .  ...... 

.  99 

Louis  Lasco  . . 

16 

Louis  Sobol  . .......... 

.  25 

Claire  &  Tony  Conway 

251 

Jerome  Lawrence. 

266 

.  William.  Steif  . 

10 

Tom  Curtiss 

3 

Robert  E.  Lee  . ; , ...... 

.  266 

Sam’l  Steinman 

178 

Eddie  Davis 

38 

Irving  R.  Levine 

106 

A1  Stillman 

214 

John  Davis 

.  180 

Jerry  D.  Lewis 

5 

Gary  Stindt  - - - -  «  . , 

.  103 

Harold  Davison 

214 

Max  Liebman  , 

97 

Robert  Stolz; ; .  ^ _ _ 

213 

vigorously  at  one  champagne 
brunch  after  another,  would  be 
an  easy  winner.  However,  Hedda 
Hopper,  a  longtime  Beverly  Hills 
voter,  started  a  whispering  cam¬ 
paign  that  caused  Loper’s  defeat. 
She  claimed  she  saw  him  go  to  his 
mailbox  .  in  shirtsleeves.  Loper 
denied  it  as  an  Election  Eve  smear, 
but  what  with  all  those  champagne 
brunches,  the  best  he  got  from  the 
election  results  wras  the  vice  presi¬ 
dency  of  a  branch  of  Alcoholics 
Anonymous. 

The  castle  we  rented  was,  by 
vague  chance,  directly  opposite  the 
10-acre  estate  of  Jack  L-  Warner, 
the  Kohinoor  Of  moguls.  On  a 
clear  day  you  could  see  his  house 
from  the  front  gates.  It  was  so 
colonial  no  one  would  have  been 
surprised:  if  the  custodian  at  the 
huge  front  gates  had  been  Thomas 
Jefferson.  It  wasn’t  ,  Jefferson, 
though;  rumor  has  it  he  turned 
down  Warner’s  offer. 

|  Beware  of  Actors  ( 

The  exact  size  of  Mr.  Warner’s 
expanse  of.  lawn  and  shrubs  is  un¬ 
important  to  this  anecdote.  Let 
it  suffice  to  say  that  part  of  the 
lawn  is  taken  up  by  a  swimming 
pool  in  which  guests  occasionally 
lose  sight  of  land.  The  pool  is 
visible  from  the  front  gates,  at¬ 
tended,  as  noted,  by  a  gentleman 
whose  name  is  not  Thomas  Jeffer¬ 
son,  and  a  huge  dog  of  the  breed 
known  as  Bouvier.  de  Flanders. 
Naturally,  the  dog  was  imported. 
In  Beverly  Hills,  people 
frowned  upon  if  they  eat  domestic 
bread. 

Eavesdropping  on  older  settlers, 
we  "learned  that  both  the  watch¬ 
man  arid  the  animal  were  chosen 
for  their  remarkable  sense  of 
smelL  Comedian  Fred  Alleri  alleg-. 
edly  conducted  official  tests,  and 
reported  that  both  guardians  picked 
up '  the  scent  of  Jan  unemployed 
actor  at  half  a  mile.  That  talent, 
of  coUrse,  allows  them  to  strike 
as  a  team  should  any  at  liberty 
thespian  attempt  to  storm  the  cita¬ 
del. 

It  is  untrue,  though,  that  should 
an  interloper  break  through,  the 
gateinan’s  duty  is  to  crawl  to  a 
concealed  button  which,  when 
pressed,  lights  a  sign  in  every 
room  of  Mr.  Warner’s  home.  “Be¬ 
ware!  Actor  At  Large!” 

We  mention  that  because  some 
people  take  glee  in  spreading  false¬ 
hoods  about  Beverly  Hills.  Ac¬ 
tually,  gilding  this  lily  is  like  pray- 
(Continued  on  page  60) 


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Fanshawe  Lindsley 
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Ted  Mack 
Emil  Maas 
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Howard  Mitchell. 

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Robert  J.  O’Donnell 


Mrs.  Jimma  /  Strong 
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Maurice  ZolutnW 


Vol.  209 

No.  6 

INDEX 

Foreign 

ITS 

Legit 

263 

Music 

213 

Obits 

297 

Pictures 

5 

Radio  . . . . . 

. .. ..  91 

Television 

91 

Tollvision 

42 

Vaude  ..... - 

.  .  .  . .  248 

DAILY  VARIETY 

(PubUshed  in  Hollywood  by 
Daily  Variety.  Ltd.)- 
$15  a  Year  $20  Foreign 


6 


PICTURES 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second,  P^BrIETY  Anniversary 


-Top  Grossers  Compilation  for  Year  Dramatizes  Wallop-or-W allow 
Extremes — Records  Made  in  the  Midst  of  Pessimism 


By  GENE  ARNEEL 


(Top-Grossing  Films  for  1957  are  listed 
in  order  on  page  30,  this  issue ) 

In  the  light  and  memory  of  the  American  film 
industry’s  ‘‘semi-annual  hysterics”  during  1957.  the< 
Variety  check-out  on  the  year’s  top,  grossiiig  re¬ 
leases  is  loaded  with  provocation,  and  perhaps  de¬ 
bate.  Hardly  buried,  but  rather  underscored;  are 
titles  of  pictures  for  which  far-greater-than-  realized 
expectations  were  entertained.  No  trade-wise  reader 
can  fail  to  be  shocked,  that,  some  pictures  of  “qual¬ 
ity”  did  relatively  small  -business.  Note  will  be 
taken  of  the  homiriai  §1.000,000.  in.  the  till  so  far  on 
Me’ro’s  “12  Angry  Men”  which  ironically  ends  1957 
on  Several  lists  of  “Best  Film  of  the  Year”— recog¬ 
nition,  of  course,  could  have  some  box  office  .value 
on  1958  re-run. 

Naturally  DeMille ’s  “Commandments”  and  Todd’s 
“Around  the  World”  are  at  the  head  of  the  1957 
class.  Both  have  already  broken  precedent,  or 
made  precedent,  as  preferred.  Variety  .has  re¬ 
frained  from  any  giiess  on  the.  ultimate  rentals,  hut 
1957  releases  are  already  well  up  on  the  all-time 
B.O.  champ  list.  With .  George  Stevens’  “Giant” 
also  taken  into  account,  these  releases  form  a. 
strange  kind  of  symphony  of  the  heavens  in.  a  busi-! 
ness  and  a  year  complaining  unto  weariness  of  dis¬ 
integration  and  defeat. 

“Commandments”  and  “80  Days”  have  already 
taken  in.  more  rentals  in  fewer  theatre  engagements 
than  any  pictures  in  history.  “Giant”  is  the  biggest 
entry  on  the  Warner  Bros,  book!  It’s  to  bet  noted, 
of  course,  that  all  three  pictures  actually  Went  into 
release  in  late  1956.  But  their  full  impact  oh  trade;, 
economics  wasn’t  felt  until  the  past  year  when  they 
reached  meaningful  circulation. 

The  roster,  as  in  past,,  tell  tales  of  woe  and  bitter 
disappointment,  along  with  the  upbeat.  The  ex¬ 
tensive  variety  of  money-makers  immediately  shows 
that  clicks  don’t  come  via  thematic  material,  where¬ 
as  important  production  values  help  all  along  the 
line.  Comedy,  musical,  Biblical  spectacle  and  strong 
drama  all  joined  the  winner’s  circle.  Prominent,  too, 
was  Elvis  Presley. 

Among  the  large .  disappointments  are  many  pic¬ 
tures  not  given  a  mention  in  the  lineup,  for  they 
failed  to  draw'  the  qualifying  $1,000,000  minimum 
gross*. (This  figure  is  used  because  in  order  for  it  to 
be  attained  a  feature  must  be  given  good  circuit 
bookings  and  thus  trade  significance.  ) 

Not  carried,,  for  example,  is  Otto  Preminger- s 
“Saint  Joan,”  which  promises  a.  gross,  of  about  $250,- 
000  in  tlie  domestic  market.  Paramount  had  a 
toughie  in  “Buster  Keaton  Story.”  straining  to  make 
$800,000. 

Not  represen1  ing  a  collapse,  but.  nonetheless  dis¬ 
heartening  to  20th-Fox,  was  the  $1,700,000  reaped . 
with  “Desk  Set:”  A  more  impressive  figure  was  anti¬ 
cipated  with  the  Spencer  Tracy-Katherine  Hepburn 
starrer,  Metro’s  “Silk  Stockings”  drew  fancy 
notices  and  grossed  $2,500,000:  Same  company’s 
“Jailhouse  Rock,”  starring  Presley,  is  listed  at  $4,-'  . 
000,000. 

Presley,  who.  has  become. a  show  business  phenom¬ 


enon,  was  strictly  bigtime  pn  various  locations  so 
far  a$  earnings  were  ooncerned.  At  20th,  his  “Love 
Me  Tender”  brought  in  ,$4,500,000,  the  first  week’s 
billings  alone  have  added  up  to  $1,000,000.  His 
“Loving  You”  at-  Paramount  meant  a  gross  of  $3,- 
700.000. 

The  picture  business  had’  its  up  and  downs  and- 
clearly  less  up  than  down  over  the  past  year,  due  to 
influences  from  beyoiid  as.  well . as  within.  ‘  The  fall; 
season  particiilarly  broiight.  a  major  letdown,  for 
coupled  with  a  protracted  siege  of  Asiatic  flu  was 
the.  release  of  prominent  pictures  of  the  st  on 
-television. .! 

Pix.  have  been  going  the  tv  route  for  several  years ; 
now-  This  year’s  woe  stemmed  from  the  fact  that 
major  M:G  and  20th  offerings  were  made  available 
along  with  some  big  independent  product, -  It  proved 
a  tough  rap  for  the  exhibitors,;  and  the  industry 
at  large,  to  take.  ...One  week  in  October  brought  a 
total  of  35,000,000  admissions  to  the  country’s  the-, 
atres.  The  average  nightly,  number  of  old-films-on- 
tv  viewers  exceeded  that  figure,  according  to  market 
analyst  Albert  Sindlinger. 

Films  obviously  were  more  .in  the  public’s  con¬ 
sciousness  than  they  had  been  in  a  decade:  but  these 
were  the  . films  being  channeled  ino  the  living  rooms. 
By  year’s  end  there  were  few.  who  wouldn’t  agree 
that  the  seiloff  of  vintage,  productions  to  tv  cost  the 
'industry,  a  staggering  amount^-far  more  than  tliej 
distributors  collected  via  the  maneuver  i 

With  DeMille  arid  Todd  in  the  driver’s,  seat  .1958 
ushered  in  a  new  era  in  “hard  ticket”  merchandising, 
and  along  with.  new.  demands  for  any.  other  kind  of 
realistice  departure  from  the  . -routine  in  marketing. 
Multiple,  day-and-date  runs  were  given  a.  heavy  play 
to  the  extent  that  showcasing  in  a  .  single,  h  use  was 
avoided  in  many  cases.  Among  those  ncfitting 
from  this  type  of  handling  was  20th’s  “B  wnadine,” 
Hat  Boone  starrer,  with  a  gross  of  S3,70O,0C0- 

Par  undeftobk  a  new  sales  approach  with  “Com¬ 
mandments,”  setting  up  “waves”  of.  booking':.  That 

following  ^he  initial  run  the  picture  would  be  li- 1 
censed  , to  a  limited  number  of  Other  situ.atio  is,  with 
Others  adided; as. this  . “wave”  Was  exhausted.  Par’s, 
idea  is  to  “feel  oiit”  the  market  slowly  ar d  to.  have 
the  DeMille  epiq  available  to  the  public  for  as  long 
as  possiblet  Protrac-  ed  playoff  means,  the  company 
believes,  that  any  one .  period  of  b.o,  Teces..ion,  as 
during  a  flu  scare;  w;on’t  -  be  too'  damaging. 

.Walt  Disney’s  oldieg  did  splendidly^— in  theatres. 
Distfibiited.  by  Buena  Vista,  “Cihderellr”i  o‘i  the 
basis  of  dates  so  far  figures,  to  rope  in  $2,500,000. 
Add  "Bairibi”  is  likely  to  take  $2,700, 000. 

Although  the  grpss  of  $2,250,000  appeared  respect¬ 
able  enough  for  “Sweel  Smell  of  Succesr,”  the  en¬ 
try.  was  .the  first,  disappointment  for  Hecht-Hill- 
Lancaster.  It  was  an  expensive  production .  and  a 
$400,000  deficit  is  involved!.  Warner’s  “Spirit  of  St. 
Louis!’  proved  a  tough  pill  to  take,  for  *he  domestic 
gross  f of  $2,600,000  barely  exceeds  half  of  the  pro¬ 
duction  casts. 

.  Consistent  performer,  as  in  the  past,  was  Jerry 
Lewis.  His  most  recent,  ‘‘Sad  Sack,”  is  pencilled 
Ip  as  a  $3,500,000  grOssexv  .  “Deliqate  Delinquent” 
did  $3,400,000  arid.  “Hollyvvood  or  Bust”  $3,300,000. 


Artkraf t  Strauss  Lights 
Up  B’way  for  60  Years; 
A  ‘Spectacular’  Producer 


As  never  before  David  O.  Selz- 
nick  is  threatened  with  loss  of  his 
crown  as.  producer  of  the  biggest 
grossing  picture  of  all;  time.  His 
“Gone  With  The  Wind”  continues 
on  top  with  domestic  rentals  of 
$33  500,000  and  .undoubtedly  more 
will  be  added  come  each  subse¬ 
quent  reissue. 

But  with  1957,  a  couple  of  king- 
sized  blockbusters  have  come  onto 
the  .fiscal  speedw  namely  Cecil 
B.  DeMiUe’s  “Ten  Commandments” 
and  Mike  Todd's  “Around  the 
World  in  80  Days.”  The  ultimate 
gross  for  each  is  not  being  pre¬ 
dicted  here;  the  amount  of  revenue 
lassoed  by  the  pair  so  far  *  so 
gigantic,  considering  the  limited, 
number  of  theatres  played,  that  the 
final  tally  is  simply  unpredictable. 

One  thing  is  for  certain:  The 
ceiling  on  grosses  goes  up  and  up. 
There’s  unquestionably  a  lesser 
market  for  all  pictures  collectively, 
as  the  attendance  figures  covering 
national  exhibition  shovg  And 
there’s  a  greater  potential,  for  the 
selected  few,. as  witness  $18,500,000 
for  “Commandments”  in  900  runs 
so  far-  and  $16,200,000  for  “80  Days” 
in  145  engagements,  which  go  and 
on  Without  letup. 

Total  of  15  of  the  past  year’s 
productions  are  added  to  the  roster 
of  all-time  money  champs — those 
features  which  are  in  the  $4,000,- 
000-and-up  category.  This  is  the 
big  blockbuster  division  and,:  of 
course,  the  airii  of;  every  producer. 

Only  time  will  tell;,  .naturally. 


just  how  long  Selznick  will  reign. 
But  the  film-makers  are  more  apd 
more  playing  for  higher  stakes  in 
terms  of  production  ,  investment. 
This  particularly  seen  in  the 
growing  amount  of  “unit”  work  at 
the  studios  and  on  location 
throughout  the  world. 

The  assembly-line  manner  of 
fuuctioning.  has  become  a  thing  of 
the  past.  More  and  more  pictures 
are  getting  the  “epic”  treatment. 

!  No  ‘Birth  .of  a  Nation’  .  [ 

.  Inquiries  must  .again  be.  antici¬ 
pated  as  .  to.  the  reason-why.  pf  the 
non-inclusion  in  Variety’s  all-tiriie 
champion  grossefs  of  David  W. 
Griffith’s  mop-up  of  1915  release, 
‘•The.  Birth  of  A  Nation.’’  Although 
there  is  evidence  that  this  pibtufe. 
grossed:  over.  $50,000,000  in  the 
World,  playoff  .over  many  years;  and 
many  reissues  the  financial  story  is 
impossible  to  check  because  it  was 
sold  on  states  rights. arid  territorial 
bases  and  because  no  accurate  com¬ 
pilation  was  available  to  the  trade! 
It  should  be  remembered  <see  Rob¬ 
ert  J.  Landry’s  special  piece,' this 
issue;  on  “Race  &  Rape”  screen 
offerings)  that  “Birth”  was  badly 
slashed  by  censorship  and  constant 
litigation  And  that,  after  1930,  no 
uncut  print  has  ever  exhibited. 
Adding  up  and  in  all  the  reasons; 
it  remains  now,  as  heretofor;  im¬ 
practical  to!  include  ‘‘Birth”  in  the 
Variety  list.  For  tripse  who  belieye 
it  has  never  yet  been  bested  at  the 
boxoffice,  np  dispute  is  raised  here; 


On  Dec-.  16,  1905,  when  the  first 
issue  of  Variety  Ava§  published,  a 
New  York  firfii,  Ben  Strauss  & 
CP;,,  was  celebrating  its  eighth  an¬ 
niversary.  During  the  ensuing  52 
years,  the  Strauss  organization, 
which  became  Artkraft  Strauss , 
through  a  1036  merger,  has  devel¬ 
oped  into  Broadway’s  leading  sign- 
maker  and  producer  of  moist  of  the 
electric  “spectaculars”  that,  light 
up  the  Times  Square  arc  . 

.  Signs  for.  Trans  World  Airlines, 
Kleenex.  Bridweiser,  Admiral,  Hit 
Parafie,  Canadian  Club  and  Johnny 
Walker  are' among  the  AS  produc¬ 
tions  currently  running  on  the 
Main  Stem’s  neon  network.!  The 
AS  signs  in  the  Times  Square  area 
cover  inore  than  200,000  square 
feet,  utilize  approximately  500,000 
light  bulbs,  and  involve  around  52 
rniles  of  neon  tubing,  with  enough 
electric-  wiring  to  streteh  from 
New;  York  to  San  Francisco  and 
back  again. 

All  the  AS  signs,  specs,,  .hotel 
and  theatre  marquees  and  bulle¬ 
tins,.  are  made  in  the  firm’s,  own 
;New'  York  shop,  manned  by  black¬ 
smiths,  glassblowers,  electricians, 
draftsmen,  artists  and  sheet  metal 
workers.  The  firm  was  co-founded 
by  Jacob  Starr,,  who  came  to  the 
U:  S..  from  Russia  iri  1907  and 
three,  years,  later  went  tb  Work  for 
Ben  Strauss,  whose  company  at 
that  time  was  making  signs  for.  use 
in  the  theatrical  field. 

Starr  w  as  hired  by  Strauss  as  a 
blacksmith  and  in.  1928  ,  resigned 
to  form  his  own  business.  Six  years 
later  he  and  Strauss  merged  their 
companies  into  -the  .Artkraft 
Strauss  Sign  Corp.,  Starr’s  son, 
Mel,  is  now  president  of  the  6r- 
ganization. 


|  All-Time  B.O.  Chomps 

J  [EXPANDED  AND  CORRECTED] 


With  each  Anniversary  Edition  Variety  revises  its  compila¬ 
tion  of  the  biggest  grossing  pictures  of  all  time.  The  figures 
represent  gross  rentals  collected  from  exhibitors  in  the 
United  States  and  Canada,  as  estimated. 


Obviously,  -‘Ten  Commandments”  and  “80  Days  Around, 
the  World”  will  advance  in  income  as  additional  market 
outlets  are  reached.  Given  below  is  the  actual  gross  attained 
by  each  so  far  with  no  attempt  made  to  forecast  the  ultimate 
tally:  Parenthetically  following  each  title  is  the  distributor 
and.  year  of  initial  release. 

PICTURE  ESTIMATE 

Gone  With  the  Wind  (Selznlck-MG)  (1939)  $33,500,000 

Ten  Commandments  (Par)  (1957>  . ..... . .  18,500.000 

(Actual  riross 
fqr  900 


The  Robe  (20th)  (1953) 

80  Days  Around  the  World  <UA)  (1957) 


Greatest  Show  on  Earth  (Pari  (1952)  .  . . . . 

From  Here  to  Eternity  (Col)  G953)  . , . ..! ., 
This  Is  Cinerama  (C’rama)  i  1952) 

White  Christmas  (Par)  (1954) 

•  Giant  (WB)  (1956) 

Duel  in  Sun  (Selznick)  (1947) 

Best  Years  Our  Liv’S  (Goidwyn-RKO  (1947) 
Quo  Vadis  (MtG)  (1D52) 

Cinerama  Holiday  (C’rama)  <1955) 

Samson  and  Delilah  (Par)  (1950) 

Guys  and  Dolls  TGo!d\wn-M-G)  (1956) 

Caine  Mutiny  (GoD  (1954) 

King  and  I  (20th)  (1956) 

Mister  Roberts  (WB)  (1955) . 

This  Is  the  Army  (WB)  (1943) 

Battle  Cry  (WB)  (1955) 

Bells  of  St.  Mary’s  (RKO  (1946) 

Jolson  .Story  (Col)  (1947) 

Shane  (Pari  ( 1953V 

20,000  Leagues  (D-sney-BV)  '1955) 

Trapeze  (UA)  (1956) 

How  to  Marry  Millioriafre  <20th>  (1953) 

Snow  White  (Disney-RKO)  (1937) 

Not  As  Stranger  (UA)  <1955)  .  . 

David  and  Bathsheba  (20th)  <1951) 

For  Whom  Bells  Toil  < Par)  (1943) 

Glenn  Miller  Story  <U)  (1954) 

Pal  Joey  (Col)  (1957) 

High  Society  '(M-G)  (1956) 

I’ll  Cry  Tomorrow  (M-G'..<1956) 

Country  Girl  (Par)  <1955) 

Going  My  Way  (Pari  (1954) 

Lady  and  Trariip  (Disney-BV)  <1955) 

Snows  of  Kilimanjaro  (20th)  ( 1 952) 

Seven  Wonders  of  World  < C’rama)  (1956) 
Picnie  (Col)  (1956) 

Cinderella  (RKQ-BV)  (1950) 

War  and  Peace  (Par)  (1956)  . 

Welcome.  Stranger  (Par)  (1947) 

Hans  Chf.  Andersen  (Goldwyn-RKO)  11953) 
Hell  and  Back  (U)  •  (1955) .  .  ... 

High  and  Mighty  (WB)  (1954) 

Ivanhoe  (M-G)  (1952)  ; . _ _ 

Peter  Pan  (Disney-RKO)  (1953) 

Sea  Chase  (WB)  (1955) 

Sergeant  York  (WB)  (1941).  . . 

Seven  Year.  Itch  (20th)  (1955) 

Star  is  Born  (WB)  <1955).  . 

Strategic  Air  Command  (Par)  <1955) 

Tall  Men  (20th).  <1955)  .... 

Life  With  Father  (WB)  (1947) 

Blue  Skies  (Par)  (1946)  . 

Seven  Brides  for  7  Bros.  (M-G)  (1954) 
Teahouse  of  August  Moon  (M-G)  (1957) 

Egg  .  and' I  (U)  (1947) 

Big  Parade  (M-G)  (1925) 

House  of  Wax  (WB)  ( 1953)  ...  .  : . . . . . 

Pride  and  Passion  (UA)  (1957) 

Eddy  Duchin  Story  (Col)  (1956) 

Rear  Window  (Par)  (1954)  . . . 

Blackboard  Jungle  (M-G)  (1955) 

Unconquered  (Par)  (1947) 

Yearling  (M-G)  (1947) 

Mqhy  Dick  (WB)  (1956)  .  . .  .  . . . 

Magnificent  Obsession  (U)  (1954) 

Meet  Me  in  St.  Louis  (M-G)  (1954) 

Mogambo  (M-G)  (1953) 

Show  Boat  (M-G)  (1951) 

Gentlemen  Prefer  Blondes  (20th)  (1953) 

The  Outlaw  (RKO)  (1946) 

Forever  Amber  (20th)  (1947) 

Friendly  Persuasion  (A A)  (1956) 

Anastasia  (20th).  (1957) 

Island  in  Sun  (20th)  (1957) 

East  of  Eden.  (WB)  (1955)  . 

Green  Dolphin  Street  (M-G)  U947) 

Jolson  Sings  Again  (Col)  (1949) 

Moulin  Rouge  (UA)  (1953) 

Mrs.  Miniver  (M-G)  (1942)  .  .......  v . . . 

No  Biz  Like  Show  Biz  (20th)  (1955) 

Razor’s  Edge  (20th)  (1947) 

Red  Shoes  (E-L)  (1948)  . 

Song  of  Bernadette  (20th)  (1943)  . 

Three  Coins,  in  Fountain  (20th)  (1954)  _ _ 

Vera  Cruz  .(UA)  (1955)  ... 

Man  Called  Peter  (20th)  (1955)  . . . 

Spellbound  iSelznick-UA)  (1946)  . . 

Since  You  Went  Away  (Selznick-UA)  (1944) 
King  Solomon’s  Mines  (M-Gri  (1950) 

Searchers  (WB)  (1956) 

Notorious  (RKO)  (1946)  ..... 

Yankee  Doodle  Dandy  (WB).  (1942) 

Salome  (Col).  (1953) 

Battleground  (M-G)  (1950) 

Dragnet  (WB)  (1954) 


theatres) 
17.500,000 
16,200.000 
(Ac*ual  gross 
<or  145 
theatres) 

.  . . .  12.800.000 
.• . . .  12.5,'AOOO 
. . .  - 12.500.000 
12.000,000 
:.  12.000.000 
,11.300.000 
11.200,000 
10.500.000 
. . .  .10  000,000 
9.000.000 
9  000.000 
8.700,00a 
8  500,000 

anoo.ooo 

8.500,000 
8  000,000 
8.000.000 
8.000;00Q 
8.000,000 
8.000,000 
7.500,000 
7.200;000 
7,150,000 
7.100,000 
7;  1.00.000 
7,100;000 
7,000,000 
6.700;000 
6.500,000 
6  500,000 
6.500,000 
6.500,000 
6.500,000 
6.500,000 
6.500,000 
6  300,000 
6  275,000 
6.250,000 
6,100,000 
6.000,000 
.6,000,000 
6.000, 000 

. 6,000.000 

6.000,000 
6,000.000 
• , .  6.000,000 
6.000,000 
6.000,000 
6.000,000 
•6.000,000 
5.900,000 
5.700,000 
5,6OO;0OO 
5.600,000 
5.550,000 
5.500.000 
. .  5.500.000 

5,500,000 
5.300,000 
. .  5.300.000 

5^50,000 
5.250.000 
5,250,000 
..  5.200.000 

5.200,000 
5.200.000 
5200.000 
5.200,000 


5.075.000 
.  5.050,000 
5.050.000 
5,000.000 
5.000.000 
5.000,000 
5,000,000 
5,000,000 
5,000,000 
5,000.000 
5,000,000 
5,000,000 
5,000,000 
5,000,000 
5,000.000 
5:000.000 
5,OOO,OO0 
4.975.000 
4,950,000 
4.825,000 
4,800,000 
4.800,000 
4.800.000' 
4,750.000 
4,700.000 
4,700,000 


(Continued  on  page  60) 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second  l/BsjtlETY  Anniversary 


PICTURES  T 


f 


Book  For  a  New  Musical 


By  WILLIAM  SAROYAN 


Everybody  is  always,  talking 
about  the  future  of  the  theatre. 
What's  going  to  happen  to  it?  Is. 
anything  going  to  happen?  Or  is 
it  going  to  be 
the  same? 

The  theatre 
is  .  business, 
and  none  of 
mine,  so  I’ll 
talk  about  the. 
play. 

A  little  less 
than  15  years 
ago  when  I 
began  to  have 
plays;  produced 

William  Saroyan  °?  Broadway 
plays  were  not 
what  they  are  today.  Shakes¬ 
peare  was  Shakespeare  then, 
and  he’s  Shakespeare  now,  but  the 
thing  that  has  happened  ,  to  plays 
in  general  in  the  meantime  has 
made  even  Shakespeare  new,  or 
at  any  rate  different.  As  his  plays 
are  good,  this  sort  of  thing  can  be 
expected  to  go  bn  forever.  A  good 
thing,  or  a':  sound  thing,  remains 
-  good,,  and  sound,  but  it  becomes 
new  and  different  because  people! 
themselves  become  different. 

Which  comes  first,  the  change  in 
people  or  the  change  in  art?  It 
works  both  ways,  most  likely.  A 
play  is  written  by  a  playwright,  but 
it  is  written:  out  of  people.  And 
so  the  change  in  life  and  the 
change  in  art  may  be  presumed 
to  be  simultaneous,  all.  things  taken 
into  account. 

Man’s  use  of  force  in  armed 
contest  Was  picayune  in  Ehakes- 
peare  tirtie  compared  with;  what 
it  can  be  today,  ,  but  size  isn’t  the 
important  thing  about  death,  and 
so  it  doesn’t  matter  that  the  biggest 
and  longest  War  in  Shakespeare’s 
time  could  bring  death  to  only  a 
relatively,  small  number  of  people. 

|  A  Matter  of  Degree  [. 

The  important  thing  was  that 
nothing  could  prevent  death  in 
any  case:  death  by  the  sword 
is  not  less  death  than  death 
by  the  bomb.  It’s  only  cleaner, 
more  reasonable,  and  easier  to 
notice.  Dea'h  by  hiccup^  isn't 
frequently  used  in  plays,  per-; 
haps  only  because  it’s  uselessly, 
noisy  and  monotonous.  On  the 
other  hand,  fear,  of  the  sword  af¬ 
fected  only  a  few,  while  fear  of 
the  bomb  affects  many.  This 
makes- a  difference  in  the  people, 
and  therefore  in  the  play  that  a 
playwright  writes;  even  .-though  the 
thing  feared  (or  scorned,  or 
Ignored)  is  still  dea'h,  or  rather 
only  death; 

A  view  of  death  has  always  giv¬ 
en  the  human  being  his  style  and 
meaning.  When  the  great  killers 
were,,  still  unnamed,  unidentified, 
secrets— -cancer,  stroke,  diabetes, 
the  several  kinds  of  poisonings  and 
sO  on-^-death  was  death,  pure  and 
simple.  Knowing  so  little  about 
the  why  and  the  wherefore  and 
the  how  and  the  when  of.  death, 
the  religions  flourished,  and  fought 
one  another,  and  brought  swifter 
death,  in  war  arid  inquisition,  to 
various  kinds,  of  saints  and  heroes 

and  lunatics.  _ _. _ ___ 

|  From  Religions  to  Scientific  [ 

The  20th  century  view  of  death 
has  shifted  a  little  away  from  the 
religious  toward  the  scientific.  If.it 
can’t  be  prevented,  death  by  dis¬ 
ease  can  certainly  be  postponed. 
On  the  other  hand,  accidents 
are  more  frequent  because  the 
potential  for  them.,  has  been  in¬ 
creased  by  the  invention  and  usage 
of  machines  of  all  kinds.  A  man 
with  a  mouthful  of  first-class  den¬ 
tistry  just  completed  can  come  to 
the  end  of  his  life  by  reason  of 
orily  a  split-second  error  in  the 
night-time  driving  of  his  podge 
on  his  way  home  to  supper.  The 
accident  is  shocking  but  not  tragic. 
He  should  have  hung  around  the 
qffice  five  minutes  longer.,  and 
thereby  frustrated  the  grinding 
of  fate,  as  some  people  call  it.. 

Death  by  disease  (which  used  to 
be  death  by.  death)  is  at  least  bet¬ 
ter  understood  than  ever  before. 
Excepting  a  surprise  of  some  sort, 
and  God.  and  nature  reserve  the 
right  to .  surprise  anybody  at  any 
time,  the  span  of  human  life,  as 
it’s  called,  has  been  measurably 
extended. 

This  fact  has  improved 


man’s  view  of  death,  however. 
Death  is  still  the  toughest  mystery 
to  hope:  to  understand,  to  put  up 
with,  or  to  ignore.  The  mystery' 
of  birth  is  also  tough,  but  it  doesn’t 
bother  anybody  very  much  because 
he  has  already  been  born,  arid  if 
he  doesn’t  understand  it,  he 
doesn’t  really  need  to,  Man 
tends  to  be  anxious  only  about 
that  which  is  scheduled  to  happen. 
And  in  any  case  birth  and  death 
are  .  so  nearly  the- same,  so  closely 
related,  that  it  is  enough  fOr  man 
to  get  his  style  and  irieaning  from 
Iris  View  of  death  alone. 

In  a  play  called  “Don’t  Go  Away 
Mad”  I  worked  at  this  thenie:  how 
does  a  man  in  our  time  become 
willirig  or  able  to  accept  the  in¬ 
evitable  gladly,  and  with  grace?  It 
isn’t  easy.  Shaw  earnestly  longed 
to.  die.  That  is  the  ideal  Way  to 
die:  to  have  lived  We  i,  to  have 
worked  well,  and  therefore  to  wel¬ 
come  Whatever  is  next,  which  no 
man  may  know,  or  really  needs  to 
know,  although  many  must  believe 
something  promising  in  a.  personal 
way.. 

It  is  this  illusion  of  personal 
reality  that  makes  human  experi¬ 
ence  tragic.  Man  knows  that  he 
must  finally  fail,  must  forfeit  all 
for  the  unknown,  arid  in  the  mean- 
(Continued  on  page  61) 


Spectacular  business  done  by 
virtually  every  major  company’s 
picture  in  the  key  first-runs  around 
the  country  in  the  Christriias-New 
Year’s  period,  while  heartening  in 
itself,  served  to  have  an  important 
inter-trade  effect.  Key  point  is 
that  the  top  outfits  had  their  best 
wares  showing. 

All  distributors  just  a  few  weeks 
ago  promised  they’d  no  longer  con¬ 
centrate  top  releases  in  the  holiday 
periods.  Yet  it  was  proved  more 
than  ever  that  last-week-Of-the- 
year  bookings  bring  almost  sure¬ 
fire  smash  grosses.  The  tail  end  of 
1957,  rather  than  bringing  any 
kind  of  letdown  similar  to.  the 
disappointing  experience  of  July  4, 
meant  record  figures  in  many 
arfcas. 

At  least  ,  a  couple  of  top-flight 
exhibitors,  in  light  of  this,  imine- 
diateiy  began  to  wonder  if  any 
distrib— any  single  one— would  re¬ 
frain  from  going  to  market  with 
top.  product  at  any  year-to-year 
turning  point  in  future.  They  think 
it’s  highly  unlikely,  despite  the 
distrib  pledges. 

However,  in  distribution’s  de¬ 
fense,  it’s  pointed  out  that  all  com¬ 
panies  have  what  they  regard  as 
boxoffice  features  spaced  through¬ 
out  the.  entire  year  and  it’s  only 
natural  that  each  would  have  one 
slotted  for  year  end!  It’s  simply 
the  way  the  calendar  breaks  down, 
according  to  distrib  sources. 

It’s  to  be  noted  that  while  most 
exhibition  outposts  drew  top  reve¬ 
nue  via  film  product,  there  were  a 
sporadic  few  that  had  bonanza 
stage  shows.  Notable  example  was; 
the  New  York  Paramount  where 
the  Alan  Freed  rock  ’n’  roll  outing 
Was  so  strong,  with,  the  teenagers 
almost  exclusively,,  that  the.  fea¬ 
ture,  “It’s  Great  to  Be  Young” 
(Fine  Arts),  was  removed  from  the 
program-  Traditionally  of  epic  box-; 
office  proportions,  too,  is  the  N.  Y. 
Radio.  City  Music  Hall  holiday  ori- 
the-boards  exposure.  This  year  the 
picture  is  Warners’  “Sayonara,” 
which,  on  .  its  own  in .  other  loca¬ 
tions,  was;  top-notch. 

Distribs  stepped  ahead  with 
these  Class  “A”  entries:  20th-Fox, 
“Peyton  Place”  and  “Farewell  to 
Arms”;  WB,  as  noted,  “Sayonara”; 
United  Artists;  “Legend  of  the 
Lost”;  Paramount,  “Sad  Sack”  arid 
“Wild  as  the  Wind?;  Metro,  "Rain- 
tree  County”;  Columbia,  “Bridge 
on  River  K,wai,”  arid  Universal, 
“My  Man  Godfrey.” 


By  FRED  HIFT 

Volume  and  sex  were  the  key 
characteristics  of  the  1957  “for¬ 
eign  film  year”  in.  the  States. 

Add  to  this  the  perceptible  de¬ 
cline  in  boxoffice  for  Hollywood 
output,  arid  -the  perspective  be¬ 
comes  one.  of  gradual  expansion 
for  imports. 

Mostly  :  it  was  a,  victory  of  im¬ 
ported  sex  over  former  artistic 
quality.  The  booking  total  spread, 
not  because;  the:  public  was  clamor¬ 
ing  for  imports,  but  because  Yank 
exhibitors  Were  pushed  into  expe¬ 
rimentation  by.  dint  of:  the  home 
market  economic  squeeze; 

Except  “La  Strada,”  “Cabiria” 
and  “Geryaise”  after  that,  and 
some  others,  one  iriay  say  the  for¬ 
eign  film  has  been  concentrating 
on  delivering .  exploitable  sex  rath¬ 
er  than  solid  values,  and  that  this 
intensified  pitch  has  been;  paying 
off!  Whatever  its  merits,  a  film  like. 
“And  Gcd  Created  Woman,”  with! 
Brigitte  Bardot,  was  cleaning  up 
despite  the  condemnation,  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Legion  of  Decency. 

|  Tain’t .  Necessarily  ‘Art’  f 

“Foreign”  arid  “art”  are  no  long¬ 
er  interchangeable  terms.  Iri  fact, 
the  independent  distributors  .  are 
consciously  striving  to  get  away 
from  the  long-established  notion 
that  a  picture  from  Europe  must, 
.automatically  be  “good”  ‘  the 
critical  sense. 

There  was  a  time,  after  the  war, 
When  a  handful  of  new  and  unique 
European  films  arrived  in  the 
States,  when  origin  alone  implied 
a  special  quality,  a  morsel  foi*  the 
intelligentsia,  to  be  seen  only  in 
the  “art”  houses  catering  to  the 
special  audiences. . 

In  aft  houses,,  “artie”  pictures 
(Continued  on  page  61) 


Can’t  Enjoy  Prosperity;  I 
Big-Grossers  Crowded 
Out  of  Minneapolis 

Minneapolis. 

Flood  of  big-grossirig  pictures 
hitting  here  at  new  year’s  outset- 
and  the  obligation  to’  playdate 
them  immediately  .are  resulting  in 
injustices  and  tough1  breaks  for 
some  worthy  attractions; 

While  still  enjoying  prosperity, 
for  example* . .  Paramount’s ,  “The 
Sad  .  Sack”  and  Metro’s  “Les  Girls” 
were  forced  to  depart  from  Radio 
City  and  the  World,  respectively, 
and  there  Were  no  loop  house*  to 
which  they  could  move, 

Boxoffice  strength  of  “The  Sad 
Sack”  came  as  a  big  surprise,  ac-r 
counting  for  the  fact  the  United 
Paramount  had  set  it  in  for  only 
13  days.  Radio  City  couldn’t  hold 
it  longer  because  Columbia’s  Saya- 
nora”  had  been  contracted  to  open 
Dec.  31.  The  other  two  UP  and 
RKO  and  independent  local  down¬ 
town  theatres  also  were  occupied, 
so  that  there  couldn’t  be  any  move- 
over.  ' 

“Sad  Sack”  hit  a  record-break¬ 
ing  $  1  3.,  00  0  the  week-bef ore- 
Christmas,  a  new  local  high  for 
those  seven  days.  It.  garnered  a 
mighty  $10,000  its  second  six-day 
week— which  entitled  it  to  an  ex¬ 
tension  of  its  engagement  or  a 
moveover  arid  which  indicated  it 
could  have  kept  going  profitably 
for  several  Weeks  more  in  the  loop. 

“Les  Girls,”  which  had  eight  fine, 
weeks  at  the  World,  including  an . 
ope nin  g  stanza’s  $10,000  gross, 
bowed  out;  after  chalking  up  a 
highly  profitable  $4,500  seven  days. 
Af  this  rate,  too,  it  undoubtedly 
could  have  chalked  up  more  tall 
weeks. 

Neither  “Sadi  Sack”  nor  “Les 
Girls”  can;  be  playdated  in  a  neigh¬ 
borhood  house,  their  next  destin'a- 
tion,  until  28.  days  have  elapsed. 
That’s  iocal  clearance  regulations. 
While  they’ll  undoubtedly  have 
lost  some  of  their  boxoffice  mo¬ 
mentum  by  that  time,  the  curtail¬ 
ment  of  their  downtown  runs  pre¬ 
maturely  is  still  a  break  for  the 
neighborhood  houses  here,  it’s 
pointed  out;;.. 


Film's  Year  of  Drift  and  Despondency; 
Proposed  Cures  So  Far  Fizzle 


By  GENE  ARNEEL 

In  the  parade  of  the  years  of 
the  industry  based  on  sprocketed 
celluloid  1957  may  well  wear  a 
permanent  ring.  It  was  the  year 
;of  “rumor-lism”  and  “mixed-up- 
ism:”  The  industry  Was  singularly 
unsuccessful  in  either  diagnosing 
.or  trea  ing  its  own 'industry-wide 
dilemma. 

Perhaps  the  feeling  at  the  mo¬ 
ment  of  Variety  going  to  press 
with  Number  52  is  this:  things 
couldn’t  get  much  more  chaotic, 
so  therefore  some  improvement 
may  materialize  in  1958. 

Of  the  sundry  efforts  to.  make 
With!  the  shoulder-to-shoulder  stuff 
it  would  be  perhaps  needlessly  in¬ 
vidious  to  yonder  Who  goofed,  or 
why!  Enough  to  remark  for  the 
record  that  the  film  industry  was 
.  dashing  off  in  all  its  own  many 
directions;  It  Was  one  vast  hap¬ 
hazard  s  eeplechase  course.  And 
plenty  of  horses  were  down  in  the 
muddy  waters. 

There  are  some  entries  to  be 
made  oil  the  positive  side.  George 
Seaton,  president  pf  the  Academy 
of  Motion  Picture  Arts  &  Sciences, 
influenced  the  major  film  compan¬ 
ies’  long  overdue  decision  to  spon¬ 
sor  the  next  television  airing  of 
the  Oscar  preseritations;  many  an 
insider  familiar  with  the  previous 


Palm  Iwaf  and 


.  Sam  Spiegel’ s  production,  of 
“Bridge  on  the  River  Kwai,”  re¬ 
leased  by  Columbia,  was  voted 
Best  Picture  of  the  Year  by  the 
NeW  York.  Film  Critics.  Film 
emerged  on  top  at  the.  second  bal¬ 
lot  with  a  total  of  13  votes.  In  sec- 
orid  place  was  “12  Angry  Men,” 
Henry  Fonda  indie  entry  distri¬ 
buted  by  United  Artists*  which  was 
given  two  votes, 

.  v  Selected  as  best  actor  was  Alec 
Guinness,  for  “Kwai,”  via  10  votes 
on  sixth  ballot.  Top  actress  was 
Deborah  Kerr,  for  “Heaven 
Knows,. Mr.  Allison,”  with  12  votes 
on  the  fifth  ballot. 

Named  best  director  was  David 
Lean,  for  “Kwai,”  with  13  votes  on 
the  third,  ballot.  Second  position 
went  to  Sidney  Lumet,  for  “Angry 
Men,”  with  three  votes.  Also  men¬ 
tioned  in  the.  voting  were  Joshtia 
Logan,  for.  “Sayonara,”  John- Hus¬ 
ton,  for  “He  a  v  en  Knows,”  and 
Preston  Sturges,  for  “Gunfight  at 
O.  K.  Corral.” 

Second  in  the  best  male  per¬ 
formance  category  was  Marlon 
Brando,  for  “Sayonara,”  with  six 
votes.  Others  m  e  n  t  i  o  n  e  d  were 
James  Cagney,  Robert  Mitchum, 
Sidney  Potierj  Fonda  and  James 
Stewart. 

Miss  Kerr  is  a  two-timer  winner, 
having  been  accoladed  10  years  ago 
.for  her  work  in  both  “Adventur¬ 
ess’’  and  “Black  Narcissus,”  In  sec¬ 
ond  place  this  year  is  Eva  Marie 
Saint,  given  three  votes  for  her 
.performance  in  “Hatful  of  Rairi.” 
Other  actresses  who  figured  in  the 
voting  were  Kay  Kendall,  Audrey 
Hepburn,  Marilyn  Mqnroe,  Anna 
Magnani  and  Joanne  Woodward. 

Foreign  films  were  considered 
separately  and  voted  No.  One  was 
“Geryaise,”  with  eight  votes  on  the 
sixth  ballot.!  “Red  Balloon”  was 
second  with  five  Votes  and  “Or- 
dette”  third  with  three.. 

Also  mentioned  iri  this  division 
were  “Gold  of  Naples,’’  “Last 
Bridge,”  “Devil’s  General,”  “We 
Are  AU  Murderers,”  “Torero”  and 
“Cabiria,” 

Gotham  critics  formally  voted  to 
eliminate  writing  awards  this  year, 
for  unexplained  reasons.  Perhaps 
related  to  this  are  trade  reports 
that  three  writers  worked  on  the 
“Kwai”  script,  whereas  only  the 
author  of  the  Original  novt  1,  Pierre; 
Boulle,  has  the  credit. 


reluctant  attitude  of  the  chief 
execs  whO  comprise  the  board  of 
the  Motion  Picture  Assn,  of  Amer¬ 
ica  will  attest  to  the  “heroic”  pro¬ 
portions  of  the  achievement. 

Biggest  holdout  on  bankrolling 
the  Acad  show  had  been  Nicholas 
M.  Schenck.  But  there  were 
others  remaining  iri  power  ( includ¬ 
ing  Barney  Balaban)  who  felt 
either  (1)  the  Oscar  spotlighting 
encouraged  too  much  of  the  “art” 
of  pictures  at  the  sacrifice  of  the 
“commerce,”  or  (2)  the  benefits  Of 
the.  program  still  would  accrue,  to 
the  industry  with  the  outside  Olds- 
mobile  outfit  picking  up  the  check 
as  it  did  in  past. 

Seaton  “reached”  the  dissidents 
and  finally  got  their  sympathetic 
ear.  As  a  result,  come  March.  26, 
will  be  the  biggest  (it’s  hoped) 
Acad  outing  of  history  with  an 
audience  figured  at  around  75,000,- 
.000,  with  the  greatest  array  of 
stars  who  in  past  would  not  or  con¬ 
tractually  could  not  appear  on  a 
commercially-sponsored  ;  telecast, 
and  with  the  industry  to  limit  itself 
*o  institutional  bows,  rather  than 
individual  picture  plugs. 

\  July  4  Magic  Flops  [ 

New  ‘‘orderly  release”  schedules 
are  promised  for  the.  future  be¬ 
cause  the  old  practice  boomeranged 
the  past  summer.  Companies 
opened  with  their  big  guns  around 
July  4  and  shortly  after.  Past  ex¬ 
perience  Was  that  this  was  the 
thing  to  do.  But  the  public,  ever 
enigmatic,  didn’t  respond.  Too 
many  top-stature  pictures  were 
in  competition  with  each  other; 
some  had  to  suffer. 

Also  on  th  estrictly  trade  side 
were  arbitration  and  conciliation, 
subjects  that  have  been  discussed 
and  debated  by  distribution  exec, 
exhib  and  lawyer  teams  for  over 
10  years  without  much  of  any* 
thing  being  accorbplished. 

Continuing  elusive  is  a  system 
under  which  exhibs  and  distribs 
could  submit  their  differences 
aneiit  trade  practices,  excluding 
rentals,  to  a  panel  of  arbiters,  pos¬ 
sibly  set  up,  as  it  was  years  ago, 
under  the  aegis  of  the  American 
Arirtration  Assn. 

There  remained  the  question  of 
how  much  marathon  running  time 
the  public  will  stand  for?  “Coih- 
(Continued  on  page  290) 

Padors  Hot  V  Cold,  So 
TO  CV  Loses  Atlanta 
Suburb’s  Sabbath  Okay 

Decatur,  Ga. 

Equivocation  on  the.  part  of 
members  of  Decatur  Ministers’ 
Assn,  resulted  in  Decatur  City 
Commission  withdrawing  its  ap¬ 
proval  of  permit  to  show  Par’s. 
“The  Ten  Commandments”  at  the 
Decatur  Theatre  on  two  Sundays. 

Action  came  after  pastors  said 
in  a  letter  the  association  could 
neither  approve  nor  disapprove 
the  showings.  City  Manager  John 
D.  Powell  said  organization  left 
the  decision  up  to  the  commission. 

Commission  last  week  okayed  a 
Special  permit  to  allow  the  Cecil 
B.  DeMille  biblical  extravaganza  to 
be  shown  on  two  Sundays,  Dec.  28 
and  Jan.  5,  However,  the  approval 
was  contingent  upon  go-ahead 
from  Better  Films  Committee  and 
ministerial  association. 

Better;  Films  group  gave  rell- 
g?ous  pic  green  light. 

After  receiving  ministers’  let* 
ter.  however,  Decatur  Commission 
Chairman  J,  F.  Redding  ordered 
the  application  rejected.  A  city 
ordinance  prohibits  Sunday  movies. 

Storey  Theatres  Inc„  chain  op¬ 
erators  who  own  Decatur’s  only 
cinema,  proposed  to  show  the  film 
between  2  and  6:15  p.m.  in  order 
not  to  interfere  with  Sunday 
church  services. 

Decatur  is  a  virtual  suburb  of 
Atlanta  despite  the  fact  that  it  is 
County  seat  of  neighboring  DeKalb 
County.  Patrons  who  want  to  see 
DeMille's  re-make  Can  view  film,., 
in  various,  drive-in  theatres  as  well 
as  hardtops. 


PICTURES 


fifly-teeoni 


Annivertary 


Been  To  Any  Party  FOms? 


What  Makes  For  Stardom 


;  By  ABEL  GREEN  = 


Some  Drop  Propaganda  in  Favor 
Of  Human  Beings 

By  GENE  MOSKOWITZ 

Paris. 

A  return  visit  to  the  only  European,  film  festival  in  the 
Communist  zone,  Czechoslovakia’s  Karlovy  Vary  (the 
Carlsbad  of  yesteryear),  hinted  again  in  1957  that  the 
Red  countries,  both  European  and  Asian,  hunger  for 
American  feature  films.  But  the  practical  means  to  get 
them  cannot  be  found.  The  Reds  want  to  barter,  not  buy. 
To  the  American  film'  producers,,  all  private  capitalists,: 
trading  boxoffice  dynamite  from  Hollywood  for  boxof- 
fice  duds  from  Moscow  arid  the .  satellites  just-  doesn’t 
seem  bright. 

It’s  been  underscored  again  and  again  in  Variety  that 
the  Red  bureaucrats  will  not— -and  perhaps,  given  their 
washed  brains,  cannot— understand'  that  the  Washington 
government  is  totally  without  power  to  make  package 
deals,  that  it  can  commit  nobody  to  nothing^  and  is  espe¬ 
cially  impotent  to  arrange  screen  time  in  the  States  for 
Communist  pictures. 

This  is  .  the  basic  rub  and  the  pride  of  the  Russians 
won’t  permit  acknowledgment  —  they  want  American 
filmsr  we  don’t  want.  Russian  films ;  Our  "entertainment” 
is  a  novelty  to  their  people;  their  "propaganda  -  is  pretty 
blah  to  our  citizenry. 

Generalization  is  risky  but  it’s  probably  true  that,  tech- 
ically,  any  country  can  put  together  a  film  competently, 
even  with  the -new  processes  and  techniques;  plus  tinting, 

Some  Red  pictures  display  progress  in  more  individual, 
humane  pictumation  of  ordinary  human  problems  with^ 
out  dragged-in  ‘party”  angles  which  hold  up  a  clearer 
mirror.  But  a  Marxist  is  a  born  point-maker.  The  didactic, 
touch  is' hard  to  drop. 

Here  are  some  of  the  pertinent  facts; 

|  .  BULGARIA  ;  ,  1 

Bulgaria  has  only  made  20  features  since  1947;  But 
studios  are  being  built  and  Russian  coproduction  is  giv¬ 
ing  technical  training.  Bulgarian  films;  remain  rather  dry 
and  revolutionary.  Topical  subjects  affe  just  beginning  to 
be  treated. 


The  ingredients  of  stardom  constitute  ah  intangible 
something  which,  like  all  personalities  in  all  walks  of 
life,  make  them  stand  out  in  a  crowd;  But  only  more  so. 

The  stardom  factor  is  the  special,  quality  to  . have  great 
appeal  to  the  widest  cross-section  of  people — of  different 
tastes,  of  different  Walks  of  life,  of  different  regional, 
racial,  feligioso  origins,  but  who  are  welded  into  a  com¬ 
mon  denominator  in  their  appreciation  of  the  artistry 
of  the  personality. 

A  star  imparts  a  very  definite  sense  ,  of  excitement  by 
his  or  her  very  physical  presence;  There’s  an  electric 
quality  about  anything  and  everything  a  star  does.  You 
see  it  in,  every  movement. 

.  Elvis  Presley,  when  he  first  came  down  to  the  RCA 
Victor  offices  on  East.  24th.  St.,  New  York,  struck  the  top 
executive  as  follows;  “This,  boy  is  going  to  be  a  big  star.” 
This  was;  before  he  had  proved  himself  sales-wise'  Asked 
why,  the  diskery  topper  observed,  “Well,  we  judge  a  lot 
by  the  girls  iji  our  place,  for  instance.  You  can  see  that 
this  boy  generates  something;  he’s  got  it  for  the  kids:” 

“What’s  needed,  tp  make,  a  star?”  Talent  of  course. 

As  for.,  the  components  that  'constitute  the  quality  of 
stardom^  that’s  that  special  and  intangible  something — 
a  peculiar  chemistry  which,  (1)  is  appealing,  and  (2)  cre¬ 
ates  ah  illusion  which  sets  that  personality  separate  and 
-  apart  from  other  performers.  And  when  you’re  a  real  big 
star  you’re  as  effective  “off”  as. well  as  “on,”  i.e.  the  very 
aura  of  the  personality  exudes  that  “something  special” 
which  endows  an  entertainer  with  that  stardust  glow. 

The  late  great  French  actor-playwright,  Sacha  Guitry; 
a:  renowned  ladies’  man,  once  observed  that,  “every  night 
I  have  the  greatest  love  of  my  life— I  have  a  rendezvous 
d’ampur  with  .1,500  people,”  meaning  his  audience. 

A  contradiction  to  this,  however,  is  illustrated  by  Jack 
penny.  Walking  down  6th  Ave.,  he  ran  into  a  vaudevil-.. 
lian  who  enjoys  a  unique  niche  in  the  Resort  Hotel  Cir¬ 
cuits.  He  looked  the  typical  actor— fedora  hat,  stock  tie, 
sharp  dlothes,  latest  leather-laced-style  shoes,,  walking 
stick,  spats— the  works.  Said  Benny,  “There’s  one  thing 
I  gotta  say  about  Buddy,  he  looks  the  complete  actor- — ex¬ 
cepting  in  one  place,  and  that’s  when  he  gets  on  the  stage. 
Then  he  sure  stinks  up  the  theatre,  doesn’t  he?” 


t 


niINGARY 


t 


SO  YOU  WANNA  MARRY 


-  By  ALAN  LIPSCOTT- 


Hungarian  films  still  show  a  sure  technical  grasp.  Re¬ 
cent  average  of  16  features  annually  is  being  increased 
in  1958  to  20.  Films  shown  at. Karlovy  Vary  were  steeped 
in  the  problems  of  this  excruciating  punished  and  shat¬ 
tered  satellite. 

One  film,  "Professor  Hannibal,”  made  before  the  Buda¬ 
pest  massacre  and  approved  by  the  party  has  since  been 
a  touch  on  the  double  entendre.  The  setting  is  1930.  and 
the  preachment  against  the  Fascist  brand  of  dictatorship, 
but  it  was  embarrassingly  close  in  parallel  to  the  ways  of 
Moscow. 


EAST  GERMANY 


East  Germany  turns  out  both  propaganda  and  personal 
Jims  abput  life  in  Germany  today,  or  under,  the. 'Nazis. 
They  make  perhaps  20  films  a  year  and  reveal  fine  tech¬ 
nical  knowhow. 

Czechoslovakia  itself  is  up  to  19.  pix  per  year  and  also 
examples  technical  mastery  though  often  rigid  and  classi¬ 
cal  in  thematic  values. 


I 


RED  CHINA 


Red  China  has  leaped  ahead  in  production  and  has 
produced  139  films  in  seven  years.  Though,  invariably, 
"angled,”  some  films  seen  have  manifested  a  real  feel  for' 
human  values. 

Red  China  is  heavy  on  documentaries  (350)  and  foreign 
pix  dubbed  into  the  Chinese  lingo  <576)  and  into  the  vari¬ 
ous  dialects  (208)  of  remote  areas.  Exhibition  facilities 
have  burgeoned  with  9,168  regular  and  ambulant  theatres 
reported,  and  attendance  calculated  at  1.390,000, 000 -spec¬ 
tators  annually  over  the  156,000,000  in  1950. 

Red  China  production  is  soon  expected  to  hit  100  fea¬ 
tures  per  year  as  new  studios  are  now  being  erected. 
Currently  there  are  six  studios  in  operation  in  Shanghai 
and  Peking. 


1 


NORTH  KOREA 


North  Korea  is  strictly  on  the  political  “soil”  arid  makes 
three  pictures  annually,  either  dialectical  or  .filmed  stage 
presentations. 


\ 


YUGOSLAVIA 


Yugoslavia,  which  made  no  films  before,  the  war,  rioW 
shoots.  12  to  15.  There  are  four  studios.  Yugoslavia  has 
about  1,350  theatres  and  needs  about  150  features  to  fill, 
its  playdates.  It’s  sole  Red  country  to  unreel  U.S.  films; 
some  60%  of  those  shown  are  American;. 


POLAND 


Poland  has  begun  to  make  itself  felt  filmically  by  cop-, 
ping  prizes  at  Western  film  fests.  Though  the  pix  Still 
deal  with  the  terrible  occupation  and  resistance,  they 
have  a  technical  quality  and  depth  that  may  build  pres¬ 
tige  in  the  democracies..  Poles  are  geared  for  12  pix  per 
year  but  hope  to  go  to  20  in  three .  years ;  and  50  in  six. . 
(There  are  only  800  theatres  there  and  they  take  about 
150  pix  per  year). 

“Marty”  <UA)  was  the  first  postwar  U.S.  pie  to  play 
Poland  and  reaped  a  critical  success  but  not  a  financial 
one.  People  wanted  lighter  fare  or.  more  grandiose 
themes,  having  too  much  anguish  of  their  own.  "Indian 
Fighter,”  “The  Barefoot  Comtesse,”  “Apache,”  all  Unit¬ 
ed  Artists,  did  better. 

Poland  is  booking  a  cross-section  of  Yarik  product  from 
“On  the  Waterfront”  (Columbia)  to  “Francis  The  Talk¬ 
ing  Mule,”  (U.) 


^  _  Hollywood. 

Dear  Deborah : 

I’m  very  much  disturbed  by  the  news  lhai  you  pian  to 
marry  Cy  Gooley.  It's  not  so  much  that  Cy  writes  comedy, 
but  ft  upsets  my  craw  to.  think  that  the  moment  he  came 
along,  you  jilted  that  nice  Norwegian  sand  hog.  Iri  rny 
bqok  you’rejust  a  fair  weather  bride. 

1  hope  you  know  that  you’re  not  marrying  a  Thurber 
or  a  Shulman.  .  Cy  Writes  teevee  comedy  and  you’ll  never 
be  able  to  conceal  it  from  your  parents.  The  symptoms 
will  betray  hirii.  He  reads  the  labels  on  iodine  bottles, 
buys  penny  uranium  stocks,  tilts  pinball  machines,  plays 
a  kazoo  and  moves  his  lips  when  he  reads.  But  you’ll 
starve  because  he  has  more  than  a  nodding  acquaintance 
with  three.  Briskins. 

If  you  think  your  marriage  to  Cy  will  catapult  you 
socially,  let-  me  remind  you,  that  of  the  18,000  invited  ,  to 
Mike  Todd’s  Mad  Ball,  8  elephants  made  it,  but  not  one 
teevee  comedy  writer’ 

When  ordinary  workers,  work,  i.’s  evident.  A  plumber 
forces  a  gasket  into  a  pipe  or  solders  a  leak;  a  doctor 
stabs,  you  with  a  needle  or  pinches  your  gullet;  a  football 
player  kicks  the  football,  fumbles  it  or  breaks  another 
football,  player’s  neck.  .But  a  comedy  writer  works  like 
a  dog  when  he  pulling  nervously  at  an  ear  lobe;  or  star¬ 
ing  at.  a  parrot,  or  digging  into  his  trouser’s  cuff  for 
fluff,  or  cleaning  the  hinges  of  his  spectacles  With  a 
toothpick,  or.  making  guided. missies  out  of  rejected  scripts 
and  launching  them  at  the  cat.  With  your  looks  arid 
figure,  you  need  this  like  a  hole  in  the  head. 

I  know,  you  know,  rornance  in  marriage  is  a  precious 
item.  Right  now,  you  are  no  .  doubt  dreaming  of  your 
genius  coming  home  after  a;  hard  day  of  punching.  The 
clinch  at  the  door,  the  fervent  kiss,  the  exciting  tet-a-tete 
of  all  that  happened;  dinner  by  candlelight,  holding  hands 
on  the  couch,  watching  Playhouse  90,  and  then  to  bed. 

Wi'h  a  sandhog,  maybe,  but  not  with  a  comedy  writer. 
You’re  not  figuring  on  the  story  conference  Cy  had  that 
afternoon.  His  producer  insisted,  that  to  save  the  price 
of  a  set,  the  big  scene  in  the  firehouse  must  be  shot  in  the 
baby’s  nursery  which  was  already  standing.  To  save  6 
actors,  the  8  firemen  would  be  cut  down  to  2  and  the 
mailman  in  the  opening  scene  could  double  as  one  of  the 
fireirien  if  he  W°re  ?n  oversized  helrnet. 

So  that  night;  Cy  comes,  home  iriuttering  billingsgate. 
The  potroast  in  the  oven  by  now  is  like  leather.  He  looks 
at  your  pucker  and  tells  you  to  .  lay  off  persimmons.  He 
glares  at  the:  sputtering  candles  and  reminds  you  to  pay 
the  electric  bill.  For  dinner  he  has  a  bicarbonate  and  a 
milltown.  And  the  romantic  tete-a-tete  will  boil  down  to 
you  saying:  “Maybe  I  should  go  to  Jersey  City  and  visit 
my  mother  for  a  few  weeks.”  Cy  just  grunts  as  he  tunes 
in  a  re-run  of  a  Kenny  Youngman  monologue: 

Any  doctor  ,  will  tell  you  that  a  sandhog’s  pituitary 
fidgets  less  than  ai  writer’s.  That’s  because  his  thyroid 
never  does  nipups  and  so  his  adrenal  glands  act  human. 
That’s  why  few  sandhogs  have  duodenals.  Statistics  prove 
that  less  women  have  ulcers  than  men.  That’s  because  a 
woman  cries  when  the  going  gets  rough  and  tears  melt 
tension;  I  know  a  sadistic  comic  who  could  give  the 
most  oyerprivileged  writer  ,  a  coronary  at  the  drop  of  an 
option.  One  .wily  writer,,  to  stymie  hirii,  took  unto  him¬ 
self  a  female  collaborator.  So  whenever  the  comic  put 
the  heat  on,  the  gal  would,  burst  into  tears.  That  punctured 
the  pressure.  The  frustrated  comic  brooded  and  seethed, 
and  then  one  day  in  a  fit  of  anger  he  fired  them  both. 
But  not  before  he  himself  got  a  coronary.  (This  actually 
didn’t  happen  to  the  comic,  but  it  gives  the  story  a  happy 
ending).  Knowing  your  hair-trigger  temperament,  if  Cy 


January  I;  1958 


‘Orderly  Release’ 

By  HY  HOLUNGER1 

For  the  nation’s  theatreowners,  1957  was  “another” 
year  of  declining  business,  Hopes  that  the  inroads  of 
television,  the  move  to  the  suburbs,  and  the  economi 
and  social .  conditions  affecting  the  boxoffice  would  be 
checked  failed  to  materialize. 

More  fringe  theatres  and  even  quite  a  few  key  situ¬ 
ations  were  forced  tb.  call  it  “finis”  and  closed  down. 
■The  major  disappointment  of  the  year  was  the  slump 
during  the  looked-for  pickup  of  the  in-recent-years  usu¬ 
ally  favorable  summer  months.  Summer  biz  spurted 
slightly  ahead, .  but  it  failed  to  offset  poor  spring  arid 
early,  fall  periods. 

The  brunt  of  the  blame  for  the  disappointing  year  was 
attributed  to  the  failure  of  the  film  companies  to.  pro¬ 
vide  the  nation’s  theatres .  with  an  “Orderly,  release”  of 
outstanding  films  throughout  the  year.  “Orderly  release” 
was  a  much  repeated  exhibitor  catchphrase-coiriplaint  dur¬ 
ing  a  generally  lacklustre  yriar.  Exhibitors  tended  to  be¬ 
lieve  that  given  a  regularized  supply  of  good  pictures 
throughout  the  year  they  .could  continue  to  operate  suc¬ 
cessfully.  They,  charged  that  the  film  companies  calcu- 
latediy  .held  top  product  for  certain  holiday  periods  and 
left  the  houses  with  ah  almost  complete  void  of  potent 
films  during  the  rest  of  the  year. 

I  Play  The  Peaks  _ [ 

As  . the  year  cairie  tb  a  close,  there  appeared  to  be  some 
hope,  that  the  “orderly  release”  problem  would  be  solved. 
Considerable  behind-the-scenes  talks  plus  continued  pub¬ 
lic  pronouncements  brought  assurances  from  a  number 
of  the  major  film,  companies  that  during  1958  concen¬ 
trated.  efforts  would  be  made'  to  deliver  to  theatres  a 
sufficient  number  of  quality  films  designed  to  -  attract 
customers  on  a  52-week  basis. 

Assurance  was  also  given .  by;  Eric  Johnston;  president 
of  the  Motion  Picture  Assn.of  America,  addressing  The¬ 
atre  Owners  of  America’s  convention  in  Miama  Beach, 
that  he  would  personally  appeal  to  the  film  companies 
to  schedule  pictures  so  that  payoff  pictures  would  always 
be  available. 

Optimistic  note  On.  same  subject  Was  sounded  when 
Leonard  Goldenson  and  Edward  L.  Hyman,  president 
and  v.p:.  respectively  of  American  Broadcasting-Para¬ 
mount  Theatres,  revealed  that  an  analysis  of  release 
schedules  for .  1958  disclosed  that  the  film  companies  had 
heard  the  pleas  of  the  nation’s  harassed  theatremen  arid 
were  scheduling  pictures  in  an  “orderly”  manner.  Gold¬ 
enson  and  Hyman  have  long  been  in  the  forefront  in 
demanding  the  elimination  of  the  orphan  booking  periods. 

|  TOA-Allied  Very  Palsy  | 

A  significant  development  during  1957  was  the  united' 
front  of  rival  exhibitor  groups.  TOA  and  Allied  States 
Assn.,  formerly  bitter  rivals,  agreed  in  fighting  the  prob¬ 
lems  hurting  the  boxoffice.  An  observer  at  the  annual 
conventions  of  both  orgs  found  it  difficult  to  detect  a 
disparity  of  viewpoint.  Both  the  small  theatres,  mainly 
represented  by .  Allied,  and  the  chains,  for  which  TOA 
is  the.  main  spokesman,  echoed,  substantially  the  same 
beefs  and  demanded  similar  solutions. 

It  was  all  hostility  between  theatre  operators  and 
product  suppliers;  Past  year  saw  friendlier  relations 
between  exhibition  and  distribution  despite  the.  com¬ 
plaints.  The  film  companies,  ~  which  had  boycotted  the 
exhibitor  conventions  in  1956,  sent  representatives  to 
TOA’s  Miami  Beach  meetings.  .  Two  sales  chief s-^20th- 
Fox’s  Alex  Harrison  and  Columbia’s  Abe  Montague-— 
met  with  TOA’s  leaders  and  sympathically  discussed  sales 
problems. 

TOA  and  Allied  presented  a  united  front  In  continued, 
efforts  to  get  the  Dept,  of  Justice  to  revise  the  consent 
decrees  so  that  the  formerly-affiliated  circuits  would  be 
permitted  to  produce  and  distribute,  pictures  with  pre¬ 
emptive  rights  for  their  own  theatres.  This  reflected  urg¬ 
ency  of  additional  product  sources. 

Late  in  1957  a  new  cause  celebre  aroused  demand  that 
the  film  companies  provide  theatres  with  ,  a  specific  clear¬ 
ance  over  television.  Theatremen.  wanted  a  definite  com¬ 
mitment  from  each  film,  company  so  that  they  could 
advertise  to  the  public  that  a  particular  picture  would 
not  be  available  to  tv  for  a  specified  number .  of  years ; 
It  was  evident  that,  in  part,  the  public  was  remaining 
away  from,  theatres  because  Convinced  that  it  had  merely 
to  wait  for  current  releases  to  show  Up  on  home  screens. 


ever  collaborated  with  a  female,  you’d  put  ground  glass  i 
his  yogurt. 

Comedy  writers  seldom  work  solo.  They  usually  work 
with  other  comedy  writers  and  those  other  comedy  writers 
usually  havA  quirks.  F’rinstance,  Cy  might  bring  a  writer 
into  your  honeymoon  flat,  who  can’t  concentrate  unless 
he  lies  prone  on  the  floor.  I  orice  wrote,  with  such  * 
character.  When  an  idea  starts  to  jell*  he’ll  absent- 
mindedly  pull  tufts  put  of  your,  $15-a-yard  carpet.  This 
vandalism  is  not  covered  by  insurance. 

Or  he  may  hitch  up  with  the  writer  who  has  two  sons  in 
college  and  still  blows  bubble  gum.  The  sharp  cracking 
of  the  bubble  made  a  nervous  wreck  out  of  my  pedigreed 
mynah  bird  and  it  suddenly  stopped  talking.  And  then 
there’s  ihq  strange  one  who  can  only  function  when  it 
rains.  So  to  stimulate  this  odd  ball,  I  kept  the  sprinkling 
system  on  full  force.  This  eccentricity  netted  me  a  tre¬ 
mendous  water  bill  and  a  lawyer’s  letter  from  “Dancing 
Waters.” 

To  keep  these  lads  happy,  you’ll  have  to  stock  up  on 
such  staples  as  aspirin,  peanut  brittle,,  tranquilizers,  In¬ 
dian  nuts,  lighting;  fluid,,  pipe  cleaners,  benzadr.erie  end 
kibble  for  those  who  bring  their  dogs  to  work. 

Ten  years  ago,  I  sent  a  letter  like  this  to  Bernadine, 
a  month  before  we  were .  married;  The  letter  was  lost 
in  the  mails.  That’s  what  she  says  everytinie  we  quarreL 
So,  if  you  don’t  receive  this  letter.  Ill  be  sympathetic. 

So  as  not:  to  be  a  complete  ogre,  may  I  add,  that  in  my 
40  years  of- writing  comedy,  riiy  talent  has  been  maligned 
by  producers,  insulted  by  directors,  panned  by  critics  and 
slandered  by.  actors.  I  would  like  to  quit  but  I  can’t, 
because  I’m.  too  much  in  demand.  With  all  my  heart,  I 
wish  the  same  to  Cyl 

As.  .ever,,. 

Alan. 


January  8, 1958 


fifty-second  P£f&i&Fr  Anniversary 


PICTURES 


10  Little  Plots  and  How  They  Grew! 

[Or  The  Challenge  Hollywood  and  Television  Present] 


By  KEN  ENGLUND 


Challenge  Indeed! 

The  most  Important  problem .  you.  Mi*;  and  Mrs.  Amer¬ 
ica,  will  have  to  face  as  you  sit  gathered  in  front  of  the 
family  watching  box  is— How  To  Keep  Awake? 

A  Problem  indeed!  You’ve  just 
faced  a  day  of  Challenges.  To  begin 
with  you’ve  gone  to  the  job  without 
breakfast,  because  your  wife  has  re¬ 
mained,  in  the  sheets,  wrapped  like 
a  red-eyed  corpse,  having  stayed  up 
to  catch  the  new'  Milton  Mills  epic 
on  The  Late,  Late  Show. 

•‘Got  sucha  headache!  Ya  mind  this 
one  morning ,  honey-lover?”  she  purrs 
helplessly,  unconsciously  imitating 

Lucille  Ball  trying  the  same  gambit 
on  Desi  Arnaz. 
pnFfnnrt  You’ve  faced  The  Challenge  Of 

5  Commuting,  or  risked  life  and  limb 

to  get  to  work  and  back  on  yoUr  local  Indianapolis  Speed¬ 
way — sometimes  referred  to  as  a  Freeway  or.  Eearway. 

..Night  falls  and  you’re  about  to,  as  you  stumble  through 
the  front  door  carrying  a  shredded  briefcase,  ydrir  parched 
lips  just  managing  one  word,  “Martini!”  And  you  collapse 
in  the  oasis  of  yOur  living  room,  one  limp  but  loving  arm 
around  The  Little  Woman,  who  is  already  listening  to  The 
News. 

After  about  two  minutes,  of  Chet  Huntley  and  David 
Brinkley  reporting  the  latest  fun  and  games  at  the  U.N., 
some  progress  reports- from,  missile  and  . bomb  makers  who 
predict  that  if  all  goes  well  by  1967  we  should  all  be  on  the 
moon— having  been  blown  there— you’re;  ready,  for  a  sec-. 


tear  down.  the.  local  bordello  and  use  the  lumber 
to  build  a  new  schoolhouse  and  drive  .the  Painted 
:  Hussies  out  of  town.  Or: 

Bi  A  Painted  Hussy.  , 

For  this  she  must  have .  good  legs,  wear  a  short, 
fringed  costume  with  long  mesh  stockings,  because 
censorship  dictates  that  she  must  always  be  disr 
guised  as  A  Dance  Hall  Girl. 

These  come  in  three  types: 

1.  The  Dance  Hall  Girl  who  is  completely  regerier- 
:  ated  at  the  finish. 

2.  The  one.  who’s  half-regenerated. 

3.  The  one  who  never  needed  regeneration  in  the 
first  place!  Because  as  it  turns  'put  happily,  she’s 
really  The  First  Female  United  States  Marshal* 
Ann  Sheridan,  and  .  has  been  wearing  her  badge, 
concealed  under  her  jewelled  garter  all  the  time! 

Under  FRONTIER  HEROINES  we  ihust  also  lUmp: 

THE  CAVALRY  COLONEL'S  DAUGHTER. 

Here  too  there  are  only  three  kinds: 

A.  Snippy  and  spoiled; 

B.  Sugar  arid  spice  and  everything  nice. 

C.  Idealistic  regarding:  making  friends  with  the 
Indians.  That  is,  until  Daddy’s  hair  *  parted  by 
a  tomahawk. 

For  this  difficult  role  our  Girl  must  be  trained  to  ride 
and  act  at  the  same  time.  Inasmuch  as  all  her  dialog 
with  The  /Handsome  Second  Lieutenant;  is  shot  while 
they  gallop  between  forts. 

*  * 

THE  HEROINE  IN  THE  EASTERN  OR  “OFFSTAGE 
WIFE” 


ond  nwtini.  ‘  • 

.Suddenly  you’re  surprised  to  see  that  your  wife  is  wear¬ 
ing  shoes. 

“L  thought,”  explains  The  L.W.,  “for.  a  change  we’d  get 
out  of  the  hOuse  arid  go  to  a  movie!  We  sit  here  night  after 
night,  noses  pressed  to  this  little  pane  of  glass  when  there 
are  dozens  of  wonderful  wide-screen  pictures  in  Todd- AO 
arid  all  kinds  Of  Scope  we’ve  missed!”  ;  ; 

“Dozens!  At  least  a  couple  of  hundred!”  you  admit. 

“By  all  means,  let's!  Say,  Where’s  that  new.  one.  playing- 
With  Victor  McLaglen;  Edmund  Lowe*  and  that  cute  Fifi 
D’Orsay?— ‘Sez  You’?” 

“Darling,  it.  isn’t!  You  see  we’ve  missed  so  many! 

■This  night  will  not  be  an  exception.  Over  the  third  mar¬ 
tini  you  call  the  babysitter— only  to  find  she’s  having  one 
of  her  own,  . 

'  This  cinches  it.  You  decide  as  long  as  you  don  t  have  to 
go  oiU— “but  we’ll  definitely,  see  a  movie  tomorrow!” — 
you  might,  as  well  try  one  of  those  new  TV  Dinners  you've 
got  in  the  freezer,  “Ming  Toy’s  Packaged.  Noodles  Com¬ 
plete  with  Fortune  Cookie.” 

You  open'  your  fortune.  It  reads:  “Iri  the  .coming  months 
you  are  destined  to  watch  the  same  stories  you  watched 
last  year,  except  with  a  few  new  twists.”, 

Now  by  that  the  Ho'ng  Kong  Noodle  Co.  doesn’t  mean 
there's  anything  wrong,  with  such  familiar  twists  as  Lucille 
Ball,  .  Anri  Sotherri,  Eve  Arden,  Dinah  Shore,  Mary  Martin 
—they’re  still  batting  a  thousand  on  the  Trendex. 

But  this  season  you’ll  see  a  whole;  riew  flock  of  frails. 
For  along  with  our  prize  corn,  wheat,  and  .lima  .  berinS,  no 
country  on  earth  can  boast  of  as  pretty  a  yearly  crop  of 
ingenues  as  we  cart. 

Putting  aside  ail  girls  in  the  SOng-and-Dance  Depart¬ 
ment— those  who  will  shake  a  pretty  leg  on  Variety  Shows 
—the  new  shipment  of  heroines  will  be  roughly  required 
to: 

HAVE  STARS  IN  THEIR  EYES 
AND  FALL  IN  LOVE  WITH 

The  Romantic  Hero  Who  Comes  From  Nowhere  and 
by  a  kiss  in  the  hayloft  transforms  Plain  Jane  into 
the  loveliest,  most  sought-after  girl  in  the  neigh¬ 
borhood. 

“See,  Nellie  Sue.  I  bought  you  a  comb  for  the  back 
of  your  hair;  ’Course  it’s  got  no  rhinestones,  no  dia¬ 
monds— you  already  got  aplenty  if  you  count  those 
asparklin’  in  your  eyes!  Like  stars!  Why  when  you 
smile  you  light  up  the  whole  sky!” 

“Why, .  Ah  declare,  Mr:  Rainmaker*  you  air  a-silly! 
Only  sudderily— suddenlyr^-I  dunno— suddenly  the 
night — I  dunno— only  look,  Mr.  Stranger,  it’s  full, 
of  wonderment!” 

Wonderment  indeed!  Black  black  is  the  color  of  our  true 
love’s  chances  for  matrimony  until  the.  Stranger  works  his 
magic: 

The  wonderment  is  whether  or  not  ypu  can  keep  your 
eyes  open  (If  you’re  a  Plain  Jane,  of  course,  y6u  probably 

-ill,,  and  be  all.  softened  up  in  the  end  to.  buy  the  Spon¬ 
sor’s  beauty-soap!) 

OUR  NEW  GRADUATES  FROM  THE  MISS  RHEIN- 
GOLD  SCHOOL  OF  ACTING  WILL  ALSO  BE 
REQUIRED  TO  TAKE  A  SHINE :  TO: 

Assorted  Cads,  Bounders,  Urban  Wolf  types*  and— 
(how  can  I  say  this? )  Married  Men'.!!.  .  . 

The  Boy  Back  Home  When  She  Comes  To  Her  Senses, 
Usually  a  C.P.A.  With  A  Heart  of  Gold,  who  SAVES 
.  our  Miss  Sweetmeat  at  the  last  moment,  from  fatal 
'dalliance  with  the  above  assorted  C.,  B.,  and  U.W. 


Her  lot  isn’t  an  easy:  one  either,  for  the-  leading  Man 
has  the  biggest  part  and  she  mostly  suffers  in  silence— 
off  camera. 

.  Usually  her  Husband  is  an  Eastern,  is  this  Happy  Go 
Lucky  Copy  Writer  who  is  going  along  ihindirig  his  own 
business  ori  Madison  Avenue  meeting  the  challenge  of 
turning  out  copy  for  Eureka  Gas  Heaters  every  week, 
when  suddenly  what  does  he  do  to  spoil  it  all?  He  writes 
a  best  selling  novel  on  his  Wife’s  kitchen  table*  week¬ 
ends!  Then  the  trouble .  starts.  He  g;ets  a  big  fat  Holly¬ 
wood  writing  ;  contract  arid .  immediately  begins  to  lose 
his  integrity. , 

The  first  thing  he .  does,  in  Hollywood  is  to  knock  out 
••;':a  great  script.  All  the  more  remarkable  when  you  .  realize 
.he’s  never  written  a  picture  before. 

At  first  this  Big  Fat  Producer  of  bis  says  he  loves  it 
but  then  the  Writer,  realizes  he’s  secretly  trying  to  ruin 
the  picture  by  cuttirig  the  script  down  from  600  pages 
to  135  so  they  can  make  it!  . 

The  Easterner  is  shocked  to  realize  that  there’s  Gold 
In  Them  Thar  Hollywood  Hills,  but  at  what  a  terrible 
price!  His  “integrity!”  He  refuses  to  compromise. 

The  Ruthless  Producer,  on  oily  type  who  smokes  ,  big 
dollar  cigars,  takes  him  to  this  big.  Hollywood  party  where 
he  introduces  the  Eastern  Writer  to  a  Western  type  girl 
—Mamie  Van  Doren. 

That  night  the  Easterner  compromises  all  over  the 
place,  the  Producer  even  forces  him  to  drink  two  Mar¬ 
tinis!  Then  he  blows  smoke  ,  in  his  face. 

Norie  of  the  shallow  Hollywood  crowd  at.  the  party 
.  even  speaks  to  the  Easterner.  They  just  call  each  other 
“Dahling!”  have  a  Charleston  contest  ori  top  of  the  white 
.  sequiried  piano,  and  occasionally  blow  smoke  in  the 
Writer’s  face.  Mamie  Van  Doren  using  a  long,  cigarette 
holder. 

“What  am  I  doing  here?”  cries  the  Easterner,  groping 
through  the  rich  cigar  smoke  to  the  phone. 

His  Wife,  a  simple  bruriette,  eagerly  answers  the  phone 
In  their  simple,,  split-level  home  in  Levittown.  She’s  just 
about  to  go  to  bed,  she .  explains  wistfully,  simply. 

“So  am  I  darling,”  says  The  Husband.  Van  Doren  now 
i  blowing  smoke  in  his  one  ear  and  playfully  sticking'  a 
cocktail  onion  into  his  other. 

“How  are  the  children?”  he  asks, 

“We  don’t  have  any!”  says. his  Wife:  “Paul  Westchester, 
what,  in  the.  world  has  gotten  into  you?”. 

,  The  rest  is  as  familiar  as  it  is  sordid.  Van  Doren  keeps 
blowing  smoke  rings  down  his  neck  so  he:  goes  back  to 
the  typewriter  arid  loses  his  integrity,  emasculating  his 
poetic  script  so  that  now  the  Producer  can  shoot  it! 

.  It  is  only  when  his  Wife  phones  again  with  the  joyous 
news  that  she’s  pregnant  that  he  can  see  a  Way  out  of 
the  nightmare;  of  driving  Mamie  to  Cird’s  every  night  in 
his\yelldw  jaguar,  swimming  in  Esther  Williams’  pool, 
and  burning  LiberaCe’s  Candies  at  both  ends:  . 

He  retUrris  to  his  old  ageriCy  job  at  Bruisewell,  Batter 
&  Brutal,  a  wiser  man.  Having  learned  the  old  lesson  that 
“Integrity  is.  a  matter  of  geography.” 

* 

Our  fledgling  ingeriue  of  1958  must  also  be  a  girl  Who 
can ;  always  keep  her  wits  about  her*  for  occasionally  she’ll 
be  called  upon  to  try  her  pretty  wings  as: 

THE  AIRLINE  STEWARDESS  WHO  LANDS  THE  PLANE 
ALL  BY  HERSELF  ’ 

because  both  Pilot  and  Co-Pilot  have  passed  out  from 
food  poisoning.  (This  Will  teach  them  to  eat :  in  the  Chi- 


and  M.M,  types. 

OUR  FRESHMAN  ACTRESS .  WILL  ALSO  CUT  HER. 
BABY  TEETH  ON  THE  PERENNIAL  PART  OF  THE 
STOUT-HEARTED  HEROINE  IN  THE  WESTERN, 
OR  RURAL  AMERICANA  DRAMA. 

Occasionally  she  will  be  Called,  upon  to  load  a  rifle 
When  the  going  gets  rough  during,  an  Indian  attack. 
-Mostly,  however,  she’ll  bear  children  bravely*  mostly  in  ; 
li  covered  wagon,  preferably  while  it’s  moving;'  she 
churns  butter  sometimes  with  the, other  hand  and  the, 
rest  of*  the  -time  waits  at  the  door  for  her  Menfolks  to 
:Come  home  safely,  •  . 

A.  Good  law-abiding  Menfolks. 

B  No-good,  non-law-abiding  Menfolks. 

Her  . lot  is  not  an  easy  one.  Getting,  three  meals  a  day, 
raising  the  young  ’uris,  there’s  hardly  time  to  .  attend  all 
the  lynchings  arid  those  endless  meetings  in. the  church  _ 
where  her  neighbors  gather  to  face  op  duck  .the  moral 
issue  of  whether  or  not  they  want  to  Clean.  Up  The  Town. 

Sometimes  Our  Girl  is  “fir”  it,  sometimes  “agin”.  It— 
depending  on  what  part  she  plays:  - 

A.  The  Schoolteacher  from  the  East  who  wants  to 


cago  Airport!) 

And  Our  Heroine  is  “talked  down”  by  tense  young  riien 
in  the  control  tower.  : 

You’ve  of  course  seen  this  spinetirigler  in  every  other 
flyirig  film  since  the  Wright  Bros,  first  soloed  for  the 
Warner  Bros.  (Didn’t  Doris  Day  do  it  recently  in  “Julie”?). 
Caution:  Don’t  watch  if  you  have  any  loved  ones  in  the 
air  at  the  moment. 

THE  INGENUE  IN  THE  EUROPEAN  TYPE-  DRAMA 
A.  The  Irish  Rebellion. 

The  plays  of  Sean  O’Casey,  John  Ford’s  “Informer,” 
Carol  Reed's  “Odd  Man  Out,”  have  inspired  all  sorts 
of  flattering  imitations,  some.  good,,  some  had,  in  all 
mediums.  Brit  :  there  is  not  , a  grain  of  truth  to;  the 
base  canard,  that  it.  wasn’t  a  desire  for  freedom  that 
prompted  The  Rebels  to  seize  the.  Dubli  Postoffice, 
they  onlv  needed  something  to  write  about! 

In  short,  all  networks  have  plenty  of  Dublin  Streets 
in  stock  and  an  over-supply  of.  smoke  pom.  So.  expect 
to  see  a  goodly  number  of  anguished  colleeriS  who  must 
.  seil  their  cockles  arid  mussels  and  wring  their  hands 


while  leaning  against  that  papier-mache  lamppost, 
hoping:  it  won’t  come  Unhinged — and  that  Kevin  will 
come  home  safe  from  ‘The  Trouble.”  Anguished,  nat¬ 
urally,  because  the  main  trouble  is  with  their  brogue, 
which  is  sometimes  thicker  than  the  fog. 

*  *  * 

THE  INGENUE  WHO  GOT  LEFT  BEHIND  THE 
IRON  CURTAIN 

This  poor  thing,  usually  a  Professor’s  Daughter,  has 
a.  hell  of  a  time.  She’s  got.  to  get  poor  papa  to  safety,  and 
even  though  he’s  the  most  brilliant  scientist  in  Bad  Gass- 
wasser,  he  waits  until  he  hears  the  jackboots  of  The 
Secret  Police  kicking  in  the  front  door  before  he  is  dis¬ 
illusioned  with  his  countrymen  and  decides,  “Alas,  Lieb- 
cheri,  it’s  time  to  leave!” 

What  makes  it  worse  always,  is  that  he’s  been  so  busy 
inventing  leaf-mold  that  he’s  sapped  his  strength.  Daugh-  1 
ter  is  obliged  to  pack  a  whole  suitcase  full  of  vitamin  pills 
and  another  full  of  mufflers  before  she  can  whisk  him 
out  of  the  clutches  of  their  pursuers.  And  it’s  only  because 
the  TV  Director  asks  the  Police  to  “kick  lightly,"  that  they 
ever  get  away  at  all  before  the  door  is  broken  down. 

Herr  Professor  almost  never  makes  the  Border — but 
his  Daughter  does  make  the  handsome  Counter-Counter- 
Spy,  so  the  whole  thing  isn’t  a  total  loss.  Unless  you’re 
Watching  it.  Which  leads  us  naturally  to:  c 
STORIES  DEALING  WITH  “THE  GIRL  IN  JEOPARDY” 
IN: 

A.  The  Horror  Si  nation. 

B.  The  Murder  Mystery  Usually  “A  puzzle ”  that  must 
be  solved. 

Iri  these,  she’ll  be  called  upon  to  “scream  with  feeling” 
and  to  fall  hopelessly  in  love  with  the  Detective  some 
30  years  her  senior— which  constitutes  the  Puzzle. 

*  •*. 

B-GIRLS  DEMI-MOND  AINES  KEPT  WOMEN  AND 
VARIOUS  OTHER  GIRLS  WHO  ARE  NO  BETTER  THAN 
THEY  SHOULD  BE. 

They  manage  to  keep  the  sexpot  .  boiling  in  spite  of  the 
Network  boys  with  their  blue  pencils,  because  they’ve  all 
been  disguised  as  Night  Club  Singers. 

Unless,  of  course,  they  are: 

In  the  “East.-is-Ea$t  West-is-West  and  never  the  twain 
shail  meet  “Type  Love  Story  sired  long  ago  by  Rudyard 
Kipling: 

Pearl  Buck  did,  and  still  does,  yeoman  Work  in  this 
field,  but  of  course,  the  dean  of  this  literature  of  the 
broken  lotus  blossoiri  is  Somerset  Maugham.  His  Sadie 
Thompson  has  had  daughters  by  the  hundreds— girls  in 
ratty  fox  fur  pieces  and  tight  black  satin,  shashaying 
around  under  countless  palm  trees,  driving  men  mad  mad 
mad  in  all  mediuins!  However,  in  today’s  television  dra¬ 
mas.  Reverend  Davidson’s  collar  has  been,  removed  by 
Madison  Avenue,  and  he  now  turns  up  as  a  Rum-Soaked 
Doctor.  The  only  kind  appareritly  eligible  for  member¬ 
ship  in  The  South  Seas  Medical  Association.. 

So  it’s,  safe  to  sum  up  at  this  point  and  say  there’ll  be 
nothing  very;  new  under  that  merciless  southern  sun— 
except  the.  Girl,  in  the  Sari  or  Sarong. 

As  for  the  stories,  mostly  they’ll  be  the  same  old  ones. 
After  all,  as  they  say,  there’s  only  a  handful"  of  basic  plots. 

It’S:  not  only.  The  Story— to  quote  the  Professor  of  Stage, 
Screen  and  Television  Dramaturgy — it’s  How  You  Tell  It. 

And  I  might  add  here— before  I  get  hit  with  a  brick 
from  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Avid  Viewer — you’ll  also  See,  as  usual, 
thousands  of  hours  of  Outstanding  fresh  and  brilliant  en¬ 
tertainment,  on  the  various  dramatic  theatres  Of  the  air¬ 
ways. 

Also  ,  right  here  and  now.  I’m  duty  bound  to  say  that, 
as  a  Screen  Writer,  I  must  again  acknowledge  the  debt 
Hollywood  owes  to  television.  Honest,  illuminating  com¬ 
edies  and  dramas  from  the  pens  of  tele  playwrights  like 
Paddy  Chayefsky,  Reginald  Rose,  Horton  Roote,  et  al, 
dealt  a  death  blow  to  the  timid,  puerile  picture.  In  its 
place  now,  the  Motiori  Picture  Industry  has  been  able  to 
take  off  its  velvet  gloves  and  do  “A  Hatful  of  Rain,”  a 
“Marty,”  a  “Bachelor  Party,”  a  “Something  of  Value,”  an 
“Island  In  The  Sun,” 

Ironically  enough,  it’s  been  a  two-way  process  of  crea¬ 
tive  osmosis.  Hollywood,  as  we  know,  absorbed  some  of 
the  best  Of  the  new  television  stories,  writers,  directors, 
the  Eva  Marie  Saints,  the  Anthony  Franciosas.  While  the 
new  medium  assimilated  the  two-reel  comedy  technique, 
the  corny  melodrama  of  yesteryear,  the  B-picture  film 
method  of  story  telling,  Hopalong  Cassidy,  Roy  Rogers, 
and  the  various  grades  of  ArB-and-C.  Westerns.  Plus  a 
mountain  of  old  gags,  old  scripts,  twice-told  tales?  Twice? 
Some  of  them  told  a  dozen  times! 

Broadway  and  Hollywood  hits  like  "Nothing  But  The 
Truth,”  “This  Thing  Called  Love,”  “Burlesque,”  “The 
Count  of  Monte  Cristo,”  “Topaze” — well  the  complete 
list  of  all  these  venerable  properties  would  be  as  thick 
as  this  annual. 

In  short,  Hollywood  cleaned  out  its  story  trunk,  its  bag 
of  tricks,  time-tested,  -  time-worn,  and  dumped  it  onto 
NBC,  CBS*-  ABC.  With  around-the-clock  programming 
that  eats  up  entertainment  faster  than  new  things  can  be 
iriverited,  is  it  any  wonder  that  the  producers  of  live  arid 
film,  programs  mus  rework  the  standard  catalog  of  sound 
Stories?  Play  new  variations  on  the  same  old  themes. 

Take  for  example  the  genesis  of  the  two  most  popular 
types  of  programs  au  courant — The  Western  and  The 
Mystery  Melodrama.  There  isn’t  a  five-foot  Shelf  of  West¬ 
ern  lore  and  drama-  It’s  probably  150  feet!  From  Feni- 
more  Cooper’s  “Deerslayer”  to  Zane  Grey’s  “Light  Of 
The  Western  Stars.” 

Right  now,  members  of  the  Television  ‘  Branch  of ’the 
Writers  Guild  of  America,-  East  and  West  (I’m  a  proud 
member)  have:  their  poses  glued  to  the  letters  Wyatt  Earp 
wrote  to  his  Interior  Decorator.  They’ve  covered  every¬ 
thing  else! 

Sometimes,  however,  under  a  molehill  of  cliches  lies  a 
mountain  Of  research. 

*  * 

SIGMUND  FREUD  AT  THE  B-BAR-H. 

The.  new  goal  is;  not  Hopalong.  Cassidy,  but  a  desire  fori 
the  ring  of  truth— a  serise  of  historical  authenticity.  Now 
the  villain  doesn’t  go. 'to  jail,  he  goes  to  a  psychiatrist. 

And  “High  Noon,”  produced  by  Stanley  - Kramer,  au- 
(Continued  on  page  28) 


PICTURES 


JPifty-second  p^fcRHZTTT  Anmveruay 


January  8, 1958 


‘DON’T  WORRY  OR  EAT 
HIGHLY  SPICED  FOODS’ 


Courtier.  Hie  sponsor  isn’t  going  i 
to  pay  me  quite  $9,000  and  be  says 
every  script  will  have  to  be  okayed 
by  him.  the  account  executive,  the 
head  of  the  agency,  the  producer, 
the  •  star  antThis  sister-in-law  who 
took  English  composition  in  high-  ' 
school.  And  -that  if  he  demands  it, 
i  must  write  the  script  on  Sunday 


No  Room  at  the  Inn 


By  JIM  BISHOP 


mum  I  OrlUtU  rUUIlO  4  must  write  the  script  on  Sunday  The  car  bounced  over  the  ridge  a.  ^  d* 

afternoon  while  standing  -  on  .ray  of  curb  and  swung  into  the  park-  holy  tone,  he  said. ,  We  doqt  have 

Rv  SOL  SAKS  head  ' front  of  Grauman’s  Chi-  ing  lot.  The  saffron  headlights  no  guestrooms,  soldier.  My  mis- 

»y  3UL  ;  ’hese.;;  (So*  far  he  has  never:  de-  moved  across  the  back  fence  and  sus  and  I  live  upstairs,  but  there 

Hollywood.  studio  reserved,  for  only  the  most  manded  it  but  I:  do  .it  once  in  a  stopped  against  a  wall,  A  sign  read  a£e  n?  .  He  s  .ed 

The  doctor  says  I’m  all  right  now  important  tv  shows  turned  toward  while  anyhow,  just  to  show  him  I’m  “Halfmoon  Inn.”  Elinor,  got  out.  at  me  girl,  w.e  just  keep  a  nice 

and  my  wife  says  I  should  throw  the  door  as  it  opened.  The.  relief  conscientious.)  “Lock  the  car,”  she  said.  I  put  the  respectable  bar.  Don  t  let  the  word 

the  damn  notes  away,  hut  I  have  was  almost  audible  as  they  saw  I’m  not  getting  the  introduction  lights  out  and  nodded  in  the  dark.  Inn  fool  you. 

decided  otherwise.  ..  that  it  was  Sol  Saks.  The.  sponsor  to  Mike  Romanoff  either,  but  that  There  were  gifts  in  the  back— toy  Elinor  and  Emma  stopped  talk- 

in  order  for  the  reader  to  un-  rushed  forward  to  grasp  his  hand,  doesn’t  matter  -  since  I  can’t  eat  trains  and  books  and  games  and  ing  to  look.  The  soldier  was  em- 

derstarid  the  ensuing  I  must  first  “Thank  God,  -  you’ve  come,  we’ve  highly  spiced  foods  anyway.  ties  and  packages  of  walnuts  and  barrassed.  He  traced  designs  in 

explain  something  of  my  own  back-  been  waiting  for  you.”  ■ — — - - -  pfeffersneuse  and  tart  cranberries,  the  wetnelss  around  the  bottom  of 

ground.  I  have  been  a  writer  for  gaks  murmured  simply,  ‘Tm  _  __  _  .  She  walked  aMad  to  the  bar;  his  glass.  “Try  New  York,”  Jack 

15  years  and  last  week  I  was  sick.  50^ »  Only  on  the  morrow  IT--  nAt  Even  in  the  ruddy- gloOm  of  the  said.  “They  got  lots  of  hotels. 

Come  to  think  of  it,  that’s  all  you  wouid  they  read  of  the  real  reason  J%||||1  l|D:  I  flSLIlm  neons  '  she  was  pretty.  She  was  Some  of  them  will  take  anybody, 

need  to  know.  While  sick,  in  that  f or  his  tardiness.  The  burning  vr  j  smalL  and  dark  and  had  a  round  The  soldier’s  feet  were  on  the 

semi-conscious,  semi-d  el  ino us  building  .  the  mother  scream-  ^  ,  -  _  *  Betty  Boop  face  and  legs  that  once  rungs  of  the  stool  and,  for  a  sec- 

state  induced  by  the  lack  of --Mil-  jng  0f a  child,  trapped  inside  |JA  lI|Ai-rtA  modelled  stockings.  She  always  did  ond,  it  looked  as  though  he  was 

town  I  jotted  down  potes  which  I  jjis  unhesitating  dash  into  the  l^||l||  |lc  flOlSC  her  shopping  on  Christmas  Eve.  going  to  stand.  He  relaxed. 

am ,  reproducing.  The  f laming  edifice  .  .  .  and  his  ap-  .  Starting  in  1930, ;  we  had  14  Christ-  Emma  called  her  husband.  Eli- 

Pearance  iust  seconds  be-  WTHIAM  SITFra-  mases  and  they  had  been  alike.  We  nor  came  back  to  me.  She  sat  and 

^t  these  notes  have,  been  edited,  fore  the  building  collapsed  with  By  WILLIAM  STEIF  hit  evefv  store  in  Bergenfield.N.J.,  leaned  her  elbows  on  the  bar  and 

S the  child  held  safely  in  his  arms  San  ■  Francisco  except  the  plumbing  shop.  Each  covered  the  bottom  part  of  her 

Sere ?"* ^  ■  Neighborhood  S.K Sue  quit  at  10  Each- year,  we  face  »ith  her  fingers. It  had  been 

It??!!  mS  ^  his  ears.  \  ,  *  -  af  niimWc  *ut  were  more  fatigued  than  the  pre-:  15  years  since  I  had  seen  her 


Could  Be  Worse 


By  WILLIAM  STEIF 


ties  and  packages  of  walnuts  and  barrassed.  He  traced  designs  in 
pfeffersneuse  and  tart  cranberries,  the  wetnelss  around  the  bottom  of 
She  walked  aMad  to  the  bar.  his  glass.  “Try  New  York,”  Jack 

Even  in  the  ruddy- glohm  of  the  said.  “They  got  lots  of  hotels. 

neons  '  she  was  pretty.  She  was  Some  of  them  will  take  anybody. 
smalL  and  dark  and  had  a  round  The  soldier’s  feet  were  on  the 
Betty  Boop  face  and  legs  that  once  rungs  of  the;  stool  and,  for  a  sec- 
modelled  stockings.  She  always  did  ond,  it  looked  as  though  he  was 
her  shopping  on  Christmas  Eve.  going  to  stand.  He  relaxed. 
Starting  in  1930, ;  we  had  14  Christ-  Emma  called  her  husband.  Eli- 
mases  and  they  had  been  alike.  We  nor  came  back  to  me.  She  sat  and 
hit  every  store  in  Bergehfield,N.J.,  leaned  her  elbows  on  the  bar  and 


those  deleted  were  some  obscene 
references  to  panel  shows,  a  gross¬ 
ly  exaggerated  caricature  of  Mamie 
Van  Doren  and  the  name  Yvonne 


the  child  held  safely  in  his  arpis  San  Francisco  except  the  plumbing  shop.  Each  covered  the  bottom  part  of  her 

and  the  cheers  of  the  crowd  ring-  Neighborhood  theatres  continue  year,  we  quit  at  10:  Each  .year,  we  face  with  her  fingers.  It  had  been 
mg  m  his  ears.  .  .  \  to  close,  not  in  great  numbers,  but  were  more  fatigued  than  the  pre-  15  years  since  .1  had  seen  her 

With  hardly  a  wasted  motion  Sol  one  every  couple  of  months  Gross-  vioii's  one.  blush.  “What’s  the  matter?”  I  said. 

Saks.,  picked  up  the  script  .  .  -  es  have  been  weak  in  many  situa-  “Think  of  a  drink,”  she  said.  We  Through  the  fingers,  she  whispered 

crossed  out  a  few  \vords  here  •  tions,  even  at  the  firstrruns  on  walked  up  the  few  steps  into  the  “Shut  up.” 


With  hardly  a  wasted  motion  Sol 


yan  jjuren  ana  me  name,  xvonne  , ,  ,  -  v.  ■  „_j.  av  me  -  - 

Courtier  which  -my  ■■wife  has  agreed  Jdded  '  Wc  ci,n„£  downtown  Market  Street.  And  ex-  Halfmoon-  Inn  and  I  could  not 

•  mUAm.-i  „„„  those  looking  over  his  -Shoulder.  },;v,Sfnrc  in  TJm'tVioTn  Palilnma  ac  tHinlr' rif  a  drink  herause  I  knew 


“What’s  going  On  here?”  I  said. 


to  believe  is  a  girl  whom  I  con-  - -  — - ,.v«u  ««« 

sidered  hiring  to  do  my  typing.  |asPed -”1  admiration  as  tney  saw  th—  are.  in  many  parts  of  the  that,  no  matter  what  I  said,  she  eyes  on  Emma.  “A  soldier  is  try- 

Here  are  the  notes.  from,  tne  hoage.-poage.  pages  cdujltryt  are.  more  and  more  look-  would  have  rye  and  ginger  and  ing  to  get  a  room  .  .  She  glared 

...  emerge  .a  .smooth,  well-knit,  almost  jng  can<jy  and  popcorn  to  keep  then  she  would  have  another  one  at  me.  “He’s  probably  stationed 

*  perfect  senpt  that  m^  few.hou^  them  out  of  the  red.  I  and,  by  the  third,  she  would  be-  at  the  Teaneck  Armory  and  this 

“Si  my  father  owns  this  would  electrify  40  million  listeners.  Nevertheless,  a.  big  picture  will  gin  to  mellow  and  the. ache  would  is  the  nearest.  .” 

ranch  and  is  our  employer,”  sfie  Qnly  a  careful  observer  would  no-  stiii  bring  out  crowds.  “Island  in  leave  her  feet.  “Oh  ”  she  moaned  “are  von  «tii 

said  with  a  stamp  of  her  expensive-  lice  m  thdS.e  *bn-loving  eyes  be-  ^  Sun,”  for  instance,  did  great  Jack  was  behind  the  bar.  It  was  pid>”  Emma  was  talking  to  lank¬ 
ly  shod  foot,  “I  demand  that  you  Jjlnd  ^he^hadfv  business  and,  more  .recently,  “Pal  curved  to  give  it  smart  lines  and  at  a  corner  bf  the  bar  and  now  Jack 

take  me  to  the  dance.  c fr°m  R1®  badl7  Joey”  hit  it  big.  The  trouble,  ex-  he  served  from  inside  a  cruller.  was  becomine  red  of  fare  Tt  wa< 

Pne  could  hardly  believe  that  ”.d  held  50  casual  y  111  h  s  hibitors  complain,  is  that  there  are  A  soldier  and.  a  girl  dreamed  over  obvious  that  Emma  was  whiboini? 

this  determined  command  could  coat  pocket  ,  nh  too  few  pictures  which  catch  the  a  pair  of- drinks.  Two  darts  stuck  hl^  with  woiST  When  sh^fiwSf 

have  come  from  those  lovely  lips  Who  ^id  one  careful  obser.  fickle,  prosperous  pubUc’s  imagina-  in  the  dartboard.  One  was  on  the  ed  jlck  t^ok  the  white  anrnn  ^d 
set  so  perfectly  beneath  the  saucy  ver  who  happened  to  be  present^  -^6n.  j  ;  ■  _hnrt  and  fat  He  j  v.-/  !  l  white,  apron  and 

upturned  nose,  surrounded  neatly  “is  the  young  man  in  whose  fun-  •  One  answer  of  course  to  such  wore  a^vhite  aDron  hiffh  under  his  p  d  bls  forehead  and  walked 

by  dainty  freckles  as  if  to  sub-  loving  eyes  behind  the  thick  glasses.  problem  was^  the^kSedilS-  S  Behind  hSS  wVs-  a  rSund  S?fr  ^  whispered,  to,  th*  soldier., 

stantiateher  Irirti  ancestry  .  ^isiliV^n  ^ra“s.  S  “isi^ 

I.m  sorry, -IVla’m,”  he- said.  And- burqed  Rand  held  so  CasuaUy  m  the  Robihspii-Bisilio  fight. 'but- that  .«-  silvery-cash  register.  He  -kept  a  Tht  w.nJ  a 
though  his  voice  was  gentle  and  bis  coat.pocket. _  ,  .  an  was  for  only,  a  couple  of  hours  one  neat  Inn.  The  bartender  said  something 

courteous,  his  quiet  grey  eyes,  sur-  That  s.  Sol  Saks,  another  an-  an(j  while  it  hvooed  theatre  TT  ,  ,  U1  ,  ..  _.  apologet.c  to  the  girl.  She  smiled 

rounded  by  the  wrinkies  caused  swered.  “And  the  sponsor  has  just  business^’it  looked'more  like  a  Re.  had  a  blonde  wife  She  was  and  Jaqk  tapped  the  back  of  her 

from  looking  into  the  sun,  shdwed  offered  tp  give  him  $9,00Q  a  week  st0p^ ^_gap ’■ ^tfian  an ythihg  else.  stout  and  jplly  and  Elinor  ex-  fittle  hand  with  his  big  paw  and 

his  firmness.  “But  there’s  some  and  an  introduction  to  Mike  Ro-  Another  answer  some  thought,  £han§?d  the  women-and-children  then  he  w’ent  to  the  phone  booth, 
heifers  to  brand  and  that’s  what  ^®’u ■  WJSt^'tPlSogra™V  was  .  expansion  of  the.  art-house  SJJSl"! ^The  rni  shoveIling  in  his  : pocket  for  a  coin, 

your  father  pays  me  for.” .  No  thank  you,  Sol  Saks  was  at  -business  and  the  result  is  that  deP^ored  the  cost  of  everything  jje  called  the  police  department* 

'  She  turned  on  her  heel.  Only  that  mppient  answering  the  spon-  Frisco  now  has  eight  full-fledged  and  ^ey  talked  agamst  the  man-  i  caught  that  through  the  wall's 

business  associates  of  her  father’s  SOr/  But  I  ve  got  to  go  home  and  arties  But  here  as  in  the  big  ners  iporals  of  the  younger  0f  the  booth. 

could  have  warned  him  of  the  firm-  write  a  play,  about  the  Real  Mean-  hoUSeS  .downtown’  the  product  is  generation  but  they  usually  closed  n  .  _ - — -r 

ly  set.  chin  they  got  to  know  so  Ing  .- <*  Life.’v  He  turned  and  .f00"s^d2d ^Tl4st  one  Possibly  the  gambit  by  agreeing  that  the  L - No  Qmz  Kids  They  | 

well  during  the  fabulous  .  wheat  walked  out  and  the  crowed  watched  two  artjes  are  in  serious  trouble.  boys  were  basically  “good  kids.”  “Would  you  mind—”  I  said  to 


hibitors  iii  Northern .  Californa,  as  I  think  of  a  drink  because  I  knew  She  shook  her  head  and  kept  her 


Here  are  the  notes. 


business  associates  of  her  father’s 


“But  I’ve  got  to  go  home  and  |  ;  \  r  ° 


could  have  warned  him  of  the  firm-  write  a  play  about  the  Real  Mean-  hoilSeS  downtown’  the  Product  is  generation  but  they  usually  closed 


well  during  the  fabulous  .  wheat  walked  out  and  the  crowd  watched  UvQ  art?i 


es  are  iii  serious 


trouble  bbys  were  basically  “good  kids.” 


corner  of  1924.  “I  never  want  to  as  his  round-shouldered  figure  dis-  None  0f  this  has  Prevented  I  tapped  a  bottle  of  beer.  It  Elinor.  She  asked  Emma'  to  get 

see  you  again,”  she  said.  appeared  into__the  dimly  lit  corn-  *‘SeVen  Wonders  of  the  World,”  at  tasted  of  damp  rust  as  it  always  her  a  rye  and  ginger.  “You  men,” 

i  NO  Cure  ~  T  dor‘  the  downtown  Orpheum,  or  did  when  I  drank  too  much  of  it.  my  wife  said.  Emma  got  the  drink 

I— — — - — -7- - = — ^ “Around  the  World  in  80  Days,”  The  soldier  called  .  Jack  over  and  and  she  was  smiling  again.  “Mine,” 

;  And  she  never  did.  But  it  was  -It  was  right  after  this  last  pass-  at  the.  neighborhood  Coronet,  from  was  leaning  across  the  bar  in  a  she  said  in  her.  faintly  Teutonic  ac- 

just  as  well.  Because  he  was  bare-  age  that  I  got  well.  The  doctor  each,  grossing. more  than  $1 . million  confidential  whisper.  The  bartend-  cent,  “is  supposed  to  be  stupid^ 

ly  smart  enough  to  stay  out  of  a  said  all  I  have  to  do  is  avoid  worry  in  their  first  year.  In  fact,  the  “80  j  er  had  his  ear  near  the  soldier’s  but  yours,” .  she  glanced,  my  way, 

mental  institution  and  she  was  and  highly-spiced  foods.  Days”  gross  is  the  highest  in  the  facie.  He  pursed  his  mouth  and  “is  supposed  to  be  a  reporter.  They 

married,  had  three  small  children,  Now  Tve  got  to  pay  his  hill  and.  nation,,  per  capita,  with  the  road-  :  frowned.  -Then  he  said- something,  got/  eyes  at  least.’’ 

was  in  love  with  the  driver  of  the  buy  a  new  coat  for  my  wife  who.  show  scale  running  close  to  that  !  He  shook' his  head  no.  “Reporter!”  my  wife  said.  “Ha!” 

diaper-service  truck,  and  got  fat  as  keeps  bringing  up  the  name  Yvoiniie  of  legit  productions.  I  Jack  looked  at  the  girl  as  though  In  a  moment,  a  .  squad  car  Was  in 


a  pig  before  she  was  30.  ■ 

He  crumpled  up  the  pages  of 
figures  and  formulae  and  threw  it 
almost  savagely  to  the  floor  where 
it  joined  the  many  other  papers 
which  had  met  the  same  end. 

Then  he  pushed  aside  the  test  ... 
tubes  and  apparatus  and  momen¬ 
tarily  rested  his  head  on  his  arms. 

His  wife  entered  quietly: 

“I’ve  got  some  fresh  coffee  for 
you,  dear.” 

“Experiment  334  .  .  nil.”  He 

tried  to  hide  the  discouragement  in 
his  voice.  “Just  like.  Experiment 
333.  and  all  those  before  it.” 

“Darling,  you  can’t  work  this 
hard.  You’ve  got  to  take  a  rest.” 

“But  I  feel  that  I’m  so  near  to 
finding  a  cure  for  the  dreaded  dis¬ 
ease!” 

“Oh  the  hell  with  it,  let’s  go  to 
a  movie,”  his  wife  said. 

So  they  went  to  a  movie  and  to 
this  day  there’s  no  cure  for  the 
dreaded  disease. 

*  *  * 

The  husky,  thick-necked  man 
shouldered  his  way  to  the  bar. 
“Never,  mind,  no  seats,”  he  snarled. 

“I  ll  take  this  one  right  here.’’ 

“I  wouldn’t  if  I  were  you,”  the 
mild-looking  young  man  said 
quietly.  “That  seat  belongs  to  my 
friend.” 

:  The  husky  thick-necked  man 
looked  contemptuously  at  the  slim 
figure  of  the  other.  “You  lookin’ 
for  a  fight?”  he  snarled. 

The  bystanders  watched  in  ad¬ 
miration  as  thq  slim  mild-looking 
man  showed  not  the  slightest  sigh 
of  fear.  “I  said”  .  he.  answered 
without  emotion,  “that  ' this  seat 
was  taken.” 

“Well,  you’ll  have  to  fight  for  it,” 
the  husky  thicknecked  man  said  as 
without  warning  he  swung. 

They  fought  and  the  husky,  ._ 
thick-necked  bully  beat  the  living  of-i? 
daylights  out  of  the  quiet,  mild-  •  u'lV1 
looking  man. 


■  -  .1  . .  ■  -  .  — .  .  ■  --  .  :  front:  A  young  sergeant  got  out 

and  came  into  the  Inn.  He  and 
Jack  and  the  soldier  whispered  in 
a  group.  Then  the  soldier  got  his 
girl  and  they  went  out,  bowing 
thanks  and  the  policeman  took 
them  away. 

I  looked  at  Jack.  He  didn’t  look 
well.  “When  you  are  ready,  my 
friend,”  I  said,  “I  would  like  tci 
know  what  the  problem  is,” 

He  tried  to  say  something,  but 
Emma  put  a  dash  of  pity  iii  her 
smile  and  he  started  to  polish 
glasses.  “I  will  tell  you,”  Emma 
said.  “I  will  be  glad  to  tell  you 
because  you  men  are  like  little 
babies.” 

“Ha!”  my  wife  said. 

“My  Jack  runs  a  very  respect¬ 
able  bar,”  Emma  said.  “So  respect¬ 
able  our  dog  is  not  allowed  in. 

Tonight  comes  in  a  soldier  and 
his  woman.  He  drinks  one,  two 
drinks  and  he  .  asks  for  a  room. 
My  Jack  he  shows  this  soldier  that 
he  is  in.  the  wrong  place.  He  tells 
him  off. 

“Elinor  and  jme-we  know  my 
Jack  is  off  his  rocker.  The  soldier’s 
girl  is  not  what  Jack  thinks.”  She 
smiled  at  me.  “Not  What  you  think 
either.  She  is  pregnant.  She  is  i 
the  last  week.  Any  day,  you  un¬ 
derstand.  Any  minute  maybe: 
“What’s  the  cop  for”  I  said. 

My  wife  wiped  the  corners  of 
her  mouth  with  the  little  bar  nap¬ 
kin.,  “The  police  are  taking  him  to 
Tenafly  with  his  wife.  They  are 
going  to  get  ,a  doctor  and  a  room.” 
She  winked  at  me.  “What  a  Christ¬ 
mas  present  for  that  G.I.” 

“The  whole  thing  reminds  me 
T^nn^r  .  T  Tk  of  something,”  I  said.  “I  can’t 

JERRY  WALD  think  what  it  is.” 

-  ^ald  produced  and  released  through  20th  Century  Fox:  "AN  AFFAIR  TO  REMEM-  wh^ft  fs  ^El^or^aid^^Emma 

fg&MEg”  i’AYME^’’’  ‘^ISS  THEM^OR  ME,”  -TETTO^  PLAGE,”  arid  “THE  LONG  HOT  ^  thS  typlc“  1?-  She  Uxrned  to 

For  1958  the  Jerry  Wald  productions  to  be  released  through  20th  Century  Fox  will  Include  “THE  me*  “I’ll,  tell  you  what  it  is.  It’s 
BIG  \VAR,”  "JEAN  HARLOW,”  “MARCH  THE  NINTH,”  “MARDI  GRAS,”  “HAVE  TUX  WILL  TRAVEL”  the  oldest  story  in  the  world.  It’s 


Everybody  in  the  large  rehearsal  ( and  ’THE ’  SOUND  AND  THE  FURY.’ 


l  called  No  Room  at  the  Inii.’ 


January  8, 1958 


By  JOHN  ROEBURf 


“She  was  blonde*  pure  gold;  her  lingerie  sheer  as  a 
veil  stopped  scantily  over  her  knees.  The  curling 
smudges  of  paint  on  her  were  hieroglyphics  only  his 
secret  eye  could  read.  Surrender,  itsaid,  shrieking 
in  his  senses.  Her  colognes  found  him  first;  inixed- 
in  with  his  sweat;  her  arms  reached  around  him,  and 
now  fever  was  at  once  ” 

You've  perhaps  read  the  book.  The  trail  to  this  per¬ 
fumed  boudoir  paved  with  Corpses,  a  record  number  the 
close  of  the  scene  even  more  bizarre  than  the  prose  build¬ 
up,  At  that  summit  of  ecstasy.  Baby  Doll  prods.  Mister 
with  a  small-calibre  firearm  sneaked  from  an  invisible 
holster.  But  Mister  finds  that  one  instant  of  clarity  in 
Nirvana,  sufficient  to  nix  the  doUbiecross,  Exit  Baby 
Doll;  a  lead-pocked  obituary,  nicely  carved  on  the  flat  of 
her  stomach: 

Frenetic  stuff;  tough-minded  mimicry  of  the  Bam- 
met-Chandier  vogue.  Written  in  this  instance  by  a  fel¬ 
low,  say,  pseudonymed  Wilcox,  Guy  Wilcox;  Image  Wil¬ 
cox  from  his  writings  and  you  see. 

But:  let  me  sketch  him  in. .  I  kndiv  Wilcox:  We  meet 
seasonally  to  compare  royalty  checks,  weep  into  a  common: 
bowl.  We  meet  only  at  his  place,  ori  his  insistence.  The 
streets,  are  too  damned  disorderly,  Wilcox  says;  you  take 
your,  life  in  your  hands  going  out.  Muggers,  juvenile 
delinquents,  madmen  behind  wheels,  not.  enough  policing. 
Wilcox’s  place  is  a  development  over  near  the  East  River; 
a  .ZVi  room  bachelor  apartment.  He’s  got  a  lampshade 
made  up.  of  his  book  jackets;  had  certain  favorite  book 
titles  made  specially  into  a  chair  fabric,  at  a  fantastic  cost. 
He’s  16  stories  up.  was  never  once  robbed,  but  has  a  phobi 
about  burglars.  Has  varieties  of  locks  on  his  windows,,  and 
an  iron  bar  across  the  inside  of  his.  door, 

Wilcox  eats  at  home,  does  his  own  cooking.  Is  mainly  a 
vegetarian;  has  some  dark  theory  about  meat  stultifying 
the  body  processes  and  shortening  life.  Wilcox  is  39; 
was  last  kissed  by  his  Mother,  He’s  small,  with  a  porce¬ 
lain  look,  and  hairs  counted  and  carefully  spaced  over  the 
bald  spots.  Is  mainly  girl-shy ;  has  some  theory  about 
germs  and  how* sex  anyhow  debilitates -the  Creative  proc¬ 
ess.  When,  we  say  goqdoyc*  he  hints  around  that  he’d 
maybe  some  day  like  to  meet  the  blonde  he’s  been,  years 
writing  about;  never  coming- right  out  with  it:  The  times 
I’ve  given  blonde  babes  his  phone  number,  the  dolls  com-, 
plain  they  can  never  get  him  personally  on  the  phone.. 
Wilcox  is  an  expert  at  faking  it  as  a  Japanese  butler,  a 
non-English  speaking  hiouseboy,  a  witless  maid..  He.  has 
one  hell  of  a  talent  for  dialects;  a  hangover  from  amateur 
theatricals  in  some  high  school  In  Schenectady: 

On  leaving  Wilcox,  I  duck  into  the  nearest  ban  TO  kill 
the  taste  of  that  fruit  drink  he’d  served  me,  and  to  maybe 
debilitate  that  sheerly  creative  process  you’d  rather  leave 
to  Wilcox; 

|:  .  Freud  Firat  Figgeredlt  Out  ■  | 

There  then,  is  Wilcox,  living  the  gamey  life  in  his 
fancy,  ‘  enjoying  puberal  follies  with  minimal  or  no  risk 
to  his  everyday  self.  Even  getting  certain  psychic  bene¬ 
fits,  without  pawning  his  typewriter  to  pay  the  analyst.  In 
short,  Wilcox,  like  other  colleagues  right  now  in  mind; 
makes  the  book  do  for  the  couch.  As  Freud  Once  pon¬ 
dered  it:  ‘The  writer  does  the  same  as  the  child  at  play. 
He  creates  a  world  of  phantasy  which  he  takes  very  seri¬ 
ously.  The.  daydream  is  a  continuation  of  play  .  .  .  the 
driving  powers  behind  phantasies  are  unsatisfied  wisheis, 
eyery  separate  phantasy  contains  the  fulfillment  of  a 
wish  and  improves  on.  unsatisfactory  reality.  ” 

This  Walter-Mittyism-by  Typewriter  varies  in  device  and 
form;  varies  as  the  daydream  is  different  in  all  men.  But 
.  .  this  prose  sampling  noW:  “All.  night  the  swamp 
waters  rose  around  him,  fed  by.  the  intricate  system  of 
streams  that  wormed  down  the  slopes  from  the  high  sier¬ 
ras  of  Oaxaca  and  Pueblo/ A  cocuyo  beetle  lighted  where 
his  chest  was  bare,  the  two  phosphorescent  spots  oh  either 
side  of  the  thorax  emanating  a  brilliant,  cold,  grebn  light. . 
He  crushed  the  beetle  in  a  vise  of  fingers,*  in  a  rehearsal 
of  what  he  soon  must  do.  With,  daylight,  hb  must  find 
Valdes.  There  was  no  place  to  hide ;  murder  was  his  only 
,  safety  now.” 

The  bdok?-— “Swamp  Murder,”  by  Brett  Osborn.  Set 
near  southern  Vera  Cruz.  An.  exotic  locale,  put  down 
with  flawlessly  accurate  detail.  Osborn’s  written  30  my¬ 
stery  and  suspense  novels,,  and  every  one  of  them  with  a 
setting  as  far  from  Mamaroneck  as  Rand-McNally  could 
take  Him.  Read  an  Osborn  paperback,  and  you’re  off 
head-hunting  in  the  Solomon  Islands,  or  climbing  the 
Himalayan  peaks  hoping  to  bag  man-hating  Monica  and 
the  Ubucisz  diamond,  or  riding  a  sampan  in  the  China 
Seas  with  master-spy  Krisch  handcuffed  to  your  side. 

The.  7-league  boots  fitted  to  Osborn’s  psyche  is  precisely 
the  measure  of  my  literary  pal’s  own  neurotic  process. 
Osborn  the  man  suffers  from  agoraphobia— commonly  a 
fear  of  space.  He  once  threw  hysterics  in  Grand  Central 
Station.  In  the  memory  of  his  oldest  friends,  Osborn’s 
never  ventured  farther  from  home  than  the  corner  mail¬ 
box.  His  eyesight  is  fine,  but  he  affects  bifocals  to  limit 
the  range  of  his  vision.  He  likes  everything  spiall,  com* 
pact,  cosy,  within  easy  reach.  He  chose  his  wife  accord-, 
ingly;  to  look  down  on  a  Singer  midget,  Lucy  would  have 
to  climb  up  on  a  stobl.  A  fan,' aware  Of  Osborn  only 
through  his  books,  once,  sponsored  him  for  honorary,  mem¬ 
bership  in  the  Explorers  Club.  .. 

•  Anybody  plotting  to  kill  Osborn,  can  get  away  with  the 
perfect  murder.  Just  blindfold  Osborn, ;  and  then  aban¬ 
don  him  on  the  9th  hole  of  a  public  golf  links.  He’ll  have 
a  stroke,  guaranteed. 

A  Comer  in  today’s  mayhem  school  is  Mauri  Storch, 
born  Feltknappr  Mauri  is  a  Conchi  in  the  battle  of  life; 
bloody  his  nose,  and -Mauri  only -turns  the  other  cheek. 
He '  was  sl  bby  organist  in  Sunday  School,  crossed  the 
Screet- to  avoid  .passing  the  poolroom.  At  Cornell  in  *36 
Mauri  locked  himself  in  with  Thomas  Mann,  while  his 
dormitory  fellows  were  off  on  the  annual  panty-raid.  The 
count  pf  Mauri’s  score  .against  ruffian  -mankind  shows  up 
in  his  books. ,  The  villains  are  his molesters;  from  cradle- 
to  now,  generally  assigned  .other  ;  pames  .but  accurately 
described,  even  to  their,  occupations: 

-  Mauri’s  -  gassed,"  eviscerated,  bludgeoned,  garroted, 
poisoned  a  covey  of  teachers, ,  Woek  bullies,  process  »er- " 


Fifty-second  p'fi&fETTY  Anniversary. 


PICTIJBES  11 


vers,  job  4ntervie\ves,  and  a  character  omnipresent  in 
his  fiction  named  Zachary  Ginhis.  The  prbse  demolition 
_of  Ginnis  is  tod  shocking-  to-  detail  here.  Novels  with  Gin- 
nis  as  the  quiverings  pigeon  in  .fiendishly  designed  .auto- 
da-fes,  have  been  banned  in  Boston,  Dallas,  and  Memphis; 
torn  from  the  bookstalls  by  the  Watch  &  Ward  Society. 
The: best  guess  about  Ginnis’  true  identity  to  date  was  sup¬ 
plied  by  Mauri’s  younger  brother.  Seems  there  was  a 
Ginnis  who  threw  a  mudball  at  Mauri’s  summer  whites 
while  adolescent  double-dating  in.  Tibbets  Brook  Park. 

And  oh  yes,  the  malevolent  face  of  evil  in  all  of  Mauri’s 
books  is  a  mealy-mouthed  slob  of  a  private  eye  skimpily 
named  Max,  just  the  given  name.  Mauri’s  pop  was  a 
free-wheeling  household  sadist  named  Max.  Enough  said? 

A  few  tips  ih  conclusion,  for  those  who  might  enjoy  the 
game  of  psyching  the  writer.  When  a  scribe  is  obsessed 
with  femme  fatales  tobrbeautiful-to-live,  .lay  odds  he’s  mar-, 
ried  to  a  plain  jane.  When  he  confects  new  and  newer 
ways  of  mashing  a  grapefruit  in  a  doll’s  lovely  kisser,  make 
book  his  own  missus  can  and  does  flatten  him  regularly 
with  a  phrase.  Find  a  crimewriter  whose  one  tack  is  the 
scaepel  dissestion  of.  a  town,  its  undercover  liists,  tlie  hid¬ 
den  skeletons,  and  the  Jekyll-Hyde  inner  reality,  of  the 
popular  County  Supervisor,  bet  your  poke  friend  scribe  is 
a  pillar  of  the  community,  fun  at  parties,  and  vice-presi¬ 
dent  of  the  local  P.T.A. 

The  book,  after  all— (including  myself  irtZ-is  nothing 
more  or  less  than  the  solitary  monologue  of  the  Ego. 

On  Location— In  Paris 


By  ERIC  JOHNSTON 

( President ,  Motion  .  Picture  Association  of  America > 


Washington. 

Way  back  last  January,  It  looked  like,  a  nice  routine 
year.  Surely  Oklahoma  would  go  through  the  season 
without  losing  a  game.  Surely  in  Milwaukee  the  brew- 
masters  were  the  biggest  men  in  town.  In  our  immediate 
heavens,  there  was,  only  One  moon, 
quiet,  dependable  and  minding  its 
own  business. 

With  this  beginning,  the  year  1957 
ended,  up  in  a  shattering  of  myths. 
Certainly  it  shattered  a  colossal  on® 
for  me. 

I’ve  always  gone  along  with  the  no¬ 
tion  that  show  business  had  a  monop¬ 
oly  on  jubilees,  including  the  original 
patents  and  copyrights.  But  in  1957, 
everybody  got  into  the  act. 

Take  Standard  Oil  of  New  Jersey*  a 
ric  Johnston  "fine,  old  conservative  firm*  . No  one  has 
ever  accused  S.O.  of  N.J.  of  glitter 
and  Hash,  of  gaudy  showmanship.  So  what  happens  on 
Standard’s  Diamond  Jubilee  but  it  puts  an  hour  and  a 
half  spectacular  on  television!  And  a  good  show  it  was, 
top. 


2957  Was  An  Active  Year  for  American 
Film  Productions  in  French  Capital 


By  GENE  MOSKOWITZ 

Paris. 

in  July  of  1957  grim  gray.  German  troops  marched  in¬ 
to  Paris  firing  at  retreating  French  soldiers.  The  Pari- 
iarts  didn’t,  blink  an  eye.  Sophisticated?  No;  They,  knew 
the  German  Soldiers  making  ,  like  invaders  were  extras 
commanded  by  20th  Centufy-Fbx.  After  six  weeks  here 
Edward  Dmytryk  who  Was  directing  “The  Young  Lions” 
,to6k  them — Marlon  Brando;  Montgomery  Clift  and  Dean 
.  Martin— hack  to  Hollywood  to  finish  the  film  version  of 
.  Irwiiii  Shaw’s  novel. 

That  venture  was  only  one  of  Hollywood’s  “Wars  on 
the  Seine”  for  a  number  of  other  American  military  films 
have  been  lensed  on  French  soil  over  the  past  year  to 
take,  advantage .  of  authentic  backgrounds.  Aside  from 
“Lions,”  these  include  such  pictures  as  Columbia’s  “Bit¬ 
ter.  Victory”  and  United  Artists’  ‘The  Vikings.” 

French  sensitivity  forced  two  American  films  to  be 
lensed  in  Belgium  and  Munich,  respectively,  instead  of 
in  France.  They’re  Metro’s  “I  Accuse”  and  UA’s  “Paths 
Of  Glory.”  The  French  are  still  touchy  after  60  years 
about  the  Dreyfus  case  with  which  “Accuse”  deals.  As 
for  /“Paths,”  this  Kirk  Douglas  starrer  concerns  a  cow¬ 
ardly  French  Army,  .captain  in  World  War  II.  .It  was 
thought  better  to  make  it  in  Germany  and  avoid  any  is¬ 
sues  which  may  have  arisen  from  wounded  French  pride. 

Jose  Ferrer  directed  “Accuse”  and  stars  as  the  Jew¬ 
ish  .  army  captain  railroaded  to  prison  by  a  corrupt  and 
anti-Semitic  army  clique  at  the  turn-of-the-century.  Ex¬ 
teriors  were  shot  in  Brussels.  Meanwhile,  down  on  the 
French  Riviera,  Otto  Preminger  completed/ his  film  ver¬ 
sion  of  the  Francoise  Sagan  bestseller,  “Bonjour  Trisfesse,” 
for  Columbia  release.  Cast  in  top  roles:  are  David  Niven, 
Deborah  Kerf  and  Jean  Seberg. 

"Bitter  Victory,”  dealing  with  a  British  commando  raid 
in  North  Africa  during  World  War  II,.  was  turned  out  last 
year  in  Libya  arid  Prance  by  American  director  Nicholas 
Ray.  Backed  by  Columbia  Pictures,,  it  was  produced  by. 
Paul  Graetz  in  an  English  version  only; 

Another  kind  of  war  was  displayed  i  Metro’s  “Gigi.” 
Most  of  the  film’s  exteriors  were,  done  in  Prance  while 
the  rest  was  lensed  in  Hollywood.  Produced  by  Arthur 
Freed,  it’s  a  musical  Version’ of  the  Colette  tale  of  a 
turn-of-the-century  courtesan  family’s  Gallic-twist  mor* 
ality. 

Hostilities  in  this  yam  consist  of  a  “war”  on  the  family 
•  by  its.  youngest  member  whom  her  elders  are  trying  to 
railroad  into  -concubinage.  However,  she  manages  to  turn 
it  into  marriage.  Screenplay  And  music  were  written  by 
Alan  Jay  Lerrier  and  Frederick  Leewe  who  declared  they 
kept  Colette  intact.  Directed  by  Vincente  Minnelli,  it 
stars  Maurice  Chevalier,  Louis  Jourdan,  Irene  Dunne, 
Hermione  Gingold  and  Ed  Wynn. 


|  Bob  Hope’s  Encore  _  | 

Boh  Hope,  who  completed  his  personally  -  produced 
“Paris  Holiday”  for  United  Artists  release  here;  said  his 
skirmishes  with  co-star  Feraandel  were  never  warlike. 
Though  ho  found  it  difficult  shooting  abroad,  Hope  plans 
to  do  another  picture  in  France  in  1958. 

Throwing  some  light,  on  the  treatment  of  Irwin  Shaw’s 
novel,,  director  Dmytryk  said  that  the  theme  of  “The 
Young;  Lions”  is  that  all  wars  are  civil  wars-r-gopd  and 
bad  exist  on  both  sides.  War  proves  nothing.  The  book 
was  written  soori  after  the  last  war,  he  added,  in  the  heat 
of  its  effect.  Arid  a  re-evaluation,  iri;  the  light  of  time,  led 
script  writer  Edward  Anhalt  to  make  some  changes. 

In  the  picture,  Clift  plays  a  young  Jewish  soldier  who 
finds  he  has  to  fight  bigotry  in  the.  army  ais  well  as  the. 
enemy.  In  the  book  this  character  fought  10  bigots,  one 
every  day,  and  kept  it  up  though  being  brutally  beaten 
because  it  became  a  symbol  of  a  titanic  struggle  to  prove 
his  equality  and  manhood. 

The  film  retained  this,  but  used  only  four  fights  to  pre¬ 
vent  it  from’ becoming  too  repetitious,  Role  of  Martin 
was  changed  to  make  him  an  ex-singer  instead  of  a  one¬ 
time  American  stage  manager.  Too,  he  is  less  politically 
Involved  in  the '  picture  than  the  character,  in  the  book. 

Most  drastically  changed  character  is  that  of  the  Ger¬ 
man,  portrayed  by  Brando.  The  lives  of.  the  two  Ameri¬ 
cans,  Clift  and  Martin,  are  paralleled  with  that  of  Nazi 
Brando  and  their  destinies  are  traced  as  they  finally 
fcross  paths  on  the  field  of  battle. 

Two  endings  were  discussed  for  the  film.  They  were 
-'whether  the  Hazi  was  Idlled  by  Clift  and  Martin  in  at  re¬ 
flex  action  when  he  fires- into*  th  air  to  be  captured,  or  by 
a  ruthless  type  of  •  American  who-  shoots:-hiiri  down  while 
he’s  trying  to  Amrehder.  In  the  book;  ~€Iift  is  killed  by 
'  Brando  but  not  in  the  picture. 


Then  there's  General  Motors;  whose  line,  .1  believe,  is 
automobiles,  not  extravanganzas.  But  what  does  GM  do? 
It  goes  all  out  in  a  flurry  of  horn-tooting,  fanfare  and  full- 
page  ads  to  celebrate  its  own  Golden  Jubilee. 

I  doubt 'if  anyone  would  deny  that  the  merchants  of 
Fifth  Avenue,  New  York,  are  substantial,  upstanding  and 
conservative  people.  But  look  what  happens  to  them  ori 
their  Golden  Jubilee!  They  soft  talk  the  N,  Y.  Sani¬ 
tation  Dept,  into  painting  every  trash  can  and  lit¬ 
ter  basket  ori  Fifth  Avenue  gold! 

Now  take  ourselves  .in  the  motion  picture  industry.  It 
seems  to  me  that  we  have  the  real  license  to  be  in .  the 
jubilee  business.  Jubilees  are  expected  of  us.  They’re* 
part  of  our  nature.  -But  in  1957,  the  competition  from 
outsiders  was  so  stiff  that  we  had  to  throw  a  .doublehead¬ 
er  Golden  Jubilee  to  maintain  our  championship,  stand- . 
ing: 


j _  Jubilee®  Galore _ :  1 

In  the  spring,  we  celebrated  Hollywood’s  50th  birth-  * 
day  at  a  gala  shindig  in  N.  Y.,  given  for  us  by  the 
N.Y.  Sales  Executives  Club,  in  October- we  -did  it, 
again  at  a  gala  shindig  in  California,  given  for  us  by  the 
Los  Angeles  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Maybe  we  did  have  to  run  fast  to  stay  in  place  in  1957, 
but  our  record  for  jubilees  is  still  pretty  good.  Up  to  this 
.  year,  at  least,  our  film  industry  had  the  Golden  Jubilee 
business  firmly  staked  down.  Just  consider  a  few  of  our 
past  performances: 

In  1939,  we  celebrated  the  Golden  Jubilee  of  the  Kine- 
toscope.  On  this  festive,  occasion,  we  were  duly  and  fit¬ 
tingly  observing  Mr.  Edison's  perfection  of  the  .  first  * 
riiovie-making  roachine  back  in  1889. 

Then,  in  194.4,.  we  celebrated  the  Golden  Jubilee  of  the 
Nickelodeon.  This  time  we  were  memorializing  the  first 
customers  who  entered  a  converted  shoe  store  on  lower 
Broadway  iri  1894.  These  customers,  gleefully  paid  their 
nickels  into  a  stand-up  row  of  glistening  Kinetoscopes, 

And  in  1946,  we  did  it  again!  We  celebrated  the  Golden 
Jubilee  of  the  Opening  of  Koster  &  Bial’s  Music  Hall  in. 
1896  . in  •  Herald  Square,  New  York — where.  Macy’s  now 
fights  Gimbel’s.  At  Koster  &  Bial’s,  the  customers  for 
the  first  time  sat  down!  *Arid  they’ve  been.’ sitting  down 
ever  since,  even  if  some  people  think  they’ve  been  sit¬ 
ting  on  their  hands. 

Now  that,  I  submit,  isn’t  really  too  bad  a  showing  Whe¬ 
els®,  I  ask  you,  has  ever  had  five  Golden  Jubilee,  celebra¬ 
tions  in  only  18  years?  I.  think,  even  a  prejudiced 
observer  would  say  that  we’re  out  in  front,  thopgh  per-- 
haps  not  far  enough  to  be  complacent.  Because  if -Stand-* 
ard  Oil  and  General  Motors  with  aU  their  fabulous  re-  - 
sources  behind  them  are  really  going  into  the.  jubilee 
business.  wed  better  start  planning  a  new  one  for  1958 
and  for  every  year  thereafter. 

I,  for  one,  am  all  for  jubilees.  I  think  they’re  perfectly 
proper.  They  mark  the  great  milestones  and  the  distance 
travelled  between  them.  Certainly  they,  do  in  our  busi¬ 
ness.  And  more  than  that,  they  provide  a  chance  to  stop 
and  pause  and  reflect  and  look  ahead. 

Looking  ahead,  I  see  a  lot  of  good  solid  reasons  to  be 
bright  and  hopeful  about,  the  future.  In  less  than  a  single 
life  span,  the  motion-  picture  has  become  the  most  popu¬ 
lar  art  form  .  of  the  20th  century.  We’ve  weathered 
some  crises  en  route  and  there  may  be  other,  crises  to 
come,  but  the  motion  picture  is  now  firmly  entrenched  as 
the  world’s  great  medium  of  mass  entertainment.  The 
audiences  will  continue  to  grow. 

And  looking  back,  there’s  no  doubt  in  my  mind  that  - 
Hollywood's  Golden  Jubilee  was  worth  celebrating  :  .. 
many  times  over!  Hollywood  can  he  justly  proud  of  its 
past  accomplishments— as  an  entertainer,  which  it  set 
out  to  be.  and  as  a  master  salesman  of  America,  which  it 
really  didn’t  have  in  mind. 

Setting  out  to  entertain,  Hollywood  in  fact  became,  the 
stimulator  of  mass  production— of  the  assembly  Tine.  It 
did  so  simply  by  showing  the  American  family  using  the 
newest  products  of  our  growing  industries.  It  created 
massive  appetites  and  tastes  for  better  things  at  home  and 
abroad  and  pur  industries  responded  to  meet  them.  Per* 
haps  immodestly,  I  believe  we  even  made  General  Motor® 
possible— rind  we  did  no  harm  to  Standard  Gil  of  New* 
Jersey  either! 

Beyond  this  accomplishment,  motion  pictures  have  *lgg 
carried  the  story  of  American  democracy— its  lights  and 
its  shadows  and  above  all  its  vitality — around  the  world. 
And  they  are  doing  so  today 

So  why  this  Golden  .  Jubilee  of  1957?  For  all  these  rea¬ 
sons  and  for  just  orie  more — that  Hollywood  at  the  bright 
young  age  of  50  is  very  :tnueh*  alive  and 'kicking  arid 
hopeful  arid  expects  to  remain  so  up  through  its  Oaten-’ 
nial  Jubilee  iir  the  year  2007 — and  for  many  jubilee® 
-thereafter. 


12 


PICTURES 


Fifty-second *  Adversary ' 


January  8, 1958 


More  Rewriting  of  History 


=By  SIR  FRANK  SCULLY= 


“I’m  planning  as  my  first  pro¬ 
duction  to  make  Henry  VIII  in  four 
dimensions,  .five  colors  and  six 
screens  wide/’  said  Siegfried 
Tchaikowsky,  the  newly  imported 
Russo-Germanic  producer,  direc¬ 
tor,  writer,  actor  and  cutter  of  Un¬ 
derground  Pictures,  so  .  named  by 
the  company’s  bankers  to  get  away 
from  heckling  stockholders. 

“Henry  VIII’s  been  done,”  said 
the  young  president  of  the  banking 
group  which  was  running  the  com¬ 
pany  until  he  learned  enough  to 
hire  a  production  head  who  knew 
something  about  the  film  biz. 

“But  not  by  me!’1  said  Ziggy  as 
if  scoring  ai  point.  Then  thinking 
that  this  might  open  the  road  to 
his  ignorance  he  added,  “Who?” 

"Oh  some  foreigner  made  it 
years  ago  in  England,”  contributed 
the  chairman  of  the  board.  “I 
know  because  we  had  a  piece  of  it.” 

“It  starred  Chuck  Laughton,” 
added  the  youngest  banker, 

“The  lecturer?” 

“No,  the  actor.” 

“Oh  that  clump,”  said  the  Russo- 
Germanic  producer.  “I’m  a  better 
actor  than  he  is.  But  I  don’t  plan 
to  star  myself.  I  plan  to  use  Ben¬ 
nett  Cerf.” 

“I  see  the  tieup,”  said  the  young¬ 
est  banker.  “He’s  the  star  of 
‘What’s  My  Loin?’  and  you  plan  to 
make  Henry  the  Eighth  as  a  leg 
show. 

“Henry  was  fat,”  contributed  the 
chairman  of  the  board. 

"We’re  out  of  pillows?”  asked 
Tchaikowsky. 

"We’re  out  of  that  kind  of 
money,”  cracked  the  chairman  of 
the  board.  “We’ve  paid  off  more 
dead  wood  in  this  company  than  if 
we  had  bought  the  forest  primeval. 
And  these  stockholder  scraps  have 
just  about  ruined  us.” 

"And  all  those  high  class 
dames,”  mused  the  president  of 
the  bank.  “They’ll  cost  a  fortune.” 

“What  dames?”  demanded  Tchai¬ 
kowsky.  "I’m  not  talking  about 
dames.  I’m  talking  about  Henry 
VIII,  the  last  Catholic  King  of 
England.” 

“He  wasn’t  the,  last,”  corrected 
the  youngest  banker  who  had  stud¬ 
ied  sex  history  under  Kinsey  at  the 
University  of  Illinois,  or  was  it 
Indiana,  “and.  he  had  six  wives.” 

“What  of  it?”  asked  European 
genius.  “I’ve  had  seven  wives  but 
I’m  not  bragging  about  them.” 


I 


Free  Association. 


we  going  to  let  this  foreigner  re¬ 
write  ancient  history  as  Hollywood 
has  rewritten  contemporary  his¬ 
tory  and  make  us  a  laughing  stock 
both  at  home  and  abroad?” 

“Tchaikowsky  had  a  point  there,” 
said  the  chairman  of  the  board. 
“They  seem  to  drop  all  these  early 
marriages  out  of  Hollywood  bio¬ 
graphical  pictures. ,  They  even 
dropped  some  out  of  ‘Beau  James.’ 
I  guess  they  do  it  for  economy.” 

“My  point  exactly,”  said  Tchai¬ 
kowsky.  “This  picture  will  have 
so  many  original  features'  that  wb 
do  not  need  more  than  a  triangle 
to  keep  the  dames  coming.” 

“You’ll  keep  all  the  hangings 
and  head-choppings  in  of  course,” 
said  the  youngest  banker. 

“Not  all,  oply  "the  gruesome 
ones,”  said  Tchaikowsky.  “After 
all,  I’m  half  Russian,  remember.” 

“But  don’t  drag  in  the  fact  that 
Henry  wrote  a  blast  in  Latin 
against  Martin  Luther,  for  which 


the  Pope  tapped  him  as  defender 
of  the  faith,  a  title  used  by  the 
British  reigning  monarch  to  this 
day.” 

“Say,”  said  Tchaikowsky,  “for  a 
banker  you’re  very  cultured 
man  ” 

“I  think  the  point  is 'well  tak¬ 
en,”  said  the  chairman  of  the 
board.  “After  all,  we’ll'  get  enough 
kickbacks  dropping  all  those  Wives 
without  bringing  the  Lutherans 
down  on  our  heads.” 

“We’re  all  Episcopalians,”  re¬ 
minded,  the  secretary  who  kept  the 
records. 

‘True,”  said  the  chairman  of  the 
board,  “but  we  accept  deposits 
from  Lutherans;  and  officially  we 
have  ’  no  religious  prejudice  what¬ 
ever.”  ; 

“Let’s  .adjourn  for;  luncheon,” 
aid  the  President.  ' 

There  Was  a  Stampede  as  if  they 
were  all  hoping  to  be  cast  as  Hen¬ 
ry  VIII  at  a  chicken  roast. 


By  WOLFE  KAUFMAN 


“Your  love-life  is  less  interest¬ 
ing  to  this  bank  than  it  was  to  your 
wives,”  said,  the  chairman  of  the 
board. 

“They  all  still  Write  to  me,”  said 
Ziggy  Tchaikowsky.  ' 

“You  mean  they  acknowledge 
their  alimony  checks  We  deduct 
from  your  salary?”  asked  the  bank¬ 
er.  “How  Well-mannered,  how  old 
World,  how  touching!” 

“They  add  their  love,”  said 
Tchaikowsky  getting  nettled  by  the 
needling.  “But  I’m  off  dames  for 
now  and  none  gets  into  this  pic¬ 
ture.  This  is  .  going  to  be  a  high 
class  ‘Marty’  Without  a  dame.” 

“But  we  make  our  pictures  pri¬ 
marily  for  women!”  cried  the  chair¬ 
man  of  the  board  in  alarm.  “They 
get  pretty  tired  of  warring  and 
banquet  scenes.  They  like  some 
wenching  for  a  change.” 

“Okay,  I’ll  give  him  One  wife 
and.  a  girl  friend,”  said  .Tchaikow¬ 
sky,”  “though  it  will  louse  up  my 
idea  and  up  the  budget.” 

“But  that  will  make  the  first 
Queen  Elizabeth  illegitimate,”  said 
the  banker  Who  knew  his  history  ”’ 
That’s  what  the  big  fight  Was  about. 
Henry  discovered  after  being  mar¬ 
ried  17  years  to  Catharine  that  she 
had  been  his  brother’s  widow  and 
it  began  to  bather  his.  conscience, 
and  Anne  Boleyn  W’as  a  hotter 
wench,  as  he  had  already  found 
out.  If  Henry  couldn’t  divorce  and 
remarry,  his  kids  were  bastards.’ 


Paris. 

Cuff  notes  on  a  “first  time”  visit 
to  Israel: 

Tel  Aviv  is  a  much  bigger  city 
than  one  expects  to  see,  with  lots 
of  hU$tle  and  bustle.  Nearly 
half  a  million  residents.  No  signs 
of  Orientalism  (at  least,  not  at  first 
blush)  and  all  the  blessings  and 
curses  of  “civilization,”  including 
such  problems  as  where  to  park: 

There  are  probobly  more  legit 
theatres-per-inhabitant  here,  than 
anywhere  in  the  world.  Six  thea¬ 
tres,  all  with  resident  companies, 
all  playing  repertory,  and  at  least 
two  of  them  of  sufficient  artistic 
stature  to  measure  up  to  any  rep¬ 
ertory  troupe  -  in  the  world:  But 
there’s  a  lack  of  local  dramatists  of 
quality. 

No  vaudeville. 

Magnificent  concert  hall,  more 
modern,  more  beautiful,  than  any¬ 
thing  in  New  York. 

.  Lots  of  movie  houses,  some  quite 
big-seaters.  All  pix  subtitled, 
usually  in  two  languages. 

Everyone  talks  Hebrew,  but 
there’s  a  great  deal  of  both  Eng¬ 
lish  and  French  spoken.  Yiddish 
is  rare  and  frowned  oh. 

Too  many  newspapers  (approxi¬ 


mately  16  dailies)  arid  none  of 
them  too;  good.  Caused  by  the  lan¬ 
guage  problem. 

All  top  hotels  airconditioned  and 
modernized  in  every  Way,  but  ex¬ 
pensive. 

Very  little  night  activity;  a  few 
nitefies,  mostly  in  or  connected 
with,  hotels; 

People  seem  to  be  happy— more 
so  than  is  apparent  in  any  of  the 
European  capitals.  Though  sur¬ 
rounded  by  enemies  and  the -con¬ 
stant  threat  of  war,  there’s  prac¬ 
tically  ho  war  talk  or.  gossip  in 
cafes,  restaurants, 

Tourist  Bureau  (government  op¬ 
erated)  has  a  Wonderful  gimmick. 
Arranges  visits  to  “a  typical  Israeli 
home”  for  visitors.  Except  that  you 
feel  guilty  eating  the  poof  people’s 
tea  and  cookies.  The  ‘-see  how  our 
people  really  live”  .notipn  is  carried 
through  honestly  and  surely  ac¬ 
complished  more  good  than  the 
“guided  tours”  to  the  battlefronts. 

Radio  is  embryonic,  but  two  sta¬ 
tions  seem  to  be  operating.  No 
television.. 

And  the  most  amazing  thing  of 
all— no  prosties.  First  City  in  the 
wprld  which  this  perennial  globe¬ 
trotter  has  visited  of  which  this 
could  be  said. 


'So  My  Ancestors  Didn’t  Come  Over 
On  The  Mayflower' 


By  HARRY  RUBY 


Hollywood. 

I  have  never  been  able  to  un¬ 
derstand  why  some  people  point 
with  overwhelming  pride  to  the. 
fact  that  one  .of  their  ancestors 
came  over  on  the  Mayflower.  When, 
someone  tells  me  that  his  great- 

great-great-great-grandfather  was 
among  the  passengers  On  that  his¬ 
toric  ship  when  it  shoved  off  frop 
Southampton  to  the  New  World  in 
1620,  only  an  innate  sense  of  tact 
and  taste  ,  keep  me  from  saying: 
"So  what?” 

I  just  don’t  cotton  to  the  notion 
that  coming  Over  on  tpe  Mayflower 
was  in  itself  an  achievement.  In 
my  opinion,  the  thing  that  matters 
is  not  how  a  man  gets  to  where  he 
is  going— but  what  he  does  when 
he  gets  there. 

The  achievements  of  Alec  Bell, 
who  gave  us  the  telephone;  the 
Wright  Brothers,  Who  gave  us  the 
aeroplane;  Lydia  Pinkham,  whose 
Vegetable  Compound  was  a  boon 
to  womankind,  would  have  been 
just  as  great  had  they  come  over 
in  a  rowboat  (and,  for  all  we.  know, 
they  may  have). 

There  thousands  of  cele¬ 
brated  cases  like  the  foregoing: 
But  it  would  not  be  possible,  in 
this  meager  space,  to  recount  all 
of  them,  so  I’ll  limit  the  recountal 
to  my  own  family.  We’ll  start  with 
my  father  Who  was  the  first  One 
of  Our  family  to  make  the  trek 
over  the  bounding  main. 

When  the  ship  my  father  came 
over  on  in  1885  entered  New  York 
Bay,  he  pointed  to  an  island,  now 
known  as  Bedlpe,  and  said,  through 
an  interpreter:  “What  ari  ideal  spot 
for  a  Statue  Of  Liberty.”  Just  one 
year  later,  the  Statue  of  Liberty 
was  erected  on  the  very  same  spot. 
Credit  for  designing  and  executing 
the  statue  must  go  to  the  great 
French  sculptor,  Bartholdi.  But.  it 
must  be  admitted  that  my  Dad 
had  vision  and  foresight  —  without 
Which  which  nothing  would  ever 
get  done  even  if,  as  in  my  father’s 
case,  it  gets  done  by  some  one  else. 
^  When  Uncle  Lenny,  my.  father’s 
brother,  set  foot  on  these  distant 
shores  back  in  1890,  all  he  Brought 
with  him  were  the  clothes  on  his 
back  arid  a  dogged  determination 
to  get  ahead.  Directly  he  came 
down  the  gangplank,  after  clearing 
the  customs,  he  registered  in  night 
schboL  Iri  less  than  five  years  after 
he  landed  in  this  country  he  dis¬ 
tinguished  himself  as  a  Notary 
Public.  Uncle  Lenny  was  one  of 


You’re  On  The  Air! 


“Please,”  said  the  chairman  of 
the  board  Obviously  shocked, 
“watch  your  .language-  These  ,  meet¬ 
ings  are  tape-recorded,” 

“I  was  using  the  term  in  its  legal 
sense.”  apologized  the  young  bank¬ 
er. 

“This  is  fine,”  said  Tchaikow¬ 
sky.  “We  drop  the  first  dame  and: 
begin  with  Annie  Boleyn.” 

“This  is  ridiculous,”  said  the 
young  banker  who  had  the  control 
of  the  bank  really  through  his 
grandather  who  founded  it.  “Are 


GEORGE  SIDNEY 


i  . -  '  Current  Release;  “Pal  Joey” 

Now  preparing  ANDERSON VI LLE  and  THE  CANTINFLAS  STORY  for  Columbia  Release 


those  rare  individuals  whom  suc¬ 
cess  doesn’t  change.  With  true 
Spartan  devotion  he  never  missed 
a  meal  at  pur  house.  They  don’t 
make  men  like  that  any  more. 

Uncle  Marty,  on  my  mother’s 
side,  who  was  the  next  to  come 
over,  was  not  the  kind  of  mail  Who 
could  think  up  things  like  the  tele¬ 
graph,  the  safety  razor,  seedless 
grapes  or  radar.  But  there  are 
other  things  just  as  important; 
things  like  music,  poetry,  games, 
jokes,  etc..  Which  bring  happiness 
and  fun  to  people. 


Real  Cutup 


Uncle  Marty  thought  up  one  of 
those  things:  He  was  the  first  man 
in  this  country  to  pull  a  chair  from 
under  an  old  man  who  was  just 
about  to  Sit  down:  This,  which  is 
still  the  most  popular  and  widely 
used  of  all  the  practical  jokes,  was 
an  overnight  Sensation  and  spread 
like  wildfire. 

Unfortunately,  practical  jokes 
are  not  the  kind  of  things  you  ban 
copyright  or  patent  and  collect 
realties  on,  so  Uncle  Marty,  didn’t 
leave  a  fortune  when  he  left  this 
world  behind.  Unc.,  as  we  kids 
used  to  -call  him,  had  other  ways 
of  regaling  friends  with  his  nimble 
wit— such .  as  tripping  a  dignified 
guest.  But  he  is  best  remember 
for.  the  “pulling-a-chair-from-un- 
der-an-old-man”  bit, 

I  do  riot  mind  someone  getting 
a  kind  of  .  glow  out  of  the  fact  that 
a  distant  relative  fought  at  Shiloh. 
Nor  does  it  upset  me  when  some-1 
one  is  normally,  proud  of  the  fact 
that  a  remote  ancestor  was  a  Lady 
in  Waiting  to  Queen  Anne.  But  it 
does  get  my  dander  up  when  pride' 
of  ancestry  is  so  inordinate  that  it 
makes  for  snobbishness.  An  there 
is  no  bigger  bore  than  a  snob  who 
has  nothing  to  be  snobbish  about. 

I  know  of  a  man  who  puffs  out 
like  a  pouter  pigeon  When  he  boasts 
about  being  a  lineal  descerident  of. 
one  of  the  English  settlers  of 
Jariiestown,  Va; .  .  .  who  Was  hanged 
for  stealing  horses.  In  my  book; 
a  horse  thief  is  a  horse  thief. 

[  What’s  a  War  Without  a  Slogan  } 

I’ve  even  heard  tell  of  a  collat¬ 
eral  descendant  who  was  a  snob. 
As  1  get  the.  story,  he  wouldn’t  use 
a  very  well-known  patent  medicine 
because  the  grandfather  of  the 
man  who  concocted  it  came  over  on 
a  cattle  boat.  I  am  not  ashamed 
to  admit  that  it  was  a  cattle  boat 
that  brought  Uncle  Philip  over;  a 
member  we  are  very  proud  of,  and 
for  a  very  good  reason,  as  you  will 
see.  Uncle  Philipp  was  not  an  uncle 
in  the  real  sense  of  the  word.  But 
we  kids  called  all  relatives  uncle 
or  aunt — depending  on  which  sex. 
was  involved. 

Anyway,  on  Feb.  15,  1898,  exact¬ 
ly  five  years  after  Uncle  Philip  got 
his  final  citizenship  papers,  an  in¬ 
cident  occurred  that  touched  off 
the  Spanish-American  War:  the 
U.S.  Battleship  Maine  was  blown  up 
in  Havana  Harbor,  Cuba.  Luckily, 
we  were  not  caught  in  the  same 
state  of  unpreparedness  that  nearly 
threw  tis  for  a  loss  bn  Dec.  7,  1941' 
but  there  was  grave  concern  about 
the  fact  we  didn’t  have  a  slogan. 
No  country  likes'  to  go  to  war 
without  a  slogan. 

Slogans,  besides  giving  a  war  a 
tag,  inspire  patriotism!  build  mo¬ 
rale  and  help  rally  men  to  the 
cause.  World  W  ar  I  was  lousy  with 
slogans.  They  were,  to  mention  a 
few: 

“Make  the  World  Safe  for  Democ¬ 
racy! 

“The  War  to  End  Wars!! 

“Hock  the  Kaiser ! ! !" 

And  who  can  ever  forget  Geo. 
M.  Cohan’s  song  slogan:  "Over 
There!”? 

Of  the  thousands  of  suggestions 
that  came  pouring  in  for  a  slogan 
for  the  Spanish-American  War,  the 
one  that  was  chosen  was  Uncle 
Philip’s;  “Remember  the  Maine!” 
Well,  shouldn’t  we  be  proud  of 
Uncle  Philip? 

With  all  due  respect  for  the 
Pilgrim  Fathers  who  made  the 
perilous  voyage  on  the  Mayflower, 
it  is  a  well-known  fact  that  getting 
passage  on  it  was  largely  a  matter 
of  luck.  Some  of  the  people  who 
were  booked  to  sail  on  it  missed 
it.  My  father,  missed  it  by  only 
265  years. 


January  8, 1958 


ONCE  UPON  TIIF  BIG-TIME 

- - - — —By  EDDIE  CANTOR  ■  ■ 

If  you’re  over  45  and  -live  in  any  fair-size  city,  you 
must  have  seen  the  vaudeville  team  of  Martin  &  Marlowe. 
At  least  you  saw  my  partner,  Marlowe:  Me,  nobody  ever 
noticed.  Standing  alongside  this.  Cleopatra  of  “vaudeo  ” 
I.  got  as  much  attention  as  Rudy 
IBBa  Vallee  in  an  Elvis  Presley  fan  club. 

Offstage;  Francirie  Marlowe  looked 
like  a  million  bucks.  Onstage,  Fort 
Knox  in  tights!:  This  kind  of  Currency 
has  to  draw  interest.  .Francine  got. 
whistles  from  guys  who  hadn’t  puck¬ 
ered.  since  the  year  of  that,  calendar, 
“September  Morn.” 

When  I  met  this  doll,  she  knew 
from  nothing,  but  her  measurements 
would  make  Jayne  Mansfield  look 
like  one  of  those  ads,  “Send  This 
Child  To  Camp”;  her  face  might  not 
drive  an  artist  to  cut  off  his  ear, 
but  it  could  tear  the  heart  out  of  any  ordinary  guy;  and 
talk  about  eyelashes— they  stood  out  like  awnings.  I'll 
never  forget  the  first  time  I  took  her  to  dinner.  Francine 
ordered  hot  consomme— fluttered  those  lashes  and  wound 
up  with  jellied  madrilerie. 

.  Her  dancing  proved  she  was  an  independent  thinker. 
Music  Could  be  any  beat  —  Francine  had  her  own.  As 
for  her  singing,  even  a  crow  must  go  for  earmuffs.  But 
I  showed  her  a  few  tricks:  how  to  talk  a  song  and.  sound 
like  you’re  singing— how  to  strut  ,  and  look  like  you’re 
dancing—  and  how  to  put  over  straight  lines  (the  ones 
she  fed  me).  In  iio  time  at  all,  she’s  stopping  the  show, 
arid  I  don’t  even  mind  because  .  Francine’s  so  grateful. 
“You  brought  out  my  talent,”  she  keeps  telling  me.  Her 
words  sound  sweeter  than  any  applause  I  ever  heard, 
so  I  don’t  mention  that  if :  Mother  Nature  hadn’t  cheated 
about  six  other  babes,  I’d  still  be  a  single  act. 

Every  night  after  the -show,  Francine  and  I  have  dinner 
together.  She  tells  me  all  about  herself— how  she  likes 
to  read— how  much  she’d  like  a  Bible  (which  I  think 
is  fine)  ..and  a  whole  set  Of  Greek  Mythology  (which  I. 
think,  is  not  so  fine;  for  the  same  money,  I  could  put  a 
down  payment  on  a  restaurant  run  by  a  couple  of  live 
Greeks  instead  of  buying  books  about.  /a  lot  of  mythical 
ones).  But  whatever  Francine  wants,  Francine  gets.  I 
brag  to  all  my  friends  about  this  book  bit  until  I  notice 
that  Francine  only  reads  one  section  of  the  Bible  (about 
Samson),  and  except  for  the  story  about  Apollo,  the;, 
volumes  on  Mythology  are  all  Greek  to  her. 

|  Strong  For  Strong  Men  ,  ,  | 

In  the  words  of  Yul  Brynner,  “is  a  puzzlement”  until 
I  recall  that  Francine  is  always  ,  in  the  wings  to  catch 
certain  acts:  aerobats,  weight-lifters,  and  other  muscle¬ 
men.  I  don’t  need  a  “head .  shr inker ”  to  tell  me  Miss 
Marlowe,  who  has  none  of  the  minor:  vices  (no  smoking 
or  drinking),  has  a  major  weakness— strong  men. 

My  heart  drops* 1  to  my  shoes  (wpich  isn’t  much  of 
a  trip,  when  you  consider  that  even  in  my  Adlers  I  have 
to  stretch  to  make  five  feet  five).  I  find  myself  forget¬ 
ting  the  harmony  on  our  closing  .songi  arid  once  or  twice 
I  even  blow  our  biggest  larigh.  .The  way  I’m  setting  this 
up.  you’d  think  I  was  jealous,  wouldn’t  you? /--Well;  you’ve 
reached  the  .  first  plateau. 


I  tell  myself  brains  will  win  out  over  brawn.  There 
must  be  something  else  that  interests  this  girl*  There 
is.  Diamonds.  I  breathe  a  sigh.  Of  relief..  At  least  they’re 
possible.  I  start  dividing  my  paycheck  among:  the  jewelers 
and  pretty  soon  Francine  sparkles  with  more  bracelets 
than  the  Gabors  if  each  one  had  been  born  triplets.  What 
with  the  jewelry  payments,  I'm  down  to.  one  suit  that  out¬ 
shines  all.  of  Frahcine’s  diamonds..  But  I  don’t  mind. 
I’m  in  love.  I  must  have  proposed  a  hundred  times  and 
while  my  partner  doesn’t  say  “No;”  she  never  says,  “Yes.” 

In  Toledo,  I  met  her  folks.  Francine’s  mother  (less 
about  40  pounds  and  the  same  number  of  years),  could, 
be  her  twin.  The  big  surprise  is  her  old  man,  /He 
doesn’t  come  up  to  my  chin,  and  even  with  a  bag  of 
bananas  in  each  hand,  he’d  still  weigh  less  than  Bob 
Hope’s  bankbooks.  I  don’t  need  Dunninger  to  tell  me 
what  he  does  for  a  living.  One  look  and  you  know  he’s  a 
bookkeeper.  His  vest  pockets— hip;  pockets — any  place  he 
has  pockets— are  stuffed  with  pens  and  pencils.  HC  looks 
like  a  walking  pipe  organ.  If  he  has  any.  muscles,  "they’re 
in  his  wife’s  name.  Next  to  him,  I  feel  like  Atlas  and  Jack. 
Dempsey  together..  That  night,  I  propose  to  Francine 


again. 

Her  answer  knocks  ,  me  flatter  than  Jessel’s  .  Voice.  “I 
will,”  she  says,  “the  week,  we  play  the  Palace,”  I’m 
no  dope.  I  know,  and  I  know  that  she  knows,  we  have  as 
muCh  chance  of  playing  the  Palace  as  Gypsy  Rose  Lee 
playing  Carnegie  Hall.  Our  act  just  isn’t  good  enough. 

But  the  minute  Francine  promises  to  marry  me,  I 
make  up  my  mind  that  it  will  be.  No  more  stealing  jokes; 
no  more  old-hat  numbers.  I  go  into  hock  for  new  routines 
—new  Song  arrangements.  The  hours  I’ve  been  wasting 
with  Indian  Clubs  (trying  for  muscles  that  look  like 
they’re  blown  up  with  a  bicycle  pump)  go  into  rehears¬ 
ing:  Outside  of  material  for  the  act,  I  only  make  one 
investment — a  new  wardrobe  for  Francine.  One  dress 
alone  cost  300  bucks,  but  I  figure  when  you’ve  got  a 
fancy  Cadillac,  you  don’t  keep  it  in  a  two-bit  garage. 

We  tried  out  (he  new  act  in  Baltimore.  The.  next  day, 
my  agent  tells  me  a  couple  of  the  big  brass  from  the 
United  Booking  Office  caught  the  show  and  want  to  book 
us  for  the  Palace.  I  can’t  believe  it.  Even  when  I  go 
to  sign  up  for.  a  date  just  two  weeks  away,  it  doesn’t 
seem  real.  Me,  at  the  Palace,  and;  Francine  my  queen 
for  life!  '“'V;' 

Back  at  my  hotel;  I  come  out  of  my  daze  and.  think 
how  lucky  we  are  to  have  a  week  in  Washington  before 
playing  the  Palace— just  enough  time  to  polish  any  rough 
spots.  I  pick  up  Variety  and  turn  to  a  section  that  lists 
which  acts  are  booked  where  arid  when.  I  almost  black  out. 
Next  week,  in  Washington,  On  the  same  bill  with  us. 
are  the  Two  Bounding  Gordons.  One  of  these  guys  has 
a  profile  like  Barrymore  arid  muscles  that  one  female  , 
reporter  described  as  “rippling  rhythm.”  I  have  ah  idea 
what  will  happen  when  Francine  gets  a  look  at  him. 

But  Francine  surprises  me.  She  flirts  a  little  with  the 
good-looking  Gordon,  but  keeps  telling  me;  “A  bargain’s 
a  bargain,"  so  I  know  our  wedding  is  still  on.  At  the 


Fifty-second  •*  Anniversary- 


end  of  the  week,  after  the  matinee,  I  knock  On-  her  dr  ess- 
ing-room  door  arid  Francine  greets  me  like  there  were  no 
acrobats  In  the  world.  She  goes  to  her  makeup  table/ 
brings  back  Variety  and  points  to  the  headlines:  “Palace 
Closes— Vaudeville  Dead,” 

I  get  the  message.  No  Palace— no  marriage.  But  Pm 
wrong.  There  is  a  marriage.  Francine  ties  the  knot 
with  one  Bounding  Gordon. 

As  they  say  in  the  movies:  “Fade-Out— Fade-In,” 
Thirty  years  have  come  and:  gone,  along  with  mahjong 
and  the  Black;  Bottom/  I’m  a  theatrical  agent  now,  catch¬ 
ing  a  new  client  of  mine  at  the  Chez  Paree  in  Chicago. 
After  his  opening  show,  I  go  back  to  his  dressing  room 
and  give  out  with  the  usual:  “You  were  great.  Kid!  .What 
Danny  Kaye  wouldn’t  give  to  have  your  talent.”  He  eats 
it  up-— hasn’t  been  around  long  enough  to  recognize  the 
regular  agent’s  line— you  know,  100%  lies  for  10% 
commission. 

When  I  leave  him,  it’s  still  early,  so  I  take  a  stroll  and 
drop  in.,  a  little  neighborhood  movie  .house— the  kind 
that  ..plays  third  and  fourth-fun  pictures/  After- the  fear, 
ture,  I’m  walking  up  the  aisle  and  a  kind  of  fattish 
woman  (you.  know  the  typer— a  complete  stranger  to  No* 
Cal)  bumps  into  me.  Her  .  “Pardon  me,  mister,”  stops, 
both  me  arid  my  heartbeat;  That  voice!  Those  eyes!  It’s 
Francine. 

In  the  lobby,  we  talk  about  old  times.  The  Bounding 
Gordon?  .Francine  divorced  him  years  ago,  when  he  quit 
show  business;  opened  a  restaurant,  and.  became  his  own 
best  customer.  In  other  words,  when  he  lost  his  “built” 
he  lost  Francirie.  I  want,  to  hear  more  about  him,  but 
Francine  asks  how  I  liked  the  movie.  I  told  her  I  liked  it 
fine. 

“Fine???”  Francine  flashes  me  a  familiar  look— like 
She’s  ready  to  spit  in  my  eye).  ‘Is  that  ail  you  Can  say 
for  that  picture— ‘fine*?  It’s  only  wonderful,  that’s  what 
it-  '  Why,  I’ve  seen  it  seven  tunes— three  times  today 
alone.” 

Then  it  hit  me.  The  picture  was  “Trapeze”  with  Tony 
Curtis  arid  Burt  Lancaster  in  tights.  How  do  you.  like 
that  Francirie— still  With  the.  acrobats! 


Lawyers’  Delight 


The  Rights  of  Authors  Are  Protected 
Legally  These  Days— and  How  ! 


By  BENNETT  CERF 

The  gentleman  under  scrutiny  in  this  column  is  the 
fortunate  and  talented  soul  who  writes  a  Broadway,  smash 
hit  or  best-selling  novel,  then  sells  it  to  Hollywood  for  a 
fabulous  sum  of  cash— plus  a -  percentage  of  the  .  profits. 

If  he’s  lucky/ this  author,  can  wind  up 

Hwith  almost  as  big  a*  net  as  the  corps 
of  lawyers  genuinely  necessary  to  prb- 

;  First  come  the  contracts  from  the 
movie  company— and  have  you  seen 
one  lately?  They  are  so  long  they 
usually  are  delivered  in /two  sections, 
and  so  complicated  the  lawyers  them¬ 
selves  can’t  always  explain  the  small 
print.  After  15  conferences,  three : 
commas  are  omitted,  and .  everybody 
signs  on  the  dotted  lines. 

Bennett  Cerf  That’s  only  the  beginning,  however. 

The  real  killing  for  the  legalites 
comes  with  the  rash  of  lawsuits  thrown  at  the  author  the 
moment  it  becomes  known  he  is  in  the  chips:  plagiarism 
suits,  libel  suits,  invasion  of  privacy  suits,,  breach  of  con¬ 
tract  suits,  arid  heaven  knows  what  else.  Almost  invariably, 
he  emerges  from  court  with  a  cleanedskin— but  an  equally 
cleaned:  pocketbook.  : 


Often  the  author  has  been  slaving  for  as  long  as.  10  years 
over  a  700rpage  novel,  compressing  into  its  pages  all  the 
highlights  of  his  lifetime.  He  may  never  write  another  hit; 
possibly  because  "he’s  told  everything  he  knows  in  this 
one  (something  the  income  tax  people,  incidentally,  refuse 
to  take  into  consideration).  His  own  lawyer,  plus  the  legal 
department,  of  his  publishers,  have  combed  telephone 
directories  arid  lists  of  every  description  to  make  sure  his. 
characters  have  fictitious  names. 


Then  lightning  strikes.  The  Book-of-the-Month  Club 
and  Reader’s  Digest  Condensed  Books  empty  pots  ,  of  gold 
into  his  lap,  and  Buddy  Adler,  Kenneth  McKenna,  and 
Harry  Cqhn  fly  east  to.  wine  arid  dine  him  at  the  Pavilion; 
Let  him  enjoy.it.  while  he  may  for  bingo!  a  Marmaduke 
Blintz,  graduate  Of  she  asylums,  hits  him  with  a  plagiarisrii 
suit,  and  furthermore,  that  name  he  conjured  for  his  villain 
—Outgo  J,  Schmierkase— wasn't  such  a  smart  idea/after 
all/  It  develops  there  really  is  an  Outgo  J.  Schmierkase, 
living  .in  a  remote,  mountain  hamret,  who  feels  that  the 
use  of  his  name'  in  the  author’s  work  has  damaged  hi 
career  as  third  assistant  keeper  of  the  county  jail  wash¬ 
room  to  the  extent  of  $3,000,000  clariis.  The  distracted 
author  runs  back  to  ..his  lawyer— arid  the  lawyer’s  wife 
runs  to  order  a  new  chinchilla  coat.  - 


I  Went  to  court  recently  to  watch  one  of  these  wildly 
improbable  libel  suits.  The  courtroom  was  jammed.  “The 
public  is  deeply  interested  in  this  case,”  i  commented 
wonderingly.  “Nonsense,”  corrected  a  frierid  in  the  know. 
“These  people  are  all  lawyers  of  the  author,  lawyers  of 
the  publisher  of .  the  hard-bound  edition;  lawyers  of  the 
publisher  of  the  paperback  edition,  lawyers  of  .the  pub¬ 
lisher  of  the  magazine  that  ran  the  book  as  a  one-shot, 
lawyers  of  the  movie,  outfit  that  filmed  the  story,  arid 
lawyers  of  the  theatre,  that/  showed  the  picture  first.  Wait 
till  . you  hear  them  all  cry  T  object’  in  chorus!  You’ll  think 
you’re  at  an  Army-Navy  football  game!” 

“And  who  Was  that  anguished  character  striving  vainly 
to  fight  his.  way  into,  the  courtroom?”  I  asked. 

“Oh,  him,”  disparaged  my  friend.  “That’S  the  plaintiff.” 

I  had  a  novelist  in  my  own  office  at  Randbtn  House 
recently,  with  his  lawyer  right  at  his  elbow.  “No  more 
outlandish  names  for  characters  of  miner”  my  author  said 
vehemently.  “The  crazier  it  is,  the  surer  it’s  some  real 
name  you’ve  heard  somewhere  that’s  stuck  in  yoiir  memory. 
You  know  what..  I’m  going  to  call  my  next  hero?  Calvi 
Coolidge!” 

Oil  in  his  eyes.  . 

“You  just,  do  that,”  approved-  the  novelist’s  lawyer 
softly. 


PICTUHKS  13 


Reminiscences  Of  A  Dreamer 

hunusunm  By  CLAUDE  BINYON 

Hollywood. 

Often  I  have  asked  myself  -where  would  the  motion, 
picture  business  be  without  me,  but  as  yet  I  haven’t  given 
myself  an  answer.  Maybe  when  business  is  a  little  bet¬ 
ter  I  will  find  my  tongue.  Many  of  you  know  me  only  as 
the- writer  and  director  of  numerous 
excellent  pictures,  little  realizing  that 
I  am  a  roving  spark  igniting  the  fire 
of  genius  all  over  Hollywood.  For  in¬ 
stance,  you  have  read  recently  that 
Paramount  expects  a  domes* ic  gross 
of  $45,000,000  for  “Ten  Command¬ 
ments”  by  I960,  Here  is  how  this 
windfall  came  about:  A  few  years 
back  when  C.  B.  DeMille,  or  “C.B.” 
as  he  and  I  call  each  other,  was  try¬ 
ing  to  decide  on  a  subject  for  his  next 

project:  He  and  I  were  serving  very 

Claude  Binyon  capably  on  the  Executive  Board  of 
the  Screen  Directors  Guild.  At  a 
meeting  of  the  board  one  evening  I  was  sea‘ed  between 
C.  B.  and.  George  Sidney,  president  of  the  Guild,  and 
carrying  on  simultaneous  conversations  with  each,  as  is 
iriy  knack.  Sidney  is  very  sensitive  about  the  fact  that 
.he  has  been  elected  president  of  the  Guild  so  often  that 
some  of  the  members  confuse  him  with  Franklin  D.  Roose¬ 
velt..  He  was  asking  me  what  he  should  do  if  he  again 
was  /asked  to  run  for  the  presidency.  At  the  same  time 
C.B.  was  telling  me  he  wished  he  hadn't  already  made 
“TCn  Commandments.” 

“Do  it  agai  ,”  I  said. 

So  /Sidney  was  elected  president  again  and  C.B.  remade 
“Ten  Commandments”  for  a  domestic  gross  of  $45,000,000 
by  1960.  Both  have  not  yet  found  ‘ime  to  thank  me, 
but  it  is  just  as' well.  How  could  they  have  known  that 
when  I  uttered  those,  memorable  words  George  Stevens, 
seated  behind  me,  had  just  finished  scratching  my  back? 


Consider  Elvis  Presley,  and  while  you  are  considering 
hirii  I  will  ,  tell  you  another  true  story.  Years  ago  Bing 
Crosby  had  a  weight  problem,  and  being  the  man  he  is 
he  decided  to  face  up  to  it.  Several  months  after  he 
decided  to  face  up  to  it  I  saw  him  on  the  street,  and  he 
had/  become  so  svelte  that  he  looked  posi'ively  gaunt.  I 
congratulated  him  ori  his  weight  reduction  and  asked 
how  he  had  accomplished  it  “Very  simple,”  said  Bing, 
and  to  demonstrate  he  made  a  weird  wiggling  motion  with 
his.  hips.  I  knew  his  Was  pulling  my  leg,  as  they  say,  but 
I  pretended  to  take  him  seriously  as  I  am  a  great  one  to 
go  along  with  a  gag. 

Shortly  after  this,  on  advice  of  a  doctor,  I  Went  on  a 
Very  strict,  diet  and  in  nine  riionths  I  lost  90  pounds.  Bing 
was  amazed  when  he  saw  me.  “How  did  you  do  it?’’  he 
asked*.  “Very  simple,”  I  sajd.  “I  did .  what  you  showed 
me.”  And  quite  seriously  /['imitated  his  weird  hip  wiggl¬ 
ing.  Well,  sir,  this  became  a  classic  story  in  Hollywood 
and  Was.  told  and  demonstrated  in  Hollywood  parlors 
countless  times,  Eventually  it  filtered  eastward,  and  then 
into  the  deep  south  where  a  young  singer  named  Elvis 
Presley  listened  arid  watched,  fascinated.  The  rest  is 
history. 


I  wonder  if  Arthur  Miller  knows  how'  much  he  owes  to 
me.  Several  years  ago  I  was  seated  at  a  table  adjoining 
that  of  Marilyn  Monroe  in  the  20th-Fox  commissary, 
regaling  my  comrades  with  a  steady  flow  of  sparkling  wit. 
I  Could  sense  that  Marilyn  was  listening  spellbound,  and 

I  was  sure  of  it  when  I  heard  her  ack  her  companion: 
“Who’s  that?” 

.  “He’s  a  writer,”  said  her  companion.  Slowly  I  turned. 
Marilyn  was  looking  full  at  me,  and  I  could  see  that  her 
eyes  were  saying:  “Someday  I’m  going  to  marry  a  writer.” 
Tenderly,  so  as  not  to  bruise  her  little  soul,  nay  eyes 
answered  back:  “I'm  married;  you’ll  have  to  search  else¬ 
where.” 

So  Marilyn  started  searching.  She  saw  Joe  DiMaggio’s 
name  on  a  ghost-written  sports  article  and  quickly  mar¬ 
ried  him,  but  she  soon  realized  her  mistake  and  continued 
her  search.  Finally  she  found  a  real  writer  at  a.  real 
typewriter— arid  true  happiness— thanks  to  me. 

Here’s  a  thought-provoking  sidelight  on  the  Marilyn 
Monroe  story,  often  discussed  by  small  groups  of  psy¬ 
chiatrists  behind  doors.  My  name  has  all  the 

vowels— a,  e,  i,  o,  u,  and  sometimes  y.  In  choosing  her 
writer  Marilyn  subconsciously  selected  one  who  could  use 
what  she  had  that  I  didn’t  need.  She  gave  Arthur  Miller 
the  o  and  sometimes  y  to  go  with  his  a,  e,  i,  and  u.  The 
psychiatrists  have  never  revealed  their  conclusions  to 
me,  but  only  a  fool,  could  misinterpret  their  thoughts  as 
they  stare  at  me  with  open  envy. 


Of  my  many  proteges  I  must  confess  my  favorite  is 
that  energetic  rapscallion.  Mike  Todd.  I  met  him  in  1953 
when  I  was  directing  a  Bob  Hope  picture  at  Paramount 
and.  Mike  was  a  visitor,  an  unknown  quantity  in  the  pic¬ 
ture,  business. .  He  seemed  very  anxious  to  make  an  im- 
pressibii  on  Bob  Hope  and  constantly  darted  onto  the 
set,  interrupting  the  rehearsal  to  tell  Bob  one  funny 
story  after  ,  another.  Now  fun  is  fun,  but  I  am 'noted  for 
my  strict  adherence  to  shooting  schedules;  so  after  my 
patience  had  been  tried  to  the  .breaking/ point  I  told  my 
assistant  to  eseort  Mike  off  the  sef.  He  left,  sulking 
like  a  small  boy,  not  having  perceived  my  ulterior  motive. 

Just  what  was  my  ulterior  motive  in  ordering  Mike 
Todd  off  the  set?  I  can  hear  you  asking.  Frankly,  my 
discerning  eyes  immediately 'had  discovered  the  great  tal¬ 
ent  lurking  beneath  that  commonplace  exterior.  By 
ordering  him  off  the.  set  I  hoped  to  get  his  Irish  up,  not 
knowing  at  the  time  that  there  was  no  Irish  in  him.  But 
whatever  there  was  in  him,  itgotup— and  at  that  moment 
I  aril  sure  Mike  vowed  that  no  one  ever  again  would 
order  him  off  a  set.  He  would  make  his  own  pictures. 
He  would  hire  and  fire  writers  and  directors.  He  would 
be  the  big  boss,  and  he  would  order  people  off  the  set. 
By  a  stroke  of  lightning  does  a  boy  become  a  man* 

You  may  thank  me,  if  you  wish,  for  the  enjoyment  you 
received  from  ’‘Oklahoma!”  and  “Afound  the  World  in 
80  Days.”  Arid  some  day  if  Mike  approaches  me  in  the 
right  way,  arid  I  am  in.  the  proper  mood.  I'll  tell  him  how 
I.  was  responsible  for  his  marriage  to  Liz. 


14 


PICTURES 


Fifty-second  J/^RIETY  *™d™rsary 


January  8, 1958 


Striptease  At  The  Met 

Tyro  Ballerina  Takes  Publicist  Too  Literally 
And  Shocks  Gotham 


By  EDWARD  L.  BERNAYS 


When  the  painting  “September  2 
Morri”was  promoted  to  respecta-  si 
bility  by  the  Metropolitan  Museum  F 
of  Art  recently,  I  was  reminded  of  ‘1 
another  sort  of  striptease  alto-  IV 
gether,  this  time  from  the  stage  of  I 
the  Metropolitan  Opera  House,  on 
a  February  afternoon  nearly  40  jj 
years  ago.  .  V 

How  .it  happened,  that  1  was  in-  v 
directly  responsible  for  that  dis-  ti 
play  In  1918  is  La  story  I  could  not  b 
bring  myself  to  tell  until  many  ii 
years  later.  One  day  a  man,  whose  u 
name  I  recognized  as  that  of  a  g 
well-known  lrwyer,  called  me  at  I 
my  office-  the  Metropolitan  Musi-  _ 
cal  Bureau;  in  the  old  Aeolian  Hall,  ;.j| 
33  West  42d  St.  We  acted  as  mam 
agers  for  Metropolitan  musical  n 
stars  and  concert  attractions.  He 
asked  me  to  arrange  for  two  dance. 
recitals  for  a  friend  of  his,  a  Miss  j 
Helen  Moller,.  C 

I  had  not  heard  of  Miss  Moller,  g 
but  I  agreed  to  consider  his  re-  s 
quest.  She  ran  a  school,  he  told  g 
me,  on  New  York’s  Upper  East  «« 
Side,  where  she  taught  her  stu-  0 
dents  an  Isadora  Duncan  style  of  ( 
free-wheeling  interpretative  dance,  v 
and  it  was  there  that  I  went  with  s 
her  friend,  the  lawyer,,  to  watch  0 
her  in  action. 

I  saw  no  reason  why  Miss  Moller,  n 
a  pleasant;  attractive  young  worn-  •< 
an  from  Bird  Island,  Minnesota,  a 
should  not  be  given  an  opportunity 
to  dance  before  an  audience;  she  ;; 
was  obviously  eager  for  publicity.  , 
It  would  be  up  to  the  public  to  give 
their  approval — or  withhold  it.  .  ; 

So  I  went  ahead  and.  engaged  the  f 
Metropolitan  Opera  House  for  her  _ 
for  two  afternoon  engagements:  , 

Before  the  first  recital.  Miss  Mol-  t: 
ler  asked  me  if  I  would  talk  to  her  ^ 
about  publicity.  I  invited  her  to 
my  office  and  explained  to  her  that  , 
a  serious  dancer  usually  achieved  (1 
recognition  by  good  reviews,  based  . 
on  hard  work  and  development,  , 
and  that  publicity  came  as  a  by¬ 
product.  But  she  did  not.  seem  sat-  , 
isfied  with  this  somber  truth;  she  v 
wanted  public  recognition  right  * 
way.  “Well,”  I  said,  diverting  my  “ 
impatience  into  a  joke,  "if  you  ' 
really  want  to  get  your  name  in  the 
papers,  you  can  always  dance  , 
nude."  My  suggestion  was  prepos- 
terous,  of  course,  arid  little  did  I 
suspect  that  my  Off-hand  joke  had  . 
struck  a  strangely  responsive  de-  ' 
sire  in  the  attractive  Miss  Moller. 

The  day  arrived.  We  had  suc¬ 
cessfully  papered  the  house  with  , 
music  teachers,  students  and  others 
who  would  go  to  anything  the  . 
Opera  House  offered.  Nearly  all 
the  seats  were  filled. 

The  lights  dimmed  and  Miss 
Moller  began  her  performance.  She 
went  through  a  number  of  dances 
assisted  by  her  students  and  ac¬ 
companied  by  the  tony  Orchestral- 
Society  Of  New  York; 

j  Peeling  To  Sibelius  | 

The  last  dance  before  the  sched¬ 
uled  intermission  started  like  the 
others.  ..Miss  Moller,  draped  a  la 
Duncan  in  gauzy  pieces  of  chiffon, 
“interpreted"  Sibelius’  Valse  Triste 
in  her  usual  style.  But  one  moment 
before  the  curtain  dropped,  there 
was  a  flash  of  white  (or  more  truly, 
flesh  color);  Miss  Moller  was  naked. - 
“My  God,”  I  thought,  “she  took  me 
eriously!” 

What  was  described  next  day  by 
one  paper  as  “a  thick  and  vasty 
gasp  .”  arose  from  all  over  the 
house.  “There  was  a  moment  of 
absolute  silence  and  then  hisses 
and  booing  began.  These  contin¬ 
ued  unabated,  while  a  number  of 
persons  arose  and  left  the  house 
hastily."  A  few  independent  spir¬ 
its  clapped. 

During  intermission  the  ticket 
holders  articulated  their  disapp¬ 
roval  noisily.  Grenville  Vernon, 
music  critic  of  the  N.Y.  Tribune, 
whacked  his  cane  violently  on  the 
red  plush  carpet,  thundered,  “It 
was  an  outrage!”  and  left  the  had. 

After  the  curtain  rose,  again. 
Miss  Moller  went  on  as  if  nothing 
had  happened,  while  I  sweated  un¬ 
til  the  end  of  the  program’s  second 
half,  which  was  incongruously  cli¬ 
maxed  by  a  display  of  American 
flags  and  the  National  Anthem. 

The  next  day  Miss  Moller’s  wild¬ 
est  dreams  were  answered.  Her 
name  was  in  the  headlines^ she  was 
famous.  The  N.Y.  Tribune  of  Feb. 


26  carried  a  front  page  story  in  its 
second,  column,  headed,  "METRO¬ 
POLITAN  AUDIENCE  BOOS 
‘NUDE’  DANCER  — Uproar  When 
Miss  Moller.  Seems  to  Shed  Filmy 
Drapery.” 

The  music  and.  dance  critics  had, 
it  appeared,  turned  into  police  and 
Vice  reporters  overnight.  “If  there 
was  more  exposure . than  was  fit¬ 
ting,  she  blames  that  on  a  mistake 
by  the  electrician,  who,  she.  says, 
instead  of  shining  a  gray-blue  light 
upon  her,  enveloped,  her  in  the 
glare  of  a  spotlight,”  said  the 
Tribune. 

;Commr,  Enright  &  Mayor  Hylanj 

On  Feb.  27  she  was  still  in  the 
news.  The  Tribune  headline  read, 
“POLICE  TAKE  HEED  OF  MISS 
MOLLER’S  ‘NATURE  DANC¬ 
ING’.”  The  subhead  'read:  “Vice 
Crusaders  Also  Advise  That  Veils 
Stay  in  Place  in  Future.”  And  a 
spokesman  for  the  Society  for  the 
Suppression  of  Vice  was  quoted, 
“If  anything  like  that  is  permitted 
on  the  stage  of  the  Metropolitan 
Opera  House,  the  police  should  re¬ 
voke  the  license  of  that  place.  We 
Shall  make  an  investigation  at 
once.” 

In  the  same  article  Police  Com¬ 
missioner  Enright  'was  quoted: 
“The  public  will  be  protected  from 
a  recurrence  of  such  an  exhibition 
in  the  future.” 

But  Miss  Mpller  was  elated;  she  ; 
had  got  her  publicity. 

I  had  had  enough  and  resigned. 
And  so  apparently  did  the  Opera 
House  owners.  For  on  Feb.  28  the 
Times,  reported  “CANCEL  MOL¬ 
LER  DANCERS  —  Metropolitan 
Opera  Owners  Bar  a  Second  Airy 
Exhibition”  arid  went  on  to  say  that 
the  present  Opera  Board  which 
had  agreed  to  lease  the  house  again 
“has  now  found  itself  overruled” 
by  the  owners  of  the  Metropolitan 
Opera  Company. 

..’  Public  indignation  was  apparent¬ 
ly  not  assuaged  by  this  ,  step,  so 
New  York’s  Mayor  John  F.  Hylan 
decided  he  had  better  guard  the 
public  morals  and  he  wrote  a  let¬ 
ter  to  Police  Commissioner  Enright 
on  March  13  protesting  the  inci¬ 
dent  and  threatening  to  close  down 
the  House.  The;  newspapers  print¬ 
ed  Mayor  Hylan’s .  letter,’  thus  sus¬ 
taining  Miss  Moller’s  newsworthi¬ 
ness. 

It  read:  . 

“Inclosed  find-  copy  of  a  letter 
from,  a  citizen,  also  clippings,  with 
reference  to  a  nude  dancer  who  re- 


Don’t  tab  That  Typewriter! 

Woe  Betide  the  Author  Who  Looks  to  Writing 
Repose  -Chez  Nous’ 

By  AL  MORGAN 


I  figure  the  least  we  can  do  is ; 
help  each  other. 

I  mean,  nobody  told  me  and  I 
pro  bably  won’t  be  getting  any  more 
of  those  lot-. 


Charlotte  Greenwood 


cently  appeared  at  the  Metropoli¬ 
tan  Opera  House.  This  young  wom¬ 
an  claimed  to  have  appeared  in  the 
name  of  art,  but  most  people  be¬ 
lieve  it  was  in  indecent  perform- , 
ance. 

“I  am  amazed  to  think  that  the 
trustees,  of  the  Metropolitan  Opera 
House  and  the  Subscribers  to  the 
institution  could  tolerate  such  an 
exhibition.  I  wish  you  would  see 
to  it  that  no  more  such  exhibitions 
are  staged  at  the  Metropolitan  or 
at  any  other  theatre  in  this  city. 
If  the  same  occurred  in  a  theatre 
patronized  by  plain  people,  some 
of  these  good  people  who  patron¬ 
ized  the  Metropolitan  would;  con¬ 
sider  the  town  wide  open  and 
would  indignaritly  protest. 

“I  want  you  to  see  to  it  that  the 
good  people  who  attend  the  Metro¬ 
politan  Opera  House  do  riot  have 
their  morals  corrupted.” 

As  I  look  back  on  it*  the-  whole 
thing,  seems  marvelously  outra¬ 
geous.  :  At  the  time,  though,  I 
vowed  I  would  never  joke  to  a 
client  again,  at  least  .riot  that  way. 
Who  could  tell  what  I  might  in¬ 
spire  the  next  time? 


Negrete  Theatre  for  Mex. 

Mexico.  City. 

The  dream  of  .  the  late  Jorge 
Negrete,  romaritic  actor-singer,  of 
a  unique  theatre  for  Mexico,  an 
actor’s  playhouse,  inherited  by  the 
National  Actor’s  Union  (ANDA), 
has  materialized  with  the  inaugu¬ 
ration  of  such  a  house. 

Reps  of  all  branches  of  acting 
attended  the  ceremony  which  was 
presided  over  by  ANDA’s  secre¬ 
tary  general,  Congressman  Rodolfo 
Landa.  The  theatre,  .  named  for 
Negrete,  will  be  used  for  the  pres¬ 
entation  of  specialized  productions. 


ters.  from  Rex 
Stout  saying 
my  annual 
dues  in  the 
Auth  o  r  *  s 
League  is  tax 
deductible  but 
fair’s  fair  arid 
I  gotta  blow 
the  whistle. 

I  mean,  I 
used  to  think  • 

If  you  wrote  a  A,  Morgan 
book  you 

spent,  your  time  on  safari,.,  or. 
marrying  Marilyn  Monroe’s  stand- 
in,  or  sitting  iri  the  George  M. 
Cohan  corner  at  the  Oak  Room 
doing  the  Bloody  Mary  Bit. 

I  mean  I  really  did. 

I  was  willing  to  live  mentally 
in  the  17th  Century.  I  really  was. 
And  that  Lambertville  isn’t  the 
worst  place  in  the  world  to  live. 
It  really  isn’t.  They  got  ‘Music 
Circus”  there  in  the  summer. 
Whatever  the  devil  that  is. 

All.  my  life  I  figured,  “write  a 
novel  and  you  got  it  made.”  I 
really  did: 

Big.  deal.  Write  a  novel. 

So  I  wrote  a  novel.  Boy!  The 
things  they  don’t  tell  you  about 
could  drive  you  crazy.  Even  if  it 
is  tax  deductible,  just,  catch  them 
Wising  you  up  to  some  of  those 
things  in.  that  Author!s  League 
Bulletin, 

I  mean  it’s  a  good  magazine  arid 
all  that  but  you’d  think  just  among 
•themselves  they’d  take  the  pipe 
out  of  the  mouth  and  level  with 
you.  Like  I’m  going  to. 

I  mean  if  we.  can’t  help  each 
Other,  Hitler  might  just  as  well 
have  won  the  war.  Right?  OK. 

Take  like  you’re  me.  All  your 
life  you’ve  been  working,  in  the 
furnace  industry.  At  nights 
you’ve  been  nibbling  away  at  the 
hand  that’s  been  feeding  you. 
You’ve  been  writing  “hard-hit¬ 
ting,”  “searing,”  “relentless,”  “no- 
'holds-barred,”  “explosive”  expose 
called,  “The.  Grate  Man.”  I  mean 
you’re  really  going  to  rip  the  mask 
off  this  vital  American  Industry. 
You’re  going  to  tell  the  world  that 
some  Of  our  Top  Furnace  Tycoons: 
have  feet  of  clay.  I  mean  you 
really  are. 

And  you  do. 

And  it’s  published. 


PHYLLIS  KIRK 


Starring,  in 

“THE  THIN  MAN” 

MGM-TV 
i  )  j  ) 


And  you  turn  in  your  broom, 
tear  up  your  commutation  ticket 
and  figure  you’re  on  your  way  to 
independence  and  solvency. 

You’re  a  novelist.  You’re  self- 
employed.  If  they  ask  you  on 
“What’s  My  Line?,”  you  look 
them  right  in  the  eye  and  say,  "I’m 
self-employed.”  You’re  a  profes¬ 
sional  mail.  Like  a  chiropodist, 
for  God’s  sake! 

For  the  first  time  in  your  life 
you  can’t  be  fired,  court-martialed 
or  shot; 

You  say  to  your  wife,  “Judy, 
honey,”  you  say.  “It’s  a  wonder- 
.  ful  day.” 

The .  hell  it  is.  Your  wife's .  name 
is  Martha. 

|  The  Old  Salve  1 

Two  days  later  when  she’s 
speaking  to  you  agairi;  you  dangle 
a  passport  in  front  of  her  nose. 
Figuratively  speaking,  I  mean. 
“Honey,”  you  say,  being  careful 
this  time.  When  you  get  to  be  my 
age  you  find  it’s  like  haying  Blue 
Cross  to  call  all  your  women 
friends  Honey.  It  makes  dreaming 
less  hazardous;  “Honey,”  you  say*. 
“A  novelist  can  write  anywhere. 
I  mean  like  the  south  of  France, 
lor  Portugal,  the  deck  of  a 
trainp  steamer  rounding  the  Horn 

.  or  Disneyland.  Anywhere,” 
When  she  comes,  back  from  the 
Travel.  Agency  with  the  folders 
you  lay  down  the  ground  rules. 

1.  Complete  quiet  during  work¬ 
ing  hours, 

2.  And  keep  the  kids  busy. 

3.  And  stop  vacuuming. 

4.  And  stop  saying  at  the  di 
ner  tab!  e  “Well  How  many 
words,  today?”  with  that  idiotic 
grin  on  her  face. 

(“Honey  I  didn’t*  mean  it  that 
wdy!  Idiotic  is  just  a  kind  of  ex¬ 
pression.  I  mean  it  really  is. 
Franchise  Sagan,  says  it  all  the 
time.  She  really  does.”) 

./After  a  week’s  work  getting 
your  workroom  ready  (which  some¬ 
how  involves  re-hariging  curtains, 
cleariing  windows  and  .  mowing  the 
grass)  you  are  ready  to  throw 
yourself  on  self-discipline.  I  mean 
you’ll  probably  turn  out  nine  nov¬ 
els  a  year.  You’re  a  free,  man, 
self-employed  and  away  from  petty 
annoyances.  Safe  in  the  bosom  of 
your  family. 

Arid  get  that  out  of  your  mind. 
These  crazy  suburban  schools  let 
the  kids  out  at  the  craziest  times 
in  the  afternoon. 

Got  it  out  of  your  iriirid?  I’ll 
wait.  OK. 

You’ve  moved  into  what  is  loose¬ 
ly  called  your  “deri.”  It  is  of 
course,  also  used  as  a .  meeting 
place  for  Den  Four  Pack  Three  of 
the  Cub  Scouts  (you’re  Den  Dad, 
whatever  that  is),  children’s  tview- 
ing  room,  home  base  for  the  PTA 
Strategy  Board  and  twice  a  week 
as  the  work  room  of  the  Library 
Book  Pasting  Committee.  But  it’s 
your  deri.  The  sign  on  the  wall 
says  so.. 

“For  God’s  sake,  keep  it  down.. 
This  is  my  den.” 

It  Only  took  two  days  to  letter 
and  your  Old  free  hand,  hasn’t  lost 
it’s  skill. 

Up.  to  now  it  sounds  great 
doesn’t  it? 

I  mean  those  lunches  at  home.  I 
mean,  those  Campbell  people  whip 
up  a  mean  can  of  soup.  And  who 
wants  crackers  to  be  crispy  all 
the  time? 

Along  about  here  you  begin  to 
thirik  longingly  of  the  old  days  in 
the  furnace  works. 


As  the  only  man  home  during 
working  hours  you  become  a  sort 
of  unpaid  handy  man.  You  fix 
faucets,  broken  waffle  irons  and 
change  flat  tires.  And  how;  many 
novels  can  you  write,  with  si 
band-aids  on  your  fingers? 

You  break  up  six  dog  fights  a 
day  arid  learn  where  your  wife 
keeps  the.  iodine  bottle. 

You  discover  a  rather  profound 
truth  about  the  woman  you  mar¬ 
ried.  Like  every  other  wife  in  the 
wOrld,  she  can’t  quite  believe  that 
a  man!  is  working,  his  hardest 
when  he’s  just  standing  in  a  room, 
(Continued  on  page  61) 


January  8, 1958 


15 


Fifty-second  f^kRTET'Y  Anniversary 


PICTURES 


'Race':  Boxoffice  But  Booby-Trapped 

IVpis’ Notorious  Use  oMtaee  Stereotype  lot*  Screen  Propaganda 
Contrasts  With  American  Experiinenls—  iO  Years  Later 
P.  W.  Griffith’s  'Rape  &  ltaceT  Slants  in  Ration9  Still 
Arouse  Controversy —IJ sed  in  Llitlfe  Ro«*k 


Veit  Harlan  does  not  defend  “Jew  Suss.”  He  admits  It 
was  a  hateful  fhovirig  picture.  His  defence  is  that,  under.' 
the  Nazis,  he  had  .no choice.  He  was  not  free  to  refuse 
■  to  direct  a  story  Hitler  wanted  filmed*  Only  a  few.,  months 

-  ago.  Harlan  pleaded,  .again,  for  forgiveness  and  an  end  to 
"his  professional.  disgrace.,  He  seeks  good  behavior  credit 

marks  from  German  and.  World  opinion  because,  he  de- 
.stroyed,  after  the  war,  the  negative,  which ,  might  otherr 
wise  have  fallen  into  the  hands  Of  certain  anti-Semites  of 

-  .the  Middle  East. 

It  is  true,  of  course,  that  there  were  many  films  under 
the  Nazis  which  systematicaUy  pqisoned  minds  against  the 
Jews. !  Harlan's  film  was  only  the  best  known,  the  most 
notorious*  probably  the:  most :  skilfully  produced.  His  sub- 
*  sequent  disgrace;  has  been  in  ratio .  to.  his  artistry. 

Nazi  propaganda  was  incessant  on  screen,  stage,  radio, 
press,  oyer  every  stadium  and  factory  loudspeaker.  A.  main, 
though  hot  an  only,  theme  was  race .  hatred.. .  Often  Jew- 

-  baiting  was  incidental,  a  thrbwn-in  crack.  But  “JewSUss,” 
based  on  an  Unobjectionable  hovel,  vvas- loaded  and  slanted 
SPV viciously  that  it  has  become  the  memory-symbol  of  a 
terrible  but  not  exclusively  German-taught  lesson; that. 

loving,  pictures  .may  be  used  to  debauch  human  nature., 
as  well  as  divert. and  inf brm.it., 

If  .',  hot  intended  to  compare  the  cold,  confiscating; 
massiye.  brutality  of  Nazi  malice  with  lesser  phenomena 
..in  race  superiority-inferiority  exploitation.  But  it  cannot 
.escape  the  notice  of  close  students  of  the  Cinema  that 
American  producers  of  yesteryear  have  made  free,  and 
often  careless  use  of  such  ‘'stereotypes”  as  the  yellow 
peril,  the  lazy  Mexican:  peon,  the  .flannel-sleeved  Irish,  the. 
mobster.  Italian  and*  of  course,  the  unspeakable  Huns  “Of 
Eric'  Von  Stroheim  and  Wallace:  and  Noah  Beery.  A  re¬ 
minder  that  such  racial  angles  were  and  .  are  bruising  to 
pride,  has  lately  been  provided  by  the  protests  elicited  by 
:ceitaiin  old  movies  revived  on  television.. 

Americans  are  in  the  position  ,  of  having  demonstrated 
to  the  world,  so  early  as  1915,  a  bold  manipulation  of  race 
feeling,  for  profit.  The  film  in  question,  .  David .  Wark 
Griffith's  “The  Birth  of  a  Nation,”  was  so  “charged”  that 
even  today,  when  it  is  shown  in  special  bookings,  to  .-film 
museum  audiences,  or  college  courses,  emotion  creeps  ini 
the.  discussion. 

“Birth”  was  the  original  American  boxoffice  blockbuster. 
No  cohlirmed.  data  exists,  the  film  was  sold  so  often, 
reissued  so  many  times,  and  mostly  /circulated  On  states 
rights  deals.  It  is  probable,  however,'  that  the  World  gross 
was  well  into  the  $50-milli6ns,  ahead  of  the  official  all-time 
boxo  ff  ice  champion  ’  “Gone  With .  the  Wind”  ($33,500,000); 
.‘which,  interestingly,  also  deals  with  the  Confederacy  that  . 
was,  though  in  no  way  otherwise  comparable. 

1  How  To  Blow  Up  The  B.O.  :  .  ;| 

If  the  final  angry  ,  words  concerning  “Birth  Of  a  Nation” 
have  hot  yet  been  said,  if  the  Geiger  counter  ,  still  picks 
up  radiation  hazards,  it  is  arresting  to  note  that  (1)  Griffith 
developed  such  magnitudinous  force  by  combining  the 
twin  nightmares  of  folklore  in  America--1  tO  wit,  rape  and 
-race  and  .  (2)  that  he  absolutely,  denied  that  his  film  in¬ 
flamed:  bigotry.  To  prove  himself  a  liberal  he.  at  once  made 
“Intolerance.”  Irony  must  remark  that  Griffith's  “Birth” 
cleaned  up  and.  his  “Intolerance”  flopped. 

Griffith  wOUld  never,  concede,  as.  Veit  Harlan  In  Ger¬ 
many,  that  the  minority  race  cast  in  the  role  of  scapegoat 
compiained  with  any  justice.  But  as  the  Jews  in  Europe, 
were  quite  clear  in  their,  own  minds,  about  “Jew  Suss,” 
so,  too,  have  the  Negroes  in  America  :been  Clear  in  their 
.about  the  movie  D.W.G,  niade  of  Thomas.  Dixon’s  “The 
Clansmah:’,; Negroes  considered  themselves  rabidly  incited 
against  by  the  film  arid  repeatedly  went  to  court  seeking . 
.injunctive  relief.  No  need  here  to  recite  the  tangled  history 
of  such  litigation.  A  number  of  Cities  did  ban  “Birth,”  and 
at.  least  one.  state,  Ohio.  Possibly  the .  most  sigriificant 
result  of  all  the  social  agitation  was  this:  after  1930  no 
print  not  drastically  deleted  was  shown  publicly. 

During  1957  .  this  Variety  critic  viewed"'  a  remarkably 
clear,  -privately  Owned,  rare  print  of  the.  1915  original 
‘editing  of  the  famed  12-reel  silent  epic.  The  print  is  a 
prize  of  the  film  library  .of  the  actor,  John  Griggs,  .who. 
has  a  fortune  tied'  up  in  old  collector’s  items.  Interestingly, 
Griggs  has.  added  his  own  sound  track,  based  on  the  origi¬ 
nal  . orchestral  score. 

’  Seen  again,  in  the  perspective  of  time,  the  film’s  relation 
to  the  race  problem  in  America  is  Vividly  apparent  Ken¬ 
tucky-born  Griffith  did.  not  invent  but  he  surely  did 
capture  and  encapsule  the  Dixie,  attitude:  The  uncut  aind 
unsoftened  1915  print  Carries  subtitles  in  the  jargon  of . 
today’s  segregationists.  The  epic’s  message,  explicitly 
and  implicitly,  is  very  “familiar.’’ 

Naturally  it  is  not  possible  for  a  professional  critic  to 
pretend  he  viewed  “The  Birth  of  a  Nation”  in  ignorance 
of  its  impact,  or  its  place  in  cinematic  history.  ‘Perhaps 
no  film  so  divides  betweeri  pioneering  artistry  and  . what 

it  is  saying*  .,  ...  _ _ •  -  ■ .  "V.  -. . ' 

|  Did  He  Know  What  He  W  as  Doing?  \ 

•  A  fascinating  question  remains,  unanswered,  to  \vitv 
whether,  or  to  what  extent,  Griffith  knew  what  he  was; 
about.  He  was  a  showman..  His  aim  was  to.  titillate  the 

lasses.  In  moderri  parlance  he  set  out  to  manufacture 
tumult.  No  doubt  he  succeeded  beyond  - his  wildest  imagin¬ 
ing  even  though  he  loaded  his  work  with  “sexsational” 
values  especially  for  that  era.  Threateried  rape  was  stand¬ 
ard  for  melodrama  but  with  race  dropped  into  the  mixture, 
the  difference  made  all  the  difference  at  the  ticket  window. 
Griffith  topped  the  white  slave  films  of  that  day  which 

were  frightening  America  out  pf  its  wits. 

How  clever  Griffith  was  in:  playing  upon  the  race  feel¬ 
ings  of  his  audiences  is  suggested  by  the  fact  ..that;  the 
dastardly  mulatto  in  the  end  threatened:. Lillian  Gish  not 
with  rape  but— more  subtle  horror— marriage.  Until  then, 
she,  a  Northerner,  had  somewhat  deplored . Southern  . at ti- 


By  ROBERT  j.  LANDRY 

tudes.  Now  she  eagerly  prayed  for  the  Ku  Klux  Klari.io 
conie  galloping. 

See  what  we.  mean  by  the  statement  that . even  today  a 
discussion  of  this  film,  made  40  years  ago,  arouses  emo¬ 
tion?  The  lesson  Cannot  be  lost  Upon  either  showmen  or 
critics.  Griffith,,  rushed  in  where,  ever  since,  the  film 
industry  has  largely  feared  to  tread:  Despite  all  the  money 
involved;  nothing  like  “The  Birth  of  a  Nation”  followed. 
For  once,  a  sensational  success  did  not  create  a  I  ' 
ofimitations. 

J.  Still  Playing  40  Years  Later  /  .  1 

Though  now  mostly  retired  to  the  cloisters  of  scholar¬ 
ship,  “The  Birth”  is  still  exhibited  pccaribnally.  Variety 
has  lately  reported  showings  at  the  Dawnda.le  Theatre  in 
Philadelphia,  and  at  aft  houses,  in  Minneapolis  and  Wash¬ 
ington.  plus  scattered  situations,  in  Ohio  where  it .  be.cair.e. 
legally  admissable  (after  40  years)  follpwing  the  .abolition 
of  state,  censorship:  There  were  no  incidents.  However,  a 
proposal,  of  a  freelance  producer  to  “remake”  the  .  classic, 
for  the  great  value,  of  the  title,  but  eliminating,  as- he 
promised,  the  objectionable  angles,  raised  enough  hue  and 
cry  that  the  project  was  quietly  :f  of  gotten. 

JVfost  significant  circumstance  of  all.  during. :  1957  may 
well  be  this; .-‘Birth”  was.  being  sensationalized  in  a  down¬ 
town  house  in  Little .  Rock  in  advance  of  the  school  inte¬ 
gration  riots  there. 

Some  of  the  remembered  aspects  of  “Birth  of  a.  Nation” 
were  outside  Griffith’s  control.  For  perhaps  20  years,  off 
and  on,  hired  horserrieri  in  Klan  regalia,  paraded  the 
streets  of  American  towns  to  advertise  the  film.  Millions 
still  living  witnessed  the  highly  dubious  spectacle  of  night- 
riders  turiied  into  baliyhoQlig^ 

Livery  stable  Klansm.en  were  seen  in  American  towns 
Well  before  the  frlrn  was  made.  Here,  is  a  point  that  has  riot 
been  fully  explored— it  appears  that  Griffith  borrowed,  the 
basic-  boxoffice  formulae  from  bloody ;  shirt '  postwar 
melodrama  which  long  toured  the  back  country  of  America 
disguised  as  “the  legitimate  theatre.” 

To  what  extent  did  the  priginar  states  rights;  distribu¬ 
tors  fear  possible,  banning  of  the  film?  Therp  is  evidence 
that  the .  pell-mell  making  of  cash  deals,  ofien  for  rela¬ 
tively  trifling  suins,  has  a  fast-buck  motivation.  Early,  if 
fragmentary,  records  of  transactions  in  the .  possession  of 
film  scholars  are .  fairly  unbelieveable  considering  the 
subsequent  boxoffice  cleanup*  It  was,  of  course,  1915 
and  1916  and  it  was.  then  not  possible  to  advance-calcu- 
late  earnings,  as  knowledgable  showmen  can  do  today, 
after  the;  first  IQ  of  15  openings. 

.  For  all  its  sensation,  “The  Birth  of  A  Nation”  rated, 
from  the  outset  as  a  nervous;  hit,  arid  something  of  a, 
trade  question,  if  not  embarrassment..  Few  could  be  so 
“innocent”  as  trot  ■  to  know  that  this  film  was  the  Con¬ 
federate,  version  of  the  two-sided  and  mischievious .  dema¬ 
goguery  which  had  dominated  American  ,  politics  since  the 
Civil  War. 

It  shoUld:  be  emphasized  that  Griffith’s  Negroes  were 
played  by  white  actors  under  cork.  A  sole  exception  was 
a  young:  colored  woman  glimpsed  momentarily  as  a  maid. 
These  ‘-darkies”  were  hardly  more  than  theatrical  ,  min¬ 
strels,  made  to  leer  and  sneer.  The  shuffling-gaited 
comic  valet  of.  Tom  Wilson  is  from  the  bottom  pf  the 
old  vaudeville' hokum  barrel. 

Quite  different  from  his  almost  . thoughtless  stereoptypic 
handling  of  the..blackface  figures  was  Griffith’s  doting, 
development  of  the  white  characters  in  the  story.  Had 
this  not  been  so  there :  would  have  been  only  a  shabby 
quickly-forgotten  exploitation  picture.  Lovable  people,  arid 
beguiling  touches, .  infused  “Birth”  with  a  warmth  that 
belied  its  harsh  and  brutal  political  actionist  philosophy. 

Griffith  opened  several  pf  his  scenes  with  a.  posed 
grouping — per  Lincoln  in  the  White  ‘  House,  Lee  and 
Grant  at  Appomattox.  The  effect  of  this  discovered 
vignette  technique  is  rather  like  a  shaft  of  .  sunlight 
suddenly  falling  on  a  county  courthouse  patriotic  mural, 
the  figures  of  which  presently  come  alive.  The  director 
had  a  nice  instinct  for .  small,  town  Americana.  Infinitely 
cunning  for  his  purposes  was  the  /  selection  of  sWeeL 
faced,  doe-eyed;  poetry-reading  Henry  B/ Walthall  as.  the 
Kleagle  of  the  local  Klii  Klux  Klan.  Surely  never  bri.iaijd 
or  screen  was  a  band  of  vigilantes,  bent  upon  lynching* 
led  by  so  refined  and  gentle  a  leader. 

|  Battle  Scenes  Still  Great  ,  ,  j 

Mae  Marsh  had  ofigirially  been  intended  for  the  role 
given  Lillian  Gish.  Griffith  made  the -switch  when  he 
realized  that  Miss  Gish’s  long  blonde  hair  .Could  come 
dramatically  ,  undone  arid  provide  *  a  “Griffith  effect” 
against  the  dark-skin  of  the  Villian.  Not  for  no  reason  was 
pioneer  Griffith  hailed  as  a  “pictorial”  genius.. 

Enthusiasts  always  acclaim  the  battle  scenes.  The  1957 
re-look  of  this  cri'.ic  confirms  their  brilliant  organization 
and.  execution:  They  do  indeed  stand  the  test  of  time. 
One  . feels  that  it  -is'-  still  \vholly  Suitable,  .in  the  frame  of 
1915,  to  renew  the  lease  on  cameraman  Billy  Bitzer’s 
niche  in  the  film  hall  of  fame. 

Of  course  this  is  woven  inextricably  into  ,  the 

tapestry  of  the- American  ,  film  industry.  Only  a  few  -'weeks 
ago  when  Louis  B.  Mayer  died  if  was /recalled .that; his 
acquisition  of  the  outside-Boston  rights  to  ‘‘The  Birth” 
was  his  first  big  taste  of  .film  profit  potential. 

Nearly  all  the  actors  in  the  1915  film  went  ori  to  star¬ 
dom:  Even  a  bit  player  who  unfortunately  disappeared 
the  interim,  might  have  become  one  if  scouts  had 
ever  found,  him-  He.  was  the  Union  soldier  on  hospital 
guard  who  fell  in:  love  with  Lillian  Gish  on  immediate 
sight,  Griffith  delighted  in  such  improvised:  by-play,  and 
so  did  his  audience. 

Griffith  was  imaginative  in  his,  casting,  as' when  ChOos-' 
ring  a  16-year  old  lanky  youth  to  impersonate.  Abraham 


Lincoln.  The  boy  grew  up  to  be  the  director.  Joseph 
Heriaberry. 

Across  the  time  bridge  of  four  decades  Lillian  Gish 
and  Mae  Marsh  still  seem  entrancingly  girlish.  Their 
close-ups  serve  as  reriiinder  that  Griffith  practically 
charted  the  technique  of  the  Hollywood  personal  buildup. 
Bmall  wonder  ,  so  many  of  his  actors  held  “The  Master”  in 
the  greatest  gratitude  and  affection. 

One  may  speculate  that  a  curiously  naive,  homefolksy. 
quality.  '  Griffith  helped  him  steer  “The  Birth  of  a 
quality  in  Griffith  helped  him  steer  “The  Birth  of  a 
United  vigilantes  and  valentines,  unbelievable  Negroes  and 
endearing  white  gently  folk.  It  was  cornball  with  sweep¬ 
ing  panorama,  a  political  tract  with  a  thick  larding  of 
the  sexsational.  The  film’s  power  to  evoke  emotion  is 
till  present,  however  intellectually  vomitous  some  of  the 
sub-titles  and  some  of  the  scenes  noW  seem, 

.  Not  the  least  of  Griffith’s  industry  pioneering  is  the 
fear  he  instilled  in  showmen  of  the  consequences  in¬ 
herent  iri  race  themes.  His  Was  a  naive  daring;  a  willing¬ 
ness  to  stack  the  cards,  story-wise,  a  boy  debator’s  zest  for 
scoring  points  and  indifference  to  balanced  statement. 
In.  the  paradox  which  was  Griffith,  crudities  were  Cheek- 
by-jowl  with  pathos;  The  frighteriing  thing  he  created  was 
a  sort  of  narrative  dignity  which,  in  actor  patois,  “plays 
against  the  lines”  of  what  the  story  is  saying.  The  story 
is  saying  that  there  should  be  rio  nonsense  about  Negroes 
voting. 

'  .  Village  Evangelism _  j 

Griffith  alarmed  both  races  and  all  politicians.  They 
saw 'that  such  artisry  could  persuade  millions  of  good 
folk -to  belief  that  the  worst  was  not  only  the  best  course, 
but  the  only  course:  The  rankest  kind  of  redneck  primitive- 
riess  emerges  ;  Griffith’s  stardusted  story-teliing,  ais 
sweet  reasonableness.  He  played  fast  and*  loose  with  social 
dynamite. 

The  director  was  fated  to  expose  his  strain  of  village 
evangelism  in  features  he  made  many  years  after  "The 
Birth  of  A  Nation.:”  In  one  memorable  turkey  (and  he 
made  several  at  the  unfortunate  end  of  his  career)  Grif¬ 
fith  took  up.  arms  against  Demon  Rum  His  push  for 
.  touchdown  iii  this  instance  caused  him  to.  topple  a  digni¬ 
fied  .  gentleirian  in  a  white  suit,  and,  of  course,  sodden 
drunk,  into  a  sty  to  wallow  there  on  camera,  among  the 
Audiences  howled  in  derision. 

In  defending  the  race  slants  in  “Birth”  Griffith  defied 
his  critics  to  prove  “the  facts”  were  un  rue.  Race  re- 
latronists  have  usually  answered  that  the  truth  of  the 
facts  Avas  not  what  counted  politically  or  practically: — 
hut  ho\v  they  were  arranged,  and  presented,  and  in¬ 
terpreted,  what  purpose,  “the  facts”  were  made  to  serve* 
Just  here  Tstill  lies  the  ultimate  “moral”  for  showmen. 

Negro  leaders,  and  riiariy  social  scientists,  assert  that  the 
1915  blockbus-er  flooded  the  North  with  the  Southern 
point  of  view’  arid  that  the  release  of  the  film  was  there¬ 
fore  an  act  of  the  highest  political  significance.  Historians 
believe  that  the  saturation  playoff  of  the  epic  during 
1915  and  1916  clearly  “colored”  the  Immigration  Act  of 
1917:  The  revival  of  the  Klu  Klux  Klan  a  few  years  later 
is  commonly  related  to  the  film — though  it  is  interest¬ 
ing  to  remark  that  the  latterday  Klan  broadened  its 
pattern  of  prejudice  to  include  Jews  and  Catholics. 

Those  Negro  Customers  \ 

Time  has  Avorkcd  notable  switches  with  respect  to  the 
Negro.  Now  an  important  segment  of  the  economy,  num¬ 
bering  15,000,000  and  known  to  be  responsive  to  motion 
pictures,  which  interest  them,  there  is  a  growing  tendency 
among  Hollywood  producers  to  “cater”  to  this  market. 

Film  theatres  in  the  Dixie  belt  continue  preponder¬ 
antly  segregated,  though  exceptions  in  the  bigger  urban 
centres  have  multiplied..  The  significant  point  is  that 
though  the  South  is  40^  of  the  domestic  playoff,  pro¬ 
ducers'  have  deliberately  risked  the  loss,  or  reduction  of 
the  South  for  the  boxoffice  value  of  <a>  the  northern  in¬ 
dustrial  situations  and  (bv  the  overseas  audiences.  In  Eu¬ 
rope,  in  Asia,  in  the  Pacific  Islands  and  in  some  parts  of 
Africa,  films  treating  Negro  prpblefns  or  starring  Negro 
personalities  are  conspicuously  popular. 

All  sort  of  odd  tangents  may  be  remarked  in  terms  of 
the  American  Negro  entertainer  today.  40  years  after  D, 
W.' Griffith.  Take  the .  curious  reliance  of  a  swank  hotel 
like  the  Waldorf-Astoria .  upon  a  succession  of  lughpow- 
ered  black  performers.  Or  ponder  the  implication  that 
our  U.S.  State  Dept,  .  has  repeatedly  sponsored  foreign 
tours  of  Negro  jazz  groups,  Negro  operatic  singers  and 
the  Negro  folk  opera.  “Porgy  and  Bess  ” 

Jii  adapting  and  casting  “Pqrgy  and  Bess”  for  the  forth¬ 
coming  Samuel  Goldwyn  film  version,  it  is  already  clear 
that  many  delicacies  must  be  skirted.  Indeed  the  scenarist 
has  been— he  has  complained — showered  with  gratuitous 
advice  lest  he  trip  on  soriie  of  booby  traps  oi*  racial 
Stereotyping. , 

Race  emotionalism  \vas  in  his  day.  and  is  now.  com¬ 
mercial,  but  also  fissionable.  “Birth”  renders  a  one-sided 
argument  yet  what  it  says  is  realistic  enough.  It  is  the 
stuff  of  today’s  headlines  and  editorials.  I  lie  gear-box 
lubrication  of  modeni.  Congressional  filibusters. 

Griffith’s  Klansrnen  turning,  back  tlie  Negroes  at  the 
polls,  as  “The  Birth  of  A  Nation”  fades  out.  has  a  start¬ 
ling*  parrallel  to  the  Little  Rock  mob  of  1957  turning  back 
the:  Negro  pupils  at  the  high  school  portals. 

So  the  great  lesson  of  Griffith  in  1915,  and  more  re¬ 
cently  of  Veit  Harlan’s  “Jew  Suss,”  is  that  showmanship 
enters  the  area  of  race  feeling  at  its  own  peril.  Harlan 
admits .  he  knew ,  the  gun  was  loaded.  Griffith  insisted 
upon  his  own  at-ieast-partial.  innocence 

Today  -ignorance  of:  the  laws  of  group  reaction  could, 
at  this  level  of  sophistication,  hardly  pass  as  an  excuse. 


16 


PICTURES 


Fifty-second  f/fijfe tSfY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


Trippingly  On  the  Tongue 

(Or  Need  Actors  Suffer  So  Much  * Laryngitis 9?) 


By  SIMON  R.  MITCHNECK,  Ph  D. 


We  are  breeding  a  race  of  hoarse  players.  There 
is  a  basic  misunderstanding  between  intelligibility 
and  audibility.  Before  the  microphone  on  the  sound- 
stage,  when  an  actor  is  not  understood,  the  sound¬ 
man  will  say,  “Speak  up  ”  On 
the  legitimate  stage,  he  will  be 
told  by  the  director,  “Speak 
louder.”  I  have  listened  to:  the 
soundmans  request  and  to  the 
director’SjCOmmand,  and  realized 
they  both  are  wasting  their 

breath.  "Each  one  concerned 
should  examine  the  structure 

and  phonology  of  our  language 

I  I  an<*  derive  from  there  the  cure 

for  the  evils  besetting  the 

vmJr  JEEbI  spoken  word. 

Ever  since  I  departed  from 

Simon  R.  Mitchneck  the  shelter  of  Columbia  U.  as 

a  language  instructor,  and  dared  the  open  battle-, 
fields  of  Hollywood  and  Broadway,  I  have  watched 
with  wonder  arid  admiration  the  startling  progress 
.  made  in  every  branch  of  the  performing  arts— every 
branch  except  speech..  This  is.  a  subject  not  dis¬ 
cussed  any  more  than  the  queen’s  virtue — until  the 
public  discovers  that  the  beauteous  star  is  shrill 
when  she  is  supposed  to  be  gentle,  unintelligible 
When  the  very  heart  of  a  scene  depends  on  what 
can  be  gleaned  from  her  words;  or  that  the  matinee 
idol  sounds  like  a  ranting  blusterer.  It  would  seem 
that  much  of  o.ur  casting-  is  done  according  to  face 
or  bosom,  according  to  jaw  or  muscle,  with  the 
hope  that,  the  voices  will  follow  the  author’s  in¬ 
tentions  and  the  director’s  dictates.  For  in  the  the¬ 
atre  and  cinema,  where  people  gather  for  a  com¬ 
munal  experience,  in  television,  where  the  actors 
come  into  the  spectator’s  home,  the  ear  is  assaulted 
by  excessive,  volume  or  uncontrolled  resonance, 
both  making  for  blurred  and  unintelligible  speech. 
Why  do  players  “shout”  on  our  stages? 


1 


Th  e  L  and  the  F 


Intelligibility  in  English  depends  on  enunciation, 
articulation  or  distinctness  of  certain  letters  which 
have  deteriorated  in  the  speech  of  the  United  States. 
The  pronunciation  of  certain  letters  is  involun¬ 
tary,  that  is,  they  get  themselves  pronounced  re¬ 
gardless  of  the  speaker’s  diligence  or  lack  of  it.  But 
in  other  letters  the  process  i£  voluntary,  and  the 
actor  must  make  conscious  adjustments  of  the 
speech  organs  before  these  sounds  are  heard.  The 
letter  L  is  one  of  them,  F  is  another.  And  there 
are  a  few  mote.  Many  Americans,  including  actors, 
who  should  have  perfect  control  of  their  speech 
mechanism,  have. lost  the  facility  to  pronounce  these 
ietters.  Furthermore,  the  voiceless  consonants,  such 
and  P  and  T,  Where  there  is  no  vibration  of  the 
vocal  cords,  are  completely  lost  in  space  unless 
stressed.  I  am  often  told  by  Students  at  the  Dra¬ 
matic  Workshop  and  by  some  professional  actors 
imbued  With  “Methods,”  that  preoccupation  with 
speech  problems  will  interfere  with  their  acting. 
This  is  mere  subterfuge.  Is  there  a  more  important 
component  of  acting  than  speech?  Besides,  speech 
originates  in  the  brain,  and  thought  travels  faster 
than  sound.  If  the  player  will  direct  his  mind  toward 
clarity  ,  of  expression  his  speech  organs  "will  follow 
quicker  than  he  can  wink. 

The  baneful  result  of  “speaking  up”  and  -  of 


But  Investigate 

By  HY  HOLLINGER 

The  owners,  lessees  and  opera¬ 
tors  of  brick-and-mortar  exhibition ! 
sites  could  hardly  enthuse  in  1957 
over  tollvision,  including  the  sev¬ 
eral  “cable,  theatre’*  variations 
wherein .  there  was  supposed  to  be 
a  future  for  film  exhibitors. 
Stripped  of  all  euphemisms  and 
hnppy-talk,  parlor-meter  is  a  Subr 
stitute  for,  and  implies  the  demise 
or.  the  physical  cinema  with  its 
ticket-seller  and  ticket-taker. 

Congenital  distaste  of  the.  vet¬ 
eran  house  operators  was  expressed;, 
in  November  at  Miami,  whence  the 
*  ;mpoverished”  exhibitors:  gath-! 
ered  in  annual  convention.  There 
the  Theatre  Owners  Of  America, 
after  a  full  day  of  debate,  “re¬ 
solved”  that  home-toll  in  any  form 
spelled  economic  convulsions  and 
terminus;  The  film  men  said  “no 
thanks.” 

Regional  film  exhibitor  conven¬ 
tion  also  haye  hotly  debated  and 
discussed  the  subject  of  feevee. 
Many  theatre  chains,  as  they,  ob¬ 
served  the  experiment  in  Bartles¬ 
ville,  Okla.,  petitioned  municipal 
authorities  for  franchises  to  oper¬ 
ate  a  cable  system  of  “home 
movies”  when  and  if  it  became 
feasible  but  they  were  reluctant 
converts. 


“speaking  louder”  has  been  hoarseness  for  many  of 
our  notable  actors  arid  actresses.  The  announce¬ 
ments  that  such  and  such  a  player  has  laryngitis, 
that  another  has  bronchitis,  and  that  a  third  ,  suf¬ 
fers  from  another  form  of  itis  which  prevent  them 
from  appearing— all  these  respiratory  ailments  stem 
mostly  from  straining  the  Voice  to  the  point  of 
injury,  Sometimes  beyond  repair.  If  a  player  gives 
six  to  eight  performances  a  week  arid  shouts  in 
every  brie  of  them,  he  will  end  up  without  a  voice 
or  with  an  unpleasant  one.  Diverse  methods  of 
breathing,  posture,  and  looking  into  the  mirror  while 
practicing  certain  sounds  have .  received  undue  or 
wrorig  emphasis  to  the  exclusion  of  the  more  basic 
knowledge  how  to  Control  the  alphabet,  which,  after 
all,  makes  up  words,  lines,  and  language.  An  actor 
rarely  has  a  speech  so  long  arid  uninterruptible  that 
he  cannot  Smuggle  in  a  breath  when  needed. 

The  finest  example  of  clarity  with  ease  during 
the  current  season  is  Florence  Eldridge  iri  “Long 
Day’s  Journey  Into  Night.”  At  no  time  does  she 
strain  or  shout.  The  spectator  has  the  impression 
that  her  mind,  and  not  her  diaphragm,  guides  her 
speech  organs.  In  “The  Time  of  the  Cuckoo,”  on 
Which  I  was  speech  consultant,  I  was  impressed  by 
the  lucidity  of  ever word  uttered  by  Shirley  Booth 
in  every  part  of  the  three  theatres  we  played  in. 
When  I  asked  her  mow  she  achieved  this,  her  ans¬ 
wer  was,  “jrorh  here,”  as  she  pointed  to  the  front 
of  the  mouth,  where  control  over  many  letters  is 
exercised. .  When  asked,  the  late  Enzio  Pinza  dur¬ 
ing  “Fariny”  how  he  breathed,  he  answered:  “I  don’t 
think  about  it.”  Opera  training?  He  let  nature 
help  him  there  as  We  strove  to  change  his  singing 
technique  to  a  speaking  technique  and  concentrated 
on  the  letters .  which  composed  the  words  spoken. 
The  result  was  comfort  for  his  throat  and  for  the 
ears  of  the  audience.  In  the  plays  “Anastasia,”  and 
“Romanoff,  and  Juliet,”  too,  with  international  casts 
and  the  whole  gamut  of  emotiori,  I  worked  for 
clarity,  without  the  hysterical  screaming  that  con¬ 
stitutes  so  many  of  our  performances.  And  the 
approach  was  always  from  the  linguistic  angle. 

Other  major  causes  of  unintelligibility  on  our 
stages  are  accented  parts,  spoken  by  foreigners  or 
by  natives  assuming  a  foreign  accent.  The  United 
States  is  the  only  country  in  the  world  in  whose 
pictures  foreign  players  appear  in  stellar  or  prin¬ 
cipal  roles  not  spoken,  in  their  own  language  but 
in  English — whatever  their  competence  in  it.  The 
impression  of  fluency  a  foreign  actor  may  give  dur¬ 
ing  a  conversation  or  an .  interview  often  turns  into 
sheer  gibberish  in  a  performance.  Some  appear  to 
flail  their  arms  like  a  windmill  to  the  sound  of 
Donald  Duck.  So  many  of  them  are  shipwrecked 
on  our  shores  because  the  talent  they  showed  in 
their  native  country  is  lost  in  a  Careless  transition 
to  another  language.  An  immense  amount  of  Care 
and  compensation  is  needed  in  order  to  make  them 
intelligible  both  linguistically  and  emotionally. 

In  my  work  with  Michelle  Morgan  and  Ingrid 
Bergman,  with  Charles  Boyer  and  Jean  Pierre  Au- 
mont,  and  many  others  whose  speech  I  doctored, 
minute,  almost  surgical  care  Was  necessary  in  order 
to  give  their  delivery  clarity  and  authority.  And 
never  was  there  need  to  make  them  raise  their 
(Continued  on  page  34) 


Hon  To  Look  At  Monies 

[A  Guide  For  The  Unperplexed] 

By  LOUIS  LASCO 


Hollywood. 

.  Practically  all  art  forms  have 
elicited  books  on  how  to  appreciate 
their  creations.  How-to-read-ar 
book  books  flood  the  library 
shelves.  Books  on  how  to  appre¬ 
ciate  painting,  sculpture,  music, 
architecture,  ballet,  etc.  abound. 
Even  now  the  publishers  are  put¬ 
ting  out  a  book  on  how  to  appre¬ 
ciate  books  about  book  apprecia¬ 
tion.  Therefore  one  must  conclude 
it  an  abominable  circumstance  that 
there  is  no  book  on  how  to  look  at 
movies,  or  more  to  the  point,  how 
to  endure  them. 

I  have,  not  too  presumptuously 
I  hope,  taken  it  upon  myself  to 
blaze  this  trail.  And  if  this  hum¬ 
ble  pioneer  shall  have  proven  him¬ 
self  inadequate  to  the  task, .  he  is 
solaced  by  the  knowledge  that 
surer  hands  will  take  up  the  Teins. 

The  movie  patron  having  pur¬ 
chased  his  ticket  enters  the  lobby, 
where  he  .  is  confronted  by  a  sali¬ 
vating  display  of  confectionery 
Which,  to  his  later  regret,  induces 
him  to  fling  aside  all  caution. .  He 
takes  his  seat  burdened  with  suf¬ 
ficient  dextri-maltose  to  see  him 
through  a  prolonged  era  of  famine. 

The  -  lights  dim.  The  music, 
Which  has  been  enchanting  the 
audience  and  is  all  too  often  the 
most  memorable  portion  of  the 
evening,  now  diminishes  and  fades 
out.  The  picture’s  title  is  an¬ 
nounced.  on  the  screeii,  which, 
seems  superfluous  because  the.  pa¬ 
tron  certainly  has  known  all  along 
what  he  is  to  see. 

There  follows  a  .  procession  of 
screen  credits  which,  more  prob¬ 
ably  through  oversight  rather  thari 
deliberation,  omits  the.  names  of 
the  studio  police.  Actually  this 
need  not  be  a  tedious  time  if  the 
imaginations  of  the.  producers  were 
stoked  to  a  degree  where  they 
might,  among  other  possibilities,' 
add  biographical  tidbits  alongside 
the  credits,  such  as— 

PRODUCED  BY 
ROSCOE  TREMAINE 
Twice  divorced— Analyzed 
Vienna  ’49 
WRITTEN  BY 

STURDEVANT  DEGLOPPER 
Real  name — Tony  Fantutti — 

Is  totally  bald 
STARRING 
GLADYS  GEVALT 
Unpadded,  measures  12-14-16— 
Avid  admirer  of  Chris  Marlowe 
COSTARRING 
BRADLEY  PUMISTON 
Has  shoe  fetish — Favorite  food, 
pumpkin  seeds 

This  would  breathe  a  little  life 


SIIIRLEY  MacLAINE 


“THE  MATCHMAKER” 
Paramount 


“HOT  SPELL*1 
Paramount 
N.B.C.— TV 


“8HEEP  MAN’* 

M.G.M, 


into  the  credits  arid  keep  the  audi¬ 
ence  awake.  But  change  comes 
slowly  to  the  industry.  And  so  the 
somnolence  of  the  producers  is 
matched  only  by  the  snoring  of  the 
audience. 

In  the  following  paragraphs  we 
shall  deal  with  the  “familiar  mov¬ 
ie”  endeavoring  to  clarify  and  of¬ 
fer  changes  to  cinematic  situations 
whose  real  significance  is  usuaUy 
lost  to  the;  average  moviegoer. 

Let  us  consider  the  western.  In¬ 
evitably  occurs  the  scene  of  the 
sundown  gun  duel  with:  the  antag¬ 
onists  slowly  advancing:  on  one  an¬ 
other  down  a  deserted  street.  We 
know  from  countless  previous 
meetings  with  this  bowlegged  tab¬ 
leau  that  in  a  few  moments  the  vil¬ 
lain’s  left  ventricle  will  play  host 
to  the  hero’s  expertly  aimed  bullet, 
leaving  our  adrenalin  action  at 
normal. 

How  salutary  if,  at  this  time, 
narrator’s  voice  over  the  action  un¬ 
obtrusively  declaimed:  —  “Ladies 
arid  gentlemen,  the  excessively 
slow  pace  employed  by  the  com¬ 
batants  is  rTOt  voluntary  but  a  ger¬ 
iatric  condition.  Both  men  have 
term  contracts  so  the  producer  had 
no  choice.  It  might  interest  you  to 
know  that  Yardley  Fumes  playing 
the  role  of  Brett  Wells,  just  out  of 
prep  school,  is  62  years  old.  If  you 
look  closely  when  he  draws  you 
can  see  a  slight  bulge  in  his  sleeve, 
where  a  surgical  device  is  con¬ 
cealed..  Incidentally,  should^  you 
care  to  transfer  your  attention,  the 
little  hill  just  left  of  the  saloon 
presents  a  most  absorbing  polished 
rock  formation,  a  likely  remnant 
pf  the  Neolithic  Age/’ 

Orie  of  the  classic  scenes  of  the 
screen  library,  which  comes  up  as 
often  as  an  onion  . ring  dinner,  is 
the  scorned  woman  flattening  her¬ 
self  against  the  door,  slammed  shut 
by  her  displeased  lover  or  hus¬ 
band:  Then  she  either,  slides  to  the 
floor  or  hurls  herself  upon  the  bed, 
in  either  case  breaking  into  sobs 
of  mushrooming  volume,  giving  the 
.effect  of  'Stereophonic  sound. 

Such  a  reaction  Is  hardly  com¬ 
mensurate  with  the  emotional  dis¬ 
tress.  The  scene  would  enjoy  more 
impact  if  the  heroine  having  the 
door  closed  on  her,  rushed  to  the 
vanity  case,  withdrew  a  hand  gre¬ 
nade,  pulled  out  the  pin  with  her 
incisors,,  and  either  firing  it  out 
the  window  or  swallowed  it.  Now 
instead  of  an  immature,  shallow 
whimperer,  you  have  a  heroine  of 
stature,  depth,  with  guts  arid  fire¬ 
power. 

How  aborit  the  old  standby  of 
prison  pictures?  I  mean  the  one 
where  the  disgruntled  prisoner  Is 
raking  the  cell  bars  With  a  chair 
leg.  Here  is  another  Opportunity 
for  our  narrator  to  shed  some  light. 
“Ladies  and  gentlemen,  you  may 
think  Rocky  is  expressing  his  dis¬ 
satisfaction  with  the  prison  menu7 
or  the  guards*  lack  of  social  graces. 
Not  at  all.  Anyone  who  has  brushed 
against  a  book  pn  analysis  will  im¬ 
mediately  recognize  a  subconscious 
xylophone  frustration.” 

Another  scene  of  galling  fre¬ 
quency  occurs  when  the  husband, 
entering  a  bar,  spies,  his  Wife  hold¬ 
ing  hands  with  a  stranger,  appar¬ 
ently  about  two  highballs  away 
from  adultery.  Does  he  tush  over, 
slug  the  interloper  and  drag  his 
wife  home  by  the  hair?  Hardly.  In¬ 
stead  he  whips  out  a  cigaret,  lights 
it  very  deliberately,  blows  a  smoke 
ring  and  departs.  Seems  to  be  4 
case  of  .  where  a  man's  best  friend 
is  his  filter-tip.. 

The  prisoner  about  to  be  led  to 
the  gas.  chamber  is  offered  a  last 
request.  Does  he  murmur  ^  wom¬ 
an's  name  or  ask  for  a  favorite 
book?  No,  he  begs  the  warden  for 
a  last  Camel. 

Or  the  hero  who  has  jrist  rescued 
a  damsel  from  a  treacherous  icy 
undertow.  The  logical  thing  is  td 
beat  a  hasty  march  into  the 
house  and  turn  up  the  steam  heat. 
So  what  does  he  do?  Sits  shivering 
and  crosslegged  on  the  wet  sand 
and  lights  up  a  Lucky. 

It’s  high  time  the  candy  people 
got  wise  to  this  cigaret  monopoly. 
Personally  I'd  find  it  a  relief  if 
the  hero,  instead  of  a  cigaret  pack, 
pulled  out  a  Tootsie  Roll.  Anyway, 
I'm  a  cigar smoker  and  can't  iden¬ 
tify  with  cigarets.  Goodnight. 


January  8, 1558 


Fifty-second  Anniversary 


PICTURES  17 


Progress  in  Fight  Against  Book 
Censorship  By  Police  and  DAs 


By  HORACE  S.  MANGES 

(Weil,  Gotshal  &  Manges,  counsel  to  .American  Book 
Publishers  Council) 


It  I  -were  a  VARiETYician 
stead  of  a  lawyer,  .  I  would  have 
captioned  this  stint  “Mich,  Courts 
Nix -Cops’  and  Probers’  Book-Ban¬ 
ning  Trix/’  But  since  I  .must  also 
observe  “legalese”  propriety,  I 
have  used  a  more  formal  entitli  .  j 
In  any  event;  I  hope  that  by  this  ■' 
time  my  topic  is  clear.  j 

The  lawful  method  of  banning 
publications  on  the  ground  of  .  ob-j 
steisty,  conformity  ’ith  the 

Constituti  by  a  trial  in  the  / 

courts.  In  this  way  the  decision  ' 
as  to  whether  a  publication  is  or  is  I 
not  obscene  is  made  by  a  judge.; 
and  jury,  or  by  a  judge  alone,  de¬ 
pending  on  the  law  involved. 
Unfortunately,  however,  within 
recent  years  a  new  method  of  ef- : 
fecting  censorship,  has  been  devel¬ 
oped  by.  the  police  arid  by  district ; 
attorneys,  -which  bypasses  the  con-  :• 
Stitutional  method  just  referred  to.  : 
•Mr,  Police  Chief  or  Mr.  District 
Attorney  tin  some,  localities  called 
Prosecutor)  announces  that  in  hi 
opinion  specific  publication  is 
obscene.  The  effect  of  such  pro-  ' 
nouncement  is  readily  predictable. 
He  need  not  even  add  that  any 
distributor  will  be  arrested,  .al¬ 
though  sometimes  'he  does  fortu’t-  j 
ously  fur  ish  that  information.  As.:, 
a  result,  the  publication  is  usually 
withdrawn  from  sale  at  once,  since 
the  distributor  Is  ready  to  forego 
hie,  lodcst  profit  on  the  publican 
tioii  involved  and  turn  to  c.  npri-con- 
troversial  one,  rather  than  risk  the. 
possible  stigma  of  a  conviction. 
Thus,  th  work  is  banned  from  sale 
just  as  effectively  as  if  a  court- 
after  a  full  trial— had  found  it  to 
be  obscene,  merely  On  the  say-so 
of  a  police  official  or  a  prosecutor, 
who  in  most  instances  is  yielding 
to  the  wilt-  of  private  pressure 
groups:  -This  is  a  pernicious  prac¬ 
tice,  utterly  .in  violation  of  consti¬ 
tutional  rights;  but  it’s  by  far  the 
quickest  and  the  easiest  method  for 
a  police  commissioner  or  a  district 
attorney  to  obtain  effective  action. 

Twice  within  the  last  year  and  a 
half  did  such  extra-legal  banning 
take  place  in.  Michigan,  and  twice 
it  was  successfully  stopped.  One 
of.  these  cases  arose /  in  Detroit 
where  Police  Commissioner  Ed¬ 
ward  S.  Piggins  announced  that 
John  O’Hara’s  National  Book 
Award  winning  novel,  .“Ten.  North 
Frederick.”  was  obscene  and  that 
sellers  would,  be.  prosecuted.  Ran¬ 
dom  House;  .publisher  Of  the  hard¬ 
bound  edition,  and  Bantam  Books, 
publishers  of  the  paper-bound  edi¬ 
tion.  thereupon  brought,  twin  suits 
to  enjoin  the  Police  Commissioner. 
.After  a  joint  hearing,  Judge  Carl 
M.  Weideman  of  the  Michigan 
State  Circuit  Court  granted  to.  the 
publishers  temporary  injunctions 
pending  trial,  enjoining  the  Com¬ 
missioner  from  “banning”  the  sale 
of  the  book.  These  injunctions,  of 
course, /did  not  prevent  the  Com¬ 
missioner  from  arresting  sellers  in 
the  manner.,  provided  by  law. 


Constitutional  Rights _ 

In  making  his  .  rulings.  Judge 
Weideman  significantly  upheld  the 
contention  of  the  publishers  that 
the  obscenity  or  non-obscenity  - of 
the  book  objected  to  by  the  Police 
Commissioner  had  absolutely  . noth¬ 
ing  whatever  to  do- with  the  issue 
involved— Which  was  whether  the 
.Commissioner’s  conduct  had  violate 
cl  the  constitutional  rights  of  the 
publ  ishers.  Commissioner  Piggins 
appealed  from  the  granting  of  the 
temporary  injunctions  (which  took 
place  in  March,  1957)  but  later  he 
abandoned  . these  appeals.  The  trials 
pf.  the  cases,  involving  the  right  of 
the  publishers  to  permanent  in¬ 
junctions.  are  expected  to  be 


reached  during  the  first  half  of 
1958. 

The  second  of  these  cases  took 
place  in  Michigan’s  Port  Huron. 
There, .  back  in  the  fall  of  1956, 
St.  Clair  County  Prosecutor  Wilbur 
Hamm  announced  ,  that  he  was 
recognizing  the  list  of  “Publica¬ 
tions  Disapproved”  issued  by  the 
Detroit  Branch  of  the  National  Of¬ 
fice  for  Decent  Literature,  a  screen¬ 
ing  organization  under  the  sponsor¬ 
ship  pf  the  Catholic  Bishops  of. 
the  U.S.,  and.  he  asked  the  two 
local  wholesale  distributors  of  pa¬ 
per-bound  books  to  discontinue 
selling  those  books.  As  a  result, 
over  400  books  were  immediately 
removed  from  sale  in  .Port  Huron, 
that  again  the.  public  was  de^ 
prived  of  the  right  to  read  publica¬ 
tions  which  had  not  been  adjudicat¬ 
ed  obscene  in  the  courts 

Once  more  an  injunction  was- 
sought,  this  time  by  five  publishers 
of  paper-bound  books,  to  wit.  Pop¬ 
ular  Library,.  Bantam  Books,  Dell, 
Pocket  Books,  ar.d  the  New  Arner- 
ular  Library.  Bantam /Bocks.  Doll 
brought  in  the  U..  S,,  District  Court 
in  Detroit,  where  Judge  Thomas  P. 
Thornton  held  the  publishers’  ap¬ 
plication  for  a  temporary  injunc¬ 
tion  for  more  than  seven  months 
without  rendering  any  decision. 
But  when  the  case  was  called  for 
a  pre-trial .  hearing  in  May,.  1957,. 
the  defendaint  prosecutor,  follow¬ 
ing.  Judge  Weidemari’s  sharp  ad¬ 
monition  against  non-judicial  cen¬ 
sorship  in  the  ‘TO  North, Frederi  c”. 
cases, ’  decided  to  capitulate  and 
consented  to  the  Granting  of  a 
permanent  injunction  in  the  verv 
form  demanded  by  the  publishers 
in  their  complaint. 

.[  Legal  Right  To  Threaten  \ 


ment  is  that  in  these  claimed  ob¬ 
scenity  cases  we  are  not  dealing 
with  the  alleged  commission  of  an 
ordinaiy  crime.  In  the  case  of  an 
ordinary  crime,  such  as  arson  or 
assault,  whether  or  not  the  law 
has  been  violated  can  be  objective¬ 
ly  determined  by  a  law  enforce¬ 
ment  officer,  be  he  policeman  or 
prosecutor;  the.  mere  threat •  of 
prosecution  will  not,  of  itself  re¬ 
sult  in  a  deprivation  of  a  constitu¬ 
tional  right,  such  as.  freedom  of 
the  press.  , 

For  example,  consider  a  case  in-, 
volving  the  crime  pf  arson— a 
policeman  sees  a  person  about,  to 
burn  down  a  house.  He  may  prop¬ 
erly  threaten  that  person  with  ar¬ 
rest  for  arson  if  he  should,  start 
the  fire.  In  so  doing,  the  nor  re¬ 
man  is  not  making  a  subjective 
decision  which,  causes  a  v'  iation 
of  any  constitutional  right.  .How¬ 
ever,  When  a  law  enforcement  of¬ 
ficer  issues  a  statement  that  he  re¬ 
gards  a  publication  to  be  obscene, 
the  effect  of  that  announcement  is 
usually  to  cause  the  withdrawal,  of 
the  publication  from  sale  and  thus 
destroy  the  constitutional  right  of 
freedom,  of  the  press — merely  be¬ 
cause  of  the  officials  subjective, 
judgment,,  which  may  or  may  not 
be  based  upon  judicially  accepted 


standards. 

Nor  can  Mr.  Police  Chief  or  Mr. 
District  Attorney  bolster  his  posi- 
.  tion  by  pointing  out  that  the  TJ.  S. 

!  Supreme  Court  (Roth  V.  U.S.)  re- 
|  iterated  last  June  that  material, 
legally  determined  to  be  obscene  is 
:  not  entitled  to  the  protection  of 
i  freedom  of  the  press  as  guaranteed 
by  the  Federal  Constitution.  The 
answer  is  that  the  Supreme  Court 
was  talking  about  cases  where,  i  o- 
scenity/ had  .  already  been  found  by: 
'a  Court,;  while  in  the  cases  involv¬ 
ing  censorship  by.  Police  Chiefs  and 
District  Attorneys,  there  has  been 
no  determination  of  obscenity  by. 

n::  covi In  other  words.  t’-'a 
appropriate,  tribunal  which  should 
be  doing  the.  adjudigating  as  to 
whether,  a  publication  i$  obscene, 
and  which  would  be  deciding  that 
question  only  after  a  full  and  i**iv 
trial,  has  been  effectively  ousted 
.  from  jurisdiction.  Clearly;  the  ar¬ 
gument  in  favor  of  informal  book- 
banning  by  short-circuiting  the 
..courts  is  unsound. 

The  two  cases  described  above 
show  progress  in  1957  in  the  fight 
against  nori-judicial  banning  of 
publications.  Let  up  hope  that  they 
will  encourage  everyone  interested 
in  freedom  of  the  press  not  to  take. 
“Cops’  arid  Probers’”  censorship 
lying  dpvv 


Beer/  Shop  Hours  &  TV 

By  NORMAN  B.  RYDGE 

(CJiairinan  &  Managing  Director  of  Greater  Union  Theatres 1 


In  these  cases  it  is  usually  the 
contention  of  the  police  commis¬ 
sioner  or.  the  district  attorney  that 
since  he  has  the  power,  to  enforce 
the  law,  he  likewise  has  the  power 
to  threaten  to  enforce  it;  and  that 
this  is  all  he  is  doing  in  announc¬ 
ing  that  he  regards  a  specific  pub¬ 
lication  as.  obscene  and  that  he 
will  arrest  any  seller. 

The  vulnerability  of  this  argu- 


Sydney,  . 

.Australia’s  Cinema  faces  the  be¬ 
ginning  bf  the  most  decisive,  fiye- 
'  year  period  in  its  history— a  period 
'  Which  will  determine  the  mark-up 
j  or  write-down  value  of  many  mil¬ 
lions  of  pounds  of  capital  invested 
j  over  the  past  40  years.  We  are 
j  plunging  into  the  storm,  and  ;stress 
'so  painfully,  familiar  to  showmen 
j  of  the  United.  States  and  United 
j  Kingdom — the  battle  for  the  pub¬ 
lic’s  leisure  time  arid  spending 
|  money  against  intensified;  competi¬ 
tion  from  television,  the  automo- 
ibile,  the  ravages  of  Hire-Purchase, 
i  and  in  Australia’s  particular  , 
[longer  braiding  hours  and  expansion 
I  .of-  the  liquor  trade,  •.  .. 

Even  with  the  warnings  and  ex-., 
amples  from  overseas,  it  is  doubtful 
whether  the  Australian  film  indus¬ 
try  could  not  credit  the  speed  with 
which  the  video  boom  and  time 
payment  purchase  would  snowball, 
as  it  has  done  in  .  this  initial  12. 
months  of  its  existence  here. 

Reference  to  the  liquor  traide  as 
a  new  threat  to  the  cinema  is  worth 


noting  for  in  our  principal  state  of 
New'  South  Wales  its  inroads  on 
th*-.  hoxoffice  are  ali’eady  sub- 
stantiaL 

Trie  recent  extension  of  trading 
hourS;  from  6  to  10  p.m,  is  respon¬ 
sible  for  new.  social  habits  in  in¬ 
dustrial  communities  and  has  led 
to  a  vast  hotel  building  and  re¬ 
modelling  programme  to  provide 
luxury  .  indoor  .  beer  lounges  and. 
outdoor  beer  gardens  each  capable 
of.  accommodating  anything  .from 
400  to  as  many,  as  3,000  patrons 
with  free  live’  show  entertainment 
and  video  throw. 

Licensed  Workmen’s  clubs  are 
also  a  hew  form  of  cinema  opposi¬ 
tion.  The  government  has  granted 
licenses  to  hundreds  of  new  estab¬ 
lishments  .  in  city;  suburban  arid 
country  areas  which  operate  for 
profit  exclusively  on  liquor  sales 
arid  poker  machines,  and  also  offer 
live  show  eritertainmerit  for  a  nom¬ 
inal  membership  fee. 

These  beer  gardens  and  work¬ 
men’s  clubs  are  just  as  much  a  nov- 
(Continued  on  page  46) 


By  ROBERT  F.  HAWKINS 

Rome. 

Television,  high  taxes,  less  and 
weaker  product,  tightening  of 
production  funds,,  unscrupulous 
and/or  poor  production  methods— 
these  are  the  main  reasons  behind 
Italy  s  present  unstable  film  iridusf- 
try  situation,  reasons  cited  like  a 
ncver-uidirig  refrain  throughout., 
the  year  by  the  country’s  unhappy 
film  officials. 

On  the  surface,  things  at  year’s- 
end  looked  about  the  same.  Yank 
releases  continued  to  lead  the  pack 
with  a  dominant  63*-^  slice  of  the 
ma:ket  (with  .Italy  copping  29^ 
and  other  nations  8f<).  feature 
production  was  close  to  last  year’s 
total  of  130,  one-third  of.  them  in 
color  and  one-fourth  of  the  total 
made  as  co-productions  With  part¬ 
ner  countries  such  as  France.  Ger¬ 
many,  and  Spain;  imports  held  at 
about  300  for  the  twelvemonth. 

There  had  even  been,  signs  .of 
progress:  despite  the  tightness  of 
cash,  labs  had  been  updated  la- 
new  Technicolor  plant  is  now  ready 
outside  Rome);  new  theatres  had 
been  built  (with  the  trend  being 
towards  the  nabes  and  away  from 
city  centers),  other  showcases  mod¬ 
ernized;  Italian  feaiu  *es  have 
copped  an  unusual,  share  of  prizes 
at  world  festivals,  as  well  as  ap¬ 
plause  at  Italian  Filrii  Weeks  held 
everywhere;  physical  equipment 
row  totaled  50  sound  stages  around 
the .  country;  costs  had  been  low¬ 
ered  arid  one  picture.  “Poveri  Ma 
BeJli”  (Popr  But  Handsome)  (Ti- 
trhus),  produced  for  some  $100,- 
GfO.  is.  now  expected  to  gross 
..31/500,0.00  domestically,  $300,000 
mdre  abroad.  There  has  even  been 
a  successful  effort  to  weed  Com-, 
munist  film  workers  out  of  studios 
and  swing  them  to  the  free  unions, 
which  now  for  the  first  time  con¬ 
trol.  the  industry. 

' _  B.O.  In  Dropoff  [ 

But  the  danger  signs  lay  in  other 
allied  statistics.  Business,  industry 
toppers  reluctantly  admitted,  was 
off  ?  ywhere  from  5'r*  to  15 rf  de¬ 
pending  on  sector  and  period  of 
the  year,  though  exceptionally 
sharp  in  major  centers.  An  early 
estimate  at  this  writing  indicates 
that  total  Italian  gross  for  the  year 
could  be  some .  $>10,000-000  below 
last  year’s  $174,000,000  total.  Simi¬ 
larly,  the  total  of  tickets  sold  dur¬ 
ing  1957  dropped  from  790.000,000 
to  aii  estimated  .750.000  009.  These 
two  sets  of  figures  mark  the  first 
serious  drop  since  the  Italian  pic 
industry  started  on  its  phenomenal 
pos'-war  rise  several  years  ago. 

The  causes,  everyone  agreed, 
were  principally  tq  be  found  in 
television’s  zootn  to  the  top  Italian 
conversation  piece  and  in  the  high 
taxes  levied  on  pic  tabs.  1057  was 
the  year  Italy’s  video  set  total 
topped  700,000  (70.000  in  cafes  and 
other  crowded  public  places),  the 
year  it  hit  Italy’s  south  with  a 
bang,  the  year  Its  impact  began  to 
be  felt  several  nights  a  week,  rath¬ 
er  than  just  on  one  or  two  as  in 
previous  years.  As  for  taxes,  they 
a re  locally  considered  the  wo  Id’s 
highest,  often  reaching  75rr  of  the 
ticket  cost.  During  195S.  the  gov¬ 
ernment  collected  some  S47.000.000 
in  taxes,  gave  back  only  57.500.000 
in  aid  form. 


Fighting  Back 


ROBERT  RYAN 

“GOD’S  LITTLE  ACRE” 


<  To  help  fight  its  way  out  of  Trou- 
I  ble.  the  local  industry  formed  an 
.all-industry  committee  called  a 
“Coraitato  DTntesa/’  designed  to 
:  hard-sell  the  motion  picture  once 
i  more  to  the  Italian  public  all  along 
the  line,  (via  film  weeks,  increased 
press  coverage  etc.  ',  as  well 'as  to 
•  combat  the  tax  problem  via  re¬ 
peated  appeals  to  the  government, 
and  t  v  to  erect  whatever  barriers 
possible  against  the  oncoming 
vide .  invasion.  Soerificallv.  it 
called  in  government  intervention 
against  abuse  of  video  in  public 
r  places,,  where  it  is  changed  bar- 
:  keeriers  reap  extra  (and  taxfree) 

1  profits  to  the  specific  detriment  of 
j  theatreowners,  whose  tax  burden 
j  is  enormous. 

j  Lowering  of  costs  is  another 
facet  of  the  fight  back  up  the  lad- 


( Continued  on  page  61 ) . 


18 


PICTURES 


Fifty-second  p^RIETY  dnmvcrsary 


January  8, 1958 


Hamburg’s  Open  Fun  Front  Peddles 
Strip  Films  and  Girl  Mud  Wrestlers 


Hamburg. 

Allied  retaliation  bombs  wiped 
out  50%  of  Hamburg  but  it’s  now 
rebuilt  and  the  boom  town  of  Ger¬ 
man}  with  ultra-modern  structures, 
American  cars,  Parisian  chic,  plenty 
of  gaiety  and  some  of  the  most 
curious  amusements  in  Europe. 
This  is  the  site,  of  the  Reeperbahn 
fun  front  where  there  flourishes  in 
joint  after  joint  what  the  Germans 
vith  reverse-meaning  called  “Sit- 
tenfilme”  (moral  pictures). 

This  is  American  striptease 
turned  Teutonic,  in  the  wake  of  the 
conquest  of  Paris.  The  Parisians 
are  supposed  to  be  more  blase  but 
Hamburg  ‘  full  of  prosperous 
rubes.  The  quality  of  the  films  is 
crude.  The  “dolls”  are  mostly  a 
long  way  from  being  pretty. 

These  movies  (average  running 
time  5-10  minutes)  resemble  each 
other  like  two  pins.  A  dame  (some¬ 
times  two)  slowly  (very  slowly!  un¬ 
dresses  herself.  Then,  she  lingers 
around  for  a  while.  After  that,  she 
puts  on— with  obvious  devotion 
piece  by  piece — her  clothes  again; 
Much  attention,  of  course,  is  dedi¬ 
cated  to  dead-chic  (mostly  black) 
underwear. 

Hamburg’s  police  authorities  are 
liberal:  Elsewhere  in  Germany 
these  disrobings  sire  not  permitted 
In  Berlin,  for  example,  the  police 
rated,  them  la)  tasteless  (b)  primi¬ 
tive  but  tc)  the  clincher,  illegal. 

A  nightclub  owner  who  tried  to 

oppose  this  view  was  told  that  he 
risked  severe  punishment.  It  was 
n  j  argument  that  because  Hamburg 
showed  “Sittenfilme”  Berlin  should 
enjoy  the  same  privilege. 

Hamburg  is  not  without  its 
esthetes.  A  district  attorney  has 
reportedly  commented:  “Hamburg 
has  no  need  to  compete  with  Paris 
With  such  filthy  films.”  Apparently 
in  order  to  save  their  come-oh 
Hamburg’s,  nightclub  owners  are 
considering  a'  “voluntary  self-con¬ 
trol.”  Films  that  “go  too  far”  and 
insult  human  dignity,  to  put  the 
subject-matter  coyly,  would  be 
prohibited. 

Stripper  stuff  -s,  however,  only 
the  more  noticeable  detail  of  a 
rampant  night  life.  Some  of.Ree- 
perbahn’s  spots,  close  at  4  or  5  a.m., 
but  quite  a  few  are  operating  until 
7  a.m.  The  various  attractions  may 
not  always  be  called  exciting  but 
they  are  certainly  multi-sided. 
Take,  for  instance,  the  Bikini- 
Kabarett.  One  of  the  recent  bills, 
which  called  itself  “That.  Which 
the  World  Has  Never  Seen,” 
(rough  translation),  read  as  fol¬ 
lows: 

8;00— Sex-Nackt-Revue  (Nackt  goes 
for  nudes) 

8:15 — “Moral  Film*’ 

6:25 — Sex-Nackt-Revue 
5  00— Kora  BaUet  Dances 
9:15 — “Moral  Film” 

9:40— Sex-Nackt-Revue; 

10:05— Ladies  "Wrestling  In  Mud 
i0:35 — Alexander  Ballet 
J10:45 — “Moral  Film” 

11:00— Sex-NacktrRevue  , 

11:20— Ladies  Wrestling  In  Mud 
11:50 — “Moral  Film” 

0:15 — Sex-Nackt-Revue. 

0:50— Ladies  Wrestling  In  Mud- 
1:20 — Sex-Nackt-Revue 
2:00— “Moral  Film” 

2:10 — Ladies  Wrestling  In  Mud 
•  2:40— Sex-Nackt-Revue 
3:10 — “ Moral  film” 

3:30 — Kora  BaUet 


By  HANS  HOEHN 

has  also  hopped  on  the  striptease-] 
pix  wagon.  Plenty  of  them;  shown 
here.  Between  intermissions,  a  band 
takes  over. 

Cafe  Keese  is  the  most  elegant 
and  also  the  most  “serious”  spot. 
Prices  are  accordingly.  A  bottle  of 
wine  costs  at  least  20  Deutsch 
Marks;  same  bottle  ivould  cost  only 
a  tenth  that  in  an  ordinary  shop. 
Here,  Max  Schuette  and  his /orch 
(7)  supply  dansapation.  Customers 
obviously  are  well-heeled  business¬ 
men. 

Strolling  down  the  Reeperbalin, 
one  keeps  seeing  the  same  posters: 
Ladies  Wrestling  In  the  Mild,  Pa- 
risian  Underwear  Show,  Beauty 
Dances,  Horse,  Donkey  &  Camel 
Riding,  Naked  Girls’  Revues,  etc, 

A  typical  Reeperbahn  spot  is  also 
the  socailed .  Piraten-Cabaret  which 
offers  a  “Non-Stop  Pirates  Revue” 
— as  to  the  poster,  the  biggest  pL 
rate -show  all  over  the  world  with 
attractive  girls.  Every  night  until 
four  in  the  morning.  Noteworthy: 
Many  of  the  posters,,  leaflets,  signs  | 
etc.  are  printed  in  German  and 
English,  often  also  '  Swedish. 
Nightlife-starved  .Sveriskas  often 
find  their  way  to  this  German  sea¬ 
port. 

An  then  to  the  “Roxy.  The 
customer  is  amazed  at  being  served 
by  femmes  who  have  remarkably, 
deep  voices,  rather  ujly  libs  and  a 
strange  mincing  gait.  You  guessed 
it  Another  variation  of  a  qiieyr- 
joint  is  “Barcelona.”  Yet  this  has  a 
better  reputation,  as  reputations 
go. 

“Montmartre”  is  place  that 
tries  to  follow  the  Parisian  pattern 
With  a  burlesque  show  and  naked 
dancing  girls.  It  apes  entertainment 
people  are  seeing  /in  Paris  and 
other  renowned  metropoli. 

“Zillertal”  .  offers  .  Munich  beer 
festivities.  Musicians  wear  Leder- 
hrr  (leather  short  pants),  there 
are  plenty  of  Bavarian  folk  songs 
and  marches,  plus  suds  and  bock- 
wurst.  No  denying,  this  spot  has 
“Stimmung”  and  prices  are  very 
reasonable.  The  result:  Always] 
overcrowded  here. 

This  reporter  wTound  up  his  Ree 
perbahn  stroll  at  Cafe  .Lausen. 
Here,  he  saw  at  last  some  of  the 
prettier  girls.  One  of  the  latter 
gave:  the  explanation:  “Cafe  Lausen 
is  famous  for  its  beautiful  girls 
Really,  it  has  the  prettiest  girls  in 
town.”— “Will  the  price  be  accord¬ 
ingly?”  this  reporter  asked.— The 
girl  nodded.  “50  Marks  and  hotel 
room  extra.” — Quite  apparently, 


Stroll  In  Reeperbahn 


While  in  Hamburg,  this  Variety 
reporter  looked  up  about  15  of 
Reeperbahn’s  more  than  100  spots. 
After  the  “Bikini,”  he  went  to  the 
“Menke.”  Latter  consists  of  .  two 
places,  one  located  down — and  the 
other  upstairs.  The'  first  one  is 
“Existentialist  Cellar,”  sort  of  a 
Montmartre  cave.  Mostly  younger 
people  linger  around  here.  The 
music  is  strictly  Dixie.  Spot  is  open 
from  8  p.rh.  until  5  a.m.  which 
means  a  tough  job  for  the  mu*; 
s.cians.  The  place  upstairs  is  a 
regular  dance-cafe;  Since  it’s 
open  until  7 ;  a  m.  it  has  become 
a  favorite  hangout  fer  the  after- 
show  trade.  Many  musicians  who 
lake  music  somewhere  else  get  to¬ 
gether  here  for  an  early  (or  late) 
coffee  in  the  morning  hours.  Con-| 
sequently,  this  spot  registers  a  full 
house  until  7  aim.,  its  closing  hour. 

“Lilliput,”  a  few  steps  off  the 
“Menke,”  whose  reputation  also 
dates  back  for  many  decades  now 


they ..  have  plenty  of  customers; 
Mostly  businessmen. 

One  thing  is  clear:  In  Hamburg  | 
materialism  is  at  its  peak.  That 
starts  with  the  waitresses  and  man¬ 
agers,  who  try  to  talk  you  into  ac¬ 
cepting  table  company  (girls,  of 
course).  And  they  ask  for  the 
bubbly,  the  most  expensive  cigarets 
etc. 


By  EMIL  W.  MAASS 

Vienna. 

MGM-20th-Fox  as  well  as  Para¬ 
mount  and  Warners  look  back  on 
a  very  prosperous  year.  Business 
here  in  the  Austrian  capital  was 
very  good  and  the  same  was  the 
case  in  the  provi  While  offi¬ 
cial  statistics  of  the  film  industry 
show  that  the.  daily  attendance  of 
yienna  cinemas  dropped  in  the  first 
half  of  1957  against  the  record  for 
the  corresponding  period  of  1956, 
this  minus  is  more  than  Compen¬ 
sated  since  the  start  of  the  new 
season.  This  latter  improvement 
despite  that  admission  prices  were 
slightly  increased.  The  word  “in¬ 
creased”  is  perhaps  misleading, 
sinceradmissions  had  not  kept  pace 
with  the  general  upward  trend  -of 
the  price  structure — or  call  it  in¬ 
itiation,; 

He  makes  it  a  point  to  preem 
such  “high  art”  films  in  the  correct 
surroundings,  understanding  as 
correct  the  neighborhood  and  tra¬ 
dition  of  such,  houses.  This  film 
was  also,  a  hit  in  the  Styrian  capi¬ 
tal  Graz:  This  is-  especially  note¬ 
worthy. 

Of  the  most  topical  trade  ques¬ 
tion  of  1957— television  competi¬ 
tion— r  Wolfgang  Wolf  who  handles 
Metro!  and  20th  product,  replied, 
that  this  entertainment  medium 
had  so  .far  not  hurt  film  biz.  “We 
must  be;  however  on  the  look-out 
and  prepared.” 

Austrian  television  is  relaying 
soccer  matches.  Sunday  after¬ 
noons.  Youth  goes  into  .cafes  to 
see  games  so  there  must  be  some 
loss  of  attendance!. 


To  Those  ‘Premeers? 

By  COL.  BARNEY  OLDFIELD 


Colorado  Springs,  Colo. 

Once  going,  and  once  coming 
from  a  ghost  town  called  Virginia 
City,  Nevada,;  I  shared  a  compart¬ 
ment  with  a  N.  Y.  Herald  Tribune 
.contributor,  name  of  Lucius  Beebe. 

Even  though  it.  was  a  ground 
bound  train,  he  must  have  known 
the  Air  Force  would  eventually  get 
me — anyway,  he  waved  me  into 
the  upper  berth! 

The  reason  for  our  sardining  in 
this  vest-pocket  boudoir  oh  wheels 
was  a  Warner  Bros,  investment 
Called,  “Virginia  City,”  about  to  be 
unreeled  in  what  was  known  in  the 
’30s  as  a  “world  premiere,” 

It  was  fashionable  then  to  return 
to  the  scene  of  the  crime  for  such 
things,  dragooning  as  many  jour¬ 
nalists  as  editorial  rooms  Could 
spare  into  the  contrived  Celebra¬ 
tions  which  embroidered  them. 
The  screen  story  in  this  instance 
was  more  pale  than  the  sheeting 
which  passed  as  the  going  costume 
of  the  inhabitants  of  Virginia  City’s 
decrepit  Boot  Hill  cemetery. 

Warners  had  horsebacked.  that 
erstwhile  Tasmanian,  Errol  Flynn; 
as  the  lead  in  “Virginia  City”  and 
was  promising  that  he  would  leave 
Reno’s  more  civilized,  community 
long  enough  to  get  up  to  VC’s  old 
Opera  House,  as  well,  as  stop  in  at 
the  lotal  crackerbox  moyiehouse 
for  a  personal  appearance  before 
the  film  was  shown.  Even  he  Was 
not  brave  enough  to  show  after¬ 
ward,  lest  Some  local  might  chal¬ 
lenge  him  into  the  street  and  high, 
noon  him  there  and  then. 

Beebe  was  not  a  particularly 
frightening,  companion,  although 
there  were  complaints,  about  him 
amongst  the  other  ink-stained 
wretches  that  he  was  wont  to  look 
upon  them  as  inferiors.  But  I  had 
a  temporary  advantage  over  him: 
who  can  look  down  on  you  from;  a 
lower  berth! 

.  My  breakfasts  were  much  earlier 
than  his,  and  he  cared  little  about 
my .  comings;  and  goings  so  long  as. 
I  did  not  step  between  his  shoulder 
blades  en  route  to  and  from  my 
upper.  He  never  complained  about 
the  service  in  the  diner,  he.  being 
a  railway  buff  of  long  standing 
with  books  and  articles  to  prove  it, 
but  he  did  look  appropriately 
pained  when  Harry  Martin  of  the 
Memphis  Commercial  -  Appeal 
drank  noisily  from  the  finger-bowl 
as  if  he  knew  no  better.  (BUt  then, 


Harry  would,  drink  anything* 
lemon-flavored  water)* 

As  Reno  ,  loomed  ahead,  dis¬ 
embarking  point  smack,  into  the 
old  west,  Beebe  had  his  first  great 
shock.  Who,  of  all  people,,  was  on 
the  Reno  platform  waving  the 
train  in,  all  dressed  up  in  leather 
chaps  and  a  clock-stopping  shirt 
but  Mac  Kriendler,  a  New  Ybrk 
saloonkeeper. 

Muttering  loudly  against  such 
transparent  synthetics  this  far 
west,  Beebe  gave  me  one  admoni¬ 
tion  as  he  stepped  down. 

See  that  I  get  back  on  the 
train,”  he  said,  thereupon  plung¬ 
ing  hastily  in  the  direction  of  the 
Trucked  River  bridge  over  which 
was  the  Riverside  Hotel  bar,  where 
an  honest  loser  could  lose  himself. 

In  Reno,  not  a  searchlight  was 
off-cue.  The  premiere  and.  the 
personals  went  smoothly.  Word 
was  then  passed  among  all  of  us 
outlanders  that  there  would  be 
some  time  for  suitable  carryings-on 
after  the  picture  was  over.  Cinder¬ 
ella-like,  however,  in  the  wee  hours 
we  were  warned,  some  Union  Pa¬ 
cific  trainman  would  lean  on  the 
whistlecord  for  several  blasts.  All 
of  us  journalistic  gypsies,  ready  or 
not,  were  then  to  make  haste  to  the 
train,  belt  down,  ahd  be  ready  for 
the  return  trip. 

It  was  with  some  consternation 
that  I;  suddenly  remembered 
Beebe’s  instructions  to  get  him 
board  without  fail.  Not  having 
seen  him  since  Flynn’s  unscheduled 
flight  from  Virginia;  City  much 
earlier  in  the  day,  I  went  on  a 
quickie  through  several  of  the  bars 
and  gaming  places.  Beebe  was 
finally  found  in  the  Bank  Club, 
closest  to  the  siding  being  used  by 
Union  Pacific. 


Wine,  Winnings  &  Whistle 


GISELE  MacKENZIE 


EVERY  SATURDAY  NIGHT 


He  was  well  along,  both  in  wine 
and  winnings.  His  take,  all  in  sil¬ 
ver  dollars  at  his .'  insistence,  had 
mounted  to  several  formidable 
stacks.  At  that  moment  the  UP 
whistle  shattered .  the  ight  air. 
Shouldering  up  to  him*  and  over 
his  protests  about  the  boorish 
p’.ebians  one  meets  while  on  a 
transcontinental .  freeload,  I  swept 
as  much  of  the  money  as  I  could 
into  my  iO-gallon  hat  and  his.  We 
then  knotted  the  sleeves  of  Herb 
Graffis’  coat,  dumping  the 
mainder  of  the  money- in  this  im¬ 
provised  carrying  device. 

In  such  a  flourishing  fiscal 
shape,  we  trundled  Beebe  and  his 
booty  to  the  train,  with  him  pro¬ 
testing  all  the  way.. 

Beebe  dropped  into  his  lower 
berth,  and  being  equally  as  tired  of 
it  all,  I  just  dropped  all  the  loot 
on  the  floor,  locked  the  door,  and 
went  to  bed  myself. 

When  I  awoke,  in  the  morning, 
it  was  to  a  strange  spectacle.  Beebe 
was  up  and  about,  but  with  an  air 
of  great  mystification  was  trying 
to  pile  up  the  dollars  in  neat 
stacks  so  he  cduld  get  a  count.  Tbs. 
lurching  train  would  immediately 
upset  them,  and  he ‘would  labori¬ 
ously  start  over.  Hours  later  he 
totalled  it.  at  something  above  $500, 
and  he  hadn’t  the  faintest  notion 
as  to  its  origin. 

Years  later,  he.  took  up.  occasion¬ 
al  residence  in  Virginia  City,  care¬ 
fully  nurturing  its  reputation  for 
more  saloons  per  capita  than,  any¬ 
where,  and  .  defending  it  against 
statistical  violations  from  other 
quarters. 

Maybe  it’s  because,  its  citizens 
were  once  in  a  mood  to  provide  the 
only  rdpture  in  the  slick  Holly¬ 
wood  arrangements  for  a  movi 
unveiling  by  riding  its  star  out  of 
town  on  a  rail,  and  Beebe  appreci¬ 
ates  such  spirited  things. 

Or  possibly  he  dreams  of  a  day 
when  he  can  take  a  train  out  of 
there  and  wake  up  to  find  the  floor 
of  his  compartment  covered  with 
silver  dollars  which  happened  once 
before. 

Mac  Krieiidler  was  here  a  few 
days  ago  and  said  he  was  going  to 
see  Beebe  when  he  went  to  the 
Coast. 

If  he  put  bn  that  western  gark 
agam  and  Beebe  saw  him  in  it, 
this  might  be  the  thing  which 
would  drive  Beebe  out  of  his  moun¬ 
tain  retreat  and  all  the  Way  back 
to  that  other  batch  of  ghosts  he 
left  behind  —  something  cal  led 
Cafe  Society. 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second.  &2&RTEjTY  Anniversary 


I*  V' 


100 


iiiiii 


tSs  Ml 


ifrr^  m 

i 

m-% 


THROUGHOUT 


1  : 

A'-, 


FOR  THE  GREATEST 
ATTRACTIONS 
IN  ITS  HISTORY! 


■■■,•■  'u'*  i  \,s'  H 

■:.v  -  '. 


nd  this  is  how  it  all  begins. 


20 


PICTURES 


Fifty-second  PjfifRIETY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


Palm  Springs  a  Refuge,  Not  a  Hideaway 
For  Show  Biz;  Laziness  at  Luxury  Prices 


By  KAY  CAMPBELL 


Hollywood. 

Owned  and  operated  by  the  people  in  show  biz  for  the 
people  in  show  ,  biz,  Palm  Springs  has  outgrown  its  old 
title  ‘‘playground  of  the  stars"  to  become  the  No.  l  ren¬ 
dezvous  of  big  league,  fop-name  talent,  today.  World  re¬ 
nowned,  artists,  writers  and  musicians, ..  stars,  producers 
and  directors  of  stage,  screen,  radio  and  television  con¬ 
tribute  in  large  numbers  to  its  permanent  population  .of 
12.260  as  well .  as  its  wintertime  pop  of  50,000.  And  it  is 
estimated  that  a  large  share  of  its  assessed  valuation  of 
more  than  $100,000,000  belongs  to  the  big.  names  of  the 
entertainment  world. 

In  addition  to  owning  hotels,  apartments,  and  homes  in 
this  sprawling  spreading  sandpile,  industry,  names,  have 
engaged  in  other -  activities  and  business,  ventures;  while 
the  membership  lists  of  the  Racquet.  Tennis,  Tamarisk 
and  Thunderbird  clubs  read  like:  the  Who’s  Who  of  Show 
Biz.  Parades,  premieres,;  roundup|s,  rodeos  and  tourna¬ 
ments  are  star-studded.  .  . 

Unlike  Las  Vegas,  which  spotlights  personalities  to 
lure  the  outlanders.  and  where  everyone  hustles  frorti  one 
attraction  to  the  next,  from  one  casino  to  a  better  ’Ole  in 
a  frenzied  search  for  amusement,  this  lazy,  manana  .  vil¬ 
lage  caters  to  the  colonists— refugees  from.  Broadway  or 
Hollywood— and  offers  luxurious  lounging  at  fancy  prices, 
a  take-it-or-leave-it  attitude  toward  the  continuous  parade 
of  parties,  fashion:  shows,  luaus  and  other  events,  and 
complete  indifference  to  attire.  (Shorts.  Shirts  and  sandals: 
are'  virtually  a  uniform  around,  the  clock  for  the  colonists). 
There  are  only  two  niteries,  per  se„  the  Chi-Chi  and  The 
Palms. 

The  Village  Theatre,  has  been;  the  scene  of  film  : 
mieres,  and  tickets  to  the  Playhouse  Guild  productions 
are  sold  out  weeks  in  advance. 

The  Racquet  Club  has  600  members  (initiation  fee  $500 
plus  $100  yearly  dues)  and  the  Tennis  Club  lists  350  (in¬ 
itiation  $200,  plus  annual  dues  $87). 

Palm  Springs  is  a  refuge,  not  a  hideaway' for  the  guys 
and  dolls  of  show  biz.  The  telephone;  directory  not  only 
lists  phone  numbers,,  but  addresses  and  the  given,  and  pro 
names  of  spouses.  George  Montgomery  (Dinah  Shore), 
Cary  Grant  (Betsy),  Alan  Ladd  (Sue  C.)  are  typical  list¬ 
ings. 

In  addition  you’ll  find  Jack  Benny,  Charles  Farrell,  Har¬ 
old  Lloyd,  Rudy  Vallee,  William  Powell.  Bob  Hope,:  Bing 
Crosby,  David  Rose,  Eddie  Cantor,  Marjorie  Main.  Kirk 
Douglas,  Irene  Hervey, .  Allan  Jones,  Sol  Lesser,  Jimmy 
Van  Heusen,  Darryl  F.  Zanuck,  Ginny  Simms,  Lily  Ponst: 
Andre  Kostelanetz,  Joan  Davis,  Desi  Arnaz.  Lucille  Ball, 
Claudette  Colbert,  Mary.  Pickford,  Buddy  Rogers,  Hoagy 
Carmichael,  Jeff  Chandler,  Eddie Tiisher,  Debbie  Reynolds, 
Liberace,  Walt  Disney,  Jennifer  Jones,  David  O.  Selznick, 
Ronald  Colman.  Brian  Aherne,  Connie  Moore,  Dan.  Dailey, 
Harry  Von  Zell,  William  Perlberg,  Edwin -Silverman,  and 
numerous  other  home-owners  in  the  same  book; 


49th  Season. 


Now  entering  its  49th  season,  Palm  Springs  today  bears 
little  resemblance  to  the  sunbaked  Indian  settlement  of 
Agua  Caliente,  with  its  ragged  cluster  of  13  tumbledown 
shacks  adorned  with  tumbleweeds,  in  which  Nellie  Coff¬ 
man  established  a  boarding  house  in  1908.  Mrs.  Coffman 
paid  $400  for  the  ground,  upon  which  the  main  building 
of  the  Desert  Inn  now  stands.  Which  is  valued  at  $2,500,- 
000  currently. 

In  those  days,  there  were.il  white  residents  (One  of 
whom  owns  the  Tennis  Club)  and  56  Indians.  The  tribe, 
'now*  numbers  65  arid  its  reservation  hops  and  skips  over 
32,000  acres,  including  some  of  the  most  desirable  .real 
estate  midtown.  As  the  land  is  held  in  trust  by  the  Federal 
Government,  the  tribe  cannot  sell  it  or  lease  it  for  longer 
periods  than  five  years;  the  leases  are  renewable,  but  are 
subject  to  30-day.  cancellation  clauses..  Iriasriiuch  as  not 
even  speculators  are  inclined  to  establish  permanent,  ex¬ 
pensive  buildings  on  these  terms,  the  area  is  a  checker¬ 
board  of  vacant  lots,  trailer  parks  and  shacks  alternating 
with  luxury  hotels,  homes  and  shops. 

The  Indian  blockade — the  Coahuillasreap  about  $100,000 
from  rentals  annually— has  also  resulted  in  a  drift  down 
the  highway  toward  Indio.  Date  palins;,  rpcks  and  sand 
have  given  way  to  vast  areas  of  grass  which  mark  the  new 
golf  courses,  to  lush  Oleanders,  roses,  tamarisk  Surround¬ 
ing  costly  structures  of  stone  and  glass,  and  new  subdivi¬ 
sions. 

Sand  straddling  this  avenida  sells  for  $2,000  per  front' 
foot;  and  residential  lots  are  priced  as .  high  as  $20,000. 
Small  wonder  that  the  natives  have  dubbed  it  Blue.  Chip 
Strip!  ,  ' 

And  you  have  to  be  in  the  chips,  too,  to  build  a  house 
or  inn  along  this  strip.  Rising  costs  Of  material— which 
must  be  trucked  in— and  labor,  plus  the  cost  of  the  sand 
dunes,  adds  up  to  an  average  of  $50,000  per  dwelling,.  One 
little  number,  which  cost  $600,000,  boasts  "a  motor-driven 
lazy  susan  on  Which  eight  sun-lovers  may  acquire  ,  an  allr 
over  tan  as  it  revolves,  and  a  sub-street,  level  tennis  court 
(to  comply  with  building  restrictions),  illuminated  with 
multi-power  lights  in  addition  to  a  pool,  the  size  of  Which 
is  an  average  city  playground.  There  are  a  few  other  lit¬ 
tle  necessities,  such  as  a  casino  in  the  basement. 


Hotels,  Housing;,  Developments  . 


At  the  far  end  of  the  strip  is  Desi.  Arnaz’s  Western 
Hills  Hotel,  sited  on  the  Indian  Wells  Golf  Course,  which, 
opened  last  April  with  all  of  the'  fanfare  of  a  Hollywood 
premiere— stars  and  press  were  flown  in  for  the  occa- 
siori.  Cuban  cuisine,  the  W’ally  Harpst  dance  ,  band,  arid  a. 
70-foot  pool  are  among  the  litres  here.  La  Quinta,  an  eafr 
lier  far-famed  resort,  is  adjacent.  Shadow  Mountain  Club, 
membership-owned,  is  a  hideout  for.  socialites.  Numerous 
other  small  clubs  arid  cafes  flank  the  strip  to  the  village, 
but  the  next  top-billing  .establishments  for  showfolk  arc 
Art  Linkletter  s  Rancho  Mirage  and  the  Desert  Air  Hotel, 
which  face  each  other  across  the  hot  and  shimmering 
pavement. 

Rancho  Mirage  is  one  of  the  most  recent  housing  devel- 
opments,  where  the  payoff  ranges  from  $5,000r$6,000  per 
acre.  Within  the  last  year,  no  less  than.  150  houses,  priced 
at  $50,000  apiece,  have  been  built  on  1,200  acres  of  sand- 
dunes.  This  subdivision  offers  a  shopping  ,  center,  sWirri: 
club  and  postoffice,  with  a:  guest  card  arrangement  at 
•earby  golf  courses;  and  among  the  stellar  contingent 


who  have,  built  dwellings  here  are  Jeff  Chandler  Hedy 
Lamarr  ahd  Sir  Cedric  Hardwicke. 

Romanoff’s-dri-The-Rpcks,  an  eatery  with  which  John 
Steinberg  (ex-Hillcrest )  will  be  associated,  is  located  at 
one  end  of  the  Rancho. 

The  Desert  Air,,  where  you  taxi  your  own  plane  right 
up  to  the  front  door  arid  turn  it  river  to  an  attendant  to 
park,  plays  host  each  year  to  . the  exclusive  Aviation  Club 
with  a  nationwide  hiembership.  Last  season’s  luau,  with 
1,000  .reservations.  Was  emceed  by  Hilo  Hattie, 

Next  in  stripiine  is  Thunderbird  Country  Club,  where 
the  $15,000  invitational  tourney  each  January  draws  the 
biggest  names  in  golfdom— Hogan,  Hope,  Crosby,  et  al. 
Western-type  ranch  houses,  owned  nearly  100%  by  Hol¬ 
ly  woodites,  surround  the  fairways. 

The.  streets  in  the  adjoining  Blue  Skies  (“solid  gold”) 
Trailer  Park  are.  named  for  the  owners— Colbert,  Crosby, 
Kaye,  Benny,  Phil  Harris.  Bill  Goetz,  and  Bill  Perlberg. 
Sheltered  by.  palms,  surrounded  by.  gardens,  each  of  these 
super-deluxe  “mobile  homes”  has  its  own  enclosed  patio 
and  plush  cabana;,  some  are .  expandable -to  a  width  of  .20 
feet,  many  are  airconditioned,  and:  each  represents  a  siz¬ 
able  investment. ,  , 

One  million  gallons  of  water  per  day  are  required  to 
.  quench  the  thirst  .of  the  18-hole*  course  at  Tamarisk,  next, 
door.:  Membership^pwned!.. the  elegant  residences  of  Dan¬ 
ny  Thomas,  Sinatra,  Crosby.  Desi -and  Lucy,  Harry  James, 
Phil  Harris,  Danny  Kaye;  and  the  M  a  r  x  Bros,  nestle 
against  the  greens.  Smoke  Tree  Ranch,  the  haven  of  in¬ 
dustrial  arid  financial  tycoons,  ranges:  up  to  the  coppery 
mountains '  and  has  retained  its  .arid  charms.  President. 
Eisenhower  slept  here! 

La  Paz,  Jack.  Wrather’s  L Horizon;  Deep  Well,:  The  Bilt- 
more  are  among  other  favorites  along  this  strip. 

.  Back  in  the  center  of  this  soporific  resort  one  finds 
Mariori  Davies’  Desert  Inn,  whose  bar  owner  is  songsmith 
Jimmy  Van  Heusen;  Horace  Heidt’s  Lone  Palm  hostelry, 
Bill  Goodwin’s  The  Nooks;  Polly  Bergen’s  The  Apache, 
and  Bob  Howard's.  Manor  (recently  sold  to  David  Margo- : 
lis  of  San  Francisco)  in  addition  to  Alari  Ladd’s  hardware 
store.  Mrs.  Harry  Joe  (Dorothy  Gray)  Brown’s  boutique. 
Chuck  Walter’s  men’s  ,  shop  Hoagy  CarmichaeFs  interior 
decorating  enterprise,  and  Andrea  Leeds'  flower  shop. 

All  in  all  there  are  300  hotels  with  a  total  investment 
of  over  $50  million  with  rates  ranging  from  $8  to  $150 
per  day  per  occupant;,  half  of  these  are  open  year-round. 
(In  .1935.  you  .could,  get  a  room  at  the  Desert  Inn  for  $25 
per  week!) 

During  these  two  decades,  beaucoup  other  changes 
have  been  equally  radical:  Prior  to  World  War  II.  the  as¬ 
sessed,  valuation  Was  rip  greater  than  $8,000,000.  The  pre¬ 
war  consumption  of  electricity  was  9,000.000  kilowatt 
hours,  Luring  1956  these  totaled .  75,680,781 .  Building  per- 
rilits  for  the  first  six;  months  of  ’57  totaled  $5,425,770; 
Arid  it  is  estimated  that.  Palm  Springs  occupants  have  the 
highest  per  capita  inCoine  of  any  resort  iri  the  U.S.  Retail 
sales  in  ’56  reached  a  peak  of  $35,000,000.  And  the  per 
capita  ratio  for  swimming  pools  is  1-10,  highest  in  the 
nation,. 

Airconditioning  is  the  raison  d’etre  for  the  changeover 
from  seasonal  to  year-round  activities.  Just  a  few  years 
ago,  tfie  great  open  spaces  were,  given  back  to  the  side¬ 
winders  and  lizards,  arid  houses  were  shuttered  with  alur 
minurn  foil  plastered  on  windows,  while  buckets  of  water 
Were  stationed  throughout  to  add  to  the  humidity.  Now, 
the  colonists  step,  from  airconditioned  houses  to  aircondi- 
tioned  cars  to  patronize  airconditioned  shops,  niteries, 
cafes,  and  theatres.  Gone  forever  is  the  sight  of  parking 
meters  along  PaT  Canyon  Drive/  sacked  (literally  with 
brown  paper  bags)  for  the  summer  months.  The 
highways  are  jamrned  with  Jags,  Cads,  Lincolns,  and 
Gs,  the  fairways  and  pools  are  filled  to  capacity;  and  the 
airport  af  Desert  Air.  is  crowded  with:  planes. 

However,  it’s  only  during  the  season  {October  through 
.May)  that  you  can  listen. to  Trav  Rogers  chanting  41  Wagon 
Wheels”  at  the  Ranch  Club  brunches  or  Allan  Jones  sing¬ 
ing  “The  Lord’s  Prayer”  for  the  Desert  Riders,  or  line 
up  With  the  throng  to  applaud  at  the  Rodeo  or  Desert 
Circus  or  Juel  Park’s,  fash  show.  at.  the  Racquet  Club. 
Among  the  celebs  who’ve  headed  the  rodeo  or.  circus  are 
Walt  Disney,  Randy  Scott,  Ray  Anthony,  Mamie  Van  Dor- 
en;  Natalie  Wood,  Bob  Wagner,  .  Anita  Ekberg.  Kirk  Doug¬ 
las,  Alice  Faye,  Piper  Laurie,  Rex  Bell,  Liberace,  Jane 
Russell,  Rob  Hope,  and  Bonita  Granville. 

During  the  season  the  leading  hotels— El  Mirador,  Des¬ 
ert  .Inn,  Oasis,  Western:  Hills,  Biltmofe,  Lone  Palm  and 
Howard  Manor— with,  excellent  and  extensive  dinirig  fa-, 
pilities,  rack  up -  the  biggest  take  among  eateries,  but  a 
score  of  other  fine  cafes  are  firmly  packed,  too. 

Among  these  the  clientele  varies,  but  discrimination  is 
not  determined  by  price^eyeryone  seems  to  have  money 
down  there.  The  guys,  and  dolls  who  cling  to  black  tie  and 
mink  frequent  .the  Racquet  Club,  El  Mirador  and  similar 
establishments;  the  gung-ho  younger,  generation  who  make 
a;  habit  of  sipping  sodas  through  a  straw  at  Wil  Wright’s  in 
Bevhills  flock  to  the  Doll  House  to  rhumba  and  feast  on 
Mexican  .  food;  ;  the  shorts-and-shirters  love  those  poolside 
dinners  at  Lone  Palm  arid  Howard  Manor;  o and  the  Sea 
Horse,  which  specializes  in  sea  food,  is  a  strung  contender 
in.  a  race  With  the.  Dunes  for  the:  music  trade.  Frankie 
Laine..  Birig -Crosby;.  Phil  Harris,  Alice  Faye,  arid  Sinatra 
alternate  between  these,  two  top  restaurants. 

The  Biltmore  is  a  fave  with  producers  as  is  the  Deep 
Well  Ranch, .  with  its .  homemade  bread  and  homegrown 
beef — owner  Yplarid  Marksori  has  his  own  cattle  ranch  iri 
Arizona. 

;  Steak-lovers,  line  up  at:  Laurye’s,  Saddle  A  Sirloiri  and 
The iFlairier  lasagne  enthusiasts  at' Villa  Capri  arid  Cirone’s; 
and  fried-chicken .  devotees  at  Zariville’s;  Cisco’s  is  noted 
for  its  Mexican  specialties,  and  four.gpod  cafes  serve  Can¬ 
tonese  dishes— Don  the  Beachcomber’s,  \K6n-Tiki,  Jade 
Pagoda  and  Montesito. 

Probably  no  other  spa  in  America  makes  such  a  habit 
of  “at  home”  poolside  parties,  barbecues  and  luaus  as 
you’ll:  find,  amorig .  the  afourid-the-calendarites  in  Palm 
Springs.  As  a  result  many  of  the.  top-ranking  cafes  also 
offer  “take  home”  foods  and  catering  service.  Among  these 
are  La  Petite  Marmite,  Cisco's,  Zanville’s,  Jade  Pagoda, 
Moritesitri,  Sea  Horse  arid  Villa  Capri. 

After  the  party’s  oyer,  the  Ham  ’ri'  Eggery  is  just  around 
.the  corner.. 


Domestic  Blitz 


By  JULES  ARCHER 


There  are  few,  things  as  disconcerting  to  a  husband  as 
arriving  home  from  work,  beaming  cheerfully  at  the 
little  woman,  arid,  being  hit  in  the  face  with  an  onion  of 
dishrag. . 

It  happens  every  day. 

This  is  basically  why  Dr.  Kinsey  found  that  sympa-. 
thetic  creatures  in  mink  have  the  well-paid  opportunity 
to  tsk-tSk  at  . horrifying  tales  about  wives  who  don’t  under-: 
stand  their  husbands. 

But  the  unhappy,  truth  of  the  matter  is  that  husbands 
simply  do  no  understand  wyes.  Kitchen  is  kitchen, 
and  office  is  office,  and  never  the  twain  shall  meet..  Un¬ 
less  a  husband.stays  home  to  write,  like  tire,  whereupon 
the  twain  meet  all  over  the  place.  I  kiss  my  wife  go.odby 
every  morning,  rush  upstairs,  to  my  study,  and  five  mi 
utes  later.  I'm  handing,  her  $2.40  for  the  bakery  sales¬ 
man. 

But  . the  unhappy,  truth  of  the  matter  is  that,  husband’s 
onion  in.  my  face.  Anything  my  wife -has  to  throw,  sh 
has  to  come,  upstairs  to  do  it.  Never  hit  me  once,  either; 
I  know  when  it's  coming;  First  I  hear  some  kind  of. 
sickening  crash  downstairs.  Then.  Wife's  .voice,  pitched, 
at  high  C.  Then  one  or  two  sharp  smacks,  and  one  or  tw 
little  yoices  wailing. 

By  the  time  by  wife  gets  to  the  top.  of  the.. stairs,  flames 
shooting  out  oi’  both  ears.  I  am  safely,  behind  Pie  filing 
cabinet.  Through  years  of  practice.  I  am  able  to  con¬ 
tinue  my  speculations.. while  bunched  in.. a. knot,  irhperv- 
ious  to  reminders:  from,  the  doorway  that  they  are  iny 
kids,  too.  arid  why.  don’t  I  trike  a  hand  in  disciplining  them 
instead  oi  leaving  all  the  dirty  Work  to  the  lady  in  the 
doorway. 

Here,  in  a  nutshell,  is  the  clue  to  the  unpredictable 
female  who  kisses  yciU: fondly  goodbye  in  the.  morning,  and 
lets  you  have  it  in  the  kisser  .When  you  come  home 
night.  What  few  husbands  fail  to  realize,  is  there  are 
about  nine  hours  between  those  moods.  Nine  hours  arid 
too  many  kids.. 

Too  many  isany  given  mber  above  nono. 

The  '  of  the  fathers  used  to  be  yisi  ed  upon  the 
children..  Not.  any  more.  In.  today's,  household,  the  sins 
..of  the  children  are  visited,  upon  the- fathers.  Father  does 
not  know  it.  but  every  day  he  is  sereneh  absent  at  his  job, 
his  kids  are  hard  at.  work  building  up  s  ovm  clouds  in 
the  bosom  of  the  girl  he  left  behind.  By  the .  .tiiive  father 
gets  home  .some,  hing's  got  to  give! 

His  Wife  giyes  V,  and  he  gets  it. 

One  writer  I  . know  found  out  about  ail  this.  He  decided.' 
to  emplov  count'cr-s  rategy  agai  st  his  wife’s  tormentors; 
figuring  this  would  divert  the  lightning  from  hiinsclf.  So 
one  evening  upon  emerging  from  his  deri.  he  rolled  up  his 
sleeves  and  promptly  spanked  his  two  .  .little  girls; 

“Oh,  daddy!”  one  of  them  shrieked.  Tot  my 

birthday! 

“You  unspeakable  brute!”  exclaimed  his  wifi:. 

No  one  in  the  house  spok  to  him  for  four  days.  So  it 
came  out  better  than  he.  had  expected,  after  all. 


r 


Remorse 


Most  husbands,  however,  don’t  find  out  about  how  it.  is 
with  a  women  subjeC  ed  to  torment,  froiri  below  hip  level 
for  the  best,  or  rather,  worst  part  of  each  day.  Conse¬ 
quently,  when  they  are  welcomed  home  with  a  glare  or 
a  projectile,  they  are  immediately  assailed  bv.  an:  uneasy 
sensation  of  guilt. 

They  begin  to  reflect  hastily  cn  the  date. of  their  an¬ 
niversary:  liushed-up  loss  at  poker;  a  forgotten  errand; 
the  rash  luncheon  date  with  their  secretaries  three  weeks’- ■ 
ago.  Skeletons  rattle  clear  out-  br  their  close  s  in  the 
anxious  effort  to  make  amends. 

^  This  does  not,  needless  to  say,  improve,  the  situation. 
“I  can  quite  sympathize  with  ..your  ordeal,”  I  once  ven¬ 
tured  to  Say  to  my  wife,  “but  I  don’t  see  why  I  -have 
to  be  made  the  whipping-boy  every  time  the  kids  give  vou 
hell.” 

“Who,”  she  inquired  sweetly,  "gave  me  the  kids?” 

I  made  another  desperate  .try,  “Let’s  put  it  this  way; 
Why  can’t  you.  take  things  a  little  more  ealnilv;.  reason¬ 
ably 

On.  the  dawn  of  the  fourth  day  with  an  apron  around 
my  middle,  a  broom  iri  my  hand;  and.  Mike.  Dane,  and 
Kerry  hanging  from  my  earlobes;.  I  had  acquired  a  great 
deal  of  of  the  irisight  which  has  made  this  thesis  possible. 
Pausing  at  the  door  of  my  study  to  huri  a  dustpan  at  my 
wife,  as  she  sat  behind  my  typewriter  in  dreamy  com¬ 
fort,  I  macle.  remarks  quite  unlike  my  gentle  self.  " 

“Uh  uh,”  she  reproached  me.  “Cahrily  and  reason¬ 
ably,” 

Some  time :  later  it  occured  to  me  that  since  Kerry  was 
now  past  his  fifth  birthday,.  I  might  be  able  to.  have  th 
matter  out  with. hirn,  man-to-man.  “Look/’  I  said  earnestly. 
“I.  want  to  put  something  lip  to  your  sense  of  fairnesSi 
When  you  and  your,  brothers  pester  Mommy,  anid  drive 
her  crazy,  she  gets  very  upset  and  starts  yelling  at  Die, 
Then  I  can’t  write,  and  we  don’t  get  any  chocks,  I  can’t 
buy  anything  for  you  kids.” 

"You’re  stingy,  thatTs  why,”  Kerry  said. 

“Shut  up  and  listen.  What  I’m  telling  you  is  that  be¬ 
cause  you  kids  are  naughty,  you  make  Momiriv  get  mad 
at  Daddy.” 

“Why?”  Kerry  asked.  “What  did  you  do  to  make  her 
iad?”  ’ 

I  eyed  his  speculatively  a  moment.  Then  I  said.  ’  “I 
presented  her  with  three  fine,  bouncing  baby  boys.” 

“Why  don’t  you  buy  us  things,  you  stin  y  old  Daddy?" 

And  there  the  matter  rests.  As  you  can  see;  it  doesn’t 
pay  to,  pursue  it  too  closely..  The  wise  husband  will 
simply  understand  arid  turn  the  other  cheek.  There  is 
some  satisfaction  in  reflecting  that  one  day  yctu-  boys7  will 
grow  up  and  marry,  arid  have  children  of  their,  wn.  And 
it  Will  all  come,  out  iri  the  wash  when  they  pen  their 

front  doors  to  get  hit  with  a  dishrag. 

A  1970,.  jet-propelled  one,  too. 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty -second  t'fif&MEfY  Anniversary 


DAVID  0.  SELZNICK 

presents  his  production  of 


ERNEST  HEMINGWAY’S 


'  . 


v. 

"  M 

! 

VU',  f 

/  ' 

&K>. 


.  ,/v”- 


fe  ,v  . 


✓W; 


CllNEN/l/xSczOPEE  COLOR  by  DE  LUXE 


ROCK  HUDSON  •  JENNIFER  JONES  •  VITTORIO  DE  SICA 


CHARLES  VIDOR 


-i-rc  by  20th  Century-Fox 


22 


PICTURES 


Fifty-second  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


Nothing  Mars  Havana  But  Gats 


Cuban  Town 
Between  Las 


Gambling  Spot 
and  Monte  Carlo 


-By  JAY  MALLIN- 


GHOST  TOWN 


Havana. 

Havana,  which  fancies  itself  the  Paris  of  the 
Caribbean,  is  well  on  its  way  to  becoming  the  Las 
Vegas  of  the  East,  There’s  now  more  gambling  here 
than  in  any  other  city  between  Vegas  and  Monte 
Carlo.  Three  new  casinos  have  opened  in  or  near 
Havana  this  year,  bringing  the  ctiy’s  total  to  eight. 
Three  more  are  due. 

Until  1954  gambling  was  permitted  in  only  five 
places  in  Cuba:  Tropicana.  Montmartre  arid  Saris 
Souci  nightclubs  arid  the  Casino  Nacioriar  in  Ha¬ 
vana,  and  at  the  Hotel  Varadero  International;  in 
the  resort  town  of  Varadero.  (All  of  these,  are 'still 
in  operation  except  the  Casino  National,  which  has 
been  torn  down  to  make  \vay  for  a  golf  course.! 

In  1955.  the  government  of  strongman  Fulgencio 
Batista  decided  to  boost  the  tourist  trade  (Cuba’s 
No.  2  industry)  by  expanding  gambling  facilities. 
He  made  up  a  law  pertnitting  the  establishment  of 
gambling  in  all  hotels  worth  over  $1,000,000,  as 
well  as  in  any  other  'places  deemed  suitable  by 
the  Tourist  Institute. 

The  first  hotel  to  take  advantage  of  this  easement 
was  the  Hotel  National,  which  granted  a  gambling 
concession  to  Wilbur  Clark,  boss  of  Las  Vegas’ 
Desert  Inn.  As  the  Casino  Parisien,  this  spot  opened 
in  January,  1956.  Comodoro  and  the  Sevilla  Bjlt- 
more,  both  in  Havana,  followed  during  1957.  -  , 

_ .  .  Waiters  Union,  Prop.  _  | 

Three  new  hotels,  the  Hilton,  Riviera  and  Capri, 
now  nearing  completion  or  just  completed  all  have 
casinos.  The  Riviera  is  controlled .  by  the  Las 
Vegas  people  who  run  the  Casino  Parisien;  The 
Hilton  is  being  built  by  the  Cuban  Waiters  Union, 
but  will  be  managed  by  the  Hilton  organization. 


The  Capri  is  the  property  of  Miami  hotel  interests. 

Two  other  casinos  in  or  near  Havana  are  the  ones 
in  the  jai  alai  /ronton.  and  at  the  Rainbow  casino, 
Outside  Matanzas. 

During  the  early  193 0’s  slot  machines  were  com¬ 
monplace  in  Havana:  Later  they  were  banned,  but 
With  the  resurgence  of  gambling  they  are  now  back 
in  operation;  They  eat  nickels  to  dollars. 

Americans  have  a  vested  interest  in  Cuban;  gam¬ 
bling.  Almost  every  casino  is  owned  or  mariaged 
by  Americans.  Some  of  them:  Harry  ‘-Lefty”  Clark 
at  Tfopicana;  Sid  Jacobs  at  Saris  .  Souci -  Sam  Tucker 
and  Dirio  and  Eddy  Cellini  at  the  Casino  Parisien; 
and  Phillip  Schaffer  arid  Arthur  Allen  at  Mont¬ 
martre.  (In  the.  city  of  Santa  Clara,  Norman  Roth¬ 
man  runs  the  new  Venecia,  nightclub.) 

Cuba’s .  political  troubles  in  1957  has  inevitably 
affected  the  island’s  tourism,  which  has  dropped 
some  20%  under  1956’s  total.  This  in  turn  hurt 
the  nightclubs.  Not  only  have  many  tourists  stopped 
coming,  but  local  people  as  well.  Rebel  terrorists 
have  planted ;  bombs  in  or  near  casinos,  and  this, 
not  surprisingly,  has  discouraged  business. 

But  operators  are  optimistic  about  the  future. 
They  are  sure  that  once  the  island’s  gangster  feud¬ 
ing  is  settled,  Cuba  will  resume  as  a  major  tourist 
attraction.  Add  in  its  foreign  atmosphere  of  rum,, 
rumba  and  romance,  to  the  tables;  jai  alai,  .  cock 
fights  and;  dog  arid,  horse  rates.  There  is  also  a 
weekly  national  lottery,  with:  prizes,  ranging  up  to 
$100,000,  and  there  are  over  a  score  of  weekly, 
and  even  daily,  illegal  lotteries.  Some  newspapers 
hold  lotteries  among  their  subscribers,  giving  away 
houses,  cars  and  cash. 

Comments  Wilbur  Clark,  -Some  day  they'll  call 
Las  Vegas  the  ‘Havana,  of  the  West;’.” 


Virginia  City,  Nev. 

Back  of  the  biggest  tourist  sea¬ 
son  this  old  mining  town  has  ever 
known  and  a  rush  of  prosperity  to 
its  merchants  and  resort  proprie¬ 
tors,  compar-. 
able  to  the 
19th  century 
bonanzas  in 
such  mines  as 
Hale  &  Nor- 
cross  and  Yel¬ 
low  Jacket,  is 
the  fact  that, 
barring  Un¬ 
foreseen  ca¬ 
lamity  a  n  d 
conflagra  t  i  on 
Lucins  Beebe  on .  a”_.  ®P!C 

scale.  Virginia 
City  will  never  be  any  more  of  a 
ghost  town  than  it  is  now. 

Last  December  the  odds  were 
heavily  against  there  being  anything 
at  all  remaining  irt  a  Lew  years 
of  what  had  once  been  the  Cos- 
mopolis  of  the  Old  West..  Virginia 
City,  since  the  discovery  of  silver 
on  the  side  of  Sun  Mountain  in 
1859,  had  known  many .  booms  and 
j  subsequent  busts,  but  this  time  it 


-By  LUCIUS  BEEBE- 


pered .  Territorial  Enterprise  had 
been  articulately  denouncing  Cur- 
tiss-Wright’s  projected  guided 
missiles  plant  as  “a  suburb  of  hell.’’ 

As  a  matter  of  fact  at  the  time 
the  announcement  of  the  town’s 
reprieve.  President  Hurley  was 
due  to  make  a.  speech  before  the 
Reno  Chamber  of.  Commerce  and 
The;  Enterprise  had  an  editorial  in 
type  beginning:  “What  the  welcom¬ 
ing  committee  for  Mr.  Hurley 
needs  is  a  substantial  length  of 
hemp  rope  .  .”  Editor  of  The  En¬ 
terprise  Charles  Clegg  was  at  the 
moment  in  Palm  Beach  aboard  the 
private  car  Virginia  City  of  which- 
he  is  half  Owner  and  made  his 
daily  telephone  check  with  manag¬ 
ing  editor  Robert  Richards  in  more 
or  less  the  following  terms. 

Clegg:  You’re  planning  to  run 
the  piece  denouncing  Curtiss- 
Wright  this  week.  Bob? 

Richards:  Listen,  I  :  have  news 
for  vou.  Curtiss-Wright  has  just 
ponied  up  $50,000  to  repair  the 
waiter  system  and  I  thought 
you  might  want  something  else. 

Clegg:  Holy  cow!  Here  take 


middle  and.  elder,  generations 
forming  the  major  portion  of  mov¬ 
iegoer^  here,  either  prefer  films  in 
their  own  language  without  having 
to  read  subtitles,  or  seek  their  en- 
tertairiine.nt  preferably  in  non-mu¬ 
sical  form.  The  younger  genera¬ 
tion  (according  to  law,  no  persons 
under  16  or,  as  in  Zurich,  18  are 
admitted  to  cinemas)  may  fill  the 
house  for  a  few  days,  at  best.  The 
juvenile  public,  however,  prefers 
.  musicals  to  be  jazzy  arid  turns  to 
Geneva.  Christmas.!’  “Gentlemen  .  Prefer .  yawning  derisive  comments 
Musical  comedy,  out  of  Holly-  •  Blondes,”  “Band  Wagon,”  “Star  Is  1  Wheii  things  get'  “sugar-coated.” 
.  ,  .  ..  .  i  ,  4,1  Born.’’  “No  Biz  Like  Show.  Biz.” .  mar.*,  riim?  naittiar 


And  Kids  Up  to  18  Forbidden  ,  by  Law  to  Attend 
Cinema— U.S.  Tune  films  Generally  Flop 

Bv  GEORGE  MEZOEFI 


wood  has  always  !  been  a  stepchild 
of  the  Swiss  film  exhibition  busi¬ 
ness.  . 

This  may  be.  a.  baffling  fact  to  all 
those  who  know  that  this  country 
has  come  oiit  of  two  World  Wars 
unharmed;  that  its  living  standard 
today  is  one.  of  the  highest  in  En- 
rope';  and  that  the  average  Swiss 
has  practically  nothing  to  worry 
about.  (Okay,  Switzerland  does 
have  a  high  suicide  rate!)  Seem¬ 
ingly  the  perfect  climate  for  ac¬ 
ceptance  of  light  entertainment  re¬ 
flecting  a  gay,  carefree  mood, 
ought  to  be  right  here.  And  U.S. 
musical  Comedy  represents  the  tops 
in  light  entertainment.  Why,  then, 
are  the  Swiss  so  unresponsive  to 
it? 

Maybe  the  answer  lies  in  the 


Born,”  “No  Biz  Like  Show  Biz, 
and  .mariy  more. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  rundown  of 
local  hits  of  the  species  is  quickly 
established-  Outstanding  example 
is  “American  ini  Paris”  which  went 
over  great,  but  is  merely  the  clas¬ 
sical  exception  to  the  rule.  In  this 
particular  case,  the  17-minute  bal¬ 
let  contributed  importantly,  too, 
accounting  for  much  of  the  terrific 
word-of-mouth. 


Grace  Kelly  Exception 


Thus,  many  films  attract  neither 
generation  arid  therefore  flop  al¬ 
together. 

On  the  stage,  the  situation  looks 
different.  Up  to  1956,  not  a  single 
U-S.  ..  musicomedy  had  been  pro¬ 
duced  in  Switzerlarid.  That  was  the 
year  ,  when  “Kiss  Me  Kate”  broke 
the  ice,  being  staged  within  a!  few 
months’  interval  at  Stadttheatre 
Basle  (With  two  pianos)  and  Zur¬ 
ich  (  with  full  orch)  .  In  both  cities, 
it  clicked  'beyond  expectations.  Sta¬ 
tistics  of  the  1956-57  season  at 


|  The  aging  arid  spavined  plant  of 
j  the  Virgi  ia  City  &  Gold  Hill 
{Water  Co.,  some  of  its  open  flumes 
j  in  service  bringing  Water  from  the 
High  Sierra  .  30  miles  distant  since 
the  ’70’s,  collapsed  with  irrevocable 
finality  under  the  impact  of 
early  winter. 

For  three  months  the  town  was 
without  any  water  supply  at  all 
for  sanitary,  drinking  or  fire  pre¬ 
vention  purposes  save  what  was 
trucked  in  in  tanks  from  nearby 
Carson  City.  The  Water  Co.,  which 
had  been  deliberately  looted  by 
generations  of  former  owners  ;  in 
the  belief  that  Virginia  City  itself 
would  perish  with  its  m:nes.  was 
hopelessly  bankrupt;  The  State 
of  Nevada  was  in  no  way  legally 
obligated  to  relieve  a  purely  local 
situation  save  on  a  temporary  or 
emergency  basis:  the  Federal  gov¬ 
ernment.  was  disinterested  to  the 
point  of  acute  boredom. 


Conventional  Finance. 


‘  High  Society  also  did  good  biz, J  Stadttheatre  Zurich  reveal  that  the 
the.  fact  that  this  was  the  Princess’  i  Cole  Po.rter-S.am  &  Bella  Spewack 
last  pic  being ;  chiefly  ^responsible.  |  opus  zoomed  to  the  top  of  .  all  oper- 
“Bathing  Beauty”  .was  another  ;  ettaswith  23  performanCes  (con- 
money-making  tunefilm:  But,  para-  j  sidered  excellent  for  a  repertory 
•  doxipally,  it  made,  the  grade,  in  .  theatre).  It  topped  such  perennial 
spite  of  being  a  musical.  For  Swiss  !  favorites  as  "Beggar  Student,” 
spectators,  its  main  attraction  Was j “Ban  at  the  Opera,”  “Dubarry” 
— - ,  -  ■  Red  Skelton’s  buffoonery  which  •  antj  ‘‘Cousin  -  from  Dingsda.” 

Swiss  character  in  which  three  was  played  to  the  hilt  ia  this  film.  [  Among  ,  the  local  creative  talent 
qualities  stand  put  conspicuously:  j  The  generally  sad  fate  of  . U.S.  j  in’;  the  musicomedy  field,  number 


(li  realistic  thinking;  (2)  a  yen 
for  simplicity  dnd  straightforward- 
ness;  (3)  a  tendency. to  poke  fun  at 
“ romantic ”  moods .  Hence,  three 
vital  elements  of  the  American  mu¬ 
sical,  especially  of  the  screen,  are 
nixed  by  the  average  Swiss:  (1) 
“normal”  human  beings  breaking 
into  song  and  dance  at  often  inap¬ 
propriate  (to  Swiss  eyes )  moments; 

(2)  too  lavish  production  values; 

(3)  “romantic”  solos  or  duets 
(“how  the  heck  can  they  sing  about 
it  instead  of  doing  it?”). 

Attempts,  at  “saving”  U.S.  tune- 
films  by  scissoring  them  according 
to  Swiss  tastes  have  failed.  20th 
Fox  trimmed  “King  and  I,”  when 
first  released  here  in  the  fall  ,  of 
1956.  by  bringing  the  original  12 
musical  numbers  down  to.  six,  sac* 
crificing  among;  others  “Hello, 
Young  Lovers,”  “We  Kiss  in  a 
Shadow”  and  “I  Have  Dreamed.” 
It  didn’t  help  at  the  b.o.  However, 
this  film  picked  up  on  second-runs, 
due  tp  the  barrage  of  Yul  Brynner 
publicity  making  the  rounds  after 
the  initial  release  and,  to  some  ex¬ 
tent,  also  to  the  Rim’s  Academy 
Awards.  But  the  music .  was  still 
considered .  a  “necessary  evil.” 

There  is  no  end  to  the  list  of 
U.S.  hit  tuners  which  flopped  at 
Swiss  wickets;  “Oklahoma”  ( a  mea¬ 
gre  10  days’  run. in  Zurich),  “An¬ 
nie  Get  Your  Gun,”  “Carousel/ 
“Guys  and  Dolls.”  “Call  Me  Ma¬ 
dam,”  “Kiss  Me  Kate,”  “Blue 
Skies,”  “Show  Boat  ”  ite  1 


tuners  at  Swiss  b.o.  may  also  be  j  one  position  is  held  by  Paul  Burk- 
accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  the  hard,  composer  of  “Oh  My  Papa.” 


WENDELL  COREY 


j  was  faced  with  descent  into  what ;  new  lead  editorial  to  begin  as  . fol- 
promised  to  be  terminal  borrasca,  i  lows:  “As  notable  a  gesture  of 
"  good  will  on  the  part  of  a  gi.ant 
corporation  characterized  both  by 
benevolence  arid;  public  responsi¬ 
bility  as  can  be  found  in  the.  rec¬ 
ord— ” 

For  94  years  The  territorial:  En¬ 
terprise  has  prided  itself  on  its  ed-. 
torial  flexibility  and  availability  to 
reason  and.  it  did  nothing  in  the. 
emergency  of  the  moment  to  pre¬ 
judice  this  tradition. 

With  a  renewed  lease  Pri  life 
arid  water  to  lavish  on  such  hith¬ 
erto  .  luxurious  frivolities  as  brush¬ 
ing  the  teeth;  planting  gardens  and 
drinking  chasers  to  the  whisky 
which  is  the  wine  Of  the  country 
in  Virginia  City,  the  town  spread 
itself  for  a  tourist  season  Pf  out¬ 
size  dimensions  and  was  not  dis¬ 
appointed.  More  than  40,000  visi¬ 
tors  a  week,  by  State  Highway  De¬ 
partment  count,  tooled  up  the  Gei¬ 
ger  Grade  from  Reno  and  the  old 
Gold  Canyon  road  from  U.S.  50  to 
view  the  sagging  false  fronts,  wood¬ 
en  canopied  sidewalks  and  eighteen 
gorgeous  saloons  that  have  sur¬ 
vived  from  the  Comstock’s  legend¬ 
ary  years.  They  flooded  Piper’s  'Op¬ 
era,  now  a  museum  of  wistful  mem¬ 
ories,  enriched  the  roulette  and  21 
games  at  Pat  Hart’s  Old  Brass  Rail 
Saloon  and  consumed  approximate¬ 
ly  a  herd  of  filet  mignons  at  the 
town’s  newly  reactivate  luxury 
restaurant,  Sharon 
Just  how  far  Virginia  City’s  cur¬ 
rent  boom  in  real  estate  or 
should  go  is  a  question  for  the 
moot.  The  advent  Of  Curtiss-r 
Wright,  the  assurance  of  water 
and  the  dimensions  of  the  tourist 
bonanza  which  is.  engulfing  every¬ 
thing  connected  with  the  Old  West 
have  placed  a  premium  on  city  lots 
Which  only  a  year  ago  were,  revert¬ 
ing  iri  great,  numbers  to  the  county 
for  lack  of  tax. payments.  No  single, 
advantageous  lot  for  business  or 
residential  purposes  is  today  avail¬ 
able  from  the  county  in  the  town’s 
A,  B  or  C  Streets  and  fancy. prices 
(in.  ghost  town  terms  it  must  be 
understood)  are  being  asked  for 
property  occupied  by  mine  dumps 
bn  the  edge  of  town.  Prices  asked 
for  residences,  most  of  which 
would  be  condemned  under  the 
building  code  of  any  modern  city 
in  the  land,  are  astronomical, 
largely  because  the  owners  don’t 
really  want  to  sell.  Three  room, 
miner’s  cottages  now  and  then 
change  hands  for  $i0,00Q.  A  busi¬ 
ness  block  in  C  Street  which  ten 
years  ago  sold  for  $8,000,  now  has 
a  price  tag  of  $40,000, . 

Rumors  from  the  great  World 
outside  ■  Nevada  suggest  that  Vir¬ 
ginia  City  is  riot  alone  in  enjoying 
boom  time  economy  and  a  rising 
market  in  real  estate.  The  same  is 
reportedly  true  in  Aspen,  Cripple 
Creek,  Central  City  and  other  once 
declining  ,  mining  :  camps  through¬ 
out  Colorado  where  well-to-do 
Easterners  and  informed  local  res¬ 
idents  are  snapping  up  everything 
in  sight  at  rates  no  longer  bargain. 
Exurbia,  isri’t  something  for  New 
York  and  the  Atlantic  seaboard 
alone.  It  is  taking  to  them  thar 
hills  where  gold  is  traditionally 
supposed  to  be  and.,  surprisingly 
enough,  proves  to  exist  in  one  form 


One  Serious  conflagration  in  the 
grand  tradition  that;  had  repeatedly 
destroyed  the  mining  camps  of  the 
Old  West  in  bonanza  times  and 
Virginia  City,  whose  .  construction 
is  ninety  percent,  wood  aged  under 
the .  desert  sun,  would  .  have  been 
just  a  memory.  The  400  residents 
remaining  of  the  town’s  ponulation 
of  25,000  iri  1875  were  sadly  mak¬ 
ing  plans  to  go  elsewhere  next  t’ine 
the  fire  siren  sounded. 

The  place  was  obviously  through. 

Then,  bright  and  effulgent  as 
dawn  over  the  desert,  came  the 
news  from  far-off  Wood  Ridge, 
New  Jersey,  that  all  was  saved. 
In  its  darkest'  hour  and  at  the 
lowest  ebb  of  its  morale  Virginia 
City  ,  was  saved  by  the  bell.  The 
bell  had  been  resoundingly  bonged 
by  Curtis-Wright,  manufacturers 
of  a  device  still  known  in  Virginia 
City  as  the  flying  machine,  which 
had  recently  become  Nevada’s 
largest  landowner  by  virtue  of  the 
purchase  of  100  square  miles  of 
desert  in  Storey  County,  although 
at  some  miles  removed  from  Vir¬ 
ginia  City.  Alerted  to  the  plight 
of  the  Comstock  and  as  a  radiant 
gesture  of  good  will,  Curtiss-Wright 
had  picked  up  the  tab.  for  a  new 
water  system  as  casually  as  its 
president  Roy  Hurley  might  pick 
up.  the  luncheon  check  for  friends 
at  the  Banker’s  Club.  The  aircraft 
firm  had  advanced  $50,000  for  an 
emergency  pipeline  to  replace  -the 
open  flumes  through  the  Washoes- 
immediately  with  the  promise  of 
an  overall  reri ovation  of  the  water 
company’s  plant  in  the  near  future. 
Earth  moving  machinery  directed 
by  Curtiss-Wright  in  three  weeks 
had  water  flowing  into  Virginia 
City  in  an  abundance  .  unknown 
since  the  days  of  the.  Big:  Bonanza 
in.  ConrVirginia. 


Comes  Curtiss 


The  .  advent  of  Curtiss-Wright  in 
Nevada  had.  not  hitherto  been 
viewed  with  universal  approbation. 

I  <;  arrival  had  been  somewhat 
clandestine,  circumstance  re¬ 
quited  in  order  to  avoid  delusions 
Oi  grandeur  on  the  part  of,  desert  •  c«v,u6n,  P. 
landholders,  and  the  terrible  tem-Or  another. 


January  8, 1958 


24 


PICTURES 

UA’s  ‘Grover  Whalen’  Bemoans  (?) 
His  late  In  Paris 

By  FRANCIS  M.  WINIKUS 

Paris. 

After  two  years  of  flacking  in  Europe,  we  managed  re¬ 
cently  a  three-week  sabbatical,  in  the  States.  In  a  self- 
contemplative  mood,  we’re  back  in  Paris,  delighted  to  be 
removed  from  the  hysterics,  frenetics  and  head  hernias  of 
the  current  film  business  dip.  . 

It’s  peaceful  in  Paris.  The  rainy 
season  has  started  which  will  last  un¬ 
til  April  only,  thanks  to  the  French 
Tourist  Bureau  and  the  proverbial 
ASCAP  songs.  At  Fouquet’s  the  out¬ 
door  tables  and  chairs  are  put  away. 
Inside,  a  few  of  us  are  sitting  around 
over  our  cold  cafes  noirs,  ruminating. 
Symbolically,  a  fly  .  who  forgot  to  fly 
south  for  the  winter  is  drowning  in  a 
cup.  Someone  draws  the  obvious 
parallel  between  the  fly  and  the  flack 
who  worked  Europe  —  particularly 
Paris— this  past  year; 

The  onslaught  started  in  early  April,  built  to  the. 
peak  of  a  lemming  migration  in  July  and  August  and  . 
gradually  subsided  in  September  with  an  occasional  'gurgle 
and  gasp  of  latent  activity.  By  ship,  by  plane;  and  trai  ,  ‘ 
buses  and  cars,  just-passing-through-arid-thought-rd-give- 
you-a-rings,  on  bicycles  and  walking  tours  they  came,  some¬ 
times  preceded  by  a  letter  which  always  began: 

“Sorry  not  to  have  written  before  but  I  know  how  busy 
(ha-ha)  you  are.  I  know  you  won’t  mind  that  I  told  my 
Uncle  Rupert  to  call  you  when  he  gets  to  Paris.  This  is 
the  first  time  for  him, :  Aunt  Hermione  and  the  four  kids 
and  I  know  that  you'll  be  happy,  etc.. . 

From  every  city,  town  and  hamlet  in  the  United  States 
they  came,  singly  and  in  groups;  editors,  publishers, 
columnists,  critics,.,  agency  reps,  musicians,  secretaries, 
stenographers,  tieup  specialists,  vendors,  old  “friends*” 
school  chums  and  service  buddies — aind  most  of  their  tra¬ 
velling  relatives; 

We  closed  ranks  like  the  Greeks  at  Thermopylae  but  to 
no  avail.  Just  when  victory  seemed  at  hand,  a  dastardly 
doublecross  was  perpetrated  by  the  airlines  not  only  the 
new  polar  routes  from  Los  Angeles  to  Paris  but  five  new 
flights  which  arrived  at  Orly  between  B:  30  and  8:30  a.m. 
on — get  this— Sunday  morning. 

|  The" Ordeal  T 

The  weaker  ones  went  first;  In  a  most  depressing  rite 
in  the  Ritz  Bar,  three  members  of  our  clique  were  read  out 
of  the  group  to  the  tympanied  accompaniment  of  “The 
Death  March’-’  played  on  old  escargot  shells  while  their 
last  month’s  expense  account  slips  were  shredded— and. 
downed  in  Pepsi-Cola  (our  own  vindu-pays ) ;  Rumor  has 
it  that  all  three  are  now  living  in  disgrace  on  Elba,  their 
only  hope  a  Film  Festival  in  I960; 

But  our  motto,  Ne  Cede  Malis  (Yield  Not  To  Misfor¬ 
tunes),  stood  us  in  good  stead.  A  Cadillac  Pool  was 
Created.  By  secret  code,  arrival  information  was  .passed. 
By  rotation,  and  on  the  hour,  a  seven-passenger  jugger¬ 
naut  left  Paris  for  the  airport  with  some  of  us  aboard.  A. 
Naval  Watch  system  was  inaugurated— four  hours  on  and 
four  hours  off — so  that,  at  all  times,  a  combat  crew  would 
be  on  duty  on  the  flying  bridge  of  every  Cadillac. . 

All  went  well  Until  one  Sunday  morning  in;  early  August. 
One  of  our  company  had  been  up  all  night  on  patrol  duty 
between  the  Lido  and  La  Nouvelle  Eve  and  forgot,  the 
weekly  Top  Secret  Code  change.  Instead  of  picking  up  a 
prominent  actress,  her.  publicist,  her  hairdresser  and  their 
27  pieces  of  luggage,  he  hustled  and  wrestled  into  the 
Cadillac  two  baggage  porters  and  the  family  of  a  promi- 
nent  pork  butcher  from  Lyon  Who  was  awaiting  his 
arrival,  delivering  them  to  a  five-room  suite  at  the  Plaza- 
Athenee.  pandemonium  r  Chaos!  Disgrace.  Once  ajgai 
the  pitiful  ceremony.  Once  again,  we  closed  ranks. 

j _  The  .Honors!  .  _  ,  | 

Somehow,  this  decimated  crew  finished  the  summer. 
There  was  the  usual  Final  Banquet.  Medals  and  ribboris 
.were  given  out  and  silent  toasts,  were  tippled  to  the  de¬ 
parted.  Some  might  find  interest  in  the  awards,  herewith : 
GOLD  MEDAL  FOR  ALL-AROUND  FLACK— not 
awarded  for  1957. 

SILVER  STAR  FPR  MOST  TIMES  AT  LIDO— J.  J.— 

(19  times).  * 

BLUE  RIBBON  FOR  MOST  TIMES  UP  ALL  NIGHT 
— F.  W.  tall  snmmer). 

SILVER-MOUNTED  CANOE  PADDLE— (for  getting 
the  most  drunks  to  their  hotel  the  most  times — -B.  H. 

(47  drunks  >. 

(In  this  category  J  there  was  a  tie  between  B.  H.  and  J.  J. 
but  B.  H.  won  because  34  of  his  47  were  women). 

Ah,  memories,  memories  .  .  .  the  night  the  lady  column¬ 
ist  from  Altoona  stole  a  silver  sauce  bowl  from  La  Tour 
D’Argent  .  .  .  and  forgot  that  it  was  still  filled  with  Sauce 
Bernaise  ,  .  .  The  character  who  .changed  hishotelreserva- 
tion  six  tunes  in.  one  week  and.  then  stayed  with  friends 
.  .  .  the  dear  friend  of  a  dear  friend  who  asked  to  have 
$50,000  in  diamonds  smuggled  into.  France  in  answer  to 
the  query,  “Anything  I  can  do:  for  you?”  .  .  And  so  on-H- 
and  on. 

[_ _  The  Real  Lowdown  '  | . 

From  our  recent  visit  to. the  States  we’ve  gotten  the 
impression  that  the  boys  back  home  have  some  wrong 
ideas  which  we’d  like  to  correct.  When  the  elbow  nudges 
our  ribs,  the  eyes  leer  and  the  lips  slaver  as  they  pro¬ 
nounce,  “Oh,  Boy!  Paris  .  . .  WHAT  A^  SPOT!”,  it’s  time  to 
speak  the  truth.  Voici! 

1.  It.  is  not  true  that  every  producer ,  actor, :ditectdr  or 
vice-president's  dentist's  grandmother  is  met  upon  at-  . 
rival  with  Cadillac,  Whisked  to  a  five-room  suite  at  the 
Hotel  George.  V.  bathed  in  .ass's,  milk  and  force-fed 
with  -pheasant  under  glass  washed  down  with  Dom 
Perignon  ’ 47.  Sometimes  we  use  Buicks.. 

2.  It  is  not  true  that  Paris  is  loaded  with  frantic 
blondes,  impassioned  brunets  and  n  lural  redheads 
awaiting  the  summons  of  play fui  American  males;'  hot 
true  that  they  come  arunnin’  at  that  atavistic  call  to 
arms,  “ Dix  Milles  FrancSt”  The  truth  is  that  there 
are  very  few  French  natural  redheads. 

3-  It  is  not  tin ie  that  the  lunch  break  stretches  from 
il’ until  A  and  that  it  is  incumbent  upon  the  partic¬ 
ipants  to  doicn  a  litre  of  white  wine,  neither  of  red 


Fifly'-tecoiul  .  Annijpersa ry.\ 

plus  d  windup  of  assorted  brandies.  The  truth  is  that 
many  people  get  back  to  work  at  3 : 30. 

4.  It  is  hot  true  that  French  plumbing  is  always  terri¬ 
ble  arid  that  on  frequent  occasions  the  bidet  makes  ice 
cubes.  Anyone  who  knows  edri  tell  you  that  all  a  bidet 
can  do  is  to  make  trouble. , 

Yes,  it  is  very  quiet  in  Paris  these  days.  The  only  cloud 
on  the  horizon  is  a  recent,  news  item  that  the  Boeing  pas¬ 
senger  jets  will  be  flying  next  year..  “Imagine,”  the  arti-. 
cle  says,  “New  York  to  Paris  in  six  and  oriehalf-  hours! 
Now  tourists  will  be  able  to  go  there  for  weekends!” 
With  no  attempt  to  be  sacrilegious,  we’d  like  to  paraphrase 
the  quote  and  erid  with,  ‘My  w.c.  runneth  over!” 


-By  VERNON  pUKE- 


When  Moliere’s  Mr;  Jourdain  amassed  enough  wealth 
to  set  himself  up  in  a  splendid  house,  complete  with  fancy 
furnishings  and  servants,  he  became  possessed  with  a 
craze  for  gentility  and  gallantry.  The  “would-be  gentle¬ 
man”  summoned  tutors  in  music, 
dancing,  fencing  and  philosophy,  be¬ 
cause  .  “people  of  quality  do  so.”  Jour¬ 
dain  was  an  absurd  fool,  yet  am¬ 
bitious  enough  to  realize  that  living 
in  a  manner  to  which  he  was  unac¬ 
customed  was  merely  half-the-battle; 
complete  victory  could  only  be 
achieved  by  becoming  a  carbon  copy 
of  a  moneyed  gentleman.  If  he  failed 
in  this  ambition,  it  was  not  through 
lack  of  effort. 

.  The  dollaristocrats  of  our  show 
business  have  no  such  “souci  d’ele- 
gance”— -that  is  they  will  pay  heavily 
for  elegance,  but  want  ho  part  of  the  “soucis.”  They  see  no 
point  in  fretting,  about  one’s  lack  of  college  education, 
when  one  can  pour  oneself  into  a  genuine  Ivy  League 
suit  and  look  every— well,  nearly  every  inch  a  Yale 
alumnus.  Why  learn  French  when  none  is  spoken  in 
the  lobby :  of  the  George'  Sank?  A  Frenchman  will  not 
cross  the;  ocean .  until  he' learns  enough  English  to  wade 
through  at  least  one  Hemingway  in  the  original.  The 
Paris-bound  dollaristocrat  would  consider  that  a  waste 
of  time  and  money;  the.  French  do  not  interest  him  unless ' 
they  represent  boudoir  potential  or  could  prove  useful, 
should  the  American  want  to  invest  in  a  Say-Zanie,  a 
Yuh-Thrill-Oh,  or  a  Two-Louse-Low-Trick; 

The  characters  under  discussion  here  are  not  the  the¬ 
atre’s  intelligentsia  not  the  creative  gentry  employed  by 
the  film  ,  or  video  industries,  but  the  hustlers  and  the 
hucksters,  the  publicity-grabbing  operators  and  promoters, 
the  benzedrine  brigade  of  show  business. 

What  does  a  .dollaristocrat  db  when  his  yearly  income 
reaches  six  figures?  He  buys  a  manor  a  shade  more  mag¬ 
nificent  than  that  of  his  nearest  competitor’s.  The  com¬ 
petitor  invests  in  an  interior  decorator,  who  insists  on  " 
books  and  paintings.  Our  boy  gets  the  ^  decorator’s  rival, 
who  has  a  way  with  fountains-  and  chandeliers.  There 
are  book  dealers  who  cater  to  the  non-reading  bibliophiles; 
they  love  a  client  who  demands  six  yards  of  yellow 
morocco.  The  decorator  wants  yellow  books  to  complete 
his  color  scheme,  and  neither  he,  nor  his  employer,  cares 
if  the  leather  disguises  Elbert  Hubbard’s  “Little  Jour¬ 
neys”  or  the  complete  works  of  Whyte-Melville. 

[_ _  ^Regency’  Kick  _  |  . 

The  current  dollaristocratic  fad  in  house  decor  is 
“Regency”— goodness  knows  why.  Regency:  rakes  would 
be  mortified  to  find  replicas  of  their  dwellings  inhabited 
by  sun-worshippers  and  their  mink-clad  minxes,  spouting 
Brooklynese  with  occasional  borrowings  from  Colony  cant. 

The  dollaristocratic  jargon  has.  Undergone  some  changes 
of  late;  terms  borrowed,  from  the.  underworld,  college  or 
musicians’  slang  have /seen  better  days,  but  the  two  four- 
letter  classics  never  had  it'  so  good.  No  smart  publisher 
Would  print  a  novel  without  the  twin,  scabrous  “musts” 
injected  skillfully  at  the  first  signs  of  a  lagging  plot.. 
Unprintable  no  longer,  and  therefore  somewhat  hackneyed, 
the  two  words,  are  used  with  undiminished  gusto  by  the 
better-publicized  showfolk.  Go  to  any  Broadway  or  Holly¬ 
wood,  gathering  of  column  fodder  and  See  if  I'm  right. 

The  next  step;  following  the  acquisition  of  a  manor,  is 
securing  the  right  paintings  to  hang  on.  its  walls.  A  Euro¬ 
pean  trip  is  in  order,  and  there  is  nothing  our  native 
Jourdain  -  likes  better  than  the  role  of  a  Good  Will 
HambassadorL  Good  Americans  supposedly  go  to  Paris  to 
die;  our  man  goes  there,  if  .not  to  live,  then,  certainly, 
to  “live  it  up.’’  The  dollaristocrats  regards  Europe  as  a 
de  luxe  combination  of  Palm  Springs*  Las  Vegas  and 
Miami  Beach,  with  an  assortment  of  foreign  flavors  and 
slews  of  unnecessary  foreigners.  He  happily  throws  his 
weight  and  dollars  around,  squawks  loudly  about  being 
short-changed,  compares  everything  unfavorably  with  the 
home  product,  arid  indulges  athletically,  in  noisy  horseplay, 
which  characterizes  our  innocents  abroad  and  brings  about 
the  problem  of  senile  delinquency. 

Should  such  festive  activities  result  in  marital  mayhem 
and  other  unpleasantness,  the  dollaristorat  does  the  ac¬ 
cepted  thing— he  ruris  to  the  nearest  psychoanalyst.  lit 
occurs  ,  to  me  that  a,  Molieresque  School  for  Would-be 
Ladies  and  Gentlemen  would  help  matters  more  readily, 

I;  for  one,  cannot  wait  for  the  spectacle  of  platirium- 
girdled,  chinchiilla-brassiered.  .Eliza  Doolittles  taken  over 
the  coals  by  $300-a-im>nth  Higginses. 

1  . _  French  Quiz-Game  | 

The '  Paris  weekly.  Les  Arts,  recently  ran  a  six-page 
quiz  on  the  subject  infinitely  painful  to  Parisians,  “Are 
We  Americanized?”  The  American  influences  in  French 
Art  and  Literature  were,  discussed  arid;  while  the  editors 
admitted  that  Coca-Cola  consuming,  gum-chewing,  jitter- 
bugging,  and  stripteasing  (the  No.  1  current  -Paris  fad) 
were  of  American  origin,  we  Were  denied,  dny  credit  for 
loftier  pioneering,  Les  Arts  insisted  that  plays  Imported 
from  the  U.S. A.  clicked  in  Paris  only  because  of  the 
brilliant  French  adaptors;  our  music  and  painting  had 
merit  only ,  when  copied  from  the  French,  and,  as  for 
literature,  even  the  usually  admired  Faulkners  and  Stei 
becks  were  dismissed  with  “supremely  unimportant.” 

“Lets  be  frank.”  the  editors  summed  up,  “the  one 
American  coriimpdity  we  can  use  is  the  Dollar.”  I  sus¬ 
pect  that  the  “quiz”  Was  a  pseudo-patriotic  stunt,  devised 
by  the  publishers,  because  the  answers  ,  to  the  editors’ 


Fran:  Wlnlkns 


Vernon  Duke 


January  8, 1858. 


By  NOEL  MEADOR 


About  a  million  Americans,  reported  Tom  Pryor  in  thi 
N.Y  Times,  see  movies  on  the  cuff  every  week.  His  esti¬ 
mate  was  most  conservative,  as  he  had  to  light  somewhere 
between  600,000  and  15  000,000  the  two  extremes  offered  to 
him  by  melancholy  boxoffice  statisticians. 

Pryor’s  estimate  of  the  minirnal  dollar  cost  of  this 
largesse  to  the  film  indusry  has  also  a  delightful  basis 

_ innocence  of  such  motion  picture  journalists  as  to  box- 

office  prices,  a  matter  never  known  to  concern  them  per¬ 
sonally.  With  unabashed  pre-World  War  H  naivete,  Pryor 
allows  that  65c  per  head  is  about  the  average  goirig  rate. 
At  that  American  film  houses  are  giving  away  some  $44,- 
800,00  in  admissions  annually. 

The  evil  is  symbolized  by  the  “pass,”  which  was  raised 
to  the  level  of  an  American  ins'itution  by  sharpshooting 
Annie  Oakley. 

The  topic  of  the  “pass”  is  riot  a  matter  of  wholly 
cent  concern.  It  has  been,  too,  a  sore  trial  to  poets  and 
philosophers  of  the  past  (which  is,  after  all,  a  derivation 
of  “  ”). 

Follow  on: 

“  ’E  doesn't  want  n6  pass; 

’E's  journeying  first  class.” 

From  “Burial  of  Private  Ginger  Jones  ” 

By  Edgar  Wallace. 

“To  those  who  live  and  toil  and  lowly  die, 

Who  pass  beyond  and  leave  no  lasting  trace  . . 

From  “Casuals  of  the  Sea,“ 

By  William  McFee. 

“Whenever  a  rascal  strove  to  pass. 

Instead  of  silver*  a  coin  of  brass  .  .  .  ” 

From  "The  Coin  Is  Spurious,” 

By  Charles  McKay.  r 

“Yes,  I  have  lived!  Pass  on 
And- trouble  me  with  ques  ioris  nevermore,” 

From  “On  the  Saint  Gaudefis  Work  in  Rock  Creek 
Cemetery” 

By  Henrietta  A.  Heathom  (Mrs.  Thomas  H.  Hux¬ 
ley). 

“Be.  comforted!  Thy  grief  shall  pass  away.” 

From  “This;  Too,  Shall  Pass  Away  ” 

By  Paul  Hamilton  Hayne. 

“Have  you  had  a  kindness  shown? 

Pass  it  on.” 

From  “Pass. It  Oh,” 

By  Henry  Burton. 

“1  think  they  have  no  portion  in  tis  .after 
We  pass  the  ga’.e.” 

From  “ Vitae  Symma  &r.cvis  ” 

By  Ernest  Dowson. 

“You  shall  not  pass!  You  shall  .riot  pass' 

From-  Verdun.  Written  for  the  Red  Cross,  London. 
By  Harold  Begbie. 

“They  are  not  gone  who  pass 
Beyond  the  clasp  of  hand.” 

From  “They  Softly  Walk” 

By  Hugh  Robert  Orr,. 

“It  is  nothing  to.  you,  all  ye:  that  pass  by?” 

Lamentations.  I,  12. 

The  Bible. 

“Men  seldom  make  passes 
At  girls  who  wear  glasses.* 

Dorothy  Parker. 

*.Tm  sure  I  shall  not  pass  again  this  way.** 

.  Ellen.  H.  Underwood. 

“Than  do  high  deeds  in  Hungary 
To  pass  all  men’s  believing.” 

By  Ezra  Pound. 

“As  I  pass  through  my  incarnations  .  in  every  age  and 
race  ” 

From  “The  Gods  of  the  Copybook.” 

By  Rudyard  Kipling. 


questions  were  unsigned.  Infuriating  though  the  Whole 
thing  was,  I’m  not  sure  that  the  smug  superiority  com¬ 
plex  wijich  distinguishes  the  rotogravured  dollaristocrat 
overseas,  was  not,  at  least  partly,  responsible  for  the 
prefabricated  results  of  the  quiz. 

Some  three  years  ago  I  dined  in  One  of  Paris’  better 
restaurants  with  a  gifted  and  much-traveled  French  writer.' 
We  were  both  fascinated  by  the  noises  emanating  from  the 
next  table,  where  four  well-heeled  “Amerloques”  (French 
slang  for  U.S.  citizens)  were  about  to  order  dinner. 
“Waiter*”  said  the  host,  a  youngish  glamour-gent  type, 
‘Make  with  four  real  steaks,  Kansas  Gity  aged  meat, 
come-pray-nay?  No  frilly  frog  stuff-get  me?  And  plenty 
of  real  French  fried  potatoes.” 

1  French,  rnoiisieur?”  the  mild-mannered  garcori  remon¬ 
strated,,  “But,  Lthpught;  you  .  /’ 

“Yeh,  yeh  .  ..”  growled  the  customer,  “That’s  what 
I  mean;  American  French'  fries,  not  the  French  french 
kmd— O.K.,:  on  the  double.” 

Some  20  minutes  later,  a  huge  Ghauteaubriand  Aux 
Pommes  was  ceremoniously  wheeled  in;  the  meat  was  the 
best  you  could  buy  in  les  Halles,  its  black-red  sheen 
framed  by  thin,  golden  “f rites.”  The  tourists  fell  to  it 
with  exclamations  on  the  familiar  order  of,  “Can*t  beat 
a  good  American  steak  .  .  bet  it  was  flown  in  from 
Chicago  this  morning  who  said  sriails?  B-r-r- 
and  the  like. 

My  companion  shrugged  wearily  as  he  gulped  down  his 
Beaujoiais:  “O  Tempora,  o  Bores!” 


26  PICTURES  Fifty -second  Anniversary 


Gags  A  La  Mode 


Decline  of  the  Topical  Joke 


By  LEONARD  TRAUBE 

Topical  gags  are  about  as  dead  as  they  could  be  without  the  formali¬ 
ties  of  burial.  Radio  has  long  since  abdicated  the  throne  after  a  -‘long 
run”  as  kingpin  of  such -swift  bon  mots.  Vaudeville,  the  former  em¬ 
peror  of  the  updated  crack  or  the  newsy  riposte*,  went  into  hiding  so 
long  ago  that  its  power  in  the  department  of  the  timely  joke  or  pro¬ 
vocative  one-liner  is  remembered  mostly  by  oldtimers  only.  .  : 

Television  started  to  make  some  topical  noise  when  the  Berl.es  arid 
the  Buttonses,  the  Hopes  and  the  Skeltons,  and  a  small  string  of  others; 
rushed  like  mad  to  be  first  with  an  overnight  topical  scoop.  Hardly 
more  than  Hope  is  left  now  to  make  with  suchlike  jokes.  One  reason  is 
the  decline  in  comedians  on  the  medium,  another,  the  fact  that  spon¬ 
sors  and  networks  are  allergic  to.  certain  cracks;  a  third  reason,  probably 
the  foremost,  is  the.  big  switch  from  live  to  filnv — and  how  can  you  be 
timely  on  a  hunk  of  16  millimeter  that  may  have  been  ground  out  two 
months  previously? 

Radio  was  top  gun  from  the.  middle  ’30s  forward  when  three  or  four 
comedians  could— and  did^— go  on  the  air  in  the  same  night  with  the 
crack  that  "John  Dillinger  has.  given  the  Philadelphia  police  24  hours 
to  get  out  of  town.”  That  may  have  been  the  last  of  the  strategic,  topi- 
cals  that  swept  the  country  overnight.  Nowadays  most  of  these  swifties. 
are  generated  almost  exclusively  in  such  substantial  but  limited  sur¬ 
roundings  as  the  Browri  Derby-Toots  Shoi-21-Mike  Romanoff  dine-see- 
and-berseen  circuit. 

In  television,  hardly  anyone  remembers  when  the  last  “good  one” 
was  pitched..  Bob  Hope  is  always  in  there,  and  Jack  Benny,  Red  Skel¬ 
ton  and  Jack  E.  Leonard  to  a  certain  extent,  but  the  next  morning  it’s 
“whaddit  he  say?”  A  couple  of  years  ago,  Steve  Allen  got  off  one  that 
may  have  stuck  around  for  a  while.  Allen,  given  a  choice .  by  his  doc¬ 
tor  between  eigarets  and  cancer,  niftied,  “I  gave  up  cancer.” 

Since  hi  “new  comeback”  in  tv,  on  NBC’s  “Tonight,”  Jack  Paar  has 
been  throwing  in  quite  a  number  of  timely  laugh-getters.  'Characteris- 
tically>  he  also  has  been  plugging  his  writer.  Jack  Douglas, 

|  _  Jack  Benny & The  Weed  [ 

The  cigaret  joke  is  nothing  new,  merely  in  a  new.  framework  by  rea¬ 
son  of  the  “scare."  Almost-  37  years  go  to  the  day.  Jack  Benny,  always, 
alert  to  what’s  happening,  in  the  world,  though  in  the  iatferday  years 
of  his  radio-electronic  noripareilif^  a  “Situation”  pitcher  and  to-the- 
manner-bom  comic  rather  than  a  straight  gagster,  was  having  a  pienic 
with  the  weed. 

A  custom-pegged  crack  is  only  as  good  as  yesterday’s  headline,:  »f- 
course.  although  in  the  case  of  eigarets,  it  lasts  longer  (no  pun  intend¬ 
ed,  not  much!).  If  a  TG  (topical  gag)  has  to  be  explained,  it’s  no  good, 
and  because  few  current  events,  cracks  are  durable,  a  flashback:  on  a 
certain  one-liner  by  Benny  has  little,  meaning  expect .  tp  those  fafniliar 
with  the  era. 

Back  in  1921  Benny,  then  in  his  middie  20s,  was  being  “New-Acted” 
by  Variety.  Sime  (Simp  Silverman,  founder-publisher-editpr,  1905-33) 
himself  hied  to  the  Fifth  Ave.  Theatre  in  New  York  to  catch  the  young, 
monologist  in  his  “14-Mins.”  turn.  Historians  will  immediately  leap  up¬ 
on -Sime’s  opening  lines,  because  he  embodied  in  the  nine-word  double 
sentence  a  thumbnail  size-up  of  the  then  upcoming  comedian— “Jack 
Benny  has  a  violin  and  talk.  Mainly  talk.”  But  that’s  a  side  dish  to  the 
present  treatise.  V 

f _  Good€ag  Is  Worth  Repeating  \  | 

Sime  goes  on:  “He  handles  himself  as  though  having  played  small 
time,  though  his  felk  material  is  newi  When  Bertny  said  he.  had  stopped 
smoking  as  smoking  is  now  too  effeminate,  he  waited  for  the  expected 
laugh  which  was  not  as  hearty -as  he  looked  for,  so  he  repeated  the  gag. 

It  may  well  be  that  Benny  was  disappointed,  but  in  after^years,  at 
least,  the  Lucky  Striker  made  a  cracker  jack  art  put  of  an  air  of.  in¬ 
jured  innocence  and  a  stance  that  bespoke  fakery  iriagnifique.  A  cou¬ 
ple  of  seconds  elapse  and  Benny  will  repeat  a  gag  even  today.  If  Sime 
was  correct  about  the  comic’s  ciggie  gag  not  receiving  the  expected  ; 
“hearty  response”  from  the  audience,  Benny,  undoubtedly  learned  a 
lot  from  the  critique.  In  1921,  a  lot  would  depend  on  the  composition 
of  the  audience.  Perhaps  1921  already  was  too.  late,  but  this  was  the 
era,  just  following  World.  War  I,  when  distaffers  were  beginning,  to: 
smoke  socially.  Not  too  many  years  before  that,  a  cig  dangling  from  the 
lips  of  a  dame,  np  matter  how  highly  placed  she  was  in  the  social  stra¬ 
tum,  would  connote  a  “bad  girl,”  or  at  best,  “sophisticated.” 

Benny  probably  repeated  the  crack  in  other  vaudeville  houses,  with 
undoubtedly  better  results;  maybe  even  triggering  -  a  couple  Of  small 
belly-laughs.  It  was  a  topical  that  certainly  had  the  desired  ingredi¬ 
ents.  (In  the  same  review  Sime  mentioned  another  of  Benny’s  jokes, 
this  one  -along,  narrative  style  with  a  punchline,  and  he  toOk  a  swipe 
at  the  audience  and  the  theatre  (the  latter  for  catering  to  such  peas¬ 
ants)  for -thinking  this  was  funnier  than  he  smoking  gag;  This  was  one 
of  the  reviewer’s  ways  of  giving  his  “blessing”  to  material,  with  or  with¬ 
out  regard  to  audience  values.)  Sime’s  sum-up:  “He  has  gags,  presence 
and  assurance.”  Notice  “gags”  are  first  on  the  list. 

j  _  HalliganV  Hot-Off -The-Griddle  .  ,  :  [ 

Another  “great  topical”  good  for  its  time  but  a  dud  today  was  . re¬ 
layed  by  Sime  in  behalf  -of  Bill  Halligaii  who  brought  it  east  from  the 
Coast.  (The  publisher-editor  had  a  penchant  for  working  extraneous 
passages  into  his  reviews;  the  riiaterial  was  intended  for  the  comedy 
profession  rt  large,  for  use  over  the.  “booked  solid”  vaudeville  loops*: 
in  au  era  when  a  performer  could  get  a  load  of  mileage  out  of  a  one- 
liner.  in  contrast  to  today’s  “here  today  gone  tomorrow”  material.) 
Halligan’s  crack;  “An  optimist  is  a  bartender  still  paying  dues  to  his 
union.”  How  many  persons  today  savvy  this  unless  they  know  pronto 
that  PrPhib  tvOn  had  recently  arrived  in  America  to  put -'the  mixologists 
put  of  wo.k ^Explanations  are  the  kiss  of  death*  You  can’t  milk  a  laugh, 
out  of  a  Im^ottcn  era  without,  going  into  postscripts. 

On  Jack  ienny  again  (how  dp  you  get  rid  of  a  hero!),  one  need  not 
go  farther  back  than  six  months  ago  to  find  him  at  his  peak  with  an¬ 
other  top'cality  or  two.  The  reviewer,  Scho  (Joe  Schoenfeld,  editor  of 
Daily  Va?.  ety),  caught  him  at  the  Flamingo  in  Las  Vegas,  the  come¬ 
dian’s  first  night  club  engagement.  They  figured  he  was  taking  the 
saloon  fling  for  the  challenge  rather  than  the  money,  and  Benny  him¬ 
self  summed  it  up  in  a  gag:  “If  it’s  good  enough  for  Eddie  Peabody  arid 
Noel  Coward,  it’s  good  enough  for  me!”  To  be  sure,  this  was  a  quasi¬ 
trade  gag.  but  understood  by  the  Flamingo’s  and  Las  Vegas  customers,, 
which  Is  su*:  cient  and  an  end  in  itself  «  .  .  a  far  cry  from  television 
and  its  avalanche  of  “inside”  gags  savvied  by  a  speck  of  the  millions 
in  the  lock  fc  listen  audience.  A  topical  that  falls  flat  because  it  is  “spe¬ 
cial*’  is  one  of  the  first  signs  that  its.  pitcher  is  either  new  at  the  busi-- 
ness  or  can’t  resist  the  temptation  tp- address  himself  to  a-$mall  ‘ coterie 
that  he  regards  highly,  e.g.,  the  trade  or  a  couple  of  agents  in  the  house. 

In  modern  times,  right  up  until  his  untimely  death,  the  greatest  of 
the  standup  comics — certainly  when  it  came  to  the  Page  One  jofce-— 
was  Will  Rogers.  (Why.  waste  time  here;  see  last  year’s  Anniversary 
Number.)  Between  .vaudeville  stops,  Rogers  plied  his  crack- jacks  in 
revues,  and-  musical  comedy.  The  tuned-up  legiters  and  some  straight 


plays  are  perhaps  the  last  of  the  major  showcases  for  such  jokerage, 
hut  there’s  only  a  tiny  number  of  writers  around  skillful  enough  orin- 
terested  enough  to  make  hey-hey ;  out  of  the  headlines.  Television,  with 
its  cavernous  maw,  is  considered  as  good  as  dead  in  this  respect,  as  has 
been  -mentioned,  and  even  the  late  (?)  Sputnik  drew  little  attention 
considering  its  tremendous  potentialities,  as  a  subject  for  quickies,  As 
if  awakening  from  its  near-grave  to  be  shocked  by  the  paucity,  it  was 
radio  that  came  alive  vis-a-vis  the  Russian  round-the-worlJ  carousel — 
a  fact  that  would  appear  to  discredit  television,  ,  .  . 

Here  and  there  in  the  night  clubs,  under  the  proper  climate  and  with 
the.  right  performer,  the  Danny  Thomases,  Berles,  Joe  E,  Lewises,  et 
al.,  will  "come  through”;  but  it’s  all  too  sparse  and  spasmodic.  On  for¬ 
eign,  soil,  the  area  for  custom-tailored  quickie  is  narrowing  sadly.  The 
French  are  about  the  most  uninhibited.  The  English  are  still  singu¬ 
larly  capable  of  poking  fun  at  themselves  (self-poking  being  the  yery 
essence  of  the  topical),  and  some  other  countries  of  the  Commonwealth 
are  no  doubt  still  alive  to  the  nifty  swif tie.  Add  a -few,  other  unshack¬ 
led  countries  and  that’s  about  it. 

One  of  the.  great  politico-pegged  cracks  of  this  ceritUry  came  not 
from  a.  comic  but  a  lady  writer  considered  to  have  one  of  the  sharpest 
minds  extent.  From  her  it  had  to  have  a  slight  loftiness  or  “literate¬ 
ness”  that  may  have  reduced  its  ,  rating  as  far  as  wide  acceptance  is 
concerned.  In  the  early  days  of  the  Truman  Administration,  when  the 
President,:  being  new  at  the  job,  was  putting  his  foot  in  his  mouth. 
She  pitched,  this  deathless  comment:  “To  Err  Is  Truman.”  Most  sources 
credit  this  to  Dorothy  Thompson.  4. 

.  Another  splendiferous  comment  came  a  few  months  ago  in  Time 
magazine.  The  Luce-talk  weekly  was  reviewing  the  picture,  “Helen 
Morgan  Story,”  and  reflecting  on  a  spate  of  other  liquor-dipped  film 
treatises  of  recent  years  such  as  “I’ll  Cry  Tomorrow”  and  the  current 
Jeanne  Eagels.”  The  publication  quipped  that  a  new  credit  should  be 
flashed  on  the  screen — the  picture’s .  proof.  (Dear  comedians:  yes,  the 
public  prints  are  often  as  good  as  your  hired  writers.) 

.,  Probably  Milton  Berle’s  best  quasi-topical  contribution  was  in  the 
days  when  Bishop  Fulton  Sheen  was  opposite  him  on  television.  “We’re 
both  using  old  material,”  said  the  former  Tuesday  titan. 

Aficionados  Of  the  gentleman  claim  that  young  comedian  Mort  Sahl 
may  be  ;the  next  “big  one”  to  hit  not  only  as  a  laugh  purveyor  but  one 
who  knows  his  headlines.  If  this  is  so,  he  would  be  strangely  wel¬ 
come  as  a  gap-filler. 

Like  a  headline,  the  “custom”  joke  is  good  for  24  hours  or  so  (give 
or  take  a  week  or  two).  On  a  continuing  hot  Subject,  gags  almost  write 
themselves  and  have  durability  in  kind-  Posterity  does  not  inherit  the 
cream  . of  the  jest,  topicality  being  too  brittle; 

An'  historian  of  a  generation  or.  so  hence,  hot  on  the  trail  of  what 
made  the  1950s  tick  in  terms  of  its  prime  laughmakers,  are  figured 
to  pinpoint  one  comedian  as  a  prime  example  of  his  time.  He  would  be. 
a  comedian  who  has  never  suffered  a  topical  gag  to  escape  from  his 
lips.  Paraphrasing  Anthony’s  line  in  reference  to  Julius  Caesar,  the 
gag  a.  la  mode  must  be  made  of  sterner  stuff  to  stand  the  'test  of  tirrie. 
The  eoraedian  in  question  knows  that  the  topical  cannot  be  made  of 
sterner  stuff  as  this  would  deny  the  principle  embodied  in  that  type 
of  ebnucality^the  principle  of  “tell  it  today,  tomorrow  is  too  late.” 
The-comediah  in  question,  does  not  work  that  side  of  the  street  He, 
too,  is  Caesar— Sid. 

Song  Of  The  Film  Pioneer 

By  HOWARD  DIETZ 
(With  Arthur  Schwartz  Music) 


-  (At  the  annual  dinner  of  the  Motion  Picture  Poineers  on  Nov.  25, 
1957,  tfi  guest  of  honor  was  Joseph  R.  Vogel,  president  of  Loew'v 
Inc.  who  (nobody  Would  deny)  had  had  a  rough  1957.  For  the  occasion 
Loew’s  Howard  Dietz  teamed  with  his  musical  comedy  collaborator, 
Arthur  Schwartz,  to  capture  in  song  something  of  the  atmosphere 
and  morale  of  the  crisis. — Ed. 

Sing  a  . Song  of  the  Pioneer,  Sing  a  Song  of  the  Pioneer 
Ev’ry  year  we  hire  a  hall,  hire  a  hail  and  have  a  ball, 

All  for  one  and  one  for  all.  Sing  a  Song  of  the  Pioneer. 

Westward  Ho;  Westward  Hum, 

Business  go  to  hell  when  TV  come. 

Daniel  Boone  was  a  pioneer,  pioneer  of  a  yesteryear. 

We  don’t  have  coonskin  hats,  we  don’t  have  Indian  spats. 

But  we  have  Balaban  &  Katz,  And  many  a  modern  pioneer. 

Men  like  Loew  and  Ziikor.  pioneers  unique. 

If  they  had  stayed  in  the  fur  trade  we  wouldn’t  be  up  the  creek. 

Way  iip  the  crieek.  Way  up  the  creek. 

Men  like  Spyros  Skputas,  tried  very  hard  to  cure  us. 

Gave  us  hope,  with  CinemaScope,  but  that  didn’t  cure  the  “tsouris,” 
“Tsouris”  in  Greek  means  up  the  creek. 

Westward  Ho,  Westward  Hoo, 

Business  go  to  hell  in  popcorn  too!. 

i;  '  ' 

Joe  Vogel  is  a  pioneer,  that  is  why  we  are  gathered  here. 

He  is  fearless,  he  is  foxy,  showed  he  has  a  lot  of  Moxie 
He’s  the  prexy  with  the  proxy,  The  Pioneer  of  the  Year 

Joe  Vogel  is.  a  motion  picture  mogul,  a  motion  picture  mogul  every  inch 
While  the  industry’s  cornerstone  was  being  laid 
He  was  playing  Flora  Finch. 

Buffalo  Bill  was  a  pioneer,  a  pioneer  of  a  yesteryear. 

Made  a  famous  Western  trek. 

If  it  hadn’t  been  for  the  Western  trek 

We  wouldn’t  be  playing  that  Western  wreck,  by  many  a  pioneer. 

Men  like'*  Samuel  Goldwyn,  he  has  travelled  far. 

If  he  were  still,  in  Gloversville,  we  wouldn’t  he  where  we  are 
Way  .  up  the  creek,  way  up  the  creek. 

Palisades  promoters,  Joe  and  Brother  Nicholas, 

If  they  hadn’t  played  with  a  Penny  Arcade 

Things  wouldn’t  be  so  “ridicholas”  way  up  the  creek,  way  up  the  creek. 

Westward  Ho,  Westward  Sail 
Brpke  our  tail  on  the  sliding  scale. 

Joe  Vogel  is  a  pioneer,  that  is  why  we  are  gathered  here. 

He  is  noble  as  a  Roman,  he’s  an  optimistic  omen, 

M-GtM  has  found  a  Showman,  the  Pioneer  of  the  Year. 

Joe  Vogel  is  a  motion -picture  mogul, 

You  nanie  the  .game  and- he -is  well  ahead, 

While'  the  industry's  cornerstone  was  being  laid 
He  Was  doing  what  we  said. 

Sing  a  Song  of  the  Pioneer,  Sing  a  Song  of  the  Pioneer 
Ev’ry  year  we  hire  a  hall,  hire  a  hall  arid  have  a  ball, 

All  for  one  and  one  for  all! 


January  8, 1156 


Up  in  wreece 


By  IRENE  VELISSARIOU 

Athens. 

Moving  pictures  remain  the  top 
public  entertainment  in  this  coun¬ 
try.  Proof  of  this  may  he  rioted.; 
Local  production  had  reached  a  rec¬ 
ord  mark  of  50  films;  in  1957,. 
against  half  of  that  number  in  pre¬ 
vious  years. 

Many  of  Greece’s  first  afterwar 
productions  were  not  only  strongly 
supported  by  audiences  but  had  ac¬ 
cess  to  best  playing  time,  and  top 
terms.  Quality  was  neglected  and 
a  slump  developed  when  fun- 
starved  (for  a  while)  public  got 
fed  up  with  bad  drama  and  cheap 
comedy. 

Of  course  there  was  the  excuse 
of  limited  economic  and  technical 
possibilities  in  a  country  of  about 
only  8,000,000  inhabitants.  Nor 
does  the  Greek  Government  sup¬ 
port  local  production,  neither  in 
grants  to  producers  nor  other  ben¬ 
efits.  But  these  facts  were  not  ac¬ 
cepted.  A  few  Greek  successes  at 
foreign  film  festivals  only  deep¬ 
ened  the  gulf 'between  the  best  and 
the  average.  The  return  of  better 
standards  artistically1  has  been, 
slow. 

:  Most  of  the  50  Greek  films,  of 

1957  have  been  shot  in  Athens, 
some  on  location.  Michalis  Kacoy- 
annis,  who  heads  the  Greek  Direc¬ 
tors  Guild  and  whose  former  fea¬ 
tures.  “Stella”  and  “The  Girl 
Black,”  were  Festival  items,  has 
completed  “The  Last  Lie,”  starring 
Elli  Lambetti,  supported  by 
Georges  Pappas*  Helen.  Hatziarguri, 
Michalis  Nicolinacos,  Helen  Zaph-.. 
eriou,  Athena  Michaelidou  and 
others. 

Greg  Tallas’  production  this  year 
is  titled  ‘.‘The  Girl;  of  the  Seagulls,” 
starring  his  wife,  Helen  Bratsou* 
and  Chr.  Nezer. 

Greek-Ameriean  producer  Peter 
Melas  produced  “The  Man  of  the 
Train,”  directed  by  Dinos  Dimo- 
poulos  with  Anna  Synodinou  and 
Georges  Pappas  in  the  leading 
roies. 

Young  director  Georges  Koun- 
douros  shot  almost  entirely  on  loca¬ 
tion  at  the  Meteore  mountains:  a 
picture  on  the  Greek  underground 
activities  during,  the  war  and  oc¬ 
cupation  called  “The  Outlaws.” 

Finos  Film  Studios  had  signed 
Greek-Italian  star  Yvonne  Sanson 
to  co-star  with  Dimitri  Horn  in  the 
picture  “A  Life  We  Have,”  direct¬ 
ed  by  George  Tzavellas.  An-Zervos. 
Studio  sent  to  Venice  and  Carlovy- 
Vary  its  “The  Lake  of  Desires,”  di¬ 
rected  by  George  Zervos. 

Production  plans  for  *  1958  em¬ 
brace  Michalis  Kacoyannis  C’Scope 
version-  of  the  Greek  classic  “Iphi- 
genia”  with  United  Artists  back¬ 
ing.  Preparations  will  be  exhaus¬ 
tive,  and  pic  is  not  expected  to  be 
ready  until  1959.  Ilya  Lopert  will 
be  executive  producer  with  Elli 
Lambetti  in  the  starring  role. 

Another  ’  big  co-production  of 

1958  will  be  a  Greek-Soviet  cine¬ 
matographic  version  of  Homer’s 
“Iliad.”  •  directed  by  the  Russian 
Ohlapkoff.  Georges  Zervos  will  be 
assistant  director  and  the  cast  in¬ 
cludes  Greek  arid  Russian  actors. 

Meanwhile  Hollywood  dominates 
local:  screens.  Nearly  the  70% 
of  all  pix  imported.  this  year  are 
American.  Greece  is  a  good  mar¬ 
ket  forU.  S.  films  and  no  quotes 
or  allocation  restrictions  exist  any 
more*  There  is  still  the  big  prob¬ 
lem,  however,  of  the  high  admis¬ 
sion  tax  (48%  V.  Prices  are  under 
Government  control  and  ruled  by- 
precise  decrees.  It  got  so  bad  that 
Greek  exhibitors  threatened  to 
close  theatres  last  year  and  they 
were  allowed  recently  a  small  in¬ 
crease  and  special  consideration 
for  features  of  unusual  length,  per 
“War  and  Peace.” 

But  this  tax  problem  does  not 
prevent  building  of  many  new  the¬ 
atres.  Two  more  first  runs  have 
opened  In  Athens,  the  Rivoli  arid 
the  Ilyssia,  and  their  total  number 
reaches  now  the  19  against  the  12 
Operated  two  years  ago.  -A  large 
number  ^of  theatres  have  -been  built 
also  in  the  suburbs,/ ahd  neighbor¬ 
hoods  of  Athens  as  well  as  in  the 
provinces; 

About  40  new  openairs  operated 
in '  Athens  last  summer,  and  the 
attendance  had  an  increase  of 
7.23%  over  previous  summer. 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-tecond  USRI^TY  ^nnire"flOr 


MARLON  _ 

BRANDO 


MONTGOMERY 

CLIFT 


DEAN 

MARTIN 


S:  \ 

the 
young 

lions 


ALSO  STARRIN©  |  PRODUCED  BY  PL  LICHTMAN 

I0PE  BARBARA  MAY  ;  0™  ^  edwarddmy 

ANGE-  RUSH  ■  BRITT  so*h«»<  «  edward  an 


G  N'£  K/i  aScoP^ 


28 


PICTURES 


They  Went  This-A-tfay 

~ — By  ARTHUR  KQBER==  ' 

The  Westerns  have  certainly  gone  a  long  way  since  I 
was  a  boy  and  sat  entranced  at  the  Bronchp;  Billy  and 
William  S.  Hart  pictures.  In  those  days  Broncho  Billy  An¬ 
derson  wore  pants  that  looked  like  a  moth-infested  white 
fur  coat,  slit  in  the  middle,  its.  Shoulders  ,  embellished  by 
two  decorated  holsters  from  which  flashed  a  pair  of  pearl- 
handled  guns.  His  waistcoat,  as  I  remember  it,  was  stud- 
ded  with  enough  beads  and  sequins  to  keep  the  Albur- 
querque  Indians  busy  for  moons  producing  souvenirs .  to 
sell  to  the  Sante  Fe  passengers  pausing  on  their  way  to 
Los  Angeles.  His  hat,  if  I’m  not  mistaken,  was  large 
enough  to  tent  an  undernourished  baby,  Wow,  what  a 
getup! 

I  don’t  recall  William  S;  Hart’s  costume,  except  for  his 
leather  wristlets  and  his  silk  scarf  which  he  wore  as  a  bih 
and  which,  in  retrospect,  was  of  a  size  to  cover  a  bridge 
table.  It  seems  to  me,  however,  that  unlike  the  garrulous 
(in  titles)  Broncho  Billy,  William  S;  Hart  was  more  or  less 
taciturn,  and  whatever  words  seeped  through  his  gritted 
choppers  were  usually  addressed  to  his  ever-faithfui  horse, 
and  then  only  in  close  shots:.  My  favorite  still  of  .  him 
was  a  permanent  fixture  of  the  movie  house-  I  attended 
(The  Gem — or  was  it  The  Bijou?)*  and  showed  Hart  af¬ 
fectionately  nuzzling  his  steed,  a  form  of  animal  idolatry 
which,  I'm  happy  to  say,  never  proved  popular  enough 
to  divert  his  male  fans  from  a  chronic  interest  in  girls. 

Because  Of  the  equine  cast  to ,  our  hero’s  features,  it 
was  sometimes  hard  to  distinguish  him,  in  this  photo,  from 
his  horse.  Both  Were  grim;  solemn  and  long-lipped,  I  al¬ 
ways  had  the  feeling  that  if  I  had  extended  a  lump  of 
sugar.  Hart’s  molars  would  have  Snapped  it  from  my 
hand — way  up  to  the  wrist! 

He  sure  was  a  tough  hombre  to  tangle  with;  was  Wil¬ 
liam  S.  Hart.  When  he  was  aroused  his  gimlet  eyes  nar¬ 
rowed  to  two  tiny,  slits  like  hyphens,  and  his  mouth  form¬ 
ed  a  long  straight  li  .  It  was  sheer  joy  watching  the,  arcs 
of  his  face  go  horizontal,  for  then  he  was  merciless  as 
becomes  an  upholstered  and  bolstered  hero  whoso  pa¬ 
tience,  tolerance  and  temper  had  reached  the  point  of  ex¬ 
haustion. 

[  Mix,  Hoot,  Buck,  Ken,  et  al. _ _[, 

Later,  there  Were  other  favorites  of  mine:  Tom  Mix, 
dressed  as  a  Western  Good  Humor  Man,  Hoot  Gibson,  Tim 
McCoy,  whose  name  was  usually,  prefaced  by  the  rank 
of  Colonel,  Buck  Jones,  Ken  Maynard,  Johnny  Mack 
Brown,  “Wild-Bill”  Elliott,  Charles  Starrett,  Richard  Tal- 
madge,  Eddie  Polo  and  a  somebody  Roosevelt.  What  all 
these  gun-slinging  characters  had  in  common  was  their 
intense  devotion  to  their  horse,  an  animal  caparisoned 
almost  as  stylishly  as  its  master.  In  fact,  Tom  Mix’s,  mount 
was  always  an  important  factor  in  the  story,  and  I  have 
a  distinct  recollection  of  the  rider  entering  a  living  room 
astride  his  trotter.  (Subsequently,  the  horse,  in  these 
films,  was  to  receive  feature. billing.  “Hopalong”  Cassidy/ 
nee  William  Boyd,  Roy  Rogers,  and  the  Lone  :  Ranger  of 
radio  and  television,  all  had  featured  animals  whose  fan 
mail,  I’m  sure,  was  ;second  only  to  the  star.) 

Suddenly  the  rider  who  tore  through  the  plains  bn  his  • 
favorite  bronco,  who,  though  outnumbered,  battled  the 
outlaws,  firing,  both  pistols,  which  contained  an  inexhaust¬ 
ible  supply  of  cartridges,  gave  way  to  another  Western 
phenomenon:  he.  singing  cowboy.  Tex  Ritter,  Roy  Rogers 
and  Gene  Autry  not  only  galloped  madly  through  ,  the 
cragged  hills  in  pursuit  of  justice,  aiming  their  bullets 
at  the  bad  men,  but  they  also  Strummed  guitars.  There 
usually  was  a  scene  in  their  pictures  in  which  they  ser¬ 
enaded  their  horses,  their  wOmen-folk,  Or  their  follow¬ 
ers  with  as  much  passion  and  fervor  as  that  of  a  Spanish 
caballero  chanting  to  his  lady  love  on  a  balcony,  who. then 
registered  reciprocal  ardor  by  tossing  him  a  red  rose  on 
which  she  had  gnawed  in  the  close  shots  during  his  aria. 

As  a  rule  these  guitar-picking  pistoleros  play  ed  t  hey  role 
of  a  sheriff,  and .  their  posse  of  deputies  invariably  sup¬ 
plied  a  background  of  music,  either  as  a  choral  group  Or 
as  musicians.  For  years  millions  of  ears  were  assailed  by 
the  screeching  sound  of  fiddles,  rasped  during  a  square 
dance,  by  the  nasal  twangs  of  hillbilly  songs  being  Shrill¬ 
ed,  and  by  those  grisly,  hackle-raising  yelps  emitted  by 
that  abomination  of  all  times,  the  yodler.  NoW,  thank 
God,  these  caterwaulings  are  only  occasionally  heard* 
either  oh  the  Laurence  Welk  show.  Or  on  Ted  Mack’s 
Amateur  Hour,  two  extremely  popular  perennials  which 
seldom  receive  my  custom. 

1  More  of  atSouthern,  Than  Wee  tern  [ 

In  the  past  year  or  so,  however,  a  new  kind  of  oater 
has  taken  possession  of  television.  In  these  shows  both  the 
horse  and  the  lyre-plucking  buckeroo  have  ,  been  deem- 
phasized,  and  there  has  been  a  marked  change  in  the 
hero’s  clothes.  The  mound  of  fur  which  used  to  encase 
his  legs  is  now  as  dated  as  the  cigar  store  Indian.  Today, 
the  cowboy’s  apparel  is  dazzling  and,  at  times.  So  down¬ 
right  flashy  as  to  be  blinding.  Richard  “Palladiri’’  BoOne, 
when  not  for  hire,  rivals  Beau  Brummel  in  costume. 
James  “Maverick”  Gamer,  out  Of  cowboy  mufti,  looks 
like  a  period  fashionplate,  Scott  Forbes  who,  as  Jim  Bow- . 
ie,  appears  in  what  is  more  a  “Southern”  than  a  ‘West¬ 
ern.”  sports  the  habit  of  New  Orleans  dandy.  Hugh 
“Wyatt  Earp”  O’Brian  wears  a  working  outfit  Which/  ex-  - 
cept  for  his  obi  of  guns,  looks  like  the  garb  worn  by  a 
chorus  boy  about  to  do  a  Spanish  number  in  a.  Rita  Hay¬ 
worth  film. 

It  seems. to  me  the  emphasis, -these  days,  is  on  firjearms. 
We  have,  for  instance,  weekly  programs  with  the  follow¬ 
ing  titles:  “Gun  Smoke,”  “HaVe  Gun,  Will  Travel,”  “Rest¬ 
less.  Guns,”  “Fast  Guns”  and  “Colt  .45.”  In  the  series,  call¬ 
ed  “Jim  Bowie,”  the  title  character  eschews  these  wea¬ 
pons  for  a  blade,  he,  himself,  created,  I  haven’t  seed  any 
of  the  films  called  “Broken  Arrow/’  but  I  wouldn’t'  be.  a 
bit  surprised  if  it  had  . to  do  with  an  intrepid  stalwart  who 
overcomes  his  opponents  by  the  use  of  a  busted  spear: 
For  my  money,  though,  these  latter-day  heroes,  these  trig¬ 
ger-happy  giants,  can’t  compare  with  little  Eddie  Polo. 
He  didn’t  need  a  gun  or  a  knife.  He  did  it  all  with  a  bull 
.whip.  Man,  oh,  man! 

The  most  significant  change  in  Westerns,  however*  has 


Fifty-second  Anniversary 


been  in  the  story.  In  bygone  days,  there  were  plots  so 
.standard  that  any  variation  was  sheer  ostentation.  The 
oaters  of  old  had  to  do  With  cattle  rustling,  a  difference 
over  a  mining  claim,’  a  feud,  a  map,  bad  redskins, 
bank  and/or  stage-coach  robbery, 

Today/tbe  emphasis  is  on  pysehology.  The  villian  isn’t 
altogether  black:  his  color  is  gray.  The  climax  of  the  story 
reveals  that  his  father  was  a  notorious  bandit,  mowed 
down  by  a  sheriff*  and  his  poor  offspring  is  only  reluctant¬ 
ly  perpetuating  a-  tradition! 

The  hero  isn’t  altogether  white.  He,  too,  is  gray.  If  he 
refuses  to  kill  the  law-defying  “varmint,”  it  is  only  be¬ 
cause  he  rebels  at  bloodshed.  When  he  finally  plugs  the 
villain  full  of  holes,  he  is  forgiyeh,  pretty  much  as  you 
condone  the  over-abused  hero  of  a  wrestling  match  who, 
after  being  pummeled  about  by  the  heavy,  resorts  to  eye- 
gouging,  kneeing*  groin-kicking,  leg-breaking  and  other 
forms  of  mayhem,  not  because  he  really  wants  to, — oh 
no!— but  because  he  has  been  severely  put  upon. 

.  Me,  I  miss  old  horse-faced  William  S.  Hart.  The  cow¬ 
boy  heroes  Of  today  don’t  compare  with  him.  If  Hart  were 
alive  today,  he’d  outgun  them  alL  And  with  sound  in  films, 
I  bet  he’d  do  something  none  of  them  can  do.  He’d  whin¬ 
ny. 

Traffic  In  Outer  Space 

[A  Planetary  Closeup  from  Cloud  X3R] 

By  THEODORE  PRATT 

In.  1997,  in  .  City ;  401  on  Planet  X3R  in  outer  space!  a 
geophysical  student  in  a  branch  of  the  University  of  Cal¬ 
ifornia  looked  through  one  of  the  .new  magno-micro- 
space  scopes  and  exclaimed  excitedly  to  his  professor, 
“Hey,  Doc,  I  just  discovered  a  new  bunch  of  microbes! 
They’re  racing  around  like  mad!  Bumping  into:  each 
other!  Like  crazy,  all  over  the  place!” 

The  prpfesspr  put  an  eye  to  the  eyepiece  of  the  magno- 
micro-scbpe  and  then  looked  lip  tb  tell,  the  student  pa¬ 
ternally,  “My  boy,  that  is  nothing  new;  you  are  merely 
observing  the  phenomenon  of  Los  Angeles  traffic  down 
oh  earth.” 

Forty  years  previously,  this  phenomenon  had  become 
.  so  serious  a  thing  that  it  was  funny  enough  for  comer 
dians  tb  make  it  a  surefire  gag.  It  passed  through  .the 
stage  of  being  funny  and  became  serious  again,  with  com¬ 
edy  overtones  and  undertones  and  middletones. 

I  came,  m  on  brie  ,  of  those  low  tones.  At  this  trine, 
40,  years  before  :  the  geophysical  student  thought  he 
had  discovered  a  new  hunch  of  microbes  conducting  a 
private  civil  war,  business  every  year  or  so  called  me  to 
a  section  of  this  savage  territory  called  Hollywood.  Be¬ 
fore  the  year  1957  (now  regarded  as  a  comparatively  in¬ 
nocent,  safe,  and  slow-moving  period)  I  approached  the 
territory  with  fear  and  trembling,  dodging  many  who 
perhaps  recognized  me  as  a  foreigner  from  Florida  and 
were  out  to  kill-  me.  before  I  could  make  any  remarks 
about  the  weather. 

Actually,  however,  until  that  year,  the  traffic  never 
bothered  me  so  much  that  I  could  not  cope  with  it.  But 
that  was  the  year  the  authorities  took  a  look  at  their 
traffic  and  decided  to  raise  the  speed  limit  on  many  streets 
from  25  to  35  riiiles.  per  hour!  This  was  not  done  because 
it  was  thought  necessary  to  move  traffic  faster.  It  was 
already  doing  more  than  that,  for  if  the  cops  had  ever 
discovered' anybody  doing  25  On  those  streets  they  wbiild 
Cither  have  dropped  dead  or  arrested  him  for  going:  too 
slow  and. holding  up  traffic!  : 

My  thepry  as  to  why  the  increase  in  speed  rate  was 
made  is.  that  the  authorities  did  not  want  to  look  ridicu¬ 
lous.  The  single  result  of  the  hew  regulation  was  that 
people,  instead  of  merely  doing  45  in  a  25-mile  zone  then 
began.  to  do  55  in  the  new  35-mile  zones— when  they 
weren’t  doing  a  great  deal  better. 

In  reality  the  L.  A.  traffic  system  is  one  of  the  best 
in  the  world,  because  it  moves  its  vehicles.  If  it  didn’t 
the  whole  place  would  cerise  to  exist— held  in  some  quar¬ 
ters  to  be  a  consummation  devoutedly  to  be— but  that  was 
Shakespeare.. 

The -rapid  moving  of  the  metal  microbes-— excuse  me 
-^automobiles  caused  my  difficulty.  After  my  simple  busi¬ 
ness  was  completed  that  year  I  couldn’t  stay  in  the  place. 
One  large  contributory  reason  was  that  Hollywood  Was 
the  capital  of  the  sports  car,  having  too  many  of  them 
buzzing  around  my  ears  like,  threatening  bees.  The  driv¬ 
ers,  of  these  were  iri  the  frontier  stage  of  reply  when  rep¬ 
rimanded  for  not  sticking  but  their  hands  when  making 
a  sudden  lane  Change,  their  stock!  snarl,  being,  “Get  out 
of,  the  car  rind  I’ll  show  you  how :  I  put  Out  my  hand!” 

An  agent  urged;  me  to  stay  in  Hollywood  where  I  could 
make  a  killmg-r-or  at  least  a  small  wound  that  would 
bleed  a  little— writing  for  tv.  I  told,  him  I  wasn’t  young 
Or  hungry  enough  to  be  an  entry  in  that  rat-race;  He  re¬ 
fused  to  accept  this  reason,  but  wheri  I  confessed  that  I 
couldn’t  stay  in  Hollywood  because  the  traffic  gave  me 
the  jimmies,  he  nodded  solemnly,  patted  me  on  the  back* 
assured  me  that  now  he  understood,  arid  asked  me  where 
I  was  going.' 

I  told  him  I  was  looking,  for  a  city  that  had  decided  to 
take,  all  vehicular,  traffic  off  ' its  main  downtown  section; 

I  would  then  sell  my  car  and  live,  there.  The  agent  looked 
arourid  to  see  if  anybody  was  listening  .and :  then,  whis- 
pered,  “When  you  find  it — drop  me  a  card.” 

Just  the  other  day,  40.  years  later;  L  remembered 
this  and  Sent  him  the~card  by  fastest  rocket.  I  hope  it 
isn’t  too  late.,  but  I  fear  it  is.  The  Astro  Body  controlling 
City  401  /my  home  on  Planet  X3R,.  met  last  week  andSdiS-- 
cussed  the  advisibiiity  of  allowirig.  vehicular  traffic  to  Op¬ 
erate  in  the  main,  downtown  section.  Already  they  have: 
increased  the  traffic  speed  on  the  periphery  highways 
arourid;  the  city  from  135  miles  per  hour  to  145  (most 
people,  go  at  least  170;  And  yesterday  a  guy  sidled  up  to 
me  and  suggested,  out  of  the  side  of  his  mouth: 

"How  about  writing. for  Galaxy  TV?  You  could  make  a 
killing  in  it  and  let  ffie.'tell  you  Humanoid  shows  are  com¬ 
ing  hack  with  the.  advent  of  the  145  yard  home-toll  screen. 
They’re  even  talking  of  making  movies  again,  you  re¬ 
member  them?  Arid,  everything  is  going  to  errianate  froi 
City  401  instead  of  Hollywood  down  6ri  earth  .  . 

Anybody  got  another  universe? 


.  January. 8j  1958 


10  Little  Plots 

^ 5  Continued  from  page  9  ssssssss- 

thored  by  Carl  Foreman  and  directed  by  Fred  Zinneman, 
is  the  prototype  of  the  “new”  TV  Western,  It’s  been  taken 
over  the  television  producers,  lock  stock  and  guitar.  A 
happy  adult  wedding  of  gunplay  and  integrity.  ' 

Another  influential  theme  is  “The  Ox-Bow  Incident/* 
from  the  novel  by  Walter  yan  Tilburg  Clark  and  the  Fox 
film  of  the  same  name.  An  excellent  picture,,  its:  somber 
story  mitigated  against  its  success  at  the  boxoffice.  The 
Fox  Television  Film  version,  however,  was  a  big  success, 
and  this  sensitive  lynch  mob  drama,  with  its  excellent 
character  studies,  has  left  its  .  imprint  on  dozens  of  cur-' 
rent  live  and  film  television  scripts,  and  provided  a  model 
in  terms  of  mood,  for  directors,  producers  and  actors  to 
shoot  at.  Without  a  doubt,  “Bad  Day  As  Black  Rock”  has 
been  equally  influential. 

George  Burns  maintains  that  the  definition  of  an  Adult 
Western  is  one  where  “All  the  Indians  are^over  21.”  And 
he,  Jack  Benny,  Danny  Thomas,  and  other  tough  customers, 
as  we  know,  have  started  their  own  rating  Wat  on  the 
horse  opera.  But  although  there  may  be' satire  on  the 
stagebrush  tonight,  you  may  be  sure  the  comics  don’t  stand 
a  charice  of  wirining.  The  Western  is  a  permanent  part  Of 
American  folklore— and  I  would  advise  all  untried  young 
actors  to  Go  West  Young  Man! 

*■  *■ 

Crime  Does  Pay 

Second  best  met  is  to  buy  “a.  personality  raincoat”  and 
join  Nick  Charles,  Mark  Saber,  McGraw,  Charlie  Chari, 
Sergeant  Friday,  State  Trooper  Rod  Black',  Boston  Blackie, 
Whispering  Smith,  Sergeant.  Preston  of  The  Yukon,  Rich¬ 
ard  Diamond,  Perry  Mason,  Captain  Grief,  The  T.  Men, 
the  Boys  on  The  Highway  Patrol,  Counterspy  Herb.  Phil? 
brick*  City  Detective  Bert  Grant,  Dick  and  the  Duchess, 
The  Federal  Men,  the  Man  Called  X,  The  Lads  on  The 
Racket  Squad,  Line  Up  and  the  M  Squad— as  they  jostle 
each  other  to  crowd  Onto  your  21-irich  set  and  divvy  up 
the  clues  and  fight  Over  the  few  remaining  corpses  and 
plots.  Where  do  they  all  corrie  from?  Well,  the.  literary 
grand-daddy  of  all-detective  is,  of  course,  Sherlock  Holmes. 

|  Tracing  It  Baicfc  | 

And  who  was  the  .model  for  Holmes?  Arthur  Conan 
Doyle’s  rernarkable  Professor,  at  Edinburgh  University, 
Joseph  Bell,  M.D.,  consulting  surgeon  to  the  Royal  In¬ 
firmary, 

To  quote  his  favorite  student,  “His  specialty  .  was  di¬ 
agnosis,  and  his  uncanny  trick  was  a  legend  of  the  insti¬ 
tution.  He’d  diagnose  the  patients  as  they  came  through 
the  door— sometimes  before  they  had  opened  their  mouths: 
He  would  tell  them  their  symptoms  and  even  give  , them 
details  of  their  past  life,  and  very  seldom  was  in  error.” 

To  the  Professor’s  “Audience  of  Watsons  it  rill  seemed 
miraculous  until  it  was  explained,”  said  Conan  Doyle,  and. 
he  was  one  of  them. 

Most  or  all  of  the  .aforementioned  Sergeant  Fridays 
owe  their  birth  to  Professor  Bell. 

....  And  remeiriber,  whenever  you  watch  the  .  private  eyes’. 
Opaque  Pal  make  bumbling  attempts  tb  solve  the  puzzle 
—it’s  only  another  verisori  of  good  old  Dr.  Watson! 

The  case-book  wouldn’t  be  cornplete  without  mention¬ 
ing  the  two  dicks  that  also  influenced  Doyle-^-Gabbriau’s 
“Lecoq”  and  Edgar  Allen  Poe’s  immortal  “Dupin,”  with 
a  notable  assist  from  R!  L.  (“Dr.  Jekyll  and  Mr.  Hyde”) 
Stevenson  who  was,  as  we  ali  know,  a  bear  On  niood;  And 
I  guess  Dr.  Doyle  must  have  .  been  familiar  with  Wilkie 
Collins’  “Moonstone.” 

This  “mood”  and  structure  was  wonderfully  recreated 
m  our  time,  by  the  emirierit  art  critic  Willard  Huntington 
Wright  better  known  as  S.  S.  Van  Dine,  author  of  “The 
Canary  Murder  Case”  and  a  string  of  bestsellers.  Into  his 
gumshoes  stepped  Dashiell  ("Thin  Man”)  Hammet,  fol¬ 
lowed  closely  by  Ray  Chandler  and  riot  too  closely  by 
Mickey  SpillanC.  But  Hammet  made  the  biggest,  inost 
modern  contribution— The  Hard-Boiled  Private  Detective. 

•  who  could  love  a  dame  such  as  the  soiled  dove 

m  The  Maltese:  Falcon*”  yet  send  her  to  the  electric 
chair. 

I  Huston-Hammet  Influence.  r"!j 

t  yc^itflis,in ihis  f .  also  owe  a  considerable  debt  to 

John  Hustop  s  film  version  of  Hammet’s  “The  Maltese 
■Fal^n-  Arid  if  you  look  closely  at  this  week’s  TV  Guide, 
you  11  detect  several  variations  on  another  classic  model 
Man1”  all"“Caro1  Reeds  and  Graham  Greene’s  “The  Third 

^influenced,  the  Graham.  Greene’s  and  the  Eric 
ASS>le^  E.  Phillips  Opperiheim, 
father  of  the  modern  Foreign  Intrigue”  type  spy  and 
counterspy  yarn.  And  we  mustn’t  forget  John  Buchan, 

,  once  Governor  General  of  Canada,,  who  wrote  - The  Rich¬ 
ard  Haney  Series.  The  most  notable!  tale,  “The  39  Steps  ” 
HUchcockIriidable  StCPPing  St0ne  in  the  career  of  Alfred 

So  whenever  you  see!  a  man  iri  a  raincoat  braving  tht 
^  swaj-thy  stranger  searching  the  hero’s  room,  re¬ 
member  the  debt  you  owe  these  boys.  And  also  when  you 
agaiD', the  strange  tale  of  the  married  couple 
(sometimes  they  re  a  brother  arid  sistef  or  a  father  and 
daughter)  arriving  in  Paris  for  the  Exposition  of  1889,  It’s 
the  one  where  they  check  Into  a  hotel,  separate  briefly. 
hrifeiWrb^m!Uwhe^0i^e  comes  back,  someone  else  is  in  her 
th/n  HuSand’  ^otheT  ot  r,addy.  has  vanished  in 

Rnnm  rV  n  tIle  waI1PaPer  bas  been  changed  arid  the. 
in  Von  ,  a5rarf,  V  and  d°wn  that  she  never  checked 
!?wJ?una!ld,  I,WS1L  what  it’s  gonna  turn  out  like 
til  h  t  Paddy  had  bubonic  plague  and  the  authorities  arid 
•  W ^hielnmKra-?eni^nt  had  t0  conspire  to  keep  it  a  secret' 
lest  the  publicity  ruin  the  entire  Exposition' 

-  Pun?aily  first  dreamed  that  one  up  (based  on  a 
mcmentn.and^^  Rank  did  one  of  the  film 

Bn?  t  ’  ^me  T°  The  Fair”  starring  Jean  Sirnmoris. 

nnioc  c  .  g0  ?n  a?d  Pn— 1  suppose;  you’ve  noticed  that  •! 
a  unless  youve  already  fallen  asleep  and  left  your  set  ori, 
Srw  Y01ce. 1S  saymg, “But, what  do  you.^ke  of  it?” 

Where,  will  it  .all  end?  It  won’t.  '  “  • 

s‘tter  your  baby  hires  for  his  or  her  baby  will 
kecP  an  eternal  vigil  at  your  Philco. 

you  ^rve6  timm5  H*Bep  dropping.  It  all  depends  how 

To  Be  Continued— and  continued  and  continued! 
growr?tSe  P  a  rPse  is  a  rose.  All  depends  on  how  you 


so 


PICTURES 


Fifty-second  p'Sfe JE¥y  Anniversary 


January  8, 1938 


Uneven  Flow  of  Top  Films 
And  Not  Enough ‘Want  to  See’ 

5  the  Most 


oo 


By  ROBERT  J.  O’DONNELL 

(Executive  V.P.,  Interstate  Circuit) 


Bob  p’Doimell 


Dallas.  ' 

The  gravest  problem  we  have 
today  in  exhibition  is  the  uneven 
flow  of  product.  Current  product 
and  product  available  through  No¬ 
vember  and 
early.  Decem¬ 
ber  is  terribly 
lightweight 
Our  boxoffice  is 
suffering .  and, 
aside  from 
v  a  n  i  s  h  i  n  g 
profits,  this 
dearth  of  good 
pictures  frac¬ 
tures  the 
movie  -  going 
habit.  It  seems 
definite  that 
the  trend  is  for  the  film  companies 
to  release  their  most  potent  pic¬ 
tures  during  holidays  such  as 
Christmas,  New  Year’s*  Easter, 
Fourth  of  July,  Labor.  Day  and 
Thanksgiving,  with  some  good 
product  available  in  June,- July  and 
August,  leav;ng  other  months  with 
low  quality  film. 

During  1957,  approximately  25 
big  pictures  show  release  dates  for 
the  six  major  holiday  periods.  This 
represents  half,  or  more,  of  all  the 
big  pictures  for  the  entire  year. 

We  claim  that  this  format  is 
based  on  a  false  premise  and  that 
good  pictures  can  do  busmess  at 
any  time  of  the  year..  For  instance, 
“Giant”  opened. in  early  November, 
1956,  in  our  big  theatres  arid 
er  joyed  capacity  and  holdover 
grosses.  “Sigh  Society”  played  our 
top  theatres  in  September  of  last 
year  to  too  grosses.  “Jet  Pilot”, 
and  “The  Sun  Also  Rises”  played 
late  September  of  ’57  to  holdover 
business.  “The  Little  Hut;”  “Gun- 
fight  At  OK  Corral,”  ’‘Spirit  of  St. 
Louis”  and  “Heaven  Knows  Mr. 
Allison”  played  in  April  and  May 
of  1957  in  our  top  theatres  to  above 
average  and  holdover  business. 

Nothing  can  take  the  place  of 


good  momentum  in  our  business. 
Momentum  can  only  be  maintained 
by  a  good  even  flow:  of  attractive 
product;  during  every  month  of  the 
year! 

For  a  lorig.  Lirrie,  we  here  at 
Interstate  have  known  that  too 
many  pictures,  arid  good  ones,  are 
being  released  before  ..  they  are 
“ripe.”  They  come  to  us  and  we 
play  them  before  there  is  sufficient 
“know-abdut”  and  “want .  to  see.” 

As  we  look  at  our  records,  we 
find  some  potent  pictures  which 
came  to  us  before  our  potential 
audiences  were  enabled  to  know 
about  them  and  want  to  see  them: 
To  illustrate,  I  would  name  pic¬ 
tures  like  “Tammy  And  The  Bache¬ 
lor,”  “Anastasia,”  “Love  is  A  Many 
Bplendored  Thing”’  “Three  Coins 
In  The  Fountain’/  and  “Bad  Seed.” 
These  pictures  did  not  perform  too 
well  for  us  first-run  but  on  sub¬ 
sequent  run  were  great.  The  30-day 
lapse  between  their  first  showing 
and  their  subsequent  showing  per- 
rivtted  people  to  read  about  therri, 
hear  about  them,  and  develop  a 
“want  to  see”  desire. 

For  a  long  time,  we  have  thought 
and  have  often  suggested  that  at¬ 
tractive  motion  pictures  Plight,  well 
be  released  in  New  York,  Chicago 
and  Los  Angeles  and  then  put  b**ck 
in  their  cans  for  30  days;  This 
would  enable  all  the  big  national 
publications  like  Redbook,  Look, 
Life,  Parents  Magaz’ne,  and  many, 
many  others  to  review  ,  these  pic¬ 
tures  arid  give  them  Publicity.  Too 
often,  we  find  that  these  splendid 
publications  review'  and  lend  a  fine 
spread  to  a  current  motion  picture, 
after  we  have  played  it.  first  run. 
Such  publicity  carihot  be  bought 
and  is  valuable  beyond  calculation 
in  sell;ng  and  bririgirig  people  into 
the  .  motion  picture  theatres.  To 
have  it  lost  to  the  big  first  run 
accounts  all  around  the  country 
seems  a  tragic  thing. 


dio  audiences  obviously  don’t 
count)  ori  between,  the  movie  au¬ 
dience  arid  the ;  individual  onlook¬ 
er,  and  therefore  nothing  but  lassi¬ 
tude  and  frustration  for  the  viewer. 
HoheSt  laughter  and  real,  applause, 
as  well  as  indifference  or  contempt, 
are  lost  in  the  livingroom,  and 
there  they  die. 

Maybe  that’s  why  the  iiving 
theatre  is  healthier  and  richer  arid 
in  fiercer  competition  today  than 
ever  before  in  its  history.  People 
still  like  flesh  and  blood, /fortu¬ 
nately,  arid  they  insist  on  being 
gregarious. 


A  ‘Producer 


A  Word  In  Edgewise 


l  By  RICHARD  MEALAND  i 


There  was  a  time  when  we  went 
to  the  theatre  arid  threw  things  if 
we  didn’t  like  what  we  saw'.  Or  if 
we  approved,  we  yelled  ourselves 
hoarse  and  fought  for  the  privi¬ 
lege  of  pulling  the  star’s  carriage 
up  and  down  the  street,  or  waited 
at  the  stagedoor  just  for  a  glimpse 
of  her. 

Then  there  was  a  time  When  we 
went  to  movies,  and  if  we  didn’t 
like  them,  we  talked  out  loud 
against  them,  saying  contemp¬ 
tuously,  “I  ‘never  heard  .  such 
twaddle,”,  or  “This  is  probably  the 
silliest  picture  I’ve  ever  seen,”  un¬ 
til  people  turned  around  to  shush 
us,  to  give  us.  dirty  looks,  or  some¬ 
times  to  agree  with  us,  which  made 
us  feel  we’d  at  least  scored  a 
point,  either  way.  Once  or  twice, 
with  a  great  fuss  of  disgruntle- 
ment,  ,  we'd  get  up  arid  stamp  out 
in  the  middle  of  a  very  bad  show, 
legit  or  film,  communicating,  our. 
feelings  to  everyone  within  hear¬ 
ing — including  the  manager,  if  he 
were,  handy— and  deriving  thereby 
a  great  deal  of. self-satisfaction  in 
exposing  the  witlessness  of  the  au¬ 
thor,  the  producer,  the,  players,  or 
the  whole  of  Hollywood. 

Unfortunately,  you  can’t  do  the 
same  with  television. 

Oh,  of  course,  you  cari  spit  at 
the  screen,  or  kick  the  machine, 
or  turn  it  off,  or  say  to  your  Wife 
disdainfully.  “Tripe;  pure  unmiti¬ 
gated,  unalleviated,  insipid  junk. 
A  bore*  a  stupid,  noisy,  Piddling 
nothing.  How  can  they  put  such 
stuff  in  front  of  reasonable  intelli¬ 
gent  people?  Who  wants  to  hear 
that  .  delinquent  sing?  Who  -cari 
laugh  at  that  so-called  comedy?” 
And  so  forth.  But.  it  doesn’t  do 
any  good.  You  don’t  get  across  to 
those  people  who  are  looking  and 
listening  with  open  mouths,  not 
even  knowing  that  they  are  silent¬ 
ly,  unwittingly  and  helplessly  giv¬ 
ing  approval  to  the  trash.  | 

I  want  a  television  set  that  al¬ 


lows  me  to  talk  back,  to  thrriw  my 
rotten  tomatoes  right  where  they 
hurt,  on  the  producer’s  the 
sponsor’s  nose.  It’s  no  good  just 
tuning  out— there’s  rio  satisfaction 
in  that  because  you  know  that  the 
show  is  still  goirig  on  over  the  pn- 
protestipg  air  and  that  a  lot  of  in¬ 
nocent  people  are  being ....  sucked 
into  thinking  it’s  good.  I  Want  a 
gadget,  a  method,  a  way  to  lacerate 
the  show  with  a  few  well-chosen 
words  of  antipathy  that  will  cut 
the  so-called  creators  right  to  the 
ground.  I  Want  to  be  able  to  yell, 
"Get  the  hook,”  and  see  the  poor 
players  flying  off  the  screen. 


[Cowards— That's  What  They  Are!) 


They’re  cowards,,  these  televi¬ 
sion  boys.  They  Want  it.  all  their 
way  and  no  talking  back.  Even  if 
they  did  introduce  a  program  for 
Vox  Populi,  where  the  great  un¬ 
seen  audience  could  come  rind 
speak  their  minds,  through  letters 
or  in  person  (not  a  bad  idea,  you 
know):  they'd  manipulate  it,  they’d 
screen  out  the  real  individuals 
somehow,  and  the  intelligenircriti- 
cisms,  so :  that  there’d  be  nothing 
left  but  the  arranged  laughter  and 
well-rehearsed  complaints.  And  if 
anybody  should  want  to  speak  out 
against  commercials,  he  wouldn’t 
get  the  air,  that’s  alL 

Alas,  we  live  not  only  in  an  apa¬ 
thetic  age,  but  in  one  of.  supine 
detachment.  We  accept,  we  take 
for  granted,  we  cheer  When  we  are 
told,  and  make  sounds  of  amuse¬ 
ment  when  the  laugh  sign  goes  up. 
But  I  don’t  want  merely  the  privi¬ 
lege  of  pushing  a  disinterested 
button  in  order  to  say .  no.  I  want 
to  be  able  to  stand  up  arid  pro¬ 
test,  to  heckle  and  be  heard. 

What  I’m  trying  to  say  is  that 
there’s  no  ftin  anymore  in  being 
entertained,  no  percentage  in  be¬ 
ing  part  of  a  statistic  in  a  Treri- 
dex  rating.  There’s  neither  give 
and  take  between  the  stage  per¬ 
former  and  the  real  audience  (stu- 


By  MAXWELL  SWEENEY 

Dubli 

Ireland;  where  a.  local  outfit 
hasn’t  made  h  picture  since  the 
1920’s,  is  getting  back  into  produc¬ 
tion:  Four  Provinces  Films,  headed 
by  Lord  Killanin  and  John  Ford, 
preemed  its  first  product,  “The  Ris¬ 
ing  of  the  Moon’’  (Warners),  at 
Metropole  here  in  June  and  had  a 
10-week  run.  Dublin  Film  and 
Television  Productions  a  Iso 
screened  its  first  product,  “Profes¬ 
sor  Tim  ”  at  year’s  end;  “Tim.”  an 
Abbev  Theatre  comedy,  is  first  of 
13  Abbey  plays  being  lensed  by 
outfit  for  tv  and  theatre  distribu¬ 
tion:  -Tom  O’Neill,  of  RKO-Tele- 
radio,  bought  American  rights  and 
pio  is  being  distributed  in  England 
and  Ireland  through  RKO  Pictures. 

Louis  Ellimah,  No.  l  man  in 
Fbnk  setup  here  and  bo*s  of 
Gaiety  legit  house,  arid  Emmet 
Dalton  head:  Dublin  Film  and  Teler 
vision  Productions  with  R.  S.  Baker 
and  have  bought  estate  at  Bray,  12 
mi’es  from  Dublin,  for  studio  site. 
Ardmore  Studios  are  now  under 
construction  and  will  be  in  produc¬ 
tion  early,  in  ’58,  both  for  Elliman- 
Dalton  interests  and  on  lease  to 
visiting  outfits. 

Business  at  boxoffice  was  off 
again  in  ’57,  but  American  pictures 
were  still  taking  more  iri  provincial 
situations,  than  the  majority  of 
British’  nroductions:  although  take 
in  Dublin  was  more  evenly  bal¬ 
anced.  Top  earning  product,  in¬ 
cluded  four  from  MGM— “I’ll  Cry 
Tomorrow.”  “High.  Society.”  “Wed¬ 
ding  Breakfast”  and  “Viva  Las 
Vegas”;  Paramount  came  up  with 
the  best  Western  in  “Gunfight  at 
O.  K.  Corral.”  While  20th-Fox’s  top¬ 
pers  Were  “Anastasia”  and  “Island 
iri  the  Sun.” 

“Twelve  Angry  Men”  was  a  bet¬ 
ter  earner  for  U.A.  in  Ireland  than 
in  England  when  reckoned  on  com¬ 
parative  basis;  picture  is  rated  as 
top-of-the-year  by  several  critics. 
Ben  Gazzara’s  performance  in  Co¬ 
lumbia's  “End  as  a  Man”  drew 
raves  from  longhairs.  but  few  cus¬ 
tomers,  to  the  boxoffice,  but  same 
coinpany’s  ‘‘Admirable  Crichton” 
lensed  in  England  was  a  .  winner. 
“Moby  Dick!’  Was  ariiong  Warner’s 
best,  and  “Tammy”  after  a  slow 
start  picked  up  to  do  top  business 
for  Universal. 

J.  Arthur  Rank’s  “Doctor  at 
Large”  and  British  Lion’s  “Baby 
and  the  Battleship”  topped  the 
earners  among  British  product 
screened  here. 

With  conversion  of  Corinthian, 
Dubli  ,  into  a  foreign-language 
art  house,  competing  with  Actor  20 
yards  down  the  street  the  nuriiber 
of  Continental  iriiports  was  upped 
sharply,.  Special;  appeal  of  this 
product  to  exhibs  Is  that  they  get 
a  50%  cuthack  on  entertainment 
tax  bite  for  screening  pictures  with 
foreign,  (non-  -  English)  dialogue 
even  though  they  carry  English 
sub-titles.  Several  other  Dublin 
first-run.  houses  flirted  with  French 
and  Italian  product,  but  did  not 
adopt  policy! 

The  International.  Film  Week, 
organized  byr  Dermdt  Breen,  for 
Cork  Tostal  Council  replaced  the 
Film  Festival  held  in  1956  after 
IFPA.  mixed  ,  idea  of  Festival  for 
Second  successive  year.  Although 
America  sent  four  exhibits  the 
French.  Italian  and  Germans  sun- 
plemented  their  pics  with  stars  and 


Top  Grossers  of  1957 


Herewith  Variety’s  annual  Anniversary  Edition  exdiisive—the  listing  of 
the  top  pictures  of  the  past'  year  in  terms  of  domestic  market  (United  States 
arid  Canada)  gross  rentals.  Figures  are  not  to  be.  confused  with,  theatre 
boxoffice  money,  being  instead  the  amounts  .collected  by  the.  distributors 
from  exhibitors.  Excluded  are  various  “  ictures  which  opened  too  late 
1957  for  any  kind  of  .accurate  prognostication  as  to  ultimate  totals,'  such 
as  " Raintree  County,”  " Bridge  on  the  River  Kiuai”  •'Farewell  to  Arms,” 

“ Peyton  Place'”  and  ” Les  Girls,” 

Included  are  some  entries  from  the  tail  end.  of  i'956  which .  Were  left,  off 
last  year’s. iist  for  the  same  reason.  The  figures  are  estiinates  obtaine.d.  from 
responsible  sources  and  are  based  on  projections  of  full  market  playoff  as 
indicated  by;  the.  amounts  taken  in  . so  far.  Actual .  figures  are  given  for  ”10  ■■ 
Commandments ”  and  "Around  the  World  in  80 ;  Days  ”  as  indicated,  for  the 
reason  that  both  productions  have  set  precedents-  in  their  early  release* 
Parenthetically  given.after  each  title  is  the  name  of  the  distributor. 


PICTURE 

‘‘Ten  Commandments” 


(Par) 


2*  “80  Days  Around  the  .World”  (UA) 


Wexford  Festival  relied  entirely  on 
product  from  Continental  Eurone. 
Russia,  India  and  China:  Overall 
exploitation  has  been  lacking  bv 
American  and  British  interests  and 
this  may  allow  shrinkage  in  market 
Which  is;  still  caoablri  of  further  ex¬ 
pansion,  despite  projected  est^h. 


3.  “Giant”  (WB)  . . 

4.  “Pal  Joey 

5.  “Seven  Wonders  of  World”  (C’rama) 

6.  Teahouse  of  August  Moon”  (M-G) 

7.  “Pride  and  Passion  (UA) 

8.  “Anastasia”  (20th) 

9.  “Island  in  the  Sun”  (20th) 

10.  “Love  Me  Tender”  (20th) 

11.  “Written  on  Wind”  (U)  . 

12.  “Gunfight.  at  O.K.  Corral”  (Par)  .  .  . 

13',  “Heaven  Knows,  Mr.  Allison”  (20th) 

14.  “April  Love”  (20th) 

15.  “Jailhouse  Rock” 

16;  “Battle  Hymn”  (U>  . 

17.  “Affair,  to  Remember”  (20th) 

18.  “Bernadine”  (20th) 

19.  “Loving  You”  (Par) 

20.  “Sun  Also  Rises”  (20th) 

21.  “Sad  Sack”  (Par)  ..  .  .  . . 

22.  “Delicate  Delinquent”  (Par) 

23.  “Hollywood  or  Bust”  (Par) 

24.  “Jeanne  Eagels”  . . 

25.  “Tammy  and  Bachelor”  (U) 

26.  “Joker  Is  Wild”  (Pari 

27.  “Boy  on  a  Dolphin”  (20th) 

28.  “Girl  Can’t  Help  It”  (20th)  ...... 

29.  “Westward  Ho  the  Wagons”  (BV) 

30  “Night  Passage”  (U).  . . . 

31.  “Spirit  of  St.  Louis  (WB)  .  _ _ _ _ 

32.  “Solid  Gold  Cadillac”  (Col) 

33.  “Band  of  Angels’*  (WB) 

34.  “Pajama  Game”  (WB) 

35.  “The  D.  I  ”  (WB) 

36.  “Funny  Face” :  (Par) 

37.  “Man  of  1,000  Faces”  (U) 

38.  “Baby  Doll”  (WB)  . 

39.  “Sweet  Smell  Of  Success”  (UA) 

40.  “Designing  Woman”  (M-G) 

41.  “Silk  Stockings”  (JVI-G)  _ _ _ _ _ _ 

42.  “Wings  of  Eagles”  (M-G)  . . 

43.  “Hunchback  of  Notre  Dame”  (A A) 

44.  “King  and  Four  Queens”  (UA) 

45.  “Something  of  Value”  (M-G) 

46.  “Rainmaker”  (Par) 

47.  “Fire  Down  Below”  (Col).  . . ..  . . . . . . . 

48.  “Love  In  the  Afternoon**  (A A) 

49.  “Little  Hut”  (M-G)  .  . ; ... _ ; . 

50.  “Operation  Madball”  (Col) 

51.  “3:10  to  Yuma”  (Coi)  . 

52.  “Kiss  Them  for  Me”  ,(20th> 

53.  “Beau  James”  (Par)  . . . 

54.  “Wayward  Bus”  (2()th) 

55.  “Man  on  Fire”  (20th) 

56.  “Opposite  Sex”  (M-G)  1  7M  500 

57.  “Perri”  (BV)  . .  1,750,00(1 

58.  “Desk  Set”  (20th) 

59.  “Lust  for  Life”  (M-G) 

60.  “Bachelor  Party”  (UA) 

61..  “Men  in  War”  (UA)  .  . . 

62.  “Prince  and  Showgirl”  (WB)  ! 

63.  “True  Story  of  Jesse  James”  (20th) 

64.  “Hateful  of  Rain”  (20th> 

65.  “Gun  Glory”  (M-G>  . . 

66.  “Can’t  Run  Away  from  It”  (Col) 

67.  “Incredible  Shrinking  Mari”  (U) 

68.  “Tattered  D»ss”  tin 


GROSS  RENTAL 
$18,500,000 
(Actual  gross 
for  900 
theatres) 

.......  .$16,200,000 

(Actual,  gross 
for  145 
theatres) 

......  $12,000,000 

6.700,000 

6.500,000 

5,600,000 

5:500,000 

5.000,000 

5.000,000 

4.500,000 

. .  4.400,000 

4.300,000 
4;200,000 
4,000,000 
4.000,000 
.......  3900.000 

3,850,000 
3.700,000 
3,700,000 
3:500,000 
. , .... . . .  3:500,000 

3.400,000 
3.300.000 
.......  3,100,000 

3.000:000 
3,000,000 
2.800.000 
2  806.000 
2.750,000 
2,600,000 

.......  2.600,000 

2  500,000 
2.500,000 
2.500,000 
......  2.500,000 

2.500,000 
2  400,000 
.......  2.300,000 

2.250,000 
2.256,000 
......  2.250.000 

2.250,000 
2.256,000 
2.250.000 
2.200,000 
.....  2,100,000 

......  2.050,000 

2.000,000 

. .  2.000,000 

1.050,000 
1,850,000 
1.800,000 . 
1.750,000 
1,750,000 
1,750,000 


'Tattered  Dress”  (U) 

69.  “Rock  Pretty  Baby”  (U)  ' 

70.  “Zarak”  (Col)  .  . 

71.  “Tin  Star”  (Par) 

72.  “Girl  He  Left  Behind”  (WB)  ! . 

3?*  ‘‘S11  Success  sPwl  Hunter”  (20th)  *  ’  *  ’ 

74.  Three  Faces  of  Eve”  (20th) 

75.  “Julie”  (M-G)  . 

76.  “Interlude”  (U)  .  *  *  *  ] 

77.  “Stopover  Tokyo”  (20th) 

78.  ‘(Iron  Petticoat”  (M-G)  *  . 

79.  “Until  They  Sail”  (M-G) 

80.  “Full  of  Life”  (Col) 

81.  “Joe  Butterfly"  (U) 

82.  “Time  Limit”  (UA)  , . . 

83.  “Baby  Face  Nelson”  (UA)  ...... I 

84.  “Three  Violent  People’'  “  . ’  ’  ‘ 


1,750,000 
1,700,606 
,1,600,000 
1,500,000 
1,500,000 
1,500,000 
1,500,000 
1  *500,006 
1,500,000 
1,450,000 
1,430,000 
1,430,000 
1,430,000 
1,400,000 
i;40o,ooo 
1,400,000 
1,400,000 
1,400,000 
1,400,000 
1,400,000 
1,350,000 
1,300,000 
1,306,000 
1,300,000 
1,300,000 
1.250,000 
1,250,000 
1,200,000 
1,200,000 


se  urt  - - r—  (Par) 

-  85»  Omar  Khayyam”  (par) 

production  executives  which  86.  “No  Down  Payment”  (20th) .  ............. ^ 

helped  to  strengthen  Irish  interest  87.  “Don’t  Knock  the  Rock”  (ColV  *  *  *  *  . . . .  “  ‘  *  *  *  *  ’  *  *  *  1200  000 

in  Eurooean  product.  Similarly  *8.  “Guns  of  Fort  Petticoat”  (Col) .  .  1, 08^000 

li075,000 
1.050,000 
1,000,000 
1.000,000 
1,000,000 


.  .  - - -  w  MIC  1VUCK 

of  For*  Petticoat”  (Col)  . . . 
5!*’  *f  Esther  Costello”  (Col) 
5*  -®™  of  Numbers”  (M-G) 
oJ*  Men”  (UA)  . . 

92.  19,906  Bedrooms”  (M-G) 

93.  “4  Girls  iri  Town”  (U) 


94.  “Gun  for  a  Coward’* 

95.  “Mr.  Cory”  (U) 

96.  “Kettles  on  Farm” 


(U) 


lishment  of  tv  transmitters  in  ’58.  f  97.  “Devil’s  Hairpin”  (Par) 


1,000,000 

1,000,000 

1,000,000 

1,000;000 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty- second  l^^RIETY  Anniversary 


PICTURES 


31 


Americans’  Unholy  Reprisal  Against  Serious  Authors  Is  Often  Refusal  To  Listen 
- But  On  Occasion  Nation  Has  Honored  Its  Creators 


( Editor's  Note:  The  following  text,  partially  excerpted- 
was  delivered  May  7,  1957  to  the  National  Assembly  of 
Authors  and  Dramatists  in  Manhattan.  This  is  believed 
to  have  been  first  ‘'convention”  of  writers  ever  held 
the  United  States. ) 


I  am  not  altogether  certain  that  there  is  very  much 
point  in  trying  to  get  a  really  accurate  historical,  per¬ 
spective  on  “the  writer’s  position  in  America.”  By  and 
large  and  making,  due  allowance,  for  the- fact  that  by 
nature  the  writer  is  a  maverick  (if  he  weren’t,  he  would 
not  be  a  writer) — it  does  seem  to  me  that  the  writer’s 
position,  ultimately,  is  very,  largely  what  the  writer  him¬ 
self  makes  Of  it;  We  are  fond  of  saying  that  we  live  in 
a  country  of  limitless  opportunities.  One  of  these.  Ob¬ 
viously,  is  the  opportunity  which  the  writer  always  has 
to  stultify  himself — to  make  inadequate  use  of  his  tal-. 
ents,  to  aim  .at  an  unhittable  target,  to  work  himself  into 
a  box  from  which  he  cannot  escape.  That  opportunity 
is  wide  open,  in  America;  always  has  been,  and  presum¬ 
ably.  always  will  be. 

Thus,  if  the  Writer  chooses  to  be. a  strict,  conformist,  a 
conformist’s  position  will  always  be  available  to  him.  If 
he  elects  to  ram  . his  head  against  a  stone  wall,  on  the  off 
chance  that  he  will  some  day  find  a  wall  which  is  a  little 
softer  than  his'  own  head,  this  country  does  offer  an 
abundance  of  stone  walls,  with  a  free  field  in  front  of 
them;  And  if  ■  what  the /writer  wants  is  simple  financial 
success,  he  might  as  well  make  up  his  mind  to  the  fact 
that  he  is  simply  playing  a  gigantic  and  largely  incom¬ 
prehensible  slot  machine,  and  that  the  most  he  can  do  is 
pull  On  the  lever,  shut  his  eyes  and  hope  for  the  best. 

Probably  what  most  Of  us  really  want  is  some  unearthly 
blend  of  all  three.  We  .Would  like  to  be  well  thought  of, 
by  our  associates  And  by  the  general  reading  public:; 
which  is  to  say  that  against  all  of  the  Odds  we.  would 
enjoy  a  touch  of  respectability,  especially  if  that  could 
be  attained  without  too.  much  pain.  In  our  weaker 
moments,  at  least,  we  Would  like  to  produce  best  sellers; " 
at  the  same  time  we  would  like  to  go  forward  with  the 
movers  and  shakers,-  putting  our  own  individual  imprint 
on  the  life  and  thought  Of  our  times.  This  of  course  is 
asking  for  a  good  deal,  and  we  probably  will  not  make 
it;  and  so,  I  suppose,  we  come  down  finally  to  an  examin¬ 
ation  of  the  writer's  position  in  the.  past— possibly  in  the 
hope  that  if  we  study  it  carefully  Sve  may  find  ,  something 
to  encourage  us  in  the  unfeeling  present. 

The  most  encouraging  point  . seems  to  me  to  be  the  fact 
that  for  a  good,  many  generations,  at  least,  America  has. 
been  a  country  with  a  prodigious  amount  of  respect  for 
the  written  word. 

This  is  a  fact  which  is  frequently  overlooked.  One  of 
the  most  fashionable  of  cliches  is  the  one  which  holds 
that  America  is  a  highly -materialistic  nation,  a  nation 
which  exalts  the  money-grubber  arid  has  a  minimum  of 
respect  for  things  of  the  mind  and  the  spirit.  The  writer, 
according,  to  this  theory;  is  and  always  has  been  an  out¬ 
sider— a  restless,  ineffectual  person  condemned  by  the. 
cruel  customs  of  society  to  utter  despairing  cries,  from 
the  sidelines  or  driven  by  force  of  circumstance  to  join 
the  procession  and  chant  insincere  hosannahs  to  values 
in  which  he  does  not  actually,  believe;. 

j  Dissent  Rarely  Popular  | 

There  is  Of  course  an  element  of  truth  in  this.  The 
serious  writer — in  America  Or  in  any.  other  land— is  very 
likely  to  be  at  odds  with  his  times.  Society  is  apt  to  in¬ 
dulge  in  the.  unholy  reprisal  of  not  listening  to  him  and 
of  withholding  from  him  the  rich  rewards  that  go  to  the 
men  vvho  join  lustily  in  the  prevailing.  chOrus;  Dissent 
is  rarely  popular  and  the  dissenter  usually  gets  treated 
as  a  dissenter. 

Nevertheless,  the  fact  does  remain  that  ever,  since  the 
birth,  of  this  republic  the  writer  has  had '  a.  profound  and. 
permanent  influence  on  actions  taken  and  on. mental  and 
emotional  attitudes  riveted  into  the  national  conscious¬ 
ness.  He  has  been  listened  to/ in  other  words,  and  it  is 
easily  possible  to  make  up  a  rather  imposing  list  of  writ¬ 
ers  of  whom  it  can  truthfully  be  said:  This  would  be  a 
different  sort  of  country  altogether,  if  these  men  had  not 
written.  ’  ■.  '  '  ' 

There  was*  for  example*  Thomas  Paine:  From  our 
present  lofty  minence  we  may  if.  we  wish  dismiss,  him 
as  a  mere,  pamphleteer— except  that  a  pamphleteer  is, 
after  all,  a  writer.  Furthermore,  there  was;  nothing 
“mere”  .about  Paine.  The  American  Revolution  would 
hot  have  gone  just  as  it  go  without  his  writings. 

Consider  the  extent  to  which  American  thinking  has 
been  shaped  by  the  words  Thomas  Jefferson  set  down  in 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  or  to  the  closely-rea¬ 
soned  discussions  of  constitutional  problems  embodied  in. 
the  Federalist  Papers.  Thoreau  produced  relatively  little 
and  died  young — but  he  put  an  imprint  on  men’s  minds 
that  lie  is  still  working  today.  Gandhi  might  not  have 
been  Gandhi  without  Thoreau:  in  /which  case  the  condi¬ 
tion  of  affairs  in  India  today  would  look  very  different. 
Emerson  certainly  had  a  lasting  .effect  on  American 
thoughts  and  attitudes.  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe  wrote  a 
novel  (concerning  whose  literary  value  there  still  rages 
a  spirited  argument),  which  had;  much  to  do  with  touch¬ 
ing  off  the  American  Civil  War. 

Indeed,  the  whole  period  up  to  the  Civil  War  may  be 
said  to  have  been  one  which  was  highly  favorable  to  the. 
writer.  It  paid  at  least  moderately  respectful  atten¬ 
tion  to  men  like  John  Humphrey  Noyes  and  Bronzon 
Alcott,  it  elevated  Horace  Greeley  to  the  position  of  a 
seer,  and  a  prophet,  and,  it  heard  men  like  Cooper  and 
Longfellow  with  such  eager  care  that  their  writings— fpr 
better  or  for  worse — probably  put  a  lasting  imprint  on 
our  mythology  in  respect  to  the  Noble,  Red.  Man.  .  An 
egocentric  army  officer  like  John  Charles  Fremont  could, 
win  enough  fame  to  make  him  a  candidate  for  the  Pres¬ 
idency,  not  so  much  for  anything  he  had  actually  done  as 
because,  his  writings  about  the  great  west  had  been  read 
all  across  the  land.  If  the  age  failed  to  shower  riches 


By  BRUCE  CATTON 

upon  a .  Melville  a  Whitman,  it  at  least:,  permitted- 
them  to  have  their  say;  and:  we  have  “Moby  Dick”  and 
“Leaves  of  Grass”  today  as  a  result. 

After  the  Civil  War  there  was  a  change  in  the 
moral  and  intellectual  climate.  .  The  postwar  =years .  do 
not  make  a  period  on  which  it  is  a  pleasure  to  look 
back  .  Out  of  that  and  immediately  succeeding  gen¬ 
erations  there  seems  to  have  been  born  ,  the  enduring 
tradition  that  the  American,  climate,  is  not.  favorable,  to 
the.,  full  development  and  exercise;  of.  the-  creative,  im- 
pulse.  The  Writer  was  relegated  to  a  position  of.  minor 
importance;  he  got  an  inferiority  complex  out  of  it,  and 
the  memory  of  it  lingers  to  the  present  day.  Some  writ¬ 
ers  deprived  the  land  of  their  presence  altogether  and 
went  abroad  to  Work:  Others,  doing  their  best  ,  in  the 
home  environment,  complained  bitterly  about,  the  cramp¬ 
ing  effect  of  the  prevalent  worship .  of  “the  bitch  goddess, 
Success,”  and  testified— in  what  they  wrote,  and  in  the- 
way  they  lived — to  the  harshness  of  ,  the  intellectual;  cli-, 
mate.  As  writers,  We  ourselves  are  acutely  aware  of  all 
of  this;  the  memory  of  it,  I  suspect,  has  deeply  colored 
our  wn  opinion  of  our  American  envirqumentj  even 
though  the  environment  .  itself  .  has  changed  immeasur¬ 
ably  since  that  day. 

As.  a  matter  of  fact,  it  can  be  "argued  that  the  picture 
even  in  the  post-Civil  War :  years  was  hot:  entirely  black. 

That  is  to  say  that,  despite  the  odds  the  -creative  im¬ 
pulse  Was  at  work  and  the .  intellectual  current  was  still 
moving,  and  the .  independent  mind  did  find  chances  to 
have  its  say.  Mark  Twain  is  often  taken  -as  the  great 
example  of  the  gifted  writer  who .  was  twisted  out  of 
shape  by  the  pressures  of  the  Gilded  Age;  the;  potentially 
great  satirist  who  conformed,  outwardly  at  least,  to  the 
anti-intellectual  pressure  of  his  time  and  who  became 
finally  much  less  than  he  might  have  become  if  the  world 
had  just  been  a  little  different.  All  of  this  may  be  true 
enough;  yet  it  might .  be  remembered  that  despite  all  of 
this  twisting  he  did  succeed— in  “Hucklebeny  Einn”— 
in  writing  a  novel  which  today,  is  ranked  very  close  to 
.the  top  among  all  novels  ever  written  in;  America. 

Then  there  was  Henry  George.  Henry  George 
various  things,  including  a  candidate  for  political  office* 
but  among  them  he  was:  a  writer,  the  producer  of  a  book 
called  ‘‘Progress  and,  Poverty,”  Here  is  a  book  which, 
made  a  profound  impression  on  certain  aspects  of  Ainer-. 
ican  thought— and, .  for  the  matter  of  that,  on  thought 
overseas  as  Well.  .  Along  with  everything  else,  it  had  a 
good  deal  to  do  with  the  shape, the  New  Deal  finally  toqk,- 
"  the  193t)’s— which,-  of  course*  may  or  may  riot  be:  a 
point  iri  its  favor,  but  which  at  least  testifies  to  the  fact 
that  the  times  did  not  deprive  all  creative  minds  of  the 
chance  to  speak,  to  their  fellows.. .. 

With  the  early  1900’S  the  field,  in  .which  the  writer 
operates  became,  much  more  hospitable  to  ;  a  proper 
exercise  of  the  writer’s  talents.  The  famous  “muck 
rakers,”  for  instance,  were  all  writers,  and  it.  is  hard  to 
think  of  any  era  in;  which  a  few  ink-slingers  . did  more  to 
change .  the  climate  of  opinion.  From  Lincoln.  Steffens; 
arid  Ida  Tarbell  to.  Upton  Sinclair,  these  people  were 
able,  not  merely  to  say  exactly  what  they  thought,  about 
the  life  of  their  times,  but  to  find  a  receptive  audience. 
The  literature  of  protest  suddenly  becariie  important.  .  .  . 

Indeed,  when  you  stop  to  think  about  it.,  the  -20th  cen¬ 
tury  did  bring  in  a  period  in  which  society  was  quite 
anxiously  looking  to  the  writer  for  a  re-evaluation  of  all. 
accepted  values.  The  writer  responded,  and  he  has  been, 
responding  eVer  since;  and  (which  is  more  to  the  point) 
society  listened  to  him  with  considerable  attention. 
Frank  Norris  and  Hamlin  Garland  may  have  written 
about  a  society  in  which  the  pressure  for .  conformity 
was  immense,  but  they  themselves  were  not  conformists; 
and  they .  paved  the  way— building,  incidentally,  ip  part 
on  the  work  of  another  product  of.  the  Gilded  Age,  Wil¬ 
liam  Dean  Howells—for  the  long  stream  of  realistic  fic¬ 
tion  which  is  one  of  the  great  achievements  of  American 
literature. 

j _  Lewis' and  Mencken  _  ;  .) 

There  is  no  particular  point  in  undertaking  a  name-by¬ 
name  .catalog,  running  from  the  early  190(Ls  down  to  the 
present.  It  inay  be  pertinent  to.  ask  if.  any  writer  could 
hope  to  leave  his  imprint  on.  the  mental  and  emotional 
attitudes  of  his  time  more  effectively  than  Sinclair  Lewis, 
did;  to  ask'  if  an.  editor  and  essayist  could  easily  have 
a  greater  impact;  during  his  years  of  activity,  than  did 
H.  L.  Mencken;  and  to.  point  out  that,  by  the  1930’s  the. 
Writer  had  come  to  occupy  such  ari .'.important  place,  in  . 
the  moldirig  and  shaping  of  American  opinion,  that  ; 
major  effort  of  the.  revolutionary  ' Left,  "was  to  get  as/ 
many  as  possible  of  the  .novelists,  the.  critics,  and.  the 
polemicists  into  the  fold.  The  results  of  this,  effort,  may.' 
have  been  deplorable;  but  the  fact  that;  so, much  emphasis 
was  put  down  it  simply  indicates,  the  high  degree  pf  ac¬ 
ceptance  which  the,  Country  generally  had.  given  to  its 
writing  mCn  and  women, 

.  ...  .  We  still  live  in  a  business  civilization.  Like  it  pr 
not,  the  man  who  can  write  a  poem.  or.  a  novel  or  any- 
thihg  else  that  goes  on  paper  between  book  covers  is  apt 
to.  get  less  in  the  way  of  money,  influence  and  exalted 
social  standing  than  the  man  -who  is  .able  to  become,  /let 
us  say,  chairman  of  the  board  >of  a  mighty  industrial/ 
corporation.  The  rewards  which  go  to  a  writer  who  is 
willing  to  assert  that  all  is  for  the  best  iri  the  best  of 
all  possible  Countries— meaning  this  orie— are  likely  to 
be  substantially  greater  than  those...  which  go  to  the  man 
who  feels  that  the  times  are.  put  of  joint,  and  who  wants 
to  say  so  in  public. 

Since  the  end  of  the  Second  World  War.  the  pressure 
for  conformity  has  been  especially  great,  simply  because 
:  all  of  us  have  had  a  bad  scare  by  .  a  monstrous  jntagible. 
A  frightened  country  does  not  tend  to  offer  a  hospitable 
reception  to  ideas  that  are  not  pretty  Carefully  screened. 
The  writer  who  proposes  to  say  -exactly  what  he  thinks, 


and  who  does  not  confine  his  thinking  to  orthodox  chan¬ 
nels,  may  eventually  find  himself  discussing  his  past 
with  a  Congressional  committee.  At  the  very  least,  his 
sales  figures  are  not  likely  to  be  of  a  kind  which  will 
cause  publishers  to  beat  a  path  to,  his.  door. 

It  would  be  foolish  to  minimize  the  bad  effects  of  this 
immense,  if  temporary,  pressure.  It  would  be  equally 
foolish  to  let  it  create  Undue  discouragement..  For  in 
the  end  We  must  come  down  to  the  writer  himself.  Life 
has  never  offered  him  a  bed  of  roses,  and — this  side  of 
the  Elysiai*  fields,  at  any  rate— it  probably  never  wilL 
It  offers  him  a  Very  hard,  wearing  job,  attended  by  in¬ 
numerable  discouragements,  and  it  .  forever  tempts  him 
to  put  his  integrity  ori  the  auction  4  block.  Pressure  of 
one:  sort  or  another  is  on  him  front  the  moment  he  puts 
a  piece  bf  paper  into  his  typewriter.  By  definition,  he 
is  the  sort  of  man  who  can  resist  pressure.  If  he  isn’t, 
he  isn’t  much  of  a  writer. 

And  the  principal  question,  now  as  always,  is  simply: 
What  does  the  writer  want?  What  is  he  shooting  at? 
What  makes  him;  tick?  Does  he  want,  most  of  all,  the 
approval  of  his  fellow  countrymen,  money  in  the  bank, 
a  country  home  iri  Connecticut,  a  cooperative  apartment 
in  Manhattan,  abundant  leisure,  and  a  nodding  acquaint¬ 
ance;  not  merely  with  the  influential  critics  but  also  with 
the  headwaiters  in  the  more  expensive  restaurants? 
These  are  nice  things  to  have;  if  he  goes  after  them,  he 
can  get  them — always  provided,  of  course,  that  he  has 
a  certain  amount  of  luck  along  the  way.  They  are  the 
fruits  of.  studious  conformity,  and  this  particular  era  in 
American  life  does  offer  them  in  abundance. 

Or— on  the  other  hand— does  he  simply  want  to  write? 
Is  it  the  categorical  imperative  to  have  his  say  that 
really  moves  hirri?  Does  he,  above  everything  else,  on 
earth,  want  to  express  what  is  in  him  to  express — to  lay 
hands  on  the  dreams  and  the  ideas  that  have  been  tor¬ 
menting  him  and,  by  hour  .after  hour  of  lonely,  unre¬ 
mitting  work,  hammer  them  out  into  a  shape  which  he 
can;  present  to  other  people? 

1  The  Writer  in  America _  j 

If  that  is  what  the  writer  really  wants— rand  if  it  is  not 
there  is  very  little  point  in  pur  getting  together  here  to 
discuss  the  matter — then  I  believe  America  today  offers 
a  Very  fair  environment  for  his  career. 

Of  course  he  will  encounter  pressures.  Innumerable 
voices  will  constantly  be  telling  him  how  to  trim  his 
.  sails  to  the  prevailing  winds,  which  now  and  then  will 
rise  to  gale  force.  He  will  be,  by  turns,  tempted  and 
frightened,  and  he  will  find,  as  all  writers  worth  the 
name  have  always  found,,  that  his  greatest  fight  will  be 
the  fight  simply  to;  be  himself  .  But  what  of  it? 

I  would  not  hold  William  LIpyd  Garrison  up  as.  a  model 
for;  writers.  That  cantankerous  abolitionist  may  very 
well  have  done  much  more  harm  than  good,  between 
the  time -when  he  .first  grasped  Ills  pen  and  .  the  time  when 
he  finally  laid  it  down.  But  the  little  statement  of  pur¬ 
pose  which  he  nailed  to  the  masthead  of  his  anti-slavery 
, magazine  does  have  in  it  an  element  of  the  determina¬ 
tion  which  is  the  writing  man’s  final  reliance! 

“I  am  in  earnest.  I  will  not  equivocate:  I  will 
not  retreat  a  single  inch — arid  I  will  be  heard!*' 

It  is  that  “I  am  iri  earnest  .  ..I  will  be  heard!”  that 
says  it.  Not,  necessarily,  heard  by  everyone;  not  neces¬ 
sarily  heard  by  the  peopl  who  have  the  richest  rewards 
to  give;  but  at  least  heard — my  thoughts.  my  ideals, 
my  own  particular,  personal  way  of  looking  at  life 
and  its:  tremendous  riddles,  reduced  to  words  as  well 
as  may  be  arid  then  brought  to  the  notice  of  at  least  some 
pf  my  fellow  men;  That,  it  seems  to  me,  is  the  ultimate 
force  that  makes  a  man  write. 

Obedient  to  that  force,  the  writer  does  encounter  a 
number  of  things  that  are  not  as  they  should  be.  Some 
of  these  things  are  more  or  less  peculiar  to  the  present 
day.  The  machinery  of  publishing  is  archaic  and  heavy- 
handed;  there  are  times  when  it  seems  to  be  operated 
with  a  minimum  of  feelirig  for  the  values  which  may  lie 
:  in  the  written  word,  and  the  writer’s  lot  would  be  much 
easier  if  editors  were  not  so  often  engaged  in  a  desperate 
search  for  books  exactly  like  the  ones  which  have  just 
appeared  on  the  bestseller  list  The  mechanics  of  book- 
distribution  are,  perhaps,  in  even  worse  state,  and  the 
influence  of  the  great  book  clubs  is  not  uniformly  bene- 
ficient.  The  state  of  literary  criticism  in  America  could 
unquestionably  be  better.  1  suppose  each  one  of  us  has 
his  own  private  list— be  lt  long,  or  be  it  short — of  critics 
who  really  ought  to  be  boiled  in  oil.  It  can  be  uncom¬ 
monly  hard  for  a  beginner..:  to  get  his  book  published 
at  all,  or  to  have  it  sold  to  any  appreciable  number  of 
people  after  it  is  published;  and  it  is  extremely  hard  even 
for  the  veteran  ‘‘established”  writer  to  make  a  comfort¬ 
able  living,  out  of  ;  his  chosen  calling.  All  too  often  he’ has 
to  devote .  valuable  time  and  energy  simply  to  the  task  of 
supporting  himself  in  order  that  he  may  be  a  writer. 

Nevertheless,  I  da  believe  that  the  American  writer 
today  .operates  in  a  fairly  hospitable  environment.  By 
and  large,  this  is  and  has  been  a  country  which  is  will¬ 
ing  to  listen.  It  may  at  times  listen  with  ail  undiscrim¬ 
inating,  ear;  it  may  not  reward  the  writer  as  richly  as  we 
who  write  think  it  should;  it  may  not  shield  him  from 
the  hard  knocks  of  life,  and  it  may  subject  him  to  all 
manner  of  pressures  from  which  he  ought  to  be  liberated. 
But  it  does  give  him  the  chance  to  be  heard.  It  is  the 
kind  of  society  in  which  a  man  cannot  merely  speak  his 
mind  but  can  exert  a  lasting  influence  on  the  life  and 
thought  of  his  times;  we  are  still  liying  in  a  country 
which  bffers  a  substantial  hospitality  to  ideas. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  think  that  this  particular  moment 
bffers  an  invigorating  challenge  to  the  writer.  ■.  . 

We  hiave  come  to  a.  profound  turning  point  in  the  de¬ 
velopment  of  human  society.  All  of  the  old  guide-lines 
seem  to  have  been  smudged,  if  not  erased  outright.  More 
than  ever  before,  people  want  to  listen  to  the  man  with 
ideas. 

As  writers,  what  riiore  carl  we  ask  than  that? 


Fifty-second  P^SrIETY  Anniversary 


January  8,1958 


THjS  AD  IS 

Fulfillment  of  the  basic 

UA  ANNOUNCES  THIS 
IN  A  BALANCED  RELEASE 
AS  A  PART  ONLY  OF  THE 


Keep  this  ad 
nd  check  our 
performance 
against  our 
promise! 


JMJUARY-fEBRUARY-M/^m-  /:;>v 

LEGEND  OF  THE  LOST 

Technirama  •  Technicolor  •  Starring  John  Wayne  •  Sophia  Loren  •  Rossano  Brazzi 
Produced  and  Directed  by  Henry  Hathaway  •  A  Batjac  Prod.,  Panama,  Inc.  Pres. 

THE  QUIET  AMERICAN 

Starring  Audie  Murphy  •  Michael  Redgrave  •  Claude  Dauphin  •  Giorgia  Moll 
Written  for  the  screen  and  Directed  by  Joseph  L.  Mankiewicz  •  A  Figaro,  Inc.  Prod. 

PATHS  OF  GLORY 

Starring  Kirk  Douglas  •  co-starring  Ralph  Meeker  *  Adolphe  Menjou  •  Directed  by 
Stanley  Kubrick  •  Produced  by  James  B.  Harris  •  A  Bryna  Production. 

WITNESS  FOR  THE  PROSECUTION 

Starring  Tyrone  Power  •  Marlene  Dietrich  •  Charles  Laughton  •  Directed  by  Billy 
Wilder  •  Produced  by  Arthur  Hornblow  •  An  Edward  Small  Presentation  • Based  on 
Agatha  Christie's  smash  Broadway  play. 


APRIL- MAY  JUNE 


RUN  SILENT,  RUN  DEEP 

Starring  Clark  Gable  •  Burt  Lancaster  •  Directed  by  Robert  Wise  •  Produced  by 
Harold  Hecht  •  A  Hecht,  Hill  and  Lancaster  Presentation. 

PARIS  HOLIDAY 

Technirama  •  Technicolor -  Starring  Bob  Hope  •  Fernandel  •  Anita  Ekberg  •  Martha 
Hyer  •  Directed  by  Gerd  Oswald  •  A  Tolda  Production. 

GOD’S  LITTLE  ACRE 

Starring  Robert  Ryan  •  Aldo  Ray  •  Buddy  Hackett  •  Tina  Louise  •  Directed  by 
Anthony  Mann  •  Produced  by  Sidney  Harmon  •  A  Security  Pictures  Presentation 
From  the  world’s  greatest  best-selling  novel  by  Erskine  Caldwell. 

THUNDER  ROAD 

Starring  Robert  Mitchum  •  Directed  by  Arthur  Ripley  •  A  DRM  Production. 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty, econd  Anniversary 


AN  EVENT! 

need  of  all  exhibitors! 

BACKLOG  OF  BLOCKBUSTERS 
SCHEDULE  FOR  THE  FULL  YEAR  1958 
UA  PROGRAM  FOR  1958! 


JULY  AUGUST  SEPTEMBER 


THE  BIG  COUNTRY 

Technirama  *  Technicolor  •  Starring  Gregory  Peck  •  Jean  Simmons  *  Carroll  Baker 
Charlton  Heston  •  Burl  Ives  •  Directed  by  William  Wyler  •  Produced  by  William 
Wyler  and  Gregory  Peck  •  An  Anthony-Worldwide  Production. 

THE  VIKINGS 

Technirama  •  Technicolor  •  Starring  Kirk  Douglas  Tony  Curtis  *  Ernest  Borgnine 
Janet  Leigh  •  Directed  by  Richard  Fleischer  •  Produced  by  Jerry  Bresler  •  A  Kirk 
Douglas  Production. 

KINGS  GO  FORTH 

Starring  Frank  Sinatra  •  Tony  Curtis  ’  Natalie  Wood  •  Directed  by  Delmer  Daves 
Produced  by  Frank  Ross. 

CHINA  DOLL 

Starring  Victor  Mature  •  Prod,  and  Dir.  by  Frank  Borzage  •  A  Batjac  Presentation. 


OCTOBER  NOVEMBER  DECEMBER 


SEPARATE  TABLES 

Starring  Rita  Hayworth  •  Deborah  Kerr  •  David  Niven  *  Wendy  Hiller  •  and  Burt 
Lancaster  -  Directed  by  Delbert  Mann  •  Produced  by  Harold  Hecht  A  Hecht, 
Hill  and  Lancaster  Presentation. 

MAN  OF  THE  WEST 

PRODUCTION  STARTS  IN  JANUARY 

In  color  •  Starring  Gary  Cooper  -  Directed  by  Anthony  Mann  •  A  Mirisch  Co.  Prod. 

THE  BARBARA  GRAHAM  STORY 

PRODUCTION  STARTS  IN  JANUARY 

Starring  Susan  Hayward  *  Directed  by  Robert  Wise  •  Produced  by  Walter  Wanger 
A  Figaro,  Inc.  Production. 

- - AND  FOR  CHRISTMAS  1958  - — 

Burt  Lancaster  in 

THE  UNFORGIVEN 


AH  this,  and 

Mike  Todd's 

AROUND  THE 
WORLD  IN 

SO  DAYS'  ,  too 
Plus 

additional 
big  ones 
about  to  go 
into  production 
in  time  for 
1958  release l 


34 


PICTURES.. 


Fifty-second  Pt&RiEYt  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


Copyright,  Obscenity,  Parodies,  10  -  Year  Pix 
ts.  Music  Renewals— Auc^he  Dream 
Of  Tax  Deductibles 


Rights 


By  HARRIET  F.  PILPEL 

Well,  as  they  say  ori  the.  tv  pro¬ 
grams,  what  kind  of  a  year  lias  the 
entertainment  business  had  on  the 
legal  front?  Busy,,  we  may  say-r¬ 
and  we’re  not  even  going,  to  men¬ 
tion  a  certain  well  publicized  proxy 
fight  about  which  so  much  has  been 
said  already. 

Actually,  the  most  significant  de¬ 
velopments  Jaw-Wise  have  been  in 
the  shhh — mustn't  say  the  haughty 
word— obscenity  field.  Fob  the  first 
time  in  many  decades,  the  U.S.  Su¬ 
preme  Court  from  its  lofty  perch 
in  Washington  viewed. in  four  cases 
the  material  which  the  censorious-, 
minded  among  us  are  always  wor¬ 
rying  Will  corrupt  us,  although  they 
know  it  won’t  corrupt  them.  In  the 
lead  case  of  three— the  case  in¬ 
volving  allegedly  obscene  publica¬ 
tions  distributed  by  Samuel  Roth— 
there  were  four  opinions: — One  so- 
called  majority,  one  concurring, 
and  two  dissenting,  one  of  which 
Was  Joined  in  by  twa  judges,  so 
you  can  see  this  isn’t  exactly  una* 
nimitj\ 

All  the  judges  were  agreed,  that 
they  were  against  obscenity, .  but 
the  court  fragmented  when  it  came 
to  defining  what,  after  all,  is  Ob¬ 
scene  anyway.  If -  there  is  any  real 
majority  point  of  view  on  this,  it 
seems  to  be  that  if  material  appeals 
to  “prurient  interest;'-  it’s  obscene; 
not  so.  however,  if  it  has  “even  the 
slightest  redeeming  social  impor¬ 
tance."  Query,  what  is.  the  law  if 
it  appeals  to  “prurience”  and  has 
“redeeming  social  importance” 

Query  indeed,  as  a  San  Francisco 
judge  did  recently  whenhe  held, 
that  material  was  not  obscene  be¬ 
cause  it  had  “redeeming  social  im¬ 
portance.” 

However,  some  things  have  now 
become  established — a  work  must 
be  judged  as  a  whole  and  not  on 
the  basis  of  isolated  segments;  its 
effect  must  be  determined  in  the. 
light  of  the  “normal  average  adult” 
and  not  with  a  view  to  children, 
or  the  feeble-minded,  or  the  other¬ 
wise  especially  susceptible.  And 
that’s  some  progress,  honest  it  is. 


by  the  august  Bank  of  America 
against  the  book  publishers,  Cow¬ 
ar  d-McCann,  where  the*  issue  was 
whether  a  grant  of  motion  picture 
rights  in  a  book  for  1.0  years  meant, 
that  the  motion  picture  derived 
from  the  book  couldn’t  be  exhibit¬ 
ed  after  10  years.  Yes,  said  ,  the 
Califorhi  Supreme  Court,  that’s 
what  the  10-year  limitation  does 
mean  even  aS  against  ,  the  Bank  of 
America  which  had  taken  oyer  the: 
picture  when  there  was  a  default, 
in  the  payment  of  its  production 
loam 


Copyrights 


income,  lip  to:  $5,000  a  year  to  pay 
into  an  approved  pension  fund. 
When  they  reach  65,  it  will  be  paid 
out  to  them  and  will  be  taxable  at 
that  time.  The  bill  has  a  chance 
of  passing  if  those  of  us  who  care 
get  behind  it,  and  push— all  you 
have  to  do  is  say  yea,  by  mail  or 
wire,  to  Speaker  of  the  House,  Sam 
Rayburn,  House  Office  Building, 
Washington,  D.C. 

The  foregoing  is,  of  course,  just 
a  sampling  of  legal  developments, 
i  “our”  field — yours  and  mine- 
in  1957.  A  lot  of  them  probably 
affect  you  more  than  you  know. 
And.  unike  the  Asiatic  flu,  there’s 
no  vaccine  against  them.  For  bet¬ 
ter  orworse,  these  are  some  of  the 
legal  rulings  handed  down  during 
the:  past  year  which  affect  you  and 
you  and  you. 


Kinsey 


Progress  was  made,  too,  in  this 
area  When  the  New  York  courts  re¬ 
versed  the  motion  picture  censors 
on  Several  occasions;  pretty  much 
holding  that  the  only  ground  of 
permissible  pre-censorship  of  mov¬ 
ies,  if  any,  is  obscenity- — not  in¬ 
decency,  or  immorality  or  sacrile¬ 
giousness  or  any  of  the  other  load¬ 
ed;  words  which  mean  so  many  dif¬ 
ferent  things  to  different  people. 
That  leayes  “obscenity”  as  a  basis 
for  censorship,  that’s  true^-but  a 
constantly  shrinking  definition  of 
obscenity— and  one  laden  with  con¬ 
fusion  which  further  litigation  Will 
‘  have  to  resolve. 

What  signals  there  are  seem  to 
point  in  the  right  (as  far  as  I’m 
concerned)  direction;  A  Federal 
district  court,  in  New  York,  for  ex¬ 
ample,  just  decided  . in  the  so-called 
Kinsey  case  that  the  Federal  law 
does  not  permit  “review  of  deci¬ 
sions  of  scholars  as  to  the  by-paths 
of  learning  upon  which  they  shall 
tread”— surely  a  necessary  decision 
at  a  time  when  only  free  scientific 
inquiry  can  enable  us  to  catch  up 
with  the  Russians  ahd  their  “Sput¬ 
nik.”  The  actual  holding  of  the 
“Kinsey  case"  was  that  ,  the  Insti- 1 
tute  for  Sex  Research  Inc.,  at  In¬ 
diana  University  founded  by  the 
late  Dr.  Alfred  C.  Kinsey,  could 
have  access  even  to  indisputably 
obscene  materials  for  purposes  of 
scientific  research  '(with  this  case 
your  writer  was  associated  as  coun¬ 
sel  for  the  Institute). 

So  much  for  the  obscenity  deyel-  I 
opments.  There  were  lots  qf  others 
too.  “Who  laughs  last?”  might  well 
be .  the  title  of  a  case  presently 
pending  before  the  U.S.  Supreme 
Court  involving  ...  the  question 
whether  Jack  Benny’s  parody, 
“Autoliglil,*-  infringed  the  copy¬ 
right  on.  the  serious  M-G-M,  motion 
picture,  “Gaslight.”  The  court  next 
below  the  Supreme  Court  held  it 
did,  that  the  right  to  parodize  was 
one  of  the  rights  included  in  the 
copyright,  like  the  right  to  drama¬ 
tize,  or  put  on  television  or  repro¬ 
duce  in  copies  for  sale.  We  should 
soon  have  the  answer  to  that  one. 


There,  have  been  a  lot  of  cases 
of  copyright  infringement: — or  at 
least  alleged  copyright  infringe¬ 
ment  too.  Many  of  them  had  to  do 
with  the  extent  to  which  a  subse¬ 
quent  writer  or  producer  can  draw 
on  factual  material  painstakingly 
unearthed  by  some  one  else  but 
factual  material  nonetheless.  In 
most  of  these  cases,  the  .  judgment 
has  been  for:  the  defendant.  The 
courts  are  understandably  reluct¬ 
ant  to:  give  to  any  .copyright  owner, 
no  matter  how  Worthy,  a  monopoly 
of  historical,  current  or  other  fac¬ 
tual  events. 

There’ve  been  some  little  rever¬ 
berations  too  Of  the  U.S.  Supreme 
COurt  decision  in  the  Ballantine  v. 
DeSylva  case  which  decided  that 
if  the  author  is  dead,  the  right,  to 
renew:  his  copyrights  goes  to  his 
spouse  ..and  children  and  not;  as 
many  had  thought  before,  to  his 
spouse  alone  if  alive,  and  to  his 
children  only  if  there  is  no  surviv¬ 
ing  spouse.  A  kind  of  cute  one 
came  up.  where  the  surviving 
spouse  had  made  a  dear  before  the 
author’s  death  covering  the  re¬ 
newal  period  but  the  children 
hadn’t  agreed.  The  court  held,  the 
wife  was  bound  hut  the  question 
Of  the  children’s  rights  and  the 
overall,  effect  of  their,  having  such 
rights  is  still  wide  open. 

Then  there’s  that  Goody  case 
about  the  unauthorized  circulation 
of  records  of  copyrighted  musical 
composition.  I  think  I’ll  just  leave 
that  one.  to  the  music,  experts 
they’ve  got  it  anyway. 

Just  one  mOre  word  about  that 
ever  present  bogey-man,  taxes. 
Patent  owners  continue  to  ride 
high, -wide  and  handsome  getting 
capital  gains  on  practically  every¬ 
thing.  The  creators  of  copyrighted 
property  and,  by  and  large,  of  en¬ 
tertainment  “ideas,”  Continue  to 
wallow  in  the  mire  of  the  sharply 
graduated,  ordinary  income  tax 
rates:  Once  in  a  while.  by  the  de-. 
vice  of  assigning  a  contract  or  set¬ 
ting  up  :  a  corporation,  or  partner¬ 
ship,  this  result  is  avoided— but 
still  no  matter  how  you  look;  at  it, 
the  tax  preference  for  patents  just 
ain’t  right— or  fori  that  matter  sen¬ 
sible— in.  a  society  that  heeds  new 
intellectual  creations  just  now  at 
least  as  badly  as  it  needs  gadgets. 

All .  self-employed  professionals 
—and  this  includes  a  lot  Of  Writers, 
producers  and  others— stand  to 
gain  if  the  Jenkiris-Keogh  bill  goes 
through:  This  bill  would  permit 
self-employed .  professionals  to  de¬ 
duct  tax-free  from  their,  present 


Hollywood. 

Republic  studios  may  be  pic¬ 
keted  by  the  Screen  Actors  Guild 
if  .  the  Valley  lot  finalizes  a  deal  to 
sell  its  pbst-1948  pix  to  NBC  with-, 
out  slicing  actors  in  on  any  of  the 
profits.  SAG;  is.  currently  consider¬ 
ing  such  action.; 

Republic  has  beeh  out  Of  produc¬ 
tion  of  theatrical  films  for  over  a 
year,  hence  the  guild  could  take  no 
effective  action  insofar  as  stopping 
any.  further;,  production 
cerrted.  However,  with  Republic 
currently  a  busy,  lot  for  ,tv  rental 
companies.  Specifically  Revue,  pic¬ 
ket  action  might  be  effective,  it’s 
reasoned:  by  SAG. 

Guild  is  also  considering  other 
steps  to  be  taken  against  Rep  if 
the  deal  goes:  through,  SAG  - 
siders  it  has  a  “gentleman’s  agree¬ 
ment”  with  Rep:  proxy.  Herbert  J. 
Yates  regarding  suitable  payment 
for  the  220  post-’48  pix,  and  it’s 
the  guild  sentiment  such  agree¬ 
ment  would  be  violated:  in  the 
pending  deal. 

There  are  conflicting  reports  as 
to  just  how  much  the  proposed 
NBC-Republic  deal  involves  in 
cash...  One  report  has  it  that  the 
web.  Would  pay  Rep  $5,600,000  for 
the.piXi  deal  calling  for  $2,000,000 
-in  cash  and  $100,000  a  month  over 
a  three-year  period.  Another  re¬ 
port  is  that  the  deal  involves  ap¬ 
proximately  $10,000,000,  with  half 
of  that  to  be  paid  in  cash,  the  rest 
over  a  period  of  time. 

*  FIRECRACKERS  &  PELLETS 


A  Day  In  the  Life  Of 
An  Aspiring  Author 


By  PETE  SMITH 


Hollywood. 

Breathes  there  a  (show}  man 
with  soul  so  dead. 

Who  never  to  himself,  hath 
said , 

Some  day  I  gotta,  write  a  book! 

After  45  years  in  show  biz,  I  one 
morning  find  myself  staring  at  a 
sheet  of  paper  in  my  Underwobd 
at  home.  Just  prior  to  this  com¬ 
plete  lull,  I  had  made  a  flying 
start  on  my  memoirs.  Yep,  in  the 
upper  right  hand  corner  of  the 
sheet  before  me,  I  had  typed  the 
attention  -  arresting  words— “Page 
One.”„ 

Today,  I  mumbled,  is  a  good 
time  to  start.  No  One  will  be 
arbund  the  house  but  little  ole 
literary  me.  My  wife  Margie  will 
be  storming  the  ;. battlements  at 
Orbach’s  Big  Sale.  Carl  and  Al- 
yerta,  our  domestic  couple  oh  their 
day  off,  will  be  storming  the  $2 
Window  Santa  Anita.  And 
Lobo,  my  boxer  dog,  will  be  storm¬ 
ing  around  in  his  cage  at  the  vet’s,, 
following  the  removal  of  a  wart 
from  his  derriere. 

Suddenly  I  make  a  startling  de¬ 
cision.  I  will  begin  my  memoirs 
with  the  word  “The.”  As  I  aiii. 
about  to.  set  fingers  to  typewriter, 
the  backfire  from  the  departing 
Car  for  Santa  Anita  almost  blasts 
me  out  of  my  chair;  I  settle  back 
to.  hit  the  upper-case  T  when  Mar¬ 
gie  enters.  She  gives  hie  a  bye- 
bye,  kiss  and  w4h  a  gleam  in.  her 
big  blue  eyes,  is  off  to  Orbach’s. 
Well,  this  is  it!  I  will  now  get 
going. 

After  due  deliberation  I  discard 
my  opening  word  for  another  and 
soon  I  have  finished  my  first  sen¬ 
tence.  Just  as  I  start  the  next 
line  the  phone  rings.  I  ignore  it. 
It  rings  again.  And  again:  Who 
can  ignore  the  third,  ring?.  It’s, 
one  of  my  fishing  pals.  The  gang 
is  taking  the  afternoon  boat  out  of 
Malibu.  The  barracuda  in  the 
ocean  are  thick  enough  to  walk  on.: 
Sorry.  Not-  today,  pal:  Thanks; 
G’bye. 


Amarillo  Interstate  House 
Posts  Reward  For  Bomber 


Amarillo,  Tex. 

A  homemade  bomb  exploded  in 
the  crowded  State  Theatre  in;  the 
downtown  section  of  the  city  in¬ 
juring  at  least  four  youths  .and 
sending  scores  of  teenagers  and 
children  dashing  in  panic  from  the 
subsequently  smoke-filled  building. 
Apparently  contrived  from  fire¬ 
crackers,  gun  shot  pellets  from  the 
boihb  were  .  found  by  officers. 

Jack  King,  manager  for  the  In¬ 
terstate  Theatre  Circuit,  posted  a 
$i;000.  reward  for  information  on 
thrower. 


Call  of.  a  Canine 


hell  do  you  spell  polysyllabic? 
Where  is  that  big  fat  dictionary? 
Amazing!  It’s  right  there  on  the 
special  little  table  I  had  built  for 
it.  Let’s  see  now,  p-o-l-y— Darn 
that  beast!  Lobo,  be  quiet!  Now 
it’s  the  milkman.  Oh  well.  I’ll  put 
him  (Lobo — not  the;  milkman)  in. 
the  garden  where  the  only  moving 
objects  are  the  birds  and  the  bees. 
Hope  he  doesn’t  get  -any  ideas. 
After  all,  he’s  a  respectable 
father  (Lobo — I  don’t  know  about 
the  milkman).  I  start  banging  the 
keys  again  and — there  goes  that 
damn  phorie:  Oh,  hello  palsey. 
Sorry,  no  lunch  dates  today.  I’m 
working.  Yes  YOU  heard  me. 
What  are  you  laughing  at!  G’bye. 


Call  of  the  Barracuda 


I 


Where  was  I?  Oh  yes.  Let’s 
see,  how  did  I  start?  Hmm,  pretty 
good.  Well,  to  proceed — oops! 
There’s  the  front  door  buzzer.  So, 
I’ll  pay  no  attention  to  it.  Buzz,: 
buzz,  buzz.  And  repeat  ad  nau¬ 
seous.  Maybe  it’s  an  important  de¬ 
livery?  It  is,  indeed.  Lobo  is 
home.  YCs,  yes,  I  know  all  about 
taking  care  of  him.  $o  what,  if  he 
can’t  sit  down.  Let  him  stand. 
Right  here  in  the  hall  window 
where  he  ,  can  watch  the  traffic. 
It’ll  take  his  mind  Off  his  sore. rear 
end. 

.  Back  to  the  typewriter  and  the 
third  sentence.  (Gee,  I  wonder  if 
the  barracuda  are  really  running 
heavy?)  Come,  come— get  on  with 
your  work;  Fine.  I’m  really  roll¬ 
ing  now — YOW!  Lobo  is  barking 
hjs  head  Off.  I  should  have  had 
him  operated  On  his  other  end. 
Okay— okay.  QUIET,  Lobo.  Qh, 
it’s  the  mailman.  Bills,  bills,  bills 
and-^hmmm,  a  dividend  check  erir 
velope?  Wonder  how  much.  Oh, 
forget  it.  Concentrate  on  your 
work,  man. 

Well,  here  we  go  again.  How  the 


Trippingly  On  The  Tongue 


-  Continued  from  page  16  ; 


voices  to  the  point.  Of  pain  for  themselves  or  the 
audience.  In  imposing  a  French  accent  on  Agnes 
Moorehead  in  “Mrs,  Parkingtqn”  and  an  Italian 
accent  on  J.  Carrol  Naish  in  “Sahara,”  much,  of 
my  effort  was  devoted  not  only  toward  making  them 
sound  French  and  Italian  but  also  toward  making 
them  understandable  as  such. 

A  further  source  of  confusion  is  the  multilingual 
picture.  In  American  foreign  productions  where 
stars  speak  to  each  other  in  different .  languages 
during  the  shooting  of  the  picture  the  viewer,  often, 
wonders  who  is  talking.  Also,  the.  failure  to  match 
the  quality  of  the  voice  against  the  part  played 
sometimes  ends  fin  -sheer .  travesty.  This  is  the  result 
of  haphazard  and  slipshod  methods  Of  dubbing -Eng¬ 
lish  into  foreign  films.  The  worst  damage  is  done 
to  the  actors:  For  players  catch  sparks  from  each 
other’s  emotional  fire,  but  if  each  knows  that  the. 
other  does  not  Understand  what  he  is  saying  to 
himr.  the  inevitable  consequence  is  a  dullness  Of 
..  expression  bordering  simple-mindedness. 

1  Finally,  English  as.  a  medium  of  dramatic  com- 


Then  \ve  had  that  case  brought  municatiqri:  I  know  of  ho  language  Outside  of  Eng¬ 


lish— and  I  have  studied’  more  than  20  Of  them— 
where  imagery  is  the.  principal  element  conveying 
meaning-— imagery  and  not  sOund.  In  other  lan¬ 
guages,  such  as.  Italian  or  French,  sound  goes  a 
long  way  toward  building  the  height  of  a  scene- 
just  mere  sound.  The  word  maledizione,  spoken, 
in  “Rigoletto,”  has  a  terror  not  approached  by  our 
malediction.  The  richness  of  the  English  vocabulary 
— nearly  a  million  wOrds— is :  both  its  glory  and  its 
peril.  So  many  words  sound  like  other  words  unless 
enunciation  is  clear. 

Again,  the  language  has  undergone  a  vast  simpli¬ 
fication  of  structure  in  its  absorption  of  complex 
forms  from  other  languages.  These  broken-up  words 
have  made  f cjr  a  subtle  and  varied  rhythm  unequaled 
by  .  most  modern  tongues. .  One  wrong  stress,  and 
we  have  an  unexpected  meaning.  One  wrong  in¬ 
flection,  and  we  have  no  meaning  at  ail.  An  im¬ 
portant  word  thrown  away,  and  the  image  is  blurred 
as  it  would  be  in  a  picture  whose  painter  had  no 
sense  of  color..  The  actor  can;  create  out  of  English 

a.  mosaic  of  infinite  depth  and  shade  or  a  bewilder-  _  _ _ 

ing  confusion  of  sound  and  fury  signifying  nothing. 1 — here  I  come! 


Hin,  it’s  10:30.  Gotta  keep  mov¬ 
ing  here.  A  few  more  sentences : 
finished  and— Gosh,  what  a  clat¬ 
ter  under  my  window!  It’s  Jimmy, 
the  community  gardener,  steering 
a  very  loud*  powered ;  la  wnmo  wer. 
This  WOULD  be  the  day  he  works, 
around  here.  Nuts  to  it;  I’ll  con- 
tinue^-(those  barracuda  do  give  a. 
guy  a;  good  battle;  The  Other  day 
I  caught  nine  on  a  10-pound  test 
monofilament  li  .  Real  sport.)  Oh, 
forget  it. 

And  so  I  finish  a  Couple  Of  para¬ 
graphs.  Not  bad-  I  promised  Swan¬ 
son,  the  lit'ry  agent,  I’d  have  40 
pages  the  first  of  October.  Forty 
pages  as  a  starter!  But  then — I 
have  a  small  loophole;  He  said  Oc¬ 
tober,  But  he  didn’t  say  what 
year. 

Back  to  it  and  the  .third-,  para¬ 
graph  is  finished.  Drat  it!  How 
long  does  it  take  Jimmy  to  firiieh 
that  front  lawn!  It’s  getting  hot. 
Maybe  I’ll  bring  him  a  soda  pop 
and  ask  him  to  work  in  the  garden 
instead  ..  of  under  my  window. 
While  I’m  at  it  I’ll  put  Lobo  in  my 
den  with .  me  Where  he’ll  have 
nothing,  to  bark  at — I  hope.  There, . 
that’s  taken  care  of.  So,  back  to 
my  typewriter.  My  fingers  just 
fly  over  the  keys.  I’m  a  touch 
typewriter — but  I  frequently  miss 
my  touch.  Soi.  That  phone  again! 
i’ll  just  take  it  off  the  hook,  break 
the  connection .  and  put  the  re¬ 
ceiver.  oh  the  desk.  What’s  that? 
Tim,  funny  noise  ah  unhooked  re¬ 
ceiver  makes.  There,  I’ve.  put.  a 

pillow  over  it. 

JuSt .  about  finishirig  my  first 
page  and— GOOD  GRAVY!  That 
kid  across  the  street.  A  trombone 
he  has  to  practice  on!  Ei-yei!  How 
flat  can  he  get?  Well,  ,  it  could  be 
worse.  Last  Week  he  had.  his  whole 
school  band  practicing  over  there. 
So  I  struggle  through  another  line 
that  just  about  finishes  , my  first 
page. 

Now  I  read  .  what  I’ve,  written. 
Hmmm,  pretty  lousy.  Rip  out  the 
old  sheet.  Into  the  typewriter 
goes  a  new  sheet:  I  have  a  much 
better  Opening  idea.  I  start  typing. 
Fine..  This  is  a  lot.  better.  Going  , 
nicely  and— WOW!,  Again  Outside 
my  window!  It’s  a  mechanical 
behemoth!  In  fact,  it’s  the  brand 
new  rubbish  truck  put  into.  Opera¬ 
tion  by  the  BevHills  city  fathers.  A 
factory  on  wheels.  It  gathers  and 
grinds  the  stuff  right  under  your 
very:  window.  What  a  racket!  Fas¬ 
cinating,  though.  Loqk  at  that. 
Very  interesting.  At  least  it 
drowns  Out.  that  flat  trombone. 

And  now?  Goodness,  What’s  hap¬ 
pened?  All  is  very  quiet.  The  rub¬ 
bish  plant  has  departed.  And  the 
kid  has  stopped  practicing.  I  turn: 
back  to  the  Underwood.  I’m  stuck 
for  a  snappy  word.  Have  it/  Start 
typing.  Now  I’m  satisfied  with  my 
copy.  Or  am  I?  Yeah,  not  bad.  I 
continue.;  Well  how  DO  you  do? 
Those  biuejays!  What  a  chatter 
they  put  up.  Wel-r  better  give 
them  their  daily  bread  crumbs  or 
they’ll  be  breaking  my  window. 
There,  that’s  done. 

I  am  just  in  the.  middle  of  an¬ 
other  sentence  when  Jimmy  is 
back.  Snipping  the  hedge,  how; 
Ouch!,  The  kid.  with  the  trombone 
had  Only  taken  a  breather.  He’s 
at  it  again;  No  wonder  Lobo. 
starts  howling  right  under  my  nose. 
What  a  commotion.  Arid  now?  Oh; 
no— riot  THAT!  .  Yes  it  is.  That' 
rubbish  truck  is  clanging  right  o  ut- 
side  again.  It’s  covering  the  other 
side  of  the  street.  Oh,  the  heck 
with  it.  I’ll  continue  my  book  on 
a  normally /noisy  day.  I.  can  just 
make  that  Malibu  boat,  Barracuda 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second  I^S&IETt  Anniversary 


PICTURES  35 


By  JO  RANSON 


4- 


The  Forgotten  Mon— Who 

Cores  About  A  Producer? 

By  LOUIS  SOBOL 

<N;Y.  Journal- American  Syndicated  Columnist > 


When  I  was  a  shaver  in  Buster- 
Brown  haircut  and  sailor  suit,  my 
pop’s  notion  of  a  mink-lined  career 
for  his  offering  was  to  operate  ;a\ 
riabe  movie  house  or  a  bathhouse 
by  the:  sea;  Neither  the  local  cinema 
nor  the  bathhouse  is  worth  a  damn 
today,  and  if  I  had  followed  my 
old  man’s  advice,  I’d  be  in  the 
same  deep  hole  as  the  buggy  whip 
and  corset  stay  makers. 

“Rachmilka,”  my  pater  would 
address  me  in  Yinglish,  a  happy 
biend  of  Yiddish  and  English,,  “the. 
moom  pitchers  down  the  block  is 
a  goot  gesCheft  but  the  baden 
house  ,  aroom  Cunney  Isle  is  a 
besserleben!” 

Yes,  indeed,,  if  I  had  heeded  his 
vocational  guidance  and  gone  into, 
the  bathhouse  dodge,  I’d  .  been  sit¬ 
ting  around  today  with  a  bunch  of 
tarnished  brasschecks :  and  locker- 
keys,  five  gallon  jars  of  athlete’s, 
foot  powder,  200  ill-fitting  swimT 
suits  and  trunks,  and  not  a  single 
customer  knocking  on  my  door.. 

In  the  dim  past,  bathhouse  oper¬ 
ators  were;  dubbed,  barons,  because 
their  business  was  that  dandy.  The 
weating,  panting  proletariat,  fully 
clothed  and  carrying  their  bathing 
equipment  under,  their  arms  or  in: 
faded  cardboard  satchels,  were  in 
the  habit  of  arriving  at  Goriey 
Island  by  way  of  the  Smith  Street 
trolley  or.  Culver  Line.  Once,  on 
Surf  Avenue,  they  made,  a  beeiirie 
for  their  favorite  bathhouses,  usu-: 
ally  situated  in.  one  Of  the  many 
dingy  warrens  leading  to  the  ocean 
front;  but  no  matter  how  barren, 
the  quarters,  they  were  sufficiently 
private  for  disrobing  purposes.  Cer¬ 
tainly  no  one  incurred  the.  wrath  : 
of  the  law  under  these  circum¬ 
stances. 

But  with  the  arrival  of  the  four- 
door  sedan  and  the  virtual  disap¬ 
pearance  of  the  trolley  car,  the  dis¬ 
robing  act  changed  completely.  The 
Bathhouse  baron  soon  discovered, 
that  his  one-time  steady  patrons 
paid  no  heed  to  local  laws  regard¬ 
ing  undressing  on  the  beach,  under 
the  boardwalk  or,  worst  of  all,  in 
parked  cars.  The  bathhouses,  like 
the  oldfashioned  twilled  bathing 
suits,  were  on  the  way  to  extinc¬ 
tion.  The  handwriting  on.  the  wall 
was  not  pretty.  In  essence  it  told 
the  bathhouse  proprietor  to  go  stick 
his  big  fat  head  into  the  ocean  and 
gave  a  large  hurrah  for  the  back 
seat  of  .the  sedan — a  disrobing 
room  at  no  extra  cost. 

1  Sept.  Morn-on-the-Sands  1 
The  nation’s  foremost  peelers 
could  take  vivid  lessons  from 
Brooklyn’s  housefraus  in  the  skill¬ 
ful  art  of  undressing.  Gypsy  Rose 
Lee  and  Georgia  Sothern  are  defi¬ 
nitely  bumbling,  blushing  flowers 
when  stacked  up  against  a  Kings 
County  damsel  wriggling  out  of  her 
Sunday,  clothes  and  squirming  into 
a  Klein’s  bargain  swimsuit. 

Like  jaywalking  ordinances  on 
city  streets,  the  local  gendarmes 
are  inclined  to  overlook  parked 
car  or  under  boardwalk  disrobing. 
The  coppers,  spurred  on  by  their 
moralistic  superiors,  apparently 
concentrate  on  restoring  lost  chil¬ 
dren  to  distracted,  parents,  or 
Wacking  the  buttocks  of  teenage 
acrobats  engaged  in  acrobatic  feats 
at  the  foot  of  Stillwell  Avenue  or 
hot-footing  dames  near  Bowery 
..feeler  rides.  But  the  .  curb  on 
clothes-^changing  Is  definitely  on 
the  wane,  if  not  altogether  extinct: 

This,  alas,  is  not  only  evident  at 
the  great  popcorn  peninsula  in 
Brooklyn,  but  true  at  such  a  spa 
as  Atlantic:  City  where  some:  20 
public  bathhouses  were  open  for 
business  years  ago;  Today,  as  a 
result  of  laxity  in  cracking  down 
on  disrobers/  14  public,  bathhouses 
have  given  up  the  struggle  to  stay 
in  business.  The  owners  of  the  few 
remaining  bathhouses  are  playing 
pinoChle  or  writing  indignant  let¬ 
ters  to  the  police  and  muttering 
imprecations  upon  the  departed 
spirits  of  such  horseless  carriage 
geniuses  as  Duryea,  Ford,  Olds 
and  Durant,  who  in  a  measure,  are 
responsible  for  their  downfall. 

Bathhouse  proprietors,  it  is  plain 
to  see,  do  not  look  upon  the  auto¬ 


mobile  as  an  object  of  enlighten¬ 
ment  and  pleasure.  They  agree  with 
the  bluenoses  that  the  motor  car  of 
today  is.  a  coarse  instrument  of  the 
devil. 

J  ,  Gymnastic  Strip  [ 

How,r  in  the  name  of  Jehovah 
and  Jantzen,  does  a.  family  of  five; 
manage  to  undress  in  a  IoW-slung,. 
two-door  hardtop  convertible  with¬ 
out  twisting  a  vertebra  or  dislocat¬ 
ing  a  vital- joint,  bathhouse  owners 
growl  among  themselves. 

“These  pediculous  peasants  who 
undress,  in  automobiles  must  be 
direct  descendants  of  the  old  vaude 
contortionist  acts,”  a  spying  bath¬ 
house  proprietor  once  snarled  at 
me.  “I  swear  these  peftnypinchers 
learned  their  stuff  from  Ben  Doya 
and  Ferry  the  Frog  Man,  If  you 
want  to  see  prize  front  and  back 
benders,  please,  come  to  the  side 
street  parking  lots,  at  any  public 
seashore  spot  and  you’ll  see  ’em 
slipping  but  of  their  sleazy  rayon 
panties  and  into  swimsuits.  When 
they  tumble  put  of  their  cars,  they 
are  like  the  Ringling  circus  criiri-. 
edy  act  in  which  15  clowns  extri¬ 
cate  themselves  from  a  midget  car 
—-only  this  time,  I  ain’t  laughing!” 

When  it  comes  to.  actual  bathing 
in  the .  waters  of  Coney  Island,  ;it’s 
five-rto-one  in  favor  of  the  men. 
Men  don’t  hesitate  to  take  a  flying 
leap  into  the  polluted  waters  of 
the  nearby  Atlantic,  but  Miss 
Brooklyn  damsels  lead  you;  to  be¬ 
lieve  they  have  excessive  fears  of 
immersion  in  the  briny  deep  oh 
the  assumption  they  will  instantly 
dissolve  like  a  lump  of  sugar  in 
eeffee,  once  they  place  their  ,  toot¬ 
sies  in  water. 

The  dry  fashion  show  goes  on 
throughout  the  day,  with  several, 
pauses  to:  plop  fresh,  slices  of  Juicy 
Fruit  chewing  gum  between  heavi¬ 
ly-applied  “Kissproof’  lips  of  the 
paradefs.  Sometimes  they  pause  to 
run  their  combs  through  their  new 
henha  or  platinum-colored  hair, 
mahicure  their  fingernails,  pedicure  ; 
their  toenails,  or  take  stately  walks, 
along  the  crowded  water’s  edge, 
from  St’Tlwell  Avenue  to  Steeple¬ 
chase  Pier.  They  .walk  with 
heads  thrown  back,  chests  way  out 
and  rounded  hemispheres  swaying 
gently  like  the  rear-end  signs 
(“MPady’s  Blintzes  Are  Best  For 
You”)  on  the  small  planes  roaring 
overhead. 

Brooklyn  lassies,  as  they  prance 
the  beach  front;,  will  accept,  wolf 
calls  and  other  primitively>couched 
compliments  from  hot-blooded 
.swains,  but  should  an  impertinent 
mugg  dare  to  flick  one  drop  of  sea 
water  at  a  young  lady,  the  agent 
provocateur  will  be  showered  with 
a  verbal  stream  of  unsoDhisticated 
abuse,  the  likes  of  which  you’d 
usually  hear  in  a  Pitkin  Avenue 
poolroom  or  at  a  faro  game.iri  the 
Yukon.  -* 

“Whazimattawidva?”  the  dame 
w  i  1 1  scream  in  ;  Brooklynese. 
“Yawannasmakinapuss?” 

;  “Shadduo,”  the  former .  Dodger 
rooter  will  snarl  as  he  makes 
another  'attempt  to  splash'!  her. 
“Diwardefisheelwed,  HozaboudCd- 
minin?” 

A  sharp  whistle  from  the  life¬ 
guard  is  enough  to  put  a  sudden 
stop:  to  this  highly-charged;  linguis¬ 
tic  duel.  ' 

'  Meanwhile  back  at.  the  parking 
let,  the  dripping  drippers,  have 
squeezed,  into,  the  back  seats  of 
their  cars  and  are  dropping:  their 
drawers.  At  the  same  time,  they 
arc  thumbihg  their  wet  .  running 
noses  at  the  bankrupt  bathhouse 
barons  and  hoping  that  next  year’s 
motor  car  models  will  feature 
Venetian  blinds,  built-in  showers, 
automatic  clothes- wringers,  and 
containers  of  athlete’s  footpowder. 

Among  present  day  disrobers.  it 
is  a  cachet  of  distinction  for  more 
than  five  members.  of  the  various 
sexes  to  be  in.  an  upright  position 
simultaneously  while  switching  in., 
and  out  of  sw;m  tpgs  in  a  parked 
car. at  Coney  Island. 

Obviously,  the  guy  who  owns  a 
fading  bathhouse  doesn’t  subscribe 
to  this  indecent  notion. 


Ernest  Turnbull 


By  ERNEST  TURNBULL 

(Managing  Director,  Hoyts  Thea- 
tres  Ltd:,  Chairman  20 th  Cehiuryr. 

'  Fox  Aust.  Pty  Ltd.) 

Sydney. 

If  the  cinematic  Cassandras  with 
their  proprecies  of  gloom  are  right, 
we  are:  nearing  the  end  of  the  Mo¬ 
tion-picture  Era,  and  embarking,  on 
some  new 
phase  of  show- 
business  as  yet 
u  -ri  s  h  a  p  e  d , 
nameless — and 
conceived 
the  fears  of. 
entrepreneurs, 
who  have  lost 
faith  ‘the 
screen,  and 
touch  with  the 
public. 

Every  over¬ 
seas  visitor  to 
Australia  preaches,  that  1958  .will 
be.  the  “Year  of  Change,”  without 
being,  able  to  •  say  what  the  next 
phase  will  ^ be. 

.  Such  a  visitor,  finds  Sydney 
bustling  metropolis  as  big  Ameri¬ 
can,  cities  are;  the  people  much  like 
the;  folk  back  home;  theatres .  right1 
ud  to  world;  Standard;  and  the  way. 
of  .  life  richer  for  the  mass  than,  in 
any  country  outside,  the.  American 
union  .itself. 

Australia  ..  wilt  go  along  with 
changes  provided  they  bring  some¬ 
thing  ^better;  but  it  will  d'g  its 
heels-  in  hard  against  any  change 
which  simply  reflects  panic  or  be¬ 
wilderment. 

As  exhibitors,  we  know  that 
every  change  is  a  challenge  to  us  to 
meet  new  developments  of  public 
demand  or  make  room  for  someone 
Who  will.  We,  cari’t  stick  “KEEP 
OUT!”  notices,  around: the  motion 
picture  business  and.  expect  men 
with  new  ideas  to  stay  outside.  So* 
rather  than  the  Year  of  Change,  I 
would  prefer  to  call  1958  the  “Year 
,  ot  New  Ideas”— new  ideas  to.  be 
j  welcomed  and  woven  into  the  ..fab¬ 
ric  of  screen  entertainment  .  .  . 

Nearly :  30  years,  ago,  in  transition 
fiorii  silence  to  sound,  motion  pic¬ 
tures  began  absorbing  the  tech¬ 
niques  and  skills  of  stage  produc¬ 
ers  and  players.  This  process  is 
being  repeated  with  television 
talent  today,  bringing  a  different 
style,  and.  change  of  pace. 

Let’s  examine  television  progress 
in  its  first  year  ih  Australia  for  the 
theatre  exhibitor’s  viewpoint.  Video; 
began  here  in  December,  !1956, 
through  six  Channels  in  Sydney  and 
Melbourne— one  Government  and 
two  commercial  channels  in  each 
c.ty.  Tod'1’'’  more  than  150.000  Sets 
are  installed  in  15%  of  homes  with¬ 
in  viewing,  range!  Saturation  is  ex¬ 
pected  in  six  years  with  750.000 
sets  and  a  daily  average  of  3,000,- 
000  viewers. 

The  two  Government-controlled 
stations  .are  sustained  by  the  $1,- 
650,000  paid  by  set-owners  as  an 
annual  license-fee  of  5511.  Adver¬ 
tising  Revenue  of  the  four  commer¬ 
cials  estimated  at  $5,000,000 
in  the  first  year— they  were  just 
about  breaking  even  by  the  end  of 


+  It  is  my  painful  duty  to  report 
that  there  is  no  great  surge  of  un¬ 
rest  or  craning  of.  necks  or  buzz  of 
animated  whispers  when  certain 
fine,  upright,  ambitious  citizens  en¬ 
ter,  individually  or  en  masse,  a 
plush  saloon,  restaurant,  theatre  or 
penny  arcade. 

I  am  referring  to  The  Producer. 

The  saddest  spectacle  is  to  be 
present  when  eminent  biggies  of 
the  theatre  like  let’s,  say  Kermit 
Bloomgarden  or  Cy  Feuer  and 
Ernest  Martin  have  to  wait  around 
just  like  ordinary  folks  for  a  table 
in  a  popular  restaurant  or  night 
spot.  Why  I  can  remember  one 
night  when  I  stood  in  line  waiting 
my  turn  to  be  seated  at  a  picture 
at  Radio  City  Music  Hall,  when 
right  in  back  of  me  was  Herman 
Levin — and  not  too  many  blocks 
away,  playing  to  capacity  every 
n>ght,  was  his  show,  “My  Fair 
Lady,”  just  pouring  thousands  of 
dollars  into  his  pockets  and  bank 
accounts,  and  the  like;  Maybe  that’s 
why  a  few  weeks  later,  he  sold  out 
most  of  his  major  interest. 

Now  I  cain  remember  back— 
Memory  Lane  Lou  they  call  me — 
when  the  mere  sight  of  the  great 
Ziegfeld  at  an  adjoining  table  was 
the  signal  for  swrooning  and  heart 
flutters  among  beautiful  young 
women,  and  many  a  hopeful  play¬ 
wright  cringed  and  stammered  iri- 
ccherencies  when  he  discovered 
that  across  the.  room  sat:  David 
Belasco.  In  his .  heyday,  when 
George.  White  entered  the  Chateau 
Madrid  or  the  Club  Richman  or 
r the  Casanova,  headwaiters  fawned, 


programs  are  now  being  utilized  by 
all  the  tv  stations.  Home  set  prices 
are  high,  but  hire-purchase  puts 
them  into  cottages  as  little  as  $3 
a  week.  And  this  is  where  an  in¬ 
creasing  share  of  the  average  fam¬ 
ily’s  “movie-money”  is  going  .  .  . 

Australia  must  follow  down  the 
dark  corridor  America  and  Britain 
earlier  passed!  through,  relying 
upon  the  producers  of  big  pictures 
to  light  beacons  along  the  way.  For 
nothing  ih  the  Whole  world  of  en¬ 
tertainment  can  take  one  boxof- 
f ice  dollar  from  the  earning  capac¬ 
ity  of  a  picture;  the  public  really 
wants. 

.  To  name  a  few  of  the  past  season 
just  as  they  come  to  mind/  “An  Af¬ 
fair  To  ■;  Remember;”  “island  In 
The  Sun;”  “Oklahoma!,”  “Anasta¬ 
sia,”  ‘Trapeze*”  “Bundle  of  Joy,” 

“Heaven  Knows,  Mr.  Allison”  arid 
“The  Sun.  Also  Rises”  all  have 
grossed;  great  mone.y  face  of 
Australian  (a)  .television  and  ib) 
economic  recession. 

A  factor  which  may  fortify  ex¬ 
hibitors  in  Australia  against  too 
steep  a  drop  is  that  through  migra¬ 
tion  and  natural  increase,  the  pop¬ 
ulation  expands  by  250, 00Q  Per  year 
--which  means  considerably  more 
to  a-  country  of  10,000,000  with 
.1,500  effective  .  theatres,  than-  the 
face-value  of  these  figures  might 
convey.  Six  years  hence,  when 
television  reaches:  its  competitive 
peak,  the  population  will  have  ris¬ 
en  by  1,500.000;  bringing  an  in-; 

ptblic  earning  and  spending  ,  band  immediately  struck  up  a  med- 
power.  f  ley  of  hit  tunes  from  his  latest 

Each  year  more  than  50,000.000  i  “Scandals.” 

People  natronize  motiori  pictures  at  in  fact,  I  recall  one  evening  in 
Hoyts  Theatres.  Meaning,  in  effect  ;  the  old  Five  O’clock  Club,  when 
that  tile  entire  population  of  Aus-  ’  Ziegfeld,  White  and  the  dreamy- 
tralia  passes  through  the  doOrs  of  j  eyed  Earl  Carrcll  were  at  separate 
Hoyts’ 180  houses  five  times  a  year,  tables  with  large  parties  and  you 

FOr  more  than  quarter  of  a  cen- j  have  never  experienced  such  an  air 


1957.  Top  !  American  and  British '  the  industry. 


turv.  beginning  in  the  denres"0d 
1930’s,  continuing  through  the 
crises  of.  war  and  the  prosperity  of 
booiri  years,  Hoyts  have  en¬ 
joyed ,  close  association  with  Na¬ 
tional  Theatres  of  America,^ 

New  ideas  can  be  translated  in 
terms  of  vitality  of  direction;  story- 
selection  and  scripting  which  ac¬ 
knowledge  how  instinct  motibn 
pictures  must  be  with  the  verve 
and.  agility  of  youth;  and,  most 
importantly,  developing  new 
stars. 

The  screen’s  continuing  phenom¬ 
enon  is:  that  so  much  of  its  enter¬ 
tainment  is  borne  by  stars  twice 
the  age  of  the  audience— a  generaT 
tion  apart. 

Exhibitors  acknowledge  their 
debt  to  the  great  old-timers.  But 
in  the  1958  ,  Year  Of  New  Ideas 
we  must  open  the  door  wide  to  the 
irresistible  Inrush  of  talent  repre 
sented  in.  such  newcomers  as 
Joanne  Woodward,  Anthony  Fran- 
ciosa,  Robert  Evans;  Anthony  Per- 
kiris,  Juliette  Greco,  Dolores  Mi¬ 
chaels,  Pat  Boone,  Patricia  Owens. 
Tony  Randall,  Andy  Griffith  and 
others  who  are  being  advanced 
steadily  to  stardom  with  caution 
and  sure  showmanship. 

The  industry’s  future  rests  with 


Arthur  L.  Mayer,  ,  who.  has  turned  producer .  after  50  years  in 
the.  industry  (distribution  arid  exhibition),  related  this  week  he. 
has  talked  to  various  coinpanies  and  all  said  they  would  provide 
a  producer  with  ,  financing  for  a  property  if  two  conditions  are 
met:  <  1 ) ;  the . producer  has  a  good  story  arid  (2),  the  project  is. 
either  of  “blockbuster’.’  proportions  or  is  very  Inexpensive. 

The  Companies  regard  as  the  “dangerous  group”  those  features 
which  cost  around  $350,000  or  slightly  higher. 

Mayer,  in  collaboration  with  Burt  Balaban*  nOw  is  winding  up  his 
initial  production,  “High  Hell,”  Elaine  Stewart-John  Derek  co-r 
stafrer, .  lerised  in  the  Swiss  Alps:  Paramount  is  the  distributor. 
The  budget:  $350,000. 

Mayer,  made,  the  point  that  a  producer  canriot  make  pictures 
that  will  do  the  industry  any  good  at  $200,000,  yet  this  is  the 
amount  the  top  Companies  are  willing  to  gamble  with  unless  a 
major-scope  production  is  involved. 

Mayer’s  complaint  is  that  the  “middle  way”  is  being  eschewed! 
yet  this  is  the  approach  that  had,  been  taken  by  such  pioneers  as 
Marcus  Loew,  Adolph  Zukor  and  William  Fox.  And  it’s  the 
mearis  Curing  the  product  shortage  situation,  he  added. 


of  excitement  while  the  orchestra 
beys  played  the  songs  froin  their 
productions,  past  and  present— and 
men  and  women  flocked  over  for 
autographs  or  just  to  shake  hands 
with  the  great  men. 

The  late  George  M.  Cohan  rarely 
visited  night  clubs— but  when  he 
riid— or  when,  as  was  mere  often 
the  case,  he  dined  at  the  Plaza— 
there  was  plenty  of  attention,  you 
may  bet.  But  you  take  an  enterpris¬ 
ing  producer  like,  jet’s  say,  Mike 
Myerberg  or  Guthrie  McClintic  or 
young  David  Merrick— when  they 
drop  into  a  night  spot  for  a  riiid- 
night  snack  or  a  cheering  libation, 
does  the  band  break  up  its  routine 
and  plunge  into  significant  tunes? 
Do  the  headwaiters  bow  and 
scrape?  Do  beautiful  women  leave 
their  jealous  escorts  and  come  run¬ 
ning  over?  Is  the  atmosphere  alive 
with  excited  whisperings?  Are  you 
kidding,  bud? 

The  magic  is  gone— even  from 
the  name  of  Gilbert  Miller,  one  of 
pur  truly  great  producers.  As  for 
the  Playwrights  Co.  and  the  The¬ 
atre  Guild-; — if  they  marched  into 
El  Morocco,  say,  in  a  body,  would 
there  be  a  rush  to  have  them  seat- 
ed— unless  they  had  called  for  a 
reservation? 

Only  the  oldtimers  will  recall 
how  different  it  was  when  the  the¬ 
atrical  titans  of  another,  era  in¬ 
vaded  the  estaminets-^-Charles  Dil¬ 
lingham,  the  Selwyn  brothers 
Morris  Gest,  A1  Woods— how  they 
used  to  be  bowed  to  and  catered  to 
and  fussed  over! 

hear  someone  mention 
Mike  Todd?  Well,  Mike  is  no  long¬ 
er  of  the  theatre — he’s  gone  on  to 
the  so-called  glory  field  of  the  cin¬ 
ema— but  I  will  concede  Mike  stirs 
up  .  a  bit  of  a  Crumble  in  his  nite 
spot  appearances  —  although  it 
Seems  to  me  the  folks  usually  look 
past  him  to  a  hunk  of  excitement 
at  his  side,  named  Liz  Taylor.  Say, 
even  a  producer  of  a  flop  show 
would  draw  attention  if  he  came  in 
with  Ava  Gardner  or  Gina  Lollo- 
brigida.  Even  non-producing  Sobol 
would... 

Excuse  me,  please.  I’m  sitting  in 
Toots  Shor’s  scribbing  this  one,  but 
I’ve  grit  to  drop  it  right  now.  Do 
you  know  who  just  came  in— Elvi 
Presley. .  Make  room  there,  sister! 


Fifty-second  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


/ 


IT  S  TREMENDOUS ! 

BRAINTREE  COUNTY9 

The  Big  MGM  “Camera  65,r  production  in  the 
great  tradition  of  Civil  War  romance;  Two  years 
to  make,  thousands  in  the  cast,  119  speaking  roles; 
Drama  of  love  and  conflict,  spectacle  and  heart- 
appeal.  Hailed  as  one  of  the  BIG  ONES  of  bur 
time.  (. Montgomery  Clift,  Elizabeth  Taylor,  Eva 
Marie  Saint.  In  Color.) 


"DON’T  GO  NEAR 
THE  WATER’’ 

Hilarious  comedy  from  the  best  seller;  A  pair  of 
black-silk  lace  panties  almost  sinks  the  Navy  as 
the  South  Pacific  public  relations  boys  loy;e,  laugh, 
live  it  up.  ( Glenn  Ford ,  Gia  Scala,  Earl  Holliman, 
Anne  Francis,  Keenan  Wynn,  Fred  Clark ,  Eva 
Gabor ,  Russ  Tamblyn,  Jeff  Richards .  Avon  Prod . 
CinemaScope  •  Metrocolor.) 


LANZA’S  GREAT  NEW  MUSICAL! 


"SEVEN  HILLS 
OF  ROME’’ 

Lanza  sings  better  than  ever  ,  to  a  gorgeous  new 
girl.  As  a  hot-tempered  American  TV  star  he 
seeks  a  new  career  in  the  night  clubs  of  Rome. 
Scenic  beauty,  magnificent  singing,  lusty  humor 
and  romance.  (Mario  Lanza;  Renato  Rascel,  Marisa 
Allasio,  Peggie  Castle.  A  te  Cloud  Prod.  In  Color. 


7"'!  ¥>1 

THE 

CROOK  WHO 
BECAME  A 
COMMANDO! 


"THE  SAFECRACKER” 

They  took  him  out  of  prison  for  a  war  mission  of 
death-defying  peril.  He  knew  how  to  crack  safes 
and  feminine  hearts  with  equal  skill.  Goosepimple 
suspense  plus  temperature-rising  romance  make 
this  a  “don’t  miss”  picture.  (Ray  Milland ,  Barry 
Jones .  David  E.  Rose  Prod.) 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second  t^^RIETY  Anniversary 


ON  THE  HONOR  ROU  OF  WESTERN  DRAMASI 

"SADDLE  THE  WIND” 

Fitting  in  with  the  trend  to  big-scale  Westerns  is 
this  drama  of  two  brothers  in  a  territory  that  was 
not  ready  for  love  or  the  law.  Filmed  in  magnifi¬ 
cent  color  in  Colorado  Rockies.  (Robert  Taylor, 
Julie  London,  John  Cassavetes,  Donald  Crisp, 
Charles  McGraw .  CinemaScope  •  Metrocohr.) 


THE  BEST  KAYE  OF  ALU 

"MERRY  ANDREW" 

Danny’s  most  perfect  role!  Shy  schoolmaster  joins 
circus,  falls  in  love  with  an  aerialistand  becomes  a 
clown  sensation.  Uproarious,  spectacular  musical 
comedy.  ( Danny  Kaye ,  Pier  Angeli,  Baccalpni,  Noel 
Purcell,  Robert  Coote,  Patricia  Cutts .  Sol  C,  Siegel 
Prod .  •  CinemaScope  .  Metrocolor.) 


THE  CHAMP  OF  MUSICALS! 

"GIGI” 

Famed  Colette  play  of  innocence  and  worldliness 
in  Paris  with  Lemer  and  Loewe’s  first  score  since 
“My  Fair  Lady”  Wonderful  songs,  racy  humor, 
eye-filling!  { Leslie  Caron ,  Maurice  Chevalier ,  Louis 
Jourdan,  Hermione  Gingold,  Eva  Gabor,  Jacques 
Bergerac ,  Isabel  Jeans.  Arthur  Freed  Prod.  *  Cinema¬ 
Scope  •  Metrocolor.) 


M-G-M  HAS  WHAT  IT  TAKES  FOR  THAT  INDUSTRY  SLOGAN:  “Get  More  Out  Of  Life . . .  Go  Out  To  A  Movie1' 


38 


January  8, 1958 


PICTURES  Fifty-second,  l/fof&WliyTY  Anniversary 

Press  Heard  William  Fox  Was  Insaoe; 

It  Was  His  Inflamed  Imagination 

By  GLENDQN  ALLVINE 


“When  a  man  reaches  50,”  the  film  magnate  was 
saying,  “three  courses  lie' ahead.  He  may  dream,  of 
his  past  accomplishments,^  he  may  rest  on  his  oars , 
or  he  may  make  ambitious  plans  for  the  future.  The 
latter  of  these  possibilities  appeals  to  Williarri  Fox/* 
said  William  Fox,  Who  occasionally,  like  Napoleon, 
spoke  of  himself  in  the  third  person. 

From  the  boat  landing  of  Foxhall,  liis  estate  at  Wood- 
mere.  in  Nassau  County*  the  president  of  Fox  Films  and 
Fox  Theatres,  of  which  he  personally  owned  51%,  was 
speaking  informally  add  confidently  to  about  30  reporters 
Invited  to  meet  him  for  the  first  time  since  the  motor  car 
accident  in  which  his  chauffeur,  had  died  and.  in  which  he 
had  almost  been  killed. 

On  that  bright  Columbus  Day,  1929,  God  Was  in  His 
heaven,  Herbert  Hoover  was  in  the  White  House,  J.  P. 
Morgan  was  in  Wall  Street  and  only  film  business,  and 
not  the  atom,' was  split. 

During  six  months  in  the  hospital  and  while  recuper¬ 
ating  at  home.  Fox  had  not  been  to  his  office  in  the  Roxy 
Theatre,  but  his  word-wide  enterprises  were  flourishing, 
his  new  sound-on-film  pictures  were .  ahead  of  the  'whole 
Industry,  and  weekly  business  at  the  Roxy  was.  always 
more  than  $100,000. 

'  While  speeding  in  his  Rolls-Royce  to  a  secret  peace 
conference  at  the  Garden  City  Hotel,  arranged  by  Nich¬ 
olas  SchenCk  with  Adolph  Zukor,  housewife  shopping 
in  her  Ford  reached  an  intersection  simultaneously,  and 
Fox  had  blood  transfusions  as  his  life  hung  in  the  bal¬ 
ance.  At  that  time  both  Paramount  and  Fox  owned,  more 
than  1.000  theatres,  and  the  meeting  to  arrange  a  theatre^ 
buying  truce,  thus  violently  intercepted,  was  never  held. 

Two  vears  earlier,,  when  I  had  signed  a  -five-year  con¬ 
tract  with  Fox,  he  had  only  a  dozen  theatres,  and  I  got 
gray  hairs' trying  to  keep  up  with  his  world-wide  expan¬ 
sion.  On  Oct.  11,  1929,  the  Associated  Press  had  tele¬ 
phoned  me  for  confirmation  of  a  rumor  that  Fox-  had 
gone  crazv,  and  I  said  I’d  see  what  I  could  find  out  and 
call  back/when  I  got  through  to  him  at  his  house  he  told 
me  to  call  the  AP  back  and  deriy  the  rumor. 

“Yes,  Mr.  Fox,”  X  yessed,  “but  isn’t  there  a  better  way 
to  handle  this?” 

“How  would  you  do  it?” 

“I  would  see  newspaper  and  trade  papeir  people  and 
let  them  judge  for  themselves?” 

“Do  you  think  they’d  be  willing  to  come  way  out  here? 
What’ll  I  talk  about?” 

HIS  PLANS  FOR  FUTURE: 
STRANGLEHOLD  ON  PATENT 

“Tell  them  about  your  plans  for  the  future,”  I  sug¬ 
gested,  and  here  we  were  with  six  limousines  full  of 
eager  questioners  from  press  associations,  trade  papers, 
financial  papers,  and  what  the  boys  from  the  Hays  office 
Used  to  refer  to  as  the  lay.  press: 

“William  FoX  has  invited  you  to  his.  home  today  to  tell 
you  something  of  his  plans  for  the  next  25  .  years,”  and 
this  former  garment  worker,;  born  in  such  abject  poverty 
that  his  family  could  not  afford  medical  attention  when 
the  boy  broke  his  arm  playing  shinny  on  the  lower  East 
Side,  who,  despite  his  withered  arm.  was  the  only  man 
In  golf  records  who  had  three  times  made  a  hole-in-one, 
spoke  eloquently  and  dramatically. 

He  spoke  of  the  Tri-Ergon  patents  which  he  had  ac¬ 
quired  for  $50,000  in  Switzerland,  the:  same,  patents  which 
the  U.S.  Supreme  Court  later  sustained,  presenting  him. 
In  effect,  with  the  right  to  collect  damages  from  every 
theatre  that  ever  showed  a  sound-on-fiim  picture,  and 
from  every  producer  in  every  studio. 

.  He  spoke  of  a  Movietone  recording  just  made  in  a 
Chicago  hospital,  the  first  surgical  operation  ever  made 
for  audio-visual  teaching.  He  spoke  of  the  16m  pictures 
lie  would  produce  for  the  teaching  of  sciehce  and  math¬ 
ematics.  in  high  schools  and  colleges.  He  said  he  would 
make  his  variable-dehsity  sound-on-film:  system,  available 
to  churches/  parish  houses  and  synagogues,  so  that  the 
most  eloquent  religious  leaders  could  be  heard  in  houses 
of  worship,  large  or  small..  His  Movietone  News  crews 
were  out  ahead  of  everybody  bringing  the  sights  and 
sounds  of  remote  places  to  the  theatres  of  the  world,  arid 
he  was  opening  the  first  newsreel  theatre  at  the  Embassy 
on  Broadway. .  His  grandeur  system  was  being,  developed 
for  wide  screens,  and  he  was  building  new  5,000-seat 
theatres.  As  he  paused  for  breath,  the  A.P.  man  inquired: 
“How  much  ■nU  >  all  this  cost  ”  Mr.  Fox?”  ' 

‘■1  have  no  idea,”  he  answered  forthrightly,  “but  I  aim. 
prepared  to  give  . one  fourth  of  my  personal  fortune  to 
make  it  all  come  true.” 

“How  much  is  this  guy  worth?”  the  man  from  The 
Sun  asked  the  man  from  The  Times,  Who  had  done  his 
home  work  and  answered  “Thirty-six  million  dollars.” 

Current  history  was  duly  recorded  ori  the  first,  page  of 
The  Times  the  next;  Monday: 

FOX  AIMS  TO  REFORM 

EDUCATION  BY  MOVIES 

Producer,  To  Spend  $9  ,000,000 

Over  25  Years  to  Substitute 
VI sual -Oral  Schooling 


Similar  Aid  Fbr  Church 


Plans  Talkies  of  Surgeons 

To  Aid  Medical  Study — 

Film  Libraries  For  Home  Use 

Later  that  October  something  happened  to.  the  Stock 
market  which  I  still  don’t  understand*  and  the  nine  mil¬ 
lions  that  William  Fox  did  not  have  a  chance  to  contrib¬ 
ute  to  audio-visual  education  ^zoomed  ,  into  a  deficit  of 
much  inore  than  that  amount  owing  to  banks  and  invest¬ 
ment  houses  and  the  A.T.&T. 

His  struggles  to  retain  control  of  his  theatrical  empire, 
built  from  $5,000  of  savings  invested  in  a  Brookyn  nickle- 


odeori  have  been  detailed  in  “Upton  Sinclair  Presents 
William  Fox,”  which  makes  fascinating  reading  even 
today,  with  the  author  still  writing  and  the  biographee 
long  in  bis  grave. 

Although  his  ruthless  methods  gained  him  many  pow¬ 
erful  enerriies,  so  that  his  business  associates  turned 
against  him,  my  relations  with  Fox. were  always  pleasant,, 
perhaps  because  we  had  met  under  favorable,  circum¬ 
stances.  In  1926,  While  doing  special  promotion  for  the 
Famous  Players-Lasky  Corporation,  I  had  been  given  a 
special  assignment  by  Jesse  L>  Lasky..: 

HOW  LASKY’S  TRONSIDES’ 

INSPIRED  WILLIAM  FOX 

“There’s  a  million  dollars  wrirth  of  fog  in  this  picture,” 
he  confided  to  me  of  “Old  Ironsides,”  which  had  cost 
$2,209,000  when  director  James  Cruze  had  his  iriillion- 
dollar  budget  mined  by  bad  weather  while  recreating  the 
gallant  story  of  the  U.S.S.  Constitution,  “See  .  if  you  can’t 
figure,  out  some  way  to  sell  this  picture  so  we  can  get  our 
money  back.” 

For  two  weeks  in  October,  1926,  I  ran  this  silent  picture 
every  day  and  tried  to  think  of  some  promotional  way 
out.  Then  I  remembered  that  Bausch  &  Loirib  had  a  wide- 
angle  lens  in;  its  catalog/ which  had' been  brought  to  my 
attention  that  .spring  by  Lawrence  Del  Riccio;  when  he 
was  passed  on  to  me  from  Lasky ’s  office.  We  talked. about 
this,  lens  for  about.  10  minutes;  but  neither  of  us  had  the 
imagination  to  think  of  the  .  motorized/  cinema  which  in 
two  decades  was  to  revolutionize  exhibition. 

Now,  some  six  months  later,  I  thought,  that  a  wide- 
angle  lens  might  get  a  dramatic  effect  as  “bid  Ironsides” 
slid  into  the  eamera  oh  its  launching  in  the  secorid  reel. 
If  he  would  let  me  have  the  film  cutouts,  I  told  Lasky 
that  the  Vessel  might  keep  coming  on  a  screen  as  wide 
as  the  theatre,  .  .  ... 

“How  much,  wall  that  Cost?’  he  wanted  to  know.  I  esti¬ 
mated  that  for  $2,000  we  could  build  a  40-foot  screen 
and  rig  an .  expanding  masking  curtain.  After  all  these 
years  I  cannot  forget  his  laugh  as  he  said: 

“ After  two  million  two,  what’s  two  thousand  dollars? 
Go  ahead  and  see  what  you  can  do.: I'll  Wire  Hollywood 
for'  the  cutouts:” 

At  the  Rivoli  Theatre  on  Broadway,  where  a  curved 
screen,  as  wide  as  the  theatre  now  reflects  Todd-AO.  I 
hung  this.  40-foot  flat  screen  behind  the  masking  piece 
that  revealed  only  the  standard  18-foot  screen.  On  the 
split-second  that  the  projectionist  switched  from  the 
regular  projector  to  one  with  a  wide-angle  lens,:  the  stage 
hands,  carefully  rehearsed,  pulled  back  the  'black  curtains 
to  reveal  a  screen  that  filled  the  proscenium  arch.  One 
midnight  Lasky  brought,  along  Adolph  Zukor,  Walter 
Wanger  and  Sidney  Kent  to  see  what  would  happen. 

It  worked!  “Old  Ironsides”  slid  into  their  laps*  and 
they  were  amazed. 

“Do  it  again,”  said  Mr.  Zukor, .  he  sat  in  the  last  row 
under  the  overhanging  balcony. 

•‘No  good,’’  he  announced.  “You  can’t  see  the  top  of. 
the  screen:  from  the  back  of  the  house.  (In  1955  he  voiced 
the  same  objection .  when  VistaVision  was.  demonstrated 
at  the  Paramount  Theatre).  Not  until  4  a.m.  in  Lindy’s 
next  door  did  Lasky  and  Wanger  talk  him  into  trying 
the  effect  on  an  audience. :We  agreed  to  keep  the  Mag* 
nascope  (who  says  college  Latin!  has  no  value?)  a  secret 
and  on  the  opening  night  the  first  half  of  the  picture, 
Math  Esthdr  Ralston  and  George  Bancroft,  Was  on  the 
placid  side..  Just  before  intermission  I  held  my  breath 
as  I  pushed  the  signal  button  for  the  ..curtains  to  part  on 
the  switchover. .  It  worked.  Some  2,000  people  stood  up 
and  cheered.,  A.  yellowed  clipping  from  the  New  York 
Times  reports:, 

"The  scene  that  ended  the  first 
half  of  the  picture  was  a  start¬ 
ling,  surprise,  for  the  standard 
screen  disappeared  and  the  whole 
stage,  from  proscenium  arch  to 
the  boards,  was  filled  with  a 
moving  picture  of  old  Ironsides. 
This  brought  every  man  and  wom¬ 
an  in  the  audience  to  their  feet. 
Foliowing  the  intermission, 
most  of  the  scenes  of  Old  Iron¬ 
sides  were  .depicted  by  this. ap¬ 
paratus,  a  device  discovered  by 
Glen  All  vine  of  the  Famous  Play¬ 
ers-Lasky  Corporation.  Mr  All- 
vine  said  that  he  called  the  Idea 
or  invention  a  magnascope.  It  is 
a  magnifying  lens  attached  to 
the  ordinary  pro  jecti on  ma¬ 
chine.  This  wide-angle  lens  was 
extremely  effective." 

A  capacity  house  at  the  first  matinee  again  stood  up 
and  cheered.  In  the  lobby  during  iritefrnission  I  heard 
a  dark  thin  man  saying  to:  a  chubby  red-faced  individual 
with  bulging  blue  eyes:  “I  tell  you,  Winnie,  this  is  going 
to  revolutionize  theatrg  business.  Don’t  you  see,  we’ve 
got  to  give  them  big  pictures  or  people  will  stay  at  home 
and  look  at  little  pictures  on  radio  beams.  (On  June  13, 
1925  C.  Francis  Jenkins  had  demonstrated  Vision-by¬ 
radio,  and  no  technical  advance  went  unnoted  by  Wil¬ 
liam  Fox.)  From  now  on,  Winnie,  I’m  going  to  build  all 
my  theatres  with  big  screens  and  5,000  seats.  (He  did, 
in  .  Detroit,  St.  Louis*  Sari  Frariciscb.) 

“Find  out  how  this  thing  works.  The  Times  this  morn¬ 
ing  has  the  name  of  the  man.  in  the  review.  Get  him  in 
to  see  me  right  away  ” 

That’s  how  I  met  the  late  William  Fox  and  the  late 
Winfield  Sheehan,  and  may  their  souls  rest  in  peace. 


I A  Yock  A  Day  | 

f>,Y  i  By  EDDIE  DAVIS  P  . .  1 

Writing  comedy,  is  no  laughing  matter;  It’s  not  a  nine 
to  five  job.  It’s  hard  work  but  the  pay  is  good.  In  my 
many  years  as  a  coriiedy  writer,  I’ve  made  enough  money 
to  afford  a  GOLDEN  ULCER. 

The  comedian  is  applauded  and  lauded  for  his  riioiio- 
.  logs,  one  liners  and  sketches,  but  the  poor  pencil  pusher 
stands  on  the  fringe  of  the  liinelight  glare  unsung — and 
unstrung.  How  many  writers  of  comedy  can  the  average 
layman  identify?  Very  few,  if  any. 

Why  don’t  you  see  more  of  a  comedy  writer?  That’s 
an  easy  one.  When  he’s  not  batting  out  boffs,  he’s  at  his 
doctor’s  office.  The  medico  takes  care  of  his  ills;  gives 
him  pills;  and  then  sends  him  bills.  But,  the  comedy 
writer  knows  that  he  doesnT  need  a  prescription  for 
laughter. 

.  This  Laff-A-Day  Comedy  Calendar  will  give  you  a 
candid  view  of  the  men  behind  the  men  who  entertain 
millions  with  their  wacky  wit; 

*  '  * 

.  Let’s  start  off  with  one  of  tv’s  top  comedy  writers.:  He’s 
Hal  Kanter,  my  protege,  who  made  good  in  a  big  way. 
I  met  Hal  in  1937  when  he  was  only  18.  Although  lie  was 
quite  young,  he  was  loaded  with  talent,  Hal  wanted  to 
break  into  the  comedy,  writing  field,  and  before:  long  he 
became  my  youngest  collaborator. 

Today>  Hal  has  screen  credits  for  Bob  Hope  and  Marti 
and  Lewis/  He '  also  won  a  Peabody  Award,  writing  for 
Ed.  Wynn,  and  he  hit  the  jokepot  while  writing  for  George 
GobeL  It’s  hard  to  say  how, much  Hal  learned  from  Eddie 
Davis,  because  no  one  can  be  taught  comedy  writing. 
Either  you  have  the  ability,  or  you  don’t  Still,  I  like  to 
think  that  I  imparted  some  of  my  experience  to  the  boy. 
Hal  was  an  apt  pupil  arid  devoted  almost  all  his  time  learn¬ 
ing  the  intricacies  of  comedy  writing.  But  when  lie.  did 
get  a  spare  moment,  he’d  spend  it  with  his  pet  poodle. 
Hal  loved  the  .mutt  like  a  brother,  and  from  this,  love 
sprouted  his  ability  to  come  up  With  some  of  the  great¬ 
est  caniiie  corkers  of  them  all.  His  .  scripts  are  always 
replete  with  the  wittiest;  wackiest  dog  stories  you’ve  ever 
heard.  On  any  given  script,  you  might  find  amusing  anec¬ 
dotes  like  this  one.' 

There  once  was  a  frustrated  mutt  who  was  getting 
tired  of  his  sex  life. 

“If  you’re  so  unhappy,  .why  .  don’t  you  see  a/  psychi¬ 
atrist?”  friend  cocker  advised, , 

“I  can’t,”  the  unhappy  ,  one  confided,  “I’m  not  allowed 
on  the  couch!” 

★ 

Nervous  Irving  Brecher,  creator  of  “The  Life  of  Riley* 
is  one  of  the  greatest  and  most  talented  guys  iri  show 
business.  Back  in  the  early  days  of  radio,  Irv,  Alan  Lip- 
scott  and:  I  worked  together  for  Milton  Berle; 

In  1937,  Miltie  took  Brecher  out  to  Hollywood.  Today, 
Brecher  is  one  of  filmdom’s  top  writers. 

Irv  loves  laugh  lines  on  the  smart  satirical  side. 
Something  like  this  would,  fit  right  into  one  of  his  for-, 
lats:  . 

“Darling,”  suggested  the  wife, to  her  wealthy  husband,. 

“let’s  take  a  trip  to  Europe.” 

“Shucks,”  he  drawled,  “why  go  there?  LeFs-.  send  for 
it!”  - 

.  Parke  Levy,  creator,  writer,  producer  of  “December 
Bride,”  is  a  wonderful  guy,  who  is  popular  with  every¬ 
one  in  show  busiriess.  It  was  Parike  who  had  the  brai 
«torm  to  honor  Alan  Lipscott  Parke  is  a  thoughtful  and 
considerable  fellow  and  everyone  who  has  ever  keen 
“December  Bride,”  has  commented  on  the  witty  humor  in 
the  show.  Parke  has  an  explosive  sense  of  humor  arid 
often  comes  up  with  side  splitting  funnies  like  this  one; 
A  frustrated  young  man  went  to  see  his  doctor. 
“Doc,”  he  explained,  “every  night  i  have  the  strang¬ 
est  dreams.  Beautiful  blondes,  brunets  and  redheads 
appear  and  one  by  one  they,  fry  to  Mss  me  and  put 
their  arms  around  me.” 

“So,”  answered  the  doctor. 

“So  nothing.  Doc.  I  keep  pushing  them  away— ever 
one  of  them!” 

“What  would  you  like  me  to  do?” 

MDoc  please,”  pleaded  the  patient,  “break  my 
*  ■* 

Nat  Hiken.  creator  of  the  “Phil  Silvers  Show,”  is  one 
of  the  most  famous  of  comedy  writers.  Nat,  who  has  also 
written  some  of  Martha  Raye’s  best  tv  shows,  is  a  Very 
astute  chap  who  is  very  interested  in  psychiatry;  He 
reads  all  the  latest  books  arid  studies  iri  the  field,  and 
when  it  comes  to  punchy  puns  about  psychiatrists,  you 
can  always  rely  on  Nat  to  come  up  with  the  top  gags  about 
grouches  on  the  couches. 

Something  like  this  would  ibe  right  down  Nat’s,  alley: 
There  was  a  Boston  psychiatrist  who  read  a  girl’s 
mind  like  a  book — then  had  her:  banned. 

*"  *" 

Danny  Shapiro,  who  divides  his  time  between  writing 
clever  ,  one  liners  for  Henny  Youngman  and  lyrics  for 
Broadway  musicals,  has  been  a  part  Of  several  top  vehi¬ 
cles. 

Writing  for  Youngman,  Danny  has  to  think  up  those 
clever  nonsensical  quips  to  fit  Henny ’s  style.  Something 
like  this  would  be  perfect  for  Henny: 

Beyeriy  Hills  is  such  a  classy  neighborhood  that 
even  the  pigeons  fly  upside  down. 

'•** 

Abe  Burrows  has  a  rags-to-riches  story:  Abe  started 
as  a  salesman  selling  men’s  furnishings.  The;  customer?, 
loved  him  arid  literally  laughed  so  much  at  his  humor 
that  they  never  bought  what  he :  Was  selling. 

The  result:  He  was  fired. 

However,  he  managed  to  get  a  job  with  Ed  (Duffy) 
Gardner  on  the  “Duffy  Tavern  Show.” 

Then  he  went  qri  to  write  and  direct  such  Broadway 
hit  shows  as  “Guys  And.  Dolls,”  “Can-Can,”  and  “Happy  - 
Hunting.” 

Although  he  often  works  around  the  clock,  Abe  is 
always  a  picture  of  health.- Abe  is  a  health  bug  and  has 
always  talked  about  his  visits  to  his  doctor  and  the  inci¬ 
dents  which  occurred  during  his  visits.  Fact  or  fable, 
the  stories  always  amuse  all  those  who  hear  them. 

Abe  can  always  crack  me  up  with  one  like  this: 

A  patient  complained;  to  his  lady,  doetoi*  ' about  his 
sore  throat — and  just  like  a  lady— instead  of  paint¬ 
ing  it— she  Wallnanprpd  lt.  - 


January  8, 1958 


.  Fifty seconA  Anniversary 


PICTURES  39 


Why  Can’t  The  English 
team  to  Look  at  Pictures? 

By  PROF.  ROBERT  GESSNER 

(Prof.  Qf  Motion  Pictures  &  Television) 


The  above  title  is  without  apolo-. 
gies  to  ffiy  esteemed  colleague, 
Speech  Professor  Higgins  of  Pyg¬ 
malion  College,  Shaw  University, 
which,  as  every  American  devotee 
of  tourism  ,  knows,  is  located  in 
Coveilt  Garden.  Higgins  made— to 
an  ugly  Anglo-Saxon  .  expres¬ 
sion^— a  pretty  penny  out  of  his 
complaint,  and  I  don’t  wish  to  be¬ 
little  anyone  who  has  cornered  a 
market .  in  the  world’s  poorest-paid 
profession.  But  my  complaint  isn’t 
worth  a  Dulles  dollar,  to  professors 
abroad,  and  yet  it  could  mean  mil¬ 
lions  in  boxoffice* 

Poor  Higgins  became  million¬ 
aire  worrying  about  the.  enuncia¬ 
tion  of  .vowels  while  all  the  time 
it  is  the  eye,,  not  the  ear,  that  is 
the  unexploited  gold  mine.  Over 
85%  of  all  educational  money  goes 
to  teaching  youth  through  the  eye, 
and  over  90%  of  every  entertain¬ 
ment  dollar  is  for  enlightening  the 
senses  through  the  eye.  Million¬ 
aire  Professor.  Higgins  Was  born  50 
years  top  soon.. 

To  the.  point:  although  the  Eng¬ 
lish  were  pioneers  with  Edison  in 
the .:  invention  .  of  the  motion  pic¬ 
ture  camera,  and  did  pioneering  in 
the  electronics  of.  ty,  the  inhabi¬ 
tants  bf  this  islartd  are  visually  il¬ 
literate,  What  does  that  mean? 

A  visual  illiterate  .  is  someone 
who  looks  at  films  or  tv  without 
knowing  Or  caring,  about  what  is 
happening  to  his  mind  and  emo¬ 
tions  He  believes  he  is  being  en¬ 
tertained  without  realizing  the  en¬ 
joyment  he  is  missing;  or  he  is 
bored  Without  the  indignation  to 
which  he  is  entitled.  Millions  look 
at  pictures  On  screens  and  tubes 
with  one.  eye  half  open.  They  are 
under  the  blissful  ignorance,  or 
irritating  annoyance,,  that  what 
they  are  seeing  is .  all  there  is  to 
behold. 

Before  any  Anglophobia  sets  in 
— England  has  no  monopoly  on  fog. 
Britain,  being  more  literate  and 
with .  a  higher  I.Q.  per  capita,  has 
only  an  older,  smog  than  America. 
Visual  literacy  is  an:  international 
menace  to  cultural  navigation, 
While  at  the  same  time  films  are 
obviously  capable  of  transcending 
geographical  boundaries  more  ef¬ 
fectively  than  carrier  pigeons.  But 
the  messages  that  are  being  trans¬ 
mitted  and  received  are  pidgin- 
Ehglish  compared  to  a  Shakespear¬ 
ean  potential.  This  disparity,  be¬ 
tween  what  We  believe  We  see  and 
what  is  to  be  seen,  is  comparable  to 
the  printing  press  being  invented 
in  the  20th  Century  while  literary 
illiteracy  blankets  the  world, 

[  ■  Literary  Handicaps  | 

The,  English,'  I’ve  discovered, 
have  been  handicapped  by  their 
word-mindedness,  their  literal  in¬ 
terpretation,  the  literacy  inherit? 
ance  of  generations  of  good,  teach¬ 
ers  of  grammar  school  composition. 
This  is  satisfying  for  letterwriting, 
essays,  diaries,  books,  etc.,  but  a 
distinct  hardship  for  studying  an¬ 
other.  language,  the  craft  and  art  of 
the  moving  image.  For  instance, 
film  critics  sound  ,  as  though  they 
were  reviewing  a .  novel  or  report¬ 
ing  a  bit  of  sociology.  This  also  is 
an  international  affliction.  Image- 
blindness  among  film  critics  isn’t 
an  American,  monopoly,  we  merely 
.  have  more  cane-tappers  than  any 
other  country.  No  sane  editor 
would  assign  a  painter  to  review 
novels,  but  word-Winded  typists 
write  about  films  and  tv  with  self- 
ordained  authority. 

The  most  recent  example  of  vis¬ 
ual  illiteracy  in  England  is  the 
reaction  to.  “The  Ten  Command¬ 
ments.”  The  majority  of  review¬ 
ers  recalled,  with  irritation  and  as 
an  example  of  what  went  wrong, 
the  10  fiery  fishes  that  swished 
through  the  air  to  smack  ..  their 
heads  on  the  Tablets  ih  accompani¬ 
ment  to  an  electronically  echoing 
voice  of -the.  DeMille  Godj.  The 
critics  knew  this  was  embarrassing¬ 
ly  ridiculous,  but  none  said  Why 
their  eyes  Were  astonished,  their 
sense  of  beauty  violated.  The  scene 
Was  disproportionate  because  there 
was  no  balance  between  concept, 
content  and  form.  The.  tortured 
shots  were  simply,  due  to  DeMille. 
god-like,  imposing  his  technical  vir¬ 
tuosity  as  being  more  imaginative 


than  the  finger  Of  God  writing  the 
Comandments. 

Knowing  this  reason-behind- 
.What-is-seen  does  enhance  enjoy¬ 
ment  as  already  witnessed  in  older 
arts  with  their  educated  audiences 
oh  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  For 
example,  DeMille,  at  his  typical 
and  best,  offers  an  historical  novel¬ 
ty  with  newsreel  authenticity  of 
slaves  toiling  to.  move  blocks-  of 
stone  in  pyramid  construction. 
This  was .  done  With  standard  long- 
shots,  the  basic  recorder  of  large 
actions.  Then  a  dramatic  idea  was 
inserted— the  grinding  to  death  of 
a  helpless  human— the  narrative 
tension  demands  movement,  the 
emotional  charge  demands  identi¬ 
fication,  .which  DeMille  gets 
through  camera  mobility  (medium 
into  close  shots)  and  through  edit¬ 
ing  (cross-cuts  a  la  Griffith).  All 
this  may  be  obvious  and  orthodox 
procedure  to  the  professional,  but 
only  sensed,  not  appreciated  by  the 
visually  illiterate.  . 

I  ,  .  ..  No  Innocents  .  ;1 

In  England  and  America  there 
are  no  pure  and  innocent  viewers 
of  art.  In  moving  imagery,  naiyete 
is  :  pose'  impossible.,  to  hold  for 
long.  Sooner  or  later  specifics  de¬ 
mand  attention.  It  is  as  meaning¬ 
less  to  remark  "the  direction  Was 
good”  as  for  a  reader  to  say  "the 
Writing  was  good”,  without  proof. 
To  analyze  product  apart  from 
process  is  the  privilege  of  the  ama¬ 
teur  Who  has  no  wish  to  be  taken 
seriously.  Process  study,  means 
shot  analysis.  The  shot  is  the  ele^ 
mental  unit  of  cinematic  expres¬ 
sion,  .fundamental  as  the  sen¬ 
tence,  the  brush  stroke,  or  the 
musical  bar.  For  the  serious  critic, 
or  student,,  shot  reference  proves 
his  point.  :  • 

.  Since  mid-October  I  have  been 
lecturing  at  British  universities  un¬ 
der  the  auspices  .  of  the  British 
Film  Institute  Who  are  hopeful  of 
introducing-a  motion  picture  Course 
in  a  British  university.  They  in¬ 
vited  me  to  appear  as  Exhibit  A, 
a  living  homo  sapiens  With  the 
outer-space  title:  Professor  of  Mo¬ 
tion  Pictures  and.  Television.  The 
lecture  was  billed,  as  ‘‘Movies  Go  j 
To  College”  and  is  to  be  released 
in  print  under  the  academic  neon: 
‘‘The.  Art  of  the  Moving  Image.” 

!  Student  hunger  for  knowledge 
about  the  eighth  art  was  One  of 
the  most  moving,  experiences  in  22 
years  of  teaching  the  medium.  At 
Cambridge  University,  for  instance, 
students  plied  questions  literally 
from  the  moment  I  stepped  off  the 
train  (with  time  but  for  the  lecture, 
meals,  drink,  sleep)  until  the  train 
separated  us  at  the  station. 

There  is  a  great  natural  resource 
in  the  imagination  and  energy  of 
youth,  and  ti>  have  it.  frustrated 
and  lost  is  a  national  crime  worse 
than  losing  forests.  Youth  is  a 
generation  that  can’t  be  regrown 
like  trees. 

I  Lack  of  Visual  Educators  | 

British  motion  picture  and  tv 
production  is  suffering  today  from 
the  lack  of  visual-minded  creators. 
British  books  and  journalism  are 
more  lively  than  ever.  But  ho  uni¬ 
versity  student  in  England  is  study¬ 
ing  film  with  his  hands  on  it— 
only  one  seminar  in  the  Depart¬ 
ment  of  Drama,  University  of  Bris¬ 
tol.  His  eye  goes  untrained.  As 
direct  result  of  the  Cambridge  lec¬ 
ture  the  students,  not  the  faculty, 
have  .petitioned  Lord  Bank  (j.  Ar¬ 
thur  Rank  Organization)  for  prints 
to  screen  and  study,  The  begin¬ 
ning  is  here  planted .  for  extra¬ 
curricular  study,  but  British  uni¬ 
versity  authorities — worse  than 
American— believe  education  must! 
not  be  Vocational. 

The  late  G,  B.  Jeffery,  when  di¬ 
rector  of  the  University  of  Lon¬ 
don  Institute  of  Education'  cryptic¬ 
ally  punctured  that  attitude  when 
he  wrote:  "How  it  should  come 
about  ,  that  respectable  knowledge 
suddenly  becomes  unrespectable  as 
soon  as  it  is  perceived  that  a  man 
on  a  job  would,  be  better  with  it 
than  without  it,  is  a  mystery  I  do 
not  understand.” 

The  misunderstanding  is  inter¬ 
national.  -  American  universities 
haven’t  taken  on  the  moving  image, 
the  predominant  art  form  of  our 
time,  in  any  proportion  equal  to 
the  study  of  literature,  drama,  mu¬ 
sic  or.  fine  arts.  Nor  can  we  feel 
superior  to  our  British  cousins  over 


our  cultural  exports.  The  Embassy 
ih  London  has.  no  program,  or 
ideas,  for.  showing,  the  English  that 
America  has  motion  picture 
studies,  and  that  some  Americans 
take  their  movies  as  seriously  (at 
least),  as  jazz! 

How  long  must  we  wait  on  both 
sides  of:  the  Atlantic?  Over.  150 
years  ago,  at  the  time  of  the  Revo¬ 
lution,  the  president  of. Yale  Col¬ 
lege,  Timothy  .  Dwight,  warned  his 
young  gentlemen  scholars:  "To  in¬ 
dulge  a  taste  for  playgoing  means 
nothing  more  or  less  than  the  loss 
of  that  valuable  treasure*  the  im¬ 
mortal  soUl.”  It  isn’t  clear  to  what 
degree  the  young  gentlemen  schol¬ 
ars  of  that  day  adhered  to  the  stric¬ 
ture,  but  Yale,  today  has  one  of 
the  most  devout  departments  of 
drama  in  the  country. 

So  let  Us  indulge  in  a  taste  for 
studying  the  moving  image,  and  in 
the.;  process  learn  how  to  look,  at 
pictures,  even  at  the  risk  of  losing 
icademic . souls.  .  Professor  Higgins 
would  have  cheered! 


Havana  s$  Spree 
Via  Joe  E.  Lewis 

The  hew  hotels  in  Havana  are 
setting  up  a  Las  Vegas  scale  for 
acts.  .  For  example,  joe  E.  Lewis 
has  been,  signed  for  the  Capri 
starting  Feb,  28, 

The  Capri  booking  for  Lewis  rep¬ 
resents;  a  new  line  of  thought  for 
the  Cuban  nitery  bookers.  When 
spending  such  terrific  sums  for  acts 
previously*  the  operators  had  stuck 
to  singers  Who.  had  been:  in  films 
or  made  disks,  so  that  they  Would 
still  ehtiCe  native  trade..  Lewis, 
with  special  material;  is  being  re¬ 
lied  upon  to.  bring  in  tourists  from 
Miami  Beach.  Comic  is  also,  book? 
ed  for  two  dates  at.  the  Eden.  Roc 
Hotel;  Miami  Beach,  .first  being 
Feb.  6  for  two  weeks,  returning 
March  21  for  10  days. 

Normally,  the  Havana  bonifaces 
would  eschew  paying  high  prices, 
for  an  act  directly  from  Miami 
Beach..  ^However,  since  Lewis  has 
a  tremendous  personal  following 
and  With,  his  reputation  for  parti¬ 
cipation  in  casino  activity,  he’s 
Counted  ort  to  bring  in  quite  a  flow 
of  vacationers  from  the  mainland. 


What  Is  a  'British’  Feature? 

By  HAROLD  MYERS 
London.  ,  but  the  pattern  of  the  industry,  its 
It’s  now  close  on  three  years  financial  operation  and  its  interna- 


since  the  '  British  motion  picture 
industry  has  been  able  to  move  out 
of  the.;  realm  of  party  politics  and 
get  on 'with  its  job  of  making  pic¬ 
tures.  The  legislation  which  pre¬ 
ceded.  last  year’s  renewal  of  the 
Films  Act  and  the  introduction  of 
the  statutory  Eady  Levy  was  two 
years  in  the  making.  And  there’s 
more  legislation  on  the  agenda. 

This  continuing  political  activity 
is  largely  due  to  the  Government 
decision  to  duck  the  main  issue 
when  the  Quota  Act  was  due  for 
revision.  Instead  of  dealing  with 
all  the  controversial,  problems  at 
stake,  it  took  the  easy  way  out  and 
decided  to  extend  the  life  of  the 
previous  Act  by  a  further.  10 
years,  making  only  minor  drafting 
modifications.  The  industry,  how¬ 
ever,  Was  far  from  satisfied.  There 
were,,  it  was  contended,  a  number 
of  urgent  problems  that  needed  to 
be  solved. 

Very  quickly  the  Government 
bowed  to  the  concerted  protests  of 
the  industry  and  made  a  promise 
to  bring  in  a  new  Quota  Act  as 
expeditiously  as  possible.  Already 
all  sections  of  industry  opinion  are 
being  sounded'  and  within  a  month 
or  two  the  drafting  experts  at  the 
Board  of  Trade  will  sit  down  to 
prepare  and  define  the  shape  of  a 
new  Bill.  In  the  meantime,  the 
industry  itself  is  far  from  united. 
The  producers  are  split  among 
themselves  and  their  affairs  are 
.'now  conducted  by  two  separate,  and 
distinct  organizations.  The  exhibi¬ 
tors,  are  mainly  concerned  with 
diminishing  return  and  increasing 
overhead  and  do  not  relish  any 
legislation  which  would  make  life 
more  difficult  still. 

There  will  be  one  major  issue  to 
be  decided  in  the  new  Quota  Bill: 
what  is  a  British  film?  At  present, 
the.  definition  has  hardly  altered 
since  the  first  Quota  Act  of  1928, 


Research  Blues 


Bj  HOWARD  DIETZ  1 


Good  pictures,  I  suppose,  are  good  for  the  entire  industry,  but  I 
contend  they  are  better  for  theV  companies  that  make  them.  I  could 
name  a  lot  of  companies  that  didn’t  make  "The.  10  Commandments,” 
"Around  The  World,”  “Giant”  or  “Teahouse,”  and  it  didn’t  do  them 
any -  good.  In  fact,  these  Companies  ^contend  that  these  big  pictures 
played  opposite  their  little  pictures  and  the  results  were,  pretty  dire. 

A  lot  of  companies  are  resorting  to  Research,  which  is  just  what  A1 
Sindlinger  wants.  This  fellow .  Sindlinger  is  pretty  resourceful.  He  not 
only  figured  out  how  many  people  are  going  to  the  movies,  but  he.  also 
made  a  statistic  about  those  who  started  out  for  the  movie  house  but. 
changed  their  minds  on  the  way.  Presumably  they  dropped  in  at  a 
saloon.  This,  is  a  big  argument  for  the  saioon  business,  and  now  I  want 
a  statistic  on  the  number  of  people  who  stated  out  for  a  saloon  but 
changed  their  . minds  and  wound  Up  at  a  moVie; 

Obviously  thie  proper  solution  is  to  sell  liquor  in  the  theatre.  During 
one  of  those  long  pictures  the  audience  would  be  staggering  up  and 
down  the  aisles  feeling  no  pain. 

Sindlinger’s  technique  is  interesting.  He  and  his  staff  interview  thou¬ 
sands  of  people  every  day.  They  ring  doorbells..  Here  is  a  typical  ex¬ 
ample*  Sindlinger  rings  a  doorbell  and  a  Swedish  maid  comes  to  the 
door.  “Vat  you  vant?”  she  says:  angrily.  “I  beg  your  pardon  madam,” 
says  Sindlinger  suavely,  “but  I’d  like  to  know  what  movies  you’ve  seen 
in  the  last  month.”  “I  milk  elk,”  says  the  Swedish  maid.  Sindlinger 
makes  a  note  of  that. 

"In  other  words  your  occupational  obligations  have  prevented  you 
from  a  sojourn  in  the  ample  interior  of  the  cinema  palace,”  says  Sind¬ 
linger,  with  a  courtly  bow.  "I  bane  goddam  busy  milking  elk,”  says  the 
maid,  slamming  the.  door  in  Al's  face. 


I 


The.  Indirect  Approach. 


On  other  personalities  he  Uses  the  indirect  method.  This  is  a  tech¬ 
nique  of  determining  the  orientation  of  the  .  subject.  For  example,  he 
approaches  a  man  who  happens  to  be  a  .Trappist  monk.  As  Trappist 
monks  don’t  talk,  the  interviewer  has  to  be  resourceful.  He  starts  off 
in  hail-fellow  vein.  "How  are  things  in  the  monastery?”  he  might  ask. 
The  Trappist  monk  says  nothing:  “Have  you  read  The  Brothers  Kara¬ 
mazov?”’  says  Sindlinger.  The  monk,  gives  him  a’  catty-cornered  nod. 

"Was  that  a  yes  nod  or  a  no  nod?”,  asks  Sindlinger.  The  monk  gives 
another  catty-cornered  reply.!  “How  the  heck  can  I  interview  you  if 
you’re  not  going  to  say  a  goldamed  thing?”  says  Sindlinger.  The  Trap¬ 
pist  monk  shrugs  his.  shoulder  and  moves  on.  Research  is  a  difficult 
job. 

Basically,  what  is  wanted  is  penetration.  If  you  are  about  to  release 
a  picture  make  sure  .that  every  man,  woman  and  child  has  heard  about 
it.  The  chances  are  that  this  Will  develop  quite  a  want-to-see,  even  if 
it  doesn’t  develop  a  Want-to-pay. . 

How  do  you  go  about  getting  this  penetration  you  well  may  ask..  The 
answer  is  (1)  Visualization,  (2)  The  Hard  Soil,  and  (3)  Saturation.  This 
method  will  overcome  the.  parking  problem,  the  baby-sitting  problem 
and  the  tight-money  situation.  You  can  handle  the  .  parking  problem  by 
locating  your  theatre  near  a  bus;  Stop.,  Handle  the.  baby-sitting  situa¬ 
tion  by  birth  control,  and  cope  with  the  tight  money  market  by  pick¬ 
pocketing.  .  .  .  . 

Exhausted  by.  these  reflections  after  a  hard  year,  I  think  I’ll  lie  down. 


tional  influence  has  undergone  con¬ 
siderable  transformation  in  those 
30  years. 

There  are,  essentially,  two  con¬ 
flicting  schools  of  thought.  There 
is  one  which  ins'sts  that  a  British 
film  must  be  a  production  con¬ 
ceived  and  financed  by  a  British 
company.  Its  main  talent,  both 
technical  and  creative,  should  come 
from  within,  the  Empire  and- — most 
importantly — all  the  foreign  earn¬ 
ings  should  be  returned  to  Britain. 

Where  “British”  features  have 
been  made  by  American  producers, 
using  American  stars,  .American 
directors  and  an  original  American 
story  or  screenplay,  it  is  argued 
that  such  feature  are  British  in 
name  only.  Yet  these  ,  films  qualify 
for  quota  and,  therefore,  have  a 
natural  commercial  value  to  exhibi¬ 
tors  who  have  a  percentage  of  their 
screen  time  to  fill  with  native 
product.  Worst  of  all,  to  foes, 
because  of  the;r  quota  ticket, 
they’re  entitled  to  a  share  of  the 
now  statutory  Eady  Fund,  which 
may  Well  return  as  much  as  40  to 
50%  of  the  domestic  gross  as  addi¬ 
tional  gravy  to  the  producer. 

Fund,  it  is  contended,  was 

not  designed  to  aid  the 

“ powerful ”  American  compa¬ 
nies,  but  to  safeguard  the  situ¬ 
ation  for  the  “struggling”  Bri¬ 
tish  film  maker. 

So  .  much  for  that  side  of  the 
story.  The  other  is  equally  “logi¬ 
cal.”  The  Anglo-American  part¬ 
nership  over  the  past  few  years  has 
played  a  major  role  in  maintaining 
the  level  of  production  in  British 
studios..  Indeed,  some  of  the  US 
companies,  Columbia  and.20th-Fox 
tp  name  only  two,  are  producing 
more  British  films  than  most  bf 
the  British  companies— the  Rank 
Organization  excepted..  Their  in¬ 
vestments  in  British  films  no  longer 
come  solely  from  frozen  coin  (the 
ice  age,  as  one  wit  recently  re¬ 
marked,  has  long  since  ended)  but 
represents  a  hard  dollar  stake. 
There  is  a  recognition  that  Britain 
has  a  lot  to  offer  technically  and 
artistically,  but  it  is  also  acknowl¬ 
edged  that  names  with  yank  famil¬ 
iarity  are  necessary  if  the  finished 
product  is  to  make  any  substantial 
.’mpact  in  the  American  and  other 
foreign  markets.  Hence  the  im¬ 
portation  of  stars  like  William 
Holden,  Carv  Grant,  Ingrid  Berg¬ 
man,  Ray  Mjlland,  Sophia  Loren 
and  Stewart  Granger. 

It  is,  of  course,  common  knowl¬ 
edge  that  some  M.P.s  have  a 
chauvinistic  streak  and  will  scream 
??tish  fiIms  must  be  made 
all-British  against  that  the  Board 
of  Trade,  although  it  may  introduce 
some  modification  in  the  present 
legislation,  will  probably  not  in¬ 
troduce  a  radically  new  definition 
of  a  “British”  film.  It  will  en¬ 
courage  the  Anglo-American  part¬ 
nership  to  continue. 

Meantime  paid  attendance 
throughout  the  country  haunts  the 
exhibitors. 

Only  just  over  two  wears  ago 
British  exhibitors  had  it  pretty 
good  compared  with  what  their 
American  conferes  were  Up  against 
in  the  United  States.  They  then 
only  had  the  British  Broadcasting 
■Co.  to  contend  with  and  around 
2,000,000  receivers.  All  that’s  been 
changed  with  the  advent  of  com¬ 
mercial  video  wh5ch  has  now  been 
running  for  tvo-and-a-half  years. 
The  advertising  web  Is.  extending 
its  span  to  cover  the  entire  coun¬ 
try;  the  number  of  receivers  has 
grown  to  close  on  7,000,000  and 
there  are  at  least  5,000,000  homes 
with  a  choice  of  program. 


Sydney. 

Jack  Labow,  RKO  homeoffice 
exec,  will  become  RKO’s  managing 
director  here,  following  the  res¬ 
ignation  of  Douglas  Lotherington 
from  the  top  post. 

Labow  has  been  in  this  territory 
for  several  months  and  the  bowout 
of  Lotherington  had  been  tipped 
for  some  time.  Latter  has  been 
associated  with  RKO  for  about  25 
years,  taking  over  the  managerial 
reins  when  the  late  Ralph  Doyle 
bowed  out  some  years  ago. 


Fifty-second  P^RJETY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


All Through 


W*?  It 


PARAMOUNT’S 

Boxoffice 
Champions 
Will  March  In 


ARRAY! 


THE  SAD 

A  Hal  Wallis  Pro 
Starring  Jerry 
Co-starring  David 
Phyllis  Kirk,  Peter 
VistaVision® 


UNDER  T 

The  Don  Hartman 
Eugene  O’Neill’s  playi 
Anthony  Perkins, 
VistaVision® 


ST.  LOUIS 

Starring  Nat  “King” 
Cab  Calloway, 
Ella  Fitzgerald,  Mahalia 
VistaVision® 


THE 

EIATCHM 

The  Don  Hartman  Pro 
Thornton  Wilder’s 
Starring  Shirley  Booth, 
Shirley  MacLaine  -  Vista 


January  8,.  1958 


Fifty  second  Ahidveriary 


':  :'iA 


*  X/'- '  '  '''s'-  '  '*■  s 


duction, 

Lewis. 

Wayne, 

Lorre. 


\* 


WILD 

IS  THE  WIND 

A  Hal  Wallis  Production* 
Starring  Anna  Magnani,  Anthony  Quinn* 
Anthony  Franciosa.  VistaVision® 


A  Perlberg-Seaton  Production. 
Starring  Clark  Gable,  Doris  Day. 
Co-starring  Gig  Young,  jt 
Mamie  Van  Doren.  VistaVision® 


Cole,  Eartha  Kitt, 
Pearl  Bailey,  - 
Jackson. 


HIGH  HELL 

Starring  John  Derek,  Elaine  Stewart, 
Spectacularly  filmed  in  Europe’s 
highest  mountains.  _ 


HOT  SPELL 

A  Hal  Wallis  Production. 
Starring  Shirley  Booth,  Anthony  Quinn, 
Shirley  MacLaine,  Earl  Holliman 
VistaVision® 


R  TIME, 


ROCK*A-BYE  E 

Produced  by  Jerry  Lewis. 
Starring  Jetty  Lewis, 
Co-Starring  Marilyn  Maxwell, 
Connie  Stevens,  Hans  Conreid, 
Reginald  Gardiner. 
Technicolor®  •  VistaVision® 


COUNTRY  MUSIC 
HOLIDAY 

Staining  Ferlin  Husky,  Faron  Young,  Art  Ford, 
Rocky  Graziano,  June  Carter, 

Jesse  White*  Lou  Parker,  Witt  Geer. 

And  Zsa  Zsa  Gabor. 


greatest  grossing  picture  of  all  time  will  make  boxoffice  history  across  the  world. . . 


CECIL  B.  DeMILLE’S 

PRODUCTION 


THE  TEN  COMMANDMENTS 


VISTAVISION® 


TECHNICOLOR® 


42 


TOLLVISION 


Fifty-second  P^SrIETY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


$  Big-Talk  Champ  Issue  of  ’57: 
Who  Will  Bell  The  Toll  Beast? 

FRED  |pF-y:':;B853B£^5as^iilklli^iIgI^»gagg.aagsfliBSgla 


Home-toll  television,  and  all  its 
manifold  possibilities,  whether  over 
the  air  by  itself,  whether  co¬ 
tenancy  of  existing  advertising 
channels,  or  whether  land-line 
circuits  euphemized  as  “cable  the¬ 
atre’*  has  this  claim  for  preemin¬ 
ence  in  1957: 

It  was  the  most-talked-about 
phantom  of  the  yean 

Rarely  in  the  history  of  show 
biz  has  an  untried  idea  been  more 
thoroughly  discussed,  praised  and 
maligned,  with  emotions  running 
high  on  both  sides  of  the  argument. 

What  it  all  adds  up  to,  after 
screening  out  the  extraneous 
noises,  is  that  a  large  segment  of 
the  film  industry  believes  in  its 
heart  that  pay  television,  in  one 
form  or  another, .  will  cornel  This 
accounts  for  some  of  the  violent, 
opposition  to  this  projected  new 
service,  for  those  who  voice  the 
loudest  objection  are  often  those 
who  are  most  concerned  over  what 
toll-tv  might:  do  to  their  business. 

Home-toll '  cuts  across  all  of  the 
entertainment  business.  Its  effects, 
if  It  comes,  will  be  felt  from  the 
legit  stages  of  Broadway,  to  the 
worried  f rontOf fices  of  ■  the .  Coast 
studios  and  back  to  the  guardians 
of  the  Metropolitan  Opera.  It 
promises  headaches  for  the  spon¬ 
sored  networks  and  the  indie  sta¬ 
tion  operator  out  in  Prairieland, 
U.SJV-  As  an  unborn  infant,  it 
already  throws  a  giant’s  shadow. 

Tollvision  at  Crossroads; 
Unclear  As  to  Technique 

But  will  it  work?  And  how  can 
It  work  best?  Who  will  lose,  and 
who  will  gain?  Who  will  control  it? 

Although  the  technical  ends  of 
fee-tv  have  been  well  worked  out, 
a  host  of  questions  remain  to  be 
answered.  The  big  issue,  of  course, 
is:  Shall  it  be  done  over  the  air, 
or  by  wire?  And*  on  a  different 
level,  shall  it  be  accomplished 
through  a  charge  system  or  via 
cash  -  on  -  the  -  barrelhead?  Shall 
viewers  buy  a  monthly  entertain¬ 
ment  package,  or  shall  they  pay 
“by  attraction?” 

Most  important,  however,  are 
these  two  unresolved  issues:  Will 
there  be  enough  programming  to 
sustain  pay-tv,  and  will  the  public 
pay  even  for  the  top  shows? 

Inasmuch  as  it  is  the  Only  func¬ 
tioning  fee-tv  experiment,  the  Tele- 
movie  run  in  the  Oklahoma  tpwn 
of  Bartlesville,  which  got  under 
way  in  mid-September,  has.  roused 
a  good  deal  of  attention  and  in¬ 
terest  Yet,  this  “test  tube”  is  not 
typical  of  the  kind  of  conditions 
tollcasters  are  likely  to  encounter 
in  the  future;  it  was  not  set  up 
for  anything  but  motion  pictures, 
and  the  method  used  is  one  best- 
suited  to  a  small  town  (there  are 
only  8,000  tv  homes  in  Bartlesville 
area),  being  derived  from  experi¬ 
ence  with  tv  community  antenna 
systems  in  the  area. 

To  date,  Bartlesville  is  a  disap¬ 
pointment  The  rate  of  subscrip-, 
tions  has  been  slow.  There  has 
been  outside  interference,  such  as 
the  “poll”  conducted  by  Sen.  Wil¬ 
liam  Langner,  an  avowed  foe  of 
any  form  of  home,  payments.  A 
lot  of  people  started  and.  then 
dropped  out.  Already,  it  is  plain 
that  the  monthly  $9.50  charge  will- 
have  to  be  supplemented  by  indi¬ 
vidual  metering  devices  attached 
to  the  homes,  allowing  per  attrac¬ 
tion  charging  and  more  accurate 
accoUntine  to  program  contribu¬ 
tors,  Lei  the  film  companies. 

Producers  Hear  Tinkle 
Of  Those  Pirlor  Fees 

But  Bartlesville  has  proved  ,  that 
the  gleam  in  the  producers’  eye, 
the  transmission  of  films  electroni¬ 
cally  into  the  home  on  a .  much 
broader  scale .  than  that  afforded 
by  Hie  theatres,  is  not  a  wild 
dream.  There  are  those  who  argue 
that  the  projection  of  important 
productions  onto  the  small  tv 
screen  is  a  waste,.  What  they  over¬ 
look  is  that  technology  doesn’t 
stand  still,  and  that  “projection” 
tv  for  the  home  may  be  a  lot  closer 
than  hitherto  suspected. 

..  The  Federal  Communications 
Commission’s  go-ahead  to  the 
tollcasters,  to  submit  applications 
for  three-year  tests  in  markets  with 


four  stations  or  more,  has  thrown 
Into  sharper  focus  the  pro-and-cbn 
argument  of  wire  ys.  the  air.  It 
has  also  further  underscored  the 
anxieties  of  the  broadcasters,  who 
—in  their  briefs  with  the  FCC  in 
past  years— have  made  no  bones 
about,  their  feelings  that,  if  pay-tv 
arrives,  it  is  likely  to  tumble  the 
structure  of  commercial  broadcast¬ 
ing  as  it  stands  today.: 

There  are  obvious  advantages  to 
both  air  and  cable.  Latter  is  much 
more  expensive,  particularly  when 
it  Comes  to  the  big  cities  where 
wiring  may,  in  fact,  he  prohibitive. 
But  the  Cable  can  carry  ,  five  or  six 
channels.  It  is.  not  restricted  as. 
to  time,  inasmuch  as  closed  Circuit 
transmission-  doesn’t  come  under 
the  aegis  of  the  FCC,  and-— most 
important— it  doesn’t  block  Out  any 
air  channels. 

Decoding  Devices  Vexing; 
Mixed  Systems  Possible 

Over-the-air  transmission  obvi¬ 
ously  is  much  cheaper,  though  it 
still  requires  decoding  ,  devices 
attached  to  the  set.  Yet  a  single 
channel  cap  carry  no  more  than  a 
single  program  (unless  multiplex¬ 
ing  is  eventually  developed)  and 
the  FCC  is  in  a  position  to  sharply 
limit  the  time  that  can  be  devoted 
to  tollcasting:  over  the  air.  . 

Conceivably,  in  years  to  come, 
the.  pay  pattern  may  be  split,  with 
big  cities  going  for:  air  transmis¬ 
sion  and  smaller  ones  for  cable 
setups.  In  any  case,  the  broad¬ 
casters  will,  if  anything,  support: 
the  air  method  on  the  theory  that 
it  at  least,  falls  within  their  ken, 
whereas  cable  caii  be  controlled' 
be  virtually  -  anyone.  A  striking 
example  of  this  came  in  November, 
wben  :  Thomas  F.  O’Neil,  of  RKO 
Teleradio  Pictures,  strongly  en¬ 
dorsed  home-toll  via  air  channels. 
He  called  cables  impractical  and 
made  it.  plain  that  his  prospective 
stations,  would  apply  for:  feevee 
licenses.  Even  so,  the  big  efforts 
today— in  Los  Angeles,  Milwaukee, 
San  Francisco,  etc;  —  have  been 
centred  on  cable,  and,  in  San  Fran¬ 
cisco  particularly,  have  run  into 
considerable  opposition. 

But  technique  in  itself  is  only 
a  part  of  the  problem.  The  crux  of 
pay-as-ybu-see .  is  .  programming. 
Can  pay-tv  get  enough  of  it  and 
will  it  be  important  enough  to 
convince  viewers  to  pay .  25c,  50c 
or  even  $1  for  the  privilege  of 
viewing  it.  Some  say  no;. that  the 
public  will  not  stand  still  for  shel¬ 
ling  out  for  attractions  it  has  been 
Used  to  getting  .free..  Others  dis¬ 
agree,  pointing  to  the  number-  of 
shows  that  now  are  not -  going  on 
the  air' 

Here,  again,  Bartlesville  in  its 
small  way  provides  interesting 
signposts.  Viewers  there  get  three 
channels  clearly  from  Tulsa.  They 
don’t  even  need  community  an¬ 
tennas  Yet,  they  appear  willing  to 
pay  to.  get  new  movies  in  the  face 
of  the  flood  Of  oldies  emanating  on 
the  commercial,  channels.  True 
enough,  they  get  their  cabled  fare 
without  interruptions  for  plugs,  but 
the  niain  point  is  that  a  good  many 
in  Bartlesville  seem  intrigued  by 
the  thought  of  getting  . new  .films.: 

Video  Independent  Theatres, 
which  runs  the  Bartlesville  experi¬ 
ment,  maintains- that  attendance  at 
its  two  Bartlesville  houses  has  not 
been  affected.  Theatre,  operators 
generally,  in  their  realistic  moj 
ments,  know  that  this  cannot  be 
the.  pattern:  that  a  family  getting 
brandriew  film  fare  in  the  home  is 
bound  to  cut  down  further  on  its. 
theatre  attendance.  But  the  ex¬ 
hibitors  along  with,  others  in  the 
industry  are  themselves  coming  to 
the  conclusion  that,  the  “volume” 
days  are  over,  whether  in  Holly¬ 
wood  or  at  their.. end,  and  that. the 
number  of  theatres  probably  will 
diminish  in  any  case. 

.  Video  president  Henry.  S.  Grif- 
.fing  put  it  succinctly  to  this  writer: 
“We  are  not  doing  this  because 
we  are  exceedingly  brave;  but  be-? 
cause  We  are  exceedingly  frigh¬ 
tened,”  he  said,  :  pointing  to  the 
alarming  decline  in  attendance 
throughput,  his  160-theatre  circuit: 

The  concept  of  electronic  mass 
entertainment,:  sharpened  by  grow¬ 
ing  costs  in  tv  which  has  some 
believing  ,  that.  If  nothing  else, 
economics  will  push  pay-tv  develop^ 


merit,  has  caught  the  imagination 
of  show  business,  not  only  in  .  the 
U.S.  but  also  abroad. 

But  to  carry  it  out;  an  entirely 
new  set  of  values  will  have  to  be 
adopted.  This  is  broadcasting  and 
it  is  films.  It  is  both  and  it  is  none 
of  these  exactly.  It  is,  in  fact,  a 
new  industry  which,  years  from 
now,  may  well  dominate  the  busi¬ 
ness  as  we  know  it  today. 


TV  in  Color 

By  FANSHAWE  LINDSLEY 

(President,  Closedcircuit  Tele¬ 
casting  System ) 

There  is  considerable  evidence 
to  substantiate  the:  belief  that  the 
reason  black^and-wh'te,  big-screen, 
closed-circuit  tv  volume  is  off  in 
1957  is  because  prospective  users 
have  been  keeping  an  interested: 
and  hopeful  eye  on  the  development 
of  bigscreen  color.  And  the  fact 
that  biack^andrwhite  volume  is  sub¬ 
stantially. off  in  ..the  last  half  of  ’57 
whereas  big-screen  .color  (which, 
to  he  sure,  started  from  scratch  in 
January,  .1957)  is  up,  may  indicate 
the  beginning  of  ai  shift  to  color 
for  closed-circuit  tv  .  business  meet¬ 
ings. 

In  .any  event;  it  is  an  indispu¬ 
table  fact  that  ever  since  closed- 
circuit  tv  cai  into  existence  as 
a  device  for  .  the  simultaneous 
coast-to-coast  or  regional  introduc¬ 
tion  of  such  corporate  elements  as 
new  products,  ad  campaigns,  mer¬ 
chandising  programs,  etc.,  that  the 
first  question  on  the  part  of  the 
prospect  has  been,  “When  will  you 
be  able  to  offer  it  in  color?”  Had 
the  home  set  owner  greeted  RCA 
with  but  a  fraction  of  industry’s 
interest  ih  closed-circuit  color,  it 
is  safe  to  predict  that  millions  of 
color  receivers  W'ould  have  been 
sold.; 

Why  is  there  this  seeming  para¬ 
dox?  .  And  is  it  a  paradox ,  at 
all?  I  don’t  have  a  color 
receiver  in  my  home,  whereas  we 
have  several  In  our  studio.  The 
point  is  that,  for  the  present.  Color 
is  far.  more  important  and  essential 
to  the  company  disseminating 
highly  Important  corporate  and 
product  information  to  -dealers, 
distributors  and  other  men  ih  the 
field  than  it  is  to  the  consumer 
who  flicks  on .  his  set  at  home  for 
pure  entertainment. 

The.  reason  for  this  demand  for 
color  in  closedrcircuit  tv  is  obvious 
when,  one  considers  the  importance 
of 'color  in  product  design,  packag¬ 
ing,  merchandising  programs,  and 
advertising  campaigns.  Many  a 
vice-president  in  charge  of  sales 
has  reacted  to  a  black-and-white 
pitch  as  follows:  “Look  here,  I’ye 
Spent  a  ton  of  money  to  put  color 
into  my  package,  my  product,  my 
merchandising  displays;  my  ad 
campaign  and  I’ll  he  •  durned  if 
I’ll  take  them  put  to  the  most  im¬ 
portant  audience  we’ll  ever  talk 
to,  our  dealers  and  distributors, 
in  model-T-style,  black-and-white.” 
Now  that  is  a  typical  and  under¬ 
standable  reaction  and  I  believe  it 
accounts  for  the:  dismal  growth  of 
the  closed-circuit  industry  to  date 
— so  dismal  has  it  been,  in  fact, 
that  theCe  exists  a  depressing,  un¬ 
pleasant  and  unprofitable  scramble  | 
among  black-and-white  producers 
for  the  few  crumbs,  that  exist.  A 
situation  that  hardly  adds  dignity  | 
or  stature  to  the  medium  itself.: 

[  .  .  ■  B!g7Biz.  Backers  ]  | 

The  requirements  for  a  closed- 
circuit  company  today  are  some¬ 
what  unique  in  that  it  Is  virtually 
impossible  to  start  off  in  a  tradi¬ 
tionally  sihall  way.  For  one  thing,, 
our  prospects  are  the  .  blue  chips 
of  industry.  Therefore,  the  Ideal 
ingredients  for  new  closed- 
circuit  company  are  as  many  blue 
chip  characteristics  >  as  possible! 
Glosedcircuit  Telecasting  System, 
or  CTS  as  we  are  called,  has  more 
than  enough  of  the  right  charac¬ 
teristics  to  set  the  stage  for  rapid 
growths  Financed  by  the  invest¬ 
ment  house  of  Clark  Dodge  Co., 
one  of  Its  two  senior  partners, 
Arthur  O.  Choate  Jr.  k  hoard 
(Continued  6n  page  43) 


AHTBODT  RECALL  ‘FEF  RADIO? 

By  ROBERT  J.  LANDRY 

Once  upon  a  time  there  was  a  hot,  new,  dazzlingly  successful  medium 
called  radio.  Rather  like  television,  really:  Member  of  the  same  club. 
The  point  which  has  been  obscured  by  time  is  that  when  radio  was  hot 
much  older  than  television  is  now,  a  lot  of  people,  pleading  their  col¬ 
lege  education,  were  saying  that  it  would  be  a  jolly  good  thing  if,  as 
a  blessed  relief  from  all  the  “plug-uglies,”  there  should  be  an  alter¬ 
native  kind  of  broadcasting,  be  supported  lay  fees. 

Sb  what  happened  to  “subscription”  radio? 

Well,  it  would  take  a  Congressional  committee  to  reduce  the  con¬ 
fused  story  to  numbered  chapters,  probably  leaving  the  confusion  in¬ 
tact.  But  one  thing  is.  clear:  The  networks  hated  the  idea  of  subscrip¬ 
tion  radio.  So  did  the  stations.  So  did  their  time  brokers.  In  fact,  as¬ 
persions  were  cast  upon  the  legitimacy  and  respectability  of  the  whole 
concept 

The  hint  was  passed:  Home-toll  was  subversive  to  rugged  individua¬ 
lism,  the  American  way  of  doing  things  and  married  love. 

World  War  II,  possibly  the  best  thing  that  eyer  happened  to  Ameri¬ 
can  radio.  Washed  out  “subscription”  even  as  an  idea,  and  it  was  nev¬ 
er  more  than  that,  The  broadcasters  had  been  In  rather  a  bad  way 
public-Telations-wise  in  the  period  just  ahead  of  Pearl  Harbor  and  the 
home-toll  talk  was  part  of  other  nervous,  possibilities,  such  as  Federal 
licensing  and  regulation  of  networks.  (This  is  up  again  now  vis-a-vis 
advertising  television).  The  debate  whether  “fee”  could  ever  survive, 
or  even  get  airborne,  against  “free”  radio  certainly  never  attained 
either  the  volubility  nor  intensity  of  the  1957  talkathon  arient  pay-see, 
about  which  Fred  Hift  writes  in  a  neighboring  story. 

Something  else  relates  to  the  abortive  agitation  of  18  years  ago  for 
home-toll  radio:  Namely,  frequency-modulation.  The  great  alibi  for  ail 
that  was  wrong  in  pre-war  broadcasting  was  the  scarcity  of  wave¬ 
lengths  under  the  amplitude-modulation  engineering  system.  F-M  was 
doped  to  revitalize  radio,  open  up  new  and  numerous  channels,  bring 
fresh  brains  and  money  into  the  .  industry.  Such  was  the  dream. 

F-M  came  along,  all  right,  after  the  war.  Hundreds  of  stations  were 
indeed  licensed.  Probably  it  could  be  argued  that  a  net  addition  of 
much  good  music  partly  fulfilled  the  predictions:  For  the  record:  It’s 
anybody's  guess  to  what  extent  the  exploited  dream  of:  F-M  choked 
subscription  radio  to  death. 

One  way  and  another — arguing  habit,  gratitude  and  the  sanction  of 
tenure — radio  successfully  stalled  Its  pre-war  Critics,  the  highbrows 
pitch  for  home-toll  programs,  and  the  F-M  promise  which  was  pre¬ 
sented  in  those  days  as  rendering  nil  fault-finding  superfluous.  So 
much  for  a  vague  chapter  of  entertainment  history. 

Today  the  proponents  of.  home-toll  are  as  commercially  hard-bitten 
as  the  networks.  The  struggle  has  riot  only  been  broadened,  but  the 
size  of  the  shells  being  lopped  over  the  garrisons  of  things  as  they  are 
more  deadly. 

.  One  final  difference,  however:  Whereas  the  great  appeal  inherent.  in: 
the  idea  of  “subscription”  radio  was  its  pledged  freedom  from  adver¬ 
tising,  most  of  the  prompters;  of  today’s  television-on-a-meter  are  coy 
about  flatly  saying  that  would  not  accept  sponsor’s  inoney,  along  with 
anybody  else’s, 

The  radio  acorn  may  yet  grow  into  a  tree. 


Another  Weep,  Another  Wail 

=====  By  ALBERT  MARGOUES  ===== = 


Seated  one  day  near  the  muted 
organ  in  the  music  room  of  my 
pied  a  terre  in  Greenwich  Village, 
1  was,  to  tell  the.  truth,  neither 
weary  nor  111  at  ease.  I  was,  in 
fact,  full  of  what  I  have  frequently 
heard  referred  to  as  both  pep  and 
vinegar.  In  that,  salutory  state  (it 
also  being  Wednesday)  my  fingers 
wandered  idly  through  the  limpid 
pages  of  Variety,  and  after  the 
bizzes  .  and  the  terrifs  and  the 
NSG's  arid  the  boffos  each  caressed 
me  in  turn,  I  was  all  at  once  con¬ 
fronted  by  the  following: 

“Exhibitors  are  stepping  up 
their  campaign  to  get  Congress  to 
pass  a  law  banning  home  toll- 
vision.” 

It  stopped  me;  it  made  me  think 
a  little.  And,  if  confessions  are  in 
order,  I  confess  that  it  turned  me 
within  myself.  I  began  to  dream; 
carried  back  to  my  comparative 
youth,  just  a  few  oh,  so  short  years 
ago,  let’s  say  1945.  And  as  often 
happens  in  a  dream,  I  vividly  ex¬ 
perienced  again  a  thing  of  my  past 
— another  stepping  up,  another 
calling  upon  Congress,  another  law 
to  ban  Something. 

I  was  carried  hack  to  that 
twelvemonth  I  had  long  ago  spent 
taking  a  comprehensive  advanced 
course  in  first-aid— a  year  given 
over  to  my  love  of  humanity  arid 
a  passionate  unwillingness  to  see 
it  suffer.  In  my  dream  it  was,  pre¬ 
cisely,'  the  very  day  I  had  been 
graduated,  cum  laudanum  (please 
remember-  it  was  a  school  that 
taught  first-aid,  not  Latin). 

I  was  walking  up  a  busy  Chi¬ 
cago  street,  holding  with  possessive 
pride  the  parchment  scroll  that 
\vas  my  Resuscitation  Certificate-— 
giving  me  the  right,  and  indeed 
imposing  upon  me  the'  duty,  to  aid 
those  In  distress.  This  was  com¬ 
mencement  for  me;  but  little  did 
I  know  that  things  would  start 
commencing  so  soon. 

Walking  past  an  Imposing  edifice 
adorned  with  a  soft  mixture  of 
ionic  pillars  and  neo-gothic  sculp¬ 
tural  decoration,  I  was  suddenly 
arrested  by  a  sound  of  misery. 
There  was  a  loud  weeping  coming 
Horn  the  recesses  of  the  building 
— a  weeping,  accompanied  by  what 
might  very  well  be  called  a  wailing. 

I  Here,  was  the  sound  of  suffering, 


of  pain.  I  clutched  my  Resuscita¬ 
tion  Certificate  in  freezing  fingers, 
and  found,  that  I  could  not.  move 
another  step.  Was  my  vocation 
coming  to  fruition  so  soon?  Was 
my  very  first  moment  of  usefulness 
be  a  very  big  moment?  Was  thi 
to  be  a  test — so  early,  so  urgent— 
of  my  mettle? 

Without  another  thought,  I 
charged  into  the  building.  I  found 
myself  in  an  auditorium,  where 
perhaps  a  hundred  people  were 
seated.  It  was  a  meeting  of  some 
sort,  for  there  was  a  chairman  on 
a  platform,  and  a  small  man  writ¬ 
ing  at  a  little  table  at  the  side. 

There  was  certainly,  weeping 
here..  And  there  was  also,  wailing.. 
At  half-minute  intervals  there 
were  cries  of  dismay  and  protest 
from  the  assemblage.  The  chair¬ 
man  Would  intone  a  phrase  or  two, 
and  the  hundred  men  facing  him 
would  respond;  as  in  some  religious 

ritual _ 

\  .  ;  Sounds  Familiar  j 

I  looked  around  with  my  prac¬ 
ticed  first-aid  eye  (Over  the  years 
I  have  forgotten  what  I  did  with 
the  other  one),  and  I  saw  that  no 
one  seemed  to  be  injured — at  least 
not  physically.  I  looked  for  the 
usual  signs  —  blood,  convulsions, 
unconsciousness,  the  tortured  mien 
of  the  ill. '  But  I  found  none.  Every¬ 
one  seemed  to  be  well,  rosy- 
checked,  and  in  full  possession  of 
his  physical  faculties. 

Above  the  platform,  just  over 
the:  head  of  the  chairman  was  .a 
banner  emblazoned  With:  “Movie 
Exhibitors  of  Wherever  (MEOW)— 
Annual  Convention.’’.  This  was  ap¬ 
parently.  a  session  of  the  conven¬ 
tion,  and  the  chairman  ,  was  talking 
about  the  menace,  of  television. 

“Television  will  put  us  out  of 
business!”  lie  cried.  : 

There  was  a  tragic  outciy  of 
response  from  the  assemblage; 

•  “Television  is  against  the  public 
interest;.  It  will  be  using  up.  the 
airwaves,  and  the  air  belongs  to  the 
people,  and  If  they  use.  it  up  in 
waves,  what’s  going  to  be  left  for 
people  to  breathe!” 

Another  weeping,  and  another 
wailing. 

“It’s  against  American  traditions 
to  ask  people  to  put  a  big  box  In 
(Continued  on  page  43) 


January  8, 1958 


43 


Fifty-second  l^Q&IETY  Anniversary 


TOIXVISION 


Showmanship-Closed  Circuit 

By  NATHAN  L.  HALPERN 

(President,  TNT  Tele-Sessions  Inc.) 


Closed  -  circuit  television  means 
different  things  to  different  people;. 
It  may;  be  employed  to  observe  an 
atomic  reaction,  to  be  a  baby  sitter 
or  a  plant  watchdog^,  or  to  review 
check  signatures  in  a  bank 

These  specialized  uses,  however, 
ate  not  closed-circuit  television,  as 
we  speak  of  it  at  TNT.  Our  kind 
of  closed-circuit  television  has 
made  its  greatest  impact  in  the  last 
decade  as  a  unique,  rapid  and  effi¬ 
cient  business  communications  sys¬ 
tem. 

Offhand,,  it  would  seem  that  this 
medium  is  simplex-train  the  cam¬ 
era  on  an  executive,  gather  the 
company’s  personnel  before  re¬ 
ceivers  and  projectors,  and  pronto,, 
the  message  is  delivered.  Anyone 
who  still  harbors  this  misconcep¬ 
tion  has  never  witnessed  the  elabo¬ 
rate  and  painstaking,  preparation 
that  goes  into,  the  production  and 
execution  of  a  closed-circuit  busi¬ 
ness  meeting. 

The  staging  and  transmission  of 
a  closed-circuit  business  tele-ses¬ 
sion  is  a  specialty  of  its  own.  In 
this  era  of  specialization,  TNT 
Tele-Sessions  has  established  a. 
policy  of  serving  its  clients  by  de¬ 
voting  itself  exclusively  to  staging 
business  meetings  on  closed-circuit 
television.  We  feel  that  such  spe¬ 
cialization  best  serves  business  and 
industrial  clients; 

.  While  closed-video  borrows  from 
other  fields,  such  as  home  televi¬ 
sion,  live  meetings,  the.  legitimate 
stage,  touring  business  shows  and 
industrial  films,,  tele-sessions  have 
become  a  specialty  completely  and 
uniquely  in  their- own  orbit 

1  How  It  Functions  | 

Perhaps  a  brief  detailing  of.  the 
organization  and  execution  of  a 
closed-circuit  business  meeting,  will 
best  demonstrate  the  numerous 
factors  involved  in  employing  ef¬ 
fectively,  this  modern  communica¬ 
tions  system.  Suppose  a  '  client  — - 
be  it  General  Motors,  General 
Electric,  IBM,  Ford  or  Chrysler  (to 
name  a  few  of  the  top  corporations 
that  have  used  closed-circuit  fre¬ 
quently)— signs  for  .  a  closed-circuit 
tele-session  to .  announce  a  new 
merchandising  plan  to  its  field  rep¬ 
resentatives  across  the  country. 

Immediately  there  arises  the 
problem  of  establishing  local  gath¬ 
ering  places  where  the  company’s 
farilung  representatives  can  assem¬ 
ble  conveniently.  At  this  moment, 
our  booking  personnel,  with  knowl¬ 
edge  of  the  facilities  of  every  im¬ 
portant  hotel,  auditorium  or  thea-. 
tre,  goes  into  action  and  “nails 
down’’  the  meeting  sites  for  the 
specified  day  and  hour. 

Simultaneously,  arrangements  are 
made  with  the  American  Tele¬ 
phone  &  Telegraph  Co.  to  clear 
long  lines  across  the  country  .for 
the  established  meeting  time.  Sim¬ 
ilar  arrangements  are  also  made 
with  local  telephone  companies  for 
the  special  installation  ■  of  local 
loops  into  the  local  meeting  places^ 
-  Our  field  service  representatives 
are  alerted,  and  our  large-screen 
projectors'  and  equipment,  de¬ 
ployed  strategically  in  key  market 
areas  throughout  the  United  States, 
are  transported  to  each  meeting 
place..  These  held  representatives, 
the  most  experienced  in  closed- 
circuit  setups,  contact  the  client’s 
local  representative  in  advance  to 
coordinate  the  local  meeting  with; 
the  tele-session.  The  RCA  Service 
representatives,  under  contract  to 
Tele-Sessions  in  each,  city,  then 
check  out  the  projectors,  and  test 
them  thoroughly  for  a  normal  pe¬ 
riod  of  a  week  ahead  of  telecast 
time. 

Meanwhile,  our  production  .and 
creative  staff;  headed  by  Marc 
Daniels,:  confers  with  the  client’s 
representatives  to.  determine  what 
kind  of  show  is  required  for.  the 
occasioned  simple  executive  dis¬ 
cussion,  a  little  show  of  much  busi¬ 
ness  and  a  little  integrated  enter¬ 
tainment,  or  a  full-blown,  musical 
extravaganza.  Sp e.c i a  1  i zing  in 
closed-circuit  programming,  we  are 
prepared. "  to  handle  bill  kinds  of 
shows;  Where  the  advertising  agen¬ 
cy  produces  the  program,  TNT 
provides  expert  big-screen  closed- 
circuit  consulting,  if  desired,,  and, 
of  course,  the.  complete  network 
facilities. 

.A  larger  production  may  require 
original  book,  music,  choreography 
and  of  course,  professional  per¬ 
formers.  All  of  these  elements  are 
assembled  by  Daniels  and  his  staff. 
Rehearsals  are.  conducted  with  the 
same  vigor  that  goes  into  the  pro¬ 
duction  pf  *  Broadway  show.  In 


addition  to  the  entertainment  por¬ 
tions  which  are  integrated  with  the 
company’s  message, ,  time  is  set 
aside  for  the  message,  of  the  chief 
executive  officers. 

'Although .  the  executive  may  be 
well  versed:  in  the  technique  of 
public,  speaking,  his  television, 
speech  must  be  so  directed  that  he 
conveys  the  feeling  that  he  is  per¬ 
sonally  speaking,  to  each  .and  every 
individual  assembled  in  .the  many 
local  meeting 'places.  The  usual 
public  speaking  methods  must  he 
“unlearned’’  and  the.  executive 
coached  to  look  at  his  camera  audi¬ 
ence  during  his  address.  We  know 
that  it  takes  considerable  Coaching 
by  an  experienced  closed-circuit 
showman  to  make  the  executive 
ready  for  effective  appearance — 
even  if  the.  program  is  simply,  a 
shirt-sleeve  session.  Corporate  ex¬ 
ecutives  should  never — but  never 
—present  important  messages  be¬ 
fore  video  cameras  without  proper 
advance  preparation. 

.Camera  crews  and.  studio  facili¬ 
ties  at  the  point— or  points— of 
origination  must  be  provided.  In 
addition,  the  crew  must  be  trained 
in  “shooting”  for  a  large-screen 
presentation,.  The  same  cameras  as 
are  employed  for  home  television 
are  used;  yet  .  the  crew  must  be 
briefed,  on  how  to  obtai  special 
effects  that  are  more  suited  for 
large-screen  viewing. 

.  On  the  day  before  the  scheduled 
telecast,;  field  engineers,  having  al¬ 
ready-  checked  out  the  equipments, 
install  the  large  screens  and  pro¬ 
jectors  in  exhibition  places  across 
the  country.  On  the  day.  of  the 
show,  test  patterns  are  run  for  sev¬ 
eral  hours  throughout  the  entire 
network  to  make  sure  that:  quality 
is  achieved  everywhere;  A  final 
dress  rehearsal  is  held  at  the  origi¬ 
nation  point.  Then  air  time— and 
the  show  goes  on. 

This:  details  only  briefly  the. 
enormous  preparation  and.  coordi¬ 
nation  that  goes  into  the  staging  of 
a  closed-circuit  television  business 
meeting.  In  a  single  business  tele¬ 
session,  for  example/  TNT’s  Oper¬ 
ations  Department  compiled  the 
following  statistics:  12,000  miles  of 
television  lines  were  used  for  a. 
79-city  business  hookup,  A.T:&T. 
line  charges  alone  totalling  $100,- 
000;  90,000  pounds  of  projector 
equipment  was  shipped  ,  and  used; 
and  more  than  1,500  people  were 
involved  in  handling  the  telecast 
technically; 

We  think  We.  have  created  a 
new  form  of  business  meeting  and 
a  new  form,  of  television..  Just  as 
in  broadcast  television,  closed-cir¬ 
cuit  makes  rigid  demands  on  the: 
organizations  that  create,  produce 
a*d  network  it.  And  since  the  ef¬ 
fectiveness  of  business  communica¬ 
tion  is  at  stake,  we  believe  that 
special  talents,  special  skills  and 
full-time  attention  are  absolute 
prerequisites. 


Closed-Circuit  TV  Color 

,  Continued  from  page  42  sss 

chairman  pf  CTS.  We  also  have 
a  Rockefeller  on  our  board  and 
among  our  stockholders  are  some 
ot  the  most  sophisticated  risk 
capitalists .  in  the  country. 

To  get  back  to  the  state  of  the 
art  of  .  big-screen  color  tv,  and 
where  it  stands  today,  the  most 
meaningful,  answer  will,  of  course, 
be  given  in  the  next  12  months  by 
those  who  plan  to  use  it  and  by 
those  who  watch  it  grow. 

GTS’  position  Is  probably  best 
understood  in  terms  of  the  sub¬ 
stantial  investment  we  have  made 
arid  continue  to  make  in :  it. .  Mean¬ 
time,  we  can  report  that  as  a 
result  of  12  months  Of  continuous, 
developmental  and  experimental 
work  we  are  delivering  a  6  foot  x  8 
foot  color  picture.  The  6x8  foot 
picture  is  now.  an  RCA  engineering 
specification  for  the  projection 
equipment  CTS  purchased  from 
RCA. 

This  time  last  year  .and  into 
about  August  of  :  1957,  CTS  ex¬ 
perienced  a  .  feW  minor  technical 
problems .  with  color  projection 
which  led  RCA  to  make  necessary 
modifications  in  the  equipment. 
This,  shakedown,  period  is  pretty 
standard  with  any  equipment  of 
this  type  and  from  September  on, 
the  color  definition,  brightness, 
density  and  overall  quality  has  led 
to  the  beginning  Of  a  buildup  in 
business  volume. 

;  In  the  past,  months,  CTS  has 
demonstrated  to  Several  hundred 


prospects  using  as  program  content 
for  the  big  screen  color  demonstra¬ 
tions  such  network  color  shows  as 
“Green  Pastures/*  the  General 
Motors  show,  Army-Navy  game, 
Standard  Oil  show,  and.  some  re¬ 
gularly  scheduled  color  programs. 

Last  May  the  Philips  Co.  In 
Eindhoven,  Holland,  demonstrated 
an  engineering  model  of  a  .  new 
p:  o j  eetbr  .that  delivers  a  minimum 
sized  9  foot,  x  12  foot  color  picture. 
Philips  is  one  of  the  world’s  lead¬ 
ers  in  electronic  equiment.  and,  in 
fact,  supply  .  RCA  with  the  color 
phosphorus  tubes  and  optics  used 
in  the  color  projection  system  RCA: 
sold  CTS.  .  Philips;  also  supplies 
many  of  the  components  •  in  the 
Todd-AO  motion  picture  projec¬ 
tion  equipment.  CTS  has  placed  an 
order  direct  with  Philips  for  some 
$200,000  worth  of  this  new  equips 
merit  delivery  of  wh;ch  is  sched¬ 
uled  for  late  1958.  .  This  hew  equip¬ 
ment  Will  be  used  to  augment  our 
present  equipment  by  Way  of  cov¬ 
ering  large  audiences  of  from  800 
to  2;000  with  a  single  screen.  Our 
present  6  x8  foot  picture  is  up  to 
Covering  650  neople-  Thus,  in  the 
case  of  our  Dec.  12  telecast, .  We 
used  three  screens  to  cover  the 
audience  of  some  1.700.  On .  most 
closed  circuit  networks  for  busi¬ 
ness  meetings,  audiences  average 
about  300  except,  in  New  York. 
Chicago,  Los  Angeles,  Detroit  and 
possibly  one  or  two  other  cities. 

The  biggest  job  the  closed-circuit 
tv  companies  face  is  one  of  selling, 
and  promotion.  And;  until  con¬ 
siderably  more  effort  is  put  in  this 
direction,  prosoects  are  going  to 
continue  to.  virtually  seek  out  the 
medium;  This"  results  i  an  un¬ 
stable  industry  because  each  iob 
ends  up  by  being  auctioned  off  to 
the  lowest  bidder  Who,  more  often 
than  not,  ends  up  losing  money 
pr.  at  best,  breaking  even. 

We  believe  that  1958  will  be  a 
good  year  for  Closed-circuit  tv 
business  meetings  because  the 
medium  is  most  effective  When 
business  in  general  is  off  and 
management  denerids  more  than 
ever.  on.  the  nerformance  of  deal¬ 
ers,  distributors,  regional  exe¬ 
cutives  and  others  in  the  field. 
Under  these  conditions,,  it  makes 
sense  to  divert  a  portion,  of  con¬ 
sumer  ad  dollars  to  hypping,  in¬ 
forming,  and.  In  general,  .,  supply¬ 
ing  strong  homeofficb  leadership 
for  the  men  on  the  firing,  line. 


Another  Weep 

Continued  from  pa&e  -42  . 

their  living  rooms!’*  The  chairman 
pointed  to  the  flag. 

“Oh  -  oh  -  ph  -  ",  .  /’ 

“Just  imagine  what  it’s  going  to 
cost  the  average  American  family! 
And  they  can  get  it  on  radio  for 
■nothing!/ 

“No  -  no  -  no  -  no  . .  .’* 

“It  will  only  line  the  pockets  of 
the  dollar-hurigry  promoters  of  j 
television!’* 

“Never — never  .  .  .’*  responded 
some.  “They’re  taking  the-  bread 
out  of  our  mouths/’  responded 
others. 

.  “Let’s  pass  a  resolution!”  de¬ 
claimed  the  chairman,  “Let’s  get 
Congress  tp  pass  a  law  banning 
television!’’ 

Weeping.  Wailing.  And  more 
weeping  and  wailing. 

“Resolved,,  that  there  be  no  such 
thing  ,  as  television!  MEOW  is 
unanimously  against  it!”  . 

That  did  it.  The  lamentations 
stopped.  The  men  in  the  audito¬ 
rium  rose  as  one.  They  shook  each 
Other’s  hands,  and  they  slapped 
each  other’s  backs.  They  laughed 
and  laughed,  and  they  lit  each 
other’s  cigars. 

On  my  way  out  of  the  audito¬ 
rium,  back  toward  the:  streets  of 
.Chicago,  I  heard  one  man,  his 
cheek  still  glistening  with  recent 
tears,  say  to  another/.  "Anyway, 
now  we  can  be  sure  of  one  thing. 
Television  will  never,  never  come. 
Congress  will  surely  legislate  it. 
out  of  existence/’ 

Ah,  yes:  As  I:  leafed  through 
Variety,  I  remembered .  what  hap¬ 
pened  that  day  all  those  years  ago; 

I  remembered  it  as  I  come,  across 
this  newest  of  determination  on 
the  part  of  exhibitors  to  get  Con¬ 
gress  to  pass  a  law..  Unfortunately, 
that  time  they,  didn’t  succeed,  Un-: 
fortunately?  I  wonder*  For  a 
number  of  men ;  in  that  auditorium 
that  day— inclUdfrig  the  chairman 
—mind,  you1— now  own  television 
stations/ 

NoW  Who  knows-  what  Will  hap¬ 
pen  with  their  current  law  against 
tollvisiori?  Who  knows? 


The  vital  Statistics  Of 
Closed-Circuit  Telecasting 

By  WILLIAM  P.  ROSENSOHN 

(V.P.t  TelePrompter  Corp.) 


Closed-circuit  television,  it 
is  applied  to  business  communica¬ 
tions,  is  a  relatively  young  medi¬ 
um,  The  firsts  large  screen  multi-. 

|  city  sales  meeting  took  place  in 
j  December  of  1952;  During  the  year 

1953  no  similar  Use  was  made  of 
the  medium.  Then  in  1954  using 
the.  medium  became  a  much  more 
important  and  frequent  event.  For 
example,  in  January  1954,  Ford, 
Sealtest  and  Dodge  all  held  impor¬ 
tant  sales  meetings;  All  told;  in 

1954  there  were  approximately  15 
major  closed-circuit. meetings  held. 
The  total  dollar  volume  for  the 
field  was  about  31,200,000,  1955 
saw  a  steady  though  not  dramatic 
increase  in  the  use  of  this  televi¬ 
sion  medium.  There  were  .about 
20  meetings  held  arid  the  total  dol¬ 
lar  volume  was  about  $1,760,000, 
Perhaps  the  most  interesting  de¬ 
velopment  in  the  years  1954  arid 

1955  Was  the:  fact  that  closed-cir¬ 
cuit  meetings,  which  at  first  were 
held  almost  exclusively  in  theatres, 
werg  transplanted  to  hotels  which; 
offered  far  more  suitable  surround¬ 
ings  for  the  programs.  In  1956  the 
volume  and  number  of  meetings 
again  showed  an  increase.  There 
were  approximately  25  closed-cir¬ 
cuit  meetings  put  on  and  the  total 
dollar  volume  was  in  excess  of 
$2,000,000. 

Continuing  the  growth  pattern, 
1957  has  seen  approximately  35 
important  closed-circuit  meetings, 
with  a  dollar  volume  in  excess  of 
$2,400,000. 

Since  closed-circuit  television 
offers  so  many  important  inherent 
advantages^  such  as.  economy;  im¬ 
pact,  flexibility  and  coverage/  it 
is  pertinent  to  ask:  Why  then 
hasn’t  the  medium  grown  at  a 
more  rapid  rate?  Of  equal  impor¬ 
tance  can  be  the  question-  what 
can  we  look  for  in  the  immediate, 
future  as  far  as  the  growth  pat¬ 
tern  of  the  medium  is  concerned? 

|  Not  Clear  on  Its  Meaning  j 

.  To  begin  with,  closed-circuit 
television  has  suffered  from,  the 
fact  that  very  few  people  know 
just  exactly  what  it  is,  what  it 
does  and  what  it  costs.  A  wide¬ 
spread  educational  program  has 
never,  been  undertaken.  While  it 
is  true  that  individual  companies 
in  the  field  have:  endeavored, 
through  their  own  personal  efforts 
to  establish  the  value  of  the  medi¬ 
um,  these  efforts  have  generally 
fallen  far  short  of  the  desired  tar¬ 
get  Of  familiarizing  all  prospective 
users  with  the  medium’s  value. 
Further,  the  fact  that  the  medium 
has  beeri  used  by  large  companies, 
such  .  as .  General  Motors,  Ford, 
Chrysler  and  U.  S.  Steel,  has 
tended  to  discourage  smaller  com¬ 
panies,  because  they  feel  that  the 
medium  must  of  necessity  be  too 
costly  for  their  company’s  budget,. 

Another,  point  to  be  considered 
is  that  initially  the  very  equip¬ 
ment  and  facilities  used  for  put¬ 
ting  on  a  closed-circuit  program 
left  considerable  room  for  im¬ 
provement.  Each  closed-circuit 
telecast,  for  example,,  is  viewed  at 
•  a  reception  outlet  .through  the  use 
of  a  large  screen  projector.  These 
projectors  are  capable  of  produc¬ 
ing  a  picture  ranging  in  size  from 
9'  x  12'  to  15'  X  20'.  It  has  only 
been  recently  that  General  Pre¬ 
cision  Laboratory  has,  through  the 
design  of  a  new  optical  system, 
been  able  to  manufacture  a  pro¬ 
jector  pf  suitable  quality  arid 
brightness.  At  the  Same  time,  the 
facilities  of  AT&T,  Which  must 
be  used  to  interconnect  the  cities 
of  any  network,  have  been  im¬ 
proved  immeasurably  -Since  the 
early  days  of  the  medium's,  growth. 
In  many  areas  microwave  relay, 
facilities  have  replaced  coaxial, 
cable*  This  has  meant  that  the 
closed  -  circuit  telecast  can  be 
transmitted  to  all  the  cities  on  the 
network  with  a  minimum  of  dis¬ 
tortion. 

Over  arid  above  educational  and 
technical  reasons  for  the  limited 
growth  of  the  medium,  perhaps 
there  is  another  even  more  signifi¬ 
cant  factor  to  consider — cost:  Use 
of  the  medium  today  generally 
costs  between  $1,800  and  $2,200 
per.  city.  Thus  a  30-city  telecast 
would  cost  anywhere  from  $54,000 
to  $66,000.  This  price  would  in¬ 
clude  all  elements  connected  with, 
the  closed-circuit,  telecast,  such  as 


the  production,  origination,  trans¬ 
mission  and  viewing  facilities..  For 
a  large  company  this  is  not  a  stag¬ 
gering  sum.  However,  to  a  small 
company,  or  a  company  with  per¬ 
haps  a  limited  sales  or  field  force, 
this  could  be  considered  as  too 
large  ,  an  expenditure.  Of  course, 
in  ..determining  ,  the  cost  of  a  closed- 
circuit  telecast,  it  is  important  to 
relate  the  total  price  to  the  num¬ 
ber  of  viewers.  Thus,  if  in  a  30- 
city  telecast  an  audience  of  ap¬ 
proximately  500  per  city  were;  to 
attend,  the  cost  per  viewer,  would 
be  approximately  $4.  If  only  250 
attended,  then  the  cost  would  be 
approximately  $8;  When  the  cost 
is  so  reduced  it  is  easy  to  see  that 
reaching  a  field  force  through 
closed-circuit  television  is  far 
cheaper  than  bringing  a  group, 
however  small,  to  a  central  point. 
j _ The  Cost  Factor _ | 

It  is  also  generally  cheaper. than 
having  special  film  made  for  dis¬ 
tribution  and  in  this  connection 
closed-circuit  offers  a  unique  ad¬ 
vantage  in  that  a  kinescope  record¬ 
ing  of  the  telecast  can  be  had  for 
future  use  Without  any  charge 
over  and  beyond  the  cost  of  the 
telecast.  Nevertheless,  it  is  my 
judgment  that  to  increase  the 
growth  of  the  closed-circuit  medi¬ 
um  everything  possible  should  be 
done  to  bring  the  cost  down  to  a 
minimum.  Obviously,  the  less  ex¬ 
pensive  the  cost,  the  more  compa¬ 
nies,  large  arid  smalL  will  be  able 
to  use  It.  To  bring  down  the  cost 
the  most  effective  thing  to  be  done 
Would  he  to  increase ,  the  volume 
of  business  in  the  medium.  In  or¬ 
der  that  this  point  can  be  fully 
understood,  let  me  explain  that 
many  of  the  cost  factors  of 
putting  on  a  closed-circuit  telecast 
are  such  that  the  facilities  provid¬ 
ed  can  be  used  and  re-used  with 
small  additional  cost 

This  means,  for  example,  if  a 
local  loop,  (connection  between  the 
termination  of  the  long  lines  and 
the  viewing  outlet)  is  installed  in 
a  hotel,  the  cost  is  approximately 
$500.  This  loop  can  be  used  again 
for  a  30-day  period  at  slight  addi¬ 
tional  cost.  Thus,  if  there  were 
to  be  only  one  user  of  the  loop, 
the  cost  to  the  client  would  be 
$500.  However,  if  there  were  to 
be:  five  users  during  the  30-day 
period,  then  each  use  would  be 
approximately  $100.  To  increase 
volume  it  is  my  very  strong  belief 
that  closed-circuit  television  must 
■be  taken  out  of  the  category  of  be¬ 
ing  a  medium  for  special  or  emer¬ 
gency  events.  While  it  is  certainly 
true  that  closed-circuit  can  be 
used  for  the  introduction  of  new 
products,  it  is  even  more  empha¬ 
tically  true  that  closed-circuit  can 
be  used  as  a  regular  means  of  com¬ 
munications  between  management 
and-its  field  force.  Thus,  if  closed- 
circuit  television  were  to  toe  set 
up  on  a  basis  whereby  it  could  be 
integrated  into  a  company’s  over- 
all  communications  program  and 
whereby  a  certain  number  of  meet¬ 
ings  could  be  scheduled  in  ad¬ 
vance,  the  volume  of  the  medium 
can  be  increased  tremendously 
and  the  cost  per  telecast  reduced 
substantially. 

In  thinking  of  closed-circuit  -we 
must  understand  that  we  are  talk¬ 
ing  about  more  than  a  medium' 
for  sales  meetings.  It  can  be,  i 
fact  it  has  been,  used  for  such  im¬ 
portant  uses  as  fund-raising,  edu¬ 
cational  (doctors),  changing  a  com¬ 
pany’s  name,  and  stockholder 
meetings.  Closed-circuit  television 
.is,  by  and  large,  the  most  effective 
way  for  management  to  keep  in 
touch  with  its  field  forces.  As  the 
market  tends  to  become  more  of 
a  buyers  market  it  will  be  increas¬ 
ingly  important  for  companies, 
both;  large  and  small;  to  keep  in 
constant  touch  with  their  sales  and. 
field  force.  In  this  connection  and 
in  this  area  closed-circuit  should 
play  a  vital  role. 

Now  as  to  the  volume  to  be  ex¬ 
pected  in  1958.  Based  upon  the 
business  that  TeleProrapTer  has 
already  booked  and  upon  the  gen¬ 
eral  interest  that  exists  in  the  field,. 
I  Would  not  hesitate  to  predict  a 
total  volume  of  $4,000,000.  By  1960, 
I  think  it  is  safe  to  expect  an  an¬ 
nual  volume  of  $10,000,000.  Closed 
-circuit,  television  will  continue  to 
grow  at  an  accelerated  rate.  It 
represents  a  /substitution  of  a 
transportation  of  ideas  for  a  trans¬ 
portation- of  men. 


Fifty-tecond  dnnivenary 


January  8, 1$58 


December  29  through  hfay  3 


To  the  world  over 

the  sapphire  is  the  symbolic  gift  in  recognition 
of  45  years  ...and  in  this  tradition 
Universal  offers  the  "jewels**  of  its  production 
program.  .  ,16  outstanding  features  designed 
to  shine  brightly  at  your  box  office.  Once  again 
Showmen  everywhere  are  enthusiastically 
Invited  to  participate  in  this  drive  ...and  to 
share  in  this  most  important  single  sales  event 
in  U-I -history,  rt  is  indeed  an  assemblage  of 
product  with  the  widest  possible  "built-in  appeal** 
designed  to  fit  the  heeds  of  every  kind  of  theatre 
in  every  type  of  situation. 


Now,  more  than 


I  ever,  it's  U  und  I! 


L-r 


JUNE  DAVID 

ALLYSON  -  NIVEN 


CHARLTON  JANET  ORSON 

HESTON  LEIGH  WELLES 


AKIM  TAMIROFF  , 
JOSEPH  CALLEfA 

MARLENE  DIETRICH  ■  ZSS  ESJ  GABOR 


41 


January  S,  195* 


Fifty-second  Anniversary 


THE  INSIDE  STORY  OF  THE  LAND 
OF  MYSTERY  AND  CONTRAST  THAT 
PRODUCED  THE  EARTH  SATELLITES! 


fred  MacMURRAY 
joan  WELDON 
John  ERICSON 


GEORGE  GOBEL 
DIANA  DORS 


■1  xnamed 
■!  awomw 

:  ahd  tKe/re  the  W  kind  I  j 

wm  \\  adolpheJMENJOU 

1  JESSIE  ROWE  EARNS  -  NBA  TALBOT 
WILLIAM  REDF1ELB  •  STEVE  fHJNNF 

“-SS.^SESsS5 


ERNEST  TRIO  •  HOPE  EMERSON  •  ALAN  HALE'®'  * 
SYLVIA  FIELD  -  RETA  SHAW  •  ft/edtd  ty  ALLEN  "RBSNER 

ScreCTpiiytj,  DALE  and  KATfffRIKE  EUNSON  •  Produce*  b?  SAM  WCSENTHAL 
AN  RKO  RADIO  PICTURE  *  A  UNIVERSAL-INTERNATIONAL  RELEASE 


rock  HUDSON 
ROBERT  STACK  * 
DOROTHY  MALONE  '\  . ! 
JACK  CARSON  ^ 


_  74  ' 

/A7SN/SHED 

/JMG-ELS 


CinemaScoPE 

ROBERT  MIDOLETEN  ROBERT  I.  WILKE 


...  CWm/  these  Pictures  Currently  in  Release) 


“MAN  OF  A  THOUSAND  FACES" 

in  CinemaScope 

“QUANTEZ"  “The  UNHOLY  WIFE” 

Eastman  COLOR  in  CinemaScope  Technicolor 

“SLAUGHTER  ON  10th  AVENUE" 
“ESCAPADE  IN  JAPAN”  “SUM  CARTER” 

Technirama  •  Technicolor  Eastman  COLOR 


“THE  MONOLITH  MONSTERS” 
“LOVE  SLAVES  OF  THE  AMAZON” 
“THE  VIOLATORS” 


and*  th£A£h- 

‘TAMMY  AND  THE  BACHELOR’ 


46 


PICTURES 


Fifty-second  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


Adult  Books  Into  Films  Can  Bring 
Back  That  ‘Lost’ Audience 


By  JERRY  WALD 


jerry  Wald 


Hollywood, 

-The  completion  of  the  Job  of 
bringing  America's  phenomenal 
bestseller,  “Peyton  Place,”  to  the 
screen,  has  led  me  to  reflect  On 
the  varied 
p  r  Ob  1 e  m  & 
f  a  c  e  d  by  a. 
p  r  od  u  per 
when  he  starts 
out  to  film  the 
pages  of  a 
widely  -  read 
novel.  In  to¬ 
day's7  picture 
market,  where 
each  film  must' 
be  a  especial 
and  unique 
attraction,  the 
value  of  a  “pre-sold”  story  prop¬ 
erty  cannot  be  underestimated 
and,  one  of  the  chief  sources  of 
such  properties  are  long-selling  or 
bfcst-selling  books:  v 

No  novel,  howeveg  is  readymade 
for  transfer  into  a  screenplay  and 
it  has  occurred  to  me,  that  by  tak¬ 
ing  “Peyton  Place”  as  an  example, 
it  might  be  illuminating  to  direct 
a  sharp  glance  at  the  problems  en¬ 
countered  in  adapting  it. 

Harvey  Breit,  who  until  very  re¬ 
cently  wrote  an  interesting  weekly 
column  on  literary  matters  in  the 
Book  Review  section  of  the  N.  Y. 
Sunday  Times,  commented  that  it 
was  necessary  to  change  the  .  gen¬ 
eral  structure  and  other  story  ele¬ 
ments  in  adapting  most  novels  to 
the  screen.  He  further  said  that 
filmgoers  had  no  right  to  expect, 
as  they  often  appeared  to,  a  literal 
transcription  of  a  book  into  a  mo-, 
tion  picture.  He  pointed  out  that 
elements  which  might  he  exciting 
verbally  in  a  novel  just  wouldn’t 
work  visually  and  that  changed 
endings  usually  grew  logically  Out 
of  the  changes  necessarily  made 
along  the  way.  A  happy  ending, 
for  instance,  to  the  film  of  a  book 
that  ended  ,  sadly  wasn’t  just  an 
appendage  tacked  on  to  please  the 
public. 

Those  were  pleasant  words  com¬ 
ing  from  someone  on  the  novelist’s 
side  of  the  fence  because  they  bore 
out  what  I  have  discovered  during 
my  career  as  a  producer  of  films. 
We  must  always  remember  that 
the  motion  picture,  as  a  creative 
medium,,  has  its  own  special  re¬ 
quirements  and.  inner  laws,  just 
as  the  novel  has  as  a  literary  form 
and  the  legitimate  theatre  as  a 
dramatic  form.  There  is  a  lot  of 
flexibility  between  these  mediums, 
but  one  cannot  literally  be  trans¬ 
ferred  into  another.  To  film  a 
novel  page  by  page  would  result 
in  a  film  of  impossible  length  and 
tedium.  I  know  of  only  one  case 
where  this  was  actually  attempted- 
in  1923  when  Eric  von  Stroheim 
Set  out  to  film  prank  Norris’  natur¬ 
alistic  novel,  “McTeague.”  He  ap¬ 
parently  succeeded,  although  the 
executives  were  so  horrified  by  its 
length  that  they  cut  it  down  to 
10  reels,  letting  the  devil  take  the 
hindmost,  after..  ZaSu  Pitts,  who 
starred  in  it,  claimed  that  “it  took 
all  day  to  view  it.”  Film  critics  are 
still  divided  in  their  opinions  as 
to  whether  or  hot  the  film  was  im¬ 
proved  by  the  necessarily  merci¬ 
less  Cutting. 


|  A  Different  Medium;  | 


be  taken  with  the  original  material: 
But  what  liberties? 

How.  can  you  Change  things  with¬ 
out  destroying  the  intent  arid,  pur¬ 
pose  of  the  novel?  How  can  the 
necessary  changes  be  made  with¬ 
out  disappointing  and  frustrating 
the  book’s  admirers  when  they 
view  the  results  in  the  film?  This 
is  a  tight-rope  that  everyone  in¬ 
volved  in  its  adaptation  to  the 
screen,  including  the  producer, 
the  author  of  the  screenplay,  the 
director,  the  cinematographer  and 
the  players  have  to  tread  with 
agility.  An  effort  must  be  made  to 
hold  true  to  the  spirit  of  the  orig¬ 
inal.  The  elements  which  made  the 
novel  a  success  must  be  analyzed 
and  retained,  even  though  their, 
form  may  have  to  be  changed  and, 
by  so  doing,  a  film  is  often  an  im¬ 
provement  of  the  raw  material.  A 
great  many  excellent  motion  pic¬ 
tures  have  been  iriade  based  on 
second-rate  material. 

In  general,-  however,  a  film  can 
only  benefit  by  being  based  on  a 
really  fine  novel  or  stage  play,  for 
the  richness  of  the  original '  mate¬ 
rial  is  bound  to  make  itself  felt 
on  the  screen.  It’s  far  easier  to 
make  a  film  from  an  embarrass-: 
ment  of  riches  than  it  is  to  try 
and  develop  a  good  screenplay 
from  original  material  lacking  in 
both  incident  and  idea. 


Matter  Of  Selectivity 


Another  example  of  the  impos¬ 
sibility  of  literally  transferring 
One  medium  into  another  can  be 
seen  in  the  early  talkie  versions 
of  Broadway  plays,  when  plays  j 
were  filmed  just  as  they  were 
staged.  The  Camera  was  simply 
used  as  a  recording  mechanism 
and  the  results  Were  awful.  The 
lesson  this  taught  us  was  that  the 
camera  must  be  used  as  more  than 
just  a  witness  to  action:  it  must 
participate,  is  it  is  an  important 
creative  tool. 

Films  must  be  constructed  to 
achieve  their  own  unity  of  style 
and  form  and,  in  this  regard,  the 
novel  can  best  serve  as  the  “raw. 
material.”  A  good  novel  gives  you 
a  group  of  well-realized  characters, 
a  series  of  good  dramatic  situa¬ 
tions  and  a  compelling  story  line,; 
all  of  which  can  be  utilized  in  the 
film — but,  they  must  be  rearranged 
and  reshaped  in  terms,  of  the  mo¬ 
tion  picture  medium.  This,  Of 
course,  means  that  liberties  must 


“Peyton  Place”  was  especially 
rich  in  tfie  ingredients  necessary 
to  a  good  screenplay  arid  John 
Michael  Hayes,  who  was  assigned 
to  adapt  it,  found,  that  his  main 
probletn  was  to  avoid  the  portions 
which  iriight  be  considered  objec¬ 
tionable,  without  eviscerating  the 
main  story.  He  succeeded  by  re¬ 
taining  the  motivations  of  the  char¬ 
acters,  portraying  the  sceries  of 
explicit  sexuality  in  more  delicate 
terms. 

I  have  long  believed  that,  within 
the  limits  Of  the  Motion  Picture 
Code,  any  subject  could  be  treated 
so.  long  as  it  is  done  ,  within  the 
bounds  Of  good  taste.  A  motion  pic¬ 
ture  producer  must  strive  always  to 
neither  ,  offend  the  innocent  nor. 
frustrate  the  intelligent. 

In  analyzing  the  elements  that 
contributed  to  the  tremendous  suc¬ 
cess  of  the  nOvel,  “Peyton  Place,” 
we  found  What  is  found  in  all  wide¬ 
ly:  popular  books,  whether  they  are 
popular  books,  whether  they  are 
ephemeral  bestsellers  or.  acknowl¬ 
edged  classics:  hard  core  of 

moral  truth.  From  this  we  built  a 
film  that  is  thematically  strong  and 
which  has  something  vital  to  say  to 
people  everywhere. 

Every  good  story  radiates  out¬ 
ward,  in  its  effect  from  the  particu¬ 
lar  to  the  universal  and  the  most 
successful  books,  as  well  as  motion 
pictures,  deal  with  universally  felt 
emotions.  By  emphasizing  them 
and  portraying  our  characters  with 
compassion,  and  honesty*  We  were 
successful,  despite  all  the  neces¬ 
sary  departures  and  changes  from 
the  original,  in  capturing  in  the 
film,  Peyton  Place,  and  its  citizens 
in  a  way  which  gives  a  sense  -  of 
happy  recognition  to  the  readers  Of 
the  book. 

The  motion  picture,  as  a  medium 
of  expression,  is  orie  of  the  most 
effective  available  to  man.  Motion 
Pictures  have  it  within  their,  power 
to  appeal  to  a  mature  and  increas¬ 
ingly  well-educated  world  public 
and,  while  a  great  deal  of  attention 
has  recently  been  directed  toward 
attracting  the  teenage  audience,  I 
dD  not  think  we.  should  Underesti- 
mate  the  value  of  also  making  films 
Which  Will  challenge  and -  interest 
adults.  The  right  film  will  always 
bring  Out  the  ‘Tost”  audience  and 
stimulate  a  fresh  interest  in  inotion 
pictures  in  general. 

As  television  has  assumed,  the 
burden  of  supplying  the  hackneyed 
series  and  Tun-of-the-mill  product 
which  was  previously  a  Staple  of 
the  industry,  it  leaves  inotion  pic¬ 
ture  producers  with  no  alternative 
but  to  pursue  a  high  standard  of 
distinction,  and  this  opportunity 
should  be  welcomed  by  all  of  them. 
It.  is  the  uncommon  film  that  will 
entice  people  away  from  their 
homes  arid  into  the  theatres  these 
days  and  part  of  this  uricommoness 
can  be /realized  by  bringing  the 
work  of  our  finest  writers  to  the 
screen.  In  line  with  this  belief  I 


have  scheduled  “The  Long,  Hot 
Summer”  and  *?The  Sound  And 
The  Fury”  by  America’s  Nobel 
prizewinning  novelist,  William 
Faulkner;  “The  Big  War,”  by 
Anton  Myrer,  arid  “March  The 
Ninth”  by  A  C.  Hutchinson  for 
production  in  1958.  These  uncom¬ 
mon  books  ..will  all  make  uncom¬ 
mon  motion  pictures. 

I  am  certain  that  the  next  few 
years  will  See  the  production  Of 
many  .films  based  on  novels  of  lit¬ 
erary  distinction  and  that  their 
distinction:  will  be  transferred  to, 
maintained^-and  enhanced— on  the 
screen. 


Beer  &  Shop  Hours 

— ^  Continued  from  page. IT  ^ 

elty  as  tv,  and  are  ari  everi  greater 
threat  to  our  boXoffice  because 
they  encourage  unlimited  spending 
of  the  family  income. 

Hypertension  is  of  course  synon¬ 
ymous  with  theatre  business  every¬ 
where.  Qur  history  is  one  of  re¬ 
curring.  crises  arid  those  who  have 
won  through  many  tough  times  in 
the  past,  will  recognize  the  signs 
and  face  up  to  our  newest  chal¬ 
lenges  with  uridiminished  confi¬ 
dence  fa  the  inherent  strength  of 
the  motion  picture  to  see  this  one 
through  to  a  successful  conclusion. 

Of  course  there  is  nothing  novel 
about  a  boxoffice  recession.  They 
have  happened  many  times,  but 
mostly  as  the  result  of  fluctuating 
national  economy.  This  time  it  is 
remarkable  and  more  serious  be¬ 
cause  it  stems  from  3  different 
cause-r-the  emergence  of  powerful 
new  competitive  forces  in  the  field 
Of  entertainment  itself. 

The  whole  pattern  of  living  in 
this  country  is  undergoing  a  vast 
change.  The  .  days  when  the  cinema 
and  Outdoor  sports  provided,  the 
major  recreation  for  the:  masses 
are  gone  and  new  habits  are  form¬ 
ing. 

I  have  always  iriade  it  clear  to 
iriy  theatre,  organization,  that  we 
can  best  encourage  producers  to  in- 
| yest  capital,  in  first  class  motion 
pictures,  and  thereby  ensure  a 
healthy,  progressive  industry,  by 
concentrating  on  salesmanship. 
The  testing  time  for  salesmanship 
has  come,  a  time  to  sharpen  the 
appeal  of  the  cinema  with  ingenu¬ 
ity- and  with  continuity  to  drive  it 
horiie. 

,  Recently  I  pointed  out  one 
fortunate  factor  in  our  favor  in 
this  country.  Independent  re¬ 
search  has  revealed  that  up  to 
90%  of  the  young  people  be¬ 
tween  15-18  years  go  to  the 
movies  at  least  once  a  week. 
Clearly  our  chief  objective  must 
be  to  capitalize  ori  this  habit..  We 
must  strengthen  picture-going 
among  children  and  teenagers  and 
at.  the  same  time  find  new  methods 
for  bringing  back  lost  audierices 
among  the  older;  age  groups.  Drive-- 
Iri.  theatres  are  now  a  force  in  this 
mission  to  wiri  back  lost  patrons 
and  this  phase  of  expansion  is  be¬ 
ing  strongly  developed.. 

At  this  moment,  ns  we  in  Aus¬ 
tralia  experience  the  greatest 
threat  to.  the  boxoffice  iri  our  his¬ 
tory,  we  take  confidence  in  the 
knowledge  that  we  are  part  of  an 
enormous  world  -  wide,  industry 
which  has  always  gained  new 
strength  from  the  challenges  of  the 
past. 

We  believe  we  will  not  only  sur¬ 
vive  this  critical  five  years  period, 
but  that  we  will  come  out  of  it  a 
bigger  and  better  industry*  match¬ 
ing  the  growth  of  the .  Australian 
nation  itself., 


BERNIE  KAMBER  ON 
N.Y.-T0-LA.  SWING 

Bernard  M.  Kamber,  newly  ap- ! 
pointed  ad-pub  director  of  Hecht-: 
Hill-Lancaster,  will  -be-  dividing 
his  time 'between  New  York  and 
the  Coast  from, noW. on. 

He’ll  stay  west  while  a  picture 
is  in  production  arid  shift  to  . the 
east  as  it  inoves.  into  distribution. 


Show  Biz  Fictionary 


-By  NOEL  MEADOW- 


Film  with  'a  message’:  TV  com- 1 
mercial.  I 

“Summit  talk”:  Sweet  nothings 
while  necking  in  the  balcony’s  top 
row. 

Remote  control:  Operating  a  film 
studio  ,  owned  by  a  bank, 

Whodunit:  Careful  grammarians 
say  “whomdunit.” 

Long-term  contract:  Swell,  if  it’s 
got  enough  10-day  options. 

Sex  film:  Emotion  picture. 

Hi-fi:  O.K.,  and  you? 

Anti-trust:  Terms,  cash. 

Equal  time:  Reciprocal  courtesy 
any  con  would  offer  a  judge. 

Meticulous:  Author  of  “Peyton 
Place.” 

Best  seller:  Book  with  the  most 
four-letter  words  that  everyone 
knows  already. 

Sequel:  "Les  Men,”  starring  Mar¬ 
lon,  Rex  and  Porfirio. 

Horror  movie:  Anyway,  that’s 
what  the  critic  called  it. 

Kiss-and-Tell:  What  the  ingeriue 
reveals  after  a  private  audition. 

Sputnik:  .  Aerial  exploitation 
stunt  for  low-cost  family  trip  to 
the  moori. 

The  end  of  everything:  The  pop¬ 
corn  machine  broke  down. 

Biological  urge:  Felt  by  a  stu¬ 
dent  who  heard  It’s  easier  than 
chemistry. 

..  Fifth  Amendment:.  Won’t  talk 
eyen  to  the  fourth  or  sixth. 

Monday  morning  quarterback: 
Returning  the  two  bits  borrowed 
Friday. 

Working  press:  A  busy  tailor’s 
steam  machine. 

Free  verse:  Editors  just  don’t 
pay  for  it. 

Sonata:  Frankie. 

‘You  could  be  replaced’:  What 
the  TV  serviceman  is  thinking 
about  every  tube  in  your  set. 

Husband  &  wife  team:  He’s  had 
plenty  of  practice,  but  still  hasn’t 
caught  a  single  one  for  her  pitched 
curves. 

Smoked  ham:  Actor  fleeing  a 
burning  building. 

Isolation  booth:  They  put  him 
there  because  his  fevered  think¬ 
ing  may  be  catching. 

Sneak  preview:  A  quick  look  un¬ 
der  the  pot-lid. 

Labor  dispute:  Difference  of 
opinion  between  two  obstetricians. 

Expense  account:  Creative  writ¬ 
ing. 

Cocktail  hour:  Has  150  minutes, 
but  faster  than  the  average  60.  ' 

Molotov  cocktail:  It  was  OK  till 
the  Kremlin  dropped  a  mickey  in¬ 
to  it. 

Murder  mystery:  Why  wasn’t  It 
done  sooner? 

Madison  Square  Garden:  Avail¬ 
able  for  bar-mitzvahs  and  “Around 
The  World  In  80  Days”  parties. 

.  Press  conference:  Hooch,  Hoop¬ 
la  and  Hoocares? 

Station  break:  When  a  network 
buys  all  its  time. 

Party  of  the  second  part:  By 
then,  everyone’s  loaded  and  the  ac¬ 
tion  starts. 

3-Ring  circus:  A  Rheingold  Girl 
Contest  with  a  Ballantine  label. 

Sponsor:.  Psychiatrists  say  he  is 
the  "father  symbol”  in  a  TV  show 
company.  And  since  it’s  smart  to 
hate  your  father  .  . 

Script  girl:  Burlesque  queen. 

All  rights  reserved:  Engagement 
ring. 

-  Bonanza:  Good  with  cream. 

Swell  racket:  “For  whom  the  TV 
tolls.” 

.Miltown:  A  drug  on  the  market. 

Screen  synopsis:  Boil  it  down 
enough  and  you’ve  got  a  shooting- 
script. 

‘Get  lost’:  Second-stage  rocket 
in  the  Boy-Meets-Giri  formula. 

Incidental  music:  In  early  talk¬ 
ies,  it  covered  a  lull  in  dialog. 
Now:  same  thing. 

Thespian:  Can’t  hardly  get  that 
kind  any  more. 

‘Don’t  call  us,  we’ll  call  you’: 
The  brush  even  Fuller  never  dared 
to  make! 

Ravioli:  Movie  theatre  on  Broad¬ 
way. 

Residual  rights  retained:  a  legal 
separation. 

Reverted  to  public  domain:  A 

divorce. 

Guest  shot:  1.  About  time,  too. 
2.  By  which  host? 

Capital  gains  tax:  Minimum  fine 
imposed  .  by  Government  because 
they  didn’t  actually  catch  you 
working  for  it. 

Backstage:  On  opening  night,  a 
branch  office  of  Western  Union. 

Windfall:  Instant  Cadillac.  . 

Appendix:  In  a  book,  even  strep- 
tomyciri  doesn’t  help. 


Loot:  Ancient  harp. 

Perfect  36:  Yeah,  but  ’46  was  still 
better. 

“What  have  you  done  for  me 
lately?”:  Memory  test  no  one  can 
pass. 

Dressing  room:  Capacity  of  a 
mayonnaise  jar. 

Muttnlck:  Flying  sausage. 

Double  take:  Grafter  on  a  pay¬ 
roll,  too. 

Double  negative:  For  wide- 
reen. 

Laid  an  egg:  For  which  -they 
blame  everybody  but  the  hen. 
Disarming:  Venus  de  Milo. 
Jurisdictional  dispute:  Old  union 
organizers  never  die;  they  just  raid 
awaV; 

Fuss  and  feathers:  Thanksgiving  . 
Day  dinner. 

Broadway  legit  boxoffice:  The 
grill  keeps  the  inmates  from  biting 
the  customers. 

Incongruous:  Where  your  Rep¬ 
resentative  sits. 

Upsurge:  A  haughty  actor, 

Patent  pending:  Hands,  off  till 
we  call  get  rid  of  some  more  stock: 

Togetherness:  1.  Lox  arid  bagels. 
2.  Pay-TV. 

Rack  and  ruin:  Hanging  your 
coat  in  a .  nightclub. 

Atlas:  Finally. 

Going  steady;  Good  mobility  aft¬ 
er  the  office  party. 

Good  mixer:  Favorite  bartender. 
Oboe:  Dispossed  from  the  Bow¬ 
ery. 

Pica:  Cheap  skate. 

Psychiatrist:  Press  agent  for  a 
couch. 

21  plus;  A  smart  restaurant. 

Rank  and  file:  A  safecracker’s 
tools. 

38-20-36:  I  can  dream,  can’t  I? 
Penny  pincher:  The  only  kind 
who  can  operate  safely  In  a  crowd¬ 
ed  subway. 

Riot  act:  Used  to  be  next-to-clos¬ 
ing  at  the  Palace. 

Tome:  Where  General  Grant  Is. 
buried. 

Evolution:  inspiration  for  the 
DAR. 

.  Bingo:  Don’t  laugh.  It  got  on.  an' 
election  ballot— andwon! 

Stage  entrance:  Don’t  they  all! 
Layman:  The  guy  with  the  most 
professional-sounding  Opinion.  .. 

Fickle:  Goes  good  with  a  pastra¬ 
mi  on  rye. 

Martinet:  I’ll  take  mine  dry. 
Roturida:  A  -fat  comedian.. 
Ventriloquist;  I’ll  take  the  check, 
waiter.” 

Optimist:  The  guy  who  mails  a 
postcard  marked*  “Personal.” 

.  “Go  fight  City  Hall”:  Expression 
implying  a  moral  victory. 

.  Do-It-Yourself:  How  to  save  big 
money  before  calling  In  the  pros 
to  repair  the  damage. 

Blue  chips:  No  margin  for  error. 
The  way  the  ball  bounces:  De¬ 
pends  on  how  hot  the  combo  is. 
Hangover:  A  stunt  man. 
Middleman:  One  who  gets  it  in 
the  end. 

Boston  Pops:  Carbonated  bever¬ 
age  with  a  New  England  accent. 

Movies:  Well,  some  of  them  ,  will 
riever  substitute  for  a  cathartic. 

Fashion  plate:  Where  a  catcher 
wearing  a  tuxedo  stands. 

Dude:  The  guy  who  puts  shoe 
trees  in  liis  rubbers. 

Fiasco:  Painted  by  a  poor  man’s 
Picasso. 

To  whom  It  may  concern:.  A  stab 
in  the  dark. 

Repeating  rifle:  Orie  loaded  with 
radishes. 

No  international  unity:  A  double 
date  involving  Brigitte  Bardot  and 
Jayne  Mansfield. 

Aftermath:  Biology,  civics,  etc. 
Open  and:  shut  case:  Only  orie 
drink  tb  a  guest 
Close  to  the  vest:  Gravy  spots. 
Strictly  for  the  birds:  Audubon 
Society. 

Strange  bedfellows:  The  honey¬ 
moon  is  over. 

“Let’s  look  at  it.  In  another 
light”:  Time  to  change  the  light 
bulb. 

Old  wives*  tales:  Slenderella. 
Senile:  But  see  Naples  first. 
Pragmatic:  Going  to  have  a  baby. 
Elbow  bender;  A  chiropractor. 
Statute:  Something  in  public 
parks. 

“The  New  Moon”:  Operetta 
turned  satellite. 

;  Egoist:  One  who  sees  “I”  to  “I’V 
Snake  eyes:  Point  of  no  return. 
Inundate:  Busy  tonight.  Try  riie 
next  week. 

Pathologist:  Road-riiap  maker. 
Breach:  Runs  along  the  ocean. 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second  U^RIEft  Anniversary 


WE  PLEDGE 
OUR  SINCERE 
COOPERATION 
TO  HELP  MAKE 


the  Coming 


48 


PICTURES 


Fifty-second  J^S&IETY  Anniversary 


The  7  Hills  of  Rome 

(MUSICAI^-COLOR) 

(Filmed  in  Rome) 


Lanza’s  back  and  Metro’s  got 
him  for  b.o.  returns  on  songs 
and  scenery.  Plot  liberties  ex¬ 
treme  but  not  crucial. 


Metro  release  of  LeCloud  Production 
(coproduction  by  Metro-Titanus-Mario 
Lauza-Lester  Welch),  produced  by  Welch. 
Stars  Mario  Lanza;  features  Renato 
Rascel,  Marisa  Allasio,  Peggie  Castle. 
Directed  by  Roy  Rowland.  Titanus  chief 
of  production,  Silvio  Clementelli.  Screen¬ 
play,  .  Art  Cohn  and  Giorgio  Prosper!, 
from  story  by  Giueseppi  Amato. .  Camera 
(Technirama),  TOnino  Delli  Colli  & 
Franco  Pelli  Colli;  music  composed  and 
conducted,  by  George  Stoll;  music,  super¬ 
visor,  Irving  Aaronson;  editor.  Gene  Rug¬ 
giero;  choreographer,  Paul  Steffen;  first 
asst,  director,  Mario  Russo;  asst,  direc¬ 
tors,.  Maria  Teresa  GiroSi,  Tina  Marchetti 
Cleric!;  music  editor,  Peter  Zinner:  ar¬ 
ranger,  Carlo.  Savina;  sets,  Piero'  Filip-: 

Sone  &  Luigi  Gervasi;  costumes,  Maria 
arony  Cecchi;  '  sound,  Mario.  Messina; 
makeup,  Otello  Fava;  hair  stylist,  Tina 
'  Cessetti  Sc  Marcella  Cecchini.  Tradeshown 
N.Y.,  Dec.  20,  ■’57.  Running  time,  107 

mins. 

Marc  Revere  . . . .  .  Mano  Lanza 

Pepe  Bbnelli  ..........  Renato  Rascel 

Raffaella  Marini  ...  — ...  Marisa  Allasio 
Carol  Ralston  .......  ^ 

Beatrice  - - - - 

Anita  - - - - 

Carlo-  - - - ....... 

Luiggi 

Director  Ulpia  Club..* 

Romoletto 


Peggie  Castle 
CleUa  Matania 
Bossella  Como 
.  Amos  .Ravoli 
Guido  Celano 
. .  Carlo  Rizzo 

.  . .....  MarCo  Aulli 

Corntnissaiio  HugareUo. . Giorgio  . Gandos 


Franco  Cellis  . . .  :  Carlo  Guiffre 

.  Landlady  . . . . ....... . .  Adriana  Hart 

Mr.  Fante'j  .  ...........  Patrick  Crean 

Helicopter  Pilot  .  Pennachi 

Mrs.  Stone  - .......  April  Hannessy. 

Miller  . . .  Stuart  Hart 

Street  inger  - - -  - -  Luisa  DiMeo 


“Three  .  Coins  in  the  Fountain”.  I 
Started  the  easy-chair,  cinematic  ! 
Cook’s  Tour  of  Rome  in.  Techni- 
colorful  celluloid  and  Mario  Lanza’s 
'■The  Seven  Hills  of  Rome”  com¬ 
pletes  it.  Between  the  Lanza  yoiee 
and  the  eye-filling  Technirama  pro¬ 
duction’s  values  Metro  has  a  global 
boxoffice  winner. 

There,  is  no  gainsaying  Lanza’s 
compellieng  voice.  There  is  also  no 
gainsaying  that  he  does  make  im¬ 
pact.  “The  Seven  Hills  of  Rome” 
marks  his  celluloid  comeback,  after 
four  previous  Metro!  pictures;  It’s 
also  his  first  overseas  production, 
jointly  made’by  Metro  with  Titanus 
and  LeCloud,  the  Lanza-Lester 
Welch  unit  which,  while  they  were 
at  it,  also  made  an  all-Italian  ver¬ 
sion. 

There  are  story  lapses  and  to¬ 
wards  the  end  there  is  a  marked 
histrionic  breakdown  along  with 
the  script’s  shortcomings  but,  for 
the  major  portion,  of  the  film’s  un¬ 
folding,  it  is  a  Vocal  tour-de-force 
for  the  star  and  an  arresting  close- 
up  of  one  of  the  most  colorful  and 
historic  capitals  of  the  world. 

In  this  respect  scripters  Art  Cohn 
and  Giorgio  Prosperi  (based  on 
Giuseppi  Amato’s  original),  direc¬ 
tor  Roy  Rowland  and  producer 
Lester  Welch  have  cannily  set  an 
ultramodern  plot  motivation  against 
the  Eternal  City’s  famed  back¬ 
ground. 

The  Italo-GI  influences  via  the 
street-scene  j  amsession,  showing 
the  rock  ’n’  Roman  kids  very  hip: 
to  the  jive,  segues  into  highly  ac¬ 
ceptable  Lanza  impressions  of 
Perry  Como,  Dean  Martin  and 
Frankie  Laine.  When  he  did  the 
Satchmo  takeoff  the  dialog  read, 
•‘Armstrong,  no  he  ain’t  Italian,  but 
he  don't  have  to  be;  he’s  good  top!” 

A  post-aijnight  party  calls  for  a 
friendly  stowaway  guest;  in  the 
bohemian  atelier  Of  pianist-song- 
smith  Renato  Rascel — an  excellent 
cOmedian,  by  the  way— taking  his 
host  on  an  early-dawn  helicopter 
aerial  closeup  Of  Rome,  and  its  en¬ 
virons.  Lanza  is  Rascel ?s  American 
cousin  on  his  first  trip  to  Rome. 
Plot  motivation  is  a  jealous .  chase 
after  Peggie  Castle,  his  socialite 
American  fiancee.  Lanza  is  also  oh 
the  low-flying  panoramic  view  of 
the  Roman  scenery  as  is  Marisa 
Allasio,  local  girl  whom  Lanza  had 
met  by  romantic  accident  on  the 
train  into  the  Stazione  Termini, 
Rome’s  central  railroad  station. 

Thus  are  unfolded  St.  Peter’s 
Square,  the  Via  Campo  Boari  with 
its  background  of  the  Aurelian. 
wall,  the  Casina  ‘  Valadier,  Pohte 
Palatino,  Via  Veheto,  and  the  an¬ 
cient  Olivus  Capitolinus.  Similarly, 
some  excellent  street  scenes  unfold, 
in  colorful  Technirama  authen¬ 
ticity,  as  the  jobseeking  Lanza  dou¬ 
bles  ad  lib  with  winsome  street 
urchin  Luisa  Dimeo  in  “Arriver- 
derci  Roma”  (authored  by  the 
film’s  featured  comedian,  Rascel) 
who  also  composed  “Ti  Voglio 
Benne  Tanto.  Tanto”  (also  with  the 
little  street  singer)  for  that  same 
Piazza  Navena  scene.  The  versatile 
Rascel  has  other  song  credits  in 
“Na  Canzone  Pe  Fa  Ammore,”  done 
In  Pepe’s.  studio;  “Venticello  di 
Roma”  (during  the  helicopter  tour), 
*‘E’  Arrivato  La  Bufera”  (delivery 
boy  on  bike), 


maci  Tanto  ;  Bene”  (laundress),  a 
medley  of  the  sounds  and  music 
as  part  of  the  Via  della  Pace  street, 
scene. 

Besides  the  already  familiar 
“Arriverderci  Ronia”  and  the 
wealth,  of  pop  standard  and  oper¬ 
atic  excerpts  done  by  Lanza;  there 
are  three  other  standout  tunes. 
George  Stoll,  who  WTote  the  ex¬ 
cellent  background  music  and  so 
lushly  batoned  the  musical  caval¬ 
cade,  also  authored  a  ‘‘Calypso 
Italiano.”  Two  other  standouts  are 
the  tiptop  title  song,  by  Harold. 
Adamson  and1  the  late  Victor 
Young,  and  a  fetching  waltz*  “Come 
Dance  With  Me.” 

The  plot  motivation  of  Lanza’s, 
professional  and  social  perigrina- 
tipns  from  the  U.S.  tv  studio, 
where  he  opens  with  a  snatch  of 
“All  the  Things  You  Are;”  to  the 
posh  yachting  party's  ‘‘Aye  Aye 
Aye”  excerpt,  to  the  Rome 
vaudery’s  amateur  night .  where  he 
wins  with  “Uesto  Q  Quella”  and 
clicks  later,  again  with  “Lolita,”  to 
the  class  Ulpia  nitery  where  he 
sings  “Loveliest  Night  of  the  Year” 
(one  of  his  own  filmusical  recrea¬ 
tions),  cues  it  all.  into  appropriate 
vocal  flights.  The  caption  might 
observe  this  is  a  Lanza  LP  with 
Burton  Holmes  or  James  A.  Fitz¬ 
patrick  visual  trimmings  but  it  is 
never,  boring.  The  entertainment 
values  are  there,  and  what  fan  will 
ask  for  more? 

True,  one  major  plot  incongruity 
might  have  been  squared  away — as 
Peggie  Castle  is  made  to  utter,  it 
too  late  in  the  plot— that  a  “tough 
business  manager”  for  the  Ameri¬ 
can  singing  star  (Lanza)  keeps  him 
conveniently,  broke.  But  until  that 
point  One  will  wonder  how  come 
an  American  tv  star  is  so  broke 
that  he  must  resort  to  street  buskin’ 
fbr  the  groceries;  rebuffed  at  the 
Ulpia  and  the  Caballa  while  job¬ 
seeking;  that  the  kids  doing  that 
rock  ’n*  roll  session  know  “the 
sirigirigbarber”  (as  they1  call  Comp), 
Laine*  Martin  and  Satchmo  and 
never  heard  of  Lanza,  presumably 
also  a  big  singing  Star  in  America. 

The  winsome  Marisa  Allasio  is 
a  comely  film  find  who,  when 
Metro  brings -her  to  the  States  for 
a  builderupper  (to  coincide  with 
the  picture’s  Radio  City- Music  Hall 
hooking),  will  go  places.  She  has 
the  physical  attributes  of  such 
other  famed  Italo  beauts  as  Gina 
and  Sophia  but  is  a.  fresher  arid 
younger  personality.  There,  too, 
the  boy-meets-girl  value  are  incon¬ 
gruous.  The  pseudo-social  Miss 
Castle  so  palpably  telegraphs  her 
wrongo  qualifications  as  Lanza’s 
romantic  vis-a-vis,  and  Miss  Allasio. 
is  so  obviously  the  “right”  femme 
interest,  that  wheri  filially  does 
come  the  clinch  it  is  completely 
false.  The  sharp  letdown  does  more 
to  militate  against  the -film’s  over¬ 
all  impression  than  anything  else 
that  has  preceded  which,  in  the 
main,  has  been  palatable  and  with 
reasonable  cinematic  plausibility. .  :. 

Because  of  the  script  Miss:  Castle 
is  the  least  believable,  albeit  prop¬ 
erly  decorative.  Rascel  tops  the 
Star  for  personal,  histrionic  impact 
although  Lanza’s  vocalisthenics  are 
undeniable.  Incidentally,  he  got  his 
weight  down  sufficiently  to  meet 
the  standards.  There  are  fine  bit 
roles  throughout,  notably  Marco 
Tulli  as  the  fiacre  driver;  Glelia 
Matania, .  owner:  of  the  fashion 
salon;  Guido  Celano,  owner  of  the 
variety  house;  Carlo  Rizzo;  direc¬ 
tor  of  the  Ulpia  nitery. 

Ail  the  production  credits  are 
top-drawer,  frpm  the  Rowland- 
Welch  director-production  investi¬ 
ture  and  Stoll’s  fine  musical  set¬ 
tings,  to  the  excellent  Technirama- 
glamour  lensing  by  Tonino  and 
Franco  Delli  Colli  and  all  the  other 
Italo  aides  behind  the  cameras  and 
the  booms.  Withal  “The  Seven 
Hills  of- Rome”  makes  for  a  delight¬ 
ful  “at  home  abroad”  entertain¬ 
ment.  Abel. 


footage  that  evokes  fond  memories 
of  Ben  Turpin,  Will  Rogers  and 
Harry .  Langdon,  among  others,  in 
their,  heyday. 

.  Nature  of  the  picture  Is  such 
that  it  cannot  be  casually  thrown 
into  the  distribution  hopper  and 
left  to  shift  for  itself.  It’s  primarily 
art  house  fare.  But  if  the  average 
exhibitor  takes  the  time  to.  contact 
schools.  Colleges  and  groups  inter¬ 
ested1  in  motion  picture  history 
very  likely  some  healthy  biz  can  be 
generated. 

Those  with  Captious  tendencies 
will  have  little  trouble  in  picking 
flaws  iri  Robert  Youngson’s  produc¬ 
tion.  For  of  the  comedies  he’s  cho¬ 
sen  to  revive  most  bear  either  the 
Hal  ROach  or  Mack  Sennett  im¬ 
print.  While  admittedly  Roach  and 
Sennett  were  kingpins  Of  their  day 
nevertheless  they  didn’t  have  a 
comer  on  corn.  Likewise,  such  top 
silent  comics  as  Lupino  Lane,  Bus¬ 
ter  Keaton,  W.  G.  Fields  and  Char¬ 
lie  Chaplin  to  name  a  few  weren’t 
included  in. 

At  any  rate  within  the  78  min¬ 
utes  runriing  time  there  are  a  num¬ 
ber  of  priceless  vignettes.  There 
are  hilarious  scenes  of  Will  Rogers 
lampooning  Douglas  Fairbanks’ 
version  of  Robin  Hood,  a  myriad  of 
Laurel  &  Hardy  sequences  and  a 
classic  Harry  Langdon  bit  in  which 
he  portrays  a  clumsy  groom  on  his 
honeymoon. 

Youngson’s  commentary  is  not. 
particularly  objective,  but  it’s, 
amusingly  :  narrated  .  by  Dwight 
Weist  and  Ward  Wilson.  It  con¬ 
tains  various  background  notes  of 
interest  to.  the  film  historian  and 
adult  layman  as  well.  Print;  is  in 
remarkably  good  condition.  Edit¬ 
ing  of  Albert  Helmes  and  the 
George  Steiner  score  are  good. 

Gilb. 


The  Golden  Age  Of 
Comedy 

Documentary  on  silent  slap¬ 
stick  films.  Good  art;  house 
b.o.  prospects. 


'  Distributors  Corp.  of '  America  release 
of  a  feature-length  compilation  of  silent 
screen  comedies.  With  Laurel  &  Hardy, 
Carole.  Lombard,  Harry  Langdon;  Jean 
Harlow,  WiU  Rogers,  Ben  Turpin,  Charley 
Chase,  others. Produced  and  Written  bv 
Robert  Youngson.  Narrators;  Dwight 
Weist,  Ward  Wilson;  editor,  Albert 
Helmes;  music,  .  George  Steiner.  At  Em¬ 
bassy  and  Guild  Theatres;  N  Y;,  Dec.  — 
'57.  Running  ti  ,  78  MINS. 


.  Filmgoers  who  may  still  have  a 
yeri  for  oldtime  slapstick  will  find 
“The  Golden  Age.  of  Comedy”  their 
cup  of  tea.  For  this  Distributors  of 

_  _ _ _  America  release,  written  and  prb- 

...  .,  ‘Ostricaro  Irina- 1  duced  by  Robert.  Youngsori,  is  a 
morato”  (fish  vendor)  and  “Voglia-  nostalgic  Collection  of  silerit  screen 


Teenage  Monster 

Imbecile  killer  protected  by 
mother.  Stirs  uu  little  interest. 
Fpr  low  IQ  audiences  only. 


Hollywood. 

Favorite  Filins  release  of  Marquette 
production,  presented  by.  Howco  Interna¬ 
tional.  Stars  -  Anne  Gwyhne.  Features 
Gloria  Castillo,  Stuart.  Wade,  GUbert 
Perkins.  Producer-director,  Jacques  Mar¬ 
quette;  screenplay,  Ray  Buffam;  camera. 
Taylor '  Byars;  sound,  George  Anderson; 
editor,  Irving  Schoenberg;  music,  Walter 
Greene.  Reviewed  Dec.  23,  '57.  Running 
time,  65  MINS. 


Ruth  Cannon  . . 

Kathy  North 

Sheriff  Bob  - - ; 

Charles  Cannon  . 


,> . . ,  Anne  Gwynne 

- Gloria  Castillo 

~  .'. .  Stuart  Wade 
. .  Gilbert  Perkins 


Charles:  Cannon  (as  boy)  Stephen  Parker 
Marv  Howell  Charles  Courtney 

Deputy  Ed  .......... _ Norman  Leavitt 

Jim  Cannon  . '. ..... .... .  Jim  McCullough 

Fred  Fox  .....  — . . . . .  Gaybe  Mooradian 

Man  With  Burro..;; . -Arthur  Berkeley 

Man  on:  Street  :  Frank  Daivis 


This  is  a  silly  nonsense,  an  un¬ 
worthy  companion  to  the  film  With 
which,  it  is  being  packaged  (''The 
Brairi  From  Planet  Arous”). 

Ray!  Buff  am  screenplay  centers 
around  Gilbert  Perkins,  a  huge, 
hairy  imbecile  who  goes  around  the 
countryside  killing  people  for  no 
particular  reason— the .  result  of 
being  struck,  years  before,  by  a 
weird  ball  of  fire  from,  the  -  sky 
Which  also  killed:  his  father.  Now, 
Anne  Gwyhne,  his  mother,  is.  keep¬ 
ing  him  hidden  from.  the:  world, 
upset  -about  the  murders  but  still 
protective  of  her  son. 

Story  winds  with  his  killing  by 
Sheriff  Stuart  Wade;  Who  also  hep- 
pens  to  be  Miss  GWynne’s  b.f. 
Gloria  Castillo,  top  featured,  plays 
a  trollop  who  discovers  the  family’s 
“secret,  and.  Who’s  paid  off  by 
mother  until  she  (Castillo)  herself 
is  killed  by  Perkins. 

Majority  of  the  players  way 
overact  under,  the  direction  of 
Jacques  Marquette,  Who  also  pro¬ 
duced.  Neal. 


TheBrain  From  Planet 
Arons; 


Fairly  good .  science-fiction.  It 
carries  package  with  mediocre 
“Teenage  Monster.” 


Hollywood. 

.  Favorite  Films  release  of  Marquette 
production,  presented  by  Howco' Inter¬ 
national:  :  Stars  John  Agar.  Features  Joyce 
Meadows,  Robert'  fuller,  Thomas  B. 
Heh^y.  Produced  by  Jacques  Marquette. 
Directed  by  Nathan  -  Hertz.  Screenplay, 
Ray  Buffam;  Camera,  Jacques  Marquette; 
sound;'  Philip .  Mitchell;  editor; .  Irving  M. 
Schoenberg;  music,  Walter  Greene.  Re¬ 
viewed  Dec.  23,  .'57.  Running  time,  70 


MINS. 

Steve 

Sally  Fallon  : 

Dan  ;  : . . . 

John  Fallon _ 

Col.  Frogley 


. . John  Agar 

...... .Joyce  Meadows 

.... : . . .  Robert  FuUer 

. . ...  Thomas  B.  Henry 

- — „  - ; . ; .  -  Henry  Travis 

CoL  in  Conference  Room  - -  Kenneth  Terrell 

Sheriff  Paine  ..... _ Tim  Graham 

General  Brown.  . . -...  E.  Leslie  Thomas 

Russian  ’  Bill  Giorgio 


.  This  modest-budgeter  stacks  up 
as  a  better-than-averaige  entry  in 
the  seemingly  endless  scientific- 
fiction  cycle,  certain  to  attract 
teenage  attention.  Film  is  being 
packaged  with  a  .  very  mediocre 
running  mate  “Teenage  Monster.” 
(See  separate  .review.) 

There’s  good  suspense  worked 
into,  the  familiar  Ray  Buffam 
screenplay.  Yarn  deals  With  an 
(Continued  on  page  290) 


Clubwomen  Pick  ‘Kwai’ 

As  Best  Film;  Laughton, 
Woodward  Best  Players 

General  Federation  of  Women’s 
Clubs  has  picked  Columbia’s  “The 
Bridge  on  the  River  Kwai”  as  the 
outstanding  picture  of  1957. 

Accordin g  to  Mrs.  Charlotte 
Baruth,  Clubs’:  national  motion  pic¬ 
ture  chairman,  Charles  Laughton 
rated  tops  for  the  year  by  virtue 
of  his  performance  in  “Witness  for 
the  Prosecution”  and  Joanne 
Woodward  was  named  Best  Actress 
for  her  role  in  “Three  Faces  of 
Eye.”  Billy  Wilder  got  the  nod  as 
“Best  Director”  for  his  work  on 
“Witness.” 

Clubs’  ten  best  lisit;  for  1957, 
apart  from  “Bridge,”  runs  as  fol¬ 
lows:  “Witness  for  the  Prosecu¬ 
tion,”  “Twelve  Angry  Men,”  “Say- 
onara,”  “Wild  is  the  Wind,”  “Spirit 
of  St.  Louis,”  “The  Great  Man,” 
“Les  Girls,”  “Gunfight  at  O.  K. 
Corral.”  arid  “Old  Yeller.” 

Award  for  the  year’s  best  short 
went  to  the  French-made  “The  Red 
Balloon.”  . 

With  the  exception  of  .“Sayon- 
ara?’  and  the  two  unreleased  films 
— “Witness:  for  the  Prosecution” 
and  “Old  Yeller”  —  as  well,  as 
‘•Bridge  on  the  River  Kwai,”  which 
shapes  as  a  hit,  the  jrest  of  the 
films  picked  by  the  Women’s  Clubs 
haven't  been  strong  at  the  box-, 
office.  “Twelve  Angry  Men”  and 
“Spirit,  of  St.  Louis”  particularly 
shaped  as  disappointments.  The 
Clubs  claim  a  membership  of  more 
than  11,000,000  women.. 

ALAN  GALE’S ‘LEGIT’ 
WEEKS  NEXT  SPRING 

Alan  Gale  is  again  trying  the 
hard-ticket  circuit.  He’s  been 
booked  for  a  series  of  dne-week 
stands  in  legit  houses  starting  at 
the  Nixori,  Pittsburgh  April  17. 
Other  dates  are  the  ShubCrt, 
Washington,  April  14; .  Colonial, 
Boston,  April  21;  Royal  Alexandra, 
Toronto,  April  28;  Her  Majesty’s, 
Montreal,  May  4;  Shubert,  Detroit, 
May  12,  and  the  Hanna,  Cleveland, 
May  19. 

Earlier  this  year.  Gale  played  a 
one-weeker  in  a  Chi  legit  house 
and  did  well.  Because  of  the  spe- 
cializeiT  act,  .  appealing  mainly  to 
Yiddish-speaking  audiences,.  Gale 
has  done  best  in  niteries  that  he 
operated  or  in  houses  that  he 
leased.  His  major  try  in  a  nitery 
that  he.  didn’t  operate,  a  stand  at 
the  Town  &  Country  Club,  Brook¬ 
lyn,  ended  after  several  nights  by 
mutual  agreement: 

.  William  Morris  Agency  is  still 
to  set  surrounding  acts. 


Hollywood. 

While  in  Tokyo,  Bob  Hope  c 
hosted  press  Conference  f 
Japanese  newsmen  with  M: 
Schneiderman,  United  Artists’  r< 
in  japan.  At  the  tl 

comedian  asserted  he  is  thinking 
making  ri  film  in  Tokyo,  in  vie 
“of  a  growing  interest  in  filr 
irisde.  on  foreign  locales.”  Hope 
“Holiday  in  Paris,”  will  be  one 
the  10  pix  UA  will  release  in  Jap; 
next  year. 

Hope  thawed  about  $10,000 
Japan  which  had  been  frozen  the 
from  Hope  Enterprises’  cuts 
“Seven  Little  Foys”  and  “Ire 
Petticoat.”  About  $3,000  went 
pay  Japanese  technicians  used  i 
telensing  sequences  of  USO  she 
for  Jan.  17  NBC  telecasting,  i 
Korea  refuses  to  permit  Jap  tec 
nicians  of  any  sort  to  enter  KOre 
Hope  had  to  pay  $1,000  more  f 
Korean  techs  when  shooting  se; 
there. 

For  the  first  time  since  he  coi 
menced  entertaining  U.S.  troo 
back  in  1940,  the  comedian  g 
presented  with  a  meals-and-bill 
bill  on  an  Army  post.  After  puttii 
on  four  performances  on  Okina\ 
on  a  48-hour  stop,  Hope  was  ' pr 
scuted.  with  a  tab  for  $14.60.  I 
paid  it  with  the  remark:  *T 
making  money  on  this  deal:” 

Allusion  was  to  the  fact  thi 
as  a  USO  .entertainer  Hope  ar 
other  performers  in  the  trouj 
drew  $10  per  diem.  Hope  Erite 
prises  .  paid  the  tabs  levelli 
against  all  on  the  junket. 


'  January  8, 1958 


By  A.  GftAFFAR 

Karachi. 

The  exhibition  of  foreign  film* 
(other  than  Iridian)  is  limited  to 
major  cities  only  in  Moslem  Paki¬ 
stan.  In  smaller  toWns  there  are 
occasional  morning  or  afternoori 
matinee  shows.  American  films  pre¬ 
dominate  in  number  as  well  ,  as  i 
successes,  at  the  boxoffice:  British, 
Italian  and  films  of  other  countries 
are  few  and  very  few  .do  really 
well.- 

The?  Pakistanis  rarely  aCclaim 
straight  dramatic  presentations. 
Pictures  like  “The  Divided  Heart  ” 
“The  Harder  They  Fall,”  “Lust  for 
Life,”  etc.  were  only:  modestly  suc¬ 
cessful^ 

Comedies  please  here,  both  the 
slapstick  variety  arid  the  more  so* 
phisticated  ones,.  Jerry  Lewis  an¬ 
tics,  rate  run  of  a  couple  of  weeks, 
as  with  Danny  Kaye  or  Bob  Hope. 

Pakistani  respond  to  the  allure 
of  Jayne  Mansfield,  Anita  Ekberg, 
Marilyn  Monroe,  Jane  Russell, 
Gina  Lollobrigida,  Sophia  Loren. 
What  they  got  is  universal. 

Perhaps  most  startling  of  all, 
rock-’  ’-roll  films  are  very  popular. 
The  first  rock  film  almost  made  the 
people  here  crazy. 

Among  other  boxoffice  successes 
this  year  were:  “King  and  I,”  “Ah 
Affair  to  Remember,”  “Anastasia,” 
“The  Little1  Hut,”  “Trapeze,”  “The 
Sun  Also.  Rises,”  “War  and  Peace,” 
“Atilla”  (an  Italian  film),  “Abdul¬ 
lah  the  Great,”  “Zarak,”  “Tarzan” 
and;  “Lost  Safari.” 

‘SIGN  LANGUAGE’ SHOW 
OF ‘IOC’S’ REPEATING 

.  Newark. 

Success  of  the  first  “sigri  lari* 
guage”  performance;  of  “The  Ten 
Commandments”  at  the  Adams 
Theatre,  here  has  prompted  .  the 
scheduling  of  a  repeat  showing  for 
children  arid  adolescents  whoj  at¬ 
tend  institutions  for  the  deaf!,  in 
New  Jersey,  the  Philadelphia  area, 
and  possibly  .the  New  York  metro¬ 
politan  area.  Showing  has  been  set 
for  Saturday  matinee  on  Feb.  1  and 
theatre,  officials  are  making,  efforts 
to  cbnvert.it  into  a  benefit  for  the 
New  Jersey  School  fbr  the  Deaf  in 
West  Trenton. 

Initial  performance  was  held  for 
about  100  deaf  persons.  Rev,  C. 
Roland  Gerhold,  pastor  of  St. 

.  Matthew’s  Lutheran  Church  for 
the  Deaf,  interpreted  the  dialog  of 
the -film  with  sign  language  move¬ 
ments  made  visible  to  the  deaf 
persons  in  the  audience  by  means 
of  phosphorescent  makeup  and 
‘'black  light.”  The  makeup  was 
applied  to  his  hands  and  the  “black 
light”  was  beamed  at  them.  Before 
the  performance,  the  deaf  persons 
Were  given  booklets  which  synop- 
sized,  the  scenes  and  cited  bibical 
or  historical,  references.  In  addi¬ 
tion,  Rev.  Gerhold  briefed  the  deaf 
persons  on  signs  he  would  employ 
to  identify  the  various  characters. 

Rev..  Gerh old’s  ‘‘showing’* 
brought  a  telegram  from  Cecil  B. 
DeMille  expressing  his  "gratitude 
for  your  almost  miraculous  good 
deeds”  and  noting  “blessed  is  he* 
who  makes  the  deaf  to  hear.” 

LOVE  out  of  style? 

Columbia  Finds  Gals  Go  For 
XJnsexy  ^River  Kwai’ 

A  picture  without  love  interest 
means  loss  of  a  substantial  part  of 
the  femme,  audience.  At  least  this 
was  the  bromide  heard  in  the  pic¬ 
ture  business  through  the  years, 

Columbia,  checking  on  audience 
reaction,  found  women  equally 
responsive  to  '’Bridge  on  thd 
Kwai”  as  the  males/  Boxoffice 
sales  ,  are  not  indicative  since  the 
hard-ticket  admission  policy,  as 
vrtth  “Kwai,”  usually  breaks  down 
to  about  equal  numbers  of  men 
and  women. 

Regarded  as  significant  by  .  Col,' 
along  with  the  female  reaction 
(attentiveness,  applause,  etc.)  as 
noted  ,  by  the  company’s  checkers* 
was  the  fact  that  the  production, 
which  is  a  “war  picture,”  was 
chosen  as  best  of  the  year  by  the 
General  Federation  of  Women’s 
Clubs,  • 


50  PICTURES 


Fifty-aecond  P^RIETY  Annivermiy 


January  g,  1958 


1957— At  The  Criss-Crossing  Roads 


(Continued  on  page  3) 
to  Hilton  around-the-world  to 
“this  year’s’*  Miami  Beach  hotel, 
look  to  Show  Biz  for  the  merchan¬ 
dising  spotlight  and  the  commer¬ 
cial  gimmick. 

If  the  merchandising  appeal  to 
“The  Influential,"  the  balm  that 
comes  from  “The  Hidden  Persuade 
ers,”  and  the  era  of  ■Together¬ 
ness"  all  may  have  a  “subliminal” 
deviousness,  there  is  nothing  sub¬ 
tle  about  the  forthright  usage  of 
shows  ,  and  showmanship  to  move 
the  hew  models. 

Sputnik  I  and  H  put  nuclear 
fission  and  guided  missile  into  the 
headlines.  Rockets.  Vied  with  rock 
*n’  Toll. 

We  may  soon  look  back  on  the 
snail’s-pace  changes  of  the  Ameri¬ 
can  amusement  business,  as  it 
slowly  evolved  from  the  turn-of- 
the-century  to  date,  and  wonder 
why  it  took  so  long  for  the  movies 
to  displace  vaudeville,  for  talkies 
to  displace  the  silerits,  for  sound- 
films  to  be  embellished  by  color 
and  enhanced  by;  width,  for  radio 
to  give  centre  stage  to  television. 

Some  41*500,000  American 
households  now  :take  their  enter¬ 
tainment,  in  large  doses,  in  the 
comfort  of  their  parlors.  Effect  on 
the  traditional  boxoffice  methods 
has  been  obvious.  While  it  has  gen¬ 
erated  a  more  show-minded  and 
more  sophisticated  mass  consumer 
market,  it  has  also  tended  to  limit 
the  mass  dollar  support  at  the  pay 
windows. 

The  industrialization  Of  show 
business  looms  aS  the  next  major 
step.  Showmen  steeped  in  the  tra¬ 
dition  deplore  that,  when  and  if 
metered  entertainment  is  piped 
into  the’  home,  it  will  mark  the 
death-knell  of  four  centuries  of 
entertainment  as  the  Western 
World  has  known  it.  That  is,  via 
the  boxoffice,  the  excitement  of  a 
gala  night  out,  the  time-honored 
lure  and  allure  of  going-to-the- 
theatre. 

Legit  alone  seems  to  maintain 
its  fundamental  character  but  here, 
tpo,  even  the  Broadway  brokers 
are  shocked  when,  the  calls  are 
not  for  the  .  plays’  titles  but  for 
“the  Merman  show,”  “the.  Judy 
Holliday  show,”  “the  Lena  Horne 
show,”  ‘‘the  Roz  Russell  show.”  In 
another  era,  even  with,  big  stars, 
they  still  called  for  the  play.  It 
was  the  thing. 

The  legit’s  weakness  lies  in  one; 
overpowering  truth— there  are  top 
few  playwrights.  Moss  Hart  is  now 
a  stager.  George  S.  Kaufman,  Lil¬ 
lian  Heilman,  Irving  Berlin,  Arthur 
Miller,  Clifford  Odets,  Sam  Behr- 
man.  Maxwell  Anderson,  Rodgers 
&  Hammerstein,  Marc  Connelly, 
Edna  Ferber,  Lindsay  &  Crouse, 
Guy  Bolton,  Hecht  &  Mac  Arthur 
are  not  around. 

Many  Hollywood  .  acting  names 
have,  of  course, -switched  back  to 
Broadway.  Among  them  have  been 
Paul  Douglas,  Pat  O’Brien,  Walter 
Pidgeon,  Shelley  Winters,  Greer 
Garson  (succeeding  Rosalind  Rus¬ 
sell  in  “Auntie  Marne”),  Brian 
Aherne  (touring  in  “My  Fair 
Lady”),  Richard  Burton,  .  Ruth 
Warrick,  Fernando  Lamas,  Edward 
G.  Robinson,  June  Havoc*  Joan. 
B  lon  d  e  l  l,  Ricardo  Montalban, 
Wayne  Morris,  Dean  Stockwell, 
•Teresa  Wright,  Paulette  Goddard, 
Rex  Harrison,  Gene  Raymond, 
Thelma  Ritter,  Chester  Morris, 
Anne  Baxter,  Henry  Fonda,  Erroll 
Flynn.  All  do  not  click.  Again, 
“the  play’s  the  thing:” 

With  H’wood  Edipse, 

Pix  Stars  on  B’way 

Second  -  and  -  third  generation 
players,  were  noted  increasingly. 
Osgood  Perkins’  son  Anthony  Per- 
kins  came  to  attention  in  Gary 
Cooper’s  “Friendly  Persuasion.” 
and  currently  on  Broadway.  Helen 
Hayes  and  playwright  Charles  Mac- 
Arthur’s  son.  James  MacArthur, 
John  Barrymore  Jr.,  June  Walker’s 
son  John  Kerr,  Charles  Chaplin’s i 
son  Sydney  Chaplin  ffeatured  op¬ 
posite  Judy  Holliday  in  “The  Bells 
Are  Ringing”),  Sarah  Marshall, 
daughter  of  Edna  Best  and  Herbert 
Marshall,  Jason  Robards  Jr.  and 
John  Michael  King,  son  of  Dennis 
King,  have  made  their  mark  in  pix 
and  current  Broadway  legit  en¬ 
tries. 

TV  personalities  also  have  been 
showcasing  their  offspring,  viz., 
Groucho’s:  11  -  year  -  old  Melinda 
Frank  Sinatra’s  17-year-old 


Nancy,  the  James  Masonsr  8-year- 
old  daughter  Portland  (named  for 
Mrs.  Fred  Alien),  Arlene  Francis’ 
Peter,  10,  Pat.  BoOners  three-year- 
old  daughter  Cheiyl  Lynn.  Sinatra 
scheduled  Frank  Jr.,  13,  and  Chris¬ 
tina,  9,  in  future  shows,  and  to 
model  a  maternity,  wardrobe  both 
Mrs.  Dave  Garroway  and  song¬ 
stress  Helen  O’Connell  personated 
on  Garroway’s .  “Today”  show. 

Other  talents  shifted  into  the 
flossy  saloons  — r.  Ginger  Rogers, 
Jane  Powell,:  Dolores  Grey,  Marie 
McDonald,  Robert  Alda,  John  .Car- 
roll,  Jeanette  MacDonald.  . 

The  year  1957  produced  its  own 
brand  of  humor.  Sputnik’s  influ¬ 
ence  on.  the  .gray  flannel  suit  ,  set 
Switched  the  adman  jargon  to 
“Let’s  shoot  it  tip.  into  space  and 
see  if  we  get  any  beeps:’*  j|ust  as 
rock  ’n’  roll  influenced  the  Eton 
and  Cambridge  disciples  into 
wheezes  such  as  “See  you  later, 
Alma  Mater”  and  “In  a  while, 
bibliophile,”  Sputnik  nifties  rian 
along  the  lines  of  “See  you  tor 
night.  Satellite/’  and  the  come¬ 
back,  “In  the  void.  Asteroid.”,  For 
only  a  short  spell,  gratefully,  the 
Charles  Addams  brand  of  maca¬ 
bre  humor  ,  took  over  (“Willie,  ,  go 
play  in  the  traffic!”;  “But  apart 
from  that,  Mrs;.  Lincoln,,  what  did 
you  think  of  the  play?”  etc.) 

Old:  comedians  may  never  die. 
but  they  seem  to  roll  away .  and 
yet  Burns  &  Allen,  Hope,  Benny, 
Cantor,  Marx,  Wynn,  Abbott  & 
Costello,.  Sophie  Tucker,  J.essel, 
Joe  E:  Lewis,  Durante  are  still 
around.. 

More  vulnerable  perhaps  are 
the  Hollywood  leading  men  whom 
the  kids  openly  scorn  as  “pathetic” 
iii  their  love-making  and  cite  a 
new  crop  like  these  as  being  more 
in  the  idiom  of  the  times:  Tab 
Hunter,  -Natalie  Wood,  Tony  Per¬ 
kins,  Rock  Hudson,  Robert:  Wag¬ 
ner,  John  Saxon,  Marlon  Brando, 
Frank  Sinatra,  Debbie  Reynolds, 
Tony  Curtis,  Sal  Mineo  and  the. 
late  James  Dean. 

None  the  less,  Gary  Grant,  \Wil-> 
liam  Holden  and  Gregory  Peck 
continue  as  hardy  perennials. 

\  No  Predicting.  B.  O.  Tastes  | 

There  was  no  predicting  box- 
office  tastes.  There  was  disappoint¬ 
ment  in  the  wake  of  a  supposed 
marquee  natural  like  Marilyn  Mon¬ 
roe  teamed  with  Sir.  Laurence. 
Olivier  in  “The  Princes  and  the 
“Showgirl”.  “Love.  In  The  After¬ 
noon”  with  Gary  Cooper,  Audrey 
Hepburn  and  Maurice  Chevalier, 
for  which:  director-producer  Billy . 
Wilder  received  considerable  ac¬ 
claim  for  his  “Lubitsch  touches” 
also  was  a  letdown.  Gregory  Peck 
apd  Lauren.  Bacall  in  “Designing 
Woman,”  “Desk  Set”  (Spencer 
Tracy-Katharine  Hepburn),  the  big 
build-up :  Jayne  Mansfield,  in  “Will 
Success  Spoil  Rock  Hunter?”  “A 
Hatful  of  Rain”  (narcotics  theme); 
“The  Pride  and  the  Passion” 
(made-in-Spam  spec  with  Gary 
Grant,  Sophia  Loren  and  Frank 
Sinatra),  and  a  lavish  musical, 
“Silk  Stockings/’  Were  among  the. 
gloomy  grossers.  The  $5,000,000 
.“Spirit  of  St.  Louis”  (Lindbergh 
biopic)  was  a  major  bust... 

On  the  other  hand  surprisingly, 
strong  grosses,  came  from  Univer¬ 
sal’s  “Tammy,  and  the  Bachelor,” 
a.  modest  little  Cinderella  tale 
(which  projected  Debbie  Reynolds 
into  the.  No.  1  disk  bestseller  with 
the  “Tammy”  title  song,  eclipsing 
her  singer-husband  Eddie  Fisher). 

Pat  Boone’s  film  debut  in  “Ber- 
nardirie”  and.  later  “April  Love,” 
Elvis  Presley’s  ‘‘Loving  YOU”  and 
later  “Jailhoiise  Rock,”  Jerry 
L  e  wi  s’  “Delicate  .Delinquent,” 
“Band  of  Angels”  (miscegenation 
theme),  “Island  In  The  Sun”  (also 
controversial,  with  Joan  Fontaine, 
Harry  Belafonte  et  ah),  “Gunfight 
at  the  OK  Corral”  (average;  west¬ 
ern),.  “Funny  Face1’  ,  and  “An  Af¬ 
fair  to  Remember”  all  did  well.> 
The  more  the  Little  Rock  set 
rocked  their,  bigotry  against  “Island 
In  The  Sun”  the  better  the  .b.o. 
with  result  that  a  cycle  of  misce¬ 
genation  and  kindred  interracial 
themes  loomed. . 

The  strong  Catholic  church  blast 
against  Elia  Kazan’s  “Baby  Doll'” 
early  in  the  year  slowed  it  down- 
to  4,000  playdates.  Later  Kazan’s 
“A  Face  Id  The  Crowd”  (about  a 
tv  idol-heel,  in  the.  same  idiom  as 
Jose  Ferrer’s  “The  Great  Man”) 
encountered  no  church;  only  b.o: 
problems/  “Sweet  Smell  of  Suc¬ 


cess”  (Broadway  columnist  and 
pressageiit),  also  said  to  have  some 
real-life  identification,  was  NG  b.o. 

Sputnik  also  keyed  a  renewed 
interest  in  science-fiction  and 
Variety  used  sci-fi  to  describe 
this  cycle,  just  as  feevee  described 
tollvision. 

Sci-fi,  “horror”  shockers,  rock 
*n*  roll  and  JD>  (juvenile  delin¬ 
quency)  became  a  pattern  for  the 
shprt-bUdgeted .  new  Crop  of  fea¬ 
tures.  Somewhere  in  between,  the; 
last  two  categories  came  the  reefer 
and  dope-addict  themes. 

The.  western,  of  course,  has  long 
been  a  Hollywood  staple— and  now 
a  sponsored  item  on  the  home  sets. 
Toward  year’s  end.  Within  a  period 
of  90  days,  there  were  21  they went- 
thatawayers  coming  off  the  Holly¬ 
wood  production  line. 

The  theatres,  faced  with  product 
shortage,  not  only  formed  their 
own.  importing  and  distribution 
pools  but,  as  American  Broadcast¬ 
ing-Paramount  Theatres  got  the 
okay  to  make  its  own  “exploitation” 
pictures,  So,  too,  National  Theatres 
-(Fox-West  Coast  etc.),  which  was 
part  of  the  2Qth  Century-Fox  Film 
divorcement,  is  also,  planning  its 
own  production.  National  Theatres’ 
proxy  Elmer  C:  Rhoden  also  has 
staked'  out  a  new  CineMiracle 
dimensional  technique  land  will  co¬ 
produce  three  features  with  War¬ 
ner  Bros.]  and  -is  strong  for  the 
Telemeter  (pay-as-you-see,  money 
in-the-home-box-on-the  -  television- 
set)  system  controlled  by  Para¬ 
mount.  Stanley  Warner  Theatres 
also  is  prodding  the.  Dept.  Of  Jus¬ 
tice  for  an.  okay  to  film-produce 
independently — all:  this  a  strange 
switch  . on  the  theatres’  original,  suit 
for  divorcement.  .  . 

As  more  and  more  theatre  organ¬ 
izations  veer  into  film'  production, 
one  intra-trade  question  Was  why 
does  Loew’s  have  to  consummate 
its  div.orcem.eht?  National  was  split 
aWay  from  20th  Ceritury-Fox;  the 
Warners  divested  to  S.  H.  Fabian’s 
Stanley-  Warper  circuit,  etc.,  and 
increasingly  the  theatre  men  have 
gone  back  into  making  their  own 
films.  American  Broadcastin  grPara- 
mount  Theatres  (the  latter  segment 
divested  from  the  film-making 
company)  has  been  producing  “ex¬ 
ploitation”  pictures,  and  a  number 
of  theatre  showmen  have  been  im¬ 
porting,  financing  or  producing 
films. 

Join  Hollywood  and  See 
World;  Global  Scales 

The  independent  producers. 
Counted  for  the  almost-300  pictures 
turned  out  in  Hollywood  this  year, 
40%  Of  them  via  the  unaffiliated 
outfits.  This  is  a  high  mark;  for 
some  time.- Last  year  saw  only  172 
pictures  off  the  Hollywood  produc¬ 
tion-line. 

“Join  Hollywood  and  See  the 
World”  is  the  new  slogan  appar¬ 
ently  as  52  /U.S.  film  productions 
;Were  scheduled,  for  shooting  in  far- 
flung  global  points  for  reasons  Of 
(11  authenticity,  (2)  exotic  settings, 
(3)  economics.  From,  the  now  con¬ 
ventional  London-Paris-Rome  axis, 
with  detours  to  Bavarian  and  His¬ 
panic..  locales,  entire  companies 
dispersed  to  locations  in  Indo¬ 
china,  Bangkok,  Ceylon,  Turkey, 
Japan,  .Hawaii,  the  Belgian  Congo, 
Mexico,  the;  Marquesas  .  islands, 
Bikini,.  Nor  way,  and  Lybia. 

This  flight  of  labor  (1)  irked  the 
52  guilds  of.  Hollywood’s  native 
production,  and  (2).  sparked  Some 
charges  that  many  a  U.S.-bank¬ 
rolled  .coproduction  abroad  was 
wittingly  or  otherwise  tinged  with 
Communist  labor,  from  the  crafts 
to  the  creative  and  artistic.  Holly¬ 
wood  took  Cognizance  of  the  latter, 
especially  as  focused  on  coproduc¬ 
tions  ih  France  and  Italy,  and 
pledged  a  qui  vive  alert  unto  itself. 

Generally,  the  theatres  pulled  in 
their  horns.  The  United  Para- 
mouht’s  1,424  houses  are  now  down 
to  550  cream  theatres. 

The  mild  summer  and  daylight 
saving  dented  .the  drive-ins  but  the 
ozoners  found  a  bonanza  in  pizza 
pie  sales  in  lieu  of  popcorn  and. 
candy,  bars.  Rufus.  Honeycutt*  man¬ 
ager  of'  the  Brunson  Theatre  in 
Baytown,  Texas,  can’t:  explain  It 
but  he  also  found  dill  pickles  a 
new  pof>Ular  adjunct. 

Big  b.o.  surprise.’  has  been  a 
cheap  British-made  Warner-re¬ 
leased  indie,  “The  Curse  of  Frank¬ 
enstein”  which  (1)  prompted  a  tv 


and  theatre  revival  of '  the  “Dra- 
cula”  and  “Frankenstein”  and  al¬ 
lied  Boris  Karloff,  Bela  Lugosi, 
Peter  Lorre  &  Co.  items;  (2V 
sparked  “horror”  arid  “spook” 
stageshows  with  sporadic  success; 
(3)  inspired  a  new  television  series 
based  on  the  “Frankenstein” 

legend,  _ _ 

|  Shock-Around-the-Clock  „■  | 

“Curse  of,  Frankenstein”  cost. 
$270,000  and  Will  gross  over  $2,000,- : 
000.  “Hunchback  of  Notre  Dame” 
was  panned:  critically  but  .  is  doing 
business;  “The  Invisible  Boy,” 
“Enemy  From  Space/’  “Loves 
Slaves  of  the  Amazons/’  “The 
Monolith  Monsters,”  "Attack  of  the 
Crab  Monsters,”  "Not  of  This 
Earth,”  “I  Was  a  Teenage  Frank¬ 
enstein,”.  “I  Was  a  Daughter  of 
Dracula/*  “The  Amazing  Colossal 
Man,”  “The  Viking  Women  vs.  The 
Sea  Serpent,”  “Nude  Invaders/’ 
“Girl  From  2, OQO.OOO  A.D/’.  ,  “Re¬ 
form  School  Girls”  are  samplings 
of  the  shocker  exploitation 
items. 

The  picture  business  found  itself 
faced  with  wondering  whether  it 
will  continue  to  be  a  case  of  block¬ 
busters  or  some  gimmicked  .  entry, 
be  it.  an  Elvis  Presley  or  a  “hor¬ 
ror.”  “Curse  of  Frankenstein”  not 
only  proved  a  boxoffice  mopup  but 
started  a  “shock  around  the  clock” 
cycle  of  monster  pix  revivals  on  tv. 

|  Sexpots  I 

In  a  more  adult  vein  the  adver¬ 
tising  on  the  sophisticated  foreign 
imports  was  over-sexsatiqnalized 
and  caused  the  N.Y.  Times  to  call 
a  copy  clinic  on  “the  propriety  of 
film  advertising  copy/’  In  some 
cities,  however,  the  “adult  only” 
tag  on  these  foreign  imports  bol¬ 
stered  the  “fine  arts”  brand  of 
trade  and  when,  perchance,  they 
got  an  opportunity  to  ballyhoo 
some  new  “sexpot”  like  Frarice’s 
Brigitte  Bardot,  for  example,  that 
attracted  the  un-artie  house,  set 
also. 

Transcending  everything,  of 
course,  have  been  the  roadshowing 
“Around  The  World  In  80  Days” 
(Michael  Todd)  and  Cecil.  B.  De- 
M  1 1 1  e’ s  “10  Commandments.” 
Some  cinematic  numerologist  no¬ 
ticed  that  “10  Commandments,” 
“80  Days,”  and  “Seven  Wonders  of 
the  World”  (Cinerama)  for  a  long 
time  were  the  year’s  .top.  grossers. 

On  the  other  hand,  when  it 
comes  to  the  blockbusters,  thea¬ 
tres  seemingly  continue  to  have 
rubber  walls.  “Gone  With  The 
Wind”  has  .  been  five  times  around 
since  its  1939  debut  and  was  cited 
by  the  anti-Joe  Vogelites  in  the 
Loew’s  Inc.  management  fight  as 
being  the  main  thing:  that  kept 
Metro  going.  It  remains  the  top 
grosser  with  some  $36,000,000  in 
domestic  distribution  revenue. 

1  ‘10  Commandments’  &  ‘80  Days’! 

“The  10  Comriiandments,”  per-, 
haps  the  most  expensive  picture 
ever  made  by  Paramount  or  any 
other  producer,  cost  $13,000,000, 
expects  to  have  its  $22,000,000  nec¬ 
essary  to  “break”  next  year,  and 
sights ,$50,-$100,000,000  as  its  possi¬ 
ble  eventual  gross.  “80  Days” 
costing  around  $6, OOO.OOO,  has  some 
$16,000,000  already  in  and  that, 
too,  is  Ceiling  Unlimited,  with  30 
to  50  millions  mentioned. 

.  In  contrast  to  the  ebullient  Mike 
Todd’s  ballyhoo  for  “Around  the 
World,”  Cecil  B.  DeMille’s  “10 
Commandmerits”  rounded  out  its 
first  year  on  Broadway,  on  a  two- 
a-day,  reserved-seat  policy  with  a 
$2,500,000  theatre  gross,  seen  by 
some  1.300,000  patrons.  Nationally 
the  Paramount  blockbuster  has 
been  seen  by  22.000,000  patrons, 
who  paid  $26,500,000  gross  in  917 
reserved-seat  engagements,  from 
which  Par’s  share  is  $16,250,000. 

“10  C’s,”  as  it’s  labeled  intra- 
trade*  will  do. $45, 000,000  domestic, 
and  its  foreign  grosses  are  ex¬ 
pected  to  be  10-15%  better  than 
that.  With  the  inevitable  repeats 
for  this  Biblical  epic,  the  $100,- 
000,000  gross  potential,  of  course, 
puts  it  in  a  class  far  above  David 
O.  Selzniclc’s  longtime  record- 
holder,  “pone  With  The  Wind.” 

“Oklahoma! ,”  produced  in  Todd- 
AO  and  regular  Cinemascope,  is 
pegged  at  a  $13,500,000  domestic 
(U.S.  and  Canada)  grosser  and  the 
upcoming  Rodgers  &  Hammerstein 
“South  Pacific”  may  exceed  it. 
Edna  Ferber’s  “Giant”  (WB)  may 


also  be  in  the  $12,000,000  domestic 
field  and  possibly  $20,000,000.. 
worldwide. 

|  Diversification  Unlimited  ,| 
Diversification  continues  a  show 
biz  axiom.  Oil  under,  the  20th 
Century-Fox  studios  in  Beverly; 
Hills  has  resulted  in  exploring  the 
petrol  potentials  under  the  Metro 
and  RKO  film  lots. 

RKO  Theatres  (List  Industries) 
diversified  into  everything  from 
realty  to  electronics  to  textiles. 
Parairiount  already  has  protection 
operations  via:.  DuMont  Television, 
Telemeter  and  its  recently  ac¬ 
quired  Dot  Records  (for  almost 
$2,000,000).  American  Broadcast¬ 
ing-Paramount  Theatres  already 
has  its  Am-Par.  disk  label.  The 
Par  picture  company  at  one  time 
eyed  buying  control  of  the  highly 
successful  N.Y;  ..independent  radio 
station  WNEW.  Metro .  traded 
some  of  its  backlog  for.  partnership 
interests  in  several  tv  stations  be¬ 
sides  Collecting  some  $50,000;000 
in  pix-to-tv  film  rentals,  United 
Artists,  which  went  on  the  N.Y. 
Stock  Exchange  for  the  first  time, 
is  eyeing  telepix  production  and 
already  launched  the  UA  Record 
Corp  arid  the  UA  Music  Publish¬ 
ing  Corp.  Stanley  Warner  Corp.’ 
peak  $2,699,600  profit  for  last  year 
owed  ;  most  of  it  to  its  wholly 
owned  International  Latex  Corp. 
subsidiary,  which  manufactures 
the  Playtex  brand  of  bras,  girdles, 
and  baby  pants,  and  which,  on  its 
own,  diversified  into  the  Isodine 
brand  of  pharmaceutical  products. 

Still  in  the  wishful-thinking  or 
talk  stage  are  such  economies  as 
merged.produciiori  facilities  and  a 
common  film  shipping  depot  for  all 
distributors  iri  one  or  a  few  central 
shipping  points. 

Improved  realty  values  (Culver 
.City’s  Metro  plant)  and  oil  discov¬ 
eries  (notably  at  2bth-Fpx,  which 
is  also  in  a  . fortuitous  realty  situar 
tion)  have  also  sparked  reasons  for 
plant  facility  shifts.  Metro’s  realty 
in  Culver  City  has  been  appraised 
at  around  $1.75,000,000, 

20th-Fox  alone  upbeated  in  prof¬ 
its  but  also  it  was  the  No.  1  film 
producer  with  more  pictures  in 
work  than  any  lot:  Generally 
speaking,  in  line  with  the  nation’s 
tight  money,  the  banks  also  got 
tougher  on  production  investment 
loans.. 

|  Backlogs  and  TV  | 

Despite  the  Metro  mess,  prexy 
Joe  Vogel  made  a  strategic  deal 
by  licensing  Metro  vaulties  in  71 
markets  for  a.  $50,000,000  yield 
along  with  ownership  interests  in 
a  number  of  television  stations. 

Both  NBC  and  CBS  dangled  a 
$50,000,000  -lump  sum  for  Para¬ 
mount’s  backlog  but  Barney  Bala- 
ban,  while  listening;  so  far  has.  said 
nay,  presumably  with  an  .eye/ to 
this  reservoir  when  arid  if  Par’s 
Telemeter;  system  gets  .  rolling. 
When  RKO  Radio  went  out  of  pro¬ 
duction  it  limited  itself  to  a  global 
distribution,  plus  some  coproduc¬ 
tion  overseas.  Republic  Pictures  is 
now  dominantly  MCA-TV’s  rental 
lot,  via  Revue  Productions,  and  has 
been  reported  selling  out  more 
than  once.  Prexy  Herbert  J;  Yates 
is  being  sued  for  alleged  failure 
to  go  through  with  one  deal.  Desilu 
has  taken  over  the  RKO  Hollywood 
studios  for  its  extended  vidpix  pro¬ 
ductions. 

Exhibitors  screamed  at  the  film 
industry  releasing  potent  films  to 
television.  Among  the  1957  crop  of 
“vaulties,”  in  one  week  for  ex¬ 
ample,  came  these  titles:  “Nino- 
tchka,”  “Rachel  and  The  Stranger/’ 
“At  the  Circus”  (Marx  Bros*), 
“Watch  On  The  Rhine,”  “The 
Search”  (Montgomery  Clift),  “Black 
Magic”  (Orson  Welles),  “The  More 
The  Merrier”  (Jean  Arthur),  “Three 
Faces  West”  (John  Wayne),  “Dei- 
sire  Me”  (Greer  Garson),  “Charge 
of  the  Light  Brigade”  (Erroll  Flynn 
and  David  Niven),  “Brigham 
Young”  (Tyrone  Power),  “Miracle 
of  the  Bells”  and  “Angel  arid  the 
Badmen.”  . 

Ernest  G.  Stellings,  president  of 
the  Theatre  Owners  of  America, 
however,  figured  that  the  film  com¬ 
panies  lost  an  estimated:  $60,000,- 
000  in  film  rentals  by  selling  to 
television.  '  His  calculations  are 
based  on  an  estimated  $350,000,000 
loss  at  the  national  boxoffice,  be¬ 
cause  of  tv,  and  If  the  distributors 
had  not  sold  out  their  backlogs  for 
$70,000,000  they  would  have  real- 
(Continued  on  page  52) 


January  8, 1958 


81 


fifty  second  l^^RtETY  Anniversary 


#  •  «*'#  •  #  •  •  #  ♦  •  •  •'  #  *  < 


WALT  DISNEY 

presents 

Dorothy  McGuire  and  Fess  Parker 

co-starring  In 

OLD  YEUER 

TECHNICOLOR* 
with  Jeff  York  •  Tommy  Kirk 
Kevin  Corcoran  •  Beverly  Washburn 
Chuck  Connors 

Screenplay  by  Fred  Gipson  and  William  Tunberg 
Directed  by  Robert  Stevenson 


•  m m» • #  0 c • • « • « 

• 

RKO  Radio  Pictures  0- 

presents  ^ 

STAGE  STRUCK 

TECHNICOLOR* 

starring 

Henry  Fonda  •  Susan  Strasberg 

co-starring  Ip 

Joan  Greenwood  1| 

Herbert  Marshall 

and  introducing 

Christopher  Plummer 


WALT  DISNEY’S 


,00  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  #  0  0 
0 


C.v.  WHITNEY 

presents 


THE  MISSOURI  * 
TRAVELER  • 

TECHNICOLOR*  0 

starring  Brandon  deWilde  0 

Lee  Marvin  •  Gary  Merrill  •  Paul  Ford  0 
and  introducing  Mary  Hosford  0 

Oirected  by  Jerry  Hopper .  Produced  by  Patrick  Ford.  0. 
Screenplay  by  Norman  Shannon  Hall  0 


0  0  •  0  #  0-0  m  ? 


ROMY  SCHNEIDER 

Europe's  Most  Exciting 
New  Screen  Personality 
starring  in 

THE  STORY  OF 

VICKIE 

TECHNICOLOR* 

Produced  and  Directed  by 
Ernst  Marischka 


mm  # 


BUENA  VISTA’S 
1958  PROGRAM 
OF  BOX-OFFICE 
ENTERTAINMENT! 


THE  SEVEN  DWARFS 

TECHNICOLOR* 
All-Cartoon  Feature 


WALT  DISNEY  presents 

THE  LIGHT  IN 
THE  EOREST 

TECHNICOLOR* 

starring  Fess  Parker  *  Wendell  Corey 
Joanne  Dru  James  MacArthur 
•  Jessica  Tandy  Joseph  CaHeia 
'  John  Mclntire  •  Rafael  Campos 
and  introducing  Carol  Lynley 
Directed  by  Herschel  Daugherty 
Screenplay  by  Lawrence  L  Watkin 


w  C.V.  WHITNEY 

presents 

®  Pat  Wayne  in 

•  TUB 

•  YOUNG  LAND 

-•  TECHNICOLOR* 

•  co-starring  Patricia  Craig 

0  Dennis  Hopper  <  Dan  O’Herily 

0  Oirected  by  led  Tetzlaff  •  Produced  by  Patrick  Ford 
^  Screenplay  by  Norman  Shannon  Hall 


I  Buena] 
iyisfa 


WALT  DISNEY’S 

ARCTIC 

WILDERNESS 

TECHNICOLOR* 

A  True-Life  Adventure  Feature 


And  for 

Christmas  of  '58 

selected  key  ct.es 


Wall  Disney’s  Greatest  Cartoon  Masterpiece... 

SLEEPING  BEAUTY”  33SSS?  j 

•  00  0  0  0  0  0  0^0  000  00  0  0«  0000  0  00  00  000  a 


00  0000  0  9  0  00 0  090# 000 


January  8, 1958 


52 


PICTURES 


Fifty-second  Anniversary 


i 0^;  : 


Chapter  in  Biz  There’s  None  Like 


(Continued  from  page  50)  i 
ized  some  $130,000,000  in  film  rent¬ 
als,  based  on  average  35%  terms. 
The  difference  between  the  70  mil¬ 
lions  from  tv  and  the  130  millions, 
they  might  have  gotten  back  at  the 
b.o.,  computes  Stellings,  thus 
comes  to  a  60-million  dollar  loss  to 
the  production-distribution  end  of 
the  industry.  . 


A  Jubilee  That  Wasn’t 


The  Golden  Jubilee  celebration 
which  collapsed  despite  ambitious 
plans  reminded  film  historians  tha 
actually  it  Was  68  years,  ago  tha 
Thomas  Alva  Edison  and  William 
K.  L.  Dickson  demonstrated  (1889) 
a  working  model  of  what  they 
called:  their  Kihetoscope,  the  ac 
credited  birth  of  the  motion  pic 
ture,  "This  event  was  celebrated 
with,  accurate  chronology,  in  1939. 

Flop  of  the  multi-faceted  Golden 
Jubilee  (of  Hollywood  as  a  produc 
tion  centre)  plan  in  1957  made  clear 
— if  proof  were  needed — that. under 
the  conditions  of  today  the  big  stu¬ 
dios  control  few  big  stars  .These, 
cannot  be  “ordered”  to  take  to  the 
road  for  ballyhoo  purposes. 

Every  top  star  is  in  business,  for) 
himself..  Agents  have  more  control) 
over  a  player’s  cooperation  than  the 
film ...  companies  wfoiich  distribute; 
the  product. 

Peg.  of  the  1957  Golden  Jubilee 
was  Col.  William.  N.  Selig’s  fore¬ 
sight  in  1907  when  he  dispatched  a 
company  to  Los  Angeles  to  shoot 
“The  Count  of  Monte  Cristo.”  Thus 
Hollywood  Avas  cradled.  Incident¬ 
ally,  Warner  Bros,  put  a  ring 
around.  1957  as  the  30th  Anniver-] 
sary  of  Al  Jolson’s  “The  Jazz 
Singer,” 

(Chicago  has  its  sights  on  a  Film 
Festival  for  1959  to  coincide  with 
the  celebration  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
Seaway  inaugural.  San  Francisco  in 
December  held  an  “unsanctioned’ 
Film  Festival,  and  Los  Angeles  re-j 
acted  with  pique). 


I 


The  Loew  Mess 


The  film  industry  finally  took; 
away  the  telecast  of.  its  time- 
honored  Academy  Awards  from 
General  Motors,  whose  Oldsmobile 
underwrote  it,  and  instead:  will,  util- 1 
ize  the  annual  spring  event  as  an 
ali-industry  boxoffice  hypo.  It’s  be-) 
ing  financed  via  a  small  percentage 
of  film  rentals.  There  will  be  no  in 
dividual  title  plugs,  the  .‘-selling” 
ob  being  for  the  entire  industry. 

Since  the  March  26  Oscarcasts 
will  be  a  pro-industry  event,  one 
proposal,  is  for  all  the  movie  thea¬ 
tres  to  go  dark,  encourage  satura¬ 
tion  viewing  of  the  first  industry- 
sponsored  NBCast  of  the  Academy 
Awards  with  a  view .  to  revitalizing 
boxoffice  attendance.  Academy 
president  George  Seaton  told  the 
Theatre  Owners  of  America  in  con¬ 
vention  that  a  75,000,000  home- 
looking  audience  was  the  objective 
—but  at  the  curious  Cost  of  lights 
out  on  America’s  main  stems. 

The  Loew’s  inc.  internecine  war-r 
faro  turned  into  one  ^  of  the  in¬ 
dustry's  prime  economic  “messes” 


in  years.  The  onetime  blue  chip  of 
the  picture  business .  slumped  to 
under  $12  a  share  while  an .  in¬ 
surgent  Louis  B.  Mayer- Joseph 
Tomlinson-Stahley  Meyer  group 
was  trying  to  unseat  Joseph  R. 
Vogel.  The  legal  maheuyeririgs 
made  it  a  lawyers’  and  public  rela¬ 
tions  counsels’  field  day;  Loew’s 
Inc.  legal  bill  alone  on  this  phase 
of  the  battle  exceeded  $600,000. 
While  prCxy  Vogel  !  won  out  in 
s  u  n  dry  showdown  maneuvers, 
Loew’s  future  will  best  be  gauged 
by  an  improved  flow  of  film  prod¬ 
uct  to  achieve  for  Vogel’s  manage¬ 
ment.  ‘team  the  too-long-missing 
"black  ink:”  Two  common  stock 
dividends,  -were'  passed,  the  first 
time  in  years.  Vogel  stated  to  his 
stockholders  that  it  was  wise  to 
preserve,  cash  assets  by  deferring 
the  two  dividends. 

Show  business  did  not  jail  to 
perceive  the  sadness  implicit  in 
the  studio  czar  of  yesteryear — ■  ’ 
Louis  B.  .  Mayer— under  the  ..lash 
of  his  own.  ego  heed  for  revenge 
against  Loew’s.  Perhaps  the 
least  dignified  moment  in 
great  career  found  L.B  standing 
outside  a  door  in  Loew’s  State ; 
Bldg.,  waiting  to  b  summoned 
into  ,  a  “rump”  board  of  direc¬ 
tors  meeting,  subsequently  de-. 
clared  illegal  by  the;  Courts. 
Within  a  few  months  Mayer  was 
to  fade  away  from  the  dread 
affliction— leukemia. 

Meanwhile  many  changes  were 
forced  inside  the  echelon  of. 
Loew’s,  and  more  changes  followed 
early  in  1958:  The  gone-or-going 
roster  ’  will  be  one  of  welLestab- 
lished,  well-paid  name  executives. 

Columbia  Pictures  exec  veepee 
Jack  Cohn’s  sudden  death  saw,  his 
son,  Ralph  Cohn,  head  of  the  affil¬ 
iated  Screen  Geiris,  going  on  the 
parent  company’s  boards  His  uncle 
Harry.  Cohn  (Jack’s  brother)  prez 
of  Columbia,  with  17%  of  the  vot¬ 
ing  stock,  alone  eclipses  his  fa¬ 
ther’s  holdings  of  11%,  which 
makes  Ralph  Cohn  the  second  big¬ 
gest  single  stockholder  in  the  com¬ 
pany. 

3-Year  Green  light  For 
Tolivision  Public  Test 

This.  year,  .  saw  tolivision  given 
the  greenlight,  including  a  Federal. 
Communications  Commission  nod 
for  the  sundry  systems.  A  three-; 
year;  experimental,  period  dating 
from  the  spring  of  1958  was 
okayed,  and.  whether  it's  the  Video 
Independent  Theatres,  Bartles¬ 
ville  (Okla.)  experiment;  called 
TeleMoyie,  or  Paramount’s  Tele¬ 
meter,  Zenith's .  Phonevisibn,  Ski- 
atrori,  or  Teleglpbe  Pay-TV  System 
Inc.  or  Selectivisiori,  it  is  certain 
that  thp  public  will,  ultimately 
decide. 

I  “Freevee”  proponents  (meaning 
'  the  major  networks,  which  see  the 
[advertiser  continuing  as  the  ideal 
['underwriter  of  any  and  all  pro- 


-  --  ■■  ~  ■ 

grammingi  with  .  the  public,  of 
course,  reimbursing  the  sponsor 
through  .  his  commodities)  don’t 
believe  both  “free”  and  fee-vee 
can"  exist  side  by  side.  Zenith’s 
pvexy  Cdr.  Eugene  F.  McDonald 
Jr.  challenged  NBC  prez  Robert 
W.  Samoff  to  take  the  issue  to 
public  in  a  videoed  debate. 

The  closed-circuit  advocates  of 
the  “top^  movies  into-the-home” 
systems  (including  other  major 
sports  events)  believe  there  is 
room  for  both. 

North  Dakota’s .  Senator  William 
Langer  (R.)  has  been  a  most  vigor¬ 
ous  opponent  of  feevee  and,  in  a 
personally  conducted;  postcard  poll 
of  ...the  Bartlesville  (Okla:)  experi¬ 
ment,  he  claims  a  IQ-1  vote  against 
the.  home-toll  inception  there,  TV 
Guide,  with  its  5.000.000  circula-. 
lion,  reported  a  sampling  poll 
overwhelmingly  against  feevee, 
the  antis  computed  at  the  stagger¬ 
ing  96  6%. 

On  the  other  hand,  Clark  Gable 
sees  feevee  as  “Hollywood’s  best 
friend  •  .  .  ultimately' it  will  drive 
the  public  back  to  the  picture  the¬ 
atres.” 


‘B.O.  In  Every  Parlor’; 


Some  producers  hope  that  “box- 
office  in  the  home”  Will  prevail  as 
a.  panacea  (a)  for  Hollywood’s  ills; 
and  (b)  .  on  .  the  general  showman¬ 
ship  principle  that  any  new  form 
of  income  to  expand  the  economic 
potential  of  entertainment  is  a  plus. 

All.  .seem  agreed  that  “tele- 
movies”  could  Change  the  whole 
economic .  nattern  of  the  picture 
business.  Underlying  all:  the  pros 
and  cons  is  the  big  question  mark 
of  how  much  or,  more  specifically, 
how  little,  will  it  cost  the  sundry 
franchise-holders,  (i)  to  wire  their 
towns,  cities,  zones  or  territories; 
(2).  how  will  the  public  be  able  to 
afford  the  basic,  charges;  (3)  the 
basic  question,  that,  with  so  much 
freevee,  will  feevee  be  worthwhile. 

Spyros  SkouraSi  president  of 
20th-Fox,  which,  is  50%  owner,  in 
N  a  ti onal  Telefilm  ‘  Associates, 
thinks  home-toll  is  a  “coals  to  New¬ 
castle”  project  in  light  of  the  many 
“good,  free  films  now  on  the  air 
and  Which  will  continue.”  This  is 
predicated  oil  Metro,  20th-Fox, 
Warner  Bros.,  Universal  and  other 
choice  pix  packages  sold  to  the 
syndicators. 

The  film  men,  of  gourse,  recog¬ 
nize  that  if  and  when:  pay-see  be¬ 
comes  fait  accompli  (a)  the  current 
crop  of;  pix  will  have  been  ex¬ 
hausted  and  (b)  the  fundamental 
appeal,  is  “seeing  a  first^run  fea-; 
ture  in  the  comfort  of  your  own 
home,  sans  parking  and  babysitting 
arid  inclement  weather  problems,” 
and— -this  is  assumed — without  the 
riiiisance  of  multiple  commercial; 
interruptions. 

The  chicken-or-the-egg  question 
is  the,  major  hurdle  in  home-toll 
for  the  simple  reason,  that  show¬ 
men  see  no  boxoffice  “inceptive” 


A'"  W"'' 

to  provide  top  product  to  any  pay- 
see  system  in  light  of  the  meager 
returns  the  first  year  or  two  or 
more. 

The  feevee  advocates  counter 
that,  like  any  new  venture;  there 
must  be  accord  and  co-adventuring. 
Their  projected  figures  indicate 
that  the.  carefully  worked-out  tech¬ 
niques  would  tell  an  entrepreneur 
at  a  glance  not  only  how  much  of 
that  50c  or  a  $1  payment  is  his 
share,  but  would  indicate  quickly, 
by  the  most  direct  audience-sam¬ 
pling  yet  conceived,  predicated  on 
actual  billings,  “just  what  are  the 
public  tastek” 


I  Pay-See  Jints  and  Bums  ,  1 

The  FCC  greenlight  on  tolivision 
is  still  experimental.  .Congressman 
Emanuel,  Celler,  New  York  Deirio- 
cfat,  chairman  of  the  House  Judi¬ 
ciary  Committee,  is  an  ardent  op¬ 
ponent  Of  tolivision  as  being  against 
the  public  interest;  in  “selling  the 
free  air  time  of  tlie:  land” — though 
cash-or-groceries  is  involved  in  any 
system.  Closed-circuit  systems,  of 
course,  remove  them  from  FCC 
regulation,  and  the  enthusiasts  of 
these,  cry  that  “closed-circuit  TV 
can  do  anything,  (even  baby-sit.” 

The  Giants’  shift  to  San  Fr  - 
cisco  and  the  Dodgers  to  Los  An¬ 
geles  have  f  eevee  strings.  A  $2,000,- 
000  deal  for  the  first  t\vo  years  of 
the  Giants’  home-basing  in  Frise 
is  said  to  have  been  firmed  up  plus 
a  $350,000  annual  fee  for  the  radio 
rights;  Skiatron-s  Matthew  Fox 
estimates  it  would  cost  $6,000,000 
to  “wire*’  San  Francisco  for  closed- 
circuit.  TV  but  Mark  Sullivan,  an 
official  of  the  Pacific  Telephone  & 
Telegraph  Co.,  stated  it  would  tun 
between  $60,000, 000  and  $70,000,- 
000. 

Showmen  in  the  Golden  Gate 
sector  are  decrying  the  ppteritial 
of  tolivision.  Quoting  one  of  them: 

“If  home-toll,  or  metered  par¬ 
lor.  entertainment,  is  permitted 
in  the  United  States,  the  best 
of  screen,  legit  and  sports  will 
.  be  monopolized  by  a  dozen, 
super-showmen  -r-  and  their 
banking  backers.  Pay-see  will 
Cripple  Or  kill  theatrical  show 
business  as  it  has  existed  for 
400  years.” 

Theatre  Network  Television 
which  telecast  the  Sugar  Ray-Rob- 
inson-Carrneri  Basilio  fisticuffs  into 
a  U.S.  and  Canadian  Closed-circuit 
of  175  theatres  in  132  cities  fell 
under  the  expected  $1,500,000 
“gross,”  perhaps  closer  to  half  that 
amount,  but  more  importantly  it 
Created  a  new  kind  of  “property 
value”  for  the  performing  athletes; 
Robinson  held  out  for  and  got  a 
separate  guaranteed  fee  of  $255,- 
000,  and  challenger  Basilio  (who 
eventually  became  the  new  chatri- 
piori)  got  $100,000.  This  has  raised 
the  problem,  whether  Mickey  Man¬ 
tle  or  Lew  Burdette  or.  any  other 
“star”  of  the  diamond  may  .  not 


look  to  this  sort  of  “capital  gain” 
even  though  the.  basic  contract  dues 
provide  for  radio  and  tv.  pickups  as 
part  of  the  overall  contractual  ar- 
rangemerit. 

The  Writers  Guild  of  Amer^a. 
which  already  has  worked  out  a 
pattern  of  compensation,  for  adver¬ 
tising  telecasts  of  their  old  movies, 
npvv  foresee  feevee  as  a  ne.w  source 
of  revenue  on  product  telecast  into 
the.  homes,  whether  via. a  scrambled 
over-the-air  or  a  closed-circuit 
system. 

While  Rep. .  Celler  arid  others  ob¬ 
ject  to  “cOmniercializatiori”  of  the 
“free”  air,  the  capitalistic  princi¬ 
ples  of  even  such  ardent  anti-toll- 
'vls'.onites  as  General;  David  Sar- 
noff.  chairman,  of  the  board  of  the 
Radio  Corp  of  America,  has  been 
“ice  should  not  stand  in  the  way 
Oi.  progress  .mid.-  anything  new 
should  not  be  stiffed, -  hence  de¬ 
serves  at  least  a  trial  ”'  None  th 
“trial”  is  approved  it  may  be 
for  a  ..long  tiriie. 
less  tlie  networks 

TV,  ‘Fabulous  Infant’ ; 

!  10  Years:  50,000.000  Sets 

1  -Television  itself,  “the  fabulous 
infant.’’  was  given  the.  “Wide  Wide 
]  World'!  treatment  by  NBC  to  mark 
the  10th  arini.  of  thq  medium  and 
;  for  orce  all  the  networks  epoper- 
,.  ated  .ini  p  oviding  back-file  scripts 
1  and.  kinescopes.  Another  entente 
vcorui  1c,  in  crisis,  focused  around 
:  Little  Rock  when  the  three  major 
'  wehs.  pooled  their  facilities  to  ex- 
sclite  .  live .  pickups  in  that  be- 
leagured  Arkansas  capital. 

Another  fabulous  survivor  of  the 
broadcasting,  medium  is  radio 
,  which,  part  from;  its  commercial 
Icomch.ack,,  chiefly  on  a  m u sic-an fi¬ 
ne  \vs  basis,  still  enjoys  a  72,000.000 
.weekly  regular  audience  as  against 
television’s  60,000,000: 

Britain’s  7,000.000  sets  is  No.  2 
to  the,  U.  S..  with  its  41,500,006. 
i  Rusih's  S.OOO.fiCO  sets.  is.  next  arid 
Canada  rates  fourth  with  2,700,000/ 
I  video  receivers.  Westerri  Germany 
hi  s  oyer  l.GQO.OOO  sets.  (East  Ger¬ 
many  has  only  60.000  receivers). 
Japan’s  count  is  700.000  sets; 
France  and  Italy  are  close 
666.000  and  575.000  sets.  Next  in 
line  are  Brazil,  375.000;  Mexico, 
300;0Q0  sets:  Cuba  and  Puerto  Rico 
tied  with  200.000  receivers;  Bet 
gium,  175.000  sets. 

The  total  number  .  of .  antennas 
sprouting  over  households  world¬ 
wide  :is  in  excess  Of  58.000,000.  sets, 
which  of  enurse  makes  America’s 
41,500,000  the  more  significant: 

It  also ...  has  a  •  significant  impact 
pri  boxoffice  values  at  theatres, 
cinemas  arid,  sporting  everits^ali 
negative. 

With  the  television  blackout  of 
comics,  and  the  upsurge  of  the 
]  whodunits  and  westerns,  the  latter 
i  proving  sturdy  despite  their  ex- 
i  cessive  numbers,  a  question  ,  arose.. 
J  (Coritiniied  oil  page  54) 


Personality  Check  List-1957  | 


Nathan  Leopold  of  Joliet  didn’t  go  tv,  though  invited. 

Nikita  S.  Khrushchev  starred  on  U.S.  television. 

Ed  Wynn,  at  71,  came  back  “straight" 

Mario  Lanza,  after  finishing  a  picture  in  Italy,  said 
London,  “Metrp  didn’t  forgive  me,  I  forgave  them!” 

Althea  Gibson;  first  Negro  tennis  great,,  was  ready i 
an  entertainment  turn  to  ace  the  cafe  circuits. 

Frank  Sinatra  was  litigating,  with  Look  on  Bill  David¬ 
son’s  too-closeup  profile^  “Talents,  Taintrums  &  Torment.” 

Tallulah  Bankhead  returned  to  London,  where  she  had 
her  ngenuehood,  this  time  as  a  saloon  star  of  Cafe  de 
Paris. 

Aime  Duval,  otherwise  Father  Duval/  French  Jesuit, 
wowed  the  disk  trade  in  that  land  with :  his  “Seig¬ 

neur.  Mon  Ami"  f God,  My  Friend). 

Barney  Ross  was  sore  at  United  Artists  for  “sensation¬ 
alizing"  fits  word)  his  dope-kicking  hippie,  “Monkey  ori/ 
My  Back." 

Noel  Coward  was.  back  on  Broadway,  with  advance  :ads 
to  steer  the  peasants  right  pn  how  to  pronounce  “Novell.” 

Vivien  Leigh  was  making  trips  with  her  ex-hubby  arid 
heckling  remarks  in  the  House  of  Lords,  and  these  ac¬ 
tivities  made  cable. 

Gene  Austin,  who  hit  million-record  sales  when  ihost 
of  today’s  boff  diskers  were  cradled,  reappeared  on  scene. 

Frank  Costello’s,  mysterioso.  bullet-graze  disclosed  his 
link  to  the  Tropicana,  Las  Vegas. 

Jane  FrOmaii  filially  collected  $138;205  damages  for 
that  long-ago  Lisbon  plane  crash;  but  it  took  an  Act  of. 
Congress 


•N.  S.  Kirshnan,  actor  in  India,  drew  100,000  a  la  Ru¬ 
dolph  Valentino  to.  his  funeral.  He  and. his  wife,  Mathurari, 
had  co-starred  in  100  feature  films. in  that  land: 

.  Geisha  girls,  in  Japan  complained  that  golf  fad  among 
Nipponese  business  men !  was  interfering  with,  their  tra¬ 
ditional  “sport.” 

Diana  Barrymore,  made  With  the  psycho-analysis;  With 
book- jacket. 

Joe  E.  Lewis  hardly  himself  in  “The  Joker  Is  Wild.” 

Jeanne  Eagels  was  to  the  record  unknown  as.  seen  in 
her  filmed  “Story:” 

Iryirig  Berlin,  ..same  cdrinectipn,  promised  “.they’ll 
never! get  me.” 

.  .Richard  Maney’s;  prose  style  equalled  his  candor  in.  “Fan¬ 
fare.”  ;/ 

Victor  Young,  always  a  bridesmaid,  finally  copped  an 
Oscar— posthumously. 

Dixie  Lee,  the.  first  Mrs:  Bing  ’Crosby,,  left  $2,000,000 
when  she  died  in  1952.  . 

Harry  S.  Truman  .  coulda  hada  commentator  spot  ori 
ABC-TV. 

Jack  Benny,-  having  played  everything  else,  booked  Las 
Vegas. 

Edward  G.  Robinson  arid  his  ex  sold  off  $3,000,000  in 
art,  reminding  ail  and  sundry  how' actors  took  up  where 
Lorenzo  the  Florentine  left  off. 

Vincent  Price,  another  actor,  was  a  Sunday  night  tv- 
quiz  aft  expert. 

Desi  Arnaz,  world’s  only  bpngo  drummer-financier,  de¬ 
clined  $11,000,000  for  Desilu  Productions,  from  oilman 
Clint  Murchison. 


Cecil  B.  DeMille,  who  wouldn’t,  join  the  Ameri'eari  Fed- 
eration  of  Radio  Artists  in  1944*  still’  wouldn’t  join  AFTRA.. 
in  1957,  and  hence  could  not  appear  for  Ed  Sullivan. 

Robert  Briscoe,  Dublin’s  Jewish  Lord  Mayor,  was  a  lec¬ 
ture  platform  phenbrn  of  1957. 

Marie  (The  Body)  McDonald  was  kidnapped,  at  least 
in  the  headlines. 

Jeanette  MacDonald  and  Nelson  Eddy  were  re-teamed 
—by  RCA  Victor. 

Danny  Thomas  Was  still,  the  greatest  in  Toledo,  wher 
they  named  a  playground  fpr  him. 

Joe  E.  Brown  got  the  ditto  treatment; 

Howard  Hughes  and  Jean  Peters  made  with  the  knot 

James  Stewart,  a  full  colonel  though.  actor,  missed 
out  for  brigadier-general,  which  requires  Congressional 
okay..  .. 

Albert  Anastasia,  gang-killed  in  a  barber’s  chair,  prompt¬ 
ed  macabre  joke,  “Police:  are  questioning  everybody  except 
Ingrid  Bergman.”  (Czar’s  daughter  for  20th-Fox). 

Marion  Bfando’s  bride  was  either  an  Indian  actress  or. 
a  Welsh  rarebit. 

Duke  and  Duchess  of  Windsor  set  up  awards  to:  Ameri¬ 
can  artists  and  held  a  press  conference  to  explain  it 

Budd  Schulberg  wrote  a  song. 

Spanky  McFarland,  yesteryear’s  kid  aritor,  complained 
on  video,  that  he  can’t  understand  why  “he’s  a  crumbling 
old  ruin”  at  23. 

Gladys  Zender,  “Miss  Peru,”  became  “Miss  Universe” 
arid  got  a  quick  song  tieup  via  Enrique  Torres  and  Pro- 
tone  label,  gal  arid  song  fading  fast. 


CINEMASCOPE  ■  COLOR  by  Deluxe 


LiiNtwAiuurc  •  luluh  Dy 


MAN  FROM  GOD'S  CPU NTRY 
QUEEN  OF  THE  UNIVERSE 


BEAST  OF  BUDAPEST 
TUCSON 


CINEMASCOPE  •  COLOR  by  Deluxe 


CINEMASCOPE  -  COLOR  by  Deluxe 


HELL'S  FIVE  HOURS 
WAR  OF  THE  SATELLITES 
DATELINE  TOKYO 
THE  PAGANS 


THE  RAWHIDE  TRAIL 
CRY  BABY  KILLER 
THE  BRIDE  AND  THE  BEAST 
TEENAGE  MOTHER 


INVASION  OF  THE  GARGONS  HONG  KONG  INCIDENT 
BLONDE  BLACKMAILER  BOWERY  BOYS  IN  THE  MONEY 

SEVEN  GUNS  TO  MESA 


IN  PREPARATION 


THE  GIANT  BEHEMOTH 
PERSIAN  GULF 


(  INIMASCOPI  ■  COLOR  by  Oelux 


JOYRIDE 

THE  FAR  WANDERER 
SLADE  IN  MONTANA 
MAMMOTH  FEMALE  MONSTER 
GANG  GIRL 


THE  STALLION  TRAIL 


CINEMASCOPE  -  COLOR  by  Delu 


FRANKENSTEIN  1960 
YELLOW  KNIFE 
THE  AL  CAPONE  STORY 
MAN  WITHOUT  A  FACE 

the  Violent  gun 

NIGHT  OF  THE  GHOUL 


THE  LAST  MISSION 


14 


PICTURES 


Fifty-second  Anniversary 


January  8,  1958 


W' 


Show  Biz  To  Date- And  Tollvision 


(Continued  from  page  52) : 
among  the.  stellar  live  variety 
shows  (Ed  Sullivan,  Como,  Sinatra, 
Dean  Martin,  Hope,  Steve  Allen, 
et  al.)  as  to  where  will  come  the 
hew  talent.  Many  of  {:i  them  in¬ 
dulged  in  swap-guesting^  whereas 
Dean  Martin  took  the  position  that 
if  he  continued  such  professional 
exchanges  he  would  be  defeating 
the  very  thing  he  and  Jerry  Lewis 
had  differed  on — too  much  work. 


Can’t  Laugh  Off  Westerns 


The  embittered  comedians  had 
prophesied — :  wrongly  —  that  they 
could  laugh  the  oaters  off  the  air¬ 
waves.  but  a  scoreboard  indicates 
that  Dean  Martin,  Red  Skelton, 

Tennessee  Ernie  Ford  and  even 
Jack  (Buck)  Benny,  who  was  iden¬ 
tified  with  “saddle  satires’*  before  .  _.  ... 

the  upsurge  of  the  mustangers,  all  heels  of  Sputnik  I  and  II. 


terview,  conservative  British;  video 
telecast  a  .prefilmed  Nudist  Colony, 
bare  bosoms,  bare,  backs,  bare  legs 
’n’  all,  but  eoncededly  it  was  all  in 
good  taste.  Exponents  of  nudism- 
for-health  were  shown  in  repose, 

‘  spieling  their,  little,  spiels  for  the 
cause  of  epidermis  undraped. 

Another  ,  historical,  note:  in .  Sep¬ 
tember,.  CBS*  “The  Night  America 
Trembled”  reenacted  the  memo¬ 
rable  1938  Halloween  broadcast,  of 
“The  War  of  the  Worlds.”  Welles 
(Orson)  had  adapted  another  Wells’ 
(H.  G.)  classic  and  launched  the 
most  garish  panic  in  the  annals  of 
radio.  While  the  1957  road  com¬ 
pany— in  sight,  as  well  as  the 
sound  medium— was  an.  innocuous 
job,  one  wonders  what  might  have 
been  the  complexion:  of  things  a 
couple  •  of  months  later,  on  the 


flopped  in  their  lampoons  of  the 
mesa  mellers.  Comedian  Danny 
Thomas,  finding  himself  this  sea¬ 
son  spotted  opposite  “Twenty  One,” 
declaimed:.  “T hey  broke  Fred  Al¬ 
len’s  heart  ...  to  think  that  quiz 
shores  could  take  precedence  over 
dedicated  entertainers !” 

(None  the  less  Thomas*  rating 
has  not  suffered;  he  has  one.  of 
the  most  popular  shows  oh  the 
air.) 

(The  oaters  have  had  a  benevo¬ 
lent  effect  on  the  boots-and-saddles 
trade  generally,  making  jeariagers 
and  adults  alike  more:  equestrian- 
minded.) 

Another  evidence  of  not  laugh¬ 
ing  off  the  westerns  is  four  of  the 
mustangers  —  ‘‘Gunsmoke”  No.  2, 
“Wells  Fargo,”  “Cheyenne”  and 
“Wyatt  Earp”— winding  up  in  the 
top  10  Nielsens.  ‘Maverick”  hasn’t 
made  it  yet  but  it  did  make  Jack 
Benny  rate  under  it  recently,  and 
has  topped  more  than  once  both  Ed 
Sullivan  and  Steve  Allen’s  vaudeos 
in  the  ratings  sweepstakes,  * 

V 


Singing  Variety  Shows 


Dinah  Shore’s  and  Perry  Como’s 
singing  emcee  Click  sparked  14 
similar  formats  (Giselle  MacKeri- 
zie,  Eddie  Fisher,  Frank  Sinatra, 
Dean  Martin,  Rosemary  Clooney, 
Tennessee  Ernie  Ford,  Patrice 
Munsel,  Nat  King  Cole,  Pat  Boone, 
Polly  Bergen,  Patti  Page,  Guy. 
Mitchell,  et  al.),  not  all  of  them 
destined  to  survive.  Popularity  Of 
“Gunsmoke,”-  “Wyatt  Earp”  and 
“Cheyenne’’  resulted  in  20  new  se¬ 
ries  of  westerns  (“Maverick,” 
“Have  Gun,  Will  Travel”  and 
“Wagon  Wheels”  the  most  success¬ 
ful  of  the  new  entries);  and,  as  a 
result  of  Alfred  Hitchcock’s  fop 
ratings,  almost  as  many  new  who¬ 
dunits  were  premiered. 


NBC  scheduled  100  “specials” — 
it  dropped  the  usage  of  “spectacu¬ 
lars” — in  a  pitch  to.  hypo  color  tv; 
indications  are  that  spectrum  sets 
may  hit  their  peak  after  1958. 

When  telegenic.  Warner  Bros, 
attorney  Mrs.  Vivienne  Nearing 
kayoed  Charles  Van  Doren  on 
NBC’s  “Twenty-One”— he  tripped 
on  Belgium’s  King  Baudouin— and 
cut  his  winnings!  from  $143,000  to 
$129,000,  it  was  inevitable  that  the 
all-Americam  boy  quiz  wiz  would 
go  show  biz.  He  did,  With  an  MCA 
agent  *h’  everything,  on  a  $60,000- 
a-year  NBC  pact  as  a  ultiiity  man; 
This  did  not  curb  his  annual 
$4,50O-a-year  post  (upped  to  $4,600, 
incidentally,  on  a  seniority  pro¬ 
gression)  as  an  English  instructor 
at  .  Columbia  University. 

Giving  “Twenty-One”  '.its  high 
rating  is  relatively  a  steal.  Money- 
wise  it  figured  to  $9,214  a  week  on 
an  average.  Compared  to  the  $30,- 
000  and  $40,000  Hollywood-filed 
programs,  and.  live  shows  costing 
almost  twice  that,  obviously  the 
jackpot  giveaways,  if  gimmicked 
With  a  neat  audience-rooting  iden¬ 
tification,  is  a  bargain. 


into  a  legit  musical  although  their  i 
more  immediate  plan  calls  for  an¬ 
other  James  A.  Michener-J oshua 
Logan  collaboration. 

Refusing  to  identify  “the  CBS 
executive”  she  quoted  in  a  report, 
that  Judy  Garland  withdrew1  from 
a  tv.  spectacular  because  the  star; 
at  that  time,  thought  she  was  “too 
fat,”  and;  which  has  resulted  in  a 
$1,393,333  libel  suit  by  the  singer 
against  the  network,  television 
columnist  Marie  Torre  found  her¬ 
self  id  the  middle  of  a  criminal 
contempt  charge.  Not  only  con¬ 
cerned  is  the  NY.  Herald  Tribune, 
Which  is  appealing  the  10-day  sen¬ 
tence  meted  out;  but:  it  has  become 
a  freedom-of-the-press  issue.  Judge 
Sylvester  Ryan  who  sentenced  the 
Trib  writer;  but  released  her  under 
her  own  cognisance  pending  ap¬ 
peal;  called  her  a.  “Joan  of  Arc  of 
modern  journalism”  but  pointed 
out  that  the  law  as  presently  Con¬ 
stituted  .  compels  a .  criminal  con¬ 
tempt  sentence. 


Vidpix  Bull  Market 


Hollywood’s  telefilm  boom  has 
made;  theatrical  film  production 
secondary  to  .  the!  dollar  investment 
for  tv.  Desilu  lot,  with;  its  nearly 
20  packages,  has  a  $21,000,008  an¬ 
nual  payroll  and  produces  more 
film  footage  than  the  combined  five 
major,  studios.  It’s  equally  true  of 
Revue  Productions  (MCA-TY). 
NBC’s  Matinee  Theatre,  for  exam¬ 
ple,  hires  2,400  actors  for  speaking 
parts,  or  50%  more  than  What  WB 
and  Paramount  utilized  in  all:  their 


1958-57 '  productions.  This  show’s 
250  scripts  a  year  matches  all  the 
As  ty.  expanded  globally,  Ameri-  I  studios  put  together.  MCA.  and 
can  telefilm  producers  envision 'i  Morris  agencies’  income  from tv 
greater  bonanzas.  The  English  ; is  9-1  compared  to  film  deals. 


press,  in  fact,  deprecated  the  in¬ 
roads  of  the  American  idea  oh 
British  tv  programming,  and  point-.  | 
ed  to  the  Phif  Silvers  show:  Burns 
&  Allen,  Amos  ’  ’  Andy,  Jack  Bern 
„ ,  “Hey  Jeannie,”  “Star  Choice,” 
■‘Champion  and  Wonder  Horse,” 
“I  Married  Joan”  and  to  .  British 
road  companies  of  U.  S. -created 
“What’s  My  Line?”  “This  Is  Your 
Life”  and  “20  Questions”  as  evi¬ 
dence  of  Yank  influences.  Perry 
Como  and  Sid  Caesar,  just  con¬ 
tracted,  have  yet  to  be  seen  on 
Rritish  tv. 

Mike  Wallace’s  interview'  With 
reformed  hoodlum  Mickey  Coheri, 
who  called  two  Los  Angeles  Offi¬ 
cials.  some  snide  names,  got  the 
ABC  network  and  others  con¬ 
cerned  involved  in  a  $3,000,000 
libel  suit. 

ABC  veepee  Oliver  Treyz  went 
on  camera  With  a  prepared,  state- 


‘Confidential’  Influences? 


Confidential,  magazine  consented 
to  have  its  liberties  curtailed.  Like 
Capone,  the  crime  wholesaler, 
trapped  by  income  tax,  scandal- 
mongering  could  be  curbed  only  by 
the  harrassmertt  of  costly  litigation, 
taking  the  profit  out  of  it.  (See 
Maurice  Zolotow’s  piece  this  issue 
i  “Muckraking,”) 

Frankness  in  theatrical  memoirs, 
per  Diana  Barrymore’s  “To  Much, 
Too  Soon”  (for  Warner  screening), 
following  up  on  Lillian  Roth’s, 
earlier  “I’ll  Cry  Tomorrow’,”  both 
ghosted  by  Gerold  Frank,  threw 
the  beam . :  of  attention  again  on 
changing  habits  in  the  biographical 
fihn  (dr.  Variety  head-writing  con; 
venience,, biopix)  and  the  report  on 
1957  is  simply  this:  the  trend  of 
the  recent  past  quickened. 

Not  all  the  books  were  “phycho” 
in  their  delving.  Eddie  Cantor’s 
“Take  My  Life”  (with  Jane  Ard¬ 
more)  was  a  “warm”  cavalcade. 
Ditto  Jesse  L.  Lasky’s  “I  Blow  My 
Own  Horn”  (with  Don  Weldon), 
Gypsy  Rose  Lee’s  “Gypsy,”  Joey 
Adams’  “Cindy  and  I,”  David 
Eweri’s  “Richard;  Rodgers;”  Filippo 
Sacchi’s  new  “The  Magic  Baton: 
Toscanini’s  Life  for  Music,”  a  biog 
on:  Tom  Mix,  Richard  Maney’s 
“Fanfare”  added  to  the  show  biz 
cavalcade. 

"I 


pop  song  subjects  as  Louis  Arm-  style;  his  (supposed) 


strong,  Bing  Crosby  and  Sammy 
Davis  Jr. 

George-  Raft’s  personal  memoir, 
in  collaboration  with  Dean  Jen¬ 
nings,  in  a  Saturday  Evening  Post 
five-parter,  was  deemed  unusually 
frank,  and  certainly  so  in  a  con¬ 
servative  national  weekly. 


!' 


Eugene  O’Neill 


In  1957  Eugene  O’Neill  was  a 
posthumous  Broadway  mopup,  with 
sbme  $5,000  weekly  royalties  from 
“Long  Journey  Into  Night,”  the 
1956-57  Pulitzer  Prizewinner;  the 
miisicalization  of  “Anna  Christie” 
(for  which  he  won  the  1921-22: 
Pulitzer)  under  title  of  “New  Girl 
in  Town”  (starring  Gwen  Verdon); 
and  revivals  of  “The  Iceman. 
Cometh”  off-Broadway  and  “A 
Moon  for  the.  Misbegotten”  on 
Broadway.  O’Neill  won  two  other 
Pulitzers,  firsts  in  1919-20  for  “Be¬ 
yond  the  Horizon”  and  1927-28  for 
“Strange  Interlude.”  Click  of 
“Journey”  also  revived  stock  pro¬ 
duction  of  his  past  plays  both  in 
America  and  abroad.  Widow  Car- 
lotta  Monterey  is  administratrix  of 
O’Neill’s  estate.  The  playwright 
was  born  Oct,  16,  1888  in  a  room 
of  a  theatrical  hotel  on  Broadway 
and  43d  St:,  then  known  as  the 
Barrett  House,  now  the  .  Cadillac 
Hotel.  He  died  in  a  Boston  hotel 
room  on  Nov.  27,  1953.  A  bronze 
t  plaque  was  unveiled  on  that  Broad- 
[- way  and  43d  St.  corner  this  fall  to 
commemorate  his  birthplace.  A 
similar  tribute  to  George  M.  Cohan 
will  be  the  commemorative  statue 
of  the  songwriter-actor-manager  on 
Duffy  Square,  opposite  the  RKO 
Palace  Theatre,  with  “Give  My  Re¬ 
gards  To  Broadway,”  one  of  his 
many  songs,  appropriately  deco¬ 
rating  the  base. 


$200,000 


champagne  party  (actual  cost  near¬ 
er  $20,000)  in  an  inn  on  the 
Thames,  following  the  London 
opening  of  “80  Days,”  got  more 
free  space  than  Aly  Khan  or  some 
maharajah  at  their  most  prodigious 
moments.  This  was  capped  by 
Todd’s  first  anniversary  party  in 
Madison  Square  Garden  for  18,000 
of  his  “chums,”  which  Was  telecast 
over  CBS  as  a  90-minute  spectacu¬ 
lar. 

Speaking  of  showmen,  Ed  Sulli¬ 
van,  with  his  $10,000,000;  annual 
time-and- talent  budget,  quickly 
found  Eastman  Kodak  underwriting 
half  the  bill  When  Lincoln  decided 
to  drop  out,  and  Mercury  alone  con¬ 
tinuing.  -The  HCT  (high  cost  of 
television)  has  spiraled  Sullivan’s 
former  $40,000  program  talent 
costs  to  $80,000  and  $90,000  per 
show;  the  CBS  time  charge  remain 
at  $100,000  per  week. 

T 


Pat  Boone’s  Upsurge 


More  Biopix 


Wrestling  continues  as  tv  filler 
fodder,  and  bowling  (also  pingpong 
and  billiards)  have  started  to  ap- 
peal  to  videoyiewers.  Remember 
the  roller  derbies? 

“Ma  Perkins”  and  “Romance  of 
Helen  Trent”  marked  silver  anni¬ 
versaries,  both  durable  CBSoperas, 
but  “Robert  Montgomery.  Pre-. 
sents”  sadly ,  fihaled  a  seven-year 
riin, -a*  departure  which  was  not 
unnoticed  by  the  medium’s  his¬ 
torians  who,  however,  must  defer 
to  the  traditional  sponsorship  (or 
lack  of  it)  aixiom,  “It's  bigger  than 
any  of  us!”  Another  yet  yided  cas¬ 
ualty,  Sid  Caesar,  will,  however; 
see  shim  reunited  with  Imogen© 
Coca  in  a  half-hour  series  in  ’58. 


Spectaculars 


.  CBS-TV  claimed  an  alltime  high 
with  oyer  100,000,000  Viewers  for 

_ _  “Cinderella,”  computed  on  24,200, - 

ment  to  get  the  network  off  the  I  200  tv  homes  and  a  4.43  average 
legal  hook  and  late  this  year  took  *  number  of  viewers  per  home.  Mar- 
an.  encore  ^because  .of  a  crack  Wal-  ,  tin  &  Lewis’  show  on  NBC  claimed 
lace’s  guest.  Drew1  Pearson,  made  i  a  4,01  average  but  CBS  estimates 
about  Senator  John  F.  Kennedy; )  that  the  Rodgers  &  Hammerstein 
Wallace  went  abroad  to  film  in- r  musicalization  of  the  fable  had  at- 
terviews  “in..‘  depth”  with  Kirk:  traded  many,  non-tv  home  lpok- 
pouglas,  Ingrid  Bergman c  and  j  ersl  Mary  Martin’s  “Annie  Get 
Charles  Chaplin  whose  controvef-l  Your.. Gun”  got  60,000*000' lookers, 
sial  film.  “The  King  of  New  York,”  “Peter  Pan,”  with  Miss  Martin, 
satirizing  McCarthyism.  was.  gen- :  'ill. repeat  in  the  spring,  and  “Jack 
erally  regarded  as  “Anti-Ameri- !  and  the  Beanstalk’!  also  claimed 
can.”  ‘record  audiences. 

In  the  interest  of  goodwill  and  j  Rodgers  v  &  Hammerstein,  not 


general  sensitivities,  ex-Punch  edi¬ 
tor  Malcolm  Muggeridge,  out-, 
spoken  critic  of  royalty;  had  his 
Interview  with  Mike  Wallace 
blacked-out.  in  Washington  while 
royalty  was  being  hosted  by  the. 
Eisenhowers. 

While  a  Catholic  magazine  blast¬ 
ed  Margaret  Sanger,,  exponent  of 
birth  control,  for  her  Wallace  in- 


represented  with  any  new  musical 
on  Broadway  for  two  years,  and 
Concentrating  on  the  20th-Fox 
filmizatioii  of  “South  Pacific,’ 
called  CBS,  which  presented  their 
Original.  “Cinderella”  spectacular, 
the  “television  New  Haven.”  The; 
“out-of-town”  tryout  was  apparent¬ 
ly  successful,  from  a  Nielsen  view¬ 
point,  and  R&H  may  expand  it 


Proposed  biopix  included  Dan 
Dailey’s  treatment  of  the  tinies  and 
tunes  ,  of  songsmiths  Harry  Von 
Tilzer  .and  his  brother  Albert. 
Coining  up  is  P.  T.  Barnum  (both 
Bob  Hope;  who  did  the  Jimmy 
Walker  and  Eddie  Foy  pix,  and 
Jackie  Gleason  have  designs  on  the 
same  subject),  There  was  a  telepix 
series  on  “Adventures  of  Tom 
Mix,”,  despite  Warnings  ,  by  his 
daughter,  Mrs.  Ruth  Mix  Hill,  ob¬ 
jecting  thereto,  the  “The  Lillian 
Leitzel.  Story”  (circus  background), 
“Bojangies”  (Bill  Robinson),  “St. 
Louis  Blues”  (W.  C.  Handy),  “The 
Mike  Romanoff  Story,”  “Schnoz- 
zoia”  .  (Jimmy  Durante),-  which 
Michael  Curtiz  may  do  either  With 
Danny  Thomas  Or  Jerry  Lewis  as 
the  Schnoz,  are  others. 

Bert  Lahr,  Red  Nichols,  song- 
smith  Billy  Hill  (author  of  “Wagon 
Wheels”  arid  “The  Last  Roundup,” 
which  ties  in  with  the  current 
vague  for-  oaters,  iri  tv  ar.d  pix), 
poetess  Edna  St.  Vincent  Millay 
are  others.  : 

UA’s  “Sweet  Smell  of  Success,’ 
a  1957  release,  primed  an  identi¬ 
fication  guessing  game  with  Broad¬ 
way  columnists  and  pressagents; 
"For  Love  Qr.  Money”  (Broadway 
legit  star),  “Christmas  In  Paradise’ 
(story  of  child  star),  “The  Female 
Animal”  (femme  star),  “The  Big 
Beat”  (record  biz),  Elvis  Presley’s 
‘‘Loving  You”  (hillbilly  singer  who 
becomes  a:  tv  and  record  sensation), 
“Jailhouse  Rock”  (similar  theme), 
Metro’s  “Les  Girls”  (European 
show  biz);  “Pal  Joey”  (heel-hero  of 
nitefy-backgrburided  story),  “Fuzzy 
Pink  ..Nightgown”  (kidnapping  of  a 
film  star),  "The.  Buster  Keaton 
Story”  all  fall  in  the  show  biz 
category. 

■Gypsy  Rose  Lee's  memoir  is 
slated  for  a  legit  drariiatization; 
Richard  Aldrich's  biog  of  “Ger¬ 
trude  Lawrence  as  Mrs.”  ditto;  the 
diskeries  have  tied  in  with  elab¬ 
orate  albums  keyed  to  the  Eddie 
Cantor  and  Richard  Rodgers  biog¬ 
raphies,  not  to  mention  “biogra¬ 
phies  in  sound?  of  such  jazz  and 


Shaw,  Sartre,  Chaplin 


Posthumous  interest  in  O’Neill 
has  also  resulted  in  two  projected 
biographies  on  the  playwright,  one 
by  his  son  Shane.  Another  posthu¬ 
mous  biog  on  a  play wright  is  John 
Mason  Brown’s  forthcoming  por¬ 
trait  on  Robert  E.  Sherwood.  Both 
dramatists,  incidentally,  have 
sparked  enthusiasm  from  their  ad-r 
mirers  to  have  a  Broadway  play¬ 
house  named  in  their  honor. 

Projected  biopic  on  the  last  fpur 
years  of  F.  Scott  Fitzgerald  and  his 
friendship  with  columnist  Sheilah 
Graham;  in  whose  house  the 
“Flaming  Youth”  era’s  No.  1,  in¬ 
terpreter  passed  much  of  his  time 
and  actually  died  iri  her  arms.  Miss 
Graham  is  withholdirig  publication 
of  her  riiemoir  on  “The  Makirig  of 
A  Woman”  to  coincide  with  the. 
filmization. 

The  George  Bernard  Shaw-Mrs. 
Pat  Campbell  letters  were  the 
basis  of  “Dear  Liar,”  a  two-charac¬ 
ter,  ^two-act  play  by  Jerome  Kilty, 
based  bn  the  correspondence  which 
Mrs.  Campbell  had  a  friend  smug¬ 
gle  out  of  wartime  France  where 
she  was  dying  in  1940. 

Jean-Paul  Sartre,  French  play¬ 
wright,  critic,  philosopher  and 
prime  exponent  of  Existentialism, 
reversed  himself  on  Communism, 
breaking  with  the  Reds  after  the 
Hungarian  brutality,  and  declared 
himself  more  friendly  to  America 
since  the  integration  and  desegra- 
tion  laws  were  enacted.  All  this 
came  to  the  fqre  coincidental  with 
the  New  York  premiere  of  the  film 
version  of  his  play,  “The  Respect¬ 
ful  Prostitute.” 

Charles  Chapliri,  too,  declared 
himself  “the  best  friend  of  Amer¬ 
ica”  coincidental  with  the  London 
premiere  of.  his  latest,  “A  King  in 
New  York,”  which  got  a  mixed 
press  in  England,  Paris  and  Rome, 
and  will  probably  not  be  shown  in 
the  Uf  S.  for  some  time  iri  light  of 
the  general  feeling  that  he  “used 
his  son  to  spit  .Out  his  hatred  of 
America.”  Michael  Chapli  has  a 
promirient  role  in  the  sceries*satir- 
izing  McCarthyism.  Chaplin  added 
fuel  by  editing  down  his  film, 
which  was  characterized  overlong, 
hut  instead  of  toning  down  the 
political  stuff  he  retained;  that  and 
did  his  cutting  on  some  of  the  com¬ 
edy  scenes. 

Michael  Todd’s  “Around  The 
Wqrld”  reinains  a  gross  potential 
of  still  inestimable  limits.  His 
courtship  and  marriage  to  the 
beauteous.  Elizabeth  Taylor,  and 
everything  he  and  she  did  became 
“news,”  During  their  Riviera  hon¬ 
eymoon  the  showman  had  spent 
money  like  it  was  going  out  of 


In  the  year’s  trend  back  to  mcL 
Odie  pops.  With  even  the  kids  seek¬ 
ing  something  of  a  musical  anti¬ 
dote  to  the  rock. ’ri’  rolls  and  ca- 
lypsos,  Pat  Boone  asserted  himself 
as  another  new  personality  to  be 
reckoned  with.  Typifying,  the 
clebri-cut  all-American  boy,  aN 
though  in  his  case  the :  22-year-old 
Columbia  undergraduate  has  three 
children  and  a. fourth;  due,  Boone-^ 
like  another  doting  parent,  Perry 
Como—  has  a  terrific  hold  on  the 
kids  via  his  platters.  His  first  film 
fo”  20th-F0x,  “Befnardine,”  was 
voted  “a  four-handkerchief  pic¬ 
ture”  at  the  world  premiere  in 
Denver,  home  of  playwright  Mary 
Chase  whose  play  supplied  the1 
script.. 

America’s  Secretary  of  State  was 
glorified  in  song  and  disk  via  two 
items,  “I’m  in  Love  With  John 
Foster  Dulles”  and  “I  Made  A  Fool 
of  Myself  Over  John  Foster  Dul¬ 
les”  .  Historians,  please  note. 

jerry  Lewis  established  a  new 
show  biz  mark  which  evidenced 
that  the  .  top  take  by  any  headliner 
can  be  obtained  in,  of  all  places, 
a  cabaret.  This  was  his  achieve¬ 
ment  at  the.  Town  8c  Country,  a 
1, 500-capacity  nitcry  in  Brooklyn, 
which  Ben  Maksik  built  up  from 
a  hot-dog  stand,  where  Lewis 
grossed  a  $131,000  take  on  his 
•second  week.  Lewis  and.  his  com¬ 
pany  got  $40,000  a  week  for  a  two- 
week  engagement,  in  itself  a  show 
biz  mark  in  “saloon  circuit”  sal¬ 
aries,  away  from  Las  Vegas..  The 
Town  &  Country,  of  course,  has 
no  gambling  but  its  large-capacity, 
lavish  decor  arid  obviously  highly, 
successful  formula  of  catering  to 
the  masses, :  resuited  in  Lewis  do¬ 
ing  15  shows  weekly  (a  third  frolic 
is  crowded  in..  Saturdays),  and 
while  the  minimum  tariff  for  food 
arid,  beverage  is  $6  per  person  he 
averaged  out  at  $12-a-head. 

Lewis’  high  mark  assuriaes  great¬ 
er  significance  compared  to  the 
all-time  high  legit  gross  scored  by 
“Oklahoma!”  in  San  Francisco 
when  it  hit  $119,811. 

Broadway  legit,  peaks  were  set  by 
“Happy  Hunting”  and  “My  Fair 
Lady”  because  both  have  a  new 
top.  of  $8.05  per  ticket.  Ethel  Mer- 
mah’s  show  in  the  larger-capacity 
(1,625  seats)  Majestic  has.  done 
$69,989  (including  standees)  and 
“My  Fair  Lady”  at  the  Mark  Hel- 
linger  Theatre  (1,551  seats),  same 
$8.05  top  price,  has  hit  $67,696; 
including  standees.  When  both 
shows  raised  to  a  $11.50  top  for 
New  Year’s  Eve,  ,  the  first  weeks  irt 
January  1957,  for.  both  shows, 
upped  to  $7i;651  (Merman)  and 
$72;272.  for  Fair  Lady.  (The  dis¬ 
parity  in  the  Helliriger  Theatre 
show’s  gross  going  up  on  that  week 
d  e  r  i  y  e  s  froin  the  additional 
standees  that  particular  week). 

1  Billy  Graham’s  Boffo  B.O.  | 


The  Las  Vegas  niteries  can’t  be. 
calculated  because,  until,  recently, 
there  was  not  even  the  . $2  mini¬ 
mum^  the  theory  of  the  casinos 
being  merely  to  -  churn  traffic,  via 
their  shows,  and  the  law  of  aver¬ 
ages  at  the  .  gaming  tables  takes 
care  of  the  rest.  New  York’s  Latin 
Quarter,  with  a  $6  minimum,  hit 
a  $90,000  gross  with  Mae  West,  arid 
the  Copacabana,  at  $5  minimum 
tab,  !  hit  $62,000  one  Week  with 
Jimmy  Durante,  Frank  Sinatra 
and  Martin  &  Lewis’  “fareweU”  as 
a  team. 

While  churchmen  deprecated 
the  radio-television  “faith  healers” 
(Continued  on  page  56) 


Fifty-second  JsfifelETY  Anniversary 


St  PICTURES 


Fifty-second  f^SSIEff  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


(Continued  from  page  54) 
(Orval  Roberts,  et  al  ),  there  was 
ho  disputing  the  ecclesiastical— 
though  conservative  pulpit,  style — 
showmanship ;  of  Billy  Graham's 
summer-long1  crusade  in  New 
York’s  Madison  Square  Garden.  It 
was  backed  by  a  consistent  radio- 
tv  campaign,  pius  a  savvy  press 
corps  of  publicists,  and  the  ABC- 
TV  pickup  of  the  evangelist’s  Sat-, 
urday  night  sermon. 

Graham  grossed  1,949,000  at¬ 
tendance  during  his  Garden  run 
(not  counting  the  100,000  at  Yankee 
Stadium  on  July  20  and  the  special 
rallies  in  Forest  Hills,  Harlem, 
Brooklyn  and  the  Wall  Street  area). 
When  Times  Square  became  the 
site  of  a  midtown  rally,  a  differ¬ 
ence  of  mathematics  arose  between 
the  police  authorities  who  esti¬ 
mated  75,000-to-90,000  whereas  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Graham  estimated  his 
turnout  at  the  200,000  mark.  Broad¬ 
way  theatres  were  uncertain 
whether  the  large  turnout  helped  ’ 
the  boxoffice  but  it  certainly 
hypoed  business,  at  the  contiguous 
restaurants.  Graham  revealed'  on 
Jack  Paar’s  “Tonight”  (midnight) 
NBC-TV  shows  that  “between  300 
and  400  from  show  business  had 
made  their  decisions  for  Christ’’ 
during  his.  Gotham  campaign. 
Variety’s  Bob  Landry  shrewdly  ob¬ 
served  that  “the  ivay  Judy  Garland 
belts  but  ballads,  Graham  belts 
out  chapter  &  verse.” 

The  Graham  team  made  no 
bones  of  their  evangelical  show¬ 
manship— the  Madison  Square  Gar¬ 
den  religioso  “show’’  ran  ads  in 
the  amusement  sections  of  the 
metropolitan  dailies,  always  the.  top 
lineage  rate. 

The  evangelist  got  in  the  middle 
of  the  •  ASCAP-BMI  legalistics 
when,  in  accepting  a  specially 
bound  copy  of  “The  BMI  Hymnal” 
from  Carl  Haverlin,  president  of 
Broadcast  Music  Inc:,  he  observed, 
“I  believe  that  BMI  deserves  not 
only  my  personal  thanks,  but.  the 
commendation  of  devout  people 
everywhere  for  providing  a  haven 
for  composers  and  authors,  of  re¬ 
ligious  music  of  all  faiths.”  The 
American  Society  of  Composers, 
Authors  and  Publishers  immedi¬ 
ately.  rebutted,  in  a  paid  advertise¬ 
ment  in  Variety,  that  ASCAP  was 
an  even  great  “haven  for.  com¬ 
posers  and  authors  of  religious 
music.” 

.p  Vatican’s  Encyclical  Letter  * 

The  1957  encyclical  letter  of 
Pope  Plus  XH,  ;  in  Which  he  urged 
extension  of  Legion  of  .  Decency 
activity  to  radio  and  television,  and 
also  including  motion  pictures,  got 
immediate  . reaction  from-  all  show 
biz  fronts.  There  is  natural  con¬ 
cern  that,  on  the  broadcasting  end, 
sponsors  may  become  increasingly 
sensitive  to  dramatic  scripts,  to 
personality  mannerisms,  such  as 
the  song  “belters.”  The  importers, 
of  foreign  films  saw  increasing 
hurdles  to  the  Continental;  style  of 
“realistic”  picture  production. 

Show  biz’s  influence  saw  one 
Toledo  ozoner  converting  to  a 
drive-in  church  during  the  summer 
months  with  non-denominational 
services  at  8  am*  every  Sunday, 
spelled  by  a  different  clergyman. 
Worshippers  sat  in  their  cars  lis¬ 
tening  to  the  sermon  through  the 
theatre’s  p.a.  system. 

Miscegenation  Themes  ; 
That  Little  Rock  Mess 

Show  biz  traditionally  knows  no 
talent  frontiers  of  creed  or  color 
but  it  was  inevitable  that  the  Little 
Rock  integration  mess  would  find 
its  echoes  in  the  lively  arts.  Cou¬ 
pled  with  this  was  the  cycle  of 
miscegenation  themes,  sparked 
primarily  by  Darryl  F.  ZanUqk’s 
“Island  in  the  Sun”  which  here  . and 
there  subjected  20th  Century-Fox 
to  a  barrage  of  propaganda  leaflets 
and  boycott .  threats  from  "White 
Citizens’  Committees;”  Joan  Fon- 
tai  ,  Zanuck  and  Spyros  Skouras, 
president  of  2'Qth-Fox,  which;  dis¬ 
tributed  the  film,  were  as  much  a 
target  as  the  film  featuring  Harry 
Belafonte,  in.  the  role  of  a  potent 
labor  force  in  a  Caribbean  setting. 

Belafonte’s  calypso  .  and  folk 
singing  vogue,  -on  records  and  in 
personals  in  niteries  and  concert, 
was  one  of  the  year’s  potent  box-, 
office  forces.  He  vied  closely  with 
Elvis  Presley,  arch-exponent  of 
rock  *n’  roll,  as  a  diskery  fave.  Bela¬ 
fonte,  incidentally,  rejected  Sam¬ 


uel  Goldwyn’s  bid  for  the  film  Ver¬ 
sion  of  “Porgy  and1  Bess”  and  ex¬ 
pressed  himself  in  favor  of  straight 
dramatic  roles  based  on  such  per-r 
sonalities  as  Alexandre  Dumas  or 
Alexander  Pushkin,  authors  and 
politico  leaders,  who  had  African 
blood  in  their  lineage.  He  may  do  a 
biopie  on  the  Rev.  Martin  Luther 
King.  Jr;,  the  Negro  minister  who 
led  the  fight  against  bus  segrega¬ 
tion  in:  Montgomery^  Ala.,  but 
meantime  .Belafonte’s  own  Harbel 
Productions  is  shooting  “End  of  the 
World”  for  Metro,  under  Ranald 
MacDougall’s  directipn.  As  the  title 
indicates,  piot  concerns  three  charr 
acters  who  are  the  only  people  left 
in  the  world  after  an  atomic  blast 
in  the  year  1962. 

The  click  Of  the  Zanuck  picture 
sparked  several;  similar-themed 
miscegnation  projects  and  cued  a 
revival  of  a  yesteryear  filmization 
of  “Carmen  Jones,”  w  hich  actually 
stars  Dorothy  Dandridge,  with 
Belafonte  in  a  minor  role. 

. 1  NAACP  and  Stephen  Foster  [ 

When  the.  Dixie  politicians  got 
into  the  act  it  d  dn’t  help  matters. 
Alabama’s:  Rep.  Vernon  Summer¬ 
lin  (1)  “  the  Belafonte  film 
as  “Communist  propaganda’’;  (2). 
the  Kluxers,  picketed .  rock  *n'  roll 
shows  and  traveling  troupes  star¬ 
ring  Negro;  musicians  '  et  .  all  as 
“tools  of  the  ;  Communists”;  (3)* 
Birmingham’s;  WABT  cancelled 
the  Nat  King  Cole  television  show 
for  the  simply  explained  reason 
of  “prejudiced  pressure:” 

Pop  song  lyrics  in  recent  years; 
have  been  edited  to  avoid  racial; 
sensitivity.  Some  lovers  of  tradit1'  on 
railed  against  tampering  with  orig¬ 
inal  lyrics  of  “Classics.”  The  drop¬ 
ping  of  Mark  Twain’s  “Huckleber^ 
ry  Finn”  from  elementary  school 
curriculum  added  to;  the  fire.  The 
National  Association  for  the  Ad¬ 
vancement  of  Colored  People  had 
previously  protested: 

(1)  Minstrel  shows,  because  '  of 
ti.eir  stereotypic  “Sambo”  end- 
men; 

(2)  John  .  Drinkwater’s  play, 

‘  Abraham  Lincoln”; 

(3>  A  standard  primary  grade 
book  called  “Black  Sambo.” 

At  a  luncheon  meeting ...  hosted 
by  the  Association,  of  Motion  Pic¬ 
ture  Producers.  NAACP  prexy  Roy 
Wilkins  expounded  On  the  por¬ 
trayal  of  the  American  Negro  in 
films,  stressing  that  “the.  roles 
should  be  commensurate  with  their 
current  position  American  life,” 
and  not  the  Uncle  Tom  prototype 
of  100  years  ago.  The  Hollywood 
producers  pledged  fullest  coopera¬ 
tion. 

The  importance  of  18,000,000 
Negro  consumers  in  at  least  25 
urban  areas  across  the  U  S.  has 
been  recogn;zed  by  the  Radio  Ad¬ 
vertising  Bureau  in  relation  to  the 
independent  radio  station’s  com¬ 
mercial,  potential.  In  the  past  15 
years  the  U.S.  Negroes’  average 
family  income;  has  gone  ub  three 
t;mes  what  it  was,  per  caoita,;and 
the  ;  margin  between  white  and 
colored  labor  has  been  consider¬ 
ably  narrowed. 

Once  harmless;  the  pop  song. 
“L;ttle  Girl  From  Little  Rock;” 
from  the  musical,  “Gentlemen 
Prefer.  Blondes,”  suddenly,  became 
a  dirty  phrase;  personalities  doing 
interview  shows,  when  asked  their 
birthplace,  apologized  if  they  were 
bora  in  Arkansas:  and  a  Westbury 
(Long  Island )  musical  tent  produc¬ 
tion  of  “South  Pacific.”  sparked,  a 
mild  explosion  When  herirrie 
Nellie  Forbush  (played  by  Fran 
V/ arren).  explained  in  text  that  she 
hailed  from.  Little  Rock.  The 
management  had  to  protect  future 
decorum  with  an  announcement 
from  the  stage,  that  not  all  Little 
Rock  folk  were,  intolerant.  Para¬ 
doxically,  another  song  in  “Sotith 
Pacific;”  titled  “You  Must  Be 
Taiuglit  To  Hate,”  had  been  re¬ 
cognized  as  Oscar  Hammerstein’s 
“Writers.  Wrir  Board-1’ ke  propar 
ganda  lyric  for  tolerance.”  Not 
so  long  ago  a  comic  reference  to 
a  visitor  from  Budapest  had  to  be 
changed  in  the  “My  Fair  Lady” 
script  for  the  same  reason  of  audi¬ 
ence  sensitivity  to  the  headlines 
of  the  day. 

|  Segregated  Show  Biz  7  I 

Negro  artiste  had  their  own 
views  on  Dixie  bookings.  While 
Louis  Armstrong :  has  always  per¬ 
formed  hefore:  segregated  audi¬ 
ences — and  for  this  he  was  blasted 


by  Sammy  Davis  Jr.  when  Satchmo 
sounded  off  against  President 
Eisenhower’s  Little  Rock  policy — 
he  said  he  would  cancel  his  jazz 
tour  to  Russia  in  rebellion  against 
the  political  mess.  A  UP  dispatch 
from  Grand  Forks,  N.D-»  where 
Satchmo  .was  on  concert  tour, 
scored  the  President  for  “no  gilts” 
and  categorized  Arkansas  Gov. 
Orval  E.  Faubus  as  “an  uneducated 
plow  boy”'  and  said  "he  would  not. 
embark  the  Government- 

sponsored  trip  to  the  Soviet  Union 
because  “the,  way  they  are  treat¬ 
ing  -my  ;  people  in  the'  South,  the 
Government  can  go  to  .hell.” 

A  week  -  later.  Satchmo  lauded. 
Ike,  proclaimed,  “this  is  the  great¬ 
est  country,”  and  indicated  that  his 
tptir  to  the  Soviet  is  on  again. 
None  the  less,  with,  characteristic 
tv  sponsorial  sensitivities,  Satch- 
mb’s  swipe  at  Ike  threatened  can¬ 
cellation  of  his  booking  on  the 
Bing  GrosbyrFrank  Sinatra  spec,, 
sponsored  by  the  Edsel  division  of 
Ford  Motors,  but  CBS-TV  Would 
not  comply  and  Armstrong  proved 
one  of  the  highlights. 

Rep:  Lawrence  H.  Smith*  a  Wis¬ 
consin.  Republican  on  .  the  Foreign 
Affairs  Committee,  took  a  dim  view 
of  Government-financed  “interna¬ 
tional  junkets  of  jazz  bands,  ballet 
groups  and  operatic  troupes”  as  a 
“global  vaudeville  show”  and  “a 
curious  way  of  combatting  world 
Communism.”  State  Dept,  tours 
now  in  second  year  and  generally 
considered  successful  on  the 
strength  of  goodwill  impact  on  the 
common-man  level.  Was  mocked 
by  this,  congressman.  Who  ob¬ 
served,  “We  are  sending  Warblers 
of  arias  to  Western  Europe,,  weight 
lifters  to  the  Near  East,  and  swing 
bands  to  the  Far  East.  In  1956 
and:  1957  American  taxpayers  were 
forced  to  pay  nearly  $5,000,000  to 
finance  this  international  vaude¬ 
ville  program.”  .... 

Meantime  ,  three  traveling  jazz 
troupes,,  with  mixed  casts  of  mu¬ 
sicians,  cancelled  Texas  bookings 
because  of .  the  integration  issue. 
Dave  Brubeck,  Norman  Granz’s 
“Jazz  ;at  the  Phiiharmonic”  and 
Leonard  Feather’s  “Encyclopedia 
of  Jazz”  rejected  bookings  for  rea¬ 
sons  of  -segregated  audiences  and 
local  prejudice  against,  “inte¬ 
grated”  band  personnel  of  white; 
and  colored  musicians. 

|-  W,  C.  Handy  ..  ■} 

Show  biz  saluted  W-  C.  Handy, 
“daddy  of  the  blues,”  his  84th 
birthday  with  a  gala,  dinner  Nov. 
.17,  at  the  Waldorf-Astoria.  Inci¬ 
dentally,  that  Hilton  flagship  hotel, 
which.  h3d  done  signal  business  in 
its  Empire  Room  and  on  the  Star¬ 
light  .Roof  with  such  personalities 
as  Lena  Horne,  Harry  Belafonte, 
Peart  Bailey,  Dorothy  .  Dandridge, 
et  a!..,  had  no  problems  with  the 
Harlem  clientele  that  came  to  the 
Roof  ;  this  summer  during,  the 
Count  Basie-Sarah  Vaughan  book¬ 
ings;  and  later  when  Lionel  Hamp- 
ton-Diahann  Carroll  played  there. 
There  wasn’t  as  much  ‘mixed.” 
dancing  as  in:  some  of  the  Green¬ 
wich.  Village  spots  with  their  jazz 
policies;.  7  :  ■; 

l  Satchmo  .  | 

Satchmo’s  57th  birthday  sparked 
an  Armstrong  Festival  Week  in 
spots  that,  ranged  from  Newport, 
R.  L,  to  the  Lewisohn  .  Stadium, 
N.  Y.  Nat  King  Cole’s  tv  show, 
after  a  few  sponsorial  balks,  not 
to  mention  the  Madison  Ave.  set’s 
difficulty  in  selling  their  clients, 
got  a  justified  reprieve  and  con¬ 
tinued,  into  the  fall  season  as  one. 
of  the  more  pleasant  NBC-TV  mu¬ 
sical  shows.  It  had  to  compromise 
With  “cooperative”  (lobal)  sponsor¬ 
ship,  unable  to  get  a  crOss-the- 
board  underwriter,  and  eventually 
collapsed.  Sugar  Ray;  RobinsOn, 
even  before  the  loss  of  the  middle¬ 
weight.  title  .to  Carmen  Basilio, 
planned  a  show  biz  comeback  but, 
at :  the  last  minute,  rejected  the 
King  of  Babylon  role  in  NBC-TV’s. 
revival  of  “The  Green  Pastures;” 
William  Dillard  substituted,  Wil¬ 
liam  Warfield  and  Eddie  (Roches¬ 
ter)  Anderson  topped  the  cast.  Cab 
Calloway  had  previously  been  of¬ 
fered  the  same  role. 

Regardless  of  the  isms  in  the 
States,  the  goodwill  engendered  by 
the  “Porgy  and.  Bess’’  Dizzy  Gil¬ 
lespie  and  Lionel  Hampton  tours  in 
Europe  in  recent  years,  to  be  en¬ 
cored  by  Satchmo,  the  British 


buffs  who  clamored  for  such  jazz 
royalty  as  Duke  Ellington  had  to 
settle  for  a  Count  (Basie)  when  the 
former  found  himself  too  tied  up 
ui  the  States. 

Rockabilly,  Calypso 

And  Toujours  R  V  R 

Country  &  western  music  gained 
new  impetus  and:  such  rockabilly 
exponents  as  Jinuiiy  Dean  came  to 
the  fore  on  Wax  and  video  for  box- 
office.  The  midwest  disk  jockeys 
took  cognizance  of  the’  c&w  phe¬ 
nomenon  by.  forming  a  Country 
Music  Disk  Jockey  '  Assn,  head¬ 
quartered  in  Kansas  City  with  250 
cornball  music  platter-spiniiers 
joining  and  750  more  expected. 

Columbia  Records’  prez  Goddard 
Lieberson  pointed  to  Dean,  Ferlin 
Huskey,  Marty  Robbins,  Jim 
Reeves,  Minnie  Pearl,  Harik  Snow, 
as  following  in  the  footsteps  of  the 
pioneering  “country  music”  virtu¬ 
oso,  the  late  composer-singer  Hank 
Williams,  c&w  in  its  1957-58  pat¬ 
tern  is  a  blend  of  blues,  spirituals 
and  folk  tunes.  Lieberson  comput¬ 
ed  c&w  as  a  $50,00d,000-a-year 
business  these  days. 

The  calypso  vogue  was  only  po- 
tent  on  wax.  With  the  lone  excep¬ 
tion  of  Harry  Belafonte’s  impact, 
in.  virtually  all  media,  from  niter¬ 
ies  to  the  Greek  Theatre,  Holly¬ 
wood— where  he  and  Victor  Borge 
hold  the  records — it  flopped  as  a 
yaudfiim  novelty.  Unlike  the.  sun¬ 
dry  rock  ’  ’  roll  personals,  a  .  .ca¬ 
lypso  show  attempt  by  the  Loew 
circuit  in  Brooklyn  was  a  fliv.  -The 
calypsomania  saw  Hollywood  film 
quickies  being  plotted,  under  the 
titles  of  “Calypso  Grips  So”  and 
“Bop  Girl  Goes  Calypso.” 

From  Buenos  Aires  to  Glasgow, 
Variety  reported  the  r&r.  sock 
either  of  the  Columbia  film,.  “Rock 
Around  The  Clock,”  or  Bill  Haley’s 
Comets  in  person, 

{.  ~  Hi-Sci  Mood  Music  \ 

■MGM  Records  got  On  the  scien¬ 
tific  beam  with  a  mood  album 
titled  “Music  From  Outer:  Space,” 
with  such  individiial  tune  titles  as 
“Jupiter  Jumps,”  “Polaris,”  Ura¬ 
nus  Unmasked,”  “Mercury  Muses,” 
“Solar  Siesta,”  “Cosmic  Capers,” 
“Asteroidiana,”  “Vibrations  From 
Venus”  and  “Saturn  Soliloquizes.” 

Early  in  the  year  there  was  such 
a  wave  of.  calypso  “rooms”  that  the. 
boites  feared  a  shortage  of  special- 
ists  whose  billing  runs  along  the 
.lines  of  the  Duke  of  Iron,  Lord 
Flea,  Count  Spoon,  Lord  Fish  Ray, 
Lady  English,  Easy  Riders,  et  al. 

Even .  do-it-yourself  calypso  kits 
made  their  .appearance,  comprising 
bongo  drums,  a  gourd  and  a  pair 
of  maracas  for  the  frustrated  afici¬ 
onados  of  the  “decent’ -on-the-. 
wrprig-“sylloble”  school. 

As  some  of  the  Caribbean  folk 
ditties  were  rushed  onto  the  wax 
some  copyright  confusions  cropped 
up  as  to  the  true  authorship  of. 
such  ditties  as  “Mama,  Looka  Boo 
Boo,”  “The  Banana  Boat  Song”  and 
“Marianne;”  Some:  of  the  inde¬ 
pendent  recorders  claimed  they 
were  PD  (public  domam),  but  most 
of  them  credited  the  interpreter 
(Usually  Belafonte)  who,  as  with 
so  many  artiste  of  late,  usually  had 
a  music  publishing  adjunct  as  part 
pf  his  artistic  (and  economic)  en¬ 
deavors; 

For  a  time  the  Carribean  was 
so  crowded  with  a&r  men  oh  all- 
expenses-paid  quests  for  calypso 
songs  and  tunes  that  it  looked  like 
the  Trinidad  .Tourist  Commission 
had  a  pipeline  to  the  Brill  Bldg. 

I  R  ’n’  R  and  Rcligiosos  | 

Columbia  Records’  a&r  topper 
Mitch  Miller’s  views  on  rock  ’n’ 
roll  got  attention:  ‘‘Its.  appeal,  to 
youngsters  is  the  equivalent ,  of 
those  ‘confidential’  magazines  to 
adults;  It  caters  to  a  part  of  us 
we’re  not  proud  of.  It  can’t  be 
compared  to  the  interest  in  Benny 
Goodman  in  the  ’30s  or  Frank 
Sinatra  in  the  ’40s.  This  is  the 
first  time  records  have  capitalized 
oil.  illiteracy  and  bad  recording.” 

As  rock  veered  to  rocking-chair 
(meaning  smoother  ballads  in  show 
biz  parlance)  the  Billy  Graham 
Crusade  in  Manhattan  was  credited 
with  upbeating  religiosongs  and 
putting  the  spotlight  on  itinerant 
gospel  singing  groups  playing  not 
nnly  in  churches  ,  and  tabernacles 
but  being  “roadshow.ed”  into  audi¬ 
toriums. 

While  Pat  Boone  spearheaded  a 
reverse-trend  to  smoother  ballads. 


calypso  was  by  no  means  stone 
cold  dead  as  was  anticipated,  nor 
did  rock  ’n-  roll  roll  away.  Both 
Belafonte  and  Presley  achieved 
diskery  firsts  with  1,000,000-copy 
albums,  respectively  titled  “Ca¬ 
lypso”  and  “Elvis,”  and  their 
singles  continued  apace,  notably 
Presley’s  ‘Don't  Be  Cruel”  around 
4,000,000.  Heretofore  only  original 
cast  Broadway  show  albums,  like: 
“Oklahoma”  (Decca),  “South  Pa¬ 
cific”  and  “My  Fair  Lady”  (both 
Columbia),  hit  the  golden  circle 
with  1,000, 000-copy  LP  sales,  and 
that  was  over  a  protracted  period 
of  years. 

I  Presley,  Welk,  Tab  ~[ 

For  the  record,  Presley’s  “Lov¬ 
ing  You”  and  “Teddy  Bear,” 
coupling  from  his  Paramount,  film 
titled  “Loving  You,”  made  it  the 
No,  8  golden  seller,  following  on 
the  heels  of  “Heartbreak  Hotel,” 
“I  Want  You,  I  Need  You,”  “Don’t 
Be  Cruel,”  “Hound  Dog,”  “Love 
Me  Tender,”  “Too  Much”  and  “All 
Shook  Up.”  ‘‘Cruel”  is  his  alltime 
toooer  with.  5,000,000  biscuits  sold. 

Meantime,  like  Liberace.  nobody 
liked  Lawrence  Welk  but  the  pub¬ 
lic.  His  bubbly :  “champagne  music” 
is  a  nearly  $4,000,000  gross  busi¬ 
ness;  Between  40,-50,000,000  peo¬ 
ple  see  h;s  teleshows .  weekly,  he 
has  gotten  up  to  $100,000  a  week 
in  concert  personals,  and  his  Coral 
records  have  boomed  in  sales. 

When  Tab  Hunter’s  nondescript 
vocaliz’ng  of  “Young  Love”  (Dot) 
got  into  >he  charmed  golden  circle 
(1,000,000.  platters)  all  the  diskeries 
harnessed  one  or  another  of  the 
marquee  personalities.  Debhie 
Reynolds’  “Tammy”  outsold  her 
Vnging-husband  Eddie  Fisher. 
Robert  Mitchum  croaked  a  calyDSO 
for  Capitol.  Jerry  Lewis  proved  a 
strong  seller  on  Decca  (Dean 
M;‘r-’n  already  w-as  on  Capitol), 
Anthonv  Perk;ns  got  on  Eoic  w'ax, 
and  others  like  Hurth  O’Brian, 
Yvonne  DeCarjo,  Jeff  Chandler, 
Sal  Mineo  and  Lizbeth  Scott  fol¬ 
lowed.  Grace  Grimaldi  (iiee  Kelly) 
v/as  another  Hollywood  name  Who 
shared  vicariously,  in  Bing  Crosby’s  , 
first  pop  “golden”  record  in  a  long, 
time,  “True  Loye”  (Capitol). 
Crosby,  incidentally,  broke  away 
fiom  his  20-year  exclusivity  with 
Decca  and  hasTbeen  making  clat¬ 
ters  for  every  label  from  Verve 
to  Victor,  from  Capitol  to  Kapp. 
In  the  latter  instance  it’s  a  veteran 
reunion,  dating  back  to  when  the 
late  Jack  Kapp  first  signed  The 
Groaher  to  a  Decca  exclusive; 
surviving  brother  David  Kapp  is 
the  one  for  whom  Crosby  now 
records.  7 

[ _ LPs — Lovely  Perennials  | 

As  if  in  protest  to  the  Presley 
Wave,  a  torrent ''of  LP  cavalcades 
. cascaded  from  the  diskeries,  with 
.strong  accent  on  the  smoother  and 
more  durable  music  of  another 
day.  Medleys  and  pot-pourris  of 
Jerome  Kern,  Richard  Rodgers, 
Cote  Porter  arid  Sigmund  Romberg, 
a^d  the  nostalgic  melodies  of  the 
*2 0s  and  ’30s  hit  the  market. 

Rodgers’  40  years  as  a  composer 
was  signalized  not  only  by  a  num¬ 
ber  of  platter  parades  but  by  David 
Ewen’s  excellent  biography.  Irving 
Berlin’s  50th  arinivefsary  as  a 
songsmith— he  realized  ;33c  from 
his  first  song.  “Marie  Froiri.  Sunriy 
Italy,”  In.  1907  —  was  given  the 
plush  LP  treatment  by  every 
major  label,  not  to  mention  the 
many  tv  and  radio  salutes.  It  was 
recalled  anew  that  that  song 
carried  “I.  Berlin”  as  wordsmith 
and  M.  Nicholson  (long  forgotten 
in  memory)  was  the  tunesmith. 
“Ragtime  .  Violin”  in  1909,  and 
'Everybody’s  Doing  It  Now”  (“The 
Turkey  Trot”)  and  the  immortal 
“Alexander’s  Ragtime  Band” 
(1911)  keynoted  Berlin  as  the  new 
“ragtime  king  of  America.” 

|.  •'  ,  Payola  ,  '  I 

Payola  again  came  to  the  fore. 
Not  alone  intra-trade,  but  the  Inr 
ternal  Reyenooers.  had  been  hear-, 
ing  things  about  disk  jockeys  being 
subsidized  to  plug  certain  records 
and  w'ent  after  a  Philadelphia  deer 
jay  in  a  test  case  for  undeclared  - 
income.  There  were  even  two  net¬ 
work  telecasts  built  around,  the 
payola  and/Or  diskery  business, 
with  much  inside  stuff  brought  in¬ 
to  the  Open.  By  and  large  the  tax 
men  found  that  entertainment  of 
deejays  at  firstnights,  prizefights, 
(Continued  on  page  58) 


Jiniyjujr  8, 195S 


Fifty*»eoni  pfiaJEf?  Anniversary 


If 


BLOCKBUSTER 

BUSINESS 

AMERICAN  INTERNATIONAL  DOES  IT  AGAIN 
THANKSGIVING  WEEK’S  TOP  GROSSER!! 

DALLAS  •  SAN  ANTONIO  •  ABILENE  ■  GALVESTON 
FT.  WORTH  -  HOUSTON  ■  MILWAUKEE  •  BALTIMORE 


58 


PICTURES 


Fifty -second  Anniversary 


January  g,  1958 


A  .  '*  '  .  '  , 


Fix  Not  Dying,  Just  Old  Refute 


(Continued  from  page  56) 
restaurants,  etc,  was  no  different 
than  what  other  industries  do; 
There  were  also  at  least  two  .syn¬ 
dicated  series  “exposing”  Tin  Pan 
Alley  “evils,”  payola,  etc.  Besides 
a  CBS-TV  “Climax”  show  on  pay¬ 
ola  -K  WABD,  New  York,  on  its  "En¬ 
tertainment  Press  Conference,” 
guested  Mitch  Miller  who  observed 
that  “only  the  untalented  accept 
payola.” 

As  part  of  the.  ASCAP-BMI  has¬ 
sle,  Frank  Sinatra  blasted  Miller 
for  allegedly  “foisting”  certain 
BMI  songs  on  him  when  he  was  a 
Columbia  recording  artist  (Sinatra 
has  since  been  on  Capitol  label), 
but  Miller  pointed  to  the  vast  ma¬ 
jority  of  ASCAP  tunes  that  Sinatra 
waxed  when  at  CoL  Bing  Crosby 
also  took  up  the  cudgels  for 
ASCAP  writers.  Both  top  singers, 
of  course,  have  strong  personal  ties 
with  such  ASCAP  songsmiths  as 
Johnny  Mercer,  Sammy  Cahh, 
Jimmy  Van  Heusen  and  Johnny 
Burke  whose  cause  is  naturally 
anti-BMI. 


BMI  vs.  ASCAP 


The  public  also  became  privy  to 
the.  ASCAP-BMI  hassle  especially 
as  Congressman  Emanuel  Cellar 
(New  York  Democrat)  took  a  dim 
view  of  the  broadcasters  subsidiz¬ 
ing  Broadcast  Music  Inc.  This  ties 
in  with  the  $150,000,000  damage 
suit  by  a  group  of  American  Soci¬ 
ety  of  Composers,  Authors  and 
Publishers’  members  (writers  only) 
that  the  BMI  andradio-tv  station 
hookup  “conspired”  to  keep 
ASCAP  music  off  the  air. 

Senator  George  A.  Smathers 
(D.,  Fla.)  later  in  the  year  intro¬ 
duced  a  bill  to  prohibit  broadcast¬ 
ers  owning:  stock  in  BMI.  Senator 
Barry  Goldwater  (R,,  Ariz.)  also 
wanted. to  know  whether,  ‘‘the  air¬ 
ways  of  this  country  have  been 
flooded  with  inferior  music  since 
BMI  was  formed?”  to  which  Sen. 
Smathers  did  straight,  “I  would 
completely  agree.” 

ASCAP,  ever  the  gold  mine  of. 
the  music  business,  hit  a  new  rec¬ 
ord  high  income  of  $24,731,156  for 
1956,  with  $18,689,636  of  this  royal¬ 
ty  melon  divided  among  the  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  American  Society  of  . 
Composers,  Authors  and  Publish¬ 
ers.  The  competitive  Broadcast 
Music  Inc.  marked  its  own  “sweet 
17”  year  and  continued  to  monop¬ 
olize  the  current  pop  song  parade^ 
At  one  calibration,  for  example, 
34  of  the  top  45  times  in  the 
Variety  “Top  Record  Talent  & 
Tunes”  charts  were  BMI-licensed. 
At  another  point,  at  the  peak  of 
the  calypso  vogue,  the  ratio  was 
even  higher. 

ASCAP’s  license  breakdown  now 
numbers  26,351  general  contracts 
including  bars,  grills  and  taverns, 
hotels,  niteries,  restaurants,  Cock¬ 
tail  lounges,  dancehalls,  skating 
rinks,  motion  picture  theatres, 
drive-ins  and  wired  music  opera¬ 
tors.  There  are  3*475  radio  sta¬ 
tions  licensed;  21  national  and  re¬ 
gional  radio  networks,  plus  453  tv 
stations  and  3  television  networks. 


publisher  Fred  Day  and  his  Doris, 
for  whom  the  Dreyfuses  had  stood 
up  45  years  ago.  Day,  in  turn, 
returned  to  London  from  an  Amer¬ 
ican  business  trip  to  Celebrate 
Francis,  Day  &  Hunter’s  80th  an¬ 
niversary  as  an  international  mu¬ 
sic  publishing  organization. 

While  Hollywood  was  planning 
to  do  a  biopic  of  the  times  and 
lives  of  sohgsmiths  Albert  and 
Harry  Von  Tilzer,  Lawrence  Welk 
bought  out  the  latter’s  music  pub¬ 
lishing  business. 


Booming  Disk ’Biz 


J 


Gene  Buck’s  Passing 


Gene  Buck’s  death  at  71  early 
in  the  year  pointed  up  his  pioneer¬ 
ing  in  ASCAP  of  which  he  was 
president  from  1924-1941  and 
which  he  helped  found  along  with 
Victor  Herbert,  and.  attorney 
Nathan.  Burkan.  Songsmith  Buck, 
who  was  long  No.  1  production 
aide  to  Florenz  Ziegfeld.  started  in 
the  biisic  business  as  an  artist  and 
originated  the  colorful  covers  on 
sheet  music  for  Which  he  got  $25 
each.  After  making  some  5,000 
such  covers.  Chiefly  for  Jerome  H. 
Remick  in  Detroit,,  where  he  was 
bom,  he  lost  his  eyesight  and  re¬ 
mained  inactive  for  some  time. 
When  he  regained  sight,  he  decid¬ 
ed  to  stay  in  the  music  business, 
this  time  as  a  writer. 

The  second  of  “The  Fabulous 
Dorseys”  died  in.  1957.  Jimmy  Dor¬ 
sey  was  on  the  toad  to  a  big  come¬ 
back  via  his  disking  of  “So  Rare” 
when  he  succumbed  to  cancer  sev¬ 
en  months  after  brother  Tommy 
Dorsey  choked  to  death  in  his 
Connecticut  estate. 

Music  publisher  Saul  H.  Bourne, 
longtime  associate  of  Irving  Berlin 
until  their  partnership  split  in 
1947,  died  at  73.  Vet  music  pub¬ 
lisher.  Rcicco  Vocco  was  feted  on 
his  70th  birthday,  Victoria  and 
Max  Dreyfus  marked  their  60th 
Anniversary  With  London-  music 


.  The  year  was  marked  by  hew 
heights  in  the  disk  biz.  Capitol’s 
sales  zoomed  37%  to  a  new  peak 
of  $35,100,000;  net  profit  at  $3,239,- 
000.  Dot  Records,  which  became  a 
Paramount  Pictures  subsidiary 
property  in  *57  On  a  $1,800,000 
cash-and-stock  deal  with  founder 
Randy  Wood,  envisions  a  $10,000,- 
000  year  in  '57.  Randy  Wood 
launched  the  lahel  in  his :  native 
Gallatin,  Tenn.,  in  1950. 

Columbia  Records  hit  an  alltime 
peak  with  a  42%  rise  in  LP,  pho¬ 
nograph  sales  and  the  Record  Club 
which,  said  president  Goddard 
Lieberson,  gave  his  company  in¬ 
dustry  leadership. 

.  Decca  zoomed  20%,  with  alb 
time  high  earnings  .  of  $4,543,902 
compared;  to  $3,795,585  the  year; 
before.  Decca  owns  74%  of  Uni¬ 
versal  Pictures  so  the  income  of 
the  two  is  intermingled  but  the 
managers*  support  of  Decca  .  film 
soundtracks  were  credited  fbr 
much  of  the  upbeat.  Another  indie 
label.  Jubilee;,  eyed  ,  a  $6,000,000 
year  in  1957. 

Stereophonic  sound  is  also  shap¬ 
ing  up  as  the  next  big  merchan¬ 
dising  push  in  the  disk— phono¬ 
graph-tape  recording  industry. 
One  industry  topper  envisions  a 
51,000.000,000  volume  in  ’58  based 
on  :  $407,000,000  sales  in  .  packaged 
hi-fi;  $400,000,000  .  in  disks  and 
tapes;  $140,000,000  in  standard 
phonographs;  $120,000,000  inrtape 
recorders. 

The  music  plug  has  been  impor¬ 
tant  in  sparking  boxoffice  accept¬ 
ance  and  vice  versa. 

The  teenagers  Who  were  the 
(James)  Deanagefs  of  last  year 
remained  loyal  to  their  disk  fa¬ 
vorites  and  while  Pat  Boone 
created  a  pendulum  swing  back  to 
the  smooth  ballad  type,  rock  *n’ 
roll,  continues  to  rock  along. 
Presley’s  boxoffice  and  platter 
potency  remains  undiminished: 
the  jeariagers .  still  like  that  “beat” 
for  their  dansapation. _ 


Kids*  Beaucoup  Loot 


The  juveniles’  predilection  for 
kiddyaps  On  tv  also  saw  RCA 
Victor,  for  example,  packaging 
flock  of  oatei*  oprys,  of  the  genre 
of  “Tales  of  the  Texas  Rangers,'’ 
“Wagon  Train,”  “Wyatt  Earp.” 
“Cheyenne,”  ;  “Broken  Arrow//’’ 
‘Tales  of  Wells  Fargo,”  “The 
Restless  Gun,”  “The  Lone  Rang¬ 
er.”  “Gunsmoke”  and  the  like. 

The  teenager  market  has  as¬ 
sumed  sizeable  proportions  in 
merchandising.  It  has:  been  esti¬ 
mated  that  17,000,000  American 
kids,  in  the  12-19  age  bracket,  have 
a  $9,000,000,000  purchasing  power. 

Some  800.000  have  steady  jobs, 
and  4.500,000  have  part-itime 
odd  jobs  which  averages  them  $10-. 
$15  .  weekly,  as  against  the  $l-$2 
average  of  15  years  ago.  Much  of 
this  goes  for  records,  hi-fi,  small- 
radios,  gasoli  for  their  own 
jalopies  or  the  family  car  when 
they  can  borrow  it.  It’s  no  small 
botatoes  and,  considering  that  the 
kids,  account  for  about  70%  of  the 
record  industry’s  single-platter, 
business,  or  about  $150,000,000  a 
year,  the.  jeariagers  are  very  im¬ 
portant  in  the  .  scheme  of  show 
business,  from  artists  Who  would 
woo  their  favor  to  the  merchandise 
thev  represent. 

The  mood  music  LPS  created; 
such  variegated  items  and  ideas  as 
“Music  for  Expectant  Mothers.” 
“Music  for  Tired  Lovers.”  “Music 
to  Change  Her  Mind.”  “Music  for 
Gracibus  Living,”  “Music  For  a 
Ra:ny  Night,”  “Music  for  Washing 
and  Ironing,”  “Music  for  Medita¬ 
tions/'  “Music  for  Courage  arid 
Confidence,”  “Music  for  the  Con¬ 
tinental  Host,”  “Music  for  People 
Who  Can’t  Sleep,”  “Music  for  the 
Nostalgic  Traveler”  (there’s  a 
whole  crop  of  these  country-by- 
cmintry  groupings),  “Music  for 


Baby  Sitters,"  “Music  for  Booz- 
iug,”  “Music  to  Soothe  Your 
Hangover,”  ’‘Music:.  To  Break 
Lease,”  “Music  for  the  Analyst’s 
Couch,**  “Music  to:  Beat  Your.  Wife 
By,”  and  even  “Music  to  Spoil 
Your  Taste  for  Music.” 

The  fastest  “golden”  record  for 
a  legit  album  was  .  achieved  by  the 
speko  “My  Fair  Lady”  11  months 
after  Jhe  Broadway  run  of  the 
Alan  Jay  Lerner-Frederick  ;Loewe 
musical.  It  took  Rodgers  & 
Hammerstein’s  “Oklahoma!*’  and 
“South  Pacific”  several  years  to 
hit  the  1,000,000  mark  and  gain 
the  coveted  “golden*’  platter. 

While  Arthur  Murray  is  teaching 
more  and  ;more.  disciples  in  a  hur¬ 
ry,  the  dansapation  vogue  general¬ 
ly  isn’t  as  big  as  even  the  Lawrence 
Welk  and  kindred  bandshows  pop¬ 
ularly  might  indicate.  The  vocalists 
are  still  tops  on  platters,  and  in- 
strumentally  the  small  intimate 
boites  or:  Music  Rooms,  as  they  are 
known,  appeal  more  to  the  sit-and- 
drink-and-listen  set  than  to  the 
dine-and-dansapators.  While  the 
Belafonte  calypso  vogue  earlier  in 
the  year  brought  forth  a  rash  of 
Caribbean-type  bistros;  the  Eddie 
Condon-George  Shearing  and  the 
Birdland-Embers  brand  of  jazz 
haunts  are  more  than  holding  their 
own. 

U;S.  servicemen  shell  out  be¬ 
tween  $5,000,000  and  $6,000,000  for 
American  platters  in  PXes  abroad. 
A  hillbilly  craze •  is  fulminating  in 
West  Germany  as  result  of  a  Mun¬ 
ich  beerhall  cellar  show.  Deejay 
Sgt.  Larry  Phillips,  via  the  Ameri¬ 
can  Forces  Network,  has  furthered 
the  comball  .  appeal,,  via  a  “Hill¬ 
billy  Gasthaus”  show,  with  accent 
on  rockabilly  platters. 

Yank  Globetrotters; 
Showplanes  Both  Ways 

Showplanes  to  the  European  cap¬ 
itals.  (with  cQcktaileries  hosted  by 
Sir  Laurence  Olivier,  Ingrid  Berg¬ 
man  and  Maurice  Chevalier);  pack¬ 
aged^  planertrain  tours  to  Broadway 
(hotels  included);;  “Weekend  at  the 
Waldorf”  packages,  which  some  of 
the  Chicago  and  Honolulu  hotels 
are  emulating,  saw  travel  agent 
Paul  Tausig  &  Son  doing 
verse-field.  He’s  junketing  Euro¬ 
peans  to  see  the  Broadway  hits; 
Plane  tours  include  not  only  “My 
Fair  Lady”  but  also  accommoda¬ 
tions  at  the  „  Waldorf-Astoria  and 
detburs  to  the  Latin  Quarter  and 
other  bistros. 

Travel-crazy  Americans,  accord¬ 
ing,  to  official  statistics,  spent  $1,- 
800,000,000  last  year,  an  increase 
of  $200,000,000  tourism  over  the 
previous  year;  Canada  and  Mexico 
nosed  out  Europe  and  the  . Mediter¬ 
ranean  resorts  in  mass  favor.  The 
West  Indies  and  Central  America 
are  next,  all  gimmicking  their  tour¬ 
ist  appeal,  of  course,  with  show  biz 
flavored  for.  the  Yankee  talste.  Even 
the  Cuban  and  Haitian  revolutions 
had  little  effect  on  U.S.  travel 
there. 

The  1958  Brussels  World’s  Fair 
is  the  next  international  tourist 
draw. 

Internl  Filiri  Festivals 
Including  Iron  Curtain 

International  Film  Festivals  con¬ 
tinued  to  grow  and  for  the  second, 
year  the  cinema  fest  at  the  Carls¬ 
bad  conclave,  on  the  far  .side  of  the 
Iron  Curtain,  in  Czechoslovakia, 
was  an  effective  showcase  for  Com¬ 
munistic  propaganda.  At  the  same 


nist  sniper  heroine  shoots  her 
White  Russian  lover  as,  once  again, 
loyalty  to  the  Kremlin  triumphs 
over  Cupid. 

However,  less  arid  less  are  the 
film  festivals  serious  competitive 
joiists  as  they  are  social,  propa¬ 
ganda,  bartering  and  irieeting  spots 
—another  excuse  for  the  ever-en¬ 
larging  postwar  globetrotter  who 
will  fly  3,000  or  more  miles  for 
anything  from  the  opening  of  a 
new  Hilton  hotel  to  a  movie,  or  a 
festival. 


Jock  Whitney 


time  it  permitted  a  freer  meeting, 
at  least  so;  far  as  movies  was  con¬ 
cerned,  between  the  East  and  the 
West.  Uruguay’s  Punta  del  Este 
was  not  a  particularly  happy  event 
nor  did  the  Sao  Paolo  (Brazil)  film 
fest  do  for  the.  Western  Hemi¬ 
sphere  what  the  Cannes  and  Ven¬ 
ice  festivals  achieve.  Runnerup  in 
any  impact  is  the.  one  in.  Berlin, 
midsummer  arid  midway  between 
the  spring  romp  on  the  Riviera 
and  the  gondola  city’s  conclave  in 
August. 

Edinburgh  focused  Its  festival  on 
dbcumentary  films;  Cortina  d’Am¬ 
pezzo  for  mountain  documentaries; 
Knokke  ,  (Belgium)  on  religious 
films— andMoscow’s  summer  World 
Youth  Festival  for  general  propa¬ 
ganda*  film  and  otherwise. 

Russia’s  1957  Cannes  entry  Was 
a  switch  on  the  rulebook  girl-meets- 
tractor  script  and  “The  Fortyfirst” 
was  a  real  Soviet  sex  try  for  a  love 
stbry, .  but  even  here  the  Commu- 


U.S.  Ambassador  to  Great  Bri¬ 
tain.  John  Hay  (Jock)  Whitney 
presented  the  1957  Golden  Laurel 
(David  O.  Selznick)  Award  at  the 
Scot  Film  Festival  in  Edinburgh  to 
a  French  film,  “Si  Tous  Les  Gars 
du  Monde”  (“If  All  The  Guys  In 
The  World”).  India's  film  entry, 
“Aparajito”  (“The  Indomitable”) 
won  the  Gold  Lion,  top  prize  at 
the  Venice  Film  Festival,  toppihg 
America’s  entries,  “Something  of 
Value”  and.  “Hatful  of  Rain”  which 
got  prizes  in  other  categories  but 
not  on  production  Values:  Italy’s 
Notti  Blanche”  (“White  Nights”) 
was  runnerup. 

The  Selznick  awards  specifically 
exclude  American  film  entries. 

Ambassador  Whitney,  no  stranger 
to  show  business  (investor  with 
Selznick  in  “Gone  With  The  Wind,” 
Technicolor  radio-tv  stations,  etc.) 
also  invested  in  the  N.  Y.  Herald 
Tribune;  (reportedly  “arourid  $2,- 
000,000”)  with  an  eye  to  greater 
activity  when  he  retires  from  office 
three  years  hence.  Whitney  also 
accepted  membership  in  the  Lon¬ 
don  “Tent”  of  Variety.  Clubs  Inter¬ 
national. 

European  and  other  foreign  film 
grosses  continued  bullish.  The 
economy  is  better.  Overseas  film 
fans  don’t  go  in  for  a  riew-model 
car  every  year,  split-level  housing, 
foreign  travel  on  the  installment 
plan,  and  the  like— as  yet.  The 
picture  business  abroad  is  like  it 
was  .10-12  years  ago  .  in  the  U.  S:, 
with  about  the  same  standard  of. 
.living..  Result  is  that  “going  to  the 
movies”  is  still  strong  family 
habit. 

Griffith  &  Prince’s  B’way 
Clicks;,  Four  In-a-Row 

Newcomer  legit  producers  Rob¬ 
ert.,  E.  Griffith  and  Harold  S. 
Prince’s  “West  Side  Story”  gives 
them  four-in-a-row  smashes,  short 
by  one  of  Cy  Feuer  &  Ernest  Mar¬ 
tin’s  record  of  five  bullseyes  with 
their  “Where’s  Charley?”,  “Guys 
and  Dolls,”  “Can-Can,”  “The  Boy 
Friend”  arid  “Silk  Stockings.”  Grif¬ 
fith  and  Prince’s  three  previous 
smashes  (in  Which  Frederick  Bris- 
son  was  associated,  but  he  dropped 
out  of  sponsoring  “West  Side 
Story”)  were  “Pajama  Game,” 
“Damn  Yankees”  and  “New  Girl 
In  Town,”  latter  a  musicalization  of 
Eugene  O’Neill’s  “Anna  Christie.” 

Debate  continues  on  the  “hit- 
happy  playgoers,”  referring  to 
their  predilection  for  only  the  hits 
and  permitting  some  good,  if  not 
smash,  plays  to  die  of  boxoffice  in¬ 
ertia.  This  differs:  markedly  from 
London,  Paris,  Berlin  and  other 
capitals  where,  while  “the  big  hit 
of  the  season”  is  given  recognition, 
still  sees  respectable  support  for 
the  in-between  shows.’ 

The  Broadwayfarers  are  differ¬ 
ent  arid  instead  of  appraising,  for 
example,  “how  did  you  like  it?”, 
it’s  more  a  case  of  “how  did  you 
get  into  it?”,  or  “whom  iriust  you 
know  to  get  tickets?” 


don,  where  “Nude”  opened  orig¬ 
inally  with  John  Gielgud,  it  has 
passed  the  one-year  mark  with  Mi¬ 
chael  Wilding  succeeding  In  the 
stellar  role  arid,  in  turn,  Robert 
Relpmarin  is  slated  to  succeed. 
Wilding. 

Least  inflationary  have  been  box- 
office  admission,  pix  or  legit,  and 
Broadway  finally  moved  to  a  new 
$9.20  peak  for  “New  Girl  In  Town,’* 
and  this  only  for  the  divans  (over- 
stuffed  front-row  cushioned  pews) 
on  Friday  and  Saturday  nights. 
The  City  .Investment  Playhouse 
(Robert  W.  Dowling)  had  incepted 
the  Folies  Bergere  (Paris)  idea  of 
tilted  prices  lor  the  front  eight  or 
nine  rows,,  although  this,  has  not 
curbed  the  speculators. 

Most  straight  plays  are  $5.75 
week  mights  and  $6.90  Fridays  and 
Saturdays  but  “Time  Remem¬ 
bered,”  the  new  Helen  Hayes- 
Richard  Burton-Susan  Strasberg 
play;  charges  $9.90  for  the.:  first  10 
rows  of  the  Morosco  Theatre  or¬ 
chestra. 


Bard  ! 


As  usual,  Shakespeare  continued 
to  get;  heavy  play  during  the  1957 
summer  stock  season:  Bard  Festi¬ 
vals  were  scattered  from  Canada 
to  California,  with  New  York  also 
getting,  into  the  picture  With  an  al 
fresco  Shakespearean  project  in 
Central  Park..  ; 

In  Stratford,  Conn.,  the  Ameri¬ 
can  Shakespearean  festival  Thea¬ 
tre  ended  its  third  season  about 
$10,000  in  the.  black.  It  was  the 
best  semester  thus  far  for  the  op¬ 
eration/  with  the  season-long  ap¬ 
pearance  of  Katharine  Hepburn 
and  Alfred  Drake,  figured  a  potent 
draw.  The  gross  for  the.  12-week 
season  was  $425,000. 

The  Stratford  (Ont.)  Shakespear-. 
eari  Festival  chalked  up  its  fifth 
season,  While  established  festivals 
continued  in  Ashland,  N.  C.,  Ore¬ 
gon,  San  Diego,  Cal.,  arid  Yellow 
Springs,  O. 

The  moral  impact  that  “The 
Diary  of  Anrie  Frank”  has  had  in 
its  iriultiple  productions  in  every.; 
German  city,  and  the  sense-of- 
shame  and.  guilt  that  it  imparted 
to  the;  post-Nazi  population^  is 
something  which  may  have  a  pro¬ 
found  footnote,  as  future  historians 
appraise  all  these  values. 


’Fair  Lady* 


1 


I  Rozand  Coward  | 

.  ^hat  J®Sit  stars  can  command 
in  this  day  and  age  of  man  (and 
woman)  power  at  the  boxoffice  is 
perhaps  best  illustrated  by  Miss 
Riissell  s  $225,357,  her  take-home 
pay  (and  profits)  from  “Auntie 
Marne  wherein  she  stars  on  a 
straight  10%-of-the-grbss  stipehd 
besides  owning  13M>%  0f  the  show. 

45  weeks  of  the  run, 
the  $179  000  production  of  “Maine” 
for  its  investors! 
but  Miss  Bussell's  225G  includes 
her  salary  and  share  of  the  profits. 

Triple-threater  Noel  Coward,  as 
»ATth?r’  JU,ger  and  star  of  his 
yioUn.’'  despite  the 
mixed  Broadway  notices,  has  been 
averaging  around  $7,000  a  week  for 
his  share  from  the  play  on  a 

Thf fihti  2°%rruroyalty  <>ff-the-top. 
The  Belasco  Theatre  is  capable  of 
grossing  $3.5,000  weekly.  In  Lon- 


When  “My.  Fair  Lady’*  opens 
April  30  in  Loridon,  it  will  have  a 
two-year  advance  hooked  almost 
solid.  The  Keith,  Prowse  agericy 
states  “even  now  we  can  accept 
bopkirigs  up  to  1960”  and  Tickets 
&  Messengers  Ltd.  has  booked  its 
clients  through  April  1959. 

Riding  the  crest  of  the  Rex  Har¬ 
rison- Julie  Andrews  click,  a  McGill 
College  show,  “My  Fur  Lady,”  has 
taken  to  the  large  Canadian  audi¬ 
toriums  arid  rung  up  big  grosses. 
Authors  Alan  Jay  Leimer  and  Fred¬ 
erick  Loewe  couldn’t  object  as  they 
did  to  an  independent  disk  titled 
“My  Square  Laddie,”  which  satir¬ 
ized  and  paraphrased  some  of  their 
tunes.  On  the  other  hand,  a  ribald 
Hollywood  nitery  revue  titled  “My 
Fairfax  Lady”  (taking  Its  title  from 
the  Fairfax  Ave.  sector  of  Los  An¬ 
geles),  so  tickled  their  risibilities 
that  they  didn’t  object  although 
threatening  to  sue  at  one  time. 


Off-Brbadway 


j 


Off-Broadway  continued  to  flour¬ 
ish  with  sundry  rooftop,  basement 
and  converted  lofts  and  rooms 
turned  into  intimate  theatres: 

As  ex-Metro  production  chief 
Dore  Schary  is  readying  his  own 
play,  “Sunrise  At  Campobello.”  for 
production  under  Theatre  Guild 
auspices,  there  is  a  move  anew  to 
erect  a  Franklin  Delano  Roosevelt 
Memorial  Theatre  in  Washington. 
Schary,  basically  a  writer,  has  been 
conferring  with  Mrs.  Eleanor  Roos- 
evelt  for  authentic,  color  and  flavor 
for  his  play  which  deals  with  a 
phase  In  FDR’s  life. 


|  Lincoln  Sq.  Redevelopment 


New  York’s  Lincoln  Square  re¬ 
development  program,  calling  for 
a  $75,000,000  fund.  Is  being  op¬ 
posed  by  residents  and  businesses 
in  that  above-Columbus  Circle  belt. 
Plans  include  a  new  Metropolitan . 
Opera,  a  new  Philharmonic  concert 
hall,  an  expanded  and  .new  Juilli- 
(Continued  on  page  60) 


OUR  HAT’S  OFF  TO  YOU 


60 


PICTURES 


Fifty-Second  P^BrSWFY  Anniversary 


January 8, 1958 


Behind  Platinum  Curtain 

Continued  from. 


jng  for  nature  to  endow  Marilyn 
Monroe, 

One  morning  we  awoke  early 
and  strolled  onto  our  second-story 
sunporch.  We  were  jarred  into 
complete  consciousness  by  the 
sight  of  the  Warner  gates  ajar.  We 
could  see  that  Mr.  Warner’s  tank 
was  not  cruising  down  the  drive¬ 
way  toward  the  exit.  We  could 
also  note  that  no  vehicle  begged 
entry  from  the  street.  In  the  midst 
of  a  wild  surmise  that  our  next 
door  neighbor;  Pola  Negri  (honest) 
had  gotten  to  the  gateman,  I  saw 
the  reason  for  the  open  portals. 

The  Bouvier  de  Flanders,  no 
larger  than  an  ordinary  armored 
car,  and  as  tender,  was  loping 
through,  the  gates.  He  crossed  the 
street, .  arid  casually  ambled^  Onto 
our  small  front  lawn.  .  Then,  in  the 
graceful  phrase  of  Irving  Berlin, 
he  did  what  comes  natur’lly. 

At  breakfast  that  morning,  I  told 
my  wife  that  I  didn’t  care  what 
Mr.  Warner  had  taught  his  dog  to 
think  of  writers,  this  was  going  too 

far!  ..  _ 

|  TheGawkers  I 

Another  problem  faced  by  Beverr 
ly  Hills  residents  is  the  sightseeing 
traffic,  sometimes,  as  forthwith 
illustrated;  carried  to  the  square 
root.  Since  our  street  was  lined 
With  the  hovels  of  not  only  Jack 
X.,  Warner  and  Pola  Negri,  but 
also  Danny  Kaye,  Prince  Mike 
Romanoff,  Charles  Boyer  and 
Hedda  Hoppef,  we  got  more  than 
our  share  of  tourists. 

While  out  strolling  one  day,  my 
Wife  all  but  dislocated  every  bone 
in  her  neck.  As  she  reached  Mons. 
Boyer’s  accented  acres,  a  top-down 
coiivert'ble  came  cruising  by,  the 
driver  pointing  Out  the  Boyer  bar¬ 
racks  to  his  gaping  passenger^. 
That  seemed  normal  enough  until 
my  wife  wrenched  her  neck  spin¬ 
ning  her  head  to  get  a  second  look 
at  the  guide — a  gentleman  named 
Cary  Grant. 

Shortly  after  posterity  took  note 
of  that  scene,  our  daughter,  10  at 
the  time,  came  home  from  a  play 
session  with  some  of  her  school- 
chums,  and  exhibited  the  elastic 
quality  of  the  English  language,  as 
spoken  by  Beverly  Hills  younger 
set. 

The  home  where  she’d  gone  to 
gambol  had,  I  knew,  grass  as  lush 
as  a  Waldorf  carpet.  The  children 
were  allowed  to  roam  unmolested 
on  the  lawn,  so  long  as  they  aid 
not  come  into  physical  contact  with 
the.  shrubs  .  Those  articulate  bushes 
were  trimmed  so  they  spelled  out 
the  name  of  the  owner,  presumably 
for  the  benefit  of  low  flying  friends. 
I  go  to  this  length  of  description 
because  I  noticed  that  my  daugh¬ 
ter’s  shoes  were  scuffed,  an  im¬ 
possible  feat  to  perform  ut  her 
friend’s  house,  unless  they  had 
played  a  game  which  involved  kick¬ 
ing  the  built-i  vault. 

“Oh,  we  didn’t  stay  at  Betty’s” 
my  daughter  repotted,  by.  way .pf 
explaining  the  scuffed  shoes.  ‘We 
played  in  the  empty  lot  next  door 
to  her  place.” 

Mv  wife  and  I!  collaborated  on 
a  short  lecture  about  it  being 
wrcrie  to  t-Tl  us  fibs;  we  knew  there 
was  no  empty  lot  on  our  street, 
but  she  insisted.  Out  driving  the 
following  day,  the  empty  lot  was 
pointed  out  to  us.  Nobody  lived 
on  if.  We  had  to  give  in.  to.  that 
extent.  However,  we  carefully  ex¬ 
plained  that  she’d  used,  the  phrase 
rather  loosely,  considering  that  the 
property  did  contain  a  badminton 
court  and.  swimming  pool. 

Our  daughter  countered  by  ex¬ 
plaining.  that  it  wasn’t  fenced  in. 
Local  standards  thus  made  it  open 
territory. 

Despite  those  things,  life  in  that 
mint’s  pie  existence  was  pleasant 
enough  until  my  wife  and  I  were 
made  to  realize  the  full,  fervent 
strength  of  the  Beverly  Hills  Caste 
system.  -  A  school  bus  Dieked  up 
our  daughter  at  7:45  each  morning. 
She  then  spent  more  than  an  hour 
on  a  long,  winding  ride  as  the  bus 
picked  up  other  youngsters 
throughout  the  uranium  -  priced 
hills. 

On  this  particular  morning,  my 
wife  and  I  had  to  be  in  downtown 
Los  Angeles  quite  early.  We  told 
our.  littie  girl  to  get  a  few  extra 
winks,  and  ride  to  school  with  us. 
We’d  also  made  arrangements  to 
pick  up  one  of  her  classmates, 
named  Honey,  Honey  turned  out 
to  be  a.  Well  named  Child,  with 


golden  hair  and  an  angelic  face. 
Her  clothes  were  demure,  but  ob¬ 
viously  the  product  ,  of  .  more  hand 
labor  than  our  car. 

. As  we  neared  the  school,  Honey 
asked  if  we’d  mind  dropping  her 
a  block  from  the  entrance.  Seeing 
no  one ,  waiting  at  the  corner,.  my 
wife  asked  Honey  if  she  were  going 
to  meet  another  school  chum.  She 
shook  her  carefully  fingered  waves, 
and  got  out.  Once  on  the  sidewalk, 
she  ran  the  first  few  steps,  then 
settled,  into,  a  brisk  stride  toward 
the  school.  It  seemed  odd  at  the 
time,  but  since,  we  were  in  a  hurry, 
and  Honey  was  safe '  enough,  we 
went  on  our  way  after  dropping 
our  daughter  at  the  school’s  door, 

The  incident  bothered  me 
.  throughout  the  day.  .That  evening 
I  mentioned  it  to  our  little  girl. 
Her  face  reddened,  and  she  .at-, 
tempted  ,  to  change  the  subject. 
Obviously,  she  was  trying  to  shield 
her  mother  and  me  from  a  fact  of 
life.  Finally,  after  .  using  every 
means  of  persuasion  short  pf  a  rub¬ 
ber  hose,  it  came  out. 

“Somebody  might  have,  thought 
you  were  Honey’s  folks.”  ; 

My  wife  is  a  very  attractive 
young  woman,  and  while  nobody 
ever,  mistakes  me  for  Ronald  Col¬ 
umn,  \y.e  didn’t  feel  that  being 
pointed-  out;  even  incorrectly,  as  a 
young  girl’s  ,  parents  should  mark 
thr  tot’s  psyche. 

“Well,’’  oitir  daughter  said;  with 
the"  reluctance,  of  one  giving  away 
the  signs  and  rituals  of  a  secret 
society,  “it  was  the  Buick.  She 
said  some  of  the  other  kids  who 
didn’t  know  her  might  think  her 
father  didn’t  drive  a  Cadillac,’’ 

For  a.  fleeting  minute;  I  knew 
how  plantation  owners  must  have 
felt  when  told  the  weevil  Was  tak¬ 
ing  over  the  best  pf  their  crop, 

|  Crashing  The  Nurse  Brigade  1 

My.  wife  was  not  so  shaken,  for 
she  had  learned  earlier  of  our 
failure  as  social  entities  in  Beverly 
Hills,  Bravely,  she  had  shielded 
me  from  the  withering  news.  Her 
earlier  inkling  of  our  Blue  Book 
minus  rating  came  because  of  her 
habit  of  taking  our  baby  for  a 
stroll,  a  task  performed  in  Beverly 
Hills  only  by  the  governess. :  The 
coterie  of  those  starched  uniformed 
matrons  regarded  mv  wife  as  no 
more  than  a  scab,  taking  her  own 
child  for  a  stroll  in.  an  obvious 
effort  to  union-bust  against  Local 
No.  3,  r:s.v.p. 

Occasionally,  a  new  governess 
would  be  employed  by  one  of  the; 
famUies  on  our  street.  Not  know¬ 
ing  my  wife  was  the  real  mother 
pf  the  child  she  accompanied,  the 
new  arrival  would  display  such; 
amenities  as  nodding,  or  even  ex¬ 
changing  a  few  words.  In  those 
rare  moments,  we  got  furtive 
glimpses  behind  the  Platinum. 
They  never  'lasted  long,  for  the 
other  governesses  quickly  in¬ 
formed  the  newcomer  of  my  wife’s, 
true  status. 

One  afternoon,  a  new  governess 
arid  her  four-year-old  charge 
stopped  as  they  reached  our  drive¬ 
way  a  split-second  before  my  wife; 
and  little  boy.  The  visiting  four- 
year-old  looked  up  the  driveway, 
and  saw  my  car,  the  same  Buick. 
Not  yet  old  enough  to  realize  it  was 
the  sign  of  a  pauper,  she  lisped: 

“Is  that  bis  daddy’s  car?’’ 

My  wife  nodded,  at  Which  pivnt 
the  tot  proved  she  was  being  raised 
With  a  sound  set  of  values  by  ask- 
ln?:; 

“Arid  where’s  his  mommy’s  car?” 

Fortunately,  my  wife  was  able 
to  say  .  that  her  car  was  in  the  ga¬ 
rage,  thus  avoiding  the  shame  of 
confessing  her  car  was  a  Stuide- 
baker;.  I  guess  we  were  just  lucky 
to  move  in  time,  for  there  have 
been  recent,  reports  of  attacks  by 
the  Beverly  Hiils  branch  of  the 
Mau  .  Mau  on  families  without  at 
1  least  one  Cadillac. 

While  waiting  for  Emancipatiori 
Day— the  end  of  our  lease  on  the 
ivy-covered  mortgage  -—  we  had 
more  corrosive,  proof  that  escape, 
via  the  underground  if .  necessary, 
was  imperative.  Otherwise,  our; 
lads  might  grow  up  judging  stran¬ 
gers  by  their  polo  ratings: 

This  moment  ,  of  enchanting  re¬ 
vulsion  took  ptace  orie  lovely  after¬ 
noon.  My  wife  and  I  had  goriefor 
a  leisurely  walk,  past  .the.  pedigreed 
palms  lining  pur  street.  In  front 
of  orie  example  of  what,  in  terms 
of  architecture,  can  only  be  des-: 
cribed  ^  as  the  Spanish  Omelette 
School,  we  saw  three  youngsters. 

They  looked  to  be  about  five 


years  old.  As  we  approached,  we 
could  hear  them  discussing  in.  Well 
modulated  shrieks  what  game  each 
wanted  to  play.  No  child  was  will¬ 
ing  to  switch,  from  his  or  her  pref¬ 
erence. 

The  deadlock  was  broken  by  one 
of  the  nursemaids,  She  suggested 
a  game  just  as  my  wife  and  I  were 
passing.  The’  children  greeted  the 
idea  with  such  enthusiasm  I 
thought  ,the  game  probably  was 
played  with  machine-guns.  It  was 
a  game  new  tcC  these  ears,  but  not 
to  theirs--a  game  called  “Poor 
.People.” 

The  fact  that  these  sheltered 
tykes  are  allowed  to  .  know  there 
is  another  side  to  the  tracks,  was 
so  touching  I.  brushed  a  tear  from 
my  eye. 

;  And  now,  before  this  eye-Witriess 
report  of  the  strange  tribal  customs 
is  ended,  we’d  like  to  make  clear 
that  we  don’t  hate  Beverly  Hills; 
Some  of  our  best  friends  live  there, 
.and  as  we  always  say,  it’s  a  great 
place  to  visit,  but  . 


Show  Biz  -  ’57 

Continued  from,  page  58  - 

a^d  SchpPl  of  Music,  and  other  cul¬ 
tural.  and  theatrical  edifices. 

.  Flight  of  the^  top  video  shows,  in¬ 
cluding  the.  dramatic  formats, 
raised  the  point  that,  as  live  tv 
goes,  so  could  the  legit  theatre, 
since  many  of  the  most  capable 
dramatic  players  double  between 
the  Broadway  boards  and  video. 
And  if  a  choice  had  to  be  made, 
legit  would  suffer.  Even  the  tele- 
cameramen  warned  and  incepted  a 
sticker  campaign,  “Help  stamp  out 
Hollywood  TV:” 

[  ■  :  Vaudeville-Niteries  j 

The  chameleon  policyed  Palace, 
once  . the  flagship  of  bigtime  vaude¬ 
ville,  is  back  to  ai  two-a-day.  policy, 
but  this  time  it’s  with  a  “road¬ 
show”  film  policy  after  going 
straight,  movie  grind,  following  an 
abortive  attempt  to  resume  its 
vaUdfilm  policy  (feature  film  arid 
six  acts).  Last  spring’s  Jerry  Lewis 
two-a-day er  was  the  last  “de  luxe 
vaudeville”,  policy  attempted:  Lewis 
clocked  almost  $60,000  a  week  at 
$6  top. 

In  New  York,  the.  click  of  the 
soft  lights-and-sweet-music  policy 
in  some,  restaurants  caused  the  Ho¬ 
tel  Pierre  to  shift  to  the  .fiddle  pol¬ 
icy;  with  more  on  the  horizon. 

Ebbets  Field,  and  the  Polo 
Grounds,  with  the  defection  of  the 
Dodgers  and  the  Giants  to  San 
Francisco  and  Los  Angeles,  will 
extend  their  show  biz  activities  by 
going,  after  outdoor  specs,,  variety 
talent,  religioso  rallies,  pageants 
and  the  like  to  take  up  the1  slack. 
Many  a  minor  league  and  bush 
league  ballpark  has  been  adding  to 
its  income  by  sundry  variety  talerit 
packages,  jazZbarid  recitals,  clowns 
(from  Emmett  Kelly  to  Al  Schacht). 

1  English  Music  Halls  | 

England,  last  stronghold  of  the 
music  hall,  is  down  to  its  minimum 
of  variety  houses  as  even  the  Yank 
headliners  dried  up.  Only  sporadi¬ 
cally,  when  a  Durante,  Benny,  Judy 
Garland,  Danny  Kaye  and  Bob 
Hope  come  to  the.  Palladium  does 
business  boom.  The  platter  names 
soon!  lost  their  potency,  at  least  for 
the  bigtime  vauderies.  Finis  to  an 
era  was  the  deniise  of  London’s  51- 
year-old  trade  weekly,  The  Per¬ 
former,  official  organ  of  the  Vari¬ 
ety.  Artistes  Federation.  “The  dis¬ 
integration  of  the  music  hall  busi¬ 
ness  through  the  development  of 
television  and  the  consequent 
changes  in  booking  arid  other  prac¬ 
tises”  was  the  official  pronuncia- 

mento.  _  :■ 

|  .  Strippers  | 

In  the  U.  S.  . burlesque,  paradoxi¬ 
cally,  remains  the  most  permanent 
“route”  in  the  live  variety  field 
with  some  25  weeks  of  playing 
time,  available  although,  of  course, 
the  strippers  remain  the  top  draw. 
And  of  these,  when  it  comes  to  a 
Lili.  St.  Cyr  et  al.  they  doj  better 
going.  it  solo  in  the.  class  niferies— 
Las  Vegas,  .  Palm  Springs,  Holly¬ 
wood,;  etc. 

The  striptease  vogue  continued 
bullish  in  Paris,  of  all  places,  tra¬ 
ditionally  the  prime  capital  of  epi¬ 
dermis  display.  Gypsy  Rose  Lee, 
on  her  recent  European  trip  in  be¬ 
half  of  “Gypsy”  her  autobiog, 
which  is  being  readyed  as  a  stage 
play,,  kudosed  the  Parisian  strip¬ 
pers  (many  of  them  of  English, 
German,  arid  Latin  origin)  for  their 
“art”  and  “imagination”  in  the 
peelery  displays: 

The  “art”  of  striptease  was  taken 
to  the  U.  S.  Supreme  Court  in  a 
“friendly”  testcase  to  determine 
whether  the  City  of  .  Newark  could 
“cerisure”  entertainment  by  bar¬ 
ring  burlesque  strippers.  The  New 


All-Time  B.O.  Champs 

Continued  from  page  6=== 
Annie  Get  Your  Gun  (M-G)  (1950) 

Green  Years  (M-G)  (1946) 

Love  Me  Tender  (20th)  (1957). 

Conqueror  (RKO)  (1956) : - .... ... .......  v. ...  .> .  •  • 

Rebel  Without  a  Cause  (WB)  (1956) 

Anchors  Away  (MrG)  (1945)  . . . . . . .  .  .  • . .  . 

Bachelor  and  Bobbysoxer  (RKO)  (1947)  % . ..........  •  • . 

Bridges  of  Toko-Ri  (Par)  (1955) .... . . . ... . . . . ... . . . . . ...  • . 

Catch  a  Thief  (Par)  (1955) 

Easy  to  Wed  (M-G)  (1946)  ........... - .  .. .  .  .  . . - . 

Four  Horsemen  (M-G)  (1921) 

Great  Caruso  (M-G)  (1951) 

Paleface  (Par)  (1945)  ...  v,, ........ v* ..... .. - 

Random  Harvest  (M-G)  (1942) 

Road  to  Rio  (Par)  ( 1948)  . . . .  . .'i • 

Road  to  Utopia  (Par)  (1945)  ...... . . . 

Thrill  of  a  Roinance  (M-G)  (1945) 

Till  Clouds  Roll  By  (M-G)  (1945) 

Valley  of  Decision  (M-G.)-  (1945) 

Desiree  (20th)  (1954)  / 

Easter  parade  (M-G)  (1948)  - . .  , . , . . 

Cheaper  by  the  Dozen  (20th)  (1950) 

Written  on  Wind  (U)  (1957)  ... , .  ... .... ... .....  .... 

Two  Years  Before  Mast  (Par)  (1946).  •  • . . .  • ....  • .  •>  •  • .; 

Knights  of  Round  Table  (M-G)  (1954) 

Mari  With  Golden  Arm  (UA)  (1956) 

Man  in  Grey  Flannel  Suit  (20th)  (1956) 

Red  River  (UA)  (1948) 

Hucksters  (M-G)  (1947) 

Harvey  Girls  (M-G)  (1946)  ... 

Stage  Door  Canteen  (UA)  (1943)  . . . . . . .. 

Gunfight  at  O.K.  Corral  (Par).  (1957) 

Lost  Weekend  (Par)  (1946) 

Sailor  Beware  (Par)  (1952) 

Bus  Stop  (20th)  (1956) 

Adventure  (M-G)  (1946) 

Egyptian  (2Gth)  (1954)  .. 

Saratoga  Trunk  (WB)  (1846)  . . .,  . . . . . . 

Streetcar  Named  Desire  (WB)  (1951)  . . . .  * . . ; . ...  .  .  . 

Demetrius  and  Gladiators  (20th)  (1954) 

Living  It  Up  (Par)  (1954)  .  ;  : 

30  Seconds  Over  Tokyo  (RKO)  (1954) 

Heaven  Knows,  Mr.  Allison  (20th)  (1957) 

Rose  Tattbo  (Par)  (1954) 

Hollywood  Canteen  (WB)  (1944) 

Three  Musketeers  (M-G)  (1948)  . . . . . . . . 

Weekend  at  Waldorf  (M-G)  (’945) 

On  the  Waterfront  (Col)  (1954) 

Father  of  the  Bride  (M-G)  (1950) 

Bad  Seed  (WB)  <1S56) 

Men  Who  Knew  Too  Much  (Par)  (1956) 

African  Queen  (UA)  (1952) 

Hondo  (WB)  (1954)  .  . ‘ . 

Joan  of  Arc  (RICO)  (1949)  . . . . . . . . . ... . . 

Johnny  Belinda  (WB)  (1948)  .1 _ 

I' Was  a  Male  War  Bride  (20th)  (1949) 

Love  Me  or  Leave  Me  (M-G)  (1955) 

Margie  (20th).  (1946) 

Mother.  Wore  Tights  (20th)  (1947) 

Snake  Pit  (20th) '  (1949)  . 

Deep  in  My  Heart  (M-G)  (1955) 

Cass  Timberlane  (M-G)  (1948) 

State  Fair  (20th)  (1945) 

April  Love  (20th)  (1957)  . . 

Jailhouse  Rock  (M-G)  (1957)  _ _ 

American  in  Paris  (M-G)  (1951) 

Ben  Hut  (M-G)  (1926)  .. 

Dolly  Sisters.  (20th)  (1945)  . . . 

Emperor  Waltz  (Pari  (1948)  _ ... . . _ _ _ _ 

Holiday  in  Mexico  (M-G)  (1946) 

Jumping  Jacks  (Par)  (1952)  »  : _ 

Kid  from  Brooklyn  (Goldwyri-RKO) 

Left  Hand  of  God  (20th)  (1955)  . . 

Long,  Long  Trailer  (M-G)  (1954)  ,  ................... 

Love  Is  Splendored  Thing  (20th)  (1955) 

Moon  Is  Blue  (UA)  (1953) 

Night  and  Day  (WB)  (1946). . .  ... .... ........... _ 

Reap  the  Wild  Wind  (Par)  (1942) 

Sabrina  (Par)  (1954)  . , .  . , ............. ..... 

Sands  of  Iwo  Jima  (Rep)  (1950) 

Seven  Little  Foys  (Par)  (1955) 

Singing  Fool  (WB)  (1928) 

Smoky  (20th)  (1946)  .. 

Ziegfeld  Follies  (M-G)  (1946) . . . . . . . . . . 


a- 


4,650,000 
4,600,000 
4,500,000 
.  4,500,000 
4,500,000 
4,500.000 
.  4,500,000 
.  4,500,000 
4,500,000 
.  4,500,000 

4,500,000 
4,500,000 
.  4.500,000 
4,500,000 
.  4,500,000 
.  4,500,000 

4,500,000 
4,500,000 
4,500,000 
4,500,000 
4,450,000 
4,425,000 
4,400,000 
4,400,000 
4,400,000 
4,350,000 
4,350,000. 
4,350,000 
4^350,000 
4,350:000 
..  4,350,000 

4,300,000 
4,300,000 
4,300,000 
4,250,000 
4,250,000 
4,250,000 
4,250,000  . 
4,250,000 
4,250,000 
4,250,000 
4,250,000 
4,200,000 
4,200,000 
4,200;000 
4.200,000 
4,200,000 
4,200,000 
4,150,000 
4,100,000 
4,100,000 
4,100,000 
4,100,000 
4,100,000 
4,100,000 
4,i0Q,000 
4,100,000 
4,100,000 
4,100,000 
4,100,000 
4,100,000 
4.050,000 
4,050,000 
4,000,000 
4,000,000 
4*000,000 
4,000,000 
4,000,000 
4,000,000 
4,000,000 
4,000,000 
4,000,000 
4,000,000 
4,000,000 
4,000,000 
4)000,000 
4,000,000 
4,000,000 
4,000,000 
4,000,000 
4,000,000 
4,000,000 
4,000,000 
4,000,000 


Jersey  Suprerne  Court  sustained  a 
new  city  ordinance  that  “removal 
by.  a  female  performer  of  her 
clothing  in  the  presence  of  the 
audience”,  and  also  “exotic”  danc¬ 
ing  constituted  nudity  and/or  cre¬ 
ated  the  illusion  of  riudity,  hence 
a  violation. 

More  stripperies  loom  in  Paris 
as  the  egghead  (political  revues), 
existentialist  and  chansonnier 
boites  find  themselves  on  the 
wrong  end  of  the  exchequer  and 
are  veering  to  the  epidermis  pol¬ 
icy..  In  fact,  the  Paris’  Moulin 
Rouge  has  been  dickering  with 
Harold  Minsky  for  his  “Minsky 
Goes  To  Paris”  revue,  a  click  ill 
[  Las  Vegas. 

1  Las  Vegas '  1 

Las  Vegas  continues  to  boom 
|  despite  its  occupational  year-TOund 
hassle  for  attractions.  The  Hacien¬ 
da  dropped  shows  for  jai-ali,  with 
betting  permitted  as  in  the  Havana 
and  Tiajiiana  frontons.  “Pajama 
Game,”  “Ziegfeld  Follies,”  “Guys 
and  Dolls,”  “Silk.  Stockings,” 
“Damn  Yankees”  and  kindred  exr 
Broadway  musical  packages  were, 
another  Vegas  device  to  offset  the 
HOT  (high  cost  of  talent)  hurdle, 
but  even  these  have  to  be  bolstered 
with  names.  The  Frank  Costello 
shooting  and  the  mysterious  "4- 
26-57”  identification  of  the  $651,- 
284  casino  win  at  the  new 
Torpicana,  Las  Vegas,  put  another. 


spotlight  on  the  desert  gambling 
resort’s  underworld  .ties,,  ostensibly 
tabu  under  state  law. 

Havana  has  become  a  Vegas 
outpost  for  Wilbur  Ciark  (Nacional 
Hotel)  arid .  the  new  Havana  Ri¬ 
viera,  arid  the.  Capri,  along  with 
the  Havana-Deauville,  a  1,000- 
room  hotel  arid  .a  soon-due  new 
Habaria  Hiltoii: 

Meantime,  the  theoretical  $20,- 
000-a-week  barrier  for  top  names 
to  play  Vegas  has  been  broken  by 
personalities  like  Maurice  Cheva¬ 
lier,  Jerry  Lewis,  Frank  Sinatra, 
Harry  Belafonte,  Eddie  Fisher, 
Danny  Kaye,  Milton  Berle,  et  aL 
And  Miami  Beach,  sans  gambling, 
has  gone  up  to  the  $35,000  mark 
for  headliners. 

Vegas  looks  for  another  boom 
as  the  16, 000-seat  Convention  Hall, 
with  120,000  square  feet  of  exhibi¬ 
tion  space.  Is  slated  to  open  in 
1958.  The  industrial  shows  are 
bound  to  create  an  acute  room 
shortage  and  the  plush  Strip 
hotels  are  in  constant  marathon 
building  program  with  additional 
wings  of  rooms. 

Inflation  has  also  hit  the  nitery 
chorister  field.  Monte  ;  Proser 
doubled  the  up-to-then  $100  mini¬ 
mum  by  signing  top  beauts  at  $200 
for  his  Tropicana  chorus,  latest 
La$  V egas  plushery,  but  the  short¬ 
age  still  exists  as  television  arid 
filniusicals  have  lured -away  the 
Cream  of  the  CroD. 


January  8,  1958 


Fifty-second  Anniversary  jPICTUllES  81 


Continued  from  page  S 


or  by  the  slow  process ,  of  Indi¬ 
vidual  lawsuits  for  libel  and  dam- 
ages,  and  there  are  already  some. 
$12,000,000  in  such  suits  pending; 

While  it  was  running  high,  wide 
and  horrendous,  Confidential  had 
an  effect  on  all  articles  and  inter¬ 
views  about  and  with  actors;  To-;. 
day,  partly  as  a  result  of.  Confiden¬ 
tial,  partly  as  a  result  of  profound 
changes  in  social .  attitudes,  books, 
magazines  arid  newspapers  riow 
print,  without  even,  the  raising  of 
eyebrows,  material,  that  25  years, 
ago  would  have,  shocked  the  coun¬ 
try. 

Sexuality — prowess,  technique, 
perversions— has  become  a  freely 
discussed  topic  in  our  culture.  The 
Kinsey;  reports  .on  men  and  women 
were  openly  and  thoroughly  raked 
over,  even  by  the  most  respectable 
folk  at  suburban  dinner  parties; 
Confidential  went  one  step  further 
than  Kinsey..  It.  printed  names, 
dates,  places,  sexual  aberrations. 
It  researched.,  call  girls  and  pri¬ 
vate  detectives.  Its  photographers 
used  cameras  with  telephoto  lenses 
to  spy  ori  weekenders  at  Malibu 

Beach.  _ '  , , , 

1  Influenced  SEP — and  TV.  1 

Yet,  however  embarrassing  the; 
Confidential  articles  were  to  the 
people  exposed,  they  did  not  hurt 
anybody’s  career.  This  is  astonish¬ 
ing.  Not  too  long,  ago,  such  Sordid 
episodes,  described  in  such  gross 
detail,,  would  have  caused  the 
downfall'  of  any  public  figure.  In 
some  cases,  . the  stories  in  Confiden¬ 
tial  may  even  have  enhanced  the 
boxoffice  appeal  of  those  movie 
personalities  whose  main  attrac¬ 
tion.  is  that  they  symbolize  primi-; 
tive  sex  urges  in  the  most  blatant 
form. 

Every  magazine  felt  the  influ¬ 
ence  of  the  Confidential  treatment 
and  all  magazines,  have  opened 
themselves  up  to  a  more  realistic,: 
though  not  libellous  or  caddish  or 
scabrous,  treatment  of  human  be¬ 
ings,  even  when  the  human  beings 
are  actors.  The  startling  confes¬ 
sions  by.  George  Raft  in  the  Satur¬ 
day  Evening  POst  would  not  have 
been  published  by  any  magazine 
10  years  ago,  let  alone  the  Sateve- 
post..  The  recerit  articles,  in  Look 
about  Frank  Sinatra  (by  Bill  David-, 
son)  and  about  Jackie  Gleason  (by 
Jirn  Bishop),  with  their  candid 
analysis  of.  extramarital  pursuits, 
would  have  been  taboo  in  any  re¬ 
spectable  riiagazine  before  World 
War  II.  . 

Mike  Wallace  and  John  Wingate, 
with  their  questions  about  the. 
homosexuality  of  hat  designers,  the 
infidelities  of  the  international  set, 
and  the  priapic  price  paid  by  as¬ 
piring  actresses  to  lecherous  pro¬ 
ducers,  are  part  of  this  trend.  To 
me,  the  outer  limit  was  reached 
one  night  when  Wingate,  in  the 
course  of  a  .discussiori  on  homo¬ 
sexuality,  asked  psychoanalyst  Ed¬ 
mond  Bergler  whether  he  had  ever 
been  approached  on  a  street  corner 
by  a  homosexual!  Dr.  Bergler  smil¬ 
ingly  replied  that  he  was  not  the 
type  with  whom  homosexuals: 
camped.  On  another  occasion,  dur¬ 
ing  an  interview  about  the  fe¬ 
male  climacteric,  Wingate  asked  a 
doctor  whether  the  doctor’s  wife 
had  had.  her  change  of  life;  yet! 
How  times  and  customs  have 
changed. 

For  a  long  time,  .  I  have  ,  written 
the  life  stories  of  men  and  women 
in  show  business.  I’ve  often  had 
in  my  possession  substantiated 
facts  which  I’ve  deliberately  kept 
out  of  print.  I’ve  worked  out  my 
own  code  of  ethics  in  these  mat¬ 
ters  and  it  is  that  the  goal  I  strive 
for  is  to  produce  an  interesting, 
truthful  arid  fairly,  rounded  por¬ 
trait  of  the  star.  Yet  I  have  tried; 
never  to  put  anything  down  in 
print— even  where  it  is  a  matter  of 
public  record  because  of  a  legal 
action — that  would  grieviously  in¬ 
jure  the  person.  I  just  don’t,  think 
a  magazine  writer  or  a  television 
interviewer  ought  to  use  his  type¬ 
writer  or  microphone  as  a  dissect¬ 
ing  tool  to  take  apart  a  fellow  hu¬ 
man  being.  To  illuminate,  yes.  To 
destroy,  no. 

On  the  other  hand  I  believe 
actors  and  actresses,  especially 
successful  ones,  rnight  well  learn 
to  treat  magazine  writers. arid  news¬ 
papermen  as  human  beings,  who 
have  minds  arid  feelings.  ;( Sinat¬ 
ra,  for  instance,  brought  about  his 
own  embarrassment  in  the  series 
of  LoOk  articles  because  he  failed 
to  live  up  to  a  commitment  lie  had 
made,  to  fell  the  story  of  his  life 


to  Jimmy  Cannon),  All  too  often, 
a  lofty  attitude  of  superiority  and 
contempt  for  a  writer,  combined 
with  a  total  lack  of  consideration 
for  another  person  when  it  comes 
to  keepirig  appointments,  and  being 
polite  and  pleasant,  riiay.  result  in 
creating  such  feelings  of  bitter¬ 
ness  in  the  writer  that  he  comes  to 
hate  the  actor,  arid,  can’t  wait  to 
get  to  his  typewriter  so  he  can  get 
his.  revenge. 

In.  my  experience,  it  has  been 
just  those  very  persons,  whom  one 
thinks  of  as  functioning  at  the  very 
highest  artistic  level  of  .  the  acting 
profession,  who  are  the  kindest, 
most  intelligent  and  most  consid¬ 
erate  persons  to  interview.  To 
have  the  experience  of  talking  with 
Lynn  Eqritarine  arid  Alfred  Lunt 
pr  Helen  Hayes  or  Vivian  Leigh 
and  Laurence  Olivier— is  to  know 
why  such  men  and  women  never 
have,  “bad”  articles  ,  or  newspaper 
stories  written,  about  them. 

I  have  usually  found  that  the 
most  creative  persons  in  the  the¬ 
atre  and  motion  pictures  are  al¬ 
ways  able  to  make  the  time-^everi 
when  they  are  under  tremendous 
pressure  of  work— to  talk  to  a  re¬ 
porter  and  help  him  to  grasp  the 
background  of  a  particular  actor 
of  some  other  subject  in  the.  field 
he  is  Writing  about;  .  Such  men.  as 
Elia  Kazan  or  Josh  Logan  or  Lee 
Strasberg  or  Billy  Wilder,  or  George 
Stevens  are  so  interested  in  Com¬ 
municating  that  they  will  .  always 
make  time  to.  talk  to  a  writer- 
helping  the  Writer  inevitably  to 
come  to  a  better  understanding  of 
a  specific  character  or  problem  and 
also  helping  the  theatre  in  general; 
I  remember  once,  while;  writing  a  I 
profile,  of  Rock  Hudson,  I  wanted 
to  see  a  rough-cut  of  “Giant,”  a 
film  which,  Stevens  was  then  in 
the  process  of  editing;  I  expected 
to  sit  alone  in  the  projection  room 
but,  to  ihy  immense  pleasure,  Stevr 
ens  himself  came  sat  through  the 
almost  five  hours  of  the  film  foot¬ 
age  and  explained  what  he  had 
been  trying  to  do  in  some  of  the 
scenes  and  told  of  some  of  the  ex¬ 
periences  he  had  had  with  Hudson 
iri  developing  the  Character; 

1  The~fjnsmart  Brushoff  | 

..  I  can  contrast  this  patience,  and 
collaborative  interest  with  an  ex¬ 
perience  a  friend  Of  mine,  Sidney 
Fields,  columnist  of  the  N.  Y-  Mir¬ 
ror,  recently  had.  He  wanted  to 
write,  one  of  those  compact  and 
sharp  profiles  of  actors  he  does, 
on  the  star  of  a  new  musical  .com¬ 
edy.  The  publicity  man  of  the  show 
said  the  lady  could  not  give  him 
more  than  a  half  ari  hour!  Fields 
said  he  needed  at  least  an  hour. 
She  refused.  The  interview  was 
cancelled.  Now  my  point  is  that 
it  was  to  the  . interest;  of  the  star  to 
have  as  complete  and  truthful,  a 
story  written  about  her  as  possible 
and  to  this  end,  she  should  have 
devoted  as  much  time  as  it  was  nec¬ 
essary  for  her  and  the  interviewer 
to  probe  into  her  story. 

If  would  be  a  nice  thing  if  Alfred 
Lunt,  someday,  would  take  the  time 
and  give  a  lecture  to  a  mass  ineet- 
ing  of  Actors’  Equity  and  the 
Screen  Actors  Guild  on  the  fine  aft 
of  being :  interviewed  by  the  press 
and  how  one.  handles  oneself  with 
grace  and  tact  and  wit  and  intelli¬ 
gence  in  an  interpersonal  situation, 
that,  I  admit,  can  be.  filled  with 
stress  for  any  sensitive  actor-  or 
actress’  But  let .  me  also,  add  that 
the  writer  is  usually  also  sensitive 
and,  often,  quite  shy,  and  basically, 
he  is  a  person  of  some  skill  arid 
training,  who  would  like  to  get  as 
close  to  the  core  Of  the  person  he 
is  .interviewing  and.  theri  get  the 
quality  of  that  person  on  paper. 

So  both  parties  really,  have  the 
same  end  in  view. 

.  I  have  a  feeling  that  there  would 
be  less  of  the;  muckraking  and  .  de¬ 
structive  .type.  of  article  in  maga¬ 
zines  about  celebrities  if  actors  and 
actresses  conducted-  themselves 
more  considerately  with  the  press. 


New  Musical 

— — ^  Continued  from  page  7 

time  there  is  at  least  a  little  failure 
in  everything  he  does. 

This,  continuous  vulnerability 
belittles  every  success  he  achieves 
because  he  knows  he  really  can’t 
Win  unless  he.  is  able  to  transf orrn 
death  from  a  frustration  to  a  ful¬ 
fillment. 

If  we  inhale,  we  exhale.  Is  in 
success  and  ex  failure?  Not  In  iny 


opinion.  They  ar «  th«  fame  thing 
Life  end  death  ere  the  .aarne  thing. 
You  can’t  have  one  without  the 
other.  Axe  they  both  irrelevant, 
then?  Not  at  all. 

The  only  thing  that  ihatters  is 
the  view,  one  takes  of  each  sepa¬ 
rately  and  of  both  together. 

Attitude  toward  death — denial, 
discomfort,  hunger,  pain,  error— 
gives  man  his  style  and  his  .mean- 
ing.  That’s  private;; 

Mass  usage  and  exploitation,  on 
the  part  of  powerful  public  bodies. 
—  governments'—  of  private  man’s 
normal  preoccupation  with,  death 
(vvith  survival,  with  the .  post¬ 
ponement  of  death.  Or  the  preven¬ 
tion  of  a  violent  and  degrading 
form  of.  it) — -is  a  vast  game  that 
tends  to  take  away  from  man. his. 
reasonable  potential  for  the 
achievement  of  style,  and  meaning-. 
It.  puts  him  irito  a  mob,,  and  .  it 
makes  a.  fool  of  him. . 

Arid,  that  is  what  we  have  in  our 
time.  The  deliberate  mass  exploi¬ 
tation  of  man  where  he  is  most 
vulnerable;  This  clever  work  pro¬ 
ceeds  cleverly.  It  doesn’t  matter 
that  no  government  is-  going  to 
rocket  destruction  Upon  any  other 
government,  the  game  proceeds, 
and  man’s  style  and  meaning 
Change  as  a  consequence. 

’It  is  out  of  this  charige  that  the 
riew  plays  must  be-  written  by  the 
new  playwrights..  That  is  the. rea¬ 
son  we  have  “Waiting  for  Godot7’ 
and  the  delightful  if  lunatic  plays 
of  Ionesco.  Of  course,  the  Aineri- 
caris  would  insist  on  doing  business, 
seeking  a  profit;  iri  the  theatre,  in 
teriris  of  the  tried,  and  true— with 
a  beginning,  a  middle,  and  an  end 
—if  the  world,  itself  were  in  final 
ruinS.  arid  people  came  to;  the.  box- 
office.  on  their  hands  arid  knees. 
That  is  to  say,  we  would  hope  to 
make,  a  musical  but  of  it. 

Nothing  is  goirig  to  ,  happen  Of 
course.  Nothing  different,  except 
in  degree,  that  is.' 

Can  art,  includirig  .plays,  .give 
man,  even  now,  in  our.  great  time, 
a  iriofe.  appropriate,  a  more;  useful 
view  of  life  and  death,  so  that  he 
may  be;  more  truly  who  he  is,  and 
recognize  no  man,  as  hiis  enemy? 

>  It  cairi,  but  not  in  America.  We 
must  succeed'  We  beZieve  fail¬ 
ure  is  disgrace;  We.  are  sure  fail¬ 
ure  can  be  prevented.  And  ..we 
keep,  failing  more,  often,  and  more 
deeply  and  tragically,  than  any 
other  people,  on  the  face  of  the 
earth,  all.  the  while  counting  .our 
useless  wealth.  What  .do  we  pro¬ 
pose  to:  do  with,  all;  that  money? 

Lecture  over.  Question  and  an¬ 
swer  period.  Ask  one  another.. 


Don’t  Toucli  TYpewrltjer 

-  Continued  from  page  14  ^ 

listening  to  music  and  staring, 
moodily  out  the  -window.  , 

You  discover  that  the  phone 
rings  43  times  ari  hour. 

You  entertain  clergymen  of  d.e^ 
nominations  .  you  never  knew  ex¬ 
isted;. 

You  will  blow  the  noses  of 
seven  children  you’ve  never  seen 
before  in  any  given  morning  arid 
.will  learn  where  and  why  your 
wife  keeps  the  Kleenex. 

You  will  double  your  contribu¬ 
tions  -to  the  local  charities  just  to 
prove  to  your  neighbors  that  you 
haven’t  beeri.  fired- and  are  living 
on  your  iri-laws. 

You’ll  watch  a  succession  of 
gif  Is  named  Jinx,  Maggi,  Wendy 
and  Mary  interview  the  sairie  peo¬ 
ple  arid  occasionally  each  other. 

You’ll  ..be  the  first  one  on  line 
at  the  lending  library  every  morn¬ 
ing.  '’ 

You’ll  sweat  out  the  reappear¬ 
ance.  of .  two  .  sixtyear-olds  who  go 
into  the  closet  and  say  they’re 
blasting  off;  Once  in  a  while  one. 
actually  will.  I  mean  they  really 
do.  Soriietirnes. 

You’ll  discover  at  the  end  Of  six 
months  that  you  haven’t  written  a 
saleable  line,  you  are  no  longer 
in  communication  with  your  family 
and:  you  hate,  dogs,  neighbors, 
Fuller  Brush  men  who.  squirt  per¬ 
fume  ori  you.  without  discovering, 
that,  the  apron  you’re  wearing 
Covers  a  pair  of  pants,  PTA  mem¬ 
bers,  Cub.  Scouts  arid  the  tele-:, 
phone. 

You  never  thought  of  it  that 
way  .  did  you? 

I  mean,  don’t  expose  . yourself 
to  it. 

I  wean.;  don’t  touch  that  type¬ 
writer. 

I  ririean  the  earth  won’t  move 
for  you. 

It  really  won’t. 


T  as  In  Tax  and  TV 


Continued  from  page  17 


I  der.-  In  this  sector,  there  has  al¬ 
ready  been  sortie  success,,  and  sev¬ 
eral  low-cost  pix  have  made  sur¬ 
prising.  profits  during  the  past 
year.;  The  downward  trend  in 
prices,  though  iight,  has  already 
resulted  iri  renewed  future  interest, 
in  local  production  on  the  part  of 
foreign  (especially  American),  com¬ 
panies,  many  of  them  planning  lo¬ 
cal  stints  during  1958.  While  some 
local '  low-budgeters  have  been 
made  for  $190,000  the  average  cost, 
of  an  Italian  production  is  closer 
to  $200,000..  Total  is  said  to  be 
considerably  ,  under  the  current 
French  rate — soriie  say  as  much  as 
40%. 

Inevitably,  in  times  of  crisis,  one 
of  the  targets  of  attack  is  the  Yarik' 
film  industry.  The  MPEA  has  -al¬ 
ready’,  fel-t ;  the  "'rise -iri  local  harass¬ 
ing  Zmoveriients,  heretofore  Con¬ 
fined  to;  such  areas  as  color  prink¬ 
ing,..  dubbing,  lab  work,  release 
permits,  etc.  These  demands  are 
expected  to  reach  a  climax  when 
the  MPEA-ANICA  film  pact  Comes 
up  for  renewal  in  two  year’s  time 
—if  pot  before. 

1  More  Co-Production  1 

Three  types  of  production  are 
contemplated  by  the  Italian;  indus¬ 
try  in  its  planned  fight  back  up  the 
slope.,  :  First,  the  aforementioned 
low-cost.  local  production..  Second, 
an  expanded,  system  of  co-produc¬ 
tion  within  the  framework  of  the 
much-heralded,  much  hoped-for 
European  Film  Pool.  The  many 
meetings  held  during  the  past  year 
by  the  .  three-country  committee 
(Italy,  France,  .and  Germany)  are 
expected  toJ  lead  to  an  enlarged 
“guaranteed”  riiarket  for;  conti¬ 
nental  mix  (with  the  possible  fu¬ 
ture  "addition  of  such  other  court- 
tries  as  Britain,  Spain,  Austria, 
etc.)  which  would  help  amortize 
the  initial  costs  of  local-made 
items.  Though  ,  the  vastly  different 
German  film  industry  legislation 
and  economic  prosperity  are  formi¬ 
dable  harriers  to  the  pic ;  pool 
adoption.  Ttalo  Pic  officials  are  op- 
tmistic  about  its  chances  and  a^e 
pbvpuslv  counting  on  it  heavilv  to 
pull  them  out.  of  the  current  rut. 

Third  type  of  contemplated  pro-, 
du'dicin  involves  Y^nk  coin  and 
collaboration,  for  the.  making  of 
Vrge-scaled  items  in  the  spectacle 
class,  or  other  items  of  Varied  na¬ 
ture,  either  produced  by  an  Ameri¬ 
can  company  using  the  local  fariri- 
ties..or  co-produced  via  a  twin  set¬ 
up  Irnking  a  Yank,  and  an  .Italian, 
outfit,  splitting  costs  and  release' 
rights,  Italians  have  mad°  it  route 
clear,  in  recent  month':,  that  -they 
much  prefer  the  .latter  sot-uo, 
which  allows  them  an  “in”  on  dis¬ 
tribution  earnings— though  not.  en¬ 
tirely  discouraging  the  former, 
which  after  ail  brin  g  -  work  to  th  ou- 
sarids  of  Italian  technicians  and  ac¬ 
tors  while;  in  production. 

A  number  of  Yank  productions 
(either  “ontri^ht”  projects  or  twin 
setups)  are  slated  to  be  made  in 
Rome  during  1958.  Among,  the 
many.1  there  are:  “The  Nuri’S.  Sto- 
rV”  (Warners):.  “Goya”  (Titanus- 
Metro-U-A);  “Salomon  and  Sheba” 
(U-A  and  an  Italian  company);  “Sir. 
mon  Bolivyr”  and  at  least  two 
other  DeLaurentiis ..  protects,  teamed 
with  such  U.  S.  outfits  as  RKO. 
Columbia,  and  others:  “The  .Roses” 
(Columbia):  and  last  but  certainly 
not  least,  "Ben  Hur”  (Metro). 

Preliminary  construction  work 
on  Metro’s  $10  million,  project  has 
already  begun  out  at  Cinecitta  Stu¬ 
dios,  where  the  pie  is  slated  for  a 
seven -month  shooting  schedule 
lasting  throughout  1958.  Payroll 
windows  and  dressing  rooms  have: 
already  gone  up.  and  the  steel  pine 
framework  for  the  giant  construcr 
tions  on  the  back  lot  can  be  seen 
for  miles;  .Four  sound  stages  will 
be  set  aside  for  “Ben  Hur”  (two 
for  “The  Nun’s  Story.”  slated  for 
60.  days  interior  shooting  at  same 
studios,  at  a  reDorted  local  cost  of 
sortie  $1,500,000— while  pic  loca¬ 
tions  in  Africa,  arid  .Belgium)  and 
an  enterprising:,  and  optimistic 
restauranteur,  Fabiani.  has  already 
set  up  an  elegant  restaurant  on  the 
Cinecitta  precincts  ori  the  hopeful 
premise  that  all  those.  pe.ODle  will 
want  some  good  food  to  eat  .  iri  be¬ 
tween  working  stints. 

Similar  optimism,  in  the  face  of 
downbeat  predictions  which  say 
that  such  foreign  efforts  as  “Ben 
Hur,”  while  bringing  temporary 
relief,  will  only  cushion  the  fall  of 
the  local  industry,'  is  demonstrated 
daily  by  the  flocks  of  yoting.  hope¬ 
fuls  (male  and  female)  which  have 
resumed  their  daily,  parade  up  and 


down  the  Via  Veneto— the  indus¬ 
try’s  pulse — in  the  hope  of  discov¬ 
ery,.  as  though  nothing  had  ever 
gone  wrong  and  the  Italian  filrii 
industry  were  about  to  enter  a  new 
period  of  prosperity.  (Over  70,000 
workers  in  the  various  industry 
branches  here  hope  they  are  right,, 
and  that  their  post-war  dream  has 
not  yet  ended.) 

As  one  industry  observer  here 
said  recently:  “it’s  not  true  that- 
(by  general  standards)  our  industry 
has  dropped  to  a  low  level— it’s 
just  that ;  we  rose  too  high,  ton 
quickly,  after  the  war  .  .  .  now  that 
we’ve  come  back  down  from  the 
heights,  we  don’t  know  what  to  do 
.  .  we  just  weren’t  prepared  for 

normality  ...” 


‘Give  ’Em  Sex’ 

— Continued  from  page  7 

enjoyed  success.  Outside,  in  the 
commercial  situations,  where  sub¬ 
titles.  were  and  still  are,  poison, 
they  died.  Then  a  few  “sexy”  im¬ 
ports  broke  through,  and— business 
being  what  it  is— some  operators 
tried  them  and  did  right  well  with 
them.  This  opened  the  eyes  of  the 
Europeans  to.  the  gap'  between 
what  they  knew  and  what  they 
practiced,  i.e.  that  their  routine 
output,  Which  would  raise  riary  a 
ripple:  in  France  or  Italy;  was  con¬ 
sidered  daring  and  very  sexy  in 
the  States.  But  they  had  been  con¬ 
centrating  on  the  “cream  of  the 
crop”  and  ignoring  some  funda- 
mental  truths  about  the  American 
public. 

Last  year,  and  this  year,  a  flood 
of  these  “average”  overseas  pix  has 
been  coming  in.  Increasingly,  they 
aren’t  even  premiered  in  New 
York,  hut  start  to  play  off  out-of- 
town  to  escape  the  acid  criticism 
of  the  metropolitan  critics  and  the 
bite  of  the  Legion  Taring.  The  fact 
that  censorship  barriers  in  the 
States  gradually  are  coming  down 
also  helped,  arid  in  fact  a  film  like 
“Game  .  of  Love”  contributed  to 
the  decline  of  the  blue-pencillors. 

It  is  a  source  of  never-ending 
surprise  to  Europeans  just  what 
films  will  succeed  here.  For  in¬ 
stance,  they  fully  expected  “Wages 
of  Fear,”  a  solid  hit  in  Europe,  to 
do  a  repeat  in  the  States.  It 
flopDed.  On  the  other  hand,*  no  .  one 
in  Europe  got  excited  about  “Game 
of  Love,”  or  about  a  host  of  Other 
pictures  which  ended  up  doing 
very  well  in.  America.  “God  Cre¬ 
ated  Wcman”  was  turned  down  by 
several  distributors  before  it  final¬ 
ly  ended  up  with  Kingsley-Inter¬ 
national. 

But,  whether  or  not  they  are 
conscious  of  the  precise  formula 
that  will  go  over  in  the  States, 
European  producers  know  that  sex 
will  outsell  art,  regardless  of  oppo¬ 
sition  from  the  moral  wing.  There 
are  the  exceptions,  of  course,  such 
as  “Diabolique,”  which  appealed 
on  a  different  level.  But,  pn  the 
whole,  Europe  now  has  its  signals 
straight. 

And  a  good  thing  it  is,  too.  Be¬ 
cause  the  unpleasant  truth  is  that 
Europe’s  film  output  during  the 
past  two  ybars  has  been  woefully 
lacking  in  consistency.  There  were 
a  few  good  pictures,  but  the  rest 
was  below  average  even  by  none- 
too-high  American  standards.  And 
when  some  really  exciting  films 
came  along,  such  ..as  Jules  Dassin’s 
“Celui  Qui  Doit  Mourir,”  the 
American  distributors,  anxiously 
shied  away. 

Despite  the  admittedly  -consider¬ 
able  improvement  of  the  European 
film  (the  Japanese  have  gone  back 
to  zero  for  the  moment  and  Latin 
Arneriea  virtually  doesn’t  count 
outside  the  Spariish-language  hous¬ 
es',  producers  on  the  Continent 
tend  to  go  way  overboard  in  evalu¬ 
ating  their  real  potential,  even  on 
the  dubbed  pictures.  For  instance, 
“La  Slrada,”  with  an  English 
Soundtrack,  in  theory  should  have 
been  a  tremeridous  grosser,  partic- 
uarly  after  winning  the  Academy 
Award.  But  it  wasn’t. 

And  gradually  the  lesson  will  be 
learned  that  the  U.S.  door  is  not 
wide  -open,  but  only  slightly  ajar; 
that  -booking  volume  in  itself  can 
be  deadly;  particularly  if  not 
matched  by  attendance;  that  the 
market  rnirst  be  gradually  explored 
and  conditioned,  and  that— in  the 
long  run — quality  of  production 
still  will  deteimine  the  ultimate 
fate  of  the  foreign  motion  picture 
in  the  States. 


62 


PICTURES 


Fifty-second  J/^MRIETY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


Legendary  Theatre  Feuds 


;  Continued  from  page  3  ; 


ing  up  many  a  team  (many  times 
the  theme  of  backstage  movie, 
scenarios).  Or  one  part  of  the 
team  not  giving  a  good  perform¬ 
ance,  being  genuinely  “off”  that 
day,  won’t  be  accepted  as  an  ex¬ 
cuse  by  the  other  who  soon 
soreads  the  word:  “He  ‘threw’  the 
act  and  he’s  been  doing  that  a 
lot  lately— he’s  trying  to  break 
up  tne  act  and  he  wants  me  to  be 
the  one  to  get  Sore!” 

A  team  doesn’t  always  work  as 
•‘team  work,”  though  a  successful 
act  is  what’s  keeping  all  involved 
eating:  One  boasting,  concerning 
hk  “bit”  in  the  play,  is  soon  be¬ 
littled  by  another.  Standard  ex¬ 
ample  is  the  comic  in  the  troupe 
saying:  “When  I’m  on  the  sta^e, 
you  can  hear  them  laughing  across 
the  street!”  “What’s  playing  across 
the  street?”  comes  the.  counter¬ 
punch.  , 

“Straight-men”  and  comed  ans 
are  always  at  odds.  The  “feeder* 
to  the  comic  can  throw  off  the 
pace  and  the  answers,  without 
which  the  supposedly  “fast  on  the 
trigger”  comic  can’t  live.  As  to 
which  of  the  two  is  the  more  im¬ 
portant  in  a  duo  has  been,  a  moot 
question  s:rce  the  birth;,  of  enter¬ 
tainment.  To  many  critics,^  the 
situation  is  like  the  two  parts  of 
a  sedlitz  powder— each,  on  its  own, 
has  no  value— it’s  only  when 
they’re  combined  do  you  get  the 
v'.  tar  “sizzle.”  True,  some  feuding 
acts  have  done  better  by  breaking 
up,  each-  oil  his  own  attaining  in¬ 
dividual  stardom.  In  the  mai  , 
however,  both  have  fallen  bv  the 
removal  of  their  leaning-posts  . 

The  synthetic,  public  tv-minded 
feuds  fool  nobody— they’re  simply’ 
an  act  within,  an  act,  with  the 
public  not  taking  it  seriously.  But 
the  list  of  genuine  feuds,  from  the 
d?m  past  of  the  theatre,  t’ll  this 
moment,  is  a  matter  of  record. 

Y  Famous  Fends  for  Example  .  ] 

Sam  Bernard  and  Louis  Maim 
discussing  it  in  Atlantic  City  with 
Bernard,  the  mention  of  Mann’s 
name  sent  Sam  into  an  indescrib¬ 
able  rase.  When  he  reached  calm 
again,  I  foolishly  said:  “You’re 
mad?— you  should  see  Louis  Mann, 
when  I  mention  your  name”— -and 
then  off  went.  Sam  again,  but  ‘in 
spades.” 

Many  similar  sad  and  unneces¬ 
sary  battling  teams,  in  the  oast, 
Moran  &  Mack-Roger  Brothers 
{genuine  brothers).  Jim  Corbett  & 
Billy  Van-Weber  &  Fields-Gerirt- 
dine  Farrar  and  Fritzi  Scheff. 
Fritzi  actually  stood  in  the  wings 
and  walloped  her  when  she  left 
the  stage  (M^ss  Scheff.  a  great  and 
turbulent  talent),  also  ^oke  up  a 
forthcoming  play.  While  in  re¬ 
hearsal  she  objected  to  Sam  Bar¬ 
nard  smoking  —  Bernard,  being 
rich,  walked  off  and  show  never 
opened).  .  .  ■ 

Gallagher  &  Shean  —  and  the 
deadliest  -of  all,  the  immortal 
McIntyre  &  Health,  partners  40 
years  onstage  and  never  spoke 
offstage  for  .40  years. 

Those  of  the  last  decade  or  so: 
Paul  &  Grace  Hartman.  Abbott  & 
Costello.  The  Andrews  Sisters. 
Joey  Adams  &  Tonv  Canzbneri. 
Maxie  Rbsenbloom  &  Max  Baer. 
Martin  &  Lewis. 

Of  feuds  in  opera,  it  can  be  any 
soprano  and  tenor,  teamed  in  the 
same  offering.  Maria.  Callas  is  both 
the  firecracker  and  the  match 
lately. 


Famous  Friendships 


On  the  happier  side,  lets  list  a 
few  combinations  that  have  en¬ 
dured  in  peace  and  for  the  good 
of  the  theatre  for  years:  Snrth  & 
Dale-Marx  Bros..  Williams  & 
Walker.  Fred  Allen  &  Portland 
Hoffa.  And  the  heart-warming 
combination  of  Clayton.  Jackson 
&  Durante,  not  even  ending  with 
the  passing  of  one  trio,,  for  Du¬ 
rante,  great  soul,  sees  to  it  that  it 
Will  be  remembered  as  a  partner-; 
sh;p  without  parallel  in  under¬ 
standing  and  consideration  for  all. 

With,  the  fine  line  of  demarca¬ 
tion  of  the  paniermache  stage  and 
the  “personal”  lives  of  the  per¬ 
formers,  it  is  hard  for  a  public  to 
fathom  the  “play-acting”  of  these 
folk  from  the  "real”  thing.  Little, 
does  it  know  that  a  pair  on  the 
stage,  “breaking  up  an  audience. 
can’t  wait  till  they  can  “break  it 
ur,  ”  In  their  rooms  a  feW  minutes 
later. 

Sure  there  is  more  glory  and 
romance  to  the  theatre  than  there 
is  bitterness  and  sorrow — that  is, 
to  ambitious  ones,  about  to  make 
the  tb«-»ft-o  their  life  work.  Better 


so,  or  else  there  wouid  be  no  the¬ 
atre. 

The  great  parlay  that  ,  keeps 
three  great  emotional  endeavours 
going  is  (1)  the  smell  of  grease¬ 
paint,  (2)  .circus  sawdust  and  (3) 
printer’s  ink. 

We  don’t  know  whether  we  want 
“feuds”  to  he  eliminated :  altogeth¬ 
er.  There  is  a  certain,  necessary  vi¬ 
tality  about  some  of  theim  In  some 
cases,  it  is  “free”  entertainment  for. 
the  .  public;  And.  in  the  end,  there 
are  always,  peace-makers  around. 
As  in  the  case  of  the  twp  quarel- 
ling  actors,  over  the  years.  Finally 
a:  third  party  brought  them  to¬ 
gether  and  bought  them  a  drink 
and  told  them  to  toast  each  other. 
One  raised  his  glass  to  the  Other 
and  said:  “Here’s  wishing  for.  you 
what  you’re  wishing  for  hie!”  “Oh, 
you’re  starting  in  again,  eh?’’ 
came  the  reply. 


French  Still  Snoot 

Continued  from  page  3 
in  Keokuk  Whom  he  had  kissed- 
once  and  to  whom  he  considered 
himself  pledged. 

G.L’s  left  behind  in  Paris  chew¬ 
ing  gum ,  Coca-Cola;  jeeps,  juke¬ 
boxes  and  pinball  machines  (how  big 
here).  Credit  them,  in  part,  for 
hamburgers  and  hot  dogs.  The 
French  language  itself  gained  from 
the  Yanks,  such  words  as  strip¬ 
tease;  blues,  tilt  quick  lunch. 


Hoopla  on.  Sports 


French  have  adopted  the  dra¬ 
matic  U.  S.  attitude  towards  sports 
with,  the  fanfare  and  publicity  pay¬ 
ing  off.  Publicity  is  still  a  young 
art  here  but  under  U.S.  tutelage 
and  .  growing  more  daring.  Stock  | 
car  races.  Wrestling  (controlled) 
stylized  violence  in  boxing— all  are 
American  influences  here.  Baseball 
has  never  caught  on,  and  the  two 
top  French  sports  still  remain 
by  cycle  facing  and  Soccer. 

Religion,  says  Arts,  is  not  Amer¬ 
icanized  even  if  television  is 
allowed  into  churches,  priests  be¬ 
come  popular  singers  and  an  abbei 
leaps  from  a  30-foot  tower  to  raise 
money  ,  for  his  parish.  Protestant 
Billy  Graham  laid  an  evangelistic 
egg  here  when  he  tried  to  restore  I 
the  “Moral  Fibre”  that  President 
Eisenhower  had  declared  was  weak 
in  France; 

'  li 


‘Papa’  Hemingway,  Etc, 


In  literature,  it  is  felt  that  the 
American  dynamism,  vitality  and 
virility:  was,  needed  by  the  .  French 
and  they  were  benefitted  from 
Ernest;  Hemingway,  John  Dos 
Passos.  Also  esteemed,  here  are 
Henry  Miller,  John  Steinbeck, 
Erskine  Caldwell  and  William  Sar¬ 
oyan.  However,  most  leading 
.writers  feel  that  U.S.  literature  is 


elementary  and.  masochistic.  But 
the  U.s;  detective  story  has  taken 
a  firm  hold  here  and  spawned  many 
disciples.  Science  fiction  is  just 
beginning  to  make  inroads." 

French  feel  superior  in  legit. j 
theatre,  and:  claim  that  U.S.  drama) 
is  predominantly  vulgar  in  writing, 
has  prefabricated  themes  and  rests 
on  an  elementary  psychology.  Help¬ 
ing  .  overcome  this  estimate  are 
newly.-  experienced  (by  French) 
works  of  Eugene  O’Neill,  Tennessee 
Williams;  Caldwell  and  Steinbeck. 
Recent  hits  Were  Arthur  Miller’s 
“Crucible,”  Williams’  “Cat  on 
Hot  Tin  Roof,”  William  Faulkner’s 
“Requiem  for  a  Nun.”  Arts  tact¬ 
fully  skips  over  the  French  flops  in 
New  York. 

The  sheet  castigates  U.S.  tv  in  a 
silly;  rudimentary,  fashion,  claiming 
that  it  is  bad  technically;  which 
means  that  whoever  wrote  it  was 
Watching  from  this  side.  It  adds 
that  Yank  video  is  searching  for  a 
style.  Many  U.S.  pix  and  vidfilms 
are  used  on  France’s  nationalized 
video. 

In  dance,  the  French  blandly 
state  that  they  taught  the  Ameri¬ 
cans  to  terp.  George  Balanchine 
and  Jerome  Bobbins  are  respected 
though  Roland  Petit  denies  any 
“American  influences”  in  ballet, 


Paul  Anka,  Ottawa  schoolboy 
who  scored  with  the  disking  of  his 
own  “Diana’’  on  the  ABC-Para¬ 
mount  label;  last  year  earned 
$100,000  in  about  six  months.  That 
also  covers  songs  of  his.  hone  by 
others  and  .  the  rock  ’n’  roll  shows 
he’s  been  touring  in  the  U.  S.  and 
Britain. 

That’s  the  figure:  estimated  by 
Ottawa  freelance  Writer  Paul  A. 
Gardner  in  an  article  for  the  Jan. 
4  issue  of  the  Canadian  Maclean’s 
mag  titled.  “What  It  Takes  To 
Crash  Tin  Pan  Alley  at  15.”  (This 
refers  to;  the  year  previously.)  The 
juve  will  keep  .  about  30%  of  it 
after  expenses  and  taxes,  accord¬ 
ing  to  Gardner. 

Recalling,  a  pop  singer  who  once 
told  him,  “I  only  own  30%  of  my¬ 
self,”  Anka.  is  qUoted  as  saying  he 
owns  90%  of  himself — presumably 
referring  to  the  10%  his  agency. 
General  Artist  Cofp.,  takes,  though 
that’s  only  on  dates. 


Chicago. 

Wilding  Picture  Productions  Inc. 
upped  three  sales  execs  ,  last  week 
in  reassigning:  Dean  Coffin,  former 
district  manager  of  the  Cleveland 
and  Pittsburgh  sales  and  service 
offices,  to  head  the  company’s 
Great  Lakqs  sales  division  in  De¬ 
troit.  .Coffin  was  named  a  veepee. 
In  the  Change,  Lawrence  T.  Young 
was  promoted  to  district  manager 
in  Cleveland  and  Quinn  Short  to 
the  same  post  in  Pittsburgh,  both 
succeeding  Coffi 

Wilding  is  active  in  the  field  of 
industrial  pix  and  filmed  commer¬ 
cials; 


How 


;  Continued  from  page  3  ; 


ograph  every  day.  One  puhlidty  | 
manager  inserts  ,  the  word  indis¬ 
criminately.  . 

There  is  also  a  sales  executive 
who  fashions  himself  as  an  editor 
although,  as  far  as  could  be  ascer¬ 
tained,  he  has  never  had  writing 
or  editing  experience.  He  is  an 
adjective  inserter..  “This  story 
needs  a  buildup”  is  his  slogan.. 

Several  publicists  have  found  a 
way  td  outwit  their  superiors. 
They  insert  a  praiseworthy  adjec- 
tive  before  every  noun.  This  is  a 
superlative  which  the  executive 
may  replace  With  another  superla¬ 
tive  to  out-superlative  the  first 
one.  The  buildup  Words  crime  out 
placed  in  such  a  manner  so.  that 
such  newsmen  as  use  haridouts  can 
bluepencil  every  other  word  of  a 
two-page  handout  and  emerge,  with 
one  sentence  that  contains  a  com¬ 
plete  and  detailed  version  of  the 
company’s :  “news.” 

.  Press  releases,,  if  you  make  a 
study  of  them,  are  cleverly  de¬ 
signed.  Invariably  they  contain  a 
statement  surrounded  by  quotation 
marks  by  one  or  more  executives. 
These  statements  are  placed  at  the 
bottom  of  the  release  so  that 
they  can  be  quickly  and  harmlessly 
discarded  by  newspapers.  These 
statements,  however,  serve  as  ex¬ 
cellent  window.  dressing,  especially 
when  they  are  presented:  for  the. 
approval  of  the  executive  who.  is 
supposed  to  have  uttered  the  imr 
mortal  words.  He  beams  with 
satisfaction  at  his  own  cleverness, 
although  the  thought,  expressed  in 
the  statement  may  never  have  oc- 
cured  to  him.  The  statement  is 
usually  an  innocuous  one  and  goes 
something  like  this:  “This  action, 
hailed  as  the  most  unique  in  the 
industry,  is  in  keeping  with  our 
policy  of  providing  our  customers 
with  hard-hitting  and  unprecec 
dented  support  and  comprises  an 
essential  package  for  the  most 
modern  and  economic  operation.” 


Toujours  Precedental 


If  the  announcement  involves  ;a. 
deal  between  two.  companies, 
there’s  sure  to  be  an  acknowledge¬ 
ment  from  the  other  side.  “We 
are  .  happy  to  be  associated  with 
Blank  Co.,”  it  invariably  says. 
“Blank’s  position  in  the  industry 
plus  our  contribution  will  result 
in  a  combination  that  will  make  it 
possible  for  us  to  maintain  our 
pre-eminence  and  to  serve  our  au¬ 
diences  more  effectively;” 

Suppose  the  release  reveals  the 
signing  of  a  new  performer  whom 
the  studio  feels  has  a  bright  future; 
then  an  executive  Usually  remarks 
in  print:  “Several  important  ve¬ 
hicles  are  being  considered  for 
him  to  take  advantage  of  the  ex¬ 
pected  enthusiastic  public  reac¬ 
tion;  following  the  release  of  his 
first  picture.” 

Every  picture  apparently  Is  re¬ 
leased  With  an  unprecedented  pro¬ 
motional  campaign.  This  is  how 
it  is  announced;  “Following  the 
promotion  and  merchandising  pat¬ 
tern  which  was  so  successful  on  ‘I 
Was  a  Teenage  Monster  Who  Con¬ 
quered  the  Frankenstein  From 


(The  Taking  of  Berg-op-Zoom) ,  and  “Jean,  III/ 
comedies  of  his  youth. 

Ait  biographical  drama  he  had  the  sauve  touch. 
He  could  instruct  without  boring.  “Jean  de  ia  Fon¬ 
taine,”  “Franz  Hals,”  “Beaumarchais”  and.  .“Talley¬ 
rand”  serve  as  vivid  and  witty  portraits.  Occasion¬ 
ally  he  would  tamper  with  historical  events  to  fit 
them  to  the  pattern  of  the  stage.  It  was  always  the 
stage  that  mattered  most. 

He  revolutionized,  the  movies  with  his  “Story  of 
Cheat,”  creating  ,  a  new  style  of  moving-picture 
narration.  It  was  so  imitated  that  he  regretted  in¬ 
venting  it  but  his  Own  films  done  in  this  fashion — 
‘Pearls  of  the  Crown;”  “Walking  Up  the  Champs- 
Elysees”  and  “Nine  Bachelors”— are  classics  today. 
Since  the  war  he  Wrote  and  directed  a  trio  of 


Continued  from  page  .3 
all 


and  one  day,  g  Guitry  and  Woods  sat  at  a  cafe  ta- 
ble’,  they  decided  to  both  write  what  they  consid¬ 
ered  the  proper  sum  on  a  piece  of  paper  and  ex¬ 
change  notes.  When  Guitry  read  Woods’  note  he 
found  inscribed:  Twice  as  much,  as  you’ve  asked.” 


I 


A  Nazi  Collaborator? 


After  the  war  Guitry  was  arrested  and  charged 
with  collaboratmg  with  the  Nazis  during  the  Occu- 
patmn.  He  was  held  In  prison  for  three  months  and 
cleared  at  a  sensational  trial.  “Why  is  the  day  of  my 

alkin  Serye^  ***  9*  Liberation?  ”•  *e  Would 

Actually  his  war  record  was,  as  proven,  a  sbot- 
had  used  his  position  to  save  Tristan 


many)  jealousy  against  him  ran  so  high  that  this 
correspondent  remembers  that  there  was  moil  talk 
of  shooting  Guitry  than  there  was  of  captX  ffit- 


all-star  casts  and  .  all  were  spiced  with  Guitry’s 
blend  of  wit. 

In  “Napoleon”  he  played  one  of  his  favorite  char¬ 
acters,  Talleyrand,  who  recalls  the  career,  of  the 
Emperor  as  he  sits  in  a  comfortable  chair  surround-  Like  his  favorite  dramatic  author  n/r«u~»  v.  „ 
ed  by  lady  listeners.  “Will  you;  tell  us  everything  in  harness;  Stricken  and  unable  to  leav?Hi«fc£l;d 
about  Napoleon?,”  one  inquires.  “Everything  I  re-  he  directed  a  revival  of  one  of  his  h  ’ 

member.”  he  reDlies.  “About  Waterloo?”  “No;  That’s  room.  His  last  days  were  scent  nn  ■  su^m" 

rio.  The  afternoon  before he 
^er-t..Slem.ftz.’  Eat  a?  iis  bedside.  Guitry  who  barf' 


Outer  Space/  Blank  Co.  will  launch 
an  all-out  national  and  local  level 
publicity  arid  promotion  campaign 
utilizing  Star  personalities,  series 
of  special  events  and  national  tie- 
ups  as  well  as  an  intensified  local 
level  pre-tested  newspaper  ad  cam¬ 
paign  highlighting  the  dramatic 
selling  elements  and  star  values  of 
the  picture;” 

Does  any  picture  ever  flop’  Of 
courise  not.  Each  and  every  one 
is  a  record-bfeaker,  either  “equal? 
ling  or  surpassing”  the  grosses  of 
the  company’s  previous  epic.  No 
matter  how  unimportant  the  pic-, 
ture  may.  be,  it’s  certain  to  estab- 
K  li  a  record  somewhere,  even  if 
it’s  at  a  two-seat  theatre  in  Afghan¬ 
istan  where  it  scored  more  busi¬ 
ness  for.  a  rainy  Tuesday  between, 
the  hours  of  9  a.m;  and  10  a.m. 
than  any;  other  film .  that  ever 
played  the  house.  Somehow  .  the 
film  company  can  always  obtain 
a  quote  from  an  exhibitor  substan¬ 
tiating  the  claim.  “The  pleasant 
surprise  for  us  here  this  week,” 
says  the  willing  theatreman,  “was 
the  outstanding  gross  rolled  up  by 
‘I  Wais  a  Teenage  Monster  Who 
Conquered  the  Frarikenstein  From 
Outer  Space/  and  the  tremendous 
teenage  reaction  to  Mirig-^Toy  Epr 
stein  and  Melvin  Schwartz.” 

The  .  pr'essagent-writers  appa¬ 
rently  have  their  worse  case  of  ad- 
jectivitis  when  announcing  or  de¬ 
scribing  festivities  in  connection, 
with  film  premieres..  You  can  be 
sure  that  at  every  opening  there 
will  be  “a  glittering  array  of  stars, 
religious  ,  leaders.,  social  leaders 
and  industry  leaders”  and  that  it 
will  be  “a  black  tie  and  evening 
gown  audience.”  “A  red  carpet/' 
of  course,  “will  guide  their  steps” 
arid  . “the  scene  will  be  illuminated . 
by  a  pathway  of  brightly  flashing 
golden  beacons,  the  same  lights 
that  guide  pilots  to  night  landings 
at  LaGuardia  and  Idlewild  air¬ 
ports.” 

The  theatre  will;  be  “filled  to 
Capacity  arid  thousands  more’*  will 
view,  “the  theatre-front  festivities 
from  ;  behind  police  barricades.” 
The  debut  of  the  picture,  it  is  duly 
noted,  “was  one  of  the  major  en¬ 
tertainment  and  social  events  of 
the  year”  which  received  “national ; 
television  and  radio  coverage.” 
Arriving  ,  celebrities,  it’s  pointed 
opt,  “were  interviewed  by  local  ra¬ 
dio  commentators,  while  a  taped 
account  of  the  glamorous  opening 
was  syndicated  to  over  200  import¬ 
ant  radio  stations  throughout  the 
nation.” 

The  .  announcement  of  film  com¬ 
pany-production  plans  are  also 
well  documented  arid  distributed. 
Each  year,  as  the  annual  produc¬ 
tion  schedule  is  hailed,  executives 
“enunciate  the  company’s  faith  in 
the  future  of  the  motion  picture 
industry  throughout  the  world”  ? 
and  they  “emphasize  the  com¬ 
pany’s  sense  of  .responsibility  for 
Its  exhibitor  customers  throughout 
the.  world  in  providing  a  steady 
flow  of  important  boxoffice  pic¬ 
ture  capable  of  producing  grosses 
which  spell  mutual  success  and 
which  will  enable  the.  company  to 
reach  even  greater  heights  than  in 
its  previous  record-breaking  years.” 

Included  in  the  company’s  pro¬ 
gram  -are  “outstanding  •  boxoffice 
attractions*'  based  on  “national 
best-selling  novels”  by  “disting¬ 
uished”  authors  which  will  be 
brought  to  the  screeri  by  “famed 
film-makers.”  The  “diversified’' 
group^of  motion  pictures  “feature 
a  wide  variety  of  subject  matter/' 
Appearing  in  these  pictures  are 
“a mammoth  roster  of  today’s  top 
star  names”  who  are  backed  by  a 
“distinguished”  or  a  “huge  cast  of 
colorful  supporting  personalities/' 
The,  “important”  story  properties 
are  “in  various;  stages  of  produc¬ 
tion”  and  among  them  will  emerge 
“more  than  30  high-budget  fea¬ 
tures.”  Some  of  the  pictures  will 
he  made  at  “remote”  locations. 

It  seems  that  the  pressagents 
have  done  a  masterful  job  of  paint¬ 
ing  a  rosy  picture,  building  up  the 
egos.  of  ;  their  employers,  arid  tell¬ 
ing  the  world ;•  that  ■  “movies  are 
your  best  entertainment.” 

So  why  is  busiriess  so  bad  and 
why  are  so  many  pressagents  being 
fired? 


member,”  he  replies.  “About  Waterloo?1 
something  for  the.  British  to  remember/ 

He  had  his  own.  notions^  of  film  acting.  “On  the 
screen  the  actor  before  doesn’t  act.  He  has  acted. 
So  the  camera  must  act  for  him.” 

In  1926  the  enterprising  A1  Woods  persuaded  GuL 
try  to;  undertake  an  American  tour  with  his  actress- 
wife,  Yvonne  Printemps.  No  salary  was  mentioned 


of  °Sacha 'Guitry/ who°/aa 

to  the  very  ond  an  Inspired  ina/of  803 


P&G  Vidbliirb  Pact 

Music  Makers  Inc.,  has  been  con¬ 
tracted  .to  create  the  music  for 
four  television  commercials  for  the 
Procter  &  Gamble  product  Dreft. 

The  cominercials  will  be  super-- 
vised  by  Arnold  Brown  of  Dancer- 
Fitzgerald-Sample. 


63 


Fifty-second  P^BSIETY  Anniversary 


><y< ' 


md  % 


W 


z<3 


Integrated  for  Performance:  TECHNIRAMA  and  TECHNICOLOR 


Now  a  new  dimension  Is  added  to  the  magic  of  COLOR  BY 
TECHNICOLOR.  It  Is  TECHNIRAMA— the  Technicolor  single  camera, 
large  screen  photography  system*  This  triumphant  combination 
signals  a  new  era  in  motion  picture  entertainment 


TECHNICOLOR  CORPORATION  •  Herbert  T.  KaUrnis,  President  and  General  Manager  *  Technirama  and  Technicolor  are  registered  trademarks 


im 


& 


*  PRODUCTIONS  * 

SPAIN'S  LEADING  PRODUCER 

BARQUILLO,  10  •  MADRID,  SPAIN 


*  * ** **** ******* *  *  *  *  **** ********************************* ** *  *  *  *  * 


RELEASED  IN  1957 


SusanandMe 


ABBE  LANE  •  XAVIER  CUGAT 


kx-px^vj, j 


tgSu 


Desert  Lovers" 


j[gf  1  RICARDO  MONTALBAN  •  CARMEN  SEVILLA 

■  *  *  *  *  ★★11  *★★*  *★*  ★★★★*★★★★*★*★★★*★★★★★★★***★★★  *  ★  *  *  *★★* 


IN  PRODUCTION 


OLETS 


w“h  SARITA  MONTIEL 
RAF  VALLONE 


BREAD,  LOVE  and  ANDALUCIA 


VITTORIO  DESICA  •  CARMEN  SEVILLA 


January  8, 1858 


Tifty-tecond  Anniversary 


Sarita  Montiel 


EUROPE’S  No.  1 


Screen  Star 


SINGING  and  DRAMATIC 


IN  EUROPE  AND  LATIN  AMERICA 

UNPRECEDENTED  PERSONAL  TRIUMPH 


“THE  LAST 


(EL  ULTIMO  CUPLE) 


January  8, 1958  Fifty -second  Anniversary  67 

(MOL  RECORDS 

America’s  leading  producer  of  Soundtrack  Albums 

among  them:  1955:  OKLAHOMA!  1956:  KING  AND  I  CAROUSEL  •  GIANT  • 
HIGH  SOCIETY.  1957:  PRIDE  AND  THE  PASSION  •  PAL  JOEY 


N0V...HRST  III  ’St! 

THE 

SOUNDTRACK 

OF  ANOTHER 


all  Capitol  Soundtrack  Albums  are . .  .  Custom-Engineered  for  the 

Finest  in  Hi-Fi  Sound  •  Handsomely  Packaged  to  Spotlight  both  Album  and  Film 
Backed  by  the  Strongest  Promotional  Campaigns  in  the  Industry 


in  the  next  issue:  Capitol's  second  big  soundtrack  for  ’58! 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second  f^SlilETY  Anniversary 


PRESIDENT 

'Tktmrn 

Via  Sommacampagna  28,  Rome 

MARIO  LANZA 

IN 

SEVEN  HILLS  OF  ROME 

Produced  in  1957 

co-siamng  RENATO  RASCEL-  MARiSA  ALLASIO 

with  PEGGIE  CASTLE  •  Screen  Play  by  ART  COHN  and  GIORGIO  PROSPER!  •  Based  on  a 
Story  by  GIUSEPPE  AMATO  •  Filmed  in  Technirama®  •  A  Product  of  Technicolor  •  Produced 
by  LESTER  WELCH  •  Directed  by  Roy  ROWLAND 

POOR  BUT  HANDSOME  POOR  GIRL/PRETTY  GIRL 
GRANDMA  SABELLA  LAZZARELLA 

RIGHT  SHOULDER  ARMS!  LA  BELLE  JARDINIERE 


Now  in  Preparation  for  Shooting  in  March  1958  . . , 

The  legendary  Jove  story  of  Spain's  greatest  painter,  and  Mari 
Teresa  Cayetana,  Thirteenth  Duchess  of  Alba 

Starring 

AVA  GARDNER  and  ANTHONY  FRANCIOSA 


Fifty-second  trfjf&FETY'  ■  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


My  Best  Wishes 
To  PtouMn 


IN  PREPARATION 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second  J^SRlETY  Anniversary 


71 


fifty-second  f'fifilEjrY  'dnrdvertary 


January  8,1958 


Itee  A  - 


MAKING  RECORDS  (Music,  That  Is)  AND 
BREAKING  RECORDS  *  (At  Theatre  Bex  Offices) 
IS  A  REGULAR  HABIT  OF  OURS- YOU  CAN 
SHARE  IN  THIS  HAPPY  SUCCESS  FORMULA 
IF  YOU  ARE  IN  THE  MUSIC  BUSINESS  OR 
THE  MOVIE  BUSINESS 


‘CURRENT  EXAMPLE:  'Old  Yeller' album  WDL3024LP 
And  the  singles  F65  and  DBR76  are  being  given 
national  promotion  and  exppsore  through  the 
tremendous  box  office  results  of  Walt  Disney's 
latest  theatrical  release  'Old  Yeller'  now 
playing  in  key  cities  throughout  the  country. 


73 


Fifty-tecond  Anviversaty 


DWO  DE  UUREIU  IS 
CINEMATOGRAFKA 


StUpiO  FAVAlU 


Fifty-second  f^fifSIETY  Anniversary 


January  8,1958 


Congratulations 

William 

PERLBERG  and 

George 

SEATON 

Soon  to  Be  Released 

"TEACHERS  PET” 

January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second  t^SRIETY  'Anniversary 


75 


SAMUEL  C.  ENGEL 


20th  CENTURY-FOX 


77 


January  8, 1958 


Fijty-second  P^RIETY  Anniversary 


present 


“THE  PROUD  REBEL” 

co-starring 

DEAN  JAGCER 


introducing 

DAVID  LADD 


DIRECTED  BY  MICHAEL  CURTIZ 


Fifty-second  p^^RlS¥Y  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


ARTHUR  FREED  PRODUCTIONS,  INC 


For  Release  in  1958 


ALAN  JAY  LERNER'S  AND  FREDERICK  LOEWE'S 

First  Score  Since 

"MY  FAIR  LADY" 


January  8, 1958 


19 


f ifly-second  Anniversary* 

CONGRATULATIONS  ffiR/0Y 

****** 

Ready  Soon 

ATTILA 

(THE  HUN) 

starring 

ANTHONY  QUINN 


Produced  by 

PONTI-DE  LAURENTIIS 

COLOR  BY  TECHNICOLOR 


Presented  by 

JOE  LEVINE 

20  Winchester  St. 
Boston,  Mass. 


Fifty-second  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


Congratulations  P^RIETY 


JOHNNY  GREEN 


ASCAP 


"RAINTREE  COUNTY" 

MGM— Original  Scorn 
RCA  Victor  Records 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-tecond  PSrIJEjTY’  Anniversary 


S3 


batjac  Productions 


In  Preparation  for  1958 

THE  ALAMO 


99 


STARRING 


JOHN  WAYNE 

AND 

a  great  All-star  cast 

IN  THE  BIGGEST,  HIGHEST-BUDGETED  OUTDOOR  EPIC  EVER  PRODUCED 


in  Preparation  for  1958 

"ESCORT  WEST” 

STARRING 

VICTOR  MATURE 


Ready  for  Retease  in  1958 

"CHINA  DOLL” 


STARRING 


VICTOR  MATURE 
LILI  III  A 

AND 

Bob  Mathias 

PRODUCED  AND  DIRECTED  BY 

FRANK  BORZAGE 


BATJAC 


Productions  Are 
Released  Through 


UNITED  ARTISTS 


Fifty-second  J/^OrjJSTY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


RADIO  CITY 

Showplace  of  the  Nation 


MUSIC  HALL 


Rockefeller  Center,  N.  Y,, 


institution  known  throughout  the  world  for  its  presentation  of  outstanding  motion  pictures 
and  stage  shows  notable  for  their  good  taste,  beauty  and  perfection  of  execution. 


Congratulations ! 

CLAUDE  BINYON 


January  8, 1958 


Kflyiecond  Anniversary 


ecbt-Hill-Lancaster 

Current  “RUN  SILENT,  RUN  DEEP”  produced  by  Harold  Hecht,  directed  by  Robert  Wise, 
screenplay  by  John  Gay.  “SEPARATE  TARLES”  produced  by  Harold  Hecht, 
directed  by  Delbert  Mann,  from  play  by  Terrence  Rattigan  FOR  RELEASE  THRU  UA. 
properties  in  preparation:  THE  UNFORGIVEN  *  THE  SUMMER  OF  THE  17th  DOLL 
TAKE  A  GIANT  STEP  '  RABBIT  TRAP '  CRY  TOUGH '  THE  HITCHHIKER  *  THE  TALL  DARK  MAN 
FIRST  LOVE  *  THE  CATBIRD  SEAT  THE  DREAMERS  '  COLONEL  REDL 


Fifty-second  f^SfelETY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


Season  ’s  Greetings 

to  You  and  All  My  Friends  .  .  .  and  Many 
Thanks  to  Many  Wonderf  ul  People  . . 

JOHN  BEAL 

Current  Film  Release 

“THAT  NIGHT” 

(Galahad  --  RKO  --  Universal) 


"John  Beal  stars  in  taut  produc¬ 
tion  •  .  .  constantly  gripping  and 
absorbing  .  .  .  Beal  gives  a  shat¬ 
tering  performance  as  the  hero." 
BOSLEY  CROWTHER,  New  York  Times 

"In  the  key  role  John  Beal  gives 
one  of  the  most  extrao rdinari ly 
effective  performances  of  the  year 
as  the  man  who  is  stricken  and 
lives  through  a  heart  attack." 

JESSE  ZUNSER,  Cue 

"John  Beal's  portrayal  of  the 
man's  moment  of  truth  is  superb." 

PARENTS  MAGAZINE 


"Magnificent" 

Joe  Pihodna,  New  York  Herald  Tribune. 

"Remarkable- 

Kate  Cameron,,  New  York  Daily  News. 

"Eloquent" 

Alton  Cook,  New  York  World  Telegram  and  Sun. 

"Great" 

Film  Daily.' 


'Grimly  Accurate  and  Arresting" 

Rose  Pelswick,  New  York  Journal  American. 

'Noteworthy... will  rate  important  attention' 

Variety. 

'Excellent. .  .keenly  sensitive" 

C.  S.  Aaronson,  Motion  Picture  Herald. 

'Superb . . .  Moving" 

Film  Bulleti 


"John  Beal  has  always  been  an  interesting  and  intelligent  actor.  His  performance  in  'That  Night'  is  an  uriforgetable  one." 

John  Springer,  Films  in  Review. 

Last  New  York  Television:  Last  on  Broadway: 

U.S.  STEEL  HOUR  (December  18,  1957)  "THE  TEAHOUSE  OF  THE  AUGUST  MOON"  ('55 '56) 


- — - WEST  COAST  - - - < - 

ROBERT  lONGENECKER  AGENCY 

8428  Melrose  Place 
Los  Angeles  46,  Calif. 


EAST  COAST - 


WNHC-TV 

New  Haven,  Conn. 


New  York 

Telephone  Exchange 
LEx.  2-1100 


Holiday  Greetings  From 

Benjamin  Sack 

President 

BOSTON'S  MOST  LUXURIOUS  THEATRES 


SAXON— N.E.'s  First  Todd-AO 

“AROUND  THE  WORLD  IN  80  DAYS” 

NOW— 37th  Week 


GARY— Todd-AO  and  Everything  Else 

“THE  BRIDGE  ON  THE  RIVER  KWAI” 

Holiday  American.  Premiere . 


BEACON  HILL— Boston's  Finest  Art  Home 

WALT  DISNEY’S  “OLD  YELLER” 

Holiday  World  Premiere 


Also  the  Only  Two  First  Run  Theatres 

IN  FITCHBURG,  MASS. 


SAMUEL  RICHMOND.  General  Manager 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second  P^SSlETY  Anniversary 


87 


WILLIAM  GOETZ 


WARNER  BROS. 


In  production: 

“Me  And  The  Colonel” 

COLUMBIA 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-iecpnd  J^SfclSZTY  ^hireriary 


Fifty  "Second  Anniversary 


January  $,1958 


ii  i  jj  u 


(>  O  O  O  O  O  O  OOO  OOP  Q  O  Q  O  Q  Q  Q 


More  Parochial  Schools  Called  Factor 
In  Punitive  Action  Versus  Theatres 


Troy,  N.  Y. 

A  seldom-mentioned  factor  in 
discussions  on  the  impact  of  ef¬ 
fectiveness  of  Legion  of  Decency 
ratings  is  the  steady  increase  in 
the  number  of  Catholic  schools. 
This  development,  along  with  an 
oyer-all .  improvement  in  the  in¬ 
structional  criteria  of  such  schools, 
is  believed  in  Catholic  circles  to  be 
of  considerable  significance,  pic¬ 
ture-wise.  It  Is  thought,  for  in¬ 
stance,  to  be  one  of  the  reasons 
the  six-month  bah  whieh  Albany’s 
Bishop  William  A;  .Scully,  placed 
on  the  Stanley  Warner  Strand  in 
Albany  and  the  same  circuit’s  Troy 
in  Troy,  a  year  ago,  for-  playing 
Warners’  “Baby  Doll,”  had  such  an 
adverse  effect  on  the  grosses  at 
both  first-runs. 

Young  children  and  teenagers 
attending  Catholic  schools  in 
those  cities  and  surrounding  sub¬ 
urbs  refrained,  in  large  numbers, 
from  patronizing  either  house. 
Some  of  the  youngsters  are  said 
not  yet  to  have  resumed  attend¬ 
ing  the  Strand  and  the  Troy,  reg¬ 
ularly.  The  same  is  held  to  be 
true  of  many  adults.  Peculiarly, 
Fabian’s  Palace,  in  Albany,  did  not 
seem  to.  have  registered  the  an¬ 
ticipated  gain  in  attendance  from 
the.  ban  on  the  Strand,  despite 


the  fact  it  is  only  two  short 
blocks  away  and  is  a  newer  theatre. 

Not  only  were'  the  Strand  and 
the  Troy  hard,  hit  by  the  directive 
of  Bishop  Scully,  but  also,  though 
not  to  such  a  great  extent,  was 
Fabian’s  Plaza  in  nearby  Schenec¬ 
tady  —  which  exhibited  “Baby 
Doll.” 

A  number  o£  ^new  Catholic 
schools  have  been  built,  and  others 
have  been  started,  in  the  Albany 


area  since  Bishop  Scully,  one-time 
superintendent  of  Catholic  schools 
in  the  New  YorJc  archdiocese,  be¬ 
came  Ordinary. 

BALTIMORE 

Jack  Fruchtman,  owner ;  of  Cen¬ 
tury  and  New  Theatres,  now  owns 
Mayfair,  former  action  house. 

Patti  Page  cited  as  “outstanding 
television  personality  of.  1957”  by 
Advertising  Club  of  Baltimore  and 
will  be  honored  at  club's  annual, 
banquet  Feb.  15. 

“South  Pacific”  set  for  New  The¬ 
atre,  when  released  and  Film  Cen¬ 
tre,  present  Todd  A-O  equipped 
house,  gets  “Raintree  County” 
when  “Around  World  in.  80  Days’* 
closes. 


Don’t  get 
I  behind  the 
■  “8-ball” 
on  your 


LOUIS  W.  RICHMOND 
Kenmore  Theatre 
Boston,  Mass. 


INCOME  TAX! 

STOP  and  think.  Is  it  worth  the 

striiggla  with  your  tax  return  **Vln 

when  we.  handle  it  quickly  at  FEDERAL 

low  cost.  The  TAX  SAVINGS  we  4  STATE 

discover  often  pays  many  ti  RETURNS  ■ 

the  fee.  Be  SMART.  This  year 

try  the  BLOCK  wayl  W.  serve  Standard  deduction ^  gf 
prepared  end  mailed 

you*  neighbor,  only 


BOTH 
FEDERAL 
4  STATE 
RETURNS 


Standard  deduction 
prepared  and  mailed 
only 


NATION'S  LARGEST  TAX  SERVICE 


BROOKLYN 

480  LEXINGTON  AVE. 

Lobby  Floor  (Bo».  46.47th  Sts.) 

206™  BROADWAY 

1  Flight  Up  (Near  72nd  St.) 

226  LIVINGSTON  STREET 
(1  Flight  Up| 

2014  CHURCH  "AVENUE 

1  Flight  Up  (at  Church  Ave.) 

BRONX 

JAMAICA 

1 20  EAST  FORDHAM  ROAD 

1  Flight  Up  (at  Crcston  Ave.) 

1 60-08  JAMAICA  AVENUE 
(Room  202) 

Open  Weekdays,  9:00  A.M.  to  9:00  P.M. 

Sat.,  9:00  A.M.  to  5  P.M. 

Telephone:  PLaza  5-7045 

No  Appointment  Necessary 

January  8, 1958  Fifty-second  US&fP)ffF  Amdvenary  _ BAPIO-TELEVISlOJf  W 


j\  stew  uompounaea 
and  Contradictions 


Some  Long-Established  Premises  Tossed  Out  the  Window  Leaving  Video’s  Entrepreneurs 
A  Little  More  Bewildered  and  Not  So  Sure  Anybody’s  Got  the  Answers 


|  ‘Operation  Plugerooni’ ! 

By  JOEY  XDAMS 

The  free  plug  racket  will  shortly  eclipse  sponsored 
commercials.  Momentarily  I  expect  Bert  and  Harry  to 
guest  on  Ed  Sullivan’s  show— he’s  had  everyone  else— 
and  do  the  Piels  spiel. 

Myriad  little  unseen  gnomes  slave  away  jn  ad  agencies. 
These  nameless,  faceless,  bodiless,  gnomes  are  fruitless 
promotion  ideas  clad  in  Brooks  Bros.-type  thoughts.  They 
abound  in  the  consciousness  of  the  Madison  Avenue  Pub¬ 
lic  Relations  Expert  who,  when  he  worked  on  Seventh 
Avenue^-when  he  worked— was  called  ‘‘Hey  You!”  Oc¬ 
casionally,  immediately  preceding  getting  canned  or 
immediately  succeeding  getting  stewed.  Our  Hero  has 
cudgeled  his  and/or  his  secretary’s  brai  roused  the 
gnomes  and  spawned  a  gem  like  “Operation  Plugerooni.” 

Free-pluggers  dog  every  production  and  every  per¬ 
former,  They  know  what  you’re  inked  for  before  your 
managers  have  penciled  you  in.  Like  the  medico’s  tell¬ 
tale  satchel  they  are  easily  identifiable  by  symbols  of  their 
trade:  A  TV  Guide,  a  telephone  directory  and  a  Class  A 
nervous  tic! 

Recently  we  appeared  on  Ed  Murrow’s  “Persbn  to 
Person.”  Weeks  before  I  knew  we  were  even  okayed  for 
the  Joe  Franklin  show,  the  calls  began:  “—off  the  top 
of  my  head— kick  it  around  awhile— and  I’ll  lay  it  out, 
you  jump  at  it.”  “Plug  ’Shleppo’  for  $1,500-  and  a  30- 
inch,  console  model,  RCA  color  tv.  set.” 

“No,”  I  said  as  .  Cindy  rearranged  furniture  in  prepara¬ 
tion  for  the.  set..  “Plugs  are  unprofessional  and  cheapen¬ 
ing  and,  besides,  who's  Shleppo?  The  fifth  Marx  Brother?” 

Cindy  rapidly  parsed  “Shleppo”  as  a  word  game.  The 
voice  continued,  “If  you  don’t  mention  it  but  you  play  it 
that’s  1,000  bucks  and  a  24-inch,  table  model,  black  and 
white  Muntz  tv  set,”' 

“Not  interested,  It’s  illegal,”  I .  said,  switching  off. 
“Racket  Squad/’  s 

“What’s  illegal,”  the  voice  blared.  “We  have  hundreds 
of  employees,  we  send  thousands  of  gifts,  we  pay.  millions 
of  dollars,  we  ...  ” 

I  waited  while  the  operator  collected  5c  for  the  next, 
three  minutes.  Then,  “I  won’t  mention  it  or  play  it,’;’  I 
says.  '  r'  , 

“So  don’t  mention,  it  or  play  it,”  he  says.  “Show  it. 
There’s  500  clams  in  it  and  a  portable  Schmiederlieder  tv: 
set.” 

“Suppose  I  just  rnail  an  anonymous  note  about  it  to  riiy 
mother-in-law?  What  then? 

]  The  Password  Is  ‘AFTRA’  ;  T 

.  “Then  we’ll  mail  you  a  fin  and  remove  your  old  set,”  he 
said. 

There’s  an  organized  underground  in  Black  Market 
plugeteering.  They  skulk  around  -like  atom  spies-4-hur- 
ried  phone  calls,  cryptic  notes  arid  dead  account  execu¬ 
tives  floating  in  rivers  of  red  tape:.  Payoffs  are  made 
stealthily,  at  midnight,  from  a  secret  subway,  gummachine 
after  you  punch  “Tuttifruitti”  twice  . and  whisper  the  pass¬ 
word,  “AFTRA.” 

They  have  a  code.  For  local  radio  the  booty,  is  com¬ 
mensurate.  For  national. /hookups  the  ante  is  upped  pro¬ 
portionately  and  so  on  until  you  hit  television.  Everybody 
in  tv’s  tapped.  If  you. just  repair  sets  some  neighborhood 
merchant  will  con  you  into  scribbling  his  name,  across  the . 
dust  on  the  screen;  On  network  tv  you’re .  rated  scien¬ 
tifically  a  la  Dun  &  Bradstreet,  Goodson  &  Todman,  and 
the  rest  of  those  organizations.  They  check  Trendex  time 
slot,  opposition,  your  in-laws,  ybiir  *  'ife  and  yoiir  girl¬ 
friend.  They  shove  their  findings  in.  a  parimutuel  ma¬ 
chine,  ibet  it  for  place  and  out  comes  your  price. 

Someone  hyped  me  to  drop  the  name  Edsel  on  a  pro¬ 
gram.  “No  epckomaimie  production.  Just  in  conversation 
include  the  name  Edsel:”  I  ask  you  how  often  does  Edsel 
come  up  in  conversation?  Maybe  if  Ford  christens  his 
next  son  Irving  instead  of  Edsel  we’ll  do  business  ...  .  . 

Another  time  I  did  a  European  routine.  My  Eiffel 
Tower  line  was  “Looks  like  an  Erector  set  that  made 
good.”  Net  day  the  Erector  set  company’s  Idea  Man, 
who  never  entertained  any.  ideas  except  hew  to  live 
beyond  his  means,  was  elevated  to  Vice  President.  His 
first  official  act  after  discovering  why  he  was  prompted 
was  to  ship  me  eight  million  dozen  Erector  sets.  Me,  I 
need  a  blueprint  to  maneuver  dental  floss.  Look  who 
they’re  Sending  Erector  sets!  Cindy  mulled  over  my  un¬ 
precedented  gift,  pondered  by  unpremeditated  plug  and. 
promptly  erected  a  scaffold.  With  her  share  of  the.  sets. 
“Why,”  she  shrieked,  building  a  noose,  ‘‘Couldn’t  you. have 
mouthed  Van  Cleef  &  Arpels?” 

With  Ed  Murrow  I  had  so  many  of  my  own  products  tp 
mention  I  didn’t  know  what  to  plugi  The  new  “Cindy 
Doll”  modelled  after  my  Cindy -  and  which  is  available  in  . 
the  stores  I  mentioned— but  the  manufacturer  didn’t 
catch  the  show.  Our  book,  “Cindy  and  I,”  which  is  in 
its  fifth  printing,  I  mentioned— but  the  publisher  didn’t 
catch  the  show.  The  as  yet  unreleased  song*  “Cindy  and 
I*”  just,  recorded  by  Alan  Dale,  I  forgpt  to  mention— and 
Alan  caught  the  show!! 

Sooo,  if  anyone  knows  when  I  get  a  whole  riev?  set  of 
friends  in  exchange  for  eight  million  dozen  Erector  sets, 
please  contact  me  care  of  Batten,  Batten,  Durstine 
Schwartz. 


By  GEORGE  ROSEN 

Television  at  year’s  end  was  a  mass  of  confusion  and 
contradictions.  To  the  guy  who  thought  he  had  all  the 
answers  tied  up  neatly  in  a  pink  ribbon,  it  seemed  that 
all  the  accepted  rules  had  gone  Out  the  window.  There 
were  new  lessons  to:  be  learned,*:  long  established,  premises 
to  be  discarded, 

It’s  always  been  axiomatic  in  show  business  that,  first, 
last  and  always,  the  ultimate  yardstick  to  triumph  is  talent. 
But  as  television  moves  into  ’58,  no  such  certainty  exists. 
There  are  too  many  Other  elements  that  enter  into  the 
picture  over  and  above  getting  the  show  on  the  air.  The 
set,  pat  rules  no  longer  apply.  New  values  have  come  into, 
the  business— values  that  frequently  can  make  the  differ¬ 
ence  between  a  good  rating  payoff  and  a  fair  or  poor  One, 
regardless  of  program  .content  or  merit.  For  perhaps  the 
first  time,  the  impact  of  both  ori-the-air  and  off-the-air 
promotion;  exploitation  hypos ;  borrowed  (and  improved 
upon)  from  the  motion  picture  business,  have  made  them¬ 
selves  felt  with  telling  impact.  Shows  of  mediocre  calibre 
(unfortunately  even  shows  not  worth  the  precious  air  tune 
consumed)  have  benefited  from  such  assists. 

And  so,  to  the  dismay  .(or  erilightment)  of  many,  the 
’57-’58  season  is  proving  that  the  strangest  things,  can 
happen  to  the  strangest  people  and  the  strangest  shows, 
upsetting  all  the  advance  dope  and  preconceived  notions 
of  what’s  right  and.  what’s  wrong  for  television.  ... 

A  Las  VegasHjrigination  spectacular; Jow  in  vitamin  or 
protein  content  and  brought  in  for  a.  paltry  (by  todays 
tv  standards  $125,000,  .comes  within  a  point  or  two  of 
matching  a  $1,000,000  star-studded  General  Motors  spec¬ 
tacular  rich  and  rewarding  in  entertainment  content.  What’s 
the  answer?  A  belowTpar  Bob  Hope  show  slotted  after 
9  p.m.  of  a  Sabbath  evening  registers  with  a  smashing 
33.0  Trendex  and,  a  few  weeks  later,  a  considerably  more 
rewarding  Hope  hour,  advanced  to  a  7  p.ni.  Sunday  show¬ 
casing  is  practically  annihilated  (in  terms  of  cost-per- 
prOgram  for  Hope  entries)  reaffirming,  if  anything,  that 
your  slot,  hub,  is  just  as  important  as  your  show. 

T. .  .  ,V  •  Todd  Vs.  God  ] 

Contradictions?  A  new  low  in- poor,  programming  taste— 
not  to  mention  boredom— as  exemplified  by  the  Mike  Todd 
anni  hoopla  for  “Around  the  World  In  80  Days”  (so  poor, 
in  fact,  that  CBS  would  prefer  to  have  it  stricken  off  the 
records)  smothers  the.  Competition  with  one  of  the 
semester’s  top.  ratings.  The  competition  happened  to  be 
one  of  the  more  tasteful  and  engaging  shows  of  the  year — 
Hallmark’s  tversion  of  “Green  Pastures.”  So  go  figure  it! 

Contradictions?  :Next-  year’s .  comeback  hero  it  seems 
likely  at  this  moment,  may  well  be  a  Milton  ..Berle,  who 
long  since,  relinquished  his  “Mr;  Television”  robes.  And  if, 
as.  also  seeiris  possible,  the  future  spells  oiit  a  whole  new 
tv  career  for  Red  Buttons  another  of  the  “had,  it”  fratern¬ 
ity  but  “rediscovered”  by  Virtue  of  his  “Sayonara”  film 
click,  it,  too,  simply  reaffirms  -the  growing  conviction  that 
no  one  can  any  longer  adhere  to  basic  concepts  arid 
regimented  thinkj  rig.  In  retrospect,  based  ori  what’s  been, 
happening  since,  the  “daddy”  of  the  specs,  Max  Liebman, 
could  well  be  next  season’s  impresario-in-demand.  Who  is 
there  to  say  no? 

The  low-budgeted  half-hour  network  entry  lacking  any 
particular  distinction  can— and  does— -trim  the  pants  off  a 
$300*000  “special”  entry..  For  no  sane  reason-  a  “Thin 
Mari,”  adjudged  a  lowercase  variation  on  an  old  familiar 
theatrical  theme,  makes  a  more  qualitative;  opposition 
entry  green  with  envy  on  the  Trendex-Nielsen  charts.  Why 
and  how?  A  whole  batch  of  westerns  preem  on  the -three 
rietwprks,  all  pretty  much  grooved  to  the  same  pattern, 
give  or  take  a  soinbrerq  or  two  in  quality,  arid  all  (with 
perhaps  the  lone  exception  of  “Gunsmoke”)  facing  formid¬ 
able,  competition:.  Yet,  like  rolling  out  the  dice,  some  make 
it,  sonie  don’t.  Why?  A  Patrice  Munsel  show  bows:  a  neat 
trim,  showmanly  package  with  no  particular  blockbuster  as 
competition,  yet  fails  to  go  anywhere.  Why?  Has  the 
viewer,  with  taste  and  discrimination  abaridoned  his  set? 
It’s :  hardly  likely,  so.  where .  does  orie  go  for  pn  answer? 

Contradictions?  It’s  hardly  a  secret  that  ’57-’58  has  beeft 
a  season  totally  bereft  of  new.  program  ideas  or  concepts. 
Yet  sets-in-usC  figures  have  shown  a  marked  upgrading 
oyer  last  season,  a  situation  stemming  partially  froin  a 
more  solid  three-network  competition.  Yet  how  does  one 
reconcile  the  marked  increase  in  total  U.S.  yiewershipf 
with. the  label  of  mediocrity  pinned  ori  the.  season’s  wares? 
Up  and  down  the  spectrum,  it’s  been,  a  case  of.  aping  and 
copying— musicals :  trying  desperately  but  in  vain  to 
establish  the  Perry  Como  or  Dinah  Shore  tempo;  westerns 
triggered  to  the  “Gunsmoke”  touch.  (Yet  in  all  fairness  it 
must  be  conceded  that,  by  arid  large,  the  westerns  thus 
far  are  managing  to  defy  the  imitative  stigma  and,,  for 
that  matter,  have  been  one  of  the  major  contributing 
factors  in  the ;  onward-and-upward  ascent  of  NBC  under 
the  revitalized  Bob  Sarnoff  command  in  ’57  into  a  position  : 
of  near-parity  with  CBS. 

Confusion?  Ask  any  agency,  any  network.  Some  years 
back,  in  a  situation  borne  of  economics,  the  agencies  re¬ 
linquished  program  control  to  the  networks..  The  networks 
in  turn  (though  CBS  in  some  areas  is  an  exception)  have 
since  abandoned  it  to  outside  packagers  (Henry  Jaffe, 
MCA-Revue,  David  Susskind,  et  all.  So  what  happens?  An 
NBC-paekaged-and-controlled  General  Motors  Show,  en¬ 
trusted  to  a  “house”  creator.  Jess  Oppenheimer,  translates 
itself  into  one  of  the  sea  son’s  most  refreshing  revelations 
arid  topflight  show  biz  ventures;  ditto  the  CBS-nursed 
Edsel  show  with  Frank  Sinatra  and  Bing  Crosby,  an 
equally  enticing  and  triumphant  jubilee.  A  whole  flock  of 
(Continued  on  page  96) 


TOO  MANY  CENSORS, 
NOT  ENOUGH  SENSE 

By  STOCKTON  HELFFRICH 

(Director,  NBC  Continuity  Acceptance) 

Maybe  subliminal  perception  in  the  year  to  come  will 
Close  the  ranks  of  the  popcorn  set.  My  wife’s  a  longtime 
popcorn  devotee;  Likewise,  I’ve  just  been  told,  my  sec¬ 
retary.;  They’re  not  alone.  And  there  will  be  converts. 

Some  will  hot  be  swayed.  I,  for  one.  I  just  don’t  like 
popcorn.  Infinitesimal  flashes  aimed  at  my  subconscious 
are  not— not  ever — getting  me  to  chew  it  nor  to  sub* 
ject  my  gums’  tactile  capacities  to  its  exceptionally  dis¬ 
appointing  quality. 

Salted  cashews  are  something,  else  again.  Flash  that 
nut-meat  once,  or  often,  ray  way— soft-sell  or  pitch— I’m 
sold.  Hidden  or  open,  persuasion’s  easy  for  whom  it  holds 
a  truth.  Experience  serves  as  substantiation  for  any  claims 
made;  a  reminder  does .  the  rest. 

Now  you  are.  smarter,  than  I  am,  so  you  can  see  where 
I’in  heading.  Acceptability  of  things  is  mostly  a  matter 
of  degree.  That’s  true  of  censorship  in  general.  No  one 
from  an  ACLU  spokesman  to  one  for  the  Vatican— and 
that  is  cutting  a  swathe!— nixes  or  blesses  censorship  in 
toto.  Some  want  jess  of  it,  some  want  more,  but  nobody 
wants  just  none. 

Know,  why  we  “arbiters  of  taste”  are  only  moderately 
nervous  with  the  spot  we’re  in?  Because  that  spot  is  so 
irretrievably  in  the  middle.  The  pressures  are  so  many, 
so  convergent,  so  coiripletely  diametric  each  tp  the 
other,  it’s  pointless  to  defer  too  much  to  any  set  of  them. 

Give  a  waitress  gum  arid  slang,  and  it’s  white-collar 
condescension.  Just  one  dumb  pharmacist —  it's  a  slander 
of  all,,.  Insulin  experimentation  on  a  laboratory  pooch— 
anti-yivisectionists  are  alarmed.  Let  your  weather  gal 
quip  she’s,  dressing-up  last  year’s  bonnet  with  a  new 
flower— the .  hat  industry’s  screaming.  “Sing  Hallelujah, 
Coine  :on  get  happy”  arid  you  better  smile— Evangelicals 
find  you  insensitive  and  intolerant.  Couple  Friar  Tuck 
with  brown  October  ale,  and  an  Episcopalian  is  outraged. 

Nobody’s  all  wrong,  and  as  Usual  it’s  easier  to  be  Critical 
than  it  is :  to  be  correct.  As  mentioned  our  last  entry 
here;  we  edit  what  comes  our  way  with  a  point  of  view. 

.  in  step  with  the  times  and  with  the  courage  of  our  own 
convictions. 

Scissor  racial  stereotypes?  Of  course.  Chuck  Smut?  As 
always!  Censor  excess  violence?.  Definitely!  Callousness 
towards  the  ills  of  flesh  and  riaind?  Censored!  Out!  Out, 
indeed,  superstition  and  ignorance  in  general  when  it 
comes  our  way.  That’s  “editorial  responsibility.”  That’s 
“good”- censorship.  . 

But  what  about  the  challenging  new  ideas,  the  ground¬ 
breaking  art,  the  calculated  risks  taken  not  just  to  be 
different  but  in  refusal  to  be  the  same?  What  about 
those  growri-up  cpiitributions  whose  very  honesty  is  their 
defense  against  censorship?  Where  is  the  longhair  fare 
so  many  assume,  we  jJrafessional  censors  censor?  And 
where  is  the  audience  support  for  it? 

Where  indeed?  In  tbrpompOsition  of  most  of  the  script 
arid  film  traffic  we  see,^we’re  being  beaten  to  the  punch. 
This  past  year’s  broadcast  entries  indicate  more  inhibi¬ 
tions  extant  elsewhere'  in  the  trade  and  in  our  land  than 
with  us  network  editors.  Too’  many  censors,  real  and 
imagined,  are  watering  the  stock. 

As  Chet  Huntley  says  of  the  atmosphere  surrounding 
political  news:,  it  has  been  bland.  Looks  to  us  as  though 
that  blandness  spread  to  other  fields.  Caution  put  its 
stamp  on  things  long  before  they  reached  us.  Our  blue 
pencils  haven’t  needed  much  sharperiing;  we’ve  been’ 
busier  resisting  narrow  censorship  than  we’ll  ever  be 
practicing  it!  When  conformity  aiined  its  blow,  Madison 
!  Avenue  tpok  it  on  the  chin  more  than,  we  did.  Sponsors 
.played  it  safe;  the  public — mostly— felt  cozier  thataway. 

.  Granted  much  blandness,  granted  a  public  overall  con¬ 
formist  in  taste,  granted  pressures  on  us  censors  to  censor 
more,  how  come  so  many  ears  are  pricked  to  the  siren 
call  to  rebellion? 

From  New  Year’s  Day  to  date,  the  professional  critics, 
avant  .  garde  in  tone,  straight  or  subliminally,  have  ham¬ 
mered  away 

Live  It  Up 
Controvert 
Rebel 

arid  those  who  did  prospered.  Despite  the  mail  which 
needled  us  for  it,  gobel  and  coriio,  e  e  cummings-style, 
symbolically  pursued  their  rebellion  via  credits  in  lower 
case.  TV  drama  at.  its  best  was  an  art  form  critical 
of  life  and  maturely  included  the  ugly.  The  pitchman 
pitch,  rousing  a  challenging  adversary  in  something  called 
the  “soft  sell,”  inspired  even  Carl  Sandburg  to  see  a 
Silver  lining  in  the  clouds.  Ed  Murrow  took  pause,  al¬ 
lowed  as  how  maybe  the  time  is  now  to  define  tv’s  place 
in/  our  culture.  Dave  Garroway  risked  editorializing.  And 
John  Crosby  put  a  label  ori  it  all  in  his  Plea  for  Ir¬ 
reverence. 

There  has  been  more  pressure  than  sense.  When  in¬ 
hibition  spread,  so  did  blandness.  Our  poets  and  our 
thinkers  suggest  it  ain’t  necessaritly  so.  They  say  non¬ 
conformity  is  desirable,  change  is  O.K. 

Censor-wise,  we’re  ready.  There’s  gratification  in  pas¬ 
sing,  and  then  defending  having  done  so,  a  brave  fine 
dissent  As  a  professional  censor  I  would  favor  some  .-de¬ 
cent  and  honest  rebellion  for  1958. 


92 


Fifty-second  I^&RII&TY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


RADIO-TELE  VISION 


By  MILT  JOSEFSBERG 


Hollywood. 

During  my  recent  tenure  at  one  of  the  better  known  networks,  one 
of  my  duties  was  to  pass  judgment  on  comedy  scripts  submitted,  for 
suggested  series..  To  prevent  lawsuits  or  bitterness,  the  network  for 
which  I  Worked  shall  be  nameless.  However,  for  the  purposes  of  iden¬ 
tification  in  this  article  we  will  Call  it  N.B.C.,,  “The  . Nameless  Broad¬ 
casting  Company.” 

Judging  from  the  numerous  scripts  I  scamied,  it  seems  that  every 
other  person  in  the  United  States  wants  to  be  a  comedy  wrter.  Why 
anyone  should  become  a  comedy  Writer  by  intent  rather  than,  accident 
sometimes  puzzles  me.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  comedy  Writer  constant¬ 
ly  gets  the  short  end  of  the  timber.  If  on  a  given  week  a  successful 
scrivenery  has  written  a  hjilarious  show,  there  is  sure  to  be  a  review 
somewhere  commending  the  comedian  for  rising. above  his  material.  If. 
the  show  is  somewhat  less  than  sensational,  there  is  sure  to  be  a  critic 
who  says  the  comic  was  anchored  down  by  dull  dialog.  If  the  writer's 
script  is  so  solid  that  the  comic  gets  bigger  boffs  than  usual,  the  show 
takes  so.  much  spread  that  the  writer’s  credit  is  sure  to  be  Cut  off.  If 
the  writer  turns  out  a  weakie  (and  don’t  we  all  occasionally)  the  show 
drags,  there  is  no  spread,  and  on  this  turkey  the  writer’s  credit  stays 
on  for  what  seems  to  be  hours. 

But,  some  people  still  want  to  be  comedy  writers,  and  the  obvious 
first  step  in  this  directionjis  to  submit  a  script  to  a  network.  In  the 
time  I  toiled  ,  as  an  executive  I  went  through  several  hundred  of  these 
scripts  with  various,  degrees  of  thoroughness.  It  is  this  background  of 
experience  that  allows  me  to  be  audacious  enough  to  serve  as  an  expert 
and  select  the  10  most  hackneyed  ideas  submitted  for  comedy  series.  . 

Most  of  the  scripts  I  read  needed  no  second  screening  before  return¬ 
ing  them  to  the  hopeful  Hikens,  Hennings,  and  Hal  Kanters,  These 
scripts  were  what  I  termed  “Occupational  Offerings.”  The  writer  built 
his  idea  around  his  own  occupation  or  experiences.  Briefly  most  of 
these  ideas  went  like  this:  “You  see,  the  hero  is  .a  plumber,  so  each 
week  he  has  to  go  out  on  a  different  call  for  a  different  problem  to  a 
different  house.”  “Now  in  this  series  the  leading  character  is  a  witty 
young  boy  who  supports  his  aged  mother  and  her  baby  infant  by  caddy¬ 
ing.  Each  week  he.  caddies  for  a  different  celebrity,  like  Bob  Hope,  Jack 
Benny,  Bing  Crosby  and  President  Eisenhower,  unless  the  sponsor  is 
a  Democrat,  then  we  wouldn’t  use  President  Eisenhower.  But  this  way 
we  have  a  different  guest  star  each  week  ,  and  on  Some  shows  we  can 
have  them  all  play  in  a  foursome  together/’  “Our  heroine  is  a  lady 
dentist,  and  at  first  all  her  male  patients  don’t  trust  her  because  she’s 
a  woman,  but  she’s,  a  good  dentist,  so  she:  gets  called  on  cases  all  over- 
America  and  Europe  which  will  give  the  series  a  chance  to  use  foreign 
locales.”  “The  leeding  lady  is  a  teen  aged  baby  siter  who  oney  sites  for 
movey  stars  babys.”  (Obviously  enough  the  last  suggestion  came  from 
a  teen  aged  baby  sitter  who  was  thoughtful  enough  to  enclose  a  card 
W'ith  her  rates  for  baby  sitting.) 

Not  all  of  the  scripts  were  naive.  There  were  several  sophisticated 
Suggestions  which  caused  me  to  blush  slightly.  One  was  a  trifle  too 
sophisticated.  It  came  from  a  lady  of  the  evening  and  bore  the  title, 
“I  Was  A  B-Girl  For  The  F.B.I.”  Unfortunately,  unlike  the  baby  sitter, 
she  didn’t  enclose  a  card  with  her  rates. 

|  Nothing  Like  a  .Different*  Idea  V  \ 

At  any  rate,  I  feel  that  my  last  two  years  will  not  be  considered  a 
complete  waste  if  I  at  least  furnish  the  profession  with  a  list  of  the  10 
commonest  comedy,  cliches.  I  don’t  want  to  be  known as  The  Master 
of  The  Mediocre,  but  if  anyone  else  can  offer  a  tireder  tensome  I’ll 
give  him  my  autographed  copy  of  Joe  Miller.  One.  further  thing  I’d 
like  to  point  out:  In  condensing  these  10  ideas  down  to  paragraph  size 
I  have  tried  to  retain  the  original  author’s  vernacular  and  punctua¬ 
tion.  Also,  I  am  not  listing  these  ideas  in  any  particular  order  of  qual¬ 
ity  because  .  I  believe  you’ll  agree  with  me  on  reading  them  that  one  is 
just  as  lousy  as  the  other.  Here  they  arer-the  10  Commonest  Comedy 
Cliches: 

1.  The  hero  or  heroine  works  in  a  hotel  where  there  are  hundreds 
of  rooms  and  therefore  hundreds  of  characters  on  each  show  our  hero, 
or  heroine,  helps  a  different  guest  solve  a  different  problem.  Since 
guests  continually  come  and  go  you  have  a  constantly  changing  cast  of 
characters  and  source  of  material.  (Variations,  A.,  Make,  it  a  resort 
hotel,  and  you  have  the.  additional  advantage  of  swimming/  skating, 
skiing,  boating,  golfing,  etc.)  (Variation,  B.  Have  the  Ritz  Bros,  run¬ 
ning  the  hotel  and  call  the  show  “The  Ritz  Hotel.”) 

2.  This  idea  is  different  because  “The  Neighborhood"  is  the  star.  You 

see,  all  these  guys  were  in  the  Army  together  only  now  thy’re  all  mar- 
rid  and  live  in  the  same  tract  of  GI  homes.  The  men  always  talk  about 
their  experiences  when  they  were  soldiers,  and  the  women  always  talk 
about  their  babies  and  domestic,  problems.  Not  only  that  but  they  are 
all  still  in  the  reserves,  end  once  a  week  they  put  on  their  uniforms 
and  they  have  a  commanding  officer  who  is  just,  like  Sergeant  Bilko, 
etc.,  etc.,  etc.  ' 

3.  You  get  this  guy  who  has  a  great  set  of  puppets  and  each  week 
you  do  a  takeoff  on  a  different  comedy  show.  Like  . one  week  he  has  pup-, 
pets  made  to  look  like  Desi  Arnez  and  Lucille  . Ball  and  you  do  “I  Love 
Lucy,"  and  next  week  the  puppet  can  be  Bob  Hope  or  Jack  Benny  or 
Rochester,  or  you  put  the  puppets  all  in  soldiers’  uniform  and  do  Ser¬ 
geant  Bilko.  The  best  thing  of  all  is  that  you  have  guest  puppets  like 
Jack  Benny  and  Bob.  Hope  and  Bing  Crosby  appearing  on  each  other's 
programs  all  the  time  and  it  doesn’t  cost  anything.  Whatever  show  has 
the  highest  rating  that  week,  even  if  it’s  a  Western  or  a  Quiz  We  do 
a  takeoff  with  puppets  that  week  so  we’re  always  topical:  (Note:  Please 
don’t  anyone  try  to  pilfer  or  plagiarize  this  idea.  It  was  submitted  by 
three  different,  authors  each  of  .whom  submitted  photostatic  copies  of 
legal  documents  showing  ,  that  each  One  was.  the  sole  and  exclusive 
owner.) 

4  You  do  a  series  which  is  a  parody  of  one  of  the  most  popular  types ; 
of  TV  shows,  “The  Private  Eye.”  Only  instead  of  a  man  detective  we 
do  a  big  switch  and  have  a  woman.  (This  is  a  big  switch  because  for 
a  minute  I  thought  they  were  going  to  suggest  that  the  leading  role 
be  played  by  a  platypus.)  Think  of  all  the  fun  you  have  with  a  dame 
detective  like  Martha  Raye  in  a  tense  scene  coming  face  to  face  with 
a.  dead  corpse.  (They  always  specify  a  dead  corpse  so  that  in  doing  the 
show  you  don’t  make  a  mistake  and  use  a  live  corpse.) 

6.  Now  there’s  this  here  guy,  see,  and  he’s  .an  ordinary  guy,  see,  arid 
some  relative  he  never  heard  of  like  maybe  an  aunt  dies  and  leaves 
a  school  to  him.  So  now  he  goes  and  takes  over  the  school  and  is  he 
ever  surprised  to  find  out  that  he’s  the  only  guy  among  500  girls  be¬ 
cause  it’s  an  all-girl  school  and  even  the  teachers  are  girls  Or  women. 
Gosh,  can  you  imagine  the.  fun  you  Can  have  with,  only  one  guy  among 
500  girls.  This  idea  has  also  been  submitted  mimeroiis  times  for  a  feih- 
inine  lead.  She  was  a  WAC  in  the  Armed  Forces,  see,,  and  she  got  en¬ 
rolled  at  this  all-male  school  through  the  GI  Bill  of  rights,  see,  and 
because  of  this  mixup  which  should  make  a  hilariously  funny  pilot 
she  finds  herself  the  only  girl  at  a  school  with  a  thousand  male  stu¬ 
dents,  $ee?  (For  some  strange  biological  reason,,  writers  always  sug¬ 
gest  that  a  lone  male  can  only  handle  500  females,  while  a  solitary 
sister  can  cope  with  at  least  a  thousand  of  the  opposite  sex,  see?  But 
look  at  the  scope  in  this  series.  You,  can  show  how  the  girl  gets  on  the 
football  or  baseball,  or  basketball  team,  see.  Or  she  finds  that  as  part 
(Continued  on  page  99> 


Season’s  Greetings  from 

JIMMY  NELSON 

DANNY  O’DAY  and  F.4RFEL 

;  With  HUMPHREY  HIGSBYE 
Currently  TV  Spokesman  for  the 
NESTLE  CO. 

Management:  Directional  Enter¬ 
prises,  200  ‘West  67th  Street,  NeW 
York!  ' 

Booking:  Mercury  Artists  Corp. 
730  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York. 


Care  &  Feeding 
Of  Guest  Stars 

- By  BOB  F1NKEL  = 

(Producer,  Perry  Como  Show) 

I  have  been  asked  by  many 
friendly  (and.  some  unfriendly)  pro¬ 
ducers  how  I  manage  the  guest 
star  problem  on  our  show;  and  I 
have  always  replied,  “Sir,  on  .  the 
Como  Show  we  have  no  guest  star 
problem,  except  in  the  minds  of 
bigoted  people.” 

7  And  I  mean  that.  Guest  stars 
are,  after  all,  human  beings. 
They’re  all  right,  honest.  Some 
|  of  my  best  friends  are  guest  stars. 
There  are  good,  and  bad  among 
all  groups.  .  .And  when  some  un¬ 
thinking  person  says  to  me,  “Bob, 
be  honest  now.  Would  you  want 
your  sister  to  marry  a  guest 
star?  ”  I  say  to  them,  in  all  sin¬ 
cerity,.  “No,  I  don’t  want  my  sister 
to  marry  a  guest  star  if  that  guest 
star  is  Ginger  ,  Rogers.  Certainly 
not.” 

And  this  has  nothing  to  do  with 
Ginger  Rogers  as  a  guest  star, 
believe  me.  I  think  she’s  great, 
she’s  welcome  in  my  home,  and  she 
can  go  to  school:  with  my  kids  any¬ 
time.  It’s  just  that  I’d  like  my 
sister  to  marry  Perry  Como.  If  he 
was  single,.  And  she  was. 

Once  haying  gotten  past  this 
point  in  your  relationship  with 
guest  stars,  there  are  just  a  few 
more  points  to.  remember: 

The  first  thing  is  FALLOUT. 
This  happens  when  a  guest  star  is 
hired  for  a  Show,  reads,  the  script 
and.:  is  immediately .  afflicted  with 
laryngitis  or  leprosy  or  both  and 
bows  off  the  show.  Take,  for  ex¬ 
ample  thie:  case  of  Red  Buttons  who 
Will  probably  win  an  Academy 
Award  for  “Sayonara”  and  an 
Emmy  for  “Bowing  Off  TV  Shows.” 
Now,  on  the  Como  Show,  we’ve 
never  had  any;  trouble  with  Red, 
He’s  been-;  on  four  or  five  Como 
shows:  and  has  never  once  failed 
to  make  the  show-  This  is  true  of 
other  “trouble-makers”  like  Ethel 
Merman,  Julius  La  Rosa,  Gino 
Prato  and  many  others.  And  the 
reason  we  don’t  have  any  trouble 
is:  twofold:.  OUe,  we  try  and  think 
of  these  guest  stars  being  as 
good  as  we  are;  two,  we  have  an 
ironclad  contract  in  which  bowing 
off  the  show  (unless  asked  to) is 
punishably  by  death.  .And  Harry 
Anger  has  a  gun. 

The  second  thing  is  the  WEL¬ 
COME.  The  minute  a  guest  star  is 
.booked  oh  pur  show,  we  call  him 
immediately,  whether  he  has  a 
telephone  or  not.  I’ll  never  for¬ 
get  how  patiently  we  waited  while 
the  candy  :  store  called  .  George 
Sanders  to  the  phone. 

•  Nothing  But  Bigotry  | 

Then  I  ask  the  guest  star  if  he’d 
like  to  sit  with  the  writers.  Funny 
thing,  nobody  wants  to  sit  with  the 
Writers.  Bigotry,  bigotry  every¬ 
where. 

Also,  we  supply  all  our  guest 
stats  with  script  books  With  their 
names  on  them,  as.  a  gift  of  the 
Perry  Como  Show.  It’s  hard  to 
fight  about  a  script  with  your 
name  on  the  cover  ,  in  big  gold-: 
looking  letters.  Gina  Lollobrigida 
(Continued  on  page  99) 


=By  CARROLL  CARROLL1 


The  Chairman,  at  the  head  of  a  long  table  said/  “I  suppose  you  all 
wonder  why  I  asked  you  here  this  morning?”  He  paused,  as  if  waiting 
for  an  answer.  But  everyone  knew  why  he  was  there.  His  job  was  on 
the  line. 

“We’ve  been  asked  to  come  up  with  a  two-and-a-half  hour  Anniver¬ 
sary  Show  for  Television.” 

“Another  ,  one?”  Someone  asked.  “There  are  already  62  Special  An¬ 
niversary  Shows  scheduled  for  this  season.  And  one  company’s  going 
to  have  two  anniversary  shows,  one  for  each  of  their  big  selling  sea¬ 
sons.” 

The,  Chairman  continued  without  comment,  “As  I  was  saying,  we’re 
here  to  do  a  little  primary  thinking  on  a  two-and-a-half  hour  Anniver¬ 
sary  Show  to  go  on  all  four  networks  July  4th. 

“Did  you  say  four  networks?”  Someone  asked.. 

“Certainly,”  the  Chairman  answered,  “We’re  not  going  to  forget  Pat 
Weaver's  network.  Now  then,  to  fill  you  in  on.  what’s  already  been 
done.  Our  television  people  have  explored  the  entire  market  of  exist¬ 
ing  all-star,  pre-packaged  two-and-a-half  hour  Anniversary  Shows. 
None  quite  measures  up.  We’ve  talked  to  82  independent  packagers 
and  41  producers  about  creating  a  show  specially  for  us:  Again  we 
haven’t  found  anything  to  .  fill  the  bill.  So,  as  usual,  it’s  up  to  the 
agency.”  He  smiled. 

“The  client  has  specified  that  on  this  Anniversary  Show  the  com¬ 
mercials  will  be  entirely  institutional— save  for  a  little  hard  sell  at 
the  beginning  and  end  of  each  one  of  the  12  we're  planning  on— but 
he  has  been  very  definite  in  his  vague  feeling  that  the  show  itself  must 
express  the  spirit,  the  underlying  humanity  of  The  .Crying-Towel 
Corp.” 

“The  client  wants  this  shew,  by  some  subtle  alchemy  of  mood,  to 
generate  art  aura  of  love  for.  an  organization  that- leads  its  field. 

A  voice  at  the  far  end  of  the  table  murmured  softly,  “All  the  world 
loves  the  company.”  . 

“Good  idea,  Steve,”  said  the  Chairman,  who  owed  much  of  his  early 
success  to  a  miraculous  pair  of  ears  that  enabled  him  to  sit  at  a  cor¬ 
ner  table  at  “21,”  during  cocktail  time,  and  hear  every  conversation 
at.  the  bar.  “We’ll  come  back  to  it  later.”  . 

Steve  slumped  down  in  his  chair  and  began  doodling,  if  making 
notes.  ..  .  . 

“This  show,”  the  Chairman  continued,  “when  we  come  up  with  it 
—even  if  we  have  no  commercials  at  all  —  will,  leave  every  American 
man,  woman  and  child  subconsciously  aware  of  the ,  magnificent  im¬ 
portance  of  The  Crying-Towel  Corp.  in  the  American  economic  struc¬ 
ture.  And  each  beholder  will  feel  a  strong  desire  to  associate  with 
Crying-ToweL  Confidentially,  gentlemen,  the  object  of  this  is  to  sell 
more  Crying-Towel  stock. 

“A  new  issue  is  to.  be  offered' to  the  public,  July  5,  the  day  after 
the  Anniversary  Show.  Unless  .this  new  $1,500,000  stock  Issue,  ear¬ 
marked  for  experimentation  and  expansion,  is  immediately  sold  out* 
there  will  be  no  money  to  pay  for  the  two-and-a-half  hour  Anniversary 
Show.  This  is  why  the  July  4  Anniversary  date  was  .selected.  While 
Crying-Towel  Corp.  was  founded  on  Sept.  19,  and;  did  its  first  full  day 
of  business  on  Dec.  7,  it  was  felt  that  July  4,  as  a  birthday,  created  a 
better  product  image.  But  in  thinking  about  a  show  on  that  date,  gen¬ 
tlemen,  I  must  caution  against  waving  the  flag  too  Vigorously.  We 

don’t  want  to  make  the  income  tax  people  suspicious. 

“Aside  from  what  I’ve  told  you,  there  are  no  strings  attached  to 
What  the  show  may  be — save  that  it  must  be  musical  and  star  top-name 
talent— -arid  there  are  ho  strings  attached  to  us.  We  can  do  absolutely 
anything  We  think  best.  In  short.  Jack  Crying  and  Harry  Towel  have 
given  us  carte  blanche  to  create  exactly  what  we  think  is  right/*  The 
chairman  paused  and  laughed  slightly,  then  said,  “Well,  .there  IS  one 
little  string.  If  ours  isn’t  the  greatest  television  show  ever  produced 
from  every  standpoint,  artistic,  commercial  ,  and  rating-wise,  there  will 
be  nothing  for  us  to  do  but  resign  the  account. 

“So  gentlemen,  it’s  up  to  you.  What  kind  of  an  all-star  musical  show 
will  we  put  into  the  two-and-a-half  hours  we  have  to  fill  for  the  Cry- 
Ing-Towel  Corp.’s  First  Anniversary  Show?”  7 

No  one  seemed  to  want  to  start  the  ball  rolling,  so  the  Chairman 
said,  “Steve,  What  have  you  been  scribbling?” 


Como,  Garbo,  Whamipo! 


Steve  rose  slowly,  holding  a  doodled  over  paper  close  to  his  vest, 
and  groped  for  a  name. “Well,  I  have  a  few  notes.  Since  we  want 
big  name,  how  about  Perry  Como?” 

“How’d  you  ever  think  of  him ?“  Someone  asked. 

“He  goes  with  my  idea,”  said  Steve  ad  libbing  ingeniously.  “You  see 
what  I  had  in  mind  was  a  modern  musical-comedy  version  of  “The 
Barber  of  Seville.”  He  looked  around  hopefully -  for  some  ,  reaction: 
There,  was  none.  “See  What  I  mean  7 .  .  the  public  image  .  Como  has 
created  , .  .  barber,.  ...  ‘Barber  of  Seville’?” 

“Como’s  not  from  Seville,”  Someone,  said,  “He's  an  Italian  from 
Scarsdale.” 

“Okay, “  Steve  agreed,”  It’s  a  modern  version.  Call  it  ‘The  Barber 
of  Scarsdale’.” 

“How  would  that  sell  Crying-Towels?” 

Steve  spoke  slowly  and  deliberately  as  if  he  were  making  a  point  to 
a  backward  child  instead  of  merely  trying  to  think  one  word  ahead  of 
what  was  coming  out  of  his  mouth.  “People  tell  their  troubles  to  bai> 
bers,  don’t  they,  and  barbers  use  towels?” 

“Good,  idea,”  said  the.  chairman.  “Any  others? ” 

“Well,  it’s  not  exactly  &  new  idea,  it’s  sort  of  something  I  thought, 
of  while  Steve  was  talking.  I  mean,  if  we  did  this  modern  ‘Barber,  of 
Scarsdale’  we  could  get  some  more  name  power  and  carry  on  the  bar¬ 
bershop  theme  by  having.  Dorothy  Lamour  sing  ‘Moon  of  Manicuring 
and  get  Louis  Armstrong  to  do  ‘Shine’.” 

“How  about  closing  the  .  show  with  a  surprise  appearance  of  Bing 
Crosby  singing  ‘When  Shampoo  of  the  Night*?” 

“These  days  any  appearance  of  Bing  Crosby  is  a  surprise!,”  Some¬ 
one  said. 

The  Chairman  looked- .  around  for  more  ideas.  “Dave;  what  about 
you?” 

“I’d  kind  of  like  to  see  us  come  up  with  a  star,  who’s  never  been  ori 
tv.  You  know,  give  the  people;  something  nOw,  like  Greta  Garbo  If  we 
could  get  Garbo  to  do  ‘Hamlet/  we’d  really  have  something'” 

«^Se5t'2HI#e-tP^0U^  ®®xes  mixed  up?”  Someone  asked, 
f  Z!?at  h°ok>  Dav®  said.  “We’re  doing  a  musical!  So,  instead 

2.a7io  .We  caU  il  the  ‘Melancholy  Da)  *  starring 
Greta  Garbo!  How  s  that?“ 

,  jdea  hit  the  meeting  with  stunning  impact.  No  one  knew  what 
to.  think  of  it.  Finally  Someone  said,,  “But  how’s  she  going  to  star  in 
a  musical?  Greta  Garbo  doesn’t  sing.” 

‘‘Neither,”  said  Dave,  “does  Rex  Harrison!” 

“The  trouble  is  ‘Hamlet’  doesn’t  have  a  happy  ending,”  the  Chairs 
man  objected. 

Corp  ?”  happ>y  6nding  best»  psychologically,  for  the  Crying-Towel 

•  said  the  Chairman,  “But  we  mustn’t  be  obvious.  This  is  an 

institutional  type  show.  And,  another  thing,  at  lunch  yesterday,  Harry 
Crying  said  he  thought  The  Crying-Towel  Corp.  ought  to  put  on  a 
(Continued  on  page  98) 


January »,  1958  Fifty-tecond  pfiSSHHf?  Anniversary  _ BAMO-TE1HVISIOIY  » 

Anglo-U.S.  Television  Partnerships 
Attain  Fullblown  Status  In  2  Years 


What  Took  Half-Century  To  Accomplish  In  Film  Industry  Is  Achieved  In  Record  Time  By  Newer 

Medium,  Easing  Financial  Load  For  All  Concerned 


By  NORMAN  ANTHONY 


As  probably  the  greatest  humor  expert  in  the.  country, 
and  that  includes  the  rating  experts,  I’m  pretty  sure  I 
know  the  reason  for  the  sudden  absence  of  comics  from 
our  tv  screens^  What  do  they  exspectrum?  They're  behind 
the  times;  their  jokes  haven’t  any  SOCIAL  SIGNIFI¬ 
CANCE. 

Look  at  the  westerns;  they’ve  seen  the  light,  and  gone 
"adult,”  they’ve  turned  into  psychological  dramas.  So 
why  not  “adult”  slapstick? 

Just  to  give  the  boys  in  the  back  room,  who  are  biting 
their  nails  and  their  writers,  an  idea  of  :  the  terrific  pos- 

ibilities,  here’s:  sample,  which  we’ll  call,'  “For  Whom 
the  Belly  Laugh  Tolls.”  “The  Power  of  Positive  Drink¬ 
ing.” 

We  open  on  a  scene  in  the  Sahara  Desert,  symbolic  of 
tv  today,  with  nothing  but  barreness  as  far  as  the  eye  can 
wind  machines  (Sponsors)  churning  the  trackless 
waste  into  a  blinding  sand  storm.  (Trouble  on  the  network; 
please  stand,  by).  ' 

Enter  Gleason  and  Carney,  crawling  on  their  hands  arid 
knees,,  dressed  in  khaki  shorts:  and  pith  helmets;  a  long , 
parched  false  tongue  hangs  out  of  Jackie’s: mouth.  He.  jerks 
it  out  and  tdsses.  it  away  with  a  gesture  of  disgust.  (Sym¬ 
bolic  of  "What’s  the  use  of  talking  about  it?’’).. 

.  Carney:  (Digging  sand  out  of  eyes)  Wish  I’d  brought 
a  bottle  of  Murine,  ( Possible  sponsor) ... 

Gleason:  I  wish  you  had  too;  I’d  drink  it!  (Possible 
further  uses  for  Murine).  I 

( Enter  a  somnolent  camel,  led  by  a  Bedouin,,  a  “Skytop 
Taxi”  sign  on  its  tail,  another  Bedouin  on  its  hump.  Two. 
possible  sponsors  here,  cigaretes  and  brassieres. 

Gleason :  (Staring)  Look!  Twin  Bedouins!'  (To  cameleer) 
How  far  is  it  to  Mecca? 

As  the  cameleer  gives  oxit:  with  a  flow  of  Arabic,  we 
tense  the  social  significances:  Here  are  two  of  the:  Three 
Wise  Men,  trying  to  find  their,  star  again;  the  third  prob¬ 
ably  stilt  in  burlesque). 

Carney:  (Listening)  He  says  it’s  just  up  the  road  a 
'•piece: 

vGleason:  Ask  him  if  there’s  a  friendly  neighborhood 
bar,  (A  double  take)  How  come  you  understand  him? 

Carney  :  I  took  Arabic  in:  P.  S.  42. 

Gleason:  What  did  you  take  that  for? 

Carney:  I  was  going  around  with  a  whirling  dervish. 
(Child  fixation)  He  says  to  follow  this  highway—  ; 

Gleason:  (Gnmace J  This  is  a  highway? 

Carney:  (Nodding)  The.  Sahara  Freeway.  He  says  to  go 
to  the  first  cloverleaf  and  take  a  -right  turn  until  we  come 
to  a  mosque^  That’s  one  of  those  things  with  minarets. 

Gleason: ,  ( Gasping)  I  don't  Want  any  breath  removers! 
I’m  dying  for  a  drink! 

Carney:  He  says  the  bar's  jiist  beyond  that:  (Listening 
to  cameleer’s  ArabicJHe  saysit’sclosed  today. 

Gleason:  ( Collapsing)  Qh,  buddha!-  (Staring  as  16  danc¬ 
ing  girls  appear)  Look! 

Carney  :  It’s,  only  a  mirage. 

Gleason:  Well  that’s  better  than  nothin!  Maybe  we 
could  get  an  Esther  Williams  water  ballet. 

(As  the  girls  do.  a  shuffle-off -to-Meeca,  d  beautiful  bar 
rises  into  view .  It  is  the  "O,  O,  Oasis,’’  (Possible  sponsor) 
and  there  is  a  dark-skinned  Arabian  bartender  behind 
the  bar,  at  the  end  '  of  the  bar,  the  Arabian  proprietor, 
reading,  "Island  in  The  Sun.”  A  sign  back,  of  the  bar 
says,  "The  management  reserves,  the  right  to  refuse  service 
to  anyone. 

Carney:  That’s  a  mirage  too. 

Gleason :  (Staggering  toward  it)  Mirage,  niy  eye!  This 
is  the  real  McCoy.  (Pointing)  That’s  my  old  bartender, 
Mike  Mack!  Hiya,  Mike,  ol’  boy!  Remember  me?  I  used  to 
come  in  here  with  a  little  blonde.  Good  ol’  Mike! 

..('As  he  talks, -the  bartender  pours  the  contents  of  a  huge 
shaker  into  a  huge  collins  glass,  and  Gleason  stares  at  it, 
another  false  tongue  hanging  out.  of  his  mouth) .  . 

That  looks  cool,  cool,  man  cool!  Give  my  friend: here  and 
me  a  couple  of  those,  Mike,  and  then  we’li  ha^e  champagne 
chasers,  arid  maybe  after  that;  a  coupla  gallons  of  bour¬ 
bon — 

Bartender:  Sorry,  sir,  can't  serve  you, 

Gleason :  ( Shrieking)  Are  you  kidding! 

Bartender:  (Pointing  to  sign)  You’re  a  White  mam 

( Gleason .  stares-  in  horror,  then  grabs  the  collins,  swal¬ 
lows  it  in  one  long  gulp,  and  puts  it  down  iviih  a  trium¬ 
phant smile) ! 

Gleason:  So  what’re  you  gonna  do  about  it,  sahib? 

(The  bartender  shakes  his  head,  speaks  excitedly  to  his 
boss  in  Arabic ,  and  the  proprietor  picks  up  the  phone). 

Proprietor:  Gimme  the  supreme  court  in  Mecca. 

THE  END 

See  what  I  mean?  Social  significance,  racial  intolerance, 
the  search  for .  freedom  and-  a  better  ■■  life,  .all:  in  one  big , 
economy'  package.  Note  to  Gleason :  Don’t  phone  me.  Til- 
phone  you. 


By  HAROLD  MYERS 

London. 

An  Anglo-American  partnership,  which  took,  half 
century  to  mature  in  motion  pictures;  has  been  developed 
ip  the  field  of  commercial  television  within  just  two  years. 
It.  is  fundamentally,  an  economic  partnership  which  en* 
ables  either  side  to  ease  their,  financial  load. 

British  film  producers  paved  the  way  when,  in  the 
post-war  years  particularly,  they  took  full  advantage  of 
joint  Anglo-American  production.  By  sharing  produc¬ 
tion  costs  and  Overheads,  and  with  participation  in  world 
marketsj  they  were  able  to  get  off  the  hook  and  show  a 
healthy,  return.  Commercial  tv  interests  were,  able  to 
take  full  advantage,  of  their  pioneering  example  and  right 
from  the  outset  vidpic  production  was  mainly  a  partner¬ 
ship  arrangement.  From  the  British  viewpoint  that  was 
an  essential  financial  precondition,  as  the  domestic  market 
— just  the  case  of  motion  pictures— was  too  re- 

stricted  to  permit  adequate  returns.- 

The  trend,  of  Anglo-U.S.  operation  is  developing  gradu¬ 
ally,  but  continuously..  Already  quite  a  few  of  the  Ameri¬ 
can  telefilirieries  have  set  up  their  own  organizations  in 
London  with  a  two-fold  mission:  to  promote  Co-production 
and  to  sell  American-made  ,  programs  to  the  British  web. 
The  latter  operation  is  hampered  by  the  rigid  quota 
which  only  permits  14%  of  commercial  tv  screen  time  to 
go  to  foreign  product,  BBC-TY,  although  not  subjected 
to  quota  restrictions  in  the  same  way,  operates  a  policy 
of  self-restraint. 

The  leadership  in  British  vidpic  production  right  from 
'the  beginning  of  Commercial  . tv  has  been  held  by  the  In¬ 
corporated  Television  Program  Cq.ythe  outfit  closely  asso¬ 
ciated  with  Associated  Television,  the  network  responsible 
for  weekend  programming  in  London  and  weekday  trans¬ 
missions  in  the  Midlands!  Their  operation,  which  has  been 
notably  successful  as  a  dollar  earner  for  Britain,  has  set  a 
pattern  for  joint  Anglo-U.S,  production;  Already  they  have 
filmed  14  series  which  have  returned  as  much  a  $10,000,- 
000  to  the  UK  and  they  aim  to  have  a  minimum  Of  six  in 
production  at  the  studios  during  the  current  year.. 

..•[  ' .  ,  .  ABC-TV’b  Anglp-U.  S.  Tie  / "  :  1 

In  a  more  modest  way;  ABC-TV,  the  company  operating 
the  Midlands  and  Northern  s'atons  at  weekends,  has.  also: 
entered  the  co-production!  arena.  It  has  .already  been, 
associated  with,  a  brace  of  Anglo-U.S.  teleseries  and  has 
another  major  deal  in  theworkswith  California  Na¬ 
tional.  But  so  far  the  other  commercial  programmers 
are  biding  their  time,  Associated-Rediffusion,  the  week¬ 
day  programmers  for  the  London  station,  embarked  oii 
extensive  film  production  when  they  first  went  on  the 
air,  but  are  new  playing  a  more  cautious  game.  They’re 
in  the  market  to  make  co-production  deals,  but  want  to 
choose  their  subjects  with  Utmost  care.  Granada-TV  Net¬ 
work  have  openly  been  on  the  prowl  for  joint  Anglo-U:S. 
properties,  but  are  still  playing  a  waiting  game.  In  the 
meantime,  they’re  giving  greater  concentration  to  live 
production. 

'  Apart  from  the  direct  programming  by  the  networks 
themselves,  there  is  expanding  vidpic  activity  in  British 
studios.  Screen  Gems,  for  example,  are  now  making  the 
“Ivanhoe”  series  which  will  be  followed  by  the  “Tales  of 
Frankenstein,”  which  will  be  a  co-production  with  Ham¬ 
mer  Films,  Who  made  the  theatrical  feature  “The  Curse 
of  Frankenstein.”  Grbss-Krasne  have,  also  moved:  into 
•  the  British  field  and  two  quota  series  filmed  in  Africa 
are  being  followed  by  another  to  be  made  in  a.  British 
studio;  The  Danziger  brothers  are  continuing  with  their 
“Mark  Saber”  skein  and  Sheldon  Reynolds  has  filmed 
the  “Dick  and  the  Duchess”  yarns  for  CBS  release.  Ber¬ 
nard  Luber,  who  made  the.  “Overseas  Press  Club,”  has 
other  projects  in  preparation,  . 

The  Hannah  Weinstein-Sapphire  Films  operation,  which 
currently  includes  “Robin  Hood”  and  “Sword  of  Free¬ 
dom”  series,  is  included  in  the  overall  total  of  ITP.  Ditto 
the  Flamingo  Films  production  of  “OSS”  and  TPA’s 
“Charlie  Chan”  series.  Harry  Alan  Towers,  who  made 
“Martin  Kane”  for  Ziv  release  last  year,  is  now  readying 
a  new  Scotland  Yard  subject  for  immediate  production. 


Hanheim  Depth  Poll 

By  MANNEE  MANHEIM 


Hollywood, 

For  our  annual  poll  for  the  big  green  book,  our  intrepid 
band  of  surveyors  known  to  all  of  you  as  the  Manheim 
Intrepid  Band  of  Pollsters,  we  chose  the  timely  and  pro¬ 
vocative  subject  of  the  canonization  of  our  female 
crooners. 

This  is  our  first  depth  poll  Wherein 
we  research  in  depth.  Neither  Niel¬ 
sen,  Trendex,  Pulse,  ARB  or  the 
others  have  advanced  into  depth 
polling.  The  subject  of  canonization 
—or  rather  Self-canonization— is  in 
itself  a  deep  topic  and  our  little 
group!  of  freelance,  deep-thinking  re¬ 
searchers  were  certainly  well  equip- 
jed  to  face  the  matter  head-on.  We’re 
a  deep  hunch. 

We  singled  out  the  village  of  Apu- 

Mannie  Manheim  Jia,  N.Y.,  for  our  sampling.  The  first 
question  was  put  to  a  grain-and-feed 
dealer  who  has  a  21-inch  RCA  set  and  is  a  family  man  and 
an  Elk,  Moose  and  Lion.  We  started  out  poll-in-depth 
with  this  grain-and-feed  man  by  asking  him  the  simple 
question:  What  do  you  think  of  female  singers  on  tele¬ 
vision? 

His  reply  was:  “Well,  what  I  don’t  understand  about 
these  girl  singers  is  all  that  filigree  they  go  into  before 
the  girl  starts  singing..  They  have  a  row  of  boys  on  one 
side  and  a  row  of  girls  on  the  other,  and  all  of  them  sing 
about  hOw  wonderful  the  girl  singer  is;  then  she  comes 
on,  reviews  the  troops,  and  then  she  sings  a  few  minutes 
about  how  shchopes  we  will  like  her  show  as  much  as  she 
likes  getting  paid  doing  it” 

For  Our  next  opinion  we  visited  a  small  business  man — 
a  Mr,  Markson  Who  is  proprietor  of  Markson’s  Boston 
Store  and  a  man  of  some  depth.  We  put  our  lead-ques¬ 
tion  to.  Mr.  Markson  i.e.  “What  do  you  think  of  our 
present  crop  of  female  singers  on  TV?” 

Mr..  Markson  replied,  “I  like  all  the  girl  crooners.  But 
I  don’t  think  much  of  their  dancing.  Arthur  Murray 
ought  to  get  UP  a  class  for  those  girls  and  whip  'em  into 
shape.  But  I  guess  these  days  you  can’t  find  many  girls 
who  can  do  both.  I  mean,  sing  and  dance.  One -thing  I 
can  always  do  is  tell  when  they’re  finished  singing — 
that’s  when  four  fellows  in  swallow  tails  come  out  and 
lift  the  girl  singOr  up  over  their  shoulders.  Most  all 
songs  end  that  way.  A  girl  who  doesn’t  get  heisted  up 
after  her  song  isn’t  much  of  a  singer  in  our  parlor.” 


#  .  The  Pedestal  Bit 


I 


I 


Overtakes  BBC  , 


It’s  barely  two-and-a-half  years  since  commercial  tv 
first  began  to  function  in  the  London  area,  but  within  that 
time  it  has  overtaken  the  BBC  in  every  competitive  area 
and  has  collared  8%  of  the  national  expenditure  on  ad¬ 
vertising.  In  the.  current  year,  which  Will  see  the  open¬ 
ing  of  three  new  commercial  stations,  commercial  tv 
should  gross  a  minimum  of  $100,000,000  hi  advertising 
revenue,  an  income  large  enough  to  insure  a  pretty  hand¬ 
some  payoff  for  all  concerned. 

In  1957,  the  first  year  in  which  the  three  major  areas 
W6r6  covered  by  coiririiercial  tv  (London,  the  Midlands 
and  the  North),  the  total  advertising ;  income  was  around 
$65,000,000.  Part  of  the  increased  revenue  will,. of  course, 
be  divided  among  the.  new  stations,  but  the  established 
outlets  are  also  anticipating  increased  returns.  Already 
for  the  peak  viewing  periods  most  of  the  available  time 
for  the  current  year  has  been  pre-sold,  and  the  day  of 
attracting  business  by  offering  the:  advertisers  twofers 
has  long  since  gone  by!  In  many  cases  advertisers  .are 
takihg  their  place  in  the  queue  to  buy  time..  The  com¬ 
mercial  network  is,  of  course,  restricted  by  Act  of  Par¬ 
liament  to  accepting  a  maximum  of  six  minutes  of  ad- 
(Continued  on  page  96) 


Mr.  Markson’s  wife,  Sarah,  offered  an  unsolicited  ob¬ 
servation  and  opinion  Which  is  included  in  our  report 
as  it  has  depth  in  that  we  have  a  female  opinion  of  a 
female  singer.  Mrs.  Markson  said,  “My  husband  likes  it 
When  the  boys  heist  the  girl  at  the  end  of  the  song  but  I 
prefer  the  ending  where  all  the  boys  fall  to  their  knees 
at  the  girl’s  feet  and  bow  in  unison.  This  is  what  a 
wdman  likes  to  see— a  bunch  of  growri-up.  fellows  on  their 
knees  worshipping  like  mad.  This  means  more  to  a  girl 
than  lifting  her  up.” 

Depth  students  may  discover  something  symbolic  in  Mrs. 
Markson’s  observation.  We  feel  that  her  opinion  will  be 
Weighed  by  such,  opinion-weighers  as  Robert  Colwell, 
Bernard  Baruch  and  the  guy  who  wrote  Exurbia.  As  im¬ 
partial  researchers,  we  can  Only  suggest — not  analyze. 

Our  next  question  was  put  to  a  gentleman  who  had 
just  returned  from  Hollywood  after  being  matched  up 
with  a  lonely  widow  via  Univac  on  the  “People  Are 
Funny”  show.  Fresh  from  his  electronic  marriage,  Mr. 
Bushrock  was  quite  talkative,  for  a  man  of  71.  His  views, 
on  the  antics  of  female  singers  on  TV  follow,  in  brief: 

“I  don’t  have  anything  against  those  girls.  They  all 
have,  to  make  a  living— and  some  of  them  are  even 
pretty— but  they  don’t  fool  me  or  my  new  wife.  I  know 
exactly  when  the  program  is  almost  over  because  they 
generally  sing  something  about  hoping  that  I  liked  their 
show.  One  of  them  sang  'Good  night,  I’m  happy  you 
tuned  me  in  and  I  hope  you  enjoyed  my  singing  as  much 
■  I  did.’  I  don’t  want  you  to  tell  anybody  this— but  I 
bought  a  Chevy  truck  to  lug  my  heifers,  just  because  that 
Dinah  Shore  blew  me  a  kiss  every  time  she  sang.  That 
Was  before  I  went  through  Univac.” 

Just  as  We  were  packing  our  questionnaires  in  our 
attache  cases.  Mr.  Bushrock  whispered  to  our  assistant 
chief  interrogator,  “Say,  what  became  of  all  the 
funny  fellows  on  TV?”  , 

It  is  not  for  us.  to  say  that  Mr.  Bushrock  and  other 
Apulians  feel  that  they  are  sung  at  too  much — but  in 
depth  analysis  (which  we  don’t  indulge  in)  his  question 
is  symbolic.  It  is  the  prerogative,  of  our  subscribers  to 
make  their  own  soundings.  We  went  put  into  the  field 
for  our  findings  and.  it  is  the  excursion  into  dep'h  of  our 
pollsters  that  brought  to  light  the  fact  that  some  viewers 
like  the  singer  heisted — and  some  worship  at  their  feet. 


94 


RAlHO-TELEVtSm 


Fifty-second  ‘  f^^RIETY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


MIKE  WALLACE  <.** 

WHO’S  BETWEEN  ME  AND  YOU  ? 


We  live,  I  am  told,  in.  a  publicity  Where 
blondes  and  beekeepers,  motor  cars  and  mahouts 
must  constantly  compete  with  one  another  for  space, 
plugs,  exposure.  Where  a  press  agent  often  con¬ 
tributes  more  to  the  success  of  a  product  ,  than  a 
quality  control  expert — and  palaver  not  infrequently 
passes  for  prestige. 

On  Saturday  nights,  from  10  to  10:30,  I  have  a 
network  to  offer,  free.  Or  perhaps  it  would  be  more 
accurate  to  say  that  the  ABC  and  the  Philip  Morris 
people  make  a  network  available  to  my  guests.  :It’s 
a  group  of  100-odd:  television,  stations;  and  over  its 
facilities,  I've  interviewed  authors,  athletes,;  politi¬ 
cians,  scientists,  social  critics — and  very  infre¬ 
quently,  an  actor. 

And  it  is  this  last  that  causes  me  to  furrow  my 
brow.  Because,  of  the  myriad  persons  who  thrive 
and  flourish  on  familiarity,  the  actor’s  name  leads 
all  the  .  rest!  And  yet  actors,  by  and  large,  are  not 
permitted— repeat,  not  permitted— to  accept  my  in¬ 
vitations  to  come  and  be  interviewed. 

I’ve  found  the  pattern  is  an  interesting  one.  It 
goes  like  this,  (And  it  happens  so  often  and  hews  so 
closely  to  formula  that  it’s  become,  for  us,  virtually 
a  geometric  theorem.)  -We  call  star.  We  persuade 
Star,  Star  says  OK  and  sets  date;  Star  contacts 
agent  and/or  press  agent.  Agent,  says,  over  his  dead 
body.  Period,  end  of  report. 

You  think  nqt?  Listen  to  a  few  thinly-veiled  exr 
cursions  into  frustration; 

* 

Call  Hungarian  glamor  girl  in  Hollywood.  "You 
naughty  man.  I’d  love  to.”  She’ll  arrive  in  New. 
York  in  two  weeks.  Must  check  with  her  press 
agent.  ,rWhat’ll  we  talk  about,?”  she  asks.  We.  dis¬ 
cuss  it,  agree  to  her  prohibitions.  She  must  check 
with  press  agent  but  we  set  tentative  date'.  Next 
day  lawyer  plus  press  agent  call.  Urgent.  Ask  us 
to  consider  possibili'y  of  commercial  damage  to 
hot  property .  Absolutely  forbid.- 

Pursue  party-giver  for  six  weeks.  .(He’s  a  kind  of 
actor,)  Finally  corner  him,  sit  him  down,  persuade 
him.  Go  over  areas  of  discussion.  He  asks  NO  pro¬ 
hibitions.  Says  let  him  think  it  over.  Two  days  later 
press  agent  calls,  says  OK,  firms  up  date.  We  leave 
for  Europe,  arrive  Munich,  get  cable,  from  New  York. 
Party-giver’s  sdn  says  NO  ...  doesn’t  want  Dad  to 
expose  himself. 

Mustachioed  comedian  with  cigar.  Old  tennis¬ 
playing,  poker-playing  pal.  Bright  fellow,  with  point 
of  view.  Interested  in  publicity,  has  new  book,  new 
movie.  Wants  very  much  to  do  if.  We  discuss  areas 
of  conversation,  put  prohibition  on  family  material, 
everything’s  fine.  We  set  tentative  date,  he  tells  me 
let  him  check  with  agent.  Agent  calls  next  morning, 
outlines  comedian’s  schedule  for  six  months.  No 
open  date.  Try  him  in  March  .  Next  week,  cigar 
is  announced  for  publicity  appearances— elsewhere. 

*  -* 

Lunch  with  Academy  Award  star  and  husband. 
Do  interview  for  newspaper  column.  Have  soft 


drink.  Talk  about  tv  interview*  Go  over  areas  of 
disciission.  Put  prohibitions  ;.  ori  certain  facets. 
Star  says  great.  Husband  says  great.  We’ll  dp.  it 
on  film,'  just  to  make  sure.  Big  en  husiasm.  Make 
definite  date  to  shoot.  Next  morning,  agent  (same 
as  star’s )  is .  on  phone.  Prior  commitmentSi  money, 
just  a  few  months,  etc.,  etc. 

Now  then,  if  the  star  is  willing,  why  the  reluctance 
of  the  agent,  manager,  press  agent,  et  al?  What  is 
it  that  deters  them  from  giving  their  blessing  to  this 
enterprise  that  would  afford  their  client  certainly 
as  much  “exposure”  as  a  cover  story  in  Newsweek 
or  a  five-page  spread  in  Life,  or  a  Peter  Martin 
piece  in  the  Saturday  Evening  Post? 

I  think  I  have,  by  now,  talked  with  enough  man¬ 
agers  to  understand  and  thus  to  distrust  their  mo¬ 
tive.  Because  their  motive,  largely,  is  fear.  Fear 
that  their  client,  may  be  revealed  as  having  a  point 
of  view.  That  he  may  be  shown  up  as  a  thinking 
person  who  has  opinions  about  his  life  and  times. 
And  that  if  he  ’expresses  his  opinions  in  public,  some 
part  of  his  audience  may  be  offended  and  thus  won’t 
buy  a  ticket  to  his  movie,  or  tune  in  his  tv  show,  or 
buy  his.  sponsor’s  product,  or  some  such. 

The  manager  not  infrequently  will  sell  that  fear 
of  a  Wallace  interview  to  his  client  under  the  coun¬ 
terfeit  that  we’ll  rattle  one  of  the  skeletons  that 
may  lurk  in  the  lustrous  closet.  But  the  record,  I 
think,  proves  otherwise.  The  only  sensationalism  we 
seek  is  that  which  comes  when  a  forthright  guest 
wrestles  with  a  challenging  idea.  And  that’s  sensa¬ 
tional  enough. 

Scattered  over  the  past  nine  months,  along  with 
Eleanor  Roosevelt,  and  Frank  Lloyd  Wright,  and 
Orval  Faubus,  and  Margaret  Sanger,  and  Earl  Brow¬ 
der,  and  Wayne  Morse  and  30-odd  others,  I’ve  inter¬ 
viewed  just  five — count  ’em — five  working  actors. 
Steve  Allen,  Kirk  Douglas,  Dagmar,  Diana  Dors  and 
George  Jessel.  (Plus  a  writing  actress  by  the  name 
of  Diana  Barrymore.) :  Arid  I  can’t  help  but  feel  that 
each  one  of  them  emerged  from  the  interview  not 
only  unscathed,  but  possibly  the  beneficiary  of  a 
greater  respect  from  10  or  20  or  30  million  Ameri¬ 
cans.  Kirk  Douglas  said  it  to  Charlie.  Mercer  of  AP, 
after  we  interviewed  him;  “I  found  a  kind  of  chal¬ 
lenge  in  it.  The  public  should  have  a  chance  to  see 
an  actor  off  balance  every  once  in  a  while.  People 
are  interested  in  people,  and  Wallace  makes  you 
hold  still.” 

So.  Talk  of  loneliness  with  George  Jessel,  or 
phony  publicity,  with  Diana  Dors,  or  comeback 
strategy  with  Dagmar,  or  the  State  Department’s 
failure  properly  to  use  actors  abroad  with  Kirk 
Douglas,  or  moral  standards  with  Steve  Allen— talk 
of  this  kind  certainly  did  no  damage  to  them.  Pos¬ 
sibly;  it  gave  the  public  a  better,  more  faithful  look 
at  these  entertainers  and  how  they  think.  And  as  to 
whether  the  interview  was  for  them  fruitful,  worth¬ 
while,  sensible  in  the  light  of  their  careers,  I  com¬ 
mend  you  to  these  actors  and  to  their  managers. 

Not  a  few  of  us  who  are  employed  in  the  enter¬ 
tainment  industry,  are  quick  to  cavil  at  the  network 
or  the  sponsor  which  fails  to  muscle  up  with  a  point 
of  view. 

;-.  It  is  possible  that  our  own  unwillingness  to  ven¬ 
tilate  our ;  beliefs,  discuss  our  motives,  state  our 
honest  opinions— makes  it  a  case:  of  our  pot  calling 
their  kettle  black? 


Public  Hungry  For  Some  New 
Experiences:  Ratings  Say  So 

By  IRVING  GITL1N 

(CBS  Director  of  Public  Affairs) 


It  once  was  a  pretty  good  phrase, 
but  it  has  acquired  a  bad  character: 
let’s  give  the  public  what  they 
want.  It  has  been  used  to  cover 
some  shabby  shows  that  have  hit 
the  ratings- jackpot;  it  has  been 
used  to  justify  efforts  of  which  the 
broadcaster  was  less  than  proud, 
less  than  what  could  have  been 
done  had  he  trusted  himself  more, 
and  not  passed  the  buck  to  “the 
public.”  But  this  phrase,  this  tran¬ 
quilizer  of  troubled  consciences, 
this  Madison  Avenue  anodyne,  has 
another,  side  to  it. 

“The  public”  is  a  funny  animal— 
it’s  .  made  up  of  people:  some  richer 
(though  they  don’t  believe  it),  some 
poorer;  some  smarter  (though  we 
don’t  believe  it),  some  dumber.  To 
whom  are  we  playing  when  we  play 
to  “the  public”?  What  is  that  com¬ 
mon  denominator  among  170  mil¬ 
lion  people,  of  every  age,  race, 
religion,  educational  and  intellec¬ 
tual  background,  of  every  emotional 
hue,  of  differing  professions,  busi¬ 
nesses,  trades.  I  submit  that  “the 
public”  we  play  to  is  nothing  more 
than  the  projection  of  own 
concept,  our  own  attitudes.  There 
is  no  single  common  denominator, 
This  seems  unruly,  unscientific.  It 
doesn’t  lay  itself  out  smoothly  on 
a  chart.  It’s  disturbing.  We’Ve  got 
to  play  to  something.  So  the  mass 
media  fellow  plays  to  a  “public” 
that  he  himself  creates,  a  “public” 
conceived  in.  his  own  mind  and 
projected  as  something  real  out 
there.  When  we  are  giving  them 
what  they  want,  we  really  mean  we . 
are  giving  them  what  we  want 
(though  maybe  we  won’t  admit  it). 

But; '  you  will  say,  wise  up. 
Haven’t  you  heard  of  boxoffice? 
Ratings?  We  know  what  the  public 
Wants.  We  have  scientific  proof: 
spelled  $$$.  But  do  we? 

All  we  have  in  audience  size 
ratings  is  what  has  been  popular. 
Past  tense.  We  by  no  stretch  of  the 
imagination  have  a  formula  for 
popularity.  We  want  to  be  popular 
—nothing  wrong  with  that.  If  we 
weren't,  we’d  go  out  of  business. 
But  we  miss  the  point  when  we 
think  there  is  only  one  way  to  be 
popular.  And  that  lame-brained 
notion  comes  from  thinking  that 
our  projected  idea  of  “the  public” 
is  the  real  thing. 

But  if  you  buy  this  idea  that 
what  we  say  the  public  wants  is 
nothing  more  than  a  projected 
idea  of  what  we  want,  then  we  can 
take  an  interesting  Step.  I  don’t 
know  any  one  of  us  who  is  in¬ 
terested  iq  only  one  thing — at  least 


not  for  long.  We’re  interested  in 
lots  of  things:  what  was  Susan 
Palmer  doing  at  LOuls  and 
Armand’s?  What  did  James  Gould 
Cozzens  say  to  Grace  Metalious? 
Does  JJ  Press  stand  a  notch  above 
or  below  brooks?  What  will  we 
charge  the  space  buyers  for  a  spot 
on  Sputnik?  Was  Julie  Andrews 
actually  born  the  year  yOu  got  out 
of  college?  Did  the  Russians  delay 
Sputnik  until  Little  Rock  had 
played:  itself  out?  etc. 

We’ve  got  lots  of  interests.  So. 
does  everyone  we  know.  So  does 
everyone,  period.  Let’s  try  another 
projection  of  “the  public,”  This 
“public”  is  hungry  for  new  ex¬ 
periences.  For  new  faces.  For  new 
ideas.  This,  “public”  wants  to  know 
the  whole  story  about  where  we 
stand  in  relation  to  Russia,  wheth¬ 
er  it  hurts  or  not.  This  public  wants 
some  straight,  doses  of.  bedrock 
reality,  as  well  as  escape.  This 
public  looks  to  broadcasting  for 
information  leadership,  as  well  as 
entertainment  leadership.'  This 
public  wants  serious  programming 
as  much  as  -  that  other  public 
(they’re  the  same  people)  wants  it 
light  and  frothy. 

-  Some  proof:  last  year,  CBS-TV's 
“A^r  Power,”  a  no-compromise 
Public  Affairs  show  about  military 
aviation  doctrine  and  the  history 
of  the  air  age,  faced  up  to  Roy 
Rogers  and  old  faithful  Trigger  for 
a  full  season,  “Air  Power”  not 
only  consistently  outrated  Roy,  hut 
drew  larger  audiences  at.  11:30  Sun¬ 
day  than  a  whole  flock  of  nightime 
entries.  This  did  not  make  its 
snonsor  unhappy.  .  This  year  CBS’ 
“The  Twentieth  Century,”  spon¬ 
sored  by  Prudential,  by  no  means 
fare  Calculated  to  keep  an  audience 
from  thinking,  faces  “Flicka.” 
Same  results,  only  more  so.  The 
ratings  say  so.  It  must  be  true.  But 
its  the  same  “public,”  And  the 
“public”  wants  shows  like  these 
and  “Conquest”  and  “Project  20” 
and  “See  it  Now”  and  “Seven  Lively 
Arts”  and  “Outlook”  and  “World 
News  Roundup”— and  “The  World 
Tonght”  and  the  “Galindez-Murphy 
Case”  on  radio,  as  well  as  “Play¬ 
house  90”  and  “$64,000  Question” 
and  Sullivan,  COmo  and  “Maver¬ 
ick.”  Broadcasting  has  done  this— 
or  at  least  we’ve  had  a  hand  in  it. 
We  can  be  proud  of  what  we’ve 
done.  We’Ve  given  that  public 
some  fine  things,  free  of  charge. 
We’ve  made  them  restless  and  im¬ 
patient  of  Grade  B  product,  and 
hungry  for  more  Grade  A. 

So  let’s  give  the  public  what  they 
want.  But  let’s  not  forget  they  want 
lots '  of  things.  And  increasingly* 
particularly  as  the  shadow  of  Sput¬ 
nik  lengthens  and  we  catch  on  to 
what  it  means,  the  public  taste,  for 
informational  programs  is  on  the 
upgrade.  There  are  ratings  and 
sponsors  to  prove  if.  The  public 
wants  to  know.  They  want  to  be 
told.  They  look  to  .us  for  leader¬ 
ship.  It’s  lip  to  us  to  provide  it. 


ED  IIERL1HY 

NBC 


WRCA-TV  Hikes  Rates 

As  a  result  of  steady  rating  in¬ 
creases  by  “Tonight,’’  WRCA-TV, 
the  NBC  flagship  in  New  York,  has 
raised,  its  rates  for  local  sponsor¬ 
ship,  and  adjacencies  in  the  Jack 
Paar  starrer..  Under  the  new  rate 
classification,  the  cost  of  one-min¬ 
ute  spots  in  the  local  11:15  to  11:30 
segment  has'  gorie  up  from  $950  to 
$1,250  each,  though  the  cost  of 
sponsorship  of  the  entire  15-min¬ 
ute,  segment  on  a  per-night  basis 
remains  the  same  at  $2,500. 

In  the  network  portion  of  the 
show;  11:30. pan,  to  1  a:m.,  the  one¬ 
time  one-minute  rate  has  gone  up 
from  $525  to  $800.  On  a  discount 
basis,  five  or  more  one-minute 
spots  now  cost  $5.00  each,  as  com¬ 
pared  With  $325  each  in  the  past. 
Station,  incidentally,  has  applied 
these  same  increases  to  its  “Movie 
4”  feature  film  show  in  early  eve¬ 
ning  time. 


ABC  Ups  Benson 

Jack  Benson  was  upped  this 
week  to  employment  manager  for 
ABC’s  personnel  department.  He 
reports  to  Marie-  McWilliams,  net¬ 
work  personnel  director. 

Benson,  joined  ABC  in  1953, 
where  he’s  been  an  employment 
interviewer  since. 


HARRY  VON  ZELL 

Featured  with  GEORGE  and  GRACIE  for  Carnation  and  General  Mill* 
(And -enjoying  it  more  every  year) 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second  p^SklETY  Anniversary 


RADIO-TELEVISION  SS 


‘Sing  A  Song  Of  Nightmares’ 

'  .  By  ALAN  M.  FISHBURN  — -  .  . 

( Writer-Director-Producer ) 

(NOTE:  To  be  sung  to  the  tube  of  falling  Nielsens,  rising  costs 
and  harping  critics;  and  with  humble  apologies  to  Savoyards  ev¬ 
erywhere.) 

Enter  THE  PRODUCER  very  miserable. 

You’ve  got  millions  at.  stake,  can’t  afford  a  mistake,  and  your  mind  is 
whirl  with  anxiety, 

Reading  rating  reports  you  are  soOn  out  of  sorts,  yoUTe  a  menace  to 
politei  society; 

And  your  brain  is:  pn.fire,  those  figures  conspire  to  knock  ev’ry  prop 
out  from  under  you, 

So  you  froth  at  the  mouth,  and  you  long  to  go  south,  got  away  from 
those  westerns. that,  sunder  you! 

As  you  watch  your  show  slipping,  .your  nose  starts. a-drifting,  the  agency 
keeps  on  complaining 

Till  you’re  worn  and.  you’re  torn,  and  you  .  squirm  like  worm  arid 
they’re  griping  while  you  try  explaining;. 

And  you  feel  like .  a  creep  nbw  you  know  you’re  in  deep,  and  your 
program  is. caught  in  a  tangle,. 

You  would  love  a  new  time,  but  your  bid  they  decline,  so  you’ve  got 
to  find  some  other  angle. 


THE 

HONEY  DREAMERS 

.  Currently  On  "The  Jim  Bacldis 
Show,”  Daily- American  Broadcast¬ 
ing  NetWork. 

Records  ...  Transcriptions 
jfgriit:  ART  WARD  Direction 

Oxford  .7-9034  -MCA 


Other  networks  are  hot,  so  the  client  gets,  hot,  and  those  critics  won’t 
write  you  a  ticket, 

Its  a  nightmarish  dream,  and  you  sweat  and  you  scheme,  when  they 
tell  you  “you  know  whei'e  to  stick  it!” 

You’ve  got  problems  with  comics,  you  think  you  need  comics,  but  where 
in  the  hell  can  you  hire  them? 

You’re  behind  the  eightrball  ’cause  their  fees  are  riot  small,  yet  if  they 
lay  an  egg  you  daren’t  fire  thein!- 

’Cause  you  need  them  so  bad,  they’re  so  few  to  be  had,  and  you’re  up 
to  your  navel  with  writers— 

What  a  lacklustre  horde,. with  your  show  they  are  bored,  it’s  a  cinch, 
they  give  you  your  colitis! 

Designers  will  plague  you,  most  agents  get  vague,  you  can  break  your 
neck  trying  to  please  them, 

Ev’ry  one’s  got  his  price,  they’re  not  apt  to  be  nice,  if  they  think  that 
you’re  trying  to.  squeeze  them; 

Crews  want  extras  like  mad,  without  frilis.  they  are  sad,  they  don’t  care; 
what  it  does  to  your  income. 

Then  a  quiz  hits  your  air,  strictly  low-budget  fare  full  of  genius, 
gimmicks  and  then  some! 

And  this  you  can’t  stand,  vet  to  throw  i  our  hand  means  you’ll  have 
to  sell  girdles  or  nose-drops. 

Maybe  shirts,  maybe  socks— if  you  could.,  you'd  sell  stocks^— niaybe 
goldfish  or  pets,  even  farm  ^crpps! 

But  still  you  can’t,  quit  since  your  rriargin’s  too  thin,  ’cause  Exurbia’s 
where  you’ve  invested  in, 

You  need  money  real  bad  to  make  payments  like  mad  —  that’s  what 
creditors  are  interested  in! 

So  you  dream  of  devices,  not  found  at  low  prices,  like  beefy  stripteas- 
ers  or  babies. 

To  hype  up  your  rating  yoird  show  saimon  mating,  or  even  give  Lassie 
the  rabies! 

You’re  a  regular  wreck,  with  a  crick  in  your  neck,  and  no  Wonder  you’re 
sore,  for  you’re  pinned  to  the  floor,  arid  you’ve  needles  arid  pins 
from  your  soles  to  your  shins,  and  your  flesh  is.  a-creep  ’cause 
your  mind’s  been  asleep,  and  you’ve  cramp  in  your  toes,  and  a 
fly  on  your  nose,  and  some  fluff  in  your  lung,  and  a  feverish 
tongue i  and  a  thirst  that’s  intense,  and  a  general  sense  that  this 
hell  which  you’re  in  isn’t  over— 

Where’s  a  fellow  to  go — better  programs  to  show— better  talent  to  find 
—how  to  come  from  behind? 

When  the.  hell  will  this  nightmare  be  over? 

THE  PRODUCER  falls  exhausted  on  a  seat  as  we  go  to.  black. 


JACK  STERLING 


Status  Quo  ! 

U=By  ROBT.  EASTMAN  ==J. 

(Pres.,  ABC  Radio  NeticOrk) 

“Stay  as  sweet  as  you  are,  don’t 
let  a  thing  ever  change  you.”  This 
is  the  theme  song  of  many  people 
in  the  radio  business.  Change  is 
1  disturbing;  it  requires  much 
1  thought  in  order  to  understand,  it 
j  and  anticipate  where  it  goes  from 
[here.  It  calis  for  workr— constarit- 
ily. 

I  The  sleeping  beauties  had  bet¬ 
ter,  wake  up  because  the  inevita¬ 
bility  of  change  is  as  ..certain  as 
the  rising  and  setting  of  the  sun. 
This  is  not  only  a  basic  fact  of 
business— it  is  one  of  the  facts  of 
life  itself.  ' 

.  We  know,  that  radio  has  under¬ 
gone  great  fundamental  changes 
in  the  past  decade.  Most  radio  and 
advertising  people  aren’t  quite  sure 
why  this  medium  in  just  the  past 
11  .  years  lias  increased  in  circula¬ 
tion  from  57  million  to  137  million. 
That’s  an  iricrease  of  80  million.  In 
all  the  history  of  advertising,  noth¬ 
ing  else  'but  radio  has  ever,  shown 
such  a  rate-  of  growth. 

You  can  put  your  head  in  the 
sand  and  ignore  it.  if  you  choose, 
but  it’s  still  there,  requiring  reali¬ 
zation  of  its  true  significance.  Even 
though  we  may  not  wish  to  ponder 
the  subject  to  any  depth, ;  it  is  an 
easy  and  obvious  conclusion  that 
something  riiust  have  happened — 
something  changed! 

Radio  sure  did.  change.  The 
changes  have  been  extreme  aridl 
revolutionary.  However,  I  am  not 
going  to ,  delve,  into  them  too  far 
because  if  some  of  our  competitors 
wish,  to  love  that  old  status  quo, 
believe  me,  it  will  not  be  my  ob¬ 
jective:  to  try  and  elevate  their 
sights.  But;  I  do  wish  some  of  them 
would  begin  to  realize  the  value 
of  what,  they  control  (one  of  our 
competitors  picked  up  some  of  our 
cast-off,  out-of-date  programming, 
arid  they’ve  been  crowing  about  it 
with  special  emphasis  on  billings— 
a  direct  result  of  drastic  cut  rates. 
It  could  have  been  done  faster  by 
just  giving  it  away). 

If  the  person  in  advertising  is 
satisfied  to  sum  up  the  matter  with, 
“Sure,  people  bought  a  lot  of  radio 
sets— -they  bought  a  lot  of  other 
things,  too — so  what,” — he  should 
gracefully  go  back  to  driving  a 
truck  while  the  job  is  still  open. 

Listening  patterns  have  changed. 
It;  it  now  oh  individual  process. 
Places  of  listening  have  changed. 
The  significance  of  these  drastic 
changes  is.  little  Understood  be¬ 
cause  in  the-  past  hundred;  years, 
or  perhaps  even  longer,  no  estab¬ 
lished  mass  medium  of  communi¬ 
cations  has  undergone  such  a  sud¬ 
den  and  extensive  metamorphosis: 

(1  might  add  here  that  it  doesn't 
take  very,  much  imagination  io  re¬ 
alize  the.  difficulty  of  trying  to  mea¬ 
sure  this  radically  altered  radio 
rnedium  and  even  begin,  to  mea¬ 
sure  it  fairly  in.  relation:  to  other 
media.) 

It  stands  to  intelligent  reason 
that  when  the  receiving  end 
changes,  so .  extensively,  something: 
other  than  ,  “status  quo”  is  called 
for  on  the  sending  end.  There  is 
lots  of  evidence  all  over  the  coun-. 
(Continued  on  page  106) 


Competition  In  TV: 
Is  It  Good  or  Bad? 


By  BOB  CHANDLER 

Does  iricreased  competitiori  in  network  television  tend  to  raise  or 
lower  program  standards? 

This  is  a  question  that  some  pf  the  more  introspective  of  the  ine- 
dia’s  senior  executives  are  beginning  to  ask  themselves.  It’s  no  ivory- 
tower  soUl-searching  matter  either,  for  it  has  immediate  impact  and 
application. 

With,  this,  the  first  truly  competitive  (on  a  three-network 

basis)  proving  out  to  be  dud;  is  the  overall  lowering  of  prograin  stand¬ 
ards  a  cause  of  the  increased  competition?  And  what  does  this  mean 
in  terms  of  the  multi-faceted  Congressional-Governmental  investiga¬ 
tions  and.  reports  aimed  at  making  the  medium  even  more  competi¬ 
tive?  .Will,  such  further  competition  result  in  an  even  greater  tele¬ 
scoping  of  network  programming  fare  and  the  overall  service  to  the 
public? 

Classically,  iricreased  competition  has  in  every,  industry  meant  an 
improved  end-product  or  service  for  the  consumer.  But  television  in 
many  ways  is  unique.  The  product  or  service  is  an  intangible,  and 
there  are  a  good  many  states  of  riiind  over  the  meaning  of  .  “better” 
or  “worse”  as  they  apply  to  programming. 

■}  •  '  _ _ Playing  It  Safe _ , _ _ 1 

One  thing  ■  is  certain,  however.  Whereas  competition  in  the  past  has 
nearly  always  meant  a  greater  diversity  of  product  and  service  to  the 
consumer,  it’s  worked  the  opposite  way  in  television.  Competition  has 
resulted  in  narrowing  the  scope  arid,  diversity  of  programming  offered 
the  audience,  which  is  the  medium's  consumer. 

Why  has  this  happened?  Simply,  because^  unlike  industries  dealing 
in  real  goods  and  services,  television  doesn’t  know  what  the  consu¬ 
mers  really  want.  And  with  millions  of  dollars  at  stake  in  every  move 
at  second-guessing  the  public,  the  natural  tendency  is  to  play  it  safe. 
In  its  economics,  television  is  first  and  foremost  a  mass-appeal  me¬ 
dium,  and  those  responsible  for  the  dollars-and-cents  results  at  each 
of  the  networks  must  bow  to  what  they  believe  the  masses  want. 

Whether  their  concept  of  the  public’s  tastes  is  a  real  one  or  not  is 
besides  the  point.  This  very  factor  of  increased  competition  makes  the 
pressures  on  the  network  heads  to  conforrii  to  the  mirage  of  mass-ap¬ 
peal  that  much  greater.  Western  features  have  never  lost  a  cent  at  the 
boxoffice,  goes  the  old  film  biz  adage,  hence  they  must  be  a  safe  bet 
for  television.  The  few  westerns  that  have.,  been  on  television  have 
proved  successful.  Hence  the  plethora  of  westerns  this  year,  the  nar¬ 
rowing  of  the  scope  and  diversity  of  programming. 

^  _ Rising.  Costs  a  Factor _ _ _ [ 

There  was  a  time  when,  because  the  pressures  of  competition  were 
not  so  great,  that'  a  network  or  an  advertiser  could  afford  to  strike 
off  in  a  different  direction  in  prime  everiing  time.  There  was  a  time 
when  “See  it  Now”  could  be  a  weekly  nighttime  feature.  There  was  a 
time  when,  to  put  it  bluntly,  ,a  network  could  exercise  a  sort  of  paternal 
benevolence ,  by  programming  “erilightment”  in  prime  hours.  Never 
sure  of  what  the  public  really,  wanted,  they  could  afford  to  assume 
it  was  the  best. 

But  not  any  more.  For  one  thing!  television’s  rising  costs  have  i 
creased  the.  risks  tremendpusly,  to  the  point  where  the  “swing”  on 
tiirie  costs  alone  for  a  half-hour  prograiri  over  a  full  season has 
reached  the  $3,000,000  point,  and  the  talent  ,  cost  is  approximately  the 
same.  “Swing”  as  applied  to  television  means  the  amount  of  revenues 
lost  to  a  network  from  being  unable  to  sell  a  tiirie  period,  plus  the  ad¬ 
ditional;  costs  of  paying  out  compensation  to  affiliates  to  carry  the 
sustaining  program  plus  the  costs  of  the- sustainer  itself. 

.  But  there’s  more  at  stake  than  even  that  $6,000,000.  risk  factor.  The. 
intense  competition  now  existing  has  carried  the  risks  further  and 
make  them  a  two  or  three-year  gamble.  For  once  a  network  grows 
weak  in  any  one  time  period,  it  more  often  than  not  takes  two  or  three 
seasons  to  recover  the  lost  strength  in  the  inter-network  infighting. 

Some  of  the  current  soul-searching  will  have  to  concern  itself  with 
a  reevaluatiori  of  the  “mass  appeal”  concept.  Is  the  mass-appeal  show; 
the  so-called  “bread-and-butter  show,”  what  the  public  really  wants? 
How  does  anyone  know  whether  the  public  will  go  for  something  new 
and  different,  something  above  the  current  standard,  unless  it’s  of¬ 
fered  to  the  public  first,  unless  someone  tries  it? 

In  short,  what  is  the  “better  product”  or  “better  service”  in  tele¬ 
vision  terms?  If  nothing  else,  this  new  esason  has  raised  the  issue  more 
sharply  than  ever  before  among  television’s  responsible  decision-mak¬ 
ers. 


NELSON  CASE 

Personal  Management:  CARL.  EASTMAN 
80  Park  Avenue,  New  York  City 


96 _ KADIO-TEI-E  VISION  Fifty-second  pjSSfW&Y  ^nmvenary 


January  8, 1958 


Predictions  for  a  Better 
TV  Tomorrow 

By  HAL  BLOCK 

(Author  of  Saturday  Evening  Post  weekly,  feature p 
‘Inventions  for  a  Better  Tomorrow ’) 

FOR  TV  COMEDIANS:  Comedy  Westerns:  (a)  such  as 
“Billy  the  Kidder*';  (b),  “Berle  of  the  Golden  West”;  (c), 
“A  Sequel  to  ‘Colt  .45’  "  entitled  “Benny  ’39.”!  Also,  Spec¬ 
taculars  in  color— If  they  can  do  “How  Green  Is  My  Val¬ 
ley”  why  can't  they  also  do  “How  Red  Is  My  Button.’’ 

FOR  TV  JOKES:  An  ASCAP-type  organization  con¬ 
sisting  of  jokes  designed  to  keep  the  unemployed  comics 
in  their  old  age.  (After  all,  the  comedians  kept  the  jokes 
in  “Their Old  Age!) 

FOR  BING  CROSBY:  A.  new  three-network  program 
in  ’58.  (According  tb  this  program  Bing  buys  the  three 
networks  in  1958). 

FOR  BOB  HOPE:  A  new  Marlboro  “Manly”  wristwatch 
to  replace  the  watch  that  Hope  “misplaced.”  (The  reason 
the  .  Marlboro  watch  is  so  manly  is  that  it  has  . a  tattoo  on 
both  hands.) 

FOR  GEORGE  JESSEL:  A  new  type  of  “Question  and 
Answer  Program."  The  unique  thing  is  that  the  panelists 
will  consist  exclusively  of  Jessel’s  present  and  former 
girl  friends.  (Sort  of  a  “Youth  Wants  to  Know”  program). 

FOR  MIKE  TODD:  A  new  Treasury  issue  of  $1,000  bills 
with  the  picture  of  Elizabeth  Taylor  in  the 'middle.  (This 
will  make  it  even  easier  for  Mike  to  kiss  his  money  good¬ 
bye!. 

FOR  INGRID  BERGMAN:  A  new  stringent  (“No-Ital” 
diet)  for  ’5iB — no  ravioli,  linguina,  spaghetti  or  Rossellini. 

FOR  HARASSED  AD  EXECUTIVES:  New  “Anto-TV 
Glasses.”  (To  keep  them  from  seeing  “Spot .  Announce¬ 
ments”  in  front  Of  their  eyes  before  they  go  to  sleep). 

FOR  HOLLYWOOD  STUDIO  MOGULS:  An  eUminai- 
tion  of  the  common  “coffee  break,”  and  a  substitution,  of 
the  '“Geritol-break”  each  day.  (This  is  for  the  benefit  of 
“Tired  Blood’-relatives). 

FOR  SERGEANT  BILKO:  A  hew  pool  table  equipped 
with  “patch  pockets.”  (As  soon  as  the  pool  table  passes 
camp  inspection,  Bilko  attaches  the  patch  pockets  and 
...  .....  Pouffl-Instant  Crap  Table!) 

FOR  ELVIS  PRESLEY:  A  new  advanced  course  in  ven- . 
triliquism  in  1958.  (The  way  things  are  going  now  Col. 
Parker  won’t  let  him  open  his  mouth  for  less  than  $10,- 
000.) 

COL.  PARKER:  An  executive  position  with  the  .  Singer 
Sewing  Machine  Co.  (After  all  this  company  is  the  Only 
Money  Making  Singer  that  he  hasn’t  already  sewed  up). 

FOR  LOUELLA  AND  HER  DAUGHTER  HARRIET:  A 
hew  “Parson  to  Parson”  tv  show.  (Ouch!  !  !) 

FOR  JOE  E.  LEWIS:  The  starring  role  in  the  tv  pro¬ 
duction  of  the  bestselling  book  titled,  “Where  Was  Ic  Last 
Night  .... .  OUT  1  !  !” 

FOR  L.  A.  AND  SAN  FRANCISCO:  A  new  theme 
song  entitled  “Diamonds  Are  a  Town’s  Best  Fidend”  (as 
written  by  the  owner  of  the  Milwaukee  Braves). 

FOR  PATRICE  MUNSEL  and  MARIO  LANZA:  Two 
new  “Rock  ’n’  Roll”  HiFi  sets.  (As  soon  as  a  rock  ’n’  roll 
record  is  played  the  FI  becomes  Hi  only  dogs  can 
hear  it.) 

FOR  MENASHA  SKULNICK:  A  Second  Avenue  se¬ 
quel  to  “Tea  House,  of  the  August  Moon”  entitled  "Tea 
House  of  the  August  Moon— With  Lemon.” 

FOR  MITCH  MILLER:  A  guest  ,  performance  on  Perry 
Como’s  Barber  Chair. 

FOR  MANIE  SACKS:  A  super-spectacular  for  NBC 
entitled  “Noah's  Arc.”  (Arc  is  RCA  spelled  sideways.)  . 

FOR  KHRUSHCHEV:  A  starring  r  ole  in  the  Russian  ver¬ 
sion  of  “Down  You  Go.”  (This  would  replace  his  present 
show  called  “Me,  the  People.”) 

FOR  MAO  TZE-TUNG:  A  guest  shot  on  the  Chinese 
version  of  “This  Was  Your  Life.”  (And  he  could  easily  be 
the  guest— shot!) 

FOR  JIMMY  HOFFA:  A  new  tv  series  entitled  “I  Can’t 
Even  Remember  Mama.” 

FOR  JIM  HAGERTY:  A  series  for  Art  Buchwald. 
“You  Cart  Be  Athletic  But  Don’t  Take  Jim  Too  Often.” 

FOR  ALL  MY  FRIENDS  on  “Variety”  AND  OTHER 
MEMBERS  OF  THE  NEWSPAPER  FRATERNITY;  A  New 
Year  headline:  “Fourth  Estate  Great  in  "58!.” 

FOR  ALL  RADIO  AND  TV  BOYS  AND.  GIRLS,  TO 
SAY  NOTHING  OF  ITINERANT  SPONSORS:  “A  Merry 
Trendex  and  a  Happy  Nielsen.” 

FOR  IKE,  THE  FREE  WORLD  AND  PEACE:  A  musical 
collaboration  of  Rodgers,  Hammerstein,  Irving  Berlin,  Cole 
Porter,  Hoagy  Carmichael  and  Bob  &  Ray  to  compose  a 
new  television  jingle  for  “Peace.”  (After  all,  if  the  sing¬ 
ing  commercials  could  make  Lestoil,  Pepsi-Colai,  and  The 
Flip  Top  Box  a  big  success  in  less  than  a  month,  who 
knows  What  a  “sock”  jingle  can  do  for  “PEACE”).  Exr 
ample:  1.  “You  Get  a  Lotta  Life  Without  A-Bombs,  H- 
Bombs,  Missiles,  and  You  Don’t  Flip  Your  Tops.” 


Letters-a-day  that  followed  long,  after  the  telecast  perhaps 
best  reflects  a  growing  sponsor  appreciation  for  public 
reaction  as  opposed  to  critical  evaluation  or  Trendexes. 
Maybe  that’s  a  healthy  trend. 

Few,  if  any  distinctive  patterns  have  emerged-  from  the 
new  season.  Perhaps  the  closest  approximation  to  one  has 
been  the  current  practice— applied  by  all  three  networks 
—of  getting  a  half-hour  jump  on  established  rival  shows, 
in  each  instance . deflating  the  Competition.  Thus  the  7:30 
Saturday  night  starting  time  for  “Perry  Mason”  has  in¬ 
flicted  sufficient  damage  on  the  Perry  Como  8-to-9  show  to 
strip  it  of  its  once  enviable  ratings.  ABC-TV  sneaked  in 
the  same  way  at  Sunday  7: 30  With  its  “Mavarick”  series 
for  the  most  telling  blow  of  all  not  only  applying  a  one- 
two  punch  to  Steve  Allen  and  Ed  Sullivan  but  going  ahead 
of  both.  Ditto  in  the  case'  of  NBC’s  Wednesday  night 
“Wagon  Train,”  its  7:30  starting  time  knocking  the  wind 
out  of  “Big  Record’s”  8-to-9  sails,  thus  duplicating  the 
“Disneyland”  feat  of  a  couple  seasons  back  when  a  similar 
7:30  ABC  “curtain”  took  Arthur  Godfrey’s  measure.  And 
now  NBC's  got  a  brand  new  plot — installing  “Northwest 
Passage”  at  /7  oclock  on  Sunday  to  get  a  half-hour  jump  on 
‘Maverick.”  But  where  does  it  end?  Supposing,  the  trade. 
supppsses,:  everybody  played  hop-scotch  on  everybody  else? 
All  things  considered  it  can  be  gagged  up  to  envision  the 
guy  With  a  6  a.m.  show  running  off  with  the  laurels  by 
virtue  of  getting,  in  there  first, 

Confusing?  But  that’s,  the  story  of  ’57-’58.. 


A  Cure  For  The  Snappers 


•  By  H.  ALLEN  SMITH  = 


H.  Allen  Smith 


Everett  DePeyster  Williff,  the  well-known  television 
director,  arrived  at  my  house  again  on  a  Saturday  after¬ 
noon,  looking  tired  and  disconsolate.  I  knew  that  he  .  had 
been  working  hard  lately.  He  is  director  for  a  dozen  of 
the  leading  pop'  singers  in  television 
and,  according  to  a  high  authoritative 
source,  some  of  them  are  difficult  to 
handle. 

I  stirred  up  a  toddy  for  Everett  and 
we  settled  down  before  the  fireplace. 

.  “Two  or  three  years  back,”  he  said, 
“I  came '.to  you  with  a  problem.  I 
came  to  you  because  I  consider  you 
to  have  one  of  the  five  finest  minds 
in  the  country  today.” 

.  .  “Three  times  80  is  240,”  I  said, 
“Muchas  Gracias/’ 

“At  that-  time,”  he  continued,  “alt 
of  our '  singers  in  television  were 
grinding  their  jaws.  They  couldn’t  ring  two  notes  with- 
pnt  Wrenching  their  iower  jaws  to  and  fro  in  a  spastic 
sort  of  way  that  was  most  unattractive  to  the  viewers. 
You  Saw  the  solution  immediately.  As  I  remember,  we 
issued  an  announcement  that  in  the  future  any  singer 
who  wrenched  his  jaws  would  be  fitted  with  flesh-tinted 
steel  braces,  which  would  prevent  any  lateral  movement. 
The  effect  was  instantaneous.  Every  singer,  male  and 
female,- with  the  sole,  exception  of  Louis  Armstrong,  stop¬ 
ped  jaw-grinding.” 

“Yes,”  I  said,  "I  remember.  It  was  one  of  the  better 
things  I  have  done  for  the  world.” 

“It  was'  indeed,”  said  Everett. .  “And  now;  I’ve  come  to 
you  with  a  problem  equally  perplexing.  The  jaw-grinding 
is  ho  more,  but  now  .  .  .  •” 

“  I  know,”  I  said  softly. 

“You  know?”  he  repeated.  “You  mean  you  know  the 
problem  already?” 

“Of  course,”  I  said. 

“Okay,  Wise  guy,”  he  said,  “what  is  it?” 

“Finger-snapping”  I  said. 

“Teirificsville!”  he  exclaimed.  “What  a  mind  you 
have!  What  a  keen  observer  of  life!” 

“Please,”  I  said,  “don’t  exaggerate  .  ;  .  too  much.  The 
Whole  world  knows  about  finger-snapping  and  I  suspect 
that  the  whole  world  is  getting  pretty  sick  of  it.  I  know 
I’m  getting  a  little  sick  of  it.  .  I’ve  even  seen  my  long- 
lost  love,  Dinah,  snapping  away  with  both  hands.  Why 
don’t  you  put  a  stop  to  it?”  , 

“I’Ve  tried,”  said  Everett,  “but  they  all  say  they  can’t 
stop.” 


v 


Did  Sinatra  Start  It? 


Year  of  Confusion 


.  “Balderdash!”  I  said.  “I  can  remember  back  just  a  few 
years:  ago  when  singers  sang  their  songs  without  snapping 
their  fingers:  Then  somebody  important  in  the  buiness 
began  snapping.  It  may  have  been  Sinatra.  Anyway,  the 
others  took  it  up-  It’s  merely  a  fad.  I’ve  been . studying 
it  carefully  in  the  last  few  months.  Como  snaps.  Rose¬ 
mary  snaps.  Gisele  snaps.  Patti  Page  must  ,  have  bunions 
on  her.  fingers;  the  way  she  snaps./  And  while  I  didn’t 
see  it  personally  I  heard  that  thosf*  four  sweet  little  girls 
on  the  Lawrence .  Welk  Show  were  snapping  the  other 
night  I  looked  ih  on  Munsel’s  show  recently  and  while 
she  didn’t  snap,  ,  her  fingers  went  into  snapping  postion 
a.  couple  of  times,  but  she  caught  herself.  I  wouldn't 
be -  surprised  if,  any  day  now,  she  yields  to  teihp- 
tatiob:  and  joins  the  herd  and  starts  snapping  away  like 
mad;  The  thing  has  got  out  of  .  ,  .  well,  out  of  .  .  .  oh 
hell,  out  of  hand.” 


Continued  from  page  91 

“outside”  specials  perish  from  entertainment  malnutrition, 
and  the  networks,  hoisted  on  their  own  petard,  bemoan  the 
sins  they  have  committed  and  commissioned. 

McCann-Erickson  agency  makes  a  valiant  stab:  at'  re¬ 
turning  to  bigtime  tv  production  and  is  credited  with 
bringing  in  the.  $375,000  tihtfilm  “Pied  Piper”  with  dis¬ 
astrous  Trendex  results,  faring  no  better,  than  a  19.8 
rating  average  compared  with  a  24,6  for  the  “Wyatt  Earp” 
half-hour  competition.  And  to  compound  the  confusion, 
such  specials  as  “The  Prince  and  the  pauper”  and  the 
aforementioned  “Green  Pastures,”  both  networked  under 
“outside”  auspices,  prove  a  credit  to  tv’s  ingenuity  and 
imagination.  So  who  is  doing  what  to  whom?;. 

Confusion?  The  tv  critics,  running  the  gamut  in  ex¬ 
tremes,  have  the  networks  in  a  frankly  bewildered  state. 
With  but  rare  exceptions,  what’s  one  man’s  meat  is  an¬ 
other  man’s  poison.  A  N-.  Y.  Times  can — and  did—  ad¬ 
minister  a  withering  blast  at  “Pied  Piper”;  the  afternoon 
daily  confreres  were  glowing  in  their  tributes.  As  with 
“Pied  Piper,”  such  extremes  have  become  commonplace 
this  season:  The  sponsor?  He’ll  settle  for  a  more  exacting 
yardstick:  public  opinion  as  registered  by  mail  and  sale 
of  product.  Whatever  the  pros  and.  cons  on  the  General 
Motors  50th  anni  tv  festivities  (and.  these,  too,  ran -to 
extremes),  t*”*  client’s  gratification  over  the  thousand- 


“I’ve  lectured  and  preached  and  threatened,”  said  Ever¬ 
ett,  “but  they  all  insist  that  it’s  an  involuntary  thing,  ah 
unconscious  action,  a  bit  of  business  they  '  are  not  even 
aware  of  doing.  What  can  I  do?:  I  hear  that  many  listen¬ 
ers  are  becoming  so  irritated  by  finger-snapping  that 
they’re  turning  off  the  singers  and  tuning  in  the  cow¬ 
boys.”' 

“Been  doing  it  myself,”  I  told  him. 

“Just  this  week,”  he.  said,  .“  young  redheaded  fellow 
from  Cleveland  came  in,  highly  recommended  for  a  net¬ 
work  show1,  good  voice,  firstrate  possibilities.  But  he  took 
no  pride  at  all  in  his  singing.  He  told  me  he  was  a 
double-snapper.  Used  both  hands  and  snapped  twice  on 
each  beat.  I  might  have  put  up  with  that,  but  when  he 
insisted  .  that  he  be  billed  as  The  Red  Snapper,  I  sent 
him  packing.  . 

“Sometimes,”  I  murred,  “I  get  the  feeling  that  I 
would  like  to  be  orbited.” 

“You  brought  an  end  to  the  jaw-grinding,”  said  Ever¬ 
ett.  “Please  see  if  you  can’t  figure  out  some  way  of  end¬ 
ing^  the  snapping.” 

“There’s  only  one  way,”  I  said: 

“Yes?”' 

“Make  ’em  all  wear  mittens.” 

“Man!”  cried  Everett.  “You’re  solid!” 

Not  all  over.  Only  at  the  top. 


By  MORT  GREEN  &  GEORGE  FOSTER 

“Listen,  if  you  think  it’s  so  easy  to  sit  around  the  pool 
at  the  Americana  Hotel  in  Miami  Beach  in  December 
and  write  The  Perry  Como  Show;  you  try  it  Charlie.  .  .” 

“I  never  fool  around  with  anybody  on  the  show, 
honey  ...” 

“How  the  hell  should  I  know  that  Mavarick  would  be 
so  popular?  .  . 

“So  what  if  Cadillac  is  a  plug  , ,.  .  it’s -a  good  joke 
and  a  case  of  Scotch  .  ,  .” 

“Ratings  mean  nothing';  .  .  it’s  the  shorn  that  counts. . .  ” 

“What  else  do  you  write  besides  The  Perry  Como 
Show?  .  ,  .” 

“Let’s  put  it  to  bed  and  see  how  it  looks  in  the  morn¬ 
ing  without  makeup  :  ..  .” 

It’s  a  great  show  .  .  .  you  just  can’t  get  a  rating  at  8:00 
Sunday  night  on  DuMont  .  .” 

“This’ll  be  the  best  variety  show  in  the  business  „ 
Here  are  the  guest  stars  who  are  definitely  pencilled  in: 
Greta  Garbo,  Cary  Grant,  Clark  Gable,  Queen  Elizabeth. 
Ill,  Danny  Kaye.  Ava  Gardner  and  Gregory  Peck  . ...  .” 

“Ratings  mean  nothing  .  .  it’s  the  show  counts?.... 

“Let's  go  over  to  my  place  and  watch  the  show  on  my 
color  set  .  .  ..  Just  ,  you  and.  me,  honey  .  .  .” 

“Yes,  Perry  Como  is  really  a  nice  guy  .  .  .” 

“If  I  tell  you  you’re  getting  great  guest  stars,  believe 
me,  Charlie  .  .  .” 

“It’s  a  great  show  .  .  .  you  just  can?t  get  a  rating  at  8;  00 
Sunday  night  on  ABC  .  .  .” 

“Yes,  I  said  a  triple  martini  .  ../leave  out  the  fruit  .  . 

“Ratings  mean  nothing  ...  it’s  the  show  that  counts? ... 

“Why  don’t  we  do  one  show,  just  one,  from  the  Ameri¬ 
cana  Hotel  in  Miami.  Beach?  .  .” 

“Let’s  keep  the  sound  off,  honey..  ...  I  just  have  to  check 
the  commercials 

“I  know  it’s  pertinent  .  .  .  but  how  germane  is  it?  .  .  .” 

“Let’s  put  it  up  in  the  air  and  see  how  long  the  dog 
lives  ...” 

“I  did  not  fire  Jack  Paar  ...  you  were  the  one  who  said 
he  wasn’t  commercial  .  .  ..” 

“Ratings  mean  nothing  .  .  .  it’s  the  show  that  counts  . 
hie  .  • . 

“Greta  Garbo,  Cary  Grant,.  Clark  Gable,  Queen  Elizabeth 
III,  Danny  Kaye,  Ava  Gardner  and  Gregory  Peck  are  not 
available  but  I  got  a  great  replacement  .  .  ...How  about 
Trish  Dwelley?  .  . 

“Whaddaya  mean,  am  I  married?.  :  .  .  What  kinda  fool 
question  is  that?  .  .  .  Yes,  I  am  !  ...  honey  .  ...” 

“That’s  right  .  .  .  a  fifth  of  Dewar’s  on. the  rocks  .  .  .” 

“This  show  can’t  miss  .  .  .  .You  get  Rex  Harrison, 
see?  .  .  .  and  he  takes,  a  musical  four  of  the  country  .  .  . 
see?  . 

“It’s  a  great  show  ,  . ..  you  just  can’t  get  a  rating  at  8:00 
Sunday  night  on  NBC  .  ...” 

“Rtngs  mn  nthng  . . .  .  *ts  shw  tht  ents 

“  So  what  if  Sputnik  is  a  plug?  :  .  .  It’s  a  good  joke  .  , . 
and  a  case  of  vodka  .  .  .” 

“Now  we’re  all  set .,  .  .  all  We  need  is  another  Perry 
Como  .  . 

“Look,  i’ll  put  it  to  you  straight  from  the  shoulder  .  .  . 
Do  you  or  don’t  you?  .  .  .  Your  job  on.  the  show  doesn’t 
depend  on  it,  honey  ...  .” 

“$o  let  the  show  stay  in  New  York  and  We’ll  write  it 
from  the  Americana  in  Miami  Beach  .  .  .” 

“This  show  can't  miss  .  .  ..  you  see,  we  use  one  of  the 
top  twenties  as  host,  get  it?  ... .  They’ll  never  take  a  crack 
at  him  .  .  .” 

“It’s  a  great  show  .  .  .  you.  just  can’t  get  a  rating  at  8:00 
Sunday  night  on  .  CBS  ” 

“Rtngsmnnthng’  tsthshwthtcnts  ;  . 

“  If  you  drink  it  straight,  it  can  never  hurt  you  ..  .  .” 

“Well,  ;  it  was  a  Bulova  show  .  .  .  but  everybody 
knows  he’s  on  for  you,  sir  .  . ..  Fire  Bob  Hope?  Yes, 
sir  ... 

‘Subliminal  advertising?  ....  You  mean  that  thing  where 
they  keep  flashing  a  belOW-consciotis  advertisement  on  the 
screen  so  they  make  you  unconsciously  order  Coco-Cola 
every  time  you  want  a  drink?  ;  .  .  Nothing  tb  it . .  .  No,  ho, 
so  Scotch  for  me •.  .  .  just  a  Coke,  please  ... 

“Okay,  where  do  you  live?  ril  take  you  home, 
honey  .  . 

“It’s  a  great  show  ...  you  just  can’t  get  . a  rating  at  8:  00 
Sunday  night  on  radio  ..  .” 

“So  what  if  the  Americana  Hotel  in  Miami  Beach  is  a 
plug?  ..  .  .  It’s  -a  good  joke  .  .  ;  and  a  case  of  sun-tan  oil . ; . 

“R  a  t  i  n  g  s  m  e  a  n  e  v  e  r  y  t  h  i  n  g  .  .  .” 

“The  shows  on  television,  this  .year  are  so  great,  I 
doubt  if  any  of  them  will  ever  be  replaced  .  .. .” 


Ang!o-U.S.TV 

Continued  from  page  91.  j. 

vertising  in  any  one  hour,  but  additionally  they:  are  per¬ 
mitted  to  screen  advertising  magazines  Which  net  a 
healthy  gross. 

The  acceptance  of  advertising  on  the  home  screens 
represented  quite  a  revolution  In  British  viewing  haibits, 
but  the  weekly  ratings  prove  conclusively  that  the  public 
is  all  for  it.  Week  after  week,  with  almost  monotonous 
regularity,  the  top  10  on  each  of  the  two  rrating  services 
'  are  collared  by  the  commercial  webs,  although  the  BBC 
(which  spans  the  entire  country.)  still  commands  po¬ 
tentially  the  largest  viewing  audience. 

The  commercial  tv  development  program  is  continuing 
on  schedule,  notwithstanding  the  Government’s  credit 
squeeze  and  anti-inflation  policy.  The  new  Welsh  trans¬ 
mitter  goes  on  the  air  next  month  (Feb.)  after  a  two 
months  delay  owing  to  a  technical  hitch.  In  the  summer 
the  new  South  of  England  transmitter,  which  will  also 
feed  the  Isle  of  Wight;  will  start  operating  and  the  North- 
Eastern  Station  should’ be  in  business  by  the  end  of  the 
year.  .  t 

Already,  of  the  7,000,000  rCceyers  in  the  UK,  abound 
5,000,000  have  the  choice  of  an  alternative  program  and. 
the  rate  of  conversion  and  :  installation  is  continuing  at 
around  200,000  a  month,  hypoed,  of  course  by  the  con¬ 
tinued  growth  of  the  commercial  outlet.  The  long-term 
development  program  is  designed  to  cover  99%  of  the 
country  by  1960,  but  long  before  then  there  are  signs  that 
the  Independent  Television  Authority  will  give  the  green- 
light  to  a  second  Commercial  station  for  the  London  area. 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second  UfitRIETY  Anniversary 


RADIO-TELEVISION  97 


How  ‘Significant’  Do 


By  MERLE  S.  JONES 

{President i  CBS  Television) 


This  season-  several  critics'  have  charged,  network  television  with  ig¬ 
noring  its  obligation  to  present  .significant,  quality  entertainment  and 
and  with  concentrating  instead  on. the  production  of  mediocre,  “for¬ 
mula”  programs.  These  critics  also  have  been  heard  to  contend  that 
the .  networks,  in  their  race,  to  build  ever-bigger 
audiences,  are  failing  to  offer  serious  intellectual 
and  cultural,  programming  for  their  more’:  discrim¬ 
inating.  viewers. 

These  are  serious  charges,  and  I  ani  glad  to  have 
this  opportunity  to  answer  them.  But  before  I  do 
so  directly,,  let  me  first  state  some  basic  and  per¬ 
haps  obvious  principles  about  television’s  response 
bility  tq  the  Public. 

As  the  nation's  most  popular  medium,  televi¬ 
sion  has  a  primary  obligation  to  satisfy  the  wants 
and  tastes  of  the  great  majority  of  the  American 
.people.  The  free,  competitive. -system  of  televi¬ 
sion  networking  guarantees  that  this  Obligation 
will  be  fulfilled,  for  each  network's  very  existence 
depends  on  its  ability  to  find  and  present  programs  that  will  appeal  to 
millions  of  viewers. 

.  The  free,  competitive  system  of  television  networking  also  guaran-  ' 
tees  that  nothing  the  people  want  to  see  will  be  deliberately  withheld 
from  them,  and  nothing  that  the  people  do  not  want  to  see  will  be  de 
liberately  imposed  upon  them.  Only  "a  government  With  monopolistic 
control  over  the  medium  could  carry  out  either  policy.  The  simple 
threat  of  turning  the  dial  under  our  free  competitive  system  is  enough 
to  insure  that  each  network  and  each  station  will  do  everything  posr 
sible  to  give  the  public  the  programming  it  wants. 

The  important  question  is:  What  does  the  public  want  from  televi¬ 
sion?  One  very  obvious  generalization  is  that  it  wants  to  be  enter¬ 
tained.  People  turn  to  television  mbre  for  relaxation  and  enjoyment 
than  for  education  and  information.  This  is  a  matter  of  human  nature, 
not  an  invention  Of  cynical  commercial  interests.  i 


[. _ _  ,  ,  ‘Don’t  Blame  Us’  _ ,  '  [  - 

Contrary  to  the  assertions  of  the  critics  mentioned  above,  the  fact 
is  that.  CBS  Television,  for  one,  has  made  every  effort  this  season  to 
present  significant  and  important  entertainment  programming. 

No  one  who  has  seen  “The  prince  arid  the  Pauper"  on  The  Du  Pont 
Show  of  the  Month,  or  “Studio  One's  poignant  study  of  psychosomatic 
illness,  “The  Deaf  Heart,”  or  the  “U.S.  Steel  Hour’s”  musical  adapta¬ 
tion  of  “The  importance  of  Being  Earnest”  or  “Armstrong  .  Circle 
Theatre’s”  “Dead  Sea .  Scrolls,”  or  “The  Lucille  Ball-Desi  Arpaz  Show,” 
or  “The  Edsel  Show’s”  Bing  Crosby-Frank  Sinatra  duet  Or  ‘‘High  Ad¬ 
venture  with'  Lowell  ThOrrias,”  can  truthfully  say  that  this  season  has 
not  offered  a  remarkably  high  proportion  of  brilliant  television  enters 
tainment. 

indeed,  it  is  perhaps  one  of  the  most  significant  cultural  develop^ 
merits  of  our  time  that  sorcalled  “class”  television  programming  of  the  j 
'caliber  of  “Playhouse  90”  arid  “Studio  One”  has  achieved  such  mass 
appeal. 


The  second  charge,  that  network  television  has.  failed  in  its  obiiga-: 
tion  to  offer  serious  intellectual  and  cultural  programming,  can  be  an¬ 
swered  simply  by  calling  the  roll  ;of  such  programs  presented  this  sea¬ 
son  on  CBS  Television  ,  alone.  These  include  “Conquest,”  “Twentieth 
Century,”  “The  Seven  Lively;  Arts,”  "See  It  Now”  “Face  the  Nation,” 
“LePs  Take  a  Trip.”  “Look  Up  arid  Live.”  “Camera  Three.”  “UN  in 
Action”  and  "Lamp  Unto  Mv  Feet.”  Indeed,  this  season,  more  eriergy, 
time  and  money  have  been  expended  by  CBS  Television  on  these  spe¬ 
cial  programs  than  ever  before  in  history. 

The  charge  also  has  been  made’  that  the  .  networks  are  remiss  in  not 
scheduling  their  public  service  programs  during  prime  nighttirne  hours. 
Actually,  there  is  a  virtue,  it  seems  to  me,  in  setting  apart  brie  por¬ 
tion  of  the  television  week  for  such ’cultural  and  intellectual  program¬ 
ming.  Network  shows  of  the  caliber  of  “Conquest, "  ‘‘Twentieth  Cen¬ 
tury.”  “The  Seven  Lively  Arts,”  “See  It  Now,”  “Face  the  Nation,” 
“Let’s  Take  a  Trip”  and  “Lamp  . Unto  My.  Feet”  make  special  demands 
on  a  viewer’s  thought  and  understanding.  They  require  a  deeper  level 
of  concentration  than  the  regular  entertainment  programs.  Viewers 
are  better  able  and  more  willing  to  grant  this  special  attention,  on  Sun¬ 
days  after  a  weekend  of  rest  than  during  the  course  of  an  arduous 
work  week. 

.  This  does  not  mean  that  the  Sunday  shows  are  harrow-interest  af¬ 
fairs  reaching  small  audiences  of  highly  discriminating  people.  On  the 
contrary,  last  season,  each  Sunday  afternoon,  “Air  Power,”  for  ex¬ 
ample,  attracted  ari  average  audience  of  more  than  24,500,000  people. 
The  erifire  series,  it  is  estimated,  was  Seen  at  one  time  or  another  by 
more  than  859o  of  all  families  with  television  sets*  “See  It  Now”  at¬ 
tracted  as  many  as  24,000,000  people  for  just  one  program  last  year. 

.  I .  personally  take  great  pride  in  the  fact  that  each  week  this  season 
CBS  Television  has  done  its  Utriiost  to  provide  a  brilliant  and  exciting 
schedule  of  programs  ranging  froiri  .“PlayhbuSe  90"  to  “See  It  Now,” 
from  “The  Du  Pont  Show  of  the  Month”  to  “Conquest"  and  froiri  “Stu¬ 
dio  One”  to  "Twentieth  Century."  Indeed,  never  before  in  history  has 
a  mass,  medium  offered  such,  a  'glittering  of  entertainment  arid  such 
a  fascinating  wealth  of  cultural  and  irifoririationai  niaterial  as  free  net¬ 
work  television  has  provided'  so.  far.  this  season.  From  a  programming, 
as  well  as  an  audience  standpoint,  this  has  been  an  exciting  year  for 
television. 


Something  Different 

1  ■  ■  By  SHERWOOD  SCHWARTZ 

.1  kept  hearing  they  Wanted  something  different,  :  .  . 

So  I  went  home  arid  I  wrote  soriiething  different  It  was  a  television 
series  about  a  monk  with  two  heads  who  lived  on  a  desert  island.  . 

And  I  brought  it  in.  And  they  held  meetirigs.  And  they  Mid,  that’s 
great  but  who  ever  heard  of  a  monk  with  two  heads? 

So  I  went  home  and  rewrote  it.  I  made  it  a  monk  with,  one  head 
who  lived  oh  a  desert  island.  And  I  brought  it  in  again,  And  they  held 
meetirigs.  And  they  said,  that’s,  much  better  but.  why  .  a  desert  island? 
Who  knows  about  ^desert  islands?  .  \ 

So  I  went  home  and  rewrote  it.  I  made  it  a.  monk  with 'One  head  Who 
lived  in  a  small  town.  And  I  brought  it  in  again.  And  they  held  meet¬ 
ings.  And  they  said,  it’s  almost  perfect  now  but  who  knows  about 
monks?  Even  monks  with  one  head. 

So  I  went  home  and  rewrote  it. 

I  iriade.it.  a  sheriff  who  lived  in  a  small  tow 

And  I  brought  it  in  again.  ' 

And  they  held  meetings. 

And  they  liked  it  fine. 

Because  it  was  something  different. 

And  they  bought  it. 


A  Lot  of  Video  Brothers 
In  Misery  Keep  Asking: 
‘What  Does  It  Take  To  Win?’ 

—  '  .■  ■  .  ■  ■  ■  By  MAX  LIEBMAN  ;  » 

An  advertising  agency  has  sent  one  of  its  crack  disaster  squads  out 
West  to  prop  the,  sagging  ratings  of  a  major  television  show.  The 
foundering  attraction,  was  modeled  on  thef  success  pattern — a  popular 
star,  surrourided  by  guest  stars  of  equally  impressive  voltage,  giving,  out 
the  kind  of...  entertainment  which,  mass  audiences  have  always  eaten  up 
with  great  gusto.  But.  inexplicably,  the  show  has  taken  a  steady  clob¬ 
bering  iri  the  ratings  from  the  most  ordinary  kind  Of  competition. 

.  All  this,  of  course  leaves  the  producer  of  the  show  wondering  what 
it  takes  to  win..  And  there  lie  has  plenty  of  brothers  in  misery.  Very 
few  television  producers  nowadays  fully  understand  which  competi¬ 
tive  forces  they  have  to  lick  in  order  to  survive.  Their  work  is  filled  with 
so  many  surprises,  or  .  left  field  factors,  that  they  no  longer  have  com¬ 
plete  faith  in  talent  and  showmanship  as  a  way  to  happiness.. 

Within  television,  and  from  fields  beyond  it,  gremlin  powered  forces 
of  destruction  converge  on  the  producer.  Let  him  father  a  show  that 
enchants  the  sponsor,  .fills  the^  network’s  high  command  with  pride, 
and  serids  the  critics  into  ecsfacies— and  he  winds  up  with  a  rating  that 
resembles  Iris  hat  size.  Why?  Who  knows?  Maybe  Mike  Todd  asked  in 
18,000  friends  for  an  hour  of  televised  drinking.  Or  perhaps  Mary  Mar¬ 
tin  cast  her  calamitous  charm  On  the  world  through  a  rival  channel. 

|  ; _  There’s;  No  Escape  _ . _  ( 

The  producer’s  life  can  be  disordered  by  all  the  forces  of  the  earth 
—apolitical,  atmospheric,  volcanic,  arid  fiscal.  The  stock  market  does 
a  dipsy-dbodle  and  the  television  sets  in  millions  of  homes  stand  si¬ 
lent.  Daddy  wants  no  noise  from  the  family  while  he  ponders  the  bi 
question:  whether  to.  slit  his  throat  or  go  out  the  high  window. 

Whenever  Robert  Montgomery  gets  on  a  Washington-bound  plane 
carrying  a  makeup  kit,  panic  reigns  in  Radio  City.  An  address  by  the 
President  means  a  hay-ride  for  the  ratings,  a  morning-after  roar  from 
the  sponsor,  and  a  record-breaking  consumption  of  vodka-on-th  e-rocks 
in  the  bar  ad jacent  to  Madison  Avenue. 

Consider  the  plight,  of  two  giants  who  have  engaged  in  a  struggle 
to  the  death  over  the  past  few  years.  Each  week  they  have  had  at  each 
other  with  fresh  battalions  of  talent,  ever  bigger,  ever  costlier.  The 
corribat  has  stirred  the  directors  of  the  two  shows  to  heroic  feats  of 
showmanship,  brilliant  planning;  And  to  what  sorry  end?  To  be  hum¬ 
bled,  together*  by  a  Western.  Once  Westerns  wfere  content  to  haunt 
the  kiddies’  , hours,  their  terse  heroes  shooting  down  the  varmints  and 
getting  missy’s  stagecoach  through.  But  here  is.  a  new  and  perilous 
television  where  cowboys  shoot  down  other  shows. 

Atmospheric  violences  cause  the  most  painful  death.  Electrical  dis¬ 
turbances  oyer  the  Rockies  not  only  immobilize  all  the  slot  machines 
in  Las  Vegas,  but  produce  crazy  distortions  on  the  screen,  and  latei 
produce  a  memo  from  the  sponsor  demariding  a -full  explanation  of  why 
that  happeried  to  his  show.. 

Then,  there  are  the  channel  traps,  commonly  known  as  guilt  by  as- 
sociatiori.  A  channel  trap  ,  is  a  bad  show  that  occupies  a  particulai 
channel  irpmediately  prior  to  your  show,  if  you’re  a  producer.  The 
deadly  forerunner  has  riot  only  cleared  the  channel  of  viewers,  but 
has  gotten  the  numeral  that  designates  it  marked  a  danger  area.  The 
producer  can’t  even  ask  his  own  family  to  take  another  chance  on  that 
channel,  arid  his  own  distrust  of  it  is  so  great  that  he  frequently  leaves 
his  monitor  screen  blank-  during  the  performance  of  his  own  show'. 
If  his  show  is  also  followed  by  another’s  bore,  the  disaster  is  doubted. 

The  stricken  show  meritioried  earlier,  and  now*  in  the  hand  of  the 
menders,  will  of  course  be  experimently  dismantled  until  some  mix¬ 
ture  is  evolved  that  will  get  an  audience  large  enough  to  satisfy  the 
Sponsor;  Else  it  will  give  way  to  a  panel.  Whichever  happens,  the  pro-, 
ducer  will  never  know  what  happened. 

My  pi  ea  to.  the  attending  sorcerers  is  to  let  the  show'  alone,  and 
launch  a  search  for  .  the  phantoms  that  are  killing  it.  In  that  way  we 
might  learn  just  what  it  is  that  the  producers  have  to  fear.  In  fairness., 
he  should  be  told  who  it  is  he  is  supposed  to  lick. 


Van  Fox 

Director 

WIDE  WIDE  WORLD 


The  Wheel  Of 
Fortune  Spins 
Round  The  Globe 

!===  By  TED  MACK  === 

( Host  of  ‘Original  Amateur  Hour') 

How  does  one  say  “welcome”  in 
Spanish,  German,  Slavic,  Italian, 
Hebrew  or  even  in  Gaelic?  That 
has  been  my  ‘‘problem”  since  the 
“Original  Amateur  ...Hour”  has 
brought  amateur  entertamers  from 
various  parts  of  the  .world  to  ap¬ 
pear  On  the  show. 

Actually,  however,  it’s  no  prob-; 
lem.  Entertainers  speak  a  univer¬ 
sal  language;  When  they  get  before 
the  canieras,  with  a  professional 
orchestra  backing  them  up  under 
the  directiori  of  Lloyd  Marx,  they, 
seern  to  be:  as  much  at  horiie  in  the 
New  York  studio  as  in  Mexico, 
Munich,  Belgrade,  Vienna,  Rome, 
Tel- Aviv,  Dublin— or  Chicago,  De- 
tor  it,  Denver .  or  Des  Moines. 

Some  of  these  folk  will  be  in  our 
National  Amateur  Championships . 
at  Madison  Square  Garden  on 
Jan.  30  along,  with  our  American 
three-time  winners,  .(Incidentally, 
I  am  happy  to, report  that  Ameri¬ 
can  viewers  vote  \rithout  prejudice 
for  the  talent  it  believes  best,  re¬ 
gardless  .of  nationality,  race  or 
creed.) 

In  the  meantime.  the  wheel  of 
fortune,  spins,  merrily  on  because 
with  every  spin  new  amateurs  gain 
their  opportunity.  If  anybody  be¬ 
lieves  this  is  n  ot  an  opportunity,' 
he’d  better  venture  cautiously  into 
the  home  communities  (including 
all  the  boroughs  of  New  York  City) 
to  express  his  thoughts.  Otherwise, 
he  may  have  said  to  him  far  worse 
than,  any  critic  may  hurl  at  a  show 
or  a  performer. 

I’ve  been  somewhat  of  an  ama- 
(Contiriued  on  page  104) 


Ethel  Daccardo  Quits 

Chicago. 

Ethel  Daccardo,  Chicago  Daily. 
News  radib-tv  editor  for  the  past 
five  years,  resigned  last  week  to 
take  a  production  post  with  the 
Chi  office  of  Needham;  Lewis  & 
Brorby. 


Fear  Pastoral  Letter 
May  Have  Effect  On 
Scottish  TV  Viewing 

Edinburgh. 

Television  viewing  time  is  likely 
to  be  cut  by  many  families  follow¬ 
ing  a  warning  voiced  here  by  a 
Roman  Catholic  topper,  Archbish¬ 
op  Gordon  Gray,  who.  described 
tv  as  the  “inost  powerful  penetrat¬ 
ing  means  of  reaching  the  mind 
through  the  senses.” 

His  warning  was  read  in  a  pasto¬ 
ral  letter  circulated  to  churches 
in  a  wide  district. 

Television,  he  said,  had  a  great 
potential  for  good,  but  also  for 
harm,,  adding: 

“Surfeit  of  amusement  and  re¬ 
creation,  especially  when  it  is  of 
a  passive  nature,  can  become 
gravely  injurious  to  the  spiritual 
and  mental  life  of  man.  It  can  di¬ 
minish  and  destroy  all  creative 
endeavour  in  leisure  hours. 

“It  can  monopolize  time  that 
might,  :  sould  be,  used  for  better 
purposes. 

“Careful  selection  of  programs 
is  even  more  important  than  mod¬ 
eration  in  viewing.” 

The  Archbishop  further  warned: 
“We  have  heard  of  young  people 
who  look  iri  on  television  for  four 
and  five  hours  daily,  and  who.  for 
almost  a  third  of  their  waking 
hours,  have  fed  into  their  receptive 
minds  an  indigestible  mass  of 
visual  and  oral  material. 

“Some  indeed  is  useful  and 
educational,  but  much,  is  trivial, 
distracting  and  not  infrequently 
disedifying. 

“Such  a:  surfeit  of  amusement 
and  mental  dissipation  mav  well 
retard  their  mental  growth  and 
injure,  their  physical 


JOYCE  GORDON 

Sneaking  on  -Television  for  Standard  Brands  and,  Olliers 
Personal  Management;  CARL  EASTMAN 
80  Ptirk  Avenue,  New  York.  MU  2-4986  or  J.U.  2-SSOO 


93 


RADIO-TELEVISION 


Fifty-second  1^${RIET&  Anniversary' 


January  8, 1958 


YOU  KNOW  WHAT 


'We  think  we 
new — a  new  show  and  a  new  idea. 
And  we  have  a  name  for  this  show: 
“YOU  KNOW  WHAT’ 

You  Know  Why?  When  kids 
come  up  to  me  and  have  something 
really  exciting  to  tell  me  they, 
start  out  with:  “YOU  KNOW 
WHAT”  and  then  take  a  deep 
breath  and  go  on.  We  hope  to  go 
on  the  air  in  1958  with  this  chil¬ 
dren’s  show  because  we  feel  that 
quite  possibly,  the  greatest  respon- 
sibility-^and  opportunity — for  any. 
communication  medium  is  to 
teach  out  to  children  .  .  .  to  show 
them  the  “signals  of  the  adult 
World.” 

Underline  the  word  opportunity. 
For  if  a  medium  wins  a  lasting 
reputation  with  children,  it  auto¬ 
matically  wins  it.  with  their  par¬ 
ents.  Moreover,  although .  I  do 
not  happen  to  have  birth  statistics 
in  my  desk,  I  assume  that  most  of 
the  children  will  go  on  to  be  par¬ 
ents  themselves.  We  want  to  be 
around  then,  too. 

No  medium  can  touch  television 
for  impressing — enthralling — the 
young.  No  publication— newspa¬ 
per  or  magazine — has  ever  had  the 
opportunity  that  television  has  to 
work  effectively  and  dramatically 
with  youth.  The  opportunity  has 
not  yet  been  realized.  There  are 
not  even  guide,  marks  to  show  how 
it  should  be  done  by  television. 
There  are  no  specific  statistics; 
either  of  discouragement  or  en¬ 
couragement,  except  the  big  one — 
children  spend  20  to  30  hours  a 
week  looking  at  television. 

“You  Know  What”  is  planned  in 
the  half-hour  weekly  format  It 
will  be  produced  with  a  time  in 
mind  suitable  for  family  viewing. 
Regularly  appearing  on  the  pro¬ 
gram  will  be  .Munro  Leaf— the 
well-known  writer  of  children's 
books,  who.  has  had  writing,  teach¬ 
ing,  publishing  and  military  ex¬ 
perience;  and  Ray  Scherer,  White 
House  correspondent  on  the  NBC 
news  staff. 

The  first  aim  of  the  program  is 
to  cover,  in  summary,  the  main 
events  of  the  neWs  week.  We  will 
cover  three  or  four  main  stories, 
reserving  for  one  the  full  treat¬ 
ment  of  background,  interpretation 
and  significance.  Whenever  we 
are  dealing  with  straight  news  and 
facts,.  Ray  Scherer  will  be  in 
charge.  Whenever  we  .  move  into 
explanation,  interpretation  and 
light  diversion.  Leaf  will  take  over. f 
They  very  rough*  breakdown  is  that 
Ray  will  deliver  the  neivs;  Munro 
will  explain  it  fully  for  the  chil¬ 
dren. 

But  the  program  goes  beyond 
news.  A  second  arid  larger  aim  of 
“You  Know  What”  is  to  bring  more 
of  the  outside .  world— indeed  the 
world  itself— into  the  lives  of  chil¬ 
dren  who  are  just  beginning  to  be¬ 
come  aware  of  environments  out¬ 
side  their  own  homes  and  families. 


By  HENRY  SALOMON 

( Director ,  Special  Projects,  NBC ) 

have  something  |  ten  and  illustrated,  in  his  own 
style  of  simple  and  humorous  line 
drawings,  the  popular  “Manners 
Can  Be  Fun,”  “Grammar  Can  .  Be 
Fun,”  “History  Can  Be  Fun”  se¬ 
ries:  It  is  his  notion  that  “You 
Know  What”  must  also  be  fun— 
that  it  should  not  teach .  in  the 
schoolroom  manrier.  but  that  it 
should  inf  orm— authoritatively— 
in  the  entertainment  television 
manner.  He  has  also  done  that 
Sort  of  thing  with  his  “Watchbird” 
cartoons  in  the  Ladies  Home 
Journal. 

Ray  Scherer :  came  to  NBC  in 
1952  from.  the.  Fort  Wayne.  Jour¬ 
nal-Gazette.  He  is  a  graduate  of 
Valparaiso  U.  in  Fort  Wayne;  and 
has  his  master's  degree  in  political 
science  from  the  U.-  of  Chicago. 

During  tlie  war  he  was  a  Lieuten¬ 
ant  in  the  Navy  and  served  on  a 
destroyer  in  the  Normandy  .inva¬ 
sion.  Scherer  has  been  NBC’s 
White  House  correspondent  since 
the  presidential  campaign  of  1952, 
wleri  he  covered  both  President 
Eisenhower  and  Adlai  Stevenson. 
He  has!  a  smiling,  warm,  low-pres¬ 
sure  manner  that  is.  ingratiating 
with  children. 

Robert  Russell  Bennett  has  .com¬ 
posed  the  Opening  and  closing  mu¬ 
sical  themes.  A  single  pianos  will 
provide  musical  background  for 
many  segments  of  the  program. 


All-Encompassing 


To  accomplish  this  larger  aim, 
the  program,  will  be  departmental-  ’ 
Ized  like  a  newspaper.  We  will 
cover  a .  whole  range  Of  activities — 
the  arts,  science,  sports,  industry. 
Munro  will  conduct  the  special  de¬ 
partments  and  also  interview  live 
guests  on  the  program.  They  come 
Under  the  “People  You’d  Like  to 
Know”  Department.  The  program 
will  close  with  a  “Behaviour”  piece 
by  Leaf  in  which  he  will  use  his 
own  drawings  to  make  a  moral 
point  that  will  appeal  directly  to 
the  children. 

It  is  the  definite  purpose  of  this 
program  to  talk  to  children  direct¬ 
ly  and  intelligently,  without  con¬ 
descension.  The  very  fact  that 
NBC’s  White  House  correspondent 
delivers  the  news  is  demonstration 
enough  that  we  will  not  serve  sec¬ 
ond-best  to  the  youngest  members 
of  Our  audience.  Nor  will  we  slide 
over  important  news  events  be¬ 
cause  the  audience  is  young.  In 
the  words  of  the  report  of  the 
Foundation  for  Character  Educa¬ 
tion: 

“We  see  a  danger  in  program 
producers,  becoming  top  anxi¬ 
ous  to.  avoid  conflict,  criticism 
or  controversy,  so  that  they 
eliminate  any  program  receiv¬ 
ing  unfavorable  comments  and 
fear  to  experiment  with  new 
programs . . .  TV  cannot  escape 
responsibility  for  its  part  in 
the  child's  learning  to  live  by 
the  standards  of  the  adult 
world.” 

Leaf  first  became  famous  as  _ 
writer  with  “Ferdinand,”  published 
in  1935.  Since  then  he  has  writ- 


Seeks  Family  Audience 


‘You :  Know  What”  is  aimed 
specifically  at  an  audierice  in  the 
eight-14  age  range,  but  it  is  not  by 
any  means  confined  to  such  an 
audience.  The  wider  aim  and  hope 
of  the  program  is  to  gain  the.  fam¬ 
ily  audience,  to  produce,  pro- 
gram  which  is  entirely  understand¬ 
able  to  children  and  all  teenagers 
but ’which,  at  the  same  time,  will 
be  illuminating  for  parents  to 
watch;  Almost  every  news  pro¬ 
gram  on  television  must  assume 
a  good  deal  of  news  background  on 
the  part  of  the  listeners.  We  will 
not.  Each  time  a  story  is  treated 
it  Will  be  put  infp  its  proper  set¬ 
ting— geographical,  political,  his¬ 
torical.  Parents,  possibly  even 
more  than  children,  will  be  grate¬ 
ful  for  this  kind  of  detailed!  ex¬ 
planation  which,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  is  not  given  elsewhere  phi 
either  television  or  radio. 

Even  if  the  program  is  .  con¬ 
sidered  to  be  confined  exclusively 
to  children,  .(the  one-set  home  is 
never  exclusive  to  either  children, 
or  adults),  we  still  have  a  very 
large  audience  to  draw  from.  Ac¬ 
cording  to  a  survey  by  BBD&Q 
there  are  21  million  television 
households  in  the  United  States  ] 
with  children  under  18 — a  total  of 
43  million  children.  Of  this  num¬ 
ber,  77%  of .  the  children,  between  • 
six  and  11  are  regular  tv  watchers. 
But  what  we  shall  keep  our  eyes 
on  is  the  children’s,  total  viewing 
quoted  earlier— 20  to  30  hours  a 
week. 

Television,  is  certainly  the  best-, 
equipped  medium  to  communicate 
with  children,  and  no  other  has 
really  -  attempted  the  job.  News¬ 
papers  are.  not  written  for  chil- 


BEA  BENADERET 

“BURNS  AND  ALLEN  SHOW” 


dren,  nor  are  children  readers,  of 
newspapers.  To  be  sure,  there 
are  a  few  junior  newspapers,  but 
they  deal  only  with  news  which 
is  of  classroom  interest  to  School 
children,  and:  these  papers  are 
limited  further  by  the  child's  read¬ 
ing  capacity.  In  our  age  range, 
viewing  and  listening  ability  is 
much  higher  than  reading  ability. 
From  8  to  14  children  learn  most 
easily  through  pictures  arid  sym¬ 
bols,  and  their  ,  attention  is  held  by 
movement.  ‘television  has  all 
three^— plus  sound. 

Children  are  interested  in  all 
the  world  around  them.  Televi¬ 
sion  can  bring  the  new  world  into 
their  lives.  And  American  chil- 
drenT— as  the  current  crisis  in  edu¬ 
cation  demonstrates— -should  be  the 
best  informed  in  the  world. 


Frisco  TV-Radio 
Vital  and  Growing 

p— ^  By  WILLIAM  STEIF - 1 

Sari  Francisco. 

If  you  don’t  live  on  the  Pacific 
Coast  and  happen  to  refer  to  Cali¬ 
fornia,  almost  automatically  you’ll 
be  thinking  about  Southern  Cali-; 
forriia.  This  is  particularly  true  in 
rilow  business,  what  with  the  film 
studios,  distribution  outfits,  radio 
—and  now  television — networks 
clustered  in.  and  around  Los  An¬ 
geles;  forming  a  sort  of  Western 
counter-balance  to  that  other  great 
show,  business  center,  New  York. 
•'  The  odd  aspect  of  ail  this  is  that 
there  is  another  California?,  North¬ 
ern  California,  focused  iri  and  about 
Frisco,  which,  if  it  Were  in  another 
State  and  more  than  400  miles 
away  from  Los  Arigeles,  would  look 
like  some  pumpkins  as  a  show  busi¬ 
ness  ceriter. 

For  the'  Frisco  area,  has  a  popu¬ 
lation  of  close  to  3,500,000  persons 
spread  along  the  shores  of.  its  Bay 
and  surrounding  hills;  is  yital, 
growing,  stable  and  prosperous, 
with  one  of  the  highest  .per-capita 
incoiries  of  any  region  in  the  coun¬ 
try. 

What  did  these  pepole  do  with 
their  leisure  time  last  year?  How 
was  it  reflected  in  show  business 


;  Continued  from  page  92 .; 


straight  Comedy-variety  show— with  an  underlying  idea,  of  course— 
as  sort  of  a  tribute  to  all  the  comedy  writers  of  America  who  are  now 
writing  horse-operas.” 

“The  Crying-Towel  Corp.  ought  to  do  more  than  pay  tribute  to  the 
comedy  writers  of  America.  If  it  weren’t  for  them.  The  Crying-Towel 
Corp.  never  would  have  gotten  into  the  Top  Ten  in ;  industry.” 

The  Chaifiriar.  ignored  this  arid  said,  “Any  ideas  for  a  hook  we  could 
use  to  harig  a  two-and-a-half  hour  variety  show  on,  Harry?” 

Harry  rose  slowly. '  “I  know  we  already  have  two  good  ideas  for  a 
book  show  but  how  about  hanging  a  variety  show  on  the  Telephone 
book?” 

“Who  can  keep  track  of  all  those  characters?”  Someone  said. 

“My  idea,”  said  Harry,  talking  over  the  laugh,  “is  to  open  at  The 
Central  Telephone.  Exchange  with,  a  specially  written  hit  Song  called 
Hello.’  Then,  as  different  lines  light  up  op  the  switchboards,  We  see 
the  operators  plug  in.  and  we  cut  to  the  place  the  phone  is  ringing 
and  catch  the  music  and  drama  that  lies  at  the  end  of  every  telephone 
line.  But  I  mean  for  real  at  the  end  of  every  phone  line.” 

“We  get  the  ideas  for  our  musical  numbers,”  Harry  continued,  “by 
calling  people  at  random  apd  asking  them  their  frivorPe  tunes  and 
then  we  produce  these  tunes,  right  in  their  own  livirigrooms,  No  one 
will  know  how  we  did  it  it’s  a  technical  challenge  to  do  ‘live.’  And 
And  the  New  York  critics  will  love  it  Maybe  there  could  even  be  a 
little  lame  girl  in  some  tenement.  And  when  we  ring  her  phone  she’s 
all.  alone  arid  hungry,  and  cold  and  she  wants  to  meet  Bob  Hope.  So 
we  have  Bob  Hope  go  right  over  arid  do  a  routine  for  her.” 

‘‘The  kid’ll  appreciate  the  eggs/’  Someone  said. 

Harry  ignored  this.  “Lots  of  heart,  don’t  you  think?  Be  great  for 
Crying-Towel.” 


‘See  The  USA!’ 


MIKE  WALLACE 


The  Chairman  shook  his  head  reflectively,  “Might  work,  Of  course, 
the  big  problem  would  be,  could  we  get  Hope.  But  t  was  -sort  Of  think¬ 
ing  of  doing  a  musical  Variety  show  with  one  act  originating  in  each, 
of  the  48  states  .  .  ;  an  act  that  was  born  in  that  state.  Of  course.  Then 
we’d  have  48  states,  48  audiences,  48  orchestras  and-  choruses.  It’s  big¬ 
ger  than  anything  Barnum  pr  Mike  Todd  ever  thought  of.” 

“Great  idea,  Chief,”  Dave  said.  “With  48  directors,  48  producers, 
48  coordinators  and  their  48  staffs,  just  think  what  the  whole]  project 
would  do  for  Crying-Towel.” 

The  Chairman  smiled  enigmatically  and  nodded  his  head  ever  so 
slightly  the  way  a  man  sometimes  does  to  indicate  slyly  that  he’s  cov¬ 
ered  all  angles.  Then  he  said,  “Just  a  thought,  of  course.  Any  other 
ideas?” 

“Well,”  said  Dave,  “I’ve  been  working,  off  arid  on  at  home,  on  a 
musical  Version  of  *An  American  Tragedy.’  It  might  work  out  pretty 
well  for  this  Crying-towel  project/’  .  .  •  ..  .. 

“Honest?  Dave,”  The  Chairman  said,  “I  don’t  think  we  should  shoot 
for  such  an  unhappy  ending.  It  seems  a  little  too  Obvious,  specially 
When  Crying-Towel  is  planning  this  show  to  be  purely  institutional. 

“It  doesn’t  haVe  tp  have  an  unhappy  ending,”  said  Dave.  “Look 
what  they  did  to  ‘The  Pied  Piper  of  Hamelin.’” 

“I  know,  Dave,”  The  Chairman  insisted,  “but  ‘An  American;  Trag¬ 
edy’  ends  when  the  boy  pushes  the  girl  he  loves  into  the  lake  arid  she 
gets  drowned.  How  are  you  going  to  get  arorind  that?” 

“You  could  make  it  a  period  piece  arid  call  it  “Tippecanoe/  ”  Some¬ 
one  said.  ..  ....... 

“Don’t  Worry  about  the  finish.  Chief,  it’s  a  cinch,”  Dave  said.  “I 
have  it  all  worked  out.  For  the  musical  version  of  ‘An  American  Trag¬ 
edy’  we  change  the  name  to  ‘RoW,Row,Row/  the  song  we’ll  use  as  the 
love  theme.  And  for  the  finish  we  have  a  happy  ending  when  the  boy 
takes  the  girl  he  loves  in  his  arms  and  .  shoves  her  in  the  lake  not 
knowing  that  she’s  secretly  been  taking  skin-diving  lessons.  She  pulls 
him  to  the  bottom  with  her  and  down  there— all  alone  in  the  quiet 
silences  of  the  cool  water— he  realizes  he  needs  her  and  they ’have 
one  of  these  sexy  underwater  kisses.  Fade  out!” 

“Well,  it’s  a  switch,  an  interesting  switch;,  particularly  since  Jack 
Towel  told  me  only  last  Week  that  Crying-Towel  was  thinking  of  fur¬ 
ther  diversifying  by  absorbing  the  Underwater  Lung  Division  of  the 
Universal  Plumbing  &  Supply  arm  of  the  National  Ladies  Garment. 
Workers’  Third  National  Bank.”  The  Chairman  rose.,  cleared  his  throat 
and  looked  at.  his  watch.  “I’ve  got  to  go  meet  Jack  Crying  now,”  he 
said.  “We’ll  send  all.  you.  men  the'  complete  minutes  of  this  meeting 
and,  after  you  get  them,  mull  over  the  problem  and  we’ll  meet  again 
in  a  day  or  so,  when  we’re  cleared  our  minds.  Thank,  you  all  for  be¬ 
ing  here  today.” 

The  meeting  drifted  off  in  all  directions  as  each  member  went  to 
his  own  office,  Closed  the  door,  sat  down  at  his;  desk,  reached  into  the 
bottom  left-hand  drawer,  took  out  a  little  flat  bottle  and  took  a  quick 
slug.  Then  he  phoned  a  friend  in  another  agency  and  let  him  know 
that  if  anything  opened  up  in  the  way  of  a  job,  he’d  be  interested. 


in  this  area? 

First  of  all,  everyone,  it  seems, 
watched  video— that  goes  even  for 
the  bearded  eggheads :  dreaming 
up  poetry-mit-jazz  in  the  base¬ 
ment  bistros. 

The  result  was  a  huge  wave  of 
prosperity  for  the  already-prosper- 
ous  tv  stations.  In  Frisco,  there 
were  only  Westinghouse’s  KPIX  (a 
CBS  affiliate);  the  morning  Chroni¬ 
cle’s  KRON  (NBC  affiliate)  arid 
ABC’s  o-and-o  KGO-TV  to  cut  up 
the  pie.  It  was  very,  rich  pie,  in¬ 
deed.  In  outlying  towns  like  San 
Jose,  Stockton  and  Salinas,  smaller 
stations  did  well  and  in  the  State 
capital,  Sacramento,  just  95  miles 
away,  business  was  so  splendid 
that  Stockton’s  KOVR  quit  beam¬ 
ing  its  signal  into  Frisco  arid,.] 
switched  to  burgeoning  Sacra¬ 
mento. 

The  local  programming  diet,  un¬ 
fortunately,  was  not  so  rich  as  the 
stations’  income.  Network  shows 
and  film  packages  dominated  pro¬ 
gramming,  with  a  few  honorable 
exceptions.  Don  Sherwood  re¬ 
turned  to  KGO-TV  for  an  often- 
hilarious  Saturday  night  variety 
show,  but  was  bumped  at  year’s 
end  by  the  new  Metro  film  pack¬ 
age.  Both  KPIX  and  KRON  re¬ 
doubled  their  efforts  In  the  news 
field  with  staff  and  cararea  addi¬ 
tions,  and  now  turn  out.  respecta¬ 
ble  news  shows.  KPIX  experi¬ 
mented  with  Dick  Crest’s  fairly 
lively  teenage  show  but  this  died 
for  lack  of  ratings. 

For  a  minority/  too,  there  was 


KQED,  the  educational  Channel, 
which  films  the  largest  number  of 
educational  shows  iri  the  country 
— -these  have  terrific  ups  and 
dowris  in  quality  and  are  all  pro¬ 
duced  on  incredibly  tiny  budgets. 
Most  notable  of  its  live  productions 
in  recent  months  has  been  a.  show 
called  “Profile:  Bay  Area,”  in 
Which  a  bored  auto  dealer,  Roger 
Boas,  has  found  .  weekly  half- 
hour  outlet  for  his  energies. 

The  radio  stations,  more  than  a 
dozen  in  Frisco  and  more  than 
two  dozen  within  a  60-mile  radius, 
have  enjoyed  more,  prosperity  than 
they  have  in  any  year  since  1932, 
A  lot  of  this  has  been:  the  result  of 
the  impact  of  Dave  Segal’s  KOBY, 
which  just  a  year  ago  took  over  a 
defunct  longhair  station  and  con¬ 
verted  it  to  a  “Top  40”  format 
The  conversion  knocked  50, 000- 
watt  KCBS,  longhair  king  of  radi 
in  Northern  California;  off  the 
top  rating  perch,  but  KCB.S  is  com¬ 
ing  back  strong,  and  Golden  West 
Broadcasters’  KSFO  is  breathing 
down  the  necks  of  both,  with  its 
“balanced-music”  format.  Close 
behind,  on  the  rating  charts,  are 
Don  Lee’s  KFRC,  whose  Strong  suit 
is  news  arid  gab,  and  KNBC,  Whose 
ace  is  a  gravelly-voiced  dee  jay 
named  Doug  Pledger  who  is  om 
the  air  more  than  25  hours  a  week, 

Billings  on  all  these  statioiis  are 
up,  arid  in  fact,,  there  is  only  one 
radio  outlet  (KROW,  Oakland) 
which  has  shown  a  drop  iri  bill¬ 
ings/and  this  was  due  principally 
to  some  management  reshuffling. 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second  Anniversary  RADIO-TELE  VISION  99 


Have  Tux,  Will  Stay 
Home  and  Watch  TV 

By  ABEL  GREEN 


The  men’s  fashion  busi  limited  only  to  formal  evening  attire, 
credits  television  for  booming  its  business  from  $5,500,000  “  1946 

to  $67,000,000  in  a  decade.  The  exposure  of  the  ease  and  repose  of 
men  in  after-six  dinner  jackets,  etc.  has  spiraled  the  “tux’/  business 
into  over  twelvefold  volume.  It  has  not  stopped  with  the  conventional 
dinner  jackets  but  has  created  new  horizons  for  “tails,”  tropical  dress 
wear,  and  has  also  had  limitless  fringe  benefit  values  ,  for  the.  cum¬ 
merbund,  dress-shirt  and  dress-tie  business. 

Fortune  some  time  ago  spotlighted  that  tv  “removed  the  lace  cur¬ 
tain  from  the  livirigroom” .  and  as  vox  pop  was  increasingly  exposed 
to.  the  formal  men’s  fashions  it  was  not  a  question,  of  wearing  down 
any  inhibitions  as  it  was  opening  up  new  Vistas. 

The  contiguous  boost  to  femme  fashions  is  inestimable  but  the  now 
familiar  merchandising  technique  of  both  sexes  in  “dramatized”  com¬ 
mercials — printer’s  ink,  tv,  and  the  like--  perforce  effects  both  male 
and  female  commodities. 

Just  like  the.  Eisenhower  jacket;  boohied  that  article  of  informal 
men’s  wear  for:  example— or  the  no-set  idea  by  Clark  Gable  in  a  yes¬ 
teryear  Columbia  picture*  “It  Happened  One  Night,”  kayoed  the  men’s, 
undershirt  business— there  are  constant  topical  reflexes  from  the  head¬ 
lines.  The  After  Six  f  ormals  people,  for  example,  latched  onto  the 
Grace  Kelly  nuptials  and  Prince  Rainier  III  unwittingly  was  catapult¬ 
ed  into  a  fashionplate  shill  -With  a  Monaco  model  featuring  both  the 
peak  lapel  and  shawl  collars  he  favored,  ,  and  linked  not  too  subtly  to 
the.  Riviera  hoopla. 

[  _  The  After  Six.  Impresario  | 

The  -showmanship,  which  showmen  so  bitterly  deplore  of  late 
as  haying  gone  out  of  show  business  and  gone  into  department  store 
merchandising,  fashions  and  the  like,  finds  its  echo.  in.  the  After  Six 
impresario,  for  example,  who  utilizes  distaffers  to  point  up  men’s 
wear.  Marlene  Dietrich  f emceeing  a  Philly  fashion  show  wiH  show 
up  in  formal  white  tie  and  tails,  instead  of  feminine  apparel,  special¬ 
ly  made  for  her,  of  course,  by  show  biz-minded  34-year-old  Sam  Ru¬ 
dofker  whose  angeling  of  legits  dates  back  to  “Song  of  Norway”  and 
now  includes  dittoing  in  the  Frank  J.  Hale^Paul  Crabtree  Palm  Beach 
(Fla.)  Playhouse.  He  also  bankrolls  ah  amateur  opera  company  in  his 
hometown,  Philadelphia,  although  he  .maintains  a  .  permanent  apart¬ 
ment  in  New  York. 

Rudofker  hears  of  Conrad  N,  Hilton  opening  the  Continental  Hil¬ 
ton,  in  Mexico  City,  and  he  switches  the  Eisenhower  jacket  idea  into 
a  zipoff  tux-and-tails  combination— a.  convertible  job  from  informal 
dinner  jacket  to  tails,  if  occasion  warrants.  For  Alcoa  (Aluminum  Co. 
of  America)  he  creates  a  metallic  dinnerjacket  f dr.  a  ty  stunt.  For  a 
Philly  fisticuffs  event,  fob  charity,  he  dona  the  referee;  judges,  time¬ 
keeper,  ringsiders,  everybody  in  dinnerjackets.'  Even  the  pugilists  have 
breakaway  After  Six  “f ormals”  especially  designed. 

For  the  iight-luggaged  globetrotters,  with  an  awareness  of  increas¬ 
ing  air  .  travel,  Rudofker  designed  ,  a.  “wash  before  three,  wear  after 
six”  automatic  wash-and-wear  dinnerjacket.  After  three  years  of  re¬ 
search  with  the  DuPont  people  the  dacrpn-orlon  material  permits  a 
pucker-free  specially  processed,,  contrasting  silk-and-rayon  lapels,  sans 
ironing  etc.  Eventually  that,  too,  may  be  developed  for  the  zip-off  tails 
td  give  it  the  “white  tie”  switch  for  stricly  fOrmals; 


Continued  from,  page  92  — — — 
of  her  Physical  Education,  course  she  has.  to  pass  a  swimming  test- 
only  since  this  is  an  all-boys  school,  no  bathing  suits  are  worn  in  the 
swimming  pool,  see,  see,  see. 

7.  Now  everybody  knows  about  the  corner  candystore  and  2c  plain 
ahd  halavah'  So  our  locale  will  be  a  candystore  where  the  gang  hangs 
around  and  the.  owner  is  Hyiriie  who  always  yells  at  the  guys  but  un¬ 
derneath  he  really  loves  them.  And  you  have,  guys  in  the  cast  like 
Joel  who  is  always  whistling  at  every  passing  girl  and  making  funny 
remarks.  And  Sammy  who  keeps  looking  at  the  sexy  pictures  in  the 
magazines  like  Esquire  and  Playboy,  but  never  buys  them  but  Hymie 
don’t  care.  And  a  guy  like  Irving  who’s  a  real  card  and  can  imitate 
every  comedian  and  movie  star  ahd  everybody.  And  for  more  comedy 
Vou  can  have  one  guy  with  an  Italian  accent  and.  one  guy  with  a  Jew¬ 
ish  accent  and  another  guy  who  stutters.  And  :so  nobody  can  accuse  us 
of  racial  discrimination,  the  Jewish  kid  will  be  named  Tony,  the  Ital¬ 
ian  kid  will  be  named  Patrick,  and .  we’ll  have  a  lovable  boy  named 
Mendel-  Gee,  what. a  natural  this  will  be  for  a  candy  manufacturer  to 
sponsor,  .it’s  not  Only  a  good  business  tieup  but  it’ll  show  good  citizen¬ 
ship  too. 

8.  There’s  this  man  and  his  wife  and  they’ve  lived  in  a  big;  city  all 
their  lives  so  they  bUy  this  chicken  farm  or  diary  farm  or  rabbit  farm 
in  the  country  then  all  the  shows  will  be  about  them  trying  to  make,  a 
living  out  of  farming  and  it’ll  be  funny  because  they  don’t  know  how 
to  feed  chickens,  milk  cows  or  raise  rabbits.  (If  we  are  to;  believe  the 
thousands  of  gags  Concerning  the  rabbits’  habits,,  these  creative  little 
creatures  will  raise  themselves.)  And  for.  contrasting  comedy  our  cou¬ 
ple  has  a  pair  of  neighbors  who  have  been  farmers  all  their  lives  and 
they  want  to  sell  out  and  move  to  the  city  so  they  all  become  good, 
friends  and  help  each  other  out  like  the  farmer  couple,  telling . the  city 
cbuple  that  cows  don’t  give  milk  you  have,  to  take  it  from  them. 

10.  No\v  who’s,  the  best  known  character  in  American  Humor?  It’s 
the  Travelling  Salesman,  so  let’s  do  a  series  glorifying  him  in  comedy 
the  way  “Death  Of  A  Salesman”  did  in  tragedy;  Each  week  our  Travel¬ 
ling  Salesman  can  handle  different  lines  of  merchandise  and  each  week 
our  travelling  salesman  will  appear  in  a  different  city  so  our  shows 
will  have  scope.  (Now  th,ere’s  a  good  word.  Almost  every"  script  sub¬ 
mitted  had  scope  if  nothing  else.)  Another  advantage  is  that  each  week 
our  Travelling  Salesman  will  have  a  different  girl  friend,  but  no  mat¬ 
ter  what  job  she  has,  stenographer  or  model,  Oiir  audience  will  realize 
khe’s  the  personification  of  The  Farmer’s  Daughter,  so  even  though 
pur  gags  are  clean;  the  audience  Will  get  What  we.  mean  by  double- 
entendre.  And  we  have  the  added  advantage  of  having  our  hro,  the 
Travelling  Salesman,  appear  in  the  commercials  as  a  travelling  sales-? 
man  selling  the  sponsor’s  product. 

( Author’s  Note:  l.  knpio  the  title  of  this  article  is  “The  .10  Com¬ 
monest  Comedy  Cliches  ”  and  I’ve  listed  only  eight.  When  j  first 
wrote  the  article  .there  were  10  listed*,  but  between,  the  time  wrote  it 
and  the  date  it  was  published,  rwe  decided  to  delete  two  of  these  ideas, 
nos.  5  &  9,  because  these  series  were  sold  to  sponsors  and  are  currently 
on  the  air  as  successful  shows.^-MJ.) 


RICHARD  WILLIS 

“HERE'S  LOOKING  AT  YOU” 


Care  &  Feeding 

S  Continued  from  page  92  = 
was  particularly  pleased.  We  gave 
her  two  books..  One  for  each. 
Name,  that  is. 

With  lady  guest  stars,  we  never 
eyen  talk  about  What  they  are  go¬ 
ing  to  dp  on ;  the  show.  We  talk 
30601  what  they’re  going  to  wear. 
And  if  we  can’t  get' them  some¬ 
thing  from  Ceil  Chapman  or  Berg- 
dorf-Goodman  or  Michi,  de¬ 
signer,  a  girl  like  Diana  Dors  may 
have  to  end  up  wearing  her  own 
crummy  clothes; 

Now,  we.  come  to  rehearsals; 
Although  we  rehearse  for  four 
days  the  show  doesn’t  look;  it. 
In  actuality;  we  have  the  shortest 
rehearsal  schedule  for  a  major 
show,  since  most  of  rehearsal  time 
is  devoted  to  shaking  inhibitions. 
What  we  do  is,  we  invite  Our  guest 
stars  over  to  nap  each,  afternoon, 
is  witness  our  theme  song. 
Dream  Along  With  Me,” 

Actually,  this,  relaxes  everybody 
so  much  that  a  great  rapport  is 
developed  Which  shows  up  on  cam¬ 
era.  Nobody  knows  their  lines; 
but  if  the  cue  card  boys  are  on 
their,  toes,  the  show  looks  .  com¬ 
pletely  ad  lib. 

Then,  agai  ,  after  a  nap  one 
wakes  up  grumpy  and  hungry;  We 
take  care  of  that  by  serving  formal 
buffet  luncheons  which  are  .  cat¬ 
ered  by  the  chef  at  G.A.C;  This 
makes  a  big  hit  with  guest  stars 
like  Buddy  Hackett  or  Ed  Wynn, 
who  are  William  Morris  clients.. 

All  of  the  above  does  not  happen 
by  chance.  It  is  all  part  of  our 
pre-planning,  a  carefully  devised 
system  of  schedules  and  timetable, 
operations  which  cover  almost  as 
much  paper  as  the  script.  I  might 
say,  with  justifiable  pride,  that  on 
one  occasion,  Ernie  Kovaes  and 
Edie  Adams  played  this  schedule, 
on  the  air  for  40  minutes  before 
they  discovered  it  wasn’t  the  script, 
and  got  very  big  laughs  nonethe¬ 
less.  Most  of  them  from  Perry; 
What’s  more  we  didn’t'  get  one 
negative  "letter  from  the  audience. 

Oh,  by  the  way,  do  not  forget  a 
topnotch  hairdresser.  This  is 
sometimes  more  important  to  a 
show  than  production,  direction  or 
writing;  I;  have  telegrams  in  my 
files  from  satisfied  guest  stars, 
with  statements  like  these:  VI 
could  never  have  been  ,  at  my  best 
on  the  Perry  Como  Show  Without 
a  great  hairdresser.  Signed;  .  Fat 
Jack  Leonard.”  Or,  “Three  cheers 
and  a  tiger  to  you  for  a  lovely  job 
on  irty.halr.  Sighed.  .  Trigger;”  . 

To  get  back  to  a  sore  point  for  a 
moment.  The  writers.  ...  When 
Perry  picked  a  writer;  for  the  show, 
he  wanted  someone  who  would ;  fit 
iii.  with  his  easy  manner.  What 
better  choice  than  that  Easy  Ace 
Goodman.  Since  hone  of  the  guest 
stars  would  sit  with  the  writer,  he 
picked,  three  fellows'  to  sit  .  with 
him,  Mort  Green  and  George  Fos¬ 
ter,  a  sitting-team,  and  Jay  Bur¬ 
ton,  a  one-map  sitter,"  Everyone 
Will  agree  that!  these  are  most  cer¬ 
tainly  the  best  sitters  video¬ 
land, 

Ih  closing,  let  me  point  out  once 
more  that  the  basic,  point  is  con¬ 
sideration.  Guest  stars  can’t .  help, 
being  What  they  are.  Be  kind. 
Be  courteous.  I  don’t  care,  what 
apybody  says  about  guest;  stars.  I 
like  them.  And  I  think  you  will, 
top,  ,  if  you  just  remember  ..  this 
phrase  the  next  time  you /have  a 
guest  star:/  “There,  but  for  the 
grace  of  God,  go  I.” 


Next  Stop  On  The  Global 
Vidpix  Circuit  -The  Moon 


By  RALPH  M.  COHN 

(V.P.,  Gen.  Mgr.,  Screen  Gems ) 


At  the  rate  the  world  has  been 
progressing  the  past  year,  by  the 
time  this  article  Is  read  the  first 
landing  may  have  been  made  on 
the  moon,  if  so,  I’d  like  as  soon  as 
possible  to  discuss  some  tv  pro¬ 
grams  with  representatives  of  the 
moon’s  communications  system. 

I  won’t  say  that  our  shows  will 
be  a  guaranteed  hit  with:  lunar  au¬ 
diences.;  At  the  moment  I’ll  Con¬ 
fess  that  I  don’t  know  what  kind 
of  tv  they’ll  go  for  up  there. 

But  I  do  make  the  point  that  we 
are  interested  in  producing  pro¬ 
grams  for  the  whole  world,  and 
are  prepared  to  go  anywhere  in  the 
known  world  to  find  a  market.  This 
policy  has  already  taken  us  to 
lengths  we  once  thought  fantastic, 
and  if  before  long  it  takes  us  to 
the  moon,  I’m  prepared  hot  to  be 
surprised. 

From  our  humble  domestic  be¬ 
ginnings  of  six  years  ago.  Screen 
Gerns  has  expanded,  on  the  global 
front  to  the  point  at  which  its  pro¬ 
grams  are  now  playing  in  30  other 
countries,  touching  every  continent 
except  Antarctica,  and  we  have 
sales  representatives  in  every  coun¬ 
try  that  has  tv  service  plus  our  own 
offices  in  Canada,  Mexico,  England, 
France,  Germany,  Belgium,  Japan 
and  Australia. 

For  all  its  difficulties,  producing 
tv  films  for  the  world  market  ,  can 
be  most  rewarding,  and  I’m  not 
just  talking  about  the  financial  re¬ 
turn,  which  is  first,  now  being  real¬ 
ized.  At  a  program’s  creative  stage 
the  awareness  that,  it  is  being  pre¬ 
pared  ultimately  for  audiences  of 
40  different  .nationalities  and  12 
different  languages  can  be  chal¬ 
lenging  and  stimulating  in  a  very 
important  way.  It  demands  a 
freshness,'  vitality  and  breadth  of 
vision  that  will  make  it  better  en¬ 
tertainment  on  any  screen. 


Gotta  Have  Int’I  ‘Look’ 


While  our  primary  aim  is  to 
please  American  audiences,  the 
program  ,  produced,  with  the  world 
market  in  mind  must  speak  a  more 
basic  film  language  to  appeal  to., 
audiences  of  many  different 
tongues:  The  radio  format  that  is 
considered  apt.  for  tv  only  by  vir¬ 
tue  of  its  having  been  exposed  to 
a  camera  will  inevitably  be  a  mys¬ 
tery  to  audiences  overseas.  To  be 
effective  on  the  international 
screen,  a  film  must  have  a  high  de¬ 
gree  of  visual  interest,  it  must  have 
motion  and  excitement  that  has 
significance  for  the.  eye  even  if 
Unaided  =  by  the  ear. 

And  isn’t  this.the  very  genius  of 
film;  to  tell  a  story  via  the  action 
and  symbolism  of  a  moving  pic¬ 
ture?  But  this  ,  takes  special  pains. 
In  film  production  there  is  usually 
nothing  cheaper  than  words  or 
more  expensive  than  action. 

Telecasters  in  other  quarters  of 
the  world  would  be  wise  to  make 
the  visual  the  acid  test  of  every 
program  proposed  to  them. 

I  think  they  make  a  serious  mis¬ 
take  when  they  allow  themselves 
to  get  high  oil  a  show  sirpply  be¬ 
cause  Of  its  low.  price  of  its  success 
before  U  S.  audiences.  There  are 
numerous  programs  produced  with 
only  the  U.S.  market  in  mind,  that 
make  profits  in  the  U:S.  and  are 
then  thrown  to  the  foreign  market 
for  Whatever  dividends  they  may 
Sprout  there’. 

Not  Only  might  the  telecaster  be 
cheating,  his  audience  with  such 
bargains;  but,'  more,  he  may  be  set¬ 
ting  a  self-defeating  precedent, 
with  Hollywood’s  producers,  con¬ 
ditioning  them  to  the  notion  that 
any  thing  goes  overseas. 

Assuredly,  as  the  overseas  mar¬ 
ket  expands  to  a  major  part  of 
every  producer’s  income  potential, 
more  producers  will  begin  flavor¬ 
ing  their  product  for  international 
tastes.  Some  producers  are  already 
quite,  .sensitive  to  overseas  demand, 
and  certainly  it  is  not  too  soon  for 
all  telecasters  to  let  Hollywood 
know  what,  the  world  .  Wants. 

.  -The  record  to  date  proves  ,  that 
a  maximum  allotment  of  Visual  ex¬ 
citement  is  the  minimum  assurance 
of  popularity,  with  foreign  speak¬ 
ing  audiences. 

“The  Adventures  Of  Rin  Tin  Tin” 
has  been  the  subject  of  a  number 
of  newspaper  jokes  because  this 
dog.  can.  hark .  in  17  different  lan¬ 
guages^  .  But  ft’s  more  than  the 
bark  that  gives  the  Bin  Tin  Tin 
show  its  bite.  Every  episode  Is 


carefully  plotted  to  produce  the 
maximum  sweep  of  movement  be¬ 
fore  the  viewer’s  eyes.  It  is  this 
kind  of  picture  story  that  can  ap¬ 
peal  to  a  large  mass  of  tv  viewers 
regardless  of  age,  nationality  or 
other  special  credentials. 

You  can’t  help  but  feel  that  the 
production  approach  in  “Rin  Tin 
Tin’’  is  proper  for  international 
distribution  when  you  note  that  it 
is  the  first  U.S.  film  show  to  get 
into  the  top  rating  ranks  of  Cuba, 
it’s  one  of  the  top  shows  in  Mex¬ 
ico,  it’s  second  in  Puerto  Rico,  it’s 
one  of  the  top  American  shows  in 
Australia  and  Japan,  and  it  is 
probably,  the  mod  widely  telecast 
program  in  the  world. 

.  Another  interesting  case  in  our 
experience  Is  “All  Star  Theater,” 
which  ran  for  five  years  on  net¬ 
work  as  the  “Ford  Theater.”  This 
dramatic  anthology  represents  the 
Work  of  a  staff  of  producers  who 
have  been  making  motion  pictures 
for  world  consumption  for  half  a 
generation.  The  show  is  now  play¬ 
ing  in  Australia  under  the  title 
“Kraft.  Theater”  and  is  one  of  the 
top  three  film  programs  there,  it’s 
one  Of  the  top  shows  in  England, 
it‘S  among  the  top  10  in  Mexico, 
Puerto  Rico,:  Venezuela  and  Argen- 
ti  :  It  only  recently  started  in 
Germany;  Where  the  initial  reac¬ 
tion  was  excellent.  “All  Star  Thea¬ 
ter”  is;  now  playing  in  25  countries. 

Observers,  in  the  U.S.  are  some¬ 
times  amazed  that  we  now  devote 
so  much  effort  to  the  international 
market  when  the  rest  of  the  world 
has  only  40%  of  the  set  circulation 
of  the  U.S.  and  represents .  only  a 
minor  part  of  any  program’s  total 
income.  To  date  it  is  undoubtedly 
true  that  foreign  distribution  has 
demanded  more  energy  than  it  has 
returned  in  profit. 

-The  obvious  explanation  of  this 
is  that  we’re  trying  to  nurture  a 
promising  and  growing  infant. 

To  illustrate  the  spectacular 
growth  that  the  tv  film  distributor 
has  to  keep  up  with,  I  point  out 
the  following:  Algeria  had  a  total 
of  100  sets  at  the  beginning  of  this 
year  and  had  blossomed  to  3,000 
by  the  beginning  of  summer.  Bel¬ 
gium  had  .125,000  at  the  start  of 
1957  and  175,000  at  mid-year. 
Brazil  had  500,000  in  January  and 
700,000  in  July.  And  Australia  had 
27,000  a  year  ago  and  100,000  six 
months  ago,  a  fourfold  increase. 

Germany  now  appears  to  be  un¬ 
dergoing  the  greatest  tv  expansion. 
In  anticipation  of  this,  we  started 
to  re-record  our  top  programs  with 
German,  voice  tracks  some  time 
ago.  Screen  Gems  has  now.  dubbed 
shows  in  five  languages:  German, 
Spanish,  French,  Italian  ahd  Japa¬ 
nese; 

We  have  now  started  to  dub  ih 
Portuguese  for  Brazilian  tv. 

This  overseas  potential  is  so  im¬ 
portant  to  us  that  the  men  we’ve 
put  in  charge  of  the  operation 
have,  I  dare  say,  the  most  imposing 
industry  backgrounds  that  any  dis¬ 
tributor,  can  brag  about.  I  quote 
from  their  resumes.  Bill  Fine- 
shriber,  whom  we  recently  picked 
to  head  it,  was  a  vice  president  in 
charge  of  two  networks,  a  program 
director  of  a  third*  and  a  sales  vice 
president  of  another  major  film 
distributor,  John  Cron,  who  is  in 
charge  of  our  European  operations, 
was  sales  director  of  the  NBC  Film 
Division  when  it  was  the  biggest 
thing  in  film  syndication.  John. 
Manson,.  who’s  in  charge  of  Latin 
America,  was  an  executive  with 
Young  &  Rubicam  and  also  Noble 
Advertising,  one  of  he  major  agen¬ 
cies  in  Mexico: 

They  are  men  of  no  little  extra¬ 
curricular  accomplishment.  Fine- 
shriber  has  written  a  book  about 
Stendhal.  Manson  recently  had  a 
hovel  published. 

But  this  international  baby  that 
we  love  and  care  for  is  an  “enfant 
terrible.”  Its  problems  and  com¬ 
plexities  would  drive  any  well  ad¬ 
justed  domestic  sales  force  into 
therapy. 

We  . think  we  have  time  clearance 
problems  in:  U.S.  tv.  In  interna¬ 
tional  distribution  this  is  com¬ 
pounded  by  import  quotas  and 
monetary  '  restrictions  that  vary 
with  each  country.  In  Germany, 
France,  Belgium  and  most  of  Latin 
America  the  sales  contracts  have 
to  be  written  In  the  native  lan- 
(Contlnued  oil  page  10P’ 


"100 


RADIO-TELE  VISIOX 


Fifty-second  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


The  Future  (K  Any)  Of 

A  4-Network  Radio  Economy 


especially  in  the  recent'  past,  but 
even  NBC  makes  no  claims  that 
“Monitor”  supports  seven  days,  a 
week  of  programming,  plus  a  large 


‘So  Who  Needs  It?’ 


By  ART  W!OODSTONE 

Three  months  ago  Gordon  Me-  ears  of  advertisers.  Other  program- 
'Xendori  proclaimed  that  there  ,  was  I  ming,  like  the  weekend  “Monitor/* 
room  today  for  only  two. radio  net-  the  “going,  places,  doing  things1 
works.  The  networks  were  aggra-  S  concept,  has  been  more  successful, 
vated,  not  for  what  the  station 
owner .  had  said  but,  because  he 
chose  to  say  it  in  public,  before 

the  members  and  guests  of  the  _  _ 

Radio  &  Television  Executive  So- ;  and  expensive  staff  ofadmiriistra- 
ciety  and  the  press  corps.  I  tors.  (McLendon  rapped  NBC,. prp* 

The  four  networks  could  hardly  j/ri'amming,  too.) 
take  offense  at  McLendon’s  prem-  ’ 
ise,  since  they’ve  heard,:  and  e.n-" 
gaged  in,  plenty  of  coffee  klatsch 
conversation  along  the  very  same 
lines,  and  for  years  they’d  heard 
and  said  things  like  “Tom  O’Neil 
sure  Would  love,  to  sell  Mutual.”;: 

“If  it  weren’t  for  RCA  radio  re¬ 
ceiver  sales  and  RCA  money.  NBC 
would  have  gone  out  of  business 
long  ago”;  “ABC  is  really  in  a  bad 
way,”  or  “CBS  can’t  -possibly  he 
doing  as  well  as  it  says.” 

McLendon  had  two  basic  reasons 
for  saying  what  he:  said  at  that 
RTE&  meeting  in  N.Y.:  there  isn’t 
enough,  money  to  go  around  among 
four  radio  networks,  and  that  re¬ 
sults  in  such  tight  competition,  at 
such  bargain-basement  rates,  that 
it  is  bound  to  have  a  negative  ef¬ 
fect  on  indie  operators  such  as 
himself.  The  second  reason  he  gave 
was  the.  radio  networks,  by  and 
large,  were  not  supplying  a  “util¬ 
ity — that  quality  that  goods  and 
services  have  when  they  satisfy 
human  wants.” 


That  Obsolete  Listen 


Since  1952,  three  of  the  four  na¬ 
tional  radio  networks,  have  borne 
out  in  slight  measure  McLendon’s 
belief.  It  was  fairly  apparent  to  all, 
when  ABC,  NBC  and,  more  recent¬ 
ly,  Mutual  were  struggling  to  find 
new  and  “exciting”  network 
sounds,  they  had  reached  the  con¬ 
clusion.  if  only  through  disappoint¬ 
ing  economic  results,  that  the  long¬ 
time  listen  was  obsolete,  that  the 


The  problem  faced  by  the.  radio 
networks  seems  to  hinge  to  the 
simple  fact  that  stations  can  make 
three  times  as  much  as  a  network 
can  offer,  if  and. when  the  network 
in  question  can  sell  its  time. 

Though  stations  are  forever  pull¬ 
ing  up  and  quitting  a  network 
stake  that  some  of  them  have 
claimed  for  30  years  or  more,  they 
do  have,  one  thing  that  plagues 
both  conscience  and  good  sense 
and  makes  so  many  of  them  stick, 
to  their  webs.  It’s,  not  money-r- 
probably  not  even  CBS  money. 
Whenever, it’s  a  CBS  affil  involved 
—but  it-  is  that  necessary  some¬ 
thing,  the  news  and  public  affairs 
that  most  of  the  networks  offer 
brilliantly  and  in  great  supply.  If 
Eisenhower  didn’t  have  that  “chill” 
of  his  late  last  November,  WJW, 
Cleveland,,  would  probably  never 
have  stopped  and  reconsidered 
sticking  it  out  with  ABN.  But  the 
minute  the  President  got  ill  for  the 
third  tiirie,.  station  ownership  went 
into  a  fast  huddle  to  reconsider  an 
original  decision  to  go  indie. 

Even  though,  the  [successful  Mc¬ 
Lendon  praised  the  prosperity  of 
local  radio’s  formula  while  .at  the 
same  time  blasting  the  lack  of 
Prosperity  arid  the  weakness  of  the 
radio  network  formula,  he  didn’t 
discuss  the  fact  that  not  all  local 
radio  is.  good,  or  Successful,  just 
because,  it’s  local  radio. 

But  the  yardstick  boys  along 


audience  was  being  redirected  to 1  Madison  Ave.  never  confuse  aes- 
local  news  and  music.  Yet,  when !  thetics  With  purchases  of  time,  so 
you  get  right  down  to  it,  there  is '  the  topic  of  “good  local  radio” 
hot  a  heekiiva  lot  that’s  different /  really  becomes  a  relatively  unim- 
lbout  ,t’ie  network  radio  sound  to-.;  portarit  matter  to  the  trade.  There 
flay  from  the  good,  oild  days:  are  several  of  the  4,000  radio  sta- 

McLendon  pointed  out  that  there  tions  in  the  biz  Who  are  not  mak;- 


Congratulations  to  VARIETY,  from 

‘Joe  Franklin’s  Memory  Lane’ 

Five  .  afternoons  a  .  Week ; 

Now-  in  its  fifth  year  over 

WABC-TV,  New  York 

12:30  to  1:30  P.M. 

Wl  7-2517 


Mutual  Net 
Program  Service  For 
AffOiates  During  ’58 

Mutual,  the  radio  network  keyed 
to.  the  rimsic  arid;  news  formula,  is 
expanding  its  programming  service 
to  affiliates  ,  in  ’58. 

The  accent,  still  will  be  on  news 
format,  five-minute  news  -segments 
on  the  half-hour  Wind  hour  with 
music  in  between,  but,  in  addition, 
there  will  be  a  roster  of  new  per¬ 
sonalities  added,  Joining  the  net 
in  '58  are  Kate  Srhith,  Long  John 
Nebei  and  Barry  Gray.  Kate  Smith, 
returning  frorn  retirement,  will  be 
slotted  Monday  through  Friday  in 
the  midrmofning  in  a.  25-minute 
prograrii.  ...... 

With  the  net  continuing  its  pro¬ 
gram  service  up  to  2  a.ni.,  instead 
of  closing  down  at  midnight,  Lorig 
John  Nebei  and  Barry  Gray  has 
been  added. for  the  late  night  stint. 


ular  WMCA  stand. 

In  the  hopper  is  TO -minute 
financial  news  show  in  the  after¬ 
noons,  to  be  helmed  by  a  name 
arialyist. 


J  By  LOU  HERMAN  ! 


Hollywood/ 

Some  time  ago,  I  wrote  an  arti- 
Jcle  complaining  of  the  triteness  of 
tv  coriiedy  plotting*  then  proceeded 
|  to  list  some  of  the  most  flagrant 
offenders: 

HUSBAND  BRINGS  BOSS  HOME 
TO  DINNER 

WIFE  WANTS  MINK  COAT 

HUSBAND  FORGETS  WIFE’S 
BIRTHDAY 

THE  OLD  BOYFRIEND 
THE  OLD  GIRLFRIEND 
LET’S  MAKE  HIM  THINK  HE’S 
GOING  CRAZY 

And  a  few  more. 

The  article  brought  quick  and 
startling  results.  Time  Magazine 
quoted  it:  John  Crosby,  agreed  with 
it,  (this  worried  hie)  and  George 
Putnam  analyzed  it  on  his  tv  news¬ 
cast. 

My  agent  got  concerned. 

He  said  if  I  avoided  all  the  Stale 
plots  I  had  outlined,  my  writing 
days  were  over.  I  had  painted  my¬ 
self  into  a  corner  and  dived  into 
the  bucket. 

The  next  30  or  40  “December 
Bride”  plots  wereri’t  easy  to  come 
by,  and  as  the  Fresh  Plots  got 
harder  and  harder  to  dream  up, 
England  seemed  more  and  more 
inviting.  ! 

I  was  the  bruised  homesick  child 
crying  but  for  the  Mother  Country. 
Oh,  many  was  the  week  1  longed 
to  grasp  mother’s  apron  arid;  sob 
my  little  heart  put  with  Bosses  and 
Minks  and  Forgotten  Birthdays. 

Once,;  in  a  week  of  panic,  I  al¬ 
most  weakened. 

Maybe  I'd  switch  the  stale  plots. 

Maybe  instead  of  the  Mink  Coat, 
I’d  have  the  wife  dream  of.  a  cloth 
coat. 

Maybe  the  Husband  wouldn’t 
forget  his  Wife’s  Birthday.  He’d 
forget  his  wife. 

And  the  husband  wouldn’t  Bring 
the  Boss  Home  to  Dinnbr.  He’d 
bring  a  lodge  brother  home  with 
sandwiches. 

But  no. 

The  die  Was  cast. 

I  had  committed  myself  to  Time, 
Crosby  and  Putnam. 

Actually,  it  wasn’t  that  bad. 


the  writer’s  own  experiences— then 
adapted  to  our.  characters,  and 
broaderied,  of  course*  for  maximum 
spuffooriery, 

.  Examples: 

We  bought  a  Corvette.  My  expe¬ 
riences  with  this  fast  little  racer 
gave  us  a  fresh .  springboard  for  a 
Bride  story. 

A  Hawaiian  Luau.  I  attended 
one,  suffered  through  the  fish  and 
poi  and  burnt  pig  arid  got  a  story 
out.  of  it. 

My  first  Plane  Ride  was  reenact¬ 
ed  in  another  Bride  story.  (Oh, 
I’ve  conquered  my  fear  of  planes 
now.  It’s  when  they  go  up  that  I 
worry). 

The  Short  Haircut.  .  My  wife  • 
wanted  a  poodle  cut,  I  held  out 
for  the  curls.  She,  handed  them  to 
me  one  day,  and  that  made  a  Bride 
story,  ' 


Some  Work 


1 


How  It  Works 


understood,  that  hardly  make  any 
more  iri  -  times  Of  prosperity  than 
they  do  in  times  of  want.  These 
stations,  are  always  in  jeopardy  of 
going  out  of  business,  even  though 
operating  costs  are  fractional  in 
some  instarices. 


“Bride”  stories  follow,  mote  or 
less,  the  basic  Rules  of  Play  writ¬ 
ing: 

There  is  an  Opening  Hook,  the 
plot  is  Advanced  from  scene  to 
scene,  there  is  a.  Mounting  Crisis, 
a  Suspenseful  Curtain,  Further 
Complications  for  the  Hero,  lead¬ 
ing  to  a  big  Final  Obligatory  Scene. 

And  if  things  get.  dull  toward 
the  middle.  We  throw  in  a  Subplot, 
at  no  extra  charge  to  CBS. 

Just  where  do  the  “Bride”  stor¬ 
ies  come  from? 

Most  of  the  plots  are  based  on 


was  st’ll  room  for  two  networks. ,  ing  a  measley  riickel*  even-  though  Gray  "W1  do  his  interview-chatter 
Which  two.  he  didn’t  say,  but  he !  Radio  Advertising  Bureau  reports  J  sll0Ui-1M5. to  2  a  m.  frorn  his  reg- 
d;d  imply  to  the  satisfaction  of  his  j  that  local  radio  is  in  a  boom, 
audience  that  CBS,  by  rigidly  hold-/  What  seems-  to  be  happening  is 
lng  on  to  a  tried  and  true  foririula ,  that  time  buyers  are  committing 
of  soaps  arid  international-national ’  coin  to  the  larger  stations  in  the 
news,  had  and  wilt  survive  nicely. ‘  larger  markets;  arid  to  some  of  the 
(With  the  help  of  o&o  stations  and  :  more  aggressive  stations  in  the 
CBS  Radio  Spot  Sales,  the  Web  is  i  smaller  markets.  No  station  rep 
turning  a  profit.)  worth  his  salt  or  with  any  integ- 

.  When  he  said  what  he.  said,  few  ;  rity  will  tell  you  that  all  his  sta- 
persons  believed  that  the  other  i  tions  are  reaping  national  spot  coin/ 
surviving  network  could  be  Mu-  j  Each  rep’s  station  list  has  peaks 
tual.  because  it  was  just  about  that  j  and  valleys  in  the.  earnirig  column, 
time  that  Thcmas  O’Neil  had  sold  !  the  valleys  being  the'  stations,  it’s 
the  web  for  a  piddling  $500,000. ! 

But  the  'new  owners,  headed  by 
Paul  Roberts,  had.  an  idea,  one  that ! 
seemed  to  be  less  grandiose  and 
hence  riiore  truly  original  than  any  ! 
that  had  been  thought  of  before 
or  since.  Taking  a  clue  from  what ; 

O’Neil  planned  and  never  dfd.- 

Roberts  cut  network  operating  i  Budgets  having  gone  right  through  the  ceiling  with  the  dawn  (a  spectacular)  of  television,  the  follow- 
costs  back  to  the  bone,  and  went  j  ing  data  of  1947  are  already,  not  only  historical  but  quaint.  This  was'  ‘‘Studio  One’*  when  it  .  was  a  house 
m  primarily  for  selling  news.  He's  j  production  of  CBS  in  the  innocent  period  (but  then  rapidly  ending)  of  broadcasting.  Today  this  era  of  radio 
got  some  other  program,  items  on  j  is  rated  more  primitive  than  Grandma.  Moses  paintings.  Why  they  even  had  eight  of  the. first  26  scripts 

adapted  on  staff,  the  members  of  the  CBS  Division  of  Program  Writing  getting  nothing  but  thanks,  and 
very  little  of  that.  It  is  also  to  be  noted  that  good  old  P.D.  (public  domain)  was  visited  four  times,  PJD. 
being  the  frontier  behind  which  there  are  rio  royalty  fees.  The  original  producer  of  “Studio  One”  was 
a  staff  executive,  who  had  four  other  drarnatic  series  running  and  the  director  was  a  boy.  genius  imported 
froim  Canada.  It’s  all  too,  too  quaint,  looking  back. 


The  Contour  Chair.  I  wanted  one, 

:  my  wife  said  it  wouldn’t  go’  with 
]  our  furniture.  I  finally  got  the  con¬ 
tour  chair— and  she  got  the  house, 
the  money  rind  custody  of  the 
child/ 

The  Hot  Meal.  Bnscd  on  the 
theory  that  a  husband  expects  his 
wife  to  have  a  hot  meal  waiting 
for  him  when  he  comes  home  from 
work;  (An  interesting  theory,  that 
made  a  funny  story  for  Bride.) 

Besides,  taking  story  ideris  from 
life,  I  have  often  dug  iri  to.  my  hob¬ 
bies  and  interests  for  springboard 
ideas: 

Photography. T  have  been  a  seri¬ 
ous  shutterbtig  since  a  Brownie 
meant  a  cookie.  When  Lindy  was  a 
baby  I  photographed  her  so  much, 
to  this  day  she  thinks  she’s  Mar¬ 
guerite  O’Brien.  Dean  Miller  is  my 
alter  ego  on  Bride;  arid  we’ve  got¬ 
ten  shows  out  of  his  escapades  in 
the  field  of  photography. 

Magic.  An  amateur  magician  for 
years,  I  have  donated  this  hobby 
to  Henry  Morgan-  oil  “Bride”— and 
it’s  given  us  many  humorous  scenes 
that  will  live  on  in  the  minds  of 
Americans; 

Body  Building.  Sure,  I  used  to 
lift  Weights.  But  I  gave  it  up  when 
my  beautiful  chest  began  to  excite 
comments  at  the  beach  from  the 
boys.  Dean  Miller,  trying  to  emu¬ 
late  a  bodybuilder,  gave  us  another 
funny  story. 

I  throw  darts,  play  billiards,  ,  like 
motorboating  rind  this  sumjner.  in¬ 
tend  to  take  up  water-skiing.  When . 
I  do,  my.  experiences  will  be  re¬ 
flected,  in  a  Bride  story.  (If  the  se¬ 
ries  is  canceled,  I  will  deduct  the 
cost  of  the  lessons  as  a  gambling 
loss.) 


the  docket,  like  Kate.  Smith,  for 
instance,  but  it’s  /  news  that  sta¬ 
tions  can’t,  get  locally  that  they 
still  seem  willing  tp  pay  for.  Hence! 
Roberts  ha's  Converted  a  $500:000 
thi’  \va way.  into  something  that  now 
seems  to  be  delivering  a.  small,  yet 
steady  profit: 

Neither  did  McLendon  say  Which 
two  networks  would  fail.  Blit  he 
guve  plenty  of  hints  in  his  .RTES 
.speech-,,  which  he  •  expanded  on  in 
a  more  recent  coiriment  to  a  re¬ 
porter.  “I  s£e  nothing,  in  the  Amer¬ 
ican  Broadcasting  Network  pro¬ 
gramming  plans  (for  live  musical 
shows  six  hours  a  day)  that  adds 
to  the  basic  utility  of!  ABN  to  the 
American  public.”  McLendon/  in 
December,  after  the'  riew  ABN  or¬ 
chestrated  strips  were  on.  the  road 
for  nearly  two  months,  reiterated 
his  point  and;  in  fact,  made  it 
slronger.  Not  only  did  he  say  that 
ABN  was  raiding  him  for  person¬ 
nel,  a  fact  he  did  not  .take  kindly 
to,  but  he  damned  the  net’s  chances 
for  mriking  good. 

There  is  a  similarity  between 
ABN’s  musical  shows,  which,  have 
not  made  any  significant  amounts 
of  money  yet  in  relation  to  the 
overwhelming  weekly  cost  of  oper¬ 
ation,  and  NBC’s  “Bandstand,” 
which  has  been  on  for  a  few  years 
and  has  also  failed  to  catch  the 


AUTHOR’S 

TOTAL 

SCRIPT 

ROYALTY 

FEE 

1.  Under,  the  Volcano 

$  350:. 

$  .475. 

$  825. 

2.  Topaze  . .  . ; . 

350: 

700. 

3.  Enemy  of  the;  People  ./ 

.. —  (P.D.) 

350. 

350. 

4.  Alibi  .Ike 

350. 

450. 

800. 

5.  Dodsworth 

500.- 

—  (Staff) 

500. 

6.  Hay  Fever 

500. 

350. 

850. 

7.  The  Red  Bridge  of  Courage  _ _ _ 

300. 

350. 

650. 

8.  To  Mary  With  Love  -  -  .  .  ..  ..  . 

350. 

350. 

700. 

9.  The  Romantic  Comedians 

350. 

550 

900. 

10.  Baby  Cyclone 

350. 

450. 

800. 

li.  Payment  Deferred 

750. 

—  (Staff) 

750. 

12.  Ah,  Wilderness  .: _ ....... ... 

.........  750* 

—  (Staff) 

750. 

13.  Holiday  . .  . , . .... .  ....../ .  ... 

.........  500. 

450. 

950/ 

14.  A  Bill  of  Divorceirieiit  . . . . .... ; .  .■ , 

.........  300.  . 

450. 

750. 

15*  Carmen  .  . . . ...... . .... . . . , 

—  (P.D:) 

350. 

350. 

16.  Pride  and  Prejudice  ...... 

—  (P.D.) 

450. 

450. 

17.  Laburnum  Grove 

400. 

450. 

850. 

18.  The  Hunted 

250. 

650. 

800. 

19.  Thunder  Rock.  . . . . 

350. 

—  (Staff) 

350. 

20.  Barretts  of  Wimpole  St  .......... 

........  i  750. 

—  (Staff) 

-  750. 

21.  Act  of  Faith 

150. 

—  (Staff) 

150. 

22.  Gentle  Julia  ..... 

400. 

450. 

850. 

23.  Withering  Heights  ... 

—  (P.D.) 

450. 

450. 

24.  A  Tree  Grows  In  Brooklyn. 

450. 

550 

i,ooo: 

25.  Anthony  Adverse 

500. 

(Staff) 

500. 

26.  Singing  Guns 

350. 

.(Staff) 

350. 

$9,300. 

*7,825. 

$17,125. 

.  Voice  of  Experience 


The  writer  must  not  allow  him¬ 
self  to  stagnate-  He  must  try  con¬ 
stantly  to  enlarge  his  field  of  ex¬ 
periences — because  the  more  inter¬ 
ests  he  develops,  the  more  he  can 
write  about  with  authority. 

Of  course,  no  one  man  can  have 
all  experiences.  There  are  times 
when  a  writer  must  live  his  stories 
vicariously.  And  this  is  where 
newspapers,  magazines  and  books 
may  give  him  the  Fresh  Spring¬ 
boards  he  is  constantly,  hungrily 
seeking., 

A .  magazine  article  recently  stat¬ 
ed:  If  a  man  were  to  pay  his  wife 
for  ail  .  the  services  she  performs 
around  the  house,  the  husband 
would  have  to  pay  her  .  close  to 
$200  a  week.  I’m  still  trying  to  de¬ 
velop  a  story  out  of  this  nugget,: 
and  some  day  I  may.  If  I  can  only 
lick  the  one  censurable  item  among 
the  wife’s  duties. 

In  short,  a  writer-— even  a  corii¬ 
edy  writer— -must  grow  constantly.. 
He  must  increase  his  storehouse  of 
experiences,  so  that  he  will  have 
Fresh  Springs  to  drink  from. 

If  X  ever  conquer  my  morbid  fear 
of  heights,  I  may  someday  volun¬ 
teer  for  that  first  rocket  trip  to 
the  moon/ 

And  when  I  return,  I’ll  develop 
a  new  comedy  series.  Maybe  call 
it  Life  with  the  Lunars— the  story 
of  an  Average  Moon  Family  living 
on  the  .  side  of  a  crater. 

It  will  be  based  on  things  I’ve 
seen  and  experienced— and  if  need¬ 
ed  for  comedy  and  I  run  out  of 
ideas.  I’ll  invent  the  Neighbor 
from  the  Next  Planet  who  keeps 
dropping  in .  for  a  cup  of  moon¬ 
shine. 

But  I  promise  one  thing. 

His  wife  will  never  want  a  Mink 
Goat. 


January  8,1151 


Fifty-second  pSstEfy  Anniversary  RADIO-TELEVISION  101 


WRITE-’EM-WHILE-YOU-WAIT 


Who  Has  A  Private  Life? 

—  - -By  ALLEN  BORETZ-  ■■  ■—  ■  ■■  ■  — 


A  mail  can’t  take  a  walk  around  New  York  these  days  without  being 
asked  a  lot  of  questions.  Everywhere  you  go  there’s  a  guy  with  a  thin 
suit  and  a  fat  notebook  who  wants  to  know  what  program  you  saw  last 

ight,  what  kind  of  stuff  you  buy,  what  you  eat  and  What’s  the  matter 
With  your  sex  life.  I  tell  you  as  soon  as  1  take  off  enough  weight  I  in¬ 
tend  to  move  into  a  $6-a-year  safety  deposit  box.  In  the  meantime  I 
am  around  New  York  indulging  in  a  number  of  dodges  to  avoid  those 
fellows. 

First  I  put  on  a  sign  saying  “I  Am  A.  Communist.’’  Nobody  noticed 
it  at  first.  They  just. asked  the  questions  without  looking  ait  me.  I  had  to 
paint  an  arrow  leading  from  my‘ forehead,  down  my  nose,  over  my  lips 
and  chin  pointing  to  the  sign.  This  kept  the  narrow  clavicles  away,  but 
a  guy  snapped  my  picture  on  Central  Park  South  and  attempted,  to 
hand  me  a  card,  when  I  started  to  wave  my  arms  in  protest,  he  ran  and 
when  I  pursued  him  toward  the  Plaza  Hotel,  he  began  to  shout.  This 
attracted' the' attention  of  two  policemen  driving  peacefully  in  a  prowl 
car.  They  stopped  the  car,  hopped  out  and  notified  me  that  due  to  the 
sign  I  could  expect  very  little  sympathy,  In  fact  I  was  happy  not  to  be 
arrested.  So  I  discarded  that  sign  and  painted  myself  another  one  stat¬ 
ing  that  I  was  “deaf  and  dumb.”  , This  didn’t  work  because  I  could  still 
see,  and  I  was  apprehended  by  a  special'  researcher  who  could  speak 
the  sign  language. 

I  waved  my  fingers  back  at  him  and  must  have  said  something  ex¬ 
citing  because  he  looked  startled,  made  a  fast  note  and  beat  it  in  the 
direction  of  Madison  Ave.,  looking  back  occasionally  as  though  to  con¬ 
vince  himself  I  was  not  a  mirage. 

|  _  Smashed  Glasses  and  Pencils  ] 

I  discarded  that  sign  and  decided  on  being  blind.  This  proved  costly. 
First  of  all  I  apparently  invaded  the  territory  of  A  real  blind  man  who 
pushed  me  off  the  curb  in  front  of  an  automobile.  Luckily  it  Was  a 
Volkswagen  which  I  knocked  over.  Unluckily  my  sign  fell  off,  my  blue 
glasses  broke,  my  pencils  disappeared  in  the  hands  of  a  dozen  motiva¬ 
tional  researchers  who  grabbed  them  and  finally  I  received  a  summons 
for  obstructing  traffic,  masquerading,  begging  without  a  license  and 
denting  a  Volkswagen.  I  stayed  home  for  three  months  in  a  state  of 
dishabille,  but  I  ran  out  of  food,  reaching  the  point,  where  I  was  fight¬ 
ing  the  mice  for  cheese:  Also  air  the  dishes  Were  dirty  and  the  debris 
had  reached  up  to  my  chin. 

The  Health  Dept,  came  around  and  forced  me  to  open  a  window.  I 
opened  it  a  crack  and  a  very  thin  man  with  practically  no  scapula 
forced  his  way  in  like  a  telegram  slipped  under  a  door.  He  wanted  to 
know  if  I  ate  cereal.  I  told  him  I  ate  people  and  he  was  not  amazed.  I 


By  MURRAY  HOROWITZ 

Syndication  has  grown  up  in 
many  areas— sponsor  acceptance, 
rating  performance,  in  the  variety 
of  skeins  offered,  in  the  multipli¬ 
city  of  locales  and  in  production 
values.  But  in  one  area,  in  the  writ¬ 
ing  department,  the.  creative  talent 
Which  separates  the  men  from  the 
boys  in  dramaturgy,  telefilms  still 
are  lagging  behind. 

Lack  of  ..sufficient  creativity  and 
craftsmanship,  in  scripting  is  not 
confined  to.  syndication  skeins.  The 
same  fault  bogs  down  many  .net¬ 
work  berthed  v  telefilm  series,  as 
well  as  live  shows,  but  the  weak¬ 
ness  prevails  more  in  syndication 
and  is  more  pronounced. 

One  reason  it's  uppointed  in  syn¬ 
dication  that  the  field  at  .  this 
stage  doesn’t  offer  a  Tiffany  show¬ 
case  for  dramaturgy  similar  in  star 
fure  to  a  “Playhouse  90,”  “Gen¬ 
eral  Electric  Theatre”  “Al¬ 

fred  Hitchcock  Presents”  series — 
discounting,  of  course,  the  “off- 
network”  skein$  making  the  syn¬ 
dication  rounds. 

The  fault  is  not  one  underscored 
solely  by  pro  critics  time  and  again 
in  their  reviews,  but  is.  recognized 
in  large  segments  of  the  trade  as 
a  knotty  problem  tough  to  lick. 
There’s  a  residual  problem,  too, 
considered  in  some  quarters,-  as  im¬ 
portant,  if  not  more  so  than  the 
rerun  payments  to  the  talent 
guilds. 

|  Tried,  True  &  Tested  f 


guess  he  didn’t  even  hear  what  I  said.  He  wanted  to  know  fat  or  lean, 
What  color  and  what  part  I  relished  the  most,  with  an  unearthly  scream 
I  threw  him  into  the  street  like  a  bag  of  water,  and  fled  up  on  the  roof 
where  I  was  approached  by  another  reed-like  figure  from  behind  a  tv 
antenna. 

A  clever  scheme  hit  me  like  a  hot  bulb.  I  killed  him  by  blowing  on 
him  and  causing  him.  single  pneumonia  (he  was  too  emaciated’ for  dou¬ 
ble)  burying  him  by  sliding  him  down  the  mail  chute,  stripped.  By  hold¬ 
ing  my  breath  and  drawing  in  my  stomach  I  was  able  to  get  into  his 
clothes.  I  cut  my  hair  into  a  crew  cut  with  a  sharp  stone,  held  his  note¬ 
book  and  pencil  in  my  hand  professionally,,  stepped,  into  the  elevator 
and  began  asking  questions.  On  the  street  a  woman  slapped  me.  Evi¬ 
dently  she  didn’t  like  my  question.  The  next  one  did,  giving  me  her 
phone  number,  and  the  third  one  was  even  more  cooperative.  She  ask¬ 
ed  me  to  accompany  her  to  her  cooperative  apartment,  Which  I  did  and 
where  I  took  copious  notes.  What  I  didn’t  know  was  that  she  was  a 
deeper  dyed  villian  than  I  was  (redheaded  if  you  must  know)  because 
she  had  a  hidden  tape-recorder. 

She  played  back  my  conversation,  whereupon  I  bought  It  for  . $5, 000 
and  left  at  once  for  Cleveland!  But  I  found  no  privacy  there  either,  so 
as  I  said  before,  as  soon  as  I  take  off  enough  weight  I  am  moving  into 
a  $6-a-year  safety  deposit  box.  I  have  already  made  an  application 
There  are  just  few  questions  to  answer  and  then  . . , 


BEN  GRAUER 

TV  NBC  RADIO 


To  return  to  the  more  specific 
telefilm  area  of  syndication,  a 
quick  review  of  the  skeins  .put;  on 
the  market  this,  season  Underscores 
the  variety  in  type,  locales  and  in 
points  of  time.  There’s  the  Series 
laid  during  the  Civil  War  period, 
the  one  made  in  Canada  concerning 
pre.-Reyolutionary  times  and  In¬ 
dian  Warfare,  the  westerns,  the. 
modern-day  private  eye  skein  shot 
in  a  variety  of  European  locales, 
the  new  productions  on  established 
skeins  which  take  the  viewers  up 
in  the  sky,  on  the  robber-infested 
highways,  beneath  the  sea. 

Production  values  in .  many  cases 
compare  very  favorably  to  network 
berthed  telefilms — and,  in  most  in¬ 
stances,  offer  far  more  In  scenic 
values  than  can  be  achieved  ,  iii  a 
studio  show  being  telecast  live:  But 
these  production  advantages  accru¬ 
ing  to  syndication,  as  the  business 
has  grown  and  .as  more  money  has 
been  put  into  each  series,  are  weak¬ 
ened  by  the  Achillis  heel  in  the 
product,  the  scripting. 

The  problem  stems  from  many 
causes.  Producers  in  syndication 
pay  about  $1,000  to  $2,000  per  30- 
minute.  episode  for  a:  script,  a  fee 
smaller '  than  paid  by  many  net¬ 
work  shows  or  other  mediums  out¬ 
side  of  tv.  There’s  a  tendency  to 
utilize,  the  same  pool  of  writers, 
some  of  Whom  are  employed  on  a 
private  eye  series  one  week  and 
a  sea  saga  the  next,  going  on  to  a 
western  series  'sometime  later,  a 
situation  which  accounts  for  the 
lack  of  a  distinctive  individuality 
In  many  series; 

Then,  there  are.  the  factors  of 
time,  the  inflexible  shooting  sched¬ 
ule,  and  the  entrenched  avoidance 
of  anything  but  the.  tried,  true  and 
tested  formulas,  all  conditions  un- 
conducive  to  creativity.  Many  a 
producer  acknowledges  before 
shooting  that  he’s  unhappy  with 
the  script  of  a  particular  episode, 
but  production  must  keep  rolling 
and  it’s  too  late  to  make  addition¬ 
al  revisions.  Shooting  must  begin 
or  the  remaining  39  in  the  series 
also  Would  be  delayed.  In  Holly¬ 
wood,  the  filming  schedule  for  a 
30-minute  episode  has  been  Whit¬ 
tled  down  to  two  or  three  days. 
This  means  that  any  writing  novice,, 
no  matter  what  his  genius  in  other 
1  (Continued  on  page  102) 


+• 


Where  Top  Talent’s  Involved, 
It’s  Always  A.  Seller’s  Market 

By  MANIE  SACKS 

(V.P.,  NBC-TV  Network  Talent  and  Programs) 

Big-name  talent  has  always  ruled  the  roost  in  television.  And  neith¬ 
er  the  networks  nor  the  advertisers  have  objected  to  paying  large  fees 
for  a  guaranteed,  pre-tCsted  marquee  name  around  which  to  build  pro¬ 
grams  representing  millions  In  risk  capital. 

There  has  always  been  a  seller’s  market  in  top  talent.  The  outstand¬ 
ing  fact  of  life  in  talent  procurement  today  is  that  the  shortage  is  great¬ 
er  than  ever.  And  this  shortage  has  had  a  very  noticeable  effect  on  pro¬ 
gram-planning  by  all  the  networks.  » 

The  shortage  was  caused  by  several  factors!  One  is  that  old  bugaboo 
-over-exposure.  Many  established,  draws  have,  worn  out  their  living- 
room  welcomes.  Perhaps  they’ll  come  back  as  strongly  as  ever. 

Then  again,  many  top  stars  not  primarily  associated  with  tv  have  be¬ 
come  a  little  shopworn  as.  «xtrarspecial  guest  attractions.  Except  for  a 
few  of  the  very  top  film  stars,  just  about  all  the  big  names  in  show  busi¬ 
ness  have  had  their  highly-publicized  television  debut.  And  honeymoons 
don’t  last  forever. 

Still  another  factor  ini  the  shortage  is  the  Increase  in  competition. 
The  networks  must  not  only  compete  with  each  other,  but  also  with  the 
steadily  improving  quality  of  tv  films  and  Hollywood  features  now  avail¬ 
able;  to  individual  stations..  This  Situation  has  made  the  public  more 
selective  than  ever  in  its  dialing.  This  selectivity  has  killed  off  many  a 
marquee  name.  . 

Well,  what  has  television  done  to  build  its  own  fresh,  big-name  tal¬ 
ent?  You  can  be  sure  that,  with  the  talent  market  being  what  it.  is, 
we’ve  done  what  we  can  to  home-grow  some  product.  And  I  guess  we 
haven’t  done  too  badly— -considering. 

j  _ The  Hesitant  Client _ _ [ 

The  hitch  in  developing  our  own  talent  is  that  advertisers  are  usually 
reluctant  to  risk  large  outlays  oh  new  performers,  no  matter  how  prom¬ 
ising.  And  this  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  in  television — unlike  films— 
stars  can  he  made  overnight— Fess  Parker  is  one  example  that  comes 
to  mind. 

The  networks  can,  and  do,  develop  programs  that  depend  more  oh 
format  than  on  top  stars.  And  we  do,  very  frankly  think,  of  our  talent 
development  needs  in  the  casting  of  some  of  these  shows — for  instance, 
the  four  youngsters  On  “Your  Hit  Parade,”  Bob  Horton  in  “Wagon 
Train;”  and  Lee  Marvin  in  “M-Squad.” 

We’ve  built  some  of  pur  own  big  draws— Ernie  Ford,  Gisele  Mac¬ 
kenzie,  others.  But.  frankly,  I  don’t  think  we’ve  come  up  with  enough 
to  balance  the  talent  books. 

And  now,  how  has  this  growing  "talent  shortage  affected  pur  over-, 
all  operation?  To  begin  with,  the  top  stars  of  today  usually  insist  on 
controlling  their  own  shows— either  by  owning  the  package  or  by  hav¬ 
ing  the  full  say  in  what  kind  of  show  they  want  to  have  built  for  them: 
The  networks  and  the  packagers  have  to  come  up  with  attractions  that 
will  keep  the  stars  happy. 

Second,  the  shortage  has  inevitably  given  greater  program  emphasis 
to  the  big- talent  agencies  who  also  function  as  packagers.  They  have 
developed  strong  programming  operations  geared  very  precisely  to  the 
capabilities— and  the  likes— of  the  talent  they  represent. 

At  this  point,  I  want  to  say  that  these  agencies  deliver  a  reliable, 
saleable  product  in  the  way  of  programming.  They've  acquired  the  know¬ 
how.  If  the  show  gets  into  trouble,  they  move  in  quickly  and  effective¬ 
ly  to  put  things  to  right.  And  —  let’s  not  overlook  this  —  they  put  a 
strong  sales  effort  behind  their  programs,  and  frequently  come  to  the 
network  with  a  client  all  ready  to  sign,  It's  a  pleasure  to  do  business 
with  these  program  sources. 

Another  effect  of  the  shortage  of  big  names  results  froip  the  In¬ 
creasingly,  higher  fees  they  can  pick  up  on  guest  shots.  Why  undertake 
a  regular  series — with  all  the  confinement  this  means — when  you.  can 
make  just  as  much  with  a  few  guest  appearances  on  big-budget  shows? 

This  shortage  of  talent,  coupled  with  heightened  competition  has  put 
fresh  emphasis  on  creativity—on  the  off-camera  end  of  programming. 
This  creativity -will  inevitably  build  new  stars  while  building  stronger 
programs.  Put  these  results  together,  and  you  have  a  medium  that  is 
stronger  than  ever. 


102 


RADIO-TELEVISION 


Some  Beflections  At  90 


Fifty-second  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


^^t^*^**  By  PHIL  SILVERS 

By  the  time  this  reaches  the  editors  of  Variety,  I  will  be  enjoying 
a  siesta,  from  the  Bilko  chores,  along  with  ray  producer,  director,  wri¬ 
ters,  script  girls,  cast,  prop  men,  et  al. 

With  our  Nov.  22  stanza,  we  completed  the  20th  show1  of  our  cur¬ 
rent  series  which  was  started  back  in  July.  That  makes  91  films  in  the 
can  as  you  read  this,  or  the  equivalent  of  30  full-length  Hollywood 
movies,  more  than  I  made  in  all  the  years  I  spent  around  MGM  and 
20th-Fox.  That’s  a  lot  of  residuals  under  the  bridge  and  quite  a  .  few 
off-camera  laughs,  also  some  tears,  went  with  it. 

Looking  back,  I  remember  most  vividly  the  time  Bing  Crosby  came 
on  the  show  as  a  guest.  The  circumstances,  were  interesting.  It  all  hap¬ 
pened  most  accidentally.  By  a  coincidence  of -booking,  Bing  and  I  did 
the  Ed  Sullivan  show  one  Sunday  about  a  year  ago.  Nat  Hiken  came 
down  the.  afternoon  of  the  programed  look  Over  my  spot  and  when,  he 
saw*  Crosby,  he  whispered  to  me  he  had  a  script  prepared  which  suited 
Bing  perfectly,  1  knew  that  Bing  watched  us  in  Hollywood  and  I  asked 
him  If  he’d  want  to  come  on  one  of  our  shows;  Lreally  Was  Casual  about 
it,  didn’t  dream  he’d  have  the  time  or  the  . inclination.  But  Bing  said 
he’d  be  delighted.  Where  and  when?  This  was  Sunday.  We  settled  for 
Tuesday  mcjr  ing  of  the  following  week  to  shoot  his  spot.  When  I  left 
the  Sullivan  rehearsal,  Hiken  made  a  small  confession— there  was  no 
script  at  ail,  not  even  an  idea,  ’Tuesday  morning  was  by.  now  Only  hours 
way  and  there  would  have  to  be  something  for  Bing  to  read.  Nat  and 
I  then  sweated  out  hot  a  plot  idea  but  only  its  ending.  That  Tuesday;  : 
I  think  we  established  some  Sort  of  crazy  tv  precedent.  We  shot  the. 
ending  of  a  comedy  program  for  which  there  was  actually  no  beginning 
or  middle.  But  we  had  one  very  important  item  going  for  us,  namely, 
Bing  Crosby  in  a  five-minute  ,  sequence  of  a  Bilko  film.  And.  then  Nat 
worked  backwards  writing  a  show  to  lead  into  an  already .  filmed  cli-. 
max.  It  turned  Out  beautifully,  one  of  our  best  received  programs. 

The  saddest  of  our  memories  as  we  look  back  at.  90  frantic  weeks 
was  the  untimely  death  of  Harry  Clark,  one  of  Broadway’s  and  tv’s  most 
gifted  character  comedians;  Harry  was  with  us.  at  the  inception  of;  the 
show  and  a  giant  asset  to  the  senes.  We  have  missed  him  terribly  and 
it  was  some  source  of  gratification  to  us  that  a  Bilko  show  upcoming 
In  January  will  have  as  its  cast  member  a  young  dancer  named  Irene 
Clark.  Hari'y’s  lovely  daughter  who,  we  ail  hope,  will.  continue  the  fine 
Clark  tradition  in  show  business. 


Tbe  Birth  of  Sgt.  Ritzik 


Then  there  was  the  time  Hiken  and  I  were  down  in  Miami  for  a 
quick  vacation.  We  walked  into  a  haberdashery  one  hot  afternoon  arid 
a  smalltime  comic  was  in  the  place  buying  some  ties.  Nat  and  I  were 
not  Impressed  with  the  jokes  but  with  his  looks  arid  .conversational 
style.  Reminded  us  of  the  late  Wally  Beery. 

Nothing  came  of  this  until  about  a  month  later  when  a  script  Came 
up  with  a  fat  part  in  it  for  that  type  of  actor  to  play  a  mess  sergeant. 
Both  of  us  remembered  that  Miami  comic  We  checked  but  he  was  now 
in  Honolulu  working  out  the  second  Week  of  a  .  six-week  date.  We  talk¬ 
ed  him  into  flying  up  to  New  York  for  only  a  tv  one-shot.  Joe.E,  Rossi 
stayed  on  for  20  shows  thereafter  as  Sgt.  Rupert  Ritzik  and  broke  it 
up  by  making  two  movies  for.  Paramount,  one  with  Hal  March,  “Hear 
Me  Good,’’  That  one-shot  has  made  him  and  it  ail  proves  you  got  to 
buy  your  shirts  in  the  right  store; 

Looking  back,  I  must  salute.. one  of  our  platoom  Maurice  Brenner,, 
for  relinquishing  the  Doberman  role  to  another  actor.  Brenner  was  the 
original  choice  to  play  the  platoon  patsy,  but  one  morning  in  walked  a 
guy  named  Maurice  Gosfield  and  Nat  and  I  knew  simultaneously  we 
had  our  real  Doberman,  GOsfield’s  girth,  his  fabulous  face,  his  crab, 
walk,  everything  made  this  must  casting.  Brenner  saw  it  Our  way  and 
he’s  still  a  valued  member  of  the  cast,  Pvt.  Fleishman. 

It’s  been  a  joyous,  eventful  90  weeks;  And  as  I  face  the  prospect  of 
the  next  90,  I  can  only  say  what  I’ve  said  all  along:  Help!.  Help!  Help! 

- - : — — - - - - - —+  ■  ■  ■  ■  •  ■  '  • _ 


ART  FORD 


While-You-Wait 

——  Continued  from  page  lOl  'isss 
areas :  niight  be,  must  be  very  fa¬ 
miliar  with;  telefilm  techniques  for 
the  director  and  Cast  haven’t  the 
time  to  play  With  the  script. 

In  light  of  the  criticism,  the  for¬ 
mula  approach  too  should  be  ex¬ 
amined.  Action-adventure  is  the 
blood  and  guts  of  the  syndication 
market,  although  there  are  some 
deviations.  But  even  With!  the 
formula  there  can  be  room  for 
better  insight,  motivation,  charac¬ 
terization,  plot  and  other,  attri¬ 
butes  of  good  drairia. 

Some,  producers  feel  one  way  to 
meet  the  problem,  of  manufactured 
film .  entertainment  is  greater  pre¬ 
planning;  getting  scripts  lined  up 
way  in  advance  of  production  so 
that  revisions  can  be  made  more 
easily,  so  that  new  talents  can .  be 
Weaned,  Another  measure  pro¬ 
posed  is  to  set  up  prizes  and 
scholarships  to  get  fresh  Writers 
out  of  Campuses  to  join  the  tele¬ 
film  field:  Perhaps  then  telefilms 
could  ,  develop  the  Rod  Serlings,’ 
the  Reginald  Roses’,  associated 
with  live  drama.  Positive  changes 
in.  that,  direction  would  answer,  in 
a  good  measure,  the  critics  of  film, 
whose  arguments  many  times  are 
misplaced,  blaming  the  film  techr 
pique  father  thart  the  scripting, 
which  m  many  cases  is  the  cause, 
of -the  . failure. 

Telefilms  on  the  networks  have 
attracted,  top  performing  talent — 
for  example,  look  at  the  roster  of 
name  stars  in  “GE  Theatre.”  Most 
of  the  names  aren’t  that  big  in 
syndication,  but  that  field  has  very 
competent  performers,  The  next 
step  in .  upgrading  syndication 
product,  the  barrier  to  be  crossed, 
is  the  scripting  department. 


As  Detroit  Goes,  So  Goes — 

By  OLIVER  TREYZ 

(V.  P,  in  Charge  of  ABC  Television ) 

Before  you  say  I’m  off  my  geographic  rocker,  consider  this  amaz¬ 
ing  fact:  Of  the  $200,000,000,000  in  retail  sales  that  the  US.  racks  up 
annually,  one-quarter  comes  from  the  autoiriotive  field!  .In  short,  the 
wheels  of  this  nation-oh-wheels  are  kept  spi  ing  by  Detroit.  The  auto¬ 
motive  industry  ^ — Detroit  —  uses  56%  of  our  iron,  40%  of  our  lead; 
23%  of  our  steel.  As  Detroit  goes,  so  goes  the  nation. 

These  figures— though  less  interesting  than  those  conjured  up  by  the 
names  Marilyn  and  Jayne— nevertheless  have  great  significance  to  tele¬ 
vision,  to  advertising,  to  show  business.  Variety  hag, always  had  a 
sound  coiictrri  with  the  biLsiness  half  of  show  biz— as  its  classic  head¬ 
line,  “Wall  St.  Lays  An  Egg,”  attests..  The  state  of  the  nation,  economi¬ 
cally  speaking,  is  reflected  by  the  boxoffice^-arid,  in  television,  by  the 
“take"  of  talent  and  billings  for  time. 

Happily,  Wall  St.  isnT  producing  any  eggs.  But  there  is  talk  in  to¬ 
day’s  business  papers  of  “adjustments”  and  “deflation’’  and  "breathr 
ers.”  Understandably,  in  an  economy  as  complex;  as  Ours,  the  signs  and 
portents  in  one  sector  often  contradict  those  in  another— and  the  over¬ 
all  trend  is  sometimes  difficult,  to  discern.  But  one  clear  relation shi 
I  see  is  the  linking  of  our  economy’s  expansion,  to  tv. . 

Just  as  Detroit  is  the  flywheel  of  our  production  .machine,  so  adver¬ 
tising  is  the  flywheel  of  our  distribution  machine.  It  is  commonplace 
to  say  that  “Our  problem  is  no  longer  production,  but  distribution.” 
And  it  is  the  job  of  moving. goods  off  the  production  line  and  into  the. 
home  that  requires  Our  earnest  attention. 

We  have,  of  course,  reached  a  point  in  our  evolution  where  satisfy¬ 
ing  basic  demands  is  taken  for  granted;  and  the.  hew  demands  must 
be  created.  In  short,  markets  are  manufactured,  just  as  products.  The 
demand  for  a  low-calorie  beverage  is  a  created  demand:  It  wasn?t  until 
people  were  made  to  want  low-calorie  drinks — by  advertising^ — that  thi 
whole  new  industry  was  built. 

If  doesn’t  take  any  searching  to  discover  that  the.  American  people 
ate  constantly  upgrading  their  demands.  They  Want,  each  year,  some¬ 
thing  a  little  better— better  design  or  materials,  greater  convenience, 
something  that  looks  better,  or  different,  or  does  a  better,  or  more-  rapid  s. 
job.;  Arid  this  higher  standard  Of  living,  is  the. result  pf  a  higher,  stand¬ 
ard  of  Wanting— wants  that  are  advertising-induced. 


The  Robot-Sell  ins  E  ra 


Mind  you,  it  isn’t  the  friendly  grocery,  clerk  who  is  sparking  sales 
of  low-calorie  beverages — because  the  grocery  clerk  is  probably  work¬ 
ing  in  a  guided  missile  plant  arid  you  are.  buying  beverages  in  a  super¬ 
market.  The  point  is  simply:  Today  we  have  robot  selling,  and  demand 
is  created  by  pre-selling,  by  mass-selling  through  advertising. 

In  this  new  method  of  selling-thrOugh-advertising,  television  is  play¬ 
ing  the  dominant  role.  On  a  national  basis— excluding  local  advertising 
—tv  today  outstrips  magazines,  newspapers  and  the  other  ad  media. 

TV  is  able  to  do  this  because  it  has  the.  greatest  impact.  It  gets  across 
more  .information,  more  powerfully,  more  quickly  and  more  economi¬ 
cally  than  any  other  medium.  Its  ability  to  demonstrate,  to  show  a  prod-: 
net  in  Use  and  in  motion,  with  the  added  persuasiveness  of  the  human 
voice, and  sound,  makes  it  todayls  prime  mover  of  products. 

Television  is  as  much  a  part  of  the  production  line  for  most  national 
products  as  the  conveyor  belt  that  Henry  Ford  introduced. 

Which  brings  us  tci  the  489  Detroits.  In  our  machinery  of  demand- 
creation  and  distribution,  the  driving  force  is  our  489  commercial  tele¬ 
vision  stations.  They  are  the  primary  means  of .  producing  Want-to-buy. 
.Week-irt  and  week-out,  these:  stations  are  selling  as  they  entertain  and 
inform.  Importantly,  they  sell  best  by  getting  ,  a  message;  across  fre¬ 
quently  and  regularly*  Just  as  our  economic  machinery  Works  best  With 
a  steady  pull,  rather  than  spasmodic  spurts,  so,  too,  tv  advertising  is; 
most  effective  when  it  is  a  campaign  with  frequency, 

And  it  is  significant  that  Detroit,  is  spending  more  than  ever  in  tele¬ 
vision.  This  season  automotive  advertisers  are  buying  two  and  a  half 
hours  a  week  on  CBS-TV,  three  hours  and  40  minutes  on  NBC-TV  and 
four  hours  and  20  minutes  on  ABC-TV—IO1^  hours  in  trie  average  week 
on  the  three  networks.  These  are  for  regular  shows  arid  do  not  include 
the  many,  “specials.” 

The  automotive  field — the  most  important  single  factor  in  the  Amer¬ 
ican  economy,  and  backed  by  the  best  research— is  Using  .television  to 
sell .  ...  to  sell  in  its  Tripst  competitive  year/ Detroit,  which  showed  the 
way  to  mass  production  yia  its  production  line,  is  showing  the  way  to 
mass-selling,  via,  television— by  using  the  489  Detroits  that  are  creat¬ 
ing  new.  demand  in.  42, 000, 000  television  homes. 


TOPEYE,’  WB  BUNDLE 
IN  OVERSEAS  SALES 

London. 

Norman  Katz,  Associated  Artists 
Productions  topper  in  Britain,  has 
cemented  tw  tv  film  deals,,  one 
with  a  British  commercial  tv  outlet, 
the  other  with  Swiss  Television. 
The  British  pact  is  with  Associated. 
Television  for  “Popeye”  .cartoons, 
and  the  Swiss  tv  deal  is  fbr  a  large 
package  of  Warner  Bros,  features 
—claimed  to  be  the  largest  ,  Ameri¬ 
can  features  buy  made  by  Swiss 
video  to  date. 

The  “Popeye”  pact  with  ATV, 
It’s  believed,  will  be  the  first  time 
a  cartoon  show  will  have  .100%  sat¬ 
uration  over  the  entire  commercial 
tv  web. in  England.  Granada-TV 
and  Assbciated-Rediffusibn  have 
already  inked  contracts  for  the 
cartoons. 


Sam  Gang  to  Far  East 

The  march  of  features  to  tv  is 
noW  spreading  to  the  Orient.  Sam 
Gang,  foreign  manager  of  National 
Telefilm  Associates,  has.  left  for  a 
trip  to  the  Far  East,  with  a  package 
of  pix  for  sale  there.  Toppers  in 
the  package  include  ‘The  Men,” 
“High  Noon”  and  “Cyrano  de  Ber¬ 
gerac.” 

Gang’s  itinerary,  includes  Hong 
Kong,  Japan,  Australia  and  the 
Philippines.  The  NTA  exec  also 
will  be  pitching  half-hour.  telefilm 
series  and  cartoons. 


Every  Wednesday  evening  — ABC-TV 
Sponsored  by  Eastman  .Kodak  Company 


GIVEN  WAS  GOTTEN 

Scrams  CBS  Pact,  Refusing  to 
Double  as  Standby  Announcer 


When  . is  a  commercial  arinouncer. 
I  also  a  standby  news  announcer? 
Particularly  on  CBS,  when  all  news 
copy-  under  network  rules,  must 
be  read  by  staffers  of  CBS  News, 

Question  became  so  vexatious  to 
Jirri  Given,  who  does  a  newscast  on 
WNEW, .  N.  Y.,  and  freelances  in 
the  commercial  field,  that  ,  he  quit 
as  commercial  announcer  on  CBS 
Radio’s  “Lowell  Thomas  and  the 
News”  after  26  weeks. 

According  to  Given,  when  he 
signed  his  .  original  deal  to  handle 
the  Delco-Remy  commercials  on 
the  show,  he  was  told  he’d  have  to 
4ft  as  standby  newscaster  on  the 
show  in  the  event  Thomas  couldn’t 
do  the  show.  After  his  first  13 
weeks,  he  rewrote  the  contract  to 
Insert  the  clause  “commercial  an¬ 
nouncer  only.”  Even,  then,  he  said, 
CBS  execs  ,  told  him  he’d  have  to 
be  ready  as  standby.  As  a  result, 
he  said,  he  found  himself  devoting 
extra  time  to  studying  the.  news 
script,  but  never  received  com¬ 
pensation,  Calling  the  situation  an 
“Impasse,”  he  finally  quit. 

CBS  Radio  said  that  it  had  in¬ 
structed  Given  that  he’d  have  to 
act  sis  standby  only  In  the  event  of 
an  “unusual  emergency”  such  as  a 
line  breakdown,  since  Thomas’ 
newscasts  are  usually  remotes. 

Ted  Botes  Names  Two 

Frank  Taubes  arid  Williard  Ben¬ 
ner  have  been  named  creative  su¬ 
pervisors  at  Ted  Bates. 

Taubes  has  been  with  the  agency 
since  1952..  Benner  joined  the  firm 
is  a  copy  writer  in  1957. 


January  8, 1958 


Vlfty-Mecohd  P^SSJETY  ^nn*9ersary 


RADIO-TELEVISION 


Reds  Give  West 
A  Real  Battle 
For  Viewers 

By  GARY  STINDT 

( Chief,  NBC  Newsfilm, 
Central  Europe) 


Berli 

The  Russians  never  heard  of 
.  Nielsens  or  Trendexes  the 
Steve  Allen-Ed  Sullivan  feud,  but 
right  now  they  mike  as  if  they 
know,  all  about  it. 

Berlin,;  former  capital  of  Ger¬ 
many,  now  a  divided  city  110  miles  'i 
Behind  the  Iron  Curtain,  affords 
tv  viewers  a  front-row  seat  in  this  I 

e^punter.  BILL  SHIPLEY 

Eas  German  TV.  lagging  far  be-  ANNOUNCER-M.C. 

hind  their  West  German  competi-  For  Prudential  Insurance  Company 
tor  in  1955,  has.  today  pulled  lip  to  ffyivahla'  ;.  Electric  Products,  Inc. 
and  in  some  instances  even  sur- 

passed  their  Western  competitors,  nauer.  and  the  Wehrmacht—made 
They’re  well  on  the  way  in  their  by  an  MC  in  the  vaudeville  show, 
“TV  invasion’’  of  the  West.  In  anti-Nazi  plays  that  show  up  the 
some  way  this  achievement,  can  al-  bad,  bad  West  today,  the  suffer- 
rivost  be  compared  with  the  sur-  in'g  of  the  colored  ,  people  in  the 


TV  In  Denmark 
Booms  As  Sets 
Sell  Like  Pastry 

*=■  By  VICTOR  SKAARtT  — 

Copenhagen,  i 
The.  rapid  growth  of  Denmark’s  i 
five-year-old  television  has  sur¬ 
prised  even  the  Etatsradiofonien 
itself.  During  the  first  years . .  the 
wealthy'  state  radio,  which  is  get¬ 
ting  a  yearly  license  of  22  kroner 
($3)  from,  each  of  the  1,397,000  lis¬ 
teners — in  a  country  with  4,000,000 
inhabitants— had  to  lend  its  little 
brother,  tv,  several  millions  kroner 
to  get  it  under  way,  but  from  this 
year,  when  100,000  viewers  are 
expected  around  the  New  Year, 
Danish  tv  can  probably  not  only 
support  itself,  with.,  the  55  kroner 
($8)  per  set  in  yearly  license,  but 
start  paying  ;  back  the  loan  from 


It's  a  Long,  long 
Haul  For  Austrian 
TV;  Very  Few  Sets 

"■  By  EMIL  W.  MAASS5^^" 

Vienna. 

In  direct  contrast  to  the  com¬ 
paratively  high  standard  of  living 
here  with  all.  its  intricate  mechani¬ 
zations,  television  is  but  very  slow¬ 
ly  gaining  ground.  The  industry 
is  rather  disappointed.  The  number 
of  sets  is  still  very  low. 

Reason  for  this  astonishing  slow 
,  .  „  development,  is  threefold.  One, 

-  \ -a-  \  \  -  Austrians  are  st‘11  paying  their 

v  '  %  i  \  installments  on  Volkswagen  or 

'  '  /F  -  ••  used  American  cars,  wash  ma- 

•  ‘  ~  chines,  electric  heaters,  ga«  stoves 

MIMI  BENZELL 

■  .  ■  .  •  bered  that  Austria  was  four-power 

interest  for  the  coming  quiz.  Tick-  occupied  for  more  than  10  years 


prise  success,  the  Russians  achieved 


the  Little  Rock  story— re- 


putting  Sputnik  I  and  II  into  space/  ported  almost  every  night,  at  .  the 
TW6  years  ago,  West  German  TV;  their  a5t- .  th“r 

technically  and  ahpwnianwlae. ,5E£$? 


reigned  supreme;  East  German 
efforts  were  Clumsy.  In  addition 


“loaded”  people’s  democracy  type 
audience.  Lately,  the  slicked-up 


to  old  and  dated  equipment,  they  '"j"®  n„r  Pf  P¥S 

-  used  propaganda  sledge-hammer  A™*  “g  »J>‘>jrally  the  globing 

methods  that  made  even  good  party  reports  adou£  the  Soviet  satellite 

members  wince.  Tbdny  there’s  success. _ ^ _ ,. 

nothing  like  this.'  They  now  have  j  Not  Even  Afraid- of  Eurovision  | 

or  are  getting  the  latest  and  best  They.re  even  competing  with 


equipment  money  Can  buy:  Mi  .‘S  '. 

money  seems  no  object,  ironical-  mm:  *lready 

ly  enough,  a  huge  West  German  “^l,shed  with  Czechoslovakia 
electronic  outfit,  Siemens,  has  just  «««  te>e“f  was  done  during 
finished  building  the  most  modern  May  Day  Parades  when  viewers 
transmitter-studio,  giving  the  East  "ere  traatad  4wect  switches 
Berlin  station  the  most  powerful  fr°S  w?rkers  and  military  parades 
and  modern  setup. of  anjr-OMmn-' *Fe,eJ' 
Hist  satellite.  Nine  powerful  trans-  Upcoming  soon,  a  further,  link-up 
nutters.  are  strategically  located  i  j0.  311.  ‘I,on'  waybe  by  the 
not  only  throughout  East  Germany;  middle  of  l938,  Moscow, 
but  especially  along  the  East-West  Since  these  items  served 

zonal  borders,  from  the  Baltic  Sea  often  enough  between  good  nom 

to  Czechoslovakia.  Some  of  these  political  shows,  many  viewers 
are  on  top  of  high  mountains,  oth-  won’t  switch  off  their  sets  and 
ers  on  huge  600  ft. .  high  tv  towers,  like  it  or  not,  are  therefore  ex- 
located  close  to  the  West.  The  posed  to  this  propaganda.  , 
international  program  conference  “Der  Deutsche  Ferhsehfimk,”  as 
late  in  1956  gave  East  Germany  the  East  Germans  call  their  tv,  is 
new  channels,  easily  receivable  bn  five  years,  old  in  January.  They 
the  international  CCIR  norm.  So,  started  with  75  registered  sets  in 
with  new  transmitters  strategical-  1952,  today  claim  between  150,000- 
•  ly  located,  their  programs  now  can  200.000.  The  most  powerful  ixans- 
be  seen  by  viewers  all  the  way  mitter  is  located  at  Berlin-Koe- 
frora  Denmark  to  Northern  Bava-  penick,  reaching  a  radius  over  60 
ria.  miles  around  the  city:  The  East 

r  Know-How  In  The  East  >  T-V  center  at  Berlin- Adlershof  em- 


I  AUUW-X1UW  1U  1UC  f  •  i*  •  .  -  7  7  T  * — . 

L - - — - — - - — : —  ■  Ploys  over  1,000  people,  has  four 

East  TV  offers  a  program  today  studios  (rather  large).  They  have 
that  in  many  respects  matches  and  three  mobile  units  and  will  have 
sometimes  outshines  West  German  more  once  the  new  Siemens  equip- 
TV.  Their  live  plays  and  films  ment  arrives.  The  recent  Russia- 
are  specially  tailored  to  the  media,  Poland  soccer  ,  game"  was  their 
there’s  nothing  oldfashioned  about  500th  live  telecast, 
them.  Gone  are  the  heavy-handed  The  cheapest  tv  set  in  East  Ger- 
propaganda  shows,  the  show-trials  ...many 'still  costs  1,000  D-Marks  and 
that  scared  East  and  Western  view-  h^s  a  14»  screen'  Total  /set  nro“ 
ers.  While  a  year  ago  their .  ef-  ductSn  ^is  SatS  Lo  ^exaci 
forts  made  you  .laugh,  you  11  now.  fiaUres  available)  around  10  to  15,- 
sit  up  and  take  notes.  They  re  on  0p0  per  month,  a  great  number  of 
the  air  longer,  they  haven  t  got  the  which  go  to  other  satellites.  Many 
financial  problems  of  the.  West,  private  would-be  viewers  are  on 
and  ..since  its  a  dictatorship,  waiting  lists,  but  if  you’re  a  party 
there  s  no  biter-state  squabbling  member  in  good  standing,  you  get 
as  among  the  Western,  stations,  one  quickly 
Looking  at  some  of  their  programs  _ _  w.. 

sometimes  makes  you  wonder  ^onders  then,  why  the  East 

whether  you’re  not  tuned  into  a  nrZoon  nno  mo°ey  °° 

Western  station.  Their  top  rated  ®ets-’  id~ 

programs  include:  A  qUizishow' 

that’ll  give  away  a  small  car,  furni-.  centers.lt  s  obvious 

ture,  tv  sets  and  the  like,  live  non*6  .thi?  effoi£  alon® 

transmissions  from  the  famed  Ber-  ’°fr  f7s’  HaIf 

lin  State  Opera  (now  located  ih  thC  Presgnt  transmitters  would 
East  Berlin),  direct  telecasts;  Of  su^5ce  f°r  f^eir,  audience.  Their 
internationally  famous  plays,  live  °n*S  v  lo°F  ^ 

sportscasts  like  the  recent  Russia-  border,  their  slickly  tailored  pro- 
Poland  soccer  match,  which  drew  grams  and  the  fact  that  they’ve  rec- 
110,000  spectators,  the  Khrushchev  t0  ca^ 

visit,  movies  (recent  ones— French,  Propaganda  lme,  No  question  that 
-Russian,  arid  German),  as  well  as  a  at  .lea^  Jalf  the. time,  money 
slick  15-minute  newscast  each  a?^  spa”t  by  them,  today  Is 

night  at  8, -  called  the  “Actuality  directed  towards  ..this  goal. 

Camera.”  ]  Bavaria’s  Hep  ‘Don  Carlos’  T 

This  newscast  is  sometimes  su-  ■—  :  - —  .  .  .  — - - r— 

perior  to  the  West,  not  so  much  But  West  German  TV  has  .  not 
because  of  its  content,  but  because  been  idle  either.  Tn  October  they 
instead  of  using  only  .newsreel  reached  a  1,000,000  registered  sets, 
clips,  they  simulate  American  tv  now  have  5,000,000  viewers.  Next 
newscasts,  using  a  live  commehta-  to  Britain,  they  are  the  No.  2  nation 
tor  in  between  film-  clips.  Today  in  Europe.  Their  programming, 
they’re  even  willing  to  risk  live  while  still  somewhat  cumbersome, 
telecasts  from  their  puppet  Peo-  is  quite  excellent.. They  are  making 
pie’s  Democratic  Chamber,  and  1  every  effort  to  give  the  viewer  ii 
have  seen  .  party  members  half  “cultured”  program.  The  other 
asleep  or  uninterested  during  an  night,  Bavarian  TV  presented  “Don 
Ulbricht  (East  Germariy’s  Commu-  Carlos,”  a  four-hour  live  telecast, 
nist  boss)  speech.  Add  to  that  live  us*ng  n?  less  than  seyen  cameras. 
Vaudeville  shows  (non-existent  in.  puttmg  it  on  Eurovision  to  Holland, 
the  West)  arid  a  real  good  chil-  Austria;  Switzerland,  and  Denmark, 
dren’s.  program,  puppet-shows,  Sortie  ,  good  American  shows  are 
cartoons  arid  live  kid  plays.  a^o  seen.  One  Sunday  afternoon 

Cleverly  sandwiched,  between  all  West  German  viewers  saw  a  dom- 
this  are  propaganda  digs  at  Ade-  (Continued  on  page  104) 


Statsradiofonieri.  interest  for  the  comirig  quiz.  Tick-  occupied  for  more  than  10  years 

Three  years  ago  nobody  took  ets  to  a  big  lottery,  with  the  net  apd  only  actually  contacted  with 
Danish  tv  serioUsly..  There  were  take  going  to  a  fund  for  crippled  Western  easy-going-life  two  years 
only  1,800  sets  in  use.  Following  persons,  have  been  sold  and  .only  ^^o.  Reason  two  is  the  fact,  that 
year  there  were  5,700;  last  year  those,  who  have  bought  tickets  get  *v  is  Just  beyond  the  experiment- 
27,000.  This  year  the  number  has  the  chance  to  be  called  up  before  mg  stage.  Reason  three  the  some- 
. quadrupled.  the  ckmeras;  The  end  prize  is  64,-  times  dull  programs  of  the  radio 

The  popularity  of  this  relatively  000  kroner  ($9,000).  system,  for  which  the  new  company 

new  medium  has  hit  the  other+en-  Advertising  is  not  allowed  in^ ^  rf^nnShio’  .cannot  be  made 
tertainments  hard-so  hard,  that  Danish.  radio  and  television-but  tJSS  becaii^  ^adl°  sets  are 

the  official  organizations  of  c^fe  oddly  enough  the  only  time  it  was  merely  30  rentS  per 

and:  cinema  licenses  got  together  allowed  -t  became  the  biggest  sue-  Kp.eT°ple  dlstrust  & 

•m.  October^.and.  sent  out  an  open  Cess  ever  in  Statsradiofonien’s  his-  buiId  up  a  ****** 

letter  to  the  responsible  authorities,  tpry  and  was  the  turning  point  for  g  _  ce* 

The  protest  which  got  front  page  the  success  of  Danish  Television: —  ^Politicians  refused  an.  increase 
space  in  all  the  Copenhagen  dail-  Last  March*  there  were  three  all-  ^  this  tax  to  60  cents  a  month, 
les,  complained  about  the  irre-  night  Saturday  programs  tabbed  because  it  would  “threaten  the 
sponsible  competition  frpm  a  .gov-  ‘‘Entertainment  for  Millions,”  with  f  stal?Je  schilling”  currency  of  25 
ernment  -  controlled  institution  all  proceeds  going  to  help  for  Hun-  schilling  to  the  U  S.  dollar, 
whose  personnel  is  pot  burdened  garjan  refugees.  Stars  from  all  Radio  has  three  stations,  one  of 
by  economic  risHs  against  the  over  Europe  (also  two  from  Am er-  them  shortwave;  the  other  two 
entertainment  world,  which  peyslj^ — namely  June  Christy  and  the  ?l(ernating  in  their  programs. 

very  big_  sums_of  money  m  taxes  |ate  pgter  Freuchen  came  to  Cop-  When  sender  one  plays  music, 
I?.  tha,  si^-  ,T  •  letter  said  that  enhagen  and  gave  one  or  two  num-  sender  two  serves  with  “spoken 
the  State  radio  and^  tv.  virtually  bers  0r.  a  short  talk  and  each  artist  words,”  lectures  and  so  on. 
dl£taJ.es  tt?e.  and  death  of  Dan-  was  “sponsored”  by  a  private  firm,  Television  beginning  Jan  1 
ish  show  biz ,  and  asked  especially  e-nnn  onnno  s  ^ Jan*  1'.iy58» 


dl^taJ.es  tt?e.  and  ,death  of  ?a?_  was  “sponsored”  by  a  private  firm,  Television  beginning  Jan  1 

ftat "s5:  ******  (£™m4°,00  20'00?.  collects  $2  a  mStaeiS 

inat  w  stop  senaing  me  enormous  kroner  to  the  “Help  Hungary”  o\vner..  The  Kahlenbere  datinn 
ly  popular  quiz  program  on  Sunday  fund  The  flrms  were  allowed  to  s-rves  the  entire  “o^nto  by  rela5 

'fn  ,aHfeW  nas,°£  ady ettlsing  autiona.  Last  one  opeMd^oS 

an  Ubigthfl^ftoU  fiSen^rka  wS  ■" 

nerformances  The  cafe  and  cine-  "W  m  Denmark  were  thus  giving  th*s  province  the  pos- 

ma  organization^  asked  the  Stats-  hefd  lrom.  These  three  marathon-  s.blUty  to  receive  the  Austrian 
ma  organizauons  gsKea  me  biats  entertainments — One  lasted  from  8  program.  Up  to  how  thev  baH 
radiofomen  to  move  this  program  to.  2— emptied  the  cafes  and  cine-  relied  on  Italian  programs  In  the 

to.-  one  of  the.:evenmgs  m  Ahe.be-  ^  all  over  Denmark  and  the  Western parts  nf  Austria  JecePti^n 

giving  of  the  week^or  to  Friday-^  empty  these  three  Saturday  fro^SnS^S 

aixer  u.  _ ,  .  evenings.  Everybody  who  had  a  ever,  better.  That  ty  set  owners 

|  ‘It’s  What  the  Public  Wants’  |  tv  set  had  a  house  full  of  guests  on  in  the  neighbouring  Communist 
The  Head  of  Statsradiofonien’s  njgh^’  whxich.  were  probably  countries,  Czechoslovakia,  Hungary 

CoScil  Peder  Nolrlaid  ' ^  an-  the  hardest  ever  to  Danish  show  biz.  and  Jugoslavia  receive  the  Kahlen- 
swered  that  he  doubted  it  was  pos-  Many  advertising  people  thought  berg  station  better  than  their  own. 
sible  to  go  against  the  listeners’  that  now  was  the  chance  of  getting  is  a  fact. 

and  viewers’  wish  for  obtaining  the  in:  a  couple  c^n?mf1rcial  pr?“  F  "  Surprisingly  Good  :  f 

best  entertainment  oh  Saturday  eac^  week  but  all  proposals  T  .  — ) 

and  Sunday  nights.  adouf  repeating  the  idea  w“e  limited  budget, 

■  -  -  the  programs  of  the  stations  are 


And  the  quiz  programs  are  con-  i  0  -  -  —  — 

tinuing— every  other  Sunday,  it  is  There  is  ordinarily  one  hour  of  ' g  A^n„SJ ^^fvmesffven  CX’ 

a  series  of  charity  programs.  On  tv  each  night— from  8  to  9,  plus  S ^rpnnJnnl  th' er?:  tbere  a5® 
the  first  program,  three  persons,  four  half-hour  chUdren  programs  £ ^ -t53t  <jan., be 
each  an  expert  in  a  special  field  Per  week.  There  are  also  each  y 

(Swedish  churches,  water  insects  winter  several  day  transmissions}^u“toy*  Mfestro  Robert  Stolz  is 
and  sports)  failed  to  win  anything,  from  important  meetings  in  the  BlS 

Oh  the  second  prograin  an  auditor,  Danish  senate.  Rundfu?*  com“ 

who  is  an  expert  in  old  Danish  Many  listeners  coiriplain  about  p  y‘ 

stamps,  got  as  far  as  vanning,  5,000  getting,  too  .  many  dull  “cUl-  (  g  |“r«{  that  this  aU  costa 

kroner  ($700),  when  he  stopped  and  tural”  programs,  with  Saturday  pAv  *fl vg^n”]^  ■  a[* 

asked  to  pause  and  study  the  next  night  the  only  evening  comprising  Wlth 

two  weeks,  wherein  he  would  de,  light  entertainment.  A  difficulty  'mw  nations  alternate. 
cide  if  he  would  continue  for  the  is  the  small  number  of  Danish  Quiz  shows  and  giveaways  are 

10,000  kroner  or  just  take  the  5,000.  stars,  who  are  seen  ovei  and  river  veiY  'limited.  Prices  offered  are 


Of  course,  this  will  not  lessen  the  I  again. 


KENNETH  BANGHART 


modest;  the  man  who  cart  answer 
who  is  buried  in  General  Grant’s 
tomb  gets  about  one  dollar. 

The  sponsor  here  buys  mostly  a 
ready-made  program  by  a  special 
service  station  of  the  Rundfunk 
company.  Since  there  is  no  law 
limiting  time  of  appraisal  of  goods 
and  merchandise,  nvsuse  of  pester¬ 
ing  the  listeners'  with  too  much 
“buy  this  or  that”  is  the  conse¬ 
quence. 

How  tv  will  handle  this  semi¬ 
commercial  system  is  not  yet  de¬ 
cided.  Negotiations  are  going  on 
behind  the  parlor  doors  of  the  two 
leading  political  parties.  Conser¬ 
vatives  and  Socialists. 

Austrian  authors,  composers  and 
publishers  bitterly  complain  about 
foreign  domination.  It  is  a  fact 
that  more  than  50%  of  the  music 
played  Is  from  abroad.  Disks, 
regardless  if  successful  or  flops  in 
their  home  countries,  are  imported 
and  played  to  excess.  Austrians 
surely  are  broadminded  enough  to 
accept  and  even  like  very  much 
“Que  Sera”  for  instance.  But  they 
must  also  hear  “worst-sellers” 
many  times  a  day. 

The  new  management  promised 
more  understanding  for  the  Aus¬ 
trian  output.  The  old  Romans  said 
“Vederemo”  (We  shall  see)  and 
that  ends  this  argument  for  the 
moment 
Radio  and  television  are  so  far 
non-competitors  here.  The  situa¬ 
tion  should  change  in  two  or  three 
WRCA-TV  years.  Not  earlier. 


104 


RADIO-TELEVISION 


Fifty-second  ^SRIETY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


Italo  TV’s  Sharp 
Advances  in  ’57; 
Ahead  of  Timetable 

G=  By  ROBT.  F.  HAWKINS  i 


Rome. 

Television’s  year  in  Italy  was 
1957.  For  the  first  time,  during  the 
past  12  months,  video  in  this  coun¬ 
try,  has  become  popular,  respected, 
feared  and  fought— by  its  natural 
enemy,  the  theatre  exhibitor.  In 
other  words,  it’s  here  to  stay. 

With  the  ever-growing  total  of 
setowners  (over  700,000  at  year’s 
end),  tv  is  rapidly  becoming  a  habit 
here  too,  and  Thursday  is  no  long¬ 
er  the  “only”  night  to  watch  the 
little  screen,  Saturday,  Sunday; 
and  to  a  certain  degree  Tuesday 
are  now  equally  popular.  New  pro¬ 
grams  being  added  now  are  de¬ 
signed  to  reinforce  the  other  eve¬ 
nings  as  well. 

There  are  complaints,  of  course. 
Set  prices,  for  one.  are' still  much 
too  high;  the  single  channel  makes 
for  program  monotony;  program 
time  is  still  too.  short  (but  will  be 
lengthened  soon);  there  is  little 
humor,  few  musical  and/or  variety 
shows;  and  the  local  preoccupation 
with  video  Censorship,  a  serious 
hurdle  in  its  very  creative  develop¬ 
ment,  borders  the  pathological. 

RAI-TV — the  monopolistic  Ital¬ 
ian  radio-tv  setup  which  operates 
on  a  government  grant-^is  current¬ 
ly  planning  some  amends  to  satisfy 
Its  subscribers,  who  pay  the  .  high¬ 
est  yearly  fee  (over  $25)  for  their 
daily  video  diet.  - 

For  one,  program  time  will  un¬ 
doubtedly  be  lengthened,  with 
shows  starting  in  the  p.m.  rather 
than  evening  hours.  Additional 
quizzers  and.  other  lightweight 
shows  will  be  added,  more  “Euro¬ 
vision”  continental  links  used.  And 
there  will  be  at  least  two  live  dra¬ 
matic  adaptations  per  week  instead 
of  the  current  one.  (Italo  use  of 
feature  pix  has  always  been  lim¬ 
ited,  will  for  the  moment  not  ex¬ 
ceed  the  present  one/ week  rates.) 


JACK  CARTER 


Congraulations  .  and 
Season’s  Greetings 


10,000,000  Viewers 


A  RAI-TV  poll  taken  early  this 
year  sets  estimated  Italian  tele¬ 
viewer  total  at  some  10,000,000  cn 
“good”  nights,  with  high  cipher 
ascribed  to  the  still-large  number 
(some  70,000)  of  sets  set  up  in  pub¬ 
lic  places  such  as  bars,  cafes,  and 
restaurants,  especially  in  the  hin¬ 
terlands. 

This  optimistic  total;  far  above 
RAT  hopes  and  timetables,  will 
presumably  have  to  be  revised  up¬ 
wards  soon  due  to  the  current  rap¬ 
id  spread  of  the  ‘‘new”  medium 
through  the  Italian  South  and  the 
islands  of  Sicily  and  Sardinia,  only 
recently  reached  by  the  Italian 
telenet.  (98%  is  now  claimed  cov¬ 
ered,  a  remarkable  achievement  in 
so  short  a  time,  considering  the 
hoot’s  jagged  and  mountainous 
physical  layout.)  Gregarious  Na¬ 
ples,  to  name  an  example,  joined 
the  swing  to  tv  with  such  a  venge¬ 
ance  this  year  that  for  several 
weeks  all  pic  houses  in  that  city 
were  shuttered  every  Wednesday. 

Yet  in  other  circles,  the  advent 
of  tv  in  this  country  during  the 
year  has  brought  on  a  strange  phe¬ 
nomenon,  perhaps  ascribable  to 
Italian  character.  Most  people  who 
own  a  set  in  this  country— and 
we’re  generalizing-^-apologize  for 
It,  or  claim  they  never  use  it.  Yet 
slip  in  a  question  on  tv  sideways, 
and  these  same  people  will  reveal 
a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  medi¬ 
um  and  its  new  stars. 

Call  it  a.  snob  snub  or  what,  the 
tame  thing  applies  to  very  popular 
shoWs  (such  as  the  quizzer  “Lascia 
o.  Raddoppia”)  which  are  invariably 
“ignored”  or  panned  by  all  until 
RAI  sends  out  feelers  stating  pro¬ 
gram  will  be  yanked.  Then  letters 
pour  in  by.  the  literal  thousands, 
protesting  the  move.  (The. program, 
by  the  way,  is  currently  riding  into 
its  third  yean) 

From  the  stateside  point  of  view, 
*n  objective  compendium  might 
run  something  like  this. 

On  the  debit  side,  Italian  video 
lacks  a  general  sense  of  timing  and 
polish;  time  factors  are  of  little 
Importance — which  has  its  advan¬ 
tages  and  its.  disadvantages;  good 
things  tend,  to  be  over-milked;  for 
the  general  public,  there  is  still  an 
overlarge  time  segment  devoted  to 
“educational  viewing” — remember, 
the  local  viewer  has  no  other  chan¬ 
nel  to  switch  to;  mainly,  there  is 
just  too  little  straight  fun  and  en¬ 
tertainment. 


Continued  from  page  97  ss 
teur  myself  this  Iasi  year;  I’ve  had 
a  camp  in  the  Berkshires  for  boys 
and  girls  seven  to  17.  My  experi¬ 
ences,  have  been  pleasant  ones.  I’m 
probably  now  a  professional  in  that 
field.  I’ll  have  a  camp,  again  this: 
year.  This  has  been  the  culmina¬ 
tion.  of  a  lifetime  dream  of  mine. 
Unlike  the  majority  of  dreams,  it 
eventuated;  better  than  had  been 
anticipated.  I  had  the  good  fortune 
to  obtain  a  good  staff  under  the 
direction  of  Dr.  Warren  E.  Free¬ 
man,  former  director  of  the  School 
of  Music  Of  .  Boston  U.  I  myself 
averaged  five  days  a  week  at  the 
camp,  and  .  found  out,  as  so  many 
instructors  do,  that  I  learned  as 
much  as  the  students. 

I  don’t  recall  when  I  had  a  more 
pleasant  summer,  perhaps  because 
I  was  kept  on  my  mettle  every 
minute.  Of  course  I  had  the  "Ori¬ 
ginal  Amateur  .Hour”  .telecasts 
weekly  all  through  the  summer 
also,  and  some  oiit  of  town  engage¬ 
ments.  It  was  a  busy  summer! 

The  majority  of  persons  I  meet 
read  Variety;,  of  course.  When, 
therefore.  Variety  brings  up  the 
lack  of  new  comedians,  I  am  asked 
regarding  it,  for  much  new  talent 
passes  before  me.  “Is  the  shortage 
as  bad  as  the  stories  make  out?”  I 
am  asked.  “If  so,  what  is  the 
remedy?” 


What  About  New  Talent? 


.  I  agree  that  there  is  a  shortage 
of  upcoming  comedians.  There  is 
no  vaudeville,  no  burlesque  to  de¬ 
velop  them.  Even  hometown  night 
club’s  demand  “names,”  or  per¬ 
sons  who  have  arrived. 

If  by  chance  an  aspiring  comedi¬ 
an  does  gaiin  an  appearance  on 
television,  and  has  not  had  thor¬ 
ough  grounding,  his  material  and 
mannerisms,  may  be  burned:  up  in 
a  single  showing. 

Is  there .  a  remedy?  Well,  there 
can  be  the  beginning  of  one. 
Schools  can  give  more  time  in 
their  dramatics  to  natural  mimics 
and  wits.  This;  talent— a  rare  one 
when  genuine  and  with  a  folksy, 
basic  philosphy — is  no  less  worthy 
of  development  than  some  other 
talents  ,  considered  to  be.  in  higher 
brackets. 

Often  It  is  the  wits  of  the  age, 
the  laugh-provoking  geniuses:  who 
satirize  our  foibles,  who  set:  their 
mark  on  that  age.  George  Bernard 
Shaw,  Will  Rogers,  Ed  Wynn  (a 
genius  as  a.  serious  actor  now), 
Mark  Twain,  Beatrice  Lillie,  and 
the  Caesars,  Bennys,  Hopes  of  tele¬ 
vision  have  a  lasting  effect  through 
their  means  of  entertainment,  in 
their  varied  strata.  It’s  no  dis¬ 
credit  to  be  a  comedian,  to  cause 
people  to  laugh,  and  to  see  them¬ 
selves  as  they  actually  are  while 
they  laugh. 

But  such  talent  ought  not  to  he 
forced.  Indeed,  ho  talent  ought  to 
be  forced.  True  talent  needs  only 
the  opportunity. 

The  world  requires  laughter,  es¬ 
pecially  when  tensions  are  high. 
The  laughter,  however,  should 
come  with  spontaneity,  with  fresh? 
ness  and  without  malice.  I  believe 
many  amateurs  can  give  profes¬ 
sionals  lessons  in  that.  They  come 
with  the  clean  spirit  of  youth,  un¬ 
prejudiced  yet  by  the  harsh  con¬ 
tacts,  of  life,  but  with  keen  vision. 
That’s  why,  I  believe,  our  wheel 
of  fortune  spins  on  and  on,  ‘round 
and  ’round,  where  it  stops  nobody 
knows,  to  the  eager  approval  of  the 
thousands. 


Com’l  Swiss  TV 
StOI  10  Yrs.  Off; 


Zurich. 

Swiss  TV,  ending  its  four-year 
tryout  period  end  of  this  month 
and  entering  into  “regular”  activi¬ 
ty  as  of  Jan,  1,  looks  safe  from  the 
“danger”  of  commercials  for  the 
next  10  years,  due  to  an  agreement 
of  the  State  with  the  Newspaper 
Publishers’  Assn,  which  helped 
put  up  a  major  part  of  financing 
for  the  medium  in  this,  country. 

Originally,  a  three-year  tryout 
period,  1954-56,  was  planned.  It 
had  to  be  extended  to  another 
year,  however,  in  view  of  a  public 
voting  last,  March  which  was  to  de-r 
cide  whether  the  federal  govern¬ 
ment  should  take  over  Swiss:  TV 
and  .  finance  it  Motion  was  then 
declined  by  the  people,  and  an¬ 
other  solution  had  to  be  found 
which  would  avoid  commercialized 
video— looked  upon  by  the  Swiss 
as  a  real  scare,  especially  in  view 
of  echoes,  from  the  U.  S. 

.  The  Newspaper  Publishers’  Assn, 
then,  stepped  into  .the.  picture,  of¬ 
fering  an  amount  of  $465,000  an¬ 
nually  for  10  years — and  no  com¬ 
mercials.  Total  of  $4,650,000  con¬ 
stitutes  the  major  part  of  financ¬ 
ing  for  Swiss  TV,  the  balance  be¬ 
ing  made  up  of  a  government  loan 
plus  subscription  fees.  Latter  will 
be  augmented  by  40%  beginning 
of  1958,  with  rates  set  at  $19.50 
(formerly  $14)  for  private  con¬ 
cessions  and  $39  ($28)  for  public 
ones  (cafes,  restaurants,  etc.). 

If,  during  the  next  10  years, 
Swiss  ,  teevee  should  be  able  to 
stand  on  its  own  feet  due  to  rev¬ 
enue  from  subscription  fees  alone, 
then  the  newspaper  publishers  are 
free  to  discontinue  payments.  In 
this  case;  the  State  could,  theor¬ 
etically,  reconsider  commercial  tv. 
This  looks  .  highly  improbable, 
though.  Under  the  circumstances, 
commercial  video  seems  cancelled 
out  at  least  as  long  as  the  govern¬ 
ment  depends,  from  newspaper 
publishers  for  the  existence  of  the 
visual  medium; 

Approximately  35,000  tv  sets 
have  been  sold  in  Switzerland  to- 
date.  .Weekly  programs  how 
amount  to  an  average  14  hours. 
Telecasts  from  the.  two  studios, 
Zurich  and  Geneva,  are  made  six 
times  per  week,  8:30  p.m.  to 
10:15  p.m,,  sometimes  later,  plus 
one-hour  afternoon  programs  twice 
weekly  and.  Sunday:  morning  re¬ 
ligious  services  once  every  fort¬ 
night.  Structure  of  programs  is: 
newsreel;  play,  or  variety  show,  or 
documentary  film,  or  tv  film;  re¬ 
peat  of  newsreel  (Zurich  only). 


PAUL  WINCHELL 

Congratulations  arid 
Season's  Greetings 


|  .  50%  of  Shows  on  Film  | 


About  50-60%  of  Weekly  pro¬ 
gramming  is  on  film,  half  of 
which  stems  from  U.  S.  sources. 
Lack  of  suitable  European  tv  films 
accounts  for  this  high  percentage, 
although  some  U,  S.  tv  films  are 
considered  too  “American”  for 
local  taste,  notably  “Science  Fic¬ 
tion”  “The  Unexpected”  and  “Mr. 
District  Attorney.”  Latter  was 
well  received  first,  but  wore  off 
later  on.  The  “Fury ’’.and  ‘Xassie” 
series  had  special  appeal  for  the 
kiddies,  of  course,  but  some  edi¬ 
tions  met  with  critical  disapproval. 
Series  are  now  discontinued.  The 
Geneva,  station  presents;  among 
others,  “All-Star  Theatre”  and 
‘‘Rin-Tin-Ti  besides  French  26- 
minute  variety  shows;  and  myster¬ 
ies,  made  by  “Te.leprogrammes  de: 
Paris”  for  Luxemburg  and  Canada. 

Original  English  versions  are 
used  by  Zurich  with  a  short  Ger¬ 
man  commentary,  whereas  Gen¬ 
eva  has  mostly  French-dubbed  ver¬ 
sions. 

One  of  the  most  successful  tv 
series,  locally  is  “Disneyland,” 
telecast,  once  every  fortnight,  50 
minutes  each.  Live  shows  are 
clearly  topped,  by  “Eifach,:  Dop- 
plet  Oder  Nuet,”  Swiss  equivalent 
of  “Double  Or  Nothing;”  It  takes 
place  every  other  weekend. 

Main  source  for  kinescopes  is 
NBC  whose  color  spec  “La  Travi- 
ata”  was  widely  acclaimed  here 
in  black-and-white  version  (color 
tv  is  still  years  off  in  this  country). 
For  January,  Menotti’s  “Amahl 
aiid  the  Night  Visitors”  is  skedded, 
“Rigoletto”  will  follow.  “Project 
20”  is  another  highly:  popular 
kinescope,  as  weil  as  some  editions 
of  “Wide,  Wide  World/’ 


Reds  Vs.  West 

Continued  from,  page  103 

plete  kinescope  of  NBC’s  opera 
“War  and  Peace.”  There’s  lots  of 
other  good  programming.  Live  tv 
plays,  variety  shows,  sportscasts, 
direct  Bundestag  debates,  news 
events,  (etc.  Western  program  chief¬ 
tains,  however,  still  abhor  and  fight 
fulltime,  commercial  tv.  But  there 
is  talk,  now  that  industry  is  pushing 
hard  for  a  second,  fully  sponsored 
program,  it.might  weli.be  realized 
by  the  middle  of  1958.  The  West 
German  Bundestag,  however,  must 
give  it  the  green  light.  Commercial 
television  in.  the  meantime  has  won 
a  small  victory  already.  Both  Ber- 
lin  and  Munich  are  co-sponsoring 
a  half-hour  regional  program  six 
times  a  week.  Two  of  these  pro? 
grams  are  the  most  widely  viewed 
on  either  station.  One  is  a  quiz, 
“Double  or  Nothing”  style,  top 
prize  $1,500,  the  other  also  a  quiz 
called  "We’rC  looking  for  the 
smartest  housewife.”  Their  prizes 
range  from  pots  and  pans  to  wash¬ 
ing  machines  and  tv  sets.  Other 
stations  have  now  shown  willing¬ 
ness  to  follow  Munich  and  Berlin’s 
lead. 

But  in  marked  contrast  to  East 
German  TV,  the  West  has  no 
special  long-range  tv  transmitters 
located  strategically  -  along  its 
borders,  only  SFB-TV  (Radio  Free 
.Berlin)  can  be  seen  by  them.  Its 
power  is  being  stepped  up  to  50 
kw  next  Spring.  It  will  be  seen  ,  in 
a  60-mile  radius  arouild  Berlin,, 
reaching  about  15%  of  the  total 
East  Zone  audience. 

So,  as  far  as  the  propaganda  war 
is  concerned,  the  East  is  winning 
this  one,  hands  down,  and  how 
unscrupulously  they  go  about  it 
can  be  seen  by  their  newest  "TV 
invasion”  of  the  West..  Without  in¬ 
forming  West  German  TV  stations, 
they  recently  built  a  huge  600  ft. 
high  100  kw  transmitter  at 
Schwerin,  not  far  from  the  Ham- 
bUrg-Kiel  zonal  border.  It  covers 
North-West  Germany,  reaching 
into  Denmark  as  well.  Then,  in 
violation  to  international  regula- 
t;on,  they  switched  onto  the  Kiel 
channel,  easily  drowning  out  this 
weak  5  KW  station/  Next  evening, 
a  good-size  West  German  TV  audi¬ 
ence,  expecting  to.  watch  their 
nightly  newscast  “Tagesschau,” 
got  a  real  surprise  when  they  saw 
the  Communist  newscast  instead. 
It’s  been  East  TV  shows  ever  since, 
because  soon  thereafter,  the  West¬ 
ern  Station  voluntarily  withdrew 
from  its  channel.  It  just  couldn’t 
compete  powerwise.  The  K? el  sta¬ 
tion  now  is  faced  with  a  two¬ 
pronged  problem:  How  to  switch 
to  another  channel,  (for  which  in¬ 
ternational  permission  'must  be 
granted)  aiid,  if  so,  will  its  Viewers 
pay  some  $15  for  new  antennas  in 
order  to.  see  the  station.  In  the 
meantime,  however,  this  audience 
is  watching  the  television  pro¬ 
grams  of  the  “German  Democratic 
Republic.”  Actually,  while  the 
switch  in  Channel  permits  the 
Western  viewers  to  see  East  pro¬ 
grams,  it  also  should  work  the 
other  wav  around.  An  East  German 
viewer  theoretically  could  watch 
Western  TV,  the  Iron  Curtain 
could  be  lifted.  But  there  are  not 
enough  Western  transmitters  to 
carry  our  story..  The  West  Berlin 
station  alone  isn’t  enough.  j 


Franca  Eyeing 
I960  for  Bigtime 
Emergence  of  TV 

■“By  GENE  MOSKOWITZ=4 

Paris. 

Economic,  political  difficulties, 
with  the  accompanying,  austerity, 
finally  led  down,  the  line  to  a  cut¬ 
ting  of  the  outlay  for  the  state  sub¬ 
sidized  Radiodiffusion  -  Television 
Frartcaise.  In  spite  of  its  burgeon¬ 
ing  aspects,  video,  being  the  John- 
ny-cbme-lately,  had  to  take  a  back¬ 
seat  to  radio  in  handouts.  Rut  in 
the  wake  of  this,  tighter  program¬ 
ming  and  more  care  in  technique 
and  output  have  enhanced  rather 
than  adversely  affected  ty  here: 

This  year  registered  tv  sets, 
with  licenses  paid  for  the  year,  hit 
700,000  and  it  is  expected  to  dou¬ 
ble.  by  1960  when  all  of  France  is 
to  be  covered  by  direct  transmis¬ 
sion.  There  are  about  13  transmit¬ 
ters  to  go  before  all  is  in  video 
range;  Right  after  this  the  second 
channel  is  expected  to  go  into 
operation. 

In  fact,  the  recently  redone  tow¬ 
er  of  the  Eiffel  Tower  was  given 
a  second  antenna  for  this  future 
wavelength.  However  it.  is  felt  that 
it  might  not  be  a  reality  until  at 
least  1965.  Firstly,  color  tv  has  to 
be  settled  and  resolved  with  set 
builders  and;  more  important,  a 
cheap  all-purpose  set  has  to  be 
fashioned  before,  video  can  really 
find  the  place' here  it  has  taken  in 
other  western  countries,  notably 
the  U.  S.,  Great  Britain,  Italy  and 
West  Germany. 

According  to  program  video  di¬ 
rector  Jean  D’Arcy,  this  new  chan¬ 
nel  might  be  done  in:  the  English 
way  with  private  firms  building  up 
programs,  or  the  RTF  itself  creat¬ 
ing  them,  and  commercial  time 
sold  on  them.  No  program  would 
ever  be  broken  into  for  commer¬ 
cials,  for  they  would  come  either 
at  the  beginning  or  the  end  of  a 
show.  Public  service,  via  education 
and  information,  would  be  a  duty 
of  both  networks. 


45  to  50  Hours  a  Week 


Beamings  vacillate  between  45 
to  50  hours  per  week  now  with 
60%  live  and  40%  on  film.  Yearly 
budget  is  about  $14,000,000  for 
almost  2,400  hours  of  annual  trans¬ 
mission.  Main  changes  were  weed¬ 
ing  out  a  few  variety  programs 
which’  were  getting  repetitive  and 
cutting  the  buying  of  foreign 
(mainly  Yank)  vidfilms.  More  in¬ 
terest  and  work  was  put  in  on  live 
documentary  shows,  getting  better 
feature  film  stock,  and  evolving 
new  quiz  and  panel  shows.  France 
won  the  coveted  Priz  Italia  Award 
this  year  for  the  best  video  show 
among  15  nations,  with  a  documen¬ 
tary  entry,  on  a  heart  operation. 

Main  direct  variety  show  is  still 
Jean  Nohain’s  “36  Chandelles,”  an 
impromptu  vaude  show  with  top 
names.  New  ones  now  utilize  a 
story  format  to  work  in  acts  to 
keep  them  from  going  stale.  What 
is  fresh  in  a  music  hall  can  go  sour 
on  a  vidscreen,  feels  D’Arcy.  Only 
two  Yank  vidfilm  series  are  cur¬ 
rently  on  now,  “BraVe  Eagle”  and 
“Hitchcock  Presents.”  The  difficul¬ 
ty;  is  high  dubbing  costs  for  a  half- 
hour  show  which  might  hit  $1,000. 
Since  payment  is  billy  about  $300 
to  $400  for  a  show  it  does  not.  pay., 
A  cheap  dubbing  process,  with  oth¬ 
er  outlets  in  French  speaking  areas, 
plus  later  replays,  may  solve  this 
and  bring  in  more  Yank  film  video 
fodder.  “Rin  Tin  Tin”  iyas  popular 
last  year,  and  may  be  in  for  a  re¬ 
prise,  but.  “Kit  Carson”  was 
deemed  somewhat  too  violent  for 
Gallic  moppets. 

D’Arcy  feels  that  most  Yank  vid¬ 
film.  series  are  made  for  a  system 
that  broadcasts  almost  all  day.  For 
a  much  tighter  method,  like  the 
French,  many  of  them  are  not  up 
to  standard.  French  tv  now  has 
five  sound  stages  and  will  have 
three  more  by  the  end  of  the  year. 
Plans  to  make  their  own  series 
have  not  jelled,  via  an  annex  pro¬ 
ducing  company  SOFIRA.  Latter 
makes .  documentaries,  but  has  not 
come  up  with  any  worthy  series 
ideas  as  yet. 

D’Arcy  also  lashed  -out.  at  criti¬ 
cisms  leveled  at  Gallic  techniques 
by  §ome  visiting  Yank  video  reps. 
He  stated  that  a  recent  conference 
of  various  video-using  countries 
had  deemed  Gallic  techniques  one 
of  the  best  on  the  Continent 
D’Arcy  feels  that  tv  is  still  not  a 
definite  competition  to  other  facets 
(Continued,  on  page  106) 


January  8,1958 


L  How  lo  Write 
The  Unlickable 

By  SAM  KURTZMAN==1 

Hollywood 

Wherever  I  go  writers  implore 
me  to  divulge  the  secret  of  my  suc¬ 
cess.  They  beg  me  to  disclose  how 
I  manage  to  realize  a  comfortable 
Income  from  television  and  pic¬ 
tures  while  hardly  ever  exposing 
my  name  on  the  credit,  panels  of 
the  wide  and  narrow  screens.  They 
want  to  know  whether  it's  a  mat¬ 
ter  of  knowing  the  right  person  or 
being  a  shrewd,  business  man. 
Frankly,  it’s  neither. 

It  was  by  sheer  accident  that 
I  became  one  of  the  foremost  prac- 
titioirers'  in  the  art  of  writing  the 
uhlickable.  At  that  time  I  had 
known  absolutely  nothing,  about 
this  literary  form  of  expression; 
I  had  been  writing  for  radio  and. 
magazines  and.  had  many  of  my 
works  aired  or  printed,  depending 
upon  the  medium.  Fool  that  L  was* 
I  Was  satisfied  in  this  little  world 
of  limited  returns.  Little  [did  .1 
know  of  the  wonderful  field  of  un¬ 
lickable  writing.. 

As  I  recall  it,  it  was  about  four 
years  ago  that  I.  conceived  an  idea 
for  a  television  series.  I  wrote  up 
a  descriptive  brochure,  including 
all  the  tantalizing  cliches,  to  hook 
the  potential  network  or  sponsor. 
I  placed  the  slick  bond  paper  script 
between  two  crisp  covers  and 
.  handed  it  to  my  agent. 

‘  Within  two  weeks  the  Wheels 
began  to  turn.  The  network  execu¬ 
tive' Called  my  agent  and  announced 
that  there  Was  definite  interest  in 
the  idea  and  that  they  would  like 
to  haVe  a  little  time  to  think  it 
Over.  My  agent  suggested  that  if 
they  wanted  to  hold  it,  it  would 
Only  be  fair  if  they  paid  for  the 
option  of  doing  so. 

After  the  normal  amount  of 
wrangling,  and  name  calling,  an 
amicable  agreement  was  reached. 
The.  network  took,  a  30-day .  option 
on  my  idea  for  which  they  paid 
a  surprisingly  nice  stipend.  For  a 
month  I  anticipated  the  great  day 
when  I  would  become  the  owner 
of  a  package,  the  creator  of  a  tele¬ 
vision  series.  I  was  proud. 

But  when  the  month  was  over, 
I  was  suddenly  thrown  into  the. 
depths  of  the.  slough  of  despond. 
My  agent  phoned  to  say  that  the 
network  had  dropped  the  option, 
“But  why?”  I  wanted  to  know. 
“They  got  their  staff  writers  to 
try  -to  expand  it  into:  a  season  of 
episodes,  but— ”  his  voice  faded. 
“But  what?"  t  asked. 

“They  just  couldn’t  lick  it/'  he 
explained, 

Then  he  added  that  there  was 
ohe  thing  to  be  thankful  for.  At 
least  we  had  the  option  money. 

Although,  that  was  little  consola¬ 
tion,  I  resigned,  myself  to  failure 
until  I  heard,  the  agent  reassure 
me  that  he  would  try  the  idea  on 
another  network. 

[  And  At  The  Same  Dough!  | 

■  Five  days  later  he  called  me 
with  the  news  that  the  second  net¬ 
work  was  enthused  over  my  Idea 
too,  artd  had  bought  a  10-day  op¬ 
tion  on  it  for  the  same  amount 
that  the  first  network  had  paid  for 
the  30-.day  one!  No  doubt  about  it, 
I  was  becoming  a  high-priced  op¬ 
tion  writer. 

I  was  happy,  but  a  little  reluc¬ 
tant  to.  celebrate,  having  been  dis¬ 
appointed  once  before.  When  the 
ip  days  were  up,  my  agent  notified 
me  that  this  network  too  found 
itself  unable:  to  lick  my  story  line. 

When  I  suggested  to  my  agent 
that  We  might  as  well  throw  the 
towel  in  as  far  as  this  series  was 
concerned,  he  '  pooh-poohed  the 
thought.  We  have  just  begun ,  to 
fight,  he  announced: 

But  I  had  lost  confidence  in,  the 
idea  and  began  working  on  another 
series.  Soon  it  too  was  submitted, 
to  a  network,  and  the  .program  de¬ 
partment.  heads  were  impressed 
enough  to  pay  for  a  short-term  op¬ 
tion.  Twenty  days  later,  I  was  giv¬ 
en  the  story  back  with  the  explana¬ 
tion,  “We  just  couldn’t  lick  it.” 

Any  normal  Writer  would  have 
given  up.  I  too  felt  I’ve  had  it. 

But  my  agent  shouted,  “Cour- 
-age!” 

“Look,”  he  explained.  “Your  sec¬ 
ond  idea  is  noW  at  the  second  net¬ 
work.  Your  first  idea  is .  at  the 
inth  studio.  Without  selling  one 


Fifty-second  jf^SHME^TY  Anniversary  __  RADIO-TELEVISION  105 


The  Best  From 

TODD  RUSSELL 

Personal  Representation 

CARL  EASTMAN 


word  you  have  cashed  nine,  very 
pretty  checks.  Is  this  failure  or 
success?  I.  ask  you.” 

The  answer  was  obvious.  Destiny 
had  asserted  itself.  I  had  entered 
a  new  career. 

From  that  day  on  I  have  Spe¬ 
cialized  in  Writing  stories,  ideas 
and  outlines  that  would -hold  great 
promise  .for;  popularity  at  first 
reading,  but  into  which  I  had  in¬ 
serted  certain  elements  that  upon 
subsequent  perusals  would  make 
the  entire  thing-  unworkable. 

I  even,  tried  this  technique  on 
screen  stories  and  soon  my  agent 
was.  Collecting  option  payments 
from  all.  the  major  studios.  With 
the  advent  of  independent  Produc¬ 
tion  companies  my  ideas  have  cir¬ 
culated  into  hundreds  of  offices, 
always  enticing  the  readers,  al¬ 
ways  collecting,  the  checks,  always 
being  given  up  aS— you’re  right— 
unlickable. 

This  kind  of  Writing  is  not  easy. 
You.  have  to  learn  certain  little 
tricks,  certain  characterizations 
that  could  prevent  your  Story  from 
getting  filmed.  Naturally,  I  couldn’t 
divulge  all  of  them  right  noW,  for 
—heaven  knows1— it  took  years,  of 
experimentation  and  analysis  be¬ 
fore  these  certain  touches  became 
part  of  my  writing  style. . 

Today,  being  the  master  of  the 
Unlickable  story  line,  I  have*  agents 
phoning  me  day  and  night.  They  all 
beg  to  handle  me.  They  know  that 
10%  of  an  unlickable  story  is  still 
10%.  They  .  Call  me.  I  don’t  call 
them. 

:  Having,  foregone  credits  —  and 
frankly,  who  Wants  credits  when 
the  option  checks,  keep  coming  at 
regular  intervals?— I  have  found 
that  even  considering  residuals,  an 
experienced  unlickable  writer  can 
do  better  with  one  script  after  10 
exposures  than  a  writer  of  a  pro¬ 
duced  tv  film  that  has  had  four 
reruns: 

My  .  advice  to  .you  writers  who 
would  like  to  get  into  this  still  un¬ 
crowded  field  of  writing  Ihe  un¬ 
lickable  is  this:  Watch  what  you 
write. 

To  make  a  name  for  yourself  as 
a  writer  of  the  unlickable,  you. 
must  write  with  great  precision 
and  care.  You  must  weigh  every 
word  you  put  down.  You  must  see 
to  it  that  your  plot  can’t  be  solved. 
You  must  be  sure  that  your  hero 
can’t,  be  cast.  You  must  make  the. 
sets  impossible  to  build. 

Remember,  if  you  don’t  follow 
my  advice,  if  you’re  too.  hasty,  if 
you’re  too  careless,  you  will  never 
be  an  unlickable  writer  What’s 
worse— your  stories'  will  be  pro¬ 
duced. 


CANADIAN  VIDPIX 
ENTRY  A  N.Y.  CLICK 

The.  first  Canadian  Broadcasting 
•Corp.’s  commercial  venture  in  the 
half -hour  telefilm  field  “Toma¬ 
hawk”  has  pulled  a  neat  surprise 
in  the  New  York  market,  ranking 
first  of  all  syndicated  product  in 
its  time  period,  Sundays  at  6:30 
p.m. 

According  to -the:  A.  C,  Neilsen 
rating  for  the  four  Week  November 
'57  period,  “Tomahawk,”,,  distrib¬ 
uted  by  Lakeside  Television  in  the 
-U.  S.,  rated  6.B  on  WPIX,  Its  next 
highest  competitor  in  the  syndica¬ 
tion  field  was  “Hawkeye,.  The  Last 
of  the  Mohicans,”  on  WABC,  with 
a  5.8.  “Hawkeye,”  incidentally,  also 
was  produced  in  Canada.  In  the 
also  ran  department  were  “Science 
Fiction  Theatre”  on  WOR-TV,  with 
a  2.6  and  “Frontier  Doctor”  with  a 
2.0  WABD. 


LMama,  Won’t  Yon 
Rock  With  Me 

=ByjpiMASTRONG=J 

Washington, 

“What  does  your  daddy  do?”  Is 
one  of  the  first  questions  children 
ask  their  new  friends,  when  they’re 
getting  to.,  know  each:  other  at 
school.  The  more  important  they 
make  daddy’s  job  sound,  the  more 
secure  and  superior  they  often  feel 
in  this  new.  environment.  Our  17- 
year-oid  daughter,  Dee  Dee,  didn't 
feel  that  she  had  made  much  of  an 
impression  years  ago  when  she  an-: 
nounced  to  the  children  at  Miss 
Libby’s  School  in  Chevy  Chase, 
Maryland,  after  hearing  about  law¬ 
yers,  doctors,  engineers,  teachers, 
etc.,  “My  daddy  plays  records.” 

.  But  the  picture  has  changed 
drastically  since  then..  People  who 
play  records .  on  radio  are  known 
as  disk  jbckeys,  and  the  disk  jock¬ 
ey  is  radio’s  greatest  current  asset. 
He  is  largely  responsible  for  the 
tremendous  .increase  hi  revenue 
pouring  into  the  coffers  of  radio 
stations  throughout .  the  country. 
His  job  is  to  deliver  commercials 
and  play  records,  injecting  his  own 
particular  brand  of  wit,  humor, 
“corn”  or  philosophy.  His  boss  re¬ 
fers  to  him  as  a  “personality”-^- 
his  fans,  regard  him  as  a  friend. 
He'  is  important  to  the  boss  as  a 
Salesman  on  the  air — he  is  signifi¬ 
cant  to  a  community  because  of  his 
personal  appeal  to  his  listeners. 

,  The  current  and  controversial 
rock  and  roll,  and  rhythm. and  blues 
music  and  its  effect  on  teenagers, 
which  is  creating  hysteria  Across 
the  country,  caused  us  as  a  hus¬ 
band-wife  disk  jockey  team  and 
parents  of  two  teenage  daughters 
to  reevaluate  the  influence  which 
a  disk  jockey  exerts  on  his  listen-: 
ers  and  his  obligations  in  present¬ 
ing  suitable  entertainment.  The 
primary,  aim  of  a  disk  jockey  is  the 
same  as  that  of  people  engaged  in 
any  occupation— to  make  money. 

But  we  feel  that  the  end  does 
not  justify  the  means  in  our  busi¬ 
ness,  as  well  ..as  in  any  other.  Disk 
jockeys  in  many  areas  have 
amassed  tremendous  audiences;  by 
“plugging”  records  in  questionable 
and  downright  bad  taste— in  other 
Words,  by  featuring  the  bad  rock 
and.  roll  aud  rhythm  and  blues. 
Often  they  are  paid  off  on  the  side 
to  do  so.  Many  of  them  sponsor 
rock  and  roll  dances  and  programs, 
attracting  primarily  teenagers,  and 
Use  their  radio  shows  to  publicize 
theSe  events.  Nor  are  they  dis¬ 
turbed  nor  discouraged  when  they 
witness  -  moral  misconduct,  riots 
and  brawls  on  these  occasions. 
“This  is.  what  the  kids  want,  so  i 
might  as  well  be  the  one  to  cash 
in  on  it .  .  .  Their  behavior  is  none 
of  my  affair  . .  .  They  have  parents, 
don’t  they?”  These  are  attitudes 
which  we  have  heard  expressed. 
j  .  .  Spinning  a  Dilemma  ;  | 

The  advent  of  the  rock  and  roll 
craze  placed  many  disk  jockeys  in 
a  dilemma,  however.  Is  it  a  bad 
influence  on  teenagers,  we  asked 
ourselves.  We  made  every  effort 
to  conduct  an  objective  analysis  in 
determining  whether  we  would  de¬ 
viate  from  our  policy  of  program¬ 
ming  “top  pops”  for  our  youthful 
audience,  interspersed  .  with  good 
standards  for  “Mom  and  Dad”  and 
a  featured  record  for  the  kiddies, 
concluding  with  a  hymn  for  the 
entire  family,  to  include  a  certain 
amount  of  rock  and  roll. 

We  reminded  ourselves  of  the 
times  we ;  had  heard  our  mothers 
talk  about  Rudolph  Valentino  in 
awed  tones,  and  how  we,  ourselves, 
were  “sent”  by  Crosby,  Miller,  and 
others.  And  we  realized  that  every 
generation  must  have  its .  “idol.” 

We  discussed  many  phases  of  the 
programming  problem  between 
ourselves, .  and  then  we  consulted 
our  own  daughters  and  a  represent¬ 
ative  group  of  high  school  students 
in  our  metropolitan  area.  Then  we 
reached  ouf  deeisioh  as  disk  jock-, 
eys  and  parents  not  to  play :  rock 
and  roll,' 

We  were  told  by  these  bright 
young  people  whom  we  consulted 
that  ‘‘the  more  adults  criticize  rock 
arid  roll,  the  m°re  We  want  it,”  This 
we  felt  was  a  typical  reaction  of 
that  period  when  youngsters  want 
to  be  quite  grown  up  but  are  forced 
by  social,  Economic  and  legal  re¬ 
strictions  to  mind  their  parents! 

“How  much,”  we  asked,  “of  the 
misconduct  indulged  in  at;  rock  and 
roll  performances  is  caused  by  the,1 


SHIRLEY  EGGLESTON 


.  TV...Raidi  .  .  .Stage,.  .Screen 

/Speaking:,  for  Post  Gereals  and 
Wisk  .  .  .  TV. 

Artist.  Service.  SUsqUehanna  7-5400 


music  itself,  or  does  the  music  Sim¬ 
ply  furnish  an  emotional  outlet  for 
already  existing  problems? ./  Obvi¬ 
ously,  we.  observed,  something  is 
wrong  when  performers  leave  the 
stage  because  Of  fear  of  physical 
injury  from  a  rioting  audience  of 
thousands  of  teenagers.  Obviously, 
something  is  wrong  when  every 
available  policeman  and  even  fife- 
men  are  required  to  quell  such 
rioting.  Obviously,  something  .  is 
wrong  when  a  Police  Captain 
makes  a  public  statement  that  the 
only  time  such  disturbances  occur 
are  when  ck  and  roll  shows  Are 
held,  arid  he  further  requests  the 
Chief  of  Police  to  have  them  dis¬ 
continued,  All  of  these  things  trick 
plAce  about  A  year  ago  at  the  Na¬ 
tional  Guard  Armory  in  Washing¬ 
ton,  D.C.,  .where  ”name”  bands 
have  played  for  dancing  for  years 
without  any  trouble  occuring. 

No  discussion  of  the  current  fad 
in  music  would  be  complete  with¬ 
out  including  Presley  .  and.  the 
Press!.  Our  Own  daughter,  “discov¬ 
ered”  Elvis  Presley  for  herself 
While .  assisting  us  ih  auditioning 
new.  record  releases.  This  previ¬ 
ously  unheard-of  singer,,  who  first 
recorded  hillbilly  songs-  had  a 
sourid  which  appealed  to  her.  That, 
we  feel  is  an  important  point  in 
considering  his  impact.  This  young 
man  had  created  a  sensation  among 
the  young  people  before  he  was 
seen  on  a  tv  screen  anywhere— 
arid  it  was  because  of  his  sound  and 
not  his  gyrations.  The.  adult,  critic 
detected  the  vulgarity!  He  will  re- 
inain  greatly  in  demand  as  An  en¬ 
tertainer  as  long  as  the  controversy 
now  centering  around  him  con¬ 
tinues.  . 


First  Catch 
An  Audience 


Think  of  Your  Own  Home 


,  Our  decision  to  eliminate  rock 
and  foil  records  from  our  programs 
meant  that  we  worild  lose  some 
audience.  That,  was  made  evident 
by  a  petition  we  received  signed  by 
300  high,  school  students,  Accompa¬ 
nied  by  a  “pan”  article  in  their 
newspaper.  We  felt  compensated 
a  few  days  later,  however,  when 
we.  received  another  high  school 
paper  praisirig  the  Strongs  for  our 
efforts  on  behalf  of  wholesome 
music.  We  are  deeply  grateful  that 
thousands  Of  people  in  Washing¬ 
ton,  D:C.,  Virginia;  Maryland, 
Pennsylvania  and  West  Virginia 
allow  us  to  visit  in  their  homes  and 
automobiles  Arid  places  of  business 
each  day.  We  feel  a  strong  obliga¬ 
tion  to  make  every  effort  to  rec¬ 
ommend  to  them  Only  the  type 
product  which  we,  ourselves,  use,, 
arid  to  provide  the  type  entertain¬ 
ment  which  we  would  welcome  in 
our  own  homo.  We  feel  that  every¬ 
one;  who  has  the  privilege  of  being 
behind  a  microphone  or.  in  front,  of 
a  television  camera  has  a  great  per¬ 
sonal  responsibility  to  his  public. 
Movies  are  rated  as  to  suitablity 
for  family  entertainment;  book  re¬ 
views  provide  a  guide  for  selecting 
appropriate  literature;  legitimate 
plays  receive  ample  advance  criti¬ 
cism.  Unfortunately,  radio  and 
television  programs  are  reviewed 
only  after  they  have  been  available 
to  any  member  of  the  family  who 
is  old  enough  to  turn  the  button 
on  the  set!  Our  industry,  in  many 
respects,  must  be  self-censoring. 

It  is  the  function  of  our  industry 
not  to  moralize,  but  to  entertain.  ] 
But,  in  our  opinion,  a  .  medium  of 
entertainment  that  is  “free”  to 
millions:  of.  people  Of  all  ages 
throughout  the  country  has  a  social 
obligation  to  do  a  bit  of  “moraliz¬ 
ing”  here  arid  there,  and  to  refrain 
from  presenting:  any  performance, 
whether  oil  records  or  live,  that  is 
unsuitable  for.  family  enjoyment , 
without. so  labeling  it!  1 


=By  EUGENE  BURR= 

Richard  Aldington  (at  least  I 
think  it:  was  Richard  Aldington) 
once  .wrote,  “Any  man  who  cannot 
appreciate  Rostand’s  ‘Cyrano’  has  a 
taste  too  refined  for  his  own  good.” 
This  expresses  an  attitude  that 
might  profitably  be  borne  in.  mind 
by  a  lot  of  people  who  produce 
television  shows  or  write  them  or 
write  about  them.  A  refined  taste 
may  be.  a  wonderful  thing  to  have 
(though  no  one  has  as  yet  suc¬ 
ceeded  in  showing  me  why,  or  in 
explai  irig  its  supposed  superiority 
ta  plain,  decent  good  taste,  which 
isn’t  the  same  .thing  at  all).  But 
f  a  refined  taste  is  going  to  make 
you  allergic  to  the  hopes  and  de¬ 
sires  and  dreams  of  Ordinary  peo¬ 
ple— the  ordinary  people  who  make 
up  mass  audiences— it  becomes  a 
dangerous  and  debatable  cargo  to 
carry  on  the  uncharted  seas  of 
television.  For  television,  in  the 
changing  concepts  that  have  been 
sparked  by  changing  conditions,'  is 
a  mass-audience  medium,  pure  and 
simple.  If  you  pay  rent  on  an  ivory 
tower  and  allow  your  brow  to 
broaden  under  an  ego-filled  intel¬ 
lectual  sun,  that  may  be  an  un¬ 
pleasant  concept  to  adriiit.  But 
it’s  also  a  fact.  And  if  you  can’t 
admit  it  you’d  better  get  out  of 
television. 

A  few  years  .ago  things  were 
different.  Then,  set-ownership,  was 
pretty  much  restricted  to  the 
upper-middle  income  brackets,  and 
a  patina  of  highly  self-consc;ous 
riseudp-culture  covered  the  medium 
like  a  rash/  The  people  who  owned 
sets  followed  the  more  determined¬ 
ly  tasteful  critics  in  order  to. learn 
v/hat  "they  were  supposed  to  like; 
they  parroted  the.  pronunciariienti 
of  such  self-apoointed  Jehovahs; 
they  dut;fullv  submitted  themselves 
to  the  boredom  of  tv  nlavs  without 
beginning  or  middle  (and  certainly 
without  end)  in  the  mistaken  con- 
rent  that  they  were  thus  exnosing 
themselves  to  culture,  rather  pili- 
fu’lv  believing  that  the  riasv  pre¬ 
ciosity  of  the  garbled  nlavlets  was 
art:  any  show  that  tried  to  tell  a 
satisfying  or  complete  story  was 
fastidiously  relegated  to  the  corn- 
heap:  producers  who  substituted 
ego  for  taste  were  hailed  as  gs 
iuses;.  writers  incapable  of  dream¬ 
ing  un  an  effective  story  or  writing 
dialog  with  e-  en  a  family  resem¬ 
blance  to.  human  sneech  were 
hailed  as  the  new  Shakespeare* 
arid  Molieres. 

But— fortunately  or  unfortunate¬ 
ly,  depending  on  vour  viewpoint— 
that’s  oyer  now.  The  determihed’y 
artistic  gravy-tram  has  nassed.  A 
few  of.  its  assorted  rod-riders  have 
been  left  behind,  but  they’re  be¬ 
ginning  to  look  hungrier '  and 
hungrier  as  the  days  go  by. 


1  A  Set  For  Every  Peasant  [ 


The  reason  for  this  phenomenon 
has  nothing  to  do  with  ,  art  of  taste 
at  alL  It  lies  in  the  fact  that,  for 
the  past  few  years,  set-ownership 
has  seeped  through  the  entire 
economic  structure,  until  no\v  even 
the  lowest  income  bracket  fbelow 
$60  a  week)  is  bristling  with  new- 
bought  antennae.  The  peasants, 
with  deplorable  stubbornness,  re¬ 
fuse  to  follow  critics  and  other 
Messiahs  eager  to  tell  them  what: 
to  like  and  so  to  lead  them  from 
their  native  intellectual  iriorass. 
They  care  little  or  nothing  for 
nuances  of  sensitivity  or  psychotic 
overtones  of  emotion  or  other 
trivia  of  the  determinedly  artist' c. 
They  just  want  to  see  “a  good 
show.”  And,  in  the  dramatic  field, 
a  good  show  to  them  means  a  good 
story — a  story  with  a  beginning, 
a  middle  and  an  end,  a  recognizable 
and  clearly  stated  theme,  strong 
character-identification,  a  powerful 
emotional  pull,  and  solid,  well-built 
dramatic  effect. 

TV,  thanks  to  the  change  in  set- 
ownership  patterns,  Is  now  a  mass- 
ehtertainmerit  medium  in  the 
fullest  sense  of  the  word. 

This,  to.  the  earnest  aesthete,  is 
simply  deplorable,  because  it  means 
that  tv  must  deal  primarily  in  corn. 
It  must— but- to  some  of  us  who’ve 
nrver  managed  to  be  self-conscious 
about  renting  an  ivory  tower,  it’* 
not  deplorable  at  all’ 

The  trouble  is  that  so  many  peo¬ 
ple  who  should  know  better  have 
been  stampeded  by  the  fashionable 
intellectual  attitude  toward  what 
is  snidely  known  as  corn.  Actually* 
corn  is  and  always  has  been  the 
(Continued  on  page  106) 


106 


RADIO-TELEVISION 


Fifty-second  p^$RIETY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


Soviet  B’casfing, 
Circa ’57: 1 -Shot 
Aerial  TV  Web 

=By  IRVING  R.  LEVINE=4 

{Moscow  Correspondent,  NBC) 
Moscow. 

Soviet  television  will  remember 
1957  as  the  year  of  the  first  tv 
network,  arid  for  Soviet  radio  it 
was  the  year  of  the:  world’s  most 
listened-to  program. 

The  Soviet  program  that  caught 
the  ears  of  the  world  was  emitted 
from  the  Soviet  sputniks  and  con¬ 
sisted  of  nothing  more  than  a 
beep-beep  noise.  But  that,  was 
enough  for  some  people  to.  hear  it 
as  the  sound  of  impending,  doom 
and  for  Russian  propagandists  to 
declare  that  it  was  the  clarion  call 
of  Communism’s  future.  The  opin¬ 
ion  was  expressed,  too,  that  the 
Kremlin  missed  a  golden,  or  red, 
opportunity  by  not  having,  ar¬ 
ranged  for  the  sputniks  to  transmit 
a  few  bars  of  “Arise  Ye  Workers' 
of  the  World.”  In  any  event,  few 
sounds  in  radio  excited  more  com¬ 
ment  or  attracted  a  greater  audi¬ 
ence. 

As  for  Soviet  tv— the  event  of 
the  year  was  the  setup  of  a  net¬ 
work  by  means  of  airplanes  hover¬ 
ing  aloft  at  specified  distances. 
This  enabled  Moscow  tv  to  transmit 
events  of  the  summer  World  Youth 
Festival  (attended  by' 160  Amerir. 
cans  against  the  recommendation 
of  the  State  Department)  and, 
more  suspiciously,  the  Red  Square 
parade  on  Nov.  7 — the  40th  anni¬ 
versary  of  the  Revolution.  On  all 
other  days  of  the  year,  television 
In  Russia  is  without  a  network. 

There  are  25  cities,  including 
Moscow,  Leningrad,  Vladivostok, 
Omsk.  Tomsk,'  and  Minsk,  with 
tv  stations,  but  none  are  linked 
vet.  Thus,  to  arrange  a  network  for 
Revolution  Day  a  number  of  planes 
with  relay  transmitters  were  need¬ 
ed.  The  people  in  Kiev  and  Minsk 
were  able  to  see  the  tanks  and 
guided  missiles  fine  as  they  rolled 
through  Red  Square,  hut  the  folks 
in  Leningrad  were  disappointed. 
Something  went  wrong,  with  the 
aerial  relay  and.  although  a  signal 
of  sorts  was  received,  it  could  have 
been  the  Red  Buttons  show  for 
all  that  could  be  made  out  of  it. 
The  director  of  Mosco\v  tv  did  get 
reports  from  Warsaw  and  Prague 
that  the  aerial  boost  given  to  their 
transmitter  enabled'  viewers  in. 
those  Communist  capitals  to  tune 
in  arid,  quite  unexpectedly,  see 
what  Big  Brother  was  doing  in 
Moscow. 

The  end  of  1957  brought  a  de¬ 
velopment  of  even  greater  impor¬ 
tance  to  Moscow  television,  owned, 
operated,  and  fully  controlled  by 
the  Government.  For  the  first  time, 
Moscow's  1,000,000  setowners 
(there  are  .  about  2,000,000  sets  in 
all  the  U.S:S.R.)  are  .  now  able  to 
switch  channels.  Soviet  tv  has  still 
to  acquire  kiriescoping  facilities; 
electronic  taping  of  tv  programs 
is  not  even  discussed;  color  tv  is 
talked  about  in  the  distant  future 
of  i960— but,  Russians  can  now 
choose  between  two.  channels.  Both 
are  run  by  Moscow’s  single  tv  sta¬ 
tion.  Both  have  pretty  much  the 
same  sort  of  programs.  But  at  least 
there  is  the  feeling  of  satisfaction 
that  comes  with  knowing  there  is 
something  else  to  watch:  What 
else?  Well,  if  you  don’t  like  “So¬ 
viet  Youth  in  Sports”  on  Channel 
1,  try  “New  Soviet  Verses”  on 
Channel  2.  The  sports  program 
consists  of  demonstrations  of  cal¬ 
isthenics  by  brawny  youngsters, 
intended  to  fire  interest  in  the 
populace  for.  keeping  -in  shape  by 
regular  setting  up  exercises.  The 
poetry  program  was  devoted  to 
dramatic  readings  of  new:  poems, 
all  with  the  theme  of  glorifying 
the  state  and  Party. 

On  another  evening  if  Ivan 
doesn’t  like  a  program  devoted  to. 
commemorating  25’  years  of  the 
Ordzhonikidze  factory  he  can  just 
switch  the  dial  to  a  program  de¬ 
voted  to  arts  of  the  Turkmenia 
section  of  the  U.S.SJL 

Programs  on  either  channel  are 
not  noted  for  their  brightness  and 
humor.  But  occasionally  there  is 
a  surprise,  not  always  intended.; 
As  when  a  visiting  chorus  from 
Communist  Fast  Germany  per¬ 
formed.  The  last  two  numbers  on 
its  program  were  “Casey  Jones," 
sung  in  English,  followed  by  the 
“Internationale”  in  Russian.  Rare¬ 
ly  has  tv  seen  a  more  bizarre  se¬ 
quence  of  songs. 

Although  1957  saw  the  advent  of 
the  zoomar  lens  to  - Soviet,  tv  for. 


WALTER  ABEL 


the  first  time,  it  saw  no  increase 
in  the  hours  of  telecasting.  Mos¬ 
cow  tv  is  oh  four'  hours  a  night, 
from  7  to  11  p.m.;  it  starts  at 
6  p.m.  on  Saturdays  and  there’s 
a  couple  of  hours  Sunday  after¬ 
noons,  the  Russians’  only  day  off. 
No  tv,  though,  during  the  day.  So¬ 
viet  authorities  don’t  want  to  offer 
temptations  that  might  keep  the 
Soviet  worker,  man  Or  woman- 
home  from  work. 


CHOTZINOFF  DOUBLES 
AS  A  WQXR  GABBER 

NBC  general  music  director 
Samuel  Chotzinoff  has  found  a 
second  broadcast  role.  He  has  just 
started  doubling  as  a  weekly:  com¬ 
mentator  for  WQXR,  the  Gotham 
indie. 

Actually,  there  t:eup  be¬ 

tween  bis  WQXR  radio  show  and 
his  parent  company.  Chotzinoff  is 
narrating  “Overture,"  the  hew 
program,  for  sponsor  RCA  Victor 
Society  of  Great.  Music,  under  the 
Book  of  the  Month  Club’s  direc¬ 
tion.  Program  Is  heard  from  8:05 
to  8:30  p.m.  Saturdays,  and.  it 
began  last  Weekend  (4). 


Now  in  50  Markets 

National  Telefilm  Associates  new 
“Champagne  Package”  has_  been 
sold  in  over  50  markets,  including 
New  York,  Los  Angeles,  San  Fran¬ 
cisco,'  Chicago,  Boston,  Indiana¬ 
polis  and  Miami. 

in  the  half-hour  syndication  de¬ 
partment-  the  new  production  on 
the  established  “Sheriff  of  Co¬ 
chise”  has  been  bought  in  about 
80  markets. 

tinder  the  heading  of  new 
skeins,  NTA  is  the  midst  of  pro¬ 
duction  on  39  episodes  of  “This  Is 
J  Alice,”  “How  to  Marry  A  Million--. 
!.  aire;”  and  “Man  Without  A  Gun." 
“George  Jessel’s  Showbusiness” 
series  also,  is  being  completed. 
Pilot  production  on  “U.  S.  Mar¬ 
shall"  and  “Grand  Jury”  now.  is 
underway. 


Batch  m  Audience 

— — Continued  from,  page  105 

staple  Ingredient  of  the 'world’s 
greatest  literature  and  drama.  Bad 
corn — the  inexpert  handling  of 
mass-identification  themes-^is  of 
course  deplorable.  But  good  corn 
—the  legitimately  artistic  handling 
of  such  themes,  as  distinct  from 
the  narrow-based  hogwash  of  those 
who  insist  that  Art  must  be 
endemic  —  good  corn  results  in 
“Macbeth”  or  “Tartuffe”  or  “Cy¬ 
rano.” 

Corn  .comes  In  all  varieties,  and 
good  corn  can  be  not  only  good 
theatre  but  also  good  art;  it  can 
be  effective  and  excellent  even 
When  it  is  enjoyed  by  great  masses 
of  shaving-cream-buyers  and  ciga- 
ret-smokers.  Before  you  tilt  a 
supercilious  nose  at  corn  per  se, 
consider  a  play  that  has  to  do  With 
a  glum  lad  who  sets  a  rather  obvi¬ 
ous  trap  for  his  father’s  murderer, 
who  melodramatically  turns  the 
tables  on  a  couple  of  two--timing 
friends,.  Who  has  a  fight  with  his 
fiancee’s  brother  during  which  a 
cup  Of  poison,  of  all  things,  gets 
into  the  wrong  handstand  who 
learned  about  his  father’s  murder, 
in  the  first  place,  from  a  ghost. 
There’s  nothing  On  earth  cornier 
than  that  — .  hut  it’s  also  a  pretty 
good  play.  A  lot  of  people  have 
even  called,  it ..  Art.  It  is,  as  of 
c  oil  r  s  e  you’ve  rec:  0  g  ri  I  z  e  d. 
"Hamlet,”  . 

For  a  worker  in  television,  to  turn 
his  back  on  the  fact  that  tv  is  a 
mass  medium  is,  in  cold  truth,  for 
him  to  turn  himself  into  a  thief. 
He.  is  being  paid  to  deliver  audi¬ 
ences  as  Wide  and  as  large  as  he 
can  make  them..  If  he  avoids  this 
aim,  in  order  to  impress  his  own 
artistry  on  others  or  merely  to 
inflate,  his  •  \vn  ego,  he  is  taking 
his  money  under  false  pretences. 
He  is  stealing  it  from  his  network 
or  his  agency  or  his  sponsor  just 
aS  surely  .  as  a.  sneak-thief  steals 
the  Avail et  of  his  Victim: 

His  attitude  is  all  the  -more  un¬ 
fortunate  because,  if  he  were  to 
deliver  a  mass  audience  and  still 
give  dramatic  integrity  to  his  off  err 
ings,  he  would  prove,  his  artistry 
fat  more  fully1  than  by  catering 
exclusively  to  the  members  of 
his  confused  little  cultural  kaf- 
feeklatph.  One  is  forced  to  suspect 
that  1  he  does  what  he’s  doing 
because  he.  hasn’t  talent  enough  to 
do  anything  else:  | 

.1  Scouting  a  Silly  Premise  1 

That’s  one  reason  why  the  people 
who  howl,  in  effect,  that  tv  must 
educate  the  masses  by  Offering  pro¬ 
grams  that  the  masses  won’t  watch 
seem  a  little  silly.  They  also  seem 
rather  dangerous.  They  insist  that 
their,  .own  ideas,  unshared  by  the 
majority  of  viewers,  are  the  sole 
panacea  for  the  viewers’  ignorance, 
and  must  be  shoved  down  the  mass 
gullet  whether  the  masses  like  it 
or  not.  Just  how  have  such  self- 
appointed  prophets  won.  the  mantle 
of  omniscience?  On  what  heaven¬ 
sent  basis  have  they  and  their  own 


JACK  LESCOUUE 


personal  biases  been  made  arbiters 
of  the  public  taste?.  To  some  of 
us  they  appear  less  like  demi-gods 
than  demagogues,  advocating  a  sly 
and  subtle  sort  of  intellectual 
Hitlerism. 

To  anyone  who  believes  in  the 
democratic  process — to  anyone  not 
blinded  by  the  glitter  Of  his  own 
intellectual  preeminence — a  popm 
Jar  show  need  not  necessarily  be 
a  bad  show.  Good  writing  need  not 
necessarily  be  unpopular  writing. 
Despite  the  bleats  of  various 
pundits  in  our  stalls  of  learning, 
there  is  no  such  thing  as  good 
writing  in  itself.  Good  work  in  any 
art  is  work  that  fulfills  its  primary 
purpose;  and  that  purpose  in  any 
art — -and  particularly  the  so-called 
cornmunications-arts— is  to  estab¬ 
lish  an  equation  betwen  creator 
and  auditor.  It  is  created  to  im¬ 
press  an  effect  upon  others,  no 
matter  what  that  sought-for  effect 
may  be;  .  If  it’s  created  merely  for 
the  aesthetic  delectation  of  its 
creator,  it’s  about  as  artistically 
effective  as;  a  prettily  colored 
pebble  dropped  down  a  well. 

Those  resolutely  cultured  souls 
Whose  tender  taste  is  gravelled 
when  they  are  asked  to  aim  at 
mere  audience-effect,  but  who.  still, 
insist  that  their  desire  is  to  uplift 
the  poor,  tasteless,  unintelligent 
masses,'  forget  completely  that 
those  poor  unintelligent  masses 
have  to  watch  a  show  before  they 
can  possibly  be  uplifted  by  it:  A 
"magnificent  artistic  tour  de  force 
viewed  by  the  producer’s  imme¬ 
diate  family  and  by  practically 
nobody  else  will  do  precious  little 
to  improve  the  taste-standards  of 
the  general  public.  In  order  to 
“improve"  the  customers  you  must 
follow  the.  old  French  recipe  for 
rabbit  stew:  “First,  catch  a  rabbit.” 
You  must  give  your  show  a  broad 
enough  base  of  popular  appeal  so 
that  as  many;  viewers  as  possible 
will  watch  it;  then  you  can  set 
about  improving  the  watchers.  It*s 
hard— but  .it  can  be  done. 


Status  Quo 

Continued  from  page  95  sas 

try,  locally  and  nationally,  as  to 
what  is  called  for.  It  is  a  very  sim¬ 
ple  fact  that  programming  must 
fit  the  tastes  and  activities  of  the 
listeners. 

Well,  enough  aid.  I  don’t  want 
to  tip  my  hand.  Someone  might  get 
the  hUnch  that  live,  Well-paced 
modern  musical  programs  in  two- 
hour  blocks  is  a  good  idea..  They 
might  realize  all  of  a  sudden  that 
something  has  changed  — r‘  Variety 
programming  in  radio  is  oh  the  way 
out;  today,  people  listen  to  a  “radio 
station,”  and  those  two-hour  blocks 
of  live,  musical  shows  might,  just 
happen  to  flow  in  with  good  local 
programs.  Then,  we’d  have  to  em¬ 
ploy  the  unoriginal  but  applicable 
phrase:  “What  we  originate,  others 
imitate,  arid  we  appreciate.”  Al¬ 
ready;  one  competitor  has  jumpecL 
on  our  “LIVE”  bandwagon  in  a  big ! 
Way.  We  don’t  mind. 

This  is  a  very  interesting  sub-, 
ject— radio  sure  has  changed— but 
let’s- not  bother  about  it  top  much; 
the  status  quo  is  comfortable,  and 
it’s  good  for  a  while  yet. 


Jim  Tyler’s  Widow  I 

Dbrothy  Whedon  who  is  one  of ! 
the  interviewees  in  the  :  current 
Cosmopolitan  Magazine  special 
“American  .  Wife”  Issue  is  the 
widow  of  James  Tyler,  longtime 
CBS  and  Mutual  sales  promotion 
director. 

Her  present  husband  is  a  tv 
s  c  r  i  p  t  e  r , .  ibest  known  for  his 
“Titanic”  documentary. 


Next  Stop  the  Moon 

Continued ’-from' page:  99 

guage.  In  the  U.S.  we  are  guided 
by  a  single  industry  code,  but  in 
international  tv  there,  are  different 
censorship  barriers  in  each  coun¬ 
try;  you  have  to  be  careful  not  only 
about  the  moral  tone  of  your  show 
but:  also  about  the  way  it  charac¬ 
terizes  different  nationalities;  The 
communications,  travel  and  ship¬ 
ping  costs  and  time  are  compound¬ 
ed  several  times  over  What  they 
are  in  domestic  distribution.  " 

The  challenge  of  the  world-wide 
market  is  building  up  one  of  the 
main  pressures  for  bigness  among 
tv  film  distributors.  An  effective 
international  operation  requires 
not  only  placing  company  repre¬ 
sentatives  in  most .  of  the.  major 
capitals  of  the  world  but  also  the 
frequent  visiting  of  overseas  tv 
centers  by  homeoffice  executives. 
Screen  Gems,  with  the  aid  of  its 
parent  company,  Columbia  Pic¬ 
tures,  can  currently  count  on  40 
international  sales  representatives, 
three  of  them  out  of  our  homeof¬ 
fice,  the  rest  stationed  beyond.  U.S; 
borders.  As  this  article  goes  to 
press,  Bill  Fineshriber  will  prob¬ 
ably  have  just  returned  from  a 
two-month  tour  of  -Europe.  In  an¬ 
other  two  or  three  months  he  will 
be  off  for.  a  two-month  swing 
through  the  Far  East.  Fineshriber, 
we  expect,  will  spend  at  least.  40% 
of  his  time  overseas. 

Obviously,  such  exertion  re¬ 
quires  great  strength.  It  is  essen¬ 
tial  not  only  to  keep  account  of  the 
temper  of  the  various  overseas 
markets,  but  also  to  be :  on  the 
alert  for  production  opportunities, 
for,  international  tv  cannot  oper¬ 
ate  in  only  one  direction.  There 
has  already  been,  some  good  over¬ 
seas  production  of  tv  film  pro¬ 
grams.  There  will  have  to  be  more. 

It’s  Screen  Gems’  policy  to  seek 
out  production  and  co-production 
•  arrangements  in  every  corner  of 
the  globe,  especially  in  countries 
;  that  have  been  large  consumers  of 
U.S.-made  programs.  Our  long¬ 
standing  concern  for  and  constant 
surveillance  of  the  world  market 
I  would  say  makes  us  eminently 
capable  of  guiding  producers  in 
other  countries  in  the  production 
of  programs  with  the  greatest  profit 
potential  in  every  country  of  the 
World.  With  Columbia  Pictures  we 
have  experienced  production  per¬ 
sonnel  available  to  work  with  na¬ 
tive  talent,  program  creators  and 
studios  any  place  on  this  planet. 

And  if  necessary  we.  would  even 
be  prepared  to  send  production 
people  to  outer  space  to  make  bet¬ 
ter  and  more  world-conscious  pro¬ 
grams;. 


French  TV 

Continued  from  page  104  — ) 

of  show  biz  yet.  About  160  features 
are  shown  every  year,  70  of  Which 
are  dubbed  Yankpix.  They  usually 
garner  about  $1,000  a  showing. 
There  are  no  age  limits,  depending 
On  the  producer  and  his  feeling 
about  video  exposure.  Pic  classics 
get  $2,000  a  throw  (i.e. .  “The  Third 
Mari,”  “Stagecoach”  or  a  “Madame. 
De  ”  of  recent  vintage). 

|  Sets  Still  Too  Costly  | 

A  nagging  problem,  is  still  the 
high  cost  of  sets  with  an  average 
one  going  for  about  $250,  way  be¬ 
yond  an  ordinary  family’s  means 
at  present.  Set  sales  have  grown  in 
the  cities  and  suburbs  but  still  lag, 
paradoxically  enough,  in  the  coun¬ 
try  areas;  The  French  peasants,, 
though  sadly  lacking  entertain¬ 
ment,  are  still  wary  of  this  new¬ 
fangled  imagery  and  await  the 
traveling  16m  film  shows.  D’Arcy 
feels  that  When  the  French  finally 
begin  to  accept  tv  completely,  buy 
on  credit,  arid  find  a  popular  priced 
set,  video  should  skyrocket  here.  ' 

Meanwhile  special  sets  with  con¬ 
version  setups  for  border  areas 
are  being  made.  However,  D’Arcy 
affirmed  that -reception  of  the  offi¬ 
cial  French  video  and  such  private 
border  outfits  as  TV-Monte  Carlo, . 
Saar  and  Luxembourg  now  have- 
about  the  same  power  and  clarity. 
These  fringe  outfits  are  riot  held 
to  be  any  sort  of  competition  to 
the  present  official  Video  setup. 

Eurovision  is  still  in  effect,  and 
broadcast  an  eight-nation  simul¬ 
taneous  show  New  Year’s  Eve. 
There  are  now  program  inter¬ 
changes  between  France  and  Italy. 
So  video  is  still  a  potent  force  here 
arid  growing,  both  nationally,  and 
internationally,  and.  comes  *60, 
should  take  its  official  place,  in  the 
show  biz  scene  here. 


JACKSON  BECK 

Announcer  Actor  Narrator 

Radio  TV  Film*: 

JUdson  2-8800 

Representative:  MARGERY  MORROW 
Paramount  Theatre  Building,  New  York 


108 


Fifty-mand  PfiRfl&Ffr  ^nnhertarf 


Fifty-tecond  Anniveriary 


10* 


^ was  a  dynamic  year  for  television.  There  are 
now  three  and  a  half  million  more  television  homes  than  last 
year.  More  people  are  spending  more  time  watching  television 
than  a  year  ago.  And  the  three  networks  -  share  of  audience 
has  increased  over  1956,  while  the  independent  stations*  declined. 

1957  also  saw  an  unprecedented  shift  of  audience  among  networks,  with 
NBC  emerging  as  the  Number  One  network  daytime  and  advancing 
into  a  virtual  stand-off  for  the  Number  One  nighttime  position. 

During  the  day  N  BC  leads  the  second  network  by  6%.  This  is 
an  audience  increase  of  30%  over  last  year  for  NBC  while  the 
second  network  has  declined  11%. 


At  night  NBC's  average  audience  has  jumped  10%  in  twelve 
months  while  the  other  network's  has  dropped  10%, 

In  terms  of  nighttime  half-hour  wins  NBC  and  its  major 
competition  are  now  tied  with  21  apiece. 

In  the  completely  reprogrammed  7:30-8:00  PM  (NYT) 
Mpnday-Friday  strip,  NBC's  audience  is  7 1  %  greater  than  a  year  ago. 

These  gains  are  naturally  reflected  in  NBC’s  business 
ledger.  Sponsored  time  and  gross  network  billings  are  the 
highest  ever  recorded  by  the  network* 


While  advancing  in  audience  and  sales,  NBC  also  Won  more  awards 
for  distinguished  programs  than  any  other  network.  During  1957 
it  gave  America  its  most  talked  about  productions— television  classics 
like  Green  Pastures,  Pinocchio,  the  General  Motors  Fiftieth 
Anniversary  Show  and  Mary  Martin's  Annie  Get  Your  Gun.  NBC 
also  offered  the  nation's  educational  television  stations  their 
first  live  network  programming. 


By  all  yardsticks  of  leadership,  1957  was  a  year  of  substantial 


Source:  Nielsen  Television  Index . 


January  8*  1958 


Fifty  second  Anniversary 


'f 


i 

Jll 


gjjj 


\ 


klU 


QUESTION 


liii 


3  113 


m 


vm  r AT  BUTTIW 


These  are  some  of  the  programs  on  CBS  Radio  today. 

Only  a  network  can  provide  this  variety  of  entertainment  and  information. 

And  CBS  Radio,  of  all  the  networks,  does  it  most  successfully.  Which  is  why 
more  people  devote  more  time  and  intention  to  sponsors’  messages  on 

THE  CBS  RADIO  NETWORK. 


THIS  IS  THE  HOUSE  THAT  BUYS  MORE  TIME,  SPENDS  MORE  TV  DOLLARS,  USES  MORE  BIG-NAME  HOLLYWOOD  TALENT, 


AND  PROVIDES  AMERICA  WITH  MORE  HOURS:  OF  SOLID  ENTERTAINMENT  THAN  ANY’OTHER  HOUSE  IN  THE  WORLD! 


INSIDE  THE  HOUSE:  Frank  Sinatra,  Eddie  Fisher,  George  Gobel,  Van  Johnson,  Jack  Benny,  Bob  Cummings,  Dean  Martin,  Jimmy  Durtntl,Tyrone  Power,  Bert  Uhr,Jin«  Powell,  Marge  &  Gower  ChimplOivKey  Thompjo^ 
Donald  O'Connor,  Ed  Wynn,  Jo  Stafford/  Kay  Starr,  Terry  Moore,  Mickey- Rooney,  Bill  Lundigan,  Walt  Disney,;Ward  Bond;  BobHortOfUJotm  Oaly  •  lOmt  Of  thi  tilonted  people  selected  for  i/uf  JirOUhted  by  our  client** 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty -second  Anniversary 


113 


RUN  FOR  THE  TELEVISION  DEPARTMENT  OF 


McCANN -ERICKSON,  INC.,  advertising 

New  York  Boston  Cleveland  Atlanta  Houston  Dallas.  Chicago;  Detroit  Loui  San  Francisco  *-tos  Angel  •  Portland  (Ore.) 


January  8, 1958 


fifty -second  AnniveTSory 


of  Independent  Television  drama 


Half-hour,  hour,  hour-and-a-half 


ASSOCIATED-REDIFFUSION 


Responsible  for  London’s  television  from  Monday  to  Friday 


Fiftysecond  P^SrII&FY  Anniversary 


January  8,  1958 


I  have  been  m  this  business 

25-  years  is  why  my  back  is  broken. 

Love, 

Henry  Morgan 

BILL  HOBIN 

DAN  LOUNSBERY 

Director  of 

Producer 

“Your  Hit  Parade” 

“Your  Hit  Parade” 

NBC-TV 

NBC-TV 

• 

• 

January  8,1958 


Fifty-second  P^BrIETy  Anniversary 


IHi 


1 


PRESS 


JMswSsL 


“The  ABC  people  insist 
it’s  a  Thanksgiving  party*..” 

Indeed  it  is.  The  end  of  a  great  ABC  Television  year  (and  the  start  of 
what  should  he  an  even  greater  one)  is  the  perfect  time  to  fill  an  imag¬ 
inary  ballroom  with  people  to  whom  we  owe  thanks.  People  like: 

The  advertisers  and  agencies  whose  concrete  support  has  made  possi¬ 
ble  our  successful  move  to  fully  competitive  status.  (We’re  also  thanking 
you  by  currently  serving  up  an  average  of  almost  %  of  the  total  network 
TV  audience  at  considerably  less  cost  than  our  competition.) 

The  press,  both  trride  and  consumer,  for  their  full  arid  fair  coverage 
of  bur  growth  into  fully  competitive  status. 

Our  directors  and  stockholders,  whom  we  thank  for  their  confidence 
and  tremendous  personal  investments. 

CBS  and  NBC,  for  their  part  in  making  the  whole  industry  picture  a 
healthy*  competitive  ope.  (And  bear  in  mind,  gentlemen,  that  our  newly 
scored  average  30  %  share  of  audience  didn’t  all  come  out  of  your  slice. 
ABC’s  revitalized  programming  has  increased  viewing  levels  in  virtually 
every  time  period  in  which  ABC  competes.) 

Oiir  affiliates  and  employees,  whose  enthusiastic  hard  work  has  brought 
us  so  far. 

And  let’s  riot  forget  the  FCC.  Their  implementation  of  the  American 
system  of  broadcasting  has  made  all  of  this  possible. 

So  carve  up  the  turkey  and  uncork  the  wine.  This  one’s  on  ABC  — 
with  thanks  ! 


ABC  TELEVISION  NETWORK 


8 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second  t^SdlE^TY  dnniversqiy 


Westinghouse  Broadcasting  Company,  Inc. 
is  proud  to  announce 


on  Local  Public  Service  Programming 


BALTIMORE,  MARYLAND 
MARCH  5,  6,  7  and  8,  1958 


For  the  second  year,  a  broadcasting  industry  conference 
on  Local  Public  Service  Programming  will  be  held— in 
Baltimore,  Maryland,  on  March  5  to  8,  195$— under  the 
auspices  of  Westinghouse  Broadcasting  Company,  Inc. 

To  The  Baltimore  Conference— ^.to  be  held  on  the  cam¬ 
pus  of  Johns  Hopkins  University-will -be  invited  a  cross- 
section  of  radio  and  television:  broadcasters  who  have 
demonstrated  leadership  in  pubhc  service  programming: 

The  Baltimore  Conference  will  be  sparked  by  a  series 
of  lively,  shirtsleeves  discussion  sessions,  and  talks  by 
men  and  women  who  know  the  excitement  that  can  be 


found  in  public  service.  The  broad  emphasis  will  be  on 
showmanship  in  educational  and  community  service  pro¬ 
gramming.  While  the  basic  format  will  parallel  last  year’s 
successful  Boston  Conference,  there  will.be  plenty  of  new 
features,  new  pbirtts-of-view,  new  ideas. 

We  are  looking  forward  eagerly  to  The  Baltimore  Con¬ 
ference,  and  to  the  contribution  we  feel  it  can  make  to  our 
industry.  Our  plans  for  The  Baltimore  Conference  are 
further  expression  of  our  belief  that  broadcasting  is  most 
effective  .on  stations  that  have-  earned  the  respect  and  con¬ 
fidence  oj  the  communities  they  serve. 


WESTINGHOUSE  BROADCASTING  COMPANY,  INC. 

RADIO:  BOSTON,  WBZ+  WBZA;  PITTSBURGH,  KOKA,  CLEVELAND;  kyw;  FORT  WAYNE,  wowo.  CHICAGO,  wind.  PORTLAND,  KSX 
televisioNi  BOSTON,  WBZ-TV,  BALTIMORE,  WJZ-tv,  PITTSBURGH,  kdka-ty.  CLEVELAND,  kyw-tv,  SAN  FRANCISCO,  kpix 


Fifty-second  Anniversary 


January  8, 1951 


$64,000  QUESTION 


WMt 


$64,000  CHALLENGI 


WALTER  WINCHELL  FILE- 

Participating  Agency 


•  NETWORK  RADIO  PROGRAMS 
►  TELEVISION  SPOTS 


WARWICK.  <A  LEGLEJR,  INC. 

ADVERTISING 

New  York  •  Beverly  Hills 


January  8, 1958 


Fifly-Meciond  U^RIETY  Anpiwsqry 


P 

It 

O 

D 

u 

c 

T 

A 

i 

o 

N 

$ 


THESE  TOP  \ 
RATED  SHOWS 
NOW  ON  NBC-TV 


THIS  IS  YOUR  LIFE 

Sp°"“”d  by  c'"’  ^  ,,°rY  Wednesday-10  P.M-EST 

TRUTH  OR  CONSEQUENCES 

participating  sponnn Daytime-Man.  Hint  Fri.— 11:30  A.M.-EST 

IT  COULD  BE  YOU 

Participating  Span™  ^  77, Fri.-12:30  P.M-EST 

TRUTH  OR  CONSEQUENCES 

1  Nile  Time  Friday-7:30  P.M-EST 

#  MCA  MANAGEMENT 


* 


PRODUCTIONS 


STARTING  JAN.  11-10  P.M.-EST-NBC-TV 

END  OF  THE  RAINBOW 

Sponsored  by  Geritol 

READY  TO  GO 

THE  HUMAN  THING  TO  DO 


RALPH  EDWARDS  PRODUCTIONS 

Contact 

WILLIAM  BURCH  or  PAUL  EDWARDS 

1655  N.  Cherokee,  Hollywood  28,  Calif. 

Hollywood  3-8121 


122 


Fifty-second  J^SSTETY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second  Anniversary 


TIME  AFTER 
TIME, 

IN  CITY 
AFTER  CITY.. 

ZIV 

SHOWS 

RATE 

GREAT! 


syndicated 

IN  DETROIT! 


SHOWS 


*1  HIGHWAY  PATROL  31.9 
*2  DR.  CHRISTIAN  23.1 
*2  MEN  OF  ANNAPOLIS  18.5 


ZIV  SETS  THE  PACE  WITH... 


Time  after  time,  in  city  after  city, 

ZIV  SHOWS  RATE  GREAT! 


*'DtsWlCT  ATTORNEY 


Sep#. 


OUT  OF  TOP 


SYNDICATED  SHOWS  IN 


Time  after  time  \ 
in  city  after  city  ' 

ZIV  SHOWS 
RATE  GREAT 


DAYTON 


#1  MEN  OF  ANNAPOLIS  33.3 

)#3  HIGHWAY  PATROL  33.0 

#5  SCIENCE  FICTION 

THEATRE  25.0 


Pulse,  Sept.  '57 


liKilil 


#1  HIGHWAY  PATHOL 
#5  MEN  OF  ANNAPOLIS 
#7  HARBOR  COMMAND 
#7  SCIENCE  FICTION  THEATRE 

Time  after  time  in  city  after  city 

ZfV  SHOWS  RATE  GREAT 


nil' ia riii 


Fifty-second  f^S&IETY  ^n^vertar7 


January  8,  1958 


JOHN  CANNON 


announcer 


Warmest 
Wishes 
ill 


•  Radio  Registry 


WlWM\ 


mm  • 

s  f  *  >■ 


fifty  *&comd  JsfiRlEfY  Annivertmry 


C  R  E  AT  I  V  E  P  R  OG  R  AM  MING 

41  E««t  67  Street  •  New  York  212,  N.  Y.  •  Plaza  1-0600 
449  South  Bovorly  Drive  •  Beverly  Hills,  Calif.  •  Crestview  4-7357 


*  Fifty -second  'Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


January  8, 1858 


Fifty  second  Anniversary 


rkTV 


J.  Walter  Thompson  Company 


New  York,  Chicago,  Detroit,  San  Francisco,  Los  Angeles,  Hollywood,  Washington,  D.  C., 
Miami,  Montreal,  Toronto,  Mexico  City,  San  Juan,  Buenos  Aires,  Montevideo.  Sao  Paulo, 
Rio  de  Janeiro,  Santiago  (Chile),  Lima,.  London,  Paris,  Antwerp,  Frankfurt,  Milan, 
Johannesburg,  Cape  Town,  Bombay,  Calcutta,  New  Deljii,  Madras,  Tokyo,  Manila, 
Sydney,  Melbourne,  Porto.  Alegre,  Nairobi,  Durban,  Port  Elizabeth,  Karachi,  Ceylon 


Fifty-tecond  t^SlilE^FY  dnnivertary 


January  8,  1958 


Jaime  del  Valle 


“THE  LINEUP” 

“SAN  FRANCISCO  BEAT” 


PRODUCERS 
of  the 

FINEST  in  FILMS 


YJ  & 


dr  Thank  You 
\dr  To  Our  Friends 

•  at 

The  Advertising  Council  -  N.  W. Ayer  &  Son;  Inc.,  -  Baker 
Advertising  Agency,  Ltd.,  Toronto  -  Jed  Bates  &  Co.,  Inc.  - 
Batten,  Barton,  Durstine  &  Osborn,  Inc.  -  Benton  & 
Bowles,  Inc.  -  Calkins  &  Holden,  Inc.  -  Compton  Adver¬ 
tising,  Inc.  -  Cunningham  &  Walsh,  Inc.  -  Donahue  &  Coe, 
Inc.  -  Doyle,  Dane,  Bernbach,  Inc.  -  Erwin  Wasey,  Ruth- 
rauff  &  Ryan  -  Fuller  &  Smith  &  Ross,  Inc.  -  Norman  Glad¬ 
ney  -  Grant  Advertising,  Inc.  -  McCann-Erickson,  Inc.  - 
Morse  International,  Inc.  -  Norman,  Craig  &  Kummel,  Inc. 
-  Seagram  Distillers  Co.  -  Raymond  Spector  Co.,  Inc.,  - 
Sullivan,  Stauffer,  Colwell  &  Bayles,  Inc.  -  Sun  Oil  Co.  - 
Young  &  Rubicam,  Inc. 

You've  Given  Us  a  Good  Year  of  1957 

May  We  Wish  You  a  Healthy,  Happy  and 
Prosperous  1958 

WONDSEL,  CARLISLE  &  DUNPHY,  INC. 

1600  Broadway,  New  York  19,  N.  Y. 

Circle  7-1600 


January 8,  1958 


Fifty-second  Anniversary 


Best  Wishes  on  Your  52nd  Anniversary 


Milton  Berle 


130 


Fifty-second  PSSKii&Tt  ‘Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


BILL 

NIMMO 

Starring . . . 

“KEEP  IT  IN  THE  FAMILY” 


Saturdays  7-7:30  P.M. 

ABC-TV 


“DO  YOU  TRUST  YOUR  WIFE?” 

Monday  thru  Friday  3:30-4  P.M. 

ABC-TV 


Management 

FRANK  COOPER  ASSOCIATES 


Fifty-second  ^SrIETY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second 


1ARIETY 


Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


.AGENT*:  I  checked  oil  it  . .  • 
they  took  a  half  page.  He 
should  too.  It'll  cost  ... 

uh  ... 

PUBLICIST-.  Well;  it'll  be  a 
bite.  But  it's  worth  it;  The 
thing  is:  what's  he  going  to 
put  in  it? 


AGENT,:  Uh  ...  Lemme*  see  what 
the  others  did. 

PUBLICIST:  Well,  I  can  tell  you 
right  now  he  should  have  more 
than  a  lot  of  white  space;  and  a 
little  John  Wayne  in  the  middle. 


AGENT:  (Picking  at  Prune 
Danish*)  Hmm  ...  Should  mention 
the  Challenge  .. .  But  no  hard 
Sell! 

PUBLICIST:  Yeah,  but  can't  we 
sneak  in  that  he  sings  a 
little*,,  acts  ...  does  a  little 
comedy?  Know  what  I  mean? 


AGENT t  I  don  t  know  ...  ’Course 
Marty**  is  supposed  to  push  that 
in  the  east  ...  but  it  would  be 
nice  ... 

PUBLICIST:  Hey,  how  about  the  shot 
of  him  on  the  donkey  ? 


AGENT:  Nah  .  .  .  Revlon  or  Kent 
might  not  like  it.  Better  stick 
with  pleasant  stuff ,  like  the 
Canada  Ory. 

PUBLICIST:  Wait,  I've  got  it!  .. 
STORY  ...  STORYBOARD!  AND  IN 
THE  LAST  PANEL  ... 


RALPH  STORY 

$64,000  CHALLENGE  (end  more! ) 

*  Harold.  Joviert.  Premiere  Artists 
1046  Carol  Drive,  Hollywood, 
Calif.  ' 

**  Martin.  Goodman  Associates 
36  Central  Park  South,  NY(?. 


International  Alliance  of  Theatrical  Stage  Employes 
and  Moving  Picture  Machine  Operators 
of  the  United  States  and  Canada 


A.F.L.  -  C.I.O. 


Representing  Craftsmen  Employed  in 
Production,  Distribution  and  Exhibitiqn 
in  the  Entertainment  Field 

RICHARD  F.  WALSH  HARLAND  HOLMDEN 

International  President  General  Secretary-Treasurer 

SUITE  1900 

1 270  AVENUE  OF  THE  AMERICAS  NEW  YORK  20,  N*Y. 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second  f^^RIETY  Anniversary 


XWCo 


NEW  YORK  '  CHICAGO  ?  DETROIT  •  SAN  FRANCISCO  -  DOS  ANGELES  •  HOLLYWOOD  •  MONTREAL  •  TORONTO 
LONDON  •  MEXICO  CITY •  FRANKFURT  •  SANtTUAN •  sta&aCas 


<  i  <  <  ! 

1  j  >  f  ,-'  - 

^  "  '  !’>y  f> 

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s*j  »ms | :  *>  «pm  J»  s  mi *«? si 
»***«M&JlSSJlSSiS?tmS82fSJS!| 

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wi*4’& 

r/At,t 


This  is  Caesar’s  wife. 

She  is  above  suspicion. 

Let  us  riot  forget  that  advertising,  in  addition  to  its  responsibility 
for  selling  goods,  also  has  a  public  responsibility. 

Both  responsibilities  are  iriet  best  only  when  advertising,  as 
Caesar’s  wife,  is  of  unquestioned  integrity. 


The  Robert  Q.  Lewis  Show 
8  to  8:30  P.M.  Doily 
Saturdays,  1 1:05  to  12  A.M, 


Fifty-second  p^StlE TY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


AUDIO:  LITTLE  GIRL:  MY  DADDY 
SAYS  TO  TELL  YOU  THAT  DOHERTY. 
CLIFFORD.  STEERS  &  SHENFIELD 
-^A  LONG  NAME— IS  NOW  . . 


...AT  530  FIFTH  AVENUE— A 
SHORT  WALK  FOR  MOST  OF  YOU. 
I’VE  SEEN  THE  BRIGHT  NEW 
OFFICES.  HOW  ABOUT  YOU? 


TJKjpUtjt/ 


Hal  James 
Russ  Ambruster 
Bob  Nathe 
Millie  Jackson 
Tracy  Samuels 
Bill  Wall 


Harry  Bressler 
Dick  Strome 
Da  vidyne  Saxon 
Bernice  Brilmayer 
Hal  Gerhardt 
Jim  Lynch 


Don  Quinn 
Sam  Vitt 
Bob  Widholm 
Rita  Nachem 
Elaine  Breakstone 
Ruth  Kcfehler 


DOHERTY,  CLIFFORD,  STEERS  &  SHENFIELD,  INC 
Advertising 


530  FIFTH  AVENUE.  NEW  YORK  36.  N.  Y, 


YUKON  6-6500 


WILLIAM  0.  HARBACH 


PRODUCER 


DWIGHT  A.  HEMION 


DIRECTOR 


THE  STEVE  ALLEN  SHOW 


GREETINGS  TO  PSSiETr 


ALAN  M.  FISHBURN 

TV  •  RADIO  •  STAGE  •  FILMS 

333  North Michigan  Avenue,  Chicago  1.  Illinois 


fifty  second  J^SRIETY  Anniversary 


January  8,1958 


HAVE  A  HAPPY 


CAROL  REED 

Monday  thru  Saturday 
WCBS-TV 


RAIN  OR  SHINE 
LATE  WEATHER 
SIX  O’CLOCK  REPORT 


131 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second  Anniversary 


Symbol 
of  fine 
television 


The  Adventures  of  Robin  Hood 

Sir  Lancelot 

The  Buccaneers 

Sword  of  Freedom 

Vagabond 

The  Big  Story 

Decoy 

Errol  Flynn  Theatre 
My  Little  Margie 
Star  Performance 
The  American  Legend 
Trouble  With  Father 
The  Star  And  The  Story 
Dateline  Europe 
Overseas  Adventure 
Cross  Current 
Rocky  Jones,  Space  Ranger 
My  Hero 

Colonel  March  of  Scotland  Yard 

The  Hunter 

Willy 

The  Scarlet  Pimpernel 


NEW  YORK  •  ATLANTA 

BEVERLY  HILLS  .  CHICAGO 
DALLAS  •  MINNEAPOLIS 

SAN  FRANCISCO  •  ST.  LOUIS 


Fifty-second  PSRIETY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


Congratulations 


JEANNIE  CARSON 


1957 


Starred  in 


'HEY  JEANNIE!" 

TV  Series—  CBS 


Guest  Starred  on 

GENERAL  ELECTRIC  THEATRE  •  WAGON  TRAIN 
JANE  WYMAN  THEATRE  •  ED  SULLIVAN  SHOW 
GEORGE  GOBEL  SHOW  •  TENNESSEE  ERNIE  FORD  SHOW 


IN  PREPARATION 


Television 

'THE  JEANNIE  CARSON  SHOW" 


Mofion  Pictures 
"ROCKETS  GALORE' 
J.  Arthur  Rank 


MERT  KOPLIN 


Producer 


"$64,000  Question' 


KTRKTV,  channel  13 


KTRKTV,  channel  13 


KTRKTV,  channel  13 


January  8, 1958 


141 


Fifty-second  l^S&IETY  Anniversary 


Fifty-second  l^^RIETY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


A  Happy  52nd  to  PArIeTy 

JOHNNY 

CARSON 

Star  of 

“DO  YOU  TRUST  YOUR  WIFE?" 

Monday  through  Friday  3:30-4  P.M. 

ABC -TV 


Starring  in 

“TUNNEL  OF  LOVE” 

Opening  January  10th 
National  Theatre,  New  York 


Personal  Management: 
SHEILS  and  BRUNO  ASSOCIATES 
New  York  Hollywood 


SEE  JIM  ALIEN  IN  BOSTON  OR  PETERS,  GRIFFIN,  WOODWARD  IN  N  Y. 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-secehd  P^ARIETt  Anniversary 


w  ,  ';'w4 

yv^"  >'••  _ ' .  '  >. 


\ :,  T( 

*V' ,  '  '  i  «^r*s 


V-  -  ^ 

RD  DUFF  •'"'  !'*"''5'-"  "  "  v?  ''!^s  v'  '  ' 


75/; '^47 >7  /,,  '77 '  ^  7  V'"  ■  /  '  ‘ 

r  <  t  ' '  ‘ v/''  77  /  77  , v'  -  ■  77-^ 
77  ~  Y'*  7  , ,  ^ 

^v::?v^f^*;.-!&w.r  ■  7 '-' 

1 '  *  ■*  ^  s  ,  V  7  s  '  \s  /yi/  /  v<^,  <7  s  y  ,  <  ■• 


I  ***** 


BATTLEFLAG  WANTED,  DEAD  OR  ALIVE 
THE  TALL  MAN  I  LOVE  A  MYSTERY 
“DOC”  HOLLIDAY  THE  JEANNIE  CARSON  SNOW 
NIGHT  COURT  THE  ADVENTURES  OF  MIKE  SCOTT 
THE  RIFLE  MAN 


.  nm 

EXECUTIVE  OFFICES  —  RKO  PATHE  STUDIOS,  CULVER  CITY,  CALIFORNIA 

FOUR  STAR  FILMS,  INC. 

_ I  FOUR  STAR  \ 


DICK  POWELL,  PRESIDENT 
DAVID  NIVEN*  VICE  PRESIDENT 
CHARLES  BOYER,  VICE  PRESIDENT 

WITH 

FRANK  BAUR,  V.  P.  IN  CHARGE  OF  PRODUCTION 


FOUR  STAR  t 

^  S 

***rmmuw+++ 


Fifty-second  J^fifRlETY  Anniversary 


January  8,1958 


CHICAGO'S  LIVE  WEEKDAY  SPECTACULAR  I 


“CLUB  9”  Erring  WALLY  PHILLIPS 

4:00-5:30  P.M.,  Monday  thru  Friday 

•  Marigail  Moreland  •  The  Starnoters  •  Bob  Trendler's  Band 

•  Top  Recording  Stars  •  Top  Records  of  the  Day  •  Comedy 

•  Chicago  Teens  •Dancing  •Discussions  •Interviews 


Tops  with  the  Teens— AND 
Tops  with  the  Adult  Audience 


WCN-TV-9-CHICACO 


the 

MACBETH 


THE  CORN 
IS  GREEN 


green  pastures 


THf  LARK 


THE  little 
foxes 


ON  BORROWED  TIME 

^Beulah  Borif.  **1*. 

•  Margaret  Hamilton.  Mildred 
\Trares.  William  A.  Lee,  Liny 

I  Gates,  William  LeMassena.  Frank 

tweddell.  P.  Wood.  Pw««g 
Eaton,  Schuyler  Larsen,  Robin- 
son  Stone.  George  Sullivan. 

Exw^Producen^.MiMred  Freed  NBj 

Producer-director:  George  Schaefer 
Adaptor:  Jaimes  Costigan 
90  Mins.,  Sun.  (17).  5:30  p.m. 
HALLMARK  CARDS 
NBC-TV,  from  N.Y.  (color)  i 

"  "(Foote,  Cone  &  Belding ) 
fct  George  do  it.  If  there’s  any¬ 
body  in  television ^with  a  track  re¬ 
cord  for  producing  and  staging  top-  ] 
flight  drama  with  taste  and  sen-  i 
sltivity.  it’s  '/'Hallmark  Hall  of  | 
Fame’s’-’;  George  *  Schaefer  and 
Sunday  afternoon’*  i  17) 

'  of  Paul  Osborn’*  melancholy  fan*  ] 

1  tosy,^“On  Borrowed  Time.  |'v*1 , 

'  another  measure  of  his  consistency. 

-Schaefer  to^Su£S' 

hpaded  by  Ed  Wynn  and  Ciauae 
Rains,  come  forth  with  abeautiru 

n  and  touching  production  of  tjj* 
l  story  oT  an  old  sjnan  *  pereo" 

I 'stifle  with  death^  for  Wynn 


sUpe  A*0 


ALBCE  BN  WONDERLAND 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second  T^&RIETY  Anniversary 


t 


FIFTH  YEAR 
ON  TELEVISION 


EXCLUSIVE  MANAGEMENT  PRODUCED  BY 

WILLIAM  MORRIS  AGENCY  ,  .  ,  ,  MARTERTO  ENTERPRISES,  INC. 

SFONSOREOtY 

GENERAL  FOODS 


Fifty-second •  Z^^RIETY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


kYJ'*  1 


Currently 

ST.  REGIS,  Maisonette,  New  York 

(9th  Engagement) 


I  Publicity: 
FRANK  GOODMAN 


ALLEN  C.  ANTHONY 


Personal  Management: 
BARRON  POLAN 


Represented  by 

CARL  EASTMAN 


January  8, 1958 


F iftyrtecond  Anniversary 


LIVE’  FROM  NEW  YORK 
CBS -TV  •  ALTERNATE  WEDNESDAYS 


WEDNESDAY,  JANUARY  15 


CAMERON  MITCHELL 

stars  in 


ey  JLouc 


co-starring  LEORA  DANA  and  BIFF  McGUIRE 

PRODUCED  BY  THE  THEATRE  GUILD 


Fifty-second  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


v  i  it  t  t  %  &  M  a  r  €  a  £  1 1  e 


Princess  Mary 

and  her  court 
take  this  time 

to  extend 
Salutations 

to  yon  ait 
a?  this  closing 

season’s  end 


MARY  HARTLINE  PRINCESS  MARY 

DON  ALAN  . . ,  SIR  DONO  •  MAGICIAN 

RONNY  BORN  VOICES 

BRUCE  NEWTON  VISUAL  EFFECTS 

CLIFF  BRAUN  . . . . . . . . .  .  .DIRECTOR 

ARSENE  SIRGEL  . .MUSIC 

Carl  carleton  writer 

{SIGNED)  Princess  Mary  Hartline 

"PRINCESS  MARY’S  CASTLE"  9:30-10:00  Mon.  thru  Fri..  WBKB,  Channel  7,  CHICAGO 


With  Best  Wishes  to  U&RIETY 


GREY  LOCKWOOD 
Director 

THE  PERRY  COMO  SHOW 
NBC  TELEVISION 


DOROTHY  COLLINS 


Fifty-second  p'fi&TETY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


TWO  VERY  IMPORTANT  THINGS 
TO  REMEMBER  WHEN  BUYING  SPANISH 
RADIO  IN  NEW  YORK: 


ENJOYS  THE  TOP  RATING 
IN  46  OUT  OF  48  DAILY 
QUARTER-HOURS 
IN  SPANISH.* 


ITTII A 1  f  caches  more  than 
II  II 1 1 II  71%  OF  PUERTO  RICAN 
I V  1 1 1 1  VI  FAMILIES  DAILY  AND  THE 
l  v  1IVH1  WEEKLY  CIRCULATION 

ENCOMPASSES  ALMOST  ALL  FAMILIES.* 

*  (Pulse— October  1957) 

A  COPY  OF  THE  COMPLETE  PULSE  REPORT 
CONTAINING  BOTH  AUDIENCE  RATINGS 
AND  A  PROFILE  OF  THE  PUERTO  RICAN 
LISTENER  IN  NEW  YORK  IS  YOURS  FOR 
THE  ASKING. 


WHOM 


136  West  52nd  Street 


New  York  19,  N.  Y. 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second  J^RIETY  Anniversary 


/Paul 

V  MUSICAL  DIRECTOR 


Fifty-second  t^SRIETT  Anniversary 


January  8, 195$ 


In  a  world  of 

VARIETY 

nctarcK 


VAUDEVILIsE 

legitimate 

LITERATI 

• 

every  pursuit  has  its  place.  But  when  pressures  go  up  and  spirits  go 
down,  it's  good  to  know  that  nothing  takes  the  place  of  good  music, 

nothing  takes  the  place  of 

WQXR 

Radio  nation  *  Tto  Now  York  Tim*  1560  AM  96.3  FM 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second  p^j^f  Anniversary 


les 


es  3  Voice! 


tfe's  performer!  U e's  young j  He  hasJt! 

XEW-TV,  MEXICO  CMQ-TV,  HABANA  RADIO  CARACAS  TV  •  CARIBE  HILTON,  SAN 
JUAN  -  SAN  SOUCI,  HABANA  •  LA  VOZ  DOMINICANA  -  RCA  VICTOR  RECORDS  -  SONUS 
RECORDS  -  COLUMBIA  PICTURES  -  HOTEL  TAMANACO,  CARACAS  -  RADIO  PAN  AME¬ 
RICANA,  PANAMA  -  HOTEL  BALMORAL,  COSTA  RICA  -  EL  AMBAJADOR,  CIUDAD  TRU¬ 
JILLO  -  HOTEL  DEL  LAGO,  MARACAIBO. 


When  he  was  a  beginner  he  won  four 
‘consecutive  times  the  "Old  Gold  Show  - 
Chance  of  a  Lifetime"  and  went  back 
home  after  a  successful  triumph  at 
Washington,  Pittsburgh,  New  York,  etc. 


World  Representative: 

RODOLFO  WELLISCH 

P.  O.  Box  1968 
Caracas  -  Venezuela 

Cables:  MIFILM  CARACAS 


Fifty-second  P'SRIETY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


les  lear 


LES  LEAR  BETTER  RELATIONS 

d  division  of 

LES  LEAR  PRODUCTIONS 

Radio-Television— Product  Representati 


Hotel  Sherman  •  FRanklin  2-21 00  *  Chicago  1,  III. 


VIRGINIA  (Duchess)  MARMADUKE 

and 

RUTH  JAMISON 

Say  HAPPY  ANNIVERSARY 


Fifty  second  Anniversary 


January  8>  1958 


January  1, 1958 

Dear  Son: 

This  page  is  a  generous  demonstration  by  me ,  to  show 
my  great  love  for  you.  I  am  paying  for  this  space  just  to 
advertise  “you”  .  so  here  it  is . . .  KEENAN  WYNN . 

Your  loving  father 


Fifty-second  J/fi&IETY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


<  V^'  -> 


ALEX  DREIER 

NBC-TV  and  NBC  Radio 


Hail  VARIETY 
ON  ITS  52nd  ANNIVERSARY  AS 


"THE  BIBLE7' 


DAVID  O.  ALBER  ASSOCIATES 


44  EAST  54th  STREET 
NEW  YORK  22,  N.  Y. 
TEMPLETON  8-8300 


Season's  Greetings 
from 

WIN  STRACKE 

and 

FRANK  HAMILTON 

and  the  Old  Town 
School  of  Folk  Music, 
Chicago 


JOSEPH 

GALLICCHIO 

Music  Director, 
Central  Division 
National  Broadcasting 
Company 

• 

"Howard  Miller  Show" 
Mon.  thru  Fri. 
12:30—1:30  CST 


KAREY 

‘Koffee  With  Karey” 


WCFL  -  Chicago 


Greetings  from 

Joseph  D. 
Lohman 

Sheriff,  Cook  County,  III, 
Seen  Regularly  on  "Shadows 
of  the  City"— WBKB,  Chicago 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second  J^SdlETf  Anniversary 


157 


HARRY  FLBISCHMANt  President  STEVEN  CARL.I u9  Executive  Producer  :|J 
675  Madison  Avenue,  New  York  22,  N,  Y.,  Pbaza  9-3700 


•Fifty-second  ^S^IBTY  Anniversary 


January  8,  1958 


CREATIVITY  +  EXPERIENCE  =  RADIO  AT  ITS  BEST! 


I  TW  fill#  Audience  CowpoiiHon  Shuto 

{•  SywScttd  filM  Csmeif  Shows  \ 

1.  Laurel  an (THardv  (Governor). | 

rioDS  UKE  US  bsg;:j  jsa^gct* 

1 - t g{ffi£rjijL;‘,»  Jann°Ffl’na  Hardy  (Governor) .  .28 


("men  l|ke  us 

owjwj® 


Governor  Television  Attractions,  inc. 


jf\  *  |”1  V*U  f 


The  Standard  of 
Quality  Programming 
for  33  Years 

WLS,  INC. 

CHICAGO  V 

890  KILOCYCLES  •  50,000  WATTS  •  REPRESENTED  BY  JOHN  BLAIR  &  COMPANY 


HARRY  WISMER 


GENERAL  TELERADIO 


TELEVISION: 

“BETHLEHEM  SPORTS  TIME’' 

Sponsored  by  Bethlehem  Steel  Co. 

NATIONAL  LEAGUE  FOOTBALL 
NOTRE  DAME  FILMED  RECREATIONS 
HARRY  WISMER  SPORTS  TIME 

For  United  Press 

HARRY  WISMER  SPORTS  SCENE 

For  DuMont  TV 


RADIO: 


NATIONAL  LEAGUE  FOOTBALL 

DETROIT  LIONS 

NOTRE  DAME  FOOTBALL 

For  j Pontiac  Motors 

GREATEST  MOMENT  IN  SPORTS 

For  United  States  Air  Force 

Complete  Schedule 


BROADCASTING  MAJOR  SPORTING 
EVENTS  AND  SPECIAL  EVENTS 
NATIONALLY 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second  pAfif&IETY  Anniversary 


This  Is  an  important 
Anniversary  Year— 


and 


“Breakfast  Club:”  25th 


Many  thanks  to  all 
who  made  it  possible ! 


Fifty-second  t^&RIETY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


**■  '  *V.t  r.^^  ioT 


wjv 


Yes,  we  have  a  hit  on  our  hands  —  facilities  that  give  Our  clients  a  guarantee 
of  the  best  possible  ^productions  for  their  Industrial  Films  and  Television  . 
Commercials. 

CARAVEL  offers  the  finest  permanent  Staff  of --creative  talent  for  producing 
motion  pictures,  for  Industry  and  Television  —  in  its  production  center  speci¬ 
fically  designed  and  constructed  for. the  efficient  and  economical  production  of 
YOUR  films. 


THE  MAJOR  FILM  STUDIO 
THAT  NEW  YORK  HAS  LONG  NEEDED 


n-vld 

§KS<SS^ 


1  *** 

T*r  *  ,  ...U  .-A 


•  26,000  $qt  Ft.  of  working' space 

•  Insert  Stage:  25*  x  54' 

'•  Seven  Costume,.  Make-up  and 
Dressing  Rooms 

•  O pficals  and  Special  Effects 

•  23'.  Elevator  (holds. lor 
medium  sized  truck) 


*  Mai 

ix  .Editing  Rooms 

*  All  Animation  and  Art  Faciliti 

•  Carpenter  Shop  and  Prop 
Department 

•  Projection  Room  (35mm  A  J  6mm) 

ilm  Vaults  and  Storage 


■«o*l°.a5  *  'he 


B- 1]  C  A  R  AV  EL 
L FILMS  INC. 

20  WEST.  END  AVENUE  (60th  ST.)  NEW  YORK  23,  N,  Y.  Circle-  7  -  6110 


HERB  SANFORD 

—  -  '  • "  Producer — -  ■  • 

GARRY  MOORE  SHOW 
CBS-TV 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second  P^RJETY  Anniversary 


Congratulations  to  PARiEtY 

From  EDDIE  CANTOR  And  His  2  Rest  Sellers 


This  is  the  way  the  album  comes  out:  A  lot  of  music  and  a  little 
of  the  big  story  of  Eddie  Cantor,  winding  up  with  “Ida,”  a 
tribute  to  his  wife.  It’s  one:  of  the  few  things  of  its  kind  that 
really  comes  off. 

“The.  Best  of  Eddie  Cantor”  is  a  welcome  island  in  a  swamp 
of  wax; 

—Cleveland  News 


Doubleday  &  Co.,  $3.95 
16  Weeks  on  N.Y,  Herald  Tribune 
Best  Setter  List 


LATEST  RECORDS 

“THE  BEST  OF  EDDIE  CANTOR”— (Vi.k 
album):,  “Gee,”  said  a  young,  friend  listening 
to  this  album,  “I  didn’t  realize  that  Cantor  was 
this  good.”  This  teen-ager  was  “discbvering” 
an  artist  who  at  65  has  been  in  show  business 
most,  of  his  life.  But  Cantor  fans  who  go  back 
to  his  vaudeville;  days  will  have  their  memories 
happily,  refreshed.  Others  will,  realize  that 
Eddie  Cantor  is  more  than  a  clap-hands-jump- 
up-and-sing-“Susie”-routine.  Through  a  dozen 
songs,  bridged  by  a  narrative,  Cantor  proves  to 
be  a  guy  of  many  moods — sweet,  hot,  ,  corny — 
but  still  surprisingly  cool.  Among  his  selec¬ 
tions:  “Susie,”  “Makin’  Whoopee”  and  “Ida.”* 
— N*  Y.  Journal-American 


v  fs-i 


#1^ 


"The  Best  of  Eddie  Cantor”  (Vik) -'Eddie  Cantor,  one  of  show  biz’s 
living  legends,  has  compiled  the  top  dozen  songs  he’s  done  over  the 
past  50  years  into  a  tiptop  LP  Cantor,  who  intros  most  of  the 
numbers  with  a  brief  historical  setting,  delivers  with  a  full,  resonant 
Voice  that  shows  little  of  time’s  wear.  Henri  Rene’s  orch  and  Bill 
Thompson’s  chorus  supply  fine  backing.  Cantor’s  wife,  Ida,  wrote 
the  liner  note  to  this  attractive  package^ 


— Variety 


Mr** 


1 


12  East  53rd  Street 

NEW  YORK 


664  N..  Rush  Street 

CHICAGO 


M  A  XON  $  Inc. 

Advertising 


D  E  TROIT 


N  E  W  10  R  K 


CLIENTS 

American  Brands,  Inc. 

•  The  Climalene  Co. 

•  Ditzler  Color  Div.  of  Pittsburgh . 

Plate  Glass  Co. 

General  Electric  Company 

•  Gillette  Safety.  Razor  Co. 

•  Greyhound  Rent-A-Car,  Inc. 

•  H.  J.  Heinz  Company' 

Hiram  Walker,  Inc. 

•  Charles  E.  Hires  Co. 

•  Hotpoint  Company 

•  La  Ghoy  Food  Products 

•  Lincoln  National  Life  Insurance  Co. 

•  The  Magna  vox  Company 

•  Mohawk  Carpet  Mills 
Pfeiffer  Brewing  Co. 

•  Pittsburgh  Plate  Glass  Company 

•  Sun-Maid  Raisin  Growers  of  Calif. 


CHIC  A  G  0 


CREATIVENESS 


QUALITY 


ECONOMY 


SERVICE 


te/c 


FI L M  PROD U CTIO MS,  I M C, 

(  /  1600  Broadway,  New  York  J9,  N.  Y. 

•  JUdson  2-5730 


TOM  BELCHER 

Director 

RALPH  EDWARDS' 

END  OF  THE  RAINBOW 
With  ART  BAKER 

Starting  January  1 1 
NBC-TV 

HAROLD  JOVIEN 

PREMIERE  ARTISTS  &  PRODUCTIONS  AGENCY 

Sunset  arid  Carol,  Hollywood  44,  Calif.. 


Fifty-second  t^^Rlf^TY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


...AND  MOW - 

A  BRIEF  MESSAGE 
FROM  OUR  SPONSOR  ! 


Most  times  an  agency  speaks  f  or  tlie 
sponsor .  Sometimes  the  sponsor  speaks 
for  the  agency.  The  clients  listed  belpw- — ■ 
and  their  programs — tell  you  a  lot  about 
Compton’s  success  iti  television. 


AMERICAN  CAN  COMPANY 

Cans  and  Fiber  Containers 

"Douglas  Edwards  With  the  News" 


REMINGTON  RAND 

Remington  Typewriters 

"Leave  It  to  Beaver" 
"What's  My  line?'* 


GOODYEAR  TIRE  &  RUBBER  COMPANY 

Neolite 

"A  Turn  of  Fate" 

(Goodyear  Theater) 


SOCONY  MOBIL  OIL  COMPANY 

Gasoline,  Oil  and  Accessories 

"Trackdown" 


PROCTER  &  GAMBLE 

Big  Top  Peanut  Butter,  Blu(2  Dot, 
Criseo,  Cascade,  Comet,  Drene, 
Duncan  Hines,  Duz,  Gleem,  Ivory 
Soap,  Ivory  Flakes 


"The  Life  and  Legend  of  Wyatt  Earp" 
"The  Guiding  Light" 

"Tic-Tac-Dough" 

"This  Is  Your  Life" 

"Queen  for  a  Day" 

"Matinee  Theater" 

"The  Brighter  Day" 

"Loretta  Young" 

"Meet  McGrow" 

"As  the  World  Turns" 

"Comedv  Time" 


STANDARD  BRANDS  INC. 

Instant  Chase  &  Sanborn  Coffee, 
Regular  Chase  &  Sanborn  Coffee 

Art  Linkletterfs  . "House  Party" 
"Tif-Tdc-Dough" 

"Queen  for  a  Day" 

"The  Verdict  Is  Yours" 

"The  Edge  of  Night" 


STERLING  DRUG.  INC. 

Fizrin 

"Truth  or  Consequences" 
"The  Price  Is  Right" 
"Treasure  Hunt" 


COMPTON 


ADVERTISING,  INC, 


; — : — — 

NEW  YORK  •  HOLLYWOOD  •  CHICAGO  •  SAN  FRANCISCO  •  MILWAUKEE 


DALE  HARRISON 


Chief  Writer:  “JUST  ENTERTAINMENT” 


THE  PAT  BUTTRAM  SHOW 

CBS  Radio  Network— 1 58  Stations 
Five  Times  Weekly 
For  Wm.  W  rig  ley  Jr.  Co.— 2d  Year 


65  East  Oak  Street,  Chicago 


WHitehall  3-0425 


TEX 

ANTOINE 


and  UNCLE  WETHBEE 


In  Our  Ninth  Year 


TELEVISION 


WRCA-TV 


Monday  thru  Friday 
Brought  to  You  by 
CON-EDISON 


OLOGY  ENDEAVORS,  Inc. 


NBC  RADIO  WRCA 


12  Naan  to  2  P.M. 


play  at  the 


where  you 
are  king! 


revel  ill  royal  treatment^at  Tropicana, 

King  of  Clubs.”  Dine  and  dance  among  exotic  trees  under  the  stars 
See  the  spectacular  shows  (t\\'6  different  ones  nightly). 
Visit  Lefty  Clark's  magnificent  ne\V  glass-enclosed 
A  casino.  It  all  adds  up  to  a  delightful  experience! 


TROPiCflJPR 


Fifty-second  P4&Rl!bTY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


“THE  COUPLE  NEXT  DOOR” 

Starring 

PEG  ,ml  ALAN 
LYNCH  BUNCE 


Written  by 

PEG  LYNCH 

Produced  by 

WALTER  HART 


"Peg  Lynch  and  Alan  Bunce. 
who  aicd  to  bo  TV's  'Ethel  and 
Albert*  (and  litre  may  bo  aomo 
films  still  around  to  prove  it), 
start  ait  over  again  on  CBS  radio  . 
Monday  as  *Tha  Couple  Next 
Door.1  They're  on--<ind  this  is  a 
rarity— twice  daily  to  accommo¬ 
date  both  afternoon  and  evening 
listeners  (at  2:30  pjn.  and  7:30 
p.m.)  In  a  15-minute  format:  And 
weleoma  back,  even  if  we  can't 
sea  you." 


CBS-RADIO 

Monday  thru  Friday 
2:30  to  2:45  P.M. 


Thank  You 
BOB  WILLIAMS 
New  York  Post 


MOT  SPRINGS  NATIONAL  PARK;  ARKANSAS 

High  blood  pressure?  Taut  nerves? 
Arthritis?  Rheumatism?  Are  these 
your  symptoms?  Then  relax  in  the 
soothing  radioactive  thermal  waters 
at  this  spa.  At  the  Arlington,  relaxa¬ 
tion  and  luxury  are  yours.  The 
new  Dorothy  Draper  decor  is 
yours  to  enjoy. 


write  for  your 
color  folder 

It.  R  McFACW  , 
General  Manager 


Greetings  from 


Francois  Pope’s  “Creative 

WBKB  •  ABC-TV  •  Chicago 


ABC-TV 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second  Anniversary 


VAN 

ALEXANDER 

Musical  conductor-arranger 

"GUY  MITCHELL  SHOW" 

ABC-TTP 

• 

Original  Score 
"BABY  FACE  NELSON" 

Starring  Mickey  Rooney 
United  Artists  Release 

• 

CAPITOL  RECORDS 

Personal  Conductor  for 

GORDON  MacRAE 

Management:  HAROLD  JOVIEN;  Hollywood 


HARRY 

BABBITT 

“THE  HARRY  BABBITT  SHOW” 


^  currently  in  its  8th  year,  CBS  network, 


sponsored  by  America's  outstanding 
products: 


Pall  Mall  Cigarettes 
Whitehall  Pharmacals 


Chet's  Frozen  Foods 
S&W  Fine.  Foods 


Instant  Fels  Naptha 
Hill's  Brps.  Coffee 
Girard's  Dressing 
Lydeh  Chicken  Products 


Management;.  HAROLD  JOVIEN,  Hollywood 


JIM  HOBSON 


DIRECTOR 


LAWRENCE  WEEK  TELEVISION  SHOWS 


ABC-TV 


Management:  HAROLD  JOVIEN,  Hollywood 


The 

INA  RAY 


Represented  by 
HAROLD  JOVIEN,  Hollywood 


FRAN  IRVIN 

Television's  Most  Appealing 
Commercial  Personality 

CURRENTLY 

"THE  MAX  FACTOR  GIRL" 


The  Guy  Mitchell  Show 


Mgt.:  HAROLD  JOVIEN,  Hollywood 


BOB  LEHMAN 


DIRECTOR 


'TRUTH  OR  CONSEQUENCES7 


NBC-TV 


Management;  HAROLD  JOVIEN,  ’Hollywood 


JERI 

SOUTHERN 

" Poetess  of  Modern  Song" 

TELEVISION 
GUEST  APPEARANCES 

Roulette  Records 


Mgt.:  HAROLD  JOVIEN.  Hollywood 


DICK 

WHITTINGHILL 

Consistently  the  highest  rated  radi 
TV  personality  in  L  A. 

KMPC  every:  morning 
KTTV  every  afternoon 

TV  FILMS: 

"PEOPLE'S  CHOICE" 
"DRAGNET" 

MOTION  PICTURES: 

"CALYPSO  HEAT  WAVE"  Col. 
"SHORT  CUT  TO  HELL"  Para. 
"WILL  SUCCESS  SPOIL  ROCK 
HUNTER"  20th. 

"JAMBOREE"  Warners. 

Management:  HAROLD  JOVIEN,  Hollywood 


HAROLD  JOVIEN 'S 


PREMIERE  ARTISTS  and  PRODUCTIONS  AGENCY 

SUNSET  AND  CAROL,  HOLLYWOOD  45,  CALIF.  CR.  4-5488  BILL  PUTNEY.  Associate 

PERSONALIZED  Agency  Representation  of  Outstanding  Personalities  and  Shows  for  Television.  Radio,  Personal  Appearances  and  Recordings. 


jhmtv&nmy 


FRANK  COOPER  ASSOCIATES 

FRANK  COOPER 
SY  FISCHER 

DICK  IRVING  HYLAND 
PERRY  LEFF 

JOEL  COHEN 

BERNARD  SHAMBERG 
BILL  COOPER 

M.  LEONARD  GOLDSTEIN 
JACK  GENUNG 
LEE  SIEGB. 

Agents  for  talented  people  . . . 

NEW  YORK  «  PARIS  •  CHICAGO  •  HOLLYWOOD  •  LAKE  HOPATCONG,  New  jersey 


McLendon’s  Major 
Exec  Realignment 

Dallas, 

A-/ sweeping,  topflight  executive 
realignment  of  radio  stations 
owned  by  the  McLandort  Corp.  was 
made  last  week  by  prexy  Gordon 
McLendon,  with  the  return  of  Wil¬ 
liam  S.  Morgan  as  x.p -general  man- 
ager  of  KLIF  here.  Simultaneously, 
KLIF’s  v.p.-general  manager,  Dale. 
Drake,  was  upped  to  veepee  in 
charge  of  national  sales  for  all 
“Texas  Triangle”  stations— KLIF, 
Dallas;  KFJZ,  Fort  Worth;  KILT, 
Houston;  KTSA,  San  Antonio,  and 
KEEL,  Shreveport;  La. 

Other  appointments  in  the  per¬ 
sonnel  shuffle  at  McLendon  head¬ 
quarters  here  were  the  creation  of 
a  new  post,  director  of  production, 
slotted  for  Buddy  McGregpr,  now 
program  director  at  KEEL,.  Shreve¬ 
port,  who  moves  here  to  assume  . 
his  new  duties.  Phil  Page,  veteran 
d.j.  at  KEEL,  moves  up  as  program 
director  of  the  i.0, 000-watt  McLen¬ 
don  station  in  Shreveport. 

Also,  Edd  Routt,  for  11.  years  in 
the  news  and  sales  departments  for 
McLendon  stations,  has  resigned 
to  become  general  manager  of 
KNOE,  Monroe,  La.,  airer  owned 
and  operated  by  ex-LoUisiana  gov¬ 
ernor  James  A,  Noe,  McLendon’s 
father-in-law. 

In  still  another  switch,  Gene 
1  Edwards,  program  director  -of 
WMEX,  Boston,  returns  to  the  Mc¬ 
Lendon  station  org  as  program 
;  director  of  KILT,  Houston.  Ed¬ 
wards  was  formerly  a  KLIF  d.j. 
here,  before  going  to  a  former 
:  Lendon  outlet,  WRIT,  Milwaukee, 
as  program  director. 

Return  of  Morgan  came  as  a  big 
surprise  in  southwestern  radio  cir¬ 
cles.  Once  KGKO  general  manager 
here,  later  general  manager  .of 
KLIP,  Morgan  resigned  in  May  to 
accept  a  post  with  American  Broad¬ 
casting  Network  in  New  York,  as 
v.p.  in  charge  of  programming.  : 
Following,  contractual  difficulties 
in  N.Y.,  he  returned  to  KLIP  for 
'B  month,  and  then  went  to  Lee. 
Segall’s  station  here,  KIXL,  as  gen¬ 
eral  manager. 


CORT  STEEN 


Director 


VOICE  OF  FIRESTONE 


ABC-TV 


DUNN 


THANK  YOU 
Arthur  Godfrey 
Walter  Winched 
Nick  Kenny 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second  P^UeTY  A'm'W. 


AN  OPEN  LETTER  TO  THE  GOVERNOR  FROM  THE 

McCrary  team  about  losing  "the  east-west  game”: 


Dear  Governor  Harriman: 


The  MayOr  knows  about 
this,  but  maybe  up  in  Albany 
you've  missed  it— there's  an 
East-West  Game  going  on 
that  has  nothing  to  do  with 
football;  it's  the  game  of 
where  does  the  TV  Industry 
wind  up,  in  New.  York  City  or 
Hollywood? 

Right  now,  Governor  we're 
losing  that  game.  Maybe, 
we've  already  lost. 

More  and  more  of  TV  is  liv¬ 
ing  off  of  old  movies  ex¬ 
humed  from  the  vaults  of  Hol¬ 
lywood;  more  and  more  hours 
of  live  TV  are  being  taken 
over  by  new  films  shot  in  Hol¬ 
lywood. 

The  loss  of  the  Dodgers  and 
the  Giants  was  sad  and  em¬ 
barrassing,  but  np  mortal 
wound  to  New  York 

City's  pride.  The  loss  of  the 
national  nerve  center  Of  i  - 
stantaheOus  communications 
through  TV  would  be  much 
deeper  than  a  flesh  wound;  cities  in  history-we  have  suf- 

New  York  City  has  been  fered  no  great  fire  or  flood 
blessed  above  all  other  great  or  f ami  ,  no  blitz  or  earth¬ 


quake  or  tidal  wave, 
plague  or  seige,  single 
great  disaster. 


But  Other  great  cities  in  his¬ 
tory  have  disappeared  from 
the  face  of  the  earth  without 


violence  from  either  nature 
or  human  nature. 

It  began  with  apathy  and 
ended  in  atrophy.  The  loss  of 
TV  to  our  town  would  be  a 
symptom  of  such  decay. 

The  Republicans  missed  a 
chance  to  make  this  an  issue 
in  the  Mayoralty  campaign; 
I  don't  think  they'll  miss 
again  in  the  Governor's  race. 

Why  not  beat  them  to  the 
punch  and  make  the  first 
move  yourself,  before  this 
East-West  game  is  a  goner? 

Sincerely, 

Tex  and  Jinx 


i  P.S.  We  tried  to  keep  this 
impersonal  and  unselfish, 
we'd  like  to  sound  big  and 
statesmanlike,  but  we  never 
could  kid  you.  Governor,  so 
we  better  level  with  you:  Our 
family  was  raised  in  New 
York  and  We'd  hate  to  have 
i  to  move  to  Hollywood  to  keep 
working  in  TV.  We  like  living 
here  and  so  do  a  lot  of  other 
people  we  know. 


:CJOX«TV  CSOFt 

Newfoundland  Ottawa 

CKVR-TV  CHGX-tV 

S«"i  Peterborough 

CKX-TV  CFCJ-TV 

Brandon  Port  Arthur 

CHCT-TV  CFCHt-TV 

Calgary  Quebec  City 

CFCY-TV  ,  C§€»i-T¥ 

Charlottetown,  P.EJ.  Quebec  City 

CFRN-TV  ‘CKCWTV  .... 

Edmonton  Regina  C  l  I 

CHGH-TV  C<JBft»TV  FI1 

Hamilton  Rimouski 

CXRS-TV  CK»fl-Y¥ 

Jonquiere  Rouyir 

CFCR-TV  CHSJ-W  _ 

Kamloops  Sain}  johtl  NJTI- 

CKWS-TV  C  J0N-TY  ^ 

Kingston  Newfoundly 

CXC0-TV  CFRC-TV 

Kitchener 

CJLH-TV  FKtllVl 

Lethbridge  Hiult  at^^W™ 

CFPL-TV  CHLT-|*A|>| 

London  Sherbrceffi^*^®^ 

CHAT-TV  CKSO-TV  3^6 

Medicine  Hat,  Alta."  Sudbury 

CKCW-TV  CJCB-TV 

CB«^IXVenid0  10 

CBMT  MEXICO.  DlfflRjAEXICO 

Montreal  Toronto 

CKGN-TV  CBUT 

North  Ray  ^  Vancouver 

CBOT  CHEK-TV 

Ottawa  V  Victoria 


CKtW-TV 

Windsor 

mm- 

Wlhgham 

mwr 

Winnipeg 

YSER-YV 

San  Salvador 

TG-B'OL 

Guatemala  City 

TGW-TV  _ 

Baghdad 

JOFX*TV  IN 

Hiroshima 


mv 

Melbourne 

ATM 

Sydney 

TCN. 

Sydney 

ABN 

Sydney 

€h:  E-S 

Brussels 

-ChE-lc 


Saint  Johfi  f 

cjm-rw 

Newfoundl  y 

CFUC-TV 


VcrAR-Tv” 

Nagoya 

JOBK-TV 


Pembroke 

.PRHS-TV 

Belo  Horizonte 

fni-Ty . 

Sao  Paulo 

.PRB9-TV 


NA^f^RKEf, 


CMAB-TY 

Havana 

CMBF-tV 

Havana 

CWSQ-TV 

Havana 

Ch  E-2 

Nicest 

Ch  E-4 

Copenhagen 

hit-tV 

I Kwlciudad  Trujillo 

IVnXEW-TV 

Mexico  City,  D.F. 

XHTV 

Mexico  City,  D,F.' 

RKEflS 

Monte:  Carlo 

YN-TV 


FREMANTLE  OVERSEA 

'••SEADiePflS-TELEYBSffiN,  MGE?*- 

CKSO-TV  366  Avenue,  iQ^FYork,  N.  Y.CH  fr3 


Sudbury 

CJCB-TV 


Tokyo 

JOKR-TV 


Berlin 

NWRV 


YVLV-TV 

Caracas 

YVKS-TV 


RAI 

Palermo 


Great  Britain 


Ch  ElpRONTO,  CqmWrv 

Luxembourg  Hamburg 

GTV  NWRV 

Melbourn*  Hconover 

HSV  HJRN-TV 

Melbourne  Bogota 


t  Madrid 

Ch  E-4  ABC-TV 

_  EfeeUteLtt  1.  pirminghamrManehester 

ZNfc&SSXi 

WW  England* “fn,ON 


Geneva 

HSI-TV 

Bangkok 

YVKA-TV 

Caracas 


GRANADA  TV 

Manchester 

SCOTTISH  TV 

Glasgow 


17t 


Fifty-second,  J/$KiETY  Anniversary 


January  ft,  1958 


THE  SPONSOR  SPEAKS: 


<(We  have  two  of  the  most  valuable  television  properties  available:  Red  Shelton  and  “Edge  of  Night.”  Both 
are  selling  lots  of  “PET”  Evaporated  Milk,  “PET”  Instant  Nonfat  Dry  Milk,  and  “PET-RITZ”  frozen  pies. 
Skelton’s  show  (Tuesday  nights  on  CBS)  has  continued  to  grow  more  popular  every  year  for  the  last  three  that 
we’ve  sponsored  him.  In  one  telecast  Skelton’s  show  will  reach  12,500,000  homes.  Across  the  nation  16ft 
(soon  to  be  lftO)  stations  carry  the  Skelton  Show,  the  largest  line-up  of  stations  of  any  advertiser.” 

♦(Excerpt  from  Pet  Milk  Magazine) 


The  Advertising  Federation  of 
America  is  up  in  arms  over  the 
advertising  taxes  which  have 
cropped  up  first  in  Baltimore  and 
now  have  spread .  to  St.  Louis  and 
Virginia.  AFA  President  James 
Proud  stated  that  if  the  proposal 
were  adopted  in  St.  Louis  as  it  had 
been  in  Baltimore  it  “would  open 
the  floodgates  to  other  advertising 
taxes  and  greatly  endanger  a  multi¬ 
million  dollar  industry  by  sizeably 
reducing  money  spent  on  all.  forms 
of  advertising.”  Proud  went  on  to 
say  that  the  tax  on  advertising  may 
seriously  impair  the  very  business 
force  that  contributes  so  much 
toward  cre  a  t i  n  g  the  prosperity 
upon  which  our  economic  welfare 
and  all  other  tax  revenues  are 
■dependent. 

The  head  of  the  Advertising 
Federation  condemned  the  taxes 
because  “they  are  punitive  and  dis^ 
criminating  and  are  an  infringe¬ 
ment  of  the  freedom  of  the  press.” 
He  stressed  that  the  taxes  are  a 
“hidden  tax  and  the  consumer  i 
ultimately  the  one  who  is  taxed.” 

Falstaff  Beer  lineup 
Key  to  CBS-TV’s  Snag 
On  Sun.  Game-of-Week 

CBS-TV,  beset  by  the  indigna¬ 
tion  of  the  minor  leagues  in  the 
furore  raised  over  the  web’s  plans 
to  televise  a  Sunday  baseball  game- 
of-the-week,  last  week,  adopted  a 
“Who,  me?”  stance.  . 

Web’s.  director  of  sports.  Bill 
MacPhail,  asserted  that  it  all  was 
the  work  of  Falstaff  Beer.  “Th 
Chicago  White  Socks,  Cincinnati 
Redlegs,  New  York  Yankees,  Phila¬ 
delphia  Phillies  and, Baltimore  Ori¬ 
oles  have  sold  their  Sunday  net¬ 
work  television  broadcasting  rights, 
for!  1958  to  Dancer-Fitzgerald-Sam- 
ple,  advertising  agency .  represent¬ 
ing  Falstaff  Brewing  Cp.,?r  Mac¬ 
Phail  said.  “The  advertising  agency 
selected  the  CBS '  Television  Net¬ 
work  to  carry  these  games,”  he 
added. 

MacPhail  went  on  to  point  out 
that  the  Sunday  station  lineup  will 
be  smaller  than  the  Satruday  net¬ 
work,  an  average  of  103  stations 
vs.  159  on  the  Saturday  games.. 
But  in  his  statement,  MacPhail 
didn’t  go  into  the  fact  that  Falstaff 
will  use  only  about  80  of  those 
103  stations,  and  that  it’s  CBS-TV’s 
job  to  find  advertisers  for  the.  re¬ 
maining  markets,  all  of  which 
means  that  CBS  isn’t  quite  the  in¬ 
nocent  party  it’s  painted. 

York  —  Five  advertising 
agencies  were  elected  to  member¬ 
ship  in  the  League  of  Advertising 
Agencies  at  year  end.  The  agen¬ 
cies,  all  -Of  New  York,  are  Shaller- 
Rubin,  Sherwood  Agency,  Lee 
Myles  Assoc.,  Sudler  &  Hennessey 
and  Leriard  Stein  Agency. 


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NBC-TV— Alternating  Tuesdays 

Gnite/Uosi  film  labs  inc. 

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COlumbus  5-2180 

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IN  COLOR  . 
Ysu'H  be  gfad  you  did 


Funny! 
But— 
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'A  .-*. 


TV  comedy  -s  note  (u,v ,•  i-os  ness 
What  seemed  hila.nojs  at  a  s'ev 
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January  8,1958 

Doerfer  Favors 
'Antenna  Farms’ 
As  A  Safeguard 

Washington: 

“ Antenna  farms,”  to  group  tv 
and  other  aerials  and  keep  them 
out;  Of  airplane lanes,  is  under  con¬ 
sideration  by  the  Federal  Com¬ 
munications  Commission.  1 

‘‘The  growing  height  of  antenna, 
towers,  reports  FCC  chairman. 
John  C.  Doerfer  in  his  yea.rend 
statement,  “requires  joint  consid¬ 
eration  by  Federal  agencies  con¬ 
cerned  with  the  hazards,  of  air  na¬ 
vigation  .  .  especially  sfnee  the 
advent  of  the  jet  plane. 

“The  Commission  proposes  that 
towers  over  500  feet  high  be  group¬ 
ed  on  'antenna  farms’  away  from 
the  airlanes,  It  also  seeks  legisla¬ 
tion  to  require  the  painting  and 
lighting  of  abandoned  towers. 
About  90  tv  towers  exceeding  1,000 
feet  in  height  are  operating, 
thorized  or  applied  for.” 

Doerfer  said  the  Commission 
finds  itself  swamped  under  a  load 
of  work  and.  problems  due  to  the 
“phenomenal  growth  of  telecom¬ 
munications”  and  other  factors.  He 
indicated  that  the  agency  needs 
substantially  more  staff  and  appro¬ 
priations  to  keep,  up  with  the  burr 
geoning  job. 

Principal  longterm  headache  is 
the  greatly  increased  competition 
for  the  shrinking  number  of  fre¬ 
quencies,  both  for  broadcasting  and 
in  the  non-broadcasting  fields. 

“Competition  and  interference 
consideration,”  adds  Doerfer,  “now 
require  one-third  of  all  applica¬ 
tions  for  new  tv  and  AM  stations 
to  go  to  hearing.  Hard  fought  cases 
take  at  least  a  year  to  go  through 
the  prescribed  application  and 
hearing  procedure,  not  considering 
further  delays  due  to  crowded 
dockets  and  extra  time  nieeded  to 
handle*  the  flood  of  associated 
pleadings.” 

There  are  already  about  8,500 
authorizations  in  the  broadcast 
field.  They  include  about  3,300  AM 
stations;  over  800  tv  stations  of 
which  more  than  650  are  commer¬ 
cial,  over  100  are  translates  and 
over  50  are  educational. 

Also,  more  than  700  FM  stations, 
of  which  nearly  600  are  commer¬ 
cial  and  over  150  are  educational. 
Two  stations  which  send  programs 
overseas. 

WELSH  COM!  TV 

BOW  ON  JAN.  14 

London. 

The  new  Welsh  commercial  tv 
station,  originally  skedded  to  go 
on  the  air  on  Dec.  18,  will  now 
start  beaming  on  Jan.  14..  The 
original,  date  had  to  be  postponed 
owing  to  technical  difficulties. 

The  new  outlet  will  be  run  as  a 
.  seven  -  day  -  a  -  week  operation  by 
TWW  (Television  West  Wales)  in 
which  show  biz  and  newspaper  in¬ 
terests  are  strongly  represented. 
Bryan;  Michie,  formerly  associated 
With  jack  Hylton,  is  program  con¬ 
troller. 


Fifty-sec**#  fflSSjjj&iff  dmtieersmy 


J«u*ryS>tt5S 


TELEVISION’S 
No.  1 
SCIENCE 
PROGRAM 


MkWizard 


Now  in 


7th  CONSECUTIVE  Year 
on  the  NBC-TV  network 


\ 


NORMAN  FELTON 


Producer  -  Director 


AL  LEWIS 


PRODUCING 


CBS 


174 


Fifty-second  Anniversary 


NATALIE  CORE 

Hostess  for  A&P 

"BOOTS  &  SADDLES” 

WRCA-TV  •  WOR-TV 

BEAUTY  EDITOR  FOR  DOVE 
"PRICE  IS  RIGHT” 

NBC-TV 

Fashion  and  Beauty  Editor  "Home" 
NBC-TV  —  21/2  Yean 


Mouska  Congratulations 

Why? 

"Because  I  Like  You" 

JIMMIE  DODD 


INDUSTRIAL  FILMS 


TELEVIS  I  ON  COM  M  E  R.C  I  ALS 


245  W,  55  ST„  N.Y.C,  /  JUDSON  6-1922 


Mel  Blanc 

."THE  JACK  BENNY  SHOW,"  TV  and  Radi 
WARNER  BROS.  CARTOONS  ANIMATED  TV  COMMERCIALS 

CAPITOL  RECORDS 


CHRIS  SCHENKEL 

Sportscasfer 


ALgonquin  4-7981 


January  8, 1958 


NBC  Radio  has  launched  a  new 
"Activator  Plan' -  designed  to  en¬ 
courage  smaller  advertisers  to  use 
radio  in  order  to  build  additional 
exposure  for  their  product  by  local- 
dealer  tieins.  Web  has  already 
signed  six  such  plans  to  clients 
spending  about  $150,000  each,  and 
apart  from  the- $900, 000  in  billing 
it  has  pulled  in,  the  deals  have  re¬ 
sulted  in  the  activation  of  even 
more  billing  bn  a  local  basis  for 
its  affiliates. 

Under  the  plan,  NBC  and  the 
national  advertiser  get  together  for 
a  closed-circuit  session  beamed  to; 
the  NBC  affiliates,  to  which  the  ad¬ 
vertiser’s  local  dealers  or  distrib¬ 
utors  are  invited  in  188  cities.  After 
the  advertiser  and  the  network 
make  their  presentation  to  whip  up 
dealer  excitement,  the  local  sta¬ 
tion  sales  manager  takes  over  and 
pitches  local  advertising  by  the 
dealer. 

The  national  advertiser’s  partici¬ 
pations,  are  slotted  in  "Monitor” 
and  other  programs  in  such  a  way 
so  they  occur  just  before  the  sta¬ 
tion  break,  so  that  the  local  dealer 
is  encouraged  to  buy  the  imme¬ 
diately-following  adjacency  to  tell 
where  the  product  is  sold  locally. 
Joe  Culligan,  v.p.  in  charge  of 
NBC  Radio,  who  borrowed  the  plan 
from  television,  where  he  incepted 
it  some  years  ago  on  the  ‘‘Today” 
show,  said  last  week  that  in  som 
markets,  every  national  advertising 
dollar  has  been  matched  by  10 
local  ad  dollars  from  dealers;  and 
that  at  least  100  of  NEC’s  stations 
are  SRO  in  the  "Activator”  adja¬ 
cencies. 

Six  bankrollers  already  in  on  the 
plan  are  Karagheusian  Carpet  Co., 
Edison  Electric  Institute,  Ruberoid 
Roofing,  Waverly  Fabrics,  Evinrude 
Outboard  Motors,  arid  Sterling  Sil¬ 
versmith’s  Guild.  Culligan  said  he 
expects  to  sell  some  20  additional 
Activator  deals,  in  the.  next  six 
months  at  an  average  outlay  of 
$150,000  each.. 


Biow  Checks  in  With 
Saigon  Summations 
On  Propaganda  Front 

Adman  Milton  Biow,  who  was 
the  public  member  of  a.  four-man 
!  .team,  that  was  sent  by  the  Govern- 
;  merit  to  .Saigon  to  review’ the  U.  S., 
|  Information  Agency’s  functions, 

’  has  submitted  his  report,  to  Wash¬ 
ington.  Two  members  from  the 
U:  S.  Information  Service,  a  State 
Dept:  official  and  himself,  repre¬ 
senting  the  public,  spent  two 
weeks  in  Vietnarii  bn-  the  Far  East 
o.o. 

A  veteran  with  merchandising 
.ideas,  one  of  Blow’s  thoughts  is 
that  mere  catchphfases,  written  or 
broadcast  propaganda,  are  riot  the 
answer  to  international  diplomatic 
relations.  It  is  different  When  a 
slogan  like  “give  fne  liberty  or  give 
me  death”  (Patrick  Henry)  or 
“nothirig  to  fear  but  fear  itself” 
(FDR)  is  born  out  of  realities  that 
other  values  assert  themselves. 
These  reflect  the  fight  for  a  life, 
in  a  certain  light,  and  are  not  just 
pat  catchphfases.  It  is  along  these 
lines  that  Biow  has  some  things  to 
say,  but  Will  not  be  disclosed  until 
his  report  is  screened. 


NBC-TV’S  DAYTIME 
BILLINGS  SWELLED 

NBC-TV.  last  week  whipped  up 
some  additional  daytime  business, 
by  signing  two  .  new  sponsorship 
deals  and  reaching  verbal  agree¬ 
ment  on  a  third.  Verbal  deal  is 
With  the  Drackett  Co.,  whose  day¬ 
time  schedule  expired  earlier,  this 
month  and  which  has  now.  decided 
to  work  out  a  new  daytime  deal 
with  the  web. 

S.  C.  Johnson  &  Son  signed  a 
saturation  deal  running  from  mid- 
January  to  the  end  of  February, 
under  which  it  Will  sponsor.  16 
quarter-hour  segments,  on  a  four- 
a-day  basis  (to  secure  contiguity 
discounts)  on  four  separate  dates. 
Sandura  Co.  renewed  “Queen  For  a 
Day”  for  seven  alternate-week 
quarter-hours  and  also  bought 
seven  new  alternate-week  quarter- 
hours  in  “The  Price  Is  Right,”  both 
starting  Feb.  24. 


mark  vn 


DRAGNET 


PETE  KELLY'S  BLUES 


170 


Fifty-second  p^RtETY  Amdveriary 


January  8, 1958 


Here’s  something  you  ought  to  know! 


Let’s  start  plain,  aiid  simple.  Do  you  know  where  you 
can  lay  your  hands  on  ONE  THOUSAND  RADIO 
STATIONS  . . .  all  banded  together  to  cover  a  specific 
type  of  market?  You  don’t?  Well  that's  one  thing 
you  ought  to  know  and  we’re  telling  you  now  that 
KEYSTONE  is  that  network  that  covers  (and  I  mean 
like  an  old-fashioned  country  comforter)  Hometown 
and  Rural  America  like  no  other  medium  in  all  the 
world.  Another  fact  you  ought  to  know:  Ninety 
MILLION  up-to-date  Americans  live  and  live  full,  rich 
lives  in  Hometown  and  Rural  America.;  Soap,  Cigarettes, 
Beer  and  Buttons  . . .  they  roll  into  our  market  by  the 
freight  carload,  every  hour  on  the  hour. 

And  KEYSTONE  affiliated  radio  Stations  serving 


this  giant  market  are  locally  programmed  to  better 
serve  the  local  community ...  .  and  the  local  community 
loves  their  Hometown  STATION.  That’s  why  they 
believe  in  and  respond  to  our  advertisers’  commercial 
mestoges. 

Another  fact  you  ought  to  know:  If  you  are  in  the 
mood  to  test  a  new  promotion.  We’ll  tailor  a  network  in 
the  area  you;  choose— 100— '200— 300  or  more  stations 
right  where  you  want  ’em. 

We’d  like  to  toll  you  about  KEYSTONE’S  packaged, 
network  broadcasting  and  very  special  PLUS  MER¬ 
CHANDISING.  You  can  take  it  or  leave  it  but  your 
decision  can  be  an  intelligent  one  only  if  you  know  the 
facts.  Call  us  or  write  us! 


Send  for. our  new  station  list 


CHICAGO  NEW  YORK  LOS  ANGELES 

111  W: Washington  527  Madison  Ave.  3142  Wilshire  Blvd. 

Slate  2-8900  ELdoradd  5-3720.  DUnkirk  3-2910 

•  TAKE  YOUR  CHOICE.  A  handful  of  stations  or  the  network  . . . 
up  to  you;  your  needs. 


SAN  FRANCISCO 

57  Post  St. 

SUtter  1-7440 
inute  or  a  full  hour— it's 


•  MORE  FOR  YOUR  DOLLAR.  No  premium  cost  for  indivi 
coverage  for  less.than  some  "spot”  costs. 

•  ONE  ORDER  DOES  THE  JOB.  All  bookkeeping  and  details  are  done  by  keystone, 
time  and  place  are  chosen  for  you. 


STANLEY  POSS 

ASSOCIATE  PRODUCER 


Jerome  Show 

director 


THE  BIG  RECORD 


CBS-TV 


"The  Big  Record* 


starting  In  September 


CBS-TV 


After  haying,  jettisoned  the  Niel¬ 
sen  radio  ratings  several  weeks 
ago  in  favor  of  a  new  Pulse  rer 
port,  American  Broadcasting.  Net¬ 
work  is  on  the  verge  of  returning, 
to  Nielsen,  although  they,  may  also 
keep  the  Pulse  tallies;  Reconsider¬ 
ation  of  Nielsen,  which  is  consid¬ 
erably  more  expensive  than  Pulse, . 
by  the  radio  web  is  due  basically 
to  three  things,  first  and  foremost 
I  reported  being  sponsor  pressure  to 
take  the  former. 

The  network  says  that  it  is  giv¬ 
ing  consideration  to  a  return  to 
Nielsen  for  two  . o t h  er.'  reasons: 
Nielsen  has  been  experimenting 
with  out-of-home  measurement  in 
radio  and  its  previous  failure  to 
offer  ample  ^ out-of-home  coverage 
was  a  reason  why  the  two  broke 
in  the  first  place*  also  its  live,  pro¬ 
gramming  is  getting  better  station 
clearances  now  than  three  months 
ago.  (Programs  in  both  radio  and 
television  'with  short  station  line¬ 
ups  automatically  suffer  on  the 
Nieisen  returns.) 

Tex  &  Jinx,  Miller 
Getting  NBC-TV  Axe 
Jan.  31  as  o&o  Shows 

NBC’s  o&o  division  has  decided 
to  bring  down  the  axe  on  both  th^ 
Howard  Miller  show  aind  the  “Tex 
&  Jinx”  day  timers  on  Jan.  3it 
though  each  show  will  remain  on  . 
the  air  in  its  city  of  origin,  Milled 
remaining  a  WNBQ  feature  i4 
Chicago  and  Tex  &  Jinx  continu¬ 
ing  oh  WRCA-TV,  N,  Y. 

Decision  means  that  all  other., 
o&o’s  and  a  sizable  portion  of  the 
NBC-TV  affiliates  ' will  haive  to  re¬ 
program  their  1  to  2:30  p.m.  day¬ 
time  strips  starting  the  first  of 
February.  Both;  shows,  the  Tex  & 
Jinx  half-hour  and  the  Howard 
Miller  hour,  were  carried  by  all 
NBC  o&o’s  on  a  share-the-cost  ba-» 
sis  and  were  also  carried  by  some; 
70-odd  affiliates  on  a  co-op  basis.' 

Reason  for  the  axing  is  .  that' 
neither  program  worked  out 'as  a 
major  audience  or  revenue  attract 
tion;  though  it  was  theorized  by 
the  .  o&o  division  that  by  pooling 
their  resources  they  could  come  up 
with  bigtime  showcases  that,  would 
do  better  than  individual  station 
programmings  Operation  proved; 
too  costly  for  the  return  involved, 
and  the  network  decided  to  axe 
the  entire  thing. 

Peg  Lynch-AIan  Bunce 
Go  2-a-Day  on  CBS  Radio 

Unusual  promotional  pattern  is 
being  employed  by  CBS  Radio  to 
kick  off  its  new  Peg  LynCh-Alaii 
Bunce  (Ethel  &  Albert)  daytime 
soaper,  “The  Couple  Next  Door.” 
Web  is  launching  the  series  on  a 
two-a-day  basis,  so  that  it  wiil  run 
in  its  regular  2:30  to  2:45  p.m. 
strip  period  but  will  be  repeated 
for  the  first  five  weeks  at  7^30  to 
7:45  p.m.  as  well. 

Nighttime  campaign  is  designed 
to  add  an  extra  promotional  flair 
to  the  kickoff  of  the  new  series, 
and  will  run  through  Jan:  31,  when 
“Amos  ’n’  Andy  Music  Hall”  takes 
over  the  time  again.  Additional 
twist  to  the  promotion  is  the  em¬ 
phasis  on  the  .fact  that  unlike  most 
soapers,  “Couple”  will  be  a  comedy 
series.  Miss  Lynch  will  script  and 
coproduce .  with  W alter  Hart.  . 

Show  replaces  “Strike  It  Rich,* 
which  Colgate  axed  when  it 
dropped  the  tv  version  of  i4Rich.” 
Colgate  is  staying  in  “Couple,”  but 
on  .  a  jnuch  more  limited  basis, 
while  Pfizer  Drugs,  Mentholatum 
and  Carter  Pr  oducts  have  also 
bought  in  on  the  new  show  in  7#- 
minute  units.  Program  kicked  off 
this  Monday  (30). 


Masland’s  CBS-AM  Buy 

H.  C.  Masland  &  Sons  has  pur¬ 
chased  a  four-week,  $166,000  gross 
saturation  campaign  on  CBS  radio 
which  will  culminate  in  a  two-hour 
one-shot  on  May  4.  Buy  is  reported 
as  the  biggest  use  of  network  radio 
by  the  home  furnishings  industry. 

Rug  manufacturer  will  use  a 
total  of  81  five-minute  “impact” 
segments  over  the.  four-week  span 
in  nighttime  programs,  most  of 
which  will  plug  the  120-minute 
Sunday  show.  The  two-hour  special 
will  employ  top  names,  but  hasn’t 
yet  been  formatted  or  cast. 


178 


INTERNATIONAL 


Fifty-second  I/&RiETY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


Old  Rivistas  (Italian  Revues)  Never 
Die — They  Just  Keep  Rollin’  Along 


Rome,  j 

If  the  curtain  came  down  on  an 
Italian  musical  show  much  before 
1  a.m.  the  audience  would  feel 
cheated.  An  Italian  rivista  (the 
word  means  revue  but  covers  mu¬ 
sical  comedy  as  well)  should  begin 
at  about  9:15  p.m.,  continue  until 
iiearly  midnight  without  an  inter¬ 
mission,  and  then  resume  for  an 
hour  after  a  20-minute  intermis¬ 
sion.  That’s  the  tradition,  just  as 
everything  else  is  a  tradition,  and 
woe  unto  the  one  who  tries  to 
alter  it. 

The  greatest  alteration  in  years 
in  the  rivista  field  has  come  with 
the  introduction  of  booh  shows 
largely  through  the  work  of  a  team 
of  two  authors— Pietro  Garinei  and 
Sandro  Giovannini  —  who  have 
turned  out  “Jupiter  In  a  Double-; 
Breasted  Suit,”  a  version  of  “Am-j 
phitryon,”  “Buona,  Notte,  Bettina," 
a  takeoff  on  “Bon jour  Tristesse,” 
and  “The  Owner  of  Moonbeam,” 
a  story  especially  written  for  Rob¬ 
ert  Alda*  among  others!  The  Gar- 
inei-Giovannini  shows  have  won  ! 
acceptance  because  they  have  other¬ 
wise  met  the  fixed  formulas  buti 
in  the  case  of  the  Alda  show, 
they  had  to  offer  a  lot  of.  apol¬ 
ogies. 

Two  years  earlier  the  authors 
had  been  in  the  United  States  and 
they  had  seen  Alda  in  “Guys  and 
Dolls”  at  which  time  they  said  to 
each  other  that  if  they  only  had 
a  star*  of  this  calibre  they  could 
really  put  over  a  book  show.  When 
Alda,  appeared,  in  Italy  to  film 
“The  Most  Beautiful  Woman  In 
The  World”  with  Gina  Lollobrigida, 
they  approached  him.  on  the  Sub¬ 
ject  and  he  agreed  to  brush  up 
on  his  Italian  and  to  make  a  stab 
at  the  show.  All  was  well  except 
that  the  tradition  of  the  Italian 
public  is  not  to  accept  a  new  star 
in  rivista.  To  meet  this  require¬ 
ment  they  wrote  in  a  part  for  an 
older  woman  and  cast  an  estab¬ 
lished  Italian  actress  in  it.  While 
her  part  was  not  as  important  as 
Alda’s  it  Was  important  because  it 
lured  the  public.  Once  they  saw 
Alda  they  liked  him  but  they  would 
not  have  come  because  it  is  not  the 
tradition  to  come  to  a  rivista.  which 
does  not  have  an  established:  local 
name  in  it. 


M 


.Need  Italian  Stars 


By  SAM’L  STEINMAN 

('The  Roman  Rambler) 

the  last  name— writes  all  of  the 
music  for  their;  shows  but  his  name 
is  always  used  in  a  secondary 
sense.  One  of  the  reasons  may  be 
that  the  good  songs  are  presented 
at  Italy’s  song  festivals  at  San 
Remo,  Naples,  Velletri,  and  Como 
and  not  in  the  shows.  There’s  more 
money  in  songs  which  Win  the  top 
prizes  at  Festivals! ..  An  exception 
was  Rescel’s  “Arrivadercl  Rome” 
which  was  introduced  in  a  rivista 
as  an  extra  because  no  one  seemed 
to  think  much  of  it.  Just  to  show 
how  wrong  the  experts  can  be,  it 
has  turned  out:  to  be  the  No.  1 
Italian  song  of  the  modern  era.  and 
some  day  may  stand  in  the  same ; 
class  with  such  standards  as  “O, 
Sole  Mio”  and  “Santa  Lucia,”  if 
it  is  not  there  already.; 

Once  the  book  is  available  with 
the  added  music  arid  an  estab¬ 
lished  star,  the  show  is  ready  to 
go.  It  immediately  becomes  the 
“Dapporto  .  rivista”  or  the  “Ma- 
rario  rivista”  and  nothing  else 
despite  such  names  “We  Are 
All  Doctors',”  a  spoof  at  Overuse  of 
titles  in  Italy,  or  the  current  “Bill! 
&  Pupe,”  a  Duri  for  those  who  know. 
Italian.  (“Guys  and  Dolls”  was 
translated  into  “Bulle  arid!  Pupe” 
and  the  rivista  starring  Edoardo 
Billi  is  usirig  the  pun 'title.)  If  the 
star  is  a  lady  she  roust  have  two 
or  three  leading  men— ^Osiris  al¬ 
ways  uses  at  least’  three.  The 
dancers  are  almost  always  Amerir 
Can  Negroes  and  they  almost  al¬ 
ways  stop  the  shows.  Negro  en¬ 
tertainers  are  very  popular  in 
Italy. 

Choreography  the  work  of 
Americans  in  most  cases  arid  shows 
of  the .  current  season  include  the 
work  of  HermOs  Pari  arid  Donald 
Saddler,  The  dancers  come  from 
two  groups  most  of.  the  time— 


The  Bluebells,  who:  are  supplied 
by  an  Irish  lady  now  known  as. 
“Miss  Bluebell,”  and  the  girls  are 
all  English;  arid  the  “Charlie  Bal¬ 
let,”  which  is  supplied  by  a  Swiss 
gentleman  arid  his  charges  are 
everything: .  but  Italian — German, 
Swiss,  English,  Scandinavian.  It’s 
strange  that  the  couritry  which  pro¬ 
duced  ballet  turns  out  so  few  cap¬ 
able  dancers  these  days.  Tryouts 
usually  consist  of  a  week  in  a 
small  city  arid  then  the  big  opening 
is  either  ip  Milan  or  in  Rpme. 
Milan  is  good  for  a  run  of  i.0-12 
weeks  arid  Rome  for  4-8  weeks,  de¬ 
pending  on  the  show.  Although  the 
former  city  has  500,000  people  less, 
it  is  the  gay  business  capital  of 
the  nation  which  gives  great  sup¬ 
port  tp  show  business.  Then  Turin, 
Genoa  and.  Naples  can  be  counted 
ori  for  about  two  weeks  each. 
Other  week  starids  can  be  picked 
up.  in  Palermo,  Florence,  Venice, 
Bologna,  and  San  Remo.  Beyond 
this  point .  the  shows  have  ;  to  fill 
in  with  one-to  three-night  stands. 
The .  orie-nighters  .  are  murder  on 
the  company  but  often  among  the 
most  profitable  to  the  production. 

.  Incidentally,  old  Glass  A  rivista 
riever  die.  After  a  season  they  arp 
sold  to  a  Class  B  company  which 
recasts  it  with  lesser  names  and 
plays  lesser  towns.  In  five  years 
the  big  hit  of  the  season  may  be 
playing  movie  houses  in  mountain 
towns  with  unknowns  for  peanuts 
but;  that’s  the  way  it  works  out — 
everybody  gets  to  see  a  good  rivista 
sooner  or  later.  And  as  long  as 
it’s!  done  according  to  tradition, 
it  becomes  part  of  the  Italian 
rivista  .  legend.  .  There  are  those 
Who  say  that  the  rivista  of  ancient 
Roman  days;  are  played  by  ghosts 
iri  the  ruins:  Who  are  we  to  doubt 
it? 


Berlin  ’57  Aide-Memoir 


West  Berlin’s  show  biz  of  1957  in  capsuiated  superlatives: 


Best  film-foreign  .......  . ... 

Most  impressive  stage  presentation 

Best  acting — male  . .  .. .  . . .  .  . ...... 

Best  acting— female  . . . . .. .... . . . 

Best  jam  presentation  , . ... . . ...... 

Best  cabaret  ensemble 
Most  glamorous  event 
Best  circus 

Best  ballef  . . .. . 

Best  radio  station 

Best  TV  programs  - - 

Most  perfect  gentleman 
Most  publicized  personality 
Most  lovable  Screen  personality 
Most  vivacious  playwright : 

Most  elegant  playwright 
Year's  cutest  guest  ..... . 

Most  interesting  guest 


“Twelve  Arigry  Men”  (UA). 
Viennese  Burgtheater  with 
“Maria  Stuart” 

Ernst  Deutsch  in 
“Merchant  of  Venice” 

Kaethe  Dorsch  in  “Maria  Stuart” 
Modem  Jazz  Quartet 
Stachelschweine  (Porcupines) 
“Holiday  On  Ice”  " 

Circus  Sarrasani  (Mannheim) 
Ballet-Theatre^ .  de  Paris 
de  Maurice.  Be  j  art 
AFN-Berliri 
Soccer; 

. Henry  Fonda, 


Cecil  B.  DeMille 
Switzerland's  Liselotte  Pulver 
Thornton  Wilder 
Terrence  Rattigan 
Denmark’s  moppet  star.  Eva  Cohn 
Marlon  Brando 


BERLIN  ON  HALF-SHELL 


By  HANS  HOEHN 


FILM: 


Berlin. 

With  about  260 
cinemas  a  n  d 
nearly  500  film 
openings  per  annum  suggests  that 
screen  fare  still  provides  the  Ber¬ 
liners  No,  1  entertainment.  Most 
of  world’s  best  pix  are  shown  here. 
To  the  continuing  dismay  of  the 
more  fastidious  customer,  nearly 
all  foreign  features  are  only  shown 
in  synchronized  German  version. 
“Dubbing”  repeated^  sabotages 
artistic  values. 

American  films  remain  domi¬ 
nant.  Germany’s  own  industry’s 
share  of  the  W-Berlin  market  has 
beeri  between  40-50%,.  helped  by 
the  fact  that  nabe  houses  favor 
domestic  product.  American  films 
are  next  in  popularity  with  25% 


Paris’  Grand  Guignol — -Traditional 
Citadel  of  Shockerarna 


This  is  no  laughing  matter.  Some 
of  the  top  French  stars  have  tried 
their  way  in  Italian  rivista  but; 
they  have  not  been  able,  to  make 
the  grade  without  an  Italian  star, 
one  who  has  worked  his- way  up 
through  the  rivista  ranks.  At  the 
moment  the  grand  old  lady  of 
rivista,  and  she  Would  resent  one 
of  the  adjectives,  is  Wanda  Osiris, 
who  still  draws  although  her  big 
claim  to  fame  today  is  the  fact 
that  she  always  appears  on  stair¬ 
cases  of  grandiose,  proportions  and 
in  gowns  with  trains  a  mile  or 
so  in  length.  One.  of  her  claims  to 
fame  is  the  fact,  that  most  of  the 
big  male  stars  of  rivista  started  as 
her  leading  men. 

Carlo  Dapporto  is  a  great  favor¬ 
ite  and  he  can  be  described  as 
an  Italian  Bob  Hope.  He  tells  his 
story  just  that  way.  Walter  Chiari 
has  been  the  great  juvenile  come¬ 
dian  but  he  has  been  lost  to 
American  films  and  Ava  Gardner. 
Renata  RaScel  won  fame  with  his 
song,  “Arriyaderci  Roma,”  and  it 
may  be!  the  American  films  that 
Will  take  away  this  funny  little 
man.  More  secure  in  Italy  is  Toto, 
who  is  in  real  life  Neapolitan 
Prince  DeCurtis,  who  is  the  great¬ 
est  drawing  comedian  in  Italy  but 
little  known  elsewhere  except  for 
the  Latin  lands  where  his  films 
are  shown.  The  popular  comedy 
team  Of  Billi  &  Riva  has  broken 
up  this  year  and  each  is  going  his 
own  way.  Erminio  Macario  is  the 
typical  Ainericari  burlesque  come¬ 
dian  with  baggy  pants.  Delia  Seala 
comes  closest  to  being  a  Gwen 
Verdon  type  of  soubret  while  San¬ 
dra  Mondriani  hearkens .  back  to 
the  Barbara  “Spoony”  Blair  school. 
These  names  then  are  the  bulwark 
arid  backbone  of  Italian  musical 
comedy  and  rivista. 

In  mentioning  the  two  Writers, 
we  referred  to  the  men  who  do  the 
book  of  the  show  because  that’s 
the  way  it  Is  in  Italy.  Gorrii  Kra- 
nier-i-he’s  an  Italian,  in  spite  of 


Paris. 

The  Grand  Guignol  Theatre  now 
enters  its  63d  year  and  it  has  made 
enough  blood  flow  (on  stage)  to 
give  copious  transfusions  to  a  King. 
Kong.  Things  might  have  changed 
somewhat,  from  the  early  days  of 
glory  and  gory,  and  now  striptease 
has  invaded  the  confines  of  this 
Paris  house  heretofore  dealing  in 
other  bodily  horrors,  and  the 
psychological  has  often  replaced 
the  gruesome,  but  it  is  here  to 
stay  and  part  of  the  theatrical .  and 
touristic  lore  here. 

The  new  bwrier,  Rayriionde 
Machard,  declares  that  though  the. 
trick,  horror  aspects  of  the  films 
plus  the  two  wars,  had  made 
Guienol  terror  tame,  even  the 
hardened  new  .  audiences  blanch. 
In  fact,  she  maintains,  there  are 
st*ll  susceptible  clients  who  faint, 
even  at  the  less  bloody  and  more 
suggestive  presentations  today. 


t  Atomic  Age  Gruesomeness. 


Present  show  utilizes  the  old 
Guignol  precepts  of  visceral  shock, 
via  gore;  interpsersed  with  comedy 
that  still  stays  around  the  bitter 
and  potentially  blcipdy.  A  striptease 
farce  has  tWo  women  showing  their 
respective  doubting  husbands  that 
they  s^e  still  attractive.  A  racetrack 
play  has  a  motor  racer's  car  tatn- 
pered  with.  and.  he,  on  stave,, 
ripped  arid  bloodstained,  vieWs  the 
denouncement  played  out  between 
hi«v  wife  and  the  murderer. 

Though  suspense  and  psycholoei- 
cal  suggestion  has  replaced  the 
days  when  eyes  were  poked  out 
by  knitting  needles,  heads  were 
pushed  into  stoves  etc..  Miss 
Machard  still  has  some  awesome 
gimmicks  to.  unveil.  She  wants  to 
create  a  series  Of  plays  which  will 
have  deaths  and  murders  iri  “new 
wavs.”  No  more  bullets,  knives: 
arid  poison  for  her,  the  Grand 
Guignol  will  go  modern,  along  with 
the  t'mes,  but  still  bear  its  appeal 
of  shock  and  morbidity  for  those 
who  still  make  this  house  a  mecca. 

After  the  new  wrinkle  of  a  man 
being  killed  in  an  auto  race,  she 
has  a  gas  chamber  execution  fob- 
lowed  by  atomic  deaths.  This  is 
a  far  cry  from  the  early  days.  The 


By  GENE  MOSKO^ITZ 

present  site  of  the  theatre  was  a 
chapel  arid  it  still  has  hangovers 
from  those  days  in  its  wooded 
aspects,  angels  and  pew-like  seats. 
It  was  taken  over  in  1895  by  Oscar 
Metenier,  an  cx-civil  service  work¬ 
er  in  the  police  department. 

Instead  of  whispered  prayers  the 
neighbors  soon  heard  screams  of 
horror,  from  both  stage  and  specta¬ 
tors,  as  the  theatrical  bloodbath 
begins!  After”  Metenier,  whose 
ruegedness  was  mainly  in  the  natu¬ 
ralistic  horrors  Of .  life.  Such  as 
alcoholism, '  wifebeating,  uncouth- 
riess  etc.,  Max  Maurey  took  it  over! 
and  give  the  Guicnol  its  true  sheen 
and  budding  public  favor. 

Marirey  was  more  of  an  aesthete 
and  decided  to  fulfill  the  public 
penchant  for  vicarious  thrill  by 
allowing  them  to  Witness  all  kinds 
of  physical  torture,  dismemberings, 
and  the  like.  In  short,  things,  they 
had.  riot  been  fed  si  rice  sitting  be¬ 
fore.  the  guillotine  during  the  rev¬ 
olution. 

It  soon  caught  ori  and  the  French 
populace  —  Parisians  as  well  as 
provincials  —  and  also  the  for¬ 
eigners  soon  made  this  a  must. 
Crowned  heads  also  came  to  see 
the  ketchupy  carryings-on.  Rapes, 
gougings  and  operations  filled  the 
stage,  and  it  became  a  must  for 
all  •  tourists.  Grand'  Guignol  also 
became  a  word  and  mariner  of 
indicating  a  certain  type  of  theatre. 


such  as  using  a  sadistic  gangster 
in  “No  Orchids  for  Miss  Blandish,” 
a  revival  of  “Dr.  Jekyll.  and  Mr. 
Hyde,”  and  Mary  Roberts  Rine¬ 
hart’s  creaking  door  melo,  “The 
Bat.”  However  this  could  not  com¬ 
pete  with  the  filmic  jolts  of  such 
pix  as  “Les  Diaboliques,”  and  Miss 
Machard.  bought  back  the  old 
routine  but  with  more  up-to-date 
horror  gambits. 

She  is  saturated  with  the  love 
of  Guignolism,  and  says  that  Some 
authors  mysteriously  died  after 
their  plays  were  performed;  the 
man  who  was  technical  adviser  on. 
the  autpracing  entry  was  killed  in 
the  terrible  Le.  Mans,  disaster  just 
after  it  opened. 


j:  A  ‘Frankenstein'  For  Sure  j 


But  then  came  “Frankenstein”, 
and  other,  horror  films,  and  the 
Grand  Guignol  was  hard  put  to 
compete  with  them  except  that 
their  blood  was  red,  even  after 
color,  and  came  from  live  actors 
seen  and  heard  by  the  public.  But 
soon  public  shudders  turned  into 
guffaws,  and  the  Guignol  became 
a  place  for  a  laugh  and  a  mock 
thrill.  . 

However  the  blase  audiences  still 
get  caught  up  at  times,  and  a 
couple  of  years  ago  a  revival  of 
some  early  Guignol  masterpieces 
led  to  some  faintings:  These  in¬ 
volved  chunks  being  ripped  out  of 
people, .  bleeding  eye  sockets,  etc. 

But  progress  knocked  and  there 
were  attempts  at  psycho  horror 


Backstage  Inside  Stuff 


Backstage,  one  is  initiated  to  the 
mixing  of  different  type  blood  for 
old  and  new  wounds,  the  gun¬ 
powder,  stuffed  wolves,  trick  knives 
which  squirt  blood  from  the  handle, 
etc.  A  gimmicked  Guignol  still 
rates  as  a  tourism  must-see  along 
with  the  Eiffel  Tower,  Maxim’s  etc. 

The  most  gruesome  backstage 
prop  was  the  apparatus  for  per¬ 
forming  operations  on  stage.  MisS 
Machard  is  not  sad  about  the  past, 
and  feels:  that  latent  sadism  and 
morbidity  still  bring  in  customers 
es  well  as  the  curious.  It  is  just  a 
matter  of  finding  what  will  still  get 
a  tremor  out  of  people  she  says. 

Like  any  carny,  it  is  evident  that 
there,  are  certain  things  that  Will, 
never  change  in  the  permanently 
changing  thing  ,  that  is  show  biz. 
The  Grand  Guignol  is  one  of  them. 
Big  crowds  attest  to  this  as  the 
over  200  seats  are  usually  filled 
every  night  on  the  Rue  Chriptal 
right  near  the  more  earthy  hurly- 
burly  of  Pigalle  and  its  flesheries, 
filthy  postcards  and  streetwalkers. 

So  people  still  trek,  the  blood 
runs,  and  Miss  Machard  still  has 
some  new  tricks  to  jolt  those  look¬ 
ing  for  it  Winds  Miss  Machard, 
“We  take  people  on  an  emotional 
roller  coaster  not  a  physical  one, 
like  in  Cinerama,  and  they  are  still 
the  most  taking  and  penetrating.” 
So  Grand  Guignol  looks  sturdy  in 
its  63d  year. 


on  the  average,  followed  by  Aus¬ 
trian  (about  8%),  .French  (6%), 
British  (3%)  and  Italian  (2%)  fea-r 
tures. 

The  case  of  the  MaSaik  labs, 
whose  crisis  began  in  November 
1956,  is  still  not  settled  .at  year’s 
end.  Many  of  the  once-so-ciitical 
observers  have  obviously  lost  in¬ 
terest  because  of  many  postpone¬ 
ments  and  delays  of  creditors* 
meetings.  Labs  keep  running  at 
full  speed  arid  one  .nearly  feels 
that  Ernst  Wolff,  the  Mosalk  boSs, 
“will  survive — someway  or  the 
other.” 

Artur  Brauner’s  CCC  is  city’s 
most,  active  and  film  producing 
outfit!  Yet  neither  it.  nor  any  of 
the  other  local  companies  has  pro¬ 
duced  an  international  hit:  Most 
of  the  ideal  output  is  of  mediocre 
quality. 


RADIO: 


Radio  is  alive  in 
this  city,:  still  an 
_  island  airiidst  So¬ 
viet-controlled  East .  Germany,  In 
addition  to.  the  local  SFB  (Station 
Free  Berlin)  and  U.S.-sponsored 
RI AS  there  are  still,  the  American 
(AFN).  and  British  (BFN)  Forces 
Networks!  There,  is  much  to  listen 
to,  Moreover,  explained  by  W!-Ber-r 
lin’s  complicated  and  handicapped 
geographical.  and  political  situa-. 
tion, .  radio  plays  here  the  role  of 
the  most.!  important  information 
source.  Include  iri  that  East  Ger¬ 
man  captive  listeners.  The  fact 
that  W-Berliri  has  no  “hinterland” 
keeps  Berliners  at  home  a  lot.  This 
further  stresses  the  /importance  of 
radio  as  an  entertairiment  medium. 


VIDEO: 


Teutonic  television 
has  m  uc  h  im- 

_  proved  during  the 

past  ,  year:  How  this  new  medium 
has  effected  movie-going  is  still 
not  clear.  Berliners  are  not  able 
(a  matter  of  coin)  to  keep  pace 
with  the  remainder  of  Western 
Germany.  Whole  country  has 
1,048,241  registered;  television  set 
owners  as  of  Nov.  i,  1957.  W-Ber- 
lin’s  share  was  49,296. 


j  MUSIC!  I 


Berlin  is  a  very 
receptive  market 

_  for  Am e r i can 

songs,  im  early  all  big  U.S.  hits  click 
here!  Most  of  the  tunes  on  the 
local  hit  parades  are  of  American 
origin.  And  if  it’s  a,  German,  song, 
a  checkup  often  reveals  that  it’s 
originally  an  American  tune.  The 
four  foremost  local  diskeries  con- 
cede  best  results  with  stateside 
melodies.  Big  Yank  names  .  here 
last  year:  Elyis  Presley,  Harry  Bel- 
afonte,  Pat  Boone  and  Bill  Haley. 


VAUDEVILLE: 


Echoing  the 
old  story: 

_ Vaudeville  is 

here  more  dead  than  alive.  None 
of  the  once  noted,  houses  such,  as 
Seala  or  Wintergarten  survived 
the  War  and  this  city  has  still  rip 
big  vauder  that  could  handle  first- 
class  international  bills.  The  minor 
houses  cannot,  afford  the  hig  head¬ 
liners  and  the  latter  mostly  prefer 
taking  engagements  in  W-Germany 
where  salaries  are  better.  Circuses 
come  and  go.  .Their!  presentations 
are  often  very  good,  but  they  have 
it  tough  to  make  out  financially. 
Circus  proprietors  are  hopeful  that 
(Continued  on  page  212) 


January  8, 1858 


179 


Fifty-second  p^S^IETY  Anniversary 


INTERNATIONAL 


Deutschland:  School  For  Yank  Opera 

Every  German  Town  and  City  Has  Subsidized  House— Must  Audition  Years  Ahead— Wages  Small  But 
Build— Only  Real  Training  Ground  For  American  Newcomers— 50  Now 
Singing— One  Becomes  German  Citizen 


Rome  Eateries 

ROBERT  F.  HAWKINS 

Rome. 

When  in  Rome  ...  tourists  and  visitors  are  beginning 
to  learn  to  do  what  the  Romans  really  do  a  lot  of— and 
it’s  not  visiting  museums  and  the  many  beautiful  sights 
around  town,  many  of  them  still  unknown  to  the  inhab¬ 
itants  of  the  Eternal  City.  No,  the  Roman  spends 'much  of 
his  day  and  nighttime — and  even  some  of  his  worktime— 
eating. 

And  with  good  reason.  Without  taking  away  a  single 
recipe  from  Paris  and  France  in  general,  recognized 
monarchs  of  the  cuisine,  the  Roman  has  long  considered 
himself  a  “buona  forchettri”— a  ‘‘good  fork,”  as  the  local 
gourmand-gourmet  blend  is  wont  to  term  himself. .  And  in. 
Rome,  as  another  local  saying  appropriately  goes,  there’s 
only  the  ‘;‘imbarazzo  della  sceita”— the  “embarrassment 
of  the  choice”— meaning  the  joint  is  loaded  with  good 
cookery. 

So  blame  Roman  habits  if  one  of  these  hot  days  or 
nights  you  find  yourself :  unconsciously  touring  Roman 
eateries  rather  than  (or  in:  addition  ,  to,  if  you’re  of  hardy 
stock)  its  wealth  of  beauty  and  ancient  lore. 

The  field,  as  the  saying,  goes,  is  wide  open,  though  of 
course  certain  basic  patterns  have  already  been  set.  The 
prices,  pleasantly  low '.compared  with  Paris  (and  New 
York),  -range  from  okay.  to.  wonderful.  However,  remem¬ 
ber  to  watch  your  S  &  Qs.  (“S.Q.”  On  yoiir  menu,  in  lieu 
of  a  price,  is  the  only  really  unknown  quality  on  iocal 
menus,  many  of  which  are  now  written  in  English,  arid 
may  mean  either  “according  to  quality”  or  ‘‘according 
to  quantity”— either  utay.it  means  “anything  goes.”) 

Starting  in  the  more  familiar  Excelsior-Grand  Hotel- 
Via  Veneto  orbit,  more  and. more  visitors  are  finding  their 
best  restaurant  buy  to  be  a  no-chichi  cuisinery,  Giggi. 
Fazzi,  handily  located  next  door  to  the  American  Em¬ 
bassy.  Here  some  of  the  best  pasta  (spaghetti  to  the  pro¬ 
fane)  is  mixed  (try  it  “carbortara”),  and  chicken  on- 
spit  is  a  must.  (Fazzi  also  has  a  summer  spot  in  nearby 
Frascati,  on  a  hillside  near  Rome.) 

A  couple  of  stone-thrqws  away,  and  even  closer  to  the 
Excelsior  hub.  lies  Capriccio,  a  sort-of-“21”0n-the  Tiber,, 
with  a  dash  of  Sardi’s,  where  film  deals -are  decided  and 
contracts,  broken  over  a  plate,  of  antipasto  or  cannelloni, 
both  local  specials;  It’s  the  shew  business  spot  for  lunch 
and  very  often  for  dinner. 

A  cab-ride  away,  in  old  Rome,  lie  the  majority  of  Roman 
restaurants;— topped  by  Passettp,  a  must  for.  the  fastidious 
Cater  as  well  as  for  all  others  who  enjoy  a  full  range 
of  menu,  at  all  times  of  the  year,  plus  quality.  -A  good 
tipi  the  owners  still  wait  oh  tables,  personally. 

Undistant,  on  Rome’s  most  beautiful  square.  Piazza 
Navona,  lies  Tre  Scalini— oddly  best  known  id  Italy  for 
Its  “truffle’’  icecream,  but  equally  satisfying  in  the 
courses  that  precede  the  showcase  dessert,  which  consists 
of  a  chocolate  heart  surrounded  by  frozen  chocolate 
icecream  for  a  rich  windup,  Also  in  the  immediate  vicin¬ 
ity,  in  an  old  patrician  dwelling  along  the  Tiber,  is  the 
swank  Hdstaria  dair.Orso,  one  of.  the  few  Roman  spots 

ith  low  table  lights,  favored  by  the  lady  in  the  crowd. 

Both  Alf redos  are  in  the  same,  general  area,  and  both 
are  tops  for  their  world-famed  pasta,  an  amalgam 
spaghetti,  several  melted  cheeses,  and  :  Cream.  Alfred 
all’ Augusteo,  where  the  mustachioed  old  man  hangs  his 
apron,  also  pushes  a  delicious  helping  of  turkey  breast 
with,  peas,  while  Alfredo  alia  Scrofa,  run  by  a  son,  is  fine 
for  steaks.  Latter  also  spotlights -.the.  pasta-mixing  gold 
fork  and  spoon,  donated  to.  Alfredo  pere  by  P-duglas  Fair¬ 
banks  Sr.,  which  people  are  .  always  asking  about.  Yes, 
Alfredo  still  mikes  the  pasta  himself,  at  your  table.  One 
thing  about  Rome— you’ll  never  run  out  of.  different  ways 
of  making  pasta.  .  „ 

There  are  also  two  Ninos  in.  Rome,  Both  are  famed,  for 
steaks,  and  you’ll  find  more  natives  patronizing  the  (less 
fancy)  one  on  Via  Rasella,  even- though  the  one.  on.  Via 
Borgognona,  opposite  American.  Express  just  off  the  Span¬ 
ish  Square,  may  be  handier  to  find.  .  •  _ 

An  even  better  view  of  the  Eternal  City-— in.,  a  way  a. 
preview  of  what  Hilton  Hotel  customers  will  see  when 
that  much-needed  residence  is  built  nearby--inay  be  had 
for  an  even  longer  trip  out-of-town  to  the  Palazzi.mthe 
Camilluccia  area.  Now  a  modernistic,  terraced  Testaurant 
with  the  swimming  pool*  it  was.  qnce  the  playgrou  _ 
Mussolini’s  mistress  Clara  Petacci.  The  food  matches  tne 
view,  but  prices  are  high.  .  ...  __  _• 

“Trastevere”  is  an  institution  in  itself,  ;”d' even 
short  Roman  stay,  you  shouldn’t  miss  e 
.  popular  quarter  beyond  the  Tiber,  whose  mhabit^itehe 
lieve: they’re  the  only  true  Romans.tanU  here ^atm  P 
often  takes  over  from  cuisine,  which  AYilhbe  more s  in:  the 
popular,  or  local,  idiom.  Every  Roman  has  his  favorite 
Trastevere  spot— there  are  that  flnd  if 

family  secret  for  fear  of  spoiling.  When  in  doubt.  and  if 
you  find  Romolo  or  the  lively  Cisternu too  tpunstw  despite 

their  name  and  fame  (or  because  of  it),  then  p  '  0f 
Alfredo  (what,  again?)  or  G^eassi;  both  on  the  square  of 
Santa  Maria,  or  look  in  on  others  more  Irequente  y 
nativesi  who  should  know:  impicetta,  Antica  Pesa,  :  6 
others.  Most  of  these  come  with  music,  or  the 
(strolling  variety)  will  Come  to.yrii 

Roman  hotels  also  offer  exceHentmealsTor  those,  wh^ 

for  ohe  reason  or  another,  prefer  -them,  orare  d  rrahd 
to  move  any  distance.  Besides  the  Excelsior  and  _  .  .  » 

the  roof  restaurants  of  the  Ambassador^  the^Ber  -  , 

tol.  New  Caesar  Augustus,  and  the  Residence  Palac  . 
top-quality  "going-out”  attractiveness,  plus  fine  vie 
food,  al  fresco.  .  .  .  '  _  . 

If  you  have  time,  the  hills  around  Rome  and  some  sea 


By  HAZEL  GUILD 

Frankfurt. 

Though  Germany  cannot  boast  one  single  topflight  new 
opera  since  the  demise  of  . the  fantabulous  Richard  Wagner, 
opera  is  built  into  the  German '  cultur.e--and  economy--so 
extensively  that  it  is  today  the  greatest — and  indeed  the 
only— training  school  for  operatic  singers  from  the  United 
States.  Here  alone  may  an  American  secure  the  experience, 
stage  presence  and  musical  “authority”  to  command  ulti¬ 
mate  attention  from  his  homeland.  Germany  actually 
exceeds  Italy,  in  this  respect... 

About  125  Opera  companies  in  the  German  language 
operate  today  in  Germany,  Austria  and  Switzerland,  with 
two-thirds  of  this  number  in  German  alone.  That  means 
just  about  three  times  as.  many  chances  are  offered  to  an 
American  who  can  sing  operatic  roles  in  German  as  are 
offered  to  the  same  singer  who  can  ring  out  the  notes  in 
.  Italian  in  one  of  that  country’s  30  opera  Companies. 

SOme  56  young  Americans  are  trying  for  the  big  break 
in  Germany.  And,  most  of  them  admit,  they’d  never  have 
the  chance  back  home. 

One  aspiring  baritone  lists  three  reasons  for  the  superi¬ 
ority  of  German  training: 

(1)  In  Germany,  you  can  get  intensive  training  in  a 
few  years,!  and  much  more  consistent  experience 
than  you  can  in  the  States,  even  under  optimum  : 
conditions. 

(2)  Despite  all  disclaimers,  the  American  public  and 
managers  are  still  impressed  by  .European  background 
and  European  reviews.  Three  years  singing  here  means 
geometrically  more  than  three  years  making  the 
rounds  in  the  States. 

(3)  In.  Europe,  if  you’re  out  Pf  work,  you’re  still  an 
artist,  and  treated  with  respect.  Out  of  work  In 
America,  you’re  a  bum. 


I 


Repeats  Necessary 


In  the  States,  some  of  the  singers  feel,  one  is  limited 
to  the  Metropolitan  and  City  Center  in  New -  York  for 
really  top-flight  singing.  The- latter  operates  for  Only  16 
to  20  weeks,  every  year.  Opera  companies  riin.  for  four 
to  six  weeks  in,  Chicago  and  San  Francisco,  mostly  for 
established“stars.” 

In  . the  U.S.  operatic  newcomers  usually  can  sing  a  role 
on  one  stage  only  one  or  two  times  a  year.  Arid,  feel  the 
young  singers,  it  takes  about  10  performances  to  master 
a  role. 

In  Germany,  municipal  companies  throughout  the  coun¬ 
try  aTe  bidding  for.  new  singers— arid  the  money  is  always 
there  to  pay  for  the  performance.. 

A  month’s  engagement  at  one  .-smaller;  town  in  Germany 
may  mean  a  salary  of  only  about  $200  for  the  entire  period, 
but  it  gives  the  singer  a  chance  to  do  the  role  over  and 
over  again. 

The  top  iriusic.  festival,  Bayreuth,  offers,  jobs  for  66 
singers  in  its  chorus  every  year.  The  experience  is  counted 
as  among  the  best  possible  in  Germany,  and  it  means  a. 
solid  six  Weeks’ .  summer  work  for  those  hired. 

Currently  the  Heidelberg  Opera  House  has  seven  young 
Americans,  under  contract,  at  pay  ranging  from  $125  a 
month  for  the  first  year  to  as  high  as  $500  for  those  in 
the  third  year  with  the  company.  When  .“Carmen”  was 
sung  during  the  winter  Season,  every  one  of  the  leads  was 
an  American. 

“One  must  speak,  and  sing,  in  German,*’  commented  one 
.young  baritone,.  James  Morris,  30,  who  spent  10  years 
singirig  in  and  around  New  YOrk.  He  feels  a  newcomer 
should  have  enough  mOney  to  support  himself  for  at  least 
a  yeari  since  it  takes,  four  months  to  audition,  for  the 
German  agents  alone,  and  a  singer  has' to  audition  for  a 
full  year  in  advarice  with  the  city  operas. 

But,  after  just  half  that  time,  Morris  signed  for  half  a 
dozen  concerts  with  locril  military  clubs  that  pay  from 
$25  to  $40  per  performance,  signed  for  four  guest  per¬ 
formances  with  the  Ulm  City  Opera,  and  one  or  two 
guestmgs  with  the  Frankfurt  City  Opera. 

’  The  guestings  pay  all  the  way  from  nothing  but  experi¬ 
ence  to  as  high  as  $125  an  evening.  His  German  agent  takes  . 
the  usual  15%  slice. 

James  Pease  of  the  Hamburg  Opera  and  Claire  Watson, 
top  soprano  with  the  Frankfurt  City  Opera,  are  two  young 
Americans  who’ve  actually .  found  fame  in  Germany.  But 
struggling  on  the  Way  up  in  the  same  land  are  at  least  four 
dozen  of  their  singirig  feUow  countrymen. : 

Another.  American  has  changed  his  address- permanently 
to  Germany.  Spiritual  and  lieder  singer  Kenneth  Spencer/ 
who.  lives  in  Vuppertal,  West  Geermany,  makes  an  annual 
concert  swing  through  Europe.  He’s  just  converted  his 
citizenship  to  German,  and  plans  to  reside  hrire  perma¬ 
nently. 

side  areas  are  filled  with  good  places,  winter  or  summer, 
al  fresco  or  open-fireplaced.  But  go  with  a  native,  or  you’ll 
likely  get  losWarid  it’s  a  long  way  back  if  you’re  hungry. 

Cafes,  you’ll  soon  find  when  in  Rome,  are  another  ■  * 
evitable’  must— to .  rest  your  feet, ,  to  see  other  tourists, 
stars,  natives,  to  talk  business,  but  only  incidentally  to  eat 
or  to  drink  Pick  an  interesting  one  while,  you’re  at  it. 
On  Via  Veneto’s  umbrella-colored  “beach,”  in  front  of  the 
Excelsior,  you  can’t  miss  Doney’s,  the  StOrk-Gploriy- 
Lindy’S  of  Roman  cafes  with  prices  to  match,  but  a  classic 
stop.  (Fashionable  hours:  12-2;  6-10;  .12^2  a.m.).  Farther 
along,  Rosati  gets  the  literary  and  Italian  film  set,,  then 
there’s  Strega,  Carpaiio,  Golden  Gate,  etc,-^eacli  with 
distinct  set  and  function  of  its  own.  ", 

In  old  Rome,  it’s  Canova  or  “the  other  Rosati  (paint¬ 
ers  radio-television  crowd)  on  Piazza  del  Popolo,  or. 
Babington’s  (British  tearoom)  beside  .the  Spanish  Steps, 
or  Alemagna,  on  Via  del  Gorso— one^of  the^  few  places 
in  Rome  where  your  tip  will  be  politely  .refused  (signs 
assure  the  customer  that  the  management  itself  makes,  up 
the  difference  to  the  employee). 


BIBLE  TONE'  OF 
ISRAEL  SHOW  BIZ 

CULTURE  OF  THE  NEW  10-YEAR  OLD 
STATE  IS  OF  OLD  JUDAISM 


By  PETER  VERNON 

Tel  Aviv. 

The  State  of  Israel  is  10  years  old  but  in  evaluating,  the 
arts  here,  the  long  roots  of  Judaism  must  be  remembered. 
This  is  a  country  which  is  venerably  “traditional”  in  .  its 
youth — from  its  Holy  Writ  to  its  handicrafts,  embroidery, 
ceramics.  The  stage  plays  and  the  popular  Songs  bespeak 
the  antiquity  of  the  sources. 

Israel  reflects,  too,  the  cultural  tastes  of  a  citizenry 
largely  transplanted  from  Europe. 

Israel  has  five  permanent  repertory  theatres.  Habimah, 
a  kind  of  national  theatre,  was  born  on  Russian  soil  al¬ 
most  40  years  ago,  and  the  Stariislawsky  tradition  is  still 
felt  in  its  performing  style.  It  mounts  modern  American, 
French,  English  plays  in  addition  to  the  classics  of  Eu¬ 
ropean  theatre;  in  the  reaim  of  the  original  Israeli  play 
it  has  been  most  successful  in  modern  treatments  of  bibli¬ 
cal  themes’  Ghel,  called  “The  Workers’  Theatre”  because 
of  its  affiliation  with  the  Labour  Federation,  also  came 
originally  from  Eastern  European  but  was  more  kindred 
to  the  Yiddish  theatre  of  Eastern  lands.  Oliel,  too,  has 
presented  many:  classics  of  the  European  theatre,  and  mod¬ 
ern  plays  but  also, often  revives  classical  Russian  theatre 
and  the  Qoldfridden  operettas  from  the.  flowering  period 
.of  the  Yiddish,  play.  It  had  a  smash  hit  last,  year  with 
a  fresh  musical  play  from  army  life,  called  :“Tit  for  Tat” 
and  producing  the  nation’s  No.  1  pop  hit,  “My  Little  Bar,’* 
still  widely,  sung. 

.’Israel’s  most  riiodem  theatre  is  the  Chamber  Theatre, 
founded  and  directed  by  actors  who  split  from  the  Habi-- 
mah  about  a  dozen  years  ago.  The  repertory  is  classical 
arid  modern,  the  style  thoroughly  modern.  Here  too,  many 
plays  on  biblical  themes  have  been,  successfully  produced, 
without  the  pathos  and  expressionist  accent  of  Habimah. 

1  ,  Theatre  In  Round _ _ j 

•Zira,  a  theatre  in  the  round,  specializes  in  modern  prob¬ 
lem  plays.  Do  Re  Mi  is  nanm  of  the  musical  comedy 
theatre:  For  its  most  successful  show  in  many  years, 
“Shulamit,”  it  .  also  went  back  on  a  Goldfadden  piece  with 
a  biblical  reminiscenced 

Habimah  and  Ohel  have  their  own  houses  in  Tel  Aviv, 
but  have  to  play  on  tour  under  most  terrible  handicaps,  as 
have  the  other  theatres  and  the  Israel  Philharmonic 
Orchestra  as  well.  Going  to  Jerusalem,  Haifa,  and  the 
smaller  towns  and  villages,  the  only  halls  available  to  them 
are  the  cinema  houses.  They  'cannot  perform  before  9:15 
as  the  cinema  management  invariably  wants  “first  house” 
for  its  film.  Touring  legit  pays  the  cinema-owner  the  earn¬ 
ings  of  a  fully  sold-out  film  performance  but  get  the  house 
only  on  such  days  (usually  Thursday  night)  when  attend¬ 
ance,  is  habitually  small  at  the'  cinema.  Stages  in  film 
houses  are  .primitive  and  not  all  plays  presentable  in  Tel 
Aviv  can  be  taken  on  tour. 

Zira  and  Chamber  Theatre  also  have  own  houses  in 
Tel  Aviv,  the  latter  even,  having  two..  One  is  the  oldest 
hall  of  its  kind  in  the  city,  old  and  uncomfortable  for 
bothpublic  arid  actors;  the  other  is  a  coriverted  gymriasium 
arid  rather  modern  but  very  small.  A  new  1,200  seat  thea¬ 
tre  is  now  under  construction  for  the  Chamber  Theatre  in 
Tel  Aviv’s  most  fashionable  district  and  then,  the  two  other 
halls  will  be  closed;  the  theatre  is  expected  to  be  readied 
by  next  summer. 

Do  Re,  Mi  plays  on  makeshift  stages  and  has  not  suc¬ 
ceeded  yet  in  getting  its  own  house  built. 

In  Israeli  ballet,  the  Biblical  influence  also  is  to  be 
noted.  There  is  Rina  Nikova’s  classical  “Biblical  Ballet” 
in  Jerusalem;  and  the  much-hailed  “Inbal  Troupe”  of 
Yemenite  Dancers,  whose  European  tour  registered  great, 
success  everywhere,  bases  all  its  shows  on  biblical  subjects 
rind  traditional  oriental-Jewish  customs. 

.  The  great  event  of  1957  was  the  festive  opening  of  the 
Fredric  R.  Mann  Auditorium  rind  Cultural  Centre  of  Tel 
Aviv,  permanent :  home  now  of  the  Israel  Philharmonic 
Orchestra  which  violinist  Bronislaw  Huberman  founded  21 
years  ago.  The  Israel  Philharmonic,  which  till  1940  per¬ 
formed  rill  over  the  Middle  East  (including  Egypt  and  the 
Lebaripn,  has  undertaken  two  successful  tours  in  recent 
years— one  to  the  United  States  and  Canada,  in  1951, 
and  .one  to  the  countries  Of  Western  Europe  three  years 
later.  There  is  a  prospect  of  another  European  tour  this 
or  next  year,  arid  of  rin  American  tour  after. 

Israeli  serious  iriiisic  has  also  been  most  successful 
where  the  composer  referred  to  the  biblical  heritage. 
Paul  Ben  Haim,  who  has  just  received  a  Louisvill  Orches¬ 
tra  commission,  had  his  impressive  ‘‘Sweet  Psalmist  of 
Israel”  (as  the  BitJIe-calls  King  David )  perforined  in  many 
lands;  Josef  Tal’s  opera-for-concert-and-radio,.  “Saul  at 
EnDor,”  has  had  successful  performances  all  over  Europe 
and  at.  Rochester,  N.Y.;  Oedoen  Partos  was  hailed  interna¬ 
tionally  for  his.  “Song  of  Praise”  for  viola  and  orchestra, 
musically  based  ort  .psalmodic  motives— to  name  but  the 
composers  most  prominent  on  the  international  front. 

Biblical  themes  and  motiyes  are  not  only  apparent  in 
•  the  symphonic  field,  in  cantata,  .and;  art  song,  but  even  in 
popular  song.  Many  songwriters  have  taken  up  lines  or 
entire  verses  from  the  lyrical  portions  of  the  Bible,  mainly 
from  “The  Song  of  Songs”  and  used  them  as.  lyrics,  leav¬ 
ing,  them  untouched,  paraphrasing  them  or.  elriborating 
upon  them;  others  have  written  modem  versions  of  tra¬ 
ditional  texts. 


m 


INTERNATIONAL 


BRITISH  FILMS 


ALL  PEOPLE  ANYWHERE 

ENJOY  EXCITING  TALES 

By  JOHN  DAVIS 

(Deputy  Chairman  and  Managing  Director 
The  Rank  Organisation  Limited) 

London. 

On.  September  30,  1957,  Pinewood  Studios  cele¬ 
brated  its  21st  Anniversary— and  confounded  a  hum- 
.  ber  of  'so-called  experts  on  film  industry  affairs. 
Pineyvood's  anniversary  uml  our  debut  '  the 
U.S.A.  market,  both  celebrated  in  the  same  year 
(and  not  unconnected,  as  1  shall  show)  arid  both 
achieved  in  the  face  of  some  pessimistic  prognostica¬ 
tion,  gave  me  double  satisfaction. 

For  take  the  example  of  Pinewood.  Opened  origi¬ 
nally  in  1936,  it  was  the  subject  of  much  congratula¬ 
tion  and  even  more  private  speculation.  The  private 
doubters  sought  basis  for  their  gloom  in  the  boom- 
slump-boom  history  of  British  production  up  to  that 
time,  gazed  fearfully  at  the  opposition,  found  the. 
home  market  too  small  to  support  continuous  British 
film  production  and  discounted  a  British  company’s 
ability  io  market  its  .  films  overseas. 

And  .  what  happened?  At  the  end  of  the  war  Pine- 
wood  became  a  part  of  the  Rank  Organisation.  To? 
day,  at  the  end  of  21  years  of  existence  it  is  the.  big¬ 
gest,  busiest  and  most  resilient  studio  In  Europe!^  It 
has  a  production  prograirime  that  is  one  of  the  big¬ 
gest  in  the  world — and  one  of  the  most  ariibitiOus 
currently  being  attempted  by  any  single  film  Com¬ 
pany:  In  the  British  market  its  productions  are 
spectacularly — and  consistently— Successful.  Over¬ 
seas.  the  Rank .  Organisation  has  proved  not  only 
the  basic  acceptability  but  the  wide  popularity  of 
British  films,  and  its  Artistes. 

|  _ RFDA  a  Step  Forward  f 

The  establishment  of  Rank  Film  Distributors  of 
America  Inc.;  was  another  step  forward.  It  was  our 
belief  then  (and  subsequently  proved  to  be  the  case) 
that  the  great  American  public  is  basically  no  .  differ¬ 
ent  from  men.  Women  and  young  people  in  other 
countries  throughout  the  world.  Such  differences,  as 
exist  are  superficial.  In  the  matter  of  screen  enter¬ 
tainment  we  held  and  hold  (arid  have  demonstrated) 
that  they  react  in  similar  fashion  to  other  audiences 
when  given  well-told,  well-acted*  well-made  films.- 

Because  we  knew  this  to  be  more  than  just  a 
theory,  we  put  a  foot  in  the  door  of  the  U;  S.  market, 
determined  to.  leave  it  there  Until  we  could  walk  in 
with  heads  held  high — or  until  we  were  proved  hope¬ 
lessly  wrong  and  our  foot  was  kicked  ,  back  through 
and  the  door  slamrned  in  our.  faces.  Some  people 
referred  to  this  as  a  giganticgamble— weknew  it 
was  not  a  gamble  but  a  reasoriable  business  risk— - 
so  far  nothing  has  happened  to  prove  our  view 
wrong  and  much  has  happened  to  prove  our  view 
was  right. 

Let  me  give  one  outstanding  example  to  prove,  my 
point:  the  acceptance  of  bur  film,  “The  Pursuit  of  the 
Graf  Spee ,”  by  major  U.  S.  circuits  rind  the  American 
picturegoing  public.  It  is,  for  a  number  of  reasons,  a 
perfect  illustration  of  the  case:  it  is  a  British  film, 
its  cast  all-British,  it  is  the  story  of  a  British  naval 
victory  over  the  Germans  at  a  time  when  the  U.  S. 
was  technically  neutral.  What  possible  attraction,  it 
might  be  asked,  could  a:  picture  like  this  have  for 
Americans? 

I  will  tell  you:  it  is  a  story  of  great  bravery,  of 
gallant  victors  over  a  gallant  foe;  it  has  fiercely  ex¬ 
citing  action;  it  is  told  on  a  sweeping  scale;  ,  techni¬ 
cally  it  is  open  to  no.  fault;  and  its  artists  have  a 
ring  of  sincerity  in  their  playing.  There  is/’your 
answer.  It  is.  an  international  entertainment  and 
Americans,  like  the  British,  the  Japanese,  the  New 
Zealanders;  the  French,  the  Argentinians-  or  any 
nationality  anywhere,  will  always  enjoy  good  stories, 
well  told— no  matter  what  their  country  of  origin. 

So  for  British  pictures  iri  the  U.  S.  A.  I  see  an  ex¬ 
panding  future.  We  know'  that  in  our  line-up :  of 
product '  we  have  stories,  stars,  backgrounds  that 
cannot  fail  to  appeal.  We  have  wide  variety  Of 
theme,  as  shown  by  only  four  of  the  pictures  for 
early  U.  S.  presentation: 

_  Cites  Four  Examples  j 

“Campbells  Kingdom”  is  packed  with  colour,  ad¬ 
venture  and  outdoor  action  thrills  against  the  Wide, 
sweep  of  the  Canadian  Rockies,  its  fast-paced  story 
taken  from  Hammond  InneS’  best-selling,  hovel  of 
tough  men  who.  fight  to  find  arid  keep  a  fortune  in 
oil. 

“Robbery  Under  Arms,”  made  on  location  in  Aus¬ 
tralia’s  starkly  beautiful  interior,  is  from. the  classic 
story  by  Rolf  Boldrew'ood.  In  colour,  it  is  a  tale  of 
daring  and  violence,  with  Peter  Finch  heading  a 
large  and  powerful  cast. 

“A  Tale  of  Two  Cities,”  from  Charles  Dickens’ 
novel  has  just  been  completed  at  Pinewood  and  on 
location  in  France.  It  is  authentic,  absorbing  and 
beautifully  played  by  another  brilliant  cast,  this 
time  headed  by  international  favourite  Dick  Bogarde 
and  the  lovely  and  gifted  young  actress  Dorothy 
Tutin. 

“Danger!  Girls  at  Play”  offers  complete  contrast. 
Filmed  in  Technirama  arid  Technicolor  in  Italy,  it  is 
fresh,  new  and  delightful— the.  gay  arid  romantic 
story  of  three  girls  from  three  countries  who:  meet 
adventure  and  misadventure  on  the  road  to  Rome: . 

These  are  only  four  examples  and  at  Pinewood 
the  Rank  Organisation  is  making  20  films  next  year 
—20  top-line  productions  tailored  for  the  interria- 
natiorial  market.  These  are  hig  picture?,  pictures 
to  be  reckoned  with:  Their  stories  come  from  best¬ 
selling  books,  top  plays  and  the  best  of  original 
screenplays;  their  casts  include  world  ?  popular 
names;  their  producers  and  directors  have  earned 
high  acclaim  in  every  continent  for  their  brilliantly 
no  specialized  selling  to  a  limited  market!  , 

To  American  exhibitors,  the  addition  of  20  big 
ictures  to,  the  list  of  available  product  must  be  .  of 


Fifty-second  J/^Rli^TY  Anniversary 


January  1, 1958 


CAN  BE  SOLD— 


USE  YANKS'  BALLYHOO 

TO  ATTRACT  DOLLARS 

By  HERBERT  WII-COX 


.  London. 

it  would  be  idle,  for  any  film  producer  to  pretend 
that  he  is  not  interested  as  to  whether  his  film  goes 
over  big  in.  America.  Of  course  he  is.  .  Apart  from 
the  prestige  of  a  wide  showing  in  the  States,  it  is 
a  fact  that  a  British  film  which  sells  only  in  the 
Britishhome  market  cannot  hope  to  make  a  rea¬ 
sonable  profit— our  predicament  is  the  same  as  Hol¬ 
lywood’s. 

It  is  essential  for  British  films  to  be  shown  in 
America  and  from  our  point  of  view'  it  is  riot  enough 
for  them  merely  to  have  prestige  showings  at  art 
theatres.  They  must  be  seen  on  the  vast  American 
circuits.  BUT  America  does  riot  owe  our  films  a 
living.  We  in  Britain  must  earn  the  right  to  cash  in 
on  our  product.  We  know  that  American  goodwill  is 
there  but  show  business 'is  a  tough  jungle  where  we 
Woiild  be  foolish  to  expect  favors.  In  the  past  there 
Was  Considerable  American  resistance  to  British 
films. ;  That  resistance  is  no  longer 'there,.!  am  sure. 

We  in  Britain  must  work  harder  for  success  in  the 
American  market. 

It  is  not  necessary  or  Wise,  in  any  opinion,  to  make 
Our  films  with  a  specific,  eye  on  the  U.  S.  market, 
for  iri  that  way  we  rob  our  productions  of  their 
national  flavor,  the  flavor  which  has  caught  the 
American,  fancy  in.  the  many  British  films  which 
have  clicked  acrOss  the  Atlantic. 

We  must  make  films  that  have  an  international 
father  than  a  parochial  appeal.  Where  it  is  possible 
legitimately,  to  introduce,  an  American  star  into  our 
films  it  is  obviously  a  good  idea.  But  1  do  not  re¬ 
gard  that  as.  essential. 

'The  essential  factor  is  for  us  in  Britain  to  make 
entertaining  films  and  then  to  put  therii  over  iri  the 
States  with  showmanship.  This  can  be  done  by  fre¬ 
quent  visits  of  producers  and  stars  to  the  States.  For 
instance,  iriy  wife,  Anna  Neagle,  and  I  wall  be  taking 
our  new  discovery,  Frankie  Vaughan,  to  the  States 
in  the  New  Year.  We  want  him  to  meet  your  press, 
appear  on  U.  S,  television  and  by  his  personality 
help,  sell  his  two  films,  “These  Dangerous  Years” 
and  “Wonderful  Things.”  I  ani  sure  that  American 
audiences  will  enjoy  these  two.  filins.  But  it.  is  up 
to  us  to  persuade  them.  ■ 

But  such  visits,  are.  not  enough,  in  niy  .  opinion.  I 
believe  that  the  British  film  industry  must  make  a 
concerted  effort  to  beat  the  big  drum  in  the  States; 

.  I  believe  that  the  British  Filin .  Producers  Assn/ 
should  set  up  an  office  in  New  York,  with  its  prime 
mission  being  to  present  the  case  of  British  films 
to  American,  opinion.  In  charge  of  this  office  would 
be  someone  acceptable  to  both  British  and  American 
authorities  with  experience  in  (a)  films  .  (hr  jour¬ 
nalism  and  (e)  politics  Who  would  keep  a  protective 
eye  on  all  British  film  productions  in  America  and 
advise  the  BFPA  of  the .  stability  of  British  films 
from  both  the  boxoffice  angle  and  from  the  point 
of  view  of  prestige.: 

A  colorful  personality  should  be  appointed  to  help 
the:  exploitation  Of  British  filins  in  conjunction  with 
American  distributors.  This  should  be  someone  who 
has  . had  both  film  and  press  experience  and  who  has 
an  entree  to  top  Government  officials  On  both  sides 
of  the  Atlantic. . 

|  :  ...  .  British  Iiiaignia  ,  [ 

A  trade,  mark  should  be  established  which  would 
be  attached  to  ALL  British  films  that  measure  up  to 
a  certain  standard  of  quality.  So  far;  so  good.  But 
it  would  still  not  be  enough; 

I  believe  that  regular  monthly  television  film  or 
live  show  should  be  produced  which  would,  deal 
entirely  with  the  British  film  activities  in  England 
arid  which  would,  introduce  British  film  personalities 
visiting  New  York;  It  would  be  a  joint  British  effort 
to  put  over  British  films  iri  general,  rather  thari  the 
product  of  any  specific  coinpany.  it  .  would  be  virtu¬ 
ally  a  monthly  bulletin  of  British .  films  and  should 
be  sufficiently  newsy  and  entertaining  for  it  to  rate 
a  sponsor! 

This  New  York  office  of  the  BFPA  should  be  en¬ 
couraged  to  launch  a. special  advertising  campaign  to 
.  advertise  British  films  in  the  trade  press  of  America. 
British  consulates  throughout  the  whole  of  the  U;  S. 
should  be  alerted  by  the  New  York  office  arid  Bntish 
film  preeiris  should  be  given  official  patronage  when¬ 
ever  possible. 

Hoic  to  meet  the  cost  of  this  extensive  project?. 

I  suggest  the  British  Treasury  be  approached  to 
make  a  dollar  credit  available  to  establish  the  opera¬ 
tion  and  this  to  be  repaid  by  a  levy  of  say  5.%  of  the 
producer’s  share  of  dollar  receipts.  I  am  sure  that 
the  operation  would  result,  in  considerably  more  than 
a  5%  improvement  in  revenue  receipts. 

From  conversations.  I  have  had  with  top  American 
film  executives  I  am  convinced  that  far  from- 
resenting  British  attempts  to  increase  the  showing 
of  British  films  in  the.  States  they  welcome  them. 

Providing  the  British  films  reach  the  high  standard 
that  American  filmgoers  have  learned  to  expect  both 
from  Hollywood  and  from  Europe: 

And  providing  the  British  film  industry  sets  out 
to  earn  results,  riot  naively  to  expect  them. 


immeasurable  significance  ,  and  help  at  this  time. 
Especially  when  these  pictures  require  no  subtitles, 
no  specialised  selling  to  a  limited  market! 

Rank  executives  are  supremely  enthrisiastic;  op¬ 
timistic  arid.  confident  about  the  future.  For  success 
does  beget  success— and  our  success  story  opens  a 
new  chapter  almost  daily.  Hence  my  own  disdain 
for  defeatist  talk,  Whether  about  our  industry  of 
about  the  future  of  the  Rank  Organisation’s  enter¬ 
prises.  To  date  we  have  .  proved  ourselves  right- 
right  and  right  again.  It  is  no  accident  that  this  has 
been  so.  And  our  future  operation  will  follow  the 
same  success  design. 


Footnotes:  Premature  Retirement 

By  SIR  HENRY  L;  FRENCH 

(President,  British  Film  Producers  Assii.) 


London. 

In  an  article  I  wrote  for  last 
year’s  Anniversary  number  of 
Variety,  I  concluded  with  the 
Words  “Thus'  ends  my  last  con-, 
tribution  to  Variety’s  Anniversary 
issues.”  I  wrote  that  as  Director- 
General  of  the  British  Film  Pro¬ 
ducers  Association — a  post  Which 
I  had  occupied  for  MHz  years  and 
from  ..which  I  was  about  to  retire. . 

It  had  been  intended  on  my  re¬ 
tirement  to  abolish  the  post  of 
Director-General  arid  appoint  a  sal¬ 
aried  President.  The  Association 
did  me  the  honor  of  inviting ;  nie 
to  be  the  first  holder  of  this  posi¬ 
tion  I  was  proud  to  accept  the 
invitation  for  a  lirni.ted  period 
which  ends  in  1953. 

Last  year,  fully  intending  to  re¬ 
tire;  I  wrote  an  account  of  two  or 
three  experiences  I  had  had  as 
Director-General  which  I  hoped 
might  be  of  interest  to  American 
readers,  I  have  no  intention  now 
of  writing  of  my  one  year  as.  Presi¬ 
dent,  but  what  I  should  like,  to  do 
is  to  say  a  few  words  about,  niy 
successor  ip  office,  ArthuivWatkins, 
who  is,  of  course,  already  well' 
known  to  you  in  another  .sphere 
of  activities,  and  to  mention  brief¬ 
ly  some  of  the  problems  which  I 
shall  .bequeath  to  him.  They  are 
many  and  varied  but  I  will  be  brief. 

Conies  The  Watkins  | 

First  a  few  words  about  Arthur 
Watkins.  He.  has  been  with  the 
British  Producers  since  March  last 
in  the  capacity  of  VicerPresident, 
a  post  Which  will  be  abolished 
when  he  succeeds  me  as  President: 
We  both  feel,  that  it  was  wise 
decision  on  the  part  of  the  mem-: 
bers  of  this  Association  to  give  us 
the  opportunity  of  working  to¬ 
gether  for  nearly  12  months  before 
he  takes  over  the  responsibility  Of 
!.  Presidency, 

Different  from  me,  he  came  to 
the  B.F.P.A.  knowing  nearly  every¬ 
one  of  importance  in  film  produc¬ 
tion  and  distribution  in  the  United 
Kingdom, 

He  also  had  a  detailed  knowl¬ 
edge  of  films,  home-produced  and 
imported,  acquired  during  the  nine 
years  when  he  filled  the  difficult 
and  important  post  of  Secretary  of 
the  British  Board  of-  Film  Censors. 

He  had  another  valuable  asset. 
Nothwithstanding  the  difficult  and 
varied  problems  with  which  he  had 
to  deal  as  Film  Censor,  he  had 
made  for  himself  a  reDutation  in 
the  industry  not  only  of  being  an 
able  man,  but  also  a  Very  likeable 
man.  It  is  my  fervent  hope  that 
Watkins,  in  his  new  field  of  work, 
will  find,  as  I  have  done,  great  Hap¬ 
piness  combined  with  absorbing  in¬ 
terest  in  a  task  which  is  never  easy, 
never  free  from  anxieties,  but  al¬ 
ways  gives  one  the  satisfaction  of 
feeling  that  it  is  thoroughly  worth¬ 
while. 


the  Government’s  Bill  to  amend 
existing  film  legislation  cannot  yet 
be  foreseen. 

One  thing  has  certainly  hap¬ 
pened  during  the  last  10  years, 
namely,  that  the  B.F.P.A.  is  a 
stronger  and  more  important  trade 
association  than  it  was  when  I 
joined  the  industry.  It  was  gen¬ 
erally  accepted  in  those  days  that 
the  Cinematograph  Exhibitors  As¬ 
sociation  and  the  Kiriematograph. 
Renters  Society  were  important 
and  essential  parts  of  the  machi 
ery  of  distributing,  and  exhibiting 
films  in  the  United  Kingdom.  But 
there  was  a  large  body  of  knowl¬ 
edgeable  people,  who  would  not 
have  said  in  1946  that  the  B.F.P.A, 
was  equally  important  to  the  pfo? 
duction  side’  of  the  industry.  To¬ 
day  the  B.F.P.A.  is:  by  a  long  way 
hi  Ore  powerful  and  more  repre¬ 
sentative  of  British  feature,  film 
production  than  it  was  10  years 
agO.'  :. 

Still  more  noticeable  is  the 
changed  position  of  British  films 
from the  point  of  view  of 'the  cine- 
magoer  and  the  exhibitor:  in  the 
United  Kingdom.  British  films  are 
no  longer .  regarded  by  exhibitors 
as  films  which  they  are  forced  to 
show  in  order  to  carry,  out  their 
statutory  obligations.  They  are  now 
being  shown  because  the  public  de¬ 
mand  for  British  films  fully  equals, 
the  deriiand.  for  imported  films. 
Moreover,  the  box  office  receipts  in 
Great  Britain  are  on  the  average 
better  for  British,  thari  for  any 
other  nationality  of  films. 

British  films  are  also  doing  bet¬ 
ter  business  than  hitherto  in  over¬ 
seas  markets*  but.  it  is  unfortunate¬ 
ly  still  true  that  both  exhibitors, 
and  ciriemagoers  in  many  territor¬ 
ies  seem  unable  to  realise  that  a 
film  made  by  a  British  producer 
but  distributed  by  an  American, 
company  is  a  British  film.  The 
screen  credits,  arid  the  posters  em¬ 
phasize  the.  distributor,  to  such  a 
large  extent  and  the  producer  to 
iuch  a  small  extent- that  the  fact 
that  the  latter,  is  a  genuine  British, 
producing  company  is  niore  often 
thari  not  overlooked.  This  is  yet 
another  subject  which  is  bound  to 
be  raised  when  the  new  Bill  conies 
under  discussion.  At  one  time  to 
label  a  film  “British”  did  riot  en¬ 
courage  ciriemagoers  to  go  and  see 
it..  This  is  no  longer  true. 

I  do  not,  of  course,  claim  for  a 
moment  that  the  changes  to  which 
1  have  referred  are  in  any  way  du 
to  the  work  which  I  have  done  for 
the  British  film  industry,  but  I  will 
admit  that  I  aril  proud  to  know  that 
these  important  developments  hav 
corile  about  during  niy  terrii  of  of¬ 
fice.  I  hope  that  my  successor  will 
in  this  respect  erijpy  the  same  good 
fortune. 


Now  what  will  the  new.  President 
have  ahead  of  him  when  he  takes 
the  Chair  for  the  first  tirne  at  the. 
Executive  Council  iri  March  next? 
In  one  respect  his  position  as  a 
newcomer  ,  is  the  same  as  mine:  ivas 
in  1946.  He  is  facing  new  legisla¬ 
tion  to  amend  the  Cinematograph 
Films  Act  of  1948.  I  was  faced  with 
legislation  to  amend  the  Act  of 
1938.  The  most  important  prob¬ 
lems  to  be  tackled  by  the  industry 
and  finally  by  Parliament  are  dif¬ 
ferent  today  from  those  of  1946, 
but  they  are,  in  my  opinion,  cer¬ 
tainly  no  less  difficult. 


careful  and  anxious  thought  to 
question  of  the  definition  of  a  B 
ish  film.  This  was  not  regari 
as  a  difficult  problem  in  1946 
because  Parliainent  •  was  only  c 
cerned  then  with  a  domestic  iss 
namely,  what  films  should  co 
for  Exhibitors’  Quota. 

Now  there  is  wide  discussion 
to  whether  the  existing  statuti 
definition  is  satisfactory,  first 
domestic  purposes;  secondly, 
the  eligibility  of  a  film  for  p 
ments  from  the  Film  Product 
Fund;  and  thirdly,  for  one  of 
limited  number  of  import  licen 
to  allow  a  British  film  to  be 
hibited  in  a  dubbed  version 
France,  Germany  and  Italy. 

Closely  relevant  to  these  pi 
ent-day  problems,  there  is 
question  for  the  early  future^-h 
Will  British  fihns  fare  when 
European  Common  Market  or  F 
Trade  Area  re  in  operath 
vyhether  this  important  devel 
me.nt  will  affect  the  provisions 


By  HAROLD  MYERS 

London. 

When*  about  nine  months  ago, 
:the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer 
yielded  to  pressure  and  .  abolished 
the  admission  tax  on  the  legiti¬ 
mate  theatre,  the  prospects  for  th 
future  looked  bright,  and  promis¬ 
ing.  The  theatre,  it  was  thought, 
would  have  the.  financial  stamina 
to  withstand  the  competition  from 
television  and  the  extra  coin  wouid 
prevent  the  continued  closure  of 
dramatic  theatres. 

Stocktaking  nine  months  after 
the  concession  was  made,  it  has 
to  be  recognized  that  the  bright 
prospect  has  not  as  yet  withstood 
the  test. of  tirne.  Theatres  are  still 
going  dark  at  an  alarming  rate  and 
the  additional  boxoffice  gross  has 
not  halted  the  increasing  number 
of  casualties;  The  West  End  of 
London  alone  has  lost  three  thea¬ 
tres  within  a  few.  months,  but  out¬ 
side  London  the  situation  is  even 
worse.  Close  on  100  have  shut¬ 
tered  within  the  past  few  years 
and  there’s  a  threat  to,  the:  future 
of  many  others. 

Yet,  strangely  enough,  this 
gloomy  picture  is  presented  at  a 
time  when  records  are  being  estab- 
(Continued  on  page  212) 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second  T/^RIETY  Anniversary 


UfTERXATlOXAL 


Yanks’  Spanish  Omelette 


What  Started  As;  An  Embargo  Against 
Spain  Turned  Into  A  U.S.  Lockout 
From  Spain 


By  HANK  WERE  A 

Madrid. 

Spain’s  motion  picture  industry  had  a  . sporadic  ,  y ear  i 
1957  'with  every;  phase,  of  '  the  industry  webbed  to  the . 
prolonged  and  dramatic,  war  between.  Spain  and  America’s 
.Motion  Picture  Export  Assn.  Well  into  its  third  year, 
that  conflict  engenders  more  uncertainty  now  than  at 
any  time  since  hostilities  begari  in  August  cf  1955.: 

During :  1957,  the  Eric  Johnston  .organization  attempted 
various  approaches  consonant  with  good  business  prac¬ 
tice,  to  get  off  the  embargo  hook  and  restore  raoport  with 
Spain.  Where  negotiator  Charles  Baldwin,  Mediterranean 
MPEA  rep,  could  not  waver  was  on  the  minimum  allo¬ 
cation  of  eight  features,  annually  for  each  of  the  U.S. 
MPEA.  companies  operating  here. 

Within  this  minimum,  condition' ■  Baldwin  offered  many 
concessions  to  government  and  industry.  To  Commerce; 
Ministry  reps  MPEA  was  prepared  to  lower  dollar  cori- 
yer.tibility  and' wait  for  greenback  transfers,  until  Spain’s 
general  economics  brightened;  Information  Mi  i  try  found 
MPEA  willing  to  accept  4-1  decree  if  left  unmentioned 
in  a  signed ...  agreement.  Government  suggestion  MPEA 
negotiate  with  a  local  industry  spokesman  .  first  was.  also 
followed. 

.  Thwarted  at  every  turn.  Baldwin  went.:.  back,  to  the 
Spanish  government  asking  for  a.  simple :  exchangee  of 
letters  permitting  interim  release  of  two.  or  three  U:S; 
pix  per  agency  while  negotiations  continued  toward 
final  settlement  and  a  new.  pact.  This  too  -  was.  vetoed. 

Baldwin  finally  left .  Madrid  last  June  leaving  behind 
the  impression  the.  shoe  Was  on  the  other  foot;  that  the 
American  film  boycott  had  been  succeeded  by  a  Spanish 
lockout. 

Enrique.  Aguilar,  Universal:  rep  and  chairman  of  MPEA 
branch  managers  in  Spain,  made  a  valiant  local ;  boy 
effort  during  the  summer  months.  His  provisional  eight- 
month  peace  proposal  (plus  previous  concessions),  abet¬ 
ted  by  strong  exhib  support  and.  a  producer,  coin ;  Crisis, 
managed-  to.  win  industry-  approval .  Sept.  18..  Delayed 
okay  from  MPEA^New  York,  however,  coincided  with 
RKO  defection  in  Spain  followed  by  a  Republic  breach- 
one  week  later.  ' 

Shortly  thereafter,  a  ranking  government  film  spokes¬ 
man,  Jesus  Orfila,  enunciated  a  switch  in  film  policy,  that 
doomed  pact-  hopes1  .for  1957^58  and  left :  future  MPEA 
relations  unpredictably  overcast. 

Failure  of  ’57  parleys  was  primarily  failure:  of  U.S. 
embargo  to  seal  off  the  Iberian  peninsula  for -  Yank  pi 

Opera  Standees:  10c 

By  EMIL  MAAS 

Vienna; 

Austria,  now  a  Republic  of  some  7,000,000.  population, 

.  riiay  well  have  more  state-supported  “culture”  per  capita 
than  ,  any:  country  in  the  world.  Anyhow  the  Austrians 
like  to  think  so.  In  Vienna  alone  every  day  of  the  10- 
months  “season”  some  6,619  persons  are  admitted  .  at 
;modest  ticket  prices  to  the  Statoper,  Volksoper,  Burgthea¬ 
tre,  Academy  Theatre  and  Redout  Hall. 

That  music  is  taken  seriously  here  is  a  long-established 
fact.  Perhaps  most  outsiders  do.  not  know  that  musicians 
can  dial  l-5-0:9  on  the  state  telephone  and  get  perfect 
A-l  pitch. 

Other  facets  of  state  culture,  are  .arresting.  For  ex¬ 
ample,  in  Austria  the  literary  authority,  frequently  Cited 
by  editors  answering  queries  of.  readers,  is  the  famed . 
repertory ;  company.  Hence  the  comment,  “According  to 
Burgtheatre  German^.*”  TThe  right  phrasing  has  ho  high 
authority  in  Austria  than  the  practice  of  actors. 

“Culture”  cpmes  high  for  so  small  a  population;  .With 
admission  prices  low_iri. comparison  to  any  other  country, 
operating  expenses  are  fairly  enormous  arid  there  is  the 
burden  of  a  special  pension  fund.  Austria’s .  government . 
annually  earmarks  -  $12,000,000  toward  a  total  cultural 
.  .budget  of  $100  million.  There  is.  always  a  deficit 

The  axiomatic  principles,  of  Austria’s  subsidized  art 
temples  are  these; 

(1)  Fulfill  an  artistic  and  educational  service. 

(2)  Keep  Up  tradition  and  world  standard,  .. 

(3)  Remember  the  Austrian  theatregoer  is.  the  .boss. 

The  administration  has  been  streamlined.  A  staff,  of  only 

73  handles  now  the  paper  work  of  2,280  employees,  from, 
the  top  star,  to  the.  hourly-paid  laborer.  In.  Kaiser  Franz 
Josef  feign,  and  even  under ,  the  .  first  • .  Republic, 
more  state  culture  was  a  soft  spot  racket,  for  retired  politir  . 
cians  and  pension-seekers,  . ,  " 

All  culture  is  under  the  Minister  of  Education,  Dr. 
Heinrich  Drimmel,  appointed  by  the  .  President  of  the 
Republic,  Adolph  Schaerf,  On  proposal. from  parliament. 

.  The,  office,  of  General  ihtendaht  is  vacant  Since  Ernst 
Marboe’s  death.  The  General  Intendarit  must  be  a  busi¬ 
nessman  “with  an  artistic  vein.” 

This  title  dates  back  to  the  Emperor.  Tradition-laden  as 
the  capital  is,  it  was  taken  Over  by-  the  Republic  in  1920. 
One  of  the  main  exhibits  is  the  letter  of  the  Emperor, 
dated  July  11,  1867,  wherin  he  personally  writes  to  Pn 
Hohenlohe: 

“I  order  that  BaronEligius  von  Meunch-Bcllinghausen 
be  in  charge,  of  the  tu»o  Royal  Theatres  With  the  title 
General  Intendant.  His  salary  shall  be  6,000  Gulden  an- 
nually  plus  1,500  Gulden  expense  account”  (That  is  about 
$1,200..  The  expense  account  was  important  even  90  years 
ago!.'  ..  . 

The  delimitations  of  power  were.:  strictly  adhered  to 
throughout  the  years.  While  the  General  Intendant.  means 
business,  his  general-managers  aTe  riot  to.  be  pestered 
by  financial  problems.  Thus,  the  Intendant  chooses  his 
experts.  ....... 

The  State  opera  iis  managed  by  Herbert  von  Karajan., 
New  structure  (1955)  has  1,642  seats  with  567  standing 
rpom.  Directly  under  the  state  opera  is  the  Redoute  Hall 

Salaries  for  solosists  arid,  orchestra  members  have  been 


soloists,  the  Opera  964  persons,  among:  them  90  soloists 
like  ip :  think  so,.  In  Vienna  alone,  every  day  Of  the  10 
with  . 602  seats.  (This  is  the  French:  word  of  Masquerade 
Ball,  for  which  it  was  formerly  used). 

The  Volksopera.  is  managed  by  PrOf.  Franz  Salmhofer, 
it  has.  1,620  seats,  136  standees. 

Burgtheatre  .  director,  is  Prof. Dr:  Adolf  Rott.  Academy 
Theatre  also  under  Professor  Rott.  Burgtheatre  has  1,310; 
seats— 210  standing  room.  Academy  532  seats,  no  standing 
room. 

The  Burgtheatre  employes  660  persons,  among  them  80 
soloists,  the  Opefa  984  .persons,  ariiong  them  90  soloists;. 

The  State  theatres  have  their  own  tailoring  shops  ( Mrs. 
Alexandra  Wilhelm,  Anton  Kocmata  and  Hermine  Smelik; 
in  charge),  painting  shop  supervised  by  Prof.  Robert 
Kautsiw,  .  technical  supervision  by  Ing..  Haris  Felkel  arid 
Haps  Nordegg. 

Salaries  for  soloists  and  orchestra  members  have  been 
fully  revaluated.  The  schilling  of  today  being  one-tenth 
of  1938),  while  chorus  and  ballet  must  still  be  satisfied 
With  83%  in  “buying,  power  of  pre-World  War.  II  days:” 

.  Soloists  /receive  now  $170:  per  performance.  This  will 
be  increased  to.  $210  starting  Jam.  1,  1958.  It  reaches  al- 
mos:  European  level;  A  top  star  usually  si  gs  six  times, 
a  moritlf 

Admission  prices  show,  that  a.  music  student  can  hear, 
an  opera  :  for— -practically  nothing,  Stariding  room  Costs 
1  Op.  The  same,  young,  man  v/ould  willingly  pay  $r  for  a 
soccer  match,  or  perhaps  $4  for  a  Rock  ’  ’  Roll  session,  if 
that  was  his  “kick:" 


Stars  Rul§  India,  Too 

By  N.  V.  ESWAR 

Madras. 

A  Curious  condition,  new  here  though  perhaps  reirii 
iscerit  to,  America  of  the.  early  days  of  its  fi'm-making, 
finds  arnbitipus.  proritoters  from  commercial  fields,  turning 
.film  producers.  This  has  iricreased  the  flow ■  of  new  fea¬ 
tures,,  though  hardly  their  quality.  Whether  some  Of  the 
new  bloods  are  screen-crazy  or.  fancy  the  supposed  lux¬ 
ury  of  a  film  financier’s  existence,  ^  anybody's,  surmise. 

Qrie  resuit,  of  the  invasion  Of  adventure-happy  new¬ 
comers  is  that  the  studio  landlords  in. some  instances,  have' 
been  content  to  gather  rents  for  their  facilities  and  them¬ 
selves  abstain  from  risk!  There  is  no  arguing  with  their 
self ririterest  .  .since  :they  sit  on  both  their  own  capital  and 
their  tenants’;  capital.  Meanwhile  there  is  a  .  quickening 
of  “quickies.":. 

Chief,  beneficiaries  of,  the,  upsurge  of  feature-making, 
is  the  star.  Here  in  India  the  actor  ip  demand  is  approxi¬ 
mately  as  tyrannical ;.as  he.br  she  is  in  Hollywood.  There, 
have  been  Stars  during  the  past  ,  year  who  have  held  sign¬ 
ed  contracts  for  as.  many  as  20  pictures,  to  be  shot  when 
and  as  possible.; 

Ariother  direction  .in  which  the  increased  demand  for 
name  talent  has.  worked  is.  this:  actors  and  actresses  go 
beyond  salary  in.  demanding,  and  obtaining  territorial, 
distribution  rights.  Some  claim  a;  royalty  on.  the  gross. 
Novice  producers  have,  little  alternative;  Especially ;  be¬ 
cause  as  indies  they  have  no .  bargairiing  power.  So  al¬ 
though  1957  opened  iri  ari  atmosphere  cif  upesrtainity  arid 
crisis,  the  year  has  ended:  on  a  very  cheerful  note,  since 
money  . is  flowing.  .  At  the  same  time  the  prosperity  is  com* 
fined  to  a  few  individuals. 

|:  r  ,  Foreign  Exchange  ...  | 

Towards  the  close  of  the  year,  because  of  foreign  ex¬ 
change  difficulties,  the  India  Government  restricted  the 
import  of  raw  film  stock  by  about  40%.  This  has  affected 
future  production  plans  to  that  extent!  It  is  believed  the 
policy  will  continue  for  at  least  ariother  year  or  two. 

.  With  increasing  availability  of  money  iri  India,  due  to 
the  working  of  various  projects  on  a  national  basis,  the 
takings  at  theatres  have  registered  increases  up  to  50% 
over  previous  years..  Actually  current  levels  at  boxoffice 
were  not  experienced  even  during  the  World  War  II  boom 
years;  ’ '  -  ' 

While  the.  industry  in  India  itself  was.  active.  Its  im¬ 
pact:  on  foreign  markets  also  was  encouraging.  The'  whi¬ 
ning  of  awards  by  the  Bengal  pictures,.  “Aparajitha,”  , 
“Father  Paric'hali”  and  ‘‘Kabuliwala,”  has  given  a  certain 
sense,  of  importance  .  arid  acceptability  and.  also  an  air  of 
confidence  to  Indian,  producers.  All .  these  years  Indian 
producers  were  content  so  long  as  their,  pictures  made  the 
grade  in  fhe  home  market-  It  was  .  only  during  1957  that 
the  Indian  producer  has  become  even  “vaguely  aware” 
of  the  existence  Of  the  foreign  market  The  Indian,  pro¬ 
ducer  has  for  the  first,  time  in  his  life  thought  of  turning 
out  pictures  that  will  sell  not  orily  in  India  but!  elsewhere. 
The  success  of  Hindi  pictures  like.  “AWara,’’’  “Slirree 
420,”  etc.  in  Russia  ,  and  other  foreign  markets  has  given 
him  the  idea.  that.  if:  he  makes  ari.  honest  attempt,  he  may 
perhaps  suCceed  in  creating  an  international  market  for 
his  product.  ' 

The  country’s  foreign  exchange,  situation  at-  the  close 
of  the  year  has  laid  further  accent  on  this  aspect,  arid, 
helped  Officially  by  the  Central  Government,  Indian  pro¬ 
ducers  have  been  looking  up  foreign  areas  for  further 
exploitation  of  their  pictures:  This  is  quite  a  new.  develop¬ 
ment  which  had  noteworthy  development  in  the  year  gone 
by.  : 

Another  precedental  aspect  of  1957  has  been  co-prO- 
ducing  with,  British  and  other  foreign  interests.  Two  pro¬ 
ductions  will  get  under  way  early  in  the.  new  year,  “Har¬ 
ry  Black”  and  “The  Wind  Cannot  Read.?  A-  joint  produc¬ 
tion  with  Russian  Mosfilm  Studios,  “Pardesi”  is  already 
released  arid  some  South  Indian  producers  have  planned 
joint  productions  with  Japanese  showmeri. 

The  Bombay  Government  has  instituted  a  system  by 
which  entertainment  tax .  collected  on  “worthwhile”  pic¬ 
tures  would  be  paid  back  to  the  producers:  Under  this 
system  two  Of  the  Hindi  pictures,  “Mother  India”  arid  “Do 
Ankhen,”  would  benefit  considerably. 

The  ban  on  foreign  film  industries  sending  into  Iridia 
more  than  10%  of  the  releases  shown  here  In  prior  typi¬ 
cal  years  must  naturally  be  taken  into  account  but  there 
is  a  growing  appetite  for  English-language  dialog  films, 
Doing  well  here  this  year  were  "Dial  M  For  Murder,”  “The 
Silent  World,”  “Ten  Thousand  Bedrooms,”  •  Alexander 
the  Great,”  “Teahouse  of  the  August  Moon,?  “Trapeze  ” 
“King  arid  I”  and  “Bus  Stop-” 


POST-PERON  FILM  FEAST 

INTERNATIONAL  PRODUCT  BACK 
AND  BOXOFFICE  SPURTS  ^  BUT 
ARGENTINA’S  OWN  FEATURES 
SLUMP  — ONLY  15  PRODUCED 
DURING  1957 

By  Nil)  EMBER 

Buenos.  Aires. 

Film  business  in  Argentina  during  1957  can  be  sum¬ 
med  up  by  saying  it  was  a  feast  for  the  native  fans  and 
a  famine  for  the  native  producers.  The  key  which  unlocks 
the  paradox  is  simply  this:  after  12  years  of  Juan  Peron’s 
Operation  Bootstrap,  foreign  trade  wTas  restored  in  films, 
and  the  inrush  of  international  product  delighted  the 
citizenry. 

Indeed  the  new  Film  Daw  dated  Jan.  2,  1957  seemed, 
when  promulgated,  like  a  new  charter  for  freedom  of  ex¬ 
pression.  Unfortunately  it' was  not  so  simple  to  imple¬ 
ment  the  worthy  purposes.  The  year  has  been  characteriz¬ 
ed  by  conflict,  confusion  and  criticism  and  practically 
Open  warfare  between  the  exhibition  and  production  parts 
of  the  Argentine  movie  industry. 

Theatres  and  .  s^dios  quarrel  in  many  lands— America, 
Britain,  France,  Italy,  Spain,  just  to  cite  almost  any  issue 
of  Variety,  but  in  Argentina  the  political  overtones  of 
the  Heron  dictatorship,  the  largesse  dispensed  to  the  pro¬ 
ducers  and  usually  assessed  against  the  exhibitors  has 
charged  the  fight  with  exceptional  bitterness.  Better  in¬ 
tentions  are  generally  respected  but  blundering  has  not 
been  abolished. 

A  10%.  boxoffice  tax  became  effective  April  20  and  is. 
presumed  to  yield  $5  million  annually  to  finance  fea¬ 
ture  films,  but  none  of  this  largesse  has  been  distributed 
yet.  Producers  must  hold  their  horses  till  they  get  “cre¬ 
dits.”. 

In  June  the  Government  went  all  out  for  corqpulsory 
exhibition  of  selected  native  product  at  absurdly  low  hold¬ 
over  figures,  provoking  exhibitors  to  defiance  and  refusal 
to  comply.  This  brought ' violence  and  picketing. by  un¬ 
employed  filmworkers  but  inspired  the  industry  to  form 
one  overall  union  out  of  15  guilds  and  associations.  A. 
Presidential  demarche  smoothed  but  the  exhibitor-pro¬ 
ducer  hostilities  leading  to  a  pact  for  20  to  25%  of  for¬ 
eign  product  holdovers.  Daydates  for  compulsory  native 
material  were  limited  to  once  every  three  months.  Film 
law  administrators .  had  no  share  in  this  pacification  so 
tried  to  igriore  it,  and  were  called  to  order  at  the  highest 
government  level. 

[  15%-For-Schoo;a  I 

In  August  the  Treasury  hit  out  with  a  15%  boxoffice 
tax  (for  school  buildings  and  a  200.000  peso  release  tax 
on  foreign  product,  effective  Oct.  1.  American  distribu¬ 
tors  avoid  this  tax  by  invoking  a  U.S.  Argentine  Trade 
Treaty  precluding  any  import  curbs  on.  either  side.  Any 
attempt  to  enforce  the  tax  for  American  product  would 
be  judged  a  denunciation  of  the  treaty.  The  French  are 
bargaining  for  a  reciprocal  quota  system  in  lieu  of  this 
tax,  the  Italians  invoke  a  reciprocity  pact  signed  in  the 
Peron  era  and  now  repudiated  by  Argentina.  The  British 
ruefully  believe  they  have  no  out  but  to  pay  arid  the 
Critics’  Association  denounced  the  tax  as  unconstitution¬ 
al,  undemocratic  and  harmful  to  native  product,  and  ask 
for  its  cancellation. 

This  tax  brought  an  avalanche  of  releases  through  spe¬ 
cial  “film;  weeks,"  to  make  the  product  immune  from  pay¬ 
ment. 

Meanwhile  the  Actors’  Association  is  asking  for  yet  an¬ 
other  5%.  film  boxoffice  tax.  to  help  build  legit  theatres! 

Continued  low  prices,  despite  a  1956  Government  pledge 
of  revision,  are  another  cause  of  dissension  and  keep'  out 
important  product  like  United  Artists’  “Around  the  World” 
and  “War  and  Peace.”  For  nine  months  an  eight-man 
commission  has  been  analysing  the  price  problem  exam¬ 
ining  the  books  of  major  circuits.  Higher  prices  were 
tardily  authorized  for  20th’s  “The  Egyptian”  and  “King 
and  I.”  Government  riiay  leave  this  price  gimmick  in  abey¬ 
ance;  until  Film  Law  implementation  is  completed. 

Attendance  was  terrific  in  the  first  10  months  of  1957, 
averaging  around  $j;OQO,Q0O  monthly  compared  to  the 
1956  total  gross  of  $10,265,000.  In  October  onwards  there 
was  a  bad  slump.  There  are  still  not  enough  houses  in  B. 
Aires  for  the  population’s  size.  Midnight  shows  over  week¬ 
ends  helped  absorb  demand  but  a  new  City  Mayor  nixed 
them,  - 

No  European  picture  had  the  Impact  of  “La  Strada”  i 
1956.  It's  difficult  to  evaluate  boxoffice  winners  without 
statistics  , of  grosses  arid  in  view  of  the  new  saturation 
method  of  day-and-date  exploitation  in  as  many  as  30 
neighborhood  and  suburban  houses,  this  is  risky  guessing. 
These  were  “ll  Ferroviere”  (Guar.)  Italian;  “Pari,  Amor 
y  Sofia  Loren”  (Italsud)' Italian;  “Rebel  Without  a  Cause” 
(Warner)  perpetuating  the  James  Dean  cult;  “Kleines 
Zelt  Und  Grosse  Liebe”  (Ocean),  inconsequential  but 
charming  German  offering;  “Notre  Dame  de  Paris” 
(Guar.);  “Padri  e  Figle”  (Ocean)  de  Sicca  and  a  family 
background  similar  to  local  mores;  “Anastasia”  (Fox) 
Bergman  and  Byrnher  pulled  strongly;  “Trapeze”  (UA), 
“Du  Rififi”  (Difa)  which  prompted  a  crime  wave;  “Rich¬ 
ard  III”  (Goldberg). 

New  screen  favorites  here  are  Yul  Brynner,  Maria 
Schell,.  Brigitte  Bardot,  Jacqueline  Sassard,  Susanne  Cra¬ 
mer,  Dirk  Bogarde  and  native  players.  Elsa  Daniel  and 
Lautaro  Murua.  James  Dean  and  Marion  Brando  remain 
favs.  Ditto  Vittorio  De  Sica,  Audrey  Hepburn,  Katherine 
Hepburn  arid  Princess  Grace. 

British  product  took  firmer  hold  through  Rank’s  direct 
distribution  arid  Goldberg’s  good  work  for  London  Films. 
A  new  “Orhe”^  distribution  outfit  was  lavishly  supplying 
important  European  product. 

The  Obligatory  Vaudeville  law  was  amended  making  the 
terms  optional  for  spectators,  which  practically  put  it  in 
the  discard,  . 

Native  production,  currently  at  a  virtual  standstill,  riiay 
amount  to  15  releases  for  the  year  1957  against  39  in  1956. 
There  was  rejoicing  over  minor  foreign  awards:  a  mention 
at  Karlovy  Vary  for  “5  GallinaS  y  el.  Cielo”  and  a  Bronze 
Shell  at  San  Sebastian,  Spain,  while  “El  Hombre  Saina- 
lado”  got  a  Berlin  riiention  and  was  requested  for  Edin¬ 
burgh, 


Fifty -second  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


/ 


/ 


), 


\ 


7 


V 


An  enterta.ixun.esit  that  defies 
comparison  with  any  Other  ! 


HORIZON  PICTURES 
SAM  SPIEGEL  PRODUCTIONS* 


WILLIAM  HOLDEN 
ALEC  GUINNESS  -  JACK  HAWKINS 


ON  THE  RIVER  KWAI’ 


*3 


&  ^ ' 
$/ 


r\l 


CINemaScoPE 


TECHNICOLOR® 


RELEASED  BY 
COLUMBIA  PICTURES 


lk*J 


ith  SESSUE  HAYAKAWA*  JAMES  DONALD  .ANN  SEARS  •  and  i 

reduced  by  SAM  SPIEGEL*  Screenplay  by  PI 


irected  by  DAVID  LEAN 


January  8/1958 


Fifty-second  p^^RIETY  Anniversary 


CARL  FOREMAN 


ANNOUNCES  THE  COMPLETION  OF  SHOOTING 


ON  CAROL  REED’S  PRODUCTION 

WrtLfAM  HOMWJ 

SamlMi 

Trevor  Howard 


Flfapi&comd 


Aimitrrtary 


StmamrAWt 


DEBORAH  KERR.  DAVID  NIVEN 

JEAN  SEBERG  JMYIENE  DEMONGEOT 


Francoise  Sagan's 


h<  st-seller...An  18-year-old 


girl  looks  back  at 


that  fabulous  summer 


,  :  t hr  Itinern 


; nconventionc  ’ 


peopb  i  ’ng 


for  "kicks 


aac.  tore- 


Otto  Preminger’s 

BONJOUR,  TRISTESSE 


GGOfHtENIORNE  JULIETTE  GRECO  WALTER.CHIARI 

with 

MARTHA  HUNT  ROLAND  CULVER  JEAN  KENT  DAVID  OXLEY  ELGA  ANDERSEN  SCREEN  PLAY  BY  ARTHUR  LAURENTS.  BASED  ON  THE  NOVEL  BY  FRANCOISF  SAGAN 
MUSIC  BY  GEORGES  AUR|C  PRODUCED  AND  DIRECTED  OY  OTTO  PREMINGER  CINEMASCOPE  TECHNICOLOR*  ^RELEASED  BY  COLOMBIA  PICTURES! 


January  8,  195S 


fifty-second  P45$IETY  Anniversary 


FOUR-TIME  ACADEMY  AWARD  WINNER  ! 


TECHNICOLOR 


Screenplay  byT.  E.  B.  CLARKE  .  From  the  novel  by  J.  J.  MARRIC  .  Produced  by  MICHAEL  KILLANIN 
Directed  by  JOHN  FORD » A  JOHN  FORD  PRODUCTION 


IT’S  GREAT  FOR  ’58 . . .  FROM 


186 


Fifty-second  Anniversary 


January  8, 195S 


HIGH 

fl/GHT 


CRASHES  THROUGH 


THE  BARRIERS  OF 


TIME  AND  SPACE 


TO  FILM  THE  GREAT 


Human  story  Of 


TODAY'S  RED-HOT 


JETS...  HOT  OFF 


THE  TOP  SECRET 


LIST  FOR 


COLUMBIA! 


CioeniaScope 


.ANTHONY  NEWLEY '  BERNARD  LEE  •  HELEN  CHERRY  •  JOSEPH  LANDONee.ndayKENNETH  HUGHES 
"mwISsSk1'*1'  •  johnql&ng  '  -kvihg  men .'^/iSarr  r.  broccoli  •  A  WARWICK  PRODUCTION 


in 


January  1, 1958 _ Fifty-second  J^&&§tyrY  iWpgriwy 

y 

Ask  TAM. . .  any  week  in  any  year 
AskNeilsen.  * ,  any  week  in  any  year 
Ask  the  public. . .  anytime 

There’s  one  answer  you  can  get. . . 


And  ifuou’re  still  in  doubt. . 


ask  the  stars! 


\  Associated  Television  Ltd.,  television  House,  Kingsway,  London,  W.C.2 

I- . 


BRUNO  COQUATRIX,  DIRECTOR,  OLYMPIA, 
IS  LOOKING  FORWARD  TO  SEEING 
HIS  FRIENDS  IN  AMERICA 
THIS  MONTH 


Janaar y*,im 


Tifty-teeond  iaabo^gr 


Y  £ 


Olympia,  Paris 

Parle,  Sept.  25. 

,  Ca/^rl  VB€C"“^  DaZ£drt»  Hazy  OeteneM  Sextet,  George  Holmes,  Sal* 
lays  (3),  Umberto  Rosso,  Claude  Goaty,  Rety  Romaine  &  Claire,  George 
Garden  Dancers  (16),  SuxanneGabriello;$2\top. 

The  smartly  refurbished  Olympia  has  a  glowing  neon  lobby  and  a 
clean,  well  designed  interior  which  has  finally  swept  out  the  old  pop-corn 
feel  of  this  ex-film  house  and  made  it  definitely  the  flagshipi  vaude  theatre 
on  the  Continent,  both  in  looks  and  talent.:  White  tie  audience  of  Pari¬ 
sian  show  biz  VIPs  flocked  to  the  opening  to  jgive  this  a  solid  publicity 
sendoff. 


and  thank  you 


I  F  NOUYiL. 


f^^iouEy 


PARIS 


HAS  ALREADY  WELCOMED  SUCH  AMERICAN  ACTS  AS 


LENA  HORNE 
EDDIE  FISHER 
LIONEL  HAMPTON 
LOUIS  ARMSTRONG 
BILLY  ECKSTINE 
GERRY  MULLIGAN 
NICHOLAS  BROS. 

PETERS  SISTERS 
JUNE  RICHMOND 
THE  PLATTERS 
FRANKIE  LAINE 
ENROLL  GARNER 
TERRIER  TRIO 
DIAHANN  CARROLL 
CAB  CALLOWAY 
BILLIE  HOLIDAY 
COUNT  BASIE: 

JACK  TEAGARDEN 
EARL  HINES 
DIZZY  GILLESPIE 
MODERN  JAZZ  QUARTET 
HAZEL  SCOTT 
SIDNEY  BECHET 
MILES  DAVIS,  Etc. . . . 


We  expect  to  Have  many  more  as  we  aim  to  continue  to 
be  an  international  vaudeville  house,  and,  especially,  part 
of  the  American  show  biz  setup. 


m 


Fifty-second  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


Incorporated 

Television 

Programme  Company  Limited 

Regent  House, 

235,  Regent  Street, 

London,  W.l. 

Chairman: 

FRINGE  LITTLER 

Managing  Director  : 

LEW  GRADE 

BRITAIN'S  LEADING  CREATOR,  PRODUCER 
AND  PACKAGER  OF  LIVE  TELEVISION 
PROGRAMMES.  IN  1957  I.T.P.  PRODUCED 
FOR  THE  INDEPENDENT  TV  NETWORK. 

127  One-Hour  and 
73  Half-Hour  Live 
Entertainment  Progammes 

THE  1958  SCHEDULE  WILL  EXCEED 
LAST  YEAR'S  TOTAL  OF 
163  HOURS  OF  TOP-RATING  TELEVISION 


Subsidiary  Company 

I.  T.  P.  Television  Programs  Incorporated 

Executive  Vice  President^ -MICHAEL  MDORF 

25  We$t  54th  Street,  New  York  CIRCLE  6-5058 


Fifty-second  J^H&IETY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


JANET  BLAIR 


Starring  In 


S.  A.  Gorl insky's  Production 


Betti  ate  Rinqittq 


at  the 


LONDON  COLISEUM 


Management:  BAUM-NEWBORN  AGENCY,  743  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York  22 


January  8, 1,958 


Fifty-second  Anniversary 


’$T 


COLISEUM 


S.  A.  GORLINSKY  presents 

JANET  BLAIR 

in  THE  THEATRE  GUILD  PRODUCTION  of 

Be£Ci  die  Rinqinq  ‘ 

with 

GEORGE  GAYNES 
ALLYN  McLERIE  EDDIE  MOLLOY 

★  ★★★  ★★★  ★  ★  *  ★  ★  ★  ★  ★  ★★  ★  ★★  ★★★  ★  ★  ★★★  ★★.★★★★★★★ 

|  HER  MAJESTY’S  ! 

The  ROBIN  FOX  PARTNERSHIP  &  S.  A.  GORLINSKY  present 

IAN  CARMICHAEL 
BARBARA  MURRAY 


in  THE  THEATRE  GUILD  PRODUCTION  of 


Tunnel o{  Love 

Directed  by  ROBERT  MORLEY 


35,  Dover  Street 
L«ndon,  W.T,  England 


S.  A.  GORLINSKY  Ltd.- 


Telephone:  Hyde  Park  9158 
Cables:  Gorlinsky,  London 


Fifty-tecond  Armivertary 


January  8,  1958 


SHAW 


ORGAN  IS  A  Ti  ON 


HOME  OFFICE 

(where  all  correspondence  Should 
ba  Mailed) 

SHAW  CHAMBERS 

112-120  Robinson  Rood.  SINGAPORE 

Also:  Offices  at  Hong  Kong — SHAW'S 
Building,  Nathan  Road,  Kowloon,  H.  K. 
SIAM: — Shaw's  Capitol  Theatre  Bldg., 
Bangkok,  Thailand.. 

SOUTH  VIETNAM :Shaws  LIDO  cinema, 
CHOLON  (SAIGON). 


THE  PIONEER  AND  PREMIER  DE  LUXE  CINEMA  CIRCUIT  INAUGURATED  |N  SINGAPORE  AND  ALL  KEY  CENTRES,  TOWNS,  etc.  In  SOUTH-EAST  ASIA  OVER 
TWENTY  FIVE  YEARS  AGO  AND  NOW  OWNING  AND  OPERATING  A  CHAIN  OF  120  FIRST  CLASS  MOTION  PICTURE  HOUSES— TWICE  AS  MANY  ACTIVELY 
FUNCTIONING  THEATRES  (NOT  BLUE  PRINTS)  AS  ANY  OTHER  CIRCUIT  ANYWHERE  IN  S,  E.  Asia— PLUS:— A  CHAIN  OF  AMUSEMENT  PARKS,  DANCE 
HALLS,  CABARETS:  and  TWO  MODERN,  FULLY  EQUIPPED  FILM  STUDIOS  RESPECTIVELY  IN  SINGAPORE  &  HONG  KONG.  PRODUCING  APPROXIMATELY 
FIFTY  FEATURE  FILMS  ANNUALLY. 

Under  the  joint  proprietary  management  of  RUNME  SHAW  and  RUN  RUN  SHAW  Veteran  Showmen  - Financiers  -  Real  Estate  Owners 


SHAW'S  Singapore  CAPI¬ 
TOL  ■ —  Malaya's  largest 
Air-conditioned  theatre. 


|  EXHIBITION  I 

EXCLUSIVE  SERVICE  FROM  FIVE  MAJOR  AMERICAN 

COMPANIES.  TOP  FLIGHT  BRITISH  &  CONTINENTAL 

Product,  cream  of  the  World's  best  motion 

PICTURES: 

NEW  THEATRES  UNDER  CONSTRUCTION: 

Augmenting  Its  EXISTING  theatre  Chain  which  already  includes 
FIVE  First  Ren  Houses  In  Singapore,  Two  First  Runs  in  Bangkok, 
the  Shaw  Organisation  is  Investing  this  year  further  FIFTEEN  MIL* 

LION  dollars  towards  the  building  of  additional  new  Cinemas  in 
Singapore,  the  Federation  of  Malaya  and  in  KOWLOON  (Hong 
Kong). 


d<M 


SHAW'S  latest.  Ultra¬ 
modern,  Luxury,  Picture 
Palace — THE  new  LIDO 
^-opening  AUTUMN  1951 
— In  Orchard  Road  (Sing¬ 
apore's  Fifth  Avenue) 
with  adioining  TEN 
STORY  building  which 
will  house  Banks,  Show¬ 
rooms,  Offices. 


The  FIRST  Color  -  camera 
Crew  A  Production  Unit 
ever  to  enter  the  deep  ,  |un- 
gles  of  Borneo  to  capture 
the  lives  A  loves  of  the 
IB  AN  tribe  -  (Known  to  the 
outside  world  as  the  HEAD¬ 
HUNTING  DYAKS). 


|  PRODUCTION  I  v" 

Cxeciitioe.  pnoduceb:  RUN  RUN  SHAW 

PRODUCED  FOR  THE  WORLD  MARKET  -  Shaw's  latest  EASTMAN- 
COLOR  FEATURE  LENGTH  FILM  WITH  ENGLISH  DIALOGUE  (ALSO 
TO  BE  DUBBED  IN  FRENCH) 


Inquiries  are  invited  for  Co-production  of  Feature  Films  with  Oriental  background  4ind/6r  TV  SERIES,  Write  Shaw  Bros.,  Ltd.,  Singapore 

DISTRIBUTION 

BY  far  THE  LARGEST  FILM  DISTRIBUTION  ORGANISATION  IN  ASIA,  handling  American,  British  4  Continental  films  besides  the  OUTPUT  OF  SHAW'S  OWN  SfUDlOS 
and  CO-PRODUCTIONS.  EXCLUSIVE  DISTRIBUTORS  FOR  REPUBLIC  PICTURES  INTERNATIONAL  in  Singapore.  Federation  of  Malaya,  Sarawak.  British  North  Borneo, 
THAILAND  (Siam),  HONG  KONG  &  FORMOSA.  Regular  releasing  outlet  for  Malay,  Chinese.  Japanese,  Tamil,  Hindasthani  and  Filipino  pictures.  THEATRE  EQUIPMENT, 
MACHINERY,  SPAREPARTS  imported  &  stacked.  AGENTS  for  SIMPLEX  PROJECTORS. 


8, 1958 


Fifty-second  J^O&IETY  Anniversary 


Had  any  casualties  recently?  We're  told  there 've  been 
quite  a  few;  and  we're  sorry  to  hear  it. 

Mind  if  we  offer  a  suggestion?  It's  this:  don't  be  afraid 
of  a  new  formula. 

We  keep  getting  free,  warnings  from  all  sides  not  to 
play  with  viewers'  habits.  Well,  we  just  don't  listen. 

For  example.  Early  in  1957  we  at  Associated  Tele¬ 
vision  launched  a  new  dramatic  series.  Not  once  weekly. 
Not  as  a  strip  in  the  afternoons.  We  created  and  pro¬ 
duced  the  show  and  fed  it  to  the  entire  British. commer¬ 
cial  network  in  peak  evening  time,  twice  each  week,  on 
Tuesdays  and  Fridays.  Half-hour  each  time.  Live. 


Continuing  characters,  continuing  stories.  Realistic, 
honest,  up  to  date,  without  hokum.  Def  initely  not  a  soap 
opera. 

We  first  planned  for  thirteen  weeks.  Well,  at  year's 
end  we'd  rounded  out  forty-five  weeks,  and  now  we 
keep  going  strong  throughout  1958. 

We  can't  recall  ever  missing  the  Top  Ten.  And  medical 
people  .keep  telling  us  it's  the  best  thing  .that  ever  hap¬ 
pened  to  their  profession  on  television. 

If  this  simple  story  makes  you  curious  about  the  show 
and  the  formula,  make  sure  you  menti 


“EMEBGENCY-WABD  10” 

when  you  get  in  touch  with  our  United  States  Representative: 

MIKE  NIDORF,  25  WEST  54th  STREET,  NEW  YORK  19,  NEW  YORK.  CIRCLE  6-5058. 


iSJ 


January  8, 1958 


196 


Fifty-second.  J^SrIETT  Anniversary 


—THE  WILCOX-NEAGLE— 
VINTAGE  YEAR 
1957! 

IT'S  BEEN  a  great,  busy  and  exciting  year  for  Anna 
and  me.  We  have  been  involved  in  six  films, 
four  of  which  America  has  yet  to  see. 

First,  "TEENAGE  BAD  GIRL,"  with  Anna  starring 
as  the  mother  of  a  problem  daughter,  Sylvia  Syms, 
and  which  I  produced. 

Next,  I  produced  .Richard  Todd  in  "BATTLE  HELL/’ 
stirring  story  of  the  daring  Yangtse  Incident. 

Meanwhile,  I  had  a  new  boss  when  I  directed  Anna's 
first  produCti  .  This  was  "RUN  FAR.  RUN  FAST." 
which  introduced  vocalist  Frankie  Vaughan  in  his;  first 
dramatic  acting  role. 

WITH  THIS,  HIS  FIRST  FILM,  FRANKIE  VAUGHAN 
BECAME  No.  8  IN  THE  POLL  OF  INTERNATIONAL 
BOX  OFFICE  STARS  IN  BRITISH  CINEMAS  DURING 
1957. 

T  WO  MORE  films  followed  for  Anna.  She  played 
a  children's  hospital  matron  i  "NO  TIME  FOR 
TEARS"  and  a  Q  ueen's  Counsel  in  a  murder  drama,. 

"THE  QUEEN  AND  SMITH." 

We  have  wound  up  the  year  by  me  directing  Anna's 
production. of  Frankie.  Vaughans  second  starring  film, 

"WONDERFUL  THINGS/1 

Six  new  films  .  .  .  six  new  hopes. 

THREE  OF  THEM  ARE  LISTED  AMONG  1 957’s  TOP 
BOX  OFFICE  DRAWS  IN  BRITISH  CINEMAS,  AC¬ 
CORDING  TO  KINE  WEEKLY'S  ANNUAL  POLL; 

"NO  TIME  FOR  TEARS," 

"BATTLE  HELL" 

and 

"RUN  FAR,  RUN  FAST." 

No  wonder  we  look  forward  to  1958  With  zest  and 
confidence.  HERBERT  WILCOX 


Greet  Their  AMERICAN 
Friends  and 
Would  Like  to 
Introduce 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty ’Second  t^^RI^TY  Anniversary 


f  !rf 


•••'.  ;  .  4u'/?y  $y  tL'' *Vt  ;  A  A  .  ;:  :  >•#*-:..  ■  ;  ' 

m 


c'c> 


4 ; 


*4' 


f^?%. 


(The  story  of  Commander  Crabb) 


' 


A  REMUS/BERTRAM  OSTRER  production 


Adapted  from  the  book 
.’Commander  Crabb  * 
ttbyMarshaliPugh 


:?4‘ 


Fifty-second  J^SrIETY  ^.^niversary 


January  8, 1958 


January  8, 19J58 


Fifty-iccond  p^SSUL 55*?  dnniveraary 


3 


Productions  Ltd. 


31,  Dover  Street 
London,  W.l 
HYPe  ^ark  2760 


fifty -second  ^SRlWrY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


-rf>  )  RESTAURANT 

IK*,  V  7  ^  40  JERMYN  STREET 

LONDON,  S.W.l. 

London's  Most  Elegant  Restaurant 


BAR  OF  MUSIC 

196  PICCADILLY.  LONDON.  W.l. 

Cocktail  Lounge  With  Continuous  Entertainment 


For  your  pleasure 

and  entertainment 

At  BURNETT 

presents 


LONDONS  ONLY  THEATRE-RESTAURANT 

400  Seater  Presenting  TWICE  NIGHTLY 
EUROPE'S  MOST  EXCITING  FLOQRSHOW 

*  STORK  ROOM 


9?  REGENT  ST.,  LONDON,  W.l. 
LONDON'S  BRIGHTEST  NITERIE 


ZODIAC  COCKTAIL  BAR 

40  JERMYN  ST..  LONDON.  S.W.1. 

A  Gay  Rendezvous  for  Relaxation 


PRINCES  BANQUETING  ROOMS 

195  PICCADILLY,  LONDON,  W.l. 


LITTLE  ORCHESTRA  OF 


DIRECTOR 


LESLIE  JONES 


Introduce  themselves  to  American  audiences  via  MGM  Records 
LP's  ofGRETRY,  DELIBES,  GLUCK,  RAMEAU: 

HAYDN  SYMPHONIES  Nos.  12,  67,83 


DEREK  BOULTON  AGENCY 


41  NEW  BOND  STREET 


LONDON  W.l. 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second  f^SsHETY  Anniversary 


Fifty-second  p^RIETY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


ffotm 


MOSS'  EMPIRES  LTD 

CRANBOURN  MANSIONS,  CRANBOURN  ST., 

CHAIRMAN  |  NANMINaomCTOA 

PRINCE  LITTLER  cbb  LUNUUN  VAL  PARNELL 


THE  LARGEST  GROUP  OF  LIVE  THE AT RES  IN  THE  WORLD 


WARMEST  GREETINGS 

TO 

COUNT  BNSIE;  EDDIE  CONDON; 
GERRY  MULLIGAN;  FREDDY  DELL; 
CHARLIE  GRACIE;  JACK  TEAGARDEN; 
EARL  HINES;  MODERN  JAZZ  QUARTET 

WHO  WE  WERE  HAPPY  TO  PRESENT 
IN  GT.  BRITAIN  DURING  1957 

...  AND 

Best  Wishes 

TO  ALL  OUR 

AMERICAN  FRIENDS  and  ASSOCIATES 
FROM 

HAROLD  DAVISON  m 

EROS  HOUSE.  29-31  REGENT  STREET 
LONDON.  S.W.1 
Cablet:  HARDAV  LONDON 


LONDON 


NEW  YORK 


GREETINGS  FROM 


PARIS 


REG  CONNELLY 

THE  CAMPBELL,  CONNELLY  GROUP 


ALL  TIME  STANDARDS 


MOONLIGHT  ON  THE  GANGES 

SHOW  ME  THE  WAY  TO  GO  HOME 

THETWOOFUS 

PEACE  OF  MIND 

GARDEN  IN  THE  RAIN 

NEW  PUBLICATIONS 


MY  CARNATION  GIRL  THE  VERY  FIRST  XMAS 

WmwM  If  BMUNDO  lot)  flfemM  By  BUBV  MURRAY) 

CAMPBELL,  CONNELLY  INC.,  MS  Blfc  AVENUE.  N.  Y. 


HAMBURG  MILAN  AMSTERDAM 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second  P/$/£Uj?pY  Anniversary 


ampm 


ARTHUR  ASKEY  v^e* 


Alfred  marks  Time! 


•n& 

Victoria  A 
Palace  \ 


MNmtZsg. 


HiMitfBwts 


(with  Emile  Littler) 


Sm  BJf  THE  LADY  RATLINQS 


Jimmy  Wheeler  i,^2sS 


(with  Emile  Littler) 


L% 


Hughie  Green 


MAX  WALL  k 


Nat  Jackley  <*  Aloddiri 


11 


(with  Emile  Littler) 


Vaudeville 

Theatre 


£dt9ti  D&ys 


(with  Linnit  &  Diinfee  Ltd) 


FLANAGAN 
AND  ALLEN 


ft 


Rosal  i  na  Ner  i 


Princes  ENID  DlYTON’S 

"*-*  NODDY  in  TOYLAND 

Presented  by  Frederick  Piffard  &  B.A.  Meyer  Productions 


TELEVISION  WALES 
AN  D  TH  E  WEST 


4nck 

FILM  PRODUCTIONS  LTD. 


HYLTON  HOUSE  3  SAVILE  ROW  W.L  Phone  :  Regent  67  I  I .  Cables:  JAXBACK  LONDON. 


Fifty-second  Z/3ilRLETY  Anniversary  - 


January  5, 1958  < 


A  HAPPY  WELCOME 
ALWAYS  AWAITS  STAR  ATTRACTIONS 


AT  THE 


PALACE.  LONDON 


EMILE  LITTLER 


JIMMY  PHILLIPS 


PETER  MAURICE 


Wish  AU  Their  Friends  a  Happy  and  Prosperous  New  Year 


FR  OM 

The  House  of  Hit  Songs  in  Britain 


Peter  Maurice  Music  Co., 
21  Denmark  Street, 
London,  W.C.2 
TEMple  Bar  3856 
Cables:  Musody,  London 


Sonny  &  Mickey  Cot 
Peter  Maurice  Music  Co. 
1619  Broadway,  N.  Y.  19 


WUWUWUWUWUWUWUWUWUWUWUWUWUWUWUWUWUllJU' 

mnmnmnmnmnfTinrtinftinmnmnmnmnmnmrifnnmniTinfnq 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second 


205 


J^SRIETf  .  Anniversary 


LTD. 


TO  ALL  OUR  FRIENDS 
IN  AMERICA 


Especially  Those  At 


235  REGENT  STREET,  LONDON,  W.  1. 


206 


Fifty-second  f/SRlE^Y  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


•  ACUFF-ROSE  •  ANGLO-PIC  •  AVENUE  •  IRVING  BERLIN  • 

•  BREGMAN,  VOCCO  &  CONN  •  WALT  DISNEY  •  FAMOUS  CHAPPELL  •  FRANK  • 


Congratulations 


FROM 


THE  MUSIC  CENTRE 


ESTABLISHED  1811 


CHAPPELL  &  CO.  LTD. 


50  NEW  BOND  STREET 
LONDON,  W.I. 


•  MADDOX  •  EDWIN  H.  MORRIS  •  NEW  WORLD  •  SHELDON  • 
•  STERLING  •  VALANDO  •  VICTORIA  •  WILLIAMSON  • 


rnrn 


THEATRES  LTD. 


In  Australia  the  Hoyts  circuit  of  182  theatres  controlled  by  Hoyts 
Theatres  Ltd.  embraces  the  loading  first-run  thootros  In  Sydney.  Mol* 
bonmo,  Brisbane,  Adelaide,  Perth,  Newcastle,  Hobart  and  Launceston. 
Numerically  and  strategically  strong  circuits  In  the  Sydney,  Melbourne 
and  Newcastle  suburbs,  and  in  the  larger  country  districts  ofN.  S.  W., 
Victoria  and  South  Australia,  complete  the  theatre  holdings  of  the 
foremost  exhibiting  organisation  In  the  Southern  Hemisphere. 

HOYT’S  THEATRES  LTD. 

ERNEST  TURNBULL,  Managing  Director 
Head  Office:  600  George  Street,  Sydney 

Telegraphic  and  Cable  Address:  "Hoytsfilm"  Sydney 


Season's  Greetings 


From 


FRANCIS, 

DAY  &  HUNTER  LTD. 

B.  FELDMAN  &  CO.  LTD. 

ROBBINS  MUSIC 
CORPORATION  LTD. 


WITH  ASSOCIATED  COMPANIES 
AND  OFFICES  THROUGHOUT  EUROPE 


Fifty-second  J^£rTETY  Anniversary 


We  are  proud /to  be  associated  with 
Republic  Pictures  as  their  distributors 
in  Great  Britain  and  Eire 


British  Lion  Films,  Ltd. 


BROADWICK  HOUSE, 
BROADWICK  STREET, 
LONDON,  W.l. 
ENGLAND. 


Fifty-second  P^RltiTY  Anniversary 


January  8, 195$ 


Sends 


•* 

* 

BERNARD  DELFONT  ! 

* 

* 

■* 

* 

> 

»-*  SEASON’S  I 

GREETINGS  I 

* 

* 

* 

* 

* 

s  : 

TO  ALL  I1IS  FRIENDS  &  BUSINESS  ! 

ASSOCIATES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  1 

* 

* 

* 

* 

■* 

* 

* 

BERNARD  DELFONT  *  MORRIS  HOUSE  1-5  Jermyn  St.,  London,  S.W.1  j 

.* 

* 

.  -  .  > 


TO  ALL  IIIS  FRIENDS  &  BUSINESS 
ASSOCIATES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


BERNARD  DELFONT  *  MORRIS  HOUSE 


1-5  Jermyn  St.,  London,  S.W.l 


¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥*¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥  ¥  ¥  *  ¥  ¥  ¥  ¥  ¥  ¥  ¥  ¥¥  ¥  ¥  ¥  ¥  ¥  ¥  ¥  ¥  ¥¥¥  ¥¥¥  ¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥*  ¥  ¥  ¥  ¥  ¥  ¥  ¥  ¥  ¥  ¥  ¥  ¥  ¥  ¥  ¥A 


Greetings 

THE 

to  All 

INDEPENDENT 

Our  Good 

BRITISH  PRODUCING 

Friends  All  Over 

the 

AND 

World 

DISTRIBUTING  COMPANY 

Barbara  and  David  Toif 

Butchers  Film  Distributors  Limited 

(JACK  M.  PHILLIPS  &  W.  $.  CHALMERS) 

175  Wardour  Street, 

London,  W.l. 

211 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second  J^S^RIETY  Anniversary 


ARE  YOUR  RRITISH  RELATIONS? 

We?  mean  of  course — your  Public  Relations. 

We  suggest  you  look  to  * 

LESLIE  FREWIN  ORGANISATION  LIMITED 

of  Mayfair,  London 

who  are  generally  considered  to  be  the  most  modern  and  skill¬ 
ful  company  of  Public  Relations  experts  in  Britain  specialising 
in  American  accounts. 

A  year  in  retrospect  can  usually  supply  most  of  the  answers 
jn  assessing  the  success  of  a  Company.  Was  1957  a  significant 
year  for  The  Frewin  Organisation?  We  {ike  to  think  so. 


MOVIES?  STABS? 


In  that  year  we  publicised  five  top-grossing  movi  ,  provid¬ 
ing  full  exploitation  material  for  the  American  hemisphere  pub¬ 
licity  campaign— a  job  we  know  probably  much  better  than  most 
of  our  contemporaries. 

THE  STAGE? 

We  handled  dll  Public  Relations  and  Publicity  for  the  biggest 
hit  show  in  Britai  of  the  Year  — the  phenomenally-successful 
Judy  Garland  Show  at  the  giant  Domi  ion  Theatre,  London. 


Lots  of  them.  We  had  the  privilege  during  1957  of  publicis¬ 
ing  in  Britain  Deborah  Kerr,  James  Mason,  Judy  Garland,. 'Rose¬ 
mary  Clooney,  Phyllis  Kirk,  Martine  Carol,  Anthony  Steel,  Juli 
London  and  a  dozen  more. 


TELEVISION? 


Ziv  TV  Programs  of  America  are  Clients  of  ours  (their  "High¬ 
way  Patrol"  series  hai  just  received  the  highest  TAM  ratings  in 
Britain),  and  we  haye  just  signed  a  contract  to  look  after  The 
Wrather  Organisation's  "The  Lone  Ranger"  Publicity  in  Britai 


WRITERS? 

We  publicised  the  author  acclaimed  by  the  influential  Book¬ 
seller  as  "the  most  publicised  author  of  the  year " 

FILM  TECHNOLOGY? 

We  staged  for  Technicolor  Limited  the  yearVbiggiest  technical 
demonstration— the  introduction  of  Technirama  before  an  audi¬ 
ence  of  2,500  top  personalities  from  all  walks  of  life  at  the 
Odeon,  Leicester  Square. 


We  number  among  our  Clients  Globe  Films  of  Italy,  Vox  Films 
of  Paris  and  Imperial  Films  Internacionar  of  Latin  America— each 
at  the  top  of  their  class. 

COMMERCE  &  INDUSTRY? 

We  are  proud  to  enjoy  the  confidence  of  a  long  list  of  Clients 
ranging  from  a  distinguished  Champagne,  account,  Britain's 
largest  confectionery  manufacturer;  an  automobile  account;  the 
British  .Macaroni  Industry  Limited;  a  famous  French  Aperitif, 
France's  best-known  liqueur  manufacturers  and  the  giant  Texas 
Instruments  Company  of  Dallas,  Texas— and  these  are  just  a  few 
at  random. 


All  of  which  suggests-we  Hope-rthat  we  know  our  job. 

We  have  fine  offices  and  energetic  staffs  in  the  heart  of  May- 
fair,  London-on  the  Champs  Elysees  in  Paris,  and  in  Rome-as 
well  as  fop  representation  in  most  other  capital  cities — all 
geared  to  do  a  job  for  you. 

We  are  specialists  in  handling  American  projects  in  Great 
Britain. 

Like  to  talk  to  us  about  your  British  Relations? 


LESLIE  FREWIN 
Managing  Director 


The  LESLIE  FREWIN  ORGANISATION  Limited, 


Telephonest 
Grosvenor 
2324,  2020,  7671/2 


LONDON 


PARIS 


ROME 


International  Public  Relations  Associates 
48  BERKELEY  SQUARE 
MAYFAIR,  LONDON,  W.  1. 

ENGLAND 

NEW  YORK  LOS  ANGELES  ZURICH  BERLIN 


COTE  D'AZUR 


Cables: 

Berkliwi 

London 


CAPETOWN 


Fifty-second  P^rJETY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


London  Legit  Stage  Big 


i  Continued,  from  page.] 


llshed  in  the  London  theatre.  Takie 
“The  Mousetrap/'  for  example. 
Now  in  its  sixth  year,  it  has  be¬ 
come  the  all-time  straight  play 
champ  and  long. before  this  year  is 
through  it  will,  have  overtaken 
“Chu  Chin  dhow’-  and  have  bro¬ 
ken  every  known  record.  That’s 
only  a  part  of  the  current  success 
story.  There’s  “The:  Boy  Friend/’ 
as  another  example.  This  month  it 
starts-  its  fifth  year  in  the  West 
End  ahd  is  still  in  healthy  shape. 
And  among  the  other  long  runs 
there’s  “Salad  Days”  ahd  “Dry 
Bot,”  both  well  in  their  fourth 
,  years,  with  “Sailor  Beware.”  still, 
very  strong  as  it  nears,  the  end.  of 
its  third,  year. 

j- "  ~  Musicals  Flopped  [ 

One  unusual  aspect  that  Comes 
to  light  in  a  review  of  the  'West 
End  theatre  scene  has  been  the 
financial  and  artistic  failure  of  a 
spate  of  new  musicals,  not  only 
the  local  productions,  but  also  the 
Broadway  imports.  The  long,  run¬ 
ning  successes  at  Drury  Lane 
(“Oklahoma.”  “Carousel/’  “South 
Pacific”  and  “The  King  and  I”) 
came  to  an  end  in  the  previous 
year  when  “Plain  and  Fancy”  end¬ 


ed  up  heavily  in  the  red.  “Fanny/’, 
which  followed  it,  was  also  a  fi-’ 
nancial  failure  at  the  Lane,  al¬ 
though  it  should  return .  its  invest¬ 
ment.  by  the  time  it’s  gone  on  the 
road.  And .  before  1957  came  to  an 
end  another  Broadway  musical—: 
“Damn  Yankees”— -had  folded  and 
failed. 

There  were  also  a  couple  of  very 
expensive  British  musical  failures. 
“The  Crystal  Heart/’  with  Gladys 
Cooper  starred,  never  had  a  chance 
after-  its  opening  night  reception 
and  was  withdrawn  after  a  few 
days.  “Zuleike”  fared  a  little  bet¬ 
ter  and  stayed  the  course  for  a 
few  months,  but  .  Was  also  heavily. 

I  in  the  red  when  it.  was  withdrawn. 

!  The  prospects,  for/  imported 
j  Broadway  musicals  look  much  ro- 
[sier.  “Bells  Are  Ringing.’’  which 
has  only  just  started  at.  the  Coli¬ 
seum,  may  well  stop  the'  rot;  and 
one  doesn’t  need  to  be  prophetic 
do  make  forecasts  about  “My  Fair 
Lady,”  which  is  due  at.  Drury  Lane 
at  the  end  of  April.  The  paying 
public  and  . the  ticket  brokers  have 
already  supplied  the  answer; 

In  the  field  of  straight  drama, 
the  West  End  theatre  has  rapidly 
been  losing  the  initiative  it  held 


YE  OLDE  HOME 

OLIVELLFS 

35  Store  St.,  London,  W,  C.  1. 

Noic  a  Modern  One! 

With.  Whispering  Music,  Soft  Lights  and  Good  Food 

MAKE  IT  AGAIN  YOUR  RENDEZVOUS 

Mamma  and  Pappa  Olivetti  will  receive  you  with  a  smile, 
whilst  Mr.  Charles  Anthony  attends  to  your, 
comfort  and  service. 


for  many  .years;  Nowadays,  the  em¬ 
phasis  is  on  .  light  comedy  and 
farce,  which,  at  almost  any  given 
time  iii  the  past  year,  filled  about 
one-third  of  the  theatres.  Musicals 
and  revue,  filled  an  equal  propor¬ 
tion  .  leaving  comparatively  little 
scope  for  the  serious  play.  That 
possibly  is  why  a  new  playwright 
of  the  calibre  of  John  Osborne  has 
been  hailed,  so  enthusiastically  by 
the  more  serious  critics.  “Look 
Back,  ih  Anger/’  his  first  West  End 
play,,  has  been  brought  back  sev¬ 
eral  times  into  the  Royal  Court 
Theatre’s  repertoire  and.  continues 
to  prdvoke  controversy  and  discus¬ 
sion..  In  other  words;  it  has  a  stim¬ 
ulating  effect. 

'  Less,  stimulating  dramatically; 
but  more  exciting  theatrically,  is 
his  second  play,  “The  Entertainer/’ 
Which  is  in  reality  little  more  than 
an  exceptional  starring  vehicle  for. 
Sir  Laurence  Olivier.  This  time 
it-s  not  the  play  .  that’s  talked 
about,  but  •  the  performance — but 
at  least  it  is  being  talked  about. 
And  .  that’s  the  sort  of  topic  the 
London  theatre  so  urgently  needs 
at  the  present  time.  1 

j  .  Good  Drama  Clicks  | 

There  have  been  times  during 
the  past  year  in  which  several  en¬ 
terprising  managers  have  tried  to 
beat'  the  .  escapist  formula  with 
worthwhile  drama  and  occasional¬ 
ly  it’s  paid  off.  ^Wailtz  of  the  Tor¬ 
eadors,”  which  ran  almost  two 
years;  was  a  substantial  hit  and 
“The  Chalk  Garden;”  which  fold¬ 
ed  just  before  the  turn  of  the  year, 
was  also  a  highly  profitable  prop¬ 
osition.  “Summer  of  the  Seven¬ 
teenth  Doll”  didn’t  do  quite,  as  well 
as  anticipated,  but  the  returns, 
both J  financial  and  artistic.. .  were 
ample  justification  of  the  enter¬ 
prise  in  putting  an  Australian  com¬ 
pany  in  a  West  End  theatre. 

Although  the  interchange  be¬ 
tween  Shaftesbury  Avenue  and 
Broadway  is  a. continuing  and  stim¬ 
ulating  operation,  there  have, 
strangely  enough/  been  very  few 
imports  from  America  in  the  past 
year/ and  a  couple  of  plays  which 
did.  cross  the  Atlantic  were  among 
the  season’s  failures.  Both  “Hatful 
of  Rain”  and  “Caminp  Real”  earn¬ 
ed  their  share  of  critical  acclaim, 
but  neither  made  the  boxoffice 
[  grade.  On  t^  pihoy  hand,  “Tea 
and  SympatW  vfil  banned,  by 


I  the  British  censor,  was  a  powerful 
lure  at  the  New  Watergate  Thea¬ 
tre  Club.  Two  other  -American 
comedies  arrived  on  the  West  End 
scene  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
year— -“The  Happiest  Millionaire” 
and  “Tunnel  of  Love.”  “No  Time 
For  Sergeants,”  with  Barry  Nel¬ 
son  in  the  starring  role,  ended  its 
run  last  November  after  a  very 
profitable  innings. 

;  Trend  to  Club  Theatres  | 

The  cultural  and  financial  sue-: 
cesses  of  the  New  Watergate  Thea¬ 
tre  Club,  which  has  already  staged 
Arthur  Miller’s  “A  View  from  the 
Bridge”  and  “Tea  and  Sympathy,” 
and  which  is  due  to  present  Ten¬ 
nessee  Williams’  “Cat  on  a  Hot  Tin 
Roof”  early  in  the  New  Year,  may 
well  have  inspired  the  opening  of 
a  new  club  theatre  in  Liverpool, 
which  also  teed  off.  with  the 
banned  Miller  play.  The  latter  en¬ 
terprise,  operated  by  Anna  Deere 
Wiman  and  Sam  Wanamaker,  is 
one  of  the  few  serious  attempts  to 
bring  the  best  type  of  theatre  to 
the  Provinces— and  not  just  only 
j  rely  on  touring  shows  and  tryouts, 
i  If  the  project  succeeds,  it  may  well 
encourage  other  managements  to 
follow  the  lead  and  introduce  the 
club  theatre  into  other  big  pro¬ 
vincial  centres. 

There  are  today  41  West  End 
theatres,  three  less  than  when  the 
count  was  made  a  year  ago.  To  halt 
the  decline  must,  be  a  challenge 
to  every  branch  of  the  theatre— a 
challenge  to  the  impresarios,  the 
authors,  the  actors,  the  stagers  and 
the  designers.  ’ 


Berlin  on  Half-Shell 

— —  Continued  from  page  178 

their  situation  will  improve  Sooner 
or  later. 

'  ^ _  t  Now  as  be- 

NIGHT  CLUBS:  l  fore:  Glit- 
— r —  L  tering  but 

noJ  Besi,”  the  home  of  the  ; 

original  dancing  waters,  remains 
R  goal  for  visitors  from  abroad. 
Over  all,  Berlin’s  nightlife  can¬ 
not  be  compared  with  that  of  Paris 
“r  even  Brussels.  It’s  also  much 
behind  Hamburg.  Berliners  them¬ 
selves  prefer  the  more  intimate 
places,  some  of  which  apparently 
get  along  nicely.  A  number  of  off¬ 


beat  places,  such  as  would-be  Rus- 
s  i  a  n  restaurants,  hippodromes, 
queer  and  jive  joints,  also  attract 

their  customers^ 

I"  ”  7  1  What  goes  for  the 

LEGIT:  pop  music  also 

.■  •  ■  goes  for  the  local 

ie git  situation..  Nearly  all  of  the 
big  modern  offerings  come  from 
abroad;  The  last  Cultural  Festival 
clearly  revealed  it  again.  Here  is. 
a  whole  nation  in  search  of  an 
author.  Nearly  all  .  of  (and  very 
few,  at  .that)  the  works  of  new 
German  dramatists  couldn’t  score. 
So  the  local,  theatre  showmen  stick, 
to  foreign  authors  or  the  classics. 
Latter  are  often  presented  with 
brilliant  skillhere.  This  city  has— 
although  many  went.  Westward- 
Still  a  considerable  number  of  first- 
rate  actors  and  also  directors.  Also 
the  theatres  are  in  okay  shape.  So 
there'  are  frequently  productions 
Which  ,  rate.  The  best  houses  .  are 
still  the  Schlosspark  and  Schiller/ 
Theatre,  both  municipal  stages 
arid  led  by  Boleslav  Barlog,  the 
Tribuene,  which  dedicates  itself 
much  to  avantgardist  offerings,  the 
Hebbel  Theatre,  often  the  site  for. 
guest,  appearances  of  non-Berlin 
ensembles,  as  well  as  the  two  the¬ 
atres  on  Kurf uerstendamm .  the 
Komoedie  and  The  Theatre  on 
Kurfuerstendamm.  of  Which  the 
former  pays  most  attention  to 
boulevard  pieces." 


PUBLICITY 

when  iii 

(GREAT  BRITAIN 

consult 

GEORGE 

BARTRAM 

Press  Relations  Organisation, 
Empire  Haase,  Of*  Charles  St„ 
Birmingham 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-»econd  J/SrjeTY  Anniversary 


an 


MUSIC  213 


That  Continues  To  Wag  The  Music  Biz 

Roct’n’Roll  Still  Rules— Perfonnance  Money  Best  Economic  Bolster er — Need  To  Revise 
That  Antiquated  Copyright  Act  of  1909— ^ ASCAP’-BMI  &  TV  Licensing  Deal. 


E’n'R  and  Skiffle  Saved  I  Music  Knows  No  Frontiers 

"D  *1  *  'Ll  rp»-  -pi  A  u  tinued  the  postwar  pattern  of  .  _ _ 

oritisn  1  in  ran  Alley  operating  on  a  wide-open,  come- 

•  ail  basis.  Coming  in  with  the  ris-  .  Vet  Viennese  Composer  Traces  Its  Universality, 

By  BARRY  BARNETT  irig  tide;  of  indie  disk  hits;  new.  I  .  From  AntllfiPlS  to  Idiomatic  Folic  A  iris 

t  ■  I4.fi  ..*•  •  . .  , ...  songwriters  and  new  publishers  rroui  Amiieius  lO  lUIOmailC  r  oiK  Airs 

London.  at  the  same  time,  and  Publishmg  rocked  an^  _ 

What  a  year  it’s  been  for  the.  houses  began  fo  gear  themselves  this  year;  choking,  off  incipient  Bv  ROBERT  STOT7 

British  music  business!  Along  J-°r  W3S  calyPS0  and  Hawiian  trends  and  y  •  ^  OLZ 

came  a  couple  of  money-spinners,  big  as  eVpr  It  St  Sa  Wn?  again  swamping  the  sorcalled  Vienna.  deserve  special  mention.  Both  are 

namely  Rock  ’n’ Roll  and  Skiffle,  ***" *  An  Mankind  invented  frontiers,  pass-  entiUed  ^aria^One  is  by 

and  almost  everyone  clambered  sipn  left  behind  by  visiting  U.  S.  For  the  oldline  Tin  Pan  Alley  ports  and  visas.  That  is  absolutely  I  i ^ 


Music  Knows  No  Frontiers 


By  ROBERT  STOLZ 


namely  Rock  ’n’  Roll  and  Skiffle,  direct  result  of  the  strong  impres-  tunes.  Mankind  invented  frontiers,  pass-  guiuea  ^ve  Mam.  une  is  oy 

and  almost  everyone  clambered  si°n  left  behind  by  visiting U.  S. A»jy  p°rts  gnd  nsiis.  That  is  absolutely  £  rt  Thi^  is^a  riv^h-v  to  be  ac- 
aboard  the  bandwagon  tp  Plain,  ^  ^  .*  ^  ^££^7*’  ‘°  ** 


their  share  of  the  almost  tpo-easy- 
to-get  loot.. 


never  made  return  visits. 


The  inception  of  these  kinds  of  been,  blamed,  to  a  very  great  ex- 


This  brand  of  music  has-  dlsoj^^.% 


an  irreversible  fact.  Once  the  dog  done  wore  harm  than  A-bombs,  Bt  Whenever  a  couple  marries,  it  is 
that  wagged  the  tail  and  then;  Bombs,  clean  H-bombs  and  my  Germany  that  provides  the  musical 


the  dog  that  Was  -favorite,  Sex  bombs.  But 


music  bro^Ht  new  life  to  a  I  *«>t  /sheet  rim- 1  ^ miSb  lnlldMffik  S 


favorite,  sex.  bombs.  But  music  accompaniment. '  Little  did  Richard 
that  touches  the  hearts  of  the  Wagner  think  that  his  wedding 
.  ...  .  '  v  march  from  “Lohengrin”  will  be 

people  will  always  cross  these  put  to  5Uch  use.  His  competitor. 


steadily  declining  business.  Pub-  t?ve* .tbe,  Pasf.  couple  of  ■■  pr^rjiy”ai  Vb’pendagete  the  disk,  Pe°Ple  will-  always  cross  these  put  to  such  use.  Hii  "competitior, 

fishers  who  were  beginning  to  de-  no  longer  wish^  to  make' thefr  Xn  the  all-powerful  boss  ,  of  the  music  artificial  barriers,  regardless  of  Felix  Mendelssohn-Bartholdy,  sure- 
spair  at  the  public  who  didn’t  ap-  amusement  around  the  piano.  In-  biz,  Which-  caX Is  the  tunes  and  any  political  tension  and  even  dur-  ly  though  otherwise.  Anyway  both 
to  thbv  wantpH  ii>  stead  thpv  nrpfpr  to  hnv  dicVc  hr  Tr‘ak^s  the  hits.  ing  the  most  violent  hostilities  won  their  place  m  the  sun.  I  would 


years  It’s  sugeestpd  that  nennle  Primarily  an  appendage  to  the  disk,  -  -  ,  .  .  -  •  ,  punu  iuu!  use.  nas  compeuuor, 

Z  long*  -ft*  ^pjyerful  the  music;  artificial  te,  regardless  of  EJelfac  Mendelssohn-Bartholdy,  sure- 


pear  to  know  what  they  wanted  in  stead,  they  prefer  to  buy  disks  or  ...  ■  t  ... .  .  ,  .  j  — =  —  — . *  - — ---  ^ _ _ _ ,  •  nV,nvt„ 

the  way  of  music  and  weren’t  watch  tv.  Apart  from  that,  r&r  With  sales  of  sheet music  dwind-  among  nations.  fnFofrf f“ 

me  way  or  music,  ana  werenx  mlIsic  and  •  j vri cs  their  sirrmlie-  hng  to  the  point  of  no  returns,  c  f,  .  ..  T  :  ...  .  .  i inS  partners,  to  change  the  wed- 

buying  any  to  prove  it,  were  by-  ity  do  not  warrant  "heetsales!50^  I  survival  for.  publishers  and  song-  So  this  time  fwiU  say  1jess  about  ding  marchevery  time  too.  As  an- 
poed  to  a  new  high  when  business  smiths  alike,  continues  to  hinge  operettas,  musical  comedies,  mo-  other  classical  popular-  evergreen 

began  to  improve  briskly.  .  I  Skifflers  ,  [  almost  exclusively  on.  performance  tion  pictures,  song  bits  and  five- or  with  international  flavor,  haying 

Nobody,  except  a  few  of  the  rebl  Skiffle  music  ■jXs’nSaft  teh’S'K*! 

oldtimers  of  Tin  Pan  Alley,  cared  enormously  since  it  hit  tiy  big  ■  mechanical  royalties  garnered  music  as  means  of  mutual  under-  diators.”  It  is  pure  coincidence 

much  whether  sheet  music  sales  ^me  around  the  same  period  as  from  the  theoretical  2c  statutory  standing  between  the  numerous  that  this  follows  my  treatise  on  the 

were  not  all  they  could  be-the  KSed  uSd^  mi^ure^f  ra^  Per  disk, set  by  the  1909  Copy-  nations  of  our  atomic  world.  wedding  march.  Wrestling •  match- 

country  was  going  through  >  disk  three  heading  Folk  music,  jaza  ^  ^‘t  figure  by  ^ecfaldeat  ,  ?US  Ut™  beS”  t”  T"  beinTo^Tby^this '-March  oTthe 

sales  boom.  Teenagers,  and  there  3hd  rock  ’n  roll.  It  owes  something  Davoffs  cut-ih s  arid  nroraotio^l  1C* s  unQffl<^ial  natlonal  anthem.  Gladiators.”  It  is  not  advisable  for 

_ _i _ a.-  *1.™  _ -L'  to  each  of  them.. which  annears  to  *  ■ ...  *  “A/Ter  r’rmrifrv  ,rTic  nf  Thoo  ”  »rVio  ii-  -4. 


watch  tv.  Apart  from  that,  r&r  .  Withsalesof  sheet  music  dwind-  among  nations, 
music  and  lyrics  in  their  simplic-  Amg  to  the  point  of  no  returns,  sn  thi<?  time  I 
ity  do  not  warrant  sheet  sales.  survival  for.  publishers  and  song-  ou  L  v  ■  1C 


began  to  improve  briskly. 

Nobody,  except  a  few  of  the  real 


Skifflers 
Skiffle  .  music  has 


oldtimers  of  Tin  Pan  Alley,  cared  enormously  since  it  hit  the  big 

much  whether  sheet  music  sales 

••  ;  a  ,  ..  .  r&r  came  on  the  scene.  It  can  only 

were  not  all  they  could  be— the  be  classified  under  a  mixture  of 
country  was  going  through  a  disk  three  headings;  Folk  music,  jazz 
sales  boom.  Teenagers,  and  there  and  rock  ’n’  roll.  It  owes  something 


‘  plenty  of  them,  were  spending  1  ^ac^  of  them,  which  appears  to  expenditures. 
~  ■  ■  1  be  the  reason;  for  its  success.  i  .«**»«*« 


“My  Country,  ’Tis  of  Thee;.”  The:  it  to  be  played  at  weddings  too. 


an  Average  of  $2.80  each,  every  ns  success.  Reflecting  the  steady:  growth  of  pioneers  brought  this  stirring  mel-  Johann  Strauss'  “The  Blue  Dan- 

Week,  on  records.  And  with  disk  Bkinie  outnts  _usually  aanere  to  television  and  the  SurpfISingvitaii-  ody  to  the  United  States.  The  tube”  has  served  millions  of  times 
sales  at  an  alltime  high,  publishers  a  'st9?k  lmeup  of  tiy.o  pr  three  gpi-  ty  still  shown  by  radio,  the  re-  words  were  changed  but  everv  ^  '  ^^  W^tification.”  This  mel- 
Were  getting  a  steady  rakeoff  from  tars,  string  bass  (oten  replaced  by  yeillje  from  x»erformances  is  still  ..  .  ,,  °dy  represents  3/4  time  the  world 


ty  still  shown  by  radio,  the  re-  words 


getting  a  steady  rakeoff  from  tar^.  string  bass  (oten.  replaced  by  yeillJe  from  performances  is  still 


were  ficu  1115  a  sicou/  iuhcuu-huiu  •  -  -  ..  .  ;  ,  Venue  IIUU1  ueilunildUCCS  13  atiu.  *  ~  ^  "VMU 

each  one  sold,  which  provided  a  bpxy  a  stick  and  string)  wash-  ciimbing.  For  1957,  distributions  Fnton  sings  it  because  it  is  tlie  over,  having  crossed  into  the  far- 

them  with  a  reasonable  and.  steady  board  and  vocals.  At  the  optset  the  from  the  American  .  Society  of  National  Anthem,  “God  Save  the  most  corner  of  the  universe, 

income.  main  source  of  the  mu?ic  stem-  cbmposer^, Authors  &  Publishers  Queen.”  However  we  easily  forget  There  are  surely  many  more  ex- 

There  .was  also  a  boom  of  an-  wiU  be  around  $22,000,000  figure,  that  it  originated  in  Denmark,  com-  amples -to  be  mentioned.  For  in- 

other  kind  for  songwriters— cleff-  w  including,  foreign  payments,  while  0  ^d  b  h  Harries  for  the  King  stance  Ivanovici’s  immortal  slow 

ing  jingles  for  commercials.  Com-  's Broadcast  Music  Inc.  will  ,diVvy  r^r  /  ^  walt  "Ueber  den.  Wellen.”  When 

mercial  tv  had  become  firmly  es-  ext^nt»  to  British  rural  working  out  ground  $8,000,000.  ..  of  Denmark.  Later,  a  Herr.  G.  B.  y0u  see  in  the  circus  a  trapeze  act, 

tablished  and  Was  gaining  new  ?ongsabd  are  also  ^^Po^nS^tbeir  The  possibility  of  a  $50,000,000  Schuhmacher  wrote  the  German  or  a  juggler,  or  whatever,  the  band 

viewers  hand  over  fist.  In  this  new  51?QW,  s^vert1  firiS-y  performance  payoff;  considered  a  words  and  it  became  ‘tHeil  Dir.  im  will  probably  play  this  melody  for 

and  lucrative  advertising  field  t* ;  figure,  only  10  years  ago,  is  siegeskranz,"  the-  official  former  the  most  difficult  act.  When  the 

demand  for  jingles  offered  itself.  lans.  can  ?lg  tnat  Kintl  01  mbs?c.  now  on  thg  music  biz  horizon.  B-j.ccJa*,  artist  needs  special  concentration, 

as  a  bottomless  pit  for  composers  As  with  r&r,  skiffle:  does  not  .  .Npw  tv  and  Radio  Deals  j.  ^ssia^  JNatl0I’f;  Antfti em.  ,it  is  his,melody:  In  the  U.S.A.  it 


with  ariyr  ability,  Vnd  V  large^num-  j  iheari  much  to  publishers  in  terms  J  Ne^r_iy  and  Radl°  Pea??  .  -_i  Another  excellent  example -is  the:  I  is.  known  as  "  the  “AriniVersaiy 
her-  of  them  turned  their,  talent  of  sheet  sales,  but  it  . pulls  in  the  At  .  the  tail  end  ,  of  the  year  former  AustrorHungarian  National  I  Waltz.” 

exclusively  to  this  source  of  in-  cash  on  Wax.  Several  new  ;big  the^Hcensing.  agreement  between  Anthein  ,«Gott  erhalte  Franz,  den  Music. is  more  than  Esperanto  or 
come.  names  m  show  business  here  owe  ASCAP  and  the  video,  industry  .  „  .  ■  .  _  Volatinpk  nr  nthpr 

T  their  success  to  the  music— two  in  v/as  reveiwed.  New  deal  will  give  'Kaiser  composed  m  1797  by  Jo-  sfructed  ian<niaeGs  invpnfpa  ^ 

1 _  What  of  the  Future . - J.  point  are  Lonnie  Donegan  and  ASCAP  an  annual  revenue  of  some  seph;  Haydn.  It  also  jumped  the  bring  people  together  As  a  mattpr 

But  the  migration  of  composers  Charts  McDevitt,  who  attract:  big  $10,000,000  from  the  tv  industry  barriers.  The  German  poet  Hoff-  of  fact  music  is  the  onlv  interna 
to:  this  type  o£  writing  is  the -cau?e  audiences  in  vaude  houses  and  pn  and  beyond  that  it,  wilt  have  im-  ma„«  Ton  FaUersiebeh  wrote  the  tional  language  undemtandable 
of  a  great  deal  of  anxiety  to  the  tv.  It  seems  likely  that  skiffle  s  pact- on  the  negotiations  with  . the  ■  ,  ,  _  ,  .  .  ,  evervwherp 

few  who  care  about  the  British  here  to  stay.  Its  unusual  instru-  radio  industry  whose,  pact  runs  but .  worils^  Deutschland,  .Deutschland  _  ,  . 

music  scene  on  a  long  term  policy.,  mentation  and  simple  chord  strucr  next  January.  uber  Alles,  Here  rather  a  curious  ? L  Vienna  con- 

Whate  going  to  happen  when  the  ture  make  it  easy  tor  folk  with  m  negotiations  with  the  video  dev«loPment  S’  *;»««!»« 

current  flock  of  tune^niths  depart?  that  partibular  bent  to  get  tdgeth-  networks  and  indie  stations,  ordinarilynotu'ethat  the  .  e  “o™  -whlch  '’J™ 

Who’s  going  to  replace  them?  er  arid  make  their  own  music.  ASCAP  was  caught  up^ ^  temporar-  fai!tb^r  sjjd11  musm  is  placed,  the  e  world  h^ts.  Of  course,  the 

These  are  just  a  couple  of  Whatever  theVcase;  the  future  of  Uy  in  the  undercurrW  of  the  ^  Jed  th  smeMy  larg^  wW  eT  sTnse  o“t he  meaning"  SfmJste 

°us,lry  are  asking.  A  snort- wmie  come  down  to  the  survival  of  the  more  than  four  years  ago  by  33  temDo  out  of  it  ductor  of  these  concerts  wpt-p  a-» 

back,  the  worry  was  that  creative  fittest— the  firmest  established,  the  ASCAP  tunesmiths  against  BMI,  °  .,c  •  ,  T ..  .  Icented  bv  audfpnpp^Sl  nvf^c  r 

talent  was  being  drowned  by  the  fmancially  sound,:  and  those  with:  the  major  broadcasting  webs  and  That.a  Song  of  Liberty  ’  became  chain  of  d?pamf  Snfri  fh f  emv  ? 
demand  for  “formula”  music  biggest  and.  best  catalogs,  their,  disk  affiliates.  The  plaintiffs,  °ffmial  National  Anthem  was  ^d  heautv  of  ViPni^1  th  P  t 

Young  composers  had  to  turn  out  There  are  about  60  publishers  of  in  the  suit  charge  that  the  broad-  ^  outcome  of  the  French  engi-  ana  Beauty  ot  Vienna, 
numbers  that  fitted  the  pattern  any  importance  casters  and  BMI  have  entered  into  beer-officers  poetry  and  composi-  '  Is  music  actually  able  to  make 

required  by  publishers.  Anything  A  high  nerceritaee  of  these  are  a  conspiracy  against  ASCAP  song-  f100.  “AUons.  enfants;  de  la  patrie,  people  of  one  nation  understand 
which  deviated  from  this  pattern ■;  virtuallv  newcraiers^  Bearing  in  "smiths  in  order  to  drive  down  the  les-jdurs.de  la  gloire  sorit  arrives.”  the  mentality,  tradition  and  cir- 
was  either  rejected  or  put  aside  mlnd  thece  noints  there  seems  to  Price  of  ASCAP’s  licensing  agree-  cl-  J-  Rouget  de  Lisle  wrote  it  in  cumstances  .of  another  nation?”  I 
for  soine  other  time.  So  they  wrote 1792  inStrassbourg.Thissongcap-  do  nothesitate  to  replywith  full 
as  was  required.  Ume^ill^ ??e“the^ ^sSer  Outfits  Meantime  intermittent  *3^^  conviction:  “Yea”’ 

Today,  even  more  than  evdr  be-  absorbed  bV  the  giarits  of  the  mu-  towards  a  settlement  between  the  tmn,  when  revolutionary  troops  Doesn’t  the  music  by  Franz  Liszt 
fore;  publishers  ,  look  to  America  Jc  business  Esoeciallv  so  since  ASCAP  cleff ers  and  the  Broadcast-  marched  from  Marseilles  to  Paris,  immediately  suggest  Hungary?  A 

X I.!!.-  T-J  _ ■£ ■  .  ^  OU  oiiiyc  .  ..  ■: Tf  vvaC.  nallctd  “T.a  TV/rapcoilla-ico,»  onrl  I  T-1 _ 


Prussian  National  Anthem. 


1  it  is  his  melody:  In  the  U.S.A.  it 


fore;  publishers  look  to  America  sic  business  Esoeciallv  so  since  ASCAP  defiers  and  the  Broadcast-  marened  from  Marseilles  to  Pans,  immediately  suggest  Hungary?  A 
for  their  song  hits.  In  nine  out  of  rt>cords  are  now  the  bread  and  but-  (Continued  on  page  218)  ^  barf  of  Puccinfs  9r  Verdi’s 

every  10  instances  this  is  where  ter  of  the  publisher,  and  artist  &  ranks  as  a  No.  1  paean  whenever  immortal  compositions  bring  to  us 

they  originate.  A  few  years  back  repertoire  men  favor  companies  I  .1  liberty  is  at  stake.  the  magic  of  sunny. Italy.  And  a 

they  could  anticipate  a  higher  pro-  with  big  expioitation  resources  and  I  ■  p  ■  r  1  x!  I  From  Austria  came  a  song,  or  plaintive  melody  by  Tschaikowsky 
portion  of  potential  bestsellers  money  to  spend  I  LlllfiS  III  1111^11311011  1^ ^  better  said  a-  choral,  which  crossed  paints  before  us  the  endless 

from  within  the  UK.  (jn  this  respect,  the  British  mu-.  I  "  -  I  all  frontiers  on  the  wings  of  reli-  "steppes”  of  Russia  and  gives  us  a 

At  the  root  of  these  troubles,  it’s  sic  biz  differs  from  some  of  the  |  ttw  -TOM  WF  ATIT171irV.'_f-  ^?ds  fealmgs;  This  is  “Silent  ghriipse  into  the  soul  of  this  nation, 

said,.  . lies  rock  ’n’  roll. .  Looking  American  recording  companies  who  y  *  Night,  Holy  Night.”  Little  did  J  have  another  wonderful  example 

over  the  music  scene  during  the  have,  .been  almost  arrogant  in  not  i’rii  ; sick  of  those  teen-age  Idols,  composer  Franz  Gruber  or  lyric-  on  hand.  Just  let  me  raise  my 

past  few  months,  it  seems  that  caring  from  which  source  stems  Those;  talentless,  tasteless  clucks ,  writer  Josef  Mohr,  in  a  tiny  church  faithful,  much-travelled  baton  and 

this  bonanza  has  nine  lives — just  the  pop  hits.  In  fact,  soine  a&r  men  Whose  illiterate,  off-key  mouthings  iri  Upper  Austria,  think,  that  the  conduct  “The  Blue  Danube  Waltz” 

like  the  cat.  Time  arid  again  it’s  have  expressed  themselves  uncon-  Eairn  fabulous  stacks  of  bucks.  whole  world  will  sing  it.  Here  I  — ^dont  the  first  hesitating  bars 


Lines  In  Frustration 

_By  TOM  WEATHERLY— 


It  was  called  “La  Marseillaise”  and  few  bars  of  Puccinfs  or  Verdi’s 
ranks  as  a  No.  1  paean  Whenever  iinmortal  compositions  bring  to  us 
liberty  is  at  stake.  the  magic  of  sunny  .  Italy.  And  a 

From  Austria  came  a  song,  or  plaintive  melody  by  Tschaikowsky 
better  said  a- choral,  which  crossed  paints  before  us  the  endless 
all  frontiers  on  the  wings  of  reli-  "steppes”  of  Russia  and  gives  us  a 
gious  feelings;  This  is  "Silent  glimpse  into  the  soul  of  this^ nation. 
Night,  Holy  Night.”  Little  did  I  have  another  wonderful  example 
composer  Franz  Gruber  or  lyric-  on  hand.  Just  let  me  raise  my 


like  the  cat.  Time  arid  again  it’s  have  expressed  themselves  uncon-  Eairn  fabulous  stacks  of  bucks.  whole  world  will  sing  it.  Here  I  — ^dont  the  first  hesitating  bars 

.been  knocked  out  of  the  hit  pa-  .cerned  with  tradition,  the  timer  must  comm'ent  as  a  conductor.  It  with  their  light  accent  in  typical 

rade  by  the  ballad,  only  to  re-  honored  firms.  the  veteran  sorig-  Some  actually  think  they’re  art-  can  be  played  differently.  Some  Austrian  style  indicate  restraint 

nmiix.  _ _ _ ~  l  ctiplr  trt  tTlo'.la-rcrirV  ft/R  Emo  ntborc .  tnrmnp  fritn  ro-inff>ino9 


cover  within  a  couple  of  weeks  to  smiths  and  the  like,  and  point  to 
collar  the  top  places:  It  looked  the  fact  many  of  the  favorites  in 


.  ists  stick  to  the  largo  6/8  time,  others  turning  into  rejoicing? 

‘Cause  their  idiot  fans  .y6^ nuts ^  direct  it  in  straight  3/4  time,  going  The  axiomatic  statement  that 


like  the  real  thing  when  the  theme  the  recent  crop  of  pop  songs  have  When  ,  they  gargle  a  couple  of  as  far  as  to  coriie  close  to  an  Eng-  music  knows  no  frontiers  has  a 

song  from  Mike  Todd’s  "Around  originated  in  one-room  music  pub-  clinkers  \  lish  Waltz.  Still  the  effect  is  always  logical  consequence, 

the  World  in  80  Days”  hit  the  pub-  Iishing'  outfits,  arid  often  from  a  And  wiggle  their  silly  .putts.  the  same.  People  feel  the  unique  Music  as  means  of  better  nrwfor 

lie. fancy  around  June.  Then  it  source  who  has  his  office  in  his  mood  of  this  song,  nipst  of  them  u  *  ..  . 

seemed  as  if  the  bottom:  had  fallen  hat,  so  to  speak.This  has  been  true  As  I  Said,  I’m  sick  of  those  fakers,  remember  their  childhood  days,  sia  •  ng  Detween  nations,  music  as 

out  of  the  r&r  market,  and  other  particularly  of  the  r&r  school,  And  my  heart  with_  jancor  .  and  many  sense  the  nearness  and  a.  peace-bringer  has  become  a 

ballads  began  seepiiig  into  the  top  long  before  Nashville  (Tenri.)  be-  lurks—  omnipotence  of  God.  .  slogan  but  of  course  cannot  be 

10  disk  hits.  .'  But  not  for  long.  came  the  Tin  Pan  Valley  of  the  ‘Cause  I  too!  would  love  a  gimmick  .  Two  compositions  which  on  reli-  Iaken  literally.  We  know  that  it  is 


song  from  Mike  Todd’s  “Around  originated  in  one-room  music  pub- 
tile  World  in  80  Days”  hit  the  pub-  Iishing'  outfits,  arid  often  from  a 
lie. fancy  around  June.  Then  it  source  who  has  his  office  in  his 


10  disk  hits.  '  But  not  for  long.  came  the  Tin  Pan  Va 
Sheet  music  started  an  uptrend  U.  S.  hiusic  biz.— Ed.). 


For.  gyping  jh*pn-aC|  jerks! 
1 


J  gious  wings  went  around  the  world  J 


(Continued  on  page  218) 


214 


MUSIC 


Fifty-second  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


Paris.  |  done  one,  which  would  have  meant 
The  disk  - has  spun  into  one  of  !  SRO,  instead  of  two  which  spread 
.  ;  ,  .  ~  u  fT  I  it  out  thin.  Same  goes  for -jazz  com 

the  top  show  biz  facets  here  the.certs. 

last  10  years.  Annual  sales.;are  now  ' - Top  Disk  Names  [ 

up  to  $27,000,000.  •  It  is  thanks  to  .  A  looksee  at  actual  platter  sales 
the  platter,  moreover,  that  vaude  .  leaders  shows  the  following  big  10: 
could  reemerge  a  solid  showbiz?  Georges  Brassens  (Philips),  the 
staple  again,  plus  lending  new  '  anarchic  troubador,  Gloria  Lasso 


names  to  the  boite;  film  and  legit 
setups.  It  is  also  the  mark  that 
decides  the  chances:  of  Yank  singers 
and  musicians  on  the  public  scene 
here. 

“  The  rise  of  the  record  has  been 
phenomenal.  Up  to:  about  six  years 
ago  there  were  only  two  important 
labels.  Pathe-Marconi  and  Polydor, 
who  shared  pops  and  classics,  while 
now  there  ,  are  10  in  the  black.  The 
fact  that  two  companies  could  not 
give  proper  attention  to  all  their 
clients  led  to  Some  stars  breaking 
away  and  going  to  .  smaller,  ones. 

Another  push  was  the  perfection 
of  new  cheap  pickups  and  the  ad¬ 
vent  of  45  rpm  and  33  rpm  disks. 
The  78  rpnt  is  practically  extinct, 
within  France  but  makes  up  a 
sizable,  export  value  for  North 
Africa  where  the  lack  of  electricity 
in  many  regions  still  has  the.  old 
hand  wound  set  in  operation.  About. 
600,000  78s  are  sold  in  Africa  per 
year. 

The  important  diskeries  are 
Pathe-Marconi,  which  has  about 
55  of  the  overall  biz;  Philips,  with 
30^;.  Decca  and  RCA  are  next  with 


(Pathe),  a  Hispano  songstress  who 
lends- her  big  pipes  to  Gallic  ditties 
too,.  Gilbert  Becaud  (Pathe),  a 
smart-  dynamic,  song  purvey  or,. Tino; 
Rossi  (Pathe)  an  dldtime  romantic 
tenor,  helped  by  his  big  catalog; 
Luis  .Mariano  (Pathe),  .  also  for  ro¬ 
mantic  stuff;  'Marino'  Marini 
(Vogue),  a  racy  Italo  artist;  Charles 
Aznavour  (Ducretet-Thomson),  a 
raucous-voiced  but  intense  belter  of 
fine  ballads;  Marie-Josee  Neuville 
(Pathe),  a  pigtailed  singer;  .about 
adolescent  woes;  with  Eddie  Con¬ 
stantine  (Barclay),  the  Yank  singer 
who  has  become  a  top  singer-actor, 
here;  and  Dario  Moreno  (Philips), . 
a  big-voiced  belter,  tied  for  lQth 
spot. 

Of  the  30  top  song  successes,  this 
year  11  were  Yank  ditties;  nine 
Italo,  five  French  and  five  mis¬ 
cellaneous.  American  leaders  ,  were 
“Que  Sera  Sera,”  “Marianne,” 
“Only  You”  “16  Tons,”  “The 
Great  Pretender,”  “Cigarettes  arid 
Whisky  and  .  Wild,.  Wild  Women,” 
“Arman's  Theme”  “The  High  and 
the  Mighty,”  “Stranger  in  Para¬ 
dise,”  and  “Love  Is  a  Many  Splen-  ) 
dored  Thing.” 

Rivalry  between  the  commercial 


classical  repertoires;  -  followed  by  [station. Radio  Europe  No.  1.  and. the 
Barclay.  VOgue:  Ducretet-Thomson.  [Nationalized  Radiodiffusion-Ff an- : 

caise,  led  to  some  trouble  ,  recently 
with  one  network  blackballing 
Chanters  who  had  given  too  much 
time  to  the  other;  But  that  has  been 
worked  out  and  the  songs,  editions 
and  disks,  plus  radio,  tv  and  films,  i 
seem  to  be  working  smoothly  hand-  j 
in-hand  with  a  good  assist  from 
boites  and  legit. 


Biggest  '57  Hits 


Barclay,  Vogue,  Ducretet-Thomson, 

Polydor  and  Vega.  However,  in  an 
actual  breakdown  the  pop  toppers 
are  Pathe,  Philips,  Barclay,  Vogue, 

Ducretet-Thbmson,  Odeon,  Decca 
and  RCA*  and  in  classics  it  is  Pathe, 

Philips,  Decca,  RCA,  Ducretet- 
Thomson,  Polydor,  Barclay,  and 
Odeon. 

The  pop  field  is  the.  most  im-  j 
portant  with  the  classics \  a  fine  ; 
bolster..  A  popular  hit  sells  about 
65,000  45  EP’s,  50.000  in  LP  10-inch 
size.  30,000  in  LP  12-inchers  and 
15.000  in  the  regular  45  size..  Disk 
prices  are  still  exorbitant  here 
With  about  $12  for  a  longplay  and 
$2  for  a  45;  One  reason  is  that 
royalties  here  are  twice  as  high  in 
the  U.S.,-  due  primarily  to  the  dif¬ 
ference  -in  sales.  In  the  U.S-,  on  a 
longplay,  royalties  -  come  to  24c 

.  for  12  songs,,  but  here  it  is  50c  for .  . 

the  same  disk.  j  By  HAROLD  DAVISON 

f British  Jazz  , Concert  Inipiresafio) 
London.  ; 

Looking  back  over  the  past.  20 
months  or  so  since  the  first  Anglo- 
U.S.  band  exchange  was  negotiated,  ] 
I  feel  justified  in  saying  that  it  was 
probably  one  of  the  best  things 
that  could  happen  for  British  bands 
and  musicians,  and  also  British 
audiences..  j 

During  this  time,  14  of  America’s  j 
top  bands  have  played  in  Britain 
and  nine  British  outfits  have  per¬ 
formed  in  America— a  couple  of 
them  more  than  once,  to  make  12 
exchanges  in  all:  Many  of  the  bands 
from  the  States:  were,  almost.  leg¬ 
ends  tp  the  younger  generation 
here.  Names  .like  Armstrong. 
Basie  and  Beehet  have  long  had 
big.  reputations,  but  to  the  teen¬ 
agers.  who’d  only  heard  them  on 
records,  the  opportunity  to  see 
and;  hear  them  in  the  fiesh  was 
something  completely  new  and 
exciting. 

But-  after  the  Initial:  gloss,  had 
worn  off,  the  jazz  fans  showed  that, 
they  were  choosey,  and  that  noth¬ 
ing  but  the  best  would  do.  Irve 
had  quite  a  Tot  to  do  with  the  band 
exchanges,  and  I  feel  that  I  have 
mv  finger  on  the.  pulse  of  the  Brit¬ 
ish  jazz  public’s  taste. 

[  Look  at  the  list  of  bands,  that 
the  regular  public  needed  to  fill  j  have  takenpart  in  the  Swap.  First 
houses;  come  for-  familiar  names,  r-me  Stan  Xentohi  in  exchange  for 
Bruno  Coquatrix,  prexy  of  -T  ;  Tqd  Heath,  followed  by  Louis 
Olympia,  Wants  to:  make  his. house  [  Annstrottg  for  Freddie  Randall; 
an  extension  of  the  U.S.  circuits,  |  Sidney  Bechet  for  Tommy  Whittle; 
both  to  cash  in  on  top  Yank  show- !  Lionel  Hampton  for  Vic  Lewis; 
manship  and  give  the  few  top .  Eddie  Condon  for  Ronnie  Scott; 
Gallic  names  a  rest  to  prevent  ?  Bill  Haley  for  Lonnie  Dpnegan; 
overexposure.  The  Platters  hit  big  ;  Count  Basie  for  Ted  Heath;  Freddie 
but  Frankie  Lame  not  as  well.  [Bell  for.  the  Denny  Boyee.  Roek  /n’ 
It  is  felt  here  that  Yank  star  '  Rollers;  Gerry  Mulligan  for  Tommy 
should  check  their  disk  setup  via .  Whittle;  the  Jack  Teagarden-Earl 
sales,  jukeboxes  and  radio  .  time  Hi  outfit  ;for  Johnny  Gray; 
and  Use  known  tunes  as  part  of  as?  hi  Count  Basie  for  Ted  Heath; 
their  routine.  Another  tiling  is  ,  and  most  recently,  the.  Modem 
that  Yank  visitors  should  or.Iy  do  :  Jazz  Quartet  for  Vie  Ash.  All 
well-worked  stands  to.  enhance  these  iii  the  space  of  20  months.  . 
future  returns.  For:  exampl  ;tlie  i  The  rate  of  exchange  has  been 
Platters  were  able  to. play  a  solid  1  almost  breakneck  and  it  has  .to 
three  weeks,  but  Laine  should  have  I  s’ow  down  some  time.  So  far,  only 


The  biggest  hits  in  ’57  .  were 
“Bambino”  by  Marine  Marini 
(Vogue),  Gloria  Lasso  ( Pathe  t, 
Dalida  (Barclay);  “Que  Sera  Sera” 
by  Doris  Day  and  Jacqueline  Fran¬ 
cois  (Philips);  “Viens .  Valser  Avec 
Papa”  by  Andre  Claveau  (Pathe) ; 
“Le  Torrent”  by  ,  Miss  Lasso 
(Pathe);  “Alors  Raconte”  Of:  Gil¬ 
bert  Becaud  (Pathe);  “Vivre  Avec 
Mol”  arid  “Sur  Me  Vie”  of  Charles  \ 
Aznavour  (Duciretet);  “L’Auverg- 
nat”  Of  Georges  Brassens  (Philips); 
and  Edith  Piaf’s  ‘The  Man  on  the 
Motorcycle”  (Philips). 

Among  the  Yank  names  that  sell 
are  The  Platters  (Barclay),  Nat 
(King)  Cole  (Patbe-Capitol),  Bill 
Haley’s  Comets  (Decca)  and.  Harry 
Belafonte  going  along  With  an  in¬ 
terest  in  calypso  (RCA).  Jazz  has 
a  specialized  public  with  albums 
hitting  about  3,000  sales.  Dance 
music  goes  via  Ray  Anthony  and 
Billy  May  both  on  Capitol  for 
Pathe.  For  Yank  disks  sold  here, 
7(Kr.  are  instrumentals,  15^  vocals 
and  15re  jazz. 

It  has  been  found  that  the  .new 
in-person  trend  for  Yank  singers 
and  instrumentalists  at  the  music- 
halls  here,  and  especially  the 
flagship  Olympia,  depend  on  the 
platter  exposure  that  precedes 
them.  Specialists  may;  he  hep  but. 


LAWRENCE  WELK 


And  Hi,  CHAMPAGNE  MUSIC 

3rd  Consecutive  Year 
Dodge  Dancing  Party 
ABC-TV— Sat,  9-10  .P.M.,  E.S.T. 
For  Dodge  Dealers  ;of '  America 
Top  Tunes  and  New  Talent 
ABC-TV  Moil.  9:30-10:30  pm,  E.S.T. 
Dodge  and  Plymouth 
Coral  Records 
Thesaurus  Transcriptions 


the  cream  of  American  bands  have 
played  here,  and  that  is  what  Brit¬ 
ish  audiences  have  become  .accus¬ 
tomed  to  and  now  demand.  Noth¬ 
ing  less  than  the  best  will  do  any¬ 
more,  And  this  is  where  the 
problem  begins.  To  bring  over  the 
same  bands  at  the  same  fate  as  in 
the  past  would  prove  disastrous, 
and  the  .risk  of  presenting  lesser 
known.  American,  outfits  would 
almost  certainly  be  too  consider¬ 
able. 


Slow  It  Down 


The  answer  to  the  problem  as 
I  see  it  would,  be,  firstly,  to  slow 
down  the  rush  of  bands  shuttling 
across  the  Atlantic  to,  say  four .  at 
the  most  in  one  year.  The  main 
attraction  of  the  visiting  bands  is 
their  novelty  to  British  ..audiences. 
This  novelty  could  be  maintained 
by  the  same  outfits  with,  careful 
Dresentatioh  ;at  selected  venues: 
The  period  between  a  band's  ap¬ 
pearances  here  should  be  .  long 
enough  for  the  fans  to  savor  their 
memories  of  it  and  to  whet  their 
appetites  for  more; 

Although  the  visiting  bands  from 
America  have  been  generally  very 
good,  ap.  important  factor  has 
emerged  from  .the  exchanges 
which  has  proved  to  be  a  shot  in 
the  arm  for  British  mus'cians.  Jazz¬ 
men  here  have  long  suffered  from 
what,  can  only  be  called  an  inferi¬ 
ority  Complex,  which,,  to  a  large 
extent,  has  been  fostered  by  their 
audiences,  who’ ve  long  held  ..the 
opinion  that  only  jazz  from  America 
is  good.  To  a:  great  extent,  this 
has  been  disproved  in  recent 
months  by  hearing  the  American 
bands,  in  the  flesh  instead  of  only 
oh  wax.  Apart:  from  a  few  really 
outstanding  musicians  who  have 
come  here,  it  is  now  realized  that 
top  British  instrumentalists  have 
as  much .  to  offer  as  their  U.S. 
counterparts.  Another  way  in 
which  British  bands,  hive  benefited 
from  Hie,  exchanges  is  that  ,  they 
have  learned  how  to  swing;  which 
has  been  a  sorely  lack'ng  factor  in 
many .  but  a  handful  of  top  bands. 

Headaches  which  .have  resulted 
from  the.  setup  in  the  past  have 
been  worthwhile  in  view  of  its 
achievements,  namely,  the  raising 
of  the:  standard  of  musical  appre¬ 
ciation,  the  first  appearances  of 
American  bands  in  dyer  a  quarter 
of  :  a  eentury,  and  finally,  the  part 
it  has  played  and  \v\ll  play  in 
Anglo-U.S.  .relations. 


N.Y>  Dmes  I^xes  Copies 
Of  Its  Renews  for  Ads 

The  N.  Y.  Times  hns  decided  to 
keep  its  legit  and  film  reviews  to 
itselL 

The  daily  has  issued  a  new  edict 
prohibiting  the  use  of  exact  copies 
of  its  reviews  for  advertising  in  any 
publication— newspaper  ..or  maga¬ 
zine:  The  use  of  excerpts  from  re¬ 
views  is  still  permitted  and  the  re¬ 
striction  does  not  aooly  to  blow¬ 
ups  used  fdr  theatre  lobby  displays. 

The  ban  on  reproducing  reviews] 
in  full,  is  believed  to  s!em  from  an 
error  that  occurred  earlier  this  sea¬ 
son  .in  the  publication  of  a  direct 
facsimile  of  a  Time  notice  by 
drania  critic  Brooks  Atkinson  as 
an  ad  in  the  N..  Y.  Herald  Tribune. 
It  was  run,  however,  without  the 
required  “advertisement”  .slug  and 
the  makeup  of  the  page  was  such 
that  it  icould  have  been  interpreted 
as  editorial  ma,  * 


HOW  NOT  TO  HAVE  A  HIT 

j  (In  10  Easy  Methods) 

By  AL  STILLltLAN 

1. _FoIlow  the  current  trend. 

Best  results  are  obtained  by  strategic  timing , 

that  is  to  say,  coming  out  at  the  tail-end  of  the  trend. 

2. — Write  “another’’  “September  Spng”  “White  Christmas,” 

Failure  is  insured  by  advertising  the  original  product 
while  suffering.,  by  cbm 

3. — Be  “commercial.” 

Never  use  a  word  that  hasn’t  been  stripped  of  all  meaning 
by  over -use.  At  the  same  time,  avoid  a  fresh  icord,  line, 
harmonic  sound,  or  rhyme ,  for  fear  it  may.  .call  favorable 
attention  to  the  ng. 

4. — Accept  criticism. 

Always  agree  to  changes  in  lines,  rhym  ,  and/or  notes, 
suggested  by  the  singer’s  manager,  especially  if  he’s 
her  husband,  as  is  generally  the  case.  In  this  y:  ,  you 
assure  the  deletion  of  the  best  lines,  rhymes,  nd/or  notes,. 

5. _Arrange  to  get  on  wax  as  the  flip  side  of  a  movie  song. 

By  this  method,  you  never  have  to  worry  if  your  sen 
lias  hit  possibilities,  because  the  money  expended  by 
the:  movie,  company’s  publicity  department  will  give 
your  song  the  complete  anonymity  it  needs, 

If  you’re  a  composer  (not  Berlin  or  Porter),  write  your 
own  lyrics. 

7 . _If  you’re  a  lyricist  (not  Porter  or  Berlin),  write  your 

own  tunes. 

8. — Go  into  the  publishing  business  yourself. 

All  the  angles  formerly ‘Open  to  you  as  an  uhaffiliated 
writer,  Will  then  be  closed,  making  it  harder -to  win 
friends,  but  easier  to  lose  m 

9. — Come  out  with  a  new  song  Dec: 

You  will  be  so  snowbound  by  “Winter  Wonderland,”  et  al, 
and  so  tangled  up  hi  Santa’s,  whiskers,  as  he  is  coining 
to  town,  that  your  song  is  sure  to  suffer  until  at  least.. 

Jan.  1,  when  the  new  crop  of  pops  will  mercifully 
put  it  but  of  its  misery. 

10. — Cover  Elvis. 


s 

’n’R  Is 


Boffo  B, 


By  ALAN  FREED 

No  matter  how  you  look  at  it  r  amateur  as 
or  feel  towards  it,  rock  ’n’  roll,  has 
been  a  part  of  show  business  for  a 
long  time.  Rock  ’n’  roll  is  just  a 
variation,  of  the  -  4-by-4.  tempo  that 
was  used  by  singers  of  the  Al  .Jol- 
son-Harry  Richmart-Eddie  Cantor 
era.  If  you  listen  closely  to  Jolson’s 
“Mammy”  or  Richman’s  ‘‘Vaga¬ 
bond  Song,”  it’s  the.  same  as  rock 
’n’  roll.  As  a  matter  of  technical 
musical  fact,  all  rock  ’ll’  roll  num¬ 
bers  are  based  on  the  four  chords 
originated  by  “Banjo-Eyes”  in  his 
famous  theme,.  “We  Want  Cantor.” 

What  we  are  hearing  and  playing 
and  writing  today  is  a  reprise  of 
the  music?  that  stirred  the  coun¬ 
try  three  and  four  decades  ago. 

Actually,  rock  ’rt’  roll  is  a  form  of 
music  that  dates  back  to  the  work¬ 
ers  on  the  southern  fields,  before  it 
meved  into,  the  Jolson  era.  But 
not  unt*I  the  teenagers  of  the  mid¬ 
dle  1950s  adopted  it  as  their  own 
did  it  result  in  such  a  boon  to  the 
music  business. 

This  past  year,  especially  sq.  In 
the.  period  from  1946  to  1950  a  big 
sale  on  a  record  was  500, 000?  With 

few  exceptions.  Then  .  in  the 
middle.  ’50s  along  came  Elvis  Pres¬ 
ley:  and.  “Don’t  Be  Cruel  ”  The 
trade  was  more  flabbergasted  than 
the  public  when  it  was  revealed, 
that  this  rock  'n'  roll  record  ,  sold 
around  5,000,000  copies.  Elvis  fol¬ 
lowed  it  with  a  few  more  in  the 
same  neighborhood.  .  It  didn’t  take 
the  record  business  long  to  teal- 1 
ize  wliat  was  happening.  Other 
platters  on  the  rock  V  roll  style 
were  pressed  pronto  and  single 
disk  sales  began  to  broaden  in 
scope.  What  had  been  figments  of 
many  recording  companies  arid 
press  agents’  imaginations  became 
an  actuality— the  fabulous  un^ 
knowns  with  the  million-selling 
records.  Today,  as  a  direct  result 
of  the  rock  'n’  roll  trend,  the  disk 
that  sold  200,000  in  '46  to  ’50,  now 
sells  about  a  million.  The  record 
that  would  stop  at  a  500,000  mark 
in  another  era  now  sells  about 
2,000.000. 

The  popularity  of  rock  ’n*  roll 
music  has  had  a  heavy  influence 
on  tv.  Ed  Sullivan  and  Steve  Alien 
have  used  as  many  as  three  to  five 
r  &  r.  artists  on  .some  of  their 
shows,  as  does  “The  Big  Record” 
and  other  national  tw  programs. 

Local  video  shows  are  likewise  sa¬ 
turated  with  rock  ’h’  roll  talent,! 


well  as  established 

names, 

In  the  past  year,  almost  all  the 
major  motion  picture  studios 
turned  out  top  films  featuring  rock 
*n’  roll  artists  like.  Elvis  Presley, 
Tommy  Sands,  Pat  Boone;  et  al. 
It  is  granted  that  musicals  featur¬ 
ing  popular  recording  names  of  the 
day  have  been  .made  for  years  by 
major  and  independent  studios 
yet  the.  amount  of  monies  being 
grossed  by  musicals  featuring 
rock  ’n’  roll  have  been  nothing 
short  of  fantastic.  Not  only  here 
but  abroad:;  None  of  the  rock  ’n’ 
roll  musicals  has  been  known  to 
garner:  4-stars  critiques;,  it’s  true, 
but  that  too.  may  come  in  time 
One  thing  is  sure— they  do  busi¬ 
ness  at  the  boxolfice.  . 

Tours  of  rock  '  roll,  artists  go 
out  on  12  to  15  Weeks  of  one-, 
nighter  trips  to  many  towns  in  the 
U.S.  that  seldom  .see  live  musical 
talent.  As  much  as  a  quarter  of 
a  million  profit  ik  realized  from 
one  of  these  tours.  The  demand 
for  rock  ’  roll  talent  has  some 
of  the  country’s  best'  promoters 
scheduling  big  r  &  r  jaunts  for 
1958, 

The  biggest  boon,  however,  has 
been  to  music  publishers  who,  not 
many  years  ago,  numbered  a  little 
over  400.  Today  there  are  thous¬ 
ands.  Through  the  power  of  rock 
’n’  roll  popularity  publishers  earn 
money  from  record  sales,  perform-, 
ance.  fees  of  records  on  tv  & 
radio,  picture  rights  and,  yes, 
even  from  whatever  sheet  music 
sales  that  result, 

This  much-maligned  music  has 
also  been  a  phim  to.  promoters  of 
live  stager  shows.  Musical:  vaude¬ 
ville  shows  Werer  considered  kaput 
until  in-person  shows  in  major 
tKeatres  away  back  in  the  early. 
’50s,  featuring  the  “big  beat”  of 
the  first  rock  ’n’  roll  stars  of  this 
era.  As  a  result,  disk  jockeys  in 
every  big  city,  in  the  country  are 
staging  similar  shows. 

It  is  my  opinion  that  rock:  ’n* 
roll,  which  has  always  been  with  iis 
as  a  native  American  art  form,  is 
at  last  being  accepted  as  part  and. 
parcel,  of  the  nation’s  inusical 
form. 

-  Which  reminds  of  the  time  re¬ 
cently  when  Mike  WaRacer  invited 
me  on  his  interview  show,  I  had 
to  turn  him  down.  “Why  argue 
about  rock  ’n’  roll?”  I  said,  “It's 
Bigger  than  Both  of  Us.” 


MUSIC 


215 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second  J^SrIETY  Anniversary 


Indies’ Inroads  on  Major  Diskeries’  Pop 
Singles;  $400,000,000 Record  Mark 


By  HERMAN  FINKELSTEIN 

( General  Attorney  for  ASQAP ) 


Five  years  have  passed  since  the  intergovernmental 
meeting  Geneva,  Switzerland,  in  1952'  where  the  Uni¬ 
versal  Copyright  Convention  was  drafted.  The  chief  of 
the  American  delegation  to  that  conference,  Luther;  Evans, 
has  become  the  Director  General  of  UNESCO;  twO  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  delegation,  Arthur  Farmer,  arid  Joseph  Bry¬ 
son,  have  since  passed  on;  Shepard  Crumpacker  gave  up 
his  Congressional  seat  to  return  to  his  private  law  prac¬ 
tice  in  Indiana;. ;  two  remain  with  the  Federal  Govern¬ 
ment— Arthur  Fisher,  Register  of  Copyrights,  and  Roger 
C.  Dixon,  Chief  of  Business  Practices  and  Technology 
Staff,  Office  of  Economic  Defense  and  Trade  Policy,  De¬ 
partment1  of  State;  the  remaining  three  are  in  private 
practice;  ih  New  York-hJohn  Schulman,  Sydney  Kaye  and 
the  writer. 

The  United  States  adhered  to  the  Convention  in  1954; 
Great  Britain  during  the  past  year.  All  told;  26  countries, 
have  adhered  to  the  Convention  to  date:  Andorra,  Aus¬ 
tria,.  Cambodia,  Chile,  Costa  Rica,  Cuba,  Ecuador,  France, 
German  Fed.  Repub.,  Great  Britain,  Haiti,  Holy  See,  Ice¬ 
land,  Israel,  Italy,  Japan,  Laos,  Liberia,  Luxembourg, 
Mexico,  Monaco,  Pakistan,  Portugal,  Spain,  Switzerland, 
USA.  '  •  / 

The  Convention  provides  that  there  shall  be  no  formal¬ 
ities  as  a  condition  for  enjoyment  of  rights  other  than  a 
copyright  notice,  consisting  of  the  symbol  ©,  accompanied 
by  the  name  of  the  copyright  owner  and  the  year  of  copy¬ 
right.  This  provision  made:  it  necessary  for  the  United 
States  to  abandon— as  to  foreign  works  protected  under 
the  Universal  Copyright  Convention^the  requirement 
that  works  in  the  English  language  must  be  manufactured 
in  the  United  States  from  type  set  in  the  United  States. 
That  clause  had  been  the  main  stumbling  block  to  our 
adherence  to  the  older  Berne  Convention,  which  provides 
for  automatic  copyright  without  any  formalities  whatso¬ 
ever  In  other  words,  countries  subscribing  to,  the  Berne 
Union  may  not  decree  a  forfeiture  of  rights^as  is  per¬ 
mitted  by  the  Universal  Copyright  Conventiqn-^if  a  de-  . 
f  ective  copyright  notice  (or  no  notice)  appears  oh;  the 
.  work,  br  if  the:  work  is  not  registered; 

1  2  International  Treaties  ;  1 

The  question  to  which  we  must  now  address  ourselves 
is:  Is  there  ,  any  need  of  two  international  copyright  con¬ 
ventions?  Is  there  any  possible  basis  for  merging  the 
Berrie  and  Universal  Conventions?  What  =  are  the  stum¬ 
bling  blocks  to  such  a  merger? 

The  Berne  Convention  was  first  formulated:  in  1886.  It 
now  is  effective  ainong.44  countries:  Australia,  Austria, 
Belgium,  Brazil,  Bulgaria,  Canada,  Czechoslovakia,  Ben- 
mark,  Eire,  Finland,  France,  Germany,  .Great  Britain, 
Greece,.  Hungary,  Iceland,  India,  Indonesia;  Israel,  Italy, 
Japan,  Lebanon,  Liechtenstein,  Luxembourg,  Monaco, 
Morocco  (Fr.j,  Netherlands,  New  Zealand,  Norway,  Pak¬ 
istan,  Philippi  , .  Roland,  Portugal,  Rumania,  Spain, 
Sweden,  Switzerland,  Syria,  Thailand,  Tunis,.  Turkey, 
Berne ;  and  Universal  'Conventions?'  What  are  the  stum- 
Union  of  South  Africa,  Vatican  City,  Yugoslavia. 

As  between,  two.  Countries  which  are  members  of  both 
the  Berne  and  Universal  Conventions,  in  Case  of  conflict 
between  the  provisions  of  the  two  conventions,  the  former 
governs.  What  is  the  possible  area  of  those  Conflicts? 
Bfieflly  there  is  the  notice  provision  discussed  above: 
Berne  bars  all  formalities;  Universal  permits  member 
States  to  require  a  specified  form  of  notice.  The  term  of 
protection  differs:  Berne  requires  a  term  equal  to.  the 
life  of  the  author  plus  50  years  after  his  death;  Universal 
permits  a  25-year  term,  measured  from  the  date  Of  publi¬ 
cation  or  the  death  of  the  author  as  "may  be  provided  iri 
each  case  by  existing  legislation.  Berrie  provides  for  the 
protection  of  the ;  so-called  “moral  rights’’  of  the  author 
(the  right  not  to  have  his  work-  distorted;  to  receive  ap? 
propriate  screen  credit,  etc:)  in  spite  -  of  any  contractual 
provision  to  the  contrary— a  subject  which  is  not  covered 
by  the  Universal  Convention.  Further,  the  provisions  of 
the  Berne  Convention  have  retroactive  effect  as  cpmpafd 
with-  the  wholly  prospective  operation  of  the  Universal. 

.  Convittion. . 

If  these  provisions  can  be  reconciled,  it  would  appear 
possible  to  effect  a  merger  between,  thetwo  conventions. 
First,  let  us  consider  the  requirement  of  a  copyright  no¬ 
tice.  Such  a.  .notice  is.  not  .  necessary,  uhder  bur  law.  irithe 
case. of  unpublished  works;  it  need  not  appear  on. phono¬ 
graph  records  or  tapes;  it  is  rarely  seen  on  the  television 
screen.  The  result  is  that  in  those  fields  in  which  the 
greatest  commercial  use  of  iiterary  and  musical  materials 
is  itiade,  the  notice  means  nothing.  On  the  other  hand,  if 
the  wrong  form  of  notice  appears  On  a  printed  Work,  the 
author’s  property  may  be  forfeited  even  though  no  user 
has  been  actually  misled.  This  fate  was  suffered  by  Oliver 
Wendell  Holmes,  “Autocrat  Of  the  Breakfast  Table’’  and 
“Professor  At  the  Breakfast  Table.”  The  law  reports  are 
full  of  more  recent  examples.  But  most,  of  these  cases 
never  go  to  court  because  the  author  or  publisher  does 
not  want  to  advertise  the  fact  that  his  work  has  accident¬ 
ally  fallen  into  the  public  domai 

If,  as  in  Berne  countries;  copyright  protection  com¬ 
menced  on  creation  of  the  work  and  continued  until  50 
years  after  the  author’s  death,  ho  form  of  statutory  notice 
would  be  necesary,  It  would  also  avoid  much  ,  litigation;  . 
arising  out  of  the  diffcult  question  of  deciding- whether  or 
hot  a  work  has  been  “published.”  The  courts  are  divided 
as  to  whether  the  release  of  a  phonograph  record'  before 
statutory  copyright  is  obtained/  amounts .  to  a  “publica¬ 
tion’.’  which  destroys  all  common .  law  rights  and .  forfeits 
the  right  to  secure  statutory  copyright. 

In  addition,  a  term  of  life  plus.  50  years  would  have  the 
(Continued  on  page  217) 


By  MIKl 

The  continuing  impact  of  new  labels  and  new  artists  on 
the  pop  market  has:  raised  anew  the  question  of  just  how 
far  out  is  left  field.  There’s  no  telling  where  the  hits  are 
coming  from  or  by  whom  and  the  doors  are  still  wide 
open  to  all  comers. 

Small  disk  companies  and  performers  Who.heretofore, 
had  been  confined  to;  their  own.  bailiwicks  spread  into 
national  prominence;  giving  theyets  and  the  majors  a  hard 
rUn  for  their  money.  A  push  by  a  local  dee  jay  in  Boston, 
Philadelphia,  Detroit,  Cleveland,  Chicago  or  iSari  Francis¬ 
co  was  enough  to  start  a  disk  winging  around  the  Coun¬ 
try.  And  the  spread  of  the  indies  on  the.  national  scene  has 
further  helped  eliminate  musical  categorizations  such 
country  music,  rhythm’  &  blues,  rock  ’n’  roll  and  pops. 
The  breakthrough  and  countrywide  acceptance  of  all  the 
styles  has  made  it  hard  to  tell  just  which  is  which  and,, 
for  the  m°st  part,  they  are  all  now  being  referred  to  as 
straight  pop  records.. 

This  integration  of  regional,  musical  forms  may  well  be 
part  of  the  building  of  an .  authentic  musical  Americana. 

The  stylerblending  also  has  given  the  pop  music. busi-; 
ness  a  diversity  that  it’s,  not  had  before.  The  pop  single 
record  buyefs:  seem  more  willing  tb  accept  a  greater  vari¬ 
ety  of  musical  forms  and  they’re,  not  being  bound  to  any 
particular  artist,  either:  Along  with  the  rock  'n’  roll  clicks 
like “You  Send  Me,”  “Jailhouse  Rock,”  “Wake  Up  Little 
Susie”  arid  “Silhouettes,”  substantial  ballad  entries  like 
“Tammy,”  “Chances  Are,’’  “It’s  Not  For  Me  Tq  Say,”  “All 
The  Way,”  ‘i April  LOve”  and  “Old  Cape  Cod”  have  beeri 
able  to  share  the  public’s  interest.  Even  reworks  of  such 
standards  as  “I’m  Gonna  Sit-  Right  Down  and  Write  My¬ 
self  A  Letter”  arid  “So  Rare”  came  to  share  the,  Spins 
with  the  r’ri’r  beat. 

1  It’s  Still  That  ‘Beat’  f 

It’s  stiir  primarily  and  r’n’r  disk  world,  though.  The 
teenagers,  who  cbihprise  the  bulk  of  the  pop  singles  buy¬ 
ing  market,  are  continuing  to  call  the  beat.  Major  record¬ 
ing  execs,  who’ve  watched  the  indies  take  the  lead  in.  the  . 
T’n’r  sphere,  however,  are  taking  a  lorigrange  optimistic 
view  of  the  trend:  According  to.  them,  the  r’n’r  platters 
are  serving  as  an  incubation  for  future  packaged  goods 
customers.  The.  passion  for  r’n’r,  they  say,  Will  diminish 
as  the  teeners  grow,  older  but  it  will  have  conditioned 
them  to  music  and  record-buyirig  which  will  rub  off  on 
their  ppp  albums,  jazz  arid  classical  product.  SO  it’s  the' 
left  field  labels,  they  contend,:  with  their  quick-buck  clicks 
that  are  building  an  audience  for  the  major’s  long-buck 
Album  catalog, 

The  riiajors,  though,  are  pot  exactly  being  completely 
shut  out  of  the  indie  boom:  They’ve  been  picking  up  plenty 
of  cash:  by  takmg  on,  the  production,  chores  for  the  small 
outfits  through  their  custom  record  division.  The  custom 
record  divisions  have  been  making  it  comparatively  easy 
for  anyone  to  take  a  crack  at  the  disk  business.  All  a  disk 
impresario  ’has  to  do  is  get  a  master,  line  up  some  dis¬ 
tributors  and  potent  deejay  contacts  and  ths  majors  will 
do  all  the  mechanics  of  pressing  and  shipping. 

|  .  .  .  ..  Custom  Dept.  Windfall  ;  ......  j 

Occasionally  the  custom  record  operation  Jias  caused 
spme  unuSUal  oCcufences;  One  of  the  most  popular  is  the 
instance  of  RCA  Victor's  manufacturing  plant  being  so 
tied  up  pressing  for  Dot  Records  that  Victor's  platter 
product  had  to  be  farmed  out  to  MGM  Record’s  Bloom- 
field  (N.J.)  plant. 

Another  aspect,  of  the  indie  breakthrough  is  its  free¬ 
wheeling  operation.  Working  without  the  problems  Of  a 
fixed  overhead  and  a  “loose”  bookkeeping  system,  the 
indies  have  been  able  to  knock  the  majors  out  of  the  box 
in  key  areas.  Working  with  hustling  freelance  distributor 
setups,  the  indies  have  been  able  to  kick  off  their  product 
in  the  areas  that  serve  as  a  springboard  for  nationwide 
prominence.  It’s  on  the  local  level,  particularly,  that  the. 
indies  have  been  putscoring  the  majors  with  giveaway 
deals  and  “special”  considerations: for  deejays  but  this  is 
all  the  start  the,vask.  And,  as  has  been  evidenced  by  the 
mppup  during  the  past  year,  it’s  all;  they  need. 

Since  it’s  open  season  in  the  disk  business  all  year 
rOurid,  more  sinall  labels  than  ever  before  have  been  abl, 
to  climb  on  the  national  hit  lists.  Soine  of  the  labels,  in  : 
fact,  weren't  even  around  tfie  year  before.  The  market 
became  wide  open  for  such  left  field  diskery.  entries  as: 
Keen,  Phillips;  International,  Cameo,  Imperial,  Chess, 
Aladdin,  Roulette,  Sun,  Specialty,  Gone,  Ember,  Checker, 
Ebb,  Lance,  Paris,  Class,  yee^Jay  and  Argo. 

Big  indie  companies  /such  as  Kapp,  Dot;  Jubilee,  arid 
Liberty:  have  long  been  giving  the  majors  hard  competi¬ 
tion.  ; 

And  just  as  therefore  labels  that  weren’t  around  last 
year  so  are  there  artists  who  quickly  climbed  to  the  top 
on  their  first  time  out.  Sam  Cooke,  Bill  Justis,  Everly 
Bros.,  The  Rays,  Johnny  Mathis,’  Thurston  Harris,  Jimmie 
Rodgers;  Buddy  Knox,  Danny  &  The  Juniors,  Margie  Ray- 
burri'  Crickets,  Shepherd  Sissters,  Bobby.  Helms,  Bobettes 
and  Paul  Anka  are  just  a  few  who’Ve  been  riding  the  disk 
wave..’ 

However,  the  newcomers  have  been  giving  the  industry 
a  .  new  headache.  In  many  instances  they’re  in-and-out 
performers,  unable  to  follow  up  with  a  clicko  side.  The 
one-shot  nature  of  ..the  -  business  has  caused,  plenty  of. 
anguish  with  the  record  companies,  distributors  and 
publishers.  Each  in  his  own  way  goes  all  out  on  the 
followup  platter  only  to  find  that  the  teenage  fans  have 
switched;  to  a  new  flash-in-the-platter. 

Despite  the  left'  field  inroads  made  by  the  indies, 
there’s  ho  crepe  hangirig  oyer  the  riiajors.  RCA  Victor, 
Columbia,  Decca  and  Capitol  fe  running  way  ahead 


2  GROSS 

in  their  sales  take.  They’ve  gotten  their  share  of  the 
pop  pull  and  have  been  cleaning  up  with  the  packaged 
product.  It’s  the  mushrooming  package  field,  in  fact,  that 
tradesters  figure  inay  be  the  undoing  of  a  lot  of  indie 
operations. 

After  having  picked  lip  some  coin  with  the  pop  clicks, 
quite  a  few  of  the  indies  have  been  going  after  larger 
game  in  album  field.  It’s  this  splurge  into  the  packaged 
fqods  market  that’s  been  making  the  indies  nervous.^  At 
the  $3.95  tag  for  a  pop  LP,  the  profit  margin  is  pretty 
slim  considering .  the  rising  Costs  in  recording,  art  work, 
promotion,  etc.  The  majors  get  by  on  volume  sales  while 
iridies;  with  a  small;  LP  catalog  to  work  with,  have  found  . 
it  tough  sledding,  to  pull  their  line  into  the  profit  column. 

They’re  not  running  scared  yet,  though,  and  are  hold¬ 
ing  the  fort  despite  some  nifty  buyout  offers/  They  figure 
the  market’s  big  and  getting  bigger  and  that  they’ll  even¬ 
tually'  get  their  share. 

.  And  With  the  growing  interest  of  motion  picture,  com¬ 
panies  in  the  disk  biz,  the  indies  can.  .afford  to  sit  it  out 
until  some  irresistabie  offer  comes  up.  Something  like 
the  Paramount  buy  of  Dot  Records,  for  example.  Report¬ 
edly  20th-Fox  and  Warner  Bros,  also  have  been  eyeing 
a  disk  operation  of  their  own.  Loew’s .  has  reshuffled 
its  MGM  Records  division  and  United  Artists  kicked  off 
its.  own  UA  diskery  label  towards  the  end  of  the  year. 

The  film  companies  want  in  to  the  record  business  for 
moire  than  just  pic  tie>in:  reasons.  They  realize  its. a 
booming  business  and  they  want  a  share. 

Contributing  factor  to  the  disk  sales  boom  is  the  emer¬ 
gence  of  platters  as  a  hot  supermarket  item.  In  1956 
a  total  of  4,000  supers  handled  records.  For  1957,  11,500 
supers  were  in  the  disk  business  accounting  for  16-18% 
of.  all  records  sold.  In  '56  the  supers  accounted  for 
$14,000,000  in  disk  sales.  The  figure  for  ’57  jumped  to 
$40,000;000.  With  the  supers  concentrating  mainly  low- 
price  product,  label’s  concentrating  on  $1.49  to  $1.98  LP 
product  have  come  to  the  fore  and  such  majors  as  RCA 
yictor  .and  Columbia  have  been  driving  on  their  lowprice 
Camden  and  Harmony  lines,  respectively. 

In  the  race  fpr  profits  and  clicks  the  companies  have 
been  developing  new  plans  and  sales  structures.  Follow¬ 
ing  Columbia’s  lead,  RCA  Victor  and  Capitol  are  now  in 
the  club  business  which  figures  to  further  broaden  the 
record  audience^  And  starting  in  February,  RCA  Victor 
is  raising  its  classical  LP  price  to  $4.98  following  moves 
already  made  by  Capitol  and  Mercury.  Columbia,  for 
the  tirrie  being,  iS  staying  with  the  $3.98  tab.  And  in 
the  singles  field,  RCA  Victor  has  upped  the  price  of  it 
45  rpm  disks:  to  98c  from  89c  with  a  100%  guarantee. 

I  Arid  also  in  an  effort  to  win  disk  prominence  the  com¬ 
panies  have  been  reshuffling  their  artists  &  repertoire 
setup.  Steve  Sholes  took  over  at  RCA  Victor  replacing 
Joe  Carlton  who  formed  his  own  company.  Loew’s  brought 
in  Arnold  Maxin  to  head  up  MGM  Records  with  Morty 
Craft  as  his  a&r  chief,  with  Frank  B.  Walker  and  ‘Harry 
Meyerson  exiting.  Former  went  over  to  the  parent  Loew’s 
company  as  consultant  While  latter  joined  the  a&r  depart¬ 
ment  at  Decca  Records. 

In  a  move,  to  get  a  part  of  the  rock'n’roll  business, 
Victor  tapped  cleffers  Jerry  Lieber  and  Mike  Stoller  as. 
freelance  a&r  men  and  songwriter-arranger  Joe  Sherman 
took  over  the  a&r  helm  at  Epic  from  the  exiting  Arnold 
Maxi 

On  the  longhair,  level;  Capitol  begins  the  new  year, 
with  the  Angel  line  in  its  pocket.  Both  Capitol  and  Arigel 
are  owned  by  EMI  (Electric  &  Musical  Industries)  and 
the  switch  was  made  to  give  the  Angel  line  a  stronger 
distribution  setup. 

The  record  Industry’s  shifts  and  switches  are  all  being 
made  with  one  goal  in  yiew.  Everyone,  majors  and  left 
field  indies  alike,  is  looking  for  a  heftier  cut  of  that 
predicted  $400,000,000  take  for  ’58. 

Disques  D%o  &  Other  Data 
Oh  The  fallit  Music  Biz 

Paris. 

French  version  of  “Gold  Disk”  toppers:  Nri.  1  here  Is 
still  the  romahticp,  sugarbeet  warbler,  TinoRossi,  who 
has  sold  10,000,000  records  in  his  career,  about  450,000 
annually.  Other  bigtime  sellers  are  Charles  Trenet,  Edith 
Piaf,  Luis  Mariano,  Georges  Guetary,  Yves  Morilahd,  Jac¬ 
queline  Francois,  Lucienne  Delyle  and  the  Italo  Marino 
Marini.  Slated  for  this  category  soon  are  Georges' Bras- 
seris,  Gloria  Lasso,  Philippe  Clay,  Dario  Moreno,  Charles 
Aznavour,  Gilbert  Becaud.  Already  in  it,  of  course, 
Eddie  Constantine. 

Though  SACEM  (the  French  counterpart  of  ASCAP) 
refuses  to  give  out  figures,  the  song  setup  seems  to  be  in 
good  shape  fob.  Over  30,000  neW  ditties  are  still  registered 
every;  year, .  and  the  licensing  society  shells  out  over  $9,- 
000,000  to  its  members  every  year.  SDRM  has  been  In  ex¬ 
istence  since  1901.  It  handles  the.  mechanicals,  of.  which 
the  disk  is  now  the  inairi  -  outlet. 

Songwriters'  and  music  publishers  now  get  4%  of  the 
disk  sales  with  50%  to  the  publisher,  25%  to  cleffer  arid 
25%  to  lyricist..  Top  vocalists  get  about  $500  to  do  a  song 
Usually,  but  many  do  not  go  in  for  the  payola  activities. 
With  disks  arid  radio  time  the  main  plugs,  it  usually  costs 
a  publisher  about  $2,500  per  song  to  get  it  off  the  ground..- 
The  orie  hit  is  counted  on  to  cover  the  costs  that  the  more 
than  20  pubs  shell  out  fpr  their  myriad  of  entries. 

.  With  music  hall  and  disks  big,  the  song  is  again  big 
show  biz  property  here,  and,  along  with  the  other  facets 
of  show  biz,  reflects  and  sums  up  the  times  and  tastes. 


218 


MUSIC 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty*ecdnd  Pft&IETY  Anniversary 


1957  was  ‘‘Whatever  Will  Be”  (Dor¬ 
is  Day).  Other  bestselling  songs  of 
the  year  were  “Walkin’  in  the 
Rain”  (Ray),  “Bock-a-Billy”  (Mit¬ 
chell),  “Yes,  Tonight  Josephine” 
(Ray>,  “Sihgin’  the  Blues”  (Mit¬ 
chell).  , 


By  HANS  HOEHN 


AKi  t/i  i  niAniT  mA 


Berlin, 

Within  ,  the  various  branches  of 
the  West  German  show  biz  that  of 
the  recording  industry  is  best  off. 
The  domestic  diskeries  keep  reg¬ 
istering.  one  advance  after  the 
other. 

That  also  is  to.  the  advantage  of 
the  U.S.  diskeries.  Latter  have  long 
realized  that  the  German  market 
is  their  most  lucrative  foreign- 
language  outlet.  As  in  more  or  less 
all  Western  countries,  American 
pop  music  has  become  a  common¬ 
place  also  here.  One  may  even  say, 
it’s  a  prime  factor  here.  In  nearly 
all  cases,  the  big  American  top 
tunes,  with  German  lyrics,  auto¬ 
matically  become  hits  in  Teutonic 
territories. 

There  are  four  big  diskeries  in 
West  Germany.  Deutsche  Gram- 
mophoh  Gesellschaft,  (DGG)  head¬ 
quartered  in  Hamburg,  kept  its 
dominating  position  in  the  coun¬ 
try,  during  the  past  12  months. 
DGG  claims  that  their  company’s 
percentage  is  still  around  50%.  of 
the  local  market'  In  the  opinion 
of  DGG’s  competing  firms,  “this 
percentage  might  have  been,  but 
it’s  not  that  big  any  longer,” 

Besides  pressing  records  for  its 
own  labels,  DGG  also  does  the 
pressing  job  for  its  American  af¬ 
filiates,  Dacca,  Brunswick  and 
Coral.  Company’s  top  seller  of 
1957  was  without  doubt  “Heim- 
weh”  (the  German  version .  of 
“Memories  Are  Made  Of  This”), 
sung  by  Freddie  (Quinn).  It  regis¬ 
tered  a  sale  of  2,000,000  records, 
simply  sensational  number  in  this 
country.  Runners-up  were  mostly 
Caterina  Valente  items.  Surprising 
is  the  fact  that  her  German  mu¬ 
sical  pik  are  a  far  cry  from  being 
commercially  successful: 

Polydor  has  also  two  of  this 
country’s  finest  bands  under  con¬ 
tract:  Kurt  Edelhagen  (the  “Ger-. 
man  Stan  Kenton”)  and  Werner 
Mueller  (in  America:  Ricardo  San-, 
tos).  The  Mueller  band,  incident¬ 
ally,  is  due  to  go  on  a  trip  through 
Japan. 

[  DGG.  Big  O’scas  1 

Company’s  attempts  tb  exploit 
foreign  markets  are  seen  via  the 
fact  that  there’s  hardly  a  European 
country  in  which  it  is  not  operat¬ 
ing.  DGG  manager  Constantin 
Metaxas  said  that  DGG  is  particu¬ 
larly  successful  in  Austria  via 
Polydor  Wien  (Vienna)  and  also 
Switzerland.  In  both  areas,  DGG 
has  allegedly  50%  of  the  market. 
In  Scandinavian  areas,  DGG  rides 
under  the  Siemens  banner.  In 
France,  company  has  Polydor  S.A., 
Paris,  while  the  British  outlet  calls 
itself  Heliodor  Limited. 


lucrative  for  RCA.  Teldec  has  been 
here  the  most  successful  (with  re¬ 
gard  to  upbeatS)  diskery  within 
the  past  12  months. 

|  .  Electrola  Third  | 

Electrola  ranks  next  in  Size 
among  this  country’s  recording 
companies.  Electrola,  however,  is 
Germany’s  most  multi-sided  disk¬ 
ery.  It  handies  His  Master’s  Voice, 
British  Columbia,.  Clef,  Odeon, 
Pariophone,  Imperial,  MGM,  Capi¬ 
tol  in  addition  to  its  own  Electrola 
records.  This  company’s  forte  is 
classical  music.  According  to  Wer¬ 
ner  Wewiasinski,  head,  of  Electro- 
la’s  Berlin  branch,  about  50%  of 
company’s  sales  are  classical  items, 
n  this  respect,  no  other  outfit  cap 
compete  with  Electrola.  Latter,  in¬ 
cidentally,  is  headquartered  in 
Cologne  (British  Zone  of  Germa¬ 
ny:)  It  was  founded  in  the  1920s 
and  joined  forces  in  the  '30s  with 
Odeon.  Latter,  set  up  by  Swedish 
Lihdstrom  in  1904j  is  possibly  the 
oldest  diskery  in  this  country/ 

Electrola  has  in  Capitol  records 
its  best  pop  selling  items:  Ten¬ 
nessee  Ernie  Ford’s  “In  the  Middle 
of  an  Island”  was  its  biggest  hit 
of  1957.  Also  “Buena  Sera”  (Louis 
Prjma)  went  big,  while .  a  surprise 
hit— though  more  in  W estern  Ger¬ 
many — was  “Diana”  (Paul  Anka). 
Other  good  names  are  Gene  Vin¬ 
cent,  Frank  Sinatra,  Nat.  (“King”) 
Cole,  Frenchman  Eddie  Constan¬ 
tine  (on  Electrola  here)  as  well-  as 
the  Germans  Fred  Bertelniann, 
Ralph  Bendix  in  addition  to  Some 
top-ranking  domestic  opera  sing¬ 
ers. 

j  Philips  Fourth.-  1 

Philips,  which  also  sells,  the 
American  Columbia  records  here, 
is  found  on  spot  No:  4  among  this 
country’s  leading  diskeries.  The 
German  headquarters  of  this  Dutch 
company  is  located  in  Hamburg. 

Philips  has  some  of  the  hot 
American  names  (Johnnie.  Ray, 
Frankie  Laine,  Doris  Day,  Guy 
Mitchell,  lately  also  Johnny  Mathis) 
at  its  disposal.  Some  feet  that  this 
company’s  potential  is  not  exploit¬ 
ed  to  best  advantage.  Philips,  it’s 
reported,  has  been  going  through 
various  internal  changes  through 
the  past  months.  Particularly,  the 
constant  changes  in  the  German 
management  of  Philips  have  led 
to  a  number  of  handicaps.  This, 
however,  isn’t  the  case  any  longer, 
and  it  seems  as  though  the  sale 
of  Philips  items  is  now  also  on  an 
upbeat. 

Heinz  Dembeck,  Philips’  chief 
sales  manager  in  Berlin,  said  that 
company’s  biggest,  bestseller  of 


First /let’s  examine  the  whinny> 
the  sound  a  horse  makes  when  he’s 


hungry. 

It  has  become  the  mariner  of 
singing  that  most  of  the  popular 
recording  and  television  vocalists 
have  adopted  today.  They  call  it 
“vibrato,’’  but  it  is  not  the  vibrato 
that  results  when  the  sound  waves 
of  a  full  round  tone  beat  against 
the  teeth  and  hard  -  palate/  Here 
there  is  no  change,  of  pitch  as  there 
is  in  the  “tremolo”  which  some¬ 
times  becomes  so  .  violent  that  the. 
Whole  note  is  off  key.  This  often  is 
the  result  of  vibrations  in  the  dia¬ 
phragm  due  to  nervousness.  Or  it 
may  be  vocal  chords  r  el  axe  d 
through  abuse  or  old  age. 

Why  this  condition,  Which  used 
to  be  called  ’’tremolo”  and  was 
considered  a  grievous  fault  in  sing¬ 
ing,  is  now  considered  something 
to  be  desired,  is  a  mystery  to  me. 
Where  did  it  come  from  and  why 
did  we  allow  it  to  develop? 

Perhaps  this  is  thie  answer.  Ex¬ 
cepting  in  the  cultivated  voice  of  a 
M  a  r  i  a  n  Anderson,  you  scarcely 
ever  hear  a  Negro  singing  without 
a  decided  tremolo,  especially  at  the 
end  of  a  phrase.  It  is  as  natural 
for  him  to  do  this  as  for  a  canary 
to  warble,  and  adds  to  the.  interest 
in  his  song.  Consequently,  Negro 
singing  beeame  very  popular  in 
America  with  recordings  soaring  to 
the  million  mark. 

So  the.  ofays  said,  “Tremolo  is 
what’  they  want,”  and  began  to 
unitate.  It  worked  all  right  as  long 
as  it  was  used  in  connection  With 
Negro  songs.  But  sOon  the  tremolo 
was  used  in  all  types  of  singing. 
The  result  is  that  today  it  is  not 
often  that  we  hear  a  ballad  ren¬ 
dered  simply  and  sincerely,  with¬ 
out  the  artificial  wobble  or  whinny. 

.  The  other  day  I  asked  a  producer 
of  a  tv  show  why  he  never  used 
Mr.  -X  on  a  program.  Said  he,  “He 
sings  too  well,  too  straight,  too 


1  ,  Telefunken,  Second _ _[ 

Second  biggest  diskery  in  the 
country  is  Telefunken,  respectively 
Teldec,.  a  liaison  of  Telefunken 
and  British  Decca,  which  is  also 
headquartered  in  Hamburg.  Teldec 
has  been  on  a  steady  upbeat  here 
since  its  tieup  with  RCA  last  year,  . 
Capitol  records,  operated  through 
Teldec,  switched  to  Electrola  which 
started  distributing  them  beginning 
last  Jan.  2.  The  distribution  of  RCA 
records  may  be  regarded  as  one  of 
the  most  important  milestones  in 
the  history  of  Telefunken  Which 
once  dominated  the  German  mar¬ 
ket.  It  has  given  this  company  a 
vast,  top-ranking  catalog  which  re¬ 
sulted  primarily  in  this  company’s 
considerable  upbeat  within  the  past 
12  months.  Besides  RCA,  Teldec 
has  also  London  and  the  very  sub¬ 
stantial  British  Decca  repertory. 
Its  liaison  with  London  means  here 
that  it  also  has  Dot,  Imperial,  Sa¬ 
voy,  Cadence  in  addition  to  some 
other  minor  firms.  Company’s  best 
pop  music  names  are  the  Ameri¬ 
can  ones. 

Harry  Belafonte,  Elvis  Presley, 
Pat  Boone,  Little  Richard  and  Fats 
Domino  are  the  company’s  top 
names.  In  the  orch  department, 
Hugo  ^Winterhalter  leads  Perez 
Prado  and  Mantovani.  Percentage 
of  dance  music  among  the  record 
sales  amounted  to  87%  last  year,] 
Classical  music  garnered  about 
10%  and  jazz  not  more  than  3%. 

Teldec’S  percentages  on  the  do¬ 
mestic  market  iS  around  25%  now, 
compared  to  15%  two  years  ago. 
RCA’s  percentage  of  TeldeC’s  com¬ 
plete  distribution  amounted  to 
about  37%  last  year.  This,  however, 
applies  only  to  the  Berlin  area. 
Latter  is  known  to  be  particularly 


GEORGE  SHEARING  and  the  Quintet 

wish  to  thank  their  many  friends/  including  Disc  Jockies,  col¬ 
umnists,  and  the  general  public,  their  help  in  making  the  year  1957 
such  a  successful  one. 

They  also  look  forward  to  an  interesting;  and  successful  1958,  With 
plana  to  do  an  Asian  tour  for  the  State  Dept.,  a  tour  of  the  major  colleges 
.in  the  U.S.A..  oyer  and  above  playing,  such  top  night  spots  as  The  Embers, 
New  York  City,  London  House,  Chicago.-  Interlude  Room:  Sari  Francisco, 
Baker’ 3  Keyboard  Lounge,  Detroit,  and  the.  usual  guest  shots  on  CBS-TV 
and  NBC-TV. 

The  Group  has  been  organized  since.  1948  and  is  now  booked  by  Asso¬ 
ciated-  Booking  Corp:,  745  Fifth  A ve.,  N.Y.C.,  managed  by  John  Levy, 
1650  Broadway,  N:Y,C.  arid  publicity  handled  by  Bill  Hegner,  1660 
Broadway,  N.Y. 


Collections:  Key  to  Prosperity 

By  EMIL  W.  MAASS 

3  Vienna. 

Whenever  national  cultural  interests  are  raised,  Vienna’s  So¬ 
ciety  of  Authors,  Composers  and  Publishers  stresses  its  internation¬ 
al  character.  This  posture  of  being  merely  a  collecting  agency  is 
based  on  a  gentleman’s  agreement.  It  is  a  positive  fact,  that  every 
public  performance  receives  its.  proper  audited  share, .  regardless 
of  national  origin.  Nothing  else  could  be  expected. 

Attempts  to  sway  “more  consideration  of  national  music”  by 
the  Society  are  more  or  less  frowned  upon. 

The  second  collection  system  originated  when  the  disk  business 
began  to  develop  into  what  it  is  today,  a  giant,  followed  by  radio, 
and  television.  Bureau  International  des  Editions  Mechaniques. . 
(BIEM)  of  Paris  became  the  second  collecting  agency,  restricting 
its  activities,  as  the  name  implies,  to  mechanized  music  only.  Its 
membership  consists  pretty  much  of  the  same  people  as  in  the  So¬ 
ciety.  Composers  and  lyricists  and  music  publishers  have  three  or¬ 
ganizations,  some  Of  them  even  four,  via  the  dramatists  and  stage 
composers  body.  Latter  reap  “grand  rights”  on  top  of  performance 
fees. 

For  some  years  now  Austrian  theatres  pay  their  authors  and 
composers  regularly.  Not  one  lawsuit  of  this  nature  recently.' Rev-, 
enues  of  the  various  collecting  agencies  are  indeed  the  theririo- 
meter  of  the  country’s  theatrical  and  perhaps  general  economi 
situation.  ...... _  .... 


in 


uuiia  Licaiu  nuuui 


- _ _ _ _ _ _ _ : - : - —♦ 

square.  We  must  give  our  audience 
what  they  expect,  singers  who  have 
become  stylized.” 

I  am  told  that  for  a  young  singer 
to  hope  for  a  career  as  a  recording 
artist  he  must  develop  an  individu¬ 
al  style.  Any  style,  just  so  it’s 
different. 

|  Then  Come  The  Copycats  1 

Once  in  a  while  a  great  genius 
like  Wagner  or  Picasso,  having  an 
urge  tp  say  something  that  cannot 
be  expressed  in  the  Usual  way, 
adopts  a  style  of  his  own.  They  do; 
this  not  just  to  be  different,  but  to 
satisfy  a  creative  urge. 

Then  come  imitators  like  the  dis¬ 
appearing  school  of  actors  whose 
readings,  postures,  gestures1  are  the 
result  of  imitating  those  of  a  direc¬ 
tor,  rather  than  as  responses  of 
inner  thoughts  and  feelings. 

Under  the  stress,  of  strong  emo¬ 
tions,  like  anger,  a  man  cannot 
prevent  his  voice  from  shaking.  But 
the  effect  is  not  phony. 

But  When  a  singer,  rendering  a 
sincere  ballad,  resorts  to  tremolo 
or  whinny  just  to  be  different,  the 
effect  is  sometimes  ridiculous. 

Let’s  now  take  a  look  at  what  I 
call  the  Melody  Mangier.  He  is  a 
first  cousin  to  the  Whinnier  as  the 
result  of  trying  to  be  different 
without  rhyme  or  reason  and  with-; 
out  any  regard  to  rhythm  or  mel¬ 
ody. 

I  spoke,  above  of  the  dangers  of 
imitation.  For  instance,  there  is  a 
style  of  singing  Where,  let’s,  say,  a 
singer  like  Bing  Crosby,  in  order 
to  bring  out  the  inner  meaning  of 
words,  changes  the  rhythm  and 
quality  of  a  note  into  what  for  the 
moment,  =  resembles  ordinary 
speech. 

He  and  others  like  him  are  what 
I  call  a  gift  from  the  gods  to  lyric 
writers. 

I  believe  there  are  some,  nuances 
in  simple  dialog  that  can  never  be 
captured  by  music,  a  hesitation  or 
an  indescribable  heartbreaking 
quality  in  the  human  voice  so  often 
found  in  inspired  acting.  This 
effect  is  approached  by  singers 
whose  hearts  are  set  on  delivering 
the  message  of  a.  lyric  rather  than 
simply  vocalizing. 

Now  come  imitaitors  who  think 
that  by  just  taking  liberties  with 
rhythm  arid  a  pitch  they  can  de¬ 
velops  Crosby  style.  As  a  result, 
we.  have  a  whole  new  school  of 
singing  where,  often  for  no  rea¬ 
son,  an  important  word  is  stretched 
out  forever  and  important  words 
are  lost  in  a  jumble,  trying  to  make 
the  words  and  melody  end  together. 
This  results  in  music  that  bears 
little  resemblance  to  what  the  com¬ 
poser  wrote. 

This  type  of  singing  is  aided  and 
abetted  by  a  new  school  of  popu¬ 
lar.  composers.  For  instance,  in 
jazz  and  bebop  the  instrumental¬ 
ists  are-  each-  given  a  chance  to 
kick  a  tune  around,  and  very  often 
they  deliberately  play  offkey. 

Expert  musicologists  tell  us  that  I 
this  is  all  a  healthy  sign  of  a  new 
and  better  kind  of  music  coming, 

AU.  I  can  say  is,  in  our  desire  to 
be  sophisticated  and  different, 
don’t  let’s  lose  our  way  arid  become 
abnormal. 

There’s  one  thing  worse  than 
being  “corny.”  That’s  being 
phony. 


Tel.  Aviv. 

Israel  has  a  lot  to  leam  about 
its  music  business.  Show  busi¬ 
ness.  and  the  music  industry  par¬ 
ticularly,;  is  in  constant,  transgres¬ 
sion  here  in  the  fields  of  copyright, 
foreign  assignments  arid  royal/' 

The  offenses  aren’t  so.  much  from, 
neglect  as  professiorial  ignorance. 
Theatre  producers,  film  distribu¬ 
tors,  recording,  companies,  radio 
personnel  and  artists  are  still  rath¬ 
er  naive  on  all  counts  of  interna¬ 
tional  usage  and  copyright  laws. 

For  example,  a  film  distributor 
will  call  a  recording  company  arid 
Offer  a  song  from  his  forthcoming 
picture.  The  diskery  will  take,  it 
under  the  impression  that  the  film 
company  owns  translating,  publish¬ 
ing  and  recording  rights,  which  it 
doesn’t.  Or  the  State  Broadcast¬ 
ing  Service,  whose  feature  pro¬ 
grams  are  run  by  young  arid  in¬ 
experienced  men,  will  present  a 
modern  Broadway  musical  comedy 
by  playing  original  cast  recordings 
in  English  (which  they  are  allowed 
to  do)  and  then  intersperse  com¬ 
plete  dialogs  in  Hebrew;  which  is 
prohibited  without  a  license.  Print¬ 
ing  houses,  too,  publish  text  folios 
of  modern  hits  brought  to  them  by 
some  obscure  musician  and  pub¬ 
lish  copyright  riiaterial  most  of 
which  was  assigned  by  foreign  pub¬ 
lishers  or  local  writers  to  the 
few  professional  publishing  houses 
iri  the  country.  And  artists  pre¬ 
pare  their  -own  local  versions  of 
foreign  songs  which  an  Israeli  pub¬ 
lisher  prints  as  an  authorized  ver¬ 
sion. 

The  Israeli  publisher  also  suf¬ 
fers  froin  lack  of  control  in  the 
public  performance  arid  royalty 
fields.  The  local  AKUM  Society, 
members  of  the  International  Con¬ 
federation  of  Performing  Right 
Societies  and  represented  in  the 
U.  S.  by  ASCAP,  has  made  strides 
in  the  past  few  years  but.  has  not 
been  able  to  get  everything  under 
control  as  yet.  Performing  credits 
from,  individual  performers  and 
bands  are  hard  to  get  as  the  art¬ 
ists,  many  of  them  coming  from 
primitive  countries,  do  riot  grasp 
the  necessity  of  listing  their  per¬ 
formances.  .  The  recording  com¬ 
panies  are  rather  lax  in  their  prep¬ 
aration  of  mechanical  royalty  lists 
and  the  represeritatives  of  foreign 
films  are  always  at  odds  with  the 
licensing  society. 

Of  the  foreign,  diskeries,  Decca- 
Brunswick,  Barclay,  Dot,  Cetra, 
Vogue,.  Mercury  and  Pacific  are 
represented  in  Israel  so  far.  Sym- 
phoriia,  Hed  Arzi,  Makolit  and  Isra- 
phone  are  the  Israeli  firms  record¬ 
ing  locally  and  pressing  foreign 
labels:  The  publishing  end  is  rep¬ 
resented  in  the  longhair  field  by 
Israeli  Music  Publications,  Negen. 
Publications  and  the  Publishing 
House  of  the  Labor  Federation. 
The  Negen  outfit  also  publishes 
pops.  Largest  publisher  for  inter¬ 
national  and  local  repertoire  is 
Ilian  Melody  Press,  and  newly  op¬ 
erating  is  Aberbach  (Israel), 
owned  jointly  by  the  Aberbachs 
(Jean  and  Julian)  of  New.  York 
and  Ilian.: 


January  8, 1958 


koBywood. 

“Fe-Fo-Fum,”  say?  the  Giant;  in  -‘jack  'and  the  Bean¬ 
stalk,”  when  he’s  chasing  Jack.  ..  .Before  the  artists  & 
repertoire  men  discovered  weird  vocal  and/or" instrument 
tar  sound  effects,  poets  and  songwriters,  were  conscious 
of-  sound,  but  more  euphonious*  and  less  disturbing. 
Either,  in  the  title,  or  during  the  intervals  or  interludes 
In  a  melody,,  they  would,  dig  for  a  freak  sounding,  phrase 
effect,  to  insert.  Repetition  insured  ‘success, 

Irving  Berlin  In  “Everybody’s  Doin'  It,”  during,  the 
melody  waits,  had  us  yell: 

“Doin’  What?  Dein’  what?”— and  the  public  did  it  for 
him.  . 

In  the  Beginning  of  the  chorus  of  V Waitin’  for  the 
Robert  Ei  Lee,”  after  the.  first  line  “Watch  them  shufflin’ 
along,”  there’s  a  wait.  Before:  the  next  line  singers  would" 
inject  “It’s  a  bear— It’s  a  cow”  ( whatever,  that  meant  1 . 
and  the- late  A1  Wdhlman:  substituted,  a  weird  sound 
“HFchy  Koo-^Hitchy  Koo”  and  the  Cenpy  Island  bistro 
habituals  joined  in  with  hini:  Murray  Abrahams  and  I 
decided,  the  phrase  deserved  a  song,  by  itself,  and  so 
“Hitchy  Koo”  caime  to  be.  This,  was  long  before  Ray¬ 
mond  Hitchcock  used  it  as  a  title  for  his  show,  suggesting 
his  name. 

You  surely  recall  When  the  whole  nation  was  “Buzzi 
with  the  song  “Be  My,  Little  Baby  Bumble  Bee,”  and  we 
were  answering,  . “Buzz  around^T-buzz  around— keep  a 
buzziri’  ’round.” 

Joe  McCarthy  and  Jimmy  Monaco,  gave .  us  “You  Made 
Me  Love  You”  and  we  all  responded,  “I  didn’t  want  to  do 
it— I  didn’t  want,  to  dp  it.” 

I  Gosh,  Gum,  Gee  j 

And  Lew  Brown’s  ingenious  "Oh  By  Jingo”-“when  we 
all  united  in.  “Oh  by  .  gosh,  by  gum, ,  by  gee”  etc.  ..  Jack 
Norworth  and  Al  Yon  Tilzer  had  a  natural,  of  course,  in 
“Take  Me  Out  to  the  Ball  Game,”  but  the  insurance,  was 
the. last  line,  with  all  of  us  yelling;  “One-two-three  strikes 
and  you’re  out  at  the  old  ball  game.”  Norworth  persisted 
iii  audience-participation  sound  effects,  when  again.,  in 
“Shine  on  Harvest  Moon“  he  had  us  recite— in  Unison, 
“January-February-June  or  July.” 

Cab  Calloway,  with  “Minnie  the  Moocher,”  had  us  “Hi-. 
de-Ho”-ing  all  over  the  place.  That  was  a  real  sound 
effect.. 

“Ja-Da,  Ja-Da,”  "Aba  Daba .  Honeymoon,”  "A-Tisket, 
A-Tasket,”  Blanche  Ring  singing:  “Rings  on  Her  Fingers, 
Bells  oh  Her  Toes”  and  we  helped  her  finish  With  “Be 
My  Mistress  Mumbo  Jumbo,  Ji-Ji-Bpo  J.  O’Shea/’  All  these 
and  more;  reached,  the  raucous  sound  peak  with  “The 
Music  Goes  RPund  and  .  Round”  by  Mike  Reilly  and  Mike 
Farley  and  they  said  it  well. 

This  all  leads  me  to  the  observation  that  my  quarrel 
with  manufactured  recorded  sound  effects  and  distor¬ 
tion,  as  a  rule,  are  obviously  contrived  and  I  think  to  the 
detriment  of  standard  songs,  which  have  been  blessed  with 
longevity. 

|  Poes  ‘The  Beat’  Help?  1 

They  may  intrigue,  for  the  moment,  but  you  can’t  tell 
me  that  .  “the .  beat”  enhances  establishes’  waltzes,,  arid 
lagato  melodies,  by  changing  the  tempo,,  and  putting  ex¬ 
citement  in  an  otherwise  beautiful  lanquid  melodic  line. 

The  big  selling  hot  record  by  Les  Paul  arid  Mary  Ford 
of  Eugene  Lockhart’s  “The  World  is  Waiting  for,  the 
Sunrise”  got  the  author  a  fast  buck,  and  extra  current 
vogue,  but  in  the  longrun,  I  contend,  it  detracted  from, 
and  did  not  add  one  iota  to  its  permanence,  in  the  realm, 
of  beautiful  ballads. 

Nacio  Herb  Brown’s  fine  tune  “Temptation,”  got  that 
satirical  hillbilly  treatment  by  Jo  Stafford,  and  Brown 
Was  riot  averse  to  taking  the  royalties,  but  I;  know’  he  .won’t 
mind  me,  revealing,  that  he  was  disturbed,  and  a  bit  urn 
bappy. 

The  defenders  of  rock  ’n’  roll  say,  “What  about  the 
1920s  with  the  'Charleston’  ‘Black  Bottom’ and  Lindyhop; 
arid  before  that  ‘bunny  hug,’  ‘Turkey  Trot,’  era.”  What 
about  it?  These  songs  were  written  by  craftsmen,  pri*; 
marily  for  riiUsical  shows,  to  give  choreographers  material 
to  work  with,  and  nine  out  of  10  tunes  had  words  in 
them,  of  topical,  humorous  content,  and  were  poking  fun 
at  themselves,  and  the  era;;.  . 

j  Off-the-Cuif  Cleffing.  I 

“Rock  ’n’  roll,”  to  the  contrary,  is  all  written  off-the- 
elbow,  crude  in  title,  rhyme  and  melody,  which  I  defy  you 
to  remember,  and  be  able  to  play  or  sing  for  your  own 
amusement. 

This,  rigamarole  is  'fortified  with  a  monotonous  drum,  to 
beat  .your  brains  out.  I  suppose  because  I’m  an  oldtimer,- 
I’ll  be  accused  of  sour  grapes.  It  ain’t  so.  ;  I  don’t  think 
an  experienced,  able,  established  Writer  could  begin:  to 
sit  down  and  write  one  of  these. 

One  sorig.  dori!t  make  a  swallow;  nor  a  songwriter. 

Those  of  us.  Who  have  the  joy.  of  hearingour  ditties, 
old  and  new,  constantly  performed,  have  the  great  privil¬ 
ege  of  saying  over,  and  over  again,  “They’re  playing  our 
song.”  This,  <J!f  course,  is  especially  true,  of  the  vintage 
songs;  I  maintain  that  the.  creators  of  rock  ’  n’  roll  tunes 
will  get  momentary  kicks  and  earnings,  but  I  doubt  very 
much  if  later  bn  they  will  enjoy  the  great  thrill  of  Saying 
to  each,  other,  ‘‘Listed,  they’re  playing  bur  song.” 


Efficiency  Plus 

Two  layoffs  were  ,  passing  the  sumptuous  offices  of  a 
theatrical  agency.  One  made  a  bet  that  he  could  go  into 
the  agency’s  offices  arid  get  himself  a  job  right  away.  His 
friend  waited  on  the  paVement,  while  the  actor  approached 
the  reception  desk.  He  was  given  a  slip  which  admitted 
him  to  the  presence  of  the  assistant  chief,  Summing  him 
up,  they  stamped -his  slip  and  sent  him  to  the  secretary  ,  of 
the  casting,  department;  Here  again  his  slip  was  stamped^ 
arid  he  was  passed  -  through  various  divisions  until  he 
found  himself  once  more  on  the  pavement.  “Well?”,  said 
his  pal,  “Did  you  get  a-  job?”  With  a  grin,  the.actpr  shook 
his  head.  “No  job?  -Did  you  see  the  boss?”  Agai  he 
shook  his  head,.  “Well,  What  are  you  looking  so  happy 
about”,  asked  his  pal.  “I  didn’t  get  a  job  .. : ;  but,  boy.  What 
an  organization!’?  Joseph  Marins; 


Fifty-second  J^SRIETY  Anniversary 


MUSIC 


2X7 


‘Brother  Dragon’,  U.S.  Deejay  In 

The  Far  East.  Ribs  V  Rocks  Reds 


Taipei,  Taiwan  (Formosa), 

“Brother  Dragon”  is  a.  35-year-old  American  from  Lois 
Angeles  who  is  the  most  popular  disk  jockey  in  the  Far 
East.  Broadcasting  under  the  auspices  of  the  Free  Chi¬ 
nese  government  to  countries  of  Southeast  Asia,  he  keeps 
his  identity  a  secret  at  the  request  of  the  American  Em¬ 
bassy  here,  for  between  spins  of  the  platters  he  tells  ari- 
ti-Communist  jokes. 

The  “Little  Dragon”  show  broadcasts  a  one-hour  pro¬ 
gram  of  American  popular  music,  particularly  rock  ’n’ 
roil,  seven  dayri  a.  Week.  Little  Dragop  himself  has  left  the 
program  for  another  assignment,  so  Brother  Dragon  car¬ 
ries  on.  In  Chinese  .legend  the  dragon  is  a  symbol  of  fero¬ 
city,  courage  and  longevity,  an  Object  of  affection — iin-r 
like:  his  villainous  counterpart  in  the  tales  of  European 
knighthood. 

Broadcasts  are  in  English,  the  international  language 
of  the  Far  East,  but  there  are  occasional  visitors  to,  the 
.program  who  crack  jokes  and  make  comments  in  the  Far 
Eastern  ,  languages  themselves:  Malay,  Japanese;  Tagalog 
and  Indonesian.  The  Dragon  Lady,  a  young  Chinese  worn-, 
an  of  wholesome  charm  quite  unlike  Miltori  Cariiff’s.fem- 
mex  fatale,  is  occasionally  bn  hand  to  lend  dialogue  to  the 
giverand-take  Of  spoofing  the  Communists. 

The  Show  is  riot  beamed  to  mainland  China,  because  its 
flippant  tone  is  considered  .inappropriate  to  .the  suffering 
of  the  people.  Moreover,  it  can  cost  a  mainland  Chinese 
his  life  to  be.  caught,  listening  to  Radio  Free  China,  for 
which  reason  the'  Free  Chinese  programs  to  Communist- 
dominated  China,  are  in  deadly,  earnest  and  almost  tin-, 
broken  sobriety. 

Except  for  the  absence  of  commercials,  the  program  is 
much  like  most  .American  disk  jockey  programs,  even  , 
unto  requests  from  listeners.  Brother  Dragon  solicits  them, 
requests'?  picture,  and  sortie  personal  data,  and  in  so  do¬ 
ing  has;  established  an.  astonishing  rapport  with  his  audi¬ 
ence1— marty  of  Whom  write  detailed  letters  on  their  daily 
lives  and  thoughts. 

|  •  Requests  From  Borneo  | 

A.  school  teacher  in  Borneb  wanted  “How  Lonely.  Can 
I  Get,”  a  youth  in  Sumatra  askedfor  “Remember  When”; 
a  girl  from  the  Philippines  had  a  dual  selection,  "Love 
Letters”  and  “All.the  Things  You  Are”;  a  Vietnam  listener 
requested  “Only  You”;  from .  Burma  came  a  request  fori 
“I’m  Sorry.”  But  in  many,  eases  they  want  anything  by 
Elvis  Presley,  Pat  Boone,  Rusty  Draper,  and.  other  artists 
of  aching,  hearts  arid  shaking  parts. 

For  most  of  the  listeners,  English  ,  is  their  second  or 
even  third ..  language.  Because  of.  this,,  their  letters  lack 
grammar  iri  many  cases  but  make  up  for  it  iri  enthusi¬ 
asm.  . 

An  Indonesian  boy  writes: “Please  accept  my.  thanks  to 
the  Voice  of  Free  China  for  a.  most  enjoyable:  and  won¬ 
derful  American  popular  songs  from  your  station.” 

Another  message  from  Indonesia  bemoans  the  fact  that 
a  request  was  not  heard  broadcast  “because  we  have  no  - 
electric  for  two  weeks  because  generator  is  damaged/’  ; 

A  Malayan  writes:  "I  do  say  that  I  enjoy  yOur  daily 
broadcast  but  riot  to  a  certain  extent.  For  the  few  months 
that  I  have  been  tuning  to  your  station  I  do  riot  seem  to 
hear  a  single,  enchanting  music  of  the  fabulous  Glenn 
.Miller.”'  '. 

From  a  36-year-old  Chinese  in  Singapore:  “It  would 
be  . nice  of  you  if  arrange  to  play  any  Les  Paul  recording 
for  my  loving  Wife.  She  likes  to  hear  the.  sorig  you  have 
just  played,  Doris  Day— Secret  Love/  You  see,  the  mo¬ 
ment  you  put  this  sorig  on  the  air-r-my  wife  just  fe.eis  that 
she  is  ip  love  agairi,  therefore,  she  likes  to  hear  once  more 
when  you  received  this  letter,  which  ,1  hope  soon.” 

A  Filipino  comments:  “Your  program  every  night  is  so 
.  entertaining,  especially,  your  comments  on.  Communism, 
that  I  wish  you  will  earry  on  the  good  work  until  peace 
be  bestowed  on  the  whole  World/’ 

A  note  from  Sumatra  reads  in  part:  “Talking  about  song- 
programme,  I  want  you  to  play  a  record  from  me  for  Miss 
— — — of  Singapore,  who  I  do  not  know,:  but  hope 
you’ll  soon  give  me  her  address  for  I  want  to.  correspond 
with  her.  The  record  has  to  be"  “All  Shook  Up”  hy..Elyis: 
P.,  or  a  recording  by  Fats  Domino  such  as  Trii  Walk¬ 
ing,’  ‘My  Blue  Heaven,’  etc/* 

For  Brother  Dragon  the  show  is  a  . labor  of  love;  he  has 
another  job  and  accepts  no  pay  for  this  one.  He.  averages 
25  letters  a  day,  all  of  therir,  containing  requests,  many  of 
them  photos  and  biographies  of  the  writers.  Some  of  them 
come  from  youngsters.  wbo  are;  lOriely  .  and  delighted  to 
have:  a  correspondent.  They  often  ask  for  stamps  and  post 
Cards  from  Free  China,  names  of  prospective  pen  pals 
(preferably  of  the  opposite  sex)  anywhere  in  the  World. 

Brother  Dragon  broadcasts  all  the  requests  he  can  han¬ 
dle;  refers.  the  more  complex  ones  on  the  life  and  philr 


osophy  of  Free  China  to  experts,  and  answers  letters  per¬ 
sonally.  The  program  is  heard  occasionally  in  far-away 
places  like  Australia,  the  U.S.,  and  Sweden;  in  the  last- 
named  country,  he  says,  there  is  even  a  burgeoning  fan 
club. 

As  for  the  jokes  between  songs,  here  are  a  few  sam¬ 
ples: 

A  Chinese .  Communist  functionary  who  couldn’t 
swim  fell  into  a  lake,  A  man  hearing  his  shouts  looks 
down-  and  asks  him,  “Can  you  speak  Russian,  Com¬ 
rade?” 

“Yes,  yes,  of  course,  I  have  studied  it,”  the  fright¬ 
ened  functionary  shouts. 

The  man  shrugs  his  shoulders.  “Serves  you  right. 
Why  didn’t  you  take  swimming  lessons  instead?” 

Three  new  cellmates  in  a  Canton  People’s  Prison 
were  explaining  the  respective  reasons  for  their  in¬ 
carceration.  “I  was  accused  of  ‘absenteeism’,”  said 
the  first,  “I  came  to  work  five  minutes  early  one  day,” 
.said  the  second,  “and  I  was  accused  Of  spying.”  “I 
came  to  work  on  time,”  said  the  third,  “and  they  ac¬ 
cused  me  of  having  a  capitalist  Watch.” 

Two  Kwangtung  farmers  met  in  the  street  of  their 
village  just  after  being  visited  by  the  rice  collection 
agents.  “How  is  everything?”  one  said.  “Oh,  in  be¬ 
tween,”  answered  the  other.  “What  do  you  mean,  in 
between?”  "Worse  than  last  year  and  better  than 
next.” 

As  Brother  Dragon  concludes  his  program  with  the 
theme  song,  “A  Lovely  Way  to  Spend  an  Evening,”  he 
•  comments  on  the  solid  hour  of  almost  undiluted  rock  ’n’ 
roll  he  has  broadcast  by  listener  demand:  “I’m  a  real 
square,  I  guess.  I  just  don’t  dig  this  stuff,  can’t  get  with 
it;  I  hate  Elvis.  Give  me  the  old  Tomriiy  Dorsey-Benny 
Goodman  stuff  any  tiirie.” 


10  Commandments  Of  Show  Biz 


=By  EDDIE  CANTOR= 


I. .  Remember  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  bad  audience. 
Ohce  the  people  have  paid  to  get  in,  they  have  played 
their  part.  The  rest  is  up  to  you. 

II.  Play  every  performance  as  though  it  may  be.  your 
last— the  one  you  want  to  be  remembered  by. 

HI:  Never  complain  or  walk  out  because  of  billing.  The 
public,  puts  up  the  marquee  signs,  not  ypur  agent  or 
the  producer. 

IV.  Don’t  lay  off.  Take  a  smaller  part,  take  less  money, 
but  work.  Will.  Rogers  once  said,  "Every  week  you  are 
not  appearing  before  the  public  you’re  out  of  show 
business/’ 

V.  Don't  sit  around  half  the  night  with  your  fellow  actors 
telling  them  what  you  intend  to  do.  Do  it,  and  let  them 
sit  around  talking  about'it. 

Vi.  Always  bear  in  mind  there’s  no  such  place  as  a  small 
town.  Television  made  all  America  Broadway.  Don’t 
ever  play  down  to  an  audience  if  you  would  have  them 
look  up  to  you. 

VH,  No  matter  what  kind  of.  performer  you  are,  be  pre-  . 
pared  with  at  least  20  minutes  of  good  material,  so  you 
Can  jump  iri  at  any  time,  at  any  place,,  and  make  good. 
In  other  words,  get  yourself  a  “bread  and  butter”  act. 

'Till.'  Be  on  time.  Know  your  words.  Don’t  keep  a 
director  or  an  orchestra  or  fellow  performers  waiting. 
Remember  if  people  like  you  personally,  they’re  ready 
to  help  you.  If  they  don’t,  you’re  in  trouble. 

IX.  .  Don’t  read  what  the  critics  write  about  you  and  say, 
“What  does  he  know?”  Ninety  per  cent- of  all  profes¬ 
sional  Critics  are  honest,  sincere,  and  would  rather  say 
good  things .  about  plays  and  players  than  bad.  They, 
hope  you.  will  take  their  criticism  to  heart  and  improve 
what  you  are  doing. 

X,  .  Don’t  be  fooled  by  a  cheap  laugh — one  in  bad  taste 
The  Ed  Wynns*  the  Danny  Kayes,  the  Jack  Benriys,  the 
Burris  &  Allens,  and  all  the  truly  big  people  in  show. 

■  business  have,  never  used  a  dirty  line  or  gesture.  Your 
first  requisite  for  success  is  to  learn  that  things  obscene 
should;  not  be  heard. 


International  Copyright 


Continued;  from  page  215  i 


Nitery  Atmosphere  on  Wax 

Although  recording  in  days  before  the  microphone 
was  confined  almost  -  entirely  to  studio  jobs,  efforts, 
were  occasionally  made  to -  bring  Into  the  home  the 
atmosphere  of  night  ciubs-Hor  “cabarets,”,  as  they  were 
called  then. 

Columbia  obliged  in  .1914  with  platter  called  “A 
Night  at  Maxim’s,”  made  by  "the  Maxim  “Cabaret. 
Singers.”  It  consisted  of  otherwise  unidentified  guys 
and  gals  singing  choruses  of  a  few  pop  songs,  with  a 
background  of  synthetic  noises  supposed  to  represent 
gay  night  life  atmosphere.  A  few  songs  of  period 
also  described  cabaret  existence,  among  them  “Take 
Me  to  the  Cabaret,”  "Cabaret  Rag,”  ‘‘Gee,  But  I  Like 
.Music  With  My  Meals,”.  “If  a  Table  at  Rector’s  Could 
Talk”  and— earlier  Vintage— “Maxim’s.” 

Iri  1916,  Columbia  came  through  with  "A  New  York 
Hippodrome  Rehearsal,”  waxed  by  the  veteran,  now 
Venerable,  R.  H.  Burnside,  with  the  help  of  several 
dolls.  Colloquy  between  Burnside  and  his  supposed 
"stars”  sounds-^to  use  a  favorite  present-day  word-^ 
painfully  “contrived” 

First  successful  effort  to  put  atmosphere  Df  spots 
Onto  wax;  probably  was ;  "A  Night  at  Coffee  Dan’s,” 
made  by-  Brunswick  about  25  years .  ago  with  Frank 
Shaw  as  emcee.  Platter  is.  rough;  rowdy  and  noisy, 
but  dges  give  something  of  atmosphere  qf  San  Fran¬ 
cisco,  hot  joint. 


following  advantages: 

It  protects  the  living  author  and  his  dependents  against 
a  form  of  unfair  competition  to  which  they  are  now  ex¬ 
posed  in  cases  where  some  of  an  author’s  works  have  fair 
len  into  the  public  domain  but  others  are  still  protected. 
In  such  eases,  users  are  inclined  ,  to  resort  to  the  author’s 
royalty-free  works,  thus  discriminating  against  and  dis¬ 
couraging  the  use  bL  those  that  ,  are  still  entitled  to  copy¬ 
right  protection.. 

It  would  eliminate  one  of  the  greatest  fields  of  contro¬ 
versy,  the  question  of  who  is  entitled  to  the  renewal  term 
of  copyright  for-  the  second  28-year  period. 

It;  would  promote  international  understanding  by  bring¬ 
ing  our  views  in  line  with  the  leading  democracies-^-in 
fact  the  vast  inajority  of  the  nations  having  copyright 
laws. 

The  two  remaining  hurdles  to  a  reconciliation  of  the 
Berfie  and  Universal  Conventipns  are  the  “moral  rights” 
arid  retroactivity  clauses  mentioned  above.  Is  it  too  much 
to  hope  that  if  we  abandon  our  present  insistence  upon 
a  forfeiture  iri  the  absence  of  a  copyright  notice,  and  if 
we  adopt  a  coVyright  term  of  life  plus  5,0  years,  the  coun¬ 
tries  adhering  to  Berne  will  not  insist  on  the  “moral 
rights”  and  “retroactivity”  clauses? 

The  effort  to  find  soine  means  of .  reconciliation  should 
be  made.  We  have  overcome  the  greatest  hurdle  to  auto¬ 
matic  world  copyright  protection  by  doing  away  with  our 
domestic  manufacture  clause  for  works  protected  by  the 
Universal  Convention. 

The  remaining  steps  should  be  much  easier;  it  is  cer¬ 
tainly  desirable  to  start,  working  in  that  direction.  If  this 
objective  is  a  worthy  pne,  it  should  form  the  core  of  any 
proposed  genera!  revision  of  our  domestic  law. 


218 


MUSIC 


Fifty-second  p^fitRlETY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


Serious  Modern  Music  Not  Dissonant’ 


New  Stuff  Is  Boxoffice  in  D.C.— But  Composers 
Are  Smart  to  Take  Off  ‘Contemporary’  Label 

By  HOWARD  MITCHELL 

(  Conductor  y  National  Symphony) 


Washington; 

"When  I  hear  the  word  ‘culture’ 

I  reach  for  my  gun,”  one  of  the 
upper  echelon  Nazis  is  reputed  to 
have  said  ^  at  some  point  prior  to 
World  War  II.  When  it  comes  to 
contemporary  music,  raewhat 
the  same  attitude  is  diseernable 
in  a  good  portion  of  the  American 
music  audience. 

And  ye:  the  fact  is  that  in 
Washington,  where  I  have  com 
ducted  The  National  Symphony 
Orchestra  since  1949,  contempor¬ 
ary  music  on  our  programs  has 
proved  not  only  good,  boxoffice, 
but  in  my  opinion  has  been  one 
of  the  chief  reasons  why  the  sea¬ 
son  and  number  of  performances, 
length  of  tours  and  size  of  sub¬ 
scription  lists  have  all  grown  sig¬ 
nificantly  in  that  period. 

Popular,  wariness  of  contempor¬ 
ary  music  can  he  accounted  for 
only  by  he  fact  that  those  who  are 
wary  cannot  have  heard  enough  of 
it  to  able  to.  discard  .preconceived 
prejudices!  For.  the  fact  is  that 
the  music  being  written  by  Amer¬ 
ican  composers  today  is  not  ail  ; 
a  tonal,  not  all  dissonant,  not  all 
rhythmically  eccenric,  but  is  oft¬ 
en  as  romantic  as  Liszt,  as  drama¬ 
tically  stirring  as  Beethoven,  as 
syncopated  as  present-day  jazz.; 
Modern  composers  write  ,  for  the 
voice,  the  small  chamber  group, 
the  large  symphony*  the  solo  in¬ 
strument,  the  chorus.  Where  then, 
comes  the  idea  that  Contemporary 
music  is  something  all  of  a  piece, 
a  -package,  with  instantly  identi¬ 
fiable  characteristics,  or  that  it 
is  .  less  varied  than  the  whole  lit¬ 
erature  of  music  that  has  preceded 
it,  and  which  in  i  s  own  initial 
stages,  was  also  contemporary? 

Stravinsky  arid  Wagner  were 
considered  radical,  in  -their  day, 
but  even  so!  former  generations 
of  music-lovers  and  concert-goers 
took  it  for  granted,  their  contem¬ 
poraries  would  create  mtisic  and 
listened  to  it,  if  only  to  hiss!  Puc¬ 
cini  didn’  have  a  label  “contem¬ 
porary”  to  overcome  when  his 
“Girl  of  the  Golden  West”  had  its 
world  premiere  in  this  country. 

In  today’s  world,  merchandis¬ 
ing  is  all.  The  package  is  a.  potent 
percentage  of  the  product’s  accept 
ability.  I  don’t  say  that  good  mer¬ 
chandising  can  “sell’*  a  bad  pro-* 
duct,  ,  either  in  business  or  the. 
arts,  but  the  Unquestionable  truth 
is  that  bad  merchandising  can 
handicap  it. 

|  ~A  Bad  Word  ~1 

If  contemporary  composers  Want 
a  hint  they  will  get  rid  of  the  la¬ 
bel  .  “contemporary”  as  applied  ‘b 
their  creative:  output,  for  in  the 
minds  of  many  that  word  implies 
strange,  unharirionious,  a-tonal  od¬ 
dities  of  sound,  uncoordinated  by. 
melodic  line  or  coherent  rhythms. 
Some  of  it  may  be,  but  even  in 
that  “school”  -hat  portion  of  the 
literature  which  has  lasting  merit 
will  I  am  sure,  sound  less  alien 
to  future  audiences  with  the 
march  of  time  and  repeated  per¬ 
formances. 

The  conductor  of  a  symphony 
orchestra  has  an  obligation  to  per¬ 
form,  contemporary  music.  For.  the 
orches  ra  which  programs  only  the 
already-accepted  music  of  the  past, 
will  not  only  fail  to  be  a  Voice  for 
its  own  age.  but  in  this  day  of  com¬ 
petitive  entertainment  attractions, 
parking  problems,  social  inertia, 
and  the.  widespread  availabili  y  of 
fine  recordings  by  many  splendid 
orchestras  (which  can  be  listened 
to  in  the  comfort  cf  home)  will 
eventually  lose  its  audience. 

Just  as  music  as  an  art  heeds  a 
growing  audience,  as  an  art  it  al¬ 
so  needs  a  growing  literature,  and 
without  perforrriances  there  will 
be  no  incentive  'o  composers  to 
compose.  I  donrt  say  this  distrust 
of  new  music  by  the  public,  of 
which  \ve  have  been  speaking,  is. 
a  positive  thing.  It  :  would  perhaps 
be  better  if  it  were,  if  Opinion 
were  vital,  enough  for  listeners  to 
turn  but  if  only  for  the  pleasure 
of  expressing  hos  ility.  Of  such 
attitudes  controversy  is.  barn,  arid 
controversy  is  good  boxoffice.  The 
distrust  of  new  music  where  it 
exists  though.  is  negative  and  pas-. 


siVe  and.  that  segment  of.  the  pub* 
lie  which  feels  ‘  ,  merely  stays 
away.  But  since,  as  I  have  tried 
to  indicate!:  they  will  eventually 
stay  away,  also  if  only  the.  already- 
accepted  music  of  the  past  is  pro¬ 
grammed,  the  conductor  of  today 
must  be  both  sly  arid  bold  in  co¬ 
ping  with  this  dilemma. 

There  are  twro  obvious  ap¬ 
proaches.  First,  he  may  combine 
the  programming  of.  new  music 
with  the  old,  in  which  case  those 
lured  in  to  the  concert  hall  by  the 
anticipation  of  a  nostalgic  plea¬ 
sure,  often  remain  to  cheer  a  new 
experience.  Second,  he  must  seek 
new  audiences  '  which  can!  listen 
‘o  new  music  unhandicapped  by 
the!  sentimental  prejudices  of  past 
preferences!.  In  Washington  oUf 
young  people’s  concerts  have  pro¬ 
vided  just  such  audiences.  To  chil¬ 
dren  to  whom  Beethoven,  Men¬ 
delssohn  or  Bach  are  as  new  lis¬ 
tening  experiences  as  Paul  Gres- 
tonr  Wallingford  Reigger  or  Sam- 
ul  Barber,  the  new  music;  has  no 
preconceived  attitudes  over- 


Disks  Still  Wag  Music  Biz 


^Continued  from  page  213  ; 


LESTER  LANIN 


the  sentimental  prejudices  of  past  V  «.y  .  m 

preferences!.  In  Washington  our  \kl  /\ If  T  ly  I  f  AT  J\ 

young  people’s  concerts  have  . proV  l\  lflf  III  I  II  I  Mfll 

vided  just  such  audiences.  To  chil-  Akl  M  VI  till  Xff.V 

dren  to  whom  Beethoven,  Men¬ 
delssohn  or  Bach  are  as  new  lis-  T  Till-  Tl  .  •  T_ 

tenirig  experiences  as  Paul  Gres-  .111’  I TI0 
ton.  Wallingford  Reigger  or  Sam-  .  f||  I  ill}  RlldtU 
ul  Barber,  the  new  music;  has  no 

preconceived  attitudes  over-  MIKE  GROSS 

come.  J  . 

i  ■ '  — ==— — ; — .  ^  ■ — — — r— — :  Lou  Busch  would  like  to  keep 

J _ _ _ Young  Adults  |  joe  (Fingers)  Carr  under  wraps. 

The  National  Symphony’s  adult  “Carr  is  okay  in  a  recording  stu- 
atidiences  today  .are  younger  on  j  dio,”  said  Busch,  “but  once'he  gets 
the  average  than  they  were  a  dec- [out  I  despise.him.” 
ade  ago  and  this  is  because  many  These  would  be  fighting  words! 
of  those  who  were  ,  our  lfouth  S.er-  if.  Busch  and  Carr  weren’t  the} 
ies.  audiences  then,  are  .  now  sub-  same  man.  Carr  was  invented  by  j 
scribers.  to  our  regular  Cons,  itri-  Busch  (his  square  handle)  in  1950 1 
tion  Hall,  series.  The,  interest  in  [  as  a  riom-de-disque  for  a  honky-l 
and  acceptance  of  new  music  in  our  tonk  piano  player.  .  Before  then,  |. 
regular  series  is  notable, .  and.  its  when  he  had  assumed  the  honky-  [ 
audience-building  effect,  so  notable  tonk.  guise,  he-  had  been  known  as  : 
that  their  number  has.  increased,  professor  Lou  Busch,  but  after  the ! 

I  hope  I’ve  made  clear  both  the  success  of.  Pee  Wee  Hunt’s  “12th  j 
conductors  obligation  to  perform  street  Rag”,  at  Capitol  Records,  the  ! 
new  music,. .  as.  I  .  see  it,,  arid  also  diskery.  went,  on  a  ragtime  kick  and 
the  fact-  this  obligation  carries,  wanted  a  regular  honkytonk  pian- 
ridth.  It  .its  own  rewards;  Both  con  ist  on  its  roster;  So  Busch  created 
ductor  arid  orchestra  have  the  sat-  Carr.  ..He  now  has  two  separate 
isfac  ion  of  knowing  they  are  a  contracts  at  Capitol.  One  as 
spokesman  for  their  own  time,;  and.  -  straight  instrumentalist  Busch  and 
the  practical  pleasure  of .  finding  the  other  aS  ragtimer  Carr, 
it  no  “ivory-tower”  satisfaction.  Tt,.  ,,  j 

but  a  inissibnary-minded  attitude  %  ^h,e 
which  builds  concert-audiences  ^ 

arid  a  music-public.  ery  wanted  him  tp^niake  personal 


In  short,  nothing,  so  violent  as 
“forced  feeding”  pf  new.  music  is 
called  for.  It  need  simply  ,  be  in- 


ery-  wanted  him  to  make  personal 
appeturances:  Carr..  “The  char¬ 

acter  I  had  created,”  Busch  said, 
“wore  a  derby,  a  sleeve  garter,  a 
loud  vest  arid  always  had  a  brass 


eluded  in  the  table  d'hote  menu  of  cuspidor  nearby.  I  couldn’t  do  it 
an  orchestra’s  programs.  ,  The.  vi-  because  Carr  wasn't  me.  I  can  only 
tamm-minded  mother  of  today  nke  him  if  I  can  stand  back  and 
uses  the.  same  system  m  planning  iock  at  him  arid  not  be  him.” 
her  family  s  meals — and  new  mu-  ;  . . 
sic  is  the  vitamin  element  in.  mu-  t™m  this  ,  m-person  per- 

sic  as  a  whole  today,,  essential  if  spnality ^  difficulty,  the^  Busch  & 


the  music  world  is  to  grow.  Carr  are  solid  items  when  they’re 

in  the  groove.  Busch  already  has 
-  -  '  '  .  !..  t--  '  '  !  put  out  nine  Carr  albums  for  Capi- 

__  _  m  __  i  tol  for  a  total  sales  rackup  of  more 

No  Frontier  On  Musio  than  500,000  copies. 

Busch,  attributes  the  new  pop- 
— —Continued  from  page  213 ularity  of  honkytonk  piano  albums 
necessary  to  have  in tetnational. i  and -.ragtime  piano  packages  to  the 
treaties  arid  riot,  scraps  of  paper,  in  1  f aet  that  f pr  a  long  time  American 


No  Frontier  On  Musk 

Continued  from  page .  213 


the  files  of  our  foreign  ministries,  music  has  been  lacking  Jri  humor. 
There  simply  must.be  politics'  “people:  are  demanding  .humor  in 

_ _ „  n.  „  their  music  now,”  he  added,  “and 

So  perhaps  it  Would  be  better  ^ 

nut  it  liiro-thie-  “Tho  hottoi-  th<>  the  ragtime  and  honkytonk  piano 


to  put  it  like  this:.  “The  better  the 


muMc  that  a  Hation.  produces,  the 

l  ed  out  that  the  barroom  music 


seritatives  to  find,  understanding.” 
We.  have;  examples,  on  hand  iri 


style  of  the  i920s  isn’t  selling  to¬ 
day  primarily  because  of  its  nos¬ 


Gettriimv  -ot^alohS  De-'e-  '.Sw?  “  mariet  ‘ 

fully!  When  the°French  “bparetta  t?  anv Sa Ve^erbuD  ’ or^class00  It 

.  M  Tnnnn'AP 'AfPnn '  uned  to  any  age  group  or  class.  It 

bach  to^red  Germ^  U  m ean't  ^..beat  :thafs  appealing 

that  many  Germans  lost  their  ^  ^very0ne: 

feelings  and  prejudices  against 

France.  Later  Richard  Wagner  con-  Arr  nr  A 

ducted  in  Paris  and  the  result  was  UIt"D  WBJF  llBt6.  ImCSuC 

Let  me  finish  my  modestly  CdDltBUZCu  dt  $14,300 

framed  philosophical  remarks  by  ,  r  ,  7,  7  , 

comparing  the  situation  regarding  Tire  Gate  Theatre,  which  opened, 
musical*  compositions  when  I  was  as  a.r:?  °^"?roaf  way..^ous: 

a  boy  to  now.  How  difficult  it  rvas  SS  t  Engliso  adaptation  o£ 
years  ago,  ‘  An  orchestra  .played  the.  .,  l10  ^rof  i:.r;  iSaranrl,r;zov1‘  *s  c®p*. 
piece  and  then  the  success  depend-  .riahfpd  at.$14;300.  The  ,?oris  Tu- 
ed  on  the  word-of-mouth  props-  roann-Jack  Sydow  dramatization  of 
ganda.  When  the  gramophone  the  Dostoyevsky  classic  is  being 
came,  it  helped  .speed  thing  up.  presented.l«-  Lmy  Turner,  who  also 
Today  one  radii,  or  tv  performance  ?f>erate.s  *he  theatre,  located  on 
reaches  more  people  than-  10.000  the  main  floor  of  a  former :  Baptist 
concerts.  .  Tabernacle  on  the  lower  eastside. 

It  is  easier  for  composers  arid  ]  .  Miss  Turner,  Who  has  a  sublease 
writers  today  to  achieve  a  success.  °ri  the  three-stpry.  building,  has 
However  in  order  to  have  a- lasting  leased,  the  basement  to  Rhett  Cone 
success  in  our  fast  living  efa.  it.  is  and  Joe  O’Brien  for  use  as  the 
i  imperative  that  a  composer  write  Cricket  . Theatre,  where.  they.Te  cur- 
!  music  which  appeals  to  the  hearts  rently  presenting  “Palm  Tree  in  a 
of  .people,,  as' their  heat  is  the  same  Rose  Garden.”  0?Brien,  incident- 
all  over  the  .world!  Iri  this  respect  ally,  has  a  $5,000  stake  in  the  cap- 
the.  situation  ,  has*  remained  the  italizatiori  of  the  Gate. 
same,  because  music  rules  tha  sen-  ,.!The-  production  of .  “Karamazov” 
timents  of  the  [people.  is  separately  financed  at  $5,500. 


ers  have  beeh  going  on,  but  with 
no  specific,  results.^ Tt’s  known  that 
the  networks  are  ready  to  divest 
themselves  of  their  ownership  in¬ 
terest  in  BMI,  but  they  are  not 
ready  to  make  a  multi-million  dol¬ 
lar  settlement  on  the  $150,000,000 
claim  of  the  sdrigwriters!  They  are 
not,  moreover,  willing  tu  discuss 
seriously  the  demand  by  the  song-. 
Writers  that  RCA,  which  owns 
NBC,  get  rid  of  the  RCA  Victor 
record  compahy,  or  that  CBS, 
which  owns  the  network,  divorce 
itself  from  Columbia  Records. 

Stemming  from  the  songwriters’ 
battle  against  BMI  have  been  a 
long  series  of  testimonials  from 
both  sides  by  leading  performers! 
While  Frank  Sinatra  arid  Bing 
Crosby  have  been  blasting  away 
at  the  sorry  state  of  American 
pop  music,  due  allegedly  to  BMI’s 
influence,  BMI  wheeled  up  a  cou¬ 
ple  Pf  dozen  names,  iricluding 
Dinah  Shore,  Patti  Page.  Benny 
Goodman,  Nat  Cole  and  others,  to 
state  that  they  never  discrimin¬ 
ated  for  or  against  ASCAP  or 
BMI  songs.  The  entry  of  the  top 
name  singers  into  the  fray  led  to 
the  widespread  coverage  of  the 
whole  to-do  in  numerous  mags  and 
dailies. 

The  1957  climax  of  the  ASCAP- 
BMI  fight  came  -  with  the  publica¬ 
tion  of  the  report  of  the  House 
antitrust  committee  which  inves¬ 
tigated  the  broadcast  arid  its  in¬ 
fluence  on  music.  It  was,  in  fact, 
an  anti-climax  since  the  commit¬ 
tee  was  split  on  the  BMI  issue 
arid  did  riot,  make  any  specific  rec¬ 
ommendations,  although  the  over¬ 
all  report  of  the  committee  added 
up  to  a  sharp  rap  against  BMI’s 
operation;  The  committee  minor¬ 
ity,  however,  urged  that  nothing 
be  done  to  prejudice!  the  court 
case  one  way  or  another.  At  the 
year’s  end,  there  was  no  evidence 
that  the  Dept,  of  Justice,  as  urged 
by  Congressman  Celler,  was  prob¬ 
ing  into  any  alleged  antitrust  an¬ 
gles  of  the  music  biz.! 

(  .‘Clearing  House’  Proposal  [ 

The  ASCAP  songwriters,  while 
waging  a.  Widely  publicized  cam¬ 
paign  against  BMI  music  in  the 
national  mags  and  in  the  halls  of 
Congress,  also  made .  a  significant 
move  last  year  towards  greater 
control  over  their  copyrights,  a 
move  directed  against .  publishers. 
This  rhaneiiver  wais  evident  in  a 
blueprint  for  a  so-called  “clearing 
house”  for  motion  picture  music 
circulated  among  the  top  publish¬ 
ers  in  the  fall.  Plan,  drawn  up  by 
John  Schulrnan,  SPA  counsel,  and 
Sidney  Wm.  Wattenberg,  attorney 
for  the  Music  Publishers  Protec¬ 
tive  Assn. 

The  “clearing  house,”  as  Con¬ 
ceived  in  the  original  formula, 
would  clear  both  performance  arid 
synchronizatiori  rights  on  the  sale 
of  music  to  films.  It  would  also  be 
a  jointly  administered  body  be¬ 
tween  publishers  and  Writers. 

At  the  .prese n. t  time,  since 
ASCAP  has  been  unable  to  make 
a  deal  with  the  film  industry  on 
performance  rights  since  the  Judge 
Vincent  Leibell.  decision  outlawed 
the  theatre  seat  tax,  the.  publishers 
have  been  selling  the  performance 
arid  sync  rights  directly,  to  the  pic 
producers.  Many  ASCAP  writers 
are  unhappy  over  .this  arrange-, 
merit,  pointing  out  that  the  per¬ 
formance  right  has  traditionally 
been  co-administered  and  hence 
they  want  to  see  some  kind  of 
“clearing  house”  set  up.  Several 
top  ASCAP  publishers  likewise 
want  to  establish  a  modus  operandi . 
in  selling  music  to  pix  in  order  to 
remove  ASCAP  completely  from 
this  picture.  It  has  been  a  source  of 
embarassment  to  ASCAP  when  the 
tv  industry  asks:  “And  how  much 
has  the  Society  been  collecting 
from  the  film  makers  recently?” 

.  While  the  Schulmari-Wattenberg 
plan  is  not  expected  to  .be  adopted 
in  its  original  form,  the  song¬ 
writers,  via  BPA,  will  be  pressing 
for  some  kind. of  co-admiriistrative 
setup  once  negotiations  for  a  new 
basic  pact  with  the  publishers  be¬ 
gin.  The  pact  expired  at  the  end 
of  1957,  but  SPA  has  obtained 
agreement  from  the  publishers  to 
extend  it  to  May  1. 

The.  major  battle  of  the  pub¬ 
lishers,  however,  still  revolves 
around  the  amendment  of  the. 
1909  Copyright  Act  in  two  basic 
respects.  Firstly,  all  segments  of 
the  music  industry,  except  for  the 
disk  manufacturers  and  the  juke¬ 


box  operators,  are  pressing,  for  the 
eiiriiination  pf  the  coin-machine 
exemption.  It’s  figured  that  if  the 
jukeboxes  Were  to  be  licensed  by 
ASCAP,  even  at  the  most  nominal 
rate*  the  revenue  would  run  into 
the  millions. 

Secondly  publishers  arid  song¬ 
writers.  Would  also  like  to  kayo 
the  compulsory  licensing  provision 
of  the  Copyright  Act,  with  its 
statutory  2c  royalty  rate.  That  2c 
figure  was  set  almost  50  years  ago, 
it’s  argued,  and  has  remained, 
there,  despite  a  manifold  increases 
in  the  price  level  since  then.  As 
for  compulsory  licensing,  publish¬ 
ers  feel  that  the  music  industry 
has  been  sirigled  out  as  the  one 
industry  where  the  seller  must 
deal  with  all  corners  at  a  price  set 
by  the  Government.  Hearings  be¬ 
fore  Congressional  committees  on 
various  amendments  to  the  Copy¬ 
right  Act  opened  last  month  and 
the  publishers  believe  that,  if  not 
this  year,  then  it’ll  be  next  year, 
or  the  year  after  before  changes 
are  made.  It’s  gotta  come  sooner 
or  later,  they  say 

[  One  Break  At  Least  f 

The  publishers  received  some 
Congressional  relief  during,  195T 
on  a  threatened  disastrous  tax  rap 
due  to  the  chariging  character  of 
the  music  biz  under  which  most 
pub  revenue  now  comes  from 
royalties,  ither  mechanicals,  or 
performances.  Under  the  Federal 
tax  laws,  anv  company  earnings 
more  than  50%  pf  its  take  from 
royalties,  is  subject  to  a  personal 
heiding  company. tax  ranging  up 
to  90%.  Under  a  bill  passed  by 
Congress,  active  music  publishers 
were  removed  Horn;  the  meaning 
of  the  term,  personal  holding  com¬ 
pany.  _ 

Last  year,  the.  ASCAP-BMI  axi 
of  the  b;z  instituted  several  signifi¬ 
cant  changes.  ASCAP,  for  in¬ 
stance!  conceded  that  .some  of  its 
meinbers  were  attempting  to  gim¬ 
mick  up  the  performance  logs  via 
the  listing  of  songs  by  stations  that 
were  never  actually  played.  Under 
a  new  bylaw,  a  committee,  headed 
by  Oscar  Hairimerstein  2d  was 
organized  to  police  such  conniving 
practices  with  expulsion  from  the 
Society  as  the  penalty  for  any  •pub¬ 
lisher  ..found  guilty: 

ASCAP.  at  the  end  of  the  year, 
also  elected  Mrs.  Bonnie  Bourne, 
widow  of  the  Saul.  H.  Bourne  who 
died  iu  .October,,  as  a  member  of 
the  board  to  fill  out  her  husband's, 
term.  She  becomes  the  first 
woman  to  serve  ori  the  ASCAP 
board.  At  BMI,  meantime,  Robert 
.T!  Burton  Was  promoted  into  a 
key  administrative  spot  as,  v.p.  In 
charge  of  publisher  relations. 
kf*v  spot  for  BMI’s-  determination 
of  its  payoffs  to  its  affiliates. 

1  /  Copyright  Renewals  | , 

A  continuing  problem  before  the 
industry  remains  the  Question  of 
copyright  renewals.  .  The  Aber- 
bachis,  who  won  a  precedental 
action  before  the  U.S.  Supreme 
Court  in  the  ease  involving  the 
late  Buddy  DeSylva’s  estate,  in 
which,  the  court  ruled  that  the 
child,  even  if  !  illegit;mate,  has 
enual  voice  w'ith  the  widow,  in  the 
disposal  of  the  renewal  ri^ht  filed 
a  similar  sri't  against  Witmark 
Music  over  songs  written  by  the 
late  Ernest  R.  Ball;  The!  Aber- 
hachs.  in  behalf  of  their  Ross 
•Tungriickel  firm;  claimed  to  have 
tho  renewal  rights  of  four  of  Ball’s 
children  and  hence  claimed  four- 
fifths  of  the  copyright  ownership. 

Another  suit  coming  un  to  bat 
early  ,  in  the  new  year,  the  Billy 
Rose  vs:  Bourne  action  involves 
the  validity  of  the  renewal  assign¬ 
ment  clauses  in  the  old  publisher- 
VvT  t.er  contracts,;  before  the  days 
of  SPA,  Rose,  suing  for'  return  of 
“That  Old  Gang  of  Mine,”  which 
he  wrote  with  Mort  Dixon  arid  Ray: 
Henderson,  ciairiis  that  the  assign- 
inent  clause  was  riot  binding.  Since 
a.  vast  number  of  important  stand¬ 
ards  were  obtained  under  s’milar' 
contract,  the  Rose .  suit  is  of  key 
importance.  There  is,  however,  a 
chance  of  settlement  out  of  court, 
which  would  preclude  a  judicial 
ruling,  on  the  issues  in  the  case. 

As  on  the  economic  and  creative 
fronts  Where  the  songwriters  and 
publishers  are  still  trying  to  estab¬ 
lish  a  firm  footing  in  this  era  of 
disk  dominance,  the  various  legal 
hassles  contmue  *  to  reflect  the. 
rapidly  changing  format  of  the 
music  biz! 


MUSIC 


219 


limitary  8, 1958 


Fifty -second  Anniversary 


II 


The  Variety  Music  Calvacade  t  Prentice-Hall; /  $10),  by  Dr.  Julius.  Mattfeld,  musicologist  of  the  Columbia  Broadcasting  System,  has  been  such  an  invaluable, 
assist  to  talent,  programmers,  packagers  andproducers  in  ail  show  biz  media  that  frequent  requests  and  inquiries  to  Variety  suggest. that  it  be  updated.  Dr.  Mattfeld.  is 
working  on  a  Supplement  or  a  Completely  New  Revised  Edition  of  his  book  for  196i  p  ublication  so  that  the  1951-1960  Music  Copyrights  will  be  as  authoritatively  detailed 
along  with  the  Historical  Events,  os  he  has  covered  the  American  scene  from  the  music  of  the  Pilgrims  up  to  mid-20th  century.  Meantime.,  to  comply  with  requests  for  an 
Interim  Updating,  the  Top  Pops,  from  1951  to  date,  are  published  here  and  will  be  extended  with  each  Anniversary  Number . 

Lacking  here  is  the  historical  cavalcade.  Added  here  is  the  connotation  (*) "-for  ASCAP  licensing  and  connotation  (!)  for  BML 


T  1951  I 

And  So  to  Sleep  Again,  w.,  m./ 
joe  Marsala  &  Sunny  Skylar; 
Paxton;  cop.  1951* 

Any  Time,  w.,  m.,  Herbert  Happy 
Lawson.  Hill  &  Range  Songs  Iiic., 
cop.  1921  by  Herbert  Happy 
Lawson  Music  Pub.  Co.;  assigned 

1948  to  Hill  &  Range;  renewed 

1949  by  Lawson;  assigned  to  Hill 
&  Range.  (Popularized,  in  1951). t 

Be  My  Love  (film:  The  Toast 
of  New  Orleans),  w:,  Sammy  Cahn. 
m.,  Nicholas/;  Brodszky.  Miller 
Music,  cop.  1949,  1950,  1951,  by 
Loew’s  Inc.* 

Because,  of  Rain,  w.,  m.,  Ruth 
Poll,  Nat.COle  &  Bill  .Harrington. 
Maypole  Music,  cop. .  1951* 

Because  of  You.  w.,  m.,  Arthur 
Hammerstein  &  Dudley  Wilkinson. 
Broadcast  Music,  cop.  1940.  (pop¬ 
ularized  in  1951;  introduced  in 
film:  I  Was  An  American  Spy).t 
Bonne  Nuit— -Goodnight  (film: 
Here  Comes  The  .  Groom),  w.,  iii., 
jay  Livingston  &  Ray  Evans, 
Burke-Van  Heusen  Music,  cop. 
1951* 

Cold,  Cold  Heart,  yir.,  m.,  Hank 
Williams.  Nashville;  Acuff-Rose, 
cop.  1951. t 

Come  ■  On-a .  My  House,  w.,  m., 
Ross  Bagdasariari  &  William  Saro¬ 
yan.  Duchess  Music,  cop.  1950; 
cbp.1951.t- 

Cry,  w.,  m.,  Churchill  Kohlman. 
Mellow  Music,:: cop,  1951. t 
Dance  Me  Loose,  w.,  Mel  How¬ 
ard,  mi;  Lee  Erwin.  Erwin-Howard 
...Music;  cop.  1951* 

Dark  Is  The  Night— C’est  Fini! 
..(film:  Rich,  Young  and  Pretty), 
w.,  Sammy  Cahn.  m.,  Nicholas 
Brodszky.  Feist,  cop.  1950  Loew’s 
Inc.;  cop.  1951  Loew’s  Inc  * 
Domino.  French  Words,  J acques 
Plante;  English  words,  Don  Raye. 
m.,  Louis  FeiTari.  Pickwick  Music, 
cop.  1950  &  ’51  by  Arpege  Edi¬ 
tions  Musicales,  Paris  * 

Getting  To  Know  You  (The  King 
and  I).  w.,  Oscar  Hammerstein  2d. 
in.;  Richard  Rodgers.  Willianison 
Music, 5  cop.  1951  by  Rodgers  & 
Hammerstein.* 

Go,  Go,  Go,  Go.  Mack  David, 
m.,  jerry  Livingston.  Famous 
Music,  cop.  1951* 

, .  Haljf  As  Much,  w./m.,  Hank  Wil¬ 
liams.  Nashville.  Acuff-Rose,  cop. 
1951. t. 

Hello,  Young  Lovers-  (The  King, 
and  I).  W-,  Oscar  Hammerstein  2d. 
m„  Richard  Rodgers.  Williamson 
MUsic,  cop.  1951  by  Rodgers  & 
Oscar  Hammerstein.* 

Pm  In  Love  Again,  w.,  m„  Cole 
Porter.  (Crawford  Music',  cop.  1925; 
cop.  1951  Harms.* 

1  Get  Ideas,  w.,  Dorcas  Cochran, 
m.,  Sanders.  Hill  &  Range,  cop. 
1951.  t  . 

:  I  Still  See  Elisa  (Paint  Your 
Wagon),  w.,  Alan  Jay.  Lerner.  jit., 
Frederick  /Loewe.  Chappell,  cop; 
1951  by  Lerner  &  Loewe.* 

I  Talk  To  The  Trees  (Paint  Your 
Wagon),  w.,  Alan  jay  Lerner.  m., 
Frederick  Loewe.  Chappell,  cop. 
1951  by  Lerner  &  Loewe;* 

I  Whistle  A  Happy  Tune  (The 
King  and  I).  Oscar  Hammerstein 
2d.  m.,  Richard  Rodgers.  William¬ 
son  Music;  cop.  1951  by  Rodgers 
&  Hammerstein.* 

If.  w.,  Robert  Hargreaves  & 
Stanley  DamiereU.  m.,  Tolchard 
Evans,  Shapiro-Bernstein,  cop. 
1934  and  - 1950  by  Cecil  Lennox 
Ltd.,  London. t 

In  The  Cool,  Cool,  Cool  Of  The 
Evening  film:  Here  Comes  The 
Groom),  w.,  Johnny  Mercer  m., 
Hoagy  Carmichael.  Burke-Van  Heu- 
sen  Music,  cop..  1951,* 

It's  No  Sin.  See:  Sin. 

It  Is  No  Secret,  w.,  ni.,  Stuart 
Hamblen.  Duchess  Music,  cop. 
1950,  popularized  1951.  t 
Jezebel,  w.,  m.,  Wayne  Chariklin. 
Broadcast  Music,  cop.  1950  by  Folk 
Songs;  assigned  1951  to  Broadcast 
Music  Inc.t 

,  Kisses  Sweeter  Than  Wine,  w., 
Paul  Campbell,  m.,  Joel  Newman. 
Folkways  Music,  cop.  1951.t 
The  Little  White  Cloud  That 
Cried,  w.,  m.,  Johnnie  Ray.  Larry 


Spier  Inc.,  cop.  1951  by  Carlyle 
Music.* 

Longing:  For  You.  w.,  Bernard 
Jansen,  m.  Walter  Dana.  Ludlow 
Music,  cop.  1951'. t 
The  Loveliest  Night  Of  The  Year 
(film:  The  Great  Caruso),  w.,  Paul 
Francis  Webster,  m.,  adapted  by, 
Irving  Aaronson  Ifrom  Juventihq 
Rosas’  waltz  “Sobre  las  01as”J. 
Robbins*  .cop:  1950  by  Loew’s  Inc.; 
cop,  1951  by  Loew’s;*. 

Make  The.  Man  Love  Me  (A  Tree 
Grows  In  Brooklyn),  w.,  Dorothy 
Fields,  m.,  Arthur  Schwartz.  Put¬ 
nam,  ,(E.  H.  Morris),  cop.  1951.* 
Marshmallow  Moon  (film;  Aaron 
Slick  From  Punkin  Creek),  w.,  m./ 
Jay  Livingston  &  Ray  Evans.  Fam¬ 
ous,  cop.  1951.* 

Mister  and  Mississippi,  w.;  m., 
Irving:  /Gordon.  Shapiro-Bernstein, 
cop.  1951.* 

Mixed  /Emotions/  w.,  m.,  Stuart 
F. '  Loucheim,  Roger  Music,  cop. 
1951.*. 

.  Mockin’  Bird  Hill.  w.,  in., 
Vaughn  Horton.  Southern  Music, 
cop.  1949;  (popularized  in  1951).* 
My  Truly*  Truly  Fair,  w„  b!:, 
Bob  Merrill.  Santly-Joy  (how  Joy 
Music),  cop.  1951.* 

On  Top.  Of  Old  Smokey.  w., 
anon;  m.,  arr/ by  Fred  Barovick. 
Lewis  Music,  cop.  1951.* 

Please,  Mr.  Sun.  w.,  Sid.  Frank, 
m.,  Ray  Getzov.  Weiss  &  .Barry, 
cop;  1951.t 

Rose,  Rose,  I  Love  You.  wi;  Wil¬ 
fred  Thomas,  m.,  arr.  by  Chris 
Langdon. .  Chappell,  cop.  1951  by 
Chappell  Ltd.*  London.* 

Shanghai;  w.,  m.,  Bob  Hilliard  & 
Milton  DeLugg.  Advanced/  cop. 
1951*  ; 

Shrimp  Boats,  w.,  m^  PauI  Mason 
Howard  &  Paul  Weston.  Walt  Dis¬ 
ney:  Music;  cop.  1951.* 

Sin.  w.,  Chester  R.  Shull.,  hi, 
George  Hoven.  Algonquin  Music; 
Cop.  1951, t 

Slowpoke,  w.,  m..  Pee  Wee  King,. 
Redd  Stewart  &  Chilton  Price. 
Hollywood:  Ridgeway  Music,  cop. 
1951.  t 

Sound  Off,  w.  m.,  Willie  Lee 
Duckworth.  Shapiro,  Bernstein; 
cop.,  1950,  by  Bernard  Lentz,,  as¬ 
signed  to  and  copyrighted  in  1951 
by  Shapiro,  Bernstein..  (Originally 
published  in  ’’Cadence  System,  of 
Teaching  .'Close  Order  Drill”  by 
Col.  Bernard  Lentz,  U.  S.  Army, 
retired/  Military  Service  Publish¬ 
ing  Co.,  Harrisburg,  Pav,  cop.  1951 
by  Bernard  Lentz.* 

Sparrow  In  The  Tree  Tpp.  w., 
m.,; .  Bob  Merrill.  Santly-Joy  (now 
Joy  Music),  cod.  1951* 

Sweet  Violets,  w..  m:,  Cy  Coben 
&  Charles  Grean.  Edwin  H.  Morris, 
cop;  1951.* 

Tell  Me  Why.  w.;  Al  Alberts,  m., 
Mhrty  Gold.  Signet  Music,  cop. 
1951. t 

Tennessee  Waltz.  \v.,  m..  Redd 
Stewart  &  Pee  Wee  King.  Nash¬ 
ville:  Acuff-Rose,  cop.  1948.  (Pop¬ 
ularized  in  1951).  t 
These  Things  I  Offer  Yon.  w., 
m;,  Morty  Kevins,  Bennie  Benja¬ 
min  &  George  Weiss,  Valando 
Music,  cop.  1951.* 

Too  Young,  w.,  .  Sylvia  Dee.,  m.> 
Sid  Lippman.  Jefferson  Music,  cop. 
1951* 

Undecided,  w.,  Sid  Robin.,  m.; 
Charles  Shavers;  Leeds,  cop.  1939; 
cop.  ,1951.* 

Unforgettable,  w.,  in.,  ^  Irving 
Gordon.  Bourne;  cop.  1951.* 

We  Kiss  In  A  Shadow  (The  King 
And  I).  w.,  Oscar  Hammerstein  2d. 
m.,  Richard  Rodgers.  Williamson 
Music,  cop..  1951  by  Rodgers  & 
Hammerstein.*; 

(When  We  Are  Dahcing)  I  Get 
Ideas;  See:  I  Get  Ideas, 

Wonder  Why  (film:  Rich,  Young 
and  Pretty),  w.,  Sammy  Cahn.  m;, 
Nicholas  :  Brodszky.  Robbins,  cop/ 
1950,  1951,  by  Ldew’s  .Iric.* 

V-  1952  ;•{  ,  T 

Am  I  In  Love  (film:  Son  of  Pale¬ 
face);  w.,  m.,  Jack  Brooks.  Famous* 
cop.  1952.* 

Anywhere  I  Wander  (film;  Hans 
Christian  Andersen),  w.,  m.,  Frank 
Loesser.  Frank  Music,  cop.  1952.* 


A-rpund  The  Comer,  w.,  ni., 
josef  Marais.  Frank  Music,  -cop. 
i950,  (Popularized  in  .19.52)**" 

Aiif  Wiederseh’n,  Sweetheart. 
wM  John  Sexton  &  John  Turner, 
m.;  Eberhard  Storch.  Beverly  Hills; 
Hill  &  Range,  cop.  1949  by  Edi¬ 
tions  Corsb,  G.  ni.  b.  H.,  Berlin; 
cop.  1951  by  Hill  &  Range/  cop. 
1952  by  Peter  Maurice  Music  Ltd;, 
London.! 

Be  Anything— But.  Be  Mine,  w., 
mi,  Irving  Gordon.  Shapiro-Bern¬ 
stein.  cop.  1952*  ' 

Because  You're  Mine  (film:  Be¬ 
cause  You’re  Mine),  w.,  Sammy 
Cahn.  m.,  Nicholas  Brodszky.  Feist, 
;cpp.  1951-52  Loew’s  Inc.* 

The  .Blacksmith  Blues,  w.,  m;. 
Jack;  Holmes.  Beverly  Hills!  Hill 
&  Range,  cop.  1950  by  Tune  Towne 
Tunes;  assigned  1952  to  Hill  & 
Range,  cop.  1952  by  Hill  &  Range.! 

Blue  Tango.  Instrumental.  m„ 
Leroy  Anderson.  Mills .  Music,  cop. 
1951-52.* 

Botch-a-Me,  .  Italian:  words  and 
music,  R.  Morbelli  and  L.  Astore. 
English  words  and  musical  adap¬ 
tation,  Eddie  Y.  Stanley.  Hollis 
Music,  cop..  1941  by  Foho  Ehie 
S.  A.,  Milan;  assigned  1952  to 
Hollis  Music,  new  English  words, 
cop.  1952  by  Hollis  Music.! 

Count  Your  Blessings;  Instead 
Of  Sheep;  w;  m.,  Irving  Berlin. 
Berlin,,  Cop.  1952.* 

Delicado.  w..  Jack  Lawrence.; 
m.,  Waldyr  Azevedo.  Rentick,  cop.. 
1951-52  *  • 

.  Don’t:  Let  The  Stars  Get  In 
Your  Eyes:  w.,  m.,-  Slim.  Willet. 
Four  Star  Sales  Co/  (selling  agent. 
Meridian.  Music),  cop.  1952.  t 
Forgive  Me.  w.,  Jack  Yellen.  m., 
Milton  Ager.  Advanced  Music,  cop. 
,1927;  cop.  1952  * 

.  The  Gandy  Dancers’  Ball,  w.,  m., 
Paul  Weston  &  Paul  Mason  How¬ 
ard.  Walt  Disney  Music,  cop.  1952.* 
Glow-Worm,  w:,  Johnny  Mercer, 
m.,  Paul  Lincke.  Marks  Muric*  cop. 
1902  by  Apollo  Verlag,  Berlin;  re¬ 
newed  1930;  Marks  Music;  cop. 
1952  Marks  Music  (See  1907),! 

:  A  Guy  Is  A  Guy.  w.;  m.,  Oscar 
Brand,  Ludlow  Music,  cop.  1952.! 
.  Here  In  My  Heart,  w.,  m.,  Pat 
Genaro,  Loti  Levinson  &  Bill  Bor!. 
rellL  Mellin  .  Music,  cop.  1952;t 
BBgh  Noon — Do  Not  Forsake  Me 
(film:  High  Noon),  w.t  Ned  Wash-, 
ington.  m.,  Dimitri  Tiomkin.  Feist, 
cop.  1952* 

.  How  Do  You  Speak  To  An 
Angel?  (Hazel  Flagg),  w:.  Bob  Hil¬ 
liard..  m.,  Jule  Styne.  Chappell, 
cop.  1952  by  Styne «8c  Bob  Hilliard* 
I  Believe,  w.,  m.,  Eryin  Drake, 
Jimmy  Shirl,  Al  Stillman  &  Irv¬ 
ing  Gordon.  Cromwell,  cop.  1952.* 
Fm  Yours,  w.,  m.,  Robert  Mcllin. 
Algonquin  Music,  cop.  1952.t 
I  Saw  Mommy  Kissing  Santa 
Ciaiis.  w.,  m.,  Tommie  Connor. 
Harman  Music,  cop.  T952.* 

I  Went  To  Your  Wedding,  w.,  m., 
Jessie  Mae  Robinson.  St.  Louis 
Music,  cop,  1952.! 

Jambalaya— On  The  Baybn.  wM 
m..  Hank  Williams.  '  Nashville; 
Acuff-Rose,  cop.  1952.! 

Keep  It  A  Secret,  w.,  m:, '  Jessie 
Mae  Robinson.  Shapiro-Bernsteih, 
cop.  1952/*  / 

Kiss  Of  Fire.,  w.,  ni.,  Lester  Allen 
&  Robert  Hill.  [Music  adapted  from 
A,  G.  Villoldo’s  “El  Choclo.”] 
Duchess  Music,  cop.  1952.  t 
Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania,  vf.,  m.. 
Bob  MerrilL  Oxford  Music,  cbp. 
1952.* 

Pretend,  w;,  m/,  .  Lew  Douglas, 
Cliff  Parman  &  Frank  Lavere. 
Chicago:  Brandom  Music,  cop.: 
1952* 

-  Somewhere  Along  The  Way.  w., 
Samihy  Gallop.  m.(  Kurt  Adams. 
United  Mu^ic,  cop:  1952.* 

Takes  Two  To  Tango,  w.,  m., 
Al  Hoffman.  &  Dick  Manning.  Har-. 
nlan.  Music,  cop.  1952  * 

/  Tell  Me  You’re  Mine,  w.,  m., 
R.  Fredianelli  &  D.  Ravasino.  Capri 
Music;  cop.  1939;  cop.  1952  by 
Edizioni  Suvini-Zerboni,  -  Milan; 

Thumbelina  (film;  Hans  Chris¬ 
tian  Andersen),  w.,  m.,  Frank  Loes¬ 
ser.  Frank,  cop:  1952.* 

Till  I  Waltz  Again  With  Yon. 
w;t  m.*  Sidney  Prosen.  Village 
Music,  cop.  1952.! 


Trying.  w.r  ni.,  Billy  Vaughn, 
Gallatin,.  Tenn.:  Randy-Smith 
Music,;  cop.  1952.f 
Wheel  Of  Fortune,  w.,  m., 

Bennie  Benjamin  &  George  Weiss. 
Laurel  Music, .  cop;  1952  * 

Why  Don’t  You  Believe  Me.  W-> 
m.,.  Lew  Douglas;  King  Laney  & 
Roy  Rodde.  Chicago:  Brandom 
Music,  cop.  1952* 

Wish  You  Were  Here  (Wish  You 
Were  Here),  w.,  m./  Harold  Rome. 
Chappell,  Inc.,  cop.  1952.  by  Rome.* 
You  Belong  To  Me.  w.,  m.,  Pee 
Wee  King,  Redd  Stewart,  and  Chil¬ 
ton  Price,  Hollywood:  Ridgeway 
/Music,  cop.  .1952,! 

Zing  A  Little  Song  (film:  Just 
For  You)/  w.,  Leo  Robin,  m.,  Harry 
Warren.  Famous,  cop.  1952  Burvan 
Music.* 

;|  ... :  ,  1953  /•  ;  .  j 

Allcz-ybus-Eh,  Go  Away  (Can! 
Can).  wM  m..  Cole  Porter.  Buxton 
Hill  Music  (Chappell),  cbp.  1953 
by  Cole  Porter.* 

And  This  Is  My  Beloved  (Kis¬ 
met),  w./  m.:,  Robert  Wright  &. 
George  Forrest  (music  based  a 
theme  by  A.  Borodin).  Frank  Mu¬ 
sic,  .cop.  1953.* 

Answer  Me,  My  Love,  w.,  m;, 
Gerhard.  Winkler  &  Fred  Rauch. 
English  words,  Carl  Sigman. 

Bourne,  cop.  1952  by  Papageno 
Verlag  Hans  Sikprski,  Hamburg; 
cop.  1953  by  Bourne.  (Orignal  Ger¬ 
man  title:  “Mutterlein”;  .  earlier 
English  version,  “Answer  Me”  by 
Carl  Sigman,  cop.  1953  by  Bourne).* 
April  In  Portugal.  Original 

words,  Jose  Galhardo.  English 
words,  Jimmy  Kennedy.  m„  Raul 
Ferrao.  Chappell,  cop.  1947  &  1949; 
cop.  1953.  Chappell.* 

Baubles;  Bangles  and  Beads 
(Kismet),  w.,  m.,  Robert  Wright  & 
George  Forrest  (music  based  on 
theme  by  A.  Borodin).  Frank  Mu¬ 
sic,  cop.  1953.* 

C'est  Magnifique  (Can-Cahi). 

w.,  m..  Cole  Porter.  Buxton  Hill 
Music,  (Chappell),  cop.  1953  by 
Cole  porter.* 

Changing  Partners.  %  Joe 
Darion.  m.,  Larry.  Coleman.  Porgie 
Music,  cop.  1953.t 
Crying  In  The  Chapel,  w.,  m., 
Artie  Glenn,  Knoxville,  Tenn.: 
Valley  Publishers,  cop.  1953. t 
Dear  John:  Letter,  w.,  ml,  Billy 
Barton;  Lewis  Talley  &  Fuzzy 
Owen.  Hollywood:  American  Music, 
cop.  1953.  t 

Doggie  In  The  Window,  w.,  m.. 
Bob  Merrill.  Santly-Joy  (now  Joy), 
cop.  1952-53* 

Dragnet.  Instrumental.  m„  Wal¬ 
ter  Schumann.  Alamo  Music,  cop. 
1953  by  Schumann  Music.* 

Ebb  Tide,  w.,  Carl  Sigman.  m„ 
Robert  Maxwell.  Robbins,  cop, 
1953* 

Eh,  Cumpari!  w.,  m.,  traditional 
(Italian),  transcribed  by  Julius  La 
Rosai  and  Archie  Bleyer.  Bosarch 
Pub.  Corp.,  cop.  1953. t 
Eternally  (film:  Limelight),  w., 
Geoffrey  Parsons;  in.,  Charles 
Chaplin.  Bourne,  cop.  1953.  (Vocal, 
version  of  Terry's  Theme).* 
Gambler’s  Guitar,  w.,  m.,  Jim 
Lowe.  Chicago:  Frederick  Music, 
cop.  1953.  t 

I  Am  In  Love  (Can-Can),  w.,  m., 
Cole  Porter.  .Buxton  Hill  Music 
(Chappell),  cop.  1953  by  Cole 
Porter.* 

/I  Love  Paris  (Can-Can),  w.,  m.. 
Cole  Porter.  Buxton  Hill  (Chappell), 
cop.  1953  by  Cole  Porter.* 

It’s  Ail  Right  With  Me  (Can-Can). 
w:r  m..  Cole  Porter.  Buxton  Hill 
(Chappell),  cop.  1953  by  Cole 
Porter* 

Istanbul  w.,  Jimmy  .  Kennedy, 
m.,  Nat  Simon.  Alamo  Music,  cop. 
1953.* 

Make.  Love  To  Me!  (Instrumen¬ 
tal:  Tin.:Roof  Blues).  w.,  Bill  Norvas 
&  Allan  Copeland,  m.,  Leon  Rop- 
polp,  Paul  Mares,  Benny  Pollack, 
George  Brahes,  Mel  Stitzel  &  Wal¬ 
ter  Melrose.  Melrose  Music,  cop.. 
1953* 

Many  Times,  w.,  Jessie  Barnes, 
m/,  Felix  Stahl.  Broadcast  Music, 
cop.  1953.! 

My  Love,  My  Love.  w„  Bob 
Haymes.  m.,  Nick  Acquaviva: 
Meridian  Music,  cop.  1952-53.1 


No  Other  Love  (Me  and  Juliet), 
w.,.  Oscar  *  Hammerstein  2d.  m., 
Richard  .  Rodgers.  Williamson 
Music,  cop.  1953  by  Rodgers  &. 
Hammerstein.* 

“O.”  w.,  Byron  Gay.  m.,  Byron 
Gay  &  Arnold  Johnson.  Feist,  cop.; 
1919;  renewed  1947;  cop.  1953.* 

Oh  Happy  Day.  y-»  m.,  Nancy 
Blnns  Reed  &  Don  Howard  Koplow. 
Bregmann,  Vocco  &  Conn,  cop. 
1953* 

Ohl  My  Pa-Pa  (Swiss  film; 
work).  German  words  &  music, 
Paul  Burkhard.  English  words, 
John  Turner  &  Geoffrey  Parsons. 
Shapiro-Bernstein,  cop.  1948  & 
1950  by  Musikverlag  und  Buhnen- 
vertrieb  Zurich  A.  G.,  Zurich;  cop. 
1953  by  Shapiro-Bernstein.* 

Rags  To  Richeis.  w.,  m.,  Richard 
Adler  &  Jerry  Ross.  Saunders,  cop. 
1953* 

Ricochet,  w.,  m.,  Larry  Coleman, 
Joe  Darion  &  Norman  Gimbel. 
Sheldon  Music,  cop.  1953.! 

Rock  Around  The  Clock.  w„  m.. 
Max  C.  Freedman  &  Jimmy  De 
Knight.  Meyers  Music,  cop.  1953  * 
Ruby  (film:  Ruby),  w.,  Mitchell 
Parish,  m.,  Heinz  Roemheld.  Miller 
Music,  cop.  1953.* 

Say  You’re  Mine  Again,  w.,  m., 
Charles  Nathan  &  Dave  Heisler. 
Blue-River  Music.  (Meridian  Music, 
selling  agent),  cop.  1952-1953. t 
.  Secret  Love  (film:  Calamity 
Jane),  w.,  Paul  Francis  .Webster, 
m.,  Sammy  Pain.  Remick,  cop, 
1953* 

The  Song  From  Moulin  Rouge 
—Where  Is  Your  Heart  (film: 
Moulin  Rouge),  w.,  William  Eng* 
vick,  m.,  George  Auric.  Broadcast 
Music,  cop.  1953.t 
Strange  Things  Are  Happening, 
w.,  m..  Red  Buttons,  Allan  Walker 
&  Elliot  Lawrence.  Helayne  Music, 
cop.  1953*  c 

Stranger  Hi  Paradise  (Kismet), 
w.,  m.,  Robert  Wri^it  &  George 
Forrest  [music  based  on  a  theme 
from  the  Polovetzian  Dances  of 
Alexander  Borodin’s  opera  “Prince 
Igor”].  Frank  Music,  cbp.  1953.*  * 
That’s  Amore— That’s  Love  (film: 
The  Caddy),  w..  Jack  Brboks.  m., 
Harry  Warren.  Paramount,  cop. 
1953* 

Terry’s  Theme  (film:  Limelight), 
m.,  Charles  Chaplin.  Bourne,  cop. 
1953* 

Taya  Con  Dios.  w„  m.s  Larry 
Russell,  Inez  James  &  Buddy  Pep¬ 
per.  Ardmore  Music,  cop.  195.3.* 
With  These  Hands,  w.,  Benny 
Davis,  m.,  Abner  Silver.  Ben  Bloom 
Music,  cop.  1950."  (popularized  in 
1953* 

You  Alone— Solo  Tu.  w.,  Al  Still¬ 
man.  m.,  Robert  Allen.  Roncom 
Music,  cop.  1953* 

You,  You,  You.  w.,  Robert  Mellin. 
m.,  Lotar  C^ias.  Mellin-  Inc.,  cop. 
1952;  cop.  1953  by  Edition  Ac- 
cord;  assigned  to  Zodiac  Music,  as¬ 
signed  1953  to  Mellin  Inc.t 

\:  ;  1954  ~ 

All  of  You  (Silk  stockings),  w., 
m..  Cole  Porter.  Buxtou  Hill  (Chap¬ 
pell,  cop.  1954  by  Cole  Porter.* 
Anema  e  Core— With  All  My 
Heart  and  Soul.  Italian  words,  Tito 
Manlid;  English  /words,  Mann  Cur¬ 
tis  &  Harry  Akst  ni.,  Salye  d'Es^ 
posito,  Leeds,  ^cop.  1950  &  1954  by 
Edizioni  Musical  Film,  Milan.  (Or¬ 
iginally  from  an  Italian  film  of 
the  same  name).* 

Cara  Mia.  w.,  m.,  Tulio  Tranpani 
& :  Lee  Lange, .  Feist,  cop.  1954.* 
Count.  Your  Blessings,  w.,  m., 
Irving  Berlin.  Irving  Berlin  Music* 
cop.  1954.* 

Cross  Over  The  Bridge,  w.,  m., 
Bennie  Benjamin  &  George  Weiss. 
Laurel  Music,  cop.  1954.* 

-  Fanny  (Fanny),  w.,  m.,  Harold. 
Rome.  Chappell,  cop.  1954.* 

The  Happy  Wanderer.  w.f  An¬ 
tonia  Ridge,  m.,  Friedrich  W.  Moel¬ 
ler.  Sam  Fox,  cop.  1954  by  Bos- 
worth  Ltd.,  London* 

Here,  w.,  m.f  Dorcas  Cochran 
it.  Harold  Grant.  Hill  &  Range, 
cop.  1954.  (Based  on  the  soprano 
aria  “Caro  Nome”  in  Verdi’s  opera 
“Rigoletto”).t 

Hernando’s  Hideaway  (Pajama 
Game),  w.,  m.,  Richard  Adler  & 
Jerry  Ross.  Frank  Music,  cop,  1954.* 
Hey  There  (Pajama  Game),  w. 
m.,  Richard  Adler  &  Jerry  Ross. 
Frank  Music,  cop.  1954:* 

(Continued  oh  page  220) 


220 


MUSIC 


Fifty-second  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


Top  Pop  Hits  From  1951-1957 


;  Continued  from  page  21?  5 


The  High  And  The  Mighty  (film: 
The  High  And  The  Mighty),  w., 
Ned  Washington,  m.,  Dimitri 
Tiomkin.  Witmark,  cop.  1954.* 
Home  For  The  Holidays.  w.,  Al 
Stillman,  m.,  Robert  Allen.  Roncpm 
Music,  cop.  .1954.* 

I’m  Walking  Behind  Yon.  w.,  m*, 
Billy  Reid.  London:  Peter  Maurice 
Ltd.,  cop.  1953/  (popularized  in 
U.  S.  in  1954:  selling  agent,  Leeds 
Music,  New  .York).* 

A  Girl!  A  Girl!  w.,  m.,  Bennie 
Benjami  ,  George  Weiss  &  Al 
Bandini.  Valando  Music,  1954.* 

I  Get:  So  Lonely.  See:  Oh,  Baby 
Mine. 

If  I  Give  My  .  Heart  To  Yon. 
w.,  m.f  Jimmie  Crane,  Al  Jacobs 
&  Jimmy  Brewster.  Miller  Music* 
cop.  1954.* 

Let  Me  Go,  Lover!  w>,  m.,  Jenny 
Lou  Carson.  Special  lyrics,  Al  Hill. 
Hill  &  Range,  cop,  1953  as  “Let 
Me  Go,  Devil!”;  new  version,  cop. 
1954.t 

Little  Things  Mean  A  Lot/w.  m., 
Edith  Lindeman  &  Carl  Stutz. 
Feist,  cop.  1954.* 

Lost  in  Loveliness  (Girl  In  Pink 
Tights),  w.,  Leo  Robin,  m.,  Sigmund 
Romberg  (posthumously).  Chappell, 
cop.  1954.*' 

Make  Yourself  Comfortable,  w., 
m.,  Bob  Merrill.  Rylan  Music,  cop.. 
1954* 

Mambo  Italiano.  w.,  m..  Bob 
Merrill.  Rylan  Music,  cop.  1954.* 
Mister  Sandman.  wM  m.,  Pat  Bal¬ 
lard.  Edwin  H.  Morris,  cop.  1954.* 
The  Man  That  Got  Away  (film: 
A  Star.  Is  Born),  w.,  Ira  Gershwin, 
m.,  Harold.  Arlen.  Harwin  (E.  H. 
Morris),  cop.  1954* 

The  Naughty'  Lady  of  Shady 
Lane,  w.,  m.,  Sid.  Tepper  &  Roy  C. 
Bennett.  Paxton,  cop.  1954.* 

Oh,  Baby  Mine — I  Get  So  Lonely, 
w.,  m.,  Pat  Ballard.  Melrose  Music, 
cop.  1953;  Cop.  1954.* 

Papa  Loves  Mambo.  w.,  m>,  Ai 
Hoffman,  Dick  Manning  &  Bix 
Reichner,  Shapiro-Bernstein,  cop/ 
1954* 

Shake,  Rattle  And  Roll,  w.,  m., 
Charles  Calhoun.  Criterion  Music, 
cop.  1954  by  Progressive  Music.t 
Sh-Boom.  w.,  m,,  James  Keyes, 
Claude  Feaster,  Carl  Feaster, 
Floyd  -  F.  MacRae  &  James  Ed¬ 
wards.  Hill  &  Range,  cop.  19544 
Steam  Heat  (Pajama  Game),  w., 
in.,  Richard  Adler  &  Jerry  Ross. 
Frank  Music,  cop.  1954.* 

Teach  Me  Tonight,  w.,  Sammy 
Cahn.  m..  Gene  DePaul.  Leeds, 
cop.  1953;  cap.  1954  by  Hub  Music/ 
That’s  All  I  Want  From  Yon. 
w.,  m.,  M.  Rotha.  Weiss  &  Barry; 
cop.  1954.  t 
This  Ole  House,  w.,  m.,  Stuart 
Hamblen.  Arcadia,  Cal.:.  Hamblen 
Music,  cop.  19544 

Three  Coins  In  The  Fountain 
(film:  Three  Coins  In  The  Foun¬ 
tain).  w.,  Sammy  Cahn:  m.,  Jule 
Styne.  Robbins,  cop.  1954  * 
Wanted.  \,  ni./  Jack  Fulton  & 
Lois  Steele.  Witmark,  cop.  1954.* 
Young  At  Heart,  w.,  Carolyn; 
Leigh;  m.,  Johnny  Richards.  Sun¬ 
beam  Music,  cop.  19544 
Young  and  Foolish  (Plain  and 
Fancy>.  w„  Arnold  B.  Horwitt..  m., 
Albert  Hague.  Chappell,  cop".  1954* 


I. 


1955 


Ain’t  That  A  Shame,  w.y  David 
Bartholomew,  m.,  Antoine  Domino. 
Commodore  Music,  cop.  1955. t 
All  At  Once  You  Love  Her  (Pipe 
Dream),  w.,  Oscar  Hammerstein  2d: 
m.,  Richard  Rodgers.  Williamson 
Music,  cop.  1955,* 

At  My  Front  Door,  w.,  Ewart  G. 
Abner  Jr.,  m„  John  G.  Moore. 
Tollie  Music,  cop.  1955.1 

Autumn  Leaves,  w.,  Jacques  Pre- 
vert  (French),  Johnny  Mercer. 
(English),  Enoch  et  Cie,  Ardmore 
Music,  cop.  1955.* 

Ballad,  of  Davy  Crockett  (film: 
Davy  Crockett),  w.,  Tom  Black¬ 
burn.  m.,  George  Burns.  Wonder¬ 
land  Music,  cop.  19554 
Bible  Tells  Me  So.  w.,  in.,.  Dale 
Evans.  Paramount-Roy  Rogers  Mu¬ 
sic.  cop.  1955* 

Blossom  Fell,  w.,  m.,  Howard 
Barnes,  Harold  Cornelius  &  Domi¬ 
nic  John.  Shapiro,  Berhstei  ,  cop. 
1955* 

Breeze  and  I,  w.,  Al  Stillman, 
m.,  Ernesto  Lecuona.  E.  B.  Marks, 
cop.  19404 

Cherry  Pink,  and  Apple  Blossom 
White,  v..  Mack  David.,  m.,  Lbui- 
guy.  Chappell,  Cop.  1955.* 

Cry  Me  A  River,  w.,  m.,  Arthur 
Hamilton.  Mark  VII  Music,  cop. 
1955*. 

Dance  -With.  Me  Henry,  w.,  m., 
Etta  James.  Modern  Music,  cop. 
1955.t 


Domanl.  w.,  Anthony  Velona.  m.,'| 
Ulpio  Minucci.  Montauk  Music, 
pop.  1955.4 

Don’t  Be  Angry,  w./m.,  Napoleon 
Brown,  Rose  Marie  McCoy  &  Fred 
Mendelssohn.  Savoy  Music-Repub¬ 
lic  Music,  cop.  1955. 

Don’t  Stay  Away  Too.  Long,  w., 
ni.,  Al  Hoffman  &  Dick  Manning. 
Bourne,  cop.  1955.* 

Earth  Angel,  w.,  m.,  Curtis  Wil¬ 
liams,  Dootsie  Williams  Publica¬ 
tions,  cop.  19554 
Fooled,  w.,  Mann  Curtis,  m., 
Doris  Tauber  (adapted  from  a 
theme  by  Franz  Lehar).  Harms, 
cpp., 1955.* 

Forgive  My  Heart,  w.t  Sammy 
Gallop,  m.,  Chester  Conn.  Breg- 
man,  V0CP0/&  Conn,  cop..  1955:* 
Hard  To.  Get.  w.,  m..  Jack  Segal. 
Witmark,  1955  * 

Tie*  w..  Jack  Richards.,  m-,  Rich¬ 
ard  Mullin.  Avas  Music,  cop:  19554 
Heart  (Damn  Yankees).!  r./  m:, 
Richard  Adler  &  Jerry  Ross.  Frank 
Music,  cop.  1955.*. 

Hearts  of  Stone,  w.,  m.,  Rudy; 
Jackson  &  Edward  Wiley  Ray. 
Granite  Music-Regent  Music,  cop. 
1955.4 

Hey,  Mr.  Banjo,  w..  m.,  Freddy 
Morgan  &  Norman  Malkin.  Mills, 
cop.  1955.* 

How  Important  Can  It  Be.  w.,  m., 
Bennie  Benjamin  &  George  Weiss. 
Aspen  Music,  cop.  1955.* 

Humming:  Bird,  wv,  m;f  Don  Rob¬ 
ertson.  Ross  Jungnickel.cop.  1955* 

I  Hear  Yon  Knocking,  w.,  David 
Bartholomew*  m.,  Pearl  King. 
Commodore  Music,  cop.  1955. 

If  I  May.  w..  m„  Rose  Marie  Mc¬ 
Coy.  &  Charlie  Singleton.  Roose¬ 
velt  Music,  cop.  1955. 

I’ll  Never  Stop  Loving  You  (film: 
Love  Me  Or  Leave  Me):  w.,; Sammy 
Cahn.,  m*.  Nicholas  Brodszky.  Feisty 

coo.  1955* 

Impatient  Years.  wM.  Sammy 
Cahn.  m.,  James  Van  Heusen. 
Barton  Music,,  cop.  1955.  * 

Ko  Kb  Mo.  ,  w./  m.,  Vernon  H. 
Porter,  Eunice  Levy  &  Forrest 
Wilson.  Meridian  Music,  4 
Learain’  The  Blues.  Dolores 
Vicki  .Silvers.  Barton  Music,  cop. 
1955.  * 

Longest  Walk.  %  Eddie  Pola. 
m*r  Fred  Spielman. .  Advanced 
Music;  cop.  1955.  * 

Love  and  Marriage,  w.,  Sammy 
Cahn.  m., .  James  Van/  Heusen., 
Barton  -Music,  cop.  1955,  * 

Love  Is  A  Many  Splendored 
Thing  (film:  Love  Is  a  Many  Sp.lenf 
dored  Thing!.  .  w,,  Paul .  .  Francis 
Webster.  m.,:  Sammy  .Fain.  Miller 
Mnric,  Cod.  1955*  * 

Maybellene.  .  w.,  m.,  Alan;  Freed, 
Charles  Edward  Berry  &  Russell 
D.  Fratto.  Arc  Music,  cap.  1955.  t 
Moments  To  Remember,  w.,  Al 
Stillman,  m.,  Robert  Allen.  Beaver 
Music,  cot):  1955/  * 

Open  Up  Your  Heart*  w.,  m./ 
Stuart  Hamblen.  Hamblen  Music/ 

cop.  1955.  t 

Pete.  Kelly’s  Blues  (film:  Pete 
Kelly’s  Blues),  w.,  Sammy  Cahn. 
m..  Rav  Heindbrf.  Mark  VII  Music/' 
cod/ 1955,  * 

Pledging  My  Love.  w„  m.  Don 
Robey  &  Ferdinand  Washington, 
Lion  Music-Wemar  Music,  cop. 
.1955.  4 

Seventeen.  w.(  m„  Boyd  Bennett, 
John  Young  Jr.  &  Chuck  Gorman. 
Lois  Music,  con.  1955,  t 
Sh-ftiner  Whisnering  Sands.  w.» 
m..  Mary  H.  Hadler  &  V.  C.  (jack) 
Gilbert.  Gallati  Music,,  cop. 
1955:  t 

Sincerely.  w„  m.,  Harvey  Fuqua 
&  Alan  Freed.  Arc  Music,  cop. 
1955.  t 

Sixteen  Tons..  w„.  m..  Merle 
Travis.  .American  Music,  cop., 
1955.  t  . 

Something’s  Gotta  Give  (film:: 
Daddy  Long  .  Legs).  w.,„  m  -,  Johnny 
Mercer.  Robbi  Music,,  cop. 
1955.  -* 

Suddenly  There’s  A  Valley*  w-., 
m..  Charles  Meyer  &  Biff  Jones. 
HU1  &  Range-Warman  Music,  Cop. 
1955;.  t  .  :: 

Sweet  and  Gentle,  w.,  m.*.  Otilbo 
&  George  Thorn;  Peer  Interna¬ 
tional,  cop.  1955,  „t 
Tender  Tran  (film:  Ten  der  Trap) , 
W-,  Sammy  Cahn.  m„  James  Van 
Heusen., Barton  Music,  cop.  1955.*. 

That’s  All  I  Want  From  You. 
w.  m..  M.  Rotha.  Weiss  &  Barry, 
cop.  1955.  t 

.  Tweedle  Dee.  .  w.,  m.,  'Winfield 
Scott..  Progressive  Music,  cop. 
1955.  t 

Two  Lost  Souls  (Damn  Yankees) 
v/r.  m*.  Richard.  Adler  &  Jerry 
Ross.  Frank  MusiPi  Cop;  1955/  * 


Unchained  Melody  (film:  Un¬ 
chained).  w.,  Hy  Zaret.  .in.,  Alex 
bforth.  Frank  Music,  cop..  1955.  * 
Unsuspecting  Heart,  w.,  Freddy 
James,  m.,  ‘  Joe  Beal,  Bob  •  Singer. 
&  Joe  Shank;  Tee  Pee  Music,  cop. 
1955.*  - 

Wake  The  Town  And  Tell  The 
People,  w./  Sammy.  Gallop.  m.( 
Jerry  Livingston.  Joe  Music,  cop. 
1955.;* 

Whatever  Lola  Wants  (Damn 
Yankees),  w.,  m.,  Richard  Adler 
&  Jerry  Ross.  Frank  Music,  cop; 
1955,  * 

..  Yellow  Rose  of  Texas,  w.,  Don 
George;  m.,  adapted  by  Don 
George.  Planetary  Music,  cop. 
1955.  *  : 


1956 


_ ,.  1 

Allegheny  Moon,  w./m;,  Al  Hoff^ 
man  &  Dick  Manning.  Oxford  Mu¬ 
sic,  Cop;  1956.* 

Band  of  Gold,  w.,  Bob  Musel.  m.> 
Jack  Taylor.  Ludlow  Music,  cop, 
1956.t 

Be-Bop-A-Liiia*  w.,  Tex  Davis* 
m..  Gene  Vincent.  Lowery  Music, 
cop.  1956;t.  . 

Blue  Suede  Shoes,  w.,  m.,  .Carl, 
Lee  Perkins.  Hi-Lo  Music,  Hill  & 
Range,  cop.  1956.t 
Blueberry-  Hill,  w  ,  m.,  Al  Lewis, 
Larry  Stock  .&  Vincent  Rose.  Chap¬ 
pell/cop.  1940.* 

Canadian  Sunset,  w  ,  Norman 
Gimbel.  m/,  Eddie  Hey  wood.  Meri¬ 
dian  Music,  cop.  1956.t 
Cindy,  Oh  Cindy,  w.,  m.,  Bob 
Bairon  &  BUrt  Long,  Bryden  Mu¬ 
sic,  E.  B.  Matks,  cop.  i956.t 
Dungaree  Doll.  wM  m..  Ben 
Raleigh.  E.  B.  Marks,  cop.  1956.f 
Don’t  Be  Cruel,  av.,  m*,  Otis 
Blackwell  &  Elvis  Presley.  Shali- 
mar  Music,  Elvis  Presley  Music, 
cop.  1956,  t 

Eddie,  My  .  Love,  w.,  Sam  Ling, 
m*/  Aaron  Collins  Jr..  &  Maxwell 
Davis.  Modern  Music,  Roosevelt 
Music,;  cop:  1956.f 
Eleventh  Hour  Melody,  av.,  Carl 
Sigman.  m.;  C.  King  Fisher;  Geo. 
Paxton/ cop.  1956.* 

Friendly  Persuasion  (film: 
Friendly  .Persuasion);  w.,  Paul 
Francis  Webster,  m.,  Dimitri  Tiom> 
kin.  Feist,  cop,  1956* 

Glendora,  w/,  m.,  Ray  Stanley. 
American  Music/  cop.  1956.1- 
Great  Pretender,  w.,  m..  Buck 
Ram;  Panther  Music,  cop.  1956.* 
Green  Door,  w.,  Marvin  J;  Moore, 
m/;  Robert  b;  Davie;  Tri  ity  Music, 
cop.  1956.  t 
:  Heartbreak  Hotel.  w.f  m.f  Mae 
Boren  '  Axton,  Tommy  Durden  & 
Elvis  Presley;  Tree  Publishing, 
cop;  1956.  t 

Hey,  Jealous.  Lover.  w.t  m.,  Sam¬ 
my.  Cahn,  Kay  Twoomey  &  Bee 
Walker.  Barton  Music,  cop,  1956.* 
Hot  Diggity.-w,  m.,  Al  Hoffman 
&  Dick  Manning/  Roncom  Music, 
cop.  1956;* 

. ,  Honky  Tonk.  w-  ,  m.,  Billy  Butler, 
Bill.  Doggett,  Henry  Glover,  Shep 
Shephard  &  Clifford  Scbtt.  Billace 
Music,  cop.  1956.  t 

Hound  Dog/  w.,  m.,  Jerry  Lieber 
&  Mike  Stoller;  Lion  Publishing, 
Elvis  Presley  Music,  cop.  1956.+ 

I  Almost  Lost  My  Mind,  w.,  m., 
Ivory  Joe  Hunter.  Hill  &  Range, 
cop.  1956.f 

I  Could  Have  Danced  All  Night 
(My  Fair  Lady),  w..  Alan  Jay  Ler- 
ner.  m.,  Frederick  Loewe.  Chap¬ 
pell;  cop.  1956.* 

I’ll  Be  Home,  w.,  m„  Stan  Lewis 
&  Ferdinand  Washington.  Arc 
Music,  cop,  1956.  t . 

It’s  Almost.  Tomorrow,  w.,  Wade 
Buff,  m.,  Gene  Adkinson.  Northern 
Music;  cop.  1956.* 

Ivory  Tower.  w./  m.,  Jack  Fulton 
&  Lois  Steele.  Melrose  Music,  cop. 
1956* 

juke  Box  Baby.  Noel  Sher¬ 
man.  ni.,  Joe  Sherman.  Winneton 
Music,  cop.  -1956. t 
Just  Walkin’  In  The  Rain,  w,,  m., 
Johnny  Bragg  &  Robert  S.  Riley. 
Golden  West  Melodies,  cop,  1956. t 
Lisbbn  Antigua;  w.,  Jose  Galhar- 
do  Sc  Amadeu  do  Vale  (original: 
Lisboa  Antigua),  English  ,w./  Harry 
Bupree.  .nr.,  Raul  Portela.  Bouthem 
Music,  cop.  1956* 

.  Long.  Tall  Sally*  w.,  m.,  Robert 
A.  Blackwell  Enotris  Johnson  5? 
Richard  Penniman,  Venice  Music, 
cop.  1956*  t 

: ,  Love  Me  Tender  (film:  Love  Me 
Tender),  W.,  m..  Vera  Matson  & 
Elvis  Presley;  Elyis  Presley  Music, 
cojj.  1956/  t 

Mama  From  The .  Train.,  w.,  m., 
Xtving  Gordon/;  Remick,  cop.  1956.* 
Memories  Are  Made  of  This, 
w.,  m.,  Richard  pehr/  Terry  Gilky- 
son/&  Frank  Miller.  Montclare 
Music,  Tcop.  1956,t 
Mr/  Wonderful  (Mr.  Wonderful), 
w;,  m.,  Jerry  Bock,  George  Weiss 
&  Larry  Hplpfcener;  Laurel  Music, 
cop.,  1956.  *. 


Moonglow  (film:  Picnic),  w.,  m., 

1  Will  Hudson,  Eddie  DeLange  & 
Irving  Mills.  Mills  Music,  cop. 
1934.*  ..  I 

More,  w.,  Tom  Glazer.  m.,  Alex 
Aistone.  Shapiro,  Bernstein,  cop. 
1956.  * 

Moritat  (Threepenny  Opera).  W-, 
(German)  Bert  Brecht,  (English) 
Marc  Blizstein.  m.,  Kurt  WeiU* 
Harms,  cop.  1928. 

My  Prayer,  w.  Jimmy  Kennedy, 
m.,  George;  Boulanger.  Shapiro, 
Bernstein,  cop.  Ed.  Bote  &  .G..Bock, 
1926  (Avant  de  Mourir). 

No  Not  Much,  w.,  Al  Stillman, 
m.,  Robert  Allen.  Beaver  Music, 
cep.  1956.  * 

On  The  Street  Where  You  Live 
(My  Fair  Lady).-  w.,  Alan  Jay 
Lerner.  m.,  Frederick  Loewe. 
Chappell,  cop.  1956.  * 

Picnic  (film:  Picnic),  w.,  Steve 
Allen,  m.,  George  Duning.  Colum¬ 
bia  Pictures  Muse  (Shapiro,  Bernr 
stem),  cop.  1956.  *  . 

Poor  People  of  Paris,  w.,  Jack 
Lawrence,  m..  Marguerite  Monot. 
Reg.  Cohnelly,  cop.  1956,  * 

Rock  and  Roll  Waltz,  w.,  Dick 
Ware,  m.,  Shorty  Allen.  Sheldon 
Music,  cop.  1956.  t 

See  You  Later,  Alligator,  w  ,  m.t 
Robert  C.  Guidry.  Arc  Music,  cop. 
1956.  t 

Singing  The  Blues*  w  .  m.,  Mel¬ 
vin  Endsley.  Acuff-Rose,  cop; 
1956.  t 

Soft  Summer  Breeze,  w.,  Judy 
Spencer,  m.,  Eddie  Hey  wood. 
Regent  Music,  cop.  1956.  + 

Song  For  A  Summer  Night,  w., 
__ Robert’  Allen.  April  Music, 
cop.  1956;  * 

Standing  On  The  Corner  (Most 
Happy  Fella),  w.,  m.,  Frank  Loes- 
ser.  Frank  Music,  cop,  1956.  * 

I  Sweet  Old-Fashioned  Girl,  w., 
m.,  Bob  Merrill.  Valyr  Music,  cop: 
1956.  * 

Too  Close  For  Comfort  (Mr. 
Wonderful),  w.,  m.,  Jerry  Rock, 
George  Weiss  &  Larry  Holof eerier* 
Laurel  Mus’c,  cop.  1956,  * 

Tonight  You  Belong  To  Me*  w., 
Billy  Rose,  m.,  Lee  David.  Double- 
A  Music  (Bregman,  Vocco  &  Conn), 
cod.  1926.  *  ■. 

Tnie  LoVe  (film:  High  .Society), 
w,  m..  Cole  Porter.  Buxton  Hill, 
cod.  1956.  * 

Two  Different  Worlds;  w.,  Sid 
Wajme,  m.,  Al  Frisch.  Princess 
Music  (Larry  Spier),  cop.  1956.  * 

.  Wayward .  Wind,  w.,  Herb  New¬ 
man.  m.,  Stan  Lebowsky.  Warman 
Music,  cop.  1956.  t 
.  Whatever  Will  Be,  Will  Be 
(film:  The  Man  Who .  Knew  Too 
Much). .. w.,  m..  Jay  Livingston  & 
Ray  Evans.  Artists  Music,  cop. 
1956.  * 

Why  Do  Fools  Fall  In  Love,  w., 
m„  George  Goldner  &  Frankie 
Lymori.  Patricia  Music,  cop.  1956/* 


1957 


A  White  Sport  Coat  (And  A 
Pink  Carnation),  w.,  m.,  Marty 
Robbins.  Acuff-Rose,  cop,  1957.t; 

All  Shook  Up.  w.,  m.,  Otis  Black- 
well  &  Elvis  Presley.  Shalimar 
Music-Elvis  Presley  Music,  cop. 
1957.  t 

,  All  The  Way  (film;  The  Joker  Is 
Wild),  w.,  Sammy  Cahn.  m.,  James 
Van  Heusen.  MaraVaille  Music, 
cop.  1957.* 

•  Almost  Paradise,  m.,  Norman 
Petty.  Peer  International,  cop. 
1957,t 

And  That  Reminds  Me.  w.,  Al 
Stillman,  m.,  C.  Bargoni.  Sym¬ 
phony,  cop.  1957* 

April  Love  iftlm: .  April  Love)/ 
w.,  Paul  Frmicis  Webster.,  m./ 
Sammy  Fain.  Ffe»t,  cop.  1957* 
Around  .The  World  (film:  Around 
the  World  in  80  Days).  w„  Ned 
Washington.  m:t  Victor  Young. 
Victor  Young  Publications, ;  cop. 
1956* 

Banana  Boat  Song,  w.,  m/,  Alan 
Arkin,  Bob  Carey,  Erik  Darling. 
Bryden  Music-E,  B.  Marks,  cop. 
1957.1- 

Be-Bop  Baby,  w.,  m*,  Pi  Leng-r 
hurst.  Travis  Music,  cop.  1957. t 
Butterfly,  w.-,  m.,  Anthony  Sep¬ 
tember.  Maryland  Music-Presley 
Music,  cop.  1957. t 
Bye  Bye  Love,  w.,  m.,  B.  &  F. 
Bryant.  Acuff-Rose,  cop;  1957.t 
Chances  Are.  w., .  Al  Stillman. 
m.f  Robert  Allen.  Korwin  Music, 
cop.  1957* 

Cocoanut  Sweet  (Jamaica),  w., 
E.  Y.  Harburg.  m.,  Harold  Arlen. 
E.  H.  Morris,  cop.  1957.* 

Come  Go  With  Me/m,  m,,  C.  E. 
Quick.  Gil  Music-Fee  Bee  Music/ 
cop.  1957.t 

Dark  Moon,  w.,  m.,  N.  Miller. 
Dandelion  Music*  cop.  1957. t 
Diana,  w.,  m.,  Paul  Anka.  Pamco 
Music,  cpp.  I957.t 
Did  You  Close  Your  Eyes  When 
We  Kissed  (New  Girl  In  Town)* 
w.,  m..  Boh  Merrill.  Chappell,  cop. 
1957.* 


Don’t  Forbid  Me.  w,,  m„  Charlie 
Singleton.  Roosevelt  Music,  cop. 
195T.f 

Fascination  (film:  Love  In  The 
Afternoon);  w.’,  Dick  Manning.  m.» 

F.  D.  MarchettL  Southern  Music, 
cop.  assigned  1945;  F.  D,  Mar- 
chetti,  1932  * 

Four  Walls,  w.,  Marvin  Moore,, 
iri.,  George  Cambell.  Sheldon  Mu¬ 
sic,  cop*  1957.t 

Gone,  w.,  m.,  .  Siiiokey  Rogers. 
Hill  &  Range,  cop.  1957.t 
Happy,  Happy  Birthday,  Baby, 
w.,  m.f  Margo  J.  Sylvia  &  Gilbert 
J.  Lopez.  Donna  Music-Arc  Music, 
cop.  1957, t 

Honeycomb,  w*,  m:t  Bob  MerrilL 
Hawthorne  Music  (Joy  Music),  cop. 
1957* 

I  Feel  Pretty  (West  Side  Story), 
w.,  Stephen  Sondheim,  m.,  Leonard 
Bernstein.  G.  Schirmer,  cop.  1957.*  — 

-  I'm;  Gonna  Sit  Right  Down;  And 
Write  Myself  A.  Letter,  w.,  Joe 
Young.,  m.,  Fred  E.  Ahiert.  Chap¬ 
pell,,  cop.  1935.* 

I’m  Walkin’,  w.,  David  Barthol¬ 
omew.  m.,.  Alphonse  Domino. 
Reeve  Music,  cop.  1957.  f 
In  The  Middle  Of  An  Island, 
w.,  Ted  Varnick;  m.,  Nick  Acqua- 
viva.  Mayfair  Music*  cop.  1957.* 

-  It’s  Not  For.  Me  .  To  Say  (film: 
Lizzie).  w.p  Al  Stillman,  m.,  Robert 
Allen.  Rorwiii  Music,  cop.  1957.* 

Ivy  Rose,  w.,  m.,  Al  Hoffman  & 
Dick  Manning.  Roncom  Music,  cop. 
1957.* 

Jailhouse  Rbck  (film:  Jailhouse 
Rock).  wM  m.,  Jerry  Lieber  &  Mike 
Stoller.  Elvis  Presley  Music,  cop. 
1957.1- 

Just  Born,  w.,  m.,  Luther  Dixon 
&  Billy  Dawn  Smith*  *  Winneton 
Music,  cop.  1957:t 

Lichtensteiner  Polka,  w;,  m,,  Ed¬ 
mund  Kotscher  &  R.  Lindt.  Bur- , 
lingtoh  Music,  cop.  1957.*  . 

Little  DariinV  w.,  m.,  Maurice 
Williams.  Excelloric  -Music,  cop. 
19574 

-  Love  Is  Strange,  w.,  m,,  Ethel 
Smith .  Mickey.  Baker.  Ben- 
Ghazi.  Music/  cop.  19574 
Mama  Looka  Booboo..  w.,  m.,  L. 
Melody.  Duchess  Music,  cop.  19574 
Marianne,  w.,  m.,  Terry  Gilky- 
son,  Richard  Dehr  &  Frank  Miller. 
Montclaire  Music,  cop.  19574/ 
Melodie  D’Amour.  w.,  Leo  Johns, 
m.i  Henri  Salvador.  Rayven  Music, 
cop,  19574 

My  Special  AngeL  W*,  m.,  Jimmy 
Duncah.  Blue  Grass  Music,  cop. 
19574 

Old  Cape  Cod.  w.,  m.,  Claire 
Rothrock,  Milt  Yakers  &  Allan 
Jeffrey.  Geo.  Pificus  &  Sons,  cop. 
1957* 

Party  Doll;  w.,  m.,  Jimmy  Bowen 
&  Buddy-  Knox.  Patricia  Music, 
cop.  19574 

Rainbow*  w.,  m.,  Ron  Hulme. 
Robbins  Music,  cop.  1957.* 

Rose  And  A  Baby  Ruth,  w.,  m. 
Johnny  Dee  - (pseud,  for  John  Lau- 
dermilk).  Bentley  Music,,  -  cop, 
19574 

Round  aiid  Round,  w.,  m.,  Joe 
Shapiro  &  Lou  Stallman*  Rush 
Music,  cop.  19574 
School  Days,  w;,  iri  ,  Qhuck  Ber¬ 
ry.  Arc  Music,  cop.  19574 
.  Send  For  Me.  w.,  m.,  H.  Ollie 
Jones.  Winrieton  Music,  cop.^ 19574 
Silhouettes,  w.,  m.,  F.  Slaye  & 
B.  Crewe.  Regent  Music,  cop. 
19574 

Tammy  (film:  Tammy),  w./  m.. 
Jay  Livingston  &  Ray  Evans. 
Northern  Music,  cop.  1957** 

Teen  Age  Crush,  w.,  m.,  Audrey 
8c  Joe  Allison.  Central  Songs,  cop. 
19574 

That’ll  Be  The  Day.  w.,  m.,  Jer¬ 
ry  Allison,  Buddy  Holly  &  Norman 
Petty/  Nor  Va  Jek  Music,:  cop. 
19574 

Till,  w.,  Carl  Sigman/m.,  Charles 
Damvers*  Chappell,  cop*  1957.* 
Tonight  (West  Side  Story),  w., 
Stephen  Sondheim,  m.,  Leonard, 
Bernstein.  G.  Schirmer,  cop.  1957.* 
Too  Much,  w./  m.,  Lee  Rosen¬ 
berg  &  Bernard  Weinman.  South¬ 
ern  Belle-Elvis  Presley,  cop.  19574 
Wake  Up  Little  Susie,  w.,  m., 
F.  &  B.  Bryant.  Acuff-RoSe,  cop.. 
1957.4 

Whispering  Bells,  w.,  m.,  F. 
Lowry  &  C.  Quick.  Gil  Music,  cop. 
19574 

White  Silver  Sands,  w.,  m.,  O. 
Matthews.  Fellows  Music,  cop* 
19574 

Whole  Lotta  Shakin*  Goin'  On* 

W.,  m.,:  D.  Williams  &  S/  David. 
Marlyn  Musiq-Copar  Music,,  cop. 
19574 

Why,  Baby,  Why.  w.,  Larry  Har¬ 
rison,  m.,  Luther  Dixon.  Winneton 
Music,  cop.  19574  . 

Wonderful,  Wonderful.  w.v  Ben 
Raleigh,  m.,  Sherman  Edwards.  E. 
B.  Marks,  cop.  19574  . 

Yon  Send  Me.  w.,  m.,  L;  C.  Cook* 
Higuera  Music,  cop.  19574 
Young  Love.  w.,  m.,  Carole  Joy¬ 
ner  &  Ric  Cartey.  Stars  Inc.,  cop. 
19574 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty -tecond  P^SRlETY  Anniversary 


RCA  VICTOR 


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WHAT’S 
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Fifty-second  J^SriETY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


MILLS  MUSIC, • 

is  proud  of  the  overwhelming  world-wide 
acceptance  of  its  diversified  Standard 
and  Educational  music  catalogs* 


A 


•  LAWRENCE  ^HT  of  London  CARl  ©E«*^  M 

•  Edition  to  the  many  ofn  ausTRALIA  DENMARK 

...tnoddttton  BELGIUM  bbaZ1L  ..  HOLLAND 

sir  LAND  GERMANY  SPAIN  CZECHOSLAVAKIA 

W  SWITZERLAND  CA"^  h  renowned  catalogs  „A  of  Berli 

^  ...  Including  »»* 

i>d  of  London  •  ri 

W.  PAXTON  tc  CO.,  Lt  -  _ 

»  ■ _ i  . .  i  \  m1 11 1 IMBiMflWM  1 111  . . 


—international  m  on  wanlangs««*  Harowshape< 

c4W.n  Franko  Goldman  Bennert  Michael  Edward*  nAm*nico  Sav 

David  Fait* 

.  i  c.finVa  G 


CKgruuwu 

. «  —  Joan  Manen 

Edwin  FranUo  Goldman  Bennet» 

Leroy  Anderson  pe,cy  Grainger  forres»  BucWe 

Don  GilliS  Edmund  Rubbra  Leslie  R*  A®1' 

Morton  Gould  A1ec  Rowley  .  Alan  Rush 

o  .*  ?oeh  R.  Vaughan  Wdlmms  lucieB  Cailhe 

Ernst  won  Dohnanyl  Carlos  c|,ove*  .  franciseoCm 

'•  .Milhaud  Eranx  Reixenstei  Adri  r-uft 

Dar,u  Pucci  Guy  Maier  Maurfc 

Giacomo  _  Hans  Barth  j.  Olh 

Vincenxo  Bell  Frank  Perk.  .  ManM 

Gordon  Jacob  ^oagy  Carmichael  Souto 

Malcolm  Arnold  Doke  Ellinglo'1  Georj 

Roy  Harris  Gerald  »,aBj»  Rudol 

sir  Thomas  Beecham  sigWd  Karg-Elert  yhon 

Alfredo  Antonini  ,  .  „  John  Addison  Harr 

Mario  Castelnuovo-Te  Ernest  Bloch  trornaold  Note 

A"tal  D.ra«  Erich  Wolfgang*®”90  Eras 

H.  O'*®"  Reed  Paul  Durand 

John  Vincent  I 

Frederick  Dei*  ^  FROM  THE  RENTAL  LIBRARY— 


Carlos  '  . 

Franz  Reizenste* 
Giuy  Maier 
Han*  Barth 
Frank  Perki  . 
Hoagy  Carmicha 
poke  Ellington 
GeraldStrang 
Siafrid  Karg-Elert 

n  Jjlitnd 


Oavia  w"“- 
Forrest  Buchtel 
Leslie  R-  Bell 
Alan  Bush 
lucien  Cailhet 
Francisco  Cavex 

^:,ic.cD°woF 

j.  Olivadoti. 

Mantowanl 

Solito  de  Solis 

Georges  Auric 

Rudolph  «anx 

Thomas  F.  Dunhill 

*•"*  oe*!.el,h 


ianCCU“  6  Charles  Proctor 

Erik  Leidxen  clive  Richardson 

Ivan  langslrolh  Har0U  Shaper® 

Michael  Edwards  Demenico  Sav.no 

povid  Fo'rt  Goldman  Edward  Elgar 

R,,e  ndre  G,etchaninoH  Menotti  S«U« 

A,eX  Jhk  Sigmund  Spaeth 

yheron  Kirk  R  SecuI,da 


John  Addison  Horry  Dexter 

Ernest  Bloch  M  Norman  Demu 

Erich  Wolfgang  Korngo  bnrt  Kfenek 

Paul  Durand 


Theron  . 

George  Kleinsmger 
Hans  Kindler 
Egon  Welle** 

Saul  Goodman ) 
V/al-Berg 
Hugo  Alive*1 

Joseph  Horovit* 

Philip  J.Aong 

tars-Bric  larsson 
Michael  Aaron 

Marvin  Xahn 


Sigmuna  ■ 

Sholom  Secunda 

tazar  Weiner 

Floyd  E.Werle 

Charles  Williams 
Joseph  Wagner 
Harry  Robert  W*®" 
pout  Yoder 

Richard  l.  Weaver 

and  many  others , 


5  superb  compositions  oft 


JyHr  complete 
yr  catalogs,  write 
the  Educationdl 
Department ,  Mills 
Music,  Inc.,  1619 
BrOadway,  New 
York  19,  New 
York 


Winner  of  the  Pul* 
itzer  Prize  in  Music, 
for  his  SYMPHONY 
NO.  3  —  now  available 

SYMPHONY  NO.  4 

World  premiered  by  the 
Minneapolis  Symphony  Orohet* 
fra,  Antal  Dorati  con*. 


VINCENT 
SYMPHONY  IN  D 

Distinguished  new  compositi 
by  the  celebrated  composer 
author— -educator. 
Recorded  by  Eugene  Or. 
mendy  end  the  PhiU 
adetphie  Symphony 


MILLS  MUSIC,  INC. 


«6!9  BROADWAY,  NEW  YORK  19,  N.  Y. 


JACK  MILLS 

President 


IRVING  MILLS 

V.ce-Pres 


RICHARD  MILLS 

Gen  Prof  Mgr 


CHICAGO  ®  LOS  ANGELES 

THS  S  E.  WOOD  M  Li  SIC  CO  !NC  of  Boston  &  Lon 


9  BERNSE  POLLACK 

Prof  Mgr 

HOLLYWOOD  •  TORONTO  •  MIUS  MUSIC,  LTD.,  London  • 

rrea  Jackson  —  Mgr 

•  AMERICAN  ACADEMY  Of  MUSIC  INC  »  P  AMP  A  MUSIC  PUB  ASSN  INC 


STANLEY  MILLS 

Prof  Mg,  B  f  Wood 


Edition  MILLS  MUSiC,  Belgium 

RANGER  MUSIC  INC  •  GOTHAM  MUSIC  SERVICE,  INC 


January  S,  1958 


Fifty-second  P^^RIETY  Anniversary 


MILLS  MUSIC, 

offers  the  finest  in  music- 
music  to  meet  the  needs  of 

*  TELEVISION  •  CONDUCTORS 

*/,  •  RADIO  *  MUSIC  DEALERS 


INC. 


•  television  •  Conductors 

•  RADIO  •  MUSIC  DEALERS 

•recordings  •schools 

•  DISC  JOCKEYS  •  COLLEGES 

•  MOTION  PICTURES  •  UNIVERSITIES 

•  ENTERTAINERS  •  LIBRARIES 

•  MUSICIANS  •  CONCERT  HALLS 

•  and  the  heme 


v  t°  oj  1°  ^  oZ 

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.£gf  From  Sweden  ,  .  ..  ^ 

B|-  the  captivating 

i  ^  SWEDISH  POLKA 

4  m;  by  Hugo  Af.fvtn 
“  ^  Hear  the 
Records 


Leroy 

Anderson9 s 
W  delightful 

FORGOTTEN 

DREAMS 

Hear  The  Records 


The  Nation's  Winter- 
Time  Classi 
Leroy  Anderson V 

SLEIGH  RIDE 

Recorded  by 
America's 
top  artists 
on  all.  major, 
labels. 


"C00,Ne 

sc:rrH<r 


■<r< 


MILLS  MUSIC,  INC. 


”619  BROADWAY,  SEW  YORK  19.  N.  Y. 


JACK  MILLS 


IRViNG  MILLS 


RICHARD  MILLS 


5ERNSE  POLLACK 


STANLEY  M3  US 

?-=•  «5'  £  f  A;:: 


CHICAGO  •  LOS  ANGELES  •  HOLLYWOOD 


TORONTO  •  MILlS  MUSIC,  LTD.  lender  •  Es  ?.©^  M&US  MUS’C. 


THe  S  •"  fVOCC  ML/5-T  CO  '.N’C  c*  Bcs'on  S  ic 


A  M  £  f .  C  4  .*«  ^CA2£^r  Of 


a^s£?  ".s  c 


Fifty-second  P^SsRIEjTY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


PS! 


C  dt  ^ 


#ls ,  it  9*.  x  .  X. 


j 

I  K  '  \?\  ^ 


ERNESTO  LECUONA 


MEXICAN  HITS 


HAWAIIAN  HITS  JOHNNY  MATHIS'  1  st  Smash 


CALYPSO 


Net  to  Mention*  YOURS  -  THERE'LL  BE  SOME  CHANGES  MADE  -  PAPER  DOLL  -  I  WONDER  WHO'S  KISSING  HER  NOW 
IDA  -  POINCIANA  -  HOT  TIME  IN  THE  OLD  TOWN— SAY  'SI  SI'  -  PLAY  FIDDLE  PLAY  -MY  GAL  SAL 
WHAT  A  DIFF'RENCE  A  DAY  MADE  -  AMAPOLA  -  SARI  WALTZ  -  DUNGAREE  DOLL 

and  many,  many  more! 


and 


*** ’PATTI  PAGES 


'  tn  GRcuoy  na  <rr 


EDWARD  B.  MARKS  MUSIC  CORPORATION 


ARNOLD  SHAW,  Gen.  Prof.  Mgr. 
136  West  52nd  Street,  New  York  19,  N.  Y. 


225 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second  l^^RIETY  Anniversary 


Sincere  Congratulations 
to  Variety  on  its 
Fifty-Second  Anniversary 


RECORDS,  INC. 

Sunset  &  Vine,  Hollywood  28,  Californi 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty+econd  t^SSJEfY  Anniversary 


1952 


Rudolf. Serkin  plays  the  “Moonlight”  So¬ 
nata  (ML  4432).  The  Philadelphia  records  a 
superb  Symphonic  Fantastique  (ML  4467). 
Columbia  switches  on  the  revolutionary  360 
phonograph:  the  whole  world  plays. 


1953 


Andre  Kostelanetz  serves  up  the  first  of  his 
best-selling  operas-for-orchestra,  La  Boheme 
(CL  797).  $100  buys  the  impressive  “Liter¬ 
ary  Series”  (DSL  190}— readings  by  Mau¬ 
gham,  Huxley,  Steinbeck  and  others. 


1954 


The  year  of  Dave  Brubeck  at  Storyville  (CL  * 
590),  The  Confederacy  (DL  220),  Michel  Le-  ‘ 
grand’s  I  Love  Paris  (CL  555),  Bruno  Walter’s 
Brahms  package  (SL  200)  and  the  Shosta- 
kovitch  10th  by  Mitropoulos  (ML  4959)., 


Fifty-second  T^SrIETY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


The  “BELLS  ARE  RINGING”  for 

STRATFORD  MUSIC  CORPORATION 


Publishers  of  the 


JULE  BETTY  ADOLPH 

STYNE  COMDEN  GREEN 


Song  HITS: 


- - - - —"BELLS  ARE  RINGING"- - - 

“JUST  IN  TIME”  “THE  PARTY’S  OVER” 

“LONG  BEFORE  I  KNEW  YOU”  “DROP  THAT  NAME” 

“INDEPENDENT”  “MU  CHA-CHA” 

And  Additional  Material  From  the  Show 


-" TWO  ON  THE  AISLE"— 
“HOLD  ME,  HOLD  ME,  HOLD  ME” 
“GIVE  A  LITTLE,  GET  A  LITTLE” 
“EVERLASTING” 


- "HAZEL  FLAGG" - 

“HOW  DO  YOU  SPEAK  TO  AN  ANGEL” 
“EVERY  STREET’S  A  BOULEVARD” 

“I  FEEL  LIKE  I’M  GONNA  LIVE  FOREVER” 


POPULAR  STANDARDS 


“AS  LONG  AS  THERE’S  MUSIC” 

(Lyric  by  Sammy  Cahn) 

“THAT’S  WHAT  I  LIKE” 

(Lyric  by -Bob  Hilliard) 


“THE  FRENCH  LESSON” 

(Music  by  Roger  Edens) 

“GUESS  I’LL  HANG  MY  TEARS 
OUT  TO  DRY” 

(Lyric  by  Sammy  Cahn) 


Soon  to  be  Released:  THE  SONGS  FROM 

“SAY,  DARLING” 

The  musical  which  opens  in  NEW  YORK- APRIL  3rd 

at  the  ANT  A  THEATRE 


OUR  THANKS 

fo  the  Staff  of 

CHAPPELL  &  CO. 

Sole  Selling  Agents 
1270  6th  Ave.  New  York  City 


STRATFORD  MUSIC  Corporation 


BUDDY  ROBBINS,  Professional  Mgr. 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second  Anniversary 


GUY  LOMBARDO 

And  His  ROYAL  CANADIANS 


CURRENTLY  AT  HOTEL  ROOSEVELT  GRILL,  NEW  YORK 


Current  Capitol  “ Single” 

“RETURN  TO  ME” 

(By  Ca rmen  Lombardo) 


Current  Capitol  Album 

“THE  LIVELY  GUY” 


Current  Deeca  Album 

“WALTZLAND 


Direction 


Publicity:  DAVID  O.  ALBER,  ASSOCIATES— Gene  Shefrin 


Fifty-second  l^ftRIETY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


RAKING  RECORDS  (Music,  That  Is)  AND 
BREAKING  RECORDS*  (At  Theatre  Box  Offices) 

IS  A  regular  habit  OF  OURS— YOU  CAN 

SHARE  IN  THIS  HAPPY  SUCCESS  FORMULA 
IF  YOU  ARE  IN  THE  MUSIC  BUSINESS  OR 
THE  MOVIE  BUSINESS 


‘CURRENT  EXAMPLE:  'Old  Yeller' album  WDL3024LP 
And  the  singles  F65  and  DBR76  are  being  given: 
national  promotion  and  exposure  through  the 
tremendous  box  office  results  of  Walt  Disney's 
latest  theatrical  release  'Old  Yeller'  now 
playing  in  key  cities  throughout  the  country. 


Congratulations 


HARMS,  INC 


REMICK  MUSIC  CORP. 

M.  WITMARK  &  SONS 
ADVANCED  MUSIC  CORP 

NEW  WORLD  MUSIC  CORP. 


Music  Publishers  Holding  Corp. 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-tecond  PfiwE’rr  Anniversary 


IV 


NEW  YORK 
745  Fifth  Avenue 


JOE  GLASER 

President 

Associates 

JACK  ARCHER 
LARRY  BENNETT 
BERT  BLOCK 
BOB  BUNDY 
FRANCES  CHURCH 
OSCAR  COHEN 
DAVE  GOLD 
JOE  SULLY 


SJ5# 


LAS  VEGAS 
2409  Hassett  St. 
DON  PALMER 

MIAMI  BEACH 
407  Lincoln  Road 
ART  FREW 


HOLLYWOOD 

8619  Sunset  Blvd. 

BOBBY  PHILLIPS,  Manager 
DON  KRAMER 
billy  McDonald 
FRANK  RIO 
SHIRLEY  SHAININ 


CHICAGO 

2^  N.  Wabash  Ave. 


FRED  WILLIAMSON,  Vice  Pies. 

PAUL  BANNISTER 
GOLDIE  COHAN 
T.  KERMAN 
JACK  LINDAHL 
HAL  MUNRO 
JOE  MUSSE 


Fifty-second  J^RH^Fy  Anniversary 


January  8, 1858 


a  salute! 


a 


% 


O 


:  January.  8, 1958 


fifty-tecond  Anniversary 


Awarded  to  the  Writers  and  publishers,  affiliated  with 
BMI,  in  recognition  of  the  great  national  popularity 
attained  by  their  songs  during  the  past  12  months 


TO  THESE  WRITERS 


Fitzroy  Alexander 
David  Alldred 
Audrey  Allison 
Jerry  Allison 
Joie  Allison 
Paul  Anka 
Alain  Arkin 
Mickey  Baker 
David  Bartholomew 
Chuck  Berry 
Otis  Blackwell 
jimmy  Bowen 
Boudleaux  Bryant 
Felice  Bryant 
Robert  Byrd 
George  Campbell 
Paul  Campbell 
Bob  Carey 
Ric  Cartey 


Acuff-Rose  Publications 
Arc  Music  Corporation 
Ben-Ghazi  Enterprises,  Inc, 
Bentley  Music  Company 
Blue  Grass  Music 
Dry  den  Music,  Inc. 

Central  Songs,  Inc. 

Commodore  Music  Corporation 
Copar  Music,  Inc. 

Dallas  Music  Co.,  Inc. 
Dandelion  Music  Company 
Donna  Music  Publishing  Co. 
Duchess  Music  Corporation 
Excellorec  Music  Company 
Fee  Bee  Music 
Fellows  Music 


Almost  Paradise 
All  Shook  Up 
Banana  Boat  Song 
Be-Bop  Baby 
Blue  Monday 
Butterfly 
Bye  Bye,  Love 
Cinco.  Robles 
Come  Go  With  Me 
Dark  Moon 
Diapa 

Don’t  Forbid  Me 
Four  Walls 
Gone 

Happy,  Happy  Birthday,  Baby 
I  Like  Your  Kind  of  Love 
I’m  Walkin’ 


Lee  Cathy 

Williani  Justis 

Marty  Robbins 

L.  C.  Cbok 

jack  Keller 

Smokey  Rogers 

Bob  Crewe 

Buddy  Knox 

Lee  Rosenberg 

Erik  Darling 

Dan  Lanier 

Henri  Salvador 

.  Sunny  David 

Jerry  Leiber 

Anthony  September 

Richard  Dehr 

Pearl  Lendhurst 

Charles  Singleton 

Heather  Dixon 

Gilbert  J.  Lopez 

Frank  C.  Slay,  Jr, 

Luther  Dixon 

John  D.  Loudermilk 

Ethel  Smith 

Antoine  Dpmii 

Sidney  Manker 

Lou  Stallman 

Jimmy  Duncan 

Chuck  ‘‘Red”  Matthews 

Bobby  Stevenson 

Melvin  Endsley 

Frank  Miller 

Mike  Stoller 

Helen  Gathers 

Ned  Miller 

Larry  Sullivan 

Terry  Gilkyson 

Marvin  Moore 

Margo  J.  Sylvia 

Xarry  Harrison 

Joel  Newman 

Laura  Webb 

David  Hill 

Norman  Petty 

Bernard  Weinman 

Buddy  Holly 

Emma  Ruth  Poiighf 

David  Williams 

Leo  Johns 

Jannie  Bought 

Maurice  Williams 

Ollie  Jbhes 

Elvis  Presley 

Dorothy  Wright 

Carole  Joyner 

C.  E.  Quick 

TO  THESE  PUBLISHERS 

Folkways  Music  Publishers 
Gil  Music  Corp.  . 

Higuera  Publishing  Company 
Hill  &  flange  Songs,  InC. 

Hi-Lo  Music,  Inc. 

Lowery  Music  Company 
E.  B.  Marks  Music  Corp. 

Marlyn  Music  Publishers*  Inc. 
Mayland  Music  Publishing  Co. 
Montclare  Music  Corporation 
Nor-Va-jak  Music  Publishers 
Patricia  Music  Publishing  Corp. 
Paihco  Music,  Inc. 

Peer  International  Corp. 

Elvis  Presley  Music,  Inc. 
Progressive  Music  Publishing  Co. 

FOR  THESE  SONG  HITS 

jaiihouse  Rock 
Just  Between  You  and  Me 
Kisses  Sweeter  Than  Wine 
Little  Bitty  Pretty  One 
Little  Darliii’  •  : 

Love  Is:  Strange 
Love  Me 

Marianne 

Mama  Look  a  Boo  Boo 
Meiodie  D’Amour 
Mister  Lee 
My  Special  Angel 
Party  Doll 
Raunchy 

A  Rose  and  a.  Baby  Ruth 
Round  and  Round 


Quintet  Musics  Inc. 

Rayven  Music  Co. 

Recordo  Music  Publishers 
Regent  Music  Corporation 
Reeve  Music  Company 
Roosevelt  Music  Co.,  Inc. 

Rush  Music  Company 
Shalimar  Music,  Inc. 

Sheldon  Music,  Inc. 

Southern  Belle  Music  Publishers 
Stars,  Inc. 

Tiger  Music,  Inc. 

Travis  Music,  Inc. 

Warman  Music  - 
WinnetoiiMusic  iCdrp. 


School  Days  (Ring!  Ring!  Goes 
the  Bell) 

Searchin’ 

Send  for  Me; 

Silhouettes 
Start  Movin’ 

Teen  Age  Crush 
That’ll  Be  the  Day 
Too  Much 

Wake  Up,  Little  Susie 
White  Silver  Sands 
A  White  Sport  Coat  (And  a  Pink 
Carnation) 

Whole  Lotta  Shakin’  Coin’  On 
Why,  Baby,  Why 
Young  Love 
You  Send  Me 


BROADCAST  MUSIC,  INC.  589  FIFTH  AVENUE,  NEW  YORK  17,  N. 


NEW  YORK 


HOLLYWOOD 


TORONTO 


MONTREAL 


Fifty-second  P^KiETT  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second  Ztfi&IETY  Anniversary 


4 


Fifty -second  J^XRiETY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


Raymond  Paige 

MUSICAL  DIRECTOR 

RADIO  CITY  MUSIC  HALL 


j-4  ,  W&  f  j** %>}?  '  ' 


A  FANFARE 


on  Its 


52nd  ANNIVERSARY 


American  Federation  of  Musicians 
of  the  United  States  and  Canada  AFL-CIO 


January  8, 1958 


237 


Fifty-second  P^RIETY  Anniversary 


ROBBINS  MUSIC  CORPORATION 
LEO  FEIST,  INC. 

MILLER  MUSIC  CORPORATION 


trained  and  equipped  to  administer  and  promote 
its  famous  catalogs  through  offices  and  personnel 
m  principal  cities. 


progressively  developed  and  utilized. 


in  1957  than  any  other  publisher 
-and  still  more  coming  up  in  1958! 

AN  AFFAIR  TO  REMEMBER 
ANASTASIA 
APRIL  LOVE 
BUS  STOP  SONG 
FRIENDLY  PERSUASION 
JUNE  NIGHT 
RAINBOW 
SHANGRI-LA 
SO  RARE 


ROBBINS  MUSIC  CORPORATION 

Murray  Baker 


LEO  FEIST,  INC 

Norman  Foley 


MILLER  MUSIC  CORPORATION 

Ted  Black 


STANDARD  EXPLOITATION 

Oscar  Robbins 


Fifty-second  p'fi'RIETY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


MUSIC  CORP. 


MUSIC  CORP. 


GEORGE  JOY 
EDWARD  JOY 


— MUSIC — - 

GEORGE  M.  COHAN 
MUSIC  PUB.  CO. 

1776  Broadway 
New  York  19 


- PLAYS- — r 

GEORGE  M.  COHAN 
CORPORATION 

1776  Broadway 

Represent  ativet 

WILLIAM  MORRIS  AGENCY 


Fifty-second  I^RIETY  Anniversary 


Fifty-second 


Anniversary 


January  8;  1958 


Season's  Greetings  from— 


THE  KING  OF  ROCK  ’N’  ROLL 

Conquered  BROADWAY  again 

at  the  PARAMOUNT  THEATRE 


NEW  YORK 


THE  ALL-TIME  RECORD 


•  CORAL  RECORDS  • 


DUKE 

ELLINGTON 


For  1958 

SHAKESPEAREAN  SUjTE 

SUCH  SWEET  THUNDER 

(Tempo  Music  Co.) 

ON 

COLUMBIA  RECORDS 


|  Ath  TOMMY  VALANDO 
1U  ANNIVERSARY 

•  Current  SCORES  • 

“BODY  BEAUTIFUL” 

Opening  Jan.  23rd,  BROADWAY  THEATRE,  New  York 


*  *  *  * 


“PORTO  FINO” 

Opening  Feb.  19th,  ADELPHI  THEATRE,  New  York 


★  ★  ★  ★ 


LAUREL  MUSIC  CORP. 
VALANDO  MUSIC  CORP. 
SUNBEAM  MUSIC  CORP. 


★  *  ★  ★ 


Wth  TOMMY  VALANDO 
ANNIVERSARY 


January  *,  195* 


Fifty -second  Anniversary 


Around  the  Universe  You’ll  Hear  SOUTHERN  Songs 


M  Ntt. 


0^H\mi°N  AROUND  THE  WOflj.pi 


Km 

i  KOB  r“  B°MS  m  SAODUS  ^tf  *  ^ 
PETTICOATS  OF  PORTUGAL  4  ^-r-==3T - — » 


2  GreaY 


ROCKIN’  CHAIR 

i 

SWEET  AND  GENTLE  * 

THE  THREE  BOtS 
COME  TO  THE  MAP  GRAS 


LAZY  BN®  ^HUCHO 


PARADTSE 


OFFICES  IN  EVERY  MAJOR  MUSIC  CENTER  OF  THE  GLOBE 

SOUTHERN  MUSIC  PUBLISHING  CO.,  Inc. 
PEER  INTERNATIONAL  CORPORATION 
MELOOY  LANE  PUBLICATIONS,  Inc. 
CHARLES  K.  HARRIS  MUSIC  PUB.  CO.,  Inc. 
LA  SALLE  PUBLISHERS,  Inc. 

PERA  MUSIC  CORPORATION 
PANTHER  MUSIC  CORPORATION 

MURRAY  DEUTCH,  General  Professional  Mgr. 

OFFICES  LOCATED  in 


AMSTERDAM 

AUCKLAND 

BARCELONA 

BERLIN 

BOGOTA 

BRUSSELS 

BUENOS  AIRES 


CARACAS 

CUIDAD-TRUJILLO 

GUAYAQUIL 

HAMBURG 

HAVANA 

JOHANNESBURG 

LIMA 


LONDON 

MADRID 

MELBOURNE 

MEXICO  CITY 

MILAN 

PANAMA 

PARIS 


PUERTO  RICO 

RIO  DE  JANEIRO 

SANTIAGO  DE  CHILE 

STOCKHOLM 

SYDNEY 

TOKYO 

VIENNA 


NEW  YORK  -  HOLLYWOOD  -  CHICAGO 
NASHVILLE  -  MONTREAL 

ROBERT  P.  IVERSEN,  Vice  President 

RALPH  S.  PEER 

President 


242 


January  S,  1958 


Fifty-second  Anniversary 


Fifty-second  ISfiRHSff  Anniversary 


January  S,  195* 


BERNIE  WAYNE 

Composer  for  all  BUICK  INDUSTRIAL  SHOWS 

“  1953  •  1354  ■  1955  - 1956  - 1  AC 


Current  NEWEST  ABC-PARAMOUNT  ALBUM 

“A  MAN  AND  HIS  MUSIC” 


1957 


1619  Broadway,  New  York,  N.  Y. 


Greetings 


Variety 
Black  Orchid  Junior's 
"dead  end  kid" 

BUDDY  CHARLES 


From  tht  Af-Cr-.M  Prudniiio)} 
"RA1NTRFF  COUNTY 


THE  SONG  OF 


ROBBINS  MUSIC  CORPORATION 


a  wonderful 
seasonal  song 

STYNE  AND  CAHN'S 


miwmi 


s  e  a  s  o  u  rs 

GREETINGS 

MEYER 

DAVIS’ 

MUSIC 

Orchestras  Extraordinary 


ABC  PARAMOUNT 
RECORDS 


Offices: 

NEW  YORK 
119  West  57th  Street 
Cl  7-6161 


PHILADELPHIA; 
1026  Stock  Exchange  Bldg. 
Rl  6-7768 


WASHINGTON 
719  13th  Street.  N.W. 
Dl  7-3311 


RuiU  BUofUnc- 


MUSIC 

COMPANY 


Happy  New  Year  ! 


ade  and  his  Orchestra 


CURRENTLY  6th  YEAR 

CAMELLIA  HOUSE,  DRAKE  HOTEL,  CHICAGO 


■ .  .the  music  of  America .  has  been  created  for  more  than  forty  years  by 
the  skilled  professional  music  men  and  women  whose  performance  rights  are  represented  by 
the  Society.  These  musie  people  have  created  a  repertory  that  covers  every  phase  of  our  musical 
literature.  And  this  prime  ingredient  of  our  nation’s  vast  entertainment  industry  is  readily  avail¬ 
able  through  a  single  ASCAP  license. 

THE  AMERICAN  SOCIETY  OF  COMPOSERS,  AUTHORS  AND  PUBLISHERS 
575  Madison  Avenue,  New  York  22,  New  York 


January  8, 195ft 


Fifty-second  PjfitRIETY  Anniversary 


APRIL,  LOVE 

.  by 

WHEN  THE  SWALLOWS  COME 
BACK  TO  CAPISTRANO 
POT  #15660 

Current  LP  Album 
APRIL  LOVE 

Original  Cast  Aibum — DLP-9000 

Motion  Pcitures 
APRIL  LOVE 

20th  Century-Fox 
Televisi 

THE  PAT  BOONE  SHOW 

ABC-TV  Network. 

9:00-9:30  P.M.  Every  Thursday 

Press  Relati 

Personal  Management  exclusively  FoUd.re-Sreer  4  Associates 

RANDY  WW0*JflCK  SPHW 

6  W.  57th  St;,  New  York  19,  N.  Y. 


Bookings 


248  VAUDEVILLE 


Fifty-tecond  PSSBSff  Annivenary 


January  8,  195$ 


BOOZE,  BUMPS  &  BABES 


STA  TE  LIQUOR  LICENSE  BOARDS 
QUIETLY  CURB  ROUGH  STUFF 
—AT  LEAST  IN  MOST  AREAS 
:  By  ROBERT  j.  LANDRY  ■  ■■■ 


Several  forms  of  “censorship”  operate  behind 
scenes  in  the  United  States,  little  reported  even  in 
the  trade.  There  is,  for  example,  the  challenge  of 
the  higher  criticism  which.  Federal,  law.  forces  upon 
the  Collector  of  Customs,  at  each  port  of  entry.  He 
must  not  admit  any  film  Which  is  “obscene”  or 
”lewd”  so  willy  nilly  he  must  view  the  movie  and 
decide. 

Another  kind  of  censorship  is  operated  in  the 
several  states  by  the  liquor  license  authorities  who 
are  charged  with  maintaining  the  “tone”  of  estab¬ 
lishments  dispensing  booze-Wnd  talent.  New  York 
State  is  probably  as  severe  as  any!  Section  106  de¬ 
clares  that  no  Cafe  or  tavern, owner  may  ‘‘suffer  or 
permit  stick  premises  to  become  disorderly/’ 

“Disorderly”  has  been  defined  as  meaning  “offen¬ 
sive  to  good  morals  and  public  decency.”  It  is'  an  ele¬ 
mentary  must— not  to  employ  no  known  prostitutes. 
New  York  and  neighboring  New  Jersey  accordingly 
forbid  the  booking,  as  tentatively .  proposed  by  mis¬ 
guided  theatrical  agents,  of  the  Jelke  vice  trial  wit¬ 
ness,  Pat  Ward.  The  implication  was  that  she  should 
go  and  sin  no  more  away  from  gin. 

Variety,  at  the  time,  editorially  recommended  that 
the  lady  get  lost,  American  free:  enterprise  was 
fine,  but  it  was  la-e  in  the  day.  for  Miss  Ward  to  be 
marketing  her  voice. 

No  addresses  are  given  by  the  Alcoholic.  Beverage ' 
Control,  of  which  Judge  Thomas  E.  Rohan  is  chair-., 
man.  but  it’s  believed  a.  few  places  have  suffered 
license  suspension  for  bawdy  performances.  Gam¬ 
bling  is  the  main  evil  against  which  the  law  is  on 
guard  respecting  saloons— and,  incidentally,  the 
modern  idea  is  that  there  shall  be  nothing  like  the 
saloon  of  yore. 

Although  during  the  war  years  the  “joints” 
West  52d  Street  operated  fairly  “raw,”  New  York 
City  and  State  at  this  time  have,  nothing  even  re¬ 
motely  like  the  dives  in  and  just  outside  Chicago. 

“Clip”  the  drunk?  Better  not  get  accused.: 

HOWFARlSTOOFAR? 

By  DON  WILSON 

Chicago.  . 

The.  illinois  Liquor  Corrimission  does  not  instigate 
license  revocation  in  saloons  and  cafes  for  lewd  and 
lascivious  entertainment,  unless  there  has  first  been 
action  taken  by  the.  local  authorities.  Recently  at 
Calumet  City,  licenses  were  yanked  from  two  strip- 
peries  for  what  is  described  by  the  liquor  commis¬ 
sion  as  “going  too  far/’ 

If  the  operators  want  to  contest  the  revocation, 
an  appeal  is  made  to  the  Illinois  Liquor  Commission, 
which  either  sustains  or  overrules  the  revocation; 
However,  all  saloons  in  incorporated  areas  are  under 
local  license  also,  so  regardless  of  state  action  they 
couldn’t  reopen  if  the  local  ticket  was  cancelled; 

In  the  unincorporated  areas,  where  the  shutter¬ 
ing  was  done  by  a  county  sheriff — that’s  where  an 
appeal  would  have  some  bearing. 

The  state  does  take  direct  action,  however,  with¬ 
out  waiting  for  local  request,  ip  the  case  of  gambling. 
The  other  day  two  saloons  (no  entertainment)  were 
closed  for  gambling;  one  in  Chicago,  one  in  Spring- 
field. 

FRISCO  EASY-GOING 

By  WILLIAM  STEIF 

San  Francisco. 

There’s  no  evidence  that  California’s:  Board  of 
Alcoholic  Beverage  Control,  or  any  other  State. 


licensing  authority,  is  using  its  power  to...  revoke 
licenses  and  so  ..exclude  some  kinds  of  talent  from 
cafes  or  nightclubs:  Ernest  Besig,  executive  director 
of  the  Northern  California  branch  of  the  American 
Civil  Liberties  Union;  declares  he  hasn’t  “heard  of 
the  liquor  board  using  its  power  for  that  purpose” 
in  more  than:  two  decades  in  Frisco. 

Besig  points  out  that  censorship  Of  burlesque 
strippers,  offbeat  nightclub  acts,  “female. impersona¬ 
tors”  at  clubs  is  generally  controlled  ,  by  local  or¬ 
dinance. 

Frank  Fulleriwider,  the  liquor  board’s  top  exec  in 
the  Frisco  Bay  Area,  says  “We  follow  the  lead  of  the 
local  agencies  .  .  .  in  the  absence  of  some  such  action 
(under  local  law)  we  leave  the  licenses  alone.” 

Fullenwider  adds  that  in  Frisco  “we’re  very  re¬ 
luctant  to  step  in”  on  stripper  shows  and  the  like 
because  “the  district  attorney  finds  . it  'almost  impos¬ 
sible  to  get  convictions  under  the  local  ordinances.7 

The  liquor  chief  points  out  that  even  when .  his 
agency  does  act  to  lift;  a  license,  the  nightspot  opera¬ 
tor.  in  question  has  almost  invariably  first  been  con¬ 
victed  of  pandering,  running  a  center  for  B-girls  or 
has.  a  long  police  record. 

ON^ANHFF-LIMITS 

By  GUY  LIVINGSTON 

Boston. 

With Hub  niteries  confined  to  singers  ,  and  comics 
for  the  most  part,  “moral  tone”  of  live  talent  poses 
only  negligible  problems  for  the  local  liquor  auth¬ 
ority,  the  Boston  Licensing  Board.  This  board,  un¬ 
der  new  chairman  Clarence  Elam,  who  replaced  the 
.  veteran  and  colorful  Miss  Mary  Driscoll,,  retired,  is 
mostly  concerned  ..these  days  with  transfer  of  liquor 
licenses. 

The  Board  takes  action  against  niteries  on  moral 
tone  of. live  talent  only  after  complaints  by  police. 
There  has  been  little  Complaint  of  moral  tone  since 
five  years  ago  when  some  18  cafes  and  clubs  with 
swish  shows  ,  had  their  licenses  lifted.  It  was  then; 
the  two  famed  Boston  burlesque  theatres,  the  Old 
Howard  and  the  Casino,  were  punished  by  shutter¬ 
ing.  The  Old  Howard  never  reopened!  \ 

Show  biz  on  the  nitery  side  has.  a  decidedly  clean 
bill  of  health  these  days.  A  wave  of.  strippers  and 
oriental  terpers  faded  fast. 

Haven  of  the  tassle  twirlers  is  now  Revere,  across 
the  harbor  from  the  Hub.  There  a  White  Way  is 
flourishing  with  several  spots  nsing  exotics.  State. 
Police  keep  an  eye  on  the  roadside  clubs  throughout 
the  State  and  in  a  series  of  raids  last  year,  hauled  a 
number  of  dancers  and  club  managers  into  court. 

License  Board  recently  turned  down  two  applica¬ 
tions  for  liquor  spots  in  the  vicinity  of  the  new  Pru¬ 
dential  Centre  where  the  city’s  new  ^12,000,000 
cultural .  auditorium  will  be  built.  The  “500-foot 
law”  in  Massachusetts  Continues  to  be  a  deterrent 
-  in  preventing  transference  of  liquor  licenses  from 
one  location  to  another  iri  the  proximity,  of  a  church. 
The  law  stipulates  that  no  original  liquor,  license 
can  be  located  within  500.  feet  of  a  church  or  school 
unless  it  has  beeh  so  located  in  the  old  premises. 

Two  years  ago,;  showing  of  films  in  barrooms  In 
Boston  Was  barred  by  the  Licensing  Board.  Several 
cafes  had  petitioned  to  show  old  16m  sound  films 
for  the  entertainment  of  its  customers.  Theatre  op¬ 
erators  and  then  police  commissioner,  the  late 
Thomas  F.  Sullivan,  opposed  the  petition  at  a  public 
hearing,  Frank  C-  Lydori,  executive  secretary,  Allied 
Theatres  of  New  England,  also  strongly  opposed  the 
use  of  films  with  whiskey. 


By  MILBOURNE  CHRISTOPHER 

Variety’s  “Who  Switched  the 
Magician’s  Gun?”  readers’  ex-; 
change  during  1957  missed  the 
target.  One  followup  letter  per-j 
petuated  a  long-exploded  myth.-! 

Variety  itself  reported  that  the  ; 
bullet  -  catching  feat  “seems  to  I 
have  originated  nearly  100  years  * 
ago  With  Robert  Houdi  .” 

The  trick’s  been,  around  more 
than  326  years.  Rev.  Thomas  Beard  , 
in  his  “Threats  of  God’s  Judg-  i 
ment”  which  was  published  ’ 

1631,  tells  of  Coulew  of  Lorrai 
who  caught  bullets  fired  at  him 
from  barque  busses  and  pistols; 

Coulew  did  all  right  facfng  the 
business  ends  of  weapons,,  but  lost 
his  life  when  his  assistant  whacked 
him  over  the  head  with  his  shoot¬ 
ing  piece. 

Variety  ended  with  a  mish- 
mashed  . version  of  the  Chung  Ling  | 

Soo  shooting,  minus  the  name  of  i 
the  performer.  Other  old  bones  I 

were  rattled  with  “talk”  that  Chung  j  t  fT7  »  AT  v  r'  i  nDAT  t 

L;ng  Soo  f  Billy  Robinson)  died  as  j  J-EjAIV  LAKKULL 

the  result  of  “a  contrived  plot  j  a.Ving  consecutively— BUT  THAT’S  NOT  ALL.  In:  addition,  to  a 

either  by  Robinson  himself,  who !  full  professional  schedule.  -Jean  has.  a.  little  eatery^-tlie  STKAK  PIT  in 
was  said  to  have  been  despondent,  i  Rockville  Confer,  Lons  Island — BUT  THAT’S  NOT  ALL.  Jean  also  . has 
or  bv  someone  who  wanted  to^  bttle  hotel  at  6f>th  Street  and  Collins  in  Miami  Beach  called  the 
o  Dy  someone,  w no  waniea  lor  L0Mf;ARDy  and  lhem  Qf.  course,  there’s  her  “husband."  ; 

(Continued  on  page  250)  Jean  Carroll  is  under  the  direction  of  General  Artists  Corp. 


London  Niteries  Keyed 
To  U  S.  Tourist  Tastes 

By  DICK  RICHARDS 

Lpndon. 

Air  travel  having  brought  London  and  New  York  a  mere  highball 
shake  away  from  each  other,  visitors  to  Britain  Who.  enjOy  a  little  cheer¬ 
ful  night-pwling  are  entitled  to  ask  What  there  is  in  store  for  them.  Is 
London  okay  for  some  nocturnal  fun  or  should  it  be  regarded  nicely 
as  a  jumping-off  place  for  the  bright  lights  of  Paris  and  Rome? 

Those  who  have  been  spoiled  by  the  lavish  free-and-easiness  of  the 
Great  White  Way  may  find  the  London  night  scene  a  shade  slow — es¬ 
pecially  at  weekends.  But  the- Yank  visitor  can- still  find  a  fair  measure 
of  entertainment, 

Main  snag,  of  course,  is  Britain’s  archaic  licensing  law  which  leaves 
the  average  tourist  bewitched,  bothered;  bewildered  and  distinctly  dis¬ 
enchanted.  Even  the  natives  can  barely  .understand  this,  puzzle  which 
is  an  hangover  from  a  Defense  of  the  Realm  Act  which  has  never  been 
repealed. since the  war—  the  first-  world,  war, 

This  means  that  though  there  is  scarcely  an  hour  of  the'  day  or  night 
when  the  thirsty  wanderer  cannot  get  a.  drink  legitimately .  there  is  at* 
ways  a  reasonable  doiibt  as  to  whether  he  is  doing  it  at  the  l-ight  time 
or  at  the  right  place.  The  no-more-drinks-after-a-certain-hour  law  is 
inexorable,  but  the  “Certain  hour”  varies  amazingly  from  district  to 
district,  and  often  from  Saloon  to  saloon. 

Americans,  are  sometimes  slightly  bemused  by  the  fact  that  in  Britai 
the  word  “club”  differs  from  its  use  at.  say,  the  Stork-or  El  Morocco. 
In  Britain  a  club  is  a  membership  operation  and,  if  it  is.  a  night  club, 
the  customer  must  usually  pay  a  minimum;  of  $2.80  for  the  privilege 
of  entering  before  spending ’his  dollars.  Hpw’ever,  the  determined  revel-* 
ler  will  not  find  it  difficult  to  arrange  membership  at  such  niteries, 
after  which  there  remains  only  the  formality  of  finding  out  whether 
the  effort  is  worth  it.  In  many  cases  the  answer  can  fairly  be  said  to 
be  “yes.” 

The  London  night  life  scene  is  constantly  changing.  The  visitor  can, 
for  instance,  toss  away  his  tuxedo.  When  the  fashionable  400  Cliib, 
favorite  haunt  of :  Princess  Margaret,  dropped  its  must-dress  rule  it 
was  the  end  of  an  era.  When  the  ritzy  Cafe  de  Paris,  gilded  showcase 
of  top  talent,:  threw  in  its  hand  and  turned  the  place  into  a  teenagers’ 
Palais  de  Danse  it  seemed  to  be  sounding  the  fieath  knell  of  London 
night  life.  When  the  Savoy  Hotel  announces  that,  after  January,  it  may 
not  even  have  cabaret  at  all  for  Some  months,  it  seems  that  . the  wait¬ 
ing  is  plainly  written  on  the -Wall.  Yet  to  some  degree,  London’s  night 
life  manages  to  survive. 

(_^ _  Floorsliows  and  Itineries _ _ 

Apart  from  the  Cascade.  Restaurant,  most  of  the  fioorshows  of  the 
Copacabana  or  Latin  Quarter  type  are  ensconced  iri  clubs— the  Eve, 
the  Astor,  the  Embassy,  the  .  Latin  Quarter,.  Winston’s,  Churchill’s, 
Murrays,  the  Don  Juan  and  the  Cabaret,  all  pin  . their  faith  on  several 
acts  and  on  girls  wearing  a  spangle .  here  and  a  spangle  there.  The 
Stork  Room,  with  . AI  Burnett  as  host,  remains  one  of  the  biggest  draws 
for  show  biz  personalities. 

Harry  Morris,  boss  of  the  Colony  Restaurant,  sticks  to  one  act,  as  do 
Quaglino’S  and  the  Allegro.  Two  acts,  Viera  arid  Hutch,  are  the  big¬ 
gest  draws  at  the  last  two  spots  arid  between  them  they  take  care  of 
most  of  the  year.  Morris  at  the  Colony  has  adopted  a  new  technique 
which  is  paying  off.  He  now  dims  the  lights  after  the  cabaret  and  the 
band  plays  until  2:30  a.m.  This  way  the  Colony  takes  on  all- the  atmos-. 
phere  of  a  night  club  but  without  the  hostesses,  the  girls  selling  dolls, 
etc.  Helene  Cordet’s  Cercle  de  La  Maisdri  de  France,  next  doOr  to  the 
plushy  Milroy  Club,  which  caters  only  for  supper  and  dancing,  the; 
Blue  Angel,  La  Ronde,  Edmundd  Ros’s  Club  and  the  Society  are  others; 
that  usually  stick  to  one  act.  and,  for  the  rest,  rely  mainly  ori  their  bands 
to  entertain  the  customers. 

Another  changing  facet  of  London  night  life  is  the  increasing  pro- 
dominance  of  the  coffee  bars,  which  attract  the  younger  people  who 

cannot  afford  the  heavy  costs  pf  night  life.  From  this  strata  artists 

such  as  Lonnie  Donegan  and!  Tommy  Steele  have  been  discovered  and: 
though  they  tend  to  close  at  around  midnight  the  coffee  bars,  which 
mostly  exist  in  Soho  and  Chelsea,  are  filling  a  useful  need  for  the 
London  visitor. 

London  night  life  may  not  have  the  range  as  iri  key  cities  i  the 
U.S.,  but  anybody  who  cannot  find  an  excuse  for.  staying  up  iate  and 

being  entertained  while  doing  so  just  isn’t  trying.  But  don’t  forget 

the  billfold.  In  London,  as  everywhere  else,  doing  the  town  is  no  pau¬ 
per’s  outing. 


Memories  of  Two 
Vaudeville  Bears 

(Neither  Goldilocks’  Friend ) 

By  JESS  FREEMAN 

Once  there  were  two  Western  Vaudeville  Bears  . by  name  Big  Jim 
and  Little  Jim.  Not  related.  Big  Jim  was  a  real  legitimate  wrestler 
who  took  on  all  comers  in  vaudeville  theatres.  He  played  for 
years,  was  known  on  all  circuits,  in  the  midwest  territory.  Mean¬ 
while  Little  Jim  was  originally  dower  down,  the  show  biz  ladder; 
in  the  smaller  houses  but  he  was  developing  his  comedy  talents. 

Big  Jim  was  getting  old  arid  going  blind.  His  boss  confessed 
later  that  he  realized  the  beast  was  nearing  his.  finish  as  a  per¬ 
former.  But  then  the  bear  realized  it,  too,  and  became  depressed. 
The  end  came  suddenly  one  night  in  Dubuque,  la.,  between  shows. 
Big  Jim  fell  (his  boss  said  he  jumped,  despondent  over  his  career) 
..out  of  an  upstairs  dressing  room  window.  He  was  unable  to  face 
another  audience. 

When  a  wire  reached  the  Chicago  booking  office  floor  telling  of 
Big  Jim’s  end  one  of  the  agents  cracked,  "What’s  the  matter,  didn’t 
they  have  any  place  to  break  his  jump?” 

The  finish  pf  Big  Jim  was  Little  Jim’s  big  chance.  Tlie  booking 
office  after  not  too  much  wrangling  on  price  agreed  to  let  Little 
Jim  take  over  where  Big  Jim  left  off;.  But  Little  Jim,  a  more  up- 
to  date  vaudevilliart,  had  some  tricks  that  Big  Jim  never  thought 
of.  He  was  in  fact  a  full-fledged  comedy  act  with  his  own  stooges 
who.  pretended  to  be  regular  theatre  ,  patrons;  He  was  very,  up  to 
date.  When  volunteers  were  called  to  wrestle  the  bear,  no  one 
could  beat  the  stooges  to  the  stage.  They  saw  to  that. 

Little  Jim  became  a  bona-fide  show-stopper.  A  Chicago  booker 
found  that  out  when  he  arrived  at  the  Grand,  which  was  at  State 
and  31st.  The.  police  riot  squad' had  literally  been  summoned.  The 
booker  and  the  cops  entered  the  house  simultaneously  and  learned 
what  caused  all  the  commotion.  Little  Jim  had  been  taught  to 
remove  the  pants  of  his  wrestling  opponent  for  a  big  laugh  finish 
to  the  act.  It  -was  all  of  that  and  this  particular  audience  of 
Chicago  natives  went  real  Wild,  frightening  the  manager.  . 

A' comedy  wow' of  these  dimensions  was  rare  in  vaudeville  and 
made  Little  Jim  famous.  He  ended  on  the  big  time,  a  feature 
with  Ted  Healy. 


January  8,1958 


Fifty-second  J^AtRIETY  Anniversary 


VAUDEVILLE  249 


Paris,  ; 

The  Paris  nitery  picture  did  not 
alter  too  much  during  ’57.  In  the 
final  analysis  spec  arid  strip  still 
held  the.  upper  hand,  but  there  was 
some  hope  for  those  desiring  some 
gray  matter, ..besides  flesh,  in  their 
boite  visits  as  a  crop  of  small  new 
niteries  with  budding  young  stars 
began  to  interest  the  nightlifers 
here.  But  they  are  few,  and,  only  a 
handful  of  revue  boites  have  stood 
the  changing  tastes.  Existentialism 
is  almost  a  thing  of  the  past.  ... 

Most  visitors  mistake  ,  the  U  S. 
student  life  in  Montparnasse  and 
Saint  -  Germain  Des  -  Pres  for  the 
French.  This  gives  them  some. local 
color  arid  then  they  hie  off  to  the 
monuments,  gastronomic  facets  of 
Paris,  and  its  general  atmosphere. 
Then  after  this  is  slated,  and  ap¬ 
peased,  there  comes  the  quest  for 
the  fabled  nightlife  of  “The  City  of 
Light.”  . 

Twin  draw's  in  niteries  the  last] 
few  years  have  been  nudity  (both 
in  striptease  and  straight  presenta¬ 
tion  form)  and  the  outright  munifi¬ 
cence  and  spectacle  that  remains  a 
Gallic  gambit.  The  Champs-Elysees 
is  rife  with  strippo  joints  which  get 
top  play  as  oglers  enjoy  the  erotico 
production  gloss  given,  to.  the  peel. 


|  Stripperies  | 

Most  of  them  remain  singularly 
un-erotic,  actually,  but  are  pleasing 
in  the  way  a  Petty,  of :  Varga  girl  is, 
plus  being  in  motion  and  parodying 
the  .  age  old.  Vamp  techniques  of 
pursed  or.  oval  mouths,  bending 
.  backsides,  overaccentuated  bosoms, 
ets.  Girls  look  good  and  undrape  to 
the  bone,  in  well  honed  skits,  usu¬ 
ally.  . 

Crazy  Horse  is  still  the  best,.  With 
a  close  second  in  Le  Sexy.  Both 
also  have  the  savvy  to  include  good 
sight  acts  along  with  the  flesh. 

Drap  D’Or,  Aiglon,  Grisbi,  Piano, 
y  Night  Club,  Versailles,  Sex  Appeal 
also  all  purvey  nudes. 

.  Amiral  brings  some  intelligence 
into  this  cellar  club  with  a  revue 
twitting  foibles,  politics  arid  human 
nature  in  general.  Smattering  of 
Trench  helps  here.  Le  Carrolls  is 
still  the  money  set’s  fave  arid  gives 
a  smartly  picked  show  with  a  touch 
of  peel.  Carrousel  has  travesty  as¬ 
pects  plus  the  uncanny  Coccinelle 
Who,  many  Swear  is  Areally  a  wom¬ 
an.  Those  in  the  know  say  shim’s 
a  McCoy  impersonator. 

Suzy  Solidor  runs  her  small  boite 
for  those  wanting  a  more  personal¬ 
ized  turn,  and  Villa  D’Este  is  a 
savvy  late  boite  for  song  arid 
comedy. 

Kingpin  is  still  the  lush,  bril¬ 
liantly  staged  Lido  show..  Main 
trouble  of  the  owners  arid  .creators 
is  topping  themselves, 

Hene  Bell’s,  Off  the  Champs-Ely- 
sees,  small  boite  has  audience  par¬ 
ticipation,  gambits  and  makes  for 
a  rowdy  evening. 


j  Fiddle  Joints  ;  1 

The  Dinarazade  a  smart  Russo 
fiddle  spot  with  good  acts,  inter¬ 
spersed  with  the  Strings.  That  goes, 
for  all  the  other  pizzicato  spots 
from  Scheherazade  through  Chez 
Florence,  Morisignors,  Ciro’s  and 
Novy’s  all  unusually  expensive. 

Between  the  Opera  and  Pigalle 
comes  another  flock  of  boites.  Chez 
Gilles  has  a  titillating  show  arid 
atmosphere  and  Milord  D’Arsouille 
and.  Chez  Agnes  Capri  give,  the 
brain  matter  a  workout  as  well  as 
the  orbs, 

MouIin:  Rouge’s  vaudeville  is  sur¬ 
rounded  by  some  production  num¬ 
bers,  for  cabaret,  purposes  and  the 
Figalle  flesheries  are  the  Sphinx, 
Eve,  Naturistes,  Nouveau  Moulin. 
Rouge,  Indifferent,  Caprice  Vien¬ 
nese,  Narcisse,  Pigall’s  and  Ro¬ 
mance.  \ 

More  travesty  places  turn  up  in 
the  Monocle  and  Chez  Moune  for 
deep-yoiced  femmes,  and  Madame 
Arthur  Is  for  the  limp-wristed  men. 
The  Butte  Montmartre  has  many 
late  cafes  and  also  Chez  Patachou  * 
even  if  she  is  never  there.  Topper 
In  Pigalle  is  La  Nouvelle  Eve  with 
a  sumptuous  if  heavy  handed  show 
and  tabs  are  steep  there. 

] _ Montparnasse  | 

Moving  down  to  Montparnasse 
denotes  that  most  of  the  clubs  have 
gone  strippos  such  as  the  College 
Inn,  Jockey,  Venus,  La  Villa,  Boule 
Blanche,  Canne  A .  Sricre.  L’EIe- 
phant  Blanc  is  still  the  elegant 
dansery  (a  la  New  York’s  El  Mor¬ 
occo)  for  the  smart  set  Gaby’s  is 
a  clever  and  participation  boite.  j 
.  St.-Germain-Des-Pres.  still  gets 
the  tourists  at  its  sidewalk  cafes  | 


Bonifaces  Face  ‘Showmanship’  Era 

[NOT  ENOUGH  NOVELTY  AND  ENTERPRISE] 


looking  for  the.  remnants  of  the 
existentialist  move  m  e  n  t  which 
have  disappeared;  But  there  are 
the  jazz,  spots  such  as.  Cluh  Saint- 
Germain-Des-Pres,  Vieux  Colum- 
bier,  Tabou,  plus  the  last  holdout 
of  .inventive  shows,  the  Fontaine 
Des  Quatres  Saisons.  L’Abbaye  still, 
houses  two;  American  folk  singers, 
Lee.  Payant  and  .  .  Gordon  Heath, 
who  pack;  this  tiny  spot. 

I  Offbeateries  ,| , 

There  are  also  some,  off  beaters 
for  young,  talent,  like  L’Echelle 
Jacob  Galerie  ’55,  Le  Bar  Vert.; 
Hispano .  Spots  are  Le  Guitar  and 
Le  Catalan,  plus  a  big:  sister  (with 
more  production  value  further  up¬ 
town)  called  La  Puerta  Del  . Sol. 

Left  Bank  again  are  the  folk 
song  spots  like  the  Caveau  Des 
Oubliettes  and  the  Caveau  De  La 
Bolee,  and  the.  Arab  belly  dance 
joints  of  which  the  topper  is  the 
El  Djazair. 

Other  jazz,  spots:  Metro-  Jazz, 
Mars  Club,  Lucky  Club,  "Kentucky 
Club  and  off  beaters  open  all  night 
are  Le  Port  De  Srilut  Where  one 
can  have  a  death  mask'made  while 
one.  waits  or.  Les  Fleurs  that  has  a 
continuous  show  of  young  enter¬ 
tainers  till  the  wee  hours. 

Au  Franc  Piriot  is  the  tasteful 
cellar  club  on  the  Isle  St.  Louis 
built,  by-  the  late  Borrah.  Minevitch; 
Run  by :  his  widow  it  gets  the  . late, 
and  early  diners  and  is.  a'TJ.S.,  show¬ 
biz  mecca.  There  is  dancing  to  a 

smart  trio  ..too.  \  " 

Prices  .are  high,  usually  $3  -  $7 
minimum  .depending:  on  the  type, 
of  place  or  show  involved, 

Atlantic  City  Renews 
TceCapades’  for  ’58  Run 

Atlantic  City. 

“Ice  Capades”  will  return  iri 
1958  ;for  a  six-week  stand  in  the 
Boardwalk  Convention.  Hall  ice 
rink,  running  from ,  July  18  to 
Aug.,  31. 

Phillip  E.  M.  Thompson,  mana¬ 
ger  of  city-owned  Convention  Hall, 
said  that  the  option  to  repeat  the 
show  had  been  picked  up:  Produ¬ 
cer  John  Harris  last  year  signed  a 
five-year  .contract*  with  a  renewal 
clause.  Under  this,  the.  Hall  gets 
10%  of  the  gate  receipts,  up  to 
$300,000  and  15%  on  all  above  that 
figure.  In  addition,  the  city  collects 
a  3%  luxury  tax  on  all  admissions, : 

Thompson  said  the  Hall's  take 
last  year  was  $30,000,  plus  rental 
from  .concessions.  This  figure  does 
riot  include  the  money  taken  in 


[  An  era  of  ingenuity  is  being 
forced  on  cafe  bonifaccs. .  They’ll 
have  to  go  back  to  being  showman 
if  they  and  the  cafe  industry  are. 
to.  survive.  With  an.  era  of  compar¬ 
ative  austerity  probably .  facing  the 
nation  -  and  -  with  names  becoming 
scarcer  and  more  expensive  by  the 
booking,  showmen,  will  have  to  re¬ 
turn  to  the  basics  of  operation.  For 
many  cafes,,  it  used  to  be  that,  the 
greatest  battles  were  fought  over 
the  telephone  in  the  haggle  Tor 
attractions.  Today,  that  battle  has 
shifted,  to  the  competition  for  cus¬ 
tomers. 

Cafes  today  are .  reaching  the 
point  where  they  do.  not  reflect 
individual  personalities  any  longer. 
It’s  become,  a  big  business 
manned,  by  sales  staffs,  in  additibri 
to  the  corps  of.  entertainers,  culi¬ 
nary  artists;  and  servitors. 

The  changes  that  have  occurred 
in  the  past  few  years  have  been 
beyond  the  comprehension,  of 
many  nitery  owners.  The  census 
of  .night  clubs  is  at  its  lowest  in 
years— certainly  an  indication  that- 
somewhere  along  the  line  econom¬ 
ics  and  changing  tastes  have  gotten 
ahead  of  a  .  lot  Of  .industryites. 

Fortunately,  a  lot  of  thinking 
already  has.  gone  into  the,  industry 
hopper,  In  the  vanguard  .are  a 
handful  of  operators,  in  New  York, 
Las.  Vegas  and  Miami  Beach  who 
have  cursed  what  they  have 
termed  the  evil  that  has  been 
wrought  by  the  quest  for  names,, 
and.  have:  gone  to  work  from 
scratch.' 

There7?  a  lot  of  novelty  on  the 
horizon  for,  future  bookings.  Major 
cafes,  in .  the  blueprint  or.  renova¬ 
tion  stage;  call  for  such  items  as. 
water  .curtains,  revolving  stages, 
overhead  platforms  permitting  sev¬ 
eral  levels  of  Stageing,  Ice  tanks, 
and  facilities  that  would  .rival  a. 
theatre  built  pririiarily  for  musical, 
comedies.  There’s  even  talk,  of 
niteries  in-the-round. 

Lou  Walters,  for  example,  has. 
completed  the  Casino,  de  Paris,  on 
the  site  of  Copa  City  in  Miami 
Beach,  with  many  nitery  innova¬ 
tions.  He’s  also  planning  the.  same 
elaborate  stagecraft  for  the  N.  Y. 
spot  which  he’ll  open  in  the  spring 
on  the  site  of  the  defunct  Arcadia 
Ballroom.  All  this  is  being  done  in 
ari  effort  to  beat  the  rap  on  what 
has  been  teamed  the  “tyranny  of 
names.”  The  D  e  a  u  v  i  1 1  e  Hotel, 
Miami  Beach,  has  also  installed : 
'  elaborate  stagings  and  hopes  to  be 
successful .  with  a  novelty  policy. 

Apparently,,  all  these  are  draw¬ 
ing  from  successful  models.  Every 


By  JOE  COHEN 

.nitery  owner  would  like  to  have 
the  Radio  City  Music  Hall  of  the 
cafe  World,  Many  important  oper¬ 
ators  have  gone  to  Paris,  to  drink 
in.  the  lore  of  such  places  as  Le 
Lido,  Monseigrieur,  Moulin  Rouge 
arid  a  few,  others;  On  the  other 
hand,  Parisian  impresarios  have 
been  able:  to  borrow  ideas  from  the 
U,; "S;,  even  if  it  has  been  only  the 
stripteuses  who  .  took  over,  the 
Crazy  Horse  Saloon. . 

The  ideas  expressed  those 
spots  ate.  finding  their-  way  to  the 
U.  S.  The  elaborate  shows  of  Le 
Lido  and  the  other  Parisian  lay¬ 
outs' have.  been  dittoed  in  various 
ficorshows  in  this  country:  The 
new.  large  nitery  construction  will 
have  several  elements  of  the  stage¬ 
craft  that  have  distinguished  these 
pi  ces.  The.  Monseigneur  idea  of 
scrolling  fiddles  has  been  widely 
copied.  Although  none  has  had.  the 
spectacular  success  of  the  original, 
several  are  doing  well  with  that 
idea. The  Chez  Vito,  N.  Y.,  is  basic¬ 
ally  .fiddles  and  a  couple  of  classi¬ 
cal  singers.  The  Cotillion  Room  of 
the  Pierre  Hotel,  N.  Y.,  ditched  its 
name  performers  in  favor  of  stroll¬ 
ing  strings.  This  is  its  first  season 
with  that  policy,  and  results  are 
still  to  .be  determined. 

Perhaps  one.  bf  the  anomolies  of 
the  current  cafe  season  is  the 
strong  return,  of  la  stripteuse  in 
environments  of  respectability, 
and  sometimes  even  ,  family  trade. 
For  example,  the  Dunes.  Hotel  in 
Las  Vegas,  Which  couldn’t  get 
names  and  passed  from  one  owner 
:to  another,  '  finally  settled  down 
with  a.  Minskyesque  format  and 
reportedly  they’re  living  happily 
together.  In  increasing  numbers, 
cafes  are  timidly  sneaking  in  a 
mild  strip  act,  and  the  operators 
are  finding  that  the  customers  like 
the  change. 

|  ‘New  Faces*  Coming  Back  | 

Some  hotels  are  studying  a  pol¬ 
icy  of  ;new  faces,,  a  la  the  late 
and  lamented  Leon  &  Eddie’s  of 
New  York.  This  has  long  been  the 
policy  in  the  intime  spots  such  as 
the  Blue  Arigel,.  Village  Vanguard 
and  a  few  others.  Graduates  pf 
these  sites  are  now  on  the  major 
cafe  circuits,  owing  much  of  their 
career,  to  the  careful  grooming 
obtained  in  these  spots. 

I  Some  in  the.  industry  even  look 
for  the  return  of  the  World  War 
II.  era,  which  was  an  age  of  wide 
experimentation  in  talent,  re¬ 
garded  as  even  more  important 
than  the  current  quest  for  “new 


sounds.”  The  period  which  started 
circa  1940  was  one  in  which  novel¬ 
ty,,,  freshness,  excitement  and  dar¬ 
ing  abounded.  Many  of  the  names 
developed  at  that  time,  among 
them  Danny  Kaye,  Danny  Thomas, 
Dinah  Shore  and  many  others,  to 
offer  testimony  to  the  brightness 
of  that  particular  time. 

It  was  a  time;  when  there  were 
a  lot  of  offbeat  operations.  The 
aforementioned  Leon  &  Eddie’s, 
Cafe  Society  Uptown  and  Down¬ 
town,  and  the  Blue  Angel  was 
started  around  that  ,  time,  and  the 
Latin  Quarter  first  made  its  splash 
in  that  era. 

Today,  the  novelty  and  experi¬ 
mentation  are  on  a  different  level 
rind  frequently  on  a  higher  plane. 
The  off-Broad way  legit  influences 
have  made  themselves  felt  in  the 
cafe  .  orbit.  Spots  such  as  Julius 
Monk’s  kemtoned  cellar  cafe,  the 
Downstairs  Room,  have  been  huge¬ 
ly  successful  with  three  specially 
written  intime  revues.  The  Riviera 
Hotel,  Las  Vegas,  is  buying  musi¬ 
cals  .  for .  engagements  just  after 
completion  on  Broadway,  in  To¬ 
ronto,  “The  Drunkard”  is  being 
revived.  While  not  a  new  idea,  a 
new  generation,  having  learned  to 
Charleston,  may  learn  to  hiss  the 
villain  and  cheer  the  hero,  and 
like  it.  The  record  names  have  not 
contributed  too  much  to  cafes,  al¬ 
though  several  have  graduated  to 
the  ranks  of  standard  names  such 
as  Johnnie  Ray  and  Tony  Bennett. 
The  operators  found  that  when  a 
singer  with  a  disk  hit  came  along, 
the  non-spending  kids  formed  the 
major  Part  of  the  audience. 

For  a  few  years  now,  cafes 
haven’t  built  any  names.  Part  of 
it  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  num¬ 
ber  of  niteries  are  waning.  For 
some  time  they  have  been  content 
to  let  other  fields — records,  video, 
films  —  do  their  developing,  for 
them.  By  this  time,  perhaps 
they’ve  lost  the  knack,  or  perhaps, 
with  the  existing  number  of  niter¬ 
ies,  names  cannot  be  made  any 
morel 

The.  bon  if  aces  realize  that 
they’ve  got  to  learn  to  apply  show¬ 
manship  all  over  again.  Competi¬ 
tion  with  free  teevee  is  fierce. 
They  cannot  ask  the  public  to  pay 
for  names  given  away  on  so  grand 
a  scale  without  stepping  out  of  the 

home. _ _ 

]  Blood,  Sweat  &  Tears.  j 
Today;  the  operators  realize 
they’ve  got  to  play  the  angles. 
They  can  no  longer  trod  the  beaten 
paths.  They’ve  got  to  dredge 
exhaustively  for  ideas  rind  new¬ 
comers. 

Success  of  some  offbeat  ventures 
is  obvious.  Max  Loew,  in  the  York- 
ville  section  of  New  York,  relies 
on  new  faces  from  the  Coritinent, 
and  is  now  going  to  open  his  third 
nitery  in  that  sector.  Max  Gordon, 
of  the  Village  Vanguard,  N.  Y.,  has 
been  one  of  the  most  liberal  users 
of  new  talent.  He’s  even  tried 
poetry  readings,  thus  fitting  pa¬ 
tronage,  rind  atmosphere  in  mesh-, 
ing  what  is  predominantly  an  egg¬ 
head  trade. 

Ideas  are  ihe  most  important 
factor  these  days,  perhaps  even 
more  important  than  attractions  in 
the  nitery.  field.  There  will  be  hits 
and  misses  before  some  trend  is 
established.  But  the  fact  that  oper¬ 
ators  can  no  longer  afford  to  let 
money  become  their  chief  spokes¬ 
man  is  perhaps  the  most  hopeful 
sign  that  has  come  upon  the  night 
club  industry  in  years. 

BBC-TV’s  MONOPOLY 
ON  SCOTTISH  SPORTS 

Glasgow. 

According  to  state  of  current 
negotiations,  the  British  Broadcast¬ 
ing  Corp.  tv  setup  is  likely  to  gain 
monopoly  in  Scotland  of  live  broad¬ 
casts  of  all  amateur  swimming  and 
amaterir  boxing  contests.  Both 
sports  bring  in.  leading  audience 
reaction. 

The  Scottish  Amateur  Boxing 
Association  is  negotiating  a  five- 
year  contract  with  BBC  for  exclu¬ 
sive  television  rights  of  amateur 
boxing  in  Scotland. 

Ari  official  said  an  offer  from 
Scot  indie  tv  could  not  compare 
with  that  from  the  BBC. 

More  televising  of  swimming 
events  is  planned.  The  Bologna 
trophy  contest,  to  be  held  at  Kil¬ 
marnock,  Scotland,  in*  1958,  will  be 
televised  Oct.  11. 


from  luxury  tax. 


IIILDEGARDE 


250 


VAUDEVILLE 


Fifty-second  P^RIETY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


By  WERNER  HAAS 

( The  author  is  a  freelance 
writer  director  of  Industrial 
Shows,  and  a  former  CBS  staffer .) 


I  was  most  interested  to  read 
in  Variety  recently  about  the 
billian-dollar  market  which  indus¬ 
trial  shows  have  attained,  or— 
which  show  business  eagles  have 
tapped.  Believe  me,  I  take '  my 
hat  off  to  that  small  band  of 
treadmill  operators,  slide-film  pro¬ 
jectionists,  and  purveyors  of 
sure  fire  script  to  fit  every  occa¬ 
sion.”  I  take;  my  hat  off,  mostly, 
because  they  were  the  first.  And 
I  take  my  hat  off  to  let  the  wind 
ripple  through  my  balding  head, 
in  mourning  for  what  many  of 
these  so-called  pioneers  have  done 
to-  show  business  by  exposing 
their  side  of  it  to  big  business. 

Actually,  your  article  covered 
the  Chicago  operators  mainly.  Of 
the  various  names  mentioned;  I 
believe  that  Chicago  has  one  or. 
two  of  the  most  outstanding  in 
a  ever-more  crowded  field.  How¬ 
ever,  when  your  reporter  talks 
about  that  person  who  has  1,000 
scripts  to  draw  from,  or  the  man 
with  the  Sears-Roebuck  office  and 
the  mimeograph  machine  and.  a 
thiek  address  book,  I  groan  for  our 
industry.  And,  rather  than  groan¬ 
ing  Silently  I  am  forced  to  make 
public  what  facts  as.  reported  from 
Chicago  bother  me,  and  how,  irt 
general,  this  industrial  show  busi¬ 
ness  can  grow  to  a  healthy  multi¬ 
billion  dollar  phase  of  ‘‘Show  Biz” 
as  a  whole. 

To  my  way  of  thinking  there 
are  four  mai  types  of .  industrial 
show  producers. 

r 


The  Buildup 


First  consists  of  12  tall  “show 
girls”  who  three  out  of  Tour  times 
know  ;their  right  foot  from  their 
left,  who  are  sent  out  to  dance 
at  fairs,  expositions,  and  car-deal¬ 
er  show-room  openings  to  spell 
jugglers  and  ‘-exotic  dancers.” 
These  “industrial  shows”  are  bold¬ 
ly  advertised  as  ;  coming  directly 
from  the  La  in  Fifth,  or  some  such 
club — and  are  backed  by  ..a  cigar- 
chomping.  Damon'  Runyon  -  lan¬ 
guage  spouting,  sweating  promo¬ 
ter  who  assures  the  harried  execu¬ 
tives  that  “the  boys  will  love  it!” 
and  usually  the  cheers  and 
whistles  of  the  audience  is  taken 
for  approval.  But,  what  product 
is  it  selling? 

Second — I  call  the  “wi  dine, 


and  first-name,”  .or  MCA.  proto¬ 
type,;  The  object  here  is  to  meet 
executives  from  .  large  corpora¬ 
tions,  through,  mailing-lists  and 
expense  accounts  which  some  of 
the  large  entertainment  corpora¬ 
tions  can  absorb.  When  these  ex¬ 
ecutives  come  to  New  York,  they 
are  feted  at  the  fanciest  Eateries, 
the  plushest  niteries.  Convenient¬ 
ly  some  tpp  star  stops  by  the 
table  to  say  “Hi,  Irv.”  This  con¬ 
vinces  the  executives  that  here, 
indeed,  is  a  big  wheel  in  the  en¬ 
tertainment,  industry  who  can  con¬ 
veniently  provide  a  lavish  show 
with  star  names  that  will  really 
hold  the  attention  of  dealers,  or 
distributors,  or  salesmen.  But, 
who  remembers  the  broduct  that’s 
supposed  to  be  sold? 

Third— I  call  the  “treadmill”.  or 
Dramaturge  Prototype.  This  deal* 
with  any  firm  that  has  conceived 
an  idea  for  presenting  product 
that  was  instantaneously  accented 
bv  a  client  TO  years  ago!  and  is 
s‘ill  being  accepted  by  client  af¬ 
ter  client— without  much  varia¬ 
tion.  except  in  product.  While 
some  manufacturing;  concern  de¬ 
mand  “flash”  with  their  presen¬ 
tations.  too  much  gadgetry  hidos 
the  main  ourpose  of  the  show.  So 
where’s  the  product? 

.  Fourth— is  the  one  I  hav 
brought  nn  to  respect,  and  honor 
is  what  t  choose  to  call  thi  “Prod¬ 
uct  is  S^r,”  I  would  like  to  >>ring 
this  Serious  Point  to  the  fore — 
because  it  is  the  only  way  in  which 
biff  busi  ecs  nnd-show  buSiners  are 
going  to  be  linked  firmly,  dthout 
giwng  one  another  a  black  eve- 

The  main  ourbose  of  any  indus¬ 
trial  show,  like  it  or  not,  is  to  pre¬ 
sent  products  oir  services  in  the 
most  attractive,  eyerfilUng  manner. 
It  cannot  b°  done  with  the  “to  hell 
with  the  refrigerators,  spotlight  the 
dames!”  type  of  showmanship! 


JO  LOMBARDI 


Musical  irector 

Congratulations  to  VARIETY  on  its 
52nd  Anniversary 

Enjoying  Third  Year  at  the  LATIN 
QUARTER,  New  York 


iremember,  which  will  give  all  of 
us  creative  people  in  the  industrial 
show  field  sornie  honor,  rather  than 
smears. 

(1)  Make  ,  and  keep  the  product 
the.  star  of  the  industrial  show.  ’ 

(2)  Remember  that  there  is  more 
to  show  business  than  sex. 

(3)  Tailor  a  show,  not  around 
ready-made  skeletons— but  around 
the  proper  identification  and  poli¬ 
cies  of  each  client. 

(4)  Remember  that  show  business 
hat  an  equal  accent  on  both  words. 
Anyone  know  where  I  can  get  a 
couple  of  “Fair  Lady.”  seats  for 
a  prospective  client? 


Fit  The  Client 


BulleMn-Teeth 

Continued  from  page  248  . 

shuffle  him  off  this  mortal  coil  in 
flamboyant  fashion.” 

Will  , Dexter’s  “The  Riddle  of 
Chung  Ling  Soo”  should  convince 
any.  one  that,  the  shooting  was 
accidental  or  consult  transcript  of 
the.  British  coroner’s  report.  Ac¬ 
tually!  powder  trickling  from  one 
barrel  of  the  gun  to  the  other 
caused  the  second  chamber,  which 
was  never  intended  to  he  fired,  to 
become  ignited.  Each  time  the  feat 
was  performed  a  bit  more  powder 


TV  Not  Alone  to  Blame  For 
K.O.  of  Vaudeville  In  Britain 


By  DICK  RICHARDS 


London. 

For  years  the  pessimists  have 
been  beefing  about  British  vaude¬ 
ville!  “It’s  dying  on  its  feet,”  they 
have  moaned.  But,  somehow, 
through  all  the  Wailing  the  sickly 
patient  has  managed  to  survive. 
But,  now  one  would  have  to  be  a 
super-optirhist  not  to  see  the  mcl- 
ancl.oly  writing  on  the  wall.  The 
folding  of  The  Performer,  local 
trade  sheet  which  for  50  years  has 
serviced  vaudeville,  spotlights  the 
plight  that  vaudeville  is  now  in. 
The  death  rattle  can  be  plainly 
heard  It  seems  only  a  matter  of 
lime  before  vaudeville,  as  we  know 
it.  is  a  corpse. 

Not  so  many  years  ago  you  could 
hardly  toss  a  cracker  in  any  direc¬ 
tion  i  London  without  hitting  a 
vaudeville  theatre.  Now  there  are 
only  five  operating.  The  Empires 
at  Chiswick,  Finsbury  Park  and 
Woolwich,  the  Metropolitan  and. 
Collins’  Music  Hall.  Even  Collins’s 
recently  found  itself  with  its  back 
to  the  wall  and  narrowly  escaped 
being  closed  down. 

The  situation  is  a  trifle  less 
gloomy  in  the  sticks.  In  a  number 
of  important  key  cities  vaudeville 
still  raises  a  defiant  head.  A  num¬ 
ber  of  lesser  theatres  in  smaller 
cities  are  also  still  open  but  these 
are  being  fed  less  by  vaudeville 
than  by  roadshows,  some  of  which 
are  mediocre  and  some  of  which 
are  downright  tatty. 

The  reason  for  this  sad  state,  of 
course,  is  television.  By  now  the 
new  kid  of  show  biz  is  used  to  be¬ 
ing  blamed  for  almost  everything 
that  goes  wrong  in  entertainment  | 
but  it  has  obviously  had  an  effect 
on  vaudeville  b.o.  As  the  cynics 
say:  “Why  go  out  and  pay  good 
money  for  trash  when  you  can  sit 
at  home  and  see  it  for  free?” 


Lack  of  Star  Talent 


Each  show  must  be  “custom-tai¬ 
lored,”  to  fit  each  individual  client 
and  product.  Since  Philco  refrig¬ 
erators.  compete  with,  say,.  Frigi- 
daire  models.  Why  shouldn’t  the. 
shows  that  introduce  them  , be  es-  slipped  down  around  the  threads 
pecially  created  for  :  each,  rather!  of  a  ..worn  screw  connecting  the 
than  patterned  on  one  another?  barrels:  Robert  Churchiil,  the  gun 
Before  I  end  up  -‘continued  on  expert  called  in  by  Police  Inspec- 
Variety’s  page  64,”  I  would  like  !  tor  Cornish,  proved  this  point 
to  resolve  my  moans  and.  groans!  after  a  thorough  examination 


against,  certain  maimers  of  indus¬ 
trial,  show  business.  I  would  like  to 
give  them  gratis  some  points  to 


LUCILLE  AND  EDDIE  ROBERTS 

Stars  of  the  Radio  and  TV  Show 

“WHAT’S  ON  -YOUR  Ml  NO  7”  . 

-This  amazing  and  amusing  pair  are  one  of  the  most  unusual  couples 
In  show  business  today.  They,,  are  .always  working  and  .always-  i11 
demand.  They  are  currently  appearing!  iri  ah  Industrial  Sh6w  for  the 
Pittsburgh  and  West  Virginia -R.B.  '  •.!  *  '  , 

The.  year  of  i9i>7  included  TWO-  engagements  in  the  Cotillion  Room; 
pf  the  Hotel  Pierre.  They  hold  the  record  there  for  return  .engagements^ 
as  they  do  4n  many  other  locations^  such  as  the  Radissoil  Hotel  and  The: 
Cleveland  and  Detroit  Statler  Hotels.  ■ 

1958  engagements  include  among  Others:  .The  Los  Angeles  Statler, 
The  Shamrock  Riltqn,  The- Emerald  Beach  ..in  Nassanand  the  Colony,  in 
London. 

Press  Relations :  -FRANCES  KAYE  *  CO. 

MUSIC  CORF.:  OF  AMERICA, 


the  old-fashioned  muzzle-loader. 
The  coroner’s  jury  gave  the  un¬ 
animous  verdict  of  Misadventure . 

I  have  a  letter  Kellar  wrote  to 
Hcudini  telling  how  a .  gun  of  the 
same  type,  which  he  used  in  an¬ 
other  trick,  had  accidentally  mis¬ 
fired  in  the  same  way.  One  of  your 
correspondents  opined  that  the 
bullet-catch  is  not  “particularly 
dangerous  if  presented,  wisely  and 
using  common  sense.”  Don’t  you 
believe  it.  When  you  face  a  volun¬ 
teer  marksman  who  uses  his  owii 
rifle  arid  own  ammunition  and  he 
fires  directly  at  you!  there  is  always 
the  chance  of  a  slipup.  No  feat  in 
the  history  of  conjuring  has  pro¬ 
duced  more  corpses.  At  least  12 
performers  Kaye  been  killed  dur¬ 
ing  the  years  artd  twice  as  many 
more  have  been,  seriously  injured. 

Just  to  mention  a  few  of  the 
casualties— DeLirisky’s  wife  was 
shot  in  Amstadt  in  1820.  Dr. 
Epstein  bowed  out  at  the  Cirque 
d’Hiver  in  Paris  in  1869.  Michael 
Hatal  died  with  two  bullet  holes 
through  his  body  in  New  York  in 
1899.  H.  T.  Sarte.il  didn’t  catch  his 
bullet  ,  in  Lynn,  Mass.  Blumenfeld 
Was  shot  in  Basle,  Switzerland,  in 
1906. 

Wise  old  Signor  Blitz  dropped 
the  gun  trick  from  his  program 
when  a  spectator  secretly  dropped 
a  handful  of  tacks  in  the  barrel  of 
his  weapon  before  he  pulled  the 
trigger.  Jean  Hugard,  the  present 
Dean,  of  the  Society  of  American 
Magicians,  had  to  pry  buckshot 
from  his  chest  with  a  penknife 
when  .  ..  prankish  sharpshooter 

tampered  with  his  rifle  in  Welling* 
ton,  New  Zealand, 

lust  for  the  record  Producer’s 
Showcase;  NBC  officials  and  the 
S!Y;  HjiOTCh'rAttoniey’s  office 
bullet- 

catch  on  “the  Festival  of  Magic”! 
until  I  signed  documents  absolving 
the  program  and  network  of  all 
responsibility  and  made  an  oral 
statement  In  the  presence  of 
J  lawyers. 


But  tv  is  not  the  sole  answer  to 
the  state  of  the  vaudeville  dol¬ 
drums.  The  predominant  one  is 
lack  of  star  talent.  Vaude  thrives 
oh  the  big  individual  personalities 
and  not  enough  of  them  now  exist. 
Even  the  London  Palladium,  ac¬ 
knowledged  to  be  one  of  the  great¬ 
est  vaudeville  theatres  in  the 
world,  had  to  rely  on  top  Yank 
names  to  draw  the  customers,  arid 
when  the  supplies  dried  up  the 
Palladium  was  forced  to  revert  to 
musical .  shows. 

Where:  are  the  big*  drawing  co¬ 
medians?  Beating  their  brains  out 
on  television.  Some  of  the  top 
names  of  a  few  years  ago— people 
like  Max  Miller  and  ‘George  Form- 
by-^-find  it  not  worth  their  while 
to  work  a  full  year  because  of  crip¬ 
pling  taxation.  So  the  shortage  of 
funny  men  is  acute.  Without  full- 
blooded  sketches  and  red-nosed  co¬ 
medians  pattering  in  front  of 
black-cloths,  pernicious  anemia 
was  bound  to  set  in.  Nowadays 
vaudeville  comedians  are  content 
io  wear  immaculate  lounge  suits 
and  string  out  a  succession  of  see 


ond-hand  wisecracks  iriost  of  which 
people  have  already  heard  on  tv. 
Carbon-copies  of  B6b  Hope  and 
Jack  Benny,  these  comedians  rare¬ 
ly  have  patter  worthy  of  such  great 
performers.  They  rely  on  risque 
gags  which  are  no  longer  of  the 
traditional  vulgarity  of  the  George 
Robeys  and  Billy  Bennetts, 

So,  in  place  of  top-line  come¬ 
dians,  Vaudeville  bookers  have  had 
to  fall  back  on  disk  singers  and, 
for  awhile,  such  names  as  David 
Whitfield,  Dicky  Valentine,  et.al.* 
brought  in  the  crowds.  But  grad¬ 
ually  people  tired  of  hearing  the 
same  songs  that  they  can  hear 
plugged  interminably  on  radio  and 
tv.  They  tired  of  impressions  of 
Billy  Daniels  and  Johnnie  Ray. 
Most  of  all  they  tired  of  the  micro¬ 
phone  which,  more  than  ,  any  other 
single,  cause,  has  helped  to  kill 
vaudeville. 


The  Nude  Hypo 


A  desperate  attempt  to  keep  the 
vaudeville  houses  open  has  been 
made  by  touring  nude  revues. 
These  usually  have  a  phoney  Pari¬ 
sian  flavour  with  catchpenny  titles 
such  as  “Folies  Striptease.” 
“Naughty,  But  Nice!”.  “Night  With 
the  Naughtiest  Girl.”  “We’ve-  Got 
Nothing  On  Tonight”  and  so  on. 
The  atmosphere  of  such  shows  is 
usually  desperately  British,  the 
sketches  are  often  pretty  tired,  and 
there  is  a  sameness  about  the  nudes 
which  is  almost  stupefying: 

But  people  are,  apparently,  pre^ 
pared  to,  Day  a  penny  for  the  peep- 
show'  arid  there  is  no  doubt  that, 
but.  for  the  nudes  (if  they  move  it’s 
rude,  according  to  the  law’!).. there 
would  be  far  .  more  casualties 
among  provincial  vaudeville  thea¬ 
tres. 

It  is  always  sad  to  see  any  phase 
of  show  biz  taking  it  on  the  chi 
but  it  must  be  firrrilv  said  that,  in 
manv  ways.  vaudeville  has  asked 
for  it  and  the  blame  must  be  ap- 
Dortibned.  equally  between  uer- 
formers  and  impresarios.  Many 
vaudeville  artists  have  failed  to~ 
keep  their  acts  up  to  scratch.  They 
have  been  content  to  trail  abound 
the  sticks  with  the  same  old  dreary 
material  that  has  served  therh  wdlh 
dubious  success  for  years.  Often  it 
is  so  suggestive  as  to  make  a  mock¬ 
ery  of  the  cry  that  vaudeville  is 
all-family  entertainment. 


Sloppy  Operation 


There  have  been  cases  of  enter¬ 
tainers  not  even  bothering  to  make 
up  before  a  performance,  irierely 
walking  on  to  the  stage1  in  their 
street  clothes.  Under-rehearsal  is. 
stamped  on  too  many  acts.  Many 
vaudevillians  show  a  complete  con¬ 
tempt  for  the  sort,  of  showmanship 
that  has  kept  such  dedicated  art¬ 
ists  as  Sophie.  Tucker  and  Joe  E. 
Lewis  at  the  top..  Some  do  not 
even  bother  with  the  elementary 
matters  such  as  up-to-date  front- 
of-house  pix. 

Not  are  the  theatres  always  ex- 
(Continued  oh  Dane  252) 


NICK  LUCAS 

January  15th  on  “THE  BIG  REGOfH>” 
tfECCARECOR©*  w 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second 


ftRIETY  Anniversary 


yAUBEflLLG 


251 


American  Circuses:  Groggy  But  Game 

During  1957  Tented  Shows  Numbered  16 — Indoor-Stadium  Outfits Qouii ted  18— Enterprise  Still 
Pays  Off  Trend  to  Truck  Operation  Continues  ^  Baseball  Park  Distances  Rob  Acts  of 
Former  Intimacy  Ringling-Barnum  &  Bailey  Still  Big  Question  For  Future 


(Mr.  and  Mrs.,  Conway  combine  the  standards  of 
good  journalists  with  the  sentiment  of  lifetime -circus 
buffs,  as  readers  of  their  thoughtful  report  here  last 
year. will  recall.  They  met,  courted,  and  honeymooned 
,  6n  a  circus.  Claire  l  Fawcett,  of  the  Hearst  syndicate 
Fawcetts )  .  Conway  is  author .  “We  Fell  In  Loue  With 
the  CirCus,”  the. -story  of  an .  enthusiasm.  Tony  Con - 
way,  a  prof es&tonal.  writer,  iinbibed  circus  in  his  boy¬ 
hood  via  circus-operating  kinfolk.— ( Ed. ) 

Many  Questions  filled  the  minds  of  owners,  performers, 
working  men,  and  close  friends  of  the  circus  as  the.  year 
1957  began.  None  Relieved  the  many  “death  notices” 
which  the  public  press  had  produced  in  the  previous,  year. 
It  was  Mark  Twain  all  over;  Yet  there'  was  interest  in 
how  the  nation’s;  lfi  under-canvas  and  approximately  18 
indoor-stadium  shows  would  fare  and  as  to  how  they 
would  meet  the  problems  of  “changing  times.’’ 

,  In  our  visits  to  shows,  our  Chats  with  showfolk,  and 
In  the  comments  of  those  close  to  the  business  \ve  sought 
to  determine  how  each  circus,  arid  the  industry,  as 
whole,  fared  during  its  tour. 

pur  year  began  with  Hamid-Morton’s  stay  at  Uline 
Arena  in  Washington,  sponsored  by  the  local  Shrine  tem¬ 
ple.  It  wcs  a  strong  shovv,  nicely  presented,  and  the  pub¬ 
lic  came  out  in  force,  A  winner,  for  many  years,  no  one 
anticipated  .  any  problem,  and  none  developed. 

Talk  on  the  show  was  largely  of  a  new' venture  which 
was  to  be  undertaken  jointly  with,  the  Hunt  Circus  when 
a  combination  of  the  two  shbw’s  acts  would  appear  under 
the  Hunt  big  top  at  Palisades  Park,  New  Jersey,  in  con¬ 
junction  with  the  amusement  parkrS  spring  opening. 

Circus  Plays  Palisades  '; 

Put  IJp  Canvas  During  Snou, 

The  greatest  speculation  centered  on  how  the  shotv 
could  be  squeezed  into  the  Hunt  top:  It  tdok  some  doing, 
.There  was  snow  when  they  were  setting,  the  rigging,  for1 
example,  and  not  ohce  but  twice  they  took  down  and  put 
up  the  big  top.  But  the .  effort  was  successful  and  the 
press  Of  New  York  City  hailed  the  abilities  Of  all  con¬ 
cerned— Irv  Rosenthal  of  Palisades-  Park,  George  A. 
Hamid  of  the  Hamid^Morton  show,  and  the  senior  Charles 
T.  Hunt,  dean  of  the  nation’s:  circus  Owners. 

Sufficiently  successful  at.  the  amusement  park  date,  Ro¬ 
senthal  arranged.  for  the  Hunt  show,  to  ret”r*'  *  August. 

Clyde  Beatiy  Still  Stars; 

Switched  to  Truck  Setup 
The  story  of  the.  Beatty  show  in  1957  cannot  be  appre¬ 
ciated  fully  without  mention  Of  its  switch  from  railroad 
to  truck  operation,  We  have  ,  seen  many,  truck  shows  over 
the  years  but  this  one  seems  unique  in  its  equipment: 
Most  semi-trailers  feature  a  built-in  sleeper  unit,  the 
whole  outfit  was  kept  fresh  and  clean  looking,  and  .the' 
showfolk  felt  everyone’s  efforts  was  appreciated. 

This  show  spent  10  days  in  towns  within  driving  dis¬ 
tance  of  New  York  City  and  did  .quite  well.  It  then  had 
a  week  in  Philadelphia,  on  the  lot  formerly  used  by 
Ringling,  under  a  setup  whereby  the  lot  was  free,  of  rent 
and  the  show  participated  in  the  profit  of  the  midway 
provided  by  concessionaires  Quinn  and  Harris,  who  held 
the  lease  for  the  date’  The  week  was  .good  though  not  up 
to  hoped-for  levels.  ’  _ 

Through  New  England  and  into  Canada  went  the 
Beatty  show.  Turning  southward  again  it  made  its  way 
into,  the  tobacco  states  during  the  fall  months.  It  was 
mid-November  when  the  show  played  St:  Petersburg, 
Florida,  then  moved  into  quarters  at  DeLand  with  a 
very  good  season  on  the  books., 

Cristiani  Circus  En joyed 
Cook^— While  Still  Sober 
In  the  early  fall  we  enjoyed  a  short  stay  with  the 
Cristiani  Bros.  Circus,  owned .  by  the  internationally 
famous  riding  act  family.  The  show:  had  played  through 
the:  south  into  Pennsylvania,  New  England,  and  .  New 
York  and  was ’making  its  way  south  once  ,  again..  Every-, 
where  there  had  been  good  houses  but  there  was  a  small 
labor  problem.  Harry  Dann,  now  the.  Cristiani  equestrian 
director  after  15  years,  clowning,,  told  tis  the  story  of  one 
shortage:  "  \ 

‘'We’d,  had  a  series  of  cooks  during  the  season,"  he 
said,  “ Never  could  keep  one  long.  Well,:  this  guy  comes 
on  and  he  looks  the  part;  tall,  greying,  rather-  hand¬ 
some  older  man.  So  he  went  to  work.  We  Walked  into 
the  coqkhouse:  for.  lunch  that  day  and  there,  of  all 
things,  ,  was  an  attractive:  tuna  fish,  salad,  on  a  bed  of 
crisp  lettuce  and  the  whole  thing  was  topped  off  With 
radishes  cut  in  flower  shapes  like  at  a  fancy  hotel. 

"That  was  fine.  But  in  a  circus  cookhouse!  We  won¬ 
dered  how  long  it  would  Iasi.  Well,  it  went-  along  that ■ 
Way;  first  day  everything  .just  so— second,  third, 
fourth.  So  the  seventh  day  was  payday  and  the  guy 
picks,  up  his  and  goes  on  into  town .  Must’ve  .  headed . 
for  the  nearest  bar.  Anyhow  that  was:  the  last  We  eiiev 
saw  of  him.  He.  sure  was  good  while  he  lasted.  Gee, 
you  shouid’ve  seen  me'  frying  eggs  fOr  everyone,  this. 
"■ihbmingV*:. 

While,  on  the  shbw  we  learned  of  plans  for  a  larger 
big  top  in  1958— the . first  Cristiani  top  to  require  a  dou¬ 
ble  row  of  quarter  poles,  And  there  was  talk  about  a 
series  of  seat  wagons,  differing  from  those,  oh  other  shows/ 
to  be  put  into  Use  in  the  liew  season. 

A  few  weeks  later  we- had  a  visit  with  the  smallest,  of 
the  shows  we  Were  to  see  during  the  year.  This,  was 
the  Benson  Bros.  Circus,  owned  and.  managed  ;  by  Bill 
Morris.  We’ve  caught  this  show  now  .and  again  over  the 
last  four  seasons  and  can  note  a  steady  improvement  in. 
the  program-,  equipment,  etc.  It  is  a  happy  show  for  one 
thing..  And  the  mood  of  the  showfolk  is  much  like  read¬ 
ing  a  barometer;  In  this  case  the  feeling  was  one  of  good 
houses,  a  well-fed  troupe,  contented,  performers. 

On  Benson  is  a  little  lady  of  English  origin  (we  wouldn’t 


By  CLAIRE  &  TONY  CONWAY 

want  to  suggest  her  age)  named  Nelly  (Hodges)  Hodgini. 
Her  famiy  has  been  for  generations  a  part  of  the.  circus 
woHd,  among  themthe  famous  Hodgini  riding  act:  Nelly 
haq  been  a  clown  on  Benson  for  some  seasons,  one  of 
the  few  lady  clowns  in  the  business,  She  is  delighted  that 
her  grandchildren  are,  already  learning  the  arts,  of  ' their 
profession  pri  the  shows  with  which  their  parents  per¬ 
form.  But  even  greater  is  her  pleasure  that  within  the 
last  year  she  has  been,  granted  her  American'  citizenship. 
Lady  Clown  in  White  face 
Makes  With  Patriotic  Glow 

Nelly  is.  always  running  here,  or  there  to -  get  this  prop 
or  that.  One  of  her.  little  tasks  is  to  see  that  the  American 
flag  is  brought  :Out  in  time  for  a  mounted  rider  to  carry 
it  in  the  tournament  which .  opens  the  show.  “IPs  my 
flag  now,  you  know!”  she  told  uS  as  she  carried  it  across 
the  lot.  Had  anyone  ever  taken  her  photo  as  she  held  the 
flag?  We  asked.  No,,  no  one  had.  So  we  did.  And  you 
should  see  the  look  of  pleasure  on.  her  plown-white  face 
in  that  photo!  Such  satisfaction!. 

The  Polack  Bros.  (Eastern  Unit)  date  at  Baltimore  is 
tone,  we  always  look  forward  to.  Nor  was  this  year’s  Shrine 
offering  at  the  Fifth  Regiment  Armbry  anything  iess  than 
We  had  hoped  for.  This  was  one  of  the  finest  organiza¬ 
tions  on  the  road.  It  was  well  costumed,  had  tdpnotch 
acts,  and  its  running  order  arid  timing  were  just  right 
to  keep  the  audience,  content. 

.  Outstanding  among  the  staffers  was  Dick-  Slayton,  the 
finest  example  of  equestrian  director-announcer  in  today’ 
circus  world/  Credit,  too,  Henry  Keyes  and  the  Ronstrdms, .. 
Rex  and  Kitty,  for  pacing  the  show  musically. 

.Why  talk  of  Polack  Eastern. in  the  past  tense?  Simply 
because  it  is  a.  thing  of  the  past.  -The  two  Polack  shows 
(Eastern  and  Western)  were  consolidated  as'  of  the  first 
of  the  year.  Both  were  strong  shows.  Each  had  its  own 
following.  Each  made  it.  date  after  date.  But  something 
went  wrong  in  the  relationship  between  the  Western 
Unit  and  its .  sponsors  in  California.  Now  the  two  units 
are  one. 

Dick  Slayton,  it  should  be  noted,  already  . had  planned 
■on  a  change  before  the  merger.  He  is  today  equestrian : 
director-announcer  for  the  Orrin  Davenport  Circus.  Orrin, 
remembered  as  a  great  rider  and  a  pioneer  in  presenting 
indoor  shows  under  auspices,  has  an  insight  into  the 
business  possessed  by  few  others. 

C ol.  Tim  McCoy  Wild  West 
‘Concert”  F allows  Circus 

Reliable  reports  reached  us  concerning  shows  we  were- 
unable  to  catch.  Mills  Bros/  had  an  okay,  though  short, 
undeivcanvas  season  and  presented  a  performance  com¬ 
parable  with  their  efforts,  of  previous  years.  Kelly-Miller 
continued  to  utilize  a  number  of  tie-in  advertising  methods 
including  drawing  a  .  heavy  cage  wagon  to -  the  business 
district  with  a  six-horse  hitch:  For  most  of  .  the  season 
Col.  Tihi  McCoy  Was  featured  in  the  “Concert”  or  Wild 
West  offered  by  the  show.  Hagen  Bros.,  under  the  man¬ 
agement  of  .  Bob  Couls,  continued  to  grow  and  again 
offered  a;  performance  that  will  assure,  the.  return  of 
customers,  in  future  years. 

Some  Ringling  Performers 
Drive  in  Own  Cars 

The  new  Version  of  Ringling-Barnum  moves  bn  about 

.dozen  trucks  and  uses  three  stock  cars  and  three  sleep¬ 
ers -provided.  by  the  railroads.  Many  acts  do:  not  use.  the 
train  but  niake  the  jumps  between  dates  with  their  own 
cars  and  house  trailers.. 

Baltimore  gave  us  our  first  glimpse  of -  a  ball  park 
Ringling.  To  say  that.it  amazed  us  wbiiid  he  putting  it 
mildly.  The  frames  for  the  aerial  rigging  were  fascinat¬ 
ing  and.  Caught  the  eye.  But  the  rings  formed  a  triangle 
—center  ring  at  .  home  piate,  ring  one  at  third  base-;  ring,: 
three  at  first  base.  And  the  distances!  There  simply  was 
no  intimacy  here.  In  a  big  top  or  in  a  building  every¬ 
thing  is.  .close:  enough  for  you  to  feel  a  part  of  it  Not  so 
in  ball  parks.  Unless  , you  sat  opposite  center  ring,  you 
could  not  hope  to  see  more  than  two  rings  at  any  one 
time. 

The  performance  was,  however,  well  paced  and  moved 
smoothly.  The  productions  were  arranged  to  -take  advan¬ 
tage  of  the  outside  layout  In .  all  respjects  it  was  what 
you’d  expect  of  Ringling.  The  showfolk  were  “with  it 
and  for  it”  and  everyone,  ourselves  included,  agreed  that 
it  was  all.  a  matter  of  adjustment 

We.  never  could  ,  gauge  an  audience,  in  a  stadium,  too 
accurately,  The  seating  facilities  were  simply  too  vast. 
Baltimore  certainly  had;  the  best  houses  of  the  three, 
cities:  where  we  saw  the  show  ini  inid-summer.  Washing¬ 
ton  seemed  to  do  reasonably  well.  But  Philadelphia,  did 
poorly.  None  of  these,  stands  was  "even  nearly  ideal.  But 
why? 

The.  show  itself  was  not  the  answer.  Art  Concello  and. 
his  staff  know  the  business; .  they  don’t  make  mistakes. 
Equestrian  director  Bob  Dover  and  the  men  /  working 
with  him  have  long  been  a  smooth-working  combination. 
No  man  in  the  business  today  can  surpass  Dover  who 
has  earned  his  position  the  hard  way.  The  one  and  only 
Pat  Valdo  chose  wisely  when  hie  chose  Dover  to  learn 
.his  own, job. 

Kiss  Goodbye  to  Yesteryears9 
Big  Splash  ‘Circusy9  Ads 

.  These  are  the  things  we  saw— or  didn’t  see.  Ail  three 
:dales  utilized  a  type  of  advertising,  foreign  to  Ringliiig. 

It  was-not  “circusy.”  In  fact  it  was  more  often  like  the 
ads  of  a  record,  store  offering  the.  latest  albums  or  of  a 
rock  ’n.’  roll  outfit  bringing  a  rock  stage  .show  to  town. 
The.  radio  spots  were  very,  much  .like  the  more-  objec- 
iondble  auto  Jot  ads.  And  there  simply  was  iio  use  of 
paper.  There  was  no  advance  crew  at  all.  Few  people 
knew  any:  show  was. coming,  •; 

These  were  promoted  towns  i  which  :the  show  left 


advertising,  ticket  sales,  and  other  details  to  one  pro¬ 
motional  firm.  But  these  people  did  not  know  anything 
about  working  with  a  circus  and  got  themselves  into 
pickle,  after  pickle.  Jt  should  be  understood  that  a  num¬ 
ber' of  promotion  firms  were  used  throughout  the  year 
and  we.  saw  only  how  one  worked. 

Yes,  Ringling  did  have  press  men,  though  not  as  in 
former  years.  Frank  Braden  worked  only  New  York  and 
did  not  go  on  the  road:  Howard  Y.  Bary  was  in  New 
York  and  stayed  throughout  about  half  the  tour.  It  was 
Bary,  in  fact,  who  gave  the  show  the  major  publicity 
break  it  received  iri  Washington  and  Philadelphia  through 
his  use  of  a  “Fifty  Year  Club.” 

Circus  people  across  the  nation  know  and  respect.  Mel¬ 
vin  D.  Hildreth,  prominent  Washington  attorney  and  a 
founder:  of  the  Circus  Fans  Assn.,  and  Dr.  William  M. 
Mann,  retired  director  of  the  National  Zoo,  both  of  whom 
have  known  the  circus  for  over  50  years.  Bary  honored 
theihi  and  also,  got  some  publicity,  by  naming  the  50  Year 
Club  in  Washington  in  their  honor.  Membership  was 
given  to  anyone  who  wrote  in  to  tell  their  memories  of 
either  the  Barnum  &  Bailey  or  the  Ringling  Bros,  show 
in  1907,  and  each  member  received  two  tickets  to  a  spe¬ 
cified  section  for  the  Saturday  matinee.. 

The  results  were  most  gratifying;  the  papers  gave  the 
■club  good  play  and  all  the  “club  members”  had  a  swell 
time.  But  Philadelphia  has  no  Mann  or  Hildreth  so  things 
did  hot  go  as  well  there,  though  the  “club”  was  given 
notice  in  the  daily:  press: 

In  Washington  we  arrived  at  the  special  entrance  for 
showfolk  and  press  mid  had  trouble  in  having  our  work¬ 
ing  pass  honored.  It  seems  that  the  promoter  controlled 
the  door  and  had  no  one  from  the  show  on  hand  to  rec¬ 
ognize  Who  was  who.  Well,,  along  came  Harold  Ronk, 
ringmaster  and  announcer,  carrying  not  one  but  two  com¬ 
plete  changes  of  costume  including  the  traditional  red 
coats:  He  had  no  pass  so  the  man  on  the  door  rejected 
him. 

Amateurism  Creeps  Further  j 
Ringmaster  Can’t  Make  it 

“Look,  I’m  ringmaster  for  the.  show,”  pointed  out  Har¬ 
old,  “If  I  don’t  get  inside;  I  don/t  start  the  show.” 

..  “Buster,”  said  the  attendant,  “i  don’t  give  a  good  etc. 
who  the  etc.  you  are.  if  I  don’t  know  you,  you  don’t  get 
in!  Get  someone  to  identify  you.” 

“O.K.,”  agreed  Harold,  “Where’s  the  circus  office?’* 

“Inside.” 

“Well,  how  can  I  get  a  pass  if  I  can’t  get  inside?” 

“Look,  buddy,  I  don’t  give  A  .  .  " 

Forget  who  came  along  and  sayed  the  day.  but  the 
ringmaster  .finally  was  allowed  in  the  stadium. 

Traveling  by  streetcar  and  bus  in  these  cities,  we  had 
opportunity  to  obtain  the  viewpoint  of  the  circus  going 
public  through  personal  observation.  These  are  not  our 
beliefs,  but  those  of  the  paying  customers. 

The  public  liked  the  show  but  said  they  liked  the 
under-canyas  circus  better.  They  did  not  like  the  dis¬ 
tances.  They  felt  that  the  newspaper  ads  suggested  a. 
menagerie  of  animals  and,,  of  course,  there  was  .none. 
And  they  missed  the  sideshow;  it  just  didn’t  seem  right 
to  them  to  be  without  the  “strange  people.” 

Will  the  public,  return  a  second  ,  time  to  Ringling  as  it 
now  is?  That  is  the.  question! 

Y  We  spent,  a  great  deal  Of  time  with  the  showfolk  in 
the  backyard  and  in  the  areas  beneath  the  stands.  And 
whait  did  they  think,  of  the  new  setufc?  Without  excep¬ 
tion  they  saw  advantages  to  both  methods  of  operation. 
In  the  new  setup  they  like  the  inside  dressing  rooms  and 
the  showers  in  buildings  and  stadiums  built  for  sports 
events.  Both  these  facilities  made  it  easier  to  keep  clean 
and  made  life  more  comfortable. 

But  the  great  distances  from  dressing  rooms  to  per¬ 
forming  area  were  already  beginning  to  wear  on  them. 
They  didn't  like  the  problem  of  getting  rooms  or  of  find¬ 
ing  a  proper  place  for  their- liouse  trailers.  In  Baltimore 
and  Philadelphia  they  were  forced  to  stay  15  and  more 
miles  outside  the  city.  Nor  were  there  usually  restaurants 
near  the  ball  parks  and  /it  was  a  problem  to  get  a  good 
meal. 

Yes,  it  looked  very  strange  to  have  the  show  without 
a  big  top  and  we  mentioned  this  now  and  again.  So  it 
was  that  Claire  teased- one  of  the  clowns: 

“Well,  what’re  you  going  to  do.  now,  bub?  The  big 
top’s  the  only  girl  you’ve  ever  been  faithful  to.” 

“Ahh,”  he  shrugged,  looking  at  the  layout,  “This  thing’s 
just  one  of  Bertha’s  pups.” 

,  Ringling’s  schedule  of  ball  park  and  auditorium- dates 
seems  quite/  erratic  compared  with  its  former  tented 
operation  which  played  day  in  and  day  out.  But  every-* 
body  is.said  to  profit  for  it  is  supposed  to  mean  a  longer 
tour  when  all  is  said  and  done. 

Curious  Eyes  Watching  For 
1958  Glues;  Whither  Ringling 

Plans  for  the  ’58  offering  of  the  big  one  have  not  been 
announced  but  .it  is  understood  that  Richard  and  Edith 
Barstow  will  not  stage  and  choreograph  the  show.  Plans 
are  said  to  be  underway  for  a  number  of  “pre-Gotham” 
dates  for  the  first  time. 

News  ,  stories,  both  good  and  bad,  concerning  Ringling 
seem  tb  .be  avoided  by  many  daily  papers.  This  would 
seem  to  be  due  to  mistakes  made  by.  former  well-intem- 
tioiied,  non-circus  executives  which  linger  in  the  minds 
of  newsmen.  At  any  rate,  we  often  receive  clippings  from. 
Florida  papers  which  are  real  news  to  us  since  our  papers 
don’t  carry  them. 

Among  such  stories  are  those  concerned  with  suits 
brought  by  the  so-called  49’etis  (stockholders  controlling 
49Tc  of  Ringling)  against  the  corporation  executives  on 
charges  of  mismanagement.  At  this  writing  the  trials 
have  not. begun. 

How  was  the  past  season?  What  of  the  future?  Wie  asked 
owners  .and  managers  and  the  consensus  is  that  the  busi¬ 
ness  is  in  good,  shape  and  that  there  will  always  be  a 
circus. 


252  VAUDEVILLE  Fiffy.second  P$\$UETY  Anniversary  _ _ 

Gulp-and-Gallop  Uncharms  Buenos  Aires 


;Janiiary8, 1958 

New  tourism 


Fine  restaurants  and  leisurely  living  only  memories— - 

CAFE  ROSSES  NEED  HELP  AGAINST  HELP 

^  m 'mm  :w* ■  fm  v  wm  w  By  Nip  EMBER  ^  ^  ^  mt,.m  m  m  m 


Buenos  Aires. 

A  depressing  process  of  “de-personalization”  is  transforming  Buenos 
Aires  from  the  ‘‘millionaire  village”  of  40  years  ago,  into  a  great, 
swarming,  striving  hive  of  humanity,  without  distinguishing  person¬ 
ality  and— for  the  time  being — without  much  charm. 

Distinctive,  restaurants,  cafes  and  “chocolaterias,”  which  gave  the 
city .  “character”  20  and  more  years  ago;  vanish  to  be  succeeded  by 
vulgar,  robot-like,  quick-lunch  counters  and  American  bars,  where 
crowds  teem  in  such  number  that  no  customer  stands  out. 

This  Sign  of  the  quickened  tempo  of.  Argentinian  living  means  that 
■people  are  in  too  much  of  a  hurry  for. the  leisurely  gourmandising  and 
conversation  of  their  grandparents;  There’S  also  a.  psychological  change, 
which  makes  them  less  sociable,  less  prone  to  sit  oyer  a  cafe  table 
gossiping,  or  discussing  literature,  as  in  the  pleasant  days  of  iiostalgiC 
recall. 

Of  the  old  spots  where  entertainment  folk,  writers,  dramatists,  and 
politicians  foregathered,  only  a  couple  survive.  Most  hardy  survivor 
is  the  Helvetia,  the  oldest  bar  in  town;  on  Corrientes  and  Sap  Martin, 
founded  in  1860  near  the.  home  of  its  most  eminent  patron,  Bartolome 
Mitre,  founder  of  “LaNacion”  newspaper.  General  and  statesman. 
Its  survival  is  a  miracle,  because  in  the  1955  revolution,  it  took  a  past¬ 
ing  from  the  fire  of  three  tanks  and  countless  machine-guns,  as  the 
Army  smoked  out  Peron’s  “Alianza”  storm-troopers  from  a  last,  hide¬ 
out  in  the  building  adjoining  Helvetia.  In  the  process  most  of  the  cor-: 
ner-front  was  reduced  to  rubble,  but  has  been  rebuilt  in  the.  style  of 
I860.  In  addition  to  the  wonderful  wine  cellar  the  Helvetia  is  renown¬ 
ed  for  the  juicy  quality  of  its  “empandas”  (a  form  of  mince  pie)  from 
Salta. 

Another  surviving  relic  is  the  Cafe  Tortoni,  oil  Rivadavia,  which 
celebrates  its  centenary  next  year.  Tortoni  always  catered  to  the  news¬ 
papers,  as  Rivadava  is  the  Fleet  Street  of  B.A.  Cafe  will  probably  con¬ 
tinue  in  existence  as  long  as  there  are  newspapers  and  -newspaper-, 
men, 

[ _  Gulping  a  la  Yanqui  _  1 

In  old  times  the  cafes  were  meeting  places  for  men  without  clubs, 
and  customers  spent  at  least  half  an  hour  over  the.  marble-topped 
tables.  Today  in  the  cafe  bars  with  plastic  counters  some  36,500,000 
demi-tasses  were  dispensed  in  a  recent  year  at  about  1  peso  each,  to 
customers  who  “loitered”  no  more  than  10  to  12;  minutes. 

All  day  long  and  most  of  the  night  these  coffee  bars  cater  to  an 
Argentinian .  public  which  imbibes  coffee  as  North  Americans  drink 
Cokes.  First  there  is  the  post-breakfast  cup,  then  the  pre-lunch,  fol¬ 
lowed  by  the  post-lunch  drinkers,  later  the  mid-afternoon  lot  pass 
through  then  the  pre-cinema  crowd,  and  the  post-cinema  coffee  drink¬ 
ers,  until  well  past  midnight 

There  is  a  clear  affinity  here  between  film-going  and  coffee-drinking. 
Another  disappearing  feature  of  this  metropolis  is  the  milk  bar,  or 
“lecheria”  curiously  gangsters  (“cirujas”)  nursed  their  ulcers  with' 
large  helpings  of  milk  pudding,  while  their  molls  consumed  hot  choco¬ 
late  and  Spanish  “churros”  (a  sort  of  doughnut)  for  the  princely 
sum  of  60  centavos  (1  cent).  The  lecherias  are  now  being  transferred 
into  fruit- juice  bars.  VitaminoUsly  concoctions  are  Churned  out  by 
noisy  blenders. 

|  .  Landmarks  No  More  . 

Demolition  crews  are  tearing  down  two  outstanding  B.  Aires  eateries. 
These  are  the  75-year  old  Gran  Hotel  de  Mayo,  facing  the  Plaza  of 
that  name,  just  flanking  the  Casa  Rosada  (Pink  House  and  seat  of  Gov¬ 
ernment*,  and  the  67-year  old  “Pedemonte”  on  Rivadavia,  at  which 
lunches  mostly  lasted  well  into  the  5  o’clock  tea  hour. 

The  Mayo  Hotel  reached  its  peak  in  1910,  when  it  housed  the  Infanta 
Isabel,  Aunt  of  Alfonso  XIII  of  Spain,  when  she  officially  represented 
'the  Mother  country  at  Argentine  Centenary  Celebrations.  Founded  by 
-Testoni  and  Cemino,  the  hotel  sold  out  to  Piedmontese  restaurateur 
Primo  Conte  early :  in  this  century.  Conte  already  had  another  restau¬ 
rant  at  Cangallo  900,  known  to  gourmets  for  the  food  prepared  by  the 
Fernier  Brothers.  The  murals  on  Conte’s  walls  depicted  cherubs  en¬ 


gaged  in  such  innocent;  forms  of  sport  that  all  the  males  were  ranged 
on  one  wall  and  the  females  :on  t’other.. 

Tango  singer  Carlitos  Gaf  del  had  his  special  table  at  Conte’s  Mayo 
salon;  where  all  the  big  turf -men  foregathered,  including  jockey  IrinCo 
Leguisamo.  The  singer  dined  there  the  eve  of  his  fatal  journey  to 
Medellin,  Colombia,  and  some  of  his  tango  lyrics  sang  of  Conte  de¬ 
lights. 

\  Those  Were  the  Days!  1. 

-  Conte  onCe.  prepared  a  fabulous,  lobster,  truffle-stuffed  squab  and 
tOurnedos  with  foie-gras,  meal  for  the  guests  of  millionaire  Federico 
de  Alvear,  but  the  tab  tan  to  1,000  pesos  a  cover,  which  at  that  day’s 
exchange  worked  out  at  $250  per  plate. 

When  in  the  1930’s,  Buenos.  Aires  became,  boite-conspiqus,  Conte's 
was  the  first  to  start  dancing  in  a  back  room  of  the  restaurant. 

In  1952  Gumersindo  Perez  and  Antonio  VazqUez  purchased  the 
place  With  plans  for  modernization,  but  Peron  needed  to  work  UP  class 
hatred  at  one  of  his  Plaza  Mayo  rallies,  so  his  thugs  planted  a  bomb 
outside  the  “Mayo,”  which  exploded  while  the  plaza  was  crowded,  and 
the  opposition  was  accused  of  this  “outrage  against  the  people.”  This 
meant  shuttering  of  the  Mayo,  for  months  for  “investigation”;  there¬ 
after,  Guillermo  Patricio  Sainz  Kelly,  head  of  Peron’s  storm-troopers, 
felt  he  could  dine  and  wine  his  200  followers  there  for  free,  and  the 
800,000  peso  cost  broke  Perez  and  Vazquez,  who  have  now  had  to  sell 
for  demolition.  * 

Pedemonte’s,  which  is  now  living  on  a  day-to-day  lease,  was  found¬ 
ed  in  1890  by  Jose  Pedemonte,  formerly  of  the  Palazzo  Pallavicino  in 
Genoa.  His  most  assiduous  customer  Over  the  years,  amongst  such 
famous  people  as  Caruso,  Tita  Ruffo,  Tito  Schipa  and  many  others,  was 
the,- ‘Pay o”  (minstrel)  Roque,  dandy  and  wit,  known  in  Paris  as  one  of 
the  intimates  of  “La  Belle  Otero.”  Pedemonte’s  Italian  food  will  be 
sorely  missed  by  grey-haired  Argentines  and  many  show  business  peo¬ 
ple  who.  have  fed  there  when  in  Argentina.  On  a  smaller  scale,  blit 
serving  almost  as  good  Italian  dishes,  is  the  “Liguria,"  opposite  the 
Colon  Opera,  where  all  the  stars  of  “bel  canto”  have  dined  at  one 
time  Or  other.  ■ 

|  ,  Help  Gets  Big  Bite  _ 

The  doom  of  the  great  restaurants  has  been  the  25%  “laudo,”  per¬ 
centage  scheme,  instituted  by  Peron,  which,  gives  all  restaurant  work¬ 
ers  such  a  large  cut  of  the  takings  that  no  restaurateur  can  afford  to 
stay,  in  business.  If  the  owner  sits  down  to  enjoy  ,  a  glass  of  wine  with 
one  of  the  customers,  even  he  must  pay  25%  on  that  glass  to. his  staff! 

The  Boca  (mouth  of  the  Riachuelo  River)  is  B.A.’s  most  colorful 
quarter,  akin  to  Montmartre,  though  smellier.  Its  famous  restaurant 
“The  Pescadito”  (The  Little  Fish)  was  founded  in  1893  by  Italian 
AgUstin  Banchero,  whose  children  grew  up  there  with  actors  Leopold© 
and  Tomas  Simari,  painter  Quinquela  Martin  and  tango  composer  Juan 
de  Dios  Filiberto.  The  Boca  named  one  of  its  alleys  for  Filiberto’s 
song,  “El  Caminito,”  invariably  picked  by  visiting  longhairs  as  the 
complimentary  Argentine  piece  for  their  repertoires. 

Banchero  introduced  pizza  and  Faina  to  Argentine  palates  in  1893, 
though  itinerant  venders  had  always  sold  it  on  street  corners,  in  great 
round  trays  on  charcoal  burners.  Today  the  quick-lunch  counters  make 
a  speciality  of.  pizzas,  muzzarellas  and  fainas,  which  are,  as  familiar 
food  to  Argentines  as  hamburgers  to  Yanks. 

Up  to  20  years  ago  it  was  easy  to  say  where  Argentine  show-folk 
went  to  eat  and  talk:  They  foregathered  as  near  Corrientes  and  Es¬ 
meralda  as  they  could,  because  that  was  the  hub  of  show  business. 
They  dined  at  the  Odeon,  alongside  the  Theatre  of  that  name,  their 
faces  reflected  in  the  great  old  Victorian  mirrors;  they  supped  at  Ju- 
lien-s  on  Corrientes  and  Esmeralda,  off  hot  onion.  soUp  and  cold  beer. 
Today  all  those  spots  have  been  driven  out  by  high  prices,  the  nearest 
thing  that  replaces  them  are  the  “Fried  Potato”  or  Pomme  Soufflee 
chain  of  restaurants  springing  up  along  Corrientes  and  nearby  LSval- 
la,  but  none  of  these  have  the  aura  of  gracious  living  that  stamped  the 
old  restaurants  and  cafes  of  the  past. 

.  Perhaps  distinctive  centers  may  reappear  when  B.  Aires  again 
has  a  distinctive  theatre,  nbt  just  translations  or  carbon  copies  of 
plays  from  other  great  cities;  Can  it  be  that  playwrights  can’t  write 
without  a  cafe  table  to  write  on? 


Sillman  in  Vaudeville 

(Reprinted  from  Variety 
June  15.  19281 


SILLMAN  AND  HART 
Songs,  Dances 
13  Mins.;  One  (Special) 

81st  St.  (V-P) 

Leonard  Sillman  and  Dora  Hart 
are  a  nifty  team  who  dress  and 
deport  themselves  according  to  the 
up-to-the-minute  specifications  of 
class  and  swank.  They  have  a 
breezy  two-act  that  should  lend 
distinction  to  the  deuce  spot  On 
the  better  grade  bills. 

Material  is  bright  and  new.  Par¬ 
ticularly  good  is  a  number  kidding 
the  sheik  ushers  of  the  film  houses. 
It  is  unusual  to  find  such  satirical 
stuff  in  present  day  vaude,  There 
Is  also  an  excellent  idea  in  a  bur¬ 
lesque  of  the  “smile”  ballads.  How¬ 
ever,  this  idea  lacks  necessary 
punch  li 

The  act  concludes  With  an  im¬ 
personation  of  the  Swiss  number 
done  by  Fred  and  Adele  Astaire 
in  “Lady  Be  Good.”  They  should 
try  to  get  more  out  of  the  run- 
around,  a  classic  with  the  Astaires, 
but  slightly  floppo  in  this  imitation. 

All  things  considered,  a  class 
deucer.  Land.; 


WILL  JORDAN 

Blinstrub’s  Boston,  third  engagement 
Sands  Hotel,  Las.  Vegas,  third  engagement 
Ed  Sullivan  TV  Show,  tenth  appearance 
Direction:  WILLIAM  MORRIS  AGENCY 
Personal  Management:  ROY  .DUKE 


British  Vaude 

Continued  from,  page  250  ssss 

empt  from  blame.  It  does  not  ap¬ 
ply  to  the  bigger  circuits  but  some 
vaudeville  theatres  are  shabby  in 
appearance  and  the  service  staff 
lazy.  Getting  a  drink  in  most  thea¬ 
tres  (and  in  the  U.K.  an  interval 
drink  is  part  of  the  pleasure  of 
going  to  a  show)  is  a  major  opera¬ 
tion  and  customers  resent  having 
to  pay  for  cloakroom  facilities  and 
programs. 

All  these  criticisms  are  valid 
why  vaudeville  is  now  the  Cinder¬ 
ella  of  British  show  business.  Can 
fresh  blood  he  pumped  into  its 
sickly  veins?  The  Variety  Artistes 
Federation  recognizes  the  gravity 
of  the  situation  and  is  determined 
to  try  and  do  something  to  ease  it. 
They  are  looking  to  the  Working 
Mens*  Clubs  which  abound  In  the 
North  of  England  and  the  Mid¬ 
lands.  If  these  clubs  could  be  per¬ 
suaded  to  use  only  Union  members 
a  considerable  amount  Of  extra 
work  would  be  available. 

It  is  an  anomaly  that  several 
theatres  are  being  reopened  for 
live  shows  and  a  number  of  new 
ones  in  the  provinces  are  planned. 
That  is  good  news  hut  only  if  there 
is  sufficient  talent  to  attract  pay¬ 
ing  customers.  The  future  of 
vaudeville  in  Britain  is  critical  and 
those  who  are  dedicated  to  it  are 
fem 


Income,  Roads  Aid 

Bostoii, 

Yankeeland’s  1957  resort  biz, 
a  billion  dollar  tourist  attraction, 
was  the  biggest  in  history,  the 
Federal  Reserve  Bank  of  Boston, 
which  conducted  a  study,  found. 

Biz  was  hotsy  from  the  Canadian 
border  to  the  New  York  boundary, 
from  the  Berkshires  to  Province- 
town.'  The  tourists  came  earlier, 
stayed  longer  and  spent  more,  the 
hank’s  study  revealed. 

Best  previous  year  was  1953. 
This  was  topped  regionally  this 
year  by  3%,  but  in  some  areas  the 
|  plus  was  as  much  as  12%. 
August  was  the  peak  month  and 
tourist  biz  in  that  stanza  was  75% 
abpve  August,  1956. 

Factors  influencing  the  big  gain 
this  year,  as  reported  by  the  bank; 
were:  Rise  in  personal  incomes 
and  in  number  of  paid  vacations, 
both  providing  more  funds  for 
travel,  and.  short  excursions.  New 
turnpikes  and  expressways  in  the 
six  N.E;  states  helped  bring  the 
tourers  in.  Early  hot  weather  and 
continuous  heat, .  with  absence  of 
rain  for  most  of  the  summer,  fa¬ 
vored  the  tourist  biz  this  year. 

Cape  Cod,  with  a  12%  hike  over 
1956  levels,,  was  highest  of  the  re¬ 
gions  in  occupancy  gains.  New 
Hampshire  registered  at  the  same 
level  as  1956;  Maine  Wats  1% 
ahead;  and  Massachusetts  led  with 
a  6%  hike.  Plymouth  had  a  bigger 
biz  due;  to  the  Mayflower  show. 
Cape  Cod  biz  reached  new.  peaks. 

Beach  spots .  had  it  big.  Hamp¬ 
ton  Beach,  N.H.,  nabbed .  more,  as 
did  York  Beach  and  Old  Orchard 
Beach,  Me.,  and  Revere  and  Nah- 
tasket,  Mass. 


(From  Variety,  June  3, 19211 


WHEN  PROHIBITION 
CLOSED  MAXIM’S,  N.Y. 

Maxim’s  closed  for  the  season 
Saturday.  Perhaps  it  closed  for 
all  time  under  the  management 
that  made  the  name  of  Maxim’s  as 
well  knOwn  over  here  as  Maxim’s 
in  Paris  is  famous  ;  over  there.. 
Maxim’s,  New  York,  Was  an  excel* 
lent  example  of  the  typical  cabaret 
restaurant,  handled  in.  New 
York  and  as  one  should  have  been 
handled  anywhere. 

Maxim’s  was  liquor  place, 
though  no  New  York  restaurant  ex¬ 
celled,  it  in  quality  or  cooking  of 
its  food.  And  it  had  a  show,  a 
floor  showv  the  first,  cabaret  to  in¬ 
stall  one.  When  the  dry  spell  hit, 
Maxim’s  thought  it  could  save  the. 
expense  Of  the  show  and  do  as 
much,  minus  that  cost.  It  didn’t 
work  out  the  way  planned.  Per¬ 
haps,  through  Maxim’s  discarding 
its  show  at  the  time,  other  cabarets 
were  finding  it  necessary  to  en¬ 
large  revues  or  put  in  new  ones 
to  attract  business. 

With  the  floor  show  out,  Maxim’s 
passed  away,  playing  to  the  wait¬ 
ers  only,  apparently  conclusively 
proving  that  despite  its  atmos¬ 
phere,  its  liberty,  food  and  liquor, 
it  was  the  show  after  all  that  made 
Maxim’s. 

The  other  places  were  not  and 
could  not  be  made  by  the  show, 
although  tried.  It  was  simply  that 
the  other  places  were  not  Maxim’s, 
did  not  know  as  much  about  that 
peculiar  type  of  restaurant  as  the 
Maxim’s  managers  did,  and  didn’t 
have  the  kind  of  show  or  people 
in  it  who  could  make  a  place  as 
the  show  and  its  people  made 
Maximus. 

A  great  place  among  cabarets  in 
its  day,  holding  its  own  crowd,  get¬ 
ting  the  best  spenders  in  the  coun¬ 
try,  who  ran;  up  $300  to  $400  indi¬ 
vidual  checks  of  a  night,  Maxim’s 
was  a  gold  mine  for  the  past  six 
or  seven  years.  Sime. J 

LThis  typified  Volstedism’s  kayo 
to  now  glorified-in-memory  (and 
Hollywood)  spots  like  Rector's, 
Churchill's,  .Reisemyeber’s,  Mur¬ 
ray’s  Roman  Gardens,  Pre-Catalan, 
Beaux  Arts,  Shanley’s,  Healy’s, 
Jack’s  and  other  yesteryear  not*? 
able  -‘lobster  palaces”  and  chop- 
-houses.— Ed.l 


Fifty-second  JS&RIETY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


Happy  Anniversary  to  Variety  And  All  the  Muggs 

from 

ALL  THE  PEOPLE  IN 

—  — i  Monte  Proser’s 

TROPICANA  REVUE 


'•‘IN  THE  BEST  ZIEGFELDIAN  TRADITION” 


-Scfco,  VARIETY 


‘CELEBRATING  OUR  1st  ANNIVERSARY,  APRIL  4 


•  LOS  ANGELES— Oleander  5-7722 

•  NEW  YORK— Circle  5-3238 

•  LAS  VEGAS— DUdley  2-6850 


HEARTIEST  SEASON'S  GREETINGS 

and  thanks  fo  ail  who  have  helped  fill  out  calendar 
JANUARY  1957  - 

Apollo  Then.,  N.Y.C. 

Bassel's,  Toronto.  Can. 

Guildwood  Inn,  Pt.  Edward, 

Can. 

FEBRUARY 

Lyric  Band  Club,  Hanover,  Pa. 

Campbell's,  London,  Canada 

MARCH 

Bassel's,  Toronto,  Canada 
Guildwood  Inn,  Pi.  Edward, 

Can. 

APRIL 

Combers  Supper  Club, 

Brentwood,  Md. 

Gaza  Strip,  Ent.  U.  N.  Forces 

MAY  ^ 

NORWAY 

JUNE-JULY-AUGUST 

SWEDEN 
SEPTEMBER 

Besancon  Music  Festival, 

France 
SWEDEN 
OCTOBER 
SWEDEN 
NOVEMBER 

FINLAND 
BELGIUM 
DECEMBER 
ISRAEL 


T  H  E 


QUARTET 


Recordings: 

EMI  RECORDS,  London,  Eng „ 
and  PATHE  MARCONI,  Paris 


Exclusive  Direct i 

GALE  AGENCY,  Inc. 

48  West  48th  Street 
New  York  17.  N.  Y. 


Season's  Greetings 


SOPHIE 

TUCKER 


WILLIAM  MORRIS  AGENCY 
For  42  Years 
BROTHER  MOE,  Too 


Me,  Too 
TED  SHAPIRO 


January  8, 1958 


255 


Press  Relations: 
JEANNE  and  JERRY  SAGER 


Management:  HENRI  GINE 
Artists  Corp.  of  America 


Booking: 

WILLIAM  MORRIS  AGENCY 


256 


Fifty-second  PUrJETY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second  P^RIE^TY  Anniversary 


The  FABULOUS  and  AMAZING  .  .  . 


mim-DAmm-m  box  office  attraction! 


The  “Original”  internationally  *♦ 
publicized  attraction  of  proven v 
drawing  power  —  now  in  its 
5th  successful  year 


Available  for: 


And  NOW-  the  new  sensation 


fT  FAIRS  •  ARENAS  " 
^  STADIUMS  •  HOME  SHOWS 
r  CONVENTIONS  •  HOTELS 
"  EXPOSITIONS  THEATRES 
%  FLOWER  SHOWS  , 
g|k  AUTO  SHOWS 


Br> 


& 


«8feH  ii 


THE  NEW-DIFFERENT- 
SMALLER  “SHOW  STOPPING 
SPECTACLE"  DESIGNED  FOR 
NITE  CLUBS,  DEPARTMENT 
STORES,  INDUSTRIAL  AND 
TRADE  SHOWS 


A  UNIT  TO  FIT  YOUR  EVERY  NEED 


DANCING  WATERS 


HAROLD  STEINMAN 
HANS  HASSLACH 


Exclusive  Representatives 


REG  TRACE  VA3*  as:  PATENTED 

So.le  915  250  West  57th  St 

New  York  City.  Telephone:  Circle  7-1348 


SAM  SHAYON 
General  Manager 


Fifty-tecond  P^SrIEF?  Anniversary 


January 8, 1958 


MR 


v\  *,  *  V  «| 

^  f  *  „  X 

j*« »  ‘.fA  ,  1  *V< 
'**  '  'wvH 


*  K  * 

”*  *<*• 


STATE  FAIR  OF  TEXAS 

America  s  largest, annual  Exposition  ?4-.'v  . :,  •••'  '"• 

OCTOBER  4-isT,  1958  '  ..• J'  f  •_  ' 

state 

America  s  foremost  summer  theatre  X  ■  -  ' 

JUNE  &  -  AUGUST  31, 1958  -  1 


JANUARY  1  “DECEMBER 


R.  L  THORNTON  . 

prudent.  ' 


- '  exeputtvd  tffce  prt&titeotr  ;  o  \  ,\txte  prewe$ti'  ,  , 

■■  , mmmm 

,  ss.'\  ,v ,  -  'State Pair$fo$itat&  ' 

' ""  -  ,1'  t  71  Afusfc-tfe#, 


ontai 


inekl 


V.  \ 


OCEAN  FRONT,  441b  TO  48ih. STREET!  •  IAMI  BEACH,  FLORIDA 


. . .  Host  to  Celebrities 
from  all  fields  of  entertainment ..  . 

AMERICA’S  LARGEST 
AND  FINEST  RESORT  HOTEL 


eau  \::j 

BEACH.  FLORIDA  S  \ 


v::4 


DUKE  STEWART 


r  NEW  YORK  OFFICI 

rtf  730  -  5th  AVENUE 

TEl.  Clrcl*  9-7800 

^  NEWARK  OFFICI 

\  TELMArkil  3-2474 


J ;  ftSLUM 


Hilarious 


MARGE  CAMERON 

Has  Laughs — Will  Travel 


Currently 
STAGE  COACH  INN 
Hackensack,  N  J. 

Opening  Jan.  15th, 
CLUB  ELEGANTE, 
Bklyn,  N.  Y. 

Thanks  to  everyone 
for  a  Wonderful  1957 

Personal  Managementi 

BILL  FOSTER 

1 650  Broadway;  New  York  City 
JUdson  2-3326 


YEN TRI L OQ U I S T  F I G U RE S 


John  Carroll 


MADE  TO  ORDER 

6436  Myrtle  Ave.,  Bklyn  27,  N.  Y. 
BV  2-5167 


January 8, 1958 


Fifty-second  J^^RIETY  Anniversary 


259 


AUSTIN  MACKt  Starter 


Fifty-second 


Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


CARMEN 

CAVALLARO 

"The  Poet  of  the  Piano " 

Now  Appearing 

H  AROLD'S  CLUB 

Reno,  Nevada 


AND  FOR  THE  FUTURE 


THE  FLAME 

Phoenix— Jan.  16th 

LONDON  HOUSE 

Chicago— Feb.  19th  to  March  17th 

HOTEL  MONTELEONE 

New  Orleans— April  1  to  April  15th 


CARIBBEAN  &  SO.  AMERICAN 
CONCERT  TOUR 

Jan.  28th  to  Feb.  1 7th 

m 

HOLIDAY  HOUSE 

Pittsburgh— March  T7th  to  March  30th 

BEVERLY  HILLS  COUNTRY  CLUB 

Newport,  Ky.—  May  9  to  May  22nd 


PIERRE'S 

Tulsa— May  23rd  and  May  24th 

And  After  Breaking  ALL  Records  at  The  Hotel  Statler,  Los  Angeles,  Will 
Return  There  on  May  29  th  for  Three  Weeks 


Personal  Management: 
J.  A.  ROBINSON 


Decca  Records 


Congratulations  ZtYRIETY 


FRANK  SENNE5' 


MOULIN  ROUGE 


Hollywood,  California 


GENE  DRAKE 


SINGER-ACTOR 


FILMS  •  CLUBS  •  STAGE 


Exclusive  Representative:  HARDAKEIt  and  ASSOCIATES, 
540  N.  Michigan  Ave.,  Chicago 


The  DEEP  RIVER  BOYS 

Starring  HARRY  DOUGLASS  "f 

9th  International  Tour  -j* 

HAPPY  NEW  YEAR 
TO  ALL 

Direction:  WILLIAM  MORRIS  AGENCY  TcSflr  fT  f  te" 

Per*.  Mgr.:  ED  KIRKEBY  ^  f  f  7 


|IJIIillMJIIIIJUIII||i||i|llllllllJIIIII*ll,l*IIIIBMIllllll 


1958  EDITION 

COTTON  CLUB  REVUE 

Starring 

CAB  CALLOWAY 

COTTON  CLUB,.  Miami  Beach 
Mgt.  BILL  MITTLER,  1619  Broadway,  New  York 


Congratulations 


on  your  52nd  Anniversary 


Stanley  Melba  Associates 


KEN  BARRY 


iMISS  fltlTZl  GREY 


Performer  Scenario  Writer  I 

Composer  Author  Talent  Agent 
3918  Tyndall  Road,  Cleveland,  O. 

New  York  Representative t 

GROSSMAN  &  GROSSMAN 

545  FIFTH  AVE. 


THE  COMEDIAN” 


THE  LATEST  —  THE  GREATEST  — 
THB  MOST-U PrT O-DATE ST 

Now  In  Its  87th  Issue,  containing 
stories,  one-liners,  poemettes,  song 
titles;  hecklers,  audience  stuff,  mono- 
logs,  parodies,  double  gags,  bits, 
ideas.  Intros,  Impressions  and  .im¬ 
personations,  political.  Interruptions. 
Thoughts  of  the  Day,  Humorous 
Views  of  the  News,  etc.  Start  with 
current  Issue,  $15  yearly  —  2  years 
$28  —  3  years  $40  —  Single  Copies 
$2.00  —  NO  C.O.D.'s. 

BILLY  GLASON 

200  W.  54  St.,  New  York  If 


WEST  INDIES  CRUISE 


Thanks  Bramson  Offi 


glason's  r  wn-mn<9  ■  tn 
PROFESSIONAL 
COMEDY  MATERIAL 
for  all  Theatricals 
"VVo  Service  the  Stars “ 

Big  Clean-Out  Special  on  All 
35  Gag  Files  for  Only  SIS 
Plus  SI  .00  Postage 

•  3  Parody  Books,  Per  Bk... .  $10  e 

•  4  Blackout  Books;  Per  Bk. . .  $25  • 

•  Minstrel  Budget..;... . .  $25  # 

.How  to  Master  the  Ceremonies 

$3  per  Copy  . 

No  C.O.D's  .  .  ...  "Always  Open" 
BILLY  GLASON 

200  W.  54th  St.>  N.Y.C.,  1$  Circle  7-1130 
(WE  TEACH  EMCEEING  and  COMEDY) 
(Let  a  Real  Professional  Train  You) 


LEONARD  GARR 


.  Currently 
18th  Week 
PIANO  BAR 
San  Francisco 


ANTHONY 

AGENCY 

Fairmont 

Hotel 

San  Francisco 
DO  2-8887 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty  second  t^RIETf  Anniversary 


THERE’S 

W 

▼▼  E'VE  said  it  before.  We'll  say  it  again.  You 

showfolk  get  a  big  hand  from  us  —  with  a  big 

NO  FOLK 

"Thank  you!"  for  your  past  and  present  patron¬ 
age. 

LIKE 

But  we're  no  more  content  than  you  are  to  rest 

on  currrent  laurels.  So  we're  constantly  improv- 

SHOWFOLK 

ing  our  service,  comforts  and  decor  to  merit  your 

continued  loyalty,  your  lasting  conviction  that 

there  are  no  Chicago  hotels  like  The  Ambassa¬ 
dors  and  The  Sherman. 

FRANK  W.  BERING.  Chairman  of  the  Board 

JAMES  A.  HART.  Vice  Chairman 

PATRICK  H.  HOY,  President 

EUGENE  E.  BARRETT,  Vice  Pres.,  Gen.  Mgr.,  The  Sherman 

MAX  BLOUET,  Vice  Pres.,  Gen.  Mgr.,  The  Ambassadors 

THE  AMBASSADOR  HOTELS 

HOTEL  SHERMAN 

CHICAGO 

iSl3/£^T  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


The  Frantic  Antics  of  the  FABULOUS 

MERI  ELLEN  -  COHORTS 

Currently  Headlining  ANKARA,  Pittsburgh 


(7th.  Return  Engagement) 


OPENING,  Feb.  19th, 


Weste  n  Direction 

MILTON  DEUTSCH  AGENCY 
9157  Sunset  Blvd.,  Hollywood 
Crestview  4-7321 


RIVIERA, 


Las  Vegas 


Personal  Management 

BILL  FOSTER 

1650  Broadway.  New  York  City 
JUdson  2-3326 


How  to  Keep  It  Once  You  Make  It: 
Income  Tax  Haunts  Prosperity 


By  JULIAN  S. 

(Wolfson,  Weiner 

Just  before  midnight  on  .  last 
New  Year’s  Eve  Ben  Smith  Was 
pacing  the  floor  at  Doctor’s  Hos¬ 
pital— his  wife  was  in  a  state  of 
expectancy.  At  one  minute  before 
12  the  doctor  came  down  and  said, 
“Mr.  Smith,  you  have  just  acquired' 
another  income  tax  deduction,  you 
have  a  son.” 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  the 
birth  of  that  child  at  one  minute: 
before  midnight,  Dec.  31,  instead 
of  one  minute  after,  saved  Ben 
Smith  $300  in  income  taxes,  since 
he  was  in  the  50%  tax  bracket. 

This  anecdote  points  up  the  im-r 
portance  of  laying  the  foundation 
for  tax  sayings  before  the  end  of 
the  year.  Of  course,  if  you’re  in¬ 
terested  in  similar  tax  planning,  it 
would  be  wise,  as  a  practical  mat¬ 
ter,  to  allow  yourself  a  bit  more 
time. 

Seriously  though,  many  individ¬ 
uals  pay  more  taxes  than  necessary 
because  they  pay  no  attention  to 
their  personal  tax  situation  until 


Jloiel  Vendome 


Superb  Cuisine. in  the  World  Famous 
French  Room 

Enchanting  Entertainment  i 
Guy  Guarino'e 
MOUUN  ROUGE 

On  the  Commonwealth  Avenue  Myll 
at  Dartmouth  Street,  Boston 


DRAKE  AGENCY 

Booking  the  Finest  in  Entertainment 
Banquets  —  Night  Clubs  —  Club  Dates 
LITTLE  BLDG.,  BOSTON  16,  MASS. 

'  HAitcock  6-6377 


H.  WEINER 

&  Co.,  C.P.A.’s) 

it  is  time  to  file  their  returns.  This 
practice,  however,  is  equivalent  to 
locking  your  garage  door  after  the 
;  car  has  been  stolen.  For,  at  year 
end,  your  CPA  or  tax  advisor  can 
|  only  compute  the  proper  tax  due. 

[  He  cannot,  however,  undo  or  alter 
transactions  so  as  to  reduce  your 
taxes. 

In  short,  it  is  important  to  bear 
in  mind  that  tax  planning  should 
be  conducted  throughout  the  year 
—and  this  is  as  good  a  time  as  any 
to  start. 

Now,  to  consider  some  concrete 
tax  saying  possibilities  that  might 

apply  to  you. _  •- 

|  Save  By  Giving  [ 

If  you’ve  been  in  business  for  a 
number  of  vears,  you  have  un¬ 
doubtedly  had  occasion  to  replace 
some  of  your  original  office  equip¬ 
ment  such  as  air  conditioners, 
desks,  typewriters  and  the  like.  In 
making  such  replacements  it  is: 
generally  customary  to  accept 
whatever  trade-in  allowance  is 
granted  on  the  item  being  replaced 
so  as  to  reduce  the  cost  of  the  new 
equipment 

Where  the  trade-in  allowance  is 
nominal,  .it  may  be  advisable  not 
to  trade  in  the  old  equipment  but 
to  give  it  away— to  your  pet  char¬ 
ity.  Such  gifts  can  frequently 
result  in  an  actual  profit  to  the 
donor. 

For  example,  let  us  assume  you 
are  replacing  five  window  air  con¬ 
ditioners'  with  a  standing  unit. 
Although  the  old  units  might  have 


Congratulations 

LONDON  HOUSE 

Michigan  and  Wacker 
Chicago 

MISTER  KELLY'S 

1028  N.  Rush,  Chicago 


a  combined  (second  hand)  value  of 
about  $650,  the  overall  trade-in 
allowance  offered  by  the  dealer  is 
only  $200.  Being  charitably  in¬ 
clined  and  properly  advised,  you 
donate  the  old  air  conditioners 
instead  of  accepting  the.  trade-in 
allowance. 

This  donation  ,  could  produce ,  a 
profit  of  $125,  assuming  your  in¬ 
come  is  subject  to  about  a  50%  tax 
rale.  This  profit,  in  effect, .  would 
represent  the.  excess  of  the  tax 
savings  of  $325.  (50%  of  $650) 
■provided  by  the  contribution  de¬ 
duction  of  $650,  over  the  trade-in 
allowance  of  $200  offered  by  the 
dealer.  Tlie  ultimate  profit  might 
be  greater  if  the  depreciated  cost 

basis  of.  the.  equipment  is  lower 
than  its.  trade-in  allowance,  since, 
the  new  equipment’s  basis  for 
depreciation  would  be  higher 
where  the  old  property  is  donated 
instead  of  trade-in. 

incidentally,  this  form  of  tax 
savings  would  also  apply  when 
replacing  items  maintained  in  your 
home,  such  as  secretaries — blonde 
— mahogany,  of  course. 

High  bracket  taxpayers,  in .  par¬ 
ticular,  can  benefit  by  satisfying 
their  urge  for  philanthropy.  For 
example*  take,  the  case  of  the  tax¬ 
payer  in  a  65%  bracket  who  buys  a 
painting  .  valued  at  $7,000  for 
$1,500,  By  donating  this  painting 
to  a  charitable  organization  the 
taxpayer  can  realize  profit  of 
about  $3,000,  representing  the  dif¬ 
ference  between  the  tax  saving  of 
|  $4,500,  provided  by  the  cbntribu- 
ti  deduction  and  the  cost  of  the 
painting. 

Principal  stockholders  i  closely 
held  corporations  can  obtain  simi¬ 
lar  tax  benefits  by  forming  a  char¬ 
itable  foundation  arid  donating 
closely  held  stock  to  the  founda¬ 
tion.  In  this  manner,  substantial 
tax  deductions  and  savings  can  be 
obtained  without  involving  an  im¬ 
mediate  outlay  of  cash. 

In  short,  there  are  times  when 
is  far  better  to,  give  than  to 
receive.” 

While  in. this  charitable  vein,  let 
us  consider  how  other  types  of 
gifts  can  provide  highly  desirable 
tax  sayings: 

Gifts  in  trust,  particularly  to 
your  children,  can  produce  tax  free 
income  as  well  as  transfer  income 
from  your,  high  tax  bracket  to  the 
low  -tax  bracket  of  your  children. 

By  use  of  so-called  short  term 
trusts,  over  ten  years  in  duration, 
only  the  income!  and  not  the  under¬ 
lying.  income  producing  asset,  need 
be  given,  away.’  Here’s  how  this 
might  be  .  accomplished.  Suppose 
you  owri  ari  apartment  building 
throwing  off  a  net  income  of  $10,- 
000  a  year.  But,  being.in  the  50% 
bracket,  you  keep  only  $5,000  after 
taxes.  However,  being  a  productive 
taxpayer,  you  are  fortunate  enough 


to  have  five  children,  ,  at  least  for  I 
this  illustration.  By  transferring  1 
this  building  to  appropriate  short 
terrri  trusts  for  your  children,  you 
can  exempt  about  $3,500  froin  iri- 
come  taxes  and  transfer  the  hal- 
ance  to  20%  tax  brackets.  As  a  ' 
result,  the  net  family  income  re-  -c 
tained  after  taxes  from  this  apart-  p 
ment  building  would  be  about  ^ 
$8,700  or  $3,700  more  than  if  the  , 
income  were  taxable  to  our  un¬ 
usually  productive  taxpayer.  ^ 

Now  to  return  to  our  corpora¬ 
tion,  which  I  hope  is  still  closely  £ 
held,  particularly,,  if  the  principally 
stockholder  happens  to  be  Marilyn  , 
Monroe.  !  i 

In  family  or  closely,  held  corpo-  t 
rations,  employee  profit  sharing  £ 
trusts  offer  an  excellent  means  to  t 
accumulate  tax  free  income  for  ( 
stockholder  employees.  Briefly,  p 
here’s  how  such  trusts  work.  As-  a 
sliming  the  trust  qualifies  for  tax..  * 
exemption,  contributions  made  by 
I  the  corporation  to  the  trust  are 
deductible  by  the  corporation  but 
not  taxable  to  the  trust.  Income 
earned  by  such  trusts  on  the  in¬ 
vestment  of  its  funds  also  escape 
taxation.  In  addition,  a  corporation 
may  borrow  from  its  affiliated 
employee  trust,  obtaining  a  tax 
deduction  for  interest  paid  to  the 
trust,  although'  the.  interest  re¬ 
ceived  by  the  trust  Is  not  taxable.  - 
Eventually,  employee  beneficiaries 
of  such  trusts  might,  under  appro¬ 
priate  circumstances,  receive,  their 
share  of  the  trust  as  capital  gain 
instead  of  ordinary  income.  Em¬ 
ployee  profit  sharing  trusts  can  be 
extremely  helpful  in  providing  ex¬ 
pansion  capital  for.  the  affiliated 
corporation  and  in  building  retire¬ 
ment  funds  and  estates  for  em¬ 
ployee  beneficiaries  of  the  trust. 

Speaking  of.  estates,  here’s  a 
parting  thought  to  keep  in  mind. 
"While  you  can’t  take  it  with  you, 
you  may  leave  a  great  deal  more 
behind  for  your  loved  ones,  if  you 
save— on  taxes. 

Israeli  Star  to  Produce 

Paris. 

Israeli  actress  Haya  Hararit 
claims  it  is  sometimes  not  enough 
to  be  just  an  actress.  Miss  Harar¬ 
it,  who  played  in  the  first  Israeli 
pic  to  get  international  attention, 
“Hill  24  Does  Not  Answer,”  also 
did  an  Italo  stint  two  years  ago, 
“The  Girl  of  the  Day,”  but  has 
done  nothing  since.  So  she  decided 
to  set  up  a  production  herself,  and 
now  has  it  nearly  in  operation. 

Miss  Hararit  is  using  the  story  of 
the  Israeli  heroine  Hanna  Seriesh. 
This  is  the  tale.  Qf  the  Hungarian- 
Israeli  girl  who  became  a  martyr 
and  natiorial  figure  during  the  last 
year.  She  has  a  French  producer : 
arid  a  Yugoslavian  interested  in  the 
project.  It  now  looks  to.  roll  next 
spring  in  Yugoslavia. 


MAURICE  BERGMAN 
FROM  U  TO  TRADE  ASSN. 

Maurice  Bergman,  Veteran  Uni¬ 
versal  executive,  ‘  exiting  the 
-company,  reportedly  to  accept  the 
post- of  coordinator  of  the  indus¬ 
try’s  business  building  campaign 
for  the  Motion  Picture  Assri.  of 
America. 

Bergman,  who  had  'been  U’s  pub- 
ad  chief,  has  lately  served  as  direc¬ 
tor  of  corporate  public  relations 
and  head  of  the  eastern  story  and 
i  talent  departments.  He  has  long 
been  known  for  his  activities  in 
all-industry  matters  and  has  lec¬ 
tured  to  groups  throughout  the 
country  on  the  motion  picture 
business. 


^BOSTON 
SMASH  HIT 

THE  GLAMOROUS  NEW 

HOTEL 


Show  folks  are  raving  about  the  ; 
...all  new  Hotel  Avery.  All  new,  large,  : 
beautifully  furnished  deluxe  rooms 
ith  private  bath  arid  tei'evisi 
Many  Air  Conditioned. 

AVERY  &  WASHINGTON  STS. 


HAimdc  6-4772 

Daniel  While  Agency 

Entertainment 

LITTLE  BUILDING 
.  BOSTON  16,  MASS. 

YVONNE  MORAY 

LARRY  POTTER'S  SUPPER  CLUB 

North  Hollywood,  Calif. 

ASSOCIATED  BOOKING  CORP. 


GUY  GUARINO 

Congratulates  p^RIETY 
on  IH  52dl 

From  Hli  MOULIN  ROUGE 
HOTEL  VENDOME  —  BOSTON 


IN  ALL  THE  WORLD  THERE'S  ONLY  ONE 

LINDY’S  RESTAURANT 

An  American  Institution 

1655  BROADWAY  at  51st  ST. 

New  York  City 


LEGITIMATE 


Fifty-Second  Anniversary 


January  $,  1958 


Off-Broadway  Prophet  Without  Honor 


Past  Decade  of  Growth  Points  Up  Lawrence 
Langner9s  1946  Advice  to  Young  Actors i 
( Start  Your  Own  Company  Like  Province - 
towners  Did 9 

By  GEORGE  AIAN  SMITH 


Lawrence  Langner.  speaking  to  a  group  of  ex- 
G.I.’s  in  the  fall  of  1946,  who  had-  been  theatre 
pros  before  the  war,  advised  the  eager  beavers 
fresh  out  of  khaki  or  biue  that  the  Way  to  get  back 
into  show  business  was  to  go  out  arid  form  ..  their 
own  theatres.  This  was  definitely  not  what  the  men 
and  women  fresh  out  of  service  wanted  to  hear. 
To  their  protests  Langner  replied,  “That’s  what 
we  did  back  in  the  Provincetown  days.” 

It  would  be  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  prove 
that  Langner’s  remarks;  to  a  symposium  of  .students 
at  the  American  Theatre  Wing,  the  trade’s  school 
for  ex-service  men  and  women*  in  any  Way  stim¬ 
ulated  the  post-war  growth  of  off-Broadway;  It  is  • 
at  least  an  interesting  coincidence,  .  however,,  that 
the  then  director  and  assistant  director  Of  the 
Wing’s  Professional  Training  Program,  Winston.. 
O’Keefe  and  Mary  Hunter,  became  producer  .and 
director  respectively  of  the  first  vital  off-Broadway 
group  to  be  created  after  the  war;  New  Stages,  arid 
that  a  number  of  people  who  heard  the  Langner 
lecture  also  were  involved  ini  this  venture  that 
ultimately  brought  “The  Respectful  Prostitute”  to 
Bleecker  St.,  then  to  Broadway,  before  the .  group 
met  an  untimely  demise. 

Two  groups  might  legitimately  object,  "to  credit¬ 
ing  New  Stages  with  pioneering,  namely  Equity 
Library  Theatre  and  the  Blackfriar’s  Guild,  both  of 
which  are  well  into  their  second  decade  of  activr 
tty.  Each*  however,  has  been  affected  by  the  mush¬ 
rooming  of  off-Broadway,  ELT  having  the  harder 
pull  as  quality  has  come  to  the  basement-and-lof t 
circuit.  Originals  Only,  too,  was  an  early-bird, 
though  it  defied  the  proverb  by  missing  the  worm, 
probably,  due  to  an  insistence  on  scripts  of  effete, 
or  at  least  limited,,  appeal; 

I. _  Atkinson,  Sahib!  | 

When,  then,  did  off-Broadway  become  something 
other  than  a  smattering  of  theatre?  It  has  been 
said,  and  probably  with,  considerable  validity,  that 
Brooks  Atkinson’s  N.  Y.  Times  review  of  Circle-. 
In-tbe-Square’s  “Summer  and  Smoke”  had  more 
to  do  with  the  establishment  of  off-Broadway  than 
any  other  single  effort.  It  certainly  made  the  Sheri¬ 
dan  Square  arena  theatre  a  “must”  mecca.  for  dis¬ 
criminate  theatregoers*  arid  it  made  the  .  reputations 
of  actress  Geraldine  Page  and  director  Jose  Quin¬ 
tero.  But  it  also  had  the  more  far-reaching  effect 
of  heartening  other  fledgling  off-Broadway  produc¬ 
ers  into  a  flurrry  of  activity. 

Busy-ness  for  its  own  sake  is  seldom  a  boon, 
and  off-Broadway  groups  at  first  were  more  note¬ 
worthy  for  their  ambition  than  for  their  judgment 
of  what  constitutes  good  theatre...  With  the  N.  Y. 


Post’s  critic  Vernon  Rice  then  busily  probing  into, 
the  outlying  theatres,  however  unpromising,  and 
with  the  excellent  possibility  that  Atkinson  would 
be  moved  by I  his  sympathetic  curiosity  about  the 
new  playwright  or  the  fresh  talent  to  cover  the 
production,  young  producers,  directors  and  actors 
quickly  saw  .that  they  had  a  showcase,  so  come  hell 
or.  high  water,  “let’s  put  on  a  play.”  Surely  its  very 
activity  Was  the  only  .  thing  ,  that  kept  early  off- 
Broadway  from  being  strangled  by  its  own  medi¬ 
ocrity. 

|  ,  Unions  Helped  ,  ; _ _1 

But  budgets  were  low,  unions  were  tolerant,  and 
each  season  somebody  Was  bound  to  be  discovered. 
That,  even  to  date  the.  one  undiscovered  commodity 
Off-Broadway  has.  beep  the.  riew  playwright  is  still 
the  movement’s  great  tragedy.  As  is  well  known, 
however,  the  classic  revival  became  the  thing, 
largely  because  it  meant  no  royalty. 

Oddly,  at  that  stage  of  the  game,  American  actors 
demonstrated  a  woeful  lack  of  training  and  style 
In  period  theatre.  That  the.  problem  has  been  hand¬ 
somely  solved  by  its  own  diligence  is  .  one  of  .off- 
Broadway ’s  most  remarkable  credits.  It  is  less  than 
four  years  since  a  production  of  “The  Way  of  the 
World”  at  the  Cherry  Lane  Theatre,  first  indicated 
that  style  and  the  young  American  actor  could  get 
'  together,  and  not  long  thereafter  Jack  Landau’s 
productions  Of  “The  Clandestine  Marriage”  and 
the  riproaring  “The  White  Devil”  demonstrated 
that  it  can  happen  here. 

By  :the  rash  of  articles  on  off-Broadway  this  fall, 
it  would  seem  that  writers  had  just,  discovered  the 
activity.  The  records  show,  however,  that  the  N.  Y. 
Times,  the  N.  Y.  Post  and  Vabiety  have  played  a 
vital  critical  part  in  the  burgeoning  by-way  activ¬ 
ity  for  10  years.  The  late  Vernbn  Rice,  in  fact,  has 
been  remembered  for  his  efforts  by  the  Drama 
Desk*  which  presents  in  his  name  an  annual  award 
for  distinctive  achievement  off-Broadway. 

Within  the  past  two  years  all  Of  the  leading 
critics  have  taken  up  coverage  of  off-Broadway 
openings,  although  as  late  as  last  season  the  N.  Y. 
Journal- American’s  John  McLain  devoted  an  arti¬ 
cle  to.  explaining  Why  he  couldn’t  be  expected  to 
give  much  time  going  off  the.  beaten  track.  Off- 
Broadway,  however,  has  momentarily  carried  the 
day  by .  becoming .  the  beaten  track,  and  with  the 
N.  Y.  Daily  News’  John  Chapmari  now  occasionally 
prowling  the  by-ways  also*  tho  last  critical  bastion 
has  fallen.  '  . 

Rig  money,  however,  has  moved  into  off-Broad¬ 
way,  and  what  the  upshot  will  be  is  anybody’s 
guess. 


Why  Doesn’t  Somebody  Ask  Me 
To  Talk  About  'Show  Boat’? 

11==========  By  BERNARD  SOBEL  r 

Though  I  worked  for  months  When  the  evening  performance 
and  months  on  the  advance  pub-  Was  over,  I  rushed  back  to  Helen 
licity  for  the  New  York  opening  of  Morgan’s  dressing  room.  Before 
“Show  Boat,”  I  never  saw  a  single  that  day  I  had  never  spoken  or 

rehearsal  o  f  even  seen  her,  but  as  soon  as  I 

the  new  pro-  entered  the  room,  she  held  out  her 

duction.  For,  arms  and:  kissed  me  as  though  we 

while  the  re-  bad  known  each  other  always. 

hearSals  were  Lovely  Helen!  Imperishable 

tn  progress,  *  HMdb  memory  is  her  artistry.  I  always 

Ziegfeld  had  -  recall  incidents  in  our  later  friend- 

several  other  ship:  dancing  with  her  at  the  May- 

show  Sv  o  n  ''  fair  Club;  hearing  her  read  her 

Broadway  that  HjiH &  '  wisps  of  poetry;  dining  with  her 
required  m.y  '  on  cruisers  Which  had  just  arrived 

a  1 1  e  ntion  —  '  in  P°ri;  watching  her  worry  over 

Eddie  Cantor,  — -1  her;  collection  of  tropical  fish;  so- 

i  n  44  K  i  d  journing  with  her  to  Guthrie  Mc- 

Bbots  ”  Billie  ernle  Clintic’s  to  talk  about  her  heart’s 

Burke  in  “Annie  Dear”  and  the  desire— playing  “Camille.” 
“Follies.”  From  Helen’s  dressing  room,  I 


I  was  so  busy,  as  a  result,  rush-  went  to  see  Howard  Marsh.  It  was 
ing  from  one  theatre  to  another  our  first  reunion  since  we  were 
that  I  wasn’t  able  to  satisfy,  my  both  students  at  Purdue,  •  he,  one 
great  curiosity  as  to  how  Oscar  year  ahead  of  me,  neither  of  us 
Hammerstein  II  and  Jerome  Kern  dreaming  then  that  he  would  be  a 
had  changed  Edna  Ferber’s  novel  famous  musical  comedy  star.  ; 
into  a  musical.  p  Other  Memories  [ 

One  day  I  happened  to  run  — ,  ■-  rpmemhrancp  nf 

stedaS  OTdStthere°fItsaw  aWlarge  Charlie  Winninger,  the  perfect 
sterdam  and  there  1  saw  ?  Capt.  Andy,  Is  revealed  here  for 

group  of  colored  men  and  women  tl£  aftef  all  these  years. 

?  arTVngiM-  something  When  1  walked  int®  »is 

that  sounds  like*  ^church  music,"  ^^f^Sn^Ves^one"1' 

riehtd  ‘«myvel weredchJnt?n?  tol  at  the  dismissal'  ft  his 

melodious  background  musfe  for  th'fthe'ih^must  eo  on'  Sad 

iv  »  i'  >  j  fLn  tilde  the  show  must  go  on,  he  hdu 

*  d  the  rushed  out  the  stage  door  arid 

^r  su  .nw.a  nan  down  Sixth  Avenue,  in  full  make- 

Yes,  I  saw  all  those  colored  peo-  •  •  ,/tJ  uim  .  - 

pie  sitting  there  in  that  brief  mo- 

Jn.it.  nnH  gsnmwfh  t  was  him  to  return,  unplonng  him,  and 


ment;  and,  oddly  enough,  I  was 

the  only  one  Who  ever  saw  them.  '  And' 

The  audience  never  did.  Why?  Be-  ■■!*,?  hb?hP  J  t o 

..  .  I  ,.  -..—I,,...  -iV  all  through  these  tempestuous  mo- 
cause  that  choral  number  was  al-  ments,  the  audience  was  sitting 


drop  showfngb^eStchgue;chbeBh:tdth: 

Of  the  fact  that  it  might  miss  half 
scene  was  so  beautiful  and  so  sad  .. 

The  first  revival  of  "Show  BMC 
***8“ y«rs  later,  caused  me 
r^eri^WM  sensations.  My  status  was 

formance  fdrSd  years  unusual.  For  a  long  time:  I  had  sat 

rnomL  Xr  athat  glimpse  between  Ziegfeld 

_r  it.  t  .  jyf 1  &nd  CcEtX  Qd  i  £  dll j  ^voTxciug  at  times 

tte  strert  ■  ’  ”  on  fer  both  of  them  and  also,  doing 


METROPOLITAN  OPERA  ECONOMICS 


“How’s  the  show  going  on  the 
road?”  I  asked. 

“All  We  have  to  do,”  he.  an¬ 
swered,  smiling,  “is  put  up  a  terit 
and  a  sign,  ‘Show  Boat.’  Then  the 
crowds  flock  in.  However,  I  think 
that  it’s  about  time  that  you  see 
it.  Here  are  two  tickets.  Qne  for 


the  publicity  for  both  their  new 
theatres.  Yet  here  Was  a  Ziegfeld 
show  house— tragic  contretemps- 
under  the  roof  of  the  Carroll  The¬ 
atre. 

The  cast  was  almost  the.  same, 
but  the  part  of  Ravenal  was  now 
assumed  by  Dennis  King,  an  artist 


you  and  ope  for  Edna  Berber.  Rush 


down  to  the  station,  meet  her  at; 
the  theatre,  and  take  the  train  for- 


assigned  him  from  Shakespeare 
through  Sidney  Kingsley  and  Ber- 


Year  ended  May  31, 


PhUadelphia,  in  time  fur  the  mat-  n^)r®ha^an  S5  years  aftcr  that 

That  matinee  I'll  always  remem.  rcviyal,  I  feund  a  mern- 

ber:  the  excitement  of  the  misce-  **,.*.*»  % 


OPERATING  INCOME: 

Boxoffice  receipts: 

New  York  season  (24-week  season  with  175  performances  in  1957;  22- 
week  season  withl59  performancesinl956>  . . ...  . 

Tour  (7V£-week  tour*  58  performances  in  1957;  7-week  tour,  55  perform¬ 
ances  in  1956)  _ _ _ _ .  .  . ... ...... : . . . . . . . ... ...  .......... 

Other  operating  incomer-radio,  television  and  recording  fees,  building. 


genation  scene;  the  play-within-a- 
play  on  the  old  showboat;  the 
World’s  Fair  celebration  with  Capt 
Andy  shouting  “Happy  New  Year”; 


sitting  in  on  a  third  revival — Guy 
Lombardo’s  fabulous  benefit  per¬ 
formance  at  Jones  Beach.  . 
While  I  talked  over  the  matters 


miuj  siiuuuug  nappy  inc  w  i. ear  r,nv 

the  midway  crowds  and  the  daring  ■£SuS5??"llSalJ£S*.  ll  Jrt  Mer? 


rentals;  etc. 

566,246 

612,463 

CONTRIBUTIONS: 

Subscribers’  voluntary  additions  to  subscription  prices.  - 

$4,914, 774- 

$144,920 

$4,546,609 

Metropolitan  Opera  Guild,  Inc.  ,  . . . : . . . . . ;  .  . . 

110,000 

$100,127 

Annual  giving  (less  campaign  expenses  of  $19,968  in  1957  and  $12,373 
in  1956)*  . . . 

193,410 

50,118 

The  National  Council 

78,346 

41,923 

Other 

87,972 

133,441 

EXPENSES:— 

$5,429,422 

$4,872,218 

Salaries  and  wages: 

Singing  artists,  conductors,  stage  directors  and  chorus  master . . 

$1,164,111 

$1,106,434 

Orchestra 

924,519 

818,806 

Chorus 

414,435 

398,482 

Ballet  ........ 

133, 653 

112*358 

885,705 

905,293 

Wardrobe  and  scenic  departmerits. . . . ; . 

138,331 

151,797 

Building  operations 

329,886 

311,268 

Executive,  boxoffice  and  clerical 

349,461 

314,061 

Less  —  Reimbursement  of.  portion  of  above  representing  additional 
wages  paid  for  broadcasting,  etc.,  under  uriion  agreements. ;  . 

$4,340,101 

458*737 

$4,118,499 

382,741 

Salaries  and  wages  expense  for  the  year, . ; . . ; . . . . . . . . 

$3,881,364 

$3,735,758 

60,000 

61,000 

Social  security  taxes  ,.... . 

111,607 

10.1,107' 

Railroad,  transfer  and  travel  expense...,..*. . 

578,087 

539,964 

Materials,  building  services  and  repairs 

475*784 

467,434 

Royalties,  advertising  and  other  expenses. . ... . . _ _ ; . . . . . : 

207,424 

160,377 

Insurance  and  taxes... - - - 

99,915 

90,912 

Interest 

51,213 

42,143 

Depreciation 

59,405 

59,405 

EXCESS  OF  EXPENSES  OVER  OPERATING  INCOME 

$5,5^4,799 

$5,258,100 

AND  CONTRIBUTIONS 

$95,377 

$385,882 

hootchie  cootchie  ^  «  in,  handsome,  expert  ale^ 

Suddenly  during  Act  II  Miss  We  shook  hands  and  Qur  talk  waS 
Ferber  turned  to  me  ^nd  Said:  ^11t  of  F^Wisce^ce,  for  j  was.  his 
“This  is  one  scene  that  I  don’t  like  ^Fst  hrhiimb^ 

to  see.”  To  hear  an  author  make  ^  Fadl°  ^olumbl 

whbcha  h\br0slilfS0in^,hrln(f  Somehlw.  i^lcems  to  me  that 

surprised  me  A  Sent  S*  I  &  EV*  «  pr?mier?8 


Somehow,  it  seems  to  nie  that 


knew  why;  It  was  the  return  of  for  ‘ show  Boat.’ 

Magnolia  to  the  shabby  roorning 

disaster.  poignant  relapse  (M ^GOODMAN^ THEATRE 

t  Helen  Morgan,  Forever!  J  CJTTC  1 CT  CTDIMfCDC 

But  the  closing  scenes  dispelled  UblMOl  OllUrlUlill J 

the  sadness  and  after  the  matinee,  Chicago. 

^.T^.f.tACWn.I,0.  di^",'r•  1  Wa?^  *  Reentry  of  the  Goodman  Me- 

Theatre  Into  the  general 
?  ™u’,d  scarcely  eat.  I  kept  think-  public  Held  brought  the  first  re- 

uSf™  »  t  tTu-  v  T*v  “  the  daily  press  the  drama 

Gotta  Swim.  I  kept  thinking  of  Chooi  has  received  for  a  produc- 
Norma  Terris,  her  beautiful  voice,  tinn  in  ovpr  2ft  vear<?  Three  of  the 

Ra^nal  ^  her^wonderfuf  Wh  k>k  foUt  Jocal  critics  caught  the  Amer- 
anrt  cWno  h  k  ^  ican  P^em  of  the  Salzburg  Festi- 

“Don^t  nl^vh  ,?nd  thp  rtanr  tnn  val  version  of  Hugo  von  Hoffmans- 
Dont  play  up  the  dance  too  fKol.  0Q,,0  it 

much,”  Ziegfeld  advised  her ;  and 

"When  you  finish  the  number,  a™ra*>,1*  ces. 
don’t  look  at  the  audience;  Just  Donald  Buka  had.  been  brought 
be  the  young  girl  in  her  teens--  in  to  stnt  with  a  cast  that  largely 
unconscious  of  onlookers.”  comprised  drama  students.  Dr. 

What  a  compact  suggestion!  John  Reich,  who  this  year  assumed 
And  how  perfectly  Norma  realized  directorship  of  the  school  did  the 
it,  exiting  casually,  quite  obliVous  English  translation  of  the  play. 
:0f  everything  except -the  dance.  ’■  Reich  was  also  co-adaptor  ol 

Opening  night,  at  the  first  inter-  “Mary  Stuart,”  Eva  LeGallienne- 
mission,  I  met  Otto  Kahn.  Irene  Worth  starter  which  had  a 

“How  did  you  like  it?”  I  asked,  .-brief  run  earlier  this  season  at  the 
“It’s  wonderful,  but  it’s  not  Phoenix  Theatre,  N.  Y. 

Ziegfeld.  Nothing  like  the  Follies.”  Michael  Hall,  British  actor  who 
My  astonishment  at  his  com-  is  .  staying  in  .Chicago  while  his 
merit,  I  couldn’t  conceal.  Though .  a  wife,  Anne  Rogers,  stars  in  “My 
discriminating  sponsor  of  opera  Fair  Lady,”  has  agreed  to  guestar 
and  the  arts,  he  entirely  failed  to  Goodman’s  next  production; 
realize  that  he  was  seeing  a  his-  “Tiger  at  the  Gates,”  opening 
tory-making  musical.  Jan.  i0. 


CHI  GOODMAN  THEATRE 
GETS  1ST  STRINGERS 

Chicago. 

Reentry  of  the  Goodman  Me- 


January  8, 1058 


Fifty-second  t^RIE^TY  Anniversary 


UEOITIMATE 


Eureka!  You  Can  Get  Into  A  Hit  Show 
At  Any  Time  In  The  West  End 


Theatre  Guild’s  Topper  Appalls  Keith,  Prowse  Prexy  on  the  Thrill-of-thc-Chase 
For  Hard-to-Get  Legit  Tickets  on  Broadway 


While  I  was  in  London  recently  in  connection  with  the  Opening  of 
“Bells  Are  Ringing”  arid  ‘‘Tunnel  of  Love,”  I  had  the  pleasure  of 
meeting  Peter  Cadbury,  president  of  Keith  Prowse  &  Co.  Ltd.,  Eng¬ 
land’s  largest  theatre  ticket  agency,  which,  like  the  regular  New  York 
ticket  agencies,  does  a  fine  job  Of  distributing  thea¬ 
tre  tickets  for  a  small  fixed  fee.  We  naturally  dis¬ 
cussed  the  old-fashioned  English  system  of  selling 
theatre  tickets  as  compared  with  bur  superior 
American  method;  and  since  Variety,  usually  asks 
me  to  present  my  views  on  the  American  theatre 
at  least  once  a  year,  1  felt  I  could  find  no  better 
way  of  doing  this  than  by  repeating  the  sugges¬ 
tions  I  made  to  Mr.  Cadbury  in  order  to  modernize 
the  English  ticket-selling  system,  ' 

Mr.  Cadbury,  a  handsome  young  man  whose 
family  origins  go  back  to  the  chocolates  I  used  to 
enjoy  in  the  days  when  I  had  no  problem  about 
my  figure,  spoke  glowingly  about  the  fact  that 
there  are  twice  as  many  theatres  in  London  as 


-  Lawrence  Langner 


compared  with  New  York.  He  contended  that  one  of  the  reasons  for 
this  was  because  it  Was  almost  always,  possible  for  visitors  to  London 
to  buy  tickets  to  any  and  all  plays,  a  day  or  so  before  the  night  of  the 
performance,  even  with  the  most  successful  “hits.”  As  a  resuit,  he 
claimed  there  are  plenty  of  theatres  for  people  to  go  to  in  London,  and 
plenty  of  people  in  London  who  go  the  theatres. 


.  I  felt  he  was  bragging  unduly,  so  I  hastened  to  disillusion  him. 
“You  have  evidently  not  .  learned  about  the  economics  of  theatrical 
scarcity,”  I  stated,  and  its  effect  of  preventing  an  oversupply,  of  thea¬ 
tre  buildings  in  New  York  City.” 

“How’s  that?,”  he  asked.  I  explained  that  our  American  theatre  was 
‘Conditioned  by  the  econoriiics  of  scarcity  and  owed  its  reduced  number 
of  theatres  to  this  highly  desirable  state  of.  affairs. 

“When  a  man  goes  to  a.  theatre  to  see  a  hit  in  London,”  I  remarked, 
“he  does  not  feel  that  he  has  achieved  a  great  moment  in  his  life,  com- 
.  parable  to  the  launching  of  a  Sputnik  or  -winning  a  place  in  the  Irish 
sweepstakes..  He  merely  feels  like  an.  ordinary  human  being,  His;  life 
is  denuded  of  that  extra  excitement  which:  is  normal  with  New  York 
theatregoers.  He  wiil  never  know  the  thrill  of  having  two  tickets  in  his 
pocket  for  one  of  the  great  hits  for  which  he  has  paid  $50  each,  and 
as  a  result  of  which  he  achieves  the  following  satisfactions  to  his  ego, 
all. included  in  the  price  of  the  tickets. 

1.  He  can  show  he  is  a  hell  of  a  fellow  to  be  able  to  afford  to  pay 
such  prices  for  his.  tickets.,  . 


2.  He  demonstrates  to  his  fellow  men  how  smart  he  is  to  be  able 
to  get  tickets  at  any  price. 


3.  He  indicates,  by  indulging  in  conspicuous  waste,  that  he  belongs 


By  LAWRENCE  LANGNER 

to  the  wealthy  or  leisure  class  as  defined  by  Thorsten  Veblin  in  his  A- 
famous  Work,  “The  Theory  of  the  Leisure  Class/’ 

Even  if  the  tickets  themselves  may  have  cost  the  “gyp”  a  mere  $14, 
our  happy  purchaser  has  had  about  $86  worth  of  food  for  his  vanity,: 
as  a  result,  can  overcome  his  basic  feeling  of  inferiority  for  about  a 
month  or  so,  both  before  and  after  seeing  the  play, 

|  ,.  .  ItVJnot  Too,  Too  Easy l,,'  .  '  1 

What  is  there  in  the  London  theatre"  to  give  a  theatregoer  the  thrill 
of  investing  funds  in  the  black  market  With  a  comparable,  massaging 
of  his  ego?  Nothing!  Buying  a  theatre,  ticket  in  London  is  a  dull  affair. 
You  simply  go  to  the  boxoffice  and  pay  the  ordinary  tariff  for  your 
ticket,  or  you  go  to  a  ticket  agency  and  pay  a  f  e\y  cents  . mote.  What  is 
there  to  compare  with  the  high  adventure  of  the  American  system 
where  you  have  to  know  someone  who  knows  a  little  man  around  the 
corner  who  can  get  you  the  best  seats  at  the  highest  prices  at  the  last 
minute.  Or  where  you  are  permitted  to  stand  in  line  for  hours  while 
waiting  excitedly  to  buy  your  tickets,  at  the  boxoffice? 

But  this  excitement  at  the  boxoffice  does  not  last  long.  The  moment 
a  new  hit  comes  to  town,  I  explained,  lines  are  formed  at  the  boxoffice 
and  then  by  the  curious  process  known  as  osmosis,  due  to  the  operation 
of  so-called  “diggers,”  the  best  tickets  find  their  way  to  the  speculators 
to  such  an  extent  that  few  dr  none  are  left  at  the  boxoffices,  It  is  after 
this  time  that  the  treasurers  of  the  hit  shows  endure  their  “lonely” 
periods.  They]  stand  all  alone  in  their  cages,  with  the  entire  theatrego¬ 
ing  public  convinced  that  not  a  ticket  is  to  be  had  there,  and  that  all 
the  tickets  are  somewhere,  else.  Some  adventurous  souls  duririg  such  a 
period  of  “lull,”  as  it  is  called,  have  been  known  to  appear  at  the  box- 
office  and  to  purchase  the  tickets  at  boxoffice;  prices,  much  to  their 
amazement.  Indeed;  when  this  happens,  the  lucky  ticket  purchaser 
talks  about  it  for  months.  . 

I  am  sorry  to  say  that  Mr.  Cadbury,  with  true  British  conservatism, 
refused  to  become  excited  about  my  proposal  to  introduce  these  fea¬ 
tures  of  the  American  system  into  England. 

He  looked  at  me  with  that  bulldog  look  of  innate  conservatism  so 
characteristic  of  the  stubborn.  Britisher,  and  remarked,  “But  we  don’t 
want  .anything  like  that  in  England.  We  have  no  black  market  over 
here,  although  we  have  begun  to  introduce  your  American  custom  of 
theatre  parties;  by  which  the  audience  pays  a  surgecharge  of  ariywhere 
for  16  to  25  guineas,  which  goes  to  a  charity.” 

“Ahj,”  I  remarked,  my  eyes  glistening  with  excitement.  “Theatre 
parties  in  London  I  Theatre  parties  represent,  thenewest  form  of  thea¬ 
tre.  Now  you  really  are  going  to  have  a  new  American  experience.  As 
you  know,  the  theatre  started  as  a  part  of  religious  ceremonies.  Reli¬ 
gion  and  the  theatre  have  always  gone  hand  in  hand  in  ancient  days. 
In  modern  New  York  the  theatre  goes  hand  in  hand  with  charity.  Ghar- 
(Continued  on  page  266) 


Paris  Legit  Had 
$18,(1, 000  Gross 


Paris. 

Paris  legit  grossed  around  $18,- 
000,000  on  its  19fi6-57:  season.  That 
represents  the  take  after  deduc¬ 
tion  of  the  25%  tax. 

The  season,  covering  the  12 
months  ending  last  August,  includ¬ 
ed  195  productions  in  52  theatres 
in  Paris.  Of  those  entries,  144 
were  Gallic  offerings,  52  new  and 
92  revivals.  The  balance,  in  the 
foreign  category,  included  26  new 
presentations  arid  25 /revivals. 

:  The  hit  lineup  comprised  three 
plays  by  American  authors.  They 
were  William  Faulkner’s  “Bequiem 
f  r  a  Nun,”  not  yet  produced  on 
Broadway;  Robert  Anderson’s  “Tea 
and  Sympathy,”  with  Ingrid  Berg¬ 
man  starred,  and  Tennessee  Wil¬ 
liams'  “Cat.  on  a  Hot  Tin  Roof/* 
which  drew  unfavorable  reviews 
but.  apparently  got  strong  word-of- 
mouth  support. 

The  current  season,  off  to  a  good 
start,  is  eliciting  the  usual  com¬ 
plaints  from  the  .  theatrical  front. 
The  beefs  related  mainly  to  rising 
production  costs,  heavy,  taxes  and 
the  lack  of  new  playwrights. 


Diagram  of  London’s  West  End  Playhouses 


UNDERGROUND  STAS  O 

_  fe.MitC' 


COPYRIGHT, 


266  LEGITIMATE 


Fifty-second  t^VRIETY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


Peronist  Featherbed  Smothers  Legit; 
27  B.  A.  Theatres  Shrink  To  19 


By  NID  EMBER 


Buenos  Aires. 

Though  visitors  find  it  hard  to 
believe,  Argentine  legit  has  been 
in  the  throes  of  a  severe  crisis  for 
some  years.  Visitors  see  massed 
crowds  moving  along  Corrierites, 
the  local  Broadway,  at  all  hours  of 
night  every  day  of  the :  week,  and 
ask  whether  a  crisis  is  possible 
where  there’s  this  vast,  noctam- 
bulous,  potential  audience.  Yrit  day 
by  day  the  press  reports  more  the¬ 
atres  knocked  down  for  replace¬ 
ment  by  business  skyscrapers. 

In  1957  alone,  the  number  of 
theatres  in  B.  Aires  dropped  from 
28  to  19, 

The  Casino,  Buenos  Aires,  Ver¬ 
sailles  and  Grand  Splendid  became 
film  theatres;  the  Politeama*  Apolo, 
Comedia  and  Porteno  were  razed, 
and  rumor  has  it  that  several  more 
theatres  are  on  the  block,  so  there 
will  be  even  less  than  19  to  cater 
to  an  audience  of  11  millions  (5 
for  the  cityv  another  6  for  suburbs 
and.  province). 

A  vast  audience  undoubtedly 
there  is,  as  yet  unaffected  by  tele¬ 
vision..  Avid  for  entertainment  and 
willing  to  dig  hard  in  its  “bom- 
bachas”  for  what  is  really  good. 
Also  with  such  keen  enthusiasm 
foi  the  theatre,  that  throughout 
the  country  hundreds  of  “Little 
Theatre"  groups  (vocacionales)  are 
spreading  and  drawing  audiences 
away  from  the  slapdash,  profes¬ 
sional  theatres,  which  are  less  en¬ 
terprising  in  choice  of  plays,  less 
selective  in  choosing  casts,  and 
refuse  to  move  with  the  times  as 
the  citizens’  intellectual  stature 
grows. 

There  are  heated  and  repeated 
debates  around  the  theme  of  this 
legit  crisis.  Some  prescribe  State 
subsidies  as  a  remedy,  others  want 
legislation  declaring  any  legit  the¬ 
atre  a  public  utility  and  immune 
from  demolition.  Others,  throw 
blame  on  authors  for  not  writing 
well  enough  to  lure  audiences;  the 
authors  truthfully  counter  that 
native  plays  have  been  discarded 
foi?  so  long,  they  are  scarcely  to 
blame.  (Producers  say  the  native 
writers  misguidedly  submit  plays 
demanding  such  large  casts  they 
can’t  afford  to  produce  them.) 

“Plain  and  Fancy,”  translated  to 
the  local  stage  with  a  local  cast, 
was  one  of  the  1956  flops,  mainly, 
because  the  humor  was  incom¬ 
prehensible  to  the  locals:  On  the 
other  hand,  “Cacho”  (Francisco) 
Carcavallo’s  production  of  “Tan- 
golandia”  at  his  family’s  Presi- 
dente  Alvear  theatre  this  Winter, 
on  a  book  by  Ivo  Pelay  and  with 
music  by  Francisco  Canaro,  has 
been  one  of  the  biggest  grossefs' 
and  pointed  the  way  to  this  new 
form  of  legit  entertainment. 

This  would  be  a  revival  of  the 
genre  (qostumbrista)  type  legit, 
successful  in  the  heyday  of  Argen¬ 
tine  legit  (1880’s  to  1920’s),  and 
typified  by  Alberta  Vacarezza’s 
“Conventillo.  de  la  Paloiha/ •  The 
“conventillo"  was  the  down-at-heel 
rooming  house  in  which  Spanish 
and  Italian  immigrants  cohabited, 
a  melting  pot  of  customs,  humor, 
aeng  and  sorrow,  which  made  ex¬ 
cellent  stage  material.  Now  this 
type  show  is  still  produced,  but 
low  in  quality  because  no  longer 
taken  from  life;  its  authors  try  tp 
amuse  through  vulgarity,  or  draw 
tears  with  corny  pathos  and  the 
illiterate  alone  continue  to  like  it.; 

(  Whose  Benefits?  | 

But  the  main  cause  of  the  “crisis" 
•terns  from  Peron’s  yauhted  “con- 
quistas  sociales"  (social  benefits): 
Labor  contracts  were  forced 
through  by  labor  leaders  to  serve 
the  tyrant’s  political  ambitions. 
Excessive  featherbedding  was 
created  as  a  means,  of  snaring 
votes,  and  this  is  squeezing  pro¬ 
ducers  out  of  business.  Show  busi¬ 
ness  is  too  elastic  and  eclectic  for 
submission  to.  the  hide-bound  rules 
imposed  under  those  contracts. 

Today  a  legit  impresario  has 
seven  unions  to  cope  with:  the 
T'.cket-sellers,’  Ushers,’  Actors’, 
Cleaners/  Technician/  Electrician/ 
and  Prop-men  apart  from  the 
Authors’  Rights  Society  (Argen- 
tores)  and.  Producers  Association 
(APTA).  Each  stipulates  employ¬ 
ment’  of  a  .  minimum  number  of 
salaried  workers,  even  if  such  serv- 
ices  are  unnecessary,  so  regular 


wages  must  be  paid  to  large  groups 
who  mostly  don’t  work  at  all.  Then 
there  are  Wig-makers,  tailors,  dec- 
i  orators,  shoemakers,  heating,  light, 
f  telephones,  air-conditioning,,  ad¬ 
ministrative  staff,  neon  lights, 
painters,  advertising,  printing,  dis¬ 
play  material,  stubs,  maintenance, 
electrical  repairs/  powers  and  pos¬ 
ter-sticking,  disinfection,  sanitary 
inspection,  taxes,  etc.  etc. 

1  .  ..  Nothing.  But ’Help*  \ 

The  Alvear,  for  example,  has  a 
permanent  year-round  staff  of  40, 
even  if  the  theatre  is  shuttered. 
Mounting  a  musical  comedy  in¬ 
volves  engaging  another.  20.  The 
number,  swells  to  100  people  who 
never  appear  on-stage,  but  must 
;  all  be  paid  for  upkeep  of  premises 
which  are  shuttered  20  hours  of 
each  day.  Most  impresarios  try  and 
cover  some  of  the  overhead  by 
leasing  their  theatres  on  Monday 
(rest-day)  for  concerts,  benefits, 
lectures,  etc.,  but  for  such  occa¬ 
sions,  under  union  rules,  the  main 
staff  must  get  extra  pay. 

There  is  agitation  to  .  resume 
matinees,  eliminated  in  Peron’s 
time,  ostensibly  so  players  could 
accept  film,  radio  arid  other  book¬ 
ings,  in  reality  because  Eva  Perrin’s 
late  brother,  Juan  Duarte  —  the 
playboy  of  showbusiness  urider  the 
dictatorship— found  it  irksome  not 
to  find  his  actress  friends  at  home 
,  in  the  afternoon.  Actors  are  resist¬ 
ing  matinees,  on  the  plea  that,  it’s 
too  fatiguing  to  work  two  -  shows 
a  day. 

Actors’  Wages  and  working  hours 
are  disproportionate.  The  mini¬ 
mum  wage,  just  to  walk  on,  is 
1,600  pesos  monthly,  whereas  a 
bank  clerk  starts  at  a  minimum 
cf  1,350  a  month  for  716  hours  a 
’  day,  increasing  to  1,650  after  4 
;  years.  An  apprentice  actor  earns 
!  more  than  the  clerk,  but  works 


an  average  of  only  75  hours  a 
month. 

Then  union,  rules  insist  that  a  ] 
company  include  a  minimum  cast 
of  12.  When  Spanish  actor  Enrique 
Guitart  appeared  in  Ernesto  Bloch’s 
jrionologue,  .  “The  Hands  of  Euri- 
dlce,”  the  prpducer  had  to  pay  11 
other  actors  for  two  years,  who 
never  went  on  stage.  Union  rules 
also  establish  a  five-month  mini¬ 
mum  for  contracts,  so  if  a  show 
flops:  in  the  1st,  week,  the  cast 
goes  on  drawing  Wages  for  5 
months.  In  1956  one  producer 
ventured  to  produce  a  play  involv¬ 
ing  a  cast  of  20  actresses.  Had  it 
flopped,  he  would  have  had  to  pay 
the  entire  20  for  five  months,  and 
it  :  was  a  cast  unadaptable  to  an¬ 
other  play. 

The  result  is  that  producers 
quail  and  sell  out.  The  only  alter¬ 
native  is  production  on  a  cooper¬ 
ative,  or  profit-sharing  basis. 


Is  the  Theatre  Anti-Semantic  ? 

By  JEROME  LAWRENCE  and  ROBERT  E.  LEE 


When  you  dial  Murray  Hill  7- 
4400,  the  odds  are  fairly  good  .that 
you  will  be  connected  with  the 
Algonquin  Hotel.  But  the  Broad¬ 
way  argot  is  cluttered  with  wrong 
numbers  which  don’t  make  the 
right  connection  with  a  great  many, 
people.  We  don’t  mean  that  when 
yon  dial  Roz,  you  get  Tallulah.  It 
is  even  more  disconcerting — if  pos¬ 
sible!  We  are  referring  to.  those 
words  in  the  legitimate  vocabu¬ 
lary  which  frankly  don’t  mean 
what  they  seem  to  mean  —  mis¬ 
nomers  which  result  in  embarrass¬ 
ment,  frustration,  confusion  and 
waste.  Here  are  a  few:  : 

HOUSE  SEAT  ORDER":  Per¬ 
haps  it  springs  from  a  century’s 
usage  of  the  phrase  “on  the  house” 
for  gratis  admissions.  But  the  nor: 
tion  is:  prevalent  (especially  frrim 
Hasbrouek  Heights  west,  but  even 
in  the  lobby  of  the  Waldorf)  that 
a  “House  Seat  Order"  means  a 
"pass/*  And  how  riiany  unsophisti-: 
cated  Diends  of  dear  Cousin  Frieda 
hive  been  outraged,  upon  pre¬ 
senting  the  magic  white  slip  to 
the  treasurer  of  the  National,  to 
find  out  they  must  also  cough  up 
folding  money?  It  takes  too  long 
to  explain  that:  the.  Shuberts  .  are 
not .  a  charitable  institution.  It  is 
high  time  that  the  magic  slip  is 
retitled:  • 

"PRIVILEGE  TO  BUY”:  And  let 
the  simultaneously  accursed  and 
blessed'  “House  Seats"  be  re- 
christened  “Privilege  Seats.” 

* 

“TRY-OUT”:  A  new  play  on  tour 
out-of-town  before  its  Broadway, 
opening  is  not  a  “fry-out”:  it  is  a 
life  or  death  struggle  for  survivaL 
The  stakes  are  down,  the  commit¬ 
ments  are  made  and  the  alterna¬ 
tive  to  success  is  disaster,  spelled 
exactly  the  way  it  happened  to  the 
Titanic.  The  easy  flippancy  of 
“Try-Out"  makes  the  whole  ven¬ 
ture;  sound  like  Squibb  testing;  a 
few  hundred  new  toothpaste  pack¬ 
ages  in  Duluth.  The  Forrest  Thea¬ 
tre  is  a  delivery  room:  and  the; 
baby  cannot  change  its  mind  in  the 
birth  canal.  Call  it  a  “Pre-Broad¬ 
way  Tour"  or  a  “Break-In”— but 
spurn  the  usage  Which  implies  a 
toy  in  i  wind-tunnel. 

*  *  * 

“ADAPTATION”:  If  a  play  of 


Corneille  is  re-shaped  and  refurb¬ 
ished  for  modern  auidences,  it  is 
properly  called  an  “Adaptation." 
But  when  a  play  is.  created  out  of 
source  material  of  another  genre 
i  novel  or  a  collection  of  short 
stories-^it  is  a  “Dramatization.” 
The  word  “adaptation”  implies  a 
‘boiling-down”  so  that  the  result 
bears  roughly  the  relationship  of 
bouillon  cube  to  a.  beef  steak. 
Any  dramatist  worth  his  soup 
should  intensify  the  flavor  of  the 
broth.  Mr,  Patrick  did  not  “adapt" 
Mr.  Sneider;  he  “Dramatized”  him. 


’PRODUCER”:  This  is  a  vague 
and  inaccurate  Word,,  warped  by 
motion  picture  usage, :  and  lacking 
the  concise  vitality  of  the  task  it 
represents.  Every  limited  partner 
thinks  he  is  a  producer.  Actually, 
the  author  has  produced  the  play; 
and  it  is  usually  the  director  who 
determines  its  physical  form:  Why 
not  discard  the  sloppy  and  pre¬ 
tentious  word  “  Producer"  in  favdr 
of  the  older  and  .more  accurate 
British  expression  of  “Mariager”? 
How  much  more  appropriate  it  isl 
V- for  he.  “manages”  the  money*  he 
■’manages"  the  people,  he  “man¬ 
ages",  the  play,  and— God  arid  the 
audiences  willing— he  “manages” 
to  get  hit; 

“LITTLE  THEATRES:  Some  of 
the  “littlest”  theatre  we  have  ever 
seen  has  been  offered  in  football 
stadiums;  public  auditoriums,  cir¬ 
cus  tents  arid  exposition  halls.  And 
some  of  ;  the  “largest”  theatre  of 
our  experience  has  been  shared 
with  a.  delighted  handful  of  spec¬ 
tators  in  boites  sans  scenery,  sans 
proscenium,  sans  .Equity,  sans  ev¬ 
erything.  No  good  theatre  can  prop¬ 
erty  be  called  “little."  The  es- 
the  craft  of  speech?  Qr  is  the  thea¬ 
tre  anti-semantic? 
to  improve  a  nuance  or  two  within 
senee  of  theatricality  is  iriagnifica- 
tion— which  may  be  telescopic  or 
microscopic.  Avaunt  such  insult¬ 
ing  discriminations!  Theatre 
theatre — on  West  44th  Street  or 
on  the  tailgate  of  a  truck.  Expres 
.sioris..  which/make  fences  among 
the  people  of  the  theatre  are  as 
harmful  as  a  fence  between  the 
play  and  the  audience. 


London  Libraries— A  pleasure! 

Continued  from  page  265 

ity  may  begin  at  home  in  London*  but  it  begins  in  the  theatre  in  New 
I  York.  You  British  must  experience  the  positive  delight  of  visiting  a 
theatre  and  witnessing  a  play  being  given  before  a  theatre-party  char-, 
ity  audience  which  has  paid  anywhere  from  $10  to  $25  extra  for  tick¬ 
ets  in  order  to  help  the  charity,  and  incidentally  to  help  the  theatre. 
The  members  of  these  audiences  exhibit  an  attitude  toward  the; play 
and  actors  which  is  extreriiely  helpful  With  drarna  where  an  effort  is 
i  made  to  stir  up  hatred  of  the  audience  against  the  villain  of  the  play. 
The  trouble  is  that  the  theatre  party  audience  usually  hate  all  the  ac¬ 
tors,  whether  they  are  playing  villains  or  not;  They  think  of  that  extra 
$25  they  paid  for  their  seats  and  of  the  aggressive  young  woman  or  man 
who  sold  them  the  tickets,  and  somehow  it  seems  to  affect  their  en¬ 
joyment  of  the  theatre,”^ 

“I  shall  try  my  very  bestrto  avoid  introducing  the  black  market  in 
any  form  into  the  English  theatre,”  said  Peter  Cadbury,  his  jaw  set 
in  that  stubborn  manner  Which,  reminded  line  that  all  the  battles  in 
Europe  were  won  on  the  playing  fields  of  Eton.  “I’m  all  in  favor  of 
charity/’  he  said,  “but  not  at  the  expense  of  the  theatre.  I  care  not 
what  you  say  about  the  American  system.  I  am  going  to  continue  to 
sell  tickets  in  the  old-fashioned  way,  without  the  aid  of  gyps,  scalpers, 
and  distributors  of  ‘ice’.” 

“How  can  you  prevent  it/’  I  asked.  “Already,  I  hear  that  people  are 
waiting  six  months  to  buy  tickets  for  *My  Fair  Lady’.”  Ari  expression 
of  solemn  dedication  passed  over  Peter  Cadbury’s  handsome  features. 

“Let  me  tell  you,”  he  said.  “I  have  evolved  a  plan  of  doing  away 
with  that  black  market  in  ‘My  Fair  Lady’”  tickets,  that  has  sent  them 
spinning  to  $35  apiece  in  New  York.  I  will  hold  back  200  seats  for  each 
performance  and  sell  them  the  same  day,  to  cut  down  blaekmarketing,” 

I  looked  at  him  in  amazement.  Could  it  be  possible  that  this  man* 
single-handed  and  alone,  was  going  to  see  to  it  that  visitors  to  Lon¬ 
don  could  attend  the  play  on  the  day  of  their  arrival  without  paying 
an  enormous  premium?  Was  this  scion  of  a  Quaker  family  going  to 
mattle  like  a  crusader  of  old  against  the  law  of  supply  and  demand? 

Imagine  what  would  happen  in  the  New  York  theatre  if  200  seats  for 
every  successful  play  were  sold  only  on  the  day  of  the  performance! 

Gone  would  be  all  the  extraneous  excitement  of  theatregoing  at  spec¬ 
ulative  ;  prices!  •. .. 

|  No  Scarcities  Elsewhere  | 

We  Would  find  ourselves  reverting  to  the  traits  of  our  British  ances¬ 
tors  and  start  going  soberly  to  the  theatre  again  with  good  seats  at  rea¬ 
sonable  prices.  Perish  the  thought! 

Defeated  in  my  argument  by  Cadbury,  I  ventured  to  remark  weakly 
on  some  of  the  other  results  of  the  economics  of  scarcity  in  the  New 
York  theatre;  the  scarcity  of  theatres  which  makes  it.  harder  to  book 
them  than  anywhere  else  in  the  World;  the  scarcity  of  competitive  sce¬ 
nery  builders,  which  causes  about  half  of  the  shows  to  be  bulit  on  over¬ 
time;  the  scarcity  of  competitive  costume  shops  which- results  in  cos¬ 
tumes  being  twice  as  expensive  for  similiar  reasons;  the  scarcity  of 
plays  and  actors  whose  popularity  is  so  great  as  to  be  able  to  earn  the 
enormous  amounts  needed  to  pay  for  all  those  inflated  costs  and  run- . 
ning  expenses;  and  finally,  the  scarcity  of  audiences  to  attend  any  but 
the  so-called  “smash  hits"  because  of  scarcity  of  money  in  their  pock¬ 
ets. 

But  lest  my  British  friend  might  think  I  was  carrying  the  economics 
of  scarcity  to  the  breaking  point,  I  explained  that  we  have  a  plenti- 
tiide  of  .  other  commodities  in  the  theatre;  such  as  drunks  who  arrive 
late;  traffic  regulations  which  make  it  almost  impossible  for  vehicles 
to  move  at  theatre .  time;  combinations  of  truckers  and  teamsters  who 
insure  that  the  same  exorbitant  prices  for  rnoving  scenery  are  charged 
throughout  the  entire  country;  and  finally,  aa  influx  of  agents  from 
Hollywood  who  can  no  longer  make  a  living  there,  and  are  now  busily 
engaged  in  raising  the  standards  arid  everything  else  in  the  New  York 
theatre. 

‘Come,  come,  are  you  not  being  bitter?,”  asked  my  British  friend, 

“No,"  I  replied,  muttering  the  worn-out  cliche  about  the  Fabulous 
invalid.”  "The  American  theatre  is  rugged  and  full  of  raw  energy.  It 
can  survive  anything,  even  itself!” 


Anzac  Legit-Unafraid  of  TV 

By  HARALD  A.  BOWDEN 

l  Exec  Director  J;  C.  Williamson  Theatres  Ltd .). 


Sydney. 

There  have  been  moans  and 
groans  from  Australia’s  picture 
magnates  abont  business  being  af¬ 
fected  by  the  ever-increasing  sale 
of  television  sets.  But  so  far,  hap¬ 
pily,  there  has  been  no  bellyach¬ 
ing  from  legitimate  managements. 
We  are  approaching  the  end  of  a 
great  year  when  long  runs  have, 
been  the  rule,  which  naturally  de¬ 
lights  all  managements. 

Williamson-Tait,  the  leading  the¬ 
atrical  management,  has  scored  big 
\  successes  with  “Pajama  Game," 
the  Borovansky  Ballet  (highlighted, 
by  brief  appearances  of  Dame  Mar¬ 
got  Fonteyn)  and  the  evergreen 
Gilbert  &  Sullivan  Savoy  Operas. 

.  Drama  and  comedy  presented  .  in¬ 
cluded  ‘‘Diary  of  Ann  Frank,” 
‘‘Double  Image”  (a  thriller)  and 
"The  Multi-Coloured  .Umbrella,”  ari 
Australian  play  by.  an  Australian 
author.  Of  special  interest  also 
was  the  return  of  Dairie  Sybil 
Thorndike  and  Sir  Lewis  Casson 
to  Australia  after  their  Broadway 
appearance  in  “The  Chalk  Gar¬ 
den.” 

The  Elizabethan  Trust*  a  govern¬ 
ment-sponsored  organization,  pre¬ 
sented  .  a  season  of  grand  opera, 
brought  out  Paul  Rogers  in  "Ham¬ 
let”  arid  a  bawdy  farce,  “The  Re¬ 
lapse."  It  also  gave  an  Australian 
author  a  Chance  in  presenting  a 
local  effort,  “The  Shifting  Heart,” 
based  on  the  assimilation  of  Euro¬ 
peans  into  Australian  conditions; 

David  Martin  has  maintained  a 
revue  policy  on  the -Tivoli  circuit. 
Harry  Wren,  a  “lone  wolf”  mana¬ 
ger,  got  together  a  group  of  old- 
timers  in  a  revue  entitled  “The 
Good  Old  Days”  and  cleaned  up  a 
fortune; 

The  coming  12  months  look  like 
a  very  full  year;  for  the  legitimate 


theatre,  especially  as  far  as  the 
Williamson-Tait  Group  is  con¬ 
cerned.  For  a  number  of  top  at¬ 
tractions  will  he  presented  under 
the  W-T  banner.  The  Luisillo  Span¬ 
ish  Troupe  will  tour  Australia  and 
New  Zealand  while  in  conjunction 
with  Harry  Wren,  the  Williamson 
Theatres  will  present  the  cele¬ 
brated  Japanese  revue,  “Takara- 
zuka." 

What’s  expected  to  be  the  big¬ 
gest  event  of  the  1958  season  will 
be  the  visit  of  the  New  York  City 
Ballet,  which  Will  plane  to  Aus^ 
tralia  after  a  season  iri  Japan.  This 
;  is  the  culmination  of  Sir  Frank 
Tail’s  visit  to  New  York  in  1956, 
combined  with  the  personal  efforts 
of  Paul  Szillard.  Musical  attrac¬ 
tions  on  the  W-T  slate  will  be  the 
Australian  premiere  of  “Damn 
Yankees”  leading  up  to  thei  presen¬ 
tation  of  “My  Fair  Lady”— a  busy 
year  for  the  Williamson-Tait  Organ¬ 
ization. 

Still  another  possibility  is  a  mu¬ 
sical  version  of  “The  Sentimental 
Bloke"  on  which  W-T  has  taken 
an  option.  The  work  is  based  upon 
a  book  of  poems  of  the  same  name 
by  Australian  writer  C;  J.  Dennis. 
Popular  during  World  War  I,  the 
volume  was  later  filmed  as  a  silent, 
as  a  talkie  and  was  also  done  as 
a  stage  comedy. 

Interest  in  “Bloke”  was  revived 
recently  when  ‘  the  publishers 
brought  out  a  new  edition  of  the 
poems,  which  had  reached  the  160,- 
000  mark  m  point  of  sales.  Its  mu¬ 
sical  ,  version  is  the  result  of  the 
efforts  of  Australian  playwright- 
composer  Albert  Arlen,  who  holds 
the  stage  arid  screen  rightslto  Den¬ 
nis’  works.  Book  was  started  by 
novelist  :  George  Johnston  While 
Australian  diplomat  Lloyd  Thomp¬ 
son,  also  toiled  on  It. 


January  8, 1958 


Fifly-secoind  tsSfeWETY  Anniversary 


LEGITIMATE  267 


GYPSY  LOVE  SONG 

By  ROBERT  DOWNING 


Even  to  the  most  unwary.,  it 
might  seem  that :  stage  manage¬ 
ment  requires  a  degree  of  aware¬ 
ness.  You’d  never  believe  a  fellow 
could  be  a  stage  manager,  through¬ 
out  the  revolution  that  has  occurred 
in  American  musical  comedy  with¬ 
out  reaching  some  understanding 
Of  what  was  going  on  around  him. 

I’m  that  guy.  While  our  musical 
stage  was  growing  up,  I  was  mous¬ 
ing  around  the  great  legit.  As  mu¬ 
sicals  found  a  new  dimension,  and 
lifted  the  hearts  and  minds  of 
American  audiences,  I  was  preoc¬ 
cupied  with,  the  world  of  box-sets 
and  muted  phone  hell  cues.. 

My  career,  in  stage  managing,  if 
stage  managing  can  he  called  a  car¬ 
eer,  goes  back  to  the  days  when  the 
Lunts  were  doing  Robert  E.  Sher¬ 
wood’s  ‘There  Shall  Be  No  Night” 
(1940),  Thereafter,  I  considered 
“talking  shows”  the  answer  to  ev¬ 
erybody’s  show  biz  prayer.  Forays 
with  Shakespeare,  Shaw,  Behrman 
and  Williams,  and  with  such  sterl¬ 
ing  lady  dramatists  as  Gypsy  Rose 
Lee  and  Mae  West  kept  me  away 
from  tile  musical  stage,  except  for 
two  productions.  In  1944,  I  was 
with  Mike  Todd’s  “Mexican.  Hay- 
ride,”  and  in  1951  I  did  “Seven¬ 
teen.”  I  had  chances  to  occupy  the 
prompt  corner  for  other  musicals, 
but  I  declined— f6r  reasons  I  nOw 
find  mildly  difficult  to  compre¬ 
hend!  Perhaps  because  of  lack  of 
training  and  experience  I  felt  basi¬ 
cally  insecure  in  the  world  of  mu¬ 
sic  arid  dancing;  or  it  may  be  that 
I  had  just  a  touch  Of  snobbery 
about  the  superior  airs  and  graces 
of  the  spoken  stage. 

Then,  on  a  bright  May  morning, 
Jo  Mielziner  changed  the  course  of 
my  life.  Planning  to  enter  the  pro¬ 
ducing  field,  he  did  me  the  honor 
to  ask  me  to  stage-manage  “Happy 
Hunting.’’  Overnight,  I  was  cata¬ 
pulted  into  the  world  of  Ethel  Mer- 
mrin,  Lindsay  &  Crouse,  Abe  Bur¬ 
rows  &.  Co. 

Now,,  I  wouldn’t  say  that  “Hap-i 
py  Hunting”  turned  out  to  be  a 
show  that  brought  a  new  dimension 
to  Broadway  musicals,  but  it  did 
something  very  special  for  me.  Ig¬ 
noring  for  a  moment  the  14-karat 
names  I  have  dropped  in  the  pro¬ 
ceeding  sentences,  let  me  tell  you 
what,  happened  to  me  backstage  at 
“Happy  Hunting.” 

In  the  first  place,  I  discovered 
a  world  where  human  relationships 
are  as  important  as  technical 
achievement.  Some  of  my  proud 
notions,  about  theoretical  democ¬ 
racy  in  dramatic  casts  ,  went  into 
a  cocked  hat. 

For  instance,  I  found  out  that 
chorus  people  are  really  remark¬ 
able  troupers;  that  the  gypsies  of; 
Times  Square  are  sharp  and  amus¬ 
ing  and  sometimes  dedicated.  I 
learned  that  the.  physical  and  men¬ 
tal  requirerhents  upon  perform¬ 
ers  who  must  sustain  .  brightness 
and  gaiety  in  a  musical  show, 
month  after  month,  can  demand 
far  more  mettle  and  savvy  than  a 
dramatic  .actor  may  ever  expend, 
no  matter  what  a  role’s  nature  or 
how  long  the  run. 
j  ,  ~The  Difference  .  j. 

It  became  clear  to  me  that 
Whereas,  in  play-acting,  a  perform¬ 
er  may,  to  some  extent,  call  his 
Shots  with  readings  and  timing, 
and  may  possess  an  open  mind 
about  stage  business  (and.  how 
some  of  our  acting  tyros  take  ad¬ 
vantage  of  the  privilege!),. ih, a  mu¬ 
sical,  ;  the  player,  is  dominated  by 
the  mathematics  of  composition 
arid  rhythm,  the  tyranny  of  the.  or¬ 
chestra.  and  the  !  vise  of  choreog¬ 
raphy.  .No  improvisation  permitted.1 
No  laxity.  You  don’t  play  it  one 
way  opening  ,  night,  arid  some  other 
way  when  you've,  got  a  bellyache. 
Performances  must  be  consistent 
or  it  becomes  apparent  with  pain¬ 
ful  clarity  that  someone  is  cheat¬ 
ing;  Discovering  such  a  culprit  in 
the  world  of  the  treble-clef  and 
the  tour  jete  is  much,  simpler  than 
spotting  the  average  dramatic  ma¬ 
lingerer:.  But  I  have  found  fewer 
gold-brickers  among  musical  peo¬ 
ple,  than  in  legit. 

By  and  large,  there  is  a  healthier 
regard  for  their  work  than  among 
other  thespians.  Few.  musical  per¬ 
formers  spend  time  worrying  about 
what  “school’’  of  expression  they 
belong  tb—^if  any.  They  belong  to 
show  biz,  and  that  is  enough  for 
them.  It  strikes  me  that  this  is  an 
attitude  which  might  be  adopted, 
with  benefit,  by  players  every¬ 
where 

It  is  possible  that  one  day  I  may 


return  to  the  spoken  drama.  After 
all,  it  was  my  first  love  in  the  thea¬ 
tre.  There  will  be  a  difference, 
however,  if  I  return  as  stage  maii- 
ager.  “Talking”  actors  may  find  me 
slightly  deaf  to.  their  complaints  Of 
mood  and  temperament..  When  they 
cop  a  plea  on  the  grounds  of  play¬ 
ing  sptto  voce  because .  they  just 
don’t  happen  to  feel  the  role  one 
night,  I  may  paw  the  boards  arid 
snort  a  little,  remembering,  as  I 
always  shall,  the  gypsies  who 
danced  bravely  no  matter  how  dark 
it  sometimes  must  have  seemed 
around  them. 


Festival  Livens 


By  MAXWELL  SWEENEY 

Dublin. 

Efforts  to  liven  Irish  tourist 
traffic  to  early  season  peak  with  an 
International  Theatre  Festival  may 
hot  have  brought  many  additional 
visitors  in  its  first  year  but  it 
sparked  interest  in  legit,  stage  in 
the  Spring.  Unfortunately,  interest 
slumped  again  in  Fall  and  biz!  was 
little  better  than  moderate  for  most 
offerings. 

The  Abbey,  still  in  its  temporary 
home  at  Queen's  since  ,  the  fire 
destroyed  old  building  in  1951, 
probably  gained  most .  from  Inter¬ 
national  Fest,  re-staging  J.  M. 
Synge’s  “Playboy  of  the  Western, 
World”  and  Sean  O’Casey’s  “Juno 
and  the  Paycock.” 

New  plays,  staged  by  Abbpy,  with 
exception  of  Hugh  Leonard's  politi¬ 
cal  drama,  “A  Leap  in  the  Dark,” 
were  not  material  which  is  likely  to; 
last,  although  of  four  others  staged 
for  the  first  ,  time  John  O’Donovan’s 
comedy  of  the  political  future, 
“The  Less  We  Are  Together,”  was 
the  best  money-maker;  it  >-asr  how¬ 
ever,  a  play  of  comparatively  ,  local 
interest. 

\  700-Seat  Abbey  1 

Progress  was  made  on  project 
for  construction,  of  new  700-seater 
Abbey  on  site  Of  original  building.. 
■!  Louis  Elliinan’s  Gaiety  Theatre 
had  biggest  break  of  the  year  with 
‘Tinian’s  Rainbow”  which  rah 
through  Summer  and.  was  perhaps 
biggest  boxoffice  attraction  in  .  the¬ 
atre’s  .80  years.  Irish  comedian 
Jiifimy  O’Dea  played  the  lead. 

Best  attended  play  was  “Anas¬ 
tasia”  in  which  Blanaid  Irvine  and 
Abbey  producer  Ria  Mooney  were 
starred,  A  modern  dress  Shakes¬ 
peare  piece,  “Julius  Caesar  AD 
1957,”  directed  by  Hilton  Edwards, 
was  staged  jointly  by  Dublin  Gate 
Theatre  .  Productions  and  Anew 
McMaster  Company  with  Edwards 
as  Caesar  and  McMaster  playing 
Brutus.  Play  proved  good  box  of¬ 
fice,  but  later.  Shakespeare  produc¬ 
tion,  .  “Hamlet,”  staged  by  Howard 
Sackler  with.  Cyril  Cusack  in  the 
sairie  part .  did  hot  do  so  well. 

Two  theatres,  Olympia  and  Gate, 
were  shuttered  for  part  of  the  year 
for  reconstruction,  the  Gate  still 
being  dark  .:  at  year’s  end.  The 
Olympia  had  a  success  on  reopen-; 
ir.g  with.  “An  Evening  with  Joyce 
Grenfell,”  due  for  N.  Y.  *  ?58. .  This 
theatre,  controlled  by  Leq.  McCabe 
and  Stanley  Illsley,  stages  number 
of  pre-London-  tryouts  but  re¬ 
ported.  best  b.o,  of  the  year  was 
with  “South  Sea  Bubble”  with 
Elizabeth  Sellars  starring. 

Conflict  of  opinion  arose  during 
year  when  Phil  O’Kelly,  Gaiety 
manager,  revealed  that,  house  was 
considering  revising  its  policy 
owing  to  poor  houses  for  legit 
presentations:  a  few  weeks  later, 
Olyiripia’s  Leo  McCabe  in  public 
speech  told  hearers  that  “Irish 
legit  theatre  is  holding  up  well.” 

Most  interesting  import  of  the 
year -was  Theatre  National  Popu¬ 
late  from.  Paris,  directed  by  Jean 
Vilar; .  company  staged  Moliere’s 
“Le  Malade  Imaginaire”  (The 
Imaginary!  Invalid)  and  “Le 
Faiseur”  (The  Spectator)  by 
Honrire  de  Balzac..  This  was 
staged,  for  International  Theatre 
Festival,  an  event  to  be  repeated 
in  .’58  again  under  direction  of 
Brendan,  Smith. 

Irish  ianguage  theatre  continues 
to  receive  little  audience  support 
although  several,  good  productions 
w  ere,staged  at  Galway  Gaelic  The- 1 
atre  by  former  Abbeyite  ‘Terru 
Hennessy.  I 


16  Legit  Troupes 
Run  in  Athens 


Reformed  Legit  Flack 
In  1  Remember  Maney’ 


By  IRENE  VELISSARIOU 

...  Athens. 

Greek  stage  activity  this  season 
is  paced,  by  theatres  run  by  actor 
teams..  Some  16  groups  are  at.  work, 
employing  around  250  players.  .Out¬ 
look  is  good  though  “hits”  were 
slow  in  appearance  as  the  present 
season  began. 

National  Theatre  specializing  in 
Greek  tragedies  during  summer 
tourist,  season  reverted  to  Shakes¬ 
peare  then  followed  With  Christo¬ 
pher’s  Fry  “The  Dark  Isn’t  Light 
Enough”  starring  Katina  Paxinou 
and  Alexis.  Minotis  which  gave 
place  to  Ibsen’s.  “Hedda  Gambler”. 
In  all  11  plays  will  be  presented  by. 
end  of  the, season,  among  which  are 
‘‘Don  Juan”!  “Pygmalion”,  “Inter¬ 
mezzo”  and  local  scripts  of  Kostis 
Palamas  and  Dionyssios  Romas. 

The  Theatre  of  Kbstas  Mous- 
souris  has  a  preference  for  modern 
American  plays.  Last  year  was 
“Diary  of  Ann  Frank”  and  this  sea¬ 
son  it  is;  “Street  Scene”  by  Timer 
Rice  with  KOstas.  Moussouris  and 
Antigone  Valakou.  Expected  to  run 
the  season. 

Elli  Labetti  and  Dimitri  Horn 
Opened  their  winter  theatre  Ken- 
tricon  with  Jean  de  Hartog’s  “The 
Four  Poster”  The  play  had  good 
reviews  and.  was  staged  by  Ameri¬ 
can  set  designer  Paul  Silbert.  A 
Greek  play  by  Kampanellis  will  be 
the  second  entry  of  this  theatre 
this  year. 

Katerina  Andreadi  moved  over 
at  her  winter  theatre  the  Ideal  her 
surnmer  success  which  was  the 
“Concert”  by.  Somerset  Maugham. 
It  was  followed  by  Enid  Bagnrild’s 
“Chalk  Garden”  which  had  a  very 
short  run  succeeded  by  an  Agatha 
Christie’s  thriller. 

Another  last  year  hit  continued 
this  Season  at  the  Bournelli  thea¬ 
tre.  It  is.  the  “Good  Sol  die  r 
Swveik”  starring  Mimis  Fotopoul- 
os;  This .  play  has  recorded  more 
than  300  performances. 

In  the  Kotopouli  Theatre  is 
housed  .the  Greek  Popular  Theatre 
of  Manos  Katrakis.  Company 
started  this  season  with  the  Dostoi-. 
of  sky’s  ‘The  Idiot”  adapted  by 
Manolis  Skouloudis  with  Helen 
Hatzeargyri  Manos  Katrakis  and 
Karoussos.  in  the;  leading  roles.  It 
was  followed  by  “Seventh  Heaven”, 
still  current. 

The  Art  Theatre  of  Charles  Coon 
opened  with  a  first  entry  this  sea¬ 
son  three  plays  by  Arthur  Miller 
which  drew  good  reviews  with  a. 
cast  of  20  professionals  and  10 
graduates  of  his  dramatic  school. 
The  second  entry  is  a  Greek  play 
by  Kampaneliis. 

Greek  Comedian  Vassilis  Logo- 
thetides  had  moved  over  to  his 
Winter  theatre,  his  summer  success 
“Between  you  and  me”  by  Dimitri 
Psathas,  buthe  underwent  an  oper- 1 
ation  during  which  the  Theatre  of 
Athens  was  closed  for  repairs  arid 
remodelling.  ! 

v  Balance  of  the  theatres  are  revue 
houses. 


By  MILTON 

I  .  Holly  woojj. 

That  “Fanfare”  by  Richard 
Maney  is  one  of  the  best  backstage 
and  frorit-of-the-hpuse  epics  writ¬ 
ten:  in  the  last  two  generations  is 
no  surprise  to  me.  When  I  first  met 
Maney,  during  his  Jed;  Harris 
pressagent  days,  he  said  just  as 
many  funny  things  and  wrote  just 
as  amusingly  as  he  does  now.  In 
fact,  impressed  by  the  theatrical 
pressagents  who  were  my  com¬ 
patriots  during  the  . ‘20s  and  early 
’30s  in  New  York,  I  once  wrote 
Harry  Hansen,  then  book  critic  of 
the.  N:.  Y.  World  and  pointed  Out 
that  not.  only  Marian  Spitzer,  a 
Satevepost. .  writer;  .  Arthur  Kober, 
who  wrote  humorOus.  pieces  for  the 
New  Yorker;  Henry  Myers,  who 
wrote  plays;  Bob  Sisk,  Who  had  the 
erudition  Of  a  Mencken,  though 
from  Variety,  and  Milton  Raison, 
who  wrote  poetry,  Were,  theatrical 
pressagents,  but  One  Richard 
Maney  was  .  every  hit  as  facile  and 
amusing  a  writer  as  Sam  Hoffien- 
steiri — if  not  mOre  so.  I  signed  the 
letter  “ Roy  Seibert "  then  a  com¬ 
pany  manager  for  Schwab  .&  Man- 
del,.  who  never  read  a  book  in  his 
life,  and  who  dropped  dead  of  a 
heart  attack  at  the  Bohemian  Club, 
.in  Sap  Francisco"  after  filling  ari 
inside  straight  flush. 

Maney’s.  memory  is  extraordi¬ 
nary,  but  duck  soup  for  a  man  who 
can  recjall  the  batting  averages  of 
all  the  [players  in  the  1919  World 
Series.  It  falters  only  when  he  dis¬ 
cusses-  “Shoot  The  Works,"  pro¬ 
duced  by  Hey wOod  Broun.  I  was 
not  the  p.a.;.  Milton '^Lazarus  was.  I 
wa§  quaintly  known  as  the  “asso¬ 
ciate  producer,”  and  among  the 
authors,  whom,  he  had  forgotten 
were  Nunnally  Johnson,  Sig  Herzig, 
Jay  Gorney,  Howard  Dietz  arid  Max 
and  Nathaniel  Lief,  the  latter 
known,  as  the  /‘crooning  dentist” 
because  he  tried  out  srings  on  his 
patients  while  their  mouths  were 
filled  with  instruments. 

However,  this  is  a  small  matter, 
particularly  since  Maney  writes 
candidly  about-  his  employers  and 
the  strange  vagaries  of  the  stars  he 
publicized.  This;  of  course,  was  al- 
:  ways  Maney’s  forte,  He  wrote  just 
as  .  honestly  in  the  pages  of  the 
Times  and  the  Herald-Tribune 
about  Jed  Harris,.  Helen  Hayes, 
Billy  Rose  and  Tallulah,  when  he 
was  actively  working  for  them. 
Only  Sami  Hoffensteiri  dared  tb 
write  as  satirically  about  his  em¬ 
ployer,.  A1  Woods.  The  rest  of  us 
wrote  puffs  or  “color”  pieces. 

He:  writes  warmly  and!,  vividly 
about  his  early  days  in  Montana 
and  Seattle.  It  occurs  to  the  reader 
that  Maney.  did  riot  become  New 
York’s  loading  press  agent  and  a 
legend  in  his  time  easily.  His  early 
days  were  fraught  with  misery, 
fear  and.  even  hunger.  He  was  one 
of  the  very  few  Gotham  press- 
agents  who  worked  out  his  appren- 
.  ticeship  On  the  road,  ahead  and 
with  a  strange  assortment  of  tur¬ 
keys.  By  the  time  he  was  named 


M,  RAISON 

the  -New  York  press  representative 
for  A.  L.  Jones  &  Morris  Green 
he  had  met  many  of  the  hazards 
that  were  later  to  beset  him  on 
Broadway.  The  rest  of  us;  ex-New 
York  newspapermen  and  women 
(or  in  the  case  of  Howard  Benedict 
rind  Bob  Sisk,  from  the  Baltimore 
press),  though  we  knew  what  a 
“stick”  of  copy  was,  a  term  which 
bewildered  Maney,  we  didn’t  know 
what  a  cut  trunk  was  or,  for  that 
matter,  an  olio. 

|  ~~piiigeroodie  j 

In  “Fanfare,”  which  richly  de¬ 
serves  to  be  on  the  bestseller  lists, 
arid  should  be  read  by  everyone 
even  faintly  curious  about  the 
theatre,  Maney  tells  more  about  the 
people  he  worked  for  than  the 
people  he  worked  with.  T’  e  stories 
he  tells  about  Burgess  Meredith 
and  Lee  Tracy,  for  instance,  will 
never  be  found  in  their  biogra- ; 
phies. 

Since  Maney  was  obviously  not 
Writing  an  esoteric  theme,  but 
Wisely  aiming  at  a  general  audi¬ 
ence,  his  book  bristles  with  the 
names  of  noted  stars,  playwrights 
and  producers.  Personally,  I  would 
have  liked  a  few  more  anecdotes 
about  the  newspapermen,  press- 
agents,  house  and  company  man-, 
agers  and  boxoffice  treasurers 
that  he  knew,  drank  and  fought 
with.  Outside  of  Lillian  Heilman,  a 
pressagent  who  became  a  famous 
playwright;  Percy  Hammond.  Hey- 
wood  Broun  and  Lucius  Beebe, 
Maney  spent  little  time  describing 
the  adventures  he  had  with  his  the¬ 
atrical  playmates.  Maybe  he’s 
leaving  these  for  another  book, 
which  I  sincerely  hope  he  writes. 
Meanwhile,  here’s  a°  tip  to  Har¬ 
per’s;  his  publishers:  Go  through 
the  files  of  the  New  York  news¬ 
papers  for  the  37  years  Dick  Maney 
spent  writing  publicity  pieces. 
There  would  be  more  than  enough 
material  to  form  a  book  of  hilari¬ 
ous  trivia,  and  occasional  solemn, 
enthusiasm,  which  Could  easily  be 
as  popular  as  similar  books  by 
Alexander  Woollcott  and  Robert 
Benchley. 

j  Liked~Beiug~P7A.  [ 

I  remember  once  seriously  dis¬ 
cussing  the  future  with  Maney.  I 
wanted  to  be  a  playwright,  pro¬ 
ducer,  novelist  or  even  a  screen¬ 
writer.  Definitely,  riot  a  press- 
agent!  Dick  had  no  doubts  about 
his  career.  He  liked  to  be  a  press- 
agent.  To  date,,  the  theatre  has 
paid  him  $750,000  for  his  talented 
seryices.  I  haven’t  got  three- 
quarters  of  a  million  dollars.  And 
neither  have  any  of  the  writers, 
the  “hunted  and  haunted,"  as  he 
called  them,  who  fled  to  Holly¬ 
wood,  with  the  possible  exception 
of  Nunnally  Johnson.  I  can  fur¬ 
ther  say  iinequivocably,  that  no 
one  has  bad  as  much  fun  as  Maney. 
T  left  hirii  laughing  arid  he’s  still 
laughing,  quite  a  feat  in  a  job  that 
calls  for  the  tact  of  a  Foreign  Min¬ 
ister,  the  tricks  Of  a  Houdini,  the 
nerves  of  an  Icelander  and  the  hyp¬ 
notic  charm  of  a  Mesmer. 


Season’s  Greetings 

CORNELIA  OTIS  SKINNER 


‘BEST  OF  BURLESQUE’ 

A  HIT,  IT  SAYS  HERE 

New  York, 

Editor ,  Variety: 

In  the  story  headlined  “Big 
Losses  on  Big  Shows  off-Broadway” 
in  the.  Dec.  18  issue.  “The  Best  of 
Burlesque”  should  hot  have  been 
included  .as  a  money-losing  entity 
in  the.  overall  Banner  Productions 
failure.  Although  part  of  the  hydra- 
headed  Carnegie  Hall  Playhouse 
operation,  “Burlesque”  alone  em¬ 
erged  unscathed,  at  the  boxoffice, 
thanks  to  turnaway  business  eri-. 
gendered  by  favorable  press  (in¬ 
cluding  Variety),  solid  word-of-; 
mouth  and  despite,  miniscule  ad¬ 
vertising  budget. 

In.  fact,  “Best  of  Burlesque”  was 
originally  scheduled  for  four  weeks 
and  was  held  oyer,  four  additional 
weeks,  recriiiping  its  production 
nut  and  earning  a  slim  but  re- 
spectable  profit.  We  also  netted 
about  $72.50  from  Parisian  art  stu¬ 
dies  sold  raucously  at  intermis¬ 
sions.  Thus  it  appears  that  perhaps 
man  does  not  live  by  bread  alone 
—a  little  cheesecake  helps. 

Jack  Vauqhon. 

(The  writer  was  author-director 
:  of  ‘'The  Best  of  Burlesque  ” — Ed.) 


268  LEGITIMATE 


Fifty-second  PjBStfiSfr  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


CLOSED  FOR  REPAIRS 

Playwright  and  Theatre  Historian  Chronicles  Some 
Of  the  Fabulous  Failures  of  the 
Past  Two  Decades 


By  EDWIN  BRONNER 

Whenever  a  show  dies  on  . the  road  before  reaching  Broadway,  a  press 
release  is  invariably  sent  out  to  the  effect  that' the  production  has 
closed  for  repairs  and  will  reopen  at  a  later  date. 

Not  one  in  a  Hundred  of .  these  calamitous  casualties  is  ever,  disin¬ 
terred:  All  too  soon  the  costumes  and  scenery  are  shrouded  in  ware¬ 
house,  dust,  the  play  itself  (wisely  or  unwisely)  tossed  from  limelight 
to  limbo. 

Once  in  a  blue  moon  a:  play  like  “Washington  Square”  will  close  for 
repairs  and  reopen  under  a  different,  management  as  “The  Heiress.” 
But  it's  usually  a  safe  bet  to  assume  that  death  on  the  road  is.  final  and 
Irrevocable. 

Take  the  case  of  “Battle  of  Angels,”  a  first  play  by  Thomas  L.  i  Ten¬ 
nessee)  Williams,  which  starred  Miriam  Hopkins  as  Myra  Torrance,  a 
lady  of  considerably  easy  virtue.  It  opened  in  Boston,  by  the  way, 
the  same  night  that  “Lady  in  the  Dart”  was  testing  its  wings  for  the 
first  time  at  the  Colonial  Theatre,  around  the  corner. 

“Battle”  dealt  with  a  handsome  halfwit  adrift  among  some  Mississippi 
rivertown  women.  The  firstnight  audience  was  shocked  by  the  frank, 
earthiness  of  the  writing.  Williams  didn’t  mince  his  words. 

Neither  next  day  did  Boston's  City  Councillor.  He  labelled  the  play 
“putrid”  and  demanded  it  be  closed  immediately,  adding:  ‘‘The  police 
should  arrest  the  persons  responsible  for  bringing  shows  of  this  type 
to  Boston.” 

Meaning,  we  must  assume,  the  Theatre  Guild,:  director  Margaret 
Webster  and  Miriam  Hopkins..: 

It's  not  a  dirty  play,”  Miss  Hopkins  shot  back.  “I  haven’t  got  to 
the  point  where  I  have  to  appear  in  dirty  plays.” 

A  few  performances  later  “Battle  of  Angels”  was  duly  closed  for  re- : 
pairs, 

(“Battle,”  a  casualty  of  the  1940-41  season,  was  subsequently  rewrit¬ 
ten  by  Williams  and  presented  on  Broadway  last  season  as  “Orpheus 
Descending.”  It  folded  after  an  unprofitable  nine-week  run:) 

“The  play  was  more  of  a  disappointment  to  US  than  to.  you,”  the 
Theatre  Guild:  admitted  in  an  unprecedented  letter  to  its  Boston  sub¬ 
scribers.  ‘Battle’  turned  out  badly,  but  who  knows  whether  the  next 
one  by  the  same  author  may  hot  prove  a  success.”.  _  .  .  / 

That  “next  one,”  of  course,,  was  “The  Glass  Menagerie,”  produced 
by  Eddie  Dowling  and  Louis  J.  Singer.  A  couple  of  years  later  Dowl¬ 
ing  and  Singer  decided  to  test  their  luck  a  second  time  With  “St.  La- 
tare’s  Pharmacy,”  also  starring  Miriam  Hopkins.  It  never  reached 
New  York. 

]  Curious  Tombstones  ~~f 

Looking  back  oyer  the  past  20  years  of  the  American  theatre  and 
recalling  even  a  few  of  the  productions  Which  never  lived  up  to  their 
brave  “Prior  to  Broadway”,  placards,  is  a  little  like  walking  through  a 
graveyard  dotted,  with  curious  tombstones.  Digging  up  corpses^-even 
theatrical  corpses— can  be  a  ghoulish  sort  of  business.  But  it  can  be 
Instructive  and  "Uso — if  one  must  labor  the  point— constructive.  Why , 
did  this  fatal  accident  occur?  How?  When?  Where?  and,  again,  why? 

Why,  for  example,  did  the  late  Sidney  Howard's  “Madam -Will:  You 
Walk”  giye  up  the  ghost  after  only  a  few  weeks  on  tour  in  1939?  With 
Peggy  Conklin,  Arthur  Kennedy,  Sara  AUgoqd  and  Keenan  Wynn  in 
the  cast,  with  settings  by  Robert  Edmond  Jones  and  incidental  music 
by  Kurt  Weill,  this  “cockeyed  version  of  the  Faust  legend”  was  enchant¬ 
ing  theatre.  It’s  true  that  George,  M.  Cohan  was  not  too  happy  in  the 
leading  role.  It’s  equally  time  that  the  play— daring,  imaginative,  and 
exhilarating  as  it;  was — -needed  work. 

.  (“Madam”  is  one  of  the  exceptions.  They  finally  got  around  to;  it  a 
few  seasons  ago  at  New  York’s  downtown  Phoenix.) 

It’s  easier  to  understand  why  “The  Admiral  Had  a  Wife’-  closed  for 
repairs  and  never  reopened!  Jose  Ferrer  produced,  and  directed  this 
comedy  set  in  Pearl  Harbor.  With  Uta  Hagen,  Alfred  Drake  and  Bed . 
Buttons  prominent  in  the  cast*  “Admiral”  was  booked  to  open  in  New. 
York  on  Wednesday,*  Dec.  10,  1941.  The  Japanese  attack  on  Pearl  Har¬ 
bor  on  Dec.  7  wrote  finis  to  this,  ill-fated  production. 

Bad  luck  of  a  different  sort  Was  encountered  a  few  years  back  with 
the  presentation  of  “Star  Dust,”  by  N.  Y.  Herald  Tribune  critic.  Walter 
Kerr.  “Star  Dust”  was  a  really  funny  comedy  about  a  Hollywood  lu¬ 
minary  who  got  tangled  up  with  a  highbrow  little  theatre  group.  It 
was  woefully  miscast  and  misdirected.  Ward  Morehouse,  William  Bq- 
litho,  William  Archer,  DonaldHirkley,  Alexander  WoblCott  arid  Wol¬ 
cott  Gibbs  at  least  saw  their  brainchildren  reviewed  by  their  fellow^ 
members  of  The  League  of  Contented  Rattlesnakes,  to  pilfer  a  phrase 
from  the  late  Percy  Hammond.  Kerr’s  play*  however/  opened  in  Phila¬ 
delphia  and  closed  rather  abruptly  in  Baltimore.  'Kerr,  however,  has 
been  represented  on  Broadway  by  four  other  entries.  All  the  produc¬ 
tions,  including  “Star  Dust,”  .  Were  put  on  before  Kerr  joined  the 
Tribune.) 

Tallulah  Bankhead  was  ambushed  by  “I  Am  Different”  back  in 
1938,  together  with  John  Emery,  Fritzi  Scheff  and  Glenn  Anders. 

^‘Defying  the  thermometer,”  Miss  Bankhead  recalls,  “it  opened  in 
Chicago  in  August*  ,  and  by  Thanksgiving  Day  had  edged  as  far  east 
as  Washington.  There  it.  Collapsed  from  public  lethargy.  It  had  been 
a  shambles  from  the  start.” 

Gertrude  Lawrence  experienced  a  similar  fate  in  1944  with  “Errand 
For  Bernice,”  a  three-character  contrivance  written  and  directed  by 
Jacques  Deval.  As  an  Army  nurse  on  a  San  Francisco  furlough.  Miss 
Lawrence  was  never  more  radiant,  never  more  winning. 

Katharine  Cornell  had  her  share  of  troubles  with  “Herod  and  Mari- 
amne,”  “Rose  Burke”  and  “Captain  Carvallo,”  none  of  which  ever 
reached  the  Rialto.  In  the  first,  she  played,  the  stately,  long-suffering : 
wife  of  Fritz  Kortner.  Florence  Reed  and  Kent.  Smith  were  on  hand  to 
offer  advice,  and  .consolation.  In  the  second,  she  was  a  wise  and  Witty 
sculptress  in  love  with  Philip  Merivale,  amused  by  Jean  Pierre- Aumont; 
In  “Carvallo”  she  was  married,  as  I  recall,  to  the  late  Nigel  Bruce 
Intrigued  by  the  stalwart  Sir  Cedric  Hardwicke.  . 

Ruth  Chatterton,  one  of  the  most  resourceful  actresses  of  the 
American  stage,  was.  also  a  three-time  loser  with  “A  Lady  Comes 
Home,”  “Bow  to  the  Wittiest”  and  “Treat  Her  Gently.”  This  latter 
was  authored  by  the  prolific  George  Batson.  Miss  Chatterton  not  only . 
starred  in  the  play,  but  produced  it,  directed  it  and  designed  the  set¬ 
tings.  "Gently”  was  a  reasonably  diverting  comedy  about  a  sophisti¬ 
cated  book  reviewer  (conservative)  Who  falls  in  love  with  a  young 
writer  (radical).  Closed  for  repairs,  it  reopened  under  Guthrie  McClin- 
tic’s  tutelage  as  “Punch  and  Julia,”  with  Jane.  Cowl  as  the  conservative, 
and  Gregory  Peck  as  the  well-meaning  insurgent.  But  it  Was  no  rise.. 
“Punch  And  Julia”  was  withdrawn  from  the  marketplace,  too. 

Not  even  Shirley  Booth  could  save  “Heartsong,”  Irene  Selznick’s 
first  foray  into  play  production.  Miss  Booth  played  the  part  of  a 
charmingly  alcoholic  radio  casting  director  in  this  domestic  drama  by 
Arthur  Laurents,  Six  years  later  Laurents  squared  accounts. to  every¬ 
one’s  satisfaction  by  penning  “The  Time  of  the  Cuckoo”  for  his  heroine. 

Ruth  Gordon  was  stricken  with  repairitis  while  appearing  in  Alex¬ 
ander  King  and  Chester  Erskihe’s  “Portrait  of  a  Lady,”  a  venomous  ap¬ 
praisal  of  a  well-known  authoress.  (This  is  not  to  be  confused  with  a 
similarly  titled  play,  adapted  by  William  Archibald  from  Henry  James’ 


novel,  which  had  a: brief  Broadway  run  In  1954.)  Ina^  Claire  had  her 
siege  with  “Yankee  Fable,”  a  costume  romp  presented  by^Cheryi  Craw¬ 
ford,  and  staged  by  Otto  Preminger.  Mae  West  was Laid  low.  by f  Gome 
On  Up”  in  which  she  played  Carliss  Dale,:  Washington  adventuress. 
And  Melvyn  Douglas  by  ‘Let  Me  Hear  the  Melody,”  in  which  he  im¬ 
personated  a  thinly-disguised  Scott  Fitzgerald  under  Burgess  Mere¬ 
dith’s  surveillance. : ;  .... 


j  ,  Hollywood  Headaches _ _ j 

Screen,  stars  Veronica  Lake,  Joan  Blondell  and  Claire  Trevor  closed 
out  of  town  in  “Masquerade,”  “Goodbye  to  Love”  and  “Out  West  It  s 
•Different,”  respectively,  the  last -a  wild-and-woolly  satire  on  the  Group 
Theatre  by  the  Spewacks.  “Emily”  kept  its  petite  star,  Simone  Simon, 
onstage,  from  start  to  finish- with  nary  a  single  exit.  Margaret  O’Brien 
never  got  out  of  Boston  with  Clare  Booth  Luce’s  “Child  of  the  Morn¬ 
ing.”  The  following  ;seasbh  the  poor  kid  was  embroiled  in  a  rather 
awesome  little  melodrama,  “The  Intruder,”  written  by  this  reporter, 
produced:  and  directed  by  the  redoubtable  Eddie  Dowling.  Another 
thriller,  “The:  Master’s  Chair,”  by  Rand  Elliot  and  Albert  Dickason, 
involved,  the  talents  of  Ona  Munson  and  Richard  Ney — but  not  for  long, 

Gloria  Swanson  and  Francis  Lederer  attempted  in  “Three  Curtains” 
to  bring  Shaw’s  “Mari  of  Destiny,”  Barrie’s  “Old  Lady  Shows.  Her 
Medals”  arid  Pinero’s  “Playgoers”  to  Broadway.  The  season  before, 
Eddie  DOWling  and  Julie  Haydon  tackled  a  group  of  Sean  O’Casey- 
William  Saroyan  playlets,  but  “Life,  Laughter  and  Tears,”  as  it  was 
called,  also  failed  to  make  the  grade.  Only  Noel  Coward,  it  would 
seem,  can  make  an  evening  of  one-acters  tinkle  at  the  wickets. 

In  the  purlieus  of  the  problem  play,  radio  writer  Max  Wylie 
drafted  a  thoughtful,  disturbing  drama,  “The  Greatest  of  These/’ 
about  contemporary  India.  Mary  Boland,  Gene  Raymond  and  Sam 
Jaffe  appeared  in  it.  Micaela  O’Hara  had  an  extremely  promising 
play  on  what  is  Usually  *ef erred  to  as  a  delicate  subject  iri.  “Honor 
Bright:”  “A  Young  American,”  a  drama  on.  race  relations  written  by 
this  correspondent,  received  some  flattering  reviews  wheri  . the  Black- 
friars  Guild  produced  it  here  in  NeW  York  with  Louis  Peterson, 
author  of  “Take  a  Giant  Step”  in  the  lead.  Recast,  redirected  and  re¬ 
written,  it  failed  to  stir  up  much  excitement  oil  the  road  Under  the 
auspices  of  the  Messrs.  Shubert  arid  Albert  de  Courville. 

And  so  it  goes.  “There’s  No  Business  Like  Show  Business  ”  or, 
“Show  Business  Is  No  Business!”  Take  your  choice. 

Kermit  Bloomgarden’s  “A  Certain  Joy”  didn’t  live  up  to  its  title. 
Eddie  Dowling’s  “Springboard  To  Nowhere”  did.  Marcus  Heiman. 
was  forced  to  call  it  quits  with  ‘‘Tangled  Web,”  Max  Gordon  with 
“Franklin  Street,”  Oscar  Serlin  With  “The  King’s  Maid,”  Gilbert 
Miller  with  “The  Big  Story,”  Milton  Berle  with  “Same  Time  Next 
Week/’  Arthur  Hammerstein  with  “One  Flight  Down.”  Paul  Osborn’s 
“Maiden  Voyage,”  Joe  Kramni’s  “Build  With  One  Hand”  and  John  veil 
Druteri’s  “Daricirig  in  the  Chequered  Shade”  were  unfortunate  dis¬ 
asters  of  tnodCrn  vintage. 

What  about  Arthur  Kober’s  “Bella’s  Got  a  Fella,”  Clifford  Gold¬ 
smith’s  “Mr.  Cooper’s  Left  Hand,”  Mark  Reed’s  “One  Shoe  Off  ,”  Jerry 
Chodorov’s  “Bamaby  and  Mr.  O’Malley?”  and  “Judy  O’Connor,”  ‘‘The 
Fig  Leaf”  and  “West  of  the  Moon,”  co-authored  respectively  by  Frank 
Ross,  John  Gerstad  rind  Louis  Broirifield?  Couldn’t  at  least  one  of 
these  Comedies  be  fixed,  mended*  restored?  The.  Bromfield  opus  was 
an  especially  intriguing  concoction,  a  satire  on  the  phoney  Spiritualism 
racket  in  Southern- California,  with  Donald  Cook  as  a  charlatan  selling 
celestial  real  estate,  and  Estelle  WinWOod  as  a  bereaved  widow. 

Bromfield’s  fate  as  a  dramatist,  has  been  paralleled  in  recent  sea¬ 
sons  by  Sinclair.  Lewis,  (“Angelais  22”) ,  Herman  WoUk  ( “Modern  Primi- . 
tive”),  Arthur  Koestler  (“Twilight  Bar”)  and  Graham  Greene  (“The 
Heart,  of  the  Matter’’). 


■]  The  Melodies  DidriLLinger  On  1 

Rodgers  &  Hammerstein  produced  “The  Heart  of  the  Matter”  and, 
to  date,  it  is  their  Only  offering  which  failed  to  hit  the  Main.  Stem. 
In  the  musical  comedy,  genre,  however,  the.  number  of  shows  which 
didn’t  quite  make  it  to  Gotham  is  staggering.  Ori  occasions  it  is  down¬ 
right  mystifying. 

...  Why,  for;  instance,  didn’t  “The  Little  Dog  Laughed”  come  to  town? 

I  recall,  itasanopulerit,  eye-filling  fantasia  boasting  a  batch  of  tunes 
out  of  Harold  Rome’s  top-drawer,  aided  and  abetted  by  a  really  Clever 
book  by  Joe  Schrarik.  This  was  the  team  responsible  for  most  of  the 
good,  things  in  ‘Tins  and  Needles,”  of  pleasant  memory.  Atlantic  City 
audiences  liked  practically  everything  about  “The  Little  Dog  Laughed.” 
Yet  it  died  a  dog’s  death..  It  couldn’t  have  been,  money  trouble,  for 
this  “new  satirical  musical”  was  reputedly  backed  by  a  member  of  the 
duPont  family.  So  what  happened?  Wby  did  it  close  for  repairs  and 
fail  to  reopen? 

Arid  what  about  the  Mary  Martin  show,  “Dancing  In  The  Streets,” 
which  Vinton  Freedley  produced  10  years  back?  It  boasted  a  hum¬ 
ble.  Vernon  Duke  score,  a  topical  (but  not  typical)  Howard  . Dietz-Johri 
Cecil  Holm  book;  set  in  Wartime  Washington,  and  some  really  special 
Robert  Alton  terpsichorean  turns.  Aside  from  the  captivating  Miss 
Martin,  the  company  included  Dudley  Digges,  Cora  Witherspoon, 
Ernest  Cos.sart,  Billie  .  Worth,  .  Mark  Dawson,  Lucille  Bremer,  Johnny 
Coy,  .  Jack  Kilty  arid  Don  Liberto.  What  happened  to  “Dancing  In  The 
Streets?” 

Another  musical  which  deserved  a  better  fate  than  it  received  was. 
“The  Life  of  the  Party/’  by  Alan  Jay  Lerner  and  Frederick  Loewe. 
The  Detroit  firstnighters  were  enthusiastic  arid  the  reviews  next  morn¬ 
ing  were  exceptionally  friendly.  I  didn’t  know  then  Why  ‘‘Party” 
curled  up  and  died,  and  I  don’t  know  now. 

“The  Life  of  the  Party”  was  an  adaptation  of  “The  Patsy.”  However, 
its  fate  was  no  worse  than  modernized  versions  of  “Little  Jessie  James” 
(“Heels  Together”),  “The  Firefly’’  (“Full  Speed  Ahead”),  “Excursion” 
(“A.  Month  of  Sundays”),  arid  “Sailor,  Beware”  (“Nice  Goin'  ”).  Broad- 
way- never  got  a  peek  at  any  of  these.  “Nice  Goin'  ”  (with  Mary  Martin, 
Bert  Wheeler,  Tom  EWell,  Carol  Bruce,  Pert  Kelton,  Anthony  Ross, 
Vicki  Cummirigs*  Lee  Dixon),  probably  had  more  trouble  than  all  the 
others  put  together.  It  weathered  a  series  of  postponements  rivalling 
the  legendary  Viricent  Youmans’  show  of  the  ’20s,  “Great  Day,”,  which 
eventually  came  to  be  known  in  the  trade  as  .  “Great  Delay.” 

Among  the  mpre  fabulous  miscalculations  of  recent  years  in  the 
song-and-dance  division  are: 

Milton.  Berle’S  "Spririg.  In  Brazil;”  Max  Baer’s  “Hi’  Ya,  Gentlemen;” 
Derinis  King’s  “She  Had  to  Say  Yes”;  the  B.  P.  Schulberg  production 
of  “Marianne,”  with  Ernest  Truex  and  Mary  Jane  Walsh;  the  Shubert. 
Operetta,  “Love  In  The  Snow;”  the  Larry  Storch  revue  (with  sketches 
by  George  Axelrod),  “Curtain  Going  Up;”  and  Cheryl  Crawford’s  pro¬ 
duction  of  Marc  Blitzstein’s  “Reuben,  Reuben.” 

Also:  the  Dwight  Deere  Wiman-Jack  Kirkland  production  of  “They 
Can’t  Get  You  Down,”  with  Jan  Clayton  and  Peggy  Ryan  in  the  cast; 
“Bonanza  Bound,”  from  the  typewriters  Of  Betty  Comden  &  Adolph 
Green;  ‘That’S  The  Ticket,”  ,  directed  by  Jerry  Robbins;  the  Max  Lieb- 
man- Joseph  Kipness  extravaganza,  “Shootin’  Star,”  with  David  Brooks 
as  Billy  The  Kid  and  Doretta  Morrow  as  his  little  prairie  flower;  the 
Abe  Lincoln  folk  opera,  “Stovepipe  Hat”  which  got  snarled  up  iri 
some  mighty  iiri-Lincolnesque  legal  maneuverings;  “Windy  City/’  the 
only  musical  ever  produced  which  had  its  hero  commit  suicide  onstage 
at  the  final  curtain;  and  ‘‘Sweet  Bye  and  Bye,”  the  S.  J.  Perelman-Al 
Hirschfield  “futuristic”  spectacle  in  which  Dolores  Gray  chanted  “Just 
Like  A  Man,”  a.  Vernon  Duke-Ogden  Nash  creation  appropriated  six 
years  later  by  Bette  Davis  in  “Two’s  Company.” 

These  are  pnly  a  handful  of  the  productions  which  have  closed,  for 
repairs  during  the  past  20  years.  Some  of  them  were  hopeless  from 
the  start.  But  many  of  them  were  not  and  might  have  made  the  grade 
with  a  little  'more  time  on  the  road. 

No  doubt  New  .York  has  been  spared  a  few  Indignities  during  the 
past  two  decades.  But  it  has  also  been  deprived  of  some  enchanted 
evenings. 


American  Actors 


By  HENRY  SHEREK 

London. 

Who  said  that  there  Were  no 
good  actors  in  the  American  The¬ 
atre?'  On  recent  visit  to  New 
York  I  was  quite  overcome  by  the 
high  standard  prevailing.  And  a 
little  ashamed. 

Perhaps  I’m  getting  old— but  not 
that  old.  True,  as  one  gets  older 
pne  usually  gets  more,  selective. 

Please  don’t  tell  me  it’s  “The 
Method:”  Actors  and  actresses, 
bless  ’em)  Only  get  better  by  acting. 
By  elimination  I  credit  the  off- 
Broadway  shows  and  television. 

It’s  true  that  they  don’t  get  the 
kick  of  actually  playing  to  a  live 
audience  ori  television,  but  at  least 
they  do  get  proper,  if  rather,  short, 
rehearsals  and.  do  the  play  right 
through  and  in  sequence, .  unlike 
the  repetitive  and  out-of-sequerice 
playing  in  motion  pictures. 

Many  of  the  off-Broadway  pro¬ 
ductions  give  the  young  actors  the 
finest  training  of  all  because  they 
present  ,  plays  by  Shakespeare, 
Shaw,  Schiller  and  O’Casey.  Great 
Writing  always  brings  out  the  great¬ 
ness  in  acting.  You  don’t  learn 
much  by.  mouthing  platitudes  Jri 
ladies’  boudoirs,  and  drawing¬ 
rooms. 

If  the  play  demands  it,  these 
off-Broadway  plays  enable  the  actor 
to  act to  project  the  emotions  fired 
by  the  author’s  words  and  to: 
throw  thpir  voices  to  the  back  of : 
the  auditorium.  In  one  case,  one 
actor  did  this  so  well  that  he  kept 
on  waking  me  up  during  “A  Long 
Day's  Journey  Into  Night.”  I  admit  -■ 
■this  was  on  Broadway.  That  is 
precisely  what  surprised  me. 

The.  future  bf  the  American 
actors  lies  in  their  getting  the  op- 
portuni ty  to  exercise  their  art  iri 
front  of  people.  The  way  to  in¬ 
crease  this  is  ;to  revive  the  tours 
arid  increase  the  stock  companies. 
The  Unions’  rules  have  made  this 
impossible.  If  only  Washington 
would  accept  the  theatre  as  one 
of  the  most  important  of  the  arts, 
it  should  dp  more  than  its  present 
piddling  contribution  to  help. 

|  Hang  Your  Heads  j 

Is  it  not  a  disgrace  that  the 
richest  country  in  the  world  con¬ 
tributes  less,  to  the  arts  than  a 
poor  country  like  France,  Which 
is  alsp,  at  the  same  time,  running 
a  costly  folly  in  Algeria? 

Don’t  tell  me  to  take,  the  beam 
out:  of  my  own  eye,  please,  be¬ 
cause  I.  freely,  admit  Without  any 
•pressure  at  all,  .that  the  same  is 
true  in  England,  With  this  excep¬ 
tion.  Our  government  has  seen  the 
light  arid  taken  the  Entertainment 
Tax  off  the  ‘‘living  theatre/’ 

:  The  remission  of  Entertainment 
Tax  in  Britain  has  brought  new 
hope  to  our  theatres  and  saved  a 
great  number  of  the  excellent  re¬ 
pertory  theatres  that  are  such 
Wonderful  training  grounds  for  pur 
actors. 

You  could  do  the  same;  but  you 
would  have  to  organize,,  as  we  did. 
Form  a  sinking  fund  (many  New 
York  producers  are  anything  but 
shaking  and  can  well  afford  to  con¬ 
tribute),  get  together,  a  committee, 
hire  a  leading  lawyer  and  beat  at 
the  door  of  wise  wizards  in  Wash¬ 
ington* 

There’s  ari  old  Chinese  saying: 
which  runs:  “It  is  the  wheel  that 
squeaks  that  gets  the  oil .  r 

Squeak,  Yanks. 


Dauphin  Adapts  ‘Seven,’ 
But  May  Not  Act  in  It 

Claude  Dauphin  has  completed  a 
French  translation  pf  “Rain  Before 
Seven,”  the  .  Marc  Brandel  play., 
once  considered  for  BroadWay 
production.  The  French  actor, 
starring  iri  “Clerambard”  at  the 
off-Broadway  Rooftop  Theatre, 
N;  Y.,  has  sent  the  translation  to 
his  agent  in  Paris. 

Dauphin  said  in  New  York  last 
week  that  his  translation  of  the 
work  does  not  necessarily  mean 
that  he  intends  either  to  appear 
In  the  play  or  direct  it.  When 
“Rain  Before  Seven”  first  made, 
the  Broadway  rounds,  Dauphin’S 
name  was  mentioned  as  the  prob¬ 
able  lead. 


I  SWiss  actor  Maxiraffian  Schell 
will  make  his  Broadway  debut  in 
/■Interlock,”  costarring  with  Rose¬ 
mary  Harris.  and;  Celeste  Holm* 


January  8,1958 


Angels  Are  Busy 


Their  Up,  Mitt 

By  LEONARD  TItAUBE 

Sure,  it  was.  very  irritating  in 
the  old  silent  picture  days  to  have" 
to  listen  to  someone  in  a  neighbor¬ 
ing  seat  reading  the  titles  to  Mom 
or  Pop.  Those  were  the  days,  in 
the  congested  metropolitan  areas  at 
least  (N.Y..  Chi,  Philly  predomin¬ 
antly),  when  immigration'  was  only 
just  past  its  height,  in  the  era  well 
before  the  pictures  had  begun  to 
talk;  and  the  Europeans-turned- 
Americarts  couldnft  read;  at  least 
most  of  them  couldn’t,  so  it  be¬ 
hooved  their  brood  or  friends  to 
take  over  this  chore,,  playing  it 
either  in  the  straight  English,  or 
translating  rabidly  into  the  mother 
tongue:  Yiddish.  Russian,  Polish. 
German,  etc.  The  air  was  foul, 
the  theatres  were  hot,  the  seats 
were  hard,  there  was  always  some¬ 
body  snoring,  and  the  lady  With 
the  big  hat  hiding  the  screen  was 
always  in  front  of  you. 

Sure,  it  was  irritating,  but  not 
more,  so  th-n  a  years-later  reflec¬ 
tion  Of  bad  habits  which  inhabit 
another  kmd  of  theatre— legit. 

Bad  Habit  NO,  1?  That’s  easy,  j 
That’s  an  investor  in  the  show.  He 
may  have  a  C-note  or  a  G-note;  rid¬ 
ing  on  the  firstnight  sweepstakes; 
the  amount  doesn’t  matter.  He 
will  always  ,  turn  up  in  a  pretty 
good ,  sert  within  earshot  of  the 
critics  whom  he  figures  will  lend 
their  ears  to  his  constant  chatter 
to  his  wife  or  girlfriend  concern¬ 
ing  the  merits  of  the  cast,  the 
script,  the  director,  the  scenic  art¬ 
ist,  the  illiiminatorsi.  the-  producer, 
and  even;  the  pressagent! 

When  the  show  is  in  progress, 
he  rises  to  .  his  supreme  task,  his 
chef-d’oeuvrC,  his  great  contribu¬ 
tion  to  society,  to  the  thitter,  In  a 
straight  play,  he  will  be  the  first 
to  make  with  a  burst  of  applause 
as  the  curtain  rises  upon  a  set  that 
may  be  no  more  than  a  journey¬ 
man  kitchen  but  that  to  him  is  .a 
dream  Cuisine.  The  critic  better 
take  notice  of  this  handclap  dis¬ 
play  Connoting  the  angel’s  appreci¬ 
ate  of  such  art  in  the  decor  depart¬ 
ment. 

|  Those  Bravo  Kids  .  J 

He  will  be  the  first  to  make  with 
the  hand-to-hand  music  when  the 
first  player  comes  upon  the.  stage, 
and  upon  any  enioter’s  first  exit. 
Give  the  angel  his  due— he  will 
wait — impatiently,  'tis  true,  but  he 
will  wait — until  the  actor;  has  fin¬ 
ished  his  speech  before  he. puts  his 
best  hands  forward  in  a  mating  of 
the  mitts. 

Not  so  in  a  musical;  To  the  an¬ 
gel,  a  song  number  in.  a  tUneshow 
is  his  particular  meat.  Seconds 
before  the  singer  or  the  ensemble 
has  finished  the  last  bar  of  a 
number,  the  angel  is  in  there,  with 
his  hot  little  hands,;.  Everyone  in 
the  house,  knows  that  the  number 
is  about  to  go  into  its  final  beat, 
but  it  is  the  gent  with  a  buck  or 
two  riding  on  the  outcome  who 
makes  with  the  cacophonic  claque 
to  let  all  and  sundry  know  of  his 
esteem  and  appreciation  of  .  the 
stage  goings-on. 

Make  no  mistake  about  it,  there 
are  other  big  and  little;  angels  (not 
all  . of  them  but  some  of  them;  the 
others  have  better  taste  despite 
an  understandable  yen  to  go  in  for 
applause  as  .  a  partisan  pitch 
whether  the  show  is  a  good  or  had), 
but  there’s  always  the  onb  investor 
in  the  house  who  elects  himself 
as  the  lead  clap-hander. 

If  ever  there  is  a  kind  of  audi¬ 
ence  censorship,  this  “top  hand'’ 
should  be  the  first  to  go. 

Only  $42,500  Bankroll 
For  ‘Methuselah’  Shorty 

“Back  to  Methuselah/’  which 
begins  a.  scheduled  42-city  pre- 
Broadway  tour  next  Monday  (6), 
represents  an  unusually  small  in¬ 
vestment  for  a  Mam  Stem-tar¬ 
geted  offering.  The  production  of 
the  Arnold  Moss  condensation  of 
Bernard  Shaw’s  marathon  original 
‘  capitalized  at  $42,500,  with  pro¬ 
vision  for  15%  ($6,375)  overcall; 

The  Theatre  Guild  and  Moss  are 
presenting  the  play,  in  which  Ty¬ 
rone  Power,  Faye  Emerson  and 
Arthur  Treacher  are  costarred. 
The.  management  tried  .  out .  the 
vehicle  last  summer  on  the  straw- 
hat  circuit,  with  Celeste  Holm  and 
Moss  costarred. 


Fifly-tecond  f^S&IETY  Annivertary  LEGITIMATE  289 


I  Fond  Memory:  Those  Music  Box  Revues 

[AND  THAT  OLE  MASTER,  IRVING  BERLIN] 

By  ROBERT  BARAL 


Irving  Berlin  is  commonly  rated  Broadway’s  most  prolific  songwrit¬ 
er— none  quite  in  his  class  over  the  years,  since,  1914.  This  does  not 
disparage  ;  his  worthy  contemporaries — Jerome  Kern,  George  Gersh¬ 
win,  Rudolf  Friml,  Sigmund  Romberg,  Vincent  Youmans,  Cole  Porter 
and  Richard  Rodgers— but!  only  states  a  difference  and.  a  uniqueness 
of  Berlin’s. 

Practically  alone,  and  certainly  more  than  anyone  else.  Berlin  put 
ragtime,  the  predecessor  to.  jazz,  on  the  map. 

living  Berlin  is  rated  Broadway’s  ace  songwriter  < —  started  with 
“Watch  Your  Step’*  .  (1914).  the  first  complete  syncopated  musical 
fashioned  to.  this  American  rhythm -(ragtime,  like  jazz  fermented  in  the 
dives,  backalleys  and  bordellos,  with  New  Orleans,.  San  Francisco,  Kan¬ 
sas  City  and  Chicago  the  main  stops — with!  all  the  stylists  and  piano- 
thumpers  finally  converging  on  Broadway  and  setting  up  cubby-holes 
in  Tin  Pan  Alley). 

.  Berlin’s  “Alexander’s  Ragtime  Band"  was  the  real  opening  gun. 
This  classic  was  first  moulded  into  “Alexander  and  His  Clarinet”  (1910) 
—then  reworked  into  “Alexander’s  Bagpipe  Band”  (1912)  for  a  show 
called  “Hokey  Pokey”  which  was  a  reunion  of  the  team  of  Veberv& 
Fields  with  Lillian  Russell.  In  between  these  two  versions,  the  ultimate 
“Alexander’s  Ragtime  Band”  took  form— Emma  Carus  introduced  it 
first:  Ethel  Merman  sings  it  best  today! 

During  this  embryo  period  Berlin  was  apparently  turning  out  at  least 
one  song,  a  week  judging  from  his  fat  catalog..  He  had  interpolated 
numbers  in  many  early  shows  then.  For  “The  Jolly  Bachelors”  (1909) 
he  wrote  three  numbers,  -‘Sweet  Marie,  Make-arRag-a-Time-a-Dance 
With  Me,”  “Stop  That  Rag”  and  “If  The  Managers  Only  Thought  The 
Same  As  Mother-”  Norah  Bayes  and  Jack  Norworth  starred  in  the 
latter. 

'  Following  this  up  the.  same  year  he  wrote  “She  Was  A  Dear  Little 
Girl”  for  “The.  Boys  ahd.  Betty”  which  starred  Marie  Cahill.  In  1910 
he  got  into  four  shows:  “The  Men  land  a  Girl”  for  which  he  wrote 
“Herman,  Let’s.  Dance.  That  Beautiful  Waltz”  and  “Wishing”;  “Up  and 
Down  Broadway”  which  used.  ”  That  Beautiful  Rag”  arid  “Sweet  Italian 
Love”;  “Jumping.  Jupiter- ’  which  included  “Thank  You  Kind  Sir0  (this 
cast  had  Richard  Carle,  Edna  Wallace  Hopper,  Ina  Claire  arid  a  chorus 
girl  named  Jeanne  Eageisj— and  “The  Girl  and;  the  Wizard”  which  had 
one  Berli  song,  “Oh,  How  That  German  Could  Love”  (Kitty  Gordon 
starrer).  " 

.  Irving  Berlin  appeared  with  Ted  Snyder,  .  his  partner  then,  in  the 
[  show  “Up  and  Down  Broadway”  which  was  his  first  appearance  in  a 
i  regular  musical  show  —  along  with  Eddie  Foy,  Emma  Carus,  Anna 
Wheaton  arid  Adelaide  &  Hughes  .  .  .  so  the  footlights  weren’t  exactly 
strange  to  him  when  he  next  appeared  in  “‘Yip  Yip  Yaphank”  during 
World  War  I— the  .first.  “Music  Box  Revue”  (1921)  and.  ‘This  Is  The 
Army”  (1942). 

After  his  success  with  “Alexander’s  Ragtime;  Band,”  Florenz  Zieg¬ 
feld,  Jr.  came  into  the  picture.  Berlin  had  four  numbers  in  the  “Fol- 
i:es”  of  ’ll  (Fannie  Brice  had  sung  his  “Goodbye  Becky  Cohen”  when 
she  debuted  in  .  this  series  the  year  before).  The  .“Follies”  quartet  in¬ 
cluded:  “Ephraham  Played  Upon  the  Piano,”  “You’ve  Built  a  Fire. 
Down  in  My  Heart,”  “Woodman,  Woodman  Spare  That  Tree”  and  “Dog¬ 
gone  That  Chilly;  Man.”  This  brought  him  up  the  scale  in  the  Broad¬ 
way  spotlight  and  soon  his  assembly-line  hits  were  being  sung  by  Ju¬ 
lian  El  tinge,  Charles  King,  Ethel  Levey,  Bessie  Wynn,  Florence  Moore- 
Alice  Dovey,  . Clifton  Crawford,  Lew  Fields,  and  other  ranking  stars  of: 
this  Early  Rag  Era. . 

For  “Watch  Your  Step,”  Berlin  wrote  nearly  2d  ragtime  songs  which 
was  unheard  of  at  that  time  for  a  major  Broadway  show  (the  English 
influence  was  then  on);  The  Vernon  Castles  were  in  top  form  with  the 
tango,  polka  and  foxtrot  and  their  tony  magnetism  (not  to  forget  those 
swirling .  chiffons  Lucille,  Lady  Duff.  Gordon  created  for  Mrs.  Castle) 
accelerated  the  ragtime  craze.  After  this  show,  he  ..wrote  /‘Stop!  Look! 
Listen!”  (1916)  also  for  C.  B.  Dillingham  and  deUvered  25  new  .Tick-’ 
ety-tick  songs.  .  ! 

“Yip  Yip  Yaphank”  evolved  during  his  hitch  in  the  U.S.  Army  as  a 
Sergeant-— he  penned  nine  songs  including  “Mandy”  which:  went  into 
the  big  “Ziegfeld  Follies”  of  1919  and  “Oh!  How  I  Hate  to  Get  Up  in 
the  Morning”  (Gene  Buck  said,  this  number  \vas  not.  sung  in  this  series 
— -but  cover,  credit  includes  Ziegfeld  listing);  One  other  song  for  ‘‘Yank” 
— T  Can.  Always  Find  . a  Little  Sunshine  in  the;  Y.M.C.  A.”  was  intend¬ 
ed  as  a  iamerit  for  the.  lonely  .soldier  aWay  from  home — don’t  worry 
Mother  stufi-but  the  song  got  hilarious  laughs  and  snickers  instead 
arid  was  removed;  It’s  a  collector’s  item  today. 

The  impact  of  World  War  I  and  his  own  period,  of  service  in  uniform 
inspired  Berlin  to  write  two  interpolated  songs  for  the  ‘‘Ziegfeld  Fol¬ 
lies”  of  1918— including  “I’m  Gonna  Pin  a  Medal  on  the  Girl  I  Left 
Behind!”  which  Frank  Carter  (Marilyn  Miller’s  first -  husband)  sang— 
and.  “Blue  .  Devils  of  France”  which  Lillian  Lorraine  introduced  wear¬ 
ing  a  beret  and  satin  uniform. 

All  through  this  doughboy  stretch  his  songs  were  picked  iip  for  “Ev¬ 
erything”  “Cohan  Revue,”  “The  Canary,”  “Going  Up”  and  “Eyes  of 
Youth”— which  finally  brought  him  to  1919  and  Zieggy  again  approach¬ 
ed  him  to .  write!  a  complete  score  for  the  “Ziegfeld  Follies.”  He;  wrote 
‘‘A  Pretty’  Girl  Is  Like  A  Melody”  on  short  notice— it  was  used  as  a 
short  filler  in  between  splashier  scenes-^-but  it  came  oiit  on  top  when 
the  curtain  lowbred  at  the  New  Amsterdam  Theatre.  Details  of  this 
.particular  number  are  given  in  the  *19  edition  of  the  “Follies”  history. 

.  also  the  other  hit  songs  he  wrote  for  this. spinning  show. 

This  impressive  work  was  followed  up  with  the  1920  score  for  the 
“Follies,”,  which  while  riot  as  exciting  as  the  ’19  music,  did  bring  forth 
“Girl  Of  My  Dreams”  and  -‘Tell  Me. Little  Gypsy.”  By  this  time  Ber¬ 
lin  was  way  out-  on  top— he  had  his  finger  on  the  public’s  pulse— arid 
he  decided  that  he’d  like  a  piedra-terre  for  his  b(Vn  songs— the  Music 
BOx.  Revue  theatre  went  up  and  the  lid  was  raised  on  the  first  “Music 
Box  Revue”  (1921)  .  saaay  it  with  muusic!” 

|  Reprising  The  Revues  ,  j 

Variety  readers  will  recall  this  theatrical  .historian’s  detailing  in  the 
last .  Anniversary  Edition  of  the.  year-by-year  facts  oh  the  Ziegfeld 
Follies,  which  has  since  been  in  considerable  demand.  The  following 
text  applies  the  same  looking-backward  technique  to  Irving  Berlin’s 
own  theatre,  where  also  history  was. manufactured:. 

"MUSIC  BOX  .REVUE"  (1921).  The  cast;  Willie  Collier.  Sam  Bernard,  ivy  Saw- 
yer.  Joseph  Santly,  Wilda  Bennett,.  Florence  Moore,  .Paul  Frawley.  Chester-  Hale. 
Richard  Keen,  Hugh  Camron,  Rosa  Rolando,  Margaret  Irving,  Emma  Haig.  Brox 
Sisters.  -Ethelind  Terry.  Marguerite  &  Gill,  -Rene  Riano— and  Irving  Berlin;  Sketches: 
Frances  Nordstrom,  Willie  Collier,  George  V.  Hobart,  T.  J.  Gray.  Sets  by  Clark 
Robinson.  Dances  by  Bert  French;  Costumes  by  Ralph  Mullings,  Cora  McGeachey, 
Alice  O'Neill.  Ballet /by  I.  Tarasoff.  Songs  by  Irving.  Berlin.  Staged-  by  .Hassard 
Short.  Ran  313  performances.- 

Broadway’s  newest  legit  house  at  the  tinie-^the  Music  Box  ’(Cpst: 
$617,012),  and  the  first  of  four  memorable  revues  blazing  with  Irving 
Berlin’s  songs.  This  first,  edition,  cost  $187,613  to  produce.  Next  tp  Ber¬ 
lin’s  ace  music,  for  which  the  theatre  was  built  and  labeled,  Hassard 
Short  emerged  as  a  stage  wizard  with  his  magic  elevators  which  brought 
new  excitement  to  Broadway.  Backstage  the  Music  Box  was  a'  mass  of 
extra  bridges,  traps  and  structural  steel  gadgets — all  geared  to  exploit 
“Say  It  With  Music.” 


Berlin  had  his  music  ready  a  long  time  before  the  world  premiere, 
and  he  got  so  excited  oyer  “Say  It  With  Music”  that  he  loaned  the 
rough  manuscript  to  the.  jazz  orchestra  at  the  Sixty  Club  for  a  one 
night  Workover,  blit  it  proved  such  an  instantaneous  hit  right  from  the 
start  that  drastic  measures  .were  required  to  prevent  it  from  growing 
stale  before  the  show  actually  opened.  Wilda  Bennett  and  Paul  Frawley 
introduced  it  in  the  revue— later  Ethelind  Terry  and  Joseph  Santly 
took.  over. 

Next  to  “Say  It  With.  Music,”  the  syncopated  beat  of  “Everybody 
Step”  which  the  Brox  Sisters  whammed  borne  in  their  modulated  pi-, 
ping,  proved  irresistible.  The  number  was,  as  the  title  implies,  a  com¬ 
mand  to .  let  go  and  dance — which  the  entire  company  die.  However 
the  revue  did  not  stop  with  the  rich  musical  portions— the  choice  cast 
was  up  to  the  top-drawer  Berlin  tunes.  Willie  Collier  was  in  charge 
of  the  laugh  department  arid  had  expert  help  from  Sam  Bernard,  Flor¬ 
ence  Moore  and  a  loose-limbed  zany,  Rene  Riano  who  tied  herself  up 
in  knots  i  “I’m  a  Dumbell”  (not  published):  “Dining  Out”  had  an  en¬ 
tire'  dinner  served  a  la  musical  fare  With,  the  chorines  appearing  in  all 
the  courses  from  salt  shaker  to  demi-tasse.  Later  “They  Call  It  Danc¬ 
ing”  which  travestied  modern  steps  then,  and  marathons  proved  a  riot 
as  done  by  Sarii  Bernard  with  Rene  Riano,  .  “The  Legend  of  the  Pearls,” 
sung  by  Miss  Bennett,  utilized  rich  pearl  effects  which  dazzled  patrons. 
Irving  Berlin  loved  the  show  and  appeared  in  this  ,  first  edition  along 
with  the  Eight  Little  Notes;  Mary  Milford,  Virginia  Dixon,  Helen 
Clare,  Betsy  Ross,  Helen  Newcbmbe,  Claire  Davis,  Jeanne  St.  John  and 
Miriam  Hopkins  (later  the  film /star).  Sam  Harris’  unruffled  business 
hand  steered  the  revue  efficiently,  landing  a  certain  stability  to  the  ven¬ 
ture  which  was  missing :  from  many  of  the  other  revues  during  this 
hectic'  period.  The  “Music  Box  Revue”  reflected  high  polish  and  taste 
—stayed  clear  of  Ziegfeld’s  girlie  sumptuousness— and  concentrated  on 
eulogizing  Irving  Berlin’s  rich  songs  within  a  set.  frame.  “Say.  It  With 
Music”  was  a  potent  title  for  the  first  hit  to  come  out  of  the  series.  It 
saturated  the  Music  Box-^-inside  and  but. 

"MUSIC  BOX  REVUE"  (1922).  The  cast:  William  Gaxton.  Charlotte  Greenwood. 
Grace  LaRue.  John  .Steel,  the  Fairbanks  Twins:  the  McCarthy  Sisters,  Clark  &  Me- 
Cullough,  Ruth  Page,  Stowitts.  Olivette.  Amelia:  Allen,  Williatri  Seabury.  Robinson 
Newbold,  the  Rath  Bros.  Songs  by  Irving  Berlin.  Costumes  by  Ralph  Mulligan  and 
Gilbert  Adrian.  Skits  by  Frances  Nordstrom.  George  V.  Hobart;  Walter  Catlett,  Paul 
Gerard  Smith.  Dances  by  William  Seabury.  Sets  by  Clark  Robinson.  Staged  by  Has¬ 
sard  Short.  Ran  273  performances. 

Comes  the  second  edition  and  Smash  No.  2,  Berlin’s  keyboard  de¬ 
livered  “Lady  of  the  Evening”  (for  a  long  time  this  was  Berlin’s  favor¬ 
ite  song),  and  the  stuttering  rhythm.  “Pack  Up  Your  Sins^and  Go  to  the 
Devil,”  and  the  plaintive  “Crinoline  Days”— all  freshr  today.  Clark  & 
McCullough  debuted  in  this  edition.  Again  Hassard  Short’s  mechanical 
effects  proved  sensational— especially  in  “Satan’s  Palace”  with  the 
McCarthy  Sisters  doing  rhythmic  justice  to  “Pack  Up  Your  Si  .”  Char¬ 
lotte  Greenwood  presided  over  the  jazzy  ritual  as  the  Devil  with  other 
performers  depicting  Gilda  Gray,  Ted  Lewis,  Bee  Palmer,  Frisco  and 
other  “sinners”  descending  to  the  lower  depths  midst  steam,  elevators 
and  shooting  flames.  Berlin’s  syncopated  voodoo  of  “Pack  Up  Your 
Sins”  permeated  this  volcanic  revel.  This  song  was  the  basis  for  a  pla¬ 
giarism  suit  ait  the  time— but  Jascha  Heifetz,  Neysa  McMein  and  Le- 
nore  Ulric  stepped  in  and  declared  they  had  heard  Berlin  play  it  a  full 
year:  before  it  came  out.  The  suit  was  dismissed, . 

In  the  “Diamond  Horseshoe”  number;  the  Metropolitan  Opera  won 
attention  in  a  shimmer  of  diamond  costuming  representing  the  ladies 
of  the  opera  with  Grace  LaRue  as  Thais  inounting  the  stairs  and  her 
train  finally  graduating  to  the  full  sweep  of  the  Music  Box  stage.  Met. 
Opera  heroines  had  long  served  revues,  in  some  form  or  other— but 
this  particular  ,  treatment  was  a  14-karat  sensation.  The  same  idea  was 
repeated  when  Miss  LaRue  sang  “Crinoline  Days”— rising  slowly  via  an 
elevator  and  her  hoop  skirt  getting  fuller  and.  wider  until  the  final 
yard  came  out  of  the  trap  to  engulf  the  entire  stage.  ‘‘Lady  of  the  Eve¬ 
ning”  was  given  a  quiet  interpretation— John  Steel,  with  rooftops  and 
soft  lights  accenting  the  moonlight  melody.  Stowitts  and  Ruth  Page 
handled  the  ballet  numbers  which  were,  on  the  exotic  side.  The  Chi¬ 
nese  porcelain  fantasy,  “Porcelain  Maid,”  was  a  standout  with  its  lav¬ 
ish  oriental  costumes  created  by  Gilbert  Adrian;  (soon  to;  go  to  Holly¬ 
wood).  The.  McCarthy  Sisters  had  “Bring  On  The  Pepper”  as  another 
close  harmony  rendition  .  which  fitted  their  Dutch-bob  personalities. 
Charlotte  Greenwood  had  Special  material  '  “I  Want  A  Daddy  Long 
Legs”  (to  match  her  own)— and  also  a  skit  in  which,  she  fell  out  of  an 
airplane:  Bobby  Clark,  stood  out  immediately  as  an  enduring  comic — 
his  chores  dominated  his  partner’s,  Paul  McCullough.  This  is  one  team 
which.  C.  B.  Cochrari  missedi  out  on  in  .London— they  were,  appearing 
in  “Chuckles”  over  there  with  marked  success  but  Irving  Berlin  got 
to  them  first.  Incidentally  Cockie  imported  the  “Music  Box  Revue” 
(iriiniis  the  best  stars)  to  London  but  it  was  a  flop.  The  New  York  press 
welcomed  Clark  &  McCullough  with  plaudits.  The  Music  Box  hum¬ 
bled  and  the  boxoffice  bulged—and  Broadway  wondered  just  how  Ber¬ 
lin  &  Harris  could  keep  up  the  pace.  Ziegfeld  envied  those  song  hits. 

"MUSIC  BOX  REVUE"  (1923).  The  castr  Frank  Tlnney,  Robert  Benchley,  Joseph 
Santly,  Ivy. .Sawyer,  John  Steel,  Grace  Moore,  Phil  Baker,  SoUy  Ward,  Florence 
MOore;  .  Mme.  Dora  Stroeva,  .Florence  O’Denn.ishawn,  Columbus  A  Snow,  the  Brox 
Sisters.  Lora  Sonderson,  Hugh  Cameron,  Dorothy  Dllley.  Costumes  by  Charles  Lo- 
Maire  and  Ralph  Mulligan..  Sets  by  Clark  Robinson.  Perfume  ndvelty  by  Edwin  Men¬ 
delsohn.-'  Songs  by  Irvins  Berlin.  Staged  by  Hassard  Short.  Ran  273  performances. 

Not  content  with  hypnotizing  the  public  with  songs,  Berlin  (or  Has¬ 
sard  Short)  how  proceeded  tb  intoxicate  them  with  perfume  .  .  .  “An 
Orange  Grove  in  California”  which  Grace  Moore  and  John  Steel  sang 
in  the  midst  of  a  California,  grove  soon  dissolved  into  a  festive  glow  of 
incandescent  orange-colored  lights  which  climbed  all  over  the  stage 
—and  orange  scent,  sprayed  the  audience.  It  was  pure  novelty  of  the 
highest  brand.  Berlin  always  worked  with  meticulous  care  in  casting 
his  revues— having  lined  up  Grace  Moore  in  Europe  the  summer  be¬ 
fore  when  she  was  first  undertaking  serious  study  for  opera.  She  jus¬ 
tified  the  selection  (Ziegfeld  wanted  her  for  “The  Three  Musketeers” 
later  on). 

While  Berlin’s  music  Was  generous  no  real  hit  seemed  to  rise— so 
an  interpolated  song,  “What’ll  I  Do?”  was  handed  to  Miss  Moore  who 
made  it  farnous  overnight.  John  Steel  continued  as  the  most  popular 
tenor  of  the  time  and:  duetted  with  the  rising  diva  in  all  the  bigger 
scenes.  The  Brox  Sisters  back  on  the  roster  continued  to  belt  out  the 
more  spirited  Berlin  songs— this  year  being  “Learn  to  do  the  Strut” 
with  the  full  company  terping  on  a  slanted  stage  down  to  the  foot¬ 
lights, 

“A  Fisherman’s  Dream”  was  Hassard -Short’s  dazzler  with  Florence 
O’Dennishawn  as  the  Star.  Fish  who  was  caught  with  a  diamond  neck¬ 
lace.  Short  had  utilized  miles  of  diamonds  and  riiinestones  on  the  ele¬ 
vators— now  he/turned  to  mesh.  Whiting  &  Davis,  leading  mesh  firm, 
created  gold  &  silver  mesh  gowns  in  modish  styles— and  Ivy  Sawyer 
and  Joseph  Santly  sang  “Maid  of  Mesh.”  The  girl  inside  milady’s  bag 
was  Helen  Lyons.  Whiting  Sc  Davis -took  out  full  page  ads  in  the  maga¬ 
zines  to  adyeriise  this  scene— nne  of  the  first  major  promotional  tie- 
ups  ever  made.  with,  a  Broadway  musical.  In  the  comedy  department, 
this  third  Music  Box  Revue  made  history. 

Robert  Benchley,  in  business  suit  arid  bow-tie,  brought  his  drollerief 
(Continued  on  page  270) 


270 


LEGITIMATE 


Fifty-second  PfifjSIETY  Anniversary 


January  8,1958 


The  Glory  That  Once  Was 
Chicago’s— Wha’  Hoppened 

By  RALPH  T.  KETTERING 

Chicago.  M.  Cohan,  Sam  H.  Harris,  A1  H. 


Ralph  T.  Kettering 
Architect  Frank  Lloyd 


Now  don’t  get  me  wrong.  I  love 
Chicago.  I  was  horn  here.  For  one 
who  has  lived  with  the  legit  theatre 
for  more  than  50  years  1  am  loath 
to  believe  we 
have  become  a 
"second  class 
city*”  But,  you 
cannot,  ignore 
facts.  1  do  not 
appear  to  be 
alone  in  this 
regard. 

Recently,*  1 
attended  a 
dinner  where 
three  ex-Chi¬ 
cagoans  began 
compar  ing 
notes.  Archit' 

Wright  spoke  his  piece.  “Chicago 
Is  19th  century.  Architects  here 
treat  steel  like  lumber.  Their 
buildings  are  going  to  rust  at  the 
joints  and  die  of  arthritis.”  When 
the  new.  lake  front  Exposition  Hall 
was  .  mentioned  he  added,  “All  you 
can  say  is  that  it  will  be  huge.” 

Archibald  MacLeish,  the  poet, 
was  there  and  he  read  a  long  list 
of  Chicago-born  influential  artists 
and  said:  “Very  few  have  ever  lived 
here  long.  Writers  want  to  live:  in 
a  world  where  things  of  the  mind 
are.  This  proves  that  brains  are 
necessary. 

Nelson  Algren,  the  author,  said 
artists  had  fled  Chicago  because 
“they  can’t  stand  the  place:”  Of 
course  Algren  lives  in  Gary,  Ind., 
so  you  may  discount,  anything  he 
says. 

And  so  it  went  for  more  than  an 
hour.  To  my  credit  I  remained 
silent. 

I  listened  and  memorabilia  car¬ 
ried  me  back  to  my  boyhood  in 
Chicago.  What  promise  it  held.  The 
Essanay  and  Selig  lots  held  prom¬ 
ise  that  this  new  thingamagig; 
called  “movies”  might  become  a  big 
industry.  Chicago  was  then  the 
capital  of  the  motion  picture  world. 
In  that  year  at  the  turn  of  the  cen¬ 
tury  it  was  also  the  producing  cen: 
tre  for  stage  plays.  Fred  Hamlin, 
B.  C.  Whitney,  Mort  Singer,  Kohl 
&  Castle  and  others  were  produc¬ 
ing.  for  the  road  like  mad.  There 
were  seven  firms  producing  dramas 
with  offices  in  the  old  Masonic 
Temple  Bldg, 

The  movies  moved  west  and  the 
Stage  producers  east. 

As  .  memory  serves,  Chicago  was 
a  great  “theatrical  centre”  in  those 
days.  And  in' less  than  20  years  it 
was  destitute  of  those  great  giants 
who  wrote,  directed,  produced,  cast 
and  booked  their  own  plays  and 
with  their  own  money. 

Then,  along  came  radio  to  the 
rescue.  Chicago  became  the  births 
place  of  "soap  .operas.”  Hundreds 
of  players  got  jobs.  And  then  came 
tv.  It,  too,  managed  to  flourish  for 
a  decade.  Then  it  moved  both  ways 
—east  and  west: 

The  decline  of  Chicago  as  ah 
amusement  biggie  cannot  be  pin¬ 
pointed:  It  is  the  result  of  many 
things.  It  would  be  tautology  to  list 
them. 

Claudia  Cassidy  and  Sy.d  -  Harris 
have  harped  on  ^second  compa¬ 
nies.”  Well,  they  are  right.  How 
long  has  it  been  since  Chicago 
boasted  an  “original  cast”?  Aside 
from  “The  Glass  Menagerie”  which 
I  snared  for  my  own  theatre,  how 
many  “new  plays”  have  had  their 
“premiere”  here.  None,  for  almost 
20  years. 

Not  until  two  young  people  did 
the  impossible  has  opera  had  pro¬ 
duction  in  the  grand  manner  in 
Chicago.  All  the  rich  sponsors  of 
opera  had  either  died  or  moved 
away.  These  two  youngsters  not. 
alone  managed  to  finance  Opera 
from  ticket  sales  but  have  estab¬ 
lished  their  Lyric  Opera  as  .  One  Of 
the  world’s  greatest  and  mostest. 
Success  brought  them  personal 
sorrow  and  they  split.  One,  the 
woman,  has  managed  to  carry  on 
successfully. 

Gone  are  the  large  picture  stu¬ 
dios.  Gone  are  the  producing  man¬ 
agers.  Gone  are  radio,  tv,  as  points 
of  origination,.  And  “going”  are  our 
theatres.  Ohly  three  legit  houses 
remain  where  once  there  were  18. 
Neighborhood  pictures  are  drying 
up  and  our  largest  chains  closed 
seven  of  its  largest  only  last  week. 


“giants.” 


Wbods,  George  Tyler,  Charles  B; 
Dillingham,  Brock  Pemberton,  Gil¬ 
bert  Miller,  Arthur  Hopkins  on  the 
billings  and  you  knew  where  to 
look-  for.  professional  producers 
who  knew  their  business. 

Today,  the  names  of  producers 
guarantee  little  if  nothing,. 

Today  a  writer  seeks  a  lawyer 
who  telephones,  a  few  clients,  hires 

college  director  to  put  on  his 
show,  hires  a  “general  manager” 
to  attend  business  details  and  a 
play  is  “produced.” 

Experience  does  not  seem  to 
count.  That  goes  for  tv  as  well.  Did 
vou  see  Mickey  Rooney  play 
George  M.  Cohan?  Did  you  see  the 
salute  to  Ethel  Barrymore?  I  won¬ 
der  why  someone*— just  someone — 
did  not  tell  the  director  that  Ethel 
might  have  stepped  into  the  pic- ; 
ture  at  the  finish  just  to  say,  ‘That 
is  all  there  is — there  is  no  more.” 

And,  what  they  did  to  Jeanne 
Eagels  shouldn’t  happen  to  a  dogf 
As  she  played  her  last  performance 
on  my  Adelphi  stage  maybe  I  could 
have  told  them  some  exciting 
things  that  would  have  bettered, 
that  tV  version. 

There  are  two  things:  you  cannot 
have,  at  one  timer  The  first  is  ex¬ 
perience  and  the  second  is  youth. 

But  we  can  hope,  can’t  we?  We 
can  hope  that  there  will  be  replace¬ 
ments  eventually  for  those  “giants.” 
Those  men  who  made  “Broadway 
and ,  42d  Street”  a.  corner ;  of  the 
world  that  shone  ,  with  brilliance 
and  hope.  Until  then  I  shall  be 
standing  on :  the  corner  watching 
the  “new  theatre”  emerge.  And  it 
will.  It  can’t  help  but;  emerge  from 
its  present  fumbling.  Say  a  prayer 
.for  it. 

But,  don’t  get  me  wrong.  I  love 
Chicago  as  much  as  someone,  else 
loves  Hollywood. 


British  Shows 

(Figures  denote  opening  dates ). 
LONDON 

At  Drop  0#  Hat,  Fortune  (L24-57). 

Bo  My  Guest;  Wint.  Card.  (12-11-37). 
Bells  Ringing;  Coliseum  (11-14-57). 

Boy  Friend*  Wyndhams  (12-1-53). 

Bride .  A'  Bachelor,  Duchess  <12:19-56). 
‘Dear  Delinquent#  Aldwych  (6-5-57). 
Dinner  With  Family,  New  (12-1037), 

Dry  Rot,  Whitehall  HJ-31-54). 

Egg,  Savilie  (10-24-57). 

Flowering  Cherry,  Haymarket  (11-21-57). 
For  Amusement  Only,:  Apollo  <6-5-56). 
Free  As  Air,  Savoy  . (6-6-57). 

Crab  Me  a  Gondola,  Lyric  (12-26-56). 
Happiest  Mill.,  Cambridge  (11-15-57). 
Happy  Man,  Westminster  (12‘’13-57). 
House  by  Lake,  York’s  <5-9-56). 

Kldders,  Arts  (11-12-57). 

Lovebirds,  Adelphi  4-20-57). 

Mousetrap,  Ambassadors  (11-25-52). 

New  Crazy  Gang;  Vic.  Pal.  (12-18-56). 
Nude  With  Violin,  Globe  <11-7-58). 

Odd  Man  In,  St.  Martin’s  (7*16-57). 
Paddle  Own  Canoe,  Criterion  (12-4-57). 
Plalsirs  De  Paris,  Wales  (4-20-57). 

Rape  of  Belt,  Picadilly  (12-12-57). 
Repertory;  Old  Vic  (9-18,57). 

Roar  Llko  a  Dove,  Phoenix  (9-25-57). 
Sailor  Beware,  Strand  (2-16-55). 

Salad  Days,  Vaudeville  (8-5-54).  . 

Sat.  Night  at  Crown,  Garrick  (9-9-57). 
Share  My  LettUce,  Comedy  (9-25-57). 
Stranger  In  the  Sea,  Arts  (12-27-57). 
Tempest,  Drury  Lane  (12-5:57): 

Tunnel  of  Love,  Majesty’s  (12-3-57). 
*Transfer  from  Westminster. 


By  WILLIAM  STEIF 

San  Fraricisco. 

San  Francisco’s  legitimate  thea¬ 
tre  has  .become  a  peculiar  pheno¬ 
menon,  with  most  of  “the  season” 
concentrated  in  .the  four;  to  five 
months  of  late  spring  and  Slimmer. 
This  is  primarily  due  to  the  tre¬ 
mendous  strength  of  Ed  Lester’s 
Civic  Light  .  Opera,  which  struck  a 
rich  bonanza  this  year  in  “My  Fair 
Lady”  (almost  $790,000  gross  in 
six  weeks  at  the  Opera  House),  re¬ 
vivals  of  “Annie.  Get  Your  Gun” 
and  “South.  Pacific”  (both  with 
Mary  Martin)  ,  and  with  “Fanny.” 
The  three  latter  shows  kept  the 
Curran  packed  from  start  to  fin¬ 
ish.  and,  meantime,  the  next-door 
Geary  was  profiting  nicely  by  a  14- 
week  run  of .  “No  Time  for  Ser¬ 
geants.” 

Then  the  two  theatres  were  left 
to  lay  fallow  throughout  the  fall, 
mid  only  Randolph  Hale’s  Coast 
version  of  “Tunnel .  of.  Love”  at 
the  Alcazar  kept  the  legit  light 
burning  in  Frisco.  Hale,  indeed, 
has  contributed  heavily  to  keeping 
legit  alive  in  this  area,  concluding 
a  year-plus  run  Of.  “Anniversary 
Waltz”  at  the  Alcazar  last  winter, 
then,  bringing  in,  on  his  .  own 
dough,  “The .  Reluctant  Debutante,” 
Which  was  considerably  less  than  a 
smash  'hit. 

It’s  still  too  early  to  tell  whether 
Tunnel”  will  build  to  a  “Walta”- 
type  fun,  but  thefe’s  no  doubt  that 
without  Lester  and  Hale  Frisco 
would  be  a  dead  town  legit-wise, 
for  fewer  and  fewer  roadshows 
seem  to  be  making  the  big  .'jump 
across  the  Rockies.  This  fact  has 
given  some  Of  the  little-theatre 
operators  renewed  hope  for  a  local 
repertory  company,  notably  Jules 
Irving’s  Actors’  Workshop,  but 
whether  these  chaps  can  grow,  into 
true  pro  operations  remains  to  be 


SCHEDULED  N.Y.  OPENINGS 

BROADWAY 

(Theatres  Set) 

Two  for  Seesaw,  Booth  (1-10-58). 
Marcel  Marceau,  City  Center  (1:21-58). 
Summer  17th,-  Coronet  (1-22-58). 

Body  Beautiful;  B’way  (1-23-58). 
Maybo  Tuesday,  Playhouse  (1-28-58). 
Sunrise  at  Campobello,  Cort  (l-GO-58). 
Oh  Captain,  Alyin  (2-4-58). 

Cloud  Seven,  Golden  (2-5-58). 
Interlock,  ANTA  (2-6-58). 

Pdrtoflho,  Adelphi  (2-19-58). 

Blue  Denim,  Playhouse  (2-27:58). 

Who  Was  That  Lady,  Beck  (3-3-58). 
Say  Darling,  ANTA  (4-3-58). 

Love  Me  Little,  Naves  (4-9-58). 
.Goldilocks,  Globe  (5-8-58). 

< Theatres  Not  Set) 

Wlnesburg,  Ohio  (wk.  1-27-58). 

Venus  at  Large  (2-11-58), 

Entertainer  (2:12-58). 

This  Is  Google  (wk:  2-17-58). 

Day  Money  Stopped  (2-20-58). 

Actress  In  Love  (2r24-58). 

Back  to.Methusselah  (3:24-58). 

Hearts  A  Dollars  (43-58). 

OFF^BROADWAY 

Garden  District,  York  (:l-7-58): 

Chairs  A  Lesson,  Phoenix.  (1-9-58). 
Winkelberg,  Renata  (1-14-58). 

.  Boy  Friend,  Downtown  (1-25-58). 
Endgame,  Cherry  Lane  (1-27-58). 
Dmitri  Karamazov,  Jan  HuS  (1-27-58). 
Infernal  Machine,  Phoenix  (2-4-58), 


mf 


Half-Season  Key  City  Grosses 


>♦444 


(Covering  the  first  26  weeks  of  ilie  season,  through  last  Nov.  30, 
with  comparitive  figures  for  the  corresponding  period  in  previous 
yedrs,  if  available.  Excludes  stock,  outdoor  spectacles,  etc.) 


Number  Number 

of 

of  Half- 

Full- 

Playing 

Shows  Number  of  Other  Season 

Season 

Season 

Weeks 

Played  Premieres  Tryouts  Gross 

BALTIMORE 

Gross 

1957-58. 

..  5 

5  1  1  $128,600 
BOSTON 

1957-58. 

...  21 

10  2  7  654,600 

CHICAGO 

1956-57. 

4  0  6  ”740,600 

CINCINNATI 

2,860,100 

1957-58. 

..  23 

1957-57. 

..  4 

4  0  -  2  89,000 

CLEVELAND 

1955-56. 

..  23 

17 

567,900 

1956-57. 

.'.  13 

12  ...  ..  . . 

336,100 

1957-58. 

. ..  10 

7  T  2  248,600 

DETROIT 

1957-58. 

..  16 

7  0  1  455,200 

LOS  ANGELES 

(Including  Civic  Light  Opera) 

1957-58. 

..  44 

14  0  0  1,867,660 

NEW  HAVEN 

1957-58, 

...  7 

7  6  0  223,300 

PHILADELPHIA 

1955-56. 

...  77 

34 

2,108,100 

1956-67. 

.  .  77 

37  ........ 

1,889,900 

1957-58. 

. .  39 

18  5  10  1,078.500 

SAN  FRANCISCO 

(Including  Civic  Light  Opera) 

1957-58. 

..  64 

9  0  0  2,300,700 

TORONTO 

1957r58. 

6 

6  1  0  140,900 

WASHINGTON 

1957-58. 

...  16 

7  2  4  450,100 

WILMINGTON 

1957-58 

..  5 

5  4  0  83,000 

Baral’s  Music  Box  Reprise 


-  Continued  from,  page :  269  ■ 


to  the  footlights  with  his  “Treasurer’s  Report,”  a  classic  for  sophisticat¬ 
ed  nonsense.  The  so-called  report  ‘brought  the.  activities  of  the  choral 
society  uptodate,  except  of  course  for  July  and  August,  when  his  sister 
got  married  (ahem!).’  Dizzy  but  riotously  funny.  After  this  click  there 
was  a  stream  of  platform  speakers  Who  tried  to  imitate  Benchley,  but 
this  casual  humorist  remained  supreme  in  the  field  for  charm  and  belly 
laughs.  Then  George  S.  Kaufman’s  gem,  “If  Men  Played  Cards,  as  Wom¬ 
en  Do”  with  Joseph  Santly,  Hugh  Cameron,  Solly  Ward  and;  Phil  Bak¬ 
er  indulging  in  some  bitchy  femme  gossip.  For  extra  novelty,  Mme. 
Dora  Stroeva  from  Russia  via  Paris,  sang  plaintive  chanteys  in  sharp 
contrast  to  Berlin’s  simple  unadorned  melodies.  “Yes,  We  Have  No 
Bananas,”  then  the  national  nuisance,  was  given  operative  workover  by 
a  sextet  including:  Florence  Moore,  Lora  Sondersori,  Frank  Tinney, 
Grace  Moore,  John  Steel  and  Joseph  Santly— all  they  chirped  about 
was  bananas!  It  registered.  But  what  haunted  Irving  Berlin,  was  “What’ll 
I  Do?”— next? 


.  .“MUSIC  BOX  REVUE”  (1924).  The  cast:  Clark  &  McCullough,  Fannie  Brice,  Grace 
Moore.  Oscar  ShaW,  Claire  Luce,,  the  Brox  Sisters,  Carl  Randall,  Hal  Sherman,  Ul« 
Sharon,  Joseph  McCauley,  Bud  &  Jack  Pearson,  Tamiris  &  Margarita,  Runaway  Four. 
Costumes  by  James  Reynolds..  Sets -by  Clark  Robinson.  Songs  by  Irving  Berlin. 
Staged  by  John  Murray  Anderson.  Perfume  novelty  and  blackface  effects  by  Edwin 
Mendelsohn.  Ran  184  performances. 


( Covering  the  first  .26  weeks  of  the  season,  through  last  Nov.  30, 
\,with  comparitive  figures  for  the  corresponding  period  in  previous  years, 
'■  if  available.  The  tabulation  does  not  include  off -Broadway,  stock,  out¬ 
door  civic  operations,  etc.) 

BROADWAY 


Number  of 

Number  of 

Half-Season 

Full-Season 

Season  Productions 

Playing  Weeks. 

Gross 

Gross 

1947-48. 

572 

$12, 144-400 

$28,826,500 

1948-49. 

509 

12,273,800 

28,840,700 

1949-50. 

•  ;• 

455 

11,862,500 

28,614,500 

1950-51 

•  v ; 

495 

11,559,100 

27,886,000 

1951-52. 

.  q  • 

429 

11,678,500 

28,702,000 

1952-53. 

.  .  . 

391 

10,691,800 

26,126,400 

1953-54 . 

... 

447 

12,548;300  ' 

30,169,200 

1954-55, 

...  23 

477 

13,100,900 

32,087,800 

1955-56. 

...  28 

535 

15,281,900 

35,353,100 

1956-57. 

...  25 

488 

15,311,000 

37,154,500 

1957-58. 

..t  24 

450 

ROAD 

15,280,800 

1948-49 

... 

539 

11,136,300 

23,657,900 

1949-50. 

... 

385 

8,333,100 

20,401,300 

1950-51. 

433 

9,906,700 

20,330,600 

1951-52. 

... 

348 

8*468,400 

18,827,900 

1952-53. 

399 

10,124,800 

23,417,600 

1953-54, 

341 

7,847,400 

17,623,200 

1954r55. 

374 

9,507,400 

21,122,000 

1955-56; 

, ... 

,384 

10,435,000 

22,853,500 

1956-57. 

... 

397 

10.667,400 

19,826,300 

1957-58. 

279 

9,857,600 

John  Murray  Anderson  stepped  in  With  James  Reynolds— and  Has- 
sard  Short  moved  over  the  “Greenwich  Village  Follies.”  It  was  an  ami-< 
cable  switch;  aimed  basically  at  injecting  spark  into  the  revue  form  which 
was  beginning  to  slide  downhill  all  over  Broadway.  This  was  the  last 
work  oh  a  series  for  both  craftsmen.  Murray  Anderson,  selected  the 
character  of  Rip.  Van  Winkle  (Joseph  McCauley)  as  a  formal  link  to 
weld  the  show  together.  This  was.  the  year  Irving  Berlin  turned  out  his 
heaviest  “Music  Box”  score— nearly  20  songs  in  all— and  there  wasn’t 
a  smash  in  the  lot. 

Duncan  Sisters,  a  sensation .  in.  London,  were  originally  Wanted  for' 
this  edition— but  they  had  other  commitments  to  fill  which  necessitat¬ 
ed  a  reshuffling  of  the  cast  and  book.  “Ail  Alone”  was  dropped  into, 
the  show  as  an  interpolated  Song  and  stood  out.  Grace  Moore  and  Os¬ 
car  Shaw  at  either  end  of  the  stage  sang  it  into  lighted  telephones  be¬ 
fore  a  simple  drop.  This  was  probably  the  most  conservative  treat¬ 
ment  Murray  Anderson  ever  uncorked  for  this  plushy  revue.  Otherwise, 
the  show  seemed  tu  sag  from  overweight.  Bobby  Clark  &  Paul  McCul¬ 
lough  were  welcomed  hack  as  Music  Box  regulars— and  Fannie  Brice, 
free  from  her  brilliant  Ziegfeld  period,  was  also  present  Her  best  num¬ 
ber  was  “Don’t  Send  Me  Back  to  Petrograd”  (FUeven  wash- the  sheets 
for  the  Ku  Klux  Klan,  but  don’t  send  me  back  .  .  ;  ).  She  also  teamed, 
with  Bobby  Clark  for  the  “I  Want  to  Be  a  Ballet  Dancer”  hit. 

For  “Tokio”  number,  which  Hassard  Short  already  had  in  the  Works 
before  he  exited,  the  Brox  Sisters  sang  the  Nipponese  swingy,  “Tokio 
Blues.”  Adrian  dressed  the  number  lavishly.  The  Brox  Sisters  obviously 
inherited  the  songs  originally  concocted  for  the  Duncans.  “In  the. 
Shade  of  the  Sheltering  Tree”  evolved  into  a  Weeping  Willow  splash. 
The  girls  waved  enormous  fans  of  uncurled  ostrich  and  wound  up 
climbing  a  fancy  ladder  and  forming  the  graceful  tree  midstage:  James 
Reynolds’  style  was  predominant  in  the  larger  scenes:  “Little  Old  New 
York”  reflected,  the  Father  Knickerbocker  era — and  an  “Alice  in  Won¬ 
derland"  spread  with  costumes  designed  after  the  famous  John.  Ten- 
niel  drawings.  Berlin  hadr  composed  another  “Alice  in  Wonderland” 
song  for  the  Dillingham  &  Ziegfeld  production,  “The  Century  Girl’* 
(1916).  For  the  Music  Box  presentation  the  Brox  Sisters  invited  the  au¬ 
dience  to  “Come  Along  With  Alice  .  .  ”  then  the  Wonderland  fantasy 
took  form — Before  the  Looking  Glass— and  Behind,  the  Looking  Glass. 
Ula  Sharon  balleted  as  Alice  and  .  Carl  Randall  was  the  Mad  Hatter. 
This  extended  scene  marked  Reynolds’  filial  chore  on  an  annual  revue. 
It  was  circusy— but  tasteful.  “The  Call  of  the  South”  lead  into  “Ban¬ 
dana  sLand”  With  trick  blackface  effects  donned  by  the  chorus. 

Claire  Luce,  about  to  join  the  Ziegfeld  galaxy,  lead  off  a  Wild  Cat 
number  which  is  self-explanatory*  For  “Tell  Her  in  the  Springtime” 
more  perfume  sprayed  the  air — but  it  was  a  worn  stunt  by  now...  Then 
Rip  Van  Winkle  woke  up  and  the  show  was  fini— mid  so  was  the  series 
too.  Berlin  &  Harris,  alert  to  the  tempermental  chart  for  revues,  de¬ 
cided  it  was  time  to  lower  the  lid.  The  Music  Box  Revues,  dedicated 
to  “Say  It  With  Music,”  opened  on  top— rand  shuttered— still  on  top. 
The  needle  never  Wore  out! 


January  8, 1958 


Fifiyriecond  P^&felETY  Anniversary 


LEGITIMATE 


Who  Sez  Crix  Don’t  Savvy  Acting? 


It’s  about  time .  somebody  puric-  l  men  - assigned  to.  do-  feature  stpries 
tured  that  tired  old  folk-tale  about  oh  what  it  was  like  to  be  a  one- , 
critics  not  knowing  anything  about  I  performance  actor  in-  a  Broadway 
acting.  What  if  they  don’t  talk :  show.  One  of  the  scribes,  at  that 
about  the  histrionic  triumphs  of  { time  second-string  legit  arid  film 
their  youths;  and  maybe  just,  hap-  critic  for. ,  the  old  Philadelphia  ; 
peri  to  have  a  batch  of  review  clip-  Evening  Ledger,  was  Richard  Pow- 
pings  stashed  away  for  casual  dain-1  ell;,  now  an.  exec  with  the  N.  W. ! 
onstration?  Maybe  they’  just  Ayer  ad  agency  and  a  successful  : 
modest,  that’s  all.  .!  novelist  .l“T  h  e  Philadelphian,”  ; 

For  example,  does  anyone  recall .  ete:).  j 

that  a  certain  New  York  legit  re- j  As  a  juryman, -Powell  gave  a/ 
Vie".“  ''as  af>  aotor  in  a  Broadway  |  adequatc  performance  in  i 

show .  It  A\as  an  the  fall  ofl94.>  tI)e  0pinj0n  0f .  another  critic  pres- 
w-hen  A.  H.  Woods  tried  out .  “Night  ent  ,wh0  May  .possibly  not  have  .1 
of  January  16  in.  Philadelphia,  ^een  entirely  impartial)!  but  Pow- 
The  Ayn-Rand  courtroom  .  metier  elfs  byline  story  in  next  day’s. pa-, 
had  a  trick  finale  calling  for  an  per Was.  practically  a  best-of-the/ 
onstage  ^jury  to  render  a  verdict  season.  The.  other-  juryman-scribe; 
on  the  basis  of  the  evidence  pre-  whtf  was  the.  seconding  critic 
sented -in  th^  scnpt.  Thejegular  for  the  old  philly  Record?  wrote 
cast  included  -Walter  Rdgeon  no  st0(y  at  al, ,^at  may  have 
Dons  Nolan,  the  late  Edmund  been  .piaite,  br  perhaps  merely  a 

freeSnV  a  Tii  ”“SAS.t  nad'  realiratibh  that,  anything  he  might 
den’  Cly<ie  Fillmore.  Arthur  Pier-;  turn  oat  would  be:  an  anti-climbx 
son  and  Marcella  Swanson  (later  after  PotyeiFs.  Or  possibly  if  was 
Mis.  Lee  Shubert)..  because-  he  had  outdone  himself 

The  jury  members  were  re-  in  his  performance,  as  a  juror— 
cruited  from  the  audience,  and.  ■.  dozing;  through  most  of  the  three 
on  the  premiere  riigbt  in  Philly, !  acts. .  and  thereby  anticipating  the 
they  included  two  local  newspaper-  reaction  of  the  New  York  critics 
■  ^  ^  to  Al  Woods’  little  project. 

Off-B'wav  Houses  In 

J  J  critics’  acting,  experience.  How 

Ptaix-Iifce  wa?  there-  BW 

nr  irciiP  rnnfifi  Anyway,  let’s  have  an  end  of 

Ky  Jfcj5.5i^  .  the  nonsense  about  ^  critics.  not 

There  are.  more  potential  legit  knoiung  allabout  acting.  They  may 
theatres  in  New  York  than /meets  know  their  ;.own  ^irmta- 

the  eye.  That’s  apparent  in  the  " 
steady  stream’ of  - new  houses  -  that ;  mM::: 

have  been  opening  up  for  off-"!  mm 

Broadw  .  productions  in  the  past  ll  f  1  I  I "|\|  I 

few.  year.-.  This  season,  alone,  there- f.  A  Jh  Am-  11  1  * 

have  been  at  least  seven  fresh  j  I 

showcases,  with  more,  scheduled  n  n  n  *73^ 

to  come. 

Although  the  new  theatres  have.  ■  In.  1933;  a.  slug  of  a  year,  if  yc 
been  cropping  up  throughout  New  . j  age  was  19  i.all  right,  prove  it  wash- 
York.  the.  heaviest  concentration  !  becoming  what  was  then  known  a: 
has  been  on  the  lower  eastside,  I  man  in  that  now:  largely-defunct  m 
This  former  hub  of  Yiddish  legit  j  the  winter  stobk  company.'  Mar- 
activity  is  now  bustling  with.  Eng-  fried  and  the  proud  papa  of  an  . 
liSh-.language  productions.  At  least  I  eighLpound  boy,  I  was  not  able 
nine  theatres,  housing,  professional  i  to  afford  lounging  around 
productions,  have  been  active  in.lBroadway  waiting  for  that  ve. 
that  area  thus  far  this  season  and  '  hide  uniquely  suitable  to  my 
there  have  been  others  in  previous  I  talents.  .  I’d  done,  leads  in  Salt 
semesters  1  •  Lake  City;  Memphis, .  Washing- 

Included  iri,  the  lineup,  of  the- 1  ton  and  I.  was-  tli^h  on  a  2tt-week 
lower  eastside  -are  two  houses  ...  7° \ie 
which  are  unusually  large  for  .off-  ;  recipient  of  the.  followm*,  tele- 
Broadway,  where  theatres  normal-, ; 

ly  seat  under  300:  These  are  the  ;  j  mt)  t  a  N A POTiT  S  •  TND 
1,150-seat.  Phoenix,:  in  its  fifth  year  LlNLUAlNArUJjLo  , 
of  operation,  and  the  1.753-seat  JAN.  20 ,  1933 

Phyllis  .  Anderson  Theatre,  which 
opened  this  season.  Both  were  Yid-  nnM  at  n  iwonne? 
dish; legit  hbuses,  the  Phoenix,  hav-  DUINAIiD  :• 

ing  functioned  for  many  years  as  GRANADA  THEATRE 
the  Yiddish  Art  Theatre  arid  the  thT  T?nrY  hHTn 
Anderson  as  the  Public  Theatre/  TOLEDO ,  OHIO 

Besides  the  Anderson,  other  the-  NEED  LEADING  MAN  FOR 
atres  that  have  bowed  on  the  lower  . 

eastside  in  recent  months,  include  SON  HERE  OPENING  FEBRU. 
the  Cricket  und  the  Gat?!  both  .jj,  INTERESTED  WIRE  ROC 

located,  in  the  same  building,  a 

former  Baptist  Tabernacle.  The  ENGLISH  THEATRE  j  INDI 

•Cricket  is  situated  in  the  basement'  .  nF 

.  j  ii  p-i,  •  AT,  it. A  flAmv  ,.B6in§  3  fairly  .ircsrirOtit^OiTCOlu 

and  the  Gate  is  on  the  main  floor.  Drama  Major,,  not  yet  fully,  fan: 

Scheduled  to  join  the  fldqk  of  business  terminology,  I  wired  bai 
lower  eastside  legit  outlets  m  ..point,  but  I  addressed  the.  wire  to.: 
March  is  the  Orpheum  Theatre,  ,  "  ”; 

30-year-oid  film  house  The  spot  is  ]  "-WHAT  IS'  SALARY?  " 
being  refurbished  and  converted 

into  a  299-seater.  The  York  Play- [  MR.  ROCKBOTTOM 
house  on  the  upper  eastside.  an-  ENGLISH  THEATRE 
other  new  299-seat  off-Broadway  .  _  ■  _•  _  TTV7f. 

addition  this  season,.  also  a  INDIANAPOLIS ,  IND. 

pictuie  house,.  .  .  f-  <  1.  -  f  Now,  I  didn’t  think  .'it  .was  that- 

.9th0l\:  t^ea.tres1  the  Indianapolis  manager  got  ove 

the  professional'  -  hysterics,  he  pare  rne  the  550  more 

scene  this  se^on  include  the  Sul-  asking  and  proceeded  to  make  me  ( 
ieet  Playhouse  m  Green-  ing;  nie  such  odd 'little  jobs  each 
wich  Village  which  is  still  the  off-  ,M^nus”  in  “The  Apple  Cart,”  Phil 
Broadway  ^ronghold;  the  mptovn  in  ^eath  TakeS  A  .Holiday”  and  so 
Heckscher  Theatre,  wliich  tlm  city  -  in  -30.  consecutive  weeks., 
turned  over  to  the  N.  Y.  Shakes-  *^  :  =  ■ 

peare  Festival,  and  the  85th.  Street  It  wasn  t  untilthe  season  was  c 

Playhouse,  which  was.  forced  to  me  that  he  would  have  been  glad 
close  bv  the  N.  Y.  City  Fire  Dept,  more  per  week  instead:  Of  $50,  if 
and  Dept,  of  Licenses.  enough  to  ask  for  it! 

A  former  14th  St.  store  is  being  his  was  about  the  time  I  bega 
converted  into  a  legiter  for  use  by  an.  actor  must  also  be  a  business  ; 
The  Living  Theatre  and  a westside  business  man,  he  has  something  to 
communitv  theatre  is  being  esUb,  shoe  ^salesman  sells,  a  pair  of  shoe: 
lished  in-  the  Greysione  .Hotel  on  to  sell  himself  .first.  Before  the, actc 
upper  Broadway.  to  act,  he  usually  has  to  se.l  hm 

*  *•  nil  o  1m/y  no rf  nf  nimcolr  ttAOr  in 


OH-B'way  Houses  In 


Touring  Shows 


,  Auntie  Maine  (2d  Co.)  (Cdnstarice  Benr 
nett)— Shubert.  Boston  (6ri8>. 

Back  to  Methuselah,  (tryout)  (Tyrone 
Power,  Faye  Emerson,  Arthur  Treacher) 
—City  And..-  Fla.  (6);.  Civic  Aud.,  Sara-. 
1  s<->tn,  iria.  (7):  City  Aud.,  Ft.  Lauderdale. 

Fla.  (8);  Dade'  County  Aud-  Miami  Beach. 
1  «9-10J;  Peabody  Aud-  Daytona  Beach,  Fla. 
(ll);.; Municipal  Aud-  Savannah;  Ga.  (13); 
Tower.  Atlanta,  Ga.:  (14-15);  Wescott  Aud- 
Tallahassee  (16);  Civic,.  New  Orleans- 
(17-19).  • 


Canadian  Players — Wisconsin  .State  Cot- 
j  le^e  Aud-  Stevens  •  Point  C7-8>;..  Lawrence 
i  .College  Aud-  Appleton,  Wis.  (9):  (J-  of 
I  Wisconsin.  Aud.,’  Madison;  (lO-ll);  .  La 
/Grange  (Hi.)  Memorial  -  Aud.  C2);  F=ir- 
I  child  Aud-  East  Lansing,  Mich.  tl3-14); 

;  Western  Michigan  U.  .  Aud..  Kalam-’J.oo 
!  (15),-  Cohn' Aud-  Evanston,  111:  (16);  Pur- 
j  due  U. .  Aud-  Lafayette,  Jnd.  Q7);  ..St. 
j  V-ry-  ofAhe  Woods  (Ind.)..  College  .  Aud. 
(18).  ' 

/  Cat:  on  a  Hot  .Tin  Roof  (Victor  Joryl — 
j  Her  Majesty’s,  Montreal  (6-11);  Wilbur, 
Boston  (13-18). 

I  D/ary  of  Anne  Frank.  (Joseph  Schild- 
!  krautt^-Pabst,  M’wivee  (6-11):  Hartman. 

■  rvi-Mvibus-  (13-15);  Memorial  AUd.,.  L’ville 
(16-19), 

Cloud  .Seven  (tryout) 
i\t  -  wj,  Scott) — Shubert, 

(15-18). 

Happiest  Millionaire  (Walter  Pidgebm — 
Curran,  S.F.  (6-11);  Lyceum-  SIpls.  (15-19)/- 
Interlock  (tryout)  (Celeste  Holm. -Maxi: 
miUian  Schell.  Rosemary  Harris) — Play¬ 
house,  Wilmington  (16-18).  .: 

■  "  Long  Day's  Journey.  Into  Night  (2d  C-*.). 
•  (Fay  Bainter,  Anew/McMaster) — Erlahger, 
i  Chi  (6-18). 

Miybe  Tuesday  (tryout)  Walnut.  Philly 
(6-11);  Shubert.  W’ash.  (13-18)  (Reviewed  in 
VARIETY,  Jan.  1.  ’58). 

|  Middle  of  the  Night  (Edward  G.  Robin- 
1  son) — National,  Wash.  (6-13,  closes). 

Most  Hrppy  Fella — ^Riviera,  Dot.  (6-11); 
H^nna,  Cleve.  (13^18).  ”  ’  . 

;  Much  Ado  About  ,  Nothing  (Katharine 
j  Hepburn,-  Alfred  Drake)— Locust,  Philly 
T  (6-11);  Riviera,  Det.  (13-18). 

My  Fair.  Lady.  (2d  Co.)  (  rian  Aherne, 
Anne  Rogers) — Shubert,  Chi  (6-18). 

No  Time  for  Sergeants-  (N/.Y.  /Co  ) — 
Mosque..  . Richmond  (6-7);  Center,  Norfolk. 
Va.  (.8);  Chapel  Hilh  (N,C.)  Memorial  Aud; 
HO);  Aycock  Aud-  Greensboro,  N.C.  (1.1- 
.&  13):  Ovens  Aud-  Charlotte,  N.C,  (14); 
|  Municipal  Aud.,  -Asheville,  N.C.  (16); 

j  (Continued  on  page  288) 


ACTING  IS  A  BUSINESS 


' »  By  DONALD  WOODS  3" 


In.  1933;  a  slug  of  a  year,  if  ypii  remember,  my 
age  was  19  (.all  right,  prove  it  wasn’t!)  and  I  was  fast 
becoming  what  was  then  known  as  a  “hot”  leading 
man  in  that  now:  largely-defunct  medium  of  culture, 
the  winter  stobk  company.'  Mar¬ 
ried  and  the  proud  papa  of  an 
eightTpound  boy,  I  was  not  able 
to  afford  lounging  around 
Broadway  .  waiting  for  that  ve¬ 
hicle  uniquely  suitable  to  my 
talents.  I’d  done,  leads  in  Salt 
Lake  City,  Memphis, .  Washing¬ 
ton  and  I. was  tlierion  a  20-week 
Toledo  when  I  was  the 
recipient  ' of  the.  folloiving  tele¬ 
gram: 

INDIANAPOLIS,  IND., 

JAN,  20,  19.33  Donald  Woods 

DONALD  WOODS". 

GRANADA  THEATRE 
TOLEDO  ,  OHIO 

NEED.  LEAD  ING  MAN  FOR.  STOCK-  SEA¬ 
SON  HERE  OPENING  FEBRUARY  15  STOP 
IF  INTERESTED  WIRE  ROCKBOTTOM, 
ENGLISH  THEATRE,  INDIANAPOLIS. 

Being  a  fairly  fresh-oiit-of-eollege  English  arid 
Drama  Major,,  not  yet  fully,  familiar  with  show 
business  terminology,  I  wired  brick  the  essential 
point,  but  I  addressed  the.  wire  to.: 


Return  of  Bill  Moore  | 

Bill  Moore,  son  of  the  late  Dirity  ■■ 
Moore,  will  return  to  the  employ  f 
of  the  Testaurant  on  W.  46th  St.;  • 
New  York,  founded,  by  his  late 
father! 

Bestaurant  in  recent  years  has 
been  operated  by  his  sister.  i 


"WHAT  IS  SALARY?" 

MR.  ROCKBOTTOM 
ENGLISH  THEATRE 
INDIANAPOLIS,  IND. 

Now,  I  didn’t  think  it  was  that  funny,  but  When 
the  Indianapolis  manager  got  over  his  seizure  of 
hysterics,  he^  gave  me  the  550  more  per  week  I  was . 
asking  and  proceeded  to  make  me  earn  it  by  assign¬ 
ing;  me  such  odd '  little  jobs  each  ,  week  as  / “-King 
Magnus”  in  “The  Apple  Cart,”  Phil  Merrivale’s  part 
in  “Death  Takes  A  Holiday”  and  some  30  other  long 
parts  in  30.  consecutive  weeks. 

It  wasn’t  until  the  season  was  over  that  he  told 
me  that  he  would  have  been  glad  to  give  .me.  $100 
more  per  week  instead'  of  $50’  if  I'd  been  smart, 
enough  to  ask  for  it! 

his  was  about  the  time  I  began  to  fealize  that. 
an  actor  must  also  be  a  business  man.  Like  every 
business  man,  he  has  something  to.  sell.  Before .  the. 
shoe  salesman  sells,  a!  pair  of  shoes,  he  usually  has 
to  sell  himself  .first.  Before  the.  actor,  sells. his  ability 
to  act,  he  usually  has  to  sell  himself  first/  After 
all,  a  big  part  of  himself  goes  into  every  part  or 
character  he  plays. 

To  sell  both  of  these  things  for  the  right:  price, 
the  actor  must  krioiv  what  they  worth:  to.  the 
buyer/  If  he  steadily  improves  the  product,  it  should.: 
be  worth  more.  As  the  “brand  name”  becomes  more 
well  kriow.n, .  it  should  be  worth  more. . 

N6\y.  if  you  have  read  this  far,  you  know.  I’m:  not 
talking  about  the  big  freelance :  or  iorig-term  contract, 
star.  Nor  am  I  talking  about  the  younger,  actor 
just  starting  out.  I ^  refer,  here  to.  that  considerable 
segment  of  actors  classified  as  “featured  players.” 


Vet  Buff  Correspondent 
No  Buff  For  B  way  Blues 

By  SIDNEY  BURTON 

Buffalo.  happy — and  it  made  little  Bill  wliat 

Well,  shut  my  mpuf  and  call  me  you  psychology  fellers  call  inse- 
/  Siggie— Freud,  that  is.  jcure.  An’  Bill's  Aunt  Cora  didn’t 

i  D’y’  know  what.  Doc?  I  just  got  help  any— bein’  a  repressed  wench 
back  from  a  weekend  of  Broadway  who  might  maybe  ’ve  developed 
;  show-shopping  arid  please,  Doc,  into  a  fairly  acceptable  nympho  if 
/.will  you  roll  ,  out  the  little  old  she  had  had  the  chance.  An’  with 
couch  and  get  out  your  pad  and  Bill’s  sister  “Reenie  a-teeterin  ■  on 
f  pencil,  ’Cause  nobody;  but  nobody,  !  the  edge,  of  frigidity  an*  all— if  you 
;  knows 'the  trouble  I’ve  seen.  know  what  .  I  mean.  An*  I  bet  you 

i  Seems  like  the  Big-  Stem  show-  do;  uMom’  she  was  really 

,  shops  ’re  all  bogged  dovm  with  the  Quite  a  dish,  or  maybe  its  just 
j  weight  of  woe.  The  real  Makro-  Teresa  Wnght  that  makes  her.seem 
lpoulos  Secret  for  successful  play  that  way.  Anyhow,  it  s  allreal  psj- 
i  writers  is  out  at  last.  Yes.  get  your-  cho  exceptin’  Bill  can  thank  the 
iself  a  pappy,  or  a  mammy  who  are  family  for  .°ia^nS  _him  sad  luce 
!  high  on  the  happy  water  or  hop—  c^use  it  s  the  kmd  pf  sadness 

land  it  helps  if  one  of  ’em’s  a  sex  that  Shore  pays  off  at  the  ticket 
j  slob,  too.  Yep.  grab  yourself  an  wuudow.  ^  . 

'  unhappy  childhood  and  you’re  in.  N°w  1^  iyo“  want  to  see  *  guy 
,  And  if  mjr  souped-rip  Southern  ac-  who’s  really  dismal,  its  that  young 
cent  is  shoWin’  don’t  blame  Capote  Tom  W< oUe.  Bet  Tom: never  thought 
l— it’s  - by  Brando  out  of  Logan.  h?’d  Je  red-handed  m  bed 

_  .  .  ..  „.■  _  /•”.  -  -■  with  that  Laura  gal,  and  m  front  of 

But  *c‘s  g®1.  bTack  the  glpora  aU  them  people  too.  but  that's  «-hat 
;  boys  Take_  Bill  Inge,  for  instance,  happe„ed  Talk  about  unhappiness 
!  I  bet  the  /ark  nt  the.  top. of  Bill  s  Doc,  it's  positively  mela.n- 

:  stairs  was  jes’ shady ’till  Kazan  got  chojy  ’ 

|  hold  of  it;.  Now;it’s;  thick,  and  black  T^,.g  pappy  was  a  gaudv  gaffer 

from  thel-a  doable-horned  old  goat.  Whisr 
flighting  department.  key  gave  him  the  tantrum  on  liis 

Bill’s  recollection  makes  the  frim-  good  days  like  when  he  was  cele- 
;  ily  a  ripe  gallery  of  old  chromos.  brating  the  days  he  was  number 
i  Pa  was  a  rootin’ tootin’ maverick—  one  man  in,  the  town  houses— the 
!  like  as"  if  Don  Murray  maybe,  set-  ,  ones  that  weren’t  homes,  I  mean, 
(tied  in  Oklahoma  when  he  left  Well,  at  least  ma  wasn’t  a  lush 
“Bus  Stop.”  The  old  brown  bottle’s  or  a  hoppie.  - She  got  rid  of  her 
I  in  there  too  and— -oh,  man--a  little  guilt  complexes  another  way — by 
extra  curricular  haystacking  when  pinchi  ’  pennies.  But  it  seems  like 
I  the  old  man  was  bn  the  road,  there weren’t  nobody- decent  in  the 
1  That’?  what  made  Bill’s  maw  iirt-  whole  passel  of  the  family,  or 
—  nnh  ,a..„riu„nrn,nnni  ampng’st  the  boarders  either.  May- 

■mniur mowimmimi:  1J,H,«,J.u:.u.:„D-x.n»r| |  be  '.that’s why  Laura  got  Tom. •  to 

jjmM  gfm-  11  bed  so  easy,  but  then  things  begaii 

I  f\l  L  ^  ||  to  look  up.  with  Tom  off  to  college 

llj!  Ii1  arid  the  wide  world  (beforeCiner- 

i f  ama  that  was)  arid  all. 

'InmnZSuliru^  But  if  yOYe  hankerin’  fer  a  real 

. . -scowler.  Doc,  get  a  squint  at  that 

i  fairly  well  known,  and  established  bliddy-boy  Gene  O'Neill.  He  was 
i  or  television  one  for  the  prompt  book.  With  him 

that  category,' you  may  say,  “Wait  a  everything  was  just  one  long  slide 
ib out  my  agent?”  All  fight,  what  the  glopin.  Everi'one  m  the 
still  up  to  you.”  As.  a  business  irian-  whole  dpnged  O  Neill  family  was  a 
i  know  ,  things  like  the.  capacity  - arid  bttle  daft--everijthe  maid  Ma  was 
le  housea  the  break-even  point,  over-  a  Jbrikie  and  was^high  on  the  poppy 
?e  grosses  in  the.  past.  If  it’s  a  job  ■  m?s^  the  time?  Brother  Jim  was 
isiori  bf  radio  I  try  to  iirid  out  what  3  boozer  anp  a  lowdown  tramp, 
stand  jTor  my.  job,  and  then  decide  .And  asi  Paw.  he  1 ^’as  half 
id  if  . I  am  worth  that  much,  to  the  ;  miser  and  the  rest  alcohol— tight 
!  I  ask,  for  it.  It’s  a  .  good  idea  also  '\lth  money  and  tight  with  liquor, 
isideratiori  that  other.  ac:or-  who  has  •  y’see:  "No.  vvonder  Gene,  ended  up 
/casionally/ .  or  whom  you .  nu-.v  have  depressed,  I  see  they  had  a  “holi- 
:  up  for  this  job?  Has  he  worked  day  matinee’/  New  Years.  Three 

cut  his  salary  to  get  it?  These  '  hours  of  mixed  up  dialoge!  Boy, 

c-s  you  .  must  weigh.  /  what  a  way  to  spend  a  holiday.  But 

)OUt  daytime  serials?”  you  ask.  “Do  if  t-hat.s  the  way  Gene- wants  it  to 
ood  business  practice  to  be  seen  in  be  remembered,  it’s  okay  by  me. 

wer  •  ,:  “Why  not?”  Here/s  a  short  Jes’  the  same  I’d  like  to  say  a 

wo  pretty  well  knbvii  lads  who;  met  word  for  the  old  man.  Remember 
i  few  weeks  ago..  The  dialog  went  u’bcn  he  climbed  up  on  that  bat- 
tbis:  ;  tered  old  trunk  with  .  the  stajge- 

le  serial!  You’re'  Idddino?  You  mean. .  hands  shakin’  out  the  sea-blue 
soap?  [sheets  all  round  him  and  him 

.  Why  1  hat1?  *  shouting  “The  World  is  mine — the 

youf  that’s  u'hy  ho!  It’ll  louyr  y  wealth  of  Monte  Cristo”?  Lemirie 
:e  your:  whole  career!  •  r  .  .tell  you,  Doc,  he  shore  was  top  man 

a  think  it’ll  do  me  any  harm.  .  ]  iri!  that  there  theatre, 
wouldn’t  be.  caught  . dead  working  |  So.  like  I  say,  write  it  all  down. 
?:(i'iveek  grinds  Oh .  by  the  way,  \  and.  analyze  dt  fer  me  or  me  fer  it. 
tie  short.  Could  you  lend  me  510  !  And  if  it  ends  up  as  a  song  cue, 
[the  lyrics  ihight  go  something  like 

;  the  smart  business  man.  here?  I’d,:  this: 

doesn’t  know  that  many  of  our  most!  A  tear,  for  the  Inge  s ,  the 
are  doing  daytime  serials  right  now.  Wolfes  and  O’-Neills 

tor  who  has. worked  on  a  show  I  do  Whose,  one  or  both  parents 
Rotel  Cosmopolitan”  has  been  seen  j  were,  horrible  heels. 
irhporfant  part, on  Broadway  or  in  Despair  was.  their  diet — their 
vill  be'  seeri  again.  The  daytime  se-  theme,  song,  no  hope 

ctor  “in -  business!”  .  "  ■  ]'  Cause  Papjpy  of  Mammy 

mei-eials — They  Are!  !  c™re<t  tthiekey  or  dope. 

advance  an  actor,  s  career? :  And.I;.  To  a!i  -upcoming  lanes,  nd 
actor  uses, good,  business  judgment,  Wotfes  and  OW’Jills. 


Anyway^  they’re  fairly  well  known,  and  established 
on  stage,  screen  or  television. 

If  you  fall  in  that  category,  you  may  say,  “Wait  a 
minute!  What  about  my  agent?”  All  right,  what 
about  him?  It’s  still  up  to  you.”  As.  a  business  irian- 
actor,  I  want  to  know;,  things  like  the  capacity  arid 
price  scale  of  the  house,  the  break-even  point,  over¬ 
head  and  average:  grosses  in  the  past.  If  it’s  ri  job 
on  screen,  television  bf  radio  I  try  to  find  out  what 
the  budget  will  stand  jTor  my.  job,  and.  then  decide 
in  my  own  niind  if  I  am  worth  that  much  to  the 
producer  before.  I  ask;  for  it.  It’s  a  .  good  idea  also 
to  take  into  consideration  that  other.  ac:  or  who  lias 
replaced,  you  occasionally/,  cr  .whom  you.- may  have 
replaced.  .  Is  he  tip  for  this  job?  Has  he  worked 
lately  .  Will  he  cut  his  salary  to  get  it?  These 
“business’’^  valuc-s  you'. must  weigh. 

/‘Well,  how  about  daytime  serials?”  you  ask.  “Do 
you  think,  it’s  good  business  practice  to  be  seen  in 
them?”  My  answer  ’  ,; “Why  not?”  Hefe/s  a  short 
scene  between,  two  pretty,  well. "knbwri  lads  who;  met 
;  Crori> well’s  a  few  weeks  ago..  The  dialog  went 
something  like  this:. 

AL:  A  dayiime  serial!  You’re'  kidding?  You  mea.i 
you’re  doing  d.  soap? 

WALT:  '  .Sure,  Why  not? 

AL:  It'll  fuih  you,  that’s  why' no!  It’.ll  lower  y 
salary,  jeopardize  ijour:  whole  career! 

WALT:  I' don't  think  it’ll  do  ine  any  harm. 

AL.  Well,  I  wouldn’t  be,  caught  dead  working 
one.  of  those  jive-d-week.  grinds  .  Oh,  by  the  way, 
Wialt,' I'm  a  little  short.  Could  you  lend  me  $10 
.iiiitil' next  "week? 

Nb\v  who  was  the.  smart  business  man.  here?  I’d, 
say  “Walt”, just  doesn’t  know  that  many  of  our  most 
talented:  people  are  doing  daytime  serials  right  now. 
Almost  every  actor  who  has .  worked  on  a  show  I  do 
mj^self  called  “Hotel  Cosmopolitan”  has  been  - seen 
in  a  lead  or  an  irhporfant  part, on  Broadway  or  in 
television,  arid  will  be'  seeri  again.  The  daytime  se- 
rial  keeps  an  actor  ‘Hy- business!”.  •  :  .  ;  : 

\  ■  Commercials^ — They  Are!  j 

“Well,”  you  ask,,  ‘‘what  - about,  commercials?  Do. 
you  think  they .  advance  an  actor’s  careeh?”  And.  I; 
say  .“Yes,  if  the  actor  uses  good/ business  judgmerit 
in  doing  them-” 

I  don’t  advocate  doing  the  saturation  commercial 
with  no  ideritificatipn  except  your  facei  But  the 
occasional  dignified  commercial,  for  a  good  product 
arid  with  mention,  of  your  name  can.  be  lucrative  and 
good  publicity  as  well.  The  fable  that  the  well 
known  actor  doing  a  commercial  immediately  loses 
his  /value  as  a  dramatic-  actor  has  been  exploded,  In 
my  own  case  The  Theatre  Guild  engaged  nie  for  the 
lead  on  the  U.  S.  Steel  Hour  opposite.  Julie  Harris 
in  its  production  of  “Wind  From  The  South”  while  I 
was  still  “hosting”  .52  weeks  of  Damon  Runyon  The¬ 
atre  for  Budweiser. 

Three  years,  ago  I  came  to  New  York  frbm  Holly¬ 
wood.  My  purpose:  to  find  a  part  in. a  good  play  on 
Broadway,.  Now  I  can  afford  to  stay  here,  and  wait 
for  it.  In.  1933,  I  couldn’t.  In  three  years  I  have 
turned  down  three  plays  that  turned  out  to  be  fail¬ 
ures  and  lost  one  !that  was  a  hit.  ..But.  these  were 
calculated  business  risks. 

Ray  Bramley,  oriie  ,of  tv’s  busiest  actors  today, 
once  advised  hie,  (when  I  questioned  him  about  tak-. 
ing.  a  small  part  in  a  good  show)  so  I  would  advise 
you:  Rav  said,  “You’re  an  actbrv  aren’t  ybu?  Then 
ACT!” 

Yes;  I  think  I  am  going  to  find  that  Broadway 
play  soon.  hot  only  because  I-  think  I  know  my  busi¬ 
ness  as  an  actor,  but  also’  because  I  know  my  ac  'rig 
as  a  business.  ' 


(REPERTORY  PLAYHOUSE 
OPENING  IN  ST.  LOUIS 

|  St.  Louis, 

The  Repertory  Playhouse,  a  new 
yprofessional  venture,  is  slated  to 
open  Jan,  21  iri  Clayton,  in  sub- 
•  urban  St-  Louis.  .With,  a  permanent 
j  company  of  New .  York  players  in 
i  hit  Broadway  plays.  Alexander 
I" White,  New  York  producer  and 
j  guiding  light  of  the  project,  saj-s 
;  the  theatre  is  to  be  financed  locally 
;  arid  will  present  “in-the-round” 
productions  in  a  remodeled  auto 
agency  in  Clayton. 

About  10  shows  will  be  produced 
during  the  first  season  for  runs  of 
j  two  Weeks  each,  with  eight  per- 
ioririanees  a  week  includirig  a  Sun¬ 
day  students’  fnatinee  at  reduced 
prices.  White,  has  launched  similar 
j  theatres  iri  Indianapolis,  Cincin- 
Vriati  arid  Tuscon  and  is  now  round- 
,  ing  up  a  cast,  of  10  New  York 
'  actors  and  actresses. 


Fifty-second  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


ART 

CARNEY 


STARRING  WITH  SIOBHAN  McKENNA  in 

“THE  ROPE  DANCERS” 

COBT  THEATRE 


PERSONAL  MANAGEMENT 

william  McCaffrey 


Congratulations 

from 

"NEW  I 

GIRL 

IN 

TOWN" 

"WEST 

SIDE 

STORY" 

WINTER  GARDEN 

New  York 

46  ST.  THEATRE 

New  York 

"DAMN  YANKEES"  (on  tour) 

January  8, 1958  Fifty-second  l^&RIETY  Anniversary  273 


Fifty-second  t^RiETY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


Best  Wishes 

ftbu&Y 


ANNE  JACKSON  and  ELI  WALLACH 


Congratulations 


GWEN  VERDON 


280 


Fifty-second  t^YRKE^TY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


COLE  PORTER 


JULIE  HARRIS 


TENNESSEE  WILLIAMS 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second  I^SHiETY  Anniversary 


AND  PLANES 

INCORPORATED 


235  WEST  Mb  STREET  MEZZANINE  SUITE  201,  NEW  YORK  36,  N.  Y.  JUDSON  2-5340 


AND 


Box  Office  Treasurers,  Actors,  Actresses,  House 
Managers,  Producers,  Directors,  arid  all  the  other 
theatre  people  who  have  been  so  nice  to  us 
during  the  past  year. 


OWEN  CHAIN  DEAN  SMITH 

THORA  JOHNSON 
RICHARD  KIRSCHNER 


ALAN  BLOOMFIELD 


282 


.11 


V 


GEORGE  ABBOTT 


January  8, 1958  Fifty-second  P^RIETY  Anniversary 


HAPPY  NEW  YEAR 


? 


PETER  USTINOV 


Fifty-second  t^AI^TFYTY  Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


ED  BEGLEY 


Congratulations 


PRODUCERS’  THEATRE,  INC. 


January  8,195ft 


fifty ‘tccond  J^S&IETY  Annivenary 


IN  MEMORY  OF 
ANNE  FRANK 

Joseph  Schildkraut 


On  National  four. 

Now  Playing — Pabst,  Milwaukee 


ALEXANDER  H.  COHEN 


LOIS  RONEY,  Production  Assistant 
ALEX  ROBERT  BARON,  General  Manager, 
RICHARD  MANEY,  Press  Representative 
M.  I.  HECHT,  Stage  Manager 


40  West  55th  Street,  New  York 

Cables:  ALEXCOHEN 


Circle  6-0594 


Fifty-second  l^Bt&lETf  'Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


The  Vanguard  Press  presents 

the  netc  play  by 

JEROME  LAWRENCE 

and 

BOBEBT  £  LEE 

“AUNTIE  MAME” 

Based  on  the  novel  by  Patrick  Dennis 
Now  at  your  bookstore 


GREETINGS 

6. 

JUUA  JOHNSTON 

DEL  HUGHES 

“LOOK  HOMEWARD  ANGEL” 

Director 

Barrymore  Theatre 

“THE  BRIGHTER  DAY" 

New  York 

CBS-TY 

"A  tremendous  triumph.  A  towering  end  tremendous  hit." 

— McLain.  Jonrnal-Amerlcan 
"A  jump!  joy-ride.  I  came,  ewey  with  a  grin  as  big  as 
a  pumpkin's."  •—-Karr,  Harold  Tribana 

"A  thunderbolt  of  fun.  Lawrence  and  Lee  have  'written  a' 
sure-fire  winner.11  —Coleman,  Mirror 


Congratulations 

LONG  DAY’S  JOURNEY 
INTO  NIGHT 


PULITZER  PRIZI 
N.  Y.  DRAMA  CRITICS  AWARD 
ANTOINETTE  PERRY  AWARD 


NEW  YORK 

HELEN  HAYES  THEATRE 


CHICAGO 

ERLANGER  THEATRE 


Season's  Greetings 
to  our  host  of  friends. 

SCHUMEB  THEATRICAL 
TRANSFER,  Inc. 

Henry 

Arthur 

Harry 


CLAUDIA  FRANCK 

DRAMA  COACH  OF  STARS 

GREETS  THIS  YEAR 

ANN  FLOOD  HELEN  DOWNEY 

TYBEE  AFRA  JERRY  VALE 

SAL  MINEO 

145  West  55th  Street,  New  York  19.  N.  Y. 

Telephone  Circle  7-6394 


THEATRE  and  SPORTS  TICKET  BROKER 

to  the  Profession  and  Variety  Muggs 

LS/MFT 


I  l  l 
G  N  C 
H  E  K 
T  E 

Y  T 

MACKEYS,  Inc. 

234  West  44 Hi  Street,  New  Yorfc 


SAM  STARK 

Author  of  THEATRE  A  TO  Z 

(to  bo  published  in  1958) 


287 


Fifty  second 


Anniversary 


288 


January  8^  1958 


THEATRE  CORP. 

OF  AMERICA 


Theatre  In  Pictures 

.  By  GEORGE  FREEDLEY  — 


The  Chinese  have  a  proverb  not 
invented  by  Confucius,  or  so  they 


tell  me,  that  states  categorically 
that  one  picture  is  worth,  a  hun- 
dred  or  a 
thou  s  an  d 
words  of  ex¬ 
planation.  Our 
popular  maga¬ 
zines  certainly 
subscribe  to 
that  theory 
and  s  e  v  e  ral 
have  built 
their  reputa¬ 
tion  on  it.  In¬ 
creasing  costs 

ing  processes  have  reduced  the 
number  of  illustrations  in  Ameri¬ 


can  theatre  books  and  if  lots  of 
them  are  included  the  book  is 
priced  right  out  of  the  book-buyers 
market  unless  the  book  is  so  basic¬ 
ally  important  and  needed  that 
even  $17.50  seems  a  small  price  to 
pay;  I  am  referring  to  “World 


Larry  PARKS  and  Betty  GARRETT 

"Those  driven  to  the  view  that  Ameri¬ 
can  entertainment  must  be  noisy  and 
aggressive  will  find  a  revelation  at 
Manchester  Hippodrome  this  week. 
Nothing  could.  be  further  from  the  40 
minutes  of  delight  given  by  a  hus¬ 
band  and  wife  team  with  most  wel¬ 
come  ■  transatlantic  qualities..  Larry 
Parks,  dark  arid  genial,  and  Betty  Gar¬ 
rett,  fair;  slender  and  vivacious,  give 
us  familiar  enough  spots  of  banter, 
song  and  dance— but  all  with  polish 
and  finesse  only  too  rarely  .seen  on 
British  hails  to-day."  —  Derek  Fliide, 
Evening  Chron, 

"If  you  appreciate  American  ..  profes¬ 
sionalism  in  any  of  its  forms,  go  and; 
have  a  look  at  Larry  Parks  and  Betty 
Garrett.  I  cannot  imagine  anyone 
not.  feeling  more  kindly  disposed 
towards  the  world  after  watching 
them.  Incidentally,  Miss  Garrett  must 
be  one  of  the  rarest  beings  in'  show 
business— a  pretty  woman,  who  it  also 
genuinely  funny."  —  D.  C.r  Evening 
News. 


Scene  Design  Since  1935V  (The¬ 
atre  Arts:  Books)  and  even  that 
price  would  not  be.  possible  if  the 
book  had  not  been  assembled  in 
Belgium  and  manufactured  there.. 
Otherwise  the  price  might  have 
been  $117.50  instead.  We  have  to 
pay  to  maintain  our  high  living 
standards. 

This  naturally  leads  into  a  sec¬ 
tion  On  books  built  in  Britain  no 
matter  which  American  publisher’s 
name  appeared  ,  on  the  title  page. 
The  British  public  here  curse  the 
costs  but  they  have  no  idea  what 
their  American  brethren  have  to 
bear.  One  of  the  finest  of  these  is 
“A  Picture  History  of  The  British 
Theatre”  by  Raymond  Marider  and 
Joe  Mitchenson  (Macmillan;  not 
yet  published).  It  is  a  badly  needed 
book  which  is  why  it  is  included 
even  if  not  available  here  except 
in  book  shops  handling  British  im¬ 
portations; 

Other  British  (in  origin)  books 
are  W.  Bridges-Adams’  “The  Irre¬ 
sistible  Theatre”  (World),  which 
covers  the  British  stage  from  the 
11th.  Century  through  the  Restora¬ 
tion  in  -the  17th  Century;  the  Man- 
der  &  Mitchenson  “Theatrical 
Companion  to  Noel  Coward” .  (Mac¬ 
millan)  and  particularly  “Shakes¬ 
peare  at  the  Old  Vic”  by  Roger 
Wood  ahd  Audrey  Williamson 
(Macmillan). 

Two  of:  the  fine  Theatre  World 
Monographs,  published  in  London 
by  Rockliff,  were  on  the  Macmillan 
list.  These  profusely  illustrated 
books  about  living  actors  are  “Mar¬ 
garet  Rutherford”  by  Eric  Keown 
and  “Emlyii  Williams”,  by  Richard 

Findlater. _  _ 

[  ,  .  '  France .  ,  •  | 

France,  except,  in  the  earlier 
mention  of  the  book  on  scene  de¬ 
sign,  is  not  particularly  well  repre¬ 
sented  except  by  Bettina  Leibo¬ 
vitz’s  “Louis  Jouvet,  Man  of  The 
Theatre”  (Columbia  Univ.  Press), 
Maurice  Goudeket's  “Close  to  Co¬ 
lette”  (Farrar,  Straus  &  Cudahy) 
and  Noel  Oxenhandler’s  “Scandal 
And  Parade’’  (Rutgers  Univ.  Press) 
which  has  brilliant  illustrative  mar 
terial  of  France’s  literary  and  the¬ 
atrical  genius,  Jean  Cocteau. 

Dance  and  baillet  usually  bring 
out  beautiful  and  expensive  vol¬ 
umes  of  pictures  but  1957  was  not 
particularly  productive.  There  were 
Hugh  Fisher’s  finely  pictorial  “The 
Sadler's  Wells  .  Theatre  Ballet” 
(Pitman),  also  his  “Margot  Fon¬ 
teyn”  (Macmillan)  as  Well  as  Carl 
Swinson’s  “Six  Dancers  of  Sadler’s 
Wells”  (Macmillan)  and  his  “Svel- 
tana  Beriosova”  (Macmillan). 

I  In  the  .purely  American  field 
There  are  Laura  Zinner’s  “Costum¬ 
ing  for  the  Modern  Stage”  (Univ.  of 
Illinois  PresS);  although  actually 
published  in  1956,  there  was  not 
enough  notice  taken  of  Vern  Adix’s 
excellent  “Theatre  Scenecraft” 
(Children’s  Theatre  Press);  Wil¬ 
liam  Cahn’s  “The  Laugh  Makers” 
(Putnam),  which  covers  all  theatri- 


With  or  without 
a  wig — 

But  never 
without  VARIETY 

L6ve, 

COOKIE  KUPOINET 


i  cal  entertainment  in  comedy;  and, 
particularly,  Daniel  Blum’s  13th 
edition  of  his  invaluable  “Theatre 
World,”  1956-57  (Greenberg). 

These  are  the  outstanding  pic-, 
torial  theatre,  books  of  the  year. 


Show  on  Broadway 


Fan  and  Magic 

Shepard  Traube  presentation  of  two- 
act,  two-performier  novelty:  show.  Stars 
Cornelia  Otis  Skinner,  Fred  Keating; 
assistant,  Pepi  Gomez;  pianist,  Theodore 
Saidenberg.  At  Shubert  Theatre,  N.Y., 
Dec.;  29,  '57;-  $4.60  top  ($5.75  opening). 

in  a  one-night  stand  at  the. 
Phoenix  Theatre  two  years  ago, 
moriologist .  Cornelia  '  Otis  .  Skinner 
and  magician  Fred  Keating  pre¬ 
sented  their  joint  show,  “Characr 
ters  arid  Chicanery:”  While,  Group¬ 
ing  the  hinterland  in  the  interim; 
they  .  have; '  shortened  the  tag  to 
“Fun,  and  Magic,”  provided  -Keat¬ 
ing  with  an  assistant,  and  added  a 
pianist  for  some  very  incidental 
music.  The  show  with  the  trun¬ 
cated  title  has  now  opened  at  ihe 
Shubert  Theatre  ,  and  will  continue 
for  a  limited  engagement  at  the 
adjacent  John  Golden. 

.  The  ingredients  ire  much  the 
same  as  those  that  have  comprised 
the  ,  Skinner  and  Keating  reper¬ 
tories  for  a  number  of  years, 
whether  the  principals  were  oper¬ 
ating  jointly  or  solo,  and  the  poten¬ 
tial  audience  would  seem  to  consist 
chiefly  of  those .  not  yet  initiated 
into,  the  mysteries.  of  Skinner- 
Keating  illusioris,  .  or  of  cultists  of 
one  or  the  other  or  both. 

For.  the  record,  it  can  be  said 
that  Miss  Skinner  still  has  one  of 
the  world’s  most  charming  smiles 
and  that  her  eyes  flash  as  infec¬ 
tiously  as  ever;  Her  stock-in-trade 
itemS'  are  still  acute,  and  the  sun¬ 
dry  American  ladies  in  Paris,  the 
garrulous  summer  guest  at  a  New 
England,  hotel,  the  lady  from  Ne¬ 
braska  about  to  be  presented  at 
the  court  Of  St.  ..James’s,  thepathe- 
tic  Boston  school  teacher,  are  peor 
pie  rather  than  just  so  many 
characters.  And  Miss  Skinrier’s 
midw-estern  “  ”  can  still  stop  a 
show. 

Keating's,  easy  dry  patter  serves 
.  as  ari  amusing  running  commentary 
as  he  .  bridges  the  gaps  between 
his  tricks  and  Miss  Skinner’s.  In 
fact,  opening  at  the  Shubert.  Thea¬ 
tre  seems  to  have  been  unwise/for 
it  is  scarcely  the  house  for  throw¬ 
away  humor,  and  Keating  isn’t 
really  ,  to  blame  that  some  of  his 
drolleries  disappeared  irito  various 
crannies  of  the  large  premises.  The 
Golden  is  smaller  and  should  better 
suit  the  duo!s  intiriie  approach. 

.  Keating’s  facility  for  making  a 
live  canary  disappear  before  the 
eye,  cage  and  all,  is  still  one  of  his 
best  bits.  He  has  now  coached  Miss 
Skinner  in  pieces  of  prestidigita¬ 
tion,  so  that  she  produces  a  rabbit 
out  of  nowhere  with  the  best  of. 
them,  but  for  all  her  persuasive 
graciousness,  Miss  Skinner  has.  not 
yet  induced  Keating  to.  attempt  one 
of  her  impersonations. 

Charm  and  legerdemain  don't 
make  a  bad.  team,  and  in  their  re¬ 
spective  fashions,  Keating  and  Miss 
Skinner  are  experts.  For  senior 
theatregoers,  the  only  elusive  illu¬ 
sion  is  that  of  the  first  time. 

Geof. 


Herlie).  Racked  up  a  four-week 
run  as  of  Dec.  29  and  gave  its  clos¬ 
ing  performance  New  Year’s  '  Eve 

for  a  total  of  33. performances  and 
four  previews^ 


OFF-BROAD  WAY  SHOWS 

Brothers  Karamazov,  Gate  (12- 
6-57. 

Clerambard,  Rooftop  (11-7-57). 

In  Good  King  Charles’  Golden 
Days,  Downtown  (1-24-57). 

Julius  Caesar,  Shakespearwright 
(1 6-23-57). 

Pale  Horse;  Jari  Hus  (12-9-57); 

Palm  Tree  in  Rose  Garden 
Cricket  .(11-26-57). 

Simply  Heavenly,  Sullivan 
St.  Playhouse  (11-8-57). 

Threepenny  Opera,  de  Lys  (9- 
25-57). 

Tobias  of  the  Angel,  Theatre 
East  (1-2-58). 


SHOWS  ON  BROADWAY 

Broadway  legit  grosses  for  last  week,  omitted  from  this  special  issue 
because  of  the  early  deadline,  will  he  included  in  next  week’s  regular 
summary  of.  Main  Stem  business .  However,  except  for  the  exclusion 
of  the  current  grosses  statistical .  data  ( explained  in  the  legend  below) 
as  of  last  Saturday  (4),  is  included  below .  The  top  .prices,,  incidentally, 
refers  to  the  regular  scale.  New  Year’s  Eve  scales  are  unmcniidncd  here. 

Keys:  C  (Comedy),  D  (Drama) 

CD  (Comedy-Drama),R  (Revue), 

MC  (Musical-Comedy),  MD  (Musi¬ 
cal-Drama),  O  (Opera),  OP  (Op¬ 
eretta). 

Other  parenthetic  designations  re¬ 
fer,  respectively,  to  weeks  played, 
number  of  performances  through 
last  Saturday,  top  prices  (where 
two  prices  are  given,  the  higher  is 
for  Friday -Saturday  nights  and  the 
lower  for  weeknights),  number 
of  seats,  capacity  gross  and  stars. 

Auntie.  Marne,  Broadhurst  (C) 

(56th  wk;  437  p)  ($6.90;  1,214;  $46,- 
500)  (Rosalind  Russell). 

Bells  Are  Ringing,  Shubert 

(MC)  (58th  wk;  460- p)  ($8.05;  1,453; 

$58,101)  (Judy  Holliday). 

Cave  Dwellers,  Bijou  (C)  (11th 
wk;  89  p)  ($5.75-$6.25);  611;  $21,- 
525)  (Barry  Jones,  Eugeriie  Leon- 
tovich,  Wayne  Morris). 

Compulsion,  Ambassador  (D) 

Olth  wk;  64  p)  ($5.75-$6.9Q;  1,155; 

836,200)  (Roddy  McDowell,  Dean 
Stockwell). 

Dark  at  the  Top  of  the  Stairs, 

Music  Box  (D)  (5th  wk;  36  p)  ($5.75- 
$6\90;  1.010;  $33,000). 

Fair  Game,  Longacre  (C)  (9th 
Wk;  73  p)  ($5.75-$6.90;  1,101;  $32,- 
000)  (Sam  Levene). 

Jamaica,.  Imperial  (MC)  (10th 
wk;.  76  p)  ($8.35;  1,427;  $63,000) 

(Lena  Horne, .  Ricardo  Montalban). 

Li’l  Abner,  St.  James  (MC)  (60th 
wk;  476  p)  ($8.05;  1,615;  ..$58,100), 

Long  Day’s  Journey  Into  Night, 

Hayes  (D)  (53d  wk;  318  p)  ($6.90; 

1,039;  $30;00Q)  (Frederic  March, 

Florence  Eldridge). 

Look  Back  in  Anger,  Lyceum  (D) 

(14th  wk;  111  p)  ($5.75;  995;  $26,- 
400)  (Mary  Ure,  Kenneth  Haigh). 

Look  Homeward,  Angel,  Barry¬ 
more  (D)  (6th  wk;  44  p)  $6.90; 

1>076;  $40,716)  (Anthony  Perkins, 

Jo  Van  Fleet,  Hugh  Griffith). 

Miss  Isobel,  Royale  (D)  (2d  wk; 

13  p)  ($5.75-$6.90;  1,050;  $35,000) 

(Shirley  Booth). 

Music  Man,  Majestic  (MC)  (3d 
wk;  20  p)  ($8.05;  1,626;  $69,989). 

My  Fair  Lady,  Hellinger  (MC) 

(95th  wk;  755  p)  ($8.05;  1,551;  $67,- 
696)  (Edward  Mulhare,  Julie  An¬ 
drews). 

New  Girl  in  Town  (46th  St.  (MD) 

(34th  wk;  271  p)  ($8.60-$9.20;  1,297; 

859.085)  (Gwen  Verdon,  Thelma 
Ritter). 

Nude  With  Violin,  BelascO  (C) 

(8th  wk;  55  p)  ($5.75-$6.90;  1,037; 

$33,000)  (Noel  Coward). 

Romanoff  and  Juliet,  Plymouth 
(C)  (13th  wk;  100  p)  ($5.75-$6.25; 

1,062;  $36,625)  (Peter  Ustinov); 

Rope  Dancers,  Cort  (D)  (7th  wk; 

53  p)  ($5.75-$6.90;  1,155;  $31,000) 

(Siobhan  McKenna,  Art  Carney). 

Time  Remembered,  Morosco  (C) 

(8th  wk;  63  p)  ($9.90;  946;  $43,000). 

(Heleri  Hayes,  Richard  Burton, 

Susan  Strasbergk 

Tunnel  of  Love,  National  (C) 

(45th  wk;  361  p)  ($5.75;  1,162;  $33,- 
000)  (Tom  Ewell). 

Visit  to  a  Small  Planet,  Booth 
(CV  (48th  wk;  380  p)  ($5.75-$6.90; 

766;  $27,300)  (Cyril  Ritchard). 

West  Side  Story,  Winter  Garden 

(MD)  (15th  wk;  116  p)  ($8.05; 

1,404;  $63,203). 

Closed  Last  Week 

Country  Wife,  Miller’s  (C)  (6th 
wk;  45  p)  ($5.75-$6.90;  946;  $28,- 
000)  (Julie  Harris,  Laurence  Har¬ 
vey,  Pamela  Brown).  Closed  last 
Saturday  (4). 

-  Makropolous  Secret,  Phoenix  (D) 

($4.60;  1,150;  $29,392)  (Eileen 


touring  Shows 

.L— —  Continued  from  page  271  — ^ 

Township  Aud.>  Columbia,  S.C.  (17-18); 
Aud.,  Augusta.  Ga.  (19). 

No  Time  for  Sergeants  (2d-  Co.)— 
Hanna.  Cleve.  (6-11);  Nixon.  Pitt  (13-18). 

Dh  Captain  (tryout) — Shubert,  rnillj 
(11-18).  .  .  :  - 
Rivalry  (tryout)  (Raymond  Massey. 
Agnes  Moorbhead.  Martin  Gabel) — U.  of 
!  Vermont,  Burlington  (12);  •  Kleinhans 
Music  Hall  (-13);  Central-  H.S.,  Syracuse 
(14);  Eastman,  Rochester  (15);  Renssleaf 
Polytechnic  Institute  (16);  Symphony  Hall. 
Boston  (17-18).  .. 

Separate  Tables.  (Eric  Portman. 
dine  Page) — Hartford,  L.A.  (6-11);. 
stone,  Chi  (15-18): 

■  Sunrise- at  Campobello  (tryout)  (Ralph 
Bellamy) — Colonial,  Boston  (6-11);  Forrest, 
Philly  (13-18)  (Reviewed  in  VARIETY. 
Jan.  1, '58). 

Two  for  the  Seesaw  (tryout)  (Henry 
Fonda)— Forrest,  Philly  (6-11,  moves'  to 
N.Y.)  (Reviewed  in  VARIETY.  Dec.  11,  ’57). 

Waltz  of  the  Toreadors  (Melvyn  Doug¬ 
las,  Paulette  Goddard)— Nixon,  Pitt.  (6-Il)j 
Shubert,  Det.  (13-18). 

Wlriesburg,  Ohio  (tryout)  (Dorothy  Mc¬ 
Guire,  James  Whitmore,  Leon  Ames)— 
Shubert.  New  Haven  (6-11);  Colonial,  Bos¬ 
ton  (13-18). 


hotel  president 


I 


48fh  St.,  West  of  Bway 
Circle  6-8800 


1 


Opened  April  2,  1957 
THIS  SPACE  WILL  BE  TWICE 
AS  LARGE  NEXT  YEAR 
THE  NORTH  JERSEY  PLAYHOUSE 
Fort  Lee,  N.  J. 

New  Jersey's  Only  Year  Round  theatre 
Whitney  5-5600 


Whitney  R.  Sponsler 

AMERICAN  LEGITIMATE  THEATRE  SERVICE 

Hollywood  28,  Calif. 


290 


Fifty-second 


fS&IETY 


Anniversary 


January  8, 1958 


Fifty-second  POKIEST  Anniversary 


- -  1540 

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Exclusive  Management 


TEDCOLUNS 


Fifty-second  PSklETr  Anniversary 


NOW  AT  YOUR  FAVORITE  MUSIC  STORE 


"ft#  tuts  art  cM  typical  Durante  Originabby 
Jock  Barnett  written  for  the  Schnonola.  The 
i  It  a  worthy  sakrto  Vo  on  of  the  show  biz 

THE  ARGUS 


"When  the  Schnonola  wgagos  hi  furious  duds 
of  wit  wHb  Bob  Hope,  Bing  Crosby.  Helen 
Traubel,  Eddie  Cantor.  and  Al  Jobon,  the  re- 


CLEVELAND  PLAIN  DEALER 

"Dacca  has  performed  another  service  with  the 
release  of  Club  Durant  CDL  90491  starring  the 
inimitable  James  Dnronte  ami  eight  headliner 
guests  who  appeared  with  Mm  on  Radio  and  TV 
shows  during  the  yean.  Durante,  of  course,  is 
stBI  breaking  up  audiences  in  night  debs,  but 
listening  to  this  album  yoaH  find  it  hard  to  be¬ 
lieve  he  couM  ever  be  funder.  A  mast  for  show 
business  buffs  and  anyone  looking  for  laughter."  ' 

INS 


"A  sure  candidate  for  show  business  Huff  of 
Fame  Is  Jimmy  Durante,  heard  on  a  new  Dacca 
release  with  a  number  of  guest  stars  appear¬ 
ing  with  him  on  Radio  and  Television.  In  one 
extended  sequence  lie  is  teamed  with  long-time 
associates  ton  Clayton  and  Eddie  Jackson. 
Others  are  Ethel  larryrnoie.  Al  Jobon,  Sophie 
Tucker,  Eddie  Cantor,  Bing  Crosby,  Bob  Hope. 
Peter  Lawford  and  Helen  TraubeL  With  talent 
like  this  the  album  should  seR  Itself." 

THE  AUGUSTA  CHRONICLE  HERALD 


"What  a  priceless  collection  this  is,  as  Old 
Nose  aM  exchanges  breathtaking  broadsides 
with  his  up-until-then  distinguished  guests.  A 
rear  a  minute.  Except  when  Durante  trios  with 
Eddie  Jackson  and  Lou  Clayton.  They  bring 
throaty  lumps  and  moist  eyes." 

THE  CLARION  LEDGER,  JACKSON  DAILY  NEWS 


"Club  Durant  is  filled  with  special  routines, 
some  of  which  are  outright  hilarious,  and 
should  do  extremely  well.  The  real  Durante  b 


found  in  thb 

Durante's  Radio  and  Television  shows." 

BOSTON  HERALD 


"There's  a  whole  lot  of  fun  packed  into  one 
12-inch  dbc,  more  than  one  would  think  pos¬ 
sible.  A  most  entertaining  IP." 

WORCESTER  SUNDAY  TELEGRAM 

"Club  Durant  b  a  collection  of  fetching  ones 
by  Jimmy  (Schnozuolal  and  Ms  guests.  If  yon 
don't  find  one  to  nko  among  these  you're  hard 
to  please.  DL  9049."  the  music  reporter 

"Jimmy  Durante's  'Club  Durant'  package  for 
Dacca  b  racking  up  hefty  sales  around  the 
country./^  From  a  public  reception  standpoint 
it's  the  best  thing  JIMMY  has  ever  had  on  dbfcs 
since  it  excellently  captures  the  fiavor  of  the 
best  of  the  DURANTE  shows  and  b  spiced  with 
name  guest  stars."  DAILY  VARIETY 

AND  ON,  AND  ON,  AND  ON. 


FILMS 

1  1 

VIDEO 

TV  FILMS 

RA 

c 

STAGE 

niETY 


Vol.209  No.  7 


PubUshed  Woekly  at  154  West  46th.  Street,'  New;  York  36,  N.  Y.,  by  Variety,  Inc:  Annual  subscription,  $10.  Single  copies,  25  cents. 
Entered,  as  second-class  matter  December  .22,  1905,  .  at  the  Post  Offlce  at  New  York,  N.Y.,  under  the  act  Of  March  3,  1870. 

copyright;  loss,  by  variety,  ing.  all  rights  reserved 


NEW  YORK,  WEDNESDAY,  JANUARY  15, 1958 


PRICE  25  CENTS 


FILM  HOUSES  WITH  ‘LIVE’  SELL 


Austria  Exports  Franz  Josef  Schmaltz  fljfi  BIZ  BACKING 
In  Sentimental  Vienna  on  Parade  MHAf  UHIIHr  FRI1 


Selznick  Defends  Downtown  Prices  In 
Nahe  Booking  of  TareweD  To  Arms 


By  ROBERT  J.  LANDRY 

America’s  concert  platforms  and 
arenas  nowadays  delight  in  groups 
imported  from  overseas  Which  are 
able  to  supply  these,  boxoffice 
come-ons:  (a)  a  numerous  person¬ 
nel,  since  soloists  are  hard-sell, 
(b)  colorful  native  attire,  and  (c) 
recognizable  sentimental  appeal.  In 
.the  case  of  “Vienna  on  Parade” 
which  opened  Friday  (10)  at  Car¬ 
negie  Hall,  N.  Y.,  an  American 
roncert  showman,.  Andre  Mertehs 
of  Columbia  Management,  went  to 
.Austria  several  times  during  the 
past  15  months  to.  organize,  negoti¬ 
ate,  rehearse  and  ready  this  in¬ 
vasion  of  triple-distilled  schmalz. 


Red-F aced  Barricades 

Paris;  Jan.  14: 

Pathe  Productions  pf  Paris 
had;  to  reprint  its  New  Year- 
greeting  cards  which  included 
a  .still  from  “Les  Miserables,” 
made  in  East  Berlin  on  co¬ 
production.  On  close  study  it 
revealed  a  placard  on  the  bar¬ 
ricades  of  the  1848  French 
rebels  reading  “Property 
Thievery.”  . 

It  was  not  felt  that  this  was 
the  ideal  note*  to  strike.. 


By  JOE  COHEN 

The  commercial  firm  sponsoring 
television  shows  may  yet  bring 
back  vaudeville.  Nothing  else  has 
been  able  to. 

Industrial  shows  are  virtually 
set  to  make  their  appearances  in  ; 
theatres.  Variety  packages  tour¬ 
ing  under  auspices  of  commercial 
firms  are  being  studied  for  inclu¬ 
sion  as  regular-  stageshows  in  pic¬ 
ture  „hoUses.  The  .first  such  ven¬ 
ture  is  being  readied  "by  Phillip 
Morris  cigarettes  which  is  rehears¬ 
ing  a  hillbilly  unit  to  play  houses 
in  the  south  and  southwest. 

Commercial  sell  in  theatres  is 


Measured  Hysteria 

Producer  David  O.  Selznick, 
on  being  asked  about  “panic” 
in  the  motion  picture  indus¬ 
try,  said  panic  wasn’t  war¬ 
ranted,  but  added: 

“if  they  (the  film  people)  j 
weren't  frightened,  they’d  be 
awfully  foolish.” 

Also  going  the  rounds  in . 
Manhattafr-film  circles  is  this 
quip:  “We’re  cutting  to  the 
bone;  in  fact,  below  operating 
efficiency.” 


ision  oi  iripie-msuiieu.  auunieiig..  _  -  _  y  commercial  sen.  in  meaires  is  g  .  », ,  _  j 

The  company  of  68  includes  a  Seattle  lalks  World  srair;  *<*uaiiy  not,,nT-,K In  ma?y  t|ie'  Jean,  Kerr  s  Kids,  “op  s 

military  band,  in  obviously  brand-  ’  atres  throughout  the  country,  ex-  '  ““V  .  ’  f. 

ennes^sopranos^  blondes’.  InAdvance,  Blueprinting  “dT Newspaper  AH  Ficboi 

ly)  a  tenor,  a  zither  soloist,  an  in-  CfinOMi  Hall  I  a’]  HiaatrA  film  manufactuers  produce  cellu-  nicffllicoil  fsr  Mp 

fitrumental  quartet  and  a!  cluster!  VVUtCl  l  IWU,  LI  1  lUCdUC  ibid  plugging  trademark  products.  l/lhgllldCU  IVI  1VU 

of  pink-cheeked  singing  and  danc-  Seattle,  Jan.  14. ]  ^"’^er^^  this  will  ^  the^  first  Metro’s  fiim  adaptation  ofj 

ing  boys  and  girls  from  the  Gririz-  While  city  fathers  here  and  else- 
ing  hills  outsideJVierrna,.;  The  re-  wj iere  ,n  ihe  state  m:e  still  mulling 
sultant  entertainment  is  lively,  with  _•  -  .  j.-..  , 

marches  and  waltzes,  operetta,  over  the  World  Fair  committee’s 
folklore,  peasant  costuming,  a  sa.m-  raising  of  necessary  dough  to  put. 


Newspaper  AH  Fiction 


Creeping  inflation  in  the  nation, 
plus  widening  pockets  of  unem¬ 
ployment,  throws  the  spotlight  of 
discussion  anew  on  the  question  of 
prevailing  film  theatre  admission 
scales  and  the  question  of  how 
much  Joe  Public  is  willing  to 
.spend  for  a  ticket  when  he  has  the 
“out”  of  television  entertainment, 
which  costs  *  only  electricity  and 
pauses  for  selL 

Admissions  looms  large  at  a 
time  When  the  industry  is  trying  to 
lure  back  to  the  boxoffice  the  seg¬ 
ment  of  the  audience  that  has  de¬ 
serted  it  in  recent  years.  The  an¬ 
swers  run  In  two  different  direc¬ 
tions. 

There  are  those  who  argue  that 
the  high  level  of  admissions,  par¬ 
ticularly  in  .  the  downtown  runs, 
has  been  a  strong  contributory  fac¬ 
tor  to  the  b.o.  decline  and  that  the 
public,  already  burdened  with  in- 


Seattle,  Jan.  14. ,  However,  this  will  be_  the  first  Metro’s,  film  adaptation  of  Jean  ite  refent- 

While  city  fathers  here  and  else-  ljve”  umt  to  play  under  money  Kert.s  bestseller,  “Please  Don't]  ment  hieh  admfSinnc;  1 

VtZ  admission  in  fllmer.es.  (Guy  I,om-  Eat.  the  Daisies.”  will  present  the;  man‘ *“f h,admms.ons 


* _  i  iu  i.  .  "  :  i-n  ii-  admission  in  filmeries.  (Guy  Lom-  va+  the  Daisies”  will  present  the] 

sultant  entertainment  is  lively,  with  where  in  the  stateRre  still  mulling  bardo  did  a  sales  coupon  tour  20  material  as  fiction.  Under  the  con-  ‘  Md^  then  there  are  those  who 

marches  and  waltzes,  operetta,  over  the  World  Fair  committee  s  (Cbntinued  on  page  24)  tract  the  studio  may  not  use  the  hold  that  today  s  conditions  are 

folklore,  peasant  costuming,  a  sa.m-  raising  of  necessary  dough  to  put.  — — . .  ■  '  -  real  names  of  the  authoress,  her  such  that  the  customers  will  fork 

ping  of  “Merry  Widow”  type  the-  „n  a  fair  from  $15  million  to  $47  PITC6T  A1JC’.  AWN  WHTNIIT  husband,  drama  critic  Walter  Kerr,  over  practically  anything  for  a  pic- 

atricality,  Of  matinee  idol  leading  million  dollars  the  Seattle  Civic  UffR  UlUlilm  6r  their  four  children.  Also,  there  ture  they  really  want  to  see  and 

men,  and  stylized  soubretting  from  ,  .  .  ’  ^  .  pii fjj  CTMTEC  may  not  he  any  location  shots  of  that  the  real  problem  isnt  the 

yesteryear.  Center  committee  has  okayed  im-  ULM  DUE  IN  STATES  the  Kerr  house  in  Larchmont.N.Y..  I  worry  about  too  high  prices,  but 


Center  committee  has  okayed  ini- 


It  is  a  conscious  purpose  of  the  mediate  building^  projects  to  cost 
Austrian  government  and  .  people  $3,500,000. 

to  restore  the  vaunted  gaiety  of.  Of  that  amount  $2  million  will 


(Continued  on  page  24) 


ediate  building*  projects  to  cost  i'  ,  - .  ,  ,  .  .  which  is  a  key  element  .  in  the  about  making  the  type  of  important 

500  000  hve-reel  documentary  tracing  and  the  yarn  will  not  even  films  that  make  admissions  seem 

Of  that’  amount  82  million  <Wi:  ftat'  cattiod  SuT thl**' picte^^t  IdSy  (Continued  on  page  16) 


cert  hall  Within  the  shell  of  the  around  the  earth,  will  be  imported  ^fl  ic  thR  leeit  reviewer 
I  nmcont  nivio  Ai.ditnrium  onH  i  i^  Aerr  is  tne  legii  reyiewer._ 


Mrs.  Kerr,  who  wrote  “Daisies” 
as  a  series  of  humorous  articles  for 
various  magazines,  stipulated  in 


Nixon  Bids  For 
On-Air  Support 
For  Ike  s  Policy 

Washington,  Jan.  14. 
Vice  President  Richard  M.  Nixon 


_  present  Civic  Auditorium  and  into  the  States  from  Russia  at  the  ^rc  K>rr  who  wrote  “Daisies”  INlVAft  Kllio  MAY* 

r:lm  P A  $1-500.000  for  .  .separate  “little  end  of  this  month  ,  .  a  “"erKof  hTmorouiartmSlor  lllXOH  0HIS  for 

film  MOrV  LlUt  theatre,  seating  1,000.  According  to  Nicholas  Napoli,  varj0us  magazines,  stipulated  in 

A  LAV1J  The  Civic  Center  committee  is  head,  of  Artkmo,  the  Soviet  film  negotiations  with  thC  studio  that  /\ I  •  O  - 

*  m  ,  --  working  closely  With  the  World!  agents  in  this  country,  the  film  is  members  of  her  family,  the  house  ||l|.  Air  .lllDnOri 

TuaJa  Uava  Fair  group.  Each  segment  has  in, black-and-white  and  has  not  yet  aid  town,  and  even  the  newspaper  VU  nil  UUftllftfl  l 
imCr  IlduC  ncro*  $7;500,000  to  work  with—the  local:  been^ ^released in  Russia.  It  can-ies  be  ficti0nal.  Her  idea  is  to  avoid  '  11 

VltVV  IIUMV  committee  for  creating  a  center  an  English  narration  recorded  in  additional  public  attention  and  loss  H  ||  >  ft  1* 

__  —  .  .  #  with  con/ert  hall,  theatre  and  re-  Moscow.  .  of  privacy  for  the  four  small  boys.  I*  AIT  IlfP  C  iHllTV 

17m  aaa  la  vft>f n ittiAil  creation  facilities;  the  state  group  Also  due  for  release  by  Artkino  ghe  will' not  do  any  work  on  the  *  wl  lAv  O  1  UlIvY 

rdCCS  CXllIlL  liUll  for  acquiring  land  and  construe-  is  a  science-fiction  color  film,  SCroen  adaptation,  partly,  because  ^ 

IUVW  U4iiuivMv«  tion  the  same  area  for  a  pro.  “Road  to  the  Stars,”  which  envis-  she*s  already  busy  with  prepara-  Washington,  Jan.  14. 

u*  .  inHpnpndpnt  Dr0-  posedworld’s  fair  in  1961-62.  Orig-;  agesmethods  offuturespace  travel  tions  for  the  Broadway  production  V:ee  President  Richard  M.  Nixon 
^pppntaccenton  inallyit  was  thought  the  combined  based  on  concepts  evolved  by  Rus-  next  fall  of  “Goldilbcks,”  a  musical  tossed la  public  service  hot  potato 

de-  $15  million  could  set  up  the  fair,  sian  scientists.  Subject  also  runs  comedy  for  which  she. and  her  hus-  mto  the  annual  conference  of  CBS 

iunoAf  wKnn^usedtobe  one  but  a  recent  report  from  the  com-  for  five  reels  and  has  a  story  h#ie  band  have  written  the.  book  and  col-  Television  Affiliates  here  yester- 

SoSS  mm  •  mittee  set  the  £rice  .at  $47  mlllioir-  to  it.-. .  '  -  .  ^  .  laborated  on  the  lyrics.  day  (Mon.)  , 

storv  deoa?tments.  for  a  fair  to  measure  up  to  previ*  To  date,  the  Russians  have  made  Metro  paid  $75,000  for  the  rights  He  told  them,  in  effect,  that  they 
c  f  r.w  ♦  p  hnw  to  the  °us  Projects  of  like  nature.  (Continued  on  page  69)  to  “Daisies.”  Imve  a  privilege  and  duty”  to  sell 

Latest  company  to  bow^to  the  •  ?  . .  the  Administration’s  defense  and 

HOW  conditions  is  Paramount,  wmen  -  ■,<.  foreign  -aid  programs  over!  their 

has  pinkslipped  .  Allan  Jackson,  its  ^  -I  I  stations. 

story  editor  for  14  years.  He  ankles  |  #  fl  ml  tel  11  m  iffl  » -  .  _  II  He  told  them,  too,  that  in  the 

i  Hoist  (Eye  &  ThroatlPorty  To  Joe  Frisco  i 

change  nowadays.  1  m  m  -a«  well  as  public  service,  to  in- 

Early  in.  1957,  he  was  offered  the  By  ARMY  ARCHERD  crease  the  volume  of  news  and - 

job  as  story  editor  at  Lite,  parar  .  -  •••••♦  r  •  *  .*  -  information-  on  the  air  and  to 

mount -begged  him  to  stay  . ana  Hollywood,  Jan.  14.  “D-d-d-don’t  worry,”.  he  tohi  lhe.  hoys.  “General  decrease  lha  amount  of  entertain- 

doflbledius  saUry.  Jackson^agreea,  Th.  track  was  j ^ast  at  the  Mas  quere  .Frida  y  night  W-W-w-waiflwright  mad? ,Fns.cp,at  68.  stOl  pack-  m«it. 

On  the  day  befofe  New  Year  s  ne  _  _  .  ,  '  .  o  Ing  a  cigar,  but  minus  his  derby,  leaned  on  a  cane  Nixon  addressed  the,  first  day  s 

receiyed'his  hotice.  :  (10)  when.  Joe  Frisco,  a  vaude  great  and  a  show  biz  as  he  slowly  made  his  Way  ihtb  the  hall.  It  was  a  luncheon  of  the  affiliates’ meeting, 

‘  Department  isn’t  being  elimi-  pe^  was  garlanded  by  his  fellow  players,  from  the  :  bit  dramatic  since  the  frolipCf  only  a  month  Ago  mote  or  loss  off-the-cuff,  on  the 
Dated  howOver.  John  Rearick  is  tak-  palace.  to  pimiico.  The  emotion-packed  event,  pos-  underwent  three  hoursdridlOminutes  of  surgery.  Eisenhower  Administration’s  for- 
ing  over.  sibly  the~most  misty  ever  run  in  the  hall,  brought  “N-n-noip  you  know/”  H6  *  quipped,*  *  “fn-m-my  act  eign  policy. 


jofthe°miost  vital  spots  in  shy  film  mittee  set  the  price  at  $47  miUiop 
“company— the  story  departments,  for  a  fair  to  measure  up  to  previ* 

Latest  company  to  bow  to  the  ous  projects  of  like  nature, 
new  conditions  is  Paramount,  which 
has  pinkslipped  Allan  Jackson,  its  ^ 

story  editor  for  14  years.  He  ankles  §|  ^  — m  -mmm  A 

his  job  as  of  Feb/ 1..  His # exit  dra-  f  C 

inatizes  the. speed  With  Which  things  VVllll SI  I  K  flL 
change  nowadays.  •  w.- w 

Jariyin  .1953  be  was  offered  the  ^ 

job  as  story  editor  at  CBb.  para¬ 
mount- begged  him  to  stay  ,  and  Hollj 

OnUtted^y  SbeS  Ne^YeaSfhc  Ths  track  was  fast  at  the  Masqu 
received  .his  notice.  (10)  when.  Joe  Frisco,  a  vaude  grea 


Moist  (Eye  &  Throat)  Party  To  Joe  Frisco 


Early  m  lyo/.  ne  was  By  ARMY  ARCHERD 

job  as  story  editor  at  CBb.  para-  «  . 

mount -begged  him  to  stay  . and  Hollywood,  Jan.  14.  “D-d-dn 

«*•  ** »i the 

received- his  notice.  .  ^  .  (10)  when  .  Joe  Frisco,  a  vaude  great  and  a  show  biz  as  he  sloi 

‘  Department  isn’t  being  elimir  pet,  was  garlanded  by  his  fellow  players,  from  the  :  bit  drama 
Dated  however.  John  Rearick  is  tak-  palace  tQ.  pimiico.  The  emotion-packed  event,  pos-  uhderWen 
Ing  over.  . ,  .  ■  sibly  the- most  misty  ever  run  in  the  hall,  brought  “N-vrnow 

This  in  effect  leav«  Rnly  two  q  ^  overflow  crowd  for  a  testimonial  to  the  stut-  doesn!t  ta 
ftorL^eP^^ntsfunctiomng  fulty  wit.  But  the  guest  of  honor-.was  unable  to  It  Was  i 

S  .Ne^  ftxTil  u7=  niin0Chlarrunder  Put  on  the  feedbag  at  his  own  banquefc-his  recent  able  to  re 
Meteo.  pttw  has  Olm  Ctark  nnqer  ana  illness  have  whittled  him  down  to  90  who  carri 

contract.  At  20th,  Henry  Konger  ^  it  was  almost  impossible  for  him  to  stow  ing  Form, 

md«°J0Smh°  S?wit  Who's  in  solids.  NortrouWes,  however  with  Uquida-from  the  Jokes  abot 
™  (Continues  on  page  22)  pape  to  the  gram. 


doesn’_t  take  that  •  “People  with  your  power,”  hr 

It  was  reported  he.  insisted  lifs*.hbSpital  Durse  be  told  the  station  owners,  “have  a 
able  to  read  a  track  chart.  Tr fsed' is  the  only  man  prvilege  and  duty  to  bring  the 
who  carries  two  pairs  of  glasses,  one  for  the  Rac-  situation  home  to  the  people,  that 
ing  Form,  the  other  for  the  scratch  sheet.  Hi*  classic  v;e  must  be  strong  militarily  but 
jokes  about  his  horse-betting  include:  “I  had  a  preat  that,  at  the  same  time,  we’ve  got 
(Continued  on  page  24)  l  (Continued  on  page  20) 


2 


PSuentfrt 


Wednesday  January  15,  1958 


DON’T  REMEMBER  SCHOOtMARMS  ONLY  |g"tertamment’*  ^ 

WHFN  ^TIIFK^  WITU  ^HAJCFSPFARF  i  William.  D.  Boutwell  Argue*  Young  Must  Be 

If  ULN  J 1  U VA  If  1 1 11  JllnlVLJl  liftULl  Ta„*ht  To  R«  Matters.  Not  Slave*.  Ot  Mode™ 


By  PATRICK  D.  HAZARD  ♦- 


( Author  of  this  article  is  cur¬ 
rently  billeted  at  the  U.  of  Penn¬ 
sylvania  where  he  is  working  up 
a  proposed  curriculum  for  the 
teaching  of  " popular  culture ■’ 
courses  within  the  frame  of  Amer¬ 
ican  Civilization.  He  is  B  former 
Michigan  high  school  teacher.) 

Horace  Mann  and  P.  T.  Barnum 
played  different  sides  of  the  street, 
and  the  teacher  and  promoter  in 
America  have  had  chips  on  their, 
respective  shoulder  ever  since. 
The  century-old  cultural  cold  war 
between  education  and  show  biz  in 
our  civilization  is;  up  to  a  point, 
a  good  thing:  it  keeps  important 
distinctions  ‘between,  say,  enlight¬ 
enment  and  razzmatazz,  knowledge 
and  knick-knacks)  clearly  in  mind. 
But  the  old  antagonisms,  in  new 
and  empty  minds,  can  move  both 
professor  and  press-agent  to  ori¬ 
ginal  and  unnecessary  confusions. 
I  say  it's  once  again  time  to  check 
our  stereotypes  for  size:  Is  the  lat¬ 
ter-day  Horace  Mann  necessarily 
a  pedant  or  hypocritical  phoney? 
Or  are  our  new-model  Barnums 
ulcerous  hucksters  on  the  way  to 
being  robber  barons  of  the  popular 
arts? 

Perhaps  a  fresh  look  will  reveal 
the  basis  for  at  least  some  forms, 
©f  peaceful  coexistence.  I  won't 
presume  to  say  what  the  scholar 
and  teacher  can  learn  from,  the 
media  masters „  of  grayflannel 
magic  ithat’s  really  for  them  to 
say  to  me),  but  I  do  think.  Scholas¬ 
tic  stodginess  is  worse  than  silly 
when  one  has  seen  the.  movie  ads 
of  Saul  Bass  ("St.  Joan,”  "The  Man 
Y/ith  the  Golden  Arm”).  Our  text-, 
books  ought  to  aim  at  that  kind  of 
brilliant  graphics.  I  do  want  to 
say,  however,  that  the  scholar  can 
be  useful  to  the  policymaker  in  the 
popular  arts  without  being  untrue 
to  his  ideal  of  objectivity.  This 
paradox,  is  true  because  of  a  new 
climate  of  belief  on  the  university 
campus. 

Not  so  long  ago,  most  professors 
grew  up  before  the  coming  Of  the 
movies,  radio  and  television.  In¬ 
evitably,  these  new  media  seemed 
to  threaten  the  scholar  with  a  sub¬ 
tle,  indirect  form  of  technological 
unemployment.  So,  partly  from 

(Continued  on  page  18) 

- - - - -  4 

Paul  Robeson’s  Brit  TV; 
See  State  Dept’s  Okay 

London,  Jan.  14. 

Paul  Bobeson  is  accepting  invi¬ 
tations  to  appear  on  British  com¬ 
mercial  tv  for  an  exclusive  ATV 
series  starting  with  "Sunday  Night 
at  the  Palladium”  April  6. 

Deal,  made  through  his  London 
agent,  Harold  Davison,  also  in¬ 
cludes  a  nationwide  concert  tour. 
Understood  there’s  strong  possi¬ 
bility  of  U.S.  State  Dept  |  approv¬ 
ing  Robeson’s  passport  application, 
long  withheld. 


Muzak  'Going  UP  V 

Vancouver,  Jan.  14.  . 

Seemingly  whatever  Seattle 
can  do,  Vancouver  “can  do  bet- : 
ter.”  CJOB  Wired  Music 
(Muzak)  hre,  taking  cue  from 
Roosevelt  Hotel,  Seattle,  has 
sold  instillations  into  the  ele¬ 
vators  of  Belmont  and  biggi 
Georgia  Hotels. 

This  on  heels  of  announce¬ 
ment  that  Strand  here  /gets 
Seattle’s  Cinerama  set-up  by 
.„  March.  It’s  currently  “Mu¬ 
zak  while  you  work  the  lift” 
here,  and  riders  are  reported 
brisker,  better  on  bonhomie. 


Telepix  Eligible 
For  Brussels  Expo 

International  Experimental  Film 
Competition  at  Brussels,  Belgium, 
this  spring  now  is  open  also  to 
filmed  records  of  television  shows. 
Deadline  for  all  entry  applications 
is  Feb;  1.  _ 

The  competish  is  skedded  for 
April  21-27.  It’ll .  he  followed  dur¬ 
ing  the '  summer  by  the  regular 
international  film  f est  and,  later 
on,  by.  the  selection  of  the  .  best 
films  of  all  time. 

Experimental  film  competition  is 
staged  by  the  Cinematheque  de 
Belgique,  headed  by  Jacques  Le- 
doux,  who  has  urged  filmmakers 
ir.  the  U.S.  to  send  in  their  applica¬ 
tions.' 

Denies  R&R  Is  V  J).  Cause; 
Alan  Freed  Sez  It’s  Just 
‘Adnlt  Entertainment’ 

Hartford,  Jan.  14. 

A  WINS  ,  N.  Y.,  deejay  catsi- 
gated  the  Massachusetts  .  Public 
Health  Department  for  its  news 
release  of  Saturday  (11)  condemn¬ 
ing  rocl^  ’n’  roll  as  the  cause  of  an 
increase  of  venereal  disease  among 
teeners  and  a  general  increase;  in 
juvenile  delinquency.  Alan  Freed 
pointed  out  that  rock  ’o’  roll  has 
been  accepted  as  adult  entertain¬ 
ment. 

More  than  one  half  of  the 
137,000  persons  who  attended  his 
recent  -bash  at  the  Paramount,  New 
York,  he  said,  were  adults;  adding 
that  a  great  percentage  of  those 
who  attended  the  local  house  also 
in  this  classification.  The  dirty  part 
of  r  ’n’  r  has  been  cleaned  up,  he 
said.. 

College  students,  Freed  said,  are 
now  demanding  danceable  r  ’n’  r 
music.  Freed  said  that  "Bay  An¬ 
thony  within  the  last  month  threw 
(Continued  on  page  22) 


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ABEL  GREEN,  Editor 


Volume  209 

_  Number 

INDEX,  * 

7 

Bills 

70 

Night  Club  Reviews.,..,, 

.  66 

Chatter 

79 

Obituaries  .............. , 

.  70 

Film  Reviews 

6 

Pictures  . . 

.  3 

.....  69 

i  27 

Inside  Music  ........ 

Radio  Reviews  ...  w . .  • . . . .  ; 

.48 

Inside  Pictures  ....; 

. 18 

Record  Reviews 

,  54 

Inside  Radio-TV  .... 

Television  ... ... . . .  .  • .  . ; 

.  27 

International 

12 

Television  Reviews  ....... 

*  87 

Legitimate 

71 

Tollvisiori 

.  26 

Literati 

77 

TV  Films  .............  .. 

.  30 

Music 

54 

Vaudeville 

.  62 

New  Acts 

69 

Wall  Street  ... ; , .......... 

.  18 

’Stay  Out  of  Diif  Hair’ 
Madison  At.  ’Geniuses’ 

Hollywood,  Jan,  14. 

-  If  Madison  Ave.  “geniuses” 
would  leave  picture-making  in  the 
hands  of  the  'professionals,  there 
would  be  some  progress  made  in 
the  quality  of  telefilms,  asserts 
Dick  Powell,  prexy  of  Four  Star 
Films,  and  owner  of  that  company, 
along  .with.  David  Niven  and  Char-, 
les  Boyer. 

Powell  points  to  Four  Star.  Play¬ 
house,  which  Four  Star  turned  out 
a  few  years  ago,  a  series  which, 
proved  a  success  both  in  quality 
and  financially,  arid  attributes  its 
success  to  the  fact  actors  (the  three 
owners  of  the  company)  picked 
their  own  $cripts. 

"But  today,  it’s  very  seldom  that 
actors  pick  their  stories.  Instead 
they're  selected  by  sponsors  and 
agencies.  Nowadays  at  Four  Star 
we  have .  one  show  with  five  actors 
who  have  nothing  to  say  about  the 
scripts.  Out  of  41  scripts  these 
actors  submitted,  over  50%  were 
turned  down.  In  my  opinion  the 
agency  turned  down  the  good 
stories,,  arid  accepted  the  worse 
material.  Somebody  back  on  . Madi¬ 
son  Ave.  thinks  he?s  a  genius. 

"I'm  going  to  N.Y.  to  see  if  I 
can  talk  some  sense  into  him.  We 
made  our  reputation  making  an- 
thologv  pictures,  but  now  they 
won’t  let  us  judge  what’s  best.  As 
far  as  I’m  concerned.  I’d  just  as 
soon  lose  the  show  if  these  condi¬ 
tions  cari't  be  corrected.  They’re 
impossible  working  conditions. 
When  they  turn  the  stories  down, 
the  onlv  reason  they  ,  give  is  ‘I  don’t 
like  it.’ 

“That  in  general  is  what's  wrong 
with'  most  tv.  When.  I  came  out 
here  to  work  ill  movies,  I  was  a 
singer,  and  I’d  pick  out  the  songs. 
A  couple  of  years  later  some  ex¬ 
ecutives  at  the  studio  who  felt 
.they  were  geniuses  decided  they 
’vvbuld  pick  the  songs,  and  we  never 
did  have  any  hits  after  that,”  com¬ 
ments  Powell  acidly. 

NATIONAL  LOTTERY 
PROMISES  CUT  IN  TAX? 

Washington,  Jan.  14; 

Only  way  for  Americans  to  get 
a  tax  cut  is  the  use  of  a  national 
lottery,  Rep.  Paul  A.  Fino  (B., 
N.  Y.)  told  the  House  of  Repre¬ 
sentatives  last  week. 

"The  recerit  Trendex  poll  taken 
in  every  section  of  this  land  and 
of  people  i  every  i  ri  c- o  in  e 
bracket,”  he  said,  ^should  he.  suffi¬ 
cient  proof  that  most  of  the  peo¬ 
ple  favor  a  national  lottery  as  a 
means  to  reduce  taxes. 

"If  the  honorable  members  of 
ibis  Congress  would  banish  hypoc¬ 
risy,  remove  the  blinders,  and  open 
their  eyes  to  this  pathless  and 
voluntary  form  of  taxation,  they 
will  find  an  additional  $10  billions 
a  year  coming  into:  the  United 
States  Treasury. 

Greer  Garsoii  Oil  Well 

Dallas,  Jan.  14. 

Greer  Garson,  the  film  actress 
and  wife  of  local  oilman  E.  E;  Fo- 
gelraan,  is  to  get  a  Texas  oil  field 
named  for  her. 

That  was  revealed  by  Fryer  & 
Hanson  Drilling  Co., .  co-owner  of 
the  discovery  well  With  Fogelsori. 
Application  has  been  made  to  the 
Railroad  Cominission  for  discovery 
allowable  and  asked  that  the  area 
be  named  for  Mrs.  Fogelman.  Ap¬ 
proval  of  the  commission  Is  ex¬ 
pected. 


William  D.  Boutwell  Argues  Young  Must  Be 
Taught  To  Be  Master s9  Not  Slaves,  Of  Modern 
Mass  Media . 

William  D.  Boutwell,  an  older  pundit  than  Patrick  D.  Hazard  (see 
adjoining  space),  recently  addressed  the  National  Council  of  Teachers 
of  English  in  advocacy  of  the  thesis  that  the  modern  educator  must 
take  films,  television,  radio,  jazz  and  other  forms  of  "pop  culture”  into 
reckoning.  Using  the  provocative  thought  that  the  major  detonations  in 
entertainment  have  their  own  "fallout”  which  is  felt  long  afterwards, 
Boutwell,  (he’s  Director  of  Teenage  Book  Club)  alluded  to  America’s; 
grim .  statistics  of juvenile  delinquency  as  "an  iridex  of  mental  short¬ 
comings  of  both  parents  and  young  people,”  ’ 

When  students  get  holes  in  their  teeth,  schools  concern  themselves. 
But  what  about  holes  in  their  heads?  Not  the  least  diverting  idea  put 
forward  by  Boutwell  to  the  English  teachers  is  this: 

“  The  only  textbook  in  mass  media  is  a.  magazine- — Variety;” 

The  following  paragraphs  from  Boutwell's  address  sum  up  his  point 
of  view.  He  followed  on  with  practical  here’s-how  steps,  of  interest 
primarily  to  School  pros..  Quote: 

One  of  my  best  friends  is  a  high  school 
principal,  I’ve  known  him  a  long  time.  So 
long  that  I  have  no  hesitation  in  charging 
him  with  the  neglect  of  American  youth  and 
other  educational  crimes.  That  is,  I  do  this 
if  I  can  beat  him  to  the  verbal  punch.  Re¬ 
cently,  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  get  my 
blast  in  f  irst .  This  is  what  I  said ; 

"Abe,  you  run  a  good  school  but  your 
student s  graduat e  from  high  school  unpre¬ 
pared  to  cope  with  one  major  force  that  will 
most  affect  their  lives  practically  every 
waking  hour  until  they  die — and  I  don’t  mean 
sputniks. * 

"Look, "  replied  Abe.  "Their  parents 
want  them  to  go  to  college..  Sixty  per  cent  of 
my  graduates. get  into  college.  Isn't  that 
enough?  What  are  we  neglecting?" 

"Education  for  mass  communication, 

I  replied. 

"You  mean  cut  out  the  comic  books  boys, 
turn  off  the  rock  and  roll,  and  hit  the 
books ?" 

"No,  I  don ’ t  mean  teach  youngsters  to 
kick  out  mass  c omrnuni c at i on .  I  mean  to  teach 
them  to  learn  to  live  with  it.  We  all  know 
about  fallouts  nowadays.  Mass  Communicat i on 
comes  down  on  us  like  a  fallout  •  Miles  and 
miles  away  somebody  sets,  off  a  magazine  or 
a  television  show  or  a  movie  •  For  weeks  and 
months  afterward  the  results  fall  oh  mil¬ 
lions  of  people  all  over  the  world.  If  the 
"explosion"  is,  let  us  say,  a  new  musical 
called  "My  Fair  Lady* ,  then  the  fallout  of 
music  and  laughter  cheers  everybody.  If  it 
is  the  latest  issue  of  a  scandal  magazine 
then  the  fallout  can  be  dangerous.  The  cumu¬ 
lative  effect  of  a  fallout  can  brighten  or 
blight  the  lives  of  millions . " 

Abe  isn't  bowled  over  easily.  "Very 
fancy,"  he  said.  "Let  me  tell  you  what 
really  happens  •  On  Saturday  night  the  boys 
get  some  girls  and  an  old  jalopy  and  a  case 
of  beer  and  off  they  go  to  the  nearest  drive- 
in  theatre.  Do  you  think  they  care  what  pic¬ 
ture  is  showing?  I'm  not  sure  they  even  see 
the  picture.  My  job  is  education.  What  you 
are  talking  about  is  entertainment.  Every 
guy  has  a  right  to  choose  his  own  entertain¬ 
ment  on  his  own  time.  Good,  average ;  cheap 
or  tawdry.  That ’ s  his  business,  not  the 
schools." 

I  was  determined  4lo t  to  be  sidetracked. 
So  I  said* 

"Abe,  you  know  the  language  of  the 
UNESCO  preamble — ’since  Wars  begin  in  the 

(Continued  on  page  22) 


DAILY  variety 

(Published  In  Hollywood  by  Dally  Vaii.ty,  LtdJ 
$15  a  ye^r.  $20  Foreign. 


After  March  1st,  1958 


Newsstands 

35c 

Per  Copy 


Subscription 

$15 

Per  Year 


See  Details  Page  11 


Wednesday,  January  15, 1958 


P3B&Eff 


ricnrctES 


BOARD  WITH  ROOM  FOR  VOGEL 


Coast  HQ;  Vet  Si  Seadler  Tops 
Ad  Staff;  Terrell  Head  P.  A. 


Howard  Strickling,  58-year-old  ¥ 
head  of  advertising  and.  publicity  , 
■at  the  Metro  studio  in  Culver  City, 
has  been  appointed' overall  ad-piib 
and  exploitation  director  of  the  en¬ 
tire  Loew’s-Metro  organization. 

This  followed  series  of  home- 
ofiice  meetings.  The  overhaul  will 
see  the  shift  of  the  bulk  of  promo¬ 
tional  activity  from  Gotham  to  the 
Coast,  Idea  is  to  have  the  depart¬ 
ment  in  immediate  touch  with  the 
growing  number  of  independent 
film-makers  working  on  the  Metro 
lot;' 

Strickling,  who  dates  from  old  i 
Metro  company  in  1919,  and  long 
regarded  as  a  <fLouis  ,B.  Mayer 
man”— indeed,  he  was  among  the 
beneficiaries  of  Mayer’s  will— suc¬ 
ceeds  Howard  Dietz  in  the  top  post. 
(See  separate  story  on  Dietz.) 

In  accordance  with  Dietz’s 
recommendations,  the  N.Y.  office 
personnel  setup  will  be  under  the 
direction  of  S..  F.  (Si)  Seadler,. 
who  continues  as  advertising  direc¬ 
tor,  and  Dan  Terrell  will  be  direc¬ 
tor  of  publicity. 

Like  Dietz,  Seadler  had.  been 
With  the  Goldwyn  Company  orig¬ 
inally  and  went  to  M-G,  as  ad 
manager,  with  the  1924  merger  of 
Metro  and  Goldwyn.  Following  an 
association  with  Loew’s  Theatres, 
Terreil  became  exploitation  chief 
at  M-G  in  1950  and  eastern  publi¬ 
city  manager  in  1952. 

The  N.Y.  meetings,  which  are 
continuing,  also  wilj  bring  deci¬ 
sions  on  the  extent  of  personnel 
economizing  at.  the  hoirieoffice.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  many  ad-pub 
staffers  had  expected  their  pink 
slips  last  Friday  (10)  but  were 
given  a  “reprieve0  pending  the 
outcome  of  the  sessions. 

Sitting  in  at  the  conclaves  are 
president  Joseph  R,  Vogel,  domes¬ 
tic  sales  chief  jack  Bryne  and  his 
top  aides,  Strickling,  Seadler,  Ter¬ 
rell,  exploitation  head  Emery  Aus¬ 
tin  and  Edward  J.  Churchill,  presi¬ 
dent  of  the  Donahue  &  Coe  ad 
agency. 

Nathanson  Leaves 
MGM  of  Canada 

Henry  Lewis  Nathanson  has 
Quietly  moved  out  as  president  of 
M-G-M  Pictures  of  Canada,  this  be¬ 
ing  in  line  with  the  company’s 
overhaul  of  its  domestic  market 
(United  States  and  the  Dominion) 
distribution  personnel  setup. 

,  Nathanson  had  been  M-G’s  top 
distribution  exec  in  Canada  for 
nearly  30  years.  Originally  he: 
*  held  the  M-G  franchise  in  Toron¬ 
to  (Regal  Films)  and  went  on  the. 
direct  payroll  when  this  was  bought 
out  by  the  company. 

Also  exiting  is  Chester  Friedman, 
who  held  the  post  Of  exploitation 
head  in  Canada.  He  plans  to  open 
Bis  Own  public  relations  office  in 
Toronto. 

TED  O’SHEA  TO  LOAF, 
CULTIVATE  HEALTH 

E,  K.  (Ted)  O’Shea,  61,  v.p.  and 
general  sales  manager  for  Magna 
Theatre  Corp.,  is  retiring  from  the 
company  and  from  the  film  . busi¬ 
ness  due  to;  illness,  He  has  felt 
poorly- for  some  time. 

Vet  exec  had  been  supervising 
the  roadshow  openings  of  "Okla¬ 
homa”  in  the  Todd-AO  process. 
Hrior  to  joining  Magna,  0!Shea  had 
been  v.p.  and  assistant  general 
sales  manager  of  Paramount. 

O’Shea  comes  from  Buffalo,  His 
first  job  was  with  Shea  Theatres 
there.  Later  he- joined  Metro  as  a 
salesman.. 

.  Noel  Meadow  handling  the  na¬ 
tional  campaign  for  the,  latest 
Brigitte  Bardot  film,  “The  Bride  Is 
Much  Too  Beautiful,”  which  Ellis- 
Lax  Films  is  distributing  in  the 

u.s.  ; 


TOMLINSON  SILENT, 
STILL  BUYING  LOEW’S 

Immediately  following  last 
week’s  meeting  of  the  Loew’s 
board;  big  stockholder  and  director 
Joseph  Tomlinson  announced  a 
“no  comment”  when  approached 
by  a  reporter.  He  repeated  same 
when  advised  of  Wall  Street  ru¬ 
mors  to  the  effect  he  was  selling 
out  his  stock,  but  quickly  added 
that  only  recently  he  had  purchased 
additional  shares.  Number 
specified. 

Check  with  the  N.  Y.  Stock  Ex¬ 
change  showed  Tomlinson  had 
bought  5,000  more  shares,  bring¬ 
ing  his  total  to  185,000.  He’s  the 
largest  individual  investor  in  the 
company.  It  was  also  revealed 
that;  a  Corporation  ,  A  owns  the 
stock,  a  Corporation  B  owns  Cor¬ 
poration  A  and  a  Corporation  C 
owns  75%  of  Corporation  B.  Tom¬ 
linson  owns  75%  of  Corporation  C. 

Immediately  following  the  board 
session,  the  investor  returned  to 
his  home  in  Florida. 

Par  to  Service 
N.Y.C.  Accounts 


jn  the  most  significant  move  of 
its  kind  so  far,  Paramount  and 
Metro  are  set  to  merge-  their  physi¬ 
cal  distribution  facilities;  in  the ma¬ 
jor  New  York  market  area.  Effec¬ 
tive  March.  1,  Par  is  giving  up  its 
Gotham  exchange  and  will  shift  all 
operations  pertaining  to-  the  han¬ 
dling  of  prints  to  the  M-G  branch. 

Par  add  M-G,  on  a  share  the 
overhead  basis,  will  have  the  same 
personnel  and  facilities  in  all  mat¬ 
ters  dealing  with  inspection,  stor¬ 
age,  shipping,  etc.  Full  meaning 
of  such  a  joint  operation  lies  in 
the  fact  that  the  N.,  Y.  area  ac¬ 
counts  for  lip  to  15%  of  all  dom®s^ 
tic  rentals,  by  far  exceeding  any 
.  other  exchange  area. 

Par’s  exchange  building  is  to  be 
taken  over  by  the  company’s  Auto- 
mertic  subsidiary.  Salesmen,  bpok- 
ers  and  clerks  whose  Concern  is  the 
actual  sale  of  film,  which,  of  course, 
remains  competitive,  to  be 
moved  to  the  homeoffice. 

.  Feeling  is  the  backroom  work  for 
two  companies  can  be  handled  as 
cheaply  as  one,  particularly  since 
.each  outfit  as  presently  Constituted 
is  geared  to  handle  far  more  pro¬ 
ductions  than  on  present  lineups. 

Par  and.  M-G  recently  set  such  a 
backroom  get-together  in  Cleve¬ 
land.  With  the  Gotham  maneuver 
providing  the  impetus,  similar 
moves  can  be  expected  around  the. 
country,  and  involving  the  major¬ 
ity,  if  hot  all,  distributors. 

There’s  a  punchline  to  be ;  writ¬ 
ten  for  this  departure  from  stand¬ 
ard  practice.  The  late.  Sidney  R. 
Kent  recommended  that  the  dis- 
tribs  share  the  expense  - of  back¬ 
room,  operations  as  a  means  of 
economy.  That  was:  ih  1924. 

FILIPINOS  RELUCTANT 
TO  REMIT  DOLLARS 

The  Motion  Picture  Export 
Assn.’s  remittance  deal  in  the  Phil¬ 
ippines  has  hit  a  snag,;  with  the 
transfer  of  earnings  for  the  second 
half  of  1957.  now  uncertain. 

Development  comes  in  the  wake 
of  the  deal  worked  out  by  Leo 
Hochstctter,  then  still  the  MPEA’s 
Far  East  man,  who  managed  to  get 
out  $1,500,000.  Coin  covered  latter 
part  of  1956  and  the  first  six 
months  of  1957; 

Philippines  promised  to  pay  the 
remainder,  but  their  reneged, 
pleading  poor  economic  conditions. 


WALL  ST.  BLOC 
STEERS  LOEWS 

President  Joseph  R.  Vogel  ex¬ 
pectedly  will  Inform  stockhold¬ 
ers  ofLoew’s  shortly  that  wide- 
scale  overhead  lopping  of  .  the 
recent  past  will  mean  an  annual 
saving  of  $6,000,000, 

Loew’s  Inc.  is  in  the  Tap  of  the 
gods  of  Wall  Street  Changes  in 
the  board,  makeup  of  this  film  cor¬ 
poration  made  over  the  past  week 
clearly  suggest  that  the  four  new 
members  of.  the  directorate’s 
slate  are  representative  of  .  a  block 
of  stock  so  powerful  as  to  be  suf¬ 
ficient  to  call  the  turns  on  all  new 
policies. 

The  Louis  Green-Jerome  New¬ 
man  slate  of  nominees  in  them¬ 
selves  lack  over-powering  voting 
strength.  But  inside,  sources  sug¬ 
gest  that  they, -along  with  other  in¬ 
vestors  with  whom  they  are 
aligned,  form  a  Gotham  financial 
district  clique  which,  if  maintained, 
would  be  empowered  to  exercise 
policy-making  strength.  .  For  one, 
Joseph  Tofhlinson,  largest  individ¬ 
ual  stockholder,  is  in  their  camp, 
at  least  fob  the  time,  being.  On 
the  same  side  are  the  banking 
firms  of  Lehman1  Bros,  and  Lazard 
Frefes. 

'  .New.  Faces  /  Forces 

New  nominees  for  the  board 
along  with  Green  and  Newman  are 
Ira  Guilden,  chairman  of  the  board 
of  trustees  of  Title  Guarantee  & 
Trust  Co.,  and  Philip  A.  Roth,  vice 
chairman  of  this  same  outfit.  Green 
is  a  partner  in  Stryker  &  Brown, 
which;  deals  in  investment  securi¬ 
ties,  and  Newman  is  a  managing 
partner  in  Graharn-Newman,  in¬ 
vestment  house,  and  chairman  of 
the  executive  Committee  of  the 
Government  Employees  Insurance 
Co.  arid  Government  Employees 
Life  Insurance  Co.,  Washington. 

Newman,  who  is  credited  by 
Wall  Street  sources  as  being  the 
individual  who  brought  the  group 
together,  states  he  represents  only 
one  vote;  on  a  19-man  board,  and 
therefore  cannot  predict  the  future 
course.  However,  and  this  is 
significant  in  the  light  of  the 
strength  attributed  to  him  by 
,  others,  he  insists  he’s,  concerned 
j-  only  with  building  up  the  corpora- 
!  tion,  not  liquidating  it. 

'  Green  recently  went  on  the  rec- 
(Continued  on  page  10) 


First  Half  of  1957  Enough  Bullish 
Year  Might  Have  Set  Film  Records; 
Latter  Months  Ruinous-Sindlinger 


PRE-1948  SELLOFF 
WAS'MUSr— SELZNICK 

Producer  David  O.  Selzriick  in 
New  York  last  week  defended  the 
film  companies’  sale  of  the'  pre- 
1948  product -to  television  .  as  “a 
matter  of  survival.”  Some  of  the 
companies  were  “facing  disaster” 
if  they  didn’t  sell  he  said. 

At  the  same  time,  Selznick  de¬ 
plored  the  lack  of  a  reissue  mar¬ 
ket  which,  had  it  existed,  might 
have,  kept  a  lot  of  films  from  tele¬ 
vision.  “A  way  certainly  could 
have  been  found  to  exploit  the  old 
films,  but  no  element  in  the  in¬ 
dustry  gave  any  support,”  he  held.. 

Gordon  to  Firms: 
/Don’t  Sell  Any  To 
TV  for  Next  3  Yrs 

Julius  Gordon,  president  of  Al¬ 
lied  States  Assn.,  yesterday  (Tues.) 
urged  the  film  companies  and  in¬ 
dependents  to  declare  a  three-year 
moratoriunT  on  the  licensing,  of ! 
their  theatrical  productions  to  tele¬ 
vision.  Gordon,  who  operates  a 
circuit  in  Texas,  told  a  trade  press 
conference  in  New  York  that  the 
showings  of  Hollywood  features  on 
Video  has  “everybody  (in  the  film 
business)  ;  bleeding  to  death”  and 
the  only  way  to  avert  demise  is  to 
stop  the  disposition  of  product  to 
this  medium. 

The  three-year  cease-and-desist 
order  which  he"  proposes,  said  Gor¬ 
don,  would  give,  the  film  industry  a 
chance  to  recover  its  momentum. 
Further,  he  went  on,  it  would  give 
the  distributors  an  opportunity  to 
reappraise  the  situation  and  have 
proven  that  the  tv  divestiture  is 
economically  in  the  worst  interest 
of  the  entire  business.  They  have 
nothing  to  lose,  he  added,  because 
(Continued  on  page  22) 


National  Boxoffice  Survey 

Trade  Holds  Up  Well;  ‘Sayonara’  Champ,  ‘Peyton’ 
2d,  ‘80  Days’  3d,  ‘Water’  4th,  ‘Raintree’  5th 


Business  ini  key  cities  over  the 
country  covered  by  Variety  cur¬ 
rently  are  holding  remarkably 
strong  despite  an  expected  dip 
from  the  booming  year-end  holi¬ 
day  sessions.  Many  spots  still  are 
playing  the  pix  they  opened  for 
the  holidays  two  and  three  weeks 
ago,  and  some  are  staying  over 
again.  Nearly  every  key  noted 
that  Skhibs  Were  amazingly  pleased 
with  the  way  trade,  has  held  up  fol¬ 
lowing  such  a  sensational  Christ¬ 
mas-New  Year’s  period. 

“Sayoriara”  (WB>,  which  became 
new  champ  in  the  week  ending 
New  Year’s,  still  is  in.  first  place. 
And  “Peytori  Place”  (20th),  which 
was  a  close  second  In  the  same  pe¬ 
riod,  again  is  within  hailing  dis- 
tarice  of  the  Marlon  Brando  opus; 
The  two  pix  promise  to  run  up 
nearly  $800,000  gross  between 
them. 

“Around  World  in  80  Days”  (UA) 
is  finishing  third;  “Don’t  Go  Near 
Water”  (M-G),  comparatively new 
this  round,  is  landing  fourth 
money.  “Raintree  County,”  also 
from  Metro,  is:  copping  fifth  posi¬ 
tion.  : 

“Legend  of  Lost”  (UA)  is  cap¬ 
turing  sixth  place.  “Seven  Won¬ 
ders  of  World”  (Cinerama)  is  wind¬ 
ing  up  seventh.  “Old  Yeller” 
(BV),  a  newie,  is  copping  eighth 
spot.  “Tarnished  Angels”  <U)  Is 
finishing  ninth  While  ’’Search  For 
Paradise”  (Cinerama)  rounds  out 
the  Big  10. 

“God  Created  .Woman”  (Kings), 
‘•Enemy  Below”  (20th),  ”10  Com¬ 


mandments”  (Par)  and  “Sad  Sack” 
(Par)  are  the  runrier-up  pix  in  that 
sequence. 

“Bridge  on  River  Kwai’  (Col) 
shapes  as  One  of  the  outstanding 
newcomers,  aside  from  those  listed* 
currently.  It  is  capacity  in  N.Y., 
smash  iri  Boston,  arid  great  in  L.A. 
“Gervaise”  (Conti,  terrific  in  N;Y.,‘ 
is  rated  big  in  Frisco  arid  hotsy  in 
l:A. 

“Farewell  To  Arms”  (20th),  fine 
in  Frisco,  shapes  okay  in  L.A. 
•'Golden  Age  of  Comedy”  (DCA) 
is  rated  big  in  N.Y,,  playing  two 
houses.  “Man  in  Shadow”  (U), 
good  in  Pitt,  shapes  strong  in  Chi. 

“Deep  Six”  (WB),  another  new¬ 
comer,  is  hot  in  Detroit  and  firie 
in  Denver.  “Paths  of  Glory’  (UA) 
continues  very  big  in  N.Y.  “Wild 
Is  Wind”  (Par),  also  new,  shapes 
sturdy  in  N.Y.,  snappy  in  L;A. 
and  stoUt  in  Chi. . 

“My  Man  Godfrey”  (U),  is  rated 
biff  in  Toronto.  “Teenage  Fran-; 
kenstein”  (Indie)  is  stout  in  De¬ 
troit. 

“Les  Girls”  (M-G),  good  in  Bos¬ 
ton,  looms  big  in  Providence.  “Pal 
Joey”  (Col),  torrid  in  Balto,  is  big 
in  Philly  and  okay  in  L.A. 

“Tall  Stranger”  (AA)  looms  fair 
in  Balto  and  hotsy  in  Boston. 
“Rodan”  (DCA),  big  in  K.C.,  shapes 
good  in  Toronto. 

“Witness  For  Prosecution”  (UA) 
continues  good  in  L.A.  “Kiss 
Them  For  Me”  (20th)  looks  nice  in 
Buffalo  and  modest  in  L.A. 

(Complete  Boxo/jfice  Grosses  on 
Pages 8-9) 


First  six  months  of  1957  brought 
such  an  Increase  in  admissions  and 
dollar  income  that  had  the  level 
of  business  been  maintained  the 
full  year  would  have  been  the 
best  since  the  lush  prosperity  of 
1946  for  the  United  States  motion 
picture  industry.  But  the  second 
half  proved  dismal,  making  it  an 
overall  poor  year,  and  the  nosedive 
was  due  in  large  part  to  the  avail¬ 
ability  of  good,  however,  vintage, 
Hollywood  product  on  television. 

This  is  the  finding  of  Siridlinger 
&  Co.,  headed  by  Albert  E.  Sind- 
liriger,  business  analyst  who  cpv-' 
ers  the  field  of  film  theatre-going 
along  with  the  penetration  of  radio, 
television  and  newspapers. and  the 
consumption  of  such  products  as 
gasoline,  soaps,  cigarets,  refresh¬ 
ments,  etc.,  for  clients,  The  multi¬ 
faceted  market  survey  outfit  Is 
based  in  Ridley  Park,  which  is  a 
suburb  of  Philadelphia. 

Sindlinger’s  figures,  which  fol¬ 
low,  show  the  remarkable  rise  in 
the  first  two  quarters  of  1957  and 
the  alarming  collapse,  in  the  sec¬ 
ond  two — a  collapse  which  has  vir¬ 
tually  every  .major  company  iri  the 
business  scurrying  about  to  effect 
economies  in  their  operations. 

Conversations  recorded  by  Sind¬ 
linger’s  agents  across  the  country 
show  the  public  is  more  interested 
in  theatrical  features  but  they’re 
buying  less  tickets  because  of  the 
lure  of  the  films,  on  tv  for  free. 

Theatre  revenue  in  1956  was  $1,- 
204,200,000,  representing  a  gain  of 
$19,100,000,  or  1.6%  over  1955. 
Total  attendance,  including  chil-. 
dren  and  free  admissions  at  drive- 
(Continued  on  page  20) 

Local  Live  Talent 
AtDeLuxeNabe 

Minneapolis,  Jan.  14.  . 

.  The  neighborhood  de  luxe  St. 
Louis  Park  in  the  earliest  28-day 
clearance  slot  is  inaugurating  a 
policy  of  two  stage  shows  nightly 
at  least  once  every  week  without 
any  .  admission  boost  Talent  is  be¬ 
ing  recruited  locally. 

:  Harold  Field,  theatre’s  owner,  re¬ 
cently  expended  a  substantial  sum 
to  improve  and  beautify  what  al¬ 
ready  was  one  of  the  city’s  finest 
uptown  houses.  The  theatre  also 
recently  started  serving  coffee  cap¬ 
puccino,  a  combination  of  coffee 
and;  chocolate,  gratis  to  customers, 
boasts  ample  parking  space  and 
recently  has  increased,  its  newspa¬ 
per  advertising  linage  greatly. 

RANDFORCE  CIRCUIT 
ACTS  FOR  SKOURAS 

“Merger”  spirit  is  spreading  to 
exhibition,  with  the  Randforce 
circuit  believed  to  be  absorbing  the 
buying,  booking  and  other  func¬ 
tions  of  Skoiiras  Theatres.  Move 
has  been  pending  for  some  time 
and  is  attributed  to  “economy.” 
Both  circuits  operate  suburban 
New  York  locations. 

"The.  two  chains  have  certain 
other  connections. 

‘Confidential’  Ed  Sties 
Rank  Over  Truth'  Pic 

London,  Jari.  14. 
Writs  for  alleged  libel  have  been 
issued  against  J.  Arthur  Rank  Film 
Distributors,  Mario  Zampi  and  Mi¬ 
chael  Mordaunt-Smitb,  European 
editor  Of  Confidential.  A  claim  for 
damages  is  being  made  against  all 
three  parties  for  alleged  defama¬ 
tion,  of  character  in  ‘The  Naked 
Truth,”  currently  running  at  the 
Odeon,  Leicester  Square. 

The  comedy,  which  was  pro¬ 
duced  and  directed  by  Mario  Zam¬ 
pi,  is  released  through  the  Rank 
Organization.  Pertwee  wrote  the 
original  story  and  screenplay. 


A 


PICTURES 


P&RiE^fr 


Wednesday,  January  15,  195$ 


Hollywood,  Jan.  14.  4- 

An  all-industry  strategy  confer¬ 
ence  in  an  effort  to  present  a  unit-  J 
ed  front  .against  the  sale  of  post- 
1948  feature  films  to  television, 
will  be  'held  here  Thursday  (16) 
under  the  auspices  of :  the  Screen 
Producers  Guild.  Dinner,  session 
is  the  result  of  weeks  of  individual 
campaigning  by  various  segments 
Of  the  production  end  of  the  in¬ 
dustry. 

Guild  prexy  Samuel  G.  Engel 
has  invited  execs  Of  the  Screen 
Actors  Guild,  Screen  Directors 
Guild  and  Screen  Writers  Guild  as 
well  as  top  TOA  members  includ¬ 
ing  Si  Fabian,  Leaonard  Goldenson, 
Elmer  Rhoden,  Frank  Ricketson, 
Sol4  Schwartz;  George  Skouras  and 
Mitchell  Wolfson. 

Engel;  pointing  out  that  only  a 
united  front  can  combat  the  “sui¬ 
cidal  practice?  of  selling  ,  post-1948 
films  to  tv,  said  the  session  Rad 
been  called  with  the  hojpe  that 
“those  who  are  now  engaged  in 
this  ‘quick-buck  method’  of  liqui¬ 
dating  these  •  Valuable  film  assets 
will  come  to  realize  the  grave  er¬ 
ror  that's  been  made;  the  extent 
of  the  damage  caused  by  it;  and 
the  inevitable  doom  which  faces 
the  entire  motion  picture  and  the¬ 
atre  industries  if  this  error  is  not 
corrected  and  rectified.” 

Engel  said  that  SPG  hopes  that 
the  welfare  of  all  concerned  can 
best  be  solved  if  the  problem  can 
be  quickly  and  amicably  solved  but 
warned  that  “we  are  determined 
to  exercise  whatever  means  are 
available  to  us — morally  and  le¬ 
gally — in  order  to  bring  this  im¬ 
prudent  and  suicidal  practice,  to  a 
halt.” 


Minneapolis,  Jah.  14. 

Some  industry  members  here 
feel  there’s  special  reason  for  ex¬ 
ultation  over  the  fact  that  during 
these  two  first  1958  weeks  down¬ 
town  Minneapolis  first-run  thea¬ 
tres  have  been  ,  gamering  the  big¬ 
gest  aggregate  grosses  in  the  in¬ 
dustry’s  history  locally. 

That  special  reason  is  that  the 
splurge  is  occurring  in  the  face  of 
the  showhouses  being  hit  during 
the  same  period  by  .76  oldie  fea¬ 
ture  pictures  that  the  four  Twin 
Cities*  commercial  television  have 
shot  at  them. 

It  speaks  well  for.  exhibition’s 
healthy  future,  believe  such  exhibi¬ 
tor  leaders  as  Charlie  Winchell, 
president-general  manager  of  the 
Paramount  circuit  here,  that  the 
Showhouses  have  overcome  the 
competition  of  a  number,  of  really 
topnotch  pictures  for  tree  on  homtf 
video  sets. 

Among  the  76  features  on  video 
here  the  initial  1958  fortnight  have 
••been  “Guadacanal  Diary,”  “Bache¬ 
lor  Mother,”  “David  Harum,”  “Re¬ 
turn  of  the  Vampire,”  “Champagne 
for  Caesar,”  the  original  “Tarn¬ 
ished  Angels,”  “Sabre  Jet  Impact.” 
“Brothers  in  the  Saddle”  “See 
Here,  Private  Hargrove.”  ‘Top 
Banana,”  ‘Johnny  Holiday,”  “Dawn 
Patrol,”  “Two  Guys  From  Milwau- 
i  Continued  on  page  14) 


$1  Stock  hsue  . 

Hollywood,  Jan.  14. 

Crestview  International  Pro¬ 
ductions,  formed  by  Jack  and 
Dan  Milner  on  Nov;  21?  1957, 
will  float  a  stock  issue  of  $150,- 
000  to  underwrite  firm’s  up¬ 
coming  indie;  “Branded 
Lady.” 

.Stock  will  sell  at  $1  -per 
share. 


Diversion  From 
to 


Group  Of  prominent  circuit  op¬ 
erators,  after  two  months  of  talks, 
have  walked  away  from  a  proposed 
deal  whereby  they  would  have  pur¬ 
chased  the  Paramount  pre-1948 
backlog  for  $40,000,000.  Their  idea 
was  to  acquire  the  pictures  for  the 
purpose  of  keeping  them  away 
from  television. 

Many  of  the  chain  execs,  who  are 
aligned  with  Theatre  Owners  of 
America,  were,  in  agreement  on  the 
purchase  but  one  important  dis¬ 
senting  voice  was  raised  and  this 
killed  the  transaction.  Balking  at 
the  deal  was  a  major  circuit  offi¬ 
cial  Who  made  the  point  that  all 
other  film  companies  had  sent  their 
back-number  .  pictures  to  video  and 
it  won’t  matter  $40,000,000  worth 
if  Par  now  does  the  samel 
Par  as  a  result  still  has  the  li¬ 
brary  on  the  block.  - 
Meanwhile,,  it  was  disclosed  that 
thoughts  of  a  possible  hassle  with 
the  Dept,  of  Justice  .  discouraged 
CBS  from  folloAring  through  on  its 
projected  buy  of  'the  Vintage  pic¬ 
tures.  last  spring.  Basic  terms  were 
worked  out,  as  noted  in  this  pub¬ 
lication  at  the  time,  hut  fears  of 
an  antitrust  rap  prevented  culmi¬ 
nation  of  the  deal,  * 

However,  since,  that,  time  _ 
change  in  climate,  as .  obtaining 
with  the  networks,  has  taken  place. 
Congressional  criticism  of  the  webs 
has  faded,,  for  one  .  thing.  And 
Philadelphia  District  Court,  last 
week  knocked  the  props  from  un¬ 
der  the  D.  of  j.  in  a  suit  versus 
RCA  and  NBC-TV.  The  ruling  con¬ 
cerned  an  exchange  of  tv  stations 
but  noetheless,  it’s  felt,  this  could 
have  the  effect  of  dissuading  the 
Department  from  another  a-t  ac¬ 
tion  against  another  net.  Could 
mean  that  CBS  might  again  be  in? 
terested  in  the  Par  pix.  ~ 


rants  Directors  Guild 
Re-Join  Industry  Conned 

.,  Hollywood;  Jan.  14. 
Campaign  ta  woo = Screen  Direc¬ 
tors  Guild  back  into  the  Motion 
Picture  Industry  Council  fold  will 
be  undertaken  by  Jeri-y  Wald, 
named  prexy  of  the  Council  at  the 
annual  meeting  last  week?  Others 
named  were  Ronaid  .  Reagan, -  first 
veepeC;  Frank  Nugent,  second,  vee- 
pee;  Hal  Mohr,  secretary;  Steve 
Broidy,  treasurer. 

.  •  Directors  bolted  MPIC-six  years 
ago  on  the  grounds  that  it  was  not 
contributing  anything' to  MPIC  and 
that  consequently  its  membership 
in  the  group  was  not  giving  service 
to  its  own  members.  :  - 

Wald  reported  that  Council  is 
launching  a:  campus  campaign  "to 
arouse  new  interest  in  films  and 
the  first  tiein  will  be  with  the 
UCLA  Art  Department  where  stu¬ 
dents  will  compete  for  scholarships 
to  be  given:  for  the  best  designing 
of  main  titles  of  pix. 

.  Wald  said  he  is  mainly  interested 
in  pushing  unity,  in  the  -  industry 
and  an  “aggressive”  policy  under 
which  MPIC  wouldn’t  “just  take 
it”  in  the  face  of  attacks  like  the 
recent  dire  prediction  by  Chicago 
Exhib  Edwin.  Silverman  that!  all 
major,  studios  would  fold  this  year. 


Poland’s  deal  with  the  Motion 
Picture  Export  .Assrt,,  for  the  pur¬ 
chase  of  between  40  and  60  Ameri¬ 
can  films  has  hit  a  sudden  snag.  It 
derives  from  a  sudden  Polish  im¬ 
position  of  a  “ceiling”  on  the  num¬ 
ber  of  zlotys  the  film  monopoly 
can  spend  of  the  pictures. 

The  Polish  negotiations  are  .the 
only  ones  . carried  on  with  the  Iron 
Curtain  countries  that  looked  hope¬ 
ful;  In  fact,  both  the  Polish  Gov¬ 
ernment  and  the  International 
Media  Guarantee  program  (U.S. 
Info  Agency)  in  Washington  had 
approved  the  arrangement  Which 
calls  for  the.  Media  Guarantee  of¬ 
fice  to  accept  the  zlotys  locally 
and  pay  out  dollars  in  New  York. 

The  sudden.  Polish  insistence  on 
a  lower  total  amount  payable  in 
local,  currency  is  a  puzzler  since 
the  Poles  presumably  aren’t,  short 
of  their  own  cash.  MPEA  execs 
say  the  deal  isn’t  off,  but  it’ll  take*! 
renegotiation  at  the  money  e$d. 

Jed  Harris’  Florida  Rim 

Hollywood,  Jan.  14. 

Robert  Blees  was  sighed  by  Jed 
Harris  Productions  to  collaborate 
with.;Harris  on  the  screenplay  of 
an  untitled  film  to  be  produced  by 
Harris  as.  an  indie;  and  shot  in  Flor¬ 
ida. 

Blees  and  Harris  have  left  for 
Miami  to  check  locations  on  the 
drama.  No  release  has  been  set  yet. 


Dietz  Still  Here,  and  Metro’s  Got  Him 

Veteran’s  Unique  Career  as  Filnidom’s  Highest- 
Salaried  Publicity  Chief  Reprised 


By  GENE  ARNEEL 

No.  swansong  is  in  order  for 
Howard  Dietz  because,  as  he  puts 

! KT  n.r'n-TUr  nrirl 


_  it,  “I  am  not  leaving  M-G-M  arid 

CURLEY  SAGA  FOR  CELLULOID  *  is  not  leaving  me.”  But 

CURLbT  rUK  i-tLLULUiu ,  his  sMft  frofil  ad_pub  vicepresi¬ 

dency  to  consultant  status  (at  half 
pay,  or  $1,000  per  week,  for  the 
next  four  years)  Suggests  a  back¬ 
ward  glance,  at  a  career  that  began 
with  Goldwyn  Pictures  Corp.  in 


Richard  Day  and  Realtor  Form 
Shannon  Productions 

Boston.  Jan.  14. 

A  film  company  has  been  formed.  ^ 

here  to  produce  the  life  story  of j' _ * 

former  Governor  James  Michael  !  T  Tillf  J*11}*1*  h?|d  as  president 
Curley.  Richard  Day  of  Hollywood,'  Joseph.  Godsol,  who  made  a  fetish 
film  producer,  and  Samuel  Nesson.i  arrival  °!  !?1S 

real  estate  operator  and  lawyer,!  employees.  Dietz. had  a  talent  for 
announced  the  incorporation  of  j  tardiness  and  when  called  upon  to 
Shannon  Productions  Inc.  ;  explain  this  told  .  Godsol:;.  ‘While 

Day  and  Xessori  declare  the  film,  it’s  true  I  come  in  late  I  always  go 
will  be  based  on  Curley’s  book,  “I’d:  home  early, ” 

Do  It  Again.”  No  details  were  forth- j  Dietz  says  he  takes  credit  for  the 
coming  regarding  starting  date,  successes  over  the  years  “because 
shooting  locations  and  actors.  Cur-j  I  always  was  blamed  for  the  flops.” 
ley  had  revealed  last  summer :  that v  But  he  has  been  no  one-man  show, 
he  was  agreeable  to  a  film  based  on  j  haying  "worked  with  the  ideas  of 


his  autdbiog. 


I  others  as  well  as  his  own.  Perhaps 


the  most  spectacular  bally  work 
was  the  1939  Atlanta  premiere  of 
“Gone  With  the  Wind,”  which 
drew  .1,000,000  persons  to  a  town 
with,  a  population  of  300,000,  It  was 
at  this  time  that  Vivien  Leigh, 
upon,  arrival,  noted  that  the  band 
was  playing  ?‘the  song  from  the  pic¬ 
ture?’  The  song  was  “Dixie.”  Dietz 
credits  David  O.  Selznick  with 
doing  the  pioneer  work  on  the 
“Wind”  promotion. 

It  was  in  1927  that  Dietz  took  on 
the  tub-thumping  for  “Love,” 
Greta  Garbo  starfer,  at  New  York’s 
Embassy  Theatre.  He  staged  a  con¬ 
test  to  determine  who  were  more 
emotional,  blondes  or  brunets.  The 
blondes  won— and  the  redheads 
challenged  them.  What  had  starf/d 
out  as  a  local  stunt  became  ha- 
tion-wide  in  publicity  scope. 

For  “Sea  of  Grass”  Die/:  sent 
deeds  for  an  acre  of  land  in  New 
Mexico  to.  critics  across  /le  obiin- 
(Continued  on  pa;/:  14) 


New  York  Sound  Track  | 

Critic  Charles  A.  Butler,  notes  there’s  only  one  pursuit' in  the  Brigitte 
Bardot-starring  “And  God  Created  Woman”:.  Give  us  this  day  out  daily 
bed  * . .  Metro’s  Dan  Terrell  appointed  to  the  board  of  trustees  of  Amer¬ 
ican  U. 

Spyros  P.  Skouras,  20th-Fox  prexy,  made  two  false  starts  on  his  trip 
to  Europe  last  week.  First,  he  was  booked  oil  BOAC,  which  cancelled 
the  flight  because  of  icing  conditions.  Then,  he  transferred  to  TWA, 
which  took  off,  but  returned  when  one:  of  the  motors  conked  out;  Skou¬ 
ras  and  his  wife  finally  got  out  the  next:  day  .  ,  Pathe’s;  Duncan  Mc¬ 
Gregor  due  back  from  Paris  the  coming  week:, ...  “Porte  de  Lilas,”  dis¬ 
tributed  in  the  States  by  Ilya  Lopert,  is  the  French  government’s  choice 
as  an.  Academy  Award  contender  .  ,  »  Going  down  to  Florida  and  his 
company’s  “Acrpss  the  Everglades”  location,  author  Budd  Schulberg 
(“What  Makes  Sammy  Bun,”  “The  Disenchanted,”  “On  the  Water¬ 
front,”  etc!)  Sat  next  to  a  man  whip,  to  his  amazement,  knew  more  about 
New  York  piers  than  he.-  The  mystery  cleared  up  at  the  end  of  the  trip. 
Schulberg’s  seat  neighbor  was— James  Hoffa  . .  .  Motion  Picture  Export 
Assil’s  Robert  Corkery  is.  off  for  Brazil  and  Argentina  .  ,  .*20th-Fox 
starting  a  record  company  in  South  Africa  .  .  .  Joseph  L,  Mankiewicz’s 
been  screening  two  bldies— “The  Blue  Angel”  and  “Blood  and  Sand”— 
at  20th.  Both  are  on  the  company’s  production  sked.  Gould  be  he’s  dick¬ 
ering  .  .  ..  Cable  from  agent  Irving  Lazar  in  Moscow  to  Donohue  &  Coe 
account  exec,  John  Krimsky  in  New  York:  “Everything  organized.  Con¬ 
tracts  being. prepared.  Arrive  New  York  ten  days.  Love.  Lazar.”  Krim- 
sky’s  waiting  for  the  FBI  to  arrive  any  minute. 

Phyllis  James,  on  leave  from  Britain’s  Board  of  Trade  where  she 
debit  with  film  industry  questions,  is  in  the  U.S.,  studying  television 
and  its  effects  .  .  ,  20th-Fox  is  sending  a  “Farewell  to  Arms”  print  to 
Ernest  Hemingway  in  Cuba.  Hemingway  in  the  past  has  been  ho  ad¬ 
mirer  of  features  based  on  his  books  ...  Director.  Charles  Vidor  still 
planning  to  do  a  biofilm  on  dancer  Nijinski  .  .  .  “Gervaise”  will  get  the 
Joseph  Burstyn  award  for  1957,  with  the  Danish  “Ordet”  trailing  .  > 

.  On  the  “Open  Hearing”  tv  show  Sunday  (12),  Zenith’s  Ted  Lietzell 
said  he  didn’t  know  the  host  of  Zenith’s  Phonevlsion  decoder  box.  ' “I 
haven’t  seen  the  cost  figures  oh  it”  tie  maintained.  Leitzell.  started  the 
show  by  pointing  out.  that  his  opponent;  Dr.  Dallas  Smythe,;  was  once 
pro-toll  and  wanted  a  job  with  Zenith,  Smythe,  incidentally,  had.  a. 
hard  time  defending  his  point  that:  no  toll  trials;  should  be  held . .  . 
Leonard  Levinson  has  edited  “The  Affairs  Of  Casanova”  from  its  3,200 
pp.  original  text  into  a  320  pp.  paperback  for  Pyramid  (50c)  and  points 
out  that  Casanova  was  the  son  of  an  actor  &  actress,  that  he  wrote  and 
adapted  plays,  had  been  a  pit  fiddler  at  the.  St.  Simon  theatre  in  Ven¬ 
ice  and  also  did  some  acting. 

Metro  is  lining  up  one  of  the  most  extensive  exploitation  campaigns 
in  its  history  for  "The  Brothers  Karamazov,”  which  bows  in  February 
at  Radio»City  Music  Hall,  In  addition  to  personal  appearances  by  stars 
Yul  Brynner,  Claire  Bloom  and  Maria  Schell,  studio  has  set  up  an 
“MGM  Cavalcade  of  Fashions”  which  will  hit  15  key  .  cities  prior  to 
the  film’s  opening.  It  will  feature  costumes  from  the  film  as  well  as 
classic  costumes  from  other  Metro  pix  contrasted  by  modern  fashions 
from  local  department  stores.  Both  Signet  and  Deli  Publications  will 
publish  soft-cover  versions  of  the  Dostoievsky  classic  tied  in  with  the 
film,  the  Signet  version  being  unabridged.  Studio  also  is  making  a 
pitch  for  the  college  trade,  making  200  scripts  available  to  various  uni¬ 
versities  and  a  film  strip  and  narration  package  will  be  made  for  school 
and  college  use  in  audio-visual  programs. 

Jean  Goldwurm  states  his  Times  Film  Corp.  “relinquished”1  the  rights 
to  “Wee  Geordie”  and  the  line  that  George  K.  Arthur  "has  taken  back 
the  picture’’  gave  the  wrong  impression  . ..  .  Stanley  Kramer  paid  $60,- 
000  plus  a  percentage  to  Howard  Fast  for  screen  rights  and  an  adapta¬ 
tion  of  the  latter’s  historical 'novel,  “My  Glorious.  Brothers.”  Fast,  prom-? 
inept  Communist  who  broke  with  the  party  last  year,  wrote  the  book 
in  1948. 

A.  H.  Blank,  founder  and  president  of  Tri-States  Theatre  Corp,  has 
given  $125,000  toward  construction  of  a  new  unit  for  the  Raymond 
Blank  Memorial  Hospital,  which  will  be  used  for  treating  emotionally 
disturbed  children  in  Des  Moines.  It  will  be  known  as  the  Anna  Blank 
Memorial  Building  in  memory  of  .the  first  Mrs.  Blank,  who  died  in 
1952.  The  Raymond  Blank  Memorial  Hospital  was  given  by  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Blank  in  memory  of  their  son,  Raymond.  . 

Though  seating  only  299,  the  Lincoln  Theatre  in  New  Haven  grossed 
$6,365  in  its  first  week’s  engagement  of  the  French  “And  God  Created 
Woman.’.’  That’s  a  12-year  record  . .  ;  Louis  Malle,  age  25,  has  received 
France’s  Prix  Louis  Delluc,  given  each  year  to  the  outstanding  director 
and  film.  Malle  was  honored  for  his  first  film,  “Ascenseur  pour  l’Echa- 
faud”  (^levator  to  the  Hangman)  .  .  .  Jean  Anouilh  will  both  write  and 
direct  a  new  film,  “Mademoiselle  Moliere,”  reports  the  French  Film 
Office  in  Gotham^  Same  source,  says  Jean  Delannoy  will  direct  an  adap¬ 
tation  of  Harriet  .  Beecher  StoWe’s  “Uncle  Toin’s  Cabin”  latter  this  year. 
It’ll  be  shot  in  Liberia. 

.  Advice-  to  writers  was  given  by  John  P.  Marqnand,  who  spent  two 
Weeks  as  “writer-in-residehce”  at  Kirkland  House  of  Harvard  in  a  new 
program  by  which  Harvard  residence  houses  are  contributing  .  almost 
as  much  as  the  classrooms  to  the  specific  education:  of  undergrads.  “I 
don’t  think,  that  Mark  Twain  spent  much  .time  imagining  that  he  might 
be  writing  a  classic  when  he  worked  on  “Huckleberry  Finn,”  Mar- 
quan/i^said.  “He  wrote  it,  I  believe,  primarily  because  it  was  his  work 
to  write  .  .  .  .  Writing  is-  a  business.  If  I  didn’t  write' in  a  businesslike 
way— starting  regularly  in  the  moriiing--my  books  would*  probably  not 
even  be  started  yet.” 

William  Zinsser’s  crack  iii-N.Y.  Herald-Tribune  that  “The  Tarnished 
Angels”  (IT),  “might  be  called  a  good  B  movie  —  and  that’s  infinitely 
(Continued  on  page  18)  , 


N.  Y.  to  Europe 

Robert  Anderson 
Stan  Bums 
Marc  Connelly 
Lillian  Heilman 
Leo  Durocher 
Neil  Kirk 

Europe  to  N.  Y. 

Daniel  Bargnboim 
^thel  Gabriel 
Erroll  Garner. 

Barry  Gray 
Singe  Hasso 
June  Jago  • 

Ray  E.  Lawler 
-Beatrice  Lillie 
Fenella  Maguire 
Michael  Myerberg 
Richard  Pratt 
Madge  Ryan 
Romy  Schneider 
Johp  Sumner 
Kenneth  Warren 


N.  Y.  to  L.  A. 

Cy  Feuer 
Lester  Fletcher 
Elia  Kazan 
Robin  N. .  Levinson 
Shirley  Maclaine! 

Ernest  H.  Martin 
Earl  Rettig 
.  Norman  Rosemont 
George  Sanders. 

Chuck  Tranum 
Esther  Williams 
Meredith  Willson 

L.  A.  to  N.  Y. 

Edgar  Bergen. 

Frances  Bergen 
Claire  Bloom 
Joan  Crawford 
Leo  Durocher 
Norman  Granz 
Hy  Hollinger 
Art.Linkletter 
Pat  O’Brien. 

Richard  Quine  . 

Howard  Strickling 
Ivan.  Tors 


Wednesday,  January  15, 1958 


usmeet 


PICTDBES 


Vancouver,  Jan..  14; 

Something  new  in  threats,  or  hoaxes,  is  reported  by  telephone 
Nfrom  three  remote  British  Columbia  towns.  Trail,  Castelgair  and 
Nelson. 

Exhibs  found  almost  identical,  five-stick  explosive  charges  in 
their  respective  Qdeon  (FP>,  Castle  (Indie)  and  Civic  (FP)  thea¬ 
tres,  while  on  routine  search  for  overlooked  patron’s,  •items  after 
Friday  night’s  showings; 

In  each  theatre  the  dynamite  was  Christmas-paper  wrapped,  had 
a  trailing. fuse,  and  the  Trail  and  Castlegar  “gifts’-  were  singed,,  as 
if  they  had  been  lit. 

Castlegar  exhib;  George  Glanich,  said,  “We  are  mystified.  The: 
only  conclusion  we  can  come  t»  is  that  it’s  a  prank,  a  practical 
joke,  or  else  at  least  one  of  'em  would  have  gone  off/’ 

All  three  theatres  fair-as-usual  Friday  night  biz,  and  are  20-30 
miles,  apart.  Since  incidents,  theatres’  boxoffiCe  manifest  “shell¬ 
shock,”  while  previously  only  “nervous”  owing  to  home- wire  tv 
trend  that  is  salting  so  many  citizens  to  own  firesides.  See  sepa¬ 
rate  story  in  Tollvision  Secthjja. 

Gronich  to  Paris  in  MPEA  Revise 


['  Independent  Distribs  Poll  Members 
1(1  To  Keep  Burstyn  Awards  Alive 


By  FRED  HOT 

The  American  film  companies, 
through  the  Motion  Picture  Export 
Assn,  have  protested  ah  Italian 
edict  that  all  of  their  earnings  in 
Italy  must  ,  go  into  one  blocked  £  °- 
count  starting  next  Sept.  1. 

On  the  surface,  the  Italian  plan 
doesn’t  violate  the  current  Italo^ 
American  film  agreement.  But,  as 
one  foreign  exec  put*  it  last  week: 
“We  can  smell  trouble" 

At  the  moment,  American  earn¬ 
ings  in  Italy  go  into  two  accounts. 
Of  the  total  monies  received,  40% 
goes  into  one  account,  and  60% 
into  the  other.  Out  of  the  40% 


- — .  — - — b  Though  the  Independent  Motion 

a  \r  j»  9  Picture  Distributors  Assn.  Is  in  ef- 

V£UO  V  aaimus .  feet  nonexistent,  the  organization 

Toranto,  Jan.  14.  again  has  polled  independent  dis- 
“Lady  Chatterley^s  Lover’'  tributors  of  foreign  films  for  the 
followed  “The  Ten  Command-  Joseph  Burstyn  award, 
ments”  into  York  Theatre,  Initiative  came  from  Arthur  Li 
Toronto,.  Jan.  9.  Mayer,  former  IMPDA  prexy,  who 

Draw  your  own  moral.  felt  that  the  Burstyn  awards  should 

1  not  be  allowed  to  die.  Mayer  imme- 

m  n  ww  diately  ran  into  trouble  via  the, 

riAPa  LoraiOn  KIV  question  of  membership,  i.e.  .wfcp 

flUI  v  UCIllldll  A  1A  should  or  shouldn’t  be  polled.  It 

'  was  finally  decided  to  send  ques- 

|  V  V|  ini  n  tionnaires.  to  everybody. 

iA/irll  I  I  N  NriTAAII  Then  a  storm  eruDted  via  Ilya 
LvUVll  vi  Ui  Uvl  vvll  Lopert  whose  “Cabiria”  had  been 
1  left,  off  the  voting  list  by  mistake. 

Showing  of  German  films  in  the  and  whose  “Red -galloon”  wasn’t 


More  German  Pix 
Reach  U,S.  Screen 


account;  the  Italian  aflnidiaiy,  ^  °7,  v  .E 

companies  pay  their  expenses  and  States,  both  in  original  and  suo-  Bated  because  Mayer  (like  the 
leave  roughly  10%  as  profits.  Out  titled  versions,  are  on  the  increase,  Academy  of  Motion  Picture  Arts 


leave  lUUglUJ  XM  /O  '  do  piuuth.  UUt  fv*«*v**«,  WAV  I**v  C  *  \  *  .f  •  r  | 

Death  of  Allport  (London)  and'  Probable  Exit  of  P-e/  o£TCaslno  Lopert  a'rjuedthat^e  Newark 

Baldwin  (Rome)  Create*  Perionnel  Problem  -anica  o»t  ££  ESS**  ^ 


.Motto. luuins  Itlll  U.1>.  UUIl  II  companies  have  almostno  funds  in  ‘podhbrzer  sai’d  his  c'omnany  had  “J1  paper.'  and  *>as  no  president. 

reshuffling. its  European  personnel  II  '■  _ J|  the  60%  account,  blit  coin  has  ac-  f? '  vd  «*;«>®PW.bad ;  the  question  of  the  presentation  of 

in  what  is  billed  partly  as  an  econ-  I— — crueij  tn  the  4000  section  which  released  29  new  features  in  1957  the  Burstyn  awards  will  pose  a 

omy  move.  Change  sees  Fred  Grp-  Rank  Film  Distributors  of  tlie  Italians  sav  should  be  used  and  had  already  contracted  for  33  neat  problem.  Maver.nowanro- 

,ich,  now  the  MPEA  rep.  in  Frgnk-  Ameiica  has  established  a  new  to  “aid  the  industry.”  *  from  Germany  for  1958.  Last  year,,  ducer  (“High  Hell"  ftr  Paramount), 

furt,  taking  over  as  the  MPEA  branch^fflce  to  cover  the  Buffalo  e  jtaliani' now  -want  every.  his  company  distributed  in  addl-  said  last  week  he  was  discouraged 

European  manager  with  headquar-  and  Albany  territory.  Bert  Freese  .th4g  put  mt"  a  s°*,e  blocked  M-  tion  20  subtitliS  pta  which,  he  said,  W1»h  the  whole  thing.  "It'll  den¬ 
ser?  in  Pans.  will  be  branch  manager  .  Kw»d  -mniitac  the  artiei:  “*«?*  *«.®y  1**  ok*®*  *«  «••«> 

Other  nosts  to  be  filled  include  This  makes  the  14th  branch  for  LUUi1';* .  V.,  "  .  *■  ,  .  .  .  ganizafion,”  he  said 

B  -H  W  Rank-Vanlr  FfppciP.  whn  rpnnrtPd  Profit  to  the  subsidiary  outfits.  It’s  The  number  of  houses  playing  V™.  ,  . 

the  late  FaJe.t.t®  3  au-!IPtbi  Moridav  (13)  will  work  under  re-  these  moniies  which,  the  Italians  the  German  language  product  reg-  .  IIVrPDA  died  because  of  the  in- 

don  job  and  1als?tatA®  cional^mana^er  Abe  Weiner  in  clairn,have  been  “misused”  by  the  ularly  should  increase  by  three  or  f^lty  of  some  of  the  top  indie  dis- 

Bureau,  where  Charles  Baldwin  has  gonal  mana.er,  Ahe  Weiner  in  Americans.  a[nd  if  the  Italians  de-  four  this  year,  Pohdorzer  said,  tributors  to  see  eye-to%e  on  any- 

indicated  he  wants  out.  *•_£ _ _ _  cide  to  renounce  the  film  agree-  About  15  theatres  now  play  these  thing  and  their  mutual  suspicions 

MPEA  streamlining  and  econo-  ,,  _  .  _  ment,  thls  will.be  part  Of  the  rea-  films  .  Podhorzer  said23ofhisnew  that  members  were  using  the  group 


Rank’s  14thU.S.  Unit 


firial  rPrhittanr>p<!  and  thp  Pinrfipp-  wv  „  ‘  uuueu.  digucu  xiiai  uie  vtvyt  ZQrjt 

«***?*  ** 

of  this  account,  too,  are  taken  pro-  P°r^  tlus  statement,  he  cited  the  as  a  feature, 

ductiori  funds,  though  most  :are  fact  that  the  income  of  Casino  was  In  the  light  of  the  fact  that  the 

drawn  from  the  40%  account.  The  up  33%  during  the  past  year.  IMPDA.  now  in  effect  exists  Only 

companies  Have  almost  no  funds  in  Poifhnrrer  hi«  cmnmnv  h.H  °.n  Paper,  and  has  no  president. 


Podhorzert  sald  his  company  had  ^  tS  p^seSattan  o'? 


ich,  now  the  MPEA  rep  in  Frank-  America  has  established  a  new 
furt,  taking  over  as  the  MPEA  branch  office  tq  cover  the  Buffalo 
European  manager  with  headquar-  and  Albany  territory.  Bert  Freese 


ters  in  Paris.  will  be  bratteh  manager. 

Other  posts  to  be  filled  include  This  makes  the  14th  branch  for  j 
the  late  Fayette  W;  Allport’s  Lon-  Rank-Yank.  Freese,  who  reported 
don  job  and  likely  also  the  Rome  Monday  (13),  will  work  under  re- 
Bureau,  where  Charles  Baldwin  has  gional  manager,  Abe  Weiner  in 
indicated  he  wants  out.  Boston. 

MPEA  streamlining  and  econo-  “ 

mining  is  in  line  with  .a  desire  to  If  ______  |lllMy 

conform  to  general  industry  condi-  V  fill  ICG  F IIITI  .IlirV 
tions.  “We  are  looking  into,  our  I  Vilivv  l  uiu  yui  j 

operation  to  see  where  we  can  trim  .  _ 

without  impairing  operating  effi-  vfuiAfliT  rJliAA 

cieney  said  an  MFEA^exec  OtriCUV  LlltlCS 

Meeting  on  upcoming  MPEA  J 

changes  was  held  in  New  York  last  ;  Wnmp  Tan  14. 

week,  but  the  only  decision.  actuaUy  rommlssinn  ^mpdtn 


films  .Podhorzer  said  23  of  his  new.  that  members  were  using  the  group 
33. pictures  will  fie  in  color  “whiefi  ,th«r  own  selfish  advantages. 

■  ;  .  .....  ...  ■  ..  ..  .■  fnrlvi  in  1QM  .nil-V.  _ _ S.:_ _ 


taken  was  the  one  regarding  Gro-  select 


Rome-  Jan.  14: 

Three-man  commission  named,  to 
lect  the  pictures  for  admission 


son  for  doing  so.  33. pictures  will  fie  in  color  “whiefi 

Notification  of  the  Italian  wishes  is  in ^  line  with  exhibitor  prefer- 
reached  the  companies  via  erice.” 

ANICA’s  Eitel  Monaco  who,  how-  — ■■  ■  - - ■■ — — — 

ever,  has  said  he  wras  merely  trans-  __  ,  .  _  __  ___  - 

:»■  SEALS  TO  378  FEATURES! 

Monaco’s  consent.  25%  FROM  OVERSEAS 

What  makes  the  American  com-  Production  Code  Administration 


eein: who6’ l^oSmfn  *  dur“g  1957  i?sue5.  ^ ™  L^whSe.Vy  STthl 


Early  in  1957,  with  Mayer  wanting 
to  retire  from  the  presidency, 
these  antagonisms  erupted  when 
Jean  Goldwurm  of  Times.  Film  as¬ 
pired  for  the,  jofi.  Lopert,  Richard 
Davis  and  eventually  also  Gold¬ 
wurm  resigned  from  the  organiza¬ 
tion. 

Many  indies  regret  the  absence 
of  an  organization,  in  the  growing 


iperaUdn  J?1’  W  annbuhe .nonWisri  ^^to^hrt^e^CA  tur(?  ^  o£  whlc.u94^,r  very 
OP“  ¥  ?  25^were  »ade  abroad 


«  iu.«6u  k'-  Castello  and  Mari  Verdorie.  All  non  or  tne  lunqs  once  tney  are  - :  .  manv  critical  areas  such  ePtv?hr- 

.  It  is  definite  that  Grbnicfi  will  are  film  critics  in  this  country.,  in  a  single  account.  Up  to  this  either  by  American  or  foreign  com-  cepsor 

be  replaced  in  Frankfurt  by  Leo  Meccoli  also  was  -just  re-named  point,  though  they  hardly  expect  panies.  of  Trans-Lux  at  one  point  planned 

Hochstetter.  Latter  was  formerly  prexy  of  the .  Italian  Film  Critics  things  to  stop  here,  the  companies  .  According  to  the  Motion  Picture  a  new  group  but  it  never  cot  fur- 

the  MPEA  field  man  in  the  Far  Assn.  Senat  or  Giovanni  Ponti,  have  no  serious  Objections  to  a  A-  f  .  rl  if  icc,,pd  cprtifi  ther  than  the  planning  stages 

East  where  fie  negotiated  the  im-  head  of.  Venice  Biennial  organiza-  single  account.  ^Assn<rf.  America,  it  .issued  certifi:  mer  man  tne  planning  stages, 

portant  Philippine  settlement.  He  tion,  said  the  group '  will  be  pre-r  .  Considering  the  current  state  Of  cates  to  118  films  produced  and  re- 

was  announced  by  Eric  Johnston  sidefi  oVer  by  the  director  of  the  the  Italian  industry,  the  companies  leased  fiy  member  companies.  Of  n  n  n*  t.  I«J:_ * 

for  the  Paris  job,  but  the  death  of .  Film  Festival  Floris  Amihannati.  think  it  logical  to  assume  that  urn-  these,-  17  were  shot  abroad..  Code  U.u.  rlX  HgalD  10  111  Ola. 

Allport  and  Gronich’s  desire  to  Choice  of  film  crix  only  for  the  Tevealed-as-yet  Italian  demands  seals  also,  were  given  to  188  non-  w  ,i  .  n  OHOf 

leave  Germany  has  now  altered  key  body  is  reported  to  haye're-  are  on  the  way.  Monaco  has  had  member  produced  pix  which  were  ilFOD  JjQiV!  IT66Z6  Ol  /n 

these  plans.  ,  suited  from  criticism  of  previous  a  number  of  beefs,  mainly  that  not  released  through  menmer  company  Af  ir  1  t  *v  •  n 

Three  men— Baldwin,  Ralph  Het-.  selecfibn  committees,  and  suppos-  enough  of  the  American  produc-  facilities.  Of  these,  63  were  shot  Ilf  Yonlrc  KRinifhlhl^ 

zel,  the  MPEA's  exec  v.  p.,  and  edly  followed  the  advice  by  most  tion  in  Italy  is  co-production  with  finally,  approval  went  to  .  ■  ■ 

Griffith  Johnson,  v.  p. — have  been  followers  of  .  the  festival'.  Previous  Italian  ,  interests  and  that  the  T2  films  produced  and  released  fiy  Eliminating ^  its  virtual  embargo 

mentioned  in  connection  with  the  group  was  said  at  the  time  of  its  Americans  should  hand  oiit  an-  non-members,  and  of  these  14  were  on  American  film  imports  in  effect 

London  post.  Hetzel  acknowledged  appointment  to  have  been  an  ex-  other  “loan”  out  of  monies  not  be-  made  overseas.  Since  last  October,  the  lndian  gov- 

last.week  that  he  Had  discussed  the  clusively  political  choice.  ing  used.  Some  sections  of  the  Of  the  total  94  films  made  frnment  has  agreed  to  resume  the 

idea  but  said  he  was  not  going.  Fest  director  Ammannati  is  re-  industry  also  have  been  unhappy  abroad,  exactly  one-half  were  made  issuance  of  licenses  at  a  slightly  re- 

There  is  also  the  possibility  that  ported;  planning  a  U.  S.  visit  next  with  the  compensation  deals  via  by.  American  companies  and  the  duced  rate,  i.e.  75%  of  any  com- 

Johnston  may  take  someone  from  spring  in  search  of  suitable  prod-  Finmeccanica  under  which  all  or  other  half  by  foreign  outfits.  paiiys.  former  top  level, 

the  outside  probably  someone  wiVh  net  for  next  fall’s  event.  This  most  of  the  available  American  In  195^,  the  number  of  pictures  In  addition,  the  Indians  allied 


a  State  Dept  background  marks  the  first  time  this  procedure  funds  are  remitted.  The  Italians  approved  by  the  Code  ran  to  only  that,  as  of  Jan.  1,  the  impfirt^uty 

Though  Baldwin  wants  to  retire  has  been  followed.  have  several  other  complaints.  V  313.  would  revert,  to  the  old  rate  of  5c 

Monaco  Defines  Italian  Hopes: 

Sympathy  (i.e.  New  Terms)  From  U.S. 

Meanwhile,  Johnston  last  week  J  L  J  \  .'  ■*  negotiated  later, 

appointed  George  Larson  as  the  By  ROBERT  HAWKINS  The  Italo  topper  pointed  out  that  port  licenses  were  apportioned  on  The  new  deal  was  negotiated  in 

MPEA’s  Scandinavian,  manager  „  ^  T„.  14  none  of  the  points  under  discussion  that  basis.  Italian  argument  is  that  India  fiy  Irving  Maas  the  Motion 

covering  the  territories  of  Den-  T  ,  thT  the^ ^Italians  Qualified  as  “new”  but  had  fieen  this  portion  no  longer  holds  after  Picture  Export  Assn.’s  Far  Eastern 

mark,  Norway,  Finland  and  Swe-  ^fade  reports ;  that  the i  it_i  as  discl4ssed overthe  past  year  or  two  the  defection  of  Republic  and  supervisor  who  headquarters  in 

den.  .Larson,  formerly  press  at-  ± ^  since  the  signing  of  the  AGIS-  RKO’s  reduced  operation  (also  Tokyo ^  He  wai  asrtsted  by  Charles 

tache  of  the  U.  S  Embassy  at  SSffiS  AWCA  agreement  Despite  re-  cited  is  fact  that  UA-s  “quota"  is 

Stockholm,  has  recently  been  asso-  peated  requests  on  the  part  of  the  also  questionable,  as  it  goes  to  an  jt’s  figure(j  that  under  the  new 

qiated  with  the  export-import  busi-l  ^y  ^^^^PP^  Italians.  Monaco  said,  none  of  these  Italian  distributor.  Dear  Film),  and  deaj  over  200  films  will  be  brought 

ness  in  Sweden.  He  replaces  the  felt  and  controversiesfiad  been  successfully  that  these  “lapsed”  licenses  should  fnto ’indTa^  a  ^oTal^f  276  Amiri 

ailing  Carl  York,  who  stays  on  as  that  current  talte  fietwSn  (i£  at  all)  answered  by  the  MPEA  be  given  to  Italian  distribs  (which  Sms  w^re  shipped  into  the 

a  consultant.  The  one  critical  ter-  and  fhifSme  ^ffice  home  board.  The  current  talks  were  are  otherwise  uable  to  get  them  as  countJy  durinc  1956 ?  d  4  th 

ritory  in  the  area  is  Denmark,  MotionPicture  ISSrt  Assn  ••therefore  designed  •. to -re^mphasi^  Italian  Ministries  wiR  not ^increase  The  IndtohSSctfong  are  due 

which-  had  been  covered  by/Gro-  £  of  ^J^**™*-  get  »  Ne^  York  ^al^^^ove^iiml  figured  to  the  economy  difficul- 


a  State  Dept,  background.  marks  the  first  time 

Though  Baldwin  wants  to  retire,  has  been  followed., 
it’s  considered  possible  he’ll  be  put 
into  London  at  least  for  some  i|  M" 
months.  MPEA  is  said  to  be  in  /I//AM  //A 
touch  with  Frank  Gervas:  re'  the  J-T-LyJ i 
possibility  of  his  assuming  Bald¬ 
win’s  Rome  job.  Gervas:  recently 
has  produced  in  Rome.  . 

Meanwhile,  Johnston  last  week  J  / 

appointed  George  Larson  as  the  By  ROBERT  I 
MPEA’s  Scandinavian  manager 
covering  the  territories  of  Den-  £ 

mark,  Norway,  Finland;  and  Swe-  ^ 

den.  Larson,  formerly  press  at-  ,^a 


ich  from  Frankfurt. 


wouia  neip  iron  out  me  puuns  oninioh  on  them 
friction  which  currently  exist  fie-:  opinion  on  tneni. 


The  Yank  counter  argument 


fn  thic  t0  the  country’s  econpmic  difficul- 
mhS*c  1 ties*  -Even  though  the  market  is 


- .  incuon  wmen  currently  exist  oe-..  .  *  •  •  .  ....  nf  mnpco  ie  thuf  rfbuhi+a  VomiKHo’t.  "vcu  inougn  tne  marxet  1$ 

In  New  York,  George  Canty,,  for  tween  the  two  industries.  irKfifrA  resignation  all  deals  negotiated  i  very  ^arge*  the  Americans’  share 

eight  years  an  MPEA  exec,  retires  After  noting  that  as  never  before,  agIS-AINCA  ,  pact,  ^according  to  8“  its  membershin  remain  in  :  of  is  comparatively  small  and 
Friday  (17).  Canty  had  worked  the  current  local  and  world-wide  ^  {talia^  force  untirthe  pact  lapses  i  almost  insignificant  when  com- 

with  the  industry  for  30  years,  serv-  £im  industry-crisis  called  for  closer  violations  m  letter  and  in^spirit,  "  9  '  pared  with  the  earnings  of  the  local 

ing  with  the  U.  S.  State  Depart-  ties  and  understanding  between  the  and  which  still  ,  according  to  local  (2)  Italians,  are  unhappy  over ;  mdian  product. 

ment  and  also  as  Universal’s  Euro-  u.S.  and  Italy,  Monaco  added  that  mdustry-ites  have  long  remained  what;they  mamtai  is  a  breaeh^of ;  L_  - __ 

pean  manager.  He  was  with  the  only  if  the  MPEA  failed  to  reply—  unanswered  on  the  part  of  the  admittedly  verbal  promise,  that  | 

U.  S  Embassy  in  Berlin  during  or  replied  negatively — to  the  points  American  companies  despite  re-  MPEA  would,  see  that  more:  true  j  Tessa  Smallpage,  Australian  so- 

the  Nazi  days.  currently  under  discussion  would  peated  complamts,  are  summed  up  co-productions  would  be  made  m  prano,  wife  of  Sid  Goldman,  di* 

It  is  not  clear  at  the  moment  fie  reluctantly  be  forced  under  the  m  the  following  points.,  :  this  country  with  blocked  funds  rector  of  theatre  operations  at 

whether  MPEA  intends  to  open  the  circumstances  to  invoke  a  breach  of  (I)  The  pact  was  made  on  the  (Monaco  calls  ■  such  pix  as  Seven  Radio  City  Music  Hall,  N.  Y.,  re- 
long-planned  bureau  in  Argentina,  agreement  by  the  American  side  basis,  of  the  (MPEA)  companies  at  urns  of.  Rome,  where  litanus  anti  cuperating  from  surgery  at  Doc- 
(Continued  on  page  20)  and  denounces  the  pact.  the  time  operating  in  Italy,  and  im-  (Gontipued  on  page  18)  tors  Hospital. 


REVIEWS 


Bonjou*  IMstene 

(C’SCOPE— COLOR) 

Loose  and  luxurious  living  on 
the  Riviera  with  Deborah 
Kerr,  David  Niven,  Jean  Se- 
berff.  Controversy  re  the 
theme,  as  per  Francoise  Sagan 
original  best-seller,  ought  ,  to 
help  sell  provocative  but  basi¬ 
cally  thin  fare.  ^ 

Columbia,  release  of  Otto.  Preminger 
production.  Stars  Deborah.  Kerr,  David 
Niven,  Jean  Seberg;  features  Mylene 
Pemongeot.  Geoffrey  Horne.  Juliette 
Greco,  'Walter  ChiarL  Directed  by 
Preminger.  Screenplay,  Arthur  Laurents, 
from  the  Francoise  Sagan  novel;  camera'. 
(Technicolor), .  Georges  Perinal;  editor, 
.Helga  Cranston;  music,  Ge'orges  Auric. 
Previewed  in  New  York  Jan.  10,'  *55.  Run¬ 
ning  time,  94  MINS. 

Anne . . . .  Deborah  Kerr 

Raymond  ....... ... .. . .  David  Niven 

Cecile  . . . .  .  .  . .  Jean  Seberg 


Herself  . . .  Juliette  Greco 

Pablo Walter  Chiari 

Philippe'S  Mother. . .  .MarFita  r:unt 

Mrs.  Lombard  . .  Jean  Kent 

Jacques  ................ - David  Oxley 

Denise  - - - ............  .Elga  Andersen 

Hubert  . . . . . . . .  Jeremy  Burnham 

Mr.  Lombard  ...........  Roland  Culver 

Steid  . . Eveline  Eyfel 

Considerable,  note  was  .taken  of 
the  tale  of  promiscuity  on  the 
Riviera  by  the  then  17-year-old 
novelist,  Francoise  Sagan.  It  was 
a  thin  hook,  physically,  and  the 
characters,  Bohemian  manners  and 
mores  and  all,  were  thin,  too,  but 
the  fiction  of  the  young  French 


More  B.O.  Inflation 

Minneapolis,  Jan.  14. 

New  year  la  starting  out 
with  inflation  getting  in  its 
entertainment  licks  here. 
Meaning  that  at  1958’s  outset 
amusement  is  costing  the  local 
public  more  and  will  continue 
to  do  so.  ^ 

On  the  heels  of  action  by 
all  three  United  Paramount 
downtown  theatres  upping 
their  admission  prices  for 
their  current  attractions  from 
90c  to  $2.25  in  one  instance  and. 
from  90c  to  $1.50  after  5  prii. 
in  the  'other  two,  the  local 
American  Association  ,  baseball 
club,  too,  has  announced  that 
ticket  prices  the  coming 
soii  will  be  boosted. 

Last  Season’s  baseball  taps  : 
were  $1.10,  $1.50  and  $1.75  for-, 
bleachers,  reserved  seats  .and 
box  seats,,  respectively.  For 
the  coming  season  they  go  to 
$1.25,  1.75  and  $2. 

Sing,  Roy,  Sing 

(SONGS-C’SCOPE) 

Tommy  Sands  in  bis  first  film. 
Script  based  on  bis  tv  click  but 
not  strong  in  adaptation. 

..  Hollywood,  Jan.  10. 

Twentieth-Fox  .  .release,  of  Henry 


lass  created  a  stir  and  sold  like  Ephron  Production..  Stars  Tommy  Sands, 
nnnpnrn  matin#>P  Lili  Gentle;,  co-stars-  Edmond.  O’Brien,  , 

popcorn  Saturday  matinee.  John  Mcintire;  features  Nick  Adams, 

In  transplanting  the  work  to  the  Diane  Jergens,  Josephine  Hutchinson, 

cim-poti  nrnHnppp  rHr*vtnr  Httn  Jerry  Paris,  Tami  Conner,  Regis  Toomey. 
screen,  producer  -  director  UttO  Directed  by  Ephron;  screenplay,  Claude 
Preminger  basically  has  stayed  Binyon,  from  story  by  Paul  Monash; 
with  Miss  Sagon’s  first-person-told  C.  Mellor;art  directors, 

4.1.  j  j,q  Lyle  R.  Wheeler,  Herman -A:  Blumenthal; 

tale  Of  the  amours  Of  a  middle-  sound,  Eugene  Grossman,  Harold.  A:  Root; 
aged,  charming  and  wealthy  music,  Lionel  Newman;  editor,  William 
Frenchman  within  both  view  and  Mace;  murfc^_numbers  staged, by  Nick 
Earshot  of  his  daughter  Who,  like  Sme,  if^MiNir  d  51  ’  R  g 

ihe  author  at  the  time,-  is  .17.  It’S.  Virgil  Walker  ............  Tommy  Sands 

hardly  a  matter  of  wonder  that  Leora  Easton  ...... —  Lm  Gentle 

Pere’s  free-living  escapades  should  .v.^,-..-,Eamond^p3rtM 

prove  contagious,  that  the  girl,  too,  c.  k.  Judd  . .  _j^ick  Adams 

Should  take  a  fling  at  same.  Pat  _ . Diane.  Jergens 

U,  „  , _ ...  ,  •  Caroline  Walker....  Josephine  Hutchinson 

S  a  credit  to  Preminger  S  nan-  Fisher  .  . . .  Jerry  Paris 

idling  that  a  somewhat  feather-light  Ginnie  Tami  Conner 

quaUly  is  effected,  for  any  heavy- 

handed,  all-out-for-realism  treat-  .  ■:■  ■■,  Biff  Collie 

meat  might  have  rendered  the  Mrs.  Rt2geraid  ...........  Marie  Brown 

Jtory  unwholesome  in  family  terms  St^waJ 

to  the  point  of  being  repugnant  to  Hillman  Lloyd  Harter- 

Hiahy.  In  its  airy  way,  “Bonjour  Fitzgerald  . Patrick  Miller 

Tristesse”  has  ascertain  amount  of  .  .  , 

charm  although,  of  course,  it  seems  For  the  third  time  in  roughly  a 
likely  that  puritan  circles  will  be  year,  20th-Fox  has  come  up  with  a 
heard  from,  if  the  film  is  to  be  a  screen  debut  of  a '“hot’’-  juve  vocal 
conversation  piece,  as  was  the  hook,  .  .  .  ... 

ticket-buying  interest  doubtless  ta*ent’  ^  this  .case  .’Tommy  Bands. 
Will  be  provoked.  To  be  considered  He  registers  as  a  potent  new  film 
In  the  boxoffice  appraisal  are  the  personality  who  will,  with  pi-bper 
cast  names,  as  weU.  material,  becoihe  R  boxoffice  lure. 

But  it  is  not  a  Glass  /‘A”-  effort  Unfortunately,  the  vehicle  Chosen 
Script  deficiencies  and  awkward  ^  “  ■y-  .  , 

reading — some  lines  are  spoken  as  for  his;  bow  can  register  only  mod-- 
though  just  that — they  are  being  erately  since- the  adaptation  of  the 
read— have  static  results.  Scenario  tv  show  that  first  catapulted  him 
to  stardom  emerges  a*  ..tWietory 
^  5  fare  for  an  adult  video  audience 

little  choice.  The  characters  are  a  1.^^.  4-v,Q^+^Qrr«Qv.e. 

surface  lot,  projecting  little  emo-  teenage  theatregoers.. 

tiqn.  Claude  Bmyon’s  screenplay  Con- 

Detracting  from  the  mak.e-be-  tains  only  minor  changes  from  the 
lieve  also  is  Jean  Seberg’s  deport-  original  Paul  Mpnash  telescript 
ment.  In  her  second  cinematic  try  about  a  young  rock  'o’  roll  singer 
(her  first  was  in  Preminger’s  un-  and  the  pressures  placed  upon  him 
fortunate  Saint  Joan  ),  Miss  Se-  by  a  somewhat  unscrupulous  man- 
^g;sQecile  ?  m°r-e  sugg®stiye  of  ager  on  one  hand  and  the  latent 
a  high  school  senior  back  home  puus  0f  his  relfgioso  background, 
toan  the  frisky  knowing,  close  Manager  Edmond  O’Brien  wants  to 
friend  and  daughter  of  a  rouq  hv-  keep /the  kid  away  from  the  in- 
^un^ilous  Fre^^  fluences  of  his  revivalist  grand¬ 
s'**111^  She  is,  of  course,  a  selfish  father  hut  the  latter’s  death  event¬ 
ed  malicious  character  to  start  ually  bringS  Sands  to  a  new  ma- 
^  •  „  turity  in  his.  position  as  a  teenage 

Strangely  enough.  Miss  Seberg,  idoL 

Bulk  of  the  musical  lumbers  are 
nrnfocriLui0  concentrated  in  the  first  half  of 
XrfnV  thi  the  faml  the  final  reels  dip  into 

y.0rn2f£T-U?f  the  dramatics  inherent  in  the  basic 
w  story  and  It  is  in  the  sometimes 

getting  used,  to  her.  Preininger  np* ;  rnnraliziTiP  nhilosohhv  thst  the 

parently  insists  that  the  public, ““^S^phjlosophy^fha^  the 

r  Sands  is  excellent,  both  as  a 
singer  and  as  a  performer,  handling 
disguise  ^his  mDurSuite  ^Deborah  himself  with  an  ease  and  natural- 

K^n?  ahSau§oS“taieutDaa0Se  S^^uertS 

artist  whom  Niven  proposes  to  0%  anH 

jnarry  and  who  speeds  away  to  ap- 

parent  suicide  upon  finding  -  him  in  Prune  wS 

another  illicit  situation.  ® 

.  ..  ...  v  ...  a  companion  m  his -desperate  need 

As  the  more  conventional  of  the  f6r  companionship.  In  m  uc  h 
prmcipal  characters.  Miss  Kerr  smaller  roles,  Josephine  Hutchin- 
has_  looks  and  poise  hut  there  are  soh:is  quietly  convincing  as  Sands’ 
instances  where  she,  too,  has  diffi-  aunt  an<j  jerry  Paris  is  good  as  the 
culty  with  the  stiltedness  of  the  manager’s  press  agent  accomplice, 
dialog.  Lili  Gentle,  as  Sands  hometown 

Mylene  Demongeot  fits  in  well  girl  frieiid,  has  little  to  do  except 
as  a  silly,  sunburned  blonde;  Geof-  look  wistful. 

frey  Horne  rates  ade^ate  as  playT  Henry  Ephron's  direction  is  on 
**•.  the  slow  side  but  sympathetically 

comes  off  as  something  of  a  caria-  guided  his  tyro  troupers.  Musical 
cature  of  a  rich  South  American,  numbers  of  Nick  Castle  help;  Also 
.  The  Riviera  villa  backdrop  and  Ephron  has  injected  some  solid 
beach  scenes  are  rich  in  eye  appeal  values  in  the  black-and-white  pro- 
via  the  Cinemascope  and  Techni-  duction  and.  surrounded  himself, 
color  photography  and  wardrobes  with  a  good  technical  crew  that 
make  for  another  visual  plus.  Ef-  add  some  assets  to  the.  film,  not- 
fective  also  is  the  switch  to  mono-  ably  in  Willimn  C.  MeDor’s  cam- 
chrome  for  Left  Bank  bistro  scenes..  era  work  and  the  effective  art  di- 
Editing  is  smooth  and  music  is  rector  of  Lyle  R.  Wheeler  and  Her- 
first-rate,  particularly  the  title  maii  A.  Blumenthal.  During  the 
song  which  sets  the  mood  of  sad-  course  of  the  film*  Sands  sings 
ness  as.  Cecile  reflects  oh  past  about  a  dozen  numbers,  including 
events  tit’s  all  flashback).  the  hymn  4*Rock  of  Ages.”  Best 

Title  designs  by  Saul  Bass  are  is  the  title  tune,  a  likely  hit,  aiid 
colorful  and  clever.  Gene.  “Soda  Pop  Pop,”  Kap. 


The  Female  Animal 

tcrscoPE) 

Old-style  slants  on  Hollywood. 
Jane  Powell,  Hedy  Lamarr 
and  George  Nadet  for  marquee 
dressing. 

Hollywood,  Dec.  27. 

Universal  release  of  Albert  Zugsmith 
production.  Stars  Hedy  Lamarr,  Jane. 
Powell,  Jan  Sterling.  George  Nader;  fea¬ 
tures  Jerry  Paris;  Gregg:  Palmer..  Mabel 
Albertson^  James  Gleason:  Directed  by 
Harry  Keller.  Screenplay,  Robert  Hill, 
based  on  story  by  Zugsmith;  camera.  Rus¬ 
sell  Metty;  editor,  Milton  Carruth;  music. 
Hans  J.  .Salter.  Previewed  Dec.  27,  *57. 
Running  time,  *2  MINS; 

Vanessa  Windsor  ..........  Hedy  Lamarr 

Penny  Windsor  ............  Jane  PoweU 

Lily  Frayne  ........ Jan  Sterling 

Chris  Farley  . George  Nader 

Hank  Lopez  ........ ........  Jerry  Paris 

Piggy  . Gregg  Palmer 

. Irma  Jones  Mabel  Albertson 

Tom  Maloney.  ........  I .  James  Gleason 

Dr.  -  John  Ramsay; . . .  ichard  H.  Cutting 
Nurse  .: . ... . .. .......... .... .  Alin  Doran 

Hairdresser  ... . '. . .  Yvonne  Peattie 

Charlie  Grant  .:. Casey  Adams 
The  Direptor  ...... . . . ; ...  Douglas  Evans 

With  very  few  exceptions;  stories 
about  Hollywood  have  had  pretty, 
tough  sledding  at  the  boxoffice  and 
there’s  nothing  in  this  latest  try  to 
lift  it  above  the  ;programmer  class. 
Plot  is  old-fashioned  both  in  con¬ 
cept  and  unfoldmerit  and  even  With 
the  Jane  Powell  name  to  brighten 
prospects  with  youthful  audiences 
outlook  is  spotty. 

"Albert  Zugsmith  production, 
based  upon  his  own  original,  cen¬ 
ters  on  Hedy  Lamarr,  a  tempera¬ 
mental  star  Who  falls  for  an  extra 
who.saves  her  from  a  falling  light 
on  the  set.  Robert  Hill  screenplay 
follows  her  setting  him  up  as  care¬ 
taker  for  her  beach  home,  with 
mother-daughtCr  conflict  inserted . 
when  the  star’s  daughter.  Miss 
Powell,  finds  herself  in  love  with 
mama’s  boy-friend,  latter  still 
struggling  ta  keep  his  self-respect. 
Film  opens  clumsily;  in  what  later 
appears  to  he  flashback  technique, 
and  winds  on  an  uncertain  romantic 
note. 

Miss  Lamarr  manages  some  sem¬ 
blance  of  reality  as  the  star  who 
seems  half  lit  through  most  of  the. 
film,  but  George  Nader:  Rs  the  extra 
suffers  from  IRck  of.  definitive  char-, 
acter  opporfuhity.  ’Direction  by 
Harry  Keller  seldom  rises  above 
the  script,  which:  generally  affects 
various  characters.  .Miss  Pdwell 
overplays  her  opening  drunk  se¬ 
quence  and  fares  littl  better  later 
on,  although  she  fills  a  bathing  suit 
with  eye-filling  allure.  Part  of  Jan 
Sterling,  as  a  former  star  who  still 
has  a  roving  eye  for  males  and  goes 
oh  the  make  for  Nader;  is  dragged 
in  .for  no  particular  reason.  Sup¬ 
porting  cast  headed  by  Jerry  Paris 
and  James  Gleason  sire  okay.  * 
-  Russell  Metty’s  camera  Work 
leads  off  generally  competent  tech-, 
nical  credits.  Whit. 

Snowfire 

(COLOR) 

Neat  attraction  for  the  pre- 
teenage'  audience.  Release  ar¬ 
rangements  pending. 

Hollywood,  Jan.  8. 

A  McGowan  Production,  written,  pro¬ 
duced  and  directed  by  DorreU  and  Stuart 
McGowan. Stars  SnoWfire,  MoUy  Mc¬ 
Gowan,  Don  M  ego  wan;  'features  John 
Cason,-  Claire  Kelly, /Melody  McGowan, 
Mike  Vallon,  Rusty  Westcott,  Bill  Hale, 
Paul  Keast.  Camera.  Brydon  Baker;  edi¬ 
tor,  Arthus  Nadel;  music,  Albert  Glasser. 
Previewed  Jan.  3,  *58.  Running  -time,  73 
MINS. 

Snowfire  Himself 

MoUy  McGowan  ............ - .»  Herself 

. Mike, McGowan  . . .  Don  Megowan 

Buff  Stoner  . .  John  Cason 

Carol  Hampton  ...........  Claire  Kelly 

Melody  McGowan  Herself 

Poco  - - - -  -  Mike  Vallon 

Luke  Stoner  i. Rusty  Westcott 
Skip.  Stoner  ................. . .  BUI  Hale 

Patently  aimed  Rt  the  kiddie 
trade,  “Snowfire”  emerges  a  good 
attraction  for  pre-teenagfe  audi¬ 
ences  and  a  natural  for  .Saturday 
matinee  and  schoolroom  showings. 

Feature,  for  which  a  release  has 
not  yet  been  set-.  Was  lensed  a  year 
or  so  ago  in  and  around  Bryce  Can¬ 
yon,  Utah.  (A  tv  pilot  also  hRs  been 
edited,  from  it,  incidentally;)  Ac¬ 
tion  centers  around  the  title,  horse 
and  a  young  girl’s  (Molly  Mcr: 
Gowan)  friendship  with  the  nag,' 
which  had  been  captured  earlier 
by  dad  (Don  Megowan)  from  a  wild 
herd:  Girl  lets  the  horse  escape, 
then  keeps  pop  and  all  the  villains 
from  capturing  him  by  tipping  off 
the  animal  as  to  their,  movements: 
Windup  finds  dad  agreeing  to  cer¬ 
tain  concessions  (no  branding,  and 
letting. horse  out  to  rOaim  at  night), 
and  daughter  bringing  the  equine 
home. 

Megowan1  is  good  as  the  father. 
While  Claire  Kelly,  iii  romantic 
lead  as  Owner  Of  the  neighboring 
ranch,  is  a  capable  actress  as.  well 
as  a  looker.  Molly  McGowan 
(daughter  of.  Dorrell  McGowan,  as 
is  other  cast  member.  Melody  Mc¬ 
Gowan)  is  generally  okay,  and  her 
lack  of  experience  will  probably 
go  unnoticed  by  the  juves. 

Production  credits  .  are  good, 
most  notably  the  Eastman  Color 
camera  Work  of  Brydon  Baker. 
Snowfire,  by  the  way,  is  a  well- 
trained  steed  that  takes'  the  title 
role  in  stride^  Neat.  * 


Wednesday,  January  15,  1958 


Perspective— At  JLast  ? 

St  Louis,  Jan.  14. 

“Ther^  is  no  need  yet  for 
black  crepe  on  the  doors  of  . 
motion  picture  theatres,” 
James  H.  Arthur,  president  Of 
Arthur  Enterprises  Inc.,  opera¬ 
tors  of  films  houses  here,  told, 
the  Advertising  Ctub  of  St. 
Louis  last  week. 

Television  was  something  of 
a  problem .  during  its  embry¬ 
onic  period,  Arthur  said,  but 
theatres  are  now  recovering  . 

.  from  “present  depressed  con¬ 
dition”  and  heading  toward  a 
neW  era  of  prosperity. 

“It  is  now  recognized  that  • 
people,  have  room  in  their  . 
lives  for  movies,  radio  and  tv, 
no  one  to  the  exclusion*  of  any 

other.” 

The  Missouri  Traveler 

(COLOR) 

Nostalgic  piece  of  Americana 
half-century  ago,  aimed  at 
family  trade. 

Hollywood,  Jan.  10. 

Buena  Vista  release  of.  Patrick  Ford 
production.  Stars  Brandon  de  Wilde,.  Lee 
Marvin.  Gary  Merrill,  Paul  Ford;,  costars - 
Mary  Hosford;  features  Ken  Curtis,  Cal 
Tinney.,' Frank  Cady,  Kathleen  Freeman, 
Will  Wright,  Mary  Field.  Directed  by 
Jerry  Hopper.  Screenplay,  Norman  Shan¬ 
non  Hall,  from  novel,  bv  John  Burress; 
comera  (Technicolor),  Winton  C.  •  Hoch; 
editor,  Tom  McAdoo;  music.  Jack  Mar¬ 
shall,  Previewed  Jan.  3,  *58.  Running 
time,  104  MINS. 

Biarn  Turner . . .  Brandoii  de  Wilde 

Tobias  Browni  Lee  Marvin 

Doyle  Magee  . Gary  Merrill 

Finas  Daugherty  . .  .Paul  Ford 

Anna.  Love  Price  Mary  Hosford 

Fred  .  Mueller.  .............  Ken  Curtis 

Clyde  Hamilton  . . Cal  Tinney 

Willie  Poole  _ _ .........  Frank  Cady 

Nelda  Hamilton  ......  ....  Mary  Field 

Serena  Poole  - . . .  Kathleen'.  Freeman 

Sheriff  Peavy . Will  Wright 

Rev.  Thorndyke  .............  Tom  Tlner 

Henry  Craig . . . .  BiUy  Bryant 

Jimmy  Price  . . . .  Barry  Curtis 

Red  Poole . .  Eddie  Little 

Herb  Davis  ................  Rodney  BeU 

Hattie  Neely  . Helen  Brown 

Pos  Neely  -  - - BUly  Newell 

Simpson  .... _ ..... ; - ?Roy  Jensen 

C.  V.  Whitney  comes  through 
with  an  interesting  piece  Of  Amer¬ 
icana  of  a.  half-century  ago  in  this 
nostalgic  followup  ;to  his  first  pic¬ 
ture,  “The  Searchers.”  “The  Mis¬ 
souri  Traveler”  is  an  often  heart¬ 
warming  drama  of  lifeain  a-  small 
Missouri  town  in  model-T  days, 
richly  ;  iced  with  humor  and  car¬ 
rying  a  goodnatured  quality  about 
its  unfoldment  that  communicates 
to  .  the  spectator.  Film  will  have 
particular  appeal  for  the  family 
trade. 

Based  on  the  John  Burress 
novel,  this  is  the  story  of  a  runa¬ 
way  orphan  whose  struggle  to  be¬ 
come  a  fanner  and  earn  his  own 
way  has  a  profound  effect  upon  the 
life  of  a  rural  community.  Brandon 
db  Wilde  plays  the  15-year-old  who 
becomes  ther  center  of  some  storm 
in  the  town  where  Gary  Merrill, 
the  newspaper  editor,  tabes  him 
under  his  wing,  and  Lee  Marvin, 
a  tough,  wealthy  and  hardfisted 
neighboring  farmer,  seemingly  ap¬ 
pears  to  be  taking  his  own  bitter¬ 
ness  out  on  the  lad  but  actually  is 
instilling  in  him  some  of  the  essen¬ 
tial  truths  of  life  that  he  had  to 
learn  the  hard  way  himself. 

Highlighting  the  Patrick  Ford 
production,  which  Jerry  Hopper 
deftly  directs  from  the  Norman 
Shannon  Hall  screenplay  with  an 
eye  tuned  always  on  homely  pos¬ 
sibilities,  is  the  windup  Fourth  of 
July  celebration,  including  a  par¬ 
ade  and  a  horse-trotting  race  be¬ 
tween  the  hoy  and  his  oppressor, 
with .  the  whole  town  betting  on 
young  de  Wilde.  Clincher  is  a  fight 
between  Merrill  and  Marvin,  a 
humor-ridden  battle  taking  in  the 
town’s  whole  main  street.  Use  is 
made  of  every  cornball  gag  and 
stunt  in  the  book  in  these  closing 
reels. 

Picture,  which  gets  the  benefit 
of  exceptionally  fine  Technicolor 
tensing  by  Winton  C.  Hoch,  is 
peppered  with  top  performances. 
De  Wilde  captures  the  imagination 
as  the  courageous  lad  who  tries  to 
operate  a  farm  by  himself,  Merrill 
is  understanding  in  his  relations 
with  the  hdy  and  Marvin  is  bru¬ 
tally  frank  in  his  characterization 
of  a  man  whose  word  is  .  good  only 
if  it’s  in  writing.  Paul  Ford,  former 
horse  trainer  but  now  operator  of 
the  town’s  only-  chili  parlor  and 
head  of  town’s  council,  makes  an 
indelible  impression  in  a  humor- 
ously-drawn  eharacterization;  Mary 
Hosford  as  the  town’s  leading,  citi¬ 
zen  secretly  in  love  with  Marvin 
is  okay  in  spinster  role.  Standout 
support  also  is  offered  by  Cal 
Tinney,  town’s  baker;  Ken  Curtis, 
the  blacksmith^  Frank  Cady,  school 
principal;  Will  Wright,  the  sheriff. 

Technical  credits  .are  class,  in¬ 
cluding  Jack  Okey’s  art.  direction, 
Tom  McAdoo’s  editing  and  Jack 
Marshall’s  music  score.  :  Whit. 


Haj  of  tke  Badman 

(COLOR) 

Famliiar  eater  material  for  the 
program  market. 

Universal  release  of  Gordon  Kay  pro; 
duction,.  Stars  Fred  llecMyrray,  Joan 
Weldon,  John  Ericaon*  Robert  Middle* 
ton.  Marie  Windsor)  feature#  Edga# 
Buchanan,  Eduard  Fran^  Skip  Homeier. 
Directed;  by  Harrjr  Keller.  Screenplay, 
Lawrence  Roman,  from  story  by  John  M. 
Cunningham;  camera  (Eastman  Color)! 
Irving  Glassberg;  editor,  Sherman  Toddl 
music,  Hans  J.  Salter.  Previewed  Jan.  7. 
*58.  Running  time,  81  MINS. 

Judge  Jim  Scott . . . .  Fred  MacMiirray 

Myra  Uwens  . . ..... Joan  Weldon 

Sheriff  Barney  Wiley...... John  Ericson 

Charlie  Hayes  ........  Robert  Middleton 

Cora  Johnson  , . . ..... . . . .  Marie  Windsor 

Sam  Wyckoff - . ..........  Edgar  Buchanan 

Andrew  Owens . .  .Eduard  Franz 

Howard  Hayes  Skip  Homeier 

Mrs.  Quary  Peggy  Converse 

Silas  Mordigan  . . .  Robert  Foulk 

Mrs.  Mordigan. ............  .  Ann  Doran 

Jake  Hayes  Lee  Van  Cleef 

Mr.  Slocum  Eddy  Waller 

Rudy  Hayes  Christopher  Dark 

Floyd  .. . . .: ..... . , . .... . . . .  Don  Haggerty 

Monte  Hayes  Chris  Alcaide 

A  routine  Western  for  the  most, 
part,  “Day  of  the  Badman”  stacks 
up  only  an  average  entry  for  the 
general  program  market,  with  but- 
the  size  of  the  screen  and  the  color 
tpRistinguish  it  from  footage  which 
appears  coiistantly  in  the  home. 

Lawrence  Roman  screenplay, 
based  on  a  story  by  John  M.  Cun¬ 
ningham,  is  •  pivoted .  around  Fred 
MacMurray,  judge  in  a  typical 
hoss-opera  town  who’s  shortly  to 
pass  sentence  on  a  convicted  killer 
when  into  town  ride  four  of  the 
latter’s  kin  to  see.  that  he’s  set 
.free.  Quartet  mess  up  the  town  to 
such  an  extent  that-  seemingly.; 
everyone  but  MacMurray— the 
sheriff  included— want .  only  “banr 
ishmeht”  for  the  jailed  ;man.  Mac¬ 
Murray,  however,  sticks  to  his 
guns,  announces  .a  sentence  of 
hanging,  then  returns  home  where, 
with  only  slight  aid  from  side-kick 
Edgar  Buchanan,  he  wipes  out  the 
foilr  buddies  who’d  cbme  to  rub 
him  out. 

In  MacMurray’s  capable  play¬ 
ing  the  story-line  gets  some  inter¬ 
est  and  substance  whereas  in.  less 
experienced  hands  the  Whole  thing 
would  have  bordered  on  the  ridicu¬ 
lous.  Joan  Weldon  has  the  femme 
lead  and  is  okay  as  the  lass  whors 
first  in  love  with  MacM.uriay, 
switches  over  to  John  Eriscon,  but 
reverts,  to  her  first  love  in  the  end. 
Ericson  is  fine  as  the  town  sheriff 
who  turns  cowardly  When  the  chips 
are  down,  and  there’s  good  sup¬ 
port  from,  among  others,  Robert 
Middleton,  leader  of  the  baddies: 
Marie  Windsor,  town  trollop ,  and 
g  1.  of  the  convicted  .man;  and 
Skip  Homeier,.  another  of  the  f oUr 
villains. 

.  Harry  Keller’s  direction  of  the 
Gordon  Kay  production  wisely  con¬ 
centrates  on  the  action— fights, 
heatings,  shootings  and  the  like— 
and  caii  also  be  credited  with  help¬ 
ing  to  bring  out  the  generally  good 
cast,  work.  Benefiting  film,  too,  is 
the  Eastman  Color  camera  work  of 
Irving  Glassberg,  the  art  direction 
of  Alexander  Golltzen  and  Alfred 
Sweeney,  and  Hana  J.  Salter’s 
musical  score.  Neal. 

Unter  Achtzehn 
(Under  Age) 
(AUSTRIAN) 

Vienna,  Jaii;  8. 

A  Paula .  Wessely  Film  release  of  Otto 
Dueref  production.  Stars  Paula  Wessely; 
features  Vera.  Tschecho'wa,  Paul  Loew- 
inger,  Peter  Parak,  Erik  Frey,  Louis  Sol- 
dan,  -.  Guido  Wieland, .  Margaret  Fries, 
TonL-Pusohelik.  Directed  by  Georg  Tres- 
ler.  .  Screenplay,  Emil  Burri,  Johannes  M. 
Simmel,  Georg  Tressler;  camera.  Sepp 
Biff;  music,  Carl  de  Groof.  At  Loewen 
Kino;  Vienna.  Running  time,  .90  MINS: 

Luise  Gottschalk  .  Paula  Wessely 

■Elfie  Breitner  ........  Vera  Tschechowa 

Herr  Kutzmeier  ........  Paul  Loewinger 

Stefan  Maurer  . . . . . .  Peter  Parak 

Walter  .  Messmer  . .  -  Erik  Frey 

Bauer  Larsen  . . -  Louis  Soldan 
Dr.  Janegger  ............  Guido  Wieland 

Edith  Messmer  Margarete  Fries 

Karli  Toni  Puschelik 

One  half  of  this  picture  is 
meticulous  description  of  the  ac¬ 
tivities  of  welfare  centers.  Tht 
other  half  is  old  fashioned:  Never¬ 
theless,  this  looks  beaded  for  • 
good  boxoffice  future,  probably  re¬ 
peating  as  a  crowd-pleaser  abroad 
as  well.  Puritans  will  love  it,  des¬ 
pite  several  sexy  and  Strip  tease : 
scenes. 

Paula  Wessely,  working  in  a -so¬ 
cial  center,  s  y  m  path  e  t  i  c  a  1 1  y 
punches  over  her  role.  Scripters 
are  to  blame  for  such  nonsense  as 
not  permitting  a  18-year-old  “bad  . 
girl"  with  a  million  dollar  figure 
to.  become  a  mannequin  and  order¬ 
ing  her  to  work,  in  a  laundry,  in¬ 
stead.  Vera  Tschechowa  is  a  looker 
and  Can  act.  The  “bad  boy”  Peter 
Parak  manages  a  light  touch  which 
spells  audience  interest.  Erik  Frey 
is  the  seducer  and  is  very  good. 

Director  Georg.  Tressler,  grand 
old  man  of  the  Burgtheatre,  either 
avoided  correcting  the  senpt  or 
added  the  same  blunders  himseii 
in  the  yarn...  However,  :  b<a  main¬ 
tains  a  fair  pace.  Sepp- Riff  s, 
ing  is  very  fine.  Other  technical 
credits  measure  up,  Maas. 


7 


Wednesday,  January  15, 1958 


P'fii&iErr 


FILM  REVIEWS 


The  Safecracker 

Ray  Milland  starring  against 
British  Intelligence  situations. 
Two  stories  tied  together;  okay 
average  entertainment. 


Hollywood*  Jan.  10.  . 

Metto  release  of  John  R.  Sloan  produc- 
uon.'  Stars  Ray  Milland;  costarS  Barry 
Jones;  features  Jeannette  Sterke,  Ernest 
Clark.  Melissa  Stribbling,  Victor.  Mad- 
dern,  Cyril  Raymond.  Percy  Herbert* 
Director.  Milland. .  ••  Screenplay.  -  Paul 
Monash;  based  on  story  by  Lt. -Col.  Rhys 
Davies.  Bruce  Thomas;  camera.  Gerald 
Gibbs;  .  editor.  Ernest  Walter;  music, 
Richard  Rodney  Bennett.  Previewed  Jan. 
2.  *58.  Running  time.  96  MINS. 

Colley  Dawson  ......; _  Ray  Milland 

Bemiett:  Carfleld  ...........  Barry  Jones. 

Irene  ....... ... .  Jeannette  Sterke 

Morris  . .  Victor  Maddem 

Major  Adbury  ^ Ernest  Clark: 
Inspector  Frankhara.  .'.  : . .  .Cyril  Raymond 

Angela  . :  . . .  Melissa  Stribling. 

Sergeant  Harper  J .  Percy  Herbert 

Mrs. .  Dawson  :  Barbara  Everest 

General. Prior  Anthony  NiCholls 

Herbert  Fenwri  . .  . . . . . .  David  Horiie 

Dakers  . . .v.  .  Colin.  Gordon 

Sir  George  Turvey  . . . Clive  Morton 

Inspector  Owing  . :  . . . .  .  John  Welsh 

Belgian  .Messenger  ...;.  Pamela  Stirling 
Col.  Charles  Mercer. ...... -Colin  Tapiey 

Lonsen  . . .  i . . ....... . . ... . . .  Henry  Vidon 

Thomson.  ..............  Ian  MacNaughton 

Shatter  Bernard  Fox 

Bailey  ......  V. ,  Richard  Shaw 

Lambert  .  - .........  Charles  Lloyd  Pack 

Squadron  Leader  Hawke*.  -Barry  Keegan 

McCullers  . . . . * . .  Sam  Kydd 

Greek  Ship  Owner  Ferdy  Mayne 

Fenwright’a  Secretary...*.. Jackie  Collins 


This  British  import  consists  of 
two  separate  stories,  both  follow¬ 
ing  the  experiences  of  a  master 
safecracker:  One  serves  as  a  pro- 
log  to  the  other.  Each  is  interest¬ 
ing,  but  picture  itself  suffers  from 
break  in  plotline.  Film’s  melo¬ 
dramatic  .  ingredients,  however, 
should  see;  it  through  the  program 
market,  where  Ray  Milland  as  Star 
will  give  pic  meaning. 

Milland,  appearing  in— for  him 
— a  somewhat  Offbeat  role,  not  al¬ 
ways  a  pleasant,  character,  also 
does  a  good  job  at  direction  of  the 
David  E:  Rose  production;  pro¬ 
duced  by  John  R.  Sloan.  A  lively 
tempo  is  maintained .  and  consider¬ 
able  suspense  accompanies  the  un- 
foldment,  particularly  major  plot, 
involving  British  Military  Intelli¬ 
gence  in  Warld  War  II. 

First  story,  which  runs  45  min¬ 
utes,  intro’s  Milland.  as  an  expert 
for  a  London  safe  manufacturer. 
His  flair  for  opening  safes  leads  to 
him  becoming  a  cracksman  for  a 
seemingly  respectable  antique  deal¬ 
er  who  sells  historical  items  of 
great  value  to  greedy  collectors 
who  aren't  interested  in  their  ori¬ 
gin.  Second*  and  main  story,  un¬ 
twirls  two  years  after  Milland  is 
caught  and  imprisoned,  when  Eng¬ 
land  now  is  at  War  with  Germany. 
British  MI,  learning  that  a  edm- 

{>lete  list  of  German  spies  in  Erig- 
andis  in  the  vault  of  a  Belgian 
chateau,  ^‘borrows”  safecracker 
from  prison  for.  the  purpose  of  se¬ 
cretly  opening  this  vault  so  the  list 
may  be  photographed  without  the 
Germans  being  aware  of  the.  act. 
After  being  trained  as  a  Comman¬ 
do,  Milland  is  dropped  with  a  Brit¬ 
ish  patrol  into  Belgium  for.  the  exv 
citing^  mission. 

Milland  enacts  his  unsavory 
character  with  feeling  and  in  his 
direction  draws  good  performances 
from  balance :  of  principals,  headed 
by  Barry  Jones,  as  the  antique 
dealer,  Gnly  other  member  of  cast 
known  to  audiences  here.  Cyril 
Raymond  plays  a  Scotland  Yard  in¬ 
spector  who  jails  him,  then  ar¬ 
ranges  for  his  delivery  to  MI  for 
the  dangerous  mision,  and  Ernest 
Clark  heads  ,  the  mission  as  an 
Army  major.  Jeannette  Sterke 
lends  distaff:  interest  as  daughter 
of  a  Belgian  resistance  leader, 
Script  by  Paul  Monash  is  based 
on  an  original  by  Lt.  Col.  Rhys 
Davies,  British-  Army  Intelligence 
(Ret.)  and  :  Bruce  Thomas.  Gerald 
Gibbs’  photography  is  fast,  Ernest 
Walter’s  tight  editing  helps  pace 
and  Richard  Rodney  Bennett’s  mu¬ 
sic  score  catches  the  spirit. 

Whit.  .- 


The  World  Was  His 
jury 


Courtroom  melodrama,  okay, 
for  program  spots;  names  of 
Edmond  O’Brien  find  Mona 
Freeman  to  help.' 


Hollywood,  Jan.  4. 

Columbia,  release  of  Sam  Katzman  pro¬ 
duction.  Stars  Edmond  O’Brien,  Mona 
Freeman;  features  Karin  Booth,  Robert 
McQueeney,  Paul  .Birch,  John  Berardino, 
Dick  Cutting,  Harvey  Stephens,  Carlos 
Romero,  Hortense  Petra:  Directed  by 
Fred  F..  Sears.  Screenplay,  Herbert  Ab¬ 
bott  Spiro;  camera,  Benjamin  H.  Kline; 
editor,  .  Edwin  Bryant;  -  music,  Mischa 
Bakaleinikoff.  Previewed  Dec.  26,  '57, 
Running  time,  82  -MINS. 


David.  Carson 
Robin  CarSon  . 

Polly  Barrett... 

Jerry  Barrett  .  . 

Martin  Ranker..  .... . 

Tony  Armand. . — 

D.  A.  Wendell^...,....,.---  _ 

Judge  Arthur  Farrell  . .  Harvey  Stephens 
1st  Mate  Johnson.  Carlos  Romero 

Pretty.  Girl  -  Hortense  Petra 

Jimmy.  Barrett- ... . .: Kelly  Junge:  Jr. 
Jane  Barrett.  Gay  .Goodwin. 


V. .  Edmond  O'Brien 
.  Mona ;  Freeman 
.......  Karin  Booth 

.  Robert  McQueeney 
Paul  Birch 
John  Berardino 
.  Dick  Cutting 


“.The  World  Was  His  Jury”  is  a 
fairly  well  plotted  courtroom;  mel¬ 
odrama  but  slow  unfoldment  mili¬ 
tates  ■against .  the  full  ihterestrdub- 


ject  matter  should^bave  enjoyed. 
Film,  is  okay  for  programmer  mar-- 
ket,  where  names  of  Edmond 
O’Brien  aiid  Mona  Freeman  may 
count. 

.  Sam  Katzman  production  deals 
with  the  skipper  of  a  luxury:. liner 
whose  Ship  is  burned  off  the  New 
Jersey  coast  with  loss  of  162  lives 
and  his  subsequent,  trial  for  crim¬ 
inal  negligence.  O’Brien  portrays 
his  crack  defense  attorney,  who, 
with  nothing  to  go  on  in  the  way 
of  evidence  to  help  his  client,  pro¬ 
ceeds  to  find  this  evidence  via  wit¬ 
nesses  and  thereby,  ^brings  to  jus- 
tice  the  man^ responsible  for  -the 
tragedy,  the  'skipper’s  .second  in 
command  who  was  out  to  get  his 
superior.  The  Herbert  Abbott 
Spiro  screenplay  skillfully,  builds 
this  situation  of  courtroom  denoue¬ 
ment,  despite  a  sometimes :  naive 
approach  to  courtroom  technique, 
and  good  characterizations  are  pro¬ 
vided  through  Fred  F,  Sears’  direc¬ 
tion. 

O’Brien  socks  river  his  portrayal 
of  the  attorney  who  has  never  lost 
a  case,  now  faced  with  a  possible 
guilty  verdict,  and  :Miss  Freeman 
persuasively  ,  plays  his  wife  who 
leaves  him  because  she’s  certain, 
as  is  everybody,  else,  that  he’s 
defending  a  guilty  man.  Robert 
McQueeney,  the  accused  captain, 
delivers  well  ,  in  a  restrained  per¬ 
formance,  .  Karin  Booth*  provides 
distaff  allure,  as  hi$  wife,  -  Paul 
Birch  is  properly  fugged  as  sec¬ 
ond-in-command,  John  Berardino 
scores  as  O’Brien’s  private  investi¬ 
gator  and  Harvey  Stephens,  is  doiri- 
Inant  as  the  judge. 

Katzman  has  lined  up  fi  full 
complement  of  capable  technir 
clans,  including  B  e n  j  a  min*  H, 
Kline,  camera;  Paul  Palmentola, 
art  direction;  Edwin  Bryant,  edit¬ 
ing.  Whit. 


Gait  Fever 


*  Routine  action  meller. 

Hollywood,  Jan.  3.  ; 

United.  Artiafs  release  of  Harry  Jaclc- 
aon-Sanr  Weston  production.  Co-pro¬ 
ducer,  Edward  L. .  Rlaslen.  Starr  Mark 
Stevens,  co-stars  John  Lupton,  introduces 
Jana  Davl.  Features  Aaron  Saxon,  Jerry 
Barclay.  Norman  Fredric.  Directed  by 
Stevens;  screenplay.  -  Stanley  H.  •  Silver-, 
man,  Stevens  from  story  by.  Harry  S. 
Franklin,  Julius  Evans; .  camera,  Charles 
Van  Enger;  editor,  Lee  Gilbert;  music, 
Paul  Dunlap.  Previewed  Jan.  3,  '58. 
Running  time.  S3  MINS. 

Lucas  . .. , .. . .  * ;. . ... ......  Mark  Stevens. 

Simon  . .. ... ........ .  .  . . .-. , ...  JohnLupton 

Amigo  . . ...  .Larry  -Storch 

Tanana .  . . Jana  Davi 

Trench  ..................  Aaron  Saxon 

Singer-  . .  Jerry  Barclay 

Whitman  . Norman  Frederic 

Kane  ... ..... . . .  . .  ... ......  Clegg  Hoyt 

Martha  -  Jane  Innes 

Thomas  . .  .  . .  .. .  ..  Russell  Thorsen 

Stableman-  ..............  Michael  -Himm 

Indian  Chief  .  - . *' . Iron  Eyes.  Cody 

2nd  Indian  Chief- ..........  Eddie  Little 

Jerry  ... . .... ... ..... . :  April  Delavantl 

Lee  John  Godard 

Jack  _ _ _ _ _ ....  v. ,  Vic  Smith 

Norris'  •  .......... . . . ..  Robert  .  Stevenson 

Bartender-  * .:. . .'. . . . . . . .  *■  William  •  Erwin 

Man  ...... . .'. . . . *....*..;.  David-Bond 

Fanner  . . ................ George  Selk 


A  drawn-out  vengeance  theme, 
“Gun  Fever”  shapes  as  acceptable 
program  fare,  particularly  in  action 
areas  where,  patrons  accept  fist  and 
gun  .fights  as  substitutes,  for  story. 
It’s  overlong  at  83  minutes  but  com¬ 
petently  made  ,  within  its  budget 
boundaries  and  should  get  satisfac¬ 
tory  returns  for  producers  Harry 
Jackson  and  Sam  Weston  and  co- 
producer  Edward  L.  Rissien.  Mark 
Stevens  and  John  Lupton,  both 
regulars  on  tv  .screens,  are  the 
only  familiar:  cast  names  but  little 
marquee  value  is  indicated. 

Stevens  directed  and  cd-scripted, 
in  addition  to  starring,  stretching 
himself  thin  in  the  process.  Screen¬ 
play  which  Stanley  H.  Silverman 
and  Stevens  fashioned  from  a  story 
bjr  Harry  S.  Franklin  and  Julius 
Evans  casts  Stevens  as  a  fast-gun 
miner  whose  parents  are  killed  by 
Indians  led  by  a  white  renegade 
and  Stevens  vows  vengeance.. 
Lupton  is  his  partner  and  the:  son 
of.  the  .renegade  from  whom  he 
has -long  since  parted  because  of 
the,  father’s  villainy,  After  the 
required  amount  of  Violence  and. 
some  incidental  rrirnance  with  new¬ 
comer  Jana  Davi,  the  renegade  is 
slain  and  Lupton,  though  badly, 
wounded,  apparently  will  start  life 
anew  with  Miss  Davi  while  Stevens 
rides  alone. 

Dialog  is  sometimes  incongruous 
for.  the  characters  and  locale  and. 
Stevens’  direction  is  much':  too. 
leisurely  between  fights,  some  of 
which  could  have  been,  staged.  He’s 
appropriately  tightlipped  through¬ 
out  and  Lupton  is  credible.  Miss 
Davi  has  an  interesting  face  and 
figure,  glimpsed  partially  in:  a 
bathing:  scene,  (a.  separate,  nude 
-  version  was  shot  for  foreign  audi¬ 
ences  and  may  .  engender  a  trifle 
more  interest).  Supporting  cast 
work  is  headed  by  Larry  Storch  s 
work  as  a  Mexican  gunslinger  but 
Aaron  SaXon  overacts  as  the  rene¬ 
gade  and  the  lesser  portrayals  are 
all  stock. 

(  Producers  took  full  advantage  of 
outdoor  lensing,  including  making 
use  of  weather  conditions:  Camera 
work  by  GharlesVYan  Enger  is 
okay  and  the  other  technical  cre¬ 
dits'  are  average.  Kap. 


The  Lady  Takes  a  Flyer 

(C’SeOPE— COLOR) 

Lana  Turner  and  Jeff  Chandler 
.•  teamed  in :  so-so  story.  Fair 

returns  indicated. 

Hollywood,  Jan.  10. 

Universal  . release-  of  William  Alland 
production.  Stars  Lana  Turner.  Jeff 
Chandler;  costars  Richard  Denning.  Andra 
Martin;  features  Chuck.  Connors,  Reta 
Shaw;  Alan  Hale  .  Jr.,.  Jerry  .Paris;  Di¬ 
rected  by  Jack  Arnold.  Screenplay,  Danny 
Arnold;  story,.  Edmund.  H.'.  North;  Cam-., 
era  (Bastmancolbr),  Irving  .  *  Glassberg; 
editor;  Sherman  Todd;  music,  Herman . 
Stein.  Previewed  Jan,  ’58.  Running 
time.  93  MINS, 

Maggie  Colby *  Tjn»  Turner 

Mike  Dandridge.-. . : ^  .Jeff  Chandler 

Al  ReynoldSo Richard  Denning 
Nikki  Taylor  ............  Andra  Martin 

Phil  Donaboe  . '. .  ,Chiiick  Connors 

Nurse  Kennedy  . . ..... . . . . .  Reta  Shaw 

Frank  Henshaw  . ........ .  Alan  Hale  Jr. 

Willie  Ridgely  . . . . , . . . ....  Jerry  Paris 

Collie  Minor  .. ; . .Lee  J.  Thompson 

Childreth  Nestor  Paiva 

Tower  Officer  ;. ... - ..James  Doherty 

Teaming  of  Lana-  Turner  and 
Jeff  Chandler  figure  .to  help  the 
chances  of  this  peacetime  air  yarn, 
which:  otherwise  falls  short  of  sat¬ 
isfactory  entertainment.  .  Film  is 
burdened  with  plodding  treatment 
that  militates  against  ready  accep¬ 
tance,  but  star  names-— particularly 
femme’s  firepower  after  her  per¬ 
formance  in  ‘Tbytou  Place”-— 
coupled  with  a  spicy  bathtub  se¬ 
quence  may.  be  exploited .  for  fair 
returns  in  general  market. 

.  Duo  enact  husband-and^wife 
owners  of  a  plane  ferrying  service 
which  first  takes  them  to  all  parts 
of.  the  world;  the  separates  them 
when  the  husband  takes  his  planes 
out  alone  after  the  birth  of  their 
baby.:  William  Alland  production 
is  well  mounted,  and  vivid  back¬ 
dropping  is  afforded  by  good  use 
of  color*  Dramatically,  however, 
film  seldom  gets  off  the  ground 
ana  only  ini  the  finale  when  femme 
is  trying  to  bring  in  her  near-gas¬ 
less  plane,  with  .  the  airstrip 
shrouded  by  fog,  does  action  come 
to  life.  Attempted  useage  of  com¬ 
edy  sometimes  results  in  cloying 
coyness; 

Danny  Arnold,  screenplay  opens 
with  Chandler,  a  former  Air  Force 
colonel*  meeting  his  Wartime  bud¬ 
dy,  Richard  Denning,  at  a  .Cali¬ 
fornia  airport,  where  latter  oper¬ 
ates  a  flying  school  and  Miss  Tur¬ 
ner,  former  wartime  ferry  pilot,  is 
an  :  instructor.  .  Chandler  is  ail 
steamed  up  about  Starting  a  ferry 
service  and  trio  go  into  partner¬ 
ship.  In  Japan,  on  ah  assignment^ 
Chandler .  and  distaffer  fall  in  love, 
and  marry  .,  upon  returning  to 
States.  For  a  honeymoon,  they  go 
on  a  ferrying  trip  through  Europe.: 
Back  home,  conflict  rises  between 
couple  when  she  reveals  she  ex¬ 
pects  a  baby  and  insists  upon  rent¬ 
ing  a  house,  rather  than  live  in.  an 
apartment.  Later,  after  infant  is 
born,  she  remains  at  home  while 
Chandler  takes  to  the.  clouds.  Film 
builds  to  a  climax  when  wife  takes 
one  of  the  planes  Chandler  is  to 
deliver  in  England  and  flies  the 
Atlantic.  Chandler  beating  her 
there  and  directing,  her  to  the 
ground  through  the  fog. 

Jack-  Arnold’s  direction  is  as 
smooth  as  script  will  permit,  and 
manages  to:  get  capable  perform-: 
ances  from  his  players*  Miss  Tur¬ 
ner  lends  allure  to  her  role,  Chand¬ 
ler  is  properly  rugged  and  Denning 
competently  handles  a  light  char¬ 
acterization.  Andra  Martin  is.  in 
for  romantic  conflict ,  as  a  femme 
pilot  who  goes,  on  make  for  Chand¬ 
ler,  and  Chuck,  Connors  and  Jerry 
Paris  are  pilots  and  Lee  j:  Thomp¬ 
son  scores  as  a  glib  secretary. 

;  Irving  Glassberg’s  color  photog¬ 
raphy  heads  up  good,  technical 
credits*  and.  editing  by  Sherman 
Todd,  music  by  Herman  Stein  and 
art  direction  by  Alexander  Golitz- 
en  and  Richard  H.  Riedel  also 
count.  Whit. 


Diamond  Safari 

Minor  entertainment  but 
filmed  in  Johannesburg,  South 
Africa,  for  good  backgrounds; 
Filler. 


Hollywood,  Jan.  6.  ..  . 
.  Twentieth-Fox  release  of  Gerald  Mayer 
Production,  directed  by  Mayer.  Stars 
Kevin  McCarthy;  features  Andre  Morell. 
Screenplay,  Larry  Marcus;,  camera.  David 
Millin,  Peter  Lang;  editprs.  Car!  Pier- 
sori,  .Peter  Pitt;  music,  Woolf  Phillips! 
Previewed  JaiL  2,  '58.  Running  time,  67 
MINS.  - 

Harry  Jordan  . .  Kevin  McCarthy 

Sgt.  van  der  Cliffe :  . . : .  Joel  Herholdt 

Compound  Manager  .Gert  van  den  Bergh 


Stephen  Timhu 
Police  Boy.  ! . . . ; . 
Medicine  Man  >.*;..  * . 
Williamson 

Petey  . — . 

Louise  Saunders  . . . 

Carlton . . 

Doe!  . : . . 

Phillips 

Reubens  . 

Glass  Blower’s  Wife  , .  * 


Geoffrey  Tsobe 
. . .  Harry  MekelS 
.  ,  Thomas  Buson 
... . .  Andre  Morell 
.  Joanna  Douglas 
..Betty  McDpwall 
Patrick  Simpson 
, . .  John  Clifford 
Michael  McNeile 
.....  Rpbert  Bice 
. .  Frances  Driver 


This  indie  effort,  filmed  for 
the  most  part  in  Johannesburg, 
South  Africa,  stacks  up  as  gener¬ 
ally  uninteresting  filler  fare.  The 
backgrounds  provide  some  .  value, 
(but  there’s  little  else  to  distinguish 
release. 

Picture  actually  is  the  outgrowth 
of  an  idea  by  Edward  Dukoff, 


credited  as  exec  producer,  to  dense 
a  vidpix  series  around  this  foreign 
locale.  Two  “pilots”  subsequently 
were  tied  together  with  a  week’s 
Hollywood  filming  to  make  this 
feature. 

Screenplay  by  Larry  Marcus  is 
pivoted  around  Kevin  McCarthy,  a 
private  investigator.  He  first  clears 
a  native  of  a  murder  charge,  then 
rounds  Up  a;  pair  of  diamond  smug¬ 
glers;  And  that’s  about  it. 

McCarthy,  only  “name”  in  the 
cast,  is  authorative  in  star  role, 
giving  film  one  .  of  its  biggest  as- 
sets.  Betty  McDowall*  as  one  of  the 
smugglers*  eventually  killed  along 
with  cohort  John  Clifford,  also  is. 
good,  iii  the  leading  femme  part. 
Top  featured  and  okay"  ns  one  of 
the  suspects  is  Andre  Morell, 

Direction  of  Gerald  Mayer,  who 
also  produced,  is  '  stock,  as  are 
majority  of  the  technical  contribii-. 
tions.  Foreign  filming,  incidentally; 
was  done  in  color,  but  picture  is 
being  released  in  black-and-white. 

Neal. 


Escape  From  Red  Rock 

(REGALSCOPE) 


Fast-moving  oater. 


Hollywood,  Jan.  10. 

Twentieth-Fox  release  of  Bernard  Glas- 
ser  production. .  Stars  Brian  Donlevy;  co- 
stars.  Eilene  Janssen,  Gary  Murray.  Jay 
C.  Fllppen;  features  William  Phipps. 
Michael.  Healey,  Nesdon  Booth.  Daniel 
White.  Directed  by  Edward  Bernds. 
Screenplay.  Bernds;’  camera,  Brydon 
Baker;  editor..  John  F,  Link;  music.  Le? 
Baxter.  Previewed  Jan.  8,  *58.  Running 
time.  75  MINS. 

Bronc  Grierson  ,. ........  Brian  Donlevy 

Janie  Acker  Eilene  Janssen. 

Cal  .Bowman  . . . ;  . .  . .  . . . . . .  Gary  Murray 

John.  Costaine-  ..........  Jay  C.  Fllppen 

Arky  Shanks  ....  —•-= — _ 

Joe  Skinner.  ..... 

Pete  Archer  . .  * . 


FaiTis  . . 

Guard  . . .  ... . . . 

Boyce 

Maria  Chaver  . . 

Miguel  Chavez  ........*. 

Krug 

Judd  - - .............. 

Tarrant  - ! . . ! , 

Coach  Diiver  6  Double: 


...  Michael  . 
...  -Nesdon  Booth 
.....  Daniel  White 
....  Andre  Adoree 
CourUand  Shepard 
...  Tina  Menard 
.  * ."  Natividad  Vado 

_ '..  Zon  Murray 

... ...  Rick  Vallin 

.  Ed  Hinton 

Frosty  Royse 


Mayor 
Antonia .  Chavez  ; ;  * . 
Grover  ....... ...  ..... 

Mrs.  Donnely  ........ 

Manager  ............ 

Clerk 

Krug  Henchle  .... ... . 

Double  * . . 

Double  .............. 


Eumenio  Blanco 
.  Elena  Da  Vinci 
.  Hank  Patterson 
.  .  Eileene  Stevens 
.  Frank  Marlowe 
.  .  . .  .  Joe.  Becker 
..  Dick  Crockett 
...  Roydon  Clark 
’. ...  Sailor  Vincent 


There’s  enough  rapid  action:  in 
“Escape  from  Red*  Rock”  to  keep 
audiences  occupied  in  the  oater 
market.  Story  line  is  sufficiently 
different  to  warrant  good  suspense 
and  star  name  of  Brian  Donlevy  is 
good'  for  an'  added  boost. 

Edward  Bernds’  direction  of  his 
own  screenplay  logically  builds 
story  of  a  yoilng  ranchman  forced 
to  take  to  the  trail  after  being 
falsely  accused  of  a  holdup  mur¬ 
der*  Bernard  Glasser  tosses  in  the 
typo  of  production  values  best 
suited  to  theme,  which  winds  in  an 
Apache  attack  on  a  shack  occupied 
by  rancher  and  the  girl  he  took 
with  him,  now  his  bride.  Donlevy 
apparently  was  cast  for  name  value, 
since  bis  role  is  minor,  but  he 
dominates  his  brief  footage  as.  an 
outlaw  leader  soft  about  babies. 

Gary  Murray  is  strongly  set  as 
the  young  rancher  whose  loyalty 
to  a  brother  accused  of  being  a 
bandit,  and  killer  is  so  fierce  that 
he  constantly  is  taking  on  the  whole 
town  in  fights.  Against  his  will, 
he’s  ,  pressed  into;  casing  a  holdup 
job  planned  by  Donlevy,  who  has 
brought  the  wounded  brother  back 
to  Murray*  to  whom  it’s  made  clear 
that  unless  he  throws  in  on  the  job 
his  brother-  will  be  left  to  die. 
After  the  holdup  in  which  he 
doesn’t  participate,  Murray  learns 
he’s  supposed  to  have  murdered  a 
woman  and  lights  out  with  Eilene 
Janssen;:  whose  drunken  stepfather 
constantly  is  beating  her,  arid 
they’re,  wed  iri  a  Mexican.,  hamlet. 
Taking  refuge  in  the  cabin  of  a 
settler,  they  find  Apaches  have 
killed  inari  and  his  ’  wife  but  over¬ 
looked  a  tiny  baby,  whom  the  young, 
couple  proceed  to  care  for.  A 
sheriff’s  posse  finally  saves  them 
from  another  attack. 

Donlevy  is.  his  usual  authorita¬ 
tive  self,  particularly  in  later  se¬ 
quences  When  he  and  his  gang 
descend  on  young  couple  in  their 
hideaway.  Both  Murray  and  Miss 
Janssen  are  good,  although  latter’s 
dialog  is  brief,  arid:  Jay  C.  Flippen 
registers  as  a  soft-hearted  sheriff. 
Williairi  Phipps  and  Michael  Healey 
also .  rate  as  outlaws,  and  Nesdon 
Booth  is  okay  as  the  stepfather. 

Technical  departments  are  Well 
executed,  leading  off  with  Brydon 
Baker’s  photography,  John  .  F. 
.Link’s  editing;  Les  Baxter’s  music 
score  and  Rudi  Feld’s  art  direction. 

Whit. 


Andrus/  Productions  Inc.  has 
been  authorized  to  conduct  a  film 
and  television  productions  business 
in  New  York;  with  capital  stock  Of 
200  shares,  no  par  value.  Directors 
are:  Malon  S.  Andrus  and  Valda- 
inar  Peterson;  Marguerite  L. 
Jones,  William  V.  Armstrong  was 
filing,  attorney,  at  Albany.  I 


Return  to  Warbaw 

{COLOR) 


For  minor  oater  market. 


Hollywood,  Dec.  27. 

Columbia  release  of  Wallace  MacDon¬ 
ald  production:  Stars  Phil  Carey;  features 
Catherine  McLeod,  Andrew  Duggan,  Wil¬ 
liam  Leslie.  Robert  J.  Wilke,  James  Grif¬ 
fith.  Jay  Sihrerheels,  Chris  Olsen.  Directed 
by  Ray ,  Nazarro.  Screenplay,  Les  Savage 
Jr.,  based  on  his  novel;  camera  (Techni¬ 
color),  Henry  Freulich:  editor,  Charles 
Nelson;  music,  Mischa  Bakaleinikoff.  Pre¬ 
viewed  Dec.  19,  *57.  Running  time.  66 
MINS. 

Clay  HoUister . . . Phil  Carey 

Kathleen  FaUam  ......  Catherine  McLeod. 

Murray  FaUam  . . Andrew  Duggan 

Johnny  . William  Leslie 

Red  ..  . . . Robert  J.  Wilke 

Frank  Hollister  ..*.. .  James  Griffith 

Indian  Joe  . Jay  SUverheels 

David  FaUam  . . .  Chris  Olsen 

Sheriff  . .  Francis  de  Sales 

:  Dfeputy  No.  1..;, . .  .'Harry  LaUter 

Deputy  No.  2. . . . . . . Paul  Plcernl 

Doc  Appleby  .’ . .  Joe  Forte 


.  “Return  to  Warbow”  is.  routine 
western  entertainment.  Screenplay 
has  no  highlights  and  direction 
does  nothing  to  generate  excite- 
inerit.  Good  color  pictorial  values, 
but  rid  cast  names. 

The  Les  Savage  Jr.,  script  starts 
.with  an  okay  premise  but  fails  to 
develop  its  potential.  Moveirierit 
remains  at  a  monotone.  Ray  Naz- 
arro’s  direction  is  slack  and  the 
whole  feeling  of  the  Wallace  Mac¬ 
Donald  production  is  old-fashioned 
and  lacking  in  the  snap  necessary* 
to  please  modern-day .  audiences. 
Cast  consequently  suffers  from 
lack  of  opportunity. 

Plot  follows  Phil  Carey,  who- 
escapes  from  Arizona  Territorial 
Prison  with  two  other  cons  to  re¬ 
turn  to  his  former  home  to  pick 
up  $30,000  stolen  in  a  stagecoach 
robbery  11  years  before.  Deal  calls 
for  him  to.  share  the  loot  witb  his 
two  companions,  who  in  turn  hope 
to  eradicate  him  as  soon  as  they 
lay  hands  on  the  coin.  Supposedly 
held  by  Carey’s  drunken  brother. 
It  develops  brother  has  gambled 
money  away. 

Carey  fries  hard  to  rise  above 
role  and  Catherine  McLeod  as  his 
former  girl  friend  is  as  good  as 
script  will  permit,  the  same  said 
for  William  Leslie  and  Robert  J. 
Wilke  Os  his  two  pals,  -James 
Griffith  ini  brother  role,  Andrew 
Dugpan  the  husband  of  Miss  Mc¬ 
Leod  and  Chris'  Olsen  as  her  son. 

Henry  Freulich’s  color  camera 
work  is  excellent.  Balance  of  tech¬ 
nical  credits  are  standard.  Whit. 


rharoiants  Garcons 

(Charming  Boys) 
(FRENCH;  COLOR;  SONGS; 
DANCE) 


Paris,  Jan.  8. 

Sirius  release  of  Jacques  Hoitfeld  pro- 
duclion.  Stars  Zizi  Jeanmaire,  Henri 
.Vidal,  Francois  Perler,  Daniel  Gelin; 
features  Gert  Froebe,  Jacques  Dacqmine, 
Marie  Daems.  Directed  by  Henri  De¬ 
coin.  Screenplay*  Charles  Spaak; -camera 
(Eastman-color).  Pierre  Montazel;  editor. 
Claude^Durand;  music.  Guy  Beart,  George* 
Vanm  Parys;  choreography.  Roland  Petit. 
At  Marignan,  Paris.  Running  time,  105 


Lidu  .... 


jo . . . 

Robert.  .. 
Edmond  . 
Charles  .. 
Max 

Germaine. 

Andre 


...  Zizi  Jeanmaira 

. Daniel  Gelin 

...  •  Henri  Vidal 

Francois  Rerier 

-  Gert  Froebe 

Jacques  Dacamine 

. .  Gil  Vidal 

Marie  Daems 
.  Jacques'  Berthler 


Around  Zizi  Jeanmaire  is  built 
an  attempted  .tale  of  a  young  caba¬ 
ret  singer-dancer  besieged  by  a 
flock  of  men  trying  to  win  her 
charms,  but  with  none  having  ma¬ 
trimony  in  view.  Pic  lays  out,  in 
sketchy  fashion,  her  series  of  run- 
ins  with  all  the  hoys  who  deceive 
her  but  give  her  plenty  of  atten¬ 
tion  until  she  meets  the  Mr,  Right 
for  the  traditional  ending. 

Main  flaw  in  the  film  is  .  its  tra¬ 
ditional  aspect  which  mainly  'un¬ 
folds -;a  rather  unsavory  tale,  saved 
from  time  to  time  by  shafts  of  hu-. 
;mor.  This  is  primarily  an  exploi¬ 
tation  item  for  the  U.S.  with  a  plus 
item  in  Zizi  Jeanmaire.  However, 
color  print  costs  make  this  a 
chancey  bet.  Pic  looks  to  do  well 
here. 

.Miss  Jeanmaire  has  a  limp  wrist 
manager  Who  brings  on  a  big,  lech¬ 
erous  millionaire  who  follows  her 
about  waiting  for  the  weak  spot 
when  he  can  buy  in.  He  trails  her 
around  France  when  she  discon¬ 
solately  takes  off  after  finding  her 
current  love  is  married.  Follows 
interludes,  with  a  boxer  arid  a  gen¬ 
tleman  thief  until  she  finally  finds 
the  right  fellow  after  the  million¬ 
aire  backs  the  show  she  has  want¬ 
ed  to  do. 


Miss  jeanriiaire  is  uneven  in  the 
character  with  the  lowlife  zest 
somewhat  too  mannered,  but  perks 
up  in  her  song  arid  dance  hits. 
Some  catchy  tunes  are  involved 
but  the  dances  reinain  stagebpund. 
Men  all  impart  okay  aspects  in 
their  conventional  roles  with  Gert 
Froebe  standout  as  the  conniving 
millionaire.  Technical  credits  are 
good.  It  is  a  followup,  from  a  dis¬ 
taff  point  of  view  to  “Adorable 
Creatures”  which  did  their  biz  in 
the  U.S.  twa  years  ago.*  Mosk. 


PICTURE  GROSSES 


Blockbusters  Boost  LA  Biz;  "Kiss 
Tepid  $11M ‘Sayonara  Smash  24G 
For  3d,  'Peyton  Terrific  29G,  5th 


Los  Angeles,  Jan.  14. 

Sharp  dip  is  being  taken  by  local 
first-runs  this  frame  because  of 
Jack  of  strong  openers,  and  sliding 
biz  of  some  holdovers.  However,  a 
majority  of  the  really  big  block¬ 
busters  are  holding  up  well.  "Say¬ 
onara”  in  third  session  at  Holly¬ 
wood  Paramount  is  tops  for  a  sin¬ 
gle  situation  With  a  hotsy  $24,000. 

"Peyton  Place”  still  is  great  with 
$29,000  in  fifth  frame,  three 
houses.  And  “Farewell  To  Arms” 
should  do  an  okay  $55,200  in  ninth 
round  special  roadshowing  in  eight 
houses,  including  $15,500  at  Chin- 
ese-Los  Angeles  combo. 

Among  newcomers;  "Kiss  Them 
For  Me”  is  only  tepid  $11,000  in 
first  multiple  run  showing.  “Ger- 
vaise,”  launching  the  El  Rey  on 
new  arty  policy,  is  fine  $6,000. 
"Old  Yeller”  still  is  nice  in  third 
Fox  Wilshire  round. 

Hard-ticket  pix  all  are  showing 
•up  fairly  well.  "Bridge  on  River 
Kwai”  looks  great  $21,500  in 


Estimated.  Total  Gross 
This  week  .... $574,300 
(Based  on  .  25  theatres ) 
Last  Year  ... .  . .  .$574,600 

(Based  on  23  theatres) 


Teyton’ Terrific 
$35, MO  tPhiDy 


PfijRiEft 


‘SAYONARA’ SOCK  12G, 
PORT.;  TEYTON’  $10,000 

Portland,  Ore.,  Jan.  14. 

Biz  continues  to  soar  at  first- 
runs  here  this,  round,  with  nearly 
all  spots  showing  blockbusters. 
Last  week's  total  gross  was  the 
greatest  of  any  for  many  years 
covering  like  periods.  Holdovers 
are  smash  all  around.  "Raintree 
County”  holds  for  a  third  at  the 
Broadway!  “Sayonara”  continues 
for  a  second  rousing  session  at  the 
Fox.  "Peyton  Place”  is  hotsy  at 
the  Orpheum  in  second  while 
"Don’t  Go  Near  Water”  at  Liberty 
is  nice.  "Legend  of  Lost”  shapes 
good  in  second  Paramount  week. 

Estimates  for  This ;  Week 

Broadway  (Parker)  .  (1,875;  $1- 
$1.50) — "Raintree  County”  (M-G) 
(3d  wk).  Lofty  $8,000  or  near. 
Last  week,  hefty  $15,700. 

Fine  Arts  (Foster)  (425;  90-$1.25) 
—"Lady  Chatterly’s  Lover”  -  (In¬ 
die).  Lusty  $3,000.  Last  week, 
“Last  Bridge”  (Indie),  $1,300: 

Fox  (Evergreen)  (1,536;  $1-$1.50) 
—"Sayonara”  (WB).  (2d  wk).  Sock 
$12,000.  Last  week,  $17,600. 

Guild  (Foster)  (400;  $1.25)— 

"Constant  Husband”  (Indie).  Oke 


Wednesday,  January  15,  1958 


Cincy  Stitt  Big;  Teyton  Wow  18G, 
'Sayonara  Stout  19G,  legend’  6G 


vaise,  launcmng  uie  £.1  «.ey  on  Pfiilaripiniiia  TaU  m  — 

new  arty  policy,  is  fine  $6,000.  ^ ^hlladelPhlf -  J  n;  “Constant  Husband”  (Indie).  Oke 

"Old  Yeller”  still  is  nice  in  third  While  bad  weather  in  middle  of  $2,500.  Last  week,  "Doctor  At 
Fox  Wilshire  round.  we?k  bit  ^  Houses,  weekend  Large”  (Indie)  (2d  wk),  $2,300. 

Hard-ticket  pix  all  are  showing  £ad*;  ?-^ked  UP  sharply  with  the  Liberty  (Hamrick)  (1,890;  90- 
up  fairly  well:  "Bridge  on  River  hig:  holiday  openers  garnering  the  $1.25)— "Don't  Go  Near  The  Water” 
Kwai”  looks  great  $21,500  in  Peyton  Place  is get-  (M-G)  and  "Careless  Years”  (UA) 

fourth  Egyptian,  session.  "Seven  ?lgh|f  (2d  wk).  Nifty  $7,000  or  dose. 

Wonders  of  World”  and  “Around  JL*  th,f  ■  Fox,.  ^  ,  sec?.?d.  r°?°dj  Last  week,  $13,000.  - 
World  in  80  Days”  also  continue  2s  rated  ternfic  rn  third  Orpheum  (Evergreen)  (1,600;  $1- 

stoutly  -  Randolph  stanza.  Gervaise”  con-  $1.50)— "Peyton  Place”  (20th)  (2d 

.  tinues  socko  in  third  Trans-Lux  wk)  Torrid  S 10 000  Last  week 

Estimates  for  This  Week  week.  "Don’t  Go  Near  Water”  also  $16  400  $10,000.  Last  week, 

,0  5£te’ ,  C  '  G.&  S  )  Js  amazingly  big  in  second  session  Paramount  (Port-Par)  (3,400;  90- 

g*4°4;  LiOS;  90-$1.50)  —  Zero  at  the  Arcadia..  $1.25)— “Legend  of  Lost”  (UA)  and 

Hour  (Par)  and  Submarine  Com-  Estimates  for  This  Week  "Dalton  Girls”  (UA)  (2d  wk).  Good 


mand,r  (Par)  (reissue).  Modest 


T  .  .  xt  Arcadia  (S&S)  (526;  99-$1.80)— $8,000  or  close.  Last  week,  $12,- 

EI14?ey» .  Las  Girls  (M-G)  wk).  Splashy  $12,000.  Last  week,  ^ — : — ■  — - — — 

(1st  multi-run),  plus  second  fear  $20  000  ■  -  • 

“M  Jo^JCbl)  $l“”$2.8o! -"SeS^or  'pfral  TfiVtOH  MisfafV 

street;  1st  wk,  Rite),  $21,100.  year-end  holidays.  (pfiO  AAA  A*|  ■  A 

Orpheum,  I^W  Fox,  Jjptoum  pox  (National)  (2,500;  55-$1.80)—  \/ /  ||][||  Kltf  l|  PA 

(Metropolitan -  FWC)  •  (2  £13;  965;  “Peyton  Place”  (20th)  (2d  wk).  VLijUjUUVy  I  III  iltC 

Kiss  ;Them  for  Mighty  $35,000.  Last  week. 

Me  (20th)  (1st  multi-run)  and  $47,000.  Pittsburgh,  Jan.  14. 

"Doctor  at  Large”  (U).  Tepid  $11,-  Goldman  (Goldman)  (1,250;  65-  While.  "Sayonara”  continues  its 
COO  or  near  Last  week,  Orpheum,  $1.25)— -“Tarnished  Angels”(U)  (3d  booming  business  at  Stanley  and 
Uptown  with  Hollywood,  "Enemy  wk).  Down  to  .oke  $6,500.  Last  "Don’t  Go  Near  Water”  is  holding 
Below  (20th)  and  "Plunder  Road”  week,  $12,000.  :  up  very  ,  well  in  the.  wind-up  at 

(20th),  $21,700.  .  Green  Hill  (Serena)-  (750;  75-  Penn,  “Peyton  Place”  has  arrived 

, . "oj™  4  °,w n  Paramount,  Iris  $1.25)  (closed  Sundays)  — “Novel  at  the  Harris. to  give  the  downtown 
(ABPT-FWC)  (3,300;  825;  90-$l;50)  Affair”  (Indie)  (3d  wk).  So-so  $3,-  area  another  blockbuster:  In  the 
— 4  Deep  Six”  (WB)  and  ".Taming  200.  Last  week,  $3,600.  meantime,  “And  God  Created 

(Continued  on  page  20)  Mastbaum  (SW)  (4,370;  99-$1.49)  Woman”  keeps  on  smashing  rec- 

- ; — : _ ; _ _  —"Girl  Most  Likely”  (U).  Poor  ords  at  the  Squirrel  Hill  nabe 

^  ^  a  $7,000.  Last  week,  “Deep  Six”  i  arter.  Nixon  finished  nine-month 

Konev  (1 A  AHA  (WB)  (2d  wk),  $6,000.  -  run  of.  "Around  World  in  80  Days” 

pdjuuard  railLy  $1V,UUU,  Midtown  (Goldman)  (1,000;  $2-  at  top-speed. 

Ojy  C  UA,  •  Q. _ _  $2.75)— "Raintree  County”  (M-G)  Estimates  for  This  Week - 

XU  A.U  WK..  water  oaine.  (2dwk):  Still  big  at  $12,000.  Last  Fulton  (Shea)  (1,700;  80-$1.25)— 

m  .  «  m  it  Ai/1  n  -  week,  $27,000.  "Man  in  Shadow”  (U)  and  "This  Is 


I,  Pitt  Ace 


Pittsburgh,  Jan.  14. 
While.  “Sayonara”  continues  its 


'Sayonara’  Fancy  $10,000, 


Tall  Rifi  3d  Randolph  (Goldman)  (1,250;  65-  Russia”  (U).  Will  be  lucky  to  get 
acjwu  iou  U2U,  OU  $1.25)— "Sayonara”  (WB)  (3d  wk).  okay  $5,000.  Last  week,  "The 

Kansas  City,  Jan.  14.  Terrific  $23,000.  Last  week.  Enemy  Below”  (20th)  (2d  wk-9 

Healthy  biz,  sparked  by  top  $37,000.:.  days),  $6,000  On  top  of  $11,000  first 

product  continues,  as  most  fronts  Stanley  (SW)  (2,900;  99-$1.80)— .  stanza. 

have  holdovers.  "Rodan”  is  a  “Pal  Joey”  (Col)  (10th  wk).  Still  Guild  (Green).  (500;  85-99)— 
bright  newcomer  in  four  Fox  Mid-  hig  $10,000.  Last  week,  $17,000.  "Lost  Continent”  (Lopert)  (4th 
west  houses.  "Raintree  County”  at  Stanton  (SW)  (1,483;:  99-$1.49)^  wk):  To6  much  against  it  and  in 
Roxy,  "Peyton  Place”  at  the  Tower,  "Old  Yeller”  (BV)  (3d  wk).  Okay  12  days  looks  only  $2,000.  Last 

"Sayflnara”  at  Paramount  and  $9,500.  Last  week,  $20,000.  week,  $1,900. 

"Don’t  Go  Near.  Water”  at  Midland  Trans-Lux  (T-L)  (500;  99-$1.80)  Harris  (Harris)  (2,165;  99-$1.50) 
all  are  very  big  hold  overs.  "Pey-  -»-“Gervaise”  (Cont)  (3d  wk).  Con-  —"Peyton  Place”  (20th).  Bad 
ton”  is  doing  so  well  currently  in  tinues  sock  at  $4,400..  Last  week,  weather  first  couple,  of  days  may 


third  week,  it  will  stay  a  fourth.  $6,500.  , 

Estimates  for  This  Week 

Glen  (Dickinson)  (700;  75-90)  —  $3  200  ^Lst  welk  $4  (M>0 


$6,500.  ‘  .  have  hurt.  However,  the  $22*000 

Studio  (Goldberg)  (499;  99-$1.49)  in  sight  is  terrific  here.  Indicates 
— "Razzia”  (Kass).  (3d  wk).  Good  a.  long  stay.  Last  week,  “Restless 
an-a  Coii„m  /Tn/iint  „  $3,200.  Last  week,  $4,000.  Breed”  (20th)  and  “God  Is  My 

SSf  Viking  (Sley)  (1,000;  75-$l,49)—  Partner”  (Indie),  brought  in  at  last 
K  I  nlN ?  f  Wki’  “Sad  Sack”  (Par)  (4th  wk)  and  minute  for  $2,250  in  4  days. 

S  $2’000’  hpld?*  Last  week’  “Invisible  Boy”  (M-G)  (2d  wk).  Nixon  (Rubin)  (1,500;  $1.25-$3)— 
tc?.'  TtmntrtAAa  Eair  A7JO0O.  Last  week,  $10,000.  “Around  the  World”  (UA)  (39th 

n  ^  world  (Pathe)  (500;  99-$1.49)—  wk).  Final  stanza  skyrocketed  on 

“Bolshoi  Ballet”  (Rank)  (3d  wk).  closing  notice,  shooting  up  to  aim- 
G°o^3,500.  Eaa;weet,$4,50p,  :(C.minued  on  page  20> 

usual  aubsequent-runs  with  regular 

first-run  Granada.  Last  week,  sub-  j  9  -  (blT- AA A  H‘  !■  4  1  9 

(504;  9o»^»  revton  (ireat  $lb,Uuv,  Balto;  Joey 

—  “How  To  Murder  Rich  Uncle”  *  .  ’  ■  ’ 

Hot  9G.  Both  3d,  ‘Sayonara’  Big  17G 

$ioM^SStwlektaIreIS$lfo0?(f  Baltimore,  Jan.  14.  (indjei.  Ught  $2,000.  Lart  week, 

bestin' months  ’  g  $  ,  °*  The  holiday  glow  was  still  on  “Ship  Was  Loaded”  (ndieU2d  wk)! 

Missouri  (SW-Cinerama)  (1,194;  hFe  f?r  s°me_  spots  wit the  big-  $2,300. 

$1 .25-52 )  —  “Seven  Wonders  of  gms.stiU  looking  great  and  holding  Hippodrome  (Rappaport)  (2,300; 
World”  (Cinerama)  (20th  wk).  m„  foUow-up  frames  Peyton  so-$i;25)  —  “Pal  Joey”  (Col)  (3d 
Okay  $8,500.  Last  week,  With  holi-  Place  Is  sull  -great  m  third  Gen-  wj^  Hotsy  $9,000  after  $15,000  in 
day  piay,  big  $12,000.  tury  session.  “Sayonara”  at  Stan-  second.  ?  . 

Paramount  (UP)  (1,900;  90-$1^5)  ley  also  is  big  in  third.  "Raintree  Mayfair  (Fruehtman)  (980-  50- 
— "Sayonara”'  (WB)  (2d  wk).  Fancy  County”  shapes  smash  at  Film  «i^5)!!5^airstranser“  (^)  Fair 
$10,000;  holds.  Last  week,  $15,000.  CaiJtr«  m  s.eco°d-  /  Pal  Joey  X;1S  $5  000  Last  Week  "Lecend  5 
Rockhill  (Little  Art  Theatres)  gill  strong  m  third  stanza  at  the  |f>dd,0'(U^ast(3dwaek»  S5o0^end  of 

(750-  75-90)  ;  "It  Ham>ehed  in  Hippodrome.  "Enemy  Below”  ^os ■  lUA J  $o,uuj;. 

Park"  (Indie'.  Moderate^  $ld500.  shapes  okay  at  the  New  opening  New  (Fruehtman)  (1,600;  50- 

i«*  3Sj^»r  at  Lar8e"  ‘tJ)  round.  _  $1-25)  Below  (20th). 


Teyton’  Great  $15M,  Balto;  'Joey 
Hot  9G,  Both  3d,  'Sayonara  Big  17G 

Baltimore,  Jan.  14.  |  (Indie).  Light  $2,000.  Last  week, 

The  holiday  glow  was  still  on  “Ship  Was  Loaded”  (ndieL(2d  wk), 
here  for  some,  spots  With  the  big-  $2,300.  : 


(2d  wk),  $1,200.. 

Roxy  (Durwpod)  (879;  90.-$1.25- 


Estimates  for  This  Week 


$1.25)  ^ ;  "Enemy  Below”  (20th). 
Okay  $8,000.  Last  week,  “Sad 


Century  (Fruehtman)  (3,100;  50-.  Sack”  (Par) .  (3d  wk), 


$1.50)— "Raintree  County”  (M-G)  $1.50)— “Peyton  Place”  (20th)  (3d  Playhouse  (Schwaber)  (400;  50- 
(3d  wk):  Bullish  $8,000;  holds.  Last  wk).  Great  $15,000  after.  $20,000  in  $1.25)— “Panic  in  Parlor”  (DCA) 


week,  $11,000.  second  frame.  (3d  wk).>Nice  $3;000  after  $3,800 

Tmvcr  (Fox  Midwest)  (2,100;  90-  Cinema  (Schwaber)  (460;  50-  in  second. 

$1.25: — Peyton  Place”  (20th)  (3d  $1-25)  —  "God  Created  Woman”  Stanley  (SW)  (3,200;  50-$1.50)— 
wk).  Lofty  $8,500;  stays  on.  Last  (Kings)  (9th  wk).  Good  $5,000  after  "Sayonara”  (WB)  (3d  wk).  Big 
week,  SI 0.500.  $5,300  last  week.  $17,000  after  $18,000  for  second. 

Uptown.  Fairway  (Fox  Midwest)  Film  Centre  (Rappaport)  (890;  .  Town  (SW  -  Cinerama)  ( 1 ,1 2  5 ; 
(2,043;  700;  75-90)  —  “Tarnished  50-$1.50)l  —  "Raintree  County"  $1.25-$2.25)— “Seven  Wonders  of 
Angsli”  iU)  and  "Ride  a  Violent  (M-G)  (2d  wk).  Great  $10,000  after  World”  (Cinerama)  (3d  wk).  Nice 
Mile  *  (20th)  (2d  wk).  Oke  $4,000  $20,000  opener.  $9,000,  with  special  matinee  show- 

in  5  days.  Last  week,  with  Granada  Five  West  (Schwaber)  (460;  50-  ings  for  students.  Previous  week, 
in  combo,  hearty  $14,000.  $1.25) — "Smallest  Show  On  Earth”  $18,000.  ( 


^  Estimated  Total  Gross 

This  Week  .$2,874,500 

(Based  on  22  cities  and  256 
theatres,  chiefly  ftrit  runs,  in¬ 
cluding  N.  Y  .) 

Total  Gross  Same  Week 

Last  Year  . .  $2,979,200 

I  (Based  on  24  "cities  arid  238 
theatres.) 

'Angels’ Lofty  8Gy 
Prov.;  'Girls’  12G 

Providence,  Jan.  14. 
"Sayonara’  in  its  third  sesh  at 
Majestic  and  "Les  Girls”  at  the 
State  currently  are  topping  a  gross- 
happy  town.  "Around  World”  is 
steady  in  14th  session  at  Elmwood. 
Top  newcomer  is  "Tarnished  An¬ 
gels”  rated  nice  at  Albee. 

Estimates' for  This  Week 
Albee  (RKO)  (2,200;  60-85)— 
"Tarnished  Angels”  (U)  and  "Look¬ 
ing  for  Danger’’  (AA).  Nice  $8,000. 
Last  week,  "Enemy  Below”  (20th) 
and  "Escape  from  Red  Rock” 
(20th),  $7,500. 

Elmwood  (Spyder)  (745;  $2-$2.50) 
—“Around.  World  in  80  Days”  (UA) 
(14th  wk).  Steady  $8,500.  Last 
week,  $8,800. 

Majestic  (SW)  (2,200;  '90-$1.25)^- 
“Sayonara”  (WB)  (3d  wk).  Sock 
k$12;000.  Second  was  $14,000. 

I  State  (Loew)  (3,200;  65-80)— 

“Les  Girls”  (M-G)  and  “Ride  Badk” 
(M-G)  _  (2d  wk).  Heat  $12,000  in 
nine  days.  First  was  $15,000. 

Strand  (National  Realty)  (2,200; 
60-85)— "Operation  Mad  Ball”  (Col) 
and  ’‘Escape  from  San  Quentin” 
(Col).  Oke  $7,000.  Last  week, 
“Sad  Sack”  (Par)  and  "Gun  Battle 
at  Monterey”  (Par)  (2d  wk),  $3,000. 

‘STRANGER’  GOOD  22G, 
HUB;  ‘PEYTON’  FAT  28G 

Boston,  Jait.  14. 

Big  pictures  still  are  running 
since  the  holidays  with  little  new 
product  and  with  trade  holding 
solid.  "Razzia”  did:  so  well  at  the 
Pilgrim  that  it  also  was  put  into 
Mayflower-  It’s  hotsy  in  both. 
“Tall  Stranger”  is  good  at  the  Para¬ 
mount  and  Fenway.  “Pey  tori 
Place”  in  third  at  Memorial  still 
is  terrific.  "Bridge  on  River  Kwai” 
on  hardticket  policy  at  Gary ! 
shapes,  wow  in  third.  "‘Sayonara” 
is  stout  in  third  at  the.  Metropoli¬ 
tan. 

Estimates  for  This  Week 
Astor  (B&Q)  (1,372;  $1.65-$2.75> 
—"Raintree  County”  (M-G)  (13th 
wk).  Oke  $5,000.  Last  week, 
$6,000. 

Beacon  Hill  (Sack)  (678;  90- 
$1.25)— “Old  Yeller”  (BV)  (3d  wk). 
Big  $8,500.  Last  Week,  $12,000; 

Boston  (SW-Cinerama)  (1,354; 
$1.25-$2.65)— "Search  for  Para¬ 
dise”  (Cinerama)  (8th  wkL  Slick 
$17,000.  Last  week,  $14,000. 

Copley  (Indie)  (961;  90-$1.25)— 
"Grand  Maneuver”  (Indie).  Good 
$6,500;  Last  week,  "Only  French 
Can”  (Indie)  (2d  wk),  $3,500. 

Exeter  (Indie)  (1,200;  60-$1.25)— 
"Admirable  Crichton”  (Col)  (5th 
wk).  Fourth  week  was  fine  $7,000. 
Last  week,  $9,500. 

Fenway  (NET)  (1,878;  60-$1.10) 
—‘‘Tall  Stranger”  I A  A)  and  "Af¬ 
fair  in  Havana”  (AA).  Oke  $16,- 
000.  Last  week,  "Enemy  Below” 
(20th)  arid  "Plunder  Road”  (20th) 
(10  days),  $7,000. 

Gary'  (Sack)  (1-840;  $1.50-$2.75) 
— -‘‘Bridge  on  River  Kwai”  (Col) 
(3d  wk).  .  Smash  $25,000.  Last 
week,  $24,000. 

Kerimoire  (Indie)  (700;  85-$1.25) 
—“Across  Bridge*  (Rank)  (3d  wk). 
Neat  $6,000.  Last  week,  $7,000. 

Paramount  (NET)  (1,700;  60-$  1) 
—‘‘Tall  Stranger”  (AA)  and  “Af¬ 
fair  in  Havana”  (AA).  Hot  $16,000. 
Last  week,  "Enemy  Below”  (20th) 
and  “Plunder  Road”  (20th)  (10 
days),  $19,000. 

Saxon  (Sack)  (1,100;  $1.50-$3.30) 
—"Around  World”  (AA)  (40th.  wk). 
Happy  $17,500:  Last  week,  $17,- 
000. 

Pilgrim  (ATC)  (1,700;  fi0-$l)— 
“Razzia”  (For)  and  "Triple  Decep¬ 
tion”  (Rank)  (2d  wk).  Smash  $14,- 
000.  Last  week,  $10,000. 

Mayflower  (ATC)  (689;  60-$l)— 
‘‘Razzia*  (For)  and  "Triple  Decep¬ 
tion”  (Rank).  Hotsy  $6,200. 

Memorial  (RKO)  (3,000;  75-$1.25) 
—"Peyton  Place”'  (20th)  (3d  wk). 

(Continued  on  page  20) 


.  Cincinnati,  Jan,  14. 
Tall  gropes  Continue  to  brighten 
Cincy’s  film  front  this  week  after 
the  five-figure  feaist  last  stanza, 
rocketed.  In  by  JSew  Year’s  Eve. 
"Sayonara”  at  the  flagship  Albee 
is  tbps  in  second  stanza,  but 
"Peyton  Place”  is  iriuch  stronger 
in  third  round  at  the  smaller 
Palace.  "Raintree  County”  shapes 
terrific  In  third  week  at  the  Grand. 
“Legend  of  Lost”,  is  in  nice  stride 
in  second  week  at  Keith’s.  Hard 
ticket  "Search -For  Paradise”  and 
"Around  World  in  80  Days”  main¬ 
tain  their  fast  tempos. 

Estimates  for  This  Week 

Albee  (RKO)  (3,100;  90-$1.50)— 
“Sayonara”  (WB)  (2d  wk),  Boff 
$19,000  after  ^28,000  takeoff. 
Holds. 

Capitol  (SW-Cinerarha)  (1,376; 
$1.20-$2.65)  —  "Search  for  Para¬ 
dise”  (Cinerama)  (6th  week).  Hefty 
$13,500.  Adhering  to  10-a-week 
showings.  Last  week,  $15,500. 

Grand  (RKO)  (1,400;  90-$1.50)— 
"Raintree  County”  (M-G) -(3d  wk). 
Great  .,$16,000  following  $16,500  in 
second  stanza..  Stays  indef. 

GnUd  (Vance)  (500;  50^90)— "All 
At-Sea”  (M-G)  (3d  wk).  Good 
$2,000.  Last  week,  $2,500.  Holds 
a  fourth. 

.  Keith’s  (Shot)  (1,500;  75^$1. 25 W 
"Legend  of  Lost”  (UA)  (2d  wk).. 
Nice  $6,000.  Last  week,  $10,000. 

Palace  (RKO>  (2,600;  90-$1.50)— 
"Peyton  Place”  (20th)  (3d  wk).. 
Mighty  $18,000  on  heels  of  $20,000 
preem.  Holds. 

Valley  (Wiethe) ;  (1,300;'  1.50- 
$2.50)  —  "Around  World  in  80 
Days”  (UA)  (31st  wk).  Solid  $8,000, 
same  as  last  week. 

‘Sayonara’  Boff  $16,000, 
Mpls.;  Teyton’  Terrific 
12G, ‘Water’  10G  in  3d 

Minneapolis,  Jan.  14. 

Setting  a  local  record  for  scar¬ 
city  of  newcomers,  current  week 
finds  only  one  downtown  fresh  ar¬ 
rival,  "Slaughter  on  Tenth  Ave¬ 
nue.”  The  holdovers’  almost  com¬ 
plete  dominance  attests,  perhaps, 
to  the  Loop  cinemas’  prosperity 
since  the  new  year’s  start:  These 
takings  have  been  breaking  all- 
time  records,  thanks  to  the  most 
powerful  array  of  product  in  years 
and  advanced  admissions  at  six  of 
the  nine  houses. 

It’s  the  third  week  for  "Raintree 
County.”  Third  weeks  are  being 
chalked  up:  by  “Peyton  Place”  and 
"Don’t  Go  Near  the  Water.”  Ylt’s 
a  fourth  for  "Legend  of  Lost”  and 
second  stanzas  for  b.o..  champions 
"Sayonara”  and  "God  Created 
Woman:”  The  amount  ot  money 
spent  at  Loop  film  houses  since 
1958’s  arrival,  is  considered  "fan¬ 
tastic”  by  exhibitor  leaders. 
Estimates  for  This  Week 

Academy  (Mann)  (947?  $1.50- 
$2.65)— “Around  World”. (UA).  (27th 
wk).  Continues  at  great  $9,000. 
Last  week,  $10,000. 

Century  (SW-Cinerama)  (1,150; 
$1.75-$2.65)^"Seven  Wonders  of 
World”  (Cinerama)  (75th  wk). 
Second  year  not  too  far  away,  but 
these  are  final  weeks  because 
"Search  for  Paradise”  opens  March 
4.  Remarkable  $8,000.  Last  week, 
$7,500. 

Gopher  (Berger)  (1,000;  85-90)-- 
"Don’t  Go  Near  Water”  (M-G)  (3d 
wk).  Favorable  word-of-mouth 
helping  this  one.  Great  $10,000. 
Last  week,  $11,500. 

Lyric  (Par)  (1,000;  $1.25-$2.25)— 
"Raintree-  County”  (M-G)  (3d  wk). 
Has  done  very  satisfactorily  as- .a 
reserved-seat  pic.  Trim  $7,000. 
Last  week,  $9,000. 
v  Radio  City  (Par)  (4,100;  $1.25- 
$1.50)— ^"Sayonara”  (WB)  (2d  wk). 
Nothing  but  raves  for  this.  Ter¬ 
rific  $16,0001  Last-  week,  $26,500. 

RKO  Orpheum  (RKO)  (2,800;  75; 
90)— "Slaughter,  on  10th  Avenue 
(U).  Well  regarded  picture  but 
only  slow  $5,500  looms.  Last  week, 
“Tarnished  Angels!’  (U),  $8,000. 

RKO  Pan  (RKO)  (1,800;  75-90)“ 
"Legend  of  Lost”  (UA)  (4th  wkh 
Has  demonstrated  considerable 
b.o.  strength  arid  rounds  out  a 
highly  proftable  downtown  -run. 
Good  $5,000.  Last  week,  $6,00Q. 

State  (Par)  (2.30Q;  $1.25-$1.50)— 
“Peyton  Place”  (20th)  (3d  wk).  Pa¬ 
trons  go  for  this  one.  Great  $12,- 
000.  Last  week,  $14,000. 

Suburban  World  (Mann)  .(800;  85) 
—"08/15”  (Indie).  Bangup  $2,500. 
Last  week,  "Raising  a  Riot  (In¬ 
die),  $1,200. 

World  (Mann)  (400;  85-$125^ 
"God  Created  Woman”  (Kings)  .(2d 
wk).  Sensational  at  $8,000.  Last 
week,  $9,100. 


Wednesday,  January 15, 1958 


PS&U&ff' 


PICTURE  CROSSES 


DET.  HOLDING  BOFFO  AT  B.O. 


Chi  Stl  Big  Despite  H.O.  Surplus; 
'Shadow’  Stout  13^G,  'Enemy  Fast 
186,  'Sayonara’  Hep  59G,  Teller  216 


Chicago;  Jan.  14.  4 
Action  houses  offer  the  bulk  of 
new  product  in  the  Loop,  currently 
and  with  mild  weekend  weather 
new  fare  should  soften  the  natural 
post-holiday  decline. 

Among  the  first  framers,  Gar¬ 
rick’s  “Motorcycle  Gang”-“Soror- 
ity  Girl”  comlbo  figures  a  fancy 
$16,000  while  “Girl  in  Black  Silk, 
Stockings”  and  “Hell  Bound”  looks 
mild  $4,800  at  the'Monroe.  “Man 
in  Shadow”  and  “Hard  Man”  at 
Roosevelt  looks  like  good  $13,500 
or  near:  _  . 

The  major  holdovers,  while  dip¬ 
ping*  still  show  strength,  notably 
“Sayonara”  in  third  stanza  at  the 
Chicago;  “Don’t  Go  Near  Water” 
in  same  frame  at  the  United  Art¬ 
ists;  and  “Enemy  Below”  in  second 
sesH  at  Oriental. 

“Monolith  Monsters”  and  “Love 
Slaves  of  Amazons”  loom  as  a  tidy 
tandem  in  second  week  at  the 
Grand.  “Legend  of  Lost”  is  taper¬ 
ing  to  an  okay  second  session  at 
the  Woods. 

“And  God  Created  Woman"  at 
the  Loop  in  third  round  is  rated 
shapely.  Back-to-school  movement 
is  sapping  much'  of  “Old  Yeller’s” 
vitality  at  State-Lake,  also  in  third. 
Esquire’s  fouith  week  of  “Wild  is 
Wind’’  looms  tall. 

As  for  roadshows,  “Around 
World  in  80  Days”  at  Todd’s  Cine- 
stage,  and  .  “Seven  Wonders  of 
World”  at  Palace  continue  lively. 
But  ‘‘Raintree  County"  at  McVick- 
ers,  closing  Jan..  28,  still  is  listless. 
Estimates  for  This  Week 
Carnegie  (Telem’t)  (485;  $1.25)— 
“Sins  of  ’Casanova”  (Times)  (2d 
-  wk>.  Fair  $2,600.  Last  week,  $3,000. 

Chicago  (B&K)  (3.900;  90-$l,8Q) 
— “Sayonara”  (WB)  (3d  wk).  Smash 
$59,000.  Last  week,  $67,000.  . .  ,  ■ 
Esquire  (H&E  Balaban)  (1,350; 
$1.25-$1.50)— “Wild  Is  Wind”  (Par) 
(4th  wk).  Sturdy  $8,000.  Last  week, 
$10,000. 

Garrick  (B&K)  (850;  90-$1.25)— 
“Motorcycle  Gang’MAI),  “Sorority 
Girl”  (AI).  Fat  $16,000.  Last  week, 
“Eighteen  and  Anxious”  (ABrPT), 
*>$5,600  in  5  days. 

Grand  (Nomikbs)  (1.200;  90- 

$1.25)— “Monolith  Monsters”  (U) 
(Continued  oh  page  20) 

‘Peyton’  Wham  $20,000, 
Clevel;  ‘Sayonara’  Boff 
19G,  ‘Water’  Hotsy  9G 

Cleveland,  Jan.  14. 
Key  houses  are  flourishing  here 
this  stanza,  with  huskv  long-run¬ 
ners  topped  by  a  terrific  take  be¬ 
ing  racked  Up  by  “Peyton:  Place,” 
in  third  session  at  the  Hipp. 
“legend  of  Lost”  is  rated  okay  in 
second  State  round  while  “Don’t 
Go  Near  Water”  is  good  in  third 
Stillman  week.  “Sayonara”.  is  run¬ 
ning  close  to  “Peyton”  for  total 
coin  with  a  big  total  at  the  Ahe*V 
in  third  frame. 

Estimates  for  This  Week 
Allen  (S-W)  (3,800;  90-$1.50)— 
“Sayonara’  (WB)  (3d  wk).  Big 
$19,000.  Last  week,  $23,500, 
Embassy  (Community)  (1,200:  70- 
30)— “Hard  Man”  (Col)  and  “Tia- 
Juana  Story”  ;(Col),  Good  $6.500. 
Last  week,  “Enemy  Below”  (20th), 
$4,800.  .  . 

Heights  Art  (Art  Theater  Guild) 
(925;  $1.25)— “Sins  of  Casanova” 
(Indie).  Wow  $9,000.  Last  week, 
“God  Created  Woman”  (Kings) 
(3d  wk),  ditto. 

Hipp  (Telem’t)  (3.700;  $1.25- 

$1.50)— “Peyton  Place”  (20th)  (3d  | 
wk).  Wham  $20,000  after  $25,000. 

Lower  Mall  (Community)  (500;  | 
60-90)— “Bride  is  Much  Too  Beau- 1 
tiful”  (Indie).  Good  $4,000.  Last  j 
week,  “Escapade  in  Japan”  (U)  and  i 
“This  is  Russia’  (U),  $2,800,  ! 

Ohio  (Loew)  (1,244;  $1.25-$2.50) 
— “Around  the  World”  (UA)  (31st  i 
wk).  Nice  $9,000.  Last  week, 
$8,000.  I 

Palace  (SW-Cinerama)  (lv523; 
$1.25-$2.40)— “Cinerama  Holiday” 
(28th  wk).  Smart  $16,000  after 
$18,400  last  week. 

.  State  (Loew)  (3,500;  70-90)— 
“Legend  of  Lost”  (UA)  (2d  wk). 
Okay  $10,000.  Last  week,  $19,000. 

Stillman  (Loew)  (2,700;  90-$l. 20) 
— “Don’t  Go  Near  Water”  (M-G) 
(3d  wk).  Good  $9,000  .after  $10,- 
OQO  in  second*  ?  1;  f  r  V  ■>.  I 


‘SAYONARA’  SOCK  12G, 
OMAHA; ‘WATER’ $5,000 

Omaha,  Jan.  14. 

Holdovers  are  Creating  the  big 
noise  at  downtown  first-runs  this 
session.  “Sayonara”  at  the  Orphe- 
uni  and  .“Don’t  Go  Near  Water”  ,  at 
the  State  are  both  sturdy  in  second 
stanzas.  “Girl  Most  Likely”  is  just 
fair  at  the  Brandeis. 

Estimates  for  This  Week 

Brandeis  (RKO)  (1,100;  75-90)— 
“Girl  Most  Likely”  *  (U)  and  “Vio- 
laters”  (U).  Fair  $3,000.  Last  week, 
“Enemy  Below.”  (20th)  and  “Wontr 
ah  in  Dressing  Gown”  (WB), 
$4,500. 

Omaha  (Tristates)  (2,066;  75-90) 
—“Man  in  Shadow”  (U)  and 
“Naked  in  Sun”  (AA).  Weak  $3,000. 
Last  week,  “Sad  Sack”  (Par)  (2d 
wk-9  days),  $12,000. 

Orphenm  (Tristates)  (2,980;  90- 
$1.25)— “Sayonara”  (WB)  (2d  wk). 
Sock  $12,000,  and  may  go  a  third 
week.  I*ast  week,  $18,000. 

State  (Goldberg)  (850;  75-90)— 
“Don’t  Go  Near  Water”  (M-G)  (2d 
wk).  Big  $5,000  after  $6,000  debut. 


Frisco;  'Anns’  14G 

San  FrancisCo,  Jan.  14. 

First-hm  trade  is  off  here  some 
from  terrific  last  week  but  still 
very  solid  at  most  locations. 
“Sayonara”  an  d  “Fareweli  To 
Arms”  continue  great, ;  former 
being  in  third  round  at  Paramount 
where  it  has  an  amazing  figure. 
“Tarnished  Angels”  looms  lively 
in  second.  Golden  Gate:  stanza  while 
“Sad  Sack”  still  is  sturdy  in  fourth 
St  Francis  frame;  “Raintree  Coun¬ 
ty”  is  rated  okay  but  longruns  are 
slipping.  “Gervaise?’  and  “And  God 
Created  Woman”  are  proving  big-, 
gest  blockbusters  in  many  months 
at  arty  houses. 

Estimates  for  This  Week 

Golden  Gate  (RKO)  (2,859;  90- 
$1.25)  —  “Tarnished  Angels’?  (U) 
and  “Black  Tent”  (Rank)  (2d  wk). 
Lively  $9,000.  Last  week,  $18,000. 

Fox  (FWC)  (4,651;  $L25-$1. 50)— 
“Farewell  To  Arms”  (20th)  (2d 
wk).  .  Fine  $14,000.  Last  week, 
$30,500. 

Warfield  (Loew)  (2,656;  90-$1.25) 
—“Don’t  Gu  Near  Water”  (M-G) 
(4th  wk).  Good  $10900.  Last  week, 
$14,000.  , 

Paramount  (Par)  (2,646;  90-$l. 25) 
—“Sayonara”  (WB)  (3d  wk).  Great 
$19,000.  Last  week,  $28,000. 

St.  Francis  (Par)  (1,400;  90-$l. 25) 
—  “Sad  Sack”  (Par)  and  “Hard 
Man”  (Col)  (4th  Wk).  Nice  $8,000. 
Last  week,  $12,000. 

Orpheum  (SW-Cinerama)  (1,458; 
$1.75-$2.65)  —  “Seven  Wonders  of 
World”  (Cinerama)  (60th.  wk).  Fair 
$10,500.  Last  week,  $16,900. 

United  Artists  (No.  Coast)  (1,207; 
90-$1.25)—“Legend  of  Lost”  (UA) 
and  “Dalton  Girls"  (UA)  (4th  wk). 
Okay  $6,500.  Last  week,  $7,800. 

Stagedoor  (A-R)  (440;  $1.50- 

$2.00)— “Raintree  County”  (M-G). 
(3d  wk).  Oke  $7,000.  Last  week, 
$10,000. 

.  Larkin  -  (Rosener)  (400;  $1.50)  — 
“God  Created  Woman”  (Indie)  (3d 
wk).  .  Socko  $8,000.  .  Last  week, 
$9,500. 

Clay  (Rosener)  (400;  $1.50)  — , 
•“God  Created  Woman”  (Indie) 
(3d  wk).  Great  $7,000.  Last  week, 
$8,700. 

Yogue  (S.F.  Theatres)  (364; 
$1,25)— “Father  Panchali”  (Indie) 
(3d  wk).  Okay  $2,000.  Last  week, 
$1900. 

Bridge  (Schwarz)  (396;-  $1.25)  — 
“Razzia’.’  (Kass)  (2d  wk).  Big  $3,500. 
Last  week,  $5,000. 

Coronet  (United  California) 
(1.250;  $1.50 -$3.75)  —  “Around 

World  In  80  Days”  (UA)  (55th  wk). 
Good  $14,000.  Last  week,  $22,000. 

Rio  (Schwarz)  (397;  $1.10)  — 
“8x  8”  (Indie)  (2d  wk).  Fair  $1,500. 
Last  week,  $2,500. 

Presidio  (Hardy-Parsons)  :  (774; 
$I.25-$1.50)  —  “Gervaise”  (Cont) 
(2d  wk).  Great;  $6,000.  Last  week, 
$8,000,:^“  - 


Detroit,  Jan?  14. 

.  Downtown  theatres  continue  ,  to 
do:  smash  biz  this  Week  even  though, 
off  from  last  round  with  its  holi¬ 
days.  “Peyton  Place”  looks  great, 
in  second  visit  at  the.  Fox. 
“Sayonara,”  also  in  second  week  at 
the  Michigan  shapes  boffo.  New¬ 
comer  “Deep  Six”  is  hotsy  at  the 
Palms  while  “Girl  Most.  Likely,” 
also  new,  is  good  at  the  Madison: 

“Don’t  Gb  Near  Water”  looms 
lively  in  third  round  at  the  Adams. 
“I  Was  A  Teenage  Frankenstein” 
stays  strong  at  the.  Broadway- 
Capitol  in  second  session.  “Seven 
Wonders  of  World”,  still  stays  tor¬ 
rid  in  76th  stanza  at  Music  Hall. 

Estimates  for  This  Week 
Fox  (Fox-Detroit)  (5,000;  $1.25- 
$1*50)— “Peytoh  Place’’  (20th)  (2d 
wk).  Great'  $27,000  or  over.  Last 
week,  $58,000. 

.  Michigan  (United  Detroit)  (4,000; 
90-$l. 50)— “Sayonara”  (WB)  (2d 
wk).  Wow  $25,000.  Last  week, 
$35,000. 

Palms  (UD)  (2,961;  90-$1.25)— 
“Deep  Six”  (WB)  and  “Gunfire  at 
Indian  Gap"  (Rep).  Torrid  $18,- 
000.  Last  week,  “Graf  Spee” 
(Rank)  and  “Street  Sinners”  (UA), 
$20,000. 

Madison  (UD)  (1,900;  90-$1.25) — 
“Girl  Most  Likely”  (U)  and  “Es¬ 
capade  in  Japan”  (U).  Good  $12,- 
000.  Last  week,  “Pal  Joey”  (Col), 
$10,000  in  ninth  week; 

Broadway-Capitol  (UD)  (3,500; 
90-$l  .25)— “Teenage  Frankenstein” 
(Indie)  and  “Blood  of  Dracula”  (In¬ 
die)  (2d  wk).  Strong  $16,000; 
Last  week,  $27,000. 

United  Artists  (UA)  (1,667; 
$1.25-$3) — “Around  World  in  80 
Days”  (U)  (55th  wk).  Good  $12,- 
000:  Last  week,  $16,000.  r 
Adams  (Balaban)  (1,700;  $1-25- 
$1.50)— “Don’t  Gb  Near  Water” 
(M-G)  (3d  wk).  Hep  $13,000.  La'st 
week,  $17,200. 

Music  Hall  (SW-Cinerama) 
(1,205;  $1.50-$2.65)— “Seven  Won¬ 
ders”  (Cinerama)  (76th  wk).  Stay-, 
ing  near  hotsy  $13,000:  Last  week, 
$12,700, 

Trans-Lux  Krim  (T-L)  (1,000; 

$i:25)— “All  At  Sea”  (M-G)  (3d  wk). 
Big  $3,400.  Last  week,  $4,500. 

Teyton’  Hnge  20G, 
Buff.:  ‘YeUer’  18G 

Buffalo,  Jan.  14. 

Although  the  city  is  nearly  100% 
holdover  or  extended-run,  biz  is 
holding  amaiingly  big  currently,  j 
Lone  newcomer  is  “Kiss  Them  For  | 
Me,”  rated  spry  at  Paramount. 
“Don’t  Go  Near.  Water”  is  holding 
unusually  stoutly  in  second  session 
at  the  Buffalo  while  “Peyton  Place” 
shapes  terrific  in  third  Century, 
round.  “Old  Yeller”  looms  great 
in  second  week  at  Lafayette  as 
does  “Sayonara”  at  the  Center,  also 
on  second  stanza: 

Estimates:  for  This  Week 
Buffalo  (Loew)  (3,500;  70-90)—* 
“Don’t  Go  Near  Water”;  (M-G)  (2d 
wk).  Stout  $15,000.  Last  week, 
$25,000. 

Paramount  (AB-PT)  (3,000;  70- 
90)— “Kiss  Them  For  Me”  (20th) 
and  “Badlaiids  of  Montana”  (Indie). 
Spry  $11,000.  Last  week,  “Sad 
Sack”  (Par)  and  “Hell  Canyon  Out¬ 
laws”  (Indie).  (3d  wk),  $9,500. 

Center  (AB-PT)  (2,000;  70-90)— 
“Sayonara”  (WB)  (2d  wk);  Smash 
$11,000.  Last:  week-  $15,000. 

Lafayette  (Basil)  (3,000;  70-90)— 
“Old  Yeller"  (BY)  (2d  wk):  Great 
$18,000.  Last  week,  $23,000; 

Century  (tJA-TC)  (2,900;  70-90)— 
“Peyton  Place”  (20th)  (3d  wk).  Ter¬ 
rific  $20,000.  Last  week,  $25,000. 

Teck  (SW.  Cinerama)  (1,200; 
$1.20-$2.40)— “Search  for  Paradise” 
(Cinerama)  (14th  wk).  Good  $5)500. 
Last  week,  $6,000, 

Estimates  Are  Net 

Film  gross  estimates  as  re¬ 
ported  herewith  from  the  vari¬ 
ous  key  cities,  are  net;  i.e* 
without  usual  tax.  Distrib¬ 
utors  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  S.  amusement 
. .  J**- ... 


f  B’way  Post-Holiday  Perks,  ‘Angels’  ✓ 
Bright  $32, W,  'Sayonara’  Sock  146G> 
t.  ith,  ‘Peyton’  80G,  5th,  ‘Kwai’  34G,  4th 


Milder  weather  after  the  heavy 
midweek  snowstorm  proved  a 
booster;  for  Broadway  deluxers  in 
the  current  session  because  it  in¬ 
duced  -suburbanites  to  come  into 
the;  city  again  after  the  snow  and 
severe  Cold.  Usual  post-holiday  dip 
was  hot  nearly  as  severe  as  usual 
this  week,  with  the  trade  holding 
surprisingly  big  in  many  locations. 

Lone  newcomer  is  “Tarnished 
Angels,”  which  wound  up  its  first 
stahza  with  a  bright  $3,000  at  the 
Paramount.  -Showing  was  rated 
very  good  in  view  of  the  tremen¬ 
dous  trade  done  by  the  RoCk-’n’- 
Roll  stageshow  with  “It’s  Great  To 
Be  Young.”  This  combo  hit  a  new 
house  record  opening  week  and 
was  a  sock  $105,000  in  five  days  of 
second  round. 

..Still  champion  is  “Sayonara” 
with  annual  Christmas  stageshow, 
with  a  big  $140,000  in  prospect  for 
current  (sixth)  session  at  the  Music 
Hall. .  It  goes  a  seventh,  and  maybe 
longer.  “Peyton  Place”  with  .  Yule- 
tide  stageshow,  too,  held  stoutly, 
with  $80,000  likely  this  (5th)  week 
at  the  Roxy; 

Still  capacity  and  new  hard- 
ticket  winner  is  “Bridge  on  River 
Kwai”  at  the  PalaCe.  It  was  abso¬ 
lute  capacity  at  $34,000  in  fourth 
week,  ended  last  night  (Tues.)  after 
capacity  $45,400  in  third  round 
which  included  four  more  shows 
than  the  10  performances  of  the 
fourth  week. 

.  “Paths  of  Glory”  held  with,  sock-; 
eroo  $18,000  or  close  in  third  frame 
at  the  Victoria.  Pic.  had  hit  $3i,5Q0 
in  second  round.  “Enemy  Below” 
was  smooth  $14,000  in  third  May- 
fair  stanza; 

-  “Raintree  County”  continued 
smash  at  State  and  Plaza.  It  looks 
amazing  $24,000  in  present  (4th) 
session  at  the  former  and  big  $9,- 
100.  at  Plada  for  same.  week.  “Wild 
Is  Wind”  looks  solid  $18,000  in  fifth 
week  at  the  Astor. 

“Bonjour  Tristesse”  opens  today 
(Wed.)  at  the  Capitol  after- three 
weeks  'plus'-  four  days  of  “Legend 
of  Lost;”  which  was  not  as  big 
here  as  in  other  parts  Of  country. 

Top  arty  theatre  performer  cur¬ 
rently  is  “Gervaise”  with  a  terrific 
$10,200  inhinth  roound.at  the.  430- 
seat  Baronet.  Boosted  '  by  N.  Y. 
Film  Critic  award,  it  hit  a  new 
.  house  record,  of  $15*500  in  eighth 
week.  This  edged  opening  week 
(new  high)  mark  by  $102.  “Golden 
Age  of  Comedy”  also  proved  as¬ 
tonishingly  big  day-dating  the  Em¬ 
bassy  and  Guild  Theatres,  now  be¬ 
ing  in  fourth  weeks  at  both  houses. 

Estimates  for  This  Week 

Astor  (City  Inv.)  (1,300;  75-$2)— 
“Wild  Is  Wind”  (Par)  (5th  wk). 
This  session  winding  today  (Wed.) 
looks  to  hit  solid  $18,000  or  near. 
Fourth  was  $22,300  after  great 
$34,500  in  Xmas-New  Year’s  week. 

Little  Carnekie  (L.  Carnegie) 
(550;  $1.25-$1.80) — “The  Adulter¬ 
ess”  (Times).  Opened  Monday  (13). 
In  ahead,  “Escapade  in  Japan”  (U) 
(3d  wk).  fell  to  $2,900  in  this  ses¬ 
sion  ended  Sunday  (12).  Second 
was  $5,300. 

Barbnet.  (Reade)  (430;  $1.25- 

$1.70)  —  "Gervaise”  (Cont)  (10th 
wk).  Ninth  round  concluded  Sun¬ 
day  (12)  was  terrific  910,200. 
Eighth  :  week  was  mightv  $15,500. 
beihg  helped  by  N.  Y.  Film  Critics’ 
award.  Eighth  round  was  new 
house  record  topping  first  week 
here  by  $102.  Opens  day-date  at 
Fifth  Avenue  Cinema  today  (Wed.) 

Capitol  (Loew)  <4.820:  $l-$2.50) 
—“Bonjour  Tristesse”  (Col).  Opens 
today  (Wed:>.  Last  week.  “Legend 
of  Lost”  (UA)  (4th  wk-4  days),  mild 
$9,000.  Third,  full  week  was  fair 
$20,000  after  solid  $38,000  for 
second. 

Embus  j  (Guild)  (582:  75-90)— 
“Golden  Age  of  Comedy”  (DCA) 
(4th  wk).  Third  round  ended  Mon¬ 
day  (13)  was  smash  $12,000;  after 
$14,000  in  second.  This  run  is  phe¬ 
nomenal  for  this  house  which  usu¬ 
ally  holds  a  pic  less  .than  a  week. 

Criierion  (Moss)  Ml, 671;  $1.80- 
$3.30)— “10  Commandments”  (Par) 
(62d  wk)i  This  round  is  heading 
for  fine  $25,700  in  15  perform¬ 
ances.  The  61st  week  was  $35,700 
for  15  shows.  The  60th  week,  tak¬ 
ing.  in  New  Year’s,  ,  was  capacity 
$49,200. 

Fine  Arts  (Davis)  (468;  90-$1.80) 
—  “Gates  of  Paris”  (Lopert). 
Opened  yesterday  (Tues.).  In 
ahead,  “Admirable  Crichton”  -(Col) 


(4th  wk-8  days),  okay  $6;000  after 
$8,500  in  third  stanza.  . 

55tH  St.  Playhouse  (Moss)  (300: 
$1.25-$1.80>  —  “Bolshoi  Bailer 
(Rank)  (5th  wk).  Fourth  session 
ended  yesterday  (Tues.)  was  sturdy 
$8,500.  Third  was  $10,000. 

.  Guild  (Guild)  (450;  $1-$1.75)— 
“Golden  Age  of  Comedy”  (DCA) 
(4th  wk).  Third  round  ended  yes¬ 
terday  (TUes:)  was  smooth  $6,000 
after  $8,000  for  second.  “Ship  Was 
Loaded?’  (Brest)  opens  Sunday  (19). 

Odeon  (Rank)  (854;  90-$1.80) — 
“Graf  Spee”  (Rank)  (3d  wk).  This 
third  week  ending  today  (Wed.) 
looks  like  nice  $12,000  or  near. 
Second  was  $15,000. .  “Henry  the 
Fifth”  (Rank)  opens  Feb.  5  on  two- 
a-day  policy. 

Mayfair  (Brandt)  (1.736;  79- 

$1.80)— “Enemy  Below”  (20th)  (4th 
wk).  Third  stanza  ended  last  night 
(Tues.)  was  smooth  $14,000  or  near. 
Second  was  $17,000. 

Normandie  (Trans-Lux)  (592;  95- 
$1.80)— “All  At  Sea”  (M-G>  (4th 
'wk).  This  session  winding  Friday 
(17)  looks  to  hit  fine  $6,500.  Third 
was  $7,800. 

Palace  (RKO)  (1 J00;  95-$2)  — 
“Bridge  on  River  Kwai”  (Col)  (5th 
wk):  The  fourth  stanza  ended  last 
night  (Tues.)  was  capacity  $34,000 
for  10  performances.  The  third 
week  was  capacity  $45,400  in  14 
Shows.  Tickets  are  fiow  selling  to 
Easter, 

Paramount  (AB-PT)  (3,665;  $1- 
$2)— “Tarnished  Angels”  (U)  (2d 
wk).  Initial'  week  ended  Sunday 
(12)  was  bright  $32,000.  In  ahead, 
“It’s  Great  To  Be  Young”  (FA)  and 
Rock-N-Roll  stageshow  (2d  wk-5 
days)  held  with  great  $105,000  aa 
compared  with  a  new  house  record 
of  $185,000  opening  week.  This 
makes  -  a.  mammoth  $290,000.  for 
the  12-day  run,  original  booking, 
mightv  nice  takings  for  this  spot. 

Paris  (Pathe  Cinema).  (568;  90- 
$1.80)— “God  Created  Woman” 
(Kings)  (13th  wk).  The  I2th  ses¬ 
sion  etided  Sunday  (12)  was  great 
$13,800.  The  11th  week  was  $17,- 
500. 

Radio  City  Music  Hall  (Rocke¬ 
fellers)  (6,200;  90-$2.75)— “Sayon¬ 
ara”  (WB)  with  Christmas  stage- 
show  (6th  wk).  Current  stanza  end¬ 
ing  today  (Wed.)  looks  like  big 
$140,000.  The.  fifth  week  was 
mighty  $171,000.  alj  the  more  re¬ 
markable  because  having  to  con¬ 
tend  with  snow  and  severe  cold, 
and  usual  letup  after  the  holiday 
week.  The  fourth  week  was  an 
(Continued  on  page  20) 

legend’  Smooth  $9,000, 
Imfck;  Teyton’  Smash 
15G,  2d;  ‘Sayonara’  9H5 

Indiknapolis,  Jan.  14. 

Biz  has  settled  down  a  bit  here 
since  the  holiday  boom,  but  con¬ 
tinues  astonishly  good  at  most 
first-runs,  with  holdovers  domina¬ 
ting.  .“Peyton  Place”  is  socko  in 
second  stanza  at  the.  Indiana  to 
leadv  town  again.  “Sayonara”  is. 
holding  up  big  in  third  week  at 
Keith’s.  “Legend  of  Lost”  is  rated" 
nice  at  Loew’s  on  first  session. 
“Man  in  Shadow”  is  only  fair  in 
6-day  week  at  Circle,  where  film 
policy  will  be  dropped  Jan.  14  for 
first  time  since  house  was  built  in 
1916  for  Oberammergau  Passirm 
Play, 

Estimates  for  This  Week 

Circle  (Gockrill-Dolle)  (2.800;  7Q- 
90)— “Man  in  Shadow”  <U)  and 
“Escape  in  Japan”  (U-RKO).  Mild 
$5,000  in  six  days.  Last  week,  “My 
Man  Godfrey”  (U).  hefty  $11,900. 

Indiana  (C-D)  (3,200;  90-S1.25 — 
“Peyton  Place?’  (20th)  (2d  wk). 
Sock  $15,000  after  smash  $25,000 
opener.  ^ 

Keith’s  (C-D)  (1,200;  95-$1.25)— 
“Sayonara”  (WB)  (3d  wk).  Nifty 
$9,500  for  approximately  $35,000 
take  to  date. 

Loew’s  (Loew)  (2,427;  60-85)— 
“Legend  of  Lost”  (UA)  and  “Dal¬ 
ton  Girls”  (UA).  Nice  $9,000.  Last 
week,  “Pal  Joey”  (Col)  (2d  wk), 
$7,000. 

Lyric  (C-D)  (850:  $1^5-$2^0)— 
“Around  World  in  80  Days”  (UA). 
(22d  wk).  Oke  $6.Q0Q.  Last  week, 
^8900. 


10 


PICTURES 


K£ri£¥y 


Wednesday,  January  15,  1958 


Use  of  Lone  Studio  by  WB,  M-G 


Settled  corporate  affairs  at 
Loew’s,  with  a  new  board  influ¬ 
enced  largely  by  money  men  sit¬ 
ting  in,  have  given  rise  to  Wall 
Street  speculation  about  a  Loew’s 
Metro  studio  merger  with  War¬ 
ners..  An  investor  in  Ldew’s  who 
is  closely  associated  with  the  new. 
members  of  the  board .  said  this 
week  he’s  amenable  to  the  idea  al¬ 
though  he  insisted  no  definite  steps 
toward  joint  use  of  a  single  studio 
have  been  taken  as  yet. 

Other  sources  indicated  the  mat¬ 
ter  will  be  given  active  considera¬ 
tion  in  the  not-too-distant  future. 

Boston  banker  Serge  Semenen- 
ko,  in  behalf  of  Warners,  has  been 
pitching  for  a  sharing  of  produc¬ 
tion  facilites  for  some  time.  He’s 
known  to  have  approached  M-G  be¬ 
fore,  along  wth  20th-Fox,  Para¬ 
mount  and,  more  recently.  Univer¬ 
sal. 

Par,  it  was  disclosed  this  Week, 
tentatively  went  for  the  plan  as 
outlined  by  Semenenko.  As  blue¬ 
printed,  it  called  for  Par  to- sell 
its  Los  Angeles  lot  at  a  price  cited 
by  Semenenko  and  then  move  in 
with  WB  on  the  latter’s  Burbank 
property.  Only  rubi  was  that  Sem¬ 
enenko  couldn’t  produce  a  biiyer 
at  the  price  he  mentioned. 

According  to  Gotham  financial 
district  sources,  the  new  members 
of  the  Loew’s  board,  notably  Louis 
Green  and  Jerome  Newman,  who 
loom  large  in  the  corporation’s 
fiscal  planning,  and  Semenenko 
"think  alike.”  That  is,  they’d  be 
Inclined,  to  break  with  tradition 
so  far  as  studio  ownership  iden¬ 
tity  is  concerned. 

Semenenko  right  along  has  felt 
that  one  studio  can  take  the  place 
Of  two  and  huge  havings  can  ac¬ 
crue  to  the  two  companies  decid¬ 
ing,  on  such  a  merger  course.  It’s 
believed  in  certain  Wall  St.  circles 
that  Green  and  Newman  will  go 
along  with  him  on  .  this  unless  se¬ 
rious,  but.  so  far  unseen,  obstacles, 
crop  up.  It’s  further  believed  that 
discussions  along  these  lines  al¬ 
ready  have  taken  place. 


His  Fear  of  Too  Much’ 
Exposure  Via  Oldies 
Actually  Helped  Heflin 

Hollywood,  Jatf.  14. 

There:  can  be  no  argument  about 
the  effect  on  the  film  industry  of 
the  release  of  old  feature  films  to 
television,  but  ironically,  the  prac¬ 
tice  appears  to  be  a  boon  to  the  in¬ 
dividual  actor.  In  the  case  of  Van 
Heflin,  his  fears  about  over-expo¬ 
sure  have  been  proved  Unfounded 
— and  the  telecasting  Of  some  of 
his  old  pictures  has  actually  proved 
to  be  an  asset  to  his  career. 

"I  didn’t  like  it,”  Heflin  con¬ 
fesses.  “I  was  sure  that  some  Of 
those  old  pictures  would  ruin  me. 
After  all,  some  of  them  I  did  be¬ 
cause  I  was  under  contract  and  had 
no  choice — and  others  I  know 
don’t  reflect  my  best  Work.” 

Instead,  the  old  pictures  have 
helped.  They’ve  produced  a  hew 
flood  Of  fan  mail  to  Heflin  and  he 
finds  both  film  studios  and  tv  prof¬ 
fering  more  and  better  roles. 

Heflin’s  principal,  concern  in  the 
release  of  the.  old  pictures  was 
over-exposure,  a  worry  that  kept 
him  off  both  film  and  live  televi¬ 
sion  for  a  considerable  period  since 
he  preferred  to  pick  his  spots  care¬ 
fully.  But  the  initial  round  of  re¬ 
leases  of  his  old  Metro  product  to 
video  obviously  haven’t  had  that 
effect. 

“The  funny  thing,”  he  notes,  “is 
the  kind  of  fan  mail  you  get.  You 
expect  anything,  particularly  since 
these  pictures  are  so  old.  Actual¬ 
ly,  the  mail  has  been  good — except 
for  an  occasional  note  in  which 
someone  says  ‘Boy,  Were  you 
young.’  ” 


Tent  Honors  A,  H.  Blank 

Des  Moines,  Jan.  14. 

Des  Moines  tent  of  the  Variety 
Clubs  presented  an  honorary  life¬ 
time  membership  to  A.  H.  Blank, 
Jan.  6.  He  is  founder  and  presi¬ 
dent  of  Tri-States  Theatre  Corp. 
Also,  he  was  given  a .  citation  for 
his  charitable  and. philanthropic  ac¬ 
tivities;  among  them  the  gift  to  the 
city  of  the  Blank  Memorial  Hos¬ 
pital  for  Children. 

Charles  F.  lies,  mayor  Of  Des 
Moines,  is  president  of  the  Des 
Moihes  unit,  known  as  Tent  No.  15. 


Los  Angeles,  Jan.  14. 

Suit,  to  recover  pieces;  of  “Baby 
Face  Nelson”  was  filed  ip  Superior 
Court  here.  by-.. Al  Zimbalist  and 
Z-S  Productions.  Karl  S;  Price, 
Jack  Rabin  and  United  Artists 
were  named  defendants  in,  the  ac¬ 
tion  which  also  .asks  ah  injunction 
to  halt  United  Artists  from  paying 
out  any  money  to  the-  other  de¬ 
fendants. 

Zimbalist  said  Price  and  Rabin 
claimed  an  interest  in  “Nelson”  as 
a  result  of  a  deal  on  a  prior  pic¬ 
ture  with  Zimbalist.  -  A  settlement 
wAs  reached  in  August  under 
which  each  was  to  receive  $5, OOP 
and  four  percent  of  the  film.  ... 

Suit  asked  the  court  to  rescind;) 
the  agreement  on  the  grounds  that 
it  was  made  while  the  plaintiff  was 
Under  pressure  because  the  film 
was  before  the  cameras  and  asked 
that  the  $10,000  and  eieht  percent 
which,  the  complaint  said,  amounts 
to  $96,000. 


Los  Angeles  Film 
B.O.  in  1957  Best 


Los  Angeles,  Jan.  14. 

Los  Angeles  first-run.  theatres 
rain  up  a  smasheroO  gross  of  $11,- 
534,700  during  1957,  second  big¬ 
gest  locally  since  1949’s  terrific 
$13,596,400.  Total  was  Only  $383,^ 
700,  or  3.2%,  under  previous  year’s 
$11,918,400  take,  which  now  re¬ 
mains  an  eight-year  high. 

In  winding  1957  with  year’s  big¬ 
gest  take  for  a  single  week,  $410,- 
700  Christmas  holiday  week,  first- 
runs  hit  a  fourth  quarter  of  $2,884,- 
700,  topping  corresponding  quar¬ 
ters  for  three  previous  years,  $2,- 
621,000  in  1956,  $2,626,300  in  1955 
and  $2,701,000  in  1954.  Fourth 
quarter  of  1957  was  exceeded  only 
by  third  quarter’s  $3,304,200.  First 
and  second  quarters  were  $2,655,- 
000  and  $2,681,200,  respectively.' 

Year  .  saw.. a  total  \of  256  new 
film  bills  and.  36  reissue  programs, 
as  compared  with  231  new  bills  and 
27  reissue  bills  during  1956.  Help-.' 
ing  swell  overall  returns;  too,  were 
three  pictures  which  .passed  the 
million-dollar  mark  during  year.  : 

"Around  the  World  in  *80  Days” 
hit  $1,388,60.0  its  52-week  stay 
at  Carthay,.  where  Mike  Todd  film 
is  now  winding  its  54th  round  and 
is  to  play  indefinitely.  ‘Ten  Com¬ 
mandments”  soared  to  $1,084,500, 
showcasing  first  at  Warner  Bever¬ 
ly,  where  during  its  41  weeks  in 
1957  it  . reached.  $808,200,  plus'  an¬ 
other  $276,300  from  10  weeks  at 
Downtown  and  Wiltem  and  nine 
at  Hollywood  Paramount.  “Seven 
Wonders  of  the  World”  finished, 
year  just  under  the  DeMille  pic, 
$1,007,500  for  29  stanzas  at  War¬ 
ner  Hollywood,  where  -  it’s  still 
showing.  Both  “80  Days”  and  “Sev¬ 
en  Wonders”  are  strictly  in  the 
hard-ticket  category,  as  was  “10 
Commandments”  during  its  show¬ 
case  engagement. 

Number  of  blockbusters  opened 
locally  during  month  of  December* 
that  promise  to  build  mammoth 
grosses  right  down  the  line.  Films, 
all  held  over,  include  •  “A  Fare¬ 
well  «to  Arms,”  which  opened  on 
a  special  roadshow  policy  in  eight 
L. A.  area  first-runs  and  racked  up 
$188,300  during  the  two  weeks  it 
played  during  1957;  “Peyton 
Place,”  in  three  situations,  $109,- 
800  UP  to.  first  of  year  in  first  three 
weeks.  Others  include  “Sayonara,” 
Which  hit  $40,000  in  opening  week; 
“Don’t  Go  Near,  the  Water,”  $32,- 
000  first  week;  “Bridge  on  the  Riv¬ 
er  Kwai,”  $34,700.  first  two.  weeks. 


Dick  Murphy  Departs  20th 

Hollywood,  Jan.  14. 

Producer-director-writer  Richard 
Murphy  exited  20th-Fox  Friday, 
following  expiration  of  his  14- 
months  pact  at  the  Westwood  lot.: 

While  at  the  studio,  he  worked 
on  such  projects  as  “The  Hunters” 
and  “The  Diplomat,” 


Board  &  Room 

Continued  from  pace  3 

ord  with  ah  expression  of  the 
same  sentiment. 

:  Newman  added  the  board  will  be 
harmonious  so  long  as  the  welfare 
of  the  corporation  is  uppermost  in 
the  minds  of  its  members. 

It’s  clear*  that  air  are  presently 
supporting  Joseph  R.  Vogel  as 
president;  Vogel  has  clear  sailing 
in  management  affairs.  But  there 
is  to  be.  established  a  financing 
and  budget  committee,  with  the 
big  money  men  prominent  there¬ 
on,  which  will  dictate  on  all:  fis¬ 
cal  matters. 

The  new  members  of  the  direc¬ 
torate  were  described  this  week  by 
an  inside  source  as  “men  with 
plenty  of  guts  and  plenty  of 
money.”  The  ,  implications  were 
that  they’d  show  little  hesitancy  in 
making  bold  moves,  including, 
perhaps,  a  merger  of  studio  facili¬ 
ties  with  another  outfit  as  a  means 
of  chopping  the  Culver.  City  ex¬ 
pense;  and  being  so  well  heeled 
that  a  quick  buck  via  short -range- 
profit  disposition  of  assets  is  not 
dear  to  their  hearts.  . 

As  of  the  present.  Green,  New¬ 
man,  et  al.,  are  said  to  own  only 
140,000  shares  of  Loew’s  stock. 
This,  amount  likely  will  be  raised 
to  175.000  (according  to  blueprint) 
by  the  Feb.  27  annual  meeting. 
Tomlinson,  singly,  o  w  n  s  185,000 
shares.  But,  importantly,  the 
Green  syndicate  also,  comprises  imir 
portant  ^  investors  whose  holdings 
are  not  listed.  This  group,  inci¬ 
dentally,  includes  one  broker  who 
for  long  has  been  associated  with 
another  major  film  corporation. 
Exit  of  Partisans 

.  This  is  meaningful,  for  it  con¬ 
veys  that  hard-headed  profession¬ 
al  investor  are  convinced  that  the 
Green  combine,  helming  the  board, 
and  Vogel, .  heading  management, 
can  give  Loew’s  the  proper  direc- 
tionals.  ; 

Nomination  of  the  aforemen¬ 
tioned  quartet,  is  regarded  as  tan¬ 
tamount  to  election  at  the  Feb.  27 
meeting.  Dropped  from  candidacy 
are.:  Stanley  .Meyer,  Ray  Lawson, 
Louis  .  A,  Johnson  and  K.  T.  Kel¬ 
ler;  Interesting  is  the  fact  that 
Meyer,  an  associate  of.  the  late 
Louis  B.  Mayer;  is  said  to  have 
been  chiefly  responsible  for  Tom¬ 
linson’s  interest  in  Ldew’s  and,  in¬ 
deed,  had  set  his  personal  sights 
on  a  top  exec  position,  likely  the 
presidency,  of  the  corporation. 

Worthy  of  note,  too,  is  that 
Samuel  Briskin  is  continuing  on 
the  directorate.  .He’s  arid  to  be 
the  choice  of  Lazard  and  Lehman 
and,  too,  was  a  speculative  choice 
for  the  presidency  in  past.  Fur¬ 
ther,  Vogel  and  Briskin  are  the 
Only  film  men,  per  se,  on  the  in¬ 
coming  board*  the  others  being  on 
either  the  financial  or  legalistic 
end. 


’Pretty  Boy  Floyd’  Film 
For  Colombia  Prompts 
Babb’s ‘It’s  Mine’ Suit 

Los  Angeles,  Jan.  14. 

An  injunction  to  halt  the  sched¬ 
uled  filming  of  “Pretty  Boy  Floyd” 
was  asked,  by  producer  Kroger 
Babb  in  a  $100,000  Federal  Court 
suit  against..  Columbia  Pictures, 
Sam  Katzmah,  and  Clover  Produc¬ 
tions.  Babb  asked.  $100,000  in  dam¬ 
ages  for  unfair  competition; 

Babb  contended  that  he  became 
interested  in  the  idea  in  1955  and 
acquired  releases  and  biographical 
data  from  the  Floyd  family  the  fol¬ 
lowing  year  for  around  $4,000.  Last 
Spring,,  he  said,  after  considerable 
publicity  on  the  project,  he  talked1 
with  Columbia  about  making  the: 
picture  there  and  when  no  interest 
was  shown  began  discussing  the 
deal  with  William  Stephens  who 
was  to  arrange,  financing. 

Announcement  just  before 
Christmas that  Katzman  Was  to 
make  a  “Floyd”  film,  the  complaint 
added,  halted  talks  With  Stephens 
and  nothing  further  can  be .  done 
until  Babb’s  right  to  the  property 
is  made  clear.  He  asked  that  the 
defendants  be  enjoined  from  doing 
anything  with  the  Pretty  Boy  Floyd 
name  or  character.  Hearing  on  the 
request  for; a  temporary  restraining 
order  has  been  set  for  Jan.  20  be¬ 
fore  Federal  Judge  Ben  Harrison. 


Colleen  Gallant  of  Laconia, 
‘Miss  New  Hampshire  of  1951,”. is 
set  with;  Twentieth  Century-Fox 
for  a  part  in  Gregory  Peck’s  “The 
Bravados.”  Will  be  known  -oh 
screen  as  Kathy  Gallant. 


Etiquette  of  The  Heave-Ho 


Recording  the  dismissals  and  exits  of  veteran  industryites  is  an  un¬ 
pleasant  task  but  it  becomes  more  unpleasant  when  the  victims;  al¬ 
though  they  have  been  given  their  notices,  adopt  the  hypocritical  and 
ostrich-like  attitude  that  some  consider  symptomatic  of  the  film  busi¬ 
ness.  ' 

A  recent  telephone  conversation  With  a  top-echelon  executive  whose 
services  had  been  terminated  will  perhaps  serve  as  an  illustration. 

“Hello,  Joe.  I’m  sorry  to  call  td  you  about  .this,  but  I  understand 
you’re  leaving  Blank  Co. 

“Where  did  you  hear  that?’.’ 

“It’s  around.” 

"Well  .  .  ;  it’s  not  definite!” 

"Then  you’re  not  leaving?” 

"I  didn’t  say  that.  But  do  you  have  to  Write  anything  now?  After 
all,  it’s  not  a  very  important  story.” 

‘‘You’re  a  pretty  important  man  in  the  industry  and  it’s  news.”  , 
"Look,  I’m  not  leaving  for  several  weeks  yet.  I  Want  to  get  togeth¬ 
er  with  the  company  so  we  can  make  the  right  announcement.  I  want 
all  papers  to  have  it  at  the  same  time.” 

“What  difference  does  it  make  as  long  as  you’re  leaving?” 

“It ’makes  a  big  difference.  I  want  the  right  send  off?” 

“How  can  one  story  make  any  difference?”  , 

“Look,  you  can  da  what  you  want.  Blit  remember  I’ve  been  a  friend 
of  Variety’s  for  years.  Who  knows?  I  might  be  io^a  position  to  help, 
lit  the  future.  I  Would  consider  it  an  unfriendly  act  ’  if  you  ran  the 
story.  But  you  can  do  what  you  want.  Remember,  however,  I’ve  been 
a  big  help  to  Variety.  My  leaving  Isn’t  important.  Nobody  cafes.” 

“If  it  isn’t  Important,  What  difference  does  it  make  if  we  run  it?” 
“Are  you  joining  any  other  company?” 

“Look,  if  you’re  trying  to  pump  me  for  more  news,  forget  about  it. 
You  do  what  you  want,  but  remember.  I’ll  consider  it  an  unfriendly 
act.” 

The  next  day,  having  gone  to  press  without  the  story— doing  a  favor 
yet! — Variety  gets  a  handout  by  messenger: 

“Richard  Roe,  president  of  Blank  Co.,  announces  with .  regret  the 
resignation  of  Joseph  Doe.  Mr.  Doe  has  been  a  great  asset  to  this 
company  and  it  is  only  after  considerable  hesitancy  that  we  agreed 
to  release  him  from  his  contract  so  that  he  can  pursue  other  en-: 
deavors.  We  wish  Mr.  Doe  the  best  of  luck  in  any  new  venture  he 
undertakes  and  he  can  call  oh  us  for  assistance  at  any  time*  His. 
friends  at  Blank  Co.  will  miss  him  very  much  and  the  company  ... 
will  miss  his.  services ,  but  we  cannot,  stand  ih  the  way  pf  his  ad¬ 
vancement”  #  y ,;v-‘ 

“Mr,  Doe  said  that  after  a  short  vacation  in  Jamaica  he  will  an¬ 
nounce  his  future  connection.”  ■  .  _ . 


•  Rackmil  of  U  Primes  New  Scheme 


Hollywood,  Jan.  14. 

John  Mock,  a  member  of  Para¬ 
mount's  executive  production  staff 
since  1956,  has  exited  the  Studio  in 
the  latest  cutbacks.  Studio  sources 
said  the  position  he  has  held  Will 
be  discontinued. 

Mock  originally  was  Paramount 
story  editor  in  Europe  and  moved 
onto  the  Marathon  lot  in  1944  as 
story  editor  for  Hal  Wallis,  shifting 
over  to  become  Paramount  story 
editor  in  1952. 

In  another  cutback,  Frank  Riser, 
in  charge  of  the  still  department, 
is  leaving  the  studio.  Understood 
Par  expects  to  close  out  the  de¬ 
partment,  using  unit  men  hence¬ 
forth  to  handle  art  work  on  in¬ 
dividual  pictures. 


Proxy  Patriots 


InLoew  Sweep 

As  an  aside  to  the  personnel 
pink-slipping  at  Ldew’s,  sources 
from  within  make  the  point  that 
the  subsidiary  Metro  is  no  longer 
“The  Friendly  Company,”  as  it 
long  had  been  billed,  so  far  as  cer¬ 
tain  employees  are  concerned.  The 
reference  is  to  those  members  of 
the  organization  who  gave  their 
non-office  time  at  nights  and  at 
weekends  to  the  solication  of  prox¬ 
ies  in.  management's  behalf. 

It's  agreed  generally  in  the  trade 
that  Loew’s  president  Joseph  R. 
Vogel  “is  on  the  spot”— meaning, 
it’s  mandatory  that  he  cut  the  over¬ 
head  as  a  means  of  pacifying  agi¬ 
tating  bankers  and  other  investors. 

But  among  those  dismissed  are 
the  many  people  who  Went  around 
door-bell-ringing  for  about  10 
weeks  beginning  last  summer,  seek¬ 
ing  to  influence  the  stockholder 
votes  in  the  affirmative  for  Vogel 
and  in  the  negative  for  his  would- 
be- dethroner,  Joseph  Tomlinson. 
They  received  no  extra  compensa¬ 
tion  for  this  and,  in  fact,  they  claim 
they  worked  out  'of  loyalty. 

Now  they’re  out,  and  they’re 
burning. 


.  Member  companies  of.  the  Mo¬ 
tion  Picture  Assn,  of  America  have 
pulled  a  neW  switch  in  formulation 
of  an  industry  institutional  cam¬ 
paign  to  be  paid  for  equally  by 
themselves  and  exhibitors.  They’ve 
included  the  Academy  Awards,  tele¬ 
vision  program  within  the  frame¬ 
work  of  the  project,,  whereas  this 
previously  had  been  regarded  as  a, 
separate  item  to  he  bankrolled  by 
MPAA  on  its  own. 

It’s;  Understood  that  Milton  Rack- 
mil,  president  of  Universal,  forced 
the.  change. 

As  originally  set,  exhibitor  con¬ 
tributions  to  the  campaign  were 
to  be  matched  by  the  distribs  dol% 
iar  for  dollar.'  It  Was  estimated 
that  the  theatremen  would. ante  up 
$1,400,000,  meaning  that  same 
amount  would  be  due  from  the 
MPAA  outfits. 

MPAA  board,  at  a  New  York 
meeting,  ,  formally  endorsed  the 
Idea  but,  at  Rackmil’s  insistence, 
placed:  a  ceiling  of  $500,000  as  the 
distribs’ share.  .  0. 

Prior  to  this,  the  board  okayed 
sponsorship  of  the  Oscar  airer,  fig¬ 
ured  as  an  outlay  of  $650,000.  This 
amount  is  being  added  to  the 
$500,000,  for  a  total  of  $1,150,000 
as  the  distribs*  participation  in  the 
campaign. 

If  there’s  a  full  follow-through 
on  this,  obviously  it  Would  mean 
the  exhibs  would  be  paying  50% 
of  the  costs  of  the  Acad  show 
whereas  heretofore  no  exhib  mon¬ 
ey  at  all  apparently  was  earmark¬ 
ed,  for  this.  Distrib  reasoning,  as 
given  by  one  homeoffice  v.p.,  is 
that  theatres  particularly  will  bene¬ 
fit  from  the  airer  and  should  pay 
along  with  the  distribs. 

Rod.Serling’s  M£  Deal 

Hollywood,  Jan.  14. 

In  a  deal’ Involving  approximate¬ 
ly  $250,000,  Metro  has  signed  Rod 
Sefling  to  a  four-year,  non-exclu¬ 
sive  pact  as  screenwriter. 

Serling.  a  top  television  writer, 
just  ’finished  a  two-year  ticket  call¬ 
ing  for  two  pix  at  the  .  Culver  City 
lot.  In  addition  to  those  two  films, 
however,  he  also  wrote  the  screen¬ 
play,  on  “Company  of  Cowards, 
and  '  is  currently  polishing  “No 
Blade  of  Grass.” 

New  ticket  calls  for  Serling  to 
write  one.  screenplay  a  year. 


Wednesday,  January  15,  1958 


After  MARCH  1st  1958 


12 


INTERNATIONAL 


JSARiEfrt 


'VAHIITI'r  LONDON  OPflCB. 

I  St.  Martin's  Plac*,  Trefiltar  Square 


Karachi,  Jan.  7. 

Pakistan  film  industry  is  grow¬ 
ing  rapidly.  In  1948  only  one  film 
was  made,  ,  but  by  1956  there  were 
38  films  produced.  Last  year  the 
rate  of  production  rose  to  50  or 
over.  It  is  a  happy  sign  for  the  fu¬ 
ture  of  the  Pakistan  industry  but 
the  increased  film-making  has 
brought  many  problems  for  the 
producers. 


Big  British  Cinema  B.O. 
Decline  Prompts  Rank 
To  Drop  10  Skedded  Pix 


London,  Jan.  14. 

Faced  with  the  cinema’s  biggest 
j  slump  in  many  years  the  Rank  Or- 
Production  costs  have  gone  up.  j  ganization  has  announced  drastic 
A  couple  of  years  back,  a  pic  could  :  cuts  in  its  1958  production  sched- 
be  made  for  about  $30,000,  but  now  j  ule.  At  first,  18  feature  films  had 
the  amount  required  is  not  less  j  been  slated  for  production  during 
than  $75,000,  This  is  because  the  j  the  year  but  this  figure  now  has 
stars,  the  directors  and  crew  de- !  been  cut  to  eight.  Major  pfoduc- 
mand  more,  and  more  coin!  But !  tions,  which  were  to  star  Sir  Lau- 
what  is  causing  the  real  headache  ’•  rerice  Olivier  in  “Macbeth’'  and 
is  the  extremely  limited  market  j  Kenneth  More  in  “39  Steps/’  are 
available  for  home  product.  It  is  j  among*  those  that  have  been  jetti- 
confined  mainly  to  Pakistan,  andlsoncd.  “ 

there  is  very  little  foreign  market.  {  This  ruthless  slashing  of.  its  pro- 
The  400  odd  cinemas  in  this !  duction  program  has  caused  the 
country  are  not  enough  to  make  firing  of  around  350  not  too  active 
any  film  ai  real  financial  success.  ]  employees  at  Pinewood  Studio  and 
In  many  cases,  the  producers  are  j  an  increase  in  this,  figure  is  pos- 
unable  to  recover  the  actual  rsible  unless  the  situation  improves. : 
amount  sunk  into  a  production.  Ad-  <  The  two  main  caiUsOs  for  the  film 
mittedly  this  is  a  very  grave  prob-  I  slump  are  falling  attendance  and 
lem  for  the  expansion  of  the  na-  the  heavy  entertainment  tax  levied 
tive  industry.  by  the  government.  The  cinema,  is 

It's  Ad  InfaDt  Iniostry  entertainment 

......  ■.  .  1  saddled  with  this  tax,  which  drains 

As  the  industry  here  is  more  or  the  indi,5try  of  approximately  one- 
less  yet  in  its  infancy  the  quality  th.rd  of  fts  i„COme.  -  “ 

of  the  productions  so  far  is  medi-  slr  Toin  O'Brien,  general  seCK. 
ocre,  and,  as  sucg,  the  possibility  i  tary  9f  the  Theatrical  and  Kine 
of  an  export  market  is  dim^under Employees  .also  blamed  local  coun- 
the  present  setup.  Of.  the  50  films  cils  for  -vtheir  biackmailing  prac- 
produced  this  year  there  have  tice  of  exacting  a  levy  of  $1,400.- 
been  only  six  pix  that  have  shown  |  000  a  year  from  cinemas  which 
any  profit.  About  20  have  managed  oppn  on  Sundays/’ - 
to  recover  the  money  put  into  pro-  ;  John  DaviSj  top  exec  of  the  Rank 
duction,  with  others  showing  a  Organization,  said:.  ‘'Nothing  like 
loss  With  this  m  mind,  the  future  .  th,s  drop  in  attendances  has  hap- 
the  film  biz  appears  rather  *,  pened  before  in  my  experience.” 
bleak.  But  there  is  hope  that  film-  j  since  September,  the  nosedive  in 
ites  will  realize  the  importance  of  t  film„  patronage  has  risen  7%  to 
making  higher  quality  pictures  with  ;  20%  A  further  economy  move  by 
a  view  of  capturing  the  foreign  ;  the  Rank  set  up  is  a  decision  to 
markets.  !  yank  afternoon  performances  at  a 

There  is  an  extensive  potential  number  of  cinemas, 
market  available  for  Pakistani  f 
Rims  in  East  Africa,  Indonesia,  Fi- j 
ji  Islands  and  other  such  countries  ? 
where  there  is  a  populace  of  Pakis¬ 
tani  and  Indian  descent.  But  this 
can  be  captured  only. -if  pictures 
comparable  ta  those  from  India  can 
be  turned  out  in  this  country.  Rea¬ 
lizing  this,  some  producers  have 
ambitious  programs  lined  up,  Two 
color  processing  labs  have  been 
planned,  one  in  Lahore  and  one 
here.  The  completion  of  these 
plants  will  see  the  making  of  tint- 
ers  in  Pakistan. 


Govt.  Legit  Setup 


Paris,  Jan.  14. 

The.  recurring  strike  crises  in  all 
the  state  subsidized  theatrical  set¬ 
ups,  the  Comedie-rFrancaise  (two 
houses).  The  Theatre  National 
Co-productions  with  some  for-  j  Populaire,  the  Opera  and  Opera- 
eigrt#  countries  are  also  in  the  off-  j  Cbmique,  .may  Ieaid  to  a  change 
ing.  ‘Currently,  a  film  is  being  shot  in  all  these  .  houses..  But  nothing 
in  East  Pakistan  in  conjunction  ]  official  has  been  released  by  the 
with  a  Lptfdon  company.  Then  j  Ministry  bf  Beaux  Arts, 
there  are  plans  to  make  Co-pr.oduc-  j  However,  the  following  switches 
tions  with  Japan  and  Red  China,  seem  to  be  in.  the  offing  here.  The 


All  of  this  should  help  put  Pakis¬ 
tan  in  the  foreign  field.  To  get  a 
line  on  the  latest  techniques  of 
film-making,  plans  are  being  made 
to  send  technicians  abroad  for 
training.  A  local  producer  even 
foresees  the  making,  of  the  "first 
Cinemascope  film 
shortly. 


Opera-Comique  will  probably  be 
closed  but  its  troupe  will  not  be 
completely  disbanded  and  will  tour 
the  provinces  and  foreign  plaices 
as  a  cultural  setup.  The  theatre 
will  be  sold  to  private  interests. 
Some  of  its  repertory  will  be  ab- 


Pakistan  !  sorbed  by  the  Opera. 

The  Cpmedie-Francaise  will  turn 
over  its  second  house,  Salle  Lux¬ 
embourg,  to  the  TNP:  However, 
|  the  TNP  will  still  utilize  its  pres¬ 
ent  home,  the  outsize  Palais  Die 
Chaillot,  for  big  productions;  The 
Palais  will  be  rented  to,  private 
entrepreneurs  .*  -between.  TNP 
.  prexy  Jean  Viiar  is  expected  to 
take;  back  his  recent  resignation 
[over  the  technician’s  strikes: 
London,  Jan.  14.  i  The  regular  C-F  house,  Salle 
A  new  Alec  Guinness  starrer,|Richilieu,  will  still  do  classic  re^ 
•‘The  Scapegoat,”  is  on  Ealing’s  ]  vivals.  plus,  soihe.  more  contempor- 
1958  production  program  for  re- ]  ary  entries.. 


lease  through  Metro.  The  Daphne 

du  Maurier  best  seller  is  being  _  ,  T  ...  . 

adapted  by  Gore  Vidal.  Robert  JBpflll  S  FIX  IdIZ  iLlftS 
Hamer  has  been  assigned  fo  direct.  FvriAi-f  Pnin  Qio-lifc 

The  new  Ealing  lineup  gets  un-  LxpOIt  LOm  OlgntS 

der  way  with  “Nowhere  to  Go,”  .  Tokyo,  Jan.  14. 

now  on  location,  which  moves  into  The  Japanese  film. industry. raised 
the  studio  early  next  year.  George  .;  its  sights  on  export  receipts  to  $2,- 
Nadef  is  making  his  British  film  !  300,000  per  annum  although  figures 
debut  in  this  production.  Other !  for  the  first  five  months  of  1956, 
top  roles  have  been  allotted  to  representing  952  exported  films,  to- 
Bernard  Lee  and  Maggie  Smith:  j  taled  less  than  $490,000.  .  Export 
Pic  also  marks  the  directorial  •  target  last  year  was  $L50O,QOO 
debut  of  Seth  Holt,  for’  many  j  with  $1,259,896  being  realized 
years  an  editor  at  Ealing  and,  |  from  2,294  reels., 

more  recently,  an  assistant  pro-  !  Okinawa  was  the  top  export  mar- 

ducer.  ■  ket  last  year  with  others  following 

Other  Ealing  films  set  for  1958 ,  in  order:  the  U.  S.  (including 
include  “Lord  of  the  Flies,”  by !  Hawaii),  Burma,  Singapore,  Tai- 
William  Golding  and  “Tunes  of  j  wan,.  India,  Pakistan,  Hong  Kong, 


Glory,”  from.  James  Kennaway’s 
novel  of  life  in  the  peacetime  bar¬ 
racks  of  a  Highland  regiment. 
Scripter  T.  E.  B.  Clarke  is  writing 
a  new  comedy.  If  ready  in  time, 
it  will  be  added  to  the  1958  ro^tef. 


Thailand;  West  Germany,  France 
and  Brazil,  Overseas  publicity* 
survey  of  foreign  reaction  and 
plans  for  fairs  are  under  way"to 
boost  the  coin  of  Japanese  pix 

ab™f f ^ i  1 1;:  i'l 


Lloyd  Leaves  Warwick 
To  Form  Production  Co. 

London,  Jan.  8. 

Euan  Lloyd,  publicity  exec  for 
Warwick  Films/  has  resigned  to 
form  his  own  productioh  company 
in  partnership '  with  Jack  Davies, 
scenario  writer  here.  New  setup 
will  be  called  Richmond  Films. 
First  pic  is  slated:  for  spring. 

It  will  be  a  Davies’  yarn  con¬ 
cerning  the.  American  air  force  in 
Britai  .  Thought  hot  yet  titled,  it 
has  topical:  implications.  Terence 
Young,  will  adapt  the  screenplay 
and  direct.  Trevor  Howard  has 
been  signed  to  star. 


By  HANS  HOEHN 

Berlin,  Jan.  14. 

German  filmgoers  have  had  a  big 
affair  on  with  Swedish  film  stars 
ever  since  30-odd  years  back  Greta 
Garbo  shattered  Teutonic  •  reserve 
and  became  the  priestess  of  a  cult. 
It  helped  the  $wedes  that  Adolf 
Hitler  hated  the  American  films, 
partly  because  some  of  the  produ¬ 
cers  were.  Jewish,  and  had  a  presi-: 
dent  named  Roosevelt  and  the  Hol¬ 
lywood  product  vanished  from  the 
thousand-year  Reich. 

Xfter  Garbo,  the  Germans  adored 
Zarali  Leander,  as  the  home  mar¬ 
ket’s  nearest  approximation.  Kris¬ 
tina  Soederbaum,  born  in  Sweden 
and  filming  in  Germany  since  1938, 
was  runner-up. 

With  postwar  and  the  return  of 
American  films,  Sweden’s  Ingrid 
Bergman  became  a  vogue  here;  She 
most  frequently  walked  off  with  the 
“most  popular  foreign  screen  ac- 
tress’’  awards  in  postwar  Ger¬ 
many’s  polls. 

Another  Swedish  actress  rates 
mention:  Ulla  JacobsSon.  This 
country’s  1957  “Bambi”  ;  poll  saw 
her  winning  second  place.  A  Gal¬ 
lup-type  poll  of  the  German 
Allensbachr-r-Insfitut  brought  a  to¬ 
tal  victory  for  Ingrid  Bergman  last 
year  11.957),  while  a  test  of  the 
German  film  mag,  Star-Revue,  saw 
Signorina  Rossellini  in  third  spot. 
Two  years  ago  (1956),  Ulla  Jacobs¬ 
son  won  the  “Bambi”  award  fol¬ 
lowed  by  Ingrid  Bergrtari.  Three 
years:  ago,  it  was  just  the  other  way 
round:  Ingrid  Bergman  bn  top, 
Ulla  Jacobsson  second.  > 

Popularity  of  Miss  Jacobsson  in 
Germany  began  with  “One  Sum¬ 
mer  of  Happiness,”  a  :big  financial 
success.  Her  success  resulted  in 
her  importation  and  she’s  since 
made  four  German  features.  “And 
Love  Shall  Always  Remai . ,”  “The 
Holy.Lie”  (both  for  Beroliha),  “The 
Parson  From  Kirchf eld”  (HD)  and 
“The  Last  Ones  Shall  Be  First” 
<CCC).  '  '  •  • 

Another  Swedish,  import  is  Anita 
Bjoerk  who  played  the  title  role  in 
Gustav  Ucicky’s  “Witch”  and-  the 
female  lead  in  “The;  Cornet,”  Wal¬ 
ter  Reisch’s  adaptation from  Rai¬ 
ner  Maria  Rilke. 

Signe  Hasso  added  Germany  to. 
her  numerous  foreign  screen  ap¬ 
pearances.  “The  Sun  of  St.  Mortiz” 
was  the  title  of  her  Teutonic  pic 
whicli  Arthur  Maria  Rabenalt  di¬ 
rected. 

..  Maj -Britt  Nilsson  appeared  in 
Berblina’s  “What  the  Swallow 
Sang.”  Before  that,  she  starred  in 
“Swedish  .  Girl,”  a  coproduction  be¬ 
tween  Berlin’s  Melodie-Film  and 
Stockholm’s.  Sandrews. 


By  NID  EMBER 

Buenos  Aires,  Jen.  14. 

In  1958  the  Colon  Opera  here  celebrates  an  official  50th  anniversary. 
What  form  the  celebration  will  take  no  ope  knows,  because  this  is  an 
Uncertain  time.  Until  Presidential  elections  in  February  show  which, 
way  the  wind  blows  politically,  no  one  can  foretell  the  country’s  future, 
or  the  theatres. 

The  Colon  costs  the  ci'izens  40  million  pesos  ($1  million)  annually. 
Do  they  get  a  high  enough  standard  of  Operatic,  Symphony,  Ballet  and 
concert  fare  for  that  amount  of  money?  Will  there  be  a  proletarian 
type.  President  who  will  term  this  a  waste  and  put  the  Colon  to  other 
uses? 

All  that  can  be  stated  is  that  Argentines  stili  love  music  passionately, 
though  Opera  may  take  a  secondary  place  to  Symphony.  They  love  mu- , 
sic  and  will  pay  in  cash  and  in  discomfort  to  hear  the  best,  so  it’s  safe  ^ 
to  assUme  that  the'Colon  has  as  much  of  a  future  as  it  has  a  past. 

The  great  red  and  gold  curtain  first  went  up  in  the  . Colon  on  May 
25,  1908.  Predecessor  Colon 'opened  April  25,  1857,  then  a  private,  not 
a  municipal,  enterprise. 

A  Frenchman  with  an  Italian  name  and  ardent  Garibaldean  sym¬ 
pathies,  Charles  Henri  Pellegrini,,  inspired  the  first  Cplon.  At  one  point 
importing  from  Alaska  the  first  ice  blocks  B.  Aires  ever  saw,  he  placed 
these  in  a  vast  vault  under  the  theatre,  cooling  it.  and  supplying  sub¬ 
scribers  with  ice.  rations  into  the  bargain.  It  was%  Pellegrini  who  ini¬ 
tiated  the  salting  of  beef,  and  put  of  this,  grew  the  great  Argentine  beef 
industry  which  made  the  country  wealthy  and  eventually  provided 
the  wherewithal  to  build  the  1908  Colon,  on  a  Parisian  scale  of  beauty 
jnnd  luxury. 


But  Rome  Blames  Its  Opera  for  Not  Providing 
Understudy  and  Not  Informing  Presidential  Party 


11  Mex  City  Cinemas 
Closed  Down  by  Quake 

Mexico  City,  Jan.  14. 

Eleven  local  cinemas,  closed  be- 
1  cause  of  damage  suffered  in  the 
July  28  earthquake,  will  never  re-r 
open  because  the  city  engineering 
department  has  branded  them  pub¬ 
lic  hazards,  according  to  film  labor 
leader  Felipe  Rayon.  He  had  been 
told  by  Mayor  P.  Uruchurtu;  Ray¬ 
on  is  Working  out  with  the  mayor 
a  plan  for  cash  compensation  for 
help  of  the  condemned  cinemas  for 
loss  of  their  jobs.  The  doomed 
houses  are  three  secondary  first- 
runs,  five  subsequent-runs  and 
three  grinds. 

The  subsequent-run  Cine.  Cer¬ 
vantes,  hard  hit  by  the  temblor 
and  shut  ever  since,  is  to  be  re¬ 
constructed  and  put  back  into  ac¬ 
tion.  The  National  Cinematograph¬ 
ic  Industry  Chamber  is  seeking  to 
arrange  for  reopening  some  of  the 
condemned  cinemas  via  their  own¬ 
ers  reconstructing  them  and  mod¬ 
ernizing  them  to  provide  the  latest 
in  safety  services  and  emergency 
exits. . 


Men?  So!  So! 


\  Two  other  Swedish  femmes,  Bibi 
Johns  and  Alice  Babs,  are  among 
Germany’s  most  popular  song¬ 
stresses.  The  former  was  Electrola 
Records’  big  songster  until  she 
switched  to  Polydor,  while  Miss 
Babs  has  been  with  Polydor  (the 
pop  label  of  Deutsche  Grammo- 
phon)  for  a  number  of; years  now. 
Both  also  have  appeared  on  screen.. 

La  Garbo  and  La  Bergman  re¬ 
main  the  most  prominent  exam¬ 
ples/  but  one  can  also  mention  Vi- 
veca  Lindfors,  Mai  Zetterling, 
Anita  Ekberg,  May  Britt,  Signe 
Hasso,  and  one .  should  not  forget 
the  late  Marta  Toren,  an.  intelligent 
actress  as  well  as  comely. 

One  Swede,  Goeran  Strindberg, 
is  regarded  as  one  of  the  world’s 
best  cameramen  .and  considerably 
employed  hfcre.  ;  jji 


French  Pix  Comics  Show 
Yen  for  Performing  In 
Moliere  Stage  Pieces 

Paris,  Jan.  14: 

Although  in  the  U.  S.  most 
comedians  yearn  to  play  ’  Hamlet 
or  Napoleon,  they  all  seem  to  want 
to  do  anything  of  Moliere  in 
France. 

Latest  ccfinics  considering  Moli--] 
ere  projects  are.  Fernandel  and 
Maurice.  Chevalier.  Both  are  toy¬ 
ing  with  the  idea  of  doing  the  “Le 
Bourgois  Gentilhomme”  at  the^| 
Comedie-Francaise.  Mugging  comic 
Louis  De  Fupes  wants  to  play 
“L’Avare”  (The  Miser). 

Two  theatrical  teams,  Jean  Ma¬ 
rais  and  Jeanne  Moreau  plus 
Pierre  Brasseur  and  Suzanne  Flon, 
Want  to  perform  “Le  Misanthrope.” 
Lowdown.  revue  comic.  Roger 
Nicholas  will  do  “Le  Medecin  Mal- 
gre  Lui”  (Doctor  in  Spite  of  Him¬ 
self)  next  season.  This  is  not  new, 
for  pre-war  musichall  and .  film 
stars  also  got  around  to  Moliere 
these  including  Raimu,  Dranem 
and  Vilbert. 


Stolz’  Daughter  in  Pix 

Vienna*  Jan.  7.  . 

Clarissa  Stolz,  legit-film  actress 
and  daughter  of  maestro  Robert 
Stolz,  returned  to  Vienna  after  a 
personal  appearance  tour,  in  Ger¬ 
many  in  connection  with  her  first 
picture,  “Count  of  Luxemburg,”  in 
which  she  plays  a  precocious  15- 
year-old. 

She  has  a  score  of  engagements 
in  legit  and  films  set  for  the  near 

fu£dre-  v^ltt. 


By  ROBERT  HAWKINS 

Rome,  Jan.  14, 

American-born  Greek  soprano, 
Maria  Callas,  who  sang  One  act  of 
“Norma”  and  refused  to  continue 
at  the  Rome  Opera  House  season 
opener,  has  already  taken  an  un- 
precq^ented  critical  drubbing  in 
this  city.  Moreover  seldom  has 
an  opera  incident  been  so  exten-. 
sively  cabled  to  the  foreign,  in¬ 
cluding  the  American  press.  The 
last  echoes  of  the  incident  have  un¬ 
doubtedly  not  yet  been  heard  but 
meanwhile,  the  Romans,  press  and 
public  sum  pp  the  "responsibili¬ 
ties”  more  or  less  as  follows: 

The  soprano  appears  morally 
guilty  for  (a)  not  having  fin¬ 
ished  her  role  in  the  opera  in 
the  traditional -stage  Code,  for  (b) 
not  having  herself  made  the  an¬ 
nouncement  to  the  public— and  the 
Italian  President.  Giovanni  Gron- 
chi — but  mostly  (c^  for  having 
undertaken  the  role  in  -  uncertain 
physcial  condition,  thus  jeopardiz¬ 
ing  the  entire  course  of  events. 

The  Rome  Opera  House,  accord¬ 
ing;  to  the  local  press,  is  equally 
guilty  on  another,  organiza  ional 
level,  for.  not  having  provided  a  sub¬ 
stitute  or  stand-by  singer,  especial¬ 
ly  in  view  bf  Miss  Callas’  known 
uncertain  voice  conditions.  The 
local  showcase  management  is  also 
being  severely,  criticized  here  for  its 
failure  to  advise:  President  Gronchi 
of  the  backstage  doings,  allowing 
him  to  wait  in  his  box  for  oyer 
40  minutes. 

Among  the  previous  incidents 
Involving  Miss  Callas  are.  the  fol- 
lowingr  breach  of-  contract  suit 
With  her, ex  (Chicago)  representa¬ 
tive.  and? or  agent;  the .  December, 
1956  New  York  argument  with  bari¬ 
tone  Sordello  which  cost,  him  his 
job;  her  feud  with]  the  tenor,  Gui- 
seppe  Di  Stefano;  a  recent  fight 
with  a  Milan  dressmaker;  *plus  four 
news-making  walkouts  on  perform¬ 
ances,  both  before  and  after  their 
start.  / 

Both  the  first,  on  April  12, 1952, 
and  the  last  also  involved  Italian 
Presidents  (Luigi  Einaiidi  and.  Gi¬ 
ovanni  Gronchi) ;  the  other  two 
were  during^last  year’s  Edinburgh 
Festival  and  at  a  recent  opening 
night  of  the  San.  Francisco  Opera 
Hotise. 

San  Francisco  reneg  .  will  be  tak¬ 
en  up  at  the  lupcorning  meeting  of 
the  American  Guild  of  Musical 
Artists  in .  N.  Y.  A  suspension  by 
AGMA  could  ban  Miss  Callas  from 
concert  or  opera  work  in  the  USA, 
iih'il  reinstated.  She  has  recently 
Contracted  with  S.  Hurok  for 
American  I  concert  dates — some¬ 
thing  new  for  her. 

J.  Pan  as  Amuse.  Corp.  has  been 
authorized  to  Conduct  an  “amuse¬ 
ments  and  food  business”  in  the 
Bronx,  with  capital  stock  of  209 
shares,  ho  par  value.  Louis  J.  Du¬ 
kas  and  George  B.  Stuart,  Manhat¬ 
tan,  .are/ directors  and.  filing  attor¬ 
neys' 


/VARIETY'S'  LONDON  OFFICfe 
I  St.  Martin*!  Plici,  Trafalgar  Squara 


Buenos  Aires,  Jan,  7:  - 

The  Argentine  Executive  Power, 
which  issued  three  decrees  last 
month;  purportedly  to  clarify  the 
Film  Law,  has  only  added  confu¬ 
sion.  into  an  already  baffling  situa¬ 
tion,  according  to  most  exhibitors 
here'.  The  decrees  were  supposed 
to.  be  of  great  interest  and  help  to. 
the  film  industry,  but  exhibs  are 
extremely  indignant  over  being  a 
Voice  but  no  vote  in  the  Screen 
institute  setup.  Many  exhibs  feel 
that  this  exclusion  stems  from  ma¬ 
chinations  of  producers  and  rate 
this  as  privileged  for  the  produ¬ 
cers;  hence,  it  is  unconstitutional. 

/  The  annoying  thing  tor  the  exhib 
group  is  that  a  section  of  the  fiiin 
business,  representing  such  impor¬ 
tant,  capital  and  employing  many 
more  citizens  than  £he  production 
industry,  should  have  been  disre¬ 
garded  entirely  in  the  new  regula¬ 
tions. 

Don  Clemente  Lococo,  Sr.,  head 
of  the  Lococo  Circuit,  has  not 
minced  words  regarding  these  reg¬ 
ulations.  An  example  of  how.  the 
new  regulations  were  set  up  by 
thos^  with  no  knowledge  of  the 
complexities  of  show  biz  is  the  rule 
which  maintains  the  system  of  as¬ 
signing  local  features.  This  covers 
native  pix  which  have  merited  ap¬ 
proval  by  the  Screen  Institute's 
Qualifying  boards.  These  are  set 
for  release  in  cinemas  as  chosen 
by  lot  instead  of  permitting  exhibs 
to  select  for  themselves  and  engage 
the  form  of  release  directly  with 
producers  or  distributors. 

Saturation  release  is  insisted  on 
for  native  product,  no  matter  the 
value  or  worthlessness  of  the  pic 
while  exhibs.  are  to  have  the  full 
burden  of  the  capital  gains  tax; 
formerly  shared  with  distribs.  No 
provision  is  made  for  price,  in¬ 
creases  although  admissions  have 
been  frozen  since  1953/ 

Lococo  disclosed  that  provincial 
authorities  refuse  to  approve  appli¬ 
cation  of  the  Ministry  of  Commerce 
decree  which  authorized  price  in¬ 
creases  for  newly  constructed  the¬ 
atres.  Since  the  only  new  houses 
.  recently  built  by  the  circuit  are  in 
the  provinces,  this  boost  ,  is  inoper-. 
ative.  He.  claimed  that  40  years  as 
an  exhibitor  have  been  wiped  out 
by  the  new  Film  Law  rules,  imply¬ 
ing  that  if  these  are  allowed  to 
remain  in  effect  his  circuit  will 
fold.  He  referred  to  the  recent  sale 
for  demolition  of  the  Rose  Marie 
and.  Porteno  theatres  in  uptown 
Buenos  Aires, 


Britain’s  Pix  Grosses 
Down  17%  From  1956 

London,  Jan.  14. 

Picture,  theatre  admissions,  the 
third  quarter  of  1957  registered  a 
drop  of  58;000,000  at  235,000,000 
ever  the  same  period  ,  in  the;  previ¬ 
ous  year.  But  it’s  revealed  by  the 
Board  of  Trade,  which  compiled 
the  figures,  that  admissions  during 
this  period  were  4%  up  on  the 
second  quarter  of  last  year. 

Gross  takings  of  $66,500,000  were 
almost  17%  down  on  .the  corres¬ 
ponding  period  in.  1956,  but  6% 
higher  than  for  the  second  quarter 
of  1957. 


Italo-Arg.  Film  Pact 

Rome,  Jan.  7. 

A  new  film  pact  has  been  signed 
by  Italy  and.  Argentina  following  a 
visit  by  Itaio  pic  officials  there. 
Agreement,  valid  for  a  year  start¬ 
ing:  Jan.  1.  calls  for  the  exemption 
o.f  a  “lai  ge  number”  of  Italian  films 
from  payment,  Of  the  recently-im¬ 
posed  surtax  on  feature  imports. 

In  exchange,  Italy  woiild  exempt 
a  certain  number  of  Argentine  pix 
from  payment  of  the  Italian  dub¬ 
bing  tax.  Pact  with  Argentina  is 
first  with  any  nation  since  the  film 
surtax  Was  installed  in  that  coun¬ 
try. 


Cathay  Topper  Returns 

Singapore,  Jan.  7. 

Loke  Wan  Tho,  head  of  the 
Cathay  Organization^  which  con¬ 
trols  a  chain  of  some  . 50  theatres  in 
southeast  Asia,  has  returned  from 
a‘  six  month  round-the-world  trip 
accompanied  by  his  wife. 

Couple  spent  Christinas  and 
New  Year’s  at  Kuching  with  Sir 
Anthony  Abell;  the  governor  *  jot 
Sarawak.  **  ^ J  i  * 


ZURICH  FANCIES  VAN  DRUTEN 

‘Bell,  Book  and  Candle*  Clicks  In 
German  Adaptation 


Zurich,  ^Jan.  14. 

Theatre  am  bentral  looks  to  have ! 
a  winner  with  John  van  Druten’s 
“Bell,  Book  and  Candle,”-  tigged 
here  “Beloved  Witch”  in  an  excel¬ 
lent  German  adaptation  by  legit 
critic  and  essayist  Alfred  Polgar. 
First-night  audience  reaction  indi¬ 
cated  a.  healthy  four-to-five  weeks’ 
run. 

Staged  by  Rainer  Litten,  produc¬ 
tion  has  charm  and  imagination 
and  moves  along  at  a  lively  pace. 
Colorful  set  by  Fritz  KrUmenacher 
is  an  additional  plus  factor. 

Linda  Geiser,  as  the  “witch,”  is 
a  delight  both  visually  and  acting- 
wise.  Pero’  Alexander  in  the  male 
lead  is  equally  standout,  and  Ebba 
Johannsen  delivers  a  highly  amus¬ 
ing  portrayal  of  the  wacky  aunt. 
Supporting  roles  are  handled  by 
Albert  Werner  and  Litten.  A  sixth 
“player”  gets  equal  program  credit 
here:  a  cat  with  magic  powers,  by 
the  name  of  Pyewacket! 


Stronger  Fare 


Sydney,  Jan.  7. 

After  heavy  do.wnbeat  over 
the  last  ix  months;  Aussie  ex¬ 
hibitors  see  brighter  times  ahead 
as  the  new  year  and  frothy  fare 
opens.  Hopeful  b.o.  outlook  fol¬ 
lows  the  smash  success  here  of 
“Les.  Girls”  (M-G),  “Don’t  Go  Near, 
the  Water”  (M’-G),  “April  .  Love’’ 
(20th)  and  .the  outstanding  click 
of  an  old  Deanna  Durbin  pic,  “His 
Butler’s  Sister”  (U).  “Around 
World  in  80  Days”  (UA)  is  another 
sock  hit,  with  “Affair  to  Remerii- 
ber”  (20th)  surefire  in  10th  week. 

That  the  patrons  want  comedy 
is  also  seen  in  'the  popularity  of 
’‘Delicate  Delinquent”  (Par).  Only 
cops-and-robbers  bio  currently 
here  is  Rank’s  “Robbery  Under 
Arms.” 

The  Aussie  public  apparently 
has  tired  of  sexy  pix  following  an 
overplay  of  semi-continental 
themes. .  Likewise  taboo  and  poi¬ 
son  at  the  wickets  over  the  past  26 
Weeks  .  have  been  problem  pix, 
westerns,:  spacemen  stuff,  and 
heavy  British  drama.  All  these 
failed  to  draw  in  the  key  cities. 

Drive-ins  have  done  powerful 
trade  over  the  last  six  months.  The 
Aussie  climate  is  Ideally  .suited  to 
the  ozoner.  Hence,  the  sweltering 
heat  ,  and:  no  rains  for  the  last  12 
weeks,  drive-in  operators  have 
been  on  the  gravy  train. 

Metro,  operating  the  most  popu¬ 
lar  ozoner  at  ChUllora,  few  miles 
from  Sydney,  plays  product  day- 
arid-date  with  own  city  showcases. 
Policy  is  irksome  to  some  exhibs 
but  Metro  is  reaping  a  terrific  in¬ 
take  with  three  shows  nightly. 

There  are  now.  200,000  tv  sets 
in  operation  Down  Under.  Prod¬ 
uct  is*  mainly  filmed  U.  S.  shows; 
However,  the.  majority  of  Aussie 
cinema  ;  operators  do  not  fear  tv 
as  much  as  late-closirig  saloons 
featuring  acts  and  plush  social 
clubs. 

I.  R.  HAMILTON  WINS 
'57  FOYLE  PLAY  AWARD 

Edinburgh,  Jan.  14. 

Ian  R.  Hamilton,  young  Scot 
playwright,  has  won  the  Charles 
Henry  Foyle  New  Play  award  for 
1957,  for  his  play,  “The  Tinkers 
of  the  World,”  staged,  at  Gateway 
Theatre  here  in  February.  Three- 
acter  dealt  with  the  taking-over  of 
a  Hebridean  island  for  a  rocket 
range.  Annual  award  aims  at  en¬ 
couraging  the  writing  of  new  plays 
by  authors  who  are  riot  established  ■ 
dramatists.  '  . 

Hariiiltori  made  world  history 
some  y  ears  ago  "  by  being  leading 
light  in  thieving  of  the  Scot  stohe 
of  destiny  from  W  estm  ins  ter 
Abbey,  London,  Eng.. He  wrote  a 
book  about  it,  “No  Stone .  Un¬ 
turned.”  He  is  now  an  attorney 
himself, 


P^RIETY 


ENTERXATIOm 


J3 


Mex  Actors  Win  Wage 
Break  in  H’wood  Films 

Mexico  City,  Jan.  7. 

Mexican  players  in  foreign-made 
productions  iji  Mexico  will  receive 
the  same  pay  as  do  foreign  per¬ 
formers  under  a  pact  which  the 
Picture  Production.  Workers  Union 
(STPC)  has  made  with  Hollywood 
producers  working  down  here  This 
was  revealed  by  Roberto  Gavaldon, 
a  top  director,  speaking  as  STPC’s 
secretary  general. 

Congressman  Rodolfo  Landa, 
secretary  general  of  the  National 
Actor’s  Union  (ANDA)  ,  failed  in 
his  effort  to  win  a  minimum  $1,000 
weekly  pay  for  Mexicans  in  star 
roles  and  in  foreign  pix  produced 
here.  It  seems  that  the  $809 
weekly  ra :e  for  them  will  continue. 


I 

Tee  Off  Poorly 

By  HAROLD  MYERS 

London,  Jan.  14. 

The  British  film  industry  has  got. 
off  to  an  unusually  black  start  in 
1958.  A  series  of  events  in  the 
first  fortnight  of  the  year,  follow¬ 
ing  in  quick  succession,  presents  a 
grim  picture.  ^  4 

The  situation  may  well  be  aggra¬ 
vated  by  last  week’s  political  crisis 
and  the  appointment  of  at  new 
Chancellor,  of:  the  Exchequer:  The 
previous  holder  of  the  office,  Peter 
Thorneycroft,  moved  to  the  treas¬ 
ury,  a  year  ago  after  a  long  spell 
as  president  of  the  Board  of  Trade, 
during  which  time  he  bbcame  fa¬ 
miliar  with  the  film  industry  prob¬ 
lems.  The  trade  had  been  looking 
to  liim  for  practical  aid  in  alleviat¬ 
ing  fhe.  present  crisis. 

His  successor,  Heathcote  Amory, 
is  a  newcomer  so  far  as  motion 
picture  politics  are  concerned.  In 
any  event,  he  seems  to  be  pledged 
to  the  government  policy  that 
holds  out ;  little  hope  of  substantial 
relief  in  the  way  of  admission  tax 
concessions/ 

...  About  this  time  last  year,  when 
the  All-Iridustry  Tax  Committee 
made  its  representations  to  the 
government  for  a  $56,000,000  cut 
hi  the  incidence  of  the  ■  tax,  it 
warned  the  government  that .  by 
I960  it  was  anticipated  that  ad-mi  - 
sioiis  would  have  dropped  to  945,- 
0.00,000  and  that  would  suggest 
•‘that  disaster  had  already  befallen 
the  industry.”  The  latest  BOT  re¬ 
turns  indicate  that  the  feared  drop 
in  paid  admissions  has  come  two 
years  ahead  of  anticipation.  And 
the  trade  now  warns  that,  only  /to¬ 
tal  *  abolition  can  enable  it  -to  sur¬ 
vive. 

The  AITC  is  meeting  here,  to¬ 
morrow  (Wed.)  to  finalize  its  state¬ 
ment  of.  case  for.  submission  to  the 
treasury,  and  there’s  now  little 
doubt  that  it  will  urge  the  govern¬ 
ment  to  abolish  w^at  has  now  be- 
come  known  as  the  cinema  tax.  No 
other  form  of  entertainment  is  now 
obliged  to  pay  an  admission  duty 
toll. 

The  .  serious  decline  in  paid  ad¬ 
missions  .was  spotlighted  at  the 
turn  of  the  year  by  John  Davis, 
managing  director  of  the  Rank  Or¬ 
ganization,  when  he*  announced 
that  it  was  slashing  its  production 
program.  In  consequence,  more, 
than  350  studio  employees  had  be¬ 
come  superfluous.  Davis  blamed 
the  situation  on  the  penal  tax, 
coupled  with  the  decline  in  admis¬ 
sions.  There’s  also  been  a  lesser 
case  of  non-essential  employes  at 
the  Associated  British  Elstree  Stu¬ 
dios,  where  extra  staff  employed  to 
cope  with  production  transferred 
from  Shepperfon  (which  was  un¬ 
dergoing  rebuilding)  has  been  dis- 
iriissed. 


Yank  Pix  at  Japan’s  lst-Runs  Show 


FINLAND'S  FESTIVAL 


Danish.  Radio  Symph  Due 
In  Helsinki  Come  June 


Helsinki,  Jan.  7. 

A  guest  soloist  and  orchestra  will 
be  featured  at  the  Sibelius  Music 
Festival,  an  annual  Finnish  event, 
which  will  be  held  here  during  the 
June  7-17  period.  Scheduled  :  to 
appear  are  the  Danish  Radio  Sym¬ 
phony  Orchestra  and  concert  vior 
linist  Emjl  Telmanyi  who  will  be 
heard  wi‘h  the  orch’s  second  con- 
bert, 

-  Some  10  concerts  are  listed,  plus 
one  opera  and  one  theatre  perform¬ 
ance  as  well  as  exhibitions  of  folk 
music  and  folk  dancing.  Highlight 
of  the  fest,  of  course,  is  music  by 
Jean  Sibelius  and  contemporary 
Finnish  composers.  Program  in¬ 
cludes  Sibelius’  Seventh  Symphony 
and  his.  Kullervo  Symphony.  Latter 
was  last  performed  in.  1892. 


EROS,  BOMBAY  TO  WB 


Airconditioned  House  Opens  With 
‘Prince  &  Showgirl* 

.  Warner  Bros,  has  taken  over  the 
1, 200-seat  Eros  Theatre'  in  Bom¬ 
bay,  India,  from  the  Cambatta 
Bros.  House  is.  airconditioned  and 
will  start  off  under  the  new  man¬ 
agement  with  “Prince  and  the 
Showgirl.” 

Metro  and  .  20th-Fq‘x  -also  run 
theatres  in  India.,  *•’  *'’“  J '  ** J 1 


Law  Extended  1  Yn 

Rome,  Jan.  Tv 

Current  Italian  censorship  reg¬ 
ulations,  somejof  them  dating  back 
to  1923,  have~been  extended  for 
another,  year  through  Dee:  31,  1958 
by  special  government  decree.  De¬ 
cision  was.  taken  because  a  long 
controversy  had  delayed  discussion 
and  eventual  approval  of  a  new  set 
of  censorship  regulations  submit¬ 
ted  some,  time  ago  by  the  Italian 
entertainment  office. 

As  previously  outlined  in 
Variety,  principal  hurdle  turned 
out  to  be  Article  2  of  the  proposed 
law.  The  conflict  between  the  left, 
which  looks  at  the  law  as  a  political  , 
damper  (also  in  view  of  upcoming 
elections);  and  the.  right,  which 
wants,  it.  extended  from  moral 
points  to  others  encompassing  con¬ 
trol  against  slaps  at  national  insti¬ 
tutions,  the  church,  police,  etc. 

Special  decree  extending  the  cur¬ 
rent  legislation  for.  still  another 
year  (discussion  of  a  new  law  has 
been  going  on  for  several  years 
now)  states,  however,  that  the  old 
law  remains  valid  “until  a  new  one 
is  emanated  and  for  no  reason  be¬ 
yond  the  date  of  Dec.  31,  1858.” 


Plan  for  One  Big  U.S. 
Homeoffice  in  Mex  City  i 


Mexico  City,  Jan,  7. 

The  10  American  film  distribu- 
tors  here  won’t  be  able  to,  material¬ 
ize  the  plan  of  their  homeoffices 
to  merge  into  oiie  unit  for.  eco¬ 
nomic  reasons..  Paring  of  person¬ 
nel,  mostly  union  and  costly 
would  prove  far  too  expensive.  So 
say  the  brass. of  local  No.  1  of  the 
National  Cinematographic  Industry 
Workers  Union  (STIC)  which  con¬ 
trols  all  the  Yank  organized  help. 

The  union,  execs  point  out  thatj 
the  wholesale  firing  that  would  re¬ 
sult  from  consummation  of  -the 
plan  would  involve  a  great  cost  be¬ 
cause  of  heavy  cash  indemnifica¬ 
tions  which  Mexican  labor  law  de¬ 
mands  for.  dismissals  not  caused  by 
workers.  The  law  specifies  pay¬ 
ment  of  three  months  wages,  plus 
20  days  pay  per  pear  of  service  for 
dismissal  of  staff  personnel.  The 
STIC  members  say  that  since  most 
of  the  Americans  have  been  doing 
business  in  Mexico  for  years  (some 
of  them  30  years)  and  still  have 
many  of  their  original  unionist 
help  (all  well  paid),  the  indemnifi- 
cations  would  cost  far  more  than 
any.  saving  the  consolidation 
could  yield.. 

The.  unionists  aver  that  the  case 
of  -  several  Mexican  producers 
throwing  in  for  distribution  with 
Peliculas  NaCionales,  a  semi-offi¬ 
cial  outfit;  has  little  bearing  on  this 
case  for  American  distribs  because 
most  of  these  producers  were  new 
and  had  feto  unionists  on  their 
payroll;  Therefore  dismissal  pay¬ 
offs  were  practically  negligible. v  4 


-+  Tokyo,  Jan.  8. 

Responding  to  a  situation  here 
and  ’  other  Japan  keys,  whereby 
revenue  at.  first-runs  featuring  for¬ 
eign  films  has  taken  a  significant 
plunge.  Irving  Maas,  Far  Eastern 
MPEA  rep  declared:  “From  avail¬ 
able  figures  it  appears  that  the  Jap¬ 
anese  market  for  American  and 
other  imported  films  is  now  feeling 
the  full  impact  of  the  restrictions, 
quota-wise  arid  on  prints,  imposed 
in  the  past  two  years. 

^  “This  becomes  apparent,”  Maas 
told  Variety,  “when  it  is  noted  that 
despite  an  increase  in  the  number 
of  theatres  in  Japan  this  year,  for¬ 
eign  film  rentals  have  just  about 
held  their  own  whereas  the  indigin- 
eous  product  has  shown  a  substan¬ 
tial  increase.  There  is  definitely  a 
shortage  of  foreign  films  here.  It 
is  also  significant  that  the  'shortage 
of  American  product  has  created  a 
problem  for  the  first-run  key  city 
theatres.”  *  *  / 

The  b.o.  slump  by  first-run 
houses,  almost  wholly  dependent 
-on  U.S.  and  other  Imported  films, 
also  can  he  traced  to  other  causes, 
the  most  obvious  being  the  two-year 
building  boom  of  roadshow  thea¬ 
tres. 

In  Tokyo,  for  example;  there 
were  only  four  roadshow  theatres 
in  1951.  Today,  there  are  12,  This 
theatre  saturation  is  reflected  in 
figures  which  reveal  that  formerly 
a  first-run  house,  took  in  $55,555.55 
to  $83,333.33  per  month,  but  the 
average  today  has  nosedived  to 
about  $41,611.11  to  $55,555.55,  a 
drop  of  20-30%. 

Surplus  of  Roadshow1  Houses 
.  With  the  overload  of  roadshow 
theatres  in  Tokyo  and  allowing  for 
a  three  and  a  half  week  average 
rim  per  picture,  the  foreign  film 
requirement  in  Tokyo  would  be  180 
per  anniim.  Restrictions  limit  im¬ 
port  to  166  films  or  189  if  special 
allocations  are  granted.  This  means 
that  almost  all  foreign  product  must 
be  roadshown  although  in  certain 
quarters  here  it  is  felt  that  only 
half  to  a  third  of  the  foreign  prod¬ 
uct  deserves  such  showcasing.  This 
condition  also  means  that  foreign 
films  are  frequently  roadshown  to 
empty  theatres  in  extended  play 
because  of  the  shortage  of  product. 

Last  year,  b?o.  receipts  for  do¬ 
mestic  product  was  $6,500,000  while 
foreign  films  drew  $3,222,222  to  the 
wickets.  It  is  estimated  that  this 
year  Japanese  films  will  show  an 
increase  whereas  the  foreigh  prod¬ 
uct  (about  80%  are  U.S.)  gross  will 
hold  at.  status  quo. 

In  addition  to  the  import  re¬ 
strictions  and  the  mushrooming  of 
firstnins,  other  causes  cited  for  the 
decline  of  the  foreign  film  here  are: 
(1)  Japan’s  entry  into  the  wide¬ 
screen  field,  using  color  to  advan¬ 
tage,  (2)  Acceptance  of  Japanese 
film  abroad  to  a  bigger  extent, 
thereby  helping  Japanese  product 
here,  (3)  a  limit  reached  in  foreign 
film  fandom,  and,  (4)  loss  of  pres¬ 
tige  by  the  U.S.  industry  to  tv. 

.  Meanwhile,  Maas  planned  to 
make  his  initial  contacts  with  Fi¬ 
nance  Ministry  officials  soon  after 
the  lengthy  year-end  holidays  here 
preparatory  tb  discussions  re  quotas 
and.  allocations  for  the  next  fiscal 
beginning  April  1.  He  recently  re¬ 
turned  from  a  seven-week  area  trip 
which  took  him  to  Manila  twice, 
Indonesia  and  India.  Maas  reported 
that  in  Mainilia  there  has  been  a 
full  halt  to  all  remittances,  with  the 
back  taxes  issue  still  pending. 

Of  India,  he  said:  “We’ve  come  to 
an  agreement  there  which  restores 
our  trading  conditions  as  they  ex¬ 
isted  before  the  quotas  were  ap¬ 
proved  a  year  ago.” 

..Maas  said  that  until  he  is  re¬ 
placed,  he  will  he  responsible  for 
the.  entire  Far  East  with  Tokyo  re¬ 
maining  as  headquarters. 

SCOT  MINERS  URGE 
SUNDAY  FILM  SHOWS 

Edinburgh,  Jan.  7. 
Young  §cot  miners,  in  confab 
here,  demanded  that  cinemas  and 
danceries  be  opened  on  Sundays, 
claiming  it  would  decrease  the 
Crime  rate. 

Peter  Smith,  a  Fife  miner,  said 
most  crime  among  juves  occurred 
on  Sundays.  He  would  rather  see 
young  miners  going  to  a  cinema  or 
a  dancery  on  the  Sabbath  tftan  hav¬ 
ing  to  appear  in  court  on  Monday 
morning.  Other  speakers  claimed 
that  Sunday  loitering  would  cease 
if  centers  of  anwisemeht  .  Wert 
'dptjh’ed/’'  ■*’  '*’ 


14  IMW/ARJmKS 

- - -  •  .  - 


•  PSsa&rt 


Wednesday,  January  15,  1958 


FILMS  &  TV  DO  THE  WORK,  BUT  FOLKS  STILL  READ 

‘Required  Effort  Of  The  Book*  Contrasted 
To  Lazy-Does-It  of  Today’s  Pop.  Culture 


( The  International  Reading  Assn.  Conference  during 
1957  was  especially  interested  in  the  impact  of  mov¬ 
ing  pictures,  on  the  theatre,  screen  and  on  the  home 
screen,  upon  the  literacy  of  Americans.  The  folloio- 
ing  text,  under  the  caption,  “Reading  in  the  Pres¬ 
ent  Communications  Revolution/*  was  delivered  at 
the  Hotel  New  Yorker  ,  on  May  10.— Ed.) 


By  LETTER  ASHEDI 

{Dean,  Graduate  Library  School,  Vniv.  of  Chicago) 

If  you  are  still  old  fashioned  enough  to  think  about 
what  you  read,  the  title  of  this  ,  paper  may  have.suggested 
a  question  to  you.  That  question  would  be  something  like 
this:  If  there  really  has  been  a  communications  revolu¬ 
tion  in  our  day,  just  what  has  been  overthrown,  and  what 
has  been  put  in  its  place?  When  the  communications 
revolution  is  so  glibly  referred  to,  we  are  likely  to  think 
of  those  upstart  inventions  of  our  country:  the  moving 
picture,  radio  and  television,  and  of  the  challenge  they 
represent  to  the  supremacy  of  print 

And  yet  there  has  never  been  so  much  book  publication 
as  there  is  today.  Since  the  end  of  World  War  II,  the 
number  of  titles  produced  in  the  United  States  has 
steadily  increased  each  year.  Book  publishers  complain 
about  rising  costs  but  the  books  continue  to  issue  from 
the  presses  in  ever-increasing  numbers.  When  worried 
laymen  tackle  the  problem,  they,  usually  claim  that  not 
a$  many  people  read  today  as  used  to  years  ago,  but  I  very 
much  doubt  that.  More  people  are  reading  now,  in  sheer, 
numbers,  than  at  any  time  in  history.  What  then*  is  the 
fuss  about?  f 

Well,  the  fuss  is  about  the  fact  that  although  the  num¬ 
ber  of  readers  may  be  greater,  the  proportiou-^all  things 
considered— is  not.  There  were  never  so  many  people 
before,  and  the  proportion,  of  them  who  read  is  disap¬ 
pointingly  small.  Disappointingly;  because  never  before 
have  the  conditions  for  reading  been  so  favorable.  In  the 
past,  education  was  limited  to  a  small  portion  of  the; 
population*  leisure  in  which  to  read  was  a  luxury  of  the 
few;  the  wherewithal  for  the  purchase  of  books  was  in 
a  few  hands.  Today,  at  least  in  the  United  States,  almost 
everyone  is  literate,  has  leisure  and  has  money-to  spend, 
for  the  first  time  in  history,  it  is  reasonable  for  us  to  say 
that  more  people  ought  to  read;  in  ho  other,  age  has  read¬ 
ing  been  so  completely  a  matter  Of  individual  choice. 

So  while  it.  is  discouraging  that  only  about  17  to  25% 
of  the  adult  population  is  likely  to  have  read  as  much  as 
a  single  book  in  the  past  month,  it  is  encouraging  that  we 
can  be  shocked  by  such  figures  We  have  this  much  *  ' 
our' favor  today:  these  figures  coiild  conceivably  be  bet¬ 
tered,  but  I  doubt  if  they  could  have,  been  at  any  time 
before  1920. 

Yet,  the  prognosis  is  unfavorable  for  more  reading  at 
a  level  much  higher  than  that  represented  by  the  comic 
book  and  the  popular  press.  All  of  the  correlates  of 
reading  are  present*  but  so  are  the  competitors  of  read¬ 
ing,  and  it  is  this  ,  competition  that  usually  is  thought  of  .as 
the  cause  of  the  communications,  revolution.  I  should 
like  to  suggest,  however,  that  while  the  revolution  de¬ 
rives  in  part  from  the  invention  of  the  mass  communi¬ 
cation  devices,  they  are  much  more  a  result  of  the  revolu¬ 
tion  than  its  cause.  In  other  words,  a  revolution  in  our 
thinking  made  the  invention  of  -  these  devices  necessary. 

| _  Required  Effort  of  tlie  Book  ,  [ 

The  revolution  to  which. -I  refer  is  the  present  belief 
that  the  effort  required  for  any  activity  should,  be  re¬ 
duced,  ahd  that  everything  worthwhile  should  come  , 
easily.  In  the  mass  media,  for  example,  all  of  the  work 
including  thinking  is  done..for  the  user.  But  the  book 
requires  that  the  reader  meet  it  half  way.  by  doing  some 
of  the  work  himself. 

There  was  a  time  when  this  would  not  have  been  con-.: 
sidered  to  be  the  book's  trouble,  but  its  strength— -when 
it  was  taken  for  granted  that  some  things  come  hard, 
and  that  indeed  it  was  this  very  fact  that  made  them  toe 
more  worthwhile.  In  the  20th  century,  however,  the  lazy- 
man  has  become  respectable.  At  all  levels  of  society 
one  finds  the  digests,  the  book  clubs,  the  syntopicons 
which  take  the  selection,  the  decisions,  the  evaluations, 
the  thinking  out  of  our  hands  and  give  Us  instead  a  pre¬ 
digested,  ready  made,  yours-for-the-asking  “education.’ 

As  you  see,  none  of  the  devices  exhibiting  these  appeals 
are  the  newer  devices  of  mass  communication;,  they  are 
forms  of  the  book.  But  I  do  hot  consider  this  to  be  en¬ 


couraging.  If  the  death  of  the  book  Is  actually  hastened 
in  the  years  ahead,  it  could  well  be  because  we — and  by 
“we”  I  mean  the  educators,  the  writers,  the  publishers, 
the  librarians— have  accepted  the  mass  medium  premise 
that  the  audience  cannot  be  expected  to  attend  any 
message  which  requires  some  effort  to  Understand. 

1  A  Forced  Rivalry  | 

In  other  words,  the  book  has  entered  into  competition 
with  the  other  media  oh  their  grounds,  not  on  its  own. 
It  is  being  judged,  not  omits  merits  as  a  book,  but  on  the 
degree  to  Which  its  appeal  Is  like  that  of  the  movie  and 
the  telecast;  We  have  tried  to  make  reading  easier  to 
do,  by  diluting  literary  style  and  eliminating  complexities 
and  challenge.  We* have  tried  to  increase  the  speed  of 
reading  and  inculcate  the  practice  of  skipping— not  as 
individual  acts  of  personal  judgment  and  selection,  but 
as  a  means,  for  getting  the  tedious  business  of  reading  out 
of  the  way  as  soon  as  possible. 

We  have,  fallen  into  the  trap  of  emphasizing  reading  as 
a  tool  skill,  by  promoting  the  book  as  an  easy  means  of 
getting  at  ends  outside  itself:  gaining  a  skill,  or  getting 
d  good  job,  or  learning  a  fact.  What  we  haven’t  done 
is  to  show  that  reading  has  unique  rewards  of  its  own- 
long-term  and  deeper-— which,  although  they  can  be  won 
only  with  a  bit  of  effort,  are  worth  it.  r 

This  strange  notion — that  the  best  way  to  strengthen  the 
book  is  to  weaken  it— has  developed,  I  think,. because 
we  have  seen  the.  other  media:  as  a  threat  to  the  book 
rather  than  as  a  supplement  and  reinforcement  for  it. 
We  have  seen  how  powerfully  attractive  the  mass  media 
are,,  put  have  convinced*ourselves;  out  of  some  kind  of 
misguided  loyalty  to  traditional  educational  patterns* 
that  it  is  somehow  beneath  us  to  afford  them  a  place  in 
the  curriculum. 

BUt  education  if,  after  all,  the  broadening  of  experi¬ 
ence,  the  widening  of  horizons,  the  increase  of  one’s 
understanding  of  himself  arid  the  world  in  which  he  lives; 
If  language  arid  the  bpok '^lave  always  been  the  Core  of 
education,  it:is  because  education  is  Concerned  with  man’s 
relation  to  .  his  world,  which  relies  on.  communication,  and 
it  was  through  language  arid  the  book  that  communication 
was  carried  on.  Today  :  the  book  is  only  one  of  the  means 
of  communication.  The  multiplication  of  communication 
media  has*  in  effect,  introduced  new  languages;  arid  the 
competence  to  deal  with  them,  to  handle  their  symbols, 
to  understand,  their  forms*  requires  skills  and  training 
just  as  any  traditional  language  does. 

If  it  is  appropriate  for  education  to  help  the- student  to 
develop  a  critical  taste  arid  objective  standards  •  with0 
which  to  approach  what  he  reads  and  writes  on  paper,; 
then  it  is  also  appropriate  for  education  to  help  the  stud¬ 
ent  to  bring  equally  objective  and  critical  standards  to 
what  he  sees  On  the  screen  and  hears  On  the  air. 

If  we  were  to  emphasize  the  best  in  each  media,  rather 
than  insist  that  one  is  best  for  everything,  the.  unique 
strengths  and  rewjards  .  of  reading .  would  soon  become 
apparent.  For  as  soon  as  we  compare  the  media  objec¬ 
tively,  instead  of  clinging  sentimentally  to  one,  we  put. 
them  all  on  an  equal  footing.  If  once  it  were  made  clear 
that  th&  book*  the  movie  and  tv  are  all  in  the  same  busi¬ 
ness,  employing:  symbols  to  convey  messages,  the  inevita¬ 
ble  differences  in  the  symbols  employed  might  prove  of 
interest.  Arid  then  certain  implications  of  these  differ¬ 
ences  would  become  clear. 

For  one  thing,  there,  is  the  matter  of  styles.  Not  only: 
what  is  said  but  how  it  is  said  can  be  a  source  of  delight 
in  all  of  the  media.  Each,  of  them  has  a  particular  form 
and  style  which  the  other  cannot  duplicate— in  the  book, 
of  course,  it  is  .  the  selection  and  ordering  of  words  in 
•beautiful  arid  meaningful  combinations.  If  we  really 
want  to  insure  a  generation  of  readers  in  the  future,  we 
might  have  to  reach  not  so  much  reading  as  the  appre¬ 
ciation  of  writing.  And  ari  appreciation  of  writing  comes 
very  quickly  when  one.  compares  the  well  written  book 
with  its  adaptation  to  movies,  television,  and  the  Readers 
Digest. 

1  ;  Pause  Thai  Refreshes  the  Mind  _ [ 

The.  book  differs  froin  the  other  media  In  ariother 
aspect.  It  is  impossible  for  the  User  of  radio,  film  and 
televisiori  to  ^  say— as.  he  .  can  when  he  reads  a  book— 
“Let’s  stop  .a  minute  and  think  about  this.**  In  these 
other  media,  the  treatment  must  be  surface  and  simple 
because  the  pace  of  assimilation  Is  not  set  by  the  user. 
Only  the  medium  of  print  allows  one  to  stop  and  think, 


to  re-read,  to  go  back  and  compare,  to  verify  and  adjust. 
The  book  thus  invites  a  critical  judgment;  the  other  media 
almost  demand  Its  suspension.. 

But  whenever  the  other  ,  media  are  more  effective  than 
the  book — as  they  often  are  in  reporting  current  events 
supplying  specific  facts,  demonstrating  skills  and  tech’ 
niques,  portraying  graphically*  entertaining— it  is  not 
too  illogical  that  they  should  be  preferred.  The  objective 
study  and  comparison  of  the  several  media  would  help  us 
to  choose  the  appropriate  medium  for  the  particular  pur¬ 
pose  we  wish  it  to  serve. 

The  book,  however,  is  still  unmatched  in  its  ability  to 
present: 

All  sides  of  an  idea  or  a  concept. 

To  take  necessary  time  to  develop  an  idea  fully. 

To  give  arresting  and  challenging*and  provocative 
statement  to  ideas  that  we  ourselves  are  unable  to 
express.  ^ 

To  charm  and  entertain  and  delight  through  the 
special  manipulation  of  symbolic  black  marks  on 
white  paper. 

Unfortunately,  these  are .  rewards  which  require  some 
effort  to  attain,  which  means  that— all  things  being  equal 
— they  attract  a  much  smaller  audience  than  do  rewards 
that  are  easy,  to  get.  Where  a  choice  has  to  be  made  /we 
know  only  too  well  that  it  is  likely  to  be  determined  by 
what  Wilbur  Schramm  has  called  “the  fraction  of  selec¬ 
tion,”  that  is,  the  Expectation  of  Reward,  divided  by  the 
Effort  Required.  As  a  result  of  the  attitude  which  char¬ 
acterizes  the  comriiunications  revolution,  both  the  book 
rind  the  other  media  have  attempted  to  increase  the  value 
of  the.  fraction  with  their  potential  audiences  by  decreas¬ 
ing  the  Effort  Required,  But  since  the  effort  required  .to 
read  a  book  is  inevitably  greater *4han  that  required  to 
look  at  a  movie. or  listen  to  a  soap  opera,  the  book  is  at 
a  real  disadvantage  in  this  competition. 

But  notice  that  the  value  of  the;  fraction  can  be  in- 
The  very  success  of  the  other  media  makes  the  .  con¬ 
tinued  existence  of  the  book — the  book  in  its  pre-revolu¬ 
tion  sense  of  hard  covers,  hard  content,  and  hard  chal¬ 
lenge — all  the  more  essential..  Our  society  needs— arid 
will  need  more  than  ever  in  the  years  to  .  Come — some 
source  where  complex  problems  can  be  attacked,  some 
means  for  exercising  the  mind  and.  judgment,  some  place 
Where  rational  -analysis, .  verification,  comparison  arid 
adaptation  of  ideas  can  be  practiced.  The  book  :  is ;  not 
only  a  storehouse  for  the  best  that  is  known  and  thought 
in  the  world— although .  if  it  were  bnly  that  it  would  be 
important  enough,  since  the  ability  to  preserve  their  con¬ 
tent  for  the  future  is  denied  most  of  the  other  media.  BUt 
more  than  that  it  is  a  device  for  stimulating  new  thoughts 
and  generating  new"  ideas.  Its  social  importance  lies  in  its 
ability  to  teach  us  not  what  to  think,  but  how  to  think; 
to  act  not  only  as  a  resource  of  existing  ideas,  but  as  a 
mental  discipline  Which  stimulates  the  creation  of  new 
ideas. 

Reading  as  a  discipline,  then,  has  values  in  itself,  over 
and  above  the  content.  Recreational  readirig,  so-called 
light  reading,  reading  which  is  as  much  an  escape  as 
movies  and  television,  can  still  cariy  with  it  an  intangi-. 
ble“plus,”  deriving  from  the  involvement  of  the  intelli¬ 
gence  which  is  required .  by  the  simple  act.  of  spelling: 
out  the  meaning  in  one’s  mind.  When  we  speak  of  serious 
literature  we  do  uot  necessarily  mean  sober  literature; 
when  we  extol  the  importance  of  reading  we  do  riot 
riecessarily  mean  weightly  subject  matter. 

In  a  good  book  the  matter  and  the.  manner  are  inex¬ 
tricably  bound  together  to  create  something  considerably 
greater  than  the  sum.  of  its  Visible  parts.  The  importance 
of  reading  derives  froiri  the  special  fire  that  is  kindled 
when  reader  and  writer  cooperate  to  share  the  communi¬ 
cation  experience.  It  is  this  sharing  of  experience,  as 
opposed  to  the  passive  exposure  to  entertainment  or  in¬ 
struction  in  the  other  media,  which  constitutes  the  dis¬ 
tinctive  value  which  will  protect  the  book,  even  in  this 
present  communications  revolution. 

In  communications  revolution  with  its  emphasis  upon 
the  easy,  the  book— all  things  being  equal— could  hardly 
hold  its.  own.  But  luckily  all  things  aren’t  equal,  and  the 
weight  Is  on  the  side  of  the  book.  So  long  as  we  recog¬ 
nize  that,  we  need  not  fear  the  competition  with  the  other 
media.  If  we  will  only  let  it,  the  book  cap  .  remain  su¬ 
preme  in  this:  its  capacity  to  move  and  challenge  and 
enlarge  the  minds  of  .  men. 


Dietz  Still  Here,  M-G’s  Got  Him 


Continued  from  page.  4 


try.  It  was  legitimate,  enough  ex¬ 
cept  that  this  was  desert  terrain 
and  all  rights  were  controlled  by 
the  state.: 

A  German  inVentor  at  one  time 
approached  Dietz  with  a  stereopti- 
con  device  which,  he  said,  could 
bounce  an  image  off  a  cloud.  This 
didn’t  work  but  the  gadget  was 
capable  of  performing.  a 

shorter  range,  arid  it  was  put  to 
work  in  sending  the  message,  “Go 
to  the  Capitol.”  The  rub  was  that 
Dietz  projected  the  big  block  let¬ 
ters  on  the  Paramount  Theatre 
Bldg.  Par  protested  but  only  after 
reporters  in  the  city  room  of  the 
Times  caught  the  flash  and  gave 
the  gimmick  big  editorial  attention. 

For  “Brothers  Under  the  Skin*J 


Dietz  formally  formed  a  “ClUb  for 
Husbands.”  It  caught  to  the 
extent  that  chapters  sprung  Up 
nationally. 

It  was  riot  the  quiet  life  in  1929 
when  there  was  peddling  to  be 
done,  for  “Hollywood  Revue.’’  A 
ledge  Was  .  built,  across  the  facade 
of  the  Astor  Theatre  Bldg,  and 
posts  erected  thereon!  To  each  of 
2d  such  posts  was  ;  strapped  a 
chorus-type  girl  Who  kicked  arid 
sarig  “Singing  in  the  Rain.”  Dietz 
first  had  to  mount  the  precarious 
ledge  himself  to  prove  to  the 
dancing  girls'  it  could  be  done.  - 
Times  Square  had  election  -night 
crowds  for  each  “performance” 

|  uritil  the  Police  Department 
stopped  the  “show”  after  a  week’s 
run. 

Ic  The*  bead*  bf  Hbe  'lfori/  as  the 


M-G  trademark*  is  a  Dietz  credit,5 
as  adapted  from  his  alma  mater, 
Columbia  U.  Dietz  was  with  Gold- 
wyn  at  the  time,  and  a  free-lance 
artist  named  Philip  Goodman  did 
the  artwork. 

Exec  WaS  the  first  to  advertising 
individual  pictures  on  a  national 
scale  and,  indeed,  was  the  first  to 
irisert  a  full-page  :  picture  ad  in 
Variety.  This  was  in  the-  years  ago 
when  Variety; Was  riot  particularly 
partial  to  films;  the  feature  given 
this  new  kirid  of  trade  attention 
WaS  “The  Old  Nest.” 

On  the  side,  Dietz  had  15  plays 
to  his  credit;  many  in  collaboration 
with.  Arthur  Schwartz,  others  with 
Jerome  Kern,  the  Gershwins  arid 
Morrie  RysKirid,  and  a  couple  of. 
operas  in  company  with  Strauss 
and  Puccini. 

Is  now  the  time  to  write  a  book? 
“No,”  he  says.  “A.  book  is  no  good 
Without-  acid  and  a  pressagent 
can’t  ,  touch  people  with  acid.  Be¬ 
sides,  I’ve  taken  a  lot  of  money 
out  of  this  industry— and  intend  to 
take  more.”  .  j  --v.  i...--. ., 


a- 


Minneapolis’  Prolog,  to  ’58 

Continued  from  page.  .4  ^ 


kee,”  “Adam  Had  Four  Sons,” 
“The  Lady  Is  Willing”  and  “The 
Doctor  Takes  a  Wife.” 

“  And  “Bullets  or  Ballots*”  “My 
Reputation,”  “Guri  Ho,”  ‘-Key 
Largo,”  “That  Way  With  Women,” 
‘Portrait  of  Jenny,”  “Walk  a 
Crooked  Mile,”  “The  Man  I  Mar¬ 
ried,”  “Every  Girl  Should  Be  Mar- 
ried,”-  “Buffalo  Bill,”  “Fury  at 
Furnace  Creek”  and.  “Velvet 
Touch.” 

A  number  of  the  foregoing  are, 
of  course,  new  to  the  present  gene¬ 
ration  Ot  movie  fans,  others  are 
forgotten  even  by  the  older  film 
fans  arid  soine  bear  repeated  see¬ 
ing,  It’s  pointed  out. 

Nevertheless,  the  public  has  been 
flocking  to  the  loop  in  numbers  suf¬ 
ficient  to  result  in  gigantic  grosses 
at  eight  or  more  theatres  simul¬ 
taneously  despite  upped  adnfe 


sioris  at  six  of  the;  nine  houses,  in? 
eluding  $1.50  after  5  p.m.  for' 
“Peyton  Place”  and  “Sayonara,” 
instead  of  the  usual  90c;  $1.25  for 
“And  God  Created  Woman,”  $2.2$ 
for  ‘Raintree  County”  and  $2.65 
for.  “SeVen  Wonders  of  the  World”' 
and  “Around  the  World  in  80 
Days.”  ! 

McFall  Heads  Local  F-53 

James  McFall,  of  United  Artists, 
was  elected  prez  of  the  Front  Office 
Exchange  Employees,  Local  F-53. 

Other  officers  named  included 
Albert  Flores*  Columbia,  veepee; 
LeRoy  Whittngton,  M-G-M  busi¬ 
ness  agent;  Ruby  Harvill,  M-G-M, 
recording  secretary;  Juanita  Myers, 
Columbia,  financial  secretary,  and 
Doyle  Moorman*  M-G-M,  sergeant 
rit  arms.  1,,iJ  J ' 


Wednesday,  January  15, 1958 


P’fi&lETf 


PICTURES 


15 


SWAMPING  IT  FOB  ART 


(AND  SCHULBERGS) 


Notes  from  the  “Across  the  Everglades”  Schulberg  production  on 
location,  at  Everglades  City,  Fla.:  Starring  Burl  Ives  and  Christopher 
Plummer,  for  Warner  Bros,  release,  it’s  a  story  about  the  plume  hunt¬ 
ers  in  the  early  part  of  the  century,  who  used  to  roam  the  Everglades* 
killing  hundreds  of  thousands  of  birds  to  get  their  feathers.  Gang  lead¬ 
er  Ives  is,  pitted  against  Audubon  Warden  Piummer.  In  those  days,  the 
state  provided  the  laws  and  the  Audubon  Society  the  warden  .  .  .  Pro¬ 
ducer  Stuart  Schulberg  and  writer-brother,  Budd  Schulberg  have  con¬ 
verted  an  old  warehouse  at.  Everglades  City  (pop.  700)  into  what  is 
proudly  called  “Everglades  Studio.  Stage  3.”  There’s  of  course  postage 
1  or  2.  In  fact  the.  warehouse  was.  built  originally  to  make  the  town 
look  larger  for  the  Tamiami  Trail  opening  ceremonies  .  .  .  Director 
Nicholas  Ray  is  a  hero  to  his  colleagues  on  location  scouting  expedi¬ 
tions  into  the  swampy  Everglades  country  since  he  always  leads  the 
party.  But  Ray  has  his  private  reasons.  “Those  rattlers  never  strike 
the  first  person  in  line,  always  the  second  or  third!”  .  .  ;  Company  does 
its  own  cutting  on  the  spot  and  has  imported  two  cutters  to ’do  the  job 
..  .  Stuart  Schulberg  says  doing  a  him  like  this  on  location,  isn’t  much 
of  a  saving  in  the  .long  run.  Bad  weather  has  extended  the  shooting 
sked  to  three  months  .  .  .  Though  the  killing  of  egrets  and  herons  is 
a  key  point  of  the  film,  the  film  company  didn’t  get  permission  to  kill 
a  single  bird.  The  “blasting”  of  the  birds  has  to  be  simulated  .  .  .  Plum¬ 
mer,  the  warden,  is  in  love  with  a  Jewish  refugee  girl,  played  by  Chana 
Eden,  an  Israeli  girl.  She  gives  him  a  golden  Star  of  David  which  he 
wears  around  his  neck  for  most  of  the  picture  .  .  Ives'  beard  Is  dyed 
a  fiery  red  “for  effect”  .  .  .  Author  MacKinlay  Kantor  has  a  part  in  the 
film.  So  do  clown  Emmett  Kelly,  jockey  Sammy  Renick  and  former 
champ,  Tony  Gdlento.  What  with  their  beards  and  swamp-rags  it’s  hard 
to  distinguish  between  them  and  the  local  folks  playing  extra  parts:  in 
the  film  .;  .  .  Gypsy  Rose  Lee,  having  completed  her  stint  (playing  a  lo¬ 
cal  madame),  came  back  to  pose,  for  Life  . ,  .  Stuart  Schulberg  would 
prefer  producing  in  Europe.  Brother  Budd  prefers  the  States  “where 
I’m  at  home  with  the  language  and  the  sounds  of .  the  people." 


Talent  Pool  In  Casting -Peter  Wilt 


Hollywood  is  doing  little  more  4 
than  paying  “lip  service”  to  the 
New  York  talent  pool  and,  as  a 
consequence,  is  missing  out  on  im¬ 
portant  personalities,  according  to 
talent  agent  Peter  Witt.  . 

Witt,  who’s  active  in  films,  ty  and . 
legit  as  well  as  in  the  story  market, 
said-  in  .  New  York  last  week  that 
the  studios  were  addicted  to  stereo¬ 
type  casting.  “It’s  only  the  inde¬ 
pendents  that .  are  willing  to  take 
a  chance  and  cast  people  because 
of  their  talent:  and  hot  solely  be¬ 
cause  of  their  looks,”  he  observed. 

The  agent  pointed  to  the  many 
fine  actors  to  be  seen  on  the  legit 
stage  and  in  tv,  but  never  picked 
up  by.  Hollywood.  They  don’t  take 
kindly  to  type-casting  out  there,” 
he  held;  “It  doesn’t  occur  to  them 
that  . personalities  can  be  attractive 
simply  because  they’re  right  for 
the  part.  If  a  man  doesnT  fit  the 
prescribed  standards,  which  have 
little  to  do  with  ;  talent,  they  can’t 
be  bothered.” 

Witt  attributed  the  current  lack 
of  top  talent  in  films  to  this  in¬ 
flexible  policy.  He  said,  too.  that 
many  of  his  clients  were  better  off 
on  tv  than  in  Hollywood,  though 
the  talent  buildup  on  films  ‘  po¬ 
tentially  easier  than  on  the  air  be¬ 
cause  of.  the  continued  exposure. 
Only  thing  about  tv  is  that,  in  one 
night,  a  player  is  seen  by  millions 
of  people  on  a  dramatic  show  and 
his  face  automatically  becomes  fa¬ 
miliar  to  viewers  after  he’s  been 
on  a  couple  of  times.  Same  isn’t 
necessarily  true  of  pix,  unless  a 
player  is  cast  continuously. 

Witt  works  in  association  With 
two  Coast  agents — Paul  ‘-Kobner 
and  Kurt  Frings.  He  opined  that 
the:  current  talent  and  tv  exodus  to 
the  Coast  wouldn’t  last,  and  that 
the  pendulum  would  swing  back 
to  New  York.  “Coast  shows  don’t 
have  the  same  kind  of  quality  as 
the  ones  originating  in  the  East,” 
he  said. 


Christian  Science  Monitor 
Marks  50th  With  Film; 
Join  Beaufort’s  Chore 

The  Christian  Science  Monitor, 
this  year  marking  its  50th.  anniver¬ 
sary  as  an  international  newspaper; 
will  produce  a  halfhour  documen¬ 
tary  in  color,  showing r  its  publish¬ 
ing  operations  in  Boston  arid  the 
activities  of  national  and  foreign 
correspondents. 

The  actual  anhi  date  is  Nov.  25, 
1958.  The  picture  is  skedded  for 
release  next  June.  It  is  part  of  a 
number  of  activities  being  planned 
to  mark  the  occasion.  N.  Y.  bu¬ 
reau  chief-critic  John  Beaufort  is 
in:  >  charge  of  the  anniversary 


bureau. 


Can’t  Duck  City  Taxers 

Regi  ,  Sask.,  Jan.  14. 

Regina’s  six  theatres  will 
now  pay  an  annual  tax  of  $1 
.  a  seat  under  a  new  tax  bylaw 
passed  by  city  coiincil.  The 
previous  tax  was  75c.  The 
move  follows  a  recent  decision 
by  council  to  '  reduce  the 
amusement  tax. 

Indications  are  that  the  the¬ 
atres  will  hot  alter  their  ad¬ 
mission  prices. 


Minneapolis,  Jan.  14. 

Industry  members  here,  includ¬ 
ing  at  least  one  branch  manager, 
Irving  Marks  of  Allied  Artists,  are 
still  sputtering  angrily  two  weeks 
after  television’s  “Seven  -  Lively: 
Arts”  (29)  sizeup  of  the  film  in¬ 
dustry’s  current  status  and  the 
boxoffice  decline.  - 

They  feel  that  the  independent 
producers  .  who  appeared .  on  the 
program  dOwiirode  exhibition’s  out¬ 
look  and  that  what.these  producers 
had  to  say  was  calculated  to  make 
that  part  of  the  public  tuning  in  on 
the  show  believe  that  theatres  are 
doomed. 

In  feeling  that  the  impression 
gained  by  industry  outsiders  from 
the  independent  producers’  .  re¬ 
marks  during  the  interviews  was 
that  the  days  of  the  showhouses 
are  numbered,  Marks’  reaction 
seems  typical .  of  that  .  gained  by 
local  industry  members  generally. 

•  “Has  intelligence  gone  out  of 
Hollywood?”  asks  Marks.  “T hese 
independent  producers  seem  in¬ 
sane ,  to  judge  them  by  what  they 
said,  .. 

“They  practically  wrote  off  the 
theatres  and  otherwise  spread  pes¬ 
simism  as  far  as  theatres’  future  is 
concerned.  Yet  they’re  spending 
millions  to  make  pictures. 

“How  do  they  expect  to  get  those 
millions  back,  if  not  in  theatres? 
From  just  such  talk  the  public  gets 
the  idea  that  theatres  soon  will  be 
through.  That  is  boiind  to  keep 
many  away  from  showhouses  and 
to  induce  them  to  wait  for;  the  pic¬ 
tures  to  reach  their  tv  screens. 

“It  was  a  fine  chance  for  these 
producers  to  help  to  promote 
theatre  attendance  by  making  the 
public  movies-in-showhpiises  ..  con¬ 
scious.  But  they  all  slipped'  up 


T'iQ'QL-  .X(  S  b- 


INTEGRATED  DRIVE-IN 
MYSTERIOUSLY  BOMBED 

Charlotte,  N.C.,  Jan.  14. 
County  police  continue  to  inves¬ 
tigate  a  New  Year’s  Day  blast 
which  ripped  a  10-inch  hole  in  the 
marquee  of  a  driye-in  theatre 
which  admits  both  white  and  Ne¬ 
gro  patrons.  The  East  Seventh 
Street.  Drive-in  is  the  only  Char¬ 
lotte-  drive-in  theatre  admitting 
mixed  audiences. 

Police  Chief  Joe  Whitley  said 
the  cause  of  the  explosion  was  un¬ 
determined.  It  could  have  been 
caused  by  dynamite,  he  said. . 

.  W.  SI  Briggs,  operator  of  the 
theatre,  said  there  had  been  no 
trouble  since  the  change  of  the 
“white  only”  policy  several  months 
ago  but  the  owner  of  the  drive- 
in,  Mrs.  Nettie  .  FoWler,  said  a  -  fire 
of  undetermined  origin  damaged 
her  barn  and  three  trucks  oh  the 
night  of  Dec.  22.  v 

Mrs.  Fowler  -said  that  before 
Wednesday  morning’s  blast,  she 
had  not  considered  the  possibility 
of  a  link  between  the  unexplained 
fire  and  theatre  policy:.  “Now  I  just 
don't  know,”  she  said. 


Los  Angeles,  jan.  14. 

National  Theatres,  while  plan¬ 
ning  to  cooperate  fully  with  promo¬ 
tional  plans  for  upcoming  Acad¬ 
emy  Awards,  which  for  first  time 
will  be  sponsored  by  film  industry, 
has  no*  plans  for  closing  any  of  its 
340  theatres  on  the  night  of  the 
Oscar  presentations,  it  was  .an¬ 
nounced  over  weekend. 

Decision  was  reached  at  two-day 
meet  here  of  division  chiefs,  end¬ 
ing  Friday  night  (10),  ; Move  is  on 
for-  theatres  throughout  the  coun¬ 
try  to  shutter  on  this  particular 
night,  to  permit  audiences;  to  watch 
awards  on  their  home  screens. 

Other  devisions  reached  at  meet 
was  to  streamline  and  modernize 
all  theatre  •  operations  during  the 
coming  year.  Winners  of  NT’s  first- 
quarter  drive  also  were  announced 
and  include  JblloWing: 

Jack  McGee,  district  manager; 
Ralph  Pizza,  booker,  and  Ted  Kirk- 
meyer,  manager  Uptown  Theatre, 
all  of  Salt  Lake  City; .  Irving  Simp¬ 
son,  manager  Paramount  Theatre, 
Idaho  Falls,  Idaho;  Louis  Grimm, 
inahagar  ■  Village  Theatre,  West- 
Wood,  Calif.;  Robert  Hall,  manager 
Guild  Theatre,  North  Hollywood, 
Calif.,  and  Robert  Simonton,  Bun¬ 
dy  Theatre,  Santa  Monica,  Calif. 

Elmer  C.  Rhoden,  NT,  presided 
over  sessions. 


Yr.-End's  ‘Foolish  Season’  Oscar  Rush 


Pizza  Pie  Night 

Rochester,  N.  H.,  Jan.  14. 

When  the  Italian  film,  “The 
Gold  of  Naples,”  was  shown  at 
the  Scenic  theatre,  here,  the 
patrons  were  treated  to  Italian 
pizza  pie. 

The.  theatre  boasted  it’  was 
the  “only  ,  indoor  theatre  in 
New  England  serving  hot 
pizzas.” 


Court  Sanctions 


Policy  in  Cincy 

Stanley  Warner  was  given  per¬ 
mission  by  Judge  Edmund  L.  Pal- 
mieri  in  N  Y.  Federal .  Court  to  ac¬ 
quire  the  Capitol  Theatre  in  Cin¬ 
cinnati  and  to  operate  the  house 
with  any  kind  of  film  program  aft¬ 
er  April  30, 1959.  The  theatre  chain 
originally  leased  the.  theatre  for 
the  exhibition  of  Cinerama  films. 

The  Dept,  of  Justice  did  not  ob¬ 
ject  to  the  Stanley  petition.  Only 
objection  came  from  Rube-  Shor, 
Cincy  exhibitor.  However,  the 
court  ruled  that  SW’s  acquisition 
of  the  house  would  not  unduly  re¬ 
strain .  competition  in  the  area. 

In  another,  action,  the  court  al¬ 
lowed  SW<-to  retake  and  operate; 
the  'Jefferson  Theatre  in  Punsu- 
tawney.  Pa.,  but  the  chain  was  or¬ 
dered  to  dispose  of  its  lease  on  the 
Alpine  Theatre  in  the  same  city. 

,  In.  a  stipulation .  between  the 
Government  and  the  New  Buffalo 
Amusement  Corp.,  it  was  agreed 
that  the  company  could  repossess 
the  Elmwood  Theatre  in  Buffalo 
on  the.  condition  that  it  dispose  of 
the  Kensington  Theatre  in  the  same 
city  hy  June  30,  1958. 


-  A  move  for  the  semi-annual  nom¬ 
ination  of  pictures  for  the  Academy 
Awards  is  gaining  ground  within 
the  Academy  board  and  is  under¬ 
stood  to  have  the  support  of  George 
Seaton,  Academy  prexy. 

Purpose  would  be  to  contribute 
to  a  .  more  regular  release  of  im¬ 
portant  films  and  to  avoid  what 
David  O.  Selznick  last  week  called 
“the  foolish  season,”  i.e.  thejate-irt-  - 
the-year  push  to  get  pictures  on 
the  market  to  have  them  qualify 
for  an  Oscar. 

Several  producers  feel  that  a 
semiannual  nomination,  while  it 
would  not  do  away  altogether  with 
the  desire  to  release  as  late  as  pos¬ 
sible,  at  least  would,  prevent  the 
feeling  that  a  good  picture  re¬ 
leased  early  in  the  year  doesn't 
stand  a  chance.  Under  present 
Academy  rules,  a  film  must  open  in 
a  Los  Angeles  house  before  Dec.  31 
of  any  given  yegr  if  it  is  to  qualify. 
This  rule  holds  true  for  Hollywood, 
but  not  for  foreign  entries. 

It’s  been  argued  that,  in  their 
eagerness  to  make  the  Oscar  grade, 
producers  have  tended  either  to 
rush  product  on-  the  market  pre¬ 
maturely,  or  else  to  hold  it  back. 
Semi-  annual  nominations,  it  is  ad¬ 
mitted,  would  still  give  the  edge 
to;  the  product  coming  out  during 
the  second  half  of  a  year  inasmuch 
as  the  impact  would  be  fresher. 
At  the  same  time,  they'd  presum¬ 
ably  give  a  better  chance  to  films 
released  during  the  first  six  ihonths. 

Seaton  is  represented  as  feeling 
that  the  change  would  be  for  the 
best;  At  the  same  time,  it’s  expected 
that — in  sponsoring  such  a  change 
— he’ll  encounter  a  good  deal  of  op¬ 
position  on  the  traditionally  slow- 
to-move  board,  which  along  with 
the  rest  of  the  industry  is  sharply 
aware  of  the  intrinsic  commercial 
value  of  an  award  to  any  given 
ictiire. 


MAYOR'S  B.O.  MENTALITY 

Dover,  N.  H...  Jan.  14. 

Melvin  Morrison,  film  exhibitor,, 
was  still  counting  the  “boxoffice” 
when  be  became  the  new  mayor  of 
Dover.  He  said  Dover  was  “on  the 
.threshold  of  a  major  growth”  that 
may  increase  the  population  to  25.- 
000  in  the  .“not  far  distant  future.” 

Lloyd  Bridgham,  another  thea¬ 
tre  operator,  was  named  as  new  li¬ 
brary  trustee.; 


• '  ♦ 

Pan  Mail-For  Eddie  Silverman  f 


Chicago, 

Editor,  Variety: 

„  As  a  subscriber  for  some  years, 
and  a  lifelong  resident  of  Chicago, 
I  would  like  to  comment  on  the 
statements  of  Edwin  Silverman  ot 
Essaness  Theatres .  here.  Let  me 
say.  I  formerly .  attended  movies  on 
an  average  of  three  times  a  week, 
and  for  many  years. 

Silverman’s  Woods  Theatre  .was 
probably  the  outfit,  so  efficient  in 
his  chain  that  he  was  speaking  of. 
L  wonder  if  the  producer  from  the 
coast  had  a  special  conducted  tour 
of  it  with  everyone  alert  to  that 
fact? 

The  last  film  I  have  seen  Was 
“The  Little  Hut”,  with  Stewart 
Granger  and  Avsi  Gardner  there 
and  I  paid  90c  to  see  it  at  7:15  a.m' 
on  a  weekday.  As  the  theatre  is 
open  night  and  day,  during  the 
filming  of.  the  feature,  women 
were  cleaning  seats  with  vacuums 
and  noise  and  aisles  were  being 
swept  Leaving  to  go  to  the^  rest¬ 
room  in  a  cloud-of-dust;  there  was 
no  soap,  no  water,  and  no  paper; 
Everyone  employed  were  standing 
around  talking  at  the  popcorn 
machine  and  one  almost  tripped  in 
the  dark  in  returning  to  his  seat 
As.  there  Were  no  lights  aislewise 
Or  Ushers.  7 

Can  you  imagine  a  business  try¬ 
ing  the  patience  of  a  customer 
with  those  conditions?  The  Balabaii 
and  Katz  Theatres  are .  very  much 
better  than  any  in  Silverman’s 
chain  •and  yet  we  hear  no  such 
j.fpmmeht  from  them. 


On  a  Saturday  night  last  week¬ 
end  at  hiy  home,  I  was  able  to 
drink  cbffee  and  see  at  10.  p.m., 
“The  Mummy’’  with  Boris  Karloff, 
Zita  Johann,  and  David  Manners. 
Not  a.  great  film  even  in  1932  but 
far  superior  than  the  wrerewolf 
epics  shown  today.  Then  at  11:15 
p.m.,  I  had  a  choice  of  either 
“Girl  Downstairs”  with  Franciska 
Gaal  and  Franchot  Tone  or  another 
MGM  film  with  Jean  Harlow  and 
Spencer  Tracey.  Sure,  both  the 
latter  films  were  1939  and  while 
Miss  Gaal  flopped  in  films,  that 
comedy  was  charming,  a  little  like 
the  old  Pickford  stories.  But  the 
point  that  I  aiii  getting  at  is  that 
all  threes  of  them  were  free  and  in 
pleasant  surroundings.  That  is  tv 
in  our  city  today  and  a  choice  like 
that  exists  every  day  of  the  week. 
In  addition,  those  hour  length,  tv 
westerns  from  Warner  Bros.,  with 
James  Garner  and  Clint  Walker 
are  every  bit  as  good  as  any 
turned  out  for  theatres. 

Always  admiring  Robert  Taylor 
in  his  long  career,  one  week  in 
October,  the  10  o’clock  show  every 
night,  featured  oiie  of  his  films 
and  during  a  week  I  was  able  to 
see  three  of  them  .(“Stand  Up  and 
Fight,”  “Yank  at  Oxford,”  and 
“Personal  Property”!  that  I  had 
missed. 

You  may  use  this  letter  in  its 
entirety  nr  in  sections  as  you  see 
fit  but  I  wanted  you  to  know,  how 
strongly  an  oldtime  patron  of 
films  feels  today. 

i;  i.t  r.3 i\  J.m*s ^laiW)1h  #£7*1  i 


Reade’s  Flcersheinrer  To 
I0A  Tub  Relations’  Job; 
fathering  Trade  Data 

Theatre  Owners  of  America  has 
a  new  .  public  relations  director.  He 
is  Albert  Floersheimer  Ji..  former¬ 
ly  v.p.  of  Walter.  Reade  Theatres* 
and  lie  starts  on  the  job  Feb.  1. 

".According  to  Ernest  G.  Stellings, 
TO  A  prexy,  one  of  Floersheimer’s 
fi'st  assignments  “will  be  the  de- 
velonm«nt  of  industry  statistics  so 
that  TOA  can  present  accurate  pic¬ 
tures  of  exhibition  and  other  facets 
of  the  movie  industry,  and  counter 
some  of  the  pessimistic  and  un¬ 
founded  Statements  about  the  fu¬ 
ture  of  our  business  which  have 
been  reported  recently  the 
pre^s.” 

Reference  here  again  is  to  the 
s^+ement  of  Edwin  S;Iv?rm?»n  in 
Chicago  who.  pred;cted  that  a7l  but 
one  of  the  Coast  studios  would 
ck  within,  six  months. 

Floersheimer  resigned  from 
Walter  Reade  in  order  to  accent 
the  rew  position.  He  had  been  with 
Pe^de  for  ll  years,  joining  it  in 
19 4 ^  ps  director  of  advertising  and 
DiTblic:tw  Daring  the  past  two 
years.  Floersheimer  was  v;p.  for 
catering  a  position  that  is  to  be 
t-ken  over  now  by  Edwin  Gage, 
R^^e's  exec  v.p. 

F^enSheimer  will  headnmrter  at 
the  'T’OA  office  in  New  York.  shar¬ 
ing  it  with  Joseph  G.  Alf^nnan,  as¬ 
sistant  secretary  and  office  man- 


:  Joe  Feldman  on  Owi 

j  Pittsburgh.  Jan,  14. 

!  Joe  Feldman,  long-time  nub-ad 
director  here  for  Warner  Theatres 
.  and.  Icter  assistant  to  M.  A.  Silver. 
|  circuit’s  z;one  manager,  who  quit 
{  seven  years  ago  to  go  into  the  ad- 
;  vertismg  business  with  Julius  Du- 
;  bin ;  has  left  the  firm  of  Dubin- 
‘  Feldman-Kahn  to  go  out  on  his 
!  own.  Departing  with  him  was 
f  Jacques  Kahn,  recently  made  a 
1  partner  in  the  firm  and  before  that 
:  also  with  Warner’s  as  Feldman’s 
I  successor  in  the  publicity  post. 

Dubin,  formerly  with  morning 
I  Post-Gazette,  -  will  continue  to  op- 
;  erate  the  Dubin  agency,  with  both 
{ Feldman  and  Kahii  departing  as 
of  last  week  to  set  up  their  own 
offic^.ltl  fiJ  nuxil-  •  ‘ 


16 


PICTIJRES 


Cinerama  Productions  Corp., 
which  turned  over  its  rights  to  the 
three-strip  medium  to  Stanley 
Warner  in  1953  for  a  percentage 
of  the  take  as  royalty  payments; 
chalked  up  a  net  profit  of  approxi¬ 
mately  $324,000  for  the  fiscal  year 
ended  Oct  31,  1957.  Total  was  the 
test  recorded  by  the  company  over 
a  .  five-year  period  and  represents 
an  increase  of  $149,000  or  85% 
over  the.  net  profit  of  $175,000  in 
the  1956  fiscal  year. 

The  company  expects  an  addi¬ 
tional  hike  in  its  1958  financial  re¬ 
turns  as  a  result  of  a  new  agree¬ 
ment  signed  With  Stanley  Warner, 
at  the  close  of  1957:  It’s  under¬ 
stood  that  the  new  deal  cuts  down 
on  the  bonus  previously  received 
by  Stanley  Warner  for  financing 
Cinerama  Productions:  „ 

Cinerama  Productions’  gross  tri¬ 
corne  was  increased  to  about  $440,- 
000  for  fiscal  1957  from  $295:000 
in  fiscal  1956,  an  increase  of  $145,- 
000^ or  49%.  General  and  adminis¬ 
trative  expenses  were  reduced,  by 
7%  in  1957  over  the  previous  year. 

Company’s  debts,  totalling  $288,- 
000,  were  paid  off  in  1957.  Smce 
1953,  the  company  has  paid  off  a 
total  of  $2,738,000  in  debts. 

The  company’s  profit  and  loss 
statement  from  1952  shows  losses 
of  $116,190  in  1952,  $1,045;379  in 
1953,  and  profits  starting  in  1954 
when  the  net  was  $161,887.  In 
1955,  the  profit  was  $277,095:  in 
1956  $174,867*  and  in  1957  $324,,- 


KRUEGER  SUES  UNIVERSAL 


Says  Company  Induced  Linda 
Cristal  To  Break  Contract 


Los  Angeles,  Jin.  14. 

Breach  of  contract  suit  seeking 
$4,000^)00  was  filed  by  producer 
Carl  Krueger  against  Universal 
and  Linda  Cristal  in  Superior 
Court  here.  Show  cause  hearing 
will  be  held  Monday  (20)  on  a  re¬ 
quest  for  an.  injunction  to  prevent 
the  actress  from  appearing  in  “The 
Perfect  Furlough”  for  the  valley 
lot.  " 

Krueger  said  he  had  signed  Miss 
Cristal  to  an  exclusive  seven  year 
contract  in  1955,  pact  beginning  at 
$120  per  week  and  rising  to  $1,500 
per  week.  Action  charged  that  U 
induced  her  to  breach  the  contract 
and  that,  she  had  already  made 
“The  Western  Story”  for  the  studio 
but  he  had  been  unable  to  sue  be¬ 
fore  because  she  was  in  Mexico. 


Sweden's  Pix, 


000. 

Company’s  year-end  financial  re¬ 
port  discloses  that  Stanley.  Warner 
has  recouped  $10,600,000  from  1953 
until  Nov.  2,  1957  on  the  cost  fof 
opening  theatres  and  for  the  pro¬ 
duction  of  “Cinerama  Holiday”  and 
"Seven  Wonders  of  the  World.” 

Cinerama  Productions  will  hold 
Its  annual  stockholders  meeting 
in  N.Y.  on  Feb.  11,  At  that  Ume; 
the  stockholders  will  be  asked  to 
elect  five  directors.  One  less,  than 
Is  currently  serving  oh  the  board. 


AMUSEMENT  PARKS  USE 
FILM  ART  DIRECTORS 

Hollywood,  Jan.  14. 

A  new  field  is  opening  up  for. 
motion  picture  art  directors— as 
designers  of  amusement  parks.  The 
trend  began  at  Disneyland  and  is 
now  spreading,  encouraged  by  the 
fact  that  the  parks .  are  the  latest 
show  biz  vogue  and  may  eventually’ 
encompass  'all  of  the  48  states  and 
many  foreign  countries. 

Art  director  Gabriel  Scognam- 
illo,  who  has  been  at  Metro  for  19 
years  and  who  designed  the 
Tomorrowland  segment  at  Disney¬ 
land,  predicts  ,  that  at  least  10  film 
art  directors  with  backgrounds,  in 
architecture  will  be  needed  when 
the  amusement  park  boom  hits  -its 
stride.  Right  now,  Scognamillo  and 
Wade  Rubottom  are  the  only  art 
directors  involved  in  projects  of 
this  kind.  Scognamillovis  art  direc¬ 
tor  for  Marco  Engineering  Co., 
which  made  the  original  surveys; 
for  Disneyland  and  is  now  con¬ 
structing  “Magic  Mountain”  park 
in  Denver.  He  also  has  submitted 
preliminary  designs  and  sketches 
for  a  park  in  Venezuela. 

Seven  U.  S.  cities,  including 
Dallas  and  Boston,  already  are  well 
along  with  plans  similar  to  Disney-, 
land,  Scognamillo  reported.  How¬ 
ever,  Disneyland  cost  $17,000,000 
while  the  average  cost  of  the  new 
ventures,  including  one  in  Mexico 
City,  is  expected  to  run  around 
$4,000,000. 

“These  parks,”  Scognamillo  says, 
"will  be  motion  picture  sets  inhab¬ 
ited  by  people  who  become  willing 
actors  in  ah  artificial  setting.  They 
will  not  include  thrill  rides  but 
will  adhere  to  the  flavor  of  the 
area  in  which  they  are  built.” 

Motion  picture  art  directors,  he 
adds,  are  invaluable  for  such  pro¬ 
jects  because  they  have-  become 
familiar  with  the  architecture  and 
behaviours  of  .  people  in  various 
lands. 


Bently  Guides  Local  865 

Odessa,  Tex.,  Jan.  14. 

T.  J.  Bently  has  been  elected 
prez  of  the  IATSE  Projectionist 
Local  865  which:  services  the  Odes¬ 
sa-Midland  area. 

Other  officers  include  Glehn 
Gullatt,  veepee;  S,  E_  Furiow,  sec¬ 
retary  -  treasurer;  Richard  Neal, 
sergeant  of  arms,  and  Bgrney  T. 
Holt,  biz  manager*  t 


According  to  the  Swedish  film 
critic,'  Bengt  Idestam-Almauist, 
almost  all  of  the  35  feature  films 
made  in  Sweden  every  year  lose 
money,  at  the  boxoffice  due.  to  the 
enormous  45%  governmental  film 
production  tax.  Producers  manage 
to  keep  going  because  the  top  ones 
operate  their  own  film  theatres 
and  make  their  money  there  rather 
than  in  production. 

Sweden,  says  Almquist,  is  usual¬ 
ly  more  interested  in  making  na¬ 
tional  films  than  international  pix, 
and  they  are  aimed  primarily  at 
home  marts.  Of  late,  however, 
films  of  such  directors  as  Ingmar 
Bergman,  Arne  Mattsson,  Alf  S jo- 
berg,  Hasse  Ekman  and  Arne 
Sucksdorf  have  made  for  kudos 
material  at  .film  fests  and  begun 
to  put  the  Swedish  film  on  the  in¬ 
ternational  film  map  again. 

Almquist  underlines  the  paradox 
that  40  to  60  countries  now .  show 
Swedish  pix  though  they  do  not 
produce  pix  for  export  purposes. 
Almquist  also  points  out  that  most 
of  the  top.  Swedish  directors  have, 
refused  Hollywood  offers  due  to 
the  lack  of  interest  in  the  scripts 
offered  and  the  feeling  they  would 
be  .  only  ordinary  pix  so  they  de-. 
elded  to  stay  at  home. 

In  the  old  days  the  Swedes  were 
more  venturesome  and  Maurice 
Stiller  arid  Victor  Seastrom  had 
their  Hollywood  sojourns;  Actors 
are  more  easily  transplanted  arid 
somp  hke  .Garbo  and  Ingrid  Berg- 
man  made  it  big  but  Almquist  says 
the  new  crop,  such  as  Mai  Zetter- 
ling,  Ulla  Jacobsson,  Anita  Bjork. 
Alf  Jellin,  were  more  successful 
in  Swedisfi  features  than  the  Anglo, 
American,  French  and  German  pix 
they  have  inade. 

.  Sweden  also  makes  50  feature 
documentaries  per  year  plus  200 
shorts  and  educational  pictures. 
There  are  about  2,500  theatres  in 
Sweden  and  local  pix  make  up 
about  40%  of  the  screen  time.  An 
average  film  costs  from  $250,000 
down  to  about  $100,000. 

Big  successes  can  run  for  20 
weeks  in  first-run  spots  in  Stock¬ 
holm  and  recent  biggies  have  been 
the  Italo  “La  Strada,”  Gallic  “Ger- 
vaise”  of  Rene  Clement,  and  vari¬ 
ous  American  pix.  He  says  that 
Swedish  audiences  go  for  quality 
pix,  and  stars  are  now  of  little 
consequence  in  attendance  pull  at 
the  b.o. 

No  Eastern  European  or  Asian 
releases  have  played  Sweden  this 
year  but  Almquist  opines  it  is  art 
and  not  politics  that:  has  decided 
this.  The  Swedes  have:  just  not 
cottoned  to  the  show  pacing  differ¬ 
ent  values  in  drama  and  dialog. 

Swedes  are  usually  against  co¬ 
production,  but  stirred  themselves 
in  1957  to  join  Argentine,  Finnish 
and  Indian  coproductions.  Top 
Swedish  productions  this  year,  says 
Almquist,  are  Bergman’s  “The 
Seventh  Seal,”  which  took  a  top 
prize  at  the  Cannes  Festival  and 
Mattsson’s  “The  Girl  in  the  press 
jCqat” 


yAHIETY 


Wednesday,  January  15,  1958 


SCREEN  ACTORS  GUILD 
WARNING  RE ‘AGENTS’ 


Hollywood,  Jan.  14. 

Screen  Actors  Guild  members 
were  warned  over  the  weekend 
about  dealing  with  any  unfram 
chised  agents.  Union’s  monthly 
intelligence  .  report  to  members 
said  Guild  had  recently  received 
several  complaints  about  so-called 
“personal  managers”  *  who  claim 
they  are  nbt,  agents  and  are  not 
franchised  by  the  Guild. 

Report  pointed  out  that  Guild 
Agency  regulations  specifically  in¬ 
clude  anyone  who  “offers  to.  or 
,  does  represent,  act  as  the  personal 
manager  or  representative  of”  any 
SAG  member  in  connection  with 
film  jobs. 

intelligence  Report  also  advised 
members  that  *a  new  ruling  pro¬ 
hibits  SAG  members  from  serving 
as  both  an  actor  and  an  assistant 
director  or  an  actor  and  an  em¬ 
ploye  working  under  the  jurisdic¬ 
tion  of  Studio  Transportation 
Drivers  Local  399  in  any  motion 
picture  or  telefilm  series. 


Up-Scaled  Mabes 

Continued  from  page  1 

unimportant  vis-a-vis  the  “want-to- 
see”  appeal*  : 

‘Nabe  Roadshow1 

This  attitude  was  taken  last 
week  when  David  O.  Selznick  dis¬ 
cussed  his  release  of  “A  Farewell 
to  Arms,”  .'  Which  is  getting  the 
“nabe  roadshow”  treatment,  with 
advanced  prices  arid  day-and-date- 
With-downtowri  bookings.  Selz¬ 
nick,  asked  whether  charging 
downtown  prices  in  the  .  ndbes 
wouldn’t  hurt  the  business,  said 
it  would  not,  provided  it  was  the 
kind  of  picture  people  wanted  to- 
see.  ' 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  opined  the 
producer,  price  isn't  very  im¬ 
portant.  He  said  he  had  talked  to 
exhibitors  who  had  told  him  that 
reducing  admissions,  didn't  create 
any  attendance  upswing.  20th-Fox 
goes  along  with,  this  theory.  No 
theatre  iri  the  country  so  far  has 
shown  “Peyton  Place”  for  less 
than  $1.25  to  $1.50. 

In  northern  California,  the  nabes 
showing  “Farewell”  charged  be¬ 
tween  $1.25  and  $1.50  tops.  In 
southern  California,  the  top  '  hit 
$2.  Selznick  did  agree  that  a 
neighborhood  house  normally 
charging  70c,  couldn’t  raise  its 
ante  to  $2,.  but  probably  could 
charge  ;  $1.50  without  antagonizing 
the  customers. 

In  other  words,  on  the  big  films, 
many  take,  the  view  that  it’s  okay 
to  charge  what  the  traffic  will  bear 
and  that  upped  admissions  simply 
will  generate  more  business  via  the 
impression  that  the  attraction  is 
important  arid  must  be  seeri.  This 
group  points  to  “Cinerama,” 
“Around  the  World  in  80  Days” 
and  “Ten  Commandments”  to  bear 
out  its  argument. 

.- .  Those  in  the  opposite  corner 
agree  that  a  few  films  can  stand 
the  upped .  scales,  but  argue'  that 
this  pattern  siiriply  must  drive  the 
film  business  into  a  new  direction, 
i.e.,  to  the  point  where  there  will 
be  a  comparative  handful  of  im¬ 
portant,  spectacle-type  features^ 
playing  a  handful  of  houses,  with: 
little  else  left. 

There  are  exhibitors  who  feel 
strongly  that  the  determined  pol¬ 
icy  of  “milking’’1  the  public  Can 
pay  off  for  some  films,  but  can 
have  disastrous  results  for  the  in¬ 
dustry  in  the  long  run  since,  in 
effect,  it  encourages  “selective”, 
filmgbing.  They  say  that  the  argu¬ 
ment  that  the  public  already  is  out 
of  the  filmgoing  anyway  is  false. 
“Our  job  is  to  get  people  to  come 
back  to  our  theatres,  and — these 
days— you  can’t  dci  that  by  making 
their  visits  even  more  expensive,” 
commented  ori  theatreman;  This 
thinking  implies  that  a  policy  of 
making  the  filiri  theatre  a  special 
event,  to  be  indulged  in  only  a 
couple  of  times  a  year,  is  false  as 
lorig  as  the  business  still  thrives 
on  its  mass  appeal. 

“We  are  :on  the:  way  of  pricing 
oUrselves  out  of  the  market,”  ob¬ 
served  one.  “in  the  light  of  obvious¬ 
ly  deteriorating  conditions,  and  our 
efforts  to  gain  customer  goodwill, 
that’s  a  foolish  thing  to  do.” 


Charles  E.  Kurtzman,  northeast¬ 
ern  .  (Boston)  divisional  mgr., 
Loew’s  Theatres  Inc.,  has  been 
named.  1958  Regional  Brotherhood 
Week  Chairman  of  the  Northeast-:, 
ern  Region,  National  Conference  of 
Christians  and  Jews.  i  I 


Week.  Ended  Tuesday  (14} 


iV.  Y.  Stock  Exchange 


1957 -’58 

Net 

High 

Low 

Weekly  Vol.  Weekly  Weekly 

Tues. 

Change 

in  100s 

High 

Low 

Close 

for  wk. 

17  % 

11% 

ABC  Vending  19 

14% 

14% 

14% 

3/ 

24% 

11% 

Am  Br-Par  Th  205 

14% 

13% 

13% 

—  % 

36% 

23% 

CBS  “A”  110 

27% 

26% 

27% 

—  3/4 

35% 

22% 

CBS  “B”  86 

26% 

25% 

26% 

—  %- 

20% 

11% 

Col  Pix 

14% 

13% 

13% 

+  %: 

19% 

133/a 

Decca  152 

14% 

137/8 

14% 

+  .% 

15% 

13 

Disney  ......  92 

15% 

15 

15% 

+  1% 

115 

8134 

Eastman'Kdk.  87 

100% 

97% 

98% 

-1_  3/ 

43/4 

3% 

EMI  .  '  42 

3% 

334 

:334 

— .  % 

10% 

7% 

List  Ind,  36 

734 

7% 

7% 

—  % 

22 

11% 

Loew’s  , , .  398 

14% 

133/4 

14V 

~  %• 

9% 

7  ' 

Nat.  Thea  . .  .*  30 

77/s 

7% 

7% 

% 

36% 

28 

Paramount  .  44 

32% 

31% 

327/8 

+  i% 

18% 

11 

Philco  ......  138 

14% 

13% 

13% 

+  % 

53% 

30 

Polaroid  ....  239 

46% 

44% 

45% 

•  — '.% 

40 

27 

RCA  699 

35: 

3234 

.34% 

-f  V 

8% 

4% 

Republic  117 

6% 

5% 

6 

-+:  3/ 

13% 

9 

Rep.,  pfd  . .  7 

10% 

97% 

934 

18% 

13% 

Stanley  War.  62 

157/s 

14% 

15% 

■4-  •  % 

29% 

18% 

Storer  34 

23% . 

22 

23% 

41% 

30% 

19% 

20th-Fox  .  193 

247/a 

227/a 

23% 

+'  % 

25% 

15 

United  Artists  13 

16% 

16 

16 

-7-  % 

.30% 

18% 

Univ,  Pix  ...  12 

22% 

20% 

20% 

:+  %. 

73 

65% 

Univ.,  pfd. ,  .  *80 

65 

65 

65 

—  % 

28% 

16% 

Warner  Bros.  28 

17% 

17 

17% 

—  .% 

140 

91% 

Zenith  53 

127 

121 

12?% 

— ^% 

American  Stock  Exchange 

4% 

2% 

Allied  Artists  62 

3% 

3 

» 

—  % 

1% 

% 

C.  &  C.  Tele.  127 

% 

7/16 

7/16 

+  1/16 

6% 

3 

DuMont  Lab.  58 

4 

3% 

4 

+  % 

4% 

2% 

Guild  Films  .  81 

27/8- 

2% 

2% 

—  % 

9% 

5%. 

Nat’l  Telefilm  27 

67/8 

.6% 

6% 

—  %. 

9 

3% 

Skiatron  33 

6 

-57/8 

57/8 

— 

8% 

2% 

Technicolor  80 

334. 

3% 

334 

+/%. 

5% 

3% 

Trans-LUx  1 

334 

.334 

33/ 

Over-lhe-Connter  Securities 

Bid 

Ask 

■  Ampex  : . . . 

44 

48 

— 

Chesapeake  Industries 

2 

2% 

,-r-  . 

Cinerama  Prod. 

2 

2% 

+  % 

Magna  Theatre 

1% 

1% 

Official  Films 

1% 

1% 

% 

«.  A, 

Theatres 

4' 

4% 

+  % 

•  Actual  Volume. 

(Qiiotqtions  furnished  by  Dreyfus  &  Co.) 


<1 


9 


That’s  the  Long-and-Short  of  Current  Film 
Economics,  Argues  Selznick 


David  O.  Selznick,  flushed  with 
the  success  of  his  “A  Farewell  to 
Arms”  release  pattern  iri  northern 
arid  southern- California,  last  week 
said  iri  New  York  that  his  policy 
of  neighborhood  roadshows  pre¬ 
sented  the  industry  with  an 
“either-or”  issue. 

“The  question  is  how*  on  our 
big,  expensive  pictures,  we  can  get 
our  money  back,”  he  said.  “It’s 
going  to  be  either  our  way  of 
bringing  the  merchandise  to  the 
customers  day-and-date  with  down¬ 
town,  or— if  that  doesn’t  work,  out 
—then  it’ll,  have  to  be  the  normal 
roadshow  pattern.  I  think  our.  way 
is  preferable.” 

Selznick  noted  that  too  much  at¬ 
tention  was  paid  to  the  distributor 
grosses.  “What  is  important  is 
what  comes  back  to  the  producer 
so  he  can  pay  his  negative  cost,” 
he  held.  “Actually,  from  the  pro¬ 
ducer  point-of-view,  the  hard 
ticket  basis  of  selling  pictures  to 
the  public;  is  less  costly.  The  vic¬ 
tim  of  ii  is  the  exhibitor.  It’s  the 
landlords  of  the  roadshow ;  houses 
who  get  the  money.  The  regular 
theatre  is  left  with  secondary  mer¬ 
chandise  and  may  have  to  wait  a 
long  time  to  get  the  product.  Our 
method  really  offers  the  only  ave¬ 
nue  of  keeping  pictures  out  of  the 
hard  ticket  class/’ 

Twofold  release,  pattern  was 
tried  out  with  “Farewell.”  In 
Southern  California,  it  opened  in 
selected  nabes  situated  close  to 
the  firstrUn.  In  Northerri  Cali¬ 
fornia.  the  day-dating  was  confined 
to  nabes  a  reasonable  distance, 
from  the  firstrun.  Selznick  pointed 
to  the  great  advertising-saturation 
advantages  of  the  pattern,  which  is 
tc  be  followed  everywhere  except 
in  New  York  where  the  film  opens 
at  the  ROxy  Jan..  24  arid  iri  the 
nabes  on  a  saturation  bas;s  (arid 
advanced  prices)  On  Easter.  Sun- 
dav.  April  6. 

That  dav.  “Farewell”  will  open 
in  some  600  situations  all  over  the 
world.  The  simultaneous  roadshow 
policy  will  "be  followed  also  In 
other  countries.  In  the  U.  S.,  the 
picture  wHl  be  opened,  bv  20th-Fox 
!  in  some  20t  theatres  iri  Florida  Jari. 


29.  In  the  Chicago-Milwaukee  area 
it’s  due  to  preem  in  some  30  situa¬ 
tions  on  the  same  policy  as  in 
northern  Calif orriia,  i.e.,  with  the 
nabe  runs  some  distance  from  the 
downtown  showcase. 

Selznick  said  the  Roxy  arranger 
merit  was  different  because  of  the 
much  higher  downtown-to-suburbs 
ratio  in  this  city.  The  Roxy  will 
Charge  $2  top.  However,  it  will 
set  aside  900  lofie  seats  on  a  re¬ 
served-seat  basis  and  higher 
prices.  “So  weTl  have  our  cake 
and  eat  it  too,”  said  Selznick. 

Producer  said  he  was  in  discus¬ 
sion  with  20th  re  other  pictures 
to  be  produced  by  him  personally. 
For  the  moment,  he’s  preparing 
“Mary  of  Magdalene,”  to  star  Jen¬ 
nifer.  Jones.  Pic  probably  wifi  lo¬ 
cation  in  Israel. 

As  to  “Farewell,”  Selznick  said 
the  film  had  to  gross  about  $8,500, - 
000  to  break  even.  Some  of  the 
Italian  actors  iri  the  picture .  have; 
been  redubbed  to  make  their  lines 
more  cleSrly  understandable. 


[  REBELS  UNSEAT  LOCAL  1 3 

Minneapolis  IATSE  Incumbents 
Lose  To  Rice  Bloc 

Minneapolis,  Jan.  14. 

An  upheaval  in  local  13,  inter¬ 
national  Alliance  of  Theatrical 
Stage  Employes’  union,  -Jia^  re¬ 
sulted  in  the  defeat  of  tne  entire 
slate  of  incumbent  officers  with 
the  exception  of  sergeant-at-arms 
Clarence  Barnes. 

Tncuniben t s.  lost  to  a # late 
headed  by  Mark  Rice  who  was 
chosen  business  agent  to  succeed 
Dick  Marietta  who  took;  over,  three 
years  ago  when  William  Dbnrielly, 
with  whom  he  Was  long  an  asso¬ 
ciate  resigned  the  job  after  hold¬ 
ing  it  for  mariy  years. 

Donnelly  later  also  resigned  as 
International  IATSE  vice  presi¬ 
dent  and  local  13  president,  the 
latter  an  Unpaid  office. 

Local  13  has  about  50  .members 
employed  at  local  film  houses,  the 
legit  Lyceum  and  the  municipal 
Auditorium.  Rice  is  a  State  theatre 
'Stage  * 


Wednesday,  January  13, 1958 


P'Smifrf 


20th 


::vr 


A 


IAREWELL 
TO  ARMS 


iD&N  JONES 


CIlN!E:r\/iX\Sc=OP>E: 


ROBERT  MITCHUM 


>-  SiCA 


CURT  JURGENS 

THE 

Enemy 


it 


^  u/.  - 

fl.  T; 


18 


PICTURES 


‘Pop  Culture’  and  Show  Biz 


:  Continued  from.  pace.  2  \ 


fear  and  partly  from  snobbery  and  Holly  Wood.  Further,  the  col- 
(very  often  a  sublimated  form  of '  lege  teacher  will  be  teaching  the 
fear),  the  university  elite  froze  in  "  teachers  of  elementary  and  high 
the  face  of  popular  culture.  Rat-  school  students*  who  have  always 
tied,  they  condemned  the  new  arts  r  been  a  prime  target  of  the  enteiv 
with  a  wild  carelessness  that  j  tainment  industry.  Prinie  “target” 
would  shame  them  out  of  their  is  right,  and  this  treating  a  person 
profession  if  they  had  used  it  in  like  a  bulls-eye  has  'never  much 
scholarly  papers.  .  appealed  to  the .  exponent  of  the 

This  hurt  the  professor  by  hob-  humanities, 
bling  him  with  an  illogical  gentil-  \  In  the  new  era  of  mature  enter- 


anti-  intellectualism  (Think  .  _ .  . 

nie  Koyacs’  Percy  Dovetons.ls  :  ness.  This  w'ill  not  be,  we  hope, 
routine).  But  meanwhile,  back  in  the  old  pattern— of  bailing  out  a 
the  nursery,  what  would  many  sinking  Shakespeare  movie  by1' a 
runny  noses  later  turn  out  to  be  a  crash  promotion  in  the  publuq 
new  generation  of  scholars  were  ,  schools.  The ,  post-Sputnik  entre- 
t earing  their  Dick  Tracy  Big-Little  ;  preneur,  on  the  contrary,  knows 
Books  apart,  hooked  on  a  nightly  ;  that  such  hypocritical  concern  for 
radio  ration  of  “The  Lone  Ranger”  :  culture  will  only  . merit  him  the  con- 
and  High-Speed’s  “Jimmy.  Allen.” tempt  of  teachers  who  have  be- 
These  graduates  of  the;  Saturday  come  sophisticated  -  about  the 
afternoon  movie  can’t  paiiic  in  the  ;  business  side. .  of  popular  culture 


face  of  “popular  culture,”  because 
they  not  only  have  grown  ;yp  as 
part  of  it,  but  they  also  still  love 
parts  of  it— Paddy  Chayefsky,  Elia 
Kazan,  Steve  Allen,  Al.Capp,  and 
Leonard  Bernstein.  This  new 
climate  of  acceptance  for  “popu¬ 
lar  culture”  in  the  university* 
then  comes  as  much  from  the  fact 
that  popular  culture  has  matured 
(no  apologies  needed  for  Leonard 
Bernstein!)  as  from  the  /fact  that  a 
new  generation  that  feels  at  home 
with  the  viewer  media  now  makes 
itself  heard  through  the  ivy  cur¬ 
tain. 


I 


College  Aids 


What  can  the  businessman-cre¬ 
ator  of  movies  and  broadcasting 
possibly  learn  from  the  ivory 
tower?  Actually,  producers  have 
long  since  learned  to  use  the  social 
scientist's  special  nose  for  detail; 
market  .research  today  is  simply 
taken  for  granted,  even  if  not 
couched  in  Dr.  Ernest  Dicbter’s 
erotically  erratic  terms.  But  what 
possible  value  could  .  producer 
find  in  the  intellectual  exercises  of 
-the  liberal  arts  professor,  .even 
granting  a  wholesome  change  of 
attitude  on  the  latter’s  part?  One 
answer  is  easy:  in  a  day-to-day 
semantic  jungle  where .  everybody 
is  trying  to  outsnow  both  competi¬ 
tor  and  colleague,  it  is  good  to  be 
able  to  see  what  the  terrain,  actu¬ 
ally  looks  like  from  the  ivory  con¬ 
ning  tower.  Above  the  battle 
( psychologically _and  tactically),  the 
professor  can  be  counted  on  to  at 
least  call  ’em  as  he  sees  ’em,  which 
may  not  be  the  case  when  a  social 
scientist  works  for  a  huge  retainer 

’  Fairleigh  Dickinson  University's 
wmnff  T.fLoH '  “The  Humanities  Today”  section 

w  thl  [in'-The  Clearing  House), 

fhiv  Schpol  teachers  will  work  for 

they  may,  no  matter  what.  That  is  j  peQjpje  wjj0  aspect  the  -popular 

going  to  be  an  ino,easmgly  pr^-i  ^  because  more  and  more  class- 
cious  dimension  of  the  truth  as  the  ! 

output  of  rhetoric  and  ex  parte  :  fre  interchangeable  te  ms.  ^Goo 
'  ■  1  1  teaching  is  a  popular  art,  and  out- 

<•  v-  [standing  popular  art  makes  an 

Then  again,  there  is  gomg^to  be  j  PYtrpnrd!narilv  effective  teaching 
less  and  less  margin  for  the  hoods 
of  popular  culture  in  the  post-Sput- 
nik  age.  Those  fast-buck  artists 
-who  demean  great  media  like  films 
and  tv  for  the  quick  kill  with  hor¬ 
ror  films  and  quiz  shows  that 


because  of  their  professors’  new  In¬ 
terest  and  enthusiastic  training,. 


ProJMatarity’ 


To  Chayefsky  and  Kazan  and 
John  Houseman,  however,  the 
teacher  will  turn  With  idealistic 
commitment,  He  will  “promote” 
maturity  -in  the  popular  arts  to 
the  limits  of  his  ability  because  he 
realizes  that  in.  a  democracy  the 
tastes  developed  in  mass  educa-. 
tion  are  the  crucial  ones. 

Under  the  new  dispensation, 
then,  the  freebooters  can  expect 
their  expensive  promotions  to  be 
undermined  in  school  classrooms 
where  the  popular  arts  are  dis-; 
cussed  intelligently  every  day.  The ; 
creative  producers  and  artists,  on 
the  other  hand,  will  get  a  free  ride 
every  time  they  use  their  intelli¬ 
gence  and  imagination  to  make 
their  film  or  telecast  a  thing  of 
joy  and  wonder. 

It’s  as  simple  as  that:  the  new 
needs  of  our  society  are  placing  a 
premium  on  mature  intellect  and 
emotion;  the  popular  arts  at  their 
worst  have  done  a.  lot  of  damage 
to  hu> traditions;  at  their  best  they 
will  be"  an  indispensable  resource 
for  stimulating  the  people  to  sig¬ 
nificant  ideals  and  powerful  ac¬ 
tion. 

It’s  time  to  stop  thinking  of  how 
you  can  use  the  school  to  peddle 
punk  stuff.  Rather  the  producers 
who  are  building  for  the  future 
should  align  themselves  syste¬ 
matically  with  the  schools  <e.g.,, 
with  the  National  Education  Asso¬ 
ciation’s  Dick  Krolik  or  the  Na¬ 
tional:  Council  of  Teachers',  of 
English’s  national  magazine,  or 


parody  intelligence  and  wisdom — 
these  pushers  of  entertainment 
narcotics  are  in  for  a  big  surprise. 
They  are  going  to  find  the  cold,  icy 
fingers  of  public  disapproval  and 


extraordinarily  effective  teaching 
aid.  The  point  is  that  when 
Leonard  Bernstein  talks  about  jazz 
on  “Omnibus,”  Horace:  Mann  and 
P.  T.  Barnum  are  :  holding  hands 
on  the  sunny  side  of  the  street. 
The  university  teacher  of  the  hu¬ 
manities  would  like  to  know  why 
show  biz  and  education  can’t,  get 
together  more  often,  and  is  open 
to  suggestions  as  to  how  he  can 
help.  Meanwhile,  you  can  count 


his. 


industry  is  with  the  thoughtful 

builders  and  creators  who 'want !  lvory  corlnll,e  tower- 
Americans  to  grow  emotionally; 
and  intellectually.  The  future,  if  - 
we  hang  on  long  enough  to  create 
one,  will  be  with  the  Hepry  Solo-  : 
mons,  -the  Fred  Coes  and  Martin 

Manulises  or*  in  films,  mention  ;  Kansas  City' Jan.  14. 

John  Michael  Hayes,  Don  Tara-  •  This  being  the  season  for  picking 
da5h.  .  the  lists  of  “ten  best’  films,  Carl 

The  college  teacher,  of  course,  Cooper,  motion  picture  editor  of 
is  an  important  factor  in  the  new  the  Kansas  City  Star,  came  out 
equation  of  show  biz.  For  he  i  with  his  choices,  to  wit: 
teaches  the  industry’s  new  genera-  ; 
tion  of  policymakers  as  well  as  its  | 
most  mature  new  patrons.  His  re-  | 
cently  found  respect  for  the  popu-  1 


lar  arts  will  meau  that  he_  wn  ^  auks  Jfeu-(UA> 

transmit  to  his  students  fresh  re-  | 
serves  of  idealism  that  are  essen-  ;. 
tial  if  the  highest  standards  of  art  j 
and  culture  are  to  survive  in  the  J 
fierce  competition  of  the  markii- ; 
place.  It  will  be  in  the  English  ; 

and  humanities  classroom  that  the  bvtfie  Trans-Texks  Theatre  Cir- 
future  policymaker  and/or  patron.  headed  by  Louis  Novy  end 

of  the  movies  and  broadcasting  recently  reopened  with  a  Spanish 
will  see  thp.  connections  bet\veen  language  film  policy,  has  again  rb- 
Sophocles,  Shakespeare  and  the  i  verted  to  its  former  policy  of  Eng- 
creatlve  talents  like  Bob  Her- i  iish  language  films, 
ridge  who  try  to  put  tradition  to  j  Will  have  double  bill  policy,  with 
work  in.  the  studios  of  New  Yprk  daily  matinees. 


"The  Ten  Commandments*.’  (Par) 
"Around  the  World  In  80  Says”  (UA) 
"Les  Girls”  (Metro) 

"Time  Limit"  (UA) 

"Albert  Schweitzer11  (Hill  fc  Andejson) 


'Operation  Mad  BaU”  (Col). 

"A  Hatful  of  Rain”  (20th  Fox) 

"The  Spirit  of  St.  Louis”  (WB) 

"The  Red  Balloon’*  (Montsouris) 

Drop  Spanish  Lingnals 

Dallas,  Jan.  14. 

Capitol  Theatre,  opiated  here 


UShtEFf 

Long  Weekend*  Lew 

Albany,  Jan.  14. 

Creation  of  five  “long  week¬ 
ends”  is  sought  in'  a  bill  in¬ 
troduced  by  Senator  Pliny  W; 
Williamson,  Scarsdale  Repub-; 
Iican. 

It  proposes  to  make;  the 
third  Monday  of  February, 
George  Washington  Day;  the 
second  Monday  of  April,  Abra¬ 
ham  Lincoln  Day; .  the  last 
Monday  of  May,  Memorial 
Day;  the  first  Monday  in  Au¬ 
gust,  Veterans’  Day;  the  first 
Monday  of  October,  Columbus 
Day— instead  of  the  present 
dates  specified:  ,  * 

The  bill,  referred  to  the 
Senate  Judiciary  Committee 
(chaired  by  Williamson), 
amends  the  General  Construc- 
tion  Law.  He  sponsored  sim- 
\  ilar  proposals  last  year. 


Wediieeday;  January  IS,  1958 


Many  film  critics  in'  the  U  S.  are  ill-equipped  for  the  jobs  since  they 
don’t  know  the  first  thing  .  About  filmmaking,  Charles  Vidor  complained 
in  N.Y.  this  week: 

Vidor, /who  directed  David  O.  Selznick’S  “A  Farewell  to  Arms,”  said 
this  lack  of  basic  knowledge  frequently  resulted  in  both  unjustified 
criticisms  and  credits.  He  compared  it  with  a  non-driver  criticizing  the 
performance  of  a  car. 

Regarding  the  current  unpredictability  Of  the  public’s  attitude  vs. 
certain  types  of  films,  Vidor  opined  that  this  waSspartly  the  effects  of 
a  “gradual  social  revolution”  which,  among  other  things,  hadYorced  the 
decline  of  the  star  system.  On  the  one  hand,  he  said,  people  no  longer 
look  up  to  the  stars  are  something  extraordinary,  and  the  deflation 
process  has  been  quite  deliberate.  On  the  other,  the  real  professional 
talents  of  performers  today  were  seriously  being  challenged  and  test¬ 
ed  in  films.  . 

In  the  olden  days,  stars  may  have  had  talent,  but  they  were  rarely 
called  on  to  prove  it,  Vidor  held. 

The  director  has  signed  a  non-exclusive  two-picture  deal-  with  20th- 
Fox.  Properties  haven’t  as  yet  been  selected, 


Monaco  Defines 

Continued  from  page  5 

Metro  share  release  rights,  or  the 
forthcoming  “Goya,”  again  a  Ti- 
ta nus-Metro-U A  release,  “true”  co- 
prOductiOns  .  in  that  the  Italians 
.  are  cut  in  on  a  share  of  distrib 
rights— as  against  such  locally- 
shot  Yank  pix  as  “A  Farewell  to 
Arms”  or  the  forthcoming  “Quo 
Vadis,”  which  employ  Italian 
forces  and  use  local  facilities,  hut 
reap  no  returns  for  the  Italian  in¬ 
dustry  once  finished).  While  the 
Yank-Italian  pact  does  not  call  for 
more  than  that  the  40%  blocked 
funds  be  used  for  “film  work”  in 
this  country,  Monaco  maintains 
that  both  he  and  the  then  Under¬ 
secretary  for  Entertainment  Giu¬ 
seppe  Brusasca  were  promised  in 
New  York  by-  Eric  Johnston  that 
MPEA  would  push  for .  an  increase 
in  the  above-mentioned  “true  co- 
productions”  by  member:  compAttr 
ies  This  has  not  been  the  case,  he 
says. 

(3)  The  Yanks  have  failed  to 
comply  with  a  clause  calling  on 
U.$.  member  outfits  to  sell  a  mini¬ 
mum  of  eight  recent  productions 
to  Italian  distribs  each  year.  Some 
were  admittedly  sold,  but  Monaco 
qlaims  they  were  old  or  unsuited 
pix.  Others  are  said  to  have  been 
offered  for  sale  at  over-high  prices, 

.  unreachable  by  Italo  distribs. 

(4)  Monaco  has  again  asked  that 
overage  features  be  withdrawn^ 
from  the  Italo  market  by  Yank 
companies,  on  a  voluntary  basis. 
He  notes  that  since  the  1956  with¬ 
drawal  of  200  old  pix,  none  were 
yanked  in  1957-58,  adding  paren¬ 
thetically  that  there  are  some  6,000 
features  in  circulation  in  this 
country  today.  Italo  topper  stresses 
tb#t  he  favors  a  “voluntary”  clean¬ 
up  on  the  part  of  the  Yanks,  with¬ 
out  a  definite  “age  limit”  such  as 
the  six-year  one  set  in  France. 
“It  would  be  silly,  for  example,  for 
us  to  ask  that  a  pic  such  as  ‘Gone 
With  the  Wind,’  still  a  top  money¬ 
maker  here,  be  withdrawn  on  that 
basis”  he  said. 

.  (5)  Italians  have  reiterated  their 
complaints  (recently  outlined,  in 
-Variety)  that  U.S.  companies  are 
not  complying  with  Italian  labor 
laws  in  their  treatment  Of  person¬ 
nel  hare. 

(6)  Finally,  and  importantly, 
Monaco  asked  for  an  end  to  the 
Finmeccanica  compensation  deals, 
by  which  he  said  blocked  money 
originally  intended  for  indirect,  use 
in  finance  of  local  film  projects  had 
been  used  up  and  was  being  used 
Up  in  shipbuilding  and  related  ex¬ 
tra-cinematic  efforts.  Monaco  -ad¬ 
mitted  that  this  o  was  also  an  .  in¬ 
ternal  matter  to.  be  argued  out 
with  the  .Italian  government,  but 
he  hoped  that  in  the  future,  this 
much-needed  :  cash  could  be  re¬ 
turned  to  its  original  purpose  and 
thus  more  directly  benefit  the  Ital¬ 
ian  film  industry — which  could  use 
it.  The  official  noted  that  during 
the  past  few  years,  the  so-called 
blocked  account  had  been '  more 
•than  ,  cut  in  .  half  via  the  various 
compensation  deals.  (60%  via  the 
Finmeccanica  deals,  40%  via  local 
production  expenses,  etc.). 

Monaco  disclaimed  any  direct 
responsibility:  for  the  Italian  threat 
(see  separate  story)  asking  that 
with  the  beginning  of  the  new 
cinema  year  on  Sept  1,  1958,  all 
money  earned  in  Italy  by  U.S.  pix 
companies  and  their  franchised  lo¬ 
cal  opposites  be  deposited  here  (i.e., 
blocked),  ascribing  this  entirely  to 
.  the  Italian  Ministry  of  Finance  and 
other  governmental  offices. 

The  ANICA  chief,  in  arguing 
reasonableness .  of  Italian  demands 
for  fulfillment  of  the  ANICA- 
MPEA  pact,  pointed  but  the  vast 
difference  between  it  and  the  re¬ 
cently  signed  .  Franco-American 
pic  agreement  (which  offers  the 
French  a  much  better  chance  to 


Vittorio  De.  Sica  has  defended  his  action  in  casting  non-professionals 
in  his  newest  picture  with  the  statement  that  experienced  performers 
would  have  been  “too  polished.”  Producer-director  was  rapped  last 
week  by  the  Italian  Film  Actors  Guild  which  had  charged  he  hired 
two  tyro  performers  for  “II  Tetto’’  (The)  Roof)  for  reasons  of.  economy 

Spokesman  for  De  Sica  in  New  York  this  week  relayed  word  that 
he  wanted  non-pros  so  as  to  retain  the  “realistic”  .flavor  of  the  produc¬ 
tion.  He  added  that  this  actually  restated  in  more  expense  than  would 
have  been  involved  with  seasoned  players  because  many  scenes  had  to 
be  re-shot  until  the  right  effect,  was  achieved.  In  other  words,  said  De 
Sica’s  man,  the  employment  of  unknowns  was  costlier  than  would  have 
j  been  the  use  of  established  actors. 

|  The  $4,000,000  revolving  fund  for  United  Artists,  producers  set  up 
by  the  Chicago  factoring  firm  of  Walter  E..  Heller  &  Co.  will  continue, 
to  be  available  through  1958  as  an  indication  of  the  “extreme  confi¬ 
dence”  the  firm  has  in  the  UA  operations.  A  spokesman  for  the  firm 
said  Heller  has  no  intention  of  retrenching  in  any  way.  Mpst  recent 
films  it  has  financed,  after  a  number  of;-  high-budgeters.  last  year,  have 
been  in  the  low  to  moderate  price  class,  including  ‘(Baby  Face  Nel¬ 
son”  which  is  doing  hefty  business  in  all  situations.  Upcoming  Heller- 
financed  releases  include  “Hard  as  Nails,”  a  Seltzer  production;  Gram- 
ercy’js  “Curse  of  Dracula”  and  “Flame  Barrier”  and  George  Sher¬ 
man’s  “10  Days  to  Tulare.” 

William  Sombar,  United  Artists  salesman  out  of  Denver,  was  flagged 
down  by  a  boy  whose  father  had  suffered  a  heart  attack.  Gibing  to  \york 
quickly,  giving  the  man  artificial  respiration,  -  Sombar  says  he  had  just 
about  given  up  hope  when  he  heard  the  boy  pray:  “Oh  God,  don’t  let 
daddy  die.”  At  that  instant,  according  to  Sombar,  the  man  started 
gasping  for  breadth.  Sombar  stayed  with  the.  man  until  a  doctor  could 
be  summoned.  The  state  highway  patrolman  that  covered  in  on  the.  in¬ 
cident  took  Sombar’s  number,  got  his  address  from  the  state  depart¬ 
ment,  and  wrote.  Sombar  a  nice  note  of  appreciation  for  his  quick  and 
efficient  action  that  rip  doubt  saved  the  man’s  life. 

Screenwriters  who  have  beefed  for  years,  about  interference-. by  pro¬ 
ducers  and  directors  have  found  ?  new  ally  in  producer  William  Goetz. 
Producer  feels  writers  can  be  guided,  but  that  basically  producers  and 
directors  should  stick  to  their  own  jobs  because  “no:  great  piece  of  art. 
is*  ever  created  by  a  committee.” 

Goetz  feels  the  problem  is  largely  confined  to  the  field  of  originals 
since  producers  and  directors  are  less  inclined  to  inject  their  ow 
ideas  into  the  film  version  of  a  successful  novel  or  play. 

Fire  Chief  Daniel  Richards  of  Burlington,.  Vt.  has  .  prailed  thea¬ 
tres  and  other  public  gathering  places  for  their  “excellent  coopera¬ 
tion”  in  the  Burlington  Fire  Department’s  program,  which  makes  “ 
ery.  day  an  inspection  day”  on  the  theory  that  an  ounce  of  prevention 
will  saye  a  couple  of  million  tons  of  water.  . 

“They  realize”’  Chief  Richards  said,  “how  iiripbrtant  it  1A  to  both 
themselves  and  the  city  to  have  these  regulkr  inspections.’’ 

Novel  idea  comes  from  exhibs  in  Scotland.  Alarmed  by  tv  inroads, 
they  suggest,  half-humorously,  that  before  showing  films  the  tv  sta¬ 
tions  should  screen  a  card  telling  viewers:  “This  is  an  old  film,  arid 
bears  no;  resemblance  to  the  type  of  film  being  shown  in  the.  cinema 
today.”  Alternatively,  the  Auld  Lang  Syne  exhibs  suggest,  /notices 
should  be  placed  outside  cinemas  stating:  “You  will  riot  see  thdse  films 
bn  tv  for  another  ten  years!”  - 


New  York  Sound  Track 

Continued  from  pare  4  ^ mmimU 

better  than  a  bad  B  movie”  reminded  a  Variety  staff  veteran  that  the 
late  Joshua  Lowe,  longtime  mgr.  of  tWis-  sheet’s  London  office,  coined 
the  description  “good  for  the  BIG  Small  time”  about  in-between  vaude 
turns  of  long  ago  . . .  Michael  Balcon,  the  British  producer,  has  a  clause 
stipulating  “permanent  residence  iri  Britain”  in  contracts  with  11  "po¬ 
tential  stars”  at  Ealing  Studios.  He  also  says  they  won’t  be  seen  on 
the  screen  or  receive  any  publicity  until  they  have  “proved  themselves,” 
One  of  therii  is  a  25-year-old  St.  Catharines,  Orit.,  ex-truckdriver  born 
Arthur  Massie,  who  became  Paul  Masse  for  the  screen.  He’s  just  com¬ 
pleted  a  lead  in  “Orders  to  Kill.”  The  other  10  include  a  Tasmanian 
and  nine  Britons. 

The  ghost  of  Warner’s  “Baby  Doll”  returned  to  haunt  the  Legisla¬ 
ture  in  Albany  Wednesday  (8).  Then  Senator  Joseph  F.  Perlconi*  Bronx 
Republican,  reintroduced  a  bill -which  would  add  to  the.  grounds  for 
licensure  denial  by  the  State,  a  film  that,  iq.  whole  or  part,  “disparages 
against  one’s  nationality  or  color.”  This  is  aimed  at  the  seducer,  an 
Italian  in  the  story.  He  sponsored  a  similar  bill  last  year. 

Art  Cohn,  screenwriter  and  biographer  of  Joe  E.  Lewis  and  Mike 
Todd,:  has  joined  staff  of  Hearst’s  morning  San  Francisco  Examiner  to 
turn  out  three  columns  a  week.  Replaces  Herb  Caen,  who  moves  back 
to  the  morning  San  iirancisco  Chronicle  this  week.  Examiner  says  Cohn 
will  go  to  six  columns  a  week  “in  a  month  or  so.” 

New  “peace”  moves  are  going  on  behind  the  scenes  in  Madrid  .  .  • 
Since  he’s  doirig  “Mud  on  the  Stars”  (about  the  TVA)  as.  strictly  a 
directorial  assignment  for  20th,  Elia> Kazan. won’t  use  some  of  the  staff 
and  crew  that  have  worked  with  him  on  his  last  couple  of  pix  as  an 
indie. 


apportiori  licenses  to  those  “aiding” 
French  industry  by  co-productions 
etc.—as  well  as  putting  aside  1.4% 
for  exclusive  use  of  the  Centre 
National  du  Cinema,  etc.),  much 
more  favorable  to  France.  (Un¬ 
doubtedly,  the  Italo  topper  has 
been  attentively  watching  the 
Spanish  impasse  as  well). 

In  conclusion,  Monaco  stressed 


that  over-high  government  taxes 
and  the  threat  of  television,  and 
not  the  U.S.  pic.  industry,  Were  the 
enemies  of  the  moment  for  the  lo¬ 
cal  filmmakers:  He  felt  certain  that 
U.S.  companies  would  upon  further 
thought  realize  the  Italian  pre¬ 
dicament,  and:  that  the  sore  points 
could  be  ironed  but  for  the  benefit 
of  both  industries. 


19 


Wednesday tJanoary  15, 1958 


PSSiEfr 


lEO's  ONE-TWO  PUNCH) 


“RAINTREE”  SOCK  I  i 

A  HIT  FROM  THE  OPENIN6  BELLI 

30  YEAR  (ALL-TIME)  RECORD  IN  HOUSTON!  BIGGEST  SINCE  “GUYS  & 
DOLLS”  IN  DENVER! /RECORD  BIZ  IN  DALLAS! •  CAPACITY  NEW  ORLEANS! 
ALL-TIME  (CONTINUOUS)  RECORD  IN  BALTIMORE!  TOP  GROSSER  IN 
SAN  ANTONIO,  TEX.!  TOPS  IN  PORTLAND,  ORE.  EXCEPT  FOR  “G.  &  D”J 
ALL-TIME  HOUSE  RECORD  IN  PHILLY!  BIGGEST  IN  N.Y.  IN  ALMOST  3 
YEARS!  •  CINCINNATI— Tops  “High  Society”  «  MIAMI-Tops  “Teahouse”  •  MIAMI 
BEACH-Ditto!  KANSAS  CITY-Tops  except  for  “G.&D”-AND  MORE  EVERY  DAY!  j 

M-G-M  presents  In  MGM  Camera  65  •  MONTGOMERY  CLIFT  .  ELIZABETH  TAYLOR  •  EVA  MARIE  SAINT  •  In 
“RAINTREE  COUNTY**  •  (Jo-starring  NIGEL  PATRICK  •  LEE  MARVIN  •  With  Rod  Taylor  •  Agnes  Moorehead  •  Walter 
Abel •  Jarma  Lewis  •  Tom : Drake  •  Screen  Play  by  Millard  Kaufman,  Associate  Producer  •  Based  on  the  Novel  by  Ross  Lockridge9 
Jr.*  Music  by  Johnny  Green  •  Print  by  Technicolor  •  Directed  by  Edward  Dmytryk*  Produced  by  David  Lewis  •  An  M-Q-M  Picture r 

★ 

“WATER”  WALLOP  I 

A  KNOCKOUT  -FROM  THE  WORD  GO! 

“Don’t  Go  Near  The  Water”  in  its  first  117  dates 
rocks  fabulous  “Jailhouse  Rock”  by  38% ! 

M-CMf  presents  “tiONT  GO  NEAR  THE  WATER"  Starring  GLENN  FORD  •  Gia  Seda  •  Earl  Holliman  *  Anne  Francis 
Keenan  Wynn  •  Fired  Clark  •  Eva  Gabor  •  Russ  Tamblyh  •  Jeff  Richards  •  Screen  Play,  by  Dorothy  Kingsley  and  George  Welle 
Based  on  the  Novel  by  William  Brinkley  •  In  Cinemascope  And  Metrocdor  •  An  Avon  Production  •  Directed  by  Charles  Wallers} 

Produced  by  Lawrence  Weingarten 


20 


Wednesday,  January  15,  1958 


PICTURES 


VAKum 


‘B-52’  Firm  $16,000  In 
Toronto;  ‘Godfrey’  Big 
10G,  ‘Sack’  12G  in  3d 

Toronto,  Jan.  14. 

Newcomer  ‘‘Bombers  B-52” 
shapes  okay  at  three-house  combo 
but  holiday  holdovers  are  still 
leading  the  city,  with  “My  Man 
Godfrey,”  “Sad  Sack”  and  ‘Jail- 
house  Rock”  all  doing  well  in  tim’d 
stanzas.  Also  in  fourth  frame  is 
“Legend  of  Lost,”  rated  okay. 

Estimates  for  This  Week 

Carlton  (Rank)  (2,518;.  60-$l)— 
“Legend  of  Lost”  OJA)  (3d  wk). 
Okay  $7,000,  Last  week,  $12,000. 

Century,  Downtown,  Glendale, 
Midtown,  Oakwood,  Odeon,  Scar- 
boro,  State  (Taylor)  <1,338;  1,054; 
995;  1,080;  1,393;  752;  694;  698;  50- 
75) — “Rodan”  (IFD)  and  “Hell  in 
Korea”  (IFD).  Good  $26,000.  Last 
week.  “Decision  at  Sundown”  (Col) 
*md  “Up  in  Smoke”  (AA),  $22,000. 

Hollywood,  Palace,  Rnnnymede 
(FP)  11,080;  1,385;  1,485;  50-$l>— 
“Bombers  B-52”  (WB)  and  “Coun¬ 
terfeit-  Plan”  (WB).  Okay  $16,000. 
Last  week,  “April  Love”  (20th)  (3d 
wk>,  $12,000. 

Imperial  (FP)  (3,344;  75-$l)-— 
“Sad  Sack”  (Par)  (3d  wk).  Lively 
$12,000.  Last  week,  $15,000, 

International  (Taylor)  (557;  $D— 
“Blue  Murder  at  St.  Trainian’s 
<IFD)  (3d  wk).  Swell  :$5,000.  Last 
week,  "$5,500. 

Loew’s  (Loew)  (2,098;.  75-$1.25) — : 
“Jailhouse  Rock”  (M-G)  (3d  wk). 
Nice  $7,500,  Last  week,  $12,000. 

Tivoli  (FP)  (955;  $1.75-$2.401— 
“Around  World  in  80  Days”  <UA) 
<22d  Wk).  Neat  $8,000.  Last  week, 
$9,000. 

Towne  (Taylor)  (693;  $1)  — 
“Lucky  Jim"  (IFD)  (4th  wk). 
Steady  $5,000,  with  fifth  frame 
skedded.  Last  week,  same. 

University  (FP)  (1,233;  $1.50- 
$2.40) — “This  is  Cinerama”  (Ciner-. 
ama)  (12th  wk).  Fast  $12,000.  Last 
week,  $16,000. 

Uptown  (Loew)  (2,098;  60-$l)- — 
“Mv  Man  Godfrey”  (U)  (3d  wk). 
Pig  $10,000.  Last  week,  $12,000. 

.Hyland  lRank)  il,357;  $1»  — 
“Shiralee”  (M-G)  (3d  wk).  Swell 
$5,000.  Last  week,  $7,000. 

LOS  ANGELES 

(Continued  from  page  8) 
Sutton's  Gal”  (Rep)  (2d  w£).  Lazy 
$8,000:  Last  week,  $17,700. 

Hollywood  (FWC)  (756;  90-$1.50) 

—  “Enemy  Below” '  (20th)  •  .and 
“Plunder  Road”  (20th)  (2d  wk). 
Light  $4,500. 

Hollywood  Paramount  (F&M) 
(1,468;  $1.25-$2.40)  —  “Sayonara” 
(WB)  (3d  wk).  Hotsy  $24,000  or 
close.  Last  weekr  $33,800. 

Pantages  (RKO)  .  (2,812;  $1,25-. 
$1.80) — “Don’t  Go  Near  theJWater” 
(M-G)  (3d  wk).  Pluinip  $17,tf00,  Last 
week,  $22,300. 

Hillstreet,  Ritz  -  (  RKO -  F  W  C  ) 
(2,752;  1,320;-90-$1.50) — “Pal  Joey” 
(Col)  (1st  multi-run)  and  “Tijuana 
Story”  (Col)  *(3d  wk,  Hillstreet;  2d 
wk,  Ritz),  Okay  $9,500. 

Warner  Beverly  (SW)  (1,612;  90- 
$1.75)— “Witness  for  Prosecution” 
(UA)  (4th  wk).  Gdod  $13,500.  Last 
week,  $15,500. '  ,  *'■ 

Chinese,  Los  Angeles  (FWC) 
(1,908;  2,097;  $l,25-$2.40)— “Fare¬ 
well  to  Arms”  (20th)  (4th  wk). 
Okay  $16,000  or  near.  Last  week, 
$21,200,  with  total  in .  eight  house 
special  roadskow  spread,  $76,900. 

Egyptian  (UATC)  (1,503;  $1.25- 
,  $3.50)— “Bridge  on  River  Kwai” 
(ColU4th  wk).  Great  $21,500.  Last 
week.  $21,800. 

Fine  Arts  < FWC)  (631;  90-$I.50) 
—“Paths  of  Glory”  (UA)  (4th  wk). 
Fair  $3,600.  Last  week,  $4,300. 

.  Fox  Beverly,  Loyola,  Vogue 
(FWC)  11,170;  1,248;  825;  90-$2.40) 

—  Peyton  Place”  (20th)  (5th  wk). 
Great  $29,000.  Last  week,  $32,000. 

Four  Star  (UATC)  (868;  90-$1.50) 
—“Wild  Is  Wind”  (Par)  <  5th  wk).. 
Snappy  $5,000,  Last  week,  $4,70( . 

Downtown,  Wiltern  (SW)  1 1.757; 
2,344:  $1.25-$2.50)— “10  Command; 
merits”  (Par)  (12th  wk).  Brislc 
$16,000.  Last  week,  $23,500: 

Warner  Hollywood  (SW-Ciner¬ 
ama)  ( 1,384;  $1.20t$2.65.)— “Seven 
Wonders”  (Cinerama)  started  32d 
wk  Sunday  (12)  after  socko  $19,000 
last  week. 

Carthay  (FWC)  (1,138;.  $1.75- 
$3.50  •  —  “Around  World  in  80 
Days”  (UA)  (56th  wk).  Springy 
$20,400. 

El  Rey  (FWC)  (861;  $I.25-$1.50) 
— -“Gervaise”  (Col).  Fine  $6:000. 

Crest  Sunset,  (Lippert-CohenV 
(800:  540;  $1.25-$1.50)-r“Passion-. 
ate  Summer”  (Indie)  (3d  wk).  Son 
so  $4,100.  Last  week,  $6,900; 


‘Woman’  Socko  $8,500  fa 
Seattle;  ‘Wonders’  13G 

Seattle,  Jan.  14. 

Strong  hills  that  opened  New 
Year's  day  are.  now  in  holdover 
rounds,  with  biz  still  holding  well 
in  many  locations.  Best  newcomer 
is  "And  God  Created  Woman,” 
smash  at  Music  Box.  “Peyton 
Place”  looks  best  of  pop -scale 
holdovers,  being  big  at*  Fifth  Ave¬ 
nue  in  third  -round.  Biggest  coin 
total  Is  being  registered  by.  “Say¬ 
onara,”  wow  in  second  Music  Hall 
week  “Seven  Wonders  of  World” 
shapes  great  in  22d  stanza  at  Para¬ 
mount 

Estimates  for  This  Week 

Bine  Moose  (Hamrick)  (800; 
$1.50-$2.50)  —  “80  Days  Around 
World”  (UA)  (39th  wk).  Good 
$8,500.  Last  week,  same. 

Coliseum  (Evergreen)  (1,870;  90- 
$1.25) — -“Girl  Most  Likely”  (U)  and 
“Violators”  (U).  Modest  $7,000. 
Last  week,  “Enemy  Below”  (20th) 
and  “Rockabilly  Baby”  (20  th), 
$13,500  in  10  days. 

Fifth  Avenue  (Evergreen)  (2,500; 
$1-$1.501— “Peyton  Place”  (20th) 
(3d  wk).  Big  $9,000  or  near.  Last 
week.  $11,000.  .  - 

Music  Box  (Hamrick)  (850;  90- 
$1,25)  —  “God  Made  Woman” 
(Kings).  Great  $8,500.  Last  week, 
“Nana”  (Indie)  (2d  wk),  $4,500. 

Music  Hall  (Hamrick)  (2,200;  90- 
$1.25) — “Sayonara”  (WB)  (2d  wk). 
Immense  $12,000  or  close.  Last 
week,  $18,500. 

Orpheum  (Hamrick)  (2,700;  90- 
$1.25)  —  “Don’t  Go  Near  Water” 
(M-G)  and  “Careless  Years’*:  (UA) 
(2d  wk).  Good  $8,000.  Last  week, 
$15,500. 

Paramount  (SW  -  Cinerama) 
(1,282;  $1.20-$2.65)— “Seven  Won¬ 
ders”  (Cinerama)  (22d  wk).  Great 
$13,000.  Last  week,  $12,800. 

CHICAGO 

(Continued,  from  page  9) 
and  “Love  Slaves  of  Amazons”  (U) 
(2d  wk).  Good  $5,000  in  4  days.  Last 
week,  $9,600.  . 

Loop  (Telem’t)  (606;  90-$1.50)— 
“God  Greeted  Woman”.  (King)  (3d 
wk).  Shapely  $15,000.  Last  week, 
$18,700. 

McVickers  (JL&S)  (1,580;  $1.25- 
$3.*30)— “Raintree  County”  (M-G) 
(12th  wk).  Okay  $13,500.  Last 
week,  $14,000. 

Monroe  (Indie)  (1,000;  57-79)— 
“Girl  in  Black  -Silk  Stockings” 
(UA)  and  “Hell  Bound”  (UA). 
Modest  $4,800.  Last  week,  “Brain 
From  Planet”  and  (DCA),  “Teen¬ 
age  Monster”  (DCA),  $5,500; 

Oriental  (Indie)  (3,400;  90-$1.50) 
—“Enemy  Below”  (20th-Fox)  (2d 
wk).  Okay  $18,000.  '  Last  week,* 
$234500. 

Palace  (SW-Cirierama)  =(1,484; 
$1.25-$3.40)  —  i'Seven  Wonders” 
(Cinerama)'  (56th  wk);  Big  $19,400. 
Last  week*  $24,000. 

Roosevelt  (B&K)  (1,400;  ,75-90)— 
“Man  in  Shadow”  (U)  and  “Hard 
Man”  (Col).  Bhsy  $13,500.  Last 
week,.  “Deep  Six”  (WB)  and 
“Naked  in”  Sun”  (AA)  (2d  wk), 
$12,006. 

:  State-Lake  (B&K)  (2,400;  90- 
$1.80)— “Old  Yeller”  (BV)  (3d  wk): 
Neat  $2LOOO.  Last  week,  $36,000. 

Surf  (H&E  Balahan)  (685;  $1.50) 
—“Game  of  Love”  (Times)  (8th 
wk).  Snappy  $3,000.  Last  week, 
$4,300. 

Todd’s  Cinestage  (Todd)  (1,036; 
$1.75-$3.30)  —  “Around  World” 
(UA)  (41st  wk).  Firm  $20,500.  Last 
week,  $36,000. 

United  Artists  1B&K)  (1,700;  90- 
$1.50)  — ,  “Don’t  Go  Near  Water” 

!  (M-G)  (3d  Wk).  Hotsy  $27,000.  Last 
[.week  $30,500. 

Woods  (Essaness)  (1,200;  90- 

I  $1.50)— “Legend  of  Lost”  (UA)  (2d 
i  wkl.  Okay  $17,000.  Last  week, 
i  $24,000. 

[  World  (Indie)  (606;  90)— “Don 
Giovanni”  (DCA)  (3d  wk).  Good 
;  $4,800.  Last  week,  $4,500. 

L  Ziegfeld  (Davis)  (485;  79)— ‘Tili- 
!  cit  Interlude”  (Teitel)  .  Okay 
irS3,400.  Last  week.  “Bride  Much 
Too  Beautiful”  (Davis)  (2d  Wk), 
$3,100. 

BOSTON 

(Continued  from  page  8) 

Wow  $28,000.  Last  week,  $35,000. 

Metropolitan.  (NET)  —  “Sayon- 
ara”  t WB)  (3d  wk).  Stout.  $28,000. 
Last  week,  $30,000. 

[  Trans-Lux  (T/L)  (724;  75-$1.25)' 
j — -“Mile.  Striptease”  (Indie)  (3d 
,  wk).  Big.  $4,600.  Last  week, 
$6.200..  * 

Orpheum  (Loew)  (2,900;  75-$1.25) 

'  —“Les  Girls”  (M-G)  .(3d  wk). 
Nice  $12,500.  Last  week,  $15,000. 

State  (Loew)  (3,500;  75-$1.25)— 
“Les  Girls”  (M-G)  (3d  wk).  Good 
•  $7,500.  Last  week,  $10,000. 


BROADWAY 

(Continued  from  page  9) 
alltime  high  of  $226, 500,  taking  in 
Xmas-New  Year’s  period.  . 

Rivoli  (UAT)  (1;545;  $1.25-$3.50) 
—“Around  World”  (UA)  (66th  wk). 
The  65th  week  concluded  yester¬ 
day  (Tues,)  was  capacity  $37,700 
for  11  performances.  The  64th 
week  ended  Jan.  7  was  same  for 
like  number  of  shows. 

Plaza  (Lopert)  (525;  $1.50-$2)— 
“Raintree  County5’  (M-G)  (4th  wk). 
This  week  ending  tomorrow 
(Thurs.)  is  heading  for  big  $9,100 
after  $ll,200'in  third  week.  Con¬ 
tinues  on. 

Roxy  (Nat’l.  Th.)  -  (5,717;  65- 
$2.50)^— "Peyton  Place”  (20th)  and 
Xmas  stageshow  (5th  wk).  This 
week  ending  today  (Wed.)  looks 
like  big  $80,000.;  Fourth  week  Was 
$100,000:  after  $168,000  for  third, 
which  was  topped  only  by  “The 
Rohe”  (20th).  Holding  again.  With 
"Farewell  To  Arms”  (20th)  due  to 
open  Jan.  24,  With  reserved-seat 
policy  in  mezzanine. 

State  (Loew)  (3,450;  50-$1.75)— 
‘Raintree  County”  (M-G)  (4th  wk). 
This  stanza:  ending  tomorrow 
(Tliurs.)  loo.ks  to  hit  sockeroo  $24,- 
000  after  $30,000  in  third  session; 
Stays1  on. 

Sutton  (R&B)  (561;  95-$1.75)— 
‘Smiles  of  Summer  Night”  (Rank) 
(4th  wk).  .  Third  week  ended  Sun¬ 
day  (12)  was  sock  $11,700  after 
$16,800  iri  second. 

Trans-Lux  52d  St.  (T-L)  (540;  $1- 
$1:50)— “Old  Yeller”  (BV)  (4th  wk)/ 
Third  round  finished  yesterday 
(Tues:)  was  great  $11,500  or. 
near.  Second  was’  $17,000,  after, 
new  record  of  $24,000  opening 
week. 

Victoria  (City  Inv.)  (1,060;  50- 
$2)— “Paths  of  Glory”  (UA)  (4th 
wk).  Third  frame  ended  yester¬ 
day  (Tues.)  was  rousing  $18,000  or 
close.  Second  Was  $31,500. 

Warner  (SW-Cinerama)  (1,600; 
$l,80-$3.50)— “Search  For  Para¬ 
dise”  (Cinerama)  (17th  wk).  The 
16th  session  ended  Saturday  (11) 
was  big  .  $28, 200.  The  15th  week 
Was  great  $36,800.  -  Stays  on. 

World  (Times)  •  (400;  95-$1.50)— 
Razzia”  (Kass).  (9th  wk).  The 
eighth  round  ended  Sunday  (12) 
was  good  $3,500  after  $5,500  for 
seventh  week. 


‘Peyton’  Smash  17,000, 
Denver;  ‘Sayonara’  18G 

Denver,  Jan.  24. 

Best  showing  being  made  in 
current  session  is  "Peyton  Place,” 
still  terrific  in  third  round  at  .  the 
Centre:  It  stays  on!  “Sayonara”  is 
landing  biggest  coin  total  by  a 
small  margin  and.  rated  great  In 
second  week  at  Paramount.  “Old 
Yeller”  is  big  enough  in  third  at 
the  Aladdin  to  stay  a  fourth.  “Rain¬ 
tree  County”  also  holds  over  into 
fourth  at:  Orpheum. :  “Around 
World  in  80  Days”  is  In  36th'  week 
at  Tabor  and  goes  out  Sunday  after 
hitting  new  mark  for  first-run  films 
here;  . 

Estimates  for  This ‘Week 

Aladdin  (Foxi-V  (1,400;  70-90)— 
“Old.  Yeller”  (BV)  (3d  wk).  Big 
$6J300.  Stays  on.>  Last-  week, 
$12,000. 

Centre  (Fox)  (1^247;*  *90-$1.25)— 
“Peyton  Place"  (2'0th)  (3d  wk). 
Wham  $17,000.  Holds..  Last  week,’ 
$11,000. 

Denham  (CockrUl)  Q, 429;  70-90) 
—“Sad  Sack?  (Par)  (4th  Wk).  Fancy 
$7,000.  Last  week;  $8,500. 

Denver  (Fox)  *  (2,586;  70-90)^- 
“Deep  Six”  (WB)  and  “Jainboree’’ 
(WB).  Fine  $13,000.  Last  week* 
“Enemy  Below”  (20th)  and  “Cour¬ 
age  Of  Black  Beauty”  (20th), 
$15,000. 

Esquire  (Fox)  (742;  70-90)— 

“Torero”  (Col)  (2d  wk).  Good  $2,- 
500.  Last  week,  $4,009. 

Lake  Shore.  Drive-In  .(Monarch) 
(1,000  cars;  75)— ‘Oregon  Passage” 
(AA).  and  “Sabu  and  Magic  Ring” 
(AA).  Hep  $5,000.  Last  week, 
“Teenage  Frankenstein’’  (AI)  and 
“Blood  of  Dracula”  (AI),  $6,000. 

Orpheum  (RKO)  (2,596;  90-$1.50) 
—“Raintree  County”  -(M-G)  (3d 
wk).  Fine  $12,000.  Last'  week, 
$21,500.  . 

Paramount  (Wolfberg)  (2,200;  90- 
$1.25)--“Say6nara”  (WB)  (2d  wk). 
Great  $18,000.  Stays  on.  Last  week, 
$28:001).  *  •'  .-  ‘  “ 

Tabor  (Fox)  (930;  $1.25-$2.5Q)-^ 
“Around  World  in  80  Days”  (UA) 
(35th' wk).  Good  $6,000.  Holding. 
Last  week,  $6,000. 

Vogue  Art  (Sher-Shulman)  (442; 
75-90)— “Lost .  Continent”  (Indie) 
(3d  wk).  Good  $1,200.  Last  week* 
$2,000.  ;  . 


Charles  Darden  of  .Richardson, 
Tex.,  has  been  appointed  sales 
broker  for  the  fountain  division  of 
Mission  of  California,  representing 
Mission  in  Texas,  Oklahoma  and 
Arkansas.  Darden  has  had  20  ybart 
experience  calling  on  .  theatre  cir¬ 
cuit  Operators,  indie  theatre  '  own¬ 
ers,  concession  supply  jobbers, 
fountain  supply  jobbers  and  pop¬ 
corn  distributors.  ‘ 


Teyton’  Whopping  20G, 
D.C.  4A,  ‘&iyonara’  24G 

Washington,  Jan.  14. 

It’s  a  complete  holdover  situation 
along  main  stem,  with  holiday 
openers  remaining  very  steady  af¬ 
ter  sock  New  Year’s  week.  “Pey¬ 
ton  Place”  continues  great  in  fourth 
stanza  at  -Palace,  and  will  stay. 
“Sayonara,”  day-dating  at  Ambas¬ 
sador  and  Metropolitan,  is  another 
big  holdover  in  third  session. 
“Seven  Wonders  of  World,”  in  55th 
and  final  week  at  the  Warner, 
winds  up  with  dazzling  biz.  “Don’t 
Go  Near  Water’  looms  stout  in 
fourth  Capitol  week. 

Estimates  for  This  Week 
..Ambassador-Metropolitan  -,(SW) 
(1,490;  1,000;  90-$1.50)— “Sayon¬ 

ara”  (WB)  (3d  wk).  Big  $24,000  or 
over,  after  $35,000  last  week.  - 

Capitol  (Loew)  (3,434;  85-$1.25) 
—  ’Don’t  Go  Near  Water”  (M-G) 
(4th-final  wk);  Firm  $15,000  or 
final  9  days  after  big  $18,000  last 

Columbia  (Loew)  (1,154;  85- 

$1.25)— “Enemy  Below”  (20th)  (3d 
Wk).  Oke  $6,500  after  fine  $8,500 
in  second.  Stays.  5 

Keith’s  (RKO)  (1,850;  85-$1.25)-- 
“Tarnished  Angels”  (U)  (2d  wk). 
Dipped  to  $7,000  after  big  $11,000, 
with  New  Year’s  Eve  preera  help¬ 
ing. 

Palace  (Loew)  (2,350;  90-$1.50)— 
’Peyton  Place”  (20th)  (4th  wk). 
Great  $20,000  after  $25,000  in  third. 
Stays.  . 

Plaza  (T-L)  (600;  90-$1.50)— 

God  Created  Woman”  (Kings) 
(10th  Wk).  Hardly  any  drop,  with 
solid  $5,500  after  $6,000  last  week; 
Stays. 

Uptown  (SW)  (1,100;  $1.25-$3)^ — 
“Around  World”  (UA)  (41st  wk). 
Fancy  $13,000  after  $21,000  last 
round. 

•  Warner  (SW-Cinerama)  (1,300; 
$1.20-$2.40)  —  “Seven  Wonders” 
(Cinerama)  (55th-iinal  wk).  Lusty 
$24,000  for  final  9  days.  Dark 
Tuesday  and  reopens  Wed.  (15)  for 
brass  hat  benefit  preem  of  “Search 
for  Paradise.” 


PITTSBURGH 

( Continued  from  page  8) 
ny  $15,000,  for  best  in  months. 
Picture  had  tremendous  run,  doing 
close  to  $475J)00  in  nine  months. 
House  now;  back  to  legit. 

Penn  (UA)  (3,300;  80-$1.25)— 
‘‘Don’t  Go  Near  Water”  (M-G)  (2d 
wk).  Big  weekend  on  overflow  from 
Stanley  and  Harris  should  send 
thfs  one  out  with  around  $13,000, 
Very  good.  Last  week,  $22,500. 

Squirrel  Hill  (SW)  (900;  99- 
11.25)  — “God  Created  Woman” 
(Kings)  (4th  wk).  ■  A  genuine  phe¬ 
nomenon  with  unbelievable  grosses 
for  this  small-seaten  Upper  prices, 
helping,  with  attendance  marks  be¬ 
ing  established  from  day  to  day. 
Looks  like  another  tremendous 
$7,200,  bettqr  than  last  peek’s 
$7,000.  Second  stanza,  over  the 
holidays,  soared  to  $9,200,  new 
house  record! 

Stanley  (SW)  (3,800;  99-$1.50)— 
“Sayonara”  (WB)  (2d  wk).  Another 
b.o.  spectacular  and  beaming  for 
more  than  $30,000,  wow.  Should 
be  around  for  at  least  another  fort¬ 
night  Last  week,  sensational  $40,- 
500/  ahead  of  the  “Giant”  (WB) 
opening  stanza. 

Warner  (SW-Cinerama)  (1,300;; 
$1 .20-$2.40) — “Search  for  Para¬ 
dise”  (Cinerama)  (14th  wk). -Level¬ 
ing  off  after  the  holidays  and. 
seems  to  have  found  its  groove.. 
Looks  like  okay  $7,000.  Last  week, 
$12,500,  aided  holiday  surge,  1 


Gronich 

Continued  from  page  5 
It  currently  has  only  one  field  man 
in  the  entire  Latin  American  terri¬ 
tory  (Harry  Stone  in  Rio  de  Jane¬ 
iro),-  hut  v.  p.  Robert  Corkery 
makes  periodic  trips  from  New 
York.  Hochstetter  originally  had 
been  skedded  16  go  into  Buenos 
Aires.  That  office  now  may  be¬ 
come  a  victim  of  “econoihy.” 

Actually,  there  are  two  lines  of 
thought  on  the- future  of  the  MPEA 
Operation,  Some  feel  that  MPEA 
should  economize  both  in  terms  of 
men  and.  expenses.  Others  disagree, 
arguing  that  MPEA  is  the  wrong 
place  to  start  saving  pennies  now 
that  the  foreign  mart  looms  more 
important  than  ever.  “Assume  we 
had  *a  man  in  Madrid,  and  we’d 
paid  him  $25,000  plus  expenses, 
we’d  still  be  way  ahead  if  he  had 
been  able  to  avoid  what  happened 
to  us  in  Spain,”  commented’  one.  of 
the  foreign  managers.  Several  of 
the  latter  feel  that  MPEA  should 
be  primarily  a  “preventive”  opera-J 
tion  and  that,  in  this  sense,  it’s 
well  worth  spending  money  on; 


Bullish  Half 

Continued  from  page. 3 

ins  was  2^420,756,000.  The  weekly 
average  was  46,553,000  overall 
average  admission  price  across  the 
nation  was  49.2c. 

In  1957  the  total  dollar  income 
was  ;$1J29,600,000.  ;  This  breaks 
down  to  a  €.2%  drop  in  dollars  and 
a  7.1%  decrease  in  admissions.  The 
average  weekly  attendance  was  42,- 
220,000.  Further,  there  was  a  high¬ 
er  ratio  of  free  admissions  in  1957 
than  in  1956. 

Level  of  business  in  the  last 
four  months — September  through 
December-7-was  so  qff  that  if  it 
had  obtained  throughout  the  entire 
12  months'  the  year’s  total  boxof- 
fice  money  would  have  been  un¬ 
der  $900,000,000.  This  is  a  factor 
of  major  significance;  the  fear  that 
such  a  downbeat  might  continue 
undoubtedly  lies  behind  industry¬ 
wide  retrenchment  now  prevailing* 

:  Aforementioned,  figures  repre¬ 
sent  monies  spent  by  the  public  at 
the  b.  o.  exclusive  of  Federal  tax. 
Total  amounts  .shelled  out  by  the  . 
customers  were  $1,274,600,000,  of 
which  $70,400,000  was  for  the  Gov¬ 
ernment  levy,  in  1956,  and  $1,162,- 
100,000,  of  which  $32*500,000  was 
Uax,  in  1957.  (It  was  in  September, 
1956,  that  the  Fed  tax  was  elimin¬ 
ated  on  tickets  up  to  90c  and:  con¬ 
tinued  at  10%  on  tickets  costing 
over  that  amount.) 

.  Further  breakdown  is  provided 
by  Sindlinger  on  a  .quarter-to- 
quarter  basis,  as  follows: 

First  quarter  of  1957:  Theatre 
gross  of  $222,400,000,  meaning  a 
gain  of  10.4%  in  dollars  and  2.1% 
in  admissions  over  the  -first  quar¬ 
ter  of  1956.  Admission  scales  were 
higher  (due  mainly  to  the- upped 
prices  for  “Giant”)  and  the  tax 
relief  was  In  effect. 

Second  quarter  of  1957.  Gross  of 
$303,900,000,  for  a  jump  of  12.5% 
in  dollars  and  6.2%  in  admissions 
over  the  second  quarter  of  1958. 
This .  was  the  greatest  increase  in 
any  quarter  since  1946. 

Third  quarter  of  1967.  Gross  of 
$382,100,000,  for  a  drop  of  13.5% 
in  dollars  and  47:1%  in  attendance. 
Tax  situation  in  September  of  this 
quarter  was  the  same  as  in  the 
same  month  of  1956,  First-run  thea¬ 
tres  were  off  most. 

Fourth  quarter.  Gross  of  $223,- 
200,000,  for  a  drop  of  18,4%  in:  dol-. 
lars  and  16.6%  in  admissions  un¬ 
der  1956..  First-runs  still  mainly 
showing  the  decline. 

Audience  for  the  full  year,  said 
Sindlinger,  comprised  56%  male 
and  44%  f enable. 


Nixon’s  Pilch 

SS5'  Continued,  from  pare  1  sssa 

to  do  What  must  be  done  In 
military  way.” 

Here  he  made  a  pitch  for  non¬ 
military  foreign  aid,  adding:  “I 
was  talking  to  Frank  Stanton 
earlier  about  CBS  public  service 
broadcasts,  I  understand  there  is 
a  strong  controversy*  within  the  in¬ 
dustry  on  how  much  .editorializing 
should  be  done  by  stations,  and 
networks. 

“But  the  tremendous  power  and 
responsibility  you  broadcasters 
have  must  ,  not  be  overlooked.” 
Here  he  said  that  NBC  had  re¬ 
ceived  .200,000  letters  asking,  for 
copies  of  the  .  Rockefeller  Report 
after  Nelson.  Rockefeller  had  dis¬ 
cussed  It  on  the  Dave  Garroway 
show. 

“Television  and  radio  may  bet. 
entering  a  new  era,”  Nixon  con¬ 
tinued,  “where  information  pro¬ 
grams  -will  increase  and  entertain¬ 
ment  shows.  to  the  same  extent, 
decrease.  Today  the  American 
people  are  in  a  serious  mood.  I 
urge  those  With  the  responsibility 
in  this  field  to  do  some -experi¬ 
menting  with  information  pro¬ 
grams. 

..  “You  may  find  out.  that.  this,  is 
not  only  public  service.  It  may, 
ir  the  end,  be  good'  business  as 
v;eli:”  ., 

The  Vice  President  did  not  dis¬ 
cuss,  the  position  of  the..  FCC, 
which  is.  that  stations  may  editor 
rialize,  provided  they  give  time 
for  the.  other  side.  The  auestion  of 
how  much  non-military  foreign  aid 
this  nation  should  provide  is  highly 
controversial  In  Washington-  All- 
out  support  of  the  ,  proerani  ;  by 
stations  would  undoubtedly  bring 
request  from  some  members  of 
Congress  and  others  for  •■time --to 
reply* 


Wednesday,  January  15, 1958 


21 


theatre  in 
which  the  picture 
has  been  shown 
has  done  big 
business! 


i 


HOLDOVERS 


ALL  OVER  THE 


COUNTRY! 


AND  IN  L.  A.-r 


-LOUELLA 

PARSONS 


1 


f  “A  hot  ^ 
r  exploitation  > 
picture!  Might 
even  start  a 
new  gangster ; 
film  cycle!”  j 


•***  WDjfi 


BABY 

FACE 

NELSON 

...he  was  the  FBI’s  Public  Enemy  No.  1 


7T 


IB^ 


JIESIII^^  Srsii* 

Screenplay  by  IRVING  SHULMAN  and  DANIEL  MAIN  WARING  •  Story  by  IRVING  SHULMAN 

Directed  »y  DON  SIEGEL  •  Produced  byALZIMBALIST 

Executive  Assistant  Producer  RED  DOFF  •  A  FRYMAN-ZS  Production 


PICTURES 


Unless  the  Brazilian  government  4’ 
agrees  to  an  increase  in  film  admis¬ 
sions,  the  American  film  companies 
operating  in  that  country  stand  to 
take  a  whopping  exchange  loss  in 


1958. 

Situation,  which  lias  been  held 
in  abeyance  since  last  August, 
when  Brazil  revamped  its  entire 
tariff  structure,  comes  to  a  head  on 
Jan.  3L  That's  when  the  Yanks 
must  start  remitting  tjjelr  earnings 
in  Brazil  at  the  free  market  rate, 
now  hovering  around  95  cruzeiros 
to  the  dollar.  At  the  moment,  the 
exchange  rate  for  films  runs,  around 
52  cr.  to  the  dollar. 

That’s  the  combined  average  of 
the  official  rate,  at  which  70%  of 
the  Americans*  New  York  share  are 
currently  remitted,  and  of  the  30% 
which  is  converted,  at  the  free  mar¬ 
ket  rate.  The  official  rate  has 
been  pegged  at  between  42  cr.  and 
43  cr. 

Unless  there’s  a  change  of  heart, 
and  admissions  go  up,  the  Ameri¬ 
can  dollar  take— which  in  1957  ran 
to  about  $14,000,000— may  be  cut 
as  low  as  $7,000,000  or  $8,000,000. 
The  only  positive  offsetting  factor 
is  the  gradual  and  natural  expan¬ 
sion  of  the  Brazilian  market,  with 
attendance*  still  rising.  ", 

Robert  J,  Corkery,  the  Motion 
Picture  Export  Assn.’s;  Latin  Amer¬ 
ican  supervisor,  left  New  York  yes¬ 
terday  (Tues.)  for  Rio  de  Janeiro 
and  Buenos  Aires.  In  Rio,  he  hopes 
to  convince  the  government  of  the 
necessity  of  a- price  rise.*  When 
the  tariff  skeds  were  changed  last 
year,  and.  everyone  had  to  operate 
in  the  free  market,  other  industries 
were  able  to  make  price  adjust¬ 
ments. 

Films,  however,  in  Brazil  and 
elsewhere  throughout  Latin  Amer¬ 
ica,  are  the  top  mass’  entertain¬ 
ment  and  governments  deliberately 
have  avoided  raising  admissions! 
In  one.  instance,  in  Argentina,  they 
were  upped  and  later  again  re¬ 
duced.  Last  August,  Corkery  went 
to  Rio  and  argued  that  the  twoway 
squeeze  on  pix  wasn’t  fair.  The 
Finance  Ministry  agreed  and  the 
70-30  formula  was  devised,  applic¬ 
able  to  Jan.  31,  while  talks  con¬ 
tinued. 

One  of  the  problems  is  that, 
whereas  the  exchange  issue-  is  in 
the  hands  of  the  Finance  Ministry, 
price  levels  are  set  by  a  different 
commission  under-  the  control  of 
the  executive.  This  commission,  on 
which  the  nationalists  are  most 
Vocal,  aims  to  keep  admissions  con¬ 
trolled  at  present  levels,  partly  on 
the  theory  that  raised  admissions 
represent  “Yankee  imperialism” 
and  exploitation. 

On  his  current  tour,  Corkery 
again  can  be  expected  to  argue 
that  the  Brazilians  can  not  fairly 
exact  a  toll  from  Hollywood  both 
ways,  i.e..  Via  (a)  inflated  ex¬ 
change  rates  and'  (b>  frozen  admis¬ 
sion  levels. 

In  Argentina,  the  question  .  of 
whether  the  American  films  are 
taxable  under  a  new  law  still  pends 
and  is  under  study.  Last  October, 
the  Argentine  government  posted, 
notice  of  a,  tax  of  up  to  200,000 
pesos  ($5,000)  per  picture  on  films 
from  Countries  with  which  Argen¬ 
tina  has  no  reciprocal  trade  deal. 
It  didn’t  specify  whether  such  a 
reciprocal  agreement  had  to  apply 
to  films  or  not.  In  December,  Ar¬ 
gentina  sent  tax  notices  to  several 
of  the  American  companies,  upon 
protest,  withdrew  them. 

Now,  Corkery  again  will  discuss 
the  tax  situation.  He  is  said  to 
have  received  assurances  from  the 
Finance  Ministry  that,  whatever  is 
done,  no  tax  assessment  will  be 
imposed  retroactively. 

Crux  of  the  problem  is  that  Ar¬ 
gentine  producers  are  campaigning 
for  fewer  film  imports  from  the 
U.  S,  and  that  they  seem  to-  have 
several  important  men  in  the  tax 
bureau  in  their  pocket. 

Boston  Cinema  Club  Elects 
Boston,  Jan.  14. 

Joe  Rathgeb,  of  Metro,  was  elect¬ 
ed  president  of  the  Cijpma  Club 
of  Boston  at  the  anni  meeting.  Bill 
Romanoff,  New  England  Theatres 
Iric.,  was  elected  first  vice  prexy; 
Richard  Owens,  E.  M.  Loew;  Thea¬ 
tres,  second  veep;  Cyril  McGerigle; 
DCA,  secretary;  Max  Berlone,  UA, 
treasurer. 

The  board  of  directors  Includes 
McGerigle,  O  wnes,  Romanoff, 
Charles  Wilson,  Charles  Repec, 
John  Glazier,  Bill  Cuddy,  and  Hy 
Young. 


EDWARD  SELZER  RETIRING 


But  Vet  of  28  Years  To  Be 
WB  Advisor 


.Hollywood,  Jan.  14. 
Edward  Selzer,  head  of  the  War¬ 
ner  Bros. .  cartoon  division  since 
1944  and  a'  studio  employe  for  28 
years,  is  retiring  March  1.  .  He’ll . 
continue  to!  serve  in  an  advisory 
capacity. 

Selzer  joined  Warners  in  1930 
to  handle  special  material  for  short 
subjects  based  pn  Robert.  Ripley’s 
“Believe  It  Or  Not,”  heading  the 
troupe  that  was .  sent  to  Africa 
and  the  Near  East  the  following 
year  to  film  oddities  for  the  series. 
In  1933,  he  became  studio,  public¬ 
ity  director,  remaining  at  that  post 
until  1937  when  he;  took  over  the 
trailer  arid  main  title  department. 
In  1944,  when  the  studio  acquired  - 
Leon  Schlesinger -Productions,  the : 
cartoonery,  Selzer,  became  prexy  of  1 
Warner  Bros.  Cartoons  and  served 
until  1055:'  when  the  parent  com¬ 
pany  absorbed  the  cartoonery. 


RVR;  Taint  V.D. 

Continued  from  page  2 

out  his  entire  music  book  and  re¬ 
vamped  it  with  r  ’n’  r  beat.” 

Handling  a  unit  at  the  State 
Theatre  local  Vauder  here,  Alan 
Freed  grossed  $18,700  in  a  two-day 
stance  at  the  house  on  Saturday 
and  Sunday  (11-12).  This  was  about 
$1,200  better  than  his.last  stand  at 
the  same  house  last  March  for  two 
days.  .At  an  earlier  Stand  at  the 
housejie  grossed  some  $23,000  for 
two  days. 

Freed  next  month  will  start 
work  oil  his  own  produced  picture. 
As  ygt~.untitled,  pic  will’ deal  with 
a  disc  jockey,  role  played  by  him¬ 
self.  Script  is  understood  to  be  by 
Toni  Bruce,  her  first:  effort  It  will 
be  made  at  the  Gold  Meadows 
Studios  in  the  Bronx.  Cost  of  the 
picture,  has  been  set  at  $300,000, 
says  Freed. 

Following  completion  of  the  pic¬ 
ture,  Freed  will  take  but  a  unit  on 
a  six-week-  tour,  starting  at  the 
Paramount  '  in  Brooklyn  March 
28  and .  29.  Following'  day  .  (March 
30)  he  will  play  the  State  here  for 
a  One-day  stand.  Tour  will  extend 
across  the  nation  and  into  Canada, 
winding  up  at  Providence,  R.  I. 
Next  October  the  jockey  will  pick 
up  his  tour  again  with  a  series  of 
bookings  in  England,  starting  at 
the  -Palladium  and  extending 
through  Rank  controlled  theatres. 

Ronsiek  Heads  Colosseum. 

Dallas,  Jan..  14. 

Jim  Ronsiek,  salesman  for  the 
Metro  film  exchange,  has  been 
elected  prez  of  the  Dallas  lodge  of 
tne  Colosseum  of  Film  Salesman. 
He  succeeds  Dick  Bond  of  Para¬ 
mount.. 

Other  .officers  are  .  Walter  Han¬ 
sen,  20th  Century-Fox,  veepee,  arid 
Burl  Lovelace,  Allied  Artists,  sec¬ 
retary-treasurer. 


CHARGES  HOLLYWOOD, 
CONGRESS  IN  CAHOOTS’ 

Washington^  Jan.  14. 

. .  Have  the  Hollywood  studios  and 
House .  Un-American  Activities 
Committee  gone  into  “cahoots”  to 
bar  film  industry  employment  for 
23  former  Holly wooders  for  refus¬ 
ing  to  testify  before  the  House 
committee?  ~ 

Did  the  23  suddenly,  decide  their 
constitutional  rights  had  been 
violated  only  after  they  failed  to 
make  headway  in  the  California 
state  courts  on  their'  suits  for  over 
$50,000,000  in  damages? 

These  were  the'^Oestions  left 
with  the  U.S.  Supreme  Court'  to 
decide  last  week;  following  two  and 
one-half  hours  of  argument  on  the 
appeal  of  the  23  writers,  actors, 
and  directors  from  the  action  they 
lost  in  all  the  California  courts. 

.  Robert  Kenny  and  Ben  Margolis, 
attorneys  for  the  23,  contended  the 
lower  courts  denied,  their  clients 
their  constitutional  rights  because 
they  had  no  specific  contracts  or 
employment  prospects  at  the  time. 
The  group,  argued  the  lawyers,  had 
been  “totally  excluded  from  the 
market  places  of  the  industry  by  a 
monopolistic  combination.” 

living  Walker  and  Herman  Sel- 
vin,  counsel  for  the  studios,  stated 
that  the  question  of  constitutional 
rights  had  never  been  brought  up 
in  the.  trial  court  and  that,  thus,  it 
could  not  be  considered  in  the 
appellate  courts.  They  added  that 
charges,  of  violating  the  14th 
Amendment  could  'hot  he  valid, 
since  *1116  amendment  applies  only' 
to  arbitrary  or  unreasonable  inter¬ 
ference.  of  personal  freedom  by 
the  state.  They  said  it  has  no  ap¬ 
plication  to  relations  between 
individuals. 

'  Virtually  every  member  of  the 
High  Court  asked  questions  during . 
the  lengthy  argument.  Once  Jus¬ 
tice  Felix  Frankfurter  indicated  his 
decision  might  hinge  On  whether 
constitutional  rights  had  been 
raised  before,  the  trial  court.  Chief 
!  Justice  Earl  Warren,  a  Californian, 
wondered  aloud:  . 

“If  all  employers  of  California 
joined  together  to  prevent  a  cer¬ 
tain  group  from  being-  employed, 
would  that  not  violate  any  consti¬ 
tutional  rights?”  Warren  even  gave 
M£rgolis .  30  additional  fninutes  for 
rebuttal  to.  the  arguments  of.  the 
studio  attorneys,  a  most  unusual 
procedure. 

Margolis  took  the  position  that 
the  14th  Amendment  was  pertinent 
in  this  case  because  the  alleged 
conspiracy  involves  not  only  pri¬ 
vate  business  ..but  also  Federal 
officials. 

“Do  you  charge,”  asked  Justice 
Frankfurter,  “the  members  of  Con¬ 
gress  with  bging  in  cahoots  with 
Hollywood?”  Margolis  said  he  did. 

Present  as  observers  were  Frank 
Traveriher,  counsel  for  the  Un- 
American' .  Activities  Committee; 
and  Sidney.  Schreiber  and  Jerry 
Cahill,  of  MPAA. 


Entertainment’s  Own  fallout7 

Continued  from  page  2 

minds  of  men. '  Not  only  wars  but  practically 
everything.  That's  your  business,  the  minds 
of  men  arid  women.  That's  the  business  of 
mass  media,  too :  the  minds  of  men ,  influenc¬ 
ing  the ir  minds  •  Operat  ing  at  a  yearly  budget 
of  about  $12  billion  mass  media  -captures 
four  to  five  hours  of  the  typical  adult '  s 
wakirig  day.  If  education  is  a  process  of  pre¬ 
paring  young  peopl e  to  do  =what  they  are 
likely  to  do  anyway,  isn't  it  the  duty  of 
the  schools  to  teach  the  coming  generation 
how  to  be  masters,  not  slaves,  of  mass  media? 
How  to  select  what ' s  best ?  How  to  know  the  ~ 
tripe  from  the  true?11 

Finally  I  wore  Abe  down. 

"O.K. , "  he  said.  "Suppose  I  agree  with 
you  in  principle.  How  do  I  fit  it  Into  a 
crowded  schedule ?  ’And  what  would  I  try  to 
fit  in?  Send  me  a  letter  and  I'll  take  it  up 
with  the  department  heads. " 


Wednesday,  January  15,  I953 


Hollywood  Production  Pulse 


ALLIED  ARTISTS 

SfUrts,  This  Year. ........  3 

This  Date,  Last  Year. . ..  I 


"QUEEN  OF  THE  UNIVERSE" 

Prod. — Ben  Schwalb 
Dir.— Edward  •  Bernd* 

Zsa  Zsa  GaborV  Eric  Fleming,  Laurie 
MitcheU,  Patrick  Waltz,  Dave  Willock, 
Paul  Birch  . 

.  (Started  Jan,  7) 

"THE  ASTOUNDING  GIANT  WOMAN" 

Prod.— Bernard  Woolner 
Dir.— Nathan  Hertz  , 

Allison  Hayes,  William  Hudson 
(Started  Jan.  8)  '  •  ' 

"F  RANKENSTEIN— 1970" 

Prod. — Aubrey  Schenck 
,  Dif. — Howard  W.  Koch 
Boris  Karloff,  Tom  Duggan,  Donald 
Barry,  Jana  Lund 
(Started  Jan.  8) 


COLUMBIA 

Starts,  This  Year ..... 
This  Date,  Last  Year  . . . 


X 


"ME  AND  THE  COLONEL' 

(William  Goetz  Prod.) 

(Shooting  in  France) 

Prod. — William  Goetz 
Dir, — Peter  Glenvflle 
Danny  Kaye,  Curt  .  Jurgens,  Nicole 
Maurey,  Akim  Tamiroff,  Martita  Hunt, 
Francoise  Rosay,  Liiane  Montevecchl, 
Ludwig  Stossel,  Franz  Roehn,  Ivan 
Triesault,  Celia  Lovsky,  Jean  Del  Val 
(Started  Nov.  18>: 


WALT  DISNEY 

Starts,  This  Year - ... .  .  2 

This  Date,  Last  Year  . . . ...  I 


METRO 

Starts,  This 'Year..  0 

This  Date,  Last. Year. . ...  .  2 


,ey*  ?■  James  Best,  Joey 

j>i5nop,  Richard  Jaeckel,  Jerry  Pari/ 
Greg^  Roman,  William  Campbell,  RoS 

(Started  Deo.  12) 

"ACROSS  THE  EVERGLADES” 

(Scfaulberg  Prod.)  . 

(Shooting  in  Florida)  . 

Prod.-^Stuart  Schulberf 
Dir. — Nicholas  Ray 

Christopher  Plummer.  Burl  Ives,  Gypsv 
Rose  Lee,  -Cham  Eden,  Emmett  Kellv 
Howard  Smith,  George  Voskovoc,  Curt 
Conway,  Saimny  Rennlck,  Tony  Ga. 
lento,  Peter  Falk,  Pat  Henning,  Fred 
Grossinger,  Toby  Bruce.  Mackinlay 
:  Kantor  ■  .  ' 

(Started  Nov.  14)' 

"HOME  BEFORE  DARK" 

Prod.-Dir. — Mervyn  LeRoy 

•  Jean  Simmons,  Dan  O’Herlihy,  Rhonda 
Fleming.  Efrem  Zlmbalist  Jr.,  Mabel 
Albertson,  Joanna.  Baines,  Steve 
Dunne  _ 

(Started  Jan.  13) 


INDEPENDENT 

Starts,  This  Year  .  , . . . . . ...  7 

This  Date,  Last  Year.  . ... . .  8 


"TOM  THUMB" 

(Galaxy  Piets.) 

(MGM  Release)  - 
(Shooting  in  England) 

.  Prod.— George.  Pal  . 

Russ  Tamblyn,  Alan  Young,  Terry 
Thomas,  Peter  Sellers,  June  Thorburn, 
Bernard  Miles 
(Started  Nov.  25). 

"SEPARATE  TABLES" 

(Hecht-Hill-Lancester) 

(UA  Release) 

Prod. — Harold  Hecht 
Dir.— Delbert  Mann 

Burt  Lancaster,  Rita  Hayworth,  Deborah 
Kerr,  David  Niven,  Wendy  Hiller, 
Gladys  Cooper,  Catheleen  .  Nesbitt. 
Felix  Aylmer,  May  Hallatt.Rod  Tay¬ 
lor,  Audrey  Dalton,  Priscilla  Morgan 
(Started  Dec.  9) 

"TH  E  F  EARMAKERS" 

(Pacemaker  Prods.) 

(For.  UA  Release) 

Prod. — Martin  Lencer 

Dir.— Jacques  Tourneur 

Dana  Andrews,  Dick  Foran,  Mel  Torme. 

Marilee  Earle,  Veda  Ann  Borg 
(Started  Jan.  6)  ! 


PARAMOUNT 

Starts?  This  Year ........  0 

This  Date,  Last  Year.  . .  ...•0 


"THE  BUCCANEER" 

Prod.-^Henry  Wilcoxon 
Dir.— Anthony  Quinn 
.  Yul  Brynner,  Charlton  Heston,  Charles 
Boyer,  Claire  Bloom,.  Iuger  Stevens, 
Henry  Hull,  E.  G.  Marshall.  George 
Matthews,  Theodora  Davitt,.  Douglass 
Dumbrille,  Ashley  Cowan,  Manuel 
Rbjas,  Bruce  Gordon,  .  Robert  F. 
Simon,  John  Dierkes,  Robin  Hughes, 
Iris  Adrian,  Leonard  Graves,  Jerry 
'Hartleben,  Steven  Mario.  Fran  Jef¬ 
fries,  Robert  Warwick,  On6lbw 
Stevens,  Jack  Kruschen,  Julio  de 
Diego,  Reginald  Sheffield,  Stephen 
•  Chase,  .  Lorne  .  Green.  Judd  Holdren; 
Gean  De  BriaC.  Sidney  Melton,  Mickey 
Finn 

(Started.  Sept.  30) 


20th  CENTlfttY-FOX 

Starts,  This  Year.  0 

This  Date,  Last  Year.  ,  2 


"THE  BARBARIAN" 

(Shooting  in  Japan) 

Prod.— Eugene  Frenke 
Dir. — John  Huston 

•  John  Wayne,  Eko  Aixda,  Sam  Jaffe, 
So  Yamamura  ' 

(Started  Oct.  1(0 
"TEN  NORTH  FREDERICK" 

Prod. — Charles  Brackett 
Dir.— Philip  Dunne 

Gary  Cooper,  Suzy  Parker,  Djane  Varsl, 
Geraldine  Fitzgerald,  Tom  Tully, 
Stuart  Whitman,  John.  Emery,  Philip 
Ober,  Joe  McGuinn,  Nolan  Leary, 
Helen.  Wallace 
(Started  Dec.  2) 


UNIVERSAL 

Starts,  This  Year. . . .  .  7 

This  Date,  J.ast  Year. .....  1 


'NEVER  STEAL  ANYTHING  SMALL" 

Prod.— Aaron  Rosenberg 
Dir.— Charles  Lederer 
James  .Cagney,  Shirley  Jones,  Roger 
Smith,  Cara  Williams.  Royal  Dano, 
Virginia  Vincent,  Jack .  Albertson, 
Horace  McMahon,  Robert  Wilkie 
(Started  Oct.  31) 

'AND..  RIDE  A  TIGER" 

Prod.— Ross  Hunter 
Dir. — Helmut  Kautner 
June  Allyson,  Jeff-  Chandler,  Sandra 
Dee,  Conrad  Nagel,  Charles  Coburn, 
Hayden  Rorke 
(Started  Dec.  2) 


Film  Eds  Demise? 

Continued,  from  page  1 

overall  charge  of  the .  department 
Some  other  companies  employ 
readers,  notably  Columbia. 

.  On  the  Coast,  the  story  depart¬ 
ment  decline  also  is.  evident.  Jack- 
son’s  counterpart  at  Paramount  has 
left,  and  Warner  Brothers  has  laid 
off  Finlay  McDermid,  its  story  edi¬ 
tor  for  the  past  14  years.  The  post 
will  riot  be  filled. 

Back  in  New  York,  Universal  re¬ 
cently  let  go  Maurice  Bergman, 
who  had  been  functioning  as  story 
editor  and  talent  head. 

Explanation  for  the  decline  ;  of 
the  story  departments  is  manifold, 
arid  sqpie  question  the  wisdom  of 
cutting  them  out  Increasingly,  the 
major  studios  are  fed  films  by  in¬ 
dependents,  who  either,  buy  their 
own  material  or  get  it  packaged  by 
one  of  the  big  agencies.  Also,  the 
competition  increasingly  centers 
around  a  handful  of  “big”  prop¬ 
erties  in  the  legit  and  literary  field. 
The  story  department’s  primary 
function  Is  to  “find”  material, 
though  it.  also  negotiates  the  deals 
for  them. 

Agents  nowadays  have  a  tendency 
to  take  their  clients’  important  ma¬ 
terial  directly  to  .  studio  heads.  Thus 
It  was  Jack  L.  Warner  himself  who 
just  recently  negotiated  several  im¬ 
portant  deals  involving  Edna  Fer- 
berg’s  “Ice  Palace”  and  the  William 
Inge  play,  “The  Dark  at  the  Top  of 
the  Stairs.”  It  was  for  the  in-be¬ 
tween  films  that  the  story  depart¬ 
ments  searched  out  material;  and 
it’s  those  very  films  which  most  of 
the  studios  are  no  longer  produc¬ 
ing. 

It’s  also  a  fact  that  the  story 
market  has  reached  a  lowpoint 
again.  Everything  that  looks  good 
has  been  snapped  up  or  optioned, 
arid  the  literary  cupboard  appears 
bare  for  the  moment. 


'THE  PERFECT  FURLOUGH" 

Prod. — Robert  Arthur 
Dir.— Blake  Dwards 
Tony  Curtis.Vanet  Leigh,  Linda  Cristal, 
.  Keepan  Wynn,  Elaine  Stritch ' 
(Started  Jan.  8) 


WARNER  BROS. 

Starts,  This  Year _ _ _  I 

This  Pate,  Last  Year.  * . ,  3 


"INDISCREET" 

(Grandon  Prod.) 

(Shooting  in  London) 

Prod.-Dir. — Stanley  Donen 
Cary  Grant,  Ingritf^  Bergman.  Cecil 
Parker,  Margaret  Johnston,  David 
Kossoff,  Megs  JenkihV 
(Started.  Nov.  18)- 


Proa. — Paul  Gregory 

Dir. — Raoul  Walsh 

Aldo.  Ray,  Cliff  Robertson, 


‘Don’t  Sell’ 

Continued  .from  page  3  m  3 

if  the  reasoning  behind  the  mora-. 
torium  is  proved  wrong  the  value 
of  the  backlogs  will  have  substan¬ 
tially  increased. 

Gordon  said  he’s  confident  the 
companies  will  consider  his  recom¬ 
mendation  for,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
some  sales  managers,  already  have 
expressed  tG  him  their  conclusion  , 
that  the  past  tv  licenring  has  hurt 
badly!  Circuit  operator,  however, 
defended  the  distribs  for  their  ac¬ 
tions,  noting  they  couldn’t  have 
forseen  the  precarious  position  m 
which  the  trade  was  placed  by  the 
tv  alignment. 


Wednesday,  January  15, 1958 


UHsUEff 


/" 


1956) 


###//#!  Swfa*9y 


1958 


vi\v§2 


A  FAREWELL  TO  ARMS 


111 


G  SOUNDTRACK 


RAD 


L 


f 


'  :&* 


from  the  Soundtrack  cf  the  RKO  Rca'o  P  ctu'e 

GiRL 

MOST 

ilKElY 

A  ■Jr„»erU3!-'r.to!iK3tu^3l  Re‘eo» 

E  C  O  It  D  S 


starring 

JANE  POWELL 
CLIFF  ROBERTSON 


SSSSUSm  «*W  amm* 

Music  and  Lyrics  by.  HUGH  MARTIN  t  RALPH  BLANE 

“5S  nelson  riddle 

In  Charge  of  Production  WILLIAM  DOZIER 
Directed  by  MITCHELL  LElSEff 
Screenplay  by  DEVERY  FREEMAN 
Produced  by  STANLEY  RUBIN 


CAPITOL  RECORDS 

AMERICA’S  LEADING  PRODUCER  OF  MOTION  PICTURE  SOUNDTRACK  ALBUMS 

IN  THE  NEXT  ISSUE  Capitol’s  Third  Big  Soundtrack  for  ’58! 


24 


PICTURES 


PtftRIET? 


Wednesday,  January  15,  1958 


Sponsored  ‘Vaide’ 

h—i  Continued  from  paze  1  = 

years  ago  and  super-markets  have 
sponsored  tag  vaude  revues,  Mick¬ 
ey  Rooney,  et  al.) 

Philip  Morris,  in  the  past,  has 
been  a  frequent  user  of  live  shows. 
However,  these  appearances  have 
been  confined  to  GI  audiences  in 
various  parts  of  the  world.  Other 
firms  that*  have  used  the  variety 
unit  approach,  in  plugging  products 
include  Camel  Cigs,  which  during 
the  war  sent  Out  Camel  Caravans 
and  Shell  Oil,  among  others.  In 
those  units,  tJSO-Camp  Shows  and 
the  Special  Services  departments 
©f  the  various  branches  of  the  mili¬ 
tary  toured,  billeted  and  messed 
the  units. 

The  probability  of  playing  the 
upcoming  Philip  Morris  unit  is  be¬ 
ing  mulled  by  the'Paramount  The-; 
atre  circuit  for  some  of  its  situa¬ 
tions.  The  unit  will  accompany  a 
film  feature  and  would  provide  the 
sponsors  not  only  with  a  showcase 
for  commercials,  but  as  a  spot 
where  a  generous  supply  of  sam¬ 
ples  will  be  given  away.  The  sam¬ 
ples,  like,  free  dishes,,  may  even 
attract  trade.  Another  factor  en¬ 
tering  into  the  commercial  picture 
is  the  possibility  that  theatres,  in¬ 
stead  of  paying  for  talent,  may 
even  get  a  hunk  ,  of  coin  for  ex¬ 
hibiting  these  commercial  parcels. 
With  film  theatres  in  dire  need  of 
television-offsets,  this  kind  of  coin 
will  not  be  snooted  in  many  small¬ 
town  situations,  and  is  looked  upon 
to  invade  urban  theatre  haunts  as 
well. 

The  commercial  package  has  al¬ 
ready  proven  successful  in  niter- 
les.  A  couple  of  years  ago,  the 
Versailles,  N..  Y.,  booked  a  unit  put 
together  on  behalf  of  a  group  of 
clothing  and  accessory  manufac¬ 
turers.  Show  was  originally  hooked 
for  a  cocktail  time  feature  at  this 
class  nitery.  The  reception  to  .  this 
effort  was  so  strong  that  it  was 
later  pacted  as  the  sole  show  dur¬ 
ing  the  evening,  and:  it  had  a  long 
run.  In  that  unit,  the  commer¬ 
cials  were  via  credits  in  printed 
programs. 

,In  another  development  along 
similar  lines,  Cass  Franklin  Inc., 
packaging  industrial  shows  has 
been  negotiating  with  a  group  of 
arena  operators  for  one  nighters 
with  free  admissions  for  shows 
that  have  been  produced  for  indus¬ 
trial  firms.  Idea  is  to  have  local 
distributors  and  retailers  sponsor 
the  layout  for  public  consumption. 
There  would  necessarily  be  some 
rewriting  to  stress  the  consumer 
angle,  hut  sets,  talent,  score,  cos¬ 
tumes,  etc.,  would  be  the  same  as 
the  original  presentation.  The 
arena  showing  would  be  a  second 
run,  and  possibility  exists  that  it 
could  even  have  a  subsequent  run 
in  nabe  houses. 

Bui  Giant  Big  Biz 

It’s  now  axiomatic  that  the  big¬ 
gest  talent  bankrollers  are  not  a 
small  group  of  investors,  but  giant 
industrial  firms  who  are  now  the 
major  factor  in  show  biz.  Televi¬ 
sion  and  before  that  radio  was  the 
major  outlet,  and  prior  to  that 
there  were  the  medicine  shows 
that  displayed  a  lot  of  talent,  other 
than  fake  Indians. 

The  medicine  show  may  thus  be 
making  a .  comeback.  The  .  entire 
cycle  of  entertainment  may  be 
1  winging  back  to  the  original  prem¬ 
ise — of  course  on  a  much  higher 
Level.  In  modern  day  industrial 
shows  such  as  the  General  Motors 
Motorama,  topliners  such  as 
Michael  Kidd  produce  and  top 
songwriters  and  talents  contribute 
to  shows  that  cost  more  than  any  I 
musical  on  Broadway. 

The  hillbilly  units  planned  by 
Philip  Morris  will  not  carry  that 
kind  of  nut,  naturally.  However, 
it’s  an  avenue  of  employment  re¬ 
turning  that  has  all  but  disap¬ 
peared  with  the  demise  of  vaude 
and  it’s  a  comeback  for  a.  theatri¬ 
cal  form  that  was.  once  the  largest 
medium  of  all,  and  for  many^  the 
most  fondly  remembered. 

Florence  Henderson  and  Bill 
Haye%  under  contract  to  Oldsmo- 
bile  for  appearances  on  their  tele 
specs  and  who  do  Industrial  shows 
for  the  auto  firm,  have  been 
booked  as  .  a  duo  .to  work  at  the 
Detroit  Atheltic  Club,  starting 
Jan.  24. 

It’s  another  instance  of  per¬ 
formers  starting  out  as  commercial 
spielers,  hitting  the  regulation  tal¬ 
ent  marts.. 

Both  have  had  theatrical  experi¬ 
ence.  Miss  Henderson  has  played 
the  title  role  in  “Fanny”  on  Broad¬ 
way,  while  Hayes  was  in  the 
Rodgers-Hammerstein  production 
of  “Me  and  Juliet.” 


■ 

L 


Censors  Never  Corrupted  By  What  They 

(THEIR  POWER  IS  IN  RATIO  TO  CULTURAL  LAG) 


■By  MARK  VAN  DORENi 


(The  following  text  is  of  a  talk  delivered  May  8, 
1957  in  Manhattan  during  a  symposium  on  censor* 
ship  conducted  by  the  National  Assembly  of  Authors 
and  Dramatists ,  first  convention  of  the  Authors 
League,  of  America.  ) 

The  position  for  authors  and  dramatists  to  lake  on 
censorship  is  simply  stated.  It  is  this:  No  censor¬ 
ship  of  anything  by  anybody  at  any  time.  An  ideal 
position,  you  may  -say.  But  if  so,  the  ideal  is  every¬ 
body’s,  hot  merely  yours  and  mine;  it  is  the  read¬ 
er’s  no  less  than  the  writer’s;  it  is  nothing  less, 
indeed,  than  all  of  human  society?  .  And  it  must 
be  understood  as  having  the  Utmost  practical,  im¬ 
portance.  .  .  . 

The  nicest  thing  .that  could  happen,  to  authors 
would  be  the  total  disappearance  of  censorship  in. 
any  of  its  recognizable  forms.  But  this  I  see  .also 
as  a  necessary  condition  of.  their  complete  existence 
as  ^authors.  And  if  they  are  not  to  exist  com¬ 
pletely,.  hotf  are  they  to  exist  at  all?  ,  The  mind  is 
free  or  it  is  nothing.  -  It  does  all  it  can  or  else  it 
does  not  do  what  it  was  Created  to.  do.  It  was 
created  free,  and  it  can  operate  in  no  other  atmos¬ 
phere.  The  atmosphere  most  deadly  to  it  is  the 
atmosphere  of  official  censorship. 

I  do  not  mean  of  course  to.  include  here  the 
censure  of  the  critic  or  the  disapproval  of.  the 
reader.  Those  are  forms  of  freedom,  and  they 
cannot  be  impeached.  The  author  maiy  not  like 
them,  when  they  touch  his  case,  but  he  would 
never  In  his  .right  mind  dispute  their  privilege  to 
exist.  The  critic  must'  say  what  he  believes,  and 
the  reader :  may  stop  reading  when  he  likes^-try, 
if  you  doubt  this,  to  prevent  him.  'He  may  also  tell 
others  that  he  despises  or. 'hates  the  book  he  has 
just  closed.  There  is  no  way  to  prevent  this  either;, 
nor  should  there  be. 


4 


with.  But  he  is,  I  hope,  the  only  man  who  suffers 
under  that  delusion. 

Who  else  thinks  children  are  wed;?  Who  thinks 
I  am?  I  have  many  imperfections  that  I  suppose 
I  shall  have  to  account  for  some  day,  but  It  would 
never  occur,  to  me  to  blame  them  on  the  had  books 
.  I  have  read.  Or  If  it  did,  the  Recording  Angel 
would  smile  as  he  took  my  testimony.  He  is  a 
.better  psychologist  than  that. 

An  insane  reader' df  an  editorial  in.  the  New  York 
Times  might  conceivably  do  violence  to  a  public 
personage  whom  the  editorial  criticized.  And  who 
but  another  insane  man  would  suggest .  that-  the'. 
Times  be  suppressed?  The  insanity  of  the  reader 
was  surely  the  material  point  If  any  of  us  worried 
lest  something  we  wrote  might  he  misread  we 
should  never  write  again. 


Sexually  Stimulating 


The  Reader  &  The  Critic 


I 


The  reader  and  the  critic  have  great  power.  But 
their  power  is  not  official.  It  is  merely  natural 
and  proper,  assuming  a  -society  excellent,  enough 
to  produce  such  persons  in  sufficient  numbers  and 
to  endow  them  with  sufficient  seif-respect:  The  - 
power  of  critics  and.  readers  is;  always,  in  direct 
proportion  to  the  maturity  of  the  culture  that  coif- 
tains  them. 

By  the  same  token,'  I  suggest,  the  power  of  the 
official  censor— the  person  authorized  to  .  decide 
whether,  a  given  book  shall  exist— is  in  direct  pro¬ 
portion  to  the  immaturity  of 'the  culture  that  tol¬ 
erates,  him  or  thinks  him  necessary; 

Why  is  he  necessary?.  DO  we  not  trust  ourselves? 
Are  we  so  much  weaker  than  he  that  we  cannot 
exercise  in.  our  own  right,  the  functions  of  cen¬ 
sure  and  disapproval?  Presumably  he  thinks  that 
we  can  be  corrupted,  or  subverted,  but  that  he 
cannot:  He  submits  himself  to  _a  thousand  times  as 
many  horrors  as  we  ever  do,  and  emerges  by  his 
own  account  a  man  so  much  better  than  any  of 
us,  so  much  sounder  of  judgment,  so  much  purer 
of  heart,  that  he  can  claim  to  be  our  protector 
against  evils  that  we  neither  know  nor  dream  of. 

It  has  never  been  recorded,  I  believe,  that  any 
censor  thought  he  had  been  hurt  by  what  he  read. 

Indeed  I  have  never  encountered  anybody  who 
thought  this.  And  the  most  responsible  studies  that 
have,  been  made  of  the  matter  produce  no  evidence 
that  any  human  being,  oid  or  young,  did  -a  certain 
thing;  because  he  read  a  certain  book.  You.  might* 
Suppose  there  were  cases  .  of  juvenile  delinquents 
whose  misdeeds  could  be  traced  to  such  a  source; 
but  no  student  in  the  field  has.  done  the  tracing. 

Juvenile  delinquents,  for  one.  thing,  seldom  read; 
which  may  be  one  of  the  reasons  that  they  are 
juvenile  delinquents;  but  even  if  they  .did  read  all 
the  time*  there  are  those  who  say  that  nothing 
could  be  concluded  from  the  titles  they  devoured. 
There  is  a  weakness  in  them  somewhere,  but  what 
is  its.  cause?  The  censor  has  too'  easy;  an  answer 
to  this  question.  He  says*  all  children  will  be  weak¬ 
ened  by  the  experience  that  has  made  him.  strong. 
In  other  words,  he  thinks  they  are  weak  to  begin 


Doubtless  there  is  no  book  that  somebody  has  not* 
misread;  or  read  at  any  rate  with,  some  quaint  re¬ 
sult  which  the  author  could  never  have  foreseen. 
Four  hundred  and  nine  women  college  graduates, 
asked  in  the  1920’s  what  had  .  stimulated  them 
sexually;  replied  in  only  95  cases  that  books  had 
done  so.  More  than  half  of  them  said  “Men.”  But 
of  those  who  said  books,  not  a  single  woman  speci¬ 
fied  a  pornographic  one.  They  specified  the  Bible, 
the  novels  of  Henry  James,  dictionaries,  encyclo¬ 
pedias,  medical  hooks,  and  Motley’s  “Rise  of  the 
Dutch  Republic.”  Which  suggests  that  the  censor 
has  even  more  work  cut  out  for  him  than  in  his 
busiest  moments  he  imagines;  beginning,  be.  it  said, 

'  with  the  proof  that  nobody  should  be  sexually 
stimulated  by  anything. 

The  late  Judge  Jerome  Frank,  to  a  recent  opinion 
of.  whose  I  am  indebted  for  this  detail,  remarked 
in  the  same  opinion  that  Thomas  Jefferson  and 
John  .Stuart  Mill  were  concerned,  as  perhaps  too 
many,  persons  now  are  not,  lest  censorship  of 
morals  lead  to  censorship  of  political  Opinions.  Cen¬ 
sorship  itself,  both  of  those  men  observed,  has  a 
way  of  spreading.  It  is  ah  infection,  and  as  such 
can  .  travel  fast.  » 

There  are  always  plenty  of  people  who  want  such 
work  to  do,  just,  as  there  can  be  plenty  of  people 
who  without  much  reflection  agree  that  it  ought  to 
he  done=— to  others,  naturally,  not  to  themselves, 

..  Thh  responsibility  of  the-  most  intelligent  among  us 
is  to  restate  the  danger  in.  every  generation.  It 
was  stated  in  1939.  by  President  Franklin  D.  Roose¬ 
velt  on  the  occasion  of  the  dedication  ' of  the  Mu¬ 
seum  of.  Modern  Art  in  New  York.  These  were  his 
words: 

"The  arts?  cannot  thrive  except  where  men 
are  free  to  be  themselves  and  to  be  in  charge 
of  the  discipline  of  their  own  energies  and 
'ardors.  The.  conditions  for  democracy  and  for 
art  are  one  and  the  same.  What  we.eall  liberty 
in.  politics  results  In  freedom  of  the  arts.” 
Judge-Frank,  quoting  President  Roosevelt,  add¬ 
ed  this  observation:  “The  converse  is  also 
true.” 

Perhaps  the  greatest  danger  is  that  we  shall 
make  concessions  to  the  censor  by  drawing  a  line 
beyond;  which  he  can  kill  what  books  he  likes. 
There  are  books  that  we  ourselves  abhor,  and  we 
may  think  it  safe  to  ignore  what  happens  to  them. 
But  such  ja  line — in  politics,  too— can  suddenly 
move:  closer  to  us  than  is  altogether  comfortable; 
and  then  it  can  move  past  us  so  that  we  too  are 
in  the  valley  of  dead  hones.  In  our  own  interest,  if 
in  no  one  else’s,  we  should  defend  even  the  books 
we  despise:  defend  not  their  quality,  of  course,  but 
their  sheer  right  to  exist,  somewhat  in  the  spirit  of 
Voltaire’s  determination  to  defend  the  Speakers  of 
opinions  he 'detested.  When  the  worst  man  is  not 
free,  the  best  man  is  not  either.  So  with  works  of 
art,  and  so  with  ideas.  Any  loss  of  freedom  dimin- 
ishes  our  own;  and  diminishes  too  the  democratic 
functions  of  censure  and  disapproval.  When  those 
functions  atrophy,  censorship  cannot  save  jus.  For 
-  we  are  already,  to  cite  Judge  Frank  again>7  “infan¬ 
tile,  dependent,  immature  "  £ 


Sad-Mad  Salute  To  Joe  Frisco 

-Coatiiiu*a  from  pair*  1 


day  at  the  track,  I  got  a  ride  Home?  and  “I  hope  I 
break  even  today— I  need  the  m-m-money,” 

Frisco  had  been  a  regular  guest  on  this  same  dais, 
for  30  or  more  feeds.  This  was  the  first  testimonial 
to  him  and  the  dais  consisted  of:  Harlequin  Hairy 
Joe  Brown,  Toastmaster  Pat  Buttram,  Walter  Win- 
chell.  Cliff  Edwards,  L.  A.  Councilman  Pat  McGee, 
Morey  Amsterdam,  Alan  Mowbray,  Jack  Dempsey, 
Ralph  Murphy,  Tom  Duggan,  Wally  Ford,  Jack  Pep¬ 
per,  Arthur  Lake,  Stewart  Lake,  Cully  Richards,  Joe 
Kirk,  Capt.  Horace  Brown,  Juli  Tannen  and 
George  Givot. 

*  The  program,  preceding  dais  speeches,  included 
singing  of  the  national  anthem  by  Barry  O’Hara, 
a  skit  about  the  coming  of  sound  in  films  (Masquers 
made  up  the  cast),  the  Jack  Hallorah  Quartette,  the 
Madcaps,  Wally  Vernon,  and  emcee  George  Riley, 
Many  of  Frisco’s  big  name  pals  were  unable  to 
attend  since  they  were  at  Pebble  Beach  prepping  an 
appearance  on  Sunday  (12)  with  the.  Bing  Crosby 
golf  tourney.  Charlie  Foy,  one  of  Frisco’s  closest 
buddies  didn’t  arrive  until  late.  Many  thought  his 
delayed  appearance  was  due  to  the  high  emotion  of 
the  evening.  Frisco  asked  Jack  Dempsey:  “I  c-Cr 
can’t  make  it  to  Kansas  City  tonight,  will  you  t-t- 
take  over  for  me?  It’s  only  a  t-t-ten-rouiider.” 

City  Councilman  Pat  McGee  presented.  Frisco  with 
a  scroll,  reading  a  history  of  his  deeds  and  accom¬ 
plishments.  “H-h-he  sounds  like  he’s  from  the  li¬ 
d-d-d.  A’s  office/’  said  Frisco,  accepting:  Cully  Rich¬ 


ards  related  an  incident  in  the  hospital  when  Frisco 
conducted  a  pool  from  his  bed— to  determine  the 
time  it  took  to  complete  his  blood  transfusion.  When 
the  nuirse  appeared  later  to  give  him  an  eiiema, 
Frisco  snorted:  “There’ll  b-b-be  no  b-b-bets  on  this!” 

Capt.  Horace  Brown,  *  who  admitted  “The  only 
claim  I  have  to  fame  is  my  wife”  (Marion  Davies), 
also  confided  to  all  he  never  thought  ,  the  day  would 
come  “when  I  would  ever  again  shake  hands  with 
Bill  Hearst  Jr.,  but  I  saw  him  before  coming  here 
ahd  he  gave  me  his- hand  to  wish  Joe  well/’ 

Julius  Tannen,  a  brilliant  monologist  of  an  era 
which  even  preceded  Frisco,  shone  brightly  as  ever 
With  his  loud,  clear,  clever,  and  sincere  remarks: 
“Frisco  is  the  only  guy  who  can  make  a  six-syllabled 
word  of  ‘if.’  He’s  put  18-25  young  men  through  col¬ 
lege— all  bookmakers*  sons.” 

.  Frisco,  accepting  Tanneh’s  remarks,  pointed  out 
his  perfect  timing.  “T-t-timing  is  everything,”  he 
continued.  Look  at  Gary  Cooper.  He  gets  $10,000 
a  week  for  ‘yup,  n-n-nope.’  H-h-how  much  c-c-could 
he  ni-m-make  if  he’d  learn  to  s-s-say  iemme  think 
it  o-o-o-oyer!” 

Alan  Mowbray  described  Frisco,  as  “a  man  who 
became  a  legend  in  his  own  time.”  Winchell  said 
Frisco’s  jokes  got  him  started  in  the  columning 
business.  Harry  Joe  Brown  presented  the  Masquers* 
statuette  (only  eight  have  been  awarded)  to  Frisco. 
The  inscription:  “Tp  Joe  Frisco,  America’s  Greatest 
Wit.” 


‘Vtasa  oa  Parade’ 

SSS  C«ntiime4  from  pare  l 
Franz  Josef’s  time  which  has  been 
so  badly  .dampened  .by  two  losing 
wars*  military  occupation  and  a 
narrowed  economic  base— an  em¬ 
pire  of  50,000,000  population  is 
now  a  republic  of  7,000,000. 
Always  musical  and  generally  sub¬ 
sidizing  Its  opera  and  dramati 
repertory,  Austria  is  indeed  dis¬ 
tinctive,  What  “Vienna  on  Parade” 
does  in  popular  terms  is  export  the 
attractive  wine-and-song-and-pie- 
ture-hatted-siren  side  of  the  old 
regime— naturally  ignoring  more 
recent  political  embarrassments 
imposed  and/qjr  borrowed  from 
Berlin. 

The  Un-Blue  Danube 

Mertens  has  fused  Yankee  show¬ 
manship  formula  with  Austrian 
charm,  and  the  result  is  an  in¬ 
crease  in  happy  grins.  The  flavor 
and  idiom  of  “Oesterreich”  is  suf- 
ficently  authentic.  Only  a  dyspep¬ 
tic  would  quibble  that  .the-  Blue 
Danube  is  really  muddy  brown  and 
the  famous  operettas  are  no  longer 
being  written  and  that  the  Widow 
and:  Prince  Danlio  met  in  Paris  in 
the  first  place.,. 

Easy  to.  like  ancP-impossible 
pttack,  these  Austrians  in  “Vienna 
on  Parade”  are  agreeable  and  tal¬ 
ented.  They  Will  undoubtedly 
make  friends,  and  certainly  are  a 
prime  “sell”  in  America  for 
Austria’s  tourism.  The  show  they 
present,  is,  however,  fed  and  fes¬ 
tooned  by  audience  reaction  and  a 
realistic  review  must,  include  the 
people  on  .  both  sides;  of  the  pros¬ 
cenium  arch;  The  audience  is  part 
of  the  show.  At  Carnegie  Hall 
the  people  who  paid  up  to  $4.80  to 
get  in  not  only  filled  every  seat  to 
the  top  tier  but- vibrated  .  with  a 
special,  unashamed*,  seldom-seen 
kind  of  participation/  identificatiori 
and  nostalgia. 

That  the  children  were  amateurs 
Only  added  to  their  charm.  That 
the  four-man  instrumental  group 
was  but  so-so  musically  was  ir¬ 
relevant— indeed  made  *  seem 
more  authentically  rijght  out  of 
the  wine  gardens  in  the  Vienna 
woods.  Rarely  is  an  audience  so . 
privately  joyous,  so  pleased  to  be 
present,  so  partisan.  And  this  is, 
of  course,  precisely  and  exactly 
the  end-result  Andre  Mertens  had 
in  mind.  Here  is  the  magic  of  the 
new;  foreign  appeal  formula  in  the 
U.  S.  concert  field.  Hence  the 
heavy  schedule  of  “Vienna  on 
Parade?’— 90  dates,  coast  to  coast. 

Spirited  Militaire 

The  performer  begins  with  the 
Deutschmeister  Band  under  Cap¬ 
tain  Julius  Hermann  marching  on. 
stage.  The  wings  are  harrow  and 
the  stage  is  shallow  so  th^fe  isn’t, 
too  much  room  but  the  effect  is 
obtained  and  it  “gets”  the  audi¬ 
ence  at  once.  .  This  is  a  spirited 
band,  full  of  traditioji  as  well  as 
music  and  it  serves  as  mainstay 
throughout,  though  the  theatrical 
specialties  are  mostly  played  by 
the  Grinzihg  Schrammel  Ensem¬ 
ble,  a  bit  wobbly  in  accompani¬ 
ment  on  occasion. 

Essentially  the  production  is  un¬ 
complicated,  the  obvious  compari¬ 
son  for  Americans  being,  to  an.  old 
film  house  stage  band,  with  the 
turns  on  and  off  in  front.  .  That 
everybody :  is  in  fresh  costume, 
made  for  the  American  trip,  is 
commendable  showmanship.  No 
encores  are  Indulged,  though  the 
demand  was  pronounced  at  sev¬ 
eral  points.  Spectators  freely 
clapped  to>  the  music  of  the  band, 
and  were  encouraged  by  the  caa- 
tain,  a  jaunty,  bouncing,  constant¬ 
ly  saluting  chap.  A  little  girl, 
one  of  the  blondes  and  the  tenor 
risked  a  bit  of  English  but  other¬ 
wise  speech  is  absent.  Dancing  is 
minimal  but  one  waltz  bit  is  ex¬ 
ecuted.  Space  is  probably  the  de¬ 
terminant  in  this  respect. 

Hedy  Fassler,  the  attractive 
soubrette,  has  the  style  Of  mittel- 
europa  operetta  and  a  good,  deal  of 
stage  .presence.  She  is  plainly  an. 
experienced  trouper.  So,  too,  is 

Erwin  von  Gross  who  makes  about 

half  a  dozen  costume  changes.  A 
performer  of  poise  and  ease  and 
considerable  charm,  his  type  is 
now  seldom  seen  In  the  Broadway 
musicals  which  are  no.  longer  of 
the  operetta  genre.  Gertrude 
Freedman  is  the  otl\er  soprano, 
also  a  pro  though  seen  but  twice, 
Karl  Jancik  was  an  easy  hit  with 
two  zither  solo  numbers. 

Musically  the  performances  is 
all-Austrian— from  the  several 
Strausses  -tp  Komzak,  Zeigler, 
Stolz,  Kalman,  Lehar,  I  ostal,  Pick 
ta  the  great  :  Br  ah 


Wednesday,  Januaryl5,  1958  ,, _ .  _ fr&RIETY _  _ /  _  MlTTlJttiBS  25 


26 


TMX VISION 


yjsa&rr 


Wednesday,  January  15,  1958 


If  It’s  Closed  Circuit  Installation— 


L.  A.  Labor  Council  Says  Toll-Haters  Misrepresent 
AFL-CIO  Position 


Los  Angeles,  Jan.  14. 

Citizens  Committee  Against  Pay 
TV  has  “misrepresented”  labor’s 
position  in  regard  to  feevee,  the 
Los  Angeles  County  Central  Labor 
Council  has  charged  in  a  rap  at 
sponsors  of  a  move,  for  a  city  ref¬ 
erendum  to  determine  whether 
L.A,  should  enfranchise  toll-tv  op¬ 
erations.  Labor  Council  asked  "all 
those  honest,  sincere  people  who 
have  joined  with  the  Citizens  Com¬ 
mittee  against  Pay  TV  to  reevalu¬ 
ate  their  position.” 

W.  J.  Bassett,  CLC  exec  secre¬ 
tary,  Said  that  the  committee  had 
"falsely  and  wrongfully”  placed 
the  name  of  AFL-CIO  among  the 
list  of  those  joining  in  the  .  cam¬ 
paign  to  prevent  feevee  installa¬ 
tions  in  this  area.  He  pointed  out 
that  the  AFL-CIO  convention  in 
Atlantic  City  last  month  specif¬ 
ically  omitted  from  its  resolution 
against  pay-tv  the  type  of  closed 
circuit  system  proposed  for  Los 
Angeles  through  the.  bids  by  Ski- 
atron  and.  Fox  West  Coast-Tele¬ 
meter. 

"It  is  my  personal  opinion,”  Bas¬ 
sett  added,;  "that  closed  circuit 
wired  tv  will  create  a  new  and 
broad  field  of  employment  and  will 
regenerate  the  economics  of  this 
area  during  a  possible  recession 
period  and  will  in  no  way  affect 
the  free  operation  of  tv.” 

Bassett  said  that  in  view  of  the 
"misrepresentation”  he  is  asking 
all  AFL-CIO  members  who  were 
"influenced  by  the  misuse  of  our 
organization’s  name”  to  direct  the 
L.A.  City  Clerk  to  remove  their 
names  from  the  petition  seeking  a 
referendum. 


Tollvision  Newsletter 

San  Francisco,  Jan.  14. 

First  publication  (believed) 
the  U.S,  devoted  exclusively  to 
pay-tv  came  off  the.  press  here 
Jan.  6.  It’s  called  Pay-TV  News¬ 
letter  &  Digest,  and  is  scheduled 
to  be  published  fortnightly. 

Publisher  is  Edward  J.  Cory,  ex- 
j-comic  book  publisher,  and  editor 
is  Don  Rico,  ej£magazine  writer. 
Both  of  Manhattan. 

Subscription  price  is  $7*80 
year,  issues  every  other  week. 


G.  D.  SCHINE  EXPLAINS 
1F-WHEN  SLANT  ON  FEE 

Albany,  Jan.  14. 
Indicating  the  probability  there 
will  be  some  form  or  forms  of  sub¬ 
scription  .  television,*  G.  David 
.  Schine,  president  of  Schine  Enter¬ 
prises  said,  while  in  Albany  for  a 
visit  (7)  to  company’s  WpTR,  that 
organization  would  go  into  cable 
video,  if  there  were  indications  this 
was  a  form  of  entertainment  the 
public  wanted. 

The  Schine  interests  recently 
chartered  Home-Vue  Theatre  Sys¬ 
tems,  under  the  Stock  Transporta¬ 
tions  law,  for  such  eventuality;  It 
is  authorized  to  operate  in  virtually 
all  upstate  counties — where  the 
Schine  circuit  conducts  some  50 
theatres. 

Emphasizing  that  the  Schine  Cir¬ 
cuit-— with  over  100  houses  in  five 
state  s— is  in  theatre  exhibition 
|  .to  stay,  the  Enterprises  president 
said  its  operation  must  he  “geared 
to  meet  the  public’s  tastes  in  en¬ 
tertainment.”  As  proof  of  this,  he 
cited  the  $200,000  investment  the 
chain  had  made- in  converting  the 
Eckel,  Syracuse,  for  Cinerama — 
prehaiering  Jan.  7  and  8,  with 
Schine  on  hand.  The  30-year-old 
son  of  J.  Myer  Schine,  Who  with 
a  brother,  the  late  Louis  W.  Schine, 
branched  from  one.  theatre  to 
tree  that  now  makes  it  among 
the  nation’s  largest  idependent  op¬ 
erations— also  pointed  to  expen¬ 
sive  installations  of  Todd-AO  at 
the  Granada  in  Buffalo,  and  the 
Mpnroe  in  Rochester,  for  showing 
of  "Around  the  World  in  80  Days.” 

This,  David  Schine  emphasized, 
is  in  line  with  the  presennt  public 
trend  toward  "modern,  luxury-type 
theatres,  for  big  pictures.” 

If  there  is  to  be  pay  television 
(Tollvision),  he  .added  the  Schine 
organization,  as  exhibitors,  should 
share  in  it.  He  believed  the  pro¬ 
duction  level  would  rise,  should 
Video  arrive.  The  reason?  Far 
more,  money  would  be  available, 
from  revenuei  than  the  present  sys¬ 
tem  of  sponsorship  produces.  . 

The  Schine  theatre  operation 
must  be,  are,  and  will  be,  flexible, 
the  junior  Schine  observed.  He 
thought  that  the  time  for  365-day 
operation,  under  traditional  meth¬ 
ods,  was  probably  coming  to  a  close 
for  some,  if  not  many,  theatres. 


As  Longhair  Aid 

Washington,  Jan.  14, 

Possibilities  of  giving  a  boost  to 
symphony  music  through  tollvision 
were  brought  to  the  attention  of 
the  House  last  week  by  Rep.  Bar- 
ratt  O’Hara  (D-Ill.).  O’Hara  intro¬ 
duced  '  into  the  Congressional  Rec¬ 
ord  a  letter  from  George  A.  Kuy- 
per,  manager  of  the  Chicago  Sym¬ 
phony  Orchestra,  urging  him  “to 
see  that  a  fair  trial  is  given  to  sub¬ 
scription  tv  since  this  appears  to 
be  the  only  opportunity  to  program 
our  great  symphony,  orchestras— 
which  need  increasingly  wider  sup¬ 
port — into  the  homes  of  our  coun- 
try.” 

Kuyper  told  the  Congressman 
that  he  is  “vitally  interested”  in 
the  pay  tv  hearings  before  the 
House,  “both  as  a  citizen  who  de¬ 
plores  the  vast  quantities  of  in¬ 
ferior  programs  offered  on  my  tv 
set  and  as  manager  of  one  Of  our 
great  symphony  orchestras  -which 
does  not  have,  under  the  present 
control  of  our  tv  channels,  the  op¬ 
portunity  to  reach  vast  numbers 
of  people  who  long  for  good  mu¬ 
sic  and!  are  presented  with  so  lib 
tie  of  it.” 


George  Sidney  Proposal: 


Variety  Show  as  Hypo 

Hollywood,  Jan.  14. 

A  . monthly  “super-variety”  Ishow 
to  be  telecast  oyer  dosed  circuit 
to  theatres  around  the  country  has 
been  suggested  by  George  Sidney, 
prexy  of  Screen  Directors  Guild, 
as  a  means  of  counteracting  the  ad¬ 
verse  boxoffice  effect  of  Sunday 
night  tv  shows.  In  a  letter  to  MPAA 
prexy  Eric  Johnston,  Sidney  sug¬ 
gested  that  the  project  be  handled 
as  an  all-industry  affair'  with  all 
costs  shared: 

Exhibs,  Sidney  declared,  could 
use  the  program  as  a  part  of  their 
evening’s  entertainment  and  share 
expenses  rpyalty-per-seat 

basis: 

Hollywood  talent  would  partici¬ 
pate  in  one  hour  show  with  the 
entire  film  -  industry  pitching  in 
regularly  ho  make  it  a  strong  show. 


Community  Antennae  System  Spreading  in  Mountain 
Areas — -Exhibitors  Threatened  With  Extinction 


Antenna  Toll 
Readying  in  N,Y.  Nabe: 
90  Days  After  Nabes 

The  Selectivision  system  of  pay- 
tv,  operating  via  community  an¬ 
tenna  systems  and;  readying  for  a 
start  in  Queens,  plans  to  offer  films; 
90  days,  after  their  run  in  the 
neighborhood  houses,  according  to 
Emanuel.  H.  Demby,  Selectivision 
secretajx  ^ 

Oittm/WiU  operate  on.  three  chan¬ 
nels,  one  of  which  will  be  “free” 
at  all  times.  Charge  for  a  picture 
will  be  150%  of  the  base  price 
charged  by  a  theatre,  i.e.  :if  the 
house  scale  is  $1,  Selectivision  will 
charge  $1.50;  Current  plan-  is  to 
lease  the  decoding  device  which,  in 
mass  production,  should  cost’ $10  to 
$15,  Demby  Said. 

Demby  acknowledged  that  Select¬ 
ivision  hadn’t  contacted  the  dis¬ 
tributors  as  yet.  “Well  do  that 
through  the  regular,  film  buyer 
channels  when  the  time  comes,”  he 
said,  adding  that  the  re-run  plan 
was  aimed  at  giving  pictures  “a 
second  chance”  and  to  help  the 
exhibitor  cash  in. 

Selectivision  is  continuing  its,  re : 
search  projects  to  establish  what 
people  want  to  see  and  what  they’re 
willing  to  pay.  Asked  what  the; 
problems  would  be  once  Selectivi-r] 
sion  went  for  day-and-date  show¬ 
ings  with  theatres,  Demby  said  this 
would  raise  a  host  of  ngw  problems. 

»>>♦ ♦»»♦♦♦+♦♦♦♦»♦♦♦♦♦ ♦ ♦ ■ 


As  Air  Pay-See 

Washington,  Jan.  14. 

Tollvision  either  by  air  or  by 
Wire  would  be  prohibited  under  a 
bill  introduced  in  the  Senate  last 
Week  by  Sen.  William  Langer 
(R-N.D.).  Measure  has  been  refer¬ 
red  to,  the  Senate  Interstate  Com-, 
merce  Committee  ,  which  has  be¬ 
fore  it  an  anti-tollyision  bill  by 
Sen!  Strbm  Thurmond  (D-S\C.). 

In  a  statement  Regarding  his 
bill,  Langer  said  that  “some  people 
would  lead  you  to  believe  that 
wired  tv  .  should  be  placed  in  a  I 
different  category  from  pay-see 
but  a  careful  analysis  will  conclu¬ 
sively  show  that  the  net  result  will 
be  the  same— -that  many  tv  view¬ 
ers  will  he  deprived  of  the  privi¬ 
lege  Of  good!  television  program¬ 
ming.” 

Referring  to  the  wired  tv  ex¬ 
periment  'in  Bartlesville,,  Okla.,  the 
Senator  declared  that  his  own  sur¬ 
vey  of  residents  of  the  area  shows 
“an  overwhelming  majority’’ 
against  the  system.  He  said  he  also 
has  been  informed  that  sentiment 
in  other,  cities  is  strongly  opposed 
to  pay  tv.. 

Asserting  that,  millions  Of  peo¬ 
ple  would  be  deprived  of  sports, 
musical  and  other  programs  under 
feevee,  Langer  said  that  if  the 
public  is  charged  $5  per  month  for 
viewing  programs  “the  next  thing 
We  know  it  will  be  raised  to  $10 
per  month  and  up  and  up  and  on 
dp” 

Sen.  Langer’s  measure  provides 
that  the  Federal  Communications 
Commission  shall  not  authorize 
charging  of  fees  of  viewing  pro¬ 
grams  in  the  home  without  Con¬ 
gressional  authority.  The  solon  does 
not  explain  the  legal  basis  for  in¬ 
cluding  wire  operations  which  do 
not  cross  state  lines. 

In  addition  to.  the  Senate  hills, 
several  measures  aimed  at  stop¬ 
ping  feevee  have  been  introduced 
in  the  House.  One  pf  them  is  by 
Chairman  Emanuel  Celler  (D-N.Y.) 
of  ,  the  Judiciary  Committee,  An¬ 
other;  Is  by  Rep.  Adam  C.  Powell, 
Jr.  (D-N.Y.).  it’s  likely  that  other 
members  Will  submit  proposals  on 
the  subject  this  session. 


Free  Fee-Vee  Anybody? 

Vancouver,  Jan.  14. 

Vancouver’s  sole  home-wire 
tv  set-up  is  beset  by  “pirates,” 
who,  by  the  simple  arid  ap¬ 
parently  legal  trick  of  laying 
their  antenna  co-ax  wire  near 
Tru.  Vu’s  cross-city  cables,  cop 
pay-see-  without  fee. 

Several  citizens  have .  been 
chastised,  said  Tru  Vu,  but  the 
extent  of  tollvision  “boot¬ 
legged”  is  tough  to  determine. 
Systeip’s  cables  'are  mostly 
“singto  -  shielded”  whereas 
double-shield  cables  as  used 
by  most  American  tollvision 
would  prohibit  such  theft.”  It’s, 
currently  no  crime.  Worst 
charge  could  be  merely  one 
of  trespass. 

Trick  raises  edgy  questions. 
Because  home-wire  tv  systems 
pluck  their  peddled  product, 
without  levies,  from  program 
originators,  .then  “non-contact” 
pay-see-receiving  citizens,  it 
would  seem,  transgress  no 
legislation,  have  same  rights 
as  tollvision  webs  and  are  sub¬ 
ject  only  to  stringencies  that 
can  attach  to  certain  forms  of 
trespass. 


Sari  Francisco,  Jan.  14. 

Skiatron  is  rolling  its  eyes  at 
owners  of  Coast’s  two  professional 
football  teams,  Frisco  49ers  and 
Los  Angeles  Rams.  Pete  Rozelle, 
general  manager  of  Rams,  admitted 
last  weekend  that  “Matty  Fox  is 

friend  of  Ed.  Pauley  (one  of 
Rams’  owners)  and  has  talked  to 
him  about  it.” 

Rozelle  said  toll-tv  concept;  is.l 
'fascinating”  but  felt  nothing 
would  jell  “for  a  year  or  two.” 

Forty-niner  owner  Vic  Mora- 
bito  was  more.  Conservative,  said 
Skiatron  has  “tried  to  approach 
us  a  few  times,  but  we  still  have 
one  more  year  to  go  on  our  (CBS^ 
TV)  contract  with  an  option  after 
that  for  two  more  years.” 

Subject  arose  because  the  49ers, 
in  asking  Frisco’s  Recreation-Park 
Commission  to  cut  its  Kezar  Sta¬ 
dium  rent  from  10  to  5%  of  gross, 
also  asked:  . 

"The  elimination  of  paragraphs 
5B  and  7  from,  the  (49er-city) 
agreement.  These  paragraphs  gov¬ 
ern  radio  arid  television  rights  arid 
their  elimination  would  be  a  mere 
formality  since  the  provisions  con¬ 
tained  therein  have  been  waived 
every  year.” 

Morabito  explained  radio-TV 
rights  were  subject  toc  city 
approval  “in.  case  attendance 
should  be  affected  by  sale  of  the 
rights.”  He  pointed  out  they  were 
old  clauses  arid  had  started  with 
radio,  long  before  49ers  were  or¬ 
ganized. " 

He  insisted,  “no  subterfuge”  was 
intendedP  said  “we’re  perfectly 
willing  to  put  safeguards  in  there 
to  protect  attendance  .  .  .  so  far 
as  pay-TV  goes,  we  haven’t  given 
it  much  thought,  FranklyKI’d  like 
to  see  it  work  tor  a  while  before 
stepping  in  with  both  feet.” 

As  for  Skiatrbn’s  attitude,  vice- 
president  Jerome  Doff  reported 
"we’ve  had  iriclinations”  toward  a 
pro  football  tleup,  added  the  de¬ 
sire  of  some  teams’  owners  “is;  as 
great  as  our  interest.” 


Jack  Benny  with  the  Chicago 
symphony,  for  sweet  charity’s  sake, 
raised  $106,423  for  City  of  Hope 
Hospital  of  Los  Angeles.  Benny’s 
sixth  “cqncert'’  in.  last  yqaiy 


»-»♦♦+  +  4 


►»4»+>44 444 44 4 ♦ 4 4 4 4 


Bartlesville’s  Per-Attraction  Fee  Test 


♦  444 


M-M 


Bartlesville,  Okia.,  Jan.  13. 

Public  reaction  here  to  ja  plan 
involving  a  per-aitraction  charge 
for  subscribers  to  the  Telemovie, 
system  is  being  sought  by  Video 
Independent  Theatres,  according 
to  prexy  Henry  :  S.  Griffing.  At 
the.  moment,  the  Telempvie  fee  is 
-a  flat  $9.50  per  month. 

Video  now  would  give  viewers 
their  choice  between  the  present, 
'.flat,  method,.  qr  ^  WtfSt 


which  they  would*  pay  a  minimum 
$3.50  per  month,  which  would  give 
them  five  pictures  oh  any  one  of 
the  two  channels  now  operating. 
For  each  additional  film  seen 
they’d  pay  about  65c,  which  is  the 
admission  charged  at  Video’s  lo¬ 
cal  iirstruri. 

The;  metering  plan  is  merely  a 
trial  to  learn  which  method  of  pay¬ 
ment  subscribers  would  prefer, 
Griffing  indicated: 


►4444444444 444 ♦♦♦4444444 

Electronics  International,  Jmc.,  of 
Oklahoma  City.  Installed  outside 
a  subscriber’s  home,  it  records 
only  the  amount  of  time  the  sub¬ 
scriber’s  set  is  receiving  telernov- 
ies.  Installation  of  the  device  is 
gratis.  If  reaction  is  favorable. 
Video  will  seek  to  find  a  more 
definitive  meter  that  can  record 
additional  inforriiatiori. 

The  Bartlesville  project  has  been 
in  operation  four  months  and  it  is 
s^cyidog455jS.  couaacJtinns- . » 


Vancouver,  Jan.  14. 
Community  antennae  system  of 
television  transmission  and  recep¬ 
tion  is  spreading  throughout  Brit¬ 
ish  Columbia,  where  the  surround¬ 
ing  mountain  terrain  block  stand¬ 
ard  over-the-air  signals.  Antennae 
are  increasing  on  the.  peak-tops 
which  surround  most  B.C.  centres 
and  the  tv  programs  are  wired 
into  homes.1 

Iri  the  sense,  that  the;  public  is 
required  to  pay  for  wired  hookups 
and  a  monthly  charge,  the  com¬ 
munity  system  resembles  the  toll- 
vision.  that  has  become  prominent, 
conversation-wise^  in  the  states! 

Pioneer  in  the  field  in  Vancou¬ 
ver  is  longtime  radio  man  George 
Chandler,  president  of  station 
CJOR,  operator  of  Muzak,  arid 
head  of  the  Tru  Vu  pay-see  system. 
Latter  is  this  city’s  only  cabled 
operation,  arid  has  900  homes  link¬ 
ed,  with  many  others  asking  for 
installations,  according  to  manager 
Don^hiels. 

Tru  Vu  customers  buy  their  own. 
sets,  of  course,  pay  a  $60.  installa¬ 
tion  charge  and  a  $4  monthly  toll. 
Hookup  is  via  the  British  Columbia 
Telephone  Co.’  coaxial  wires 
strungSon  regular  telephone  poles 
and  cabled  Into  the  homes.;  Com¬ 
pany  charges  $1  to  $2  per  pole  per 
year  and  $4.30  per  month  for  each 
of  the  60  amplifiers  serving  the 
subscribers. 

This  cpdld  be  extended  to  genu¬ 
ine  tollvision,  for  Tru.  Vu  is  serir 
ously  considering  the  piping  of 
films  independent  of  theatre  exhi¬ 
bition  through  the  systems  chan¬ 
nels,  stated  Shiels. 

A  numerical  breakdown  indi¬ 
cates  the  growth  of  the  antennae 
Systems.  Penticton  in  the  Okana¬ 
gan  Valley  has  600  sets  in  use  arid 
an  increase  to  2,000  is  anticipated. 
Courtenay-Comax  has  200.  Squain- 
ish  completed  120  installations  last 
month.  Other  tjowns  vary  from  the 
hundreds  to  the  thousands  in -act¬ 
ual  sets  or  potential. 

Programs  are  taken  from  Wash¬ 
ington  channels  at  present,  plus 
some  locally-staged  closed-circuit 
fare.  Link  with  British  Broadcast¬ 
ing’s  microwave  network  is  ex¬ 
pected  in  Jurie. 

Operators  of  the  antennae  sys¬ 
tems  include  a  few  exhibitors  and 
many  from  outside  fields,  ranging 
from  restaurateurs  to  logging 
camp  owners. 

In  at  least  two  instances,  former 
exhibitor-boothmen  own  the  setup  i 
Harry  Whiskiri  Of  Courtney-Comox, 
and  Clarence  Seversori,.  jointly  run 
Youbou’s  home-wire  tv>  operation 
which  replaces  the.  shuttered 
Woodland  theatre,  and  Severson 
owns  the  Sarita  River  community 
setup.  Kimberley’s  home-wire  tv 
offers  two  channels  plus  closed-cir¬ 
cuit  yidcasting  of  homespun  talent 
and  affairs  four  to  five  hours  week¬ 
ly,  piped  by  Kootenay  Enterprises, 
headed  by  realtor  Benny  Ridisky. 

Ridisky  says  his  system  will 
shortly  exterid  east  to  border-town 
Fernie.  :  Granbrook,  mountain- 
blocked  from  all  but  Spokane’s 
channel  4,  .  augments  to  two.  pro¬ 
grams  when.  CBC  microwave  web 
becomes  active  in  June-  ,  All  other 
home-wire .  systems  offer,  mi.nimunt 
two  channels  and  many  pipe 
The  effect  on  theatrical  exhibi¬ 
tion  is  the  obvious  one.  Exhibitors 
are  being  hurt  and  in  numerous 
instances  have  either  already 
closed  or  face  the  threat  of  shut¬ 
tering:  . 

JUST  OUR  LUCK  THAT 
TOLL  WILL  DIE:  BERGER 

Minneapolis,.  Jan.  14. 
Circuit  owner  Bennie  Berger, 
long-time  North  Central  Allied 
president  arid  national  Allied 
States  bigwig,  says  he  has  turned 
down  an  appeal,  from  a  California 


group  fighting  tollvision 
money  contribution  to  the  fund 
which  it’s  nbw  raising. 

“I  answered  Harry  Arthur’s  re¬ 
quest  for  a  donation  that  I  believe 
that  if  tv  setowners  had  to  pay  for 
everything  good  on  their  tiny  sit¬ 
ting  rooiri  screens  it  would  send 
them  back  to  theatres  in  droves, 
explains.  Berger.  „  .  . 

“However,  I’m  afraid  we’ll  not 

have  that  luck  because  I  can’t  en¬ 
vision  successfully  financial,  pe.y* 
as-you-watch  v  tvJf 


Wednesday,  January  15, 1958 


PftWEtt 


KAMO-TELK VISION 


n 


COURTSHIP  ON  THE  POTOMAC 


on ‘The  State  of  TV’ 


Washington,.  Jan.  14. 

CBS-TV  exec  veepee Hubbell  Robinson  on  the  state  of  tv  pro¬ 
gramming: 

“Despite  the  bumblers  and  the  babblers,  there  are  enough 
thoughtful,  mature  minds  asking  sensible  questions  about  televi¬ 
sion’s  program  output  to  make  -it  highly  proper  to.  examine  the  vali¬ 
dity  of  their  concern. 

“Should  we  walk  with  bowed  heads,  guilty  as  charged  with  per¬ 
petrating  mass  mediocrity?  or  can  we  walk  proudly,  confident  our 
contribution  to  American  happiness,  information  and  education 
is  a  substantial  and  enlarging  one?  let  us  be  forthright  in  admitting 
our  inadequacies  and  failure  to  meetj  so  far,  all  the  goals  we  have 
set  ourselves.  Let  us  recognize  that  any  week’s  programming  con¬ 
tains  some  peppermint  candy  drama,  some  comedy  that  lacks  bite 
and  point,  some  quiz  shows  distinguished  largely  by  their  frantic 
attempts  to  unload  money  in  the  easiest  way .  possible,  and  some 
spectaculars  that  started  out  to  be  thunderbolts  and  wound  up  as 
short  circuits. 

“But  let  me  also  suggest  to  you  that  each  one  of  you  examine 
this  week’s  or  this  month’s,  Or  any  week’s  of  month’s  totai  televi¬ 
sion  schedule.  I  think  you  will  find  that  during  the  evening  hours 
which  have  been  most  severely  attacked  there  is  not  a  night  when 
the  public  cannot  find  at  least  two  hours  of  skilled,  professional, 
high-level  entertainment.  It  may  not  all  be  on  one  network —  it 
probably  won’t  be— but  it  is  there,  and  if  is  there  with  an  amazing 
consistency.’’ 


"Waiting  List’  Dip,  Back-to*Live  Trend 


Washington,  Jan.  14. 

Advertisers  and  their  agencies 
can  be  expected  to  cut  down  op 
their  initial  tv.  commitments  next 
season,  particularly  on  new  film 
shows,  William  H.  Hylan,  sales',  ad¬ 
ministration.  veepee,  told,  the  CBS 
Affiliates  here  today  (Tues.).  And 
this,  he  said,  “could  conceivably  re¬ 
sult  in  a  trend  to  live  programs  if 
the  purveyors  of  film  cannot  pro¬ 
vide'  greater,  initial  flexibility.’’ . 

Declaring  that  the  day  of  “the 
waiting  list”  of  advertisers  for  any 
time  period  which  becomes  avail¬ 
able  has  passed,  partly  because  of 
the  size  of  the  budget,  required  for 
network  ty,  Hy lari  noted  “a.  definite 
arid  growing  reluctance”  to  .  make 
longterm  commitments. 

“To  some  extent.”  he  said,  “we 
have  been  the  victims  in  this  re¬ 
spect  of  the  film  medium,  which 
requires  more  time  to  prepare  arid 
practically  no.  opportunity  tp  cor¬ 
rect  once  the  negative  is  in  the 
can. 

“Added  to  .  this  is*  the  fact  that 
most  film  packagers  have  been  able 
to  demand  and  secure  minimum 
firm  contracts  of  39  Of  52  weeks’ 
duration.  Be  that  as  it  may,  a  num- 
ber  of  advertisers  have  been  faced 
th  is  season  With  firm  commitm  ents '  ] 
on  shows  which  have  not  lived  up 
to  expectations  prograriimatically 
or  in  ratings.” 

Turning  to  the  subject  of  rat¬ 
ings,  Hylan  said  they  seem  to  have 
been  used  this  season  “more  to  vic¬ 
timize  the  medium  Which  they  are 
supposed  to  serve  than  to  fulfill  the 
purpose  for  which  they,  are 
bought.” 

He  expressed  the  belief  that  the 
networks  “must  share  the  blame” 
(Continuer  on  page  51) 


on 


Washington,  Jan.  14! 

•Both  stations  and  networks  have 
a  closer  understanding  than  ever 
before  in  the  history  of  the  indus¬ 
try,  according  to  P,  A.  (Buddy) 
Sugg,,  exec  v.p.  of  WKY-TV,  Okla¬ 
homa  City.  Pointing  out  that  this 
relationship  was  “far  better  than 
critics  and  reformers  of  our  in¬ 
dustry”  would  hhve  people  believe, 
Sugg,  a  vet  of  27  years  in  broad¬ 
casting,  including  affiliatiOns  with 
three  existing  webs  ■  and  DuMont, 
nevertheless  had  concrete  sugges¬ 
tions  for  improveirient  of  affiliate- 
web  relations. 

Sugg  urged,  first  of  all,  stepped- 
lip  use  of  closed-circuit  tv  by  more, 
departments  of  the  web.  Pointing 
out.  the  value  of  such  uses  of  this 
technique  as  the  ASCAP  and  Day¬ 
light  Saving  discussions;  he  sug¬ 
gested  that  CBS  execs  could  effec¬ 
tively  use  closed-circuit  as  a  means, 
of  communication  with  affiliates 
(Continuer  on  ppgg ,51^, 


Equal  Time? 

Washington,  Jan.  14. 

Vice  President  Richard  ;M. 
Nixon’s  earnest  endorsement 
of  the  power  of  tv  as  a  news 
mediinn  contained  reference 
to  one.  specific  show;  Only 
trouble  was  that  it  was  on  the 
“Other”  network. 

Nixon,  directing  his  remarks 
to ,  CBS  boss  Frank  Stanton, 
pointed  Out  that  Nelson  Rocke¬ 
feller’s  .appearance  on  Daye 
Garrpway’s  “Today”  had  been 
seen  by  millions  of  people  an<i 
garnered  response  of  200,000 
letters  requesting  the  report. 

The  Vice  President  seemed 
completely  unaware  of  Rocke¬ 
feller’s  Sunday  (12)  stint  on 
CBS’  “Face,  the  Nation.” 


Post-MS  Fix  In 


NBC-TV  and  Republic  Pictures 
wrapped  up  a  $2,000,000,  four-year 
deal  for  lease  in  six  cities  of  the 
studio’s  crop  of  post-’48  feature 
films.  Deal,  in  negotiation  for.  some 
time,  was  wrapped  up  yesterday 
(Tues.).  It’s  expected  to  set  off 
a  major  hassle  between  Republic 
and  the  Hollywood  craft  unions. 

Under  the  deal;  six  of  NBC’s 
seven  owned-&-operated  .  stations 
will  lease  Republic  ’  pictures. 
WRCA-TV  in  N,  Y.  is  taking  180  of 
them,  and  the.,  other  five  are  pick¬ 
ing  up  218  each.  Stations  are 
KRCA-TV,  Los  Angeles;  WRCV- 
TV,  Philadelphia;  W  RC-TV,  Wash¬ 
ington;  WNBC,  Hartford  t  arid 
WBUF-TV,  Buffalo.  Deal  was  Set 
with  Hollywood  Television  Service, 
the  Republic  telefilm  subsid. 

Republic  had  been  reported  to 
be  considering  a  complete  negative 
selloff  on  the  post-’48’s,  but  such  is 
not .  the  case.  It  will  sell  the  *pix 
to  stations  itself,  through  HTS,  as 
it  did  with  its  pre-’48  backlog: 


By*  GEORGE  ROSEN 

Washington,  Jan.  14. 

“How  to  win  Congressional 
friends  and  influence  lawmakers”, 
keynotes  the.  CBS/TV  affiliate  two-j 
day  convention  winding  up  today* 
(Tues.).  The  Potomac-tempoed 
“getting  to  know  you”  powwow  is 
precederital  in  broadcasting  annals, 
a  reflection  of  the  Frank  Stanton- 
inspired  attitudes  and  patterns  de¬ 
signed  to  elevate  industry  prestige 
arid  the  broadcasters’  sphere  of 
influence. 

While  not  always  surface-appar¬ 
ent  at ;  thA  meetings  (With  bread- 
and-butter  matters,  of  network-af¬ 
filiate  relations,  to  all  intents,  dom¬ 
inating  the  agenda),  nonetheless  if 
was  basically  inherent  "in  the. 
Shoreham  Hotel  chinfests.  and  the 
major  motive  for  the  D.  C.  win- 
doWrdfeSsing: 

The  decision  of  CBS  to  bring  its 
affiliates  together  in  Washington, 
iri.  fact,  triggers  the  “new  era”  of 
statesmanship  for  television  as  a 
medium  more  and  more  prpjecting 
itself  as  a  molder  of  public  opin¬ 
ion,  with  Stanton  arid  CBS  assert¬ 
ing  a  leadership  in  this  direction: 
Since  it’s  long  been  axiomatic  that 
“as  CBS  goes,  so  goes  its  affiliates” 
(many  an.  affiliate  station  takes 
pride  in  making  like  the'  parent 
network  and  its  O  &  O  operations), 
there’s  method  in  CBS’  madness  in 
courting  Congressional-FCC  favor 
at  home  base,  bringing  the  affiliate 
family  together  with  hometown 
lawmakers  and  highlighting  the 
speaker  rostruin  with  such  notables 
as  Vice  President  Nixon  and  Sen¬ 
ate  Majority  Leader  Lyndon 
Johnson. 

Double-Pronged  Aim 

True,  CBS’  motives  are  twofold 
in  this  “best  foot  forward”  project 
tion  on  the  D.  C.  front.  It’s  hardly 
a  secret  that  these  are  troublesome 
times  for  the  industry,  and  spe¬ 
cifically  the  tv  networks  (Stanton, 
in  his  keynote  address,  in  fact,  put 
major  stress  ori  the  multiple  crises 
confronting  CBS  arid  the  other 
webs),  with  the  continuing  probing 
and  sleuthing  by  Congressional 
committees  and  more  notably  the 
FCC  network  study  staff  report 
(Barrow)  creating  undiminished 
anxieties  and  still  -  to  -  be  -  reck- 
oned-with  penalties.  That  penal¬ 
ties  will  be. inflicted  is  a  foregone 
conclusion.  Yet  how  drastic  arid 
precisely  in  what  areas  may  well 
be  determined  by  hoW  successfully 
CBS  and  its  affiliates  have  managed; 
to  “window  dress”  this  fourth  an¬ 
nual  affiliate  conference  in  im¬ 
pressing  the  Congressional  guests 
and  the  other  “right  people,”  in¬ 
cluding,  of  course,  the  FCC. 

As  for  itself,  CBS  may  have 
some  self-centered  motives,  for  its 
conduct  and  persuasiveness  could 
even  influence  an  ultimate  okay  on 
its  $20,000,000.  purchase  of  the 
WCAU  properties  in  Philadelphia 
(over  which  there  is  some  ill-con¬ 
cealed  concern  in  view  of  the  Bar¬ 
row  ;  recommendation  on  limiting 
networks’  station  ownership),  ,  yet 
the  fact  remains  the  industry  as 
a  \vhole  stands  to  .benefit  from -this 
Potomac  courtship. 

“Blueprint  of  Ideals” 

But  even  transcending  selfish  in¬ 
dustry  motives  is  the  Stanton 
“blueprint”  for  statesmanship  that 
underlies  the  D.  C.  invasion— for 
the  Washington-berthed  conference 
is  Simply  a  carryover  of  the  ideals 

(Continued .  on  page  52) 


Stanton  Alerts  Broadcasters 
To  Storm  Signals  Via  Slicing  Of 


High  Cost  of  News 

Washington,  Jan.  14. 

It  cost  CBS  $11,000,000  dur¬ 
ing  1957  (after  deducting  all 
revenues)  to  maintain  its  CBS 
News  organization,  prexy 
Frank  Stanton  told  the  CBS 
affiliates  here. 

“In  responding  to  the  new 
d  e  m  a  n  d  s  of  this  world  in 
crisis,”  said  Stanton,  “each  of 
CBS-TV’s  regularly  scheduled 
,  programs  of  hard  news  can  in¬ 
volve  the.  services  of.  over  800 
people;  the  word  arid  reports 
arid  the  live  pickups  of  615 
correspondents  and  camera- 
men;  147  film  crew  members; 
37  administrative  staff  mem¬ 
bers  and  16  studio  staff  mem¬ 
bers.” 

The  Washington  Bureau 
alone;  added  Stanton,  has  a 
staff  of  63. 


Co-op  by  Outlets 


"  Washington,  Jan.  14. 

Pleading  for  “wider  acceptance” 
of  public  service  and  news  shows 
by  affiliates,  Sig  Mickelson;  CBS 
v.p.  in  charge  of  these  areas  of 
programming,  frankly  rode  the 
Nixon  coattails  iri  citing  the  im¬ 
pressive  plug,  given  by  the  Vice 
President  at  the  CBS-TV  affiliates 
meeting  here?  Nixon,  who  pointed 
up  the  expanded  public  interest  in 
arid  the  need  for  wider  news 
coverage,  provided  Mickelson  with 
an  .  effective  springboard  for  his 
pitch  to  the  stations. 

Mickelson  also  tackled  the  con¬ 
troversial  subject  Of  web’s  Sunday 
afternoon  programming  of  major 
league  baseball.  He.  urged  stations 
to  encourage  local  teams  to  play  at 
night  in  order;  to  make  possible 
Widest  possible  airing,  of  the  web 
sportScasts.  Under  the  ‘‘blackout 
rule/’  major  league  games  cannot 
be  televised  within  50  miles  of  any 
area  in  which  a  local  game  Is  being 
played.  He  also  suggested  that  sta¬ 
tions  can  follow  the  web’s  lead  iri 
promoting  local  games  via .  fre¬ 
quent  spots  arid  other  types  of  co¬ 
operation.. 

Mickelson;  pointed  out  that  last 
fall’s  “Algeria  Aflame,”  and  even 
the  highly  publicized  “Face  the 
Nation”  interview  with  Nikita  S. 
Khrushchev*  failed  to  receive  full 
station  acceptance.  In  contrast,  he 
cited  the  standout  success  of  the . 
recent  “Where.  We  Stand”  show, 
and  the  far-fiung  circulation  of  the 
Doug  Edwards  news  show; 


Washington,  Jan.  14. 

Frank  Stanton,  president  of  CBS 
Inc.,  in  one  of  the  frankest,  right- 
down-the-middle  declaration  of 
anxieties  yet  heard  from  a  top 
broadcasting  executive,  told  the 
Columbia  affiliate  family  here 
yesterday  (Mon.)  in  his  keynote  ad¬ 
dress  that  the  network  stands  to 
lose  from  $10,500,000  to  $21,000,000 
a  year  if  "it  is  forced  to  effect  a 
compromise  on  cutting  nighttime 
option  time  from  three  hours  a 
night  to  two  and  a  half  nr  two 
hours, 

“If  network  service  is  to  con¬ 
tinue  during  those  periods  to' sat¬ 
isfy  the  demands  of  the  great  ma¬ 
jority  of  affiliates.”  he  said,  three 
and  half  to  seven  hours  a  week 
translates  to  that  amount. 

“We  can  afford*  nothing  less,” 
Stanton  said,  ‘’not  if  we  are  to 
maintain  and  improve  network 
service,  not  if  we  are  to  meet  the 
demands  of  our  society.” 

“Concededly,”  Stanton  warned 
the  affiliates,  “the  television  net¬ 
works  are  the  first  target  (of  the 
Barrow  study)— or  the  first  vic¬ 
tim:  But  can  you  reasonably  con¬ 
clude  that  you  are  unaffected?  Can 
you  reasonably  conclude  that  the 
public  is  unaffected?” 

‘Matter  of  Economics* 

The  same  considerations  apply 
as  well  to  the  question  of  limita¬ 
tion  on  ownership  of  stations, 
Stanton  said.  “There,  too,  it  Is 
siriiply  a  .  matter  of  economics.  If 
our  major  source  of  stable  income 
is  taken  away,  or  significantly  re¬ 
duced,  we  would  have  to  do  what  - 
any  sensible  businessman  would 
do:  Full  in  our  belts.  The  bold¬ 
ness,,  the  planning,  the  risk-taking, 
the  huge  investment  in  news  and 
public  affairs — these  would  become 
the  immediate  victim  of.  any  such 
proposals  '  .  if  you  decide  that 
the  dangers  are  real,  and  that  we 
have  something  to  preserve,  I  ask 
you  to  permit  us  at  the  network 
to  join  with  you  in  meeting  these 
dangers.” 

Stantoh  asserted  that  “the  needs 
(Continued  on  page  52) 


Golden  Vice  Lazarus 

Jerome  B.  Golden  is  taking  over 
where  Herbert  Lazarus  left  off  at  j 
American  Broadcasting-Paramount : 
Theatres.  Corning  from,  the  AB-PT 
legal  department,  Golden  gets  the 
nod  as  the.  new  secretary  and  gen-j 
eral  counsel  for  the  theatre-tv-radio 
company. 


After  March  1st,  1958 


Newsstands 


Subscription 


Per  Copy 


Per  Year 


See  Details  Page  11 


Washington,  Jan.  14. 

CBS  won  a  hands-down  pledge  of 
allegiance  from  its  affiliate  mem¬ 
bership  today  (Tues.)  in  fighting 
the.  Barrow  Report  recommenda¬ 
tions  which  would  throw  the  book 
at  the  ne works. 

The  affiliates  in  closed  session 
unanimously  adopted  a  resolution 
vigorously  opposing  the  findings 
and  conclusions  of  the  Bartow  Net¬ 
work  Study  as  “imposing-,  greatly 
increased  restrictions  and  regular 
tions  ori  television  broadcasting” 
arid  voted  to  mobilize  affiliate 
forces  through  the  appointment  of 
a  special  CBS  Television  Advisory  . 
board  to  coordinate  activities  in 
fighting  the  Barrow  Report  before 
the  FCC. 


Wayne  King’s  live  TV’er 
Gets  Gander  From  ABC 

Hollywood,  Jan.  14. 

Wayne  King,  the  “Waltz  King” 
of  the  palmy  days  of  the  band  busi¬ 
ness,  is  coming  out  of  retirement 
to  launch  a  half-hour  teleshow, 
“The  Wayne  King  Show.”  It  will 
be  produced  by  Filmcraft  Produc¬ 
tions  and  marks  that  organization’s 
first,  move  into  livideo.  For  the 
last  eight  years,  -Fihncraft  has 
filmed  “You  Bet  Your  Life,” 
Groucho  Marx  starrer. 

ABC  has  optioned  %  the  King 
show  which  will  debut  with  former 
Metro  singing  star  Chris  Warfield, 
Kay  Bell  and  Rex  and  the  Swing-  ° 
ing  Bells,  and  the  Johnny  Vann 
Choir.  David  Sher  will  produce, 


RADIO-TELEVISION 


Barrow  Report  Clobbered  by  CBS* 
Executives  as  'Curb  on  Enterprise 


Washington,  Jan.  14.  4- 

CBS  affiliates  were  told  here], 


PT&StEFT 


‘KIP’ FLIPS  CBS  RADIO 
TO  180G  IN  ONE  WEEK 

CBS  Radio  has  racked  up  $180,- 
000  in  gross  sales  during  the  past 
week,  with  Kiplinger  accounting  for 
the  majority  of  the  business  via  13- 
week  order  for  two  quarter-hour 


Wednesday,  January  15,  1958 


yesterday  (Mon.)  that  the  Barrow  How  Not  to  Make  Money  periods  each  Saturday  for  its  Wash- 

■n _ l  _•  x _ _ a _ i _ * _ '  j.  I  I  lndTon  ronnrr 


Report  on  tv  network  operations 
“would  radically  alter  the  concept 
of  American  broadcasting  as  we 
know  it:” 

In  a  stinging  condemnation  of 
the  FCC  staff  recommendations, 
Richard  S.  Salant,  network  veep, 
declared:  “Purporting  to  advance 
free  competitive  enterprise,  the 
report  would  substitute  a  sweeping 
Government  control  in  which  the 
business  decisions  of  advertisers, 
stations,  and  networks  would  be 
potentially  subject  to  supervision, 
review  and  regulation.” 

Reviewing  the  report’s  recom¬ 
mendations  in  detail,  Salant  lashed 
out  at  the  proposal  to  require  net¬ 
works  to  file  full  data  on  criteria 
governing  affiliation  and  disaffilia¬ 
tion  policies,  reports  on  all  changes 
in  affiliation,  and  the  prohibition 
from  using  as  a  basis  for  affiliation 
a  licensee's  mul  iple  station  hold¬ 
ings. 

Pointing  out  that  report  failed 
to  disclose  that  CBS  has  been  long 
furnishing  its  affiliates  and  other 
interested  persons  its  affiliation 
criteria,  he  observed:  “I  wonder 
whether  the  omission  of  that  well- 
known  and  easily  ascertainable  fact 
. .  .  is  not  significant  of  the  report’s 
hostile  approach." 

FCC  Would  Make  Decisions 

If  the  affiliation  proposals  were 
adopted,  he  said,  the  FCC  “would 
soon  become  the  forum  for  making 


Washington,  Jan.  14. 

CBS  v.p.  Richard  S.  Salant 
brought  up  the  network’s  ven¬ 
ture  into  the  receiver  field  in 
his  attack  yesterday  (Mon.)  on 
the  Barrow  Report. 

Seeing  “little  comfort”  in 
the  report’s  suggestion  that 
networks  offset  loss  of  station 
revenues  through  borrowing  or 
entering  into  some  non-broad¬ 
casting  business,  Salant  ob¬ 
served: 

.  “Almost  everybody  knows 
that  borrowing  costs  money-^- 
and  is  itself  dependent  on !'  a 
sound  record  of  profits.  Nor  is 
going  into  some  other  lines  of 
business/a  satisfactory  'answer 
— -as  the  history  of  CBS’  entry 
into  the  set  manufacturing 
b  u  s  i  n  e  s  s  unhappily  demon¬ 
strates.” 


Robinsons  15  For 
1958;  Asks  Better 
Day  Clearance 


ington  report. 

:  Balance  of  the  business  com¬ 
prised  a  Hearst  magazines  order  for 
10  7V£-minute  daytime  segments;  a 
Groves  Labs  deal  for  JO  five-minute 
“impact”  segments  and  a  Cowles 
mags  deal  for  six  “impacts.”  * 

SP’s  Secret  Sell  For 
‘Popcorn  to  Fight  Polio’ 
Flashed  in  the  Capital 

Washington,  Jan.  14. 

Subliminal  perception  advertis¬ 
ing  on.  tv  was  successfully  demon¬ 
strated  twice  here  y  e  S  t  e  r  d  a  y 
(Mon.)  before  the  FCC  and  before 
a  large  gathering  of  the  press. 
While  none  of  the  observers  could* 
see  the  subliminal  messages  (“Eat 
Popcorn”  &  “Fight  Polio”),  proof 
that  the  words  appeared  on  the 
screen  was  shown  by  repeating  the 
film  telecast  with  half  of  the  pic¬ 
ture  cut  out.  This  revealed  half  of 
the  message. 

James  Vicary,  president  of  Sub* 
liminal  Projection  .Co.,  which  ar¬ 
ranged  the  demonstrations  with 
the  cooperation  of;  WT OP-TV, 
characterized  the  technique  as  a 
“mild”  form  of  “advertising” 
which  is  “ethical”  if  properly  regu¬ 
lated. 

Vicary  advocated  that  the  FCC 


Webs  Over  An  Economic  ‘Barrow’ 

Washington,  Jan.  14, 

.  CBS  .  prexy  Frank  Stanton  let  his  . hair  down  before  the  affiliates 
here  in  some  frank  fiscal  disclosures  about  CBS’  profit  downgrad¬ 
ing  in  Order  to  prove  that  things  could  get  pretty  rough  once  the 
networks  are  over  a  Barrow.  There*  are,  he  said,  no  built-in  guar¬ 
antees  of  onward  and  upward  profit  in  networking. 

“Since  .1952/’  said  Stanton,  “television  networking  has  been 
profitable  to  us.  The  year  1957  has  reminded  us  that  the  mainte¬ 
nance  of  the  level  ofj>rofits  is  not  automatic.  CBS  Inc.  showed  in¬ 
creased  profit  in  ’57  "over  ’56  only  because  ’56  saw  the  liquidation 
of  unprofitable  manufacturing.  Although  CBS-TV  had  a  record 
year  in  revenues,  the  increased  costs  of  doing  business  resulted  i 
an  actual  decline  in  the  network’s  ’57  profits. 

Stanton  said  there’s  a  softness  in  the  national  economy  that  may 
well  be  felt  in  tv  networking  in  ’58.  Even  the  loss  of  a  single  half- 
hour  of  prime  time  sponsorship  can  cost  a  network  almost  $3,000,- 
000  over  the  year.  “It  would  take  only.,  a  relatively  small  amount  of 
sponsorship  loss  to  wipe  out  network  profits,”  he:  said. 

He  cited  the  sharp  contrast  of  the  instability  of  network  profits 
with  the  comparative  stability  of  station  profits,  whether  net¬ 
work-owned  or  non-network-owned.  $ome.  vital  statistics:  in  1954 
the  total  net  profits  of  the  seven  largest  CBS  non-owned  affiliates 
exceeded  the  total  net  profit  of  the  network.  Although  in  '55  and 
’56  it  took  the  total  profits  of  about  12  affiliates  to  equal  the  net¬ 
work’s,  by  1957  the.  total  net  profit  of  as  few  aS  the  eighth  or  nine 
largest  affiliates  exceeded  the  total  net  profit  of  the  network.  “As 
a  matter  of  plain  economics,  chipping  away  at  the  current  struc¬ 
ture  of  television  networking  (apparently  in  reference  to  the  Bar- 
row  Report)  i$  bound  adversely  to  affeet  the  service  Which  the  net¬ 
work  can  provide  to  its  affiliates  and  to  the  public.” 

Network  Nabobs  Due  in  D  C.  En  Masse 
For  Testimony  on  Barrow  Report 


u  me  amuauon  proposals  were  Washington  Jan  14  Vicary  advocated  that  the  FCC 

adopted,  he  said,  the  FCC  “would  rRc  TV,  pv__  vpo_  ’  /  „  allow  its  use  provided  the  audi- 

soon  become  the  forum  for  making  exec  veepee  Hubbell  ence  is  shown  the  message  to 

the  affiliation  determinations  and  Robinson  "Jr,  the  network’s  pro-,  be  transmitted  as  was  done  at 
reviewing  the  business  judgment  gram  chieftain,  updated  the  affili-  the  demonstrations,  and  told  that 
of  the  ne. works  and  stations.”  ates  in  conclave  here  on  the  web’s  it  '  would  be  telecast sublimirially 
Regarding  the  recommenda-  ambitious  plans  for  next  season,  during  the  program.  He  said  his 
tion  to  eliminate  option  time,  Sal-  which,  he  said,  encompass  15  new  company  i$.  Working  on.  a  method 
ant  found  this  proposal  incon-  program  projects  now  in  various  of  detecting  the  messages,  for  use 
sistant  with  the  report’s  emphasis  stages  of  development.  pf  Federal  monitoring  agencies, 

bn  the  importance  of  networks  Listed  among  them  Wprp  Nat  •  In  response  to  questions,  Vicary 
and  the  preservation  of  their  vi-  HiSs  said  thf  ^ 

tality.  “Thus,”  he  asserted,  “the  starring  Sir  Cedric  Hardwirkpand  process  to  be  used  for  “brainwash- 
report  itself  has  not  satisfied  that  Vivienne  Segal*  “Guestward  Ho  ”  idg”  and  tbat  **  cannot  influence 
degree  of  proof  which  must  be  met  by  Pa  trick beS So? of  anyone  tbat 

before  there  can  be  justification  “Auntie  Marne")  which  udll  stai  »  very  small  proportion  of  people 
for  the  Government's  prohibi'ion  Jeanne  Crain;  and  two  comedy-  thl‘eah0ld5’’ 

of  this  vital  element  of  voluntary  melodramas.  “Personal  and  Pri-  fan  detect  the  hidden  messages, 
network-affiliate  relationship.”  yate,”  starrtog  Mickey  Rooney  end  a11?*  *#*2**%*  rates.  would  be 
As  “a  vivid  illustration  of  how  “Collector’s  Item”  starring  Vincent 
far  the  report  goes  down  the  road  Price  and  Peter  Lorre.  '  "£2- 

THiJhee‘STTmeniUmVSalan'  RoOinson  also  said  thit  a  new 

SSJS. “-minute  western  is  in  the  works,  Sy  and  that  nothi/g  is  kn.wS“yet 


report  itself  has  not  satisfied  that  Vivienne  Segal;  “Guestward  Ho” 
degree  of  proof  which  must  be  met  by  Patrick  Dennis  (author  of 


posals  ^vith  the  limitation  of  three. 
VHF  stations  in  the  top  25  mar¬ 
kets  and  the  requirement  that  sta¬ 
tion  transfers  be  subjected  to  com¬ 
parative  hearings  among,  matching 
bidders. 

In  this  respect,  he  said,  the  re-  i 
port  “would  deny  to  broadcasters, 
alone  among  '  American  business 


(Continuer  on  page  51) 

Gottlieb’s  Gee-Wbizzer 


Washington,  Jan.  14. 


regarding  the  relationship  of  the 
frequency  of  messages  to  sales  re¬ 
sults.  . 

Among  the  advantages  of  the 
technique,  Vicary  said,  are  that  it 
permits  .programming  without  the 
interruptions  of.  the  usual  tv  com¬ 
mercials,  that  it  projects„,the  ad- 


JafiFe’s  Sunday  Punch 

.Henry  Jaffe  Enterprises  vir- 
tually  owned  NBC-TV  Sunday 
night  (12)  with  two  one-hour 
color  entries  in  a  row  in  the 
form  of  “Beauty  and  the 
Beast”  and  the  Dinah  Shore 
show  at  8  to  10. 

But  the  topper  was  a  triple- 
header  status  via  the  insertion 
midway  between  the  two,  in 
the  9  o'clock  station  break,  of 
a  promotional  for  “Kitty 
Foyle,”  the  new  Jaffe  Enter¬ 
prises  soaper  which  started  as 
a  daytime  strip  Monday  (13). 

Paramount  In  A 
Money  Role  Only 


Hollywood,  Jan.  14. 


Washington,  Jan.  14. 

What  may  well  become  the  most 
important  hearings  to  be  held  by 
the  present.  Federal  Communica¬ 
tions  Commission  are  due  to  begin 
in  about  six  weeks  with  oral  testi¬ 
mony  on  the  Barrow  report  recom¬ 
mending  restrictions  oh  network, 
operations  in  the  television  field. 

I  ’s  expected  that  the  hearings, 
scheduled  to  start  March  3.  will 
bring  to  Washington  the  biggest 
array  of  Industry  brass  to  appear 
before  the  agency  in  many  years. 
How  long  the  sessions  will  last  is 
still  tp  be  determined  but  in  view 
of  their  importance  to  networks, 
and  stations  and  other  interested 
organizations,  such  as  independ¬ 
ent  program  producers,  it.  will  not 
be  surprising  if  they  run  several 
months. 

A  number  of  factors  indicate 
that  the  proceedings  will  be  pro¬ 
tracted,  For  one  thing,  the  hear* 
ings  are  to  be  conducted  before 
the  full.  Commission.  This  means 
that  frequent  recesses  will  be  ne¬ 
cessary  in  order  to  allow  the  mem¬ 
bers  to  attend  regular  business 
meetings  of  the  agency  which  usu¬ 
ally  consumer  one  to  two  days  a 


Paramount  plans  to  finance  .and  week.  It  can  also  be  expected,  if. 
co-finance  telefilm  pilots  and  series,  the  last  session  of  Congress  is  any 


- — .  . *  -  w  ■ - 7 - • - wau.  j.-*.  mcitioib,  tlldt  it  ui  ujcctdo-vlic  dU-  j*  .  j  *  *  7  t  •  .  ,  ’  xjvmwxv**  v* 

alone  among  American  business  Lester  Gottlieb,  exec  producer  vertising  message  when  viewing  the  studio  ,  makipg  its  plunge  into  indication,  that  Senate  and  House 
men,  the  opportunity  for  the  sue-  of  CBS-TV’s  “Big  Record,”  rates  attention  is  at  its  highest,  and  that  vidfilms  tmder  the  banner  of  its  Committees  will  require  the  pres* 

_ c-.i _ i _ - _ .  i. ^  j  xi _ •. _ *■  _  i  m  -■  _  °  .  "  ■  .  -  ■PaPfltnftlHlT  siincot  crnHrnr  cnKci/i  «  <«  •  •  a  i _ 


cessful  entrepreneur  to  grow  and  the  accolade  of  Vicepresident-in-  it  enables  stations  to  schedule 
expand.”  charge-of-CBS-shows-designed  -  to-  more  public,  service  anriounce- 

.  Under  these  proposals,  he  de-  impress-VIPs — which  is  precisely  ments. 
clared,  the  inexperienced  newcom-  what  he  accomplished  in  spades  Company  plans  to  manufacture 
er  would  be  given  preference,  “ab-  last  night  (13)  with  the  production  or  license  tbe  manufacture  of  pro¬ 
solute  in  the  case  of  original  ap-  he  staged  at  the  annual  banquet  jectiori  equipment  for  tv  stations, 
plications  and  transfer?,  relative  of  the  CBS  affiliates  conclave.  -:r— :  >  .. — — - — 

in  the  case  of  renewals.”  Veterans,  of  these  D.C.  frolics  TkeV  Back  to  Hub 

Adoption  of  such  a  doctrine,  he  which  are  annual  events  at  radio-tv  s  ■ 

aisefted.'_::;v.o.uld,  ThP„ 


it  enables  stations  to  schedule  Paramount  Sunset  studios  subsid.  ence  of  the  commissioners  at  hear- 
Ss  PUWiC  Se™«  announce-  JSSSXL’Smu 

Companjr:  pUns  to  manufacture  ^duf|le?“a,s  is  ¥jg1d2ne  (ContlnuCT  »n  page  5 

or  license  the  manufacture  of  pro-  viaLsuJ,!i?s  of  ^etro  and  20th-Fox 

jectioii  equipment  for  tv  stations.  -da‘  “the^na^cia^r/of  ‘RflOllfw’  RU  Ro|| 

Theg  Back  to  Hub  It’s  planned  to  finance,  pilots  -  '  * 

Boston.  Jan.  14.  and  series  in  association  with  net-  .  n  11* 


60-Min.  CBS-TV 

i/i  •  •  9  n  • 

Crisis  Senes 


he  staged  at  the  annual  banquet  jectiori  equipment  for  tv  stations.  ?,na  .f,  Wa.m.er  ai*d  Disney  s,  (n  ■  j  TV  1 

of  the  CBS  affifiatea  conclave  V  - -7  „  ,  ^  ^  Beailtv  Big  Bail 

whTphearASannn  iheSe  tD'9‘  fJ?h,cs  Theg  Back  to  Hub  It’s  planned  to  finance,  pilots  -  ’  ^ 

rnrrMnnnfW?Q,alHf^norS  at.radl0'tv  Boston,  Jan.  14.  and  series  in  association  with  net-  JV  n  If* 

ceded  ?it  was  the  ?eieT  Theg,  former  Bostonian  works,  established  syndicators  and  KAOnf  X|||]|170|| 

Senator  Bricker  who  u?UalW  connected  with  the  Bartell  Group  successful  senes.  Such  vidpictures  Dt/UOl  10  UulllVdll 

fo  eat  n^tworks  for  brPaSist  lk  for  sevt*al  ^ars,  returns  to  Hub  would  be  shot  at  the  Paramount 

erallv  flinnpd  at  Hip  as  manager  of  the  new  WILD  Sunset  lot.  Audience  appeal  of  fairy  tales 

it  wL  tn^rpiv  an  '  radio  station  in- Hotel  Somerset.  While  Par  Subset  may  eventual-  and  the  still-potent  draw  of  the 

qpntimpnt*  thf  Theg’s  appointment  was  an-  ly  produce  vidpix  itself,  company  Shirley  Temple  name  combined  to 

1  300  whfph0f  iTVpi«rtp?emb!aK?  n  nouuced  by  Maude  Wagner,  Bartell  doesn’t  feel  thats’  the  right  type  of  give  the  first  of  NBC-TVJs  “Shirley 


whole  structure  of  television,  mak-  ceded  it  was  the  topper  and  if  ^ 

KOk  Spnatnr  HriPlrar  ..c.vollw  iii.  connected  With  the 


Peter  Theg,.  former  Bostonian  works,  established  syndicators  and 
nriected  with  ,  the  Bartell  Group  successful  series.  Such  vidpictures 


. „  ...  ..  I  Cnnatnu  .  v-l  . i kiuinitjcieu  wiui .  tne  •  naneu  luroup  ouu.csai.ui  sci ica.  ouui  viupiaum 

(Continued  on  page. 52)  I  netwnrW  frir  hrpawief11^  for  several  years,  returns  to  Hub  would  be  shot  at  the  Paramount 


to  eat  networks  for  breakfast,  lit¬ 
erally  flipped  at  trie  performance 
it  was  merely  an  echoing,  of  the 


1,300  which  included  .'ctically 
(  Continued  on  page  51) 


as  new  manager  of  the  new  WILD  Sunset  lot. 
radio  station  in  Hotel  Somerset.  r  While  Par 


Group  official,.  WILD  was  formerly  I  operation  for  it.  at  this  time.  Pata-  J  Temple’s  Storybook”  specials  an 


(Continued  on  page  52) 


With  public  interest  mounting 
in  the  current  .11. S.  position  vis-a- 

ij Sten^'Whlrt  WeWStod”  •mafi’  £°r  a4|er*ral  reaP»rais?1  of  »»  d«sire  to  court  ill  favor  on  the  °  ABc“s“  “Ifaveric’k,”  wfih’T'pJe- 

up  with  a  sertes  of  sevell  oheToS  ne‘worfc  afflhate  stat*ons  ,wU»  be  . ‘h?h”e^rAB? .  as  a  PaJor/"ae  P;  C.  front  and,  even  though  it  is  sumably  strong  lead-in  from  7130 

ideoW  ISAtoJet^arnVhavTLfr  witfi  SulUv^t ^oor/Ssird  Vx«A 

slotted  through  the  winter  and  stations  feel .  can  lie  partially  coun-  7“whenGtheeqn™tionGof  sta-  Woi  still  another  front  ABC'  to' 

f“g  aiternatln  tr^vi  th  ?emain°  i  riod?  to  riio'armmt'wH.*!”’6!?6"  Jidn  0Ptia“  tilne  cam®  «P.  »  it  did  affiliates  feel  they’re  not  getting  a  20.6  for  Sullivan  and  9.6  for  ABC’s 

W  remain-  npds  to  gay  around  with  locally;  in  connection  with  the  opening  up  sufficient  slice  of  the  sponsorshiD  “Scott  islarid/’ 

K  N°r  and  "Conquest”  on  the  other  hand  there’s  the  in-  af  the  Sunday  7  to  7:30  p.  m.  slot  pie.  The  stations  are  pr“sS 

programs.  First  show  is  set  for  )  evitable  timidity  of  the  networks  (as  a- result' of- the- shifting  of  the  for  a  raise-  iri  rates  .ha serf  ,u0  « vvw*  a  _  ,  <• 

Feb.  23  and  will  deal  with  educa- 1  toward  forcing  the  issue  in  the  Skippy  Peanut  Butter-sprinsored  fact  that  ABC-TV  is  in  a  much  AHP  S  MofC  Chd  &  DflVld 

Howard  K.  Smith  will  moderate  j  S  t7w  Am'rtcan  «»me 


ABC-TV  Affils  In  a  ‘ Vise ’ 


easy  Treridex  victory  oyer  Ed  Sul¬ 
livan  Sunday  (12). 

.  With  Claire  Bloom  and  Charlton 
Heston  starring  in  “Beauty *and  the 
Beast,”  the  Henry  Jaffe  package 
coasted  to  a  27:6  average  for  its 
8  to  9  outmg>  vs.  18.5  for  Sullivan. 

ABC’s  “Maverick,”  with  a  pre- 


AHP’s  'More  Chet  &  David’ 

American  Home  Products,  is  ex- 


cussions  by  two  experts  with  con-  ready  has  returned  Tuesday  arid  recapture  the"  time  for  Their'own  CBS^and^basS  n^riP?  i  g^btiey-DaVid  Brinkley  “NBC 

trasting  views  oh  each  subject,  Saturday  nights  -10:30  to  li  to- the  -  Wh^V  the^%et  sSJS:  Surns^ ^ARC News”  via  an  alternate  sponsor^ip 

along  With  audience  questions  from  stations;  ditto  7  to  8  am.  cross-  thin? else  aeain  ARC  has  a  te^ta  nnw  riPli^L  u  S  -that  its  deal  with  Nestle  Co.,  in  which  they 

the  floor.  Audience  on  each  show  Aboard  with  the  dropping^  ti ^  B^e  ordl^^  berime  Vne  W»ns0r' .the . 

will  consist  of  opinion  leaders  the  Jimmy  Dean  show.)  ‘  ‘  Which  worild^Hie  a?erSf  to  Sk  '  ?eS?n  Segme”t  ^  newscast.  Both  "deals 

whom  CBS  will  bring  into  New  Perhaps  the  tipoff  to  the  stepped-  ing  rwer  the  half-hour  segment  and  webs  ABC  nrefpr?  W1?  ru^  through  ^arly  f Pnl: 

York  for  the  programs.  Show  will  uo  station  demands  carne  last  wppV  chnncorino  _  tQ.  keeP . 1<:  American  Home,  which  has  a 


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whom  CBS  will  bring  into  New  Perhaps  the  tipoff  to  the  stepped-  ing  nver  the  half-hriur  segmerit  atffi  webs^  ^ABc^rpfprc13^  nvaJ  will  run  through  early  ApnL 
York  for  the  programs.  Show  will  up  station  demands  came  last  week  sponsoring  the  “Vise”  ridfilm  s<£  uTa^  way  and  feelf  tha^  in  ^  ^.mer.lcan  whlcfn  fThasT.<?a 

be  a  live  remote  from  an  audito-  when  the  ABC-TV  brass  met  at  ries  Tat’s  a  niftv  rhi.nk  T Jn  ■ 6  i-in!1,  •  A  tlght;  hefty  Piece  of  tbe  competing  CBS- 

rium  in  New  York,  and  wiU  be  pro-  Miami  Beach  with  the  Affiliates  for  the  network  and  It^wriiildn?  f^tP^Sc  of  ^  ld  be  J.n  th®  b,eust  TV  “Douglas  Edwards  With,  the 

duced  by  Jim  Fleming  of  the  web’s  i  Advisory  Board  for  a  wholesale  liketoseeit  go  down^hedrahi1  ^1’’'  is  already  represented  ^on 

.public  -  affairs  dept.  ^  airing  of  network^ ^Uopahips  Rut  ABC,  like  W  rnid^^i  ^ 


Wednesday,  January  15,  1958 


PT&ilETY 


RADIO-TELEVISION  _ » 


$100-M1L  COAST  VIDPIX  POT 


AJ  .  Hollywood,  Jan.  14. 

Ad  agencies  are  responsible  in  most  cases  for  the  lack  of  rea¬ 
lism  in  tv  series,  declares  David  Janssen,,  star  of  CBS-TV’s  ‘‘Rich¬ 
ard  Diamond,-  Private  Detective”  series; 

The  young  actor,  at  one  time  under  contract  to  Universal,  goes 
on  to  say  that  so-called .  agency  censorship,  in  many  cases,  ruins 
what  could  otherwise  be  a  good  tv  show.  ‘‘They  have  an  oldfashion- 
ed  idea  that  the  American  public  is  ignorant  of.  the  facts  of  life 
and  that  they  are  protecting  their  morals  by  keeping  restrictions 
on  tv  scripts  which  emphasize  sex  and  violence,”  he  says; 

‘‘Ho\y  can  you  entertain  the  televiewers,  especially  the  adiii't- 
faction,  which  is  your  biggest  market,  with  adoloescent  type  scripts 
that  are  void  of  sex.” 

-  *  hife  is  full  of  sex,”  he  continues,  “Whether  the  American  wom¬ 
an  will  admit  it  pr  not,  she  would  love  to  be -considered sexy .  I  do 
know  that  men  appreciate  women  with  sex;  especially  when  it’s 
women  other  than  their  wives:” 

Following  these  statements,  Janssen  got  down  to  plugging  his 
"‘^Diamond  series,  which  started  out  under  the  sponsorship  of  Gen¬ 
eral  Foods  during  its  summer  replacement  run'.  During  this  time 
he  said,  the  show  was  ordered  to  de-emphasize  on  “sex,”  but  now 
Tith  Kent  Cigarets  picking  up  the  tab,  the  show  plans  to  go  all- 
out  with  the  “sex”  ,  angle,  which  of  course,  sponsor  has  approved. 

“After  all,”  Janssen  states,  “how  can.  you  have  a  good  cops-and- 
robbers  yarn  without  a  couple  of  beautiful  women .  involved.  ..In 
fact,  it  gives  me  as  an  actor  more,  incentive  to  emote,  and  one  thing, 
for  sure,  I’m  more  inspired  while  on  camera  with  a.  beautiful  doll 
to  look  at.” 


Major  emphasis  in  CBS-TV’s  re-4 
activated  film  version  of .  “Sus¬ 
pense;’  planned  as  a  fall  entry,  is 
on  solid  script  values,  but  the  net¬ 
work  is.  running  into  an  increas¬ 
ingly  tight  market  on  half-hour 
scripts.  Leo  Davis,  who’s  been 
tapped  to  produce  the  new  series, 
says  that  suitable  properties  for 
adaptation  purposes,  have  become 
tougher  to  come  by,  while  the  pres¬ 
tige  writers  in  television  are  by  and 
large  taking  a  disdainful  attitude 
toward  the  half-hour  form. 

What’s  ironic  about  the  situation 
la  that  Davis,  himself  a  former 
scripter  and  script  editor  (“Omni¬ 
bus”),  is.  attempting  to  lay  out  the 
show  as  a  prestige  package  ip  terms 
of  story  values  but  has  run  into  the 
“who  needs  it?”  attitude  of  some  of 
the  better  television  writers  toward 
half-hour  formats  and  toward  film. 
As  a  result,  he’s  gone  on  a  per¬ 
sonal  “sell”  campaign,  to  top  writers 
to  get  them  to  try  on  the  half-hour 
Cor  size,  has  begun  a  search  for 
some  of  the  old  “Danger”  and  “Sus¬ 
pense”  writers  who’ve  turned  to 
other  fields  since  those  days,  and 
:has  secured  a  bigger-than-usual 
script  budget  on  the  show.  “Sus¬ 
pense”  will  pay  $1;200  to  $1,700  for 
adaptations  and  $1,500  to  $2,000  for 
originals,  somewhat  higher  than  the 
Ordinary  half-hour, 

Davis,  who’s  planning  to  roll  the: 

(Continued  on  page  52) 


Scram 

Hollywood,  Jan.  14. 

Reviewer  On  a  Los  Angeles 
daily,  apparently  none  too 
..pleased  with  the  initial  offer¬ 
ing  of  “Studio  One”  since  its 
shift  to  the  Coast,  prefaced 
his.  remarks  thusly — 

“Studio  One— Go  Home;” 


NBC-TV  is  facing  increased  op¬ 
position  to  the  sale  of  the  kine¬ 
scopes  of  Perry  Como  and  the  Gen¬ 
eral  Motors  ,50th  Anniversary 
stanzas  to  British  television.  The 
talent  agencies,  principally  William 
Morris;  and  the  music  publishers 
have  reportedly  insisted  that  the 
network  pay  additional  fees  for  use 
of  the  live  programs  abroad. 

Weeks  ago,  the  first  objection 


See 'Hotel  Cosmo’ 


Looks  like  "Hotel  Cosmopolitan,” 
the  daytime  soaper  which  CBS-TV 
installed  as  the  replacement  for 
the  longrunning  “Valiant  Lady” 
last  summer,  is  headed  for  the  ash- 
Cah.  Network  is  trying  to  expand 
“Love,  of  Life,”  Which  follows 
“Cosmo,”  into  a;  half-hpUr  series 
to  take  over  the  entire  rioori  to 
12:30  slot. 

Although  “Cosmo”  hasn’t  been 
delivering  up  to  expectations,  CBS 
suspects  that  it’s  not  so  much  a 
case  of  the  program  itself  doing 
poorly,  as  a  need  for  a  half-hour 
strip  instead  of  two  '  15-minute 
shows-to  compete  effectively  with 
NBC’s  “Tic  Tac  Ddugh.”  Since  the 
12:15  to  12:30  “Love  of  Life”  is 
well  sponsored  and  has  a  strong 
track  record,  CBS  feels  that  this  is 
the  right  choice  as  a  half-hour 
.  entry. 

Both  “Cosmo”  and  “Love  of 
Life”  are  packaged  by  Roy  Winsor, 
so  that  his  operation  wouldn't  be 
hurt  by  the  move.  “Life,”  however; 
is  owned  by  American  Home  Prod¬ 
ucts,  which  originally  sponsored  it 
five-a-week  and  now  has  it  three 
days  out  of  five.  To  work  out  the 
move,  American-  Home’s  permis¬ 
sion  is  needed,  which  is  what  CBS. 
Is  working  on  now,4f»  ci jai'Oqa. 


came  from  the  American .  Federa¬ 
tion  of  Television  &  Radio  Artists, 
the  live'  talent  .union,  which  de¬ 
manded  that  NBC.  consult  with  Its 
officials  on  additional  .  payments 
before  closing  any  foreign  video 
deals  such  as  Comp  and  GM.  The 
network  countered  that  its  collec¬ 
tive  bargaining  pact  said  nothing 
about,  additional  payments  for  overi 
seas  use  of- live  shows  and  NBC 
implied  that  sale  tor  Canadian  out¬ 
lets  set.  a  foreign  sales  precedent. 
AFTRA  said  that  Canada  did  not 
constitute  foreign  sale  and  that 
countries  such  as  England  and  Ger¬ 
many,  where  NBC  has  already  sold  I 
live  programs  via.  kine,  required! 
more  coin  to  actors.  J 

While  the  AFTRA  demand,  for 
the  time  being,  has  not  been 
heeded,  it  is  believed  that  now, 
with  agencies  and  publishers  in 
the  picture  with'  demands  of  their 
own,  the  network  will  either  have 
to  fork  up,  thereby  setting  a  new 
precedent  on  which.  AFTRA ,  can 
base  further  demands,  or  get  out 
of  foreign  sale  of  live,  shows  com¬ 
pletely. 


P-J  Back  to  ‘WP’ 

Philiips-Jones  is  going  hack  into 
ABC-TV’s  ‘‘West  Point”  J?ri.  21 
after,  a  two-month  hiatus;  bht  this 
time  instead,  of  being  full  co-spon- 
sor  the.  shirt:  company  has  lined  up 
as  a  participating  bankroller  in  the 
vidfilmed  half-hour. 

P-J;  via  Grey,  is  going  to  take  a 
spot  show  for  rf-lirnifcecl-‘4imet»' 


In  ABC-TV  Future-4  Shows  ’Mi 


By  DAVE  KAUFMAN 

Hollywood,  Jan.  14. 

Booming  telefilm  industry  in 
Hollywood  will  maintain  its  record- 
breaking  pace  of  .1957,  with  approx¬ 
imately  $100,000,000  in  vidfilm 
production  planned  for  1958.  Fig¬ 
ure,  garnered!  in  a  survey  of  the  in¬ 
dustry,  is  $10,000,000  over  the  pro¬ 
duction  outlook  of  a  year  ago,  and 
equal  to  that  of  last  June,  when 
telefilming  hit  a  record  peak  here. 

A  breakdown  reveals  there  will 
be  iQ2  vidseries  lensed  in  1958,  as 
against  the  record  number  of  115 
last  year,  Seeming  paradox  of  rec- 
oajd  production  against' fewer  series 
is  explained  by  the  fact  there  have 
been  more  hour-long  filmed  series 
shot  in  the  past  year,  and  more  are 
set  for  1958;  and  these  raise  the 
production  budget  overall.  Drop  in 
series  is  due  to  shrinkage  both  in 
syndication  and  in  series  shot  With 
no  sponsors  set.  There  are  19  syn¬ 
dicated  series  planned,,  as  against 
21  in  ’57  and  25  in  ’56;  as  for  series 
without,  sponsors  there  will  be 
14  rolling,  as  compared  to  16  last 
year  and  20  in  *56. 

A  noticeable  factor  in  the  overall 
pietbre  is  the  continued  elimination 
of  vidfilmeries,  as  the  trend  veers 
to  “bigness,”,  and  away  from  a 
njUltiplicity  of  one-series  compan¬ 
ies.  There  are  42  telefilm  companies 
With  definite  production  plans  in] 
1958,  as  compared  to  48  last  year, 
and  as  much,  as  70  or  more  a  few 
years  ago.  And  tradesters  predict 
this,  pattern  will .  continue ..  until 
there  may  be  only  10  Or  less  sizable 
vidfilmeries  here,  even  though  the 
production  volume  will  increase. 
Logic  dictates  such  a  move  too,  it] 
appears,  since  a  one-series  company 
is  out  of  business  if  a  sponsor/or 
agency  axes  that  series,  whereas 
the  biggies  don’t  have,  to  worry 
about  such  a  fragile  situation. 

‘Majors  and  Minors' 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  1958  finds  the 
telefilmeries  shaping  Up  into  a  ma- 
jor-and-the-tninqrs  pattern  also.  Iii 
the  -‘major’’  category  are  such  pro¬ 
duction  giants  as  Revue,  the  MCA 
subsid  which  leads  the  town  pro¬ 
duction-wise  with  around  20  vid¬ 
series  and  an  annual  production 
budget  of  around  $30,000,000,  and 
Desilu  Productions,  the  Lucille 
Ball-Desi  Arnaz  company  which 
isn’t  far  behind  in  production  out¬ 
lay,  although  unlike  Revue,  it 
doesn’t  own  parts  or  all  of  most 
of  the  series  it  shoots.  Desilu,  in-] 
cidentally,  created  quite  a  stir  when 
it  bought  the  RKO  I  Gower  and 
Pathe  studios  in  an  expansion 
move,  indicating  ambitious  plans 
both  for  production  and  rental. 

Behind  the  behemoths.  Revue 
and  Desilu  (which  have  gobbled  lip 
almost  half  the  .production  in  tv 
film),  are  such  solid  companies  las 
Four  Star  Films,  Walt  Disney, 
McCadden  Productions,  Metro  TV, 
Hal  Roach  studios,  Screen  Gems, 
Warner  Bros,  tv,  and  Ziv  tv.  Iii 
addition,  there  are  quite  a  few  put- 1 
fits  with  one  or  two  series:  Incident¬ 
ally,  while  Warners  leads  the  major  ] 
(Continued  on  page  52) 


Live’s  ‘Me,  Too’ 

Hollywood,  Jan.  14. 

While  tv  film  is  the  over¬ 
whelming  reason  for  Holly-, 
wood  having,  become  the  tele¬ 
vision  capital  of  the  World, 
the  steady  flow  of  live  tele- 
shows  from  N.  Yvto  the  Coast 
Is  another  important  contri¬ 
buting  factor. 

In  the  past  year,  for  exam¬ 
ple,  CBS’  “Studio  One/’  a 
Manhattan  fixture  for  eight 
years,  joined  the  inexorable 
1  trek  westward  to  berth  here. 
In  addition,  the  hour-long  Al- 
Coa-Gbodyear  show  which  had 
been  on  NBC  from  N.;  Y.,  was 
..axed,  to  be  replaced  tyy  a  half- 
hoUr  filmed-in-Hollywood  ser-. 
ies.  Where  N.  Y.  was  once  the 
leader  in  live  tv,  Hollywood 
is  today,  with  such  other  live 
shows  as  “Playhouse  90,”  “Cli¬ 
max”  and  “Matinee  Theatre.” 


‘MARCH  OF  MEDICINE’ 

IN  BIGWIG  D.C. ‘SNEAK’ 

Washington.  Jan.  14;  , 
“MD  International,”  latest  hour- 
long  show  on  NBC’s  “March  of 
Medicine”  series,  j  was  previewed 
here  past  week  for  press  arid  Gov- 
^rpmerit  officials;  Screening,  held 
in  U.S.  Information  Agency  h.q,, 
was  also  attended  by  Lou  Hazam, 
scripter  for  the  trailblazing  inedi- 
cai  series. 

Sponsored  by  Smith,  Kline  & 
French  Labs,  the  color  documen¬ 
tary  tracesthe  role  of  U.S.  medicos 
in  such  remote  spots  as  Korea, 
Burma,  Nepal,  Ethiopia,  Lebanon, 
arid  Hong  Kong.  Crew  trekked 
34,0000  miles,  in  its  81-day  picture- 
taking  and  riewsgatheririg  mission. 
Said  to  have  been  inspired  by 
President  Eisenhower’s  “Pepple-to- 
People”';  program,  in  which  the 
broadcasting  industry  is  taking  an 
active  role,  show  will  be  unveiled 
on  NBC-TV  Thursday,  Jan.  23,  at 
>10:  >  vxl: 


Up  Drama  Segs, 
Pacts  U.S.  Stars 

London,  Jan.  14. 

British  ABC-TV  is  stepping  up 
its  drama  program  in  1958.  Ray¬ 
mond  Massey  will  he  coming  over 
from  America  in  March  to  star  In 
his  own  play,  “The  Hanging  Judge,” 
and  Kim  Stanley,,  currently  in 
London  to  star  hi  “Cat  On  A  Hot 
Tin  Roof,”  will,  with  Equity’s  per¬ 
mission,  appear  in  "The  Traveling 
Lad.”  The  programmers  will  also 
extend  the  running  time  of  the 
Sunday  drama  slot,  “Armchair 
Theatre,”  by  15  minutes  to  75  min¬ 
utes,  which  it’s  believed  will  be 
more  suitable  for  future  produc¬ 
tions. 

Other  headline  American  actors 
and- actresses  will  be  coming  here 
during  the  year,  and  ABC-TV’s 
program  co-ordinator,  Ron  Row- 
son,  recently  back  from  a  visit  to 
the  U.  S;  will  be  malting  another 
talent  prowl  there  in  the  near  fu- 
ture. 

The  “Steve  Allen  Show”  is  one 
of  the  programmer’s  big  offerings 
in  the  light  entertainment  field;  for 
the  winter  schedule.  The  show 
went,  out  for  the  first  tiriie  last 
Saturday  (11)  In  a  45-minute  slot 
The  .  program  will  be  aired  fort¬ 
nightly  in  the  Midlands  and  North 
only,  alternating  with  Associated 
Television’s  '  “Saturday  Spectac¬ 
ular.” 

A  30-minute  program  entitled 
“The  Bookman,”  will  be  aired  on 
Sunday  .afternoons.  The  show  is 
designed  to  highlight  new  books, 
with  Simon  Kester  talking  to  au¬ 
thors,  critics;  and  publishers  about 
books  and  writers.  Among  the  au¬ 
thors  will  be  baridleader  Ted 
Heath,  who’ll  be  quizzed  about  his 
biography,  “Listen  to  my  Music.” 

.The  programmers;  are  also  in¬ 
troducing  a  new  religious  program 
which  will  be  screened,  over  the 
commercial  tv  network  on  three 
out  of  four  Sundays  every  month. 
The  offering  is  aimed  at  young 
neople  and  is  described  by  ABC- 
TV  as  a  teenage  bible  club.  It  will 
run  for  45  minutes  without  any 
break  for  commercials. 


CBC’s  Trans-Coaster 

Ottawa,  jam  14. 
Canadian  Broadcasting  Corp. 
plans  to  extend  Canada’s  only  tele¬ 
vision'  web*  CBC’s,  to  the  west 
coast  by  July  1,  1958, 

This  will  coincide  with  the 
preeming  of  a  network  relay  cen¬ 
tre  located  at  Calgary,  Alta.,  where 
magnetic-tape  video  recorders  will 
be  set  up  to  compensate  for  time- 
Izo  nek  difference*: /  /  u 


Last  year,  it  was  Lou  Edelman 
who  figured  as  the  big  gun  in 
ABC-TV’s  prograrnmlng  future,  but 
for  1958-1959  Edelman  presently 
has  ho  shows  to  offer  the  network 
other  ,  than  the  three  he  now 'has 
on  the  air.  Instead,  Warner  Bros., 
with  four  top-rated  -  film  shows 
going  on  ABC-TV,  has  at  least  four 
others  in  the  hopper  for  the  web. 

Oliyer  Treyz,  ABC-TV  veep  in 
charge,  James  Aubrey,  the  web’s 
program  veep,  and  Dan  Melnick, 
manager  of  program  development, 
hopped  to  the  Coast  from  New 
York  this  week  to  iron  out  pro¬ 
gram  details  with  the  major  and 
other  production  companies,  in¬ 
cluding  Walt  Disney. 

On  a  rising  ABC-TV  star  (with 
which  it  has  an  “understanding” 
that  the  network  will  get  first 
crack  at  all  its  new  properties), 
Warners  is  prepping  “Room  For 
One  More,”  “House  of  Wax”  “The 
49ers”  (an  hour  show),  and  "77 
Sunset  Strip.”  -WB  is  going  to 
start  lensing  pilots  for  the  network 
packages  by  February,  when 
“Room”  goes. before  the  cameras. 

Warner  Bros,  currently  has  four 
shows  on  the  ABC  air:  the  alternat¬ 
ing  Tuesday  shows,  “Cheyenne” 
and  “Sugarfoot,”  the  Sunday 
“Maverick,”  all  of  which  are  60- 
minuters,  and  the  half-hour  Friday 
stanza,  “Colt  .45.”  Edelman,  who 
a  year,  ago  had  several  new  offer¬ 
ings  in  the ,  hopper  for  ABC,  has 
three  on  the  air  at  present,  all  of 
which:  look  to  ride  into  next  sea-, 
son:  “Wyatt  Earp,”  “The  Real  Mc¬ 
Coys”  and  “Jim  Bowie.” 

Additional  packages  in  the  blue¬ 
print  stage  for  next  season  .  on 
ABC  are  an  Orson  Welles  as  host 
of  a  half-hour  drama;  Donna  Reed 
and  “Frankenstein"  with  Screen 
Gems;  plus  live  shows  such  at 
Sumner  Rosenthal’s  “Win  a  Mil¬ 
lion,”  Pat  Weaver’s  “Make  Me 
Laugh”  and  Goodson-Todman’e 
“It’s  News  To  Me.”  First  script  on 
a  Mike  Wallace  half-houf  drama 
already  is.  completed. 

Ziv  also  has  an  undisclosed 
number  of  half-hoUr  telefilms  be¬ 
ing  mapped  out  for  the  web.  Desilu 
is  tieing  with  Rory  Calhoun,  for  an 
ABC  dramatic  series  and  MCA  it 
propping  a  new  run  for  “State 
Trooper”  which  it  has  tentatively 
slugged  ‘‘Motorcycle.” 


IBEWinSwipeAt 
'Sweetheart  Deals’ 

International  Brotherhood  of 
Electrical  Workers,  N.  Y.  local- 
1212,  in  its  continuing  remote 
lighting  dispute  with  CBS  and  the 
International  Alliance  of  Thea¬ 
trical  &  Stage  Employees,  accused* 
the  network  “of  :  entering  into 
‘sweetheart*  deals.”  Statement  fol¬ 
lowed  a  National  Labor  Relations 
Board  order  calling  a  hearing  Feb. 
3  on  1212’s  refusal  to  comply  with 
the.  board’s  original  determination 
Nov.  25  to  let  CBS  pick  Its  own 
remote  tv  lighting  union, 

IBEW  counsel  Robert  Silagi 
previously  refused  to  comply  with 
the  NLRB  determination.  As  he 
originally  planned,  he  hopes  to  get 
the  hassle  into  the  courts  after  the 
hearing  before  a  NLRB  hearing 
officer, 

“CBS  rejected  the  proposal  to 
arbitrate.  It’s  apparent  that  CBS 
believes  it  can  prevail  only  if  It 
can  suppress  the  evidence  of  the 
past,  11  years  of  practice  and 
custom  in  the  industry,”  Siiagi’s 
statement  to  the  press  read.  “This 
is  quite  in  keeping  with  CBS* 
history:  of  entering  Into .  ‘sweet¬ 
heart’  deal  with  rival-  (to  IBEW) 
unions  as  it  has  in  the  past.  We 
are  confident  that  a  full  hearing 
before  a  court  or  arbitrator  will 
vindicate  our  position.” 

After,  the  Nov.  25  determination 
by  NLRB,  IBEW  said  that  the 
board  disallowed  a  great  deal  of 
the  evidence  offered  by  the  union 
ana  that  the  only  way  it  would  be 
heard  war  to  get  the  cas#  to  the 
courts.  riibLi  'ja'Jd'l 


so 


TV-FILMS 


Wednesday,  January  !  5,  1958 


Film  Producers  Assn 


York  said  that'  it  has  hot  recog¬ 
nized  the  newly  formed  Screen  Di¬ 
rectors  International  Guild  as  the 
collective  bargaining  agent  for  the 
vast  majority  of  local  telefilm  meg¬ 
gers.  Several  weeks,  ago,  shortly 
after  its  formation,  SDIG  said  that 
FPA  Bad  recognized  it  and  that 
negotiations  between  the  two  bod¬ 
ies  were  to  begin  shortly. 

FPA  said  that  SRIG  misunder¬ 
stood  the  fact,  that  the  employers’ 
group  was  willing  to  meet  with 
the  guild  for  preliminary  meetings 
as  a  sign  of  formal  recognition. 
However,  after  the  initial  powwow, 
FPA  said,  its  board  of  directors 
said  that  it  could  not  decide 
whether  to  treat  film  directors  as 
employees,  when,  by  all  labor 
standards,  they  had  the  right  to 
hire  and  fire,  thereby  becoming 
employers  themselves.  Horeover, 
FPA  pointed  out,  there  are  several 
members  of  SDIG  who  also  own  or 
are  high  echelon  executives  of  film 
production  companies,  including 
Howard  Magwood,  who  is  an  execu¬ 
tive  of  Sound  Masters  while  also 
being  prexy  of  SDIG.  It  was  re¬ 
ported  that  Lawrence,  owner  and 
prexy  of  Robert  Lawrence .  Pro¬ 
ductions,  has  voluntarily  resigned 
from  SDIG  rather  than  wear  two 
hats. 

FPA  left  the  door  open,  though; 
to  possible  recognition  of  SDIG  by 
•saying  it  really  hasn’t  made  a  final 
decision  as  to  .whether  SDIG  reps 
employers  or  employees. 

SDIG,  which  was  formed  last 
Dec.  7,  threatened  on  Monday  (13) 
to  strike  against  the  better  than  20 
members  of  the  FPA  if  they  didn’t 
recognize  the  guild  as  the  bargain¬ 
ing  agent  for  the  film  directors  in 
the  N.  Y.  area.  Guild  claims  a  mem¬ 
bership  of  nearly  300  meggers, 
which  it  says  is.  oyer  95%  of  those 
in  the  area. 


Set  Mayehoff  for  ‘John’ 

Hollywood,  Jan.  14. 

Eddie  Mayehoff  will  star  in  a 
new  vidseries,  "John  D.*s,”  with  the 
pilots  to  roll  in  February.  Co-pro¬ 
ducing  the  venture  will  be  Vernon 
Scott,  Hollywood  correspondent  for 
the  UP,  and  Bob  Fenton.  Scott  will 
remain  with  UP  despite  his  venture 
into  teleproductioh. 

...  Labeled  by  Mayehoff  an  "adult 
situation  comedy,”  series  will  be 
shot  at  Motion  Picture  Centre,  with| 
Desilu  facilities  utilized.  Scott  and 
Fenton,  created  the  property  and 
penned  six  scripts. 


On  PubAffairs 

An  upbeat  in  public  affairs  pro¬ 
gramming,  partially,  via  the  use  of 
film,  is  underway  at  WOR-TV. 

The  RICO  Teleradio  New  York 
flagship,  which  bought  the  Encyclo¬ 
paedia  Britannica  Films  library;  is 
utilizing  EB  pix  for  a  “Space  and 
the  Atom”  15-minute  program,  to 
debut  Sunday  ( 19 )  and  to  be  seen 
on  alternate  Sunday  afternoons. 
Station  also  used  special  EB  films 
on  the  office  of  the  Presidency  and 
the  U.S.  legislative  body  in  connec¬ 
tion  with  President  Eisenhower’s 
State  of  the  Union  address. 

Also  on  Sundays,  the  station  is 
presenting  a  kine,  done  by  the  Edu¬ 
cational  TV  and  Radio  Center,  of] 
•‘The  World  We  Want.”  The  show, 
done  in  connection  with  the  annual 
New  York  Herald  Tribune  Forum 
for  High  Schools,  features  Tribune 
Forum  director  Helen  Hiett  Waller, 
serving  as  moderator,  and  honor 
students  from  around  the  world. 
Also  coming  in  the  public  service 
category  is  an  alternate  Sunday 
afternoon  show,  “Let’s  Look  at 
Congress,”  hosted  by  Rep.  Ken¬ 
neth  B.  Keating  of  New  York  State, 
minority  leader  of  the  House  Ju¬ 
diciary  Committee^ 

WGAW’S  TALKS  WITH 
MGRS.  GUILD  FOLD  UP 


Cincinnati,  Jan.  14i 

WLW-T  *  jumped  ahead  of 
KWRC-TV  in  the  Cincy  late-night 
vidpix  audience,  battle  during  D: 
comber,  in  terms  of  American  Re¬ 
search  Bureau  ratings. 

It  was  the  second  month  of  the 
race  between  the  Crosley  station’s 
MGM  package  and  the  WKRC-TV 
longtime  “Home  Theatre”  run  of 
Warner  Bros.,  20th  Century  and 
United  Artists  pre-’48  films. 

For  the  90-minute  stretch  from 
11:15  p.m.,  Monday  through  Fri¬ 
day,  WLW-T  maintained  a  com¬ 
manding  lead  with  a  ralting  of  3.6 
against  WKRC-TV’s  3.5.  The  live 
Jack  Paar  "Tonight”  show  oii 
WCPO-TV  was  clocked  at  1.3. 

The  Crosley  Outlet  outgained  its 
competition  with  an.  average  Satur¬ 
day  night  rating  of  13.7  against 
WKRC-TV’s  4.7  and  WCPO-TV’s 
4.i. 

On  Sundays,  WLW-T’s  "Best  Of 
MGM”  outrated  WCPO-TV’s  syn¬ 
dicated  films,  such  as  “Men  of  An¬ 
napolis”  and  WKRC-TV’s  CBS  net¬ 
work  shows,  “Conquest”  and 
"Twentieth  Century,”  with  aver¬ 
age  of  15.2. 

Outstanding  Metro  films  are  ex¬ 
ploited  with  page  ads. 


Cross-the-Board  Return 


Philadelfijiia,  Jan.  14. 

"Hollywood  Playhouse*”  televi¬ 
sion's  first  crossrthe-board  daytime 
feature  film  program,  inaugurated 
in  1950,  returns  to  WRCV-TV  (20) 
in  the  1-2:30  p.m.  slot. 

During  its  initial  tenure,  this 
daily  stanza  reached  the  highest 
percentage  of  adult  viewing  of  any 
local  daytime  participating  pro¬ 
gram.  Debuted  as  an  hour  session, 
demand  for  commercial  time  was  so 
great  that  in  November*  1954,  show 
was  extended  to  90  minutes.  I 

Kickoff  return  pic  will  be  “Man; 
With  a  Million,”  Gregory  Peck 
starrer  (in  color).  Package  includes 
Saber  Jet,”  "Canon  Crossroads,” 
Jackie  Robinson  Story,”  “Shark,: 
River,’’ 

WRCV-TV  also  introduced  its 
popular  "Movie  3”  in  the  late  Sun-1 
day  .evening  spot,  replacing.  "De¬ 
fective  Time.”  Series  includes 
"Hotel  in  Sahara,”  “OutpOst  in 
Malaya,”  “Act  of  Love,”  "YOu  Can’t 
Take  It  With  You,”  “Personal 
Affair” 


SAG  Garifies  Some  Vital  issues 


cat's  $3,000,000  Ua» 

C  &  C  Television  Corp.. has  been 
advanced  $3,000,000  by  Prudential 
Insurance  Co.,  of  America.-  with 
which  to  make  the  final  payment 
to  RKO  Teleradio  Pictures  for  pur¬ 
chase  of  the  RKO  library. 

The  RKO  cinematics  were  ac¬ 
quired  by  C  &  C  in  December, 
1955,  the  first  library  of  a  major 
studio  to  be  acquired  for:  distribu¬ 
tion  tO  tv. 


Producers,  Cutters 
Get  Nowhere  In 


Hollywood,  Jan,  14. 

Negotiations  for  a  contract  be¬ 
tween  the  Writers  Guild  of  Amer¬ 
ica  West  and  the  Artists  Managers] 
Guild  collapsed  when  WGAW 
abruptly  gave  a  12  months’  termin¬ 
ation  notice  .  oh  the  existing  pact 
between  AMG  and  the  old  Screen 
Writers  Guild. 

WGAW  said  the  purpose  of  the 
notice  was  to  speed  up  negotiations 
and  pave  the  way  for  a  new  pact] 
in  both  motion  pictures  and  video. 
Writers  in  the  latter  field  do  not] 
now  have  a  basic  pact  with,  talent 
reps. 

AMG  contended  that  the  notice 
was  “dropped  like  a  bombshell’ 
and  wasn’t  handled  properly  under 
the  provisions  of  the  AMG-SWG 
1948  agreement.  Considered  un¬ 
likely  there’ll  be  more,  talks  for 
some  weeks*  i. 


Negotiators  for  the  Film  Pro¬ 
ducers  Assn.  of  N.  Y.  and  the  ad-;: 
vertising  agencies  broke  up  their 
first  collective  bargaining  session 
with  the  film  cutters  union,  Local 
771  of  the  international  Alliance 
of  Theatrical  &  Stage  Employees, 
because  the  only  representatives  of 
labor  present  Were  the  new  busi¬ 
ness  agent.  Jack  Qxton,  and  the 
union  lawyer.  They  were  accused 
of  "not  being  as  realistic”  as  some 
of  the  Veteran  rank-and-file  mem¬ 
bers, 

Tonight  (Wed.)  the  union  mem¬ 
bership  meets  in  N.  Y.  to  consider 
the  FPA  bid  for  a  new  meeting 
“with  a  representative  body”  rep¬ 
ping  the  union.  The  employer 
group,  it  is  known,  has  been  stump¬ 
ing  among  its  IA  cutters  to  go  into 
the  meeting:  . and  insist  that  the 
rahk-in-file  be  represented  when 
the,  sessions  reconvene. 

Oxton,  who,  only  recently  took 
over  as  771’s  business  agent,  asked 
for  an  overall  pay  increase  "tanta¬ 
mount  to  45%  over  current  wage 
scales”  for  editors  and  cutters,  ac¬ 
cording  to  an  FPA  spokesman. 
Union  asked  for  a  decrease  from  a 
five-day  to  a  four-day  work  week 
and  an  extension  of  vacation  bene¬ 
fits,  which  the  FPA  .used  in  arriv¬ 
ing  at  the  45%  increase  figure.. 

FPA-Screen  Actors  Guild  dick¬ 
ers  loom  on  Jan.  20.j 


A  roster  of  new  sales  has  /been 
racked  up.  on  Ziv’s  "Sea  Hunt” 
skein,  with  more  /brewers  climb¬ 
ing  aboard, 

Sphlitz  Brewing  has  picked,  it  up 
for  Orlando  and  Pensacola,  Fla., 
while.  O’Keefe  Brewing  took  it  for 
Plattsburg,  N.  Y.  American  Brew¬ 
ing,  w.h  i  c  h  had  previously  pur¬ 
chased  the  show,  for  co-sponsorship 
in  Baltimore*  is  now  set  to  alter¬ 
nate  with  EsSkay  Packing  or 
WBAL-TV.  .  Other  sudsers  whose 
purchases  . previously  had  been  an¬ 
nounced  include  Budweiser,  G. 
Heileman,  Carling. 

Other,  deals  include:  /R.  J-  Rey¬ 
nolds,  for  its  Camel:  and  Winston 
brands,  bought  the  show  for 
Houston  and  Indianapolis;  General 
Baking,  for.  Schenectady,  N.  Y., 
and  Louisville;  San  Antonio  Sav¬ 
ings  &  Loan  Assn,  and -Handy 
Andy  Stores,  co-sponsors  in  San 
Antonio;  Citizens  National  Bank, 
Decatur,  Tex. 

Station-buying  roster  takes  in: 
WMBR-TV,  Jacksonville;  WSLS- 
TV,  Roanoke,  Va.,  WOC-TV,  Dav¬ 
enport,  Iowa;  WGR-T.V*  Buffalo; 
WXIXTY,  Nashville,  -  and  WTRT- 
TV,  Wheeling,  :W.  Va. 


WPIX,  N..  Y.,  h  e  a  v  i  1  y  pro¬ 
grammed' with  half-hour  syndicated 
product,  continues  its  swing  toward 
participations  rather  than  pro¬ 
gram  buys,  but^  the  number  and 
amount  of  participation  buys  re¬ 
main  hefty, 

Post-New  Year’s  .biz  includes 
Procter  &  Gamble,  ,Chesebrough- 
Ponds,  Philip  Morris,  Wise  Potato 
Chips  and  Norwich  Pharmaceutical. 
Syndicated  properties  serving  as 
spot  earners  for  the  hew  .  biz  in¬ 
clude  “Whirlybirds,”  “Amos  ’n’ 
Andy,”  "Mama,”  “Victory  at  Sea.” 
“Popeye”  participations  were 
bought  by  General  Foods  and 
Kretschmer  Corp. 

Station,  which  introed  a  late 
late  evening  “Gourmet  Club”  cook¬ 
ing  Show  on  Tuesdays,  is  probing 
the  possibility  of  producing  a  15- 
minute  late  evening  cross-the- 
board  hews  program. 


Intra-SAG  Caucus 


ON  SPILLANE’S  ’HAMMER 

MCA  TV’s  ‘^Mickey  Spillane’s 
Mike  Hammer”  has  knocked  off 
some  additional  sales. 

Recent  purchases  include  Marl¬ 
boro  Cigarets,  Gallo  Wine,  Squirt, 
American  Home  Products*  Carl¬ 
ing’s  Red  Cap  Ale,  Pioneer  Furni¬ 
ture,  Lone  §tur  Beer,  Budweiser, 
Yankee  Stores,  .Previous  sales  were 
to  Busch  Bavarian  Beer  in  16  raid- 
western  markets  and  to  five  RKO 
Teleradio  stations.  ' 

Another  MCA  skein,  the  off-net- 
work  "If  You  Had  A  Million,”  has 
been  bought  in  nine  markets  by 
the  Nucoa  division  of  Best  Foods. 
The  five  states  represented  in  the 
deal  include  Washington*  Oregon. 
California,  Utah  and  Arizona. 


AHP’s  ‘Adventure’  Habit 

/  Hollywood,  Jan.  14. 

American  Home  Products,  via  j. 
Walter  Thompson,  has  inked  a  deal 
for  the  fourth  run  of  Bagnall’s  “I 
Search  for  Adventure”  in:  il  west¬ 
ern  markets. 

Same  sponsor  contracted  -for  this 
skei  for.  the  first  run  and  each 
year  thereafter.  A  phase  of  the 
reruns  represents  a  unique  deal  in 
syndication.  The  fourth  run,  with 
one  exception,  is  playing  the  same 
markets,  on  the  ^me  stations,  in 
,  the  same  time  slots.  .cimm 


For  Vidpix  Production 

...  Vancouver,  Jan.  14. 

Allan  King,  scripter-producer- 
cameraman  for  tv  .  documentary 
“Viet-Nami”  filmed/  .last  summer 
and  to  be  aired  shortly  by  Cana¬ 
dian  Broadcasting  Corp.,  heads  for 
Spain,  on  Feb.  5.  He  will  .also  shoot 
stanzas  in  South  France,  Italy, 
Greece,  and.  hopes  for.  official 
greeniight  to  film  in  Yugoslavia 
and  Turkey., 

King,  although  vidfilming  under 
CBC  auspices,  has  not  repacted 
with  the  corporation,  as  did  Ron 
Kelly  who  heads  for  Mexico  same 
time'  on  leave-df-absence  produc- 
i tion  arrangement.  :  ,/ _ 


On  Confls.;  Set  Meet 

A  splinter  group  within  Screen 
Actors  Guild,  calling  itself  the 
Caucus  of  Commercial  Film  Tele¬ 
vision  Performers,  has  called  a 
general  "council  of  war”  for.  to¬ 
morrow  (Thurs.)  afternoon  in  New 
York,  Outfit,  made  up  of  members 
of  'the  telefilm  union  who  object 
to  the  "horse  and  buggy”  practices 
of  SAG,  extended  an  open  invita¬ 
tion  to  attend  to  all  New  York 
members  who  work  in  filmed  tele- 
blurbs. 

Group  is  working  on  a  plan  for 
payments  based  op  each  time  a 
“Wild  .spot”  is  played  in  which  live 
performers  appear.  This  “pay  per 
play”  theory  was  the  first,  one 
rejected  by  Hollywood,  ahd  Chi¬ 
cago  gabbers  at  a  recent  meeting 
with  New  Yorkers  to  discuss  con¬ 
tract  demands.  Thereafter,  the  New 
York  SAGites,  initially  from  gab¬ 
ber  ranks*  proposed  that  rerun 
cycles  for  nationally  spotted  tele¬ 
film  commercials  be  lowered  from 
13  to  four  weeks,  which  was.  also 
rejected; 

Caucus  spokesmen,  who  dis¬ 
closed  the  open  membership  meet¬ 
ing  will  take  place  at  3  p.m.  to¬ 
morrow  at  the  Palm  Gardens  Ball¬ 
room  on  West  52d  St.,  said  that 
they  ,  want  as  much  of  the  SAG 
membership  as  they  can  'get  to  at- 
10  nd,  to  find  an  equitable  means 
of  revising  what  they  described  as 
“obsolete”  demands  by  union  offi¬ 
cials. 

On  Friday  (10),  between  40  and 
50  New  York-based  SAG  members 
attended  a  meeting  with  legal 
counsel  to  "explore  every  possible 
means  of  getting  SAG  to  make  our 
demands”  during  the  collective 
bargaining  talks  with  the  teleblurb 
producers  which  begin  next  month. 
The  codified  tv  film  commercial 
contract  ends  Marcrf  1. 


■4-  Hollywood. 

Editor ,  Variety: 

In  response  to  a  number  of  re^ 
quests  for  comment  by  the  Screen 
Actors  Guild  on  the.  story  in 
Variety  of  Jan.  1  tinder  the  head¬ 
ing  “New  SAG  vs  AFTRA  Threats 
on  Telefilm  Com!  jurisdiction,"  f 
would  like  to  say: 

In  the  latter  stages  of  prepara¬ 
tions  for  the  impending  filmed  tv 
commercial  negotiations  between 
Screen  Actors  .  Guild  and;  the  adver¬ 
tising  agencies  and  producers,  a  de¬ 
cided.  difference  of  opinion  arose 
between  certain  Guild  groups  con¬ 
cerning  the  best  method  Of  improv¬ 
ing  payment  for  what  are  known  as 
“wild  spots.” 

The  differences  Were  caused  by  a 
demand  by  some  leading  New  York 
announcers  for  a  “pay  for  play” 
formula,  for  wild  spots  that  would 
result  in  increases  in  mi  imurh 
scales  of  from  8Q0  to  many  thou¬ 
sand  percent  and  also  would  pose 
record  keeping  and  policing  prob¬ 
lems  which  no  one,  including  the 
proponents  of  the  plan,,  could  solve. 

The  proposals  of  the  small  New 
York  group,  raised  at  the  end  of 
months  of  preparations  for  the 
negotiations*  met  with  the  strong 
disapproval  of  other  New  York 
announcers,  singers’ and.  actors,  and 
Chicago  and  Los  Angeles  an¬ 
nouncers,  singers  and  actors,  who 
v/ere  certain  that  such  proposals 
would  serve  only  to  restrict  all 
work  opportunities  in  commercials, 
to  a  few  name  announcers. 

Every,  opportunity,  was  given,  the 
small  group  of  New  York  an¬ 
nouncers  to  persuade  their  col¬ 
leagues  of.  the  wisdom  of  their 
position,  including  a  weekend  con- 
fereifce  in  Chicago,  attended  by 
New -York,  Chicago  and  Los  An¬ 
geles  announcers  and  members  of 
the  Guild  Wages  and  Working 
Conditions  Committee  from  these 
cities.  Atfhis  and  other  meetings, 
they  were  unsuccessful. 

Meanwhile,  the  Guild  Wages  and 
Working  Conditions  Committee, 
recognizing  the  marked  expansion 
and  growth  of  the  tv  commercial 
advertising  field,  had  evolved  a 
new  aPDroach  to  wild  spot  pay¬ 
ments  which  is  practical  and  which 
will  result  in.  very  substantial  in¬ 
creases  oyer,  the  present  contract. 
The  New  York  Council;  the 
elected  representatives  of  all  New 
York,  members,  with,  but  one  dis¬ 
senting  Vote,  approved  the  propo¬ 
sals  to  which  the  small  New  York 
groups  objects  and  then,  at  the 
urging  of  this  group  to  be  still 
further  heard,.,  called  a  special 
council  meeting  to  again  consider 
this  group’s  position.  After  Te- 
(Continued  on  page  52) 


Colonna  As  WBBM-TV  Host 

Chicago,  Jan,  14. 

Jerry  Colonna,  just  back  from  a 
tour  iwitli  the  Bob  Hope  troupe  to 
the  Far  East,  is  settling  down  in 
Chi  for  a  while  with  hopes  of  mak¬ 
ing  a  splash  as  a  local  tv  person¬ 
ality*  The  comic  has  signed  an  in¬ 
definite  contract  With  WBBM-TV 
here  to  host  the  station’s  late  night 
feature  films.  A  personal  friend 
of  the  station’s  program  director, 
Frank  Atlas,  Colonna  has  made 
|  frequent  .  shortterm  appearances] 


J  bn  WBBM-TV  in  the  past  si  Feb.  3-10. 


Television  Programs  Of  America 
has  decided  to  go  ahead  with  “New 
York  Confidential,”  with  produc¬ 
tion  v.p:  Leon  Fromkess  due  id 
N.  Y.  in  May  for  filming  of  the  39 
episodes. 

Series,  based  on  the  book  by  Lee 
Mortimer  and  the  late  Jack  Lait, 
will  utilize  all  original  stories. 
Other  productions,  on  the  TPA 
agenda  include  “Tugboat:  Annie,” 
now  unreeling  in  Canada  and  Eng* 
land;  “Cannqnball,”  “Dude  Ranch, ,r 
and  “Thunder  Ridge.”  “Tugboat 
Annie”'  is  considered,  likely  for 
TPA’s  next  syndicated  property  in. 
the  U.S.,  with  February  the  kickoff 
month  on.  sales. 

In  the  sales  department,  six  ac¬ 
count  execs  have  been  added,  in¬ 
cluding  Murray  Baker,  Joseph  M. 
Barnett,  Roland  Van  Nostrand  and 
George  DraSe.  The  four  will  be  as¬ 
signed  to  the  rfbntral  division.  Os-» 
car  B.  Lynott  will  represent  TPA 
in  Mexico  City  and  Lee  Cannon 
will  work  in  TPA’s  station  sales 
division. 

Baker  resigned  as  Cincinnati  dis¬ 
trict  sales  manager  of  DCA:  Bar¬ 
nett  has  been  in  radio  and  tv  for 
many  years,  most  recently  as  prez 
of  Film  Creations.  Drase  resigned 
from  the  Chicago  staff,  of  ABC-TV 
net,  while  Van  Nostrand  was  for¬ 
merly  with  ABC-TV,  and  Cannon 
resigned  from  Ziv. 

TPA  will  hold  a  sales  clinic,  for 
its-. .  expanded  *  staff  -of*  nearly '50# 


,’VOjlt  Cl  bn 


Wednesday,  January  15, 195® 


n-nms  si 


’S  ‘VIP’  SALES  PATTERN 


Rah-Rahs  As  'Shock’  Troops 


,  .  ......  Philadelphia,  Jan.  14. 

Colleges  and  . universities  in  the  Philadelphia  area  have  upgraded 
WCAU-TV’s  “Shock  Theatre”  with  fan  clubs,  fraternity  house  par- 
tie?  and  recognitibn  in  the  college  papers.  The  Daily  Pennsylvanian 
gave  full  story  coverage  with  a  five-pix  spread.  Tenor  of  article' 
was  “Deep  in  the  earth,  somewhere  in  the  vicinity  of  WCAU, 
lives  the  cbolest  ghoul  of  them  all,  Roland.” 

WCAU-Ty  claims  Boland  to  be  the  country’s  first  “live”  host  to 
introduce  the  Screen  Gems  “Shock”  packaged  Roland,  in  private 
life  John  Zacherle,  Philly  actor,  with  his  imaginary  sidekick.  Igor, 
hosts  the  series  from  his  “home,”  which  closely  resembles  a  crypto 
complete  with  chains,  hangman’s  noose  and  casket. 

Station  recently  conducted  a  survey  in  five  area  colleges.  Early 
reports  show  a  student  interest  of  more  than  70%  (males  predom¬ 
inating)  from  some  1,400  studes  interviewed. 

Horror  pix  have  sock  mail  pull.  In  answer  to  host’s  offer  offree 
photo  in  exchange  for  three  hairs  froiri  sender’s  head,  WCAU-TV 
drew  1,200  pieces  day  after  announcement.  One  allegedly  bald-.  , 
headed  correspondent  sent  his  promissory  note. 

Franklin  &  Marshall  College,  Lancaster,  staged  a  horror  party 
at  which  Roland  was  ‘.‘ghost  of  honor.”  From  the  U,  of  Pennsylva¬ 
nia  an  English  instructor  brought  her  entire  class,  to  the-  WCAUr 
TV  studios  to  study  the  production  methods  used  in  “Shock  Theai- 
ti^e.”  Editorial  (college  paper)  comments  have  been  received  from 
Millersyille;  State  Teacher’s  College,  Villanova,  Swarthmore,  and 
Glassboro  State  Teachers  College,  N.J. 

Guild  Slates  3  O’seas  Productions 
For  %  Duke  Goldstone  to  N.Y. 


Guild  Films’  executive  producer 
Duke  Goldstone  is  giving  up  his  rp  • 

Hollywood  headquarters  to  move  MOODSlOll®  u6fl6S 

permanently  to  .  New  York.  His  ■■  „  ..  . 

new  "have  script,  will  travel"  t  Dige  Productions,  new  packaging 
status  is  a  clue  to  the  telefilm-  house,  is  propping  a  new  half-hour 
cry's  new  attention  on  foreign  co;  mjetere  anthology  Series [.which,  it 
production  deals.  Company  has  Plans  to  have  ready  for  the  '58-  59 


four  ,  series  on  the  1958  production  season 
sked  and  three  of  them  are  M9?ns 
targeted  for- foreign  making.  . 

While  his  base  is  in  New  York,  tv  pe£ 

Goldstone  will  be  expected,  to  __  _  - 

travel  on  little  more,  thari  a  mo-  |1|lP 
ment’s  notice  to  any  orie  of  the  I  .fYl  r||fH  till  IPS 
foreign  points  where  Guild  how  vww  *  11111  UIUVU 
has.  or  ‘  arranging,  telefilming.  _  _  _  -  -  . 

Twenty-six  “Michaels  in  Africa”  *TAirAA  J.LA  Ijilll*  • 

vidfilms  were  finished  recently  on  1  /(KPN  T||P  rilill  . 

location  there,  With  another  13  still  1H"VW  *  “  ■  9 

to  be  done  in  the  same  jungle-and-  _  #  !%•  Ckfkrr 1 

PlCuil<!0hasCbcen  working,  several  Foreign  BlZ  20% 
weeks  on  the  final  details  of  an  »'>*«&«  *,1“  “w/t/ 

CBS  Film  Sales  reports  that  tor- 
Inrt  ?fles  «*»'  revenue,  exclusive  of  Canada. 
And  mm  tte  i?JWy?n“*SS!-'Bowiiaceooi>t  for  20%  of  the  com- 
that  it  is  also  working  on  another  ban.v*s  ero«?s .  biz.  Unlike.  nianV 

tdoearin  ?^Ste1nS! titled  other  telefilm  outfits,  CBS  Film 
English  firm,  to*  do  s-  skein  titled,  o _ t _ _  j_ A  x  mnin/iA  paAo/Ia  i** 

‘■Dock  Crime..’'  (Beft.'iUpei'  tffll'  ln 

have  British  casts.)  ,  ■  * 

Goldstone  also  said  that  the  tele-  With  first  sales  m  five  new  mar- 
filmery  is  considering  a  German  kets,  the  CBS  subsid  is  now  pro- 
co-production  deal,  either  that  or  a  viding  programs  in  23  countries, 
deal  in  Italy  or  Israel,  or  both.  Six  series  have  been  dubbed  into 
The  only  one  of  the  four  shows  Spanish  and  two  into  French,  an¬ 
on  the  Guild  docket  in  1958  to  be  .other  indication  of  the  increasing 
done  in  the  U  S.  will  be  “Light  I  importance  of  the  export  market, 
of  the  World,”  a  biblical  string  to  .  Spanish-dubbed  skeins .  include 
be  started  next:  spring.  And  even  “i  Love  Lucy,”  “Assignment  For- 
then  many  of  the  shows  will  be  eign  Legion,”  “The  Whistler,” 
shot  abroad.  (A  pilot  was  finished  “San  Francisco  Beat,”  “Gun  Law,” 
in.  December.)  (retitled  from'  “Gunsmoke”)  and 

Overseas  lensing  precedent  was  “You  Are  There;”  “Brave  Eagle” 
set .  for  Guild  w’hen  Goldstone,  and  ‘The:  Whistler”  have  been 
launching  from  his  Coast  office,  dubbed  into  French, 
presided  over  the  filming  of  “Cap-  Additionally,  former  news  and 
tain  David  Grief”  in  Mexico.  Cuba;  public  affairs  programs*  appear  to 
Hawaii  and  other  tropical  spots.  be  gaining  in  popularity.  Austral 

— — — — : — — -  lia  received  a  Newsfilm  special  of 

_  Queen  Elizabeth’s  visit  to  the. 

u.  s.,  the  Churchill  portion  of 

Av  at  on  noneers  Twentieth  century ,f'  and  the  Al 

rtf  1U11VA1  *  WHVVI  U  geria  Aflame”  segment  of  “See  It 
#  m  .  m  r%  {  Now.”  Another  one-timer,  “Christ- 

A  A  TaIamiit  Vauiaa  I  nias  Carol”  w'as  seen  in  England 

As  l6l0DiXuenesiand  s*eden- 

x  mu  m.  vav|#m  vvi  my v,.|  CBS  Film  sales  programming 

Newly  organized  H&mandp  Stii-  l 
dios  Inc.  is  planning  a  series  of  39|<f”“; 

half-hour  vidfilms.  “Men  «f  l  Our .  M,?s  Broohs  .  Cuba^  Gun 

sion:;  dealing  with  lhe^orles  of  |aw. 

LeSi»n''  a*  “San  Francisco  Bear; 

former  CBS  Radio,  series  .01.  tne  F  _ “Thp  Grav  Ghost  ”  “You 

same  title.  Show;  which  is  aimed 

at  the  syndicaUon^marketv  labeing  uftaveTGun;  Will  Travel,”  “The 
packaged  by  BNmh  <«“&«£«  I  Millionaire,"  “San  Francisco  Beat"; 
name),,  who  produced,  the  CBS  and  France_“Brave  Eagle"  and 
series  back  in  1945,  "The  Whistler.” 

Hermando  plans  to  film  the  39  ■  ■  ■  ■  _ _ _ ; _ ; - 

shows  on  the  Coast,  and  is  talking  t  Harris  to  Fla 

to  Robert  Sisk.  “Wyatt  Earp’’  pro-  LM  nuns  10  r». 

ducer,  to  take  on  the  producing  Leslie  Harris,  prez  of  CBS  Film 
post,  with  Hermando  as  exec  pro-  Sales,  has  left  for  Florida  to  over-. 
ducer  He’s  also  talking  to  CBSfsee  pilot  production  on  “Border 
Television  Film  Sales  about  a  pos-  Patrol,”  projected  series  dealing 
sible  distribution  deal.  Show :  deals  with  the  Immigration  Service. 

•ith  the  stories  of  such  aviation  Series,  being  produced  by  Sam 
pioneers  as  General  “Hap”  Arnold,  Gallu,  producer  of  “Navy  Log, 
Glenn  Martin,  et  al.,  with  the  right  will  have  its  first  episode  shot  in 
tn  their  stories  Viewed  lip  via  the  the  Everglades  and  Palm  Beach 
original  radio  show.  -  f »  J  areas.  ^  -  n  J  i  -  *  1 


season.  Package  is  .tagged  “The 
Moonstone.”; 

Host-emcee  for  the  series;  is  Chi 
tv  personality  Ken  NOrdirie. 


Aviation  Pioneers 
As  Telepix  Senes 


Reportedly  motivated  by  a  fear 
of  anti-trust  action  by  the  Govern¬ 
ment,  especially  now  that  it  is  tied 
up  with  United  Artists,  Associated 
Artists  Productions  has  mapped 
out  a  new  sales  strategy  on  its 
Warner  Bros,  features  that  elim-. 
(nates  block  selling,  Distribbery 
pulled  back  200  of  its  750  feature 
titles  and  is  placing  the  remainder 
in  groups  of  52  to  be  released  ait 
Intervals  during  the  next .  few 
years. 

New  setup  begins  this  week  af¬ 
ter  having  been  .  blueprinted  last 
week  in  a  national  A AP;  sales  staff 
powwow.  AAP  previously  had 
groups  of  52  films  in  each  batch, 
but  all  the  groups  were  oil  .  the 
market  simultaneously  AAP  says 
it's  placing  i‘s  strongest  Warner 
titles  into  yip  (Very  Important 
Picture)  batches  of  52  each.  Titles 
were  not  released. 

There  is  a  twofold  purpose,  in 
light  of  possible  Government  ac¬ 
tion  and  accusations  of  block  sell¬ 
ing,  in  the.  wray ;  AAP  has  revamped 
its  Warner  feature  sales  plan  for 
the  markets  remaining  to  be  Sold. 
Block  sellingHcaii  mean  two  things: 
forcing  scations  to  buy  an  entire 
library  of  films  or  forcing  them  to 
take  smaller  packages.  In  either 
instance,  several  undesirable.,  pic¬ 
tures  are  forced  down  the  throats 
of  film  .  buyers  sd  that  they  can 
have  the  handful  of  good  ones  in 
each  bundle.  ■’ 

•  This  is  the-.tWo-pronged  setup:. 
By  taking  all  750  Warner  features 
out  of  simultaneous  . tv  release,  it’s 
apparent  that  AAP  feels  it  can' 
avoid  trouble  brought;  oh  by  allega¬ 
tions  of  large-scale  block  selling 
(the  entire  catalog ) ,  and  by  stress¬ 
ing  in  its.  press  release  that:  all  the 
“super-power”  pix  are  going  into 
the  same  small  bundle,  it  can  . simi¬ 
larly  avoid  the  contention  that 
small  packages  are  arranged  by 
disxribs  so  that  the  stations  have 
to.  take  the  bad  with  the  good. 

sAAP  said  that  ,  the  200  Warner, 
pix  removed;  entirely  from  the  mar¬ 
ket  were  shorter  than  most  of  those 
remaining.  It  was  learned  else¬ 
where,  though  ti+les  were  hot  dis¬ 
cussed,  that  the.  200  eliminated  for 
the  present  were  poor  sellers 
throughout  the  two  years  AAP  has 
had  the  Warner  pix  on  the  circuit. 

After  the  ..legalities  are  irohed 
out  in  the  case  of  United  Artists 
buying  controlling  stock  Interest 
in  AAP,  latter  is  expected  to  take 
on  some  UA  features  for  tv-release. 
A  AP,  in  effect,  will  become  the  tv 
feature  distributing  arm  for  UA, 

UA  Post-48’s  Albany  Bow 
Albany,  Jan.  14. 

The  majhr  releases  in  the  package 
of  52  United  Artists  post-1948  pic¬ 
tures,  bailyhooed  on  a  special  half-- 
hour  evening  program  over  WTEN 
last  week,  will  be  programmed 
from  Feb.  1  on  Charles  ( Gig) 
Pogan,  program  manager,,  said. 
Some  of  the  less  important  feat¬ 
ures  afe  now  being  televised' by 
the  CBS  affiliate.  . 

/  With  the  new  group.  WTEN  has 
a  feature  library  of  505  films; 


Syndicators  Feel  a  Soft  Market 
For  Networks  a  Plus  For  Vidpix; 
Time  Qearance  Problem  Eases 


Les  Harris  to  Fla. 


NTA  Station  Post 


Robert  A.  Schmid  has  been  ] 
named  to  the  newly  created  post  of  j 
vice-president  for  station  relations 
of  the  NTA.  Film  Network;  I 

Schmid  joined  the  NTA  Film : 
Network  after  resigning  as  v.p. .  of  j 
RKO.  Teleradio  Pictures  where  he  1 
had,  been  active  in  various,  phases  | 
of  the  radia  and  tv  operations  of 
the  company.  He  also  had  been  aj 
member  of  the  board  of  directors  I 
and  v  p.  of  Mutual  prior  to  its  sale 1 
by  RKO,  j 


Other  TV-Film  News 
On  Pages  33  dnd  38 

.  :  .  .  . .  y C.9fl. i gf  B 1  J: ■  CO 


—  - — — — — -  ■  .  if  There’s  a  general  feeling  among 

_  ,  j.  .  0  syndicators  that  barring  a  slgniff- 

Kemember  Ivolynos  C  cant  recession,  the  current  softness 

When  a  man  of  habit  such  in  the  economy  and  the  trouble  of 
as  Earl  Rettig;  the  new  prexy  the  networks  eventually  will  re- 
of  California  National  Produc-  hound.  In  favor  of  the  syndication 
tioiis,  changes  his  longtime  hiz. 

travelling  habits,  there’s  got-  It’s  not  a  matter  of  syndicators 
ta  be  a  reason,  gleefully  licking  their  chops  at 

When  he  left  Monday  (13)  *  the  nets*  difficulties,  for  syndica- 

for  Hollywood  production  tion  has  its  problems,  too.  But, 
talks,  Rettig,  who  for  years  today,  more  and  more  agencies  and 
made  the  same  trip  for  NBC  sponsors  are  weighing  a  syndica- 
on  the  Santa  Fe,  shifted  to  the  tion  buy  as  opposed  to  a  network 
Union  Pacific.  “Union  Pacific”  program  buy. 

is  the  name  of  a  new  CNP  tele-  This  development  has  occurred 
film  series.  as  more  and  more  sponsors,  are  re- 

examining  their  tv  ad  budgets  look- 
w  ,  _  _  ^  ,  ing  toward  a  tightening  up  in 

J.  monies  spent.  Many  advertisers 

It  S  nlaCK  ilOnflaV  and  a8endes  are  asking  themselves 
-11  V-  U***vll  VUIIUUJ  do  they  need  the  “must-buy”  align- 
,  .  -  ,  '  ment  of  "stations  in  a  network  list, 

Ta  TLaaIva  hvltfltA  as  opposed  to  buying  the  top  30  to 
i  n  I  nPilirP  riXninS  40  markets  in  syndication  which 
4  U  1  Uvau  V  LAlllUO  would  blanket  up  t0  80%  of  the 

(M.  D*  Also  egging  on  the  poser  of  the 

ID  IIUD  S  rlX  uDlCC  network  vs-  syndication  buy  is  the 

U1  uuv  m  IA  W|fl  VV  loosening  up  of  the  time  clearance 
_  M  problem  ih  some  of  the  thorniest 

.Boston,  Jan.  14.  markets,  with  stations  going  up  or 
As  the  battle  of  double  features  added  in  such  markets  as  Boston, 
on  tv  between  WNAC-TV  and  New  Orleans,  .Pittsburgh,  San  Fxan- 
WBZ-TV  goes  into  its  third  Sun-  «seo.  MignL  Jacksonville  and  St. 
j  ;:ii  .  0_-,  t  ,,  .  1  Louis.  With  the  additional  sta- 

day  on  the  l9th  Sabbath,  attend-  tions,.  syndicators  now  can  deliver 
ance  at  nahe  and  suburban  film  '  most  any  market  to  a  sponsor, 
theatres  in  the  Greater  Boston  :  Additionally,  there  has  been  a 
area  iS^  diminishing,  and-  exhibs  significant  drop  in  spot  biz,  that  is 
are  panicky.  the  20-second  local  adjacencies 

First  Sunday  of  the  double  tv  bought  by.  national,  regional  and 
onslaught  on  pictures  came  Sunday  local  accounts;  Many  of  these  ad- 
(5)  when  WNAC-TV  preemed  vertisers  have  found  buying*  a  syn- 
“Ginema:  7”  series  of  two  films,  dicated  program  offers  them  iden- 
“Thirty  Seconds  Over  Tokyo”  and  tification  and  mileage  unobtainable 
‘‘Oxbow  Incident;”  WBZ-TV  op- ;  otherwise. 

posed  with  “Starring  John  Wayne”  i  National  spot  biz,  that  is  the  pur- 
With  initial  bill,  “Red  .Riyer”  and  ■  chase  of  a  syndicated  propevty  for 
co-feature,  “Suddenly,”  with  Frank  |  placement  throughout  the  country', 
Sinatra.  Hub  picture  exhibs  called  ;  is .  not  new  to  syndications  and,  in 
it  “Black  Sunday,”  and  as  far  as  |  fact,  that  trend  is  on  the  upbeat, 
picture  biz  in  the  nabes  and  subur-  i  Further  expansion  in  that  direction 
ban  houses  went— it  was.  I  is  expected  by  many  telefilmeries 

Both  stations  ran  fullpage  ads  in  ;  *  the  biz. 

Boston  newspapers  arid  used  vari-  f  Aiding  the  development  is  the 
ous  exploitation:  gimmicks  to  get  growth  of  merchandising  and  ex- 
Sunday  auds.  ploitation  on  the  local  level.  Sta- 

WNAC— TV  sent  bags  of  pop-  tions,  getting  a  bigger  money  cut 
corri  and  facsimiles  of  theatre  tick-  on  a-  locally- sponsored  syndicated 
ets  to  advertisers  and  tv- writers  show,  . have  gotten  on.  the  merchan- 
to  hypo  interest  for  Initial  Sunday  dising-promotion-ad  wagon,  as  they 
showing.  In  the  ratings  for  the  never  have  in  the  past. 

•  first  Sunday,  WNAC-TV  clobbered !  Of  course,  on  the  political-gov- 
WBZ-TV.  ;  ernniental  level,  many  syndicators 

Sundav.  (12)  WNAC-TV  Dro- !  v*e)v  the  Barrow  committee  recom- 
grjjhmed  "Sahara,”  with  Humphrey  regarding  option  time 

i  B<$art,:  "Eassie  Come  Home”  if”?  Hne-lips.  as  a  wmd- 

from  their  big  package  of  Metro  V^*' ^  e'^.^d°pt^d  the  Federal 
films  just  bought  Mid  '•iteeUWleSrSSST'  As 

-from  Culver  City  to  Boston.  WBZ-  <  n*cator  Pr°- 

TV  countered  with  John  Wayne  in  P0“sthaJet™a“  ,^W..  syndication 
“Fighting  Seabees.”  WHDHrTV, ! Ureshoid  of  Its  greatest 
Ijiew’est  Boston  commercial  tv  sta-  p  ospemy’ 
i  tion,  programs  only  one  picture  on 

Sunday  afternoons.  1  I _ /k 

|  With  two  filiris  on  Ch.  7.  two  on  ACKEllllSIl  |Jl1||C 
Ch.  4,  and  one  on  Ch.  5,  Hub  au  j  VI1W  llllMI  HlUlO 
diences  have  choice  of  five  films  ...  .  ^  . 

for  cuffo.  Exhibs  say:  “How  can  U/AL  II Pf1 

w;e  beat  that?”  ifCD  lOF  Ml 

WNAC-TV  has  some  2,000  fea- 

ture  films  from  M-G,  RKO,  Co- J  Hollywood.  Jan  14 

lumbia,  UA,  and  20th.  WBZ-TV  Harry  Ackerman  Is  giving  up 
has  a  big  backlog  of  WB  films,  in-  his  two  network  shows  to  join 
eluding  all  the  Bette  Davis  pic- 1  Screen  Gems  Feb.  3  as  veepee  in 
tures.  WNAC-TV  has  a  one-hour  j  charge  of  production.  Irving  Bris- 
jump  on  WBZ-TV,  starting  double]  kin  continues  as  production  execu- 
features  at  1  p.m:  Sunday  after- 1  tive  for  the  Columbia  Pictures  tv 
noons.  WBZ-TV  starts  twin  fea-  subsidiary, 

ture  show  at  .2.  o’clock.  Under  his  deal  with  SG,  Acker* 

-  •  -  '  - - -  man  retains  all  rights  to 'the  six 

n  9  m  *P  9  properties  under  his  Ticonderoga 

Korv  s  The  Texan  5an”!T’  may  ^  taken  over 

J  by  SG.  Of  the  six,  only  pilot  of 

Hollywood,  Jan.  14.  “Assignment,  Mexico”  has  been 


ture  show  at  .2.  o’clock. 


Rory’s  The  Texan’ 


Hollywood,  Jan.  14.  [“Assignment,  Mexico”  has  been 
.  Rory  Calhoun  will  star  in  a  new  completed. 

telefilm  series,  “The  Texan,”  to  be  j  As  executive  producer  of  “Bach- 
made  by  iris  indie  firm  Rorick  Prd- ;  elor  Father”  for  Revue  -and  "Leave 
ductions  and.  Desilu.  It’s  the  first  j  it  To  Beaver”  for  Gomalco,  Acker- 
major  deal  to  be  riiade  by.  Desilu  '  man  makes  way  for  a  new  pro- 
since  the ; telefilmery  acquired  the  ducer  (not  picked)  on  “Father” 
RKO  studios.  which  has  five  to  go  to  complete 

Vic  Orsatti,  partnered  with  Cal-  the  season’s  output  jof  20  (alternat- 
houn  in  Rorick,  win  produce  with  ing  with  Jack- Benny  on  CBS-TV 
Mort  Briskin,  author  of  the  orig-  Sundays),  and  will  have  to  with- 
inal  storj',  as  associate  prodiicer.J  draw*  from  “Beaver.” 

Frank  Gnxber  has  been  signed  to;  Briskin  also  continues  as  prexy 
script  with  first  in  the  series  slated  j  of  Briskin  Productions,  which  has 
to  go  before  the  cameras  next !  several  co-production  arraugemehtt 
iiorithv  8 ^  -1  *j  i£  *  a  with  Screen  Gems.  2ix#v/  .1-1  > 


RADIO-TELEVISION 


AGMA,  SAG,  Equity  Hit  AFTRA’s 
Conaway  for  Bid  to  AFL-CIO  on  Ban 
Of  Foreign  Talent;  Seek  Resolution  KO 


Novak’s  AOL  of  Rountree 
For  His  Own  Teleshows 


TV-Radio  Production  Centres 


Reports  from  Washington  "  are  T 

that  Bob  Novak,  executive  v:p.  of  +»»+»+♦♦♦  »  MM  ♦  ♦  MMMM44- 

Rountree  Productions,  has  ami-  _ _ _ 

cably  ankled  outfit  on  a  “leave  of  J])j  NEW  YORK  CITY  • 


tv  brolram  forSafi  ^n9which  he  A  favorable  appraisal  of  the  performance  of  Sally  Chamberlin  in  the 
has  anSiriterest  ?Novak  may  also  character  of  the  Mother  was  inadvertently  credited  to  another  actress 
tike  ^the n nlimge  ii«-  in  Variety’s  review  of  Kraft  TV  Theatre’s  Christmas  Night  show,  “The 

aSment  Wtes  been iSerS  Other  Wise  Man!”  .  ,  .  Betty  Ann  Grove  to  appear  at  Warm  Springs, 
in  talent  development  since  early  Ga.,  to  help  the  March  of  Dimes  drive  .  .  *  Renato  Carosone  Sextet, 
radio  days:  pop  musical  troupe  from  Italy,  has  been  set  for  tv  dates  after  recent 

A  nnwrdincr  r^nnrt*! '  Novhk  debut  appearance  at  Carnegie  Hall  .  .  Howard  Morris,  who  plays  a 

■  W  Ms 'nfece  o?the  Roun-  smalltime  hood  on  tonight’s  Kraft  Theatre,  signed  as  comedy  guestar 

^ulSg  fihn5  ^e-  of  Patrice  Munsel’s  Jan.  3i  teleshow  ;  .  Julie  Wilson  to  chirp  for  Ed 
I?  h!uSS  "  and  Sullivan  Jan.  19  .  .  .  June  lockkart  in  Jan., 27  •'Studio  One."  .  .  .  Art 
Will’  nroduce  the  series  _Durin«  Van  Horn  and  wife  Phyllis  Battelle  being  pitched  for  a  Mr.  &  Mrs.  radi 
the  Dast%  months  while  serving  show  •  •  •  D°n  Morrow  quit  as  teleblurbist  fpr  Speidel  to  take  over  an- 

tne  past  ID  monins,  wnue  serving -  Thnmas’  r.pnpral  H/Tntnrs  tvW  v 


The  other  principals  In  the  As-  4; - - - — ^ - 

sociated  Actors  &  Artistes  of  v  r  Iff  . 
America  cracked  the  knuckles  of  LOIlQOIl'lilOS1 

Don  Conaway,  the  national  execu-  'ftn  fiO-Min 
tive  secretary  of  the  American  yU  vU  mill* 
Federation  of  Television  &  Radio 
Artists,  for  going  over  their  heads  a  50-minute 
and  asking  the  AFL-CIO  to  join  SoViet  Unio 
with  the  radio-tv  acting  union  in  \  1 


London-Moscow'Simulcast’ 
t)n  60-Min.  ‘Russia— Now’ 

London,  Jan.  14.  ... 
A  50-iriinute  telefilm  about  the 
Soviet  Union,  “Russia^  Now,” 


tT  ban  foreign  actoS  which  took  Assobiated-Hediffuaiou  4s%»bu«Ve  pSeer  o?  -iteuS  uouuciug  chore  o«  W  ;  • 

s_  _ -1-7 _ .i^i  Vvvni  k.  -W  -t-D^LoWc.  “Pv-jacc-  rrvnfjarpnpp  ”■  Paul  Taubman  has  just  published  the  Bride.  &  Groom ’  tv 


rover,  an- 
;  Maestro 


fromV1appearing  in  this  country.  17  weeks  to  lens,  will  be  aired,  by  Rountree’s  ‘Press  Conference,' ”■  ^ B^ThoMlb^Wk  from^Pt 

The  American  Guild  of  Musical  the  London  weekday  programmers  Novak  developed  several  shows  for  ar _ t  n*i«  v^tmn>n».  «r. 


The  American  Guild  of  Musical  the  London  weekday  programmers 
Artists,  Screen  Actors  Guild  and  on  Jan  2g  in  9:45  p.m.  slot.  The 

wrnVf»°  to^th^6  AF^  CIO  same  film,  With  a  Russian  comment-. 
Slc^nS  'ov«‘  &  ^  will ’be  screened  a  approxi, 

asking  the  parent  union  officials  mately  the  same  time  from  Moscow; 


the  organization. 


to  reject  the  Conoway  resolution. 
An  official  of  Equity  said  that 


A  similar  program  made  in  Brit¬ 
ain  by  a  team  from  the  USSR,  will 
be  aired  on  commercial  tv  ;two 


an  omcm  .ui  j  be  aired  on  commerciar  tv  two 

the  new  actl“"^s,“otrnMe^  nights  later  at  11  p  m.  Both  fea- 
of  Conaway  but  it  was  morir  than  t  are  designed  to  show  a  cross- 
just  a  matter  of  Protocol.  He  said  section  of  the  people  of  forth  coiin- 
it  amounted  to  whether  the  4As  tl-,es  at  WOrk,  .  play  and  .  in  their 
wanted  to  support  such  ^areso.u-  homes.  John  McMillan,  A-R’s  pro- 


tion  against  use  of  foreign  per-  iuiivu  _ _ _ 

formers  or  just  put  it  forth  later  moscq^Yo^cc^  T; ' '  '  **  “Wide  Wide  World’’  producer  Herb  Sussan,  who  was  struck  down  on 

to  AFL-CIO  in  behalf  of  AFTRA.-  get  the  authorities’  okay  for  airing  Western  Union  is  in  the  process  6th  Ave.  by  a  cab  the  day  before  he  was  to  do  “World  on  Wheels,”  ‘ 
He  said  each  arm  of  the  4A’s  had  them.  The  'British  film  was  pro-  of  building  up  an  impressive  string  in  New  York  Hospital  with  a  fractured  leg  and  bruised  chest;  he’s  ex- 

the  right  to  its  point  of  view,  even  t  duced  by  Michael  Ingrams  and  of  microwave  relays,  basically  to  pectCd  out  shortly  .  .  .  Norman  Bly  is  working  on  his  eighth  thesping 

before  AFL-CIO,  but  not  without  Caryl  Doncaster.  take  care  of  its  heavily  increased  job  for  the  Phil  Silvers  CBS-TV  stanza  with  filming  going  on  at  the 

first  coming  to  the  4A’s.  He  pointed  *  . '  ^ - —  :  “private,  wir^”.  business,  but  which  Hi  Brown  26tlT  St.  studios  ,  .  .  Metbpera’s  Lisa  Della  Casa  and  Cesare 

out  that  AFTRA  is  not  franchised  might  ultimately  be  used  also  for  Valle  tti  make  national  video  debuts  Jan.  27  via  “Voice  of  Firestone” 

by  AFL-CIO,  but  that  the  4A’s,  to  Rnnlrpfpllpr  f]|iacHh(l  transmitting  network  tv  signals.  Al-  .  .  Announcer  Bill  Thourlby  .has  been  inked  by  Otto  Preminger  for 

which  AFTRA  belongs,  is.  1UJUVCICUCI  UUCaUilg  ready  haying  microwave  connec-  the  new  legiter,  “This  Is  Goggle,”  opening  Feb.  13  .  .  .  Paul  Taubman 

It  was  the  opinion  of  an  execu-  Dll  TdaIsv’  fllPC  AHH  tions.  between  Philly.  N.  Y.,  Wash-  will  provide  live  music  for  a  WDSU-TY,  New  Orleans,  fashion  show 

tive  of  one  of  the  4A  groups  that  IvUdJ  LUvO  OUUjUUU  ington  and  Pittsburgh  and  on  the  March  9— a  brief  breakaway  from  his  NBC  chores  .  .  .  Don  Morrow  . 

the  AFL-CIO  executive  council  n*  r  f  „  D  threshold  of  ^nalizing  extensions  to  hosting  the  Westminster  Dog  Show  via  WPIX  Feb.  11-12  ,.  .  .  Sydney' 

was  in  error  in  accepting  the  Cona-  DlQS  IOF  1/61 CDSC  K6D0It  apd  Chicago,  ,WU  eventually  r0Si0w,  Pulse  prexy,  in  San  Juan,  P.R.,  for  confabs  .with  station,  execs 

way  resolution  in  the  first  place  Most  dramatic  demonstration  of and  agencies  re  new  rating  service  .  ;  Upcoming  live  Betty  White 

at  the  AFL-CIO  Atlantic  City  .  Most.  dyamatlc  aemonsiration  oi  contest  American  Telephone  &  stanza  on  aBC-TV  has  inked  George  Tibbies,  Seaman  Jacobs  and  Si 

grand  conclave  late,  last  year,  television’s  power  in  the  fi^d  of  Telegraphs  sole  control  of  inter-  Roae ^  as  scribblers  and  Frank  De  Vol  orch  .  Warren  Boorom  becomes 

Conaway  and  the  members  of  the  public  opinion  to  date  came  last  :CUY  .Y  transmission.  . ,  Radio  Ad  Bureau’s  new  director »of  member  service  .  ^  .  Nancy  Becker, 

other  three  unions  had  it  out  at  week -  in  a  surprise  development  ,  .  ^  spokesman  for  WU-  said  that  Judy  Ricci  Into  WHLI  (Long  Island)  music  department  .  .  .  Phil  Ley- 
a  meeting  last  week,  just  before  that  left  NBC  execs  awed  and  dumb-  "is  company  is^  currently  ‘acquiring  ens,  director  of  Jan  Murray's  “Treasure  Hunt,”  spliced  to*  Claire  Odess 
the  4A’s  sent  a  new  letter  to  AFL-  > t  .  f7V  ^  for  .further  -microwaving  in  Singer  Don  Anthony  to  Philly  for  appearances  on  WDAS-TV  arid 

CIO  asking  it  to  withhold  action.  ^UI?ded*  ^  *  !V’  }ndianapolis,Detroit,  Cleveland,  St.  WBIG  radio .  . .  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kbnneth  Seeman  Giniger,  at  their  east  54th . 

The  Equity  exec  said  that  while  Qarro.way  interviewed  ^Telson  Rock-  Louis ^  and utKa^sa^gty*  gc-  St.  apartment,  are  partying  the  patrons  of  the  Veterahs  Hospital  Radio 
there  was  a  faction  within,  the  legit  efcller  on  “Today”  and  shortly  at- ^  ^  S^U  Guild  ^On:  the  Air”  gala  Friday  (17), 

union  which  wanted  the  same  lock-  terward  announced  that  NBC  without  sites  in  the  south  and  far  Claire  Bloom;  who  appeared  in  NBC-TV’s  Coast-originated  “Shirley 
out  of  foreigners  as  proposed  by  would,  furnish  free  of  charge  a  west.  Temple’s  Storybook”  Sunday  (12),  arrives  in  Gotham  next  Monday  (20) 

AFTRA,  there  was  also  another  copy  of  the  Rockefeller  Fund  re-  The  Western  Union  man  eoM  for  a  Week’s  stay  before  leaving  to  star  in  the  London  play,  “Lucrece” 

Equity  group  demanding  a  fr0e  pOTt  0n  the  nation’s  defenses  to  that  the  current  extensions  amj  •  •  .  Favorable  comment  on  Prof.  Marco  MalinTs  silhouette,  act  was  omit-  > 
exchange^  of  talent  between  the  anyone  who  wrote  in  for  one.  those  for  the  hear  future  Were  ted  from  a  review  of  the  Dec.  29  Ed  Sullivan  show  due  to  a  printer’s 


gram  controller,  recently  planed  to 
Moscow  to  collect  the  prints  and 
get  the  authorities’  okay  for  airing 


Western  Unions 
Major  Stake  On 
Microwave  Relay 


where  he  made  tv-radio  appearances  .  .  Dale  Wasserman’s  “I  Woke 
Up  Stupid”  slated  for  Kraft  TV  in.  Feb. 

David  Graham,  of  the  Coast’s  Wm.  Shiffrin  agiency  who  set  Pat  O’Brien 
for  the  first  Hollywood-based  “Studio  One”  (“Brotherhood  of  the  Bell;* 
Jain.  6),  dittoed  Dennis  Hoppeiv  on  same  show’s  Jan.  20  “Trial  By  Slan¬ 
der”  and  Sterling  Hayden  on  last  week’s  “The  Last  Man”  of  “Play¬ 
house  90.”  Other  Shiffrin  placements:  Joan  Tabor  on  Jan.  6  Danny 
Thomas  show  and  an  Eye  Arden  segment  (14),  Nfco  Minardos  on-.  Jan  .6 
Matinee  Theatre  eostai-ring  Zsa  Zsa  Gabor  arid  Peter  Cookson:  Clint 
Eastwood  in  new  CBS-TV  pilot  of  Charles  Marquis  Warren’s  “The  Ri¬ 
ders”  rolling  Jan.  20;  Maureen  Leeds  in  Jan.  10  “Walter  Wirichell 
File,”  Kent  Smith  i  “GE  Theatre’’  and  Joy  Page  in  “Wagon  Trai  ” 
segment 


before  AFL-CIO,  but  not  without  Caryl  Doncaster,  take 

first  coming  to  the  4A’s.  He  pointed  *  • '  ■  ■  - — — r - —  “priv 

out  that  AFTRA  is  not  franchised  migh 

by  AFL-CIO,  but  that  the  4A’s,  to  K/|/>|rpfp]|pr  flnPcHflff  trans 

Which  AFTRA  belongs,  is.  IWlftClCllCl  UUGdUIlg  read: 

tiv^e  ^one  eof°^he  °4A.°groupsxtbat  On  Today’ Cues  300,000  SnSo 
ihaes in fiorta  a“epul.getheTon^  Bids  for  Defense  Report  ^ 

way  resolution  in  the  first  place  Most  dramatic  demonstration  of  cohtt 
grand6  co^  latt  krt  yeS  television'^  power  to  the  8?ld  of  Tele, 
Conaway  and  the  members  of  the  public  opinion  to  date  came  last  ;e«y . 
other  three  unions  had  it  out  at  week -  in  a  surprise  development  .A 
a  meeting  last  week,  just  before  that  left  NBC  execs  awed  and  dumb- 
the  4A’s  serit  a  new  letter  to  AFL- 

CIO  asking  it  to  withhold  action,  founded.  On  Tuesday  (7),  Have  Indii 
The  Equity  exec  said  that  while  Hour 

there  was  a  faction  within,  the  legit  efcller  on  Today  aiid  shortly  af-  meas 
union  which  wanted  the  same  lock-  terward  announced  that  NBC  ;yvith« 
out  of  foreigners  as  proposed  by  would,  furnish  free  of  charge  a  west, 
AFTRA,.  there  was  also  another  COjpy  of  the  Rockefeller  Fund  re-  xh 
Equity  group  demanding  a  frge  jiort  on  the  nation’s  defenses  to  that 
exchange^  of  talent  between  the  anyone  who  wrote  iri:  for  one.  thosi 
U.  S.  and  foreign  countries,  r  Web  was  deluged  with  mail  and  tnani 


measures  would  still  leaVe  WU 
Without  sites  in  the  south  and  far 


s’  Web  was  deluged  with  mail  and  mapped  out  because  private  tele-  error- 

American  Guild  of  Variety  telegrams,  and  while  there  hasn’t  graph  wires  are  in  seven  times  Arthur  Godfrey  makes  one  of  his  rare  N:Y.  public  spCakirig  appear- 
Artists,  another  4A  member,  was  been  a  final  eburit,  an  estimated  greater  demand  than  they  were  a  ances  tomorrow  (Thurs.)  at  the  Commodore  Hotel  before  the  N  Y.  Ki¬ 
ndt  present  for  the  hassle.  309,000  requests  are  already  in  at  few  years  ago.  Private  wires  are  wanis  and  Rotary  Clubs,  speaking  on  air  power  .  >  .  George  D.  Matson, 

— - : - the  web.  What  surprises  the  net-  leased  to  companies  such  as  Gen-  NBC  controller,  elected  a  y.p.  and  treasurer  of  the  web,  with  Aaron 

_  work  is  that  in  view  of  the  highly  eral  Electric;.which.he  said  has  407  Rubin  moving  up  from  assistant  controller  to  replace  Matson  .  Iri 

•I:  ff’l.  -ll  J  technical  nature  of  the  25,000-  locations. which  shortly  will  be  tied  a  similar  move,  CBS  Inc.  named  Harold  C.  Lang,  assistant  treasurer, 

|K||i  LnailPllPP  word  report— and  no  light  reading  together  for  a  closed  telegraph  cir-  to  the  post  of  controller  .  ...  Mike  Donovan;  CBS’ : doorman  at  485  Madi- 

v  aad  VHiuivii^vj  matter— the  response  should  be  so  cuit.  He  said  that  “ty  is;  not  a  defi-  son,  hospitalized  in  St.  Luke’s  .  .  .  Gertrude.  Berg  off  to  the  Coast  Saf- 

__  _  high,  and  on  the  basis  Of  only,  orie  nite  consideration,”  but  avoided  urday  (18)  for  guest  shots  on  the  George  GobCl  show  and  the  Tennes- 

I  IiamIa  nl  IiJJa  fin  announcement.  Moreover,  it  was  saying  that  it  wasri’t  a -prospect  for  see  Ernie  Ford  stanza,  then  returns  in  a  few  weeks  to  do  a  Perry  Como 
LliClIlS  Off  IfOOS  till  the  Rockefeller  Fund’s  intention  the  future.  guester  .  .  .  Joseph  A.  Oleske,  director  of  accounting  at  CBS,  named  to 

wawudv  v“  to  print  only  100,000  copies  of  the  In  1948,  WU  tried  to  effect  a  the  post  of  controller  of  the  CBS  News  division,  with  emphasis  on  bud- 

report,  while  NBC  expected  only  N  Y.-Philly  microway e  tieup  for  tv  geting,  accounting.  Cost  control,  etc.  Sig  Mickelson,  CBS  News  boss- 
UAfoimiwr  vLah,  a*ou*  1,000  requests:  .  ■  network5,  but  the  company,  in  ex-  man;  finally  got  his  title  straightened  out;  he’s  v,p.  of  CBS  Inc.  and 

AcIdinillH  UllOW  Deluge  has  resulted  in  some.red  plainmg.  said^that  AT&T,  which  general  manager  of  the  CBS  News  Division  .  .  .  Art  Hamilton,  station 
O  fiscal  faces  at  the  network,  since  had  ty  to  all  other  cities,  would  not  jnanager  of  WRCA,  named  chairman  of.  the  radio-tv  division!,  of  the. 

non  ChalTpnPP  *'  the  vmimrpr  the.  ^  is,  be?rin|,  al\  the  mailing  go  along. .  Boy  Scouts  annual  fundraising  campaign  .  .  .  Jimmy  Yoham  back'from 

sister  show  to  CBS-TV" 6  "SeToGO  “5t^  *n™'Y,ed- ..Jund  agreed  to  Miami  aiid  doing  a  Signal  Corps  film  Jan.  20  in  Astorii  .  Barbara 

Question”  may  be  cancelledbe-  furnish  with  as  piany  copies  lj|r|  CriT  PPPPPIMP  Joyce  set  for  “Edge  of  Night”  Jan.  23*.  following  an  anpeararice  on  the 

K  seS  ••WP^nySmlKl.  show  Monday  tlA)  .  ..Galen  Drake  celebrates  his  10th  %ni  as  major. 

Which  came  up  with  thejjrace  of  distnbuUon  at  its  own  a  o j  fnt/nn ICr  CTimV  domo  of  CBS  Housewives’  ProtecUve. League-... Tyree  Glenn,  instru- 

ouizzers  fn  the  first  nlaefi  and  Pense-  JU  XU  YCiiAilb  J1  ill/ 1  nientalist  ori  Jack  Sterling’^  WCBS*  morning  show,  makes  his  fourth  rer 

which  shares  “Challenge”  with  ‘  /  Chicago,  Jan  14  turn  date  at  the  Embers  nitery  next  month . . .  CBS  Radio  producer  Art 

Kent  Cigarets,  has  indicated  to  TDrUnrY  VYP  ANItt  A.  C.  Nielsen  Co.  is  readying  'its  Rabin  script  “More  Than  a  Man,”  to  NBC-TV’s  “Matinee^  Thea- 

Kent  that  it  would  Rke  to  drop:  the  11UJV1/CA  £ATAJlUj  third  television  coverage  survey,  *  •  ■ Hal  Haekett.  f catured  on  Ma  Pcrkins,”  tapped  to  emcee  the  Na- 

show  and  look  for  another  proper-  O A  riTV  D  ATIMr  with  orders  for  it  reportedly  from  tmnal  Auto  Show  in  Detroit  this  week  end  next.  He^did  a  similar  stmt  in 

ty  in  its  stead.  1.U  ZU-U1Y;  KAilNb  90  stations,  35  agency-advertisers,  Chicago  last  week  ,  .  :  Stubby  Kaye  guests  on  the  Glsele  MacKenZie 

TCpnt  fen’t  hannv  aVmnf  iKp  iMps  m  j  •  -..a  ..  . -.pA  0np  ric'Wk  so  far  show  Friday  (18)  ,  .  .  Karl  Weber  and  Bill-  Adams  into  the  “Our  Gal 

arid  wants  ?o  ?eta£  ^show  Trendy  expanding  its  15-city;  produce  Sunday”  c^t  ,  .  .  Robert  Alda  set  as  emcee  of  CBS  Radio’s  “The  Best 

That’s  Where  the  situation  stands  servi<*  to  five  additional  markets  COUnty-by-county  circulation  data  Music”  lex-‘‘Woolworth  Hour”)  .  .  ,  Adraia  Coe,  production  coordin- 
vawtrm  nwH  iforvf  heffmnmc  Feb.  1.  and  henceforth  «n H  nnfpnfiai  anHionnp .  ctatiotinc  ator  on  I  ve  Got  a  Secret,’  r? as  ankled  Goodson-Todman  after  six 


not  present  for  the  hassle. 


‘64G  Challenge/ 
Clients  at  Odds  On 
Retaining  Show 


*».  nnn  _  „  . .  .  uie  weu  is  ueauiig  an  me  iiiamug 

$64,000  Challenge,"  »e  younger  c6sts  involved.  Fund  agreed  to 
Sister  show  to  CBS-TVs  $64,000  futnish  NBC  ^lfh  as  roany  copies 
Question,  may  be  cancelled- be-  as  was  needed,  with  NBC  to  ban- 
fore  .the  season  is  over.  Revlon  dIe  the  distribution  at  its  own  *- 
which,  came  up  with  the«brace  of.  pense 
quizzers  in  the  first  place  and  ■  *  ,  .  ■  .  ■  ■ 

which  shares  “Challenge”  with  / 

Kent  Cigarets,  has  indicated  to  TDITMnr Y  CYD  ANIHC 
Kent  that  it  would  l?ke  to  drop  the  I  l\tWUtA  HAT AWU O 
show  and  look  for  another  proper-  aa  pitv  n  1 TT1TP 

ty  in  its  stead.  lU  ZU-till  KAilNb 

Kent  isn’t  happy  about  the  idea,  Trendex  is  expanding  its  15-city 
That'^where^th^situatton;  ™ 


NIELSEN  PREPPING 
3d  COVERAGE  STUDY 

Chicago,  Jan.  14. 

A.  C,  Nielsen  Co.  is  readying  its 
third  television  coverage;  survey. 


That's  Where  the  situation  standi  »«  five  additipnal  markets  c;u„ty.by.eounty  circulation  data  <■}  -  V-  Adraia  Coe,  production  coordin- 

currently,  with  Revlon  and  Kent  beginning  Feb;  1,  and  henceforth  aijd  potential  audience  statistics,  ator  on  I  ve  Got  a  Secret,  ^  as.  ankled  Goodson-Todman  after  six 

huddling  on  the  disposition  of  the  the  service  will  he  known  as  a  20-  will  be  in  effect  an  updating  of  the  the  company  .  .  .  Fulton  Wilkins  upped  to  account  exec  at 

EPI  package  before,  going  to  CBS  city  survey.  Beirig  added  are  Bos-  1956  Nielsen  Coverage  Service,  ?BS  *adl°  Spot  Sales, replncinr  Ralph  Glazer  ...  Jimmie  Rodgers  set 

with  a  decision.  It’s  Revlon’s  eon-  .  Houston  Indianariolis  Omaha  except  that  the  sample  size  is  being  the  EdlrSu^IYfn  si^oy/,  ^an  T  ?6  *  CB5  Pubaffairs  director  Irying 

*1,-4  “r»vvci_  ton,  Houston,  inaianapoiis,  umana-  ;n„rooc_j  Gitlin  speaks  at  New  York  U;  Jan.  24  on  “Creative  ExDression  in  Tele- 


with  a  decision  It's  RevlonVron-  ton  {!oust()n,  Indianapolis,  Omaha- 
tcntion.  reportedly,  that  “ChaL  ’  . 

lenge”  has  lost  its  steam  and  that  Council  Bluffs  and  St.  Loui^. 
a  new  property  m;ght  create  a  new  Reason  for  the  additions,  is  that 
excitement  for  the  Revlon  line.  Trendex  has.  based  its  surveys  ;on 
Kent,  ori  the  other  hand,  main-  those  cities  which  are  iriterepn- 
tains  that  “Challenge”  is  still  a  nected  and  possess  three  or  more 
strong  eritrv  and  a  good  cost-per-  affiliated  statibfis— that  is,  where 


Grant  Expands  6’seas 


Chicago,  Jan.  14. 


Gitlin  speaks  at  New  York  U;  Jan.  24  on  “Creative  Expression  in  Tele¬ 
vision”  .  .  Xavier  Cugai  guests  on  “Big  Record”  Jan.*  29,  but  saris 
spouse  Abbe  Lane,  who’ll  be  in  Philly  with  the  “Oh,  Captain”  tryout 
Cugat  had  to  pull  out  of  that  legiter  due  to  other  commitments  .  .  . 
Jack  Sterling  broadcasting  portions  of  his  WCBS  morning  show  from 
London  this  week,  with  the  remainder,  of  the  Aow  being  handled  in 


thousand  buy. 


affiliated  stations— that  is,  where  Grant  .  Advertising,  worldwide  N.Y.  by  his  cast  and  deejay  Jim  Lowe.  4 

the  three  webs  are  in  direct  and  si-  agency  which  headquarters  here,  6  Raymond  L.  Fuld,  most  recently  associated  with  Metro  TV,  has  join¬ 


keeping  hands-off  the  multaneous  competition.  Trendex  announced  the  opening  of  five  new  ed  Mutual  as  an  account  exec  . Arthur  Knight,  author  of  “The  Live- 
.  .  p  ...  -  - I  began  its  prograrii  popularity  re-,  overseas  offices  last  week,  bringing  liest  Art:  A  Panoramic  History  of  the  Motion  Pictures,”  and  Yael  Woll» 


situation  and  is  waiting  for  the  two 
sponsors  and  their  agencies  to  set¬ 


tle  the  matter  by  themselves. 
There’s  no  thought  at  this  time, 
incidentally,  of  dropping.  “$64,000 
Question.”  the'  original  of  the  two 
shows,  which  Revlon  sponsors  in 
toto. 


AT  &  Is 


Houston  —  Bob  Gardner, .  local 
radio  and  tv  man.  has  been  named 
manager  of  KFMK,  the  city’s  new 
FM’er  which  is  expected  to  begin 
broadcasting  later  this  month. 
Gardner  has  been  associated  with 
KLBS  and  KTRK-TV  here  and 
with  KFDM-TV.  Beaumont.  The 
new  FM  outlet  wi-Jl  broadcast  pop¬ 
ular  rhusic  with  modern  jazz  re¬ 
ceiving  considerable  attention. 


set-  ports  in  1951,  using  10  cities  at  its  global  total  to  40. .  This  includes  director  of  City  College’s  Film  Institute,  were  guests  of  “META  Pre- 
yes  that  time  and  adding  five  in  1955.  |  nine  offices  in  the  United  Rtates.  sents”  on  WPIX  yesterday  (Tues.)  morning  .  .  .  MBS  account  exec  John 
[me<  C.  Rome  has  won  the  fourth,  sales  incentive  project  of  the  net  . 

000  WPIX  news  and  special  events  department  last  night  (Tues.)  presented 

two  t  V  O  TO  ifri*  AAA  AAA  TIT  17* ■  -  an  hour-long  evaluation  of  NATO,  titled  “Special  NATO  Report,”  done 

Al&TmmmwM* 

„  .  ..  .  ,  v  J  fi\  HOLLYWOOD 

One  of  the  prize  plums  to  be  plucked  for  the  ’58-’59  season  is  ^  «  i  ^  “  i,  .  - 

ocal  the  $6,000,000  budget  being  allocated  for  tv  programming  by  Amer-  ^  cost  Ralph  Edwards  an  extrA  $10,000  when  one  of.  his  staff  on 

med  ican  Telegraph  &  Telephone  Co.  That’s  a  $2,000,000  boost  over  its  Truth  or  Consequences’  blew  a  set  of  figures.  After  wrong^ winner 
new  current  sponsorship  of  “Telephone  Time”  on  ABC-TV.  But  A  T  &  Tas  picked  for  guessing  closest  to  the  Bowl  game  scores,  Edwards  ruled 

egui  x  is  eyeing  wider  prograrii  horizons  . for  next  seasons  and  is  now  that  each  was  entitled  to  the  cash  prize.  .  .  ABC  Radio  brought  in  four 

in  process  of  shoppirig'  around.  new  deejays  from  the  midwest,  John  Trotter  of  Tulsa,  Bob  Cole,  El 

j  Wm.  Morris  Agency  was  given  the  nod  this,  season  on  its  choice  Paso,  Art  Nelson,  Dallas,  arid  Don  McKinnon,  Des  Moines  .  :  Su?* 

xEp  of  “Telephone  Time,”  but  also  in  .the  running  are  Henry  Jaffe,  cess  Story”  on  KTTV,  lived  up  to  its  name  for  seven  years  and  tnen 

D  “  •  Talent  Associates,  the  Ted  Mills-Ben  Parks  packaging  outfit  and  lost  its  sponsor  .  .  .  Avis  PhUbrook,  longtime  Coast  ad  agency  exec, 

re.  MCA--all  dangling  What  they  consider  choice  entries.  setting  up  her  own  shop  to  handle  the  Schweppes  account  . ..  .  R" 

Decision  is  qiQiecied  to  be  made  bejore  the  end.  of  the  mqath.  L  ,  (Coqtiriu^d.  pa,  JEiPJ 


One  of  the  prize  pluins  to  be  plucked  for  the  ’58-’59  season  is 
the  $6,000,000  budget  beirig  allocated  for  tv  programming  by  Amer¬ 
ican  Telegraph  &  Telephone  Co.  That’s  a  $2,000,000  boost  over  its 
current  sponsorship  of  “Telephone  Time”  on  ABC-TV.  But  A  T  & 
T  is  eyeing  wider  program  horizons  for  next  seasons  and  is  now 
iri  process  of  shoppirig' around. 

Wm.  Morris  Agency  was  given  the  nod  this,  season  on  its  choice 
of  “Telephone  Time,”:  but  also  in  the  running  are  Henry  Jaffe, 
Talent  Associates,  the  Ted  Mills-Ben  Parks  packaging  outfit  and 
MCA-^-all  dangling  What  they  consider  choice  entries. 

Decision  is  expected  tQ  be.ma(le  belore  the,  end  of  the  month. 


TV-FItMS 


Wednesday,  January  IS,  1958 


TV-FItMS  S3 


Video  Vitamins  Via  Vidpix — Part  2 


[A  MARKET-BY-MARKET  SURVEY] 

By  MURRAY  HOROWITZ 


t'.v'w  ■; 


Frisco:  KGO’s  ‘Muscles’ 

By  WILLIAM  STEIF 

San  Francisco,  Jan.  14. 

ABC’s,  owned  &;  operated  KGO-TV  has  suddenly  mus* 
cled  into  the  Frisco  feature  film  market  previously  domi¬ 
nated  by.  two  stations,  NBC-affiliated  KRON  and  Westing- 
house’s  KPIX,  a  CBS  affiliate.  ‘ 

KGO’s  move  started  only  at.  year's  end  (’57),  when  it 
launched  the  first  of  the  717  Metro  films:  it  acquired  for 
“close  to  .  $2  million”  several  months  ago.  Kickoff  film 
was  ”30  Seconds  Over  Tokyo,”  %*opped  into  a  7-to-9  p.  m. 
time  slot  on  a  Saturday:  (28),  a  time  when  up  to  70% 
of  the  tv  sets  in  the  810,000-set  Frisco  area  are  generally 
tuned  in.  Significance  of  this  kickoff  is  that  KGO  execs 
confidently  expect  to  come  up  with  a  rating,  of  at  least 
20.0  for  the  two-hour  ,$trip,  thus  knocking  down  the.  big 
NBC  and  CBS  network  shows  being  aired  simultaneously. 

“We’re  being  conservative  in  hoping  for;  a  20.0,”  said 
one  KGO  exec,  “we  may  go  up  to  30.0.” 

.  KGO  had  never  been  able  to  make  a  dent,  heretofore, 

•  in  this,  time  slot,  has  always  had  to  be  content  with  ratings 
ranging  between  510  and  9.0,  while  the  NB'C  .  and  CBS 
shows,  have  clicked  with  marks  as  high  as  40.0  and  45,0. 
But  this  is  just,  a  starter  for  KGO,  which  frankly  has  the 
other  two  major  outlets  in  Frisco  worried— -or,  at  least, 
watching  expectantly  and  waiting  for  the  slightest  sli 

KGO  plans  to  air  15  Metro  films  a  week,  seven  cross- 
the-board  at  1  p.  m./ and.  seven  cross-the-board  at  10:30 
p.  m.  The  15th;  of  course,  is  the  7-to-9  Saturday  night 
blockbuster: 

Coupled  \yith.  this  playoff*  is  a  riate-card  designed  “espe¬ 
cially  for  the  Metro  package,”  as  one  KGO  exec  put  it-^- 
what  he  means  is  that  the  rates  have  been  cut  plenty  from 
the  cost  of  double-A  time,  or  any  other  time,  at  KRON 
and  KPIX.  ? 

Maximum  rate  for  one  one-minute  commercial  in  prime 
Saturday  night  time  is  $300,  with  a  percentage  deduction 
fbr  frequency.  This  compares  to  the  $500  rate  prevalent 
at  the  CBS  and  NBC  affiliates. 

Dave  Sacks,  KGO’s  general  sales  manager, .  and  Yale 
Roe,  national  sales  manager,  are  pushing  the  Metro  pack¬ 
age  hard:  They  don’t  say  it,  but  it’s  obvious  that  ,  they 
have  to  get  business  somewhere  and  the  most  -  likely 
somewhere  is  the  KRON.  and  KPIX  accounts. 

Where  KGO,  always  a  -bad  third  in  this  three-station 
tv  market,  got  the  money  to  buy  .the  Metro  .package  is  not 
.deal*.  But  an  educated  quess  would  be  that  ABC  bundled 
up  most  of  the  cash  for  the  seven-year,  unlimited  deal. 
The  reason  is  pretty  obvious:  ABC  has  managed  to  hold 
its  own  fairly  well  in  network  ratings,  local  shows  ,  are 
not  a  major  factor  in  the  market  (and  KGO  has  one  of 
the  toprrated  personalities,  anyway,  in  Don  Sherwood),  but 
KGO:  has  consistently  fallen  flat  on  its  face  in  the  vital 
feature  film  field. 

In  the  last  couple  of  years,  particularly,  KPIX  and 
KRON  have  stretched  their  dominance  over  .  KGO  with 
smart  film-package  purchases. 

Up  until  last  fall  the  two  top  stations  had  been  neck-, 
and-neck,  with  KPIX  possibly  enjoying  3  slight  advantage 
in  the  three  crucial  -feature  film  time  slots  (weeknights, 
IQ  to  midnight,  Saturday  night,  late  'Sunday  afternoon). 

One  reason  KPIX  may.  have  enjoyed  an  edge  is  that  it 
generally  shot  its  feature  film  on  at  10  p.  m.,  while  KRON 
had  to  wait  until  10:30  p.  m.  because  of  network  commit¬ 
ments^ 

(Certain  shows,  such  as  “Playhouse  90,”  seem  to  knock 
this  theory  into  a  cocked  hat,  for  “90”  has  clobbered  the 
KRON  features,  just  as  “This  Is  Your  Life"  takes  the 
measure  of  the  KPIX  features.  But  it  takes  a  blockbuster 
to  do  the  job  and  the  exceptions  only  prove  the  . rule  that 
Hollywood  features  can  hold  up  very  strongly  against 
run-of-tv  half-hour  shows.) 

Then,  last  fall,  KRON  put  on  a  considerable  spurt  which 
reflected  in  top  ARB  ratings  in  October.  The  ARB  No¬ 
vember  ratings  showed  KPIX  back  up  to  KRON,  gen¬ 
erally  speaking,  though  the  November  Pulse  continues  to 
give  KRON  the  edge. 

The  Metro  package,  which  cost  KGO  about  $2,800  a 
film,  according  to  KGO,  and  may  have  run  as  high  as 
$4,000  a  film,  according  to  KGO’s:  competitors,  is  expected 
to  change  -this  rating  picture  radically.  This  does  not, 
however,  mean  that  KGO  is  out  of  the  woods.  That  is,  the . 
station  must  make  the  package  pay  off  in  the  first  three 
to  four  years  it  has  it. 

While  KGO  is  crowing  about  the  "star  power”  (Gable, 
Garbo,  etc. )  in  the  package,  its  competition  is  circulating 
a  memo  pointing  out  that  the  package  also  contains  such 
“gigantic  productions’.'  as  ‘‘Broadway  Melody”  (1.929) 
with  Bessie  Love  and  Charles  King,  “The  Cuban  Love 
Song”  (1931)  with  Lupe  Velez  and  Lawrence  Tibbett, 
“The  Floradora;  Girl”  (1930)  with  Marion' Davies,  “The 
Great  Meadow”  (1931)  with  Johnny  Mack: Brown  and 
Eleanor  Boardman,  “Huddle”  (1932)  With  Ramon  Novarro, 
“It’s  a  Great  Life”  (1929)  with  the  Duncan  Sisters*  “The 
Woman  Racket”  (1930)  With  Blanche  Sweet  “arid  many 
other  equally  impressive  titles.” 

The  competition  Claims  KGO  has  only  75  to  150  films  m 
the  whole  Metro  package  which  are  exploitable  in  terms 
of  1958  tv,  that  viewers  Will  soon  grow  weary  of  reruns 
on  these  films  arid  that  the  older,  weaker  films  will  become 
a  terrible  financial  drag. 

The  Competition  says,  further,  that  in  the  Frisco  market 
around  $3,000  per  film  is  too  high  a  price,  generally  speak¬ 
ing,  though  there  are  exceptions,  such  as  the  post-1948 
United  Artists  packages. 

“You  just  can't  make  ’em  pay  out  at  that  price,”  says 
one.  competitor,  “and  especially  when  you’re  dragged 
vdown  with  60  to  80%  very ’dated  films— -I  don’t  cart  how 
many  Academy  Awards  they  got  iri  their  day.” 

To  ©eet  the  KGO  challenge,  KRON  has  bought  three 
packages  of  films,  a  total  of  200  to  add  to  its  backlog 
of  600. 

Norm  Louvau,  the  station’s  sales  manager,  says: 

“We’re  buying,  as  many  post-’48  as  we  can.” 

One  of  these  packages  contains  114  pictures  from  Screen 
Gems,  including  “Brute  Force,”  ’‘All  My.  Son s,”  "Lost 


VIDPIX’s  high  voltage  potential  as  a  competitive  lever,. 

the  .  use  of  half  hour  telefilms  and  features  to.  block 
and  tumble  the  opposition,  is.  highlighted  in  another' 
Variety  market-by-market  cinematic  survey. 

The.  survey,,  spelling  Out  What  is  happening  on  the  vid¬ 
pix  front  on  the  local  level,  is  a  continuing  Variety  fea¬ 
ture  reflecting  the  nature,  and  habits  of  the  vidpix  biz. 

The  second  installment,  encompassing  cities  from  Boston 
to  San  Francisco,  shows  that  from  the  smallest  to  the 
largest  situations,  most ,  stations,  are  hep  to  vidpix.  They 
know  the  product  on  the  market,  the  prices  being  bandied 
around,  how  to  try  to  get  the  best  mileage  of  What  is: 
bought,  the  tricks  of  slotting,  stripping  arid  what  have  you. 

In  short,  to  borrow  an  apt  phrase,  “everything  is  up  to 
date  in  Kansas  City.”  In  a  sense,  it’s  a  tribute  to  the 
film  salesmen,  those  celluloid  peddlers  who  wind  up  and' 
down  the  countryside,  pitching,  but  also  keeping  stations 
abreast  of  new  developments:  For  example,;  the  launching 
of  a  new  feature;  package  by  Flamingo  Films  is  heard  out¬ 
side  of  New  York  nearly  as  soon  as  the  word  is;  put  .  out 
in  Gotham;  that  Kansas  City  takes  a  chance*  with  late  hour 
syndicated  shows  rather  than  features;  that  heavy  feature 
users  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  are  as  concerned  as  the  N.  Y. 
distribs  about  the  Hollywood  backlog  running  dry. 

The" station  that  ignores  vidpix  has  its  head  buried  in  the 
sand.  .  That’s  borne,  out  by  developments  in  Boston,  Kan¬ 
sas  City,  Washington  and.  Sari  Francisco— markets  of 
varying  dimensions.  Not  that  (here  isn’t  room  for  good 
.  live  local  programming— on  a  national  level,  Jack  Paar’s 
NBC-TV  “Tonight”  show  has  made  solid  inroads  on  late 
night  feature  pix  as  shown  in  Variety’s  first  vidpix  in- ; 
stallment— but  VP-  (vidpix)  has  become  the  bread  dp  but¬ 
ter  of  local  operation.  To  =  neglect .  such  .  nourishment, 
unless  there’s  some  equivalent  potent  live  replacement,  is 
to  court  red  ink.  Some  outlets,  -around  the  country  have,  , 
tried  to  maintain  soirie.  balance  in  the.  “grind  vs.  live” 
operation,  hooking  and  retaining  live  local  talent  and 
formats  with  a  draw. 

But  the  majority  of  stations  have  "joined  the  vidpix 
bandwagon,  grinding'  away  half-hour;  syndicated  product 
and  cinematics  for  rating  and  sponsor  results:  With  most 
stations  in  a  given  market  aligned  in  the  vidpix  ranks, 
there’s  a  good  deal  of  infighting  going  on,  each  seeking 
a  better  competitive  position  via.  the  .  use  of  this  or  that 
series,  the  buy  of  one  or  *  another  ciriematlc  package, 
counterpoint  programming,  etc. 

Hot  film  battles  are  being  waged  in  Boston,  Washington,  , 
arid  San  Francisco.  Symptomatic  of  most  hot  competitive 
fights,  there’s  a  good  deal  of  ad  linage  and  .  hoopla,  .Syn¬ 
dicators  say  for  the  first  time  promotion-publicity  of  syn¬ 
dicated  product  on  the  local  level  has  come  into  its  own. 

The  year  1958  may  signify  many  new  things  to  tele¬ 
vision,  but  in  one.  significant  corner  of  the  medium,  that 
of  syndication,  the  outlook  for.  the  year  is  greater  com¬ 
petitive  use  of  telefilms  and  features,, 

Horizon,”  “Pittsburgh,”  "It  Happened  One  Night”  and 
“Holiday.”  The  second,  Louvau  doesn’t  yet  want  to  dis¬ 
cuss,  but  it  may.  Contain  UA  releases. 

The  third  is  A  real  sleeper.  It  contains  40  pictures,  put 
together  by  Herman  RUsh’$  Flamingo  Films,  includes  such 
relatively  new  productions  as  “Long  John  Silver”  (Rob¬ 
ert  Newton),  “E  Am  a  Camera”  (Julie  Harris,  Shelley 
Winters  .and  scrubbed,  clean  for  tv),  “Sudden  Fear”  (Joan 
Crawford)  arid  a  number  of  other  pictures  which  are  so 
recent  that  they’ll  give  the  Frisco  first-run  theatres,  apd 
especially  the  art  houses,  a  terrific  jolt.. ; 

KPIX  hhsn’t  been  idle,  either.  It’s  jftst  bought  NTA’s 
so-called  “Chaihpagne  Package,”  With  74  20th-Fox,  RKO, 
David  Selznick  and  Stariley  Kramer,  films,  including  “High 
Noon.”  It’s  picked  up  another  NTA  package  of  50,  includ¬ 
ing  “Guadalcanal  Diary,”  “Suez,”  “Forever  Amber,”  “Sit?' 
ting  Pretty”  and  “The  Late  George  Apley.”  The  latter 
are  all;  reruns  in  this  area.  KPIX  also  has  a  backlog  run¬ 
ning  into  hundreds  of  films. 

George  Goldmari,  KPIX’s  promotion  boss,  admits  KGO 
may  make  inroads  “the  first  time  around”  With  the  top 
Metro  pictures,  but  Wonders  how  “Saratoga”  (1937);  for 
instance,  “wilLhold  up  the  second  time  around.” 

A  further  unknoWn  .quantity  is  what  will  happen  When 
KTVU  (Channel  2,  Oakland)  comes  on  the  air  in  March. 
-This  station,  run  by  William  Pabst  and  Word  Irigriffi,  .a 
pair  of  Don  Lee  Radio  Network  graduates,  will  be  inde¬ 
pendent  and  reportedly  has  purchased  some  Warner  Bros, 
packages,  previously  rejected  by  both  KRON  and.  KPIX. 
Naturally,  execs  of  all  three  network  outlets  pooh-pooh 
KTVU’s  possible  effect  on  the  market,  say  it  is  basically  a 
capital-gains,  deal  and  that  it  WiU  have,  as  milch  difficulty 
making,  ari  impression  in  Frisco  as  KOVR,  Stockton,  did 
several  years  ago. 

(KOVR  tried  to  invade  Frisco  but  didn’t  get  very,  far  be¬ 
cause:  i:  Its  sigrial  was  highly  variable  and  tended  to  be 
weak;  2:  It  couldn’t  meet  the  competition  in  bidding  for 
film  packages.  KOVR  eventually  retreated,  switched  its 
tTarismitter  to  beam  into  the  Sacramento  Valley,  ac¬ 
quired  an  ABC  affiliation  arid  was  sold  for  $3,200,000  last 
fall  to  the  Gannett  Newspapers  chain.) 

But  there  is  at  least  one  basic  difference  between  KTVU 
and  KOVR.  KTVU’s  transmitter  sits  cheek-by^jowl  to 
KRON’s,  just  south  of  Frisco,  apd  the  station  should  be. 
able  to  pick  up  a  certain  amount  Of  residual  ratings,  iri. 
the  6.0  to  10.0  class,  simply  by  booming  in  With  a  decent 
picture. 

Whether  this  will  haye  any  effect  on  Frisco’s  Big  Three. 

.  remains  to  be  seen,  but  there’s  sonae  gossip  around  Frisco 

_ and  remember,  this  is  clearly  labeled  as  gossip— that 

if  and  When  KTVU  goes  on  the  block,  CBS  might  be  very  > 
interested.  The  next  logical  step  would  be  a  shift  of  the 
NBC  affiliation  from  KRON,  Channel  4,  to  the  only  non- 
NBC  station  under  the  Westinghouse  banner,  KPIX,  Chan¬ 
nel  5.  This  could  be  one  good  reason  why  KRON  is  stock¬ 
piling  feature  films  heavily,  and  why  KRON  is  particu¬ 
larly  interested  in  post-1948  product. 

But  that's  just  speculation.  Meantime,  KGO  is  going 
for  broke  with  Metro  arid  KPIX  and  KRON  are  risirig  to 
the  challenge,  as  Was  obvious  only  a  week  ago  Sunday 
(4),  when  KPIX  broke  out  With  “High  Noon”  and  KRON 
responded  with  “Red  Rivet.” 


Boston:  Three-way  Fight 

By  GUY  LIVINGSTON 

Boston,  Jan.  14. 

The  most  competitive  vidpix  situation  in  Boston's  short 
tv  history  is  underway  at  the  very  beginning  of  1958 
with  three  stations,  WNAC-TV,  WBZ-TV  and  new  Channel 
5,  WHDH-TV,  engaged  in  a  hot  battle  of  films. 

WNAC-TV,.  With  big  fanfare  and  heavy  exploitation; 
charted  the  progress  of  a  vanload  of  72  Metro  films  from 
Culver  City  to  the  Hub.  On 0  arrival  here,  a  “Leo,  the 
Lipn”  stunt  was  used  to  herald.  Unreeling  of  the  big 
film  package,  now  being  checked  and  cataloged,  is  current 
this  second  Week  in  January. 

WBZ-TV  is  ballying  its  Warner  Bros,  backlog,  which 
includes  all  the  old  Bette.  Davis  films.  WHDH-TV  scored 
a  first  at  Christmas  With  purchase  of  pre-theatre  rights  to 
“Melbourne  Rendezvous”  (T-L),  1957  Olympic  film. 

.  The  three  tv  stations  advertise  their  films  with  regular 
type  picture  ads  which  run  oil  the  tv  pages  of  Boston  news¬ 
papers.  ’ 

Late  evening  picture  shows  are  the  order  of  the  .  day 
Ori  all  three  chanriels.  WBZ-TV  runs  two  features  .nightly. 
WHDH-TV  splits  its  feature  nightly  presentation  at  11 
p. .  m„  cutting  in  the  news..  WBZ-TV  has  transferred  a 
number  of  disk  jockeVs  into  tv  from  its  WBZ  radio  station, 
having  them  intro  films  and  comment  bn  them.  Such  a 
program  is  station’s  “Boston  Movietime.” 

With  this  big.  array  of  film  entertainment  beamed  out 
to  the  picture  customers,  local  area  exhibs  are  plenty  wor¬ 
ried.  Biz  has  been  off  in  the  nabe  houses,  and  exhibs  claim 
the  •  further  Telease  of  films  to  tv  will  make  for  another 
nosedive.  ,^A  plan  to  get  exhibs  to  band  together  to  lease 
film  backlogs  from  the  producing  companies  to  keep  them 
off  tv,  is  underway.  * 

The  plan,  said  to  have  originated  with  Sam  Pinanski, 
prexy  of  American  Theatres  Corp.  here,  was  aimed  at 
*  keeping  7(H)  or  more  Paramount  backlog  features  off  tv. 

Purchase  of  filiris  for  tv  has  been  going  on  at  a  rapid 
rate  for  the  past  year  by  the  tv  stations  here.  WNAC-TV, 
Channel  7,  added  a  batch  of  58  feature  films  during  Decem¬ 
ber,  bought  from  the  David  O.  Selznick,  Stanley  Kramer 
and  20th-Fox  outfits. 

Hollywood  oldies  are  boffo  in  the  Hub  area  with  viewers 
scanning  the  ads  and  tv  program  lists  avidly  to  see  which 
film  they’ll  tune  in  on: 

The  vidpix  competition  has:  the  three  stations  engaged 
a  hot  battle  of  advertising  and  exploitation.  Each 
bight  at  11 : 15  the  battle  of  the  films  goes  on.  It’s  “Holly¬ 
wood’s  Best”  on  WBZ-TV,  “Fabulaus  52”  on  WHDH-TV* 
and  simply  “Movie”  on  WNAC-TV. 

So  strong  is  the  hold  of  the  Hollywood  oldies  that  WBZ- 
TV  sought  to  ink  a  deal  with  Bette  Davis,  who  resides  iri 
nearby  Maine,  to  front  her  WB  films:  Hosting  chore  on 
station’s“Bostori  Movietime” -is  by  former  disk  jock  Alan 
Dary,  who  fronts  the  oldies  with  an  interesting  line  of 
chatter. 

WHDH-TV  after  its  “Fabulous  J52”  filnff  presentation 
slots  Jack  Paar’s  “Tonight”  show  against  the  tWo  opposi¬ 
tion  film  .oldies.  “Tonight”  was  axed  by  WBZ-TV  in  favor 
of  films  before  WHDH-TV  came  ori  the  air. 

Kansas  City:  Syndication 

By  JOHN  GUINN 

Kansas  City,  Jan.  14. 

.  PlSying  ’syndicated  films  in  the  late  evening  hours  is 
proving  a  satisfactoiy  policy  at  KMBC-TV.  A  check  on 
ratings  .  shows  that  runnirig  three  half-hour  syndicates 
nightly  Monday  through  Thursday  beginning  at  10:30  each 
week  holds  a  reasonable  share  of  the  audience  and  permits 
the  station  to  make  some  money,  according  to  Don  Davis, 
president. 

One  of  the  first  to  try  out  film  packages  in  the  late 
evenings;  KMBC-TV  began  the  policy  several  months 
ago  in  an  effort  to  beat  the  high  cost  of  feature  films. 
Station  is  usirig.  such  series  as  “Racket  Squad,”  “Sherlock 
Holmes,”  ‘‘Confidential  File,”  “Passport  to  Danger,”  “Lone 
Wolf,”  “City  Detective”  and  others  from  the  Ziv,  MCA, 
Guild  and  Official  catalogs. 

In  soirie  cases  the  films  are  reruns  off  one-time  network 
shows;  still,,  they  show  satisfactory,  ratings  and  can  be 
had  at  a  price  at  which  the  station  can  come  out  on  card 
rates,  as  against  about  $1,000  needed  to  play  a  Hollywood 
feature:  at  those  hours. 

With  three  channels  here,  competition  for  feature  films 
is  especially  keen  and  called  for  some  new  device  In  pro¬ 
gramming.  The  syndicates  apparently  are  “it,”  Davis  said. 

Washington:  4  Patterns 

By  FLORENCE  S.  LOWE 

Washington,  Jan.  14. 

.There  are  four  tv  statioris  In  the  nation’s  Capital.  There 
are  also  four  distinct,  and  decidedly  different,  patterns  of 
vidpix  programming  and  policy. 

One  thing,  however,  is  true  of  all  four  stations.  The 
use  of  film  in  local  programming  is  on  the  upbeat.  So* 
too,  are  the  .profits  and  ratings  that  film  yields.  And  the 
competition,  though  mure  polite  and  less  openly  cutthroat 
than  in  some  other  markets.  Is  equally  intense  and  basic¬ 
ally  as  bitter. 

The  score  on  syndicated  vs.  feature  vidpix  is  not  yet  in. 
But  the  film  vs.  live  race  has  the  former  Winning  hands 
down,:  despite  spurts  of  creative  efforts  which  periodically 
brighten— or  dim— are  screens.  It’s  an  every-station-for- 
ltself  situation,  with  b.  o.  and  biz  booming  on  all  film 
fronts. 

Washington’s  vidpix  setup  ranges  all  the  way  from 
indie  WTTG-Dumont,  Which,  Sans  web  affiliation,  is  neces¬ 
sarily  87%  film,  to  WRC,  which,  as  an  NBC  owned  A 
operated  station,  mUst  tailor  its  local  programming  to 
network  needs.  In  between  comes  WTOP-CBS,  the  Wash¬ 
ington  Post-Times  &  Herald’s  standout  money-maker,  with 
(Continued  ori  page  38) 


VJ&KlEFf 


Wednesday,  January  15,  1958 


AlfPT  HO  TIME  FOR  610RY  MASSACRE  ATSAHO  CRM 

starring  Barry  Sullivan  starring  Everett  Sloane 

THE  COUHTRY  HIlSBAHO’  CUPPER  SHIP 

starring  Frank  Lovejoy  and  Barbara  Hale  starring  Charles  Bickford,  Jan  Sterling 

SO  SOOH  TO  ME  COHFESSIOH 

starring  Richard  Basehart,  Anne  Bancroft  starring  Dennis  O’Keefe,  Jane  Lockhart 

...and  other  great  kite  for  first  run  syndication! 


Wednesday,  January  15*  1959 


from  COLUMBIA 


IT  HAPPENED  ONE  NI6HT  LOST  HORIZON  TEXAS 

starring  Clark  Gable,  Claudette  Colbert  starring  Ronald  Coleman  starring  William  Holden; 

MY  SISTER  EllEEN  MR.  SMITH  OOES  TO  UASHIN6T0N 

starring  Rosalind  Russell  starring’  James  Stewart  and  J ean  Arthur 

HOllDAY 

starring  Katherine  Hepburn  and  Cary  Grant 
...and  other  great  first  run  hits! 


from  UNIVERSAL 


ACT  OF  MURDER 

starring  Fredric  March 


V~  '  *  '  s  i >  '  ' 

*  < ,  i  >A 


*  ■■  * 

'r'/Z  .  I 


BRUTE  FORCE 

starring  Burt  Lancaster 


THE  SUSPECT  AU  OUIET  m  At  WESTERN  FRONT 

starring  Charles  Laughton  starring  Lew  Ayres 

EAST  SIDE  OF  HEAVEN  AllMYSONS  I 


All  MY  SONS 


starring  Bing  Crosbjr  Staning  Edward  G.  Robinson. 

.,,ahdather  great  firetrun  hitst 


rv.Wl.M*  pllhiufj  ymdawJji^-JamMBy  15,  195» 

P^ETr-  ARB  City-By-City  Syndicated  Film  Chart 


VARIETY’S  weekly  * chart  of  cUyby-ctiy  rating*  of  syndicated  and  w* 
tional  Spot  film  covers  40  to  60  cities  reported  by  American  Research  Bur* 
eau  on  a  monthly  basis •  Cities  will  be  rotated  each  week,  with  the  16  top • 
rated  film  show*  listed  in  each  case,  and  their  competition  shown  opposite . 
All  ratings  are  furnish^  by  ARB ,  based  on  the  latest  report*' 

This  V  ARIETY  chart  represents  a  gathering  of  all  pertinent  in  forma¬ 
tion  about  film  in  each  market,  whichcan  bo  used  by  distributors,  agencies, 
stations  and  clients  a*  an  aid  in  determining  the  effectiveness  Of  a  filmed 
shOw  in  the-  specific  market *  Attention  should  be  paid  totime—day  and 


/ 

time  factors,  since  setsdmuse  and  audience  composition  vary  according  to 
time  slot ,  i.e*,  a  Saturday  afternoon  children9*  show,  with  a  low  rating*  may 
have  a  large  share  and  an  audience  composed  largely  of  children ,  with  cor- 
responding  result S  for  the  sponsor  aiming  at  the  childrens  market*  Abbre* 
viations  mid  symbols  are  as  follows i  (Adv),  adventure ;  (Ch),  children* s\ 
(Co),  comedy i  (Dr),  drama;  (Doc),  documentary;  (Mus),  musical; 
(Myst),  mystery;  (Q),  quit;  ( Sp ),  sports;  (W),  western;  (Wom)i 
women9*'  Numbered  symbol*:  next  to  station  call  letters  represent  the  sUo 
tiovts  channel;  all  channels  above  13  are  DBF'  Those  ad  agencies  listed  as 
distributors  rep  the  national  sponsor  from  whom  the  film  is  aired. 


TOP  10  PROGRAMS 

AND  TYPE 

STATION 

OISTRIB. 

DAY  AND 

TIME 

NOVEMBER 

RATING 

SHARE 

(Hi 

SETS  IN 
USE 

1  TOP  COMPETING  PROGRAM 

1  PROGRAM  STA* 

RATING 

DAYTON 

Approx.  Set  Count— 640,000 

Stations— WLWD  (2),  WHIO  (7),  WCPO  (9) 

1.  Badge  714  (Myst). ..... .... 

.WHIG . 

. .  .v  NBC. . 

;.....  Sat.  10:30-11:00  ... 

.  .  .  .  .30.7 . 

....  08.3. . , . . 

....  52.7 

Your  Hit  Parade  , ...... 

....WLWD  .... 

r. .  lei) 

2.  Men  of  Annapolis  (Adv).;.. 

.WHIO.... 

. . ..  Ziv. ....... 

.:...  Fri.  10:30-11:00  ... 

_ 28.4 - 

....  57.3..... 

_ 49.6 

Cavalcade  of  Sports. . . . 

. .  *  .  WLWD  . 

....12.7 

2.  Silent  Sendee  (Adv).....;.. 

.WHIG . 

. ..  .  NBC. . . i 

......  Sa^  7:00-7:30  ..  . 

....  63.9..... 

....  51,9 

Midwestern  Hayride . ... . 

....WLWD  . 

,...17.3 

4.  Frontier.  Doctor  (W). ........ 

.WLWD... 

.....  Wed.  7:00-7:30  .... 

?  . . .  .25.5 . 

....  48,7..... 

. .  52.4 

Ozzie  &  Harriet. 

. . whig  .. 

.  ...242 

5.  State  Trooper  (Adv)......., 

.WHIG:..  . 

....MCA....... 

; . .  Tues.  7:00-7:30  * . . 

.....24.2..... 

....  48.0 _ 

, ..  .  50.4 

26  Men... _ ...... 

....WLWD  . 

. .  .20.7 

6.  Highway  Patrol  (Adv) 

.WHIG... 

_ Ziii' . . 

. . .  v;  Tties.  9:00-9:30  ■: _ 

. . . .  :  23  7 _ 

....  38.0 . 

....  62.3 

Meet  McGraw. .  .  . .  . ,  . . 

....WLWD  ' 

. . .  .33.2 

7.  Little  Rascals  (Ch). . . 

.WHIG.,.: 

. . ..  Interstate . , . 

......  Mon.  6:00-6:30 

. 21.2..,.. 

....  62.0. . 

...34.2 

Sky  King.  ,  .  . . . 

....WLWD  . 

....10.4 

8.  The  Tracer  (Adv) ......... .  . 

.  WHIG. . . . 

. ...  MPA. .' 

Thurs.  7:00-7:30  .;. 

. . . .  .20.7. .. . . 

....  49.9...:, 

....  41,5 

Captain  David  Grief. . 

....WLWD  . 

,...16.2 

8.  26  Men  CW). _ ........... 

.WLWD... 

.....ABC........ 

....  Tues.  7:00-7:30.  .... 

....20.7 . 

....  41.1 - 

. . . ;  50.4 

State  Trooper . ......... 

.  .  .  .  WHIO 

...,24.2 

9.  Secret  Journal  (Dr). . . . ..... 

.WHIO..... 

...  MCA..... .i 

...v.  Fri:  7:00-7:30  •..*.,' 

....20,2..... 

54.3 . ; 

. . . .  37.2 

Outdoor  Guide ........ 

. .  -WLWD  .... 

....11.7 

10.  Last  of  the  Mohicans  ,(W). . . . 

;  .WHIO;, 

TPA.....;,. 

Thurs.  6:00-6:30  ... 

....18.2...,. 

..,.71.1..... 

....25.6 

Lights,  Camera,  Action. 

....WLWD 

4.2 

RALEIGH-DURHAM  Approx.  Set  Coant— 285,000  Stations—  WRAL  (5),  WTVD  (ll),WNAO  (28),  WFMY  (2) 


1.  Sheriff  of  Cochise.(W). ..... .  .WRAL1 ........  NTA.  . .  . . Mon.  7:00-7:20 

2.  Boots  and  Saddles  (W).... .  .WTVD...... . .  .NBC.... . ... .......  Tues.  8:30-9:00  .... 

3*  Silent  Service  (Adv), . . . WRAL. , . ... . . .  .NBC. . . .... .....  ThUrs.  7:00-7:30 

4.  Golden  Playhouse  (Dr),.. . ...WTVD. ..... . . .  Official  ... . .... .  Tue$.  9:30-10:00  . . . 

5.  Gray  Ghost  (Adv). .......... .WTVD., ....  ...CBS. ........  .  .Jr!.  7:30-8:00 

8.  Bars  Bunny  Theatre  (Ch). . . .  .WRAL. ... .... .  AAP... . . .  t . .  Tues.  7:30-8:00  , .  T: 

6.  Public  Defender  (Dr).. . . . . .  .  .WTVD. ..  Interstate. . .  . .  Thurs.  7:30-8:00  . . . 

7.  Celebrity  Playhouse  (Dr) . . .-.  .WRAL. . .......  Screen  Gems.  .. . . .  Wed.: 7:00-7:30  . . .. 

8.  Charlie  Chan  (Myst) . . . ....  WTVD. . .TPA - . .  Sun.  7:00-7:30  ..... 

9.  O.  Henry  Playhouse  (Dr) ....  .WRAL. ........  Gross-Krasne ..... .Fri.  7:00-7:30. . . . . . 

10.  Studio  57  (Dr) .............. .WFMY*. . . . . ....  MCA _ _ _ _ _ ... _ _ _  -Sun.  7:00-7:30  .. 


.23.7.... 

.....489...:. 

......  48.5 

Ozzie  8c  Harriet  .  .• 

. WFMY  . 

.....11.1 

23.1... 

. . . .  87.7.,  . . . 

, . . .  '61.3 

George  Gobel.. . . . 

- 20.5 

MGM  6  G’Clock 

Theatre; . . 

.20.2.... 

....  49.1.  .  .  . . 

....  41.1 

Esso  Reporter.. 

WTVD  . 

.....13.2 

.16.8..., 

....  313..: 

53.6 

Bob  Cummings . . . . 

.r.  ..23.1 

.152...; 

37.3 

Saber  of  London. . 

.13.4... 

.....  20.0..... 

...67.0 

Cheyenne  . . . , . . . . 

.....820 

.13.4..., 

,....26.8.;.,. 

....500 

Tic  Tac  Dough. ... 

.12.8..;. 

;....  29,0:.... 

....  44.1 

Wyatt  Earp. _ . . 

.....16:2 

,  12.3 .  ;  • 

....;  26.6....* 

....  46.2 

Amateur  Hour~... 

.  ...,184 

.11.7.... 

,..,,35.5;.,.. 

....  33.0 

Zorro  . . . 

-  8.0 

.11.5..,, 

....46.2 

Amateur  Hour..., 

. ; . .  .18.4 

HARRISBURG 

Approx.  Set  Cowrif— 200,000 

Stations - 

-WTPA  (27),  WHP  (55),  WGAL  (8) 

1.  State  Trooper  (Adv). ... .. . 

...WGAL. 

Thurs.  7:00-7:30  ...... 

..34.9. 

.  49.6 

CBS  News-D.  Edwards . . . 

..WHP  .... 

.  9.2 

2,  Highway  Patrol  (Adv) . 

...WGAL. 

- -  .  .Ziv.  •  ,  :  ... . . . ....... 

Thurs.  0:00-9:30  . . . . ... . 

..28.8. 

........  39:4. . . 

..  73.1 

Pat  Boone. . 

..WTPA  .. 

...22.5 

3.  Dr.  Christian  (Dr) . 

.  .WTPA. 

Ziv. v.... . 

Wed.  9:00-9:30  ....... 

..24.9. 

..  66.3 

Kraft  Theatre ...... . . . . . 

..WGAL 

...24  6 

4.  Gray  Ghost  (Adv):.. ...... 

. ;  .WGAL* 

Fri.  7:00-7:30  ........ 

..221. 

..  36.7 

7  O’clock  News;  Sports., . 

..WHP  .... 

...9.8 

5.  Silent  Service  (Adv)  . _ _ _ 

...WGAL. 

...,V...  NBC. 

Fri.  7:30-8:00 

..21,4. 

..  48.5 

Rin  Tin  Tin............. 

..WTPA  ... 

...19.4 

6.  Racket  Squad  (Myst)..,... 

...WGAL.' 

Tues.  &  Sat.  7:00-7:30 . 

..20.2. 

.  39.7 

Western  Marshal . . . . 

..WHP  _ 

...129; 

7.  Ellery  Queen  (Myst).. _ _ _ 

r.;WHP.. 

. TPA............. 

Sat.  10:30-11:00  _ _ 

.  .18.1. 

........  84.3....... 

..  52.8 

Your  Hit  Parade . ... ..... 

..WGAL  .. 

...23.0 

8.  Whirlybirds  (Adv).... . 

...WTPA. 

........CBS.: _ 

Tues.  10:30-11:00  .... 

..175, 

.  50.6 

Circle  Theatre _ _ 

..WGAL  .. 

.  ..22.0 

9.  The  Tracer  (Adv) ...... . . 

...WHP.. 

.Mon.  8:30-9:00  * ...... 

.  .16.2. 

........  24  9.... 

. .  60.1 

Godfrey’*  Talent  Scouts. . 

. .  WGAL  . . 

...30.1 

10.  Range  Rider  (W).. ........ 

...WGAL. 

Sun.  1 1:30  a.m.-i2:0b . . 

.14.4. 

..  144 

No  Competing  Programs 

LITTLE  ROCK 

Approx,  Set  Count 

--153,000 

Stations - 

-r-KARK  (4),  KTHV  (11),  KATV  (7); 

1.  Studio  57  (Dr). . . * ........ 

...  .KTHV. 

•Tues.  9:30-10:00  .... 

.  .45.4 . 

. .  58.0 

Silent  Service . . ......... 

..KARK  ... 

...19.7 

2.  26  Men  (W) . . . 

...KATV. 

.  Tues.  .8:00-8:30  .  . . 

;  .  24.0 . 

..  61.1 

Meet  McGraw;.........* 

..KARK  ... 

...19.0 

3.  Gray  Ghost  (Adv). . . .. . . . 

..  .KATV. 

Thurs,  9:30-10:00  .,  * . . 

..23.2. 

..  54.fi 

Playhouse  90 , . . ......... 

..KTHV  ... 

...180 

4.  Brave  Eagle  (W). . . , ... . . . 

...KATV. 

Mon.  6:30-7:00 

.,20.8. 

.  .  53.3 

Robin  Hood ... ........... 

..KTHV 

...180 

5.  Silent  Service  (Adv).. ..... 

:..KARK. 

.Tues.  9:30-lb:00 

:.19.7. 

..  58.0 

Studio  57,.;... _ .... 

..TTHV  ... 

...25.4 

,  6.  Frontier  Doctor  (W) . ...... 

....kthv. 

.....  ...  H-TV. . . 

Sat.  6:00-8:30 

..18.5; 

. .  36.2 

Ba4gs  714. .... . . . .. .. . . . 

..KATV  ... 

...  90 

7.  Whirlybirds  (Adv) . . 

...  .kArk. 

Fri;  6:30-7:00  . 

..17.7. 

;.  47.2 

Rin  Tin  Tin............. 

..KATV  .;. 

...15.0 

8.  Science  Fiction  Theatre  (Adv.).KATV. 

Fri.  9:30-10:00.  ....... 

.  .16.8; 

..58.6 

Person  to  Person. ........ 

..KTHV  .A 

...284 

9.  Popeye  Party  (Ch).. ...... 

...KATV. 

,  M-F  4:00-4:30  . .  .  . . . .. 

,.15.0. 

.  ......  49.7....... 

..304 

Academy  Theatre. . . . . . . 

..KTHV  ... 

...  8.0 

10.  Captain  David  Grief  (Adv) 

...KARK, 

Wed.  9:30-10:Q0 

.14.3. 

.  .  58.1 

Wednesday  Night  Fights. . 

A- 

..KATV  ... 

...23.0 

NEW  ORLEANS 

Approx.  Set  Coimf— 139,000 

Stations — ^WDSU  (6),  WJMR  (20),  WWU  (4); 

1.  Highway  Patrol  (Adv) . . . . 

....WDSU. 

Fri.  10:00-10:30  ...... 

..36.0. 

.  .  48.3 

(Burns  &  Allen........... 

..WWL  .... 

...12.6 

2.  Golden  Playhouse  (Dr). .  . 
8.  The  Tracer  (Adv); . . 

....WDSU. 

....WDSU. 

.  .  ...MPA. ; . . .... . . ... 

.Sat.  10:00-10:30  ...... 

.Sun.  10:00-10:30  . 

.  .27.8. 
..26.2. 

.  .  42.0 
80.0 

Assignment  Foreign  Legion, WWL  .... 
Parade  of  Stars;..... ......WWL  .... 

4.  Men  of  Annapolis  (Adv), . 

....WDSU. 

.Thurs.  9:30-10:00  .... 

..25.9. 

..47.9 

Playhouse  90........... 

..WWL  .... 
..WWL  .... 

,.,18,9 

0.  Whirlybirds  (Adv). . . ..... 

....WDSU. 

Mon.  10:00-10:30  ..... 

..246. 

. .  38.2 

Waterfront  ............. 

...11.0 

5.  Dr.  Christian  (Dr). ....... 

....WDSU. 

...:....ZiY...... ........ 

.Wed.  10:00-10:30  . 

.24.5. 

..89.1 

Official  Detective . ...... 

**WWD  .... 

...13.0 

7.  24  Men  (W)..  .. . . 

....WDSU. 

........ABC............. 

..MCA  . 

.Fri.  10:30-11:00 

.24.0. 

. ..77.2, _ 

..  31.1 
873 

News;  Weather;  Sports. .. 

.  .WWL  v . . 

..»7.0 
12  6 

...-WDSU 

.  .23.2. 

pan. 

t.  Little  Rascals  (Ch)  . . . . 
It.  Western  Marshal  (W) . 

....WDSU. 
* .  .WDSU. 

M-F  5:00-5:30..;..... 
.Sat*  10:30-11:00  ;..... 

.  .23.0. 
..22.0. 

. .  35.5 
..337 

Four  Most  Feature...... 

Theatre  4...... . . 

..WWL - 

..WWL  ..  . . 

!  88 
;  i  .  10.1 

Wednesday,  January  15, 1958 


PAslETr 


TELEVISION  REVIEWS 


S7 


PEER  GYNT 

Stratford  (Ontario)  Festival 
With  Bruno’  Gerussi,  Ann  Casson, 
Douglas  Rain/  -Ann  Morrisb, 
Fowls  Thomas,  Diana  Maddox/ 
George  McCowan,  Amelia .  Hall, 
others 

Exec  Producer:  Herbert  Allen 
Director:  Michael  Langham 
Writer:  Henrik  Ibsen  (adapted  by 
Lister  Sincllir) 

$0  Miiis.,  Suin.,  9  p.m. 
INTERNATIONAL  NICKEL  OF 
CANADA 

CBS-TV,  from  Toronto 

.  ( Cockfield,  Brown ) 

..  Triple  television  history  was 
made  in  Canada  by  the  live  broad¬ 
casting,  from  Toronto,  of  Ibsen’s 
“Peer  Gynt.”  It  was  the  first  time 
that  the  Stratford  (Ontario)  Festi¬ 
val  players  had  ever  appeared  on 
tv  as  ,  an  entity  company;  the  first 
time  that  International  Nickel  Co. 
of  Canada  has  ever  sponsored  a  tv 
show;  arid;  the  first  time  that  the 
Canadian  Broadcasting  Corp.  -has 
ever  accepted  a  package  deal  orig¬ 
inating  from  an  advertising  agency. 

Responsible  for  this  CBC  break¬ 
down  is  Alan  Savage,  Vicepresident 
and  director  of  radio:  tv  operations 
for.  the  important  Cockfield,  Brown 
agency,  who  told  the  CBC  that  he 
had  a  client  for  the  first  tv’ing  of 
the  Stratford  Festival;  that  he  had 
the  latter’s  agreement  but  that  the 
Stratford  group  had  chosen  Ibsen’s 
“Peer  Gynt;”  and  that  the  sponsor 
(INCOl  was  prepared  to  offer  CBC 
a  package  :  deal  and  pay  all  the 
production  costs,  including  cast 
salaries  and  rehearsals,  plus  trans- 
Canada  CBC  technical  costs,  this 
In  exchange  for  the  CBC  tv  facili-: 
ties  for  the  90-ininute  program, 
with  the  sponsor  paying  the  whole 
production  shot.  This  came  to  ap¬ 
proximately  $75,000. 

Program  starred  Bruno  Gerussi 
in  the  title  role,  with  18  in  the 
company;  some  for  double  and 
triple  roles,  with  45  speaking  parts. 
This  was  also  the  first  tv  directing 
effort  of  Michael  fiangham,  succes-: 
sor  to  Tyrone  Guthrie  at  the  Fes¬ 
tival;  with  Douglas  .Campbell  also 
getting  his  first  chance  at  directing 
a  video  show.  Of  the  more  than 
four  hours  of  which  the  players 
had  hitherto  done  on  their  stage, 

.  the  tv  version  Was  reduced  to  an 
hour  arid  a  half,  saris  commercials, 
by  Lister  Sinclair.  One  technical 
difficulty,  versus  stage  production 
With  its  intermissions,  was  the  age 
process  which  sees  a  bombastic 
youth  of  17  changing  to  a  disillu¬ 
sioned  old  man.  Gerussi  and  his 
makeup  crew  Were  riot  successful 
in  this,  detail. 

The  staging  was  abstract  and 
symbolic  but  this  did  riot  detract 
from  the  poetic  “Around-tbe- 
World”  search  for  himself  by  Peer 
Gynt  and- the  virile  performance 
Of  Gerussi  who,  as  the  protagonist, 
was  on-camera  for  most  of  the 
time.  That  cutting-down  of  charac¬ 
ter  projection  could  have  been 
confusing  to  those,  who  know  the 
Ibsen  play  In  its  entirety  but,  on 
the  whole,  it  was  dovetailed  into  a 
One-man  life  even  though  haridi- 
capped  by  that  90-ininute  limit. 
Gerussi,  however,  clearly  evolved 
from  a  young  braggart  and  liar  to 
his  ultimate  concept  of  material 
Success,  his  corrupting  to  wealth 
and  his  eventual  return,  when 
broke,  to  the  love  and  understand¬ 
ing  of  the  girl  he  had  formerly 
given  up! 

All  the  principals  were  excel¬ 
lent,  particularly  Diana  Maddox 
as  Solveig,  the  discarded  wife; 
Ann  Casson  as  Aase,  Peer  Gynt’s 

£  (Other:  Do  u  gl  a  s  Rain  as  the 
eavenly  summonser.  McStay, 

TERRY  TELL  TIME 
With.  Carol  Reed  . 

Producers:  Lyn  Daddy,.  Jerry  Bres- 

.  ler  "  ‘ - •.  ■  ■  ■ 

Director:  Mike.  Case 
Writers:  Rosalind  Seldes,  Jean 
Meegan 

15  Mins..  Sat.,  9:15  a.m. 

TELL  TIME  WATCH 
WCBS-TV,  (film) 

'  1  (Goldenthal) 

The  kiddies  should  get  some  fun 
put  of  this  weekly  15-miriute  filmed 
puppet,  show.  It  has  some  faults  in 
production  and  performances;  hut 
on  the  Whole  it’s  an  engaging  early 
morning  Saturday  interlude. 

Carol  Reed,  WCBS-TV’s  weather 
girl.  Is  the  Sole  live  performer,  in¬ 
volving  the  Bunin  puppets  in  song 
and  chatter.  •  In  the  opener  (11), 
aha  did  okay*  but  the,  episode  with 
.her  failed  to  click  as  something 
warm  and  spontaneous.  She  ap¬ 
peared  too  studied  in.  her  role. 
•The  strictly  puppet  routine  was 

Site  good  in  terms  of  imagination, 
afacterizatipns  and  songs.  The 
foreground  arid  backdrop  for  the 
tmmher,  though,  did  not  come  over 
too  Well  on  film.  The  puppet  epi¬ 
sode  involved  an  attempted  satel¬ 
lite  launching  with  the  aid  of  ex¬ 
ploding  popcorn.  Producers  Lyn 
Duddy  and  Jerry  Bresler  also  did 
the  songs  a.  few  of  which  were 
fetching.  Tell  Time  Watches  rode 
heavily  on  the  commercial? 

>  Jioro. 


BING  CROSBY  AND  HIS 

FRIENDS 

With  John  Daly,  Tommy  Harmon, 

Kathryn  Grant,  Bob  Hope/  Red 

Skelton,  Bob  Crosby,  Fred  Mac- 

Murray,  Roy  Storey,  Others; 

Buddy  Cole  orch 
Producer:  Cecil  Barker 
Directors:  Seymour  Berns,  Bob 
'  Quinlan 

Writer:  Joe  Quinlan 
90  Mins.,  Surii  (12),  5:30  p.m. 

EASY  LAUNDRY  APPLIANCES 
CBSiSTV,  from  Pebble  Beach,  CaL 

.(Earl  Ludgin ) 

Bing  Crosby,  who’s  been  running 
his  annual  Pebble  Beach  (Cal.)  golf 
tournament  for  17  years  now,  got 
the  finish  of  the  four-day  affair  on 
television  for  the  first,  .time  on 
Sunday  (12),  complete  with  spon¬ 
sor.  Easy  Laundry  Appliances,  a 
division  of  Murray  Corp.  of  Amer¬ 
ica,  footed  the  bill  in  its  first  net¬ 
work  television  buy.  r 

Apparently  feeling  thdt  straight 
golf,  even  with  celebrities,  is  too 
specialized  :  a  field  for  the  inass 
audience,.  Crosby  decided  to  jazz 
things  up,  shooting,  film  clips  of 
celebs  in  >'medy  routines,  doing 
a  filmed  fashion,  show  and  provid¬ 
ing  some  other  extraneous  inserts; 
But-  the  technique  didn’t  work,  for 
the  finished  product  was  something 
of  a  hodge-podge,  with  the  live 
pickups  of.  the  golf  itself  suffering 
and  the  added  material  never  sub¬ 
stantial  enough  to  strengthen  the 
program.  In  setting  out  to  give  the 
audience  apples  arid  pears,  Crosby 
and  CBS  came,  up  with  a  lemon. 

Actually,  there  were  only  twoj 
filrried  inserts  with  any  substance, 
and  they  Were  too  short.  These 
were  the  Red  Skelton  comedy  bit 
and  the  Bob  Hope-Crosby  duolog. 
Mrs..  Crosby’s  (Kathryn  Grant) 
fashion .  show,  on  film,  was  short 
and,  unimpressive,  and  the  other 
film  clips  seemed  more  of  commer¬ 
cial  lead-ins  than  anything  else. 
Meanwhile,  CBS  was  only  able  to 
get  two  cameras  down  on  the 
course  itself,  dri  the  17th  and  18th 
holes;  and  the  pickups  suffered  by 
virtue  of  these  limitations.  None- 
the  less,  CBS  got  some  good  shots, 
particularly  the  one  where  Lloyd 
Mangrum  sent  a  long  nutt  to  the 
rim  of  the  18th  cup.  then  unsuc¬ 
cessfully  waited- a  full,  two  minutes 
for  a  stiff  sea  breeze  to  blow  it  in 
before  finally  tapping  it.  in  himself 
for  an  extra  stroke.  Commentary 
by  Tom  '  Harmon  and  Roy  Storey 
was  -excellent. 

John  Daly,  who  was  tabbed  em¬ 
cee  (to.  Crosby’s  “host”),  didn’t 
have  much  to  do  and  appeared  un¬ 
comfortable  throughout 

Commercials,  also  filmed  on  the 
course  arid  featuring  Bob  Crosby, 
were  abominably  done.  But  from 
the  sponsor’s  point-  of  view,  the 
show  with  air  its  faults  Was  prob¬ 
ably  a  good  tv  buy.  Seeking  to 
make  a  first -time  -  on  -  tv  impact. 
Easy,  had  the  right  vehicle,  and 
punching  away  at  one  particular 
Iterii  along  ,  with  a  contest  designed 
to  get  viewers  into  showrooms,  the 
sponsor  probably  got  Its  point 
home  strongly.  Chan. 


RICHARD  DIAMOND,  PRIVATE 
DETECTIVE 
With  David  Janssen,  Luis  Van 
Booten,  Ellen  .  Corby,  Douglas 
Dick,  Stephen  Chase,  Robert  Dix 
Producer:  Marie ;  Sandrich  Jr. 
Director:  Leigh  Jason 
Writer:  David  T.  Chantler 
30  Mins.,  Thurs.,  8  p.m. 

P.  LORILLARD 
CBS-TV  (film) 

( Lennen  &  Newelll 
Four  Star’s  “Richard  Diamond, 
Private  Detective”  series,  orig¬ 
inally  a  summer  replacement  but 
now  teeing  off  a  new  cycle  as  a 
regular,  will  have  to  attain  a  higher 
standard  than  that  reached  in  Its 
opener  to  make  a  showing  against 
such  sturdy  opposition  as  “Zorro” 
(ABC)  and  Groucho  .Marx  (NBC). 
This  private  Richard  series  estab¬ 
lished  itself  as  a  good  one  during 
its  run  last  year,  and  that’s  the 
reason  for  its  new  lease  on  life; 
but  the  first,  episode  was  .too  talky 
and  lacking  action; 

David  Janssen,  i  the  title  role, 
is  called  to  investigate  a  “space 
society”  by  the  nephew  of  a 
wealthy  man  who’s  a  member. 
Nephew  thinks  the  group  is  just 
Out  to  “take”  his  uncle,  and  the 
fact  uncle  has  willed  the.  society 
$100,000  seems  to  give;  him  ade¬ 
quate  grounds  for  suspicion.  Even¬ 
tually  uncle  is  murdered,  although 
at  first  the  suspicion  may  hit  the 
viewer  he’s  been  talked  to  death. 
With  not  too  much  effort,  Janssen 
piris  the  murder  on  the  greedy 
nephew,  irked  at  his  uncte  leaving 
that  coin  to  . the  group,  and  hoping 
to  pin  the  murder  rap  on  the 
society  '• —  giving  him  grounds  to 
break  the  will.  ■ 

Janssen  plays  his  role  satisfac¬ 
torily,  although  a  bit  too  deadpan. 
There  is '  good  support  from  Luis 
Vari  Booten,  Douglas  Dick  and 
Ellen  Corby.  Direction  of  Leigh 
JasOn  is,  like  the  David  T.  Chanty 
ler  teleplay, .  on  the  slow  side.  Kent 
and  Newport  ciggies  foot  the  bill. 


WHERE  WE  STAND  . 

(The  Twentieth  Century) 

With  Walter  Cronkite,  Howard  R. 

Smith,  Alexander  Kendrick,  [ 

Daniel  Schorr,  George  Herman  { 
Producers:  Leslie  Midgley,  Don: 

Hewitt 

Director:.  Hewitt 
Writer:  John  Sharnik 
Editor:  Kendrick 
90  Mins„Sun.  (5),  5:30  p.m. 
PRUDENTIAL 
CBS-TV,  from  Flew  York 
(Reach,  McClinton) 

“Where  We  Stand”  was  a  prece- 
dental  program  in  several  respects. 
First  off,  it  provided  a  springboard 
for  the  long-awaited  CBS  policy  of 
editorializing  on  the  air,  and  while 
the  editorial  wasn't  identified  as 
such,  it  took  the  form  of  CBS’  dwri 
suggestions  ori  how  America  can 
cope  with  the  challenge  of  the 
riiissile  age. 

Secondly,  it  was  the  first  90-min¬ 
ute  original  news  special,  arid  as 
such  took  a  new  approach  to  its 
task,  by  distilling  a  major  situation 
to  its  essence  in  the  form  of-  orig¬ 
inal  research  arid  original  footage 
rather  than  the  customary  rehash 
of  newsreel  shots,  (the  technique 
itself  isn’t  new,  particularly  at 
CBS,  where.  Ed  Murrow  and  Fred 
Friendly,  pioneered  it  with  “See  It 
Now,”  but  strangely  enough,  , it’s 
the  first  time  it’s  been  used  f ullr 
scale  by.  a  network  news  depart¬ 
ment).  Finally,  it  wag  the  first  such 
news  program  to  be  fully  spon¬ 
sored,  with  Prudential  Insurance 
picking  up  the  tab  and  making  it 
an  insert  in  its  ’Twentieth  Cen¬ 
tury”  series. 

But  “firsts”  apart,  “Where  We 
Stand”  was  a  major  contribution 
to  television  journalism,  aind  per¬ 
haps  a  .forerunriei*  of  a  more  forth¬ 
right  type,  of  presentation;  In  its 
summation .  of  the  East  Vs.  West 
positions,:  militarily,  educationally, 
economically,  it  pulled  nq  punches, 
softened  rio  blows.  In  its  treat¬ 
ment  Of  its  subject,  it  got  right  to 
the  point;  with  reporter-editor 
Alexander:  Kendrick  pinning  down 
the  nation’s  top  military  missile 
leaders  on  just.how  far  behind  the 
Soviet  we  are  in  all  departments. 
At  another  point,  Kendrick  ham¬ 
mered  away,  mercilessly  at  some 
California  high  school  students  on 
their  “co-ed  cooking”  courses  in 
the  missile  age,  demonstrating  as 
no  other  illustration  in  remem¬ 
brance  the  softness,  of  American 
education.  And  again,  in  a  small 
New  Jersey  community,  he  exposed 
the  absolute  ineffectiveness  and 
unconcern  about  civil  defense: 

In'  approach,  technique  and  re¬ 
sults,  “Where  We  Stand’*  -was  a 
masterly  evaluation  of  the  situa¬ 
tion,  arid  no  less  remarkable  was 
the  fact  that  its  conclusions  were 
much  the  same  as  revealed  the 
same.;  day  by  the  Rockefeller  Fund 
report  arid  those  elements  of  .the; 
Gaither  report  which  have  been 
leaked.  The  timing,  incidentally, 
was  both  fortuitous  and  disadvah* 
tageous  for  the  program.  CBS  had 
the  satisfaction  of  announcing .  the 
parallel  firidings  of  the  Rockefeller 
report  ori  the  program,  but  the  re¬ 
port  itself  took  away  the  frontpage 
newspaper  space  that  the  program 
otherwise  would  have  garnered. 

CBS  News’  creation  of  a  pair  of 
special  program  units  within  its 
structure  has  paid  off  handsomely, 
in  the  news  specials  already  pro¬ 
duced  by  the  units  and  culminating 
In  the  topflight  job  of  Leslie  Midg- 
ley’s  unit  in  “Where  We  Stand.” 
The  Midgley  team,  handsomely 
helped  out  by  other  CBS  News  per¬ 
sonnel  in  the  form  of  researchers, 
cameramen,  etc.,  plus  the  capable 
corps  of  coinmentators  on  the 
show,  not  only  chalked  up  a  key 
triumph  with  “Where  We  Stand” 
but  undoubtedly  broke  ground  for 
more  veritures  of  the  Same  type. 

Chan /  . 


END  OF  THE  RAINBOW 
With  Art  Baker 

Executive  Producer:  Ralph  Ed¬ 
wards 

Producer:  Edwin  Bailey 
Director:  Tom  Belcher  ■ 

Writers:  Rick  Sanville  (premiere), 
-  Art  Jacobson,  Henry  Hoople 
30  Mins.,  Sat;,  10  p.m. 
PHARMACEUTICALS  INC. 
NBC-TV,  from  St,  Louis 
(Pafkso 

“End  of  the  Rainbow”  is  trash. 
It  is.  aff  engineered,  gimmicked, 
bloodthirsty  arid  even  monstrous 
exhibition  of  individual  charity 
paraded  before  the  television  pub¬ 
lic  primarily  to  sell  the  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  company’s  drug  products. 
It  is  a  discredit  to  the  network 
which  beams  it,  the;  stations  carry¬ 
ing  it,  arid  even  to  packager  Ralph 
Edwards.  Thought  in  this  is?  cold, 
calculated'  spapopera  predicated  on 
that,  old  wheeze  “human  interest,” 
but  which  is  about  as  close  to  a 


SHIRLEY  TEMPLE’S 
STORYBOOK. 

(^Beauty  and  The  Beast*’) 

With  Claire  Bloom,  Chariton  Hes¬ 
ton,  E.  G.  Marshall,  Jonh  Lock¬ 
hart,  Barbara  Baxley;  Shirley 
»  Temple,  narrator 
Producer:  Alvin  Cooperman 
Director:  Kirk  Browning 
Writer:  Joseph  Schrarik 
60  Mins.;  Sun.  02),  8  p.m. 
BRECK,  NATL.  DAIRY.  HILLS 
BROS. 

NBC-TV  from  Hollywood  (color) 

(N.  W.  Ayer) 

“Shirley  Temple’s  Storybook,” 
aimed  ostensibly  at  the  kiddies, 
demonstrated  on  its  kickoff  Sun¬ 
day  (12)  that  it  can  be  sock  adult 
entertainment  as  welL  The  drama¬ 
tization  of  “Beauty  and  The  Beast,” 
which  preemed  this  Henry  Jaffe 
Enterprises’  series -of  fairy  tales, 
was.  carried  off  in  high  style,  total¬ 
ly.  absorbing  the  viewer  in  a  vir- 


;  thally  flawless  production  that  was 
inhumanity  as  television  ^itnpriQtjtTAifr  written  and  oer~ 
has.  cpme  th»,  tar  lit.  its  V&TSt 

Here  is  the  format  in  the  pro-  j  ac^!fs  a11  age.  Jines‘ 
gram’s  own  words:  “Each  ireeJc,!*.  The  excellence  of  the  show 


(End  of  the  Rainbow’  will  originate 
in  a  .different  city  the  United 
States  to ,  present  ait  unsuspecting 
subject  with:  * the  surprise  of  his 
life ;’  In  essence,  the  program  takes 
uu- where  This  Is  Your  LifeMeaves 
off,  the  surprise;  element  iri  each 
program  having'  been  tailor-made 
for  the  indmdual  around  whom 
the  program  is  built,” 

The  premiere  originated  in  St. 
Louis,  pitched  around  a  family  of 
a  suburban  Illinois  town,  with  an 
elderly  couple  and  their  children 
and  grandchildren  as:  the;  princi- 
palS;  but  jnore  especially  the  el¬ 
derly  couple,  who  are  given  this 
Opportunity,  “to  realize  a-  lifetime 
ambition’’  (a  suburban  ,  home,  etc.) 
after  having  .struggled  all  their 
lives  in  behalf  of  others. 

Although  background  informa¬ 
tion  seems  basic  to  the  format, 
there  was  very  little^  said  as  to 
what  these  hardships  may  have 
been  over  a  lifet;me  save  for  the 
fact  that  the  couple  were  support¬ 
ing  all  the  progeny  in  a  poverty- 
stricken  brick  house  in  a  broken- 
down  neighborhood;  They  seemed 
nice,  gentle  ,  people,  poor  but  hon¬ 
est — of  the  type  seen  all  over 
America. 

paraded  endlessly,  and  monoton- 
paraded  eridlessly  arid  monaton- 
ously  before  the  couple  and!  their 
family  was  a  carload  of  contribu¬ 
tions.  all  with  characteristic .  plugs 
for  the  donors  or  ipanufacturers — 
including  a  new  home,  deed  to  the 
lot,  all  furnishings,  a  car,  money  iri 
the  bank,  and  even  a  gymnasiuiri 
for  the  kids,  The  whole  seemed  as 
spontaneous  as  the  Milky  Way;  at 
least,  that’s  the  way  it  looked. 

But  the  surprise  element,  if  any, 
is  relatively  unimportant.  Better 
that  there  he  no  surprise  and  that 
such  a  type  of  program  pay  more 
attention  to  the  potentials,  of  the 
story  and  thus  square  the  element 
of  Croesus-like  largesse,  if  that  is 
possible.  Perhaps  this  phase,  will 
be  inore  adequately  covered  on 
Subsequent  shows. 

Even  so;  “End  6f  the  Rainbow” 
is  still  low-grade,  cheap  arid,  cal¬ 
lous.  It  replaces- “What’s  It  Fori’— 
which  brings  up  the  same  question. 

Trail. . 


FOR  NE  BRITISH  TV 

Loridon,  Jan.  14, 
The.  new  commercial  tv  outlet, 
for  the  North  East  is  expected  to 
start  operating  by  November. 
Claude  C.  Darling,  vice  chainnan 
of  the  company  announcing  this, 
said  the  company  was;  prepared, 
initially,  to  put  Up  around  $l,330r 
000  to  make  the  outlet  operational: 
He  estimated  that  the  station  would 
serve  2,500,000  viewers. 

The  company’s  board  of  12  is 
under;  the-  chairmanship  of  Sir 
Richard  Pease  qnd  is  being  split  in 
to  two  committees.  The  executive 
committee  will  include  Impresario 
George  Black.  The  program  com-? 
inittee,  which  udll  deal  with  the 
selection  of  material  for  the  outlet 
will  be  headed  by  Peter  Cadbury, 
chairman  o?  ticket  :  agency  Keith, 
Prdwse. 


More  Television  Reviews 
On  Page  47 


THE  CATHOLIC  HOUR 
(Rome  Eterrial)  ' 

With  Norman  Rose,  narrator, 

others 

Producer:  Doris  Ann 
Directors:  Martin  Hoade,  Richard 

Walsh 

Writer:  Paul  HorgaU 
30  Mins.,  Son.,  1:30  p.m. 

NBC-TV  (film) 

NBC,  in  cooperation  with  the 
National  Council  of  Catholic  Men, 
has  filmed  a  four-part  documentary 
on  Rome,  the  seat  of  Papal  power. 
The  second  chapter  of  this  four- 
part  filmed  series,  titled  “Rome 
Eternal;”  was  telecast  last.  Sunday 
(12)  and  the  remaining  two  half- 
hour  chapters  will  be  given  ori  suc¬ 
cessive  Sundays. 

In  scope,  the.  project  is  an  ambi¬ 
tious.  one,  an  attempt  to  grit  2,000 
years  of  Christian  history  told  in 
foUr  half-hour  films.  The  story  was 
to  be  related  through  the  chUrches, 
shrines  and  art  of  Rome.  Judging 
from  the  second  chapter,  titled 
“The  City  of  Peter,”  the  NBC  crew 
was  only  partially  successful. 

For  what,  was  Unreeled  was  a 
crowded  documentary,  much  too 
talky,  and  attempting  to  cover  too 
much  ground.  Some  of  the  shots 
were  arresting  apd.  unusual,  but 
their  vitality  was  dissipated  by  the 
hurried  pace  of  The  narration.  The 
spirituality  and  the  strange,  dedi¬ 
cated  lives  of  some  of  the  monks 
came  through.  The  variety  of  art 
and  lush  magnificence  displayed  iri 
many  of  the  churches  depicted  was 
a  sight  to  behold.  The  viewpoint 
was  frankly  Catholic.  With  greater 
artistry  in  production,  the  series 
could  have  had  much  wider  appeal. 

The  fourth  chapter  (26)  will  be 
capped  by  an  audience  with  Pope 
Plus  XII.  ’Hot#. 


flowed  primarily  from  the  sound 
dramatic  conception.  Joseph 
Schrank’s  adaptation  made  no  at¬ 
tempt  to  tamper  with  the  classic 
story  by  modernizing  or  musicaliz- 
ing  it,  or  gimmicldng  it  np  in  any 
other  way.  Instead,  Schrarik  sup¬ 
plied  a  script  that  was  wholly  sen¬ 
sitive  to  the  requirements  of  the 
story.  Since  this  was  a  fairv  tale, 
the  script  approached  the  fantasy 
with  a  literal  belief  in  the  story’s 
magic,  much  as  a  very  young  child 
might  be  expected  to  do.  A  poeti¬ 
cal,  slightly  archaic  cadence  to  the: 
lines  helped  maintain  the  appro¬ 
priate  story-book  quality. 

The  cast  of  five  was  also  letter 
perfect.  Claire  Bloom,  as  Beauty, 
efiarmed  with  her  air  of  innocence 
and  ourity.  Charlton  Heston,  as 
the  Beast,  also  played  his  role  to 
the  hilt,  an  excellently  contrived 
mask  suggested  both  terror  and 
sympathy,  E.  G,  Marshall,  as 
Beauty’s,  father,  and  June  Lockhart 
and  Barbara  Baxley,  as  her  stwo 
sisters,  contributed  strong  support. 
Settings,  costuming  and  camera--' 
work  were  also  first-rate.  Shirley 
Temple  lent  her  still  child-like 
voice  to  the  between-the-acts  nar¬ 
ration. 

The  dramatization  succeeded  in 
holding  its  spell  even  through  a 
flock  of  commercials.  During  one 
commercial  spot,  there  were  suc¬ 
cessive  brief  plugs  for.  an  Ice 
cream  product,  another  NBC-TV 
show,  a  cigaret  and  a  toothpaste. 

A  pleasing  song,  “Dreams  Are 
Made  For  Children”67  by  Mack 
David  and  Jerry  Livingston,  was 
used  unobtrusively  as  the  theme. 

Herm. 


CONGRESSIONAL  CLOSEUP 
With  Stuart  Novins,  moderator; 

Reps.  Emanuel  Celler,  Albert  P„ 

Moranor,  guests 
Producer:  Michael  Marlow 
Director:  Robert  Goodman 
30  Mins.,  Sat.,  4:30  p,m. 

Sustaining 
WCBS-TV,  N.Y. 

Wi£h  the  start  of  the  second 
session  of  the  85th  Congress, 
WCBS-TV  has.  resumed  its  Infor¬ 
mative  “Congressional  Cioseup” 
which  affords  voters  in  the  N.Y.- 
Conn.-N.J.  area  within  viewing 
distance  of  WCBS-TV  a  chance  to 
check  up  on  the  political  attitudes 
of  their  congressmen  and  senators. 
It  was  an  absorbing,  half-hour 
public  service  series  during  the 
first  session  and  if  Saturday’s  (11) 
broadcast  was  any.  criterion,  this 
presentation  of  the  Public  Affairs 
Dept  of  WCBS-TV  and  WCBS 
Radio  will  continue  to  be  well 
worth  any  viewer’s  time; 

Topic  for  discussion  was  Presi¬ 
dent  Eisenhower’s  State  of  the 
Union  address,  and  on  hand  to 
kick  this  around  were  Reps. 
Emanuel  Celler  (D.-N.Y.)  and 
Albert  P.  Morano  (R.-Conn.).  Rep. 
Celler  felt  that  the  speech  was 
“just  adequate  and  lacked  the 
spark  of  leadership  .  .  .  that’s 
responsible  for  the  nation's  sorry 
state  of  affairs.”  Naturally,  Morano 
differed  on  these  points.  Also  ex¬ 
plored  were  such  controversial 
areas  as’  inter-service  rivalries, 
reciprocal  trade  agreeinents  and 
a  local  .problem  whether  the  non¬ 
resident  should  pay  an  income  tax 
to  New  York  State. 

Deftly  inoderating  the  Session 
was  CBS  newsman  Stuart  No  vine. 
He  tactfully  cooled  off  some  heated 
arguments  between  his  guests  and 
tossed  in  pertinent  queries  of  his 
own.  Perhaps  the  most  amusing 
comment  was  a  Celler  statement 
that  President  Eisenhower  “won’t 
fight  in  the  political  arena,”  and 
charged  the  Chief  executive  with 
failing  to  wield  great  power 
through  patronage.  To  this  Morano 
retorted  he’d  be  pilloried”  if  the 
Democrats  found  out  about  It. 

Program  Is  rebroa&cast  on 
WCBS  Radio  at  9:30  p.m.  the  same 
hveriifafcr*  "  ‘Gilb. 


88  TV-FILMS* 


Wednesday,  Jannary  -  15,  1958 


In Balto  YouCauBe  Sure  If  Its 
Westinghouse?,  WJZ-TV’s  Low-to-Hi 


.  Baltimore,  Jan.  14. 

WJZ-TV,  ABC  outlet  here,  which 
as  WAAM-TV  was  low  station  on 
the  rating  pole  before  Westing- 
house  took  the  reins  four  months 
ago,  is  at  the  top  for  the  second 
straight  month,  according  to  ARB 
ratings  for  December. 

Station  came  up  with  a  .39.0  in 
overall  share  of  sets  in  use  with 
WMAR-TV  (CBS)  showing  in  at 
33.1  and  WBAL-TV  (NBC)  coming 
In  with  a  26.3. 

Significant  was  the  fact  that -the 
channel  led  both  others  ih.  the  6 
p.m.  to  midnight  slots  Sunday 
through  Saturday. 

In.  daytime  slots,  four  of  their 
atrip  programs,  “Early  Show” 
(MGM-RKO  films),  “Buddy  Deane 
Show,”  "Popeye”  and  “Romper 
Room,”  led  the  way. 

While  insiders  at  the  station  are 
hesitant  to  say,  wheels  at.  other 
stations  are  quick  to  state  that  the 
phenomenal  rise  is  due  in  most 
part  to  the  MGM  and  RKO  libraries 
the  channel  bought  when  Westing- 
house  moved  in. 

"Early  Show/’  »with  stripped  and 
sliced  MGM  and  RKO  filnis  de¬ 
livered  cross-the-board  Sunday 
through  Saturday,  begins  slow  in 
the  first  segment  but  in  second  and 
third,  manages  to  swamp  competi¬ 
tion.  And  "Best  of  MGM”  on  Sun¬ 
day  nights  from  8:30  to  10  pm.,  had 
an  average,  of  25,4  and  beat  but 
both  Ed  Sullivan  and  Steve.  Allen. 

It  won’t  last,  say  the  competitors. 
They  contend  that  station  is  zoom¬ 
ing  its  ratings  by  playing  all  the 
cream  during  the  first  months.  The 
cream  Is  thinning  even  now,  they 
say,  and  the  dogs  are  beginning  to 
appear. 

What’s  going  to  happen  when  all 
the'biggles  have  beep  played  and 
replayed  and  the  same  with  the 
dogs?  It  will  last,  say  representa¬ 
tives  of  the  Westinghouse'  chain. 
They  charge  that  rivals  are  quick 


to  point  to  the  libraries  but  skip 
over  the  other  winners,  including 
local,  live  productions,  syndicated 
entries,  and  the  network  bruisers 
such  as :  "Mavericki” 

Fact  is  that  WJZ-TV  does  have 
the  most  impressive  library  in  town 
and  another  fact  is  that  they  are 
giving  them  terrific  play.  However^ 
other  channels  are  not  .  Without 
films.  WMAR-TV  recently  pur¬ 
chased  Warners1  package  of  100 
films  but  station  is  giving  -  them 
only  Spot  showings  Saturday  nights. 

The  “Shock”  series  is  sported  by 
WBAL-TV  and  here  too,  channel 
confines  them  to  Friday  and  Satur¬ 
day  nlght  play.  They  make  healthy 
showings  in  the  ratings,  as  do  the 
WMAR-TV-WB  films,  but  WJZ-TV 
has  the  advantage  in  that  showcas- 
ing  begins  earlier  in  the  day  than 
on  other  channels. 

■‘Early  Show,”  which  has  highest 
ratings  in  library  field,  begins  daily 
at  6  p.m.  Then,  "Late  Show”  opens 
at  10:40  p.m.,  35  minutes  sooner 
than  .’  the  '  five  -  nights  -  per  -  week 
"Channel  Two  Theatre,”  WMAR-TV 
baby. 

When  the  films  are  down  thodgh, 
WJZ-TV  is  up  there.  In  December, 
the  station  led  with  a  232  quarter- 
hour  total,  compared  to  WMAR-TV 
with  153  and  WBAL-TV  with  73. 


Det  WJBK-TY’s  506  RKO’s 

Detroit,  Jan.  14. 

WJBK-TV  has  purchased  an  ad¬ 
ditional  284  RKO  films  bringing 
the  station’s  total  to  506  of  the 
RKO  reels.  These  new  films  will 
be  shown  on  “Nightwatch  Theatre,” 

|  an  11:25  nightly  feature  film  show. 

|  Among  pix  in  the  new  batch  are 
“The  Fallen  Sparrow,”  "Till  the 
End  of  Time,”  "Back  to  Bataan,” 
"Mr.  Lucky”  "The  Big  Sky,” 
"Rachel  and  the  Stranger,”  "Fight¬ 
ing  Father  Dunne,”  "Crossfire,”  "A 
Damsel  in  Distress.” 


TV  Film  Chatter 


CBS  Film  Sales,  in  a  step  to  en¬ 
courage  promotion,  -will  offer  an 
annual  award  for  top  merchandis¬ 
ing  campaign  devised,  for  a  CBS 
Film  series  .  .  .  Phil  Williams, 
newly  appointed  v.p,  in  charge  df 
syndicated  sales  for  ABC  Film 
Syndication,  has  returned  to  N.  Y., 
after  a  series  of  regional  meets 
Lwith  ABC  Film  execs.  He’s  due  to- 
leave  for  the  Coast  shortly  with 
ABC  Film  prez  George  Shupert . ... 
Arthur  E.  Breider,  formerly  of  Ziv, 
has  joined  Metro  TV  as  central 
division  sales  manager  ;  .  .  Fred¬ 
rick  L.  Gilson  named  account  exec 
in  the .;N.i  Y.  offices  of  CBS  Film 
Sales  following  his  completion  of 
the  firm’s,  executive  training  course. 
WOR-TV  is  hypoing  "Follow  the 
Fleet,”  current .  week’s  attraction 
on  “Million  Dollar  Movie,”  by  hav¬ 
ing  the  station’s  afternoon  music 
Ted  Steele  show  feature  a  salute 
to  Irving  Berlin.  Music  for  the  old 
Fred  Astaire-Ginger  Rogers  fea¬ 
ture  was  written  by  Irving  Berlin. 

.  “Twenty-Six  Men”  costars  Tris 
Coffin  and  Kelo  Henderson  to  New 
York  Sunday  (19)  through  the  21st 
for  series  of  personals  for  the  tele¬ 
film  stanza  .  .■  .  Kenneth  Silver 
named  N;Y.  manager  for  Alex¬ 
ander  international  .  .  .  John  Gil* 
mour  to  staff  direction  at  Robert 
Lawrence  Productions  .  .  .  Edward 
T.  Kenner  named  sales  and  service 
veep  for  Pihtoff  productions  .  .  I 
Rene  Mechin  becomes  sales  man¬ 
ager  for  Arthur  Rankin  Jr.  Asso¬ 
ciates,  industrial  film  house,  after 
similar  stint  with  Video.  Crafts. 


39  :Mdre  ‘Silent  Service 

^  Hollywood,  Jan.  14. 

California  National, .  NBC  vld- 
film  subsid,  will  shoot  39  more 
"Silent  Service”  telefilms,  it’s  dis¬ 
closed  here  by  Rob  Cinader,  v.p. 
for  programs  for  CN. 

.  Second  season  for  "Service”  wHl 
see  George  Caban  as  producer. 
Teleplx  go  into  production  the  end 
Of  the-  month.  "Service”  telefilms 
are  syndicated. 


Because  of  its  recent  purchase  of  60  titles  in  Screen'Gems*  ■‘Triple 
Crown”  package  of  cinematics,  Chicago’s  WBBM-TV  has  found  It  ne¬ 
cessary  to  change  the  title  Of  its  principal  feature  film  show  on  Sat-, 
urday  nights.  Formerly  tagged  “Best  of  MGM;”  the  stanza  will  now  be 
known  as  "Best  of  CBS,”  with  the  Universal-International  and  Colum¬ 
bia  oldies  mixed  in  among  the  Metros.  Incidentally,  WBBM-TV  nixed 
the  eight  "Playhouse  90”  rerun’s  in  the;  package  and  culled  60  titles 
from  the  1 12  available,  paying  around  $550,000  for  the  bundle. 


SEA  HUNT 

With  Lloyd  .Bridges,  Whit  Biss  el, 
Peter  Leeds,  Steven  Bitch,  Jack 
Harris,  Tom  Wilde,  Bruce  Wen¬ 
dell;  others 
Producer:  Ivan  Tors 
Director:  Felix  Feist  I 

Writer:  Arthur  Weiss 
Distributor:  Ziv 
30  Mins.,  Sat,  10:30  p.m. 
HOUSEHOLD  FINANCE,  BRIS- 1 
TOE-MYERS 
WCBS-TV,  N.Y. 

(Needham,  Louis.  &  Brorby; 

Doherty,  Clifford,  Steers  & 
Shenfield) 

All  that  was  missing  was  the 
octopus.  The  initialer  (11)  in  this 
Ziv  underwater  sea  saga  had  mqpt 
everything,  else  —  a  downed  jet 
plane  with  a  live  pilot  to  rescue, 
a  frogman  working  against  time, 
a  hovering  boat,  above,  and  In  the 
skies  a  helpful  helicopter. 

With  the  plot  liner  lines  loaded  j 
that  way,  the  half-hour  clicked 
away  quickly,  making  for  a  simple, 1 
good,  action  adventure  drama.  Of 
course,  the  “gimmick”  in  this 
series  is  the  frogman,  competently 
portrayed  by  Lloyd  Bridges,  and 
the  opportunity  of  filming  a  good 
deal  of  underwater  footage  for 
some  unusual  effects. 


There  have  been  only  a  few  un¬ 
derwater  skeins  Rut  into  syndica¬ 
tion,  most  recent  ones  being 
"Sllfent  Service,”  dealing  with  sub¬ 
marine  warfare,  and  "Kingdom  of 
the  Sea.”  a  documentary.  "Silent 
Service”  has  gone  into  second-year 
production,  while  “Kingdom,”  be¬ 


ing  a  documentary,  did  not  fare 
as  well.  Ziv’s  "Sea  Hunt”  should 
join  the  syndication  "gimmick” 
winners,  which,  getting  away  from 
the  sea,  also  includes  “Whirly- 
birds." 

Judging  from  the  preem,  charac¬ 
terizations  will  be  kept  at  the  most 
uncomplicated  level.  Frogman 
Bridges  and  the  supporting  cast 
are  the  stiff-upper-lip  type  of 
heroes  showing  little  of  human 
emotions,  let  alone  fears.  There 
are  many  plot  twists  and  turns  in 
the  scripting  of  Arthur  Weiss 
which  lend  interest.  But  the  real 
attention-getting  factors  in  the 
episode  are  the  unusual  frogman 
occupation,  the  underwater  setting 
and  the  mission  on  hand.  Without 
those  factors,  it  Would  be  just 
another  formula  adventure  outing. 

Technical  advisors  working  with 
producer  Ivan  Tors  and  associate 
producer  John  Flores  Include  Jon 
Lindbergh,  son  of  Col-  Lindbergh, 
who  handles  undersea  assignments 
as  head  of  a  San  Diego  firm.. 

Direction  by  Felix  Feist  helped 
to  get  maximum  suspense  out  of 
the,  preem  situations,  all  stemming 
from  frogman  Bridges’  successful 
attempt . to  rescue  the  downed  jet 
pilot.  Horo. 


Dallas— Murray  C6x,  WFAA’s. 
roving  farm  editor,  will  spearhead 
another  WFAA  Farm  and  Ranch 
Tour  with  departure  date  set  for 
[  July  4.  The  ninth  annual  farm  tour 
will  be  made  to  Hawaii. 


its  increasing  accent  on  feature.  film,  and  WMALtABC, 
Washington  Evening  Star  station,  which  specializes  in 
profit-making  half-hour  syndicated  film. 

WTOP-CBS,  acknowledged  fat  Cat;  on  the  local;  scene, 
boasts  the  largest' and  most  costly— totalling  almost  $1,000,- 
000— purchases  of  feature  pix.  Where  station  hoss  John 
Hayes  is  concerned,  it's  feature  pix.  ill  the  way — or  almost 
that.  far.  But  he  qualifies:  “If  you  use:  feature  film,  use 
the  best” 

Hayes  has  backed  up  this  philosophy  with  such  flashy 
buys  as  a  240-picture  option  on  the  360-piece  Metro  pack¬ 
age.  These/were  introduced  last  fall,  with  appropriate 
hoopla  and  promotion,  on  station’s  latest  film  innovation, 
the  “Early  Show”  in  the  5:30-7  p.  m.  slot.  Altogether,: 
WTOP  reels:  through  18  features  per  week,  with  a  sellout 
nine  months  of  the  year.  At  rate,  of  $150  per  minute  com¬ 
mercial  and  fc  schedule,  of  10  commercials  per  hour  (com¬ 
pared  with  rivals’  pattern  of  12  per  hour),  features  not 
only  pay  for  themselves  on  Channel  9  but  provide  a  com¬ 
fortable  margin  of  profit.  As  of  now,  "Early  Show”  (which 
appeals  to  an  adult  audience,  though,  most  stations  are 
shooting  for  the  moppet  viewers)  is  80%  sold  out>  while 
the  “Late  Show”  (11:15)  is  SRO.  WTOP  is  sole  station 
with  a  “Late,  Late  Show”  (12:30  a.  m.)  Friday  and  Sat¬ 
urday.  All  its  feature  film  shows  are  participating.  e 

WTOP  appears  to  be  successfully  bucking  the  accepted 
truism  that  the  nation’s  capital,  with  its  preponderance 
of  daytime  white  collar  workers,  is  not  a  late  town.  With 
an  average  of  7.2,  .station’s  late  show  has  nearly  con¬ 
sistently  topped  its  competitors,  though  November  Pulse 
ratings  show  WTTG  making  inroads  on  two'  weekday 
nights.  "Early  Show,”  No.  2  for  its  time  period,  aver¬ 
ages  a  10.0  rating. 

Fred  Houwink,  WMAL-ABC  manager,  is  a  strong  advo¬ 
cate  of  the  half-hour  syndicated  film  series,  on  the  other 
hand.  With  a  schedule  of  seven  hours  of  local  program¬ 
ming  daily,  he  finds  that  film  is  the  answer  to  quality 
programming.  "It’s  the  lifeblood  of  the  local  station,” 
he  asserts.  Feature  film?  “There’s  no  future  in  it,” 
is  the  Houwink  appraisal.  He  feels  they  are  overprice, 
and  that  only  a  small  percentage,,  about  one-third,  of 
available  features  are  suitable  for  tv. 

Station  does  buy  features,  but. in  “small,  select”  blocks 
of  never  more  than  50  pix,  from  which  it  garners  three 
runs  per  film.  Its  feature  program  pattern  is  as;  follows: 
Saturday  night^-lst-run;  Sunday  matinee,  2d*ruri;  Friday 
night — 3d-run.  (Washington,  incidentally,  is  -one  of  few 
cities  in  which  distributors  will  open  packages,  partially 
to  stimulate  sales,  but  mostly  because  the  capital  is  con¬ 
sidered  a  good  showcase  for  all  types  of  program.) 

The  WMRI*  accent  on  syndicated  half-hour  films  is 'Ray¬ 
ing  off  in  ratings  and  customers.  With  the  largest  stock¬ 
pile  in  town,  mostly  bought  outright  by  station,  rather 
than  by  client,  WMAL  can  make  any  switch  to  accommo¬ 
date  the  customer.  According  to  Houwink,  th6  half-hour 
shows  that  are  designed  for.  tv  are  “superior”  to  features 
that  are  designed  for;.  theatre.  In  addition,  ‘half-hour  story 
material,  being  more  flexible  and  predictable,  can  tie  in  to 
previous  periods.  As  a  result,.  WMAL  cops  lion’s  share 
of  moppet  audience,  and  a  good  slice  of  top  ratings,  in  the 
6  p.  m.  to  7  p.  m.  period  (with  "Mickey  Mouse”  as  lead- 
in).  Program  plan  is  to  hold  oyer  the  moppets  from 


"Mickey .  Mouse”  with  such  action-adventure  series  as  . 
“Sheena,”  “Foreign  Legionnaire,”  "Sky  King”  "Jungle 
Jim”  and  “Brave  Eagle”  in  the  6  p.  m.  slot,  and  hold  entire 
family  for  6:30  lineup  of  "Three  Musketeers.”  "Judge 
Roy  Bean,”  "Science  Fiction,”  "Soldiers  of  Fortune”  and 
"Frontier  Doctor;”  Latest  Pulse  ratings,  give  station  .11 
quarter-hour  wins,  and  a  consistent  No.  2  average  in  other 
quarter-hour  segments  in  the  6-7  o’clock  period.  It  is 
edged  out  in  some  of  these  periods  by  NBC  News  (Hunt- 
ley  &  Brinkley)  and  by  WTOP’s  "Spotlight,”  both  live 
shows.  It’s  No.  1  ratings  range  from  "Sky  King’S”  aver¬ 
age  of  10  to  “Brave  Eagle ’s”  14  (and  as  high  as  15.1). 

Greatest  success  WMAL.  has  ever  had  in  this  field,  ac¬ 
cording  to  Houwink,  has  been  "Science  Fiction  Theatres.” 
The  78  episodes  in  series  are  now  in  fourth  round  and  : 
still  going  strong  enough  to  garner  14  ratings  in  its  Sun¬ 
day  6:30  ^slot. 

If  the  proof  of  the  programming  is  in  the  cash  register, 
then  WMAL  can  prove  It;  it  has  segued  from  red  to  solid 
black  under  the  Houwink  aegis.  .Streamlined  half-hour 
syndication  schedule/  Inaugurated  past  September,  has 
paid  off  to  tune  of  25%  increase  in  share  of  audience 
from  6  to  11  p.  m.,  and  has  enabled  local  outlet  to  exploit 
to  the  hilt  the:  ABC.  upsurge. 

All  D.  C.  managers  are  agreed  on  the  dim  future  for 
feature  film,  even  when  the  post-1948  films  are  released. 
With  production  cutbacks  in  Hollywood,  the  .supply  62 
grade-A  pix  Is  bound  to  diminish  .  to-  the  point  of  no 
financial  reruns, .  they  agree.  Hayes  predicts  the  end  of 
the  feature  pix  road  in  five-six  years.  ' 

Carleton  Smith,  NBC  v.p,  and  nianager  of  WRC,  says 
flatly,  "We’re  not  heavy  buyers  of  film;”  With  12  local 
spots  per  hour,  he  reports  a  sellout  on  "Tonight”— “far 
better  results’  . ’than  with  the  previous  Steve  Alien  Show. 
He  denies  emphatically  that  station  is  “hung”  with.  "To¬ 
night”  and  the  "Hit  Parade,”  and  says  that  latter,  carried 
live  and  in  color,  is  more  profitable  than  “Safeway  Thea¬ 
tre,”  which  it  replaced.  (Latter  moved  over  to  WMAL. 
this  season  after  eight  years  on  WRQ.) 

Jim  .  Borifils,  WTTG’s  youthful .  new  manager,  agrees 
with  the  others  that  by  the  time  Hollywood  features  run 
dry,  tv  will  have  built  its  own  backlog  of  solid  film  replace¬ 
ments.  Meantime,  he  has  breathed  new  life— and  profits— 
into  an  also-ran  station  with  complete  realignment  of  fea¬ 
tures  (36  hours  per!  week)  and  some  brand  new  ideas. 
For  examplej  the  first-fun  Friday  8  p.  m,’ film  show;  spon¬ 
sored  by  Sealy  Mattress,  broke  through  with  a  15.3  score 
on  latest  Pulse  tabulation,  to  top  CBS' .  "TraekdOwn,” 
NBC’s  "Court  of  Last  Resort,”*  arid  to  match  ABC’s  Frank 
Sinatra  Show. 

Borifils,  who  frequently  scrapes  the  bottom  of  the  fea¬ 
ture  film  barrel— and  sells  at:  favorable  fates— comes  up 
with  the  interesting  observation  that  "features  are  cheaper 
than  syndicated  half-hour  packages.”  With  87  out  of 
100  weekly  viewing  hours  to  filjn,  however,  Bohfils,  an 
ex-film  salesman  himself,  faces  the  vidpix  future  with 
confidence  that  there  will  always  be  enough  for  hl$  ample 
needs. 

His  latest  innovation,  incidentally,  is  to  beat  the  com¬ 
petition  to  the  starting,  line  by  teeing  off  the  late  show 
at  11  p.  m.,  on  the  nose,  dropping  the  conventional  15 
minute,  news  and  sports  lead-in.  This  has  paid,  off,  with 


ratings  ripped  from  4  to  12,  and  With  two  wins  (Wednesday 
&  Thursday)  on.  new  Pulse  figures. 

Though  WMAL  tops  the  field  in  use  of  30-minute  syn¬ 
dications,  It  has  plenty  of  coinpetitioh  breathing  down  its 
channel.'  WRC,  which  will  move  into  its  plush  new 
building  early  this  year,.  Is  currently  in  process  of  re¬ 
scheduling  the  7  p.  m.  segment  to  replace  KellOgg-spon- 
Bored  "Superman,”  which  recently  switched,  to  ABC. 
Smith  plans  a  different  property  each  evening,  with  “Death: 
Valley  Days,”  "Last  of  Mohicans’  ’and  "Boots  and  Sad¬ 
dles”  already  running.  Smith  is  currently  shopping  for 
properties  to  fill  the  Tuesday,  Thursday  and  Saturday  gaps. 
Meantime,  WRC  is  sole  station  with  plans  for  appreciably 
expanding  its  already  record  number  of  live  shows,  It 
recently  added  a  local  morning  quiz  show;  boasts  Its  suc¬ 
cessful  "Sam.  and  Frierids,”  whose  "Muppets”  have  re¬ 
ceived  extensive  network  .exposure  in  guest,  stints;  and  is 
sole  area  station  with  three  fenne  personalities.^: 

WTOPjJirilike  the  other  three  stations.;  owns  only  two 
syndlcatea  half-hour  series — "Casey  JoneS”  and  "Stu 
Erwin.”  Most  of  the  eight  to  10  syndications  it  aver¬ 
ages  Weekly  are  client-owned.  Buying  too  many  syndica¬ 
tions,  according  to  Hayes,  "can  give  you  holes  in  your 
soul/* 

WTTG's  Bonfils  finds  "fewer  sponsors  for  half-hour 
shows  than  in  most  comparable  markets,”  but  . admits  syn¬ 
dications  are  good  for  certain  time  slots— 7-8  p.  in.  for  his 
station;  ,  He  has  had  most  success  with;  "San  Francisco 
Beat,”  “Whlrlybirds,”  "Big  Story”  and  "Sword  of  Free¬ 
dom,”  His  stockpile  Of  34  station-owned  half-hour  series 
now  includes  “Badge  714,”  soon  to  be  added  to  Weekly 
Schedule. 

Barter  deals  on  vidpix?  The  score  Is  2-2.  WTjQP  and 
WTTG  haye  firm  ,  "thumbs-down”  policies  on  practice. 
WRC’s  Smith  says  "it’s  hard  to  generalize”  and  has  gone 
Into  limited  number  of  such  deals.  WMAL’s  Houwink 
states  emphatically:  "Only  bad  barter  deals  are  eyiL” 
He  barters  almost  as  freely  as  he  buys,  but  only  pn  the 
basis  of  time  exactly  equal  to  true  Value  of  film  on  open 
market. 

^  Stripping?  All  managers  agree  shortage  of  product 
:  poses  a  problem,  but  disagree  on  value  of  this  type  of 
scheduling.  WTOP  dropped  stripping  with  Its  heavy, 
purchase  of  feature  filni.  WMAL  has  also  given  it  dp  on 
theory  that  "key  time  periods  are  too  valuable  to  utilize 
with  strip  shows.”  WRC  strips  only  "Susie.”  With  lat-. 
ter’s  130  episodes,  mariager  Smith  points  out  it  ean.be 
stripped  in  a.  m.  and  still  be  used  at  night.  WTTG  firids 
stripping  good  for  comedies,  and  strips  five  series; 

Interesting  angle  in  this  film  wonderland  Is  the  stand¬ 
out  ratings  of  some  local  live  shows..  WTTG’s  "Milt 
Grant”  has  copped  more  than  double  the  ratings  of  near-, 
est  competitor  in  its  period  (5-5:15).  almost  from  its 
Inception-  Furthermore,  it  rates  the  flattery  of  imitation. 
WTOP  recently  preemed  a  similar  :  juVe  dance-music  show; 
"Sock  Hop,”  and  WMAL  debuted  its  own  version,  “Prome¬ 
nade,”  tingled  for  young  adults,  Jan.  Iff,  replacing  the  late 
feature  film  (11:20).  In  addition,  WMAL  replaces  its 
Sunday  night  film  with  a  live  jazz^show'  "Night  Cap,” 
starting  Jan.  26.  WTOP’s  "Spotlight,”  featuring  popular 
disk  jockey  Eddie  Gallajgher,  gets  top  ratings  (average  IQ) 
at  6:30-6:45  p.  m. 


ALLTHE 


GREATEST 

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Wednesday,  January  15,  1958 


CRUSADER 

sUtrrmg 

Brian  Keith 

Drama 

52  half  hours  '  ' 


ROSEMARY  CLOONEY 
SHOW 

starring 

Rosemary  Clooney 

*  Musical  Variety: 

39  haft  hours 


MAN  BEHIND 
THE 
BADGE 

starring' 

Charles  Bickford 

Drama 
39  half  hours 


STATE  TROOPER 

starring!  . 

Rod  <Jameron 

Mystery-Adventure 
78' half  hours'  • 


Western  Features 

'Starring'' 

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"  hoqi^kag  features ' 


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Wednesday,  January  15*  1958 


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Mike  Hammer 

starring ' 

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Mystery-Adventure 
89  half  hours 


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star  ing 

John  Russell 
and  Chick  Chandler 

Adventure 
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DR.  HUDSON’S 
■  SECRET 
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Starring  [  ^  - 

John  Howard 

Drama  v  \  •  - 
78  half  hours  1 


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Wednesday,  Jannary  15,  1958 


STARRING 


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Wednesday,  January  IS,  1958 


RADIO-TELEVISION 


Uanie  Wants  If 


Concern  oyer  Manie  Sacks;  NBC  Veepee,  who  has  been,  serious-, 
l  y  ill  at  Einstein  Medical  Center  ia  Philadelphia,  is  perhaps  best 
reflected  ip  the  column  written  in  the  Philadelphia  Daily  News 
last  Week  by  staffer.  Jerry  Gaghan  (who  is'also  Philly  correspondent 
for:  Variety.  Wrote  Gaghan,  who  has  been  ah  intimate  friend  of 
Sicks  for  26  years: 

The  long  distance  calls  come  from  Hollywood,  London,  Las 
Vegas,  Miami  and  New  York,  all  the  glittering  places  where'  show 
people  congregate.  They  pour  in,  sometimes  as  many  as  a  hundred 
a  day,  to  the  telephone  exchange  at  the  Einstein  Medical  Center’s 
northern  division. 

The  sudden  interest  of  the  entertainment  world  in  our  uptowh  . 
hospital  can  be  explained  in  two  4words—  “Manie  Sacks.’*  The  NBC 
vice  president,  who  lieads  up  the  network’s  talent  and  programs, 
is  resting  at  the  Medical  Center  after  recovering  from  a  virus  ail¬ 
ment.  * 

Their  concern  is  genuine.  “Manie;”  as  he  is  known  by  every¬ 
body  from  the  chairman  of  the  board  at  RCA  to  the  kids  next  door, 
is  a  unique  figure  in  show  business.  In  the  dog-eat-dog  scramble 
that  attends  the  buying  and  selling  of  talent,  he  operates  with 
such  Old-fashioned  methods  as  loyalty,  friendships  and  unselfish¬ 
ness.'  v  . 

That  these  high-sounding  virtues  are  not  without  merit,  in  the 
business  world  can  be  attested  by  the  tremendous  deals  Involving 
top  name  stars  that  “Manie”'  £as  engineered— Jack  Benny,  Per¬ 
ry  Como,  Dinah  Shore,  to  name  a-  few:  Network  allegiances  have 
been  shifted  or  maintained,  oftentimes  for  a  reason  as  simple  as 
“Manie  wants  it.” 

.To  insure  complete  rest  for  the  network  exec,  the  doctors  had 
a  standing  order  “no  visitors.”  The  other  afternoon  this  rule  was. 
broken  by  a  young  man/on  the  thin  side^who  stopped  at  the  re¬ 
ception  desk.  /Must  say,  Frank  Sinatra*  is  calling/’  he  told  the  girl. 
The  ’two  are  close  friends.  “Manie”  acts  as  trustee  for  Frank’s 
youngsters.  And.  Philadelphians,  of  course,  will  remember  Sacks 
as  the  impresario  for  the  Frank  and  Ava  nuptials  in  Germantown 
in  the  fall  of  1951. 

Despite  his  continual  shuttling  between  Hollywood  and  Man¬ 
hattan,  this  city  is  home  to  Sacks.  He  manages  to  spend  every  pos¬ 
sible  Weekend  here  with  Phis  81-year-old  mother. 

NoOutforOutler 


Vet  WSB  Chief  and  Industry  Leader  Has  His* 
Own  Ideas  About  ‘Retirement^ 


Fund  to  Offset  Bum  Plress  Rap 


Atlanta,  Jan.  1$.. 

John  Outler*  Jr.,  general  man¬ 
ager  of  WSB  AM  &  FM  and  TV, 
who  hung  up  his  gloves  upon 
reaching  the  age  of  retirement,  has 
revealed  his  plans  to  start  a^  new 
career  aimed  at,  you  guessed  it, 
promoting  radio  and  tv.  ‘’They  may 
think  they’re  getting  rid  .  of  me— 
but  they  ain’t,”  said  Outler.  “I’m 
hot  going  to  quit.” 

Outler  already  has.  started  on 
this  new  career  via  a  key  post  with 
the  Georgia  Association  of  Broad¬ 
casters,  which  will  keep  him  busy 
within  the  industry,  speech-mak¬ 
ing,  calling  on  radio  and  tv  stations 
throughout  the  state  and  the  U.S. 

His  principal  aim,  he  says,  will 
be  to  instill  the  philosophy  he  prac¬ 
ticed  during  the  25  years  he  was 
With  WSB: 

“As  an  essential  and  Integral 
part  of  home  and  community  life, 
broadcasting  is  deserving  of  a  lo¬ 
cation  on  the  main  street  of  the 
town — just  as  a  bank,  or  a  church, 
or  even  a  newspaper.” 

first  thing  Outler  has  on  his 
agenda  is  to  light  out  for  Phoenix, 
Ariz.,  where  he  will  attend  the 
meeting  of  the  National  Assn.,  of 
Broadcasters. 

Outler  is  a  real  pioneer  in  broad¬ 
casting  industry,  having  been  asso¬ 
ciated  with  WSB  .  since  1929.  After 
two  years  of  reporting  for  The 
Augusta  (Ga.,)  Herald  he  became 
(Continued  on  page  48) 

Shape  TAC  Spec 
To  Fit  Bra  Coin 

Exquisite  Form  Bras  and  the 
Grey  agency  have  signed  the  re¬ 
cently-formed  Jack  Bertell-John 
Greenhut  Teleyision  Artists  Corp. 
to  package  one  of  its  two  reman¬ 
ing  one-hour  specials  on  NBC-TV. 
Brassiere  firm  had  an  original  com¬ 
mitment  with  the  web  to  sponsor 
three  one-hour  specials 'from  Las 
Vegas,  but  dropped  the  Vegas  idea 
after  one  show  while  still  com¬ 
mitted  to  come  up  with  two  more.  . 

TAC  entry  will  be  a  musical 
revue  type,  with  columnist  Earl 
Wilson  as  host  and  Joel  Spector 
as  producer.  Show  has  tentatively 
been  slotted  for  April  18  at  8:30 
to  9:30, 


Sheen  live’  for  Kines 

Philadelphia,  Jan.  14. 

Bishop  Fulton  J.  Slieen  will  per¬ 
sonally  conduct  a  live,  exclusive  tv 
session  from  the  studios  of  WVUE 
Saturday  (18)  to  kickoff  “Life  Is 
Worth  Living”  package,  containing 
the  best  of  his  network  programs. 
Half-hour :  kinnies  will  be  shown 
on  twice-weekly  basis,  Sundays  at 
7  p.m.  and  Tuesdays  at  9:30  p.m. 

^  The  subject  of  Bishop  Sheen’s 
live  appearance  has  not  been  an¬ 
nounced. 

Gulf  Wants  Half 
Of  ‘Maverick’; 
Up  to  Kaiser 

Gulf  Oil  has  a  $4,000,000  televi¬ 
sion  budget  kicking  around  and  its 
agency.  Young  &  Rublcam,  is  Cur¬ 
rently  in  the  throes  of  shopping 
around  for  time  and  program,  avail¬ 
abilities.  Gulf  for  some  months 
had  been  sitting  on  the  tv  sidelines 
of  “Life  of  Riley”  on  NBC-TV,  but 
It  is  now  ready  to  cilmb  aboard  the 
video  bandwagon  again.  / 

It’s  understood  that  G  u  1  f 
wouldn’t  be  averse  to  sinking  the 
whole  $4,000,000  in  a  half-sponsor¬ 
ship  stake  in  ABG-TV’s  Sunday 
night  “Maverick,”  which,  by  virtue 
of  tossing  Steve  Allen,  Ed  Sullivan 
and  Jack  Benny  for  a  Trendex  loss,, 
is  probably  the  standout  new  hit  of 
the  season.  Whether  .it  can  latch 
on  -to  the  show  will  depend  on 
Kaiser’s  willingness  to  give  up  a 
half-interest.  Since  Kaiser  also  op-: 
erates  Cut  of  the  same  agency,  it’s 
strictly  a  Y  &  R  affair. 

Familiarity  Brews  Content 

Pittsburgh,  Jan.  14.  * 

Pittsburgh  Brewing  Go.  has  re¬ 
newed  Paul  Long,  newcaster  on 
KDKA  Radio,  for  the  12th  straight 
year. 

Long  first  went  on  for  the  local 
sudser  in’  1946  and  is  now  doing 
a  pair  of  strips  daily  for  them,  the 
first  from  6:05  to  6:15  and  the 
other  for  10  minutes  at  11:05. 


In  an  industry  as  notorious  as 
network  television  -fop ;  the  rapid 
turnover  of  its  programming,  it  may 
come  as  a  surprise  thaf  fledrly  26% 
of  the  three-network  nighttime 
schedule  consists  of  shows  which 
have  been  on  the  air  for  five  or 
mere  full  seasons.  Fact,  though 
overlooked  by  most  observers  out¬ 
side  the  industry  and  many  within, 
is  nonetheless  true  and  indicates 
that  there  is  a  central  core  t>f  sta¬ 
bility  to  network  programming  Res¬ 
pite  the  sometimes  frenzied  wave 
of.  cancellations  and  -the  accom¬ 
panying  gfbans  about  the  short  life 
,of  tv  properties. 

By  actual  count,  there  are  a  total 
of  20  programs  on  the  three  webs 
which  are  currently  in  their  sixth 
consecutive  season,  and  this. comes 
to  exactly  17%  of  the  three-network 
total  of  nighttime  programs.  Actu¬ 
ally,  the  high  program  turnover  in 
the  rebuilding  of  ABC-TV  tends  to 
weight  the  picture  downward,  since 
at  CBS  the  five-year  vets  comprise 
21%  of  the  nighttime  schedule,  at 
NBC  18%  and  at  ABG,only  11%. 
The  combined  CBS-NBC  average  is 
19.7%,  or  16  out  of  81  programs. 

Use  of  the  five-year  term  is 
merely  arbitrary,  and  if  the  stand¬ 
ard  of  four  years  were  to  be  used, 
the  total  would  swell  near  25%; 
three  years,  well  -above  ,  35%.  But 
the  five-year  standard  pinpoints 
dramatically  the  surpassing  stability 
the  industry  does  have,  in  spite  of 
its.  insatiable  appetite  for  material 
and  new  personalities. 

Moreover,  the  stability  ,  extehds 
to  sponsor  loyalties  as  well.  Fully 
half  of  the  20  shows  still  retain 
their  original  sponsorship  of  six 
seasons  ago;  three-fourths  have  at 
least  one  of  their  original  sponsors; 
only  five  have  undergone  complete 
sponsorship  changes.  , 

Three-Web  Vets 

List  of  the  charmed  circle  of  tv 
vets,  starting  with  ABC,  follows; 

ABC-— “You  Asked  for  It”,  (origi¬ 
nal  sponsor,  Skippy  Peanut  Butter),. 
“Voice  of  Firestone”  ((original 
sponsor),  “Ozzie  &  Harriet”  and 
“Wednesday  Night  Fights.’’  (“Fire¬ 
stone"  and  “Fights”  both  switched 
to  ABC  from  other  webs  but  have 
been~  on'  the  air  continuously  for 
more  than  five  years). 

CBS— “Jack  Benny”  (original 
sponsor,  Lucky  Strike);  “Talent 
Scouts”  (original  sponsors,’.  Lipton 
and  Toni),  “Schlitz  Playhouse” 
(original  sponsor),  “Studio  One” 
(original  sponsor,  Westinghouse), 
“I’ve  Got  a  Secret”  (original  spon¬ 
sor,  R,  J.  Reynolds),  Ed  Sullivan 
(half  original  sponsorship.  Mer¬ 
cury),  “What’s  My  Line,”  (half  orig¬ 
inal  sponsorship,  .Jules  Montenier. 
now  part  of  Helene  Curtis),  “Burns 
&  Allen”  half  original  sponsorship,’ 
Carnation),  Red  Skelton. 

NBC— “Kraft  Theatre”  (original 
sponsor),  /‘Gillette  Friday  Night 
Fights”  (original  sponsor),  “Ypur 
Hit  Parade”  (original  sponsor, 
American  Tobacco),  Groucho  Marx 
(half  original  sponsorship,  Ply- 
mouth-DeSoto),  “Dragnet”.*  (half 
original  sponsorship,  Liggett  & 
Myers),  “Life  of  Riley”  and  “This 
Is  Your  Life.” 


An  Old  Tribal  Custom 

African  natives,  now  accus¬ 
tomed;  to  touring  American 
camera  units  shooting  location 
footage;  have  reached  the 
point  where  they’ve  organized 
and  set  rigid  paymentjacales 
for  work  before  the  cameras, 
even  to  the.  extent  of  having 
different  scales  for  different 
tribes  in  the  same  area.  ^ 

So  reports  Gil  Ralston,  pro¬ 
ducer  on  Lowell  Thomas* 
r  “High  Adventure”  series  on 
UBS.  But  the  topper,  accord¬ 
ing  t<LRalston,  just  back  from 
location  shooting  in  the  Bel¬ 
gian  Congo,  came  when  the 
.  spokesman  for  members  of  a 
pygmy  tribe  asked  if  they 
were  to  be  paid  extra  for 
reruns. 


Bing’s  Long  Jieach  AM’er 

*  Hollywood,  Jan.  14. 

Bing  Crosby  added  another  prop¬ 
erty  to  his  string  of  investments  as 
one  of  the  ne.v  owners  of  KFOX, 
radio  station  In  nearby  Long 
Beach. 

His  partner  in  the  project  is 
Kenyon  Brown,  who  with  Crosby 
and  others  in  a  syndicate  recently’ 
bought  KCOP,  telestation  in  Hol¬ 
lywood. 

Arlene  Francis 
Ankles  Daytime; 


Arlene  Francis  and  NBC-TV 
have  decided  to  call  it  quits  on  her 
“Arlene;  Francis  .Show”  daytime 
strip,  and  the  web  has  agreed  to 
finance  the  pilot  of  a  new  half- 
hour  nighttime  show  for  her  in¬ 
stead.  .  Decision  to  Cancel  the  day- 
timer,  which  replaced  half  of  her 
old  “Home”  vehicle  at  10  to  10:30 
cros#-the-bpard,  was  a  mutual  one; 
combination  of  low  ratings,  plus 
physical  strain,  on  Miss  Francis, 
plus  her  desire  to  devote  more 
time  on  the  new  nighttime  prop¬ 
erty,  .  were  responsible. 

No  Cancellation  date  has  been 
set  on  the  daytimer  yet;  .  It’s  to  be¬ 
at NBC’s  convenience  and  is  ex¬ 
pected  to  be  around  the  middle 
Of  next  month.  NBC  hasn’t  made 
a  choice  of  a  replacement,  but  has 
narrowed  the  field  to  three  audi¬ 
ence  participation  shows,  two  of 
them  being  packaged  in  New  York 
and  one  on  the  Coast.  Joe  Cates 
and  Barry  &  Enright  reportedly 
are  the  Gotham  packagers  invol¬ 
ved.  Web  hopes  to  make  a  choice 
within  two  weeks. 

New  nighttime  package,  still  un¬ 
titled;  is  described  as  a  “comedy 
with  dramatic  overtones,”  with 
Miss  Francis,  who  owns  the  pack¬ 
age,  playing  a  running  part  rather 
than  merely  hosting.  It’s  being 
produced  by  Martin  Goodman,  her 
manager,  and  scripted  by  David 
Shaw.  Goodman  hasn’t  set  a  pro¬ 
duction  date  on  the  pilot  yet,  but 
NBC  wants  it  in  the  can  by  March 
1,  in  time  for  the  spring  selling 
season,  so  that  actual  filming  is 
only  a  matter  of  weeks  away.  NBC 
will  finance  the  pilot  100%. 

“Arlene  Francis  flhow”  has  been, 
on  for  only  five  months,  haying 
started  In  August  as  one  of  the 
“Home”  replacements.  Miss  Fran¬ 
cis  has  been  plagued  by.  physical 
injuries  (a:  broken  leg),  for  one 
thing,  and.  more  importantly  from 
NBC’s  viewpoint,  the  program 
hasn’t  been  able  to  pick  up  audi¬ 
ence  in  pace  with  the  rest  of  the 
NBC  daytime  lineup. 

Hailey’s  medicine’ 

2-Parter  as  90-Min. 
One-Shot  On  BBC-TV 

Arthur  Hailey’s  “No  Deadly 
Medicine,”  done  last  month  as  a 
two-parter  on  “Studio  One,”  has 
been  purchased  by  the  British 
Broadcasting  Corp.,  for  spring 
production  as  a  90-minute  play. 
Though  BBC-TV  has  presented 
seven  Hailey  works  before,  all  but 
one.  have  been  kinescopes  of  the 
Canadian  Broadcasting  Cdrp/s 
productions.  Until  the  deal  for 
“Medicine,”  the  only  live  BBC  tel¬ 
ecast  of  a  Hailey  play  was  “The 
Transmogrification  of  Chester,” 
done  last  month 

Hailey  is  due  to  go  to  London 
ini  mid-April  to  research  a  new 
teleplay  at  Scotland  Yard,  and  it’s 
possible  he’ll  do  the  necessary  cut¬ 
ting  on  “MedictaS”  to  get  It  down 
to  the  90  minutes.  However,  be* 
cause  of;  the  commercials  and  the 
recapitulation  in  the  “Studio  One” 
version,  only  four  to  six  minutes 
will  actually  have  to  be  cut. 


Televised  boxing  has  been  get¬ 
ting  the  one-two  from  dozens  of 
widely-read  sportswriters.  To 
soften  accusations  of  dullness  and 
cheapness  and,  in  a  more  positive 
vein,  to  simply  build  audiences, 
one  of  the  two  boxing  stanzas  now 
on  Web  television  is  about  to  kick 
off  a  $l,000-a-week  publicity  binge. 

The  producer  and  the  co-spon¬ 
sors  of.  the  Wednesday  night  fights 
on  ABC-TV  are  forking  out  the 
publicity  coin;  This  Is  in  addition 
to  regular  network  publicity  cov¬ 
erage. 

Mennen  and  Miles  Labs  and  Les¬ 
ter  Malitzr  the  producer,  gave  the 
nod  to  Communications  Counsel¬ 
lors  Inc.,  the  McCann-Erickson 
publicity  artn.  Some  time  ago. 
News  Alliance  handled  publicity 
for  the  fights,  but  it  has  been  a 
few  years  since  boxing  sponsors 
have  paid  their  own  flack  freight 

Apart  from  the  cynical  press 
notices  and  the  dearth  of  top 
pugilistic  ;  talent,  the  tv  boxing 
bouts,  both  those  on  ABC  and  the 
Friday  night  Gillette  fisticuffs  on 
NBC*  are  off  over  the  past  three 
years  in  their  ratings.  There,  has 
been  a  slow  but  generally  steady 
decline  in  the  viewing  audience,  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  Nielsen  October, 
March  and  July  ratings  for  1955 
(  when  the  Wednesday  night  fights 
were  on  CBS),  ;1956  and  1957. 
However,  the' dropoff  is  not  totally 
consistent*  producer  Malitz  point¬ 
ed  out  that  the  latest  November 
report  for  ABC  fights,  even  against 
“Annie  Get  Your,  Gun,”  were  no 
more  than  a  point  behind  the  same 
time: in  1956.  What  he  did  stress, 
and  what  the  International  Boxing 
Club  previously  stressed,  is  re¬ 
gardless  the  ratings/  the  fights  sell 
goods. 

Renewals  by  Mennen  and  Miles 
with  Malitz  are  due  .  shortly,  Botb 
sponsors  indicated  a  satisfaction 
with  the  show,  and  the  producer 
said  he  expected  them  to  renew. 
Officials  of  Maxon,  agency,  for  Gil¬ 
lette  on  NBC,  could  not  be  reached 
for  comment. 

Cost  of  the  fights  on  ABC  is  about 
$23,000  a  week  and,  as  is  also  the 
case  with  NBC  fighters,  a  special 
kitty  has  tu  be  laid  aside  above  that 
amount  to  pay  for  championship 
matches.  ‘ 

CBS  Radio  Grabs 
Off  300G  Billings 

CBS  Radio  landed  a  $300,000 
gross  deal  last  week  from  Charles 
Pfizer  &  Co.,  the  ethical  drug 
house,  via  the  12-week  purchase 
of  eight  weekly  7&-minute  day¬ 
time  units  and  four  weekly  five- 
miimte  “impact  plan”  nighttime- 
weekend  segments.  Deal,*  set  via 
Dowd,  Redfield  &  Johnstone,  be¬ 
gins  this  week. 

At  the  same  time,  the  network 
did  some  fast  reshuffling  on  tht 
program  front  With  Longines- 
Wittnauer  cutting  back  Its  Sunday 
“Syniphonette”  to  "a  half-hour 
after  trying  an  hojjr  form  at  for 
about  a  month,  the  network  in¬ 
stalled  Dick  Haymes  in  a  music- 
and-chatter  format  Sundays  at 
2:Q5  to  2:30  p.m.  to  take  over  the 
Lorigines  period.  At  night, 
“Answer  Please,”  a  new  show 
starring  Walter  Crorikite  in  replies 
to  listeners’  letters,  has  bedft  in¬ 
stalled  at  7:30  to  7:45  cross-the- 
board,  with  the  plan  for  a  night¬ 
time  version  of  the  new  “The 
Couple  Next  Door”,  daytimer  can¬ 
celled  after  one  week.  “Answer 
Please”  slotting  cuts  “Amos  *n’ 
Andy  Music  Hall”  back  to  7  to 
7:30  -p.m. 

MB’s  Peak  2,196  Roster 

Washington,  Jan.  14. 

Membership  of  the  National 
Assn,  of  Broadcasters  is  now.  at 
an  all-time  high,  with  2,196  station, 
network  and  associate  members. 
Roster  includes  1,415  AM  stations, 
337  FM’s,  319  tv  outlets,  four  ra¬ 
dio  and  three  tv  network*,  and  118 
I  associates. 


WednM&y,  Jaiilrjr  15,  1958 


1MW 


fti&BEff 


*5 


83^ 

WAYS 

TO 

FEEL 

GOOD 


r  S  jf  r  .  ■  Vf'I  V!  E  i  Ilf/ 

..iis  '  .'f  i-uiir  -■.  .iw,;:  : 
:>i:  r  t  hey  make  y  .  i. 

•JS  ’  i'  t  i :  ( *  (  T<  -  ;i!  J  \  ■ 

k  f.uriy  bi  igi:- 


El 


AWARDS  WON, BY  McCANN-EfilCKSON,  1957 

American  institute  of  Graphic  Arts/5  selections  in  “50Best  Ads  of  the  Year’* 
American  Rayon  Institute  Jnc. 

The  Coca-Cola  Company 

Columbia  Records 

Esso  Standard  Oil  Company 

American  Institute  qf  Graphic  Arts/Certificate  of  Excellence 
Westinghouse  Electric  Carp. 

Printing  Trades  Exhibit/Award  of  Special  Merit 
Westinghouse  Electric  Corp. 

Cleveland  Advertising  Club/Performance Award 
The  Ohio  Bell  Telephone  Co. 

Cleveland  Advertising  Club/2  Performance  Awards 
The  Standard  Oil  Co.  (Ohio) 

1957  Editor  and  Publisher  ROP  Color  Awards/lst  Prize— Full  Color  (newspaper) 

Anderson,  Clayton  &  Co. 

1957  Editor  and  Publisher  ROP  Color  Awards/T wo-Coior  Award 
The  Carter  Oil  Company 

Art  Directors  Club  of  Chicago/3  Awards  (posters) 

The  Standard  Oil  Co.  , (Ohio) 

Art  Directors  Club  of  Chicago/lst  Prize  (TV  Commercial)1 
The  Standard  Oil  Co.  (Ohio) 

Art  Directors  Club  of  Chicago/Merit  Award 

The  Commission  for  Green  Olive  Advertising 

International  Association  of  Cboperatives/lst  Prize  (brochures) 

Diamond  Walnut  Growers,  Inc. 

Mead  Papers,  lnc./“A  top  award”  in  national  competition  (4-color,  magazines)  «- 

Diamond  Walnut  Growers,  Inc. 

National  1957  Direct  Mail  Advertising  Association  Annual  Contest/2  Awards,  Direct 
Mail  Programs  for  Automotive  Industry 

Chrysler  Corporation  (Chrysler  Division ). 

Best  Direct  Mail  Campaigns  of  1957/2  Selections! 

Esso  Standard  Oil  Company 
Chrysler  Corporation  (Chrysler  Division) 

Art  Directors  Club  of  Detroit/3  Silver  Medals 
Chrysler  Corporation  ( Chrysler  Division ) 

Art  Directors.Club j of  Detroit/2  Silver  Medals 

Chrysler  Corporation  (Chrysler  Division ) 

Financial  Wbrld/Best  “Annual  Report  Ad"  for  industrial  manufacturing  compani 
Temco  Aircraft  Corp. 

Financial  World/Bronze  “Oscar  of  Industry”  for  Annual  Report 
Com  Products  Sales  Cot 

Metronome  Year  Bbok/"Creatibn  of  musical  worth  of  a  jazz  nature"  ' 

National  Biscuit  Co . 

Negro  Market  Poster  Display  Contest/Brandford  Award  for  best  Point-of-Sale  Poster 

The  Coca-Cola  Company 

Western  Advertising  Art  Awartfs/TV  Award  of  Excellence 
Standard  Oil  Co.  (New  Jersey) 

Western  Advertising  Art  Awards/TV  Award  bf  Merit 

Standard.  Oil  Co:  (New  Jersey) 

Sponsor  Magazine/Selection  among  top  ten  TV  commercials  of  1956 

Liggett  &  Myers  TobaccoCo.  (Chesterfield  Cigarettes) 

Advertising  Age/Selection  among  best  TV  commercialsrof  1956 

Liggett  &  Myers  Tobacco  Co.  (Chesterfield  Cigarettes) 

Exhibition  of  Printing  by  N.Y.  Employing  Printers  Association/Award  of  Special  Merit 
Enjay  Company,  Inc. 

Tide  Magazine/Selection  in  “Best  Advertising  of  1956”  (magazines) 

Chrysler  Corporation 

Advertising  Age  Panel  of  Advertising  Women/SeleCtion  among  “Outstanding 
Advertising  companies  of  1956”  (magazines) 

Chrysler  Corporation  ( Chrysler  Division)  , 

Lithographers'  National  Association  Annual  Awards  Competition/Certificate  of 
Award  for  Calendar  * 

Esso  Standard  Oil  Company  V 

National  Exhibition  of  Outdoor  Advertising  Art/First  Award  in  Soft  DrinkClassificatior^ 

The  Coca-Cola  Company 

National  Exhibition  of  Outdoor  Advertising  Art/Second  and  Third  Awards  ! 
Gasolines  and  Oils  Classification 
The  Standard  Oil  Co.  (Ohio) 

Natl,ExhibitionOutdoorAdvertisingArt/2ndAwardinAuto  Accessories  Classification 

Atlas  Supply  Co.  , 

National  Exhibition  of  Outdoor  Advertising  Art/First  Award  in  Beers  Classification 
Stegmaier  Brewing  Co. 

National  Exhibition  of  Outdoor  Advertising  Art/6  Additional  Selections  in  “100 
Best  Posters  of  1956" 

Atlas  Supply  Co. 

The  Coca-Cola  Company 
Esso  Standard  Oil.Compdny 
The  Standard  Oil  Co.  ( Ohio ) 

West  Coast  Exhibition  of  Advertising  &  Editorial  Art  (Los  Angeles)/Award  of 
Distinctive  Merit  for  TV  Commercials 
Standard  Oil  Co..  (New  Jersey) 

Society  of  Typographic  Arts  30th  Annual  Design  in  Printing  Exhibition/Selection  as 
one  of  “Outstanding  advertisements  in  Chicago  area"  (magazine) 

The  Comnionon  for  Green  Olive.  Advertising 

Associated  Business  Publications  Annual  Awards/lst  Award  “for  advertising 
Introducing  new  products  or  new  packing”  < 

Westinghouse  Electric  Corp. 

Associated  Business  Publications  Annual  Awards/Award  of  Merit  "for  advertising 
to  merchandise  consumer  advertising  to  the  trade” 

Donahue  Sales  Corp. 

Associated  Business  Publications  Annual  Awards/First  Award  “for  advertising  to- 
sell  services,  equipment  arid  products  not  for  resale" 

Gilbert  &  Barker  Mfg.  Co. 

Associated  Business  Publications  Annual  Awards/Award  of  Merit  “for  advertising, 
to  sell  services,  equipment,  and  products  not  for  resale” 

Talonflnc, 

Saturday  Review  Arinual  Awards/Award  for  “distinguished  advertising  In  the 
public  interest”  (magazines) 

John  Hancock  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Co. 

Saturday  Review  Annual  Awards/Award  for  "distinguished  advertising  in  the 
public  interest”  (magazines) 

Esso  Research  and  Engineering  Co. 

Saturday  Review  Annual  Awards/Award  for  “distinguished  advertising  In  the 
public  interest"  (magazines) 

Owens-Coming  Fiberglas  Corp.  ■> 

Saturday  Review  Annual  Awards/Award  to  "Disneyland”  as  a  top  TV  program 
which  “in  both  content  and  execution”  serves  the  public  interest 
Derby  Foods,  Inc. 

Greater  Philadelphia  Fuel  Conference/public  Service  Award  tor  safety  campaign 
Esso  Standard  OH  Company 

National  Safety  Council/Alfred  P.  Sloan  Award  for  promoting  highway  safety 
Esso  Standard  Oil  Company 
Dallas  Press  Ciub/lst  Prize  for  print  ad 
The  Statler  Hilton  Hotel,  Dallas 

$an  Francisco  Art  Directors  Ninth  Annual  Exhibition/Award  of  ExceljenceYbr 
TV  commercial  series 

Standard  Oil  Co.  (New  Jersey) 

1957-Advertising  Association  of  the  West  Crafts  Competition/Honorable  Mention 
for  magazine  advertising 

California  Packing  Corp. 

1957  Better  Copy  Contest  of  Public  Utilities  Advertising  Assoclatidn/5  Awards 

The  Cleveland  Electric  Illuminating  Co. 

Art  Directors  Club  of  Cleveland/5  First  Awards,  8  Merit  Awards 
Anchor-Hocking  Glass  Corp. 

The  Cleveland  Electric  Illuminating.  Co. 

Luon  Tailoring  Co. 

Tko  Mead  Corporation. 

The  Ohio  Bell  Telephone  Co. 

The  Standard  Oil  Co:  (Ohio) 

1957  Ideas  for  Home  Builders  Contest,  The  Producers’  Council,  Ine./Certificato 
of  Merit 

Westinghouse  Electric  Corp. 


48 


RADIO-TGI£VISION 


P&RIEfr 


Wednesday,  January  15,  1958 


Radio  Reviews 


PETER  AND  MARY  SHOW 
With  Peter  Lind  Hayes,  Mary 

'Hc&ly 

Producer-Director:  Frank  Musci- 

ello 

Musical  Director:  Robert  Allen 
Writer^  Robert  Creari,  Hayes 
1®  Mins.,  Mon.-Fri.,  12:05  pan. 

A.  E.  STALEY  CO. 

CBS  Radio,  from  N.  Y. 

(Erwin  Wasey,  Ruthrauff  &  Ryan ) 

Hubby  and  wife  Peter  .  Lind 
Hayes  and  Mary  Healy  do  a  pleas¬ 
ant  10  minutes  a  day  oyer  CBS 
Radio.  Their  folksiness,  their  in¬ 
consequential  banter  and  light 
song  might  just  satisfy  some  of  the 
noonday  hausfrau  listenership.. 

It’s  not  untoward  to  analyze 
their  cross-the-boarder  as  the  kind 
of  radio  program  that  probably 
would  not  have  gotten  on  -  the  air 
without  a  sponsor,  because,  if 
there  is  any  particular  type  of  net¬ 
work  show  in  abundance  today,  it’s 
the  pleasant,  folksy  affair,  a  genre 
that  doesn’t  evoke  extensive  audi¬ 
ence  support  or  latecomer  sponsor 
interest.  One  thing  this  team  has, 
however,  is  the  potential  of  draw¬ 
ing  a  faithful,  if  limited  following, 
one  that  will  buy  because  H&H 
say  so.. 

From  their  NeW  Rochelle,  N.  Y., 
home  on  the  day  heard  the  duo ^  en¬ 
gaged  in  a  Couple  of  songs,  “It’s 
Not  for  Me  to  Say.”  by  Miss  Healy, 
and  a  duet,  “I  Still  Get  Jealous.” 
Her  voice  is  sweet,  his  is  warm 
and  natural.  They  tried  an  inte- 
grated  commercial  for  a  laundry 


starch .  that  rambled  beyond  com¬ 
mercial  time  limits.  But  these  ami¬ 
able  persons  ramble  through  most 
everything  they  do.  Art. 


WOULD  YOU 
MARRY 


-Stopped  you,  didn't  it? 

Welcome  to  the  club. ..  the 
Sound-Off  Club,  that  is... 

I  t’s  KTTV’s  fresh,  new  vari¬ 
ation  of  one  of  the  most 
solid  ideas  in  broadcasting 
...the  vox  pop. 

Following  KTTV’s  popular 
"Star  Shoppers’’  the  show 
originates  from  a  local  super¬ 
market,  catching  the  ladies 
in  their  natural  habitat^— 
delivering  spontaneous  (and 
hilarious)  answers. 

There’s  none  of  th&t  where- 
are-you-from  stuff.  Bill 
Welsh  asks: 

How  do  you  handle 
anoj$y  drunk? 

How  about  teen-agers 
necking? 

How  about  unwed 
mothers  who  want 
their  babies  back  after 
placing  them  for 
adoption? 

Here's  the  show  that  gives 
you  the  time  and  place  for 
plenty  of  oli-the-spot  pro¬ 
motion  and  merchandising. 

Participations  —  live  or 
film — remote  or  studio — 
are  $125. 

Any  questions? 

Call  your  KTTV  sales  rep 
and  sound  off  .. . 


Los  Angeles  Times-MGM 
Television  r  1 

Represented  nationally  by  BLAIR  “TV 


METROPOLITAN  OPERA  AUDI¬ 
TIONS  OF  THE  AIR 
With  Milton  Cross,  Pietro  Cimara 
and  ABN  Symphony  Orchestra; 
Marthe  Stotler,  Robert  Kirkbam, 
guests;  Bill  Brophy.  announcer 
Producer-Director:.:  William  Mar¬ 
shall 

Wrter:  Ira  Marion 
30  Mins.,  Sun.,  7:30  p.m. 

ABN,  from  New  York 
Nineteen  years  on  the  air, 
“Metropolitan  Opera  Auditions  of 
the  Air”  is  still  the  same. .—  the 
mellifluous,  learned  narration  of 
Milton  Cross  and  -the  same,  su¬ 
perior  orchestral  backgrounds  for 
the  nervous  and  the  frequently 
underdeveloped  talents,  of  opera 
aspirants:  .  Since  -the  .half-hour, 
which  returned  to  ABN  airtime 
two  Sundays  ago,  is  unsponsored, 
it  doesn’t  make  much  difference 
whether  most  people  prefer  tv  and 
“Maverick,”  "Jack  Benny”  or  a 
Sabbath  feature  film;  there  ipust 
still  be  a.  handful  of  buffs  who  have 
sufficient  curiosity  to  see  whether 
there’s  any  fresh  operatic  talent 
around. 

Robert  Kirkham,  a  young  bari¬ 
tone  With  uncertain  control  and 
wavefing  timbre,  and  soprano 
Marthe  Stotler.  who  was  .better, 
handled  two  selections  apiece  and 
joined  in  a  duet  from  Massenet’s: 
“Thais”-“Bathe  My  Hands  and  Lips 
With  Water.” 

Plugs  are  in  order  for ..  the  nice 
continuity ..  by  Ira  Marion  and  the 
strong  r  musical  support  given  by 
the  Met’s  Pietro  Cimara  behind 
the  baton.  Art. 


No  Outler  Out 

—  Continued  from  page  43— 

an  advertising  salesman  for  The 
Atlanta  Journal.  Outler.  joined 
WSB’s  staff  as  commercial  mana¬ 
ger  and  bookkeeper  and  was  the 
first  salesman  to  peddle  a  com¬ 
mercial  announcement  for  the  sta¬ 
tion.  It  was.  about  that  time  that 
Journal  management,  Winch  own¬ 
ed  WSB,  decided  to  make  “the 
thing  pay  for  itself." 

Gutter’s  guiding  hand  was  at  the 
throttle  as -WSB  progressed  from 
the  teapot  era  of  radio  into  the 
50,000-watt  stage  and  then  plunged 
into  television  with  both  feet.  To. 
the  early  slogan,  "Voice  of  the 
South,”  was  added  the  word  “eyes,” 
since  WSB-TV.  was  first  video  sta¬ 
tion  to  hit  the  air  below  the  Mason 
Sc  Dixon  Line, 

Just  like  he  went  through  the 
swaddling  clothes  days  of  WSB 
radio  (long-time  NBC  affiliate)  he 
helped  nurse  WSB-TV  through  in¬ 


fancy;  culminating  in  the  bpilding 
of  a  $1,500,000  home  for  the  sta¬ 
tion  and  known  as  White  Columns 
because  of  its  antebellum  archi¬ 
tecture.  At  this  time  WSB  is  com¬ 
pleting  a  $500,000  improvement 
program  on  station’s  mechanical 
facilities. 

-Outier’s  .thinking  throughout  his 
career  has  been  on. an  industry 
level.  It  has  been  his  contention 
that  “what’s  good  for  the.  industry” 
is  good  for  WSB.  White  columns, 
he  contends,  is  a  case  in  point.  Ac¬ 
cording  to  him  “(it)  is  something 
in  which  all  broadcasting  can  take 
pride.” 

Outler  is  particularly  proud  of 
the  fact  that  he  and  WSB  Radio 
pioneered  religious  broadcasting  in 
this  .  area.  Services  of  .  the  First 
Presbyterian'  Church,  heard  each 
Sunday  over  WSB  at  11  a.m.,  is 
the  oldest  religious  broadcast  on 
any  station  in  Georgia. 

Outler  also  was  active  in  organ¬ 
ization  and  operation  of  the  Pro¬ 
testant  Radio  and  Television  Cen¬ 
ter  here. 

“We  have  always  had  a  place 
for  religious  broadcasting,"  he . 
says.  “This  is  a  part  of  station  ac¬ 
tivity  of  which  we.  can  be  proud.” 

There’s  one  facet  of  broadcast¬ 
ing  in  which;  Outler  admits,  he  is 
ho  bail  of  fire.  That’s  spieling  into 
a  microphone.  At  one  time  he  did 
the  color  for.  football  games  heard. ; 
over  WSB  radio.  His  aspirations 
to  compete  with  Graham  MacNa- 
mee,  Ted  Husing,;  et  al„  came  to 
an  abrupt  halt,-  he  explains,  “when. 
I  heard  a  recording  of  my  voice; 

T  knew  that.  I  could  not  go  on 
with  a  voice  like  mine  and  then 
criticize  anybody  else’s.” 

J.  Leonard  Reinscii,  executive 
director  of  WSB-TV  and  radio,  did 
not  name  a  successor  per  to 
butler.  Portions  of  latter’s  mana¬ 
gerial  duties;  were:  assigned  to  Mar¬ 
cus  Bartlett,  WSB-TV  station  man¬ 
ager,.  With  new  title  ^  of  general 
manager  of  ty  operations.  Simi¬ 
larly,  station  manager  Frank  Gai¬ 
ther  of  WSB  radio  becomes  gen¬ 
eral  manager  of  this  operation, 
with  part'  of  Outlier’s  duties  added. 
Bartlett  has  bden  associated  with 
WSB  since  1930,  serving  success- 
yily  as  musical  director,  production 
manager  and  program  manager  of 
radio  and  ty  operations  Until  be¬ 
coming  associated  with  tv  exclu¬ 
sively  in  1930. 

Gaither  began  his  career  with 
WTOC,  Savannah,  and  later  came 
to  Atlanta  as  associate  general 
manager  of  WGST,  owned  and  op¬ 
erated  by  Georgia  Institute  of 
Technology.  He  came  to  WSB  radio 
as  commercial  manager  in  1940 
and  served  as  commercial  mana¬ 
ger  for  radid  and  tv  before  be¬ 
coming  WSB  radio's  station  mana¬ 
ger  in  1951.  He’s  a  member  of  the 
Standards  of  Good  Practice.  Com¬ 
mittee  of  NAB  and  a  member  of 
the  program  advisory  committee 
of  NBC  Affiliates  Assn.  He  is  also 
first  vice  president  of  the  Georgia 
Association;  of  Broadcasters. 


One  of .  the  most  talked  about 
subjects  on  Madison  Ave.  is  the 
way  spot  and  network  radio  got 
off  the  canvas -in  the  latter  half  of 
1957  and,  this  early  In  1958,  is  mak¬ 
ing  like  Sugar.  Ray  Robinson  in  a 
click  quest  of  his  lost  title.  The  ad 
ipen  feel  that  just  about  the  time 
that  radio  Was  buckling  at  the 
knees  and  appeared  glassy-eyed  at 
the  wallops  that  it  had  takeir  from 
national  advertisers  who  sank  the 
greatest  share  of  their  budget  into 
television,  radio  refused  to  take  the 
count  and  climbed  to  its  feet,  now] 
ranking  as  a  contender  for  the 
media  dollars. 

Bill  Hoffman,  in  charge  of  ra¬ 
dio  at  BBD&O,  in  discussing  the 
renewed  confidence  of  national  ad- 


-  By  JACK  BERNSTEIN  - 


vertisers  ih  Tadio,  said  that  radio  j. member  of  the  original  casts  .of 


Over.  1,300  attended  last  Thursday’s  (9)  luncheon  of  the  Foreign- 
Policy  Assn.  honoring  NBC  News’  foreign  correspondents  at  the  Wal¬ 
dorf-Astoria,  N.Y.  Luncheon,  which  will  become  an  annual  eveht,  was 
the  climax  to  the  activities  of  the  NBC  newsmen  since  hitting  the  U.S. 
during  Christmas  week*  when  they  participated  in  NBC-TV’s  “Projec¬ 
tion  ’58,”  did  a  series  of  special  news  shows  for  NBC  and  traveled  in¬ 
dividually  on  lecture  tours.  Lecture  tour,  in  the  aggregate,  drew  over 
7,000  in  14  cities  Luncheon  was  turned  over  to  a  group  of  seven  of  the 
NBC  correspondents  as.  a  panel,  each  discussing  one  particular  area 
of  interest  in  foreign  policy. .  Newsmen,  led  -by  Chet  Huntley,  were 
Joseph  C.  Harsch,  Irving  R.  Leviiie,  Welles  Hangen,  Frank, Bourgholt- 
zer,  Ed  Newman,  Lief  Eid  and  Jim  Robinson. 


Terry  Turner,  formerly  of  the  Akron,  O.,  Beacon-Journal,  has  suc¬ 
ceeded  Ethel  Daccardo  as  tv-radio  editor  of  the  Chicago  Daily  News. 
Turner  had  joined  the  afternoon  paper  about  thrge  months  ago.  Miss 
Daccardo,  who  had  .covered  the  broadcasting  media  for  the  News  the 
past  five  years,  resigned  around  the  first  of  the  year  to  accept  a  gpst 
in  the  tv  department  of  Needham,  Lewis  &  Brorby  in  Chicago. 


New  York  Metropolitan  Educational  Television  Assn.  (META)  Will 
begin  a  15-week  college  course  in  “American  Foreign  Policy  101— Eu¬ 
rope  and  Asia”  on  WPIX  Feb.  5.  Program  will  feature  Prof.  John 
Stoessinger  of  Hunter  College  and  will  air  on  Wednesdays,  at  .11:: 
a.m.  to  12:30  p.m.  Course  won’t  involve  academic  credits  for  viewers, 
although  META  hopes  to  move  into  that  area  with  later  educational 
entries. 


Former  President  Harry  S.  Truman’s  reflections  On  politics  and  gov¬ 
ernment  will  comprise  the  next  CBS-TV  “See  It  Now”  on  Feb.  Jt  Pro¬ 
gram  wiR  be  a  distillation  of  four  days  of  filming  of  conversations  be¬ 
tween  Tniman  and  Ed  Murrow,  tjfken  nearly  a  year  ago  but  released 
now  because  of  the  timeliness  of  his  observations.  Titled  “From  Pre¬ 
cinct  to  President.'-  Some  Reflections  by  Harry  S.  Triiman,”  the  program 
is  being  edited  from  50,000  feet  shot  during  f pur  days  last  February 
in  Islamorada,  Truman’s  vacation  spot,  as  a  historical  record  of  his  ad¬ 
ministration  and  views. 


C.  Edward  Little,  formerly  general  manager  of  WIT V  in  Ft.  Lauder¬ 
dale,  has  been  named,  general  manager  of  V/GM A,  Hollywood,  Fla. 
WGMA  is  the  radio  outlet  operated  by  Melody  Music  Inc.,  owned  by 
Jack  Barry,  Dan  Eniight  and  Fred  Stettner  of  the  N:Y.  packaging  house 
of  Barry  &  Enright. 


been  looking  for  relief  for  the  other 
half.  The  sponsor’s  understanding 
with  NBC  at  the  time  it  bought  the 
package  was  that  the  web  would 
peddl^  off  half  to  another  sponsor 
but  so  far  the  network  has  been  un¬ 
successful.  “Gun”  -follows  “The 
Price  is  Right”  on  Mondays'  at  8 
p.m.  and  is  preceded  by  “Wells 
Fargo,”  another  click.  Agency  tv 
head  Phil  Cohen  says  that  “this 
is. a  sign  that,  tv  is  changing  from 
a  buyer’s  to  a  seller’s  market.  Spon¬ 
sors  in  1958  will  be  buying  more 
carefully  and  they  will  be  more 
selective. 


Detroit—' WWJ  program  changes 
include  moving  Faye  Elizabeth,  a  • 


men  themselves  had  given  up  the 
"heaven  help  us”  type  of  thinking. 
The  Joe  Culligan  (NBC)  and  the 
Bob  Eastman  (ABC)  approach  plus 
the  novel  thinking  by  Mutual 
Broadcasting  ai*e  credited  with  be¬ 
ing  instrumental  in  the  resurgence 
of  radio.  Hoffman  in  commenting 
on  the  upswing  of  radio  as  it  affects 
the  agencies  said  that  there  is  now 
greater  flexibility  in  buying  radio. 

"Television  has  reached  the  level¬ 
ing  point  and  the  industry  has 
come  to  realize  that  there  is  room 
for  everyone,”  he  said.  “There  is 
still  much  to  be  done  in  radio.  We 
need  out-of-home  research  to  find 
out  how  many  people  ate  being 
reached  in  automobiles  and  it’s  be¬ 
come  necessary  for  agency  men  to 
find  out  what  the  commercial  cut¬ 
off  point  is  in  radio  saturation.  In 
radio,  the  question  still  comes  up 
whether  to  use  a  live  knotfn  per¬ 
sonality  or  whether  ‘anybody*  is 
just  as  effective.” 

In  programming,  Hoffman  feels: 
that  there  is  a  need  for  new  for¬ 
mats.  If  stations  are  just  playing 
the  top  40  tunes  and  this  is  being 
heard  only  by  teenagers,  it  will  be 
difficult,  he  says,  to  sell  the  medium 
to  national  advertisers.  “ We  have  to 
reestablish  the  value  of  the  radio 
network  over  local  programming.” 
He  also  feels  that  someone  is 
needed  to  beat  the  drums  for  the 
aural  medium.  “Radio  has  to  be 
promoted  as  it  once  Was  and  con¬ 
fidence  has  to  be  built  up  again.” 

Satnrationer  Upbeat? 

Nick  Keesely,  senior  v.p.  jn 
charge  of  radio-tv  at  Lennen  & 
Newell,  who-has  in  the  past  taken 
issue  With  the  prophets  of  doom 
add  feels  that  the  best  in  tv  is  be¬ 
ing  brought  to  the  public,  sees 
more  comedy  situation  shows  being 
brought  to  the  livingroom  next  fall. 
Keesely,  who  recently  returned 
from  the  Coast,  says  that  some 
package  houses  are  thinking  in 
terms  of  such  formats. 

The  veteran  agencyman  says  that 
the  increase  in  laff  shows  will  help 
balance  television  as  a  media  of  eh- 
tertainfhent.  The  public  seems  per¬ 
turbed  by  the  mounting,  world¬ 
wide  tensions  and  laughter  is  re¬ 
lief  for  that,  * 

Good  comedy  doesn’t  come  eas¬ 
ily  and  the  .  agency  men  have  the 
problem  of  selling  the  clients  the 
idea  because  most  comedy  situa¬ 
tions  shows  need  time  to  develop,*' 
Keesely  said.  He  cited  the  Danny 
Thomas  show  and  “Lucy”  as  both 
taking  a  while  to  catch  fire — “but 
look  at  them  now.**  Cautioning 
sponsors,  Keesely  feels  that  “if  you  I 
buy  a  situation  comedy,  don't  be 
hasty.  Most  programs  of  this  type 
require  facelifting  to  get  them  off 
the  ground  but  when  you  get  the 
show  right,  it  will  go  on  for  a  long 
time.  The  highest  ratings  on  tele-  j 
vision  shows  have  been  netted  by 
those  that  have  been  around  for  a  I 
long  time.” 

SSC&B  and  ‘Gun* 

One  of  the  unsolved  mysteries] 
on  the  Avenue  has  been  the  inability 
of  Sullivan,  Stauffer,  Colwell  & 
Bayles  to  sell  off  half  of  “Restless 
Gun,**  which  has  ranked  in  the  top  ] 
25  since  it  opened.  The  program, 
according  to  the  agency  reaches 
13,000,000  viewers,  Warner-Lam¬ 
bert  which  pays  half  the  fare  has 


several  Broadway  musicals,  into 
the  9:05-9:55  a.m.  platter  spinning 
time;  Fran  Harris  into  the  9:55 
spot  for.  her  news  and  interview 
show;  disk  jockey  Bob  Maxwell 
into  the.  12:15-2  p.m.  slot,  followed 
by  NBC’s  afternoon  of  dramas  be¬ 
ginning  with  “True  Confessions.” 


shades 
of  the 
shim 
sham 

shimmy . . . 

THEY’RE 

BACK 


RENT  dr  BUY 

In  all  sins  and  quantities, 
guys  and  dolls. 
a«w  and  Ilka-now. 
with  all-now  wool  and  mllaai 
linings.  Each  kalr  spanking 
doan.  VINTAGE?  THEY  CAN 
PRACTICALLY  "CHARLESTON” 
BY  THEMSELVES! 

SEE  OR  PHONE 

BANDIT 

312  7tH  Ave.,  N.Y.C. 

LOngacro  4-3083 
Opon  Daily  til  6:00  P.M; 
Monday  thru  Friday 


Morris  Agancy 


SYMYOAT  lU 
ON  tVHY  CMANNIL 

BROOKS 

COSTUMES 

|«M4MSt.N.Y«.-f*LrL7.SMS 


HHBITI0IS  Y0UH6  ACTRESSES  P1EM  HITE 

THE  GASLIGHT  CLUB 

Hires  Pretty  Cocktail  Waitresses  for  a  Lucrative  Evening 
Job,  Full  or  Part  Time. 

Phone  MRS.  HIRSH,  PLaza  1-2055  for  Interviews 


Wednesday,  January  15, 1958 


Of  Antitrust  Suit  Vs.  RCA-NBC 


Philadelphia,  Jan.  14. 

.  iie  Government’s  next  move  is 
being  awaited  here  following  dis¬ 
missal  of  its  antitrust  ease  against 
Radio  Corp.  of  America  and  its 
subsidiary,  the  National  Broadcast¬ 
ing  Co.,  by  Judge'  William  H.  Kirk¬ 
patrick  in  U.  S.  District  Court. 

Major  speculation  centered  upon 
whether  the  Government  would 
contest  Judge  Kirkpatrick’s  decir. 
sion,  and  counsel  for  the  Anti-Trust 
Division  of  the  Dept,  of  Justice 
admitted  they  are  studying  the 
possibility  of  an  appeal.  If  an  ap¬ 
peal  is  taken,  the  Government 
would  be  able  to  bypass  the  Third 
District’s  Appellate  Court  and  take 
the  case  right  to  the  U.  S:  Supreme 
Court.  .  v 

It  was  pointed  out  that  the 
Justice  Dept.’s  delay  of  a  year  in 
bringing  the  RCA-NBC  action, 
didn’t  make  It  the  strongest  case 
to  take  before  the  highest  tribunal. 
Locally,  it  was  thought  there  was 
a  possibility  that  the  antitrust  unit 
might  transfer  its  attentions  to  the 
more  recent  sale  of  the  WCAU 
stations  to  CBS  for  $20,000,000. 

Trial  on  A-T  Peg 

-If,  as  is  anticipated,  Govern¬ 
ment  counsel  Bernard  Hollander 
elects  to  Carry  the  issue  to  the  Su¬ 
preme  Court,  a  reversal  of  the  Dis¬ 
trict  Cbtirt’s  decision  would  mean 
only  that  the  antitrust  action  must 
then  be  brought  to.  trial. 

In  the  -action  filed  here  Dec.  4, 
1956,  the  defendant  firms  had  been 
accused  of  unlawfully  conspiring  to 
obtain  five  of  the  nation’s  televi¬ 
sion  stations,  including  WRCV 
radio,  then  known  as  KYW,  WRCV- 
TV,  Ch.  3,  then  known  as  WPTZ. 
In  a  trade  with  Westinghouse 
Broadcasting  Co.,  NBC  gave  up  its 
Cleveland  outlets  and  $3,000,000 
for  the  two  Philly  stations.  The 
sale  Was  approved  by  the  Federal 
Communications  Commission  on 
Dec.  21,  1955. 

In  an  eight-page  decision  Judge 
Kirkpatrick  upheld  the  three  basic 
contentions  of  Bernard  G.  Segal, 
defense'  attorney.  Segal  argued 
that  the  transaction  had  been  ap¬ 
proved  by  the  FCC  as  a  valid  ex¬ 
ercise  of  its  discretion;  that  the 
Government.  If  it  had  any  question, 
should  have  raised  them  before  the 
FCC,  and  that  once  the  FCC  ap¬ 
proval  had  been  obtained,  the 
Government  should  have  gone  be¬ 
fore  the  U.  S.  Court  of  Appeals,  in 
the  District  of  Columbia, 

Segal  took  this  position  last  No¬ 
vember  in  argument  before  Judge 
Kirkpatrick,  when  he  attacked  the. 


mgiiJLjIbcu 

DRAPKR 


.Brings  Vow 


HOT  SMINSS  NATIONAL  PARK,  ARKANSAS 


High  blood  pressure?  Taut  nerves? 
Arthritis?  Rheumatism?  Are  these 
your  symptoms?  Then  relax  in  the 
soothing  radioactive  thermal  waters 
at  this  spa.  At  the  Arlington  relaxa* 
tion  and  luxury  are  yours.  The 
new  Dorothy  Draper  decor  is 
yours  to  enjoy.  • 


write  for  your 
color  folder 


ethics  and  good  faith  of  the  Gov¬ 
ernment  in  instituting  the  suit. 
Judge  Kirkpatrick  pointed  out  that 
the  FCC  approval  “was*  not 
granted  until  four  months  after 
the  antitrust  division  had  been 
officially  notified  of  the  proposed 
transaction  and  alerted  for  any 
possible  antitrust  features.” 

He  further  noted  that  “The  con¬ 
summation  Of  the  transaction  oc¬ 
curred  after  time  for  the.  appeal 
from  the  commission’s,:  order  had 
expired.:  The  present  suit  was  hot 
filed,  until  December, .  1956,  and  it 
presented  no  new  facts,  and  noth¬ 
ing  .which  the  Government  had 
not  known  for,  over  a  year,  and  no 
satisfactory  explanation  f Or  the  de¬ 
lay  in  the  filing  the  suit  is  forth¬ 
coming.’! 

Both  parties  to.  the  sale  had  pre¬ 
sented  full  information  to  the  FCC 
and  received  permission,  to  proceed 
with  the  transaction,  the  judge 
pointed  out.  “The  sale  involved 
not  only  an  exchange  of  million^ 
of  dollars  worth  Of  property  but 
$3,000,000  in  cash,  together  with 
extensive  changes  in  personnel, 
Organization  and  operating  proce¬ 
dures,  .  Under  these  circumstances, 
the  orderly  administration  of  law 
requires  that  this  court  dismiss  the 
action,”  the  judge  declared. 

The  FCC  requested .  and  Obtained 
from  the  parties  all  the  informa¬ 
tion  which  .the  Government  now 
has.  and  upon  which  it  based  its 
suit.  “The  FCC  was  under  a  duty 
to  pass  upon  the  issues  presented 
by  this  evidence,”  Judge  Kirkpa¬ 
trick  declared.  “The  parties  have 
stipulated  that  the  FCC  decided  all 
issues  relating  to  the  exchange 
which  it  could  lawfully  decide, 

‘Im  Public  Interest' 

“There  is  no  doubt,  in  finding 
that  the.  exchange  was  in  the  pub¬ 
lic  interest,  it;  necessarily  decided 
that  the  exchange  did  not  involve 
a  violation  of  a  law  which  declares 
and  implements  a  basic,  economic 
policy  of  the  United  States.  Later 
statements  by  its  chairman  as  well 
as  the  opinion  of  One  of  its  com¬ 
missioners  in  granting  the  licehse, 
which  may  be  construed  to  mean 
that  the  FCC  did  not  consider  the 
Government  would  be  precluded 
from  prosecuting  by  its  decision, 
cannot  affect  the  situation. 

.  “The  antitrust  division  at  all 
times  was  fully  apprised  of  the 
proceedings  and  the  facts  upon 
which  the!  Commission  acted.  The 
Government  did  hot  appeal  and 
waited  for  approximately  one  year 
before  it  began  the  present  suit 
which  admittedly  is  based  on  noth¬ 
ing  which  the  commission:  did  not 
have  before  it. 

-‘There  remains  a  compelling 
reason  why  this  suit  should  not  be 
proceeded  with,”  Judge  Kirkpa¬ 
trick  observed.  “In  appealing  to 
the  court’s  discretion  *to  exercise 
its  equitable  jurisdiction,  the  Gov¬ 
ernment  stands  in  no  different  po¬ 
sition  from  that  of  a  private  in¬ 
dividual.  It  has  never  been  held, 
that  the  Government  is  entitled, 
automatically  to  equitable  relief.” 

A  La;  Private  Individuals 

In  hi$  argument  to  the  court  last 
November,  Segal  had  stressed  the 
point  that  “the  Government  is  not 
beyond  the  requirements  of  fair 
play  in  its  dealings  with  private 
individuals.” 

“Had  the  Justice  Department 
taken  the  proper  steps  .its  .  conten¬ 
tions  could  have  been  determined 
in  an  orderly  fashion.  -The  com- 
panies,  in  reliance  on  FCC  approv¬ 
al,  which  the  Justice  Dept,  left  un¬ 
challenged,  consummated  transac¬ 
tions  involving  millions  of  dollars 
and.  made  vast  changes  effecting 
not  only  the  companies  but  their: 
personnel  as  well. 

“Now  the  Justice  Dept,  wants 
to  subject  both  companies  to  costly 
litigation  to  defend  a  transaction 
which  was  consummated  in  good 
faith  ,  and  with  reliance  on  the  ap¬ 
proval  -of  .a  qualified  Government 
regulatory  agency,”  Segal  said. 


NEW  TVER  IN  SASK. 

Regi  ,-Sask.,  Jan.  14. 
New  station  in  southwestern 
Saskatchewan  is  G JFB-TV,  Swift 
Current,  operated  by  Swift  Current 
Telecasting  Co.,  comprised  of  city 
businessmen.  President  arid  general 
;  manager  is  William  Forst.  . 

Forst  built  radio  station  CKSW, 
Swift  Current,  in  1956  and  headed 
it  as  general  manager  and  technical 
director  until  the  spring  of  1957. 
He  also  built  Yadio  stations  at  Daw¬ 
son  Creek,  B.  C./ Red.  Deer,  Alta., 
and  Saskatoon,  Sask. 


ftkiETY 


•ABC-TV  in  Japan’ 

.  ABC-TV  is  mulling  doing 
the  first  American  telefilm 
scries  in  Japan.  Company  has 
•taken  an  option  with  some 
U.  S.  production  interests  in 
Tokyo  who  plan  to  do  a  half- 
hour  action  stanza  called 
“Tokyo  Police.” 

Network  said  that  the  star 
will  be  an  Occidental. 


NBC  Radios  Near 


RADIO-TELEVISION 


See  Whitewast  of  FCC,  Other  bureaus 
FoDowing  Congress  'Oversight’  Probe 


Topped  by  a  $750,000  order  for 
new  Geprge  Gobel  and  Ed  (“Dpf- 
fy’s  Tavern”)  Gardner. from  Pabst 
Brewing,  NBC  Radio  has  racked  up 
a  total  of  $3,790,600  in  new  busi¬ 
ness  and  renewals.  Under  the 
Pabst  deal,  brewery  will  bankroll 
a  total  of  20  Gobel  and  Gardner 
five-minute  “Stardust”  capsules 
per  week  for  42  weekends  on 
“Monitor,”  and  will,  pick  up  an.  ad¬ 
ditional  10  nighttime  participations 
a  Week  for  the  same  42  weeks,  and 
12  “Monitor”  participations  a  week . 
for  the  10-week  stand  not  occupied 
by  Gobel  and  Gardner., 

Backing  up  Pabst,  R(CA  has  also 
purchased  a  total- of  20  Gobel  and 
Gardner  segments  a  week  on 
“Monitor”;  for  a  20-week  ,  stand. 
The  Pabst  and  RCA  deals,  tp^ 
gether  with  -  52-week  renewals  on 
“News  on  the  Hour”  from  Brown  .& 
Williamson  and  Bristol-Myers, 
comprise  the  bulk  of  the  business. 
Balance  of  the  business  comprised 
shortterm  saturation  campaigns:  or 
longrunhihg  tidbit  sponsorships 
from  some  15  advertisers. 

MitchelTs  ABC-to-CBS 
As  Daytime  Supervisor 

Jack  Mitchell,  longtime  ABC 
Radio  programming  exec,  is  join¬ 
ing  £BS  Radio  in  the  newiy  created 
post  of  supervisor  of  daytime  pro¬ 
grams.  ^  Mitchell  wiU  report  to  pro¬ 
gramming  v.p.  Howaril  Barnes; 
who  said  the  post  was  created  be¬ 
cause  of  the.  increasing  number  of 
house-produced  soapers  in  contrast 
to  the  past,  when  the  soapers  were 
agency-created  and  produced. 

.  Mitchell,  wrho’s  been  with  ABC 
for  .the  past  12  years,  had  been 
manager  of  the  web'$  script  departs 
ment  since  1950  and  was  also  story 
editor  on  “My  True  Story”  be¬ 
fore  it  switched  this,  fall  to  NBC 
Radio. 


Washington,  Jan.  14. 

Despite  assurances  from  its 
chairman,  Rep.  Morgan  Moulder 
(D-Ma),  that  all  is  well,  the  belief 
is  growing  here  that  •  the  forthcom¬ 
ing  inquiry  by  the  House  Legisla¬ 
tive  Oversight  Committee  into  the 
operations  of  the  Federal  Commu¬ 
nications  Commission  and  other 
regulatory  agencies  will  turn  into 
a  whitewash. 

Although  Moulder  gave  the  im¬ 
pression  last  week  that  reported 
“differences”  were  ironed  out  at  an 
executive  meeting  of  the  parent 
House  Interstate.  Commerce  Com¬ 
mittee,  other  versions  indicate  that 
the  group  is  as  far  apar£  as  ever. 
There  is  even  some  .  question 
whether  hearings,  which  Moulder 
said  he  hoped  would  start  this 
month",  will  be  held  at  all.  But 
if  they  are,  it’s  suggested,  they 
will  be  a  pretty  ..tame  affair. 

Authorized  10  months  ago  at  the 
urging  of  Speaker  Sam  Rayburn 
(D-Tex.)  to  investigate  outside  in-, 
fluence  on  the  decisions  of  the 
regulatory  agencies,  the  Oversight 
Committee  (the  word  derives  from 
“oversee,”  not  “overlook,’’  its 
counsel,  Bernard  Schwartz,  once 
explained)  has  had  a,  somewhat 
stormy  history;.  One  of  its  first  ef¬ 
forts  to  carry  out  its  assignment, 
a  questionnaire  to  regulatory  com¬ 
missioners  calling  for  information 
on  gifts  or  services  received  from 
Interests  doing  business  with  their 
agencies,  got  a  cold  reception  and 
apparently  brought  complaints; 
One  Republican  member  of  the 
parent,  committee,  Rep.  Joseph  P. 
O’Hara  of  Minnesota,'  character¬ 
ized  it  as  “lousy.” 

Replies  Not  Seen 

A  rather  strange  development  in 
connection  with  this  questionnaire. 
Which  also  went  to  industries,  is. 
that  the  committee’s  staff  has  not 
yet  been  allowed  to  see  the  re¬ 
plies.  The  TTCC,  it’s  .understood, 
has  agreed  to  answer  the  questions 
in  “general”  form. 

.  Wrangling  has  alsb  developed 
regarding  the  committee’s  right 
to  subpoena  files  of  the  agencies 
under  investigation.  This  issue 
was  supposedly  resolved  at  last 
week’s  meeting  but  there  appears 
to  be.  some  discrepancy  about  this. 

Some  observers  feel  that  a  Re¬ 
publican  minority  of  the  parent 
committee  is  squelching  Moulder 
and  that  chairman  Oren  Harris 
(D-Ark.)  is.  siding  with  it.  Reps. 
John  W-  Heselton  (R-Mass.)  and 
Robert  Hale  (R-Me.)  are  said  to  be 


adamant  against  any  examination 
of.  individual  commissioners  and 
chairman  Harris  Is  reported  to  be 
opposed  to  delving  Into  * ‘contro¬ 
versial”  matters.  As  a  result  of 
the  attitudes  of  this  "3-H  trium¬ 
virate”  of  Harris,  Hale  and  Hesel¬ 
ton,  it  appears,  the  Moulder  in¬ 
vestigation  has  reached  an  impasse; 
Attorney  Schwartz,  who.  came  here 
from  New  York  U.  with  a  reputa¬ 
tion  as  “one  of  the  most,  brilliant 
academic  minds  in  the  nation,”  re¬ 
portedly  wants  to  dig  into  specific 
decisions  of  the  FCC  in  the  televi¬ 
sion  field,  including  the  award  of' 
channel  5  in  Boston  to  the  Boston 
Herald-Traveler. 

But  the  parent  committee,  it’s 
understood,  wants  the  inquiry  to 
be  conducted  on  “a  high  level”  ap¬ 
proach. 

The  Moulder  Committee  in¬ 
cludes  Rep.  John  E.  Moss  <D- 
Calif.),  John  Bell  Williams  (D- 
Miss  ),  Peter  F.  Mack  Jr.  (D-Ill.) 
and  John  James  Flint  Jr.  (D-Ga.). 


‘Eve  Arden  Show’ 
To  Fade  After  26 


Axe  has  descended  upon  “The 
Eve  Arden  -Show,”  with  both  spon¬ 
sors,  Shulton  and  Lever  Bros.,  de¬ 
ciding  that  26  weeks  has’  been 
enough.  The  filmed  situation  com¬ 
edy  will  go  off  the  air  around  the 
end  of  March,  but  no  replacement 
has  yet  been  selected  for  the  Tues¬ 
day  at.  8:30  period.  CBS-TV  hasn’t 
yet  presented  any  formal  program¬ 
ming  proposals  to  the  bankrollers, 
but  will  do  so  within  the  next  cou¬ 
ple  of  weeks. 

Program,  which  is  based,  on 
Emily  Kimbrough’s  “It  Gives  Me 
Great  Pleasure,”  has  been  in  trou¬ 
ble  from  the  start  Several  weeks 
after  the  start  of  the  season,  CBS 
replaced  Edmund  Hartman  as  pro¬ 
ducer,  sending  in  A1  Lewis,  who 
had  brought  in  Miss  Arden's  long- 
running  “Our  Miss  Brooks,”  But 
even  after  the  first  couple  of  Lew¬ 
is-produced  films  came  in,  Lever 
and  Shulton  decided  they  wanted 
out. 

Hartford— For  23  years,  commer¬ 
cial  manager  of  WDRC  here,  Wil¬ 
liam  F.  Malo  was  upped  last  week 
to  post  of  vicepresident  in  charge 
pf  sales. 


Hi. . .  this  is  DEL  SHARBUTT 

Just  wanted  you  to  know  that  my 
manager  has  moved  to  new  offices. 


DEL  SHARBUTT 


Exclusive  Management: 

KAL  ROSS 

Berger*  Ross  &  Stelnman 
15  East  48th  Street 
New  York  17,  U.  Y. 
Phone  PLaza  1-2156 


50  RABIO-TELEVISION 


TV-Radio  Production  Centres 

h— — ■»  Continued  from  page  32'i^— — js 

Davis,  who  keeps  his  Orange  County  radio  station  in  the  prints  with 
Unorthodox  promotion,  pulled  a  startler  over  the  holidays  when  he  of¬ 
fered  free  funerals  for  those-killed  in  traffic.  Catch  was  they  had  to 
'register.  He  figured  it  would  help  cut  down  fatalities  .. .  .  Eddie  Cantor 
taped  four  spec  ideas  which.  Alan  Livingston  will  submit  at  next  meet¬ 
ing  of  NBC  program  hoard  .  .  .  Ralph  Levy  is  taking  leave  of  his  CBS- 
TV  producer-director  duties  for  a  long  rest.  Hell  take  most  of  it  at 
Santa  Fe,N.M. .  .  v  Jack  Louis  has  retired  from  his  ad  agency  but  his 
son  will  carry  on  the  name  with  Needham  &  Brorby.  He’ll  pass  most 
of  his  time  in  Phoenix,  where  he  has  radio  and  tv  interests  .  .  .  Ell  M, 
Orowitz  (EMO)  is  the  only  pressagent  in  town  drumbeating  his  own 
brood.  His  son,  Mike  Landon,  and  daughter,  Victoria  King,  are  in  pic¬ 
tures  and  tv  .  .  .  Bill  Goodwin  will  emcee  a  new  daytime  strip  quizzer, 
“The  Big  Game,’'  being  piloted  for  NBC  ...  Frank  Pittman  and  Andy 
'White,  long  associated  with  “Gildersleeve,”  won'  a  renewal  for  their, 
western.  “Tombstone  Territory.”  .  ,  Barbara  Stanwyck’s  exposure  on 
“Zane  Grey  Theatre”  could  be  the  pilot  for  her  own  western  series  .  .  > 
“December  Bride”  will  be  hypoed  With  names  to  give  it  a  boost.  This 
Would  give  General  Foods  three  iri  the.  select  circle .  (Danny  Thomas, 
“Zane  Grey  Theatre”)  *  .  .  Selig  Seligman,  manager  of  KABC-TV,  won 
bis  veepee  stripes  .  .  .  Bemie  Milligan,  ex-radio  ed  and  later  p.a.,  now 
in  the  tire  biz. 

IN  CHICAGO  .  . 

WNBQ  and  WGN-TV  both  mapping  new  moppet  shows  in  color,  the 
former  set  for  the  noontime  spot  starting  Feb.  3,  with  Bob  Borlek  and 
Robert  Gibson  as  spacff1  patrolmen.  WGN-TV’s  show,  still  in  blueprint 
stage,  will  star  a  youngster,  Brigid  Bazlen,  daughter  of  fashion  impre¬ 
sario  Maggie  Daly  .  .  .  Robert  A.  Loeber  has  left.  WMAQ  sales  staff  to 
become  a  sales  ,  exec  for  ABN  under  Jim  Duffy.  WMAQ  in  turn  hired 
Dick  Jnngers  away  ,  from  WGN  sales  to  replace  Loeber  . ...  .  Bernard 
Corson  Jr.  upped  from  asst,  manager  of  WLS  to  program  director,  re¬ 
placing  Herb  Howard  who  resigned  to  join  an  ad  agency  .  .  .  Carol 
Richards  joined  Don  McNeill’s  “Breakfast  Club”  on  ABN  as  gal  singer 
replacing  JerO*  Deane,  who  is  back  on.  the  Coast  for  reasons  of  health 
....  Marty  Faye  using  live  performing  talent  Friday  nights  on  WBKB’s 
“Marty’s  Morgue”  .  .  .  Bud  Ellingwood,  WGN-TV  director,  now  Work¬ 
ing  at  special  program  projects  .  ...  William  Klein,  prez  of  United  Film 
and  Recording  Studios,  off  to  N.Y.  to  buy  extra  equipment  for  a  major 
industrial  film  project  .  .  .  Ralph  Atlass,  general  manager  of  WIND, 
got  his.  veep  stripes  with  Westinghouse  Broadcasting  .-.  r.  Edward  H. 
Weiss,  head  of  that  ad  agency,  exhibiting  his  paintings  at  Main  Street 
Gallery  William  Connelly  Jr.  named  sales  manager  of  WBBM 
Radio. 

liV  WASHINGTON 

Stanley  Bell,  sales  rep  for  WRC-NBC,  copped  distinguished  service 
award  of  town’s  Ad  Club  for  his  31  years  of  service  in  broadcasting  and 
for  service  to  the  club  .  .  .  First  tv  Bible  course,  consisting  of  six  tv. 
sessions,  launched  by  Council  of  .Churches  of  Capital  Area  at  American 
U.  .  .  .  Barry  Gray  brings  his  late  “trouble”  show  to  Washington  via 
WGMS-MBS  starting  this  week  -  .  .  M.  Robert  Rogers  ankles  WGMS,* 
~  town’s  “good  music”  station,  which  he  founded  and  which  he  has  been 
heading.  He  and  wife.  Terry  Rogers,  who  resigns  as  station  manager, 
will  spend  full  time  producing  thq  annual  Hi-Fi  Music  Show,  March. 
14-16,  and.  then  set  up  their  own  management-cohsultation  firm  .  .  . 
Presidential  news  secretary  Jim.  Hagerty  inked  as  “Face  the  Nation” 
(CBS)  guest  Jan.  26  .  .  Robert  C.  Richards  named  commercial  mana¬ 

ger  for  indie- WOL  .  .  .  WTOP-CBS*  Yule  “Dollars  for  Orphans”  drive, 
collected  record-breaking  total  of  $10,309  .  .  Marvin  Miller,  the  Mi¬ 

chael  Anthony  of  tv’s  “The  Millionaire.”  here  oii  a.  tub-thumping  stint. 

IN  LONDON  . 

Ronnie  Waldman,  head  of  BBC-TV  light  entertainment,  on  a  'talent 
prowl  in  the  U.S.  .  .  .  The  third  teleplay  by  Ted"  Willis  to  be  Specially 
commissioned  by  Associated-Rediffusion,  “Look  In  Any  Window,”  will 
be  aired  on  Jan.  24  .  .  .  ARC-TV  sponsoring  a  competition  to  discover 
new  tv  playwrights.  Prizes  will  include  a  contract  and  technical  train¬ 
ing  .  .  .  David  Whitfield  topped  the  bill  of  Associated  Television’s  “Sun¬ 
day  Night  At  The  Palladium”  (12)  ;  ;  Comedian  Ted  Ray  commences 

a  new  monthly  Saturday  night  show  for  BBC-TV  -Jan.  25  .  .  .  Alfred 
R.  Stern,  chairman  of  NBC  international,  to  be  guest  Of  honor  at  a 
party  tossed  by  NBC  at  Claridge’s  tonight  (Wed.)  ... .  .  Eugene  O’Neill’s 
“The  Emperor  Jones”  to  be  produced  by  William  Kotcheff  for  ABC- 
TV  next  month  .  . .  Yvoime  Mitchell  made  her  debut  as  a  tv  panelist  in 
BBC-TV’s  “Who  Said  That?”  last  night  (Tues.)  .  .  .  Associated-Rediffu- 
sion  tossing  a  party  Jan.  29  to  celebrate  50th  airing  of  “Close  .  Up,”  its 
picture  industry  program  .  .  TWW,  the  new  commercial  tv  outlet  to 
serve  Wales  and  the  West  of  England,  went  on  the  air  yesterday  (Tues.) 
for  the  first  time  .  .  Two  members  of  BBC— TV’s  sports  program, 
“SportsView.”  have  entered  the  Montei  Carlo-Rally.  They  are  Pieter 
Dimmock,  head  of  outside  broadcasts,  and  Ronnie  Noble,,  one  of  the  pro¬ 
gram’s  editors. 

IN  BOSTON  ^ 

WNAC-TV  promoting  new  M-G  films  on  “Cinema  7”  ad  tieup  with 
characters  famed  in  painting  and  art.  Channel  7  sent  bags  .of  popcorn 
and  facsimile  motion  picture  bouse  tickets  to  advertisers  and  tv  writers 


Contact:  RICHARD  A.  HARPER,  General  Sale*  Mgr. 
MGM-TV,  a  service  of  Loew'g  Incorporated 
,  ,7P!  ?tk  Pw*  JWmhvJ-JOOO  . 


J'SKtETr  ,  Wednesday,  Jannary  15,  1958 


to  kick  off  their  Sunday  afternoon  dotible  feature  show  .  WBZ-TV 
pitted  John  Wayne  and  Frank  Sinatra  filths  against  opposition  same 
Sunday  with  both  stations  using  newspaper  theatre  type  ads  In  battle 
for  viewers  .  .  Paul  E.  Mills,  gen.mgr.  WBZ-WBZA,  appointed  Stephen 
C.  Meterparel,  formerly  with  Chambers  and  Wiswell  ad  agency,  as  as¬ 
sistant  promosh  .mgr.  for  the  E  E.  Westinghouse  station  .  ,  .  Priscilla 
Fortescue,  WEEI’s  traveling  reporter,  taping  interviews  with  Constance 
Bennett  of  “Auntie  Marne”  at  the  Shubert,  and  Ralph  Bellamy,  Dore 
Schary  and  Mary  Pickett  of  “Sunrise  .at  Campobello”  production,  and 
interviewing  John  Cameron  Swazey  at  opening  of  new  First  Federal 
Savings  and  Loan  Assn,  bldg,  in  Hub.  Bank-bas  been  a  WEEI  advertiser 
for  20  years  .  *..  Charles  Ashley,  senior  newsman  at  WEEI,  out  of  hos¬ 
pital  and  back,  to  regular  news  sked  Monday  (13)  .  .  .  Thomas  Y.  Gor¬ 
man,  WEpi  gen.  mgr.,  hosted  Boston  agency  execs  at  Hub  luncheon 
with  Jules  -Dundes,  CBS  radio  veep,  showing  findings  of  Motivation 
Analysis,  Inc 

IN  SAN  FRANCISCO  ... 

Dave  Siegel’s  moving  his  KOBY  to  a  new  and  larger  studio  a  block 
and  a  half  from  his  present  downtown  location,  is"  thinking  about  op¬ 
erating  the  “Top  40”  station  on  a  24-hour  basis  .  . .  ABC’s  o-and-o  KGO 
got*  two  days’  exclusive  use  out  of  Tommy  Sands  Monday  and  Tues¬ 
day  (13.rl4)  to  help  it  kick  off  its  new  deej  ay  format.  Sands  visited  the 
U.  of  California,  Berkeley,  San  Francisco  State  College,  City.  College 
and  seven .  highschobljs  in  the  Frisco  area,  along  with  KGO’S  five  new 
deejayS.  Ernie  Simon,  incidentally,  departed  KGO  several  days  earlier 
than  he’d  been  expected  to — he  aired  some  undiplomatic  opinions  re¬ 
garding  the  Call-Bulletin’s  Paul  Speegle  .  .  .  KPIX's  Fort  Pearson  dis¬ 
cussed  local  tv  hews  for  the  Oakland  Ad  Club— ^ -KLX's  John  K.  Chapel 
was  program  chairman  .  .  KRON's  Jan.  6  pay-tv  debate.  Telemeter’s 
Paul  McNamara  and  Carl  Lesennan  vs.  United  California  Theatres’ 
A.  C,  Childhouse,  drew  more  than.  500  letters,  with  97%  opposed  to 
pay^tv.  KRON  will  stage  another  debate  Jan.  31.  with  tv  stations  at 
Salinas  and 'San  Luis  Obispo  joining  in  on  .  an  improvised  “net”  and 

others,  too,  possibly _ _  KGO’s  Hal  Berger  named  news  director  of  the 

radio  station  .  .  .  KCBS  hired  salesman  Mel  Cbrvin  ...  .  KSFO  dee  jay 
Dick  Cook  addressed  a  section  meeting  of  the  Frisco  Ad  Club  .  . .  Sher- 
rUTC.  Corwin,  California  theatre  owner,  and  Franklin  Meuli,  part-own¬ 
er  of  the  football  49ers,  were  each  granted  Frisco  FM  frequencies  by 
the  FCC  .  ...  George  Gobel  did  a  United  Crusade  benefit  at  Santa  Rosa. 

IN  PHILADELPHIA 

Lawrence  Welk  to  play  at  the  Annual  Awards  dinner  of  the  Poor 
Richard  Club  (17) “Grady  &  Hurst’s  Top  12,”  hour-long  daily  ses¬ 
sion,  preemed  oh  WVUE  (6).  Show  originates  from  Ch.  12’s  Philly  stu¬ 
dios  .  .  GilSpector,  former  WlP  publicity  chief,  now  handling  public 
relations  and  promotion  for  local  branch  of  the  Fugazy  Travel  Agency 
.  .  Gil  Babbitt  named  radio  and  ty  director  of  Food  Fair  .  .  .  News¬ 

caster  Tom  Field,,  a  recent  addition  to  WRCV-TV-  resigned  and  is  re- 
turtiing  to  Cleveland.  Bill  Michelson,  formerly  with  KOA-TV,  Denver, 
is  the  replacement . , .  Dr.  Joyce  Brothers,  here  (15)  for  NBC’s  “Wednes¬ 
day  Night  Fights”,  exploitation,  guests  on  WFIL-TV’s  “Triangle  Thea¬ 
tre”  with  Bill  Badger  ,  .  .  For  first  time,  Fleishmann’s  Bakeries  are 
backipg  a  concentrated  radio  campaign  with  a  heavy  spot  schedule,  ex¬ 
clusively  over  WRCV.  Company  had  formerly  beamed  its  ad  efforts 
towards  institutional  sales  with  very  little  of  its  budget  for  radio  .  .  , 
George  McClellan  appointed  sales  rep  for  WCAU-TV.  He  held  similar 
spot  with  Musak  ^  ...  Tommy  Roberts,  who  has  broadcast  a  daily  pro¬ 
gram  from  Garden  State  Park  for  the  j>.ast  four  years,  is  readying  a 
film  series  for  the  upcoming  N.J  racing  season.  WPIX  is  first  buyer. 
:.  / .  WUliam  Sylik,  WPEN  prez,  on  .three-Week  tour  of  Russia  arid  the 
Iron  Curtain  countries  .  .  .  WCAU’s  Jim  Eadline  and  Ken  Mayer  re¬ 
ceived  kudos  from  the  Phila.  Astroriautical  Society  for  their  “Opera¬ 
tion  Outer  Space”  ...  As  a  promotion  gimmick,  Jim  Kiss,  WPEN  pub¬ 
licity  director,  is  sending  British  Magazine-of-the-Month  Club  Mem¬ 
berships  to  the  press. 

IN  MINNEAPOLIS 

KMGM-TV  to  televise  the  St.  Paul  Winter  Carnival,  parade  next 
month  .  KTC A-T V ,  Twin  Cities’  new  educational  station,  landed  one 
of  its  biggest  audiences  with  a  U.  of  Minnesota  Theatre  presentation 
of  its  “Taming  of  the  Shrew”  in  condensed  form  .  .  .  Minnesota  Amuse¬ 
ment  Co.  (United  Paramount  Circuit)  first  film  industry  member  to 
sponsor  a  radio  news  program— it’s  on  KSTP  . . .  As  winner  of  a  KSTP- 
TV  contest  that  pulled  17,800  entries,  two  St.  Paul  young  women  spent 
New  Yearis  eve  in  Paris  and  visited  Amsterdam,  Holland,  at  station’s 
expense  .  WtCO  Radio’s  subliminals,  which  are  called,  “phantom 
spots,”  continue! to  be  used  for  station  promotion  arid  public  service 
.  ...  WLOL  disk  jbckey# Steve  Cannon  quit  to  join  KGO,  the  San  Fran¬ 
cisco  CBS  station,  in  a  similar  capacity  .  .  .  WDGY  staged  annual  “Toy 
Daiice”  at  Marigold  Ballroom  with  admission  a  toy.  Toys  were  dis¬ 
tributed  to  under-privileged  families  .  .  .  Dick  Simmons,  St;  Paul  na¬ 
tive  and.  star  of  the  CBS  “Sergeant  Preston  of  the  Yukon"  Series,  to 
appear  in  person  at  St.  Paul’s  annual  Winter  Carnival  next  month  ... 
Unusual  WCCO  Radio  program  had  several  of  its  top  personalities, 
including  Cedric  Adams,  trading  places  with  “typical”  Minnesota 
farmer.  Program  broadcast  from  the  farm  had  Adams  and  the  others 
describe  a  typical  day  on  it. 

IN  PITTStBVRGH 

Toby  Wolfe,  secretary  to  Pete  Thornton,  KDKA-TV  publicity  director, 
has  resigned  to  be  a  housewife  and  been  replaced  by  Betty  Burnstin, 
from  WQEp  and  a  former  ,  schoolteacher  .  .  .  Howard  Loeb  arid  his 
family  here  for  a  visit  following  Loeb’s  sale  of  KRIZ  in  Phoenix,  Ariz., 
to  ex-Seri.  Burton  K.  Wheeler  and  his  son  .  ,  ,  Sain  Silverman,  of  Ch. 
13  program  dept,  back  from  two-week  visit  to  Buenos  Aifes,  where 
he  used  to  live  .  ,  .  Ray  Rodgers,  chief  engineer  of  KDRA-TV,  okay 
after,  suffering  a  slight  heart  attack  .  .  .  Les  Rawlins,  general  manager 
of  KDKA  Radio,  to  Miami  Beach  for  a  week  ,  .  .  Playhouse  actress 
Betty  Bailey  working  for  local  edition  of  TV  Guide  doing  promotion 
work  in  the  superriiarkets. .  .  .  Cecil  Stuchell,  of  WCAE,  and  his  wife 
celebrated  their  13th  wedding  anni  . , .  Tony  Oriale’a  “Italian  Hour”  on 
radio  just  20  years  Old,  He’s  now  on  WPIT^ 


Mike  Wallace,  Inteniewed, 
Says  He’s  Not  Too  Keen 
On  Tooting  the  Ciggies 

Ottawa,  Jan.  .  14. 

“If  I  had  my  way  I  would  not” 
was  the  reply  from  tv  interviewer 
Mike  Wallace  to  the  question, 
“Would  you  prefer  not  to  be  I  a 
pitchman  for  a  cigaret  on  your 
program?” 

Pierre  Berton,  managing  .ed  of 
Maclean’s  magazine  and  a  tv  in¬ 
terviewer  himself,  essayed  Wal¬ 
lace’s  technique  on  Wallace, in  N.Y. 
over  CBS’s  Sunday  “Close-Up.” 

When  first  asked  about  doing  the 
pitch,  Wallace  replied,  “I  have  to; 
Berton  countered,  “Ed  Murrow 
won’  do  it;”  Wallace  said,  “He 
can  afford  not  to.  If  we  want  to 
achieve  something,'  occasionally 
we  have  to  make  a  concession  for 
the  greater  good.  But  I  enjoy 
that  jparticular  cigaret  and  I  do  not 
find  it  undignified  to  sell  it.” 

To  ’he  question,  “More  and  more 
people  /seem  to  be  turning  you 
down  for  interviews.  Are  you 
haying  more  trouble  getting  Sub¬ 
jects  than  previously?  Wallace 
began;  “For  a  while,  after  some 
biased  national  publicity  .  ” 

“Would  you  name  some  of  it?  Ber-, 
ton  asked..  “Esquire,  for  instance? 
Holiday?  Time?  The  Reporter?” 

“Esquire,  was  fine,”  said  Wallace. 
“Holiday  was  fine.  Time  was  all 
righ’ — it’s  an  opinionated  maga¬ 
zine.  The  Reporter  gave  us  a 
chance  to  answer. v  The  only  re¬ 
views  we  consider  unfair  are  those 
that  attempt  tq  call  our  motives 
without  talking  tq  us  about  our  mo¬ 
tives  .  ..  .  We  haven’t  been  turned 
down  as  much  lately.”. 

“Norman  Vincent  Peaple  turned 
you  down”  stabbed  Berton. 

“He!  wais  too  busy.” 

“He  wasn't  too  busy  for  ‘Close- 
Up’  ”  was  Berton’s  crack. 

“I  know  he  wasn’t,  the  same 
weekend  he  turned  me  down  for. 
He  said  he  was  too  busy  Saturday 
night  preparing  his  Sunday  ser¬ 
mon  .  But  why  would  he  turn 
us  down  when  Eleahbr  Roosevelt 
and  others  of  her  stature  come 
on?” 

“Why  would  people  want  to  get 
the  third  degree  on  your  pro¬ 
gram?”  Berton  asked. 

‘Because  they  have  intellectual 
commercials  to  deliver — they  want 
to  deliver  a  message.” 

“O'to  Preminger  paid  part,  of 
your  passage  to  Europe.  Did  that 
obligate  you?” 

“We  talked  about  ‘Bonjour  Tris- 
tesse.’  Two  or  three  causal  men¬ 
tions  are  not  going  to  sell  a  pic¬ 
ture  unriecessarily.”  . 

“What  about  the  charges  of  rude¬ 
ness,  impertinence,  that  you  enjoy 
probing  weaknesses?  What  about 
Abe  Burrows’  crack  that  you  pre¬ 
fer  the  pin  prick  to  the  rapier 
thrust?”  o  . 

“Well*  Abe  Burrows  is  a  good 
friend.  He  .  .  .  ”  . 

Berton  cut  in,  “How  do  you  feel 
at  the  end  of  a  program— good  or 
bad?” 

“I  feel  good  if  I've  revealed  a 
person  or:  illuminated  a  subject; 
Badly,  if  I  feel  the  person  has  been 
less  than  honest  with  me.” 

“The  vice-president  of  your  net¬ 
work,  has  twice  made  apologies  be¬ 
fore,  your  prograiri,”  Berton  said. 
“Does  that  bother  you?”  . 

“Yes,”  Wallace  said.  “But  be¬ 
fore  the  Mickey  Cohen  one  he  told 
me  ahead,  arid  explained  it  was 
for  legal  protection.  The  Drew 
Pearson  orie,  though,  I  didn’t  know, 
about,  and  I  felt  badly.  It  seems 
Pearson  was  thinking  of  suing  the 
network.” 


INSURANCE" 

FURS  JEWELRY 

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SPECIALISTS 

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Gold  Seal  Expands  on 
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CBS-TV  has  eliminated  one  of  its 
sponsorship  headaches  with  the 
parting  of  the  Gold  Seal  Co.  (Glass 
Wax,  etc.)  to  take  over  full  spon¬ 
sorship  of  “The  Lucy  Reruns” 
starting  in  mid-March.  Gold  Seal 
has  been  an  alternate-week  spon¬ 
sor  of  the  Wednesday  night  series. 

Web  earliei'  signed  Pillsbury  to 
sponsorship -.of  four  alternate-week 
shows,  starting  tonight  (Wed.),!  this 
filling  in  the  gap  between  the  exit 
of  Sheaffer  Pen  and  the  everyv 
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Chicago— -Bill  Evans,  veteran 
disk  Jockey  here,  has  resigned 
from  WIND  to  operate  station 
KASI  in  Ames,  la.,  which  he  pur¬ 
chased  recently.  Of  late,  Evans 
had  been  conducting  an  all-night 
pop  records  show  on  WIND,  but 
for  years,  he  had  been  an  early 
morning;  fixture  on  WGN, 


Furnished  Offices 

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51 


Wednesday,  Jannary  15, 1958 


PfiklEfT 


RADIO-TELEVISION 


♦  ♦  ♦  ♦  »  »  »  »  ♦  »  »  »»♦♦»»»♦♦  »  »  »♦>#  ♦♦♦»♦♦»»» 


1 » $  »  M  M  ♦♦+>♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦>  ♦  ♦  ♦  ♦  ♦  ♦♦>♦  ♦  ♦  (♦♦♦ 

By  FLORENCE  S.  LOWE 

Washington,  Jan,  14. 

Massivfe  turnout  of  the  nation’s  lawmakers  for  the  annual  banquet 
and  show  of  the  CBS  affiliate  convention  last  night  (Mon.)  went  way 
beyond  CBS  expectations,  with  about  1, 300  persons  overflowing  the 
Sheraton  Park  Ballroom.  (CBS  originally  anticipated  not  more  than 
1,000  including  affiliate  reps,  etc:)' On  that  basis  alone  CBS  figures  the 
D.C.  conclave  a  “smash.” 

Frank  Stanton  &  Co.,  natch,  would  like  to  think  that  the  turnout  of 
793:  Congressional  leaders  and  their  wives;  Was  strictly  keyed  to  the. 
convention  motif— to  impress  and  woo  the  people  who  run  the  coun- 
try.  But  whether  they,  turned  out  for  that  purpose  or  for  the  star-stud¬ 
ded  show,  which  included  Danny  Thomas,  Phil  Silvers,  Art  Linkletter, 
Patti  Page,  the  June  Taylor  Dancers  (with  Lester  Gootlieb  producing 
—-(see  review)  is  something  they’ll  find  out  later— when  the  returns 
are  in  on  the  Barrow  Report,  et  al. 

*  '  * 

The  grass  roots  came  to  the  Congress ,  reversing  the  usual  order  of 
things,  at  the  CBS  meeting.  Howard  Kany,  manager  of  News  film,  for  the 
web,  set  up  a  studio  in  which  station  reps  interviewed  their  home  state 
Congressmen  for  local  consumption.  Impressive  number  of  legislators 
lined,  up  for  the  home  talent, 

* 

A  Jesuit  priest  sat^in  on  sessions  as  a  bonafide/ CBS  affiliate  rep. 
Rev,  Aloysius  Gpodspeed,  who  represents  Loyola  U.  on  WWL-TV,  New 
Orleans,  was  one  of  registered  delegates ..  ..."and  A.  G.  Heibert,  KTVA, 
Anchorage,  and  Bill  Wagner,  KINY-TV,  Juneau,  made  up  the  Alaska 
delegation,  copping  the  “men  .  who  trekked  the  furthest”  title.  Mrs, 
Hubbell  Robinson,  frau  of  web’s  exec  y,p.,  was  an  attention  getter  in 
Shoreham.  Lobby,  ,  where  she  was  recognized  as  Broadway’s  Vivienne 
Segal.  .  ,.  .  and  Bert  Lown,  west  coast  station  .relations  manager,  was 
lionized  by  reps  as  writer  of  such  hit  tunes  as  “Bye,  Bye  Blues”  and 
“By  My  Side.”  The  28  June  -Taylor  terpers  so.  taxed  the  mammoth  stage 
of  Sheraton  Park  that  a  special  '44-foot  platform .  had  to  be  built  .  . 

banquet  room  of  hotel,  incidentally,  largest  in  Capital  with  ’seating 
capacity  of  over  2,000,  made  its  debut  .at  the  ’55  NARTB  convention. 
Two  Western  tv  stars  highlighted  the  confab.  Gene  Autry,  complete  in 
cowboy  togs,  attended  i  a  role  of  part-owner  of  KOOL-TV,  phoenix, 
Ariz.  .  .  .  And  Jim  Arness,  the  Matt  Dillon  of  “Giinsmoke,”  was  a  “sur¬ 
prise’’  visitor  to  the  Merle  Jones  portion  of  the  agenda. 


Network  Nabobs  Due  in  D.  C. 


i  Continued  from  page  28  ; 


the  Barrow  study;  Chairman 
Emanuel  Celler  (D-N.Y.)  of  the 
House  Judiciary  Committee,  for 
one,  has  served  notice  he  will  press 
the  Commission  for  early  action  ofr^j 
the  network,  monopoly  front. 

May  Seek  Delay 

Further,  it’s  not  improbable  that 
the  pressure  of  other  proceedings 
on  Capitol  Hill  may  compel  the 
networks  to  request  a  delay;  The 
current  pay-tv  sessions .  before  the 
House  Interstate  Commerce  Com¬ 
mittee,  already  scheduled  through 
Feb.  22,  could  well  be  extended  to 
dates  which  conflict  with  the  FCC 
Bearings.  There’s  also  the  possibil¬ 
ity  of  Senate  hearings  on  subscrip¬ 
tion,  which  Sen.  Charles  E.  Potter 
(R-Mich.)  has  said  he  will  push 
for. 

Added  to  this  is  the  likelihood, 
that  the  list  of  witnesses  who  will 
desire  to  testify  will  assume  parade 
proportions,  with  possibly  'hordes 
of  affiliates  in  the  vanguard.  The 
exact  number  should  be  known 
within,  two  weeks  as  a  deadline  of 
Jan.  31  has  been  set  for  notices,  of 
appearances,. 

Even  after  the  hearings  have 
been  completed,  there  is  no  assur- 


SALES 

REPRESENTATION 
FOR  TV  FILMS  TO 

BREWERS 

Responsible  TV  organization  specializ¬ 

ing  In  commercials  will  consider  sell¬ 
ing  worthwhile  entertainment  Sims  on 
extended  trip  through  U.  S.,  Mexico 
end  xuba.  Well  established  personal 

leading  regional  brewers 

and  their  advertising  agencies  In  all 

markets.  Offerings  must  be  very  high¬ 

er  quality  With  at  least  pilot  film.  No 
"ideas"  or  schemes  considered. 

Box  No.  V-l  14-58,  VARIETY. 

1 54  W.  46th  St.r  Now  York  36 


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12  reminders  $3.(0 
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ance  that  the  Commission  will  pro¬ 
ceed  with  consideration  of  the  Bar- 
row  report.  In.  its  order  schedul¬ 
ing  the  sessions,  the  agency  said 
that  “after  all  of  the  testimony 
’has  been  received”  it  “will,  deter¬ 
mine  what  further  proceedings, 
if  any,  will  be  held.” 

Restricted  to  Report 

The.  Commission’s  order  calls  on 
witnesses  primarily  to  concern 
themselves  ..with  the  findings, 
recommendations  and  conclusions 
of  the  Barrow  report.  It  further, 
desires  that  they  direct  their  tes¬ 
timony  principally  toward  “the 
effects  and  impacts”  which  the 
recommendations  might  have  on 
the  tv  broadcasting  industry  in 
the  public  interest.  Finally;  it  re¬ 
quests  an  evaluation  of  these 
recommendations  “in  terms  of  en¬ 
hancing  the  development  of  a  na¬ 
tionwide,  competitive  television 
system.” 

While  desirous  of  receiving  all 
testimony  which  can  be  useful  to 
reaching  a  decision,  the  Commis¬ 
sion  declares  that  it  wishes  to  con¬ 
clude  the  hearing  “in  as  expedi¬ 
tious  a  manner  as  possible”  and 
..“therefore  desires  to,  avoid  the  re¬ 
ception  of  testimony  which  will  be 
merely  repetitive  or  cumulative;” 

The  order  states  that  the  report, 
the  result  of  a  two-year:  study  di¬ 
rected  by  Dean  Roscoe  L.  Bar- 
row  of  the  TJ.  of  Cincinnati,  pro¬ 
vides  a  basis  for  considering  a  re¬ 
vision  of  its  network  broadcasting 
rules  and  for  determing  whether 
legislation  to  carry  out  such  re¬ 
vision  should  be  recommended  to 
Congress. 

Among  other  things,  the  Barrow 
report  recommended  elimination, 
of  network  option  time  and  must- 
buy  practices  and  restriction  on 
size  of  markets  in  which  the  webs 
can  own  tv  stations. 


Hypo  on  G-G 

^—4  Continued  from  page  27 
without  “making  a  production  of 
it.”  Such  subjects  as  proposed  pro¬ 
gram  changes;  means  of  bolstering 
ratings,  and  new  policies  could  be 
best  explained  to  the  stations  by 
explanations -via  closed  circuit. 

Liaison  with  Congress  and  Gov- 
ermfient  regulatory  agencies  could 
be  far  more  effective  than  at  pres¬ 
ent  by  being  placed  on  a  “continu¬ 
ing,  intelligent  basis,”  rather  than 
the  “unplanned,  sporadic”  format 
it  now  takes,  according  to  Sugg. 
“The  going  is  rough,”  he  stated, 
enumerating  the  numerous  con¬ 
trols  under  consideration  >iri:  the 


■SS  Continued  from  pagf '28 
to  be  produced,  by  Charles  Marquis 
Warren*  who  created  the .  tv  version 
of  “Giinsmoke”  (Star  :  James 
Arness,  incidentally  was  conspicu¬ 
ous  at  the  affiliate  meet).  Also 
planned  is.  an  anthology  series, 
“Rendezvous,”  with  13  filmed  seg¬ 
ments  already,  rolling;  A  Ralph  i 
Bellamy series,  ’‘Front  Office,” 
about  big  business,  is  also  on  the 
agenda,  along  with  six  new  panel 
Shows,  out  of  which  CBS  hopes  to 
salvage  two  as  contenders  for  the 
new  fall  season. 

Robin  son  dwelt  on  the  .new 
three-way  d a y t im e  competition, 
With  the  NBC  ascendancy  and  the 
ABC  late  afternoon  upbeat,  and 
appealed  to  the  affiliates  for  a 
greater  degree  of  cooperation  on 
promotion,  advertising  and  publi¬ 
city.  ' 

Particularly,  however,  he  ap¬ 
pealed  to  the  affils  for  a  greater 
clearance  acceptance  of  five-times- 
a-week  shows.  “There  have  been 
instances”  said  Rdbinson  “where 
stations  have  carried  only  ,  the  com¬ 
mercial  segments  of  our  daytime 
shows,- and  not  carried  the  sustain¬ 
ing  segments.  It  is  obviously  much 
more  difficult  to  build  the  rating 
of  a  show  designed  for  five-a-week 
presentation  if  it  is  not  available 
to  the  viewer  on  that  basis.” 


Gottlieb’s  Gee-Whizzer 

^ .  Continued  from  page  28  ^—^ 
everybody  who’s  anybody  within 
the  Congressional  precincts. 

The  show  had  class,  style,  pacing, 
delivery  and  showmanship  (CBS 
ought  to  keep  it  on.  the  road  intact, 
said  one  jubilant  CBS  '.affiliate 
member)  with  peak  performances; 
from  opening  to  closing  whether  it 
Was  the  line  of  24  •  June  .  Taylor  ! 
dancers  with,  some  imaginative 
choreography  built  in.  and  around 
arid  through  the  CBS-TV  “eye” 
emblem;  Art  Linkletter’s.  easygoing 
emceeing;  Patti  Page’s  vocalizing; 
Phil  Silvers  fronting  his  Bilko  reg¬ 
iment  and.  particularly  Danny 
Thomas  'in  one  of  his  richest  per¬ 
formances  as  the  closer.  > 

It  was  in  a  sense  a  triumph  for 
ail  broadcasting  and  CBS’  elation 
at  the  reaction  to  the  show  be^ 
comes  understandable  in  light  of 
the  fact  that  the  audience  for  the 
most  part  was  comprised  of  a 
Ioaded-for-bear  Congress  and  the 
FCC.  It  was,  too,  the  eve  of  the. 
opening  of  the  pay-tv  hearings  and 
here,  although  it  didri’t  come  off 
the  tube,  was  a  display  of  show¬ 
manship  add  fun  by  people 
schooled  in  the  concept  of  free 
television  the  likes  of  which  most 
of  the.  VIPs  had  never  seen  be¬ 
fore.  There  was  a  touch  of  the  hero 
—CBS  hero-^in  Gottlieb  Monday, 
night.  ...  Rose; 


Dave  Taylor  Leaving  NBC  After 
i  7-Year  Tenure  in  Public  Affairs 


From  ‘O&O’  to  ‘COY 

Chicago,  Jan;  14. 

It  may  he  the  result  of  an¬ 
ticipated  reverberations  from 
the  Barrow  studies  that  at 
lehst  one  network  is  attempt¬ 
ing  to  make  a  misnomer  of  the 
term  “o&o.”  According  to 
Jules  Dundes,  v.p.  in  charge  of 
station  administration  for  CBS 
radio,  properties,  the  web  now 
prefers  to  think,  of  its  statioris 
as“CO’s”  (CBS-owned);  “CBS 
owns  the  stations,”  Dundes 
says,  “but  they  are  operated 
locally.” 

Undes  was  in  Chicago  arid 
St.  Louis. recently  to  make  a 
presentation  to  agencies  that 
attempts  to  -show  the  greater 
believability  of  news  and  com¬ 
mercials  on  network  owned- 
statioris  than  on|indies. 


Bill  Hylan 

Continued  from  page.  27 
for  this  situation.  “If  televisiori  Is 
to  continue  to  prosper,”  he.  said, 
“it  must  be  known  as  an  effective 
advertising,  riierchandising  and 
selling  medium  for  many  clients— 
not  just  those  who  are  in  the  'top 
ten.’” 

Chiding  critics  who  “wrote  oft, 
the  season”?  on  the  basis  of  initial 
ratings  of  new  shows,  Hylan  .  said 
he  asked  the  CBS  researchers  for 
ah  average  of  Nielsen  Average 
Audience  ^ratings  for  a  number  of 
half-hour  programs  in  their  first 
13  weelcs  on  the  air.  “It’s  safe  to 
say,”  he  asserted,  “that  had  the 
same  standards  been  applied  to 
some  of  these  programs  in  their 
first  13  weeks  as  were  applied  to 
some  of  the  new  programs  this  fall 
in  their  first  four  or  five  weeks, 
many  of  them  would  not  he  on  the 
air.” 

Hylan  pointed  out  that  “I’ve  Got : 
a  Secret”  averaged  a  19  rating  for 
its  first  13  weeks;  “Wyatt  Earp,” 
19;  Perry  Como,.  26;  "Gunsmoke,” 
25;  “Wells  Fargo,”  23;  and  Danny 
Thomas,  14.9. 

“The  rating  threshold  for  success 
in  television,”  Hylan  emphasized, 
“is  not  at  the  level  of  the  ‘top  ten’ 
or  ‘top  twenty1  but  far  "below  tliat. 
We  must  get  across  the  point  that 
many  factors .  besides  ratings  cori- 
tribute  to  the  successful  use  of  the 
medium.” 


Tulsa— Jim  Ruddle  rejoins  the 
KOTV  announcing  staff  after  five 
months  leave  to  voyage  across  the 
Atlantic  Ocean  in  a  46-foot  sloop. 
The.  trip  was  cancelled  after  the 
boat  nearly  capsized  in  a  storm  off 
the  coast  of  Nova  Scotia. 


*  By  ROBERT  J.  LANDRY 

Davidson  Taylor  will  soon  depart 
NBC  where  his  title  has  been  Vice. 
President  of  the  Public  Affairs.  He 
is  believed  to  be  the  only  broad¬ 
casting  official  ever  to  hold  vice 
presidencies  at  CBS  and  NBC  after 
joining  both  networks  in  lesser  ca¬ 
pacities.  (William  Fineshriber,  a 
vice  president  at  Mutual,  joined 
NBC  with  veep  status.) 

Taylor’s  exit  in  the  near  future, 
after  a  number  of  present  program 
commitments  are  completed,  will 
not  come  as  a  surprise  to  the  trade. 
His  present  salary  and  the  reshuf¬ 
fling,  of  function  going  on  for  some 
time  in  the  program  department 
left  him  in  the  position  of  being 
excessively  compensated:  for  re¬ 
duced  duties.  It  is  not  known  now 
Whether  another  Public  Affairs 
chief  will  be  named  or  the  duties 
separated. 

Prior  to  joining  NBC,  after  a 
sabbatical  year  in  Italy  which  fol¬ 
lowed  his  long  CBS  tenure,  Tay¬ 
lor  had  passed  from  announcer  at 
WHAS,  Louisville,  to  the  musio 
division  at  CBS  and  thence  up  the 
ladder  in  a  series  of  promotions. 
With  the  departure  of  Douglas 
Coulter,  the  program  department 
directorship  and  epaulets  went  to 
Taylor,  At  CBS,  Taylor  presided 
over  the  last  getive  radio  and 
early  television  period  when  the 
Paley  network  then  practiced  do-it- 
yourself  program  creation.  He 
joined  NBC  Jan.  2,  1951. 

Until  last  summer  Taylor’s  juris¬ 
diction  at  NBC  embraced  News,. 
Special  Events  (including  “Wide, 
Wide  World”)  Sports,  Public  Serv¬ 
ice  and  the  Special  Film  Unit  un¬ 
der  Henry  Salomon.  Just  prior  to 
the  new  setup  in  NBC  News  (under 
William  McAndrew)  one  of  Tay¬ 
lor’s  last  tasks  was  a  general  shuf¬ 
fling  and  reassigning  of  the  for¬ 
eign  news  staff.  Trade  now  credits 
NBC  news  with  competing  on  more 
evenly  competitive  terms  With 
CBS.  Taylor  was  prominently  idem 
tified  with  coverage  of  the  last 
two  political  campaigns. 

Because  of  the  dizzying  vapidity 
of  change  and  shift  within  televi¬ 
sion  programming,  often  requir¬ 
ing  an  up-to-date  executive  direc¬ 
tory  to  keep  who’s  who  straight, 
some  of  the  questions  of  credits 
are  obscured,  but  it  is  believed 
that  the  resurgence  of  sports  cov¬ 
erage,  long  semi-moribund  at  NBC, 
was  Taylor’s  doing.  It  was  Pat 
Weaver  who  assigned  him  to  im¬ 
plement  the  “Wide,  Wide  World” 
format  and  Taylor’s  choice  was 
then  offbeat — Barry  Wood,  a  tenor- 
turned-producer. 

Taylor  also  is  credited  with  the 
executive  logistics  which  got  s 
languishing  shelf  property  named 
“Victory  At  Sea”  on  the  market. 


Aimed  to  hold  AUDIENCES  week  after  week / 


•  '•  .91  >'•  m •  Al**-* •>«  4«'4-o  •  •  «  A.frt  •***■  • 


52 


RADIO-TELEVISION 


PSriety 


Wednesday,  January  15,  1958 


$100-Mil  Coast  Vidplx  Pot 


t  Continued  from  page  29  ; 


film  studios  in  tv  with  four  spon-i 
sored  series,  the  Burbank  lot  is 
still  quite  a  distance  in  back  of  tv’s, 
front-runners,  ReVue  and  Desilu.! 

A  year  ago  Desilu  was  the.  unques-  39  '  Wyatt  Earp.’ 
tioned  leader  in  tv  film  production,  [  sored, 
but  in  the  span  since  then  Revue;  Robert  J.  Enders  Inc.:  19  “Best 
has  grown  tremendously,  outdis-;  of  fhe  Post,”  39  "Espionage,”  39 
tancing  Desilu  in  the  process.  And.  “Manhunt,”'  none  sponsored:.  s. 
a  year  ago  Disney  and  Warners.  Family  Films:  26  “This  Is  the 
were  second  and  third,  behind ;  Life.”  26  “This  Is  the  Answer,” 
Desilu,  but  today  the  indies  easily  >  both  Syndicated. .  . 
dominate  the  picture.  Don  Fedderson:  18  “The  Million- 

Unpredictable  Pilots  aire”  (CBSL  (ABC),  sponsored. 

Pilot  films  aren’t  included  in  the  -  Fdmasters  Prod. ;  39  “Gun- 
survey  since  they’re  always  specu-smoke,  13  Have  Gun, 
lative  and  offer  no  accurate  pic-  i  gravel,  both  CBS,  both  sponsored, 
ture  of  upcoming  production,  de-:  Filnrcraft:  8  You  Bet  Your 
pendent  as  they  are  on  the  tastes ;  Life”  (NBC).  Sponsored:  . 

of  Madison  Ave.  About  100  will  be!  Four  Star  Films:  12  4  Dick  Pow- 
shot  for  the  spring  season,  and  ifv ell’s.  Zane  Grey  Theatre  ’  (CBS); 
10  or.  15  are  sold,  it  will  be  con-- 18  “Trackdown”  (CBS);  21  "Turn 
sidered  a  good  average..  *'  <  of  .  Fate”  (NBC)  20  “Richard  Dia- 

While  tv  film  has  held  its  own,  mond”  (CBS),  all  sponsored, 
production-wise,  the  picture  is  n.s:g. !  Sam  Gallu:  four  “Navy  Log” 
insofar  as  quality  is  concerned.;  (ABC».  Sponsored. 

There  were  no  exciting  new  vidfilm j  Goihalco  Prod:  :  20  "Leave  It  to 
entries,  none  which  caught  on  fife  Beaver”  (CBS).  Sponsored, 
as  did  "I  Love  Lucy”  when  it  ;  .John  Guedel:  .  three  "People  Are 
began,  or  “Disneyland4'  its  first •  Funny- '  (NBC)..  Sponsored, 

year.  Lacking  originality,  the  vid-  Guild  Films:  33  “Light  of  the 
filmers  came  up  with  one  of  the  *  World.”  Syndicated. 


Zorro,  Mickey  Mouse  Club,  all  on 
ABC,  all  sponsored.  i 

39  ‘Earps*,  Etc.  | 

Wyatt  Earp  Enterprises:  39 
-  (ABC).  Spon* 


39  "Dude  Ranch,’-  neither  spon¬ 
sored. 

Walden-Paisano  Prod.:  six 

“Court  of  Last  Resort”  (NBC), 
sponsored. 

Warner  Bros;.*  eight  ‘Cheyenne,” 
19  “Colt  .45”  eight  “Sugarfoot,” 
bine  "Maverick*”  all  ABC,  all 
sponsored.. 

Westhaven  Ent.:  seven  Eve  Ar¬ 
den  series.  (CBS )  r  sponsored. 

.  Jack  Wratber  Prod.:,  seven  ‘‘Las¬ 
sie”  (CBS),  sponsored;*  . 26  “Sgt. 
Preston  of  the  Yukori,”  (CBS), 
sponsored. 

Ziv  TV:  20  “Highway  Patrol,” 
30  “Sea  Hunt,”  19  “Harbor  Coni- 
mhnd*’^  all  syndicated;  18  “Tomb-‘L 
stone  Territory” ,  (ABC ) .  sponsor-  ■ 
ed;  .“Target,”  not  sponsored. 


Lewislor:  10  Loretta  Young  se¬ 
ries.  (NBC).  Sponsored. 

.  Mark  VII:  39  “Dragnet.” 
(NBC).  Sponsored. 

Marterto  Enterprises:  10  Danny 
Thomas  series.  !  (CBS).  Spon- 


oldest  of  commodities— westerns— 
and  such  new  oat-and-hoofers  as 
"Maverick,”  “Wagon  Train,”  and 
'•Have  Gun,  Will  Travel”  drew  re¬ 
spectable  ratings,  particularly 

“Maverick.-’  But  there  wasn’t  a _ 

single  new  telefilm  series  that  could:  sored, 
be  tagged  as  an  original  show. which  j  McCadden  Prod.:  20  Burns  &  Al- 
caught  the  fancy  of  the  nation’s!  jen  /CBS)  ;  4  "People’s  Choice” 
audience— in  fact,  most,  ratings;  t jjbC ) ;  53  Boh  Cummings  (NBC), 
were  down,  reflecting  the  quality.*all  sponsored.  9  “Pamc”  (NBC), 
Undoubtedly  the  biggest  dissap-  - 

pointmefit  among  the  tv-film  series 
was  that  of  Frank  Sinatra,  bally- 


booed  as  the  most  expensive  film 
show  in  tv.  So  downbeat  were  the 
..'Ta tings  of  Sinatra’s  teleseries  that 
before  year’s  end,  he  bowed  to 
sponsor  and  network  pressure  and 
junked  his  film  series  to  go  live. 

Hollywood’s  vidfilm  producers 
have  by  now  become  reconciled,  to 
the  inevitable  spring  axings.  as 
sponsors  and.  agencies  look  around 
for  replacements  for  next  season. 
It  wasn’t  a  question  6f  "will  they?,” 
but  of  “who-will-they  replace?” 
Last  spring  about  40  telefilm  series 
got  the  ax,  and  predictions  were 
being  made,  the  figure  this  spring 
will  be  the  same. 

1958  Production  Scorecard 

Following  is  the  breakdown  of 
companies  with  definite  production 
plans  for  1958: 

Jim  Bowie  EnterprisesTTj)  “Ad¬ 
ventures  of  Jim  Bowie.”  (ABC), 
sponsored. 

Brennan-Westgate  Prod,:  13  “The 
Real  McCoys.”  (ABC),  Spon¬ 
sored. 

Bridget  Prod.:  20  "Mr.  Adams 
and  Eve,”  Sponsored, 

C.  &  T.:  39  “Boots  and  Saddles,” 
39  “Union  Pacific,”  both  syndi¬ 
cated.. 

California  Film  Ent.:  six  "The 
Californians.”  (NBC),  Spon¬ 
sored. 

California  National:  13  "Life  of 
Riley.”  (NBC).  Sponsored.  39 
"Silent  Service.’’  Syndicated. 

Caulross  Prod.:  five  “Sally.” 
(NBC  >.  Sponsored. 

CBS-TV :  38  “Lineup,”  30  "De¬ 
cember  Bride,”  five  Red  Skelton, 
all  sponsored,  and  on  CBS. 

Cinefilm  Inc.:  40  “How  Christian 
Science  Heals.” Syndicated. 

JadfeBtetwra.: .  52-  "Christophers.” 

DN5«K^^t^uctionS:  39  "Wblriy- 
bird^  ^  "Sheriff  or  Cochise*”  39 
"Official  Detective,”  39  "This  Is 
Alice,”  all  syndicated.  Six  "Lucille 
Ball  and  Desi  Arnaz  Show  (CBS), 
39  “Walter  WincheU  File”  (ABC, 
both  sponsored. 


not  sponsored. 

McGowan  Prod.:  26  "Death  Val¬ 
iev  Days”  (.NBC).  Sponsored;  20 
'Skyking”  (ABC),  sponsored;  26 
Snowfire,”  not  sponsored. 

Metro  TV:  13  “The  Thin  Man,” 
26  “Noriwest  Passage,”  both 
(NBC);  “Passage”  not  sponsored, 
eight  “hour-long  vidfiilms,,  spon¬ 
sored,  no  network  set. 

Paisano  Prod.:  14  "Perry  Ma¬ 
son.”  tCBS),  sponsored. 

.  Lindslby  Parsons  Prod.:  14 
Gray  Ghost.”  Syndicated. 

Revile  Prod,:  14  GE  Theatre,  22 
Schlitz  Playhouse,  five  Jack  Benny, 
seven'  “Bachelor  Father,”  21  “A1-. 
fred  Hitchcock  Presents.”  all  CBS, 
all  sponsored;  16  “Wells  Fargo,” 
14  “Wagon  Train,”  nine  “Suspi¬ 
cion,  ”  19  “M  Squad,”  16  “The 
Restless  Gun,”  ll  Jane  Wyman 
sferies,  all  NBC;  all  sponsored;  nine 
Studio  57,  sponsored,  spotrbooked; 
24  "State  Trooper,”  32.  Mickey 
Spillane,  both  syndicated;  13  un¬ 
titled  Lloyd  Nolan  series,  13 
‘Cimarron  City,”  neither  spon¬ 
sored,  ; 

Hal  Roach  Studios:  18  “Oh  Sus¬ 
annah”  (CBS).  26  “Love  That 
Jill’.’  (ABC);  four  “Telephone 
•Time”  (ABC ) ,  all  sponsored. 

TatherV ‘Shirley/,  Etc* 

.  Screen  Gems:  39  “Father  Knows 
Best,”  12  "Shirley  Temple  Story 
Book,”  both  NBC,  both  sponsored; 
52  “Rin  Tin  Tin,”  13  "Tales  of 
Texas  Rangers,”  13  "Circus  Boy,” 
all  ABC,  all  sponsored;  three  Play¬ 
house  90  (CBS),  sponsored;  13 
“Wild  Bill  Hickok”  (CBS  and 
ABC);  sponsored;  26  “Casey 
Jones,”  syndicated;  26  "The  Web,” 
not  sponsored. 

Sharpe-Lewls  Prod,;  eight  "Ad: 
ventures  of  McGraw.”  (NBC), 
Sponsored. 

Stage  Five  Prod*:  26  "Adven¬ 
tures  of  Ozzie  npd  Harriet.” 
(ABC),  sponsored.  '«? 

TCF-TV:  12  “Broken  Arrow” 
(ARC),  sponsored.  35  .  .wH«w  to 
Many  a  Millionaire/’  33  "Man 
Without  a  Gun,”  peither  sponsor* 
ed;  two  Other  aeries,  not  sponsored. 

Television  Programs  of  Amer¬ 
ica:  26  "Fury”  CNBC),*  sponsored. 


SAG  Clarifies 

Continued  from  page*  30 

newed  stitdy  of  the  problem,  the 
Council  reaffirmed  its  basic  posi¬ 
tion. 

The  Guild’s  . National  Board  -of 
Directors,  after  complete  consid¬ 
eration  of  all  aspects,  of  the  prob¬ 
lem,  -  approved  the  Wages  and 
Working  Conditions  Committee 
proposals  unanimously.  They  are 
being  presented"  to  the  producers 
and  advertising  .  agencies  immedi¬ 
ately  and  negotiations;  will,  .open 
in  New  York  on  Jam  20. 

At  no  time  in  the  long  series  of 
conferences  and  discussions  was 
any  reference  made  to  AFTRA  ex¬ 
cept  that  the  sanie  group  criticized 
the  AFTRA  negotiations  and  con¬ 
tracts  as  having  originated  and 
maintained  the  same  concepts  to 
which  they  object.  The  reference 
to  repeated  difficulties  with  SAG 
is  entirely  without  foundation. 

It  is  regrettable  that  these  differ¬ 
ences  exist  and  that  anyone  chose 
to  publicize  them  on  the  eve  of 
negotiations,  but  it  must  be  obvious 
that  the  Welfare  of  the  greatest 
number  must  control  Guild  action 
and  policy  in  this  as  well  as  in  all 
other  respects, 

John  L.  Dales, 

(National  Executive  Secretary, 

•  Screen  Actors  Guild.) 


Walt  Disney:  30  Disneyland,  52  39.  "Thompson  of  Thunder  Ridge,1 


farameunl  Role 

Continued  from  page  28  sss 

mount  policy  will  be  under  the 
guidance  Qf  James  A,  Schulke, 
newly -named  v.p.  and  general  man¬ 
ager  of  Paramount  Sunset.  An  im¬ 
portant  part  of  Schulke’s  position 
will  be  to  aid  in  developing  tv  ac¬ 
tivities  for  Paramount, 

Osgood’s  Far  Exit: 

Hollywood.  Jan.  .14. 

Stantok  Osgood,  for  the  last  two 
years,  .general  manager  of  Para¬ 
mount  Sunset  Cqrp.,  Paramount’s 
tv  productlou  subsidiary,  exits  the 
post  Feb.,  1  to  enter  indie  radio 
station  operation.  He’s  negotiating 
for  a  partnership  in  three  South¬ 
ern  California  AM’ers  which  he 
will  manage. 

Osgood  will  he  succeeded  by 
James  .  A.  Schulke,  who  joined 
Paramount  several  weeks  ago  In 
the  east  to  assist  in  development  of 
the  firm’s  tv  activities.  He  previ¬ 
ously  was  with  the  James  L. 
Saphier  agency  and  was  New  York 
rep  for  Rbsenberg-Coryell  agency 
and  radio-tv  account  planning  manr 
ager  far  Young  &  Rubicam. 

Pittsburgh— James  Murray,  long¬ 
time  manager  of  KQV  until  locally- 
owned  station  was  bought  recently 
by  ABC  network,  has  joined  the 
Eddie  Hir^Hberg  stations,  WEDO 
in  McKeesport,  Pa.,  and  WEIR  in 
Weirton,  W.  Va.,  as  national  and 
regional  sales .  director.  The  net 
has  sent  Ralph  Beaudin  here  as 
Murray's  successor. 


Stanton  Alerts 

Continued  from  page  27 
and  -demands  of  our  free  society 
imperatively  place  more  and  deep¬ 
er  responsibilities  on  us  in  televi¬ 
sion  broadcasting  than  ever  be*: 
fore;” 

Alluding  to  the  threat  of  both 
pay-tv  and  the  -  Barrow  Network. 
Study  staff  report,  he  asserted  that 
television’s  ability  to  meet  these 
responsibilities  is  more  seriously 
threatened  than  ever  before.  “The 
immediate  period  ahead  is  a  period 
of  crisis  for  all  of  us.” 

Villains:  Pay-TV,  Barrow 

Stanton  minced  no  words  in 
alerting  the  broadcasters  to  the 
twin  jeopardies  of  pay-tv  and  the 
Barrow’  curbs  on  networks,  partic¬ 
ularly  in  a  missle  age  “when  our 
increased  responsibilities  require 
harder  concentration  and  greater 
emphasis.” 

“The  overriding  need  is  for  all 
of  us  to  do  more.  We  must  inform 
more  people,  faster,  more  effec¬ 
tively,  more  fully — day  in  and  day 
out.  This  is  your  job,  it  is  our 
job;  If  we  fall  in  this  responsibili¬ 
ty,  the  decision-making  start  that 
dictatorships  have  ever  democra¬ 
cies  may  be  an  advantage  Which  is 
decisive— fatal.” 

But  Stanton  said  that  pay-tv  and 
the  Barrow  staff  report  as  twin 
menaces  pose  such  ominous  threats 
that  “the  whole  structure  of  tele¬ 
vision  as  we  now  know  it  can  come 
tumbling  down.”  "It  cannot  sur¬ 
vive  if  pay  television  is  successful,” 
he  said.  “The  American;  economy 
is  deprived  of  an  important  instru¬ 
ment  of  marketing.  A  source,  of 
entertainment  and  information  is 
hijacked  from  the  American  pub¬ 
lic. 

“The  staff  study  report  poses 
threats  from  a  different  direction 
but  of,  perhaps,  even  greater 
gravity.  The  combination  of  such 
(Barrow)  proposals  as  the  unlimited 
regulation  of  networks,  the  re¬ 
duced  ceiling  on  network  owner¬ 
ship  of  stations  and  the  elimina* 
tion  of  option  time  would  critically 
hobble  television  networking  as:  it 
is  today  and.  stunt  any  possible 
growth.” 


Vaudeo  Leads ’57 


London,  Jan.  14. 

Televaude  shows  were  the  most, 
popular  tv  offerings  during  1957 
with  more  entries  in  the!  Nielsen 
networks  Top  lj>  than  any!  other 
type  of  program.  In  all  three  com¬ 
mercial  tv  areas  operating  through¬ 
out  last  year— London,  the  -Mid¬ 
lands  and  the  North— this  type  of 
show  headed  the  list  in  popularity. 
In  London,  second  place  went  to 
drama,  series  of  the  “Robin  Hood” 
type,,  while  in  the  other  two  areas, 
quiz  and  audience  participation 
proms  were  the  runners-up. 

Westerns  and  old  pictures  were 
well  down  the  list  in  all  the  Inde¬ 
pendent  tv  zones,  with  situation 
comedies  following  close  behind. 
Full  length  plays  in  regular  slots 
were  third  in  popularity  in  London 
and  fourth  in.  the  Midlands  and 
•North,  while  news.arid  discussion 
programs  footed  the  lists  along 
with  live  spbrt. 


Courtship  on  Potomac 

■  Continued  from  .page  27. 

promulgated  on  a  Stanton-Bill 
Paley  leVel  toward  increasing 
broadcasting’s  sphere  of  influence 
at  a  critical  turning  point  in  his¬ 
tory;  ideals  exemplified,  for  exam¬ 
ple,  in  CBS  taking  a  forthright  edi¬ 
torial  stand  on  the  recent  "Where 
We  Stand”  90-minute  appraisal  of 
the  U.  S,  ats.  Soviet  Russia,  and 
Stanton’s  own  active  participation 
as*  advisor  to  the  Gaither  Commit¬ 
tee  oq  national  defense  recom¬ 
mendations. 

As  Stanton,  himself  pointed  out 
to  the  affiliates:  "if  any  industry 
has  had  a  direct  stamp  of  public 
approval,  television,  with  its 
42,000,000  families  viewing  over  five 
hours  a  day,  has  had  such  approyal. 
If  any  Industry  developed  at  the 
right  time  and  the  right  place  to 
respond  to  the  emergency  demands 
of  this  ICBM  age,  it  is  the  tele¬ 
vision  industry.  The  stimulus  for 
this  growth,  the  backbone  for  the 
public  acceptance,  and  the  means 
by  which  the  industry  can  fulfill 
its  urgent  new  responsibilities  are 
primarily  network  television.” 


ATTENTION  members  of 

The  Academy  of  Television  Arts  and  Sciences- 

Because  of  numerous  requests,  a  screening  has  been  scheduled  of  Playhouse  7Q!s 
"The.  Comedian,"  starring  Mickey  Rooney,  Edmund  O'Brien,  Kim  Hunter  end  Mel  Tor 
originally  telecast  "live"  from  Hollywood  over  CBS  TY  oh  February  14,  1957, 

"The  Comedian”  was  written  by.  Rod  Serling,  produced  by  Martin  Manulis  and  directed 
by  John  Frankenhei 


THE  TIME:  THE  PLACE: 

Tuesday,  Jan.  21, 8:30  and  10:00  P.M,  Barbizon  Plaza  Theatre,  58th  St.  . and  6th  Ave. 
YOUR  ATAS  OR  AFTRA  MEMBERSHIP  CARD  WILL  ADMIT  YOU  AND  GUEST. 


Half-Hour  Seripls 

Sis  Continued  from  page  29 

pilot  on  the  new  series  in  New 
York  next  month— show,  if  sold, 
will  be  filmed  in  N.Y.— has  been  do¬ 
ing  more  than  the  usual  amount  of 
pre-prodpetion  planning  on  the, 
property^, particularly  in  the  script 
department!  He’s ;  laid  down  some 
ground  rules,  mainly  to  the  effect 
that  the  scripts  wiil  have  to  deal 
with  people  rather  than  "gim¬ 
micks.” 

He’s  passed  the  word  that  physi¬ 
cal  gimmicks,  "psychiatricks,”  cops 
’n'  robbers  stuff,. etc.,  are  out — "real 
suspense  comes  out  of- the  pressure 
of  circumstance  on.  character,”  he 
feels,  and  the  basic  elements  of  his 
Stories  will  involve  sympathetic 
central  characters  in  a  trap  Who 
must  not  only  overcome  the  danger 
they  are  in  but  at  the  same  time 
jsolve  a  moral  dilemna  which  is  us¬ 
ually  at  cross-rpurposes  with  their 
means  of  escape  from -danger.  This 
approach,  he  feels  leaves  room  for 
lots  of  characterization  and  mature 
story  values  without  sacrificing— in 
fact,  enhancing — the  main  element 
of  suspense. 

Additionally,  Davis  has  added  a 
new:  element  to  the  script  develop¬ 
ment  of  the  show.  He  hopes  to 
shoot  one  out  of  three  shows  on  lo¬ 
cation,  for  one  thing,  and  intends 
to  make  extensive  use  of  stock 
footage  (in  fact,  has  hired  specialist 
Arthur  Knight  for  the  footage). 
But  there’s -a  reverse  twist  involved, 
since  the  available  locations  and 
stock  footage  will  be  used  to  inspire 
script  Ideas  rather  than  as  after- 
the-fact  devices. 

Davis  believes  that  filming  In 
New  York  tends  to  accentuate  story 
values,  and  he.  reasons  this  way: 
The  Coast’s  film  facilities  are  so 
plentiful  and  extensive  that  the 
tendency  on  the  part  of  most  pro¬ 
ducers  there  is  to  accent  the  technir 
cal  end  at  the  expense  of  content. 
When  a  Coast  studio  can  re-create 
any  kind  of  setting  and  cope  with 
any  kind  of  physical  problem,  the 
need  to  get  maximum  values  out 
of  the  story  isn’t  as  great.  In  N.Y., 
on  the  contrary,  facilities  for  film¬ 
ing  are  so  limited  that  the  producer 
must  be  constantly  on  his  toes  to 
make  up  with  story  values  those 
assets  he  lacks  in  the  physical  and 
technical  end  of  the  production. 


Barrow  Report 

a  Continued  from  page  28  s 

ing  it  a  less  attractive  medium  for 
the  public  and  the  advertiser.” 

Threat  To  Affiliates 
The  Barrow  Report  also  pioses  a 
“grave  threat  for  affiliate  stations. 
This  warning  was 'issued!  to  CBS 
affiliate  by  John  S.  Hayes,  .manager 
of  WTOP  and  WTOP-TV,  in  Wash¬ 
ington.  He  is  chairman  of  a  spe¬ 
cial  committee  of  CBS  television 
affiliates  formed  to  analyze  the  re¬ 
port. 

Hayes’  committee  found  little 
good  in  the  report.  Basically,  he 
said,  it  would  tend  to  place  the  en¬ 
tire  broadcasting  business,  includ¬ 
ing  the  operation  of  stations,  un¬ 
der  much  more  rigid  controls.* 
Hayes  pointed  out  that  network- 
affiliate  relationship,  now  on  a  pri¬ 
vate  business  basis;  would  come 
under  specific  Federal  laws  and 
regulations,  if  the-  Barrow  recom¬ 
mendations  sheuhfr  be^catriied  out. 


San  Antonie — Bill  Lee,  city  news 
editor  of  KENS  and  KENS-TV,  has 
been  appointed  chairman  of  the 
Associated  Press  Radio  &  Televi¬ 
sion  Assn.,  news  committee  .  for 
1958.  The.  committee  coordinates 
news  coverage  for  both  radio  and 
tv  stations;  Lee  accepted  the  post 
from  Daniel  W.  Kops,  NeWJHaven, 
Conn*,  prez  of  the  association. 


‘Comedy  Unlimited’ 

Fnth  New  Timely 

PRO.  COMEDY  MATERIAL 

TV  Radio  NKarlas 
Monologues,  Oagt,  Bits,  ote„  ate. 
Llfallno  to  tn*  funnybons. 

1759  N.  Orchid  . 
Hollywood  21,  California 
Lot  Mata  HO.  4-6191,  Ext.  102 


BEAUTIFULLY  FURNISHED 
MIDTOWN  EASTSIDE  ELOOR 
THRU  APARTMENT 
REFERENCES,  $350 
Rfaoim:  FI  J9-47XT 


53 


Wednesday,  January  15,  1958 


VSRIEfY 


RADIO-TELEVISIOJV 


CBS-TV  resumed  its  severi-to-three  margin,  over  NBC-TV  in  the 
new  Nielsens  for  the  two  weeks  ending  Dec.  7,  after  NBC  had 
reduced  the  margin  to  six-four  in  the  second  repofct  for  November. 
NBC  placed  third  with  its  “Annie  Get  Your  Gun”  spec,  but  Colum¬ 
bia  topped  that  with  .  Lucille  Ball  &  Desi -Arnaz,  which  bounced 
into  second  place.’ just  behind  “Gunsmoke”  which  has  been  lead¬ 
ing  the  field  all  season.  Only  other  NBC  entries  to  place  were 
“Wells  Fargo,”  which  again  took  the  fifth  spot,  and  the  Perry  Co¬ 
mo  show,  which  landed  in  10th  place. 

TOTAL  AUDIENCE 

Annie  Get  Your  Gun  (NBC  ... . . ,  .  54.0 

Lucille  Ball  &  Desi  Arffaz,  (CBS)  . . ... . . . . .  45.9 

GUnsmoke  (CBS)  . . . 44.7 

Perry  Como  Show  (NBC)  41.2: 

Ed  Sullivan  Show  (CBS)  . . ; .  .v. . . . . ... . . .  ; .....  41.0 

Danny  Thomas  Show  (CBS)  _ . . . ; .  .. ..... . . .  37.0 

Tales  of  Wells  Fargo  (NBC)  37.7 

LUssie  (CBS)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  37.4 

Cheyenne  (ABC)  .  36.8 

G.  E.  Theatre  (CBS)  36.4 


AVERAGE  AUDIENCE 

Gunsmoke  (CBS)  .  42.9 

Lucille  Ball  &  Desi  Arnaz  (CBS)  39.2 

Annie  Get  Your  Gun  (NBC)  38.5 

Danny  Thomas  Show  (CBS)  35.8 

Tales  of  Wells  Fargo  (NBC)  ,  35.5 

Have  Gun,  Will  Travel  (CBS)  34.3 

Lassie  (CBS)  34.0' 

G.  E.  Theatre  (CBS)  . .  ,V . . . .  33.8 

Alfred  Hitchcock  Presents  (CBS)  '  32.7 

Perry  Como  Show  (NBC)  32.4 


The  Door  As  Program  Advisors 


The  station  reps  know  that,  the 
national  ,  salo?  of  the  stations  they 
represent  depends  to  a  great  ex¬ 
tent  upon  the  number  of  people 
the  station  is  Teaching  which  is  in 
turn  usually  based  on  the  station’s 
programming.  It’s  a  simple  chain 
reaction  in.  that  if  the  station  can 
capture  the  viewers  through  good 
programming  than  they  have  less 
trouble  lining  up  sponsors  through 
the  agencies  where  timbuyers  are 
primarily  interested  in  reaching 
the  most  people. 

For  this  reason  the  national  reps 
have  taken  a  second  look  at  their 
stations’  programming  and  are  in¬ 
creasingly  offering  programming 
advice-  which  extends  from  helping 
the  station  buy  film  to  telling  them 
how  to  slot  their  shows. 

There  have  been  instances  where 
stations  have  refused  to  let  their 
rep  aid  in  programming  and  this 
has  been  the  cause  of  divorces  be¬ 
tween  the  station  and  the  repre¬ 
sentative.  According  to  the  reps 
it’s  simply  a  matter  of  them  mak¬ 
ing  more  money  if  they  can  line 
up  national  sponsors  who  are  in¬ 
terested  in  their  ,  list  of  stations 
This  is  the  reason  they  get  .  into 
programming  and  lend  their  advice. 

H-R  Representatives  like  most 
firms  does  programming  services 
on  a  request  basis.  In  radio,  Sug¬ 
gestions  are  given  by  H-R  to  a  sta¬ 


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tsm.  Steinway  piano,  mikes,  stage,  etc. 
Midtown  B'way  vicinity.  Very  reason¬ 
able  fees.  Available  day  or  night.  Call 
CO  SMN  or  tU  9>ma  until  noon. 

tion  they  rep  on  how  to  build  and 
formulize  their  overall  appeal  .  .  . 
and  sound  image.  The  reppery 
shows  the  station  how  to  fit. into 
a  market  arid  what  the  overall  role 
must  be.  Their  advice  as  in  the 
case  of  many,  other  reps,  nn  occa¬ 
sions,  even  runs  into  the  matter  of 
network  affiliation. 

H-R  reppery  claiiris  that  it  helps 
develop  a  music  formula  and  tries 
to  build  specialized  types  of  audi¬ 
ences. 

<*art  of  the.  rep’s  role  in  pro¬ 
gramming  according  to  H-R  execs 
is  counselling  on  audience  promo¬ 
tion  and  publicity  techniques.  In 
addition  to  this,  they  help  the  radio 
stations  interpret  research  figures 
in  terms  ,  of  audience  flow,  as.  a 
basis  for  making  program  changes. 

When  dealing  with  programming 
H-R  reps  visit  ,  the  market  in  ques¬ 
tion  and  not  only  study  the  station 
they  rep  but  competing  program¬ 
ming  as  well. 

In  television  the  firm  feels  that, 
the  greatest  opportunity  in  .  pro¬ 
gramming  a  tv  station  is  before  it 
goes  on  the  air.  Then  the  entire 
program  structure  can  be  planned 
on  a  scientific  ,  basis. 

First  a  study  is  made  of  what  is 
already  on  the  air  in  the  market, 
and  from  this  the  reppery  deter¬ 
mines  what,  is  lacking.  A  confer¬ 
ence  with  the  local  general  man¬ 
ager  follows  in  which  all  the  avail¬ 
able  programming  is  considered; 
network,  syndicated:  and  featured 
film.  The  third  step  is  the  study¬ 
ing  of  the  track  records  off  a  mar¬ 
ket-by-market  basis  and  specific 
programming  to  fit  the  market  is 
ascertained.  Regional  .differences 
also  have  to  be  takeff  irito  consid¬ 
eration. 

The  effects  of  shifting  a  certain 
program  or  program  type  are  care¬ 
fully  noted  in  the  various  markets, 
Oftimes  a  change  of  time  slot  is  all 
that  is  needed  to  hypo  lagging  rat¬ 
ings,  and  the  results  of  successful 
time  changes  are  flashed  to  stations 
Which  could  profit  thereby; 

Station  programming  is  riot 
unique  with  the  H-R  firm  alone 
but  has  beeri  undertaken  by  all  the 
representatives.  Some  of  the  reps 
list  it  as  an  additional  service  bUt 
most  feel  that  it  is  essential  to 
them  if  they  are  going  to  increase 
the  station’s  national  sales  and 
their  owri  revenue. 

WAVE’S  New  Center 

Louisville,  Jan.  14. 

WAVE  Inc.,  last  week  announced 
plans  for  a  new  radio  and  tv 
center,  designed  for  modern, 
ground-floor;  operation,  in  down¬ 
town  Louisville.  The  tract  is 
already  cleared,  and  completion  of 
the  neW  building  is  expected  in  the 
late  spring  or  early  summer  of 
1959. 

The  building,  with  37,500  square 
feet  off  the  main  floor,  will  house 
WAVE-TV,  now  in  its  10th  year  of 
operation,  and  WAVE  radio.  Which 
on  Dec.  30.  marked  its  24th  aniii- 
Off.jtho  e  l )  J  i  >.r  u  ;  ^  . 


Disneyland’  Tops  With  Kids  in  ’57; 
‘Lucy’  For  Parents;  Welk:  Teachers 


More  Today’ Com 

Chicago,  Jan.  14. 

NBC-TV’s  “Today”  added  coin 
from  four  token  buys  last  week, 
three  of  them  representing  repeat 
busiriess.  Newcomer  is  the  Shake¬ 
speare  Co.,  which  bought  three 
one-minute  spots  on  the  Show  for 
its  fishing  rods  ,  arid  reels.  They’re 
slated  for  the  spring. 

Amity  Leather  Products  has  pur¬ 
chased  six  participations  in  the 
show  for  next  Father’s  Day  arid 
Xmas,  repeating  last  y^r’s  pat¬ 
tern,  and  Evinrude  hasrffrdered 
four  spots  in  its  seasonal  buy.  L.  C. 
Forman  &  Sons,  makers  of  piccalil¬ 
li,  is  increasing  its  tv  budget  With 
a  four-spot  buyon  the  show  this 
year. 


.  New  York  stagehands  affiliated 
With  the.  International  Alliance  of 
Theatrical  &  Stage.  Employees 
have  worked  out  most  of  the  de~. 
tails  on  a  riew  three-year  contract 
with  ABC,  NBC  arid  CBS,  and  the 
new  pact  is  expected  to  go  into 
effect  by  next  week,  probably  by 
Monday  (20).  Stagehands,  Theatri¬ 
cal  Protective  Union  No.  1,  got  a 
significant  concession  from  the 
networks  when  they  gained'  the 
right  to  handle  taped  video  shbws. 

In  the  money  area,  the  uniori 
got  a  wage  increase  of  6%  the  first 
two  years  of  the  new  pact;  plus  am- 
other  3%  in  the  final  year.  The 
Webs  agreed  to  a.  severance  pay 
provision  and  “slight”  improve¬ 
ments  in  Vacation  eligibility  rules. 

There  are.  an  estimated  1,200 
members'  of  Local  1  who  work 
either  on  a  regular  or  parttime 
ba^is  in  NeW  York  for  the  three 
networks.  They  held  a  meeting 
Friday  (10)  at  midnight  to  ratify 
the  riew  contract,  replacing  the  orie 
which  ended  Dec.  31,  arid  recom¬ 
mended  only'minor  revisions  in  the 
pact  that  had  been  negotiated  by 
union;  officials,  *  Pact  goes  back  to 
the  webs  again  this  week  and  then 
to.  the  Local  1  executive:  board  to¬ 
morrow  (Thurs.)  for  final  okay,  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  uniori; 

Union  had  one'  major  demand 
rejected  iff;  the  hassles  with  the 
networks.  Local  1  asked  that  Sat¬ 
urday,  Sunday  and  holiday  work 
receive  double-time  reimburse¬ 
ment.  '  Stagehands  now  receive 
time-and-a-half  on  those  days. 


Seattle— William  Tucker,  com¬ 
mercial  manager  of  KIRO  here  for 
the  past  several  years,  has  beeri 
named  station  manager.  The -hew 
KIRO  radio  building  will  house  the 
Queen  City  Broadcasting  Co.  exec¬ 
utive  ,  offices:  of  prexy  Saul  Haas 
arid  Lincoln  Miller,  veepee. 


Indianapolis,  Jan.  14. 
Teachers,  who  hoisted  the  first 
warning  signals  about  the  bad  ef¬ 
fects  of  tv  on  schoolchildren,  boost¬ 
ed  their  televiewing  more  propor¬ 
tionately,  than  their  pupils  in  the 
last  seven  years. 

So  reported  a  research  psycholo¬ 
gist  Who  has  made  the  most  ex¬ 
haustive  study  to  date  of  studerit, 
parent  and  teacher  viewing  habits. 

Speaking  before  the  annual 
meeting  of  the  American  Associa¬ 
tion  for  the  Advancement  of  Sci¬ 
ence,  pr.  Paul.  Witty  of  North- 
Western  U.  reported  the  results  of 
a  survey  of  2,000  Chicago- area  Stu¬ 
dents,  moms  arid  dads,  and  teach¬ 
ers^  , 

When  Dr.  Witty  began  his  re¬ 
search  in.  1950,  68%  of  the  school 
children  had  tv  sets  in  their  homes. 
Teachers  didn’t  own  enough  to 
count,  By  1951,  25%  of  the  teach¬ 
ers  had  sets  ,  arid  were  watching  at 
average  of  nirie  hours  a  week.  At 
the  same  time  88%  of  their  charges 
had  acquired  sets  and- were  screen- 
gazing  19  hours  a  week. 

By  this  year,  Dr.  Witty’s  human 
guinea  pigs  showed  like  this:  97% 
school  pupils’  homes  hrid  sets  (some 
with,  two  or  three  sets  and  color) 
arid  were  Watching  them  22.  hours 
a  week.  Teacher  set  ownership  had 
gone  up  to  93%  and  they wer<e 
watching  12  hours  a  week.  Sb 
while  the  kids  hiked  their  watch¬ 
ing  time  15%,  teacher  became 
mbre  addicted  to  the  tune  of  33%, 

In  the  same  period, .  parents  made 
no  change  in  their  tV  habits;  They 
Were  still  watching  20  hours  a 
week,  a  bit  less  than  their  offspring 
and  8.  hours  a  week  more  than  the 
teachers. 

But  the  small-fry  differed  mark¬ 
edly  from  teachers  and  parents  in 
what  they-  liked.  Only  two  of  the 
10  favorites  of  the  children  Were 
listed  by  the  teachers  as  among 
their  first  10  (“Disneyland”  and 
“Father  Kriows  Best”)  arid  only 
three  among  the  parents'  top  10 
(“Disney”  and  “Father”  again,  plus 
“I  Love  Lucy”). 

For  the  record,  the  number  one 
choices  were:  children,  “Disney¬ 
land,”  parents,  “I  Love  Lucy”’  and 
teachers,  “Lawrence  Welk.” 

Dr.  Witty,  who  thinks  tv  is  morfr 
of  an  opportunity  than  a  menace 
to  the  nation’s  youth,  didn’t  buy 
a  tv  set  of  his  own  until  he.began 
his  research.  He  started  it  because 
of  his  interest  as  a  psychologist  in 
the  effect  of  the  new  medium  on 
childrens’  reading  habits..  Now  he 
estimates'  that  he  watches  it  about 
12  hours  a  week,  “but  much  more 
when  we’re  doing  a  particular  re¬ 
search  job.” 

.  Since  he  started  his  experiment. 
Dr.  Witty  has  became  a  kind  of  tv 
confessor  to  school  children 
through  the  Chicago  -  Evanston 
area.  He  gets  hundreds  of  letters 
ranging  from  a  fourth  grader’s  tes¬ 


timonial  that  “I  like  tv  better  than 
anything  in  the  house,”  to  a  junior 
high  school  freshman’s  gripe,  “tv 
is  a  machine  devised  to  eritertain 
people  but  it  is  more  than  just  en¬ 
tertainment,  it  is  also  very  boring 
.  .  .  for  one  reason,  those  long  ir¬ 
ritating  tv  advertisements.” 

The  wholesale  appetite  for  tv  be¬ 
gins  to  drop  off  around  the  sixth 
grade,  Dr.  Witty  found. 

High  school  students  in  Dr;  Wit¬ 
ty’s  group  reported  they  reduced 
tv  watching  and  switched  to  radio 
for  about  a  50-50  ratio.  Among  the 
reasons:  radio  is  simpler  to  study 
by  (I),  you  can  listen  to  it  in  cars; 
favorite  disk  jockeys,  best  social 
dancing. 

Dr.  Witty  speaks  from  pre-video 
experience  in  asserting  that  tv  will 
be  taken  in  striae.  He  performed 
similar  research  on  radio’s  effect 
on  children  in  1929. 4  Some  leading 
social  commentators  wrung  their 
hands  then,  ^  he  recalls, '  fearing 
radio  would  ‘drive  American  chil¬ 
dren  to  solitary  lives,  along  With 
the  automobile  and  comic  books. 

EVidence  to  sober  the  tv  cry  of 
alarm  is  already  becoming  clear, 
the  Northwestern  scientist  pointed 
out.  His  group  has  investigated 
complaints  that  tv  was  causing  ner¬ 
vousness  and  disturbance  among 
some  children.  “In  every  case  of  a 
serious  maladjustment,”  he  said, 
“teachers  found  other  contributing 
factors,  such  as  a  poor  home  and 
an  unfavorable  environment.” 

Niagara  Biz  For 
MBS’  long  John’ 

Niagara  Therapy/ Mfg.  has  lined 
up  as  the  first  sponsor  of  Mutual's 
venture  into  specialized  late  eve¬ 
ning  programming,  picking  up  the 
tab  on  the  11:35  to  midnight  por¬ 
tion  of  “The  Long  John  Show.” 

“Long  John”  and  “The  Barry 
Gray  Show,”  from  12:05  to  2  a.m., 
had  their  debut  Monday  (13),  in¬ 
augurating  19  hours  of  daily  pro¬ 
gramming  service  as  opposed  to 
previous  17  hours.  The  first  25 
minutes  of  “Long  John,”  on  from 
11:35  to  midnight,  is  available  for 
local  sale  by  affiliates,  under  the 
net's  program  barter  arrangement. 

.  As  a  direct  result  of  the  exten¬ 
sion  of  network  service,  a  number 
of  station  affiliates  have  decided 
to  change  their  signoff  times  to  co¬ 
incide  with  MRS’s  added  service. 

Another  ’58  program  addition, 
“Kate  Smith  Show,”  Mas  been 
scheduled  for  a  series  of  on- 
tour  originations.  Beginning  Jan. 
27  through  Feb.  7,  she’ll  be  origi¬ 
nating  Tier  weekday  25-minute 
stripped  morning  broadcasts  from 
the  Beau  Rivage,  Bal .  Harbour, 
Fla. 


54 


MUSIC 


VAfcWftT 


Wednesday,  Jannwy  15,  1958 


Jocks,  Jukes  and  Disks 


By  MIKE  GROSS 


Johnny  Mathis  (Col urn b la). 
“COME  TO  ME”,  (Korwin*)  is  an 
effective  mood  .h&llad  which  John¬ 
ny  Mathis  again  turns  into  money¬ 
making  material.  “WHEN  I  AM 
WITH  YOU”  (Mathis*)  sets  the 
crooner  in  another  pretty  ballad 
mood.  . 

Elvis  Presley  (RCA  Victor).  “I 
BEG  OF  YOU”  (Plesleyt)  sticks 
to  the  rocking  beat  which  makes 
it  another '  shoo-in  for  Presley. 
“DON’T”  (Presley t)  is  a  slow  bal¬ 
lad  that  Presley  ,  makes  sound  im¬ 
pressive. 

The  Ames  Bros.  (RCA  Victor). 
“IN  LOVE”  (Planetary*)  is  a  tasty 
and  rhythmic  ballad  bound  for  a 
big  score.  “LITTLE  GYPSY” 
(Winnetont)  has  a  gay  melodic  ap¬ 
proach  thats  good  for  jock  and  juke 
spins,  too. 

Andy  Williams  (Cadence).  “BE 
MINE  TONIGHT”  (Cedarwoodt)  is 


LIPS  AND  COLD  COLD  KISSES” 
(Goldmine*)  has  a  neat  lilt  and  a 
pleasing  vocaLto  help  it  get  some 
spinning  time/'  “THE  SONGS  MY 
MOTHER  LOVED’  (Planetary*) 
is  a  sentimental  piece  of  fluff. 

-Gordon  Macftae.  (Capitol): 
“NOW”  (Bdlibi«?*>  has  a  swaying 
ballad  style  that  Gordon  MacRae 
builds  into  an  attention-getter. 
“IF  I  FORKET  YOU”  (Caesar*)  is 
a  quiet,  appealing  ballad. 

Maureen  Cannon  (J.ub  il  e  e). 
“1  DOUBLE  DARE  YOU”  (Sha- 
piro-Berhstein*)  has  a  lighthearted 
melodic  feel  and  a  spirited  vocal 
treatment  which  should-  attract 
some  juke  action.  “I’M  NEVER 
SATISFIED”  (Simon  Houset) 
swings  at  an  appealing  pace  and 
Maureen  Cannon’s  vocal  brightens 
it  all  up.  ; 

Tommy.  Mara  (Felsted).  “FUNNY 
THIS  THING  CALLED  LOVE” 


Best  Bets 


JOHNNY  MATHIS 

( Columbia ) 

ELVIS  PRESLEY  , . 
(RCA  Victor) 

THE  AMES  BROS.  . . 

(RCA.  Victor) 

ANDY  WILLIAMS  . . 

( Cadence ) 

MARTY  WILSON  & 

(Decca) 

THE  COUPLINGS  . . 

(Josie). . .  '  i  . . . 

JIV-A-TONES  ...... 

(Felsted) 


-.COME-  TO  ME 
When  I  Am  With  You 

... _ ....  .1  BEG  OF  YOU 

... . .  .Don't 

_ _ _ _ _ _  .  IN  LOVE 

. . :  .  Little  Gypsy 

. ... _ _ ... . . . .....:  BE  MINE  TONIGHT 

..... . . : _ _ _ _ _  Are  You  Sincere 

SUPER  SONIC  * 

.I'm  All  Woke' Up 

. .  YOUNG  DOVE’S  CALLING 

.1  Can  See 

....... .  FLIRTY  GERTIE 

.Fire  Engine  Baby 


STRAT-O-LITES 


a  swinging  item  with  a  hot  teat 
that’s  headed  for  a  tng  play.  “ARE 
YOU  SINCERE”  (Peert)  sets  up  a 
soft  ballad  mood  that  Andy  Wil¬ 
liams  makes  easy  listening. 

Marty  Wilson  &  The  Strat-O- 
Lites  (Decca).  “SUPER  SONIC”,  j 
(Larkt)  gets  off  the  ground  right 
at  the  start  and  keeps  moving  at 
a  brisk  instrumental  gait  that  will 
help  it  take  off  on  leveEsw.  *TM. 
ALL  WOKE  UP”  (Ehyt)  is  a  nifty 
swinging  instrumental. 

The  Couplings  (Josie).  “YOUNG 
DOVE’S  CALLING”  (Nashf)  is  a 
standout  rockabilly  item  that’s  a 
natural  for  a  Strong  pop  takeover. 
“I  CAN  SEE”  (Nashf).  is  a  slow, 
rocking  bailed  just  par  for  the 
course. 

Jiv-A-Tones  (Felsted).  “FLIRTY 
GERTIE”  (Tecumseht)  is  in  the 
familiar  rock  ’n*  roll  idiom,  but  the 
topnotch  beat  and  vocal  pull  it 
ahead  for  the  payoff.  “FIRE  EN-. 
GINE  BABY”  (Tectimseht)  has  a 
wild,  rocking  attack  pegged:  strict¬ 
ly  for  the  jukes. 

Alan  Dale  (ABC  Paramount). 
“WE’RE  SO  IN  LOVE,  AREN’T 
I”  (Ardmore*)  is  a  big-voiced, 
flashy-tempoed  slice  that  could  at¬ 
tract  play.  “CINDY  &  I”  (Daltont ) 
brings  Joey  Adams  into  the  clef- 
fing  field.  It’s  not  for  the  pop 
market,  but  it’s  nice  ballad  thought. 

Ivory  Joe  Hunter  (Atlantic). 
“BABY  BABY  COUNT  ON  ME” 
(Progressivet)  is  a  solid  ballad  en¬ 
try  in  all  departments  making  an 
easy  score  on  all  spinning  levels. 
“YOU’RE  ON  MY  MIND”  (Desiard- 
Progressiveri  is  a  slow  but  pene¬ 
trating  rocking  ballad. 

The  Four  Knights  (Coral).  “THE 
FOUR  MINUTE  MILE”  (John- 
stone-Monteif)  should  get  a  good 
spinning  tun  because  of  its  brisk 
approach,  “WHEN  YOUR  LOVER 
HAS  GONE*’  (Remick*)  gives  the 
combo  a  .chance  to  liven  up  an 
oldie. 

Andy  Griffith  (Capitol).  “SIL¬ 


mild  results. 

Bob  Merrill  (Roulette).  “N 

IROBI"  (Fayorite-Valyr*)  is 


LAWRENCE  WELK 


And  Hid;  CHAMPAGNE  MUSIC 

3rd  Consecutive  Year 
Dodge  Dancing  Party: 
ABC-TV— Sat  J-10  P.M..  ELS-T- 
For  Dodge  Dealers  of  America 
Ton  Tunes  and  New  Talent 
ABC-TV.  Mon.  9:30-10:30  pin.  E.S.T. 
Dodge  and.  Plymouth 
Coral  Records 
Thesaurus  Transcriptions 


(Compiled  by  Sam  Goody's,  leading  New  York  disk  retailer 
whose  global  mail  order  operation  reflects  not  only  the  national 
market ,  but  internationally) . 


Artist 

1.  Original  Cast 

2.  Sound  Track 

3.  Original  Cast 

4.  Frank  Sinatra 

5.  The  Weavers 

6.  Original  Cast 

7.  Nat  King  Cole 

8.  Johnny  Mathis 

9.  Original  Cast 

10.  Mantoyani. 

11.  Harry  Belafonte 

12.  Ella  Fitzgerald 

13.  Nat  .Cole 

14.  Sound  Track 

15.  Sound  Track 

16.  Erroll  Garner 

17.  Pete  Seeger 

18.  Roger  Williams 

19.  Modern  Jazz  Quartet 

20.  Pat  Boone 


Title 
West  Side  Story 
Around  World  80  Days 
My  Fair  Lady 
Where  Are  Yon? 

At  Carnegie  Hall 
Jamaica 

Jnst  One  of  Those  Things 

Warm 

Bells  Are  Ringing 
Film  Encores 
Sings  of  Caribbean 
Sings  Rodgers  &  Hart: 
Love  Is  The  Thing 
Pal  Joey 
Pajama  Game 
Other  Voices 
Favorite  Ballads 
Fabulous  Forties 
Modem  Jazz  Quartet 
Greatest  Hits 


Label 

Columbia 

Decca 

Columbia 

Capitol 

Vanguard 

R.CA  Victor 

Capitol 

Columbia 

Columbia 

London 

RCA  Victor 

Verve 

Capitol 

Capitol 

Columbia 

Columbia 

Folkways 

Kapp 

Atlantic 

Dot 


(Caesar*)  starts  out  at  a  hot  gait 
and  continues  to  move  in  manner 
that  .  grabs  spins.  “HEL  L  6, 
GOODBYE”  (Clearance*)  gives 
Tommy  Mara  a  brightly  accented 
beat  which  should  win  a  fair  spill¬ 
ing  ride. 

Chuck  Sims '  (Trend).  “LITTLE 
PIGEON”  (Nashf)  is  set  in  a  swing¬ 
ing  .rockabilly  frame  that’s  pegged 
for  lotsa  juke  action.  “LIFE  ISN’T. 
LONG  ENOUGH”  (Nashf)  is  a 
plaintive  hillbilly  wail  that’s  lim¬ 
ited  in  its  spinning  potential! 

Ray  .  Ellis  Orch  (C  o  1  u  m  b  i  a). 
“COME  TO  ME”  (Korwin*)  gets,  a 
rich  orchestral  treatment  under 
Ray  Ellis’  able  baton.  “36-26-36” 
(Korwin*)  is  a  bright  and  breezy 
instrumental  out  of  an  LP. 

Irving  Ashby  (Imperial).  “BIG 
GUITAR”  (TimeSf  )  has  an.  inces¬ 
sant  instrumental  drive  that  builds 
attention.  “MOTATIN’”  (Travist) 
|  spotlights,  a  flash  electric  guitar  for 
exciting  results. 

Rita  Moss  (Debon a i f ). .  “I 
SHOULD  KNOW”  (Moon  Mistt) 
Should  work  well  for  Rita  Moss  in 
live  dates  but  it  doesn’t  come  across 
on  wax.  “IN  MY  OLD  KEN¬ 
TUCKY  HOME”  (PD)  takes  a 
jazzed  up  treatment  for  novel  re¬ 
sults. 

♦ASCAP.  tBMI, 


MGM  SETS  17  IP’S 
IN  NEW  SALES  PLAN 

MGM  Records  has  earmarked 
17  albums  for  its  special  sales  plan 
for  the  new  year.  The  albums  will 
be  shipped  to  distributors  on  a 
six-month  100%  exchange  basis. 
The  offer  will  apply  to  EP  pack¬ 
ages  as  well  as  LP’s. 

In  the  sales  drive  are.  sets  by 
Joni  James/ Peter  Todd,  Guy  Luy- 
paerts,  Carl  Eugster’s  orch,  Sa- 
vinp,  Gary  Alan,  Hank  Williams, 
Dick  Hyman.  Robert  Ashley  and 
“spoken  word”  sets  by  Alec  Guin¬ 
ness.-  Sir  .  Ralph  Richardson,  Car- 
son  McCullers  and  William  Faulk¬ 
ner..  Four  classical  albums  will 
also  be  in  the  plan. 


Kapp’s  Packaged  Motion 

Kapp  Records  has  keyed  its.  al¬ 
bum  promotion  for  January  on  a 
“Music  on  the  Move”  theme.  The 
drive,  is  being  pegged  on  four  al¬ 
bums  by  The  Troubadors,  Russ 
Hamilton’s  “Rainbows”  and  Dick¬ 
son  Hall’s  “Fabulous  Country 
Hits.”  The  LP’s  by  the  Trouba¬ 
dors  are  set  in  Rome,  Spain, 
Hawaii  and.  ‘‘The  Land  of  the 
Gypsies.” 

Difkery  has  prepped  special  disk 
jockey  kits  which  includes  the 
four  Troubadof  packages.  Dis¬ 
tributors .  are  being  sent  a  hefty 
supply  of  the  Hamilton  and  Hall 
LP’s  for.  a  deejay  drive. 


AVENUE  BUILDS  ROSTER 

Avenue  Records  has  added  Henri 
de  Pari,  Jim  Coriess;  Larry  Tick¬ 
ler  and  The  Kings,  a  vocal  combo, 
to  .  its  roster. 

Label,  Which  is  prexied  by  Jack 
Tell,  plans  a:  schedule  of  a  release 
a  month  in  the  jazz  and  pop  field. 


Decca  Records  has  launched  a 
mood  music  barrage  as  its  opening 
gun  in  the  packaged  goods  face 
for  the  new  year.  The  12.  sets  in 
the  release  offers  a  wide  and  color¬ 
ful  range  of  melodic  moods  to  suit 
all  tastes.  Wayne  King’s  “Dream 
Time,”  Is  a  representation  of  the 
King  styling  on  such  current  clicks 
as  “Tammy,”  “Around  The  World” 
arid  “Fascination”  along  with 
standards  like  “Star  Dust”  and 
“Shadow  Waltz/’  In  the  waltz 
idiom  there’s  Russ  Morgan’s  “Vien¬ 
nese.  Waltzes  For  Dancing”  and 
Gainsborough's  “May  I  Have  This 
Waite.”  Both  are  right  on  the  danc¬ 
ing  ball.  For  the  pic  music  fans 
there’s  Victor  Young’s  “Love 
Themes  From  Hollywood”  and  Bill 
Snyder’s  “Themes  of  Distinction 
From  Great  Motion  Pictures.”  The 
music  Richard .  Rodgers  comes  up 
for  a  nifty  organ  interpretation  in 
Jesse  Crawford’s  “An  Enchanted 
Evening”  and  in  Helmut  Zachartes’ 
“Strings,  Moonlight  And  You,”  the 
spotlighted  strings  spread  a  ^color¬ 
ful  sound  through  a  pleasant  mel¬ 
odic  potpourri.  In  the  Gallic 
groove,  there’s  a  musical  glow  in 
Roger  Roger’s  “Heart  of  Paris” 
and  in  the  German  groove  there 
are  a  lot  of  happy  sounds  in  Harry 
Hermann’s  “Music  For  Cards,  Con¬ 
versation  and  Coddling,”  recorded 
by  Deutsche  Grammophon.  Also 
from  DGG  is  Cedric  Dumont’s 
“Musical  Cocktail  Party,”  a  de¬ 
lightful  musical  spree  with  some 
intriguing  recipes  ,for  cocktails  on 
the  back  cover.  Victor  Young  gets 
another  showcasing  in  this  mood 
music  hinge  with  “Sugar  and 
Spice.”  Here  the  late  maestro- 
composer  runs  through  a  series  of 
delightful  musical  forms  with  taste 
and  imagination. 

Frank  Sinatra:  “Come  Fly  With 
Me”  (Capitol).  Another  brash  and 
jaunty  musical  excursion  with  hard- 
driving  Frank  S  i  n  a t  r  a  and 
the  swinging  Billy  May  orch.  It’s 
bestseller  bound  although  there 


ty  groove. 


some  spinners. 


workover  of  the  oldie. 
Carole  Bennett  (Verve). 


appealing  waltz  mood  that  will  at¬ 
tract  play. 


; 

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are  times  When  Sinatra  takes  some 
liberties,  with  the  original  lyric  that 
are  disturbing  like  When  he  tackles 
“On  The  Road  To  Mandalay”  and 
reworks  a  line  to  “There’s  a  Burma 
broad  a  Waitin’.” 

Bud  Freeman’s  Summa  Cum 
Laude  Orchestra:  “Chicago- Austin 
High  School  Jazz  In  Hi-Fi”  (RCA 
Victor).  The  free-wheeling  Chicago 
style  is  excellently  delineated  here, 
and  the  end  result  is.  one  of  the 
happiest  jazz  sets  in  spme  time. 
Bud  Freeman’s  cum’  laude  mob 
include  Billy  Butterfield,  Jack 
Teagarden,  Peanuts  Hucko,  George 
Wetling,  Pee  Wee  Russell,  Jimmy 
McPartland  Tyree  Glenn  among 
other  cate. 

Andre  Kostelanetz:  “The  Lure 
Of  France”  (Columbia).  Although 
there’s  been  an  LP  concentration 
on  musical  portraits  of  France, 
Kostelanetz’s  orch  impressions 
gives  the  subject  an  entirely  new 
dimension.  The  French  touch  is 
presented  through  pop  composers 
like  Richard  Rodgers  (“Mimi”), 
Vernon  Duke  (“April  In  Paris”) 
and-  Charles  Trenet  (“La  Mer”) 
along,  with  a  classic  ere W  consisting 
of  Debussy  (“Clair  de  Lune”),  Of¬ 
fenbach  (“Can  Can”),  Delibes 
(“Pizzicato  Polka”)  and  Charpenticr 
(“Depuis  le  jour”  from  “Louise”). 

Jack  Haskell:  “Let’s  Fall  lit 
Love”  (Jubilee).  Here’s  a  likeable 
roundup  of  some  quietly  effective 
romantic  songs  effectively  deliv¬ 
ered  by  Jack  Haskell  with  the  help 
of  a  standout  instrumentation; 
Barry  Gailbraith  and  Jimmy  Raney 
on  guitars  and  Trigger  Alpert  on 
bass.  Title  song,  “Have  You  Met 
Miss  Jones,”  “Girls  Were  Made  To 
Take  Care  of  Boys"  and  “The  One 
I  Love  Belongs  To  Somebody  Else” 
are  just  a  sampling  of  the  kind  of 
mood  that  prevails, 

Rhonda.  Fleming;  “Rhonda’’  (Co-, 
lumbia).  Screen  thesp  Rhonda  Flem¬ 
ing  shows,  a  nice  feeF  for  lyric  val¬ 
ues  as  she  winds  hCr  Way  through 
12  tunes.  Her  style  is  restrained 
but  she  does  manage  to  get  the 
message  across.  Frank  Comstock’s 
orch  gives  her  plenty  of  help.  Cov¬ 
er  photo  is  a  lulu  and  should  help 
push  the  package  across  the  coun¬ 
ters. 

.  Andy:  Ackers:  “Around  the  World 
in  88  Keys’?  (Grand  Award).  With 
a  slick  rhythm  accompaniment,  pi¬ 
anist  Andy  Ackers  takes  off  on  a 
melodic  trek  that  covers  the  global 
musical  scale.  It’s  a  tuneful  spree 
that’s  always  easy  on  the*- ear. 

Guy  Lombardo:  “Decade  on 
Broadway”  (Capitol).  Peg  for  this 
set  is  Broadway  and  the  showtunes 
that  were  popular  between  1935-45. 
It  was  a  tuneful  decade  thaf  in- 
cliided  such  musicals  as  “Babes  In 
Arms,”  “Pal  Joey/’  “Porgy  and 
Bess,”  “Cabin  In  The  Sky”  and 
“Oklahoma.”  There’s  plenty  to 
choose  from  there  and  Guy  Lom¬ 
bardo,  and  his  hoys  makes  it  all 
worth  hearing  again. 

Susan  Reed:  “Old  Airs”  (Elek- 
tra).  In  the  field  of  sweet-voiced 
folk  singers  Susan  Reed  remains 
hard  to  beat..  Here  again  she  .dem¬ 
onstrates  how  to  take  an  old  mel-. 
ody.  and  .  turn  it  into  a  thing  of 
charm  and  grace:  She  accomps  her¬ 
self  through  18  items  with  Irish 
harp  or  zither. 

Oscar  Peterson:  “Soft  Sands’* 
(Verve).  Oscar  Peterson  in  a  pop- 
romantic  groove  Is  something  to 
hear.  Especially  so  when  he  takes 
off  in  several  vocal  flights  ns  he; 
does  in  this  package.  His  keyboard¬ 
ing,  as  usual  is  standout,  but  when 
he  gets  to  crooning  over  “On  The 
Outside  Looking  In,”  “Why,  Qh 
Why,”  “I’ve  Never  Left  Your 
Arms”  and  “Susquehahna,”  a  new 
(Continued  on  page  61)  t  iJf 


Wednesday,  Jannary  IS,  1958 


MUSIC 


55 


MUSIC  CATALOGS  IN  TRANSIT 


Columbia  Holds  LP,  Single  Pnce  Line; 
Launches  Extensive  Sales  Promotion 


Columbia  Records  has  started  the  4<- 


fanfare  for  the  10th  anniversary  of. 
its  introduction  of  the  LP  with  a 
January  sales  program  pegged  on 
exchange  privileges  '  and  re-stock- 
ing  incentives,  the  introduction  of 
a  new  line  and  a  promise  to  hold 
its  existing  price  schedules  despite 
hikes  by  several  other  major  com-, 
panics. 

The  diskery  also  has  set  New 
York's  Waldorf-Astoria  as  the 
scene  for  its  1958  sales  convention 
to  be  held  June  1&21.  Col  intro¬ 
duced  the  LP  there  10  years  ago. 

On  the  price  situation.  Col  prexy 
Goddard  Lieberson  had  this  to  say: 
"The  tremendous  sales  of  records, 
and  even  more  importantly,  of 
phonographs  during  the  past  year 
have  provided  a  massively  solid 
base  for  optimistic  1958  expecta¬ 
tions.  We  believe,  that  in  the 
interests  of  stabilizing  and  consoli¬ 
dating  the  tremendous  growth 
achieved  in  our  industry  this  year, 
prices  should  be  maintained  at 
$3.98  levels  for  longplaying  disks 
and  89c  for  45  Tpm  single  -  disks. 
(RCA  Victor  and  Capitol  have 
hiked  their  classical  LP  to  $4.98 
and  Victor  has  gone  to  98c.  on  45 
rpm  singles  with  Mercury  follow¬ 
ing.) 

Lieberson  pointed  out  that  Col 
had  pioneered  the  original  $3.95 
pop  LP  tab,  a  price  that  proved 
highly  attractive  to  consumers,  and 
he  sees  no.  need  for,  and  no  con¬ 
sumer  attraction  in  a  price  increase 
at  this  time.  "Columbia  Jhas  long 
supported  a  policy  of  multiple 
pricing,”  he  added,  "and  with  deal¬ 
er  convenience  as  well  as  benefit  in 
mind,  we  have  from  time  to  time 
set  special  prices  on  special  prod¬ 
ucts,  But  virtually  our  entire  cata¬ 
log  will  remain  at  present  prices.” 

An  example,  of  Col’s  special, 
higher-priced  product  is  its  newly 
launched  “Adventures  in .  Sound” 
series.  The  line  will  be  priced  at 
$4.98  and  will  be  pegged  for  an 
(Continued  on  page  60) 


Don  Ameche  Is  now  getting  into 
the  disk  act.  He’s  been  tapped  to 
an  exclusive  recording  deal  by  the 
indie  Seeco  label. 

Sidney  Siegel,  Seeco  prexy,  plans 
to  record  Ameche  .  early  next 
month.  Ameche’s  only  previous 
disk  try  was  In  the  original  cast 
album  of  "Silk  Stockings”  fop  RCA 
Victor.  He’ll  be  issued  as  part  of 
Seeco?s  "Celebrity  Series”  which 
already  includes  Elsa  Maxwell. 
I'DeWey  Bergman  will  arrange  and 
conduct  the  Ameche  session; 


Victor  Spearheading 
New  Glenn  Miller  Set 
With  Major  Contest  Peg 

RCA  Victor  is  putting  one  of  its 
biggest  contest  promotions  behind 
its  current  release  of  "Glenn 
Millers  Carngeie  Hall  Concert.” 
Contest  will  cbver  both  the  con¬ 
sumer  and  disk  jockey  angles  with 
giveaways  to  total  over  $6,000  in 
.  prizes. 

Disk. buyers  are  being  reached 
by  .entry  blanks  printed  on  100,- 
000  special  inner  sleeves  used  in 
the  Miller  package.  Blanks  are 
also  being  made  available  directly 
from  dealers  on  request.  Entrants 
.  are  being  asked  to  write  25  words 
or  less  on  their  favorite  Miller 
orch  number.  Prizes  include  a 
$2,000  Mark  1  phono-tv-tape  ma¬ 
chine,  a  color  tv  set  and  14  addi¬ 
tional  prizes. 

A  parallel  contest  for  deejays  is 
being  run  along  the  same  lines 
with  jocks  asked  to  write  on  the 
Miller  tune  that  is  programmed 
the  most.  Color  and  portable  tv 
sets  will  be  given  to  the  winning 
deejays.  Bill  Alexander,  Victor 
advertising  and  promotion  chief, 
and  Carl  Rosier,  manager  of  pop 
album  promotion,  blueprinted  the 
contest  promotion. 

Victor,  which  has  garnered  solid 
sales  from  several  previous  Miller 
packages,  uncovered  the  tapes  to 
the  1939  concert  by  the  late  band¬ 
leader.  The  concert  was  originally 
cut  onto,  glass  disks,  used  at  that 
time,  and  later  transferred  to  tape 
which  had  disappeared  from  sight. 
Research  work  by  several  Miller 
fans,  however,  resulted,  in  the  dis¬ 
covery  of  the  tapes,  in  the  NJ3C 
files. 

Victor,  meantime,  is  staging .  a 
window !  display  dealer  contest  in 
behalf  of  46  bestselling  Red  Seal 
albums  which  were  converted  this 
month  into  new  packages.  This 
contest  opens  ih  February  and  will 
have  with  a  tie-in  with  a  tbp  in¬ 
dustrial  manufacturer,  to  be  dis¬ 
closed  later/ 


Ameche’s  ] 


Brit.  Decca  Sales 
Near  $50,000,000 

London,  Jan.  14. 

Britain’s  boom  in  disk  sales  is 
reflected  in  fact  that  British  Dec- 
ca’s  Co.’s  sales  for  the  year  to 
March  31,  1957,  was  $47,740,000, 
$11,732,000  up  on.  the  previous 
year,  and  that  the  sales  for  the 
first  nine  months  of  the  current 
year  is  "consideraly  greater”  than 
for  the  same  period  in  the  last 
year. 

Trading  profits,  amounting  to 
$6,608,000,  were  $1,573,600  more 
than  the  $5,034,400  registered  a 
year  earlier.  Exports  during  the 
period  under  review  rose  to  $12,- 
684,000,  including  $3,640,000  to 
America  and  Canada,  an  increase 
of  $3,136,000.  on  a  year  earlier. 


‘DECCA  ON  PARADE’ 

TO  THEME ’58  SALES 

Decca  is  sparking  its  operation 
this  year  with  an  overall  promotion 
tagged  "Decca  Oh  Parade,”  cover-; 
ing  both  its  disk  and  phono  lines. 
Initial  drive  will  be  centered  this 
month  on  a  dozen  mood  music 
packages  which  have  been  themed 
to  a  "Dreamtime”  sales  peg.  Decca 
is  supplying  extensive  dealer  aids 
to  spotlight  these  LPs. 

At  the  same  time,  Decca  is  ex¬ 
panding  its  phonograph  line  this, 
year  with  nine  ,  new  machines  and 
speaker  enclosures.  New  Units 
range*  in  price  from  $19.95  to 
$299.95  with; the  speaker  enclosure 
going  for  $29.95.  Decca’s  complete 
phonom  line  now  contains  26  mod- 
els  in  all  price  ranges. 

"Dacca  is  presenting  its  upcoming 
projects  to  its  sales  personnel  at  a 
series  of  meetings  being  conducted 
by  company  execs  in  each  of  the 
five  territorial  divisions. 


’Music  Man’  Hit  Earns 
4-Way  Capitol  Spread 

Capitol  Records  is  prepping  a 
four-way  album  spread  for  "The 
Music  Man”  current  Broadway 
tuner  click.  In  addition  to  the  orig¬ 
inal  cast  set  due.  to  reach  the  mar¬ 
ket  next  week;  diskery  is  grooving 
the  score  for  a  choral  LP  by  Fred 
Waring,  an  instrumental  package 
under  Meredith  Willson's  baton, 
and  a  dance  album  with  four  of  the 
label’s  house  bands. 

Score  for,  "Music  Man”  was  writ¬ 
ten  by  Meredith  Willson  and  is 
published  by  Frank  Music. 


.  Two  important  music  catalogs 
changed  hands  last  Week  in  New 
York.  Winding  up  a  long-pending 
deal,  Lawrence  Welk  inked  papers 
last  week  for  the  takeover  of  the 
Harry  Von  Tilzer  Music  company, 
one  of  the;  oldest  Tin  Pan  Alley 
firms.  Attorney  Morton  Miller  (& 
Miller)  handled  the  deal  for  Welk. 
Price  is  understood  to  be  around 
$175,000.  Welk;  who  also  owns 
Champagne  Music,  will  maintain 
the  Von  Tilzer  name  for  the  pur¬ 
chased  catalog  of  old  standards,  in¬ 
cluding  "Wait  Till  The  Sun  Shines 
Nellie,”  "When  My  Baby  Smiles 
At  Me,”  “A  Bird  In  The  Gilded 
Cage”  and  others. 

Also  concluded  last  week  was  the 
buyout  of  the  late  Tommy  Dor¬ 
sey’s  firms,.  Embassy  Music  (BMI). 
and  Dorsey  Bros.  (ASCAP)  by  Con¬ 
solidated  Music  Sales  which  is-| 
owned  and  operated  by  Mrs.  Doro¬ 
thy  Wise,  Paul  Gewirtz  and  Al 
Ashley.  Price  for  both  Dorsey 
firms  was.  $175,000  in  an  all  cash 
deal.  The  Dorsey  catalog  joins 
other  holdings  by  the  same  group 
such  as  Consolidated  Music  Pub¬ 
lishers,  formerly  known  as  J.  J. 
Robbins  &  Sons  which  was  pur¬ 
chased  from  Jack  Robbins  as  few 
years  ago;  Lewis  Music  and  Ed¬ 
ward  Schuberth  Music. 

The  Dorsey  firms,  contain  such 
standards  as  "I  Should  Care,” 
"There  Are  Such  Things,”  "This 
Love  of  Mine”  and  "Everything 
Happens  TO  Me,”  among  j)thers. 
Columbia  Records  recently  purr 
chased  34  masters  made  by  the  late 
bandleader  shortly  before  his 
death  and  many  of  the  tunes  were 
taken  from  the  Dorsey  catalog. 

Herb  Wise  is  taking  over  as  gen¬ 
eral  manager  of  the  Dorsey;  firms 
in  the  hew  setup  with  Herb  LeVen- 
thal  named  professional  manager. 


to  Aberbachs 
on  Renewals 


Irv  Jeromehas  ankled  his  sales 
manager’s  spot  at  Prep  Records  to 
take  over  as;  exec  veepee  in  charge 
of  sales  and  promotion  at  MGM. 
Manny.  Kellem  will  move  into 
Jerome’s  post  at  Prep. 

According  to  Arnold  Maxin,  neW 
MGM  prexy,.  Jerome’s  initial  chore, 
will  be  to  rebuild  the  sales  force 
and  revitalize  the  distribution  set¬ 
up;  Exiting  -MGM  in  the  reshuf¬ 
fling  will  be  Wally  Early,  exec  vee-. 
pee  in  charge  of  sales,  and  Charles 
Hasin,  in  charge  of  distribution. 
Sol  HandWerger  continues  in  the 
publicity-promotion  setup. 


CARLTON  LABE  READY 
TO  ROLL  THIS  MONTH 

Carlton  Records,  ‘new  label  set 
up  by^Toe  Carlton,  Will  start  to  roll 
with  its  first  release  this  month. 
Carlton,  former  RCA  Victor  pop 
artists  &  repertoire  chief,  has 
iined  up  37  indie  distributors, 
some,  of  whom  are  understood  to 
be  investing  in  the  new  disk  op¬ 
eration  along  with  several  pub¬ 
lishers  in  New  York. 

Don  Genson  is  heading  up  the 
Coast  office  for  the  company. 


Costly  Spitenik 

Vancouver,  Jan.  14. 

Angered  by  audition  of  his 
new-bought  Bobby  Day  Satel¬ 
lites*  "Sputnik”  platter,  logger 
William  Malcolm  here  flipped, 
skated  the  offending  disk  Out 
Of  his  hotelroom  Window  and 
Onto  a  parked  auto. 

Car’s  owner  called  police 
who,  -sympathizing  with  both 
parties,  withheld  charging 
Malcolm,  Who  offered  to  pay 
for  paint  and  body  damage, 
estimated  around  $25. 


Talks  Now  Buried 

Songwriters  Protective  Assn.. 
and  the  Composers  A  Lyricists 
Guild  of  America, .  Which  several 
months  ago,  were  talking  about  a 
possible  merger,  are  no  longer 
talking.  In  a  letter  sent  by  SPA 
prexy  Burton  Lane  to  CLGA  prexy 
Leith  Stevens  last  Week,  Lane 
complains  that  CEGA  has  made 
no  move  to  communicate  its  plans 
since  early  in  December.  As  a 
result,.  Lane  says  that  SPA’s  pro¬ 
gram  can  no  longer  .be  delayed. 
The  program  involved  setup  of  a 
new  SPA  Committee  on  the  Coast, 
with .  expanded  powers  subject  to 
approval  by  the  SPA  council. 
CLGA  headquarters  on  the  Coast. 

Lane’s  letter  noted  that  SPA  has 
"been  subjected  not  only  to  delay 
but  also  to  substantial  expense  in 
the  hope  of  reaching  ai.  agreement. 
Unfortunately,  the  consummation 
of  such  agreement  apparently  is 
hot  possible.” 

SPA  represents  writers  in  con¬ 
tractual  agreements  with  publish¬ 
ers  While  CLGA  mostly  com¬ 
prises  background  writers  for  films 
who  work  for  hire:  As  a  result, 
SPA.  is  mostly  interested  in  the 
writer’s  rights  in  the  copyright 
while  CLGA  tends  to  act  more  like 
a  conventional  trade  union  or  guild 
with  respect  to  scales  and  working 
conditions. 


DARIO  SORIA  TO  HEAD 
‘FESTIVAL  OF  2  WORLDS’ 

Dario.  Soria,  Who  recently  exited 
as  head  of  Angel  Records,  will 
take  over  the  post  of  administra¬ 
tive  director  of  the  "Festival  of 
Two  Worlds,”  which  will  take 
place  in  SpoletO,  Italy,  June  5  to 
29.  Soria, .  and  his  wife  who  will 
be  assistant  manager  of  the  Fes¬ 
tival,  will  head  for  Europe  next 
month  to  settle  some  personal 
business  in  London  and  Paris  be¬ 
fore  going  to  Rome  where  the  Fes- 
tical  has  its  offices. 

The  Festival,  a.  non-profit  oper¬ 
ation*  will  spotlight  Italian  and 
American  talent  in  a  series  of 
dramatic  and  operatic  presenta¬ 
tions.  Thomas  Schippers,  conduc¬ 
tor  of  the  Metropolitan  Opera, 
will  be  musical  director  of  the  Fes¬ 
tival;  Jose  Quintero,  drama  direc¬ 
tor;  John  Butler,  dance  director; 
and  GioVanhl  Urban!;  fine  arts 
director; 


Gene  Krupa  Quartet  into  Monte 
Cristo  Hotel*  Palm .  Beach,  Friday 
(17)  for  nihe  days. 


After  March  1st,  1958 

Newsstand s  Subscription 


PeYCopy 


Per  Year 


See  Details  Page  11 


■  In  a  precedents!  decision  affect¬ 
ing  copyright  renewal  assignment 
rights.  Miller  Music,  of  the  Big 
Three  combine,  was  defeated  in,  its 
claim  to  a  part  interest  in  the 
song,  "Moonlight  and  Roses,”  in 
N.  Y.  Federal  Court  last  Week. 
Suit,  which  was  an  infringement 
action  brought  by  Miller  Music 
against  Charles  N.  Daniels  Music, 
part  of  the  Jean  and  Julian  Aber- 
bach  publishing  operation,  in¬ 
volved  the  question  of  whether  a 
renewal  contract  signed  by  Ben 
Black,  one  of  the  song’s  writers,  a 
few  years  before  the  first  copy¬ 
right  term  expired  was  invalidated 
by  the  author’s  death  before  the 
renewal  period  commenced.  Mil¬ 
ler’s  claim  that. the  contract  was 
still  valid  was  rejected  by  Federal 
Judge  Frederick  Bryan.  Julian  T. 
Abeles,  counsel  for  the  Miller  firm, 
stated  that  he  would  appeal  the 
decision, 

Facts  in  the  case  were  as  fol¬ 
lows:  Black  and  Charles  N.  Daniels 
copyrighted  ‘Moonlight  and  Roses” 
in  1925  via  Villa  Moret  Music;  in 
1946,  Black  assigned  his  interest 
in  the  renewal  to  Miller;  at  about 
the  same  time,.  Miller  also  obtained 
separate  assignments  from  three 
of  Black's  brothers  of  any  interest 
that  might  have  had  in  the  copy¬ 
right;  in  1950,  Black  died  leaving 
one  of  the  brothers,  David  Black, 
as  executor,  of  his  will  which 
made  no  mention  of  the  renewal 
copyright  or  of  the  1956  assign¬ 
ment  to  Miller;  the  residuary  es¬ 
tate  was  left  to*  Black’s  nephews 
and  nieces  who  subsequently  as¬ 
signed  all  their  rights  to  the  re¬ 
newal  to  the  Daniels  firm. 

Judge  Bryan,  in  his  decision,  up¬ 
held  the  defendant’s  position  that 
an  author  may  not,  by  prior  as¬ 
signment,  deprive  his  estate  of 
the  rights  given  to  them  under  the 
Copyright  Act.  This  statute  pro¬ 
vides  that  if  ah  author  is  not  alive 
during  his  last  year  of  the  original 
term,  his  estate  may  apply  for  re- 
( Continued  on  page  61) 


Wwlford  Set  as  Cel’s 
Longhair  Product  M«r.; 
Grady  Named  Mfr.  Chief 

John  Woolford  has  joined  Co¬ 
lumbia  Records  in  the  newly  cre¬ 
ated  post  of  product  manager  for 
classical  albums.  Woolford  had 
been  associated  with  Angel  Rec¬ 
ords  since  its  introduction  to  the 
U:  S.  in  1953  and  before  that  had 
been  manager  of  the  Baltimore 
Symph,  the  Louisville  Orch  and 
assistant  manager  of  the  N,  Y. 
Philharmonic; 

According  to:  Hal  B.  Cook,  Col 
veep  in  charge  of  sales,  the  new 
post  stems  from  increased  Col 
emphasis  on  new  album  product 
in  1958.  Cook  stated  that  Wool¬ 
ford  would  have  marketing  re¬ 
sponsibility  for  all  Masterwork  re¬ 
leases  as.  well  as  classical  prod¬ 
uct  in  the  stereo  tape  and  Har¬ 
mony  lines.  He’ll  be  assisted  by 
Peter  Munvies, 

On  the  production  level,  William 
F.  Grady  has  been  set  as  director 
of  manufacturing.  He’ll  be  re¬ 
sponsible  for  diskery’s  manufactur¬ 
ing,  manufacturing  -  engineering 
and .  purchasing  in  all  domestic 
plant  and  foreign  subsidiary  loca¬ 
tions.  He’ll  also  continue  to  ad¬ 
minister  Cryton  Precision  Prod¬ 
ucts,  the  Col  operation  devoted  to 
the  production  of  non-recorded 
plastic  products. 


Qjjp  p/time  oiD>eir>c 

FOR  Fxportc  pjijb 

Hollywood,  Jan.  14. 

Capitol  Records  formed  a  pair  of 
wholly  owned  subsidiaries  last 
week,  to  handle  operations  pre¬ 
viously  controlled  by  departments 
Within  the  framework  of  the  par¬ 
ent  firin. 

Capitol  Records  International 
Corp.  will  export  the  firm’s  prod¬ 
ucts  to  non-manufacturing  asso¬ 
ciates  around  the  world,  replacing 
the  former  international  depart¬ 
ment.  Capitol  Record  Club,  Ing., 
will  handle  all  details  of  the  new 
record  club  operation/  *  *  •'  - 


56 


MUSIC 


J^SrieTy 


Wednesday,  January  15,  1958 


0  seas  Talks;  EMI’s  Lockwood  in  U.S. 


J.  F.  Lockwood  chairman  of  EMI  > 
(Electric  :&  Musical  Industries)  is 
on  a  trek  to  visit  the  company’s, 
global  holdings.  He  arrived  in 
New  York,  from  -  London  last  week 
on  the  first  leg  of  a  .  junket  that 
will  take:  him ,  to  the.  Coast  for, 
confabs  with  Glenn  E.  iWalliens,1 
prexy  of  Capitol  Records  which 
EMI  owns,  and  then  on  to  New 
Zealand,  Australia  and  South 
Africa. 

Returning  from  London  with 
Lockwood  was  Lloyd  Dunn;  Capi¬ 
tol  veepee,  who  had  two  weeks  of 
conferences  in  London  and  Paris 
concerning  Cap's  acquisition  of  the! 
Angel  label.  Dunn  had  been  ac¬ 
companied  N;  Y.  to -  Europe  by 
Louis  Schurrer  and  Leo  Kepler, 
Cap  execs  in  Hollywood,  both  of 
whom  are  returning  to  the  U.  S. 
via  Milan  and  Rome  where  they'll 
meet  with  Angel  artists. 

While  in  England  the  Cap  brass 
huddled  with  EMI  execs  at  a  ser¬ 
ies  of  meets  under  the  chairman¬ 
ship  of  L.  J.  Brown,  EMI's:  man¬ 
aging  director.  In  on  the  meets 
were  J.  D.  Bicknell,  Walter  Legge 
and  Victor  Olof  of  EMI's  Interna¬ 
tional  Artistes  Department;  C.  H. 
Thomas,  managing  director  of  EMI 
Records  Ltd.,  ad  manager  G.  J. 
Freshwater,  and  Lockwood.  . 

Discussions  centered  on  record¬ 
ing  plans  for  classical  repertoire 
and  the  coordination  of  covers  and 
editorial  notes. 

Back  in  N.  Y.,  Dunn  said,  "Our 
major  mission  was  to  learn  more 
about  the  sources  of  Angel  reper¬ 
toire  in  England,  packaging  in 
Paris,  and  to  tie  them  both  in  with 
the  existing  Capitol  organisation.” 


GI  Entertainment  Gap, 
Says  USAFs  Ma).  ReiDy 

Tokyo,  Jata.  14. 

Considering  the  difficulties  in- 
volved  in  selecting  and  luring 
creditable  U.S.  entertainment  for 
troops  abroad,  name  bands  would 
solve  most  situations,  according  to 
U.S.  Air  Force  Major  Alin  E.  Reilly 
who  is  affiliated  with  Special  Serv¬ 
ices  on  Okinawa. 

The  major,  backed  by  Id  years  of 
USAF  Special  Services  experience; 
said  that  a  name  band  unit  of  from 
15  to  20  people,  with  a  girl  vocalist 
and  perhaps  a  dixie  combo  within 
the  large  band,  is  a  possibility 
worth  exploring  since  other  name 
U.S.  acts  are  difficult  to  come  by 
these  days. 


(2)  less  sympathy  for  servicemen; 

'  (3)  less  publicity  due  to  the 
time  situation. 

Situation  is  expected  to  e 
about  six  months  when  a  revamped 
USO  program  will  make  av. 
live  entertainment  again,  i 
Interim,  two  packages,  one  a  glee 
club,  will  tour  this  area. 


personnel.  Variety  shows,  there¬ 
fore,  are  most  practical  since  they 
cut  across  interest  lines. 


Merrill’s  Roulette  Spin 

Songwriter  Bob  Merrill  has 
joined  Roulette  Records  as  a  vocal¬ 
ist.  His  first  sides  are  his  own 
compositions,  "Nairobi”  and  “Jump 
When  I  Say  Frog.” 

Merrill  is  now  readying  a.  dee- 
jay  tour  to  plug  the  platter. 


Hayum  Upped  to  Top 

Sales  Spot  at  Epic 

Walter  Hayum  has  been  upped 
to  national  sales  manager  at  Epic 
Records,  Post  formerly  has  been 
held  by  William .  Nielsen,-  who  re¬ 
cently  became  label’s  general  man¬ 
ager. 

Hayum  joined  Epic  three  years, 
ago  as  midwest  sales  manager. 
Subsequently  he  was  appointed 
general  merchandise  manager,  the 
post  he  held  at  the  time  of  this 
promotion.  He’ll  headquarter  ini 
New  York  reporting  to  Nielsen. 


Ross  Joins  Marks*  Firm 

Charlie  Ross  has  joined  Johnny 
Marks’  St.  Nicholas  Music  firm  as 
general  professional  manager. 
Finn,  heretofore,  had  concentrated, 
on  Marks’  Christmas  material, 
"Rudolf,  the  Red-Nosed  Reindeer,” 
etc.,  but  now. Ross  Will  build  it  as 
a  year-round  pop  operation. 

Before  joining  Marks,  Ross  had 
been  with  Redd  Evans. 


Franck  Disk:  Bestsellers 

Paris,  Jan.  14. 

Only  You  . V.  /  .  Platters 

(Barclay! 

Cigarettes  and  Whisky  Cordy 
(Pathe) 

JUlieLa Rousse  ..  ..  Lafforgue 
(Pathe) 

Santa  Crns  Genes 

(Vogue) 

Marjelaine . .... .... . ,  Lasso 

(Voix  De  Son  Maitre) 

Marches  De  Provence  Becaud 
(Pathe) 

Hague  a  Jules  . . Patachou 

(Philips) 

. Mourir Pour Toi  ....  Aznavour 
(Ducretet-Thomson) 

Qne  I/Amour  Brel 

(Philips) 

Qh!  La  La  Marini 

(Vogue) 


Mamba  City  Back  in  Chi  ' 

As  Weekend  Terpalace 

Chicago,  Jan.  14. 

Loop  bonifaces  Milt  Schwartz  and 
Ralph  Mitchell,  who  Chunked  the 
Modern  Jazz  Room,  atop  their  Pre-I 
view  Lounge  last  fall;  reopened  the 
upstairs  room  Friday  (10)  under  its 
previous  name,  Mambo  City.  Terp-j 
ery.  will  play  weekends  with  Manny 
Garcia's  band  giving  the  beat. 

Mambo  City  became  the  M  J 
Room  about  two  „years  ago,  and 
showcased  names  such  as  .  Chico 
Hamilton,  Terry  Gibbs,  Max  Roach, ! 
Stan  Getz  and  Gerry  Mulligan.  But 
Schwartz  and  Mitchell  shuttered 
the  room  at  the  end  of  last  Septem¬ 
ber.  complaining  the  cool  names 
had  priced,  themselves  out  of  reach. 

Irving  Stimler,  Decca  salesman, 
has  been  upped  to  manager  of  the 
company’s  San  Francisco  branch. 


The  pop  music  recordings  distributed  by  the  U.S.  Army  Recruiting 
Service  to  nearly  3,000  radio  outlets  will  be  issued  from  now  on  45 
rpm:  disks,  instead  of  the  larger  e.t.  platters/  Switch  to  the  45  rpm 
platters  is  designed  to  get  more  spins  since  disk  jockeys  across  the 
country  are  accustomed  to  that  speed.  RCA  Victor,,  meantime,  has  giv¬ 
en  the  recruiting  service  permission  ,  to  use  a  portion  of  its  “Gold 
Standard  Series,”  comprising  the  company’s  alltime  bestsellers.  Mar¬ 
tin  Block,  national  chairman  of  the  Army’s  Disk  Jockey  Corps,,  is  do¬ 
ing  the  announcing  and  commercials  for.  the  recruiting  shows. 

George  Avakian,  Columbia  Records  pop  album  chief  who’s  been  con¬ 
valescing  from  an  onslaught  of  hepatitis  and  mononucleosus,  is  down- 
beating  trade  talk,  that  he  bought  World  Pacific  Records  from  Roy 
Harte.  Avakian  says  that  he  owns  no  stock  in  any  record  company  and 
that  his  main  interest  is  regaining  his  health  and  Returning  to  work 
at  Columbia  where  he's  been  since  1940.  He’s  back  at  the  job  now  on 
a  limited  basis.  ^ 

The  American  Heritage  Foundation  started  distribution  this  week 
of  the  first  hi-fi  version  of  the  National  Anthem  recorded  by  the  Chi¬ 
cago  Symphony  Orchestra  under  Fritz  Reiner  ana  the  Boston'  Sym¬ 
phony  Orchestra  under  Charles  Munch.  Disk,  78  rpm  speed  and 
produced  at  cost  by  RCA  Victor,  will  be  made  available  only  through 
the  Foundation  to  radio-tv  outlets,  theatres,  ball  parks  and  similar  in¬ 
stitutions. 

Johnny  Six,  whose  Decca  disk  'of  "Mademoiselle”  (written  by  Ted 
Edlin  of  Nashville)  is  rising  on  the  lists,  is  a  32-year-old  farmer’s  son 
from  Edwards,  Out.,  near  Ottawa.  Under  his  right  name  of  Orval  Proph¬ 
et  he’s  been  a  country*&  western  disker  since  ’51,  with  a  couple  of  hits 
in  that  field.  He  changed  his  name  with  his  style,  and  on  Jan.  6  be¬ 
came  a  disk  jockey  on  WWVA.  Wheeling,  W.  Va.  He  does  his  own  gui¬ 
tar  accompaniment, 

Helen  Buck,  widow  of  the  late  Genie  Buck,  gave  L.  Wolfe  Gilbert  an 
ancient  shillelagh  as  a  Christmas  present  in  line  with  her  late  hus¬ 
band’s  wishes.  John  McCormack  had  given  the  shillelagh,  to  Buck  many 
years  ago,  bringing  it  from  his  castle  in  Dublin.  Gilbert  was  a  close 
friend  of  the  late  songsmith,  showman  and  longtime  ASCAP  president, 

Duke  Ellington,  who’s  published  with  only  three  firms,  Mills;  Bobbins, 
and  his  own  Tempo,  in  33  years  of  cleffing,  has  turned  over  his  latest 
pop  effort  to  Howie  Richmond’s  Cromwell  Music,  “It’s  My  Heart*  My 
Mind,  My  Everything.”  It  was  grooved  by  Ellington  for  Columbia. 


Col  Adds  Helms,  Rehorst 


tive  staff,  Edward  H. 


statistical  accounting 
in  N.  Y. 

Willis  Wardlow, 
general  manager, 


explained 


Dody  to  Coral 

Dody  Goodman,  featured  per¬ 
former  on  the  Jack  Paar  “Tonight 
show  on  NBC-TV.  has  been  inke 
to  a  Coral  pact  by  Bob  Thiele 
kthel’s  artists  . &  repertoire  chief* 


BETAU  DISK  BEST  SELU 


^AftlETY 

Survey  of  retail  disk  best 

sellers  based  on  reports  ob¬ 

tained.  from  leading  stores  in 
22  cities  and  showing  com¬ 

parative  sales  rating  for  this , 
arid  last  week. 


National 
Rating 
This  Last 
wk.  wk. 


Artist,  Label,  Title 


D  — 

O  s 


1 1 


1  1 

DANNY  &  JUNIORS  (ABC-Par) 

At  the  Hop  .  1 

..  1 

....  1 

2 

2 

3 

4 

1 

Z 

i 

7 

6  4 

4 

5 

2  130 

2  4 

BUDDY  HOLLY  (Coral) 

Peggy.  Sue.  ......  ...l; 

...  -:4" 

4 

7 

4 

9 

1 

5 

2 

10 

9 

4 

1 

i 

2 

10  101 

3  10 

ERNIE  FREEMAN  (Imperial) 
Raunchy  .  a M.-.  v.. 

...  3 

5 

i 

2 

6 

2 

3 

4 

4  69 

4A  2 

PAT  BOONE  (Dot) 

April  Love. . .  .  . .  .  10 

..  9 

.....  6 

1 

5 

9 

6 

5 

3 

5  ... 

9 

2 

6 

....  67 

4B  7 

JERRY  LEE  LEWIS  (Sun) 

Great  Balls  of  Fife  3 

....  -8 

.  5 

6 

1 

3 

1 

5 

..  3 

8 

.  67 

6  8 

BILL  JUSTIS  (Phillips) 

Raunchy  :.. . . . . . . . . 

4 

1 

8 

2 

7 

8 

7 

8  ... 

..  48 

7  5 

FRANK  SINATRA  (Capitol) 

All  the  Way:. 

...  .'3.., 

7 

3 

10 

3 

7 

6 

6 

..  9 

..  45 

8  17 

RICKY  NELSON  (Imperial) 

Stood  Up .  2 

4  .. 

1 

1 

3  44 

-  9 

BILLY  VAUGHN  (Dot) 

Sail  Along  Silvery  Moon .  .  .  . . . 

7 

1 

2 

8 

1  .. 

...  40 

10  6, 

SAM  COOKE  (Keen) 

You  Send  Me . . ■  . 

2 

4 

4 

3 

7 

5 

..  39 

11  11 

ELVIS.  PRESLEY  (Victor) 
jaQhouse  Rock . .  .  9 

3 

9 

9 

3 

7 

5 

....  32 

[  12  , 

DIAMONDS  (Mercury) 

The  Stroll. . .  .  .....  8 

... .  10 

10 

8 

6 

3 

> .  •  / 

7 

6.  30 

13  14 

G.  HAMILTON  IV  (ABC-Par) 

Why  Don’t  They  Understand. .  . 

6 

8’ 

8 

3 

5 

9 

..  27 

V  14A  25 

RICKY  NRLSON  (Imperial) 

Wait  in  School .  . 

10 

s: 

2 

..  5 

7 

..  26 

;;  14B 

FOUR  PREPS  (Capital 

26  Miles.: _ 

1 

6 

10 

1  26 

i  . 

16 

SILHOUETTES  (Ember) 

Get  a  job...  5 

1 

2 

..  25 

:  17  3 

JIMMIE  RODGERS  (Roulette) 

■  Kisses  Sweeter  Than  Wine .  ..  . 

--  8 

5 

8 

10 

9 

3 

..  23 

[  18A  . . 

McGuire  sisters  (Corai) 
Sugartime  A.  .  _  v . 

9  ... 

9 

4 

...  1 

.,  21 

;  18B'.. 

JOHNNY  MATHIS  (Columbia) 
Twelfth  of  Never  .  .  . . . .  . . 

•  •  ■  9  ■■ 

.. 

6 

1' 

5  21 

i  20 

BILLY  &  LILLIE  (Swan) 

La  Dee  Dab. .....  - 

10  2 

4  .. 

. .  17 

i  ' 

s  21A  - 

PAUL  ANKA  (ABC-Par) 

Yon  Are  My  Destiny.. 

7  8 

9 

T 

.  7  *15 

L 

-  2 IB  .... 

ROY  HAMILTON  (Epic) 

Don't  Let  Gs  ,  € 

.  3  .... 

9 

T 

.. 

-V  15 

21C  . . 

JOHNNY  MATHIS  (Columbia) 

Ns  Loire . . 

.. 

■•s . 

3 

4 

. .  15 

’  21D  . . 

MOE  KOFFMAN  (Jubilee) 

Swingin  Shepherd  Bines -  . . 

5  . 

•  > 

2 

. .  15 

1 

v  25 

SAM  COOKE  (Keen) 

1*11  Come  Running  Back  . ..... 

8 

10 

mm* 

2 

..  13 

Wednesday,  January  15,  1958 


Krushy  May  Say'Nyet’  to  Jazz, 


Frankfurt,  Jan.  14. 

Jazz  is  proving  a  powerful  po¬ 
litical  force  in  battering  through 
the  Iron  Curtain  slicing  between 
West  Germany  and  East  Germany 
and  Hungary. 

A  30-minute  show  called  “Jazz 
Forum”  is  being  broadcast  once  a 
weiek  from  Munich  into  Hungary, 
through  the  auspices  of  Radio  Free 
Europe,  and.  is  proving  one  of  the 
piost  potent  weapons  in  breaking 
through  the  Communistic  barriers. 

Geza  Ekecs,  Hungarian  exile  who 
is  jazz  editor  for  RFE’s  “Jazz  Fo¬ 
rum”  show^  says  that  “jazz,  after 
ail,  is  America’s  special  contribu¬ 
tion  to  world  culture.  People  be¬ 
hind  the  Iron  Curtain  have  no  way 
of  comparing  real  jazz  with  the 
phony  imitations  they  hear  on  the 
Communist  radio  or  records.  Our 
show  is  specially  designed  to  give 
them  a  basis  of  comparison  as  well 
as  to  "bring  them  the  latest  West¬ 
ern  stuff  they  probably  could  not 
hear  in  any  other  Way.” 

The.  “Jazz  Forum”  show  features 
a  male  and  female  disk  jockey  dis¬ 
cussing  jazz  with  record  illustra¬ 
tions  of  various  forms— dixieland, 
bop,  progressive,  cool  and  swing. 

For  the  letters  that  reach  them 
through  the  Curtain,  RFE  reveals 
that  this  is  one  of  its  shows  with 
the  greatest  interest  >and  largest 
listening:  audience  in  the  Commie- 
controlled  countries. 

Berlin’s  Concert  jazz 

Berlin,  Jan.  14. 

Jazz,  boycotted  here  under  Hit¬ 


ler  and  still,  years  later,  a  step¬ 
child  of  so  many  a  local.  Cultural 
institution,  is  now  ^lso .  conquering 
this  city’s  serious  concert  halls. 
While  some  years  ago  organizers 
found  it  nearly  impossible  to  Stage 
jazz  concerts  in  those  hallowed 
places,  the  general,  trend  is  now 
nearing  the  point  where  such  “so¬ 
phisticated  jazz  events”  are  noth¬ 
ing  unusual.  West  Berlin’s  cultural 
authorities  have  apparently  put  up 
with  the  fact  that  jazz  cannot  be 
ignored  any  longer  unless  they 
want  to  be  held  intolerant. 

The  Modern  Jazz  Quartet  started 
a  new  musical  chapter  here  last 
fall  when  it  appeared  at  the  poshy 
Congress  Hall.  Now  also  the  vener-: 
able  Highschool  of  Music  .  opened 
its  doors  for  the  first  time  to  a  jazz 
concert  presented  by  the  New  Jazz 
Circle  Berlin.  ,sIt  was  high  time,” 
Wolfgang  Jaenicke,  the  Circle’s 
president^  said  to  .the  audience, 
“that  jazz  knocks  at  the  doors  of 
our  concert  halls.”  He  revealed 
that  it  is  his  organization’s  aim  to 
take  jazz  away  from  the  arenas  and 
bring  it  into  the  more  dignified 
places. 

Concert  at  the  Highschool  of 
Music  was  a.  dedication  to  George 
Gershwin,  It  is  noteworthy  that  the 
three  concerts  (the  first  one  plus 
two  repeat  performances)  regis-1 
tered  sellout  biz.  NJCB  also 
booked  the  third  local  appearance 
of  the  Modern  Jazz  Quartet  on 
Saturday  (U);  held  at  the  Auditor¬ 
ium  Maximum  of  W-Berlin’s  Free 
University. 


British  Cisk  Bestsellers 

London,  Jan.  14. . 

Making  Eyes . . ,  Adams  &  Otis 
(Capitol) 

Balls  of  Fire.  . . .  ...  . .  .  .Lewis 
(London) 

Special  Angel  . . .  .  M.  Vaughan 

(HMV) 

Little  Susie  ....  .Everly  Bros. 
(London) 

I  Love  You  Baby. ..... . . Anka 

(Columbia) 

Kisses  Sweeter  ....  ..Rodgers 
(Columbia) 

Reet  Petite  . . . ... . ,  .  .Wilson 

(VOgue-Coral) 

All  the  Way  .Sinatra 

(Capitol) 

Oh!  Boy  . ! ....... 4.  .Crickets 

(Vogue^Coral) 

Peggy  Sue  ..... ...Holly 

(Vogue-rCoral) 

RUBY,  WEBSTER  HEADS 
SPA  COAST  GROUP 

Hollywood,  Jan.  14. 

Harry  Ruby  succeeds  Ben  Oak¬ 
land  as  chairman  of  the  West  Coast 
Committee  of  Songwriters  Protec¬ 
tive  Assn,  in  a  realignment  of  the 
group’s  Coast  officers.  Oakland 
resigned  because  he  is  going  on 
tour,  starting  Jan.  23,  as  accom¬ 
panist  for  George  Jessel. 

Paul  Francis  Webster  will  be  co- 
chairman  with  Ruby.  Others  named 
to.  the  committee  are  Harold  Adam¬ 
son,  $ammy  Cahn,  M.  K.  Jerome, 
Grace  Kahn,  .  Leo  :  Robin, .  Donald 
Kahn,  Don  Raye,  Herb  Magidson, 
Charles  Newman,  Harry  Tobias  and 
Mrs.  Catherine  R.  Hall,  local  secre¬ 
tary. 


RCA’s  Vik,  Bluebird  Labels  in  Sharp 
Sales  Upbeats;  Set  Up  1958  Formats 


■. — : - - - - - — — ♦  Vik  Records,  an  RCA  Victor  sub- 

Sked  Folsom  Awards  I  four-year  history  in  1957-  Bennett 
ip  n/t|  )  |m  n  .  Rosner,  label’s  general  Tnknager, 
18  BIAS  M  Boosters  sported  that  album  sales  climbed 
_  .  .  .  ,  ;  '  60%  over,  the  previous  year  with 

+  T^a^M^som^Awards  to  Gisele  MacKenzitfs  Christmas-set 
the  RCA  Victor  distributor  exec  of  the  topseller.  Also  strong,  were 
each  of  the  eighty  regional  offices  Marty  Gold’s  “Wired  For  Sound,** 
with  the  greatest  EP  sales  in-  --The  Best  of  Eddie  Cantor”  and 
creases  last  year  will  be  made  in  Helen  O’Connell’s  “Green  Eyes.” 

^e^Trtiaiu  °r  ^early  March  •  This  year’s  album  program,  is 
Awards  will  be  made  at  a  forms*  being  Mcked  off  by  12  sets  pro¬ 
dinner  in  NevrYork.  Over  $25  Q00  <juced  by  Herman  Diaz  Jr.  With  the 
IuJ>51ZfSuare  bemg  dls!ributed  t0  spotlight  on  unusual  sound  quality. 

th^distnb  execs,  record^  managers  vik  packages  during  1958  are 

and  salesmen  participating  in  toe  being;  released  in  programs  rather 
1957  campaign  to  double  toe  EP  than  on  a  monthly  schedule  with 
saofi~e‘  m»  lit  four  major  programs  slated  for  the 

Sal^men  will  get  the  equivalent  year  with  special  dating  and‘dis- 

m  cash  of  .10  shares  of  RCA  Victor.  count  privileges.  Singles  will  also 
common  stock  and  winning  record  be  released  on  a  more  flexible 
managers  are  getting  an  expense-  basis  with  four  a  month  tentatively 
pa*d  set  plus  periodic  purchases  of 

world  and  a  1958  Ford  Thunder-  indie  masters. 

;bird;  Another  RCA  label,  the  Bluebird 

"  :  •  ■ —  kiddie  line,  also  had  a  sharp  up- 

CoiltinO'S  Bankruptcy  beat -last  year  trith  a  184%  sale* 
t  _  ■  .  /.  increase  over  1956.  Harry  Jenkins, 

Arr nrfiinni2S  manager  of  the  RCA  Victor  singles 

fiw  »  ^  ht  department  which  cover*  the  Blue- 

bird  operation,  stated  that-fi0%  of 
h1113^165-  the  Bluebird  volume  was  done 
SfSiwsr  S  t°.  agencies  through  rackjobbers.  He  Said  the 
^  V?n0U|  d/tes’  supermarkets  have  proved them- 
:  a  ready-made  outlet  for 

wc  S9“en  A®-  well-packaged,  low-priced  kiddie 

tors  Guild,  a  $1,300  gambling  loss  318^5; 


at  Elko,  Nev.,  and  nearly  $8,000  in 
back  income  taxes. 

Contino  started  .in  show  biz  as 


Victor,  stepped  up  its  Bluebird 
operation  last  year  with  the  intro¬ 
duction  of  $1.98  LPs,  the  release 


HETAIL  ALBUM  BEST  SELLERS 


- — PRriETy  — — 

Survey  of  retail  album;  best 
sellers  based,  on  reports  from  lead-  • 
ing  stores  and  showing  comparative 
ratings  for  this  week  and  last. 


National  & 

Bating  * 

This  Last  I 

wk.  wk.  Artist,  Label,  Title  Z 

MY  FAIR  LADY  (Columbia) 

1  2  Original  Cast  (CL  5090) 1 

AROUND -THE  WORLD  (Decca) 

2  1  Soundtrack  (DC  9046) ........  2 

JOHNNY  MATHIS  (Columbia) 

3  6  Warm  (CL  1978)...:... . 7 

RICKY  NELSON  (Imperial) 

4  4  Ricky  (Imp  9048)., .... ....  ■ .  3 

PAL  JOEY  (Capitol) 

8  3  Soundtrack  (W  1921....,,.,..  5 

PAT  BOONE  (Dot)  " 

6  9  Pat’s  Great  Hit*  (DCP  307)  . .  4 

FRANK  SINATRA  (CapitoD 

7  .  8  Where  Are  You  (W  855) _ _  6 

OKLAHOMA  (Capitol) 

8  11.  Soundtrack  (SAP  595). . ... . . .  .  - 

KING  &  I  (Capitol) 

9  18— —Soundtrack  (T  740) ... . . .....  .  ..  8 

JANE  MORGAN  (Kapp) 

10  10  Fascination  (KXL  1066) . 

TENNESSEE  ERNIE  (Capitol) 

11  24  ,  -  Hymn*  (T  .756) - ........... 

NAT  KING  COLE  (Capitol) 

12A  13  One  of  Those  Thing*  (W  903) . .  .. 

“*  NAT  KING  COLE  (Capitol) 

12B  12  .  Love  Is  the  Thing  (W  823) . . , .  . . 

ROGER  WILLIAMS  (Kapp) 

12C  14  Fabulous  Fiftie*  (KXL  5000) . -  ... 
JIMMIE  RODGERS  (Roulette) 

12D  19  .  Jimmie  Rodgers  (25020) . . 

”  GOGI  GRANT  (Victor)  ‘ 

16  15  Helen  Morgan  Story  (OLC 1030)  . . 

APRIL  LOVE  (Dot) 

17  ,  . .  Soundtrack  (Pep  9000). . .....  9 

■  /  V  FRANK  SINATRA  (Capitol)  ” 

18  21  Swinging  Affair  <W  803)..  ... 

JAMAICA  (Victor)  "  '  '• 

19A  . .  Original  Cast  (LOC  1036) . ...  - 

_  "  PAJAMA  GAME  (Columbia)  f“ 

19B  . .  -  Soundtrack  (DL  5210). ; .  ...... 

1  PERRY  COMO  (Victor)  “ 

21  . .  Dream  Along  (CAL  403) ......  - . 

~  MARTIN-RAITT  (Capitol 

22  . ,  Annie  Get  Your  Gun  (W  913)  . ,  . . 

ray  mckinley  (Victor) 

23  :  ...  New  Miller  Orch  (LPM  1522).  .. 

~  JOHNNY  MATHIS  rCnJiimMa) 

24  20  Wonderful,  Won’ful  (CL  1028)  -. 

WEST  SIDE  STORY  (fnliimhiaV 

25  Original  Cast  (CL  5230).. . 


■S  £  3 
$  £  fi 


8  «  ^ . 

£  0  .  S 

M  t»  w 

O  43  I 

:  S,  *  i 

&  P  •a 

I  T  I 

1  i  < 

i  3  1 


3_ 

2 

7 

4 

4  6 

7 

1 

JL 

4 

6 

1  2 

10 

iJL 

10 

':r 

3 

-  4 

1 

1 

..  10 

3 

7  2  1  2  4 


3  ..  2  5  ..  9 


3  8  2  4  4  ...  5 


4  ..  5  ..  10 


,ielies  Qf  Hopa®e  of  Victor  pop  hits  at  a  49c  price 

Heidt  talent  contests.  _  .  tag,  music  from  tv  shows  and  more 

'  :  emphasis  on  name  artists.  Jenkins 

-  stated  that  Bluebird  will  follow 

the  same  releasing  pattern  this 
,  year  with  three  singles  a  month 
and  10  LPs  throughout  toe  year. 

.  There  will  also  be  an  ;  extensive 
conversion  program  to  facelift  cat- 
*  5  S  alog  items. 

.  o  ^  '25  .  .  '  _ ■ 

!  I  l  l  i  TOPS  LABE  ADDING 

*  -  1  I  I  *  i  o  RETAILERS  TO  RACKS 

£  «  •  ^  •  x  q  «  ^  Hollywood,  Jan.  14. 

.  5  S  g  w  ^  5  A  Tops  Records,  one  of  the  leaders 

3  &  I  ®  jo  L  in  selling  low-priced  disks  exclu- 

1  *  j  S  ®  T  8  sively  in  supermarkets,  chain  stores 

|  "r  A  Q  I  fe  P  and  drug  and  department  stores,  is 

I  g  T  f  T  O  moving  into  the  regular  musk  store 

2  S  c  S  fe  f  *  I  field.  Label  now  is  setting  up  a 

m  «  .3  h  >  £  .  5  N  network  of  distributors  to  handle 

■3  X  g  5  8  :S.  g  T  its  product  in  outlets  other  than 

n  5  ft,  to  I  Q  B  to  J  S  the^  10,000  specialized  locations  in 

- : — — -  which  the  cut-rate  album*  former¬ 
ly  were  available. 

2  4  7  1  .  .  :  2  136  '  Switch  to  regular  stores,  in  ad¬ 

dition  to  its  former  specialized 
T  5  3..  2  3  -  3  117  markets,  was  cued  by  a  30-day  test 

'  '  ■■ — ^ — r- — - - -  conducted  by  Record  Sales,  Inc., 

o  2  5  9  98  local  distrib  which  sells  only  to 

-U— - — - — — - — — — —  regular  record  and  music  stores. 

_  _  _  _  .  E  In  the  test,  some  200  dealers  were 

3  8  2  4  4  5  91  used,  including  Wallichs  Music 

City.  A1  Sherman,  head  of  RSI, 

.  .  ..  . .  . .  9  4  86  reported  that  174  of  the  dealers 

had  re-ordered  during  the  test  pe- 

4  . .  5  10  8  ..  59  Tiod.  Tops  prexy  Carl  Doshay 

— — r-' - — — r— - ; - r —  said  the  decision  to  test  regular 

•  o  •  51  disk  outlets  was  prompted  by  the 

— ^---.7  —  -V — :/  way  in  which  other  label*  have  -> 

'  moved  in  on  the  supermarket  field. . 


Bar  dick,  Pastner  In 
ABC-Par  Distrib  Boost 

In  *  m we  designed  to  strength¬ 
en  ABC-Paramount’s  -distributor 
chaju,  sides  New¬ 

ton  has  moved  in  Clayton  Bur¬ 
dick  as  eastern-  representative.  He 
replaces  Fred  Foster. 

Burdick  formerly  vias  with  the 
diskery’s  Philadelphia  distrib,  Dav¬ 
id  Rosen,  Inc.  As  eastern  field  rep, 
Burdick  will  bandle  distributor  li¬ 
aison,  sales  and  merchandizing  of 
label’s  single  and  album  releases, 
Foster  bad  been  with  the  company 
a  little  over  two  years.  He’s  plan¬ 
ning  to  line  up  another  recording 
Spot  qfhich  would  not  require  so 
much,  road  work/ 

in  another  appointment  Sid 
Pastner  has  been  brought  In  fSf 
the  newly  created  post  iff  national 
liaison  representative.  He’ll  serve 
as  trouble-shooter  in  merchandiz¬ 
ing  and  exploitation  problems. 


Marek  Returns  to  XJ.S. 

George  R.  Marek,  RCA  Victor 
v.p.  and  general^  manager  of  the 
disk  division,  returns  back  to  his 
N,  Y.  homeoffice  desk  this  week 
after  a  short  trip  overseas. 

Marek  conferred  with  execs  of 
British ,  Decca  and  other  RCA 
Victor  affiliate*  ©*  the  GoathMgt. 


7  6  ....  9-  ..  7 


..  ..  9  3  6  .. 

..  ..  g  8  ..  .. 


9  ...  8  :.  1 


9  ..  5  .. 


5  •>.  3  .. 


Top  Record  Talent  and  Tunes 


P’filtlEff 


Wednesday,  January  15,  1958 


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Wednesday,  January  15,1958 


60  MUSIC 


PSnit¥r 


Wednesday,  January  IS,  1958 


Music  Fund  Suit 
In  Mex  Standoff 
Via  Coast  Court 

Los  Angelos,  Jan.  .14. 
Both  sides  claimed  victory  here 
when  Superior  Judge  John  J.  Ford 
handed  down  what  amounted  to  a 
split  decision  in  the  latest  round 
of  the  litigation  over  the  Music 
Performance  Trust  Fund.  Ruling, 
however,  was  in  the  nature  of  a  set¬ 
back  for  the  embattled  Coast  musi¬ 
cians.  r- 

After  hearing  arguments  for  two 
days.  Judge  Ford  granted  a  prelim¬ 
inary  injunction  restraining  disk- 
cries.  from  paying  into  the  Trust 
Fund  the  fees  based  on  21%  of  the 
scale  of  the  recording  musicians, 
and  appointed  the  Citizens  National 
Trtist  &  Savings  Bank  as  receiver 
of  the  coin  involved.  However,  he 
declined  to  extend  the  injunction 
and  the  receivership  to  include  the 
longtime  Music  Performance  Trust 
Fund  royalty  of  5%  of  the  retail 
sales  price  of  disks  sold. 

In  the  other  case  at  issue.  Judge 
Ford  also  declined  the  request  for 
an  injunction  and  receivership  in 
connection  with  the  re-use  fees  for 
music  on  old  feature  films  sold  to 
tv.  The  fees,  generally  $25  per 
man,  originally  were  paid  to  the 
original  musicians  involved:  two 
years  ago  they  Were  suddenly  trans¬ 
ferred  to  the  Trust  Fund. 

It  was  understood  that  a  total  of 
$750,000  already  has  piled  up  in 
connection  with  the.  21%  royalty 
.payment  and  the  total  amount  is 
expected  tp  be  in  the  neighbor¬ 
hood  of  $2,000,000  by  the  time  the 
current  disk  contract  expires  at 
the  end  Of  this  year.  Musicians  had 
contended  that  the  percentage 
boost,  amounting  to  10%  of  existing 
'scales  for  the  first  two  years  of 
the  pact  and  another  10%  for  thfe 
next  two  years,  originally  had  been 
negotiated  as  a  pay  hike  for  the 
diskers  aifd  had.  then  been  diverted 
to  the  'trust  Fund. 

Plaintiffs  Were  ordered  to  post 
a  $50,000  cash  bond  to  make  the 
injunction  operative  and  the  l)ank 
will  post  a  $1,000  bond.  * 
Attorney  Harold  Fendler,  rep¬ 
ping  the  plaintiffs,  indicated  that 
an  appeal  would  be  taken  on  the 
denial  of  the  injunction  in  the  tv 
case. 


*ABC-Par  Picks  Up  ‘Shorts’ 

ABC-Paramount  has  picked  up 
the  master  to  “Short  Shorts”  from 
the.  indie  Power  label. 

Disk  was  grooved  by  The  Royal 
Teens  and  ABC-Par  has  six  press¬ 
ing  factories  rolling  to  get  the 
platter  around  the  country. 


CHARLES  TO  JUBILEE 

Morty  Palitz,  veepee  at  Jubilee 
Records,  has  tapped  Teddy  Charles 
to  head  label’s  expanded  jazz  pro¬ 
gram.  Charles  previously  headed 
the  jazz  line  for  the  Prestige  label. 

Charles,  a  vibist,  will  continue 
to  work  with  his  own  group  which 
will  tour  for  Concert  Associates 
next  fall. 


The' 


f  OF  THE 
WEEK 


BOBBIN 

HOOD 


I  WANT  TO 
THANK  YOUR 
FOLKS 


A  DATE 
FOR  ALWAYS 


K  12599 
45  RFM 


Disk  Best  Sellers  of  1957 

Listed  below  in  alphabetical  order  are  the  top  50  disk  best  sellers  during  1957.  Compilation  is  based 
on  the  information  contained  in  Variety’s  weekly  Retail' Disk  Best  Sellers  charts.  0 

AMES  BROS. — “MELODlE  A’MOUR”.. . .V...  V  .i.  .  . . . . Victor 

PAUL  ANKA: — “DIANA” .  . ABC-Par 

HARRY  BELAFONTE— “BANANA  BOAT  SONG”  ......... _ _ ...4.. Victor 

CHUCK  BERRY— “SCHOOL  DAYS”  .........  .....  .  .  ......  Chess 

PAT  BOONE— “APRIL.  LOVE” . ;  .  .  .  ....  .Dot 

PAT  BOONE— “DON’T  FORBID  ME”.,:.  _ _ _  .  .  .  .  ,  ;  Dot 

PAT  BOONE— “LOVE  LETTERS  IN  THE  SAND”. ...............  Dot 

COASTERS— “SEARCHING”  .  . . . . . ........ .  Atco 

PERRY :COMO^“ROUND  AND  ROUND”  i  .... ; . . . . . . ........  Victor 

SAM  COOKE— “YOU  SEND  ME”;  . . . . : . . , . . . , . . ; . . .......  Keen 

CRICKETS— “THAT’LL  BE  THE  DAY”  :  . . ; . . .  . .  . .  Brunswick 

DELL  VIKINGS— “COME,  GO  WITH  ME” . . . .Dot 

DIAMONDS— “LITTLE  DARLIN’  ”  . .  •; . . . ; . . . . . . Mercury 

FATS  DOMINO— “BLUE  MONDAY”.  ■ : . , V . . ... ........ . . .  Imperial 

FATS  DOMINO— “I’M  WALKING” .. . . . . . . . .  Imperial 

JIMMY  DORSE Y— "SO  RARE” . .  . . Fraternity 

EVERLY  BROS.— “BYE,  BYE  LOVE". . Cadence 

EVERLY  BROB.— “WAKE  UP  LITTLE  SUSIE”  . . ;......  Cadence 

TERRY  GILKYSON— “MARIANNE”  .  V . .. . . ,.. . .  Columbia 

CHARLIE  GRACIE— “BUTTERFLY”  . . . , . ; . . . . .  -. . .  Cameo 

RUSS  HAMILTON— “RAINBOW”  _ .  Kapp 

'BOBBY  HELMS-r-“MY  SPECIAL  ANGEL”,  . . . . . Decca 

TAB  HUNTER— “YOUNG  LOVE”  . . ^ Dot 

FERLIN  HUSKY— “GONE”  ..... .  .  .  .  V  . 0  . .  .  Capitol 

SONNY  JAMES— “YOUNG  LOVE”  \ _ Capitol 

BILL  JUSTIS— “RAUNCHY”  .  . . . . ....Phillips 

BUDDY  KNOX— ‘PARTY  DOLL”  ....  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ; . . . .  Roulette 

FRANKIE  LAINE— “MOONLIGHT  GAMBLER”  ...  ... _ _ _ _ .Columbi 

JERRY  LEE  LEWIS— r'WHOLE  LOT  OF  SHAKING” . . . . . . .  Sun 

JOHNNY  MATHIS— “CHANCES  ARE”  ....;. ... ..... .... _ _ _ _ _ Columbi 

JOHNNY  MATHIS— “IT’S  NOT  FOR  ME  TO  SAY”  . .  .  Columbia 

JANE  MORGAN— “FASCINATION” .  ...  ... . . .... . .  Kapp 

RICKY- NELSON— “A  TEENAGER'S  ROMANCE” . . . . .  . : .  Verve 

RICKY  NELSON— “BE  BOP  BABY”  .  ...  ...  Imperial 

ELVIS  PRESLEY— “ALL  SHOOK  UP”  : . . . ; . ...  Victor 

ELVIS  PRESLE Y-r“ JAILHOUSE  ROCX” . . . . . . . . . . . ... . Victor 

ELVIS  PRESLEY— “TEDDY  BEAR” , . ..  . . .  Victor 

ELVIS  PRESLEY— “TOO  MUCH”  Victor 

RAYS—1 “SILHOUETTES”  . ; . . . . Cameo 

DEBBIE  REYNOLDS— “TAMMY”  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  Coral 

MARTY  ROr  BIN  S— “  A  WHITE  SPORT  COAT”. . . .  . . . . .  Columbi 

JIMMIE  RODGERS— ’‘HONEYCOMB”  , . . .  \  .............. .... _ _  Roulette 

TOMMY  SANDS— ”A  TEENAGE  CRUSH” . . . 1 . . . .Capitol 

FRANK  SINATRA— “ALL  THE  WAY”  ...... _ ......  Capitol 

GALE  STORM— “DARK  MOON”  .  ..... ... ....  Dot 

TARRIERS— “BANANA  BOAT  SONG” _ _ _ _ Glory 

ANDY  WILLIAMS— “BUTTERFLY”  .  .  .  t  . .  . . ..... _ _ .......  Cadence 

BILLY  WILLIAMS— “GONNA  SIT  RIGHT  DOWN”  . . . . .  Coral' 

LARRY  WILLIAMS— “SHORT,  FAT  FANNY”  . . . . . . . . .  Specialty 

VICTOR  YOUNG— “AROUND  THE  WORLD”  . . . . . . . . .  .  Decca 

Album  Best  Sellers  of  1957 


Listed  be loio  in  alphabetical  order  are  the  top  50  album  best  sellers  during  1957,  Compilation  is 
based  on  the  information  -  continued  in  Variety’:  weekly  Retail  album  Best  Sellers  chgrts. 

HARRY  BELAFONTE—”  AN  EVENING  WITH.  BELAFONTE”:. .  .  . ... .... .  Victor 

HARRY  BELAFONTE— “BELAFONTE”  .... . . - Victor 

HARRY  BELAFONTE— “CALYPSO” : . . .  .......  ......  A _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ...  Victor 

HARRY  BELAFONTE— “SINGS  THE  CARIBBEAN”, . . .  ..  .  . . .  - . . . .  Victor 

POLLY  BERGEN— “BERGEN  SINGS  MORGAN”  . . . . . . .  .  Columbia 

BLACK  WATCH  BAND— “SCOTTISH  SPLENDOR”  Victor 

PAT  BOONE— “PAT”  - ..Dot 

PAT  BOONE— “PAT’S  GREAT  HITS”;  .  .  .  .  . . .  . . Dot 

ROSEMARY  CLOONEY  &  HI-LO’S— “RING  AROUND  ROSIE”. ... ./..., . .  Columbia 

NAT  KING  COLE— “AFTER  MIDNIGHT”  :  .... .;. ......  ..... .  Capitol 

NAT  KING  COLE— “LOVE  IS  THE  THING”. . . . . .  Capitol 

PERRY  COMO— “WE  GET  LETTERS”  ......  4 ...... .  Victor 

MARTIN  DENNY— “EXOTICA”  ......... .  Liberty 

JONATHAN  EDWARDS— “PIANO  ARTISTRY”:. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Columbia 

ELLA  FITZGERALD— “SINGS  RODGERS  &  HART . . . . . . Verve 

TENNESSEE  ERNIE  FORD— “HYMNS”  .  . ;....... . . . . Capitol 

TENNESSEE  ERNIE  FORD— “SPIRITUALS”  _  _ _ _ Capitol 

ERROLL  GARNER— “OTHER  VOICES”  .  .  . . . . . .  .  Columbia 

JACKIE  GLEASON— “VELVET  BRASS”,.  . ...... - - - - - - - -  Capitol 

EYDIE  GORME— “SWINGS  THE  BLUES” ,  . ,  . ; . . . : . . . .  ABC-Par 

GOGI  GRANT— “HELEN  MORGAN  STORY’’ . Victor 

LEfcA  HORNE— “LENA  AT  THE  WALDORF”  . . . . . . . . . .  .  Victor 

LESTER  LANIN  ORCH.— “DANCE  TO  MUSIC  OF” . . . :  ...  - - - - - Epic 

JULIE  LONDON— “ABOUT  THE  BLUES”  , .  . . . . . ..Liberty 

MANTOVANI— “FILM  ENCORES”  .  . . .  London 

JOHNNY  MATHIS— “WONDERFUL,  WONDERFUL”  . . .  Columbia 

RICKY  NELSON— “RICKY” .  . . * . . . . .  Imperial 

ELVIS  PRESLEY— “CHRISTMAS  ALBUM”1  .Victor 

ELVIS  PRESLE Y— "LOVING  YOU”  . . !  ,  Victor 

ORIGINAL  CAST— ‘’MY  FAIR  LADY”  . . . . Columbia 

ORIGINAL  CAST— “NEW  GIRL  IN  TOWN”  Victor 

ORIGINAL  CAST— “WEST  SIDE  STORY” . .  _ _ Columbia 

JIMMIE  RODGERS— “JIMMIE  RODGERS”  .  Roulette 

TOMMY  SANDS— “A  STEADY  DATE”  . .  . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . . .  Capitol 

FRANK  SINATRA— “A  SWINGING  AFFAIR”  . . .  . .  Capitol 

FRANK  SINATRA— “CLOSE  TO  YOU”  ..  . . . . . .  Capitol 

FRANK  SINATRA— “THIS  IS  SINATRA” .  _ _ _ _ Capitol 

FRANK  SINATRA— “WHERE  ARE  YOU” . . . .  ...........  Capitol 

SOUNDTRACK— “AN  AFFAIR  TO  REMEMBER”. . . . . .  Columbia 

SOUNDTRACK— “AROUND  THE  WORLD”  . . .  4 ... .  Decca 

SOUNDTRACK— “EDDY  DUCHIN  STORY” . . . . . . .  *.....  Decca 

SOUNDTRACK— “KING  AND  I”  .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7... ...  Capitol 

soundtrack— “Oklahoma"  .  .......  ....  Capitol  ^ 

SOUNDTRACK— “PA JAMA  GAME” _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ;. . .  2 . . . . . . . . . Columbia 

SOUNDTRACK— “PAL  JOEY” ; .  ... 2 .... . . . . . , . . . .  - - .Capitol 

FRED  WARING— “WARING  IN  HI-FI”  . . .  /. - - - - ... ..........  Capitol 

LAWRENCE  WELK— “DIXIELAND”  ...  .............  /Coral 

ROGER  WILLIAMS— ‘’ALMOST  PARADISE”  ,. . ; . ....  Kapp 

ROGER  WILLIAMS— “FABULOUS  FIFTIES”  ■■■ ,  - . . . . . . ........  Kapp 

ROGEJtS  WILLIAMS— “FABULOUS  FORTIES”. . : .  .  .  -  .> . . ... . . . .........  Kapp 


Epic’s  10%  Discount 
For  Feb.  Sales  Drive 

^  With  an  eye  to  building  momen¬ 
tum  for  a  strong  February  sales  po¬ 
sition,-  Epic  Records  is  giving  a  j 
10%  discount  On  all.  distributor  or¬ 
ders  from:  its  LP  catalog  during 
the  month  of  January.. 

The  ,  move,  accord.ng  to  Epic’s 
gtrierar  manager  William  S.  Niel- 
sen,  stems  from  the  fact  that  Feb¬ 
ruary  ia  usually  the  best  month  of 


the  year  for  record  sales,  because 
of  Christmas,  depletion  of  dealer 
inventories  and  new  disk  buyers, 
created  by  the  Yule  phonograph 
sales. 

The  program  applies  to  classical 
and  pop  catalog  orders  excluding 
only  the  new  January  releases.  The 
special  offer  applies  to .  orders  re¬ 
ceived  through  Jan.  23.  S 


ABC-Paramount  has  set  R.  &  D, 
D  stributing  Co.  to  handle  its  line 
in  the  New  Orleans  territory. 


Golden  Crest  Hikes  Prices 

The  indie  Golden  Crest  Records 
is  following  the  price  lead  taken 
by  some  of  the  majors  with  a  hike 
of  its  $3.98  line  to  $4.98.  Label 
has  a  higher  priced  “Laboratory 
Series”  selling  at  $5.95,  which  will 
stay  at  that  price. 

In  the  future  all  Golden  Crest 
albums  will  be  factory  sealed  in  a 
special  cellophane  wrap.  Clark 
Gatehouse,  diskery’s  prez,  plans  a 
release  schedule  of  two  albums  a 
month  throughout  the  year. 


Colimbia 

[ssssm  Continued  from  page  55  55*53 

[audience  looking  for  different 
sounds  from  different  places.  There 
are  14  albums  in  the  initial  release 
which  includes  recordings  of  elec¬ 
tronic  experiments  in  Paris,  per¬ 
cussion  experiments  in  New  York, 
ancient  Greek  dulcimers,  modern 
Tennessee  carillons,  southern 
blues.  Chilean  folk  songs  and  . 
Jamaican  steel  drums.  The  line 
will  be  augmented  on  a  regular 
basis, 

On  the  sales  level,  Col  has  ex¬ 
panded  its  100%  exchange .  protec¬ 
tion  to  include  100-top-sdlling  pop 
albums,  60  top-selling  Masterworks 
albums,  all  Original  cast  sets,  all 
Harmony  albums,  all  Hall  of  Fame 
EP’s  and  all  stereo  tapes.  In  the 
case  of  the  latter  three  categories 
packaging  or  sealing  must  be  in-tact. 
At  the  tsame  time;  the  diskefy  is 
extending  the  exchange  period  on 
all  albums,  beginning  with  the 
January  release,  from  six  months 
to  12  months. 

Aim  of  the  extended  exchange 
period  plan,  according  to  Bill 
Gallagher,  national  sales  manager, 
is  to  give  the  product  more  expos¬ 
ure  time. 

As  a  re-stocking  incentive.  Col 
is  providing  a  10%  return  privil¬ 
ege  fpr  qualified  dealers  on  all 
merchandise,  except  for  singles. 
Harmony  and  kidisks  selling  for 
49c.  or  less. 

The  diskery  is.  again  ,  this  year 
sponsoring  an  incentive  contest 
whereby  salesmen  can  Win  cuffo 
trips  tp  its  annual  convention  for 
wives  and.  other  guests.  Under 
the  rules  of  the  congest,  which  will 
run  through  May  31,  quotes  on- 
sales  of  all  Col  products  except 
phonographs  will  be  assigned 
branches .  and  distributors  which 
will,  in  turn,  assign  portions  of 
their  target  volume  to  all  full-time 
managers,  salesmen  arid  promotion 
men.  =JVheh  a  distributor  qualifies; 
by  meeting  its  sales  goal,  Col  will 
pay  all  expenses  for  the  Waldorf 
meet. 

This  year’s  contest  is  substan¬ 
tially  the  same  as  the  ’57  “Your 
Fair  Lady”  incentive  program  for 
the  conclave  at  the  Americana 
Hotel  in  Miami  Beach.  -  Everybody 
won  .  last  year. 


Geoffrey  Holder  and  his  wife, 
Carmen  de  Lavallade,  wind  up  a 
nitery  date,  at  the  Cocoanut  Grove, 
L.A.,:  next  week,,  and  return  to 
NeW  York,  to  appear  in  “Aida”  at 
the  Metop  Jan.  3Q. 


•RAINTEFF  miMY 

NEVER 

TILL 

NOW 

ROBBINS  MUSIC  CORPORATION 


PZ&ti&Tt 


Wednesday,  Jamaary  15,  195<8f 


PftRlfnnt  Scoreboard 

OF 

TOP  TALENT  AND  TUNES 

Compiled  from  Statistical  Reports  of  Distribution 
Encompassing  the  Three  Major  Outlets 

Coin  Machines  Retail  Disks  Retail  Sheet  Music 

as  Published  in  the  Current  Issue 

NOTE:  The  current  comparative  sale*  strength  of  the  Artists  and  Tunes  listed  hereunder  is 
arrived  at  under  a  statistical  system  comprising  each  of  the  three  major  sales  outlets  enu¬ 
merated  above.  These  findings  are  correlated  with  data  from  wider  sources,,  which  are  exclusive 
With  Variety.  The .  positions  resulting  from  these  findings  denote  the  OVERALL  IMPACT  de¬ 
veloped  from  the  ratio  of  points  scored,  two  ways  in  the  case  of  talent  (coin  machines ,  retail 
disks )  and  three  ways  in  the  case  of  tunes  (coin  machines,  retail  disks  and  retail  sheet  music ) . 


.MUSIC 


TALENT 


POSITIONS 
This  Last 
Week  Week 


ARTIST  AND  LABEL 


POSITIONS 
This  Last 
Week  Week 


DANNY  &  JUNIORS  (ABC-Par)  .  .  .  .  .  . . At  The  Ilopt 

SAM  COOKE  (Keen)  . . .  jtet  . 

*  ^  }Come  Running  Back  To  Youf 

BUDDY  HOLLY  (Coral) i .  .... . . . . . ; .  Peggy  Suef 

PAT  BOONE  (Dot)  . . ... , _ .  .  . . . ... , . ; . April  Love* 

JERRY  LEE  LEWIS  (Sun)  Great  Balls  of  Firef 

RICKY  NELSON  (Imperial)  (Stood  Upf 

r  (  Waitin’  In  Schoolf 

ERNIE  FREEMAN  (Imperial) ...... . .....  Raunchyf 

FRANK  SINATRA  (Capitol) ., . !  {desire  Met 

(All  The  Way* 

BILL  JUSTIS  (Phillips)  .  .-4  .> ... ............  Raunchyf 

BILLY  VAUGHN  (Dot)  .......  . .  |Sail  Along  Silvery  Moonf 

\(  Raunchyf 

TUNES 

•fUNE  PUBLISHER 

•‘APRIL  LOVE— “April  Love’VF. ; . . . . . . , . . . . . Feist 

fRAUNCHY  Hill  &  Range 

f  AT  THE  HOP  - - - - -  ............ - - - -  S-Sealark 

♦ALL THE  WAY— “Joker  Is  Wild”-F . .  .  .  . .  Maraville 

fPEGGY  SUE  . . ... . . . _ .........  Nor-Va-Jac 

f  GREAT  BALLS  OF  FIRE  ... ...... ... ... . .  . ... .... ...... .....  BRS-H-R 

fYOU  SEND  ME  . . ....4. ..  Higuera 

f  KISSES  .SWEETER  THAN  WINE  .  .  Folkways 

*LIE€HTENSTEINEft  POLKA  Burlington 

f STOOD  UP  ....  Commodore 

(*ASCAP  fBMI  F-Films) 


New  York 

;  Bobby '  Weiss.  International  rep 
for  E.  H.  Morris,  winds  up  his 
Coast  confabs  with  firm’s  brass 
Feb.  5'  and  -then  wings'  hick  to 
Paris-  .  .  .  Dave  Myles  ihked  to 
Gallo  Records  .  .  .:  Legit’ pressageut 
Phillip  Bloom’s  first  lyric,.  -“Soli¬ 
taire  Street;*'  written j  'with;:  Jack: 
Lawrence,  to  >  medley  -by  Nino 
Rota  copped  an  Academy  Award 
nomination  for  best  foreign  pic 
tune,  it’s  from  “Vitellorie”  .  .  . 
"Jam  Sessioh,” .  an  anthology  on 
jazz  edited  by  Ralph  J.  Gleason,  is 
set  for  Jan.  J  4  publication  by  G.  P. 
Putnam’s  Sons  . .  .  Harold  Sandler, 
British  violinist,  named  director  of 
the  Meyer  Davis  orch  at  the  Green¬ 
brier  ^Hotel,  White  Sulphur  Springs. 
W.  Va: 

Ronnie  Deauville  due  in  the  east 
soon  for  personal  appearances  . 
Oscar  Pettiford’s  combo  currently 
at  the  Five-Spot  Cafe,  lower  east- 
side  jazz  hoite  .  ;  .  Doc  Berger  has 
joined  Edward  Kassner  and  Artie 
Mogul!  as  disk  promotion  manager 
.  .  .  Neal  Hefti  doing  an  LP  for 
Dody  Goodman  on  Coral  .  .  -  The 
Rover.  Boys  start  a  six-week  en¬ 
gagement  at  the  Versailles,  Miami, 
Jan.  24. 

London 

Johnny  Franks  has  joined  staff 
of  David  Toff  Music.  He’ll  still  con¬ 
tinue  with  his  hand  work-  .  ,  .  Bill 
Randall  has  joined  Florida  Music 
as  general  manager  ,  Ray  Mc¬ 
Kinley  and  the  Glenn  Miller  orch 
open  their  British  tour  at  the  Do¬ 
minion  Theatre,  London,  next  Sun. 
<19)  .  .  ...  Songstress  Anne  Shelton 
to  star  in  herrowh  tv  show  on  BBC. 
The  first  offering,  entitled,  “A  Date 
With  Anne  Shelton;”  will  be  aired 
on  Jan.  24  .  .  Dave  Shand  band 

open  at  the  Savoy  Hotel  tonight 
(Wed.)  ;  .  .  Billie  Anthony  and  Ted 
Rogers  planed  out  to  the  Middle 
East  last  week  for  a  six-week  tour 
of  British  service  bases. 

Hollywood 

Paul  Siegel  and.  George  Liber- 
ace  have  formed  partnership  in  a 
Libsieg  Music.  Siegel  will  handle 
the  N.Y.  end,  Liberace  locally  .  .  ; 
Jack  Carson  has  signed  with  De¬ 
sign  Records  and  makes  his. debut 
with  a  kidisk  album  .  . .  Lew  Chudd 
on  a  crosscountry  deejay  tour 
plugging  Yvonne  DeCarlo’s  initial 
Imperial  disking,  “That’s  Love” 

Jan  Clayton  near  a  disk  deal  with 
Disney.  .  .  Eddie  Grady,  current  at 
j  the  Largo,  switching  from  Decca 
to  Capitol  ,  i  .  Harry  James  band 
to  play  Tucson  Auto  Show  Jan. 
25-26  before  returning  to  the  Hol¬ 
lywood  Palladium. 


.  -.nU  RVOt 


A  GREAT  SOUND  ! 
GORDON  MaeRAE 

SINGS 

"NOW" 

PAT  BALLARD 

CAPITOL  #3814. 

bourne;  INC; 


D  C  AH  N't 


fskcM 
h  Mvi 


4R..  w  .CAHN 

*¥*  MUSIC 


Album  Reviews 

Continued  from  page  54 
Peterson  emerges  of  whom  more 
should  be  heard. 

A1  Goodman  Orch:  “My  Fair 
Lady  &  The  Ring  and  I”  (Prome¬ 
nade).  This  is  another  standout 
Item  for  the  lowprice  ($1.49)  mar¬ 
ket.  A1  Goodman  has  coupled  the 
scores  from. Lerner  . dr  Loewe’s  “My 
Fair  Lady”  and  Rodgers.  &  Ham- 
merstein’s  “King  ana  1“  to  give 
the  supermarket  buyers  a  tasty 
sampling  of  Broadway  at  its  best., 
The  vocal  leads  are  ably,  handled 
by  Lbla  Fisher  and  Richard  Tiorigi. 
Incidentally,  Promenade  has  taken 
a  misleading  liberty  with  its  cover 
billing  for  Miss-  ?Fisher.  “Lead 
from.  Broadway” .  cast  of  “My  Fair 
Lady,”  it  says.  Fact:  She  went  on 
several  times  as  understudy  to 
Julie  Andrews.  Gros. 

LONGHAIR  ALBUMS 

Stravinsky:  “T  h  e  .  Firebird”; 
“Petrushka”  (Capitol).  Leopold 
Stokowski,  conducting  the .  Berlin 
Philharmonic,  presents  these  two 
ballet  works  in  flashing,  edited  ■ 
Versions! 

“Horowitz  Plays  Chopin”  (RCA 
Victor).  Vladimir  Horowitz  in 
lyrical,  but  freshly  vigorous .  inter¬ 
pretations  of  seven  Chopin  selec¬ 
tions. 

Bach:  Partitas  Nos.  5  &  6  (Co¬ 
lumbia).  A  program  of  Bach  music, 

;  including  two  short  fugues,  per¬ 
formed  with  skill  and  feeling  by 
this  outstanding  young  pianist. 

“Organ  Music  By  Liszt”  (Vol. 
1-2)  (MGM).  Liszt's  extensive, 
powerful,  but  still  rarely  heard. 
Repertory  of  organ,  music  is  being 

E  resented  in  excellent  recordings 
y  organist  .  Richard  _EIIsassCr; 
Complete  survey  will  comprise  five 
MGM  volumes.  . 

.'  Beethoven:  Symphony  No.  3 
(Camden).  A  standout .  bargain  in 
a  low-priced  disk  featuring  the 
Boston  Symphony,  under  the  late 
|  Koussevitsky,  in  an  old,  but  still 
highly  serviceable  recording  of  this 
[symphonic  standard.  Hem. 


Hellerman  Joins 

Elektra  A&R  Staff 

Fred  Hellerman  has  joined  Elek- 
tra  Records  as  musical  director.  ; 
He’ll  supervise  all  folk  music  ses¬ 
sions  and  will  assist  production 
supervisor  Jac  Holzman  in  some 
artists  &  repertoire  chores. 

-  Label's  plans  for  1958  include 
the  release  of  45  12-inch  packages 
of  which  at  least  37  will  be  in  the 
folk  groove. 


‘Moonlight’ 

Continued  from  page.  55'sssss 

newal  in  the  author’s  stead.  Judge 
Bryan  stated:  “The  courts  have  fre¬ 
quently  stated  that  prior  to  the 
last  year  of  the  original  term  the' 
author  has  merely  an  expectancy 
in  the  .  renewal  term  ..  ..  .  which 
is  entirely  contingent  upon  the 
author’s  survival  until  the  com¬ 
mencement  of  the  28th  year.’* 
Upon  the  author’s  death.  Judge 
Bryan  ruled  that  the  executor  of 
the  estate,  in  this  case  where  there 
was  [no  widow  or  children,  has  the 
independent  right  of  making  an  as-' 
signment. 

The  Daniels  firm,  operated  by. 
the  Aberbachs,  had.  previously  ac¬ 
quired  part  of  the  renewal  rights 
in  “Moonlight  and  Roses”  from 
the  Daniels’  children  and  there 
was  no  dispute  about  the  owner¬ 
ship  of  .this  part  of  the  song. 

Judge  Bryan  granted  the  de¬ 
fendants  a  summary  judgment 
against  the  Miller  firm.  The  de¬ 
fendants,  represented  by  Lewis  A. 
Dreyer  and  Jack  M.  Ginsberg, 
asked  for  relief  by  way  of  dam¬ 
ages,  an  accounting,  attorney’s  fees 
and  the  impounding .  and  destruc¬ 
tion  of  infringing  copies  and  plates 
owned.  by  the  plaintiffs.  The  Judge . 
said,  these  matters  will  require 
further  proceedings.  • 


Lounge  .  .  .  Richard  Maltby  into 
Sunnybrook  Ballroom,  Pottstown, 
for  one-nighter  .(18)  .  .  . '  Herb 
Hendler,  founder  of  Rainbow  Rec¬ 
ords  ,and  one-time ‘  a®  r  'man  for 
Victor,  returns  from  Mexico  after 
several  years  to  form  Treasure 
Records  Corp.  .  ,  _  Lenny  :  Herman 
band  working  the.flotel  Warwick 
for  the  tenth  season  .  .  .  Lott 
DiCicco,  South  Philly  singer,  now 
known  professionally  as  Lou  Day, 
inked  by  Capitol  this  week  .  .  . 
Joe  Vallno  into  Sciolla’s  for  the 
week  (13-18). 

San  Francisco 

Carol  Channlng,  scheduled  to  go 
.into  ..the  Fairmont’s  Venetian  Room 
Jan.  30.  may  not  make  the  date 
after  all.  Johnny  Mathis,  touched 
by  flu  and-  exhaustion  when  in 
Frisco  for  the  Yule  holidays,  re¬ 
turns  for  a  four-week  stand  at  the 
Fat  moht  starting  Feb.  27..  Prior  to 
the  Fairmont  engagement,  Mathis, 
Cal  Tjader  and  June  Christy  will 
play  one-nighters  at  Oakland  (Feb. 
.20),  Berkeley  (Feb.  23),  San  Jose 
(Feb.  24)  and  Sacramento  (Feb.  25) 
.  .  .  Stan  Getz  set  for  a  week  at 
Gyido  Caccienti’s  and  John  Noga’a 
Blackhawk  at  the  end  of  January, 
to  be  followed  by  LaVera  Baker 
and  then,  on  Feb.  28,  George 
Shearing  for  10  days  .  ,  .  Betty 
Reilly  opened  last  week  at  George 
Andros’  Fapk’s  II  . .  .  Turk  Morphy 
opened  his  new  Frisco  club.  Easy 
Street.  New  Year’s  Eve— his  deal 
to  acquire  Bourbon  Street,  in  New 
York,  fell  through,  however  .  .  . 
Joanne  Jordan  new  thrush  at  the 
lowercase  hungry  i  .  .  .  Dana  Cain 
followed  Jo  Ryder  into  the  Purple 
Onion  . ...  .  Marty.  Marsala  laid  low 
with  flu  and  Peggy  Tolk-Watkim 
closed  her  Tin  Angel — for  how 
long  is  undetermined. 

Pittsburgh 

Qulntetto  Allegro  inked  for  Holi¬ 
day  House  week  of  Feb.  17.  Same 
room  has  Penny.  Goodman  band 
for  a  fortnight  either  in  May  or 
June  .  .  .  Bill  Bickel  out  of  Baron 
Elliott  band  to  play  piano  at  Star¬ 
dust  Lounge,  a  cocktailery  owned 
by  Elliott  and  Jimmy  Farnsworth. 
He’ll  continue  to  write  the  arrange¬ 
ments  for  orch,  however  .  .  .  Irving 
Kartman  now  at,  keyboard  in  Ben 
Gross  restaurant  .  .  .  Bob  Kress 
Trio  into  Eddie  Aschner’s  Club  for 
an  indefinite  stay  .  .  .  Music  only  a 
sideline  now  with  Johnny  Marino, 
trumpet-playing  maestro;  his  reg¬ 
ular  job  is  sales  engineer  for 
Storm  Seal  Co. '. . .  Vaughn  Monroe 
into  Twin  Coaches  Jan.  v  16-17-18 
and  George  Hamilton  IV  for  two 
nights,  Jan.  24-25  .  .  .  Dodo  Mar- 
marosa  now  has  the  trio  at  Midway 
Lounge  downtown  .  Johnny 
Mitchell,  organist,-  sighed  to  play 
again  for  annual  Auto  Show  at 
Hunt  Armory  next  week. 


Philttffolnliia  Mitchell,  organist,  signed  to  play 

rnuaacipnia  again  for  annual  Auto  Show  at 

The  Latin  Casino  reopens,  after  Hunt  Armory  next  week. 

its  regular  midseason  hiatus,  with  ■ '  '  ■■ _ . 

Johnnie  Ray  (Feb.  7)  followed  by 

Louis  A  r  m  a  t  r  o  n  g  (14-20)  and  Songstress  Teresa  Brewer  hat 
Frankie  Laine  (Feb.  .21-March  1)  been  elected  to  ASCAP’s  writer 
.  DeUa  Reese  .current  at  the  ranks.  She  cleffed  “I  Love 
Celebrity  Room.  Jane  Valll  and  Mickey.” 

the  Four  Esgoiret  skedded  next  at  — — — — 

spot  (Feb.  20)" .  The  Tyrones, 

local  rock  ’n'  roll  septet,  pacted  by 

Columbia,  to  appear  in  pic  starring 

Julius  La  Rosa  .  •  .  Vocalist  Dick 

Thomas  ready  to  Work  after  re-  L  J  1 1  J 

covery  from  an  ll-yeair  struggle  ■  ■  ■  I  ■  V  J  ilfl 

with  tuberculosis  .  .  Harry  Chip- 

itz,  sales  manager  for  Cosnat  Rec- 

ords,  launching  own  Chips  Distrib-  ^  I 

utors  .  .Nelson  Verbit,  of 

Mamel  Records,  opening  Balti- 

more  branch  . . .  George  Shearing,  iT,  ■  I  3I 

recently  at  the  Red.HiH  Inn,  takes 
his:  group  to  the  Near  East  In  the 
^spring,  under  U.  S.  auspices. 

The  Drake  Hotel,  after  many 
years  -  lapse, .  renewing .  entertain- 
ment  policy  with  organist  Art 
Smith  playing  the  Sir  Francis 

i FREDDIE  BELL! 

t  and  His  BELL  BOYS  $ 

J  Presently  J 

5  LOU*  WALTER’S  J 

j  CfiFE  DE  PARIS,  Miami  Beach  * 

M  Opened  Dec.  21  and  Continuing  IndeL  ? 

i  ★  ★  ★  + 

J-  Mercury  Records 

r— ASSOCIATED  BOQKINfi  CORPORATION-! 


745  Fifth  Ava.  203  N.  Wabish  Ava.  407  Lincoln  M.  t419  Sunsat  Blvd. 
New  Y«rk  23,  N.Y.  Chicago/ III.  Miami  Baach,  Fla,  fTwodd  44,  Cal 
Phonai  Phontj  Phonct  pAAm, 

PLaza9-4600  CIntral  4-9451  JEffcrson  M383  Ot,ymgla2-994g 


62 


VAUBEVILLE 


UZBaiiSTr 


N.Y.  Police  Card  System  for  Cafe 
Employees  Challenged  in  Court 


A  legal  assault  is  being  made  on 
the  constitutionality  of  licensing 
cabaret  iperfnnners  and  musicians 
in  NewJ  Yotk  City  by  the  local 
police.  A  suit  has  been,  filed 
against  .the"  N.Y.  police  department 
by  musWi'ah  JBeril  W.  Rubdhstein 
and  bandleader Johnny  Richards 
asking  the  N.Y.  Supreme  Court 
Court  to  invalidate  the  legislation 
forcing  cabaret  employees  to  regis¬ 
ter  with  the  Police  Dept,  at  a  $2 
fee,  and  asked  return  of  all  monies 
deposited  with  the  N.Y.  Police 
Pension  Fund  through  this  device. 
In  addition,  defendants  asked  for 
an  injunction  against  tHe  police  in 
enforcing  this  statute,  and  asked 
that  a  card  be  issued  immediately 
to  Rubenstein. 

Maxwell  T.  Cohen,  attorney  for 
the  plaintiffs  in  this  action,  also 
asked  for  an  accounting  of  the 
monies  obtained  on  this  score.  It 
was  alleged  that  since  the  legisla-/ 
tion  was  enacted,  about  $500,000 
went  to  the  Pension  Fund  through 
this  device.  Attorney  listed  72 
causes  of  action, 

Rubenstein,  it's  claimed  was  ini¬ 
tially  okayed  by  the  State  Liquor 
Authority,  and  then  turned  down 
by  the  Police  dept,  on  an  old  nar¬ 
cotics  conviction.  In  a  rehearing 
it's  claimed  that  the  hearing  offi¬ 
cer  okayed  the  license,  but  again 
a  turndown  was  scored  because  of 
rejection  by  a  police  commissioner. 
Attorney  claimed  that  many  of  the 
grounds  upon  which  the  police 
turn  down  an  applicant  are  uncon¬ 
stitutional.  For  example,  it?S 
claimed,  that  a  rejection  on  the 
grounds  of  being  a  homosexual  is 
contrary  to  the  U.S.  and  N.Y.  State 
constitutions, 

Richards,  as  a  bandleader,  con¬ 
tended  that  he  was  being  deprived 
of  the  services  of  many  gifted 
musicians  because  of  the  practice 
of  licensing,  and  his  right  to  em¬ 
ploy  musicians  and  entertainers 
was  being  impaired. 

The  licensing  practices  of  the 
N.Y.  Police  Dept,  has  been  under 
fire  several  times  in  the  past.  For 
example,  it's  argued  that  some  tal¬ 
ented  names  cannot  work  New 
York  because  of  homosexual  ten¬ 
dencies,  while  a  female  impersona¬ 
tion  spot  is  permitted  to  operate 
in  the  open.  Another  contradic¬ 
tion  lies  in  the  fact  that  singer 
Billie  Holiday  cannot  work  any 
cabarets,  generally  regarded  as  en¬ 
tertainment  for  adults,  while  she 
was  allowed  to  -perform  a  jazz 
Show  in  Central  Park,  (N.Y.  City 


property)  in  an  atmosphere  that 
could  be  reasonably  be  attended 
by minprs  andkids^  .. 

In  another  instance,  Billy  Dan¬ 
iels,  who  wira  given  a  suspended 
sentence  for  gun-toting,  isn't  being 
issued  SfcabareJ  license,  -but;  is  able 
to  work-in  other  ciQe's  without  im¬ 
pairing  morais. 

'  Another  point  brought  out  by  the 
brief  filed  on  behalf  of  Rubenstein 
and  Richards  lies  in  the  fact  that, 
the  application  form  for  a  cabaret 
performer  license  lists  space  for 
listing  of  arrests,  but  gives  no 
space  for  the  listing  of  convictions. 

Defendants  in  the  case  are  listed 
as  Stephen  P;  Kennedy,  police 
commisioner,  Jame  J.  McEIroy, 
deputy  police  commissioner  in 
charge  of  licensing,  and  the'  board 
of  trustees  of  the  Police  Pension 
Fund. 


On  London’s  West  End 

London,  Jan.  14. 

Fresh  from  his  first  visit  to  the  ■ 
U.  S;,  (20)  singer  Frankie  Vaughan 
makes  his  West  End  debut,  next 
Monday  when  he  opens  a  four- 
weeks  season  of  “The  Frankie 
Vaughan  Show”  at  the  Palace  The¬ 
atre.  Bernard  Delfpnt  has  assem¬ 
bled  an  offbeat  vaudeville  cast  to 
Support  Vaughan. 

UnsuaL  booking  is;  Nadia  Nerina, 
the  Royal  Ballet  Company  fial- 
lerina  just  back  from,  an  American 
tour.  Miss  Nerina  will  dance  “The 
Dying  Swan,”  previously  terped  at 
the  same  theatre  in  1910  by  Pav¬ 
lova.  Character  comedian  Bernard 
Miles,  recording  : artists  Petula 
Clark  and  the  King  Bros.,  impres¬ 
sionists  Fayne  &'  Evans,  and  a 
young  trumpeter,  Murray  Campr 
bell,  are  others  in  the  bill. 

N,  Y.’s  Cafe  de  Paris 

A-Building  in  April 

Work  on  the  Cafe  de  Paris,  N.  Y.,  ’ 
to  be  located  on  the  site  of  the  Ar¬ 
cadia  Ballroom,  will  be  started  in 
April  and  indications  point  to  an 
opening  in  September  or  October. 
Spot,  bonifaced  by  Lou  Walters, 
until  recently  operator  of  the  Latin 
Quarter,  N.  Y„  will  seat  1,200,  the 
largest  nitery  on  Broadway. 

Cafe  de  Paris,  will  be  the  first 
street-level .  niteiy  on'  Broadway  in . 
some  years.  JLt  will  have  a  cocktail 
lounge  on  the  floor  above. 


Sian  Antonio,  Jan,  14. 

A  national  food  and  beverage  ex¬ 
position.  Will  fie  held  here  Sept.  9 
to  14  here  at  the  Municipal  Audi¬ 
torium. 

Double  C .  Productions,  produc¬ 
ers  of  the. .  upcoming  Auto  Sbow 
and  ;  the  Sport  and  Boat  Show 
March,  4  to  9,  =  set  plans,  for  the 
'exposition.  *  1  r* 

.  This  will  be  San  Antonio's  first 
food  show,  and  will  display  the 
prodQ^ts  „  and  services  of  the  na¬ 
tional,  Regional  and  local  members 
of  the  food  industry.  No  food  will 
be  sold,  but  many  samples  will  be 
given  away. 


Sans  Souci’s  E.D. 

Las  Vegas,  Jan.  14. 

George .  Liberace  has  been  named 
director  for  the  Sans  Souci  Hotel 
by  prexy  George  INtitzel,  succeed¬ 
ing  Bob  Clemensi  resigned.  Libe¬ 
race  will  intro  lounge-type  enter¬ 
tainment  in  the  room  which  Will 
run  continuously  from  9  p.m.  to 
3  a.m; 

“I  have  no  intention  of  compet¬ 
ing  with  other  Strip  hotels  for 
high-priced  stars  and  chorus  lines,” 
said  .  Liberace.  “Fresh  new  faces 
shooting  for  success  in  the  show 
world  will  be  featured..  Above  all, 
we  will  offer  good  talent— regard¬ 
less  of  big  nariie  or  big  pricetag." 

Liberace  recently  opened  a  per¬ 
sonal  management  firm  in  Holly¬ 
wood,  and  will  commute  between 
the  Coast  and  the  Sans  Souci. 


In  N.W.  on  Illness  Claim 

Portland,  Ore.,  Jan.  14. 

'  Dick  Contino  has  cancelled :  a 
series  of  cafe  dates  in  the  North¬ 
west  area.  “Mental,  illness”  was 
the;  reason  given  by  his  attorney, 
who  claimed  that  under  these  cir¬ 
cumstances,  Contino  would  not  be 
able  to  perforin  in  the  manner 
expected  of  him.  It.  was  also  stated 
:that  Contino  hoped  to  pick  up  the 
dates  later  this  year. 

One  of  the  spots  ,  cancelled,  was 
Amato?s  Supper  Club  here.  Con- 
tino  was  scheduled  for-  a  two- 
weeker  starting  Jan.  6.  Substitute 
show  includes  Ben  Bennett  &  Dick 
Patterson,  the  Leslies  and  Sohdra 
Barton. 

Contino  recently  filed  a  bank¬ 
ruptcy  plea.  I 


Personal  Management:  BOBBY  BERNARD  1 650  Broadway,  New  York  1 9,  JU  6-21 73 


Wednesday,  January  15,1958 


Where  Did  Hope  Go?  Out  (Far);  What 


♦  By  ALBERT  SCHARPER 


NEWBALtROOMSETFOR 
CHI’S  AMBASS.  WEST 

Chicago,  Jan.  14. 

Ambassador  West  Hotel  (across- 
thd-street  sister  of  the  Pump- 
Rooming  Ambassador  East)  plans 
a  $1,000,000  two-story  addition, 
providing  a  ballroom  and  other 
public  space.  The  new  wing  will 
be  built  on  vacant  land  adjoining 
the  hotel  on  the  north  and  front¬ 
ing  about  65  feet  on  State  Pkwy. 
No  date  has  been  set  yet  for  the 
start  of  construction, 

Ballroom  will  occupy  the.  addi¬ 
tion's  lobby  floor  and  will  have  a 
capacity  of  about  600.  It’s  name 
•will  be  Guildhall,  in  keeping  with 
the  18th  century  English  theme  of 
other  public  rooms  in  the  Am¬ 
bassadors. 

Lesser  Pacts  Patachou 
For  Solo  Broadway  Show 

Patachou,  Parisian  songstress 
who  last  appeared  in  New  York  at 
the  Hotel  Waldorf-Astoria,  will; top 
the  cast  of  a  show  to  be  presented 
on  Broadway  starting  in  March,  to 
be  billed  as  “International  Soiree.” 
Current  plans  call  for  Hiram  Sher¬ 
man  to  emcee.  It’ll  be  virtually  a 
one-woman  show,  with  Sherman, 
and  possibly  one  other  act  provid¬ 
ing  breathing  space  for  the  head¬ 
liner. 

Lesser,  at  one  time  presented 
Maurice  Chevalier's  ode-man  shin¬ 
digs  in  legit  houses.  Layout  will 
open  In  Boston  for  a  break-in  prior 
to  Broadway.  Lesser,  now  in  Paris, 
returns  to  the  U.S.  this  week. 


Hilton  Int’l  Shifts 

William  Land  Eastward 

William  Land,  for  many  years 
with  Hilton  International,  has 
shifted  to  eastern  division  of  the 
hotel  chain  to  manage  the  Savoy 
Plaza  Hotel,  N,  Y.m  Land’s  last  post, 
was  with  the  Hilton  Istanbul  (Tur¬ 
key)  and  prior  to  that  he  was  with 
Caribe  Hilton,  in  San  Juan,  P.  R. 
Other  posts  held,  by  Land  were 
terms  with  the  Gotham  and  Hamp¬ 
shire.  House  hotels  in  Ndw  York. 
Land  will  serve  as  resident  man¬ 
ager. 

Eugene  Voit  continues  as  gen- 
real  manager  of  the  Savoy  Plaza. 
However,  Voit,  who  shifted  from 
the  Plaza  Hotel,  has  been  ailing  i 
for  some  time,  and  his  duties  will  i 
be  assumed  by  Land  for  the  time  ] 
being. 


Hollywood,  Jan.  14; 

Rob  Hope’s  USO  tour  of  16,218 
miles  in  13  days  ground  to  a  halt 
here  at  1957’s  end  after  28  shows 
at' American  Far  East  outposts.  On 
the  trek  the  comedian  also  filmed 
90,0.00  feet,  from  which  his  Friday 
(17)  NBC-TV  show  will  be  assem¬ 
bled. 

In  view  of  the  fact  the  entourage 
totalled  76,  Jack  Hope,  producer 
of  the  show,  figures  Hope  Enter¬ 
prises  “went  over  budget”— mean¬ 
ing  the  outlay  will  exceed  the 
$175,000  Hope  will  receive  for  the 
Plymouth-sponsored  program. 

Aboard  the  two  C-97s  supplied 
by  Air  Force  dor  the  junket  were 
12  pressmen,  three  publicists,  two 
still  photogs,  Les  Brown  band  (17) 
and  a  platoon  of  technicians.  The 
only  free  ride  was  airborne;  Hope. 
Enterprises  picked  up  the  tab  for 
all  the.  meals  and  billets,  plus  the 
out-of-U.S.  salaries  for  the  fort¬ 
night; 

Performers  on  the  Yule-seasdn 
shows  for  American  servicemen 
included  Jayne  Mansfield;  Hedda 
Hopper,  jerry  Colonna,  Erin 
O’Brien,  Carol  Jarvis.  Piter  Leeds, 
Alan  Gifford,  Arthur  Duncan. 

’  Paced  by  the  indefatigible  Hope, 
they  put  on  15  formal  shows,  from 
which  sketches  and  snippets  Were 
lensed  for  the  teleshqw,  plus  the 
informal  performances  staged  at 
the  drop  of  Hedda’s  hat  wherever 
a  sizable  collection  of  GI’s  was  en¬ 
countered  on  airfields  or  in  hangars 

Hope  and  Colonna  reprised  the 
comedy  bits  with  which  they’ve 
been  whminK  USOvations  for  16 
years;  Miss  Mansfield  worked  a 
sketch  with  Hope  and  Clifford,  Erin 
O’Brien  purred  ballads,  CaiWl  Jar¬ 
vis  rock  'n'  roll  and  Arthur  Dun¬ 
can  dished  up  the  tap  dancing. 

The  Brown  band,  old  hands  at 
this  sort  of  thing,  played  a  brisk 
(Continued  on  page  64) 


100  MIAMI  GAGS 


CASH  REGISTER  SHOW 

!  Show  set  for  annual  sales  meet 
of  the  National  Cash  Register  Corp. 
to  be  held  at  the  Greenbriar  Hotel, 
Greenbriaiy  W.  Va.,  starting  Jan. 
31,  will  include  a  Meyer  Davis  Unit, 
Bill  Shirley,  Dominique,  Gillian 
Grey,  Toni  Carroll,  Jack  Durant, 
Wells  &  The  Four  Fays  and  the 
Impressionaires. 

Show  has  been  booked  by  Cass 
Franklin  inc.,  who  has  also  pro-, 
vlded  for  lobby  arid  interlude  en¬ 
tertainment  for  those  attending. 
Included  are  sketch  artists,  vocal¬ 
ists  and  instrumentalists. 


Original  Material 
1500  fast  $10  tOO  flap  $5 

EDDIE  GAY,  242  Watt  72nd  ft. 
Now  York  23,  N.  Y. 


COMEDY  WRITING 

Spending:  hard-earned  money  on  old,  2nd  hind 
material!  — Why?  — r  when  you  .  can  actually 
purchait  100%  arlalaal  material  far  Itaa! 
Will  create  (mart,  personalized  comedy  tot 
you.  Don’t,  delay  u  otter  la  limited.  ,- 
Irv  Cabaa,  13035  CrewleyOt,  PaeelmarCallf. 


GREAT  BOX  OFFICE 


JOAN  BRANDON 

WORLD’S  GREATEST  HYPNOTIST 
"Outdrow  ovary  star  attraction  usod  during  tha  10 
yaart  of  our  Annual  North  Now  Jersey  Show.  Wo  have 
booked  her  for  a  return  engagement  for  our  1950  show." 

PRANK  NELSON,  Exposition  pir. 
Toanock,  N,  J.  Armory 

CmroMly:  Or*  Wemm  Shows  UmHI  Jor.  22 
M(t.t  J.  BaANDON,  450  W.  24tk  New  Ye* 


VARIETY  SAYS:  "HILARIOUS  SATIRE  ... 
Lavgh-a-MittuU  Smash  HU" 

PAUL  BENSON 

THE  LAFF  AUCTIONEER" 


OPENING,  January  20th 
ANKARA,  Pittsburgh 


200  W.  Mth  St.,  Now  York  CHy,  SU  7-2534 


63 


WednemUy,  January  15, 1958 


PiSSllEFr 


VAUBE HUE 


UP,  DOC? 


Hollywood,  Jail.  14.  4- 

A  decision  of  tremendous  impor-  -n  ■  «  •  .  n  U  By  JACK  PITMAN 

tance  to  hotels  and  niteries  pOffC  DOlt  1|1  Dull  Chicago  Jan  14 

throughout  the  country  was  handed  Buffalo,  Jah.  14.  Executive  committee  of  the 

down  here  by  Federal  Judge  Irving  Victor  Bdrge  concerts  at  the  American  Guild  of  Variety  Artists 

Kaufman  who  rilled  In  favor  of  Kleinhan  Auditorium  here  has  whl  be  asked  to  launch  a  full  in- 

Ciro’s,  Hollywood,  in  a  suit  which  been  sold  out  for  two  performances,  Quiry  into  the  controversial  $20,- 
determined  that  private  parties  Borge  was  originally  slated  to  do  '0.00..  libel.  settlement  to  Dick  Jones 
held  in  rooms  adjacent  to  main  a  Jan.  26  stand;  only.  After  12  box-  by  the  union’s  national  board.  Iter 

nitery  room  are  not  liable  for  the  office  days  arid  three  ads,,  first  quest  is  contained  in  a  resolution 

209^  tax,  Thie  Federal  Government  concert  was;  sold,  out,  and  then  a  adopted,  unanimously  Wednesday 
had  been  seeking  to  recover  $70,-  second  one-nighter  was  scheduled  (8)  at  a  regular  membership  ses- 
000  from  Ciro’s  on  parties  held  in  for  Jan.  30,  which  also  Went  clean  sion  of  AGVA’s  Chicago  branch: 
various  rooms  in  that  nitery.  in  advance.  Resentment  against  the  settle- 

Under  terms  of  the  suit,  the  .court  House  is  being  scaled  up  to  $5.50  .ut^nt- exploded  with  a  mushroom  of 
stated  that  customers' could  not  be  on  both  dates.-  charges  and  demands  at  Jthe  four- 

taxed  for  food  and  drink  until  after  - - ; — —  hour  SRO  meeting  attended  by 

they  had  seen  the  regular  nitery  ■  ••./;.  about  30  members.  The  Chi  re- 

show.  If  they  leave  immediately  Mil?  ft/*  P  bellion  apparently  was  .sparked  by 

after  having  seen  the  exhibit,  there  |||||||)  C  Hll  P  OllfC  a  Variety  story  Jan.  1  detailing 

can  be  no  tax  assessment.-  ifiuuu  iJ  vy  ft  tUlw  protests  over.  the.  .  settlement  by 

Court  also  held  that  in  cases  n  fl  r%  *»  whSentS  °f  AGVA?  New  York 

;  &  State  Exdo  ^  *7*4 

excludes  the  general  public,  and  ^  1/UUV  "ApU  V|l  ship  ^revolt  could  be  singled  out, 
contracts  for  its  own  entertainment,  Pa1  Ta  .  i”1-0?  V]|®proU|  voice  ap- 

no  cabaret  tax  of  any  kind  can  be  ,  St  Paul*  Jan-  14.  Peared  to  be  that  of  hypnotist 

charged  Minnesota's  96  courity  and  dis-  Gave  Byron,  a  member  of  the  lo- 

The  Government  had  contended  ,^Jct  fairs  did  a  $1,630,940  business  cal  branch  ^for  about  a  year.  Byron 

to  brine-  in  orivate  narties  and  *50>000  over  1956,  and  expenses  scalPS  —  includingthat  of  AGVA 
therefore  wanted  to  t!Ix  all  food  were  down  $16,000,  it  was  reported  Geprgie  Price,  also,  specifi¬ 

ed  drink  consumed  as  long  as  at  the  Minnesota  Federation  of  pally,  Jackie  Bright,  the  union’s 

***  convention,  here.  ; 

Irons  were  permitted0  to  see  the  The  fair  boards  spent  $1^51,326  ®"„n  5aiol<i  Berg’  its  natl°nal 
same  show  presented  for  general,  to  piit  on  their  annuals.:  Receipts 

public  which,  of  course;  pays  the  totaled  $916,667,  the  remaining  mho ^  , .®^S0J[iaI  ■  f?* Q;- 
cabaret  tax;.-  $714,273  coming  .from  o  t  h il  lS“M^“lshapes  Byron 

:  Ciro’s  closed  recently  in  the  wake  sources.  Increased  revenues,  from  ^na,  aeb7'.  His  Ind  other  P?n- 
of  financial  difficulties.  Spot  is  now  I  grandstand  operation  and  conces-  surgente»  punters  on  a  wPU7 


By  JACK  PITMAN 


taxed  for  food  and  drink  until  after 
they  had  seen  the  regular  nitery 
show.  If  they  leave  immediately 
after  having  seen  the  exhibit,  there 
can  be  no  tax  assessment. 

Court  also  held  that  in  cases 
where  a  private  organization  hires 
an  entire  nitery  for  a  party  and 
excludes  the  general  public,  and 
contracts  for  its  own  entertainment, 
no  cabaret,  tax  of  any  kind  can  be 
charged. 


therefore  wanted  to  tax  all  food 
and  driUk  consumed  as  long  as 
sometime  during  the  evening  pa-; 
Irons  were  permitted0  to  see  the 


Silent  Treatment 

Some  AGVA  members  are 
wondering  whether  any  kind 
of  talk  with  former  eastern  re¬ 
gional  director  Dick  Jones  is 
legal,  especially  the.  powwows 
which  resulted  in  the  settle¬ 
ment  of  the  libel  award. 

A  late  issue  of  AGVA  News, 
union’s  house  organ,  Wrote,  “It 
was  reported  that  Dick  Jones 
was  in  the  lobby  of  the  hotel 
(in  which  the  board  meeting 
was  taking  place)  and  a  motion 
Was  passed  that  under:  no  cir¬ 
cumstances  is  any  employee  of 
AGVA  or  member  of  the  na¬ 
tional  board  to  speak  to  Mr. 
Jones,  whether  innocently 
otherwise.” 

As  far  as  is  known,  that  mo¬ 
tion  has  hot  been  repealed, 
and  therefore  many  members 
consider  that  any  conversa¬ 
tions  with  r Jones  are  still 
illegal. 


With  Cruise  Stunts 


Atlantic  City;  Jail.  14. 

.  uiro  s  ciosea  recently  m  ine  waice  ®y  «*«=».  >«uc«cu  icvcuua  uoui  sonal  debt  ”  wi«  and  nth  or' in  ....  ^ .  ■  .  „  „ 

of  financial  difficulties.  Spot  is  now  grandstand  operation  and  conces-  surgen^btire  centers  don 1  a  New  ^  ChaHonte  -  Haddon  _  Hall  will 

undergoing  financial  reogranization.  sions  accounted  for  most  of  the  York  Federal  Court  decisioi  $S  ^eain  stage  three  weekend  cruise ' 

After  Judge  Kaufman's  ruling,  income  boost,  the  report  showed.  .  -P“**«*  this,  month,  Febni- 

however,  owner  Herman  Hover  said  The  federation  reelected  ail  of-  exempted  AGVA  from  the  litiga-  Snan^iq  March  fpr  an  expected 

he  hoped  to  reopen. club  within  a  fleers.  Headed  by  Murray  Jessed,  tio^elvihg  thh  Sri4*ent  bl-  5’0Q0  *”*■■*:*«**«<■ 

few  weeks  as  soon  as  he  lines  up  of  St.  Charles,  president.:  tween  Jones  and  Bright  Bvron  First  listed  this  year  is  the  Car- 

ari  attraction.  *  '  •  -  said  ho  nmterstnnH  tw  nor„  .ibbeah  Carnival  weekend,  planned 


First  listed  this  year  is  the  Car- 


an  attraction.  *  '-444  said he  understood that  Berg,  ^bean  ^iv^  weekend,  jrian^d 

The  ruling  is  likely  to  be  an  in-  state  Fair’s  $97,000  Net  when  he  asked  the  national  board  *or  JaV*  31^Feb.  2.  Les^Fnvolites 
centive  for  niteries  to  go  after  an  Minneapolis,  Jan.  14.  to  accept  the  court’s  ultimate  *r!lnc?wes  comes  Feb  28-March  2 

increased  amount  of  convention  and  .  The  Minnesota  State  Fair  is  only  judgment  for' Jones,  gave  the  im-  -*!?*•  .  Hawaiian -South  Seas 

party  business,  since  diners  in  ad-  of  10  days  duration,  but  it  contin-  pression  that  it  was  levied  against  Weekend  ^  planned  March  28-30. 

jacent  rooms  wiH  be  able  to  dine  yes  to  hold  Its  place  among  the  the  union  and  not  against  Bright  The  hotel  will  be  decorated  In 

and  drink  without  fax  if .  they  see  top  amusement  riioneyriiakers  here-  as  .  an  individual.  keeping  with  the  occasion  for  each 

the  late  shows,  ahoiite  Berg  orieinallv  wrote  the  board  of  the;  three  weekends,  menus  com- 


The  ruling  is  likely  to  be  . an  in¬ 
centive  for  niteries  to  go  after  an 
increased  amount  of  convention  And  . 


and  drink  without .  fax  if.  they  see  top  amusement  riioneyriiakers  here-  as  .  an  individual.  keeping  with  the  occasion  for  each 

the  late  shows,  abouts.  Berg  originaUy  wrote  the  board  of  the  tllree  weekends,  menus  com- 

— : — — “ — - — *  Helped  by  a  record  .  Ii054;484  at-  ori  Dec.  11 :  “In  accepting  this  set-  -aP-4 

hi*  w  ft  i  tin  **  a;  .  tendance,  the  1957  exposition  tlemerit  we  would  dispose  once  and.  lan-  sa-e°* 

1  hev  LEIlPfl  When  He  M  earned  a  $97,383  net  profit,  prac-  for  all  of  the  judgment  insofar  as  Cleon  Throckmorton,  New  York 
J  '  W  tically  all  departments  setting  new  it  affects  AGVA,  and  the  present  theatrical  designer,  has  again 

IIAWli  fn  fn»  Piann  Kni  highs,  it  was  reported  by  T.  H.  Injunction  case  responsibility  created  the  backgrounds  to  be 
1/UVVIi  IV  U1C  1  UUtUy  UUI  Arens,  its  head.  '  against  AGVA  and  its  national  be  used  during  the  three  periods. 

What  a  Load  of  Dimed  Anticipating  expenditures  for  board  members  and  employees.”.  For  the  first,  weekend,  Caribbean 


Charlotte,  N.  C.,  Jan.  14, 


capital  improvements,  the  budget 
had  been  set  up  for  a  $137,150  loss 


ioard  members  and  .  employees.”.  For  the  first  .  weekend,  Caribbean 
Byron  is  angry  that  the  letter  Carnival,  a  Bahama  Village,  with 


Mecklenburg  County's  1958  Instead  of  the  profit;.  Approx-  — | — - — - 

,  '  .  7.  Imately  $225,000  was  sprat  for  the  -  ,  .  -  _  . 

March  of  Dimes,  which  opened  in  first  «  rows.  new  sUdlum  type  ConfuCIUS  SaT  FHarS 
Charlotte  Jan.  1,  had  Its  real  kick-  chairs  in  the  grandstand  and  for  w»uiuuua  uaj  1 1 1019 
*  off  Jan:  When  Jerry  Ball  present-  other  improvements;  SpW  Tlirk  111  fihnn 

ed  one  of  his  planothohs  100  feet  R*fl<*ti"g  Its  jtfgantie  U1CK  IB  U1¥U 

So"  thpҤnce  Ssuare' in  Bnftoiis  Sharp  h 


9,584  resources,  and  of 


(Continued  on  page  69)  shops  and  a  market  place,  has  been 

.  —  created.  Native  dancers,  musicians 

i  /  •  n  n  •  and  other*  artists  are  imported  for 

jmfucnrc  Sav  Fnar<  a11  three  occasions  with  West 

4IU1UUU5  Odjf  rnars  Indian  entertainers,  dancers,  mu- 

^Plir  flirlr  in  (livinff  sicians  and  calypso  singers  coining 

»JCW  vlltlh  111  UIVUIQ  from  the  West  Indies  for  the  party. 

Bnftoiis  Sharp  Needle  S 

If  the  Friars’  luncheons  have  takes  up  an  entire  hotel  floor. 


Sew  Click  in  Griing 


From  8  a.  m.  until  U  p.  m.  Ball  the.  latter  $8,879,534  represents  more  turnaways  then  it’s  likely  Featured  at  the  Calypso  festival 
sat  on  a  platform  high  above  traf-  land  arid  buildings.  that  they’ll  have  to  hold  these  this  month  is  Princess  Orelia,  who 

fic  to  play  his  88  to  raise  money  - - — . .  — — • —  shindigs  eventually  in  Madison  will  again  headline  the  Caribbean 

for  a  cause  he’s  worked  on^ for  ,  ;  i  ..  ...  Square  Garden,  N.  Y.  Already  hav-  CarriivaL 

yesrs.  The  platform  was  sus-  Sch)he  Chfllll to  Operate.  ing  outgrown  the  facilities  of  the  Special  weekends  were  Inaugu- 
frl  cr-^.e  •  a  TTflrtfnrri  Hotel  Y*  Y-  Park  Sheraton  Hotel,  it’s  now  rated  several  years  ago  by  General 

•  Through  a  specially-  u  *  V  tumlrig  ’em  away  at  the  larger  Manager  Joseph  McDonell  to  hypo 

designed  communications,  systein,'  Hartford,  Jan.  14.  Delmbnico  ballroom.  The  constant  ■  winter  business, 

he  got  messages  from  the  four  cor-  jhe  Schlne  theatre  and  hotel  rise  in  price  (now  $8)  hasn’t  de-  r — —  — ,  — . — 

ners  of  the  Square  below.  chain  will  take  over  operation  of  terred  turnaway  audiences.  ■  _  w 

From  a  list  of- 100  tunes,  those  a  60-unit  hotel  to  be  constructed  at  The  luncheon  this  year  opened  JAIII6S  Goidy’fl  Poetry 
who  wanted  to  hear  some  particu-  nearby  Bradley  Field.  Hotel  will  in  honor  of  Red  Buttons  Thursday  A*  P!-*!  xt  v 

lar  number  made  their  choice,  cori-  cost  $500,000  and  will  be  leased,  to  (9)  at  the  Delmonlco,  the 'second  Al  IvcW  rlye  opOl)  ii .  I  • 
tributed  as  much  as  a  dollar  to  the  Schlne  Interests  for  25  years  at  time  this  comic  has  been  tapped  Another  .try  will  be  made  to  In¬ 
campaign,  and  then  listened  to  the  which  time  the  hostelry  will  revert  as  guest  of  honor.  The  affair  was  troduce  poefay  readings  in  N.  Y; 

rousic.  to  state,  owner  of  the  airport.  also  distinguished  by  the  fact  that  niteries;  The  Five  Spot,  a  new 

At  noon,  there  was  music  of  a  Understood  that  Schlne  Interests  Jack  E;  Leonard,  who  on  most  of  spot  in  the  vicinity  of  Greenwich 
decidedly  unusual  approach.  Engi-  will  -formulate  an  entertainment  the  previous  occasions  was  the  star  Village,  has  signed  James  Grady 

neers  contrived  a  special  kind  of  policy  for  the  hotel.  Groundbreak-  heckler  of  the  occasion,  was  moved  to  spiel  iambics  starting  Jan.  13. 

apparatus  which  held  Ball  in  the  ing  for  the  venture  took  place  last  to  a  vertical  position  as  toastmaster  Recently,  the  Village  Vanguard 
air  by.  his  .  heels  while  he  played  Thursday  (9).  Understood  also  and  he  made  good  in  that  position  had  Jack  Kerouac  reading  odes. 
“Dixie.”  that  Schine  Interests  jvill  construct  too,  a  feat  which  many  had  thoujghit  Jazz  pianist  Mai  Waldron,  backed 

Ball’s  interest  In  raising  money  three  large  motels  in  "this  general  Impossible.  In  fact,  the  judgment  by  a  trio,  will  provide  the  music  at 


to  fight  polio  is  of  long  standing,  area”  in  the  near  future, 
How  successful  his  efforts  are  Indi- 

cated  in  the  fact  that,  singlehand-  - •  -  -  - — ” 

ed,  he  has  raised  some  $100,000  for 
the  March  of  Dimes. 

Back  in  1949,  when  Charlotte’s 
polio  campaign  had  fallen  short  of 
Its  $100,000  goal  by  $52,000,  he  was 
very  much  worried  that  a  city  this  r/eWSSranaS 
size  had  such  difficulty  raising  ./ 

money  .for  such  a  worthy  cause.  ^  A 

Wishing  to  help,  he  decided  to  of-  #1  alii  A 

fer  to  put  on  a  piano  concert  In  a  M 

store  window  in  the  centre  of  town.  Cam 

He  played  for  10  solid  hours  and  rrf  vvr7  W 
scored  a  great  hit.  Soon  after,  the 
March  of  Dimes  reached  its  quota  ■ 

and  Ball  was  credited  with  the 
'^magical, ^upswing, 


(Continued  on  page  64) 


[  the  Five  Spot. 


After  March  1st,  1958 


Per  Copy 


Subscription 


Per  Year 


See  Details  Page  11 


4  By  JOE  COHEN 

The  mountains  are  due  for  rev¬ 
olutionary  developments  this  sum¬ 
mer.  The  N.  Y.  State  hill  coun¬ 
try  has  embarked  on '  several 
courses  that  may  alter  the  present 
modus  operand!.  The  two  major 
factors  that  are  figured  to  change 
the  character  of  the  mountains  are 
now  under  construction.  The  build¬ 
ing  of  the  harness  track  at  Monti- 
cello  which  will  introduce  night 
races  to  that  part  of  the  country  Is 
one  of  the  factors  and  the  other  Is, 
the  building  of  a  3,500-seat  nitery 
at  the  Concord  Hotel,  Kiamesha 
Lake,  owned  by  Arthur  Wlnarlck. 

Should  the  harness  track  catch 
on,  it’s  figured  that  early  showj 
will  be  eliminated  in  many  hotels, 
end  many  inns,  now  giving  one 
show  nightly  several  days  a  week, 
will  have .  to  present  two  shows, 
the  first  for  the  early,  birds,  who 
aren’t  leaving  the  hotel,  and  the 
second  for  the  late  trade,  coming 
back  from  the  track  and  who  are 
figured  to  be  the  better  heeled 
crowd. 

However,,  the  more  important 
factor  lies  in  the  trend  of  some  ho- 
Jels  to  admit  the  general  publio 
to  its  entertainment  rooms  for 
either  a  minimum  charge  or  an  ad- 
.  mission,  while  hotel  guests  are  ad¬ 
mitted  gratis.  The  Concord,  for  ex¬ 
ample,  figures  that  its  new  cafe  is 
|  likely  to  pay  for  itself  on  that 
}  basis.  Phil  Greenwald,  entertain- 
1  ment  director; of  the  Concord,  says 
that  talent  arid  band  budget  in  the 
Concord,  may  have  to  go  to  $400,- 
000  annually  since  they’ll  have  to 
look  for  names  sufficiently  potent 
to  fill  that,  huge  spot.  There’s  even 
the  likelihood  that  they’ll  have  to 
buy  top  names. on  that  basis  of 
full-week  bookings  instead  of  one- 
nighters  as  heretofore. 

However,  according  to  Green- 
waid  as  well  as  Paul  Grossinger  of 
nearby  Grossinger’s  in  Ferndale, 
other  top  inn  in  the  area,  the  un¬ 
derlying  motif  is  the  quest  ior 
conventions.  With  added  facilities, 
since , there’s  constant  building  in 
both  spots,  these  Inns  will  be  able 
to.  take  care  of  national  confabs, 
fill  the  inns  during  the  winter  sea¬ 
son  as  well  and  be  In  position  to 
(Continued  on  page  68) 

100  Mass.  Spots  Most 
Pay  Up  S%  State  Tax  Or 
Face  toss  of  licenses 

Boston,  Jan.  14. 

Soirie  106  Massachusetts  cafes 
and  niteries  face  loss  of  food  and 
liquor  licenses  unless  they  pay-de¬ 
linquent  meal  taxes  owed  the  state, 
officials  of  the  state,  division  d 
corporations  and  taxes  revealed 
this  week.  At  least  half  the  spots 
owe  at.  least  $500  and  the  rest  over 
*$100.  Joseph  Healey,  state  tax 
commissioner,  said  he  Would'  ask 
for  cooperation  froiri  the  Alcoholic 
Beverage  Commission  and  local 
city  and  town  licensing  boards  to 
hold  up  Issuance  of  1958  licenses 
to  delinquents. 

In  one  Instance,  a“farge  I^b 
club  sought  to  sell  out  to  a  new 
corporation,  hut  couldn’t  until  de¬ 
linquent  taxes  were  paid.  “The 
tax  money  has  been  collected,  but 
they  have  failed  to  turn  it  over,” 
Leo  E.  Diehl,  administrator  of  ex¬ 
cise  taxes  for  the  State,  said. 

“Christmas  and  New  Year’s 
were  the  lush  periods  and  if  we 
don’t  collect  the  state’s  share  now, 
•we’ll  have  trouble  getting  it  later 
He  said,  however,  “For  the  most 
part,  operators  througorit  the  state 
cooperate  and  pay  the  taxes  in  s 
reasonable  length  of  time.  How¬ 
ever  the  100  odd  delinquents 
haven’t  given  us  much  cooperation 
and  we  have  been  forced  to  take 
drastic  steps. 

Every  eating  spot  In  the  state, 
large  and  small,  collects  a  5%  tax 
on  all  meals  over  $1.  Most  spots 
turn  the  tax  dough  in  weekly.  The 
crackdown  on  cafes  and  clubs  is 
part  of  a  general  tightening  up  on 
tax  collections  of  all  forms  by  the 
State  of  Mass,  Earlier,  the  state 
began  a  drive  to  collect  from  de- 
linquept  tax  payers.- 


64 


VA1JBEV1IXE 


Wednesday,  January  15,  1958 


To  Montreal  s  String  of  Strip  Joints 


By  MAX  NEWTOX 

Montreal,.  Jan.  14. 

Calling,  32  riitery  operators  to¬ 
gether  last  week,  Police  Chief  Al¬ 
bert  Langlois  tqld  them  in  no  un¬ 
certain.  terms  to  clean  up"  their 
girlie  shows  immediately  or  dras¬ 
tic  actions  would  be  taken  against 
the  offenders.  Langlols,  speaking  in 
both  French  and  English,  told  the 
club  owners  the  responsibility  for 
the  cleanup  would  be  theirs  and 
that  Detective  Inspector  Ovila  Pel-; 
letter  would  enforce  his  rulings. 

Pelletier,  who  has  just  made  a 
city-wide  inspection  of  all  the 
rooms  featuring  peelers  and  report-, 
ed  to  Langlois,  outlined  the  things 
that  would  net  be  tolerated;  no 
bumps,  no  grinds,  no  shimmy,  no 
working  dn  the  floor,  no  Working 
on  a  chair,  no  talking  to  ringsiders, 
no  teasing  (such  as  dropping  part 
of  a  costume  and  waiting  for  ap¬ 
plause  to  f^move  remainder)  and 
no  stripping,  below  a  full  bra  and. 
pants  With  a  “g”  string.  Said  Pel¬ 
letier.  “These  performers  are  billed 
as  dancers:  let  them,  dance.” 

Latest  purge  on  night  club  man¬ 
ners  and  morals  stems  from  a  sear¬ 
ing  Christmas  message  from  Cardi¬ 
nal  Leger  who  said  the  youth  of 
Montreal  was  being  debased  by 
such  forms  of  entertainment  to-: 
gether  with  an  overall  blast  at  the 
number  of  liquor-selling  outlets  in 
Montreal  and  the  reinstatement  of 
Director  Langlois  who  was  placed 
on  an  extended  “vacation”  in  ’54 
as  a  result  of  a  vice  probe.  During 
his  talk  to  the  assembled  club  op¬ 
erators,  Langlois  minced  no  words 
in  blaming  the  recent  Wave  of  “in¬ 
decent"  strip  offerings  on  the  for¬ 
mer  civic  administration  who  had 
forced  him  temporarily  out  of  Of¬ 
fice  (Langlois  went  back  as  director 
of  police  last  April  when  the  find¬ 
ings  of  the  vice  probe  were  thrown 
out).  His  charges  were  ignored  by 
the  daily  papers  but  a  radio  news¬ 
cast  from  CJAD  was  quick  to  point 
oiit  (what  has  %been  apparent  to 
all)  that  the  major  girlie  shows  had 
only  come  into  being  since  the 
early  summer  of  ’57. 

In  some  respects,  part  of  the 


l  blame  for  the  present  furor  can  be 
placed  with  a  few.  of  the  club  Own¬ 
ers.  Quick  to  realize  the  easy  loot 
some  of  the  smaller  clubs  in  the 
east  end  were  making  with  low- 
budget  exotics,  and  unable  to  stand 
the  money  .strain  for.  steady  name 
attractions,  the  uptown  boites 
stepped  in  with  strip  setups  never 
before  seen  in  these  parts.  From  a 
mere  line  of  six  strippers  in  one 
room  the  quantity  and  variety  in¬ 
creased  until  one  saloon. was  run¬ 
ning  a  continuous  show  from  early 
evening  until  the  small  hours  with 
{"25  (and  sometimes  more)  interpre¬ 
tive  hoofers  of  every  size,  color, 
and  talent.  And  in  some  of.  the 
rooms  the  sky  was ,  the  limit.  This 
•lack  of  restraint  by  the  few  is 
largely  responsible  for  the  present 
police  edict  and  judging  from  the 
adverse  publicity  and  the  “no  kid¬ 
ding”  attitude  of  Langlois,  some 
of  the  free-wheeling  saloons  will 
be  wearing  a  chastened  look  from 
now  on:  To  keep  the  moral  tone 
at  the  prescribed  level,  Pelletier 
and  his  special  squad  together  with 
plainclothes  spotters  will  keep  a. 
constant  check  on  all  questionable 
joints. 

Just  what  punishment  Will  be 
meted  out  has  not  been  established. 
The  threat  of  losing  their  city  li¬ 
cense  or  a  minimum  court  fine.  Will 
hardly  scare  any*  of  the  owners.  In 
mid  ’56,  ’57  establishments.  were 
denied  a  hew  city  license  because 
of  closing  hour  infractions,  etc. 
and  one  club  took  the  city,  to  court 
questioning  their  right  to  take 
a  Way  such  a  license.  The  case  for 
the  city  was  upheld  in  all  the  lower 
courts  and  is  presently  before  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Canada  with  no 
indication,  of  a  quick  decision. 

In  .  the  meantime;  all  the  clubs 
affected  have  been  running  as 
usual,  keeping  their  own  hours  and 
with  the  exception  of  the  holiday 
season  just  ,  past,  doing  okay  busi¬ 
ness,  particularly  the  strippers. 
However,  with  the  church  and^the 
police  openly  attacking' certain  as¬ 
pects  of  Montreal’s  night  life,  some 
of  the  color  of  this  so-called  “Lit¬ 
tle  Paris”  of  North  America  will 
no  doubt  fade  for  a  few  months. 


PROFESSIONAL 
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for  all  Theatricals 

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Circle  7-1130 


(PJPL 


116  South  MichiiidU 


Houston,  Jan.  14. 
Entertainment  lineup  for  'the 
Houston  National  Auto  Show  at  the 
Sam  Houston  Coliseum,  running 
Jan.  25  through  Feb.  2,  now  in¬ 
cludes  the  Diamonds,  vocal  quartet. 
Previously  announced  for  the 
talent  array  were  the  Everly  Bros, 
and  Georgia  Gibbs. 

ThV  Flying.  Nesbits  ^acrobatic 
group  from  Europe,  .  performed 
during  half-time  at  the  Harlem 
Stars  basketball  game  here  at  the 
Coliseum  10  days:  ago.  Other  per¬ 
formers  on  the  bill  include:  the 
Pacific  Calypso  team,  several  tight 
wire  acts  and  a  magician. 


VALLEE  TO  DALLAS 

Dallas,  Jan.  14. 

Rudy  Vallee  will  headline  the 
Central  Lions  Club’s  shoW  to  be 
staged  here  on  Feb.  4  at  the'  State 
Fair  Music  Hall.. .. 

Sharing  billing"  with  Vallee  will 
be  Johnny  Long:  orch,  the  Three, 
Suns,  comedian  Billy  Falbo  and 
Betty  Brooks,  vocal  star. 


LOTTIE  BRUNN 

“dynwm)  JuaeuNO  srur 

Concluding  ene4  full  year  as 
Center  Ring  Attraction  with 
Ringling  Bros,  and  Barnum  and 
Bailey  Circus 

Available  Commencing — Feb.  17,  1958 
BOOKED  TO  APPEAR 

ED  SULLIVAN  SHOW 

CBS-TV  —  MARCH  2nd 

.  Exclusive  Mgt.:  MAX  ROTH 
48  West  48lh  St.  New  Yeirk  PLaza  7-8335 


Where  Did  Hope  Go? 

Continued  from  pacre  62 
book,-  backed  the  show  With  author¬ 
ity  and  Butch  Stone  and  Stumpy 
Brown  clowned  it  up. 

Highlight  of  the  tour  were  per¬ 
formances  #ori  Christmas  before 
ffl'OOO’  members  of  the  7th  Inf.  Div. 
on  the  line  just  south  of  Korea’s 
38th  Parallel  and.  later  for  7,000 
1st  Cav.  Div.  men.  In  each,  instance 
about  half  the  complement  of  each 
division  Was  entertained;  the  rest 
were  on  outpost  duty  at  the  time. 
Each  ,  shbw  Was  staged  on  snow- 
swept  hillsides  and .  when  Miss’ 
O’Brien  caroled  “White  Christmas” 
the  troops  chorused  in. 

Other  shows  were  staged  at  <8th 
Army  Hqs.  in  Seoul,  at  Yokohama, 
three  .  at  Air  Force  installations 
around  Tokyo,  on  Guam,  Kwaja- 
lein,  Okinawa.  In  addition  to  en¬ 
tertaining  3d  Marine  .  Div.  at  its 
tent  encampment  on  Okinawa,  the 
troupe  worked  the  fantail  of  the 
heavy  cruiser  Los  Angeles  for  Navy 
Personnel.  On  the  ship  armed 
guards  made  sure  the  telenses  did 
not  pick  up  the  Regulus  I  missile 
mounted  far  aft  in  battle-ready  po¬ 
sition.  The  shows  were  the  first  to 
play  for  the;  3d  Marines  since  1952; 
the  first  to  entertain  the  7th  and 
1st  Cav.  in  nine  months: 

The  tour  kicked  off  Dec.  16  be¬ 
fore  a  throng  of  6,800  in  a  driving 
rainstorm  at  Bloch  Arena,  Pearl 
Harbor,  and  ended  when  Hope- 
300  miles  bff  the  California  coast 
-—manned  the  plane’s  radio  and 
monologged  20  minutes  for  the 
crew  of  a  weather  ship  ,  circling  the 
waters  below.  Hope  also  air-to- 
earth  monologged  for  the  benefit 
of  the  garrison  when  passing  over 
Iwo  Jima. 


Confucius  Say 

;  Continued  from  page  63  ; 


of  the  crowd  was  that  Leonard 
reached  a  brilliant  apex  at  this 
meet,  arid  probably  made  it  diffi¬ 
cult  for  anyone,  including  himself, 
to  follow: 

Buttons,  the  guest  of  honor,  is 
at  the  peak  of  a  comeback  with  the 
release  of  Ms  film,  “Sayonara.”  The 
fest  thus  was  given  an  oriental, 
motif.  The  proceedings  opened, 
with  the  break-in  of  a  Japanese 
dame,  who  came  running  to  the 
dais  claiming  that  Buttons  had  de¬ 
frauded  her  in  Tokyo — he  took  her 
up  to  his  apartment  in  the  guise  of 
giving  her  lichee  huts.  Buddy 
Hackett  ended  that  gag  by  carry¬ 
ing  her  out  of.  the  room. 

Leonard  had  a  lot.  of  things  to 
say: .  .  .  “Buttons  was  a  big  hit  in 
the  picture — arid  then  it  was  re¬ 
leased:  ..Because  of  Button's  per- 
formarice  we  blew  Formosa  .  .  .  Is¬ 
rael’s;  answer  to  Sessue  Hayakawa 
.  .,  And  in  his  honor  the  Japs 
4_bpmbed  Pearl  Harbor  again.” 

Because  of  the  fast  cpmpany  of 
the  Friars  luncheons,,  a  performer 
of.  stature  takes  a  charice  in  com¬ 
ing  unprepared  to  these  shindigs, 
especially  if  there’s  a  possibility 
that  he’ll  be  called  on.  Most  of 
the  comics  on  the  dais  made  good. 
Jack  Garter  spoke  lovingly  of  his 
friend  Henny  Youngman,  “Wher¬ 
ever  he  is,  I  hope;  he’s  dying.”  Jari 
Murray's  comment  was  that  Carter 
finished  off  seven  comedians  who 
weren’t  even  here.  Buddy  Hackett 
similarly  got  off  few  good  lines 
in  his  brief ie.  straights  in  the 

dais  were  Mike;  £odd  who  Will  be 
the  guest  of  honor  at  the  Friars 
dinner  March  17,  Ricardo  Montal- 
han  of  the  “Jamaica”  cast;  Joe 
Bushkin,  who’s  material  might  have 
been  funriy  except  for  the  fact  that' 
he  was  in  such  top  company,  and 
Barney  Ross.  s 

Peter  Chan  was  introed  as  the 
Japanese  ambassador,  and  spoke 
in  his  native  tongue,  Doubletalker 
A1  Kelly  did  the  translatiori.  A  very 
funny  bit.  Sid  Gould  played  the 
initials  game  his  usual  bit  in  nit- 
erles  and  at  these  ,  luncheons. 

The  guest  of  honor  took  these 
matters  in  his  stride.  He  Was  pre¬ 
sented  a  lamp,  and  in  his  Windup 
said  in  a  heartfelt,  manner  that 
there  was  a  lot  of  love  exhibited 
and  that  love  got  over  the  dais. 
Despite  the  rough  language  by  the 
speakers,  >  the  finer  feelings  did 
show.  '  Jose. 


Nat  Abramson,  head  of  the  WOR 
Artist  Bureau,  sailed  last  night 
(Tues.)  on  the  Empress  of  England 
tp  supervise  cruise  entertainment 
booked  for  the  ship,  chartered  for 
this  trip  by  the  N,  Y.  State  Masons. 


in  1957  Luxury  Taxes 
Atlantic  City  Peak  Since  *47  Treem’ 


Afpls.  Auto  Show 

Minneapolis*  Jan.  11. 

Georgia  Gibbs,  Dagmar,  Top- 
notchers  (3),  Dieter  Tasso,  Jim, 
Eddy,  Orch'  (18);  at  Minneapolis 
Auditorium,  Jan.  .3-12,  '58;  90c- 
$1.40. 

This  stage  presentation,  tossed 
in  as  an  added  attraction  to  the 
exhibits  of  autos,  accessories,  etc., 
helped  at  90c  (50c  additional  for 
stageshow  reserved,  seats)  to  make 
the  current  third  annual  Auto 
Show  its  usual  generous,  money’s 
worth  of  entertainment  and  earned 
promoter  Max  Winter  another 
credit. 

Layout  supplied  sortie  diversity, 
an  abundance  of  topnotch  song  and 
a  smattering  of  comedy.  In  song¬ 
stress  Georgia  Gibbs  it  boasted  a 
three-day  headliner  With  an  im¬ 
pressive  name  and  superior  song¬ 
selling  talent.  The  Andrews  Sis¬ 
ters,  holding  down  .the  pinnacle 
perch  the  rest  of  the  10-day  run, 
are  .  equally  a  decided  asset. 

.  Slotted  next  -  to -  closing,  Miss. 
Gibbs  landed  solidly  with  the  exu¬ 
berant  chirping  that  has  lifted  her 
to  the  top. 

In  the  role  of  emcee  the  amply 
proportioned  Dagmar,  another 
name  for  the  show,  kept  proceed¬ 
ings’  going  at  a  fast  pace.  She  also 
contributed  several  songs  and, 
with  the  assistance  .  of  three  males, 
including  a  volunteer  from  the 
audience,  a  brief  skit  good  for  a 
few  laughs. 

Two  acts  familiar  to  Auto  Show 
patrons  from  previous  appearances 
—  the  male  instrumental  Top- 
riotch  ers  trio  that  essays  energetic 
singirig  and  comedies  along  with 
their  lively  music,  and  Dieter 
Tasso,  whose  difficult  juggling  is 
featured  by  some  remarkable  feats 
— repeat  their  former  success. 

Jim  Eddy,  a  youthful  local 
belter,  easily  enters  the  winners’ 
circle,  too.  He  seems  destined  to 
go  places  on  platters  as  well  as  a 
night  clulb,  tv  and  radio  performer. 

Rees. 


Noga  Dickers  Sale  Of 
i  Share  in  Black  Hawk 

San  Francisco,  Jan.  14. 

John  Noga,  owner  of  half  the 
Blackhawk,  modern  jazz  spot,  Is 
negotiating  to  sett  his  interest  to 
George  Weiss,  brother  of  Max 
Weiss,  ,  who  owns  Fantasy  Records. 

Noga  says  he’ll  have  to  spend 
too  much  time  on  the  road  with 
Johnny  Mathis,  riianaged  by  his 
wife,  Helen,  this  year,  to  attend 
to  Blackhawk  business  properly. 

Guido  Cacclenti  owns  the  other 
half  of  the  club. 


J.  L.  Lewis9  Aussie  Time 

Jerry  Lee  Lewis  has  been  signed 
for  a  series  of  personals  in  Hono¬ 
lulu  and  Australia,  under  auspices 
of  promoter  Lee  Gordon. 

Lewis  opens  Jan.  27  in  Honolulu 
and  thence  to  Sydney  Jan.  30  for 
three  days;  Brisbane,  Feb.  3,  com¬ 
pleting  his  Aussie  trek  in  Mel¬ 
bourne  Feb.  4. 


Atlantic  City,  Jan.  i4. 

Atlantic  City  collected  $1,620,194 
in  luxury  taxes  In  1957,  the  largest 
amount  in  any  one  year  since  the 
levy,  by  ai  special  act  of  the  state 
legislature  and  a  referendum  here, 
was  inaugurated  in  1947.  Roughly 
90%  of  revenue  brought  in  by  this 
tax,— levied  on  receipts  from  col¬ 
lections  on  hotel  rooms,  amuse¬ 
ments,  cigarets,  arid  liquor  sales— 
comes  from  the  visitor. 

Since  1947,  $18,775,215  has  been 
collected  and  spent  on  public  im¬ 
provements,  relieving  the^taxpayer 
of  some  of  this  burden,  and  keep¬ 
ing  the  tax  rate  at  a  more  reason¬ 
able  figure.  The  collections  have 
made  it  possible  to  give  the  resort 
a  much  needed  facelifting  and  con¬ 
tinuing  modernization  program. 

Wonder  of  it  all  is  that  Atlantic 
City  is  the  only  municipality  in 
the  state  which,  has  taken  advan¬ 
tage  of  this  special  act.  Any  New 
Jersey  resort  bordering  on  the 
Atlantic’  Ocean  can,  after  a  refer¬ 
endum,  collect  a  luxury  tax.  Moves 
to  make  the  tax  effective  in  several 
resorts  have  been  defeated  by  such 
a  referendum,  residents  voting 
against  the  enactment  of.  such  a 
tax  despite  the  known  fact  that 
Visitors  would  pay  most  of  the  levy 
and  #  they,  as.  taxpayers,  would  pay 
less  taxes.  Municipalities  such  as 
Asbury  Park,  Ocean  City,  Wild¬ 
wood  and  Cape  May  attract  thou¬ 
sands  of  visitors  during  the  sum¬ 
mer  and  so  could  benefit  by  the 
tax. 

Previous  record  for  luxury  tax 
collections*  was  set  in  1954  when 
$1,612,045,  was  realized  iri  the  year 
of  the  Atlantic  City  Centennial 
celebration.  Last  year’s  collections 
exceeded  by  $38,326  those  of  1956. 
The  receipts  for  December  were 
$72,607,i  to  top  the  $70,243.  col¬ 
lected  iri  December  of  1956; 

The  record  figure  proves  beyond 
Xll  doubt  that  more  visitors  came 
here  than  during :  any  other  year 
in  the'  resort’s  long  history.  They 
prove  also  that  each  year  is  bptter 
than  the  previous  one  in  relation 
to  attracting  the  visitor. 


III.  Expb's  Coliseum  Fixup 

Springfield,  Ill.,  Jan.  14. 

The  Coliseum  of  the  Illinois 
State  Fair  is  being  remodeled  at 
a  cost  of  $500,000.  The  building 
in  its  new  dress,  is.  expected  to  be 
readied  by  the  fair’s  opening  Aug, 
8,  running  to  the  17th. 

Total  receipts  for  last  summer’s 
event  were  $433,538,  an  increase  of 
$31,845  over  1956. 


RAYROMAINE 
and  CLAIRE 

"Delightfully 
Ditterenf ' 
Now* 

Appearing 

PALLADIUM 

J)u88«1dorf, 


The  DEEP  RIVER  BOYS  , 

Starring^  HARRY  DOUGLASS  ^ 


9tfc  International  Tour 


■  HEW  YORK  “ 
•idlo  •  Rtcordi 
Television 


Dlnctiom  WILLIAM  MORRIS  AGENCY' 
Ptf*.  Mgrj  ED  KIRKEIY 


rtn.  ingra  cDKIRKElY 

m  iTiiniiii  iii  ii  hi  ii  in  ii  iiVmii  iii  if  i  ii  n  iii  iT  in  itttt| 


Wednesday,  January  15,  1958 


PfitSIETf 


VAUDEVILLE ' 


65 


Vaude,  Cafe  Dates 


New  York 

A1  Bernie  lifted  up  for  the  Copa- 
cabana,  Feb.  6  .  .  .  Evetyn  Knight 
«et  for  the  Blue  Angel,  March  4 
Jimmy  Durante,  to  Blinstrub’s, 
Boston,  April  5  .  Trotter  Bros, 
at  the  Emerald  Beach  Hotel,  Nas- 
,  for  two  weeks  following  run 
of  Jack  Wallace  .  .  .  Ashley  Miller, 
current  at  the  Cafe  Lounge  of  the 
Sheraton  McAlpin  Hotel,  N.Y.  .  .  . 
Corbett  Monica  shifted  to  Palum¬ 
bos,  Philadelphia  .  .  .  Terry  June 
Bramson,  daughter  of  William 
Morris  Agency  nitery  "head,  Sam 
Bramson,  recuperating  at  Mt.  Sinai 
Hosp  after  an  emergency  appendec¬ 
tomy  .  .  Betty  Benee  a  newcomer 

at  the  Cotillion  Room  of  the  Pierre 
Hotel. 

Milton  Berle  shortening  his  stand 
at  the  Latin  Quarter  Miami  Beach, 
by  two  weeks  starting  his  date 
there  Feb.  19  .  .  Will  Jordan  set 

for  Blinstrub’s,  Boston,  Feb.  3  and 
the  Alamo  Orchid,  Detroit,  Feb.  17 
...  Fernando  Sirvent  moved  over 
to  the  Medallion  Room  .  . .  Beatrice 
Kraft  starting  at  the  Chateau 
Madrid  tomorrow  (Thurs.)  .  .  .  Pi¬ 
anist  Hugh  Shannon  holding  over 
at  the  Left  Bank  .  .  .  Howard 
Mathews  an  added  starter  at  the 
Living  Room  .  .  Frank  Sinatra 

signed  for  the  Sands,  Las  Vegas, 
April  9  .  . .  Jonathan  Winter  to  the 
Black  Orchid,  Chicago,  Feb.  7  .  ,  ; 
Marion  Marlowe,  who  moved  back 
from  MCA  to  the  William  Morris 
Agency,  into  the  Eden  Roc,  Miami 
Beach,  Jan.  21  .  .  .  Millie  Vernon 
new  to  the  William  Morris  roster. 

Chicago 

Mary  Kaye  Trio  opens  at  Black 
Orchid  Feb.  23  for  three  weeks, 
with  Diahaftn  Carroll  set  for  two 
frames  at  the  intimery  starting 
March  16  ;  .....  Kaye  Ballard  starts 
a.two-weeker  at  Mr.  Kelly’s  March 
10  ,  Carol  Channing  set  for  a 

pair  at  the  Chase  Hotel,  St.  Louis, 
opening  May  16  .  .  .  Chirper 
Sheila  Reynolds  opens  May  2  for 


KEN  BARRY 


WEST  INDIES  CRUISE 
Thanks  Bramson  Office 
Mgt.:  S»e  &  Will  Weber.  New  York 


“THE  COMEDIAN’9 

Tho  Only  Rul  Monthy 
PROFESSIONAL  GAG  SERVICE 
THE  LATEST  —  THE  GREATEST  — 
THE  MOST-UP-TO-OATEST 
Now  In  Its  S7th  Issut,  containing 
storlor,  ono-linors,  poomottos,  song 
fitlos,  hocklors,  audlcnco  stuff,  mono- 
lees,  parodies,  .  double  gags,  bits. 
Ideas,  Intros,  Impressions  and  Im¬ 
personations,  political,.  Interruptions'. 
Thoughts  of  the ...  Day,  Humorous 
Views  of  the  Nows,  etc.  Start -with 
current  issue.  S15  yoarly  —  2  years 
“  *,nBl#  C°P,#S 

U.0I  ,  NO  C.O.D/S 

BILLY  GLASON 

200  W.  54  St.,  Now  York  1* 


four  stanzas  at  the.  Camellia  House 
.  . ,  B  &  B  Club,  Indianapolis,  lin¬ 
ing  up  bills  clear  through  spring. 
Snooky  Lanson  started  Monday 
(13)  for  two  weeks,  followed  on  the 
27th  by  Jerry  Lester  and  Lucille  & 
Eddie  Roberts,  al£o  for  a  pair.  Fran 
Warten  and  Ronnie  Eastman  take 
over  fof  two  frames  starting  March 
17,  followed  by  Don  Cornell  March 
31  for  a  fortnight,  and r  ditto  the 
Crew-Cuts  as  of  April  14.  Bob 
McFadden  is  set  for  two,  opening 
May  26,  and  The  Vagabonds,  go  .  in 
for  one  week  starting  June  23. 


Hollywood 

Ketty  Lester  holds  over  two 
weeks  at  Marshall  Edsori  and  Mike 
Garth’s  Ye  Little  Club  in  Bevhills 
.  .  Tony  Martin  opens  two-week 

stand  at  Capri  Hotel!  Havana, 
March  4.  Singer  will  first  debut 
his  new  act  with-  stand  at  the  Fon¬ 
tainebleau  in  Miami,  Feb.  18  .  . 
Kipp  Hamilton,  former  20th-Fox 
actress,  making  nitery  debut,  at 
Johnny  Walsh’s.  881  Club  .  .  ,  Wal¬ 
ter  Borsella  set  as  musical  con¬ 
ductor.  for  Mae.  Williams  act,  open¬ 
ing  at  Hesperia  Inn  Friday ..  . ,  Pat 
Gregory,  former  Sands  chorine 
who  turned  theSp,  planning  to  re¬ 
turn  to  4°°fihg. 


St.  Louis 

Dennis  Day  opened  (7)  for  two 
weeks  at  Chase  Club  .  .  .  Monte 
Nesser.  of  the  Blue.  Note,  signed 
Art  (Coweyes)  Engler  to  a  two- 
week  booking  ...  Sharon .  Knight, 
“Lili'St.  Cyr’s  Own  Protege,”  new 
headliner  at  Tic  Toe  Tap  .  ..  ;  Com¬ 
edian  Jimmy  Ames,  featured  at 
Zodiac,  was  the  last  act  there  as 
spot  has  shuttered  indefinitely  .  .  . 
Harry  Fender,  former  Ziegfield 
star,  continuing  with  his  nightly 
disk  jockey-chatter  stint  in  the 
Steeplechase  .  .  ...  •  Harry  Cool  in 
for  a  one-nighter  at  Celebrity  Club 
.......  Comic  Manny  Opper  held  over 

at  Claridge  Lounge.  ' 

.  Sarah  Vaughan  due  in  Jan.  31 
for  a  week  at  Bonnie’s  Black  Angus 
.  .  .  Four  Lads  signed  as  headliners 
at  the  Chase  Club,  starting  Jan.  21 
.  .  The  Lyric  Theatre,  leased  by 

Ralph  Lai,  former  manager  of  the; 
Grand  Theatre,  a  burly  house  now 
shuttered,  and  Bonnie  Orlando, 
slated  to  open  Jan.  17  with  bur¬ 
lesque  shows  . . .  Lila  Turner  head¬ 
line  exotic  show  at  the  Ford  Plaza 
. .  Beverly  White,  songstress-key¬ 
boarder,  continuing,  at  the  Vic¬ 
torian  Club., 


Kansas  City 

Gene  Austin  closed  his  two  week 
stand  at  Eddys’  Restaurant  last 
Thursday  (9)  with  the  house  giving 
him  .  a  standing  ovation,  something 
indeed  rare  in  night  clubs  these 
days  .  .  .  Four  Coins  hustle  out  of 
town  after  closing  at  -the  Hotel 
Muehlebach  Jan.  16  to  open  at  the 
San  Antonio  Auto  Show  Jain.  17. 
Youngsters  got  a  big  lift  from  disk 
jocks;  here  their  new  album, 
"Four  Coins  in  Shangri  La”  .  .  . 
Pepper  Davis  &  Tony  Reese  due  at 
the  El  Morrocco,  Montreal,  follow¬ 
ing  their  stand  at  Eddys’  through 
Jan.. 23.  Lads  are  set  for  the  Sulli¬ 
van  show  Feb.  16  ..  .  .  Trudy  Rich¬ 
ards  takes  a  3-week  rest  in  New 
York  when  she  finishes  at  Eddys’ 
and  is  set  for  the  Americana,  Mi¬ 
ami,  late  in  Februaiy,  a  return  en¬ 
gagement  for  Her  there  .  .  >  De- 
Castro  Sisters  set  for  the  Terrace 
Grill  of  Hotel  Muehlebach  Jan.  17.. 


tind 


^  CURRENTLY 

?/'  \\\  \  HANSA  THEATRE 

-  ^  /  Hamburg 


Levy  -  Fred  Amiel 


Dir.:  WILLIAM  MORRIS  AGENCY 


195f  EDITION  COTTON  CLUB  REVUE 

Starring 


TMrd  Week.  COTTON  CLUB.  Miami  BaacR 
Miami  Sun— "Calloway  IS  Mr.  Cotton  Club  •  .  .» 
Mr.  Show  Butineis  unto  hinutlf."  —  foul  Briinn. 

Mgt.  BILL  MlTflER,  1619  Broadway.  Now  Ya* 


Scot  Hotel  Market 

For  Acts  Picks  % 

Glasgow,  Jan.  14. 

Cabaret  shows  are  beginning  to 
make  headway  in  two:  leading 
hotels.  Recent  acts  booked -  have 
included  Harriott  &  Evafts,  Negro 
male,  duo,  Frances  Day,  Clifford 
Stanton,  and  Fayne  &  Evans. 

-Innovation  is  -proving  popular 
with  diners  at  the  city-center 
George  Hotel  here,  and  at  the 
plushy  Ge°rge  Hotel,  Edinburgh. . 
It  may  pave  the  way  to  employ¬ 
ment  of  more  acts,  both  TJ.  S. .  and 
British,  in  the  hotel  market,  here. 


Soph  to  Play  Dallas 

Dallas,  Jan.  14: 

Sophie  Tucker  has  been  booked, 
to  appear  at  the  Century  Room  of 
the  Hotel  Adolphus  here  opening 
on  May  22  for  a  10-day  engagement. 

. She  will  come  here  from  El 

Rancho  Vegas  in  Las  Vegas. 


Postscripts;  K.C. 
Oft  Raid  inNC,,  Acts  ‘AWOI/  in  Can. 


Kansas  City,  Jan;  14. 
The  crowds  Were  there  but  the 
spending  Was  lighter  than  it  has 
been  in  several  years.  That’s  the 
cqnsesus  about  '  New  Year’s  Eve 
business  around  town. 

Most  of  the  top.  spots  were  full 
up,  despite  a  zero  blast  of  weather 
which  swept  down  from  the  north 
and  brought  the  season’s  lowest 
temperatures.  -  Eddys’  Restaurant 
with  a  package  deal  for  dinner  and 
show  had  a  packed  house,  as  did 
the  Terrace  Grill  of  the  Muehle^ 
bach  with  a  stiff  minimum,  and 
similarly  other  spots. 

But  purchasing  ran  as  much  as 
10%  down,  according  to  a  check 
against  previous  years.  The  ex¬ 
planation  is  hard  to  guess;  say  the 


it  with  reports  that  leaner  days  on 
hand, 

bistro  operators,  but  belief  is  .  that 
money  is  not  as  freely  held  as  in 
past  years  and  the  20%  entertain¬ 
ment  tax  is  taking  a  heavier  toll 
as  people  are  more  conscious  of 


Pyramid  ‘Topples* 
Charlotte,  N.C.,  Jan.  14. 

Police  added  ,  their  whistles  to 
the  din  of  New  York’s  party  horns 
at  the  Pyramid  Club  near  Charlotte 
as  they  hit  the  club  with  a  well- 
planned  raid. 

°  Four  men  .  and  one  woman  were 
.arrested  oh  charges  of  violating 
state  liquor  laws  and  conspiracy  to 
violate  liquor  laws.  Police*  said 
(Continued  oh  page  69). 


The  waiters,  cooks,  busboys,  dishwashers  nnd 
musicians  who  have  worked  at  the  Stork  Club 
for  many  years  want  to  thank  your  unions: 

Actor’s  Equity 

American  Guild  of  Variety  Artists 

The  Associated  Actors  and  Artistes  of  America 

Fact  Finding  Committee 
of  the  Entertainment  Unions 

— for  their  letters  endorsing  the  Stork  Club 
strike  for  union  recognition. 


As  you  know,  95  per  cent 
of  the  Stork  Club  crew,  waiters 
and  kitchen  help  alike,  were  forced 
to  g<$  out  on  strike  a  year  $go  —  on 
January  9,  1957,  to  he  exRct-r- 
when  Stork  Club  management  re* 
fused  to  recognize  and  bargain  in 
good  faith  with  the  nnipns  reprfe- 
eenting them. 

A  few  weeks  later  manage¬ 
ment  blew  its  top  again  .  • .  it  fired 
the  musicians  because  Local  802 
President,  A1  Manuti  tried  to  bring 
about  a  friendly  settlement  of  the 
dispute.  Since  then  the  Stork 
Club  has  been  operating  ■  tilth 
scab  help  only* 

The  record  proves  it  is  dot 
our  fault  the  strike  has  lasted  a 
year  •  .  we  offered  to  let  some 
oustanding,  fair-minded  citizen 


judge  the  dispute  on  its  merits  .  •  • 
hut  Stork  Club  management  wants' 
to  run  things  its  own  way  .  *  .  moan¬ 
ing  low  wages,  long  hours,  firing 
people  without  just  cause ...  a  way 
of  doing  things  that  went  out  with 
Simon  Legree. 

That  is  why  the  24  hou t 
picket  line  must  be  kept  going 
in  front  of  the  Stork  Club  — 
until  management  catches  up  with 
the  times  and  is  ready  to  sit  down 
to  talk  terms  with  the  unions. 


Until  the  Stork  “delivers*9 
a  union  contract,  thajt 

show  people  'will^cbn^iue:^ 
sped  the  picket  line. 

r 

Thanks  again  for  your  gen¬ 
erous  cooperation,  past,  present 
and  future. 


AL  MANUTI.  Pnddmt 

LOCAL  802 

AMERICAN  FEDERATION  OF  MUSICIANS 


LOUIS  FERNANDEZ,  IVeatfeat  < 

LOCAL  89 

CHEFS,  COOKS,  PASTRY  COOKS 
AND  ASSISTANTS  ONION 


DAVID  SIECAL,  J>rcttbM 

LOCAL  1 

IHNIN€  ROOM  EMPLOYEES  WHOM 


AFFILIATES  Of  AFl-CIO 


66 


NIGHT  CLUB  REVIEWS 


Copacabua,  K.  Y. 

Jules  Podell  presentation  of  Nat 
King  Cole,  Allen  A  DeWood,  The 
Accidentals  (4),  Danii  &  Genii 
Prior,  Ted  Morrell,  Mimi,  Line 
(10),  Michael  Durso  Sc  Frank  Mar 
ti  Orchs;  $5.50  minimum. 


This  is  the  Copa’s  initial  show 
of  195S,  and  Jules  Podell  Dills  it 
as  the  first  entry  of  the  nitery’s 
Winter  Cruise  Season.  Current 
lineup  bodes  well  for  the  new  sea¬ 
son.  The  fact  that  Nat  King  Cole 
Is  the  tripper  of  the  fresh  produc¬ 
tion  should  spell  plenty  ,  of  dinero 
for  this  eastside  spot,  judging  from 
the  reception  and  business  at  the 
opening  show.  Aridience  took  the 
versatile  singer  right  into  its  col¬ 
lective  arms,  and  he  had  to  beg 
oft  after  about  seven  encores. 

■  While  Cole  makes  this  show,  he 
gets  a  terrific  assist  from  the  com-1 
edy  team  ,  of  Allen  &  DeWood.  In¬ 
cidentally,  the  pair  have  been  oh| 
several'other  cafe  shows  with  Cole. 

Cole  was  on  for  better  than  45 
minutes.  Yet  his  ingratiating  per¬ 
sonality  and  suave  ease  in  selling 
a  song  made  it  seem  like  half  that 
time.  He  was  smart  enough  to  at¬ 
tempt  to  bow  off  after  he  had  com¬ 
pleted  his  repertoire,  but  had 
enough  tunes  in  reserve  to  Con¬ 
tinue.  Originally  a  pianist  with  his 
own  combo  (as  well,  as  singer).  Cole 
tries  his  hand  on  the  ivories  sev¬ 
eral  times.  He  finally  sits  down  to 
do- a  piano  solo  on  “I  Want  To  Be 
Happy:”  Cole's  final  number  was 
“Send  For  Me,"  a  popular  one  with 
this  crowd,  being  one  of  his  oldie, 
lowdown  numbers. 

Cole's  current  nitery  act .  is  a 
solid  example  of  slick  pacing,  go¬ 
ing  from  a  Semi-comical  tune  to  a 
slow  ballad,  or  from  a  fast  number 
to  a  slowly  moving  song.  His  line¬ 
up,  of  curse,  includes  many  cur¬ 
rent  pops  and  standards.  His  inter¬ 
pretation  of  “Making  Whoopee” 
likely  would  have.made  Eddie  Can¬ 
tor  envious.  One  of  his  swingy 
numbers  which  scored  was  “Night 
Lights,"  while  a  more  rollicking 
type  song  was  “But  Not  For  Me.” 
His  array  also  took  in  “Dance  Bal¬ 
lerina  Dance,”  ‘‘Star.  Dust,"  “The 
Party's  Over,"  “Just  One  of  Those 
Things,"  “Lullaby  of  Broadway" 
and  a  quaint,  highly  effective  talky 
number,  “Introduced  Me  To  You,” 
which  he  tabbed  as  his  own  and  so 
far  having  ho  title: 

:  Allen  &  DeWood_jvho  first  ap¬ 
peared  in  N.  Y.  about  a*  year  ago 
at  the  Latin  Quarter,  have  fairly 
much  the  same  act.  Which  means 
this  pair  (Mitch  DeWood.  is  an 
Arab;  Marty  Allen  is  Jewish) 
really  mop-up.  Besides  the  hilar¬ 
ious  Japanese  war  prisoner-inter- 
yiew;  bit,  they  have  a  new  televi¬ 
sion  boy-gay  skit  that  deserves 
keeping  in,  plus  the  usual  farrago 
of  wacky  ,  comedy  antics.  Both 
boys  are  excellent  dancers  and 
ably  belt  out  a  tune.  Their  appear¬ 
ance  at  the  Copa  should  further 
enhance  their  future  in  niteries. 

The  Axidentals,  a  gal  and  three 
male  warblers,  have  been  around 
for  about  a  year.  The  foursome 
Was  well  liked  here  but  the  choice 
of  some  tunes  was  somewhat  ques¬ 
tionable.  “From  This  Moment  On” 
shapes  as  their  top  song. .  Their 
enunciation  also  seemed  to  leave 
something  to  be  desired.. 

Danii  &  Genii  Prior  constitute 
a  hardworking  boy-girl  dance 
combo.  Both  started  originally  ,  at 
the  Copa  doing  production  num¬ 
bers,  but  have  had  this  act  together 
for  some  four  years.  Pair  gives 
three  numbers  a  strenuous  work¬ 
out,  and  clicks  nicely:  Team  goes 
in  for  knockabout  acrobatic  steps, 
one  being  almost  an  Apache  num¬ 
ber.  so  rough  does  it  get 

Per  usual,  the  Copa  femmes  fur¬ 
nish  plenty  of  decorative  appeal, 
doing  three  production  numbers. 
Ted  Morrell  is  the  capable  male 
singer  for  these,  while  Mimi  comes 
on  for  a  Frenchy  song  bit.  Mi¬ 
chael  Durso  plays  an  excellent 
show  and  Frank  Marti’s  samba 
band  alternates  in  music  for 
dancing.  Wear. 


Desert  Inn,  I-as  Vegas  . 

Las  Vegas,  Jan.  7. 
Betty  Grdble,  Dave  Barry,  Art 
Johnson,  Donn  Arden  Dancers  16), 
Carlton  Bayes  Orch  (13);  $3  mini¬ 
mum.  — ■ 


Betty  Grable.  who  admits  she’s 
not  a  singer  and  not  an  actress, 
breezes  through  her  new  capsule 
musicale  at  the  Painted  Desert 
Room  in  high  gear.  The  exception¬ 
ally  warm  reception  she  got  from 
firstnighterS— capped  by  a  standing 
ovation— indicates  that  they  don’t 
agree  with  Miss  Grable’s  modesty. 
The  star  never  looked  better,  both 
in  face  and  figure,  and  her  chirps 
and  terps  blend  smoothly  into  the 
well-staged  package  which  makes 
it  emerge  as  a  socko  act. 

.  Miss  Grable’s  numbers  lean  heav¬ 
ily  toward  nostalgia,  and  warmest 
milting  goes  to  her  “Mother  Wore 
Tights”  and  “Honey”  productions. 
Singer  Art  Johnson  and  the  Donn 
Arden  Da»ce*st  ( Ifi)  atanf&xeHeht 


teamfnates  in  the  skits,  and  she 
also  gets  solid  backing  from  a  male] 
singing-dancing  quartet  (Ray  Bax¬ 
ter,  Ken  Chertok,  John  Drexel,  Jim 
’Hodge). 

I  Dave  Barry’s  topical,  standup 
comedy  neatly  balances  the  show* 
He  gets  blasting  yocks  with  his 
!  one-liners  and  hnpreshes  of  celebs, 
[singing  commercials,' and  such  per- 
[  sonalities  as  Leo  the  Lion  and  the 
Pathe  rooster.^  Carlton  Hayes  and 
the  orch  (13)  tie  the,  show  together 
with  the  proper  flair.  Duke; 


El  Morocco,  Montreal  / 

Montreal,  Jan.  11. 

Eartha .  Kitt  ( with  Sanford 
Gold),  Charlie  Manna,  Wally  As- 
pell,  Dorothy  Kramer  Dancers  (5), 
Don  Carlo  Oreh  (11),  Larry  Moore 
Trio;  $1.75  cover. 

» 

Current  engagement  for  Eartha  ] 
Kitt  is  second  within  a  year  at  El 
Morocco  and  once  again  it  looks 
as  though  boniface  Peter  van  de 
North  has  come  up  with  a  winner. 

In  for  10  days,  Miss  Kitt  is  doing 
two  shows.*  night  during  the  week 
and  three  on  Saturday  and  Sunday 
and  judging  from  crowd  on  night 
caught,  this  immaculate  chanteuse 
should  easily .  equal  the  house  rec¬ 
ord  she  ~set  oh  her  last  appearance. 
Backed  by  the  fine  88*ing  ofSan- 
T6rd  Gold  and  her  bOngo  player, 
Ray,  Miss  Kitt  gets  additional  sup¬ 
port  from  the  new  El  Morocco 
orch  under  the  baton  of  Don  Carlo. 
The  Carlo  organization  is  still  not. 
the  show  band  of  the  previous 
group  headed  by  Maury  Kaye  but 
the  talent  is  apparent  and  should 
improve .  with  experience. 

Miss  Kitt  does  a  sharp,  well- 
planned  songalog  tailored .  to  her 
own  specifications'and  it  is  obvious 
from  the  start  that  she  will  tolerate 
no  deviations  regardless  of  the 
mood  of  the  room.  This  almost 
brittle  .approach  has  a  tendency  to 
divorce  her  from  the  patrons  but 
I  Overall  pacing  and  theatrical  savvy 
bridges  this  gap. 

Miss  Kitt  .  ranged  through  such 
special  material  items  as  “Old* 
Fashioned  Millionaire”  to  “Apres 
Moi”  to  “Santa  Baby”  and  the 
inevitable  “CTest  Si  Bon”  for 
plaudits. 

Preceding  Miss  Kith  the  Dorothy 
Kramer  dancers  are  attractive  in 
the  hoofing  slot  and  emcee  Wally 
Aspell  belts  a  group  of  songs  in 
effective  manner.  Comic  Charlie 
Manna  clicks  with  his  clever  im- 
presh  bits  and:  once  again  proved 
to  be  the  most  refreshing  young 
artist  to  play  this  room,  for  a  long 
time.  Personable  manner,  easy¬ 
going  delivery  and  off-beat  bits  of 
nonsense  make  him  a  cinch  f or 
quick  returns. 

Another:  new  music  combo,  the 
Larry  Moore  trio,  spells  the  Don 
Carlo  band  during  interlude  ses¬ 
sions.  Miss  Kitt  holds  until  Sun¬ 
day  (19),  Newt, 


El  Chico,  N.  Y. 

Carlos  &  Myrtia,  Lucerito  Tend, 
Marisa  Terol,  Rosita  Rios,  Mellizas 
de  Campo,  Marco  Rizo  &  Pedro; 
Vidal  Orchs;  $3-$5  minimums. 

El  Chico,  a  Village  fixture  for 
more  than  30  years,  is  probably 
one  of  the  oldest  nitery  operations 
in  the  New  York  and  is  the  orig¬ 
inal  cafe  that  proved  the  efficacy 
of  the  Latin  policy.  Operator 
Benito  Collado  during  all  these 
years  has  dispensed  an*  amiable 
brand  of  entertainment  in  the  non- 
name  category;  some,  of  course, 
have  gone  on  to  become  staples 
in  the  Latin  entertainment  market. 

The  present  bill  carries  on  the 
tradition  of  showing  a  promising 
crop  of  Latinos.  For  example,: 
Carlos  &  Myrna,  who  have  ap¬ 
peared  at  the  uptown  Chateau  Mad¬ 
rid,  are  demonstrating  their  flam-: 
enco  skills  at  the  Collada.  centre. 
These  youngsters  have  plenty, 
savvy  of  the  wild  gypsy  terps,  per¬ 
form  with  the  traditional  fire  of 
that  dance,  and  do  an  appealing 
jota  to  wind  up  their  efforts.  They 
get  off  well. . 

Mellizas  del  Campo  are  a  hand¬ 
some  pair  of  identicals .  who  do 
some  spirited  singing  with  inciden¬ 
tal  dancing  thrown,  in.  The  ladies 
have  a  bright  tune  catalog,  provide 
added  color  with  castanet  clicking, 
gnd  get  the  audience  in  a  mood  of 
participating  with  them  in  their 
routine.  They,  do  fine. 

Marisa  Terol,  a  singer  who  ac- 
comps  herself  on  the  guitar,  simi¬ 
larly  hits  a  top  accolade  with  a 
colorful  selection  of  native  tunes. 
Some  are  in  the  pop  category,  and 
an  occasional  folk  tune  gives  her 
act  an  added  dimension  of  depth. 
The  guitaying  adds  to  her  routine. 

“  Lucerito  Tena  (New  Acts,  Jan.  1) 
and  Rosita  RiOs  complete  -  the 
act  lineup.  Miss  Rios  (Mrs.  Col¬ 
lada)  is  a  colorful  personality  who 
ties  together  the  Various  elements 
of  the  show  and  demonstrates  that 
she  can  handle  an  audience  as.  well . 
during  her  own  tUnestering.  The 
orchestras  of  Marco  . Rizo  and  Pedro 
Vidal  provide: backing?  and  dance 
music!  ><l  Jpsc* 


t'SmEff 


Wednesday,  January  15,  1958 


spiritual  melodies.  One  or  two  new 
items  in  their  repertoire  would  be 
welcome  but,  all  in  all,  the  act 
makes  amusing  listening  and  is 
well  supported  in  rhythm  by  Tom¬ 
my  Maxwell  on  drums  and  Bod 
Howard  on  bass,  who  are  seconded 
from  the  Tommy  Watt  Outfit.  .. 

Dancing  is.  ably  taken  care  of  by 
Tommy  Watt’s  orchestra  and  by 
the  Leslie  Baker  Quartet,  a  combo 
debutting  at  these  two  night  spots. 

.  The.  physical  layout  that  is  the  j  Roy  Wallis  oiT  piano  also  helps  to 
Cafe  de  Paris,  Lou  Walters  re- 'build  Up  the  entertainment  value 
placement  of  the  once-fabled  Copa !  ‘of  the  evening.  Rich. 

City  in .  mid-Beach,  is  an  opulent, 

mvrlrc  if-  oc 


Cafe  de  Paris,  Miami  B. 

Miami  Beach,  Jan.  12. 

Lou  Waiters  Production  “ Honey¬ 
moon  in  Paris"  with  Senor  Wen- 
ces.  Trio  Cottas,  Billy  Fellows, 
Danielle  LaMar,  Jet  MacDonald, 
Dick  Estes,  Croft  Twiss,  Chickie 
James,  Mons.  Choppy  &  Models; 
choreography  by  Mine.  Mamer ova; 
$4.75-$7.50  minimums. 


stunfiing  thing  that  marks,  it  as 
one  of  the  most  glittering  cafes  in 
an  area  noted  for  the  lavishness  of 
its  larger  niteries.  So  much  so, 
that  he  word-of-mouth  spread,  im¬ 
portant  to  biz  .  buildup  among  the 
tourists  whO  make  up  the  major 
portion  Of  the  needed  patronage] 
for' important  position  in  the .  com¬ 
petition  .here,  is  on  the  “must-see” 
theme  to  a  point  where  the  produc¬ 
tion  presented  is  taken  for  granted. 

Taken  for  granted  in  the  sense 
that  the  seasonal  patronage  here, 
already  familiar  with  the  Gallic  ac¬ 
cented  shows  Walters  is  trade- 
marked  for,,  come  in  knowledge 
that  they’ll  be  seeing  more  of  same. 
They  get  it,.  In .  full  measure,  but 
with  ensuing  weeks  due  to  take  on 
more  of  an  act-attraction  angle  in 
return  of:  the  Szonys  and  arrival 
of.  Dick.  Shawn  for  a  four '  termer. 
As  of  now,  the  ceiling-mirrored 
stage  and  side-balCony  settings  are 
taken  ,  up  with  mademoiselles  of 
fine  forms  and  varying  shape,  dis¬ 
playing  the:  high-kicking  can-can, 
the  plentiful  flesh  exposure  and  the 
Parisian  accent,  with  a  mixture  of 
American  to  blend  in  with  the 
many-peopled  stagings  of  Mme. 
Kamerova. 

Senor  Wences  is  the  big  item  in 
this  edition,  his  ventro  adeptness 
fully  displayed  With  his  “heads”  in 
boxes  and  small  cases.  His  cross 
“dialogues”  are,  per  always,  per¬ 
fectly  timed  to  extract  the  full  load 
of  chortles  in  interchanges  with 
the  high  aind  the  low  Voiced  char¬ 
acters  he  utilizes..  He’s  the  solid 
hit.  in  the  assortment  of  acts  pre¬ 
sented,  with  the  Trio  Cottas,  just 
brought  in,  also  raising  the  palm- 1 
ing  contingent  inter  a  full  house 
claque.  Their  acro-adagio  is  in  the 
gasp-raising  vein,  /  the  Great  Dane 
dogs  ,  and  their  smartly  trained 
gliding  leaps  over  the  femme  mem- ! 
her  of  the  trio,  adding  to  the  mitt 
mount. 

Rest  of  the  solo  spots  are  par 
for.  the  Walters  course.  Danielle 
LaMar  is:  the  sexy,  Frenchy.  chari- 
terise  with  tht  eye-ogling  arid  song- 
strolls  to  titillate  the  male  ring- 
siders.  Chickie  James,  adds  the 
exposed  look  with  a  torchy  semi- 
nude  terp  idea  involving  the  lay¬ 
ing  on  of  male  hands..  Mons.  Chop- 1 
py,  a  standard  act  in  Walter’s  for¬ 
mat,  raises  giggles  with  his  “wed- 1 
ding”  scene,  using  backs  of  his 
lovely  models.  I 

Dick  Estes  and  Jet  MacDonald! 
make  a  handsome  '  pair  of  lead  i 
singers,  handling  their  lyric  spe¬ 
cials  in  fine  style  arid  providing  ! 
spark  to!  the  group  numbers  in 
which  the  contingent  of  prancers 
arid  wklkers  are  displayed. 

Odd  note  in  it  all  is  Billy  Fel¬ 
lows.  His  upbeat  rhythmics  worked, 
blit  on  the  88-keys  and  to  record 
pantos,  on  Ray  &  Presley  are  some¬ 
what  of  an  anomaly  in  the  overall 
pic.  Productioriwise,  the  mucho- 
talk  sparking  is  again  provided 
from,  the  physical  adds,  such  as  the 
swimming  pool  which  rises  up  from 
lower-stage  level,  complete  to  frol¬ 
icking  water-lovelies  and  the  be- 
low-flyers;  bubble  bath— for  real- 
setting  in ;  which  the  showgals  dis¬ 
port  themselves,  to  finale  the  pool 
scene.  Costuming  is  in  the  class 
manner  with  color  arid  originality, 
to  lend  brilliance  to  the  staging. 

Lory. 


Quagiirios,  London 

London:  Jan.  8. 

Harriott  &  Evens,  toith  Tommy 
Maxwell  &  Bob.  .Howard;  ; Tommy 
Watt  Orch;:  Roy  Wallis^  Leslie 
Baker  Quartet;  $5.25  mtnimion. 


The  genial  colored  Jamaican  act, 
Harriott  &  Evans,  prove  very  much 
to  the  taste  of  the  supper  cus¬ 
tomers  at  both  Quaglinos  arid  the 
underground  Allegro  cafe.  With 
Harriott  at  the  ivories  the  two  sing 
breezy  ditties  with  an  amiability 
that  is  quite  disarming  and,  if 
their  act  owes  much  to:  that  old 
favorite  of  bygone  days,  Layton  & 
Johnstone,.  the  pair  frankly  admit 
it  by  featuring  a  medley  of  their 
memories,  including  “What’ll  I 
Do,"  “Little  White  Lies”  and  “Bye 
Bye  Blackbird." 

The.  act  kicks  off  with  a  lively 
Scottish  medley  and  then  swings 
into  songs  from  the  shows,  “I  Get 
No  Kick  From  Champagne,” 
“Nightingale  Sang  in  Berkeley 
Square"  “A  Dame’s  a  Dame”  and 
“It’s  Almost  Like  Being  in  Love.” 
Snag  with  this  medley  is  that  each 
of  the  songs  is /too  long.  Chester 
Harriott,  also;  features.  £  slick  med¬ 
ley  ofi  Stepb«j«©oNa5n 


Chase  Club,  St.  Louis 

St.  Louis,  Jan.  7. 
Dennis .  Day,  The  Poodle  Sym¬ 
phony  (2  people,  6  dogs).  Ralph 
Flanagan  Orch  ( 12 ) ;  $1.50-$2  Cover. 


Dennis  Day  has  a  hard  act  to 
follow  (Six  lively  pooches),  but  he 
made  it  with  the  larnyx  unbowed 
in  his  debut  engagement  at  -the 
Chase  Club  (Jan.  7-20).  Opening 
strong  with  “You’ve  Got  to  Give 
Thein  All  You’ve  Got,"  spotlight¬ 
ing  right-onthe-  button  impressions 
of  Liberace,  Lawrence  Welk  and 
Johnny  Mathis,  Day  held  the  siz¬ 
able  opening-night  audience  all  the 
way  with  soaring  tenor  forays,  into 
good  pld  Irish  balladry,  Irish  anec¬ 
dotes  and  a  fetching  flair  for  the 
comic  side  with  a  dialect  version 
of  “Around  the  World”  and  a  crazy, 
mixed-up  “Pagliacci,”  which  some¬ 
how  managed  to  wind  up  as  the 
“Mickey  Mouse  Club"  thenffe  song. 

Day  makes  with  chatty,  friendly 
approach  between  songs  and  in¬ 
formal,  congenial  tone  of  the  whole 
act  Carries  through  right  to  the 
curtain, 

Sally  arid  Joe  Novelle  and  their 
Poodle  Symphony,  the  opening  act, 
is  as  charming  and  funny  a  doggy 
turn  as  ever  came  down  the  pike,: 
Six  French  poodles  make  up  the 
“Symphony,”  and  at  one  trine  arid 
another,  during  the  fast  arid  furi¬ 
ous  goings-on,  they  play  a  bass 
drum,  a  cello,  a  piano  and  jump  in 
and  out  of  the  upright  like  per¬ 
petual  motion.  They  don't  miss  a 
trick  anywhere.  All  different  col¬ 
ors,  too,  for  good  measure— pure 
white  to  baby  pink. 

Ralph  Flanagan’s  orchestra,  con¬ 
tinuing  as  the  house  band  till  Feb. 
5,  sticks  for  the  most  part  to  its 
comriiercial  book  of  reliable  dance 
tempos.  Bob. 


*  Fontaine  Des  (fnafres 
Saisons,  Paris 

Paris,  Jan.  2. 

Lucette  Raillat,  Pierre  Ferret, 
Sandra,  Billy  Be'ck,  Tudal  &  Con- 
fortes,  Paul  Braffort;  sketches  with 
Beck,  Tuffal,  R.  Havard,  J.  C.% 
Merle,  ParabpsChi  Orch  (4);  $2.50* 
minim  m. 


This  cabaret,  along  with  Chez 
Agnes  Capri,  L’Amiral  and  Chez 
Gilles,  seems  to  be  the  last  one 
that  still  appeals  to  the  mind  and 
intelligence  rather  than  only  the 
orbs.  Nary  a  strip  here  as  riew  en¬ 
tertainers  are  introed  and  some 
good  risible  sketches  are  uncorked- 
With  a  fair  price  fag,  this  looks  to 
continue  its  career  in  a  fading  nit¬ 
ery  field  here, 

Billy  Beck  starts  with  a  clown 
number  in  which  he  mimes  most 
types  6f  Qircusy  acts.  He  has  a 
good  idea,  plus  feel  for  timing,  but 
more  :  development  is  needed  be¬ 
fore  this  bit  can  extend  into  a  full- 
fledged  number.  Sandra  is  a 
chantoosey  who  belts  without  the 
proper  songalog  or  personalized  as* 
pects.  She  needs  much  more  work 
before  she  can  hit  the  regular  spots 
here. 

Pierre  Perret  sounds  just  like 
big  name  anarchic  singer  Georges 
Brassens.  His  songs  of  love  and 
foibles  lack  the  bite,  poetry  and 
incisiveness  of  his  mentor.  This 
will  always  keep  him  in  the  back¬ 
seat  unless  he  ^changes  his  style. 

Paul  Braffort  has  a  good  idea  in 
dry  patter  songs  on  science  in 
everyday  life,  but  more  meaty,  ma¬ 
terial  is  needed  for  this  type  of 
stint. 

Tudal  &  Confortes  do  a  panto-? 
mime  takeoff  on  early  flickers,  with 
a  flickering  light  source.  However, 
their  inventiveness  is  not  up  to  the 
original,  which  makes  this :  lag. 
More  timeliness  would  help, 
though  pacing  is  good.  Lucette 
Raillat  is  the  one  real  talent  un¬ 
veiled.  Shrewd,  shrill  pipes  un¬ 
fold  some  lowlife  pre-war  ditties, 
helped  by  thesp  knowhow  and  the 
right  inflections.  This  girl  should 
grow  into  a  telling  offbeat  singer 
here  before  long. 

Show  is  filled  out  by  two  sketch¬ 
es  by  Beck,  Tudal,  J.  e.  Merle-  and 
R.  Havard  Witty  and  deft,  they  get 
yocks  on  a  takeoff  of  Yank-Russo 
talks,  with  the  interpreters  being 
belligerent  and  the  reps  friendly, 
and  orie  on  current  events.  Good 
dance  rhythms.;  by  Paraboschi  orch 
(4)  fill  .in  the  interludes  well.  This 
is  a  pleasant,  if  not  outstariding 
entry  and  is  drawing  crowds  eager 
to  get  away  from  the  strip  .and 
fe»pec,f  Mosk. 


Monlin  flouge,  I„  A. 

Marie  Wilson*;  Jay  Lawrence,  Ben 
Yost’s  Royal  Guards,  Eddie  O’Neal 
Orch;  $5.50  minimum , 

Making  her  first  L.A.  .nitery 
atand  solo,  Marie  Wilsori  showed 
up  for  the  opening  night  (10)  with 
virtually  ,  rio  act.  Aside  from  one. 
fairly  amusing  skit  with  comedian 
Jay  ESwrence,  the  busty  comedi¬ 
enne  had  no  material,  instead 
flounced  in  and  out  of  fhe  sup* 
porting  acts  with  her,  contribut¬ 
ing  nothing  but  disappointment 
arid  a  display  of  her  most  pro¬ 
minent  features.  Fortunately,  Law-.  , 
rence  had  a  fine  comedy  act,  arid 
there  was  excellent  singing  by  Ben 
Yost’s  Royal  Guards,  and  they 
made  the  Moulin  evening  worth¬ 
while  where  .the  star  didn’t. 

Missr  Wilson  ,  played  the  dumb 
blonde  in  a  Mike  Wallace  takeoff 
with  Lawrence*  thereby  earning 
the  only  chuckles  she  evoked  all 
night.  A.  “comedy  dance’’  routine 
with  Nicco  proved  to  be  neither 
comedic .  nor ■.  a  dance:  Wearing  a 
low-cut  gown.  Miss  Wilson  appa¬ 
rently  hoped  this  would  take  care 
of  everythirig,  but  she  is  badly  in 
need  of  more  equpiment  than  her 
physical  attributes.  Soriie  writers, 
for  example.  -She  tried  to  clown  it 
up.  with  the  Yost  quartet,  succeed¬ 
ing  only  in  marring  a.  fine  singing 
act:  Lacking  material.,  the  blonde 
floated  around .  looking  helpless 
and  pathetic.  At  the  windup,  she 
introed  from  the  audience  Ken 
Murray — whom  she  could  have 
used  onstage  that  night. 

Comedian  Lawrence,  off  to  a 
lukewarm  start,  gets!  going  with  a 
brisk  monolog  and  biting  impres¬ 
sions  of  a  pontifical  newscaster, 
also  of  fight  announcers  Clem  Mc¬ 
Carthy  and  Bill  Corum  describing 
a  bout,  each  with  a  completely  dif¬ 
ferent  Version.  Latter  is  a  hilari¬ 
ous  bit,  and  the  audience  eats  it 
up.  Lawrence  has  considerable 
talent*  might  improve  his  act  by 
trimming  soriie  star  takeoffs  which 
were  only  mildly  amusing. 

Yost  quartet  Is  a  real  crowd- 
pleaser,  socking  over  such  tunes  as 
‘T’ve  Grown  Accustoiried  to  .  Her 
Face,”  “On  the  Street  Where  You 
Live,”  “I  Could  Have  Danced  All 
Night,’  “Song  of  the.  Sword,”  arid 
a  special  material  routine,  “Sing, 
Brother,  Sing.”  They  have  fine 
voices,  and  do  well  until  Miss  Wil¬ 
son  comes  on  to  distract  from  their 
act. 

Supporting  acts  are  going  to  be 
more  helpful  on  this  stand  than 
the  star  of  the  show,  unless  she 
gets  some  material  in  a  hurry. 
Show  iis  in  until  Jan.  28, .  when 
Sammy  Dayis  Jr,  opens.  Edclie 
O’Neil  and  his  orch  (18)  provides 
good  musical  support*  and  the 
Donn  Arden  production  is  lavish, 
and  excellently  performed. 

Daku. 


Grotte  del  Piecionc 

Rome,  Jan  2. 

..  Don  Marino  Barreto  Jr*  Orch 
(7);  $i.50-$2  minimum. 


The  Dori  Marino  Barreto  Jr. 
Orchestra  has  brought,  new  life— 
and  a.  new  policy— to  this  Roman 
nitery  landmark,  and  looks  to  pack 
them  in  for  the  rest  of  its  Current 
run  here.  Manager.  Piero  Gabrielli 
is  bringing  group  back  in  spring  to 
follow  up  its.  current  success. 

Orch,  which  has  played  other 
minor  Italian  dates,  reaches  the 
name  brackets  after  this  one.  It  al¬ 
ready  has  recorded  several  disks 
for  Philips  arid  doing  well/  in  that 
sector  too.  Barreto,  a  Cuban,  is 
the  prime  mover  of  the  combo,  and 
his  songs  have  the  polish  and  range 
to  put  him  across  with  most  listen¬ 
ers,  ^specially  those  in  the-'  teen 
bracket.  Songalog  is  varied  along 
current  fave  lines,  including  the 
just-arrived  calypso,  locally  new 
and  big.  Occasionally,  and  to  good 
effect,  he  also. renders  Italo  pops  to 
a  Caribe  beat. 

Adding  to  the  Barreto  draw  is 
the  teamwork  of  the  combo,  with. 
Maestro  himself  doubling  arid  tri¬ 
pling  on  various  instruments,  as 
well  as  the  vocals.  Band  is  also 
good  for  terping,  and  boite  is  cur¬ 
rently  cashing  in  Via  a  series  of 
tea  dances  which  draw  another 
segment  of  the  Roman  mob  for 
twice-weekly  dance  sessions  for  a’ 
$1.50  tab.  - 

Grotte  del  Piecione  is  pushing 
its-  culinary  department  as  an  .  ad¬ 
ditional  lure,  though  Its  midtow 
location  is  admittedly  a  handicap 
in  playing  for  the  foreign  ..  trade. 
Owner,  only  recently  taking  over 
direction  of  spot  himself,  claims 
his  . family’s  been  Iri  same  biz  here 
since  .1886  and  was  first  .Roman 
restaurant  to  .launch,  the  noy> 
famed  “canelloni.”  If  recently- 
instituted  quality  standard  is  mairi- 
tairied*  place  makes  a  good  after- 
dark  buy  in  a  city  which  can  use 
more  of  the  same.  Van  Wood  crch, 
another  top/ Italo  draw,  is  booked 
i  ,i.  r  l  n{.  dg  r 


67 


Wednesday,  January  15, 1958 


VSxuety 


NIGHT  CLUB  REVIEWS 


Waldorf-Astoria,  X*  Y. 

Peatl  Bailey,  Emil  Coleman  & 
Bela  Bdbai  Orchs;  $3-$4  covet.  ' 

Claude  C.  Philippe’s  foray  into 
the  realm  of  new  acts  for  the  Hil¬ 
ton  Hotel  flagship  has  paid  off  in 
a  new  set  of  regulars.  Pearl  Bailey, 
a  fixture  dn  the  vaude  and  cafe 
Circuits  for  some  years,  broke  into 
eastsideries  with  several  dates  at 
the  Blue  Angel  and  the  defunct 
La  Vie.  Philippe  made  her  a.  Wal¬ 
dorf  Attraction  and  it  seems  that 
she’ll  be  good  for  an  annual  vis¬ 
itation  in  the  Empire  Room  for 
some  years  to  epme. 

Miss  Bailey,  who  opened  on  New 
Year’s  Eve,  supplements  her  ether 
ingredients  with  an  earthiness  that 
hits  its  mark  in  sophisticated  cen¬ 
tres.  She  has.  an  enjoyable  man^ 
ner  of  toying  with  a  lyric,  casting 
asides  and  muttering  to  the  audi¬ 
ence  in  a  yock-prOducing.  manner. 
With  this  equipment  comes  a  gen¬ 
uine  know-how  in  the  lyric  depart¬ 
ment  that  translates  itself  into 
beaucoup  customer  acceptance. 

Miss  Bailey  has  a  lot  of  rieWma- 
terial  for  this  date,  including  an 
arrangement  of  “My  Man,”  an  item 
tracing  a  girl’s  progress  “From 
Mouton  to.  Muskrat  to  Mink’  ahd( 
a  few  others  such  as  “I  Wanna  Get 
Married”  ,  and  a  “Poor  Butterfly” 
to  give  evidence  that  she  go  jnake 
a  go  at  it  as  a  straight  singer.  A 
nod  to  her  past  is.  given  with  her 
rendition  of  “Bill  Bailey  ”  one  of 
the  stalwarts  in  her  catalo'g.  The 
Park  Aveniieites  take  to  her 
avidly. 

Her  backing  is  by  Emil  Cole¬ 
man’s  orch  which  supplies  an  ex¬ 
cellent  brand  of  dansapation  as 
well.  For  the  pre-theatre  crowd, 
Bela  Bahai  provides  a  Magyar 
brand  of  pashy  music,  and  thence 
to  the  regular  relief  chores.  A  nqw 
face,  Louis,  is  now.  at  the  tape. 
Francois,  who  formerly  presided 
there;  has  been  elevated  to  head  of 
the  Waldorf  room  Service.  Jose. 

' 

Dunes,  Las  Vegas 

Las  Vegas,  Jan.  ?.. 

Harold  Minsky’s  “Treats  of 
Paris”,  with  Chiquita  Johnson, 
Carrie  Finnell,  Nita  &  Peppi,  Deon 
Robb,  Tana  Leigh, 7  Lisa  London, 
Francis  Brunn,  Tommy  (Moe)  Raft, 
Irv  Benson,  Joe  DeRita,  Murray 
Briscoe,.'  Elegantes  (4),  Minsky 
Dancers  (14),  Garwood  Van  Orch 
( 11) ;  $3  minimum. 


Harold  Minsky’s  newest  entry  in 
Vegas’  bare-bosomed  brigade  is. 
called  “Treats  of  Paris,”  and  it’s 
appropriately  saturated  with  the: 
hurley  flavor.  Chiquita  &  Johnson 
are  featured,  and  per  usual,  this 
terp  team  displays  close  with  its 
agility  and  precision  lifts.  Carrie 
Finnell,  she  of  the  performing 
bosoms,  is  held  over  and  is  greeted 
with  both  yocks  and  raised  eye¬ 
brows. 

Deon  Robb,  a  pint-sized  looker, 
does  a  graceful  turn  as  a  ballerina; 
Tana  Leigh  and  Lisa  London  ca¬ 
pably  handle,  the.  bumps  &  grinds 
department;  and  Francis  Brunn, 
who  is  a  sort  of  Jose  GreCo  of  .  the 
jugglers,  scores  with  his  speedy 
balancing  'and  tossing  trickery. 

Nita  .&  Peppi,  a  brother-sister 
tumbling  act,  is  one  of  the  best  of 
its  kind,  and  •  the  youngsters  bow 
off  to  thunderous  mittirig.  The  Ele¬ 
gantes  (4)  provide  good  production 
songology.  The  ancient  burlesque 
sketches  are  handled  properly  for 
maximum  yocks,  and  are  in  'the 
skillful  hands  of  vets  Tommy  (Moe) 
Raft,.  Irv  Benson,  Joe  DeRita,  and 
Murray  Briscoe.  Garwood  Van  orch, 
deserves  special  credit  for  con¬ 
sistently  fine  musical  backing. 

Duke. 


Black  Orchid,  Chi 

Chicago,  Jan.  11. 
Dinah  Washington  (with  Eddie 
Chamblee )  and  trio,  Herkie  Styles, 
Slim.  Gaillard ,  Joe  Patjiello  Ttio; 
$L50  cover. 


Just  before  opening  in  these 
intime  quarters,  Dinah  Washington 
had  completed  a  date  at  the  capa¬ 
cious  Roberts  Show  Lounge  on  the 
Windy  City’s  southside;  The  sud¬ 
den  switch  from  bigness  to  small¬ 
ness  may  have  something  to  do 
with  why  she  failed,  to  ignite  the 
opening  night  (10)  Crowd  here.  It 
was  clear  she  did  not  have  the 
feeling  of  the  room,  and  her  20 
minutes  onstage  never  jelled. 

Miss  Washington's  attractive 
vocal  apparatus  is  distinguished  by 
a  sensuous  trill,  and  she  has  a 
sharp  sense  of  rhythm,  but  for 
some  reason  she  used  these  plusses, 
to  the  full  on  orily  a  couple  of 
occasions — |n  her  swingy  .  opener 
and  in  “Teach  Me  Tonight,”  "her 
best-lauded  offering  of  the  eve-: 
ping.  Qn  two  occasions  she  en¬ 
gaged  in.  moderately  charming 
duets  with  her  spouse  Eddie  Cham¬ 
blee  (who  .  backs  her  otherwise  on 
the.  sag),  but  these  failed  to  reg¬ 
ister- nfc1 ‘high  points.,  Her-'OWn 


rthythm  trio  provided  comfortable 
support  throughout.  * 

Comedian  Herkie  Styles  is  an¬ 
other  of  those  talented  young  com¬ 
ics  in  dire  need  of  a  concept,  not  to 
say  material.  He  unloads  a  diffu¬ 
sion  of  oldstyle  one-liners,  most,  of 
them  on  the  unsophisticated  side, 
in  a  style  built  around  berating  the 
audience.  Styles  gets  off  /a  few 
good  ones,  and  he  manages  a  steady 
round  of  chuckles,  but  his  particu¬ 
lar  handicap  in  this  setting  is  that 
it  has  lofig  been  a:  showcase  for 
the  “new  school”  Of  wits,  the  eru¬ 
dite  laughmakers.  Which  he  is  not 
one  of. 

A  last  minute  addition  to:  the 
bill,  Slim  Gaillard .  fairly  steals  the 
honors  with  a  diverting  turn  that 
instantly  warms  up  the  house.  He 
is  a  prepossessing  fellOW  With  On 
amusing. line  of  hipster  doubletalk, 
impressive  songwriting  credits;  and 
a  pair  of  enormous  hands  that  help 
him  to  cut  up;  in  madcap  fashion 
on  variety  of-  instruments.  He 
plays  the  piano,  with  the  backr 
sides  of  his  fingers,  hitting  occa¬ 
sional  chords  With  his  elbows  and 
feet,  a  sft|pt  which,  serves  ;to  cap¬ 
ture  audience  interest  early,  and  he 
never  loses  it.  Bulk  of  Gaillard’s 
numbers  are  those  he  cleffed — 
“Flat  Foot  Floogie,”  “Cement 
Mixer,”  “Tutti  Frutti”  and .  such— 
and  he  does  them  with  the  same 
whimsy  that  characterizes  all  his 
doings; 

Styles  and  Gaillard  are  backed 
by  Joe  Parnello’s  competent  house 
triol  Show  runs  through  Jan.  24 
when  Jack  El  Leonard  and  June 
Perry  take  over.  Les. 


Edd.ys%  R.  C. 

Kansas  City,  Jan.  10. 
Pepper  Davis  St  Tony  Reese, 
Trudy  Richards,  Tony  DiPardo 
Orch  (8);  $1,  . $1.50  cover. 


Several  times,  before  Pepper 
Davis  and  Tony  Reese  have  played 
the  Eddy  Supper  Club,  and  each 
time.,  they  have  come,  around  with 
something  'different;  They  have 
much  of  their  old  material  and 
have  added  many  hew  bits  and 
twists,  so  the  customer,  sees  what! 
he  expects  and  a  great  deal  more. 

Added  to  the  comedy  turn  is. 
Trudy  Richards;  the  Capitol  songr 
stress  in  her  first  K>  assignment. 
In  the  opening  spot  she  proves  to 
be  a.  chanteuse  of  the  sophisticate 
mold,  sticking  to  .the.  “vintage 
songs,"  as  she  calls  them,  and- de¬ 
serving  a.  fine  hand  for  her  20  min¬ 
utes.  Most  of;  her  numbers  for  the 
opening  show,  were  so  seldom 
heard  as  to  seem  almost  special 
material  for  her,  including  oldies 
like  “A  Hundred  Years  from  To¬ 
day”  and;  “Most  Gentlemen  Don't 
Like  Love.”: 

Davis  and  Reese  break  right  into 
a  stream  of  laughs  with  their' open-, 
ing  chatter  and  banter  and.  bits  of 
business  on  assorted  items,  and 
come  arouhd  to  some  of  their 
trademarked  sequences,.. the  broad¬ 
ly  satirized  impressioris,  and  the 
“Twenty-one”  sa  t  i  r  e  on  quiz 
shows,  always  with  Davis  the.  good 
and  Reese  playing  if  straight:  As 
ever  their  sequence  of  the  punchy 
boxfighter  "  being  interviewed  is 
solid  With  several  new  comedy 
punches,  and  their  beating  and 
dancing  ort  the  oversized  tom  toms, 
is  a  sock  finish.  They  make  40  mi  - 
utes.  seem  like  a  coffee  break,. 

Next  up;  at  Eddy’s  will  be  Andy 
Williams  opening  Jan.  24  in  a  re¬ 
turn  date.  Quin. 


Hotel  Mnehlebach,  K.  C. 

Kansas  City,  Jan.  7. 
Four.  Coins,  Ken  Harris  Orch  (8) 
with  Lorraine  Daly;  $1-$1.50  cover; 


After  more  than  two  years  the 
FoUr  Coins  are  back  for  their  sec¬ 
ond  stand  in  town,  albeit  their  first 
in  the  Terrace  Grill  of  the  Muehle- 
bach.  Recently  the  unit- underwent 
a  change  as  George  Mantalis  went 
into  a  GI  uniform,  to  be  replaced 
by'  Jack  James  on  the  baritone 
part.  Chahge  is  scarcely  percepti¬ 
ble  to  the  average  listener,  how¬ 
ever,  and  they  should  continue  to 
roll,  right  along. 

If  opening  night  is  a  criterion 
the  boys  .are  something  of  a  draw, 
for  the  Grill  had  its  best  house  in 
many  months,  with  a  good  sprin¬ 
kling  of  younger  patrons,  some¬ 
thing  not  seen  too  ofteh  here.  Ken: 
Harris  does  the  m.c.  honors  arid 
leads  off  the  show  with  a  fanciful 
“Curiiina”  by  the  'orch,  then  turns 
it  over  to  the  lads. 

They  reel  off  30  minutes  of  their 
Classy  vocal  work,  including  the 
Epic  label  hits,  “Shangri-La,”  “My 
Ohe.  Sin”  and  “Follow  Your  Heart,” 
Us  well  as  “All  Shook  Up,”  “Bana- 
rfia  Boat  Song/’  “Zing  Went  the 
Strings  of  My  Heart,”  a  medley  of 
old  faves  and  others.  They  show 
plenty  of  power  and  versatility  and 
make  a  tightly  knit  show  of  it,  to 
the  delight  of  patrons.  Lineup  has 
George  James  as  lead  singer,  Mike 
Jamies,  as  tenor,  James.  Gregorakis 
as  bass  and  Jack  James  as  baritone. 
This  bill  holds  to  Jan.  Id. 
l.-  fois.  •  Quin.yi 


Latin  Quarter,  N.  Y. 

.  (FOLLOWUP) 

V  The  longrunning  revue  at  the 
■‘Eddie  Risman-managed  emporium 
has  now  gotten  an  Oriental  slant. 
The  changes  of  acts  have  provided, 
a  picturesque  change  of  pace  as! 
well  as  theme,  with  result  that  the 
show,  with  sufficient  pruning,, 
promises  to  maintain  the  Latin 
Quarter  traditions  of  entertain¬ 
ment. 

In  keeping  with  the  motif,  the 
LQ  has.  a  set  of  acts  to  match.  The 
toppers  in  this  department  are 
rhagico  Galli  Galli  and  dancer 
Chandra  Kaly.  Galli  Galli  Works 
his  familiar  chicks  and  small  coins 
routme  in  the  usual  applause-win¬ 
ning  manner.  A  couple  of  assist¬ 
ants  commandeered  from  the  audi¬ 
ence  help.  him.  attai  his  usual 
degree  Of  success. 

Kaly,  how  working  as  a  single, 
has  an  authentic  brand  of  East. 
Indian:  terps  that  appeals  to  a  mass 
as  well  as  a  class  market.  His 
costumes  are  resplendent  with  lbtsa 
gold  braid  to.  provide  a  note  of 
regal  color  and  his  terping  com¬ 
pletes  a  picture  that  evokes  a 
palm-pounding  mood. 

Aside  from  the  production,  there 
are  a  pair  of  identical  twins,  Jemal 
Sisters,  who  work  as  belly  balle¬ 
rinas;  Their  gyrations,  though 
oVerlong,  provide  a  lot  of  amuse¬ 
ment  for  both  the  male  and  female; 
sections  of  the  audience. 'There  is 
a  .  note  ’of  commercial  authenticity 
in  their  work  as  well. 

The  major  comedy  is  by  the 
three  Happy  Jesters,  one  with  a 
guitar  who  purvey  a  good  brand 
of  corn.  The  lads  are  energetic 
workers,  when  they  settle  down, 
and  show  a  good  brand  of  har¬ 
monics,  but  their  main  preoccupa¬ 
tion  is  with  a  broad  form  of  humor. 
One  pf  the  boys  has  a  very  pliable 
puss  with  voice  to  match.  Some¬ 
times  he  goes  overboard  for  metro¬ 
politan  audiences.  Generally,  the 
act  does  well* 

The  Boginos,  three  boys  arid  two 
girls,  produce  a  fine  brand  of 
risley.  Their  formations  and  tricks 
entice  applause  and  smooth  opera¬ 
tion  makes,  it  an  excellently  gaited 
turn; 

Marilyn  Ross,  who  has  played 
several  dates  at  the  LQ,  does  nicely 
in  her  song  spot  with  well-arranged 
standards  plus  a  French  and  Irving 
Berlin  medley.  She  joins .  Bob 
Kennedy  in  production  chores  as 
well.  The  Jo  Lombardi  orch  di  - 
penses  a  lot  of  comfort  .to  the 
talent.  With  his  ..excellent  musical 
backing  and  the  Buddy  Hariowe 
Trio  does  the  relief.  Jose. 


Easy  Street,  S.  F- 

San  Francisco;  Jan. 
Turk!  Murphy  &  San  .  Francisco 
Jazz  Band  (7)  ;  $2.50:  minimum. 


Turk  Murphy,  long  a  standout 
Frisco  draw,  debuted  his  new  club 
New  Year’s  Eve,  It  is  far  and  away 
the  top  spot  decor-wise  for  jazz 
in  this  area  and,  in  fact,  is  actually 
the  most  luxurious  club  in  town 
with  a  modern, .  acoustically  ex¬ 
cellent  setup  that  emphasizes  com¬ 
fort  arid  good  feeling. 

The  Murphy  crew*  hardy,  dix- 
ielanders,  belt  out  a  series  of  tradi¬ 
tional  -  jazz  numbers  that  include 
such  classics  as  King !  Oliver’s 
•’Workingman’s.  Blues,”  but  they 
are.  now  placing  more,  stress  on 
entertainment  than  formerly. 
Murphy  sings  an  engagingly, 
raucous  “St.  James  Infirmary 
Blues!’;  drummer  Thad  Vandan 
scores  effectively  with  a  barrel¬ 
house  version  of  the  old  jazz  ballad 
“Melancholy”  during  which  Mur¬ 
phy,  long  known  for  his  feuds  With 
drummers,!  takes  over  . on  the  tubs 
himself;  trumpeter  A1  Conger  does 
a  novel  recitation  of  “The  Crema¬ 
tion  of  Sam  McGhee”..whilst  the 
band  plays  subdued  dixie  behind 
him;  banjoist  Dick  Larami  kicks  up 
a  storm  with  a  banjo  solo  on 
“Runnin’  Wild”  and  pianist -Rote 
Clute  is  featured  on  "ClimaxRag.” 

The  whole  adds  up  to  solid  -en¬ 
tertainment  neatly  devised  to  snag 
the  attention  of  jazz  buffs  and 
society  night-outers  equally.  Busi¬ 
ness  was  very  good  opening  week 
and  the  new  spot  looks  •  like  a 
natural:  It's  aided  by  being  iri  the 
tourist  area  ,  of  North  Beach  — 
Fisherman’s  Wharf.  Rafe.; 


Mocamlio,  Hollywood 

Hollywood,  Jan,  8. 
Dolores  Hawkins,  Paul  Hebert 
Orch  (5),  Frankie  Sands  Trio;  $2 


With  the  upcoming  demise  of 
the  Guy  Mitchell  tv  show,  on  which 
she  has  been  a  regular,  Dolores 
Hawkins  is  available  for  the  nitery 
beat  again,  beginning  with  a  fort¬ 
night’s  stand  at  the  Mocambo.  The 
tv  exposure  and  her  Epic  diskings 
make  her  a  likely  prospect;  she's 
both  visually  and  aurally  appeal¬ 
ing.  But  for  maximum  response, 
she’ll  need  to  develop  more  of  an 
act  than  she’s  showcasing  here. 

For.  the  Mocambo,  Miss  Hawkins 
.  (Coffering  a  straight  songalog  that 
'LeffecSivfely  xJerrcotasfratftf  ■her*,  vneafy 


prowess  as  it  ranges  from  ballad  to 
rock  ’n’  roll.  There  could  be  more 
use  made  of  current  pop  material, 
but  what  she  has  selected  of  the 
evergreens,  like  ’Where  Or  When,” 
"My  Man”  and  “I’ll  Be  Seeing 
You,”  is  in  good  musical  taste  and 
effectively  handled.  For  a  change 
of;  pace,  she  includes  tunes  like 
“Good  Lovin’,”  and  “Satan,  Get 
Behind  Me  and  Push”  that  register 
and  she  exudes  a  personality  that, 
adds  to  her  floorside  impact. 

Paul  Hebert  orch  holds  over 
again,  backing  the  .  Show  and  al¬ 
ternating  with  the  Frankie  Sandsi 
Trio  on  the  night’s  dance  chores. 

Kap. 


F  ont  ainebleau,  Miami  B. 

Miami  Beachi  JanJ  11. 

Billy  Eckstine,  Phil  Foster,  The 
Szonys,  Murray  Schlamm,  Sacasas 
Orch;  $3.50-$7.50  minXynum. 

Assortment  of  components  in 
this  package;  jells  into  a  solid  and 
satisfying  whole  for  fablers,  albeit 
the  show  is  overlong. 

Eckstirie  is  playing  his  first  big 
hotel  cafe  date  here*  having  done 
well  by-the  b.o.  for  smaller  plush-* 
efies  in  former  seasons.  He  pro¬ 
jects  as-  strongly  in  the  La  Ronde 
as  in  the  rlesser-capacity  clubs,  but 
could  stand  with  a  bit  of  trimming 
on  his  book.  There’s  too  much  of 
the  same-style  approach  and  intro- 
gab  in  parts  ,.6f  his  stirit.  When 
Eckstine  hits  into  his  recording 
faves,  reaction  hits  a  rise  and  con¬ 
tinues  on  through  clever  impreshes 
of  his  contemporaries,  with  the 
Armstrong  takeoff — complete  to 
hofn-tooting-^earning  him  Rie  big 
payoff.. 

Foster,  in  his  usual  brusquely 
amiable  manner,  starts  out  at 
ambling  pace  and  increases  laugh- 
tempo  as  he  gets  the  feel  of  his 
auditors.  He  plays  his  vrabbag  of 
Brooklyn  accented  waggery  to  all 
sectors  of  the  Toom,  feeling  for  a 
New  York  group  and  angling  a  bit 
toward  them;  switching  to  interp  cf 
his  native  habitat  for  the  outland- 
ers.  The  .  blending  is  an  intelligently 
handled  one*  to  spark  the  yock 
returns  consistently  and  Wind  him 
a  winner:  In  his  case,  also,  there’s 
a  bit-too  much  of  the  casual  tempo, 
to  make  his  stay  seem  overlong. 

The  Szonys  open  the  show,  but 
rate  better  spotting.  Only  in  a 
Beach  hotel  cafe  could  this  happen, 
what  With  the  policy  of  triple¬ 
features  obtaining  during  season. 
Despite  the  cold  spot  handed  them, 
the  Szonys  quickly  get  them  to 
Warming  their  palms  via  gracefully 
achieved  spins,  lifts  and  split- 
slides,  all  smoothly  worked  out 
while  -delineating  their  feathery 
cohcepts .  in  ballet-modern-adagio. 
The  “Sleeping  Beauty”  finale  is  a 
finely  done  -straight  ballet  se¬ 
quence,  the  aud.  breaking  into 
spontaneous  mitting  throughout. 
They’re  a  class  act  that  belongs  in 
this  posh  setting. 

Murray  Schlamm  emcees  in 
literate  manner,  although  he.  too, 
is  going  in  for  the  overlong  intros 
arid  big  :  buildups.  Sacasas  and  his 
crew  show-back  in  top  manner.  ! 

Next  in  sight— on  the  21st— the: 
Ritz  Bros.  Lary . 


Beverly  Hills,  Newport 

Newport,  Ky.,  Jan.  7.” 

.  -  Patii  Moore  &  Ben  Lessy,  Eddie 
Peabody,  Donn  Arden  Dancers  (10) 
with  Clay  Muridey,  Maty  Fasset, 
Elite  Stattin;  Gardner  Benedict 
Orch  (lfr),  Jimmy  Wilber  Trio, 
Larry  Vincent ;  $3  minimum,  $4 
Sat. 


Two  standard  show  -  stopping 
turns,  Patti  Moore  &  Ben  Lessy; 
smart  comedy  team,  and  Eddie 
Peabody,  master  banjoist,  with  ex¬ 
cellent  backing  by  the  location  line 
and  band,  -build  a  fast  starter  for- 
another  year  in  this  Greater  Cincy 
sWankbry’s  lengthy  operation. 

Miss  Moore,  sweet  in  a  pink 
beaded  satin  gown*  and  tuxed  Ben 
Lessy,  as  bald  as  he  is  agile,  win 
new  rooters  in  this  Steenthtime 
visit.  As  slick  as  they  come  in.  sell¬ 
ing  songs  and  crossfire,  they' spice 
a  35-minute  routine  with  Lessy’s 
zany  dance  twirls,  popcorn  juggling 
and  piano  capers  with  Norman 
Hawes,  vet  co-worker.  Vocal,  treat¬ 
ments  include  "Mutual.  Admira¬ 
tion/’  “Jones  Boys,”:  “Hot  Diggity” 
and  an  oldie  clincher,  “Wait  Til 
the  Sun  Shines  Nellie,”  with  straws 
and  stepping. 

Peabody,  in  for  his  first  time 
after  36  years  in  the  business, 
socks  ’em  for  a  half-hour  with  pol¬ 
ished  plucking  of  the  banjo  and  his 
newly  Created  instrument,  banjo- 
lene,  a  six-string  banjo  with  guitar 
neck.  The  little  fellow’s  engaging 
personality  is  sharpened  by  bounc¬ 
ing  from  his  chair  atop  a  platform 
on  hot  finishes.  Merits  repeats. 

Donn  Arden  Dancers  open  and 
close  the  proceedings  with  classy 
production,  numbers  With  Clay 
Mundey  and  Mary  Fassett  on  vo¬ 
cals  arid  Ellie  Stattin  the  featured 
stepper.  Beverlee  Dennis  tops  the 
iwo-framer  opening  Jan.  17.-  .• 

-vco'i.  Kolkeu! 


Ambassador  Hotel*.  L~  A* 

Los  Angeles,  Jan.  10. 

Fernanda  Montel,  Goeffrey  Hold¬ 
er  St  Co.  (5),  Ray  Anthony  ' Orch 
(12  > ;  Cover ,  $2>  $2.50. 

The  Cocoanut  Grove  is  peddling 
sortie  foreign  -  flavored  entertain¬ 
ment  in  this  layout  with  Gallic 
chanteuse  Fernanda  Montel  head¬ 
lining  and  the  dance  act  of  Geof¬ 
frey  Holder  &  Co*  dispensing  .pk- * 
tive  style  terpsichore  from  varidug;. 
areas.  It’s  ,  a  show  that  registers  ' 
well  with  ringsiders  and  word. of 
mouth  Will  help  make  the  final 
stages,  of  .the  run  better  than  the 
lack  of  any  real  marquee,  bait 
would  indicate. 

Miss  Montel  is,  ait  last,  a  French 
singer  who  looks  like  what  ringsid¬ 
ers  think  a  French  singer  should 
look  like.  A  striking  blonde  with  a 
deep  voice,  she  pours  on  the  charm 
and  salesmanship  in  a  30-minute 
songalog.  Bulk  of  her  material, 
however,  is  in  French  which  weighs 
against  it  for  the  normal  run  of 
Grove  patrons  since  it’s  an  act 
keyed  more  to  thS  demands  of  the 
more  cosmopolitan  boites.  More 
Anglo  Stuff,  or  at  least  mOre- 
familiar  French  material,  would 
make  the  turn  stronger.  She’s  bul¬ 
warked  by  some  effective  arrange¬ 
ments  and,  in  the  French  tradition, 
has  an  accordionist  join  the  Ray 
Anthony  band  to.  provide  the  prop¬ 
er  feel. 

Holder  troupe,  featuring  his 
wife  Carmen  De  Lavallade,  pro¬ 
vides  a  solid  opener  for  the  layout 
with  a  quartet  of  numbers.  Some 
Of  the  choreography  appears  to  be 
out  of  Jack  Cole  and  Lester  Horton 
out  -of  Uday  Shankar,  but.  it’s  ex¬ 
cellently  done  and  the.  unusual 
routines  deyelop  strong  impact  for 
ringsiders.  Act  gets  an  added  plus 
from  the  backing  of  a  pair  of  conga 
drummers  whose  solid  percussion 
Work  frames  the.  fine  dancing. 

Ray  Anthony  band  is  spotlighted 
in  a  “Record  Hit  Panorama”  that 
reprises  disclicks  of  many  years, 
done  generally  in  the  style  of  the 
originals..  It’s  a  good  gimmick,  al¬ 
though  a  trifle  overlong.  Anthony 
band  also  handles  the  dance  chores, 
drawing  from  an  extensive  library 
qf  good,  danceable  arrangements, 
most  of  them  from  the  large  collec¬ 
tion  of  Anthony  disk/  albums. 

Kap. 


Pack’s  II9  San  Francisco 

San  Francisco,  Jan.  8,  . 
Betty  Reilly  and  Orch  (5),  Mel 
Young  $1  admission. 


Betty  Reilly’s  a  blonde  ball-of- 
fite  who  can  really  belt  nut  a  tune. 
In' addition  to  singing  a  dozen, 
songs,  she  manages  two  complete 
costume  changes  off-stage,  dances, 
plays  the  guitar  and  keeps  up  .a 
stream  of  patter.  Her  band;  led  by 
flutist  Bobby  Hernandez,  ^doubles 
and  triples  on  a  variety  of  instru¬ 
ments,  joins  her  in  vocals  and  cuts 
up  nicely,  too. 

.  Miss  Reilly  comes  on  with 
“Won’t  You  Come  Home  Bill 
Bailey,”  segues  into  “Johnny  Gui¬ 
tar,”  does  a  bouricy  Irish  specialty, 
moves  into  ‘The  Butcher  Boy** 
(dovetailed  with  a  fairly  blue  and 
fairly  funny  yarn  about  Little  Red 
Riding  Hooker),  changes  her  gown 
and  mood  to  “Mademoiselle  de 
Paris,”  does  a  nice  Mexican  num¬ 
ber,  booms  Out  a  great  version  of 
“The  Begat,”  changes  to  slacks  for 
the  calypsonian  “Run,  Joe,  Run/* 
Warbles  the  Spanish  “Maria  Dol¬ 
ores,”  breaks  into  .  “Shake.  Rattle 
and  Roll,”  interspersed  with  imita¬ 
tions  of  Bette  Davis  and  Marilyn 
Monroe,  and  winds  up  with  “This 
Is  a.  Lovely  Way  to  Spend  an  Eve¬ 
ning.” 

.  Her  instrumentalists  tend  to  de¬ 
tract  from  her  occasionally  by  too’ 
much  gab,  but  generally  theyhffer 
strong  backing — on  their  instru¬ 
ments.  especially.  Check-grabbers 
become  increasingly,  enthusiastic 
and  she  gets  a  big  hand. 

Mel  Young,  whose  record  act  In 
a  Pack’s  II  standby*  completes 
show,  which  is.booked  for  a  month. 

Stef. 


Chez  Paree,  Chi 
.(FOLLOWUP) 

Chicago*  Jan.  8. 

Booking  of  Ella  Fitzgerald  into 
the  Chez  Paree  in  a  featured  ca¬ 
pacity  must  be  construed  as  an  ex¬ 
periment  by  the  nitery,  even 
,  though  the  chirper  has  for  years 
rated  as  the  topmost  in  her  genre* 

1  It  looked  like  it  might  be  a  case  of 
incongruent  idioms,  with  Miss  Fitz¬ 
gerald  an  uncompromising  jazz 
singer  and  the  Chez  clientage  gen¬ 
erally  preferring  the  animated 
variety  of  “heart”  singers.  But  the 
Warbler  armed  herself  with  an  at¬ 
tractive  songalog  of  evergreens 
paced  it  brilliantly  and  scored  -sol- 
1  idly,  even  eventually  with  the  non- 
hip  patrons.  Headliner  Sam  Lev- 
enson,  who  had  opened  a  week 
:  -  earlier,  had  to  hoe  it  slowly  In  the 
|  closing  spot  qqtil  the  enthusiasm 
'fttCtonttnuHl  dUlpagom  aiot 


68 


M68T  CXIJlt  REVIEWS 


PZ&Siuflrf 


Chez  Paree9  Chi 

(Continued  from  page  67) 
for  the  singer  subsided.  Together 
they  compromise  a  strong  bilk 

There  were  some  jafezophiles  in 
the  opening  night  audience  and,  in¬ 
deed.  it  was  then  Miss  Fitzgerald 
kindled^first  with  a  standup  out¬ 
pouring-"  of  faveS  by  Cole  Porter, 
Rodgers  &  Hart  and  the  like.  She 
was  in  great  Voice.  By  the  time  she 
lit  into  a  swingy  “Tisket-a-Tasket,” 
her  sole  novelty  trick,  the  good 
favor  had.  grown,  contagious.  Top 
offerings  were  an  .untempoed 
“Lady  Is  a  Tramp,”  a  distinguished 
“Bewitched,  Bothered  and  Bewil¬ 
dered,”  and  the  well-tiffed  capper, 
“St.  Louis  Blues.”  Interim  talk  was 
spare  and  intelligent,  and  the 
thrush  transacted  all  of  her  30 
minutes  onstage  from  the  station¬ 
ary  mike,  making  ’em  keep  their 
eyes  on  the  voice.  She  received,  ex¬ 
cellent  backing  from  Ted  FioRito’s 
house  orch  and  from  her  own 
rhythm  trio  topped  by  keyboarder 
Lou  Levy. 

Levenson,  a  longtime  favorite  in 
the  room,  continues  to  get  big 
laughs  from  his  goodnatured  ra- 
conteuring  on  the  old  folks  at 
home;  Les. 


St.  Moritz,  N.  Y. 

Violnettcs  (4)  .  with  Sidney 
Kassimir,  George  Kent;  no  cover, 
no  minimum. 


The  Cafe  de  la  Prilx  of  the  St. 
Moritz  Hotel  has  tried  various 
talent  policies  for  some  time,  but 
seems  to  have  some  sound  thinking 
poured  into  its  new  try.  The 
Charles  Taylor  hospice  is  operatr 
Ing  oh  the  theory  that  its  enter¬ 
tainment  is  an  adjunct  of  the 
restaurant  business:  It  has  a  policy 
of  instrumental  music  and  no  danc¬ 
ing,  which  eliminates,  the  20% 
impost,  and  at  the  same  time  pro¬ 
vide  a  pleasant  atmosphere  that 
promotes  listening,  fills  gaps  in 
the  conversation  and  encourages 
diners  to  linger  over  coffee  and 
cordials. 

The  bill  has  a  femme  quartet, 
the  Violinettes,  with  backing  by 
Sidney  kassimir.  Later  has  been 
the  amplified  guitarist  in  a  mul¬ 
titude  of  spots  around  town.  In 
each  instance,  his  instrument  has 
provided  sufficient  body  to  entice 
terpers  on  the  floor,  and  holds  a 
lot  of  drive. 

The  girls  are  nicely  garbed,  show 
a  high  degree  of  discipline,  and 
above  all  are  fine  fiddlers.  Their 
arrangements  are  carefully  tailored 
and  selections,  culled  from  pops, 
light  classics,  musicals  as  well  as 
the  schmaltzy  catalogs  out  of 
Vienna  and  Paris,  are  highly  en¬ 
joyable..  Their  groupings  are  simi¬ 
larly  well-planned.  Sessions  have 
pace  and  variety  as  well, 

Kassimir  conducts  from  an  un-‘ 
usual  post,  behind  the  femmes. 
He's  generally  Out  of  view  of  the 
audience,  but  his  guitar*  has  suf¬ 
ficient  drive  to  provide  guide- 
posts  for  the.  strings,  and  at  the 
same  time,  furnish  counterpoint 
and  a  solid  base. 

George  Kent,  provides  a  pictur¬ 
esque  brand  of  interlude  music  at 
the  piano,  with  the  bulk  of  his 
tunes  coming  from  musicals. 

Jose. 


Cave,  Vancouver 

Vancouver,  Jan.  7. 
Hi-L^ters  (5),  Scatman  Crothers, 
Mona  Desmond,  Peter  Suter  Orch 
(7);  $1.50-$2  cover. 


Show  at  the  Cave  comes  bigger 
than  boniface  Richard  Walters 
bruited  it,  offers  45  minutes  that 
should  click  on  anybody’s  rostrum. 

Bill  topping  Hi-Liters,  in  for  a 
first  from  a  responsive  six-week 
whirl  through  prairie  cities,  prove 
an  ingratiating  fivesqme  with  a.  10- 
tune  session  favoring  mostly  stomp 
V  roller  hits.  Pace-changers,  like 
“Paper-  Doll”  in  the  Mills  Bros, 
tradition,  "Qrie  Sera,”  "Lady  Be 
Good”  and  ‘Whifferipoof  Song”  cop 
warm  applause,  with  tab-lifters 
also  enthused  about  their,  takeoff 
on  Four  Knights’  w.k.  “O  Baby 
Mine.” 

Bass  Calvin  Williams  soloes  to 
strong  plaudits  on  “Rock  ■ri’  Roll 
Baby,”  with  lead  tenor  George 
Vereene’s  -fave  bit  emerging  as 
“Out  In  The  Cold'  Again.”  Act 
packs  .adequate  customer  woo. 

Scatman  Crothers,  to  Hollywood 
next  month  for  his  38th  screen 
credit  ton  “Porgy”>,  whams  'em 
in  the  aisles  to  cinch  his  personal- 
appearance  repute  solid  in  this 
sector  from opener,  “The  Shiniest 
Mouth  In  Town."  He  Stacks  as 
shiniest  boffo-copper  on  the  nitery 
beat  with  an  act  under  heading 
“very  special  material”  and  tend¬ 
ing  to  the  risque,  though,  never 
raw. 

Stint  defies  description.  He 
deploys  a  lyric  and,  without  bla¬ 
tant  parody,  satirizes;  gives  the 
treatment  to  “Ghost  Riders  In  The 
Firmament  (Sky).” 

Flash  impressions*  of .  “A  light-  - 
house i  ip  the  ocean,”  “A;  modern; 


miss,”  briefest  spoof-bit  on  “St 
Louis  BlueS”  get  -barely1  Parted, 
and  are.  abandoned  to  the  yock- 
makers,  a  hip-hillbilly  impresh  and 
a  real  gone :  ditty  bn  some  “ducky 
buckaroo  with  gorgeous  galouses,” 
which,  tipped  -even  the  blase- 
pose  ringsiders  off  the .  deep  end. 
Crothers,  polka-dotted  and  zooty, 
also  delivers  potent  upbeat  vocal- 
istics,  and  at  show  caught  included 
“Exactly  Like  You”  and.  “Please 
Don’t  Talk  About  .  Me” ‘to  similar 
sock  reaction. 

'  Mona  Desmond  is  a  lavish  silk- 
satn  ?peeler  who-divests  early,  then 
into  .sensiiou^acrb-jive  that  nears 
prestige  tfaiisapation  in  the  .  Afro- 
Cuban  manner.  An  artist  and  a 
slim  beige  doll  of  a  gal  to  boot. 

Toms ; 


Sans  Sooei,  Las  V egas 

Victor  Perry,  Carolyn  Gray,  Jim- 
hi y  Shaw,  Ricky  Aquary  &  The  4 
Keys.  Hoyt  Henry  Orch  (8);  pro¬ 
duced  by  George  Liberace;  no  cov¬ 
er  or  minimum., 

George  Liberace  inaugurated  a 
new  policy  of  entertainment  at  the 
Sans  Souci  Hotel  Friday  (3)  with 
the  opening  of  his  talent  “Show¬ 
case,”  featuring  show  biz  fledg¬ 
lings,  Jamaica  Room  lounge-type 
acts  begiif  at  9  p.m.  and  run  con¬ 
tinuously  without  a  break  until  3. 

Victor  Perry  performed  the 
duties  of  emcee  and  laced  his' in¬ 
troductory  chores  on  opening  night 
with  effective  routines  of  bis  own 
in  which  he  delivered  topnotch  as 
singer  arid  comic.  Perry  is  person¬ 
able,  with  an  accurate  sense  of 
timing*  and  a  perceptive  ability  for 
impreshes  he  performs  a  la  tongue- 
in-cheek. 

Show  includes  the  excellent  pop 
pipery  of  kingsized  looker  Carolyn 
Gray;  and  Jimmy!  Shaw,  whose 
cleancut  and  .  sharply  etched  pup- 
peteering  is  highlighted  by  a  socko 
clown  finale.  Shaw  gets  steady 
laughs  and  applause. 

Ricky  Aquary  &  the  Four  Keys, 
rock  ’n’  rollers,  deliver  a  solid  rou¬ 
tine  to  the  frenetic  manner,  with 
Aquary  doubling  on  the!  sax  and. 
warbling  several  r&r  faves;  topped 
by  “Silhouette.”  Hoyt  Henry  orch 
provides  first-rate  background: 

Duke. 


Black  Hawk,  .-$•  F. 

San  Francisco,  Jan.  7. 

Dave  Brubeck  >  Quartet ,  Cal 
Tjader  Quintet,  $1  door,  charge. 

The  Black  Hawk,  long  the  top 
modern  jazz  nitery  In  this  city,  has 
come  up,  with  one  of  the  strongest 
packages  it  has  sported  in  some 
time.  Brubeck,  Cal  Tjader’s  old 
boss,  is  a  solid  draw  on  his  own 
and,  added  td  the  rapidly,  rising 
Tjader  group,  figures  to  do  capa¬ 
city  business  during  the  month  of 
January,  traditionally  a  slow  one 
locally,-  .  ’ 

The  Brubeck  group  is  always  at 
ease  in  this  club  and  with  alto  sax- 
man  Paul  Desmond  at  top  form, 
drummer  Joe  Morello  continuing 
to  provide,  audience-pleasing  and. 
musician-inspiring  drum  Solos,  has 
hit  a  new  level  of  interest.  Top 
numbers  include  excerpts  from 
Brubeck's  “Jazz  Impressions  of  the 
U.SA,”  particularly  his  own  bal¬ 
lad,  “Summersang,”  and  “St.  Louis 
Blues”  ori  which  the  group  inter¬ 
play  scores  heavily  with  the  audi¬ 
ence.  . 

.  Tjader,  who  has  specialized  in 
merging  jazz  with  Latin-  music, 
plots  a  neat  set  which  features  first 
his  jazz  quartet  with  pianist  Virice 
Guara.ldi  in  several  solo  spots  and 
then  brings  on  conga  drummer. 
Luis.  Kant  for  a  show  of  Latin  ; 
pyrotechnics  in  Which,  the.  leader, 
switches  from  vibes  to  timbales. 
The  Tjader  group  is  rapidly  build¬ 
ing  into  one  of  the  strongest:  jazz 
attractions  on  the  west  Coast. 

Rafe. 


Steuben’s.  Boston 

..  Boston,. Jan,  9:  *’ 

Galen  ,  Gilbert  Si  Russell,  Ldu 
Testa  &  Shifleyi  Don  Dennis,.  Tony 
Briino  Orch  (5),  Harry  Fink  Trio; 
$2.oQ  minimum. 

Galena,  striking  blonde  Contin¬ 
ental-type  chantoosy  With  intrigu¬ 
ing  accent,  hokes  it  up  here-  a  la 
Hildegarde,  whom  she  carbons,  in 
a  slick  stint  of  music  and  laughter. 
Opening  with  serioso  “  Wunderbai:” 
/she  goes  to  the;  Hildegarde  copy 
with  handkerchiefs  and  all,  waltzes 
:with  lads  from  the  aud,  and  gets 
over  a  sexy  French:  “I  Love  Paris” 
bit.  The  well-stacked  singer  in  a 
black-sheath,  sequined  strapless 
gown  gets  big  band  all  through 
from  aud.  Lou  Testa  &  Shirley 
open  the  show  with  some  fancy' 
roller  skating  routines  and  a  flash 
finish  on  table. 

Don  D  e  n  n  is  pipes  “With  A 
Song,”  “Fascination”  and  has  fun 
with  a  polka  for  aud  participation. 
He  nabs  his  .  Usual  big  rounds.  Gil¬ 
bert  &  Russell  get  off  some  smart 
terp  routines.  This  -  layout  -  exits 


Fairmont,  SahFraneiseo 

San  Francisco,  jan.  7. 

.  Robert  Clary,  Ernie  Heckscher 
Orch.  (11);  $2.50  cover. 


Robert  Clary  is  a  clever!  talented 
entertainer.  Whether  it  is  too  much 
to"  ask  him  to  carry  a  show  all  by 
himself  in  the  cavernous  propor¬ 
tions.  of  the  Fairmont’s  Venetian 
Room  is  rather  beside  the  point. 
It  might  be  better  if  he  got  some 
help,  but  alone  he  still  manages 
to  get  a  fine  hand  from  the 
audienc^ 

Clary  comes  bn  with  his  inimi¬ 
table  “Lucky  Pierre;”  follows  with 
a  so-so  novelty  about  a  set  of 
triplets,  does  “Fleur  Bleu”  (sort  a 
French  scat  song),  and  then  a 
couple  of  Arthur  Schwartz-Howard 
Dietz  oldies,  “I  Guess  I’ll  Have  to 
Change  My  Plan”  and  ‘Til  Go  My 
Way  by  Myself.”  In  French  and 
with .  gestures,  be  kids  “Suddenly 
It’s  Spring;”  does  “Won’t  Dance” 
sitting  down:  and  jumping  around, 
takes  .  Off  on  “Where  or  When”  I  a 
la  Carmen  Lombardo,  belts  out  a 
pretty,  “You  Make  Me  Feel  So 
Young”/ and  closes  his  40-minute 
stint  with  that  “New  Faces”  spe¬ 
cial,  “I’m  in  Love  with  Miss 
Logan:" 

Clary’s  personality  is  luminous, 
his  big  voice  sure  and  true.  At 
times  his  comic  bits  seem  too  fey 
for  the  check-grabbers  and  he 
tends  to  gab  a  little  too  much  be¬ 
tween,  numbers,  but  he  gets  an 
excellent  audience  response,  gen¬ 
erally  speaking,  and  puts  out  for 
all  he’s  worth. 

Ernie  Heckscher’s  orch  opens 
the  show  with  .an  eight-minute 
“King  and  .1”  medley  and  offers 
good  support  for  Clary.  Show’s 
scheduled  to  run  through  Jan.  29. 

Stef. 


Little  Club,  Y.  Y. 

Jack  Barton Irv.  Manning;^ 3 
minimum. 


.  When  .  Billy  Reed,  the  Little 
C  hi  b’s  entrepreneur  -  on  -  roller¬ 
skates,  opened  his  posh  eastsidery 
nearly  11  years  ago,  he  kicked  off 
with  “polite  jazz”— small,  soft  com¬ 
bos  to  complement  the ;  talk.  The 
system  prevailed  until  about  1952 
when  he  went  in  for  a  single  piano, 
kind  of  Continental,  and  also  to  act 
as  background  for  the  gab.  Now 
he’s  bade  to  more  of.  that  polite 
jazz  Stuff  with  Jack  Banon  on  piano 
and  Irv  Manning  on  bass, 

Banon  and  Manning,  as  clean-cut 
and  well-mannered  a  pair  of  back¬ 
ground  musicalers  as  have  been 
coming  across  in  these  parts  in 
some  time,  are  in  for  an  indefinite 
spell,  replacing  genteel  pianist 
Kurt  Maier  (who  alw;ays  takes  off 
for  Nassau  this,  time  of  year).  The 
brace  can  also .  be:  listened  to  ap¬ 
preciatively.  The  mellow  progres¬ 
sions  of  piano  .arid  bass,  in:  arrange¬ 
ments  of  standards,  is  attractive  if 
hot  distinctive.  Some  of  their  stuff 
is  played  in  straight  pop  manner, 
but  even  the  jazz  is  mild  enough 
for  newcomers. 

Ex-hoofer  I  Reed’s-  tablehopping, 
done  with  much  warm  and  exuber¬ 
ant  story-spinning,  keeps  every¬ 
body’s  Vocal  chords  moving,  which 
is  exactly  the  idea  for  the  50-seater 
room. ...  Art. 


Ewige  Lampe,  Berlin 

.Berlin,  Jam  3. 

Stachelschweine  (Porcupihesy 
production,  “Der  Fette  axis  Ding s* 
da”  (The.  Fat  One  From  Dingsda), 
in  21  numbers,  written  by  Rolf 
Ulrich,  Jo  Herbst  and  Thierry,  with 
additional  contributions  by  Therese 
Angelo ff,  F,  D,  Gass,  Heinz  Rein, 
Rainer  Wagner,  -Richard  Walter, 
directed  by  Dietniar  Behnke.  Fea¬ 
tures  Ingeborg  Welhnanh,  Inge 
WoJffberg,  Wolf  gang  Gruner,  Jo 
Herbst,  Joachim  Roecker]  Achim 
Strietzel;  music,  Klaus  Becker; 
piano  accompaniment.  Max  Wer¬ 
ner,  Klaus  Becker;  sets,  WV  V. 
Toe  ff  ling;  costumes,  Rotraud  Piehl - 
Braun;  technical  arrangements , 
Ronald  Rochow,  Dieter  Wendrich ; 
$1.20  top.. 


Berlin’s  Stachelschweine  (Porcu¬ 
pines)  is  and  remains  this  country’s 
finest  literary  cabaret  group.  Only 
complaint  on  the  part  of  its  client¬ 
ele's  that  it.  comes  along  with  too 
few  preems.  This  is  due  to  the  fact 
that  each  of  its  programs  keeps 
registering  such  a  success  that  at 
least  a  year’s  run  is  always  guar¬ 
anteed,  and  there  is  no  exception 
this  time.  The  new  program  even 
surpasses  the  quality  of  the  last 
one  by,  a  considerable  margin. 

As  usual  with  the  Porcupines, 
latter’s  program  titles  are  in  them¬ 
selves  something  to  larigh  about. 
New  presentation  calls  itself  “Der 
Fette  aus  Dingsda,”  which  means 
“The  Fat  One  From  Dingsda.”  This 
is  aii  adaptation  from  “Der  Vetter 
aus  Dingsda,”  the  title  of  an  Ed¬ 
uard  ’Kuenneke  operetta.  “Vetteri’ 
(aqusi»)i  rhjsme*  iwith 


Wednesday,  January  15,  1958 


One)  in  German,  and  so  thMrword- 
play  is  alfeady  a  substantial  joke. 

“The  Fat  One”  refers  to  the 
German  '  postwar  Babbitts  wbo, 
after  the  German  “Wirtschafts- 
wunder”  (economical  miracle), 
started  eating  to  such  an  extent 
that  they  got  fat.  In  fact,  much 
fun  is  poked  at -these  Teutonic  fat¬ 
ties  who  enjoy  their  country’s  eco¬ 
nomical  miracle  and  new  demo¬ 
cratic  freedom,  plus  life  itself,  to 
such  a  degree  that  they  began  to 
forget  that  not  so  long  ago  there 
was  a  war  which  brought  so  much 
mistery  all  over  the  world;  arid  that 
the  lion’s  share  of  that  misery  was 
created  by  their  own  fellow  hu¬ 
mans;  perhaps  partly  even  by 
themselves. 

One  can’t  help  but  admire  the 
“Stachelschweine”  in  a.  presenta¬ 
tion  that  is  again  two  and  a  half 
hours  of  fun  non-stop.  There  are 
gags,  jokes,  witty  arid  sophisticated 
Word-play  galore — and  it  keeps 
moving  fast  without  a  dull  mo¬ 
ment. 

Although  it’s  chiefly  an  ensem¬ 
ble  achievement,  one  of  the  .  six 
-performers  draws  the  largest  share 
of  the  applause— ^Wolfgang  Gruner. 
He  appears  in  12  of  the  21  num¬ 
bers  for  a  big  bravo  on  endurance, 
alone.  The  way  he  talks,  acts  and 
handles  his  mimicry  makes  him  a 
cabaretist  of  genuirie-like  dimen¬ 
sions.  ids  “Hotel  Porter,”  a  IQ- 
minute  solo  ,  which  sees  him  talk¬ 
ing  with  machine-gun  rapidity 
about  all  hot  present-day  topics,  is 
a  howler. 

Jo  Herbst,  absent  from  the  Por¬ 
cupines  for  some  time,  is  highly 
effective  as  “little  Nazi”/ who  wish¬ 
es  he  would  have  been  a  bigger 
Nazi  as  this  might  have  helped  his 
career.  He’s  'also  very  amusing  in 
other  sequences  and  his  return  to 
this  cabaret  erisenibie  was  much 
bheered. 

Achim  Strietzel  arid  Joachim 
Roecker,  both  riiore  the  quieter 
type,  of*  cabaretists,  are  also,  very 
good  and  dependable,  as  usual. 
Ingeborg  Wellman  and  Inge  Wolff¬ 
berg,  the  two  females;  in  the  group, 
rate  the  same  kudos.  In  .  addition, 
both  are  also  competent  actresses 
now. 

Direction  by  Dietniar  Behnke  is 
well  paced.  Music  by  Klaus  Becker 
is  catchy.  Most  of  the  melodies  are 
popular  items  which  have  been, 
supplied  with  new  lyrics!  The  texts 
are  mostly  brilliant,  always  decent 
and  only  seldom  on  the  corny  side. 
Costumes;  sets  and  other  technical 
credits  are  fine. 


Sahara,  Las  Vegas 

•*'  Las  Vegas,  Jan.  7- 

Donald  O’Connor,  Sidney  Miller, 
Amazing  Mr.  Ballantine,  7  Ashtons, 
Saharem  Dancers  (16),  Cee  David-  , 
son  Orch  115);  speciaL-material,. 
Sidney.  Miller,  Mel  Diamond;  cho¬ 
reography  for  O’Connor,  . Louis  Da- 
Pron;  musical  director  and  arrang¬ 
er,  Al  Mack;  Dave  Berman  .cos¬ 
tumes  designed  by  Lloyd  Lambert 
and  A Ibert  Deano;  stage  manager, 
Sy  Lein;  production  supervisor, 
Phil  Garris;  produced  by  tan 
Irwin;  $3  minimum. 

Donald"  O’Conrior’s  new.  turn  in 
the  Congo  Room  is  a  sriappy  om¬ 
nibus  of  songs,  terps  and  yocks. 
Star’s*  talents  are  blended,  neatly .  in 
a!  bill  which  includes'  writer-per¬ 
former  Sidney  Miller,  the  Amazing 
Mr.  Ballantine,  the  Seven  Ashtons, 
the  Saharem  Dancers  (16)  and  the 
Cee  Davidson  orch. 

Team  of  O’Connor,  arid  Miller 
gets  its  biggest  laughs  With  im¬ 
preshes,  ,  complete  with  costumes* 
of  such ’as  Sophie  Tucker,  Jayne 
Mangfield,.  Mickey  Hargitay,  Judy 
Garland,  Marlene  Dietrich,  .Yul 
Bryniier,  Mike  Todd,  Betty  Hutton, 
Frank  Smatra,  Bing  Crosby,  Louis 
P/iriia  and  Keely  Sinith-^-latter 
couple’s  impersoriatiOh  being  es¬ 
pecially  appreciated  by  Vegans  be¬ 
cause  of  its  close  association  with 
the  Sahara  Hotel.  O’Connor  does 
his  usual  fine  job  of  hoofing,,  and 
some  okay  song  tossing.  Unique 
finale,  r  rewarded  by  warm  raitting, 
finds  O’Connor  in  a  smooth  bit  of 
tappery,  bursting  balloons  on  floor 
and  held  by  chorines. 

Ballantine’s  comedy  magic  act, 
which  contains  no  successful  magic 
tricks;  is  one  of  the  funniest  nov¬ 
elty  skits  ori  this  boards— and  it 
fits  perfectly  into  *  the  O’Connor 
sKo)v,  Sample  dialog:  “Now  for 
some  card  tricks  I  did  ori  an  album 
for  Columbia  Records.” 

The  Seven  .Ashtons  (including 
one  femme  and  a  boy  about  10) 
haye  long  been  Vegas  faves,  and 
in  this;  outing  they  intro  some  new 
tumbling  tricks.  It’s  a  good,  fast- 
moving  act;  the  lone  coiriedian  pro¬ 
vides  the  right  pantomime  to  make 
all  the  human  juggling  look  like 
tongue-iri-cheek  fun. 

Opening  “Powder  My  Back”  pro¬ 
duction  .  number  by  Sonia  Shaw 
and  Bill  Hitchcock  is .  unusually 
clever,  and  appropriately  paces 
the  well-balanced  Stan. Irwin  pack¬ 
age,  skedded  for  four  frames. 

Duke. 


Berlin  used  to  have  a  good  repu¬ 
tation.  of  first-class  cabaret.  If  it 
regains  some  of  its  former  (pre- 
1933)  reputation,,  it  will  be  mainly 
due  to  the  Porcupines,  who  have 
become  an  institution  in  town. 

Hans. 


Ainafo’s,  Portland 

Portland,  Jan.  7. 

Ben  Bennett  tc  Dick  Patterson, 
The  Leslies  (2),  Sondra  Barton, 
The  Claydettes  (6),  Julian  Drcyer 
Orch  (5),  Joyce  &  Barbara;  $1.50 
cover. 


Dick  Contino  was  inked  for  this 
[  two  week  stint,  but  cancelled  cut 
a  few  days  ago  due  to  illness.  Boss- 
man  George  Amato  worked  fever¬ 
ishly  and  has  come  up  with  a  vari¬ 
ety  show  loaded;  with  entertain¬ 
ment.  Word  of  mouth  should  get 
the-  customers  in  for  this  pew  fare 
during  the  next  two  weeks  despite 
the  lack  of  big  marquee  names. 

Bennett  &  Patterson  have  plenty 
of  gimmicks  and  clean  brand  of 
humor.  These  combine,  with  stand¬ 
out  delivery  and  sock,  fresh  mater¬ 
ial.  Ben  Bennett  is  a  natural  foil 
for  the  comedy  of  Dick.  Patterson, 
Duo  tee .  off  with  awarding  a  door 
prize  and  get  the  customers  off 
their  mitts  and  for  the  full  35 
minutes,  later.  They  have  good 
pipes  for  some  dose  harmony, 
click  sound  effects,  and  work  hard 
all  the  way  for  top  results.  Best 
bets  are  their  distinctive  im¬ 
preshes,  Dr.  Jekyll  &  Mr.  Hvde  bits 
topped  by  an  Esauire  Fashion 
Show*  This  is  the  first  time  that 
the  pair,  has  appeared  in  the  north¬ 
west  and  from  all  indications  they 
will  become  tegular  returnees. 

•The  Leslies  (2)  fill  the  deuce 
spot  with  their  nifty  terping.  Good- 
looking  gal  and  lad  cleat  through 
some  standard  stuff..  Grab  solid 
mitting.  with  their  hoedown  and 
nearly  stop  the  show. 

Sondra  Barton  tees  off  the 
vauder  with  some  better-than-aver- 
age  warbling  of  standards  and  pop 
stuff.  Some  special  iriaterial .  would 
get  this  act  off  the  ground. 

The  Claydettes  (6) .  are  on  for 
two  fine  p  r  6  d  u  c  1 1  o  n  numbers. 
Fresh  looking  dancers  know  how 
to  hit  the  boards  with  precisiori. . 
Choreography,  costuming,  and 
lighting  are  tops.  Joyce  &  Barbara 
entertain  the  lounge  gpests  with 
their  songs,  piano  and  bass.  Julian 
Dnever’s  orqji  (5)  plays  a  good 
show. 

New  show  opens  Jan.  21. 

•Vi‘  * 


Harness-Racing 

— ;  Continued  from  page  63  55=55 

attract  peak  trade  throughout  the 
year.  It  is.  now  axiomatic  in  resort 
circles  that  in  light  Of  present  day 
construction  costs  and  heavy  fi¬ 
nancing  charges  on  ail  hotel  con-, 
struction,  a  resort  must  pay  off 
throughout  yeai;  if  it’s  to  maintain 
itself.  Conventions  are  the  major 
means  of  maintaining  the.  neces¬ 
sary  flow  of  coin,  and  these  two 
hotels  particularly,  will  go  after 
the  major  meets.  They  figure  on 
a  self-contained  entertainment 
plant  able  to  supply  all  needs  right 
on  their  own  grounds,  with  the 
exception,  of  course,  of  attendance 
at  the  harness  track. 

.  The  Coricord  also  hopes  to  com¬ 
plete  a  new  250  room  wing  by  July 
1,  which  is  also  the  target  d&tel  for 
the  new  nitery. 

Indicative  of  the  Concord’s  eye. 
on  upped  expenditures  is  the  fact 
that  Green wald  is  negotiating  with 
Joe  Glaser's-:  Associated  Booking 
Corp,  for  the  Lionel  Hampton  band 
to  work  that  inn  for  the  entire 
Summer.  The  inn  is  also  asking  for 
name  availability  during  the  hot 
months,  which  is  the  height  of, 
their  season. 

With  added  emphasis  of  the  en¬ 
tertainment  to  be  available  in  that 
area,  the  innkeepers  also  hope  for 
a  bigger  flow  of  patronage  from 
Canada,  New  England,  and  the  mid¬ 
west.  The  fact  that  Route  17  Is  no 
longer  the  terror  it  was  several 
years  ago  and  with  toll  turnpikes 
making  for  a  smooth  flow  of  traf¬ 
fic,  the  entire  area  is  in  the  best 
position  in  history,  and  the  new 
construction;  aims  to  cash  iri  on 
added  facilities. 


Ingalls  &  Soyt  Tie - 
With  Hamilburg  Agcy. 

Ingalls  &  Hpyt  Agency  of  New 
York  has  completed  a  mutual  rep¬ 
resentation  deal  with,  the  Mitchell 
Hamilburg  Agency,  Hollywood. 
Mitch  Hamilburg  came  to  N.Y.  to 
complete  the  deal. 

Howard  Hoyt  of  the  N.y.  office 
Is  leaving  next  week  for.  the  Coast 
to  line  up  names  for  legit  and  TV 
deals.  Miles  ‘Ingalls  handles -the 

Variety vdri^oSUhmoffioe.'* 1 


69 


Wednesday,  January  15,  1958 


New.  Acts 


CAROL  CHANNING 
Comedienne 
45  Mins.  _  . 

Hotel  Plaza,  New  York. 

No  newcomer,  comedienne  Carol 
Channiiig  somehow  is  missing  from 
the  Variety  New  Act  archives.  It 
is  fitting  that,  for  Hie  initial  rec¬ 
ord  her  resounding  performance 
at  the  Hotel  Plaza’s  Persian  Room 
is  thus  recorded.  .Debuting  a  day 
before  New  Year’s  Eve  she  brought 
a  bounce  and  a  zest  and  brand  of 
comedies  into  the  plushery  which 
must  have  thawed  many  a  staid 
Plaza:  customer;  She  is  surefire 
anywhere  and  she  repeats  her  past 
clicks  in'  Las  Vegas  arid  other 
saloon  centres  of  these  United 
States  and  elsewhere.  ." 

An  innately  savvy  showwoman, 
she  utilizes  a  Sophie  Tuckeresque 
mien  of  manner  and  speech  as  the 
skein  to  project  her  brand  of  fun. 
The  utilization  of  “the  last  of  the 
red  hot  mamas”  gives -her  a  more 
elastic  springboard  for  some  pleas¬ 
ant  ribaldries. .  Thus,  by  hanging 
them  on  Soph,  whom  she  identifies 
as  “the  Helen  Hayes  of  the  Las 
Vegas  set,”  she  gets  away  with 
such  nifties  as  “don’t  risk  all  .  you 
got  on  the  dice  table,  or  any  other 
piece  of  furniture,”  and  cracks  like 
v‘I  lay  9-to-5,  Which  is  okay  in  Las 
Vegas,  but  when  you  say  it  without 
the  numbers  you  start  to  worry.” 

The  highlights  of  her  consistent¬ 
ly  socko  routine  are  two  well-nigh- 
devastating  lampoons  on  the  Jjidy 
Garland  tear-in-the-throat  “Over 
The  Rainbow”  routine  (with  a  skil¬ 
fully  paraphrased  song)  and  a 
broad  satire  on  Marlene  Dietrich, 
at  her  “Blue  Angel”  broadest.  Both 
are  extremely  funny  and  not  too 
tinged  with  the  barb  to  offend  even 
the  originals  although  it  borders 
pretty  closely  thereon. 

"Little  Girl  From  Little  Rock’’ 
and  “Diamonds  Are  Girl’s  Beet 
Friend”  are  perfect  opener  and 
closer.  She  cutely  observes  that 
"I’m  not  the  one  from  Arkansas 
but  the  one  from  ‘Gentlemen  Pre¬ 
fer  Blondes'.”  For  the  “diamonds” 
routine  she  makes  it  an  effective 
audience  -participationer  by  dis¬ 
tributing  a  bucketful  of  rhine¬ 
stones  to  the  customers. .  She  has 
lots  of  other  stuff  which  she  pro¬ 
jects  in  quick  changes  ;from  behind 
a  screen,  an  uninhibited  manner 
of  throwing  her  attractive  gams 
about,  and  in  a  generally  engaging 
and  audience-compelling  stvle,  in¬ 
cluding  a  hark-back  to  the  Charles¬ 
ton. 

Good  comediennes  are  few  and 
far  between  and,  in  the  case  of  the 
class,  hotels,  it’s  frequently  a  case 
of  not  being  able  to  afford  them, 
but  Miss  Channing  evidences  that 
sfce  can  fit  in  anywhere.  Certainly 
no  hostelry  objects  to  a  strong  box*: 
office  draw,  which  she  will  be  un¬ 
questionably.  Polite  songstresses 
arid  the -plush  hostelries  are  always 
an  affinity  but  it’s  good1  change-of- 
pace  to  bring  in  a  real  comedy 

belter — ■unfortunately  there  aren’t 
too  many  of  them  around.  When 
they  come  they’re  worth  a  carload 
of  couvert-charges  which,  in  Miss 
Channing’s  case, .  is  no  problem* 
The  Plaza  tilted  to  a  $3  couvert  for 
her  opening.  Maitre  d’Stephen 
Dominici  will  have  his  hands  full 
during  her'  run. 

Per  usual,  Ted  Straeter’s  AFM- 
ers  give  her  excellent  assist,  aiid 
also  gets  ’em*  ud  on  the  dancefloor 
with  his  expert  terp  tunestering, 
as  does  Mark  Monte’s  “big  little 
band”  of  four— count  ’em — four 
Continentals:  Abel,  j 


FERNANDE  GIROUX 

Songs 

35  Mins. 

Ritz  Carlton,  Montreal 

Fernande  Giroux  is  perhaps  the 
most  promising  chanteuse  to  ap¬ 
pear  in  the  attractive  Ritz  Cafe  in 
several  ,  years.  Femme  shows  defin¬ 
ite  promise  on  all  points'  she  is  a 
young,  very  handsome  French- 
Canadian;  she  has  a  flair  with 
clothes  and  a  designer  who  appre¬ 
ciates  her  lithe,  feminine  figure, 
and  her  .  bilingualism  is  not  an 
affected  series  of  dull  phonetics. 

For  obvious  reasons,  most  of  hCr 
songs  in-  this  particular  room  are 
in  French,  but  Miss  Giroux  can 
change  with  ease  and  jthe  impact 
is.  the  same  in  either  language.- 
Current  engagement,  at  the  Ritz 
Cafe  is  her  first  major  appearance 
in  Montreal  other  than  several 
brief  stints,  via.  television  and 
smaller  boites  here  and  in  Quebec ; 
City.  Much  of  the  material  offered 
at  show  caught  Was  of  .  a  .special 
nature  arid  much  of  it  is  due  to  the 
capable  arranging  of  Johnny  Gal¬ 
lant,  who  with  the  Notar  Trio  does 
accomps  in  present  layout. 

Miss  Giroux  covers  a  wide  range 
Of  song  topics  during  her  35-min¬ 
ute  stint;  on  the  novelty  side,  a. 
French-Anglais  version  of  an  old 
folk-tvpe  tune  called  “Hat  Pin” 
rates  best  reception  and  she  swings 
from  this  UlT.QPghithp,  Freqcbjfayes 


to  such  items  as  “All  the  Way” 
for  her  English  listeners.  Hesitant 
but  affirmative  patter  between 
numbers  is  refreshing  arid  her 
physical  attributes,  which  seem  to 
combine  the  fine  points  of  English 
actress  Kay  Kendall  with  the  sul¬ 
try  beauty  of  French  songstress 
Juliette  Greco,  do  much  to  boost 
overall  value  as  a  cafe  .thrush. 

A  certain  polish  is  needed  here 
and  there  to.  establish  femme  as 
an  attraction  in  the  visual  ,  field, 
but  it  shouldn't  be  hard  with  the 
basic  ingredients  so  apparent. 

NewtJ 


Chi  to  AGVA 

Continued  from  page  63  55555. 

did  not  indicate  that  the  trial  was 
then  in  progress.  He  is  miffed  at 
Price,  who  presumably  was  aware 
of  the  letter,  for  not  speaking  up 
to  clarify  the  situation.  Byron  said 
he  wants  the  dismissal  of  the  en¬ 
tire  national  board,  qs  well  as; 
Price,  Bright- and  Berg. 

Praise  Brings  Brickbats 

Sparks  of  Chicago  revolt  were 
fanned,  doubtless  inadvertently,  by 
Ernie  Fast,  midwest  secretary  of 
the;  union,  when  he  opened  the 
meeting  with  some  general  re¬ 
marks  extolling- the  union  and  its 
national  leadership:  At  one.  point 
toward  the  :  close  he  asserted, 
"We  shou'd  thank  God  we  have  a 
man  like  Jackie  Bright  at  the  head, 
of  our  organization.”  It  was  prin¬ 
cipally  this  eulogy  that  -prompted 
the  outbreak,  with  female  imper¬ 
sonator.  Arthur  Blake  rising  to 
open  the  issue.  Several  others, 
including  Byron,  soon  joined  the 
attack: 

The  Chicago  resolution  also 
wants  Berg  to  refund  any  monies 
he  collected  from  AGVA  for  de¬ 
fending  Bright  in  court,  it  was 
learned  that  the  Chicago  executive.; 
board  will  also  be  asked  to  initiate 
a  probe.  In  addition,  to  reach  the 
union’s  entire  membership  with 
its  action,  the  Chicagoans  plan  to 
ask  the  AGVA  News  to  print  en 
toto  the  minutes  of  last  Wednes¬ 
day's  session. . 

.  If .  the  ...  executive  Committee 
vetoes  an  inquiry,  or  if  it  /adopts 
one  but  .  absolves  Berg,  then;  By¬ 
ron  asserted,  "We  are  going  to 
ask  for  a  national  referendum  to 
revoke  the.  national  board’s  deci¬ 
sion  to  allow  union  funds  to  be 
used  for  paying  off  Bright’s  per¬ 
sonal  debt.”,  But  that’s  not  By¬ 
ron’s  only  “if.”  Should  the  probe 
be  turned  down,  he  vows  to  carry 
the  issue,  at  his  own  expense  (he 
says  he’s  financially  independent), 
to  the  National  Labor  Relations. 
Board,  claiming  illegal  disburse¬ 
ment  of  union  funds; 


,  i  •• - = - -  .  I 

N.  Y.  Meet  Today  (Wed.) 

.  The  meeting  of  the  N.  Y-  branch 
of  AGVA,  originally  slated  for  last 
Wednesday  (8)  was  postponed  to 
today  (Wed.),  with  further  fire¬ 
works  likely  to.  occur  when  a  reso¬ 
lution  condemning  Bright  and  the 
present  administration  for  using 
union  funds  to  settle  a  judgment 
against  Bright,  will  be  presented 
from  the  floor. 

Just  who  will  defend  the  admin¬ 
istration’s  action,  in  this,  matter 
isn’t  known.  However,  it’s  the  of¬ 
ficial  position  of  .  the  administra¬ 
tion  as  presented  by  AGVA  coun¬ 
sel  Harold  Berg  that  fear  that  ag. 
appeal  by  Bright  could  conceivably 
result  in  the  restoration  of  AGVA, 
as  well  as  the  Association  Actors  & 
Artistes  of  America  and;  national 
board  members,  as  defendants  in 
the  libel  action.  According  to 
Berg,  this  precedent  exists  under 
Pennsylvania  law.  Where  Jones  is 
legally  a  resident. 

Berg  also  stated  that  the  na¬ 
tional  board,  ‘  communications 
previous  to  those  published  by 
Variety^  had  informed  the  na¬ 
tional  board  that  Bright  and  Jack 
Irving,  previous  national  adminis¬ 
trator  and  remaining  co-defendant 
with  Bright  in  the  Jones  libel 
case,  were  plastered  -with  a  libel 
rap  by \  the.  N.  Y.  Federal  Court. 
Bright  was  hit  with  a  $25,000 
award,  while  Irving  was  tapped  for 
$45,000.  It  is  Berg’s  contention 
that  the  national  board  knew  the 
issue  fully  when  the  balloting 
started. 

Berg  also  stated  that  the  con¬ 
stitution  permits  the  union  to  pick 
up  the  tab  in  damage  suits  when 
act  under  question  occurs  during 
pejifqririarice  of  duty. 


P^SUETT 


REVIEWS 


House  Renews 

L/Olympia,  Paris 

.  Paris,  Jan.  14. 

Mouloudji,.  Achille  Zavatta,  An¬ 
nie  Fratellini,  John  William,  Felo 
&  Bruno,  Fellers  (5),  Maika  & 
Peter  Bear,  Ritani  Sisters  .2) ,  Com- 
pagnons  Du.  Zodiaq-ue  (3),  Martin 
Granger  Puppets  (2);  $2.50  top. 

Taking  advantage  of  the  holi¬ 
days’  pleasure  seeing,  this  big 
house  wisely  brindled  -four  good 
names  for'gerieral  pull,  sans  a  real 
star.  Concentration  on  these  en¬ 
tries  enabled  building  a  fine  show, 
that’s  well  .balanced  and  one  that 
could  draw:  Mouloudji  is  the.  nomi¬ 
nal  topliner  who  returns  after  t\vo 
years  of  travelingi  paced  by  a  cir¬ 
cus  clown,  Achille  Zavatta*  and  two 
more  singers,  Annie  Fratellini  and 
John  William. 

Mouloudji  has  not.  added  to  his 
songalog  of  poetic,  melancholy  dit¬ 
ties,  surrealist  poems  and  gentle 
folksongs.  This  gives  his  repertoire" 
a  faintly  outmoded  air,  ior  music- 
hall  has  been  changing  rapidly, 
here:  He  is  still  the  tousled,  recal¬ 
citrant  rebel,  but  the  lack  of  a 
more,  coordinated;  driving  group  of 
songs, .  and  a  slightly  unmusical 
method  of  singing— he  Seems  to  be 
o.ffkey  at  tihies— makes  this  harder 
going  in  a  big  house  than  in  spe¬ 
cialized  boites  and  more  ,  intime 
spots.  However,  he  still,  looms  an 
uncompromising  off  beater  with 
some  possibilities  for  the  U.  S. 
when,  as  and  if  he  streamlines  his 
turn  and  watches  his  voice. 

Zavatta  shows  th?t  circus  humor 
and  pathos  Cap.  take  in  a  house; 
Rednosed,  sharp  featured  clown 
essays  a  group  of  skits  that  pay  . off 
and  ends  on  a  pathetic  note  dis¬ 
playing  his  wide  range  in  mimicry. 
He  emerges  one  of  the  most  ac¬ 
complished  clowns  in  the  business, 
and  it  seems  that  the  practitioners 
of  the  fading  sawdust  biz  could 
easily  adapt  that  sphere  to  growing 
house  needs  here. 

Miss  Fratellini,  daughter  of  the 
fariied  clown;:  has  grown  in  stature 
artd  professional  aplomb.  She  un¬ 
corks  a  . fine  line  of  lovesongs  aided 
by  a  catching,  husky  voice:  She 
now  uses  her  circus  background 
knowingly  in  a  telling  special  num*. 
her  in  Which  she  plays  various  in¬ 
struments,  juggles,  etc.  Still  going 
overboard  in  trking  on  belt  songs 
she  is  not  ready  for,  she  nonethe¬ 
less  lorims  a  coming  star  here  on 
fervor,  know-how  and  pleasant  ap¬ 
pearance  and  voice.  She  shapes  as 
being  ready  soon  for  Yank  chances. 

John  William  is  a  sepia  singer 
with  a  big  voice  but  with  a  . tenden¬ 
cy  to.  belt  rather  than  interpret.  A 
segue  into  “.Ol*  Man  River,”  in  bad¬ 
ly  accented  English,  does  not  help. 
Better  musical  choice  and  more 
relaxed  stance  will  help.  He  looks 
primarily  a  local  entry. 

Felo  .  &  Bruno,  do  some  Cuban, 
piano  duets:  with  cha  cha  inter¬ 
ludes,  for  an  okay  filler;  Fellers  (5) 
do  excellent.  fast-paCed  tight  Wire 
balancing  and  acrobatics  with  back¬ 
flips;  and  using  a  teeterboard  to 
shoot  one  atop  the  shoulders  of 
another  perched:  on  the  wire.  This 
is  a  top  entry.  Ritani  Sisters  (2) 
handle  a  rapid,  synchronized  aero 
bit  for  good  results,  and  Maika  & 
Peter  Bear  has  Jthe  animal  riding 
bikes,  etc.,  for  a  good  act:.  Martin 
Granger  Puppets  do  a  series-  Of 
aero .  bits  for  a  clever  entry  and 
Comoagnos  Du  Zodiaque  (3)  sing 
.  specialized  =  1900  lowlife  numbers. 
Better  production  aspects,  may 
build  this  into  a  good  off  beater. 

'  Mosk. 


Boliino.  Paris 

Paris,  Jan.  8. 

Leo  Ferre,,  Jaeh  Valton,  Guar- 
anias  (3),' Frank  Medinl  'CS)  ,  'Brix 
Bros.  .( 2  ),  .  Dominos  (2  )\  Marinos 
(2),  Croq’  Monsieur  (2) ^Nadiite 
Claire,  Lajleur,  .Claudine  Gafan; 
$2  top. 


Since  Bruno  CoquUtrix,  prexy  of 
the  music’s  hall  flagship  L’Olyni- 
pia*  took  Over  this  nabe  house,  he 
has  wisely  made  up  the  programs 
with  Off  beaters,  or  names  not  quite 
up  to  top  draw  qualities  yet,  and 
intro  three  new  singers  in  every 
show:  With  the  Bobino’s  nabe  pull, 
it  gives  a  good  inkling  of  future 
topline  chances  for  the.  Olympia, 
and  is  a  good  proving  ground  for 
striplings..  There  is  also  enough 
outside  patronage  to  get  a  fair  idea 
of  the  talent  possibilities. 

Present  show  is  a  fine  example 
of  this  new  policy.  Leo  Ferre,  one 
of  the  top  cleffers  of  offbeat  ma¬ 
terial  here,  turns  singer  for  good 
results.  Balding,  sardonic  looking] 
middleaged  singer  has  gotten  the/ 
rough  edges  off  his  voice  and  con¬ 
trolled  its  quavering.  The  excellent 
material,  compounded  of  nostalgia 
for  the  ’20s,  insight  into  lowlife 
and  tales  of  tortured,  men,  reflects 
well  via  Ferre’s  4fhesp  knowhow 
and  his  solid  renditions  of  his.  own 
numbers.  He  will  remain  a  special¬ 
ized  singer,  and*  has  little  Stateside 
possibilities, . but.  ires  has  jthe  istuffi 


By  Allies  in  1943,  Back  in  Biz 


for  a  staple  here ,  and  may  soon 
chance  it  at  the  bigger,  pop.  Olym¬ 
pia. 

Jean;  Valton  spins  some  ,  funny 
Stories  and  then  goes  into  little 
tales  via'  imitating  known  actors 
and  singers  for  the  characters.  Ma¬ 
terial  is  good,  niimicking  Uncanny 
and  this,  is  an  excellent  entry  but 
only  local  in  appeal.  Guaranias  (3) 
give  out  with  catching  Latin  Amer¬ 
ica  tunes.  Rhythmic  and  colorful 
this  is  a  well  mitted  turn.-  Fine 
South  American  costuming  also 
helps;  . 

:  Brix  Bros.  (2);  a  smooth  hand-to- 
hahd  number  with  style  and  ease 
that  makes  this  a  fine  filler.  Frank 
Medini  troupe  comnrises  two  men 
and  a  woman  who  play  various  in¬ 
struments  and  dance  and  clown  for 
an  ebullient,  taking  number  that 
could  fit  easily  in  the  U,  S.,  for 
bolte  or  video  usage. 

Dominos  ?»*#»  two  *erinagers  who 
cavort  on  bikes.  High  unicvcles 
have  them  a  too  each  others  shoul¬ 
ders  and  thev  bring  i*  off  with 
arilomb  and  dexterity,  Then  par¬ 
ents,  as  Marinos,  up  a  bike  on  two 
Meh  pedestals,  and  as  mate  bal¬ 
ances- on  nne  wheel,  his  wife  goes 
through  the  frame  and  thev  do 
other  balancing  feats  to  make  this 
a  pas-provoker  and  an  excellent 

entt-y. 

Cron*-  Monsieur-' are  two  clowns 
Who  feien  a.strintoape  .dresced  in 
fails  and  wearing  false  mustaches. 

r.lever.  finiing*a'"d  rnimmg  rn^re 
th/s  risible  and  timeiy  during  the 
strin  craze  here. 

.  Three  newcomers,  eetrirg 
chance,  all  riortray  enough  vome 
and  stance .  to  nomt  t^e  wav  to 
.  nossible  P'-O  carers  a^tev  plentv 
of  practice;  and  •finding  the  right 
son  belongs.:  N°dine  C’aire  has  a 
belting  voice  but  is  yet  too  man¬ 
nered  to  emerge  as  a  heavyweight 
contender.  Lafl^ir  a  -  f°v  tvr»e 
who  accomns  Wg*«e1f  oji:  a  co11o 
with  zany  sones,  Ho  has  noise  end 
a  nensoraiitv  and  none  de*t  matgr- 
iol  sHnidd  ‘-non  have  hi™  a  regular. 
G^udine  Garan  b?s  a  good  t^robv 
vo{ce  but  needs  more  roadwork 

and  riQwe. 

New  formnls  is  nav’n«»  off  both 
in  H*  and  the  linveijing  of  .  new 
nopcihilities.  it  is  in  fo-  fbnee 
weeks.  Mof-k: 


Happiness  Night 

Contlntied  from  page  65 

Other  warrants  had  been  signed 
hut  that  ho  more  arrests  had  been 
made.  ._ 

The  raid  had  been  planned  for  a 
mentb  by  the  county  police  and 
the  ABC.  law  enforcement  division. 
Arrested  were:  Josenh  W.  Big®e»-- 
staff,  operator  of  th“  club:  Clyde 
J.  Biggerstaff:  John  R.  Waters,  co- 
onerator  of  the  SDot;  Joe  Marshall 
Biggerstaff,  bartender,  and  Vivian 
Lou  Clouse,  waitress. 


■Our  Arts  Are  Missing’ 

Vancouver.  Jan.  14. 

.  Risky  practive  of  acts  taking 
their  agent’s  word  for  next  engage¬ 
ment’s  t;m,p-and-nlaoo  left  Cave 
boniface  R’chard  Walters  .minus  a 
floorshow  for  opener  rif  bistro’s 
New  Year’s  Week  bill  starting. 
Dec.  30.  Hi-Liters  and  supporting 
Scatman  Crothers  failed  to  show. 

;  Acts  .-  finally  hit  town  late  on 
opening:  n^eht  and  made  bosriice’s 
second  (oost-midnight);  floorshow 
with  minutes  to  spare.  Reason 
was,  “We  Were  under  the.  impres¬ 
sion  the  bOoVmg  started  New 
Year’s  Eve/’  They  said  they  had 
not  regd  the  contracts  and  rarely 
do,  baving  taken  resDective  agent’s 
•verbal  cue  for  granted. 


USSR  Sputnik  Film 

SSSSSSm  Continued .  from  pace  1 

available  only  a  couple  of  newsreel 
shots  involving  the  Sputnik  II 
launching  and  showing  the  dog 
being  sealed  into  i"s  chamber. 
There  has  been  no  film  record  of 
Soviet  rocket  launchings.  In  con¬ 
trast  to  this,  American  newsreels 
have  carried  frequent  shots  of 
American  rockets  being  launched; 
including  the  Vanguard  disaster.. 

According  to  Napoli,  the  Sput¬ 
nik  documentary  may,  if  necessary, 
be  fitted  ,  with  a  hew  American 
commentary.  The  Soviets  have 
stated  recently  that,  they  would 
make  available  to  scientists  the 
world  over:  the  results  of  studies 
and  data  compiled  in  connectiqn 
"iwitij  jibe  space  trayeling  <sputnika. 


Berlin,  Jan.  7. 

With  reconstruction  of  Deutsch- 
landhalle,  another  piece  of  prewar 
Berlin  has  come  to  life  again.  This 
16,000-seat  arena  (with  roof)  was 
erected  in  1936  and  saw  the  preem 
of  its  first  vaude  program  in  April, 
1937.  On  Jan.  16,  1943,  it  became 
the  victim  of  an  Allied  air  raid.  It 
took  nearly  15  years  to  bring  Ber¬ 
liners  back,  their  Deutschlandhalle, 
whose  only  disadvantage  is  its  in¬ 
convenient  location — quite  a  ride 
from  the  centre  of  this  city. 

The  new  hall's  inaugural  pro¬ 
gram  calls  itself  “Men,  Animals, 
Sensations,”  the  same  title  of  the 
variety  revues  which,  years  back, 
kept,  seeing  their  preeins  on 
Christmas  Day.  This  program,  also 


Deotsdilandliallcy  Berlin 

“Men,  Animals,  Sensations,”  vari¬ 
ety  show  unth  Cohelly,  Stan  Bonds , 
Lepnie,  Crorteras  (6),  Bragazzis 
( 3 ) ,  Guenther  Gebel  Elephants , 
Yvonne’s  Lions,  Circus  Williams * 
Horses,  Manzano,  Palniri  &  Antonio 
Brescanini,  Fakir  Caesawac,  Otto 
Stehzel  Orch  (16)  ;  opened  Dec.  25, 
’57,  at  Deutschlandhalle,  Berlin,  $2" 
top.- 


preemed  on  that  holiday,  is  a 
worthy  one.  It  offers  a  number  of 
first-class  attractions  of  which 
some  are  even  of  sensational  na¬ 
ture.  Program  is  colorful  and 
multirsided  enough  to  take  care  of 
all  tastes.  The  acts  of  standard 
variety  are  skilfully  woven  in.  Di¬ 
rector  H.  Orthmann  can  be  fully 
satisfied  with  the  first,  results. 
Local  audiences  have  obviously 
taken  a  fancy  to  this  variety  of 
circus,  artistry  and  humor. 

The  most  applauded  numbers 
are  those  brought  by  Leoilie,  Stan 
Bonds  and  Conelly,  Who  all  belong 
to  the  nerve-tickling  department. 
Leonie  is  a  “living  cannonball.”  He 
allows  himse'f  to  be  shot  into  the 
air  to  land  in  a  net.  Bonds  is  a 
“living  torch.”  He  jumps  with  a 
burning  suit. from  a  15-meters-high 
pole  into  a  water  basin  whose 
gasoline  surface  is  burning.  Conelly 
is  an  aero  acrobat  who  performs 
his  stunts  high  up  under  the  roof 
on  a  crescent.  All  these  performers 
are  doing  their  breathtaking  jobs 
with  fine  showmanship.  Fine 
trapeze  artists  are  the  eight  Cro- 
neras; 

In  the  animal  department,  the 
brilliantly  trained  horses  of  Cir¬ 
cus  Williams  rate  mention,  as  do 
Yvonne’s  Lions.  Guenther  Gebel, 
reportedly  Germany’s  youngest 
animal  trainer,  comes  along  with 
a  skillful  elephant  show. 

Best  in  the  comedy  department 
are.  the  three  Bragazzis,  Chaplin- 
like  funmakers  who  also  garner  a 
goodly  share  of  kudos.  Worth  men¬ 
tioning:  also  are  Otto  Stenzel  and 
his  16-piece  orch.  Stenzel  formerly 
led  the  band  of  the  old  (bombed- 
out).  Berlin  Scala.  With  Stenzel, 
another  prewar  Berlin  personality 
has  returned  here.  Incidentally,  he 
portrays  himself  in  the  Caterina 
Valente  starrer,  “And  to  the  Scala. 
at  Night  ”  semi-biopic  of  this  city’* 
old  vauder:  Hans. 


Empress.  Glasgow 

Glasgow]  Jan.  8. 

Johnnie  Beattie  ( with  Colin 
Dunn),  Kordites  (4),  Nat  Gonella , 
John  Ik  Betty  Royle,  Jimmy  Kidd  & 
June,  Alice  Dale,  Will  Hannah, 
Hugh  Cadell,  Arthur  Roynon  Orch, 

This  is  so-so  quality  vaude  lay¬ 
out  headed  by.  new  comedian 
Johnnie:  Beattie,  .a  localite  with 
better  style  than  fun-fodder.  He 
works  hard,  but  with  indifferent 
sketch  material,  mainly  of  the  old- 
fashioned  “kitchen  comedy”  class. 
Colin  Dunn  assists  as  stooge. 

Best  acts  are  on  the  musical  side. 
Nat  Gonella,  longtime  trumpet  ace, 
still  has  .  the  old  touch  of  instru¬ 
mental  magic,  arid  pleases  out- 
fronters  with  tunes  new  and  old. 
The  Kord’tes,  mixed  foursome,  are 
a  .  zippy  harmony  group;  winding 
with  their  favorite  medley  “Old 
MacDonald  Had  A  Farm.” 

John  Betty  Royle  score  with 
melodies  from  “Oklahoma!”  Alice 
(  Dale,  talented  new  comedienne,  is 
'  wasted  on  such  mediocrity  as  n.s.g. 
kitchen  comedy.  She  merits  better 
placings  than  this.  (For  the  record, 
she’s  a  sister  of  Stanley  Baxter, 
Scot  comedian.)  Jimmy  Kidd  & 
June  fill  the  dance  slottings, 
backed  by  the  Mqxon  Girls,  and 
Will  Hannah  squeezes  lilting  Scot 
tunes  from  his  accbrdion.  Hugh 
Cadell  is  .a  useful  addition  as 
comedy  stooge.  Arthur  Roynon 
orch  showbaeks  competently.  Lay¬ 
out  doesn’t  represent  the  best  of 
iScot>vaiidb.  .  uis  Gordn,.i 


OBITUARIES 


P^SBSft 


atregoefs.  She  inade  an  Australian 
tour  in  1908. 

Miss.  Anglin  then  devoted  her¬ 
self  on  Broadway  and  the  road  to 
Shakespearean,  roles  and  later  to 


Wednesday,  January  15,1953 


Sophocles’  “Electra”  and  “Anti=r  .  wffit  n 

gone.”  Euripedes’  “Medea.”  in  WB“" 

JESSE  L.  LASKY  attitudes  and  flairs  although  the  many  of  these  Greek  dramas,  she  ion  with  a 

Jesse  L.  Lasky,  77,  who  died  in  son  was  hardly  the  father’s  peer  was  associated  with  the  late  Walter  whothor 

Beverly  Hills  Monday  (13),  in  re-  as  a  prose  writer,  f  ait  pere,  it  Damrosch.  When  she  walked  out  lortor  in  parentheses  indicate*  cl 
cent  years  hardly  appeared  as  the  will  be  recalled,  wrote  stage  plays,  on  two  gigantic  Shakespearean  pro-  (P>  paramount*  <R>Rko 

figure,  whose  enterprise  repre-  vaudeville  sketches  and  municipal  ductions  because:  her  husband* 

Rented  a  major  contribution  to  the  profiles  with  equal  facility.  /  Howard  Bull,  was' nbt  included  in 

birto  and  growth  of  the  American  .George  Lait  attended  St.  John’s  ;  cast*  she  got  the  Broadway  NEW  YORK  CITY 

motion  picture.  His  latter-day  pro-  Manlius  Military  Academy,  of  blackball  from  other  managers.  Music  Hail  (p>  is  Rockettes  - 

ject  .was  preparation,  for  Jan  in-  which  Variety  Sid  Silverman  and  However,  in  1936,  MjsS  Anglin  Marvin  Worden  Raymond  Faig*  ore 

depoident-production,  "The  Brass  prUoit  Syd  Silveiman,  »»**»  to  Ivor  Novello’s  Jgfigf  fgg  wiMed'&storT 

Band,  and  affiliation  with  a  dis-  were  also  alumni.  He  began  as  a  Fields,  which  opened  at  Half  Bros.  (morns 

tributor.  His  sudden  death- came  cub  on  the  N.Y.  Mirror  in  1924,  a  *he  Empire  Theatre,  N.  Y.  Apart 

as  the  preliminaries  Were  about  contemporary  .  there  with  Joe ^  from- subsequent  summer  stock  ap-  §£“  wiS 

finished  and  the  property  nearly  Schoenfeld,  editor  of  Daily  "pearances,  her  last  Broadway-and  wm.  Upshaw  Roxy  orch 

ready  to  roll  at  Paramount.  Variety  in  Hollywood  .  on  the^road  appearance  was  in  Lil- 

Tributes  came  immediately  from  Subseauentlv  George  Lait  moved  Heilman’s  “Watch  on  the  AUSTRALIA 

leaders  in  the  industry  and  note-  over  to  p  Rfime”  m  the  earfy  ’40’s  She  had  Melbourne  Sydney 

worthy,  particularly,  were  those  hvAeTd  m  TorBnto  since  1953.  Tiyii  tD  il  ShiriX°BaSy13 

from  Cecil  B.  DeMille  and  Samuel  fmJ^Juhthe  InternTtional  Bews  .N°  fanu1/  of  her.own  bu]  SBr-  *****  Gris"°M  SShte  rSL 

Goldwyn  Lasky’s tole  in the  de-  %Jvice with which  he  remained.  ££d  by  four  nephews  and  five  {gr^ 

velopment  of  the  film  business  was  except  for  a  short  hitch  as  assistant  lueces*  Jo^  Lockwood  Christine  &  MoU 

a  great  one,  said  Goldwyn,  adding  city  editor  of  the  L.A.  Examiner  mrn  .itbopv  a  rV  Neal  &  Newton 

that  no  one  could  know  this  better .  in  'i93i-:3^,  until  lie!  entered  the  wm  aSkV  A™^Vandeviile  IffiStto  nSE** 

than. he  and  .DeMille.  film  business  in  1945  as  a  technical  .  Smiy  Berryer  Buster  Fiddess 

Lasky,  with  a  colorful  back-  adviser^on  Lester  Cowan’s  produc-  m  the^.1929?  wbo,later  wedlock  &  Marlowe  Darryl  Stewart 

ground  as  reborter  vaude  tfaep  f^nnf^rTW’  Wofit  fhicm.ali  had  his  •  own  radio  show,  and  ap-  Winnetou  A  Squavr  JohnnyO'Connor 

grouna  as  reporter,  vauae  stage  tion  of  GI  Joe.  He  fit.  this  quail-  nMr#»d  fn  A  mimhor  films  di^d  Jimmy  Parkinson  „  Alwyn  Leckie 

musician  (he  played  the  cornet),  fication  because  of  his  extensive  b  t  it  stutchbernr  Rae  Morgan 

prospector-  and  circus  impresario,  experience  as  a  war  correspondent  "f nf nS'iS™ 
joined  forces  in  1913  with  Gold-  for  INS,  first  covering  London  dur-  ua™ Norman  Thorp* 

wyn,  a  brother-in-law,  and  DeMille,  ing  the  all-oiit  Nazi  Blitz,  later  :Sa  ■  BRITAIN 

young  playwright.  They  produced  moving  on  to  cover  the  General  3  London  Cortez  Bros. 

“The  Squaw  Man,”  starring  Dustin  Montgomery-General  Rommell  tug  Michigan  music. halls  at  the  age  of  ^ropoiitan  <n  13  Margo  *  John 
Faraum,  at  a  cost  of  $40,000,  and  of  War  across  North  Africa,  and  T^nlr&<?iV71old  S(JMT”dA^fT?r 

the  success  of  this  bad  the  trio  I  finally  going  across  with  the  Eng-  df but  9ulckly  returned  to  p*uUne  Penny 

on  its  way.  lish  Army  in  the  invasion,  of  Italy.  ^  irD,.  ..  BUiy  Maxam.  Barry  Piaaock 

FaciUties  were  crude  and  the 1  FoUdwing  “GI  Joe,”  Lait  moved  became the  .yard  of  the  mjmm.  ■"*32r?I& 


VARIETY  BILLS 


WEEK  OF  JANUARY  15 
Ion  with  hills  below  Indlcat*  opening  day  of  .  show 
whether  full  or  split  waak  , 

lattar  In  parentheseslndlcates  circuit:  (I)  Independent*  CL)  Loaw/  (Mj  Mesa* 
(P)  Paramount!  <R>  RKO*  (  )  Stoll!  (T)  Tivoli*  (W)  Warner 


LAS  VEGAS 


MELBOURNE  SYDNEY 

Tivoli'  (T)  13  *  Tivoli  (T)  13 

wSaJEJ*  S&2SL 

Eagle  &  Man  Margo  . 

Jetow.  M»*wood  MoU 

A  Robins  Neal  &  Newton 


Dasart  inn  RIvlara 

Betty  Grabla  v  Harry  Belafohte 
«...  Shecky  Greene 

Dave  Barry  Bay  Sinatra  Ore 

Donn  Arden  Dncrs.  Sahara 

Carlton  Hayes  Ore  ?°nald  0;Connor 

nil_.-  Sidney.  Miller 

Dunts  Mr,  Ballantine 

“Minsky’s  Treats  7  Ashtons 

of  Paris"  Cee  Davidson  Or 

Carrie  Finnell  Mary  Kaye  Trio 

Cbiquita  &  Johnson  Sands 

Tana  Leigh  .  Sammy  Davis  Jr. 


Lisa  London 
Francis  Brunn 
Deon  Robb 
Joe  De  Rita 
Irv  Benson 
Tommy  Jlaft  ■ 


7  Ashtons 

Cee  Davidson  Ore 

Mary  Kaye  Trio 

Sands 

Sammy  Davis  Jr. 

Antonio  Morelli  Ore 
:  San  Spud 
G.  Liberace  Show- 


Easton  Harmonica  3  Murray  Briscoe 
Jimmy  Jeff  Garwood  Van  Ore 

Buster  Fiddess 

Darryl  Stewart  ‘Rhythm  on  Ici, 

Johnny  O'Connor  '  George  Arnold. 


Murray  Briscoe  Hoyt  ' Henry  Oro 

Garwood  Van  Ore  Showboat. 

El  Cortax  Terri  'O’Mason 

"Rhythm  on  Ic*“  Carol  ■  King 

George  Arnold  .  Garr  Nelson 

Buster  Halleti  Ore  Hiowboat  Girla 


IN  LOVING  MEMORY 

ALLEN  SPARROW* 


JIMMIE  and  ALLYN 


Aiibrey  became  the  “Bard  of  the  Bud  Ritchie 
Byways”  at  Chicago  in  1916  and  Cherry  Wainer 
soon  was  headlining  shows  on  the  .  ,  • 
Pantages,  Keith  -  Orpheum  and 
Loew’s  circuits.  He  played  Lon-  (VI 

don’s  Palladium  a  number  of  times,  L/dl 

toured  Australia,  Scotland  and 
Canada,  played  the  Palace  in  New  ■  :  •  — 

York  and  first  came  to  San  Fran-  <  ijcu 

cisco  in  1920  to  join  Will  King’s  _  .  . 

stock  company  at  the  old  Casino  SV 

Theatre.  Kaye  BeDard 


SOUTHAMPTON 
Grand  (I)  13 
Pauline  Penny - 
Barry  Piddock 
Holloway  &  Pat 
Annette  &  Noel 


Cabaret  Bills 


El  Rancho  Vasia 
Joe  E..  Lewis 
Eyde  Gorine 
Dick  Rice  Orch 
Filming*- 
Gordon  MacRae 
Flamingoettes 
Jack  Cathcart  Ore 
.  Fremont  Hotel 
Nitecaps 
Make  Believe*' 
The  Victors 
The  Castles  . 

.  Golden  Nugget 
Hank  Penny 
Sue  Thompson 
Woodsons 
L  &  F  Maynard. 


Vic  Artese  Ore 
Silver  Slipper 
Hank.  Henry. 

Candy  Barr 
Joey  Cowan 
Loray  White  . 
Annie.  Maloney- 
Jimmy  Shaw 
.Jimitty  Cavanaugh  - 
Sparky  Kaye 
Mac  Dennison 
Geo.  Redman  Ore 
Thunderblrcl 
Guy  Scallse 
Troplcahe 
Dorothy  Kirsten 
NeUe  Adams 
Nat  Brandy  wynn* 


MIAMI-MIAMI  BEACH 


NEW  YORK  CITY 

.—  Bon  Solr  I  Mark  Mod 
Kay  BaBard 


American* 
Georgia  Gibbs 
A1  Bernie 
Jaekie  Heller 
Lee  Martin  Ore 


producers  were  called  upon  to  im-. foyer  to  Columbia  Pictures  studio  After  Hiany  more  tours,  Aubrey  King*  '  Lea”?^^^ 

provise  but  public  acceptance  was  as  assistant  to  publicity  'head  Lou  ^went  to  Hollywood  in  1927  and  Was  jimmieT)anieis  Hotel  Taft 

theirs  at  the  start  A  number  of  Smith.  When  latter  resigned,  Lait  among  the ^first  vaude  perfdnners  B'ueAng.i  Vincent  Lopez^o 

David  Belasco  dramas  were  brought  became  head  of  Columbia  public-  to  inake  Vitaphone  shorts  for  War-  g?Jgnf^rtBelen  Dorett*  Morrow 
to  the  screen  under  Lasky’s  aegis,  ity,  remaining  in  that  position  ner  s.  He  stayed  on  in  Hollywood  Bobby  Lewis  Marshall  Grant  3 

Lasky’s  top  competitor  for  talent  until  1945,  when  he  resigned  to  go  and  appeared  in  a  peries  of  early  Jone^Remim  -  ^ 

was  Adolph  Zukor,  then,  head  of  with  U.  talking  films  inclutoig  several  of  Jimm^a^va  ^  L.tf^  Quarter 

Famous  Players  Film  Co.,  and  a  Last  July,  bothered  by  a  perr  the  original  Thin  Man  pictures.  Virginia  Craig  Jamei  Twins 

merger  of  their  interests  was  not  sistent  cough,  Lait  underwent  ex-  In  the  mid-’30’s  he  returned  to  San  _  Chateau  Madrid  Bogmos 

long  in  coming.  In  1916  Famous  animation  at  St  Joseph’s  Hospital  Francisco  and  did  his  “Good  Old  Rlfph  F^orc  fSSTj«2te” 

Plavers-Laskv  Co  was  formed  this  in  Burbank.  It  was  found  that  he  Days  radio  show  from  KNBC,  ei  Canay  Bob  Kennedy 

being  the  predecessor  of  Para-  was^ ^  suffering, ^rom  cancer  and t  his,  once  again  to^ed  Australia,  and  in  Can^Cortez^  ;  SraSbScuTS?. 
mount  Pictures  of  which  Zukor  left  lung  was  removed.  For  a  time  1937  was  voted,  a  lifetime  artist  j^-at  King  cole  b  Hariowe  ore 

presently  is  board  chairman.  it .  appeared  as  though  he  would  membership  in  the  Frisco  Press  Davis  &  Reese  „  ;>V?up,dbn  ‘ 

The  top  names  of  the  day  were  fully  recover,  j>ut.  several  ^weeks  Club  ^  „  .  cSdy“^on  oi'd^Sm^nien 

on  the  new  outfit’s  roster,  includ-  ago  it  was  found  that  -the  disease  In  World  War  H*  Aubrey  was  a  sanuny  Devens  Ted  Lewis  ore 
ing  Harold  Lloyd,  Gloria  Swanson,  was  spreading^and  that  his  condi-  member  of  the  first  USO  troupe  to  j^ggy  .Womack  McKenna  Line 

Clara  Bow,  George  M.  Cohan,  Pola  tion  was  rapidly  becoming  hope-  tour  the  South  Pacific.  He  later  Mjchaei^DtirsoGrc  Kare^h  Andpe'rs 

Neeri.  Anna  Mav  Wong  and  Rich-  less.  To  the  end,  however,  he  toured  Alaska  and  after  the  war  Downstairs  Room  Barbara  sharma 

ard  Dix.  Productions  turned  out  blunged  -the  hope  that  he  would  again  had  his  own  show  on  KNBC,  J^efh  McMiiiei 

included  “Covered  Wagon,”  soon _be  entirely  well  and  back  at  Frisco.  ceucabot  Wm.  nix 

“Wings”  “Beau  Geste”  “A  Kiss  his  studio  office.  A  sister  and  three  brothers  sur-  EUen  Hanley  Natalie  charison 

far  CindefeUa”  and.  “What  Every  gait's  survivors  in  elude  his  vive.  -SSgS&Hgl  «2SS,fcS3P? 

Woman  Knows.”  widow,  Jane,  herself  a  publicist,  1  '  Stan  Keen  Ned  HarVey  Ore 

The  depression  caused  a  collapse  a  son  Rockwell,  by  adoption,  two  KAETHE  DORSCH  Jordon  Co^eU  s%a^n^c  Lanf., 

and  reorganization  of  the  cor-  daughters,  -Mrs.  Jacquelme  Mar-  Kaethe  Dorsch,  celebrated  ac-  LoveyH>oweu  Vicky  Autier 

poration  in  1932,  along  uith  it  shall  and -  Mrs.  Beth  Hughes,  by  tress  of  the  German  stage  and  warren  Vaughn'  Jose  Duval 

Lasky’s  resignation;  He  had  lost  his  first  of  three  _mamages,  three  screen.  died  Dec.  25,  four  days  be-  Brooks  Morton  1^1^*  oi 

an  estimated  $12,000,000.  in  the ^grandchildren,  his  mother,  Mrs?  fore  her  67th  birthday,  of  a  liver  Marisa  Teroi*  Paul  Mann 
course  of  this  corporate  upheaval  Jack  Lait,  a  sister,  Mrs.  Lois  King,  infection,  in  Vienna.  Her  most  re-  Lucerite  Tena  ,  'C,l,i?,uBa,rn 

but  continued  in  the  film  business,  and  a  brother.  Jack  Lait  Jr;,  radio-  celit  stage  triumph  was  during  the  Saeg^ 

operating  as  an  independent  pro-  tv  editor  of  th^L. A.  Examiner.  _  Berlin  Festival  Week  last  fall  when  No  i  Fifth  av*  Zeb  Carver 

ducer  in  association,  once,  with  .Funer&l  services  .will  be  held  she  played  Elisabeth  in  ”Maria  ®ob  Howney  Ed  snutb 

_  Wednesday  al  one  p.m,  in,  the  stuart.”  ISte  M&r.  o, 


Guy  Lombardo  Ore  Maya  Ore 
Hotel  Statler  :  „ 

Lea  &  Larry  Elgart 

Hotel  Taft  ° 

Vincent  Lopez  Ore  Aruta_Boyar 


Boginos 
Marilyn  Ross 
Happy  Jesters 
Bob  Kennedy 
Syncopated  Waters 
Jo  Lombardi;  Ore 
B  Hariowe  Ore 
Le  Cupldon  • 
Betty  George 
Old  Romanian 
Ted  Lewis  Ore 
McKenna  Line 
Show  Place 


Red  Smith  3 
Balmoral 
Charlie  Farrell 
Billy  MltcheU 
Mickey  Gentile 
Jose  Curbelo  Ore 
CarilMon 
Harvey  Stone 


Sonny  Kendis  Oro 
Louis  Varona  Ore 
Fontainebleau 
Billy  Eckstine 
Phil  Foster 
Hie.  Szonys 
Sa cases  Ore 
Pupl  Campo  Oro 
.  Latin  Quartoir 
Sue  Carson 
Bernard  Bros.: 

Bob  DeVoye  Trio ' 
Rudy  Cardenas 
Quito  Clayero. 

Gina  Guardi 
Martha  Errole 
Walter  Nye  Ore 
Lucerne. 


Wm.  Graham  Ruth  WaUb 

Natalie  Charlsan  'M 

Town  A  Country  eSwan  ( 

SlV%nn.°«C  Lantern  PaUL1’ r^1 
Vicky  Autier  Slannv  VVhii 

fevnU|hLne  SSS’SK 

Evelyn  Snarpe  .  Mari 

016  Hines  Bros. 
PaUV«&  Barn 

Ralph  Michaels  Ed  lareM 


Senor  Wences.  MUos  Velarde 

The  Szonys  Don  Casino  >* 

Dick  Shawn  Tonis  '  Flores 

:■ Trio  Cottas  Tony  &  FrancelU 

Danielle  LaMar  Juan  Romero 

Choppy  Ac  Models  David  Tyler  Ore 

Billy  Fellows  Luis  Varona  .  Oro 

Jet  MacDonald  Malayan 

Dick  Estes  .  Pete  Petersen  3 

Dona  Nagy  Bhama  Mama 

Chickie  James  Calypso  Revue 

Doug  Scott  Murray  Franklin'S 

Croft-Twins  Terry  Haven 

Ruth  Wallis  Dick  Havilland 

Lyda.  Fairbanks  Roy  Sedley 

Freddie  Bell  Bell*  Linda  Bishop 

hops  Sue  Lawton 

Cotton  Club  Eddlfe  Bernard 

Cab  Calloway  .  Nautllut 

Step  Bros.  '  Frankie  .  Rapp 

Paul,  Mean  fc  Avril  Ames 

LaRaine  :  Mac  Pepper 

Slappy  White  Carlos  &  Yvonne 

Jimmy  Randolph  6yd  Stanley  Oro 

Mari  Leighton  Riot  Room' 

Hines  Bros.  Don  Rickies 

Norma  Miller  Dhcrs  June  •  Perry 
Tune-Drops  -  Bobby  Sherwood  3 

Ed  Barefield  Oso.  Sans  Soud 


operating  as  an  independent  pro¬ 
ducer  in  association,  once,  with 


Deauville 

Leonidoff  Revue 
Janik  &"Amaut 


IN  LOVING  MEMORY 

DOROTHY  and  DAVID 
GOODMAN  POWELL 


Wednesday ;  at  one  p.m,  in  the  ItSart/-  •  ISKv^era  ore  ^  Gih^ 

chapel  of  the  Hollywood.  Cemetery.  Her  range  of  histronic  talents  Hotel  Pierre  ^  Village  vanguara  Da^,p*  j# 

°Hotiywood  P***™*^*  charming  Friederika:  a”d^0S°  £SSyCfflre 

m  Lehar’s  operetta  of:  the  same  Betty  Benee  Waldorf-Astoria  C  ro«T 

tees.  The  famUy  mak?°TspecSi  'namc'  to  the  c?W‘ci?u-s.  Katharine  „„  cover  Bitb 

request  that  those  so  inclined  not 


Dick  Hall 
Freddy  Calo  Ore 

Saxony 


Steve  Gibson.  Red*  Ruth. Wallis 


Rosa 

Cover  Girls:  (18) 
Tito  Puente  Ore 


Tommy  Angel 
Seville 
Dave  Fisher. 


Mortar  Died  Jon.  241k.  I95»  Joseph’s  Hospital.  "  drama  a*ca”“ 

Father.  Died  Jan.  19th,  1923  '  r— “  *  of  the  same  name.  All  these  roles  ninah  waLnetnn  Darlene  SehLik 

...  ,  MARGARET  ANpLIN  she  imieortalteea  fa  the  German  D-"^  Woshlogtoa 

loviaq  ean  from  e>  hove  qoae  Margaret  ,  Anghn,  81,  actress,  and  Austrian  theatre.  bu^  aS,.?  Addan  swfo 

Voices  w*  loved  are  stilled;  died  Jan.  7  m  a  Toronto  nursing  Born  of  an  old  Nuernberg,  Ger-  “Caiypsot<  Extrave-  Norman  Crider^ 

Places  ore  vacant  in  onr  hearts-  home.  At  the  peak  of  her  career,  many,  fairfily  of  artists  and  .  hand-  priS”Ahiiia  &  Charlie^Fisk^Or 

Which  never  can  bo  filled.  she  was  hailed  as  one  of  the  lead-  workers,  Miss  Dorsch  started  with  King  Christian  Drake  Hotel 

ing  actresses  of  the  North  Ameri-  the  German  theatre  when  she  was  Lord  Christo  Trude  Adams  ^ 

JACK  POWELL -and  FAMILY  can  stage  but  was  later  blacklisted  just  15.  Begmhlhg  with  the  Nuern-  ^ei«aTrio  ^SS*  5  ?iiS 

_ : _  ■  py  Broadway  managers  for  a  hum-  /berg  stdgeV  she  moved  to  the  thea-  Roger  McCall  Josh  whit* 

seasons  When  she  insisted  tre  in  Mainz'  and  went  on  to  acting  nuJXSS  eu*  sum 

20th-Fox,  and  in  partnership  with  hl^sba.^d’  Howard  Hull,  be  acclaim- in  Berlin'and  with  .the  Vi-  Mchnf«»  London  Housa 

Mary  Pickford.  included  ^  in- thecasts  she  was  enn  a 'Burg  thea  ter.  She  acted  with  Levenson  Ralph  Button  Tr 

In  later  years  he  worked  as^an  ^EWelt  toghtlr  of  T  W  Anglin"  ^3^  Chez  Adorables  6  j  Smith  /  Twins  (2) 

^  tuunng ^Germany  and  Switz.  Ted^taOrc  ^Ma^ 

^ngtoned  out  Sergeant  York,”  ASgtin^TSrL^he^lpeSs  •  S /SMi? ale! \ *eT?  R^?ey  Le^  Trio  Jayeap.BMo,Jlan 

“The  Adventures  of  Mark  Twain”  m  .  Mutterliebe”  Mother  Love).  -  Conrad. Hilton  “organ  Bros.  4 


Mother  Died  Jan.  ;26th,  1956' 
Father.  Died  Jan.  19th,  1923 

Loviag  ones  from  us  have  gone 
Voices  w*  loved  are  stilled; 

Places  ore  vacant  in  our  hearts- 
WWcb  never  can  bo  filled. 

JACK  POWELL -and  FAMILY 


Monte  Franklin  3  |  Benitez  Sis 


MARGARET  ANGLIN  she  immortalized  in  -  the  German 

Margaret.  Anglm,  81,  actress,  and  Austrian  :theatre. 
died  Jan.  7  in  a  Toronto  nursing  Born  of  an  old  Nuernberg,  Ger- 
home.  At  the  peak  of  her  career,  many,  fahfily  of  artists  and  hand- 
she  was  hailed  as:  one.  of  the.  leadr  workers,  Miss.  Dorsch  started  with 


Black  Orchid 

Herkie  Styles 
Dinah  Washington 


Luparescos 
Paul  Castle 
Darlene  Selllk  . 

Jo  Ann  McGowan 
Fred  Napfer. 
Adrian  Swan 
Norman  Crider 
Tune  Tattlers  4 
Charlie  Fisk  Ore 
Drake  Hotel 
TrUde  Adams 
Jimmy  Blade  Ore 
Gat*  of  Horn 
Josh  Whit* 

Sam  Gary 
Elly  Stone 

London  House 
Ralph  Sutton  Trio 
Mister  Kelly'* 


Di  Lido 

Bea .  Kalmus 
Bobby  Escoto 
Bernie  Sager 
Caney  Ore 

Eden  Roc 
Alan  King 
Roberta  Sherwood 
The -Ri vleras  (3) 
Mai  Malkin  Oro 


Bob  Sennett 
Murri  A  Ruth 
Johnny  Silvers  Oro. 
Rey  Mambo  Om- 
'  Shelborn* 
Conhee  Boswell 
Cappiellos 
Leonard  Young 
Len  Dawson  Ore 
fLord  Flea  Calypso 


HAVANA 


Capri 

Ethel  Martin 
Teal  Joy 
Dick  Curry  ; 

Nacional 
Yma  Sumac 
Ray  Carson. 
Maria  Magdalena 
Parisien  Dncrs  ' 
Dancing  Waters 
W.  Reyes  Oro 
Riviera 
Vic  -.Damone 


Alan  Dean 
Gloria  tc  Rolando 
Rolando  La  Seri*  . 
Victor.  Alverez. 
Miriam  Barrera* 
La  Serie  Ore 
Ortega  Ore 
Trepicana. 
Erlinda  Cortes 
Alberto.  Rochi 
Blanca  Varela: 
Gladys  &  Freddy 
Riveros 


Mamie  Van  Doren  I  Guaracheros 


me  Auveniures  OI  XVlarK  Twain  ,, _  ,  .  z. HI  .  hiuhcihcuc  uuuuici  wre/,  wnrov 

bl“pic>  ^  ^  inA,ttp« 

to.  •  HEYWOOO  AmEN  LOS  ANGEIES 

■  readings  and  cast  her-  in  a  email'  ville  area,  died.  Jan.: 9  in  Madison,,  c  Laveiiade  Peggy  King 

n  GEQRGE  LAIT  part  in  his  production  of  Howard  Ind-  He  organized  the  ‘Allen  Ath-  Ray  Anthony  Ore  Paid  Hebert  Ore 

WOod°j|tt  HS'  :'Brbnson-  Howard’s  “Sh^nJidoah”  letiu  Club  in  the-ear^r ’30’s  to  pro-  Mel  &«ee*ndo  Marie  waiSU?* 

2t2Pa-»  Jung  cancer.  The  a -Civil-  War  play  which  Frohm^i  mote  wrestling  and  boxing,  and  is  suiy  Barnes  -Revue  Jay  Lawrence 

son  of  the  late  Jack  Lait*  of  long  produced  in  1894  this  marking  credited  with  popularizing  wrest-  Dave  Pen  Octet  Donn  Arden  Lin* 

MisS  AngiiSs  Manhatto:  debS^f  ^  Louis^le  .  He  operated  :FiaJ£T&'  . 'Sgffi  PSSS  ore 
■aitxTgrew,,up  in  ChlcaS^  Madeline  West  in  that  Dlav  enterprise  until  poor  health  shelly  Manne  Ore  stefier  Hefei 

and  later  New  York  newspaper  she  scored  her  first ■  overnight  forced  his  retirement  in  1947.  •  ..tit  Lrars®  nlririe  |?nR^H5ae“ 

and  had  a  free-wheeling  success  six  years  later  with  her  !d-  The  St.  Louis  native  started  his  Arthur  L.  Simpkins  Ed.  Bergman  Ore 

comoanion  SJobelroUer.  pearancl^Rttxahtie  <***#-M  a  “circus  wrecker”.  He  RENO 

wSSd  figuri  At  Mansfield’s  production  of  Edmond  onee  explained  that  when  two  cir-  b 

^bit  on  yLi^  nf  ^h i-  ?ld  Rostand’s  “Cyrano  de  Bergerac,”  cuses  reached  .town  at.  the  same  ”aro,^v^  MeuSiSw  (5) 

fh^w"  ^^f^hlch  hlsJa‘  then  went  hack  to  Charles  Froh-  tune,  each  employed  men  to  wreck  starr-King.  (2) 

*  whilom  Chtrago  office  man  in  1900  to  team  with  Cana-  shows- of  th.e  other.  He  was  never  ^  k  ^  M*j»e*  Skvrbon*: 
SsfgnmPTrin^t?i*°Tandtthetl  sPecial  dian-bom  Henry  Miller  in  a  string  Proud  of  that  field  of  work  and  Twln'Tj“e®(^  SibSSSet”^  3 

^r?hl  HeSst  of  drawing-room  successes.  PoSsi-  gave  it  up  afte£  collecting  “a  cou-  ,KSk  Meid  3 

timprc  lno/vrt«  ?  ?  Vanety  old-  bly  her  role  of  Ruth  Jordan  in  P^e  of  shiners^  and  a  bad  con-  “^*.7  Johnny  Matson 

toT“li£  Moody’S.  “The  science”.  .  ffleS19  Jadde^Son 

TKrarJ  r  rather,. like  son  maxim.  Great  Divide”  remained  longest  in  intro  to  wrestlmg  and  box-  Larry  williams  Whiz  Kids 

There  was  V carbon 


Kovachs  &  Habov-  .  Anita  Ellis 


LQS  ANGELES 


(Monica  Castel 
Proplcana  Ballet 
6  Suarei  Orq 
\  ^fomeii  Orq 

LAKE  TAHOE 


Jimmy  Grosso 
AI  Escobar  Orb 
Mocambo 
Peggy  King 
Paul  Hebert  Ore 
Moulin  Rouge 
Marie  Wilson 


Shy  Guys  ( 
Mello-Aires  (5) 
Starr-Kings.(2) 
Mapos  Skvrbon* 
Jo  Ann  Jordan  3 
Dubonnet  3 
Jack  MeUck  3 
Johnny'  Matson 
.  Riverside 
Jackie  Kannon. 
Whiz  Kids 
Starlets 

-Bill  .Clifford.  Ore 


Harrsh^s 

Jain  Stewart.  3 
Penthouse  Three 
Joyce  .Collins  3 
Marcia  &  Misters  3 


Reno  Rene  -3 
:  Wagon  Wheel 
Nick  Esposito  4 
Mllane  A 
Bud  Cheek  & 
Townsmen 


Clip  Wings  of  Line 

Reveire,  Mass.,  Jan.  14. 

The  Frolic,  375-seater,  axed  the 
10-girl  Buddy  Thomas'  line  right 
after  New  Year’s  and  instituted 
five  acts,  backed  by  five-piece 
Cliff  Natalie  orch. 

The  Thomas  Line,  which  staged 
revues,  with  format  of  two  acts, 
had  been  standard  at  the  spot  for 
the  last  two  years.  Bonifaces  Mike 
Della  Russo  and  Jimmy  Celia  said 
the  line  would  be  returned  in  10 
weeks. 


72 


tMerwMMAm 


Wednesday,  January.  15,  1958 


Morton  Da  Costa,  stager  .of  “The 
Music  Man,!’  is  Broadway’s  newest 
big-money  director*  As  usual  in 
such  cases,  he’s  been  around  for 
years,  doing  routine  staging  jobs 
capably,  meanwhile  Jtcquiribg  ex¬ 
perience  and  confidence  pending, 
the  hoped-for  big  break.  Not  .quite 
so  usual,  several  major  directorial 
assignments  preceded  the  major 
dick. 

First  of  all.  Da  Costa  is  a  new 
recruit  to  the  select  circle  of  sub¬ 
stantial  clients  of  the  U.  S.  Bureau 
Of.  Internal  Revenue,  having  joined 
the  90%  income  tax  category.  His 
earnings  for  1958  are  likely  to  run 
around  $350,000 — not  bad  for  -a 
man  who  only  a  decade  or  so  ago 
was  an  eager  tyro  with  a  semi-pro 
legit  troupe  in  Philadelphia. 

Prior  to  his  enthusiastically-re- 
-viewed  staging  of  “Music  Man,’’ 
.Broadway’s  newest  musical  smash. 
Da  Costa  drew  attention  as  direc¬ 
tor  of  “Auntie  Mame”  and  previ¬ 
ously  “No  Time  for  Sergeants.’’ 
His  first  notable  Broadway  stint, 
however,  -was  the  moderate  musi¬ 
cal  success,  “Plain  and  Fancy.” 
Even  before  that,  he  stagegl  a  N.  Y*. 
City  Center  revival  •  of  “Dream 
Girl”  starring  Judy  Holliday,  but 
*that  got  only  sorso  recognition. 

The  value  of  a  name  is  demon¬ 
strated  in  the  spectacular  improve¬ 
ment  in  the  terms.  Da  Costa  has 
been  able  to  get  in  the  last  several 
years.  For  example,  for  “No  Time 
for  Sergeants,”  produced  only 
three  years  ago.  Da  Costa  got 
1%  of  the  gross.  For  last  season’s 
“Auntie  Mame”  the  royalty  rose 
to  2%  until  the  production  paid 
off  and  3%  thereafter,  plus  5%  of 
the  profits.  For  “Music  Man,”  he 
gets  a  straight  3%  royalty. 

The  percentage  for  “Music  Man” 
Is  actually  a  substantial  boost  over 
that  for  “Mame,”  as  the.  former 
show  is  a  musical  and  the  gross 
■will  therefore  be  higher,  despite 
the  relatively  steep  b.o.  scale  for 
■the  latter  straight  play;  On  the 
basis  of  anticipated  averaged 
grosses  for  the  next  few  months. 
Da  Costa  is  likely  to  get  about 
$2,1Q0  a  week  royalty  from  “Music 
Man,”  around  $2,700  from  the  New 
York  and  touring  productions,  of 
“Mame”  and  $800  from  the  two 
road  companies  of  “Sergeants.” 

At  the  current  rate  of  earnings, 
the  two  “Mame”  companies  are 
adding  about  $350-$400  h  week  as 
Da  Costa’s  share  of  the  profits. 
Also,  he’s  nominally  down  for  a 
$12,000  investment  in  “Music 
Man,”  (actually,  the  stake  is  un¬ 
derstood  to  be  split  among  a  num¬ 
ber  of  relatives),,  which  should 
pay  around  $400  a  week.  Finally,. 
Da  Costa  directed  the  Warner 
Bros,  screen  version  of  “Ser¬ 
geants,”  will  repeat  the  assignment 
for  the  same*  studio  on  the  film 
edition  of  “Mame.”  and  gets  a  reg¬ 
ular  salary  from  the  studio. 

Da  Costa  is  now  directing  Greer 
Garson  for  her  upcoming  assump¬ 
tion  of  the  star  role  in  the  Bro rd- 
way  production  of  “Mame,”  suc¬ 
ceeding  Rosalind  Russell.  He’ll 
then  go  to*  the  Coast  to  direct  the 
film  version  of  the  comedy,  with 
Miss  Russell  as  star;  He  has  no 
other  definite  commitments. 

TWO  JEW  PLAYS  SET 
FOR  PITLOCHRY  FEST 

Pitlochry,  Scotland,  Jan.  7. 

Two  new  plays',  “The  Heir  to 
Ardirially,”  by  Ena  Lament 
Stewart,  and  “Belle  Vista,”  by. 
Thomas  Muschamp,  are  skedded 
for  world  preem  at- this  hill-theatre 
festival,  in  May.  “Heir,”  set  in  the 
Scot  /Highlands,  is  described  as  a 
thriller  about  a  young  Canad^n 
who  becomes  owner  of  a  tumble- 
down  castle.  “Belle  Vista,”  previ¬ 
ously  titled  “The  Men  of  the 
World,”  has  French-Canadian  1914 
Setting,  and  was  originally  written 
while  the  author  lived  in  New 
York. 

Pitlochry  Festival  of  Plays  tees- 
off  next  April  26,  and  runs  to 
Oct  4.  Other  plays  are  Bernard 
Shaw’s  comedy,  “You  Never  Can- 
Tell”  (which  opens  the  jun’-et 
April  26):  Arnold  Ridley’s  “The 
Ghost  Train”:  “Autumn  Crocus.” 
by  Dodie  Smith:  and  “The  Whi  ff' 
Falcon,”  'by  Neilson  Gattey-  & 
.Jordan  Lawrence.  A  „ >■ ■  *  *  „ 


Stock  Redew 


A  Soft  Touch 

Miami,  Jan,  10. 

George.  Engle  presentation  of  George 
Abbott,  Robert  E.  Griffith  &  Harold  S. 
Prince  production  of  three-act  .03 
scenes)  farce  by.  Claude  Binyon  and  Mac 
Edwards,  Staged  .  by  Abbott;  settings. 
Peter  Harvey;  lighting;.  David  Hale  Hand. 
Stars  Loring  Smith,  Jean  'Stapleton;  fea¬ 
tures  Jack  .Mullaney,  Patricia  Bosworth, 
Temple  Texas.  John  Allen,  Mary  Michael. 
George  S.  Irving.  At  Coconut  Grove  Play¬ 
house.  Miami,  Jan.  6,  ’58;  $4.75. top. 
Louise  Patricia  Bosworth 

Technicians. ...  Bob  Crease,  Mary  Bryant 
Internes. . . .  .  .Nick  Ryder.  Andy  Greenhut 

Frank  . Mel  Pape 

Nurse  . . Doreen  O.  Ciirtis 

Marcia  ..; . . . . ...  Temple  Texas 

Judge . . Eric  Applewhite 

Dr.  Adams  ........... .  Alexander  Clark 

Cayanagh  Jack  Mullaney 

Miss  Johnson  .... ...  ..  Doreen  O.  Curtis 

Joe  George  S.  Irving 

Dr.  Sampson  . Loring  Smith 

Orderiys.  .Bert  Wood,  David  Hale  Hand. 

-  •  Bob  Crease 

Mrs.  Erickson. . . Jean  Stapleton 

Kate  Mary  Michael 

Dr.  Payne  .....; . Donald  Symington 

Dr.  Black . . . . John  Allen. 

Geraldine  ..................  Mary  Brvant 

Cop  ...I.;  Mel  Pape 


Even  a  master  craftsman  such, 
as  George  Abbott  faces  a  hopeless 
prospect  in  trying,  to  get  an  ac¬ 
ceptable  show  out  of  “A  .  Soft 
Touch.”.  He  and  co-producers  Rob¬ 
ert  E.  Griffith  and  Harold  S.  Prince 
had  the  Claude  Binyon-Mac  Ed¬ 
wards  (the  latter  said  to  be  the 
pseudonym  of  a  Coast  physician) 
farce  in  rehearsal  a  couple  of 
months  ago,  but  took  it  off  and, 
after  spript  revisions,  brought  it  to 
this  resort  stock  theatre  for  a  not- 
quite-too-late  tryout. 

A  handful  of  Broadway  players 
are  on  hand  to  try  to  animate  the 
concoction,  with  Abbott  also  pres¬ 
ent  to  supply  -  old-pro  staging  and 
the  local  stock  company  filling  in 
on  the.  supporting  roles.  There  are 
only  a  few  sporadic  moments  of 
life,  however,  and  the  verdict  is 
obviously  negative. 

For  the  record,  the  play  is  lo¬ 
cated  in  a  hospital,  where  a  bluster¬ 
ing  doctor  holds  a  hypochondriac 
femme  patient  long  enough  to  per¬ 
suade  her  to  endow  a  mental  health 
wing.  Little  of  the  zany  uproar  is 
believable  and  the  occasional 
laughs,  are  generally .  gimmteked 
bits  tossed  in  more  or  less  hap¬ 
hazardly. 

There  are.,  commendable  per¬ 
formance  attempts  by  Jean  Staple- 
ton  as  the  wacky  patient,  George  S. 
Irving  as  a  quack  orderly  and 
Loring  Smith  as  an  apoplectic  hos¬ 
pital  head.  Peter  Harvey’s  hospital 
settings  look  seedy.  No  matter  how 
you  slice  It*  the  show'  belies  its 
title.  -  Lory: 


Concert  Review 


Mario  Lanza 

(St.  Andrew’s  Hall;  Glasgow) 
Glasgow,  Jan.  9. 

Victor  Hochhauser  presentation  <by  ar-' 
rangement  .  with  Columbia  Artists  of 
N.Y.),  At  St.  Andrew's  Hall..  Glasgow, 
Jan.  7,  *58;  $3  top. 


In  from  Italy  on  early  stages  of 
an  all-Britain  tour,  Mario  Lanza 
pleased  his  audience  oil  single'  date 
i  at  this  2,300-seater  auditorium, 
owned  by  civic  authorities. 

L  Singer,  garbed  in  loose-fitting 
[dinner  suit;  strode  on  to  platform 
to  heavy  mitting,  and  smilingly 
tobk  bow  after  bow.  He"  concen¬ 
trated  mainly  on  operati  airs, 
scoring  -  in  Monteverdi’s  “Lascia- 
temi  Morire”  and  in  “Gia  il  sole 
dal  Gange”  by  Scarlatti.  Also  hit 
I  with  the  ballad  “Tell  me,  O  Blue: 
Blue  Sky.” 

Lanza  gave  much  scope  to  his 
pianist,  Constantine  Callinicos,  who 
had  chance  for  several  longish 
solos. 

Throughout,  Italian  -  American 
singer  introduced  light  comedy 
touches,  such  as  smiles  and  jokes 
when,  f’rinstance,  he  forgot  words 
of.  one  tune.  He.  handled .  song-re¬ 
quests  from  hecklers  with  equal 
facility.  Wound  with  “Softly  as  in 
Morning  Sunrise,”  Victor  Herbert’s 
“Falling  In  Love  With  Someone.” 
and,  for  begoff,  “La  Donna  e  Mo¬ 
bile.” 

However,  90-minute  duration 
with  long  spells  given  .to  pianist, 
was  short  measure  for  outfronters, 
who  expected  more  of  Lanza. 


The  N.  Y.  Shakespeare  Festival 
has  advanced  its  Opening  of  “As 
You  Like:  It”  from  Jan.  21  to  Jan, 

*»■»  n  «  =  c  o  to»?  a  «•».  a. 


Zuckmayer’s  I 


Frankfurt,  Jah.  14. 

Carl  Zuckmayer,  German- Amer¬ 
ican  playwright  who,  is  currently 
the  most  famous-  contemporary 
writer  of  plays  in  Germany,  has  a 
new  drama  coming  for  the  1958-59 
season*  Piece  is  titled  “Der  trunk- 
ene  Herkules”  (The  Drunken  Her¬ 
cules).  S.  Fischer  Verlag,  of  Frank¬ 
furt,  is  handling  it. 

Zuckmayer’s  last,  play,  “Das 
kalte  Licht”  (The  Cold  Light),  had 
its  preein  in  Germany  last  year, 
and  wais  successfully  performed 
throughout  Europe  and  on  tele, 
while  that  was  a  serious  problem 
drama  about  the  atomic  bomb,  this 
new  play  is  a  comedy. 


So  They  Say 


“It’s  like  bicycle  riding.  You 
never  lose  your  equilibrium.  I 
didn’t  find  it  strange.  It  was  hard 
work.  But  as  soon  as  I  put  my  pen 
to  paper  'I  knew  I-  had  .  it.”  Film 
producer  Dore  Schary,  'on  return¬ 
ing  after  25  years  to,  legit  as 
author-producer  of  "Sunrise  at 
Campobbllo,”  as  quoted  by  Rich¬ 
ard  C.  Wald  in  the  N.  Y.  Herald 
Tribune. 

“I  opened  it  and  started  reading 
the  ,  first  page...  and  .  didn't  put  it 
down  again  until  I  finished,  the  last 
page  about  an  hour  later.  I  was 
enchanted  ..  .  .  .excited  .  .  en¬ 
thralled.”  Producer.  .Leonard  Sill- 
man,  /on  how  he  found  the  script 
of  his  current  show,  “Miss  Isobel,” 
as .  related  in  a  by-line  article  in 
The  Playbill. 

“It’s  been  said  it’s  a  little  diffi¬ 
cult  to  know  me.  You  know  me  up 
to  a  certain  ,  point  and  then  the 
asbestos  comes  down.”  Shirley 
Booth,  as  quoted  by  Don  Ross  in 
the.  N.  Y.  Herald  Tribune* 

“On  the  whole,  American  acting 
is  more  realistic  than  English  act¬ 
ing,  less,  technical.  Tm  all  for  the 
Method.  It  is  the  only  basis  for 
acting  in  the  world.  It  is  the  ab¬ 
solute  stuff  of.  all  good  acting.” 
British  director  Tony  Richardson, 
as  quoted  by  Murr^Schumach  in 
the  N;  Y.  Times: 

“I  think  that  actresses  talk  too 
much  about,  themselves.  They  talk 
too  much  anyway.”  British  actress 
Pamela  Brown,  as  quoted  by  Paul 
V.  Beckley  in  the  N.  Y.  Herald 
Tribune. 

y  “The  newspaper  reviewer’s  only 
obligation  is  to  his  readers..  He  is 
hired  to  be  honest  with  them.  He 
will  succeed  or  fail  insofar  as  he 
is_  honest  with  them  and  hot  cor¬ 
rupted  by  other  ‘obligations’  and 
sympathies.”  Walter  Kerr,  drama 
critic  of  the  N.  Y.  Herald  Tribune, 
as  quoted  by  Dick  Moore  in  Equity, 
the  house.,  magazine  of.  Actors 
Equity. 

■  “Is  Miss  Murray  looking  for  a 
guide?  Have  Dacron  shirt,  will 
travel.”  John  McClain,  drama  cri¬ 
tic-columnist  of  the  N.Y.  Journal- 
American,  concluding  a  Column 
plug  for  Betty  Murray’s  overseas 
show  planes. 

“After  watching  two  of  his  short 
works,  ‘The  Chairs’"  and  The  Les¬ 
son,’  in  well-acted  productions  at 
the  Phoenix  last  night,  I  must  say 
that  I  see  in  him  (Eugene  Ionesco) 
only,  hollow  and  pretentious  fak- 
ery.”  Richard  Watts  Jr.,  critic  .of 
the  N-  Y.  Post;,  ... 

“I  would  not  hazard  or  risk  my 
ability  to  work.  I  would  have  pre¬ 
ferred  to  remain  confused  .  and 
troubled.  I’m  . Very  happy  that  I 
had  writing  as  an,  outlet  to  my  re¬ 
action  to.  experience.  Otherwise, 
I  would  have  gone  off  my  trolley. 
That’s. the  only  thing  that  saved 
me.”  Tennessee.  Williams,  explain¬ 
ing  bis  decision!  to  undergo  psycho¬ 
analysis,  as  quoted  by  Don  Ross  in 
the  N.  Y.  Herald  Tribune. 


SCHEDULED  N.Y.  OPENINGS 

BROADWAY 

..  (Theatres  Set i 

Marcel  Marnau,  City  Center  (1-21-58). 
Summer  17th,  .  Coronet  (1-22-58). 

Body  Beautiful,  B’way  (1-23-58). 
Maybe  Tuesday,  Playhouse  (1-29-58). 
Sunrise  at  Campobeilo,  Cort  (1-00-58). 
Oh  Captain,  Alvin  (2-4-58). 

Wlnesburg,  Ohio,  National  (2-5-58)* 
Interlock)  ANTA  (2-6-58).  . 

Cloud  Seven,  Golden  (2-11-58). 
Entertainer,  Royale  (2-12-58). 

•  Portofino,  Adelpbi  (2-19-58). 

Blue  Denim,  Playhouse  (2-27-58). 

Who  Was  That  Lady,  Beck  (3-3-58). 
Say  Daiiins,  ANTA  (4-3-58). 

Love.  Me  Llttle,  Hayes  (4-9-58). 

(Theatres  Not  Set) 

This  is  Google  (wk.  2-17-58). 

Day  Money  Stepped  (2-20-58). 

Actress  In  Love  (2-24-58). 

Waits  of  Toreadors.  (2-24-58). 

Bade  to  Methusselah  (3-24-58). 

Hearts  A '  Dollars  (4-3-581. 

OFF-BROADWAY 

Me,  Candida,  Riverside  (1-17-58). 
Courageous  One,  -Mews  (1-20-58). 

Boy  Friend,  Downtown  (1-25-58). 
Endgame,  Cherry  Lane  (1-39-58). 
Dmitri  Karamazov,  Jan  Hus  (1-27-58). 
>  JnferneK  Meaner  Pkoe&nc’  (£4-58). 


Oh  Captain  4 

.  Philadelphia,  Jan.  11. 

Howard  Merrill  &  Theatre.  Corp.  of 
America  production  of  musical  comedy; 
with  book  by  A1  Morgan  and  Jose  Ferrer, 
music  and.  lyrics  by  Jay  Livingston  and 
Ray  Evans,  based- on  original  screenplay, 
“The  Captain’s  Paradise,”  by  Alec  Cop- 
pel.  Staged  by  Ferrer;  dances  and  musi¬ 
cal  numbers  staged  by  James  Starbuck; 
musical  direction,  vocal  and.  baUet  ar¬ 
rangements  by  Jay  Blackton;  scenery  and 
lighting,  Jo  Mielztner;  costumes.  Miles 
White;  production  associate.  Sylvia. 
Drulie.  Features  Tony  Randall,  Abbe 
Lane.  Jacquelyn  McKeever.  Edward.  Platt, 
Johnson,-  '.  Alexandria.  Danilova,  John 
Brascia,  Stanley  Carlson.'  At  Shubert 
Theatre,  PhUadelphia,  Jan.  11,  *58;  $6  top. 

Capt.  St;  James  . . .  Tony  .  Randall 

Mrs.  St.  James...... Jacquelyn.  McKeever 

Enrico  Manzonl  . .'.  .  Edward  Platt 

Ship’s  Crew. .  . .  *.  George  Ritner,  Bruce 

MacKay,  Louis  Polacek,  Nolan 
Van  Way 

Clerk  ... _ - *Jack  Eddleman 

Neighbors.  .Betty  McGuire,  Dee  Harless, 
Jean  Sincere 

Couturier  _  .  John '  Brascia 

Lisa  .*..... .  .  .  . .  ..* . .  Alexandria  Danilpva 

Bobo  Abbe  Lane 

Guide  Stanley  Carlson 

Spaniard  Paul. : Valentine 

Mae  . . . . . .  • .  *  •  Susan  Johnson 


Philadelphia,  Which  has  already 
had  tryout  smashes  this  season 
with  “The  Music  Man,”  “Look 
Homeward,  Angel”  and  ‘The  park 
at  the  Top  of  the  Stairs,”  appar¬ 
ently  has  another  with,  “Oh  Cap¬ 
tain,”  a  new  song^and-dance  treat¬ 
ment  of  the  Alec  Guinness-starring 
film,  -  ‘The  Captain’s  Paradise.” 

Despite  trade  misgivings  about 
the  wisdom  of  trying  to  make  a 
legit  musical  from  the  click  pic¬ 
ture,  the  transformation  has  been 
made  not  only  with  success  but 
also  distinction.  Much  of  the  cred¬ 
it  appears  to  be  due  Jose  Ferrer, 
who  has.  co-authored  the  adapta¬ 
tion^  from  Alec  *Coppel’s  original 
screenplay  and,  more  particularly, 
has  provided  brilliant  overall 
staging. 

The  new  show  offers  a  standout 
performance  by  Tony  Randall  as 
the '  sea  captain  with  three  para¬ 
dises.  He’s  properly  smug  as  the 
English  husband,  mock-heroic  as 
the  doughty  skipper  and  dashing  as 
the  Parisian  lover;  He  sings  his 
occasional  songs,  dances  a  couple 
of  numbers  and  is  a  resourceful 
comedian.  V 

A  notable  aspect  of  the.  show  is 
that  it’s  all  in  good  taste,  with  no 
suggestion  of  a  leer  or  anything 
offensive  in  the  romantic  Parisian 
interludes.  Despite  the  bigamous 
angle  of  the  story,  it  is  carefree 
and  refreshingly  colorful. 

There  are  three  femme  leads, 
representing  the  various  phases  of 
the  captain’s  three-timing  life.  One 
is  Abbe  Lane,  who  belts  over  sev¬ 
eral  song  numbers  (“Femininity,” 
“You  Don’t  Know  Him”  and  “Dou¬ 
ble  Standard”),  proves  herself  an 
accomplished  comedienne  and 
properly  fills  an  array  of  clinging 
gowns. 

Another  is  a  talented  newcomer, 
Jacquelyn  McKeever,  as  the  mousey 
British  wife  who  wins  a.  trip  to 
Paris  and  there,  catches  up  with 
her  errant  spouse.  She  is  a  capa¬ 
ble  singer  and  a  skillful  actress. 
The  third  distaff  principal  is  Susan 
Johnson  as  a  bistro  performer  from 
Kentucky,  who  effectively .  puts 
across  her  songs  (“Give  It  AH 
You’ve  Got,”  “Love  Is  Hell”  and 
’’Montmartre  in  the  Morning”)* 

Edward  Platt  is  notable  as  the 
First  Mate  who  turns  out  to  be  the 
former  husband  of  the  Paris  sweet¬ 
ie.  George  Ritmer,  Broce  MacKay, 
Louis  Polacek  and  Nolan  Van  Way 
sing  roiisingly  as  crew  members, 
and  Paul  Valentine  is  amusing  as 
a  Spaniard  who  joins  the  timid 
British  wife  on  a  night  out  in  Paris. 

There  may  be  arguments  about 
the  '  Jay_  Livingstori-Ray  Evans 
score,  which  apparently  lacks  pal¬ 
pable  song  hits  but  should  develop 
a  few  steeper  pops.  Jo  Mielziner*s 
scenery  are  up  to.  his  lofty  stand¬ 
ard,  with  the  added  novelty,  of  be¬ 
ing  moved  on  and  offstage.on  belt- 
line  treads.  Waters . 


Wlnesburg,  Ohio 

New  Haven,  Jan.  4. 

S.  L.  Adler,  Albert  P..  Brodax  &  Yvette 
Scnumer  production  of  three-act  drama 
by  Christopher  Sergei.  ’  based  on  the 
novel  by  Sherwood  Anderson.  Stars' 
Dorothy  McGuire,  Leon  -  Ames,  James 
Whitmore;  features  Ian  Wolfe,.'  Crahan 
Denton,  Arthur  Hughes,  Sandra  Church, 
Ben  Piazza.  Staged  by  Joseph  Anthony; 
setting,  Oliver  Smith;  lighting,  Jean 
Rosenthal;  costumes,  Dorothy.  JeaUns.*  At 
Shubert  Theatre,  New  Haven.  Jan.  4;  *58; 
$4.80  top. 


Mary  .  .  _ 

Elizabeth  Willard 
Hop  Higgins  .... 
Tom  Willard.;... 
Seth 

Turk  . ; 

Art _ 

George  Willard  . 

Salesman 

Ed  Crowley  ..... 

Perclval  _ 

Old  Pete  ....:. . 
Will  Henderson  . . 

Dr.  Reefy  . 

Newsboy  _ _ . . 

Mrs.  Wilson  ..... 
Mr.  Wilson  .... 
Helen  White  . . . . 


...  Claudia  McNeil 
. . .  Dorothy  McGuire 
.... .  Roland  Wood 

* . .  James  Whitmore 
. . . ..  Lee.  Kinsolving 

....  Anthony  Tuttle 

*.......  Jeff  Harris 

........  Ben  Piazza 

....  Joseph  Sullivan 

. Wallace  Acton 

....*.  .  Ian  Wolfe 
....*  Arthur  Hughes 

. Crahan  Denton 

. .  Leon  Ames 

. . . Martin  Fried 

... -  Lois  Holmes 

..  Woodrow  Parfrey 
. . . . .  Sandra  Church 


“Wlnesburg,  Ohio”  is  ’in  the  air 
most-but-not-quite  category.'  It 
has  sustained  interest,  fine  acting 
And  competent  staging; opliuian.  in-  , 


trigiiing  three-level  setting,  but  it 
lacks  solid  punch.  That  could 
conceivably  be  revised  in  the  re¬ 
maining  month’s  tryout. 

The  Christopher  Sergei  drama¬ 
tization  of  Sherwood  Anderson’s 
autobiographical  novel  is  ^another 
family-skeleton  ..offerings  currently 
in  vogue.  This  time  the  story  con¬ 
cerns  a  wife  arid  mpther,  suffering 
from  smalltown  claustrophobia, 
arid  her  determination  to  give  to 
her  son  the  opportunity  for  self- 
expressiori  that  she  never  had. 
The  play  mirrors  the  tum-of-the- 
century  atmosphere  of  a  smalltown 
hotel  where  the  action  occurs; 

Characters  are  clearly  etched  and 
interestingly  portrayed,  including  v 
a  variety  of  types  and  eccentri¬ 
cities.  Dialog  emphasizes  the  heav¬ 
ily  dramatic  content  of  the  story 
but  slips  in  an  occasional,  light 
phrase  or  tender  passage,  and  de¬ 
spite  the  weight  of  its  tragedy,  the 
-play  ends  on  a  nOtie  of  promise. 

Four  characters  dominate  the  ac¬ 
tion.  Dorothy  McGuire  plays  the 
mother  who,  as  a  beautiful  young 
girl  sought  by  promiscuity  to  es¬ 
cape  her  stifling  surroundings.  La¬ 
ter,  when  her  husband,  one  of  her 
former  lovers,  has  assumed  opera¬ 
tion  of  her  late  father’s  hotel,  she 
battles  to  free  her.  son  for  a  career 
In  writing,  for  which  he  shows  a 
talent.  She  gives  a  fine  perfor¬ 
mance,  especially  in  the  emotional 
scenes. 

As  a  sympathetic  doctor  whose 
interest  also  entails  longtime  sub¬ 
merged  affection,  Leon.  Ames  gives 
a  capital  performance*  James 
Whitmores  version  of  the  bull¬ 
headed  husband  whose  world  re¬ 
volves  around  the  frumpy  hotel  is 
also  expressive,  and  Ben  Piazza 
makes  the  fumbling  son  a  human 
character. 

There’s  first-rate  support  by 
Arthur  .  Hughes  as  .  a  crack-brained 
villager;  Ian:, Wolfe  as  a  tippling 
hotel  resident,  Crahari-  Denton  as 
the  local  newspaper  publisher,  arid 
Sandra  Church  as  the  son’s  first 
love  affair.  Joseph  Anthony’s  stag¬ 
ing  reveals  a  keen  eye  for  drairiatic 
peaks,  arid  a  knack  for  flyid  tactics 
in  utilizing  three  levels  and  inter¬ 
ior-exterior  areas  of  a  remarkable 
setting  by  Oliver  Smith.  Intricate 
lighting  is  a  major  assignment  well 
handled,  arid  costuming  strikes  an 
authentic  1900’s  chord.  Bone. 


JLong  Day’s  Journey 
Into  Night- 

Cleveland,  Dec.  13. 

Leigh  ConneU.  Theodore  Mann  Sc  Jose 
Quintero  presentation  of  four-act  drama 
by  Eugene  0*NeiU.  Stars  Fay  Bainter. 
Anew  McMaster.  Staged  by  Jose  Guinterot 
setting,  Daved  Hays;  lighting,  Tharon 
Mussen  costumes.  Motley.  At  Hanna 
Theatre,  Cleveland,  Dec.  13,  '57;  $4.50  top. 

James  Tyrone  - Anew  McMaster 

Mary  Cavan  Tyrone . .  Fay  Bainter 

James  Tyrone  Jr.  ......... . .  .  Ray  Poole 

Edmund  Tyrone  Chet  Learning 

Cathleen  . . — .... .  ... .  Liz  Thaclcston. 


Acting  nearly  four  harrowing, 
soul-probing  hours  of  somber 
Eugenie  O’Neill  tragedy  would  be 
an  acid  test  for  any  stage  veteran. 
Fay  Bainter  and  Anew  McMaster 
pass  that  test  impressively,  with 
only  a  few  reservations,  in  illumi¬ 
nating  a  commendable  pew  road 
Company  of  “Long  Day’s  Journey 
Into  Night.”  The  show  seems  a 
dubious  boxoffice  prospect  for 
touring,  however. 

Nine-day  break-iri  date-  here  got 
off  a  bit  raggedly  due  to  general 
under-playing.  Secbnd-riight  per- 
forinance  was  a  great  improvement. 
Lines  were  projected  with  more 
intensity  arid  distinctly,  except  in 
some  episodes  where  a  .  couple  of 
players  slipped  into  whispers* 

Outside  of  the  initial  fluffs,  it  is 
a  gripping,  sensitively  done  inter¬ 
pretation  of  O’Neill’s  bitterly  auto¬ 
biographical  drama  that  the  new 
troupe  unveils*  How  it  compares  to 
the  Fredric  March-Florefice  EI- 
drirge  edition  in  New  York  may  be 
debatable,  bat;  this  version  has  a 
heart-ripping  forceful  drive  of  its 
own. 

McMaster,  Irish  actor  in  '  his 
American  debut,  fits  right  into  his 
role  of  the  author’s  famous  Celtic 
actor-father..  He  deftly  plays  the 
fading  iriatinee  idol  with  a  kind  of 
blustering  alcoholic  grandeur  that 
gives  way  to  resigned:  foriorness. 
These  emotional  changes  of  pace 
are  done  with  telling  tautness  in 
feeling  as  he  tenderly  protects  oir 
rebukes1  his  dope-addicted  wife  and 
lashes,  back  at  his  two  embittered 
sons  who  <urse  him  for  their  own 
W6dkh6SS6S 

.  There  is  the  right  shading  when 
the  father  plaintively  defends  his 
miserliness,  his  lost  hopes  and  hor¬ 
ror  of  poverty  in  his  youth  in  a 
drinking  confessional  bout,  with  his 
youngest  son.  It’s  a.  magnetic  clari¬ 
fying  portrayal  by  McMaster. 

Miss  Bainter  becomes  the  focus 
in  her  eloquent,  touching  imperso¬ 
nation  of  the  psychopatric  wife  .liv¬ 
ing  in’  a  narcotic  dream  world. 
Although  her  •  voice  grows  top 
uif  (Contfriuedron  page *7(9' 1 


Wednesday,  January  15, 19S8 


LEGITIMATE 


Lots  Doing  in  Philly;  Hepbum  37G, 


‘Seesaw’  $25,900,  Tuesday  $12,000 


Philadelphia,  Jan.  14. ...  H 
Local  legit  has  spurted  on  the  ar¬ 
rival  of  two  productions*  both  vir¬ 
tually  SRO  before  opening.  The 
musical,  “Oh  Captain,”  opened  a 
tryout  to  ah  enthusiastic  capacity 
audience  «$turday  evening  (11). 

The  American  Theatre  Society. 
Theatre  Guild  subscription  plus 
advance  reports  from  Boston  put 
“Sunrise  at  Campobello”  in  the 
sellout  category  also.  It  opened  a 
tryout  last  night  (Mon,)  at  the  For¬ 
rest.  Three  shows  departed  town 
Saturday  evening,  leaving  “Body 
Beautiful”  the  lone  holdover.  Next 
production  scheduled  entry  is 
“Cloud  7,”  due  . next  Monday  (20) 
at  the  Locust  for  a  tryout.  ~ 
Estimates  for  Last  Week 
Body  Beautiful,  Erlanger  (MC) 
(2d  wk)  ($6;  1,880;  $53,000).  Musi¬ 
cal  about  boxing  hasn’t  shown 
much  punch.  So-so  $19,700;  previ¬ 
ous  week,  $21,800;  continues  this 
week; 

Two  for  the  Seesaw,  Forrest 
(CD)  (3d  wk)  ($4.80;  1,760;  $36,000) 
(Henry  Fonda).  Strong  $25,900:, 
previous  week  $27,242;  left  Satur¬ 
day  (ID  evening  for  Broadway. 

Much  Ado  About  Nothing,  Lo¬ 
cust  .(C)  (2d  wk)  ($6;  $5.40;  1,580; 
$50,000)  (Katharine  Hepburn,  Al¬ 
fred  Drake).  American  Shake¬ 
speare  Festival  Society  revival 
played  to  good  business.  Absence 
of  Federal  and  city ;  taxes  helped; 
fine  $37,000;  previous  week,  $39,- 
000;  moved,  out  Saturday  (11). 

Maybe  Tnesday*  Walnut  '(C)  (2d 
Wk)  ($4.80;  1,340;  $33,000).  Tryout 
got  almost  $12,000;  previous  week, 
$15,600;  current  week  is  finale. 


‘Lady’  $72,700,Chi 

Chicago,  Janl  14. 

Despite  unanimously  .  favorable 
.  reviews,  mostly  raves,  “Long  Day’s 
Journey  Into  Night”  had  a  poor 
first  week  at  the  Erlanger.  Clos¬ 
ing  notice  went  up  for  Jan.  25  and 
was  subsequently  set .  back  to  Feb. 
1,  when  the  national,  company, 
probably,  will  fold,  “My :  Fair 
Lady,”;  meanwhile1,  went  nearly 
clean  again  at  the  Shubert.  . 

“Middle  of  the  Night”  with  Ed¬ 
ward  G.  Robinson,  has  been  set 
for  a  three-week  run  at  Great 
Northern  starting  next  Monday 
(20).  Other  upcoming  shows  are 
“Separate  Tables”  Opening  tomor¬ 
row  night  (Wed.)  at  the  Biackstone 
for  two  and  a  half  weeks;  “Hap¬ 
piest  Millionaire/’  Jan.  27  at  the 
Harris;  “Most  Happy  Fella/?  Feb. 
3,  Biackstone,  and  “Visit  to  a  Small 
Planet,”  March  31,  Harris. 

Estimates  for  Last  Week  . 

Long  Day’s  Journey  Into  Night, 
Erlanger  (D)  (1st  wk)  ($5;  1,333; 
$32,800)  (Fay  Bainter,  Anew  Me-- 
Master)..  Opened  Mohday  (6)  to 
two  raves  (Cassidy,  Tribune; 'Brad¬ 
ley,  Daily  News),  one  enthusiastic 
(Dettiher,:  American),  and  one  af¬ 
firmative  (Kogan,  Sun-funes);- first 
six  performances  drew  under  $14,- 
800;  show  has  no  matinees;  slated 
to  fold  here  Feb.  1.  The  tourer 
grossed  $13,500  the  previous  week 
at  the  Shubert,  Detroit. 

My  Fair  Lady,  Shubert  (MC) 
(loth  wk)  ($7;  2,10(f;  $72,979) 

(Brian  Aherne,  Anne  Rogers). 
About  $72,700, -capacity  save  for 
Wednesday  matinee;  previous  week 
nearly  $77,100,  -with  upped  scale 
for  New  Year’s  Eve. 

mSBURG’  21G  IN  9 
IN  NEW  HAVEN  DEBUT 

New  Haven,  Jan.  14. 

Last  week’s  storm  nicked  the 
pree.m  of  “Winesburg,  Ohio/’  but 
the  lengthy  -  stand  (nine  perform¬ 
ances)  was  a  hit  too  much  for  an 
untried .  straight  play.  Attendance 
was  approximately  50%  of  capa¬ 
city. 

Current  week  has  a  break-in  of 
“Cloud  7,”  opening  tomorrow 
(Wed.)  and  playing  through  Satur¬ 
day  (18)  Next  week  gets  “The  Ri¬ 
valry”  for  five  days,  Jan.  21-25, 
then  comes  a  dark  week;  “Blue 
Denim,”  Feb.  5-8;  pre-Broadway 
stand  of  “This  Is  Goggle,”  Feb. 
10-15;  breakin  of  “Say,  Darling,” 
Feb.  22-Mar.  1  and  “Love  Me 
Little,”  Mar.  5-'SI 

Estimate  for  Last  Week 

Winesburg,  Ohio,  Shubert  (D)  (9 
perfs.)  ($4.80;  1,650;  $45,000)  Dor¬ 
othy  McGuire,  Leon  Ames,  James 
Whitmore).  So-so  $21,000. 

A  new  uhtitled  play  by  Robert 
Alan  Arthur  has  been  optioned  for 
Broadway-  production  next  fall  by 

David  Siuekind  and  Albert  Selden. 


Toreadors’  Okay  $24,500 

Pittsburgh,  Jan.  14. 

,  “Waltz,  of  the  Toreadors/’  co- 
starring  Melvyn  Douglas  and  Paul¬ 
ette  Goddard,  grossed  a  fair  $24,- 
500  last  week  at  the  1,760-seat 
Nixon  Theatre  here.  It  was  the 
first  legit  entry  of  the  season,  for 
the  =  house,  which  previously 
berthed  the  film;  “Around  the 
World  in  .80  Days,”  fbr  a  long  run. 

The  production,  a  subscription 
entry,  was  scaled  to  $4.50  top  week 
nights  and  $4.90  Friday  :and  Satur¬ 
day  eves.  Business  was  slow  early 
i  the  week,  with  excellent  notices 
and  word-of-mouth  helping  to  boost 
the  later  take.  Prior  to  moving 
to  the  Nixon,  th'e  play  had  been  at 
the  American  Theatre,  St.  Louis, 
for  12  performances.  The  total 
gross  there  was  $31,700,  of  which 
$21,000  was  picked  up  on  the  eight- 
performance  week  ending  Jan.  4. 

‘SGTS.’ BIG  31G,  CLEVE.; 
2D  SQUAD  35?G  IN  6 

.  .  Cleveland,  Jan.  14. 

.  The  national  Company  of  “No 
Time  for  ^Sergeants,”  which  .ended 
a  21-performance  run  at  the  Hanna 
Theatre  here  last .  Saturday  (11), 
grossed  a  sturdy  $31,000  on  the 
final  frame.  The  previous  week’s 
take  was  $31,800.  An  initial.  $17,- 
500  was  picked  up  the  show’s  first 
five  performance  at  the  house, 
bringing  the  total  gross  to  $80,300 
at  the  1,515-seater  at  $5.50  top. 

“Most  Happy  Fella”  .is  current 
at  the  Hanna. 

Greensboro,  N.  C.,  Jan.  14. 
The  bus-and-truck  company  of 
“No  Time  for  Sergeants”,  grossed 
a.  nifty  $35,500  last  week,  in  a  four- 
way,  six-performance  split.  The 
schedule  for  the  frame,  with  gross¬ 
es  listed  parenthetically,  took  in 
two  -performances  Monday-Tuesday 
(6-7)  at  the  Mosque,  Richmond 
($16,000);  two  performances  Wed¬ 
nesday  (8)  at  the  Center,  Norfolk 
($8,800);  one  performance  Friday 
(10)  at  the  Memorial  Aud.,  Chapel 
HU1,  N.  C.  ($4,700)  and  ;one  per¬ 
formance  Saturday  (11}  at  the 
Aycock  Auditorium  here  ($6,000). 

The  previous  week’s  take  at  the 
Ford’s,  Baltimore,  was  a  powerful 
$40,100;  believed  to  be  a  record  for 
a  straight  play  at  the  house. 

Pidgeon  Healthy  $25,600, 
Tunnel’  $9,500  in  Frisco 

San  Francisco,  Jan,  14. 
Both  local  legit  offerings  slipped 
last  week,  but  the  fourth  and  final 
week  of  “The  Happiest  Million¬ 
aire”  at  the  Curran  was  still  above 
break-even.  Randolph  Hale’s  Coast 
version  of  “Tunnel  of  Love” 
sagged  badly  at  the  Alcazar,  how¬ 
ever.’  =•• 

Curran  will  remain  dark  until, 
the  Feb.  11  arrival  of  Noel  Cow¬ 
ard’s  “Nude  with  Violin,”  except 
for  Jan.  24-26,  when.  Molly  Picon 
will  star  in  a  Yiddish  revue.  It’s 
understood  “Nude  with  Violin”  and 
Coward’s  “Present  Laughter”  will 

play  alternate  nights  for  four 
weeks. 

Estimates  for  Last  Week 
Happiest  Millionaire,  Curran 
(4th  wk)  ($4.40-$4.95;  1,758;  $47,- 
500)  (Walter  Pidgeon).  Good  $25,- 
600'  previous  week,  $28,500-  (sealed 
to  $5.50  New  Year’s  Eve); -exited 
Saturday  (11); 

Tunnel  of  Love,  Alcazar  (14th 
wk)  ($4.40;  1,147;  $32*000)  (Tommy 
Noonan,  William  Bishop).  So-so 
$9,500;  previous  week,  $16,100= 
(scaled  to  $5.50  New  Year’s  Eve). 

Telia’  Not  Bad  $36,000 
In  2d  Week  in  Detroit 

Detroit,  Jan,  14. : 
Two  of  Detroit’s .  three  legit 
hopses  are  open  this  week  ,  with 
new  offerings.  “Waltz  of  .the 
Toreadors/  starring  Melvyn  Doug¬ 
las  and  Paulette  Goddard,  hegah 
a  two-week  engagement,  last  night 
(Mon.)  at  the  2,050-seat  Shubert. 
Katharine  Hepburn  .  and  Alfred 
Drake  open  tonight.  (Tues.)  in 
“Much  Ado  About  Nothing,”  <at 
the  Riviera,  also  for  a  fortnight 
The  1, 482-seat  Cass  still  has  ho 
bookings:  in  sight 

Estimates  for  Last  Week 
Most  Happy  Fella,  Riviera  (MD) 
(3d  wk)  ($5-$5.40;  2,700;  $75,000). 
Passable  $36,000;  previous  week, 
$49;300;  moved  out  Saturday  (11) 


Robinson  Fair  $24,000 
On  Second  Week  in  D.C. 

.  .  Washington,  Jan’  14. 

First  two  weeks  of  “Middle  of 
the. Night”  at  the  National  Theatre 
here  have  done  only  fair  business, 
despite  strongly  affirmative  re¬ 
views.  The  touring  play,  is  now  in 
its  third  and.  final  week,  before 
moving  on. 

“Maybe  Tuesday”  is  currently  in 
its  first  of  two  tryout  weeks  at  the 
'  Shubert.-.  “Interlock,”  also  pre- 
Broadway,  opens  next  Monday  at 
the  National  for  a  fortnight  stand* 
Estimate,  for  Last  Week 

/Middle  of  -  the  Night, .  National 
(D)  (2d ;  wk)  ($4.50-$4.95;  1,667; 
$41,000)  (Edward  G.-  Robinson). 
Fair  $24,000  for  the  second  stanza, 
after  nearly  $24,400  the  previous 
week,  which  included  New  Year’s 
Eve  matinee  and  evening  performs 
ances  at  hiked  tab. 

Sunrise’ 33G,  Hub 

Boston,  Jan,  14. 

Legit  perks  In  the  Hub  with 
three  shoiys  -bn  the  boards  this 
week.  The  touring  “Cat  On  a  Hot 
Tin  Roof”  opened  at  the*  Wilbur 
last  night  (Mon:)  for  a  run,  arid  the 
tryout,  “Winesburg,  Ohio,”  opens 
at  the  Colonial  tonight  (Tiies:)  for 
a  fortnight. 

“Auntie  Mame”  continues,  but 
“Sunrise  at  Campobello”  exited 
Saturday  (11).  Cambridge  Drama 
Festival  is  .bringing  in  Marcel  Mar- 
ceau  for  two  performances  Satur¬ 
day  rSunday  (18-19)  at  Sanders  The¬ 
atre,  Cambridge. 

“Cat”  drew  a  generally  favorable 
critical  verdict,  with  four  favorable 
notices  (Doyle,  American;  Hughes, 
Herald;  Maddocks,  Monitor;  Malo¬ 
ney,  Traveler),  one  moderately, 
negative  (Durgin, 1  Globe)  and  one 
pan  (Norton,  Record).  The  opening 
performance  was  a  theatre  party 
benefit  for  B’nai  B’rith. 

Also  present  for  the  local  preem* 
of  course,  was  Boston’s  official  cen¬ 
sor,  who  will  submit  his  usual  let¬ 
ter  to  the  Tennessee  Williams 
drama’s  management  about  ^sug¬ 
gested  deletions,,  if  any.  USee  sep¬ 
arate  story  On  Page.  1,  regarding 
the  censorship  situation:) 

Estimates  for  Last  Week 

Auntie  Mame,  Shubert  (C)  (3d 
wk)  ($5,50-$4.40;  1/717;  $47*000) 
(Constance  Bennett).  Spiffy  $46,- 
900;  previous  week,  $49,675  with  a 
special  $7  top  New  Year’s  Eve; 
exits  town  next  Saturday  (18).  .. 

Sunrise  at  Campobello,  Colonial 
(D)  (2d  Wk)  ($4.40-$3.85;  1,500; 
$35,000)  (Ralph  Bellamy).  Dore 
Schary  play  about  Franklin  D. 
ROosevelJ  drew  unanimously  favor¬ 
able  reviews  for  its  tryout  stand 
(Doyle.  American;  Durgin,  Globe; 
Hughes,  Herald;  Maloney,  Travel¬ 
er;  Melvin.  Monitor;  Norton,  Rec¬ 
ord);  potent  $33,000;  previous  week. 
$29,000;  Guild  subscription  entry 
exited  Saturday  (11). . 

INBAL  GRABS  $25,050, 

IN  FIRST  WEEK  IN  N.Y. 

Inbal-  Dance  Theatre  of  Tel  Aviv 
grossed  $25,050  in  the.  first  eight 
performances  last  week  at  the  1,- 
280-seat  Martin  Beck;  N.Y.,  scaled  I 
at  $4,80.  On  the  strength  of  ex¬ 
tremely  strong  metropolitan  daily 
reviews,  the  company  should  do  a 
better  second  week,  although  los¬ 
ing  Monday  ,  (13)  night  because  of 
a  commitment  to’ dance  at ‘the.  Wal¬ 
dorf-Astoria  dinner-cohdbrt  of  the 
American-Israel  Culture  Founda¬ 
tion.  Latter  org  is  co-presentihg 
the  troupe  with  Sol  HuiOk.  .  . 

After  three  weeks  at  the  Beck, 
thd  company  of  19  heads  west  as 
far  as  the  Coast. 

‘Methuselah’  Wow  $46^00 
In  7-Show  Florida  Rim 

Daytona  Beach.  Jan*  14. 

“Back  to  Methuselah,”  costarring 
Tyrone  Power,  Faye  Emerson-  and 
Arthur  Treacher;  grossed  a  smash 
$46,300  last  week  in  a  five-way, 
seven-performance  Florida  split.  It 
Was  the  production’s  initial  touring 
frame  in  an  extended  pre-Broad¬ 
way  hike.  .  Dates  played*  with 
grosses  listed  parenthetically,  were 
as  follows: 

One  performance  Monday  (6), 
City  Auditorium,  Orlapdo  ($6,100); 
two  performances  Tuesday  (7),  City 
Auditorium,:  Sarasota  ($8,800);  one. 
performance  Wednesday  (8),  City 
Auditorium,  Ft.  Lauderdale  ($8,- 
500);  two  performances  Thursday- 
Friday  (9-10),  Dade  County  Audi¬ 
torium,  Miami  ($16,100);  and  one 
performance  Saturday  (11),.  Pea¬ 
body  Aud.,  here  ($6,800). 


B  way  in  Post-New  Year’s  Slide- 
New  B.O.  Records  at  Nine  Houses, 
‘lady’  Hits  $72,968  (or  New  High 


Broadway  *  dropped  last  week 
after  a  g  e  n®q  r  a  II  y  sturdy  New 
Year’s  stanza.  Upped  holiday  eve 
prices  the.  previous  frame  were,  re¬ 
sponsible  for  establishing  nine  new 
house  records  while,  “My  Fair 
Lady,”  -  topped  its  previous  year’s 
take,  which,  at  that  time,  was  be¬ 
lieved  to  be  a  Broadway  record. 

Shows  selling  out  or  playing  to 
virtual  capacity  last  week  included 
“Auntie  Mame,”  “Dark  at  the  Top 
of  the  Stairs,”  “Jamaica  ”  “Look 
Homeward,  Angel/’  “Music  Man,” 
“My  |  Fair  Lady ’’and  “West  Side 
Story.”  Refunds  at  “Time  Remem¬ 
bered”  when  Helen  Hayes  was  out 
ill  last  Saturday  (11)  resulted  in 
the  show  falling  below?  capacity. 

-Estimates  for  Last  Week 

Keys:  C  (Comedy),  D  (Drama), 
r CD  ( Comedy-Drama ),  R  (Revue), 
MC  ( Musical-Comedy ) ,  MD  ( Musi * 
cal-Dfama),  O  (Opera),  OP  (Op¬ 
eretta),  : 

Other  parenthetic ,  designations 
refer,  respectively,  to  weeks  played, 
number  of  performances  through 
last  Saturday,  top'  prices  (where 
tioo  prices  are  given,  the  higher  is 
for  Friday  Saturday  nights  end  the 
lower  for  weeknights)  ,*  number 
of  seatSr  capacity  gross  and  stars. 
Price  includes  10%  Federal  and 
5%  City  .tax,  but, grosses  are  net; 
i.e.,  exclusive  of  taxes. 

Auntie  Mame/Broadhurst  (C) 
(57th  wk;  445  p)  ($6.90;  1,214;  $46,- 
500)  (Rosalind  Russell).  Previous 
week,  house  record  at  $49,551 
($9,20  top  New  Year’s  Eve);  last 
week,  over  $47,800.  Greer  Garsoii 
succeeds-  Miss  Russell  as  star  next 
Monday  (20). 

Bells  Are  Ringing,  Shubert  (MC) 
(59th  wk;  468  p)  ($8.05;  1,453;  $58,- 
101)  (Jiidy  Holliday).  Previous 
week,  house  record  at  $57,85Q. 
($9.80  top  New  Year’s  Eve);  last 
week,  alinost  $52,200: 

Compulsion,  ..  Ambassador  (D) 
(12th  wk;  92  p)  ($5-75-$6.90;  1,155; 
$36,200)  (Roddy  McDowell,  Dean 
Stockwell).  Previous  week,  nearly 
$30,000  ($10  top  New  Year’s  Eve); 
last  week,  almost  $27,000.  Frank 
Conroy  has  joined  the  cast  and  is 
costarring,  with  McDowell  and£ 
StockweU. 

Dark  at  the  Top  of  the  Stairs* 
Music  Box  (D)  (6th  wk;  44  p) 
($5.75-$6.9G;  1,010;  $33,000).  Pre¬ 
vious  week,  house  record  at  $36,- 
089,  with  parties  ($9,20  top  New 
Year’s:  Eve);  last  week,  over  $33,- 
400,  With  parties. 

Fair  Game,  Longacre  (C)  (10th 
wk;  81  p)  ($5.75-$6.90;  1,101;  $32,- 
000)  (Sam  Levene).  Previous 
week,  almost  $23,800  ($7.50  top 
New  Year’s  Eve);  last  week,  nearly 
$22,900. 

Jamaica,  Imperial  (MC)  (11th 
wk;  84  p)  ($8.35;  1,427;  $63,000) 
(Lena  Horne,  Ricardo  Montalban), 
Previous  week,  $67,320  ($12  top 
New  Year’s  Eve),  believed  to  be 
a  record //or  the  house;  last  week, 
usual  $63,700. 

Li’i  Abner,  St.  -  James  (MC)  (61st 
wk;  484  :p)  $8.05;  1,615;  $58,100). 
Previous  week,  nearly  $51,500 
($10.50  top  New  Years  Eye);  last 
week,  under  $35,600. 

Long  Day’s  'Journey  Into  Night, 
Hayes  (D)  (54th  wk;  324  p)  ($6.90; 
1,039;  $30,000)  (Fredric  *  March, 
Florence  Eldridge).  Previo us 
week;/alraost  $24,000  <  (no  b.o.  hike 
New  Year’s  Eve);  laist  week,  over 
$16,800^  House  has  “Love  Me 
Little”  booked  for  an. April  9  open¬ 
ing:  ...  r 

■j  *•  Look  Back  in  Anger,  Lyceum  (D) 
(15th  wk;  TI9  p)  ($5.75;  095;  $26,- 
400)  (Mary  Ure,  Kenneth  Haigh). 
Previous  Week,  nearly  $26,000 
($7.50  top  New  Year’s  Eve);  last 
week,  almost  $20,400. 

.  Look  Homeward  Angel,  Barry¬ 
more  (D)  (7th  wk;  52  p)  ($6.90; 
1,076;  $40,716)  (Anthony  Perkins/ 
Jo.  Van  Fleet,  Hugh  Griffith). 
Previous  week,  house  record  at 
$42,298  ($8.05  top  New  Year’s  Eve); 
last  week/  nearly  $41,100,  with  par¬ 
ties. 

Miss  Isobel,  Royale  (D)  (3d  wk; 
21  p)  ($5.75-$6.90;_  1,050;  $35,000) 
(Shirley  Booth).  Previous  week, 
almost  $15*000.  ($9.20  top  New 
Year’s  Eve);  last' week,  nearly  $22,- 
000,  with  parties.  House  has  “The 
Entertainer”  booked  for  a  Feb-^12 
opening.  , 

Music  Man,  Majestic  (MC)  (4th 
Wk;  28  p)  ($8.05;  1,626;  $69,989). 
Previous  week,  house  record  at 
$72,382  ($10fi0  top  New  Year’s 
Eve);  last  week  almost  $68,000, 
with  parties.  .  . 

My  Fair  Lady,  Hellinger  (MC) 
(96th  wk;  763  p)  ($8.05;  1.551; 
$68,210)  (Edward  Mulhare;  Julie 
Andrews).  Previous  week,  house  i 


record  at  $72,968,  also  believed  to 
be  a  new  Broadway  record 
($11.50  top  New  Year’s  Eve);  last 
week,  nearly  $69,200.  Show  is  sell¬ 
ing  20  balcony  seats  at  each  per¬ 
formance  to  students  at  70c  a 
ticket 

New  Girl  in  Town,  46th  St.  (MD) 
(35th  wk;  279  p)  ($8.06-$9.20;  1,297; 
$59,085)  (Gwen  Verdbn,  Thelma 
Ritter).  Previous  week,  over.  $42,-! 
600  ($11.50  top  New  Year’s  Eve); 
last  week,  over  $37,100. 

Nude  With  Violin,  Belasco  (C) 
(9th  wk;  63  p)  ($5.75-$6.90;  1,037; 
$33,000)  (Noel  Coward).  Previ¬ 
ous  week,  nearly  $22,600  ($12  top 
^New  Year’s  Eve);  last  week,  almost 
$23,500.  Ends  scheduled  limited 
12-week  stand  Feb.  8  and  moves  to 
the’Qpast. 

Romanoff  and  Juliet,  Plymouth 
(C)  <14th  wk;  108  p)  ($5.75-$6.2ff; 
1,062;  $36,625)  (Peter  Ustinov). 
Previous  week,  nearly  $26,000 
($7.50  top  New  Year’s  Eve);,  last 
week,  over  $30,000, 

Rope  Dancers,  Cort  (D)  (8th  wk: 
61  p)  ($5,75-$6.90;  1,155;  $31,000) 
(Siclbhan  McKenna,  Art  Carney). 
Previous  week,  almost'  $16,800 
($6.90  top  New  Year’s  Eve);  last 
week,  over  $15,100.  Moves  Jan.  27 
to.  the  Henry  Miller’s  Theatre  to 
make  way  for  the  Jan.  30  opening 
of  “Sunrise  at  Campobello.” 

Time  Remembered,  Morosco  (C) 
(9th  wk;  71  p)  ($9^0;  946;  $43,000) 
(Helen  Hayes,  Richard  Burton, 
Susan  Strasberg).  Previous  week, 
house  record  at  $43,518  (No  b.o. 
hike  New  Year’s  Eve);  last  week, 
over  $41,100,  with  Miss  Hayes  miss¬ 
ing  the  two  Saturday  performances 
because  of  a  flu  attack.  Her  un¬ 
derstudy,  Dorothy  Sands  Subbed. 

Tunnel  of  Love,  National  (C) 
46th  wk;  369  p)  ($5.75;  1,162;  $33,- 
.000)  (Tom  Ewell).  Previous  week, 
over  $15,700  ($6.90  top  New  Year’s 
Eve);  last  week,  over  $11*700. 
Johnny  Carson  succeeded  Ewell 
last  Friday  night  (10)  and  is  now 
costarred  with  Marsha  Hunt,  who 
succeeded  Kaye  Lyder  the  same  • 
evening.  The  comedy,  which 
moved  Dec.  26  to  the  National  af- 
:  ter  vacating  its  longtime  berth  at 
the  Royale  Theatre,  will  be  trans¬ 
ferred  Feb.  4  to  the  Martin  Beck 
to  make  way  for  the  Feb.  5  open¬ 
ing  of  “Winesburg,  Ohio”  at  the 
National.  It’s  scheduled  to  re¬ 
main  at  the  Beck  three  weeks,  hav¬ 
ing  to,  exit  that  house  to  make  way 
for  the  March  3  opening  of  “Who 
Was.  That  Lady  I  Saw  You  With?” 

West  Side  Story*  Winter  Garden 
(MD)  (16th  wk;  124  p)  ($8:05;  1,404; 
$63,203).  Previous  week,  house 
record  at  $64,529  ($11.50  top  New 
Year’s  Eve);  last  week,  nearly  $62,- 
000,  with  theatre  parties. 

Opened  Last  Week 

Chairs  &  Lesson,  Phoenix  (CD) 
($4.60;  1,150;  $29,392)  (Eli  WaHach, 
Joan  Plowright,  Max  Adrian), 
Opened  a  limited  three-week  run 
last  Thursday  night  (9);  nearly 
$9,900  for  first  six  performances. 

Opening  This  Week 

Two  for  the  Seesaw,  Booth  (CD) 
($6.90;  766;  $30,500)  (Henry  Fon¬ 
da).  Fred  Coe  presentation  of  .a 
play  by  William  Gibson;  produc¬ 
tion  financed  at  $80,000,  cost  about 
that  to  bring  in,  after  a  slight  out- 
of-town  loss;  can  break  even  at 
around  $18,500  gross,  and  net 
about  $8, 00ft  at  .  capacity;  opens 
tomorrow  night  *  (Thura.). 

Closed  Last  Fortnight 
Cava  ?DweUer&*tBIHI|IJCnU2th 
wk;  97ip)  ($A7!^C6li3w625) 
(Barry  Jones,  Eugqqi#  Loootovich, 
Wayne  Morris).  l4evi0i|e*week, 
around  $15,000  ($8.05  top  New 
Year’s  Eve);  last  week,  about  $10,- 
000.  Closed  last  Saturdav  (11)  at  a 
loss  of  its  entire  $120,000  invest¬ 
ment  (including  20%  overcall)  plus 
additional  coin. 

Country  Wife,  Miller’s  <C)  (6th 
wk;  45  P)  ($5.75-$6.90;  946;  $28,000) 
(Julie  Harris,  Laurence  Harvey, 
Pamela  Brown).  Previous  week, 
nearly  $16,100  ($6.90  top  New 
Year’s  Eve).  Closed  Jan.  4  at  an 
approximate  loss  of  its  entire 
$65,000.  investment. 

Makropolous  Secret,  Phoenix 
(4th  wk;  33  p)  (D)  ($4.60;  1,150: 
$29,392)  (Eileen  Herlie).  Closed 
Dec.  31,  grossing  nearly  $1,800  (no 
b.o.  hike)  for  that  one  performance. 

Visit  to  a  Small  Planet,  Booth 
(C)  (49th  wk;  388  p)  ($5.75-$6^0; 
766;  $27,300)  (Cyril  Ritchard).  Pre¬ 
vious  week,  over  $20,100  ($6.60  top 
New  Yearis  Eve);  last  week,  nearly 
$14,800.  Exited  last  Saturday  (11) 
at  an  approximate  $75,000  profit  on 
an  $80,000  investment  and  begins 
touring  Feb.  5.  « 


74 _ LEGITIMATE 


PSSUBTY 


Wednesday,  January  15,  1958 


The  Happy  Man 

London,  Dec.  14. 

E.  P.  Clift  &  Jack  Minster  presentation 
of  tw'o-act  (four  scenes)  comedy  by  Hugh 
and  Margaret  Williams.  Stars  Williams. 
Staged  by  Minster;  decor,  Hutchinson 
Scott  At  Westminster  Theatre,  London, 
Dec.  13.  *57;  *2.35  top. 

Thomas  Swinley  . . . ; . Hugh  Williams 

Sister  Timpson  . . .  Everley  Gregg 

Nannie  .....  .  . . Edith  Sharpe 

Dr.  Hubert  Welsh  ; .  Cyril  Raymond 

Mam'selle  . .. .  Valerie  Taylor 

Rosina  . . . v.-,,  Doreen  Andrew 


In  an  unpretentious  way,  there 
Is  merit  in  this  new  comedy  hy 
Hugh  and  Margaret  Williams,  but  it 
is  for  the  domestic  market  and  not 
a  likely  candidate  for  Broadway. 
Apart  from  the  fact  that  it  gives 
Williams,  a  handy  starring  vehicle, 
it  should  also  be  a  profitable  under% 
taking  for  E.  P.  Clift  and  Jack 
Minster. 

Instead  of  a  consistent  story  line, 
the  play  is  more  of  a  character 
study  and  provides  an  interesting 
commentary  on  the  problem  of 
lonely  women  who  go  into  service. 
The  play  itself  is  helped  consider¬ 
ably  by  two  femme  portrayals 
which  accents  this  part  of  the  Story. 

“The  Happy.  Man”  of  the  title, 
as  played*  by  Williams,  is  a  “fairly 
prosperous  stockbroker  and  as  .  the 
curtain  rises,  his  wife  is  expecting 
their  fourth  child.  He’s  comforted 
by  the  family  nannie  and  put  in  his 
place  by  the  hired,  forbidding 
nurse.  The  family  doctor  is  also 
on  hand  to  give  words  of  advice. 
By  the  following  moriiing  after  the 
birth,  the  French  governess,  is  also 
around  casting  a  romantic  eye  in 
the  direction  of  her  employer. 

Although  the  opening  two  scenes 
are  in  light  comedy  vein,  there's  a 
switch  in  the  following  scene  in 
which  the  wife  (who  never  appears) 
takes  a  serious  turn  for  the.  worse. 
Suddenly,  all  is  gloom.  In  the  sec¬ 
ond  act,  however,  it’s  comedy  again 
arid  it's  almost  entirely  devoted  to 
the  way  in  which  the  husband  plots 
to  rid  himself  of  the  two  unwanted 
women — the  nurse  and  the  gov- 
.  emess — getting  steadily  drunk  to 
pluck  lip  sufficient  courage.  It’s 
very  conventional  and  the  dialog 
is  in  matching  style.  So  is  Williams’ 
starring  performance.  Everley 
Gregg's  study  of  the  nurse  and 
Valerie  Taylor’s  interpretation  of 
the  governess,  however,  have  gen¬ 
uine  depth;  Cyril  Raymond  makes 
a  friendly  doctor  and  Edith  Sharpe 
is  a  typical  nannie;  Doreen  Andrew 
gets  a  few  laughs  as  a  non-English- 
speaking  Italian  maid.  Jack  Minster 
has  staged  the  piece  ,  competently 
and  Hutchinson  Scott’s  set  is  up  to 
standard.  -Myro. 


A  Stranger  in  the  Tea 

London,  Dec.  30. 
Arts  Theatre  Club  presentation  o£  two- 
act  (four  scenes)  melodrama  by  Lilian 
and  Edward  Percy,  based  on  a  story  by 
Sheridan  Le  Fanu.  Stars  Robert  Eddison. 
Staged  by  Jordan  Lawrence.  Decor  by 
Paul  Mayo  a  At  Arts'  Theatre,  London, 
Dec.  27.  *57;  *2.00  top. 

Lotte  Grossbek  . .  Helen  Misener 

Colpoys  . ...  Edward  Evans 

Effie  Eames  . . .  Pamela  Strong 

Richard  Jennings  Robert  Eddison 

Frank  Allen . ;.. .  Bernard  Brown 


"A  Stranger  in  the -Tea,”  adapted 
by  Lilian  and  Edward  Percy  from 
a  Sheridan  Le  Fanu  story,  is  a 
rather  dull  study  of  a  mentally  de¬ 
ranged  clergyman.  It  relies  largely 
.for  its  effect  oh  the  interpretation 
of  the  key  role,  and  fortunately 
Robert  Edison  does  a  sterling  job 
in  the  assignment,  thereby  giving 
the  piece  atriiosphere  and  quality. 
Even  so,  it’s  hardly,  good  enough  to 
rate  a  transfer  for  a  regular  West 
End  run. 

The  husband  and  w’ife  writing 
team  (he  was  a  former  Member  of 
Parliament  under  the  name  of  E.  P. 
Smith“have  adapted  the  original 
story  a  rather  pedestrian  style. 
There  is  little  action,  the  dialog  Is 
mainly  unimpressive  and  the  de¬ 
sired  macabrq  effect  is  too.  often 
missing.  Yet.  thanks  to  the  star 
portrayal,  it  has  chilling  moments. 

The  piece  is  set  in  Victorian-} 
London  and  the  decor,  appropri¬ 
ately,  heavy  and  gloomy,  matches 
the  plot.  The  clergyman,,  a  wealthy 
man  who  takes  little  interest  in  his 
everyday  life  or .  his  pastoral  duties 
but  devotes  most  of  his  time  to 
research,  is,  apparently,  haunted 
by  a  black  monkey  “with  staring 
red  eyes.”1 

It’s  riot  until  he  hires  a  secret 
tary-assistant  arid  is  comforted  by 
her  that  he  is  freed  of  the  terror, 
but  when  she  refuses  to  marry  him 
his  fantasy  returns  and  he  becomes 
homicidal. 

Apart  from  the  star  portrayal, 
there-  is  useful  support  from  Pa¬ 
mela  Strong  as  femme  lead,  Helen 
Misener  as  a  voluble  housekeeper, 
Bernard  Brown  as  her  dashing 
nephew  ,  and  Edward  Evans  as  the 
manservant  assigned  by  the  doctor. 
Jordan  Lawrence  has  captured  the 
Victorians  atmosphere  in  his  stag¬ 
ing,  but  this,  is  anything  but  a  sea¬ 
sonal  entertainment.  fllyro. 


Ly  si  strata 

London,  Dec.  27. 

.  English  Stage  Co.  presentation,  of  two.- 
act  comedy  by  Aristophanes,  .adapted. by 
Dudley  Fitts.  .Stars  Joan  Greenwoods 
Staged  by  Minos  Volanakis;  decor,  Nicholas 
Georgiadis;  music,  Thomas  Eastwood.  At 
Royal  Court  Theatre,  London,  Dec.  27, 
*57;  $2.20  lop. 

Lysistrata  . .  .. . . ... Sloan  Greenwood 

Kalonike  ... . ... .  -  Patricia  Marmont 

Myrrhine  . ...; ... Natasha  Parry 

Lampito  . .  Patricia  Burke 

KTatylla  _ _ _ _ _ Margo  Cunningham 

Magistrate _ George  Benson 

Kinesias  .  ... . .  Gary- Raymond' 

Spartan  General  . . .'.  Robert  Cartland 

Olm  Man  -  Ronald  Barker 

Also.  Margaret  Ashcroft,  Gillian  Neasen, 

Tessa  Davies;  Isla  Cameron,  Clare  Walm- 
sley,  Maxine  Holden,  Laura  SartI,  Phyllia 
Law,  Ruth  Morrison;  James  Grout,  John 
Church,  Neil  McCarthy,  James  Donnelly,. 
Alexander  Harris,  David.  Fitch.  John 
McDonald. 


“Lysistrata”-  has  been  Success¬ 
fully  kicking  around  the  dramatic 
arena  ever  since  it  was  first  writ¬ 
ten  hy  Aristophanes  arid  state-pro¬ 
duced  in  Athens  in  412  B.  G.  It 
^remains  a  bawdy  lark,  and  this  new 
version  by  American  adaptor  Dud¬ 
ley  Fitts,  .must  have  strained  the 
tolerance  of  the  Lord  Chamberlain. 

The  audience  seemed  shocked, 
startled,  delighted,  titillated  and 
c o ri vul s e d  to  have  the  double 
meanings  hammered  home,  arid  a 
transfer  of  the  show  to  a  West  End 
commercial  theatre  should  find  a 
ready  audience.  Some  clarification 
and  a  strengthening  of  the  cast 
would  be  necessary  for  a  Broadway 
onslaught. 

The  roirip  about  how  the  women 
of  Greece  and  Sparta  ended,  the 
Peloponnesian  War  by  holding  out 
sexully  on  their  husbands  and 
lover’s  is,  according  to  a  program 
note,  a  serious  play  because  it 
takes  War,  sex  and  laughter,  seri¬ 
ously,.  There  is  nothing  serious 
about  this  saucy  production,  how¬ 
ever,  and  the  accent  is  on  humor. 

A  Greek  director,  Mirios  Volan¬ 
akis,  has  staged  his  first  comedy 
and  his  first  London  show  With 
imagination.*  He  has  blended  act-, 
ing,  singing,  dancing  arid  mime. 
He  has  not  hired  singers  and 
dancers  for  these  effects,  but  has 
relied  entirely  on  actors.  If,  some 
of  the  Singing  seems  slightly  in¬ 
adequate,  the  effect  is  nevertheless 
lively  and  fascinating.  Nicholas 
Georgiadis’s  decor  is  excellent  and 
Thomas  Eastwood  has  used  the 
‘traditional  Greek  scales  and  rhy¬ 
thms  for  his  musical  effects. 

The  acting  is  generally  first  rate, 
but  some  of  the  roles  are  not 
played  overWell  individually.  As 
Lysistrata,  who  leads  the  femme 
revolt,  Joan  Greenwood  gives  an 
intelligent,  appealing  performance, 
but  with  her.  characteristically 
husky  voice  and  her  slim,  petite 
torso,  she  fails  to  dominate  the 
play  as  she  should,,  especially  in 
the  occasional  serious  scenes. 

Natasha  Parry  is  excellent  as  the 
wife  who  teases  her  husband  to  the 
Point  of  distraction  and  v  then 
flouts  him.  She  and  Gary  Raymond 
guide  this  pointed  "revue  sketch” 
across  the  flimsiest  of  thin  ice. 

Patricia  Burke  is  a  strapping 
leader  of  the  Spartan  women  arid 
Margo  Cunningham  expertly  leads 
a  trio  of  old  women  through  some 
lively  nonsense.  They  are  particu¬ 
larly  good  when  taking  charge  of 
a  running  chorus.  The  distaff  side 
are.  attractive  arid  provocative  es¬ 
pecially  in  the  scene,  when  Lysis- 
trata’s  girl  supporters  weaken 
and  endeavor  to  escape  from  the 
Acropolis  to  seek  amour. 

The  men  have  less  opportunity 
and  George  Benson,  an  imaginative 
comedian^makes  less  of  the  Mag¬ 
istrate  than  bright  have  been  exr 
pected.  Rich . 


L’Apprenti  Fakir 

(The  Apprentice  Fakir) 

"  Paris,  Dec.  30.  . 

Max  Regnier  production  .of.  three-act 
musical  comedy,  with  book  by  Jean 
Marais,  score  by  Jeff  .Davis,*  lyrics  by. 
Charles  Aznavdur.  Detection  and'  chore¬ 
ography,.  George  Reich;  assistant  chore¬ 
ographer,  Forest  Bonshire;  orchestrations' 
and.  musical  direction,  Pierre  Delvinqputt, 
Jean  Gruyer,  Jean-Pierre  Landreau: 
scenery  and  costumes;  Jean  Marais;  sound 
effects, .  Fred  Kiriloff.  At  Porte'  Saint- 
Martin  Theatre,  Paris,  Dec.  .17,  *57. 

Cast;  George  ,  Reich,  Ursula  KubleiV 
Lucien  Mars,  Jamie  Bauer,  Nicole 
Croisilles,  Paul  Perley,.  Francoise  Gres, 
Jack  Payne,  Corinne  Reichel,  Carl  Jeffrey, 
George  Dintrans,  Claudie  Bourlon,  Luis. 
Bernardo,  Karine  Fartger,  Freddy  Klee- 
baur,  Roiande:  Remoncourt,  Antonin  de 
Rosa,  France  Amell,  Bernadette  Casse, 
Michel  Lindner,  Janette  Montreuil,  Domi¬ 
nique  .  DIard.  Leon  Benhamou,  Robert 
Bestoso,  Claude  Richard. 


This  clever,  chic  up-torthe-min-. 
ute  musical  is  a  revelation  for 
Paris,  having  something  of  the 
tempo  of  top  U.  S.  shows  rather 
than  the  schmaltz,  of  the  old  Vien¬ 
nese  operettas.  It’s  probably  the 
best  new  tuner  seen  here  since  the 
local  visit  pf  “Porgy  arid  Bess” 
four  years  ago.  It’s  already  a  smash 
here  and,  ..as  the  coriipany  is  pre¬ 
dominately  American,  it’s  ari  ap¬ 
parent  candidate  for  Broadway. 

The  show’s  book  is  by  film-legit 
star  Jean  Marais,  who  also  de^- 
signed,  the  handsome,  ingenious  , 
scenery  and  costumes.  The  story, 1 
involving  a  youth  -who  is  trans-  » 


formed  into  a  fakir  so  he  can  read 
his  girl’s  mind*  holds  interest  arid 
also  offers  opportunities  for  plenty 
of  musical  numbers,  including  sev¬ 
eral  novelties  such  as  a  girl  float¬ 
ing  magically  In  mid-airr  the  fakir 
lying  on  a  bed  of  nails,  a  woman 
being  sawed  in  two  and  immedi¬ 
ately  afterward  the  severed  halves 
dancing  comically  in  phosphores¬ 
cent  ebstumes. 

U,  S:  dancer  George  Reich  stars 
with  his  troupe  and  the  show’s 
accent  is  on  the  dance,  with  the 
company  introducing  lively  cha- 
(Continued  on  page  76) 


iLook  ] 


Homeward,  Angel 

(BARRYMORE  THEATRE,  N.Y.) 

A  house  may  not  he  a  home,  but 
the  average  New  York  legit  theatre 
is  no  hed  of  roses,  either. 

What  brings  . up  the  subject  again 
is  a  visit  to  the  Ethel  .  Barrymore, 
N.Y;,  where  “Look  Homeward,  An¬ 
gel”  is  current.  According  to  the 
premiere  notices,  the  word-of- 
mouth  and  the  queues  at  the  box? 
office,  the  Ketti  Frings  play  based 
on  Thomas  Wolfe’s  classic  novel  is 
a  smash  hit,  but  you:  can’t  prove  it 
by  one  riot-tob-f astidious  theatre¬ 
goer.  “ 

The  Barrymore,  if  turns  out,  can 
be  a  hothouse  in  winter,  even  as 
in  summer.  The  general  lounge, 
large  and  reasonably  clean,  is  oth¬ 
erwise  an  eyesore,.  The  lobby  was 
too  small  even  in.  1928,  when  the 
house  was  opened. 

The  already-narrow  promenade 
in  back  of  the  orchestra  is  further 
narrowed  by  a .  concession  stand 
near  the  steps  leading  to  the  down¬ 
stairs  lounge.  The  other  night; 
the  concessionaire,  said  gruffly, 
“Please  donT  stand  here  unless 
you're  buying.*’ 

c  While  the  seats  on  the  floor  are 
hard, -closely  spaced  and  thus  ex¬ 
tremely  '.uncomfortable,  the  bal¬ 
cony  is  .  worse.  If  the  architecture 
were  rearranged  slightly, .  the  bal¬ 
cony;  would  really  be  the  gallery; 
it  is.  separated  from  the  mezzanine 
by'  the  usual  walkthrough,  arid  the 
geometric  rise,  while  it  may  riot 
be  thef  very  sharp  45  degrees,  is 
certainly  that  from  a  physical  or 
visual  view.  It’s  steep.  Period. 

The  space  between  the  chair  arid 
the  chair-back  immediately  in  front 
is  so  narrow  that  an  average-sized 
sitter  could  hardly  get  through  un¬ 
less  his  pants  were  already  worn 
shiny.  It  is  impossible,,  of  course, 
to  pass  anyone  who's  sitting,  arid 
even  if  the  sitter  does  rise  to  al¬ 
low-  passing  through;;  the  situation 
is  tough.  * 

There  is  no  intention  here  to 
single  out  the  Barrymore— a  great 
name  but  squeezy  theatre.  The 
Barrymore  is  only  typical  of  its 
“big  construction”  era.  The  1920s 
gave  birth  to,  in  alphabetical  ordef  : 

The  Adelphi  (ne  Craig),  '28;  Al¬ 
vin,  ’27;  Ambassador,  *21;  Broad¬ 
way  (he.  Hammersteih’s),  ’27;  Coro¬ 
net  (ne  Forrest),  *25;  46th  Street, 
’25;  Guilds  '25;  Imperial,  '23;  John 
Golden  (rie  Masque),  '27;  Martin 
Beck,  ’24;  Music  Box,  .’21;  National, 
*21;  Royale,  ’27;  St.  James  (ne 
Erlanger),  ’27;  Ziegfeld,  '27. 

.  Most  of  these'  houses  are  better 
than  the  Barrymore.  Age  has  lit¬ 
tle,  to  do  With  it— they  simply  have 
been  renovated  from  time  to  time, 
as  Witness  the  carefully  groomed. 
Music  Box,  which  is  about  seven 
years  older  than  the  Barrymore. 
In  general,  too,  the  musical  thea¬ 
tres  have  been  modernized,  in 
varying  degrees.  And  yet  the  Bar¬ 
rymore  :  is  hardly  any  better  than 
the  miserably  inadequate  Belasco 
(ne  Stuyvesant),  opened  a  genera¬ 
tion  earlier;  in  1907. 

Thera  Is.  this  to  be  said  about  the 
show  on  the- stage  of  the  Barry¬ 
more,  Either  the  actors'  voices 
carry  to  the  far  reaches  because 
they’re  the  Voices  of  traditional 
troupers  (regardless  of  age)  or  di¬ 
rector  George  Roy  Hill  has  seen 
to  it  that  every  point,  including  the 
overpriced  $3.60  (more  arid  less) 
for  the  balcony  -  that’s  -  really  - 
gallery  seat;,  will  hear  what’s  going 
on.  The  big  stentorians— and 
thanks  to  them,  one  arid  all-^are 
the  principals,  Jo  Van  Fleet,  wl^pse 
small  stature  belies  her  vocal  belt¬ 
ing;  the  .  Britisher  Hugh  Griffith, 
who,  in  a  bombastic  role,  to  be 
sure,  manages  to  articulate  in  a 
manner  to  carry  to.  the  pews  bear¬ 
ing  the  peasant  customers,  arid 
young  Anthony  Perkins  and  the 
rest; 

Every  once  in  a  While  the  pro¬ 
fessional  aisle-sitters  should  catch 
the  premieres  from  the  balcony. 
They  will  see  how  the  otheri  half 
lives,  especially  in ,  the  tottering, 
tatterdemalion  houses.  They  might 
then  think  considerably  less  of 
some  of  the  articles  for  Which  they 
riiay  otherwise  rave. 

If  going  to  the  theatre  is  a  joyful 
practice,  it  could  be  more  so  with 
even  a  minimum  of  creature  com¬ 
forts  to  square  the  noUlowly  price 
of  admission*'  JE’rau. 


Won’t  He  Get  Confused? 

Stage  manager  Robert  Downing  will  do  an  unusual  double  in 
the  upcoming  Broadway  comedy-With-music,  “Say,  Darling.”  He’ll 
not  only  be  the  general  stage  manager,  for  the  Jule  Styne-Lester 
Osterman  production,  but  will  resume  his  old  career  as  an  actor 
to  play  the  role  of  the  stage  manager  in  the  backstage  yam.  It  re¬ 
quired  a  special  waiver  from  the  Actors  Equity  council  for  him  to 
take  the  dual  assignment.  ^ 

“Say,  Darling”  is  based  on  Richard  Bissell’s  novel  of  the  same 
title,  dealing  with  the  production  of  a  Broadway  musicar based  on 
a  bestseller.  By  what  the  author  insisted  was  coincidence,  4ke  char¬ 
acters  in  “Say,  Darling”  were  widely  identified  as  actual  persons 
connected  with  the  Broadway  musical,  “Pajama  Game,”  which  was 
based  on  Bissell’s  own  novel,  “IVz  Cents.”  ■" _ ,  ,• 


The  Chairs  and 
The  Lesson 

T.  Edward  Hambleton  &  Norris  Hough-, 
ton  production  of  two  one-act  dramas  by 
Eugene  Ionesco,  translated,  by  Donald 
Watson.  Staged  by  Tony  Richardson; 
scenery,  Jesse  Beers  (setting  for  ‘‘The 
Chairs’*  based  on  original  designs  by 
Jocelyn  Herbert);*  lighting.  Tharon  Mua- 
ser;  music  and  sound  effects.  John  Addi¬ 
son.  .  Starring  Eli  Wallach,  Joan  -Plow-, 
right.  Max  Adrian.  At  Phoenix  Theatre. 
N.Y..  Jan.  9,  *58;  $4.60  top. 

THE  CHAIRS  ■  „  ^ 

Old  Man  . Eli  Wallach 

Old  Woman.' . . . . . . . Joan  Plowright 

Orator  . .  -  -  Kelton  Garwood 

THE  LESSON 

Maid  . .  . .  Paula  Bauersmith 

Student  ... .......  ..  . . . .  Joan  Plowright 

Professor  .  Max  Adrian 


There’s  lively  iriaterial  for  legit 
buffs  to  hash  over  in  this  dual-bill 
by  Romanian-born  Parisian  obscu¬ 
rantist  playwright  Eugene  Ionesco, 
so  it  seems  a  suitable  vehicle,  for 
the  rather  special  demands  of  the 
Phoenix  Theatre.  It’s  hardly  like¬ 
ly  to  prove  a  boxoffice  cleanup 
even  at  this  off-Broadway  location, 
however.  ^ 

Ionesco  has  created  something  of 
a  stir  in  egghead  circles  on  the  Con¬ 
tinent  and.  in  London,  writing  dou-. ; 
■bletalk  plays  something  along  the 
lines  of  Samuel  Beckett,  the  Irish- 
born  Parisian  author  of  “Waiting 
for  Godot”  and  the  incoming  off- 
Broadway  entry, “Endgame.”  Both 
playwrights  tend  to  be  gabby,  amus¬ 
ing  and  -  intelligible  only  by  re¬ 
mote  implication. 

The  opening  entry,  “The  Chairs,” 
drew  considerable  praise  in  Lon¬ 
don  last  season,  being  greeted  as 
pretty  eloquent  and  profound  by. 
some  of  the  deep-thinking  critics 
and  a  small  but  ratpurous  public. 
The  second  play,  “The  Lesson,” 
was  done  last  season  at  a  minor- 
league  off-Broadway  spot,  but 
failed  to  register,  presumably  be¬ 
cause  of  inferior  performance. 

Ionesco  is  apparently  another  of 
the  Parisian  crop  of  Existentialist 
writers.  Although  he  never  stoops 
to  being  explicit,  his  general  idea 
seems  to  be  a  sort  of  nihilism  with 
a  leavening  of  acrid  humor.  “The 
Chairs,”  billed  as  a  tragic  farce, 
could  conceivably  be  saying  that 
man  is  a  ludicrous  arid  perhaps 
pathetic  figure  whose  pretentions 
to  immortality  or  even  significance 
are  sheer  nonsense.  “The  Lesson,” 
billed  as  a  comic  drama,  is  possi¬ 
bly  suggesting  that  human  learning 
is  a  sort  of  ritualistic  and  murder¬ 
ous  idiocy. 

;  Any  such  interpretation  is  guess¬ 
work,  however*  for  both  plays  are 
in  terms  of  elaborately  vague  sym¬ 
bolism,  and  there  could  easily  be 
any  number  of  explanations  of  the 
meaning.  Not  that  it  matters,  for 
despite,  the  garrulity  of  the  two 
pieces,  they  are  diverting  and  pro¬ 
vide  material  for  plenty  of  post- 
performance  palaver. 

The  two  shows  are  expertly  done. 
London  director  Tony  Richardson 
has  staged  them  skillfully,  with  ex¬ 
pressive  assists  in  the  form  of  pro¬ 
vocative  settings,  particularly  the 
ominous,  multi-doored  background 
for  “The  Chairs,”  based  on  Joce¬ 
lyn  Herbert’s  original  London  de¬ 
sign.  An  eye-opening  Element  in 
both  sftows,  also,  is  the  young  Bri¬ 
tish  actress,  Joan  Plowright,  who 
lives  up  to  her  advance  billing  as 
a  versatile  character  comedienne. 

For  the  initial  bill.  Miss  Plow- 
right  portrays  a  crone  in  the  mid- 
90’s,  and  she’s  not.  only  convincing,1 
but  both  comic  and  touching  ..as 
she  totters  in  and  out  bringing 
chairs  for  the  invisible  guests  who 
arrive  for  her  senile  husband’s  life- 
long-anticipated  message  to  man¬ 
kind.  For  the  second  play,  the  ac¬ 
tress  is  a  bright-faced,  gleaming- 
eyed,  eager  student  of  about  15, 
with  a  fabulous  grasp  of  addition 
and  multiplication  and  not  the 
slightest  ability  to  do  subtraction. 
She  leaps  out  the  window  of  what 
appears  to  be  a  lighthouse  for  the 
next-to-final  moment  of  the  first 
play  and  is  murdered’ by  her  de-. 
minted  tutor  as  the  climax  of  the 
second.  All  quite  grisly  and  not 
bad  fun. 

Eli  Wallach  is  plausible  and 
deftly  amusing  as  the  ancient 
spouse  of  “The  Chairs”  and.  Max 
Adriari  provides  the  momentum 
and  dire  flavor  as  the  manical  pro¬ 
fessor  of  “The  Lesson,’*  Hobe. 


pMrsi  Venable  .  . 
Dr.  Cukrowicz  .. 
MLs*  FoxhUl  .... 

Mrs.  Holly.  ...... 

George  Holly 
Catherine  HoUy  . 
Sister  Felicity 


Garden  Dlstr lei 

John  C.  Wilson  &  Warner  Le  Roy' 
presentation  of  two  one-act  plays  -  by 
Tennessee  Williams.  Features  Anne  Mea- 
cham.  Hortense  Alden.  Eleanor  Phelps, 
Robert  Lansing,  Nanorr-Kiam,  Alan  Mixon, 
Donna  Cameron.  .  Staged  by  Herbert 
Machlz;  settings,  Robert  Soule;  costumes, 
Stanley  Simmons;  lighting,  Lee  Watson; 
incidental  music,  Ned  .  Rorem.  At  York 
Playhouse.  N.Y.,  Jam  7,  *58;  *4.50  top 
($6.00  opening). 

SOMETHING  UNSPOKEN 

Cornelia  Scott  .  ..  Eleanor  Phelps 

Grace  Lancaster .  - - - -  .Hortense  Alden 

SUDDENLY  LAST  SUMMER 


.  Hortense  Alden 
.  Robert  Lansing 
,  Donna  Cameron 
.  Eleanor  Phelps 
Alan  Mixon' 
..  Anne  Meacham 
Nanom-Kiam 


In  a .  spate  of ,  words,  imagery 
and  horror,  Tennessee  Williams 
has  returned,  this  time  to  off- 
Broadway  with  a  pair  of  one-act 
plays  at  the  newly  refurbished 
York  Playhouse  at.  64th  St,  and 
First  Ave.-  His  “Garden  District” 
consists  of  a  tenderly  tenuous  duo- 
log,  ;  “Something  Unspoken,”  and 
another  of  Williains’  .  salutes  to 
life’s  -  undercurrents  of  violence, 
.“Suddenly  Last  Summer.”  That 
the  latter  play  in  particular,  for 
all  its  skill,  remains  largely  objec¬ 
tive  and  untouching  is  primarily 
due  to  an  author’s  unalieriable 
right  to  choose  his  material  where 
he,  finds  it,  and  Williams  is  still 
uncompromising,  in.  the  search  for 
his  special  brand  of  truth. 

Set  In  the  “garden  district”  of 
New  Orleans,  both  plays  share 
Williams’  proclivity  for  lushness  of 
word  and  phrase.  “Something  Un¬ 
spoken”  is  replete  with -hushed 
psychological  pressures  that  never 
quite  iburst  out  of  their  bounds  of 
Southern  gentility,  while  “Sudden¬ 
ly  Last  Summer”  is  chockful  of 
overt  hate,  vindictiveness  and 
shock. 

John  C.  Wilsdn  and  Warner  Le- 
Roy  have  teamed  to  provide  off- 
Broadway  with  one  of  its  more 
potent  occasions,  and  in  converting  . 
the  former  film  house  to  a  299-seat 
theatre  they  have’  provided  a  clean, 
comfortable,  attractive  auditorium 
with  excellent  visibility  and  acous¬ 
tics.  In  fact,  the  place  and  event 
are  Broadwayrin-small  and  the  toff 
opening  night  audience  was  prob¬ 
ably  off-Broadway’s  most  opulent 
to  date. 

The  curtain-raiser,  “Something 
Unspoken,”  is  played  with  re¬ 
strained  word,  action  and  gesture 
that  mean  more  than  they  seem. 
As  a  southern  gentlewoman  who 
yens  for  power  of  woman’s  club 
and  drawing  room,  Eleanor  Phelps 
has.  regal,  stiff  ness  and  pomp,  while 
Hortense  Alden,  as  her  companion 
of  15  years’  bitter  sufferance, 
makes  her  bland-eyed,  mincing- 
pa.ced,  open-mouthed  portrait  a 
little  gem  of  reticence. 

In  some  ways  this  modest  opener 
is  a  surer  piece  of  theatrical  crafts¬ 
manship  than  the  gaudier  after- 
piece.  In  “Suddenly  Offfe  Summer” 
the  author  is  on  a  familiar  tangent 
with  a  not  unfamiliar  stock  com¬ 
pany  of  characters.  There  are  an 
elderly  Southern  mother  of  sur¬ 
face  chann  and  inner  spite,  a  girl 
who  has  lived  with  and  witnessed 
horror  until  her  sanity  is  at  ques¬ 
tion,  relatives  to  whom,  the  girl’s 
sanity  means  a  cash  difference,  a 
description  of  bruisingly  ugly 
death  such  as  Williams  has  a  talent 
for  evoking.. 

Ap’art  from  the  playwright’s 
clear  skill  at  creating  mood,  atmos-. 
phere,  suspense,  there  "are  a  couple 
of  noteworthy  acting  jobs  that  help 
the.  play  achieve  Solar  plexus  im¬ 
pact.  One  is  Miss  Alden’s  image  of 
a  semi-paralyzed  mother  Whose, 
idolization  of  her  poet  son  led  to 
nis  certain  doom,  the  other’ Anne 
Meacham’s  picture  of  a,  young 
woman  who  was  drawn  to  the  •  son 
(her  cousin)  in  fascination,  who 
traveled  abroad  With  him  and  be¬ 
came  the  procurer  his  mother  had 
been  arid  whose  graphic  tale  of  his 
death  is  the  crux  of  the  play.  Mov¬ 
ing  rapidly  ''from  broken  babbling 
to  coherence  and  'back  again,  from 
controlled  emotion  to  anguished 
cries:  for  help,_Miss  Meachiam  gives 
a  valuable  performance. 

Robert  Soule  has  designed  the 
sets,  surrounding  the  first  play 
'  (Continued  on  page  79) 


Wcdnctfayi  January  IS,  1958 


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US  WEST  57lh  SYNIEY,  NEW  YONK  19,  N.  Y. 


76 


LEGITIMATE 


An  untitled  drama  by  .  Edward 
Chodorov,  optioned  by  Metro  in  a 
pre-production  deal,  is  slated  lor 
Broadway  production  by  studio 
exec  Sidney  Phillips,  association 
with  Bertram  Bloch  and  Edythe 
Latham  (Mrs.  Bloch). 

Betty  Field  will  succeed:  Paulette 
Goddard  as  Melvyn  Douglas’  co- 
star  in  the  touring  “Waltz  of  the 
Toreadors.”  She’ll' join  the  com¬ 
pany  Jan.  27  in  Philadelphia. 

“Present  Laughter,”  in  which 
Noel  Coward  plans  to  alternate  on 
the  Coast  with  “Nude  With  Vio¬ 
lin,’’  will  be  presented  ori  Broad¬ 
way  during  the  final  week  of  the 
actor  -  author’s  appearance  .  in 
“Nude”  at  the  Belasco  Theatre. 
The  revival  will  be  presented  for 
five  performances  Feb.  6-8,  with 
Eva  Gabor  joining  the  production. 
Members  of  tne  “Nude”  cast  will 
round  out  the  company.  Luba  Ma- 
b'na,  who’s  appearing  in  “Nude” 
will  not  mpke  the  trek  to  the  Coast 
Her  understudy  Avril  Gentles  will 
take  over  her  assignment. 

Myron  McCormick  has  returned 
to  the  national  company  of  “No 
Time  for  Sergeants”  in.  the  role  he 
originated  in  the  Broadway  pro¬ 
duction  of  the  comedy.  He  had  suf¬ 
fered  a  heart  attack  last  September 
and  was  succeeded  in  the  show  by 
King  Calder. 

Charles  Korvin  had  to  cancel  a 
scheduled  appearance  in  “The 
Happy  Time”-  at  the'  Fred  Miller 
Theatre,  Milwaukee,  because  pf  a 
back  injury  suffered  while  rehears¬ 
ing.  Jules  Munshln  replaced  him 
in  the  show,  which  opened  Monday 
(13)  and  continues  through  Feb.  1. 

Lo/ella  ValMery  has  succeeded 
the  ailing  Anne  Sloper  as  pa,  for 
the  bus-and-truck  touring  company 
of  “No  Time  for  Sergeants.” 

Claude  Dauphin,  who  was  orig¬ 
inally  scheduled  to  bow  out  of  his 
starring  assignment  in  the  off- 
Broadway  production  of  “Gleram- 
bard”  next  Feb.  1,  will  continue 
with  the  show  until  April  1.  with 
ah  option  of  two  weeks  notice 
thereafter. 

Sam  Saul,  longtime  souvenir 
program  salesman,  went  into  Mt. 
Sinai  Hospital,  N.Y.,  last  week  for 
an  operation. 

Script  revisions  in  “Sunrise  at 
Campobello,”  during  its  current 
pre-Broadway  tryout  have  elim- 
inted  the  role  played,  by  Virginia 
Kaye/  . 

Earle  Hyman  will  play  the  title 
role  in  “Everyman  Today,”  Walter 
Sorell’s  modern  morality  drama, 
which,  will  be  presented  at  the 
James  Memorial  Hall  of  the  Union 
Theological  Seminary,  N.  Y.,  to- 
night  (Wed.)  and  next  Wednesday 
(22)  evening.  Sandwiched  in  be¬ 
tween  witt  be  an  afternoon  per-j 
formance  next  Sunday  (19)  at  the 
Phoenix  Theatre,  N.  Y. 

Elliott  Silverstein  has  taken 
over  as  director  of  the  incoming, 
Broadway  production  of  ..“Maybe 
Tuesday,”  succeeding  Paul  Stew- 


Alternations  on  the  Globe  Thea¬ 
tre,  N.Y.,  are  now  expected  to  be. 
completed  March  1. 

June  Havoc  and  John  Kerr  will 
appear  in  the  upcoming  Phoenix 
Theatre,  N.  Y.,  production  of  “The 
Infernal  Machine,”  under  the  di-. 
rection  of  Herbert.  Berghof. 

The  scheduled  production  Of 
Jack  Dunphy’s  “Light  a  Penny 
Candle”  at  the  Circle  in  the 
Square,  N.-Y.,  has  been  indefinitely 
postponed. 

Rory  Harrity  and  John  Alexan¬ 
der  have  succeeded  Conrad  Janis 
and  Edward  Andrews,  respectively, 
in  “Visit  to  a  Small  Planet,”  Which 
ended  its  Broadway  run  last  Satur¬ 
day  (11),  prior  to  embarking  on  a 
road  tour  Feb.  5." 

Marsha  Hunt  has  replaced.  Kaye 
Lyder  in  the  Broadway  production 
of  “Tunnel  of  Love,”  while  Maxine 
Stuart  has  succeeded  Uildy  Parks 
in  the  comedy. 

Elenna  Fraser,  British  legit-tv 
actress,  has  joined  her  lawyer  hus¬ 
band  in  Vancouver,  B.  C.,  where 
they  intend  to  reside. 

Mildred  Natwick  has  been  set 
for  the  upcoming  Broadway  pro¬ 
duction  of  “The  Day  the  Money 
Stopped.” 

Paulette  Goddard  will  withdraw 


TOP  NEW  ENGLAND  STAR 
SUMMER  THEATRE 

BAR  —  RESTAURANT  —  INN 

For  lease  fully  equipped  money  mak¬ 
ing:  season  last  year  producer,  retiring 
Write  orWrre  Bex  V-1 15-58 
Variety,  154  W:  46th|St,.  N.  Y.  36 


■■■■  i  '== 

GAL  FRIDAY 

Have  10  years  experience  with  Broad¬ 
way  Productions  and  Stock.  Keen 
knowledge  business  management  and 
administration.  Salary  open.  Call- 
JUdsort  6-7488  or  write  B~x  V-113  58, 
Variety,  154  West  46th  Street,  New 
York  36,  N.  Y. 


Jail.  25  from  the  touring  produce 
tion  of  “Waltz  of  the  Toreadors.” 

George  Brandt,  whose  touring 
production  of  “Cat  on  a  Hof  Tin 
Roof”  is  currently  playing  Boston, 
has  also  gone  into  the  souvenir 
program  business.  His  first  sou¬ 
venir  booklet  was  for  the  recent 
Broadway  musical  “Rumple.”- 


Off-Broadway  Shows 

(Opening  date  ,  in  parenthesis) 

Brothers  Karamazov.  Gate  (12-6- 
57). 

Clerambard*  Rooftop  (11-7-57). 

Garden  District,  York  (1-7-58). 

Iceman  Cometh,  Circle  in  the 
Square  (5-8-56);  closes  next  Sunday 
(19). 

Julius  Caesar,.  Shakespeare- 
wrights  (10-23-57);  clsees  Feb.  2. 

Threepenny  Opera,  de  Lys  (9-:25- 
55). 

Tobias  &  Angel,  Theatre  East 
(1-2-58). 

Winkelberg,  Renata  (1-14-58). 

Closed  Last  Fortnight 

In  Good  King  Charles’  Golden 
Days,  Downtown  (1-24-57);  closed 
Jan.  5  (395  performances). 

Pale  Horse.  Pale'Ttider,  Jan  Hus 
(12-9-57);-  closed  last  -Sunday  (12) 
(40.  performances).  j 

Palm  Tree  in  a  Rose  Garden, 
Cricket  (11-26-57);  closed  Jan.  5  (48 
performances). 

.  Purple  Dust,  Cherry  Lane  (12- 
27-56);  closed  Jan.  5  (430  perform-, 
ances). 

Simply  Heavenly,:  Renata  (11-8- , 
57);  closed  abruptly  Jan.  1.  The 
management  cancelled  a  scheduled 
moveover  to  the  smaller  Sullivan 
Street  Playhouse,  N.  Y.,  when.  Ac¬ 
tors  Equity  refused  to  permit  a  re¬ 
duction  in  the  number  of  Equity 
members  in  the  cast.  The  musical, 
which  ran  for  169  performances, 
originally  ,  preemed  last  May  23  at 
the  85th  Street  Playhouse,  N.  Y-, 
where  it  was  forced  to  close  after 
44  performances,  because  of  build¬ 
ing  violations.  It  moved  to, Broad¬ 
way.  and  ran.  for  62  performances 
at  the  Playhouse,  then  reopened  at 
the  Renata,  where  it  ran  for  63 
more  performances.. 


Shows  Out  of  Town 

SSS  Continued  from  page  72  — 

Long  Day’s  Journey 
Into  Night 

whispery  at  times,  it  carries  a  far- 
reaching  anguish  in  baring  her 
secrets  and  .  shame. 

What  distinguishes  this  actress’ 
work  is  her  vivid  pantomimic  abil¬ 
ity;  Her  cunningness  to  secure 
morphine*  her  pitifully  childish^ 
flights  into  -fancy,  and  her  Ophelia-, 
like  scene  are  done  with  a  striking 
flexibility.  Her  tremulous  gestures 
almost  slip  into  the  grand  old-thea¬ 
ter  style  of  acting,  ,  yet  her  tech¬ 
nique,  seems  consistently  believable 
in  this  elusive  role. 

Ray  Poole,  as  the  eldest  son, 
depicts  this  drunken  wastrel  with 
a  savage  intensity  that  follows  the 
dark  masochiatic  mood  of  O’Neill’s 
diatribe.  All  the  part’s  complex 
facets  are  commanded  skilfully  in 
his  pyrotechnical.  performance. 

Chet^  Learning,  as  the  youngest 
poetic  brother  representing  the 
playwright,  portrays  him  intelli¬ 
gently  in  a  rather  tight'  modem 
style.  His  brooding  pose  appears  as 
one-dimensional  as  his  diction  until 
the  big  confessional  scene  en¬ 
courages  him  to  get  more  dramatic. 
Liz  Thackston  is  okay  as  a  stenciled 
Irish  house  maid  who, flits  around 
the  drab  summer  home,  Pullen, 


British  Shows 

(Figures  denote  opening  dates ) 
LONDON 

At  Drop  of  Hat,  Fortune  cl-24-57). 
Bells  Ringing,  Coliseum  (11-14-57). 

Boy  FriendA  Wyndfianrs  (12-1-53)  ^ 

Bride  A  Bachelor;  Duchess  (12-19-56). 
•Dear  Delinquent,  Aldwych  (6-5-57). 
Dinner  With  Family;  New  (12-10-57). 

Dry  Rot.  Whitehall  rfl-31-54). 

Eqg,  Saville  (10-2457). 

Flowering  Cherry,  Haymarket  (11-21-57). 
For- Amusement  Only.  Apollo  <6^5-56). 
Free  As  Air,  Savoy  (6-6-57). 

Grab  Me  a  Gondola,  Lyric  (12-26-56). 
Happiest  Mill.;  Cambridge  (11-15-57), 
Happy  Man,  Westminster  (12-13-57). 
House  by  .  Lake,  York’s  <5-9-56), 

Kidders.  Arts  (11-12-57). 

Lovebirds,  Adelphi  430-57),  . 
Mousetrap,  Ambassadors  (11-25-52). 

New  Crazy  Gang,  Vic.  Pal.  (12-18-56). 
Nude  With.  Violin,  Globe  (11-7-56). 

Odd  Man  In,  St.  Martin’s  (7-16-57): 
Paddle  Own  Canoe,  Criterion  (12-4-57): 
Plalsirs  De  Paris.  Wales  (4-20-57). 

Rape  of  Belt/* Picadilly  (12-J2-57). 
Repertory.  Old  Vic  .  (9-18-57). 

Roar  Like  a  Dove,  Phoenix  (9-25-57). 
Sailor  Beware,  Strand  (2-16-55). 

Salad  Days,  Vaudeville  (8t5-54). 

Sat.  Nlqht  at  Crown.  Garrick  (9-9-57). 
Share  My  Lettuce.  Comedy  (9-25  57). 
Stranger  in  the  Sea,:  Arts  (12-27-57). 
Tempest,  Drury.  Lane  (12-5-57): 

Tunnel  of  Love,  Majesty’s  (12-3-57). 
•Transfer  from  Westminster. 

scheduleo  openings 

Lady  at  Wheel,  Lyric  Hamm;  (1-23:58). 
Iceman  Cometh,  Arts  (1-29-58). 

Cat  on  Hot  Tin  Rd&f.  Comedy  (L30.58). 

.  CLOSED  LAST  WEEK 
We  Mr  Guest,  Wint.  Card.  (12-11-57); 


PR&IETY 


Wednesday,  January  15,  1958 • 


TIP  Syndicate  Starts 


Theatrical  Interests  Plan,  Inc., 
has  started:  its  first  season  as  a 
legit  .investment  firm  with  a  streak 
of  winners,  The  group  has  had  four 
hits  in  its  first  .four  ventures  on 
Broadway.  Actually,  the  shows 
haven’t,  paid  off  yet,  but  they’re 
playing  to  sellout  business  arid  are. 
regarded  a. cinch  to  earn  substan¬ 
tial  profits.  . 

The  quartert  of  Shows,  in  the 
order  of  their  arrival  on.Broadvyay 
and  with  the  amount  of  the  TIP 
investment  listed  parenthetically, 
are  “Jamaica”  (Around  $3,000), 
“Look  Homeward,  Angel’;’  ($10,000), 
“Dark  at  the  Top  of.  the  Stairs” 
($3,000)  and  “Music  Man” 
($10,000). 

TIP  also  has  an  investment  in 
“Two  for  the  Seesaw,”  which,  opens 
tomorrow  night  (Thurs.V  at  the 
Booth  Theatre,  N.  Y„  with  Henry 
Fonda  as  star.  The  corporation’s 
stake  in  it,  is  $3,200.  Another 
$5,700  has  been  invested  by  the 
firm  in  the  upcoihing  Broadway  im¬ 
portation  of  the  British  production 
of  “Suinriier  of  the  17th  Doll.” 


Shows  Abroad 

Continued  from  page  74  ' 

The  Apprentice  Fakir 

cha-chas,,  rock  ’n’  roll  and  Jerome 
Robbins  style  choreography.  The 
Jeff  Davis  music  is  lively,  as  are 
the  .lyrics  by  pop  crooner  Charles 
Azriavour,.  and  Reich  has  done  an 
excellent  job  of  staging  and  chore¬ 
ography,  assisted  by  Forest  Son- 
shire: 

As  male  ,  lead,  Reich  has  charm 
and  stage  presence,  and  handles 
three  songs  nicely  enough,  while 
Jamie.  Bauer,  Nicole  Croisilles  and 
Ursula  Kubler  alsa  register  as 
singerrdaricers  and  George  Din- 
trans,  Paul  Perley,  Carl  Jeffrey 
and  Jack  Payne  are  standout 
dancers.  Curt. 


(  Jan .  13-26) 

(igAunHf  Mam#  (2d  Co.)— Shubert.  Dost. 

Rack:  To  Methuselah  (tryout)  (Tyrone 
Power,  Faye  Emerson.  Arthur  Treacher) 
—Municipal  Aud.,  Savannah.  Ga.  (13); 
To^er.  Atlanta;  (14-15):  Wescott.  Aud., 
Civic-  New  Orleans 
Municipal  Aud.,  Shreveport.  La. 

Memorial  Aud.,  Little 
(22);.  Elis  Aud.,  Memphis, 
(23-24);  Temple.  Birmingham  (25). 

Be ’0**^1  (tryout)  —  Erlanger. 

®'vlewed: 

.  Canadian  Players— Fairchild  Aud.,  East 
Lansing.  Mieh  <13-14);  Western  Michigan 
U-  Aud.,  Kalamazoo  (15):  Cohn  Aud.. 
Evanston,  Ill.  (16);.  Purdue  U1  Aud,, 
LMayette.  Ind.  (17);  St.  Mary-of-the-Woods 
College  Aud.  (18):  Manchester  Col- 
Aud..  North ;  Manchester,  Ind.  (20); 
Contemporary  Club,  Indianapolis  (21); 
Southwest  Missouri  State  College  Aud., 
Sortn^eld  (23);  Music  Hall.  Kansas  City, 
Mo.  (24). 

*|at  on  *  Not  Tin  Rob#  (Victory  Jory)— 
Wilbur,  Boston  <13-25).  -  ■■  ■  ■ 

„c'°ud  Seven  (tryout)  (Ralph  Meeker, 
Martha  Scott)— Shubert.  New  Haven  (15- 
18);  Locust.  PhUly  (20-25). 

Damn  Yankees  (N.Y>  Co.V^Mosque. 
Altooim*  .  Pa.  (18)f  Capitol,  Binghamton 
(20);  /?«Iace’  Albany  (21);  State.  Syra- 
cuc®  (22):  Palace,  Youngstown  <23-255. 

Day  jhe  Money  Stopped  (tryout)  OUch- 
ard^Basehart)— Playhouse,  Wilmington 

Uof  Ann* -Frank  (Joseph  SehiBl- 
Columbus  (13-15);  Memo- 

Louis  feJ:  (19);  Amcrlcan’  st- 

Happiest  Millionaire  (Walter  PIdeeon)—  i 
Lyc^m.  Mpls.  (15-19);  Pabst.  M’wkefcj 

,n1tert,,?1ck  (tryout)  (Celeste  Holm, 
Maximillian  ^Schell,  JRosemary  Harris) — 
^aybou^e^Wilmington  (16-18);  National, 

Lone  Day’s  Journey  Into  Nlqht  (2d  Co.) 
Sy(l?Ser’  A°e?  M<?Master)— Erlaneer. 
_Maybe  Tuesday  (frynut)  —  Shubert, 
Wash.  -i1.t-25)  (Reviewed  in  VARIETY, 
Jan.  1.  *58).- 

Mlddle  of  the  NIaht  (Edward  Robinson) 
—National-  Wash.  <t3-i8). 

(13  25?  Happy  Fella— Hanna,  Cleve. 
v-  Much  Ado  About  Nothin*  (Katharine 
53  25)™*  Drake)— Riviera,  Det. 

My  Fair  Lady  (2i  Co.)  (Brian  Aheme, 
Anne  Rogers) — Shubert,  Chi  (13-25). 

No  Time  for  Sergeants  CN.Y.  Co.)— 
Aycock  Aud.;  Greensboro.  N.C..  (13); 
Ovens  Aud.;  Charlotte.  N.C,  (14):  Munlci- 
pa!.  Aud.,  Asheville.  N.C.  dfl);  Townshm 
Aud.,  Columbia.  S.C.  (17-18);  Bell  Aud., 
Augusta,  Ga.  (19>:  >ud..  Savannah  (20); 
Tower.  Atlanta  (22-25). 

Pitt9  0.^5) f°r  ?®r9*an^s  (2d  Co.^Nixon, 
(1325)  *:ap!a,n  (tryout^Shubert,  sphilly 

•_  Portorno  (tryout)  .George  Guetarv, 
Helen  Gallagher.  Robert  Strauss)— Er- 
lanver.  Phillv  (25). 

•  Rlv.alrv  ■.  ;.(tnrout)  (Ravmond.  Massev, 
Agnes  Moorehepd,  M-,>t|n  .  Gabel) — Klein- 
hans  Music  Hall.  Buffalo  (13):  Central 
H.  S.,  Syracuse’  (1*):  Eastman.  Roc^aster 
.a.5);  Rencslear  Polvteehnic  Institute, 
Jrov  (16);  SvmDhohy.  Half;  Boston  (17-^8); 
Veterans  Memorial:  Providence.  (*>n); : .sbn- 
bert,  N.w  (21-25)  (Reviewed  in.  VARIETY, 
Oct.  9.  ’57). 

Separate  T'bles  (Eric  P^rtm-n.  Geral¬ 
dine  Paee) — Blackstone.  Cbl  (15-25). 

.  Sunrise  rf  Camoohello.  (tryout)  (Raioh 
RellanivV— Yenrpo*..  pMUy  (n-25)  (Re- 
vlen’ed  fn  VARiP^Y.  Jan..  l.  *58).  . 

This,  •s  Goo«fe  (tryout):  (Kim  Hunter, 
James  DalyWMcCar+er.  Princeton  (23-°5) 
Tunnel  of  Love  (Tommy  Nhr.nanF  wjj. 
liam-BIshou — Aleazar.  S.  F.  (13-25). 

Walfr  .of.'the  Toreador^.' (Metvyn  Doue-; 
las,  Paulette  Goddard)— Shubert,  Det. 
(13-05).  .  s. 

.  WinesbUro,  «h»o  (tryout)  (I)  arc  thy 
MrGtiire;  James : WhPrnbre,  Leon •  Ames)— 
Colonial,  Boston  (13-25), 


Dance  Reviews 


Inbal  of  Israel 

Sol  Hurok  &  Amerlca-Israel  Cultural 
Foundation  presentation.  Choreography 
and  production  by  Sara  Lovi-Tanai.  '  At 
Martin  Beck  Theatre.  N.Y.,  Jan.  6,  '68;  *t 
$4.80  top. 

A  band -of  19  dancing,  singing, 
chanting,,  miming,  flute  and  tam¬ 
bourine-playing  entertainers  from 
Tel  Aviv,  after  break-in  dates  last 
spring  in  Europe,  “made  it. big” 
upon  opening  Jan.  6  at  Manhattan’s 
Martin  :  Beck  Theatre,  under  the 
pennants  of  Sol  Hurok.  Following 
a  three-week  engagement  the 
troupe  will  tour  as  far  as  Los  An¬ 
geles.  It  wHl  fun  with  the  tail  wind 
of  strong  New  York  art  reviews, 
with  offbeat  appeal  for  dance  buffs 
generally,  and  sure  to  enjoy  the 
sentimental,  religious,  patriotic, 
publicity  arid  theatre  party  sup¬ 
port  of  the  whole  Zionist  apparatus 
in  America. 

Americans  have  seen  lots  of  for¬ 
eign  dance  groups  in  recent  years 
—Spanish,  Jugoslav,  Scotch,  Hindu, 
Balinese,  Basque,  British,  Danish, 
French,  Austrian.  Ideally,  all  such 
coiripanies  hope  to  cover,  costs  by 
boxoffice  sale.  In  fact,  many  have, 
been  subsidized  in  one  way  or  an¬ 
other;  Typically,  such  companies 
are  recognized  as  goodwill  missions 
for  the  fatherland.  Inbal  will,  al¬ 
most  certainly,  indirectly  stimulate 
State  of  Israel  bond  sales,  a  per¬ 
ennial  U.S.  Jewish  community  ac¬ 
tivity.  But  the  big  news,  is  that  the 
company  is-  an  artistic  success,  one 
of  the  most  clean-cut  in  this  en¬ 
tertainment  genre. 

These  are  not  European  nor  Pal¬ 
estinian  Jews,  but  Yemenites  re¬ 
turned  to  Israel  after  some  2,000 
years  in  southern  Arabia.  Intense-  i 
ly  brunette,  bearded,  tending  to  be 
swarthy  and  sun-bakod,  with 
gleaining  white  teeth,  they  have, 
bounce,  elevation  and  stamina  in1 
abundance.  Where  the  ancient  and 
the  contemporary  come  together  is 
not  an  essential  trade  paper  spec¬ 
ulation. 

There  is  seemingly  much  mod¬ 
ern  theatrical  telescoping  of  chore¬ 
ography  along  with  authentic  re¬ 
creation  of  olden,  folkways,  Broad¬ 
way’s  own  Jerome  Robbins  and 
Anna  Sokolow  had  unmeasured  (as 
to  extent)  participation  in  the 
Arinerican  premiere  staging,  though 
all  credit  belongs  basically  to,  and 
is  accorded  Mr§.  Sara  Levi-Tanai, 
founder,  producer  and  choreogra¬ 
pher. 

The  net  of  what  takes  place  on 
the  stage  is  vigorous,  fresh,  some¬ 
times  comical,  once  or  twice  corny, 
occasionally  outrageously  chauvin¬ 
istic,  but  disarmingly  arid  beguil- 
ingly  so.  Above  all,  the  opening 
night  audience  saw  a  best  perform¬ 
ance,  Screwed  tight  to  shut  Out 
cultural  ennui,  a  hazard  of  these 
^undertakings. 

It  would  be  loose  labelling  to 
speak  of  Yemenite  dance-chant  as 
“typically”  Jewish.  Rather  this  is 
“typically’*  earthy.  The  spirit  is 
joyous;  a  little  primitive  arid  ar¬ 
chaic,  definitely  sentimental,  but 
always  there'  is  a  pervading  sense 
of  roots  and  growth;  of  ancient 
customs  and  lively  youth. 

Viewing  the  quaint,  half-mysti¬ 
cal,  half-droll  “Yemenite  •.Wed¬ 
ding”  which  constitutes  the;  second 
of  the  three  prograiri  segments,  it 
is  easy  to  agree  with  Peter  Ver¬ 
non,  Variety’s  Tel  .  Aviv  corres¬ 
pondent,  who  said  in  .  last  week’s 
Anniversary  Edition  that  culture 
in  modern  Israel  is  characterized 
by  (a)  Biblical  themes  and  (b)  new 
companies.  This,  impression  is 
strong,  too,  in  “Song  of  Deborah” 
and  “Queen  of  Sheba/’  s 

The  titles  of  the  “modem”  inter¬ 
ludes,  “In  the  Footsteps  of  the 
Flock”  and  “Leaping  Flames”  sug¬ 
gest  the  ballet  idioni  of  a  pastoral 
people,  healthy  and  close  to  na¬ 
ture,  “Shabbot  Shalom,”  danced 
by  the  ’top-billed  pair,  Margalith 
Gved  and  Meir  Ovadia,  is  a.  Val¬ 
entine  to  conjugal  love. 

Costumes  (ancient),  scenery 
(sparse  but  varied)  and  the  partly, 
original  and  partly  derivative  mu¬ 
sic  (mostly  off-stage)  have  the  con¬ 
siderable  virtues  of  subordinating 
themselves  to  the  total  expression 
of  group  feeling.  Arabic  sources  are 
acknowledged  and  it  is  hardly  sur¬ 
prising  that  African  arid  Oriental 
touches  show  through.  It  is  part 
of  the  promotional  potential  of  this 
company  that  there  is  so  much  to 
note,  compare*  speculate  upon;  and 
characterize. 

The  ensemble  is  without  stars  in 
the  usual  sense;  and  it  ~  might  be 
questionable'  justice  to  -  single  out 
individuals.  Let  it  be  recorded  that 
the  company  is  exotically  mounted, 
tightly  disciplined  and  that  ,  it  man¬ 
ages  Considerable  change  of  .pace 
arid  versatility  within  the  folkloric 
frBme  (such  troupes  sometirnes  run 
down  in  the  second  half  of  the 
bill;  this  one  .  does  not). 

.  For  the  premiete,  a  mixed  na¬ 
tionality  audience  had  obviously 
irifiltrated  from  the  Uriited  Nations. 
They  saw  a  superb  show.  Land.  I 


Gounod  Symphony 

<N.  Y.  CITY  BALLET) 

Put  off  twice,  once  on  a  question 
of.  money  (could  Lincoln  Kirstein 
find  it?),  and  once  on  a  questiori 
of  time  (meaning  the  need  for 
more  rehearsal),  “Gounod  Sym¬ 
phony”  when  finally  unveiled  last 
Wednesday  (8),  was  a  $30,000  gam¬ 
ble  and  a  20-minute  question  mark. 
The  late-season  premiere  amounts 
to  a  break-iri  for  next,  year’s  reper¬ 
tory..  The  appeal  of  the  ballet  it¬ 
self,  set  to  a  neglected  symphony 
(D  Major)  only  played  in  N.  Y.  in 
1955,  100  years  after  its  composi¬ 
tion,  will  probably  be  limited.  - 

Two  points:  (a)  as  seen,  with 
uncertainties  aplenty  in  the  corps 
de  ballet,  this,  is  a  "busy”  rather 
than  a  satisfying  spectacle  and  (b) 
as  seen,*  it  rests  too  much  on  Maria 
Tallchief:  She  Is  glorious,  but  the 
captious  point  reriiains.  Much  of 
the  time  the  stage  is.  •‘crowded.” 
emphasis  required,  with  10  ma.e 
dancers  squiring  20  femmes  and 
getting  pretty  intricate  in  the  pro¬ 
cess,  almost  like  a .  gymnasium  drill 
team, 

The  music  itself  -  is  light  and 
frolicsome,  but  of  petit-point  de¬ 
tail.  That  choreographer-  George 
Balanchine  has  picked  up  an  em¬ 
broidery  “motif.”'  highly  stylized, 
even  occasionally  a  r  e  h  a  ic-  (the 
scenery  is  as  close  to  corri  as  this, 
austere  company  is .  likely  to  hang) 
all  adds  up  to  a  shoi#  piece  that 
will  undoubtedly'  improve  with 
work,  but  may  not  be  W’orth  all  the 
bother. 

Miss  Tallchief ’s  partner  is  yes¬ 
terday’s  promising;  .  today’s  ma¬ 
turing  riiajor  talent,  Jacq  u  e  s 
d’Arriboise;  This  is  a  good  credit 
for  hum  though  he  has  none  of 
the  bright  oppo.rtuni.ties  given  Miss 
Tallchief.  In  final  summation  it  is 
a  showcase  for  her.  The  probable 
popularity  iri  the  Ceriterls  reper¬ 
tory  of  40-odd  items  of  “Gounod” 
will,  at  a  guess,  be  largely  in  rela¬ 
tion  to  that  single  fact.  If  this 
hardly  reauires  apology,  neither 
has  the  high-staridarded  Balan¬ 
chine  scored  a  choreographic  coup. 

For  close  students  of  techniqu 
there .  is  probabl v  much  more  in 
“Gounod”  than  fdr  the  rank-and- 
file  ballet  buffs.  Land. 


Tables’ Boff  $29,800,  LA. 
New  Record  for  House 

Lol  Angeles,  Jan.  14. 

“Separate  Tables”  racked  up 
new  house  record  at  the  Hunting- 
tori  Hartford  Theatre  last  week  in 
the  final  frame  of.  its  two  and.  one- 
half  week  ruri  at  the  1.024  sea  ter. 
Tally  hit  $29,800  for  the  eight  per¬ 
formances,  topping  the  record  set 
in  August,  1956,  when  “Inherit  the 
Wind”  got  $28,500. 

“Tables”  grossed  $23,800  the 
previous  Week. 

‘Diary’  Healthy  $30,000 
In  7  at  Mpls.  and  Mykee 

Milwaukee,  Jan.  14.. 

“Diary  of  Anne  Frank”  grossed 
a  good  $30,000  last  week  in  seven 
performances  at  the  Pabst  Theatre 
here  and  one  performance  the  pre¬ 
vious  Sunday .  (5)  at  the  Lyceum, 
Minneapolis.  The  take  at  the  Pabst 
for  the  Joseph  Schildkraut-starrer 
was  $25,600.  . 

The:  single  performance  at  the 
Lvcdum,  where  the  play  grossed 
$26,900  for  eight  performances  the 
p  rev  i  o  us  %eek, .  accounted  for 
$4,400. 


Toronto,  Jan.  14. 

In  for  the  first  of  a  four-weeks’ 
tenure  at'  the  Royal  Alexandra 
here,  the  National  Ballet  of  Can- ; 
ada  pulled  a  fair  gross  last  week, 
bolstered  ,  by  theatre  parties.  The 
faves  were  the  four-act  ballets  of 
“Nutcracker*’  and  “Swan  Lake.” 

Estimate  for  Last  Week 
National  Ballet  of  Canada*  Royal 
Alexandra  (1st  wk)  ($3.50;  1,525; 
$30,000).  .  Held  its  own  by  gross-, 
irig  $15,915  on  first  stanza  of  four- 
week^ngagementi^^^^^^^^ 


MAN  FRIDAY 

available.:  immediately.  ■  Can  type,  take 
shorthand*  drive,  etc.  Background: 
Theatre,  Films,  TV,  Radio,  Newspaper, 
Magazine,  Advertising,  Literary,  etc. 
Production,  Publicity  and  Promotion. 
Age  31.  Box  V-10*  Variety,  154  W. 
46th  St.  Now  York. 


New  Off-Broadway 
Theatre  Company 

new  being  termed.  Established  Director  with 
3  new  scripts,  terrlfle  mevle  potential,  seeks 
ee-produeer,  aetlye  er  silent.  Write  P-0.  Bo* 
1489,  Grand  Central  6tatlen,  N.Y.  17,  N.Y. 


Wednesday,  January  15,  1958 


P'ftkMTr  _ LITERATI  77 


John  Fox’s  Court  Bookings 

John  Fox,  former  publisher  if 
^he  defunct  Boston  Post,  had  a,  bad 
dav  in  the  Pemberton  Square 
Courthouse,  Boston,  Xmas  r  week. 
He  was  arrested  twice  within  a  few 
hours  and  locked  up  for  an  hour. 
Fox  was  arrested  first  in  connec¬ 
tion  with  his  repeated  failure  to 
appear  in  Suffolk  Superior  Court 
to  plead  to  93  indictments  accusing 
him  of  failing  to  pay  $27,000  in 
wages  to  employes  of  the  Post.  His 
second  arrest  came  When  ire  got 
lost  in  the  subbasement  of  the 
courthouse  and  was  attempting  to 
leave  the  building.  This  was  in  con¬ 
nection  with  a  judgment  of  $10,- 
090.34  which  was  obtained  against 
him.  last  March  15. 

The  bad  day  at  Boston  began 
when  Fox  failed  to  show  up  at  the 
courthouse  at  10  am;  Later,  Fox’s 
attorney  said  he  would  arrive  at 
1  p:m.  Judge  Jesse  Morton,  who 
had  been  waiting,  left  for  lunch. 
Fox  arrived  at  1:07  and  was  nabbed 
on  a  capias.  He  was  taken  to  the 
prisoner’s  dock  on  the  mezzanine 
floor.  After  spending  an  hour  in 
the  dock.  Fox  was  taken  before 
Judge  Morton. 

Fox  was  allowed  to  stand  mute, 
protesting  hfe  right  of  appeal  to 
Massachusetts:.  Supreme  Court. 
Judge  Morton  ordered  a  plea  of  in¬ 
nocent  entered  and  released  the 
exrpublisher  in  $5,000  bail..  (Fox 
was  named  in  93  indictments  with 
299  counts,  for  alleged  nonpayment 
of  back  wages  to  Boston  Post  em¬ 
ployes).  Fox,  freed  in  bail,  rushed, 
from.. the-:  courtroom  and  "tried  to 
leave  the  courthouse  by  a  side  door,, 
but  lost  his  way  and  wound  up  in 
the  subbasement  where  he  was 
again  nabbed,  this  time  by  a  con¬ 
stable  with  a  capias  issued  last  Nov. 
14. . 

Fox  Was  then  taken  before 
Municipal  Court  Chief  Justice 
Elijah  Adlow  for  a  hearing.  The 
judge  was  informed  the  original 
$10,000  judgment  was  now  down 
to  $5,262.  Fox’s  .attorney  then 
turned  over  $1,262  in  cash,  reduce 
ing  Fox’s  alleged  indebtedness  .td : 
an  even  $4,000.  Judge  Adlow 
purged  Fox  of  contempt  and  re¬ 
leased  him  from  custody  after  rul¬ 
ing  that  Fox  must  pay  the  balance 
by  next  March  30. 


pression  in  print  that  Insull  or  his 
father,  Samuel  Sr.,  who  "died  in 
1938,  were  convicted  of.  crimes  or 
were  imprisoned  as: a  result  of  the 
.  Insull  empire’s .  collapse  during  the 
depression.  The  suit  holds  that 
neither .  Insull  was  ever  convicted 
of  crime,  in  (Connection  with  the 
collapse  of  their,  xnidwestern  elec¬ 
tric  power  empire. 

Insull  said  ,  the  suit,  “marks  the 
first  attempt  of  us  Insulis  to  strike 
back  at  a  25  year  unorganized  but 
consistent  campaign  to  vilify  Us.” 

Among  the  defendants  are  the 
New  York  World  Telegram  and 
Sun  and  its  editor,  Roy  W.  How¬ 
ard;  Prof..  Arthur  M.  SclnCsinger 
Jr.  of  Harvard,  and  his  publisher 
Houghton  Mifflin.  Co.;  and  author 
Kenneth  E.  Trombley  and  his  pub¬ 
lisher,  Harper  &  Bros. 

Sindlinger’s  Coup  d’Chl 
S  i  n-d  l  i  h  ger  &  Co.,  audience 
analyst  out  of  Philly,  scored,  its 
“first”  in  the  newspaper  field  la$t 
week  By  signing  the  Chicago  Daily 
News.  Under  the  deal,  the  paper 
gets  exclusive  rights  to  all  Sind- 
linger  data  in  the  Chi  market,  em- 
\  bracing  “all .  newspaper  activity 


ported  a  divorce  case  involving 
charges  of  impropriety. 

.‘‘•The  Virginia  courts  held  that 
although,  court  records  are  ordi¬ 
narily  privileged,  the  privilege  dis¬ 
appeared  if  papers  published  court 
matter  that  was  'obscene/  Refu¬ 
sal  to  take  the  case  implies  neither 
approval  nor  disapproval  of  the 
Virginia  decision.  But  in  letting 
that  decision  stand,  the  Supreme 
Court  leaves  a  large  area  of  un¬ 
certainty. 

“The  ‘obscene’  matter  in  this 
instance  was  court-  news.  It  had 
enough  social  importance  so  that 
the  trial  judge  admitted  it  to  the 
record.  To  suppress  it  Under  stand¬ 
ards  of  what  has  ‘prurient  inter¬ 
est’  in  .the  community  was  closing 
one  part  of  the  .judicial  process 
from  public  inspection.  Maybe  a 
small  part  it  was,  but  still  enough 
to  establish  ‘the .  slight  redeeming 
social  importance’  of  Justice  Bren¬ 
nan’s  decision.  It  indicates. a  flaw 

in  ^ the  court’s  reasoning.  j  bracing  “all  newspaper 

The  test  of  ’prurient  interest’-  findings,  past  and  present.’ 

Following  tie  pact,:  the  Sind, 
quotes  in^he  new  TTn^0>  linger  firm  started  on  the  chore  of 

segregating  the  20;0Q0  interviews 
f i  I previously  t  a  b  u  1  a  ted  from  that 


tigations  of  adolescent  hoys.  These 
revealed  that  such  unlikely  experi¬ 
ences  as  taking  school  tests,,  receiv¬ 
ing  grade  cards  and  listening  to 
the  ‘Star  Spangled  Banner’  had 
aroused  lustful;  thoughts; 

“The  local  standards  of  prurient 
interest  have  worked,  to  take  be.- 
yond  the  realm  of  constitutional 
protection  the  writings  of  Ernest 
Hemingway,  William  Faulkner, 
James  Joyce,  Sinclair  Lewis,  Eu¬ 
gene  .O’Neill,  John  Dos  Passos  and 
Erich  Rematque.:  Does  this  mean 
that  these  are  without  the  slight¬ 
est  redeeming  social  importance?” 

.'  Ihsulls  Tired  of  Slurs 

N  i  n  e.  t.  Scripps  -  Howard  news¬ 
papers  and  .  two  publishing:  firms 
are  being  charged  with  libei  by 
Samuel  Insull  Jr,,  who  is  suing  for 
$4,000,000.  in  damages.  Insull’s  suit 
claims  the  defendants  gave  the  ini- 


market  “to  show  the  daily  news¬ 
paper  reading  audience  by  ijts  vari¬ 
ous  demographic  Characteristics.” 


Adoration  of  Bernhardt 

“Sarah,  the  Divine,”  by  Arthur 
William  Row  (Comet;  $3),  is  a 
biography  of  the  French  star,  un¬ 
dertaken  as  a  labor  of  love  by  one 
of,  her  former  press  agents.  Row, 
a  retired  actor,  was  Bernhardt’s 
publicist  for  her  1916  American 
tour.  Before  then,  as  a  student,  and 
a  young  actor,  Row  had  researched 
Sarah’s  life,  compiling  enormous, 
detailed,  scrapbooks  about  the  ac¬ 
tress: 

Admittedly,  Bernhardt  has  been 
the  obsession  of  his  life  and  if 
there  is  special  value  in  this  book, 
it  is  Row’s  unusual  dedication  to 
his  subject  Such  divergent  person¬ 
alities  as  Hesketh  Pearson  and 
Alfred  Lunt  have  been  moved  by 


RUARK  GAVE  ME  MY  FIRST  COMPLEX 


By  S.  J.  PERELMAN 


‘Wizard  of  Ox*  Not  Banned 

Recent,  reference  to  the  serializa¬ 
tion  of  L.  Frank  Baum’s  “Wizard  of 
Oz”  in  the  Detroit  Times  so  that 
“children  can  judge  ,  the  book  ..for 
themselves”  erratumed  in  stating 
that  “Wizard”  has  been  banned  in 
the  Detroit  Public  Library.*  Ralph 
Ulveling,  director  of  public  libra¬ 
ries  in  Detroit,  states  that  three 
copies  of  the  book  are  available  ih 
the  stack  collection  of  the  main 
library,  though  not  in  the  chil¬ 
dren’s  libraries  or  branches. 

“Wizard,”  he  said,  “had  outlived 
a.  useful  purpose  in  promoting 
reading  for  children”  and  over  30 
years  ago,  the  decision  “had  been 
made  to  let  the  old  copies  wear  out 
without  replacing  them  though 
keeping  three  copies  “for  the  rec¬ 
ord:”  “This  is  not  banning;  it  is 
selection,”  Ulveling  states* 

Court  Fumbled  ‘Obscenity’. 

“If  the  Court  wants  to  make  the 
point  that  any  matter  having  any 
social  importance  cannot  be  sup¬ 
pressed  as  obscene,  then  it  may  be 
on  the  track  of  a  better  way  than 
now  exists  to  identify  and  suppress 
straight  pornography.  But  so  far 
ft  has  fumbled,”  the  Boston  Herald 
said  in  an  editorial  “The  Courts. 
Obscenity.  Dilemma”  Saturday  ( 1 1 ). 

“In  a  decision  ,  handed  down 
last  June  the  United  States  Su¬ 
preme.  Court  decided  that  ‘obscen¬ 
ity  is  not  within  the  area  of  con¬ 
stitutionally  protected  speech  or 
press.’ ’’  the  editorial  stated.  “The 
reason  why  it  is  not.  Justice  Bren-, 
nan,  writing  the  majority  decision, 
explained,  is  because  the  protec¬ 
tion  extends  only  to  ideas  having 
at  least,  some  slight  redeeming  so¬ 
cial  significance.^  Obscene  matter, 
he  held,  doe’s  not. 

“The  Court  defined  obscenity  as 
matter  appealing  to  ‘prurient  inter¬ 
est/  hut  it  sidestepped  the  real  is¬ 
sue  by-  leaving  the  measuring  of 
‘prurient  interest’  to  jurors  who; 
are,  the  court  said,  in  .touch  with 
community  attitudes  on  the  ob¬ 
scene.  In  two  recent  actions  the. 
court  appears  to  Undercut  its  own 
finding. 

“In  two  recent  actions  the  court 
appears  to  undercut  its  own  find¬ 
ing.  First,  in  a .  decision,  allowing 
the  Kinsey  Foundation  to  import 
•pornographic  material  f  or  scholarly 
use,  .the  court  recognized  that  ob¬ 
scenity  can  sometimes  have  social 
significance.  Again,  the  court  en¬ 
countered  but  dodged,  another  con-, 
tradiction  when,  it  refused  to  re¬ 
view  a  conviction  for  libel  against 
a  newspaper,  the  Afro-American  of 
Baltimore.  The  paper  had  re- 


( When  the  Authors’  League 
of  America  held  a  panel  to  dis¬ 
cuss  “The  Emotional  Problems 
of  Writers ”  last  May,  one  of 
its  members  delivered  the  foU 
1  ovnng  confessional  It  shows ' 
the  depressing  influence  one 
writer  may  have  upon  another 
—Ed.) 


I’m  peculiarly  ill-equipped  to 
stand:  up  here,  and  bombinate  about 
the  emotional  problems  of  writers, 
because  as  far  as  I  know,  I’ve 
never  had  a  single  one.  My  entire 
life’s  been  as.  idyllic'  as  a  summer 
day,  one  long  lovely  pastoral  un¬ 
trammeled  by  care.  I  always  say 
that  when  ;  a  maxi  has.  fabulous 
wealth,  the  disposition  of  an  angel, 
the  physique  of.  an  Apollo,  the 
mind  of  a  Spinoza,  and  the  gall 
of  a  shoe  salesman*  he  really 
doesn’t  need  much  else,  and  that’s 
been  my  position  exactly. 

Quite  recently,  though,  a  shadow 
no  larger  than  a  wildebeest  fell 
across  my  existence;  I  began  read¬ 
ing  interviews  in  the  papers  with 
a  fellowscfibe  named  Robert 
Ruark,  the  well-known  columnist, 
novelist  and  Nimrod;  Mr*  Ruafk, 
you  will  recall,  published  a  book 
not  long  ago  called  “Something  of 
Value”  that, justified  its  title,  finan¬ 
cially  at  least;  it  did  right  hand¬ 
somely  .in  the.  bazaars  and  sold  to 
Hollywood  for  350  big  ones. 

Soon  after  it  appeared,  he  told 
Harvey  Breit  of  the  New  York 
Times  Book  Review:  “During  the 
two  years  I  was  writing,  the  book 
(which;  parenthetically,  contained 
300-000  wordsCl  did  65  magazine 
pieces,  and  sold  them.  I  managed 
to  shoot  a  couple  of  tigers,  i  fished 
in  New  Zealand.”  Now*  up  to  the 
time  the  foregoing  swam,  into  my. 
field  of  Vision,  as  i  sav.  I’d  never, 
had  the*  slightest  emotional  prob¬ 
lem,  but  the  statement,  caused  me 
a  sudden  onrush,  of  anxiety.  T  con¬ 
sider  it  a  pretty  fruitful  year  when 
I’m.  able  to  spawn  and  merchandise 
short  essays,  and  the  thought  of 
Mr.'  Ruark  proliferating .  at  such  a 
rate  hact-a  curious  astringent  effect 
on  me.  My  output  shrank  down  to 
the  vanishing,  point,  and.  in  the 
following  year,  all  I  produced  were 
two  sickly  Alexandrines  and  a 
short  story  called  “Irving^-Boy  of 
the  Limberlqst”  that  was  rejected 
by  the  Suwanee  Review. 

Just  as  I  was  getting  back  on  my 
feet  .again  this  spring,  and  had 


forgotten  the  whole  episode,  Mr. 
Ruark .  ricocheted  hack  into  my 
life.  A .  couple  of  weeks  ago,  ..he 
granted  another  interview*  this 
time  to  Cue  JMagazine,  that  shed 
further  light  on  his  productivity,  I 
quote:  “While  he  takes  great  pride 
in  his  speed  at  a  typewriter  (it 
seldom  takes  him  more  than  a  half 
hour  to  knock  but  a  column,  and 
he  says  he’s  written  as  many  as 
10,000  words  in;  an  afternoon), 
Ruark  admits  that  he  rewrote 
“Something  of  Value”  five  times 
before  he  submitted  it  to  Double- 
day,  ‘I  wrote  the  first  page  78 
times/  he  said.  ‘All  in  all,  I  wrote 
a  million,  ,  five  hundred  thousand 
words.  The  total  manuscript  piled 
up  eight  feet,  two  inches  tall/  He 
took  a  sip  of  his  drink,  grinned, 
and  added,  ‘But  1  turned,  out  the 
last  100,000  words  of  finished  copy 
in  16  days’!” 

Well,  I :  don’t  have  to  tell  you 
what  Happened  after  I  read1  this 
disclosure.  I  was  engaged  on  a 
modest  prose  effort  at  the  time — 
a  postcard  to  my  bootmakers  -  in 
Brockton,  Mass,  not  over  50  words 
long— but  I  got  so  inhibited  at  the 
thought  of  Mr.  Ruark’s  facility  .that 
I  dried  up  completely,  and-. -I 
haven’t;  written  a  word  since. 

I  realize  that  Ruark  is  in  no.  way 
responsible  for  my  plight  and  I 
mean  no  criticism,  expressed  or 
implied,  of  his  talent,  '  Which  is 
clearly  formidable.  To  vrtite  ten 
thousand  words  in  an  afternoon  is 
a  bit  of  an  achievement,  when  you 
consider  that  an  expert  stenogra¬ 
pher,  typing  ,160  words  a.  minute 
with  rio  creative  purpose,  requires 
14  .  hours  to.  do  soi  Nevertheless, 
I  do  feel  that- people  in  our  craft 
who  write  with  such  enviable  speed 
and  invention  must  be  wary.  In¬ 
discreet  revelation  of  their,  genius 
to  the  press .  can  act  as  a  sort  pf 
lHerary  tourniquet  tor  the  rest  of 
us  who  suffer  from  low  vitality, 
who  fashion  an  occasional  verbal 
zircon  only  with  a  maximum  of 
suffering,.  Furthermore,  in  foaling 
words,  by  the  hundred  thousand 
and  manuscript  by  the  foot,  .it. 
seems  to  me  that  they’re  queering 
their  \vn  pitch  as  well  as  ours. 
Too  much  gusto  induces  a  ringing 
in  the  ears  of  the  audience,  closely 
followed  by  slumber. 

And  It  is  with  this  thought  that 
we  take  leave  of  beautiful  Loghor- 
rea,  where  every  sentence  pleases 
and  only  man  is  vile. 


this  study.  Naturally,  it  is.  partisan 
in  the  extreme.  ; 

Book  does,  not  offer  much  hew 
historical  information:  But  the 
work  moves  with  a  curious  vitality 
that  sometimes  obtains  when  one 
human  being  becomes  totally  ab¬ 
sorbed  in  another.  This  may  he  the 
best  of  latter-day  Bernhardt  books 
because  it  so  vividly  recreates  the 
personal  aspects  of  its  legendary 
subject.  Rodo . 


..  Chile-  Tough  On  Book  Imports 

..  Chile  which  has  been  in  an  eco¬ 
nomic  hassle  for  several  years  is 

lars  ’  ^^^^di^Om,a^i^^1^iports 
through  requiring  heavy  deposits 
when  orders  for  foreign  items  are 
placed.  This  serves  to  make  im¬ 
porters  think  twice  and  sometimes 
discourages  the  outflow  of  the  buck. 

When  it  came  to  foreign  books, 
the  International  Foreign  Ex¬ 
change  Commission  in  Santiago  de¬ 
cided  to  increase  the  deposit  that 
book  . importers,  had  to  make  (de¬ 
posit  is  returnable  when  shipment 
is  received);  from  5%  to  200%  for 
technical  and  scientific  works  and 
from  100  to  400%  for  literature  in 
general.  This  would  .  have  practi¬ 
cally  paral&ed  the  foreign  book 
business  in  Chile,  a  country  noted 
for  its  habit  of.  importing  thou-, 
sands,  u^on  thousands  of  foreign 
volumes,  in  original  language  or  in 
translations,  annually. 

The  Chilean  Book  Chamber  com¬ 
posed  ofbookdealers  waged  an  ac¬ 
tive  and  effective  Campaign  to 
change  the  ruling  and  have  finally 
succeeded  in  getting  some  relief. 
The  Foreign  Exchange  Commission 
has  decided  ;  tp  reduce  the  deposits 
to  a  flat  200%'for  all  foreign  books. 
If  the  previous  steep  deposit  rate 
had  been  maintained,  it  would  not 
have  affected  countries  such  as 
Argentina  and  Spain  with  which 
Chile  has  certain  agreements,  but 
it  would  have  created  great  diffi¬ 
culties;  for  the  importation  of  text¬ 
books  and  scientific  and*  technical 
works  from  such  countries  as  the 
United  States,  Germany  and 
Mexico. 


Medicine  Hat  (Alta.)  News  since 
'1942,  retired  Jan.  1.  His  successor 
is  Fred  MCGuinness,  assistant  pub¬ 
lisher  since  1955.  Osborne  joined 
the  News  in  1912. 

Bill  Ornstein,  Metro’s  trade  liai¬ 
son,  continues  his  byline  writing, 
his  latest  piece,  on  Sah  Juan’s  La 
Fortaleza  (Governor’s  Mansion), 
appearing  in  last  Sunday’s  (12) 
Herald  Tribune  travel  section. 

Greater  Buffalo ,  Press  '  Inc.  pf 
Erie  County,  has  increa§£d,ito  'cap¬ 
ital  stock  from  $500,Q6b'fo  $2;OOQ,- 
000,  according  to  g*  certificate;  Bled 
in  Albany  by'Raicble,  Tucker  & 
Moore,  Buffalo.  ... 

Harwyn  Publishing  Corp.  has 
been  authorized  to  conduct  a  pub-  ' 
lishing  business  in  New  Yolk,  with 
capital  stock  of  $50,000,  $100  par 
value:  Matthew  Heim  and  David 
Muhlstock  of  N.  Y.  C.  are  directors 
and  filing  attorneys. 

.  U.  of  New  Hampshire  has  estab¬ 
lished  an  Office  of  Informational 
Services  with  University  Editor  L. 
Franklin  Heald,  formerly  with  the 
Associated  Press  in  Concord,  N.  H., 
and  Portland,  Me.,  as  director. 
University  also  promoted  Richard 
C.  Plumer,  assistant  director  of  the 
UNH  News  Bureau,  to  university 
news  editor  to  fill  a  vacancy  caused 
by  the  recent  resignation,  of  Wil¬ 
liam  M.  Steams. 


Art  Cohn’s  New  Column 

Hollywood  scripter  Art  Cohn, 
taking  a  page  out  of  an  idea  that 
novelist  Sloan  Wilson  (“Gray  Flan¬ 
nel  Suit”)  recently  expounded— 
that  a  writer  could  very  well  be 
his  own.  publisher,  and  just  deal 
with  a  firm  for  distribution  facili* 
ties^-is  becoming  his  own  syndica¬ 
tor*  with  a  column  just  incepted  in 
the  San  Francisco  Examiner.  It 
replaces  the  pillar  filled  by  Hefb 
Caen,  who  has  just  returned  to 
the  Frisco  Chronicle. 

While  Hearst  papers  'will--  have 
first  refusal  on  Cohn’s  three-a- 
week  column,  he  will  sell  it  him¬ 
self  globally. 

:  In  between  working  on  the 
script  for -Michael  Todd’s  upcom¬ 
ing  “Don  Quixote”  Cohn  will  do 
’the'  column  from  his.  Hollywood 
base  but,  usually,  he  is  globetrot¬ 
ting,  as  he  will  be  this  spring  and 
.summer  when  Todd  is  abroad. 

Cohn’s  just  completed  biog  on 
"The  First  Nine  Lives  of  Michael 
Todd/’  slated  for  this  spring,  will 
be  published  in  the  fall  instead  by 
Random  House.  It  runs  600,000- 
700,000  words  and,  while  Todd’s 
Intention,  was  a  two-vSlume  idea, 
RH  prexy  Bennett  Ceff  wants  it 
condensed  into  one  book. 


-Chides  Vermont  Cop  on  NODL 

Peter  S.  Jennison,  assistant  man¬ 
aging  director  of  the  American 
Book  Publishers*  Council,  has  in¬ 
formed  Sherman  Martin,  chief  of 
police  in  Springfield,  Vt.,  that  the 
council  considers  illegal-  his  use  of 
an  "established  list”  to  ban  the 
sale  of  certain  books  in  the  com¬ 
munity. 

. .  Jennison  wrote  Chief  Martin 
that  he  understood  his  department 
was  sending  a  list  of  paperbacks 
aiid  magazines  disapproved  for 
youth  by  the  National  Office  for 
Decent .  Literature  .  to  Springfield 
dealers  and  threatening  prosecu¬ 
tion  under  state  law; . 

Jennison  claimed  the  NODL,  es¬ 
tablished  '  by  Catholic  bishops  of 
the  United  States  in  19381  frowns 
upon  “a  great  many  hooks.  by  ex¬ 
tremely  prominent  prize-winning 
contemporary  foreign  and  Ameri¬ 
can  novelists.” 


CHATTER 

Paul  Denis  profile  Of  Audrey 
Meadows  in  American  Weekly  and 
has  Tommy  Leonetti  cover  story 
due  in  Compact. 

Mr.  and  MrS.  Lowell  Thomas  Jr. 
were  awarded,  the  Literary  Gold 
Medal  of  the  Geographical  Society 
of  Philadelphia,  for  their  work, 
‘ -Qur  Flight  to  Adventure;” 

T;  Roy  Osborne,  publisher  of  the 


“They  keep  careful  track  of 
show  tryouts  in  such  cities  as  Phil¬ 
adelphia  and  New  Haven.  There 
will  be  a  big  demand  for  the  re¬ 
views.  Major  sports  events  out  of 
town  have  the  same  result. 

“Contrary  to  common  belief,  vis¬ 
itors  to  NevL  York,  are  not  the 
greatest  patrons  of  the  newsstand. 
October  is  the  biggest  month.  The 
proprietors  ascribe  this  to  the  foot¬ 
ball  games,  the  fact  that  business 
men  (great  followers  of  the  out-of- 
town  press)  are  operating  in  full 
swing  and  to  the  general  revitali¬ 
zation  that  comes  to  the  city  with 
the  end  of  summer  .  .  .” 

Clarence  Dean’s  feature  on  Ho* 
taling’s  out-of-town  newsstand  on 
the  north  Side  of  the  Times  Bldg., 
in  a  recent.  N.Y.  Times,  points  up 
the  50-year-old  Broadway  land* 
mark’s,  affinity  to  show  business,  i 
among  other  things: 

“Sudden  disasters— hurricanes, 
train  wrecks,  outbreaks  .of  violence 
—create  an  equally  sudden  surge 
of  demand  for  newspapers  from  the 
affected  areas, 

“At  the  first  sign  of  trouble  over 
school  integration  In  Little  Rock, 
Ark.,  they  sent  a  telegram  increas¬ 
ing  tp  150  the  standing  order  for 
copies  of  The  "  Arkansas  Gazette. 
Even  so,  they  were  unable  to  sup¬ 
ply  the  demand. 

“Many  persons  believe  that  The 
New  York  Times  operates  the  en¬ 
terprise.  This  is  not  so,  although 
there  has  been  a  long  association 
....  It  was  founded  in  1904  by 
Arthur  Hotaling,  a  sturdy  man  of 
Dutch  ancestry  .  . . 

“Mr,  Hotaling  conceived  the 
idea  at  the  St.  Louis  Fair  when  he 
saw  how  avidly  visitors  bought 
their  hometown  papers.  In  1904, 
he  opened  a  small  store,  at  29th 
St.  and  Broadway. 

“Five  years  later,  he  obtained 
permission  from  Adolph  S.  Ochs, 
the  late  publisher  of  The  Times, 
to  set  up  shop  at  the  north  side 
of  the  Tower.  It  was  a  business -ar¬ 
rangement,  of  course,  but"  Mi*:  to¬ 
taling  was  always  proud  off  be  fact 
that  he  had  made  if  directly  .with 
Mr.  Ochf.  The  publisher  'took  a 
paternal  interest  in  the  venture. 

|  He  often  stopped  to  chat  with  Mr. 
j  Hotaling,  a  doughty  figure  who, 

’  even  on  the  coldest  days,  button- 
,,only  the  top  button  of  his  overcoat. 

“Newspapers  frjm  400  American 
(.cities  and  45  foreign  countries  may 
be  found  at  the1  Times  Square 
stand:  The  two  , indoor  stores  also 
handle  foreign  periodicals  and 
books.  Back  numbers  of  newspa¬ 
pers  are  usually  available  for  the 
current  month,  although  a  com¬ 
plete  file  of  The  New  York  Times 
is  on  hand  for  the  three  prior 
years/’  ' 


Lavishly  Illustrated  —  100%  Topical 

’CONTINENTAL  FILM  REVIEW1 

THE  ONLY  MONTHLY  OF  ITS.  KIND  IN  ENGLISH 
6  MONTHS  1  DOLLAR  60  —  AIR  MAIL  1  DOLLARS  75 
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EURAP  Publishing  Co.  Ltd.  71  Stoko  Newington  M*  London  N.  if 


78 


Obituaries 


Continued  I 

ing  followed  when  he  took  a  job 
as  announcer  at  a  West  Coast  fight 
club.  Later  he  introed  wrestlers 
and  boxers  for  p.a.’s  on  the  Em¬ 
pire  burlesque  circuit.  He'  finally 
landed  in  Louisville,  where  he 
operated  -candy  and^song  book 
concession  at  the  old  Buckingham 
Theatre,  a  burley  hpuse,  before 
organizing  his  sports  ^cltib.  Upon 
retirement,  he  sold  his  interest  in 
the  club,  to  the  late  Francis  A. 
McDonogh,  Jr. 

Survived  by  his  wife. 


HAROLD  VERMILYEA 

Harold  Vermilyea,  68,  actor  who 
appeared  in  numerous  Broadway, 
film,  radio  and  tv  productions  for 
the  last  44  years,  died  Jan..  8  in 
New  York.  * 

His  last  Broadway  shows  were  in 
1944-45,  when  he  appeared  in 
“Jaeobowsky  and  the  Colonel”  and 
“Deep  Are  the  Roots.”  His  first 
Broadway  appearance  was  in  1914 
Yin  “Lion  and  the  Mouse.”  Other 
plays  in  which  he  appeared  were 
“The  Haunted  House,”  “The  Ene¬ 
my,”  ‘‘The  Lady  Killer,”  “Captain 
Applejack,”  The  Pagans”  and  The 
Killers” 

in  the  1930’s,  Vermilyea  devoted 
much  time  to  radio,. supporting 
Maude  Adams  in  a  series,  and 
playing  a  leading  pari,  on  the  Rudy 
Vallee  show.  From  1940-45,  he  was 
director  of  the  American  Theatre 
Wing’s'  Victory  Players.'  After 
World  War  H,  he  appeared  in  films 
and  on  tv  including  “Studio  One,” 
“The  Philco  Playhouse”  and 
“Danger.-' 


Nick  dawson 

George  C.~  Dawson,  67,  actor- 
writer-producer  known  profession¬ 
ally  as  Nick  Dawson,  died  of  can¬ 
cer  in  New  York  Dec.  28.  - 

He  began  his  show  biz  career  as 
an .  advance  publicity  man  for  the 
Buffalo  Bill  Wild  West  shows  and 
then,  switched  to  acting,  touring 
the  country  in  traveling  stock  com¬ 
panies.  He  joined  CBS  in  1930  as 
director  of  its  commercial  idea  bu¬ 
reau  and  also  starred  in  one  of  ra¬ 
dio’s  first  evening  serial  shows, 
“Daddy  and  Rollo.” 

Dawson  left  CBS  to  open  his  own 
production  office  and  produced 
such  serials  as  -'The  Magic  Voice,” 
“Dangerous  Paradise”  and  “Follow 
The  Moon,”  He  Co-starred  in  all 
with  Elsie  Hit?.  At  the  time  of  his 
retirement  12  years  ago,  he  was  di¬ 
rector  of  radio  programs  at  the 
Morse  International  Agency,  han¬ 
dling  the  “Victor  Jory  Show” 
among  others. 

His  wife  survives. 


COUNT  VON  PERPONCHER 
Friedrich  Carl,  Count  von  Per- 
-poncher,  61,  long  a  leading  organ¬ 
izer  in  the  German  film  industry, 
•died  Dec.  28  in  Wiesbaden,  West 
Germany,  after  a  long  illness.  He 
started  his  theatre  career  in  1919 
as  assistant  to  Max  Reinhardt,  and 
the  first  production  that  he  per¬ 
sonally  directed  was  “Berliner 
Range"  (Berlin  Imp),  starring 
Hilde  Woerner.  He  also  was  a 
dramatist  and  film  author,  collabo¬ 
rating,  among  others,  with  Russian 
director  Dimitri  Buchowetzky. 

Later  von  Perponcher  Was  with 
Tosca  Films,  .then  moved  on  to  join 
UFA  as  director  of  the  department 
dealing:  with  upcoming  stars,  After 
the  war  he  lived  in  Bonn,  where, 
with  Franz  Herwig,  he  founded  the 
Kammerspiele  Theatre  and  the 
Theatre  in  a  Room.  He  also  found¬ 
ed  a  film  club,  then  the  seventh 
luch  organization  in  West  Ger¬ 
many. 

.  DR.  WILLIS'  r:  WHITNEY 
Dx.  Willis  -R.  Whitney,  89, 
founder  of  the  General  Electric  Re¬ 
search  Laboratory  in  Schenectady, 
died  Jan.  3  in  that  city.  Under 
his  supervision  the  comf»any’s  sci¬ 
entists  made  many  discoveries  fun¬ 
damental  in  radio,' television,  radar 
and  other  electronic  developments. 

Known  as  “the  dean  of  indus¬ 
trial  research,”  Dr.  Whitney  began 
his  pioneering  work  in;  Schehec-, 
tady  in  1900.  He  shared  a  barn 
back  of  the  late  Dr.;  Charles  P, 
Steinmetz’s  home  Which  the  latter 
had  equipped  as  a.  laboratory^ 

A  native  of  Jamestown,  N.Y.,  he 
often  participated  on  the  G.E. 
“Science  Forum’’  program  over 
WGY,  and  also  appeared  on  WRGB- 
TV.  He  held  many  awards  for 
scientific  achievement. 

His  wife  and  son  survive. 


FRED  RUSSELL 
Fred  Russell,  83,  former  vaude- 
villian  with  his  wife-partner,  Lil¬ 
lian  Held,  died  jan.  11  in  Con¬ 
cord,  N.H.  He  Was  primarily  a 
small  time  turn,  priced  around  $175 
weekly  at  peak.  Broadway  old- 
timers  recall  Russell,  a  close  stu¬ 
dent  of  the  greenback,  for  his  half- 


rom  pace  70 

humorous,  half-serious  lament  in 
the  pre-World  War  I  days,  “You 
just  can’t  get,  a  good  meal  any¬ 
more  for  less  than  a  quarter.” 

Wire  service  obit  on  Russell  pre-: 
rented  the  career  facts  a  bit  grandi¬ 
osely,  referring  to  Russell  as  “shar¬ 
ing  billing’  with  Sarah  Bernhardt, 
A1  Jolson,  Sophie  Tucker,  Wr  C. 
Fields  nnd.  Weher  and  Fields,  He 
Was  also  cited '  as  appearing  in  a 
.1911.  command  performance  in 
London  before  George  V. 

GEORGE  A.  HICKEY 

George  A.  Hickey,  75,  Western 
division  sales  manager  for  Metro 
for  30  years  Until  his  retirement 
last  year,  difd  of  a  heart  attack 
Jan.  8  at  his  Palm  Springs,  Cal., 
home..  His  wife  Julia  died  three 
months  ago. 

A  former  Song  and  dance  man 
and  later  legitimate  actor,  Hickey 
was  a  film  exhibitor  in  New  Eng¬ 
land  before  turning  to  the  distribu¬ 
tion  end  of  the  business.  .He  was 
one  of  the  original  Goldwyn  fran¬ 
chise  holders  in  Buffalo  and  when 
MGM  was  established  in  1924  he 
joined  the  firm,  as  Eastern  district 
manager.  He  subsequently  served 
in  Chicago,  Kansas  City  and  sev¬ 
eral  other  cities  before  coming  to 
Los  Angeles  in  1927. 


JOSEPH  VERDI 

Joseph  Verdi,  72,  actor  who-had 
appeared  in  numerous  Broadway 
and  tv  productions;  died  Dec.  27 
in  New  York. 

His  Broadway  credits  include 
“A  BeH  for  Adaflo,”  “I’d  Rather 
Be  Right”  (with  the  late  George 
M,  Cohan);  “Clutterbuck”  and  “In 
Any  Language.”  His  films  include 
"The  Vintage,”  filmed  in  France 
last  year.  He  appeared  on  the  Lux 
Video.  Theatre  and  Kraft  Televi¬ 
sion  Playhouse. 

Verdi  at;  one  time  also  was  a 
member  of  the  vaudeville  comedy 
team  called  'Clark  and  Verdi. 

His  wife  survives. 


HOMER  C.  GEORGE 
Homer  C.  George,  78,  former 
sportswriter  who  started  his  career 
on  the  Atlanta  Constitution  at  the 
turn  of  the  century,  died  Jan.  9 
in  Santa  Barbara,  Cal.  After  his 
cub  days  on  the  Constitution  he 
managed  the  old  Atlanta  Theatre, 
now  demolished.  Later  he  worked 
on  papers  in  a  half  dozen  cities 
including  New  York  and  Chicago. 

He  retired  in  1940,  but  returned 
to  the  business-  during  World  War 
II  with  the  Santa  Barbara  News- 
Press. 


JEANJE  LEE  ^ 

Mrs.  Jean  ‘  BOnino,  .  28,  known 
professionally  as  Jeanie  Lee,  Bos¬ 
ton  nitery  singer,  died  Jan.  3  in 
that  City  after  plunging  40  feet 
through  a  closed  window  of  a  Scol- 
lay  Square .  hotel  in  Boston:  The 
singer  was  completing  a  three-week 
engagement  at  -the  Casa  Blanca. 
Circumstances  surrounding  her 
plunge  are  being  investigated;  by 
police. 

Surviving,  is  her  husband. 

ADOLPH  GARTNER 

Adolph  Gartner,  78,  actor,  thea¬ 
tre  owner  and  film  producer,  died 
Jan;  9  in  Hollywood  after  a  lengthy 
illness..  He  was  an  actor  and  thea¬ 
tre  owner  in  Chicago  before  going, 
to  Hollywood  in  the  early  days  of 
the  film  industry.  During  the  ’30s 
he  produced  films  for  the  Govern¬ 
ment. 

Surviving  are  his  Wife,  two 
brothers  and  sister,  -* 

charLeS  b.  Williams 

Charles  B.  Williams,  59,  actor- 
writer,  died  in  Hollywood  jah.  3 
after  a  long  illness.  He  Started  his 
acting  career  at  the  old  Paramount 
Studios  on  Long  Island,  coming  to 
Hollywood  in  1934.  In  recent  years 
he  had  shifted  to  writing,  contrib¬ 
uting  scripts  for  many  shows  in- 
eluding  the  Joan  Davis,  Eve  Arden 
and  Marie  Wilson  series. 

Wife,  son  and  brother  survive;  . 

WALTER  ELLIOT 

Walter  Elliot,  69,  television  and 
radio  commentator  on  public  and 
political  affairs,  died  in  Hawick, 
Scotland,  Jan.  8  from  a  heart  at¬ 
tack.  A  prominent  Member  of  the 
British  Parliament,  he.  took  part  in 
many  broadcasts  and  tv  programs 
from  Scotland  and  London,  and 
also^in  radio  discussion-  links  with 

Survived  by  his  Wife. 

HAROLD  A.  REYNOLDS 

^Harold  A.  Reynolds,  69,  former 
pianist  and  organist  in  Loew’s  The¬ 
atres^  died  Jan.  1  in  Uxbridge, 
Mass.  A  .  .native  of  Dorchester,; 
Mass.,  he  was  a  graduate .  of  the 
Boston  Conservatory  of  Music  and 
played  for  years  at  Loew’s  State 
Theatre  in  Boston.  He  also  taught  j 


JSjSsuety 

piano  and  organ  in  Boston  and 
Quincy. 

.Surviving  are  two  daughters. 

MARION  EVANS . 

:  Marion  Evans,  59,  a  vicepresl- 
dent  of  Columbia  Artists  Manage¬ 
ment,  died  Jan.  8  in  New  York;  As 
field  manager  for  Community  Con¬ 
certs  she  travelled  extensively 
around  and  was  widely-acquainted 
in  the  concert  industry.  She  came 
to  Columbia  from  the  Horner  & 
Moyer  lectufe  bureau  of  Kansas 
City.  / 

Survived  by  a  brother, 

LEE  PRATHER 
Oscar  Lee  Prather,:  68,  vet  actor 
known  professionally  as  Lee  Prath¬ 
er,  died  at  Sepulveda  Veterans 
Hospital,  Los  Angeles,  Jan.  3*  dur¬ 
ing  surgery.  He  came  to  Hollywood 
in  1930  after  a  career  in  stock  and 
on  Broadway,  including  appear¬ 
ances  with  Mae  West.  He  had  been 
ill  for  five  years. 

*  Wife  and  sister  survive. 


RICHARD  C.  CRAVEN 
Richard  C.  Craven,  83,  regional 
director  for  the  American  Humane 
Society  in  •Hollywood  from  1937  to 
1947,  died  Dec,  30  in  Albany.  While 
oh  the  Coast  he  helped  perfect 
.techniques  ini  preventing  cruelty  to 
animals  used  in  making  motion 
pictures. 

-  His  wife;  a  former  English  opera 
singer,  and  two  daughters  survive. 


HORACE  ROBERTS 
Horace  (Robbie)  Roberts  Jr.,  53, 
commercial  manager  of  RCA  Vic¬ 
tor  recording  studios,,  died  Jan.  1 
after  a  long  illness  in  his  home  in. 
Emerson,  N.  J. ....  Be  came  to  Victor 
in  1951  after  a  long  career  as  re¬ 
cording.  Supervisor  for  the  Muzak 
Corp. 

Survivors  Include  his  wife,  three 
sons,  a  daughter,  and  two  brothers. 

JAMES  F.  BALDWIN 
James  F.  Baldwip,  28,  an  en¬ 
gineer  for  WHAS,  died  last  Week 
in  Lexihgton,  Ky.  He  became  ill 
while  working  on  the  radiocast  of 
the  Kentucky-Georgia  Tech  basket¬ 
ball  game  at  Lexington.  He  joined 
WHAS  in  1950. 

Surviving  are  his  wife,  two  sons, 
a  daughter  and  his  parents. 

THE  GREAT  MARTINO 
Edward  Martin,  74, .  magician 
known  professionally  as  The  Great 
Martino,  died  of  cancer  recently  in 
Cincinnati.  A  vaude  performer  for 
years,  he  had  been  associated  with 
Thurston. 

Surviving  Is  his  grandson,  Har¬ 
lan  Keith',  an  actor. 

JACOB  GESSEL 
Jacob  Gessel,  65,  retired  cellist 
formerly  witji  the  Philadelphia 
Orchestra,  died  Dec.  31  in  Phila¬ 
delphia  after  a  heart  attack.  He 
collapsed  While  playing  in  a  quar¬ 
tet  at  a  private  mUsicale. 

Surviving  are  his  wife,  two  sons 
and:  two  sisters; 


KAROLYN  HARRIS 

.  Mrs;  Karolyn  Harris,  57,  former 
radio  singer,  died  Jan.  2  in  Phila¬ 
delphia.  She  was  struck  by  a  car. 
Mrs,  Harris  had  appeared  bn  pro¬ 
grams,  in  the  midwest  and  in  Philly 
since  1927.  She  was  aq  announcer 
and  vocalist  on  WlP. 

Husband  and  son  survive. 

Howard  Adelsberger,  former 
manager  of  The  Gardens,  Pitts¬ 
burgh  sports  arena,  and  before 
that  treasurer  of  several  downtown 
Pitt  movie  houses,  died  Jan;  .  3  in 
Miami,.  Fla.,  where  he  had  been 
living  for  the  last  three  years  fol¬ 
lowing  a  stroke. 

Arthur  B.  McEvoy,  former  man- 
■Oger  of  the  Waltham  Theatre,  Wal¬ 
tham,  Mass:,  add  the  Rialto,  Leo¬ 
minster',  died  Jan.  11  in  Largo, 
Fla.,  where  he  •  was  vacationing. 
Surviving  are  his  wife  and  two 
sons. 

Mother,  78,  of  Dick  Fortune, 
Pittsburgh  *  public  /  relations  man 
and  former  director  of  publicity 
for  DuMont  tv  station,  WDTV,  now 
Westinghouse’s  KDKA-TV,  died  in 
Watertown,  N.  Y.,  Jan..  3  after  a 
long  illriess. 


V;  James  Carticala,  violinist,  vio¬ 
lin-maker  and  former  member  of 
the  Boston  Symphony  Orchestra, 
died  Jan.  8  in  Watervliet,  N.  Y. 
Surviving  are  his  wife,  two  sons, 
two  daughters,  two  brothers  and 
twosisters. 

-George.  Abramson,  onetime  ac¬ 
countant  for  the  William :  W.  Far¬ 
ley  realty  and  theatre^  interests  in 
the  Albany  area,  died  recently  in 
Clearwater,  Fla.  His  wife  and  sis¬ 
ter  survive. 

Grandmother,  81,  of  Gordon  Mc¬ 
Lendon,  president  of  McLendon 
Corpus  radio  stations  and  Tri-State 
Theatres,  died  Jan*..- 7  in  Dallas. 


George  B,  Hayes;  69,  a  member 


Wednegday,  January..  15,  1958 


of  the  electrical  dept,  of  the  Hal 
Roach  studios,  died  Dec.  12  in 
Hollywood.  Wife  and  daughter 
survive. 

Edwin  L.  Fletcher,,  38,  research 
director  for  Keyes,  Madden  & 
Jones  ad  agency  in  Chicago,  died 
Jan.  9  in  Hinsdale,  Ill.  Wife,  daugh¬ 
ter,  son  and  his  father  survive. 

Florence  G.  Reilly,  organist  in 
Albany  theatres  during  the  silent 
screen  era,  died  Jan.  1  in  Rensse¬ 
laer,  N.  Y.  Surviving  are  two 
daughters,  a  son  and  two  sisters. 

Daughter,  of  Harris  Dudelson, 
midwest  branch  manager  of  Buena 
Vista  Films,  died  Jan.  10  in  Chi¬ 
cago.  Survived  also  by  mother  and 
a  sister. 


Louis  DeLisa,  60,  co-owner  of 
Chicago’s  Club  DeLisa,  died  Jan.  2 
in  Rochester,  Minn.  Survived  by 
wife,  five  brothers  and  three  sis¬ 
ters. 


--  BIRTHS 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Max  Binder,  son, 
NeW  York,  Jan.  fi.  'Mother  is  Mar¬ 
ilyn  Raphael,  stage  and  radio-tv 
actress. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Carlos  Petrel,  son, 
Mexico  City,  Dec.  25.  Mother  is 
Guillerma  Tellez  Giron,  Mexican 
actfess. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jack  Quinlan,  son, 
Chicago,  Jan.  3,  Father  is  sports- 
caster  for  WIND  in  that  city. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ted  Scott,  son,  San 
Francisco,  Nov.  28.  Father  is  in  art 
department  of  KRON,  Frisco, 

Mr.,  and  Mrs. .  Cliff  Trotter, 
daughter,  San  Rafael,  Cal.,  Dec. 
31.  Father  is  account  exec  at 
KCBSi  Frisco. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Vertt  Hanen, 
daughter,  Houston,  Dec.  26.  Fa¬ 
ther. is. on  the  staff  of  KNUZ  in 
that  city. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  DonVanAtta,  son, 
Los  Angeles,  Dec.,  23.  Father  is 
unit  manager  on  NBC-TV’s  “Ma¬ 
tinee  Theatre.” 


Anthony  Pinero,  71,  former  Bar- 
num  &  Bailey  Wild  West  show  cir¬ 
cus  performer,  died  Jan.  5  in 
Bridgeport,  Conn.  He  appeared  in 
the  film,  “Mexican  Jack  in  Action.” 

McCabe  Cooley,  59,  manager  of 
the  Fruitvale  Theatre,  Oakland, 
Cal;,  died  of  a  heart  attack  Jan.  7 
in  Oakland. 

Joseph  R.  Lever,  longtime  man¬ 
ager  of  Playhouse,  Cinema,  Peter¬ 
head,  Scotland;  died  recently  in 
that  town. 


—  Father,  58,  of  actor  Tommy  Cook, 
died  in  Hollywood  Dec.  28  of  a 
heart  attack.  Widow  and  daughter 
also  survive. 


Rodolfo  Calvo,  51,  Mexican  actor, 
died  of  a  stroke  Dec.  26  in  Mexico 
City.  His  actress-daughter,  Eva,; 
survives, 

j  Zita  Kent;.  25,  a  secretary  at  Par¬ 
amount.  Studio,  Hollywood,  was 
killed  Dec.  29  in  Rh  auto '  accident 
at  Berkeley,  Cal. 


Mother,  94,  of  Joseph  L-  Stein, 
member  of  the  Sargoy  &  Stein  film 
industry  accounting-law  firm,  died 
Jan.  13  in  Portland;  Maine. 

Alfred.  N.  Merrick,  82,  former 
circus  band  musician,  died  Jan;  7 
in.  Middletown,  O.  His  Son  survives. 


Americo  Mancini,  67,  Mexican 
impresario,  died  Dec.  25  in  Mexico 
City  after  a  long  illness.' 

Willard  E.  Hustress,  80.  retired 
cometist,  died  recently  in  Concord, 
N.  H. 

Father,  80,  of  Robert  Wilson, 
Scot  tenor,  died  Jan.  3  in  Mother- 
well,  Scotland. 


Wife  of  Whit  Bissell,  screen  ac¬ 
tor,  died  Jan.  10  in  Santa  Monica, 
Cal. 


Father,  68,  of  actor  Max  Power, 
died  Jan.  5  In  Hollywood. 


MARRIAGES 

Cleo  Moore  to  John  J.  Anton, 
Los  Angeles,  Jan.  4.  ~  Bride’s  a 
Metro  script  supervisor;  he’s  NBC 
stage  manager. 

Indie  K.  Miller  to  George  W. 
Ahl  Jr.,.  Ticonderoga,  N.  Y.,  Dec. 
28.  Bride  was  formerly  with  CBS’s 
reference  dept. 

Marion.  CJ  Clarke  to  Sub-Lieut. 
Darroch  McGillivray,  Halifax,  Dec. 
28.  Bride  is  an  actress. 

.  Eya  Matilda  Vazquez  to  Joe  Hor- 
wath,  Mexico  City,  Dec.  27,  Bride’s 
an  'acrobat  With  the  Ringlirig  Bros, 
and  Barnum  &  Bailey  Circus;  he’s 
a  lion  tamer  with  same  show', 

Beatrice  Edkins  to  Albert  Yuhas, 
Pittsburgh,  Jah.  3.  Bride’s  the 
daughter  of  Tom  Edkins,  veteran 
Pitt  stagehand; 

Lois  Balk  to  Stanton  Korey,  New 
York,  Jan.  12.  Bride  is  former 
Steve  Allen  scripter;  he’s  a  rep  for 
Black  Star  Photos. 

Lois  Karr  to  Lamar  Kemp,  Dal¬ 
las,  Jan.  11.  -Groom  is  saxophon¬ 
ist  with  both  Joe  Rejchmans  orch 
and  Euel  Boxs  WFAA  staff  band 
there. 

Guadalupe  Martinez  Serrano  to 
Kenneth  %S.  Dewitt,  Mexico  City, 
Dec.  31.  Bride's  the  ballerina, 
Lupe  Serrario;  he’s  a  concert  orch 
Conductor, 

.  Una  Mary  Kenny  to  Robert  Pon- 
sonby,  Chelsea,  Eng.,  Dec.  26.  He’s 
artistic  director  of  the  Edinburgh 
International  Festival.  . 

Loray  White  to  Sammy  Davis  Jr., 
Las  Vegas,  Jan.  10,  She’s  a  dancer; 
he’s  a  cafe-legit  performer. 

Jayne  Mansfield  to  Mickey  Hargi- 
tay,  Portuguese  Bend,  Calif;,  Jan. 
13.  She  is  a  film  actress;  he’s  an 
actor.  .  .  > 

Mary  Ellen  Terry  to  Hillard  El¬ 
kins,  Las  Vegas.  Dec.  31.  Bride  is 
a  dancer-actress;  he's  a  personal 
manager. 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Quinn  Martin,  son, 
Hollywood,  Dec.  30.  Father  is  co- 
producer  at  Lewman  Productions; 
mother,  Madelyn  Martin,  is  head 
writer  on  the  “Lucille  Ball-Desi 
Arnaz  Show.”  1 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  Bole,  son, 
Qlendale,  Cal.,  Dec.  30;  Father  is 
business  affairs  manager  for  TCF- 
TV  Productions, 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gerald  Austen, 
daughter,  Dec.  23,  Englewood, 
N.  J.  Father  is  a  former  legit  actor- 
singer,  now  an  executive  with 
Wilding  Pictures;  mother  is  legit- 
actress-singer  Betty  Jqne  Watson, 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gene  La  Verne,  soii, 
Nashua,  N.  H„  Jan.  4.  Parents  are 
hillbilly  entertainers;  father  is  also 
disk  jockey  at.WFEA,  Manchester, 
N.  H. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bennett  Fuglsby, 
daughter,  Hollywood,  Jan.  4.  Fa¬ 
ther  is  a  film  editor,  at  MGM. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  James  Garner, 
daughter,  Santa  Monica,  Cal.,  Jan. 
4.  Father  is  an  actor. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harry  G.  Cooper, 
twin  sons,  Hollywood,  Jah.  2.  Fa¬ 
ther  is  a  composer-attorney; 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ward  Ellis,  daugh¬ 
ters,  Hollywood,.  Jan.  9.  Father  is 
choreographer  on  the  Tennessee 
Ernie  Ford  show;  mother  is  former 
actress  Polly  Gan.  s 

Mr;  and  Mrs;  Charles  A.  DeBare, 
daughter.  New  York,  Jan.  5.  Fa¬ 
ther  is  an  NBC  attorney;  mother,  is 
sister  of  Ira  Skutch,  director  of 
“Beat  the  Clock/’,  and  Robert 
Skutch,  Y.  &  R.  copywriter. 

Mr,  and  Mrs.  James  Ecker, 
daughter,  Pittsburgh,  Jan.  5.  Fa¬ 
ther  is  the  son  of  I.  Elmer  Ecker, 
former  Chief  Barker  of  Variety 
Club  in  Pitt. 

Mr,  and  Mrs.  James  Lloyd,  son, 
Pittsburgh,  Jan.  6,  Father’s  in  the 
*KDKA-TV  film  department. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ralph  Rees  Scott, 
son,  Pittsburgh,  Jan.  6.  Father’s 
the  daughter  of .  Max  Sorfnleitrier 
Jr.,  vet  theatrical  manager  for 
Post-Gazette. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Larry  Faith,  daugh¬ 
ter,  Pittsburgh,  Jan.  2.  Father  has 
the  band  at  the  Horizon  Room. 

Mr.  and  Mrs,  joe  Bassett-,  daiigh- 
fer,  Pittsburgh,  Dec.  30.  Father’s 
sales  manager  of  WAMO. 

Mr.  arid  .  Mrs.  Angelo  Molinero, 
son,  PPittsbiirgh;  Jan.  6.  Father’s 
in  KDKA-TV  'film  department; 
mother  is  Dusty  Brown,  vocalist- 
musician  and  former  leader  of.  tv 
EZ  Ranch  Girls. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Paul  Clemens,  son, 
Hollywood,  Jan.  7.  Mother  is  acr 
tress  Eleanor  Parker. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Roger  E.  Garris, 
son,  Burbank,  Cal.,  Jan.  10.  Father 
is  a  tv  writer. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Don  Safron,  daugh¬ 
ter,  Dallas,  Jan.  2.  Mother  is  with 
KRLD  pubbery.  department;  fa¬ 
ther  is  nitery  columnist  for  Dallas 
Times  Herald. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ronald  Joseph 
Artner,  son,  Hollywood,  Jan.  9. 
Mother  is  daughter  .  of  producer- 
exhib  Robert  L.  Lippert. 

.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lee  Glazer,  son, 
Hollywood,  Jaac  8.  Father  is  a 
studio  projectionist. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Larry  Bennett, 
daughter,  New  York,  Jan.  1.  Father 
is  with  Joe  Glasser’s  Associated 
Bodking  Coty). 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ted  Natharison, 
daughter,-  New  York,  Jan.  1.  Fa¬ 
ther  is  director  of  the  NBC-TV 
“Arlene.  Francis  Show.” 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ernest  Sands,, 
daughter.  New  York,  Jan.  11.  Fa¬ 
ther  is  a.  N:  Y;  branch  manager  for 
Warner  Bros. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Phil  Minoff,  son, 
Freeport,  L.I.,  Jan.  7.  Father  is 
tv  editor  of  Cue  Magazine  arid  a  tv 
scripter. 

Mr.  and  Mrs. ,  Michael  Deirima, 
son,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y;,  jan.  ,9.  Father 
is  in  the  Variety  composing  rooi 

Mr.  'and  Mrs.  Robert  Noah,  son, 
New*  York,  Jail.  13.  Father  is  ex¬ 
ecutive  producer  with  Barry.  &  En¬ 
right,  tv  packagers. 


CHATTER 


79 


Wednesday,  January  15, 1958 


P^aaEitr 


Broadway 


Walter  V.  McDonald,  of  N.  Y. 
World  Telegram.  &  Sun,  has  been 
elected  president  of  .'the  Legislative 
Correspondents  .  Assn.,  at  Albany. 
He  succeeds  Warren  Weaver  Jr;, ' 
of  N.  Y.  Times.  i 

Other  officers  are:  Arvis  Chal¬ 
mers.  Albany  Knickerbocker  News,  i 
first  Vice-president;  Douglas  Dales, : 
New  York  Times,  second  vice-pres¬ 
ident;  Walter  McGuiriess',  Syracuse 
Herald- Journal,  third  vice-presi¬ 
dent;  Raymond  I.  Borst,  Buffalo 
Evening  News,  treasurer;  John  C. 
Crary,  New  York  Red  Book,  secre¬ 
tary.  .... 

Marks  Levine,  retired  head  of 
National  Artists  Corp.  of  which  ( 
Luben  Vichey.  i$  now  president,  • 
has  been  retained  on  consultancy  l 
to  the  American  Guild  of  Musical 
Artists,  thus  putting  a  manage¬ 
ment-minded  man  on  the .  labor 
bargaining  team. 

Inbal  Dance  group  did  riot  ap¬ 
pear  Monday  (13)  at  the  Martin 
Beck  Theatre,  being  booked  to  ap¬ 
pear  at  Waldorf  ^inner-concert  of 
Its  sponsor,  Amenca-Israel  Culture 
al  Foundation,  along  with  Mischa 
Elman  and  70  Philharmonic  musi¬ 
cians  Under  Morton  Gould: 


Women:”  She  has  not  decided,  yet 
whether  it  will  be  a  comedy  or. 
detective  film. 

French  critics*  award,  Prix  Louis 
Delluc, .  went  to  Louis  Malle,  a  25 
year  old  director,  for  his  first  pic, 
‘‘As c e riseu r.  Pour  L’Echaf  aud” 
(Elevator  to  the  Gallows).  Prix 
SuzarinerBianchetti,  for  the  most 
promising  new  actress,  -Went  to 
Anne  Doat  for  her  general  pic 
fresping  and  stage  role  in  Peter 
Ustinov’s  "Romanoff  Et  Juliette.’’ 


Palm  Springs 

By  A.  P.  Scully 

(FAirview  4-18281 


Climate  drying  out  Harpo  Marx’s  ; 
curley  fright  wig: 

Charlie  Farrell  did  the  intro  of 
Gallu’s  "Navy  Log.’’ 

Shadow  Mountain  Club  has 
booked  Bel  Aires  for  season. 

Herb  Rogers  selling  his  direc¬ 
tor’s  chairs  from  old  Playhouse; 

Piano  player  at  reopened  Huddle 
Springs  is  an  LLD  Bill  Doriati. 

George  KainapaU’s  high  notes 
drawing  well  in  El  Mirador’s  South 
Pacific  room.  \ 

D.  A.  Doran  deserted  Parvlong; 
enough  to  get  some  Thunderbird ! 
sunshine  with  John  J.  Pike. 

Debbie  Reynolds  ordered  to 
stick  to  the  desert  and  not.  go  trot¬ 
ting  in  to  Hollywood;  till  after  her 
baby  arrives.  * 

Beachcomber  still  attracting  best 
eatery  trade  in  town,  Mary  Pick- 
ford,  Buddy  Rogers,  Frank  Sinatra, 
Kirk  Douglas,  Dean  Martin,  Leo 
Durocher,  Sammy  Cahn  and  Tony 
Curtis  all  being  there  ope  night. 


By  Lary  Solloway 

(1755  Calais  Dr.;  Union  5-5389) 

Jan  Peerce  making  two.  appear¬ 
ances  with  U.  of  Miami  Symphony, 
Jaril  19-20. 

Carillon  hotel’s  nitery  not  ready 
with  Andrews,  sisters  now  set  for. 
Jan.  30  ppeem.of  room. 

The  Ritz  Brothers  in  town, ^  prep- 
ping  for  annual*  return  date  at 
Fontainebleau  on  Jan.  21. 

Jerry  Bell  handling,  complicated 
backstage  management  of  elec¬ 
tronic-gadget  filled  Deauville  show. 

Dean.  Martin  Cancelled  out  of 
end-month  date,  at  the  Americana, 
with  Betty  Hutton  replacing  for 
.  two- week  terra. 

j  Latin  Quarter  brass  awaiting 
,  word  on  whether  Milton.  Eerie  will 
|  have  :  recovered  from  leg  injury 
|  sufficiently'  to  fill  his  sixrweek 
term. 

Joe  E.  Lewis  and  Ella  Fitzgerald 
teamed  for  Marih  date  by  the 
Eden  Roc.  He  will ,  play  his  first 
two-weeker  there  on  Feb.  4,  with 
Marie  MacDonald  co-featured. 

Shortage  of  top  names  stymied 
the  Deauville’s  -  attempts  to  get  a 
(name  to  top  its  production  but  it’s 
jsti-11  trying.  Ditto  some  of  the  other 
hotel-cafes,  such  as  the  Shelboriie, 
where  Connee  Boswell  is  current 
with  Vagabonds  returning  for  fast 
followup. 


Vancoover 


Isy  Walters,  now  convalescent, 
resumes  niterylooksee  trip  down 
■west  coast. 

Soroptirriist  International  show¬ 
casing  pianist  Marie-Aimee  War- 
rot  Feb.  12  at  Georgia  Aud.,  for 
charity. 

Boyd  Neel,  top  British  string 
.  orch  conductor,  in  for  local  Cham¬ 
ber  ensemble’s  concert  (16),  and  tv- 
radio  appearances: 

“The  Magic  Nugget,”  children’s 
play,  commissioned  from-  Poppy 
McKenzie  by  provincial  centenary 
heads,  tries  out  in  Victoria  Feb. 
14;  Will  hit  the  road  on  Feb.  17 
for  four-month  trek. 

Impresario  Hugh  Pickett  com 
tributing  group  of  concert  toppers 
as  teeoff  to  provincial  centenary, 
at.  the  Georgia  Aud.  Victoria  de 
Los  Angeles,  Marian  Anderson, 
Jose  Greco  troupe  rind  Anna  Rus¬ 
sell  are  among  the  artists. 


Paris 

By  Gene  Moskowitz 
(28  Rue  Huchette;  Odeon  4944) 

Bestseller  novel,  "Madame  Sol- 
arib,”  to  be  adapted  as  a  legiter 
here  by -Andre  Roussin. 

In  29  weeks  "Around  World  in 
80  Days”  (UA)  grossed  $525,000, 
and  Cinerama  $1,113,000  in  46 
weeks. 

Orson  Welles  to  play  the  Russo 
ballet  innovator  Diaghilev  in  a  pic: 
Ludwig  Berger  will  make  here  this 
spring. 

Pic  star  Michele  Morgan  made 
the  list  of  one  of  the  10  best 
dressed  and  distinguished  women 
in  France  today.  _ 

Yank  cleffer-actor,  Joe  Warfield, 
long  resident  here*  received  ri 
check  from  ASCAP  with  earnings 
from  16  countries. 

Martine  (Carol  to  London  where 
she  will  star  opposite  Jack  Palance 
in  an  Anglo  quota  pic  for  Hammer 
Prod.  "Six  To  One.”  Robert  Ald- 
..  rich,  directs. 

Julien  Duvivier  will  do  a  full- 
length  terp  version  pic  "of  "Car¬ 
men”  Utilizing  Roland  Petit’s  bal¬ 
let  for  it.  Petit  and.  wife  Zizi  Jean- 
;maire  will  star. 

•Henri  Salvador  switching  from 
the  Philips  disk  label,  to  Barclay  as 
the  latter  goes  Into  third-  position 
here,,  after  Pathe-Marconi  and 
Philips,  in  the  platter  setup. 

Yarik  songstress  Maria  Velasco; 
long  at  Calavados  winduppery, 
waxing  her  first  lp  disk,  "Une 
Americaine  a  Paris,**  for.  Guild 
International.  She  heads  for  a  six- 
month  Israeli  stint  In  February. 

Singer  Annie  Cordy  bought  film 
rights  to  the  song  that  was  her  top 
hit  here  last  year,  theTYank  ‘‘Cig- 
arets  and  Whisky  and  Wild,  Wild 


B’way-H’woat  Angels 

SS5'.  Continued  from  page  71  ssa 

longs  to  hirii  and  should  be  turned- 
over  t0  him. 

When  the  petitioners  took  over 
supervision  of  the  Garland  enter¬ 
prises  in  December,  1955,  Broad¬ 
way  Angels  had  about  $1,323  in 
various  small  bank  accounts.  Other 
assets  included  smell  investments 
in  plays  (it  was  alleged  in  the  At¬ 
torney  Generals  charge  that  $18,- 
000  had  been  invested  by  BA  in 
flops.  While  less  than  $5,000  had 
been  put  into  hits  and  that  there 
iwas  no  record  of  the  firm  haying 
paid  dividends  to  its  stockhold¬ 
ers). 

Also  listed  as  assets  by  the,  peti¬ 
tioners  Were  small  monthly  royal¬ 
ties  from  the  "Teen  Age”  film,  of¬ 
fice  furniture  arid  equipment,  arid 
the  5%-10%  handling,  charges  for 
persons  who  had  invested  In  plays 
through  Garland  Productions  and 
Which  Garland  has  assigned  to 
BA.  Tbe  corporation’s  liabilities, 
however,  included  a  Government 
claim  for  $1,637  in  withholding 
and  Social  Security  taxes  and  two 
law  suits  against  it,  one  in  N.Y. 
Supreme  Court  by  Jeanie  Gunn 
Free  for  $42,500.  There  were  also. 
Other  claims.. 

Hollywood  Angels  had  $610  in 
a  bank  account, '  which  was.  subject 
to,,  subpoena  by  an  outfit  ^that  had 
received  a  $3,190  judgement 
against  the  investment  corporation: 
There' were  also  some  small,  invest¬ 
ments  in  plays.  In  addition  to  the 
judgement  for  $3,190,  HA  liabili¬ 
ties:  included  a .  Government  claim 
for  $1,143  in  withholding  and  So¬ 
cial  Security,  taxes. 

The  action  which  led  to  the  ap¬ 
pointment  of.  the  receivers  involves 
"The  People  of  the  State  of  N.Y. 
against  Broadway.  Angels,-  Inc., 
Hollywood  Angels,  Inc.,  Wallace  G. 
Garland,  individually  and  doing 
.business  under  the  firm  name  and 
style  Of  Wallace  Graydon  Garland 
Productions,  F.  Douglas  Rideout, 
Thomas  J.  Legate  Jr.  and  Howard. 
Field.”  The  last  three  Were  officers 
in  the  Angels  corporations..  The 
receivers  are  repped  by  the  law 
firm  of  Kramer  &  Kaprow. 


Touring  Folds 

•— ^  Continued  from;  pace  71 
tries.  In  Minneapolis,.  Bennie;  Ber¬ 
ger^  Operator  of  the  Lyceum  Thea¬ 
tre,  doubts  whether  he’ll  renew  his 
lease  on  the  house  when  it  expires 
next  August.  He  attributes  this  to 
his  inability  to  obtain  enough 
shows  to  pay  the.  overhead  oil  the 
spot. 

Last  season,  the.  Lyceum  only 
had  five  touring  shows*  all  sub¬ 
scription  offerings.  Thus  far  this 
season,  there  have  only  been  three 
entries,  with  Berger  .figuring  the 
total  may  be  five  by  the  end  of  the 
semester,  ' 


(COVeni  Garden  0i35/6/7> 

Frank  Hoare  reelected,  prez.  of 
the  Assn;  of.  Specialized  Film  Pro¬ 
ducers  for  an  11th  term., 

Thomas  Mitchell,  here  to  strir  in 
a  new'  vidpic  ,  series  for  Gross- 
rrasne,  guest  of  honor  at  a.  press 
reception.  .. 

Sidney  L.  Bernstei .  t  Granada 
Theatres  arid  tele  topper, :  heading 
for  Jamaica  this  Weekend  to  guest 
with  Alfred  Hitchcock. 

Esteban,  Negro  pop  pianist, 
signed  for  night  club  and  theatre 
Work  in  Israel  in  connection  With 
the  forthcoming  arini  celebrations. 

The  Duke  of  Edinburgh  to  be 
guest:  of  honor  When  the  British 
Film  Academy  celebrates  .  its  10th 
rinrii  With  a  Hyde  Park  Hotel  din¬ 
ner  next  month. 

Dirk  Bogarde  ,  and  Yoko  Tani 
heading  for  India  for  location  leris- 
ing  on  the  new  Betty  Box  produc¬ 
tion,  “The  Wind  Cannot  Read.” 
Pic  is  for  Rank  release. 

Sir  Tom -  O’Brien  M.P.  made  his 
public  bow  as  Chief  Barker  of  the 
Variety  terit  at  yesterday’s  (Tues.) 
lunch,  when,  top  sporting  person¬ 
alities  were  guests  of  honor:  . 

Grafton  Green,  former  editor  of 
the  Sunday.  Empire  News,  named 
exec  producer  in  charge  of  the 
newsreel  and  special  features  di¬ 
vision  of  the*  Rank  Organization. 

Magazine  photog  Sandforth  Roth 
assigned  for  special  coverage  bn 
Warner’s  “Indiscreet,”  now  being 
lensed  in  Britain,  and  will  do  a  picr 
torial  essay  on  Ingrid  Bergman  for 
Lifer. 

The  Queen  and  Prince  Philip 
will  attend  the  opening  of  ri  new 
annexe  to  the  Old  Vic  Theatre 
March  18.  Extension  will  house 
the^scenic,  property  arid  wardrobe 
department. 


Frankfort 

By  Hazel  Guild 

(24  Kheinsiraistse;  776751) 

German  television  net  did  repeat 
“of  NBC’s  televising  pf  “Amahl  and 
the  Night  Visitors,”  the  Gian 
Carlo-Menotti  opera,  Jan.  6. 

.  Harald  Kreutzberg  making  a 
dance  tour  through  Germany  in 
Hamburg’s  Thalia  Theatre.  His 
production  is  titled  "25  Yeans 
Through  the  World." 

Since  the  first  German  theatre 
equipped  with  C’Scope  opened  four 
years  ago,  the  Metro  im  Schwan 
in  Frankfurt,  the  number  of  C- 
Scope  houses  in  Germany  has 
grown  to  85  houses  currently  so 
equipped.  '  . 

German  tele  net  Jan.  25  is  car¬ 
rying  a  musical,  "Hallo;  ,  das.  its  die 
Liebe”  (Hello,  That  is  Love),  with 
music  by  Viennese  composer  Rob¬ 
ert  Stolz..  Performance  is  being 
presented  by  Vienna’s  Raimund 
Theatre,  and  carried  over  Hessi- 
scher  Rundfunk  television  from 
Frankfurt. 

First  1958  French-German  co- 
production  to  be  "Die  .Katze”  (The 
Cats)  which  starts  filming  this] 
month  in  Paris*  Henri  Decoin  is 
directing,  with  French  actress 
Franchise  Arnoul  playing  opposite. 
German,  star  Bernhard  Wicki  in 
the  leads*  Union  is  releasing  in 
Germany.  , 

Benjamin  JJritten,  in  nearby. 
Darmstadt  for  opening  of  his  opera, 
"The  Turn  of  the  Screw,”  says  his 
next  composition  will  be  a  short 
opera,  “Noah’s  Flood.”  "Turn  of 
the  Screw”  .was  translated  into. 
German  by  Prince  Ludwig  von' 
Hesse,  who  writes  under  the  pseu- 
donyrii  of  Ludwig  Landgraf.% 


Madrid 


By  Ramsay  A®** 

(Castellano.  Hilton-  572200) 

Carlos  Ramirez  singing  at -Caba¬ 
ret  J-Hay. .  -  b 

Irving  Rapper  is  here  scouting 
locations  for  his  next  filiri,  ‘‘The 
Miracle;” 

Ava  Gardner,  her  face  practical¬ 
ly  all  healed  now,  off  to  the  Canary 
Islands  for  some  sun;  later  she 
goes  to  Rome. 

Celia  Gamez  opened  at  the  Thea- 
tro  Maravillas  with  her  perenially 
popular  "El  Aguila  de  Fuego”  (The 
Eagle  of  Fire). 

Julien  Duvivier  in  looking  Over 
locations  rind  Spanish  talent  for  a 
film  he  will  make  here,  in  Spain 
starring  Brigitte  Bardot. 

Mexico’s  beautiful  actress  Co- 
lumba  Dominguez  here  preparing  a 
tour  of  Spain.  She  is  the  Wife  of 
director  Emilio  Fernandez, 

Lorenzo  Gonzalez  orch  moved 
over  to  the  Casablanca,:  where  he 
will  remain,  until  he  leaves  for  his 
native  Venezuela  month  from 
now* 

JoaqUin  Calvo  Sotelo’s  "La  He- 
rencia  ’  (The  Heritage)  opened  over 
the  weekend  at  Teatro  Alcazar, 
starring  Rafael,  Rivelles  and  Can¬ 
dida  Losada. 

;Edgar  Neville’s  "Alta  Fidelidad” 
(High  .Fidelity).,  bowed,  into  the 
Theatro  Maria  Guerrero,  with  Mari 


Carmen^Diaz  de  Mendoza,  Angel 
Picazo,  and  Rafael  Alonso, 

:  Luis  Escobar’s  "The  Espero  en 
el  Eslava”  (i’ll  See  you  at  the 
Eslavri),  a  history  of  that  theatre 
and  its  artists  voted  a  hit.  Film 
stars  Nati  Mistral;  Tony  le  Blanc, 
Pastora  Imperio  and  Rafuel  Ro¬ 
drigo. 

Bernard  Hilda;  who  is  constantly 
bringing  fresh  discoveries  to  his 
Rendezvous  in  the  Castellana 
'  Hiltcm,.  introduced  last  week  Mexi¬ 
can  Leopoldo  Frances.  He  sings 
tropical  songs  fronting  the  orches¬ 
tra  of  Jose  Luis  San  Esteban. 

.  The  Castellana  Hilfpn  sending  its 
top;  chef,  Angel  Caceres, ;  arid  Miss 
Madrid;  Maria  Major,  dressed  by 
tGp  couturier  Pedro  Rodriguez,  on 
a  tele  tpur  of  N.Y.,  Hollywood  and 
San  Francisco,  to  show  off  Spanish 
food  specialties  and  high  fashion. 


By  Forrest  Duke 

...  iDUdley >2-6100) 

Havana’s  Sans  Souci  wants  Har¬ 
old.  Minsky  to  produce  a  show  for 
it  like  he  does  for  the  Dunes  here. 

Jayne  Mansfield  started  rehears¬ 
ing  her  Trop  act  Which  begins  Feb. 
12.  Mickey  Hargitay  and  Cathy 
Crosby,  also  will  be  in  the  show. 

Phyllis  Paul,  the  Tropicanary 
now  chirping  With  the  Bill  Norvas 
Singers  in  the  Dorothy  Kirsten 
show,  floes  a  single  starting  in  midr 
February,  and  already  ,  has  several 
Strip  hotel  bookers  bidding. 

Sammy  Lewis  off  to  N.  Y.  Where, 
he  meets  Ginger  Rogers  for;  dis¬ 
cussion  of  her  act  which  opens  here 
at  the  Riviera  Jan.  27.  Hotel  wants 
Harry  Belafonte  to  stay  over  for 
the  extra  five  days  between  his 
skedded  closing  and  Miss  Rogers’ 
opening. 

New  Frontier,  which  has  no  .gam¬ 
bling,  had  over  400  in  the  Venus 
Room  for  George  Jessel’s  NeW 
Year’s  Eve:  show.  Jessel  package 
bicycled,  to  Royal  Nevada  for  sec¬ 
ond  show  same  night,  and  the 
casmb  there  made  enough  profit 
for  the  ailing  RN  to  Continue  oper¬ 
ations; 


Off’B’way  Reviews 

Continued  from  pace  74 

Garden  District 

with  a  proscenium  of  Confederate 
bunting,  and  creating  a  garden  for 
the  second  play  that  is  a  contrast 
of  faded  elegance  and  undisci¬ 
plined  shrubbery.  Herbert  Machiz* 
precise  staging  explores  the  under¬ 
currents  of  both  plays  with  affec- 
-tionate  care,  keeping  violence 
within  the  limits  of  credibility  and 
neatly  underscoring  subtleties. 

Geor, 


Trilby 

British  .Commonwealth  Players  revival, 
of  three-act  comedy-drama  adapted  by 
Arthur  J.  Foxali  ‘from  Salter's  dramatiza¬ 
tion  of  a  novel  by  -  George  DuMaurier. 
Staged  by  Foxali;  setting -  and  lighting. 
Fred  Ellis.  At  Royal -Playhouse,  N.Y., 
Jan.  8.  '58;  S1.65  top. 

Cast:  Evelyn  Hughes:  Raymond  Myles, 
Marvin  Spilth,  Sid:  Gross,  Zella  Bavarre,. 
Sebastian  Brook,  Gene  Gregory,  Sydney 


'"You  really  mustn’t  spit,  you 
know.  It’s  just  not  done.”  To  such 
sentiments  did  this  generation’s 
grandparents,  thrill  In  George 
Louis  Palmella  Busson  DuMau- 
rier’s  iriimortal  *'Trilby.”  In.  fancy¬ 
ing  that,  something  of  “Trilby’s” 
sentiment  and  nostalgia  might  be 
amusing  off-Broadway  fare,  the 
British  .  Commonwealth  Players, 
producers  of  the  Royal  Playhouse 
revival,'  had  a  valid  point.  As  di¬ 
rected  and  played,  however,  it  Is 
“truly  a  somewhat  incongruous 
bill.” 

Had  the  British  Commonwealth 
Players,  Under  the  direction  (the 
program  says)  of  Arthur  J.  Foxali, 
intended,  to  travesty  “Trilby,”  they 
could  scarcely  have  improved  their 
efforts.  It  takes  the  first  act  to  dis¬ 
cover  the  company '  isn’t  kidding. 
With  this  pairifUl  finding  out  of  the 
way,  the  theatregoing  experience 
isn’t  seeing  how  the  play  will  turn 
out,  but  Watching  ho W  the  actors 
will  coine  but;  Mercifully,  they 
seem  to  have  no  idea  that  “Trilby” ; 
died  decades  ago. 

(Closed  Jan .  8,  after  one  per- 
formance.)  Geor.  I 


‘Cal’ Opens  in  Hub 

;  Contlaued .  from  paf <  71  ss 

and  Maxwell  Aridersori  refused  to 
make  suggested  deletions. 

In  the  case  of  "Cat,”  the.  orig¬ 
inal  Williams  text  was  substariti- 
ally  rewritten  at  the  insistence;  *of 
stager.  Elia  Kazan...  The  author  sub¬ 
sequently  arranged  to  have  both 
versions  included  in  the  text  pub¬ 
lished  by  New  Directions,  with  an 
explanation  of  how  the  situation 
had  arisen  arid  his  and  Kazan’s 
reasons  for  preferring  the  respec¬ 
tive  editions.  ‘  . 


Hollywood 

Red  Skelton,  home  from  thf 
hospital. 

Burt  Lancaster  recovering  from 
emergency  appendectomy.  •_ 

Jack  Benny  making  plans  to  ob¬ 
serve  Feb.  14  as  his  40th  birthday. 

Warner  sound  editor  Al  Dripps 
home  after  undergoing  appendec¬ 
tomy. 

Ira  Gershwin  home  from  the 
hospital  after  a  bout-  with  peri¬ 
tonitis. 

Paramount  tossed  a  studio  lunch¬ 
eon  to  honor  Adolph  Zukor  on  bis 
85th  birthday. 

Finlay  McDermid,  WB  story  edi¬ 
tor  for  last  14  years,  exited  the 
Burbank  lot  to  go  into  tv. 

Italian  Republic  honored  Luigi 
Luraschi,  Paul  Wrangell  and  Carl 
Schaefer  at  meeting  of  Foreign 
Trade  Assn, 

Dariny  Kaye  will  be  guest  con¬ 
ductor  of  N.  Y.  Philharmonic  for 
special  pension  fund  concert  at 
Carnegie  Hall  March  10. 


Rome 

By  Robert  F.  Hawkins 
( Foreign  Press  Club;  Tel.  659061 
There  were  121  feature  pix  made 
in  Italy  last  year, 

Audrey  Hepburn  arrived  for  cos¬ 
tume  fittings  on  “The  Nun’s  Stoiy,’* 
Warner  Bros,  production  directed 
by  Fred  Zinnemann, 

Owner  of  the  former  At|ualita 
Theatre,  downtown  first-run 
here,  has  redecorated  his  property 
and  reopened  it  as  a  supermarket 
William  Karpl,  longtime  Mexican  * 
film  rep  in  Europe  nnd  Near  East 
and  board  member  of  International 
Producers  Assn.,  named  Commen- 
datore  al  Merito  della  Republics 
by  Italian  President  Giovanni 
Gronchi. 

Lux  Films  back: in  pic  produc¬ 
tion  after,  a  year  devoted  to.  mere 
distributional  functions.  Com¬ 
pany  is  partnered  with  ASPA  Films 
of  Madrid  in  ‘Tiesta  Grande,”  a 
documentary  feature  shooting 'in 
Spain  under  direction  of  Mario 
Craveri  and  Enrico  Gras. 


.  By  Les  Rees 

(2123  Fremont  Ave.  So.; 

FR  7-2609)' 

Theatre-in-Round  offering  “Come 
Back,  Little  Sheba.” 

Local  Percy  Hughes  orchestra 
into  Point  Supper  Club. 

"Bull  Moose”  Jacksbn  orch  with 
Vi  Kemp  into  Kay  Club. 

Edyth  Bush  Little  Theatre  pre¬ 
senting  "The  Mousetrap.” 

Musician-comic  Nate  Wexler 
continuing  at  Starlight  Club, 

Annual  Stiipstad-Johnson  ’  "Ice 
Follies”  erigagement  at  Arena  here 
set  for  April  2-20, 

.  Andrews  Sisters  in  'from  West 
Coast  to  succeed  Georgia  Gibbs  as 
Auto  Show  stage  lineup  topper. 

Three  singing  Schmitz  Sisters, 
St.  Paulites,  back  at  Hotel  Radis- 
son  Flame  Room  for  early  return 
date. 

Northwest .  Variety’s  Chief  Bark¬ 
er  J oe  P o do lo£L  recuperating  from 
leg  surgery. 

Northwest  Variety  club  to  give 
testimonial  dinner  Jan.  27  at  Hotel 
Nicollet  to  honor  retiring  Chief 
Barker  Sim  Heller. 

C.  T.  Jaffray,  former  Minneapo¬ 
lis  First  National  bank  prexy, 
willed  Northwest  Variety  club’s 
heart  hospital  fund  $2,500. 

Edward  C.  Cole,  Yale  university, 
installed  here  as  American  Educa¬ 
tional  Theatre  association  presi¬ 
dent,  at  directors’  meeting. 

While  playing  at  Hotel  Radisson 
Flame  Rocqn  songstress  Jana  Ma¬ 
son  became:  engaged  to  wed  Chi¬ 
cago  businessman  Fred  Wacher. 

WLOL  disk  jockey  Leigh.  Kam- 
man  emceeing  ,  at  Lakeview  club 
where  local  Harry  Blobs  Dixieland 
hand  is  holding  forth  indefinitely. 


Colony  instituted  tea  dancing  at 
Sunday  brunch,  with  Fritz  Freund’s 
society  orch. 

Publicist  Tom  Ward  returning  to 
Chicago  in  public  relations  depart¬ 
ment  of  U.  S.  Steel  Corp. 

Jack  McGuire  named  midwest 
rep  of  Del-Fi  Records,  bandleader 
Bob  Keene’s  west  coast  label 
Max  Blouet  arrived  last ‘week 
from  George  V  Hotel  in  Paris  to 
take  oyer  as  general  manager  of 
the  Ambassador  hotels  here. 

Virginia  Marmaduke.  Herb  Lyon 
and  Phil  Bowman  taking  turns  at 
WMAQ’s  "Chez  Show”  mikeVhile 
Jack  Eigen  vacations  in  Florida 
Oldtime  ^audevillian  Gus  Van 
now  topping  at  Mangam's  Chateau 
where  coinic  Jbe  Conti  wound  up 
an  engagement  of  nearly  five  years. 

Michael  Hall,  British  actor  who 
is  here  while  his  wife,  Anne  Rog¬ 
ers,  stars  in  "My  Fair  Lady,”  has 
the.  lead  in  Goodman  Theatre’s 
current  production  of  "Tiger  at. the 
I  Gates.”  ' 


80 


Wednesday*  January  15,1958 


52  pick- of-the- crop  films,  as  per  your  order! 

You’ve  asked  for  it,  and  here  it  is ...  a  completely  new  way  to  buy  TV  films.  We’ve 
eliminated  over  200  of  our  shorter  features  entirely.  You  get  only  the  pick  of  AAP’s 
famous  Warner  Bros,  library  in  our  newV.I.P.  groups  of  Very  Important  Pictures.  The 


first  group,  called  “Vanguard,”  is  a  hand-picked  selection  of 
52  award-studded  Warner  Bros,  features.  You  are  invited  | 
to  look  over  the  Vanguard  list  today.  Wire,  write  or  phone  ’ 


Prices  for  indimduof  pictures  mrequest. 


Distributor*  for  Associated  Artist*  H  Productions  Carp. 
815  Madison  Ave.t  MUrray  Hid  6-8388  I  WW  YOU* 

75  E.  Wacker  Dr.,  DEaTborn8-803&UtmCAQO 
1511  Bryan  St. t  Riser  side  7-85$fW*  ****** 
mo  Sunset  Blvd.,  CRctinsis  6-5885  UPS  AMSKtiES 


FILMS 


Published  Weekly  at  154  West  46th  Street,  New  York  38,  N.  Y.,  by  Variety.  Inc.  Annual  xubtcrlption,  tlQ.  SinUe  copies,  23  cents, 
filtered  as  sacond-claas  matter  December  22,  1905,  at  tha  Post  Offica  Vat.  New  York,  N.  Y.,  under  tha  act  of  March  3,  1870: 
COPYRIGHT.  1958.  BY  VAMETY.  INC.  Ali  RIGHTS  RESERVED 

Vol.  209  No.  8 

NEW  YORK,  WEDNESDAY,  JANUARY  22, 1958 

PRICE  25  CENTS 

WW  SHOW  BIZ  WARS  WITH  ‘OLD’ 


To  Give  Birth  to  (Wen  Without 
Teaching  Them  Whose  Fault  It  Is’ 


By  FRED  HIFT 

Titles  continue  of  vitaLboxoffice 
Value,  whether  in  the  States  or 
abroad.  And  sometimes,  in  the 
translation  of  the  original  Ameri¬ 
can  title  into  the  local  idiom,  the 
foreign  version  adds  lustre  to  the 
marquee  appeal. 

Though  each  country  moire  or 
less  has  its  >  own  Idiosyncrasies 
which  must  be  taken  into  account 
— Colombia,  for  instance,  doesn’t 
like  violence  in  the  titles  since 
guerillas  are  roaming  the  hills— 
efforts  generally  are. made  to  stick 
closely  to  the  American  title.; 

But,  more  often  than  not,  aiid 
particularly  when  a  title  has 
strictly  U.  S.  quality  (such  as 
"Peyton  Place”),  the  various  forr 
eign  offices  really  go  to  town  in 
producing  their  own  titles. 

“Will  Success  Spoil  Rock  Hunt- 

,”  for  instance,  which  has  no 
meaning  abroad,  became  con¬ 
nected  with  the  devil  concept  over¬ 
seas.  France  called  it  “Devil  in 
the  Pocket.”  In  Holland  it  was 
"To  Hell  With  the-  Devil.”  In 
Greece  ,  it  became  "Man,  Woman 
and  Devil.”  Latin  America  took  a 
different  tack.  It  called  the  film 
"In  Search  of  a  Man,”. 

Every  once  in  a  while,  foreign 
titles  become  more  explicit  than 
their  U.  S.‘  counterparts,  and — oc¬ 
casionally  —  they  supply  drama 
(Continued  on  page  20) 

Downtown  Battles 
Surburban  Shops 

Minneapolis,  Jan.  21. 

Downtown  department  stores 
here,  fighting  the  suburban  shop¬ 
ping  centres,  will  Use  five  film  the¬ 
atres  on  Lincoln’s  Birthday  (Feb. 
12)  as  a  gigantic,  comepn.  Children 
will  be  admitted  free,  9  a.m,.  to 
4:30  p.m.,  at  the  designated  cine¬ 
mas.  Thought  is  that  this  will  ,  op¬ 
erate  as  organized  baby-sitting  and 
free  mothers  for  downtown  shop¬ 
ping. 

Scheme  is  familiar  in  small  mid- 
western  burgs  but  this  is  possibly 
first  time  a  city  so  large  as  Minne¬ 
apolis  has  adopted  the  free  movies 
for  kids  stunt.  Specially  selected 
fare,  heavy  on  cartoons  and  Disney* 
will  be  offered.  United  Para^ 
mount’s  Ev  Seibel  sold  idea  to  mer¬ 
cantile  interests. 

Secrecy  cloaks  terms  to,  theatres 
but  it’s  hinted  that  they  will  have 
a  cleanup  at  the  candy  counter, 
rental  adjustment  apart. 

Jayne  Mansfield  and  new  groom 
Mickey  Hargitay  play  a  nitery 
stand  starting  Feb.  12  at  the" 
Flamingo,  Las  Vegas. 

Opener  will  be  a*  $50-per-plate 
show  for  the  March  of  Dimes.  1 


TOMLIES 


Scientists’  Own  Films 
For  High  School  Allure; 


Watertown,  Mass.,  J an.  21. 

A  nabe  house,  the  old.  Watertown 
Square  Theatre,  is  becoming  a  film 
producing  studio  here.  The  thea¬ 
tre  has  been  leased  from  Loew’s  by 
the  Physical  Science  Study  Com¬ 
mittee  of  Massachusetts  Institute 
of  Technology  to  make  color  and 
sound  films  of  physics  instruction 
for  the  country’s  high  schools. 

The  films  will  retail  at  about 
(Continued  on  page  22) 

WHITE  ORANGES  AS 
TV  ‘ACT-OF-GOD’  OUT 

Rarely  used  “Act  of  God”  clause 
in"  a  television  advertising  contract 
has  been  invoked  by  Florida  Cit¬ 
rus  Commission  in  its  three  CBS- 
TV  commitments.  The  Commis¬ 
sion  took  the  action  because  of  the 
freezing  weather  and  storms  which 
have  been  plaguing  Florida  and 
which  have  substantially  damaged 
this  year’s  citrus  crop. 

Under  an  agreement  reached 
With  CBS-TV,  Florida  Citrus  will 
continue  its  two  daytime  sponsor¬ 
ship  deals  on  a  week-to-week  basis, 
with  cancellation  privileges  -  at 
any  time  subject  to  28  days’  notice, 
instead  of  having  to  ride  put  the 
original  contract  to  the  termina¬ 
tion  date.  This  agreement  applies 
to  its  two  alternate-week  quarter- 
hours  on  each  of  the  Garry  Moore 
Show  and  “Edge  of  Night.” 

As  for  nighttime  Sponsorship, 
Florida  Citrus  had  agreed  a  couple 
of  months  back  to  "relieve”  Rem¬ 
ington  Rand  of  the  latter’s :  spon¬ 
sorship  of  “What’s  My  Line”  on 
six  alternate  weeks  starting  late 
in  January.  Practice  has  become 
customary  of  late,  when  hard-goods 
advertisers  wish  to  reduce  their 
post-Christmas  advertising  budgets 
and  temporarily  yield  sponsorship 
to  non-seasonal  or  heavy  winter  ad¬ 
vertisers. 

In  the  case  of  the  Commission, 
(Continued  on  page  25) 

MONKEY  ON  HER  BACK 

New  German  Ballet  Centres 
on  Narcotic  Addiction 

Frankfurt,  Jan.  21.  .. 

With  a  newly-organized  ballet 
company  peppered!  with  English, 
South  African  and  Yugoslav  danc¬ 
ers  as  well  as  a  hard  core  of  Ger¬ 
mans,  the  new  ballet  master  Walter 
Gore  presents  the  first  ballet  pro¬ 
gram  he  has  exclusively  choreo¬ 
graphed  at  the  town’s  Grosses 
Haus  Jan.  29. 

Gore’s  wife,  Paula  Hinton,  one 
(Continued  on  page  20) 


By  ROBERT  J.  LANDRY 

Show  business  in  the  United 
States  today  is  in  the  midst  of  a 
precedent#!  and  pixilated  two- 
front  war  in  which  enemies  are 
sometimes  allies  and  the  air  is 
thick  with  exploding  confusion. 


IfSJ  Tint  TV  As  a  Potential  Bonanza 
FRONT  To  Nations  Daubers  &  Chiselers 

I  lIUll  I  - - •  .  .  •  .  -  '  . - - — f  By  JO  R ANSON 

LANDRY  T pIpRrnnilltpr’q  Tsrffpt  Color  television  may  yet  be  the 

the  United  1 ™ 1 1UUI"lC1  *  iai&Cl  means  by  which  American  artists 
e  midst  of  a  900  f  itf  AC  Marrll  Fhr  wiU  be  able  tQ  themselves  the 

idiated  two-  vlUCo  mat  UI uu  i  Ul  necessary  groceries  and  paints  and 

enemies  are  tv  DaIimaam  4.1  canvas,  according  to  officials  of  Art- 

L  the  air  is  DaSlllO’IiODlIISOIl  rig  HI  Ists  Equity  Assn.  Tint  tv,  it  is  said, 
g  confusion.  Theatres  will  again  serve  as  the  should  Prove'  an  excellent  market 
but;  it’s  for  outlets  for  i heVatiohal  telecastof  *or  the  development  and  growth  of 


blood,  gold  and  good.  the  Carmen  Basilio-Ray  Robinson  American  art. 

In  the  first,  and  biggest,  war  the  middleweight  championship  re-  Leaders  of  the  national  artists* 
theatrical  film  industry  is  fighting  match  on  March!  25.  Big-screen,  group  are  confident  that  painters 
the  sponsored  television:  medium,  closed-circuit  rights  to  the  fight  and  sculptors  will  be  in  a  position 
In  the  second  war,  getting  very  have  been  snared  by  the  Tele-  to  reap  some  of  the  benefits  accru- 
noisy  for  the  past  two  months,  the  Prompter  Corp.,  first  time,  an  out-  ing  from  color  tv.  “We  can  open 
foes  in.  war  No.  1,  theatre  exhibi-  fit  ofher  than  Theatre  Network  up  new  opportunities  for  the  artist 
tors  and  broadcasters,  are  pretty  Television  has  handled  a  closed-  in  the  growing,  towering  mass 


much  on  the.  same  side,  though  not  circuit  championship  bout. 


media  of  television,”  Elias  New- 


formally  united,  in  virulent  attack  TelePrompter  has  guaranteed  man,  executive  director  of  AEA  said 
upon  tollvision,  or  parlor  box-  the  international  Boxing  Club  a  lnwa  r“ent  Jo  members. 


office. 

I  vt&r  No.  2  at  present  is  a*  series 
of  expanding  .  skirmishes  centered 
in  Los  Angeles,  San  Francisco, 
Vancouver,  Milwaukee,  Chicago 
arid  Bartlesville,  Okla,  But  mostly 
the  pay-see  attack-and-defense  are 
dropping  their  shells  on  Washing¬ 
ton  for  the  ears  of  Congress. 


(Continued  on  page  56) 

JULES  STEIN  BERNG 
GLOBE  WITH  BRANCHES 

Hollywood,  Jan.  21. 


“Wi  K  the  development  of  color 
reception,  the  possibilities  are  end¬ 
less.” 

Other  branches  of  jhow  biz, 
meanwhile,  have  been  excellent 
outlets  for  a  number  of  fine  artists 
who  ordinarily  don’t  engage  in 
traffic  with  commercial  outfits. 
Recording  companies,  in  particular. 


n  lor.  me  ears  or  congress.  .■  _ _ ,  -  Aecorumg  companies.,  m  paiuuuuu, 

“Propaganda"  ia  character  si™  oPoto  a«n^  toafd  S'-  ?“»  *  *»"  t0  •***» 

trait  and  a  main  weapon  in  these  maS  jules  Stlfn  n^w  is  on  a  rS-  Sf n:ng  cura,tors  ,and 

#s  in  militarv  clashes  This  man  juies  &iem  now  is  on  a  rouna  Many  examples  of  record  .  album. 

PmcnfiM  v^  ifre^ee  ^tZfof  new  oS  cS&enny  oocer  art  have  been  described  » 

with  all  kinds  of  war  bulletins.  “Iteih  %rZT to  worthy  cultural  aeh.evements. 

They  range  from  screams  in  Holly-  Rome  Tel  Aviv  Tokyo:  Australia  Television  producers  have  also 
wood  that  a  further  selloff  of  thea-  and  south  America  before  return-  (Continued  on  page  55) 

tre  films  to  sponsored  television  ing  to  the  U.  S.  April  1.  : - - - — — 

wiU  exterminate  the  cinema^  Indus-  Irwin  Klein,  formerly  with  ABC,  -  A  •  n  n  # 

try  to  network  yelps  that  tollvision  will  head  the  Tokyo  office.  He’s  OAxL  C*-. 

Is  ap  unAmencan  plot  dreamed  up  currently  being  trained  at  the  MCA  Alffn-fOX  £11161111? 
by  bounders  to  cheat  the  public.  office  in  New  York  and  will  come  UVUI  *  Vil 
While  the  romancing  of  legisla-  here  for  additional  training  before  ~  1  • 

ters  is  a  main  strategy  in  the  toll-  reporting  to  his  post.  Jack  Brazy  KA/lAFfl  KlICinAA^ 

vision  war  and  the  baiting  of  short-  of  Mexico  City,  who  will  be  In  flCvtlill  PUMIlvw 

sighted  bankers  a  preoccupation  of  charge  of  the  MCA  office  there, 

the  Save-the-theatres  main  war  comes  here  this  week  for  training,  Decision  to  vo  into  the  record 
against  tv,  both  wars  actively  en-  the#  goes  to  New  York  before  re-  business  £n  its  own  has  been  Slide 

(Continued-  on  page  11) _ turning  home.  by  20th-Fox.  Company  is  expected 

“  iT_—  to  set  up  a  subsidiary  record  coin- 

fil  J\  •■•IP  fin  II*  IF  pany  within  the  next  few  months. 

Too  Bntish  For  U  S -Ur  Vice  Verso  retamaifrom^ 

of  prexy  Spyros  P.  Skouras.  20th 
r-— — — r-. — r- — r—  already  has  a  record  company  of 

‘Town  Like  Alice*  Flops  Much  Same  Way  Vohnny  Company  at  one  point  bad  con- 

Tremaine’  Doe,-Extreme.  of  ‘NatioialUm’  gTheTuSfbuttM^ 

•  ■  through.  In  their  wake,. sentiment 

veered  toi  20th  forming  its  own  mu- 

Though  there  is  still-rising  ac-  as  a  "typically”  American  film.  It  sic  outfit  which  will  develop  new 
ceptance  of  American  films  abroad  opened  in  London,  flopped,  and  talent  and  .exploit  it  in  pix,  or  vice 
and  vice-versa;  some  "national”  now  will  not  be  shown  anywhere  versa. 

riictores  are  still  mutually  ex-  in  Europe  on  the  realization  that  20th  ha?  .  dpne  well  twice  with 
elusive  its  subject matter  stands  little  crooners,  i.e.,  Pat  Boone  and  Elvis 

That*  demonstrated  affain  bv  ^ance  with*  European  audiences.  Presley;/ and  feels  that  there  are 
t  Th^Liintdova^>lec  RaTfir  Film  Case  of  “Town  Like  Alice”  is,  in  complimentary  exploitation  values 
iT,  -SSS" sense,  mote  puzzling  ln«smnch  itt.  the.  .two  media.  20th  also  has 

fan^6Walt  BUnev^-  the  Picture  doesn't  deal  with  a  had  some  of  the  most  successful 
Dlsne’,s  subject  that  can.be  described  as  fllmusicals'ln  the  past  two  years. 

"Johnny  Tremaine.  “absohittfy  British."  It’s  about  - ; - 

‘Town  Like  Ahce,”  a  grim  war  the  imprisonment  of  civilians  by  •  -  w  ■ 

picture,  was  shown  in  both  Los.  the  Japanese  during  the  Pacific  RaK  HflllP  C  RnflPrh 

Angeles  and  Hartford  and  failed  war  and  it’s  a  story  of  heroism  and  aHIu  flUpv  «  AUUcria 

to  draw  patronage.  Consequently,  courage.-  It’s  also  a  love  story.  Bob.  Hope  will  be  playing  bis 
Rank-Yank  has  withdrawn  it  from  tVar  films  made  in  Britain,  'with  first  legiter  in  many  years.  Comedi- 
its  release'  slate  for  1958  though  only  a  few  exceptions,  haven’t  ig-  an  has  signed  to  do  a  June  stand 
the  film  was  a  big  success  in  Brit-  nited  the  U.  S.  boxoffice.  The  last  in  “Roberta”  at  the  St.  Louis  Mu- 
ain.  demonstration  of  this  came  with  nicipal  Opera. 

Something  similar  has  happened  the  first  RFDA  release  in  the  Hope  originated  the  role  in  the 
with  Disney’s  “Johnny,”  described  States,  “Reach  for  the  Sky  ”  Broadway  production  in  1933. 


Television  producers  have  also 
(Continued  on  page  55) 


20th>Fox  Entering 
Record  Business 

Decision  to  go  into  the  record 


Town  Like  Alice*  Flops  Much  Same  Way  'Johnny 
Tremaine*  Does—Exfcremes  of  ^Nationalism* 


Though  there  is  still-rising  ac¬ 
ceptance  of  American  films  abroad 
and  vice-versa,  some  “national” 
pictures  are  still  mutually  ex¬ 
clusive. 

That  is  demonstrated  again  by 
two  recent  examples,  Rank  Film 
Distributors  of  America’s  “A  Town 
Like  Alice”  and  Walt  Disney’s 
“Johnny  Tremaine.” 

‘Town  Like  Alice,”  a  grim  war 
picture,  was  shown  in  both  Los. 
Angeles  and  Hartford  and  failed 
to  draw  patronage.  Consequently, 
Rank-Yank  has  withdrawn  it  from 
its  release'  slate  for  1958  though 
the  film  was  a  big  success  in  Brit¬ 
ain. 

Something  similar  has  happened 
with  Disney’s  “Johnny,”  described 


as  a  "typically”  Americim  film.  It 
opened  in  London,  flopped,  and 
now  will  not  be  shown  anywhere 
in  Europe  on  the  realization  that 
its  subject  ,  matter  stands  little 
chance'  with*  European  audiences. 

Case  of  ‘Town  Like  Alice”  is,  in 
a  sense,  more  .puzzling  inasmuch 
the  picture  doesn’t  deal  with  a 
subject  that  can  .be  described  as 
"absolutely  British.”  It’s  about 
the  imprisonment  of  civilians  by 
the  Japanese  during  the  Pacific 
war  and  it’s  a  story  of  heroism  and 
courage.  It’s  also  a  love  story. 
War  filiria  made  in  Britain,  ’with 
only  a  few  exceptions,  haven’t  ig¬ 
nited  the  U.  S.  boxoffice.  The  last 
demonstration  of  this  came  with 
the  first  RFDA  release  .In  the 
States,  “Reach  for  the  Sky.” 


2 


MISCELLANY 


Franchise  Sagan  s  Ballet  Promising 
Though  Everything  Wrong  at  Break-k 


By  WOLFE  KAUFMAN  a 

Monte  Carlo,  Jan.  21. 

It's  like  this:  either  you’ve  got  it 
or  you  haven’t.  That  ole  black 
rnagicr— b.o.— ’name” — draw— pull. 
There  is  no  yardstick  for  what  at¬ 
tracts  the  mob  and  the  mob’s  pock- 
etbook,  Valentino  had  ft..  Garbo 
had  it.  John  Barrymore  had  it. 
Mickey  Spillane  had  It  And  Fran- 
coise  Sagan  has  It. 

France’s  teen-age  sourpuss  {she’s 
22,  but  that’s  close  enough)  has; 
just  written  .  a  full-length,  full- 
evening  ballet  and  this  innocent 
reporter  took  a  hesitant  look  at  it.. 
The  jury  is  still  out.  It  is  almost 
Impossible,  at  this  point,  to  say 
whether  it’s  good  ballet  or  not. 
Or  whether  it’s  a  good  show.  But 
this  much  is  sure — the  Sagan,  saga 
is  still  on  the  ascendancy*  It  will 
attract  newspaper  and  inagazine 
space.  And  probably  coin,  too. 

The  show  opened  here  for  a 
three-day  warm-up,  intending  to 
go  back  into  rehearsal,  then,  with 
a  Paris  ’’official”  opening  three  j 
weeks  later  at  the  Champs  Elysees 
Theatre.  Newspaper  and  magazine 
coverage  began  flying  down  here 
from  all  comers  of  the  world.  Lon¬ 
don,  Paris,  Stockholm  and  Rome 
papers  carried  full-page  advance 
yarns.  Life  and  Match  were  on 
hand.  Plus,  about  a  hundred  other 
photogs.  There  were  approximately 
500  requests  for  newspaper  seats. 
Which  made  quite  a  problem  for 
the  800  (approx)  seater  Opera 
House,  which  also  had  a  few  celeb¬ 
rities  like  Her  Highness  Princess 
Grace,  Jean  Cocteau,  Brigitte  Bar-; 
dot,  Anton  Dolin,  and  the  usual 
sprinkling  of  dukes,  marquis, 
etcetera,  to  worry  about. 

From  the  show’s  standpoint.  It 
would  have^  been  better,  probably, 
if  the  mob  had  stayed;  away.  The 
work  isn’t  ready.  Since  the  author 
(Mile.  Sagan)  has  never  written  a 
ballet  previously,  since  the  com¬ 
poser  (Michael  Magne)  has  never 
written  anything  bigger  than  some 
(Continued  on  page  70) 

‘Gervaise  Wins 
Burslyn  Prize 

The  French  “Gervaise”  has  been 
voted  winner  of  the  .fifth  annual 
Joseph  Burstyn  award  as  the 
year’s  best  foreign  language  film 
by  the  Independent  Motion  Picture 
Distributors  Assn.  The  Danish 
“Ordet”  and  the  Swedish  “Smiies 
of  a  Summer  Night”  rated  second 
and  third,  respectively. 

Award  will  be  presented  at  a 
luncheon  in  the  near  future.  Award 
last  year  was  won  by  the  .  Italian 
“La  Strada.” 

Ray  Ventura  is  in  N..  Y.  from 
Paris  on  business  deals.  Conferring 
with  Irving  Moskowitz  ;of  the  Wall 
St.  law  partnership  of  Graubard 
&  Moskowitz. 


No  Stoki  Successor 


Houston,  Jan.  21. 

Maurice  Hirseh,  president  of  the 
Houston  Symphony  Society,  states 
that  no  offer  of  the  conductorship 
at  $30,000  annually  has  been  of¬ 
fered  Milton  Katims.  Latter  has 
appeared  as  guest. 

Leopold  Stokowski’s  original 
three-year  contract  has  been  ex¬ 
tended  through  1959  and  no  nego¬ 
tiations  with  any  successor  has. 
taken  place. 

N.Y.  Talent  Agents 
Form  'Conference 
-Elect  Durgom 

A  Manhattan  echo  of  a  like 
group  organized  last  year  in  Holly¬ 
wood  will  bear  the  title.  Confer¬ 
ence  of  Personal  Managers,  East 
Inc.  It  is  designed  to  bring  all 
kinds  of  theatrical  agents  into  one 
fold. 

Members  calculate  that  in  1957 
they  handled  talent  with  gross 
earnings  of  $110,000,000. 

George  “Bullets”.  'Durgom  is 
first  president  of  the  Conference; 
Kal  Ross  is  veep;  Jerry  Levy,  secre¬ 
tary;  Mace  Neufield,  treasurer. 
Other  directors:  Dick  Gabbe, 
Manny  Greenfield,  John  Greenhut.. 
Attorney  will  be  Richard  Green. 

Code  of  Practices  enunciates 
purposes  in  this  language:  “To 
develop  and .  maintain  for  the 
business  of  personal  management 
a  high  standing  With  the  public. 
With  the  entertainment  industry 
and  with  artists  in  general;  to 
foster  good  relations  With  the  book¬ 
ing  agencies  that  book  talent  un¬ 
der  CPM:  management;  to  promote 
the.  exchange  of  information  with 
particular  reference  to  matters 
that  will  assist  in  the  guidance;  of 
artists  in  their  careers  and  in  their 
relationships .  with  the-  public;  to 
recommend  fair  practices  and  a 
code  of  ethics  for  persons  engaged 
in  the  field  of  personal  manage¬ 
ment;  to  encourage  a  spirit  of  co¬ 
operation  and  fellowship  among 
its  members  and  the  entertainment 
;  industry  generally.” 

Industrial  Film  Fest 

Minneapolis,  Jah.  21. 

Its  program  committee  is  Con¬ 
sidering  a  “film  festival”  here  in 
connection  with  the  Minnesota 
(Centennial  celebration  this  year.. 

!  However,  the  festival,  as  now 
•  being  planned,  would  specialize  in 
j  industrial  and  television  comi  - 
i  rial  films. 


Trade  Mark  Registered 


FOUNDED  1905  by  SIME  SILVERMAN;  Published  Weekly  by  VAR1 

Syd  SUverman,  President 

134  West  46th  St..  New  Youk  36.  N.  Y.  JUdson  2-2700. 
Hollywood  28 

6404  Sunset  Boulevard.  Hollywood  6-1141 
Washington  4 

1292  National  Press  Building.  STerling  .3-5443 
Chicago  11 

612  No.  Michigan  Ave.,  DEla  ware .  7-4984 
.  London  WC2 . 

8  St.  Martin’s  PI..  Trafalgar  Sq„  COVent  Garden  0135 
SUBSCRIPTION  Annual.  $10;  Foreign,  $11;  Single  Copies.  25  Cents. 


ABEL  GREEN.  Editor 


INDEX 


Met  Opera  With  Vanessa’ 
Makes  It  Big  Except 
In  Diction  Department 

By  ROBERT  J*  LANDRY 

Sputnik  fired  by  Russian  ras- 
putniks  recently  made  Americans 
look  like  nudniks  but  the  latest 
question  is  this:  can  the  Russians 
get  it  up  operatically?  Can  they 
launch  a  new  opera  as  good  as 
Samuel  Barber’s  “Vanessa?  ”  ! 

The  first  American  opera  in  il 
years,  only  the  20th  in  73  years, 

“  Vanessa”  World-premiered  last 
Wed.  (15)  at  the  Metropolitan 
Opera  House  to  a  moye-ovbr-Puc- 
cini  ovation*  It  not  only  massaged 
current  inferiority  feelings  into  a 
patriotic  glow  but  it  was  downright 
entertaining. 

Much  of  the  style,  pleasure  and 
impact  lies  in  Barber’s  colleague, 
GianrCarlo  Menotti,  a  man  of  the 
theatre  as  well  as  a  librettist. 
Doubling  as  stager,  he  contrived  to 
put  the  drama  into  lyric  drama  and 
also  to  make  Giorgio  Tozzi;  One  of 
the  Met’s  standby  baritones,  sud¬ 
denly  seeing  in  a  dance  bit,  more 
amusing  than  Cyril  Ritchard  in  “La 
Perichole.” 

o  “Vanessa”  opens  in  the  drawing 
rdom  of  a  Scandinavian  castle,  year 
1905,  with  the  chatelaine  ordering 
dinner  (in  French)  from  the  liver¬ 
ied  staff.  This  is  a  musically  im¬ 
possible  but  narratively  intriguing 
start  for  an  v  opera  and  signals 
ahead  something  of  the  mood  of 
the  story.  If  the  first;  act  is 
meagre  in  the  singing  department, 
it  establishes  the  characters  and 
what  there-  is  of  plot.  Menotti  in¬ 
fuses  surprising  “humanity”  in  the 
story  Considering  that  the  Old 
Baroness!  Regina;  Resnik)  is  mostly 
mute  and  *;the  cad-hero,  (Nicolai 
Gedda)  is  of  vague-to-trife.  motiva¬ 
tion? 

As  a  completely  new  work,  with 
the  audience  not  always ,  sure  when 
to  ripplaud,  but  eager  to,  it  is  ob¬ 
vious  that  time  and  performance 
have  yet  to  fully  shape,  this  opera* 
On  the  ecstatic  daily  reviews 
alone,  and  a  long  build-up  of  curi¬ 
osity,  “Variesse”  is  certain  to  be 
given  plenty  of  performances  this 
season  and  next.  Meantime  Correct¬ 
able  lapses  of  diction  is  a  first,  item 
of  attention.  One  of  .  the  oddities  of 
the  opening  was  the  crystal-clear 
English  of  Gedda,  a:  Swede,  oppo¬ 
site  Eleanor  Sfeber,*  a  West  Vir¬ 
ginian, .  whose  lyrics  were  Occas- 
sionally  woolly. 

No  New  Haven 

Even  so  the  whole;  performance  i 
was  remarkably  tight  and  jfure,  ion  : 
nothing  more  than  a  single  private 
dress  rehearsal.  There  isn’t  a 
Broadway  theatre  producer  Who 
.would,  under  such  circumstances, 
dare  “Vanessa”  as  did  Rudolf  ; 
Bing.  Nor  would  any  Equity  lady 
jump  such  a:  role  as  did  Miss 
Steber  on  a  few  weeks  notice*  i 

A  sense  of  everybody’s  sheer 
artistic,  daring  arid  .  achievement  i 
against  these  hazards  undoubtedly 
was  present  in  the  rising  clamor  of 
(Continued  on  page  70) 

DARIO  SORIA  OFF 
TO  SCOUT  SPOLETO 

Dario  Soria,  until  recently  presi¬ 
dent  of  Angel  Records,  flies  to  Eu¬ 
rope  at  the  weekend  to  visit  Rome, 
Milano  and  Spoleto,  Italy,  and 
Paris.  This,  pertains  to  the  Gian- 
Carlo  Menotti  “Festival  of  Two 
Worlds”  to  be  inaugurated  this 
June  at  Spoleto.  Soria  will  be  ex¬ 
ecutive  in  charge  in  1958,  since  the 
festival,  general  manager,  Bruno  . 
Zirato,  will  be  involved  with  the 
N.Y.  Philharmonic's  South  Ameri¬ 
can  tour,  for  the  State  Dept. 

After,  three  weeks  of  study  and  : 
survey,  Soria  will;  return  to'  Man-  1 
hattari  and  when  he  goes  to  Italy  ] 
later  in  spring  will  be  accompan-  ' 
ied  by  his  Wife  and  colleague,  ] 
Dorle  J.  Soria: 

Travel  packager  John  H.  Zorek  i 
is  also  visiting  Spoleto  at  this  time  : 
to  scout  the  tourist  accommodation  i 
situation. 


Wednesday,  January  221  1958 


frarotiatM 

jfo x  ^  petter  Comorroto 

By  HAL  BLOCK 

(Author' of  the  weekly  Saturday  Evening  Post  Feature 
“Inventions  For  A  Better  Tomorrow”) 

.  After  writing  the  initial  installment  of  this  two  part  tome,  the  first 
of  which  found  a  home  in  the  Anniversary  Issue  of  Variety  (for  nix, 
of  course),  well  let  me  tell  you  I  was  completely  flabbergasted  by 
the  phantastic  and  extraordinary  mail  response  to  thy  efforts  .  .  not . 
One  Letierl 

And  so  it  is  with  little  trepidation  that  I  approach  Part  II  (at  the 
request  of  the  Editor)  because  as  of  this  moment  I  don't  know  what 
trepidation  means.  Well,  anyway  .  .  ;  Here  Tis  .  .  .  My  Innovations  and 
Predictions  for  a  Better  Tomorrow. 

— — — - - — - — — FOR  BERLE—A  partnership  in 

__  _  .  -  a  fabulous  combination  hotel  and 

Poles  Apart.  Or  nig“™  „«  be 

*  7  known  as  the  “Milton  Hilton”) 

ni»  mi  T|*  I  .  FOR  ADULT  WESTERNS— Old-. 

\hin  IvA  K|nlfA  er  horses  .  ..  and  younger  plots, 
yllip  11U  1  ilinu  FQR  PRESLEY  RIVALS  — Now 
•  _  '  _  that  Elvis  is  going  in  the  army  1 

_  rLl  think  they  are  all  entitled  to  an 

rums  to  tni  e<i  iai  shake 

FOR  DE  MILLE— A  super  spec- 
fhioavn  Jan  21  tabular  TV  Western  called  “The 


Chicago,  Jan.  21.  I  Jwa 

Poles,  who  refused  j  Painte“  Dessert. 


patronage  to  post-war  Polish  film 
product  because  of  Communist 
propaganda  content,  appear  to  have 
won  their  war  of  attrition.  Theyil 
now  get  Warsaw  pix  that  don’t  sell 
anything  but  entertainment  Flow 
started  Friday.  (10)  with  one  week 


(Although  Cecil  doesn’t  want 
to  go  Into  television  yet,  it 
doesn’t  make  any  difference 
because  it  will  take  him  at 
least  two  years  to  Repaint  the 
dessert.) 

FOR  BOB  HOPE’S  FAMILY— A 


booking  of  “Zemsta”  (Vengeance)  USO  unit  sent  from  overseas  to 
at  the  Congress,  Balaban  &  Katz  entertain  them. 

2,900-seater  in  the  heart  of  the  Po-  for  ANTI-SMOKBRS— A  new 
lish  district.  And  at.  least  17  more  ^  top  .  cigarette  box-.  Without 
films  are  due  to  arrive  here  under,  p.va-ptfpc 
a  pact  between  S.tar  Films,  Polish  ;  ,  ,  . .  ■  ,  u  , 

Die  imoorter.  and  Film  Pnlckf  the  (This  is  for  people  who  don’t 


films  are  due  to  arrive  here  Under 
a  pact  between  S.tar  Films,  Polish 
pic  importer,  and  Film  Polski,  the 
Polish,  state  film  company.  All  of 
them,  according  to  the  importer, 
are  free  of  ideological  messages. 


smoke  but  still  love  to;  flip 
their  top).  * 

FOR  TEMPERMENTAL  OPERA 


Heretofore,  over  a  period  of  sev-  STARS— A  secluded  retreat  situ- 
eral  years,  only  unabashed  prop-  ated  at  Los  Alamos,  Nevada,  Where 
aganda  films  came  here  from  War-  their  frequent  explosions  can  be 
saw.  Chi  Poles  (they  constitute  .the  scientifically  studied, 
largest  Polish  population  this  side  FOR  JAYNE  MANSFIELD— Who 

of  the  Iron  Curtain)  turned  their  needs  to  predict  for  her.  There’s 
backs,  and  B  &  K,  sensitive  to  their  a  girl  that  took  a  Mickey  on  her 
reaction,  declined  to  show  such  honeymoon, 
pix.  Boycott  extended  to  indies,  FOR  JACK  BENNY— A  lucrative 

excepting -the  Cinema,  Annex,  a  deal  with  Lucky  Strike  in  Which  he 
small  west  side  foreign  language  sells  them  the  secret  of  his  youth, 
house,  which  now  and  then  played  (  After  all,  Benny  has  a  much 

Polish  films  from  Artkino,  the  So-  slower  aging  process  than  the 
viet  film  distrib.  Meanwhile,  Poles  tobacco). 

here  contented  themselves  with  re-  FOR  DURANTE  AND  DANNY 
issues  of  pre-war  Polish  product.  THOMAS— A  definite  agreernent  on 
But  last  July,  after  some  abor-  “Nasal  Disarmament;” 
tive  ^efforts  a  few  months  earlier,  FOR  PAT  WEAVER  (former 
Star  Films  got  the  Qomulka  regime  NBC  Prez) — A  new  TV  package 
to  release  to  this  country  the  no-  combining  his  favorite  comedian 
message  pix. .Result  was  the  pact  with. his  favorite  sporisor. 
with  Film  Polski.  (This  would  naturally  be 

“Zemsta,”  according  to  W.  E.  called  “The  Sid  Kaiser  Show.” 

Waisman  of  Star  Films’  Chi  office,.  FOR  VAUGHN  MONROE  —  A 

is  based  on  an  18th  century  Polish  new  television  series  to  fit  his  great 
legiter  dealing  with  two  feuding  talent. 

families.  Dialog  is  in  rhyme,  and  .  (What  with  Vaughn  dropping 
pic  was  shot  in  a  color  process  rail-  radio  every  day  for  the  last 


ed  Aquacolor,  which  Waisman  says 
favors  pastei  shades.  The  Congress 
showing  is  its.  American  preem. 
Waisman  said  the  Film  Polski 


,3  years,  you’d  have  thought 
;some  tv  sponsor  would  have 
taken  the  hint.) 

FOR  GODFREY — The  .  opportu- 


deal  was  set  by,  his  New  York  con-  nity  to  be  the  first  man  to  go ;  up 
ferere,  J.  S.  Starczwski.  Under  the  i  the  irioon. rocket, 
deal,  Waisman  disclosed,  “we  have  With  Arthur’s  experience  it 
the  right  to  buy  those  pictures  we  would  take  no  time  4t  all. for 

think  are  proper  to  be  shown  him  to  get  used  to  the’  air  up 

here.”  Starczwski,  he  added,  con-  there  and  within  less  time  than 

vinced  the  Reds  that  the  best  Po-  that  I’d.  bet  he’d  even  snag 

lish  propaganda  films  would  be  a  sponsor), 

those  without  any!  ,  FOR  OZZIE  AND  HARRIET— 

- - : - ^ -  Ttvo  grey  streaked  wigs. 

1>  !•  n  H  I  (It’s  the  only  way  we  know 

KAWhner  K^llvhnn  of  to  prevent  them  from  look- 
liUTTlUlg  LldllVllUU  ing  younger  than  their  sons). 

^  *  .  FOR  THEIR  CROONING  SON-^ 

1  l^rflA  AAA  117  I  A  new  teenage  “Western”  in  which 
III  n  Mil] I  111 II I  WPPn  he  Plays  the  banjo,  rides  a  horse. 
Ill  yU'VvjUW  if  vCll  and  holds  high  “C”  at  a  trot. 

(A  good  title  fori  this  series 
Minneapolis,  Jan.  21.  would  be  “Maver-Ricky.” 

The  National  All-Star  bowling  FOR  TV  RATINGS— A  new  se- 
meet,  held  here  last  week.  Is  short-  cret  service  that  not  only  rates  the 
lived,  but,  involving  a  $500,000  ex-  ratings,  but  gives  them  out  helter^ 
penditure,  is  costlier  than  Broad-  skelter  to  all  tv  actors,  advertising 
way  theatrical  productions  which  agencies  and  sponsors. 


may  run  several  years. 

.Costs  for  putting  on  this  “pro¬ 
duction”  include  $190,000  for  in- 


(Heh,  Heh.  Now  let  them 
bums  find  out  how  it  feels:) 
FOR  RUSSIA  AND  KHRUSH- 


staRation  and  value  of  pin  ma-  CHEV — A  toast  to  the  Iron,  Cur- 
chines  (borne- by  the  American  Ma-.  tain. 

(Continued  on  page  27 >  (“May  it  Rust  in  Peace”). 


Bills  70 

Chatter  . .  78 

Film  Reviews  . ..  . ... .......  6 

House  Reviews . ... ..... . . ..  70 

inside  Pictures. . . .. .....>  18 

Inside  Radio-TV........ 54 

International  12 

Legitimate  72 

Literati  77 

Music  .  .  57 

New  Acts  . . . . V. . _ 70 


Night  Club  Reviews  . . . . , .  71 

Obituaries  79 

Pictures  3 

Radio  . . .. * ... ... • . .. . ...  28 

Radio  Reviews  . , .  .  . ..... .  54 

Record  Reviews; .... ;...  58 

Television  . : . . .  .\  . . ... ....  28 

Television  Reviews..*....  4fi 

Tollvision  27 

TV  Films  34 

Vaudeville  65 

WaU  Street  . .  20 


After  March  1st,  1958 


DAILY  VARIETY 

(Published  to  HoUywood  by  Daily  Variety, . 
$15  a  year  $20  Foreign. 


Newsstands 

35c 

Per  Copy 


Subscription 

$15 

Per  Year 


See  Details  Page  51 


PICTURES 


8 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


BRIT.  FILMS -TO-TV  POT  BOILS 


Centered  There;  Break  Bottleneck 


Motion  Picture  Export  Assn’s.4; 
European  setup  is  undergoing  or¬ 
ganizational.  changes  pointing,  in 
the  long  run,  to  a  wholly,  new  con¬ 
cept  of  operations  on  the.  Conti¬ 
nent.  Ultimate- plan  is  to  have  a 
vice-president,  i.e.  Ralph  D.  Hetzei, 
now  exec  v.p.  in  New  York, /  shift 
his  ibase  to  London  or  Paris  from 
Where  he’ll  supervise  all  of  Europe. 

Exact,  d  e  t  a  i  1  s  haven’t  been 
worked  out  aS  yet,  but  the  blue-; 
prints  are  drawn  and  there  seems 
little  doubt  that  MPEA  will  go 
through  with  the  idea  of  shifting 
the  center  of  gravity  in  the  control 
of  its  European  activities. 

One  of  the  explanations  for  the 
projected  change  is  the  problem 
of  communications.  Another  ties 
in  with  the  comparative  lack  of 
authority  and  freedom  of  action 
currently  invested  in  any  of  the 
MPEA  men  abroad.  The  only 
MPEA  rep  with  a  large .  degree  of 
autonomy  was  the  late  Fayette  W. 
Allport  in  London.  The  necessity 
Of  having  an  MPEA  man  on.  the 
spot,  clothed  with  the  authority  to 
make  immediate  decisions  without 
having  to  refer  every  detail  back 
to  the  MPEA  board  in  New  York, 


Golden  Age  Bargains 

Regina,  Sask.,  Jan.  21. 

,  Famous  Players  theatres  in 
Regina  have  formed  a  Golden 
Age  Movie  club  which  will 
enable  senior  citizens,  to  see 
films  at  reduced  rates.  Only 
qualification  is  that  a  person 
be  65  Or  over.  Low  admission 
prices,  are  charged  when  mem¬ 
bership  cards  are  produced  at 
any  of  -  the  three  F-P  houses 
or  the  drive-in  theatres^ 

In  Saskatoon,  Sask.,  a  simi¬ 
lar  project  has  been  started 
with  all  theatres,  in  the  city 
participating. 


New  Cinerama-SW 


is  gradually  being  recognized. 

Baldwin  Pro  Tem 

It  is  confirmed  that  Charles  Bald¬ 
win,  the  MPEA  rep  in  Italy  and 
the  Mediterranean  area,  is  trans¬ 
ferring  to  the  LondOn  post  for  a 
couple  of  months.  However,  Bald¬ 
win  definitely  wants  to  “come 
home,”  and  the  London  appoint¬ 
ment.  is  temporary.  Already  filled 
(Continued  on:  page  20) 

Martin  Davis  to  Par; 

Flinn  on  Shuttle  As 
AA  Re-Locates  Ad-Pnb 

Martin  S.  Davis  has  resigned  as 
Eastern  ad-pub  director  of  Allied 
Artists  to  become  exec  assistant 
to  Jerry  Pickman,  Paramount  ad- 
pub  v.p.  This  is  part  of  a  reor¬ 
ganization  of  the  department  aimed 
at  broadening  the  operation. 

Post  is  a  new  one  and  is  to  be 
taken  Over  by  Davis  Jan.  31,  fol¬ 
lowing  a  brief  vacation.  Prior  to 
joining.  A  A,  he  was  SamuCl  Gold- 
wyn’s  eastern  ad-pub  chief. 

Also  at  Par,  Herb .  Steinberg  •  is 
to  become  studio  publicity  head, 
switching  from  New  York  where 
he  has  been  national  exploitation 
director.  He’s  to  replace  Teet 
Carle,  who  in  turn  will  head,  pub¬ 
licity  for  the  Cecil  B.  DeMille  unit. 

This  change  has  been  pending  for 
some  time.  > 

Part  of  the  Par  plan  is  to  place 
added  emphasis  on  unit  work,  that 
is,  assigning  individuals  to  work 
on  a  single  picture  from  pre-pro¬ 
duction  to  release. 

In  the  wake  Of  Davis'  departure 
from  AA,  this  company’s  eastern 
ad-pub  activities  are  to  be  super¬ 
vised  by  John  C.  Flinn,  national 
ad-pub  director  who  is  headquar¬ 
tered  on  the  Coast  but  who  will 
visit  Gotham  frequently  to  main¬ 
tain  close  contact. 

.  AA  personnel  working  in  N.  Y, 
Include  Harry  Goldstein,  in  charge 
Of  eastern  exploitation  and  field 
forces;  Lars  McSorley,  head  of 
eastern  publicity  and  coordination 
with  the  Coast;  Jack  Schachtel,  ad 
business,  manager;  Jay  Remer,  for¬ 
eign  publicity,  and  A1  Marx,  ac¬ 
cessories; 


TOA  Into  Minneapolis? 

Minneapolis,  Jan.  21. 

Secrecy  shrouds  exhibitors  meet¬ 
ing  called  today  (21)  by  circuit 
owner  Harold  Field.  But  advance 
reports  indicate  he’ll  put  out 
feelers  again  for  organization  here 
of  a  Theatre  Owners  of  America 
unit  to  supplant  Allied  States’  Ex¬ 
hibitors  Trade  Assn.,  the  former 
North  Central  Allied,  now  believed 
on  death’s  brink. 

Field  is  a  TOA  director  as  is 
local  circuit  owner  Eddie  Ruben 
who  attended  meeting. 


As  .  part  of  the  new  deal  among 
Stanley  Warner,  Cinerama  Produc¬ 
tions  Corp.  and  Cinerama  Inc;  in¬ 
volving  the  production  and  distri¬ 
bution  rights  to  the  three-strip 
medium,  Cinerama  Productions  no 
longer  is  required  to  pay  Stanley 
a  production  cost  equal  to  50%  of 
the  picture’s  budget.  For  each 
picture  that  SW  produces  in  the 
.Cinerama  process  from,  now  on, 
SW  will  how  receive  a  flat  sum  of 
$250,000: 

As  previously  there  will  be  no 
actual  cash  payment,  SW  will  ex¬ 
act  its  fee  before  splitting  the 
profits  with  Cinerama  Productions. 
Productions  costs  are.  amortized 
before  there,  is  a  division  of  the 
take,  Under  the  old  agreement  be¬ 
tween  SW  and  Cinerama  Produc¬ 
tions,  the  theatre  chain  would  re¬ 
ceive  a  production  fee  of  $1,000,000 
on  a  picture  budgeted  at  $2,000,- 
000.  The  extra  sum;  in  a  sense, 
represented  a  payment  to  SW  for 
advancing  the  production  coin; 

Another  change  in.  the  deal  be¬ 
tween  SW  and  Cinerama  Produc¬ 
tions  involves  the  fake  from  the 
original  four  theatres  opened  as 
Cinerama  installations  in  New 
York,  Detroit,  Hollywood  ,  and  Chi¬ 
cago.  Both  SW  and  Cinerama 
Productions  will  receive  15%  of 
the  take  instead  of  the  previous 
10%.  The  rest  goes  toward  the 
recouping  of  production  costs. 

Cinerama  Inc.  will  receive  an  ad¬ 
ditional  $200,000  for  added  re¬ 
search  and  for  operations  of.  its 
Oyster  Bay,  L.  I.,  studios. 

The  new  agreement  ends  sev¬ 
eral  years  of  wrangling  among  the 
three  companies  involved  in  Cine¬ 
rama,  There  are  numerous  threats 
of  lawsuits  and  an  arbitration  pro¬ 
ceeding  was  held  before  the  new 
deal  was  finalized.  As  a  result  of 
the  .  new  harmony,  SW  has  indi¬ 
cated  that  it  will  implement  its 
plans  to  increase  the  number  of 
Cinerama  theatres  in  the  United 
States  and  abroad; 

SEEK  ANN  RUTHERFORD 
FOR  -MRS.  ANDY  HARDY’ 

Hollywood,  Jan.  21. 

The  classic  love  story  of  the  films 
a  generation  ago  was  the  adoles¬ 
cent  romance  between  Andy  Hardy 
and  Polly  Benedict.  Now,  Andy  has 
grown  tip  and  is  coming  back  to 
his  home  town  of  Carvel  in  a  film 
entitled  “Andy  Hardy  Grows  Up.” 

To  preserve'  the  nostalgic  Impact 
on  Veteran  filmgoers,  script  has 
Andy  Hardy  married  to  Polly 
Benedict.  And  since  Mickey  Rooney 
is  reprising  his  Hardy  rple,  Fryman 
Enterprises,  Which  will  make  the 
picture  for  Metro  release,  is  nego¬ 
tiating  for  Ann  Rutherford,  who 
played  Polly,  to  appear  as  Mrs. 
Hardy. 


Us  Down  TV  Syndicators  River; 


By  HAROLD  MYERS 

London,  Jan. "21. 

An  appeal  to  all  producers  and 
distributors  to  defer  the  sale  of 
feature  films  for  tv  until  the  mo¬ 
tion  picture  industry  has  worked 
out  an  acceptable  formula,  was  the 
culminating  factor  in  another  week 
of  intensive  activity  on  what  has 
become  one  of  the  hottest  contro¬ 
versies  in  recent  years.  It1  came  as 
a  sequel  Jo  a  meetftig  of  the  presi¬ 
dents  of  the  five  major  associa- 
tionsi  three  of  whom  rep  producing, 
interests  and  the  other  exhibs  and 
renters. 

The  controversy  was  brought 
into  the  open  when  George  Single¬ 
ton,  president  of  the  Cinemato¬ 
graph  Exhibitors  Assn.,  released 
the  text  of  a  letter  which  he  had 
sent  to  an  indie  British  producer, 
warning  that  exhibs  would  impose 
a  complete,  boycott  on  all  his  out¬ 
put  if  he  went  ahead  with  a  deal 
to  release  his  films  on  the  com¬ 
mercial  network.  The  producer 
was  not  named  in  the  CEA  prexy’s 
warning,  but  industry  insiders 
readily  identified  him  as  Major 
Daniel  Angel  who,  according  to 
reliable  reports,  has  been  negoti¬ 
ating,  a  package  deal  with  Associ¬ 
ated  Television., 

Angel  at  first  denied  he  was  the 
producer  concerned,  but  prior  to 
leaving  for  Hollywood  (to  lineup 
a  picture  he’s  making  for  20th-Fox) 
took  a  page  advertisement  in  one 
of  the  British  trades,  in  the.  form 
of  an  open  letter  to  all  exhibs.  In 
this,  he  indicated  his  willingness 
to  withhold  his  product  from  the 
airwaves  on  certain  conditions.  The 
producer’s  main  argument  was  to 
request  an  assurance  from  ABC-TV 
and.  Granada  TV  Network,,  both,  of 
whom  had  divided  loyalties  to  ex¬ 
hibition  and  tv,  not  to  screen  mo¬ 
tion  -pictures ,  on  their  respective 
outlets. 

Within  a  few  hours  of  the  pub¬ 
lication  of  the  advertisement,  Cecil 
G.  Bernstein,  deputy  chairman  of 
Granada,  assured  Angel  that  he 
would  get  his.  answer  soon.  He 
(Bernstein)  had  submitted  a  plan 
to  Jhe  industry  and,  if  accepted, 
(Continued  on  page  11) 


Gan  TV  Tie  This? 


Minneapolis,  Jan.  21. 
How’s  this  for  competition 

for  television? 

“Guys  and  Dolls”  (Metro) 
and.  “Oklahoma”  (20th)  on  a 
twin  bill  for  35c— both  pic¬ 
tures  oldies,  but  still  much, 
newer  than  anything  offered 
by  video  in  the  way  of  feature 
movies. 


■Los  Angeles,  Jan.  21. 

A  survey  of  top  national  grossers 
over,  the  past  .10  years,  just  .  com¬ 
pleted  by  National  Theatres,  -re¬ 
veals  that  only  one  picture,  “Anas¬ 
tasia,”  included  in  this  list  was 
released;  during  December,  Frank 
H,  Ricketson  Jr.,  NT’s  general  man¬ 
ager  in  charge  of  theatre  opera¬ 
tions,;  asserted  over  weekend. 

Past  records  were  studied  to 
back  his  contention  that  a  picture 
doesn’t  have  to  be  released  during 
the  holidays  to  become  a  top  money 
film,  exec  pointed  out.  Survey 
proves,  he  said,  that  “anytime  is 
a  good  time  to  release  a  picture.” 
Ricketsbn  is  conducting  a  campaign 
to  convince  producers  of  the  im¬ 
portance  of  properly,  spaced  ref- 
leases, 

“The  claim  that  December  Is  the 
favored  month  ,  for  big  annual 
grossers  evidently  was  incubated 
in  the  smog  because  it  faded  be¬ 
fore  the  first  clear  light  of  fact,” 
theatremen  reported. 

“It’s  necessary  to  go .  back’  10 
years  to  find  another  picture,  with 
(Continued;  on  page  26) 


National  Boxoffice  Survey 

Holdovers  Still  Stout;  ‘Sayonara’  No.  1,  ‘Peyton* 
Second,  ‘Days*  3d,  ‘Water’  4th,  ‘Raintree*  5th 


Many  key  cities  in.  current  stanza 
still  are  leaning  on  extended  run 
pictures  for  the  bulk  of  their 
strength,  exhibitors  preferring  to 
stay  With  big  grossers  launched 
during  the  year-end  holidays  rather 
than  chiance  some  of  the  new  prod¬ 
uct.  Very  cold  weather,  rain  and 
snow  were  obstacles  in  the  way  of 
rolling  up  as  much  trade  as  in  re¬ 
cent  weeks. 

‘•Sayonara”;  (WB),  first  -  last 
week,  again  is  No.  1,  Tolling|  up  a 
gross  of  $421,000  in  key  cities  cov¬ 
ered  by  variety  “Peyton  Place” 
(20th),  a  strong  second  last  session, 
again  is  winding  up  close  to 
“Sayonara;” 

“Around  World  in  80  Days” 
(UA)  again  is  finishing  third: 
“Don’t  Go  Near  Water"  (M-G)  is 
capturing  fourth:  position.  “Rain- 
tree  County,”  also  from  Metro,  will 
be  fifth,  same  as  last  week. 

“God  Created  Woman”  (Kings)- 
is  moving  up  to  sixth,  as  against 
runner-up  spot  a  week.  ago. 
“Seven  Wonders  of  World"  (Cine¬ 
rama)  again  is  taking  seventh 
money.  “Old  Yeller”  (BV)  is  finish¬ 
ing  eighth.  . 

“Search  For  ^Paradise”  (Cine¬ 
rama)  is- stronger  than,  last  stanza 
to.  cop  ninth  place,  while  “Tar¬ 
nished  Angels”  (U)  rounds  out  the 
top  10  best. 

“Enemy  Below’’  (20th)  ,  “10  Com¬ 
mandments”  (Par)  and  “Geryalse” 
are  the  runner-up  pix  this  session, 

“I  Was  Teenage  Frankenstein” 
(AI),  one  of  new  pictures,  looks 
fine  in  Boston  hut  lightweight  in 
L.  A.  “Rodan”  (DCA),  fairly  hew, 


is  fast  in  K.  C.  but  only  fair  in 
Denver.  “Bonjour  Tristesse”  (Col) 
is  rated  just  good  Opening  stanza 
in  N.  Y. 

“Razzia”  (Kass),  opening  in  sev¬ 
eral  keys  in  the  last  few  weeks, 
shapes  nice  in  Frisco  and  trim  in 
Bostom  It  just  finished  a  longnin 
in  N.  Y.  “Man  in  Shadow”  (U) 
looms  fine  in  Chi  and  okay  in  K.  C. 

“Paths  of  Glory”  (UA)  continues 
fancy  at  N.  Y.  Victoria.  “Wild.  Is 
Wind"  (Par),  tidy  in  L.  A,,  looms 
big  in  N.  Y.  Astor  and  fine  in  Chi. 

“My  Man  Godfrey”  (U),  okay  in 
Buffalo,  shapes  nice  in  Balto  and 
big  in  Toronto,  “Jamboree”  (WB) 
is  rated  great  in  Omaha.  “Cyclops” 
(AA)  looms  big.  In  Detroit. 

“Bayou”  (UA)  looks  fairish  in 
Chi.  Although  it  has:  finished  most 
of  its  bigger  playdates,  “Pal  Joey” 
(Col)  stiff  is  showing  up  in  scat: 
tered  keys.  It  is  okay  in  Balto,  fair 
in  Washington  and  nice  in  Philip. 

“Legend  of  Lost”  (UA),  good  in 
.Boston,  is  rated  okay  in  Chi.  “Fare- 
welLTo  Arms”  (20th),  due  at  N.  Y. 
Roxy  this  week,  looms  fine  in 
Frisco  and  okay  in  L.  A. 

( Complete  Boxoffice  Reports  on 
Pages  8-9 


ALBERT  FISHER'S  TITLE 

Albert  Fisher  has  been  named  as¬ 
sistant  treasurer  of  Loew’s  Interr 
national  Corp.  under  treasurer 
Henry  Krecke. 

For  many  years  Fisher  has  been 
working  on  tax  matters  for  Loew’s 
International  and  will  continue 
those  duties  in  addition  to  his  new 
assignment. 


+  Hollywood,  Jan.  21. 

Although  no  concrete  plans  were 
formulated,  a  historic  meetings  of 
reps  of  management,  talent  guilds 
and  exhibition  produced  a  new  at¬ 
mosphere  of  optimism  and  coopera¬ 
tion,  Samuel  G.  Engel,  Screen  Pro¬ 
ducers  Guild  prexy,  reported. 
Producers  had  called  the  unprece¬ 
dented  session  to  discuss  the  possi¬ 
bilities  of  halting  the  sale  of  post- 
1948  feature  films  to  television. 

Meeting  was  hampered  by  the 
lack  of  any  solid  legal  footing  on 
which  to  operate.  Among  the  pos¬ 
sibilities  discussed  was  having  the 
various  guilds  involve  demand  such 
high  percentages  for  residual 
rights  that  the  sale  to  tv  Would 
economically  unfeasible. 

Meeting  lasted  four  hours  and 
the  optimism  was  shaded  only  by 
the  openly  expressed  fear  of  “dis¬ 
aster”  for  the  industry  as  a  whole 
if  sales  to  video  syndicators  were 
not  curtailed.  Exchange  of  ideas 
proved  “very  helpful,”  Engel  re¬ 
ported,  and  all  concerned  ex¬ 
pressed  the  hope  that  “reason, 
judgment  and  sanity”  will  prevaff. 

Pointing  out  that  the  session 
marked  the  first  time  that  all 
branches  of  the  industry,  had  sat 
down  to  discuss  common  problems, 
Engel  declared  that  it  was  “hard 
to  say  what  greatness  might  have 
(Continued  on  page  11) 


or 


«/  . - - 9/ 

11  for  Foreign  Awards 

London,  Jan.  21. 

Eight  American  films  are  on  the 
short  list  of  16  1957  pix  from  which 
the  British  Film  Academy  will 
make  its  annual  award  for  the  best 
film  from  any  source.  Four  British 
films,  one  Indian,  one  French  and 
a  brace  that  have  Italian-French 
origin  make  up  the  contenders  for 
the  honor.  The  awards  will  be 
made  at  the  Odeon,  Leicester- 
square,  on  March  .  6,  when  Romu¬ 
lus'  “The  Silent  Enemy,"  starring 
Laurence  Harvey,  will  he  preemed. 

“The  Bachelor  Party  (UA),  “12 
Angry  Men”  (UA),  “Heaven 
Knows,  Mr.  Allison”  (20th),  “A 
Man  Is  10  Feet  Tall”  (M-Co), 
“Paths  of  Glory”  (UA),  “Tin  Star” 
(Par),  “That  Night”  (Indie)  and 
“3:10  to  YUma”  (Col)  are  the  U.S. 
entries  and  show  that  once  again 
the  Academy  is  benevolently  dis¬ 
posed,  towards.  films  of  ideas  rather 
than  lavish  spectacles.  “10  Feet” 
was  released  In  America  as  “Edge 
of  City.”  Main  U.K.  include  “Prince 
and  ShOw  Girl”  and  “Bridge  on 
River  Kwai,”  both  of  which  were 
released  in  the  U.S.  as  American 
vehicles. 

In  the  documentary  field,  “The 
U.S.A.  in  the  Thirties”  and  Can¬ 
ada’s.  “City  of  Gold”  face  opposl- 
^  (Continued  on  page  24) 


2,028  ACADEMICIANS 
PRIMED  FOR  OSCAR 

Hollywood,  Jan, '21. 

'  Membership  in  the  Academy  of 
Motion  Picture  Arts  and  Sciences 
has  hit  an  all-time  high  of  2,028, 
spurred  by  the  fact  that  this  year 
for  the  first  time  both  nominations 
and  final,  balloting  in  the  annual 
Academy  Awards  will  be  restricted 
to  Acad  membership.  Peak  was 
reached  with  a  total  of  258  mem¬ 
bers  accepted  In  December,  the 
biggest  single  month  in  the  "Acad¬ 
emy’s  history. 

No  new  members  may  now  be 
accepted  until  after  the  Oscar 
Derby. 

New  membership  was  broken 
down  as  follows;  film  editors,  37; 
cinematographers  and  public  rela¬ 
tions,  31:  each;  art .  directors,  22; 
directors  and  executives,  17  each; 
actors,  14;  sound,  10;  music,  nine; 
writers,  seven;  producers,  six;  short 
subjects,  three,  administrators,  two; 
and  associates,  52. 


4. 


nCTTJBES 


A  proxy  battle,  -seeking  ai  change 
in  the  management  of  Cinerama 
Productions  Corp.,  has  .  been 
launched  by  Perry  N.  Selheimer,  a 
director  of  the  corporation.  Sel¬ 
heimer,  president  of  the  First  Se¬ 
curities  Corp.  of  Philadelphia,  was 
scratched  from  the  slate  of  the 
board  Of  directors  by  the  manage¬ 
ment  for  reelection  at  the  com¬ 


pany’s  annual  meeting  on  Feb.  11. 

As  chairman  :of  a  recently 
formed  Stockholders.  Protective 
Committee,  which  is  said  to  repre¬ 
sent  1,000  shareholders  owning- 
170,000  shares,  Selheimer  in  his 
first  proxy  solicitation  charged  ^ 
that  "unless  some  drastic,  positive- 
action  is  taken  immediately,”  the 
investment  of  the  stockholders 
"may  be  Worthless  in  the  next  12 
months.”  According  to  Selheimer, 
it’s  his  opinion  that  if  "immediate 
action  is  taken”  the  company’s 
stock  could  have  a  value  of  be¬ 
tween  $5  and  $6. 

Selheimer  charges  that  the  affairs 
of  the  company  are  being  domi¬ 
nated  by  three  men  who  own  only 
a  total  of  300  shares.  His  targets 
are  Thedore  R.  Kupferman,  v.p.- 
secretary-director  listed  as  owning 
200  shares;  Irving  N.  Margolin, 
v.p.-treasurer-director .  owning  100 
^shares,  and  Ira  S.  Stevens,  as¬ 
sistant  treasurer-director  who  is 
not  listed  as  a  stockholder-  “It  is 
almost  impossible  to  believe,”  Sel¬ 
heimer  told  the  stockholders,  "that 
the  above  men  .  ,  .  have  so  little 
confidence  in  your  enterprise  that 


they  Own  only  a  total  of -300  shares 
of  its  stock— currently  worth  about 
$600,” 

Stanley  Payoff  Issue 

Selheimer’s  main  beef,  however, 
appears,  to  be  the  company’s  fail¬ 
ure  to  institute  a.  law  suit  against. 
Stanley  Warner  for  $10^20,000 
which  he  claims  is  due  Cinerama 
Productions  Corp,,  which  turned 
over  Cinerama  exhibition  and  pro¬ 
duction  rights  to  Stanley  in  return 
for  a  percentage  of  the  take.  Sel¬ 
heimer  claims  that  in.  the.  two 
years  he  has  been  director  he  has 
advocated  bringing  legal '  action: 
against  SW,  but  that  his  motion 
(Continued  on  page  22) 


Spain’s  Aim:  ldt 


Madrid,  Jan.  21. 

Minister  of  Information  Arias 
Solgado  has  declared  the  govern¬ 
ment’s  intention  in  1958  to  amelio¬ 
rate  quality  of  Spain’s  film  product 
and  increase  annual  output  (in¬ 
cluding  coproductions)  to  1(>0. 

A  new  blueprint  for  state  aid  to 
film  producers  *  being  studied 
both  by  the  Information  Ministry’s 
Direecion  General  de  Cine  and  the 
Spanish  Producers’  Assn,  that  will, 
base  hand-back  premiums  on  box- 
office  returns.  What  comes  as:  a 
surprise  is  the  relatively  sharp 
product .  boost  government  film 
hierarchy  now  contemplates. 

Some  observers  here  feel  sights 
are  being  pegged  too  high  follow¬ 
ing  17%  drop  in  film  production 
last  year  as  compared  with  1956. 
Unless  Spain  develops  an.  all-out 
coproduction  program  that  goes  be¬ 
yond  the  20-odd  ventures  Spain 
now  partners  with  Italian  pro¬ 
ducers,  to  include  France,  Germany 
and  several.  Latin  American  coun¬ 
tries,  it  is  felt  here  government 
goal  will  not  be  achieved. 

New  emphasis  on  quality  stems 
from  official  pique  with  producers 
who  failed  to  establish  quality 
standard  required  for  a  market 
footing  at  home  and  abroad,  in 
spite  of  liberal  state  aid  protection 
on  all  industry  levels.  Government 
is  also  reacting  to  discontent  voiced 
during  past  year  that  majority  of 
56  Spanish  films  -  screened  were 
below  average.  Poor  showing  at  in¬ 
ternational  film  fests  also  irked. 


N.  Y,  to  Europe 

Tony  Bennett 
Henry  Kbsfer 
Joseph  Matemati 
Anna  Neagle 
Dario  Soria 
Herbert  Wilcox 
John  H.  Zorek 


Par’s  ‘How’s  That  Again  V 
To  Sdznick  ‘New’  Pattern 


.  Some  sources  at  Paramount  ex¬ 
pressed  serious  surprise  this-  week 
with  the  way  David  O.  Selznick’s 
“Farewell  to  Arms”  has  been  hilled 
as  a  precedent-maker  insofar  as 
marketing  approach  is  concerned. 
The  20th-Fox  release,  has  been, 
playing  subsequent  situations  on  a 
multiple-run  basis  along  with  first- 1 
run  and  at  advanced  admission 
prices.,  •  .  ] 

Selzniek  personally  has  talked  up 
the  values  of  this  kind  of  market¬ 
ing,  noting  the  picture’s  more  ex¬ 
tended  availability  to  the  public 
and  the  sayings  accruing  from  the 
number  of  theatres  participating 
in  one  -ad  campaign. 

It  was  said  at  Par-  -hat  the 
“Arms”  outing  is  merely  a  varia¬ 
tion  on*  the  policy  long  in  effeqt 
for  “The  Ten  Commandments.” 
This  Cecil  B.  DeMille  production* 
it’s  pointed  out,  has  played  mul¬ 
tiple  ,  subsequent  run  at  upped 
scales  in  many  key.  cities  around 
the  country. 

Sale  of  “Anns”  is  a  switch  in 
that  sub-runs  played  day-and-date 
with  first  run,  whereas  '-Command¬ 
ments”  went  into  the  sub-runs  fol¬ 
lowing  windup  of  the  showcase  en¬ 
gagements. 


Hollywood,  Jan.  21.  ., 
Plans  for  a  public  offering  of  Hal 
Roach  Productions  stock  have  been 
called  off,  Hal  Roach  Jr.,  reported 
because  the  present  market  con¬ 
ditions  aren’t  encouraging  to  such 
a  stock  issue.  Agreement  with. 

D.  Fuller  &  Co.;  which  called 
for  a  375,000Tshare  offering  at  $3 
per  share,  has  been  terminated. 

Future  plans  to  float  a  stock  issne . 
will  depend  upon  general,  business 
considerations ;  and  following  de¬ 
velopments  of  discussions  With 
leading  New  York  brokers.  Roach 
emphasized,  however*  that  1958 
will  ‘Top  all  of  our  previous  efT 
forts”  since  it  looms  as  the  most 
successful  in  the  history  of  the. 
firm’s  tv  operation  and.  includes 
plans  for  features  for  the  first  time 
since  the  war.. 


M0V1ELAB  N.¥.  UPBEAT 
DESPITE  TREK  TOLA 

Despite  the  westward  trek  of  all 
kinds  of  fifin.  production.  New  York 
is  not  a  ghost  city  as  far  as  film 
processing  is  concerned.  The  east¬ 
ern.  labs  are  doing  peak  business. 
As  rin  example,  Movielab,  the  larg¬ 
est  of  the  unaffiliated  labs,  regis¬ 
tered  increases  in  practically  every 
category  of  film  work  last  year 
and  expects  an  additional  boost 
.during  1958. 

.  Movielab,  per  prexy  Saul  Jaffee, 
chalked  up  a  $500,000  rise  in  an¬ 
nual  volume  last  year,  with  tv  com¬ 
mercials,  international  telepix  and 
industrial  pictures  in  particular 
sparking  the  uptrend. 

During  1957,  Jaffee  said,  the 
company  spent  $2*000,000  in  ex¬ 
panding  .  its  processing  facilities  at 
its  Manhattan  building  and  in¬ 
creased  its  staff  by  40%  during  the 
past  year.  .  The  company’s  color 
processing  facilities,  designed  by 
its  own  engineers  in  cooperation 
with  Eastman  Kodak,  played  an 
Important  role  in  the  company’s, 
activity.  Movielab  currently  has' 
a  capacity  of  over  1,100,000  feet  of 
film  per  day. 

In  addition  to  its  processing  fa¬ 
cilities,  the  company  has  a  private 
projection  theatre  and  65  film  edit¬ 
ing  and  storage  rooms. 


Europe  to  N.  Y. 

Siren  Adjemora 
Brenda  De  Banzie 
Joyce  Grenfel 
Henry  Haftel 
France  Nuyen 
Sir  Laurence  Olivier 
Spyros  P.  Skouras 


PSitiBff 


BIG  METRO  PRODUCT 
SCHEDULE  READYING 

Loew’s-Metro  president  Joseph 
*R.  Vogel;  this  r week  was  reported 
readying  disclosure  of  a  40-feature 
production  program,  ranging  in 
scope  and.  budget  from  program 
fare  to  the  king-sized  “Ben  Hur.” 
Announcement  is  intended  to  con¬ 
vey  that  despite  corporate  uncer- 
tainties  of  the  past,  the  company’s 
future  film-making  activity  is  to  be 
stepped  up. 

New  slate,  it’s  anticipated,  will 
include  nixie  pictures  from  Albert 
Zugsinith,  five  from  Aaron  Rosen¬ 
berg,  four  to  five  from  Joseph  Pas¬ 
ternak  and  three,  Including  “Ben 
Hur,”  from  Sam  Zimbalist. 

Among  411  Oscar 
F3ms  31%  Alien 

Hollywood,  Jan.  21. 

Foreign-lensed  features  account 
for  approximately  31%  of  the  411 
films  eligible  for  competition  in 
the  30th  annual  Academy  Awards, 
Academy  prexy  George  Seaton  dis¬ 
eased;  A  total  of  126  were  lensed 
overseas,  »49  of  them  either  pror 
duced  or  distributed  by  American 
films. 

.  Of  the  total,  55.  were  shot  in 
England;  18  in  France;  16  ih  Italy; 
eight  in  Japan;  five  in  Mexico  and 
four  in  Germany.  Also  list  in¬ 
cludes,  films  made  in  Cuba,  Africa, 
Asia,  Philippines,  Burma,  Austria, 
Libya,  Canada,  Ireland,  Greece, 
Sweden*  Australia,  and  the  Carib¬ 
bean.. 

Seaton  reported  that  33  of  the 
films  made  abroad  originally  were 
turned  out  in  a  language  other 
than  English.:  These,,  along  with 
foreign  language  films  not  shown 
in  L.  A.,  could  be  eligible  for  com¬ 
petition  in  Academy’s  Foreign 
Language  Film  Award,  In  latter 
category.  Academy  rules  '  require 
that  entries*  one  submitted  by 
each  country;  must:  have  been  re¬ 
leased  and  shown  for  profit  during 
1957,  in  a  commercial  theatre  but 
riot  necessarily  in  U.  $.  Each  must . 
be  chosen  by  a  group  of  film-mak¬ 
ers  comparable  to  Academy,  In 
country  of  origin. 

Arbitration  Arrives  As 
Usual  at  Postponement. 

Negotiations  on  what  has  been 
for  years  the  industry’s  most.  elu-: 
sive  goal— an  all-industry  arbitra¬ 
tion  system— adjourned  again  last 
week  for  the  Umpteenth  time. 

No  date  has  been  set .  as  yet  for 
reconvening:  the  talks.  However, 
there  are  indications  that  a  new 
meeting  date  ,  will  be  set  shortly 
an  d  there  is  hope  that  .  an  agree¬ 
ment  will  finally  be  reached. 


L.  A,  to  N.  Y. 

Lynn  Bari 
William  E,  Buckley 
John  Cassavetes 
Lew  Ghudd 
Ann  Corio 
John  C,  Flirin 
Jack  Forrester 
.  Anthony  Franclpsa 
James  Garner 
David  Golding 
Deborah  Kerr 
Charles  Laughton 
Rouben  Mamoulian 
Martin.  Manulis 
William  T.  Grr 
Milton  R.  Rackmil 
Virginia  f*ale 

N.  Y.  to  L.  A. 

Kermit  Bloomgarden 
Marc  Braudel 
Ned  Clarke 
Morton  DaCosta 
Summer  Locke  Elliott 
Irving  Ludwig 
Arnold  Marin 
Leo  F,  Samuels 
Mickey  .Scopp 
Ed  Slattery 
Barnard  Straus 


:  Charlie  Albert,  who  built  the  San 
Pedro  Outdoor  Theatre  and  oper¬ 
ated  it  until  1953,  is  back  as  man¬ 
ager  of  the  San  Antonio  ozoner 
here,  replacing  Joe  Wolfe.  , 


Tcdtetftdayyjnmrary  ^2,  1958 


i :  New  York  Sound  Track 

«  »•  4 

♦  tit  H  M  4  M  *  ♦  ♦  ♦  ♦  »  ♦♦♦♦♦  +  MM  I  ♦♦♦  4  + 

Romy  Schneider,  19-year-old  German  star  currently  in  N.Y.  to  do 
p.r.s.  for  her  Disney  release,  “Story  of  Vickie”  and  to  be  iritroed.  to  the 
press,  heads  for  the  Coast  Sunday.  She  used  to ;  be  under  contract  to 
Herzog  in  Germany,  but  now  is  freelancing.  If  she  does  on  American 
film,  “it’ll  have  to  be  in  a  serious  part,  with  a  good  script,  good  director 
and  a  good  partner,”  she  says.  A  project  on  Miss  Schneider’s  current, 
sked  is  a  new  version  of  Schnitrier’s  “Liebelei,”  in  which  her  mother, 
Magda,  starred  in  the  original  Max  Ophuls  version  .  ,  .  Dina  Merrill! 
signed  to  appear  in  a  20th-Fox  picture,  is  Identified  as  a  “socialite  ac¬ 
tress.”  ...  .  Those  big  pauses  between  subtitles  in  the  Swedish  “Smiles 
of  a  Summer  Night”  at  the  Sutton  Theatre  are  attributed  by  the  Rank 
Organization  to  interference  by  U.S.  Customs.  That’d  be  the  first  time 
Customs  have  snipped  titles  Without  cutting  the  picture.  Arid  how’s 
that  done? 

Spyros  P.  Skouras,  20th-Fox  prexy,  returns  today  from  Europe  . 
Raoul  Levy,  French  producer,  has  left  Gotham  for  Mexico  after  having 
“words”  with  Columbia  for  which  he  is  to  deliver  two  more,  pictures; 
He  and  Ray  Ventura  made  “God  Created  Woman."  Doesn’t  Levy  have 
a  fat  Warner  Bros,  offer  in  his  pocket?  .  ...  20th-Fox  International 
wound  up  its  1957  foreign  drive  with  $54,000,000,  i.e.  a.  little  above 
1956  ...  All  of  the  “Farewell  to  Arms’*  principals  are  expected  to 
attend  the  Boxy  preem  Friday  .  -.  Budd  Sehulberg  may  turn  “The 

Disenchanted”  into  a  film  after  the  legit  version  .  .  .  The  Walter.  Reade. 
circuit  staff  throwing  a  farewell  party  for  A1  Floersheimer  tomorrow 
night  He’s  joining  Theatre  Owners  of  America  as  the  new  p.r.  director 
.  .  .  MPEA  exec  Stephen  Beers  is  the  brother  of  Robert  Beers,  head  of 
the  State  Dept.’s  International  Media  Guarantee  program.  Latter  hud¬ 
dled  with  the  MPEA  board  last  week  on  the  Polish  situation  .  .  Air 

France  has  begun  shewing  films  on  some  of  its  planes  .  .  20th  is  on 

the  verge  of  buying  a  western.  Company’s  $35,000  purchase  of  a  tv 
script  last  week  included  the  screenplay.  ' 

From  a  Janus  Films  (Cy  Harvey-Bryant  Holiday)  gag  sheet  that  went 
out  to  the  trade  last  week:  Under  “Big  Janus  Giveaway”  it:  says— 

**  “Send  for  our  little  jiffy  exhibitionist  kit  It  contains  a  rusty 

razor,  a  package  of  geiucel  fingerprint  set ,  special  FBI-recom¬ 
mended' duplicate  bcokeeping  system,  booklet  entitled  ‘Bankruptcy 

Can  Be  . Fun-  and  the  usher’s  special  ( flashlight  cunningly  enclosed 

in  a  blackjack ) .  This  kit  is  sent  to  you  absolutely  free  if  you  send 

in  a  Janus  Film  label  and  the  scalp  from  the  local  censor/’ 

Metro’s  homeoffice  pubrad  department  will  shift  from  the  third  to. 
the  tenth  floor  in  the  Loew’s  State  building.  The  record  and  music 
companies  will  take  over  the  second  and  third  floors  while  the  tv  de¬ 
partment  will:  be  stationed  on  the  eighth  .  .  .  400  junior  and  high  school . 
editors  showed  up  last  week  in  the  main  floor  reception  room  of  trie 
LoeW’s  State  building  to  interview  Otto  Preminger  and  Jean  Seberg; 
All  editors  who  produce  proof  of  publication  will  be  sent  guest  tick¬ 
ets  for  “Bon jour  Tristesse.”  F.  T.  Murray,  manager  of  branch  op¬ 
erations  for  Universal  for  the  past  20  years,  retired  last  week.  He  was 
succeeded  by  G.  J.  Malafronte,  who  has  been  with  the  company  for  30 
years  ...  William  Inge  and  Elia  Kazan,  who  collaborated  on  the  Broad¬ 
way  hit,  ‘The  Dark  at  the  Top  of  the  Stairs,”  of  which  Inge  is  the  au- 
tiibr  and  Kazan  director  and  corproducer,  will  continue  their  asso¬ 
ciation  on  an  upcoming  film  project.  Inge  will  write  his  first  Original 
screenplay,  as  yet  untitled,  which  will  be  directed  and  produced .  by 
Kazan. 

The  recent  .maneuvering:  for  position  in  one  Loew’s  department  was 
right  out  of  the  coiripany’s  own  “Executive  Suite.*’  .  .  .  Ruby  Dee  back 
from  England  after  finishing  her  featured  role  in  Countryman  Films’ 
“Our  Virgin  Island.”  .  .  .  “Ariria  Lucasta,”  starring  Sariimy  Daivis  Jr. 
and  Eartha  Kitt,  begins  filming  late  in  April.;  Film,  based  on  Philip  Yorr 
dan’s  Broadway  play,  will  have  a  screenplay  by  Yordan  and  will  be  di¬ 
rected  by  Anthany  Mann  .  .  .  Hume  Cronyn  arid  Jessica  Tandy  sold 
most  of  their  art  riollectiori  at  the  Park-Beruet  Galleries  last  week.  It 
included  Picassos,  Rouaults,  Rerioirs  and  Modiglianis  . ..  .  Loew’s  Thea¬ 
tres  iwexy  Leopold  friednan  back  from  the  Coast  and  a  visit  to  Loew’ 
cities  en  route  ,  .  .  John  Steinbeck  gathering  material  for  a  picture  in 
Nassau... 

Actor  John  Griggs,  whose,  collection,  of  old  movies  at  his  home  in 
Englewood,  N.J.,  is  trade  famous,  is  now  writiiig  a  novel,  about  the  ac¬ 
tor  in  today’s  commercial  entertainment  dodges  .  .  After  Bosley  Crpw- 
Gier’s  roast  of  Otto  Preminger's  new  release,  a  Broadway  wag  suggest¬ 
ed  it  be  retitled V’Bomhjour  Tristesse” . . .  Heuxy  B.  WalthaU's  daughter 
(non-pro)  long  resident  in  Buenos  AireS,  will  soon  move  back  to  U.S. 

“Tbere  is  no  logibal  reason  why  television;  should  drive  motion  pic¬ 
tures  Out  of  existence.  Films  do  not  stand  in  relation  to  television  as 
the  stage  coach  to  the  locorriotive;  indeed  in  same  respects  the  boot  is 
On  the  other  foot.  Films,  have  much  to  offer  that  television  cannot,  but 
they  do  not  offer  enough  of  it.”  Those  are  the  words  of  British  pro¬ 
ducer  Sidney  Gilliat,  published  in  the /betters  to  the  Editor”  sec¬ 
tion  of  the  Daily  Telegraph  in  London.  Gilliat  Wrote  that  a  system  of 
restriction  of  tv  airings  of  pictures  was  urgently  needed  and  “could 
almost  certainly  have  been  reached  a  couple  of  years  ago  if  the  ex¬ 
hibitors’  associations  bad  shown  a  spark  of  imagiriatiori.  “Instead,”  he 
added,  “they  preferred  to  talk  of  boycotts  and  penal  bans  on  producers; 
and  indeed  some  of  them  are  still  doing  so.” 

;  Allied  States  will  refrain  from  any  financial  backing  of  an  industry 
institutional  campaign  that  includes  within  its  scope  the  bankrolling  of 
the  Academy  Awards  television  program.  •  Stating  this  in  New  York 
last  week,  Julius  Gordon,  president  of  the  exhibitor  organization,  indi¬ 
cated  he  felt  it  was  up  to  the  film  companies  on  their  own  to  sponsor 
the  tv’er  .  ,  .  White  collar  workers  at  the  New  York  offices  of  the  film 
producing  and  distributing  companies  are  threatening  a  strike  as  a  re¬ 
sult  of  a  breakoff  in  negotiations  of  a  new  contract.  Local  H-63,  which 
is  a  unit  of  the  IATSE,  claims  the  companies  have  withdrawn  their  of¬ 
fer  of  a  5%  wage  hike  and  as  a  result  an  application  is  being  made  to 
the  parent  union  for  approval  of  the  strike  action.  White  collarites  also 
are  rapping  the  employers' for  widesqale  in  the  recent  past. 

William  H.  Mayhery  in  from  the  Coast  to  cast  “Porgy  and  Bess”  for 
Samuel  Goldwyri,  Sidney  P.oitier  arid  Dorothy  Daudridge  so  far  are  the 
only  ones  set  for  roles  .  .  .  Lynn  Farnol  disassociated  from  Cinerama 
after  more  than  four  years,  the  C’rama  pictures  being  taken,  over  pub- 
Ihrity-wise  by  Stanley  Warner’s  Harry  Goldberg  .  .  „  “Raintree  County” 
business  a  happy  surprise  a  Metro  execs.  Epic’s  not  likely  to  come  ..out 
on  top  but  still  won’t  mean  such  a  big  loss  as  feared  earlier  .  .  .  Bob 
[  Montgomery  switched  from  t  beParamoimt  publicity  department  to  a 
v.p.-sbip  at  Endorsements  Inc.,  service  outfit  which  handles  testimo¬ 
nials  £ or  ad  agencies. 

Production  Code  doesn’t  straitjacket  motion  pictures,  director  Mark 
Hobson  told  the  Authors  Club  in  Hollywood  last  week,  but  actually 
serves  as  a  challenge  to  “improve  an  original  best-seller”  which  may 
have  certain  elements  of  controversy,  Robson,  who  directed  “Peyton 
Place,”  said  that  neither  he,  nor  producer  Jeny  Wald  nor  scripter  John 
Michael  Hayes  ever  felt  hobbled  by  Code  requirements  in  fashioning 
the  film  version  of  the  best  seller  and  pointed  blit  that  the  question¬ 
able  elements  of  the  book  had  been  successfully  eliminated  without 
impairing  the  story  line  for  films. 

Bantam  Books  has  bought  Max  Shuknan’s  "Rally  Round  the  Flag, 
Boys”  for  probable  release  soft  cover  this  year  about  the  time  the  flick 
hits  first-run  theatres  ,  The  .  French,  “A  Condemned  Man  Escapes,” 
will  be  dubbed.  It  disappointed  in  the  original  version  ,  ,  .  Sigmund 
I  (Continued  on  page  18) 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


PICTURES 


..  .  New  Haven. 

Editor,  Variety;:  . 

The  forward  thinking  management  of  20th  Century-Fox  is  to  be 
congratulated  on  the  announcement  of  “Century  City."  This  $400 ,- 
000,000  development  to  occupy  176  of  the  studios’  284  acres  even 
provides  for  concealed  oil  drilling. 

2°^  will  build  a  complete  city  of  20,000  residents  and  another 
20,000  man  work  force.  There  will  be  30  story  buildings,  a  1, 000- 
room  hotel,  ,  a  4,000-seat  auditorium,  stores  and :  businesses  of  all 

kinds,  according  to  the  press  announcements. 

Such  diversification  as  this  is  the  latest  example  of  up  to  minute 
thinking  in  the  top  leadership  of  The  Industry. 

It  has  been  a  week  since  the  news  was  announced.  The  favorable 
comments  have  been  universal.  I  have  waited  in  vai  for  anybody 
to  ask  the  question  that  came  to  my  mind.  As  ah  exhibitor,  I  Would 
like  to  inquire  wistfully  why  .no  mention  has  been  made  .of  provi¬ 
sion  for  even  one  measly,  small  motion  picture  theatre  in  this  co¬ 
lossal  project? 

Robert  C.  Spodick; 

Nutmeg.  Theatre  Circuit 

New  Haven  Westport 

_ ,  Norwalk  Bridgeport 


Charleston,  W.  Va.’s  Mighty  Mayor 

Only  Threatens  and  Exhibs  Cow— Films  Frightened 
Off  Screen  Because  of  Ad  Copy 


Charleston,  W.  Va.,  Jan.  21 

State  Art  Theatre  here  last  week 
caricelled  remainder  of  the  sched¬ 
uled  run  of  its  twin  bill  of  “Lady 
Chatterley’s  Lover”  (Kingsley)  and 
“Fire  Under  Her  Skin”  rather  than 
face  the  ire  of  Mayor  John  T. 
Copenhaver. 

The.  mayor,  who  frequently  uses 
blunt  methods  where  he  thinks 
Charleston's  morals  are  concerned, 
said  he  had  nof  seen  the  pictures 
blit  objected  to  the  advertising.  Tag 
lines  COpenhaver  singled  out  were 
"the  film  without  false  modesty ” 
and  “so  unashamedly  intimate  it 
ignites  the  screen." 

Copenhaver  ordered  Lt.  Delbert 
Stover,  of  the  detective  bureau  to 
attend  the  show  and  seize  the  films 
if  he  (the  dick)  considered  them 
detrimental  to  public  morals.  When 
management  learned  of  this,  it 
promptly  announced  the  engage¬ 
ment  would  be  suspended.  Manager 
Danny  McNatt  .  offered  to  hold  a 
special  screening  for  Mayor  Copen¬ 
haver  but  he  declined. 

=■  Greenbrier  Thetare  in  Charles¬ 
ton  went  out  of  business  sometime 
ago  after  a  hassle  with  the  mayor 
over  the  caliber  of  its  film  enter¬ 
tainment.  . 


Publicists'  N.  Y.  Union 
Beeping  As  M-G  Rates 
Staffers  as  ‘General’ 

Screen  Publicists  Guild  in  New 
York  is  doing  a  burn  this  week 
oyer  a  reclassification  of  ad-pub 
staffers  remaining  on  the  payroll  at 
Metro.  Instead  of  being  specifi¬ 
cally  assigned  to  one  facet  of  pro¬ 
motional  work,  such  as  radio-tv, 
newspapers,  magazines  and  the 
like,  the  employees  continuing  at 
M-G  are  now  working  on  a  general 
assignment  basis. 

This  means  a  publicist  can  be 
shifted  from  one  field  to  another 
on  an  on-and-off  basis.  Union  is 
against  this  on  the  grounds  that  it 
militates  against  job  security?.  For 
example,  removal  of  a  syndicate 
contact  is  permissible  so  long  as 
economic  necessity  is  established 
by  management  However,  claims 
SPG,  to  have  the  syndicate  post 
handled  in  part  by.  another  em¬ 
ployee  means  “overloading”  the 
latter. 

While,  resentful  of  the  M-G 
change  in  operation,  SPG  hasn’t 
(Continued  on  page  26) 


New  Bedford  Grade  'Em 

New  Bedford,  Mass.,  Jan.  21. 

Pictures  are  being  rated  by  the 
Better  Films  Council  of  Greater 
New  Bedford,  with  each  current 
attraction  getting,  a  letter  listing 
and  published  in  local  newspapers. 

The  ratings  are:  C;  suitable  for 
children  8  to  12;  YP,  suitable  for 
yofing  people  12  to  16;  MYP,  suit¬ 
able  for  maturer  young  people  16 
to  18;  A,  Adults. 


Inspector-General  Calls 

Alex  HarrisoR,  general  sales 
manager  of  20th-Fox,  left 
Monday-  (20)  for  the  first  leg 
of  a  tour  that  will  take  him 
to  every  20th  exchange  in  the 
country. 

Harrison  first  headed  for  St. 
Louis,  from,  there,  will  cover 
the  Southern  exchanges  and 
then  go  west.  On  the  way 
back  he  also  may  take  in  Des 
\  Moines  and  Omaha.  .. 

He’ll  be  gone  about  four 
weeks  and.  ,  will  finish  the 
coverage  via  shorter  trips 
from  New  York. 


Rome,  Jan.  21.  ? 

One  of  the  biggest  court  cases 
in  an  already  suit-happy  Italian 
film  industry  is  promised  via  the 
just-filed  petition  for  $300,000  in 
damages  against  producer  Angelo 
Rizioli.  Claimant  is  Gina  Lollo- 
brigida,  and  the  date,  set  for  .  the 
first  hearing  on  the  involved  case 
is  Feb.  5. 

Cause  of  the  whole  action  Is  a 
planned  production  by  R  i  zz  oil 
Films,  “imperial  Venus,”  which 
was  to  star.  Miss  Loilobrigida  in  a 
spectacular  version  of  the  life  of 
Paolina  Bonaparte.  According  to 
the  stair’s  argument,  Rizzoli  had. 
signed  Miss.  Loilobrigida  with  the 
understanding  that  the  pic  would 
be  made  on  a  high  budget,  on  an 
international  basis,  and  that  she 
would  get  as  co-stars  actors  of  the 
calibre  of  Montgomery  Clift  or 
Paul  Newman.  • 

In  her  charges,  the  .  actress 
claims,  that  Rizzoli  failed  to  stick 
to  the  various  agreements  in  the 
original,  pact  for  “Imperial  Venus,”: 
had  delayed  start  of  the  produc¬ 
tions,  r e du ced  Its  scope  (and 
Switched  from  color  to  b&W),  and 
asked  her-  to  approve  a  set  of 
co-stars  .  below  the,  international 
calibre  previously  agreed  upon. 

In  a  Very  long  and  .  detailed 
counter-reply  Rizzoli  (also  One  of 
Italy’s  biggest  publishers)  summed 
up  his  defense  against  Miss  Lollo- 
(Continued  on  page  27) 


The  Homeoffice  Employees 
Union,  Local  H-63,  International 
Alliance  Of  Theatrical  Stage  .Em¬ 
ployees,  representing  white  col- 
tarites  of  the  film  companies,  has 
petitioned  IA  chief  Richard  F? 
Walsh  for  permission  to  call  a 
strike.  ,  The  demand  for  strike 
action  follows  the  failure  to  nego¬ 
tiate  a  new  contract  with  the  film; 
companies,  in  the  east 
The  union,  in  a  bitter  mood 
over  the  inability  to  obtain  a 
wage  hike  for  its  members. 
Charged  the  film  companies  with 
attempting,  to  bring  doivn  the. 
standard  of  living. 

At.  the  beginning  of  the  negoti¬ 
ations,  .  the  union  said  it  received 
an  official  offer  of  8%  from  one 
company  when  talks  were  on  an  in¬ 
dividual  company  basis.  The  com¬ 
pany  which  made  the  offer  is  be¬ 
lieved  to  be  United  Artists.  Ac¬ 
cording  to  the  uriibn,  as  soon  as 
negotiations  entered  an  industry¬ 
wide  phase,  the  offer  Was  with¬ 
drawn,  “presumably  after  pres¬ 
sure.”  Following  months  of 
Wrangling,  the  union  received  an 
offer  of  5%  on  an  industry  basis. 
However/  this  offer  was  shortly 
withdrawn,  an  action  which  Local 
H-63  termed  the  “greatest  welsh 
of  the.  year.’’ 

Bankers  As  Heavies 
The  union  intimates  that  the 
withdrawal  of  the  wage  hike  may 
be  due  to  the  influence  of.  the, 
bankers  "who  have  recently  infil¬ 
trated  the  industry"  and  Who  may 
now  be  calling  the  shots. 

With  more  and  more  white  col- 
larites  being  pinkslipped  every 
week,  the  uhion.  feels  that  the 
economy .  drive  is  .  getting  out  of 
hand  and  that  the  “panic  button” 
is  being  pushed  without  cause  in 
light  of  ’the  profits  chalked  up  by 
most  of:  the  companies  during  the 
past  year.  * 

Union  is  particularly  bitter 
oyer  the  dismissal  of  employees 
with  -  25  to  36  years  of  service. 
“Executives  have  left  with  but  a 
fraction  of  that  length  of  service 
with  fat  contract  settlements  run¬ 
ning  well  into,  six  figures,”  the 
union  Charged,  “but  the  poor  of¬ 
fice  employee  gets  a  minimum  of 
severance'”  Office  employees  re- : 
ceive  one  week  pay  for  every  year 
of  service  with  a  maximum  of  11  i 
weeks.  “Does  this  laying  off  of 
clerks  and  typists,”  the  union  asks, 
“make  up  for  these  settlements 
(with  the  executives)  or  is  this) 
Window  dressing  for  the.  public 
arid  stockholders?”-  .! 

As  part  of  its  campaign  agahist 
the  film  Companies,  Local  H-63> 
has  been  distributing,  leaflets  in’ 
front  of  eight  Broadway  houses.- 
(Continued  on  page  26) 

SCRIPT  SUPERVISORS 
BECOME  871,  IATSE 

Hollywood,  Jan.  21. 
The  Script  Supervisors,  Local 
871,  IATSE,  formally  came  into  be/ 
ing  last  night  (Mon.)  when  the  old 
Script  Supervisors  Guild  received] 
its  new  IA  charter  with  prexy 
Richard  F.  Walsh  making  the  pre¬ 
sentation.  Guild  was  formed  in 
1937  and  voted  to  affiliate  with  the 
IA:  last  May. 

Officers  of  the  new  local  include 
Meta  Rebner,  prexy;  George  Rut¬ 
ter,  Dorothy  Yutzi,  veepees;  Mar¬ 
shall  Wolins,  secretary;  Kay. 
Thackery,  treasurer;  T  h  e  1  m  a 
Preece,  biz  rep. 


These  Things  Count 

Hollywood,  Jan.  21. 

Four  little  letters  make  the 
difference  between  a  cheap 
title  and  a  prestige  nairie,  ac¬ 
cording  to  Marcello  Girosi,  co- 
producer  with  Carlo  Poriti  of 
“Black  Orchids”  at  Paramount. 

Film  originally  Was  called 
“The  Black  Orchid.”  Elimina¬ 
tion  of  “the”  and  making  “or¬ 
chid”  plural,  Girosi  feels,  al¬ 
tered  the  title  enough  so  that 
it  wouldn’t  be  reminiscent  of 
the;  “Black  Dahlia"  murder 
case. 


Awaits  Judges 

Albany,  Jan.  21. 

Court  of  Appeals  has-' reserved 
decision  in  the  disputed  film,  “Lady 
Chatterley’s  Lover/’  '.They  viewed 
the  feature  on.  Albany’s  Film  Row, 
then  questioned  attorneys  Charles 
A.  Bririd  and  Ephraim  London 
qpite  closely.  State  censors  are  ap¬ 
pealing  lower  court  invalidation  of 
the  State  refusal  to.  licerise  the 
story  of  the  English  gal  from  the 
manor  who  fell  in  love  with  a 
workingman  employed  by  her  war- 
impotent  lordly  husband. 

The  next  decision  date--after 
the  January  term— is  Feb.  26;  the 
first  in  March,  also  the  26th. 

The  Court  of  Appeals  reached  a 
milestone  last  July  '••3,  when  in  a. 
4-3 .  finding— with  two  concurring 
affirmative  opinions  and  one  con¬ 
curring  dissent . . .  by  Chief  Judge 
Albert  Conway — it  ruled  in'  “The 
Garden  of  Eden,”  that  the  only 
grourid  for  pre-censorship— under 
U.S.  Supreme  Court  determina¬ 
tions  starting  with  “The  Miracle” 
is  obscenity,  as  that  term  is  “nar¬ 
rowly  defined”  in  modern  judicial 
decisions. 

The  split  in  the  court  on  the 
question  of  prior  restraint  was  un¬ 
usually  sharp,  the  various  opinions 
running  to  a  total  of  30  pages. 

Observers  wondered  whether 
the  division  would  continue  on 
’Lady  Chatterley’s  Lover.” 


WARNER’S  ECONOMY 
STENOGRAPHY  POOL 

A  number  of  Warner  Bros, 
homeoffice  executives  may  soon 
find  themselves  Without  personal 
secretaries.  The  company  is  re¬ 
ported,  to  be  planning  to  set  up  a 
secretarial  pool  from  which  execs 
will  obtain  stenographers  and 
typists. 

The  new  system,  its'  said,  will! 
result  from  WB’s  drastic  economy 
wave.  It’s  believed  WB  Will  pink- 
slip  an  additional  20  homeoffice 
white  collarites  next  week.  In  ad¬ 
dition,  WB  in  recent  weeks  has 
made  substantial  staff  reductions 
in  its  exchanges  throughout  the 
country.  Some  80  employees  are 
said  to  have  been  sliced  from  the 
exchanges. 


'Job  Definition’ 


r  By  HY  HOLLINGEK 

Industry-wide  pruning  of  pub-ad 
staffs,  both  in  New  York  and  on 
the  Coast,  may  mark  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  the  end  of  the.  so-called 
publicity  specialists.  Heretofore 
the  major  film  companies  em¬ 
ployed  a  ballyhooligan  for  each  of 
various  publicity  functions— news¬ 
paper  contact, .  trade  paper  con¬ 
tact,  radio-tv  con' act,  magazine 
-contact,  etc.  Indications  are  now 
that  each  publicist  will  have  to  be 
more  versatile  and  will  be  called 
upon  to  perform  a  multitude  of 
functions  in  connection  with 
the.  exploitation  of  a  particular 
picture. 

Metro,  which  Igst  week  cut  Its 
publicity  staff  to  the  bone,  will 
probably  be  the  first  company  to 
inaugurate  the  new  policy.  In¬ 
stead  of  performing  separate  and 
specialized  activities  on  .  a  group  of 
pictures,  one  or  more  staffers  will 
be  assigned  a  specific  film  and  will 
be  asked  to  perform  each  and 
every  promotional  function  in  con¬ 
nection  with  fully  publicizing  the 
picture.  How  this  new  system  will 
be  accepted  by  the  unions  repre¬ 
senting  publicists  has,  as  yet,  not 
been  determined,  but  there  are  in¬ 
dications.  that  the  labor  organiza¬ 
tions  will  oppose  it  since  present 
contracts  with  the  film  companies 
spell  out  specified  job  functions. 

Since  the  film  companies  havt 
cut  down  Considerably  on  their 
over-all  annual  output,  a  number 
of  pub-ad  chieftains  have  long  felt 
that  the  old  system,  geared  foi 
(Continued  on  page  27) 


After  March  1st,  1958 


Newsstands 


Subscription 


Per  Copy 


Per  Year 


See  Details  Page  51 


United  Artists  Circnit 
Servicing,  So  Skoaras 
Theatres  fire  Employes 

Consolidation  of  “certain  func¬ 
tions”  within  the  United  Artists 
theatre  group  is  going  on.  and 
Skouras  Theatres  on  Jan.  31  is  let¬ 
ting  out  “a  lot  of  people,”  Spyros 
Skouras  Jr.,  prexy  of  the  Skouras 
chain,  said  in  New  York  last  week. 

He  stressed,  however,  that  there 
was  no  “merger"  and  that  each  cir¬ 
cuit  within  the  group  would  retai 
its  identification.  Just  how  far  the 
“consolidation”  *  move  would  go 
hadn’t  as  yet  been  determined, 
Skouras  said,  adding  that  plans 
were  “still  fluid.” 

He  said  that  the  current  activity, 
aimed  at  effecting  economies,  was 
in  line  with  the  “integration”  pro¬ 
cedure  undertaken  some  time  ago 
with  the  Rawley  circuit  in  Texas 
and,  to  an  extent,  with  the  Rand- 
force  circuit  in  New  York. 

What  it  presumably  adds  up  to  Is 
that  overlapping  functions  and  per¬ 
sonnel  are  being  eliminated,  with 
accounting,  insurance,  legal  de¬ 
partments  and  others  being  con¬ 
centrated  in  New  York.  Centraliza¬ 
tion  takes  in  buying  arid  booking. 
“All  we  really  need  is  a  handful.pl 
people,”  Skoiuras  said.  Among  thi 
circuits  in  the  UA  combine  arc 
Metropolitan:  Playhouses,  Rand- 
forCe,  United  Theatres  of  Texas, 
United  of  California,  etc. 


Albany  film  Row  Jittery 

Albany,  Jan.  21. 

A  wave  of  apprehension  swept 
over  front-office  workers  on  Al- 
bany’js  Film  Row,  when  Warners 
eliminated  a  biller’s  position  and 
assigned  the  work  to  other  staffers. 
It  was  feared  that  several  Other  ex¬ 
changes  might  take  a  similar  step. 

With  the  cutbacks  of  the.  past 
20  months— two  branch  offices.  Re¬ 
public’s  and  RKO’s  were  closed — 
and  with  Reports  of  home-office 
budget  trimming,  a  feeling  of  un¬ 
certainty  prevails  among  some  or 
many  local  film  workers. 

There;  had  been  reports  WB 
might  cut  its  Albany  payroll  dras¬ 
tically,  as  qf  Jan.  1.  Evelyn  Mal¬ 
lory,  former  treasurer  of  F-43  lo¬ 
cal,  drew  severance  pay,  after  four 
years  as  biller. 


REVIEWS 


The  Qniet  America* 

Tatty,  literate  Tendon  ef  the 

Graham  Greene  hook  on  clash- 

Inf  ideologies  in  Indo-China. 

A  toughie  to  sell  the  mass  au¬ 
dience. 

United  Artists  release  of  Figaro  Produc¬ 
tion.  Joseph  L.  ManUewict  producer. 
Stars  Audie  Murphy.  Michael  Redgrave, 
Claude  Dauphin,  -  Giorga  Moll;  features 
Kerlma,  Bruce  Cabot,  Fred  Sadoff,  Rich¬ 
ard  Loo,  Peter  Trento  Directed  and  writ¬ 
ten  for  screen  by  Mankiewicz,  from 
novel  by  Graham  Greene;  camera,.  Robert 
Krasker;  music,  Mario  Nasdmbene;  ^edi¬ 
tor,  William  Hornbeck'.  Previewed  in  New 
York,  Jan.  15,  '58.  Running  time,  120 
MINS. 

The  American . * _ -  Audie  Murphy 

FowleT  ^:.  ... . Michael  Redgrave 

Inspector  Vigot  - -  -  .  Oaude  Dauphin 

Phuong  . . . . 

HlGrttir  .  Bruce  Cabot 

SSdura  F«a  Sadoff 

HostS?0*  ■  *  V.V.V. V/.  .^ °  Yokno  T^ 

Yvette  — rrrrr . . .  Sonia  Moser. 

IabeUe" I--.:-  Phuong  Thi  Nghiep 
Cao-Dai  Commandant. Vo  Doan  CbaU 
Cao-Dai  Pope's  Deputy.. - Le^Van  Le 

ESS  8ii’;c£::aswf  SS8 

In  adapting  British  novelist  Gra¬ 
ham  Greene’s  bitter  and  cynical 
“The  Quiet  American”  into  a  mo¬ 
tion  picture,  producer-director- 
adaptor  Joseph  L.  Mankiewicz  has 
allowed  himself  the  luxury  of  turn¬ 
ing  the  screen  into  a  debating  so¬ 
ciety.  It’s  a  formula  that  might 
have  paid  off,  at  least  via  controv¬ 
ersy*  had  he  retained  the  central 
character  of  the  American  in  the 
book  who,  in  Greene’s  version,  rep¬ 
resented  all  the  determined  bun¬ 
gling  of  current  American  foreign 
policy. 

As  it  turned  out,  the  film — shot 
on  location  in  Viet  Nam  and  at 
the  Cinecitta  Studios  in  Home— is 
an  overlong;  overdialogued  adapta¬ 
tion,,  concerned  with  the  pros  and 
cons  of  a  Third  .  Force  in  Asia  ana 
paying  scant  lip  service  to  the  old 
adage  that  one  of  the  basic  appeals 
of  the  motion -picture  is  that  it 
moves. 

“The  Quiet  American”  has  its 
moments'  of  fiery  action,  and  it 
stars  a  pretty  newcomer,  Georgia 
Moll,  in  a  comparatively  small  role. 
But  it  is,  on  the  whole,  still  mostly 
a  conversation,  more  concerned 
with  intellectual  and  political  prob¬ 
lems  than  with  dramatic  entertain¬ 
ment.  As  a  result,  its  appeal  will 
be  limited,  and  chances  are  that 
mass  audiences  will  get  restless. 

Story  follows  the  line  of  the 
hook,  hut  with  the  all-important 
difference  that  the  character  of 
the  American,  played  without  much 
depth  by  Audie  Murphy,  has  been 
drained  of  meaning,  giving  the 
whole  picture  a  pro-American 
slant.  This,  throws  rest  of  the 
characters  slightly  out  of ;  focus. 
Murphy  here  doesn’t  represent  the 
U.S.  Government,,  but  merely 
works  for  a  private  U.S.  aid  mis¬ 
sion.  In  other  words,  his  ideas 
of  a  Third  Force  standing  between 
Communism  and  French  Colonial¬ 
ism  are  his  own. 

Picture  actually  has  a  couple  of 
story  strands  running  parallel.  It’s 
one  long  flashback  from  the  mo¬ 
ment  Murphy  is  found  murdered 
and  Michael  Redgrave,  playing  a 
British  correspondent,  is  asked  by 
French  inspector  Claude  Dauphin 
to  identify  him.  Redgrave,  moti¬ 
vated  by  jealousy  and  concern  over 
Murphy’s  activities,  has  actually 
been  an  accomplice;  of  the  Com¬ 
munists  in  the  American’s  murder. 
Later  it  turns  out  that  the  Reds 
had  duped  Redgrave.  Dauphin 
gradually  unspools  the  sometimes 
obscure  story*. 

Love  Interest  in  the  film  is  Miss 
Moll  who  lives  with  Redgrave  but 
leaves  him  for  the  younger  Mur¬ 
phy.  In  the  end  she  refuses  to  go 
hack  to  Redgrave.  Running 
throughout  is  the  clashing  views 
between  Redgrave  and  Murphy. 
It’s  a  consistent  argument,;  and 
sometimes  a  violent  one,  and  while 
it  at  times  makes  good  listening, 
it  doesn’t  help  carry  the  narrative 
’along.  .  • 

Murphy  doesn’t  seem  -very  be¬ 
lievable  as  a  foreign  affairs  theor¬ 
ist,  which  may  he  partly  the  script’s 
fault.  He  speaks  his  piece  and, 
in  his  bright,  untroubled  way,  pro¬ 
vides  a  perfect  counterpoint  for 
Redgrave’s  moody  portrayal  of  the 
neurotic  aging  [Britisher  hiding  per¬ 
sonal  anxieties  under  a  mask  of 
cinicism.  Redgrave  delivers  a 
grand  performance,  and  in  fact  it’s 
his  acting  that  makes  the  whole 
thing  at  all  worthwhile.  The  only 
anti-American  remarks  are.  the 
ones  delivered  by  him,  and  they 
are  couched  in  nonobjectionable 
terms.  He  represents  the  non- 
lnvdlved  writer,  who  becomes  in¬ 
volved  up  to  his  ears  and,  finally, 
lets  the  Reds  betray  him  through 
his  emotions. 

As  the  inspector.  Dauphin  gTves 
a  strong  and  patient  reading  to  his 
lines  and  registers  strongly.  Miss 
Moll  is  very  attractive,  though  she 


hardly  look*  Ilka  an  Indo-Chinese, 
As  her  .lister:  Kerlma  does  well. 
Bruce  Cabot,  Fred  Sadoff  and  Rich¬ 
ard  Loo  hsVe  bit  parts.  ' ' 
Mankiewic*  has  delivered  a 
thoughtful  script  that  alms  prima¬ 
rily  in  contrasting  political  points- 
of-view  and  .sometimes,  showing 
their  application  in  human  terms. 
The  trouble  is  that,  in  his  deter- 
mination  not  to  lose  meaning,  he 
has  tended  to  use  characters  as 
symbols,  with  each  mouthing  a 
given  idiology.  The  process  is  in¬ 
tellectually  rewarding  and  drama¬ 
tically  tiresome.  There  are  likely 
to  he  an  awful  lot  of  people  who’ll 
come  out  of  this  film  saying  (about 
Indo-Chinese  pro  b  1  e  in  s)  “Who 
gives  a  damn?”  This  may  not  he 
the  "right”  attitude,  but— in  terms 
of  the  mass  audience— its  a  forgiv¬ 
able  one.  ^ 

Visually,  “The  Quiet  Aiherican” 
has  been  photographed  skillfully 
by  Robert  Krasker,  though;  actu¬ 
ally  the  number  of  scenes  showing 
off  Viet  Nam  (the  story  is  laid  in 
1952,  before  the  partition)  isn’t 
very  large.  There’s  an  impressive 
bit  of  staging  at  the  watchtower, 
which  is  collapsed  by  a  passing 
tank,  and  the  camera  catches  the 
scope  of  the  wide  plaza  in  Saigon 
after,  the  bombing.  Director  Man¬ 
kiewicz  has  staged  lively  crowd 
scenes  and,  considering  the  em¬ 
phasis  on  conversation,  he  has  his 
actors  well  in  hand. 

Mario  Nascimbene’s  music  pleas- 
.antly  underscores  the  story.  Wil-“ 
liam  Hombeck’s  editing  is  smooth j 
Rina  Mondelino  has  produced  real- 
istically-bare  sets.  “Quiet  Amer¬ 
ican”  will  require  special  handling. 
It’s  a  picture  that"  stimulates 
thought  Hift.  . 

Damn :  Citizen 

Episodic  and  leisurely  docu¬ 
mentary  yarn  of  fight  against 
crime  in  Louisiana. 


Cinema  16’s  IQdpix 


Hollywood*  Jan.  14. 

.Universal  release  of  Herman  Webber 

reduction.  Starr  Keith  Andes.  Margie 
Hayes,  Gena  Evans,  Lynn  .  Bari,  ■  Jeffrey 
Stone.  Edward  C.  Platt,  Ann  Robinson;, 
features  Sam  Buffington,  Clegg  Hoyt,. 
Carolyn  Kearney,  Charles  Horvath.  Di-' 
rected  by  Robert  Gordon.  Screenplay, 
Stirling  Sllliphant;  camera,  EUir  W.  Car¬ 
ter;  :  music,  Henry  Mancinl;  editor,-  Pat¬ 
rick  McCormack,  Previewed  Dec,  30,  *57. 
Running  time,  M  MINS, 

CoL  Francis  C.  Grevemberg 

Keith  Andes 

Dorothy  Grevemberg  .... . -  Maggie  Hayes 
Major  A1  Arthur  . . ... .......  Gene  Evans 

Pat  Noble  . . . . .  Lynn  Bari 

Paul  Musso  . . .  Jeffrey  Stine 

Joseph  Kosta  ..........  Edward  C.  Platt 

Cleo  . . . .  Ann  Robinson 

DeButts  . . .  Sam  Buffington 

Sheriff  Lloyd . . . .  Clegg  Hoyt 

CoL  Thomas  Hastings  ....  Kendall  Clark 

Inspector  Sweeney  ...... - Rusty  Lane. 

Lieut.  Palmer  ..........  Charles  Horvath 

Nancy  . . .. . . .  Carolyn  Kearney 

AarOh  M.  Kohn  .... . .  Himself 

Rev.  J.  D.  Grey  . . Himself 

Richard  B.  Foster  ..... - -  Himself 

Big  Jim . .  Pershing  Gervais 

Major  Sterling  ....  Aaron  A.  Edgecombe 

Captain  Desmond 

Rev.  Robert  H.  Jamieson 
Father  Masters  ........  Paul  S.  Hostetler 

Thomas  Gleason  ......  Nathaniel  F.  Oddo 

Fowler  ...... ......  Dudley  C.  Foley,  Jr. 

Judge  ........... ...Charles  A.  Murphy 

Harry  George  M.  Trussell. 

Reporter  ................  Jack  Dempsey 

Reporter  ..................I.  Frank  Hay 

News  Commentator . Tiger  Flowers 

Satchel  Man  .. . ..  John  Schowest 


“Damn  Citizen”  is  the  true-life 
story  of  Col.  Francis  C*  Grevem¬ 
berg,  World  War  II  hero,  in  his 
one-nifin  fight  against  crime  and 
corruption  in  his  native  Louisiana 
and  his  efforts  to  hand  state  hack 
to  the  people.  As  a  piece  of  docu¬ 
mentary  film-making  pic  carries 
certain  interest  for  the  cops  and 
robbers  clientele,  hut  a  necessari¬ 
ly  episodic  approach,  leisurely  un- 
foldmenf  and  lack  of  excitement 
highlights  hold  it  to  the  supporting 
feature  category. 

The  Herman  Webber  production 
was  lensed  in  and  around  New 
Orleans,  locale  of  the  Stirling 
Silliphant  screenplay;  consequent¬ 
ly  certain  authentic  values  accrue. 
Keith  Andes  portrays  title  role, 
invited  by  the  new  Governor  to 
serve  as  superintendent  of  the 
State  Police  and  wage  an  all-out 
battle  against  every  form,  of  crime 
which  flourished  in  state  unabated 
for  many  years.  -He  finds  himself 
opposed  on  every  side,  but  through 
the  aid  of  his  staff  is  able  to  make 
considerable  headway  in  cleaning 
up  the  state. 

Robert  Gordon’s  direction  is 
rambling  hut  he  gets  convincing 
performances  from  a  large,  cast. 
Andes  satisfactorily  handles  his 
top  role  and  gets  expert  assistance 
from  Gene  Evans  as  his  chief  aide. 
Edward  C.  Platt  as  the  vice  baron 
of  state  is  smoothly  realistic,  Jef¬ 
frey.  Stone  and  Charles.  Horvath 
lend,  color,  to  police  parts,  former 
as  an  undercover  man  and  latter 
bouncer  for  bribe-taking,  and  Sam 
Buffington,  stands  out  as  a  gam¬ 
bling  operator.  Maggie  Hayes 
favorable  impresses  as  Andes’ 
wife  threatened  by  the  gangsters. 

:  Technical .  credits  are  sharp,  in- 
luding  Ellis:  W.  Carter’s  camera 
work  and  Henry  Mancini’s  music 
score.  Whit,  j 


Cinema  16  in  New  York  has 
formed  a  film  society  for  young¬ 
sters  aged  four  to  eight.  Called 
The  Children’s  Cinema,  and  to  be 
presented  at  regular  intervals  at 
the  Beekrban  Theatre,  N.  Y.,  it  will 
have  its  first  performance  Feb.  16. 

There  will  he  five  programs 
spaced  three  weeks  apart.  Each  is 
presented  on  a  Sunday  morning. 
The  specific  dates  are  Feb.  16, 
March  2,  March  23,  April  12  and 
April  27. 

Children’s  Cinema  has  been 
formed  to  meet  the  great  need  for 
good,  carefully  selected  children’s 
entertainment-on  the  screen, 

Birby’s  Hangers 

Exciting  account  of  the  true- 

life  American  Rangers  of 

World  War  IL  Sock  enter¬ 
tainment  for  melodramatio 

market. 

Hollywood,  Jan.  17. 

^  Bros,  release  of  Martin  Rackin 
i,CL.  n.  Stars  James  Garner.;  Etchika 

bureau.  Jade  Warden;  features  Edward 
Byrnes,  Venetia  Stevenson.  ..Torin 
Thatcher,  Peter  Brown,  Joan  Elan,  Corey 
Allen,  Stuart  Whitman,  Murray  Hamil¬ 
ton,  BUI  Wellman  Jr.,  Andrea  King;  Adam 
Williams.  Frieda  Inescort.  Reginald  Owen. 
Philip  Tonge,  Edward  Ashley.  Raymond 
Bailey;  Willis  Bouchey.  Directed  by  Wil¬ 
liam  A.  Wellman.  Screenplay,  Guy  Tros- 
per,  suggested  by  hook  by  Maj.  James 
Altleri;  camera.  William  Clothier;  editor, 
Owen  Marks;  music.  Max  Steiner.  Pre¬ 
viewed:  Jan,  13,  *58.  Running  time;  120 
MINS. 

Maj.  Wm.  Darby . . .  .  .  James.  Garner 

Angelina  De  Lotta _ Etchika  Choureau 

M/Sgt.  Saul  Rosen  .... , . ...  Jack  Warden 

Lieut.  Arnold  Dittman. . .  -  Edward  Byrnes 
I  Jeggy  McTavish  ......  Venetia  Stevenson 

[  Sgt.  McTavish  ..........  Torin  Thatcher 

Kollo  Bums  *. . . .  Peter.  Brown 

Wendy  Hollister  . .  Joan  Han 

Tony  Sutherland  ’. ... .. .....  Corey  Allen 

"Hank”  Bishop  . . _ .. .  Stuart  Whitman 

Sims  Delancey  .........  Murray  Hamilton 

Eli  Clatworthy  ......  Bill  Wellman  Jr. 

Sheilah.  Andrews . .  Andrea  King 

VHeavy".  Wall-  Aram.  WUIiahis 

Lady  Hollister  . . Frieda  Inescort 

Sir  Arthur  1.... ...*.. ..  Reginald  Owen 

J(ohn  Andrew*  ...........  Philip  Tonge 

Lieut.  Manson  ..........  Edward  Ashley 

Maj.  Gen..  Wise  . Raymond  Bailey 

Brig.  Gen..  TTOscott , . . ... . .  .Willis  Bouchey 

This  saga  of  Col.  William  Darby, 
who  organized  the  American  Ran¬ 
gers  to  spearhead  landings  and  I 
action  during  World  War  II  in 
North  Afiich  and  Southern  Eur¬ 
ope,  strikes  a  high  note  of  interest. 
For  the  nfelodramatiic  market  film 
is  a  solid  entry,  packing  mass  ap¬ 
peal  in  its  long  hut  gutsy  unfold- 
ment.  While  cast,  heavily  sprinkled 
with  fine  performing  talent,  gener¬ 
ally  is  unknown,  pic  should  benefit 
from  appearance  in  title  role  of 
James  Garner*  star  of  Warners’ 
“Maverick”  tv  series  and  regarded 
as  one  of  the  top  personalities  of 
video. 

Highlights  in  the  training  and 
subsequent  war  record  of  the 
Rangers  are  traded  in  hard-hitting 
fashion  by  William  A.  Wellman  in 
his.  fine  direction,  and  Martin 
Rackin  as  producer  has  given  fea¬ 
ture  the  proper  accoutrements  per¬ 
taining  to  subject.  The  Guy  Tros- 
per  screenplay;  suggested  by.  the 
tiook  of  Maj.  James  Altleri,  his¬ 
torian  of  the  Rangers*  deviates 
sometimes  from  a  strict  recounts! 
of  this  great  military  body  by  in¬ 
serting  romantic  episodes  among 
its  fighting  personnel,  hut  essen¬ 
tially  it  is  based  upon  authentic 
material  which  Wellman  socks 
over  for  telling  effect.  Occasional 
corn  is  inserted  in  some  of  the 
action,  (but  it’s  not  out  of  place  In 
a  film  of  this  type,  dealing  with  the 
ragged  individuals  who  composed 
the  Rangers. 

First  half  of  the  i20-minute  fea¬ 
ture  is  devoted  :to  the  origin  and 
Commando  training  of  the  Ran¬ 
gers,  second  half  to  the  actual  war 
exploits  in  North  Africa,  Sicily  and 
up  the  .Italian  boot,  where  the 
corps  distinguished  itself.  Unfold- 
merit  is  crammed  with  exciting  ac¬ 
tion  as  the  Rangers  in  their  smash¬ 
ing  tactics  seize  coastal  defenses, 
establish  beachheads,  raid  behind 
enemy  lines,  fnake  fierce  lightning 
attacks.  The  straight  war  tale  is 
leavened  with  the  lighter  stories  of 
romance,  some  of  escapades  and 
some  serious  love  affairs  in  which 
the  Rangers  engage.  Two  romances 
carry  through  to  completion,  allow¬ 
ing  for  distaff  interest, 

.  Garner  is  especially  effective  as 
the  officer  dedicated  to  his  Ran¬ 
gers,  lending  authority  and  under¬ 
standing  to  role,  his  initial  star 
assignment  in  a  theatrical  feature. 
Starred  with  him-  is  Jack  Warden, 
his  master-sergeant  aide,  excellent 
in  part,  and  Etchika.  Choureau, 
French  actress  who  scores  as  the 
Italian  s weeth eart  of  Edward 
Byres,  whdse  delineation  of  a  rank- 
conscious  young  West  Pointer  is 
well  conceived.  Stuart  Whitman 
and  Joan  Elan  also  are  teamed 
romantically,  former  a  tough  for-, 


mer  gambler,  latter  the  British 
daughter  of  titled  parents,  .both 
standouts. 

Also  doing  yoeman  service  as 
Rangers  are  Adam  Williams,  Bill 
Wellman,  Jr.,  Murray  Hamilton, 
Corey  Allen,  Peter  Brown*  latter 
pairing  romantically  with  Venetia 
Stevenson,  nicely  cast  as  a  Scotch 
girl.  Edward  Ashley  contributes  an 
outstanding  bit  as  an  English  Com¬ 
mando  who  instructs  Rangers  in 
the  art  of  killing  without  being 
killed;  Torin  Thatcher  is  his  com¬ 
petent  sergeant  arid  Reginald 
Owen  and  Frieda  Inescort  are  cap¬ 
able  as  Joan  Blab’s  parents. 

Technical  departments  are  well 
handled,  including  William  Clothi¬ 
er’s  photography,  Owen  Marks’ 
editing.  Max  Steiner’s  music  score, 
William  Campbell’s  art  direction 
and  sound  by  Robert  B.  Lee. 

Whit. 

Man  Who  Wonldn’t  Talk 

(BRITISH) 

Sometimes  untidy*  but  always 

absorbing  legal  drama;  Combo 

of  Anna  Neagle  and  Zsa  Zsa 

Gabor  makes  refreshing  stellar 

attraction  for  many  audiences. 

London,  Jan,  21. 

British  Lion  release  of  Wikox-Neagle 
production:  Stars  Anna  Neagle,  Anthony 
Quayle,  Zsa.  Zsa  Gabor.  Directed  by.  Her¬ 
bert  Wilcox.  Screenplay  by  Edgar  Lust- 
garten  from  story  by  Stanley  Jackson; 
camera,  Gordon  Dines;  editor.  Bunny 
Warren;  music,  Stanley  Black.  At  Ritz 
Theatre,  London.  Running  time,  97 
MINS. 

Mary  Randall  Q.C. .  .-....■ . Ann*  Neagle 

Frank  Smith  . .  >...... .  Anthony  Quayle 

Eve  Trent  . .  Zsa  Zsa  Gabor 

Miss  Delbeau  ..........  Katharine  Kath 

Telephonist  ................  Dora  Bryan 

Kennedy  ............... . .  Patrick  Allen 

Bernie  . . .  Hugh  McDermott 

Professor  orvad  .... _ Leonard  Sachs 

Hobbs  . Edward  Lexy 

Castle  . .  John  Paul 

Judge  . . .  John  Le  Mesurier 

Baker  ...... .....  .  Anthony  Sharp 

Jury  Foreman  . . , . .....  Anthony  Pendrell 

Liftman  .  .-r; .’ .........  Cyril  Ghamberlaln 

Most  films  or  plays  equipped 
with  a  good  court  scene  invariably 
get  away  to  a  flying  start;  providing 
the  script  is  intelligent  .and  .is 
written  by  someone  who  knows  his 
legal  onions.  “The  Man  Who 
Wouldn’t  Talk”  has  this  advantage. 
The  author,  Stanley  Jackson,  and 
the  screenplay-writer,  Edgar  Lust- 
garten,  are  both  professional 
scribes  who  Have  also,  had  inten¬ 
sive  legal  training.  Any  legal  slip¬ 
ups  must  therefore  be  put  down 
to  dramatic  license  and  are  not 
such  as  will  cause  the  average  film- 
goer  any  sleepless  nights. 

The  cast  is  sufficiently  interest¬ 
ing  to  give  the  pic  an  even  chance 
both  in  Britain  and  tJ.S.  It  has 
loose  ends,  but  holds  the  Interest 
throughout*  and  the  court  scenes 
are  extremely  well  directed  by 
Herbert  Wilcox. 

Anthony  Quayie  plays  an  Ameri¬ 
can  scientist  who  comes  to  London 
with  Zsa  Zsa  Gabor.  On  the  sur¬ 
face  the  two  are  on  honeyriiboq. 
Actually,  they  are  ori  an  assignment 
from  Washington,  Miss  Gabor  be¬ 
ing  a  secret  agent,  Purpose  of  the 
visit  is^to  get  information  on  bac¬ 
teriological  warfare  from  a  Hun¬ 
garian  scientist.  This  information 
will  only  be  disclosed  by 'Quayle 
(on  promise)  only  to  one  man  in 
the  U.S.  With  this  solemn  promise 
given*  Quayle  is  in  a  hot  spot  when 
he  finds  himself  arraigned  on  a 
charge  of  murdering  Miss  Gabor. 

.  Anna  Neagle  plays  an  ace 
Queen’s  Counsel,  briefed  to  defend 
him.  But  it’s  a  tricky  job  for  her 
since,,  because  of  his  promise,  he 
refuses  to  go  into  the  box  to  de¬ 
fend  himself.  Miss  Neagle  pulls  off 
the  case  but  it  is  touch  and  go 
throughout  The  drama  is  geared 
excellently  to  pitting  the  star’s 
Wits  against  the  witnesses  in  an 
effort  to  win  the  sympathy  of  the 
jury. 

Miss  Neagle  gives  a  standout  per¬ 
formance  as  the  Q.C.  There  is  one 
sequence,  when  $he  delivers  a  five- 
minute  speech  which  blends  facts 
and  emotionalism,  which  is  among 
the  finest  things  this  versatile 
artist  has  essayed  on  the  screen. 
Quayle  is  solidly  effective  as  the 
accused  and  Miss  Gabor  shows  that 
she  can  he  dramatically  effective 
as  well  as  decorative  in  the.  role  of 
the  spy.  There  are  also  some  good  ' 
minor  performances,  particularly 
from  Katharine  Kath,  as  a  witness 
with  an  eye  to  profit;  Anthony 
Sharp,  -as  a  baUistics  expert;  and 
Dora  Bryan,  as  a  gabby  telephone 
operator. 

Some  of  the  characters  are 
dragged  Thi  and  tossed  away  in  an 
irritating  fashion:  But  on  the 
Whole, ,  director  Wilcox  lias  fash¬ 
ioned  a  very  tense  piece  of  drama* 
which  shrewdly  exploits  a  Uttle 
known  piece  of  legal  versimilitude. 
Gordon  Dines  has  lensed  the  pic 
smartly  and  the  settings  owe  a 
great  deal  to  the  whole  hearted  . 
co-nperation  of  the  Law  Society. 

Rich.  : 


ITednertar,  January  22,  1958 


The  Sfry  of  Vlckie 

(COLOR) 


Charming  story  ef  the  young 
Queen  Victoria,  beautifully 
produced  for  strong  art  house 
reception,  though  dubbing  job 
not  ideaL 

Buena  Vixta  release  of  Ernst  Marlschka 
production.  Start  Romy  Schneider;  fea¬ 
ture*.  Adrian  Hoven,  Mac  da  Schneider, 
Karl  Ludwle  Diehl,  Chrlatl  Mardayn.  Paul 
Horbiger,  Rudolf  Vogel,  Fred  Llewehr, 
Otto  Treisler.  Directed,  written  by 
Marlschka,  based  on  letters  and  diaries 
of  .Victoria  and  comedy  by  Sil-vara;  cam¬ 
era  (Technicolor)*  Bruno  Mondl;  editors. 
Hermann  '  Leltner,  A.  Wayne  Smith, 
Manuel  : .  San  Fernando;  music,  Anton 
Frofes.  Previewed  Jan.  17,  '58:  Running 
time,  107  MINS. 

Victoria  _ Homy  Schneider 

Prince  Albert  ........  Adrian  Hoven 

BaronessLehzen  .......  Magda  Schneider 

Lord  Melbourne,  Prime  Minister 

Karl  Ludwig  Diehl 
Duchess  of  Kent  . ....  Christyl  Mardayn 

Professor  Landmann . .  Paul  Horbiger 

George.  Palace  Valet. .  .  .Rudolf  Vogel 

Leopold,  King  of  the.  Belgians 

Fred  Liewehr 

Lord  Conyngham . Alfred  Neugebauer' 

Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  Otto  Tressler 

Sir.  John  Conroy  _ ...  Stefan  Skodler 

Prince  Henry  of  Orange  Peter  Week 
Archduke  Alexander  of  Russia 

Rudolf  Lertz 

The  Dean  . . . .  Hans  Thimig 

Taglione,  Dance  Master... .Peter  Gerhard 
Lady  Flora  Hastings. ....  .Elisabeth  Epp 

Lady  Llttelton . . . —  Hilde  Wagener 

Lady  Laiisdowne  ..  ...  Helene  Lauterbock 
Johann  Strauss,  Senior. .. Eduard  Straus* 

This  Viennese  import  is  a  lavish¬ 
ly  produced  story  of  young  Queen 
Victoria  of  England,  from  the  mo¬ 
ments  immediately  preceding  her 
ascendancy  to  the  throne  to  her 
proposal  of  marriage  to  Prince  Al¬ 
bert  of  Saxe-Coburg.  .Its  romantic 
theme  carries  strong  distaff  inter¬ 
est  particularly,  ,  and  film  lends  it¬ 
self  to  exploitation  as  a  class  entry 
for  the  art  house  circuit.  Film  suf¬ 
fers,  however,  from  inept  dubbing 
into  English. 

The  Ernst  Marischka  production; 
backed  by  stunning  Technicolor,, 
serves  to  introduce  Romy  Schnei¬ 
der,  young  Austrian  actress,  who 
registers  a  vivid  impression  in  title 
role.  Billed  as  based  on  the  letters 
and  diaries  of  Victoria  and  a.  coih- 
edy  by  Sil-vara,  unfoldment,  fre¬ 
quently  is  cloaked  with  light  .hu¬ 
mor  and  even  the  pomp  and  Cere¬ 
mony  attendant  upon  the  theme  do 
not  detract  from  the  fact  that  this, 
is,  the  story  of  a  very  charming 
young  woman  who  becomes  queen 
overnight  and  goes  all  out  to  make 
her  rule  humanitarian;  Marischka, . 
I  wffo  also  directs  from  his  own 
screenplay,  strikes  a  masterful  note 
in  his  story-telling  which  commu¬ 
nicates  to  the  spectator. .. 

Miss  Schneider  is  finely  cast  as 
Victoria,  a  young  princess  bored 
with  her  lessons  who  assumes  new 
dignity  when  confronted  with  re¬ 
sponsibility  for  affairs  of  state. 
When  she  discovers  marriage  is 
being  planned  for  her,  she  decides 
to  skip  the  birthday  party  arranged 
for  her  and  in  an  amusing  Dover 
escapade  meets  Albert,  without 
either  knowing  the  identity  of  the 
other.  Their  romance  blooms  when 
finally  she  discovers  he  is  the  man 
chosen  for  her, 'and  she  returns  to 
her  palace. 

Adrian  Hoven  scores  as  Albert 
in  a  light  characterization,  and 
Magda  Schneider,  star’s  mother, 
engagingly  portrays  the  queen’s 
confidante.  As  Lord  Melbourne, 
the  Prime  Minister,  Karl  Ludwig 
Diehl  delivers-  strongly,  and  also 
outstanding  are  Christ!  Mardayn, 
Fred  LieWehr,  Paul  Horbiger  and 
Rudolf  Vogel. 

Technical  credits  are  highly 
creditable,  including  color  camera 
work  by  Bruno  Mondi,  editing  by 
Hermann  Leitner,  A.  Wayne  Smith 
and  Manuel  San  Fernando,  art  di¬ 
rection  by  Fritz  Juptner-Jonstorff, 
costumes  by  Gerdago  and  Dr.  Leo 
Bei,  music  by  Anton  Profes. 

Whit. 


Fort  Dobbs 

Slow  Indian  shoot,  with  tv’s 
Clint  Walker,  and  Virginia 
Mayo  to  pep  up  b.o.  prospects. 


.  Hollywood,  Jan.  17. 

Warner  Bros,  release  of  Martin  Rackin 
production.  Stars .  Clint  Walker.  Virginia 
Mayo,  Brian  Keith.  Co-stars  Richard  Eyer; 
with  Russ  Conway,  Michael  Dante.  Direc¬ 
ted  by  Gordon  Douglas;  screenplay;  Burt 
Kennedy  and  George  W.  George;  camera; 
William  Clothier;  art  director.  Stanley 
Fleischer;  film  editor,  Clarence  Kolsterj 
sound,  Francis  E:  Stahl;  music.  Max 
Steiner.  Previewed .  Jan.  IS,  '58.  Running 
time.  93  MINS. 

Gar  Davis  . . .  Clint  Walker 

Celia  Gray  Virginia  Mayo. 

Clett  . . Brian  Keith 
Chad  Gray  ........v.......  Richard  Eyer 

Sheriff  ...  * . .  Russ  Conway 

Billings  . . . . . . . . .  Michael  Dhn.a 

Well  produced  but  slow-moving, 
“Fort  .Dobbs”  is  short  on  talk,  so- 
so  on  action  and  long  on  horseback. 
If  it  edges  its  way  out  of  just-bet- 
ter-than-average  filler  fare,,  it 
likely  will  be  due  to  the  marquee 
value  of  star  Clint  Walker  who 
canters  along  on  heavy  exposure 
through  tv's  “Cheyenne”  series. 

Martin  Rackin  has  assented 
cast  and  crew  that  does  more  with 
the  story  than  scripters  Burt  Ken- 
(Continued  on  page  24) 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


tmmft 


PICTURES 


NEW  IOWAYS  FOR  TIRED  BLOOD 


on 

The  exhibitor’s  lines  of  communication  with  the  audience  have 
broken  down  and  need  urgently  to  be  reestablished,  Charles 
Elnfeld,  ad-pub  V.p.  of  20th-Fox,  said  in  New  York  last  week. 

He  said  this  was  one.  of  the  immediate  conclusions  he  had.  drawn 
from  the  public  opinion  survey  made  in  June  and  July  last  year. 

Research  Corp.  of  N.J.  and  put  out  last  week  by  the 
Motion  Picture  Assn,  of  America  which  sponsored  it. 

/Itis  clear  that  the  whole  audience  is  not  being  commUnicated 
saf“  Einfeld.  “Considering  how  many  people,  said,  they 
get  their  incentive  to  see  pictures  from  trailers,  this  is  really  a  sad 
story  since  Our  attendance  is  down. 

.  “If  every  exhibitor  got  back  some  of  that  old  showmanship 
feeling,  and  sat  down  and  made  only  50  phonecalls  to  customers, 
telling  them  about  a  fine  hew  attraction  at  the  theatre,  we  all 
might  do  a  lot  better.  That’s  what  a  supermarket  does,  and  a 
lot  of  other  businesses.  It’s  a  personalized  approach,  and.  the 
customer  is  flattered  by  it.” 

Einfeld  maintained  that  the  amusement  pages  weren’t  being  read 
as  they  ohCe  were,  arid  he  drew  the  conclusion  that  if  was  neces¬ 
sary  for  the  exhibitor  “instead  of  sitting  back  and  waiting  for 
people  to  come”  to  go  out  and  actively  campaign  for  the  potential 
audience.  u 

Dramatizing  the  lack  of  individual  exhibitor  initiative,  Einfeld 
cited  the  fact  that,  on  an  average  picture,  fewer  than  200  24-sheets 
were  today  being  bought,  and  less  than  100,000  herolds. 


Convinced  that  film  production -4 
in  the  east— both  the  theatrical  ' 
arid  vidpix  variety— is  Only,  in  its 
infancy  and  that  there  is  a  poten¬ 
tial  for  a  major  advancement,  Gold 
Medal  Studios  in  the  Bronx,  sue-, 
cessor  to  the  old  Biograph  lot,  has 
launched  ah  expansion  program.  At 
the  conclusion  of  its  program,  Gold 
Medal  hopes  to  add  six  additional 
stages  to  the  two  it  already  oper¬ 
ates. 

As  part  of  its  aim  to .  lure  film 
production  to  the  east,  Gold 
Medal,  headed  by  Martin  Poll,  has 
already  made  arrangements  with 
a.  dude  ranch  less  than  an  hour’s 
distance  from  New  York  for  Use 
as  a  .  western  site.  In  increasing 
its  indoor  facilities,  Gold  Medal 
has  added  its  first  new  stage  via 
-  the  acquisition  of  the  facilities-  of 
the  Dumont  Telecentre  in  midtown 
Manhattan.  This  addition  is  said 
to  be  part  of  the  company’s  second¬ 
ary  development  aind  the  studio 
will  be .  known  as  Gold  Medal 
Downtown.  The  Bronx  facilities 
.will  be  designated  Gold  Medal  Up¬ 
town. 

The  major  phase  of  Gold  Medal's 
building  and  expansion  program, 
according  to  Poll,  Is  keyed  to  the 
acquisition  of  the  balance  of  the 
buildings  on  the  Biograph  lot  pre¬ 
viously  not  part  of  the  Gold  Medal 
operation.  Poll  plans  to  build  five 
additional  stages  on  the  Bronx  lot, 
two  of  which  will  be  the  same  size 
of  the  present  stages,  which  are 
said  to  be  equal  to  the  largest 
Stages  available  in  Hollywood.  A 
smaller  building  on  the  lot  will  be 
converted  to  a  scene  dock. 

In  outlining  Gold  Medal’s  ex¬ 
pansion  program.  Poll  said  the 
decision,  was  based  on  the^  belief 
that  eastern  production  can  be  sub- 
substantially  less  expensive  than 
a  similar  Coast  operation.  He  de¬ 
clared  that  films  made  at  Gold 
Medal  haye  saved  from  25%  to 
47%  of  the  estimated  budgets 
these  pictures  been  made  on  the 
Coast.  He  quotes  George  JUstin, 
production  manager  of  “Face  in 
the  Crowd”  and  associate  producer 
of  “The  Goddess”  and  “12  Angry 
(Continued  on  page  27) 


‘So.  Pacific’  Criterion,  N.Y. 
Policy;  II  Weekly  Shows 

“South  Pacific,”  in  Todd-AO,  has 
been  skedded  to  open  at  the  Crt- 
terion  Theatre,  N.  Y.,  in  mid- 
March.,  according  to  George  P. 
Skouras,  Magna  Theatres  Corp. 
prexy. 

Filin  will  be  roadshown  on  a  re¬ 
served  seat,  1 1-sho  ws-per-week 
basis.  House  is  to  be  refurbished 
and  rewired  for  the  run. 


TO‘SniDY’3P.O.TAX 
IN  FOLDO  CHICAGO 

Chicago,  Jan.  21, 
Film  exhibitors  here  who’ ve  long 
agitated  for  an  end,  or  reduction, 
of  the  local  3%  theatre  ad¬ 
mission  tax  were  heartened  last 
Friday  (17)  by  City  Council  action 
in  that  direction.  The  solons 
adopted  unanimously  a  resolution 
to:  create  a  citizens’  committee  to 
make  a  study  of  whether  there 
should  be  a  cut  in  the  levy. 

Council’s  action  empowers  Mayor 
Richard  J.  Daley,  who  submitted 
the  resolution,  to  name  the  com¬ 
mittee.  Resolution  cited  private 
Surveys,  which  found  that  about 
50%  of  Chi  picture  houses  have 
shuttered  and  that  attendance  has 
dropped  70%.  But  the  resolution 
blamed  the  financial  plight  of  thea¬ 
tres  mainly  on  tv  competition. 


Theatres’  Hypo 

Eric  Johnston  last  week  poured 
cold  water  on  the  idea  of  a  mam¬ 
moth  Hollywood  monthly  show  to 
he  carried  to  the  theatre's  via 
closed  circuit  theatre  television.  In 
so  doing*  he  In  fact  appeared  to 
label  largescale  theatre  tv  as  im¬ 
practical  and  uneconomical. 

Motion  Picture  Assn,  of  America 
prexy  expressed  his  views  in  a 
letter  to  George  Sidney,  producer- 
director,  who  had  written  Johnston 
about  an  idea  for  a  theatre  tele¬ 
vised  show  emanating  from  the 
Coast. 

Johnston  said  he  hadn’t  any 
doubt  that  Hollywood  was  capable 
of  putting  on  such  a  show.  How¬ 
ever,  he  noted,  “The  greater  prob¬ 
lem  is  how'  to  take -the  show  at 
(Continued  on  page  25) 


By  LES  SEES 
Minneapolis,  Jan.  21.  ] 

“Because  we  at  last  have  an 
abundance  of  strong  product  cur¬ 
rently  in  release  and  coming  up” 
Harold  Field,  local  circuit  owner, 
has  been  inspired  to  launch  his 
biggest  advertising  campaign,  in¬ 
cluding:  his  own  version  of  “a 
subliminal  approach”  in  selling 
these  attractions  in  his  10 .  Iowa 
small  towns  where  he  has  10  hard- 
tops  and  seven  drivein  theatres.  .  j 

Bettered  Hollywood  output  for 
1958’s  early  months  and  big— and 
different  kind— of  advertising  cam¬ 
paign  have  gotten  the  Field  prop¬ 
erties  off  to  best  January  start 
within  memory,  he  says.  .  1 

:  There  may  be  pessimism  in  many 
Industry,  quarters,  but,  asserts 
Field,  at  a  meeting  last  week  to  dis¬ 
cuss  the  unusual  campaign’s  results 
to  date,  house  managers’:  morale 
|rwas  at  an  all-time  high.  Much  en¬ 
thusiasm  over  the  product  and  be¬ 
cause;  of  the  boxoffice  manner  in 
which  things  ire  developing  and 
harder  work  and  more  showman¬ 
ship  are  in  evidence,  he  asserts. 

The  “subliminal  approach”  finds 
in  each  town  the  theatre  simultane¬ 
ously  advertising  its  current  offer¬ 
ing,  the  date  of  the  one  that  ,  will 
follow  and  the  “coming”  attraction. 
Thus,  Fields  points  out,  there  is 
more  and  better  pre-selling  at  the 
local  level  and  the  injunction  to 
see  certain  pictures  is  stamped 
into  the  public’s  consciousness.  j 

“Also,  we  want  our  people  to 
be  able  to  plan  ahead  to  see  pic-  j 
tures  that  we’ll  be  playipg,”  ex¬ 
plains  Field.  "In  the  small  towns  j 
people  frequently  tell  us  that 
they’d  like  to  see  the  current-  at¬ 
traction,  but  that  they  have  other 
demands  on  their  time,  arranged  in 
advance,  that  rules  out  attend¬ 
ance.”  „ 

Convinced  that  the  old  format 
of  newspaper  advertising  in  small 
towns  has  become  too  perfunctory 
that  the  ads  don’t  command 
enough  readers,  Field  for.  the 
start  of  this  1958  campaign  had 
a  large  (5  x  16)  ad  handdrawn 
to  advertise  all  15  of  the  pictures 
coming  up  during  the  next  several 
months.  Mats  were  made  and  the 
(Continued  on  page  25) 


Don  Hartman  Hits  N.  Y. 

To  Spread  Those  ‘Elms’ 

Don  Hartman  due  in  New  York 
from  the  Coast  today  (Wed.)  to  do 
the  publicity  rounds  for  “Desire 
Under  the  Elms”  which  he  pro¬ 
duced  for  Paramount  release.  i 
Also  on  his  schedule  is  a  speak-! 
ing  engagement  and  screening  of 
the  Eugene  O’Neill  adaptation  at 
the  Yale  School  of  Drama  next 
Monday.  | 


Shaken  by  Suzy  Parker  Roast 


THIS  WAY  TO  THE  EGRESS 


Roy  Hill’s  Woes.  With  Theatre 
Shut  Off  .  From  TraiSio 


Kansas  City,  Jan.  21. 

Having  a  street  torn  up  in  front 
of  the  theatre  is  no  bargain,  but 
Roy  Hill  of  the  Tower  Theatre  at 
least  got  some  partial  returns  last 
during  the  third  Week  of  20th’s 
“Peyton  Place.”  With  the  entrance 
in  the  middle  of  the  block  and  most 
of  12th  Street  in  front  of  house 
turned  up  for  underground  con¬ 
struction,  the  street  was  barricaded 
at  both  ends,  barring  motor  traffic 
from  the  block. 

Signs  reading,  “Stop!  Go  See 
‘Peyton  Place’  at  the  Tower,”  were 
rigged  up  by  Hill  and  attached  to 
the  barricades  at  both  ends  of  the 
block;  This  passed  muster  with 
most  city  officials,  but  nally  ran 
afoul  of  the  traffic  engineer,  who 
asked  Hill  to  remove  the  signs. 
Tower  is  near  the  city  hall  and 
county  offices  and  some  pressure 
was  descending  upon  the  traffic  de¬ 
partment,  it  was  reported. 


Hollywood,^  Jan.  21. 

“Fine,  profitable  year  lies  ahead 
for  motion  picture  industry,”  So¬ 
ciety  o£  independent  Motion  Pic¬ 
tures  Producers  prexy  Ellis  Arnall 
predicted  on  arrival  for  huddles 
with  his  members  but  “various  seg¬ 
ments  of  industry  must  stop  fight¬ 
ing  each  Other,  devote  their  full 
time  and  energy,  toward  wooing 
public  into  theatres.” 

Arnall  cited  number  of  big  pix, 
record  grosses  in  many  theatres, 
Disney’s  record  earnings  as  indi¬ 
cation  of  1958  as  “year  of  ascend¬ 
ancy  of  Hollywood”  which  will 
make  more  pix  than  in  1957.  “In¬ 
dustry  how  Is  making  finest  pic¬ 
tures  in  its  history  and  product 
outlook  is  excellent.  Meanwhile 
tv  has  lost  much  of  its  novelty,  ap¬ 
peal” 

However,  Arnall  Warned  that  ex- 
hibs  spent  too  much,  time  con¬ 
demning  producers  for  sale  of  pix 
to  video  and  producers  spent  too 
much  time  condemning  exhibs  for 
lack  of  showmanship. 


As  hag  been  anticipated,.  Loew’s 
Inc.f  which  has  experienced  the 
most  trying  year  in  its  history, 
showed  a  loss  of  $455,000  for  the 
fiscal  year  ended  Aug.  81,'  1957. 
The  downward  'trend  continued 
into  the  first  quarter  of  the  cur¬ 
rent  fiscal  period  ending  Nov.  21, 
1957,  with  Hie  company  registering 
a  loss  of  $1,290,849,  equivalent  to 
24c  per  share  of  common  stock. 

However,  prexy  Joseph  R.  Vogel 
In  his  annual  report  to  the  com¬ 
pany’s  stockholders,  declared  that 
toe  decline  In  the  company’s  busi¬ 
ness  had  been  lialted  and  “there 
has  been  a  resurgence  of  business 
Which  commenced  with  toe  holiday 
season  and  promises  well  for  the 
coming  months  with  the  features 
we  now  and  will  have  in  release.” 

Vogel  also  disclosed  that  toe 
company's  fixed  payroll  has  been] 
cut  almost  $4, 000, OOP  annually  and 
that  other  reorganization  programs 
would  result  In  additional  payroll 


savings  of  $2,000,000.  Severance 
payments  and  other  related  ex¬ 
penses,  Vogel  noted,  will  delay  toe 
full  reflection  of  these  payroll  sav¬ 
ings  for  several  dhonths.  : 

This  year’s  audit  was  by  new 
accounting  practices  Instituted  re¬ 
cently  by  Arthur  Andersen  &  Go. 
Had  the  company  followed  its  pre¬ 
vious  auditing  system,  according  to 
Vogel,  there  would  have  been  earn¬ 
ings  of  $745,000  instead  of  the 
$455,000  loss. 

The  company’s  heavy  losses,  Vo¬ 
gel  noted,  were  Incurred  In  the 
film  production-distribution  opera¬ 
tions.  All.  other  divisions  of  the 
company— theatres,  television,  ra¬ 
dio,  records  and  music— -Operated 
[successfully,  but  their  profits  could 
not  offset  studio's  losses. 

Studio  Red,  $7-Mil 

Before  interest  charges  and  fed¬ 
eral  taxes,  toe  Metro  studio  and 
distribution  operations  lost  $7,784,- 
000.  On  the  other  hand,  the  com- 


)VVVJ 

pany’s  television,  radio,  record  and 
music  publishing  subsidiaries 
earned  $5,520,000  and  Loew’s  do¬ 
mestic  arid  Canadian  'theatres 
earned  $3,975,000.  Net  book  value 
of  the  company  was  listed  at  $137,- 
359,190  or  $25.75  per  share. 

No  attempt  at  comparison  with 
previous  fiscal  year  "would  make 
sense  under  new  accounting  prac¬ 
tices.  “Accordingly,”  it's  stressed, 
“it  should  be  understood  that  the 
loss  reported  for  1957  should  not 
be  compared  to  the  profit  reported 
[  for  toe  previous  year  as  an  indica¬ 
tion  of  the  relative  results  of  oper¬ 
ations  for  the  two  years.” 

New  accounting  -r-  created 
charges  reducing  net  earnings  by 
$1,200,000.  In  addition,  it’s  noted 
that  ad  justments  applicable  to  ^pe¬ 
riods  prior  to  Sept.  1,  1956  result¬ 
ing  from  changes  in  accounting 
practices  amounted  to  $6,307,000. 

According  to  the  financial  re- 
(Continued  on  page  25)  I 


4-  Appearance  oFPaul  Newman  and 
Joanne  Woodward  on  the  “Play¬ 
house  90’’  show  on  television  last 
week  again  has  raised  the  question 
of  whether  it  hurts  or  helps  to 
have  new  star*  go  on  toe  air  in 
long,  dramatic  parts. 

Both  players  are  teamed  in  too 
upcoming  Jerry  Wald  production 
(via  20to-Fox)  of  “The  Long,  Hot 
Summer.”  Newman  Is  a  freelancer, 
but  Miss  Woodward  is  under  con¬ 
tract  to  20th.  She's  permitted  to 
do  tv  oneshots.  . 

Some  at  toe  company  feel  that 
the  appearance  of  the*  attractive 
new  “team”  on  tv  can  help  both 
their  rising  popularity  and  the  pic¬ 
ture. 

Others  feel,  strongly,  that  to# 
new  talent  shouldn’t  be  showcased 
on  tv  where  chances  are  very  good 
that  they  may  be  wasted  or  mis¬ 
cast,  i.e.  presented  in  an  unfavor¬ 
able  light.  “The  way  they  throw 
shows  together  on  television,  you 
can  neverbe  sure,”  commented  a 
top  20th  exec.  “It.  so  happens,  the 
reaction  to  ‘Playhouse  90’  was  good 
and  a  lot  of  people  saw  it.  But  it 
could  have  been  the  exact  oppo¬ 
site.” 

Example  of  model  Suzy  Parker, 
is  cited.  Without  acting  back¬ 
ground,  and  just  before  the  release 
of  her  first  film,  “Kiss  Them  for 
Me,”  but  in  the  wake  of  a  consci¬ 
entious  buildup  for  a  new  "star,’1 
she  appeared  in  the  tv  play  “Death 
of  Manolete”  and  was  mercilessly 
panned.  *  There  was  a  feeling  that 
this  helped  prejudice  some  critic* 
against  her. 

Coinpanies  realize  that  there 
isn’t  much  they  can  do  about  block¬ 
ing  the  tv  appearance  of  the  older 
and  more  established  stars  who 
freelance.  They  do'  think  they 
should  be  able  to  protect  their  in¬ 
vestment  in  the  new  talent  which 
now,  gradually,  is  again  being 
signed  up. 

One  of  the  reasonings  against 
tv  appearances  by  new  film  faces 
is  that  they  tend  to  lose  their  “spe¬ 
cial”  flavor,  appearing  on  the  free 
medium  in.  competition  to  the  the¬ 
atres.  Here,  it’s  recalled  that  Pat 
Boone’s  picture  once  opened  on  a 
saturation  basis  in  an  area  the 
same  night  that  Boone  appeared  on 
the  air.  It  was  clearly  a  case  of 
competing  with  himself. 

“If  we  can  develop  attractive 
personalities,  who  can  be  seen  only 
in  the  theatres,  we’re  one  ahead,” 
runs  the  argument 

In  this  connection,  Warner  Bros, 
last  Week  stopped  Gwen  Verdonr 4 
from  guesting  on  Dinah  Shore 
show  Where  she  was  skedded  to  do 
a  dance  from  “Damn  Yankee."  WB 
owns  the  property  and  plans  to 
make  a  film  of  it  starring  Miss  Ver- 
don.  The  studio  didn’t  like  the 
idea  of  showcasing  the  routine  on 
tv  prior  ,  to  the  start  of  the  picture. 

It’*  pointed  out  that  the  stars’ 
demand*  compensation-wise  are 
going  to  keep  tv  from  getting  a  lot 
of  the  new  faces  anyway.  One 
player  is  asking  $50,000  per  ap¬ 
pearance. 


CALLS  CHICAGO  COP 
CENSOR  ‘RIDICULOUS’ 

Chicago,  Jan.  21. 

Paramount  is  protesting  Chicago 
Police  Censor  Board’s  pink  ticket 
(adults  only)  for  its  “Wild  Is  the 
Wind,”  current  at  the  Enquire, 
Board  objected  to  two  sequences  in 
the;  film — one  showing  the  birth  of 
a  lamb,  the  other  a  brief  view  of 
Anna  Magnani  walking  Into  An¬ 
thony  Franciosa’s  bedroom. 

Par  terms  the  objection  ridicu¬ 
lous  and  is  trying  to  get  removal  of 
the  pink  ticket  for  the  pic’s  nabe 
run.  If  the  board  refuses,  the  two 
scenes  will  have  to  be  deleted  in 
order  ;to  get  the  youngster  trade. 


PICTURE  GROSSES 


H.(h  Help  LA  Biz;  Teyton’ Mighty 
$44100, 4  Spots,  *Kwai9  Solid  19%G, 
‘Arms  3IG  in  4,  ‘Sayonara’  Big  23G 


Los  Angeles,  Jan.  21.  4- 

Local  firstruns  are  holding  up 
in  fairly  nice  stride  this  round  be¬ 
cause  of  great  holdovers.  .“Qeyton 
Place,”  now  in  four  situations  in¬ 
stead  of  the  original  three,  looks 
like  smash  $44,000  and  city  leader. 
In  the  three  spots  where  it  had 
been  playing,  the  pic  now  is  in  its 
sixth  week,  “Sayonara”  also  is 
Showing-  up  strongly  in  fourth 
stanza  at  Hollywood  Paramount  ■ 
with  lush  $23,000  likely.  . 

“Bridge  on  River  Kwai”  is  aim¬ 
ing  for  solid  $19,500  in  fifth  round 
at  the  Egyptian.  In  contrast,  all 
openers  are  on  the  weak  side  in 
regular  engagements  but  combo  of 
“Teenage  Frankenstein”- ‘Blood  of 
Dracula”  shapes  light  $14,500  in 
three  houses. -However,  it  should  ' 
be  a  socko  $90,000  total  for  a  .  15- 
house  spread. 


Estimated  Total  Gross  . 

This  week  .  .  . . $575,900 

< Based  on  26  theatres) 
Last  Year  .  .  . . $535,100 

( Based  on  24  theatres) 


"Ramtree9  Rkh 
$20,000  in  Prov. 


Providence,  Jan.  21. 
"Raintree  County”  is  hitting  a 


^ear  Water”  sllapes  last  pace  at  the  State  to  lead  a 
stout  $15,500  m  fourth  Pantages  fairly  steady  first-run  setup.  Ma- 
round.  Witness  For  Prosecution  jestic  with  fourth  of  “Sayonara”  is 
looms  sturdy  $11,000  for  fifth  Bev-  still  fine:  RKO  Albee  looks  good 
erly  Hills  session  'FarewellTo  with  "Old  Yeller.”  Strand  is  niild 
Arms,”  fair  at  the  -Chinese,  but  w;th  “Mister  Ro~v  and  Roll  ” 
okay  $31,000  or  near  including  four  Elates  TrtSa' Week 
habe  spots.  Albee  (RKO  (2,200;  65-80)— 

Estimates  for  This  Week  “Old  Yeller”  (BV)  and  “Gunfire  at 
HUlstreet,  Iris,  Uptown  (RKO-  Indian  Gap”  (Indie).  Good  $8,000. 
FWC)  <2,752;  825;  1,715;  90-$1.50)  Last  week,  "Tarnished  Angels”  (U) 
— “I  Was  Teenage  Frankenstein”  and  “Looking  for  Danger”  (AA), 
(AI)  and  “Blood  of  Dracula”  (AI).  $7,500. 

Light  $14,500.  Last  week.  Hill-  Elmwood  (Snyder)  (745;  $2-$2.50) 
street  with  Ritz,  “Pal  Joey”  (Col)  — "Around  World  in  80  Days”  (UA) 
(1st  multi-run),  and  “Tijuana  (15th  wk).  Moderating  to  $6,000. 
Story”  (Col)  (3d  wk,  HUlstreet;  2d  Ltet  week  was  the  same, 
wk,  Ritz),  $8,600.  Iris  with  Down-  Majestic  (SW)  (2,200;  90-$l;25)— 
town  Paramount,  “Deep  Six”  (WB)  “Sayonara”  (WB)  (4th  wk).  Nice 
and  "Taming  Sutton’s  Gal”  (Rep)  $7,000.  Third  session  was.  $10,000. 
(2d  wk),  $7,300.  Uptown  with  Or-  State  (Loew)  (3,200;  90-$125>— 
pheum.  New  Fox,  “Kiss  Them  for  — "Raintree  County”  (M-G)  Very 
Me”  (20th)  (1st  multi-run)  and  hefty  $20,000  or  near.  Last  week; 
"Doctor  at  Large”  (U)  $9,600.  “lies  Girls”  (M-G)  and  “Ride  Back’? 

State,  Hawaii  (UATC-G&S)  :(2,-  (M-G)  (2d  wk),  nice  $10,500  in  9 
404;  1,106;  9Q-$1.50>— “This  Is  Rus-  days 

sia”  (U)  and  "Simon  /and  Laura”  Strand  (Nat’l.  Realty)  (2,200;  60- 
(U).  Tepid  $8,500.  East  week,  85)— “Mister  Rock  and  Roll”  (Pair) 
"Zero  Hour”  (Par)  and  "Submarine  and  “Devil’s  Hairpin”  (Par).  Mild 
Command”  (Par)  (re-issue),  $10,800L  $5,000,  Last  week,  "Operation 
Downtown  Paramount,  New  Fox  Mad  Ball”  (Col)  arid  "Escape  from 
(ABPT-FWC)  (3,300;  965;  90-$1.50)  Sari  Quentin”  (Col),  $6,000. 

—“Oklahoma”  (20th)  and  "Carou-  — ■ - — - — — 

sel”  (20th)  (reissues).  Fair  $9,000.  _  ... 

ARMS  FINE  $15,000, 

““  (UA)  (reissues).  Dun  FRISCO;  ‘WOMAN’  136 

Hollywood  (FWC)  (756;  90-$1.50)  San  Francisco,  Jan.  21. 

^In^y  %th? k d  Holdovers  continue  to  be  the 

PaiS  ?lnnn  wtht  aSd JSK*  maiDstays  .  here'  at  first-runs. 
&inn$4,00°  Last  week’  "Farewell  To  Arms”  shapes  fine 

Hollywood  Paramount  (F&M)  !,- 

OR  to  AfU _ <4CntrAnnT*fk”  /Wtl\  ^  TdX6Q  SOCKO  ill  XOlUTil  PflTfl* 

488,  $12^$240^  Sayonara  (WB)  m0UDt  round.  ..DoIlt  Go  Near 

(Continued  on  page  22)  Water”  continues  Uvely  Ufa, 
Warfield  week.  "And  God  Created 
Cmorr  R  fl  Pm*  ^PaitIavi’  Woman”  still  is  smash  in  fourth 

LmCy  D.U.  Dig*  reyion  stanzas  playing  day^date  in  two 
1  f,  ai  n  aaa  •  j.f  arty  theatres.  "Gervaise”  and 
LOltV  SlZtVUU,  in  4tll«  "Razzia,”  both  in  third  weeks  are 
■  T  ,  m  the  other  hot  arties:  "Eighteen 

Xoyniiara  Ifl,  fnr  $11  and  Anxious”  looks  best  of  new- 
iMyUUdld  IJU  IOI  till  comers,  being  good 'at  the  St.  Fran- 


pTsm^t 


‘Sayonara’ Tall  $13,000, 
Denver;  Teyton’  116, 4 

Denver,  Jain.  21, 

The  seven-inch  snow  last  Satur- 
day-Sunday  Is  putting  a  crimp  in 
the  overall  take  here  currently. 
However,  it  will  not  hurt  some  of 
the  bigger  longrunners.  "Peyton 
Place”  looms  as  standout  among 
these  being  fancy  in  fourth  week 
at  the  Centre,  and  stays  oUr  "Say¬ 
onara”  also  looms  fancy  in  third 
round  at  Paramount.  "Girl  Most 
Likely”  is  rated  best  of  new  pix, 
with  a  good  take  at  Denham. 

Estimates' for  This  Week 

Aladdin  (Fox)  (1,400;  70-90)— 
"Old  Yeller”  (BV)  (4th  wk).  Fine 
$4,500.  Stays.  Last  week,  $6,000. 

Centre  (Fox)  (1,247;  90-$1.50)— 
"Peyton  Place”  (20th>  (4th  wk). 
Good  $11*000.  Holding.  Last  week, 
$17,000. 

Denham  (CockriR)  (1,428;  70-90) 
—“Girl  Most  Likely”  (U).  Good 
$8,000.  Last  week,  "Sad  Sack” 
(Par)  (4th  wk),  $7,000. 
i  Denver  (Fox)  (2,586;  70-90)— 
“Rodan”  (DCA)  and  “Kill  In  Ko¬ 
rda”  (DCA).  Fair.  $11,000  or  under. 
Last  week, .  "Deep  Six”.  (WB)  and 
"Jamboree”.  (WB),  $13,000. 

Esqnire  (Fox)  (742;  70-90)— 

“Brothers  In  -  Law”  (Cont).  Mild 
$1,500.  Last  week;  "Torero”  (Col) 
(2d  wk),  $2,500. 

Orphenm  (RKO)  (2,596;  90-$1.50) 
— "Raintree  County”  (M-G)  (4th 
wk).  Nice  $9,000.  Last  week, 
$12,000. 

Paramount  (Wolfberg)  (2,000;  90- 
$1.25)— "Sayonara”  (WB)  (3d  wk). 
Fancy  $13,000.  Last  week,  $18,000. 

Tabor  (FoX)  (930;  $1.25-$2.50)— 
"Around  World  in  .80  Days”  (UA) 
(36th  wk).  Fine  $8,000,  and  out. 
Last  week,  $6,000. 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


Telfer Hot  $25,000,  Det.;  Ufater 
Deep  12G*  4th,  ‘Woman  Wow,  $2 


Detroit,  Jan.  21.. 
V  r  Strong  newcomers  plus  solid 

Key  tlty  brosses  longtennew  add  up  to  another 

v  <  ■  great  week  for  downtown  deluxers. 

-  a.  .  And  God  Created  Woman”  is  ter- 

Estlmated  Total  Grom  rifle  at  Trans-Lux  Krim.  "Old 

This  Week  _ ...  $2,721,000  Yeller”  is  plenty  bright  at  the  Mad- 

( Based  on  23  cities  and  256  ison.  '  Gums'  Don’t  Argue”  shapes 
theatres,  chtefllf  ftrst  runs,  in-  Fe,at “Cyclops” 
eluding  NY)  looks  hotsy  at  the  Broadway-Capi- 

£d"  Sm'  V&7331H  Holdover,  “Petfon  Place,-  in 

ind  234  thirt  Fox;  "Sayonara,*’  also 

(Based  on  22  cities  and  234  at  ^  Mlchigan  ^  ..D6n.t 

theatres.)  Go  Near  Water,”  in  fourth  Adams 

'  ■  .  mi  ■  s'  round,  all  stay  solid. .  Long-termers 

.-v  ....  •  4-/.  "Around  World  in  80  Days  ”  at  the 

*Dai4am’  Ij«avL  1 7r  United  Artists,  and  "Seven  Won- 

reyton  nignl/b,  ^Tunt^do"^^6  Music  Hau 

y  .  Estimates  for  This  Week 

riAirA  •  V|  Pox  (Fox-Detroit)  (5,000;  $1.25- 

LIcVCaa  TTOnidll  011  $150)— "Peyton  Place”  (20th)  (3d 
VIV  I  Dvumu  wk)  Great  $26,000.  Last  week* 

$31200. 

MteMw*  (United  Detroit)  (4,000: 
Safecracker  is  domg  okay  at  9o_$i.50)  —  "Sayonara”  (WB)  (3(4 
State  as  one  of  .mainsteam’s  few  wk).  Fine  $20,000.  Last  week, 
newcomers  which  are  being  over-  $25,000. 

shadowed  by  strong  long-runners.  palhis  (UD)  (2,961;  90-$1.25)— 
"Cinerama  Holiday”  wound  up  "Guns  Don’t  Argue”  (Indie)  and 
hearty  29-week*  run  Monday  (20)  at  "Walk  into  Hell”  (Indie).  Swell 
Palace  where  "Seven  Wonders  of  $18,000.  Last  week,  "Deep  Six” 
World”  moves  in  Jan.  22  with  (WB)  and  "Gunfire  at  Indian.  Gap” 
benefit  performance  for  K.  of  C.  (Rep>  $18,000. 
apd  Catholic  charities.  “Peyton  Madison  (UD)  (1,900;  90-$1.50)— 
Place  in  fourth  round  looks  big  *.old  YeUer”  (BV).  Torrid  $25,000. 
at  Hipp.  Allens  fourth  with  Say-  Last  week,  "Girl  Most  Likely”  (U) 
Onara”  also  shapes  sturdy.  "Don’t  and  “Escapade  in  Japan”  CU). 

Go  Near  Water”  is  rated  very  good  000 

Br.aiw.y-C.plt..  (UD)  (3,500; 
World  in  80  Days  at  Ohio  shows  qn_*,  _  “PvMnns”  (AA)  and 

upbeat  signs  on  32nd  week.  S^fSer  of  iS  Jekyll”  (AA).  Big 

Estimates  for  This  Week  $15,000.  Last  week,  "Was  Teenage 
Alien  (S-W)  (3,800;  90-$i.50)—  Frankenstein”  (Indie)  and  "Blood 


*  Cincinnati,  Jan.  21. 
Holdovers  are  racking  up  more 
fatso  grosses  this  session.  It’s  the 


Estimates  for  This  Week 
Golden  Gate  (RKO)  (2,859;^  90- 


first  time  that  three  RKO  key  $1.25)— "All  Mine  To  Give”  (U) 
houses  have  carried  extended-runs  and  ‘^Looking  For  Danger”  (AA). 
past  the  third  weeks  at  the  same  Poor  $7,500.  Last  week,  “Tar- 
time.  Two  of  them  are  fourth-  nished.  Angels”  (U)  and  "Black 
rounders,  “Peyton  Place”  still  lofty  Tent”  (Rank)  (2d  wk),  $9,000. 
at  the  Palace  jand  "Raintree  Coun-  Fox  (FWC)  (4,651;.  $1.25-$1. 50)— 
ty,”  solid  at  the  Grand.  "Sayonara”  “Farewell  To  Arms”  (20th)  (3d  wk).. 
looms  hotsy  in  third  frame  at  the  (Continued  on  page  22) 

big  Albee,  the  third  RKO  house. - — — — - — ; — — — :  -.  . - - — 

"Kiss  Them  For  Me,”  only  new  __  _  _  _ 

bill,  shapes  mildly  at  Keith’s.  If  A  II.  lx  /  < 

Long-runs  are  in  clover.  "Search  If  ||  C  f  KQIm* 

for  Paradise”  retains  sturdy  stride  5  Hvb 

In  seventh  stanza  Pad  "Around 

World  in  80  Days”  has  stepped  up  1  Ap  40  I  17* 

.harply  on  notice  that  end  of  run  ^00813  10 

Estimates  for  This  Week 

Albee  (RKO)  (3,100;  90-$1.50)—  '  .  Baltimore,  Jan.  21. 

"Sayonara”  (WB)  (3d  wk).  Hotsy  Grosses  this  frame  are  warmish 
$13,000.  Holds  for  fourth  week,  with  healthy  holdovers  still  leading 
Last  week,  $18,000.  the  pack.  "Peyton  Place”  con- 

Capitol  (SW-Cinerama)  (1,376;  tinues  rugged  in  fourth  frame  at 
$1.20-$2.65)— “Search  for  Paradise'*  Century  while  "Sayonara”  in 

(Cinerama)  (7th  wk).  Sturdy  $15,-  week  at  the.  Stanley  is  rated 

500,  matching  last  week’s  taket  nice.  “Raintree  County"  holds 

Grand  (RKO)  (1,400;  90-$1.50)—  lively  at  the  Film  Centre  and  "Pal 

"Raintree  County”  (M-G)  (4th  wk).  Joey”  is  okay  in  fourth  frame  at 

Solid  $11,000,  Last  week,  $14,500.  the  Hippodrome.  Only  big  new 
Run  continues.  entry  was  “My  Man  Godfrey” 

Guild  (Vance)  (500;  50-90)— “All  which  opened  smoothly  at  the  New. 
At  Sea”  (M-G)  (4th  wk).  Pleasing  “Flesh  Is  Weak”  is  fair  at  the  May- 
$1,600  after  $1,800  third  round.  fair.. 

Keith’s  (Shor)  (1,500;  75-$1.25)—  Estimates  for  This  Week 
"Kiss  Them  For  Me”  (20th).  Mild  Century  (Friichtman)  (3,100;  50- 
$6,000.  Last  week,  “Legend  of  $1.50)— “Peyton  Place"  (20th)  (4th 
Lost”  (UA)  (2d  wk),  $5,800.  wk).  Nifty  $12,000  after  $15,000  in 

Palace  (RKO)  (2,600;  90-$-I.50) —  third. 

"Peyton  Place”  (20th)  (4th  wk).  Cinema  (Schwaher)  (460;  50- 

Robust  $12,000.  Stays  a  fifth  frame.  $1-25) — “God  Created  Woman” 
Last  week,  $16,000.  (Kings)  (10th  wk).  Good  $3,800 

Valley  (Wiethe)  (1,300;  $1.50-  after  $4,500  in  previous  week. 
$2.50) — "Around  World”  (UAJ  (32d  Film  Centre  (Rappaport)  (890; 
wk).  Holding  to  great ’$12,000  pace  50-$1.50)  —  “Raintree  County” 
of  last  week’s  upward  push  on  (M-G)  (3d  wk).  Tall  $10,000.  Sec- 
strength  of  notices  that  end  of  run  ond  was  $11,000. 
nears.  "Oklahoma”  awaits  tenancy.  Five  West  (Schwaber)  (460;  50- 


Teyton’  Vivid  306, 
PMIy; ‘Water  10G 

Philadelphia,  Jan.  21. 

Weekend  biz  at  first-runs  was 
sloughed  by  cold  and  snow,  but 
some  of  stouter  pix  continue  to 
grab  great  takes  here.  "Peyton 
Place,”  still  sockeroo  in  third  Fox 
week,  'and  "Sayonara,”  big  in 
fourth  stanza  at  the  Randolph,  con¬ 
tinue  as  town  toppers.  The  Boyd 
axed.  10:30  p.m.  Saturday  and  5:30 
Sunday  afternoon  performances. 
Few  newcomers  are  getting  any 
place. 

Estimates  for  This  Week 

Arcadia  (S&S)  (526;  99-$1.80)— 
“Don’t  Go  near  Water”  (M-G)  (3d 
wk).  Big  $10,000.  Last  week, 
$12,000. 

Boyd  (SW-Cinerama)  (1*340; 
$1^0-$2.80)  —  "Search  for  Para¬ 
dise”  (Cinerama)  (16th  wk).  Solid 
$9,000.  Last  week,  $9,100. 

Fox  (National)  (2,500;  55-$1.80)— 
“Peyton  Place”  (20th)  (3d  Wk). 
Great  $30,000.  Last  week,  $35,000. 

Goldman  (Goldman)  (1,250;  65- 
$1.25)— “I  Was  a  Teenage  Were¬ 
wolf”  <Al)  and  “Invasion  of  Sau-! 
cer-Men”  (AI).  Fair  $8,000.  Last 
week,  ‘Tarnished  Angels”  (U.)  (3d 
wk),  $6,500. 

Green  HU1  (Serena)  (750;  75- 
$1.25)  (closed  Sundays)  —  "Cast 
Dark  Shadow”  (Indie).  Bright 
$4,200.  Last  week,.  "Novel  Affair” 
(Indie)  (3d  wk),  $3,200: 

Mastbaum  (SW)  (4,370;  99-$1.49) 
— “Graf  Spee”  (Rank).  Drab  $5,000. 

.  (Continued  on  page  22) 


In  fourth  lap  at  Stillman.  “Around 
World  in  80  Days”  at  Ohio  shows  on  “ 

upbeat  xlgns  ou  SJndweek.  Sgf4hterlt  I 

Estimates  for  Thla  Week  $15  000.  Last  > 
Allen  (S-W)  (3,800;  90-$1.50)—  Frankenstein” 
"Sayonara”  (WB)  (4th  wk).  Sturdy  of  Dracula” 


$16,000.  Last  week,  $19,000: 
Embassy  (Community)  (1,200;  I 


$12,000. 

United  Artists  (UA)  (1,667;  $1.25- 


H.0.s  Pace  Balto;  Teyton  Bangup 
12G,  ‘Sayonara9 16G,  4th* ‘Godfrey  6G 


$1.25)— "Nana"  (Indie).  Warm 
$4,500.  Last  week,  "Smallest  Show 
on  Earth”  (Indie),  $2,000. 

Hippodrome  (Rappaport)  (2,300; 
50-$1.25>— ‘Tal  Joey”  (Col)  (4th 
wk):  Okay.  $6,500  after  $9,000  In 
third.  ; 

Mayfair.  (Fruchtman)  (980;  50- 
$1.25)— "Flesh  Is  Weak”  (DCA). 
Torrid  $10,000.  Last  week,  "Tall 
Stranger”  (AA),  $5,000. 

New  (Fruchtman)  (1,600;  <  50- 
$1.25)— “My  Man  Godfrey”  (U). 
Lively  $6,000  in  first  four  days. 
In  ahead,  "Enemy  Below”  (20th), 
$11,000  in  10  -days.  . 

Playhouse  (Schwaber)  (460;  50- 
$1.25)— “Panic  in!  Parlor”  (DCA) 
(4th  wk).  Okay  $3,000  after  $3,000 
in  third. 

Stanley  (SW)  (3,200;  50-$1.50)— 
“Sayonara"  (WB)  (4th  wk).  Fine 
$16,000.  Last  week,  $17,000.  * 

Town  (SW-Cinerama)  (1,125; 
$1.25-$2:25) — “Seven  Wonders  of 
World"  (Cinerama)  (4th  wk).  pair 
$9,000  after  about  same  in  previous 
week. 


70-90)  —  “Long  -Haul”  (Col)  and  $3)— “Around  World”  (UA)  (56th 
“Return  to  Warbow”  (Col):  Smart  wk).  ^  Okay  $10,000.  Last  week, 
$5,200.  Last  week,  "Hard  Man”  same. 

(Col)  and  “Tiajuana  Story”  (Col),  Adams  (Balaban)  (1,700;  $1.25- 
$6,300.  ,  $150)— “Don’t  Go  Near  Water” 

Continental  (Art  Theater  Guild)  (M-G)  (4th  wk).  Fine  $12,000.  Last 
(850;  $1.25)^— “Sins  of  Cassanova”  week*  $12,500. 

(Indie).  (2d  wk).  Average' $1,800.  Music  Hall  (SW  -  Cinerama) 
Last  week,  $2,000.  (1,205;  $1.50-$2.65>— "Seven  Won- 

Helghts  Art  (Art  Theatre  Guild)  ders”  (Cinerama)  (77th  wk).  Solid 
(925;  $1:25)— "And  God  Created  $13,600.  Last  week,  same: 

Woman”  (Kings)  (4th  wk).  Fine  Trans-Lux  lfrim  (Trans-Lux) 
$8,000  after  $9,000.  (1,000;  90-$1.65)— "And  God  Cre- 

Hipp  (Telem’t)  (3,700;  $1.25-  sited  Woman”  .  (Kings).  Terrific 

$1.50)— "Peyton  Place”  (20th)  (4th  $20,000.  Last  week,  “All  At  Sea” 
wk).  ExceUent  $17,000.  Last  week,  (M-G)  (3d  wk),  $3,700. 

$18,000.  '  •  - -  - - - - 

Lower  Mall  (Community)  (500; ,  ■  .  -  _  AA .  - 

fEu9S-:drwk)Wl^%02B8MuafS  Ramtree  Smooth  20K5, 

*4Ohk>  (Loew)  (1.244;  $1.25-$2.50)  Pittj  ‘AllgCls’  0k3y  6jG, 
— "Around  World”  (UA)  (32nd  wk).  m  ,  j  n  ,  j 

sock  $10,000.  Last  week,  $9,000.  fevtoii  Great  17G.  Zd 

Palace  (SW-Cinerama)  (1,523;  1  J  ,  ‘  ;  > 

$1.25-$2.40)  — “Cinerama  HoUday”  Pittsbuagh,  Jan.  21. 

(Cinerama)  (29th  wk).  Last  9  days.  Only  two  new  entries  in  current 
socko  $27,500.  "Seven  Wonders  of  downtown  lineup  "Raintree  Coun* 
World”  (Cinerama)  opens  Jan.  22.  ty”  at  Penn-  and  "Tarnished  An- 
State  (Loew)  (3,500;  70-90)  —  gels”  at  Fulton.  Former  is  corii- 
“Safecracker”  (M-G).  Okay  $10,-  ing  in  far  under  expectations.  In 
000,  Last  week,  "Legend  of  Lost”  the  meantime,  “Peyton  Place”  in 
(UA)  (2d  wk),  $9,000.  second  week  at  Harris  and  "SSy- 

Stillman  (Loew)  (2,700;  90-$1.20)  onara”  in  third  at  Stanley .  con- 
— Don’t  Go  Near  Water”  (M-G)  tiniie  to  show  considerable 
(4th  wk).  Very  good  $8,000.  Last  strength.  ’And  "God  Created  Worn- 
week,  $9,000.  an”  is  still  a  bonanza  at  Squirrel 

■ - -  Hill  arty  house. 

‘Pm'ftN’  rpij  IT  1  tf  Estimates  for  This  Week 

rEIlUll  UALAl  luu  Fulton  (Shea)  (1,700;  80-$1.25)— 

TO  DTTTT.  OUATED>  I'AA  "Tarnished  Angels”  (U).  Crix 
In  DUfr.,  WAltK  lUU  Jumped  on  this  one  but  $6,500  or 
t  over  is  not  so  bad.  Last  week, 

,  ,Buffalo’  Jan-  21 '  “Man  in  Shadow”  (U)  and  "This  Is 
City  still  is  jammed  with  hold-  Russia”  (U),  $4,000. 
overs,  with  new  entries  not  so  hot.  Guild  (Green)  (500;  80-$1.25) — 
Best  showing  is  being  made  by  "Escapade”  (DCA)  and  “Panic  in 
“Peyton  Place,”  rated  great  CAL 'First  time 'for -a 

third  wPPk  dualer  at  this  arter.  In  an  effort 

also  looms  fine' to  fourth  Tthe  taSbyVtol  «U  P  Hel^ 

SSS  -DlifGott  tog  a  uta§:.SaSSelJ2“M  iS. 

Water”  Sokavln  Last  week,  “Lost  Contiuent”  (Lope) 

the  Buffalo  k  '  th  ^  at  (4th  wk),  $2,000  in  12  days. 

EstimafM  Fnr  Harris  (Harris)  (2,165;  99-$1.30)— 

.  s  ima^  For  This  Week  «peyt0n  place”  (20th)  (2d  wk). 
Buffalo  (Loew)  (3,500;  70-$1.25)  Holding  up  well  at  great  $17,000. 
—  Dont  Go  Near  Water”  (M-G)  Last  week,  $22,000. 

(3d  wk).  Okay  $10,000  in  9  days.  Penn  (UA)  (3,300;  99-$1.50)— 
Last  week,  $14,000.  "Raintree  County”  (M-G).  A  lot 

Paramount  (AB-PT)_  (3,000;  70-  more  looked  for  than  $20,500,  espe- 
90)— "Deep  Six”  (20th)  and  "Plun-  cially  after  a  hard,  expensive  cam- 
der  ROad”  (20th).  Mild  $9,000.  Last  paign.  Last  week,  "Don’t  Go  Near 
week,  "Kiss  Them  For  Me”  (20th)  Water”  (M-G)  (2d  wk),  $13,000/ 
and  “Badlands  of  Montana”  (20th),  Squirrel  Hill  (SW)  (900*  99-$1.25) 
$18,500.  — "God  Created  Woman”  (Kings) 

Center  (AB-PT)  (2,000;  70-90) _  (5th  wk).  Starting  to  slide  but  still 

"Sayonara”  (WB)  (4th  wk)  Fine  1°  ^8  money  at:  about  $5,0Q0. 
$9,000.  Last  week,  $11,000.  *  Last  week;  $6,200.. 

Lafayette  (Basil)  (3,000;  70-90)—  Stanley  ®9^1'5(te 

"My  Man  Godfrey”  (U)  and  "Quan-  Sa^pn^ra.  ^k)\  ?  | 

tez”  (U).  Okav  $9  000  Last  wppV  weekend  insures  another  winning 

“Old  YeUer”  Wf(2d  wk)!  sam^!  9ticks  ^gain- 

"p£?S  Wa^rTsWCUierama),  (1,300^ 

r  o  .(20trth>  (3d  wk).  $L20-$2.40)— “Search  for  Paradise’* 
Great  $15,000.  Last  week,.  $20,000.  (Cinerama)  (15th  wk).  Numbers 
(SW-Cinerama)  (1,200;  of  shows  cut  to  10  weekly  but 
$1.20-$2.40)  —  "Search  for  Para-  hasn’t  hurt:  Special  party  sellouts 
dise”  (Cinerama)  (15th.  wkh  Oke  Saturday  mornings  helping.  Okay 
$5,000.  Last  week*  same.  1  $7,500.  Last  week,  $7,000. 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


Chi  Nearly  100%  Holdover;  Ifomair 
Wham  14G,  ‘Sayonara  Rousing  48G, 
Teller  Oke  18G,  ‘Water  Hotsy  25G 


_  Chicago,  Jan.  21.  4- 
Most  of  the  Loop’s  first-runs  _  . 

are  standing  pat  with  holdover  Estimates 'Are  Net 

puls,  which  range  from  good  to  -  ^ 

Sock.  Only  three  ndw  entries  cur- 

rent  are  at  a  Couple  of  action,  ^  fi?  V?!?" 

houses  and  anarty.  Best  looks  like  °4f.  ke/  cities,  are  net,  he* 

“Unholy  Wife”  and  “That  Night”  without  usual  tax.  DLstrib- 

at  Grand,  lively  $8,500.  htors  share  on  net  take,  when 

“Sayonara”  in  fourth  at  the  Chi-  Playing  percentage,  hence  the 

cage  still  looks  big.  Garrick’s  sec-  estimated  figures  are -net  ifi- 

ond  frame  of  “Motorcycle  Gang”  come, 

and  “Sorority  Girl”  looms  happy.-  The  parenthetic  admission 
“Mari  in  Shadow”  rates  fine  in  sec-  prices,  however;  as  indicated, 
ond  at  Roosevelt.  “Enemy  Below”  include  the  U.  S.  amusement 
at  Oriental,  and  “Legend  of  Lost”  tax. 

at  Woods'  both  in.  third  round;  are  a—— ■— — jj; 
losing  ground. 

.  “Arid  God  Created  Woman”  is  *0  I*  I;  ■  1  Qf^ 

still  sockeroo  in  fourth  Loop  frame.  APZ)]T/*|t  HQCf  |XI« 
Esquire’s  fifth  of  “Wild  Is  Wind”  Lrvttl  VU  1  CIO  l  lUXJy 
still  is  breezing  along.  ‘‘Old  Yeller” 

in  fourth  session  at  State-Lake  1\  A  <VY  .  )  4 

looks  okay.  ‘‘Don’t  Go  Near  Water”  1 1  I  •  KairTATI  I  .Kl¬ 
in  fourth  at  United  Artists  is  still  l/«Vrjr  1  vj  lull  lt/U 

ii/r  ® °a^?h°Wri  “Raintree  County at  Washington,  Jan.  21. 

McVickers  figure,  good  in  13th  Business  is  slightly  on  the  down- 
EstimatP«  for  This  wppV  beat  this  week  because  of  the  many 
Chicago  (B&K)  (3,900:  90^1.80)  bowed’lirt  weeknndtt1^  to®* 


$48,000.  Last  week,  $58,000. 
Esquire  (H&E  Balaban)  (1,350; 


new  pic  at  Keith’s,  shapes  thin. 


$1  25-^50)-‘^ild  Is  (PaS  “Sayonara”  is  rated  potent  In  two 


‘■Motorcycle  Gang"  CA1>  and'  “So-  ™asnrn  Uurd  Warn  session 
rority  Girl”  (AI)  (2d  wk).  Hotsy  Estimates  for  This  Week 
$12,500.  Last  week, :  $16,000.  Ambassador-Metropolitan  (SW) 

Grand  (Nomikos)  (1,200;  90-$1.25)  (1,490;  1,000;  90-$1.50)— “Sayonara” 
—“Unholy  Wife”  (UI),  “That  Night”  (WB)  (4th  wk).  Potent  $22,000  or 
(UI).  Lively  $8,500.  Last  week,  over;  Last  week,  $24,400. 


“Monolith  Monsters”  (U)  and  “Love 


Capitol  (Loew)  (3,434;  85-$1.25)— 


Slaves  of  Amazon”  (U)  (2d  wk),  “Don’t  Go  Near  Water”  tM-G)  (4th 


$5,000  in  4  days. 


wk).  Nice  $15,000  in  final  9  days. 


^Telem’t)  (606;  90-$1.50)—  House  is  currently  housing  the  New 
And  Created  Woman^  (King)  York  City  Ballet  through  this  Fri- 
(4th  wk).  Robust  $14,000.  Last  day  (24); 

McVlckers  (JL&S)  (1  580)*  05  Columbia  (Loew)  (1,154; 85-$  1.25) 

$3^0)-“RlfnW  ^ Countv”'  iM-G)  —‘Enemy  Below”  (20th)  (4th  wk). 

(13th  wk).  Good  $14,500.  Last  week,  lafn^.ek' 

$13  500  Keith’s  (RKO)  (1,850;  70-90)— 

Monroe  (Indie)  (1,000;  57-79)—  “All  Mine  to  Give”  (U).  Thin  $6,000. 
(Continued  on  page  22)  Palace  (Loew)  (2;350;  90-$1.50)— 

— _ _ “Peyton  Place”  (20th)  (5th  wk). 

_  ■  .  ..  , . .  Great  $15,900  after  $21,000  for  4th 

Too  Many  H.0.s  Hobble  stS^  (275:  9«-$i.5o,_  G«d 

If  f  •  <C||j»f|ni|j’  Kjnr  IftC  Created  Woman”  (Kings)  (11th  wk). 
u.Wsj  UllatlDW  FcUl  IvUj  Fantastic  $6,000  after  $5,500  last 

Tall  8G,  4th  ^tm^^Tt-l)  (eoo;  90-$i.5o>— 

■5  *  r  «7  “Pal  joey”  (Col)  (11th  wk).  Fair 

Kansas  City,  Jan.  21  $3,000  after  $3,000  last  week. 

Biz  continues  healthy  vein  but  uptown  (SW)  (1,100;  $1.25-$3)— 
too  many  holdovers  will  trim  total  “Around  World”  (UA)  (42d  wk). 
take  Only,  newcomers  are  “Man  Good  $i0, 000.  Last  week,  $10,500. 
in  Shadow’”  :fairish  in  three  Fox  Waraer  (SW-Cineramg)  (1,300; 
Midwest  houses,  and  Silken  Af-  $120-$2.40)— “Search  for  Paradise” 
fair”  so-so  at  Rockhill.:  Spck  news  (Cinerama)  (2d  wk).  Big  $UB, 000  for 
concerns  Rodan,  sensational  m  *ircf  f„ii  wool-  T.a«f  wooir  f«v. 


ln  ^naaow,”  .fairisft  in  tftree  if  ox  Waraer  (SW-Clneramg)  (1,300; 
Midwest  houses,  and  Silken  Af-  $120-$2.40)— “Search  for  Paradise” 
fair”  so-so  at  Rockhill.:  Spck  news  (Cinerama)  (2d  wk).  Big  $UB, 000  for 

SSfwolr  hfanSnn°ca^^  fb:St  fU^  Week.  Week,  f°r 

5rStfhrffk,hnn«iC1S  opening  five  shows,  including  three 

in  three  houses.  Otherwise  its  Uaturriav  u  to  7nn 
holdover  here.  Standout  is  “Pey-  0D  Saturday,  it  got  $9,700. 

ton  Place”  at  Tower  in  fourth 

round.  “Seven  Wonders  of  World”:  lAnJ  Cl  9  (1110 

at  the  Missouri  in  21st  week  still  ufljOIIflFfl  LOUQ  flL,UUU) 

13  UvErtim»ics  for.  Thu  week  Port:  ‘Peyton’  Bis  1HG 

Glen  (Dickinson)  (700;  75-90)—  l  ^  v 

“Bob:  and  Sally”  (Indie)  and  “She  Portland,  Ore.,  Jan.  21. 

Shoulda  Said  No”  (Indie)  7th  wk).  Town  is  loaded  with  holdovers 
Okay  $1,500.  Last:  week,  $1,800.  hut  they  are  continuing  to  keep 
Apollo,  BrookSide,  Vista  (Fox  grosses  high.  “Raintree”  Is  in  its 
Midwest)  (1,050;  900;  750;  85)—  fourth  week  at  the  Broadway. 
“Rodan”  (DC A)  (2d  wk)  arid  “Hell  /‘Sayonara”  looks  great  in  third 
in  Korea”  (DCA).  Fancy  $9,000.  round  at  the  Fox.  “Peyton  Place” 
Last  week,  including.  Isis  (1,350)  likewise  is  socko  in  third  session 
and  Granada  (1,215),  and  excluding  at  Orpheum.  “Tarnished  Angels” 
the  Apollo  (1,050),  wow  $23,000.  at  Paramount  is  rated  fair  but 
Kimo  (Dickirison)  (504;  90-$L25)  “Man  In  Shadows”  is  slim  at  Lib- 
— “How  To  Murder  Rich  Uncle”  erty. 

(Col)  (4th  wk).  Steady  $1,500.  Last  Estimates  for  This  Week 

^Mmiaid°(Loew)  (3,500;  90-$125)  t^n^^^tree^Couritv^fWS) 
—“Don’t  Go  Near  Water”  (M-G)  wlS 

(3d  wk).  Unusualy  long  run  at  this  itt«n^k  *  Warm  *6,000.  Last  week, 
big  house;  may  stay  9  days  for .  ▼7»^uu*  _  % 

great  $9,000.  Last  week,  $9,000.  Fine  Arts  (Foster)  (425;  $1.25)— r 
Missouri  (SW-Cinerama)  (1,194;  “Lady  Chatterly’s  Lover’  (Indie) 
$1.25-$2)  —  “Seven  Wonders  of  (2d  wk).  Fine  $2,500.  Last  week, 
World”  (Cinerama)  (21st  wk).  Oke  $3,100. 


$7,500.  Last  week,  $8,500, 


Fox  .  (Evergreen)  (1,536;  $1-$1.50) 


Paramount  (UP)  (1.900;  90-$l-25)  —“Sayonara”  (WB)  (3d  wk).  Great 
— “Sayonara”  (WB)  .  (3d  wk).  Nice  $12,000.  Last  week,  $11,400. 


$6,000.  Last  Week,  MO  ttOO  ^  GuUd  (Foster)  (400:  $1.25)  — 

«.Sf’ckS,on(>L,t“*.oalLTifffIfr"  “Third  Key"  (Indie)  So-sO  $2,000. 
(750;  75-90)  Silken  Affair  v  a  week  ‘‘Constant  Husband,* 

(DCA).  Pleasant  $1,600.  Last  week,  ^0)  $2300 
“Happened  in  Park”  (Indie),  same.  , 

,  R9*y  (Durwood)  (879;  90-$1.25- 


Liberty  (Hamrick)  (L890;  90- 


$l!50^— ‘‘Raintree  County’' ^OW-G)  ■  ^rn^sUm  ^$5  090 

w^w$8rooncy $7,0<W:  hoias' M 

^I«r  ffdk  Midwest)  (2.000:  90-  Water;-  (M-G)  .and  “C  arel  eas 
kl  25)— “Pevton  Place"  (20th)  (4th  Years”  (UA)  (2d  wk),  $6,700; 
wk)  Sturdy  $8  000*  may  stay  on.  Orpheum  .  .(Evergreen)  (1,600;  $1- 
Last  week^S  D  $1.50)-“Peyton  Place’’  (2Qth)  (3d 

Uptown.’  Fairway,  Granada  (Fox  wkL  Robust  $11,500;  Last  week. 
Midwest)  (2,043;  700;  1,217:  75-90)  $10,000.  _  •  p  M 

— /‘Man  in  Shadow”  (U)  and  “This  _  Paramount  (Port-Par)  (3,400  90- 
U  Russia"  (U)l  Fairish  $10,000,  $1.25)_--r  ^ai^shed  .  Angels  (U)  ( 
Last  week.  Uptown  and  Fairway  and  The  Weapon  (U),  Fair  $^uuu 
“Tarnished  Angels”  CUJ  arid  “Rjde  or 

Violent  Mile”  (20th)  (2d  wk),  $4,-  E?|t  OJA)  and  Ualton  Girl* 
i  0PQ.„  ^tGaanada,  ’Ttodan.”  (UA)  (2d  wk),  $7^00.  j 


PKklEF? 


‘Wonde^s,  Boffd  236, 
Seattle;  ‘Peyton-  8G*  4 

Seattle,  J  an. .  21. 

This  is  the  final  Week  for  “Seven 
Wonders  of  World”  at  Paramount, 
.the  Tiouse  reverting  to  the  Ever¬ 
green  Theatres,  on  Feb.  6.  “Won¬ 
ders”  is  soaring  to  a  smash  figure 
on  news  of  closing.  “Peyton  Place” 
i*  holding  solid,  in  fourth  Fifth 
Avenue,  stanza.  “And  God  Made 
Woinari”  still,  is  very  big  in  second 
Musie  Box  round..  “Sayonara”  at 
Music  Hall  and  “Don’t. Go  Near 
Water”  are  doing  okay  in  third 
sessioris. 

Estimates  for  This  Week 

Bine  Mouse  (Hamrick)  (800; 
$1.50-$2.50)— “Around  the  World” 
(UA)  (40th  wk).  Fancy  $9,000. 
Last  week,  $8,400. 

Coliseum  (Evergreeri)  (1,870;  9Q- 
$1.25) — “Long  Haul”  (Col)  and 
“Hard  Man”  (Col).  Okay  $6,000., 

Fifth  Avenue  (Evergreen)  (2,500; 
$1-$1.50)— “Peyton  Place”  (20th) 
(4th  wk).  Swell  $8,000.  Last  week, 
$8,600. 

Music  .  Box  (HamHck)  (850;  90- 
$1.25)— “And  God  Made  Woman” 
(Kings)  (2d  wk).  Big  $8,500.  Last 
week,  $9,400. 

Music  Hall  (Hamrick)  (2,200;  90- . 
$1.25)— “Sayonara”  (WB).  (3d  wk). 
Great  $10,000.  Last  week,  $11,- 
300. 

Orpheum  (Hamrick)  (2,700;  90- 
$1.25)— “Don’t  Go  Near  Water” 
(M-G)  and  “Careless  Years”  (UA) 
(3d  wk).  Big  $7,000.  Last  week; 
$8,200. 

Paramount  (SWAC  i  n  e  r  a  m  a) 
(1,282;  $1.20-$2.65)— “Seven  Won¬ 
ders”  (Cinerama)  (24th  wk).  Huge 
$23,000.  Last  Week,  $13,200. 

'Sayonara  Socko 
13G  in  3<L  Mpls. 

Minneapolis,  Jan.  21. 

With  newcomers  at  an  almost 
irreducible  minimum— a  twin  bill 
of  “B”  shockers  arid  another  of  re¬ 
issues — the  Loop  hasn’t  much  to 
attract  the  potential  patrons  cur¬ 
rently..  Among  the  holdovers, 
“Seven  Wonders  Of  World”  and 
“Around  World  in  80  Days”  still 
are  giving  remarkable  b.o.,  per¬ 
formances.  “And  God  Made 
Woman”  arid.  ‘'Sayonara”  are  hold¬ 
ing  up  exceedingly  well.  Fast  step¬ 
ping.  /Don’t  Go  Near  Water”  is 
chalking  up  a  fourth  stanza. 
Estimates  for  This  Week 

Academy  (Mariri).  (947;  $1.50- 
$2.65)— “Around  World”  (U A)  (28th 
wk).  Okay  $9,000.  Last  week, 
$9,500. 

Century  (SW-Cinerama)  (1,150; 
$1.75-$2.65)  —  “Seven  Wonders” 
(Cinerama)  (76th  wk).  Very  sturdy 
$9;000.  Last  week,  $8,000. 

Gopher  (Berger)  (1,000;  85-90)— 
“Don’t  Go  Near  Water”  (M-G)  (4th 
wk).  Still  sock  with  $7,000.  Last 
.week,  $8,000. 

Lyric  (Par)  (1,000;  $1.25-$2.25)— 
‘•Raintree  County”  (M-G)  (4th  wk). 
Bows  out  after  this  stanza,  finish¬ 
ing  a  moderately  successful  run. 
Mild  $5,000  Last  week,  $6,500. 

Radio  City  (Par)  (4,100;  $1.25- 
$1.50)— “Sayonara”  (WB)  (3d  wk). 
Great  $13,000.  Last  week,  $16,000. 

RKO  Orpheum  (RKO)  (2,800;  75- 
90)— “Love  Slaves  of  Amazons”  (U) 
and  .  “Monolith  Monsters”  (U); 
Light  $5,000.  Last  week,  ‘‘Slaughter 
on  10th  Avenue"  (U),  $5,500. 

RKO  Pan  (RKO)  (1,800;  65-85)— 
“Helen  of  Troy”  (WB)  and  “Silver 
Chalice”  (WB)  (reissues).  Slow 
$4,000.  Last  week, ,  “Legend  of 
Lost”  (UA)  (4th  wk),  $4,500. 

State  (Par)  (2,300;  $1.25-$2.50)— 
“Peyton  Place”  (20th)  (4th  wk). 
Boff  $104H)0.  Last  week,  $13,000. 

Suburban  World  (Mann)  (800; 
85)— “08/15”  (Indie).  Good  $2,200. 
Last  week,  $2,500. 

World  (Mann)  (400;.  85-$  1.25)— 
•'Grid  Created  Woman”  (Indie)  (3d 
wk).  Has  whole  town  talking  about 
it.  Big  $7,000.  Last  week,  $7,70Q. 

‘Water’  Lively  12G, 

Indpls. ;  ‘Peyton’  Same 

Indianapolis,  Jan.  21. 

Biz  continue  good  a  first-runs 
here  this  stanza.  “Don’t  Go  Near 
Water”  opened  strongly  at  Loew’s, 
and  will  hold.  “Peyton  Place”  Is 
continuing,  its  hot  pace  iii  third 
stanza  at  the  Indiana,  and  looks 
good  for  another  week.  “Sayonara” 
is  oke  in  fourth  week  at  Keith's. 
“Around  World,”  to  be  replaced  by 
“Raintree  County”  at  Lyric  Feb. 
12,  is  perking  along  at  an  okay 
clip  in  23d  Week. 

Estimates  for  This  Week 

Circle  (Cockrill-Dolle)  (2,800;  70- 
90) — .  Last  week,  “Man  in. Shad¬ 
ow”*  (U)  and  “Escape  in  Japan”  (U). 
Mild  $5,000  in  6  days,  with  house 
dropping  film  policy  first  time 
since  built  in  1916  to  present  Ober- 
(Continued  on  page  22) 


PICTURE  GROSSES 


Cold  Spells  Shorten  B  way  B.O.; 
Tristesse*  Nice  42G,  Adultress’ 
Busy  12G,  TCwai'  SRO  $34^00, 5th 


Severe  cold  weather  last  Satur¬ 
day  and  Sunday  hurt  ^Broadway 
fikn  business  just  as  it  was  recov¬ 
ering  from  the  combined  weight  of 
Thursday’s  (16)  unexpected  snow¬ 
storm  and  other  post-holiday  influ¬ 
ences.  The  first-runs  had  been 
clipped  hard  previously  by  the  all¬ 
day  Tuesday  (14)  downpour. 

.  “Bon jour'  Tristesse”  while  not 
startling  at  the  wickets  managed 
to  land  a  good  $42,000  or  near 
opening  week 'at  the  Capitol.  Sev¬ 
eral  erix  were  very  unkind  to  the 
pic.  “Gates  of  Paris,”  another 
newie,  registered  a  tasty  $10,900 
initial  session  at  the  arty  Fine  Arts, 
while  “Gervalse”  soared  to  a  new 
house  record  of  better  than  $7,000 
at  the  Fifth  Avenue ''cinema  where 
it  opened  last  week.  It  is  day  dating 
with,  the  Baronet  where  the  entry 
Was  smash  $9,300  in  10th  Week". 
“Adultress”  at  the  Little  Carnegie 
is  solid  at  $12,000  for  the  opening 
frame. 

“Sayoriara”  with  Christmas  stage- 
show,  is  heading  for  a  smash  $135,- 
000  in  current  (7th)  round  at  the 
Music  -Hall,  arid  holding  an  eighth 
week.  “Peyton  Place”  with  Yule- 
tide  stageshbw  looks  like  lofty 
$70,000  in  currerit  (final)  session 
at  the  Roxy  where  “Farewell  to 
Arms”  opens  Friday  (24).  This  clos¬ 
ing  round,  the  sixth,  will  run  eight 
days:  .  . 

Still  sensational  is  “Bridge  on 
River  Kwai”  at  the  Palace.  It  con¬ 
cluded  its  fifth  week  last  night 
(Tues.)  with  a  capacity  $34,500. 
House  has  set  a  long  list  of  extra 
.performances  for  Easter  week-K 
“Paths  of  Glory”  held  with  a  fancy 
$16,000  or  close  In  fourth  stanza  at 
the  Victoria. 

“Tarnished  Angels”  now  in  its 
third  round  at  the.  Paramount,  hit 
an  okay  $25,000  in  second  week, 
“Enemy  Below’’  shapes  fairish  $ll,r 
000  in  fourth  stanza  at  the. Mayfair. 
“And  God  Created  Woman”  held 
with  smash  $12,500  in  13th  week 
at  the  Paris  where  this  sexpic  is 
now  in  its  14th  frame. 

“Wild  Is  Wind”  looks  to  hit  a  big 
$16,500  ifi  current  (6th)  round  at 
the  Astor.  “Raintree  County” 
shapes  to  get  a  solid  $20,000  in  the 
fifth  stanza  at  the  State  and  a  big 
$7,000 ;  in  same  week  at  the  Plaza 
where  day-dating. 

Estimates  for  This  Week 

Astor  (City  Inv.)  (L300;  75-$2)— 
“Wild  Is  Wind”  (Far)  (6th  wk). 
This  stanza  ,  ending  today  (Wed.)  is 
heading  for  big  $16,500  or  near. 
Fifth  was  $17,500: 

Little  Carnegie  (L.  Carnegie) 
(550;  $1,25-$1.80)  —  “Adultress” 

(Times)  (2d  wk).  First  session  end¬ 
ed  oil  Sunday  (19>  hit  sockeroo 
$12,000.  '  .  . 

Baronet  (Reade)  .  (430;  $1.25- 

$1.70)  — “Gervaise”  (Cont)  (11th! 
wk).  The  10th  round  finished  Sun¬ 
day  (19)  was  great  $9,300  after! 
$10^00  in  ninth.  Day-dating  at 
Fifth  Avenue  Cinema  where  it; 
opened  on  Wednesday  (15)  al¬ 
though  in  10th  week  here.. 

Capitol  (Loew)  (4,820;  $l-$2.50) 
— “Bonjour  Tristesse”  (Cpl)  (2d 
wk).  First  stanza  ended  yesterday 
(Tues.)  was  good  $42,000  or  close 
despite  many  critical  reviews.  Pic 
was  sloughed  first  by  Thursday’s 
sriowstorm  and  then  by  severe  cold. 

Embassy  (Guild)  (582;  75-90) — 
^Golden  Age  of  Comedy"  (DCA) 
(5th;  wk).  Fourth  week  ended  Mon¬ 
day  (20)  was  big  $9,000.  Fourth 
was  $li;500. 

Criterion  (Moss)  (1,671;  $1.80- 
$3.30)— “10  Commandments"  (Par) 
(63d  wk)-  This  week  looks  to  hit 
fancy  $25,000  for  usual  15  shows. 
The  62d  week  was  $25,700  in  same 
number  of  performances.  Stays  on.; 

Fine  Arts  (Davis)  (468;  90-$1.80) 
—“Gates  of  Paris”  (Lopert)  (2d 
wk).  First  round  ended  Monday 
(20th)  hit  nice  $10,900.  In  ahead, 
“Admirable  Crichton’’  (Col)  (4th 
wk-8  days),  $6,000. 

55th  St.  Playhouse  (Moss)  (300; 
$1.25-$1:80)  —  “Bolshoi  Ballet” 
(Rank)  (6th  wk).  The  fifth  round 
erided  last  pight  (Tries.)  was  sturdy 
$6,000  or  near.  Fourth  was  $8,500. 

Guild  (Guild)  (450;  $1-$1;75)— 
“Ship  Was  Loaded”  (Brest).  Opened 
Sunday  (19).  In  ahead,  “Gblderi 
Age  of  Comedy”  (DCA)  (4th  wk-4 
days),  oke  $3,000  after  $6,000  for 
third,  full  stanza. 

Fifth  Avenue  Cinema  (R&B) 
(257;  $1.80)— “Gervaise”  (Cont)  (2d 
wk).  Initial  week  erided  yesterday 
(Tues.)  was  over  $7,000  or  a  new 
alltime  mark  for  this  bandbox  arty 
operation. .  In  for  run. 

Mayfair  (Brandt)  (1;736;  79-$1.80) 
—“Enemy  Below”  (20th).  (5th  wk). 
Fourth  stanza  ended  last  night 
(Tues.)  was  fair  $11,000.  Third  was 
$14,000. 

Normandie  (Trans-Lux)  (992;  95- 


$1.80)— “All  At  Sea”  (M-G)  (5th 
wk).  This  round  winding  up  Friday 
(24)  looks  like  $6;200.  Fourth  was 
$6,500. 

Palace  (RKO)  (1,700;  $l-$3)— 
“Bridge  on  River  Kwai”  (Col)  (6th 
wk).  Fifth  session  ended  last  night 
(Tues.)  was  capacity  $34,500  for  10 
performances.  Fourth  was  the 
same  for  like  number  of  shows. 
House  has  set  fnatinees  for  every 
day  during-  Easter  week  plus  daily 
mornirig  shows,  and  is  already 
selling  tickets  for  these  dates  In 
April. 

Odeon  (Rank)  (854;  90-$1.80)— 
“Graf  Spee”  (Rank)  (4th  wk).  Cur¬ 
rent  round  ending  today  (Wed.) 
looks  to  reach  mild  $10,000  or  less. 
Third  was  $11,500.  Running  sneak 
previews  of  forthcoming  product 
starting  Tuesday  (21).  “Henry  tha 
Fifth”'  (Rank)  due  in  on  two-a-day 
Feb.  1. 

Paramount  (AP-PT)  (3,665;  $1- 
$2) — “Tarnished  Angels”  (U)  (3d- 
final  wk).  Second  ended  Sunday 
(19)  was  okay  $25,000.  First  wai 
$32,000. 

Paris  (Pathe  Cinema)  (568;  90- 
$1.80)— -“God  Created  Woman” 
(Kings)  (14th  wk).  The  13th  round 
ended  Sunday  (19)  was  smash  $12,- 
500.  The  12th  was  $13,800. 

Radio  City  Music' Hall  (Rocke¬ 
fellers)  (6,200;  90-$2.75)— “Sayon¬ 
ara”  (WB)  with  Christmas  stage- 
show  (7th  wk).  This  stanza  wind¬ 
ing  up  today  (Wed.)  looks  to  reach 
sock  $135,000,  and  is  holding  an 
eighth  week.  Sixth  was  $136,500, 
smash  for  this  stage  of  run  but 
clipped  badly  by  all  day  downpour 
Tuesday  (14).  “Seven  Hills  of 
Rome”  (M-G)  opens  Jan.  30.  .  Hall 
drops  ‘‘Nativity”  portion  of  stage- 
show  after  Sunday. 

Bivoli  (UAT)  (1,545;  $1.25-$3.50) 
—“Around  World”  (UA)  (67th  wk). 
The  66th  week  ended  yesterday 
(Tues.)  was  $37,700  for  11  perform¬ 
ances.  The  65th  week  was  tho 
same  for  like  number  of  shows. 

Plaza  (Lopert)  (525;  $1.50-$2) — 
“Raintree  County"  (M-G)  (5th  wk). 
This  round  finishing  up  tomorrow 
(Thurs.)  is  heading  for  big  $7,000. 
The  fourth  was  $8,400. 

JtoxrtNat’l.  Th.)  (5.717;  65-$2.50) 
—“Peyton  Place’  (20th>  and  Xmas 
stageshow  (6th-final  wk).  Current 
stanza  ending  tomorrow  (Thurs.) 
(Continued  on  page  22) 

Slick  $27,000,  Teyton’ 
20G,  ‘Frankenston’  24G 

Boston,  Jan.  21. 

Big  pictures  are  still  holding 
solid  since  the  holidays  with  little 
new  product  on  ,tap.  Picture  biz 
oddity  this  week  with  State  and 
Orpheum  opening  “Legend  of 
Lost/’  Starring  John  Wayne  and 
using  heavy  ad  space  to  say:  “Im¬ 
portant.  Will  not  be:  shown  for 
years,  on  television,”  necessitated 
because  of  WBZ-TV  programming 
of  “Starring  John  Wayne,”  two 
feature  oldies  every  Sunday  p.m., 
while  WNAC-TV  also  runs  two  fea¬ 
tures.  “Legerid”  shapes  lively  at 
State  and  Orpheum.  “I  Was  Teen¬ 
age  Frankenstein”  and  .“Blood  of 
.  Dracula”  looms  solid  at  Paramount 
and  Fenway. 

‘•Peyton  Place”  at  the  Memorial 
and  “Sayonara”  at  the  Metropoli¬ 
tan,  both  in  fourth  rounds,  are 
hotsy.  “Bridge  on  River  Kwai”  i* 
holding  near  capacity  in  fourth  on 
hard  ticket  basis,  at  the  Gary. 
Estimates  for  This  Week 

Astor  (B&Q)  (1,372;  $1.65-$2.75) 
—“Raintree  County”  (M-G)  (14th 
wk-final).  Mild  $3,500.  Last  week* 
$5,000.  * 

Beacon  Hill  (Sack)  (678;  90- 
$1.25)— “Old  YeUer”  (BV)  (4th  wk). 
Good  $6,000.  Last  week,  $8,000. 

.  Boston  (SW-Cinerama)  (1,354; 
$1.25-$2.65)  —  “Search  for  Para¬ 
dise”  (Cinerama)  (9th  wk).  Big 
$17,000.  Last  week,  $16,500. 

Copley  (Indie)  (961;  90-$1.25)— 
“Grand  Maneuver”  (Indie)  (2d  wk). 
Oke  $4,000.  Last  week,  $3,000. 

Exeter  (Indie)  (1,200;  60^$1.25)— 
“Admirable  Crichton"  (Col)  (6th 
wk).  Fifth  week  was  neat  $7,000. 
Last  week,  same. 

Fenway  (NET)  (1,378;  60-$1.10) 
—“I  Was  Teenage  Frankenstein” 
(AI)  arid  “Blood  of  Dracula”  MI). 
Cool  $7,500.  Last  week.  “Tall 
Stranger”  (AA)  and  “Affair  in 
Havana”  (AA),  $3,500  in  5  days. 

Gary  (Sack)  (1.340;  $1.50-$2.75) 
—“Bridge  on  River  Kwai”  (Col) 
(4th  wk).  Wow  $22,000.  Last  week, 
$25,000. 

Kerimore  (Indie)  (700;  85-$1.25) 
—“Across  Bridge”  (Rank)  (dth  wk- 
(Ccntinueicl  on  page  22) 


10  PICTURES 


More  and  more  people  attend 
film  theatres  less  often,  hut  why? 
The  answer  to  this,  as  well  as 
dozens  of .  other  questions,  is  pro¬ 
vided  by  Opinion  Research  Corp., 
of  Princeton*  N.  J.,  via  a  survey 
conducted  in  behalf  of  the  Motion 
Picture  Assn*,  of  America.  Total  of 
6,021  persons  were  interviewed  (15 
years  of  age  and  older)  during  the 
period  of  June  13  to  July  15,  1957, 
and  are  said  to  represent  a  cross 
Section  of  the  total  United  States 
population. 

Of  those  queried,  54%  were 
asked  why  they  were  seeing  films 
less  than  they  did  three  or  four 
years  ago. 

Television  proved  the;  big  fac¬ 
tor,  22%  ,  answering  along  these 
lines:  "I  have  television  so  why  go 
to  the  movies;  we  used  to  go-  two 
or  three  times  a  week  until  we  got 
our  tv;  television  presents  ,  good 
plays  and  entertainment;  I  prefer 
to  stay  at  home  and  watch  tv — it’s 
good,  cheap  entertainment.” 

Accounting  for  10%  of  the  less 
frequent  attendance  is  the  lack  of 
time:  “Working  nights  doesn’t -give 
me  much  chance  to  go;  I  am  too 
busy  in  the  store  now;  I  have  two 
Jobs  now;  I  had  more  leisure  a^feW 
years  ago;  I’m  too  busy  with  my 
studies,” 

The  demands  of  raising  children 
and  the  baby-sitting  problem  kept 
8%  away  more  often. 

Preference  for  other  leisure 
activities  caused  5%  to  cut  down 
on  theatre-going. 

Higher  admission  prices,  were 
cited  by  4%.  V 

Mentioned  by  3%:  “The  quality 
of  movies  isn’t  what  it  used  to  be; 
most  pictures  these  days  are  oh-, 
jectionable;  pictures  nowadays  are 
not  good  for  the  younger  genera¬ 
tion.” 

Lack  of  desire  and  the  broken 
film-going  habit  accounted  for  3%, 
dislike  for  films  in  general  another 
3%,  illness  for  1%. 

Particularly  significant  for  the 
trade  is  the  fact  that  only  1%  cut 
down  on  film  attendance  because 
of  inconvenient  theatre  location. 
This  finding,  of  course,  is  contrary 
to  the  much-heard  opinion  that 
theatres  unwisely  haven’t  followed 
the  public  to  suburbia  as  did  the 
super  markets  and  department 
stores.  ^  Also,  only  1%  complained 
about  uncomfortable  theatre  con¬ 
ditions. 

Consider  another  group  in  that 
1%  category.  They  said  they’re 
“married  now”  and  gave  no  other 
reason. 

Of  the  total  public,  8%  attend 
theatres  more  often  than  three  or 
four  years  ago,  .54%  less  often, 
34%  about  as  often  as  in  past,  and 
4%  don’t  know. 

Hot  mattering  are  educational 
background,  age  bracket,  marital 
status  or  geographical  location. 
The  less-often  attendees  ate  pro¬ 
portionately  higher  all  along  the 
line. 

‘Older*  Reason 

Explanations  were  given  by 
those  who  have  stepped  up  attend¬ 
ance,  it  with,  2%  are  older  and 
now  dating  and  gding  out  with 
friends  and  are  given  more  free¬ 
dom  by  parents;  i%  said  that  as 
they  grew  older  they  found  films 
more  interesting;  1%'  cited  interest 
and  educational  values  plus  appeal¬ 
ing  color  and  wide  screens;  1% 
have  more  free  time;  1%  have 
more  money  to  spend;  1%  now  are 
free  to  attend  drive-ins  or  have 
more  freedom  because  children  are 
older,  and  1%  find  theatres  more 
accessable.  ‘  ” 

The  Princeton  organization,  con¬ 
tinuing  its  “motivational  research,” 
looked  into  the  reasons  behind  the 
public’s  most  recent  theatre  visit, 
and  came  up  with  the  following — 

34%:  “I  wanted  to  see  that  pic¬ 
ture;  it  was  a  picture  my  husband 
particularly  wanted  to  see;  we  real¬ 
ly  wanted  to  go  and  see  that  spe¬ 
cific  picture.” 

17%:  “I  went  along  with  some¬ 
one  else;  someone  took  me;  my 
brother  wanted  to  go;  wanted  to 
go  with  my  son  and  his  family.” 

16%:  “Just  to  pass  the  time 
away;  there  was  nothing  else  to  do; 
Just  to  go  somewhere;,  just  to  do 
something,” 

8%:  “To  take  the  children.” 

7%:  “For  recreation  on  a  Satur¬ 
day  night;  for  entertainment;  I  just 
went  for  pleasure;  1  enjoy  going  to 
the  movies.” 

4%:  “The  advertising  attracted 
me;  It  had  been  advertised  on  tv; 
it  was  advertised  as  a  very  good 


JfJ&jEft 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


movie;  I  read  the  ads;  I  saw  the 
preview*” 

3%:  “Someone  recommended  the 
picture  to  me,  I  heard  them  talking 
about  how  good  it  was  going  to  be; 
I  heard  from  others  that  it  was  a 
good  show,  etc.” 

3%:  To  see  a  particular  star. 

67%  Selective 

Of  the  total  percentage  base, 
meaning  the  5,021  interviews,  67% 
said  they  went  to  the  theatre  “the 
last  time”  knowing  in  advance  the 
picture  being  shown,  >20%  said 
they  did  not  know,  12%  didn’t  re¬ 
member  and  1%  never  attended  a 
film  theatre. 

Among  those  who  knew  the  pic¬ 
ture  on  the  program,  newspapers 
Were  by  far  the  most  potent  com¬ 
munications  medium.  The  finding 
is  that  39%  of  those  -queried  said 
they  were  aware  of  the  film  pro¬ 
duction  because  “it  was  advertised 
in  the  paper;  from  a  newspaper  ad; 
I  checked  in  the  paper.” 

Word  of  mouth  accounted  for 
1.3%  of  the  know-about;  previews, 
5%;  theatre  fronts,  5%;  circulars 
from  the  theatre,  3%;  billboards 
and  posters,  2%;  television  ads  and 
publicity,  2%;  advertising  (no  me¬ 
dium  mentioned),  2%;  radio  com¬ 
mercials  and  publicity,  1%;  maga¬ 
zines,  1%. 

Akin  to  the  foregoing  three 
paragraphs,  respondents  were 
given  a  card  listing  the  various 
ways  in  which  films  are  advertised. 
They  were  asked  to  name  which 
Were  “noticed,"  with  the  percent¬ 
ages  herewith  given  weighted  in 
accordance  with  the  number  of  ad¬ 
missions  in  the  Week  preceding  the 
interview. 

Newspapers  were  again  tops,  at 
72%.  Others:  tv  ads  plus  publicity, 
41%;  theatre  signs,  52%;  mag  ads, 
38%;  theatre  previews,. 58%;  radio 
ads,  27%;  large  signs  or  billboards, 
26%;  posters  in  stores,  13%;  all 
of  them,  7%;  none  of  them,  3%; 
don’t  recall,  1%, 

Total  public  was  asked  to  make 
like  a  critic,,  appraising  the  picture 
last  seen  as  excellent,  good,  aver¬ 
age,  poor  or  very  poor.  Th%results: 
excellent,  26%;  good,  37%;  aver¬ 
age,  18%;  poor,  2%;  very  poor,  2%; 
other  answers,  1%;  don’t  remem¬ 
ber,  13%;  never  been  Mo  theatre, 
1%. 


TEGEND’ ADS  BOAST 
M  TV  FOR  YEARS’ 

Boston,  Jan.  21. 

When  John  Wayne’s  new  release, 
“Legend  of  the  Lost,”  opened  at 
Loew’s  State  and  Orpheum  Wed¬ 
nesday  (15),  three  quarter  page 
ads  were  used  with  added  top  lines: 
“Important!  Will  not  be  shown  on 
television  for  years  to  come!  See 
it  while  it’s  new — on  the  big,  big 
theatre  screen— as  it  should  be 
seen.” 

As  film  exhibs  began  to  fight 
back  against  the  sudden  onslaught 
of  Sunday  afternoon  double  fea¬ 
tures  billing  by  two  tv  stations, 
WNAC-TV,  and  WBZ-TV  with 
third  and  newest  tv  station, 
WHDH-TV,  showing  one  .  feature, 
newspapers  benefitted  from  in¬ 
creased  advertising. 

Boston  audiences  have  choice  of 
five  feature  films  cufifo  on  tv  each 
Sunday.  WNAC-TV  and  WBZ-TV 
are  using  all-out  advertising  and 
exploitation  to.  pull  in  the  film  aud 
on  Sundays.  WBZ-TV  is  using 
around  5,000  lines  a  week  in  news¬ 
papers  in  the  Hub,  while  WNAC- 
TV  is  using  2,000 -lines  weekly. 

From  1  to  4:30  each  Sunday, 
WNAC-TV  releases  films  from 
their  library  of  MGM,  20th,  RKO. 
which  •  comprises  over  2,000  films 
Sunday  (19),  station  programmed 
“Top  Hat”  and  “39  Steps”  as  their 
double  bill. 


Wobbens  Breakfast  Spiel 
For  Frisco  Catholic  Unit 

San  FrAicisco,  Jan.  21. 

Herman  Wobber,  recently  retired 
Western  Division  manager  for  20th- 
Fox,  will  be  chief  speaker  at  a  Feb. 
2  breakfast  of  the  Catholic  Enter¬ 
tainment  Guild  of  Northern  Cali¬ 
fornia,  following  mass.  Educator 
Lloyd  Luckmah  will  also  speak. 

Newly  elected  officials  of  the 
Guild  are: 

President,  James  J.  Donahue, 
Consolidated  Amusement  Co.;  vice- 
president,  Charles  J.  Maestri,  Lip- 
pert  Theatres;;  secretary,  Joseph 
Flanagan,  20th-Fox.  Exchange;  re¬ 
cording  secretary,  Kay  Hackett, 
MGM  Exchange;  treasurer,  Paul 
Schmuch,  20th-Fox  Exchange; 
chaplain,  Monsignoi*  Vihcent  F. 
McCarthy  of  St.  Patrick’s  Church 
just  off  Frisco’s  film  row. 


Hollywood’s  reliance  on  the  younger  element  for  support .  at  the 
boxoffice  Is  clearly  shown  in  a  profile  of  the  motion  picture  audience 
of  America  as  sketched  by  Opinion  Research  Corp.  Independent 
market  analysis  outfit  conducted  its  survey  last  summer  for  the  Motion 
Picture  Assn,  of  America. 

Average  week  during  the  survey  period  of  June  13  to  July.  15  had  an 
estimated  admissions  total  of  54,200,000.  Results  of  the  ORC  investi¬ 
gation  show  52%  of  the  total  audience  was  made  lip  of  persons  19 
years  of  age  and  younger.  Persons  29  years  o^sage  and  under  ac¬ 
counted  for  72%  Of  the  total  admissions. 

Following  is  the  total  breakdowif-r 


Total  public  ...... 

0-9  years  . . ......... 

Total 

admissions 
{ millions ) 

54.2 

Percent  of 
total 

admissions 

100% 

16 

10-14  years . 

15-19  years  ......... 

15 

21 

'20-29  years  . . . . . . . . . 

20 

30-39  years  ......... 

43 

40-49  years  . .  . 

9 

50  years  and  over 

3.2 

6 

It's  to  be  noted  that  most  schools  were  not , in  session  when  the 
surveying  took  place.  Al£o,  children’s  admissions  were  at  reduced 
rates  or  free  in  many  cases. 

Statistics  compiled  by  ORS  fiU  over  200  pages  in  two  hard  cover 
volumes.  Notes  made  thumbing  through: 

Only  15%  of  the  public  attends  a  film  theatre  once  a  week  or 
oftener  but  accounts  for  62%  of  the  total  admissions  during  the 
survey  week; 

Film  ads  are  more  “interesting”  than  ads  for  four  other  products, 
soap-detergent;  automobile,  beer  and  cigarettes.  Film  ads  also  rate 
second  to  cigarettes  in  terms  of  being  “misleading,”  are  third  .to  beer 
and  cigarettes  for  being  “objectionable,”  are  last  on  the  list  for  being 
“clever,”  and  rate  third  to  automobiles  and  soaps  for  being  “helpful”; 

In  deciding  on  Whether  to  attend  o  film  theatre,  the  public  is  in¬ 
fluenced  45%  by  the  film’s  story,  18%  by  the  cast,  both  factors  are 
equally  important  to  27%  and  10%  had  no  opinion; 

Only  2%  of  the  public  attends  theatres  less  frequently  because  of 
the  saturation  bookings,  i.e.,  the  same  picture  at  many  theatres  at 
the  same  time. 


Opinion  Research’*  'The  Public  Appraise*  the 
Movies’  Called  Useful  Trade  Tool 


Motion  Picture  Assn,  of  America 
last  week  stressed  the  absolute 
need  for  further  evaluation  and 
study  of  the  data  presented  in  its 
survey,  “The  Public  Appraises  the 
Movies.” 

Association  also  said  that  the  two 
vital  omissions  in  the  survey — the 
public’s  reaction  to  film  .  content 


How  U.S.  Consumer  Dollar  Is  Divided 


and  indications  of  trends — were 
fully  deliberate  and  had  been  de¬ 
cided  on  so  as  not  to  mislead  the 
filmmakers  and  present  them  With 
a  “formula.” 

Ralph  D.  Hetzel,  exec  v.p.  of  the 
MPAA,  and  a  sparkplug  of  the  sur¬ 
vey  carried  out  by  Opinion  Re¬ 
search  Corp.  of  New  Jersey,  com¬ 
mented  that  the  poll,  with  its  mass 
of  statistics,  had  to  be  considered, 
primarily  a  “tool”  with,  which  to 
carry  on  further  work. 


soutct:  THE  QQ3  STUDY  OF  CONSUMft  BUSHDtTUW  ^  IlMt  INC.  1957 


He  said  the  conclusions  to  be 
drawn  from  the  survey  were  “in¬ 
valuable,”-  even  though  the  facts 
about  the  audience  in  themselves 
were  hardly  new  and,  in  broad  out¬ 
line, had  been  known  to  the  indus¬ 
try.  Hetzel  said  the  motivational 
profile  provided  in.  the  survey  of¬ 
fered  a  sense  of  direction  in  any 
future  attempts  to  widen  the  audi¬ 
ence.  Also,  it  established  the  extent 
to  which  the  moviegoing  public  is 
split  into  distinct  groups. 

While  the  study  thus  Offers  the 
kind  of  information  which  can  be 
usefully  applied  to  any  attempt  to 
widen  the  audience,  and  appeal  to 
it  on  the  required  levels,  Hetzel 
felt  that— in  the  long  run— it  would 
probably  be  a  matter  as  much  of 
individual  company  as  of  industry 
application.  “The  industry  as  a 
whole  can  go  only  so  far,”  he  said. 
“After  that,  it’s  up  to  the  indi¬ 
vidual  companies  and  individual 
product.” 

Hetzel  felt  strongly  that.  If  at  all 
possible,  the  study  should  be  con¬ 
tinued  in  the  future,  and  he  said  he 
was  aware  of  the  fact  that  it  cov¬ 
ered  facts  and  reactions  within  a 
single  month  during  1957.  As  such, 
it’s  only  a  sample  and  has  its  limi¬ 
tations.  However,  said  the  MPAA 
exec,  he  favored  appointment  of 
an  industry  group,  or  possibly  the 
establishment  of  a  special  office 
with  a  trained  man  at  its  head,  to 
continue  audience  analysis with  the 
facts  available  to  the  industry. 
MPAA  plans  to  have  a  distributor- 
exhibitor  committee  basing  a  series 
Of  reports  on  the  Princeton  study. 

Both  Hetzel  and  others  feel  that 
the  survey  should  not  be  allowed  to 
become  another  bottom-of-the-draw 
item,  though  it’s  generally .  ad¬ 
mitted  that  the  industry  has  been 
notorious  for  ignoring  surveys  of 
this  kind.  Something  similar  hap¬ 
pened  with  an  earlier  MPAA  analy¬ 
sis,  the  Bboz-AUen-Hamilton  report 
on  distribution  economics,  which, 
came  up  with  a  series  of  recom¬ 
mendations.  Hetzel  said  that,  while 
there  was  no  fast  action  on  it,  its 
(Continued  on  page  22) 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


PSsstE/i *r 


FICTC*ES 


U 


lay-— D.  of  J. 


TT  ,  .  .  ..  Washington,  Jan.  21. 

Unless  actual  *  conspiracy”  is  involved,  the  Justice  Dept,  would 
.  hot  intervene  if  other  film  distributors  should  follow  the  example 
of  20th-Fox  and  set  up  a  five-year  clearance  for  theatres  over  tele¬ 
vision,  stations. 

This  is  the  curbstone  opinion  of  Federal,  officials  here,  when 
faced  with  the  possibility  that  Hollywood  might  create  the  five- 
year  clearance  to  protect  its  theatre  Customers. 

Protection  clearance,  per  se,  is  not  illegal.  The  Supreme  Court 
has  upheld  it  between  different  c  l  a  s  s  e  s  ‘  of  film,  theatres,  as-  a 
legitimate ;  business  practice.  So  far  as  clearance  between  theatres 
and  tv  is  concerned,  this  would  be  subject  to  the  same  legal  rules 
as  clearance  between  theatres. 

“The  basic  fact,”  it  was  explained,  “is  whether  the  clearance 
were  created  by  agreement.  The  test  would  be  whether  each  com¬ 
pany  made  up  its  own  mind  independently.  If  they  got  :  together, 
'  that  Would  be  a  conspiracy.  Mere  uniformity  is  not  illegal.” 

It  wa*  pointed  out,  for  example,  that  in  the  steel  industry, 
•U.  S.  Steel  will  announce  a  ton  price  and  the  other  companies  Will 
follow  suit'.  Yet,  -  this  is  hot  regarded  by  the  law  as  a  conspiracy 
in  violation  of  the  anti-trust  statutes. 

“One  of  the  questions  which  Justice  would  ask/’  said  a  spokes¬ 
man,  “is  whether  the  clearance  is  reasonable.  Five  years  is  a  long 
time.  Yet;  it  might  be  perfectly  all  right  because  theatres  charge 
ah  admission  price  and  television  stations  offer  the  same  films 
free  to  the  public.” 


Alex  Harrison  on  TV  ‘Clearance’ 


20th  Sales  Chief  Would  Make  Five  Years  Protection 
Longer,  Or  Forever 


Position  of  20thrFox  re  clearance 
to  exhibitors  over  television  re- 
iriains  unchanged  and  the.  Company 
.stands  ready  to  withhold  its  films 
from  tv  for  at  least  five  years  after 
initial  release*  Alex  Harrison,  20th 
general  sales  manager,  said  in  New 
York  last  wOek. 

Harrison  said  he  was  in  fact 
willing  to  extend  that  clearance 
period.  “If  I  had  my  way,  we 
wouldn’t  sell  to  television  ever,” 
Harrison  declared. 

20th  appears  to  be  the  only  com¬ 
pany  willing  to  go  on  record  in 
respect  to  .  tv  clearance.  None  of 
the  other  distributors  will,  take  a 
stand. 

The  20th  policy  first  was  enun¬ 
ciated  and  carried -  in  Variety  last 
November  at  the  time  of  the  Thea¬ 
tre  Owners  of  America  convention 
in  Miami.  It  stems  from  20th  belief 
that  it  is  still  primarily  in  the  thea¬ 
trical  business  and  that  the  release 
of  ■  the  new  films  to tv  would  seri-. 
ously  impair  the  boxoffice. 


How  Old  It  Too  Old? 

Researchers  found  that  19% 
of  the  public  thinks  present 
theatrical  features .  on  tele¬ 
vision  are  “too.  old”  and.  an¬ 
other  12%  simply-  rated  them 
/‘inferior”  to  pictures  in  the¬ 
atres. 

But  11%  thought  the  .back- 
number  productions  on  tv 
were  about  equal  to  the  new 
entries  in  theatres.  Arid  still 
another  11%  sized  up  the 
oldies  on  the.  air  as  ranging 
from  ‘‘very  good”  to.  “excel¬ 
lent.”  . 


Radio  Fine,  TV 


Shall  Not  Sell 

Continued  from  page  3  5 

been  achieved  by  the  film  industry, 
as  a  whole  if  such  a  meeting  had 
been  held  five  years  ago.” 

Engel  chaired  the  dinner-meet¬ 
ing  at  Romanoff's  with  the  execu¬ 
tive  board  of  the.  Screen  Producers. 
Guild  as  hosts.  Others  in  attend¬ 
ance  were  George.  Sidney,  Frank 
Capra  and  John  Sturges  for  Sfcreeri 
Directors  Guild,'  Howard  Keel, 
John  Lund,  George  Chandler,  John 
Dales,  Screen  Actors  Guild;  Ed 
Hartmann,  Frank  Nugent,  Cartis 
Kenyon,  Daniel  Taradash;  Screen 
Writers'  Guild;  Lou  Greenspan,  Mo¬ 
tion  Picture  Industry  Council; 
George  Seaton,  Academy  of  Mo¬ 
tion.  Picture  Arts  arid  Science^;  and 
exhib  leaders  Mitchell  Woolfson, 
repping  TO  A,  George  Skouras, 
Harry  Brandt,  SI  Fabian,  Nat  Lap¬ 
kin,  .  Leonard  Golderison,  Elmer 
Rhoden  and  Frank  Ricketson.  I 

Attention  :  was  drawn  to  just- 
concluded  selloff  of  post-1948  Re-, 
pyblic  features  to  NBC  and  the 
talent  guild  impotency  to  retali¬ 
ate  against  Republic.  Some,  trade-, 
sters  waxed  sardonic  because  of 
presence  of  Leonard  Golderison  at 
meeting,  pointing  out  that  his 
Paramount  Theatres  is  alter  ego  to 
ABC  network,  a-  prime  competitor 
to  theatre  exhibition  Via  airing  of 
vaulties. 

Recital  of  the  gloomy  statistics 
of  how  the  pre-1948  ..selloff  has 
already  dented,  box  office  around 
the  country  deepened  the  blue 
funk  which-  had  occasioned  the 
“rally.”  gome  who  were,  present 
thought  the  film  Industry  helpless 
against  its  own  divided  counsels; 
Its  dont-make-a-move  banker  in¬ 
structions  and  the  noose  of  con¬ 
sent  the  Dept,  of  Justice  shows 
small  inclination  to  unloosen. 

There  was  much  discussion  of 
what  leverage,  if  ariy,  Hollywood 
could  apply  to  stop  a  post-1948 
dumping.  Tricky  legalisriis  are  in¬ 
volved  where,  as  with  Republic 
and  .RKO,  studios  Cease  current, 
production.  Labor  may  be  alarmed 
but  there’s  no  target  to  strike  hack 
at,  no  effective  threat. 


Chicago,  Jan.  21. 

.  .  20th-Fox  has  charted  some  new 
ground  ,  with  its  promotional 
blueprint  for.  the  Chicago  bow  of 
“A  Farewell  to  Arms”  this  Thurs¬ 
day  (23)  at  the  Oriental.  And  the 
exploitation  coin,  believed  around 
$40,000  may  be;  the  heftiest  spent 
locally  by  the  studio  for  ballyhoo 
since  1952  and  “Robe.”  “Farewell” 
advertising  expenditure,  in  fact. 
Will  exceed  “Robe’s”  outlay. 

Among  its  ad  departures  from 
the '  tried-and-true;  the  “Farewell” 
campaign  called  for  (1)  use  of 
news  and  women’s'  pages  in  the 
Chi  dailies,  and  (2)  .  a  backstopping 
schedule  In.  some  60  weekly  arid 
semi-weekly  nabe  gazettes. 

Radio  also  figures  big,  with  i 
saturation  sked  involving  16  sta< 
tions,  including  the  rare:  use  of 
suburban  kilocyclers.  But,  signifi¬ 
cantly,  television  was  ignored. 
Asked  why,  Sol  Gordon,  20th  ad- 
pubber  here,  explained,  " 


many  people  think,  you’re  advertis¬ 
ing  a  picture  that’s  going  to  be  on 
tv.  Also;  it’s  pretty  hard  to  get 
theatre  identification.”  He  denied 
that  cost  was;  a  factor  in  bypassing 
video. 

20th  attached  enough  impor¬ 
tance  to  the  local  campaign  that  it 
sent  out  veepee  Charles  Einfeld 
arid  Eddie  Solomon,  studio’s  No.  2 
exploitation  man,  to  work  with 
Gordon  on  budget  arid  media. 
Amusement  Paces 

Concerning  the  decision  to  go 
beyond  the  amusement  pages  in 
the  dailies;  Gordon  contended 
“They  don’t  deliver  the  readership 
they  used  to”  Accordingly,  “Fare¬ 
well’s”  initial  ads  broke  last  week 
on  different  days,  on  the  news 
pages  of  three  of  Chi’s  four  dailies 
—American,  Sun-Times  and  Daily 
News.  A  deadline  problem  preclud¬ 
ed  going  into  the  Tribune. 

Tommorrow  (Wed.),  Thursday 
and  Friday  ads  are  skedded  for  the 
women’s  pages  of  all  four  dailies — 
in  addition  to  amusement  page 
space.  The  big  space  push  also  in¬ 
cluded  the  locally-edited  supple¬ 
ments  last  weekend  in  the  Daily 
News  arid  Sun-Tiines,  and  reaches 
a  crescendo  with  a  full-page  color 
spread  in  Wednesday’s  Trib. 

There’s  also  a  we’re-not-iriissing- 
any-bet  allocation  for  nominal 
space  in  the  Trib  adjacent  Hedda 
Hopper’s  column  whenever  it  men¬ 
tions  pic. 


Brik  Films  to  TV 

555  Continued  from  pag#3 

‘‘neither  Angel  nor  other  producers 
will  have  grounds  for  complaint.” 

An  official  statement  made  after 
the  meeting  of  the  'five  associa¬ 
tion  proxies  indicated  that  the  in¬ 
dustry  was  moving  towards  a  so¬ 
lution,  and  it’s  .understood  that  .the. 
projected  .formula  stems  from  an 
exhibitor  proposal  to  create  a  pool 
of  acceptable  pix,  which  would  he 
made  available  to  the  commercial 
webs  for  screening  at  times  which 
did  the  minimum  amount  of  harm 
to  the  boxoffice. 

It  is  unlikely,  however,  that  such 
a  formula  be  acceptable  to  BBC- 
TV,  which  reckons  it  had  a  raw 
deal  from  the  industry  a  year  or 
so  ago.  At  that  time  they  ma  jor 
trade  associations  came  to  an  ar¬ 
rangement  with  the  state  web  for 
the  controlled  release  of  20  fea¬ 
tures  a  year,;.  12  of  which  would 
be  English  speaking  from  either 
Britain  or  America,  and  the  oth¬ 
ers  would  be  of  continental  origin. 
The  arringment— it  was  never  re¬ 
garded  as  a  deal— was  to  have 
been  for  an  experimental  period 
of  one  year,  and  then  subject  to 
review.  In  the  event,  the  BBC 
found  Itself  without  any  feature 
pix,  as  the  only  films  offered  were; 
economically  unacceptable.  One 
British .  distrib,  for  example,  asked 
as  much  as  $70,000  for  a  single 
screening. 

That- arrangement  was  mutually 
terminated  after  a  few:  months 
while  the  industry  had  a  second 
look  at  the  problem;  and  after 
waiting  for  some  time  for  an  alter¬ 
nate  proposal,  the  BBC  went  ahead 
and  made  its  own  deal  for  the  RKO 
backlog  of  some  100  features,  at 
about  $6,000  a  time*  which  are  now 
being,  shown  at  peak  ttimes  on  al¬ 
ternate  Saturdays.  The.  second 
of  these  is  due  on  the  air  next  Sat-, 
urday  (25),  and  to  counter  the 
BBC  program,  the  commercial  web 
is  airing  one  of  the  Warrier  Bros, 
oldies,  recently  acquired  through 
Associated  Artists  Productions, 
The  rival  programs  will  be  “The 
Petrified-  Forest”  starring  Leslie 
Howard  }  (ATV)  and  “Born  to  Be 
Bad,”  with  Joan;  Fontaine  (BBC). 


Japanese  Foresight 

Hollywood,  Jan.  21. 

Conscious  that  tv  eventually  will 
be  as  big  threat  in  Japan  as  it 
has  been  in  the  U.  S.,  Shiro  Kidb. 
prexy  of  Shochiku,  Nippon's  big¬ 
gest  production  company,,  intends, 
to .  study  “American  film .  methods 
of  combatting  tv’s  inroads”  during 
his  currerit  visit  hero.  Kido,  who 
Is  also  chairman  of  the  Motion 
Picture  Producers  Assn,  of  Japan, 
stopped  off  in  Hollywood  en  route 
to.  New  York  to  attend  Japan  Film 
Week  as  head  of  a  delegation  of 
Jap  filmites^  including  four  femme 
stars. 

TV  thus  far  hasri’t  hurt;  film 
grosses  in  Japan  to  any  great  ex¬ 
tent,  due  to  its  limited  area  arid 
the  small  number  of  sets— about. 
1,000, 000  In  alL 


‘New’  Vs.  W  War 

SS5S  Continued  from  pass  1-^^ 

roll  partisans  airiong  the  talent 
unions  and  among  the*  creative 
gentiy  generally.  Definitely  fasci¬ 
nated,  though  surprisingly  quiet, 
are  the  big  advertising  consumer 
franchise  owners,,  whose  patronage 
has  made  television  the  giant  it  Is 
among  modem  amusements. 

The  war  of  the  theatres  against; 
video  has  already  panicked  many 
Hollywood  characters  arid  sent 
some  Into  headlong  retreat  from 
the  battlefield.  The  most  curious 
aspect  of  this  war  is  that  the  am< 
munition  which  is  killing  Holly¬ 
wood  was  made  in.  Hollywood, 
milch  In  the  same  way  that  scrap- 
iron  which  Americans  sold  to 
Japan  in  1940  and  1941  was  killing 
G.I.'s  during  the  riext  several 
years. 

.  As  to  the  ultimate  outcome  of 
the  two  wars,  it’s  plainly  anybody’s 
guess.  Certainly  the  wide  and 
often  wild  contradiction  of  view¬ 
points  dash  off  in  .  all  .  directions. 
Although  not  necessarily  unique  in 
this  respect,  the  present  issue  of 
Variety  seems  definitely  '‘historic” 
in  the  volume  and  diversity  of 
sheer  cornbat  news.  Close  students 
are  hereby  referred  to  pages  3-10-. 
11-26-27  of  the  present  issue. 


What  Films  Have  Got  That  TV  Hasn’t 


Growing  Maturity,  Foreign  Appeal  Among  Assets 
---Highbrows  Switch  Their  Tone  on  Pix 


Dbg  Never  Mingles 

Hartford,  Jan.  21. 

Last  weekend,  publicity, 
shots  of  .the  current  Rin  Tin 
Tin  were  being  made  to  help 
exploit  the  dog’s  appeararice 
at  a  local sportsman’s  show. 

Attempt  to  put  a  State 
Police  bloodhound  into  the 
photo  brought  this  rejoinder 
from  the  publicist:  “Rinty 
simply  never  poses  with  other 
dogs.  It  makes  him  nervous.” 


TV,  Pix  Steady 

Washington,  Jan.  21. 

The  1958  outlook  for  the  motion 
picture  industry  should  be.  at  least 
as  good  as  1957. 

In  electronics,  there  will  be  in¬ 
creases  in  the  sales .  of  color  tv 
sets,  phonographs,  tape  recorders 
and  hi-fi  equipment;  However, 
there  may  be  some  decline  in  pro¬ 
duction  of  black  and  white  tv  sets 
and  radio  receivers. 

These  predictions  are  made  by 
the  Business  and  Defense  Services 
Administration  of  the  U.  S.  Dept, 
of  Commerce;  in  its  annual  survey 
of  the  outlook  for  major  indus¬ 
tries.  Survey  reports  on  about  30 
major  businesses. 

On  motion;  pictures,  it  had  this 
t  o  say  : 

“The  outlook  for  1958  should 
compare,  favorably;  with  the  1957 
trends.  An  encouraging  factor  to 
offset  competition  from,  television 
is  the  continued  growth  in  produc¬ 
tion  of  feature  films  by  indepen¬ 
dent  film  companies.  While  there 
was  ai  decline  in  the  last  quarter  of 
1957,  attendance  for  the  full  year 
at  motion  picture'  theatres  is  es¬ 
timated  at  about  the  1956  level. 


BRITISH  INCONSISTENT 
ON  F1LMS-T0-V1DE0 

London,  Jan.  21. 

The  suggestion  that  the  British 
motion .  picture  industry  must  first 
put  its  own.  house  in  order  before 
it  can  expect  the  support  of  the 
American  trade  in  the  control  of 
release  of  films  for  television,  is 
being  advanced  by  the  Federation 
of  British  Film  Makers.  That’s  one 
of  three  major  proposals  now  re¬ 
ceiving  high  level  consideration 
among  British.trade  toppers. 

The  Federation,  which  last,  week 
celebrated  its  first  anniversary,  is 
prepared  to  take  a  long-term  view 
of  the  problem.  It  is  recognized 
that,  for  the  time  being,  nothing 
dan  be  done  in  regard  to  features 
already  sold  to  the  tv  networks. 
But,  looking  ahead,  it  is  advocating 
a  policy  of  .  the  tightest  possible 
control  which  would  restrict  the 
number  of  films  made  available, 
would  stipulate  an  age  limit,  and 
exercise  arbitrary  control  on  times 
of  presentation. 

•  At  the  same  time,  the  Federa¬ 
tion  takes  the.  view  that' too  many 
feature  films  are  being  too  cheaply 
sold  to  the  networks.  It  is,  there¬ 
fore,  being  suggested  that  the  ask¬ 
ing  price  should  bear  some  rela¬ 
tion  to  the  audience  rating  and  the 
fee  paid  should  operate  the  sliding 
scale  principle  which  is  common 
in  picture  theatres.  In  other  words, 
the  higher  the  rating,  the  larger 
the  amount  paid  to  the  producer. 

Lord  Archibald,  Federation 
proxy  told  Variety  that  he  felt  it 
necessary  for  the  British  industry 
to  impose  seif-discipline  on  its  own 
members  before  seeking  the.  co¬ 
operation  of  the  Ariierican  pro¬ 
ducers  arid  distrihs.  If  Britain  could 
put  its  own  house  in  order  first,  it 
would  be  reasonable,  he  felt,  for 
representations  to  be  made  to  the 
United  States  industry.  , 

The  Federation  topper  reckoned, 
that  his  members  were  prepared  to 
exercise  even;  more  rigid  control 
than  was  being  proposed  by  the 
Cinematograph  Exhibitors’  Assn. 
They  regarded  it  is  much  a  pro¬ 
ducer  problem  as  an  exhibitor 
problem  because  his  members  had 
first  band  evidence  of  the  disas¬ 
trous  toll  on  the  boxoffice  when 
oid  features  were  shown,  on  the 
airwaves. 


Chicago,  Jan.  21. 

Highbrows,  remembering  the 
film  industry’s  lusher  years,  have 
switched  their  line  now  that  thea¬ 
tres  are  suffering.  It’s  no  longer 
the  fashion  to  refer  to  film  houses 
as  the  “cultural  opium  dens  of  the 
masses.”  More  stylish  now  to  be¬ 
moan  “the  passing  of  an  art  form” 
as  parlor  shows  crimp  theatre 
shows.  > 

The  film  trade  itself  coined  the 
phrase  “selectivity”  as  a  catch-all 
appraisal  of  the  business.  Just-who- 
is-selecting-just-what  Is  usually  riot 
specified,  but  if  the  boxoffice  is 
the  criterion  it  is  certain  that  there 
have  been  a  lot  of  rejects. 

Both  pundits  and  tradesters  tend 
to  belief  that  today’s  theatregoers 
are  sorriehow  more  elevated  in 
their  choice  of  film  fare  but  will 
accept  anything  on  the  air.  Televi¬ 
sion’s  big  asset  is:  the  most  accessi¬ 
ble  riiedium  to  the  widest  part  of 
the  population.  By  its  very  domes¬ 
tic  appeal  the  broadcast  is  limited 
as  to  scene  and  subject.  Its  self¬ 
censorship  is  all  pervasive  before 
sensitivities  of  almost  everyone. 
But  by  contrast  the  theatrical  film 
Is  a  “freer’’,  medium  now  than  be¬ 
fore.  By  playing  to  a  paying  audi-: 
ence  which  makes  a  choice  its  art 
levpls  ga  up. 

The  facts  offered  to  support  the 
argument  are  these.  Except  for  th* 
blockbusters,  about  half  of  which 
make  their  bow  at  Christmas  with 
th e-rest  sparsely  scattered  through 
the  year,  the  run-of-release  Holly¬ 
wood  product  is  experiencing  sharp 
decline,  or  at  least  greater  risks  of 
not  recouping.  In  Chicago  it  was 
usual  a  few  years  ago  for  such  pix 
to  stretch  at  a  firstrun  theatre  for 
eight:  weeks.  Today  if  it  shows  two 
profitable  weeks  a  picture  can  bo 
considered  doing  well. 

,  Product  shortage  has  hurt  tho 
big  film  houses  most.  Arid  this 
town  was  built  “big.”  The  most 
profitable  houses  in  downtown  Chi¬ 
cago  today  are  those  under  1,500 
seats.  Operating  nuts  in  3,000  seat- 
ers  have  made  their  operation  pre¬ 
carious.  In  the  nabes  they  are  fold-. 
Irig  altogether. 

There  are  other  factors  that 
argue  for  the  Siriall  house.  Not 
only  can  they  afford  long  runs  but 
they  can  cultivate  a  small  audience 
for  -offbeat  product,  which  by  Hol¬ 
lywood’s  earlier  standards  means 
any  product  that  won’t  draw  whole 
family  groups  and  the'  shopper 
from  the  street.  Disney  reissues 
for  instance,  can  attract  tots  for 
weeks  on  end  in  600  and  800  seat 
houses.  However  sucR  steady 
flow  of  half-fares  would  prob¬ 
ably  be  inadequate  after  one 
or  two  Weeks  at  the  giant  houses. 

Small  audiences  need  not  be  just 
half-fares.  Foreign  entries  into 
first  run  houses  have  come  about  on 
default  of  Hollywood  distribution 
setups  at  various  times  of  the  year. 
Foreign  product  also  appeal  to  lan¬ 
guage  groups  in  big  cities  like 
Chicago;  a  market  unapproachable 
by  tv. 

Art  houses  have  their  problems 
too:  import  product  does  not  do 
Well  there  without  other  positive 
merits,  although  some  critic-ap¬ 
proved  stuff  has  still  flopped. 

Probably  the  censorship  situa¬ 
tion  reflects  the  new  attitude  to¬ 
ward  the  theatre  most  drastically. 
Legislators  find  growing  opposi¬ 
tion  to  “moral”  censorship,  and  not¬ 
able  victories  have  been  achieved 
over  the  last  10  years  by  its  op¬ 
ponents. 

Air-Taboo  subjects— dope,  sex, 
politics,  racial  antagonisms  —  have 
gained  entry  to  the  screen.  The 
theatre  has  now  a'  “adultness”  that 
the  home  ,  screeri  has  not.  The 
same  material  that  reaches  the 
theatre  screen-  as  a  vibrant  bit  of 
entertainment  would  in  the  opin¬ 
ions  of  many  who  view  them,  be 
unwelcome  over  tv.  No  one  ad¬ 
vances  the  argument  that  people 
pay  ticket  prices  to  be  preached 
at,  but  pictures  dealing  with  vital 
themes  ean  be  presented,  in  the 
theatre  without  the  propaganda 
bludgeon  now.  The  happy  and 
moral  ending  to  a.  picture  is  still 
a  boxoffice  asset,  but  not  so  much 
as  before. 

Roadshows  have  demonstrated 
forcibly  the  possibilities  of  selling 
to  various  groups  the  specif ie 
story  material  or  projection  tech¬ 
niques  they  feature.  But  here  too 
the  year  has  shown  that  even  a. 
roadshow  must  have  something  to 
seli 


12 


■NTEMAitam 


pTkRiBTt 


•VAKim’r  LONDON  OP  PI  Cl 
I  St.  MirtWi  Phw  triifiliir  Iquiw 


Producers  Furious— Threaten  Suit— Paris  Hears 
Italian  Star  Moons  Over  Hollywood 


Paris,  Jan.  21. 

The  French-Ita'ian  coproduction 
“Venus  Imperiale”  looks  to  be  off, 
and  the  producers,  Henri  Deutch- 
meister  of  Franco  London  Films 
and  Angelo  Rizzoli  of  Rizzoli  Films, 
may  sue  Gina  Lollobrigida  for 
“bad  faith"  in  going  back  on  her 
contract.  The  pic  was  to  have 
started  next  month.  DeuStchmeis- 
ter  and  Rizzoli  say  they’ll  sue  Miss 
Lollobrigida  for  return,  of  a  pre¬ 
payment  of  40,000,000  lires  ($65,- 
000)  plus  damages  of  $250,000  for 
money  already  spent  in  preparing 
the  feature. 


Men  Wore  the  Trousers 

Singapore,  Jan.  14. 

The  following  is  an  excerpt 
from  a  Shaw  Bros,  press  re¬ 
lease:  “When  ’Pajama  Game* 
(WB)  was  shown  at  Shaw’s 
Capitol,  the  Shaw  Organization 
publicity  department'  gave  it 
the  full  treatment. 

"Free  admission  was  af¬ 
forded  those  couples  who 
turned  tip  wearing  one  piece  of 
a  pajama  suit,  and  lots  of 
couples  did  turn  up  (the  men 
usually  wore  the  trousers  )  .’* 


Apparently  Star  signed  her  con¬ 
tract  last  March  and  was  to  receive  ^ 
almost  $160,000  for  the  pic  to  be 
paid  half  in  Switzerland  and  half 
In  Italy.  At  that  time  she  was 
willing  to  accept  co-stars  Julien 
Bertheau  (to  play  Napoleon)*  Jean- 
'Pierre.  Aumont  and- Daniel  Gelin. 
She  was  to  play  Pauline  Gourghese 
In  this  costumer.  Renato  .Castel- 
lani  was  to  direct  the  pic  in  France. 

Then,  last  week.  Miss  Lollobri¬ 
gida  balked  and  claimed  she  was 
not  satisfied  with  the  leading  men,! 
wanted  American  partners,  and  I 
felt  the  film  should  be  made  in  | 
Italy  in  English.  Rizzoli  pointed 
out  that  the  men  were  Latins  and 
that  Yanks  might  hot  fit  the  pic  j 
esthetically. 

Miss  Lollobrigida  remained 
adamant  and  a  report  from  Rome 
has  it  that  she  huddled  recently  ] 
with  Spyros  Skburas  and  has.  her  j 
eye  on  Hollywood  in  April  when 
her  contract  with  Howard  Hughes 
runs  out  and  she  can  make  her  pix 
there.  It  is  also  rumored  she 
wants  to  catch  up  with  Sophia 
Loren’s  Hollywood  headstart. 

She  also  angered  the  French 
press  when  she  claimed  she  want¬ 
ed  to  out  due  to  the  shift  in  direc¬ 
tors  from  Castellan!  to  Christian- 
Jaque.  French  felt  it  reflected  bad¬ 
ly  on  Jaque  and  was  in  bad  taste 
since  he  had  given  Miss  Lollobri¬ 
gida  her  first  French  chance  in 
“Fanfan  La  Tulipe.”  So  it  stands 
there,  and  the  pic  looks  stopped  as 
of  this  writing. 


Rome,  Jan.  14. 

The  Yank  slice  of  the  Italian 
first-run  hoxoffice  showed  a.  drop 
(jluring  the  first  five  months  of  the 
1857-58  season  (Aug.-Dee.),  accord¬ 
ing  to  figures  just  released  here* 
The  same  source  also  notes  that 
the  general  market  take  ((first- 
runs)  is  down  some  5%  from  pre¬ 
vious  year’s  figures  for  same,  peri¬ 
od.  Decline  was  from  a  1956  total 
of  $6,675,000  to  a  1957  gross  of 
some  $6,313,000. 

Of  the  new  total,  Italian  pix  and 
co-productions  showed  a  rise  of 
some  percentage  points,  to  reach  a. 
total  of  some  $1,774,500  equivalent 
to  20.3%  of  the  initial  run  market. 

Slack  produced  by  the  drop  in 
U.S.  film  take  was  also  taken  up 
by  Continental  pix  .in  general, 
whose  percentage  Slice  increased 
from  7.9%  in  1956  to  12%  last 
year. 


PARIS  TAKIR’ FLOP 
DOLM  INFLUENCE 

Paris,  Jan.  21. 

Film  star  Jean 'Marais  dropped 
about  $35,000  on  a  legit  musical 
he  wrote  and  backed  "L’Apprenti 
Fakir.”  An  attempt  at  infusing 
life  into  the.  lagging,  hoary  styled 
theatrical  tuner  setup  here  came- 
a  cropper.  ^This  is  unfortunate  for 
It  will  keep  the  French  musical  in 
Its  slumbering,  lumbering,  vin’age, 
Vienese-type  operetta  syndrome. 
Show  lasted  four  weeks. 

“Fakir”  had  a  fair  musical  score 
by  Yank  Jeff  Davis*  modern  chore¬ 
ography  by  American  Georges 
Reich  and  lyrics  by  Charles  Azna- 
vour.  It  was  youthful,  but  suffered 
from  a: certain  amateurishness  and 
a  weak  working  out  of  the  slight 
storyline,. 


Ponti,  DeLanrentiis  Asked 
To  Vacate  Rome  Studios 

Rome,  Jan.  21. 

Producers  Carlo  Ponti  and  Dino 
DeLaurentiis  have  been  asked  to 
vacate  their  jointly-held  studios 
here  in.  Rome  by  the  ENAL,-  an 
Italian  worker’s  association,  which 
owns  the  large  setup  on  the  out¬ 
skirts  of  the  city.  The  producers 
took  over  the  studios  id  years  ago. 
Subsequently,  they  completely  re¬ 
vamped  the  place,  building  new 
sound  stages,  offices,  etc.  and  most 
of  the  features  made  by  the  team 
were  shot  there.  When  Ponti  and 
DeLaurentiis  recently  split  Up  their 
longstanding  partnership,  the  stu¬ 
dio  temporarily  remained  in  joint 
ownership,  even  though  DeLaur¬ 
entiis  moved  out  and  it  remained 
for  all  intents  and  purposes  a  Ponti 
bailiwick. 

Now  the  Original  owners  want 
the  studio  back  (the  10-year  lease  is 
up),  and  th  j  case  will  be  in  Rome 
courts  soon.  Not  known  whether 
ENAL  would  want  to  continue  to 
lease  the  studio  for  film  work  or 
return  it  to  its  original  function  as 
a  recreation  center  for  workers. 
Loss  of  studio  setup  as  such  would 
still  leave  Rome  with  six  film  work¬ 
shops,  including  the  largest,  Cine- 
cltta. 


Arg.  Vande  Union  Seeks 
Govt  Action  in  Haring 
Vaude  Statute  Enforced 

Buenos  Aires,  Jem.  14. 
The  Union  of  Variety  Artistes  is 
in  an  uproar  and  seeking  means  of 
petitioning  President  Aramburu 
direct,  to  enlist  bis  support  for  ob¬ 
ligatory  enforcement  of  the  Vaude¬ 
ville  Law  in  the  film  theatres  of 
this  country.  ^ 

By  a  decision  of  the  Minister  of 
Commerce  and  Industry  last  Sep¬ 
tember,  film  patrons  were  given  a 
choice  of  paying  for  the  vaudeville 
turns  or.  entering  the  cinema  after 
the  acts  had  gone  onv  Exhibitors 
find  that  the  majority*  decline  to 
pay  for  or  view  the  vaude  turns. 
So  the  exhibs  in  turn  have  decided 
it  will  be  preferable  to  pay  fines 
to  the  Labor  Ministry,  aind  not  pro¬ 
vide  the  talent,  which  is  so  difficult 
to  line  up.  They  thus  will  avoid 
the  cost  and  labor  of  maintaining 
booking  offices.;  Anyway,  the  fines 
come  out  cheaper  in  the  long  run. 

•The  union  Insists  thpt  its  mem¬ 
bers  demand  audiences,  and  appar¬ 
ently  is  short-sighted  enough  not 
to  recognize  that  its.  future  rests 
with  television,  particularly  now 
that  the  government  has  issued 
tenders  for  allocation  of  another 
10  tv  channels. 

aren’t  enough  genuine  vaudevillers 
aren’t  enough  geuhine  vaudevillers 
around  to  make  any  sort  of  a  peti¬ 
tion  :  forceful. 


ELSA  MAXWELL  BLOWS 
GASKET  FOR  CALLAS 

.  Rome,  Jan.  21. 

Elsa  Maxwell  whose  acquaint¬ 
ance  with  Maria  Callas  is  less  than 
a  year  old  was  so  vehement  in  de¬ 
fense  of  the  soprano  in  the. latter’s 
recent  uproar  with  Rome  Opera 
officials  that  she  herself  (Miss 
Maxwell)  drew  a  bad  press.  In  par¬ 
ticular  her  use  of  the  word  “bar¬ 
barians”  in  description  of  modern 
Romans,  was  resented. 

Unconfirmed,  it  is  believed  that 
a  protest  against  the  Maxwell 
statements.  Which  were  many  end 
heated  while  the  war  was  on,  was 
filed  with  the  U.  S.  Embassy.  And 
what  could  it  do?  Nothing. 

Blit  before  she  left  town  Miss 
Maxwell  cooled  down,  said  she 
only  meant  certain  natives,  that 
she  truly  loved  Italy. 


;  BALLET  RAMBERT  BACK 

Spent  Two  Months  In  China  — 
Classical  Repertory 

Glasgow,  Jan.*  14. 

After  two-months’  trek  to 
China!,  the  English  Ballet  Rambert 
is  in  Scotland  for  one-nighters  and 
weekly  engagements.  Repertoire 
includes  “Swan  Lake,”.  Act  H, 
“Fireflies,”  “Judgment  of  Paris,” 
and  “Les  Sylphides.” 

Norman  Dixon  is  principal  dan¬ 
cer. .  Company  includes  Ian  Metsis, 
young  Greek  dancer,  formerly  of 
the  Athens  Opera  House. 

U.S.  £  Britain’s 
Brussels  Skeds 

Brussels,  Jan.  21. 

During  the  1958  Brussels 
World’s  Fair  each  of  the  50  par¬ 
ticipating  countries  or  internation¬ 
al  organizations  will  stage  one  or 
several  days  of  their  own,  during 
which  Fair  visitors  will  have  ah 
opportunity  to.  attend  a  series  of 
special  shows. 

The  U.S.A.  days  are  scheduled 
for  July  2,  3  and  4.  The  program 
will  include  a  concert  by  the  Phila¬ 
delphia  Orchestra,  conducted  by 
Eugene  Ormandy,  violinist  Isaac 
jStern,  soloist;  the  American  Ballet, 
starring  NOra  Kaye  and  Erik 
Bruhn. 

Concert  and  ballet  performances 
will  be  given  in  the  Fair’s  main 
Auditorium,  With  an  audience  ca¬ 
pacity  for  2,000.  American  hands 
will  play  jazz  music  on  the  Fair’s 
Esplanade. 

For  these  and  other  shows  or¬ 
ganized  by  the  American;  partici¬ 
pation  to  the  Fair  admission  will 
be  free. 

Britain’s  national  days  will  be 
held  on  July  10-12.  On  July  10, 
the  BBC  Orchestra  and  the  Hud¬ 
dersfield  Choir  conducted  by  Sir 
Malcolm  Sargent  will  perform 
Holst’s  “Planets”  and  “Belshazzar’s 
Feast,”  by  Sir  William  Walton  and, 
on  the  following  day,  Elgair’s 
“Dream  of  Gerontius.”  On  July 
12  the  Scots  Guards.  Orchestra  wiU 
take  the  rostrum' of  the  main  Au¬ 
ditorium. 

The  Swiss  have  hooked  June  29, 
July  31  and  Aug.  1. 

On  June;29,  the  Schauspielhaus 
Zurich  will  give.  In  the-small  Audi¬ 
torium  (seating  500),  a  perform¬ 
ance  of  “Romulus,”  a  new  play  by 
Friedrich  Durrenmatt.  In  the  main 
Auditorium*  the  Basle  Stadttheater 
will  present  “Titus  Feuerfuchs  ”  a 
new  Opera  by  Heinrich  Suter- 
meister. 

On  July  31  the  Orchestra  de  la 
Suisse  Romande  will  give  a  con¬ 
cert  in  the  main  Auditorium  under 
Ernest  Ansermet. 

On  May  21  Finland  will  cele¬ 
brate  national  day  with  perform¬ 
ances  by  the  Helsinki  University 
Choir  and  by  the  Jalkanen  dance 
group. 

Hungary’s  hill  for  May  2  reads 
as  follows:  the  Tatray  Quartet  will 
play  works .  by  Zoltan  Kodaly  and 
Bela  Bartok  in  the  small  auditori¬ 
um,  while  the  Budapest  Wind  In¬ 
struments  Quartet  will  perform 
works  by  Ferenc  Farkas,  Endre 
Szervanszky  .and  Laszlo  Lajtha. 
In.  the  evening  the  Hungarian. 
Opera  will  occupy  the  main  Audi¬ 
torium  and  play  three  works  by 
Bartok:  “Bluebeard’s  Castle,”  “The 
Wooden  Prince”  and  “The  Mar¬ 
vellous  Mandarin.”  Hungary  .will 
have  another  naitional  day,  on  Sept. 
17,  which  ^vill  be  devoted  mainly 
to  popular  songs, 

Yugoslavia  will  also  feature  a 
Bartok  ballet  on  its  program  for 
June  27,  together  with  works  by 
Kresimir  Baranovic.  In  the  eve¬ 
ning  there  will  be  a  gala  symphony  : 
concert  with  Zinka  Kuhc,  the  Bel¬ 
grade  Philharmonic’s  . ,  Symphony  ’ 
and  the  Mixed  Choir  of  the  Yugo¬ 
slav  Army.  Another  concert  by  the. 
same  orchestra  and  choir  is  sched¬ 
uled  for  June  T28. 

Czechoslovakia’s  national  days 
on  July  23  and  24  will  feature 
folklore  and  chamber  niusic,  docu¬ 
mentary  films  and ;•  performances 
by  the  famous  Skupa  puppet  the¬ 
ater. 


Cinerama  Holds 

London,  Jan.  21. 

...  Announcement  that  “Cinerama 
Holiday”  would  fold  at  the  London 
Casino .  Feb.  12  after,  two  years 
hoisted  the. demand  for  seats,  so 
sharply  that  it  has  been  decided  to 
retain  the  pic  Until  Feb.  22. 

It  will  be  followed  by  the 
Casino’s  third  Cinerama  film, 
“Seven  Wbnders  of  World,”  now 
set  to  be  preemed  on  Feb.  26.  , 


GERMAN  STAR  TO  GET 
PIC  BUILDUP  DUES. 

Frankfurt,  Jan.  14. 

For  the  first  time  since  the  end 
of.  the  last  world  war,  an  original 
German  film  is  being  released  in 
America  with  a  tremendous  pub¬ 
licity  campaign  and  with,  the  star 
taken  to  the  opening.  Disney 
bought  the  rights  to  the  Herzog 
film  “Maedchenjahre  eine  Konigin” 
(Girlhood,  of  a  Queen),  starring 
young  German  actress  Romy 
Schneider.  With  Leo  Horster,  DiSr 
ney  rep  in  Germany,  as  special 
escort  on  the  trip,  Romy  Schneider 
and  her  mother,  actress  Magda 
Schneider,  are  invading  the  U.S. 
for  two  weeks. 

They  flew  out  of  Munich  yester¬ 
day  (Jan.  13)  with  the  flight  making 
a  Special  stop  from  its  Duesseldorf 
origination  to  pick  up  the  film  pair.; 

The  film,  titled  “Vickie”  for  the 
U.S.,  has  been  dubbed  in  Holly¬ 
wood.  Miss  Schneider  is  also  sched¬ 
uled  for  many  tele  appearances. 
Never  before  has-  Hollywood 
brought  over  a  film  .in  German  to 
introduce  its  Star.  And  U.S,  distribs: 
never  before  nought  to  publicize  a 
mother  end  daughter  pair  of  lead¬ 
ing  femmes. 


D.S.  Setback  Seen 
In  New  Board 

Madrid,  Jan.  21. 

U.S.  film  companies  lost  ground 
in  elections,  held  yesterday  (16) 
for  a  new  Spanish  Distributors  I 
Assn,  exec  board,  which  was  marked 
by  a  victory  for  several  Spanish 
distribs  who  have  not  heretofore 
taken  position  in  the  dispute  be¬ 
tween  Spain  and  the  Motion  Pic- 1 
ture  Export  Assn. 

General  assembly  named  five 
companies  to  board  Seats  from 
among  the  national  distribs:  three 
from  the  semi-nationals  and  three 
from  the  regional  banners.  Growth 
of  the  organization  has  mush¬ 
roomed  in  the  past  three  years  to  a 
total  of  136  members. 

Last  year,  U.S.  agencies  in  Spain 
dominated  the  national  group  with 
20th-Fox,  Universal  and  C.  B.j 
Films  (United  Artists  outlet)  rep¬ 
resented.  Results  yesterday  left 
Universal  and  C.  B.  Films  in  mi¬ 
nority  as  Charmartin,  Cifesa  and 
Hispamex  won  the  bloc  vote. 

Fuster,  Fortuna  and  Dipenfa  won 
semi-national  board  seats  and  Apa- 
racio,  Cicosa  and  Diana  were  picked 
to  represent  regionals. 

Trade  sources  here  see  three 
groupings  within  the  new  board. 
Universal  and *  C.  B.  Films,  with 
Fortuna  and  Cicosa  as  possible  al¬ 
lies,  compose  the  cluster  favorable 
to  MPEA.  Hispamex,  Dipenfa  and 
Diana,  are  in  the  opposite  corner 
while  Charmartin,  Cifesa,  Fuster 
and  Aparacio  are  expected  to  me¬ 
diate  between  the  two  poles  of  at¬ 
traction. 

Jose  Luis  de  Navasquez.  director 
of  Charmartin  and  candidate  most 
likely  to  be  designated  proxy  by 
the  new  board  on  Feb.  9,  did  not 
believe  elections  yesterday  would 
react  significantly  on  the  Spain- 
MPEA  impasse.  He  stated  his  com¬ 
pany  .would  atjjempt  to  conciliate 
opposing  views  and  propose  a  har¬ 
mony  program  to  cope  with  the 
problems  confronting  distribs  and 
the  industry  as  a  whole. 

In  another  post-election  state¬ 
ment,  Universal  rep  Enrique 
Aguilar,  chairman  of  U.S.  agency 
managers  in  Spain,  said  vote  will 
bring  no  change  in  present  dead¬ 
lock.  “We  were  a  board  minority 
last  year;  we  are  still  a  minority,” 
he-said. 

Aguilar  held  little  hope  MPEA 
films  would .  re-enter  the  Spanish 
market  for  the  balance,  of  the  1^57- 
58  season  and  mentioned  Septem¬ 
ber  as  the  earliest  effective  pact 
date  if  an  agreement  is  reached 
later  this  year. 


A1  Daff  on  Aussie  Trek 

Sydney,  Jan,  14. 

A1  Daff,  Universal  sales  chief, 
planes  in  here  next  week  on  a 
quiclc  Down  Under  survey  of  the 
local  picture  scene.  Daff  was  out 
here  about  12  months  ago.  At  a 
luncheon  tendered  him  by  the  47- 
Club  on  behalf  of  the  local  indus¬ 
try,  Daff  told  the  local  filmites 
they  had  nothing  to  fear  from  tv 
that  a  good  pic  couldn’t  combat. 

Next  Jan.  24  the  47-Club  will 
again  wine-and-dine  the  top  ex¬ 
ecutive.  j 


By  Lanza  Irks 


By  GORDON  IRVING 

Glasgow,  Jan.  21. 

Mario :  Lanza,  playing  the  2,300- 
seater  St.  Andrew’s  Hall  on  a  orie- 
nighter  .  here  (7),  was-  carefully 
screened,  from  press  interviews. 
Apart  from  a  hit-and-run  meeting 
he  had  with  a  few  local  news 
scribes  on  arrival,  singer  shut 
himself  in  his  hotel  suite,  and  all 
requests  for  interviews  were  nixed 
by  his  manager. 

This  gave  rise  to  much  irate 
comment  from  Scot  show  column¬ 
ists,  who  meet  every  visiting  per¬ 
sonality  on  a  proper  basis.  As  it 
was,  the  leading  columnists  didn’t 
meet  with  Lanza,  despite  his  be¬ 
ing  in  the  city  for  two  whole  days 
and  three  nights. 

Robert  Hewitt,  daily'  stage  col¬ 
umnist  of  the*  Evening  Citizen,  told 
Variety:  “This  is  ridiculous.  It  is 
only  fair  that  the  show  biz  press 
should  have  a  chance  to  meet  with 
leading  artistes. 

.  “I  went  all  the  way  to  London 
to  see  Lanza  at  the  Royal  Variety 
Performance,  and  nojy,  when  he 
comes  to  Scotland,  I  find  I  can’t 
even  get  near  him. 

“Tbfiy  held  a  press  reception 
for  him  in  London  before  his  tour. 
It  is  time  the  agents  and  promoters 
in  London  realized  that  the  writers 
on  show  business  in  Scotland  are 
•not  hicks,  but  people  who  know 
their  job,  and  do  It  thoroughly. 

“Glasgow  is.  not  .  a  hick  town.  It 
is  one  the  main  entertainment 
centres  of  the  world.”  . 

In  his  daily  column,  Hewitt  had' 
some  penetrating;  comments  to 
make  on  not  getting  near  Lanza. 
He  told  how  he  had  pointed  out  'to 
Lanza’s  temporary  manager  “that 
when  Sir  Laurence  Olivier  visited 
Glasgow  recently,  he  particularly 
asked  to  meet  the  press  columnists, 
had  a  drink  with  them,  and  chat¬ 
ted  for  an  hour  before  lunch.  Does 
Mr.  Lanza  consider  he  is  a  bigger 
man,  or  a  more,  courteous  one,  than 
the  finest  actor  in  Europe?” 

Scribe,  garnering  chit  chat  re 
Lanza  from  hotel  waiters  and 
other  sources,  said  the  singer  was 
sitting  for  two  days  “in  central- 
heated  solitude,,  talking  only  when 
he  has  to.” 

Peter  Pritchard,  acting  as  tour 
manager  for  Lanza,  told  Variety: 
“I  am  sorry,  but  Mr.  Lanza  is  not 
available.  There  is  no  guarantee 
that  you  will  be  able  to  see  him, 
even  at  his  hotel.” 

Singer,  playing  to  SRO  biz  at  the 
municipal  auditorium,  the  St.  An¬ 
drew’s  Hall,  received  a  rapturous 
reception  from  his  fans.  Building 
was  packed  with  Scots  from  many 
different  parts.  Large  coach  parties 
arrived  from  outlying  districts, 
and  some  fan-club  members 
trekked  from  London. 

He.  was  accompanied  at  piano  by 
Constantine  Callinicos,  *who  did 
several  soio  numbers.  .  v 

Onstage,  Lanza  had  a  friendly, 
humorous  approach,  and  twisted 
hecklers  neatly  when  they  called 
out  for ’special  tunes.  At  one  point 
he  turned  his  back  on  the  large  au¬ 
dience,  and  sang  to  customers  who 
could  get  seats  only  on  the  plat- 
forra. 

Treatment  meted  out  to  show 
scribes  by  the  Lanza  setup  ,  (he  was 
presented  here  by  London  impre¬ 
sario*  Victor  Hochhauser).  was  on  a 
par  With  treatment  when  Mike 
Todd’s  “Around  the  World  In  80 
Days”  was  screened.  No  preview, 
as  per  usual,  was  offered  to  scribes, 
who  had  to  discuss '  the  pic  prior 
to  its  arrival  without  even  seeing 
it.  Comments  were  only  possible 
after  film’s  opening  at  the  local 
Gaumont  Theatre. 

There,  is  a  growl  mg  feeling 
among  the  newspaper  comhiunity 
that  Scotland  is  being  treated  as 
merely  an  appendage  of  London, 
and  jiot  the  .hep  show  biz  area  it 
really  is. 


Domino  flixe*  Aussie  Date 

Sydney,  Jan.  14. 
Reported  that  Fats r  Domino  has 
nixed  his  Aussie  ’  playdate  of  Jan. 
30,  under  the  management  of  Lee 
Gordon  because  of  sinus  trouble. 
Pianist  will;  come  when  his  doctor 
gives  the  okay* 

.  Gordon,  who  operates  the  Sta¬ 
dium  loop,  for  the  January  date 
will  bring  in  the  Crickets  and  Jer¬ 
ry  Lee  Lewis.  Liberace  is  timed 
for.  February  under  the  Gordon 
setup. 


INTERNATIONA1. 


IS 


^htii  Trtlilf  f  |(|uim 


Paris,  Jan.  21.  - 

Yarik  films  now  are  wavering 
around -32%  to  36%  of  the  overalt 
Gallic  mart.  A  looksee  at  pix  which 
took  the  top;  coin  in  Gallic  key  cit¬ 
ies  from  1951  to  1957  seems  to  bear 
that  out;  Of  the  films  that  grossed 
over  $450,000  in  their,  firstruns, 
which  is  about  30%  of  the  gross 
take  and  sets  the  pattern  for  sub¬ 
sequent  runs,  13  of  the  33  were 
Yaink  with  one  Italo  entry  and  the 
others  French. 

Of  the  Yank  pix,  most  were  in 
the  blockbuster  category.  Ameri¬ 
can  moneymakers  were  “War  and 
Peace”  (Par),  “The:  Robe”  (20th)  on 
the  intro  of  Cinemascope,  “Quo 
Vadis”  (M-G),  “Greatest  Show  ;on 
Earth”  (Par),  VLimelight’’  (UA) 
(reissue)^  “Here  to  Eternity”  (Col); 
“Mouli  Rouge”  (UA),  ‘*20,000 

Leagues  Under  Sea”  (FilmsOnor), 
“Roman  Holiday”  (Par),  “To  Catch 
A  Thief”,  (Par),  “Samson' and  Deli- 
la”  (Par), '-“Living  Desert”  tRKO) 
and  “Gone  With,  the  Wind”  (M-G) 
(reissue). 

The  1956-’57,  gave  some  leeway 
to  comedies  and  even  musicals. 
Among  toppers  were  “War  and 
Peace”  an  exceptional  longrim  and 
nabe  biz;  “Man  Who  Knew  Too 
Much”  (Par),  “Court  Jester*’  (Par), 
“Anastasiay  (20th),  “Love  In  Af¬ 
ternoon”  (AA), .  two  Martin  and 
Lewis  pix,  “Hollywood  or  Bust’*  and 
“Pardners”  (Par);  “Giant”  (WB), 
“Picnic” .  (Col),  “King  and  I”  (20th) 
and  “Bus  Stop”  (20th). 


New  B.O.  Winners 

Paris,  Jan.  21.' 

Pacing  the  boxoffice  film  take 
here  is  “Bridge  On  the  River 
Kwai’?  (CoU  which:  garnered  rave 
reviews  and  is  in'  for  top  biz.  In 
two  weeks,  99,400  patrons  saw  this 
opus.  Next  in.  favor,  as  filmgoing 
comes  out  its  doldrums  here,  is  the 
new  Brigitte  Bardot  pic,  “Une  Pari- 
siennee,”  followed  by  a  Femandel 
pic,  “Le  Chomeur  De  Clochmerle” 
(The  Unemployed  Man  of  Cloch- 
irierle):  Then  comes  “Pardners” 
(Par),  “Bairibi”  (BV)  and  “The 
Killi  (RKO)  among  the  Yank 


Mexico  City,  Jan..  14. 

Another  statewide  cinema  strike 
Is  looming,  and  Worrying,  the  whole 
.film  industry.  Because  Gov.  Raul 
Madero  of  Coahuila  state,  prosper¬ 
ous  mining-cotton  aria  on  the 
western  Texas  border,  announced 
his  intention  of  reviving  an  old 
law  that  Would  hike  taxes  .  15%:  on 
the  five  cinemas  in  Torreon,  Cos-  I 
huila’s  top  city,  all  exhibitors  in 
that  state  have  threatened  to  shut 
down  as  a  sympathy  move.  The  | 
law  was  passed  years  ago  in  order 
to  finance  building  a  public  charity 
hospital. 

Wires  of  protest  have  been  sent 
the  Ministry  of  the  Interior  by  the 
National  Cinematographic  indus¬ 
try  Chamber  and  the  Mexican  film  j 
.  producers  and  distributors  associa¬ 
tions.  The  Chamber  told  the  min¬ 
istry  what  Gov.  Madero  intends 
doing  is  unconstitutional  because 
it  Would  amount  to  "confiscatory 
taxation.”  It  further  stated  that 
the  five  cinemas,  all  operated  by 
the  Cia,  Operadora  de  Cines,  only 
have  a  combined  annual  income  of 
$48,000,  -  and  the  .  hiked  taxation 
would  take  $28,000,”  which  would 
amount  to  making  the  state  gov¬ 
ernment  the  senior  partner  in  the 
business.” 

The  government  of  Baja  Cali¬ 
fornia  state  recently  annulled  a 
similar  law  when  exhibitors  threat¬ 
ened  to  shutter  rather  than  meet 
the  5%  proposed  impost  lift  there. 

443  Films  Released 

In  Japan  Last  Year 

Tokyo,  Jan.  21. 

A  total .  of  443  Japanese  feature, 
films  Were  released  in  Japan  in 
- 1957,  according  to  Eiren  (Japanese 
Motion  Picture  Federation).  These 
pix.  were  shown  in  6,844  theatres 
in  Japan,  a  figure  reached  by  the 
end  of  October,  representing  an,  in¬ 
crease  of  721  over  1956: 

Total  attendance,  at  the  end  of 
September,  was  846,756,000,  a  boost 
of  oyer  10%  compared  with  the 
same  period  last  year. 


3  DEATHS  IN  CROWD 

Odd  Mishap  on  Spanish  Flint’s 
Location  Site 


.  Madrid,  Jan.  2L 

A  crowd  of  onlookers,  gathered 
to  watch  exteibr  shooting  of 
“Noche  y  Alba”  (Night  and  Dawn) 
on  the  outskirts  of '  Madrid, 
panicked'  when  a  buried  Civil  War 
mortar  exploded,  causing  three 
deaths  and  injuries  to  12  others. 

Neighborhood  throng  was  pressed 
around  a  wood  fire  close,  to  the 
sub-surface  shell,  waiting  for  film 
director  Forque  and  screen  stars 
Zplly  Moreno,  Paco  Rabal  and  An¬ 
tonio  Vilar  to  arrive  when  the  blast 
occurred. 

Ah  insignificant  4>ut  perhaps 
providential  anto  accident  en  route 
to  location,  delaying  cast  arrival 
until  just  after  the  mortar  buret, 
spared  Miss  Moreno  and  two  of 
Spain’s  top  male  stars  from  mis¬ 
hap. 

— — ■ — — .  . 

RussosGa®  3,000;600 
Cinema  Patnms  in  ’57; 
See  Growth  in  PreA 

Frankfurt,  Jan.  14. 

During  195T,  there  were  98  films 
produced  in  Russia,  according  to 
statements  from  the  USSR  just  re¬ 
leased  here.  During  1958, 1959  and 
i960,  the  Red  film-makers  expect 
to  produce  120  new  pictures  an¬ 
nually.  But  about  50%  of  the  coun¬ 
try’s  film  releases  will 'still  have 
to  be  supplied  from  foreign  lands. 
There:  are  currently  62,000  thea¬ 
tres  in  Russia  as.  well  as  another 
.12,000  mohDe  theatre  projectors: 
that  traveT  through  the  land  for 
special  showings. . 

V  Around  3,000,000  Russians  visit¬ 
ed,  their  theatres  during  1956  and 
a  few  .more  came  during  1957,  ac¬ 
cording  to  these  statistics.  Every 
Soviet  town  resident  goes  to  an 
average  of  15«pix  shows  a  year. 

Of  the  62,000  theatres;  though, 
only  60  to  70  are  equipped  with 
widescreen..  The  first  Cinema¬ 
scope  theatre  in  Russia  is  current¬ 
ly,  under  construction  in  Moscow. 
Foreign  films  are  synchronized  for 
showing  in  Russia.  And  only  in 
Moscow  is  there  one  theatre  which 
offers  original  version  films  with 
sub-titles. 

For  a  foreign  color  film,  between 
800  and  1,200  prints  are  required 
for  adequate  .'distribution  in  Rus¬ 
sia.  And  for  a  black  and  white 
print,  as  many  as  3,000  prints  are 
heeded.  The  interest  of  Soviet  res¬ 
idents  in  foreign  films  is  very, 
large.  The  people  are  interested 
in  observing  the '  mentality  and 
conditions  of  living  in  other  lands. 


Ponti  in  Counter-Suit 


Rome,  Jan.  14. 

Producer  Carlo  .Ponti  has  filed 
a  counter-suit  against  starlet  Ma- 
risa .  AllasiOi  Who  recently  an¬ 
nounced  she  intended  breaking  her 
pact  tying  her  to  the  Italian  film- 
maker  for  another  four  years.  Hi 
charged  the  actress  “obviously  had 
no  right  to  break  the  agreement  of 
her  own  volition.  Ponti  claimed 
that  .it  was  his.  studio  which  discov¬ 
ered  her  and  which  launched  her 
to  the  fame  she  how  enjoys: 

The  actress  recently  starred  lri 
the  upcoming  Metro  release, 
“Seven  Hills  of  Rome”  opposite 
Mario  Lanza.  She  may  trek  to  the 
U  S.  for  the  American  preem  of 
the  film  (made  here)  at  the  N.Y. 
Music  Hall  late  this  month. 

Chandler,  Palance  In  | 

Latest  Hamiher  Filrii 

London,  Jan.  I 

Jeff  Chandler,  Jack  Palance  and 
Martine  Carol  are  to  star  In  “The 
Phoenix”  which  Hammer  Films  is 
to  put  into,  production  at  the  end 
of  next  month  for  world  release 
through  United  Artists. 

The  film,  which  is  based  on 
Lawrence  Baehmann’s  novel  of  the 
same  ,  name,  will  be  directed  by 
Robert*  Aldrich.  Aldrich  and  pro¬ 
ducer  Michael.Carreras  are  how  in 
Berlin  scouting  .locations,  and  stu¬ 
dio  work  will  be  done  at  Bray, 


ItaUau  Pix  Producers 
Ask  Govt  To  Revise 
‘Qnafity’  Film  Judguig 

Rome,  Jan.  14. 

ANICA,  the  Italian  Film  Pro¬ 
ducers  Assn.,  has  asked  theltrilian 
government  for  a  drastic  revision 
of  current  prize  award  legislation. 
Under  this  five  Italo  features  (or 
tbrir  producers)  per  year  are  re¬ 
warded  with  a  large  cash  award  for 
outstanding  quality  as  determined 
by  a  special  jury.  Recent  announce¬ 
ment  of  awards  to  five  features 
for  the  1957  season,  ^Cabiria,” 
“Empire  of  the  .  Sun,”  ‘11  Grido,” 
“Fathers  and  Sons”  and  “Guen- 
daliha,”  wes  received  with  a  horus 
of  disapproval. 

Especially  irked  were  producers 
Of  some  other  “quality"  pix  of 
recognized  but  low  boxoffice  volt¬ 
age  value  who  deplored  the  fact 
that  the  government  should  ,  have 
giyen  kudos  (and  the  large  cash 
sums!  to  son^e  good,  but  commer¬ 
cially  fruitful  pix.  Argument  was 
not  against  commercial  films  hut 
the  fact  that  certain  equally  de¬ 
serving  pix,  on  a  quality  basis  (and 
which  needed  the  money  to  break 
even),  shpuld  have  .been  omittsd 
via  a  setup  originally  designed  to 
suj^ort  just  those  arty  items. 

,  Plea  to  the"  government  was 
signed  by  ANICA  topper  Eitel 
Monaco  himself,  and  contained  .  a 
counterproposal.  This  was  that  the 
five  "quality”  cash  prizes  should  be 
awarded  on  the  basis  of  artistic- 
eommercial  success  abroad.  Similar 
setup,  the  letter  notes,  is  current 
in  the  French  film  legislation.  Also 
lit  .  was  noted  that  the  prepbnd.cr- 
rance  of  cm  on  the  committees 
charged  with  selecting  the  prize 
:  pix  was  a  negative  factor,  in  carry¬ 
ing  out  the- award’s  original  inten¬ 
tions.  ^ 


$600,000  to  Help 
HypoFihiPrpi 

Belgrade,  Jan..  14. 

-  In  1958  and  1959,  steps  will  be 
taken  for  a  gradual  reconstruction 
and  modernization  of.  Yugoslav  film 
technique^  Preliminary  estimates 
indicate  a  sum  of  about  $600,000 
is  to  be  spent  for  bolstering  the: 
Yugoslav  pix  industry; 

.  The  need  for  facelifting  the  film 
setup  is  primarily  imposed  by  the 
fact  that  production  in  Yugoslavia 
Is  growing  rapidly,  and  that  long¬ 
term  plains  of  producing,  companies 
for  features  and  documentaries 
need  more  extensive  preparations. 

.  By  1961,  the  overall  capacity-  of 
the  picture  industry  ip  this  coun¬ 
try  is  figured  to  be  23  features  and 
-175-  documentaries.  In  contrast, 
the  average  annual  production 
since  the  liberation  of .  the  country 
In  1945  has  been  from  six  to  10 
feature  films. 

The  wear,  and  tear  on  the  exist-' 
ing  equipment  is  figured  as  not 
meeting  the  ever-growing .  film 
production  requirements. ;  All  six 
federal  Republics"  now  have  their 
own  film  producing  enterprises. 
It  is  felt  that  this  situation  is 
not  economically  justified  because 
the ,  bases,  widely  scattered,,  are 
Incomplete  ..and  inadequately 
equipped. 

It  is  expected  that  the  central 
film  studio;  Kosutnjak,  in  Bel¬ 
grade,  will  in  the.  .  future  be 
equipped  with  new  modern  devices 
and  instruments,  especially  for 
open-air  filming.  The  .  purchase,  of 
technical  equipment  will  be  con¬ 
tracted  chiefly  in  European  coun¬ 
tries  and  partly  in  the  U.  S.,  will 
be  chiefly  mobile  apparatus! 

Str&tford  Music  Execs 

Stratford,  Ont:,  Jpn.  2L; 
j  Louis  Applebaum  will  be  general 
music  director  ,  and  U.Sfeorn  Ezra 
SChabas  manager  of  the  Music 
|  Festival  here  next  summer.  Opera, 

|  symphony  and!  jazz  will  he  served 
up. 

.Applebaum,  a  Canadian,  has 
composed,  scores  for  Hollywood; 
features,  “March  of  Time”  and 
“The  Stratford  Adventure,”  and  is 
scoring  Stratford  Festival’s  touring 
production  of  ‘Two  Gentlemen;  of 
Verona.”  Schabas,  p-r.  director  of 
Royal  Conservatory  of  Music,  U.  of 
of  Toronto,  now  lives  there.  He’s  a 
clarinetist. 


\r  r  ii 

'i 


as 


uiuiuj  viijuw,  «fuw  iwwmig  iou 


JULES  BORKON  TO  U.  S.  | 

Deals  Pend  on  Bis  Film,  Salon’s 
BalleJ 

Paris*  Jan.  -  21. 

French  producer  Jules  Borkon, 
head  of  Chamlps-Elysees  Produc¬ 
tions,  is  due  in  the  States  this 
week  to  (I.)  huddle  on  the  sale  of 
his  picture,  “The  Wicked  Go  to 
Hell”  and  (2.)  lease  a  Broadway, 
house,  for  the  U.S,  presentation  of 
the  Franchise  Sagan  ballet,  “Le 
Rendezvous  Manque”  (The  Missed, 
Meeting). 

Ballet  opened  here  last  week 
and  got  split  reviews  on  its  Monte 
Carlo,  tryout.  Music  is  by.  Michel 
Magne  and  choreography  by  John 
Taras  and  Don  Lurio.  It’s  staged 
by  film  director  Roger  Vadim. 

Australia's  Revolution: 
More  Bar-Hoars,  Mere  TV; 


Tokyo;  Jan.  14. 


Although  the  motion  picture  in¬ 
dustry  faces  a  crisis  in  Australia 
because  of  television,  Harry  Wren,1 
head  of  Australia’s  Celebrity  the-! 
atre  circuit  feels  that  the  small 
screen  has  given,  live  entertain- 
'  ment  a  boost,  in  his  country  of: 
8;Q0O,00O, 

Of  tv,  he  says'  that  it,  plus  the 
newly  installed  ruling:  allowing  for 
late  closing  of  hotel  bars  has  had 
a  drastic  effect  on  motion  pictures: 
Visiting  in  Japan,  Wren  estimated 
that  Sydney  ,  and  Melbourne  have 
about.  200,000  sets  together  with 
that  figure  -expected  to  be  doubled 
by  Easter.  By  mid-1959,  Adelaide 
and  Brisbane  will  also  have  tv  out¬ 
lets. 

With  video  just  a  year  old  in 
:  Australia,  Wren  declared,  “Live 
entertainment  there  is  showing  an 
increase  which  fellows,  the  pattern 
Of  New  York  and  London  because 
tv  is. motion  pictures  in  the  home. ; 
People  on  proven  statistics  go  to 
movies  by  habit.  Consequently, 
with  known'  film  names  and  even 
recent  films  (most  of  Aussie  tv  is 
icanneti  U.  S.  shows),  now  playing 
the  tv  channels,  people  say  why. 
walk  up.  to  the  lOcal  movie  house 
when  we  '  can  see  it  in  our  lounge 
room,  with  the  tremendous  asset 
value  effect  of  the  household  that 
the  weekly -  entertainment  money 
once  going  to  movie  houses  is  pur¬ 
chasing  assets  for  the  house. 

“However,”  Wren  continued,  “it 
is  well  established  that  you  can’t 
sit  home  all  the  time  and  . particu¬ 
larly  when  My  Fair  Lady  wants  to 
show  off  .  her  new  hairdo  or  gown. 
“So  somebody  suggests  a  break  ,  for. 
relaxation.  We  go  back  to  the 
horse  and  buggy  days  and  we  book 
dinner  at  a  nitery  and  fellow  it 
with,  a  blocked  party  of  from  four 
to  twelve  seats  at  a  selected  stage- 
show: 

“Local  tv  production  in  Australia, 
is  poor,”  Wren  added.  “The  sur¬ 
veys,  and  like  Jackie  Gleason  I 
.don’t  believe  them  all,  still  show 
that  the  public  knows  what  it 
Wants  .  .  .  obviously  true  and  tested 
tv  programs  that  can  be  purchased 
at  less  cost  that  practically  ama¬ 
teur  local  productions.” 

In  addition  to  being  one  of  the 
big  four  promoters  of  live  enter¬ 
tainment  in  Australia,  Wren,  prin¬ 
cipal  Stockholder  in  Celebrity,  also 
controls  first  release  franchise  of 
Paramount  Pictures  .  for  South 
Australia!  Under  his  banner,  “The 
Greatest  Show,  on  Earth”  did  a 
world  record,  fun  of  27  weeks  at 
the  Majestic  in  Adelaide. 

.  Wren,  who  started  an  ap¬ 
prentice  projectionist  With  Hoyts 
Theatres  at  14,  founded  Celebrity 
in  1946  after  six  years  of  partner¬ 
ship  with  J.  C.  Williamson  Ltd. 
Now  42:,  he  cites  as  “the  best  thing 
I’ve  ever  done  in  my  life”  as  a 
strictly  local  show  last  year  called 
“The  Good  Old  Days”  which  was 
“ham  with  plenty  of  nostalgic 
value”  and  netted  170,006  pounds 
in  44  weeks.  Sweetest  smell,  of  this 
success,  to  WreU  is  that  he  booked 
show  in  Opposition  Tivoli  theatres 
in  both  Sydney  and  Melbourne. 


London,  Jan.  14. 

West  End  firstruns  have  made  a 
bold  start  i®  the  New  Year  with  a 
couple  of  powerful  blockbusters 
dominating  the  scene,  and  with 
other  sturdy  entries  garnering 
hefty  grosses.  Two  of  the  current 
leaders  are  “Iff  Commandments;” 
great  $21,000  in  sixth  Plaza  frame 
and  “Around  World  in  80  Days;” 
mighty  $20,000  in  its  28th  Astoria 
sesh.  ^ 

“Bridge  on  River  Kwal.”  which 
recently,  had  a  smash  eight-week 
Plaza*  run.  is  now  in  its  second 
week  at  fee  Odeon,  Marble  Arch, 
where  still  great .  at  $14,009  or 
better. 

“Naked  Truth”  still .  is  Mg  in 
second  week  at  Odeon,  Leicester 
Square.  “Pajama  Game”  looks 
lively  in  fifth  session  at  the  War¬ 
ner. 

Among  the  newcomers,  standout 
are  “Pal  Joey,”  heading  for  a  great 
$73,000  in  opening  frame  at  Lei¬ 
cester  Square  Theatre,  and  “Enemy 
Below,”  which  looks  stout  $11,000 
or  near  in  its  initial  Carlton  week. 

Estimates  for  Last  Week 

Astoria  (CMA)  (7,474;  $1.20- 
$2.75)  —  “Around  World  in  80 
Days”  (UA)  (28th  wk>.  Great  $20,- 
000  or  near.  Last  week,  $21,000. 
Holds  indef. 

Carlton  (20th)  (1,128;  70-$2.15K- 
“Enemy  Below”  (20th).  Sturdy 
$11,000  or  near. 

Caste*  (IUdie)  (1J337;  70-$245>— 
“Cinerama  Holiday”  (Robin)  (102d 
wk).  Smash  $19,000.  Stays  a  few 
more  weeks  and  will  he  foUowed 
by  “Seven  Wonders  of  World”  next 
'month. 

Empire  (M-G)  (3,099;  55-$1.70)— 
“Davy”  (M-G)  (2d  wk).  Dull  $5,500 
or  near.  First  week  was  mild 
$7,000.  “Jailhouse  Rock”  (M-G) 
follows  Jan:  16. 

Gaonnorit  (CMA)  (1.500;  50-$1.7O) 
—“Blue  Murder  at  St.  Trinian’s” 
(BL)  (4th  wk).  Stout  $11,000  or 
near.  Third  week,  $11,500. 

'  Leicester  Square  Theatre  (CMA) 
(1,376;  50-$1.70)— “Pal  Joey”  (Col). 
Heading  for  smash  $13,000  or  near. 

London  Pavilion  (UA>  (1,217;  50- 
$1.70) — “Wild  Party”  (UA).  Steady 
$6,500  or  near. 

Odeon,  Leicester  Square  (CMA) 
(2,200;  50-$1.70)— “Naked  Truth” 
(Rank)  (2d  wk).  Hefty  $10,000. 
First  was  big  310,800. 

Odeon,  Marble  Arch  (CMA)  (2,- 
200;  50-$1.70)— “Bridge  on  River 
Kwai”  (Col)  (2d  wk).  Fancy  $14,000 
or  more.  First  was  great  $16,000. 

Plaea  (Par)  (1.902:  95-$2.80)  — 
“10  Commandments”  (Par)  (6th 
Wk).  Great  $21,000,  virtually  ca¬ 
pacity  for  13  performances. 

Rialto  (20th)  (592;  5Q-$1.30)  — 
“Count  Five  and  Die”  (20th)  (3d 
wk).  Fair  $3,000  or  near.  “No 
Down  Payment”  (20th)  opens  Jan. 
16.  . 

Ritz  (M-G)  (432;  50-31.30)— “In¬ 
visible  Boy”  (M-G)  (3d  wk).  Mod¬ 
erate  :  $2,500.  “Man  Who  Wouldn’t 
Talk”  (BL)  follows  Jan.  16. 

Studio  One  (APT)  (600;  30-$1.20) 
— “Perri”  (Disney)  (3d  wk).  Solid 
$4,400;  Second  was  $4,700. 

Warner  (WB)  (1,785;  50-$L70)— 
“Pajama  Game”  (WB)  (5th  wk). 
Lively  $7,500.  Fourth  was  $7,800. 
“Chase  a  Crooked  Shadow”  (ABP) 
preems  Jan.  16. 


Athens^Jan.  14. 

Greek  Opera  has  opened  in  the 
renovated  Olympia  Theatre  with 
Verdi’s  “Aida.”  Theatre  was  closed 
for  two  years  for  reconstruction. 
King  and  Queen.  Premier  Kara- 
manlis  and  Cabinet.,  plus  Diplo¬ 
matic  Corps  attended  the  gala  per¬ 
formance. 

Italian  director  Remo  della  Per¬ 
gola  mounted  the  production.  Con¬ 
ductor  was  Andreas  Paridis  with 
choreography  by  Andreas  Patrides 
and  designed  by  Angellos  Griman- 
is.  The  cast  included  Rena  Kanaki. 
tenor  La  Forese,  basso  Dino  Dodi 
mezzo  soprano  France  Sacci,  all  re¬ 
called  from  Italy  and  Petros 
Hoidas  and  Evangelos  Marsellos. 

Greek  Opera  is  negotiating  with 
Metropolitan  .basso  Niko  Moskona 
to  come  to  Greece  later  to  sing 
“Faust.” 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


No  woman  can  give  more  than  the  gift  of  love! 


: 


>/ 


■m 


A  RARE 
EMOTIONAL 

experience: 

the  <:or\  of  the 
woman  who 
loved  a  to  mu 
-v. ient!"t...arid  the 
tin  wan  ted  ehdd 
v.  ho  i  ame  mo  > 
their  }\  \  e- ' 


ar^'fiP  i 


Lauren  Bacall 
Robert  Stack 


fbreverybod 


£  EVELYN  RUDIE  •  LORRE  GREENE 

Produced  by  Directed  by  Screenplay  by 

CHARLES  BRACKETT  •  JEAN  NEGULESCO  •  IUTHER.DAVIS 

Cine  maScopE  COLOR  by  DB  LUXE  •  Baaed  on  a  Story  by  Nolle  Gardner  White  •  tn  the  wonder  or  aTKRCOpMONiO  sound 


For  your  Valentine’s  Day  happiness... another  box-office  sweetheart  from  20th! 


PICTURES 


15 


Vednesday,  January  22,  1958 


Cljarte  Se  ReberriMtfjartss  jfatigue  Wyt  Sfubge 

[HOT  GOLDWYN  TRIAL  FINALLY  TERMINATES] 

¥v^  By  william  steif  *„"* 


San  Francisco,  Jan.  21. 

A  huge  Mass  of  statistical  studies,  -developed  by  econo¬ 
mist  Kenneth  Beggs  of  the  Stanford  Research  Institute,  ’ 
occupied  the  spotlight  in  the  resumed  .  Sam  Goldwyn 
$lH-millipn  antitrust  suit  against  20th-Fox;  National 
Theatres  and  Fox  West  Coast. 

The  data  were  submitted  as  the  defense’s  clinching 
argument  and  seemed  to  overwhelm  Federal  Judge  Ed¬ 
ward  P,  Murphy,  who’s  been  sitting  on  this  trial  since 
last  July  15.  During  cross-examination,  near  end  of  the 
week’s  very  last  session,  the  Judge  became  so  obviously 
weary  of  .  the  mountain  of  statistics  that  he  snapped: 

“I  am  fed  up  wi'.h  expertese.  The  probative  value  of 
Dr.  Beggs.  has  been  established  clearly,  and  it  has  value.'* 

Beggs,  of  course,  Was  on  the  witness  stand  most  of  the 
week  and  defense  lawyer  Arthur  B.  Dunne,  led  him  care¬ 
fully  through  the  data.  Beggs’  prime  conclusions,  based 
on  his  charts,  were:  ~  ... 

Cl)  Film  rental  paid  by  National  Theatres  and  rental 
j>aid  'by.  other  exhibitors  for  Goldwyn  pictures  in  the 
years  19,47-50.  were  “in  conformity.”  They  all  paid  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  gross  admissions  produced  by  the  films; 

:  (2)  National’s,  rentals  to  Goldwyri  compared  favorably 
-  with,  those  paid  by  National  for  other  producers’  pictures 
among  the  top  15%  of  the  nation’s  grossers  in  each^season : 
from  1947.  to  1950.  Intfact,- Goldwyn  enjoyed  a  Slight  edge 
on  the  basis  of  gross  admissions  produced  ,  in  the  1946-47  • 
season  and  a  considerable  edge  in  the  1947-48  season;’ 

(3)  National  showed  a  declining  level  of  revenue  in*  the 
years  under  consideration,  with  fixed  expenses  declining 
less  steeply.  Profit  declined  and  the  rate  of  return  on 
investment  dropped  sharply— actually;  about  50%,  The. 
percentage  of  film,  rental  to  :  gross  admissions  remained 
constant, .  though  dollar  payments  dropped  significantly. 
National  paid  a  fair  share  of  available  money  for  rental 
after  fixed  expenses. 

Key  figures  in  approximately  125  Charts  and  studies 
submitted  as  defense  evidence  were  the  seasonal  U.  S; 
rankings  of  films,  by  total  boxoffice  gross,  and  the  rank¬ 
ings  of  the  same  films  in  the  National  (circuit,  by  gross 
admissions,  per  unit.  Beggs  based  some,  of  his  conclusions 
on  these  comparative;  figures  and  it  was  the  job  of  George 
Slaff,  acting  as  Goldwyn  counsel  in  the  absence  of  Joseph 
Alioto,  to  try  to  show  the  figures  were  not  comparable, 
that  this  was  like  comparing  apples  and  oranges.  Some 
of  Beggs’  conclusions  were  based  on  other  data; -which 
Included: 

National  had  3%  of  total  U.  S.  bookings  for  “The  Secret 
Life  of  Walter  Mitty”  but  paid  8.7%  of  total  U,  S.  film 
rental; .  National  had  3%  of  “Bishop’s  Wife”  bookings  but 
paid  10.4 %  of  rental;  National  had  2%  of  geheral-releasO 
“Best  Years  ;6f  Our  Lives”  bookings  but  paid  3.4%  of- 
rental;  National  had  2%  of  J‘A  Song  Is  Born””  bookings 
but  paid  3.7%  of  rental;  National  had  3.1%  of  “Enchant¬ 
ment’’  bookings  but  paid  6%  of  total  U.  S.  rental.  .  " 

National’s  overall  ratio  of  film  rental  to  gross  admissions 
was  30.2%  in  1947,  28.1%  in  1948,  28.6%  in  1949,  29,4% 
In.  1950,  and  this  was  the  basis  of  Beggs’  testimony  that 
the  percentage  of  rental  producers  got  for  their:  pictures 
remained  virtually  constant. 

“Closed  towns”  were  not  an.  important  Fox  revenue^— 
producer  arid  the  percentage  of  total,  gross,  produced  by 
these,  towns  dropped  even  more,  sharply  than  overall, 
gross  from  1947  to  1950,  principally  because  of!divestiture 
at  the  start  of:  1950.  ^ 

Judge’s  Small  Blessing 

Near  end.  of  direct  examination  defense  lawyer  Dunne 
offered: 

“I  have  here  the  workpapers  underlying  Mr;  Beggs* 
charts;  but  in  view  of  your  honor’s  admonition  (to.  take 
it  easy  on  the  data),  I  will  not .  offer  them :  unless  your 
honor  requests.” 

Replied  Judge  Murphy: . 

“That’s  the  first  balm  iri  Gilead  in. several  days” . 

Thereafter  Slaff,  at  bat  for  Goldwyn,  starting  trying  to 
work  over  Beggs  on  cross-examination. 

First  move  was  to  downgrade  Beggs  as  a  film  business 
economist,  and  Slaff  made  quite  a  point  of  the  fact  that 
Beggs’  main  work  previously  had  been  in  the  pulp-and- 
paper  industry  and,  in  the  economics  of  grade-  crossings, 
though,  as  a  matter  fact,  Beggs  had  been  an  expert 
witness  for  the  film  industry  in  the  16-millimeter  case 
before  Federal  Judge  Yankwich  in  Los  Angeles  last  year). 

Slaff  managed  to  inject  a  mention  of  the  Paramount 
case  into  his  questioning  and  this  got  Dunne’s  dander  up. 
Beggs,  however,  remarked  evenly:  “The  motion  picture 
business  is  relatively  unique.”  The  Judge  immediately 
cracked:  “You  can  say  that  again.” 

Then  Slaff,  looking  for  an  opening,  -suggested  to  Beggs 
that  Fox  was  a  monopoly,  arid  Beggs  responded:  “It  had 
500  theatres  in  190  towns,  Iri  all  but  a  few  there  were 
other  theatres  open  to  sellers.  It  was  not  .  a  monopoly 
market.”  Scenting  bloods  Slaff  pressed  the  economist  for 
his  definition  of  a  monopoly  market  in  the  theatre  busi¬ 
ness  and  Beggs  thought  ja  single  theatre  with  no  competi¬ 
tion  for  100  miles  around  would  be  just  that. 

(This,  obviously,  was  a  point  near  arid  dear  to  Slaff’s 
heart  and  presumably  will  get  a  thorough  going-oyer  in 
Alioto’s  summation  of  Goldwyri’s  case.) 

Slaff  then  pushed  on,  then,  to  comparing  apples  and: 

*  oranges — that  is,  his  contention  that  there  is  no  basis  for 
coiriparing  film  rankings  by  nationaT  gross  With  the  same 
films’  Fox  rankings  by  gross  admissions  per.  unit. 

The  lawyer  seized*  on  Beggs’  charts  and,  proinlnently 
mentioning  the  filins’  producers,  wept  through  the  nine 
topFox  per-unit  grossers  of  1947-48  and  stacked  these 
against  their  national  rankings.  The  charts,  thus  reversed, 
came  out  this  way: 

National 

Film  Per-Unit  Rank  U.  S.  Gross  R^nk 


“Gentleman’s  Agreement” 

...1 

10 

“Snake  Pit”  . . 

. .  .2 

6 

“Captain  from  Castille”  , 

...3 

12 

“Date- with  Judy”** - -  * 

...4 

18 

“Easter  Parade”  v- ..... . . 

...5 

8 

“Green  Dolphin  Street”  .. 

.  ..6 

5 

“Cass  Timberlaine”  ...... 

...7 

9 

“Body  and  Soul”  . . 

...8 

22 

“Northside  777”  ......... 

...9 

30 

Slaff’s  clear  implication 

was 

that  National  Theatres 

was  pushing  20th-Fox  arid  Metro  product  in'  1947-50  (when 
Fox  had  a  big  finger  in  running  Loew’s  houses)  and.  that 
Beggs*  gross-admissions-per-unit  rankings  reflected  this 
and  so  wasn’t  comparable  to  national  boxoffice. 

Beggs  countered: 

“A  comparison  of  Goldwyn  pictures  with  other  ,  pictures 
iri  the.  top  15%  (of  -the  national  boxoffice)  shows  both 
National  and  other  exhibitors*  playoff  arid  values'  were 
gerierally  the  same.” 

Slaff,  however,  fastened  on  his  point  and  cited;  other. 

examples,  including: 

C.  B.  DeMille’s  “Unconquered  ”  from  Paramount,  was.* 
the  1947-48  boxoffice  champ,  with’  a  gross  more  than 
$5  million,  but  ranked  33rd  in  Fox’s  per-unit  v  ratings; . 

“The  Bachelor  and  the  Bobbysoxer”  with.  Cary  Grarit; 
was  fourth  nationally  in  the  1947-48  season  but  34th  by 
Beggs’  standard; 

“I  Was  a  Male  War  Bride,”  also  with  Cary  Grant  but 
made  by  2Qth-Fox  for  the.  1948r49  season,  was  second 
nationally  and.  secorid  in  Beggs’  ranking;  ' 

“Father  Was 'a  Fullback”  ranked  64th  in  the  1948*49 
U.  S.  grosses  but  was  fourth  on  Beggs’  per-unit  rating. 

Is  It  A  Pattern? 

•Slaff  asked  Beggs  if  his  per-unit  data  “established  a 
pattern  that  producers  releasing  through  MGM  and  Fox 
would  get  a  higher  return  in  National  Theatres,”  but 
Beggs  replied: 

“No,  it’s  a  function  of  management,”  and  Werit  ori  to 
insist,  that  “MGM  ratings  on  a.  nationwide  basis  and  in 
National  Theatres  correspond,*  they’re  high  in  both 
charts.”  :.  . 

Slaff  also  got  Beggs.  to  admit  that  the.  two  Goldwyn 
films  licensed  in  flat-rental  deals  and  thus  showing- 
greater  percentages  of  return  on  gross  admissions  than 
the  other  five  pictures  in  question  “didn’t  imply  that  they 
produced  more  revenue.” 

.  The  lawyer  needled  the  economist  on  one  series  of 
charts  Comparing  percentage  of  Goldwyn’s  rental  ori  gross 
between  RKO  first-runs  rind  a  group  of  eighty  big-city 
Fox  first-runs.  . 

The  idea,  ’  said  -Beggs,  waS  to  “match  cities  in  which 
National  had  played  a  large  number  of  most  of .  the 
Goldwyn  pictures”  with  RKO  first-runs,  and  .  the  results 
in  the.  eight  Fox  cities  very  closely  paralleled  the  pei> 
centages  Goldwyn  got  in  the  RKO  cities. 

But  Slaff  wondered,  why  Beggs  had  used  Kansas  City, 
Mo.  “which  didn’t  play  •  any  Goldwyn  pictures,’’  and  ex¬ 
cluded  Kansas  City,  Kari.,  Which  had  played  them.  The 
lawyer  then  proceeded  to  answer  his  own  question:  the 
eight' cities  showed  Goldwyn  received  38.5%  of  the  boX^ 
office  gross  on  .  “Mitty,”  but  Kansas  City,  Kan,,  showed 
Goldwyn  received  20.7%.  Slaff  brought  but  that  the  eight- 
city  figure  for  “Bishop’s* Wife”  was  41.9%,  but  for  Kansas  . 
City,  Kan.,  it  Was  25.6%  and  he.  capped  this  with  'his. 
figures  for  “Enchantment”— 39.2%  for  the  eight  cities, 
8.5%  for  Kansas  City,  Ram  At  this,  Beggs  remarked: 

“1  always  was  suspicious  of  that  result.”  , 

Beggs  eventually  admitted  that  if  .  all  15  Fox  first-runs 
in  cities  over  100,000-population  had  been  included  in  this 
study;  the  percentages  would  ha've  been  “slightly  lower.” 

'  On  “Mitty,'.’  Slaff.  brought  out,  RKO  first-runs  showed  a 
percentage  of  40.6,  while  the  15  Fox  Cities  .would  have 
shown  a  percentage  of  34.9  instead  qf  the  eight-city  38,5. 
Here  -Beggs  interjected: 

“But  Mr.  Slaff,  that’s  Only  a  matter  of  3-3^  percentage 
points.’*  To  which  Slaff  responded:  “Yes,  but  it’s  about 
10%  less  film  rental.” 

The  Judge’s  patience  was  wearing  notably  short  here 
and  the  final  session  concluded  with  Beggs  testifying: 

“My  work  is  after  the  fact.  I’m  interested  in  results.  If  . 
great*  disparities  developed,  I  would  have  been  alerted  to 
study  deviations;  However,  rentals  are  not  out  qf  pattern 
for  film  rentals  paid  by  other  exhibitors  or  by  National 
Theatres.” 

Law  TO  Prevail 

Earlier  the  Judge,  in  denying:  amission  of  some  de¬ 
fense  evidence  comparing. .the  film  industry,  with  other 
kinds  of  Uv  S.  business.  Uttered  what-Wps  probably  the 
most  significant  mouthful  of  the  week:  ; 

“ This  is  going  to  be  .decided  on  principles  of  law , 

arid  not  economics,” 

Only  other  witness,  during  the  Week  was  Fox  buyer 
Bert  Pirosh,  who  made  his  third  trip  to  the  witness  stand 
during  this  -trial  iri  a  relatively  brief  session  at  the  start 
of  the  week. 

Pirosh  testified  that  divorcement  of  20th-Fox  and 
National  Theatres  in  1950  had  .  ho  effect  on  post-1950 
film  rentals.  This,  of  course,  was  in  direct  contradiction 
to  testimoriy  of  Jariies  Mulvey;  president  of  GoldWyri 
Pictures. 

Pirosh  maintained  “the  biggest  development”  in  the 
post-1950  era  Was  that  the  public  became  “much  mote 
selective,”  that  big  pictures  did  even  bigger  business, 
brought  higher  rentals,  and  he  cited  “A  Farewell  to  Arms” 


sequent-runs  had.  The  defense  simply  was  Jtryirig  to 
knock  down  the  comparison,  end  seemed  to  have  suc¬ 
ceeded.  *" 

When  the  case  finally  ended:  last  week,  it  was  6,500 
pages,  114-inillion  words  and  six  months  to  the  day  after 
it  started.  Altogether,  625  exhibits  were  submitted  to 
Federal  Judge  Edward  P.  Murphy,  404  by  Goldwyn’s  law¬ 
yers  arid  221  by.  the  defense.  Now  all  that  remains  is: 

(1)  Written  submissions  of  proposed  findings  of  fact 
from  both  sides,  by  March  15; 

(2)  Legal  arguments  on  the  proposed  findings,  probably 
in  April; 

(3)  Judge  Murphy’s  verdict^  probably  in  late  summer, 
at  the  earliest, . 

Final  sessions  were  devoted  to,  tying  up  loose,  ends, 
With  both  sides  managing  to  get  in  a  few  rabbit  punches. 

Week  started  with  defense  lawyer  Arthur  B.  Dunne  call¬ 
ing  FWC  buyer  Bert  Pirosh  to  the  witriess  stand  again — 
it .  was  Pirosh’s  fourth  court  appearance  since  trial’s  start 
in  midjuly; 

Pirosh  quickly- brought  out  point  Gqldwyn  lawyers  pre¬ 
viously  had  obscured:  National  Theatres  didn’t  consider' 
Kansas  City,.  Kan.,  Oakland,  Cal.,  or  Berkeley,  Cal., 
though  all  cities  over  100,000  population,  true  first-runs, 
which  is  why  -economist.  Kenneth  Beggs,  defense  expert 
from  Stafiford  Research  Institute,  didn’t  include  thein  iri 
his  big  city,  first-run  chart.  Pirosh  also  noted  that  Gold¬ 
wyn’s  “Enchantment”  had  been  double-billed  at  Kansas 
.City,  Krin:,  with  “Ma  and  Pa  Kettle.”  one  of  “the  biggest 
boxoffice  hits  in  the  Midwest,”  and  that’::  why  National 
had  paid  only  $275  for  “Enchantment” — the  other  pic¬ 
ture  got  $400. 

(This  was  a  refutation  of  a  point  Goldwyn  side-  had 
earlier  scored  when  Goldwyn’s  lawyers  noted  that  “En¬ 
chantment,”  one  of  seven  films  involved  in  1947-50  trial 
period,  had  received  only  8.5%  of  the  gross  at  Kansas 
City,  Kari.)  .  . 

When  Goldwyn  lawyer  Joseph  Alioto  dug  into  why 
Pirosh  made  different  (percentage)  competitive  bids  for 
Goldwyn  films^t  such  California  cities  as  Sacramento, 
Riverside,  Fresno.  Pasridena  and  El  Centro,  Pirosh  re¬ 
plied:  “J  bid  what  I  had  to  to  get  the  picture.  I’m  riot 
interested  in  keeping  a  picture  from  a  competitor.” 

Sneers  at  Sindliriger 

He  said  “our,  film  rentals  don’t',  follow  the  Sindlinger 
chart  (Which  reported  annually  increasing  rentals  in  the 
1947-52  era  to  Congress).  our  rentals  fluctuate  from  year 
to  year  .  .  ;  with  The  Robe*  rentals  went  up,  this  quarter" 
just  ended  with  the  pictures  we  had,  rentals  went  down.” 

Pirosh  testified  Sindlinger  meant  “absolutely  nothing” 
to  National  rind  claimed  “Sindllngei’s  given  to  making 
Wild  statements.”  One  such  instance,  said  Pirosh,  was 
Sindlinger’s  claim  that  Midwest  admission  prices  are  tbs 
highest  in  the  country — “that’s  ridiculous.” 

With  Beggs  on  the  stand,  Alioto;  moved  into  a  whoTi 
series  of  hypothetical  questions  designed  to  show  ths 
economist’s  charts  would  be  useless  in  deciding  damages 
if  antitrust  violations  were  fourid.  Alioto’s  aim,  of  course, 
was  to  cast  doubt  on  the  validity  of  Beggs*  data. 

.  (This  is  rin.  important  legal  point.  The  plaintiff  has  to 
.  show  there  are  antitrust  violations  'before  the  question 
of  damages  can  even  be  reached.) 

Defense  lawyer  Dunne  objected  to  the -whole  line  of 
questioning  but  the  Judge  overruled  him. 

.  After  much  sparring  with  Alioto,  Beggs  testified:  “Well, 
the  earnings  of  NT  don’t  reflect  the  monopolistic  power 
*  jof  ri  big  buying  combine.  If  they,  did,  NT  didn’t  do  a 
very  good  job  of  restraining  trade.”  To  similar  jabbing 
questions,  Beggs  responded:  “NT  certainly  didn’t  do  a 
very  good  job  of  maximizing 'profit” 

Alioto  cited  some  1947  NT  figures — $21224,000  profit, 
$27,817,400  film  rentals,  $92,175,000  gross  admissions — and 
asked: 

“Would  you  say  these  are  monopoly  profits?”* 

'Beggs  replied: 

“This  is  the  first  time  I  ever  saw  such  a  comparison 
made  in  iny  life.  The  relationship  is  not  at  all  meaningful. 
First,  make  the  comparison  after  taxes,  taxes,  are  an 
item  iri  the  cost  of  doing  business.” 

The  Goldwyn  lawyer,  obviously,  had  used  NT’s  profit 
before  taxes..  But  Alioto  scored  when  he  got  Beggs.  to 
say:.  “1  have  not  assumed  any  violations  of  the  antitrust 
act  (in  his  data).  If  1  assumed  that  violation  of  the  anti¬ 
trust  act  did  exist,  I  would  not  use  the  tes's  I  did  in 
determining  whether  Goldwyn  pictures  were  fairly 
treated.” 

Other  Slants 

Beggs  also  testified  he  didn’t  take  into  account  anti¬ 
trust  violations  of  other  exhibitors  in  making  up  his  * 
comparative  charts,  added: 

“I  have  not  come  to  the  conclusion  that  NT  c<)uld  not 
pay  more  than  it  did  for  Goldwyn  pictures.” 

Early  in  the  last  court  session  Alioto  once  again  made 
itch,  for  the  Judge  to  receive  the  Paramount  case  in 


‘‘The  Robe,”  “The  Ten  Commandments”  rind,  oddly 
enough,  even  Goldwyn’s  “Guys  arid  Dolls”  as  evidence 
of  this  trend. 

But,  he  said,  the  bottom  dropped  out  for  “other”  films, 
which  he  pointedly  coiripared  to  the  seven  pictures  being 
litigated  here,  rind  that  flat  rentals  are  doWn  compared 
to  the  pre-1950  era  and  terms  generally  are  only  the 
same  or  even  lower; 

Dunne  spent  more  than  .rin  .hour  trying  to  qualify 
Pirosh  as  an  expert  to  make  a  coinparisori  of  the  subse- 
quent-ruri  RKO-Metropolitan  circuit  and  subsequent-runs 
in  Fox  West  Coast.  But  Slaff  spiked  this  tactic  With 
objections  sustained  <by  the  Judge  rind  Pirosh  had  to: 
corifine  himself  to  comparing  Fox  West  Coast  subsequent- 
runs  with  three  New  York  RKO  houses,  the  81st  Street, 
the  86th  Street,  and  the  125th  Street'  all  of  which  he- 
knew  personally. 

Pirosh,  naturally,  said  that  to  compare  the  two  circuits* 
subsequent-runs  was  “ridiculous,”  pointed  out  “Mitty” 
did  $19,000  in  a  week  at  one  of  the  New  York  houses 
while  its  biggest  Fox  West  Coast  subsequent-run  gross 
was  $5,000. 

The  only  point  at  issue  was  that  Joseph  Walsh,  Gold¬ 
wyn’s  statistician,  had  brought  iri  data  showing  that  the 
RKO-Metropolitan  circuit  had  paid  higher  rental  per¬ 
centages  for  Goldwyri  films  than  Fox  West  Coast’s  sub- 


ievidence,  claiming  it  was  gerritarie  because  Beggs  used 
data  from  circuits  fourid  guilty  in  that  landmark  case. 

Arid,  once  again,  the  Judge  denied  Alioto’s  motion,  say¬ 
ing  that  in  the  Priramount  case  Gqldwyn  was  charged  with 
being,  “a  participant  and  beneficiary  of  the  conspiracy, 
by  rerison  of  his  participation  in  UA,”  whereas  in  the 
present  case  GoldWyn  raised  issues  not  previously  deter¬ 
mined,  the.  “essence”  of  which  Was  that  the  defendants 
had  conspired  to  depress  film  prices. 

Beggs,  again  on  the  stand,  summed  up  his  testimony: 

(1)  His  charts  demonstrated.  NT’s  film  rentals  were  paid 
iri  accordance  with  gross  admissions  per  . unit — high  gross 
admissions  produce  high  film  reritals; 

.(Goldwyri’s  lawyers  earlier  had  worked  over  Beggs  on 
this  point,  arid-  brought  out  that,  to  some  extent  at  least, 
gross  -admissions  and  gross  admissions  per  unit  didn’t 
correlate  perfectly. ) 

(2)  Beggs  couldn’t  use  Goldwyn  statistician  Joe  Walsh’s 
figures  because  they  were  based  on  assumptions  beyond 
his  knowledge; 

(3)  Gross  admissioris  per  unit  and  gross  rental  per  unit 


gave  ri  true  picture  of  a  film’s  boxoffice  attractiveness; 

I  (4)  Holdover  wasn’t  always  a  true  Index  of  a  film’s 
quality:  / 

‘  (5)  Interest  on  investment,  together  With,  land  as  rent. 


(Continued  on  page  18) 


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PlCTVBES 


17 


Coupled  with,  a  21%  rise  in.  export  revenues,  French  ^lm  pro¬ 
duction  hit  a  record  high  in  1957  with  140 :  pictures  produced 
against  129  in  1956.  _ 

In  reporting  these  figures,  the  French  Film  Office  in  New  York 
last  week  said  82  of  the  140  were  exclusively  French;  50  were 
coproduction  with  the  Italians,  and  the  remaining  eight  involved 
cooperation  with  Germany,  Yugoslavia,  Australia  and  China.  In 
1956  there  were  only  39  such  coproduction  projects. 

Despite  the  production  upbeat,  color  content  Was  down.  Only. 
44  films  were  tinters  in  1957  compared  with  57  during  1956.  This 
reflects  the  Cost  factor  in  color  production. 

.  According  to  the  Centre  >  National  de  la  Cinematographic,  ex¬ 
port  revenues  for  the  year  1957,  based  on  foreign  income  during 
the  first  three  quarters  of  the  year,  should  hit  around  $10,000,000. 
In  part  this  reflects  the  upbeat  in  the  States,  where  37  French 
films  were  released  during  *57  against  only  23  in  1956. 


Frozen  D.  S.  Yen  Should  Have  Been 
Loaned  to  Japanese  Fix  Biz:  Kid 


The  Japanese  industry  beliCves*^- 
it  should  have  received  the  Ameiv 
lean  loans,  .out  Of  frozen  U.S.  yen 
funds  in  Japan,  that  went  to  hy¬ 
droelectric  power  development 
companies  in  "  that  country;  Shiro 
Kido,  prez  of  the  Motion  Picture 
Assn,  of  Japan,  said  in  New  York 
yesterday  (Tues.) 

Kido,  also  head  of  the  big 
Shochiku  .  production  company, 
said  the  Japanese  industry  had 
tried  to  get  the  two  prior  U  S. 

'  loans  and  would  still  try  to  get  the 
third,  if  there  was  one,  “I  think; 
maybe  both  the  Japanese  govern¬ 
ment  and  Eric  Johnston  believe  the 
future  of  electricity  is  safer  than 
that  of  films,"  he  commented,  add¬ 
ing  that  the  Japanese  industry 
could  use  the  money  to  get  new' 
equipment.  “We  would  be  willing 
to  pay  better  interest  rates  than 
the  electric  people,”  he  held. 

Kido  is  head  of  the  Japanese 
delegation  in  New  York  for  the 
Japanese  film  week.  He  reported 
that  a  Uni-Japan,  had  been;  set  up 
with  a  $100,000  budget  to  start. 
Money,  coming  from  the  govern¬ 
ment  and  the  industry,  would  be 
used  to  publicize  Japanese  pic¬ 
tures  abroad.  However,,  the  Japa¬ 
nese  Diet  has  not  yet  appropriated 
the  coin.  'The"  film  Week  doesn't 
come  out  of  those  funds. 

The  Japanese  exec  said  he  Wes 
grateful  for  what  the  US.  MPA  A 
'had  done  for  Japan,  but  that  he 
'wished  the  aid  could  go  even  fur¬ 
ther,  with  MPAA  helping  to  place 
Japanese  films  in  general  distribu- 
tion.'In  Japan,  he  said,  he  would 
Urge  the  government  to  lift  the 
12-prints-per-picture  limitation  on. 
the  Americans  as  a  means  for  betr 
ter  business.  The  U.S.  b.o.  in  Japan 
is  dropping,  he  said. 

Kido  said  he  would  discuss  with 
Pathe  in  Paris  the  possibility  of 
sharing  the  Paris ’'Theatre,  N,Y., 
with  the  Japanese  getting  at  least 
four  months  out  of  the  year.  Japan 
plans  definitely  to  acquire  show- 
cases  in  London  and  .Paris.  Kido 
is  going  on  a  world;  tour  after  leav¬ 
ing  the  States. 


ACTOR  &  SCRIPT  DELAYS 

Holden  No  Like  ‘Transfer*— Par 
Shine  Job  on  ‘Battle  Star* 

.  Hollywood,  Jan.  21 
-Series  of  casting  and  writing 
problems  has  halted  Paramour  ts 
plans  to  put  six  pictures  before  the. 
Cameras  this  month  and  January 
will  end  with  only  two  starters  ai 
the  studio,  One  is  Hal  W allis  ■  pro- . 
duction  of  “King  Creole,”  Starring 
Elvis  Presley,  which  went  into  pro¬ 
duction  yesterday  (Mon.')  and.  the 
other  is  “Black  Orchids,”  Ponti- 
Girosi  production  starring  Sophia 
Loren  and  Anthony  Quinn,  which 
rolls  next  Monday. 

Panama  &  Franks  “The  Trans¬ 
fer”  is  stalled  as  a  result  of  star 
William  Holden's  dissatisfaction 
with  the  script  and  Holden  may  be 
replaced.  “Battle  Star,”  which 
Bartlett-Champion  will  make,  has 
been  postponed  for  a  script  re¬ 
write.  And  producer  William 
Allahd  has  moved  back  to  February 
his  scheduled  January  starters, 
“Party  Crashers”  and  “Too  Young 
for  Love.” 


Unde-Murdering  Delights 

Dallas,  Jan.  21. 

Bob  Payne,  manager  of  the  Fine 
Arts  Theatre  has  .  held  “How  To 
Murder  a  Rich  Uncle,”  an  English 
film,  for  a  fourth  week. 

Charles  Coburn  starrer  now  is 
scheduled  to  surpass  the  three 
week  records  which  were  set  ear¬ 
lier  by  “The  Green  Man”  and  “Wee 
Geordiie.”  also  English  made  pics. 


Case  for  Trailers 

Trailers  account  for  $429  of 
every  $1,000  the  average  the¬ 
atre  grosses,  according  to  re¬ 
sults  of  a  survey  conducted  by 
Sindlinger.  '&  -Co.,  as  relayed 
by  Herman  Robbins,  chairman 
of  National  Screen  Service. 

.During  the  month  of  Octo^ 
ber,  1957,  it  was  said;,  and  with 
the  average  admission  price 
figured  at  75 $51*234,000 
was  spent  at  domestic  boxoffice 
by  those  motivated  by  the 
screen's  “coming  attractions." 
This  represented  42.9%  of  the 
total  gross. 


Cervantes  Sues 


Filmorsa  Re ’54 


Orson  Welles  and  Filmorsa.  a 
Spanish  production  outfit,  were 
named  defendants  last  week  in  a 
$230,000  damage  suit  brought  in 
N/'Y.  Supreme  Court  by  Cervantes 
Films.  Action  stems  from  a  picture, 
fagged  “Mr..  Arkadin,”  which 
Welles,  Filmorsa. and  Cervantes  co¬ 
produced  under  an  alleged  1954 
agreement, 

Under  the  deal,  Cervantes  con- 
tends.  it  paid,  the  actors  and  others 
certain  expenses  amounting  to 
$50,000,  This  sum  assertedly  was; 
not  recovered  by  the  plaintiff  nor 
did  it  receive  a.  $30,000  guarantee 
from  the  film’s  distribution, 

Suit  also  charges  that  Welles  and 
Filmorsa  violated  the  agreement  by 
failing  to  account  for  distribution 
Of  the  picture,  in  Central  and  South 
America.  Among  other  things,  itrs 
claimed  that  another  breach  Of  the 
contract  arose  When  the  defendants 
assigned  certain  distribution  rights 
to. Warner  Bros,  and  again  failed  to 
account  for  earnings. 


LEO  J,  HORSTER’S 
ADVICE  TO  YANKS 

The  American  film  companies  op¬ 
erating  in  West  Germany  should, 
voluntarily  reduce  the  volume  of 
their  releases  to  about  100  annu¬ 
ally,  Leo  J.  Horsier,  Walt  Disney’s 
German  representative  declared  in 
New  York  last.  week. 

Horsier  came  to  the  States  '  ac¬ 
companying  German  star  Romy 
Schneider  and.  her  mother*  Magda, 
who:  are-  doing  p.r.s.  for  Miss 
Schneider’s  picture,  “The  Story  of 
Vickie;”  Film  is  being  distributed 
by  Buena  Vista  in  dubbed  version. 

Horsier  said  German  attendance 
had  dropped  some;  which  he  at¬ 
tributed  not  to  television,  but 
rather  to  the  public’s  periodic 
tiredness  with  pictures.  He  pointed 
out,  too;  that  no  outstandingly'  in¬ 
teresting  films  were  in  release. 

Horster,  who’s  also  ah  exhibitor 
with  a  modern  house  in  Bonn,  said 
that  for  their  own  sake  and  that 
of  the  German  Industry,  the;  Amer¬ 
ican  companies  should  cut  down. 
He  said  it  was  common  sense  for 
them,  to  combine  facilities.  “We’d 
all  be  better  Off  if  there  were;  only 
about  five  companies  releasing  no 
more  than  around"  100  films  annu¬ 
ally,”  he  commented;  doting  that 
the  U.S.  distribs  released  ho  more 
than  115  films  a  year  hi  France. 

At  the  moment,  the  Americans 
under  self-imposed  /limitation, 
bring  about  220  films  a  year  into 
the  West  German  market. 


TODD'S  'CULTURAL'  VISIT 


Liz  Taylor  "Would  Upset  Economy 
of  Soviet  Union 


London,  Jan,  21. 

Mike.  Todd  is  due  to  leave.  Lon¬ 
don  (Tues.).  for  Moscow,  to  re-open 
talks  with  the  Russians  on  his  co¬ 
production  film  deal.  At  a  press, 
conference  here  Todd  insisted  on 
describing  trip  as  “cultural.” 

After  a  10  day  stay  behind  the 
Iron  Curtain,  which  will  include 
stopovers  in  Belgrade,  Warsaw  and 
Prague,  Todd  will  head  for  Spain 
with  Vincent  Korda  to  scout  loca¬ 
tions  for  his  upcoming  production 
of  “Don  Quixote.”  As  with  “80 
Days,”  Todd  insists  that  this  will 
be  “a  show  and  not  a  film/’ 

When  one  of  the  newsmen  ad: 
vised  Todd  to  be  cautious  in  Mos¬ 
cow  as  otherwise  the  Russians 
might  not.  let  him  out,  fie  quipped: 
“There’s-  no  need  to  worry  abouU 
that',  Liz  (his  wife  Elizabeth  Tay¬ 
lor)  would  -  soon  upset  their  eco¬ 
nomy."  He  added  that  he  was  tak¬ 
ing  all  her  “hockables  and  hard¬ 
ware"  to  Russia  to  give  them  a 
lesson  in  democracy. 


Ceramic*  Circa  ’OS,  Closes 

East  Liverpool,  O.,  Jan,  21. 

Ceramic  Theatre,  named  after 
this  district’s  most  important,  in¬ 
dustry,  closed  indefinitely  on  Jan. 
12.  It  was  the  area’s  largest  film 
house,  and  had  been  in  operation 
since  1905; 

East  Liverpool  has  three  smaller 
film  houses. 


Of  Self-Operated  U.S.  Showcases 


Imported  Glamour 

Hollywood,  Jan.  21. 

Growing  Hollywood  feeling 
that  international  talent  will 
help  Hollywood  .films  reap  an 
even  larger  foreign  gross  is  re-; 
fleeted  in  the  20th-Fox  con¬ 
tract  list  which  now  numbers 
nine  foreign- bom  femmes. 
Latest  to  be  signed  is  Greek 
actress  Marietta  Flemotomos. 

Other’s  are  France’s  Christ 
tine  Carere;  May  Britt,  Swe¬ 
den;  France  Nuyen,  of  French-. 
Chinese  extraction;  Annemarie' 
Duringer,  Switzerland;  Alena 
Murray,  Canada;  and  June 
Blair,  Dana  Wynter  and  Joan 
Collins,  England. 


Rome,  Jan.  21. 

It  is  highly  probable  that  in  any 
future  Yank-Italian  film  agree¬ 
ments,  the  current  5 V6  Million  Lire 
dubbing  tax  would  be  replaced  by 
a  variable  pro-rated  import  duty 
based  on  a  pic’s  earnings  in  this 
country. 

Queried  about,  reports  that  the 
Italian  industry  was  seriously 
thinking  of  switching  from  its  cur¬ 
rent  flat  import  fee  (cloaked  as  a 
“dubbing  tax”)  to  a  levy  based  on 
a  pic’s  Italian  returns,  ANICA 
President  Eitel  Monaco  admitted 
that  he  was  in  favor  of  such  a 
move,  but  that  he  doubted  whether 
a  similar  switch  could  be  under¬ 
taken  Fefore  the  current  MPEA- 
ANICA  pact  lapses  in  August  of 
1959. 

Hard  -pressed  Italian  industry 
has  been  testing  every  possible 
loophole  in  an  effort  to  increase 
the .  industry  film  finance,  fund 
above  its  currently  depleted  state. 

Local  industry  observers  who 
favor  the7  “ad  Valorem”  tax  over 
the  current  fixed  import  cut  also 
point  out  that  in  the.  event  that 
the  European  Common  Market  be¬ 
comes  a  fact  in  continental  indus¬ 
try  relations  as  well.  Film  Pool 
could  be  bolstered  by  lowering  this 
pro-rated  import  duty  for  member 
nations,  i.e.  hit  the  U.  S.  hardest. 


Maurice  A.  Bergman/  until  .re¬ 
cently  .  eastern  talent  and  story 
head  for  Universal,  has  joined  the 
Motion  Picture  Assn. .  of  America 
in  the  neWly-created  post  of  direc¬ 
tor.  of.  public  affairs..  Does  not 
change  the  status  of  other  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  MPAA  p.r.  staff. 

/v  /  iW/i  W5  ft* 


Delegation  In,  N.Y.  Jap  Film  Week  Opens 


Japan’s  second  annual  film  week 
at  the  Museum  of  Modern  .  Art  in 
N.  Y.  opens  tonight  (Wed.)  with 
the  Shochiku  Co.  release,'  “The 
Lighthouse,”  starring  Hideko  Taka- 
mine/  one  of  Japan’s  top  femme 
stars.  Fest  runs  through  the  24th 
and  then  picks  up  again  Jan.  29 
running  through -the  31st. 

Films  to  be  shown  .two.  others 
in  black-and-white^-“A  Story  by 
Chikatmatsu”  and  “U  n  tamed 
Woman" — and  three  color  and 
widescreen  entries — ■  “The  Lord 
Takes  a  Bride,”  “Tbe  Temptress” 
and  “Emperor  Meiji  and  the  Great 
Russo-Japanese  War.”  All  three 
have  historical  themes.  “Light¬ 
house,”  however,  is  a  modern  yarn. 

With  the  features,  -the  Japanese 
are  screening  six  documentaries; 
four  in  color,  and  two  in  black- 
and-white.  Subjects  of  this  type 
won  Widespread  acclaim  at  last 
year’s  film.  week. 

Japanese  d  ele  gatio  n,  which 
arrived  for  the  fest  Monday  (20), 
consists  of  seven  execs,  led  by 
Shiro  Kido  of  Shochiku,  prexy  of 
the  Motion  Picture  Producers  Assn, 
of  Japan,  and  seven  performers, 
including  six  femme  stars.  That’s 
in  sharp  contrast  to  last  year 
when  the  Japanese  imported  a 
single  girl  for  the  event. 


Statistics  given  out  in  connec¬ 
tion  With  the  film  week  disclose 
that  the.  Japanese  (only  six  com¬ 
panies)  produced  a  whopping  .398 
pictures  during  1957,  Which  actu¬ 
ally  represented  a  12.7%  drop 
from  1956,  when  they  made  456 
filins.  In  addition,  during  ’57,  15 
smaller  companies  contributed  45 
pictures .  as  against  58  the  prior 
year.  The  total  number  of'  films 
released  thus  was  443  in  1957/ 
against  514  during  the  peak  year 
of  ’56. 

Of  the  443  .  filins.  produced  in 
1957,  a.  total  of  19%^84  filrhs-^ 
were  in  color  as  against  only  32  in 
1956.  The  leading  company  in 
color,  production  is  Daiei  with  21 
tinters  out  of  a  total  of  74  films 
produced. 

Though  the  trend  in  Japanese 
filmmaking  has.  been  towards 
modern  ,  stories;  which  can  be  ex¬ 
ported  more  easily,  much  of  Ja¬ 
pan’s  production  still  falls  in  the 
‘“samurai”  category.  Of  the  to¬ 
tal  number  of  443  pictures  released 
last  year*  165  (or  37.2%)  were 
“samurai”  and  278  (62.8%)  Were. 
moderCn  in  theme.  Of  the  action 
pictures  produced  (148),  33.4% 
were  samurai,  Jan  increase  of,  4% 
over  ’56. 

i  Romantic  stories  decreased,  but 


films  for  children  doubled  in 
number  to  7%  of  the  total  against 
3.5%  in  1956. 

Japan’s  6,844  Houses 

Survey  puts  the  number  of 
Japan’s  motion  picture  theatres  at 
6,844;  indicating  that  1957  saw.  721 
new  houses  opened.  Partly  due  to 
the  rising  number  of  theatres,  av¬ 
erage  per-theatre  attendance  fell 
to  13,188  per  year  against  14,582  in 
1956.  Attendance .  between  Janu¬ 
ary,  and  September,  .1957,  was  up 
10.6%  .over  the  .  corresponding 
months  in  1956,  according  to  Ja¬ 
pan’s  tax  authorities. 

Film  week  in  Manhattan  ‘this 
week  gets  all  possible  support  from 
the  Motion  picture  Assn,  of 
America  (short  of  actual  cash)  and 
is  frankly  aimed  at  raising  Japan’s 
trade  potential  in  the  .  States.  Last 
year’s  fest  was  a  disappointment  in 
this,  respect,  which  was  attributed- 
in.  part  to  poor  selection  of  the 
product  shown  and  haphazard 
preparations.  There  hasn’t  been 
a  single  really  successful  Japanese 
film  circulating  outside  tlfe  Japa- 
nese-language  houses  in  the  States 
during  1957. 

.The  Japanese  aim  Is  to  establish 
themselves  more,  firmly  here,  and 
they're  also  on  the  lookout  for  a 
showcase  outlet  in  Manhattan. 


French  film  industry,  and  the 
Centre  National  de  .  la  Cinemato- 
grafia,  are  engaged  in  crucial  meet¬ 
ings  regarding  a  new  attempt  to 
crash  the  American  market.  Their 
plan  includes  the  leasing  of  show¬ 
cases  in  key  cities  and — once  again 
—some  form  of  distribution. 

The  French  are  talking  about 
taking  over  the  Paris  Theatre  in 
Gotham.:  now  operated  by  the 
French  pathe  outfit  Duncan 
MacGregor,  the  Pathe  topper  in  the 
States,  lias  been  in  Paris  since  mid- 
December. 

Joseph  Maternati,  head  of  the 
French.  Film  Office  in  New  York,  is 
leaving  for  Paris  today  (Wed.)  on 
what  is  billed  as.  a  routine- trip. 
However,  it  is  likely  that  his  pres¬ 
ence  in  Paris  is  required  before 
before  any  final  decisions  are 
taken, 

American  importers  in  New  York 
are  split  re  what  they  currently 
know  of  French  plans.  Paris  inten¬ 
tions  of;  buying  or  leasing  showcases 
makes  sense  to  some  and  none  at 
all  to  others  who  argue  that  the 
French  are  merely  running,  their 
heads  against  a  wall  trying  to  prove 
(to  themselves)  that  wider  exhibi¬ 
tion  of  their  product  automatically 
means  a  larger  audience. 

French  Logic 

As  far  as  can  be  ascertained 
here,  the  French  feel  that  they 
make  about  1$0  pictures  a  year,  of 
which— during  1957— only  37  were 
shown  in  the  States.  They're  asking 
themselves  why  the  remaining- 93 
aren’t  imported.  And  they  come  up 
with  the  answer  that  they’re  too 
much  at  the  mercy  of  the  commer¬ 
cial  judgment  of  the  U.  S.  inde¬ 
pendents. 

At  the  same  time,  they  feel  that, 
by  having  showcases  in  cities  where 
they  feel  they  get/  inadequate  cov¬ 
erage,  a  new  audience  can  be  de¬ 
veloped.  Cited  is  the  instance  of 
Chicago  Which,  In  ratio  to  its  popu¬ 
lation,  has.few  arties. 

One  version  is  that,  if  the  French 
go  ahead  via  Financinef  outfit  and 
acquire :  houses,  these  situations 
then  will  he  booked  by  the  Ameri¬ 
can  indies.  Another  is  that,  once 
any  kind  of  French  circuit  starts 
operating,  the  French  then  will 
have  to  do  their  own  distributing, 
probably  via  states-righters.  This 
goes  back  to  the  Old  “distribution- 
in-depth”  theory  of  Jacques  Flaud, 
head  of  the  Centre  National. 

There  ire  those  in  New  York 
who,  automatically,  disapprove  of 
any  French  distribution  effort  on 
the  theory  that  it  will  end  to  re¬ 
move  certain  attractions  from  their 
grasp.  Also,  some  wonder  how  the 
very  competitive  French  will  ever 
agree  on  what  film  is  to  go  into  one 
of  their,  jointly-owned  houses. 

As  currently  blueprinted,  French 
distribution  would  be  handled  out 
of  Maternati’s.  Madison  Aye.  office 
and  may  only  affect  films  that  can’t 
get  distribution,  via  the  indies. 
There  is  a  theory  that  the  appeal 
of  the  French  product  is  automati¬ 
cally  widening,  and  that  it  can  not 
be  artificially  hypoed  via  the  sim¬ 
ple  expedient  of  having  :It  avail¬ 
able.  It’s  pointed  out,  further,  that 
some  very  fine  French  films  have 
failed  to  hit  the  b.o.  mark  even 
when  slotted  in  the  “right”  houses. 
Example  would  be  “A  Condemned 
Man  Escapes,”  which  failed  to 
click.  In  fact,  the.  record  is  strewn 
with  cases  of  fine  French  films  that 
didn’t  make  the  grade  (“Wages 'of 
Fear”  among  them)  and  poor  ones 
that  succeeded  on  their  sexploita- 
tional  values  alone. 

The  indies  argues  that,  if  they 
don’t  import  a  film,  it’s  usually  be¬ 
cause  they  either  don’t  want  to 
meet  the  high  French  asking  price, 
or  more  often  because  they  don’t 
think  the  film  stands  a  chance  with 
the  - public  here.  The  procedure 
isn’t. foolproof,  and  some  argue  that 
the  French,  by  seriously  stepping 
up  the  volume  of  their  releases  in 
the  S  ates,  aren’t  going  to  be  doing 
themselves  at  favor,  regardless  of 
whether  these  pictures  play  in 
their  own  bouses  or  not. 


Upgrade  Bill  Devaney 

Chicago,  Jan.  21. 

Bill  Devaney,  Metro-Goldwyn- 
Mayer  exchange  manager  here,  has 
moved,  up  to  district  manager,  fol¬ 
lowing  the  shift  of  Burtus  Bishop 
Jr.  to  New  York  and  post  of  assist¬ 
ant  general  sales  manager. 

Devaney.  has  been  with  the  Chi 
office  about  12  years,  first  as  sale' 
manager  and  later  as  branch  mar 
ager. 


18 


PICTURES 


Minneapolis,  Jan.  21. 

.  While  downtown  theatres  here 
in  the  aggregate  are  enjoying  rec¬ 
ord-breaking  prosperity  at  1958’s 
outset,  thanks  to  extended  runs  of 
boxoffice  blockbusters,  the  situa¬ 
tion  as  regards  to  neighborhood 
houses,  all  of  which  are  subsequent 
runs  and  which,  ordinarily,  of] 
course,  require  weekly  or  more 
often  changes,  has  become  “des¬ 
perate”— the  worst  it  has  ever 
been. 


This  is  according  to  leading  local 
uptown  exhibitors  who  *  claim 
they’re  hanging  on  the  ropes  and. 
in  such  a  bad  way  that  unless  a 
turn  for  the  better  comes  soon 
they'll  have  to  toss  in  the  towel. 

Sidney  Volk,  co-owner  of  five  of 
the  top  neighborhood  houses,  in-; 
eluding  the  $600,000  1,300-seat 
Terrace  that’s  the  newest  theatre 
here,  declares  that  they’re  all  on 
the  brink  of  folding. 

“Lack  of  boxoffice  product  has 
neighborhood  theatres  on  the  edge 
of  complete  disaster,”  claims 
Volk.  “All  that  we've  been  getting, 
with  very  few  and  rarely  occasional 
exceptions,  has  been  ‘junk’— the 
kind  Of  pictures  that  no  longer  can 
dp  profitable  business.  And  the  out¬ 
look  for  the.  next  several  months 
is  no  better. 

"We  can’t  keep  scraping  the  bot¬ 
tom  of  the  product  barrel  much 
longer.  If  the  .film  companies  want 
to  keep  us  alive  they  had  better 
change  their  clearance  setup  so 
that  theatres  like  the  Terrace,  and 
Rivervlew,  which  are  superior  to 
any  of  the  downtown  houses  physi¬ 
cally  and  capable  of  doing  as  much 
business  as  most  of  them,  can  ob¬ 
tain  their  pictures  day  and  date 
with  the  loop  or,  at  least,  with,  the 
downtown  moveovers.” 

Sol  Fisher,  owner  of  three  local 
neighborhood  houses,  asserts  that 
the  product  and  boxoffice  situation 
for  his  and  other  uptown  theatres 
has  reached  a  critical  stage. 


Second  2-a-Day 
IOC  sin  Chicago 


BEN  SACK'S  3D  ARTER? 


Dickers  *  Takeover  of  John  Davis’ 
Copley  In  Beantown 


I  Boston,  Jan.  '21. 

Ben  Sack,  who  has  jumped  into 
the  exhib  biz  here  with  a  big  splash 
acquiring  two  ,  theatres.  Which 
were  former  legit  houses,  in  the 
past  year,  looks  definitely  to  an¬ 
nex  another  one.  Hes  negotiating 
with  Richard  Davis,  .  who  took  'the 
Copley,  also  former  legiter,  from 
the  Shuberts  oh  lease, .  and  spent 
some  $25,000  in  refurbishing  and 
modernizing  the  961-seat  house 
about  three  months  back. 

Davis  who  has  been  running,  the 
Copley  as  arter  played  four  pic¬ 
tures  since  opening  “Miracle  of 
Marcellino”.  o  pen  e  r;  “Cabria,” 
“French  Can-Can’  and  current 
“Grand  Maneuver.” 


As  Girl  Tycoon 

Atlanta,  Jan.  21. 

Actress  Susan  Hayward  and  her 
Georgia  husband,  F.  E.  Cbalkley, 
and  the  latter’s  sister,  Mrs.  Mar¬ 
garet  C.  Irwin  have  organized  a 
Georgia  corporation  to  handle, 
among  a  myriad  of  other  things. 
Some  of  the  cinema  star’s  future 
motion  pictures; 

First  film,  a  Western,  will* 
made  in  Hollywood  latter  this  year. 
Miss  Hayward  stated  it  would  be 
the  first  of  “several”  she  plans  to 
distribute  through  the  new  organi¬ 
zation/  to  be,  known  as  Carrollton, 
Inc. 

Miss  Hayward  will  he  president 
of  the  new  firm,  which  will:  have  a 
minimum  capital  of  $100,000. 
Charter  application  indicated  it 
had.  all  been  paid  in,  with  $100  as 
par  value  of  stock.  Incorporators 
!  have  right  to  increase  capital  to  a 
$250,000  maximum. 

Actress’  husband,  is  a  Carrollton 
business  man  rind  has  a  General 


;  Chicago,  Jan.  2L 
Paramount’s  “10  .Command¬ 
ments”  starts  a  second  two-a-day 
nabe  roadshowing  here  Feb.  7  in 
six  houses,  and  the  combined  run 
is  expected  to  gross  around  $500,- 
.000.  First  outlying  hard  ticket 
play,  in  five  theatres,  racked  up  a 
terrific  $530,000  gross.  Pic’s  long¬ 
est  first  nabe  run  was  an  eight- 
weeker  which  ended  Jan.  2. 

Two  suburban  theatres  are  i  - 
eluded  in  the  Feb.  7  launching,  and  | 
all  six  houses  wilt  be  scaled  to] 
$1.50  for  adults,  and  60c  for  kids. 


O’Leary  to  San  Francisco  { 

John  J.  O’Leary,  salesman  at  ! 
20th-Fox’s  Washington  branch,  has  ] 
been  named  the  companys’  branch  | 
sales  manager  in  San  Francisco,  by  l 
Alex  Harrison,  general  sales  man- ! 
.  ager. 

O’Leary  will  work  under  Frisco 
exchange  manager  Jack  Erickson. 
He’s  been  with  the  Washington 
branch  since  1944,  and  joined  20th 
in  1937. 


Motors  franchise. 

Charter  of  Carrollton  Inc., 
"authorizes  a  wide  range  of  busi¬ 
ness  activities,'  including  the  enter¬ 
tainment,  motel,  restaurant,  loan 
and  insurance,  fields.  Miss  Hayward 
revealed  that,  outfit  planned  to 
build  a  .  motel  “in  the  vicinity  of 
Carrollton.” 

According  to  ^  the  charter  new 
firm  is  authorized  to  employ  writ¬ 
ers,  directors,  and  actors  in  both 
television,  and  movie  fields,  and  to 
produce  and  distribute  records. 
Loan  business,  charter  application 
said,  would,  cover  financing  of 
automobiles,  other  personal  prop¬ 
erty  and  real  estate  and  the  brok¬ 
ering  arid  selling  of  inurance  in 
connection  with  the  financing  of 
automobiles. 

Corporation’s  main  office  will  be 
in  Atlanta,  however.  Miss  Hayward 
said  most  of  .its  business  would  be 
transacted  in  Carrollton. 

In  addition  to  pic  to.  be  released 
through  Carrollton1  Inc.,  Miss 
Hayward  says  she  is  committed  to 
star  in  a  20th-Fox  production  this 


P^rieSt  t 

U.S.  Supreme  Court  Hears 
Eagle  lion  Antifruster 

Washington,  Jan.  21. 

U.;  S.  Supreme  Court  this  week- 
decided  to  hear,  an  appeal  from 
lower,  court  decisions  dismissing  a 
$15,000,000  antitrust  suit  instituted 
several  years  ago  by  Eagle  Lion 
■  Films  against  the  RKO  and  Loew’s 
theatre  circuits  in  the  New  York 
metropolitan  area.  Appellant  is 
Chesapeake  industries,  which 
owned  the  now-defunct  Eagle 
Lion ’  when  it  existed. 

Complaint,  which  asks  dainages 
of  $5,000,000  (trebled  under  the 
a-t  statutes),  charges  the  two 
chains-' with,  controlling  the  N.Y.- 
market  arid  denying  EL  a  proper 
share  of  playing  time,  from  1940 
through  1950.  ; 


(I  Ponders  Uses 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


.  -  Screen  Gems*  ty/  subsidiary  of  Columbia  Pictures,  has  112  feature 
films  poised  for  release  on  television.  Fif ty-two  of  the  total  are  Col 
pix,  another  52  films  are; from  a  library  recently  acquired  from  Uni¬ 
versal.  The  remaining  eight  films  are  comprised  of  segments  from 
CBS-TV’s  “Playhouse  90”  aeries  which  have  already  been  telecast.  Lat¬ 
ter  pix  include— “Ain’t  No  Time  For  Glory,”  with  Barry  Sullivan  and 
Gene  Barry;  “The  Blackwell  Story”  with  Joanne  Dru  and  Pan  O’Her- 
lihy;  “Clipper  Ship,”  Charles  Bickford^Jan  Sterling  co-slarrer;  “Con¬ 
fession”  with  Dennis  O’Keefe  and  June  Ldckhart;  "The  Country  Hus¬ 
band”  with  Frank  Lovejoy  and  Barbara  Hale;  “Homeward  Borne”  with 
Linda  Darnell  rind  Richard  Kiley;  “Massacre  At  Sand  Creek”  \yith 
Jphn  Derek  and  Everett  Sloane;  and-  “So  Soon  To  Die”  with  Richard 
Basehart  and  Anne:  Bancroft. 

Among  the  104  theatrical  pix  are  such  properties  as  “Lost  Horizon,” 
“Mr.  Smith  Goes  To  Washington,”  “All  Quiet  On  the  Western  Front,” 
“It  Happened  One  Night,”  “My  Sister  Eileen,”  “Song  To  Remember,” 
“All  My  Sons”  and  “East  Side  of  Heaven.” 

Other  films  in  the  package  to  be  tagged  ,  the  Triple  Crown  are— 
“Holiday,”  “Act  Of  Murder,”  “A  Woman’s  Vengeance,”  “The  Suspect,” 
“Texas,”  “Brute  Force”  and  “The  Prisoner.” 


Hollywood,  Jan..:21. 
Universal  is  reviewing  possibili¬ 
ties.  arid  poteritial  income  of  rent¬ 
ing  studio  facilities  to  telepix  and 
theatrical  film  producers.  No  de¬ 
cision  yet  reached,— 

Studio,  with  rio  active  theatrical 
production  skedded  for  1958,  hasn’t 
discussed  or  considered  going  into 
vidpix  production  itself,  nor  of 
financing  indie  theatrical  film  pro- 


Rackmil’s  Reckoning 
I  Universal,  having  $20,000,008  to’ 
$25,000,000  invested  in  32  new  pro¬ 
ductions  either  fully  completed  or 
In  the  cutting  Stage,  is  setting  a 
film-making  hiatus  to  extend  at 
least  to  June,  ,1958.  Studio  goes 
idle  upon,  completion  of  “The  Per¬ 
fect  Furlough,”  now  shooting. 

U.  president  Milton  Rdckmil  and 
other  company  toppers  feel  .that 
current  .market  uncertainties 
render  unwise  the  tieing  up  of  any 
more  cash  at  this  time.  It’s  rea¬ 
soned  that  the  32-pic  schedule  rep¬ 
resents  a  full  year’s  supply  of  re¬ 
leases,  that  by  June  there  still  will 
remain  a  half-year-s  slate  for  the. 
distribution  hopper, .  and  in  the  in¬ 
terim  there  will  have  been  oppor-' 
tunity  to  reappraise  market  condi¬ 
tions  sufficiently  to  set  »  future 

course: 


Members  Of  the  Screen  Directors  International  Guild,  representing 
film  directors  working  in  the  east,  have  authorized  its  executive  board 
to  take  all  steps  to  enforce  its  demand  for  a  collective  bargaining 
agreement  with  New  York  producers.  Action,  in  the  form  of  a  resolvt. 
tion,  also  gave  the  board  the  right  to  call  a  strike. 

The  SDIG,  formed  last  September,  has  been  attempting  since  then 
to  sign  a  contract  with  the  N.  Y.  Producers  Assn.,  a  group  made  up 
mainly  of  telepix,  commercial,  educational  and  business  film  producers. 
According  to  the  Guild,  the  producers  group :  originally  agreed,  to  hold 
collective  bargaining  talks  arid  now  has  “arbitrarily  and  without  justi¬ 
fication  refused  to  do  so.” 


Because  the  eligibility  rules  of  the  Academy  of  Motion  Picture 
Arts  &  Sciences  and  the  Screen  Writers  branch  of  Writers  Guild  of 
America  West  are  different,  the  screenplay  of  'The  Bridge,  On  the 
River  Kwai”  will  be  eligible  for  the  Oscar  sweepstakes,  but  not  for  the 
Writers  Guild  award.  Academy  accepts  as  eligible  all  pictures  made 
in  the  English  language;  not  so,  the  Guild. 


The  National  Legion  of  Decency’s  annual  report  for  the  year  ended 
in  Oct.  1957,  shows  that  not  one  of  the' majors  had  a  condemned  film 
except  Warner  Bros.  -  (“Baby  Doll”).  United  Artists  took  the  cake  for 
B-rated  product  (2l),  followed  by  20th-Fox  with  20  and  Columbia  with 
19.  The  only  company  with  a u  clean  sweep  in  the  A-l  category  was 
Buena  Vista  (Disney). 


Motion  pictures  are  the  greatest  world  salesmen  for  American  mer¬ 
chandise,  Jerry- Wald  declared  in  a  speech  at  the  final  session, of  the 
third  annual  industrial  Economic  Conference,  sponsored  by  Stanford 
Research  Institute  at  the  Ambassador  Hotel,  L.  A.  It  marked  the 
first  time  that  the  motion  picture  industry  has  been  recognized  with 
other  U.  S.  industries  at  the  conference. 


Metro  reportedly  adding  $2,000,000  to  a  previous  loan  of  $3,000,000 
taken'from  a  Boston  banking  group,  collaterized  by  dividends  of  $11,- 
000,000  due  the  parent  film  corporation  from  the  domestic  theatre  sub¬ 
sidiary.  M-G,  building  its  cash  kitty,  also  said  to  be  asking  early  pay¬ 
ments  for  pictures  going  to  telecasters.. 


Rackmil  arrived  in  New  York 
over  the  past  weekend  following 
top-level  studio  meetings  on  the 
nature  of  the  problems  which,  the 
company  and  the  industry  in  gen¬ 
eral  are  now  facing.  He’s  to  spend 
two  to  three  weeks  in  Gotham  and 
then  return  west  for  further  con¬ 
sideration  of  a  new  U  modus  oper¬ 
ands 

Meanwhile,:  the  unsettled  nature 
of  the  U  situation  has  set  off  trade 
and  Wall  Street  rinriors  of  man¬ 
agement  and  ownership,  changes  (U 
is  81  %,  owned  by  Decca  Records) 
and  all.  of  these,  including  one  that 
has  Edward  Muhl  having  his  con¬ 
tract  settled  as  production  head; 
have  been  branded  “ridiculous”  by 
knowledgeable  Sources. 

“It’s,  just  common,  sense  that 
We  shut  down  (the.  studio)  for  a 
while  and  that’s  all  there  is  to  it,” 
stated  one  insider. 


James  Robertson  Justice  coming 
to  the  U.  S.  Feb.  1  on  behalf  of 
the’  Rank  pic,  “Campbell’s  King¬ 
dom.” 


Soundtrack 

^ Continued  from  page  4  ^ —a 

Krakauer  (From  Caligari  to  Hitler!  is  writing  a  new  book  on  “The  Es¬ 
thetics  of  Film Saturday  Review  assigned  review  of  Arthur 
Knight’s  book,  “The  Liveliest  Art”  to  Lewis  Jacobs,  then  failed  to 
print  it  when  Jacobs  (who  authored  a  book  on  the  American  film  him¬ 
self)  turned  in  a  brutal  pan.  Just  to  counterbalance  everything,  SR  also 
pulled  a  favorable  critique  of  Arthur  L.  Mayer’s  and  Richard  Griffith’s 
“The  Movies.”  .  .  .  Abel  Green  cruising  iri  the  Caribbean  until.  Feb  ..  .  . 

When  he  assumed  the  MPAA  presidency  Eric  A.  Johnston  said  he 
found  appalling  the  industry’s  lack  of  knowledge  about,  its  customers. 
Thus,  it  might  be  said  the  survey  conducted  on  the  public’s  theatre-  , 
going  habits  is  more  than  10  years  in  coming.  Opinion  Research  COrp. 
was  paid  $75,000  for  the  job,  by  the  way  .  .  .  Bernie  Kamber,  writing, 
rfrom  Waikiki,  insists  he’s  working  Union  .  Oil  C.o,,  which  digs  this 
sort  of  thing,  assured  Paramount  there’s  oil  on  the  Hollywood  plant. 

A  talent  junket,  headed  by  screen  actress.  Carmen  Seyilla  and  in-, 
eluding  comic  Gila,  Argentine  warbler  Elder  Barber,  Mary..  Sol  Reyes 
and  the  Las  Vegas  Trio  brought  year-end  holiday  entertainment  from 
Madrid  to  front-line  Spanish  troops  in  West  Africa  where  a  shooting 
war  with  Morrocan  irregulars  is  now  two  months  old.  Setting  up  and 
accompanying  junket  as  m.c.  was  Adolfo  'Fernandez,  whose  radio  fund- 
raising  drive  for  Valencia  flood  victims  from  provincial  Murcia  won 
him  an  announcer  spot  with  Radio  Madrid, 


Charts  & 


labor  as  wages  and  profit  for  management  were  all  cost 
factors  in  determining  reasonableness  of  rate  of  return; 

(6)  In  the  ordinary  sense,  income  taxes  become  a  part 
of  the  cost,  of  doing  business; 

17)  All. rentals  paid  by  all  first-run  RKO  theatres  and 
by  all  NT  theatres  were  in  conformity,  and  the  results . 
of  a  sample  study  earlier  submitted  by  Beggs  didn’t 
change  his  conclusions:  as  to  the  RKO-NT  conformity;  -. 

(In  the  trial’s  latter  stages  there’s  been  a  great  deal 
of  gas  about  the  comparative  ,  rentals,  as  percentages  on 
boxoffice  gross,  between  the  RKO  and  NT  houses.  Gold- ... 
wyn’s  side,  has  contended  that  the  seven  pictures  got  much 
higher  percentages  from  the  RKO  circuit;  the  defense 
has  contended  the  percentages  conformed  closely 'on  the 
basis  of  boxoffice  grosses.  Both  sides  introduced  reams 
of  statistics  to  uphold  their  opinions.) 

(8)  On  the  .basis  of  Beggs’  data,  prices  of  films  sold 
by  competitive  bidding  didn?t  tend  to  exceed  those  sold 
through  negotial*  v;'h  some  exceptions  both  upward 
and  downward. 

AUdto  then  called  witness  Lawrence  L.  Vance, 
chairman  of  the  U.  of  California's  accounting  department. 


Reverse  Charts  Fatigue 

— Continued  from  page  15 

Te  tactic  was  to  throw  doubt  on  Begg’s  technical  methods. 

Finally,  Alioto  returned  statistician  Walsh  to  the  stand 
Tor  testimony  on  NT’s  ability  to  pay  from  1937  through 
1950.  Dunne  objected  strenuously  on  the  grounds  that 
only  the  years  1947-50  were  involved,  but  the  Judge 
overruled  him. 

Walsh  testified  ,  that  if  all  distributors,  19.37-50,  who  got 
.betweenJJO  and  40%  for  their  films  had,  in  fact,  received 
40%,  NT  still  would  haye  .had  a  $121-million  profit  over 
the  14  years,  BEFORE  taxes. 

Q. — And  specifically  for  the  period  from  1947  to  1950, 
what  would  the  profits  have  been  if  all  of  the  distributors 
(who  actually  got  between  20  and  40%)  had  been  paid 
40%  for  film  rental? 

A.— Well,  beginning  with  the  year  19£7— I  hope  I  don’t 
miss  this  going  across— the  profit  after  the  increase  before 
taxes  would  be  $13,760,600.  For  1948,  $10,347,800.  For 
1949,  $9,186,400.  For  1950,  $3,432,700. 

Q. — Approximately  $35  million  in  the  period  from  1947 
to  1950.  if  they  had  paid  40%  to  all  distributors? 

Ar—That  adds,  up;  to  that  figure,  approximately. 

Durine  objected  to  the  admission  of  this  exhibit  “on' 
the.  ground  that  it  is  without  foundation,  purely  specula- 


the  Judge 


live,  no  evidence  to  support  any  increase  of  40%, ”  but  the 
Judge  replied: 

“Well;  I  don’t  have  to  send  up  Indian  smoke  signals  to 
indicate  to  you  I  am  going  to  admit  this  type  of  evidence. 
I  don’t  want  you  to  get  between  the  hammer  and  the 
anvil  here.  Dr.  Beggs  has  done  everything  but  the  Indian 
Rope  Trick  with  his  figures;  so  I  am  going  to  admit  this.” 

On  cross-examination,  Dunne  pointed  out  this  hypo* 
thetical  increase  would  have  amounted  to  a  30%  jump 
in  rentals  arid  taxed  Walsh  with  the  question  of  what 
would  have  happened  if  all  other  NT  expenses  had  gone 
up  30%  in  the  period— Walsh,  cornered,  adiriitted  NT 
would  have  gone,  into  the  red  annually. 

Walsh:  rebutted  testimony  of  FWG  buyer-statistician 
Pete  Lundgren  that  “Hans  Christian  Andersen”  got  no 
better  rentals  in  .1953-54  season  than  “Song  Is  Born”  with 
a  chart  showing  “Hans”  got  more  than  50%.  in  total 
Fox  and  no-Fox  playoff,  compared  to  35%  for  "Song.” 

Durine  introduced  a  letter  from  RKO’s  Detroit  exchange 
manager  to  New  York  headquarters  complaining  that  the 
Butterfield  circuit  gave  no  guaranteed  playing  time— this 
was  a  refutation  of  the  Goldwyri  claim  that; NT  was  the 
only  U.S.  circuit  giving .  no guaranteed  playing  time. 

And  then  the  trial  was  over. 


^Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


PSsHETY 


30  MILLION 
HEAR  LANZA 
SING  ON  ED 
SULLIVAN 
SHOW! 

Nationwide  audience  hears  about 
M-G-M’s  "SEVEN  HILLS  OF  ROME”! 

On  Sunday  night,  January  19th,  Mario  Lanza, 
sold  his  new  picture  to  a  Vast  public  in  a 
wonderful  interview  with  Ed  Sullivan  over 
220  TV  stations.  Voluptuous  Marisa.Allasio 
also  appeared,  Lanza’s  singing  confirmed  the 
promise  in  Louella  Parsons’  nationally  syndi¬ 
cated  column  that  “he  sings  as  he  never  sang 
before.!’ Big  ad  campaign  includes  8  'leading 
national  magazines  and  9  top  fan  magazines. 


SEVEN  HILLS  OF  ROME”  IS 
NEXT  AT  THE  MUSIC  HALL! 

:1 U-G-M  presents  MARIO  LANZA  in  “SEVEN  HILLS  OF  ROME* 
co-starring  Renato  Rasccl  •  Marisa.A,llasio  ♦  with  Peggie  Castle '  Screen 
flay  by  Art  Cohn  and  Giorgio  Prosper!  •  Based  on  a  Storyby  Giuseppe 
Amato  •  Filmed  in  Technirama*  •  A  productof  Technicolor  Produced 
by  Lester  Welch.  •  Directed  by  Roy  Rowland  •  A  Le  Cloud  Production 


SHE’S  ON  TOURI 

An  immediate  hit  with 
the  press  is  provoca¬ 
tive  Marisa  Allasio, 
new  glamor  girl. 


20 


PICTURES 


Mostly  Now  Sold  Directly — Seek  Acceptance  By  Ad 

Agencies- — Volume  Hazy  But  Claim  93%  of  Theatres 

'  :  + — — ■ — : — - — : - - 


Chicago*  Jan.  21. 

Theatrescreen  advertising,  some¬ 
thing  of  e  stepchild  in  the  ad  field, 
is  about  to  get  some  organized 
drum  beating  for  the  first  time,  in 
a  manner  a  la  broadcasting,  via  the 
newly-formed  Theatre-screen  Ad¬ 
vertising  Bureau  tTsAB).  Itfs 
rather  nebulous  at  the  moment  but 
Will  headquarter  in  the  Chi  office: 
of  Daniel  J.  Edelman,  p,  r.ofilm, 
with  Gordon  Winkler,  an  account 
group  supervisor,  named  informa¬ 
tion  director. 

Project  is  backed  by  five  of  the 
major  producers  of  filmed  screen; 
ads— Alexander  Film  of  Colorado 
Springs,  United  Film  Service  Inc. 
of  Kansas  City,  Motion  Picture  Ad¬ 
vertising  Service  of  New  Orleans; 
Reid  H.  Ray  Film  Industries  of  St 
Paul;  and  A.  U.  Cauger  Service 
Inc.  of  Independence,  Mo.  Bu¬ 
reau  will  function  mainly  as  an  in¬ 
formation  agency  for  advertisers 
and  ad  agencies,  offering  survey 
stuff,  research  data,  and  case  his¬ 
tories.  Ad  plans  are  indefinite, 
but  publicity  will  include  broch¬ 
ures,  press  handouts,  newsletters 
and  films. 

No  data  on  yearly  theatre  screen 
ad  revenue  are  confirmed.  Winkler 
declares  that  93.7%  of  the  coun¬ 
try’s  more  thSn  19,000  pic  houses 
carry  commercials;  which,  as  a  rule, 
run  40,  .60  or  90  seconds. 

Bureau’s  main  task  is  to  woo  ad¬ 
vertising  agencies  since  compara¬ 
tively  few  have  .bothered  much 
with  theatre  films.  Information 
here  indicates  that  most  Pf:  the 
sales  have  resulted  from  direct 
pitches  to  the  advertiser,  with,  the 
agency  coming  in  after  the  deal  to 
handle  the  mechanics,  although  in 
many  instances  there’s  been  no 
agency  involvement  whatever  as 
the  producer  shouldered  the  en¬ 
tire  job. 

Theatre  screen  ads  are  skedded 
several  ways,  usually  in  one  of 
three  fashions:  the  advertiser  pick¬ 
ing  up  the  entire  tab  (production, 
and  distribution!,  splitting  the  lo¬ 
cal  screening  charges  with  a  local 
distrib  or  dealer,  or  by  the  local 
dealer  assuming  all  costs. 

METRO  READYING  12 
FOR  PRONTO  SHOOTING 

Metro  plans  to  place.  12  new  pic¬ 
tures  before  the  cameras  within 
the  “first  four  montbs  of  this  year. 
Production  plans  were  finalized 
following  Coast  conferences  be¬ 
tween  prexy  Joseph  R.  Vogel, 
Studio  administrator  Benjamin 
Thau  and  the  studio’s-  executive 
staff. 

Included  in  the  upcoming  pro¬ 
duction  slate  is  ‘‘Ben  Hur,”  schedf 
uled  as  a  major  undertaking  on  the 
M-G  program.  It  will  be  filmed  In; 
the  company's  Camera  05  process, 
with  Sam  Zimbalist  producing  and 
William  Wyler  directing.  Among 
other  productions  which  Metro  has 
high  hopes  are  two  to  be  delivered 
by  Alfred  Hitchcock. 

In  addition  to  the  forthcoming 
films,  Metro  has  already  completed 
IS  pictures  for  release  during  1958. 
A  total  of  40  films  are  in  the  prep¬ 
aration  stage,  with  producers, 
directors  and  performers  having 
been  assigned  to  many  of  them. 
These  40  are  in  addition  to  14  pic¬ 
tures  that  are  currently  in  the  edit- 
ing^stage.  Among  the  latter  are 
“The  Brothers  Karamazov,"  “Gigi,” 
“Merry  Andrew,”  “Seven  Hills  of 
Rome”  and  “I  Accuse.” 

International  Publicity 
Under  Loew’s  Strickling 

As  part  of  the  reorganization  of 
Metro’s  pub-ad  setup,  Loew’s  In¬ 
ternational’s  publicity  department, 
heretofore  an  autonomous  opera¬ 
tion,  will  be  merged  with  the 
domestic  ^organization.  The  entire 
operation  will  be  under  the  guid¬ 
ance  of  Howard  Strickling,  recent¬ 
ly-appointed  pub-ad  chieftaim 

Dave  Blum,  head  of  the  Inter¬ 
national  publicity  department,  will 
continue  to  supervise  the  overseas 
operation  and  ;  will  maintain  his 
present  staff.  The  foreign  staff, 
now  on  the  same  floor  in  the 
Loew’s  homeoffice  building  as  part 
of  the  International'  company,  will 
headquarter  will  the  domestic  pub- 
ad  staff  when  it  is  moved  to  the 
10th  floor  of  the  building  shortly. 


Sdney-HanM-Barbera 
Cartooa  Operation  Now 
Employs25,  Expanding 

Hpllywood,  Jan.  21. 

After*  less  than  eight  months  of 
operation,  H&B  Productions,  car- 
toonery  formed  by  Geprge  Sidney 
in  partnership  with  William  Hanna 
and  Joseph  Barbera,  is  .'  expanding 
is  operations.  Hanna  and  Barbera 
formerly  produced  the  Tom  and 
Jerry  Animated  cartoons  for  Metro, 

H&B  Productions  staff  now  num¬ 
bers  25,  drawn  from  the  Metro 
cartoonery  when  the  Culver  lot 
ended  animation.  Sidney;  who  is 
prexy.  of  the  firm,  reported  that  he 
will  use  a  cartoon  sequence  in 
“Pepe,”  his  upcoming  Columbia 
film  starring  Cantinflas.  Sequence 
will  be  inserted  along  lines  of  ani¬ 
mated  action  used  in  Metro’s  “An¬ 
chors  Awelgh,”  which  Sidney  -di¬ 
rected, 

H&B  now  is  doing  commercials 
for  Metro,  as  well  as  for  Scbiitz, 
S  &  H  Green  Stamps,  Junket  and 
others,  In  addition,  it  is  doing,  a 
program  *of  cartoons  for  Screen  ; 
Gems,  “The  Ruff  and  Reddy  Show,” 
which  started  televising  five  weeks 
ago.  over  NBC-TV  every  Saturday 
morning,  9-9;  30  a.m.,  under,  spon¬ 
sorship  of  General  Foods.  Total  of 
52  segments  have  been  completed 
for  SG. 

While  H-B  deals  with  SG  in¬ 
cludes  these  52  subjects  only,  talks 
already  have  started  With  Columbia 
subsid  for  a  further  series:  Outfit, 
last  week  launched  production  .  on 
78  segments  for  a  new  program.  ' 

The  “Ruff  and  Ready”  series;  was 
made  in  color,  according  to  Sidney, 
with  a  view  to  linking  a  number  of 
segments  together  for  theatrical  re¬ 
lease  in  Europ’e  later  as  a  cartoon 
feature.  Feature  cartoon  produc¬ 
tion  already  is  being  considered  by. 
the  three  partners,  who  ire  weigh¬ 
ing:  the  possibilities  of  three  differ¬ 
ent  properties:  One  of  these  will  be 
started  within  the;  riext  two  to  three 
months,  he  declared,  and  it’s  ex¬ 
pected  company  will  have  this,  mi- 
tial  feature,  ready  for  release,  in 
early  1960.  Industrial  and  medical 
cartoons  films  likewise  are  planned, 
Sidney  stated^ 

Sidney,,  who  last  produced  “Pal 
Joey”  for  Columbia,, reported  that 
“Pepe”  has  already  been,  allocated 
a  $4,000,000  budget,  with  picture 
to  he.  ‘made  in  Rio  de  Janeiro, 
Havana,  various  Latin  American 
countries  and  Hollywood.  Film,  In 
addition  to .  Cantinflas  and.  a  num¬ 
ber  of  Hollywood  star  names  not 
yet  set,  will  include  star  .attractions 
from  South  American  countries. 

“Pal  Joey,”  which  already  is  run¬ 
ning  up  high  grosses  in  all  situa¬ 
tions  in  this  country,  broke  the 
opening  day  record  at  the  Empire 
Theatre,  London,  where  it  opened 
Jan.  8,  Sidney  reported.  1 

Sidney,  accompanied  by  scripter 
Leonard.  Spigelglass,  planed  to 
Mexico  City  this  ayem  for  confabs 
with  Cantinflas  on  screenplay  of 
“Pepe.”  Picture,  fourth'  on  pro-: 
ducer-director’s  slate  for  Columbia, 
will  be  turned  out  in  association 
with  Jacques  Gelman,  Mexican 
star’s  manager. 

START  AT  THE  START 
ROLE  FOR  ‘WITNESS’ 

.  Hollywood,  Jan.  21, . 

As  result  successful  experiment 
at  Beverly  theatre.  United  Artists 
contracts  for  exhibition  of  Edward 
Small- Arthur  Homblow  “Witness 
for  Prosecution”  include  clause  pre¬ 
venting  patrons  from  being  seated1 
during  final  19  minutes  of  film. 

Estimated  that  during  film’s  first 
four  weeks  here,  80%  of  patrons 
saw  ‘‘Witness”  from  beginning  as 
against  a  previous  high  of  40%  for 
the  house. 

Atlanta  Journal’s  New 
Amus,  Ed,  John  Ward 

Atlanta,  Jan.  21. 

John.  Ward  III  has  been  named 
amusement  editor  Of  Atlanta  Jour¬ 
nal.  He  succeeds  Dane  Harris,  re¬ 
signed. 

Latter  is  in  Birmingham,  to  take 
public  relations-publicity  post  with 
Laurie  Battle,  an  avowed  candidate 
for  governor  in  that  state. 


kSBu&nt 

Quick  Succeeds  Fred  Bund 
As  Army  Air  Film  Buyer 

Washington,  Jan.  21. 
Robert  E.  Quick  has  succeeded 
Fred  Bund  Jr,,  as  chief  of  the 
Army  and  Air  Force  Motion  Pje- 
ture  Service.  He  purchases  enter* 
tainment  pix  from  the  industry  for 
showing  on  Army  and  Air  Forces, 
bases  in  this  country  and  abroad. 
The  Nivy  maintains  its  own,  inde¬ 
pendent  purchasing  service. 

.  Prior,  to  the  Motion  Picture 
Service  *  1942,  .Quick,  was  em-. 

ployed  in  various  distribution 
branch  offices  of  Loew’s,  Inc.  Bund 
has  retired  from  active  service. 


Title  ‘Translation’ 

SSSS  Continued  from,  page  l.sss 
that’s  lacking  in  ihe  title  for  the 
States.  In  Siam,  “10,000  Bed¬ 
rooms”  Was  released  as  “Too  Much, 
Love.”  A  picture  like  “Gigi,” 
came  out  as  “The  Virgin  of  Paris” 
In  Arabic  countries. 

“Rebel  Without.:  Cause”  was 
shown  in  Formosa  with  the  Chi* 
nese  title:  “To  Give  Birth  to  Chil¬ 
dren  Without  -Teaching  Them 
Whose  Fault  It  is.”  “Baby  Doll,” 
which  had  no  meaning  anywhere 
except  in  the  U.  S,,  was  converted 
into  “You  Shall  Not  Covet  Your 
Neighbors  Wife”  for  German  re¬ 
lease.. 

Quite  often,  the  title  conversion 
is  good  enough',  to  give  second 
thoughts  to  the  -domestic  division. 
For  instance,  “Hatful  of  Rain,” 
again  without  meaning  overseas, 


Title  Needn’t  Fit 

Hollywood,  Jan.  21. 

Originality,  in  film .  titles  is 
of  paramount  importance,  ac- 
-cording  to  Alfred  Hitchcock, 
“and  it  really  doesn’t  make 
too  much  difference  whether 
the  title  has  anything  to  do 
with  the  story.” 

Key  to  a  good  title,  Hitch¬ 
cock  believes  is  that  it  be  so 
original  audiences  won’t  feel 
they’ve'  seen  the  picture  be¬ 
fore.  One  word  cities  are  best 
because  they  are  “easier  to 
remember  and  easier  for  the 
marquee;” 

Another- plus  factor  is  a  title 
tune,  so  Hitchcock  is  looking 
fora  tune  to  go  with:  “Vertigo” 
new  title  for  his  James  Stew- 
arf-Kim  Novak  starrer  at  Par¬ 
amount,  previously  called 
“From  Among,  the  Deadi” 
Hitchcock  isn’t  worried  ,  that 
the  Word  “Vertigo”  may  not 
tie  understood  by'  too  mSny 
people.  .  “It  doesn’t  hurt  that 
people  won't .  understand  :  the 
title,”  he  'maintains.  “Look  at 
*Four  Horsemen  of  the  Apo¬ 
calypse/  People  still  don’t 
know  what  that  means.” 


became  “Poisonous  Snow”  for  Ger¬ 
many  and  “Prison- Without  Bars” 
lor  Portugal.  “Island  in  the  Sun” 
in  Germany  was  called  “Hot 
Earth” 

“Peyton  Place”  had  the  imagi¬ 
nation  of  the  foreign  offices  run¬ 
ning  wild.  Latin  America  is  put¬ 
ting  it  out  as  "The  Devil’s  Caul¬ 
dron.”  Germany  calls  it  “Glowing 
Fires  Under  the  Ashes.”  France 
picked  the  title  “The  Pleasures  of 
Hell”  and  Italy  put  it  on  the  line 
with  “The  Sinners  of  Peyton.” 

The  romantic  inclinations  of 
certain  countries  frequently  re¬ 
flect  in  title  changes,  though  theree 
have  now  been  some  complaints 
about  the  over-use  of  such  words' 
as  “Love”  and  “Death.” 

Switcheroos 

Brazil  called  “The  Helen  Mor¬ 
gan  Story”  “With'  Tears  In  Her 
Voice”  and.  Spain  titled  it  ‘‘To  Suf¬ 
fer  Is  My  Destiny.”  Spain  called 
“Band  of  Angels”  "My  Sin  Was  to 
Be  Born.”  Japan  put  out  “The 
Last  Time  ,!  SaW  Paris”  as  “On  a 
Rainy  Morning  She  Dies  in  Paris.” 
It  revamped  “Ratotree  County” 
into  “Love.  Flower  Blooming.” 

Occasionally,  when  a  bestseller 
is  involved,  a  country  will  break 
aWay  from  the  rest  to  cash  in  on 
the  book’s  value.  “Sun  Also 
Rises*’  Came  out  as  “The  Sun  Has 
Its  Run”  in  Sweden  and  “The  Sun 
Will  Rise  Again”  in  Italy,  but  Gar- 
many  simple  called  it  “Befween 
Madrid  and  Paris.” 

Foreign  titles  as  a  rule  are  sug¬ 
gested  by  the  individual  offices  and 
submitted  to  New  York,  Where  the 
final  selection  is  made.  Some  com¬ 
panies  leave  European  titles  up  to 
their  Paris  headquarters. 


Wedncndnft  January  22,  19SB 


Week  Ended  Tuesday  ftl) 


N.  Y«  Stock  Exchange 


1957-18 

Net'" 

High 

Low 

Weekly  VeLWeeHy  Weekly 

Toes. 

Change 

InlHs 

High 

Low 

Close 

forwk. 

n% 

ai% 

ABC  Vending  62 

15% 

14% 

15% 

+  % 

24Tb 

n% 

Am  Bc-Par  Th  298 

15% 

13% 

15% 

+1% 

36% 

23% 

CBS  “A”  ....  174 

27% 

27 

25% 

,  4-  14 

85% 

22% 

CBS  *11*  33 

26% 

26% 

26% 

+  4s 

20% 

11% 

Col  Fix  13 

13% 

13% 

13% 

—  44 

19% 

13% 

DeOCa  115 

15% 

14% 

15 

.4-  % 

15% 

13 

Dfeaey - -  53 

15% 

14% 

15% 

115 

81% 

Eastman  Kdk.  136 

101 

98% 

100 

+1% 

4% 

3% 

EMI.  . .  145 

4% 

3% 

4% 

-f  3  b 

10% 

7% 

List  Ihd,  29 

7% 

7% 

.7% 

+  % 

22 

11% 

Loew’s  ......  142 

14% 

13% 

14 

T-  % 

9% 

7 

NatThea...  118 

8% 

7%. 

8% 

■+■  44 

‘  86% 

28 

Paramount  ..  134 

34% 

32% 

84 

+D/ 

18% 

11 

Philco  - - 139 

14% 

13% 

13% 

53% 

30 

Polaroid  ... .  226 

48% 

45% 

48% 

+3 

40 

27 

RCA  .....4642 

35 

83% 

34% 

8% 

434 

Republic  .  .  .  f  112 

6% 

5% 

6% 

+  H 

13% 

9 

Rep.,  pfd -  11 

10% 

9% 

10%. 

4-  % 

18% 

13% 

Stanley  War.  58 

15% 

15% 

15% 

4~i'- 

29% 

183/4 

Storer  - .'.  28 

24% 

23% 

23% 

+  4/ 

30% 

19% 

20to-Fox  ....  99 

25 

23% 

2434 

+l\s 

25% 

15 

United  Artists  23 

17% 

46 

17% 

+1% 

30% 

18% 

Unix.  Pix..-,  2 

21 

20% 

21 

+  % 

73 

65% 

Univ^pfd....  *10 

67 

67 

67 

"28% 

16% 

Warner  Bros.  22 

17% 

17% 

17% 

—  % 

140 

91% 

Zenith  44 

1233/4 

120% 

121 

—11/ 

American  Stock  Exchange 

4% 

,2% 

Allied  Artiste  41 

3% 

3 

3% 

H 

10% 

6% 

Al’d  Art,,  Pfd.  1 

7% 

7% 

7% 

+  % 

11% 

6% 

Assoc.  Artiste  58 

8% 

8% 

8% 

1% 

% 

C.  &  C.  Tele  .  429 

.% 

% 

7/16 

— 

6% 

3 

DuMont  Lab.  153 

4% 

4% 

4% 

+  % 

4% 

2% 

Guild  Films  49 

2% 

2% 

2% 

4-  .%■ 

.9% 

5% 

Natl  Telefilm  26 

634 

6% 

6% 

9 

3% 

Skistron  62 

6 

5% 

.5% 

— - 

8% 

2% 

Technicolor1  122 

4% 

3% 

4%, 

+  .% 

.  .5% 

3% 

Trans-Lux  13 

4 

8% 

3% 

+  V4 

Over-lhe£ounter  Securities 

Bid 

Ask 

Amnex  .... 

45% 

53% 

+  1%- 

Chesapeake  Industries  ......... 

2 

2% 

4-4/ 

Cinerama  Prod. 

2 

2% 

DuMont  Broadcasting  . . , . . 

m 

8% 

+ 

Magna  Theatre  . . . . . . . . 

1% 

2%. 

+  4s 

Official  Films 

1% 

1% 

— ■ 

U.  A*  Theatres  ................ 

4 

4% 

•  Actual  Volume. 

< Quotations  furnished  by  Dreyfus  &  Co.)  b 


Hetzel  Seen  Going  to  London 

■  <  ■  -  ■  ■  -  —  Continued  from  w*  3 


are  the  Paris  and  Frankfurt  ppsts, . 
with  Fred  Gronich  and  Leo  Hoch- 
stetter  respectively  taking  over. 

For  the  Rome  bureau,  MPEA  has  ; 
set  a  deal  with  Frank  Gervaisi,  a : 
journalist  now  residing  in  Italy, 
Gervasi  is  currently  In  the  States. 

The  plan,  ,  calling  for  Hetzel  to 
shift  his  base  to  Europe,  has  yet 
to  be  discussed  h\  detail  with  toe 
companies.  However,  the  presi¬ 
dents  appear' to  have  been  sounded 
out  on  it,  and  their  reaction  was 
favorable.  It’s  felt  that,  from  Lem-  : 
don,  Hetzel  could  gorily  take  the 
reigns  for  all-  -of ;  Europe.  Ttie 
offices  noW reporting  to  S.  Griffith 
^tohnson,  v.p.  in  Washington,  Would 
then  tie  in  constant  touch  with 
Hetzel  in  London  who,  of  course, 
wouldn’t  be  far  from  Paris  and  the 
Continental  managers. 

If  s  been  suggested  that  Hetzel 
may  actually  make  his  headquar¬ 
ters  in  Paris,  but  this  appears  un¬ 
likely.  The  contact  work  on  the 
day-to-day,  operational  level  Will 
he  done  by  Gronich. 

(There  are  late  reports  that  Re¬ 
public’s  Reginald  Armour  and 
RKO’s  Robert  Wolff  also' are  trying 
to  get  the  London  post) 
Troublesome  Delays 

The  necessity  to  refer  constantly 
back  to  the  foreign  managers* 
board  in  New  York,  and  the  prob¬ 
lems  that  arise  from  this  long¬ 
distance  type,  of  communication, 
have  long  been  a  thorn  in  the  side 
of  many  of  the  men  working  for 
MPEA  on  the  Continent;  There  is 
no  question  that  they  would  weP 
come  an  MPEA  executive  stationed 
in.  Europe  and  empowered  to  make 
policy  decisions  on  the  spot 

It  is  felt,  too,  that  Hetzel  In  such 
a  post  would  acquire  a  new  and : 
closer  Understanding  of  European,; 
film  problems  as  they  face  the 
American  companies.  It’s  been  one 
of  the  beefs  of  the  U.S.  managers 
on  the  Continent  that  the  board 
in  New  York  is  too  removed  from 
the  immediate  and  local  atmos¬ 
phere  to  be  able  to  judge  situa¬ 
tions  correctly  and  act  accordingly. 

.  The  companies  themselves;  work 
differently;  with' a '  goad  deal  of 
authority  invested  in  the  Conti¬ 
nental  managers  sitting  in  Paris,  It 
has  been  pointed  out  from  time  to 
time  that  the  MPEA  setup  should, 


if  possible,  parallel  the  companies’ 
own  organizational  lines. 

What  happens  in  the  New  York 
Office  if  Hetzel  makes,  the  move  to 
London  Isn’t  dear, .  He  has  been 
hinning/both  the  domestic  and  the 
foreign  did  under  prexy  Eric 
Johnston  There  is  a  possibility  that 
Johnson  would  come  in  from 
Washington  to  take  over  the  run¬ 
ning  of  the  MPAA-MPEA  offices, 

There  Is  speculation,  too,  wheth¬ 
er  the  job  may  be  split,  with  a 
separateheadfor  thedomestic  and 
foreign  sect  lb  ns  to  allow  for 
greater  concentration  on  both.  On 
the  other  band.  In  the  light  of  the 
aim  jo  economize,  MPEA  may  keep 
its  liaison  with  the  board  in  New 
York  via  Johnson  (who  how  spends 
half  his  time  to  New  York  anyway) 
and  other  execs  like  George 
VIetheer.  The  domestic  end  would 
have  to  get  a  hew  chief. 

Hebei's  projected  shift  to  Lon¬ 
don  again  brings  up  the  question 
of  whether  MPEA  intends  to  shift 
all  of  its  veepees  to  the  field. 
Irving  Maas  already  Is  headquar¬ 
tering  to  Tokyo  and  Robert  Cork- 
ery,  in  charge  of  Latin  America, 
conceivably  could  be  shifted  to  his 
territory. 

Whatever  happens,  it  is  clear 
that  MPRA  Is  seeking  to  strength¬ 
en  its  foreign,  sfid  particularly  the 
European,  setup  in  anticipation  pf 
both  tough  times  ahead  and  the 
realization  that  overseas  income  iii 
the  years  to  come  vrill  be  more 
vital  than  ever  to  the  survival  of 
toe  industry. 


Narcotics  BaHat 

SSSSm  Continued  tram  NCC  t  sssa 
of  the  two  leading  ballerinas  with 
the  group,  will  dance  a  pair  of 
modern  numbers,  “Those  in  the 
Shadows,”  a  drama  to  the  under-, 
world ..  of  dope  addiction  set  to 
music  of  Benjamin  Britten,  and 
“Light  Fantastic,”  to  the  music  of 
Chabrfer,  and  to  this  one  part¬ 
nered  by  Sertic,  a  Yugoslav  dancer 
who  recently  joined  the  opera. 

Third  ballet  of  the  evening  will 
be  “Retoute”  music  by  Rossini, 
with  Maria  Fries  and  Rainer 
:  Koscherman  dancing. 


22 


picnwES 


PSrtiEfr 


January  22,  1958 


RO.s  Slow  L’filk  But 
‘Angels’  Brisk  $5,000, 2d; 
Teyton’  Trim  $7,500, 3d 

Louisville,  Jan.  21, 

Key  houses  are  all  making  a  bid 
lor  downtown  biz  with  holdovers. 
Not  a  single  house  has  new  pix  to 
offer,  with  customers  still  going 
for  the  old  fare.  “Sayonara”  at 
the  Mary  Ann  in  fourth  week  looms 
strong.  “Peyton  Place”  at  Rialto 
shapes  trim  in  third  stanza.  The 
Kentucky’s  “Tarnished  Angels” 
still  is  virile  in  second  round. 

Estimates  lor  This  Week 

Brown  (Fourth  Ave.  -Loew’s) 
(1,000:  $1.25-$2>— "Around  World  in 
80  Days”  (TJA)  (4th  wk).  Modest 
$4,500  on  final  stanza  after  the 
third  week’s  $5,000. 

Kentucky  (Switow)  (900;  50-85) — 
“Tarnished  Angels”  (U)  (2d  wk). 
Still"  virile  at  $5,000  after  first 
week’s.  $6,000. 

Loew’s  (Loew)  (3,000;  75-99)-—. 
"Don’t  Go  Near  Water”  (M-G). 
Good  $7,000  after  $9,500  last  week. 

Mary  Ann  (People’s)  (1,000;  85- 
$1.25)— "Sayonara”  (WB)  (4th  wk). 
Keeping  up  strong  pace  at  $5,500, 
third  week’s  $7,500. 

Rialto  (Fourth  Ave.)  (3,000;  85- 
$1  25) — "Peyton  Place”  (20th)  (3d 
wk).  Trim  $7,500  after  last  week’s 
$9,500. 

BROADWAY 

(Continued  from  page  9) 
looks  like  lofty  $70,000.  The  fifth 
was  $78,000  just  a  bit  below  hopes. 
’Farewell  To  Arms”  (20th)  opens 
Friday  (24). 

State  (Loew) .  (3,450;  50-$C75)— - 
"Raintree  County”  (M-G)  (5th  wk). 
Current  session  finishing  tomor¬ 
row  (Thurs.)  looks  like  solid  $20,- 
000  or  near.  Fourth  week  was 
$23,000. 

Sutton  (R&B)  (561*,'  95-$1.75)— 
"Smiles  of  Summer  Night”  (Rank) 
(5th  wk).  Fourth  frame  epded 
Sunday  (19)  was  big  $7,200  after 
$10,400  in  third  we$k. 

Trans-Lux  52d  St.  (T-L)  (540;  $1- 
$1.50)— "Old  Yeller”  (BV)  (5th 
wk).  Fourth  week  completed  yes¬ 
terday  (Tues.)  Was  lively  $10,000. 
Third  was  $li,500. 

Victoria  (City  Inv.)  (1,060;  50-$2) 
—“Paths  of  Glory”  (UA)  (5th  wk). 
Fourth  stanza  ended  yesterday 
(Tues.)  was  fancy  $16,000  nr  near. 
Third  was  $18,000.  ' 

Warner  (SW-Cinerama)  (1,600; 
$1.80-$3.50)— "Search  For  Para¬ 
dise”  (Cinerama)  (18th  wk).  The 
17th  session  ended  Saturday  (18) 
was  sturdy  $27,800  for  14  perform¬ 
ances.  The  16th  Week  was  $28,200 
for  same  number  of  shows. 

World  (Times)  (400;  95-$1.50)— 
"Bride  Is  Much  Too  Beautiful” 
(Ellis-Lax).  Opened  Monday  (20) 
with  new  record  for  initial  day  of 
a  run  here.  In  ahead,  “Razzia” 
(Kass)  (9th  wk)  dipped  to  mild 
$2,500  after  $3,500  in  eighth  week. 

BOSTON 

(Continued  from  page  9) 
final).  Oke  $4,000.  Last  week, 
$5,000.  "Gervaise”  (Cont)  opens, 
tomorrow,  Wednesday  (22). 

Paramount  (NEY)  (1,700;  60-$l) 

< —  "Teenage  Frankenstein”  (AI) 
and  "Blood  Dracula”  (AI).  Fat 
$16,500.  Last  week,  ".Tall  Stranger” 
(AA)  and  "Affair  in  Havana”  (AA); 
$9,000  in  5  days. 

Saxon  (Sack)  (1,100;  $1.50-$3.30) 
—"Around  World  In  80  Days”  (U A) 
(41st  wk).  Hot  $17,000.  Last  week, 
same. 

Pilgrim  (ATC)  (1,700;  60-$l)— 
Back  to  second-runs.  Last  Week, 
"Razzia”*  (For)  and  "Triple  Decep¬ 
tion”  (Rank)  (2d  wk),  $6,000. 

Mayflower  (ATC)  (689;  60-$D— 
"Razzia”  (Kass)  and  "Triple  Decep¬ 
tion”  (Rank)  (2d  wk).  Good  $2,500. 
Last  week,  $4,000. 

Memorial  (RKO)  (3,000;  75-$1.25) 
—"Peyton  Place”  (20th)  (4th  wk). 
Wham  $20,000.  Last  week,. $26,000. 

Metropolitan  (NET)  (4,357;  90- 
$1.25) — “Sayonara”  (WB)  (4th  wk). 
Big  $18,000.  Last  week,  $24,000. 

Trans-Lux  (T-D  (724;  75-$1.25) 
—"Girl  on  Third  Floor”  (Indie) 
.and  "Fruits  of  Summer”  (Indie). 
Good  $4,000.  Last  week,  "Mile 
Striptease”  (Indie)  (3d  wk),  $3,000 
in  5  days. 

Orpheum  (Loew)  (2,900;  75- 
$1.25) — 4*Legend  of  Lost”  (UA)  and 
*Dalton  Girls”  (UA).  Stick  $17,000. 
Last  week.  “Les  Girls”  (M-G)  (3d 
wk),  $12,500. 

State  (Loew)  (3,500;  75-$1.25)— 
••Legend  of  Lost”  (UA)  and  "Dal¬ 
ton  Girls”  (UA).  Good  $10,000. 
Last  week,  "Les  Girls”  (M-G)  (3d 
wk),  $0,500. 


LOS  AN  GELES 

(Continued  from  page  8) 

I  (4th  wk).  Lush  $23,000.  Last  week, 

1  $25,000. 

Pantagea  (RKO)  (2,812;  $1.25-1 
$1.80)— “Don’t  Gp  Near  the  Water” 
(M-G)  (4th  Wk).  Stout  $15,500. 
Last  week,  $16,300. 

Fox  Wllshiro  (FWO  (2,296;  90- 
$1.75)— "Old  Yeller”  (BV>  (4th  wk). 
Steady  $7,500.  Last  week,  $8,000. 

Rita  (FWC)  (1;320;  90-$1.50)— 
"Pal  Joey”  (Col)  and  "Tijuana 
Story”  (Col)  (3d  wk).  Mild  $2,300. 

Warner  Beverly  (SW)  (1,612;  90- 
$1.75)— “Witness  for  Prosecution” 
(UA)  (5th  wk).  .Stout  $11,000  or 
close.  Last  week,  $12,200. 

Chinese  (FWC)  (1,908;  $1.25- 
$2.40)— “Farewell  to  Arms”  (20th) 
(5th  wk).  Fair*  $7,500.  Last  week, 
$15,000,  total  in  8-house  special 
roadshow  spread  was  $51,200. 

Egyptian  (UATC)  (1,503;  $1.25- 
$3.50) — “Bridge  on  River;  Kwai” 
(Col)  (5th  wk).  Lofty  $19,500.  Last 
week,  $20,700. 

Fine  Arta  (FWC)  (631;  90-$1.50) 
‘Paths  of  Glory”  (UA)  (5th  wk). 
Okay  $2,500.  Last  week,  $3,400. 

Fox  Beverly,  Loyola,  Vogue,  Los 
Angeles  (FWC)  (1,170;  1,248;  825; 
2,097;  $1.25-$2.40)r--“Peyton  Place” 
(20th)  (6th  wk).  Smash  $44,000, 
helped  by  opening  at  the  Los 
Angeles.  Last  Week;  $28,200. 

Four  Star  (UATC)  (868;  90-$L50) 
—’.‘Wild  Is  Wind”  (Par)  (6th  wk). 
Tidy  $4,000.  Last  week,  $4,600. 

Downtown,  Wfltern  (SW)  (1,757; 
2,344;  $1.2!T-$2.50) — “10  Command¬ 
ments”  (Par)  (13th  wk).  Trim' $15,- 
000  or  near.  Last  week,  $15,900. 

Warner  Hollywood  (SW- Cine¬ 
rama)  (1,384;  $1.20-$2.65) — “Seven 
Wonders”  (Cinerama).  Started  33d 
week  on  Sunday  (19)  after  great 
$2Q;300  last  week. 

Carthay  (FWC)  (1,138;  $1.75- 
$3.50)  —  "Around  World  in.  80 
Days”  (UA)  (57th  wk).  Snappy 
$20,900.  Last  week,  $20,500. 

El  Key  (FWC)  (861;  $1.25-$1.50) 
— "Gervaise”  (Cont)  (2d  wk).  Fancy 
$4,006:  Last  week,  $4,900. 

Crest,  Sunset  (Lippert  -  Cohen) 
(800;  540;  $1.25-$L50)— "Cabiria” 
(Indie).  Slick  $6,300.  Last  week, 
“Passionate  Summer”  (Indie)  (3d 
wk),  $3,800.  -- 


I  ‘JAMBOREE’  FAST  6^G, 
OMAHA;  ‘WATER’  HEP  4G 

Omaha,  Jan.  21. 

"Jamboree”  Is  blockbuster  this 
week  at  downtown  first-runs,  being 
rated  smasheroo  at  the  Omaha'. 
The  other  new  entry,  "Long  Haul,” 
ia  only  tepid  at  the  Brandeis.  "Say¬ 
onara”  arid  "Don’t  Go  Near.  Water” 
are'both  fine  in  third  stanzas  at 
Orpheum  and  State  but  neither  ap¬ 
pears  strong  enough  for  a  fourth. 
.  .  Estimates  for  This  Week 

Brandeis  (RKO)  <1,100;  75-90)^- 
“Long  Haul”  (Col)  .and  "Town  on 
Trial”  (Col).Fair  $3,000.  Last  week, 
"Girl  Most  Likely”  (U)  rad  "Vio¬ 
lators”  (U),  ditto.  . 

Omaha  .(Tristates)  (2,066;  75-90) 
— “Jamborefe”  (WB)  and  "Green- 
Eyed  BlOnd”  (WB).  Great  $6,500 
or  npar.  Last  week,  "Abominal 
Snowman”  (20th)  arid  “Ghost 
Diver”  (20th)  split  with  “Man  in 
Shadow”  (U)  and  "Nak4d  In  Sun” 
(AA),  $3,000. 

Orpheum  (Tristates)  (2,980;  90- 
$1.25)— “Sayonara”  (WB)  (3d  wk). 
Continues  stout  at  $7,500.  Last 
week,  $11,500. 

State  (Goldberg)  (850; ,  75-90)— 
“Don’t  Go  Near  Water”  (M-G)  (3d 
wk).  Fancy  ’  $3,500,  Last  week, 
$5,000. 


CHICAGO 

(Continued  from  page  9) 
"Bayou”  (UA)  and  “Big  Caperi’ 
(UA).  Good  $5,500.  Last  week.  "Girl 
in  Black  Silk  Stockings”  (UA)  and 
"Hell  Bound”  (UA).  $4,806: 

Oriental  (Indie)  (3,400;  90-$1.50) 
—"Enemy  Below”  (20th)  (3d  wk). 
Fair  $17,500.  Last  week,  $18,000. 

Palace  (SW-Cinerama)  (1,434; 
$1.25-$3.40)— "Seven  Wonders  of 
World”  (Cinerama)  (57th  wk).  Fat 
$19,500.  Last  week,  $19,400. 

Roosevelt  (B&K)  (1,400;  75-90)— 
"Man  in  Shadow”  (U)  arid  "Hard 
Man”  (Col)  (2d  wk).  Fine  $12,700. 
Last  week,  $13,500. 

State-Lake  (B&K)  (2,400;  90- 
$1.80)— "Old  Yetier”  (BV)  (4th  wk). 
Okay  $16,000.  Last  week,  $23,000. 

Surf  (H&E  Balaban)  (685;  $1.50) 
— “Game  of  Love”  (Times)  (9th 
wk).  Modest  $2,700.  Last  week, 
$3,400. 

Todd’s  Cinestage  (Todd)  (1,036; 
$1.75-$3.30)— “Around  World  in  60 
Days”  (UA)  (42d  wk).  Stout  $20,000. 
Lest  week,  $20,500. 

United  Artists  (B&K)  (1,700;  90- 
$1.50>— "Don’t  Go  Near  Water” 
(M-G)  (4th  wk).  Big  $25,000.  Last 
week,  $27,000. 

Woods  (Essaness)  (1,200;  90- 
$1.50)— "Legend  of  Lost”  (UA)  (3d 
wk).  Okay  $15,000.  Last  week, 
$17,000. 

WmU  .  (Indie)  <606;  90)— "Don 
Giovanni”  (DCA)  (4th  wk).  Busy 
$4,200;  Last  week,  $4,800. 

Ziegfeld  (Davis)  (485;  79)— "3 
Forbidden  Stories”  (Dezel)  and 
"Inside  Girls*  Dormitory”  (Dezel). 
Mild  $2,700.  Last  week,  "Illicit 
Interlude”  (Heltel),  $3,400. 

INDIANAPOLIS 

(Continued  from  page  9) 
ammergau  Passion  Play  bn  the 
stage  this  week. 

Indiana  (C-D)  (3^00;  90-$1.25)^- 
"Peyton  Place”  (20th)  (3d  wk). 
Nifty  $12,000  or  about  $52,000  for 
run  to  date. 

Keith’s  (C-D)  (1,200;  90-$1.25) — 
"Sayonara”  (WB)  (4th  ' wk).  Very 
good  $9,000.  Last  week,  ditto, 

Loew’s  (Loew)  (2,427;  75-90)— 
"Don’t  GO  Near.  Water”  (M-G). 
Hefty  $12,000.  Last  week,  "Legend 
of  Lost”  (UA)*  and  "Dalton  Girls”' 
(UA),  $8,000.  . 

Lyric  (C-D)  (860;  $lJ25-$2^0)— 
"Around  World  in '80  Days”  <UA) 
(23d  Wk).  Oke  $7t600.  Last  week, 
$8,000. 


‘Water’  Smooth  $20,000, 
Toronto;  ‘Sayonara’  32G 

Toronto,.  Jan.  21. 

"Sayonara”  and  "Don’t  Go  Near 
Water”  are  both  off  to  phenomenal 
starts  and  leading  the  city  among 
the  newcomers.  “Story  of  Esther 
Costello”  plus  "Last  Man  to  Hang” 
also  looms  good  at  three-house 
comho.  Of  holdovers,  “My  Man 
Godfrey,”  "Shiralee”  ‘  and  "Blue 
Murder  at  St.  Trinlan’s,”  all  in 
fourth  frames,  are  holding  up  well. 

Estimates  for  This  Week 

Carlton  (Rank)  (2,518;  60-$l)— 
"Cambell’s  Kingdom”  (Rank). 
Light  $7,000.  Last  week,  "Legend 
of  Lost’’  (UA)  (3d  wk),  same. 

Downtown,  Glendale,  Scarboro, 
State  (Taylor)  (1,054;  995;  698^694; 
50-7$)— "Brothers  Rico”  (Col)  and 
"Escape  from  St.  Quentin”  (Col). 
Good  $15,000.  Last  week,  "Rodan” 
(IFD)  and  "Hell  in  Korea”  (IFD), 
$15,000. 

Hollywood,  Palace,  Runnymede 
(FP)  (1,680;  1,385;  1,485;  50-$l)— 
"Esther  Costello”  (Col)  and  "Last 
Man  to  Hang”  (Col).  Okay  $15,000. 
Lgst  week,  “BpmbersB-52”  (WB) 
and  "Counterfeit  Plan”  (WB), 
$14,000. 

Hyland  (Rank)  (1,357;  $1)— 

"Shiralee”  (M-G)  (4th  wk).  Nice 
$4,000.  Last  Week,  $5,000. 

Imperial  (FP)  <3,344;  75-$1.25)— 
"Sayonara”  (WB).  Wow  $32,000. 
Last  week,  "Sad  Sack”  (Par)  (3d 
wk),  $12,000. 

International  (Taylor)  (557;  $1)— 
"Blue  Murder  at  St.  Trinian’s” 
(IFD)  (4th  wk).  Okay  $4,500.  Last 
week,  $5,600.’ 

Loew’s  (Loew)  (2,098;  75-$1.25)— 
"Don’t  Go  Near  Water”  (M-G).  Big 
$20,000.  .  Last  week,  .  “Jailhouse 
Rock”  (M-G)  (3d  wk),  $7,000. 

Tivoli  (FP)  (955;  $1.75-$2.40)— 
"Around  World  in  80  Days”  (UA) 
(23d  wk).  Fine.$9,000.  Last  week, 
same.  4 

.  Towne  (Taylor)  (693;  $1)— 

["Lucky  Jim”  (IFD)  (5th  wk).  Okay 
$4,000.  Last  week,  $4,566. 

University  (FP)  (1,233;  $1.50- 
$2.40)— "This  tis  Cinerama”  (Cine-  j 
rama)  (13th  wk).  Pickup  to  nice 
$12,500.  Last  week,  $12,000. 

Uptown  (Loew)  (2,098;  60-$l)^ 
"My  Man, Godfrey”  (U)  (4th  wk). 
Big  $7,000,  Last  week,  $9,000. 

PHILADELPHIA 

( Continued  from  page  8) 

Last  week,  "Girl  Most  Likely”  (U), 
$7,000. 

Midtown  (Goldman)  (1,000;  99- 
$1.89) — “Raintree  County?’  (M-G) 
(3d  wk).  Fine  612,000.  Last  week, 
same.  .  \  ' 

Randolph  (Goldman)  <1/250;  65- 
$125) — "Sayonara”  (WB)  (4th  wk). 
Big  $20,000.  Last  week,  $23,000. 

Stanley  (SW)  (2,900;  99-$1.80)— 
"Pal  Joey”  (Col)  tilth  wk).  Down 
to  $7,000  in  last  round.  Last  week, 
$10,000. 

Stanton  (SW)  <1,483;  99-$1.49)— 
"Old  Yeller”  (BV)  (4th  wk).  Fine 
$8,500.  Last  week,  $9,500. 

Trans-Lux  (T-L)  (500;  99-$1.80) 
— '  "Gervaise”  (Cont)  (4th  wk-5 
days).  Neat  $3,000.  Last  week, 
$4,400. 

Studio  (Goldberg)  (499;  99-$i:49) 

• — "Sins  of  Casanova"  (Indie)  and 
’Forbidden  Desire”.  (Indie).  Hep 
$5,500.  Last  Week,  "Razzia”  (Kass) 
(3d  wk),  $3,200. 

Viking  (Sley)  (1,000;  75-$1.49)— 
“Mister  Rock  rad  Roll”  (Par)  and 
"Hear  Me  Good!’  (Par).  Thin 
$6,500;  Last  week,  "Sad  Hack” 
(Par)  (4th  wk)  and  "Invisible  Boy*’ 
(M-G)  (2d-  wk),  $7,000. 

World  (Pathe)  (500;  99-$1.49)— 
"Bolshoi  Ballet”  (Rank)  (4th  wk). 
Down  to  $2,500.  Last  Week,  $3,500. 


SAN  FRANCISCO 

(Continued  from  page  8) 

Fine  $15,000  or  near.  Last  week, 
$14,000. 

Warfield  (Loew)  (2,656;  90-$1.25) 
—“Don’t  Go  Near  Water”  (M-G) 
(5th  wk).  Nice  $10,000  after  same 
last  week* 

Paramount  (Par)  (2,646;.  90-$1.25) 
— "Sayonara”  (WB)  (4th  wk). 
Great  $17,000.  Last  week,  $19,000. 

St.  Francis  (Par)  (1,400;  90-$125) 
—"Eighteen  and  Anxious”  (Rep) 
and  "Girl  In  Woods”  (Rep).  Good 
$11,500.  Last  week,  "Sad  Sack” 
(Par)  and  "Hard  Man”  (Col)  (4th 
wk),  $8,000. 

Orpheum  (SW-CiriCrama)  (1,458; 
$1.75-$2.65) — "Seven  Wonders  of 
World”  (Cinerama)  (61st  wk).  So¬ 
so  $12,000.  Last  week,  $10,500. 

United  Artists  (No.  Coast)  (1,207; 
90-$1.25)— "Steel  Bayonet”  JUA) 
and  "Man  On  The  Prowl"  (UA). 
Slim  $7,000.  Last  Week,  "Legend 
Of  Lost”  (UA)  and  "Dalton  Girls” 
(UA)  (4th  wk),  $6,000. 

Stagedoor  (A-R)  (440;  $1.50-$2)— 
"Raintree  County”  (M-G)  (4th  wk). 
Good  $6,800.  Last  week,  $7,000. 

Larkin  (Rosener)  (400;  $1.50)— 
“God  Created  Woman”  (Kings). 
(4th  wk).  Great  $7,000.  Last 
week,  $8,000. 

Clay  (Rosener)  (400;  $1.50)— 
"God  Created  Woman”  (Kings)  (4th 
uk).  Sock  $6,000.  Last  week, 
$7,000.  “ 

Vogue  (S.F.  Theatres)  (364; 
$1.25) — “Pather  Panchati”  (Indie) 
(4th  wk).  Oke  $1,900.  Last  week, 
$2,000. 

Bridge  (Sehwarz)  (396;  $1.25)— 
"Razzia”  (Kass)  (3d  wk).  Big 
$2,5Q0.  Last  week,  $3,500. 

Coronet  (United  California) 
(1,250;  $1.50-$3.75)  —  “A  r  ound 
World  In  80  Days”  (UA)  (56th  wk). 
Okay  $14,500.  Last  week,  $14,000. 

Rio  (Schwarz)  (397;  $1.10)— “His 
First  Affair”  (Indie)  and  “On 
Bowery”  (Indie).  Oke  $2,500.  Last 
week,  “8x8”  (Indie)  (2d  wk),  $1,500. 

Presidio  (Hardy-Parsons)  (774; 
$1.25-$1.50) — “Gervaise^  (Cont)  (3d 
wk).  Wow  $6,000.  Last  week, 
ditto. 


Science  Films 

Continued  from  page  1 ; 

$100  each,  or  from  $8,000  to  $7,000 
for  a  set  and  it  will  take  about  two 
years  to  shoot  them.  Some  20  ire 
expected  to  be  completed  by  next 
summer.  Frank  Capra  will  make 
two  of  the  films,  and  the  major  part 
of  the  series  will  be  produced  by 
Encyclopaedia  Brittanies  Films  Inc. 

Idea  of  the  -  basically  revised 
physics  course  coming  from  IVa. 
years’  work  at  MIT  is  to  give  young 
students  a  text  book  engrossing  rad 
current;  that  explores  Outer  space 
rad  the  inner  atom  lir  terms  of 
latest  discoveries.  The  films  enter 
the  course  to  show  sights  of  the 
universe  that  cannot  be  produced 
in  the  lab  or  that.  haVe  no  impact 
as  still  pictures  in  a  text 

Sequences  of  giant  atbm 
smashers  arid  remote  radio  tele¬ 
scopes  at  work  will  he  made  on 
location.  Bulk  of  the  film  footage^ 
will  be*  shot  on  the  .sound  stage 
riow  being  built  In  the  theatre,  an 
extension  of  '  the  stage  covering 
about  half  the  seating  area,  some 
3,000 ~square  feet. 

^  Scripts  for  the  60-episode  series 
are  criming  for  the  country’s  lead¬ 
ing  physicists  arid  science  teachers 
including  several  Nobel  Prize  win¬ 
ners.  Each  film  will  be  technically 
as  accurate  as  possible  produced 
by  a  top  authority  in  its  special 
field. 


Urges  Stidy 

»  Continued  from  page  If  — 
urgings  were  gradually  sinking  in 
and  influencing  iridustry  thinking. 

As  part  of 'the  attempt  to  allow 
the  Princeton  study,  to-  make  the 
heaviest  possible  impact,  the  pres¬ 
entation  to  the  MPAA  board  will 
be  repeated  for  the  benefit  of  key 
exhibitors  in  New  York  sometime 
this  week. 

Hetzel  said  he,  personally,  had 
fought  against  the  inclusion  in  the 
survey  of  questions  relating  to  Peo¬ 
ple’s  preferences  re  certain  types 
of  films.  He  maintained*  that  the 
public  doesn’t  really  know  what  it 
prefers  until  it  sees  a  picture,  rad 
that  the  answers  could  lead  to 
wrong  conclusions.  Similarly,  he 
felt  it  dangerous  to  establish  trends 
in  the  light  of  so  many  contributing 
factors  anchored  in  the  quality  of 
films  and  the  prograiriming  avail¬ 
able  on  television. 

‘  Industry  reaction  to  the  MPAA- 
•sponsored  poll  was  favorable, 
though  it  is  clear,  that  the  material 
will  have  to  be  digested  into. spe¬ 
cifics  re  its  practical  application  on 
the  operational  level. 


8elinimr 

SSSSTConttiiued  from  page  4 

has  never  been  seconded  by  an¬ 
other  member  of  the  hoard. 

Basis  for  the  suit  against  SW.  ac¬ 
cording  to  Selheimer,  is  the;  fol¬ 
lowing:  (1)  Excesa  charges,  costs 
rad  production  fee  for  “Seven 
Wonders  of  the  World/*  $2,793,0b0j 
(2)  Refund  of  5%  of  boxoffice  re¬ 
ceipts  and  other  receipts  from  ' 
Cinerama  theatres  for  the  period 
—Nov.  25, 1955,  until  May  25, 1957, 
for  alleged  supervision  fee,  wrong¬ 
fully  Withheld,  $1,087,000;  (3)  Re¬ 
fund  for  costs  of  opening  theatres 
in  Atlanta,  Okalhoma'  City,  Kan¬ 
sas  City,  Seattle  and  Miami  Beach, 
wrongfully  charged,  $1,240,000; 
(4)  Credit  for  losses  in  Cinerama 
theatres  due  to  lack  of  supervision 
arid  mismanagement  by  SW,  $900,- 
006;  (5)  Credit  for  wrringful .  fail¬ 
ure  to  act  with  respect  to  foreign 
rights,  $4,000,000;  (6)  Miscellane¬ 
ous  overcharges  on  theatrical  and 
other  costs  and  excess  interest 
charges,  $200,000. 

In  reply  to  Selheimer ’s  charges,, 
Milo  J.  Sutliff,  president  of  Cine¬ 
rama  Productions  Corp.,  told  the 
stockholders  in  a  letter  that  the 
company  had  made  major  adjust¬ 
ments  with  Stanley  after  painstak¬ 
ing  negotiations.  He  acknowledged 
that  at  times  it  appeared  that  the 
company  might  have  to  resort  to 
litigation  against  SW,  but  he 
pointed  out  that  such  litigation 
“would  have  been  an  expensive 
rad  lengthy  process,  with  all  the 
uncertainty  of  outcome  which  liti¬ 
gation  entails.*? 

Favored  a  Fight 

Without  naming  Selheimer,  Sut- 
liff  notes  that  rine  director  favored 
litigation  “even  at  the  expense  of 
our  continued  efforts  to  reach  a 
harmonious  agreement”  with  SW 
which,  he  pointed  out,  furnished 
the  coin  to  produce  pictures  and 
open,  theatres,  Sutliff  charges  that 
Selheimer  attempted  to  interefre 
With  thie  operational  functions  of 
the  officers  of  the  coqipany  “de¬ 
spite  his  lack  of  experience  in  the 
entertainment  business”  and  that 
-he  evidenced  “continued  antag- . 
onlsm”  toward  the  officers  and  di- 
^ectors.  As  a  consequence,  the 
prexy  added,  Selheimer’s  name 
wra  eliminated  from  the  slate  of 
diihecton  rad  stockholders  would 
be  asked  to  vote  for  five  directors 
instead  of  six. 

According  to  Sutliff,  the  amend- 
ipentsraade  in  the  agreement  with 
SW  resulted  in  the  85%  increase 
in  the  company’s  profits  for  fiscal 
1957  river  fiscal  1958.  In  addition, 
he  noted  that  a  new  deal  negoti¬ 
ated ‘on  Dec.  20,  1957,  will  reduce 
production  fees  chargeable  by  SW 
for  “Seven  Wonders”  and  "Search 
for.  Paradise”  by  approximately 
$2,000,000,  50%  of  which  would 
have  otherwise  been  chargeable  to 
Cinerama  Productions.  This  ar¬ 
rangement,  Sutliff  said,  will  also 
affect  future  production  and  will 
make  it  possible  for  Cinerama  Pro¬ 
ductions  to  increase  its  future 
profits. 

SW,. Sutliff  indicated,  hag  also 
agreed  ^to  share  equally  with  Cine¬ 
rama  Productions  30%  of  the  prof¬ 
its  from  the  first  four  theatres 
(New.  York,  Hollywood,  Detroit 
and  Chicago)  on  "Search  for.  Para- 
dise”— an  increase  of  50%  in  cur¬ 
rent  payments  from  these  the¬ 
atres.  CP  will  continue  to  share 
equally  with  SW~fn  20%  of  the 
prifits  from  the  next  11  theatres. 
Remaining  profits  from  these  and 
other  theatres  will  continue  to  be 
applied  to  recouping  SW’s  invest¬ 
ment  for  both  companies  in  pro¬ 
duction  and  exhibition,.  Sutliff 
stated. 

Objective  of  his  'proxy  solicita¬ 
tion,  Selheimer  said,  was  to  (1) 
obtain  representation  on  the  board 
for  substantial  stockholders,  (2)  ob¬ 
tain  stockholders’  approval  for.  a 
suit  against  SW,  and  (3)  obtain  pre¬ 
emptive  rights  for  stockholders  in 
connection  with  the  950,000  shares 
of  stock  now  authorized  but  un¬ 
issued. 

selheimer  charges  also  that 
Kupferman  and  Margolin  received 
salary  increases  recently  without 
the  proper  authorization  of  the 
board  of  directors.  He  claims  that 
a  board  vote  to  increase  Kupfer- 
mans'  salary  to  $20,000  and  Mar¬ 
golin’s  to  $15,000  was  a.  “stand 
off.”  On  a  motion  to  increase  their 
salaries,  Selheimer  said  Kupfer-. 
man  rad  Margolin  refrained  from 
voting  on  the  •  resolution  and  that 
he  (Selheimer)  voted  against  it. 
The  other  three,  directors  favored 
the  motion,  Selheimer  ,  said.  The 
resolution  was  recorded  as  "car¬ 
ried”  by  Kupferman. 


.Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


V»KI 


StMNic  Bov  Sing 


the  singing  sensation 
of  young  America 
in  the 


TWENTIETH  CENTURY-FOX 


Cinemascope  Picture 


SING  BOY  SING 


stamping 


TOMMY  SANDS- LIU  GENTLE 


co-starring 


,3S  oy  TOMMY  SANDS 


EDMOND  O'BRIEN 


•  Custom-engineered  for  the*  finest  in  Hi-Fi  sound 

CAPITOL  SOUNDTRACK  ALBUMS!  *  Handsomely  packaged  to  spotlight  both  album  and  film 

•  Backed  by  the  strongest  promotional  campaigns  in  the  industry 


24 


PICTURES 


VStRI&IY 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


Film  Reviews 


Continued  from  pace  •  S 


Fort  Robbs 

nedy  and  George  W.  George  did. 
Director  Gordon  Douglas  let  him¬ 
self  in  for  a  herculean  task  in  try¬ 
ing  to  make  an  interesting  90-min¬ 
ute  production  out  of  action  that 
would  have  been  about  equal  to  a 
30-minute  telesegment,  minus  com¬ 
mercials.  Max  Steiner's,  musical 
score  and  William  Clothier's  black- 
and-white  photography  are  among 
the  better  credits. 

There’s  no  telling  how  many 
Comanches  were  done  in  by 
Walker  and  his  sharp-shooting 
friends,  but.  after  the  fifth  raid, 
there  was  no  contest.  Whatever  ex¬ 
citement  picture  generates 'is  fairly 
well  watered  down  by  this  time, 
due  in  great  measure  to  excessive 
repetition. 

An  accused  murderer.  Walker 
escapes  his  lynchers  by  trading 
coats  with  an  arrowed-in-the-back 
white  man.  When  the  posse  finds 
the  dead  body,  they  take  it  for 
Walker  who,  by  now,  is  well  on  his 
way  to  other  parts.  Stumbling  on 
a  farm  manned  by  Virginia  Mayo, 
he  eventually  leads  the  heroine 
and  her  son  (Richard  Eyer)  away 
from  the  war-minded  Indians.  On 
the  days-long  trip.  Miss  Mayo  dis¬ 
covers  he  traded  coat  and  realizes 
it  belongs  to  her  husband.  Seeing 
the  arrow  hole  in  the  back,-,  she 
takes  it  for  a  bullet  hole  and  sur¬ 
mises  Walker  killed  her  mate.  No 
amount  of  arguing  will  convince 
her  she’s  wrong,  not  until  the  pic¬ 
ture’s  all  but  over,  anyway. 

To  complicate  matters,  Brian 
Keith,  a  dirty  scoundrel  with  a 
sackful  of  15-shot  repeating  rifles, 
moves  in  and  out  of  the  picture 
with  utter  haste. 

Several  battles,  later,  with  fully 
45  minutes  taken  up  in  the  ride  to 
Fort  Dobbs,  the  trio  aiTives.  In  the 
next  battle,  the  Redmen  have  the 
edge,  and  Walker  rides  for  help. 
He  finds  Keith,  shoots  him  as  be 
must,  brings  the  repeaters  back, 
and  the  Indians  are  done  in  again. 
Somehow,  Walker’s  heroism  softens 
the  hunting  sheriff,  and  he.  Miss 
Mayo  and  Eyer  go  off  to  Santa' Fe 
with  hrghly  familiar  prospects  in 
sight. 

Walker,  a  big,  good-looking  guy, 
is  the  shy  stranger-type  and,  in 
that  vein,  comes  across  welL  Miss 
Mayo  has  performed  better,  but 
she’s  still  a  fine-looking  woman. 
Keith’s  rascally  performance  is  the 
most  interesting,  and  young  Eyer, 
as  usual,  is  admirable.  Ron. 

Flood  Tide 

(C’scope) 


Pratt  plays  a  specialist  who  finally 
restores  file  boy  to  normalcy; 

Arthur  E..  Arling’s  photography 
deads  off  competent  'technical 
credits.  Whit.  *. 

Davy 

(BRITISH— COLOR) 

Slim  backstage  comedy  de¬ 
signed  to  exploit  the  comic 
and  vocal  talents  of  Harry 
Secombe,  a  No.  1  British  tv 
and  vande  comic;  comes  off 
reasonably  well. 


Grimly  offbeat  story  of  a  crip¬ 
pled  lad  with  macabre  fixa¬ 
tions.  Dim  prospects 


Hollywood,  Jan.  17. 

Universal  release  of  Robert  Arthur 
production.  Stars  George  Nader,  CorneU 
Borchers,  Michel  Ray;  features  Judson 
Pratt,  Joanba  Moore,  Charles  E.  Arnt, 
Russ  Conway.  Directed  by  Abner  Biber- 
man.  Screenplay,  Dorothy  Cooper;  based 
on  story  by  Barry  Trivers;  camera,  Arthur 
E.  Trling;  editor,  Ted  J.  Kent;:  music, 
Henry  Mancihi,  William  Lava.  Previewed 
Jan.  14,  '58.  Running  time,  82  MINS. 

Steve  Martin  . .  George  Nader 

Anne  Gordon  .........  CorneU  Borchers 

David  Gordon . ..........  Michel  Ray 

Harvey  Thornwald  . ;  Judson  Pratt 

Barbara  Brooks . . .  ^Joanna_Moore 

Mr.  Appleby  ......... 

Bill  Holleran . . 

DetecUve  Lieutenant 
John  Brighton  ...... 

District.  Attorney...: 

Beverly _ _ _  _ 

Charlie  .  Hugh  Lawrence 


Charles  E.  Amt 
,  Russ  Conway 
.  John  Morley 
John  Maxwell 
.  Carl  Bensen. 
Della  Malzara 


London,  Jan.  14. 

Metro  release  of  a  Michael  Balcon 
(Basil  -Dearden)  production-  Star*  Harry 
Secombe,  Ron  Randell  and  Alexander 
9681  9SP8ZI  ’9068 L  9SPC2I  Zh-v 
Knox.  Directed  .  by.  Michael  Relph. 
Screenplay,  William  Rose;  camera.  Dong- 
las  Slocombe;  editor,  Peter  Tanner.  At 
Metro  Private  Theatre,  London.  Run¬ 
ning  time,  t2  MINS. 

Davy  - - :V . .  Harry  Secombe 

George  . .......... ....... ..Ron  Randell 

Uncle  Pat  . . .....George  Relph 

Gwen  .  Susan  Shaw 

Eric  . . Bin  Owen 

Tim  ;.. . .  .  .  .Peter  Frampton 

Sid  Giles  . . . . . .  .Alexander .  Knox 

Joanna  ................... .Adele 

Miss  Candaira  .......... - Isabel  Dean 

Herbie  .................  Kenneth  Connor 

Waitresses - Gladys  Henson,  Joan  Sins 

Mrs.  MagilHcnddy  .Clarkson  Rose 

Jerry  . . .  ■  -  George  " 


Stage  Doorkeeper.  ...... Camplx 


l  Singer 


The  havoc  wrought  by  the 
warped  mind  of  a  crippled  boy  mo¬ 
tivates  the  grim  action  of  this  ofv 
fering,  never  conducive  to  enter¬ 
tainment.  Even  for  the  program 
market  film  is  a  weak  entry  of  the 
also-ran  category. 

Robert  Arthur  production  makes 
a  triangle  situation  out  of  the.  boy, 
Michel  Ray,  insanely  jealous  of  his 
long-suffering  mother, Cornell 
Borchers,  mid.  her  relations  with 
the  man  next  door,"  George  Nader, 
who  wants  to  marry  her.  Un¬ 
pleasant  subject  is  inclined  to  over- 
melodramatics,  although  acting- 
wise  the  characterizations  are  well 
enough  drawn.  Direction  by  Ab¬ 
ner  Biberman  meets  the  demands 
of  the  Dorothy  Cooper  screenplay. 

Practically  the  entire  plot  re¬ 
volves  around  the  lad  arid  efforts 
of  Nader  to  swing  him  over  to  his 
side.  Nader  also  is  out  to  get  boy 
to  admit  he  lied  in  testimony  which 
sent  a  man  to  prison  for  murder. 
He  finally  succeeds .  after  nearly 
being  killed  himself  by  the  young¬ 
ster  when  lad  swings  a  boom  on 
him  aboard  a  yacht  and  knocks  him 
overboard. 

Nader  handles  his  role  convin¬ 
cingly  and  Miss  Borchers  takes 
over  her  frustrated  character  in 
stride,  but  any  acting  honors  go  to 
young  Ray,  restrained  in  his  vi¬ 
cious  character.  Joanna  Moore  ap¬ 
pears  briefly  as  Nader’s  blonde 
would-be  girl-friend,  and  Judson. 


Harry  Secombe,  one  of  Britain’s 
top  tv,  radio  and  vaude  comics, 
makes  an  amiable  though  not  sen¬ 
sational  pic  debut  in  “Davy,”  a 
film  designed  to  exploit  his  abil¬ 
ity  as  a  yock-raiser  but  also  to 
utilize  his  voice,  which  Is  of  oper¬ 
atic  class.  One  of  Secombe’s  prob¬ 
lems  as  an  ace  entertainer  is  that 
his  two  talents  are  likely  to  clash 
disconcertingly  and  William  Rose’s 
slim  anecdote  cunningly  brings  out 
this  point  “Davy”  is  a  gentle  and 
dignified  comedy  that  should  do 
well  in  the  U.K.  thanks  to  Se¬ 
combe’s  popularity.  If  his  name 
attracts  customers  in-  the  U.S., 
there  is  no  doubt  that -  he  will  be 
hailed  as  very  proinising  new 
screen  material. 

Secombe  is  shown  as  the  key 
member  of  a  family  vaude  act  play¬ 
ing  the  lesser  halls  and  optimisti¬ 
cally  hoping  for  aV  break.  It  is  a 
slapstick  affair  which  seem?  un¬ 
likely  ever  to  make  the  big  time. 
Secombe  gets  the  Chance  of  an 
audition  at  Covent  Garden  and  is 
offered  a  contract.  He  realizes  that, 
without  him.  The  Mad*  Morgans 
would  fold  and  he  turns  down  the 
operatic  offer  in  order  to  keep  trie 
act  together. 

Script  offers  Secombe  plenty  of 
opportunity  to  put  over  his  warm, 
kindly  personality  both  with  wise¬ 
cracks  and  in  an  uproarious  slap¬ 
stick  sequence  on  .  the  vaude  stage, 
involving  a  liberal  use  of  paint 
and  whitewash.  It  also  enables  him 
to  sing  a  pop  song  in  the  act  and 
an  operatic  -  aria  at  the  Covent 
Garden  audition,  which  he  does 
splendidly.  Operatic  singer  Adele 
Leigh  is  also  pleasantly  dragged  in 
as  an  excuse  for  her  singing  as 
another  auditiOnee  and  also  for  a 
slight  romantic  interest. 

Alexander  KnOx  gives  an  urbane, 
witty  performance  as  a  distin¬ 
guished  conductor  and  Ron.  Rari- 
delh  Bill  Owen,  George  Relph  and 
Susan  S.haw  play  the  rest  of  ‘.‘The 
Mad  Morgans”  as.  if  they  were  all 
veteran  vaude  performers, 

Michael.  Relph’s  direction  is 
shade  leisurely  but  the  atmosphere 
of  second-class  vaudeville  is  ad¬ 
mirably  caught.  Shooting  took 
place  at  both  Collins  Music  Hall 
and  Coverit  - Garden  Opera  House 
so  the  settings  are  completely  au¬ 
thentic. .  .  . 

Secombe  can  be  reasonably  well 
satisfied  with  his  entry  into  Brit¬ 
ish  pix,  but  finding  vehicles  for  him 
in.  the  future  is  going  to  provide 
scribes  with  problems.  Rich. 


Violent  Playground 

(BRITISH) 


Very  sound  juve  delinquency 
semi-documentary  with  first- 
rate  all:  round  acting  arid 
smooth  direction;  good  b.o. 
bet  for.  most  houses. 


London,  Jan.  14. 

Rank  (Michael  Ralph)  production  and 
release.  Stars  Stanley  Baker,  Peter  Cush¬ 
ing.  .  Anne  Heywood  and  David  McCal- 
lum..  Directed  by  Basil  Dearden.  Screen¬ 
play,  James  Kennaway;  editor,  Arthur 
Stevens;  camera,  Reginald  Wyer. .  At 
Odeon,  Leicester.  Square,  London,  Ruhr 
ning  time,  108  MINS. 

Truman  - - - - - :  Stanley  Baker 

Cathie  ........ _ ......  Anne  Heywbod 

Johnny  Murphy  , . ..David  McCallum 

Priest^  ..Peter  Cushing 

.......... -John  .  Slater 

. . .-  Clifford  Evans 

. Moultrie.  Kelsall 

....George  A.  Cooper 

_ _ „ _ ,  Brona  Boland 

Patrick  Murphy-  . . ....... .Eergal  Boland 

Alexander  .-. . . ; .Michael  Chow- 

Primrose  . .  Tsai  Chin 

Slick  ...... Sean  Lynch 


jgt.  Walker  ... ... 

Heaven 

Superintendent. 
Chief  Inspector 
Mary  Murphy 


The  problem  of  juve  delinquency, 
is  no  new  theme  for  pix,  but  “Vio¬ 
lent  Playground”  is  one  of  the 


better  offerings,  bringing  a  sin¬ 
cere  semi-documentary  touch  to 
the  matter.  James  Kennaway  has 
wrltteii  a  human  and  literate 
screenplay  which  is  convincingly 
acted  -against  .authentic  -  Liverpool 
backgrounds.  Result  is  an  absorb¬ 
ing  film  that  works  up  to  an  over- 
long  but -tense  climax.  The  film 
should  do  well  in  average  houses, 
though  for  U.S.  it  is  .  a  bit  light  bn 
star  value,  ♦ 

Film  concerns  an  experiment 
made  in  Liverpool  in  1949,  which, 
according  to  the  city’s,  chief  cop' 
has  paid  off  handsomely.  Poliees- 
irien  have  become  Juvenile  Liaison 
Officers  whose  Sob  is  to  keep  an 
eye  bn  mischievous  youngsters  and 
steer  them  away  from  crime. 

Stanley  Baker  gives  a  vigorous 
arid  sympathetic  performance  as  a 
cop  who.  is.  taken  off  the  investiga¬ 
tion  of  a  series  of  unexplained 
fires  for.  this  work.  Despite  rib¬ 
bing  from  his  colleagues,  he  settles 
down  in  the  job. and  finds  it  ab¬ 
sorbing  and  rewarding.  He  becomes 
particularly  involved  with  one 
family  but,  while  helping  the  older 
brother,  a  teenager  who  runs  a 
gang  of  young-  hoodlums,  is  re¬ 
sponsible  for  the  arson. 

The  young  "firebug”  is  caught 
in  the  act  hut  makes  a  getaway 
with  a  gun  arid  hides  out  in  a 
school  classroom,,  using  the  kids 
as  hostages.  The  police  efforts  to 
get  the  youngster  out  before  he 
goes  berserk  with  the  gun  makes  a^ 
thrilling  climax,  with  the  terror 
of  -the  moppets .  being  extremely 
well,  brought  out  by  director  Basil 
Dearden. 

Apart  from  Baker’s  work,  there 
are  a  number  of  ether  very  credit¬ 
able  performances,  notably  David 
McCallum  as  the  young  delinquent, 
Peter  Cushing  as  a  very  serious  but 
wholehearted  priest,  Clifford  Evans 
as  a  schoolmaster  and  John  Slater, 
Moultrie  Kelsall  and  George  A. 
Cooper  as  varied  cop  types. 

Getting  her  first  big  chance,  as 
David  McCallum’s  elder  sister, 
Anne  Heywood  shows  up  as  one  of 
the  most  promising  young  actresses 
lately  to  be  introduced  into  British 
pix.  The  girl  has  warmth  and 
charm  and  is  extremely  easy  on 
the  optics.  Location  scenes  have 
been  splendidly  planned  and  lensed 
so  that  the  full  flavor  of  the  heart 
of  a  city,  is  brought  out. 

Dearden -has  not  forgotten  story 
value,  in  his  direction,  yet  at  the 
same  time  has  not  let  occasional 
splashes  of  melodrama  to  cloud 
the  fact  that  this  is  largely  a  film 
with  a  documentary,  approach.  His 
handling  of  the  children  is  par¬ 
ticularly  tactful  pnd  human; 

Rich. 


tine  Parfcienne 

(FRENCH— COLOR) 

Paris,  Jan.  14. 

Cinedis  release  of  Ariane-Fllmsonor 
production.  Stars  Brigitte  Bardot..  Charles 
Boyer,  Henri  Vidal.  Andre  Lugnet.  Direc¬ 
ted  by  Michel  Bolsrond.  Screenplay, 
Annette'  Wademant,  Jean  Aurel;  camera 
(Technicolor),  Marcel  Grignon;  editor, 
Claudine  Bonche.  Running  time,  ft  MINS. 

Brigitte  _ ...... . ; . ; . .  Brigitte  Bardot 

Michel  _ _ : . . . . .  Henri  Vidal 

President  - . . . . .  Andre  LugUet- 

Prince  Consort  ....... _ Charles  Boyer 

Greta  . . . .  Nadia  Gray 

Monique  .............  Madeleine  Lebeau 

Caroline  ...............  -Claude  Madrier 

Husband  Noel  Roquevert 


Since  Brigitte  Bardot,  now 
known  here  . in  her  star  brackets  as 
B.B;  (which  means  “baby”),  made 
it  big  in.  the  U.S.  in  a  vehicle  that 
gpt  feW  good  reviews,  this  light, 
saucy  comedy  should  also  carry  a 
real  Yank  potentiaL  In  the  Ameri¬ 
can  situation  comedy  Vein,  a  la 
Francaise,  this  has  B.B.  in  several 
near-nude  scenes  fetching  and  in¬ 
souciant  but  keeping  her  unsullied 
in  truecomedy  fashion.  She.  almost 
cheats  on  her  -  husband  but  not 
quite.  The  name  of  Charles  Boyer 
could  also  give  this  marquee  values 
in  the  U.S.  Dubbing  would  be  in 
order. 

Like  America’s Jffafflyn  Monroe, 
B.B.  seems  to  be  going  from  a 
loose-jointed  sex  symbol  to  a  com¬ 
petent  actress.  Her  comedies  in  this 
are  well  timed,  and  a  personality 
is  emerging  which  should  turn  her 
into  an  able  star  asset  of  interna¬ 
tional  scope. 

^  In  this  Miss  Bardot1  chases  her 
father’s  ambitious  secretary  (Henri. 
Vidal).  Her  father  is  the  president 
of  the  French  Council,  and  protocol 
is.  worked  into  this:  sex  chase  for 
some  good,  comic  asides.  She  gets 
him  but  is  still  jealous,  arid  decides 
to  cheat  on  him  with  a  charming 
visiting  Prince  Consort  (Boyer). 

•Director  Michel  Boisrbrid  has 
given  this  Crispness  and  a  slightly 
bitter  ,  tang  that  keeps  it  rolling, 
with  the  undraped  charms  of  B.B. 
naturally  an  asset.  Vidal  is  right 
as  the  harassed  secretary  and 
Andre  Luguet,  as  the  father,  has 
the  proper  note  of  Gallic  tact  and 
distress.  Boyer  i?  perfect  in  his 
brief  role.  Color  is  good  as  are  pro¬ 
duction  values  arid  technical  as¬ 
pects,  Mosfo 


La  Guerra  Empieza  Eh 


(War  Starts  In  Cuba) 
(SPANISH— COLOR) 

Madrid,  Jan.  14. 

Izaro  Films  release  of  Flaheta  Films 
production,  for  Cesareo  Gonzales  Di¬ 
rected  by  Manuel  Mur  Oti.  Based  on 
comedy  by  Victor  .Ruix  Iriarte;  screen¬ 
play,  Vicente  CoHlo  and-  Manuel  Mur  Oti., 
Camera  (EastmancoloS).  Manuel  Beren- 
guer;  music,  Salvador  Ruiz  de  Luna.  Fea¬ 
tures  ammi  Penella.  Gustavo  Rojo, 
Roberto  -  Rey,  Jesus.  Tordesllla,  Matilde 
Munoz  Sampedro.  At  Carlos  m,  Madrid. 
Running  time.  Ml  MINS. 


Emma  Penella  stars,  in  a  double 
role  incarnating  twin  sisters  of  in¬ 
verse,  moral  attitudes.  But  comedy 
possibilities  often  take  a  back  seat 
while  director  Mur- Oti  holds  on 
an  overdose  of  double  image  trick 
effects.  Script  by  Vincente  Coello 
and  Mur  Oti,  based  on  Ruiz  Iriate’s 
successful  stage  play,  is' also 
weighted  by  added  yesteryear 
songs  to  satisfy  local-market  fetish 
for  cuple  tunes.  - 

The  title  serves  to  date  the  re¬ 
turn  from  Cuba  of  cabaret  wanbler 
Juanita,  enroute'to  meet  the  spit¬ 
ting-linage  sister  Adelaida,  now  a 
matronly,  domineering  prude 
spouse  of  a  provincial  governor. 
Provincial  mentality,  deftly  carica¬ 
tured  in  secondary  situations,  is 
subjected  to  comic  confusion  by 
violent  contrasts  of  sisters  mis¬ 
takenly  identified.  In  the  melee, 
first  lady  of  Badajoz  sheds  self- 
restraint  for  more  feminine  ways. 1 

Miss  Penella  is  convincing, 
often  delightful.  In  a  taxing  dual  I 
performance.  She  gets  firstrate 
support  from  handsome  Gustavo 
Rojo,  as  the  dashing  hussar  cap¬ 
tain,  Roberto  Rey,  as  governor,  and 
Jesus  Tordesilla,  as  a  modem- 
minded  Marquis.  Luisa  de  Cor¬ 
doba’s  offstage  vocals  (she  dubs 
for  Penella)  are  easy  on  the  ear. 

Manuel  Berenguer’s  trick  photo 
effects  hit  the  mark  but  the  cam¬ 
eraman’s  usual  quality  color  is  not 
attained  in  this  one.  Costuming 
and  art  work  are  well  above  aver¬ 
age.  Slanted  to  Sparilsh-language 
taste,  pic  will  please  locally  and, 
with  pruning,  could' yield  fair  re¬ 
turns  in  the  Latin  American  mar¬ 
ket.  v  Hawk. 


Le  Chomeur  de 
Cleehemerle 

(The  Unemployed  Man  of 
Clochemerle) 

(FRENCH) 

Paris,  Jan.  14. 

FIDES  production  and  release.  Star* 
Fernandel;  feature*  .Marla  Mauban.  Gin- 
ette  Lederc,  Rellyr.  Beatrice  Bretty, 
Georges  Chamarat,  Henri  Vllbert.  Di¬ 
rected  by  Jean  Boyer,  Screenplay,  Jean 
.Manse,  Boyer,  Gabriel  Chevalier;  camera. 
Charles  Suin;  editor,  R.  Giordonl.  At 
Biarritz,  Paris.  Running  time,  t»  MINS. 

Tistin  . Fernandel 

Janette  .............. ....Maria  Mauban 

Zozotte  ‘ . . Glnette  Ledere 

Sexton  Rellys 

Priest  . . . .Georges  Chamarat 

Mayor  . . ..Henri  Vllbert 


This  is  a  gimmicky  opus  for 
Fernandel  in  which  the  comedian 
is  depleted  as  the  only  unemployed 
man  in  a  small  town?  When  the 
townspeople  revolt  at  paying  taxes 
for  his  Upkeep,,  he  ingratiates  him¬ 
self  by  becoming  indispensable  in 
doing  odd  jobs  for  all  the  women. 
After  some  complications  he  ends 
up  with  the  pretty  town  widow  as 
wife.  _ 

Fernandel  ea^es  through  this 
with  his  usual  bonhommie,  but  the 
telegraphed  script  as  well  as  the 
bucolic,  sectional  humor  makes 
this  limited  for  Yank  chances.  Di¬ 
rector  Jean  Boyer  has  kept  this 
moving  in  spite  of  the  obvious 
folksy  aspects. 

Technical  credits  are  gorid.  Be¬ 
sides  the  competent  comedies  of 
Fernandel,  there  is  Ginette  Leclerc 
in  a  ferocious  role  as  the  town  joy 
girl  which  is  much  too  strong  for 
the  otherwise  obvious  happenings. 
On  the  Fernandel  name,  and  its 
general  theme,  this  might  be  ex¬ 
ploitable  for  secondary  U.S.  spots.. 

Mosk. 


Naehfo  Im  Gruenen 
Kakadu 

(At  Green  Cocktaioo  By  Night)  •' 
(GERMAN-SONGS-COLOR)  I 
Berlin;  Jan.  14. 

Eurojpa.  rdeafte  of  Real  (Walter  KoppeD 
productibn.  Start  Marika  Roekk.  Dieter 
Bor^cbe;  features  Gunnar  Moeller,  Re- 
nate  Ewert. .  Directed  by  Georg-  Jacoby. 
Screenplay,  Curt  J.  Braun  and  Helmutb 
M.  Backbaus;  camera  (Eastmancolor), 
Willy  Winterstein;  music,  Michael  Jaiy; 
sets.  Herbert  Klrchhoff  and  Albrecht 
Becker;  -  editor,  Klaus  Dudenboefer.-  At 
UFA  Pavilion,  Berlin,  Running  time, 
97  MINS. 


Irene  Wagner  . .....Marika  Roekk 

Doktor  Maybach  . . ..... .Dieter  Borscbe 

Hilde  Wagner  ........... -Renate  Ewert 

Knut  Peters  . . Gunnar  Moeller 

Eduard  Reichmann  ........ Hans  Nielsen 

Aunt  Henriette  ...... -  Loni  Heuser 

Uncle  Otto  Willy  Maertens 

Miss  Koldeway  W....Trude  Hesterberg 


This  rates  a  cheer  for  Marika 
Roekk.  Her  comeback  via  this  Real 
production  is  more  than  just  re¬ 
markable.  Miss  Roekk,  idolized 
Hungarian-born  ^German  musical 
star  of  the  1935-1945  era.  Is  danc¬ 
ing  arid  singing  in  this  like  a  vet 
trouper.  Having  been  absent  from 
thq,  German  screen  for  a  number 
of  years  now,  her  comeback  must 
be  regarded  as  a  triumph  as  well 
as  a  victory  over  her  age.  Film 
[  makes  it  obvious  that  none  of  the 


reaches  thfe  standard  of  Miss 
Roekk’s  dancing  abilities. 

Miss  Roekk’s  experienced  di¬ 
rector  -  husband  Georg  Jacoby 
Wisely  didn’t  take  the  role  she 
portrays  too  seriously.  Often  it 
seems  as  if  she  is  poking  fun  at 
herself.  Another  plus  of  this  film 
is  that  cheap  sentimentalities  are 
avoided,- The  results  are  undoub¬ 
tedly  beyond  the  German  musical 
average. 


Sets  are  quite  lavish,  the  East- 
paancolor  is  very  good  knd  the  cast 
well  chosqn.  Even  the  story  isn’t 
top  banal  if  compared  with  other 
German  features  of  the  same  cate- ; 
gory. 

The  Real  company ^has  achieved 
here  a  top  hit  for  the  domestic 
market.  He  also  may  do  well  in 
some  foreign  areas.  / 

-Story  centers  around  Miss  Roekk 
who  owns  an  institute  that  teaches 
good  mariners.  Yet  it  is  way  in 
deb^.  Things  begin  to  look  rosier 
when.  Miss  Roekk  inherits  a  money- 
spilling  nightclub  called  “Green 
Cocktatoo.”  She  starts  leading  a 
double  life;  In  the  daytime  she’s  the 
good  Emily  Post;  at  night,  she’s 
dancing  and  singing  at  the  Cock¬ 
tatoo  for  money  reasons.  This 
produces  some  hilarious  complica¬ 
tions  which  see  eyen  the  police 
and.  psychiatrists  involved.  Miss 
Roekk  gets  her  man  (Dieter 
Borsche),  who  shows  up  as  an 
amateur  musician  in  her  night  spot. 

Michael  Jarv’s  melodies  are  easy 
on  the  ear;  Film’s  technical  stand¬ 
ard  is  satisfactory.  Hans: 


Qiiaiid  La  Femme  S’En 
Mele 

(When  the  Woman  Batts  In) 
(FRENCH) 

Paris,  Jan.  14. 

.  Cinedls  rclMM  of  Rcfina  production. 
Stars  Edwlys  Feulllere,  Bernard  Blier. 
Jean  Servais;  features  Pierre  Mondy. 
Jean  Debucourt,  Yves  Deniaud,  Sophie 
Daumier.  Directed  by  -  Yves  Alleyret. 
Screenplay.  Cberles  Spaak,  Jean  Meckert 
from  novel  by  Jean  Amila;  camera,  Andre 
Germain;  editor,  Ginette  Baudin.  At 
Marignan,  Paris.  Running  time,  90  MINS 

Maine  . .-r..: .  Edwlge  FeuiHere 

Godot  . . .  Jean  Servais 

Felix  . .  Bernard  Blier 

.Jo  . . .  Alain  Delon. 

Colette  . .  Sophie  Daumier 

Gigi  . . . . .  .  .  Pascal  Roberts 

Inspector  . .  Pierre  Mondy 

Boby  . ;.....  Yves  Deniaud 

Coudert . . .  Jean  Debucourt 


This  pic  is  another  in  the  pres¬ 
ent  gangster  cycle  now  .in  full 
swing  here.  Cast  has  marqiiee  Val¬ 
ue  while  the  plot  is  adroitly  fash¬ 
ioned  to  make  this  solid  for  loeal 
returns.  It  is  less  likely  for  U.S. 
arties,  for  its  attempt  at  parody 
and*  straight  violence  - and  many 
shenanigans  do  not  quite  blend. 
This  leaves  the  pic  in  the  cops- 
and-robbers  category.  Its  slick 
front  could  make  this  dualer  fare 
however.  - 

A  cla$sy  gun  moll  (Edwige  Feuil- 
lere)  gets  a  visit  from  her  first 
husband  and  her  grown  daughter. 
It  is  a  bad  time  because  her  pres¬ 
ent  loVer  (Jean  Servais)  is  in  the 
middle  of  a  gang  fight.  To  top  this, 
the  eK-husband  is  out  to  get  re¬ 
venge  on  a  rich  man  whp  had 
burned  down  a  store  for  insurance. 
All  is  worked  out  With  enough 
corpses,  gunplay  and  revenge  as¬ 
sured. 

Miss  Feulllere,  ^usually'  the 
“graride  dame”  in  Gallic  pix,  now 
does  a  lowdown  woman  with  class 
but  overdoes  it  a  bit.  Servais  has 
the  right  grimness  while  Blier  is 
excellent  as  the  revengeful  hour* 
rgeois.  <  A  couple  of  youngsters, 
Alain  Delon  and  Sophie  Daumier, 
look  like  future  film  material.  Di¬ 
rector  Yves  Allegret  keeps  this 
moving,  gives  it  good  mounting 
and  makes  this  ' one  of  the  better 
gangland  entries.  Production  val¬ 
ues  are  fine._  Mosk . 


8  Yank  Pix 

Continued  from  pane  3 

tion  from  three  British  shorts, 
while  U^S.  cartoon  “The  Magic 
Fluke”  represents  America  as  its 
best  animated  pic. 

The  five  Hollywood  actresses  in 
line  for  the  best  performance  by 
a  foreign  actress  are  Augusta 
Dabney,  Katharine  Hepburn,  Mari¬ 
lyn  Monroe,  Eva  Marie-Saint  (“A 
Hatful  of  Rain”)  and  Joanne 
Woodward. 

Half  a  dozen  American  actors 
fight  it  out  with  two  Frenck  stars 
for  the  award  for  best  performance 
by  a  foreign  actor.  The  nod  is 
given  to  Richard  Basehart,  Tony 
Curtis,  Henry  Fonda,  Robert 
Mitchum  ( “Mr.  Allison”)-,.  Sidney 
Poitier  for  “10  Feet  Tall”  and  to 
Ed  Wynn  for  his  small,  gripping 
role  in.  “The  Great  Man.” 

Because  of  her  nationality, 
Deborah  Kerr  is  one  of  three  who 
will  compete  for  the  award  for  the 
best' performance  by  a  British  ac¬ 
tress,  even  though  the  perform¬ 
ance  was  given  in  a  Hollywood  pic, 
’Tea  and  Sympathy” .  (M-Co). 


25 


Wednesday,  January  22, 195S 


PSfUE&f 


ncnnES 


Tex  Motor  Park 


Conclave  No.  6 


■Dallas,  Jan;  21. 

The  three^day,  sixth  annual  con¬ 
vention  of  the  Texas  Drive-In 
Theatre.  Owners  Association  open¬ 
ed  here  Sunday  (19)  with  opera¬ 
tors  from  all  parts  of  the  nation 
registering  in  at  the  Baker  Hotel. 
First  day  was  devoted  to  registra¬ 
tion,  a  directors  meeting  and  a 
buffet  party  sponsored  by  the 
Drive-In  Theatre  Manufacturing 

Alexander  Film  Co.,  and  Miracle 
Film  Co.,  sponsored  an  Early  Bird 
breakfast  on  Monday.  Ruben  Frels 
gave  the  invocation  at  the  opening 
biz  session  following  which  Sena¬ 
tor  Preston  Smith  convention 
chairman,  made. the  address  of  wel¬ 
come.  Eddie  Joseph,  prez  Of  the 
association  made  his  report  of  ac¬ 
tivities  of  the  year.  Featured 
speakers  during  this  session  in¬ 
cluded  Loyd  Franklin,  New  Mex¬ 
ico  Theatre  Assn.,  who  spoke;  on 
'■Quit  Talking  and  Dive  In”  other 
Spiels  were  “Everything  Comes  to 
Him  Who  .  .  .’’  by  Irving  Mack, 
Fllmack  Trailer  Co.;  H,  C.  Pitt- 
fnan,  Texas  industrial  accident 
board,  and  “The  United  Artists 
Story  for  Drive-Ins”,  by  James  Vel¬ 
de,  general  sales  manager  of  UA. 

Coca  Cola  sponsored  the  noon 
luncheon  at  which  William  N. 
Sewell  was  toastmaster.  Featured 
speaker  was  Gov.  Price  Daniel  Of 
Texas  who  was  introduced  by  Ed¬ 
win  Tobolowsky,  chief  barker,  Dal¬ 
las  Variety  Club;  Gordon  McLen¬ 
don  spoke  on  “The  Great  Drive- 
In  Theatre  Robbery.” 

There  were  two  sessions  in  the 
afternoon  one  devoted  to  business, 
the  second  to  discussion  panel 
groups.  In  the  first  there  was  a  re¬ 
port  of  the  nominating  commit¬ 
tee,  report  of  the  resolutions  com¬ 
mittee  and  an  open  discussion  oh 
TDITOA.  In  the  discussion  groups 
Charles  Weisenburg  and  Harold 
Brooks  led  .  one  on  film  buying;  E. 
L,  Ray  and  Rubin  Frels  conducted 
one  on  promotions  and  Skeet  Noret 
was  moderator,  of  one  on  repairs 
and  maintenance. 

Motion  Picture  Advertising  Ser¬ 
vice  Co.,  were  hosts  at  a.  cocktail 
party  to  wind  up  the  evening. 

Dan  Eddie  was  m.c.  of  the  Tues¬ 
day  session  which  featured  C.  J. 
Mabry,  prez  of  Motion  Picture  Ad¬ 
vertising  Service;  “Good  Public 
Relations  Means  Good  Business  for 
Drive-Ins”  by  Daniel  J.  Edelman, 
public  relations  director.  Theatre 
Screen  Advertising;  Edward  Lach- 
man  of  Lorraine  Carbons  spoke  on 
“Unusual  Drive-Ins  at  Home  and 
Abroad.” 

American  International  Pictures 
sponsored  the.  luncheon  at  which.. 
Homer  Leonard,  former  speaker  of 
Texas  legislature,  was  master  of 
-ceremonies.  Samuel  Arkoff,  vice 
president,  Leon  Blender,  sales  man¬ 
ager  and  James  Nicholson  of  AIP 
were  intrddeed.  Latter  ‘  spoke 
on  “Future  Product  for  the  Drive- 
In.”  Other  speakers  included  Wag¬ 
goner  Carr;  speaker  for  the  Texas 
House  of  Representatives;  Julius 
Gordon,  president  of  National  Al¬ 
lied  and.  Ernest  Stellings,  prez  of 
Theatre  Owners  of  America. 

The  afternoon  was  devoted,  to 
the  National  Association  of  Con-: 
cessionaires!  “Profit  Earning  Ideas 
Through  Improved  Concession  Ac¬ 
tivities?  by  Augie  J.  Schmitt, 
Chairman;  Charles  E.  Darden,  was 
coordinator.  Talks  were  by  J.  D. 
Oliver,  Frels  Theatres,  on  quality 
concession  merchandising;  .  Steve 
Bakarich,  purchasing  agent  for 
Lone  Star  Theatres,  on  advertising; 
Harold  Chealer,  Salt  Lake  City, 
NAC  veepee,  reported  on  the  popr 
corn  market,  and  Tom  Sullivan, 
executive 'veepee  of  NAV  on  “How 
the  Association  Helps  You.” 


Frosty  Florida 

BSS  Continued  from  pace  1 

which  at  the  time  It  signed  the 
"What’s  My  Line"  deal  did  not  ex¬ 
pect  the  crop  disaster,  the  deal  has 
come  a  cropper.  Florida  Citrus  has 
in  turn  asked  CBS-TV  for  relief 
itself,  and  the  network  has  already 
gotten  Mutual  of  Omaha  to  take 
over  two  of.  the  six  shows.  It’s 
■'  currently  on  the  prowl  for  another 
advertiser  to  take  over  the  other 
.  dates.  . s ^  -;.u 


Chinese  Stage  Removed  For 
Cinemiracle  ‘Windjammer’; 
Put  Cost  at  $500,000 

Los  Angeles,  Jan.  21. 
Chinese  Theatre  will  shutter 
after  final  performance  of  “A 
Farewell  to  Arms”  Feb.  2  to-  under¬ 
go  extensive  refurbishing  for  first 
showing  of  National  Theatres’  first 
Cinemiracle  production,  Louis  de 
Rochemont’s  “Windjammer.”  Pic 
in  new  wide-screen  process  will 
preern  early  in  April. , 

Renovation  may  Cost  $500,000.. 
Actual  installation  for  the  hew' 
Cinemiracle  process  estimated  at 
$60,000.  Plans  call  for  the  removal 
of  stage  so  that  proper  wall-to-wall 
Cinemiracle  projection  can  be 
achieved.  Screen  covers  a  field  of 
146  degrees  and  55  degrees  high, 
approximately  that  of  the  human 
vision  of  160-60  dejgrees. 

Eastern-  preem  of  .  “Windjam¬ 
mer,”  formerly  tagged  “Cinemir¬ 
acle  Adventure,”  will  be  held  in 
N;  Y.  sometime  in  late  April.  Pic 
will  have  its  European  preem  in 
Oslo,  in  early  May,  followed  by 
London  opening  later  in  the  same 
month. 

REGISTERED  LOBBYISTS 
FOR  AMUSEMENT  0RGS 

Washington,  Jan.  21. 
Several  show  biz  groups  had  reg¬ 
istered  lobbyists  during  the  third 
quarter  ,  of  1957,  according  to  the 
official  lobby  registration  report 
just  made  to  Congress. 

Paul  Cunningharit  Was  registered 
for  ASCAP;  Cecil  B.  Dickson ^  for 
Motion  Picture  Assn.;  and  Hal 
Leyshon,  for  the  American  Fed¬ 
eration  of  Musicians.  Last  group 
was  especially  interested  in:  reduc¬ 
ing or  eliminating  the  .20%  tax  on 
nitery  tabs.  .  i 

National  Association  of  Broad¬ 
casters  registered  its  president, 
Harold  E.  Fellows,  and  Vihcent  T. 
Wasilewskf.  Hollis  M.  Seavey  was 
listed  for  the  Clear  Channel  Broad¬ 
casting  Service.  Earl  Gammons, 
former  CBS  vice  president,  and 
now  an  independent  consultant  in 
the  field,  was  also  registered. 

Ralph  E,  Becker,  D.C.  attorney, 
was  listed  for  American  National 
Theatre  &  Academy,  National  As¬ 
sociation  of  Concert.  Managers, 
League  of  New  York  Theatres,  and 
National  Association  of  Legitimate 
Theatres.  All  are  Interested  in 
knocking  out  the  admission  tax. 


Tired  Blood 

SSSSS.  Continued  from  pace  T 

ad  was  run  In  every  town.  Other 
handdrawn  ads  also  are  being  used. 

Newspaper  ads  emphasize  par¬ 
ticularly  the  fact  that  certain  pic¬ 
tures  on  the  list  of  X5-  are  in  color—’ 
“something  that  most  people  don’t 
get  on  television,” 

Field  also  is  using  the  same 
plates  to  .flood  each  town  with  .150 
to  200  window  cards  and  heralds, 
not  to  advertise , a  single  picture; 
but  all  of  the  15  blockbusters  or 
near  blockbusters  to  be  presented 
early  in  the  new  year. 

Newspapers  String  Along 

His  managers  have  asked  and  are 
receiving  newspaper  cooperation  in 
every  town.  .  A$  a  result  of  the 
gratis  front  page  stories  and  edi¬ 
torials  and  the  advertising  aval¬ 
anche  the  public  in  the  towns 
are  becoming  movie  conscious 
again  and  getting  once  more  into 
the  theatregoing  habit,  as  evi¬ 
denced  not  only  by  .patronage,  but' 
also  the  numerous  Telephone  calls 
of  inquiry  the  houses  are  receiv¬ 
ing,  says  Field. 

In  theatre  lobby  displays:  now 
the  underlined  attractions  are  be¬ 
ing  Advertised;  too,  along  with  the 
current  offering.  . 

Instead  of  the  managers’ 
convention  a  year,  as  hitherto, 
there’ll  be  two  for  his  circuit  this 
year,  Field :  has  announced.  In  a 
contest  that  has  just  started  the 
winning  House  manager  and  his 
wife  will  receive  an  pll-paid  Flor¬ 
ida  trip. 

Field  recently  spent  a  substan¬ 
tial  sum  to  improve  his  local  neigh¬ 
borhood  St.  Louis  Park  theatre 
although  it  already  was  one  of  the 
city  finest  and.  newest.  He  also 
introduced  something  new,  coffee 
cappuccino,  a  combination  of  Java 
and  chocolate,  which  is  served  free 
to  patrons.  Last  week  he  started 
a  one-night-a-week  :  stage  show  as 
an;  added  attraction  with  no  admis¬ 
sion  price,  boost.  The  theatre,  too, 
is  using  much  more  newspaper 

fi  jsplspj  >: 


RESPECT  FOR  EXHIBS 


American  International  Invites 
■  Their  Film  Content  Views 


An  Exhibitor  Production  Plans 
Board  Is  being  set  up  by  American 
International  Pictures  to  help  for¬ 
mulate  plans  for  the  indie  firm’s 
upcoming  project. 

"  Already  invited  to  participate 
are  Robert  J.  O’Donnell,  Texas  In¬ 
terstate;  Doc  Sandorf,  Twin  Drive- 
In,  Indianapolis;  Edward  L. 
Hyman,  AB-PT;  Paul  W.  Vogel, 
Vogel.  Theatres,  Wellsville,  O.;  Nat 
F.  Fellman,  Stanley  Warner;  Julius 
M.  Gordon,  Jefferson  Amusement; 
Cbrp.;  Gus  C.  Diamond,  Pacific. 
Drlve-in  Theatres;  Bert  Pirosh, 
Fox  West  Coast;  Rube  Shore,  S&S 
Theatres,  Cincinnati;  Delmar  Sher¬ 
rill,  Statesville  Theatres  Corp., 
Statesville,  N.  C.  American  Inter¬ 
national  prexy  SamUel  Z.  Arkoff 
said  he  ultimately  hopes  to  have  20 
exhibs  on  the.  board. 


Severance 

Continued  from  page  7  sssss 

port,  film  production,  distribution 
and  foreign  theatres  brought  in  re¬ 
ceipts  of  $98,373,327;  U.  S.  and 
Canadian  theatres,  $34,552,000; 
television,  $5,489,813;  radio,  rec¬ 
ords  and  music,  $11,627,653;  rent 
and  other  income,  $7,852,215  for  a 
total  consolidated  income,  of  $154,- 
320,404.  Total  income  of  the  pro¬ 
duction  -  distribution  division  was 
$118,167,931  While  expenses  to¬ 
talled-  $120,431,632. 

Vogel  saichthe  company,  because 
of  changes  in>T;he  nation’s  film- 
gping  habit,  “must  examine,  its 
picture-making  and  picture-mar¬ 
keting  and  must  develop  new  con¬ 
cepts  in  tune  with  current  condi-; 
tions  ”  He  said  the  efforts  Of  a 
minority  group  to  gain  control  of 
the  company  prevented  Loew’s 
“from  applying  full  time,  and  all. 
our.  abilities  to  this  objective.” 

The  report  notes  that  the  com¬ 
pany  obtained  a  short  term  loan 
for  $5,000,000  from  the  First  Na-  J 
tional  Bank  of  Boston  in  order  to  < 
provide  current  working  capital. 
Maturity  of  the  loan  was  recently 
extended  from  Jan.  16,  1958.  to 
July  16,  1958  with  interest  ,at 
4V£%.  The  company’s  working 
capital  as;  of  Aug.  31  was  listed  at 
approximately  $73,793,000. 

In  a  statement  issued  ,  with  the 
report-  on  .the  first  quarter  of  the 
present  fiscal  period  loss  of  $1,290, - 
849,  Vogel  said  that  the  economies 
the  company  is  effecting  and  “the 
quality  and  audience  appeal  of  the 
pictures  which  we  expect  to  result 
from  the  tighter  standards  now  im¬ 
posed  upon  production  by  our  stu¬ 
dio  administration  will,  I  believe, 
reflect  themselves  in  profitable  op¬ 
erations.” 


CHI  CLUBWOMEN  RATE 
TEYTON  PLACE’ TOPS 

Chicago,  Jan.  21. 

“Peyton  Place”  (20th)  copped 
most  of  the  kudos  in  the  annual 
polling  for  Hollywood’s  best  by  the 
Chicago  Assn,  of  Women’s  Clubs, 
Jerry  Wald  pic  was  rated  the  top 
film  of  1957,  while  Mark  Robson 
won  the  best  director  accolade. 
Diane  Varsi  and  Lee  Philips  were 
voted  the  best  new  actress  and 
new  actor  respectively. 

The  association  (repping  about 
5,000  Win  d  y .  City  clubwomen) 
picked  Alec  Guinness  (“Bridge  on 
River  Kwai”)  as  best  actor,  and 
Deborah.  Kerr  -as  best  actress  for 
“Affair  to  Remember.” 

.  Best  supporting  actor  tied :  Red 
Buttons  for  “Sayonara”  end  Errol 
Flynn  for  “Sun  Also  Rises,”  and 
Barbara  Nichols  got  best  support¬ 
ing.  actress  wreath  for  “Sweet, 
Smell  of  Success.” 


Par  &  RKO  Start 


Los  Angeles,  Jan.  21. 

.  By  unanimous  vote,  the  Los  An¬ 
geles  City  Council  approved  oil 
drilling  on  both  the  Paramount  and 
RKO  lots.  A  56-acre  drilling  dis¬ 
trict  will  be  established  a’t  Para¬ 
mount  and  a  section  at  RKO’. 

Union  Oil  Co.,  which  made  the 
application,  assured  the  Council 
that  drilling  will  be  done  from  in¬ 
dustrially-zoned  land  bn  the  two 
lots. 


Burlington  Train  Robbery 
Up  for  Regal  Picture 

John  Merrick  is  doing  research 
in  Iowa  for  a  projected  film  on 
“The  Great  Train  Robbery,”  which 
took  place  near  Council  Bluffs, 
Iowa  in  1920.  A  $314  million  haul 
of  the  Burlington’s  transcontinen¬ 
tal  mail  train  during  a  brief,  stop 
between  Council  Bluffs  and 
Omaha,  much  bf  the  loot  was  in 
Liberty  bonds  which  were  de¬ 
stroyed  because  they  couldn’t  be 
cashed.  Four  men:  were  arrested 
and .  sentenced  for  the  robbery. 

Merrick  returned  to.  Hollywood 
last  week  to  start  work  on  a  pic¬ 
ture.  for  Regal  films  and  said  he 
would  begin  work  on  the  script  for 
the  train  holdup  story; 


Reasons  Why  Loews  Auditing 


Loew’s  Inc.’s  annual  report  makes  much  of  the  fact  that  the  com¬ 
pany’s  accounting  practices  have  been  revised  and  that  if  the  company 
had  followed  the  auditing  methods  of,  the  past,  it  would  have  shown  a 
profit  of  $745,000  instead  of  a  loss  of  $455,000.  4 

Generally;  the  change  consists  of  including  in  the  year’s  audit  cer¬ 
tain  expenses  and  recognized' losses  more  properly  chargeable  against 
the  period  rather  than  spreading  them  over  future  years.  In  addition, 
revenues  are  spread  over  A  period  of  years  as  earned  rather  than 
being  recorded  on  a  cash  basis  as  received. 

The  changes,  the  company  feels,  will  result  in  a  better  and  more 
conservative  measure  of  its  operating  results  and  financial  position. 

Specific  changes  in  the  accounting  procedures  include: 

(1)  Amortization  Theory 

.  Completed  film  productions  included  in  the  inventory  at  Aug.  31, 
1957  are  valued  at  the  lower  of  cost  (less  amortization)  or  estimated 
realizable  value  on  an  individual  picture  basis.  Prior. to  1957,  the  ag¬ 
gregate  realizable  value  of  all  completed  pictures  was  compared  with 
the  aggregate  cost  , 

(2)  Unproduced  Scripts 

Unused  books  and  rights  are  charged  to  income  at  the  end  of  five 
years  or  as  soon  as  it  is  determined  that  satisfactory  screen  continuities 
will  not  be  developed,  Prior  to  1957;  unused  books  'and  rights  were 
carried  in  inventory  for  a  five-year  period  and  no  write-off  was  made 
prior  to  that  time. 

(3)  Television 

Down  payments  received  from  television  stations“for  rental  of  films 
are  taken  into  income,  in  general,  over  the  period  bf  usage  of  the  films. 
Previously  such  payments  were  taken,  into  income  when  received. 

(4)  Studio  Expenses 

Certain  expenses  relating  to  studio  facilities  and  talent?  not  used  in 
the  production  of  pictures  have  been  charged  directly  to  income.  Pre¬ 
viously  such  expenses  not  directly  applicable  to  the  production  of  pic¬ 
tures  were  capitalized  as  part  of  the  cost  of,  pictures. 

(5)  Other  Changes 

Certain  expenses  which  were  formerly  recorded  at .  the  time  of  pay¬ 
ment  have  b.eeq  reflected  in  th  1957  financial  statment  on  an  accural 
basis; 

In  addition,  Loew’s  inaugurating  a  new.  system  of  budgetary  con¬ 
trols  which  it  hopes  will'  give  the  management  better  and  quicker  fi¬ 
nancial  information  and.  a  tighter,  control'  over  Costs,  At  the  same  time, 
the  company  has  plans  under  way  to  mechanize  more  extensively  its 
,*ccQuntiqg  juqcs&ires. 


inff 


Albany,  Jan.  21. 

All  pictures  licensed  by  the  State 
Education  Department’s  Motion 
Picture  Division  would  be  classi¬ 
fied  as  “suitable  for  general  pa¬ 
tronage,  for  adults  and  adolescents, 
or  for  adults  ofily,”  and  theatre 
advertising  would  be  required  to 
“note  the  classification”  of  films 
shown,  under  terms  of  a  bill  In¬ 
troduced  Wednesday  (8)  by  Sena¬ 
tor  William  T.  Conklin  and  Assem¬ 
blyman  Luigi  R.  Marano,  Kings 
County  Republicans. 

The  legislators,  who  last  year 
proposed  that  films  be  classified 
as  “suitable  for  adult  audiences 
only  or  as  suitable  for  exhibition 
to  all  persons,”  believe  the  hew 
measure  is  an  improvement.  It 
could  be  the  basis,  they  think,  for 
a  later  extension  of  the  ratings 
plan— long  advocated  by  Hugh  M. 
Flick,  former  “Censor.” 

The  “adults  and  adolescents” 
classification  is  in  line  with  a  new 
category  recently .  adopted  by  the 
National  Legion  of  Decency.  The 
Catholic  War  Veterans  support  the 
present  Conklin-Marrano  act,  as 
they,  did  the  1957  version. 

It  is  put ,  forth  as  a  “step  to 
combat  juvenile  delinquency,  by 
serving  notice  to  parents,  through 
advertisements,  of  what  pictures 
are  '‘suitable”  (in  censors’"  opinion) 
for  their  children. 

The  bill,  which  amends  Section 
122  of  the  Education  law  (the 
licensing  system),  would  take  ef¬ 
fect  immediately. 


‘Wax’  &  “Morgue 


On  the  theory  that  the  3-1 
novelty  is  good  every  couple  ol 
years,;  Warner  Bros,  is  re-releasing 
its  “House  Of  Wax”  in  March 
coupling  it  with  another  WB  3-E 
attraction,  “Phantom  of  the  Run 
Morgue.”  Combination  opem 
March  5  at  the  Paramount  and 
Fenway  theatres,  Boston,  and  RKO 
Keith’s  Theatre.  Syracuse.  Aftei 
that,  the  two  films  will  have  a  sat¬ 
uration  opening  In  New  England. 

The  3-D  releases  must  be  sees 
with  special  Polaroid  glasses  foi 
the  depth  effect.  A  rathe?  consider¬ 
able  number  of  such  glasses  arc 
still  stored  from  a  few  years  ago 
when  3-D  was  a  fad,  It  died  so 
suddenly  that  a  lot  of  companies 
got  stuck  with  viewers. 


Johnston 

Continued  from  pace  7 

reasonable  cost  to  a  sufficient  num¬ 
ber  of  theatres  to  make  the  desired 
public  impact.”  Johnston  recallec 
that  the  largest  number  of  house! 
ever  booked  up  to  a  telecast  wai 
.174  for  a  total  audience  of  500,000 
“Clearly,”  he  wrote,  “the  Holly¬ 
wood  show  could  not  be  put  On  foi 
such  a  small  number  of  theatre! 
and  such  a  small  audience.  Thou¬ 
sands  more  theatres  would  be 
needed  to  carry  out  the  objective! 
you  have  in  mind;” 

The  letter  noted  the  high  equip¬ 
ment  and  line  costs,  plus  the  cos- 
of  installation,-  and  went  on  tc 
comment  on  the  limited  numbei 
of  long  lines  presently  available. 
“All  In  all,  the  total  costs  would 
run  jnto  staggering  millions  of  dol¬ 
lars.  Quite  frankly,  I  wonder 
whether  exhibitors  and  distribu¬ 
tors  would  feel  these  sums  justified 
for  a  proposed  once-a-month  show,’ 
he  said. 

And  he  addd:  “in  evaluating 
ydur  proposal,  as  with  all  othei 
proposals,  it  is  necessary  to  mea¬ 
sure  the  costs  against  the  real  oi 
potential  benefits.  Your  Suggestion 
.  .  .  in  addition  to  the  high  cask 
.  .  .  entails  very  Involved  techno¬ 
logical  problems?’ 


New  York  Theatre 


! — RADIO  CITY  M05IC  RAIL — , 

Rockefeller  Center  •  d  6-4600 

MARLON  NR  AN  DC 
in  SAYONARA 


TOLLVISieiV 


27 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1958? 


Of  Own  Gravy 

Washington,  Jan.  21. 

Re^l  television.  networks  objec¬ 
tions  to  toll-tv  cure  centred  on  their 
“fear  and  resentment”  -of  effec¬ 
tive  .  competition  for  the  limited 
audience  time,  James  M.  Landis, 
counsel  for  Skiatron  Electronics  &. 
Television  Corp.,  told  the  House 
subcommittee  on  Interstate  .  and 
Foreign  Commerce  here  last  Week 
The  committee  is  holding  hearings 
on  pay-tv. 

Webs  aren’t  concerned  about 
the  .  “free  air,”  nor  do  they  really 
worry  about  the  lack  of  frequen¬ 
cies;  which  is  a  myth,  anyway, 
Landis  held.  What  they  really 
fear  is  “any  fractionalization  of 
that  audience  time  by  the  capac¬ 
ity  of  a  competitive,  television  sta¬ 
tion  to  appeal  to  specialized 
groups.  Their,  basic  plea  .  is  to 
mainfain  their ^existing  .dominance 
in  the  field  of  telecasting— a  dom¬ 
inance  that  approaches  oligopoly 
If  not  monopoly.” 

Landis  defended  the  toll  trials, 
due  to  be  authorized  by  the-  Fed¬ 
eral  Communications  Commission, 
in  March  on  the  basis  that  “a  new 
communications  industry  is  prer 
pared  to  offer  its  service  to  the 
public— a  service  which  the  pub¬ 
lic  can  accept  or  reject.  We  want 
it  that  way.  Our  opponents,  the 
major  television  networks  and  the 
motion  picture  exhibitors,  do  not. 
They  obviously  are  afraid,  to  let 
the  public  decide  how  it  wants  to 
spend  its  own  money  for  enter¬ 
tainment  and  for  cultural  attrac¬ 
tions.”  ; 

The  attack  vs.  pay  television  ‘is. 
an  a' tack  not  only  on  Scientific  ad¬ 
vance  but  on  this  right  of  a  people 
to  determine  the  character  .-of 
their  entertainment,”  L  a  n  dis 
stated. 

He  argued  that  tollcasting  would 
actually  result,  in  more  programs 
being  offered  to  the  public— free 
and  toll— inasmuch  as  the  pay 
.  method  was  apt  to  open  additional, 
now  unused,  channels  which  are 
now  “blank  because  the  advertis¬ 
ing  dollar  can’t  be  stretched  far 
enough  to  cover  them.” 

Landis  stressed  the  advantages 
of  the  new  and  more  .flexible  eco¬ 
nomic  base  that  would  be  avail¬ 
able  to  tv  under  a  pay  system, 
and  he  explained  how  “if  an  au¬ 
dience  of  7,000,000  people  is  re¬ 
quired  to  support  a  particular  pro¬ 
gram  under  existing  system.  .  ,  . 
an  audience  of  50,000  would  sup¬ 
port  the  same  program  given  sub¬ 
scription  television.” 

“There  are  recognized  gaps  in 
telecasting,  which  we  think  can  be 
'filled  by  subscription  ;  TV  without 
damage,  to  the  existing  system,” 
Landis  maintained,  adding: 

“Pay-As-You-See  television  asks 
nothing  from,  the  existing  televi¬ 
sion  systems;  It  asks  no  monopoly 
of  existing  frequencies.  All  it 
asks  is  the  right  to  compete  with 
advertiser  -  sponsored  television 
and  the  opportunity  to  put  an  eco¬ 
nomic  base  under  our  television 
industry  which  we  hope  will  en¬ 
able  it  to  grow  and  meet  the  In¬ 
creasing  demands  that  the  Ameri¬ 
can  public  is  placing  on  televi¬ 
sion.” 


To  Sponsored  TV’ 

Washington,  Jan.  21;  ; 

FCC  chairman  John  C.  Doerfer 
assured  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  last  week  .that  safe¬ 
guards  imposed  by  the  agency  in 
authorizing  a  three-year  trial  pin 
of  subscription  tv  will  not  jeopar¬ 
dize  “free”  tv. 

Testifying  at  the  opening  of  com¬ 
mittee.  hearings  the  subject, 
Doerfer  emphasized  that,  “no  com¬ 
mission  would  countenance  any  op¬ 
eration  by  tv  broadcast  licensees 
that  would  place  our.  free;  tv  sys¬ 
tem  in  jeopardy.  ». 

What  the  Commission  did  by  its 
Oct.  17  order,  Doerfer  testified, 
was  to  indicate  a  receptive  dis¬ 
position  to  authorize  a  controllable 
test  of  subscription  tv  under  con¬ 
ditions  in  which  it  could  enrich, 
but;  certainly  not  destroy,  what  the 
present  system  is'  able  tp  offer  to 
the  public.” 

Previously,  chairman  Emanuel 
Celler  (D-N.Y.  )  of  the  House  Judi¬ 
ciary.  Committee  urged  -  the  com¬ 
mittee  to  recommend  passage  of 
his  bill  to  invalidate  the  FCC  au¬ 
thorization; 


CALLS  MERVYN  LE  ROY’S 
VIEWS  TALENT-BIASED 

Boston,  Jan.  21; 

In  the  first  of  a  series  of  articles 
on  toll  tv,  Arthur  E.  Fetrldge,  tele- 
visiofi  editor  of  the  Boston  .  Her¬ 
ald,  took  issue  with  Mervyn  Le- 
Roy,  who  is  in  Boston  filming 
scenes  foe  “Home  Before  Dark,” 
in  the  Boston  Herald,  Sunday 
(19).  "  ,  . 

Fetrldge  quoted  LeRoy’s  article 
in  The  Atlantic  Monthly  and  said: 
“WheiL  we  tried  to  pin  LeRoy 
down  To  why  he  wants  pay  tv  we 
found  his  only  Interest  is  in  help¬ 
ing  out  the  makers  of  motion 
pictures,  salaried  producers  and 
actors.  He  can  deny  It  until  the 
cows  come  home  but  actually  that 
is  his  one  and  only  interest.  Be 
doesn’t  ,  care  about  the  public  and 
certainly  he  doesn’t  care  one  whit 
about  the  poor  theatre  owner.  .  If 
pay  tv  comes,  how  many  suburban 
theatres  will  survive?.  And  for 
that  matter  a  lot  of  big  iritown 
theatres  that  don't  charge;  legiti¬ 
mate  theatre  prices  will  go  down 
too.” 


AVaima  Handy  Stick? 

’theatre  Owners  di  America 
has  commissioned  production 
of  a  short  to  expound  on  the 
evils  of  toll  television.'  Reel,  to - 
be  made  available  for  Bee  to 
clubs,  tv  stations,  etc.,  is  aimed 
vs.  any  form  of  pay  Video, 
weather  by  cable  of  over  the 
air. 

Subject  features  an  Inter¬ 
view  between  Abe  Stark,  presi¬ 
dent  of  New  York  City’s  Coun¬ 
cil  and;  an  avowed  foe  of  pay. 
tv,  and  Edward  O’Neil  of  the 
N.>  Y.  Daily  News. 


Dade  Ranch 

5—  Continued  from,  page  1 

Men,”  all  made  in  the  east,  as  de¬ 
claring  that  the  average  Hollywood 
picture,  budgeted  at  $1,500,000, 
can  be  produced  in  a  New  York 
studio  at  a  saving  of  $400,000  to 
$500,000. 

Listing,  the  advantages  of  New 
York  production.  Poll  said  studio 
rentals  are  cheaper  since  New 
York  studios -do  not  have  overhead 
or  administrative  expenses  which 
may  add  20%  to  40%  to  the  cost 
of  a  picture.  He  also  cited  the  tal¬ 
ent  pool  from  the  legitimate  stage 
and  the  availability  of  trained 
crews. 

Despite  tlie  recent  movement 
westward  of  telepix  filming.  Poll 
is  convinced  that  this  activity  will 
soon  return  to  Gotham  “because  of 
the  important  Economic  benefits 
that  will  accrue  to  them.” 


Dislribs  Upgrade 

Continued  from  pas*  5 

the  release  of  40  or  more  pictures 
per  company,  pdr  year  has  become 
antiquated.  They  reason  that  each 
picture,  requires  individual  selling 
and  consequently  requires  the  full 
attention  of  one  or  more  individ¬ 
uals  throughout  various  phases  of 
the  production  and  selling.  Those 
assigned  ,  to  a  particular  picture 
will  be  called  upon  to  follow  It 
through  from  preparation  through 
production  and  release. 

This  method,  it’s  argued,  ha's 
been  successfully  followed  by  the 
Various  indie  publicists  who  have 
been  retained  by  Independent  pro¬ 
ducers.  These  publicists  have 
worked  with  the  major  releasing 
organizations.  In  many  instances, 
the  releasing  companies  have  re¬ 
sented  their  intrusion  and  are  per¬ 
haps  hopeful  that  the  new  method 
will  give  the  distribution  company 
fuller  control  of  the  exploitation 
functions. 

Although  the  prospective,  policy 
comes  because  of  economy  and  the 
necessity  to  work  With  Smaller 
staffs,  a  number  of  pub-ad  chiefs 
are!  convinced  that  if  will  work 
successfully.  They  see  no  reason 
why  a  publicist  Cannot  spread 
himself  around  all  media  father 
confining  his  activities  in  a  nar¬ 
row  groove.  In  general,  it’s,  felt 
that  it’s  all  part  of  the  change  in 
operational  methods  that  is  taking 
place  in  the  film  industry. 

.  ..  e?l  fcUl  ’.Jf- »  >• 


SEE  CONGRESSIONAL  SWING  VS.  TOLL 
BUT  HEARINGS  TOUGH  ON  ‘ANUS’  TOO 


Washington,  Jan.  21. 
Congressional  hearings  on  'toil- 
vision  resumed  today  (Tues.)  .amid 
signs  that  the  lawmakers,  while 
apparently  swung  over- to  opposi¬ 
tion  to  home  fees,  may  .neverthe¬ 
less -remain  non  committal  on  the 
matter.  This  was  evident  ffqm- the . 
questioning  of  NBC  president  Bob 
Sarnioff  in  today’s  sessiem  of. the 
House  Committee  on  Interstate 
and'lforeign  Commerc'e.; 

Congressmen  put  .  Sarnoff 
through  a  grueling  day’s  testimony, 
and  while  earlier  they  had  ap¬ 
peared  friendly  to  anti-toll  wit¬ 
nesses/they  gave  the  NBC  boss  a 
thorough  going-over.  At  the  same 
time,  one  committed  member  im¬ 
plied  that  the  courts  might  be  the 
best  plaice  to  settle  the  matter  of 
the  authorization  of  pay-tv* 

There  were  two  witnesses  today, 
Sarnoff  and  Solomon  'Sagall,  prexy 
of  Teleglobe  Pay-TV.  System  Inc:, 
newest  entry  in  the  toll  field.  CBS 
president  Frank  Stanton  will  take 
the  stand  tomorrow  (Wed,),  to  be 
followed  by  ABC  topper  Leonard 
Goldenson.  Sagall,  in.. his  testimony 
favoring,  immediate  tests  of  toll- 
vision,  proposed  a  bold  Internation¬ 
al  Television  University,  a  system 
of  education  by  pay-tv.  which  he 
claimed  could  solve:  some  of  the 
nations  most  pressing  educational 
problems.  ' 

Sarnoff  asked,  that  the  commit¬ 
tee  officially  request,  the  FCC  to 
withhold  action  on  pay-tv  tests 
until  the  Congress  has  resolved 
this  public  policy  issue”  and  that 
it  support  proposed  legislation 
which  would  prohibit  the  use  of 
the  broadcast  .  channels  for  toll- 
vision. 

He  opposed  the  pending  toll-tv 
tests  on  the  grounds  that  feevee. 
will  not  provide  the  public  with 
a  new  or  different  program  service, 
that  it  will  deprive  the  public  of 
existing  free  programming  and 
that .  authorization .  of  fee-tv  would 
leave  the  public  without:  “any  ef¬ 
fective  choice”  between  free  and 
pay.  tv.  He  added  that  tests^  of 
tbllvision  “promise  no  meaningful 
resolutions  of  .  the  issue”  because 
they  would  be  on  a  “basis  far  re¬ 
moved  from  the  realities  of  the 
operation.” 

When  the  "pay-tv  prompters  say 
the  money  they  seek  from  home 
box  offices  is  for  the  purpose  of 
offering  a  ,  different  and  better 
service,”  Sarnoff  declared,  “I  say 
what  different  program?  What 
better  service?  They  must,  of 
Course,  make  this  claim  to  wi  ad¬ 
mittance  to  the  haven  of  public  in¬ 
terest.  To  offer  the  same  pro¬ 
grams  for  pay.  that  are  now  Bee 
would  be  transparently-  opposed  to 
'the  public  interest.” 

But  “the  economics  of  pay-tv— 
like  those  of  free  television— cofli- 
pel  it  to  develop  the  largest  possi-: 
ble  subscription  audiences,”  and 
to  dp  this  requires  the  use  of  at¬ 
tractions  and  stars  “already  tested 
in  the  crucible  of  competition  for 
public  favor,  stars  who  have  proven 
their  ability  to  win  aiid  hold  a 
mass  audience.”  The  sources  of 
such  programs  and  stars  “will  be 
found  primarily  in  the  program 
schedules  and  talent  lists  of  the 
three  national  networks.” 

Warning  that  “pay-tv  could 
easily  outbid  our  advertiser-sup^ 
ported  medium  for  the  same  pror 
gram  and  talent  we  have  devel¬ 
oped  and  Which  provide  us  our 
economic  base,”  Sarnoff  said  the 
public  “will  be  left  with  an  un¬ 
complicated  alternative:  to  pay  for 
programs  once  free  nr  to  stop 
watching  them.” 

If  tollvision  “progressively  si¬ 
phoned  off  pur  key  attractions,”. 
Sarnoff  stated,  “We  would  lose  our 
only  means  of ’holding  mass  audi¬ 
ences”  and  the  webs  would,  be 
forced  to  abandon  the  public  serv¬ 
ice  programs  that  have  made  tele¬ 
vision  such  a  “vital  force  in'  Ameri¬ 
can  life.”  He  said  such  programs 
cost  NBC  alone  almost  $11,000,000 
last  year.* 

Pay-tv,  he  said,  “can  succeed 
only  by  cannibalizing:  free  televi¬ 
sion;”  and  while  NBC  neither  seeks  , 
nor  wishes  to  enter  tollvision,  “if  it 
comes,  and  if  it  follows  the  step- 
by-step  progression  I  have  out¬ 
lined,  we— like  the  public— will 
have  no  real  choice.,  Our  only 
choice  will  be  to  go  in  the  pay-tv 
field  or.  go  out  of  business.” 

Sagall  said  that  by  negative  ac-. 

liil 


tion,  the  Committee  would  abet  the 
undesirable  growth  of  e  cable-tv 
network.  Like  Zenith,  Teleglobe 
believes  that  tollcasting  should  be 
done  only  over  the  air, 

Sagall  said  the  whole  conception 
of  pay-tv  was  “a  natural  result  of 
dissatisfaction  on  the  part  of  the 
American  public  with  the  sub¬ 
standard,  low-level,  anemic  pro¬ 
grams”  being  offered.  _  “Some  of. 
the  purveyors  of  tv  entertainment 
have  been  treating  the  public:  as 
immature  children,  dumping  on 
the  airwaves  4hirdrate  material, 
being  only  concerned  with,  filling 
airtime. 

Opining  that  pay-tv  was  “bound 
to  come,”  he  said  that  blocking  the 
federal  Communications  Commis¬ 
sion  at  this  stage  “Will  lead  only 
to  a  change  in  the  mechanics”  but 
will  not  result  in  the.  suppression 
of  pay-tv. 

Sagall,  describing  Teleglobe’s 
application  to  education,  said  every 
home  could,  be  turned  “into  a  po¬ 
tential  classroom;”  The  Interna¬ 
tional  Television  U.  would  provide 
high  school  and  college  credit 
courses  through  cooperation  with 
authorized  educational  institutions, 
with  the  schools  themselves  getting 
income  through  their  participation. 

Hostility  Evident 

The  .  hearings  started  off  last 
Tuesday  (14)  before  a  Committee 
which  appeared  none  too  friendly, 
if  not  hostile,  to  the  witnesses  call;, 
ed— the  members  of  the  Federal 
Communications  Commission, 
headed  by  Chairman  John  C.  Doer¬ 
fer.  -Committee  members,  particu¬ 
larly  Chairman  Oren  Harris  (15- 
Ark.)  bombarded  the  Commission¬ 
ers  With  sharp,  questions  regarding, 
the  authority  of  the  FCC  to  permit 
a  three-year  trial  run  of  feevee/ 
Some  of  them  were  obviously  skep¬ 
tical  of  the  justification  of  the 
agency’s  action. 

Doerfer,  cool  and  collected,  stout¬ 
ly  s  ood  his  ground,  assuring  the 
Committee  that  the.  Commission 
had  imposed  sufficient  controls  to 
prevent  subscription  from  running 
away  with  free  tv  during  the  test 
period,  “He  also  scored  by  prom¬ 
ising  that  -after  the  Commission 
has  been  able  to  appraise  subscrip¬ 
tion  in  actual  operation  it  would 
report  its  findings  to  Congress  for 
whatever  action  it  may  deem  de¬ 
sirable  regarding  authorization  of 
the  service,  on  a  permanent  basis. 

Emphasizing  the  need  pf  a  tried 
ruin  to  answer  many  of  the  ques¬ 
tions.  Which  were  put  to  him,  Doer¬ 
fer  once  referred  to  the  possibility 
of:  a  Congressional  resolution  to 
hold  up  subscription  until  Congress 
resolves  the  question.  Having  just 
stated  that  he  did  not  believe  in 
passing  the  buck  on  “  a  hot  potato,” 
he  expressed  doubt  that  the  issue 
would  ever  get  off  “dead  center” 
if  Congress  had  to  resolve  such  a 
difficult  problem. 

“One  of  the  finest  contributions 
we  can  make  to  Congress  and  the 
public  ”  he  told  the  Committee,  “is 
to  get  the  final  answers  as  to 
whether  subscription  has  merit  or 
is  merely  a  promoter’s  dream.” 

Committee'-  members  had.  pep¬ 
pered  Doerfer  and  his  colleagues 
quite  severly  during  the  first  two 
days  of  the  hearings. ,  By  the  third 
day,  however,;  their  questioning  had 
toned;  down.  But.  Harris,  who  dis¬ 
played  unusual  -  knowledge  of  the 
subject  (he  owns  a  25%  interest 
in  KRBB-TV  in  Eldorado,  Ark.), 
mantained  his  sharp  interrogation. 
Another  member.  Rep.  John  D. 
Dingell  (D-Mich.)  ,  who  has  been 
strongly  critical  of  the  Commis¬ 
sion,  continued  to  press  witnesses. 

Harris  unwittingly  might  have 
indicated  doubt  that  the  Committee 
may  act  before  March  1  (when  the 
Commission  considers  pay  tv  ap¬ 
plications  )  by  suggesting,  at  one 
point,  that  the  agency’s  action  in 
authorizing  the  three-year  test 
would  be  an  appropriate  subject 
for  investigation  by.  the  Moulder 
.Subcommittee  on  Legislative  Over¬ 
sights  The  Committee  is  charged 
with  determing  whether  the  regu¬ 
latory  agencies  are  operating  in 
accordance  with  the  laws  under 
which  they  were  established. 

.  On  the.  fourth  day  of  hearings, 
at  which  spokesmen  for  the  pay  tv 
developers  testified.  Committee  at¬ 
tendance  had  fallen  off  substan¬ 
tially  and  only  a  few  members 
were  ,  present  when  the  third  wit¬ 
ness,  James  M.  Landis  for  Skia- 
tron,  took  the  stand.  Landis,  as 

eOjq> \1  £RI..i  M  U.1A  rttlf 


well  as  Paul  Porter  for  Telemeter 
and  W.  Theodore  Pierson  for.  Zen¬ 
ith,  had  a  comparatively  easy  time 
of  it. 

Nor  was  there  great  interest 
shown  when  the  last  witness,  Har¬ 
old  E.  Fellows  of  the  National 
Assn,  of  Broadcasters,  who  was  the 
first  of  the  industry  opposition  to 
appear,  put  in  his  testimony.  Fel¬ 
lows  signaled  the  networks’  pitch 
for  a  Committee  resolution  directs 
ing  the  FCC  to  withhold  action  on 
pay  tv  applications  pending  a  Con¬ 
gressional  determination  of  public 
policy. 

Such  a  resolution  is  probably 
the  most  that  could  come  out  of 
Congress  before  March  1  since  it’s 
considered  unlikely  that  both,  the 
House  hnd  Senate  could  enact 
legislation  barring  feevees  by  that 
time  if,  at  all,  this  session.  Whether 
a  resolution  would  stop  the  Com¬ 
mission  isn’t  certain  but  it  would 
doubtless  have  great  weight. 

MPAA  s  Brochure 
Evaluates  Toll 

Release  of  new  films  on  televi¬ 
sion  via  toll-tv  would  unquestionr 
ably  attract  those  who  now  belong 
to  the  group,  of  noh-frequent  thea¬ 
tregoers,  the  Motion  Picture  Assn, 
of  America's  survey,  “The  Public 
Appraises  the  Movies.”  shows, 

.  Poll  found  that  41%  of  the  set- 
owners  queried  would  prefer  to  see 
current  attractions  on  the  air  even 
if  they  were  available  only  for  a 
charge.  Another  40%  said  they’d 
prefer  seeing  new  films  in  the  the¬ 
atres;  16%  said  they  didn’t  know, 
and  3%  had  other  opinions. 

Survey  significantly  established 
that  the  attitude  vs.  pay  video  dif¬ 
fered  in  relation  to  frequency  of 
attendance.  Thus  51%  of  those 
who  go  to  see  films  in  theatres  less 
than  once  a  year  voted  in  favor  of 
home-toll  whereas  only  24%.  fa¬ 
vored  pay-as-yoU-see  among  those 
who  see  films  once  a  week  or 
oftemer. 

Motivation  of  those  who’d  pre¬ 
fer  getting  their  pix  in  the  living- 
room  centres  primarily  on  the 
“comfort”  aspect  (15%)  with  gen¬ 
eral  convenience  getting  another 
9%  of  the  vote,  and  the  “less  ex¬ 
pensive”  factor  corralling  only  6%. 

Contrariwise,  those  who  like  to 
see  films  in  theatres  say  they  like 
the  large  screen  (15%),  better  pic¬ 
ture  quality  (7%)  and  color  (5%). 
Sound  is  mentioned  by  3%. 


Gina’s  Suit 

=±=ss  Continued  from  page  5 

brigida’s  charges  -by  listing  her 
varied  refusals  to  go  through  with 
heir  contract,  finally  asking  the 
actress  to  return  all  money  ad¬ 
vanced  on  the  production.  In  his 
open  letter,  Rizzoli  notes  Miss 
Loilbbrigida’s  fee  for  the  pic  as 
being  $130,000  plus  a  percentage 
of  the  net,  with  some  $90,000  to  be 
paid  to  the  actress  and  another 
$90,0000  to  go  to  a  “foreign  com¬ 
pany,”  in  which  she  has  invested. 

Actress  recently  finished-  shoot¬ 
ing  “Anna  di  Brooklyn”  for  RKO 
release  and  is  reported  set  to  play 
a  leading  role  in  “Solomon  and 
Sheba,”  a  United  Artists  project 
slated  to  be  made  in  Europe  next 
summer  under  the  direction  of 
King  Viflor. 


Bowling  Ballyhoo 

'SSS.  Continued  from  page  2 

chine  Foundry  Co.),  $165,000  for 
the  bowling  alleys  (tom  down  after 
the  tournament);  staging,  promo¬ 
tion,  prize  list  and  miscellaneous 
items,  $100,000,  and  another  $50,- 
000  for  travel  and  living  expenses 
by  the  300  participants. 

The  negligible  income  is  derived 
from  gate  receipts  and  program 
advertising  and  sales  along  with 
the  contestants’  entry  fees  of  $120 
per  man  and  $77-50  per  gal.  . 

Underwriters  of  the  tournament 
are  the  National  Bowling  Propri¬ 
etors  Assn.  which  represents  3,600 
bowling  establishments  with  46,000 


28 


PiteiErr 


RADIO-TELEVISION 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


*  Best  Friend 


Retail  booksellers  in  metropoli¬ 
tan  New  York  area  have  stopped 
pooh-poohing  the  intelligence  quo¬ 
tients  of  tv  fans.  Proof  of  this  is 
evidenced  in  tfie  interest  being 
displayed  by  viewers  in  the  pur¬ 
chase  of  required  reading  matter” 
for  the  second  “Sunrise  Semester” 
over  WCBS-TV  from  Jan.  27  thru 
May  9. 

The  'first  course  in  Comparative 
Literature,  telecast  cross-the-board 
at  6:30  a.m.  since  last  September, 
ended  last  Saturday  when  142  of 
an  enrolled  177  students  took  a 
written  exam  at  NYU  under  .the 
supervision  of  Dr.  Floyd  Zulli  Jr., 
the  prof  who's  been  giving  the 
video  lessons. 

Interest  in  the  course  was  sq 
high  that  the  august  New  York 
Times  assigned  one  of  its  s'taff  re¬ 
porters  to  do  a  feature  story  on 
the  results  of  the  first  semester 
and  played  it  to  the  hilt  with  a 
three-column  ,  cut  on  page  one  of 
last  Sunday’s  (17)  issue. 

Roth  the  New  York  U.  Book¬ 
stores  and  Barnes  &  Noble  were 
not  caught  napping  this  time.  When 
Comparative  Literature  10  •  was 
first  launched,  many'  book  stores 
found  they  did  hot  have  sufficient 
copies  of  required  reading  matter 
on  hand  and  had  to  scurry  about 
for  additional  books.  When  news 
of  the  launching  of  Comparative 
Literature  20  broke,  the  book  sell¬ 
ers  alerted  all  publishers  to  have 
adequate  supplies  on  hand.  Avail¬ 
able  copies  of  an  English  edition  of 
Stendhal’s  “Red  and  Black"  for 
example,  were  exhausted  almost 
Immediately  and  Random  House, 
which  had  a  three-year  supply  of 
the  same  work  oh  hand,  found  it¬ 
self  without  Copies  after  three 
weeks. 

Consensus  is  that  there  will  be. 
no  letup  in  the  interest  of  the 
Zulli  courses, .  Alexander  Zavelle, 
manager  of  the  NYU  bookshops, 
reports  that  his  organization  alone 
sold  approximately  $10,000  worth 
of  books  in  connection  with  the 
first  course.  He  estimates  selling 
more  than  $15,000  of  books  for  the 
second  semester. 

Elsa  Lichtenstein,  trade  book 
buyer  at  Barnes  &  Noble,  and. 
NYU’s  ZaveUe  mailed  out  lists  of 
the  20  new  titles  to  customers  who 
ordered  books  for  the  first  “Sun¬ 
rise  Semester.”  Response  has  been 
most  gratifying,  they  report.  Book¬ 
shops  are  offering  a  snecial  price 
for  the  complete  list  of  books 
which  comes  to  $24.50.  Ordered 
separately  the  books  come  higher. 

Zavelle  reports  that  numerous 
book  stores  wrote  for  the  new  list.. 
Bookstores  that  did  well  with  the 
first  list  included  the  Princeton  U! 
Bookstore  and  the  Yale  Co-oo 
where  the  management  thought  it 
sufficiently  iirmortanf  to-  ballyhoo 
the  course  with  a  large  display  in 
the  main  section  of  the  shoo.* 

Dr.  Zulli.  in  the  opinion  of  book¬ 
sellers.  has  had  an  enormous  in¬ 
fluence  on  vid^o  fans  and  nrov°d 
a  remarkable  shot  in  the  arm  -for 
educational  tv  “He  is  to  >»e  thanked 
for  s  new  noniji^r  pastime  in  . 
rions  reading,”  Miss  Lichtenstein 
Said. 

Furthermore.  Barnes  fc  Noble,  as 
a  result  of  the  into*-p«rt  in  “Sunrise 
Semester.”  peVed  Dr.  ZiilU  to  do 
a  college  outline  b*>ok  on  Cootern, 
porary  Literature.  Barnes  NoMp 
will  also  continue  to  Us-  the  snots 
on  the  telecast  Furies..  Wpnceto-tb 
soots  will  be  of  J  0-sppond,  duration 
and  will  be  seen,  at  7:30  a  m.,  the 
new  time.. 


FRANK  fOOPFR  PREPS 
‘REX  MORGAN’  SERFS 

Frank  Cooper  Associates  is  de¬ 
veloping  a  new  television  package 
based  on  the  “Rex  Morgan,  M.D.” 
comic  strip,  to  wnich  the  Goober 
office  recently  acquired  tv  rights. 
Prexy  Frank  Cooper  planed  to 
Toledo  last  week  with  writer  Doug 
Hayes  for  meetings  with  Nicholas 
Dallas,  creator  of  the  strip.  Show 
is  planned  as  a  fall  entry. 

Cooper  office  also  set  a  series 
of  scrint  deals  last  week,  primarily 
with  Coast  vidpix  producers,  set¬ 
ting  Jim  Fritzell  to  do  a  “Mr. 
Adams  &  Eve.”  John  KneubulLa 
“Suspicion,”  Jack  Laird  and  Da¬ 
vid  Chandler.  “Target”  Segments 
at  Ziv,  Christopher  Knopf,  an 
“Alcoa  Theatre,”  Stirling  Silli- 
phant  a  CBS-TV  “Pursuit”  and  A1 
Ward  on  a  new  Jack  Chertock 
project. 


Bully  For  You 

Nobody  can  accuse  Sylvania 
of  not -leaning  over  backwards 
to  be  fair  in  its  annual  tele¬ 
vision  awards. 

Sylvania’s  only  sponsored 
vehicle  this  season  is  on  ABC- 
TV,  yet  that  web  didn’t  come 
off  with  a  Single:  aw$rd. 


Carl  Stanton  Also 


NBC  accepted  the  resignations 
of  three  v.p.’s  last  week  in  a  move 
to  streamline  the  web’s  operating 
costs.  Trio  comprised  Carl  Stan¬ 
ton,  Davidson  Taylor  (as  predicted 
last  week)  and  Billy  Goodheart.  In 
each  case,  v.p.’s  concerned  were 
highly  paid  but  limited  in  their 
functions. 

In  light  of  the.  general  soft  ‘econ¬ 
omy  and  the  threat  of  reduced 
revenues  this  year,  the  web  moved 
to  pare  down' in  areas  not  demand-? 
ing  a  top-heavy  “brass  section,’’  as 
have  many  other  major, corpora¬ 
tions.  In  two  cases,  the  v.p.’s  were 
replaced  without  creating  new 
veeps,  and  in  a  third;  the  opera¬ 
tion  was  absorbed  by  other  depart¬ 
ments. 

Succeeding  Taylor  will  be  Ed 
-Stanley,  who  becomes  director  of 
public  affairs.  He’s  currently  man¬ 
ager  of  public  service  programs, 
which  fell  under  Taylor’s  pubaf- 
fairs  domain.  Stanton’s  color  co-‘ 
ordination  dept,  will  be  dissolved 
and  its  functions  taken  over  ,  by 
Sales  and  programming:  In  sales, 
Mrs.  Nancy  -M*  Salkin  becomes 
color  coordinator  for  the  sales 
planning  dept,  (Changes  and  cir- 
stances  surrounding  Goodheart’s 
resignation  are.  detailed  in  a  sep¬ 
arate  story.) 

Stanton,  *  veteran  of  the  old 
Lord  &  Thomas  agbncy,  has  been 
with  NBC  for  the  past  eight  and 
a  half  years,  first  operating  in  the 
program  operation,  then  becoming 
head  of  the  NBC  Film  Division  and 
its  successor,  NBC  Television 
Films.,  When  NBC  reorganized 
that  as  California  National  Produc¬ 
tions,  Stanton  was  moved  to  the 
business  affairs  sector  at  the  web, 
then  to  the  color  coordinator  post, 
a  spot  which  exec  y.p.  Bob  Rintner 
had  held  momentarily  in  the  brief 
interval  between  joining  the  Web 
and  becoming  exec  v.p.  for  sales 
&  programming. 


JIMMY  NELSON 

DANNY  O’DAY  and  FARFEL 

With  HUMPHREY  HIGSBYE 
Currently  TV  Spokesman  for  the. 
NESTLE  CO. 

Management :  Directional  Enter-, 
prises;  200  West  67th  Street,  New 
York..  :• 

Booking:  Mercury  Artists  Corp. 
730  Fifth  Ayemie,  New  York. 


'Stagecoach’  As 
in.  TV  Series; 
Garry’s  Nile  Hour 

A  second  full-hour  western, 
tentatively  bearing  the  title  “Stage¬ 
coach,”  is  being  planned  by  CBS- 
TV  as  a  coproduction  with  Screen 
Gems  for  next  fall.  Project  is  still 
in  the  preliminary  stage;  so  far  as 
casting  and  personnel  are  con¬ 
cerned,  but  the  deal  between  CBS 
and  Screen  ;Gems  is  neatly  set. 

Also  in  negotiation  with  Screen 
Gems  is  a  “Dennis  the  Menace” 
series  for  CBS.  Films  would  bo 
based  on .  the  •  Hank  Ketclrum  car¬ 
toons,  and  the  pilot  would  be 
scripted  by  Arbie  Rosen  &  Cole¬ 
man  Jacoby,  the  comedy  teanf  cur¬ 
rently  working  on  the  CBS  Phil 
Silvers  show. 

Web,  iii  the  live  area,  has  two 
other  new  projects  in  the  works, 
a  one-hour  nighttime  Garry  Moore 
show  and  a  new  Walt  Framer  pack¬ 
age,  “For  Love  or  Money,”  which 
the:  network  has  optioned;  Format 
on  the  Moore  nighttime  entry  (he’s 
quitting  his  daytime  show  come 
the  fall)  hasn’t  been  worked  out. 
nor  has  a.  time  slot  been  set  fair  it 
yet.  “For  Love  or  Money”  is  a 
quizzer  which  permits;  contestants 
to.  choose  between  luxury  gifts  or 
cash,  and  employs  a  couple  of  new 
gimmicks  in  a  “money  machine” 
and  a  ‘‘dancing  decimal.” 

The  four  new  entries  are  above 
and.  beyond  the  15  already  an¬ 
nounced  last  week  by  exec  v.p. 
Hubbell  Robinson  to  the  CBS-TV 
affiliates  in  Washington.  Ampng 
tho§e  was  the:  Web’s  first  full-hour 
western,  to  be  developed  by 
Charles  Marquis  Warren  and  .  ten¬ 
tatively  titled  “Rawhide.” 


on 

(Two  Weeks  Ending  Dec,  21 ) 

Shifts  in  the  overall  picture  notwithstanding,  CBS-TV  continues 
to  dominate  the  Top  10  Nielsens  on  a  seven-out-of-10  week-in*  and 
week-out  (only  once  this  season  did  CBS  dip  to  six).  Same  holds 
true  for  the  Second  December  report  (twoweeks  ending  Dec. 
21V  with  Columbia;  taking  seven  again,  NBC  two  and  ABC  one, 
Columbia  grabbed  six  out  of  the  top  seven  spots,  With  NBC:  placing 
only- “Wells  Fargo”  that  high  on  the  list,  but  with  that  jumping 
to  the  No.  2  spot.  ABC’s  . only  entry  was  another  western,  “Wyatt 
Earp.” 

average  Audience 
1.  Gunsmoke  . . .  >  .  . . . . . 


3.  Jack  Benny ", ;. . . : . ... , ; . ! .  . 

4.  I’ve  Got  a  Secret  -  i 

5.  General  Electric  Theatre 

6.  Alfred  Hitchcock  Presents 

7.  Danny  Thomas  Show 

8.  Wyatt  Earp  - 

9.  Perry  Como  Show  - - 

10.  Have  Gun;  Will  Travel 

TOTAL  AUDIENCE 

1.  Gunsmoke 

2.  Perry  Como  Show 

3.  Ed  SuUivan  Show 

4.  Jack  Benny- 

5.  Wells  Fargo 

6.  Steve  Alien:  Show 

7.  General  Electric  Theatre 

8.  I’Ve  Got  a  Secret 

9.  Alfred  Hitchcock  Presents 
10.  Cheyenne 


CBS 

42.0 

NBC 

34.1 

CBS 

33.8 

CBS 

33.3 

CBS 

33,2 

CBS 

33.2 

CBS 

.32.9 

ABC 

32.5 

NBC 

31.9 

CBS 

31.7 

CBS 

44.1 

NBC 

40.8 

CBS 

37.2 

CBS 

36.7 

NBC 

36.5 

NBC 

36.2 

CBS, 

35.9 

CBS 

35.7 

CBS 

35.6 

ABC 

35.5 

CBS-TV**  “Perry  Mason”  series  hold*  the  unique  distinction  of 
being  the  only  network  film  show  which  won’t  be  able  to  come  up 
with  39  hew  shows  next  year,  by  reason  of  logistics.  Reason  is 
the  fact  that  as  an  hour  film  entry,  it  empltoys  a  six-day  shooting 
schedule  that  stretches  right  >through  to  June,  and  a  continuous 
cast  that  can’t  be  let  off  while  shooting  is  in  progress. 

Other  hour  shows  have  solved  the  problem  via  rotating  stars 
and  fewer  permanent  cast  members.  “Wagon  Train,”  for  example, 
uses  Ward  Bond  in  one  story  and  Robert  Horton  in -another,  al¬ 
ternating  so  that  they  cap  get  some  time  off.  Similarly,  “Maverick” 
employs  the  hero’s  “brother”  in  an  occasional  episode  for  tife 
same  reason.  But  with  five  permanent  cast  members,  including 
the  title  character  (Raymond  Burr),  “Perry  Mason”  cari*t  do  that. 

Under  its  present  schedule,  “Mason”  won’t  complete  its  cur¬ 
rent  cycle  of  39  until  the  beginning  of  June.  That’s  just  about  the 
time  shooting  would  have  to  begin  on  th^e  fall  cycle  of  39,  so  that 
the  cast  and  staff  wouldn’t  get  any  kind  Of  break,  with  the  six- 
day  schedule  keeping  them  at  it  right  through  the  entire  year. 
Probability  is  they’ll  have  to  settle  for  26  shows  next  season, 
interspersing  reruns  from. this  year's  crop  of  39. 


Radio’s  Grip  on  the  Globe 


143,330,000  Receivers  Outside  U.  S.  and  Canada 
Plus^28, 918,000  Wired  Sets 

■ — * — .  - - -  ■  ' 


NBC-CBS  Split  It  Up 

Trendex  Top  10  for  January 
shows  in  even  NBC-CBS  split 
down  the  middle,  with  the  two 
webs  taking  five  shows  each  in 
the  .  listing.  ABC  shows  up 
with  one,  with  the  total  of  11 
accounted  for  via  a  lOth-place 
tie  between  CBS  and  NBC 
shows.  “Gunsmoke”  continues 
on  top.'  List’  for  the  week  of. 
Jan.  1-7  is  as  follows: 

Gunsmoke  . CBS  37.5 

Lucille  Ball-Desi. .  .CBS  35.7 

Perry  Como . NBC  33.6 

Restless  Gun. . NBC  29.7 

Hitchcock  Presents...CBS  29.3 
Wells  Rargo. . . . . .  .NBC  28.9 

Groucho  Marx  ...  NBC  28.5 
Wyatt  Earp..  ....ABC  28.4 

GE  Theatre. . . . . .  .  .CBS  27.3 

Playhouse  90...  .CBS  27.2 
Loretta  Young - -NBC  27.2 


Departmental  reshuffling  has 
resulted  from  the  resignation  last 
week  of  Billy  Goodheart  as  v;p. 
in  charge  of  ,  television  network 
sales  at  NBC.  Walter  Scott  is  mov¬ 
ing  up  into  Goodheart’s  spot  as 
boss  of  the  department,  with  sales 
planning  veep  Don  Durgbr  moving 
up  to  replace  Scott  as  v.p.  and  na¬ 
tional  sales  director.  Dean  Shaff- 
ner,  director  of  sales  planning* 
takes  over  Durgin’s  duties  but  sans 
stripes. 

Goodheart  left  NBC  after  a  year 
in  the  post  to  take  up  private?  busi¬ 
ness  ventures  in  Phoenix.  He  was 
brought  into  the  network  during 


NBC  Exec  Turnover 

Elevation  of  Walter  Scott  to 
post  of  veepee  for  sales  at 
NBC-T.V  as  successor  to  Billy 
Goodheart,  who  resigned  last 
Week,  accents  the  turnover  in 
the  key  execs  in  the  net¬ 
work’s  sales  area  over  the  past 
half  Bozen  years  or  so. 

Not  necessarily  in  the  order 
of  their  appearance  there  was 
Jack  Herbert,  ‘  Ed  Madden, 
George  Frey,  Joe  Culliean, 
Billy  Goodheart  and  now  Wal¬ 
ter  Scott. 


the  period,  of  reorganization  that 
followed  the  arrival  of  Bob  Kint- 
ner  as  exec  v.p.  and  the  concurrent 
completion  of  the  Booz,  Allen  & 
Hamilton  management  survey. 
Which  called  for  a  drastic  adminis¬ 
trative  overhauling  of  the  sales 
setup.  Goodheart’s  role  had  been 
described  both  by  insiders  and  by 
himself  as  a  sort  of  catalytic  agent 
to  speed  the  revamp,  so  his  de¬ 
parture  .after  a  year  didn’t  come] 
as  to  great  a  Surprise  at  the  web. 

He  came  to  NBC  last  year  after 
more  than  four  years  in  retirement 
on  his  farm  in  the  midwest,  prior] 
to  which  he  had  briefly  prexied  ] 
the  then-new  Official  Films.  Before 
that,  of  course,  he  was  headman 
at  MCA. 


Washington,  Jan.  21. 
Exclusive  of  the  United  States 
and  Canada,  there  are  in  the  world 
an  estimated  143,330,600  radio  re¬ 
ceivers*  plus  28,918,000  wired  radio 
receivers,  or  speakers. 

This  estimate  has  just  been«nade 
by  Government  sources.  It  is 
from  official  figures  of  various 
countries,  together  with  supple¬ 
mental  estimates  based  on  import 
and  production  figures. 

•  This  Staggering  hold,  of  radio 
on  the  globe  Is  regarded  as  an  in¬ 
dication  of  what  the  spread  of 
television  is  likely  to  be  when  It  is 
universaUy  adopted.  The  study 
discloses  further  that,  between" 
Feb.  1,  1957  and  Jan.  1*  1958,  the 
number  Of  radio  receivers  in¬ 
creased  10%  outside  the  U.  S,  and 
Canada,  while  the  wired  sets  ex¬ 
panded  by  16%.  Greatest  ex¬ 
pansion  in  the  past  year,  both  in 
numbers  of  sets  and  percentage¬ 
wise,  has  been  behind  the  Iron 
.  Curtain  in  Eastern.  Europe. 

There,  the  survey  shows,  there 
was  a  gain  of  4,500,000  radio  re¬ 
ceivers  plus  nearly  4,000,000  Wired 
sets.  The  heavy  concentration  of 
wired  sets  in  European  Russia:  and 
the  European  satellites  may  be  an 
effort  to  prevent  people  there 
from  tuning  in  the  Voice  of 
America  and  similar  broadcasts. 

Soviet  Russia  leads  the  world* 
outside  of  the  U.  S.,  in  total  num¬ 
ber  of.  sets.  The  estimate  is  8,- 
000,000  regular  radio  sets,  plus 
23,800,000  wired  sets.  The  United 
Kingdom  reports  15,754,00  regu¬ 
lar  receivers  and  1;042,000  wired 
receivers.  The  first  figure  in-, 
eludes  7,900,000  set  licensees  who 
are  also  licensed  for  tv. 

France  has  10,532,000  regular 
receivers;  and  West  Germany,  in¬ 
cluding  West  Berlin,  has  14,879,- 
000.  Italy  has  7,400,000  radio 
sets.  Fewest  radio  sets  in  Western 
Europe  are  in  tiny  San  Marino— 
1,700. 

Next  to  Russia  in  Eastern  Europe 
is  East  Germany  with  5,200,000. 
regular  receivers;  it  has  no  wired 
system.  Czechoslovakia  has  %• 
963,000  sets,  plus  143,000  wired  re¬ 
ceivers.  Poland  has  2,359,  radio 
sets  and  1,526,000  wired  sets. 

There  are  no  wired,  speakers  in 
the  Arabic  countries.  Egypt  leads 
(Continued,  on  page  54) 

BRIT.  TV’S  ANSWER  TO 
'64,000  QUESTION’:  AXE 

...  London,  Jan.  21. 
-Associated.  Television  has 
dropped  the  “64,000  Question”  from 
its  winter  program  schedule.  This 
is  the  British  version  *  of  the 
American  efuizz  game.  It  went 
off  the  air  Saturday  118),.  because 
said  AT V.  topper  Yal- Parnell,  its 
appeal  was  falling  off.  The  pro¬ 
gram  Will  be  replaced  by  as  ad¬ 
venture  series,  “Sword  of  Free¬ 
dom”  starring  ' Edmund  Purdom. 

The  “64,000  Question’*  was  the 
first  major  quiz  game  to  go  out 
over  the  commercial  tv  network; 
and*  carried  the  largest  prize— 
$8*760  .  plus  additional  gifts.  It’s 
estimated  that  more  than  $160,000 
has  been  won  by  contestants  dur? 
ing  the  program’s  run. 

The  ATV  announcement  follows 
,a  decision  made  by  -ABC-TV '  to 
drop  the  program  from  its  North¬ 
ern  and  Midland  program  sched¬ 
ules. 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1959 


Has  It  Taught  A  Lesson? 

There  cait be no  arguing  the  fact  that  last  week’s  assemblage 
of  CBS  brass  and  network  affiliates  In  Washington  seized  the 
todiistiy  in  good  stead.  It  could  possibly  have  put  out  a  fire  or 
two  in  the  present  crisis.  Particularly  important  was  the;  “get¬ 
ting  to  know  yon”  stance  in  inviting  a  mass  turnout  of  Congress 
for  the  annual  banquet,  with  the  lawmakers  and  affiliates  seated 
according  to  their  individual  states.  This  certainly  had  the  ef¬ 
fect  of  generating  a  new  and ;  healthy  relationship  between  the 
broadcasters  and  the  body  politic  that  wields  so  much  influence 
and  power  in  determining  the  ultimate  fate  of  the  networks  arid 
the  local  station  operators  as  well  as  the  industry  as  a  whole.. 

But  transcending  in  importance  this  CBS-affiliate  “one  shot” 
is  the  overall  question:  “Why  must  the  broadcasting  industry 
wait  until  it  “panics’  before  attempting  to  set  its  D.C.  houses  in 
order?”  A  rapport  with  Congress  and  other  influential  Potomac- 
berthed  VIPs  is  essential.  Lacking  their  continuing  support  arid 
understanding  of  industry  problems t  any  wholesome  progress 
would  automatically  .be  checkmated. ' 


Long  since  the  motion  picture  industry  recognized  the  impor¬ 
tance,  of  Washington.  This  recognition  is  personified  today  in  an 
Brie  Johnston  and  the  MPPA  office,  Which  has  created  the  type 
of  healthy  climate,  both  in  its  dealings  with  the  nation’s  law¬ 
makers  arid  other  troublesome  areas,  that  would  obviate  the 
need  for  such  “panic  sessions.”  It’s  even  possible- that,  had  thri 
broadcasting  industry  alerted  itself  years  back  to  the  need  for 
its  own  Eric  Johnston  in  instilling  the “right  people”  with  a 
full  appreciation  of  the  problems  besetting  the  networks  and 
the  stations,  there  might  not  have  been  a  Barrow  Report— or 
at  least  a  considerably  less  painful  one. 


The  D;C.  conclave  is  over;  The  emergency  is  being  met  on  all 
fronts.  Maybe  it’ll  help.  Maybe  it  won’t.  But  it  would  be  in¬ 
deed  unfortunate  if,  having  hurdled  the  present  crisis,  the  in¬ 
dustry  once  more  turned  its  back  on  the  vital  Washington  area 
with  a  characteristic  ‘‘business  as  usual.” 


Art  Duram  Hunks  the  More  Heads 
The  Wiser  on  TV  Script  Selection 


If  dramatic  shows'  are  to  con-- 
tinue  to  be  a  prime  staple  of  tele¬ 
vision:  programming,  it’s  going  to 
be  necessary  for  clients  and  agen¬ 
cies  to  become  involved  in  script 
selection.  So  believes  Art  Duram, 
senior  v.p.  and  director  of  radio-tv 
at  Puller  &  Smith  &  Ross,  who 
qualifies  it  with  the  point  that  the 
client-agency  reps  Involved  should 
have  backgrounds  in  show  busi¬ 
ness.  .  . 

Duram’s  point  Is  .that  several 
heads  are  better  than  one  in  the 
matter  of  selecting;  a  good  half- 
hour  script.  He  made  bis  observa¬ 
tions  last  week  as  the  result  of  a 
crack  by.  one  of  his  owh  producers* 
Pour  Star  Films  prexy  Dick  Pow¬ 
ell;  who  turns  out  “Alcoa-Goodyear 
Theatre”  for  F&S&R  (repping  Al¬ 
coa)  and  Young .  &  Rubicam  (rep¬ 
ping  Goodyear).  Powell  had 
charged  that  those  “Madisoit  Ave. 
geniuses”  are  lousing  up  his  stars 
in  tiheir  script  selections  and  the 
result  is  bad  stories. 

Duram  isn’t  concerned  in,  get¬ 
ting  into  a  personal  hassle  with 
Powell,  but  believes  that  the  more 
qualified  people  who;  can  sit  in 
judgment  of  a  script,  the  more 
likely  the  script  will  be  a  good 
tme  and  conversely*  the  less  likely 
•  bad  one  will  be  selected.  In  his 
own  case;  he  and  another  agency 
(Continued  on  page  55) 


Jo-Nan  Setup 

Hollywood,  Jan.  21- 
Rod  Serling  has  formed  his  own 
production  company*  Jo-Nan  Pro¬ 
ductions;  -  to  shoot  an  hour-long 
series,  “The  Twilight  Zone,”  with 
the  pilot  to  roll  within  the  next 
two  months.  Serling  arid  CBS  are 
currently  discussing  terms,  and 
series  ownership  will  probably  he 
Split  50-50  between  the  producer- 
writer  and  web,  Serling  said  her*. 

Serling,  will  co-produce  the 
series  with  a  CBS  producer  riot 
yet  selected,  and  will  write  12  to 
15  of  the  39  scripts  of  the  scienti- 
fication-fantasy  series. 

Pilot  script  is  “I  Shot  An  Arrow 
Into  the  Air,”  by  Serling.  Johri 
Frankenheimer  will  likely  direct 
the  pilot.  Anthology  series  budget 
will  be  from  $75,000  to  $100,000  for 
each  segment. 


Gets  BBC-TV  Airing 

London,  Jan..  21. ; 
Comedian  Tony- Hancock:'  will 
play  the  lead  role'  in  a  BBC-TV 
production  of  Gogol’s  “The  Gov-, 
eminent  Inspector”  on  Feb.  P. 
Hancock  was  voted  best  comedian 
of  the  year  by  the  TV  Producers 
Guild  in  1957,  _  , 

The  comic’s  partner  throughout 
his  tv  series  for  the  BBC,  Sidney 
James,  has  been  lined  up  for  his 
own  30-minute  series' for  commer¬ 
cial  tv,  commencing  next  month. 


Sbeaffer  Pens 
Brace  of  Specs 
For  Yule  Trade 

Sheaffer  Pen  Co.  is  changing  Its 
television  strategy  for  next  fall; 
and  In  a  case  of  doing  its  Christy 
mas  shopping  extra-early,  has 
signed  a  deal;  with  Talent  Asso¬ 
ciates  for  two  musical  specials  for 
next  November  and  December. 
Richard  Adler;  who  with  the  late 
Jerry  Ross  ,  turned  In  such  Broad¬ 
way  scores  as  “Pa jaina  Game” .  and 
“Damn  Yankees,”  will  provide  the 
score  for  musical  versions  of 
“Little  Women”  and  “Gift  ,  of  ,  the 
Magi.” 

“Little  Women”  will  be  the 
November  entry,  while  -Magi,”  for 
which  negotiations  are  iri  the 
'(Continued  on  page  56) 


lly  GEORGE  BQSfPp 

“Paradoxes  of  ’58” 
as  the  big  smash-or-bustattraction 
of  recent  years;  ..It  wont  go  on  the 
air,  for  this  is  the  behind-the- 
scenes  story  of  the  strange  - eco¬ 
nomy  pattern  evolving  at  the  net¬ 
works.  Its  already  in  “rehearsal.” 
Events  and  incidents  of  recent 
weeks  carry  with  them,  ominous 
overtones  as  tv  digs  in  for  what 
may  be  its  biggest  blow  since  NBC 
and  CBS  first  flaunted  the  SRO 
banner.  F’rinstarice: 

(1) :  The  exiting  within  a  single 
week  of  a  trio  of  top-level  viee- 
presidents  at  NBC  (Billy-  Good: 
heart  in  sales  and  Davidson  Taylor 
in  public  affairs;  along  with  Carl 
Stanton,  in  charge  of  Color  coordi¬ 
nation,  is  seen  as  perhaps  the 
prelude  to  a  tightening  -  of  -  the 
reiqs  arid  pulling  in  the  purse- 
string  in  the  face  a  realistic  ap¬ 
praisal  of  the  sharply  downward 
curve  of:  NBC’s  *57  profits  in  con¬ 
trast  to  ’56. 

(2) :  CBS-TV  Bill.  Hy Ian’s  crystal- 
balling  at  the  Washington,  D.C., 
affiliate  powpow  last  week  in  which 
he  foresaw,  a  growing  advertiser 
resistance  to  making  longterm 
commitments  (partcularly  on  vid- 
pix  series),  sol  that  they  won’t  be 
saddled  with  program  flops,  ag¬ 
gravates  an  already  aggravated 
situation  which  finds,  even  now, 
something  like  13  sponsors,  anxious 
to  unburden  themselves  of  existing 
entries  at  mid-season  point.  Some 
would  like  to  even  give  up  their 
time  slots.  (CBS  had  a  flock  of 
cancellation  notices  thrown  at  it 
over  the  weekend). 

(3) :  If  there's  a  paradox  lurking 

somewhere  in  the  background  of 
what,  at  first  glance,  is  seemingly 
a  recessive  climate  for  television, 
one  need,  only  set  the  facts  straight: 
more  money  spent  on  network  tv 
than  ever  before  (7%  more  than 
last,  year);  There  are  more  spon¬ 
sored  hours  on  network  tv  than  at 
any  previous  time.  Viewing  is  at 
an  alltime  peak.  . 

The  answer,  of  course";  lies  in 
the  .  fact  that  ABC  has  come  into 
the  picture  as  a  network  treated 
with  the  same  xepsect  as  NBC  and 
CBS.  The  revolution,  for  that’s  ex¬ 
actly  what  it  amounts  to,  took  place 
In  ’57,  when  the  food  Spenders,  the 
tobacco  spenders  and  the  soap 
spenders  (the  big  three)  took  offi¬ 
cial  cognizance  of  ABC  as  a  net¬ 
work  to  be  treated'  on  an  equal 
footing  with  tlie  others. 

‘  Previously,  the.  hulk  of  the  big- 
time  advertisers\poin  went  to  NBC 
and  CBS  alone,  without  an  upgrad¬ 
ed  ABC,  NBC  would;  have  had  lit¬ 
tle  difficulty  disposing  of  a  “Wagon. 
Train”  or  a  T*Suspicion”  series  (two 
partially-sold  entries  that  will  cost 
NBC  a.  barrel  of  loot  before-  the 
season  is  out),  and  CBS- would  not. 
have  been  obliged  to  wait  until 
the  mid-year  mark  to  sell  the  other 
half  Of  “Perry  Mason.” 

But  the  ABC  aseendaricy  with  its 
inception  of  a  three-network  econ¬ 
omy  has  altered  the  picture  dras¬ 
tically.  Kaiser,  virtually  a  “dedt 
cated”  client  where.  NBC  was  con¬ 
cerned,  now  puts  its  money  in 
ABC.  So  does  Campbell’s  Soup,  for 
years  a  Friday  -night  NBC  cham¬ 
pion,  Gulf,  which  dangled  its  em¬ 
blem  for  years  on  NBC.  now  wants 
to  share  its  $4,000,000  tv  budget 
with  Kaiser  on  sponsorship  of 
ABC’s  “Maverick.”  Sylvania,  which 
for  years  waved  -the  CBS  flag,  is 
(Continued  on  page  54) 


Rap  Unless  Shows  Are  Resold 


'Don’t  Crowd  Us* 

NBC-TV  has  issued  orders 
not  to  offer  any  more  tickets  to 
the  *  network's.  .studio  shows 
after  Jan.  31.  That’s  the  date 
that  the  National  Assn:  of 
Broadcast  Employees  '&  Tech¬ 
nicians  threaten  to  strike.  If 
the  web,  along  with  ABC, 
doesn’t  “come  around” 
meeting  the  new  collective 
bargaining  demands 
,  Web  doesn’t  want  onlookers 
'in  case  thereTs  a  foul-up  in  the 
way  administrative  help  han¬ 
dle  the  .  cameras  in  NABET’s 
absence. 


1.1 

Threat  to  Strike 
Vs.  NBC  &  ABC 


Boston,  Jan.  21. 

Charging  ABC  and  NBC  with 
“stalling,”  the  negotiating  com¬ 
mittee  of  the  National  Assn,  of 
Broadcast  Employees  &  Techni¬ 
cians,  AFL-CIO.  has  turned  to  its 
membership  for  a  blanket  strike 
authorization  when  the  current 
pact  expires  Jan.  .31. 

Technical  '  union,  which  began 
dickers  here  Jan.  6,  demanded  a 
.15%  wage  increase  from  both  webs 
arid  a  “shorter  work  week”  as 
a  cushion  against  automation. 
NABET  also  demanded  an  im¬ 
proved  perision  plan  from  NBC  and 
establishment  of  a  pension  at  ABC. 
G.  Tyler  Byrne,  the  association’s 
international  executive  veep  and 
head  of  the  negotiating  committee, 
said  that: .  “no  progress  has  been 
made  on  any  major  union  demand.” 

“They  have  dismissed  our  'de-l 
mands,  Byrne  said,  as  ‘fantastic,’ 
although  both  firms  have  had  an 
exceedingly  profitable  year  arid 
are  well  able  to  meet  our  demands; 
without  impairing  their  profits  to 
the  slightest  degree.”  Byrne  added, 
“So  -far  we’ve  only  gotten 
speeches.” 

Strike  authorization,  for  which 
ballots  have  already  been  mailed 
to  the  membership,  would  give  the 
negotiators  for  the  union  a  blanket 
authority  to  strike  when  the  pres¬ 
ent  contract  ceases  the  end  of  the 
month.  NABET  says  it  reps  1,600 
NBC  and  800  ABC  employees,  and 
warned  that  a  strike  would  cripple 
most  of  the  major  tv  shows  on  both 
coasts. 


Jnl^s  Power,  Don  Herbert 
End  7-Yr.  ‘Wfenrf  Tie] 

Chicago,  Jan.  21. 

Producer  Jules  power  is  termin¬ 
ating  bis  association  of  almost 
seven  years  with  Don  Herbert  and 
NBC-TV’s  “Mr.  Wizard”  for  what 
are  described  as  persorial  reasons.! 
Science  show*  which  is  owned  by 
Herbert,  its  star,  has  been  written 
and  produced  by  Power. 

Pair  had  teamed  up  in  Chicago 
whence  “Wizard”  originated  at 
start  Show  has  been  sustained  in 
around  100  markets  for  past  nine 
months. 


After  March  1st,  1958 


Newsstands 


Subscription 


Per  Copy 


Per  Year 


See  Details  Page  51 


CBS-TV  has  been  hit  with  four 
major  cancellations,  although  three 
of  them  may  be  softened  with  par¬ 
tial  extensions.  Clients  are  Purex, 
Kellogg,  Bristol-Myers  and  Lever 
Bros.  And  although  CBS  execs 
state  that  each  of  the  cases  are  due 
to  specific  circumstances  of  each 
client,  the  rash  of  axings  follows 
CBS  prexy  Frank  Stanton’s  warn¬ 
ings  of  a  softening  market. 

Specifically,  Purex  is  dropping 
its  alternate-week  hour  in  “Perry 
Mason.”  There’s  a  good  chance  it 
may  simply  cut  back  to  a  half-hour 
on  alternate-weeks,  but  the  me¬ 
chanics  of  network  contracts  call 
for  it  to  cancel  the  hour  first,  then 
buy  a  half-hour  under  a  new  deal. 
While  it  definitely  will  drop  the 
'hour,  it’s  not  yet  .certain  it  will 
pick  up  the  half-hour.  Problem 
here  is  budgetary. 

Kellogg  has  reached  the  end  of 
a  52-week  cycle,  and  contract 
termination  is  coming  up  for  the 
cereal  outfit’s  Wednesday  night 
alternate-week'  half-hour  commit¬ 
ment,  which  is  currently  ‘The  Big 
Record”  (though  Kellogg  originally 
began  as  an  Arthur  Godfrey  spon¬ 
sor  last  season).'  Kellogg  has  indi¬ 
cated  that  it  doesn’t  intend  to  re¬ 
new,  at  least  in  part  because  the 
show  didn’t  live  up  to  expectations, 
but  it  {may  extend  beyond  termin¬ 
ation,  date  on  a  week-to-week  basis, 
though  in  no  case  will  it  go  beyond 
an  additional  13  weeks. 

Bristol-Myers  is  cutting  back  it* 
“Playhouse  90”  sponsorship  from 
an  hour  on  alternate  weeks  to  a 
half-hour.  Since  the  B-M  budget  is 
concentrated  mainly  in  Bufferin 
and  Vitalis  and  sirice  B-M  just  re¬ 
cently  purchased  a  piece  of  “Perry 
Mason,”  it’s  faced  with  using  the 
same  commercial  on  the  entire 
hour  of  “playhouse  90,”  and  so  has 
decided  to  cut  back.  That  extra 
coin  will  probably  be  made  avail¬ 
able  again  next  fall  on  the  web. 

Lever  is  another  instance!  where 
termination  date  on  a  52-week  con¬ 
tract  is  due,  and  while  the  soap 
outfit  and  CBS  sat  down  late  yes¬ 
terday  to  talk  renewal,  word  is  that 
Lever  wants  out.  Time  period  in 
question  is  Tuesday  at  8:30,  which 
Lever  shares  with  Shulton  on  “The 
Eve  Arden  Show.”  Shultori  will 
continue  with  a  new  package,  but 
Lever  Is  out  unless  CBS  can  come 
up  with  an  attractive  enough  re¬ 
placement  show.  Lever  started  its 
52-week  run  in  the  time  last 
winter  with  the  ‘‘Private  Secre¬ 
tary”  reruns.  v 

CBS  spokesman  pointed  out 
there’s  a  good  deal  of  sponsor 
activity  centered  on  the  availabil¬ 
ities  created  by  the  quartet  of 
cancellations,  but  m  some  in¬ 
stances,  as  With  Lever,  the  web 
hasn’t  been  able  to  offer  the  spots 
because  of  the  outside  chance  of  a 
renewal.  However,  the  web  is  bull¬ 
ish  that  the  gaps  can  be  filled.  If 
they’re  not,  there's  some  $6,0(50,000 
in  time  &  talent  billings  riding 

Housemans  New 


7 


Although  CBS-TV*s  “Seven  Live¬ 
ly  Arts”  will  be  folding  in  the  next 
few  weeks,  John  Houseman,,  who 
was  brought  in  as  executive  pro¬ 
ducer  of  thp  series,  ■will  continue 
with  the  network  under  terms  of 
his  contract,  which  still  has  more 
than  a  year  to  go. 

CBS-TV  exec  veepee  JHubbell 
Robinson  Jr., ,  in  charge  ‘of  pro¬ 
gramming,  says  Houseman  will  be 
utilized1,  in  other  programming 
areas,  perhaps  as  a  rotating  pro¬ 
ducer  pn  “Playhouse  90.” 

“If  we  can  parlay  the  talents 
of  Fred  Coe.  Houseman  and  Mar¬ 
tin  Manulis  on  a  rotating  “Play¬ 
house  90”  basis,  I  think  vou’11 
agree  we’ll  have  something  worth 
crowing  about,”  Robinson  crowed. 

Deal  with  John  Crosby  (who  em¬ 
cees  “Lively  Arts”)  is  just  for  the 
run  of  the  show. 


so 


RABIO-TELEVISION 


PSStdEFf 


m 


Extra  Fees  on  Kine  Sales  O’Seas 


Growing  pressure  is  being  put  on-f 
NBC-TV  tapay  extra  talent  charges ' 
on  the  kinescope?  of  live  U.S.-pro¬ 
duced  tv  stanzas:  when  they  are 
•old  outside  the  United  States  and 
Canada.- 

Last  week,  the  talent  agencies, 
William  Morris  and  MCA,  joined  in 
demanding  additional  pay  for  any 
of  their  actors  who  appear  in  NBC 
•hows  *  which  have  .been  sold’ to 
foreign  tv  interests. 

American  Federation  of  Televi¬ 
sion  &  Radio  Artists  renewed 
threat  that  if  NBC-TV  “proves 
wrong  in  their  position,  the  net¬ 
work  is  going  tOjOwe  us  a  fortune.” 

From  both  the  agents  and  the 
unions  comes  still  another  threat. 
When  AFTRA  first  demanded  over¬ 
seas  payments,  it  appears  that  the 
federation  was  willing  to  let  NBC- 
TV  get. away  without  paying  extra 
monies  for  the  use  of  kines  of  its 
shows  on  stations  in  Mexico  City, 
Honolulu  and  San  Juan,  Puerto 
Rico,  where  the  web  has  been  de¬ 
livering  its  shows  for  quite  some 
time.  But  now  the  network’s  oppo¬ 
sition  is  clamoring  for  coin  in  those 
cities,  too— not  just  in  Europe, 
Asia  and  South  America. 

In  the  fourth  place,  AFTRA  very 
recently  asked  Steve  Allen  if  the 
network' has  sold,  any  of  his  NBC 
stanzas  in  foreign  tv  markets.  The 
union  is  trying  to  round  up  a  list 
of  all  live  shows  and  the  foreign 
places  the  network  has  sold  them. 

Hassle  was  launched  when  NBC 
sold  the  Perry  Como  shows  and  a 
special  for  General  Motors  to  Eng¬ 
lish  tv  stations.  And  after  its  initial 
burst  of  public  fire,  NBC  official¬ 
dom  has  been  silent  on  where  it 
stands.  Originally,  it  countered  the 
AFTRA  demand  by  saying  that  it 
had;  the  right  to  sell  live  ,  program 
kinescopes  to  any  station.,  where  it 
had  an  “affiliation.” 

Unofficial  NBC  position  is  that 
an  affiliation  abroad  “is  the  same 
thing  as  constitutes  an  affiliation 
in  the  United  States.”  (Mentioned 
were  stations  in  Mexico,  E.R.,  Ha¬ 
waii,  Venezuela  and  Columbia.)  A 
representative  of  William.  Morris, 
on  the  other  hand,  considered  that 
NBC  has  no  right  to  call  a  foreign 
station  an  affiliate  uhless  “the  net-; 
work  has  operational  control.” 

Though  the  network  has  never 
made  the  point  publicly,  it  has 
been  pursuing  its  side  of  the  argu¬ 
ment  fiy  using  Canada  as  a  prece¬ 
dent  AFTRA  said  that  it  has  al- 
(Continued  on  page  56) 


‘What’s  It.Fcr?’,  Even 
Though  It’s  Cancelled, 
Invites  $700,000  Suit 

Los  Angeles,  Jan. :  21. 

NBC  misappropriated  his  12- 
year-old  radio  program  variously 
entitled  ‘What  Is  It,”  “Guess  the 
Gadget,”  and  “Gadget  Jury/’  in 
creating  the  tv  program  “What’s 
It  For?”  Don  L.  Davis  charged  in  a 
$700,000  damage  suit  filed  in  Su¬ 
perior  Court  against  NBC,  Enter¬ 
tainment  Productions,  Inc.,  Phar¬ 
maceuticals,  Inc.,  and  Parkson 
Agency. 

Davis  said  his  program  originally 
was  broadcast  over  KFWB,  local 
Indie  radio  station,  and  remained 
on  the  air  from  1946  to  1948.  Sub¬ 
sequently,  it  became  a  tv  fornfat 
and  was  telecast  over  KECA-TV 
and  KTTV  between  1948  and  1952. 
Program,  Davis  added,  was  telecast 
over  the  CBS-TV  network  and,  as 
late  as  1955,  was  used  as  a  seg¬ 
ment  of  the  Jack  Elroy  show  on 
KCOP,  local  indie  telestation. 

Complaint  filed  by.  the  law  firm 
of  Fendler,  Lemer  &  Lowry,  cited 
Davis’  activities  as  president  of 
the  Gadget-of-the-Mohth  Club  said 
that  his  programs  have  won  na¬ 
tional  and  international  recogni¬ 
tion  and  numerous  awards.  Davis 
contended  that  the  programs  were 
submitted  to  NBC  in  1951.  and 
again  in  March,  1957,  under  ex¬ 
pressed  and  implied  contracts  that 
he  would  receive  reasonable  com¬ 
pensation  if  any  portion  of  the  pro-.] 
gram  was  used. 

Suit  asked  $300,000  for  flamage 
to  his  programs  by  unfair  competi¬ 
tion,  an  additional  $100,000  for  use 
of  an  almost  identical  title  and 
$300,000  in  punitive  damages  for 
“wilfully,  intentionally  (and)  ma¬ 
liciously”  causing  .  damage  to  the 
plaintiff. 

“What’s  It  For?”  went  off  the  air 
a  couple  weeks  back. 


WGA*  Fee  Pattern 

A  little  known .  fact  is  that 
the  Writers  Guild  of  America, 
since  1955,  has  had  an  agree¬ 
ment  with'  the  television  net¬ 
works  on  additional  payments 
to  writers  for.  foreign  exposure 
of  live  tv  shows.  It’s  the  only 
agreement  of  this  kind  by  any 
union  ,  in  the  industry.  More¬ 
over,  the  WGA-network  con¬ 
tract  is  also  the  only  one 
whose  contract  dearly  defines 
the  geographic  boundaries  of 
a  “national  television  net¬ 
work.” 

Outside  the  specified  boun- 
*  daries  (U.  S.  and  Canada)  the 
networks  are  contractually 
committed,  to  ask  WGA  for  a 
foreign,  “waiver.”  WGA-s  ex¬ 
tra  payments  for  foreign  tv 
play  ,  of  live  shows  is  a  $l-per- 
statidn  minimum.  In  all  prob¬ 
ability,  WGA  is  going  to  ask 
for.  a  substantial  increase  of 
the  minimum  in  the  forthcom¬ 
ing  negotiations  with  the  net¬ 
works.  All  the  foreign  plays 
have  to  be  made  within'  60 
days  of  /the  initial  U.  S;  ex¬ 
posure,  otherwise  the  net¬ 
works  have  no  right  to  Use 
WGA  material. 

Effective  last  June,  NBC, 
ABC  and  CBS  Came  to  WGA 
to.  ask  foreign  waivers  on 
certain  shows. 


Washington,  Jan.  21. 
The  U.S.  Supreme  Court  has 
slated:  the  “Gaslight”  case  for 
argument  about  the  middle  of  next 
week.  This  is  a  precedent-setting 
copyright  case  involving  Metro, 
CBS  and  Jack  Benny, 

Big  ,  question  which  the  court 
will  be  settling  for  the  first  time  is 
whether  copyrights  extend  to 
burlesques  of  serious  properties. 

The  Metro  melodrama,  “Gas¬ 
light/’  starring  Ingrid  Bergman, 
was  burlesqued  on  radio  by  Jack 
Benny.  Consequently  he  made  a 
burlesqued  film,  of  the  story  for  tv. 
Metro,  sought  to  halt  this  as  a  copy- 
fight  infringement. 

CBS  takes  the  position  that 
throughout,  theatrical  history  par¬ 
odies  and  burlesques  of  works  have 
not  been  covered  by  the  copyright. 


on  German  TV 


.  Frankfurt,  Jan.  21. 

American  singer  Bill  Ramsey, 
26-year-old  former  GI  from  Cin¬ 
cinnati,  who  is  currently  breaking 
into  the  German  movie  industry 
and  singing  in  German  nightclubs, 
stars  on  a  new  television  program  J 
on  Hessischer  Rundfunk  (local  ,  tv 
outlet  ot:  the  German  tv*  net) 
Feb.  1. 


THE 

HONEY  DREAMERS 

Currenfly  on  “The  Jim  Backus 
Show,”  ,  Daily -American  Broadcast¬ 
ing  Network. 

Records  .  Transcriptions 
Mgmt:  ART  WARD  Direction 

Oxford  7-9034  MCA 


in 


Spectrum  Review; 


American  Civil  Liberties  Union 
rapped  the  “tight  control  exer¬ 
cised  by  the  networks  over  Amer¬ 
ican,  broadcasting”  to  separate  let¬ 
ters1  to  Warren  Magnuson,  bead  of 
the.  Senate  Interstate  &  Foreign 
Commerce  Committee,  and  Oren 
Harris,,  his  counterpart  in  the 
House  of  Representatives.  ..ACLU 
exec  director  Patrick  Murphy 
Malin  and  Thomas  Carskadon, 
ACLU  radio-tv  panel  chairman, 
praised  the  Barrow  committee  and 
the  Senate  communications  sub¬ 
committee  for  alerting  the  public 
to  the  network  issues,  but  said  in 
the  letters  that  the  relief  the  two 
reports  proposed  Was  only  a  “pal- 
lative”  and  didn’t  hit  the  root  of 
the  problem. 

ACLU  called  on  Congress  for  a 
‘full  evaluation”  of  the  broadcast¬ 
ing  spectrum,  with  the  focus  on 
how  to  implement  additional  chan¬ 
nels  to  meet  the  “need  for  diversity 
of  information  and  opinion”  in  ra¬ 
dio  and  television; 

ACLU  said  the  basic  trouble  “is 
the  failure  to  create  additional 
channels  so  that  broadcast  service; 
including  diversity  In  program¬ 
ming,  can  be  increased  for  the 
public.”  The  letters  continued: 
■Both  the  Magnuson.  and  Barrow 
studies  make  a  bow  in  this  direc¬ 
tion  of  reevhluation  of  channels  al¬ 
locations.  But  neither  takes  a  firm 
grasp  on  the  problem  by  urging 
that  the  use  of  the  spectrum  be 
reviewed  to.  determine,  whether  the 
present  usable,  portion  for  broad¬ 
casting  Is  adequate  for  this  nation’s 
present:  and  future  needs.” 

Malin-  and  Carskadon,  whose  let¬ 
ters  were  delivered  on  SUfiday  (19) 
to  the  solons,  said  that  the  bottle¬ 
neck  in  the  UHF-rVHF  hassle  could 
be  busted  and  mote  channels  added 
if  the  entire  allocation  setup  were 
examined. 


'On  Locatioii  in  S.  America’ 

.  Chicago,  Jan.  21, 

NBC-TV  may  revive  Chi’s  diminished  status  ;a$.  a  network  pro¬ 
duction  centre  later  this  year  with  either  or  both  of  two  new  for¬ 
mats  for  Marlon  Perkins,  former  fronter  of  “Zoo  Parade,”  which 
the  net  bumped  last  fall.  The  Web  has  accepted  both  shows*  and 
for  the  nonce  they’re  hanging  fire  for  sponsors. 

It’s  understood  there’s  considerable  sponsor  nibbling  on  one  of 
them, '“World  Safari,”  which  is  intended,  to  be  a  series  of  one-hour 
color  specials  with  a  true-life-adventure  concept.  Network  has 
Invested  its  own  money  in  this  ambitious  project  and  has 'been 
keeping  it  under  the  rose  for  over  a  year.  Second  prospect  is  a  re¬ 
vitalized  version  of  “Zoo  Parade”  but  with  a  magazine  format  al¬ 
lowing  cutaways  to  other  cities.  Titled  ‘Wild  Kingdom/*  it  has 
been  described  by  a  network  spokesman  as  a  “Wide  "Wide  World” 

Of  wildlife. 

.  There’s  a  good  chance  that  “World  Safari”  will  begin  in  the  com¬ 
ing  spring  semester.  It  has  come  to  light  that  Perkins’  expedition 
to  the  Amazon  in  November,  1956*.  was  underwritten  by  the  web 
and  was  attended  by  NBC-TV  producer  Don  Meier  (who  is  credit¬ 
ed  with  hatching  the  idea)  and  a  color  camera  crew.  Perkins 
brought  along  veteran  explorer  Ross  Allen  who  bad  made  22  pre¬ 
vious  expeditions  into  that  region,  as  the  expert. 

From  that  junket,  Meier  produced  three  hduivlong  reels  for  the 
documentary  series,  showing  wildlife,  native  peoples,  and  primi¬ 
tive  cultures  along  the  Amazon  River  and  jungle  in  Colombia, 
Peru  and  Brazil.  Plans  are  for  21  additional  specials,  to  be  Shown 
over  a  period  of  four,  years,  covering  six  major  expeditions  Which 
Perkins  would- go  on  with  experts  to  all  parts  of  the  world. 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


TVs  'Global  Challenge:  SelfagU.  S. 

v« 


‘Wagon  Train’  Riding 
Smooth  Nielsen  Course 

NBC-TV’s  “Wagon  Train,”  which 
opened  the  season  in  a*  virtual 
dead-heat  against  its  bigtime  “Dis¬ 
neyland”  and  “I  Love  Lucy”  re¬ 
runs  competition,  now  has  pulled 
away  from  both  of  Its  competitors 
and  is  lodged  firmly  as  the  domi¬ 
nant  factor  early  Wednesday 
nights. 

Latest  Nielsens,  for  the  two 
weeks  ending  Dec.  21,  give  “Wagon 
Train”  a  solid  27.8  average  aud¬ 
ience  rating.  ABC’s  “Disneyland,” 
for  three  years  the  kingpin  of  the 
Wednesday  night  audience  race,  ,  is 
now  five  full  ratiing  points  behind, 
at  22.8.  “Lucy”  has  a  20.6  on  CBS 
at  7:30-8,  while  the  first  half  of 
“The  Big  Record”  at  8:30  Is  19.8. 

At  the  start  of  the  season, 
“Wagon  Train”  opened  with  an 

18.8  vs.  21.5  for  “Disneyland”  and 

13.9  for  -“Lucy”  and  18.5  for 
“Record.” 

Meanwhile,  Pall  Mall  has 
■bought  in  on  two  of  the  show’s 
open  dates.  Cigaret  firm,  yijr 
BBD&O,  has  picked  up  half-spon¬ 
sorship  on  tonight’s  (Wed.)  show 
and  the  Feb.  3  segment,  which  it 
will  share  with  Turns.  This  is  the 
alternate-week  half-hour  occupied 
during  the  fall  by  the  Drackett 
Co.,  which  bows  out  for  midwinter 
but.  resumes  its  sponsorship  in  the 
spring; 


Next  Week  on 
t  Trobe’  of  FCC 

;  Washington,  Jaii,  21. 

i  House  Subcommittee  on  Legis¬ 
lative  Oversight*  under  the  chair¬ 
manship  of  Rep.  Morgan  Moulder 
(D-Mo.),  will  start  hearings  next 
Monday  (27)  into  the.  operations 
of  /the  Federal  Communications 
Commission  and  other  regulatory 
agencies.  However,  the  hearings 
will  be  quite  different  from  what 
Was  originally  intended — an  effort 
to  uncover  outside  influence  on 
policies  and  'decisions  of  the  agen¬ 
cies. 

The  Subcommittee,  decided  last 
week  to  confine  the;  inquiry— at 
least  at  the  outset — to  a  “general 
survey”  of  the  Work  of  the  agen¬ 
cies  to  determine  whether  they  are 
administering  their  operat  ions 
“without  departure  from  the  intent 
•  of  Congress”  in  enacting  the  laws 
under;  which  they  were  established. 

A  10-point  program  to  be  fol¬ 
lowed  in  conducting  ’  the  probe 
will  be  directed  to  such  questions 
as  functions  of  the  agencies  in 
quasi-legislative  matters,  possible 
inadequacies  in  powers  given  by 
enabling  statutes,  attempts  to 
“ameliorate”  statutes  by  agency 
rules,  status  of  the  agencies  with 
respect  to  the  legislative,  execu¬ 
tive  and  judicial  branches,  etc. 

It  was  understood  the  Subcom¬ 
mittee  voted  down  ,a  proposal  by 
its  chief  counsel,  Bernard  Schwartz, 
to  look  into  the  possibility  that 
commissioners  may  have  accepted' 
such  gifts  as  tv  sets  end  service 
guarantees  from  industries  subject 
to  their  regulation. 

Moulder,  who  had  recently  an¬ 
nounced  that  the  Subcommittee 
Would  begin  its  hearings  with  an 
investigation  of  the  FCC,  has  en¬ 
countered  opposition  from  mem-' 
bers  of  thtf  parent  House  Inter¬ 
state  Commerce  Committee,  in¬ 
cluding  Chairman  Oren  Harris  (D- 
Ark.). 

The  Subcommittee  was  voted 
$250,000  by  the  House  last  summer 
after  Speaker  Sam  Rayburn  (D- 
Tex.)  took  the  floor  to  urge  the 
investigation. 


Seattle — Fred  H.  Kaufman,  for¬ 
merly  program  manager  of  WTCN- 
TV,  Minneapolis,  has  been  named 
program  manager  of  KIRO-TV 
here.  KIRO,  on  Channel  7,  is  set 
to  go  on  the  air  in  February. 


By  GEQBGE  WALLACE 
Producer-Director,  Int’l.  TV  Film 

Television  has  been  called  the 
world’s  nipst  potent  ,  press  agent 
for  products,  causes,  politics  and 
just  entertainment.' Therefore,  the 
industry  as  a  whole  needs  to  mus¬ 
ter  all  its  forces  in  what  is  soon 
to  be  the  greatest  program  with 
the  highest  Pulse,  Trendex  .  and 
Neilsen  in  TV’s  short  history.  This 
program  will  be  a  continuing  one 
with  an  audience  in  Azuza,  Cuca¬ 
monga,  Bangkok  and  Sydney.  It 
would  be  well  to  be  ready  because 
it’s  on  its  way  '  it’s  Global 
Television! 

At  a  recent  count  there  were 
over  300  tv  stations  on  the  air, 
outside  the  U.  S.  and  Canada,  and 
each  week  brings  the  total  higher. 
Over  500  tv  stations  are  scheduled 
to  be  on  the  air  as  we  enter  1958, 
with  the  present  15  million  re¬ 
ceivers  in  use  expected  to  double 
in  the  same  period. 

*  This  is  the  business  of  the  net¬ 
works.  The  challenge  that  Global 
TV  wiU  present  is  theirs  and  theirs 
alone!  ' 

Should  current  thinking  patterns 
be  reevaluated?  On  a  Global  basis 
there  must , be  something  more  to 
sell  than  52  weeks  With  discounts. 
TV  will  be  putting  this  country  on 
exhibition,  as  never  before,  .  in 
areas  where  most  of  thie  people 
have  warped,  distorted  views  of 
Americans..  There  will  be  some¬ 
thing  more  to  sell  than  air.  time. 
Something  more  than  “Maverick” 
vs.  Sullivan  vs.  Allen— It’s  Com¬ 
munism  vs  The, American  Way  of 
Life — and  Communism,  is  not.  com- 
■missionable. 

The  American  viewing  publio 
must  he  conditioned,  too.  Global 
TV  is  a  two-way  street.  We  will  be 
receiving  as  Well  as  sending.  Paris, . 
London,.  Rio  and  possibly  Moscow, 
The  tv  signal  is  no  respector.  of 
Iron  Curtains.  I’he  program  fare 
will  vary  country  by  country.  We 
must  learn  to  judge  program  con¬ 
tent  by  world  values  and  not  just 
by  our  own  standards. 

The  rest  of  the  world  is  keenly 
interested  in  jis  as  individuals.  Ac¬ 
tualities— what  we.  look  like;  how 
we  live;  where  we  live;  how  we 
Work  and  play,  these  things,  they 
want  to  see.  News  and  special 
(Continued  on  page  55) 


Radio-TV  in  Coverage 
.  Of  Nobel  Anni  Dinner 

Both  radio  and  tv  were  bussed 
on  their  public  service  cheeks  for 
handsome  coverage  of  the  Nobel 
Anniversary  Dinner  at  the  Wal¬ 
dorf-Astoria  last  Week  (11)  by  Saul 
Carson,  the  forum’s  tv-radio  direc¬ 
tor,  in  a  report  to  A.  G.  Mezerik, 
chairman  of  the  event.  Mike  Wal¬ 
lace  gave  the  dinner  live  coverage 
over  the  ABC-TV  Web  with .  CBS- 
Radio  competing  against  him,. 
World-famous  statesmen,  scientists, 
etc.,  including  Canada’s  Nobel 
Prize-Winning,  former  Minister  of 
Exterior  Lester  B;  Pearson,  Lord 
John  Boyd-Orr,  noVeltist  Pearl  & 
Buck,  scientist  Linus  Pauling  and 
Quaker  leader  Clarence  Pickett 
were  on  hand  for  interviews. 

Philip;  Morris  relinquished  Its 
commercials  on  the  Wallace  show. 
“When  you  have  a  hard-sell  organic 
zation  like  Philip  Morris  surrender 
its  commercials,  after  spending 
$50,000  for  the  program,  the  fact 
is  worth  noting  as  an  instance  of 
responsible  citizenship  on  the  part 
of  a  •big  . corporation,”  Carson  ob¬ 
served. 

Noteworthy  air  coverage  was  also 
extended  by  the  Peoples  Broad¬ 
casting  Corp.,  which  Includes 
WTTM,  Trenton,  N.  J.  and  KVTV, 
Sioux  City,  Iowa;  WGAR,  Cleve¬ 
land;  WNAX,  Yankton,-  S.  D.f 
WRFD,  Worthington,  Ohio,  and 
WMMM,  Fairmont,  W.  Va.  Philly’a 
WIP  also .  carried  the  show  as  well 
as  special  tape  interviews  by  Sana 
Serota, 

Also,  the  Voice  of  America,  tbo 
Voice  of  Israel  and  Radioteleyit. 
sione  Italiaha  transmitted  vital 
chunks  of  the  gavel-to-gavel  pro¬ 
ceedings.  Pre-dinner  coverage  was 
given  by  WABD,  N.  Y.  which  used 
its  “Nite  Beat  Probe”  with  Howard. 
Whitman  on  hand. 

Carson  summed  up  hiS  report  by 
saying  that  “broadcasting  showed 
it  still  has  a  conscience.” 


BABIO-TELEVISION 


Vedawdij,  J«ng«ry  22,  1958 


PjRkteft 


SI 


EBBETS  FIELD-IN  MEMORIAM 


-4 


4' 


Initially  Henry  Hede  became  administrative  sales  manager  for 
ABC-TV,  Last  week,  this  move  was  followed  by  two  other  person* 
nel  measures.  John  (Jack)  Fitzgerald  became  administrator  of  the 
cost  control  unit,  and  Alice  Stamatis  has  been  given  Fitzgerald's 
old  . title,  director  of  sales  service.  But  in  order  for.  the  casual  ob- 
server  to  understand;  any  of  these  shifts,  a  glossary  of  new  and 
former  titles  is  a  virtual  must. 

Hede,  until  his  new  job.  Was  eastern  sales-  manager  for  ABC-TV 
But  when  Thomas  Moore  became  veep  in  charge  of  ABC-TV  sales 
department,  he  made  Hede  administrative  ,  sales  manager.  Now  the 
administrative  sales  manager  is,  according,  to .Hede’s  superior 
Moore,  essentially  the  same  job  Hede  held  a  year  ago  when  he  was 
director  of  sales  service.  And  for  a  fuller  explanation,  the  director 
of  sales  service  has  always  been  recognized  from  within  ABC-TV 
as,  the  fancy  monicker  for  the  sales  department  business  manager. 

This  leads  to  Fitzgerald,  who  until  Hede’s  return  to  the  job  of 
director  of  sales  service  (i.e.,  biz  manager),  was  the  director  of 
sales  service.  Since  he  was .  assistant  business  manager  (actual  title) 
when  Hede  became  eastern  sales  manager,  it  was  I  only  natural  that 
Fitzgerald  became  director  of  sales  service.  Now  that  most  of  his 
duties  as  director  of  sales  service  have  been  reassured  by  Hede, 
he  becomes  ABC-TV’s  new  administrator  in  the  cost;  control  unit,- 
which  can  only  be  described  as  being  .  .  .  the  new  administrator  in 
the  cost  control  unit. 

Meanwhile,  Alice  Stamatis  gets  the  title  of  director  of  sales  ser-" 
vice,  which  is  not  like  being  the  director  of  sales  service  since 
Hede  has  that  job.  Her  former  title  was  manager  of  television  or¬ 
der  processing,  which,  as  one  privy  to  the  ways  of.  the  run-amock 
ABC-TV  title-givers  iput  it,  was  “almost”  like  being  assistant  busi¬ 
ness.  manager  for  television  network  sales,  when  Fitzgerald  was 
.  still  director  of  sales  service.  But  since  Hede  has,  in  reality;  be¬ 
come  director  . of  sales  service  again,  Miss  Stamatis  must  still  be 
manager  of  television  order  processing  ,  .  .  er  unofficial  as¬ 
sistant  business  manager  for  television  sales. ; 

Clear  now? 


N.Y.s  Gov.  Harriman  Urges  Extension 
Of  Closed-Circuit  TV  for  Teaching 


Albany,  Jan.  21. 

Gov.  Averell  Harriman,  in  his 
annual  message  to  the  Legislature 
recently,  recommended  extension] 
of  the.  closed-circuit  television  ex¬ 
periments  which  have  been  con¬ 
ducted  for  two  years,  with  .state 
id,  at  Albapy  State  Teachers  Col¬ 
lege  and  at"  Brockport  Teachers 
College. 

He.  said  the  programs  /‘have 
proved  such  techniques  can  be  ex¬ 
tremely  valuable  both  in  teacher 
training  and  in  extending  the  reach 
of  good  teachers  to  more  pupils 
than  would  otherwise  be  possible  ” 
He  added  that  “facilities  for  UHF 
telecasting  are  now  available  inexv 
pensively  in  the  Capital  District, 
and  I  am  hopeful  that  we  can  work 
out  a  feasible  program  for  New 
York  State’s  first  educational  tele¬ 
vision  station.  Several  non-profit 
private  organizations  are  :  doing 
splendid  work  in  this  field,” 

The  governor  pointed  out:  “Last 
year,  your  Honorable  Bodies  ap¬ 
proved  funds  for  a  program  of  state 
aid  to  communities  for  educational 
television,  but  failed  to  pass  the 
necessary  enabling  legislation.  I 
trust  enabling  legislation  will  be 
enacted  this  year.”  The  amount 
earmarked  for  this  purpose,  but 
(Continued  on  page  54) 


A  Night  to  Remember 

.  Scripter  William  Gibson  had 
a  big  night  last  Thursday  (16). 
He  received,  in  absentia, 
Sylvania  Award  for  his  origi¬ 
nal  teleplay  on  Helen  Keller, 
“The.  Miracle  Worker,”  pro¬ 
duced  on  ‘‘Playhouse  90"  la.?t 
season. 

And  while  the :  Sylvania 
Awards  dinner  was  being,  held 
at  the  Plaza  Hotel,  N,Y..  a  few 
blocks  away  at  the  Booth 
Theatre,  where  his  new  play, 
‘‘Two  for  the  .  Seesaw,”  was 
opening  to  rave  reviews. 


Record  Deal  For 


KDKA-TVs‘Away 


New  York  Yanks,  with  an  astro¬ 
nomical  contract  for  more  than  a 
million  dollars  for  1958  tv  rights, 
will  telecast  all  of  their  77  home 
games  and  approximately  63  away 
games  on  WPDC  This  is  ,  un¬ 
deniably  the  juiciest  baseball  tv 
deal  engineered  in  the  history  of 
the  business.  * 


Pact  on  Pirates 

Pittsburgh,  Jan.  21. 

KDKA-TV,  the  CBS  outlet  here. 
Is  now  busy  clearing  some  prime 
evening  time  to  allow  for  the  tele-, 
casting  of  eight  away-from-home 
Pirate  baseball  games  this  summer. 
It’ll  be  the  first  time  any  of  the 
local  National  League  entry’s  after- 
dark  contests  have  been  carried 
here. 

Deal  Was  made  by  triple  spon¬ 
sors,  Atlantic  Refining,  Iron  City 
Beer  and  Braun  Baking  Co.,  to 
make  up  for  the  foreign,  field  week¬ 
end  clashes  that  can’t  be  handled 
when  Pirates  are  in  Los  Angeles 
and  San  Francisco.  Arrangement 
last  season  had  all  of  the .  away- 
from-home  Saturday  and  Sunday 
games  being  televised  and  the 
eight  night  carries  will  make  up 
the  difference. 

Pirates  continue  to  veto  tele¬ 
casts  of  home  games.  Management 
wouldn’t  be  adverse  to  selling  tv 
rights  to  all.  of.  its  away-from-home 
schedule  but  so  far  there  isn’t  a 
local,  fcankroller  willing  to  meet 
the  cost.  „ 


The  tab  is  being  picked  up  by  P. 
Ballantine  &  Sons  and  R.  J.  Reyn- 
olds,  both  of  Whom  have  been 
Yankee  sponsors  for  many  years. 
Exact,  sum  paid  for  the  tv  rights 
Was  not  revealed,  but  Ed.  Fisher, 
promotion  manager  foii  the  beer 
sponsor,  made  it  plain  that  more 
than  a  million  dollars  was  involved 
(Continued  on  page  56) 


WOR  Sets  Marvin  Camp 
Aden  Study 


Marvin  Camp  temporarily  will 
supervise  all  press  and  public  re¬ 
lations  activities  for  WOR  and 
WOR-TV,  N.  Y  ,  f  illing  a  vacancy 
created  with  the  departure  of 
Richard  Jackson. 


Understand  the  temporary  na¬ 
ture  of  the  appointment  stems 
from .  the  current  study  of  the  sta¬ 
tion’s  operations  by  the  manage¬ 
ment  firm  of  Booz,  Allen,  Hamil¬ 
ton,  which  is  surveying  all  RKO 
Teleradio  o&b  operations.  Re¬ 
portedly^  all  managerial  positions 
have  been  frozen  pending  the  coiUr 
pletion  of  the  study  in  about  two 
months. 


The  shift  of  the  Dodgers,  to  Los 
Angeles  left  a  number  of  widely 
publicized  Ebbets  Field  characters 
out  on  a  limb  of  the  famous  tree 
that  grows  in  Brooklyn.  The  end  of 
the  road  for  “Dem  Bums”  in  Flat- 
bush,  brought ;  about  largely  by 
home  game  tv  broadcasts,  also 
meant  reduced  assignments-  for 
such  “personalities”  as  Tex  Rick¬ 
ard,  the  official  announcer  for  the 
Brooklyn  Baseball-  Club;  Gladys 
Gooding,  Dodger .  organist  long 
familiar  to  both  radio  and  tv 
fans;  A1  Heifer,  one  of  the  trio  of 
Dodger  sportscasters,  and  Happy 
Felton,  who  did  pre-and-post  game 
shows  direct  from  the  Dodger  dug- 
out  at  Ebbets  Field. 

While  there  is  rancor  in  the 
hearts  of  those  left  behind,  the 
suddenness  with  which  they  were 
hit  with  the  news  of  the  cross¬ 
country  migration  of  the  Dodgers, 
left  them  reeling  and  bereft  of  an 
old  familiar  fireside. 

Miss  Gooding,  who  spent  16 
years  at  the  Dodger  organ,  and 
created  the  club’s  theme  song, 
“Follow  the  Dodgers,”  will  con¬ 
tinue  her  musical  assignments-  at 
Madison  Square  Garden  where 
she’s  now  in  her  22d  season.  Nor 
is  :  she  going:  to  let  her  Dodger 
theme  song  go  to  waste.  A  good 
deal  Of  the  words  can  be  salvaged, 
says  Miss  Gooding,  except  for  the. 
first  two  lines.  Originally  they 
were  “There’s  a  Baseball  Club,  in 
Brooklyn”  and  “A  team  they  call 
deni  bums.”  She’s  changed  it  to 
read:  ’  “There’s  a  baseball  club  in 
LA:”  and  “Not  exactly  native 
sons.”  “Follow  the  Dodgers”  has 
been  recorded  under  the  Sports 
Label. 

After  the  Dodgers  scrammed, 
Miss  Gooding  tried  to  interest  the 
Yankees  Into  hiring  her  for  or¬ 
gan  work  at  Yankee  Stadium,  but 
George  Weiss,  general  manager  of 
the  club,  said  nothing  doing  in 
1958. 

Currently,  only  four  major 
league  clubs  use  organists  at  ball- 
games  and  they  are  Cincinnati, 
Milwaukee,  St.  Louis  and  Philadel¬ 
phia.  .  Dodgers  were  the  first  to 
use  a  resident  organistrto  put  fans 
in  a  proper  frame  of  mind.  Larry 
MacPhaQ.  hired  Miss  Gooding  in 
1942,  one  of  the  many  MacPhail 
innovations  in  baseball  -  mad 
Brooklyn.  Miss  Gooding  averaged 
abotit  70  games  a  season.  During 
her  early  days  at  Ebbets  Field  she 
had  a  contract  hut  later  it  was  a 
handshake  arrangement. 

She’s. best  remembered  for  her 
appropriate  selections  as  when  she 
offered  “Three  Blind  Mice”  when 
umpires  took  their  positions  be¬ 
hind  the  various  plates,  and  the 
(Continued  on  page  55) 

Canada  Audience  1st 
In  No.  America  to  Get 
Subliminal  TV  Airing 

Toronto,  Jan.  21; 

First  television  audience  in 
North  America  was  submitted  to 
a  -  coasMo-coast  experiment  over 
27  stations  of  the  Canadian  Broad¬ 
casting  Corp.  This  was .  over 
“Closeup”  Sunday  night  (19)  at 
10  pjn.,  emanating  from  Toronto. 
Present  were  James  Vicary,  in¬ 
ventor  and  president  of  Subliminal 
Projection  Go.  Inc.,  of  New  York 
and  Richard  Forest,  v.p.  and  gen¬ 
eral  manager,  who  supervised  the 
30-minute  test  among  trans-Canada 
viewers  of  their,  “subconscious  ad¬ 
vertising  message.” 

“Subliminal  Projection”  usage 
has  been  banned  by  the  three  U.  S. 
networks',  plus  the  CBC,  but  David¬ 
son  Dunton,  chairman  of  the  lat¬ 
ter,'  gave-  his  permission  for  the 
Sunday  night  telecast.  Vicary  ex¬ 
plained  that  his  company  has  no 
plans  under  Canada’s  present  -tv 
regulations,  that  he  is  still  . seeking 
patent  rights  here,  together  with 
FCC  regulations. 

Message  at  one  three-thousandths 
of  a  second  was  periodically 
flashed  with  trans-Canada  result 
to  be  known  later. 


ABC  Radio  Gives  Up  Ghost  On 
Live  Musk  Entries;  Big  $  Rap; 
Labunski  Quits  as  Program  Vf. 


Lloyds,  of  Course 

It  looks  as  though  the  net¬ 
works  can  only  turn  to 
Lloyds  Of  London  for  help  in 
complying  vvith  the  demands 
of  the.  American  Federation  of 
Television  &  R  a  d  i  o  Artists. 
Expert  insurance  sources 
concur  that  no  American  in¬ 
surance.  company  is  likely  to 
underwrite  either  a  $300,000 
insurance  policy  or  a  $200  a 
week  disability  policy  for  ac¬ 
tors  hurt  or  killed  in  the  line 
of  tv  duty  in  Cuba— at  least 
not  at  rates  that  seem  at  all 
realistic  to.  the  networks. 

On  the  other  hand,  one  in¬ 
surance  underwriter  said, 
“Lloyds  will  cover  anything, 
even  tv  actors  hurt  in  the  Cu¬ 
ban  revolution.” 


Insurance 
Safeguard  For 
Cuba  TV  Dates 

SAeve  Allen  and  his  production 
partner  Jules  Green  were  put  on 
the  spot  by  the  American  Federa¬ 
tion  Of  Television  &  Radio  Artists. 
Over  the  weekend,  the  federation 
wired  them  in  Cuba  that  they 
would  be  responsible  for  paying 
$300,000  worth  of  insurance,  on  any 
performer  who  was  killed  while 
working  On  the  “Sieve.Allen  Show” 
in  Cuba. 

On  Thursday  (16),  AFTRA 
notified  all  its  .  members  arid  each 
of  the  tv  networks  that  a  performer 
on  any  U.S.  video  show  originating 
in  Havana  during  the  Fidel  Castro 
revolt  must  be  insured  by  the  webs 
with  a  $300,000  life  insurance  pol¬ 
icy.  Additionally,  the  AFTRA  rul¬ 
ing,  made  after  Allen  had  departed 
for  Cuba,  demanded  the  webs  buy 
a  $200  a  week  disability  policy  for 
Any  actor  incapacitated  in  Cuba. 

Union  said  it  regarded  Cuba  as 
a  hazardous,  place  for  U.S.,  per¬ 
formers  to  work,  because  of  the 
political  unrest  and  fighting.  Ac¬ 
tors  .  must  be  covered  by  the  net¬ 
works  from  the  time  they  leave 
the  continental  limits  of  the  U.S; 
until  they  return  frojtu  Cuba. 

NBC,  which  airs  the  Allen  Sun¬ 
day  show,  said  that  it  normally 
carries,  travel  insurance  on  its  per¬ 
formers,  hilt  the  amount  of  the  in¬ 
surance  was  not  disclosed;  AFTRA 
said  ho  performers  would  be  per¬ 
mitted  to  appear  from  Cuba  unless 
the  network  paid  for  the  specified 
amount  of  insurance— $300,000  life 
and  $200-a-week  disability, 

AFTRA  notified  Allen  and  Green 
to  respond  whether  NBC  had;  actu¬ 
ally  insured  each  member  of  the 
performing  team  for  the  Cuban 
trip.  Union  told  them,  in  effect, 
they’d  be  responsible  for  the  full 
amounts  demanded  by  AFTRA,  if 
the.  network  didn’t  come  across  on 
the”  grounds  the  show  left  for  Cuba 
before  the  ruling  was  made. 

NBC  had  intended  sending  the 
Jack  Paar  lateriight  stanza  to  Cuba 
sometime  later  this  year;  What 
with  the  permanent  over-the-hori¬ 
zon  tv  scatter  system,  which  led  to 
a  permanent  Cuba-U.S.  transmis¬ 
sion  setup,  the  expectation  is  that 
more  and  more  tv  stanzas  will  be. 
coming  from  the  island. 


Bill  Nimmo's  News  Strip 

WPIX,  N.Y.,  has  initiated  a  15- 
minute  stripped .  news  show,  Mon-  i 
days  through  Fridays,  starting  at 
11p.m.,  with  Albert  Ehlers  and 
Cott  Beverages  picking'up  the  tab. 

Station  announcer  Bill  Nimmo 
is  doing  the  newscasts. 


American  Broadcasting  Network, 
after  approximately  four  months  of 
live  music  radio.  Is  on  the  verge  of 
making  drastic  revisions  in  the 
program  format.  Live  music,  ex-* 
cept  on*  the  longtime  Don  McNeill 
“Breakfast  Club”  strip,  will  be 
eliminated  in  favor  of  records. 

Network  said  that  “economies” 
and  ’affiliate  demands  forced  the 
web  brass  to  ankle  the  “live,  fun” 
format  that  ABN  has  been  plug¬ 
ging  so  hard  the  past  few  months. 
The  live  musical  strips  are  cur¬ 
rently  running  in  the  vicinity  of 
$16,000  each  weekly,  and  the  over¬ 
all  ABN  weekly  expenditure  is  said 
to.  run  (with  administrative  costs) 
better  than  $100,009  a  week  at 
present. 

Robert  Eastman,  ABN  prexy 
since  last  spring,  said  that  by  elimi¬ 
nating  live  music  it  will  give  the 
affiliates  a  chance  for  more  local 
cut-ins  and  news,  which  “they  have 
been  screaming  for.”  ‘.‘The  changes 
actually  affect  greater  compatibil¬ 
ity  with  local  programming,”  East¬ 
man  said.  He  was  referring  to  the 
elimination  of.  live  musical  formats 
on  the  Herb  Oscar  Anderson,  Jiiri 
Backus,  Jim  Reeves  and  Merv,  Grif¬ 
fin  shows  for  straight  gab  and 
records. 

Eastman  said  that  the  stars  on 
all.  the  programs  will  be  retained, 
but  that  in  the  offing  is  a  possible 
shifting  of  time,  positions.  One  of 
the  principal  changes  being  con¬ 
sidered  is  the.  moveout  of -  Adder- 
son  from  the  10  td  11  spot  (after 
McNeill,  who  will  remain  where  he 
is)  to  another  time.  There’s  a 
Chance  Backus,  now  from  2  to  3 
p.m.  will  take  his  morning  anchor¬ 
age. 

Evidently  because  of  the  sharp 
changes  in  programming,  (which 
now  gives  the  radio  web  the  type 
of  sound  It  tried  to  develop  na¬ 
tionally  a  few  years  back  when 
Martin  Block  spun  disks  for  ABC 
Radio),  the  network’s  program  veep 
Stephen  Labunski  handed  in  his 
(Continued  on  page  55) 


New  Sponsor  Coin 


Some  fresh  sponsor  coin  has 
been  racked  up  by  Mutual's  new 
’58  shows. 

Hudson  Vitamin  Corp.  has  taken 
participations  each  weeknight  in 
two  segments  of  the  “Barry  Gray 
Show,”; aired  from  12:05  to  2  a.m., 
seven  nights  weekly.  Vitamin  out¬ 
fit  also  bought  participations'  in 
MBS’  midday  “Answer  Man”  se¬ 
ries,  and  increased  its  usage  of  the 
Gabriel  Heatter  Evening  commen¬ 
taries  from  two  to  four  a  week. 

Dumas  Milner  Corp.,  makers  of 
kitchen  cleansers  and  disinfectants, 
has  bought  participations  Tuesdays 
and  Thursdays  in  the  morning 
stripped  “Kate  Smith  Show.”  Niag- 
ra  Therapy  Manufacturing  is  rid¬ 
ing  with  “The  Long  John  Show,” 
broadcast  from  11:35  to  midnight 
weekdays. 

In  the  programming  department, 
Don  Dunphy  has  been  inked  for 
two  five-minute  sportscasts  Satur¬ 
days  and  Sundays.  He  replaces 
Tommy  Henrich  who  left  MBS  to’ 
join  the  Detroit  Tigers  as  a  coach. 
Dunphy  wiil  continue  his  NBC 
sportscasting  of  the  fights.  Addi¬ 
tionally,  a  new  science  show  will 
kick  -  off  Sunday  (26),  hosted  by 
Earl  Ubell,  science  editor  of  the 
New  York  Herald  Tribune. 

On  the  business  end,  Murray 
Grabhom,  former  account  exec  for 
the  American  Broadcasting  Net¬ 
work,  has  joined  the.  Mutual  sales 
force.  Eugene  Fitts,  a  former  ex¬ 
ecutive  radio  producer,  has’  re¬ 
joined  MBS  as  director  of  station 
services,  a  stew  network  depart¬ 
ment.  James  Z.  Gladstone,  former¬ 
ly  a  budget  manager  for  NBC,,  has 
been  named  comptroller  at  MBS. 


32 


BIAPIO-TEUEVttSIOy 


-  By  JACK  BERNSTEIN  - 


The  oid  saying  “you  pays  your 
money  and  takes  your  choice”  is 
being  echoed  on  Madison  Ave., 
and  some  ad  men  have  revised  the 
phrase  to  say  that  if  you  shell  out 
the  sponsor’s  coin  you  are  entitled 
to  some  Consideration  in  buying  a 
film  show.  The  consideration  the' 
agency  men  have  ini  mind  is  short¬ 
term  film  commitments  with  the 
right  to  renew. 

CBS’  veepee  Bill  Hylan  brought 
up  the  subject,  which  holds  as  dear 
a  position  in  the  ad  man’s  heart 
as  motherhood,  before  the  CBS  af¬ 
filiates  meeting  in  Washington. 
The  gist  of  his  spiel  was  that  pro¬ 
gramming  will  revert  to  live  tele¬ 
casting  if;  shorter  term  commit¬ 
ments  cannot  be  had  by  national 
advertisers. 

•  Agency  men  for  the  most  part 
feel  that  the  39-week  and  the  year 
round  firm  commitment  has  gone 
the  way  of  the  trolley  car  and  they 
aren't  going  to  stick  their  necks 
out  with  the  possibility  of  having 
a  show  fall  flat  on  its  back  in  the 
first  weeks  that  its  ethered  thus 
being  left  to  hold  the  33-week  or 
more  bag. 

The  ad  men  say  that  it  makes  it 
tough  on  the  agency  to  commit  the 
client  to  a  long-term  tieup  when 
the  agency  has  no  idea  on  how  a 
show  .will  fare  ratingwise  or 
what’s  more  important,  how  many 
impressions  the  program  will  get; 
If  a  show  has  rough  sailing,  and 
the  ad  men  are  quick  to  point  out 
that  many  did  this  year,  then  why 
should  the  backer  be  forced  to 
keep  sinking  money  into  a  program 
eight  months  after  he  realizes  it 
has  a  loser  on  its  hands?  • 
Under  a  short-term  commitment 
the  sponsor,  the  ad  men  feel, 
would  have  greater  flexibility  over 
a  show. 

A  good  deal  of  the  agencies 
troubles  is  laid  at  the  footsteps  of 
the  webs  and  the  agency  men  say 
that  if  a  network  has  a  hot  prop¬ 
erty  on  its  hands  it  demands  a. 
long-term  contract,  but  if  the  web 
*is  stuck  then  it  readily  agrees  to 
sell  off  a  program  on:  a  short-term 
basis. 

Favor  a  26-week  Basis  . 

Most  agency  men  feel  that  there 
is  no  reason  why  a  film  show  can¬ 
not  be  bought  on  a  26-week  basis 
even  though,  they  run  up  against 
the  problem  of  name  stars  who  re¬ 
fuse  to  work  on  a  program  un’ ess 
they  extract  a  39-week  plus  agree¬ 
ment.  Under,  a.  26-week  contract, 
the  ad  men  claim,  the  industry  as 
a  whole  would  be  better  served  in 
that  shows  wouldn’t  be  on  the .  air 
simply  because  the  sponsor,  is 
stuck  with  it.  As  one  agency  head 
expressed  it,  not  too  many  spon¬ 
sors  are  willing  to  get  hurt  more 
than  once,  and  if  a  series  of  na¬ 
tional  advertisers  are.  put  on  the 
hook  then  they  will  find  other 
ways  of  spending  their  advertising 
dollars. 

There  is  an  agency  splitting-of- 
the-minds  over  a  short-term  13- 
week  contract.  Some  ad  men  would 
favor  this  contract  but  most  feel 
that  it  would,  be  essentially  unfair 
to  the  film  producers  and  the  net¬ 
works  who  are  also  entitled  to 
some  consideration.  The  majority 
of  agency  men  who  oppose  this 
plan  reason  that  if  you  ink  a  13- 
week  pact  it  means  that  some¬ 
where  after  the:  fifth  show  you 
have  to  make  a  decision  and  this 
is  Usually  based  on  only  one  Niel¬ 
sen  rating.  The  agency  tv  heads 
feel  that  this  is  top  short  a  time  to 
foresee  if  a  show  is  going  to  be  a 
success  or  not. 

In  discussing  a  solution  to  the 
industry  problem,  many  of  the 
film  packaging  houses  came  up 
with  the  idea  last  year  that  spon¬ 
sors  ought  to  sign  on  for  a  39- 
week  contract  and  have  the  privi¬ 
lege  of  cancelling  at  the  end  of  26 
weeks  at  a  slightly  higher,  cost 
than  if  they  took  the  whole  39- 
week  program. 

Benton  &  Bowles  answer  to  the 
problem  was.  having  four  package 
houses  make  them  films  foT<,  13 
weeks  in  the  winter  for  summer 
showing.  These  films  were  put 
to  the  test  during  the  hot  months 
and  those  that  fared  well  were, 
renewed  the  following  tv  season. 
The  agency  is  planning  to  do  the 
same  thing  this  year  and  feels 
that  it  minimizes  the  risk  to  a 
great  extent. 

As  for  Hylan’s  remarks  that  tv 
Would  go  live  if  sh  o  r  ter  term 
commitments  weren’t  Obtained, 
the  agency  camp  is  split  in  two. 
Half  of  the  ad  men  feel  that  this 
is  the  natural  result  while  others 


say  that  it  faint  about  to  happen. 

-  What  is  about  to  happen,  and 
for  sure,  the  ad  men  claim,  is  that 
with  a  predicted  recession  and  in 
all  probability  a  tighter  ad'  budg-. 
et,  the  agencies  are  going  to  he 
more  careful  in  selecting  their 
shows  and  are  going  to  demand 
shorter  term  commitments  for 
their  clients. 

National  Sponsors  Hot 
For  Saturation  Spots? 

With  all  the  .  agency  talk  about 
the  high  cost  of .  television  there 
were  ,  rumbles  this  week,  about  na¬ 
tional  advertisers  switching  their, 
tv  budgets  to  saturation  spot  cam¬ 
paigns.  The  consensus  of  opinion 
by  the  tv  ad  heads  is  that  this  is 
just  a  lot  of  talk.  Agency  men  say 
that  spot  campaigns  serve  a  pur¬ 
pose  in  supplementing  ;a  network 
show  bht  it  -.can't  replace  one:  ., 

The  ad  men  are  quick:  to  add 
that  Spot  buying  is  a  safe  way  to.  do 
business  and  -  you  don’t  have  to 
worry  about  having  flops  on  .  your 
hands  but  if  you  are  an  agency  tv 
head  that’s  one  of  the  risks,  you 
have  to  take. 

No  Time  For  SP 

Ad  agencies  along  Madison  Ave, 
are  not  pleading  the  fifth  amend¬ 
ment  when  it  comes  to;  subliminal 
perception  in  television.  Not  pne 
agency  admitted  that  it  was  even 
experimenting  with,  the  idea.  The 
agencies  which  Specialize  ih  selling 
hard  goods  reason  that;  nobody  is 
going  to  jump  out  of  their  tv  chair 
and  run  outdoors  to  the  nearest 
auto  agency  to  buy  a  car.  Those 
which  push  package  goods  are  go¬ 
ing  along  with,  the  same  reasoning 
and  say  that  if  an  item  is  in  a 
horne  d  then  it  may  he  used,  but 
doubt  if  anyone  is  about  to  go 
shopping  upon  “getting  the  mes¬ 
sage.” 

Adams’ ‘Anvil*  Tome 

James  R.  Adams,  former  prexy 
and  a  cofourider  of  MacManus, 
John  &  Adams,  has  had  his  book 
of  reminiscences  of  30  years  in  ad¬ 
vertising  published  this  month.  At 
the  time  of  his  death  last  fall,  the 
book  entitled  “Sparks  Off  My 
Anvil’*  was  nearly  Completed,  and 
hi*?  son  Charles  Adams,  Who  now 
holds  the  title  as  exec  assistant  to 
the  president,  finished  the  book 
and  wrote  the  foreword. 

Book  offers  mature  advice  on 
advertising  .strategy;  oh  how  to 
nourish  the  creative  mind;  pm  buy¬ 
ing  motives;  on  copywriting,  ad¬ 
vertising  art,  in  addition  to  offer¬ 
ing  some  good  home-spun  philoso¬ 
phy 

Shorts:  Benton  &  Bowles;  which 
bills  approximately  $55,000,000  in 
tv  billings  alone,  has  alloted^an  en¬ 
tire  floor  to  radio  and  television 
production  facilities  at  its  new 
home  at  666  Fifth  Ave.  This  in¬ 
cludes  four  16m  viewing  rpoms 
for '  television,  a  35m  theatre  pro¬ 
viding  seats  for  30  people,  a  tele-, 
vision  studio  and  a  control  room 
serving  the  theatre  and  the  studio. 

The  workshop-studio  is  equipped 
with  live  and  film  cameras  for 
testing  commercials  and  .a  closed 
circuit  has  been  set  up  from  the 
studio  to  the  theatre  arid  viewing 
rooms. 

.  Functional  abstract  art  was  used 
to  tell  a  corporate  story  during 
the  Union.  Carbide  Corp.  com¬ 
mercial  on  the  “Omnibus’’  pro¬ 
gram  Jan.  14.  The  commercial 
which  inter-related  such  abstract 
themes  as  raw.  materials,  tech- 
.  nological  progress. .  and  consumer 
products  was  initiated  by  J.  M. 
Mathes  Agency  and  produced  by 
Academy  Pictures. 

...  Lost  hnd  Found.  Accounts:  An¬ 
derson  &  Cairns  has  been  named 
to  handle  the  Vat  Dye  Institute 
account. .. 

J.  M.  Mathes  has  been  awarded 
the  Burlington  Industries  busi¬ 
ness. 

Needham,  Louis  &  Brorby  lost 
the  Wilson  &  Co:,  meat  packers 
account.  The  firm  is  shopping 
around  for  an  agency  to  handle  its 
$1,000,600  billings. 

Switches:  Edward  C.  Fieri  Jr., 
named  supervisor  of  spot  broad¬ 
casting  and  telecasting  at  BBD&(X 
He  will  handle  spot  buying.- 

Leonard  Marshall,  head  of  the 
international'  department,.  ..  and 
Donald  D.  Halstead,  account  execu¬ 
tive,  have  been  ,  named  veepees  of 
J.  M.  Mathes.  : 

Arthur  Decker,  formerly  of 
Buchen  -Co.,  will  join  Donahue  & 
Coe  as  a  senior  veep  and  general 
business  manager  of  the  .agency’s 
Chicago  office. 


Pfot/E/Fr 

Here  Go  Agion. 

LbS  Angeles,  Jan:  21. 

Another  Ubel  suit  has  been 
fiiled  against  Mike  Wallace, 
ABC,  Philip  Morris  and  N.  W. 
Ayer  &  Son  over  Wallace’s 
network  interview  with 
Mickey  Cohen.  This  -one  was 
filed  by  Fletcher  Bowron,  for¬ 
mer  Los  Angeles  mayor  arid 
iio\v  a  Superior  Court  judge, 
who  seeks  $1,000,000  in  dairi* 
ages,  charging  Cohen  main¬ 
tained  that  Bowron  had  per¬ 
mitted  gambling  to  flourish  in 
Los  Angeles  during  his  tenure 
as  mayor.  * 

Action  notes  that  the  charge 
is  particularly  serious  in  that 
-Bowron  is.  an  elective  official 
whose  career  could  be  dam¬ 
aged. 

Suits  brought  by  L.  A. 
policechief  William  A.  Parker 
and  Cdpt.  James  Hamilton 
(both  appointed  officials)  were 
settled  but  of  court. 


The  station  reps’  favorite  topic ; 
of  conversation  is  the  amount  of 
coin  radio  and  tv  stations  they  owe 
[them.  The  “accounts  receivable” 
is  no  small  item  to  the  represen¬ 
tatives1  who  state  that  over  $600,- 
000,000  is  poured  in  spot  radio  and 
television  yearly.  Commission  on 
this  figure  comes  out  to  approxi¬ 
mately;  $5,000,000  every  month 
and  many  of  the  reps  have  had 
trouble  collecting  .their  due  with 
the  result  that  more  than  one  sta¬ 
tion  rep  has  ended  up  owning  a 
share  of  a  station  in  Podunk: 

A  “Framing  Guide”  to  standard¬ 
ize  measurements  for  the  art  work 
for  television  commercials  has 
been  jointly  developed  by  the 
American  Association  of  Adver¬ 
tising  Agencies  arid  Stations  Rep¬ 
resentatives  Assn,  and  is  available 
to  advertising  agencies  an  televi¬ 
sion  stations. 

Pearson’s  19th  Tear 
[  The  John-  E.  Pearson  Co,  is 
marking  its  19th  year  in  the  sta¬ 
tion  rep  field  this  week.  The  one- 
man  office  started  iri  Chicago  in 
1940  now  totals  seven  company- 
owned  offices  throughout  the  U.  S„ 
with  John.  E.  Pearson  as  prexy. 

Pearson  revealed  •  two  major 
Changes,  in  the  network  of  offices 
by  announcing  the  promotion  of 
F.  A.  Wurster  as  manager  of  the 
San  Francisco  office  and  the  ap¬ 
pointment,  of  Robert  Ross  Tortor- 
ieh  to  the  Chicago  sales  staff. 

Wurster  -  haS  been  a  sales  exec 
iri  the  N.  Y.  office.for  the  past  two 
years  and  prior  ta  joining  Pear¬ 
son  was .  associated  with  .  BBD&O 
in  media. '  -He  is  former  manager 
of  the  sales  service  department  of 
WAB0-TY,  New  York  Tortorich 
replaces  Frank  Frost  Who  took 
over  the.  managerial  post  of  the  re¬ 
cently  opened  Deff  Moines  office. 

Matty  Fox,,  prexy  of  the  C&C 
Television  Corp,  yesterday  debated 
the  topic;;,  of  whether  film  -  barter 
was  harmful  to  the  television  in¬ 
dustry  with  Frank  M.  Headly,  ‘pres¬ 
ident  of  H-R  Reppery  before  the 
RTES Time  Buying  and  Selling 
Seminar. 

The  Meeker  Co.  has  .been,  named 
to  rep  WKAT,  Miami.. , 

CBS  Spot  Sales  Study 

CBS  Television  Spot  Sales  has. 
put  out  a  study  encompassing  costs, 

.  coverage,  anebratings  of  spot '  tele¬ 
vision  buy  in;  the  top  75  markets. 

George  Skinner  has;  joined  the 
Katz  Agency  as  a  radio  program 
consultant.  He"  will  report  to  Mor¬ 
ris  S.  Kellner,  veepee  in  charge  of 
radio-  sales.  Before  joining  the 
Katz,  repperyl  :  Skinner  Was  en¬ 
gaged  as^an.  independent  radio  pro¬ 
gram  consultant.' 

Robert  J.  Lobdell,  formerly  as¬ 
sociated  with  Young  &  Ruhicam, 
has .  joined  the  Adam  Young  as  a 
radio  salesman.  . 

Steve1  Machcinski  who  joined  the 
Young  organization  13  years  ago 
as  a  radio  salesman  was  recently 
made  exec  veepee  of  Adaim  Young 
Inc. 

Ted  Van  Erk,  formerly  a  spe¬ 
cial  agent  of  the  FBI,  has  joined 
the  television  sales  staff  of  the 
Bolling  reppery, 

Frederick  G.  Neuberth  Jr.  has 
been  named  director  of  radio  re¬ 
search,  a  newlyrcreated  post  for 
Avery  Knodel,  station  representa¬ 
tives.  He  has  been  With  the  firm 
10  years  working  in  radio,  sales, 
research,  and  as  a.  staff  executive. 


I  Albany  —  Thomas<  S.  Murphy, 
general  manager  of  WTEN-TV  and 
of  its  sister  radio  station^  WROW, 
has.  been  nominated  as  a  director 
of  the  Albany  Chamber  of  'Com- 
I  merce.  > 


Wednesday,  -  Janiiary  22,  1958 
)+> ♦  ♦  ♦  ♦♦♦>♦♦♦♦ MIMMM  H  ♦  H 


l  >  '  ■  ■  t 

♦  ♦  ♦  M  f  ♦  f4f  ♦  ♦  ♦  ♦  I  ♦  ♦  M  ♦  IH  »  m»4 

IN  NEW  YORK  CITY 

Dr.  Floyd  Zulli  of  WCBS-TV’s  “Shnrise  Semester,”  Blok  Heffner  of 
META  and  Howard  Brice  of  NBC  discuss  educational  Television  at  to¬ 
day’s  (Wed.)  luncheon  meeting  of  the  American  Women  in  Radio  & 
TV  at  Shor’s  .  . .  Art  Fleming  and  fr^u  Peggy  Anne  Ellis  opening  a  gift 
shop,  the  Peg  Art,  on  upper  Lexington  Ave,  .  .  .  The  Arthur  Patersons 
(he’s  a  writer  with  CBS  Newsfilm)  celebrating  the  .arrival  of  a  son, 
their  fifth  child  .  .  .  Marilyn'  Reiss,  formerly  .with  Modern  Screen;  Walt 
Disney  and  the  Arthur  Jacobs  flackery,  joined  John  Walsh’s  special 
projects  unit  in  the  CSS-TV  press  info  setup  ,  .  .  Joe  Campanelia,  who 
wound  up  shooting  on  a  “Decoy”  film  and  roles  in  “Modem  Roinances” 
and  “My  True  Story/’  set  for  tonight’s  (Wed,).  “Kraft  Theatre”  .  .  , 
Patti  Page  to  the  Coast  for  10  days  last  week  with  this  week’s  “Big 
Record”  preemption  .  .  .  Lanny  Ross,  who  apart  WCBS  chores  is  v.p. 
for  thie  Irving  Trust  Co.’s  music  division,  entertains  the  bank’s  execs 
Jan.  31  ,  .  .  CBS  Radio  sales  veep  John  Karol  to  the  Coast  for  sales 
meetings,  with  stopovers  last  week  in  Chicago  and  Las  Vegas-^iatter 
stop  is  strictly  business  sales  convention  there  of  advertiser  Chas. 
Pfizer  &  Co.  . .  .  WCBS  prograin,  director  Allen  Luddett  named  cochair- 
.man  of  the  radio-tv  division  of  the  Boy  Socuts  fundraising  drive. 

Joel  Heller,  clerk  in  CBS  Radio  press  info,  dipped  to  researcher  on 
the  web’s  “Answer,  Please”  .  .  ..  Dr.  Carlton  Fredericks  in  White  Plains 
hosp:  with  a  broken  cheekbone  he  got  while  iceskating  over  the  week¬ 
end,' and  WOR  using  tapes  of  some  of  his  Old  WMGM  “Living , Should 
Be  Fun”  nutrition  shows  while  he’s  out .  .  .  Mike  Oppenheimer,  former 
producer  for  Frank  Cooper  Associates  and  Barry  &  Enright,  named 
producer  on  CBS  Radio’s  “Sez  Who?”  paneller  .  .  Abby  Lewis  and. 

hubby  John  D.  Seymour  worked  the  “Lamp  Unto  My  Feet”  show  over 
the  weekend  and  then  did  a  commercial  for  Manischewitz  Wine  .  . 
Singer  Sandy  Anselmo,  who  did  several  Jackie  Gleason  shows  last  sea¬ 
son,  back  from  a  Buffalo  trip,  where  he  sang  a  pop  concert  with  the 
Buffalo  Symphony  and  appeared  on  several  radio  and  tv.  shows  .  :  . 
Doug  Yates,  ex-BBD&O,  joined  CBS  Radio  Spot  Sales  as  an  account  , 
exec  serving  on  the  WCBS  sales  staff,  replacing  Lewis  Griest . . .  Marian 
Carr  set  fpr  an  “Eternal  Light”  stint  Sunday  (26)  ...  Claudia  Craw¬ 
ford,  the  moppet  who  pulled  down  kudos  fpr  bet  duet  with  Cyril  Ritch- 
ard  on  the  General  Motors  50th  anni  show  iri  November,  irito  rehearsals 
for  “The  Master  of  Thornfield,”  new  Errol  Flynn  starrer  slated  for 
Broadway  this  spring. 

Leonard  H.  Goldenson,  American  Broadcasting-Paramount  Theatres 
prexy,  named  to  board  of  Western  Union  (WU  topper  Walter  P,  Mar¬ 
shall  has  been  on  the  AB-PT  board  for  sometime  now)  .  .  .  Charles  Co¬ 
burn  is  first  guester  on  the  upcoming  live  Betty  White  show  which  her* 
gins  Feb.  5  .  .  .  A1  Freedman,  producer  of  “Twenty  One,”  and  his  wife, 
former  Flamenca  dancer  Esther  Katz,  had  a  baby  girl  in  Mt.  Sinai 
Wednesday  (15)  .  .  .  Charles  B.  Tranum,  talent  agency  head,  to.  coast, 
consolidating  his  affiliation  With  the  Flaire  Model  Agency .  .  Art  Ford, 
host  of  WABD's  “Greenwich  Village  Party,”  hosting  an  “I  Remember 
1948“  party  at  his  posh  east  side  home  on  Saturday  (25)  John  Win¬ 
gate  is  abandoning  his  WOR  “Controversy”  stanza  in  favor-  of  a  4  p.m. 
news  program  strip  on  the  same  outlet  .'  .  .  Tonight  (Wed.)  WMCA 
kicks  off  a  new  science  series  (at  9:30),  “This  Week  In  Science;”  with 
Dr.  Alan  Waterman,  National  Science  Foundation  director,  guesting 
. Sir  Cedric  Hardwicke  into  WABD’s  “Night  Beat”  sked  on  Friday 
(24)  •.  .  .  With  “You  Asked  for  It”  shifting  from  its  old  7  p.m.  Sunday 
time  slot  to  9:30  (after  Caesar)  with  new  host  Jack  Smith,  dt  kicks  off 
with  a  cruise  of  the  fabled  William  Randolph  Hearst  manse,  San  Sim¬ 
eon. 

Ronald  J.  Pollock  has  been  upped  to  position  of  sales  development 
supervisor  at  WPIX  .  .  .  New  York  Times  columnist,  and  vet  reporter 
Meyer  Berger  will  appear  today  (Wed.)  on  “Excursions  in  English,” 
telecast  by  Metropolitan  Educational  Television  Assn.,  via  WPIX  .  .  . 
Frank  Jacoby,  production  manager  for  the  META,  vacationing  in  the 
Laurentians  beginning  Moriday  (27) . .  .  Network  credit  sheets  have 
fouled  up  again.  Sole  directioral  credit  for  “Rome  Eternal”  on  NBC- 
TV,  telecast  on  “The  Catholic  Hour,”  should  go  to  Martin  Hoadc,  of 
NBC’s  pub  affairs  department.  NBC’s  credit  sheet,  utilized  for.  the  cre¬ 
dits  in  Variety’s  review,  mistakenly  indicated  that  Richard  Walsh  also 
directed  the  filmed  show.  Walsh  is  the  director  ,  of  television  of  the 
NatiohaL  Council  of  Catholic  Men,  which  cooperated  with  NBC  pUb 
affairs  department  in  producing  show  .  .  .  Marc  Brande! 'skied  to  Coast 
(20)  for  production  huddles  with' Gordon  Duff  of  “Studio  One”  arid 
Eva  Wplas  pf  “Climax”,  on  his  two  plays,  “Tide  of  Corruption”  arid 
“So  Deadly  JMy  Love,”  to  be  given  Feb,  17  and  Feb.  20,  respectively, 
with  his  third  within  a  month,  “Man  Authority,”  due;  on  N-Y.-hased 
Kraft  Theatre' in  mid-March. 

CBS  pubaffairs  director  Irving  Gitlin  addresses,  a  session  of  the  6th 
Annual  Visual  Workshop,  of  the  U.S.  Dept .  of  Agriculture  in  Wash¬ 
ington  Jan.  30  .  .  ;  CBS  Radio  prexy  Arthur  Hull  Hayes  to  the  Coast 
on  business  meetings,  both  in  L.A.  and  San  Francisco,  with  a  visit  to 
Phoenix,  for  the  NARTB  Radio  Board  meeting  ....  Larry  Markes  set 
as  head  writer,  for  “Tonight”  this  week  and  next  while  Jonathan  Win- 
ters.  takes  over  for  vacationing  Jack  Paar  .  .  .  Peter  Donald  subbing 
for  Robert  Q.  Lewis  on  CBS  Radio  while  the  latter  vacation^  through 
Jan.  31  .  .  .  Ann  Sorg,  associated  with  Grace  Lyons  iri  the  latter’s  tal¬ 
ent  agency  for  the  past  two  years,  leaving  to  take  a  casting  post  with 
the  Ted  Bates  agency.’  Jullen  Williams,  formerly  with  the.  John  Gibbs 
agency,  joining  Miss  Lyons  .  ..  .  Sandy  Nemser,  former  femme  report¬ 
er  for  AP,[  named  producer-director-writer  of  CBS  Radio’-s  “Answer, 
Please”  .'.  Arnold  Stang  featured  in  “FBI  in  Peace  &  W:ar”  Sunday 
(26).  " 

IN  HOLLYWOOD 

Bates  Agency’s  Dick  Pinkhain  around  to  sample  next  season’s  avail- 
ables  arid  surprised  at  the  few  actual  pilots  .  .  Abe  Lastfogel  east 

to  steam  up  interest  in -a  series' starring  Barbara  Stanwyck  for  next 
season.  Presumably  it  will  have  a  western  .flavor  judging  from  her  last 
guesting  of  “Zarie  Grey  Theatre, “  .which  was  said  to  be  a  pilot .  ...  Cal. 
State  Radio  and  Television  Broadcasters  holds  its  annual  meeting  here 
Feb:  7 :  with  Jack  Schacht  of  Sacramento  presiding  .‘  .  .  Selling  is  so 
brisk  and  competitive-that  one  packager  offered  to  guarantee  that  the 
cost-per-thousand-per-commercial  minute  would  stay  under  $3  .  .  .  AB- 
PT  prexy  Leonard  Goldenson  parleyed  with  Walt  Disney  most  of  his 
three-day  visit  here.  Past  contracts  will  be  renewed.  His  program  veep, 
James  Aubrey,  calling  oh  ail  studios  to  see  “what  they  got.”  •  •  J®hn 
Guedel  east  to  make  a  riew  three-year  deal  with  .  NBC  for  “People  Are 
Fuirny.”  ...  Mark  Scott,  voice  of  the  Hollywood  Stars  on  KFWB  radi 
for  so  many  years,  started  a  new  sports  program  on  KCOP  .  .  :  Arthur 
Hull  Hayes,  CBS  radio  prexy,  passed  a  day  here  meeting  with  depart¬ 
ment  heads  .  .  .  Young  &  Ruhicam  tv  topper.  Bob  Mountain,  takes  the 
opposite  view  Of  Bates’  Dick  Pinkham.  Sezze.  “I  never  saw  so  many 
pilots.”  He  and  his  staffers  are  studying  more  than  200  shows  for  next 
semester  .  .  .  Even  after  ^’End  of  the  Rainbow”  got  those  blistering  no¬ 
tices,  John  Guedel  claims  it's  an  exact  duplicate  of  “Surprise,”  Which 
he  tried  to  sell  years  ago  .  ;  ..  Elroy  “Crazylegs  Hirsch  gave  up  pro  foot¬ 
ball  to  become  host-emcee  of  Uuion  Oil’s  “76  Sports"  Club”  airing  over 

(Continued  on  page  52) 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1958  _ ,  _  f^Sttj^TT _ _ RADIO-TELEVISION  3S 

Local  Public  Service  Beats  Kid  Stuff 

[CROSS-COl/JVrRy  SURVEY  of  local  live  programming  j 

By  LEONARD  TRAUBE 


LIVE  TELEVISION  may  be  becoming  a  dead  duck  as 
■  far  as  the  networks  are  concerned,  but  local  channels 
I  are,  if  anything,  bolding  the  line;  in  the  direction  of 
certain  categories  of  live  telecasting.  As  “network  live”  ’ 
..  becomes  less  and  less  of  a  factor  in  video  programming, 
the  locals  tend  ,  to  take  up  a  substantial  part  of  the  gap 
and,  in  fact,  give  a  good  account  of  themselves  in  narrow- 
ing  the  difference  between  the  number  of.  live  hours — 
figuring  local  and1  network  time  in  combination— in  the 
television  week  of  1956,  compared  to  the  television  week 
of  1957  as  of  year's  end. 

Further,,  the  recent  uptrend  by'  networks  toward  “in¬ 
formational"  programming,  resulting  directly  from  the 
USSR's  exploits  with  its  sputniks  and  “man  in  the  moon," 
found  many  local  tv  stations  way  ahead  of  network  think¬ 
ing  from  the  view  that  given  local  channels  have  been ... 
programming  such  informational  segments  before  Sputnik 
&  Co,  burst  upon  the  world,  to  put  America  and  its  allied 
Western  nations  into  a  frenzy  of  activity  based  upon  im¬ 
proving  Their  scientific  reservoir  in  terms  of  schools,  edu¬ 
cator^,  scholars,  and  facilities. 

-First  off,  let  it  be  put. into  the-TecOrd  that  numerous 
local  stations  are  not  only  excelling  in  “public  service" 
programming — and  are  more  proud  of  this  type  of  con¬ 
tribution  than  anything  for  which  they  are  directly  re¬ 
sponsible  on  their  local  air— but.  have  made  such  pro¬ 
gramming  “first  and  foremost"  on  their  own  schedules. 

This  is.  but  one  of  a  number  of  significant  facts  brought 
out  in  a  nationwide  survey  by  Variety  of  specific  phases 
of  programming  habits  by  local  stations.  The  investigation 
was  a  purely  qualitative  pne;  meaning,  first,  that  in  the 
.  .questionnaire  stations  were  not  .burdened  with  or  pre¬ 
judiced  by.  the  presence  or  absence  of  sponsors,  of  specific 
shows  that  were  under  survey;  and  second,  the  stations 


SET  FORTH  in  the  sampling  for  response  by  local 
television  stations  in  the  survey  by  Variety  were 
'questions  on  facts  and  figures. relating  to  a  minimum  of 
two  live  shows  presented  by  each  station.  The  figure  of  two 
was  offered  as  a  minimum  in  the  questionnaire  because  it 
was  deemed  a  respectable  one  in  view  of  the  fact  that, 
'even  In  some  of  the  largest  markets,  including  network 
.owned  &  operated  properties  and  flagships,  there  are  not 
.:inany  more  than  two  or  three  live  series,  other  than  news 
'&  Weather,  offered  by  a  single  channel. 

This  category  brought  what  may  well  be  a  striking 
•statistic— certainly  a  possible  surprising  one,  at  least  for 
'those  quarters  not  familiar,  or  only  vaguely  familiar,  with 
-the  programming  customs  of  local  stations.  Networks  are, 
of  course,  more  than  merely  conversant  With  what  goes 
on  locally  in  their  owned  &  operated  stations— -but  it  is 
•the  affiliated  stations,  the  “loose"  and  “multiple"  affiliates 
and  the  “no  tie”  or  “no  link"  independents  that  constitute . 
•the  secret  word  in  local  television  programming. 

Here,  as  will  be  Shown,  some  channels  in  communities 
.with  less,  than  50,000  population: — “places  you  never  heard 
of” — take  their  stand  with  important  shows  of  national 
'significance— some  cutting  across  the  invisible  national 
boundaries  into  the  international-value  sphere — that  Can 
-stack  up  against  (1)  similar  formats  of  large  stations  and 
,<2)  similar  programs  emanating  from  the  national  circuits. 


r 


90%  Have  a  Pair 


•The  “staggering”  statistic  vis  this:  nearly  90%  of  all 
replies  included  figures  relating  to  the  minimum  number 
••—two — of  live  shows  produced  locally.  Of  these,  42%  slot 
series  cross-the-board.  Next  in  line .  are  the  24%  with 
Saturday  berths;  followed  by  17%  with  Sunday  ,  segmentar 
•tion,  14%  with  one-a-week  programs  on  Weekdays,  and  a 
-scattering  of  3%  with  three-a-week,  two-a-week  and  alter¬ 
nate  weeks.  ", 

Another  strategic  factor  is  the  staying  power  of  shqWs 
chosen  by  the  stations  as  their  “top”  efforts  on  a.  qualita¬ 
tive  basis.  Approximately  46%  of  the  programs  so  singled 
nut  are  pne  year  or  more  old.  That  figure  might  be  larger 
-bad  all  the  stations  filled  out  this  classification  completely, 
The  largest  percentage  is  for  programs  launched  only  this 
season  of  1957-58,  with  a  figure  of  34%.  About  32%  haye 
..been  winning  two:  years  or  more.  The  breakdown  on 
program  hashmarks: 

.34% 


Up  to  six  months  old 
Six  months  to  1  yfear 

1  year  to  18  months 

18  months  to  2  years  ... 

2  years  or  over  .’ .• ,iv.- 
Not  specified 


14% 


.  .  .  32% 


100% 


l 


‘In  Business*  to  Stay 


Of  those  series  running  three  years  or  longer,  the 
average  is  well  over  three  years— the  best  indication  that 
these  local  adventures  are  “in  business  "  In  many  cases 
they  have  been  “In  business"  a  good  deal  longer  than  live 
shows,  with  similar  formats  dr  otherwise,  put  out  for  or 
In  behalf  of  -the  networks.  A  not  unusual  expression  in 
the  ^responses  to  the  survey  Was  “running  since  1950"  or 
•'running  since  1951.’’ 

In  the  bracket  of  “second  level"  or  ‘‘second  best"  pro¬ 
grams  (again  with  no;  relationship,  as.  to  sponsorship  .or: 
-viewer  measurement)  .there  are  a  few  minor  variations,  : 
The  most  affirmative  of  these  Is  that  38%— nr  four  per¬ 
centage  -points  higher,  than  the  “best  show”  category— 
Were  launched  this  season,  in  September,  October,  No- : 
vember  or  December.  Roughly  18%  are  18  months  to 
two  years  of  age.  The  breakdown  on  “second  platoon” 
longevity: 

Up  to  six  months  pld^7. ...... •  •>••••  38% 

Six  months  to  1  year,  9% 

1  year  to  I8  months  . . ... 11% 

18  months  to  2  yehrs  .. ........ 18% 

2  years  or  over 

Not  specified  v.I.li.*., 5% 


werp  offered  a  free  hand  in  “pointing  with  pride"  to.  their. 
OWn  choice  of  what  they  considered  their  leading  pro¬ 
grams— irrespective  of  how  these  shows  are  Nielsened 
Trendexed,  Pulsed  or  ARBed  against  competitive  live 
local  shows,  against  network  originated  segments,  Whether 
live  or.  fihn  or  both,  or  against  the  thundering  and  ever 
Increasing  herds  of  syndicated .  and  HoUywood  cinematics 
inundating  the  nation’s  livingrooms. 

As  an  entity  requiring  no  further  definition,  children’s 
shows  rules  the  roost,  at  least  as  far  as  this  particular 
cross-country  survey  is  concerned.  Making  a  .projection 
based  on  the  poll,  the  resultant  figure  is  28%  of  local 
stations'  “top”  programs  formatted  for  kiddie  appeal: 


-‘PS*  Preeminence 


J 


Genetically,  however,  “public  service"  programs,  with 
34%,  are  actually  the  No.  1  “best  program",  format  around, 
the  country.  In  this  sphere  are  educational  and  cultural 
shows,  news  and  press  panel  segments,  and  the  like. 

Musical  types,  including  variety  entries,  folk-hillbilly 
or  country  &  Western  musicals  and  kindred  programs, 
occupy  a  niche  of  16%  in  the  “top"  category;  teenage 
shows.  14%;  miscellaneous  program^  such  as  audience 
participatibners,  quizzes  and  segments  with  so-called 
mother-child  and  housewife  appeal,  about  8%, 

Here  is  the  statistical  story,  including  frequency  of 
exposure: 

Mon. 

thru  Sat.  Sat.  Sun.  1  day  Total 
Fri.  (Day)  (Nite)  (Day)  (Wkday)  % » 


Type 


Public 


Service1 

.6% 

.5% 

2% 

15% 

6%. 

34% 

Kid  ........ 

.  20% 

4% 

2% 

2% 

28% 

Variety  • 

7% 

4% 

2% 

3% 

16% 

Teenage 

2% 

10% 

_ — i' 

2% 

14% 

Other* 

8%; 

—  'j 

8% 

43%; 

23% 

4%. 

17% 

13% 

.100% 

1  Public  affairs,  science}  educational,  news,  press  panel, 
etc.  ... 

•  Includes  country  &  western  music,  general  music,  etc.. 

•  Includes  audience  participation,  quiz,  mother  -  child, 
housewife  appeal,  etc. 

NOTE:  All  the  percentage  figures  are  “round.”  Where  no 
figures  appear,  there  is  either  no  data  available  or 
no  data  substantial  enough  for  practical  reckoning. 

In  the  section  On  “second  best"  live  shows  (chosen,  in 
a  particular  category  as  against  top-level  or  any  category), 
the  variation  js  largely  in  the  first  two  positions.  Here, 
the  kiddie  formats  rank  over  public  service— a  reasonably 
“normal”  exchange  of  position  in  view  of  the  fact  that  “in¬ 
formational  shows  top  the  “top"  classification.  Here  is 
how  the  formats  line  up: 

Mon.thru  Sat.  Sat.  Sun.  1  day  Total 
Type  Fri.  (Day)  (Nite)  (Day)  (Wkday)  % 

Children’s  . 20%  9%  . 29% 

Public  Service  2%  6%  12%  3%  23% 

Variety  7%  2%  2%  2%  13% 

Teenage  . .-.  3%  . .  3% 

Misc.  . .25%*  %.  ....  .  ....  .  7%  32% 

•  Multi-week  but  less  than  .  5-a-week  included  here.  Housewife- 
appeal  programs  would  faU,  percentagewise,  .between  Variety  and 
Teenage,  but  data -too  vague  in  many  instances  to  set  up  a  House¬ 
wife  category,  including  kitchen-type  programming.- 

An  overwtielniing ^percentage  of  the  “live  ones” — .  76% 
—run  the  year  ’round.  This  includes  programs  launched 
only  this  season  but  stated  as  being  geared  for  52-week 
airing.:(With  summer  preemptions  in  some  cases).  Of  the 
balance  of  24%,  roughly  8%  run  for  a  couple  of  cycle 
(26  w^eks),  6%  is  scattered  among  .shows  running  42 
weeks,  39  weeks,  13  weeks,  etc.,  and  not  specified  in  .  this 
phase  of  the  survey,  10%. 


I 


Local-Network  No.  1 .  Competition 


Local  live  programs  encompassed  in  the  survey  find 
their  foremost  competition  from  a  combination  of  other; 
local  plus  network  shows.  This  amounts  to  31%  of  the 
stations  covered  in  the  poll.  “LoCal  only"  rivalry  is  sec¬ 
ond  at  22%,  and  “network  only"  competition  third  at 
20%.  The  full  breakdown: 

Syndl- 

Net  &  Local  Net  Net  &  LoCal  &  cation 
Local  Only  Only  Synd.  Synd.  Only 

31%  22%.  20%  .15%  V%  .  5% 

The  final  category  in  the  survey  appeared  to  give  some, 
of.  the  respondents  a'  difficulty  not  encountered  in  the 
other  questions., 

The  questions  Were:  Total  number  of  live  shows  now 
running  on  your  station  (give  total  hours);  and  total  num¬ 
ber  Of  live  shows  one  year  ago  this  date  (December.  1957) 
(give;  total*,  hours). 

It  had  been  assumed  that  stations  would  list  the  num¬ 
ber  of  live  shows  and  total  hours  on  a  per^week  basis — 
and  the  great  majority  did  so.  Other,  however,  interpreted 
this  classification  in  various  ways:  some  cross-the-board 
programs  Were  listed  as  “five"  shows,  others  counting  a 
series  as  “one"  show  for  purposes  of  weekly  definition 
Several  stations  rendered  their  totals  on  a  per-day  basis. 
Also,  there  were  a  number  of  errors  purely  mathematical. 
In  addition,  some  channels  gave  the  compilation  as  of  the 
past  December,  without  bothering  to  make  the  comparison 
with  December  of  1956,  or  vice  versa.  In  a  few  cases, 
where  the  number  of  shows  were  Specified,  the  total  hours 
were  not,  or  vice  versa.  Several  of  the  stations  respond¬ 
ing  were  not  On  the  air  during  part  or  all  of  1956,  or  part 
of  1957. 

Eliminating  these  returns,  approximately  70%  of  the 
questionnaires  were  counted  as  “information  In,  full.”  With 


In  addition  to  the  12  states,  listed  separately  which 
contributed  about  60%  of  the  replies  to  the  survey 
questionnaire,  these  are  the  18  states  in  the  spread  of 
30  states,  (and  the  District  of  Columbia)  included  in 
the  poll:  Arizona^  Arkansas,  Connecticut, .  Iowa,  Ken¬ 
tucky,  Louisiana,  Maine,.  Michigan,  Minnesota,  Mis¬ 
sissippi,  Missouri,  Montana,  Pennsylvania,  South  Car¬ 
olina,  Texas,  Utah,  Vermont,  Wisconsin. 


these  in  hand,  it  can  be  stated  that  there  was  scarcely  a 
quantitative  difference  between  live  programming  in  1958 
and  that  of  1957,  figuring  about  the  middle  of  the  past 
December  as  the  . terminal  point. 

Approximately  39%  of  the  stations  marked  a  decrease 
in  the  number  of  shows,  whereas  roughly  42%  racked  up 
an  increase;  carrying  the  same  number  of  shows  or  with 
ho  appreciable  change,  about  19%.  There  was  scarcely 
a  difference  in  the  number  of  live  hours  as  between  1956 
and  1957.  Reduced  to  the  very  lowest  common  denomina¬ 
tor,  the  ratio  would  be  60  minutes  of  1957  programming 
against  63  minutes  of  .1956  programming — an  academic 
difference  iq  terms  of  number  of  shows  spread  on  the 
number  of  stations. 

Caution  would  dictate,  however,  that  the  basic  figures 
in  this  particular  division  of  the  survey,  for  the  reasons 
set  forth,-  are  not  as  “scientific”  as  the  data  in  the  other 
categories  of  the  poll.  A  supplementary  reason  i?  that  it 
is  believed  some  stations  either  failed  to  note  that  only 
“live"  shows  were  under  consideration  or  accepted  shows 
as  “live"  in  the  case  of  so-called  “live  transmission"  or 
programs  beamed  on  “live  time.”  Nevertheless,  there  ap¬ 
pears  to  be  no  trend  toward  a  dip  in  live  programming  on 
the  part  Of  the  local  channels. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  developments  oncoming  during  the 
survey  period  and  for  the  weeks  immediateljTthereafter, 
appear  to  reflect  a  sharp  uptrend  in  live  beaming  by  many 
locals,  with  particular  emphasis  upon  information  ,  seg¬ 
ments.  It  already  has  been  shown  that  upsweep  in  publia 
service  programming  follows  the  curve  of  new  -develop¬ 
ments  in  Allied  (U.S.,  Western  nations)  and  “co-existence" 
(USSR  &  Co.)  tensions  and  ICBMing. 

At  year's  end,  too,  the  networks  dramatized  The  inter¬ 
national  and  domestic  news,  of  recent  months  by  signifi¬ 
cant  excursions  into  the  realm  of  “inventory  on  1957" 
stanzas,  plus  other  one-shotters  such  as  the  controversial 
Rockefeller  Report  This  was  immediately  reflected  in 
repeat  or  Similar  programming  on  the  local  level. 

Perhaps  not  typical,  but  apparently  a  big-city  trend  and 
obviously  a  powerful  public  relations  and  exploitation  in¬ 
strument,  is  the  blueprint,  by  WEWS,  the  Scripps-How- 
ard  channel  in  Cleveland..  WEWS  climaxes  its  January 
“Festival  of  Local  Live  TV"  with  the  appearance— on  the 
27th— of  Bishop  Fulton  J.  Sheen  from  its  Cleveland  stu- 
(Continued  oh  page  52) 


R.S.V.P.-U.S.A.  Facts 

The  survey  by  Variety  of  local  live  television  pro¬ 
gramming  brought  A:;  response  of  slightly  more  than 
22%  from  the  stations  polled:  This  is  equivalent  to  over 
2,2.  stations  of  each  10  channels  invited,  to  participate  via 
the  form  of  a  questionnaire  limited  to  a  single  page  re¬ 
turnable  as  is. 

.  The  geographical  spread  of ;  the  replies,  embraced  36 
states  and  the  District  of  Columbia.  The  largest  response 
was  from:  Ohio,  North  Carolina,  Alabama,  and  the  next 
largest  response  from*  Georgia,  New  York,  West -Virginia,- 
California,  Maryland,  Indiana,  Oregon,  Massachusetts  and 
Washington  State. 

The  12  states  in  the^ foregoing  accounted  for  60%  of 
the  total  number  of  replies  to  the  direct-mail  poll,  with 
ho -second  questionnaire  or  other  types  of  followups  or 
‘.‘pressures.” 

Likewise  as  to  balance,  there  was  not  a  sharp  spread  as 
to  the  size,  market-by-market,  responding  to  the  poll — 
ranging  from  a  response  of  16%  from  the  smallest  market 
(50,000  or  under),  20%  from  the.  largest  market  (500,006 
or  over)  to -the  26%  (leading  the  roost)  from  the  very 
sizable  “middle  market*’  of  100,000  to  250,000  population. 

Here  is  the  market-by-market  breakdown  in  round  per¬ 
centages: 

Population  of.  50,000  or  under  16% 

50,000  to  100,000  18% 

100.000  to  250,000  . . 26% 

250,000  to  500,000  . . .  20% 

500,000  or  oyer  . .  v  ..*»■ . . . .  20% 


t  ‘Balanced’  Markets  | 

The  percentage  of  returns  from ‘  these  markets  did  not 
vary  sharply  from  the  percentage  of  questionnaires  sent 
to  each  of  the  five  population  areas  enumerated;  in  the 
foregoing;  As  a  result,  it  is  the  belief  of  Variety  that  the 
returns  are  representative  or  typical  rather  than  special, 
from  the  view  of  balance  in  the  number  of  markets  cov¬ 
eted  in  relation  to  the  number  of  stations  nationally 
(some  400),  the  respective  populations  in  those  markets, 
and  the  “owned  &  operated,’’  network  affiliation  and  “in¬ 
dependent”  complexions  thereof. 

Only  the  continental  United  States  was  covered;  but 
through  a  clerical  error  There  were  several  questionnaires 
sent  to  territories,  with  one  response,  from  Anchorage— 
KTVA-TV,  listed  in  the  group  of  the  CBS  Television  Net¬ 
work.  In  view  of  the  error,  specific  information  from  this 
station  is  given  herewith  for  what  it  is  worth,  although 
the  purvey  proper  does  not  deal  with  the  data  by  name,, 
as  such,  from  every  one  of  the  other  stations  which  re¬ 
sponded:  “Top”  show,  “Know  Alaska”  with  Tex  Noey, 
described  as  a  Will  Rogers  type  of  character  of  long 
standing  in  therTerritory.  Noey  shows  and  narrates  silent 
films  on  fishing,  hunting  and  natives  throughout  Alaska. 
There  are  occasional  guest  appearances,  but  restricted  to 
conform  to  the  show’s  format.  The  slot  is  7  p.m.  Monday, 
with  show  launched  during  the  winter  of  1954  and  Tun¬ 
ing  the  year  ’round.  Competing  is  KENI-TV,  carrying 
ABC  and  NBC  programs.  Station’s  other  selection  in  a 
“particular"  category  (the  “top”  show  listing  was  for, 
“any”  category)  was  “Kitchen  .  Kapers,"  wherein  local 
chefs  serve,  meals,  which  are  cooked  on  the  air,  to  various 
guests.  This  is  berthed  4  to  4:30  p.m.  Monday-Wednesday- 
Friday  and  was  started  only  a  few  months  ago,  on  Nov.  4, 
1957.  The  total  number  of  live  shows  weekly  (network 
and  local)  on  station  are  18  consuming  20  hours;  against 
15  shows  running  17V&  hours  as  of  the  same  period  of 
1956.) 


84  TV-FMJIS 


Pftsu&rr 


Wednesday^ Junnary  22,  1958 


on 


in 


By  DAVE  KAUFMAN 

Hollywood,  Jan.  21. 

Hazards  of  telefilming  are  pin¬ 
pointed  in  the  disclosure  of  at  least 
14  Hollywood  vidfilmeries  have 
either  folded  during  the  past  year 
or  have  no  production  In  sight  for 
1958,  except  for  a  pilot  or  so.  The 
mortality  rate  among  the  telefilm 
plants  has  increased  considerably 
the  last  few  years,  as  the  tendency 
has  been  toward  fewer  but  bigger 
firms. 

In  inost  cases,  the  victims  have 
been  companies  with  one  yid-series 
only,  thereby  leaving  them  with  no 
cushion  or  “insurance”  in  case 
something  happens  to  that  single 
series.  In  this  category  on  the 
casualty  list  are  Ballad  Produc¬ 
tions,  which  turned:  out  the  axed 
•‘The  Brothers”;  Federal  Telefilms, 
Which  produced  “Crossroads”;  Fpr- 
dyce  Enterprises,  which  made  “On 
Trial,”  and  Wesmor,  which  churned 
out  “Dr.  Hudson’s  Secret  Journal.” 

Other  companies  with  no  pro¬ 
duction  in  sight  include  the  Allied 
Artists  tv  subsid,  Interstate  Tele¬ 
vision;  Tom  Curtis  Productions, 
which  sold  its  “Sergeant  Preston 
of  the  Yukon”  ,  series  to  Jack 
Wrather;  Medic:  TV,  which  folded 
when  the  “Medic’’  series  got  the 
ax. 

Splendix  Enterprises  made  sev¬ 
eral  pilots  of  “Five  Star  Show,” 
never  sold  any;  Studio  City  TV,  the 
Republic  subsid,  is  virtually  dor¬ 
mant,  with  plans  for  one  pilot; 
Jack  Chertok  Productions,  once  a 
bustling  company,  is  how  confined 
to  making  scattered  pile's. for  NBC. 

Gross-Krasne  has  no  Hollywood 
vidpix  on  its  slate,  although  it  is 
shooting  a  series  abroad;  Super¬ 
man  Inc.,  another.  e-series  com¬ 
pany,  won’t  know  until  renewal 
time  next  summer  if  it’s  still  in 
business. 

Flying  A,  Gene  Autry’s  company 
which  once  had  a  heavy  production 
sked  every  year,  has  no  definite 
production  slated  for  the  coming 
year;  Hobart  Productions,  Frank 
Sinatra's  vidfilmery  which  was  to 
have  filmed  his  ABC  series  in  its 
entirety  plus  two  other  series,  is 
no  longer  telefilmery  since  the  web 
and  sponsor  ordered  his  series  to 
go  live,  and  deals  for  his  other 
vidseries  failed  to  jell. 

In  addition,  there  are  many, 
other  so-called  “fringe**  companies 
which  hope  to  have  a  sponsor  and 
a  series  in  1958,  but  no  assurance 
of  either  yet.  Into  this  pattern  fall 
companies  such  as  that  of  Roy 
Rogers,  the  oater  star  cuiTently  in 
negotiation  on  a  series,  but  with 
no  concrete  plans  for  the  coming 
year. 

Insecurity  continues  to  beset,  thq 
One-series  companies  in  telepix  in¬ 
dustry;  hence  the  tendency  to  mul¬ 
tiple-series  companies  which  aren’t 
at  t/.e  mercy  of  one  sponsor,  or 
one  agency. 

In  addition  to  the  companies 
mentioned,  there  are  many  fly-by- 
night  operations  -  which  shoot  a 
pilot  or  two,  then  vanish  as  the 
film  fails  to  find  a  sponsor.  But 
there  are  less  of  t  |i  e  s  e  shoe- 
stringers  these  days,  as  the  cost  of 
telefilming  increases,  and  it’s  that 
much  more  difficult  for  them  to 
find  an  angel. 


DA  to  Release 


Wide  Coo’IAcceptance 
For  Britannica  Pix 

Encyclopaedia  Britannica  Films, 
are  gaining  commercial  acceptance 
with  sponsors,  according  to  a  sur¬ 
vey  conducted  by  Trans-Lux  Corp., 
which  distributes  the  EB  films  to 
tv  stations. 

Polling  stations  which'  have, 
bought  the,  library,  Trans-Lux 
found  that  about  half  of  the  pro-, 
grams  utilizing  EB  Films  are  com¬ 
mercially  sponsored.  The  survey, 
encompassed  about:  20  stations 
which  replied  to  the  Trans-Lux 
poll  in  detail. 

-Responding:  stations  created 
over  60  programs  specifically  as  a 
framework  for  the  EB  Films.  Many 
of  the  EB  shorts  also  are  being 
utilized  in  connection  with  tele¬ 
casting  of  feature  films.  The  flex¬ 
ibility  offered  by  the  EB  of  shorts 
is  gleaned;  from  a  10-page  report, 
on  the  survey,  showing  stations 
employing  the  films  for  shows 
ranging  from  travel,  civics,  science, 
to  kiddie  and  adult  programming. 


Key  Revues  Sked 


Hollywood,  Jan.  21. 

Revue  Productions  is  planning 
from1 8  to  10  new  vidpix  series  for 
next  season,  with  the  emphasis  on 
the  new  product  to  be  high  adven¬ 
ture,  which  Revue  execs  feel  will 
be.  the  trend  next  semester. 

Among  upcoming  projects.  Revue 
is  shooting  a  minimum  of  13 
"Cimarron  City”  hour-long  vid- 
films  for  NBC,  and  39  “Special 
Agent  7,”  starring  Lloyd  ;  Nolan. 

Other  series  possibilities  are 
pilots  such  as  an  untitled .  metier 
series  starring  Dennis  O’Keefe, 
with  name  guest  singers  and  mu¬ 
sicians  in  the  N.Y.  locale;  Focus,” 
starring  Edmund  O’Brien;  “Yankee 
Ely,”  Nat  Holt  production  starring 
Alex  Nichol;  and  “Secrets  of  Old 
Bailey”  and  two  comedy  series. 

SCREEN  GEMS  SETS 
‘DIAL  116*  SERIES 

;  Screen  Gems  has  set  Herbert  B. 
Leonard’s  new  “Dial  116”  series, 
based  on  the  work  of  the  Los  An¬ 
geles  Fire  Dept/fr  emergency 
squad  as  a .  Syndicated  entry  arid 
has  given  Leonard  the  go-ahead 
for  production  to  .  begin  next 
month.  The  Columbia  vidpix  sub¬ 
sid  expec  s  to  have  at  least  one 
pilot  in  the  house  by  mid-spring 
and  will  then  begin  selling  the 
show  for  a  fall  airdate. 

.  At  the  same  time.  Screen  Gems 
has  provided  a  new  twist  for  one; 
of  its  older  syndicated  shows  by 
converting  the  Patti  Page  series; 
which  aired  originally  as  a  quarter- 
hour  segment  fori  Oldsmobile  and 
was  then  syndicated  in  non-Olds 
arid  ,  rerun  markets,  into  a  half- 
hour  version.  There  are  31  half- 
hours  in  the  new  package,  With 
s'ations  getting  a  choice  of  buying 
the  new  30-miriute  group  or  the 
original  package  of  78  quarter- 


united  Artists  is  prepping  a  new 
package  of  postr’48  theatricals, 
consisting  of  from.  .39  to  52  pix. 

Package:  will  be -  pitched  to  .  sta¬ 
tions  in  from  two  to  six  weeks,  but 
definitely  prior  to  the  April  con¬ 
vention  of  the  Natiodhl  Assn,  of 
Radio  and  Television  Broadcasters. 

As  to  the  titles,  UA  is  sitting  on. 
them  uritil  it  gets  full  clearances, 
fearful  that  the  current  Holly- 
wood-exhibitor  campaign  to  keep 
post-’48’s  off  tv  may  upset  any 
deals  by  premature  disclosures. 

UA  has  .been  releasing  a  steady 
stream  of  post-’48’s,  via  individual 
deals  with  producers  and  keeping 
a  fund  in  escrow  for  the  time 
when  and  if  a  tv  residual  formula 
ts  reached  with  the  talent  guilds. 


Following  a  policy  of  an  almost 
day.  and  date  release  of  syndicated 
series  abroad,  Ziv  has  racked  up 
sales  on  “Sea  Hunt”  in  seven  for¬ 
eign  markets.' 

Lloyd  Bridges  starrer  has  been 
bought  in  the  United  Kingdom  by 
ATV  for  London  and  Granada  TV 
for  the  north  of  England.  In  West 
Germany,  the  series  has  been  pur¬ 
chased  by  the  government-owned 
network.  In  the  Philippines,  it 
was  bought  by  DAZQ-TV,  Manila. 
Osaka  TV  has  purchased  the  deep- 
sea  skein  for  the  Japanese  net 
ATN  and  GTV  have  purchased  the 
show  fori  Melbourne  and  Sydney, 
Australia,  with  sales,  also  inked,  in 
Puerto  Rico,  Cub*  and  Venezuela. 


ABC  FILMS  SALES’ 

EXEC  REALIGNMENT 

A  general  revamping  of’  ABC 
Filrit.;  Syndication's  sales  force  is  ] 
uhderway,  with  the  takeover  of 
the  sales  y.p.  post  by  Phil  Williams. 

Resignations  include  Robert  I 
Marcato,  eastern  sales  manager, 
arid  William  Hooper,  account  exec 
for  northern  New  York  and  New 
England.  Replacements  will  be 
made  shortly.  Continuing  his’ 
field  trip,  Williams  will  join  prexy 
George:  Shupeft  in  a  trip  to  the 
Coast  shortly  for  conferences  . with 
William  Clark,  y.p.  of  Coast  opera¬ 
tions. 

John  Burns  remains  as-  v.p.  in 
charge  of  national  -sales. 


Double-Exposure 

A  blanket  rule  against  the 
“double-exposure”  of  any  first-run 
syndicated  skein  telecast  on  WCBS- 
TV,  NiY.,  has  been  issued  by  Sam 
Digges,  station  topper.. 

The  rule  came  to  light  In  the 
wake  of  the  shift  of  MCA  TV’s 
“Mickey  Spillane’s  Mike  Hammer” 
series  from  WOR-TV  to  the  CBS 
New  York  flagship.  RKO  Teleradio 
had  initially  Inked  .the  skein  for 
its  o&o's,  including  WOR-TV. 
Sponsors  American  Home  Products 
and  Marlboro  Cigs  bought  -the  ; 
rights  away  from  WOR-TV  and 
placed  .it  on  WCBSrTV,  when  the 
Tuesday,  at  10:30  p.m.  slot  became 
Open. 

Any  “double  exposure”  by  WOR- 
TV  was  nixed  by  Digges,  Who  feels 
that  if  the  series  is  available  on  an¬ 
other  station,  it  would  cost  WCBS- 
TV  rating  points  on  the  program, 
even  if  the  episodes  follow  the 
WCBS-TV  run. 

,  A  similar  situation  arose  with 
Ziv’s  “Sea  Hunt;”  when  WPIX  at¬ 
tempted  to  corral  alternate  spon¬ 
sors  Home  Finance  Corp.  and  Bris¬ 
tol  Myers  for  an  extra  ride  on  the 
New  York  Daily  News  indie.  That, 
too.  was  nixed  by  Digges. 

There  are  a  number  of  “double 
exposure’’  skeins  now  being  tele¬ 
cast  in  the  New  York  market,  ln- 
eluding  “Highway  Patrol,’’  “Boots 
and  Saddles”  and.  “Harbor  Com¬ 
mand,”  with  either  WPIX  dr 
WOR-TV,  taking  the  second  fun. 

“Mike  Hammer”  begins  on 
WCBS-TV  on  Tuesday  (28). 

In  Mpls.  the  Swing’s 
To  Syndicated  Segs 
Rather  Than  Features 

Minneapolis,  Jan.  21.  < 

Broadcasting  circles  here  see 
significance  the.  fact  that 
WCCCKTV,  the  local  CBS  outlet 
and  '  which  shares  with  KSTP-TV 
(NBC)  . the  honor  of  being  the  Twin. 
Cities’  stations  with  the  largest 
f ollowirigs.  Ras  switched  from  fea¬ 
tures  to  half-hour  syndicated  shows 
in  the  10:30-11  p.m.  time  sl°t  Mon¬ 
days  through  Fridays. 

In  place  of  movies  at  10:30  p.m. 
1VCCO-TV  now  is  shooting  away 
With  “Frontier,”  Jackie  Gleason, 
‘’Frontier  Doctor,”  “Charlie  Chan” 
arid  “Dr,  Christian”  on  Moriday, 
Tuesday,  Wednesday,  Thursday  and 
Friday,  respectively. 

Station  undoubtedly  was  influ¬ 
enced  in  making  the  change  by  the 
fact  that  KSPT-TV,  consistently 
using,  syndicated  features  Mondays 
through  Fridays  (“The  Crusader,” 
“Badge  714,’’  “Mr.  District  Attor¬ 
ney,”;  “Highway  Patrol”  and 
“Waterfront”)  at  10;30 .  p.m.  has 
been  garnering  high  ratings,  lead¬ 
ing  the  field. 

There  is  a  general  swing  to  the 
syndicated  pix  .  here.  KMGM-TV, 
which  riot  so  long  ago  confined 
itself  almost  entirely  to  movies* 
now  includes  22  half-hour  syndi¬ 
cated  features  weekly.  WTCN-TV 
(ABC),  the  other  Twin  011168*  com¬ 
mercial  station,  offers  15  of  them 
per  week.  However, .  in  the  10:30 
p.m.  time  slots  both  KUOM-T V 
arid  WTCN-TV  continue  to  offer 
features. 

KMGM-TV,  the  only  onri  of  the 
four.  Twin:  Cities’  commercial  tv 
stations  sans  a  network  affiliation, 
is  strongly  entrenched  with  movies 
that  include  the  entire  Metro  video 
library  arid  a  considerable  number 
of  United  Artists,  20th-Fox  ,and 
RKO  screen  attractions  that;  have 
been  made  available  for  tv. 


TVYXmematie  Interlocutor 

Chicago,  Jan.  21. 

.»  Video  appears  on  the  verge  of  giving  birth  to  Its  own  counter¬ 
part  of  the  radio  disk  jockey  —  the  cinematic  Interlocutor,  the 
reeler-and*spieler,  the  fellow  who  hosts  the  Hollywood  oldies  on 
the  home  screen. 

Whatever  he’s  eventually  to  be  dubbed,  the  film  host’s  purpose 
Is  already  severalfold  and' in  Chicago;  at  least,  there  are  only  a 
few  feature  film  shows  left  that  go  on  unhOsted.  More  than 
window  dressing,  the  cinematic  emcee  serves  to  keep  a  station 
live  during  an  impersonal  90-minute  film,  arid  In  that  Way  he’s 
a  means  to  channel  identification.  This  is  considered  especially 
important  when  th*  film  is  a  good  one.  Often,  too,  he’s  depended 
on  to  stretch  time  on  rigidly  clocked  shows  when  the  feature  is 
running  short.  And  in  addition  he’s  expected  to  create  a  con¬ 
genial  atmosphere  for  Viewing*  deliver  live  "blurbs  when  they’re 
needed,  and  give  newscasts  whenever  that’s  a  competitive  factor. 

It’s  more  than  conceivable 'that  the  host  can  become  an  attrac¬ 
tion  himself*  especially  in  cases  when  it’s  a  tossup  for  the  viewer 
over  which  film  to  watch  on  which  channeL 

One  of  the  most  significant  moves  along  that.;  line  of  thinking 
is  WBBM-TV’s  importing  of  Jerry  Colonna  to  Chi  to  host  its: 
“Late  Show”  cross  the  hoard.  With  the  nationally  known  comic 
bringing  on  the  pix,  the  station  expects  to  call  greater  attention 
to  its  nightly  feature  films  than  ever  before.  It’s  possible  too 
that  the  host  might  become  so  welcome*  the  viewer  -Won’t  mind  the 
breaks  in  the  film,  for  commercials. 

WBKB  has  also  lately  added  a  pair  of  film  emcees,  kiddie 
comic  Chubby  Jackson  for  its  afternoon  “Great  Comedies”  series 
and  Terry  Bennett  for  the  station’s  Saturday  night  “Shock 
Theatre.”  Latter,  guised  as  a  ghoul  najned  Marvin,  was  an  over¬ 
night  catchon  with  the  juves  and  has.  earned  his  own  daytime  show 
on  the  station  thereby. 

From,,  the  Inception  pof  “Movie  5”  in  the  late  afternoons,  WNBQ 
0as  used  Toni  Mercein  as  an  armchair  host,  although  the  station’s 
principal  firstrun  entry  on  Sunday  night  goes  on  cold  to  an.  off- 
camera.  announcer,  in  addition  to  Colonna,  WBBM-TV  has  been  . 
using  Jerry  Dunphy  on  its  premium  “Best  of  MGM”  (soon  to  be 
retitled  “Best  of  CBS”)  feature  on  "Saturday  nights;  Garbed 
formally,  and  in  a  simulated  theatre  lobby  for  the  deluxe  effect, 
Dunphy  greets  and  gives  out  background  intelligence  on  the 
stars  in  the  film.  .. 


Sponsor;  Moves  m 


Pete  Cooper  Heading 
Lawrence  Animation 

Pete  Cooper,  who  was  produc¬ 
tion  manager  in.  charge  of  UPA’s 
animation  for  commercial  clients,; 
starts  as  general  manager  of  Rob¬ 
ert  Lawrence  Production’s  new 
animation  division  shortly. 

Ken  Drake,  who  was  replaced  as 
UPA  production  manager  two 
years  ago  by  Copper,  returns  to 
the  job.  At  That  time,  Drake  went 
to  UPA’s  London  office,  which 
closed  last  spring. 

Tieup  with  Cooper  was  brought 
on  as  the  result  of  Lawrence  break¬ 
ing  off,  after  only  A  few  months, 
Ris  animation  affiliation  with  Ern¬ 
est  Pintoff  in  Pintoff-Lawrence 
Productions.  Subsequently  .  Law¬ 
rence.  -  decided  to  incorporate,  a 
new  animation  arm  within  the  ex¬ 
isting  RL  production  company'. 

TPA  to  Syndicate 


Continue  on  CBS 

“Lassie”  has  come  home  again 
with  Television  Programs  of  Amer¬ 
ica,  which  acquired  U.  S.  syndica¬ 
tion  rights  to  103  episodes. 

TPA  plans  to  distribute  the 
series  in  late  spring,  while  the 
first-run  episodes  continue  on  CBS- 
TV  under  Campbell  Soup  sponsor¬ 
ship.  Jack  Wrather:  in  September 
’56,  bought  all  rights  to .  “Lassie” 
from  TPA  and  Robert  Maxwell, 
the ,  program’s  original  producer 
and  co-owner  with  TPA  for 
$3,500,000. 

j  Prior  to  the  syndication  deal 
with  Wrather,  TPA  had  been  con¬ 
tracted  to  handle  foreign  distribu¬ 
tion  of  the  series,  selling  it  in  22 
countries. 

Under  the  syndication  deal  for 
the  series,  the  old  episodes  cannot 
be  slotted  against  the  current 
‘‘Lassie”  series,  or  the  sponsor’s 
’‘Colt  45”  network  show.  Neither 
can  the  reruns-  be  sold  to  a  com¬ 
petitor  of  Campbell’s  for  sponsor¬ 
ship..  Also  definitely  out.  as  spon¬ 
sors,  due  to  the  nature  of  the  dog 
and  family  show,  are  beers,  liquors 
and  feminine  toiletries. 

The.  show  has  been  networked 
since .  the  fall  of  ’54.  The  syndi¬ 
cated  103  episodes  as  yet  untitled, 
will.  have,  the  original  cast,  Jan 
Clayton,  Tommy  Rettig  and  George 
Cleveland. 


Commercial  sponsorship  on  the 
JTA  Film  Network  is  due  to  wind 
up,;  with  no  major  sponsor  re¬ 
newals  inked  at  this  date. 

What  the  future  of  the  first; 
filmed  web  ever  to  be  organized 
will  be,  remains  to  be  seen,  but  it’s 
understood  that  National  Telefilm 
Associates,  which  is  partnered  with 
20th-Fox  In  the  network  venture, 
has  a  multiplicity  of  plans  for  what 
had  been  an  experimental  project 
when  initiated. 

Warner-Lambert  Pharmaceutical, 
which  bought  twd-thirds  sponsor¬ 
ship  for  a  39-week  period  when  the 
feature  filmed  web  went  commer¬ 
cial  in  April  ’57,  definitely  fs  out: 
Warner-Lambert  alone  repped 
about  $2,000,000  In  biz. 

Reason  for  the  bowoiit  of  the 
pharmaceutical  house  was  that 
Warner-Lambert  has  “overcommit¬ 
ted”  itself  with  NBC-TV  Shows, 
buying  ‘  half-of  “Tic  Tac  Dough” 
and  finding  itself  With  full  spon¬ 
sorship  of  “Restless  GUn”  al¬ 
though  it  would  like;  to  alternate 
on  the  latter,  According,  to  Lam¬ 
bert  &  Feasley,  agency  for  :the 
drug  firm,  the  NTA  Film  Network 
proyed  itself  out  arid  ,  its  “premise 
is  a  good  one.”  The  agency  exec, 
said ,  that  the  39-week  ride  deliv¬ 
ered  a  cost-per-thousand  well  un¬ 
der  $3,  indicative  of  the  pull  of 
top  pix. 

The  net*  which  comprises.  134 
participating  stations  claiming  cov¬ 
erage  of  95%  of  U.  S.  tv  homes/ 
(Continued  on  page  50) 


Philadelphia,  Jan.  21. 

According  to  December  ARB 
ratings,  WFIL-TV  has  the  top 
seven  daytime  (Mon.-Fri.)  pro¬ 
grains,  and  eight  of  the  top  10. 
j'  Heading  the*  list,  with  a  cumula¬ 
tive  42.5  is -“Pop eye  Theatre,”  AAP 
cartoon  series,  closely  followed  by 
“Starr  Theatre”;  both  hosted  by 
Sally  Starr.  “Starr  Theatre”  fea¬ 
tures  Gene  Autry  syridicated  films 
and  the  “Range  Rider”  oh  alternate 
evenings. 

WFIL-TV  claims  the  battle  for 
the  No.  1  spot  has  been  a  one-sta¬ 
tion  duel  all  the  way,  since  “Stair 
Theatre”  was  in  the  first  spot  in 
November  and  for  ..five  other 
months.  “Popeye”  has  held  the  No. 
1  slot  for  three  of  the  past  five 
months  it  has  been  .on  the  air,  ,  and 
the  other  month’s  top  position  was 
held  by  the  WFIL-TV  originated 
“American  Bandstand” 

In  the  last  half  of  1957  these 
(Continued  on  page  50) 


TV-FTOfS 


Wednesday,  Jannary  22,  1958 


Pfi&TEft 


85 


t 


•¥'  ■  ■  ■ 


Knife  at  Mom’s  Back 

Atlanta,  Jan.  21. 

When  WSB-TV  purchased  group  of  horror  film*  they  dutifully 
scheduled  them  for  Thursday  nights  at  11:15  p.m.  In  order  to  com¬ 
ply  with  Federal  Communications  Commission  regulations  barring 
such  pics  from  being  shown  during  time  when  young  peepers 
could  view  ghoulish  goings-on  with  possible  resultant  nightmares. 

What  station  didn't  figure  on  was  fact  that  school  kids  were  go¬ 
ing  to  stay  up  and  see  these-  films  willynilly,  defying  parental  au¬ 
thority  and  sandman,  too,  despite  lateness  of  the  hour. 

Kids  got  real  vocal  (via  letters  to  WSB-TV  and  radio  and  tv 
editors)  and  station  this  week  acceded  to  their  demands  that  horror 
movies,  shown  as  "Late  Shock  Show,"  be  switched  to  Friday  nights 
so  youngsters  could  see  show  and  then  sleep- late  Saturday  ayems. 
And  the  mothers  sat  down  and  put  pens  to  paffer  and  gave  Switch 
their  blessings.  Kids  probably  dictated  what  to  -put  in  letters. 


At  the  opening  "of  the  collective 
bargaining  talks  Monday  (20)  with 
the  Film  Producers  Assn,  of  New 
York,  Screen  Actors  Guild  pre¬ 
sented  new  contract  demands  that 
called  for  anywhere  from  15  to 
100%  wage  increases  for  per¬ 
formers  in  telefilm  commercials. 
Union  said  the  "substantial"  hikes 
were  to  "compensate  for  vast  ex¬ 
pansion"  in  the  television  viewer- 
ship  and  number  Of  tv  markers 
since  the  first  filmed  commercial 
pact  was  made  in  1953. 

Aware  of  the  nature  of,  the 
guild’s  demands,  a  body  of  un¬ 
happy  performers— between  75  and 
80  of'  them  called  the  TV  Film 
Commercial  Performers  Caucus — 
met  in  New:  Yorrk  a  few  days  be¬ 
fore  dickers  began  to  get  the  union 
to  do  a  research  study  on  a  "more 
equitable”  means  of  presenting  de¬ 
mands.  The  Caucus,  which  says  it 
represents  every  type  of  player  on 
.the  SAG  teleblurb  books,  insisted 
that  the  nnion  execs  have  failed 
to  keep  up  with  the  times,  and 
pointed  out  that  SAG  is  still  work¬ 
ing  under  the  delusion  that  pro¬ 
gram  rates  are  important.  As  a 
result,  several  Caucus',  spokesmen 
revealed,  national  spot  rates  are 
far  too  cheap  to  be  In  keeping  with 
the  reality  of  increased  national 
spot  biz  nad  the  slow  but  steady 
decrease  to  network  tv  program 
work.  „ 

Caucus  said  that  the  research 
study  it  wants  would  primarily  be 
•  to  “re-educate"  the  "entertain¬ 
ment-oriented"  union  hierarchy. 
These,  opposition  players  said  that 
never  in  their  talks,  with;  union 
execs  did  they  demand  anything 
like  "800%  to  many  thousand  per¬ 
cent"  increases  in  national  Spot 
jxdnimums;  they  were  only  citing 
"examples"  to  the  union,  but  .  they 
are  intent  upon  ending  the  national 
spot  practice  of  "unlimited  use.  of 
the  same  spot  within  13  weeks." 

(1)  A  key  formula  change  asked 
by  SAG  was  in  the  area  of  decid¬ 
ing  “use  payments."  Presently* 
payments  reach  maximum  when  a 
commercial  is  televised  in  “over 
20  cities."  Now  SAG  wants  the  pro¬ 
ducers  and  ad  agencies,  who  are 
also  in  on  the  session,  to  reclass¬ 
ify  payments  in  terms  of  limiting 
"Class  A”  usage  to  from  21  to  -50 
cities,  a  new  “Class  AA"  in  from 
{Continued  on  page  50) 


On  lepke  Story’ 

Hollywood,  Jan.  21. 

Desilue  is  planning  a  theatrical 
feature  of  “The  Lepke  Story,”  and 
has  asked  Walter  Winchell  to  pre¬ 
pare  a  draft/ of  the  Murder,  Inc., 
orgy  of  crime  during  his  vacation 
from  TV  four-weak  extension  the  re¬ 
newal  of  Winchell’s  ABC-TV  “File" 
has  been  granted  by  Desilii,  which 
will  take  the  show  at  least  .into 
April. 

Revlon,  according  to,  Winchell, 
Is  "happy"  with  his  new  national 
rating  Of  15.3  and  18.9  in  nine  of 
the  markets.  Sponsor  has  taken 
over  Esquire  shoe  polish  and  will 
probably  assign  that  product  to  his 
show  instead  of  the  current  Ravlon 
cosmetic ’line. 


Katz  Down  Under 

London,  Jan.  21;. 

Normah  Katz,  director  of  foreign 
operations.  for  Associated  Artists 
Productions,  planed  out  to  .  clinch 
a  tv  deal  in  Sydney,  Australia,  last 
Sat.  (18). 

[  From  Australia,  Katz  will  head 
[  for  New  York .  Via  Honolulu  and 
Los  Angeles.  He  plans  to  return 
to  Britain  with  Eliot  Hyman,  AAP 
topper,  early  in  February, 

NTAStiD  Trying 
To  Lick  That  UA 
Takeover  of  AAP 

National  Telefilm  Associates  has 
moved  again  in  court  to  upset  the 
United  Artists  deal  for  the  pur¬ 
chase  of  700,000  shares  of  Asso¬ 
ciated  Artists  Profluctidns  stock. 

Filing  a  new  action  in  N.  Y. 
State  Supreme  Court,  NTA  asked 
the  Court  to  issue  an  order  holding 
United  Artists  to  account  for  the 
stock  and  deliver  it  to  NTA.  Plain¬ 
tiff  NTA-  contends  .  in  this  action, 
as  .  In  another  action  pending  in 
the  same  court,  that  It  had  a  prior 
deal  for  the  purchase  of  the  stock 
which  was  abrogated.  If  the  stock 
Is  undeliverable,  NTA  asked  $18,- 
000,000  in  damages,,  maintaining 
that  it  had  signed  a  contract  for 
essentially  the  same  shares  When 
UA  "interfered*” 

Named  as  co-defendants  were 
UA,  its  telefilm  subsid,  Gotham 
Television  Film  Corp.;  AAP ;  Eliot 
Hyman,  Ray  Stark  and  Henry  Zif- 
tau,  all  AAP^dlr ectors;  and  Chemi¬ 
cal  Com  Exchange  Bank,  which  is 
holding  the  stock  for  Gotham.  Ac¬ 
cording  to  the  complaint,  Chemical 
Cora  advanced  UA  the  money  for 
the  deal. 

Damages  of.  $200,000  are  being 
sought  if  NTA  receives  the  stock 
as  petitioned.  The  initial  NTA 
deal  Was  for  820,000  shares;  repre¬ 
senting  a  majority  of  AAP  stock. 
The.  700,000  shares  purchased  by 
UA  through  its  Subsid  Gotham 
from  former  AAP  hoard  chairman 
Louis  Chesler,  his  group*  and 
others,  are'just  short  of  a  major¬ 
ity,  but  represent  a  controlling  In¬ 
terest.  Another  action,  arising 
out  of  the  suit  of:  a  minority  AAP 
stockholder,  was  dismissed  in  N.  Y. 
Supreme  Court,  as*  well:  as  all  mo¬ 
tions  by  the  various  parties.  The 
.disputed  issues  now  will  be 
thrashed  out  in  NTA’s  suit. 

BlSCHOFF  PREPF1NG 
‘DAN  McGREW’ SERIES 

Hollywood,  Jan.  21. 

"Dangerous  Dan  McGrew,"  a 
new  telefilm,  series  localed  in  the 
Alaskan  territory  around  the  turn 
of  the  century,  Will  be  produced  by 
Bischoff-Wilbur  Productions.  Sam 
Bischpff  will  produce  and  Crane 
Wilbur  will  Write  the  stories. 

First  13  telefilms  will ’go  into 
production.  Immediately.'  Title 
character,'  however,  bears  ‘  nd  re¬ 
semblance  to  the.  "Dangerous*  Dan 
McGrew"-  immortalized  in  the  Rob¬ 
ert  Service  poem  of  the  Yukon, 


One  sure  way  to  penalize  a  win¬ 
ner  in  the  network  filmed  series 
derby  is  to  ask  for  and  to  get  a 
short-term  commitment  bn  a  tele¬ 
film  show. 

That  contention  and  many  oth¬ 
ers,  were  raised  by  telefilm  pro¬ 
ducer-distributors  in  rebuttal  to 
the  push  for  short-term  commit¬ 
ments,  stemming  from  advertisers, 
agency  and  web  quarters.  CBS 
Film  Sales,  Television  Programs, 
ABC  Film  Syndication  and  other 
telefilmeries,  all  concerned  .  with 
the  push,  joined  in  the  rebuttal. 

It  was  readily  acknowledged  that 
no  one  likes  to  be  hung  With. a  poor, 
show,  whether  live c  or  oh  film, 
especially  in  a  soft  economy  period. 
But  before  rushing  for  the  axe 
prior  to  the  13  or  26-week  period, 
efforts  should  he  made  to  doctor 
the  show,  despite  the  number  of 
episodes  in  the  can.  That  method, 
it’s  argued,  is  more  constructive. 
If  the  whole  concept  of  the  Show 
is  bad,,  whether  on  film  or  live, 
nothing  will  help. 

But  look  at  the  other:  side  of  the 
coin.  These  are  the  dangers  of 
the  short-term  drive  as  seen  by. 
Leslie.  Harris,  CBS  .Film  Sales 
prexy,  Michael  Sillerman,  TPA 
sales  v.p.*  and  George  Shupert, 
ABC  Film  Syndication. 

There’s  at.  least  a  six-week  lag 
before  any  .  decent  rating  history 
can  he  bullion  a  show  and  it  takes 
about  two  months  before  some 
measure  can  be  taken  of  trade  and 
sales  Impact.  If  only  ’a  13-week 
commitment  is  secured  On  a  series, 
when  is  the  greenlight  going  to  be 
given  for  the.  next  13  or  26-week 
cycle?  Important  to  bear  in  mind 
in  this  cqnnection  is  that  it  takes 
at  least  90  days  ,  for  a  producer  to 
prepare  for  another  cycle  of  13 
episodes.  The  good  shows,  as  well 
as  the  Weaker _  ones,  would  be 
caught  in  this  time  vise,  it’s  ar¬ 
gued,  if  only  a  13-week- commit¬ 
ment  would  be  secured. 

Then  there  are  these  factors,  for 
the  short-term  proponents  to  pon¬ 
der.  Stars  would  be  difficult  to 
ink.  Program  costs,  already  a  hone 
of  contention,  woyld  be  still  fur¬ 
ther  hiked,  going  as  high  as  30% 
more  where  a  good  deal  of.  loca¬ 
tion  shooting  Is  required.  Problem 
of  studio  rentals  and  crews  also 
would  be  multiplied. 

From  the  producer’s  vlewpoint* 
he-  couldn’t  get  financing  for  any 
period  beyond  ,  what  the  sponsor 
committed  himself.  The  residuals 
in  any  series  is  diluted  if  the  num¬ 
ber  of  episodes  are  less  than  39. 

ABC  Film  Syndication,  topper 
Shupert  feels  that  he  could  five 
with .  a  26-week  commitment,  even 
though  per  program  charges  Would 
be  greater.  There  are  many  ex- 
(Contlnued  on  page  50) 


Albany,  Jan.  21. 

An  unusual  local  tie-in  which 
may  pave  the  Way  for  similar  syn¬ 
dication  stunts  was  performed  by 
Tris  Coffin  and  and  Kelo  Hender¬ 
son,  stars  of  "26  Men,”  in  their 
tour  here*  .....  : 

They  performed  in  a  series  of  40- 
second  filmed  commerclalg,  taken 
at  the  A  &  P  Colonie  market,  with 
the  customers  utilized  as  part  of 
the  act.  A  &  P  sponsors  the.  ABC 
Film.  Syndication  show  on  WTEN. 

The  shooting  of  the  "movies” 
fascinated  the  kids  and  interested 
the  Oldsters,  One  commercial  was 
staged  behind  the  counter  in  the 
baked  goods  department,  while 
gun-toting  Coffin  and .  Henderson 
munched  jelly  doughhtits.  . 

.  Bad  weather  and  fear  of  criti¬ 
cism  from  the  local  Humane  So¬ 
ciety,  led  A  &P  to  cancel  a  parade 
of  26  men  on  horseback  through 
the  streets  of  downtown  Albany. 
But  the  cowpoke  twosome  at  the 
store  created  quite  a  hubub — as 
well  as  upped  trade  from  the  adult- 
accompanied  bubble  gum  set. 


Series;  Carol  Channiiig  Skein  on  Tap 


Hollywood,  Jan.  21. 

Alex  Nichol  will  star  in  a  new 
vidpix  series,  "Yankee  Bly,"  to  be 
produced  by  Nat  Holt  under  the 
aegis  of  his  Overland  Productions 
at  Revue. 

„  Papers  haven’t  been  sighed,  hut 
actor  has  agreed  on  terms,  and 
will  topline  the  pilot.  Shooting  date; 
has  not  been  set  yet.  Hal  Gefskyi 
of  the  Mitchell  Gertz  agency  reppedj 
Nichol  in  negotiations. 


Pix  for  Theatre 
Release  O’seas 


First  ibona  fide  foreign  theatrical 
distribution  of  made-for-television 
American  feature-length  program¬ 
ming  is  being  planned  by .  Screen 
Gems  for  two  Of  the  eight  YPlay- 
house  90”  films  it  produced  for 
CBS-TV  last  year.  Screen  Gems 
Will  turn  the  two  “Playhouse  90” 
entries  over  to  the  parent  com¬ 
pany’s  Columbia  Pictures  Interna¬ 
tional  for  theatrical  release  abroad 
While  packaging  the  other  six  itself 
as  a  feature  film  group  for  over¬ 
seas  television. 

Two  films  are  "The  Country 
Husband,”  with.  Frank  Love  joy  and 
Barbara  Hale,,  and  ."Confession,’’ 
With  June  Lockhart  and  Dennis 
O’Keefe.  This  isn’t  the  first  in¬ 
stance  of  theatrical  playoff  abroad 
of  television,  product  —  Sheldon 
Reynolds  used  to  bunch  his.  "For¬ 
eign  Intrigue”  films  into  groups  of 
three  and  play  them  as  features. 
In  fact.  Screen  Gems  has  done  the 
same  with  its  "Ford  Theatre”  half- 
hours..  But.  these  are  .the  first 
made-for-tv  films  running  60  min¬ 
utes  or  more  which  have  been 
channeled  Into  theatrical  use  by  a 
major  distributor. 

As  for  the  other  six  of  last  sea¬ 
son’s  -‘Playhouse  90”  entries,  they 
will  be  marketed  overseas  by 
Screen  Gems’  own  international 
sales  setup  as  a>  separate  feature 
film  package.  Filins  are  "Ain’t  No 
Time, for  Glory,”  "The  Blackwell 
Story'"  "Clipper  Ship,"  "Home¬ 
ward  Borne,"  "Massacre  at  Sands 
Creek”  and  "So  Soon -TO  Die." 

All  eight  of  the  “Playhouse  90" 
features  have  already  been  inte¬ 
grated  Into  the  112-feature  “Triple 
Crown"  package  for  domestic  sale 
by  Screen  Gems,  and  the  company 
has  already  sold  them  in  15  mar¬ 
kets,  latest  of  which  was  KNXT, 
the  CBS-TV  o&o  in  Los  Angeles. 
Also  purchasing  the  package  was 
Transcontinent  TV,  for  its  WGR- 
TV  in  Buffalo,  WHO C-T V  in 
Rochester  and  WSVA-TV  in  Har¬ 
risonburg,  Va. 


Video  Artists  Suing 
Republic  for  $1,000,000; 
Claims  Contact  Breach 

Newly-organized  Video  Artists, 
which  claims  to  have  made  a  dis¬ 
tribution  deal  for  p0st-’48  Republic 
pix,‘  now  is  suing  Republic  subsid, 
Hollywood  Television  Services,  al¬ 
leging  breach  of  contract, 

VideO  Artists,  topped  by  Sig 
Shor,  maintains  it  inked  a  deal 
with  HTS  for  distribution  of  Re¬ 
public  pix  in  20  specified  markets. 
The.  markets  said  to  be  contracted 
for  were  exclusive  Of  the  six  mar¬ 
kets  covered  in  the  NBC  o&o  deal 
for  Republic’s  post-'48’s.  Video 
Artists  markets  were  said  to  in¬ 
clude  Detroit,  Boston,:.  San  Fran¬ 
cisco,  Miami,  Kansas  City,  Denver 
and  Seattle* 

Summonses  procured  from  the 
New  York  Supreme  Court  have 
been  served  against  HTS  and  Earl 
Collins,  prexy  Of  the  Republic  sub¬ 
sid.  Damages  in  the  amount:  of 
$1,000,000  is  being  sought. 


Hollywood,  Jan.  21, 

Metro  TV  now  is  prepping  .a  80 
or  90-minute  dramatic  antholpgy 
series,  tentatively  titled  "Dramatio 
Theatre,"  which  would  have  on 
tap  the  studio’s  1,000 '  Unproduced 
properties, 

Charles  C.  (Bud)  Barry,  Metro 
TV  veepee,  was  slated  to  confer 
with  George  Cukor  on  producing 
and  directing  the  dramatic  Series. 
He  said  the  pilot  would  be  ready 
later  this  year.  ^ 

Treatment  is  now  being  made  for 
an  updated  version  nf  "Masie”  and 
Barry  is  partial  to  Carol  Channing 
for  the  title  role.  Other  proper¬ 
ties  '  on  the  future  production 
schedule  at  Metro  are  “Father  of 
the  Bride,"  based  on  an  old  Metro 
pic,  and  a  half-hqur  western,  "Des¬ 
ert  Rider,”  a  composite  version  of 
two  MGM  oldies,  "Apache  Trail" 
and  "Stage  Station.”  For  the  time 
being  "Feminine  Touch”  has  been 
shelved  and  production  concen¬ 
trated  on  other  properties. 

Elmer  Wilschke,  formerly  of 
Fine  Sound,  an.  MGM  subsid,  has 
been  named  by  Barry  as  big  man¬ 
ager  of  the  commercial  depart¬ 
ment,  and  appointments  will  be 
made  for  business  affairs  and  pro¬ 
gram  development. 

Barry  met  with  Leonard  Gold- 
enson,  ABPT  .prexy,  and  James 
Aubrey,  programming  veep  for 
ABC-TV,  in  an  attempt  to  revive 
interest  in  a  previously  negotiated 
MGM  property,  "Mystery  Street." 
Title  has  been  changed  to  “Act  of 
Violence,”  based  on  an  old  Metro 
theatrical  pic,  and  other  changes 
made  to  develop  an  hour  series  of 
mystery  plays.  Barry  would  bol¬ 
ster  the  mysterlosos  With  top  tal¬ 
ent, 

Charlie  Isaacs,  who  recently 
powdered  the  Gisele  MacKenzie  tv 
show  because  of  outside  interfer¬ 
ence,  may  wind  up  as  head  writer- 
and  director  of  Metro’s  “Min  and 
Bilk”  He  conferred  with  Barry 
last  Week.  Isaacs  would  have  to 
be  relieved  of  his  Interest  in  the 
Jeapnie  Carson  series,  now  being 
piloted,  to  cast  his  .  lot  with  the 
Culver  studio. 


OF  to  Produce 
Telepix  on  Own 

Official  Films  is  getting  its  feet 
wet  m  production. 

Foregoing  the  usual  co-produc¬ 
tion,  co-financing  route.  Official 
Films  plans  to  do  a  detective  series 
on  Its  own,  tentatively  titled  "Sig¬ 
nal  Eleven,"  and  based  on  the  ex¬ 
periences  of  the  New  York  City’s 
detective  bureau.  A  production  unit 
will  be  hired  to  do  the  pilot  in 
New  York. 

"Signal  Eleven"  willjbe  one  of 
five  pilots  slated  for  1958  sale. 
Three  of  the  five  will  be  westerns, 
including  "Calamity  Jane,”  pro¬ 
duced  by  John  Wayne’s  Batjac  Co. 
"Jane"  pilot  has  been  around  be¬ 
fore,  but  Official  plans  a  variety  of 
different  treatments  for  interested 
Clients.  Others  in  the  western  cate¬ 
gory  include  "Western  Union,”  to 
be  filmed  by  James  L.  Saphier; 
and  “Big  Foot  Wallace,”  under  the 
production  aegis  of  William 
Stevens.  Chuck  Cpnnors  has  been 
inked  to  play  the  title  role  in  the 
latter  series,  dealing  with  the  Mex- 
ican-Texas  border  war. 

The  fifth  project  will  be  "The 
Adventures  of  the  Invisible  Man," 
based  on  the  H.  G.  Wells’  book, 
which  will  be  filmed  in  London  by 
British  producer  Ralph  Smart. 

Significantly,  Hanna  Weinstein's 
Sapphire  British-based  operation  is 
not  represented  in  Official  Films’ 
'58  roster.- Official  still  is  handling 
Sapphire’s  network-berthed  “Robin 
Hood",  series,  but  prior  to  this  year* 
Official  had  a  number  of  new  Sap¬ 
phire.  entries  for  sale  in  the  U.S. 
market. 


SIGNAL 

FORA 


The  first  faint  sounds  of  Sputnik  as  it  soared  through  space  were 
heard  on  NBC.  This  was  one  of  the  year’s  most  important  news 
breaks.  More  than  that,  it  was  dramatic  evidence  of  the  spirit 
which  characterizes  NBC  News  today. 

At  a  time  when  the  headlines  have  a  special  urgency  for  America, 
NBC  News  is  providing  minute-by-minute  coverage  of  world 
events  that  is  unmatched  in  broadcast  journalism  for  speed, 
alertness,  comprehensiveness  and  mature  interpretation. 


NEWS  FLASH 


This  has  been  evident  all  through  the  past  months  of  crisis.  For 
its  resourcefulness  at  Little  Rock,  Variety  called  NBC  News  “a 
heads-up,  hustling,  news-digging  operation.0 

Just  recently  NBC  received  astonishing  evidence  of  the  role 
it  is  playing  in  informing  America.  During  an  interview  with 
Nelson  Rockefeller  on  TODAY,  Dave  Garroway  offered  a  copy  of 
the  Rockefeller  Study  to  anyone  who  would  send  for  it.  After  this 
single  announcement  more  than  200,000  requests  were  received. 


Official  recognition  came  last  week  when  the  annual  Sylvania  Tele¬ 
vision  Award  for  outstanding  network  news  was  given  to  the 
National  Broadcasting  Company  “because  it  has  taken  a  big  step 
in  1957  in  doing  more  things  and  greater  things  with  news.0 

NBC  TELEVISION  NETWORK 


88 


TV-FILMS 


U&RIEft 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


PfiStlffi 7-  ARB  City-By-City  Syndicated  Film  Chart 


VARIETY’S  weekly  chart  of  ctty-by-city  rating s  of  syndicated  and  na 
tional  spot  film  covers  40  to  60  cities  reported  by  American  Research  Bur* 
eau  on  a  monthly  basis .  Cities  will  be  rotated  each  week,  with  the  10  top* 
rated  film  shows  listed  in  each  case,  and  their  competition  shown  opposite • 
All  ratings  are  furnished  by  ARB,  based  on  the  latest  reports • 

This  VARIETY  chert  represents  a  gathering  of  all  pertinent  informs 
tion  about  film  in  each  market,  which  can  be  used  by  distributors,  agencies, 
stations  and  clients  as  an  aid  in  determining  the  effectiveness  of  a  filmed 
show  in  the  specific  market.  Attention  should  be  paid  to  time — day  and 

TOP  10  PROGRAMS  *  DAY  AND 

AND  TYPE  STATION  DISTRII.  TIME 


time  factors,  since  sets-inuse  and  audience  composition  vary  according  to 
time  slot,  he,,  a  Saturday  afternoon  children’s  show,  with  a  low  rating,  may, 
have  a  large  share  and  an  audience  composed  largely  of  children,  with  cor¬ 
responding  results  for  the  sponsor  aiming  at  the  children’s  market .  Abbr » 
viations  and  symbols  are  as  follows  t  (Adv),  adventure  ;  (Ch),  children’s  % 
(Co),  comedy i  (Dr),  drama;  (Doc),  documentary;  ‘(Mus),  musical; 
(Myst),  mystery;  (Q),  quis;  (Sp),  sports r  (W),  western;  (Worn), 
women’s.  Numbered  symbols  next  to  station  call  letters  represent  the  sta¬ 
tion’s  channel;  all  channels  above  13  are  VHF ,  Those  ad  agencies  listed  as 
distributors  rep  the  national  sponsor  from  whom  the  film  is  aired. 

DECEMBER  SHARI  '  SETS  IN  I  TOP  COMPETING  PROGRAM 

RATING  f%)  USI  1  PROGRAM _ STA.  RATING 


NEW  YORK  Approximate  Set  Count — 1,525,000  Stations — ^qrS(9)!  WiraMlO.’wA TV  (M)  WABC  (7)’ 


1.  Playhouse  of  Mystery  (Myst).  .WCBS . 

. TPA . . 

. .  Sat.  10:30-11:00  .... 

...18.8 . 

....  87.6... 

Your  Hit  Parade . 

..WRCA  ... 

...188 

9  nirlnraT  Patrol  (Adv) 

WRCA 

,,  Mon  7-00-7-30  ..... 

. .  .15.9 . 

...  38.0... 

7  O’clock  Report . 

..WCBS  ...' 

..  .10.9 

CBS  News-D.  Edwards. 

..WCBS  ... 

...10,2 

WRCA . 

. CBS . 

. .  .Tues  7:00-7:30  . 

...15.5 . 

...  37.3.. 

7  O’clock  Report. . 

..WCBS  ... 

...12.5 

CBS  News-D.  Edwards.. 

..WCBS-... 

...  9.2 

4.  Code  3  (Adv) . 

.WECA . 

...  Wed.  10:30-11:00 

...14.7 . 

...  29.5.. 

U.  S.  Steel  Hour . 

..VCBS  ... 

...19,0 

5  If  Ton  Had  A  Million  (Dr) 

wr.iifi  , 

MCA  .. 

. ,  Sat  7-00-7-30  ...... 

. .  .12.0 . 

...  33.9.. 

. 35.4 

Sky  King . 

..WPIX  ... 

...  7.5 

6.  Silent  Service  (Adv) . 

..WRCA . 

. .  Fri.  7:00-7:30  . 

...11.5 . 

...  29.8... 

7  O’clock  Report - ...... 

..WCBS  ... 

...12.3 

CBS  News-D.  Edwards. . 

..WCBS  ... 

...11.3 

7.  Tloath  Valley  nays  (W)  . .  .  , 

.  WRCA . 

. Pacifir-Rorax . . . . 

...Wed.  7:00-7:30  . 

...10.9..... 
.  .... 

..;  26.5.., 

. 41.1 

7  O'Clofek  Report' .  . 

..WCBS  ... 

...14.7 

CBS  News-D.  Edwards.. 

..WCBS  ... 

...13.0 

ft.  Pnpry^  the  Sailor  (Hi) _ 

.  WPIX 

. AAP . 

. . .  Sun.-Fri  6:00-6:30  . . 

..  .10.5 . 

...  31.8.., 

MCAA  Football . 

..WRCA  ... 

..  .11.5 

Sat.  5:30-6:00 

ft.  Annie  Oakley  CW1  . 

.  WABC 

_ CBS . 

. .  .Sun.  6:00-6:30  . 

. .  .10.2.  /... 

...  27.1.., 

. 37.7 

Meet  the  Press . , . . 

..WRCA  ... 

...  8.9 

10.  Looney  Tones  (Ch).. . 

. .  WABD . 

. Guild  &  AAP. . . 

. .  .Mon.-Sat.  6:30-7:00 

9.6 . 

...  35.8... 

. 26.8 

Early  Show . 

..WCBS 

7.9 

CHICAGO  Approximate  Set  Count— 2,900,000  Stations— WBBM  (2),  WNBQ  (5),  WBKB  (7),  WGN  (9) 


WNBQ 

NBC . 

.  .29.4. 

. 54.3 . 

54.1 

56.1 

59.8 

29.8 

57.2 
30.0 
31.0 

60.7 
29.0 
23.6 

63.8 

Don  Ameche . . 

.WGN  .... 

. '.10.5 

2.  State  Trooper  (Adv) . 

...WNBQ . 

_ WGN . 

.Wed.  9:80-10:00  . 

.Mon  9:30-10:00  . 

.,23.0. 

..17.4. 

..16.7. 

. 56.0 . 

U.  S.  Steel  Hour . 

Suspicion  . . . 

•WBBM  .. 
.WNBQ  .. 

...17.0 

...16.6 

S.  Annie  Oakley  <W) . 

. .  .WGN . 

. CBS . . 

.Fri.  6:00-6:30  . 

News-J.  Bentley . 

.WBBM  .. 

...  5.2 

4.  Highway  Patrol  (Adv) . .... 

...WGN . 

...WGN . 

:;Fri.  8:00-8:30  .,...%. 

..16.7. 

..16.2. 

. 54.0 . ... , 

Impact  . . . 

News-John  Daly. . . . 

Mr.  Adams  &  Eve. . . . . 

News-J,  Bentley.... . 

.WBKB  .. 
.WBKR  .. 
.  WBBM  .. 
.WBBM 

...  5.2 
...  5,2 
...18.6 
6.7 
, . .  7.0 
...28.2 
.  .  .  6.9 
...  3.7 
...  7.4 
...23.0 

6.  Brave  Eagle  (W) ......... 

...WGN...... 

. CBS... . . 

.Tues.  6;00-6:30  ...... 

M-F  6:30-7:00  ....... 

.Mon.  6:00-6:30  . . . . ... 

;Sun.  12:00-12:30  ... 

Sun.  12:30-1:00  p.m, 
.Thurs.  9:30-10:00  . , .  A. 

.  .55.7. 
..15.0. 
..14*. 
v.13.7. 

........  581......... 

News-J.  Bentley . . 

.  WBBM  .. 

7.  Bugs  Bunny  (Ch) . 

8;  Cisco  Kid  ,(W).... _ ... 

...WGN . 

.WGN _ _ 

. .  .WNBQ. . . . . 

Disneyland  . . 

News-J.  Bentley. . . 

Western  Movies ........... 

WBKB 
.WBBM  .. 
.WGN  .... 

10.  The  Honeymooners  (Ch) . . 

...WGN...... 

...  ...CBS...... _ _ 

.,13,6. 

AH  Star  Bowling........ 

Playhouse  90. . . 

.WBKB 
.WBBM  .. 

LOS  ANGELES 

Approximate  Set  Count- — 2,313,000 

Stations—*™™  <2>’ KRCA  <4>» KTLA  (5),  KABO  (7), 
stations  Knj  ^9^  KTXV  (11),  KCOP  (13) 

1.  Death  Valley  Days  (W) . . . 

.,.KRCA . 

.Vv ...  Pacific-Borax. . . , . 

.Thurs.  7:00^7:30 _ _ 

..19:9. 

58.2 

Search  for  Adventure. . . 

.KCOP  ... 

•  .  .  14:8; 

2.  Highway  Patrol  (Adv).... 

...KTTV. .... 

.Mon.  9:00-9:30  . . 

..  .17.6. 

70.3 

Twenty-One  . 

.KRCA  ... 

...18.5 

3.  Dick  Powell  (Dr).  ...... 

...KNXT..... 

.Sat.  9:30-10:00  ...... 

.  17.4. 

58.9 

Giselle  MacKenzie . . . . 

.KRCA  ... 

...21.7 

4.  Men  of  Annapolis  (Adv).. 

. .  *KNXT... . . 

.....Ziv........ . 

.Thurs.  .7:30-8:00  , . . . . 

.  .14.4. 

.....r..  22.9......... 

63.0 

Tic  Tac  Dough. ........... 

.KRCA  ... 

...14.4 

5.  Whirlybirds  (Adv) : . ...... 

. .  .KHJ. 

Mon.  7:30-8:00  ...... 

.  .145. 

64.2 

Price  Is  Right. . . . ,v. .... . . 

.KRCA  ... 

...143 

6.  Sheriff  of  CocMse  (W). , . . 

.•w.KTTV...*, 

NTA.,  _ _ _ ... 

,  Sat.  7:30-8:00  ....... 

..13.9. 

21.9 . . 

63.6 

People  Are  Funny. . . . ... . . 

.KRCA  ... 

...29,7 

7.  San  Francisco  Beat  (Dr) . . 

. .  .KTTV. . . 

.Sat:  9:30-10:00 

.U3.1. 

58.9 

Giselle  MacKenzie. . . .... . . 

.KRCA  ... 

...21.7 

8.  Search  for  Adventure  (Doc.)  KCOP. . . . . 

...Bagnallf..., . 

.Thurs.  7:00-7:30  ..... 

,  .13.0. 

60.6 

Death  Valley.  Days ..... . , . 

KRCA  ... 

...19.9 

Men  of  Annapolis. ....w. 

.KNXT  ... 

...14.4 

Tic  Tac  Dough. . ........ 

.KRCA  ... 

...  .14.4 

5.  26  Men  (W). .......... ... 

...KRCA  .... 

.  Mon,  7:00-7:30 

;:i2.6. 

62.4 

Burns  &  Allen. . .......... 

.KNXT  ... 

...15.9 

10.  Harbor  Command  (Adv). 

...KTTV . 

..Sat.  7:00-7:30  .  .  ... 

...11.4. 

53.0 

Perry  Mason, ....... , . . . 

.KNXT  ... 

...15.6 

CLEVELAND 

Approximate  Set  Coimf^l,900,000 

Stations 

—KYW  (3),  WEWS  (5),  WJW  (8) 

1.  Silent  Service  (Adv). ..  .. 

...WJW...... 

.Sat.  i0:30-ll:00  ..... 

. .  .26.8  . 

........  47:8......... 

561 

Your  Hit  Parade  . ........ 

.KYW  .... 

...'18.1 

2.  Highway  Patrol  (Adv).... 

...WJW...... 

.Tues.  7:00^7:30  ...... 

,  .  .  25.7. 

.........  54.8.. ...... . 

46.9 

Best  of  Bishop  Sheen. . . . . . 

.WEWS  .. 

...  .11.0 

3.  Frontier  Doctor  (W) . . 

...KYW...... 

.H-TV. . 

..Mon,  7:00-1*30  ...... 

...25.6. 

58.2 

Big  10  Football  Highlights, . 

.WJW  ..... 

.  .  .  .  7.5 

4.  Brave  Eagle  (W) . ........ 

,.  .KYW. ., ,.. 

.  ...  •  CBS.-:.  .  •  ...  .  .  •  .  ... 

.Tues.  6:00-6:30  . . .» . . 

:22.3. 

81.6 

Action  at  6  . _ _ _ _ : . . . . . . 

.WJW  .... 

....4.8 

4.  Sky  King  (Adv) . . 

...KYW...... 

....  .  Nabisco .  .... . . . . . 

;  .Tues.  6:30-7:00  ...... 

...22.3. 

35.6 

News  Highlights... . . 

.WEWS  .. 

....  90 

•CBS -News-D.  Edwards... 

.WJW  .... 

....85 

5.  Popeye  Clubhouse  (Ch).  .. 

.  .KYW...... 

* ...  .  AAP  . .. . , .  .  .  . 

.  M-F  5:30-6:00  ....... 

...  .22.1; 

86.2 

Mickey  Mouse  (Hub . . 

.WEWS  .. 

....11.0 

6.  Range  Rider  (W)  . ........ 

.r.WEWS..>,, 

.....CBS. - - 

Bun.  6:30-7:00  . .  .  .  . . . 

...20.6; 

46.4. ...... .. 

44.4 

Secret  Jouinal.  .  . . .... . . . . 

.WJW  .... 

.  ,c.l3.7 

6.  Death  Valley  Days  (W)  .  .. 

...KYW...... 

....  .Pacific-Borax,  . . . . 

.Thurs.  7:00-7:30  ..... 

,  ..20.6. 

36.6 

O.  Henry  Playhouse..... .. 

.WEWS  ... 

....  8.8 

7.  Federal  Men  (Myst) . ..... 

...KYW...... 

.....MCA,,.. _ .... 

.Thurs.  6:30-7:00  ...;. 

...20.1. 

84.5 

News  Highlights  ..... . . . , . 

.WEWS  ... 

.v:  .  9:9 

CBS  News-D.  Edwards. .'. 

.WJW.  . 

....11.0 

8.  Studio  57  (Dr). . . 

...KYW...... 

. ... .  .MCA. . . . ....... . 

.Fri.  7:00-7:30  ....... 

; .  .19.8. 

84.5 

Badge  714. . . ,v WJW  .... 

....  8.4 

t.  Men  of  Annapolis  (Adv).  . 

...KYW...... 

..Wed.  10:30-11:00  .... 

,  .19.5. 

. .  •  • .  * . .  36.0.  ..  .  ..  . .  . 

64.2 

TJ.  S.  Steel  Hour. ... ...... .WJW  .  • . . 

....18.4 

10.  Kit  Carson  (W).. _ . ..  .. 

. . .  WEWS. . ... 

... .. MCA. ............ 

:Sat.  6:30-7:00  ....... 

...19.1. 

........  52.2. . . . . 

36.6 

Annie  Oakley. ..  .  . ........ 

.WJW.;,. 

...  .11.9 

10.  Soldiers  of  Fortune  (Adv). 

.KYW. . . . . . 

.Thurs.  6:00-6:30v. . . . . 

...191. 

83.6 

Dinner  Theatre  ;Mr.  JingellngWEWS  .. 

,...1141 

ATLANTA 

Approximate  Set  Gouirt— 575,000 

Stations — WSB  (2),  WAGA  (5), 

WLWA 

od: 

1.  Sheriff  of  Cochise  (W). .. 

. . . .WSB . 

.  Tues.  7:00-7:30  . ; 

. .  .26.0. 

........  59.4. . . 

44.8 

Badge  714;............;., 

WAGA  .. 

....15.1 

2.  Amos  V  Andy  (Co)..,... 

..  ;WSB. . . . . , 

.  .M-F  6:00-6:30  . .  . 

..,23.2. 

........  69  5......... 

.39.0 

Annie  Oakley. ........ .  .  .  . 

.WLWA  .. 

...  ..12.7 

2.  Whirlybirds  (Adv)...;.... 

• . .  .WSB . . 

..Wed.  7:00-7:30  ...... 

.  •  .22.7. 

W. .....  51.7. . 

43.9 

Gray  Ghost.....,,. . 

.WAGA  .. 

....131 

4.  Code  3  (Adv) . - 

...WAGA.... 

.....ABC............. 

.  Sat.  10:30-11:00  _ 

...226. 

41.4 

Your  Hit  Parade . . 

.WSB  .... 

....17.8 

5.  Highway  Patrol  (Adv)  . . . .  . 

....WAGA,.., 

..Fri.  7:30-8:00  ....... 

...21,5. 

44.5 

Rin  Tin  Tin.. . 

.WLWA  .. 

....16.4 

8.  State  Trooper  (Adv). 

.WAGA... 

.Fri.  7:00-7:30  ....... 

. .  .21.1. 

42.7 

The  Honeymooners, . .  •  •  •  •  • 

.WSB 

. . .  .15.8 

7.  Casey  Jones  (Adv)’ ...... 

....WAGA...', 

.Mon.  7:00^7:30 

...20.9, 

42.7 

If  You  Had  A  MilUon.  . . ... 

;WSB  .... 

....20.0 

8.  If  Yon  Had  A  Million  (Df) 

....WSB...... 

.Mon.  7:00-7:30  . 

...20.0. 

46.8......... 

42.7 

Cisey  Jones.... . . 

.WAGA  .. 

....20.9 

9.  Sky  King  (Adv>. . . . , , .  v> . 

..;wlwa..,. 

. . . . .  Nabisco . . . ....... 

Wed.  6:30-7:00  ... . , , . 

.  .,19.7, 

40.3 

News;  Weather _ _ 

.WSB  .... 

....13.1 

*- 

News-Huntley-Brinkley  . 

.WSB  .... 

;  .  .  .  15.8 

10.  Kit  Carson  (W)  .  . . . 

. . . .  WLWA. .. . 

.....MCA..,..,....,. 

.Tues.  6:30-7:00  ...... 

...16.7. 

38.7 

News;  Weather. . . ; _ _ _ _ _ 

.WSB 

....134 

News-Huntley-Brlnkley  . 

.WSB  .... 

....13.4 

Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


PfiRIETt 


BAPIO-TELEVISIOX  89 


Bury  the  Dead  Comedians 


(with  apologies  to  Irwin  Shaw) 


By  AL  SCHWARTZ 


TIME— Midnight. 


DOCTOR.  All  dead. 


SAM.  Jackie,  take  it  easy. 


SCENE — An  empty  lot  on  a  corner  of  Madison  Avenue, 
New  York  City.  It  is  lighted  by  a  strong  spotlight.  It  is 
the  only  light  on  the  stage.  Two  office  boys  from  an  ad 
agency  stand  in  an  open  pit,  so  that  the  audience  sees 
them  only  from  the  hip 'up.  They  are  digging  a  common 
grave  to  accommodate  three  bodies  wrapped  in  canvas. 
GERALD,  the  first  office  boy  stands  on  the  right,  on  the 
edge  of  the  grave  smoking.  IRVING,  the  second  office  boy, 
in  the  shallow  pit  stops  digging. 

IRVING.  Say,  Gerald,  they  stink  .  .  .  (waving  his  shovel 
at  the  corpses)  Let’s  bury  them  in  a  hurry. 

GERALD.  What  the  hell  do  you  think  you’d  smell  like  if 
you’d  been  off  the  air  since  last  season?  They’ll  be  buried 
soon  enough.  Keep  digging. 

IRVING,  (with  a  deep  sigh)  What  a  business,  television! 
You’re  either  digging  graves,  or  growing  ulcers,  (he  heaves 
up  three  shovelfuls  of  dirt  in  rapid  succession)  There.  Tins 
should  be  deep  enough. 

GERALD.  Not  for  comedians  it  ain’t!  You  gotta  go  all  the 
way  down.  If  someone  should  walk  overhead  with  a  rapid 
pulse-beat,  they’ll  think  it’s  applause  and  come  up  and 
take  a  bow.  Keep  digging! 

IRyiNG.  Okay.  Okay,  (he  heaves  up  another  clod  of  dirt) 
There.  Now  let’s  put  them  away. 

GERALD.  If  you’re  in  such  a  hurry,  all  right,  buy  them. 

(H$  helps  Irving  carry  the  bodies  to  the  open  pit,  where 
they  lay  them  down,  out  of  sight  of  the  audience) 

Go  ahead.  Pile  the  dirt  on  them. 

(A  groan  is  heard.  A  second  later  another  groan  is  heard) 
IRVING.  (Startled)  Gerald,  I  heard  a  groan. 

GERALD.  You’re  imagining  things.  Go  ahead.  Bury  theih. 

(another  groan  is  heard) 

IRVING.  Gerald,  I  tell  you  I  heard  a  groan. 

GERALD.  So  what.  If  you’ve  got  anything  to  do  with  tele¬ 
vision  you  always  hear  goans. 

IRVING.  It’s  from  down  here!  Somebody  down  here 
groaned. 

(A  head  appears  slowly  above  the  open  pit.  A  man  stands 
up,  facing  them.) 

O,  my  God!  One  of  them  is  still  alive! 

(another  head,  then  shoulders  appear  over  the  rim  of  the 
pit.  Then  silently,  a  third  corpse  rises  in  the  middle  of 
the  grave.  THE  THREE  CORPSES  stand  silently.  IRVING 
screams,  and  scrambles  out  of  the  pit.  GERALD  suddenly 
talks) 

GERALD.  What  do  you  want? 

FIRST  CORPSE.  Don’t  bury  us: 

IRVINQ.  Let’s  get  the  hell  out  of  here! 

SECOND  CORPSE.  You  may  need  us. 

THIRD  CORPSE.  No  one  knows  how  long  those  Westerns 
Will  last. 

GERALD.  We’ve  got  to  bury,  you  orders  from  the 
agency: 

FIRST  CORPSE.  What  if  those  Westerns  don’t  hold  up? 
You’ll  need  replacements. 

IRVING.  The  agency  says  you’re  dead.  Arid  if  the  agency  - 
says  you’re  dead,  you’re  dead.  Now  be  good  guys,  and 
lay  down. 

SECOND  CORPSE.  I  ain’t  laying  down. 

THIRD  CORPSE.  Me  neither. 

FIRST  CORPSE.  We’ll  just  hang  -  around. 

IRVING-  (in  a  panic)  Gerald,  what  ate  we  going  to  do? 
GERALD:  You  stay  here  arid  talk  to  them.  I’ll  be  right 
back.  (FADEOTJT) 


(When  the  spotlight  goes  on,  we~are  in  the  private  bedrooi 
of  Mr:  BB,  head  of  the  agency  QQ.  He  is?  angry,  obviously 
disturbed  at  being  awakened  at  such  a  late  hour.  GERALD 
is  talking  to  him  excitedly) 

GERALD.  Forgive  me,  sir,  but  I  thought  that  you  should 
know. 

BB.  ( unconvinced) -You’re  not  malting  this  up? 

GERALD.  Oh,  no,  sir! 

BB.  Why  don’t  you  admit  it,  Gerald,  you  were,  drinking  ‘ 
and*  breathing  in  that  clean  Madison  Ave.  air,  and  what 
with  the  liquor  and  the  air  ; . .  Well .  .  .  go  back  arid  forget 
your  ghosts. 

GERALD.  But  I  assure  you,  sir,  they  were  not  ghosts. 
What  shall  we  do? 

BB.  (yawning)  Just  tell  them  there’s  no  use  they’re  hanging 
around.  The  Westerns  are  getting  big  ratings.  Tell  them 
to  be  sensible  chaps  and  lay  down. 

GERALD.  But,  sir,  they  won’t  listen. 

BB.  (disgustedly)  You  are  not  thinking  toprdrawer,  Gerald; 
Take  a  doctor  back  with  you.  Have  the  doctor  make  out 
official  reports.  And  let’s  hear  no  more  of  this. 

GERALD.  Yes,  sir.  Very  good,  sir. 

(wheels  to  go  out) 

BB.  And  Gerald  .  .  . 

••  GERALD.  Yes,  sir. 

BB.  Stay  away  from  the  bottle: 

GERALD.  YeSi  sir.  -  ,  , 

(The  light  fades  from  BB,  and  follows  GERALD-  as  he 
gulps  two  long  swigs)  (BLACKOUT) 


(The  light  is  thrown  on.  the:  burial  scene  again.  A  DOCTOR 
is  sfeeti  examining  the  CORPSES  in  their  grave.  The 
DOCTOR  is  talking,  as  he  passes  from  the  first  Corpse, 
DOCTOR,  (shaking  head  sadly).  Number  One.  Hardening 
of  the  Hooper,  (he  goes  to  the  second  corpse  Number  Two. 
(shaking  his  head  again)  Poor  fellow.  He’s,  got  a  clogged 
up.  laugh  track.  (He  examines  the.  third  ,  corpse)  Number 
Three-  (shaking  head  sadly)  What  a -terrible  way-  to.  go. 
He’s  got  a  ruptured  kinescope! 

IRVINQ.  They  all  dead!,  doctor? 


GERALD.  Drink,  doctor? 

DOCTOR.  Yes,  thank  you. 

(He  takes  the  profferred  bottle.  Drinks  long  from  it.  He 
stands  looking  at  the  CORPSES^  (BLACKOUT) 

•  *  * 

(The  spotlight  returns  once  more  to  BB.  He  faces  the 
DOCTOR  and  GERALD.  BB  has  the  doctor  s  reports  in 
his  hands) 

BB.  In  your  reports,  doctor,  you  say  each  of  these  come¬ 
dians  is  dead. 

DOCTOR.  Yes,  sir. 

BB.  Then  I  don’t  see  what  the  fuss  is  about,  (to  GERALD) 
They’re  dead — bury  them. 

DOCTOR.  I’m  afraid  he  can’t  sir.  They  are  standing  in 
their  graves.  They  refuse  to  be  buried. 

BB.  You’ve  been  drinking,  too,  Doctor. 

DOCTOR.  Yes,  sir. 

.  BB.  What  a  night!  Everybody’s  drunk!  Gerald,  I  want  a  new 
regulation  passed  tomorrow  in  all  departments.  There  will 
be  no  drinking  except  during  office  hours. 

GERALD.  Yes,  sir. 

BB.  Men,  this  situation  must  be  kept  quiet.  Remember  that. 
Not  a  word.  God  knows  what  the  network  will  think  if  we 
can’t  get  our  comedians  to  lay  down  and  be  buried.  This 
is  the  damndest  problem!  They  never  said  anything  about  - 
this  sort  of  thing  at  Louis  and  Armand’s  where  I  took  my 
agency  training.  Not  a  word,  nobody  must  know.  (BLACK¬ 
OUT) 


(The  spotlight  Illuminates  the  grave,  where  the  CORPSES 
ar  still  standing,  hip  Jeep.  GERALD,  and  IRVING  listen 
as  BB  addresses  the  CORPSES) 

BB.  (at  the  brink  of  the  grave)  Comedians!  Listen  to  me! 
This  is  a  strange  situation  in  which  we  find  ourselves. 
I  have  no  doubt  but  that  it  is  giving  you  as  much  em¬ 
barrassment  as  it  is  us.  I  grant,  my  friends,  that  it  is  unfor¬ 
tunate  that  you  are  dead.  It’s  no  one’s  fault.  It’s  the  chang¬ 
ing  tide  of  our  business.  People  do  not  want  to  laugh 
anymore.  Happiness  is  no  longer  a  thing  called  Joke. 
Gentlemen,  your  agency  demands  that  you  lie  down  and 
allow  yourselves  to  be  buried. 

(He  waits,  but  the  CORPSES  do  riot  move) 

You’re  dead,  men,  dead!  You  can't  be  dead  and  stand  there 
likfe  that.  I’ll  prove  it  to  you.  (He  takes  out;  the  Doctor’s 
report,  and  shouts,  again)  Here  it  is.  Officially,  you’re  all 
.dead.  lie  down!  (The  CORPSES  stand)  Jackie  Zippers! 
Red  Joyson!  Sid  Julius!  Lie  dowrn.  Your  agency  demands  it. 
FIRST  CORPSE.  We  no  longer  have,  an  agency. 

SECOND  CORPSE.  No  agency. 

THIRD  CORPSE.  They  sold  us  for  four  points  of.  bloody 
rating. 

BB.  I  told  you,  fellowls,  it’s  not  our  fault.  We  cater  to  the 
public’s  whim,  and  right  now  the.  people  do  .not  Wish  to 
laugh. 

FIRST  CORPSE.  People  always  want  to  laugh. 

SECOND  CORPSE;  They’re  born  smiling: 

THIRD  CORPSE.  How  do  you  know  they  don’t  want  to 
laugh? 

BB.  We  took,  a  poll. 

FIRST  CORPSE.  I  know  the  kind.  (Mimicking  BB)  'Men 
and  Women  of  America,  mail  in  your  heads.  We  want  to 
check  your  cheeks  to  see  if  you’re  smiling.’  , 

BB.  (gives  rip)  Fellows,  1’iri  disappointed  in  you.  Disap¬ 
pointed.  (BLACKOUT) 


'(A  baby  spotlight  on  a  television  set.  On  the  picture  tube 
we  see  BB.  Through  the  loudspeaker,  we  hear  his  voice,) 
BB’S  VOICE.  This  is  a.  direct  appeal,  to :  the  writers  of 
Jackie.  Zippers,  Red.  Joyson,  and  Sid  Julius,  reported  dead. 
Writers,  the  network  demands  that  you  immediately 
present  yourselves  at  the  empty  lot  on  the  corner  of.  Madi¬ 
son  Av;  and  54th  St.)!  It.  is  within  your  power  to  do  your 
network,  and  ybur  agency  a  great  service.  ( FADEOUT) 

■*'  *• 

(The  spotlight  is  once  again  on  the  grave;  COMEDIAN 
JACKIE  ZIPPERS  and  his  writer,  SAM  WEDLOCK, 
talking) 

SAM.  (gently)  Jackie,  why  don’t  you  lay  down? 

JACKIE;  I  hear  they  got.  you  writing  Westerns  now;  Sam. 
SAM.  (shrugging)  Gotta  steal  a  buck  someplace. 

(gently)  Why  don’t  you.  lay  down? 

JACKIE.  Those  Westerns— they  get  trig;  laughs? 

SAM.  Not  the  cowboys  .  .  ,  but  the.  horses  do  pretty  good. 
God,  have  they  got  funny  horses! 

JACKIE.  Those  -horses— -they  get  trig  laughs? 

SAM.  Not  like  the  laughs  you  got.  But  then  again,  how 
could  they?  You  were  a  physical  comic.  You  just  didn't 
rely  on  words.;. 

(He  pauses  as  he  gathers  strerigth  to  resume  his  mission) 
Jackie  .  .. .  why  don’t  you  lay  down? 

JACKIE,  (bitterly)  Lay  down.  Lay  down.  That’s  all  I  hear. 
They’ve  got  you  on  their  side,  too.  : 

SAM.  (softly)  Jackie,  there’s  no  point  to  you  hanging 
around.  Last  year  you  were  out  of.  the  first  1(L 
JACKIE.  So  I  was  out  of  the.  first  10.  Why  is  ten  ?the 
magical  number?  Why  isn’t  20,  or  30  good  enough? 

SAM.  Jackie  don’t  yell  at  me.  I  don’t  make  the  rules.  The 
sponsor  ;  .  .  he  .  .  , 

JACKIE. .  (interrupting  angrily)  The  sponsor!  Why  doesn't 
he  make  rules  that  work  both  ways.  When  I  was  Number 
One,  and  his  product  was  .  number  12,  did  I  say  to  hiiri, 
“Nobody  can  iriove  your  product.  Why  don’t  you  take  it 
off  the’ market’,  and  bury  it!" 

SAM.  Jackie,  I  just  told  you,  I  don't  make  the  rules. 
JACKIE'  (fiercely)  And  you,  Sam.  If  Nielsen  rated  writer* 
—would  you  be  in  the  first  10? 


JACKIE.  And  what  if  a  successful  doctor,  or  plumber  had 
to  be  in  the  first  10?  Believe  me  they’d  be  a  lot  of  people, 
in  this  country  with  burst  appendixes  and  leaky  faucets! 
SAM.  Jackie,  you  don’t  get  the  point. 

JACKIE.  I  get  the  point,  Sam.  Go  back  to  your  Westerns. 
Go  back  to  your  westerns.  (BLACKOUT) 

*  *  * 

(The  spotlight  picks  out  CORPSE  NUMBER  TWO.  RED 
JOYSON,  where  he  stands  in  his  grave.  His  writer,  SN  \G 
LIPSCOTT  sits  and  stares  up  at  him) 

SNAG.  Say  something. 

RED.  What  do  you  want  me  to  say? 

SNAG.  Something — anything.  Only  talk.  You  give  me  the 
shivers  standing  there  like  that  .  looking  like  that 
RED.  Okay.  Let’s  talk.  They  got  you  working  on  Westerns, 
too? 

SNAG.  No  such  luck.  They  stuck  me  on  a  musical. 

RED.  Musical? 

SNAG.  Yeah.  It’s  the  new  thing.  They  take  a  singing 
personality,  stuff  him  with  jokes,  and  tell  him  he’s  a  comic. 
RED.  That  doesn't  make  him  a  comic. 

SNAG.  You  telling  me?  It  will  take  the  next  five  years 
to  scrape  all  that  yolk  off*  the  coaxial  cable. 

RED.  That  only  proves  they  need  me.  Snag.  Go  to  them. 
Snag.  Tell  them  they  need  me. 

SNAG.  It  won’t  do  any  good.  Red.  All  you’ve  got  is  talent, 
and  today  talent  is  out  of  style.  Stop  fighting  it,  Red.  You 
comics  have  been  replaced  by  a  bag  of  oats,  and  a  lyric. 
RED.  I  don’t  believe  it.  I  don’t  beliteve  it. 

SNAG.  Red,  as  far  as  they’re  concerned,  you’re  dead. 
Dead. 

REID.  They  can’t  do  this  to  me.  I’ve  only  had  two  short 
seasons  on  tv.  I’m  entitled  to  a  career  equal  to  my  talent, 
to  be  ended  by  an  unhurried  fate,  not  by  some  graph  on 
an  agency  wall. 

SNAG.  Red,  I  wish  I  could  do  something,  but  I  can’t. 
Believe  me.  I’ll  never  forget  you.  I  *go  through  the  file 
three  times  a  week,  touching  the  jokes  that  got  us  the 
biggest  laughs,  (voice  breaks)  Red,  I  promise  you  that 
no  one  will,  ever  tell  those  jokes  again,  (sobbing)  Red,  I 
can’t  stand  this  any  more.  Let  them  bury  you.  Red.  Let 
them  bury  you!  (BLACKOUT) 


(The  spotlight  illuminates  the  THIRD  CORPSE,  SID 
JULIUS.  He  stands  listening  to  his  writer,  ACE  COLLINS, 
SID.  (Heatedly)  I  tell  you  your’e  wrong,  Ace.  it  isn’t  all 
ver.  I  got  things  to.  say.  Big  things.  Important  things. 
ACE.  But  you’ve  said  them  before. 

SID.  No.  The  kind  of  things  I  want  to  say  now',  you  hav 
to  wait  till,  you’re  dead. 

ACE.  Thing,  like  what? 

SID.,  Like  walking  into  the  network,  off  ice  ...  .like  saying 
When  I  first  came  to  you  I  was  a  fresh  young  personality. 
You  said  X  had  a  remarkable  future.  All  I  needed  was  time 
to  ripen.  So  what  do  you  do?  You  stick  me  opposite  Play¬ 
house  110  with  an  80  rating,  and  a  $10,000  writing  budget. 
ACE.  Sid,  that  still  doesn’t  excuse  you  lor  striking  out; 
SID.  So  Mickey  Mantle  strikes  out,  too.  BUT  THEY 
DON’T  THROW  HIM  OUT  OF  THE  INDUSTRY.  THEY 
JUST  THROW  HIM  OUT  OF  THAT  GAME! 

ACE,  Don't  blame  television,  Sid:  There  just  Isn’t  the  time. 
You’ve  got  to  be  a  hit  on  your  way  to  rehearsal. 

SID.  Well,  they’d  better,  find  .  time.  The  \vords,  Prudence 
and  Patience,  should  be  a  slogan— not  the  name  of  a  song 
team. 

ACE.  Are  you  through,  Sid? 

SID.  No,  I'm  not  through.  I  got  other  things  to  say.  Other 
things.  I  want  to  say  to  them — you  bought'  me,  Sid  Julius, 
because  I  had  a  different  personality.  So  why  did  you  try 
to  turn  me  into  another  Jack  Benny.  There  is  only  one 
Jack  Benny,  and  there  is  only  one  Bob  Hope.  There  will 
never  be  another  one.  Talent  does  not  come  with  a -split 
personality! 

ACE.  You’re  wrong,  Sid.  If  you  want  success  you’ve  got  to 
copy  success. 

'SID.  (shakes  head  sadly)  That’s  the  trouble.  Television* 
used  to  be  a  challenge — now  it’s  a  piece  of  carbon  paper 
with  a  knob  on  it. 

ACE.:  You’ll  never  get  anyone,  to  listen  to  you  (he  gets 
up  to  go). 

SID.  Not  even  you. 

ACE.  Sorry,  but  I  gotta  get  back  to  the  typewriter.  I  still 
haven’t  finished  my  script  for  Playhouse  110.  (he  turns  lo 
leave)  And  Sid 
SID.  Yeah. 

ACE.  Don’t  louse  me  up.  Lay  down.  We're  doing  your  life 
Story  tonight.  (BLACKOUT) 


(A  spotlight  picks  up  BB.,  GERALD  and  IRVING.  BB  paces 
before  them  frantically) 

BB.  Nothing  worked.  Nothing.  There’s  only  one  thing  left 
to  do.  As  God  is  my  judge  I  don’t  want  to  do  this,  but.  they 
leave  irie  no  choice,  (he  motions  to  the  wings.  Three  famil- 
larlooking  square-jawed  cowboys  step  forward.  Their  guns 
are  drawn)  Men,  it’s  up  to  you.  If  you  want  to  remain  stars 
on  television,  you’ll  have  to  kill  these  comedians  so  we 
can  bury  them,  (he  indicates  the  CORPSES)  Let’s  get  it 
over  with.  I’ll  give  the  comriiand  to  fire. 

FIRST  COWBOY..  Not  me!  I  ain’t  gonna  shoot  no  dead 

SECOND  COWBOY.  Me  neither: 

THIRD  COWBOY.  You’ll  have  to  shoot  them  yourself, 
(he  hands  his  .  gun  to  BB) 

BB.  (whispers)  Oh,  my  God.  (be  looks  down  at  gun  then 
slowly  gets  down  on  one  knee  behind  it.  The  CORPSES 
come  together  in  the  middle  of  the  grave,  all  facing  the 
gun.  There  is  absolute  silence.  The  CORPSES  begin  to 
Walk  toward  BB.  BB  raises  the  gun,  but  he  is  unable  to 
press  the  trigger.  The  CORPSES  Walk  past  BB,  and  con- 
tiriue  rip  Madison  Ave.  -They  walk  leisurely  knowing  that 
they  have  Avon  the  battle  for  their  future.) 

(the  lights  dim) 

CURTAIN 


THEY  SAY 


Let  Them  Sa 


IN  ENGLAND 


LONDON,  Palladium 


»  »  M  maMW  w  ■■■  ■'  ■  w  IT  I  “HIS  INTENSE  AND  VIRILE  METHOD  OF  PUTTING  A  SONG  OVER, 

■  ■  - .  ■  ■  i  i  r  HIS  SUPERB  SHOWMANSHIP,  HIS  SENSE  OF  HUMOR,  CARRY  HIS 

AUDIENCE  WITH  HIM  ALL  THE  WAY” 

“A  PACKED  HOUSE  PAID  A  TRIBUTE  OF  SQUEALS  OF  DELIGHT.  MR;  LAINE  WAS  PRESENT-DAY  SHOWMAN¬ 
SHIP  AT  ITS  PEAK.  MR.  LAINE  PULLS  THEM  IN,  AND  WORTHILY  EARNS  HIS  DOLLARS.” 

“HIS  TALENT  IS  UNQUESTIONABLE  AND  HE  HAS  THE  EXPERIENCED  TOUCH  OF  A  SEASONED  TROOPER.  HE 
PUTS  ON  A  HIGHLY  POLISHED  PERFORMANCE.” 


I U  E  Q  A  NCF  VOlympia,  VARIETY 

f  #W  m  MmM+Mw  W  Mm.  “frankie  ladies  style  gets  powerful  plaudits  here:  laine 

1  opens  with  some  fractured  french,  but  keeps  it  down  and 

GIVES  THEM  WHAT  THEY  CAME  TO  HEAR.  HIS  FINE  RHYTHMS  IN  JAZZ  BITS,  AND  THE  UPBEAT  DRA¬ 
MATICS  OF  HIS  BALLADS,  EASILY  HAD  HIM  PASSING  THE  LINGO  BARRIER.” 

“i/un  des  rois  du  micro  aux  U.S.A.  .  .  .  est  difficile  de  ne  pas  etre  sedult  par  “admirable  technique  de 
ce  chanteur.”  -—LE  JOURNAL  DE  PARIS.  < 

“IT  IS  DIFFICULT  NOT  TO  BE  SEDUCED  BY  THE  ADMIRABLE  TECHNIQUE  OF  THIS  SINGER.” 

“Frankie  Laine  chante  et  nous  sommes  conquis.  La  voix  est 'ample,  legeste  rare,  et  quel  rythme  dans 
l’interpretation!  C’est  un  tres  grand  artiste,”  — FRANCE-SOIR. 

“FRANKIE  LAINE  SINGS  AND  WE  ARE  CONQUERED.  THE  VOICE  IS  AMPLE,  THE  GESTURE  RARE,  AND  WHAT 
RHYTHM  IN  THE  INTERPRETATION.  HE  IS  A  VERY  GREAT  ARTIST!” 

M  MM  fVJt  f  MM  ■  MILANO* 

M  am  a  a  M\M  W  “Dinanzi  a  liu  sono  impallidite  le  phi*  colossal!  adunate  oceaniche  che  si 

siano  mai  registrate  in  Italia.” 

“THE  ACCLAIM  FOR  FRANKIE  OVERSHADOWED  THE  GREATEST  EVENTS  THAT  EVER  TOOK  PLACE  IN  ITALY,” 

“Frankie  ci  ha  fatto  qualche  cosat  Ci  ha  ridato  il  desiderio  di  godere  ed  apprezzare  la  vita.  Ci  siamo 

trovati  a  camiriinare  in  inezza  alia  strada,.  fishchiando  gaiamente,  come  non  avevaino  fatto  da  molto 

tempo.” 

“FRANKIE  DID  SOMETHING  TO  US:  HE  GAVE  US  BACK  THE  DESIRE  TO  ENJOY  AND  APPRECIATE  LIFE. 
WE  FOUND  OURSELVES  WALKING  IN  THE  MIDDLE  OF  THE  ROAD,  WHISTLING  GAILY,  AS  WE  HADN’T  DONE 
FOR  A  LONG  TIME.” 

“E’  un  cantante  inimitabile.  I  suoi  acuti  sono  supersonici.” 

“HE  IS  AN  INIMITABLE  SINGER,  HIS  HIGH  NOTES  ARE  SUPERSONIC;” 

“Diciottenni  in  delirio  al  ritmo  di  GRANADA.  200  agenti  di  polizia  non  rinscivano  a  controllare  i  4000 
teenagers  che  impazzivano  per  Mr.  Ritmo.” 

“TEENAGERS  WERE  DELIRIOUS  TO  HlS  RHYTHM  OF  GRANADA.  200  policemen  could  hard  control  4000  teen¬ 
agers  as  they  went  wild  over  Mr.  Rhythm.” 

ROME: 

“La  voce  di  Frankie  incahta  uomini  e  donne  •.  .  Anche  in  Italia  miglia  di  donne  tirano  sulla  spesa  e  sul 

rossetto  per  comprarsi  un  45-giri  di  Frankie.” 

“FRANKIE'S  VOICE  ENCHANTS  BOTH  MEN  and  WOMEN,  even  IN  ITALY  THOUSANDS  OF  WOMEN  TRY 
TO  SAVE  MONEY  ON  THEIR  GROCERIES  AND  ON  THEIR  LIPSTICK  TO  BUY  A  (45)  RECORD  OF  FRANKIE.” 
Gazetta  del  Popolo— Massagero  (ROME);  !!  Corrlere— Della  Sera— n  Giorno  (MILANO);  La  Stampa  (TORINO) 


!Af  BEK  fill  IM  BRUSSELS* 

M-Mw  Mm  m  m  MW  a.  “II  est  un  des  maitres  de  Tecole  moderne  de  la  chanson.  Si  je 

■  '  ■  _  -  ’  ~  devais  classer  les  artistes  dan  l’ordre  de  mes  preferences,  je 

placerai  incontestablement  Frankie  Laine  en  numero  un.”  — LA  NOUVELLE  GAZETTE. 

“HE  IS  ONE  OF  THE  MASTERS  OF  THE  MODERN  SCHOOL  OF  SONG.  IF  I  WERE  TO  CLASS  ARTISTS  IN  THE 
ORDER  OF  MY  PREFERENCES,  I  WOULD  INCONTESTABLY  PLACE  FRANKIE  LAINE  AS  NUMBER  ONE.” 

ANTWEfcP:  . 

“ZynSukses  tydenseen  voorstelling  Iigt  in  her  kontakt  met  zyn  publiek.  De  persoonlykheid  van  de  zanger 
en  deze  van  de  luisterende  massa  vloeien  yoor  eeh  oogenblik  in  elkaar.”  — GAZET  VAN  ANTWERPEN. 
“HIS  SUCCESS  DURING  A  SHOW  LIES  IN  THE  CONTACT  WITH  HIS  AUDIENCE.  THE  PERSONALITY  OF  THE 
SINGER  AND  THAT  OF  THE  LISTENING  CROWD  FOR  A  MOMENT  FLOW  TOGETHER.” 

“Son  tour  de  chant  ...  a  comm  un  veritable  triomphe,  que  lui  a  reserve  un  public  de  grands  connois¬ 
seurs  .  .  . 

“Et  lorsqu’il  interpreta  son  immense  succes,  son  1  BELIEVE,  que  tant  de  cbanteurs  ont  copie  mais  jamais 
egale,  le  public  lui  fait  une  ovation  delirante.”  — LE  MATIN. 

“HIS  SHOW  ...  WAS  A  REAL  TRIUMPH,  GIVEN  TO  HIM  BY  AN  AUDIENCE  OF  GREAT  CONNOISSEURS  .  .  > 
“AND  WHEN  HE  SANG  HIS  IMMENSE  SUCCESS,  HIS  T  BELIEVE,’  WHICH  SO  MANY  SINGERS  IMITATED  BUT 
NEVER  EQUALLED,  THE  PUBLIC  GAVE  HIM  A  DELIRIOUS  OVATION.” 

“Frankie  Laine,  de  Amerikaanse  wonderzanger.”  —PICCOLO. 

“FRANKIE  LAINE,  THE  AMERICAN  WONDERSINGER  .  .  J 

MECHELEN 

“Frank  zit  boordevol  ritme,  showmanship  en..  .  .  talent.  Zyn  publiek  heeft  by  volledig  in  de  ban,  Zyn 
houding  op  bet  toneel  is  spontaan  en  zelfzeker,  zyn  punch  werkelyk  aanstekelyk.”  —JUKE  BOX. 
“FRANK  IS  FULL  OF  RHYTHM,  SHOWMANSHIP  AND ...  TALENT.  HE  HAS  HIS  AUDIENCE  COMPLETELY 
SPELLBOUND,  HE  ACTS  NATURAL  AND  WITHOUT  CONSTRAINT,  AND  HIS  DRIVE  IS  REALLY  COMMUNICA¬ 
TIVE  ...” 


tiklE 


«W.  to  &?“"  « 

uK-* *• 

‘«»'t  o 

jSSst? 

m  on*  u* 
r  n,n  it  w«"2 
'«!*  koo* 

»  If-  I  Mtnu  l  ,D#,i 

i&Sacz 

«  Dvd  thing  otter  al, 


AND  JUST 
THE  SHAMR( 

The  H 

FRAN 

"A  gentleman,  who  Is,  to  m 
our  era,  Frankie  Laine  ...  I 
sing  arid  it  makes  swell  lisl 
"When  «  singer  can  take  j 
end  horn-tooting  Into  pi 
you  know  he*s  got  some- 
Emerald  Room." 

COLUMBIA  RECORD! 

Lotaat  Raleeie 

ANNABEL  LEE 

k/W  All  ol  IkM. 


Opening  Los  Angeles  Ambassador  Cocoanu 


41 


Wednesday^  January- 22,  1958 


PE& dEfit 


y 


LETTER  TO  a  lady 

Wndon  musical  express 

i_l“#  v*aPP«*d  fo  b*  Mint. 

Lztfisiz  c,rm^-  •*«„  ”  ak0‘ 

s-asssaswes 

0tPn9  S^-ri-^hrm  Mr  Rh* 

rSW^SSSS?^ 

'n  ,M  ^  '^«r« 

/.»»».  *•“■  r»-  »«.  .pptaj, , 

,“•*•“ — — 

SSfSTSS" 

emptlHng  vofcl  had  ,l"cerIfy. 

Your*  *iiic«r./y,. 

THE  EDITOR 


RETURNED  FROM 
XX  HILTON  HOTEL 

ouston  Press: 

KIE'S  GREATEST 

y  mind,  one  of  the  greatest  pop  singers  of 
^lo  gimmicks,  Just  a  straight  stand-up-and- 
ening. 

i  New  Year's  Eve  crowd, Jiush  the  tumult 
Irop  silence  with  a  song  like  'I  BELIEVE,* 
hing.  Frankie  did  that  to  the  packed 

[  Direction 


FRANK  (Lo  Vecchio)  LAINE 


t  Grove 


January  Twenty- Second 


42  ;  .  TV-FOMS 


P’XitlETi 


Wedneaday,  Jannary  22,  1953 


ABB  FEATDBE  FILM  CHART 

Vamexy'*  weekly  chart,  based  on  ratings  furnished  by  American  Research  Bu-  -  feature  period  and  share  of  audience,  since  these  factors  reflect  the  effectiveness 
teau’s  latest  reports  on  feature  films  and  their  competition  timers  120  cities .  Each  of  the  feature  and  audience  composition,  i.e.,  a  late  show  at  11:13  p.m.  would  hardly 
week,  the  10  top-rated  features  in  a  particular  city  vnll.be.  rotated,  r  have  any  children  viewers,  but  its  share  of  audience  may  reflect  dominance  in  that 

Factors  which  would  assist  distributors,  agencies,  stations  and  advertisers  in  time  period,  Ih  the  cities  where  stations  sell  theii  feature  programming  on  a  multi 
determining  the  effectiveness  of  a  feature  show  in'  a  specific  market  have,  been  stripped  basis  utilizing  the  same  theatrical  throughout  the  week  a  total  rating  for  the 
included  in  this  Variety  chart*  Listed  below  is  such  pertinent  information  regarding  total  number  of  showings  for  the  week  is  given,  the  total  rating  not  taking  into  account 
features  as  their  stars,  release  .year,  original  production  company  and  the  present  the  duplicated  homes  factor.  Barring  unscheduled  switches  in  titles  the  listed  features 
distributor  included  wherever  possible  along  with  the  title;  Attention  should  be  paid  for  the  particularly  rated  theatrical  filmed  show  are  as  accurate  as  could  be  ascer- 
to  such  factors  as  the  time  and  day,  the  high  and  low  ratings  for  the  measured  tained  from  a  multiplicity  of  station  and  other  data. 


WASHINGTON 


TOP  10  TITLES  AND  OTHER  DATA 

TME  SLOT 

ARB 

RATI 

HIGH 

LOW 

SHARE  .OF 
AUDIENCE 

DECEMBER,  1957 
TOP  COMPETING  SHOWS 

ARB 

RATING 

1.  DARK  PASSAGE-^- 

Safeway  Theatre 

23.5 

25.6 

19.1 

56.6 

Gray  Ghost. . . . ; . . . 

.WTOP  . 

Humphrey  Bogart,  Lauren 

Bacall;  1947;  Warner  Brothers; 

Associated  Artists  Productions 

Sat.  Dec.  7 
10:30-12:30  am. 
WMAL 

11  PJH.  Report . . 

Pride  of  the  Marines, 

Late  Show . . .  .  . 

.  WTOP  . 

.WTOP  . 

2.  GASLIGHT— 

Charles  Boyer,  Ingrid  Bergman, 
JosepJiCotten;  1944; 

*  MGM;  MGM-TV' 

Late  Show 

Fri.  Dec.  0 
11:15-1:30  p.m. 
WTOP  “ 

9.0 

12.3 

6.0 

50.8 

Stringer;  Michael;.  Sam. ...... 

Tonight  ...... ....... 

.WRC  ♦  . 
.WRC 

5.0 

2.  PRIDE  OF  THE  MARINES— 

John  Garfield,  Eleanor  Parker; 

1945;  Warner  Brothers; . 

Associated  Artists  .Productions 

Late  Show 

Sat.  Dec.  7 
11:15-1:30  a  m. 
WTOP 

8.6 

10.1 

6.8 

.37.0 

Dark  Passage,  Safeway 

Theatre 

WMAL  . 

4.  PRESENTING  LILY  MARS— 

Early  Show 

V  83 

9,0 

7.4 

25.3 

NCAA  Football . . 

WRC 

.14.8 

Judy  Gardand,  Van  Heflin; 

1943;  MGM;  MGM-TV 

Sat.  Dec.  7- 
5:30r7:00  p.m. 
WTOP 

5.  HIGH  SIERRA— 

Humphrey  Bogart,  Ida  Lupino; 

Arthur  Kennedy;  1941;  Warner 

Brothers;  Associated  Artists  Productions 

Warner  Brothers 
Premiere 

Sun.  Dec.  1 
4:00-5:30  p  jn. 
W.TTG 

7.7 

8.2 

6.3 

22.6 

Pro-Football;  Scoreboard. ... . 

Omnibus  ;  . .  . -;.7 

Tales  of  the  Texas  Rangers. .  - 

.WTOP  . 
WRC  .... 
.WMAL  . 

.......20-7 

..,.,..11.0 

0.  MAN  FROM  CHEYENNE— 

Roy  Rogers;  1942; 

Republic;  MCA-TV 

Footlight  Theatre 
Wed.  Dec.  4 

6.1 

6.5 

5.7 

17.7 

Mickey  Mouse  Club .......... 

Sky  King. .  . . . . . 

WMAL  . 
WMAL  . 

.8:30-6:30  pin. 

WRC 

T.  TO  HAVE  AND  HAVE  NOT— 

Humphrey  Bogart,  Lauren  Bacall; 

1944;  Warner  Brothers; 

Associated  Artists  Productions 

Late  Show 

Tues.  Dec.  3 
11:15-1:15  a.m. 

'  WTOP 

5.4 

7.1 

27 

51.9 

Stringer;  Simpson;  Sam. . . .. . 

Tonight  ...... 

.WRC 

.WRC 

4.9 
4  3 

8.  CRY  OF  THE  CITY— 

Early  Show 

5.2 

5.7 

4.4 

16.5 

Sir  Lancelot... . . . 

.WMAL 

9:4 

Victor  Mature,  Richard  Conte, 

Sheliey  Winters;  1948; 

20th  Century  Fox;  NTA 

Tues.  Dec.  3 
5:00-6:30  p.m.. 
WTOP 

Mickey  Mouse  Club 

.  WMAL  . 
WMAL  , 

.... . 20.9 

. . . .  .11.9 

9.  WAGON  MASTER— 

Joanne  Dru,  Ben  Johnson; 

1949;  RKO;  C&C 

Sunday  Movie 

Sun.  Dec.  1 ; 
2:00-3:30  pVm. 
WTTG 

5.0 

32 

4.6 

13.3 

Pro-Football 

WTOP  . 

....^..27.4 

10.  FRANKENSTEIN— 

Boris  Karloff,  John  Boles, 

Colin  Clive;  1932;  Universal; 

Screen  Gems 

Shock  Theatre. 

Sun.  Dec.  1 
11:15-1:15  a.m. 
WTOP 

4.7 

6.8 

0.3 

48.5 

The  Paradine  Case 

Feature  Festival ........... 

WRC 

3.1 

10.  THE  BRIBE — 

Robert  Taylor,  Ava  Gardner; 

1948;  MGM;  MGhf-TV 

Early  Show 

Thurs,  Dec.  5 
5:00-6:30  p.m. 
WTOP 

4.7 

5:2 

4.4 

14.5 

Woody  Woodpecker. - - - - ... . 

Mickey  Mouse  Club .......... 

Jungle  Jim... . . ....... 

.  WMAL  . 
WMAL  . 

,  WMAL  . 

.......14.3 

_ *  .21.7 

COLUMBUS 

1.  HEIDI— 

Shirley  Temple,  Jean  Hersholt,. 

Arthur  Treacher;  .1937;  20th 

Century  Fox;  NTA 

Shirley  Temple 

Sat.  Dec.  7 
6:30-7:30  p.m. 
WTVN 

29.0 

29.2 

28.2 

473 

NCAA  Football;  Scoreboard. . . 
Waterfront 

The  Honeymobners _ ....... 

People  Are  Funny  . _ ....... 

WLWC  . 
WBNS  . 
.WBNS  . 
WLWC  . 

: . .16.3 

.......19.8 

2.  JOHNNY  O’CLOCK— 

Dick  Powell,  Evelyn  Keyes; 

1947;  Columbia; 

Screen.  Gems 

Something  Different 
Sat.  Dec.  7 
10:30-12:15  a.m. 

WT  VN  / 

22.7 

249 

20.6 

48.3 

Last  of  the  Mohicans . ... . . 

Alfred  Hitchcock  Presents _ 

Championship  Bowling.  . . 

.  WBNS  . 
WBNS  , 

.  WBNS  . 

.......16,0 

tr  DR.  JEKVLL  &  MR.  HYDE— 

-  Spencer  Tracy,  Lana  Turner, 

Ingrid  Bergman;  1941; 

Best  of  MC5M 

Sun.  Dec.  1 
5:30-7:30  p.m. 

19.2 

21.3 

17.6 

33.6 

Cisco  Kid . .  . . . .  . . .......... 

I  Love  Lucy. _ _ 

Olir  Miss  Brooks. ; . . ... ...... 

.  WLWC  .. 
.WBNS  . 
7  WBNS  . 

......  ,13.5 

. , . . . .  .  25.4 

MGM;  MGM-TV 

WLWC 

4.  AFRICAN  QUEEN— 

Humphrey  Bogart,  Katharine 

Hepburn;  1952;  United  Artists; 

United  Artists-TV 

Armchair  Theatre 
Fri.  Dec.  6 
li:15-l:15  ajn. 
WBNS 

18.5 

22.3 

11.6 

63.1 

Weather;  Billy  the  Kid, 

MGM  Theatre. ...... ... . ... . 

WLWC  . 

.......  7.6 

B.  THE  MAN  WHO  TALKED  TOO  MUCH— 
George.Brent,  Brenda  Marshall; 

1940;  Warner  Brothers; 

Associated  Artists  Productions 

Sunday  Showboat 
Sun.  Dec.  1 
12:30-2:00  pjii. 
WTVN 

13.8 

14.8 

12.6 

55.9 

Wild  Bill  Hickok 

Schiff  Hour  . . ... . . 

Columbus  Town  Meeting. ...... 

WBNS  . 

WLWC 

WBNS 

5.0 

5,6 

6.  THE  AMAZING  DR.  CUTTERHOUSE— 
Edward  G.  Robinson,.  Humphrey 

Bogart;  1938;  Warner  Brothers; 

Associated  Artists  Productions 

Lex  Mayers  Theatre 
Sun.  Dec.  . i 
9:00-10:30  p:m. 

11.2 

11.3 

10.6 

18.0 

<LE.  Theatre.  .  : . .  .  . 

Dinah  Shore  Chevy  Show... 
Loretta.  Young  Presents. 

.  W&TS  . 
WLWC  . 
WLWC  . 

.......284 

. .  .26.9 

91  ^ 

WTVN  : 

7.  THE  ADVENTURES  OF  ROBIN  HOOD— 

Saturday  Showboat 

10.9 

11.3 

10.3 

33.9 

Pro-Football  . 

.WBNS 

17  9 

Errol  Flynn,  Olivia  De  Havilland; 

1938;  Warner  Brothers; 

Associated  Artists  Productions 

Sat  Dec.  7  ’ 
1:00-3:00  p.m, 
WTVN 

I.  SHERIFF  OF  SUNDOWN— 

Allan  Lane;  1944;  \ 

Republic;  Hollywood 

Television  Service 

Early  Show 

Wed.  Dec.  4 
5:00-6:00  p.m. 
WBNS 

9.8 

10.0 

9.3 

30.2 

Wild  Bill  Hickok  . . . ... 

Mickey  Mouse  Club _ ... , 

WTVN  . 
.WTVN  . 

. 11  5 

....  ...22.5 

9.  THUNDERING  TRAIL — 

Tom  Tyler, .  Bob  Steele; 

1942;  Republic;  Hollywood 

Television  Service 

Early  Show 

Tues.  Dec,  3 
5:00-6:00  pim. 

^  WBNS 

9,6 

10.3 

1 

✓  8:6 
l 

30.5 

Sir  Lancelot . . . . . 

Mickey  Mouse  (Club . . . . .  *. 

.WTVN 
.WTVN  . 

..  9.5 

10.  BORDERTOWN  TRAIL — 

Smiley  Burnette,  Sunset  Carson; 

1944-  Republic;  Hollywood 

Television  Service 

Early.  Show 

Thurs.  Dec.  5 
5:00-6:00  p.m. 
WBNS 

9.5 

10.3 

8.3 

28.2 

Woody  Woodpecker  . . ... ..... . 

Mickey  Mouse  Club.  .  ,... _ 

WT-VN  . 
WTVN  . 

...... .16:4 

_ ,25.1 

^Wednesday,  January  22,  1953 


USsuEV’f 


RA9IO-TEI£VI$t«N 


43 


nmrp  i  nit  m  mrvm 


One- of  the  most  unusual  rehearsal  schedules  In  television  his* 
tory  was  followed  prior  to  the  CBS-TV  telecast  of  the  New  York 
Philharmonic  Young  People’s  Concert  last  Saturday  >  j[18).  Tele¬ 
cast  was  the  first  of  four  remotes  from  Carnegie  Hall  with  Leonard 
Bernstein  conducting. 

Because  of  Carnegie’S  other  commitments,  rehearsals  couldn't  . 
start  until  midnight  Friday  (17).  Schedule  producer  Roger  Eng¬ 
lander  and  director  Charles  Dubin  set  was  as  follows: 

12  Midnight  Set  up  crew  &  stagehands 
3  a.m.  Lighting  set  up 
.  4  a.m.  Operating  crew 
5:30  a.m.  Breakfast 

6:15  a.m;  Mr.  Bernstein  (with  microphone) 

6:30  a.m.  Camera  blocking— Mr.  Bernstein 
8  a.m.  Audio-orchestra  t 
8:30  a.m.  Camera— Mr.  Bernstein,  orchestra 
9:30  a.m.  Notes;  makeup  „ 

IQ-11  a.m.  DRESS  (w/film,  telop) 

12-1  p.m.  AIR 


Formats  for  a  Newer  Generation 


Changing  composition  of  the4 
daytime  radio  audience  requires  ' 
“modernization”  of  network  pro¬ 
gramming  in  order  to  attract  the 
“young  housewife  group”  which  is 
and  will  be  the  natural  successor 
to  the  older  “soap  opera-oriented” 
group  of  housewives  as  they  de¬ 
cline  in  numbers. 

That’s  the  theory  on  which  CBS 
Radio  is  moving  ‘  toward  experi¬ 
mentation  with  new  daytime  for¬ 
mats  to  replace— eventually — the 
standard  oldstyle  '  supercharged 
cliffhangers.  Bellwether  of  the 
new  look  is  “The  Couple  ’  Next 
Door,”  the  Peg  Lynch-Alan  Bunce 
aeries  recently  installed  in  the  2:30 
strip,  which  is  the  first  soaper 
series  with  a  humorous  twist. 

Reason  for  the  slotting  of 
“Couple,”  according  to  program-, 
ming  v.p.  Howard  Barnes,  is  that 
the  younger  housewives  can’t 
identify  with  the  older  soapsr- 
“there’s  no  reason  for  a  younger 
woman  to  be  interested  in  what 
happens  to  a  Helen  Trent  or  a 
NOra  Drake.”  In  slotting  a  hu¬ 
morously  slanted  show  (“on  life’s 
minor  irritations,”  Barries  says), 
the  young  housewife  can  identify. 
Moreover,  younger  people  tend  to 
look  upon  the  traditional  soaps  as 
corny  and  below  them,  and  the  mod¬ 
ernization  technique  thus,  becomes 
doubly  necessary. 

“Couple”  is  a  “bellwether”  be¬ 
cause  the  network  is  making  haste 
slowly  in  its  “modernization”  cam- 
continued  on  page  56) 


Hot  on  Stripping 

Philadelphia,  .Jan.  21. 

In  Philadelphia,  WRCV-TV  has 
been  slotting  reruns  of  highly 
rated  nighttime  film  series  into 
daytime  periods,  for  a  number  of 
years.  Channel  3  pioneered  strip¬ 
ping  When  “My  Little  Margie”  was 
inserted  in  the  1-1:30  p.m.  spot 
Monday  through  Friday. 

The  Gale  Storm-Charles  Farrell 
series,  that  equalled  and  often 
topped  the  Arthur  Godfrey  night 
session,  was  an  immediate  success 
when  programmed  in  the  after¬ 
noon.  Station  used  a  strong  “It’s 
Nighttime  in  the  Daytime”  promo¬ 
tional  push. 

Currently  WRCV-TV  has  been 
programming -first  runs  of  “Doug¬ 
las  Fairbanks  Presents”  and  reruns 
of-  “Public  Defender”  in  the  early 
morning.  “Defender”  wound  up 
Its  contract  recently  and  in  its 
place  station  is  planning  to  insert 
a  pair  of  15-minute  comedy  films 
with  “Fairbanks”  following.  This 
filmed  hour.  (9-10  a.m.)  has  shown 
a  slow  but  steady  gain  in  ratings 
against  its  opposition's  “live”  lo¬ 
cal  variety  show  and  “Susie”  re¬ 
runs,  and  is  constantly  ahead  of  an 
educational  Session. 

WRCV-TV  has  been  battling  the 
late  afternoon  kiddies  program? 
ming  with  the  stripping  of  adult 
film  series.  In  line  with  current 
satellite  interest  station  has  been 
airing  first  runs,  of  “Science  Fic¬ 
tion  Theatre.” 


Writers  Guild  Dickers 
Pact  With  DuM’sWABD 

Writers  Guild  of  America  is  try¬ 
ing  to  line  up  a  contract  for  news 
and  continuity  writers  at  WABD, 
DuMont’s  N;  Y;  tv  outlet  Guild  and 
the  station  began  collective  bar¬ 
gaining  talks. 

Union  says  that  the  station  has 
seven  Writers,  four  of  whom  work 
on  the  “Probe”-“Night  Beat”  late- 
night-strip.  Only  two  weeks  earlier; 
WABD  recognized  the  guild  as.  the 
scribes’  official  collective  bargain¬ 
ing  agent.  WGA,  locally,  reps  news 
and  continuity  staffers  at  CBS, 
NBC,  ABC  arid  WOR.  WPIX  and 
WATV  (Newark)  are  two  local  tv 
stations  not  under  WGA  jurisdic¬ 
tion. 

Ct.  Appeal  Nixed, 
CBC  to  Be  Tried 
On  Lords  Day  Act 

Toronto,  Jan.  21. 

Canadian  Broadcasting  Corp.  of¬ 
ficials  must  stand  trial  on  test 
charges,  of  Lords  Day  Act  enforcers 
that  the  Sunday  dissemination  of 
news,  via  radio  arid  television,  is 
illegal.  This  follows  the  three- 
to-two  decision  of  the  Court  of  Ap¬ 
peal  which  turned  down  the  re¬ 
quest  of  the  State-operated  CBC 
that  the  Lords  Day  Act  complaints 
be  dropped. 

Named  as  defendants  in  the  ac¬ 
tion  are  the  three  Toronto  datilies 
arid  CKEY,  Toronto,  for  the  in¬ 
dependent  radio  stations;  With  the 
quartet  allowing  the  legal  spokes¬ 
men  Of  the  CBC  to  carry  the  ball 
initially  but  now  immediately  lin¬ 
ing  up  with  the  CBC  defense  for 
freedom  of  Sunday  neWs  reports. 

CBC  belief  is  that  Sunday-hap- 
penirig  news  is  in  the  interest  of  the 
public,  plus  the  acknowledged  fact 
that  much  can  happen  over  a  Sun¬ 
day  and  that  this  news  should  be 
made  known  to  the  public.  On 
CBC’s  request  that  it  be  exempted 
from  Lord’s  Day.  Act  prosecution, 
dismissal  of  that  appeal  is  the  high 
court  answer.  CBC  argument  is 
also  that  Die  Lord’s  Day  Act  is  not 
binding  on  a  Crown  corporation, 
but  with  high  court  decreeing  that, 
in  the  interests  of  justice,  both 
sides  be  heard  ori  that  majority 
ruling. 

Wayne  &  Shuster  Set 
For  Clooney  TV  Stint 

Johnny  Wayne  and  Frank  Shus¬ 
ter  Canada’s  top  Comics,  make 
their  first  appearance  on  U.S.  tv  in 
nearly  a  decade,  Jari.  30  on  “The' 
Rose-Mary  Clooney  Show.”  They’ll 
do  ari  impression  of  a  ball  game 
between  England  and  the  U.S.A. 
They  recently  flew  to  London  fOr  a 
tv  appearance. 


I* 


By  HAROLD  MYERS 


London,  Jan.  21. 

A  pitched  battle,  on  program 
scheduling  seems  to  be  develop¬ 
ing  between  BBC-TV  and  the  com¬ 
mercial  networks.  The  clash  ap¬ 
pears  to  be  most  serious  at  peak 
weekend  periods,  when  Western 
pitched  against  Western,  drama 
against  drama,  motion  pictures 
against  motion  pictures  and  pop 
mu|ic  against  pop  music. 

This,  new  development,  which 
began  to  take  shape  with  the 
New  Year’s  revised  program  skeds, 
indicates  the  gloves  are  off  in  the 
biggest-ever  tussle,  between  the 
rival  webs.  It’s  put  the  average 
viewer  in  a  quandary,  and  has 
eliminated  the  element  of  com¬ 
petition,  which  was  advanced  as  a 
vital  factor  in  setting  up  the  com¬ 
mercial  outlet 

The  conflict  in  programming 
becomes  most  acute  on  alternate 
Saturday  evenings',  when  both 
BBC  and  Associated  Television 
are  screening  film  classics  at  pverT 
lapping  periods.  Next  Saturday 
(25),  for  example;  ATV  will  be 
presenting  “The  Petrified  Forest” 
8:30  p.m.,  while  balf-an-hour 
later,  the  state  web  will  go  on.  the 
air  with  “Born  to  be  Bad,”  in 
which  Joan  Fontaine  is  starred. 
In  the  preceding  fortnight  there 
was  a  similar  clash  between 
■‘Golden  Boy”  (ATV)  and  “Bache¬ 
lor.  Knight”  (BBC).  To  accommo¬ 
date  the  feature  on  alternate  Sat¬ 
urdays,  ATV  is  switching  its  Sat¬ 
urday  Spectacular  from  its  8:30 
slot  to  10:20  p.m. 

The  first  real  evidence  of  the 
tug-of-war  between  the  two  out¬ 
lets  came  with  the  decision  of 
ATV  to  switch  the  Jack  Jackson 
comedy  deejay  show  from  its  late 
Sunday  night  position  to  6  p.m.  on 
Saturdays,  thereby  getting  in 
ahead,  ofthetop  BBC  teenage  pop 
show,  “Six-Five  Special,”  which 
goes  on  the  air  five  minutes  later. 
The  clash  continues  an  hour  later 
when  “Wells  Fargo”  (BBC)  com¬ 
petes  against  “Wyatt  Earp”  (ATV),  j 
and  between  the  BBC’s  alternate 
vaudeo  show  which  goes  on  the  air 
half-an-hour.  earlier  than  the  Sat¬ 
urday  Spectacular. 

ATV  has  the  edge  ori  the  BBC 
again  on  Sunday  evenings  when 
“I  Love  Lucy”  is  presented  five 
minutes  ahead  of  “The  Thin  Man,” 
but  the  state  web  took  the  advan¬ 
tage  in  the  drama  spot  last  week 
when  its  production  of“Women  of 
Troy”  started  five  minutes  earlier 
than  the  commercial  drama  show, 
“Man  in  the  Corner.” 

:  Although  the.  two  webs,  be¬ 
tween  them,  are  currently  screen¬ 
ing  277  imported  film  series  (in 
addition  to  the  Anglo-American 
skeins  lensed  in  Britain),  there  is, 
surprisingly,  very  little  dash  other 
than  at  weekends  and  In  the  chil¬ 
dren’s  time  slots.  Of  the  total,  11 
are  unspooled  on  the  BBC  wave¬ 
length  and  the  remainder  on  the 
commercial  network. 


Over  NBC-TV  Today’ 
Dtwnbeat  Treatment 

Bridgeport,  Jan.  21. 

The  NBC  “Today”  rifewsfilm  re¬ 
port  of  the  current  recession  in 
Bridgeport  (16)  was  deceptive  and 
dishonest,  W.  Dudley  Jewell,  ex¬ 
ecutive  veep  of  the  Bridgeport 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  has  com¬ 
plained  in  a  letter  to  prexy  Robert 
Sarnoff. 

Joseph  Michaels,  assigned  to 
cover  the  economic  story  in  this 
industrial  capital,  “by  innuendo 
and  deception  managed  to  paint  a 
picture  of  utter  despair,”  Jewell 
wrote.  The  Chamber  of  cCoin- 
merce  official  stated  he  couldn’t 
fathom  why  NBC  would  be  party 
to  “a  deceptive  program  which  can 
only  result  in  damage  to  the  whole 
economic  system,”  and  urged  Sar¬ 
noff  to  admit  his  network  had  been 
the  .  victim  of  improper  reporting. 

Bridgeport’s  slump  was  previ¬ 
ously  covered  in  a  special  report 
on  Eric  Seyareid’s  Sunday  news 
roundup  on  CBS. 


You  Just  Can’t  Win 

Rochester,  N.Y.,  Jari.  21. 

The  '  Rochester  Telephone 
Corp.  has  come  out  with  bad 
news  for  national  tv  advertis¬ 
ers  by  stating  that  Roches- 
terians  Wait  for  the  comfher- 
cial  break  to  make  their  phone 
calls.  Robert  Brookman,  dis¬ 
trict  traffic  superintendent  for 
the  phone  company,  says  that 
as  soon  as  a  major  television 
shoW  goes  on  the  air  the  num¬ 
ber  of  phone  calls  declines  but 
When  the  commercial  comes 
on  the  switchboards  are 

cwamriMl  - 

What’s  the  Rochester  Tele¬ 
phone  Corp.  doing  about  the 
situation?  Well,  when  the  tv 
programs  are  on  it  tries  to 
arrange  the  operators’  coffee 
breaks  during  the  show.  The 
phone  gals  are  subject  to 
recall  during  the  commercial 


Reprise  in  Balto 

.  Westinghouse  Drpadcasting  Co.’s 
Boston  Conference  on  local  radio 
arid  tv  educational  and  public,  serv¬ 
ice  programming  will  get  a  repeat 
performance  this  year,  with  a 
change  of  locale  from  the  New 
England  city  to  Baltimore,  accord¬ 
ing  to  WBC^prexy  Don  McGannon. 
Conference  will  be  held  on 
Wednesday,  Thursday,  Friday  and 
Saturday,  March  5  through  8. 

Sessions  will  be  held  on  the 
campus  of  Johns'  Hopkins  U., 
through  whose  tv  head,  veteran 
educational  broadcaster  (“F  lie 
Seven”  and  “Johns  Hopkins  Re¬ 
view”)  Lynn  Poole  Invited  WBC 
to  use  Its  facilities,  including  its 
modem  theatre.  • 

As  in  ’57,  WBC’s  Conference  will 
he  angled  primarily  for  creative 
local  broadcasters  — 1  the  program 
managers  of  more  than  a  150  radio 
and  tv  stations  from  all  over  the 
nation.  Participation  will  again  be 
by  invitation  only.  Baltimore  Con¬ 
ference,  like  its  predecessor,  will 
be  a  good  cross-section  of  industry, 
however,  since  delegates  will  in¬ 
clude  programmers  from  stations 
large  and  small,  from  all  sections 
of  the  nation,  AM-FM  and  tv,  in- 
(Continued  on  page  56) 

Ra$o-TV  Editors  Seminar 
For  a  Id’s  Talk  Shop’ 

First  Radio-TV  Editors  Seminar 
is  on.  the  drawing-boards  as  an 
ambitious  byproduct  of  NBC’s  next 
editorial  junket,  a  West-to-east  re¬ 
versal  of  November’s  trip  of  east¬ 
ern  editors  to  the  web’s  Coast  facil¬ 
ities.  Network’s  press  dept.,  which 
plans  to  bring  a  flock  of  Coast  edi¬ 
tors  to  New  York  In  late  August,  or 
early  September,  hopes  to  make 
the  Seminar  a  major  sideline  to  the 
trip. 

Plan  for  the  Seminar  stems  from 
the  Coast  trip  in  November,  where 
it  was  noted  that  the  various  radio¬ 
tv  editors  enjoyed  talking  shop 
with  each  other  and  network  execs 
and  looked  forward  to  meeting 
other  f ourth-estaters  and  exchang¬ 
ing  viewpoints.  Idea  of  the  Semi¬ 
nar  would  be  to  get  them  together 
for  similar  exchanges,  with  the 
added  feature  of  bringing  in  edi¬ 
tors  and  writers  for  the  wire  serv¬ 
ices  arid  syndicated  features  Which 
many  of  them  use. 

Additionally,  top  N.Y.  critics  and 
trade  editors  would  be  present  to 
meet  the  Coast  columnists:  Series 
of  meetings  would  be  set  up  for 
discussions  of  wire  service  fea¬ 
tures,  syndicated  offerings,  photo 
services,  network  publicity  serv¬ 
ices,  etc.,  as  well  as  sessions  with 
network  brass. 


By  BOB  CHANDLER 

What  with  straight  television  va¬ 
riety  shows  giving  signs  of  going 
out  of  favor  and  this  season’s  flock 
of  musical  shows  in  trquble,  a  cou¬ 
ple  of  successful  veteran  scripters 
In  the  musical  milieu  have  their 
own  theories  of  hriw  to  make  a 
musical-variety  format  click. 
Scripters  are  Bob  Wells  and  John¬ 
ny  Bradford,  the  brothers  who’ve 
turned  out  the  Dinah  Shore 
“Chevy  Show”  scripts  for  the  past 
two  seasons. 

Essentially,  their  point  of  view 
boils  down  to  two  simplifications: 
(D  the  star  should  concentrate  on 
whdt  she  or  heroes  best — "there’s 
nothing  so  pitiful  as  a  singer-  who 
doesn’t  have  a  talent  for  humor 
trying  to  be  funny’;  and  (2)  the 
writers  should  be  aware  of  the 
fortes,  and  contrariwise,  the  limita¬ 
tions,  of  guest  stars  and  use  them 
accordingly.  As  corollaries.  Wells 
and  Bradford  point  out  that  the 
writers  should  provide  the  guests 
with  their  material — “it’s  unfair  to 
require  a  guest  to  burn  up  ex¬ 
pensive  material  that  he’s  worked 
for  years  to  accumulate.” 

Starting  at  the  beginning.  Wells 
and  Bradford  believe  that  the 
singer,  in  assembling  his  show, 
should  sign  writers  With  some  ex¬ 
perience  in  music  and  niteries,  and 
should  eschew  the  one-line  comedy 
Writers,  good  as  they  are.  Then, 
a  point  of  view  is  essential— in  the 
case  of  a  male,  some  personal 
characteristic  should  be  developed 
with  which  the  audience  can  iden¬ 
tify  and  on  which  elements  of  the 
shpw  can' he  hung,  as  with  Perry 
Como’s  “laziness,”  which  is  a 
springboard  for  situations,  allows 
him  to  get  acts  on  and  off,  and 
permits  him  to  concentrate  on 
singing:  With  a  femme  singer,  im¬ 
portant  thing  is  for  her  to  retain 
her  femininity  and  lean  heavily  on 
virile  male  guestars.  * 

In  their  own  case,  they  admit, 
there  ate  fewer  problems  because 
“Dinah  can  .  do  anything;  whatever - 
we  think  up  for  her  she’ll  learn, 
and  there  aren’t  really  many  limit¬ 
ations  for  us.”  But  guest  stars  are. 
a  problem  in  that  Wells  and  Brad¬ 
ford  refuse  to  let  them  bring  in 
their  own  material.  “We  once  fig¬ 
ured  out  that  there  are  only  five 
available  male  guest  stars  who  are 
really  ‘triple-threats’— who  can 
sing,  dance  and  be  funny.  Because 
of  this,  we’ve  got  to  be  aware  of 
what  the  guest  can  do  well  and 
what  he  can’t  handle,  and  work  film 
in  accordingly.  We  Usually  sit 
down  and  talk  to  him  for  about  an 
hour  to  get  an  idea  of  how  we  can 
use  him  best.” 

Show’s  script  is  always  “hung  on 
a  clothesline,  there’s  always  some 
kind  of  central  thread  running 
through  the  entire  show,  so  that 
we  have  a  beginning,  a  middle  and 
an  end,”  they  point  out.  Within 
the  confines  of  the  situations  they 
employ  (“we  don’t  write  comedy”), 
(Continued  on  page  56) 


NBC  News  has*  succeeded  in 
prying. some  time  loose  for  regu¬ 
larly  scheduled  on-the-air  opinioq- 
ating,  and  starting  Jan.  31  will 
present  “Comment”  in  the  Friday 
10:45  to  11  period  following  the 
Gillette  fights.  Program  will  re¬ 
place  New  York  Herald  Tribune 
sports  columnist  Red  Smith’s 
sports  segment,  which  will  have 
run  four  weeks.  (Smith  moved 
into  the  spot  as  a  sustainer  follow¬ 
ing  cancellation  of  Red  Barber’s 
segment.) 

“Comment”  will  employ  NBC 
foreign  correspondents  on  film  and 
the  web’s  Washington  staffers  live, 
from  Washington,  along  with  trip 
U.  S.  newspapermen,  in  a  panel  of 
three  or  four  for  each  show.  Style 
will  be  a  la  the  political  columnist, 
with  interpretation  on  key  issues. 
Julian  Good  man  will  nroduce. 


PERFORMANCES! 

Every  week  a  new  guest  sta  r 
...  a  completely  new  cast! 
Your  viewers  will  see  and 
thrill  to  a  galaxy  of  stars 
hand-picked  for  their  great 
performances  on  TARGET! 


January  22,  1958 


HOUR  IMPACT  SERIES! 


NHXPHE 


ACTION-ADVENTURE 


WESTERN 


MYSTERY 


TARGET  IS 
ALL  IMPACT! 

Everything  viewers-look 
for  In  engrossing  TV  fare! 

TARGET 

HAS 

THEM 

ALL! 


46 


TELEVISION  REVIEWS 


PJEteiEfr 


Wednesday,  Jannary  22,  1958 


Steve  Allen  Show- *  i 

In  the  constant  struggle  for 
.something  new,  something*  fresh, 
Sunday's  (19)  Steve  Allen-'  ’  Show 
found  itself  in  Cuba  for  a  «livej 
origination  from  the  newly  opened 
Havana  Riviera  Hotel.  This  event, 
the  NBC-TV  publicists  proclaimed 
with  great  fanfare,  was  a  “major 
tv  ‘first'  ”  in  that  it.  was  the  initial 
telecast  of  a  live  variety  show  from 
that  semi-tropic  island. 

Technically t  the  remote  was  an 
engineers'  triumph  for  use  of  the 
new,  over-the-horizon  scatter  mi¬ 
crowave  system  put  almost  flawless 
images  on  setowners*  screens.  With 
the  hotel’s  lush  trappings  literally 
waving  before  the  cameras  in  vir¬ 
tually  every  scene,  this  would  have 
been  an  ideal  time'  and  place  for 
an  “all-Cuban"  show. 

Instead,  save  for  a  couple  excep¬ 
tions,  the  talent  could  have  per¬ 
formed  just  as  well  in  a  Gotham 
studio.  Edgar  Bergen  and  Charlie 
McCarthy  discussed  an  imaginary 
tour  of.  Havana  hot  spots  that  was 
good  for  titters  as  were  some  con¬ 
temporary  sputnik  gags.  Lou  Cos¬ 
tello  reprised  his  ancient  “crap 
shooting”  routine  that  was  funny 
the  first  time  most  viewers  saw  it. 

Mamie  Van  Doren,  flanked  by 
the  hotel’s  pool  brimming  With 
swimmers  and  divers,  sang  “Sand 
in  My  Shoes.”  But  in  light  of  the 
skintight  gown  (later  a  swimsuit) 
she  wore  it’s  doubtful  that  viewers 
listened  to  her  voice*  Steve  La Wr 
rence,  who  opens  at  the  inn-  today. 
(Wed.)*  strolled  about  the  joint 
whilst,  warbling  “Begin  the  Be- 
guine.”  Here,  too,  the  viewer  had 
a  dilemma.  Whether  to  listen  or 
look  at  the  plush  decor  of  the 
Casino,  pool;  ete. 

More  appropriate  for  the  locale 
were  the  Augie.  Margo  dance 
duo  whose  spins  and  whirls  were 
cameraed  from  an  outside  terrace. 
Likewise,  the;  Facundo  Rivero 
Quintet’s  dances  and  instrumental 
work  fitted  nicely  in  the  Cuban 
idiom.  Tybee  Afra,  a  svelte  nitery 
entertainer,  got  into  the  act  as  thp 
girl  who  holds  up  the  brochures 
for  next  week’s  bill. 

.Allen,. of  course,  adeptly  emceed 
the  outing.  “Here  we  are  in  Ha¬ 
vana,”  he  quipped  as  the  show 
went  on  the  air,  “the  home  of  the 
pineapple  and  -Meyer  Lansky.” 
“It’s  a  truly  fabulous  hotel,”  he 
added,  “each  morning  they  change 
the  view.”  Lending  him  an-,  assist 
on  the  funmaking,  per  usual,- were 
Louis  Nye  and  Tom  Poston,  among 
Others. 

Withal,  it  was  a  tossup  who  got 
the  most  plugs — the  Havana  Rivi¬ 
era  or  Johnson’s  Wax  which  picks 
up  the  Allen  tab  on  an  alternate 
basis  with  Greyhound  Bus.  Gilb. 

Dinah  Shore.  Show 

Dinah  Shore  had  a  couple  of 
winners  in  her  comer  last  Sunday 
night  (19).  Guesting  on  the  sing¬ 
er’s  NBC-TV  show,  originating 
for  the  second  consecutive  week 
from  Brooklyn,  were  legit  vets 
Ethel  Merman  and  Cyril  Ritchard. 
Here  were  a  couple  of  headliners 
who  showed  why  they  rate  star 
billing.  Miss  Merman,  belting  out 
ft  number  of  tunes  in  her  brassy, 
buoyant  style,  and  Ritchard,  han- 
'iling  himself  with  a  savvy  that 
comes  of  40  years  on  the  stage, 
Were  a  pleasure  to  watch. 

Also  guesting  on  the  program 
was  Andy  Griffith,  who  registered 
satisfactorily.  He,  Ritchard  and 
the  Misses  Merman  and  Shore 
were  particularly  good  in  a  bright 
“Applause”  number.  A  segment  in 
which  Miss  Shore  dueted  with  Rit¬ 
chard  and  Griffith  on  different 
tunes  WaS  okay,  but  her  song  ses¬ 
sion  with  Miss.  Merman,  in  which 
each  tried  to  copy  the  other’s 
style,  was  top  drawer* 

Ritchard  did  a  slick  job  on 
"Brush  Up  Your  Shakespeare,”  but 
it  was  his  overall-  polish  that  rang 
the  bell.  Miss  Shore,  as  usual, 
combined  gracious  hostessing  with 
smooth  songstering.  Jess. 


moon.  Along  with  CBS  reporter 
George  Herman,  the  tv  viewer  was 
given  a  peek  of  the  moon  through 
the  observatory  telescope  and .  it 
was  as  good  as  any  science  fiction 
creation.  The  topography  of  the 
moon  was  further  detailed  via  an 
extensive  series  of  photos  and  Dr. 
Kuiper’s  comments. 

Opening  sequence,  devoted  to 
the  work  of  the  scientists  involved 
in  the  International  Geophysical 
Year’s  study  of  the  heavens,  also 
was  instructive.  Eric  Sevareid,  as 
reporter  on  this  segment  and 
overall  host  of  the  show,- attempted 
to  squeeze  a  little  bit  too  much 
drama  out  of  the  IGY  worldwide 
network;  but  the  shots  of  solar 
flaTes  and  .other  cosmic,  disturb¬ 
ances  were  outstanding  and  the 
theoretical  speculations  about  ’the- 
uni  verse  by  Dr.  Walter  Orr' Rob¬ 
erts,  of  the  High  Altitude  Obser¬ 
vatory  at  Boulder,  Colo.,  were 
fascinating.  Herm. 


Playhouse  .90 

.  Originally  a  short  story  by  Irwin 
Shaw.  “Eighty-Yard  Run"  was  ex¬ 
panded  by  Shaw’s  brother,  David, 
for  CBS-TV’s  “Playhouse  90,”  (16), 
but  the  padding  .was  obvious,  and 
only  superlative  acting  by  Paul 
Newman  and  Joanne  Woodward 
made  this  worth  Watching  to  the. 
finish.  First  half-hour  was  particu¬ 
larly  slow  and  repetitious.  Several 
dramatic  scenes  were,  ended  too 
abruptly,  giving  the  show  a  jerky 
quality,  no  fault  whatsoever  of  the 
actors. 

In  fact,  Newman  as  the  ex-foot¬ 
ball  "hero  gave  a  forceful,  com¬ 
manding  performance  which  com¬ 
pensated  to  a  large  degree  for  the 
story’s  shortcomings.  Newman’s 
portrayal  contained  depth .  and  di¬ 
mension. 

Story  begins  in  college,  with 
Newman  an  unheralded  grid 
player,  who  surprises  everyone  by 
winning  the  big  game  of  the  year 
through  his  long  touchdown  run; 
He’s  considering  pro  football,  but 
his  girl’s  wealthy  father  talks  him 
into  coming  into  business  with 
him.  Ex-hero  is  bored  with  a  title 
and  office  and  nothing  to  do,  and 
his  wife’s  pseudo-intellectual  circle 
grates  on  his  nerves.  Eventually 
the  pair  grow  apart  as  the  wife 
insists  everything  be  done  her  way. 
Suddenly  her  pop  goes  ,  broke  and 
kills  himself:  The  ex-hero  is  faced 
with  the  realization  he  isn’t  com¬ 
petent  to  handle  any  job;  his  wife,, 
on  the  other  hand,  gets  a  good  job. 
with  a  mag  and  her  career  goes! 
upward.  The  ex-hero  finally  finds 
his  field,  a  job  as  an  assistant  foot¬ 
ball  coach,,  but  his  self-centered 
wife  won’t  give  up  her  work  to.  join 
him.  He  takes  the  spot  anyway;  She 
becomes  involved  in  a  romance 
with  her  editor,  and  a  year  later, 
ex-hero  asks  his  wife  for  a  divorce. 
She’s  willing  until  tfie  editor  jilts 
her.  There’s  a  reconciliation  scene; 
With  the  wife  finally  realizing  how. 
selfish  she’s  been.  Since  the  hus¬ 
band’s  aware  she  has  had.  an  extra¬ 
curricular  romance,  he  turns,  out 
to  be  the  most  tolerant  character 
in  the  script. 

Miss  Woodward,  in  the  unsym¬ 
pathetic  role,  of  the  selfish  spouse, 
contributed  a  skillfully  -  etched 
characterization*  sensitive  and  per¬ 
ceptive,  Richard  Anderson,  Darryl 
Hickman.  Robert  F.  Simon  were 
good  in  support  and  UCLA  coach 
Red  Sanders,  in  a  brief  role, 
proved  football  is  his  forte.  Frank¬ 
lin  Schaffner’s  direction  was  excel¬ 
lent  on  characterizations,  but  his 
tempo  was  uneven.  Shaw’s  teleplay 
contained  some  good  dialog  and 
situations,  but  was  spread  too  thin 
over  the  longie  course.  Sets  by  art 
director  Heschong  were  .  impres¬ 
sive.  :  Daku. 


Conquest 

The  second  stanza  of  this  series 
on  CBS-TV-  Sunday  afternoon  (19) 
added  up  to  vivid  coverage  of  three 
different  scientific  stories.  High¬ 
light  of  the  show  was  the  report 
on  the  development  of  the  blunt- 
nosed  missile.  Via  excellent  shots 
of  Wind-tunnel  experiments,  a 
series  of  schematic  drawings  and 
explanatory  comments  by  the  de¬ 
signers  themselves,  the  reasons 
why  missiles  were  converted  from 
needle -pointed  to  blunt-nosed 
shapes  were  turned  into  a  dramatic 
lesson  on  the  methods  of  the  labo¬ 
ratory  scientists. 

Another  fine  sequence  was  do- 
voted  to  Dr.  Gerard  KUiper,  head 
of  the  Yerkes  Observatory  in  a 
fascinating  account  of  an  astrono¬ 
mer  at  work.  The  focus  of  this 
segment  was  on  Dr:  Kuiper’s  work 
in  charting  a  detailed  map  of  the 


incident  in. pattern  of  growing 
totalitarianism.  His  treatment  of 
Franco  was  casual;  his-descriptibn 
of  the  suffering  incidental.  The 
treatment  was  so  dispassionate  that 
it  failed  even  to  reflect  the  pas¬ 
sions  engendered  by  the  war  not 
only  In  Spain  but.  throughout  the 
world. 

The  pictorial  end  didn’t  give 
Hughes .  much  help  either.  Most  of 
the  footage  comprised  jumbled  bat- 
tlefront  pictures  in  which  it  wbs 
impossible  to  tell  who  was  who. 
The  rest  was  stock  newsreel  clips 
of  parades,  sieges,  bombings,  etc., 
with  only  a  couple  of  poignant  pic¬ 
tures  of  children  in  bombing  raids 
and  refugees  in  flight  The  pictures 
didn’t  effectively  complement  the 
text.  Perhaps  a  half-hour  is  too 
short  for  proper  treatment  of  so 
complex  and  compelling  a  theme, 
but  even  so,  a  lot  of  the  30  minutes 
that  was  employed  went  to  waste. 

Chari. 

Omnibus 

For  the  first  time  in  its  NBC-TV 
Service,  “Omnibus”  ventured  out 
of  the  Sunday,  afternoon  -ghetto 
and  into  direct  competitibn  with 
the  boys  who  Worship  the  Nielsens. 
And  appropriately  enough,  the 
prototype  of  tv  network  egghead- 
ism,  applied  itself  to  prime  time 
with  the  same  fervor  (and  format¬ 
ting)  of  commercial  guys  whipping 
up  a  spec.  In  the  mam,  it  was  a 
charming  show— largely  musical  in 
makeup,  and  though  its  title,  “Sub¬ 
urban  Revue,"  implied  it  had  a 
purpose  and  portended  cohesive- 
ness,  the  program  on  Tuesday  (14) 
evening  between  8:  and  9  p.m.  was 
about  .as  suburban  as  a  ride  on  the 
Fifth.  Ave.  bus  and  as  cohesive  as 
one  of  Ed  Sullivan’s  usual  Sunday 
night  rambles, 

Actually,  it’s  not  entirely'  new 
for  “Omnibus”  to  try  items  in  the 
popular  vein;:  but'  whenever  the 
program  played  things  of  mass  ap¬ 
peal  previously,  they  escaped  the 
mass  audience  which  axiomatically 
is  occupied  elsewhere  of  a  Sunday 
afternoon.  It’s  even  within  the 
“Omni”  format  to  try  straight  en¬ 
tertainment,  .since  a  freewheeling 
arrangement  (from  lepidopetera  to 
football  heroes  and  Bacli  to  boogie- 
woogie)  was  part  of  the  overall 
concept  at  the  very  start. 

Unlike  most  network  specials, 
however,  “Suburban  Revue,”  only 
had  one  star  —  Bert  Lahr,  who, 
ironically,  provided  the  weakest 
part  of  the  affair.  It  was  his  oft- 
done  “WoodchopperV  routine.  His 
effbrt,  as  an  executive  trying  un¬ 
successfully  to  get  rid  of  two 
ducats  to  “Fair:  Lady,”  was  hardly 
any  improvement:  An  element  of 
humor,  as'  with  suspense,  should 
be  surprise,  'but;  since  this  was  an 
old  routine  in  new  raiinents,  it  was 
hardly  a  surprise. 

The  hour  show’s  highlights  re¬ 
sulted,  from  the  fresh  and  engaging 
humor!  put  forth  by  Elaine  May 
and  Mike  Nichols — Specially  by 
Miss  May;  Their  presentation  of  a 
couple  of  highschoolers  on  a  first 
date  and  of  a  frustated  man  trying 
to  place  a  call  with  his  last  dime 
caught  perfectly,  the  images  they 
were  /meant  to  create.  But;  while 
May  and  Nichols  had .  the  only 
really  original  stuff  to  offer,  there 
were  other  exciting  performances 
— on  the  sheer  strength  of  the  per¬ 
sons  who  performed  them. 

To  denote  farce/’ -Omnibus”  did 
an  18-minute  musical  skit  hooked 
to  the  gay  20’s  and  it  was  inten¬ 
tionally  designed,  it  appeared,  to 
Tesemble  the  same  kind  of  over- 
t>  r  e  c.i  s  e  artificiality  as  in  the 
Broadway-London  musical,  “Boy 
Friend,”  Pat  Stanley,  a  lithe  and 
lovely  danseuse  with  lots  of  fresh¬ 
ness.  tiie .  rangy  Ellen  Hanley, 
Frank  Baxter  and  Frank .  Aletter, 
in  their  exuberance.  Were  complete 
fun  to  watch.  Art. 


The  Twentieth  Century 

“The  War  in  Spain”  CBS-TV’s 
“The  Twentieth  Century’s”  treat¬ 
ment  of  the  Spanish  Civil  War,  was 
one  of  the  less  satisfactory  of  that 
series’  discourses  this  season.  It 
was  superficial,  sometimes  glib 
and  always  emotionless,  as  arid 
narration  which  while  mentioning 
the  tragedy  of  the  struggle,  never 
quite  imparted  it. 

Emmet  John  Hughes,  who  wrote 
the  script. — and  in  this  moi*e  than 
any  other  “Twentieth  Century" 
show  the  script  was  paramount, 
since  with  only  a  few  isolated  clips 
did  the  pictorial,  element  amount 
to  anything  more  than  a  montage — 
committed  both  sins  of  omission 
and  commission.  He  failed  to  back¬ 
ground  the  forces  that  drove  the 
nation  into  war*  His  analysis  of 
the  Communist  participation,  was 
a  pat  paraphraseology  that  over¬ 
simplified  by  giving  only  the  world- 
power  explanation  for  the  Com¬ 
munist  intervention. 

In  “covering”  the  war  but  fail¬ 
ing  to  spell  out  neither  cause  nor 
effect,  Hughes  left  it  an  isolated 


'Wide  Wide  World  .. 

A  very  workmanlike,  Informative 
show,  tinder  the  general  title  of 
“Missile  Men,”  Was  telecast  on  the 
“Wide  .  Wide;  World”  90-minute 
NBC-TV  tour  Sunday  (19)  after¬ 
noon,  If  there  is  any  doubt  in  peo¬ 
ple’s  minds  that  the  next  war  will 
be  a  push-button  affair,  with  the 
scientists  calling  the  turns,  it 
clearly  was  dispelled  by  the  mis¬ 
sile  armaments  displayed. 

The  last  30  minutes  of  the  show 
tended  to  be  repetitious..  But  over 
the  hour-and-a-half  span,  the  flexi¬ 
bility  and  the  range  of  WWW  cam¬ 
eras,  provided  many  arresting  mo¬ 
ments.  On  the  whole,  the  format 
avoided  such  controversial  issues 
as  why  we’re  behind  the  Russians 
and  neglected  to  delve  into  the 
inter-service  rivalry  in  the  missile 
field:  The  emphasis  was  on  what 
the  U.S.  is  doing  with  missiles  and 
what  America  hopes  to  accomplish. 

Cameras  roamed  the  Ft.  Bliss, 
Tex:,  missile  training  center,  the 
Naval  Air  Missile  TestvCenter  at 
Point  Mugu,  Calif.,  the  Jet .  Pro¬ 
pulsion  Laboratory  of  the  Califor¬ 
nia  Institute  of  Technology,  the 
Naval  Research  Laboratory  in  Ana- 
costa;  Md.,  and  other  centers. 

(Continued  pn  page  56) 


BON  SOIItrKATHRIN!  • 

(The  Caterina  Valente  Show) 

With  Caterina  Valente,  Silvio 
Francesco,  Wolfgang  Mueller. 
Richard  Allan,  Dick  &  Dodd 
Deny,  The  Akeff*  Bibi  Johns, 
Nicholas  Suedfunk  Ballet,  Erwin 
Lehn  and  His  Suedfunk  Dance 
Orch  .  ,  ' 

Producer:  South  German  Radio 
Director:  Michael  Pflcghar 
Writers:  Wolfgang  Mueller,  Eric 
Von  Aro 

60  Mins.:  Snn.,  8  p.m.  .  . 

West  German  TV,  from  Stuttgart 
No  doubt,  Caterina  Valente,  Ger¬ 
many’s  No.  1  recording  chirp,  has 
picked  up  a  good  deal  of  “Knowl¬ 
edge”  in  Hollywood  where  she, 
three  years  ago,  appeared  in  Col¬ 
gate’s  NBC-TV  “Comedy  Hour.” 
Her  current  domestic  video  shows 
obviously  follow  th$  stateside  pat¬ 
tern,  with  La  Valente  giving  out 
with  several  catchyjpop  tunes  and 
introducing,  assisted  by  a  very  fun¬ 
ny  emcee  (Wolfgang  Mueller), 
various  guest  stars. 

Show  has  pace-,  wit  and  generally 
good  taste.  Wisely  enough,  it’s  not 
strictly  “American"  but  also  has  a 
certain  “German  touch"  so  that 
widest  appeal  is  guaranteed.  In 
fact,  it’s  easy  to  see  why  this  show 
could  quickly  become  sort  of  a 
must-not-miss :  item  with  the  do¬ 
mestic  tv  public: 

The  happy  mood  is  established 
right  off  with  the  opening,  show¬ 
ing  Caterina  Valente  looking  out  of 1 
an  open  window,  and  then  more 
(numbered)  windows  are  opened 
and  each  one  presents  the  face  of 
a  guest  star.  Miss  Valente  starts 
the  singing  and  dancing  whirl,  with 
“Sing  Baby,  Sing,"  one  of  her 
present  top  ditties,  clarinet-accom¬ 
panied  by  her  multi-sided  brother, 
Silvio  Francesco*  Eventually -the 
Nicholas  Bros.,  chaps  with  re¬ 
markable  dancing  abilities,  join 
the  duo.  All  of  them  reappear  in 
this  show.  But  despite  the  super¬ 
lative  dancing  of  the.  Nicholas  duo, 
in  an  act  of  their  own,  most  of  the 
credit  belongs  to  Miss  Valente. 
It’s  perhaps  not  so  much  her  sing¬ 
ing  that  counts  but  more  her  warm, 
personality  that  wins  the  hearts  -of 
the  audience.  Moreover,  she  has 
a  fine  sense  of  humor. 

Others  in  the  show  include  Rich¬ 
ard  Allan,  gbod  looking  (American) 
dancer,  Dick  and  Dodd  Reny,  two 
comical  dance  acrobats,  and  the 
Akeffs,  three  jumping  and  balance 
artists  who  rate  the  best  houses. 

Swedish  Bibi  Johns  is  also  in  the 
show.  Eventually  she  sings  togeth¬ 
er  with  Miss  Valente,  both  bring¬ 
ing  a  medley  of  popular  ditties  the 
grotesque  way.  This  number  clicks 
too,  but  they  should  hot  exaggerate 
their  funny  mimicry.  Latter  tends 
to  be  monotonous.  Incidentally, 
the  participation  of  Miss  Johns, 
herself  a  singing  -star  in  this  coun¬ 
try,  may  be  called  noteworthy  in 
view  of  the  fact  that,  according  to 
Eric  von  Aro  (Caterina’s  husband 
who  helps  putting  on  these  shows), 
it's  not  easy  to  get  local  name 
stars.  Jealousy,  the  fear  to.get  only 
secondary  attention  or  just  plain 
competitive  reasons,  make  them 
often  turn  down  offers.  (The  way 
Bibi  Johns  could  perform,  how¬ 
ever,  clearly  reveals  that  a  name 
star  is  not  supposed  to  play  second 
fiddle  here.) 

A  special  word  of  praise  goes  to 
emcee  Wolfgang  Mueller.  He’s  the 
type  of  comedian  that  also  appeals 
to  fastidious  customers.  His  solo 
stint  (“In  the  movie  house”)  is  an 
attraction  of  special  sophisticated 
calibre.  Mueller,  incidentally,  also 
wrote  the  script.  Erwin  Lehn  orch 
is  one  of  the  finest  bands  in  the 
land.  Hans. 


TOP  NUMBERS 
With  Lonnie  Donegan  &  His  Skif¬ 
fle  Group,  Petula  Clark,  Earle 
and  Vaughan,  Pearl  Carr,  Steve 
Martin,  Group  One 
Producer:  Arthur  Lane 
Settings:  Bernard  Carey 
Music:  Dennis  Ringrowe  orch 
25  Mins.,  Sun.,  11:05  p.m. 

ABC-TV,  from  Manchester  . 

After  several  months  as  a  local 
show  in  the  Midlands  and  North, 
ABC-TV  is  now  able  to  network 
“Top  Numbers"  because  of  a  re¬ 
shuffle  in  programming  times  by 
Associated  Television,  which  has 
switched  its  late-night  crazy  disk 
program,  “The  Jack  Jackson  Show,” 
to  an.  early  Saturday  evening  spot. 
As  a  replacement,  the  new  offer¬ 
ing  is  a  .letdown..  Program  consists 
of  a  non-stop  selection  of  current 
hit  tunes  rendered  by  several  resi¬ 
dent  songsters  and  a  couple  of 
guest  artists,  tossed  in  to  add  -  a 
little  sparkle  to  the  proceedings* 
First  networked  show  failed  to 
maintain  ,  interest,  due  mainly  to  a 
Jack  of  color  in  the  musical  ar¬ 
rangements  and  too  frequent  ap^ 
pearances  of  resident  artists  giving 
out  with  some  over-tired  pop  num¬ 


bers.  Show  .  headliners  Lonnie 
Donegan  and  Petula  Clark  made - 
pleasant  contributions  in  their  own 
style  with,  “Jack  Of  Diamonds’* 
and  “Ldng  Before  I  Knew  You" 
respectively.  Bary. 

CONQUEST  OF  SPACE 
With  Peter  Hunt*  others 
Director:  Peter  Morley 
Writer:  Hugh  Pitt 
30/mins.,  Mon.*  11  pan. 
Assbciated-Kediftusion,  from  Lon* 

don 

With  space  flight  already  a  real¬ 
ity  and  a  trip  to  the  moon  just 
around  the  corner*  public  interest 
in  this  subject  is  at  an  alltime 
peak,  so  Associated  -Rediffuslon 
has  designed  four  30-minute  pro¬ 
grams  under  the  well  worn  but 
still  impressive  title  of  “Conquest 
Of  Space,”  to  explain  to  the  lay¬ 
man  the  principles  and  snags  in* 
volved.  The  problems  of  putting 
over  this  involved  ,  topic  to-  the 
public  have  always  been  difficult. 
Scientific  jargon  is  a  must,  and 
theory,  though  by  now  after  the 
sputnik  episodes,  quite  well 
known,  still  presents  many  prob¬ 
lems  of  comprehension  generally. 
This  program  tries  hard  to  put 
over  u  plain  language  what  it’s 
all  about,  but  fails  to  hit  the  mark 
by  leaving  too  much  unexplained, 

In  the  episode  reviewed,  this 
fault  was  mainly.,  due* to  the  egg¬ 
heads  participating.  The  scientists 
discussed  space  stations,  cosmic 
rays,  gravity  and  orbits.  Certain 
pieces  of  impressive  equipment 
were  used,  but -how  they  worked 
was  not  clearly  explained.  Peter 
Huht,  who  emceed  the  offering; 
was  adequate  but  lacked  warmth 
of  personality.  Bary. 


I’LL  BUY  THAT 

With  Louise  Boyd,  Jack  House* 
Lady  Molly  Huggins,  Larry  Mar¬ 
shall;  Larry  Cross,  emcee 
Producer:  Rai  Purdy 
30  Mins.*  Tues. 

Scottish  TV,  from  Glasgow 
Panel  game  retains  its  popular¬ 
ity  here,  though  it  can  readily  bo 
faulted  for  its  essential  simplicity. 
Panel  members  are  asked  to  iden¬ 
tify  odd  and  curious,  objects 
brought  along  to  studio  by  chal¬ 
lengers,  who  get  $3  for  each  “No” 
and  a  maximum  of  $60. 

.  At  show  caught,  majority  of  con¬ 
testants  reached  almost  the'  $60 
take.  Objects  brought  along 
ranged  from  a'  disk  waxed  by  emcee 
Larry  Cross  to  a  surgical  strait- 
jacket  and  a  sarong. 

Panel  of  four  respond  with  astute 
questioning.  Jack  House  is  local 
Press  scribe  and  wJc.  broadcaster 
while  .  Larry  Marshall  is  comedy 
man  of  the  daily  “One  O’clock 
Gang,”  midday  show  on  Scot  indie 
tv.  Louise  Boyd,  a  looker,  is  local 
chirper,,  and  Lady  Molly  Huggins 
is  society  columnist  and  lady- 
about-town.  She  should  avoid 
awkward  mannerisms,  such  as  re¬ 
peated  lifting  ,  on  and  off  of  her. 
spectacles,  which  annoys  viewers. 

Cross  handles  emceeing  chores 
breezily.  Rai  Purdy  directs  crisp¬ 
ly,  Gord ... 


SABATO  BAR 

With  Nuto  Navarrinl,  guests  Teddy 

Reno,  Paolo  Panelli,  others 
Director:  Pierpaolo  Ruggerini 
40  Mins.;  Sat.*  7:20  pjn. 

RAI-TV,  from  Milan 

New  musical  variety  stanza 
makes  the  most  of  a  modest  budget 
in  bolstering  Italian  weekend  video 
fare.  Several  sketches  and  guest 
stints  are  framed  by  bar  motif, 
with  visitors  keying  insert  num¬ 
bers  of  musical  or  comic  variety. 
Total,  effect  makes  for  easy  light¬ 
weight  viewing* 

Opening  show  featured  guester 
Teddy  Reno,  in  for  two  songs  oi 
potential  hit  calibre  (especially 
“Tu  Sorridi  e  Passa  Un’ Angelo”) 
well  sting  by  the  young  chirper, 
while  the  comic  moments  were  In 
the  able  haiids  of  Paolo  Panelli*  a 
fast-rising  young  comedian  with  a 
bizarre  humorous  style.  Latter’s 
best  bit  was  a  monolog  about  his 
acting  experiences  in  Rome  and 
Italo  pix.  Uncredited  laughs  also 
came  in  a  variation  on  the  wife- 
on-the-telephone  routine,,  well  exe¬ 
cuted  by  an  unbilled  duo  of  come¬ 
dians.  - 

Clever  use  of  puppets  livened 
up  a  dnmk’s-nightmare  bit  which 
backed  a  recorded  stint  by  singer 
Marino  Barreto  Jr„  with  puppet 
lion  appearing  to  be  singing  the 
song  to  his  lioness,  all  technically 
ably  framed  via  overlap  lensing 
through  a  blurred  cognac  glass. 

Emcee  barman  Nuto  Navarrinl 
had  little  material  to  work  with  in 
his  bridge  work  between  numbers, 
and  should  be  given  meatier  ma¬ 
terial  in  future  installments.  Lens¬ 
ing  and  other  technical  credits 
.ranged  from  average  to  good  on 
the  opening  show,  Hawk. 


>47 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


P%R TEf? 


TELEVISION  REVIEWS 


HOCK  OF  MUSIC 
With  Norman  Ross,  Richard  Dyer- 
Bennett,  The  Weavers;  Mahalia 
Jackson  and  ensemble 
Producers:  Norman  Ross,  David 
McElroy 

Director:  Dick  Doerschuk 
60  Mins.;  Mon.  (13),  8  p.m. 
CHICAGO  TITLE  8c  TRUST  CO. 
WGN-TV,  Chicago 

( Buchen ) 

,  Having  abandoned  its  weekly 
telecasts  of  the  Chicago  Symphony 
Orchestra  this .  season,  Chicago 
Title  and  Trust  has  undertaken  in¬ 
stead  a  series  of  monthly  specials 
on  WGN-TV,  each  installment  of 
which  is  Spotlighting  with  top- 
drawer  talent  a  particular  genre  of 
cultural  music.  It’s'  an.  ambitious 

iiroject  for  a  local  station  and;  a 
.  oca!  sponsor,  arid  this  month’s 
;:opus  on  folk  music  must  have 
meant  a  whole-hog  budget  outlay 
for  three  top  acts  in  the  folk  orbit 
—Mahalia  Jackson,  The  Weavers 
arid  Richard  Dyer-Berinett.  A  pity, 
then,  that  the  production  side  of 
the  show  couldn’t  measure  up.  It 
was  strictly  minor  league,  dulling 
the  effect  of  the  performances. 

Introduced  as  a  good  old-fash¬ 
ioned  hootenanny  the  format  never 
really  integrated  the  three  acts  but 
tinspooled  them  in  a  monotonously 
./formal  (for  tv)  nowrhiiri,  now-them, 
now-her  concert  order.  The  show 
was  one  quarter  under  way  before 
the  viewer  was  aware  of  a  studio 
audience  in  attendance,  and  the 
camera’s  .panning  of  the  out-front- 
-  ers  during  a  community' sing  num¬ 
ber  by  The  Weavers  embarras¬ 
singly  found  therfT  self-conscious 
and.  unwarned.  And  except  for. 
some  closeups  of  Miss  Jackson’s 
interesting  face,  -the  camerawork 
was  commonplace.  Ditto  the;  set¬ 
tings  and  other  effects. 

Yet  despite  the  static  context, 
the  guest  performers  managed  to 
bring  thqir  Own  fire  to  the  forge. 
The  Weavers  packed  a  lot  of  vital¬ 
ity  into  their  colorful  . versions  of 
•‘Rock  Island  Line,”  “Tzena  Tzena,” 
“Top  of  Old  Smoky”  and  such,  ahd 
Richard;  Dyer-Berinett’s  classy 
tenor  made  gems  of  some  seldom 
heard  old  English  ballads  and  art 
songs.  Mahalia  Jackson’s  inspired 
.and  stirring  performance  struck  a 
note  of  how  she’s  been  missed  on 
tv  ever  sincO  her  local  and  network 
shows  expired  a  couple  years  ago. 
While  there’s  no,  intention  here  of 
comparing  three  diverse  acts,  each 
outstanding  and  Showmanly  in  his 
own  idiom,  it’s  impossible  to  deny 
that  Miss  Jackson’s  impact  is  the 
most  immediate  ,  of  the  three. . 

As  host,  •  Norman  Ross  made 
with- his  trademarked  low-pressure 
placebos  which  in  certain  other 
assignments  have  been  a  credit  but 
which  for  this  show  only  contrite 
nted  to  the  general  lifelessness  of 
the  framework.  CT&T’s  hour  of 
folk  music  was  rewarding  to  the 
aficionado  but  probably  didn’t 
make  many  converts  to  the  folk  art 
among  the  uninitiated,  even  'among 
those  who  remained  till  the.  end. 

Les. 

‘Know  Your  Schools’ 
Project  Wins  Kudos 
At  Capital  Ceremonies 

Washington,  Jan.  21.  . 
NBC  won  Government  kudos 
last  week  for*  the  “Know  Your 
Schools”  project  of  its  eight  o.&o. 
radio  and  television  stations.  Over 
a  six  weeks’  period,  the  stations 
turned  a  searchlight  on  the  Ameri¬ 
can  educational  system  and  great¬ 
ly  Increased,  public  knowledge— in 
the  eight  cities- — of  what  went  on 
in  their  {schools,  arid  what  more 
was  needed. 

Timing  erf  the  project  was  ex¬ 
cellent  for  it  came  at  a  time  when 
America,  jolted  by  the  Soviet 
achievement  in  hoisting  two  Sput¬ 
niks  Into  the  ether,  has  begun  to 
wopder  how  much  iriiprpvemeht.is 
needed  in  Our  own  educational 
sy&tom. 

At  the  D.  C.  luncheon  at  which 
achievements  of  the  NBC  project 
were  reported,  Marion  B.  Folsom, 
Secretary  of  the  Department  of 
Health,  Education  and  Welfare, 
declared:  “It  is  heartening  to  all 
who.deal  with  education  that  NBC 
has  lent  its  (able  and  generous,  sup¬ 
port  to  a  program  designed  to  ac¬ 
quaint  citizens  with  their  schools. 
I  don’t  know  anything  that  could 
have  ..been  more  timely,  than  this 
particular  subject  I  hope  that 
many  other  business  an  industrial 
leaders  will  follow  your  lead.” 

Commendation  of  the  project 
was  voiced*  also  by  John  C.  Door- 
fer,  chairman  of  the  FCC. 

Thomas  B.  McFadden,  vice  presi¬ 
dent  in  charge  of  NBC  owned /sta¬ 
tions,  made  the  report  on  the  proj¬ 
ects  developed  by  stations  in  New 
York,  Washington,  ,  Philadelphia, 
Hartford-New  Britain,  Buffalo, 
Chicago,  ^fan  Francisco,  and  Los 
Angeles. 


N.  Y.  PHILHARMONIC  YOUNG 

PEOPLE’S  CONCERTS 
With  Leonard  Bernstein 
Producer:/ Roger  Englander 
Exec  producer:  Richard  Lewine 
Director:  Charles  S.  Dubin 
60  Mins.,  Sat.  (18),  18  boon 
CBS-TV,  from  New.  York 

Leonard  Bernstein  could  turn 
out  to  be  the  one-man  army  to  take 
some  of  the  edge  off  the  juves’  in¬ 
fatuation  with  rock  ’n*  roll.  With 
z  flair  for  the  dramatic  and  a  pas¬ 
sion  for  his  material,  the  N.Y*. 
Philharmonic  director  launched  a 
Young  People’s  Concert  series  in’ 
a  manner  that  enthralled  the  small 
fry  and  pleased  the  parents.  It  was 
a  music  appreciation  class  with  a 
beat. 

.  Although  it  Was  virtually  a  one- 
man  show  (the  Philharmonic  toot- 
lers  were  on  hand  to  give  the 
music  some  body),  Bernstein  made 
the  hour  skip  along,  at  an  enter¬ 
taining  and  yet  informative  pace. 
Lecturing,  keyboarding,  conduct¬ 
ing  \ and  humming  along  with  the 
mlisic;  Bernstein  was  all  over  the 
Carnegie  stage  and  the  .  home 
screen  but  he  managed  to  sustain 
momentum  through  the  sheer  force 
of:  his  personality.  It  was  a  tour 
de  force  for  a  Iddarid  just  as  his 
previous  “Omnibus”  excursions 
had  been  for  the  adults.  ;  • 

;  Peg  for  the  series’  opener  was*. 
“What  Does  Music  Mean?”  Speak¬ 
ing  in  simple  explanatory  terms, 
Bernstein’s  theme  was  that  “music 
is  what  it  makes. us  feeL”  He  made 
his  pitch  via  the  “William  Tell 
Overture,”  Strauss’  “Don  Quixote,” 
“Pictures  at  An  Exhibition,” 
Beethoven’s  “Pastoral”  arid  Ravel’s 
“La  Valse.” 

Camera1  work  was  neat  arid  fluid 
and  from  the  looks  df  the  attentive 
youngsters  in  the  arid  Alan;  Freed 
better  watch  .out  Gros. 

SPORTS  ILLUSTRATED  SPEC¬ 
TACULAR 

With  Bennie  Prnddon,  A1  Heifer, 

Stan  Musial.  Billy  Pierce,  Mnrial 

Davis,  Ted  Lindsay;  Devlin  Sis¬ 
ters,  Max  Patkin,  others 
Producer;  Dan  Schuffman 
Director:  Herb  Cnnniff 
60  Mins.,  Sat.  (18),  10  ajn. 

POLK  BROS.  FURNITURE 
WBKB,  Chicago 

.  The  term  spectacular  has  been 
used  in  vain  on  larger-scale  tv  -so', 
often  in  the  past,  that  it  hardly  en¬ 
genders  disappointment  any  more, 
least  of  all  from  a  local  effort  The 
most  spectacular  thing  about  this 
once-a-month  special  is  the  number 
of  angles  from  which  it  bounces  off 
the  theme  of  physical  fitness.  The 
show,  in  fact,  amounts  to  an  hour- 
long  pitch  for  programmed  ex¬ 
ercise,  with  a  few  sidebar  pitches 
tor  the  cohop  sponsors— Polk  Bros, 
furniture  stores,  which  pays  the 
time  costs,  and  Sports  Illustrated 
Magazine;  which,  brings  in  the 
guests. 

Guests  for last  /Saturday’s .  (18) 
opus,  included  some  who  were  spe¬ 
cimens  of  fitness  .and  others  whose 
muscles  were  mostly  cerebral,  yet 
all  carried  on  about  physique  build¬ 
ing  as  though  it  were  the  salvation 
of  the  human  race.  There  were 
plenty  of  guests,  some  as  spokes¬ 
men  and . some  as. examples,  and  in 
the  latter  category  a  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Morse  made  an  appearance  With, 
their  11  offspring  to  illustrate  What 
physical  fitness  can  produce. 

A  number  of  athletes  partio 
ipated.  Murial  Davis,  an  Olympic 
gymnast,  showed  what  the  fit  body 
can  -do  on  the  parallel  bars;  Judy 
and  Sue  Devlin  demonstrated  bad¬ 
minton  as  a  body  builder;  Stan  Mu- 
sial  of  the  St.  Louis  Cardinals 
swung  a  bait;  and  Billy  Pierce  of 
the  Chicago  White  Sox  gave  testi¬ 
mony  to  the  value  of  exercise  with 
all  the  glibness  of  a  Gillette  com¬ 
mercial. 

Backbone  of  the  show  is  Bonnie 
Prudden,  a.  pleasant  video  person¬ 
ality  and.  an  intelligent  handler  of 
children  who  guides  skilled  and  un¬ 
skilled  subjects  in  demonstrations 
of  calisthenics.  She’s  the  sole  re¬ 
gular  an  this  monthly  series.  Lim- 
berlimbed  Max  Patkin;  as  the  funny 
fellow  who’s  physically  unfit, 
gagged  up  the  exercises  and  man¬ 
aged  a  tittering' from  the  studio 
audience.  Sportscaster  A1  Heifer 
handled  the  emcee  chore  satisfac¬ 
torily.  . 

Hockey  player  Ted  L in ds a y, 
whose  rough  looks  belie  his  articu¬ 
lateness,  sat  on  a  panel  that  in¬ 
cluded  a.  college  professor,  a  doc¬ 
tor,  a  female  judge  arid  a  beauty 
editor. .  The  panel  concluded  that; 
physical  fitness  was  darned  import¬ 
ant 

The  show  drove  home  its  point 
all  right  So  what’s  for  an  encore 
next  month?  Les. 


San  Antonio — Stan  Nelson,  pro¬ 
gram  director  and  early  morning 
disk  jockey  on  KITE  here  is  leav¬ 
ing  the  station  in  order  to  become 
early  .  morning  disk  jockey  for 
WCOP,  Cincinnati  Glen  Krueger 
takes  over  duties  as  the  outlet’s 
program  director.'  Haywood  Arm¬ 
strong  is  dated  to  take  over  as  disk 
jockey  duties  on  the  early  morn¬ 
ing  shift 


BOB  HOPE  SHOW 
With  Jayne  Mansfield,  Hedda  Hop¬ 
per,  Jerry  Colonna,  Carol  Jarvis, 
Erin  O’Brien,  Les  Brown  Orch, 
Arthur  Duncan,  Peter  Leeds, 
Alan  Gifford,  Irv  Kupcinet,  Al 
Scharper,  Terrence  O’Flaherty, 
Herb  Krauch,  Tony.  Hope,.  Les 
Brown  Jr.,  Charles  Cooley,  others 
Producer:  Jack  Hope*. 

Director:  Mort  Lachman 
Writers:  Lester  White,  John  Rapp, 
Lachman,  Bill  Larkin,  Charles 
Lee 

60  Mins.,  FrL  (17),  8  p:m. 

PLYMOUTH 

NBC-TV  (film) 

■(JV.  W.  Ayer). 

Bob  Hope,  a  perennial .  on  the 
GI  circuits,  in  this  show,  presented 
his  annual  Christmas  tour  under 
USO  auspices.  Although  some¬ 
what  belated  for  the  domestic 
Christmas  trade,  it  showed  every 
kind  of  Yule  cheer  Hope  spread 
around  to  the  servicemen  at  Guam, 
Okinawa;  Korea  and  Tokyo.. 

It  Was  a  better  than  usual  Hope 
show,  although  the  format  was 
about  the  same.  To*  many,  the  best 
part  of  his  offerings  is  the  staridup 
session  in  which  he  warms  up  his 
audiences.  During  these  periods, 
he  trots  outran  innumerable  num¬ 
ber  of  onerliriers.  The  amount  of 
material  used  up  on  these  forays  is 
enormous,  and  most  of  them:  take 
effect  With  so  many  shows  eman¬ 
ating  from  so  mariy  places,  it  fol¬ 
lowed  that- Hope  had  a  lot  of  warm¬ 
ing  up  to  do,  and  thus  kept  the 
home  sets  hot  for  this  show. 

Hope  got  a  lot  of  laughs :  on  his 
own,  and  he  said  soine  worthy 
things -in  explaining  why  he  makes 
these  arduous  treks  *  annually  at 
Christmas  and  some  less  arduous 
tours  during  the"  year.  GI’s,  it 
seems,  are  his  best  audience.  His 
most  ;  ardent  appreciatbra,  second 
td  his  immediate  soldier  audiences,, 
seem  to  be  service  officials  arid  the 
families  of  the  troops, 

Iri  his  Christmas  tour,  Hope; 
brought  along  a  rather  large  com¬ 
pany  .including  Hedda  Hopper  and 
singers  Erin  O’Brien  and  Carol  Jar¬ 
vis,  none  of  whoin  slowed  up  the 
show  too  much;  the  Les  Brown 
band,  which  supplied  excellent  mu¬ 
sical  backgrounds;  Jerry  Colonna, 
who  weaved  in  and  out  of-  the  pro¬ 
ceedings,  and  Jayne  Mansfield. 
The  latter  provided  the  whistle-bait 
for  the  troops  and  took  part  satis¬ 
factorily  in  a  fairly:  good  sketch. 
There  was  also  a  proficient  Negro 
dancer  Arthur  Duncan  and  a  Sprin¬ 
kling  of  newspapermen  who  par¬ 
ticipated  in  sketches.  Jpj-e, 


STAN  KENTON  SHOW 

With  Jan  Tober,  Pete  Perkins, 

Lester  Horton  Trio,  others 
Writer-Producer:  Buck  Pennington 
ft  Mins^  Wed.,  8  pan. 

KTTV  L.  A. 

Of  recent  unlamented  memory 
is  a  tv .  show  called .  “What's  It 
For?”  It  had  .  a  short  life  and  not 
a  very  merry  one  on  NBC.  The 
same  might  be.  said  for  Stan  Ken¬ 
ton’s  initialer  Wednesday  night  on 
KTTV.  It’s  a  good  question:  what’s 
it  for?  It  couldn’t  bait  a  sponsor 
and  the  viewer  must  be  equally 
unimpressed.  It  won’t  be  around 
long  unless  the  Times  crowd  wants 
to  elevate  us  culturally  or  some 
fast  w'ork  is  done  in  giving  it  some 
measure  of  popular  appeal. 

As  set  up  for  the  opener  it  was 
as  remotely  unappealing  to  a  mass 
audience  as  the .  mileage  between 
the  Balboa  ballroom  and  the  Holly¬ 
wood  studio  of ;  KTTV.  Not 'by  ac¬ 
tual  count  but  it’s  a  fairly  safe 
guess  that  Kenton  spouted  more 
Wordage  than  his  sidemen  did 
notes.  He’s  about  the  gabbiest 
bandleader  ever  to  grace  a  podium 
in.  these  diggin’s.  If  the  show  has 
a  format,  the  question  bf  what  or 
who’s  it  for  will  ride  over  the 
applause  of  the  rahs  rahs,  who 
apparently  will  make  up  the  Week¬ 
ly  audience,  pn  the  opener,  USC; 
next  week,  Loyola/  It  was  purely 
a.  claque  audience  and  at  times 
Kenton  disregarded  their  disorgan¬ 
ized  attempts  to  whoop  it  up. 

Kenton’s  crew  played  not  one 
song  of  aural,  familiarity  and  those 
they  did  play  were  tricked  up  or 
overdone  orchestratedly.  Attempts 
at  comedy  were  childish.  Consider¬ 
able  time  was  used  up  with  studies 
from  Various  classes  at  USC  de¬ 
monstrating  their  arts.  “They, 
too,”  said  Kenton,  “are  concerned 
with  artistic  activities.”  Said  Kerir 
ton,  “we.  too,  are  in  the  creative 
field.”  Shown  were  pots,  models, 
sketches :  and  architectural  designs, 
which  it  may  be  said,  are  totally 
extraneous  of  what  is  expected 
from  Stan  Kenton. 

On  the  entertainment  side  were 
singers  Jan  Tober  and  Pete  Per¬ 
kins,  acceptable  band  singers,  and 
the  Lester  Horton  trio  of  interpre¬ 
tive  writhera.  Transportation,  said 
a  card,  was  furnished  through 
"courtesey”  of  Trallways.  How 
cum  one  of  the  collegiates  didn’t 
catch  the  misspelling?  Buck  Pen¬ 
nington  wrote  and  produced.  Spon¬ 
sors  pitched  the  show  must  he  ask¬ 
ing,  “what’s  it  for?”  Helm. 


DOTTO 

With  Jack  Narz,  emcee;  Ralph 

Paul,  announcer 
Producer:  Ed  Jurist  . 

Director:  Jeroirie  Schnur 
30  Mins.;  Mon-thru-Fri.,  11:30  a.m. 
COLGATE-PALMOLIVE 
CBS-TV,  from  New  York 
(Ted  Bates) 

In  their  long  search  for  a  re¬ 
placement  for  the  ailing  “Strike  It 
Rich,”  the  multitude  of  Colgate 
agencies  finally  reached  agreement 
oil  this  Frank  Cooper-Sy  Fischer 
package,  and  it’s  not  hard  to  see 
why.  For  despite  tome  complicated 
rules  and  physical  layout,  this  pic¬ 
ture  quiz  gaine  is  among  the  more 
intriguing  of  television’s  daytime 
entries: 

Two  contestants- vie  to  identify 
a  portrait,  which  first  appears  as 
a  series  of  dots  on  two  electroni¬ 
cally-controlled  screens  (one  for 
each  contestant);  With  each  correct 
answer’  (questions  graduated  ac¬ 
cording;  to  difficulty),  a  certain 
number  bf  dots  are  connected  on 
the:  screen  to  form  the  lines  of  the 
portrait.  Contestant  can  venture  a 
guess  at  the  portrait  at  any.  time, 
but  after  he  connects  25  dots  he 
begins  to  get  verbal  clues  as  we.l. 
If  a  contestant  misses  a  question, 
his  opponent’s  dots  are  connected.. 
Neither  contestant  can  see  the 
other’s  ,  screen,  and  when  a  con¬ 
testant  does  try  to  identify  the 
picture,,  he  Writes  it,  since  bis  op- 
.  ponent  then  gets  a  chance  to  re¬ 
main  in  the  game  by.  guessing  the 
identity  of  the  portrait  also.  Win¬ 
ner  receives  a  certain  amount  for 
each  unconnected  dot.  , 

Game  maintains,  a  high  level  of 
home  viewer  interest  by  virtue  of 
being  in  the  same  position  as  the 
contestants,  that  is,  being  able  to 
try.to  figure  out  the  portrait’s  iden¬ 
tity  with  the  players.  Moreover, 
there’s  also  a  portrait  for  home 
viewers,  with  clues  and  new  con¬ 
nections  every  day,  with  the  quiz 
for  the  home  viewers  conducted 
by  telephone. 

Colgate  brought  in  Jack  Narz,  a 
vet  Coast  commercial  announcer, 
for  his  first  try;  at  a  major  emcee¬ 
ing  job,  and  Narz  looks  in  to  stay. 
In  this  era  of  faltering? quizmasters, 
he  shows  the  relaxed  poi§,e  and 
good  nature  of  the  old  pros,  a  re¬ 
freshing  sight.  “Dotto”  should  be 
able  to  make  a  sizeable  dent  in  the 
competing  “Truth  or  Conse¬ 
quences’’  audience.  Chari. 


LOVE  THAT  JILL 
With  Anne  jleffreys,  Robert  Sterl¬ 
ing,  James  Lydon,  Claire  Cari- 
ton,  Barbara  .Nichols,  Fortunio 
Bonaaeva,  others 
Producer-Writer:  Alex  Gottlieb 
Director:  William  Setter 
30  Mins.,  Mon.;  8  p.m. 

MAX  FACTOR 
ABC-TV  (film) 

CAnderson-McConnell ) 

Some  of  the  raw  material  is 
there  for  a  situation  comedy  series 
and  also  some  of  the  elements  to 
sell  Max  Factor  cosmetics.  But  the 
tissue-thin  surface  of  sophistica¬ 
tion  possessed  by  “Love  That  Jill,” 
Which  began  for  Factor  over  ABC- 
TV  Monday  (20)  as  the  replace¬ 
ment  for  Guy  Mitchell,  is  not  sup¬ 
ported,  except  in  highly  Isolated 
instances,  by  a  jot  of  humor. 

This  Anne  Jeffreys-Robert  Sterl- 
ing-starrer  about  competitive 
model  agency  heads,  written  arid 
produced  by  an  old  pro,  Alex  Gott¬ 
lieb,  simpered  through  a  thorough¬ 
ly  contrived  plot.  A  sly  grin  and  a 
silly  wiggle  were  Miss  Jeffreys 
contributions  and  her^  real  -  life 
hubby  Sterling’s  help  was  re¬ 
stricted  by  the  asinine  lines. 

It  was  a  mistake  Von  this  ,  first 
outing  to  inject  dllyisms  into  a 
sophisticated  farce  about  dog-eat- 
dog  New  York  business  society. 

Art. 


WHBQ’s  Penny  Serenade 

Memphis,  Jan.  21. 

Goodfellows  Organization,  wel¬ 
fare  group  iding  the  needy  in 
Memphis,  received  149,100  pennies,- 
or  a  sum  of  $1,491  as  result  of 
novel  contest  staged  by  ‘Top  Ten 
Dance  Party,*’  Victor  8c  Richards 
syndicated  tebnage  on 

WHBQ-TV. 

Contestants  were  asked  to  cast 
votes  in  the  form  of  pennies,  en¬ 
closing  a  penny  with  each  vote. 
Stunt'ran  for  three  weeks  and  pen¬ 
nies  collected  during  1958  will 
form  “Top  Ten  Dance  Party  Youth 
Center  Fund”  under  direction  of 
Memphis  Park  Commission.  Money 
will  be  used  for  youth  centers  and 
othelr  worthy  teenage  endeavors. 

“Dance  Party”  is  scripted  by 
Alan  Sands.  The  show  Is  sponsored 
by  Coca-Cola  In  Memphis. 

Albany— Charles  L.  Mum  has 
been  promoted  from  sales  manager 
to  station  manager  of  WOKO,  and 
has  been  elected  to  the  director’s 
board  of  Governor  Dongan  Broad¬ 
casting  Corp. 


KITTY  FOYLE 

With  Kathleen  Murray,  Ralph 
Dunn,  Bill  Redfield,  Valerie  Cos- 
sari,  Staats  Cotsworth,  Mae 
Barnes,.  Les  Damon,  Judy  Lewis, 
Arlene  Golonka,  Jeanne  Barr, 
Bob  Hastings,  Casey  Allen, Marie. 
Worsham,  Julfene  Marie,  Jan 
Marlip  and  Larry  Robinson 
Executive  Prodneer:  Charles  Irving 
Director:  Hal  Cooper 
NBC  Director:  Gary  Simpson 
Writer:  Carlton  E.  Morse  (Original 
story  by  Christopher  Morley) 

30  Mins.,  Mon.  thru  FrL,  2:30  p.m. 
NBC-TV,  from  N.Y. 

From  the  prolific  quill  of  Chris¬ 
topher  Morley  came  "Kitty  Foyle,” 
his  most  successful  popular  novel 
about  a  white-collar  lass  of  lower 
middle  class,  daughter  of  a  Lon¬ 
donderry  Irishman  and  Philadel¬ 
phia  night  watchman/ who  fell  in: 
love  with  the  scion  (naturally)  of 
a  Main  Line  family. 

Here  are  all  the  glittering  ele¬ 
ments  of  an  idyllic  daytime  serial, 
but  it  simply  doesn’t  come  off  in 
the  opening  chapters  on  tv.  This 
Henry  Jaffe  Enterprises  Inc.  pro¬ 
duction,  with  Charles  Irving  as 
executive  producer,  is  telecast  live 
from  NBC’s  studios  in  New  York, 
and  as  part  of  the  promotional 
drumbeating  before  launching  the 
series,  a  talent  hunt  was  conducted 
for  a  leading  lady. 

Nearly  200  ’actresses  were 
screened  and  the  role  uf  Kitty  was 
awarded  to  Kathleen  -Murray,  a 
Brooklyn  damsel  currently  Under¬ 
studying  Pat  Smith  in  “Maybe 
Tuesday”  opening  on  Broadway 
Jan.  28.  Miss  Murray  won’t  appear 
in  the  serial  until  the  fifth  week, 
at  which  time  most  of  the  charac¬ 
ters  in  “Kitty  Foyle”  will  indubi¬ 
tably  be  up  to  their  clavicles  in 
unalloyed  gloom.  The  producers 
dub  this  serial  a  “living  biogra¬ 
phy,”  a  tale  “by  turns  comic  and* 
dramatic/'  hardboiled  and  tender, 
vital  and  contemplative.”  That’s 
all? 

In  the  early  days  of  radio,  when 
soapers  reigned  celestial,  cynics 
often  described  this  brand  of  sudsy 
literature  as  here  .  today,  here 
tomorrow.  Like  the  relentless  tides 
of  the  sea,  the  soaps  were  here  to 
stay  and  pull  at  the  sagging  heart¬ 
strings  of  American  hausfraus. 
Life  on  the  daytime  serial  agony 
avenues  hasn’t  changed  much  if 
one  is  to  judge  by  recent  install¬ 
ments  of  “Kitty  Foyle.” 

This  video  soaper  is  certainly  no 
different  from  the  misery-ridden 
productions  aired  on  yesteryear’s 
radio  channels.  Like  its  counter¬ 
parts  on  AM,  “Kitty  Foyle”  is  un- 
telievedly  tearful  and.  if  the  epi¬ 
sodes  riaught  are  any  criterion,  all 
the  characters  in  this  serial  are 
bound  to  wind  up  behind  the  five 
ball  (no  more  room  behind  the 
eight  ball)  nursing  their  deep  frus¬ 
trations  and  sobbing  ever  so  softly. 

Carlton  E.*  Morse,  the  former 
newspaperman,  did  a  sound  job 
when  he  tackled  “One  “Man’s 
Family,”  in  the  pre-video  days. 
His  “One  Man’s  Family”  deserved 
the  numerous  awards  it  drew  from 
the  press  and  other  media,  but  his 
handling  of  the  Morley  novel  is 
strictly  in  the  electronic  washboard 
weeper  style. 

Morse’s  dialog  is  banal.  “Don’t 
get  hurt,  Kitty,  don’t  get  hurt,” 
the  heroine’s  emotionally  disturbed 
brother  sobs.  “I  don’t  want  you 
to  get  hurt.”  Or  Kitty’s  pop  sobs: 
“A  hurt  is  a  hurt . . .  I’m  ms  father. 
A  father  owes  something  to  his 
son.  I  Want  him  to  stay  home. 
Help  me.  Myrtle  .  .  .” 

Episodes  caught  open  with  a 
flash  of  what  appears  to  be  down¬ 
town  Philadelphia,  a  darb  of  a 
plug  for  Philly  merchants  and 
surely  no  one  can  crab  about  this 
shot,  least  of  all  the  local  Chamber 
Of  Commerce.  The  sets  are  on  the 
blueplate  special  order  arid  the 
acting  is  on  par  with  Philadelphia 
scrapple. 

The  /organist  is  there  too,  with 
the  agitated  and  ominous  bridge, 
music  and,  sure  enough,  the  pro¬ 
ducers  hired,  the  best  musical  di¬ 
rector  in  the  serial  dodge.  His 
name  is  Bill  Meeder  and  his  arpeg¬ 
gios  ^on  the  organ  steal  the  across- 
the-washboard  show.  It  may  even 
bring  back  organ  music  after  the 
fashion  of  Ann  Leaf. 

“Stella  Dallas,”  meet  “Kitty 
Foyle.”  Rails. 


Renew  Tate,’  Trackdown- 

Hollywood,  Jan.  21. 

Two  Four  Star  Films  vidseries, 
“Turn  of  Fate,”  and  “Trackdown” 
have  been  renewed. 

Alcoa  and  -  Goodyear  renewed 
“Fate,”  anthology  series  on  NBC, 
with  David  Niven,  Charles  Boyer, 
Jack  Lemmon,  Robert  Ryan  and 
Jane  Powell,  starring,  while  Amer¬ 
ican  Tobacco  and  Socony  renewed 
“Trackdown,”  starring  Robert  Culp, 
on  CBS. 

Each  series,  originally  bought 
for  28  weeks,  was  renewed  for  13 
first-runs  and  13  reruns,  thus  tabb¬ 
ing  them  to  next  fall. 


“KNOW  YOUR  SCHOOLS’ 
ALERTS  AMERICA 
TO  ITS  NUMBER  ONE 

PROBLEM 


Last  Fall,  when  Little  Rock  and  Sputnik  exploded  Education  into 
the  headlines  as  America's  greatest  problem,  the  NBC  Owned 
Stations  were  already  at  work  on  their  massive  know  your 
schools  Project.  Planned  with  the  cooperation  of  the  United 
States  Department  of  Health,  Education  and  Welfare,  this  was 
ff  a  community-level  examination  of  our  schools,  aimed  at  alerting 
the  public  to  what  is  going  on  inside  the  American  classroom. 
At  the  end  of  the  six-week  project,  the:  NBC  Impact  Public  Serv¬ 
ice  technique  had  achieved  800  million  audience  impressions .  It 
r 

had  also  achieved  these  results : 

^  HARTFORD  —  WNBC-sponsored  Public  Service  Festival  drew 
60,000  to  education  exhibits 


PMuET? 


49 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 

[  NEW  YORK —wrca,  WRCA-TV  saturation .  spot  announcement 
campaigns  led  to  enthusiastic  public  reponse  in  behalfof  All 
Day  Neighborhood  Schools 

WASHINGTON — wrc,  wrc-tv  special  interview-series  projected 
the  picture  for  Higher  Education  in  the  nation^  capital,  looking 
forward  to  the  year  1970 

CHICAGO — WMAQ,  wnbq  special  programs  inspired  formation  of 
Community  Action  Meetings  and  Discussion  Clinicsin  local  schools 
PHILADELPHIA — WRCV,  WRCV-TV  documentary  series  warned  of 
coming  need  for  scientists 

SAN  FRANCISCO— KNBC  on-the-air  promotion  brought  a  1500 
increase  in  PTA  membership 


LOS  ANGELES — KRCA  Benefit  Telecast  raised  fiinds  for  impor- 
•* 

taiit  extra-curricular  activities 

BUFFALO^  wbup  promotion  boosted  parent  attendance  during 
Open  School  Week  to  record-breaking  55,000. 

The  techniques  used  in  the  KNOW  yOur  schools  Project  'and  the 
results  achieved  are  now  being  documented  for  general  use.  In 
making  them  available  the  NBC  Owned  Stations  welcome  broad¬ 
casters,  educators  and  all  other  interested  individuals  and  organi¬ 
zations  to  join  them  in  a  continuing  drive  to  heighten  public 
awareness  of  America’s  Number  One  Problem— Education. 

NBC  OWNED  STATIONS 


50 


TV-FILMS 


VA&IETY 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


KTLA,  KTTV,  Others  Buying  % 

In  Vidpix  to  Insure  Product 


Hollywood.  Jan.  21. 

Faced  with  an  increasing  short¬ 
age  top  syndicated  vidfilm  shows, 
KTTV.  KTLA  and  other  indies 
around  the  country  are  eyeing  pros¬ 
pective  teleseries  with  financing  in 
mind,  as  one  means  of  insuring 
product. 

KTLA  and  16  other  indie  sta¬ 
tions  have  invested  in  “Citizen 
Soldier,”  currently  lensing  in  Ger¬ 
many.  KTLA  manager  Lew  Arn¬ 
old  said  his  station  is  interested  in 
further  telepix  program  financing. 

KTTV  manager  Dick  Moore  re¬ 
ported,  “we  want  competitive  pro¬ 
grams.  If  we  have  to  help  finance 
series  we  will.  We’re  not  in  the 
business  of  financing  programs,  but 
we’re  open  to  discussion  of  any 
program  under  certain  terms.” 

KTTV  and  WPIX  bought  licens¬ 
ing  rights  and  invested  in  “Casey 
Jones.”  being  shot  by  Screen  Gems, 
already  sold  in  112  markets  in  the 
U.S.  and  England.  It  starts  airing 
on  KTTV  in  February. 


$1,500,060  TV  PROD. 
SKED  FOR  PACEMAKER 

Hollywood,  Jan.  21. 

A  1958-59  production  schedule  of 
at  least  three  films,  each  budgeted 
at  around  $500,000,  has  been  set 
by  Pacemaker  Productions,  new  in¬ 
die  currently  shooting  “The  Fear- 
makers.”  In  addition,  unit  will  en¬ 
ter  the  telefilm  field  with  two 
series. 

First  feature  to  go  will  be  “Take¬ 
off,”  based  on  the  Cyril  Kombluth 
scifl.  It  will  be  followed  by 
“Wheels  Up,”  an  original  by  Le- 
land  Hewitt  and  “One  if  By  Air,” 
based  pn  Kornbluth’s  “Not  This 
August.”  Both  Kombluth  stories 
will  be  scripted  by  Chris  Appley. 

Vidfilm  series  are  “Hollywood 
Qall  of  Fame”  and  “Treasure  Ho,” 
latter  based  on  stories  of  actual 
buried  treasure. 


Sanford, 


To  Kelland  Stories 


Hollywood,  Jan.  21. 

Writers  Donald  Sanford  and 
Mort  Lewis  have  acquired  tv  rights 
to  all  the  Clarence  Buddington 
Kelland  stories  and  characters  and 
will  launch  a  new  telefilm  series, 
“The  Clarence  Buddington  Kelland 
Theatre.”  They  have  already  se¬ 
lected  the  first  39  yams  for  filming. 

Sanford  and  Lewis  will  function 
as  executive  producers  and  writing 
supervisors,  assigning  other  scribes 
to  adapt  stories  for  the  series.  Art 
Rush,  Inc.,  is  repping  the  property. 


SAG 

t,— Continued  from  page  35  SimSmmm 

61  to  100  cities  and  a  new  “Class 
AAA’  in  over  100  cities. 

(2)  SAG  wants  the  current  sys¬ 
tem  of  weighting  cities  to  deter¬ 
mine  classification  for  use  pay¬ 
ments  (based  on  population  and 
the  tv  audience  in  1952)  to  be  re¬ 
evaluated,  with  New  York  (now 
weighted  at  seven  cities)  to  be 
counted  as  21  cities  and  automatic¬ 
ally  become  Class]  A.  Chicago  and. 
L.  A.,  now  weighted  at  seven  cities 
each  would  become  11  cities.  Such 
“weight”  hikes  tjaike  the  place  in 
other  cities,  per  me  SAG  demands 
of  FPA. 

(3)  SAG  wants  a  “tightening  up 
on  editing  privileges.  Under  pres¬ 
ent  contract  one  shorter  ahd  one 
longer  version  of  a  commercial 
may  be  made  ,  without  its  being 
deemed  a  separate  Commercial. 
SAG  proposes  that  all  additional 
versions  be  deemed  separate  com¬ 
mercials  and  be  paid  as  such.” 

(4)  SAG  wants  the  elimination 
of  the  system  of  “unit  payments,” 
based  on  the  number  of  commer¬ 
cials  delivered  to  an  ad  agency  or 
client.  Instead,  the  union  wants  the 
player  to  be  paid  promptly  for 
each  and  every  commercial  made. 

(5)  Also  on  the  SAG  list  Of  de¬ 
mands  is  elimination  of  maximum 
payments  and  discounts  for  ad¬ 
vance  purchase  Of  a  specified  num¬ 
ber  of  blurbs. 

(6)  And .  last,  among  the  major 
demands,  is;  establishment  of  a 
separate  category  and  higher  rates 
for  spots  used  on  local  participate 
ing  programs.” 


Laurel  &  Hardy  Sales 

Laurel  &  Hardy  series,  distrib¬ 
uted  by  Governor  Television  At¬ 
tractions.  has  been  sold  in  17  adi- 
ditional  markets. 

They  include:  KOOL,  Phoenix, 
Ariz.;  KNXT,  Los  Angeles;  WVUE, 
Philadelphia;  WTOP,  Washington; 
WMBR,  Jacksonville;  WPST,  Mi¬ 
ami;  WSUN,  St.  Petersburg; 
CKLW,  Detroit-Windsor;  WCCO, 
Minneapolis;  WOW,  Omaha;  WBUF, 
“Buffalo;  KYW,  Cleveland;  KDKA, 
Pittsburgh;  WFAA,  Dallas;  KELP, 
El  Paso;  and  KXLY,  Spokane. 

WATV’s  Problem: 
No  More  Celluloid 

WATV  is  Close  to  running  out 
of  film.  The  Newark-N.Y.  tv  outlet 
has  not  made  any  attempt  at  new 
celluloid  purchases  since  National 
Telefilm  Associates  purchased  the 
station  a  few  months  ago,  and  if 
the  FCC  holds  up  the  final  okay 
of  the  buyout  much  beyond  the 
end  of  February,  WATV  will  have 
used  u|>  most  of  the  celluloid. 

To  stem  the  dry-up,  NTA  gave 
WATV  an  extension  on  some  of 
the  20th  features  that  it  sold  to 
the  station  in  Oct.,  1956,  informed 
sources  disclosed.  Both  NTA  and 
the  station  it  bought  were  mum  on 
the  exact  dimensions  of  the  exten¬ 
sion,  but  the  opinion  is  .  that  the 
distributor,  in  general  terms,  gave 
WATV  the  right  to  use  several  of 
the  52,  in  order  to  tide  itself  over. 

Under  the  original  pact  with 
NTA,  the  station  had  the  right  to 
use  each  of  the  20th  films  for  21 
days  each  or  three  weeklong  rur~ 
(at  about  $12,000  for  each  fi)  ! 
including  all  replays).  Runs  ran  < 
on  Jan.  12.  No  price  was  decide  ; 
on  by  NTA  in  allowing  the  station 
to  make  additional  use  of  the  flicks. 

The  “Rocket  86”  package  which 
NTA  later  sold  the  station  reverted 
to  the  distributor  when  the  sta¬ 
tion  was  sold,  thereby  lowering  the 
cost  to  NTA  of  purchasing  the 
station, 

WATV  half-hour  telefilms  are 
running  out  the  string  too. 

Delaying  the  finalization  of  the 
NTA  purchase  is  the  N,Y.  State 
Board  of  Regents  bid  to  acquire 
the  VHF’er  as  the  .  metropolitan 
area’s  first:  educational  tv  station. 

FLAMINGO’S  NEW 

40-PIX  BUNDLE 

Another  group  of  post-r48  fea¬ 
tures  for  ty  is  being  prepped  by 
Flamingo  Films,  now  in  the  midst 
of  closing  talks  with  Distributors 
Corp.  of  America  for  a  number  of 
pix  in  the  package. 

Flamingo, .  now  under  the  stew¬ 
ardship  of  the  Herman  Rush-Ira 
Gottlieb  team,  bought  ty  rights  to 
“Sudden  Fear,”  the  Joan  Crawford 
starrer,  distributed  by  RKO  in 
1953,  under  the  production  aegis  of 
Joe  Kaufman.  DCA  has  also  fur¬ 
nished  Flamingo  with  a  number  of 
pix,  including  what  once  had  been 
the  controversial  Julie  Harris  star¬ 
rer  “I  Am  A  Camera,”  and  “Long: 
John- Silver.”  Framihgo  has  assem¬ 
bled  these  and  other  titles  in  a 
package  of  40,  clicking  one  of  Its 
first  sales  with  KRON,  San  !Fran^ 
cisco: 


WFjL-TV 

— —  Continued  from  page  34 

three  shows  had  the  field  .to  them¬ 
selves,  in  the  1-2-3  places.  The  first 
five  for  Nov.  and  Dec.  have  be¬ 
longed  to  WFIL-TV,  lone  station 
not  owned  by  a  network.  It  is  the 
key  station  of  RogeivClipp’s  Phila-r 
delphia  based  Triangle  Radio-TV 
Division.  Other  programs  in  the 
first  five  are  “Chief  Halftown’s 
Lunchtime  Theatre”  (cartoons) 

1  and  the  feature  film  series  “Movie- 
thne  U.S;A.” 

“Starr  Theatre”  has.  strong  pro¬ 
motional  flavor,  blending  birthday 
salutes,  greetings  to  shut-iris  and 
public  service  appeals  with  film 
|  content.  Sally’s  frequent  personal 
appearances  for  local  civic  and  fra¬ 
ternal  groups.  In  parades  and 
[charity  affairs  adds  strong  local 
1  identification  to  syndicated  pix. 


TV  Film  Chatter 


j  MCA  veepees  Herb  Rosenthal 
and  Berle  Adams  elected  to  the 
board  of  MCA-TV.  Rosenthal 
works  out  of  N.Y.,  Adams  out  of 
Bevhils  Stars  Tris  Coffin  and 
Kelo  Henderson  of  “26  Men,”  con¬ 
tinuing  their  p.a.  tour,  will  be  in 
Washington  tomorrow  i.Thurs.)  and 
in  Denver  Friday  (24'.  Both  will 
return  to  Phoenix  thereafter  to  re¬ 
sume  production  on  the  ABC  Film 
Syndication  series  .  .  .  Television 
Programs  of  America’s  “Fury”  has 
won  two  awards  from  the  United 
Funds  and  Community  Chests  for 
episodes  dealing  with  bicycle  safe¬ 
ty  and  civil  defense  .  .  .  The  “Free 
Film  Directory,”  published  by 
Broadcast  Information  Bureau,  re¬ 
ports  1,297  new  industrial  titles 
available  .  .  .  William  J.  Hooper, 
formerly  with  ABC  Film  Syndica¬ 
tion,  has  joined  CBS  Film  Sales  as 
account  exec  in  the  Chicago  office 
.  .  .  Flamingo  Films  prexy  Herman 
Rush  is  chairman  of  the  benefits 
committee  of  the  Parents  with  a 
Purpose  organization,  designed  to 
help  :etarded  infants  and  their 
parents  .  .  .  Trans-Lux  has  sold 
Encyclopaedia  Britannica  Films 
libraries  to  WCAU,  Philadelphia, 
and  WDAU,  Scranton,  Pa.  .  .  .  At¬ 
lantic  Television  has  acquired  U.S. 
tv  rights  to  “Schweitzer-Jungle 
Doctor,”  based  on  the  work  of  the 
Nobel  prize  winner. 

Gene  Barry  has  been  assigned  to 
the  role  of  Bat  Masterson,  the  title 
of  the  Ziv  series  slated  for  pro¬ 
duction.  Richard  O’Connor,  author 
of  the  book  “Bat  Masterson,”  uti¬ 
lized  as  the  base  of  the  skein,  will 
act  as  consultant,  as  well  as  sup¬ 
plying  the  scripts  of  some  epi¬ 
sodes  . .  .  Jack  Sebastian,  CBS  Film 
Sales  publicist,  has  returned  from 
Hollywood  .  . .  John  Wittaker,  pho¬ 
tographic  engineer  for  CBS,  will  be 
tomorrow’s  (Thurs.)  guest  speaker 
at  the  National  Television  Film 
Council  luncheon.  New  officers 
and  directors  also  will  he  installed 
at  the  meeting 


NTA 

£^^5  Continued  from  pare  34  — 

since  its  commercial  advent  has 
listed  among  its  sponsors:  P.  Loril- 
lard  Co.,  Hazel  Bishop,  Sunbeam 
Corp.,  and  short  term  rides  by 
Technical  Tape,  Phillips  Van  Heu- 
sen  and  Smith  Bros. 

It  also  formed  the  springboard 
for  the  63-station  lineup  on  the 
four  Shirley  Temple  holiday  spe- 
cials,  sponsored  by  Ideal  Toy  and 
pthers. 

Complicating  the  task  of  getting 
fresh  sponsor  coin  for  the  network 
has  been*a  number  of  factors.  Un¬ 
derstood  20th-Fox  was  rather  late 
in  making  known  ,  the  pix  which  it 
could  make  available  for  the  filmed 
web.  Reportedly,  too,  the  net  was 
and  Is  seeking  more  dough  for 
sponsorship,  maintaining  the  net 
no  longer  is  the  experiment  it' was 
last  April. 

'.Nevertheless,  besides,  feature  pix, 
the  net  has  other  directions  to  go. 
NTA  is  in  the  midst  of  production 
on  a  number,  of  half-hour  shows, 
including,  “How  to  Marry  A  Mil¬ 
lionaire/’  “This  ls  Alice”  and  “Man 
Without  A  Gim/'  any  of  which: 
could  be  shifted  to  the  '  web  subsid. 
Reissues,  of  the  “20th-Fox  Hour” 
also  are  being  donsiderdd.  as  well 
as  possible  Iivri  regional  shows. 


Short  TormDeals 

SS^SS.  Contimie  jb(  from  35  ssss 

amples  of  26-Weeik  filmed  commit¬ 
ments.  But  anything  less  than 
than  that  would  be  impractical.  He 
also,  fuels;  that  an  advertiser  going 
for  a  26-week  :  ride  should  invest 
in,  the  remaining  13  scripts;  if  he 
hopes  to  continue  the  ride  with 
what  may  prove  to  he  a  successful 
series. 

Whether  the  drive  for  a  shorter 
term  commitment  results  in  the 
decrease  in  the  number  of  filmed 
network  shows  js  a  hot  debate.  The 
likelihood  was: raised  by  William 
H..Hylahr  sale?,  administration  vee- 
pee  of  CBS,  in'  his  address  before 
the  recent  affiliates^  meet  in  Wash¬ 
ington.  The  film  execs  feel  that 
telefilms  have  certain  economic 
and  dramatic  advantages  which 
will  not  be  dismissed  lightly. 

Some  telefilm  execs  also  ex¬ 
pressed  cpncerti  that  the  short¬ 
term  commitments,  if  secured  on 
the  networks,  may  eventually  af¬ 
fect  the  syndication  iharket,  where 
the  dominant  pattern  is  39  weeks, 
plus  13  repeats. 


Inside  Stuff— TV  Films 

Because  the  Film  Producers  Assn,  of  New  York  nixed  it  as  the 
collective  bargaining  agent  for  Gotham  telefilm  directors,  the  newly- 
formed  Screen  Directors  International  Guild  has  appealed  to  the 
Federal  Mediation  Board  to  step  in  and  handle  the  dispute.  SDIG 
lawyer  Erwin  Feldman  presented  the  guild’s  case  last  week  to  Fed¬ 
eral  mediator  J.  R.  (Jack)  Mandelbaum. 

Mandelbaum  delayed  action  on  the  SDIG  appeal  until  the  FPA  side 
of  the  story  was  filed  with  the  FMB  office. 


Series  of  13  lS^-minute  religioso  films  have  been  turned  out  by 
Unusual  Films,  an  educational  motion  picture  enterprise  of  Bob 
Jones  U.,  for  television  exposure.  Entitled  “A  Look  at  the  Book.” 
series  is  available  in  both  color  and  black  and  white  16m  prints  through 
the  Radio  and  Audio-Film  Commission  of  the  American  Council  of 
Christian  Churches.  Dr.  Bob  Jones  Jr.,  head  of  Bob  Jones  U.,  is  fea¬ 
tured  in  all  13  shorts.  He  discusses  a  number  of  issues  of  modern 
life  in  light  of  the  scriptures. 


In  a  year-end  report,  CBS  Film  Sales  finds  it  has  chalked  up  gross 
sales  for  1957,  30%  higher  than  that  recorded  for  the  previous  year. 

Understood  that  the  gross  sales  figure  for  ’57  hit  an  alltime  high 
of  about  $11,000,000  for  the  CBS  subsid.  About  20%  of  the  gross  sales 
was  racked  up  by  revenues  from  the  foreign  market. 


National  Telefilm  Associates  is  on  the  prowl  for  an  advertising-pub¬ 
licity-promotion  director  to  top  and  coordinate  the  three  departments. 
Currently  functioning  as  advertising  director  is  Kermit  Kahn;  pub¬ 
licity  topper,  Harry  Adgus;  and  promotion  director,  Martin  Roberts. 

Dave  Golding,  currently  with  Paramount,  was  approached,  but  had 
to  nix  it  because  of  his  Par  commitment. 


WCAU-TV  ‘Champagne/ 
Britannica  Films  Buy 

Philadelphia,  Jan  21. 

NTA’s  “Champagne  Package” 
and  the  “Encyclopaedia  Britan¬ 
nica  Films”  have  been  recently 
purchased  by  WCAU-TV  for  vari¬ 
ous  slots  in  its  17-hour  schedule. 

Station  plans  to  use  most  of  the 
20th-Fox  top  film  package  in  its 
“Million  Dollar  Movie.”  One  of 
the  pix,  “High  Noon,”  will  be  u‘il- 
ized  in  an  upcoming  monthly  Sun¬ 
day  feature,  “Food  Fair  Festival.” 

WCAU-TV  has  created  a  weekly 
half-hour  show,  especially  for  the 
Britannica  films,  “Little  Professor 
on  Big  Subjects.”  Titles  include 
“How  to  Train  Elephants,”  “The 
Earth  in  Motion,”  “Weather,”  etc., 
and  will  be  introduced  live,  by 
youngster  serving  as  “professor.” 


No  Anti-Trust 


The  new  Associated  Artists  Pro¬ 
ductions  sales  setup  for  television 
has  the  Warner  Bros,  features 
brokeh  downrinto  nine  groups  of 
52  each  (468  pictures  In  all),  which 
well  be  released  at  spaced  Inter¬ 
vals  instead  of  all  at  once.  Dis¬ 
tributor,  which  has  some  750  War¬ 
ner  features  in  all,  has  temporarily 
laid  aside  a  10th  group  of  24  flicks, 
which  it  says  it  .  probably  will  re¬ 
lease  next  year  or  perhaps  the  year 
after. 

Plan,  which  lines  up  what  AAP 
describes  as  .  its  “vanguard”  pic¬ 
tures  in  “VIP”  groups  of  52,  was 
“conceived  only,  because  the  tv 
stations  wanted  selected  groups  of 
features,  not  our  program  pic¬ 
tures.”  AAP  said  that  200  short* 
features  were  shelved  entirely  for 
the  forseeable  future,  because  it 
was  difficult  finding  places  in  sta-. 
tion  lineup. 

Company  said  that  the  new  sales 
arrangement  had  nothing  whatso¬ 
ever  to  do  With  a  fear  of  anti-trust 
action  by  the  Federal  government. 
AAP  added  that  it  was  blueprinted 
even  before  United  Artists  bought 
a  controlling  interest  in  the  distrib- 
bery  and  that  “station  needs”,  were 
the  only  consideration  in  the  plan’s 
evolvement. 

There  are  approximately  60 
Warner  pictures  which  have  never 
been  released  by  AAP  for  tv  sale, 
the.  company  disclosed.  They  are 
-now  in  one  stage  or  another  of  be¬ 
ing  cleared  by  the  unions. 

Though  the  majority  of  Warper 
pictures  have  been  in  sale  for  a 
couple  of  years  now,  AAP  report^ 
that  there  are  at  least  120  virgin 
tv  markets  for  them  and  about  30 
other  cities  where  only  some  of 
the  Warner  pix  have  been  sold. 


‘Naked  City!  to  Leonard 

Hollywood,  Jan.  21. 

Herbert  B.  Leonard  Productions 
has  acquired  all  rights  to  “The 
Naked  City/’  feature  film  pro¬ 
duced  by  the  late  Mark  Hellinger 
in  1948  for  Universal. 

Leonard,  in  association  with 
Screen  Gems,  will  produce  a  half- 
hour  telefilm  series  based  on  the 
film.  They  will  be  lensed  in  New 


Lowe’s  High  Adventure 
In  TV’ing  Tribute  To 
M.D.’s  in  Remote  Areas 

Life  was  far  from  a  glamorous 
Cook’s  tour  for  David  Lowe  dur¬ 
ing  the  filming  of  “MD  Interna¬ 
tional”  which  arrives  *  tomorrow 
(23)  at  10  p.m.  on  NBC-TV’s 
“March  of  Medicine”  under  the 
auspices  of  Smith,  Kline  &  French 
Labs  in  cooperation  with  American 
Medical  Association.  Program  will 
be  ushered  in  by  Veepee  Richard 
M.  Nixon. 

This  hour  tinted  documentary  in 
tribute  to  U.S.  doctors  serving  in 
remote  parts  of  the  globe,  took  79 
days  and  some  35,000  miles  of 
rugged  travel  and  travail  before 
the  film  was  wrapped  up  and  ready 
for  showing.  Lows,  producer-di¬ 
rector  of  “MD  International,”  and 
his  six-man  crew  struggled  through 
perilous  terrain  in  order  to  cap¬ 
ture  the  heroic  story  of  American 
medics  helping  lepers  in  Korea, 
teaching  surgery  in  Burma,  walk¬ 
ing  the  Himalayan  trails  to  Tibet 
to  heal  the  sick,  and  stamping  out 
dysenteries  ahiong  the  Borneo 
headhunters. 

The  Lowe  crew  gave  up  all 
creature  comforts  when  they  went 
into  Ethiopia ,  .  Nepal, ;  India  and 
other  undeveloped  areas.:  It  was  a 
testimonial  to  man’s  courage  in 
overcoming  nature’s  madness  arid 
particularly  notable  In  the  case  of 
Lowe  who  .gave  up  the  softly  cash- 
mered  life  of  Madison  A ve.  for  the 
bluntness  and  rigors  of  primitive 
living.  Lowe,  a  product  of  Harvard 
Law  and  Business  Schools  and  ex- 
Broadway  producer;  found  himself 
walking  for  days  on  end,  meeting 
up  "with  wild  boars,  sleeping  in 
crude  hospitals  amid  the.  smells 
and  cries  of  dying  patients,  and 
living  on  a  monotonous  diet  of  ^ 
rice  arid  bananas.  Nor  will  Lowre  * 
forget  the  native  airline  training 
pilots  in  flight  and  carrying  pas¬ 
sengers  at  the  same  time.  They 
should  be  dubbed  “the  airlines  for 
the  man  who  doesn’t  care,”  Lowe 
said  after  landing  safely. . 

Members  of  the  Lowe  crew 
came  down  with  amoebic  dysent¬ 
ery,  diarrhea,  Asian  flu,  malaria* 
hepititus  and  Dengue  fevers.  For¬ 
tunately,  Lowe  came  through  the 
expedition  with  ,  nothing  worse 
than  a  hangnail  and  an  extraord- 
inary  Admiration  for  the  American 
medics  and  nurses  who  toil  in  re¬ 
mote  corners  of.  the  world  “for  the 
sole  satisfaction  of  helping  people 
who  neetf  it  most,”  as  Lowe  puts 


New  WHCT  Pix  Pile 

Hartford,  Jan.  21. 
WHCT-CBS  tv  outlet  here  has 
acquired  a  new  package  of  112  fea¬ 
tures,  giving  it  an  oldie  library  of 
1,400  films  from  major  Hollywood 
studios.  Pix  acquired  are  Colum¬ 
bia,  Universal  and  RKO  product 
and  account  for  a  total  number  of 
102.  Eight  others  are  from  the 
CBS  “Playhouse  90”  films.  Two 
are  unaccounted  for' 

New  acquisitions  will  he  un¬ 
reeled  on  WHCTs  “Big  Show”  at 
5:30  pan.  cross-the-board  arid  on 
“Million  Dollar  Movie”  Sunday 
through  Saturday,  11:15  p.m. 


Wednesday,  January  22*  1958 


USlilEft 


SI 


After  MARCH  1st,  1958 


After  20  years  (at  25c  per  copy),  continued  increased  costs 
make,  it  necessary  for  Variety  to  increase  its  price.  Effective 
with  the  issue  of  March  5th,  1958,  single  copy  price  will  be  35c 
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Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


53 


AS3SE5Y 


January  22,  1931 


To  whom*  it  may  concern* 


The  first  thing  is  its  not  Our  t$j.%  fault.  My  dad  made  me 
stay  in  my  room  tonlfcfct  but  it  waent  my  fault  or  Skinnys  either. 
For  cry  eye  I  admit  I  knew  the  toad  was  dead  hut  whats  wrong 
havelng  a  dead  tod  in  *your  pocket.  Mothers  are  so  scarey, 

Whats  important  about  kids.  Their  small.  Whats  importa¬ 
nt  about  grown-ups.  Their  bigger  than  you  arte  and  this  is 
one  of  the  peniltiee  you  half  to  pay.  So  you  half  to  be  on 
your  toes  at  all  times  or  you  wind  up  eating  your  bruscle 
sproutjds  without  getting  the  extra  dime  to  go  to  Doug 
Fairbanks  on  Saturday. 

if 

Parents  wuold  be  allright  /  tneyd  Just  relize  certlan  things, 
the  trouble  is  they  never  relAze  them. 

For  Pete  sake  Skinny  and  me' are  nothing  but  two r kids  for  cry  eye. 

For  a  older  person  my  dad  plays  first  base  very  well  and  these 
Jokes  he  tells  always  makes  grown-ups  laugh.  VERY  FUNNY. 

But  criminently  khat  does  a  father  fcnow  about  toads .  Or  Bl¬ 
ood.  Ob  stuff  like  DRAWbridges.  When  youve  been  a  grown-up 

all  that  time  you  vet  very  rusty  about  rar/lous  things. 

% 

SKINNY  AND  ME  are  eleven  which  is  tnreeyears  older  than  Ed  son 

Fowler  s6  we  know  how  it  is  to  get  oic.er.  But  if  Im  ever 
old  Ill  bet  Ill  treat  kids  as  if  they  were  KIDS  for  cryeye 
and.  not  like  now.  How  about  old  man  Feeler  smith  ever  ha  v/^ing 
been  a  kid.  It  gives  you  the  creeps. 

Mert  and  Marge  is  on  so  Ive  got  to  go  now. 

Yours  Tr'uely 


A  NEW,  NIGHT-TIME,  HALF-HOUR  SERIES  FOR  ALL  THE  FAMILY. 


M I LLS-PAR K-M 1 LFO  R  D  INCORPORATED  33  WEST  60TH  STREET  NEW  YORK  23  CIRCLE  5-1660 


54,  nADIO-TEF^VISIOX 


VAfUEfrY 


Wejacgday,  January  22,  1950 


BARRY  GRAY 

With  Morris  Ernst,  William  Ben¬ 
ton,  Mary  Margaret  McBride, 

Ricardo  Montalban,  Sidney  Poi- 

tier,  Julie  Wilson,  guests 
Producer-Director:  Sandy .  Sheldon 
120  Mins,  midnight,  Mon.-thru-Snn. 
PARTICIPATING  (Web),  CO-OP 

(Local) 

MUTUAL,  Via  WMCA,  N.Y. 

On  the  opening  morning  (14)  of 
his  seven  night  post-midnight  net¬ 
work  strip, -Barry  Gray  told  lis¬ 
teners  that  he's  not  going  to  pull 
his  punches,  either  in  terms  of 
guests  or  what  he  says,  just  be¬ 
cause  he’s  now  being  heard  on  240 
stations  instead  of  one  radio  indie 
in  New  York.  The  latenight  gabber, 
who's  been  heard  from  both  res¬ 
taurants  and  the  studios  of  WMCA 
for  better  than  a  decade,  declared 
that  Paul  Roberts,  new  boss  of 
Mutual,  gave  him  carte  blanche; 
In  the  layout  of  his  premiere  show, 
however,  with  at  least  two  wide- 
open-  opportunities  to  push  the 
kind  of  chatter  that  in  the  past  has 
provoked  or  stimulated  New  York¬ 
ers,  he  and  his  guests  circum- 
locuted — it’s  hard  to  say  whether 
it  was  intentional —  some  hard¬ 
hitting  issues. 

Cases  in  point— both  concerning 
different  shadings  of  experience 
with  and  by  Negroes  in  show  biz 
and  both  portending  an  effect  on 
boxoffice  and  social-  standing — 
were  Ricardo  Montalban  and  Sid¬ 
ney  Poitier.  As  costar  of  the  other¬ 
wise  all-Negro  legiter,  “Jamaica,” 
Montalban  wasn’t  called  upon  by 
Gray,  who  usually  doesn’t  miss 
such  a  bet,  to  discuss  the  reaction 
(personal  and  public)  to  a  script 
that  had  him  making  love  to  beau¬ 
tiful  Lena  Horne.  Poitier,  who’s 
heading  to  Hollywood  to  do  the 
all-Negro  “Porgy  and  Bess”  for 
Sam  Goldwyn  and  who  has  an  in¬ 
terracial  flick  upcoming  with  Tony 
Curtis  as  costar,  merely  mentioned 
those  items,  and,  since  he  was  not 
pressed  for  their  socio-economic 
ramifications,  didn’t  venture  into 
other  than  a  bland  chitchat. 

The  whole  of  the  initial  show, 
*  In  fact,  was  chitchat,  in  contrast 
to  the  aggressive  mark  made  by 
Gray  over  the  years  in  the  metro¬ 
politan  area.  Difficult,  thing  would 
be  to  decide  whether  it  was .  de¬ 
liberate  omission  or  due  to  the 
nervous  attention  he  devoted  to 
the  rigors  (split-second  cueing, 
cutaways  to  local  stations  for  co-op 
advertising  fillers)  of  network  pro- 
-  gramming  the  first  time  out. 

With  the  advent  of  his  network 
show.  Gray  has  graduated  to  his 
own  night  club  foom.  He’s  got  the 
Barry  Room,  part  of  the  overall 
Dave’s  Blue  Room  at  the  eastside’s 
Hotel  Beverly.  He  began  with  his 
old  chum  and  sparring  partner, 
lawyer  Morris  Ernst.  Then  ran 
through  ex-Senator  William  Ben¬ 
ton,  Mary  Margaret  McBride, 
Montalban,  Poitier  and  Julie  Wil¬ 
son. 

New  Yorkers  have  tuned  in  on 
Barry.  Gray  more  because  they 
wanted  to  hear,  him  yak  about 
everything  from  Communism*  to 
olives,  and  Variety  to  the  press 
rights  of  the  Bent  Elbow  Grease 
weekly,  than  to  hear  his  sometime 
expert  guests  on  these  and  similar 
topics.  The  deep-voiced  talker  has 
opinions  or  tidbits  on  nearly  every¬ 
thing,  when  a  tempting  opportuni¬ 
ty  arises,  often  overwhelming  his 
guests  with  his  own  opinions  and 
ideas.  Even  if  he  doesn't  qualify 
as  a  typical  interviewer,  all  that 
palaver  is  mighty  interesting  most 
.  of  the  time,  even  if  only  because 
some  listeners  may  heartily  disa¬ 
gree.  * 

Technically,  the  new  network 
Barry  Gray  show  is  an  odd*  setup. 
Since  Mutual  became  a  chain  of 
loosely  arrayed  radio  outlets,  with 
no  real  base  of  operation;  of  its 
own  (Tom  O’Neil  retained  the 
o&o’s  when  he  sold  the  net  to 
Roberts),  it  proved  relatively  easy 
leaving  the  show  with  WMCA,  the 
indie  which  had  it  all  along,  rather 
than  turning  it  over  to  WOR,  the 
web's  now-unofficial  flagship  sta¬ 
tion. 

Art. 


SOUND  OF  SCIENCE 
With  Dr.  Morris  Shamos,  Ben 
Grauer,  others  . 

Producer:  Ralph  M.  Rourke 
Director:  Draper  Lewis 
Editor:  Shamos 
25  Mins.,  San.,  2:05  p.m. 

WRCA  Radio;  New  York 
Post -  Sputnik  science  can  be 
lust  as  dull  as  the  pre-Sputn?k 
kind,  as  evidenced  in -a  new  25- 
minute  Sabbath  series  on  WRCA, 
NBC’s  Gotham  audio  flag.  Station 
and  N.Y.U.  got  together  to  present 
“Sound  of  Science,”  and  while  the 
subject  matter  has  intrinsic  value 
and  the  men  on.  the -program  who 
spoke  of  science  were  seemingly 


well  informed,  the  mishmash  was 
still  poor  radio. 

Dr.  Morris  Shamos,  editor  and 
moderator  of  the  show,  Which 
preemed  Sunday  (19),  made  a 
couple  of  important  .points,  one 
being  the  public  generally  is  not 
informed  on'  scientific  matters. 
(This  was  bOrne  out  by  an  N.Y.U. 
associate  of  his  Who  revealed  a 
pre-satellite  survey  of  1,919  per-: 
sons,  better  than .  60%  of  whom 
didn’t  even  know  what  an  earth* 
-satellite  was.)  But  the  way  it  was 
all  revealed  was  talky— without  the 
impact  needed  to  hold  listeners 
who  constantly  are  being  tugged 
at  by  competing  media.  Art . 


Radio  Followup 


Life  and  the  World 

In  a  departure  from  its  usual 
three-part  format  of  story  pegs  out 
of  Life  mag„  NBC-Radio’s  “Life 
and  the  World”  Mon.  (20)  gave  the 
whole  quarter-hour  to  Meredith 
Willson,  who’s  currently  riding  the 
Broadway  crest  via  his  tuner,  “The 
Music  Man.”  Tribute  Was  some¬ 
what  of  a  homecoming  since- Will- 
son,:  in  the  good  old  days  of  ra¬ 
dio,  was  the  musical  mainstay  of 
“The  Big  Show.”  and  composed  an 
NBC  theme,  “Three  Chimes  of  Sil¬ 
ver,”  which  he:  said  “was  heard 
only  a  couple  of  . times  on  CBS.” 

With  Frank.  Blair  as  host,  the 
Willson  story  Was  unravelled  Via 
tapes  with  his  Mason  City  (la.)* 
teacher;  a  cousin,  a  brother,  Tallu¬ 
lah  Bankhead,  with  whom  he 
worked  bn  “The  Big  Show,”  and 
Willson  himself.  Although  the 
quarter-hour  time  limit  ,  necessi¬ 
tated  quickie  interviews,  enough 
Was  said  to  give  an  insight  to  the 
man  Who  conceived  one  of  Broad¬ 
way’s  biggest  smashes  in  his  first 
try.  ,  . 

The  Stanza  was  neatly  ,  put  to¬ 
gether  by  writer-producer  Charles 
Speer.  Gros, 


:  Robert  Q.  Lewis  Show 

Robert  Q.  Lewis  went  back  to 
the  jazzy  *20*s  for  his  “nostalgia” 
material  on  Fri.  (17)  over  CBS- 
Radio  and  gave  his  listeners  ,  a 
breezy  once  over  of  the  melodic 
goings-On  shortly  before  Wqll  St. 
decided  to  lay  its  monster  egg. 

With  Ray  Block’s  oVchestra  be¬ 
hind  him,  and  the.  suave  vocalizing 
of  Judy  Johnson,  and  Richard 
Hayes,  the  30-minute  stanza  was  as 
Welcome  as  rock  candy  on  a  sore 
throat 

Hayes  came  up  with  one  of 
Morton  Downey’s  gems,  “Carolina 
Moon”  and  Miss  Johnson  had  her¬ 
self  a  romp  with  a  delightfuT  ver¬ 
sion  of  “My  Sweetie  Went  Away.” 
Lewis  clowned  through  the  “Vaga-r 
bond  Lover”  a  la  Rudy  Vallee. 
Also,  there  were  nifty  takeoffs  of 
Paul  Whiteman’s  “Three  Rhythm 
BoyS”  and  a  fresh  arrangement  of 
“For  Me  and  My  Gal”  with  Miss. 
Johnson  and  Hayes  at  the  mike. 

Near  the  signoff,  Peter  Donald 
Was  introduced  as  a  sub  for  Lewis 
while  the  latter  takes  a  two-week 
holiday.  The  Lewis  CBS -Radio 
affair  is  tasty  fare.  Rons. 


Milwaukee,  Jan.  21. 

A  Milwaukee  judge  has  sounded 
blast  against  American  Bair. 
Assn.’s  Canon  35,  which  opposes 
the  photographing,  televising  or 
broadcasting  of  courtroom  pro¬ 
ceedings,  because,  he  feels  the 
decree  is  without  substantial  foun¬ 
dation.  Judge  Robert  W;  Hansen, 
who  heads  the  first:  branch  of  Mil¬ 
waukee  County  District  Court,  said 
he  planned  to  uphold  in  his  court 
“the  policy  that  the  right  of  the 
public  to  khow  is  important,  and 
there  will  be  no  prohibition  of  re¬ 
porting,  televising  or  broadcast¬ 
ing.” 

Advances  in  the  broadcasting 
fields,  he  said,  have  virtually  elim¬ 
inated  “the  element  of  physical 
distraction  either  to  the  presiding 
judge  or  to  the  persons  present.” 
Concerning  his  own  court,  he 
stated,  “Where  there  is. an  objec¬ 
tion  on  the  part  Of  a  witness,  from 
[.the  time  that  witness  is  sworn  in 
until  testimony  is  completed,  there, 
will  be  no  camera  or  television 
permitted.”  j 


T<mt  Trout 

CBS  Newsman:  Robert  Trout 
found  himself  doing  extra  duty 
in  the  forih  of  giving  a  net¬ 
work  station-break  cue  ait  the 
end  of  one  of  his  Chevrolet 
•radio  newscasts  last  Week:  It 
all  happened  because  Trout 
went  down  to  Pittsburgh  to  de¬ 
liver  a  speech  before  the  Ad 
Club  and  had  to  Originate  his 
show1  from  there  that  night. 

Arrangements  had  been 
made. -  to  do  the-  show  from 
KQV.  When  Trout  arrived  at 
thd  station,  he  realized  it  had 
disaffiliated,  from  CBS  just  a 
feW  days  and  become  an  ABC 
'outlet.  This  didn’t  affect  the 
feed  to  the  CBS  web,  but.HQV 
felt  it  Couldn’t  assign  an  an¬ 
nouncer  to  give  a  CBS  network 
due.  So  Troqt,  following  his 
windup,  went  on  to  say,  “This 
is  the  CBS  Radio  Network.” 


U.  S.  Court  Stops 
AFTRA  Secondary 


.  Cincinnati,  Jan.  2i 

Cincy  local  of  American  Federa¬ 
tion  of  Television  &  Radio  Artists 
has  been  enjoined  from  attempting 
a  secondary  boycott  against 
WCKY,  Outcome  of  the;  strike  last 
Aug.  28  of  seven  announcers  over 
initial  contract  terms. 

The  injunction,  granted  10  days 
ago;  by  U.S.  Court  Judge  John 
H.  Druffe!,  lasts,  until  a  final  ruling 
is  made  on  charges  by  the  National 
Labor  Relations  Board  that  AFTRA 
attempted  to  cut  off  transcription 
advertising  on  the  struck  L.  B. 
Wilson  Inc;  station-  . 

Judge  ‘Druffel  ruled  that  evi¬ 
dence  was  sufficient.  to  show  rea¬ 
son  for  the  secondary,  boycott  at¬ 
tempt.  He  acted  after  Vernon 
(Redl  Thornburgh,  head  of  -an  ad 
agenfey,  testified  that  Gil  Sheppard, 
disk  jockey.  Would  be  ousted  by 
the  union  if  he  made  recordings 
to  be  used  on  WCKY. 

One  of  the  injunction  terms  is 
that  the.  parent  union  rescind an 
order  to  its  15,000  members -for¬ 
bidding  them  from  making  wak¬ 
ings  that  would  be  used  on  WCKY. 

At  the  time  of  the  hearing  a 
$150,000  damage  suit  against  the 
Cincy  local  was  filed  by  S.  &  S. 
Amusement  ,  Corp.,  operator  of 
Twin-Driverin  Theatres.  The  peti¬ 
tion  alleged  cards  sent  out  by  the 
local:  caused  hundreds  of  custom¬ 
ers  from  patronizing  the  ozOner 
because  it  advertised  on  the  struck 
station. 

Besides,  seeking  damages,-'  the 
company  asked  that  the  local  be 
stopped  from  continuing  the  boy¬ 
cott. 

in  another  court  action  last  week 
Rex  Dale,  striking  disk  jockey,  was 
given  legal  right  to  the  name  he 
used  for  eight  years  on  WCKY. 
The  change,  granted  by  Judge 
Chase  M.  Davies  in  Probate  Court, 
was  from  Libem  Mayo  Enterline. 
It  also  applies  to  the:  surname  for 
his  Wife  and  two  sons. 

At  attorney  for  WCKY  told 
Judge  Davies  that  “if  the  jock  uses- 
the  Rex  Dale  name  on  any  other 
Cincy  area-  station  within  three 
years,  :  the  station  .reserves  the 
.right  to  take  legal  action  to  stop 
it. 


Radio  ’Round  Globe 


[  Continued  front  pace  28 

with  771,300  radio  receivers.  Mor¬ 
occo  is  second  With  430,500. 

India  has  1;187,600  radio  re¬ 
ceivers:  and  ho  wired  sets:  Turkey 
has  1,198,400  and  no  wired  speak¬ 
ers...  The  Union  of  South  Africa 
has  854,400  receivers  '  and  14,2Q0: 
wired  speakers. 

In  the  Far  East,  Japan  easily 
sets  the  pace.  It  has  14,323,000 
radio  sets.  There  are  ho  Wired 
speakers.  Communist  China  has 
an  estimated.  2,000,000  radio  sets 
plus  500>000  wired  speakers. 

Australia  reports  2,107,600  radio 
receivers;  While  New  Zealand  has 
525,000.  Indonesia  has  700,000. 

Tops  in  Latin.  America  is  Brazil, 
With  6,000,000  receivers.  Argen¬ 
tina  is  close  behind  with  5,500,000. 
Third  place  goes  to  Mexico— 3,- 
400,000,  ..  Only  Other  countries 
with  ,1,000, 000  or  more  are  Co¬ 
lombia.  1,800,000;  and  Cuba, 
1,300,000. 


The  key  in  the  theme,  of  Sunday’s.  (19)  “Maverick”  segment  was 
title  player  James  Garner  winning  his  point  1ft  the  jury  room  by  cit¬ 
ing  the  pat-hand  probabilities  hi  a  25-card  version  of  solitaire.  This  is 
a  game  thought  hitherto  to  be.  of  more  modern  origin  than  would  ap¬ 
ply  in  the  “Maverick”  series.  One  Variety  staffer  won  himself  a  small 
mint  some  years  ago  by  allowing  his  betting  rival  to  pick  25  cards  at 
random,  the  staffer  coming  up  with  five  pat  hands  in  each  instance. 
The  loser  stayed  Up  most  of  that  night  and  came  up  with  25.  cards— not 
at  random — that  would  and  did  stick  the  reporter^  But  when  the  cards 
are  chosen  at  random,  the  odds  are  overwhelmingly  in;  favor  of  pro¬ 
ducing  a  quintet  of  pat  hands.  That’s  how,  at  first  crack,  Maverick 
produced  the  five  “pats”  and  Avon  an  acquittal  from  his  fellow  jurors. 

Edward  P.  Morgan,  ABC  newsman,  has  been  elected  chairman  of  the. 
Radio-Television  Correspondents’  Association  for  the  coming  year.  As¬ 
sociation  is  the  governing  body  bf  the  radio-television  galleries  of  Con¬ 
gress. 

Others  elected:  Julian  Goodman,  NBC  news  chief  in  Washington, 
vice  chairman;  Lewis  W.  Shollenberger, .  CBS  news,  secretary;  Ann  M. 
Corrick,  Corrick  Productions,  treasurer;  and,  as  members-at-large,  Ar¬ 
thur  F.  ‘Barriault,  NBC;  Edward  P.  Ryan,  WT0P  news;  and  Jack  A. 
Getz,  Mutual  Broadcasting  Co.  Robert  F.  Hurleigh,  Mutual  Broadcasts 
ing  news  chief,  became  member  ex-officio: 

The  Association  announced  that  its  annual  dinner  Will  be  held  at 
the  Statler  oh  March  29. 

Chicago  Tribune-owned  WGN-T.V  has  just  placed  an  order  for  an 
Ampex  Videotape  recorder  (costing,  around  $45,000)  and  for  color 
conversion  and  accessory  rack  equipment  (costing  around  $29,000)  for 
installation  May  1.  In  addition,  the  station  has  purchased  some 
$50,000  worth  of  new  colorcasting  equipment  to  supplement  its  present 
single,  camera  chain.  Total  costs  for  the  new  equipment  is  estimated 
around  $125,000. 

With  the  station  converting  one  of  its  studios  to  a  Complete  tint 
operation,  it  follows,  that  the  station  Will  expand  its  programming 
Spectrum  as  soon  as  the.  new  equipment  is  operable.  WGN-TV  began 
Colorcasting  last  Nov.  8  and  currently  is  doing  three:  shows  in  tint. 

Carl  J.  Meyers,  WGN-TV  director  of  engineering,  indicated  the 
station  Intends  to  get  two  more  Videotape  "recorders  by  . the  end  of 
1958,  one  of  Which  it  will  install  in  a  mobile  unit  because  of  the 
news  gathering  possibilities  with  videotape.  Only  other  Ampex  re¬ 
corders  in  Chi  now  are  those  at  the  ABC  tape  relay,  center. 

Ad  in  Variety’s  anniversary  issue  (Jan.  8>  for  Cook  County  Sheriff 
Joseph  D.  Lohman’s  Sunday  afterpoon  pubaffairs  stanza,  ’‘Shadows 
of  the  City,”  erroneously  identified  it  as  a  WBKB  entry  when  it  be¬ 
longs  to  WNBQ.  Show  is  considered  important  enough  by  the  local 
NBC  o&o  to  black  out  Martin  Agronsky’s  “Look  Here”  on  the  web 
feed  ift  the  same  time  slot.. 

“Shadows,”  a  series  that  deals  variously:  with  juvenile  delinquency 
and  alcohol  and  narcotics  addiction,  Was  recently  renewed  by  WNBQ 
for  a  second  13-week  stretch.  Earlier  Sheriff  Lohman  had  done  a  pub- 
affairs  series  on  WBKB,  which  accounts  for.  the  error. 

New  York  City  chapter:  of  American.  Women  in  Radio  &  Television 
is  holding  a  luncheon  today  (Wed.)  at  Toots  Shor’s.  Brice  Howard, 
NBC  educational  executive  producer;  Richard  Heffner;  from  the  Met¬ 
ropolitan  Educational  Television  Alliance,  and  Prof.  Floyd  Zulli,  who 
does  the  WCBS-TV  “Sunrise  Semester,”  will  be  guest  speakers. 


Ad  agencies  will  get  a  going-over  in  a  new  book  slugged  “Madison 
AvenUe,  U.S.A.”  due  in  the  bookstalls  March  5  under  a  Harper  &  Bros, 
imprint.  It’s  by  Martin  Maydr,  author  of  “Wall  Street,  Men  and  Mon¬ 
ey.”  The  story  of  the  Madison  Avenue  $10  billion  dollar  industry,  is 
sub-titled  “The  extraordinary  business  of  advertising  and  the  people 
who  run  it.” 

Arthur.  Godfrey  broke  into  print  over  the  weekend  with  a  Chicago: 
Tribune  Sunday  Magazine  Section  byline  piece  on  his  personal  cru¬ 
sade,  the  role  of  the  Strategic  Air  Command  in  the  U.S.  defense.  He 
took  up  the  cudgels  for  strengthening  SAC  .  last  week.  (16)  in  one  bf 
his  rare  in-person  public  speaking  appearances  in  New  York  as  well, 
addressing  packed  house  at  a.  joint  meeting  of  the  Gotham  chapters  of 
the  Rotary  and  Kiwanis  at  the  Commodore.  Godfrey  had  planned  to 
speak  for  some  35  minutes,  but  was  cut  short  due  to  some  Intra-organ- 
izational  eulogizing,  and  omitted  some  planned  comments  on  tv  and. 
teleSalesmanshlp. 


Gov.  Hardman  Urges 

Continued  from  page  31 


which  did  not  become  available, 
was  $100,000 — to  be  administered 
through  the  State  Education  Dept. 

Gov.  Harriman’s  reference  to 
UHF  facilities  “now  available  in¬ 
expensively”  Was  to  Channel  41, 
which  WTEN  first  vacated,  on  Dec. 
1  (after  switching  to  VHF  Ch.  10) 
and  for  which  it  later  received 
FCC  authorization  to  continue 
using  for  30  days  (the  VHF  signals 
have  been  poor  in  the  so-called, 
river  sections  of  Albany-Troy,  in-* 
eluding,  the  locations  of  many 
stores  selling  television  sets), 
and  to  UHF  Ch.  35.  Stanley  War¬ 
ner  Corp.’s  WTRI  is  scheduled  to 
surrender  the  latter,  within  eight 
to  10  weeks,  after  a  moveover  to 
a  VHF  channel  how  used  by  Kal- 
■let  Theatres,  KTV  in  Utica.  Lat¬ 
ter  is  to  make  a  band  change,  too. 

The  state  and  the  Mohawk-Hud- 
son  ^Council  on  Educational  Tele- 
vision(  now  originating  13  hours  of 
programs  weekly  on  WRGB  in 
Schenectady,  and  .WTEN  and 
WTRI,  in  Albany)  have  been  of¬ 
fered  both  channels  and  consider¬ 
able  equipment,  for  small  sums: 
WTRI  also  proff erred,  free;,  a 
small  mountain  building  from 
which  programs  could  be  origi¬ 
nated. 

It  is  believed  that  a  deal  will  be 
effectuated  for  the  State  Education 
Dept,  to  take  over  one  of  the 
c h a nnels,  the  Mohawk-Hudson 
Council  to  do  the  programming. 
A  minimum  of  seven  hours  daily  of 
originations  is.  planed.  Financing 
of  the  educational  tv  outlet  would 


he  largely  by  the  state. 

The  governor’s  message  made  no 
reference  to  the  Board  of  Regents’ 
project  to  buy  WATV  ini  New;  York, 
for  possibly  $4,000,000.  In  addi¬ 
tion  to  the  legal  problem  posed  by 
National  Telefilm  Associates’  bid 
for  that  station,  before  the  Re¬ 
gents  entered  the  picture;,  there 
remains  the  fact  that  the  Legisla¬ 
ture,  under  Republican  leadership* 
has  consistently  rejected  lesser 
educational  television  appropria¬ 
tions.  It  has  been  adaimant  against 
the  -state  purchase  and  operation 
of  educational  stations. 


TV’s  Economy 

=5  Continued  from  page  29 

now  entrenched  on  ABC  With 
“Real  McCoys” — and  In  a  time 
period  which  until  this  season  had 
never  been  sold.  Ditto  R.  J,  Rey¬ 
nolds,  which  found  the  heretofore- 
unspld  Sunday  8:30  p.m.  berth  on 
ABC  more  attractive  than  Thurs¬ 
day  night  at  8  on  CBS. 

The  same  lush  apple  that  Was 
full  when  divided  in  half  is  skimpy 
when  split  three  ways: 

That’s  why,  like  NBC,  CBS  last 
season  found  its  profits  down¬ 
graded.  And  why  Frank  Stanton, 
at  the  D.  C.  affiliate  conclave,  ex¬ 
pressed  '  grave  concern  over  the 
bleak  financial  outlook,  should  the 
Barrow  boys  succeed  in  throwing 
some  option  time  curbs  at  the  net¬ 
works. 


53 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


Video  To  Benefit  Fine  Arts? 


Continued  from  pas*  1 


turned  to  fine  artists  for  fresh,  off- 
heat  title  slides  and  other  artistic 
intros  for  dramatic  vehicles. 

Furthermore,  television  studios 
are  not  alone  in  uprooting  them¬ 
selves  from  formerly  entrenched 
capitals.  The  famed  57th  St.  art 
..galleries  have  been  migrating  to 
Madison  Ave.  from  60th  St.  up  and 
the  area  is  definitely  becoming  the 
principal  art  center  of  the  country 
while  57th  St.  is  sinking  into  com¬ 
parative  oblivion. 

The  economic  plight  of  most  art¬ 
ists,  however,  hasn’t  changed  much 
since  the  days  when  they  first 
landed  in  garrets.  As  Newman  re¬ 
veals  in  the.  1958  AEA  directory  of 
open  exhibitions,  the  increase  of 
art  galleries  hasn’t  necessarily 
solved  the  problem  of  exhibition 
sites  for  the  struggling  daubers 
and  Chlselers. 

*Beret’s  Belt’s*  Problems 

Despite  the  growth  of  art  gallerr 
les  in  New  York’s  -‘beret  belt,”  the 
problems  of  landing  a  show  are 
constantly  frustrating.  Latest  fig¬ 
ures  show  there  are  from  175  to 
200  art  galleries  In  New  York  City 
today  with  the  majority,  of  them 
snuggled  on  the  posh  East  Side  as 
far  uptown  as  92nd  St.*  but  it  is 
I  still  tough  for  the  guy  with  the 
[.  smock  to  get  a  solo  show. 

This  bleak  situation  has  led  to 
the  formation  of  several  coopera¬ 
tive  galleries  in  offbeat  section  of 
Gotham  where,  rents  are  much 
lower  than  on  Madison  Ave.  and 
where  avant-garde  work  is  the  ma¬ 
jor  attraction. 

The  shortage  of  gallery  space 
has  also  forced,  many  professional 
artists  to  participate  in  more  and 
more  open  exhibitions  in  the.  hope 
of  winning- prizes  and  showing  their 
work.  Of  tiie  200  art  galleries  now 
functioning  in  New  York  City, 
many  are  “rental  galleries”  With 
none-too-exacting  standards  and 
every  year  10-  to  15  of  these  so- 
called  Vanity  galleries  drop  out  of 
business; 

But  the  big  beef  currently  in 
professional  art  circles  the 
“open”  exhibition  to  Which  mem¬ 
bers.  and  a  favored  few  outsiders 
-are  “jury  free”  While  others  sub¬ 
mit  Work  with  an  entry  fee  and,  if 
rejected,  do  hot  get  their  entry  fee 
returned. 


anthropic  and  civic-minded  citi¬ 
zens  .often  coyer  large  deficits 
where  cultural  events  are  con¬ 
cerned.  Exhibitions  must  not  be 
made  into  free  entertainment  with 
the  artists  paying  for  the  enter¬ 
tainment..”  . 

Complete  records  are  not  avail¬ 
able  for  the.  patter  part  of  the  1957- 
58  exhibition  season,  but  a  look  at 
the  previous- 'season’s  figures  re¬ 
veal  that  some  1,500  shows  were 
presented  in  both  New  York  mus¬ 
eums  and  galleries.  This  breaks 
down  to  approximately  900  “one- 
man”  shows,  500  group  shows  with 
museums  making  up  another.  50 
exhibitions.  This  doesn’t  take  in 
the  large  number  of  exhibitions 
staged  in  theatre  lounges,  office 
building,  various  ^clubhouses,  nor 
does  it  Include  art  -student  and 
amateur  shows.  .... 

American  artists  are  indebted 
to  several  large  corporations,  cer¬ 
tain  national  publications  for  help¬ 
ing  promote  the  cause  of  contem¬ 
porary  art.  Members  of  AEA  give 
a:  special  nod  in  the  direction  of 
I.B.M.  and  the  Encyclopedia  Bri- 
tannica  for  their  purchases  of  art 
and  for  sponsoring  traveling  exhibi¬ 
tions  of  these  works.  There's  also 
been  a  marked  increase  in  the  use 
of  fine  art  for' institutional  adver¬ 
tising  of  several  national  advertis¬ 
ers  including  De  Beers  Diamonds, 
Abbott  Laboratories,  Container 
Corp.  of  America,  Upjohn  Pharma¬ 
ceuticals,  Ford,  Standard  Oil  of 
New  Jersey  as  well  as  Decca  and 
ether  makers  of  both  pop  and  sym¬ 
phonic  record  albums. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are 
beefs  -against  present  day-  artists 
because  many  of  them  are  pricing 
themselves  out  of  .the  reaches  of 
the  greatest  potential  market  in 
the  land,  namely  the  average 
white-collar  wage  earner.  “Putting 
a  fantastically  high  price  on  a 
work  sent  to  an  exhibition  because 
‘it  won’t  be  sold  any  Way’  dops  not 
enhance  the  value  or  the  stature  of 
the  artist,”  Newman  says. 

The  deliberate  upping  of  prices 
on  art  only  confuses  the  potential 
buyer  at  an  exhibition  because  he. 
sees  established  artists  pricing 
their  works  at,  say,  $500  While 
those  not  yet  “arrived”  are  asking 
$5,000.  ] 


The  AEA  growls  out  that  in 
“open  exhibitions”  the  unreturned 
fees  of  the  rejected  artists  make  it 
possible  for  the  sponsors  to  stage 
the  shows  and  that  it  is  opposed 
to  the  charging  of  fees  to  artists 
to  show  their  work  but  that  it  can¬ 
not  prevent  its  members  from  dis¬ 
playing  their  work  in  such  Shows. 

‘‘Artists  Equity  believes  that  in¬ 
stitutions  arranging  exhibitions 
should  approach  public  spirited 
leaders  in  the.  communities  bene¬ 
fiting  from  the  exhibitions,  for  the 
required  financing,”  Newman  says. 
“Audiences  are  accustomed  to  pay 
an  admission .  charge  to  theatrical 
and  musical  performances,  to 
sports  events  and  to  lectures.  Phil- 


ATTORNEY,  Harvard  B.  (cum 
lauda),  LL.  B.,  aga  37,  with  back¬ 
ground  and  talant  In  music  and  thea¬ 
tre  plus  10  years  experience  In  gen¬ 
eral  practice  of  law,  seeks  permanent 
position  where  in  his  musical  back¬ 
ground,  dynamic  personality,  legal 
experience,  may  be  effectively  util¬ 
ized  as  attorney  dr  executive  In  the 
music  field,  show  business,  or  the  ..en¬ 
tertainment  Industry;  ^ 

Writ*  Box  V  178,  VARIETY 
154  Wosl  46lh  S»  .  Now  York,  IJ.  Y, 


EVIST  DAT 
ON  EV»Y  CHANNEL1 


BROOKS 

COSTUMES 

SWM  ihtst,  N.Y.C.-T«(.  H.7-5M0 


Ebbets  Field 

—  Continued  from  page  31 

music  she  played  during  the  fam¬ 
ous  “Wake”  or  .  farewell  Dodger 
game  . last  year,  on  which  occasion 
she  gave  out  witli  “Thanks  for  the 
Memory”  and,,  more  appropriately, 
“Don’t  Ask  Me  Why  I’m  Leaving.” 

Rickard,  public  address  announ¬ 
cer,  says  he  Will  never  recover 
from  the  blow,  dealt  him  by  depar¬ 
ture  of  the  baseball  club.  “I’m  the 
original  voice  of  Brooklyn,”  he 
said  yesterday,  “and  nobody  can 
really  take  over  my  job  in  this 
area.  If -.Pittsburgh  or  Cincinnati 
should  move  into  Brooklyn,  I’ll  be 
the  announcer. 

Rickard,  however,  does  not  need 
the  announcing  job  for  his  daily 
bread.  This  he  receives  from  bis 
film  delivery  service  to  motion  pic-: 
tore  exhibitors  throughout  the 
borough,  a  service  he  owns  almost 
40  years.  It  is  an  enterprise  that 
keeps"  him  busy  in  the  mornings 
and  gives  him  sufficient  time  to 
operate  the  p.a..  mikes  for  after¬ 
noon  or  evening  games. 

Rickard  said  he  was  going  to  or¬ 
ganize  a  grphP  of  ex-Dodger  per¬ 
sonnel  who  would  gather  in  the. 
Ebbets  Field  dugout  during  what 
Would  ordinarily  be  the  first  game 
of  the  season  and  hold  “memorial 
services.”  Rickard  Will  serve  ejy- 
ing.  towels  to  all  present. 

Sports  writers  insist  Rickard! 
uttered  the  most  irrelevant  state¬ 
ment  in  the  history  of  the  Dodgers 
at  the  farewell  game  in  1957  when 
the  audience  Was  instructed  ‘‘not 
to  go  on  the  playing  field  after 
the  game”  and,  “Kindly  use  all 
exits  leading  to  the  street.” 

Happy  Felton,  who  presented  the 
“Knot  Hole  Gang”  show  before 
game  time  and  “Talk  to  the  Stars” 
after  the  game,  is  currently  hunt¬ 
ing  lions  and  elephants -in  Africa. 
He’s  been  dickering  with  CBS-TV 
to  bring  bring  back  his  1957.  “Its 
A  Hit”  show,  Saturday  morning 
sports  feature  of  interest  to  the 
younger  set. 

Vince  Scully  and  Jerry  Doggett, 
the  sportscaster,  were  asked  by 
Walter  O’Malley  president  - of  the 
Brooklyn  Baseball  Club,  to  go  to 


tfSKMEff 


the  Coast  with  the  team,  an  invi¬ 
tation  they  accepted.  A1  Heifer, 
the  third  man.  Is  remaining  here 
[and  dickering  fox  other  sports  as- 
assignments,  although  there  Is  a 
remote  possibility  he  inay  traipse 
west  He  meets  with  O’Malley  in 
New  York  today  (22)  for  a:  confer- 


The  departure  of*the  New  York. 
Giants  for  -San  Francisco,  also 
meant  drastic  changes  on  its  arir 
nouncihg  staff.  Jim  Woods,  Vet¬ 
eran  play-by-play .  sportscaster  With 
the  Giants,  signed  with  the  Pitts^ 
burgh  Pirates  beginning  this  sea¬ 
son.  Woods  is  replacing  Dick 
Bingham,  Bingham  came  to  Pitt- 
burgh  in  1956  to  help  Bob  Prince 
when  the  latter  became  No.  1 
sportscaster  after  the  death,  of 
Rosey  RowswelL  Prince  will  re¬ 
main  and  do  the  games  With  Woods 
for  the  same  three  sponsors,  Atlan¬ 
tic  Refining,  Iron  City  Beer  and 
■  Braun’s  Bread.  .  Woods  turned 
down  the  job  With  the  Giants  on 
the  Coast,  preferring  to  remain  in 
the  East. 

Meanwhile,  United  Airlines  is 
trying  to  promote  an  airlift  of 
frenzied  Dodger  rooters  for  the. 
1958  opening  game  in  Los  Angeles. 
If  plans  materialize,  it  would  in¬ 
clude  the  Dodger  SymPhonie,  Fel¬ 
ton,  Miss  Gooding,  Mrs.  Charles 
H.  Ebbets,  Jackie  Robinson,  Louis 
Obstfeld  (No.  1  Dodger  fan)  and 
Hilda;  Chester.  Cuffoed  would  be 
a’  bunch  of  under-privileged  kids, 
who  formerly  saw  the  Dodgers  at. 
Ebbets  Field  as  guests  of  the 
Brooklyn  Knothole  Club. 

Another  object  of  the  trip  Is  to 
personally  disown  the  “ex-Brook¬ 
lyn  fan”  who  reportedly  sent 
O’Malley  a  wire  reading:  “Here’s 
hoping  Jt  rains  every  day  in  Los 
Angeles  from  April  to  October.” 


TV  Global  Challenge 

Continued  from  page  30— 

events  programs  are  far  more  ex-, 
citing  to  Germany,  Sweden,  Tokyo 
and  the  international  tv  view  than 
a  “Sally.”  - 

Think  hard  of  the  .  problems  that 
are  just  around  the  corner  in  the 
Global  tv  era..  Think  of  time  dif¬ 
ferentials  and  Video  tape  and'labor 
Unions  and  talent  fees  and  kine¬ 
scope  recordings  and  dollar  values 
and  of  copyright  clearances  and 
living  standards  and.  music  rights 
and  pay-as-you-go  and  think  of 
program  content  and  relay  stations 
and  customs  barriers  and  shipping 
and  receiving.  Think  of  these  in 
20  languages  and,  at  the  .  bottom 
of  the  list— after  we  have  solved 
all  the  aforementioned  —  then, 
.think  of  rate  cards  and  discounts. 

Global  tv  could  easily  become 
another  sputnik.  Now  is  the  tiihe] 
to  think  and  plan  and  act!  Now  is 1 
the  time  for  an  alert  television  in¬ 
dustry,  with  its  years  of  experience ; 
in  practical  broadcasting,  to  guide 
and  lead  government  agencies  and 
specialists  in  related  fields.  Now 
is  the  time  to  form  committees, 
hold  seminars,  pick  brains,  come, 
to  conclusions — the  time  is  now! 
It’s  later  than  we  think! 


ABC  Radio 

Continued  from  page  .31 ; 
resignation  yesterday  (Tues).  La- 
bunski’s  future  plans  are  unknown. 

Apart  from  this,  Eastman  said 
some  “minor  efficiencies”  will  also 
take  place  in  the  administrative- 
service  areas.  The  ABN  "topper 
said  that  no  top  personnel  will  be 
lopped  (Labunski  quit),  ,  but  that 
“three  or  four”  others  will  be  given 
notice  shortly. 

Both  the  talent  and  agents  who 
work  ,  for  or  on  the  live  music 
shows  are  being  called  in  by  the 
network  for  conferences  tomorrow 
(Wed).  Eastman  said  the  details  of 
the  revised  format,  which  the  web 
was  working  on  today,  have  not 
been  fully  straightened  out  yet. 
Eastman  did  not  say;  exactly  when 
the  changes  would  occur,  but  since 
there  is  still  nine  weeks  to  go  in 
the  season’s  second  cycle  and  in 
some  of  the  talent  pacts,  some 
changes  might  hot  take  place  im¬ 
mediately.  ;Web,  it  was  learned,  is 
pushing  for.  a  changeover  at  the 
earliest  date/ 

Network  intends  maintaining  the 
present  option  times,  even  after 
the  program  moves.  Web  now  pro¬ 
grams  from  9  to  1 1  -a  m.,  1  to  3  and 
7  to  9  p.m;  and  from  9  to  11  on 
Saturdays. 


RADIO-TELEVISION 


KOBY-Storz  Formula  Gets  Tenter 
Grip  in  So.  Cal's  Dee  jay  Bowout 


Hollywood,  Jan.  21. 

The  dee  jay  apparfently  Is  becom¬ 
ing  the  .  vanishing  animal  of  the 
broadcasting  industry  in  Southern 
California,  where  it  all  began  25 
years  ago.  Gradually,  the  shift  in 
local  broadcasting  is  away  from 
the  disk  jockey  format, 

A1  JarVls,  who  started'  what  is 
:  generally  accepted  as  the  first  deer 
jay  show  here  back  in  1932  on 
KELW  (now  KABC),  believes  that 
|  the  stations  have  “found  they  Can’t 
live  with  it.  The  deejay  is  dictating 
to  the  station,  instead  of  vice  versa. 
But  there  will  always  be  some 
deejays;  It’s  like  the  star,  system, 
some  Will  continue." 

Jarvis,  now  on  KFWB  and  re¬ 
garded  as  the  dean  of  the  local 
corps,  points  Out  that  only  four 
hew  personalities — -Dick  Whitting- 
hill  of  KMPC,  Bob  Crane  of  KNX, 
Earl  McDaniel  of  KFAC  and  Jar¬ 
vis’  assistant,  Joe :  Yocum,  at 
KFWB,  have"  been  developed  in  the 
last  seven  years. 

The  heavy  commercial  loads,  on 
the  stations  have  killed  the  deejay, 
Jarvis  feels.  “He  has  to  have  a 
certain  amount  of  white  space  to 
develop  his  personality,”  he  con¬ 
tends.  “He  can’t  do  it  with  the 
commercial  load  currently  bn  the 
stations.” 

.For  want  of  a  better  name,  the 
new  pattern  which  has  been  de¬ 
veloping  in  radio  can.  be  termed 
the.  “KOBY-Storz  formula,”  from 
the  San  .Francisco  station  and  the 
radio  chain  which  most  employs  it. 
Pattern.  is  a  strict  downgrading  of 
personalities,  .  with  little  or  no 
personal  identification  a  1 1  o  w  e  d . 
Coupled  to  this  is  a  strict  policy 
of  pre-selecting  disks  to  be  played 
on  the  programs,  mostly  confined 
to  “Top  40”  and  “Top  .30”  lists  of 
tunes  from  which  to  select  individ¬ 
ual  tastes  by  staff  members. 

J arv is  feels  that  the  KOBY-Storz 
formula  is  “the  greatest  thing  pos¬ 
sible;  for  the  little  stations.  It  cuts 
down  costs.  But  it  can’t  buy  audi¬ 
ence  .  loyalty,  which  is  the  great 
factor  in  the  deejay  format.  The 
announcer  makes  One  mistake,  and 
he’s  off;.  There’s  no  room  for  initia¬ 
tive.  It’s  too  bad.” 

While  authoritative  spokesmen 
for  the  industiy,  including  Jarvis 
and  several  station  execs  who  pre¬ 
fer  to  remain  anonymous,  feel  the 
trend  is  toward  the  KOBY-Storz 
formula,  pattern  is  rather  mixed 
hereabouts.  On .  one  hand,  certain 
.stations  have  been  moved  away 
from  deejays.  KFWB  has  recently 
disclosed  a  policy  of  strict  music 
pre-selection,  although  station  top¬ 
per  Robert  Purcell  states  there’s 
to  he  no  de-emphasis  of  personali¬ 
ties.  .Over  at.  KDAY,  new  station 
head  Frank  Crane  has  ordered 
between-diisk  chatter  cut  to  a  mini¬ 
mum; 

On  the  other  hand,  KABC,  local 
ABC  outlet,  Is  known  to  have  plans 
to  , convert  from  net  programming 
to  a  d  eejay  format  Long  the 
stronghold  of  deejays,  KLAC  and 
KMPC  intend,  to  continue.  States 
KLAC’s  Mbit  Hall,  “any  attempt 
to:  deemphaslze  the  .  deejays  will 
result  in  splitting  the  market  fur¬ 
ther  among  the  straight-music  and 
no-chatter  stations; 

Robert  Reynolds,  at  ^HJ,  says 
“We’re  definitely  continuing  the 
personality-type  programming,  as 


against  Top  40’  disks.  We  think  we 
can  gain  better  acceptance  that 
way.  It’s  a  question  of  personalities 
against  a  rigid  formula.  The  Los 
Angeles  market,  via  a  long  expo¬ 
sure  to  top  talent,  is  more  sus¬ 
ceptible  to  personalities.  In  the 
long  run,  deejays  offer  more  ser¬ 
vice  than  a  ‘Top  40’  operation.  The 
‘Top  40’  offers  a  lower  cost,  but 
it  isn’t  the  best  way  to  serve  a 
community.” 

Most  other  stations  fall  between 
the  out-and-out  deejay  and  the 
KOBY-Storz  formula,  with  a  lean¬ 
ing  toward  the  latter.  KGIL,  San 
Fernando,  long  an  exponent  of 
non-identificafion,  has  relaxed  this 
stricture  enough  to  allow  an¬ 
nouncers  to  name  themselves  after, 
newscasts,  but  otherwise  the  bar 
remains.  States  Howard  Grey,  sta¬ 
tion  topper,  “All  music  is  geared 
from  the  inside,  with  the^entire  19 
hours  of  programming  pre-selected. 
We’re  aiming  for  the  audience  25 
years  or  older..  We’re  not  after  the 
teenagers.” 

KBIG-  is  a  'halfway  house 
between  the  extremes,  but  v.p. 
Robert  McAndrews  notes  “a  tre¬ 
mendous  trend  toward  the  KOBY- 
Storz  formula.”  KBIG  policy  is 
that  “We  try  to  give  the  station  a 
personality.  We  build  individual 
personalities  too,  but  we  don’t 
own  their  shows  or  time.  We 
can  move  them  around.  The  station 
picks  all  the  musical  programming, 
employing  a  full-time  musical  di¬ 
rector  and  a  librarian  for  that 
purpose.” 


Art  Duram 

=  Continued  from  page  29  sa 

exec,  along  with  two  Alcoa  execs, 
approve  or  disapprove  every  script, 
submitted  by  Four  Star.  “AH  of 
us  have  experience  in  the  theatre, 
in  radio  and-  television,  and  cer¬ 
tainly  we’re  as  qualified  as  any¬ 
body  out  on  the  Coast  to  determine 
what’s,  good  and  What’s  bad.”  Y&R 
has  much  the  same  setup,  he  ob¬ 
served. 

/More  importantly,  “Four  Star 
has  a  story  editor  working  on  the 
show-one  man — and  in  fact,  he 
works  on  all  the  Four  Star  shows, 
four  of  them;  He’s  under  con-  ■ 
stant  pressure,  and  with  the  short¬ 
age  of  Writers,  he  often  sends  up  a 
script  he  feels  only  lukewarm 
about.  In  fact,  in  the  past,  he’s 
expressed  relief  we  turned  down 
some  of  those.  Where  he  can  give 
only  limited  time  to  a  script,  we 
can  take  the  time  to  discuss  it  and 
can  have  four  qualified  opinions 
expressed.. 

“The  point  is  that  what  we’re  do¬ 
ing  is  preventing  a  producer  from 
settling  for  less  than  What  he  him¬ 
self  knows  is  good  but  has  accept¬ 
ed  because  of  the  rush  of  business. 
We  don’t  worry,  about  tabus — our 
only  actions  in  that  directions  is 
to  avoid  bad  taste.  What  we  do 
want  is  good  yams,  stones  that 
don’t  drag,  that  are  primarily  nar¬ 
rative -and  that  keep  a  viewer  in¬ 
terested  and  that  make  him  get, 
up  at  the  end  of  the  show  and  say,' 
‘That  was  a  good  story/  We  try 
to  read  the  scripts  as  if  we  were- 
viewers  and  we  ask  ourselves 
whether  we  would  enjoy  the  story 
watching  it  on  the  screen.” 


Contacts  RICHARD  A.  HARPER,  General  Sales  Mgr. 
MGM-TV,  a  service  of  Ldew's  Incorporated 
701  7th  Ave.,  New  York  36,  N.  Y.  •  JUdson  2-2000 


56  BAPlO-TMLEVBSlOnr 


Wells  &  Bradford 

Continued  from:  page 


the  guests  can  be  worked  in  natur¬ 
ally.  and  appear  as  if  they’re  hav¬ 
ing  fun.  “We  don’t  want  them  to 
come  oh  and  da  a  routine,  we  just 
want  them  to  look  as  if  they’re 
having  a  good  time.” 

Well£  and  Bradford  believe  that 
the  writing  staff  on  a  musical  show 
of  the  Dinah  Shore  type  must  have 
a  background  in  music  (you’ve  got 
to  know  what  kind  of  music  to  use 
in  the  right  spots”),  in  nitery  writ¬ 
ing  and  staging  (“pacing  is  one  of 
the  most  important  elements  of  the 
show”)  and  in  stage  and  radio-tv. 
Wells  and  Bradford  fit  the  bill, 
since  the  .  former  has  °been  a  pop 
songwriter,  has  written  a  legit  re-! 
Vue,  stages  Lisa  Kirk’s  nitery  act 
and  was  a  dramatic  scripter  in  ra¬ 
dio.  Bradford’s  qualifications  are 
imilar.  Two  worked  solo  on  last 
years  “Chevy  Show,”  but  .  added 
Arnold  Peyser  as  the  third  member 
of  the  team  when  Miss  Shore  ex¬ 
panded  this  season  to  26  shows. 

Equally  important,  perhaps  more 
so,  is  the  rest  of  the  creative  staff 
on  a  show. .  Producer-director  Bob 
Banner,  they  point  out,  is  tops  at 
his  craft  and  “a  great  editor”  be¬ 
sides.  Tony  Charmoli,  they  feeh  is; 
the  best  choreographer  in  tv. 
Ticker  Freeman,  who  routines  Miss 
Shore’s  songs,  makes  a  major  con¬ 
tribution,  as  does  conductor-ar¬ 
ranger  Harry  Zimmerman.  As  for 


SMASH  RATINGS 

all  over  the  country!  NEW 
CHARLIE  CHAN  improves 
ratings,  betters  time  periods 
everywhere! 

In  Los  Angeles,  on  KRCA  it 
has  improved  the  Saturday 
night  7:00-7:30  time  period 
by  more  than  92%,  with  a 
22.1%  shaire  of  audience  in 
this  7  station  market.  (Pulse 
11/57). 

George  Burke  of  KRCA 
states,  unsolicited,  “Needn’t 
tell  you  how  well  the 
program  is  progressing. 
Clients  most  happy  with 
it.” 

Captures  the  big  share  of 
audiences  in*  Chicago, 
Atlanta,  Philadelphia,  Balti¬ 
more,  Columbus,  Detroit, 
New1  Orleans,  Pittsburgh, 
DallasrFt.  Worth  and  in  key 
market  after  market! 


TacnstM  nofitAMS  jf  iuieiiicju  me. 

488  MADISON  •  NX  22  •  PLaza  5-2100 


Miss  Shore,  aside  from  her  “self- 
confidence  as  a  person,  which 
makes  her  able  to  do  anything  we 
dream,  up  for  her,  she  does  what 
too  irihhy  new  performers  don't 
know  how  tp  do,  she  works  hard  on 
every  show— we  have  to  chase  her 
hoine'^t  night.” 


CBS  Radio 

Continued  from  page  43  . 

paign.  For  one  thing,  its  schedule 
of  standard  soaps  is  still  the  strong¬ 
est  daytime  lineup  in  the  business. 
For  another,  it  doesn’t  want  to  dis¬ 
locate  audience  and  sponsors  with 
too  rapid  a  changeover.  But  as  ra¬ 
dio-only  homes  decrease,  as  the 
oldrguard  audience  declines  in  buy¬ 
ing  power  and  numbers;  -the 
change  will  come,  and  the  results 
shown  by  “Couple”  will  be  instru¬ 
mental  in  the  speed  with  which 
this  occurs.  Similarly,  web  feels 
its  new  “at  hhme”  show  with  Peter 
Lind  Hayes  &  Mary  Healy  is  an¬ 
other  entry  with  which  yoilngeir 
housewives  can  identify,  and.  this 
format,  too,  may  be  a  forerunner 
for  others  to  come. 

Even  at  night,  Barnes  states, 
changing  tastes  are  evident,  with 
research  by  CBS  (and  earlier  by 
NBC)  pointing  to  an  increasing  de¬ 
sire  among  nighttime  radio  listen¬ 
ers;  and  those  on-the-fencers  who 
sometimes  quit  their  television  sets 
for  radio,  for  more  information- 
type  programs  at  night.  Web  has 
installed .  Walter  Cronkite  in  “An¬ 
swer  Please”  at  7:30...  to  7:45,  par- 
laying  this  with  Ed  Murrow's  news 
analysis  which  follows  (much  the 
same  as  NBC  has  parlayed  “News 
of  the  World”  and  the  new  “Life 
and  the  World”  newsfeature  stanza 
at  7:30  to  8).  The  results  on  the 
new  Cronkite  show  may  cue  fur¬ 
ther  changes  in  the  direction  of 
expansion  of  informational  pro¬ 
gramming  at  night  In  the  future. 


Sheaffer  Pen 

■SSSSS  Continued  from  pas«  29 sss 

wrapup  stage,  will  be  the  Sheaffer 
show.  TA’s  Dave  Susskind,  who’s 
currently  doing  10  specs  for  du- 
Pont,  will  produce.  BBD&O,  the 
Sheaffer  agency  which  signed  the 
pact  with  TA,  hasn’t  yet  picked  a 
network  or  time  slot,  but  has 
initiated  negotiations  with  both 
NBC  and  CBS. 

Sheaffer  in  the.  past  has  used 
regular  half-hour  weekly  pro¬ 
gramming  in  its  network  tv  efforts, 
concentrating  its  buying  in  the 
pre-Christmas  season  and  then 
cutting  its  expenditures .  after  the 
first  of  the  yeau*  (it  just  wound 
alternate  sponsorship  on  CBS’ 
“I  Love  Lucy.”  reruns).  However, 
switch  from  the  old  Russel  M. 
Seeds  agency  (now  Keyes,  Madden 
&  Jones)  to  BBD&O  recently  ap¬ 
parently  cued  the  new  buying 
technique. 


WPIX  BaHcasts 

Continued  from  page  31 

and  “anybody  who  guesses  it  was  a 
million  dollars  is  going  to  be  away 
off— on  the  low ‘side,"  Fisher  said. 

Boh  Fishel,  Yankee  publicity, 
director,  said  it  was  “the  largest 
block  of  time,  ever  purchased  for 
a  single  tv  property."  Lee  Mac- 
Phail,  Yanks’  assistant  general 
manager,,  admitted  “that  perhaps 
it  could  be  said  to  he  more  than 
any  other  club  has  taken.” 

The.  1958  deal  also  calls  for  ad¬ 
ditional  airing  of  away  ,  games  over 
WPIX  and  as  in  the  past,  the 
sportscasters  will  be  Mel  Allen,  Phil 
Rizzuto  and  Red  Barber.  New 
Yorkers  will  see  games  every 
Saturday  and  Sunday!  as  well  as 
44  night  games.  However,  night 
games  in  Kansas  City  will  not  be 
telecast  because  they  get  under 
way  at  10  p.m.  New  York  time. 
The  first  game  of  the  season  at 
Boston  on  April  15  and  the  July. 
4  douhleheader  in  Washington  are 
included  in  this  year’s  pact. 

On  the  radio  end,  the  Yankee 
schedule  will  be  heard ;  over 
WMGM.  Previously  the  Yanks 
were  aired  over  WINS.  Sponsors 
remain  the  same  but  coverage  over 
the  Loew’s-owned  outlet  will  be 
more  advantageous  saleswise  in 
both  .primary  and  secondary  listen¬ 


Wednesday,  January  22,1958 


ing  areas,  particularly  for  Ballan- 
tine.  . 

.  Sponsors  of  the  Yankee  games, 
also  contemplate',  airing  grape¬ 
fruit  circuit  encounters  over  both 
WPIX  and  WMGM.  MacPhail 
hinted;  that  “the  games  at  Miami 
naturally  would  be  the  ones  con¬ 
sidered,  with  the  Dodgers  and 
Braves  figuring,  in  such  games ’’  In 
the  past,  exhibition  games  were 
oh  radio  but  not  on  tv. 

Nearly  80  Philadelphia  home 
and  away  gamefT'will  also  be 
ty||i£mittedr  over  >WOR-TV  during 
the;  cbihing  ^season. 

It  all  adds  up  to  almost  as  much 
tv  baseball  for  New  Yorkers  as  they 
gandered  when  the  Yanks,  Giants 
and  Dodgers  filled  the  big  league 
diamonds  in  Kings  and  New  York 
Counties. 

WOK-TV’S  Phillies  Sked 

WOR-TV,  Which  is  paying  about 
$600,000  for  the  tv  rights  to  the 
Philadelphia  Phillies,  now  has 
firmed  up  a  78-game  telecasting 
schedule,  starting  in  April. 

WOR-TV  ljined  up  the  Phillies  in’ 
the  wake  of  the  departure  of  the 
Dodgers  and  Giants  to  California. 
WOR-TY’s  deal  with  the  Phillies 
assures  tv  exposure  for.  the  Na¬ 
tional  League  in  the  Gotham  area 
and  with  the  schedule  firmed  up, 
WOR-TV  now  is  making  pitches  to 
sponsors.  WOR-TV’s  schedule 
skirts  the.  telecasting  of  Philly 
games  while  the  N.  Y.  Yankees  are 
playing  at  home. 

■  In  all,  WOR-TV  will  telecast  58 
home  games  and  20  road  contests 
of  the  Phillies,  who  will  meet  Cin¬ 
cinnati  14  times,  the  Braves  nine, 
Giants,  ;  Dodgers,  Pittsburgh,  St. 
Louis'  and  Chicago  in  11  contest.  A 
further  breakdown  shows  that  the: 
stration  will  carry  43  night  games,.1 
nine  Sunday  and  holiday  double- 
headers,  11  contests  on  Saturday, 
four  Sunday  single  games  and  two 
weekday  games. 

Station  is  planning  pre  and  post 
game  shows..  Sportscasters  have 
not  been  selected  as  yet. 


Tele  Followap 

Continued,  from  page  4S 

There  were  informative  interviews 
with  such  top  scientists  as  Dr. 
William  H.  Pickering,  Dr.  Theo¬ 
dore  vhn  Karman,  Dr.  Robert  Page 
and  Dr.  Krafft  A.  Ehricke. 

The  whole  telecast  shaped  up;  as 
a  Cook’s  tour  of  the  missile  field. 
Besides  the  wide  array  of  inter¬ 
views,  there  were  arresting  se¬ 
quences  of  tracking;  missile  fir¬ 
ings,  wind  tunnels,  etc.  Some  of 
the  A;B»C’s  of  the  sobering  space 
age  was  spelled  out,  and,  as  one 
scientist  put  it,  the  final  test  is 
whether  the  weapons,  by  the  sheer 
magnitude  of  their  potential  de¬ 
structiveness,  can  inspire  continued 
peace.  Roro. 


.  Climax 

Climbing  on  the  Oriental  band¬ 
wagon,  “Climax”  picked  up  where 
a  host  of  theatrical  pix,  topped  by 
“Sayonara,”  leave  off,  filling  its 
hour  slot  on  CBS-TV  last  week  (16)- 
with  -a  fair  amount  of  Japanese 
culture  to  backdrop  John  Me- 
Greeyey’s  .“Thieves  of  Tokyo,”  a 
so-so  drama  of  love  amid  the 
blackmarket. 

Topping  the.  cast,  Dewey  Martin 
sympathetically  displayed  an  in¬ 
creased  maturity,  up  to  everything 
the  role  offered.  Everett  Sloane 
lent  top  support  as  did  Robert  H. 
Harris  and  pretty  Karen  Sharpe. 
Michi  Kobi,  •  who  received  “intro” 
billing,  played  with  u  refined  east¬ 
ern;  aura, 

Robert  Stevens’  direction  of  the 
good  Edgar.  Peterson  production 
imbedded  the  teleplay  with  a  fine 
mixture  of  feeling,  and  tops  were 
Richard  Haman’s  sets  and  Jerry 
Goldsmith’s  music. 

The  intertwining  plot  actually 
was  more  a  story  of  love  than  of 
thievery  aS  American  agent  Martin . 
set  out  to  crack  a  Tokyo  black 
market  syndicate  and  ended  up 
falling  in  love  with  the  adopted 
Japanese  daughter  of  one:  of  its 
leaders.  What  is  obvious  eventually 
occurred,  and  Martin’s  job  was 
clouded  by  his  emotions,  the  Jap¬ 
anese  girl’s  love  tom  between  her 
father  and  her  man.  In  the  end, 
Martin  c  on  fro  nted  the  baddie 
(Sloane),  and  all  fife  broke  loose, 
the  teleplay  winding  up  in  a  tor¬ 
rent  of  melodrhma  when  Sloane 
fired  at  Martin  hut  instead  killed 
his  beloved  daughter.  Tragedy  was 
complete  with  attempted  hari-kiri 
and  all. 

Chrysler  paid  hut  its  yen  for  the 
show;  adding  its  own  dramatized 
commercials  with  Bill  Lundigan 
and  delightful  Mary  Costa. 

Ron?' 


=ssas=555sss==5=aa* 

TelePrompter 

Continued  from  pace  1 
seating  capacity  of  at  least  500,060 
seats  and  minimum  receipts  of 
$275,000.  Both  Basilio  and  Robin¬ 
son  will  receive  30%  of  the  total 
take,  including  the  closed-tv  gate. 

Prexy  Irving  Kahn  hopes  to  line 
up  250  theatres  in  200  cities.  Pre¬ 
vious  high  for  a  closed-circuit 
event  was  173  theatres  for  the 
Basilio-Robinson  bout  last  sum¬ 
mer,  when  Basilio  took  the  title 
from..  Sugar  Ray  .by  a  close  deci¬ 
sion.  Kahn  envisions  the  telecast 
take  to  run  about  $1,500,000.  Chi¬ 
cago,  where  the  bout  will  be 
’Staged,  will  be  blacked  out  for  a 
75-miie  radius.  *  ' 

Theatre  admission  prices  are  ex¬ 
pected  to  be  between  $3  and  $5. 
TelePrompter  will  split  the  thea¬ 
tre  take  with  exhibitors  and  also 
will  pay  the  IBG  from  80c  to  $1.50 
on  each  seat  sold,  depending  on 
admish  price. 


WRCPubservice 

Continued  from  page  43 
dependent  and  affiliated,  VHF  and 
UHF. 

Boston  Conference  was  hailed 
as  one  of  most  impressive  and 
showmanly  events  ever  held  within 
broadcasting  industry. 

In  charge  of  planning  and  pro¬ 
ducing  Baltimore  Conference  is 
WBC  programming  v.p.  Dick  Pack. 
Assisting  him  is  a  committee  which 
includes  Steve  Conley,  special 
assistant  to  McGannon,  Bill 
Kaland,  WBC  national  program 
manager,  Gordon  Hawkins,  WBC 
educational  director,  and  Chet 
Collier,  new  member  Of  WBC 
national  program  staff. 

Committee  Is  already  at  work 
lining,  up  top  national  names  from 
within  and  without  broadcasting 
industry,  as  main 'event  speakers 
at  Conference.  Dr.  Milton  Eisen¬ 
hower,  prexy  of  John  Hopkins  is 
already  set  for  opening  day  key¬ 
note  address. 

One  of  major  changes  planned 
for.  Baltimore  Conference  is  addi¬ 
tion  of  a  fourth  day,  so  that  special 
new  sessions  can  be  added.  At¬ 
tendance  will  not  he  increased  over 
last  year’s  by  more  than  a  few 
dozen,  since  Pack  feels  that  top 
many  delegates  would  lose1  plus  of 
Informality,  and  turn  the  con¬ 
ference  into  a  convention. 


Kine  Sales  O’seas 

Continued  from  page  30' s ss^s 

ways  permitted  the  network— CBS 
and  ABC,  too — to  count  Canada 
as  part  of  the  basic  talent  charge, 
but  added  that  it  was  never  .in¬ 
tended  for  this  allowance,  to  he  j 
pirated  as  license  for.  NBC  to  con¬ 
sider  the  whole  world  its  oyster. 

Again^  the  unofficial  NBC  posi¬ 
tion — on  the  matter  of  what  con¬ 
stitutes  a  “network,” — Is  any  sta¬ 
tion  anywhere  that  plays  a  domes¬ 
tically-produced  live  show  within 
60  days  of  its  production.  It  is  this 
that  has  led  to  the  question  of  what 
is  an  affiliate,  since  it  almost  goes 
without^  saying  that  affiliates  are 
needed  'to  make  up  a  network. 

,  AFTRA  said  that  it  has  always 
defined  a  network  essentially  as  “a 
group  of  stations  which  broadcast  a 
|  program  simultaneously,"  adding 
that  delayed  programs  (on  kine¬ 
scope)  played  within  the  domestic 
United  States,  in  fairness,  should 
also  be  considered  a  part  of  a  tv 
network. 

Since  the  union  cannot  strike  on 
such  a  matter  under  its  collective 
bargaining  pact  with  the  networks, 
the  ultimate  step  (at  least  before 
the  next  contract  talks  in  1960) 
might  be  for  the  union  to  preveht 
its  members  from  signing,  any  con¬ 
tracts  unless  they  stipulate  perhaps 
as  much  again  as  75%  of  domestic 
minimums  in  the.  event  the  live 
shows  are  sold  to  any  company  us¬ 
ing  tv  outside  the  U.S.  or  Canada. 
Another  step  could  be  a  request 
for  arbitration.  Of  course,  the 
talent  agencies,  not  barred  by  any. 
such  collective  bargaining  agree¬ 
ments,  could  boycott  the  web. 

But,  at  this  point— what  with 
everything  being  pretty  much  a 
matter  of  semantics — action  by 
either  side  in  the  matter  can  only 
be  conjecture,  especially  since  each 
contestant  keeps  waiting  for  •  the 
other  side  to  take  another  signifi¬ 
cant  step.  . .  i  ^ 


Chicago,  Jan.  21. 

WBKB,  the  ABC-TV  outlet  here, 
again  is  revising  its  daytime  lineup. 
Most  of  the  hausfrau  shows  In¬ 
stalled.  last  September  are  being 
dropped  for  lighter  fare,  most  of 
it  on  film,  and  several  others  are 
being  juggled  to  new  time  slots. 
After  the  morning  news  and  “Crea¬ 
tive  Cookery”  at  9,  the  station  will 
pitch  to  the  tricycle  set  almost 
100%  of  the  daytime  until  it  joins 
the  net  with  “American  Band¬ 
stand”  at  3  p.  m.  Notable  excep¬ 
tion  Is  on  Friday  at  11  a.  m.»  when 
WBKB  beams  “Best  ,  of  -Bishop 
Sheen.”  * 

Casualties  of  the  mid-January 
overhauling  are  the  hourlong  audi- 
ence-participationer,  “Richard  Lew- 
ellen  Show”;  the  longrrunning  Bob 
Murphy-Kay  Westfall  interview 
stanza;  Chubby  Jackson’s  “Laugh 
Time”;  Virginia  Marmaduke’s  love¬ 
lorn  opus,  “Ruth  Jamison”p*nd  the 
Jack  Mabley  interview  strip. 

On  Mondays,  in  the  11:30-12  pe¬ 
riod,  station  is  slotting  “Busse's 
World,”  a  showcase  for  seven-year- 
old  Jamie  Busse  of  Park  Ridge, 
ill.,  which  was  conceived  by  Harry 
H.  Hunter,  of  WBKB’s  staff.  The 
youngster  will  be  supported .  by 
Mary  Ann  Koppel  and? Art  Hern, 
and  Heim  Will  host  Laurel  &  Hardy 
films  on  Tuesdays,  Wednesdays  and 
Thursdays  in  the  same  slot.  Re¬ 
placing  ’’Bob  and  Kay”  at  10  across 
the  board  will  be  another  new  juve 
format. 


HOT  SrtINOI  NATIONAL  MK,  MMW 


High  blood  pressure?  Taut  nerves? 
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your  symptoms?  Then  relax  In  the 
soothing  radioactive  thermal  waters 
at  this  spa.  At  the  Arlington  relaxa¬ 
tion  and  luxury  are  yours.  The 


new  Dorothy  Draper  decor  is 
yours  to  enjoy. 


write  for  your 
color  folder 


WANTED 

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stage  manager  background.  Experience 
In  handling  models  and  fashion  show 
1  required. 


Write  Dox  V  17fr  VARIETY, 
154  W.  44  St.,  New  York,. NX 


PENTH  OUSE 

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INSURANCE 

FURS  JEWELRY 

DON’T  WAIT  FOR  A 
LOSS  TO  BE  SURE 

-REctor  2-0512 


Happy  Coat  Higtr»  ta 

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DORSEY  C0HN0RS 


NBC,  Cbieaga 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


PSjrieStt 


MUSIC 


57 


Columbia  Records  Isin  hi-fi  gear 
for  a  “promotion  in  depth”  mer¬ 
chandising  campaign  on  its  phono¬ 
graph  line.  The  drive  will  be  on 
Col’s. 38  models,  including  phono¬ 
graphs,  radio,  tape  recorder  and 
combinations  as  well  as  a  stock  of 
accessories. 

Key  to.  the  campaign  will  be  a 
special  offer  to  purchasers  of  all. 
sets  priced  over  $110.95,  of  a  $40 
value  premium,  album  package  for 
$9:95.  Featured  in  a  boxed  group 
of  18  bestselling  LP’s  are  Eugene 
Ormaiidy  and  the  Philadelphia 
Orchestra,.  Leonard  Bernstein,  the 
New  York  Philharmonic,  Bruno 
Walter,  Robert  Casadesus,  Isaac 
Stern,  Andre .  Kbstelanetz,  Erroll 
Garner,  Percy  Faith,  Tony  Bennett, 
Four  Lads,  Les  Elgart’s  orch,  the 
Norman  Luboff .  Choir  and  Sammy 
Kaye. 

“Although  forecasts  in  certain 
lines  of  business  are  pessimistic; 
tbp  high  fidelity  field  presents  a 
-  tremendously  encouraging  picture/' 
Said  Milton  Selkbwitz,  national 
sales  manager  for  phonographs.  He 
added;  “The  trend  ,  in  the  ’sound' 
business  is  upward.  Columbia  main¬ 
tained.  high  levels  of  business 
through  1957,  with  big  volume,  in¬ 
creases  in  the  final  quarter  of  the 
year..  We  expect  to  continue  with 
even  more  accelerated  volume  in 
1958.*’  (The  “depth”  concept  stems 
from  Col's  engineering  innovation. 
Directed  Electromotive  Power.) 

Diskery  is  going  into  tv-film, 
radio  spots,  newspapers  and  mags 
to  get  across  its  phono  message. 
In-store  displays,  streamers,  mo¬ 
biles  and  mailing  pieces  have  been 
prepared  for  dealer  use. 


T.  Dorsey  Tag  To 
Warren  Covington 

A  band  under  the  name  of  Tom¬ 
my  Dorsey,  who  died  last  year,' will 
hit  the  road  next  month  under  the 
batofi  of  Waren  Covington.  Coving¬ 
ton’s  crew  is  going  out  with  okay 
of  the  Dorsey  estate  and  will  use 
.the  bopk  and  sound  of  the  late 
bandleader's  organization.  .  Like 
Dorsey,  Covington  is  a  trombonist 
and  also  sings.  He’ll  share  the 
vocal  chores  with  Janet  King. 

At;  the  present  time,  Covington 
heads  another  orch,  the  Command-; 
ers,  which,  will  continue  with  an-, 
other  leader, -  as  yet  undesignated. 

The  reorganized  Dorsey  band 
started  rehearsals  in  New  York  this 
week  and  plays  its  first  date  in 
Rochester  Feb.  1.  It  will  debut  in 
New  York  at  the  Arcadia  Ballroom 
Feb.  16;  Featured  sidemen  in  the 
band  will  be  Joe  Lopes  on  alto  sax, 
and  Rolfe  Kuhn,  who  recently 
dame  to  the-U.  S.  from  Germany, 
on  clarinet.  Willard  Alexander’s  of¬ 
fice  is  handling  the  band. 

Meantime,  the  orch  under  the 
name  of  the  late  Jimmy  Dorsey, 
who  died  shortly  after  his  brother 
Tommy,  will  continue  to  tour  un¬ 
der  the  leadership  of  trumpeter 
Lee  Castle. 


Dot  Ups  Singles  \l\% 

Hollywood,  Jan.  21. 

Dot  Records  has  increased  the 
retail  price  of  its  singles  an  aver¬ 
age  of  12V£%.  NO  increase  Is  pres¬ 
ently  contemplated  for  EP’s  or 
LP’s. 

Label’s  45’s,  previously  89c,  will 
henceforth  sell  for  98c;  78’s  Will 
retail  at  $1.15  instead  of  $1. 


DeccaV  Symph  Cellists 

The  New  York  Philharmonic 
Cello  i  Quartet,  comprising  four 
sidemen  from  the  N.  Y. ,  Philhar¬ 
monic  symphony  Orchestra,  will 
make  its  bow  on  disks  via  Decca 
Records. 

Group  in  its  first  release  will 
play  some  original  works  for  cellos 
by  Emanuel  Moor  and  Joseph  Jon- 
gen  and  works  by  Bartok  and 
Vivaldi. 


RCA’s  ‘Instant9  Music 

Polaroid  Cameras,  with  the. 
slogan  of  “For  the  Picture  You 
Want  When  You  Want  It,”  has 
tied  up  with  RCA  Victor’s 
dealer  window  contest  next 
month  which  will  be  themed  to 
the  idea  of  ‘Tor  Music  You 
Want  When  You  Want  It.” 
The  window  display  competi¬ 
tion  is  revolving  around  Vic¬ 
tor’s  conversion  of  16  pop  and 
30  Red  Seal  catalog  bestsellers 
into  hew.  packages:  Victor  is 
euffoing  the  new  covers  to 
dealers  who  have  any  of  the 
old  LPs  ini  stock. 

During  the  contest,  Victor 
salesman  will  be  handing  oul 
several  hundred  Polaroid  camV 
eras* to  winning  dealers  after 
taking  pictures  of  the  various 
Window  displays. 


On  ‘Gigi’  3  Ways, 


With  the  albums  from  the  Metro 
filmusical,  “Gigi,”  getting  top  pri¬ 
ority  in  MGM  Records'  packaged 
goods  program,.  Arnold  Maxin, 
diskery ’s  new  prez,  headed  for  the 
Coast  Monday  (20)  for  a  week  of 
meetings  .  with  studio  execs  and 
pic’s  writers  Alan  Jay  Lerrier  & 
.Frederick  Loewe. 

MGM  has  set  a  three-way  LP 
spread  on  the.  “Gigi”  score  which 
will  include  the  soundtrack  set,  an 
instrumental  wrap-up  by  David 
Rose  and  a  jazz  treatment,  by  Dick 
Hyman. 

On  the.  promotional  end,  diskery 
already  has  set;  in  motion  a  sales 
contest  for  label’s,  distributors  and 
salesmen,  a  dealer-exhibitor  win¬ 
dow  display  contest  (with  cash 
prizes  for  both);  shipment  of  sound¬ 
track  albums  to  2,000  radio  sta¬ 
tions,  and  theatre  previews  for  the 
music  trade. 

Both  the  studio  and  the  record 
company  .  will  use  the  same  “Gigi” 
trademark  (a  sketch  of  a  winking 
girl)  in  their  ad  campaigns. 


GERMAN  TELDEC  PACT 
WITH  USSR  ON  TAPES 

Berlin,  Jan.  21. 

The  Teldec  recording  company, 
a  liaison  of  the  German  Telefuhken 
and  the  British  Decca,  has  signed 
an  exclusive  contract  with  the  For¬ 
eign  Trade  Institute,  Moscow,  for 
exploitation  of  Russian  tape  re¬ 
cordings  for  its  disk  production. 
This  is  understood  the  first  such 
deal  between  a  German  diskery 
and  the  Soviets.  Pact  signed  in 
Hamburg,  became  effective  With 
the  new  year. 

Teldec  will  take  advantage  of  the 
pact  primarily  on  tape  recordings 
of  Russian  longhair  musicians. 
Teiefunken  and  Decca  disks,  on 
their  end  will  soon  feature  presen¬ 
tations  of  the  Bolschoi  Theatre'  en¬ 
semble,  the  symphony  orch  of  the 
Leningrad  State  Philharmonic  un¬ 
der  the  batons  of  Sanderling  and 
Mravinsky; 


How  far  away  stereophonic  disks 
are  from  the  commercial  market 
has  now  emerged  as  a  key  question 
before  the  record  industry.  Indus¬ 
try  execs  In  general  are  uncertain 
but  are  watching,  waiting  and  ex¬ 
perimenting  with  stereo  to  get  into 
the  market  With  an  acceptable 
product;  It’s  likely  that  the  first 
steady  trickle  of  stereo  disks  will 
start  flowing  from  the  factories 
later  this  year. 

One  top’  company  exec  stated; 
howeyer,  that  at  the;  present  time 
there  is  no  stereo  disk  that  is  com¬ 
mercially  acceptable  and  he  does 
hot  see  stereo  as  “being  right 
around  the  corner,”  but  refused  to 
predict  beyond  the  next  few 
months.  ’-‘The  matter  is  still  in  the 
laboratories,”  he,  stated,  “and  the 
engineers  are  capable  of  making 
rapid  advances  which  would  nullify 
any  predictions.” 

Compatibility  Factor 

At  the  same  time,  talk  about  the 
“compatibility’'  between  stereo 
disks  and  current  monaural  play¬ 
back  equipment  has  been  dis¬ 
counted  by  RCA  Victor’s  engineer¬ 
ing  department.  Customers  and 
retailers  are  being  Warned  against 
the  belief  that  stereo  disks  can  be 
played  on  present  equipment  with 
good  results. 

Victor  engineers  stated;  “ex¬ 
haustive  tests  in  our  Indianapolis 
plant  haye  proved  conclusively  that 
stereo  disks,  played  on  present 
mohaural  equipment,  are  npt,  com¬ 
patible.  A.  stereo  disk,  played.^, 
monaurally,  will  disseminate  ■a'] 
sound  of  music.  But  the  net  hear¬ 
ing  result  is  comparable  to  that 
(Continued  on  page  64) 


Hi-Fi  Show  in  Chi 

Chicago,  Jan.  21,  . 

Polk  Bros.,  big  Chicago  discount 
house  with  a  rep  for  gaudy  promo¬ 
tions,  and  10  top  manufacturers 
have  joined  coin  to  counter  post- 
holiday  doldrums  with  a  hi-fi  show. 
Promotion,  which  Opened  Jan,  2 
and  runs  to  Feb,  15,  has  grabbed 
about  10%  of  the  city’s  billboards 
in  what  is  reportedly  a  record  out¬ 
door  buy  for  any  company  In  one 
city. 

Kuttner .  &  Kuttner  ad  agency, 
handling  all  exploitation,  has  also 
pacted  for  30  full  page  newspaper 
ads  plus,  lesser,  amusement  page 
Space  to  plug  daily  show  activities,: 
Polk  will  augment  about  eight 
hours  of  regular  weekly  television 
advertising  with  200  video  spots 
and  more  than  3,000  radio  blurbs^ 

Promotion  calls  for  civic  off}-: 
cials  to  be  given  hi-fi  sets  which 
they  are  to  present  to  their  favor¬ 
ite  charities,  and  in  a  zany  touch 
an  ice  cream  manufacturer  will 
push  a  hi-fi  sundae  (special  in¬ 
gredients;  If  any,  undisclosed); 
while  a  pair  of  plush  restaurants 
will  offer  a  hi-fi  flip  cocktaiL 

Cooperating  manufacturers  in¬ 
clude  Admiral,  Braun,  Columbia, 
Gurhdig  Majestic,  Phllco,  Motorola, 
RCA  Victor,  Siemens,  Webcor  and 
Zenith.  \ 


Victor  Fop  A&R  Re-Tuned  East-Vest 


Joe  Howard’s  P.S. 

Joe  Howard,  who.  wrote  “I 
Wonder  Who’s  Kissing  Her 
Now,”  has  come  up  with  a  se¬ 
quel,  .  “I  Know  Who’s  Kissing 
Her  Now.” 

.HoW&rd,  who  lives  at  Fort 
Lauderdale,  Fla.,  Wrote  it  with 
Frank  Adams  together  with  a 
musical  show  framed  around 
the  new  song. 


4  Pubbenes  Sue 
Woolworth,  Sears 


Los  Angeles,  Jan.  21. 

In  an  outgrowth  of  copyright 
suits  against  Tops  Record^,  the 
cut-rate  label  Which  has  specialized 
in  supermarket,  drug  and  chain 
store:  sales,  Harms,  Witmark,  Rem- 
ick  and  New  World  pubberles  filed 
suit  in.  Federal  Court  here  against 
the  Woolworth,  Sears  Roebuck  and 
Thrifty  Drug  chain. 

Lawsuit;  filed  by  Arthur  Katz  of 
Fink,  Levehthal  &  Lavery,  asks  for 
an  accounting  of  profits  under  the 
copyright  act,  and  an  injunction 
impounding  Tops  albums  and  halt¬ 
ing  their  sale  pending  trial  of  the 
case. .  Specifically  at  issue  are  al¬ 
bums  containing  the  songs  “I 
Cover  the*  Waterfront,”  “You  and 
the  Night  and  the  Music”  and 
“S’Wonderful.” 

In  addition  to  the  accounting, 
the  suit  asks  for  $25,000  punitive 
damages  against  the  retail  estab¬ 
lishments.  Half  -  a  -  dozen  suits 
against  Tops  itself.  Were  filed  some 
weeks  ago. 

1st  tJse  of  ‘Goody  Decision1 

The  publishers*  '  action  against 
the  chain  outlets  represents  the 
first  attempt  to  apply  the  so-called 
“Sam  Goody  decision”  handed 
down  by  the  U.S.  Court  of  Appeals 
a  few  months  ago.  Latter  court 
ruled  that  distributors  and  retail¬ 
ers  are.  as  liable  as  the  manufac¬ 
turer;  of  disks  that  infringe  copy¬ 
righted  material.  Decision,  was  giv¬ 
en  in  a  suit  of  the  Glenn  Miller 
estate  and  a  group  of  publishers 
against  an  indie  diskery,  AFN  Rec¬ 
ords  (now  defunct),  Sam  Goody,  as 
a  retailer  (New  York),  and  the 
Portem  Company,  N:Y.  distributors. 
Julian  T.  Abeles  was  attorney  for 
the  plaintiffs  in  this  case. 


DANCE  ORCHS’ BIG 
SCORE  IN  BOSTON 

Boston,  Jan.  21. 

Dance  bands  came  back  in  New'] 
England  this  past  season,  ops 
found  as  they  tallied  up  their 
books,  With  some  records  smashed. 
Pleasantly  ;  surprised  bonifaces 
found,  that  the  oldtime’  bands  had. 
plenty  of  punch  with  the  teeners. 

.  Standout '  hot  -  draw  was  Lester 
Lanin  who  broke  house  records  at 
Totem  Pole,  Auburndale,  Mass., 
Hampton  Beach,  N.  H.,  and  Surf, 
Nantasket,  Mass.  .  Mike  Stanzler, 
op.  of  Rhodes  Ballroom,  Provi¬ 
dence,  R,  I.,  hit  the  bell  with 
Benny  Goodman  who  rang  up  4,000 
admissions  in  a  one-nighter. 


After  March  1st,  1958 


Newsstands 


Subscription 


RCA  Victor's  pop  artists  &  rep 
ertolre  department,  under  Stevi 
Sholes,  has  been  reorganized  Inti 
a  12-ihan  east-west  setup  for  in 
creased  flexibility  and  tune  cover 
age.  Under  the  new  regime,  music 
publishers  will  be  able  to  channel 
any  type  of  pop  material  to  any 
eight  of  the  12-man  staff,  with  four 
others  handling  specialty  material 
such  as  kiddie  items,  religiosos,  etc. 

At  the  same  time,  Sholes  has  in¬ 
augurated  a  system  of  giving  the 
producer  billing  on  each  disk  to  the 
session  supervisor,  a  practice  that 
was  Initiated  by  the  United  Artists 
label  a  couple  of  months  ago. 

Sholes*  staff  will  also  consider 
both  album,  and  single  material  for 
the  Vik  label,  a  Victor-  subsid, 
which  will  get  Coast  representation 
for  the  first  time  on  a  regular  basis: 
In  Hollywood  and  Nashville. 

The  .pop  staff  is  set  up  as  fol¬ 
lows:  (1)  All  material  In  the  N.Y. 
homeoffice  will  he  handled  by  Her¬ 
man  Diaz  Jr,,  Joe  Reismah,  Hugo 
Winterhalter,  Jerry  Leiber  &  Mike 
Stoller  (who  work  as  a  team),  and 
Henri  Rene.  Ed  Heller,  of  the  Vic¬ 
tor  album  department,  will  also  de¬ 
vote  part  of  his  time  to  making 
pop  singles  under  Sholes.  Diaz  will 
also  handle  all  album  recordings 
for  Vik.  ^ 

In  the  specialty  division.  Brad 
McCuen  will  handle  country  and 
sacred  material  in  New  York  and 
Chet  Atkins  in  Nashville.  Paul 
Micheison  Will  handle  sacred  tunes 
in  Hollywood.  All  international  ma¬ 
terial-  will  be  channeled  in  New 
York  via  Johnny  Comacho.  Chil- 
dren's^disks  will  be  done  in  N.Y. 
by  McCuen. 

Victor’s  album  a&r  department, 
under  Ed  Welker,  remains  un¬ 
changed. 

On  the  sides  leVel,  Victor  is  har¬ 
nessing  its  24-man  field  staff  In 
order  to  get  a  fast  reaction  to  its 
single  releases.  With  Victor  now 
guaranteeing  all  single  releases, 
rapid  rating  of  sales  potential  ,  of 
each  disk  is  now  a  must  if  the 
label  is  not  to  get  stuck  with  dead 
merchandise. 

Under  singles  department  chief 
Harry  Jenkins,  each  of  the  24  field 
men  will  be  covering  two  RCA  dis- 
trib  territories.  They  will  he  geared 
to  give  the  Victor  homeoffice  ans¬ 
wers  to  sales  turnover  on  24  or  48 
hours’ notice,  so  that  Victor's  fac¬ 
tories  and  shipping  schedules  can 
be  adjusted  Accordingly. 

Just  For  Variety 
Cap  s  Catch-All 

Hollywood,  Jan.  21. 

Capitol  Records  is  launching  a 
new  style  of  disk  album  in  the 
spring,  a  package  featuring  a  com¬ 
plete  entertainment  program .  in¬ 
volving  12  artists  on  each  record 
Series  will  be  tagged  “Just  foi 
Variety.” 

Series  Is  In  line  with  the  Coast 
label’s  belief  that '  the  public  is 
shopping  more  and  more  for  enter¬ 
tainment  on  disks  ail'd  that  albums 
which  offer  something  form  tastes 
have  a  better  chance  in  a  crowded 
market. 

Diskery  already  has  recorded 
several  albums  in  the  series  and 
eXpects  to  debut  the  “Variety”  for¬ 
mat  with  between  12-15  packages: 


Per  Copy 


Per  Year 


iSee  Details  Page  51 


Patti  in  New  Merc  Deal 

Songstress  Patti"  Page  signed 
another  longterm  pact  with  Mer¬ 
cury  Records  in  New  York  last 
week  with  Merc  prexy  Irving  B. 
Green  and  Miss  Page's  manager, 
Jack  Rael,  working  out  the  deal. 

Miss  Page  has  worked  exclu¬ 
sively  for  Mercury  for  the  past  10 
years. 


Planet  X,  '58  Entry 

Planet  X  is  the  latest  indie  to 
get  into  the  1958  disk  race.  First 
release  is  slated  for  mid- January. 

Signed  with  the  label  is  Henry 
Sawyer  &  The  Jufciters  and  Bernie 
Moore  &  The  Sockets. 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


Trend?  St*  Louis  fiedkr  cmcerts  h  Hotel  j 

Station’s  Heave  Th. 


Of  Rock  V  Roll 

St  Louts,  Jan.  21. 

Hock  fn*  roll  has  come  and  gone 
on  radio  station  KWK.  As  of 
yesterday  (Mon.)  the  shouts  of  the 
frantic  ones  are  now  as  dead  on 
KWK  turntables  as  the  dodo  bird. 
The  obseques  were  put  underway 
last  week  when  Robert  T.  Convey, 
president  of  KWK  Inc.,  announced 
a  Record.  Breaking  Week,  during 
which  all  KWK  disk  jockeys  pro¬ 
claimed  the  final  playing  of  the 
various  rock  ’n’  roll  platters,  then 
broke  the  records  over  the  air  so 
the  listeners  could  hear  the  crunch. 

“I  decided  on  this  action,”  said 
Convey,  “after  conferring  with  our 
dis£  jockeys  and  finding  their  com¬ 
plete  agreement  that  rock  *n’  roll 
has  dominated  the  popular  music 
field  long  enough.” 

The  public  apparently  agreed 
with  Convey  and  the  jockeys  as  re-i 
actions  which  poured  into  the  sta¬ 
tion  during  the  week  Tan  about  5 
to  one  in  favor  of  the  ban. 

Further  comments  from  Convey: 
“The  Word  ‘ban*  is  not  to  be  con¬ 
strued  as  a  type  of  book  burning. 
It  is  simply  a  weeding  out  of  un-i 
desirable  music.  What  started  out 
three  years  ago  as  a  musical  novel¬ 
ty  trend  with  tunes  such  as  ‘Rock 
Around  the  Clock\  and  ‘Hearts  of 
Stone*  has.  grown  to  such  propor¬ 
tions  as  to  alienate  many  adult  ra¬ 
dio  listeners  To  these  ear-weary 
St  Louisians,  KWK’s  move  will  be 
welcome  relief.” 


St  Louis,  Jan.  21. 

The  plush  new  Khorossan  Room 
Of  the  Chase  Hotel  will  play  host 
next  month  to  a  special  series  of 
“pop”  concerts  by  the  St.  Louis 
Symphony  Orchestra,  with  Arthur 
Fiedler  as  guest  conductor  and  a 
spirit  of  informality  encouraged 
among  the  listeners' who  mry  dine 
and  visit  While  the  orchestra  plays. 

The  concerts,  something  new  for 
the  St,  Louis  Symphony,  Will  be 
presented  at  8:30  the  nights  of 
Feb:  11,  12,  14  and  15  at  $3.50 
single  admission  price. 

It’s  by  way  of  an  encore  for 
Fiedler,  who  conducted  the  orches¬ 
tra  at  a  $25-a-plate  Symphony  So¬ 
ciety  benefit  party  in  the  Khoros¬ 
san  Room  on  New  Year’s  Eve. 

Aiika,  Lewis,  Crickets 

Set  for  Aussie  Tour 

Ottawa,  Jan.  21. 

Paul  Anka,  this  capital’s  16-year- 
old  composer-disker  of  “Diana,” 
starts  a  quickie  tour  of  Australia 
at  month-end.  His  record’s  nearing 
top  in  sales  there,  on  Columbia — 
it’s  ABC-Paramount  on  this  "side. 

Bill  Includes  Jerry  Lee  Lewis* 
the  Crickets,  Jody  Sands  and  Aus¬ 
tralian  acts.  Plays  Melbourne  Jan. 
3(1— Beb.  1;  Brisbane  Feb.  3;  Syd¬ 
ney  Feb.  4*5;  in  picture  houses. 
Lee  Gordon  of  Hollywood  Is  im¬ 
presario.  Then  Anka  flies  back  for 
his  third  stint  on  Ed  Sullivan’s  tv 
show  Feb;  9. 

Frank  S.  Lyons,  vicepresident 
and  general,  manager  of  Roskin 
Bros.  Inc.,  distributors  Of  Columbia  j 
Records  in  the  Albany  area,  has 
been  nominated  as  a  director  of  j 
the  Albany  Chamber  of  Commerce. 


Held  BdlettoSextet 
Into  Homan’s  3d  Herd 

San  Francisco,  Jan.  21. 

The  Al  BeUetto  Sextet,  one  of 
the  top  groups  in  modem  jazz, 
joined  Woody  Herman  and  the 
Third  Herd  as  part  of  the  Herman 
band  this  week  at  the  Islandla 
Ballroom  in  Grand*  Island,  Neb. 
The  BeUetto  group  wRl  work  in 
the  Herman  band  as  an  integral 
part  of  the  17-piece  Herman  ag¬ 
gregation.  In  addition*  tht^r  will  be 
featured  in  vocal  arid  specialty 
sets  during  the  night  and  when 
Herman  plays  jazz  ^concerts  the 
BeUetto  group  wiU  be  spotlighted 
in  a  separate  set! 

Personnel  of  the  BeUetto  group 
is:  Al  BeUetto,  leader  and  alto; 
Fred  Crane,  piano  and  baritone; 
Jimmy  Guinn,'  trombone;  Willie 
Thomas,  trumpet;  Tom  Mont¬ 
gomery*  drums,  and  Kenny 
O’Brien,  bass.  Group  also,  carries 
girl  singer,  Jeri  Winters,  who  will 
iibw  pipe  both  with  the  Herman 
band  and.  the  Sextet 

The  BeUetto  group,  which  re¬ 
cords  for  Capitol.  (Herman  waxes 
for  Verve),  will  get  featured  bill¬ 
ing  on  all  Herman’s  engagements. 

The  Herman  band  reformed  this 
week  after  a  short  lay-off  in  Holly¬ 
wood  and  begins  a  three-month 
tpur  of  Army  camps,  colleges  and 
jazz  clubs  tonight.  They  are 
booked  for  a  March  5  opening  at 
the  Blue  Note  in  Chicago. 

Haymes’H’wood  Label 

Dick.Haymes  wiU  now  groove  for 
the  indie  Hollywood  label.  Crooner 
previously  had  waxed  for  Capitol 
and  DeCca. 

Diskery  wiil  cut  Haymes  for  the 
album  and  -pop  single  fields*  with 
his  first  LP  scheduled  for  mid- 
February. 


Dies  at  47;  Leader  on  Copyrights 


UA  Label  Greeting  *58 
With  Trio  of  Singles 

United  Artists  Records,  the  UA. 
film  company  disk  subsid,  is 
launching  its  1958  program  with 
three  new  singles  this  month.  Ini¬ 
tial  disk  with  Al  Taylor’s  combo 
hit.  the  retail  counters  this  week.. 
Other  platters  shortly  to  he  issued 
include  the  title,  song  from  I  the 
film,  “The  Quiet  American,” 
played  by  the  Ray  Martin  orch, 
and  a  couple  of  sides  by  a  young 
Vocalist-composer,  Warren  Miller. 

IJA’s  disk  operation,  meantime, 
has  shifted  to  new  quarters  In  the 
UA  building  in  N.  Y.  with  offices 
for  Al  Tamarin,  who  is  heading  the 
label  as  exec  assistant  to  Max 
Youngsteio,  prexy  of  the  disk  com¬ 
pany;  and  the  business  and  artists 
&  repertoire  staffers. 

MGM’s  Jerome  Shifts  j 
Distribs  in  2  Areas  j 

:■  Irv  Jerome,  newly  appointed  vee- 
pee  in .  charge  of  sales  at  MGM 
Records,  has  begun  to  reshuffle  on 
the  distributor  levels  In  Cleveland, 
Jerome  has  put  on  Sterling  in 
place  of  Sanborn  and  in  New  Or¬ 
leans  R&D  has  taken  over  the  line 
from  Amin.  Jerome  plans  other 
distrib  shifts  within  the  next  cou¬ 
ple  of  weeks. 

Also  on  Jerome’s  agenda  is  a 
buildup  of  his  Crew  of  district  sales 
managers. 


BETA1L  DISK  BEST  SEUEBS 


|  ~t^AfiIETY~  |  g 

Survey  of  retail  disk  b  tit  • 

sellers  based  ori  reports  ob-  § 

tained  from  leadina  stores  in 
22  cities  and  showing  com v  li 

paratlve  sale i  rating  for  this  ■. 

and  last  week.  $3 

National  g 

Rating  » 

This  Last  ► 

wk.  wk.  Artist,  Label,  Title  g  : 

DANNY  Sc  JUNIORS  (ABC-Par) 

1  1  At  tbe  Bm. . . . . ...  i 

SILHOUETTES  (Ember).  1  ” 

2  16  Get  a  Job...:  ....  ...  .....  .. 

BUDDY  HOLLY  (Coral) 

8  2  Peggy  Sue, . . .  4 

"  ~  DIAMONDS  (Mercury) 

4  12  The  StroU  .  g 

JERRY  LEE  LEWIS  (Sun) 

5  5  Great, Balls  of  Fire.  .  ... ,■ . . r,  3 

BILLY  &  LILLIE  (Swan). 

6  1  20  ...  Lg  Dee  Dah  , ......  .  8 

PAT  BOONE  (Dot) 

7  •  4  .  April  Love  . . . . .  > ; . . 

RICKY  NELSON  (Imperial) 

8  8  Stood  Up, . .  . ...  2 

McGUIRE  SISTERS  (Coral) 

9A  18  Sngartime  _ _ :  9 

FRANK  SINATRA  (Capitol) 

9B  7  AM  the  Way  . . . . 

MITCH  MILLER  (Columbia) 

It:  March  from  River  Kwai  _ _ 


•  SAM  COOKE  (Keen) 

12  10  You  Send Me..  .  . ,  7 

ELVIS  PRESLEY  (Victor) 

13  11  Jailhouse  Rock  ..........  .  . 

RICKY  NELSON  (Imperial) 

14  14  Wait  In  School  .  . , . . . , . . 

ROY  HAMILTON  (Epic) 

15A  22  Don’t  Let  Go.  ... . . . .... .... 

FOUR  PREPS  (Capital) 

15B  15  Twenty-six  Miles  . . ......... 

BILLY  VAUGHN  (Dot) 

17A  9  Sail  Along  Silvery  Moon. . . . 

G.  HAMILTON  IV  (ABC-Par) 

17B  13  Why  Don't  They  Understand. . 

MOE  KOFFMAN  (Jubilee) 

17C  24  Swinging  Shepherd  Bines  .  ,.v 
JIMMIE  RODGERS  (Roulette) 

20A  17  Kisses  Streeter  Than  Wine  . . . .  . . 

PLAYMATES  (Roulette) 

20B  . .  Jo-Ann  ......... 

JOHNNY  MATHIS  (Columbia) 

20C  19  Twelfth  of  Never. .  .  .  .. 

FRANK  SINATRA  (Capitol) 

24  ....  Witchcraft  ,j..  ...... 

JOHNNY  NASH  (ABC-Par) 

25  A  Very  Special  .  Love - 


•  I  *S  E . 

t  *  S  8 

■l 1  i* 

|  3  |  3 

a  T 

j.i  i  s 

i  ll! 

J I  ill 


4  .4  7  .. 


«  S  c  J 

§  «  =  3. 

■  S .  ■  &  5  ^ 

i  I  o  §. 

5  h  i  io 


Ilf  ;  |  i  1 1  i  i 

It  iliii! 


14  |  T 

11  it! 


i  111  1 1 

a  m  .8  fi  t  s  fi 


2  2  ...  3  2  2  1  2  1 


...  2  4  7  ...  ..  1 


9  1  8  ..  3  7 


3  8  7 


7  10  10  ..  3  ..  .  5  ..  9 


1  8  4 


3  1  9  7  10 


4  8  7  ..  ..  .  5 


6  10  5  ..  ..  .  .  2 


4  w  .  ..  8  ..  5  ..  1  ...  5 


2  8 


7  1  ..  9 


8  4  ..  ..  ...  9  ..  10 


..  5  ...  3 


3  ..  ..  7 


7  10 


...  10  9  2 


1  ... 


..  -  1  4 


*  Sidney  Wm.  Wattenberg,  promi¬ 
nent  music  industry  lawyer  and 
senior  partner  in  the  firm  of  Wat¬ 
tenberg  &  Wattenberg,  died  at  his 
New  Rochelle,  N.  Y.,  home  Jan. 
16  after  an  illness  of  several 
months.  He  was  47  years  old. 

In  addition  to  being  attorney  for 
Chappell  Music,  one  of  the  top 
publishing  houses  in  the  business, 
Wattenberg  was  counsel  for  the 
Music  Publishers  Protective  Assn., 
trade  organization  for  virtually  all 
the  leading  pop  music  firms.  He 
also  served  on  the  panel  for  revi¬ 
sion  of  the  U.S.  Copyright  Act  and 
was  a  trustee  of  the  Copyright 
Society. 

As  MPPA  counsel,  Wattenberg 
was  instrumental  last  year  in  fram¬ 
ing  a  bill,  which  passed  ,  the  U.  S. 
House  of  Representatives,  which 
would  exempt  active  music  pub¬ 
lishers  from  being  taxed  as  per¬ 
sonal  holding  Companies  due  to  the 
new  dominance  of  royalties  from 
disks  and  performances  as  against 
sale  of  sheet  music.  Bill  is  now 
before  the  Senate. 

More  recently;  Wattenberg  came 
to  the  fore  with  a  blueprint,  made 
in  collaboration  with  attorney  John 
Schulman,  for  a  new  clearing 
house  society  for  the  sale  of  mu¬ 
sic  to  films.  Controversial  plan, 
which  would  give’  songwriters  an 
equal  Voice  in  the  administering  ol 
such  sales,  wax  drawn  up  in  tenta¬ 
tive  form  and  submitted  to.  the 
publishers  for  their  consideration. 
The:  plan,  in  one  form  or  another, 
is  due  to  be  raised  as  an  issue  in 
the  upcoming  negotiations  between 
the  publishers  and  the  Songwriters 
Protective  Assn.,  for  which  Schul¬ 
man  is  counsel, 

Wattenberg  also  was  legal  repre¬ 
sentative  for  the  National  Music 
Council,  which  embraces  numer¬ 
ous  important  trade  associations. 

Wattenberg  became  senior  part¬ 
ner  in  his  firm  with  the  death  in 
1954  of  his  father,.  Abraham  M. 
Wattenberg,  who  was  also  :s  vet¬ 
eran  lawyer  of  many  of  the  top 
publishers  and  songwriters.  Sid¬ 
ney,  together  with  his  brother, 
Philip  B.  Wattenberg,  took  over 
operation  of  the  law  company. 

Besides  his  brother,  survivors 
include  his  wife,  son,  daughter  and 
mother. 


3  OF  RAY  BERLE’S  ORCH 
KILLED  IN  AUTO  CRASH 

Three  members  of  the  Ray 
Eberle  band  were  killed  in  an  auto 
accident  Sunday  (19)  morning  near 
Wrightsville,  Ga.  The  fatalities  in¬ 
cluded  band  vocalist  Lucille  Coio- 
simo,  25,  who  was  driving;  her 
husband,  Philip  Colosimo,  31,  sax¬ 
ophonist;  and  Salvatore  Carbone, 
27*  trombonist  Mel  2elman  and 
Jack  Sohmer,  also  with  the  band, 
were  critically  injured  and  taken 
to  nearby  hospitals. 

The  five  band  members  were  in 
a  car.  enroute  from  New  York  to 
a  date  in  MariannaV  Fla.,  when  it 
collided  with  a  car  coming  from 
the  other  direction.  Two  persons 
in  the:  other  car  were  killed. 


Victor  Technicians 

Talk  New  Union  Deal 

New  pact  negotiations  between 
RCA  Victor  and  the  National  Assn, 
of  Broadcast  Employees  &  Techni¬ 
cians  opened  in  New  York  last 
week  for  coverage  of  about  65 
recording  engineers,  technicians, 
quality  inspectors,  vault  attendants 
and  sinJlar  jobs.  Current  two-year 
pact  expires  at  the  end  of  this 
months/ 

NABET’s  talks  with  Victor  are 
running  parallel  to  negotiations 
between  the  union  and  NBC, 
another  RCA  subsid,  for  a  new. 
deal. 

StolzARramforRCA 

Vienna,  Jan.  21, 

Robert  Stplz,  Viennese  composer, 
has  Been  set  by  RCA  Victor  to  ba¬ 
ton  an  album  for  U.  -S.  release. 
Deal  w as  made  with  Stolz  by 
George  R.  Marek,  Victor  v.p.  and 
general  manager,  during  his  recent 
trip  abroad. 

Stolz’s  latest  musical,  “Hello, 
This  Is  Love,”  is  currently  running 
at  the  Raimund  Theatre  here. 


ri  Top  Record  Talent  and  Tunes 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


41 


■ 


'k. 


L  /y*,  '  4,%  , 


'  >*  ^  *u£  y?i.z:y 


f,i"%  V; 


'3y^  / \ ,  .  ;* 

l r  *&&&$& M  »>  '  ""  -'  s  / 


:  v  A>  <*v ; 


GOGI  GRANT  ^  BON  JOUR  TRISTI  ESSE  (from  the  Otto  Preminger  ProductloiC'BonJour  Tristessft**) 

c/w 

CHINESE  NIGHTINGALE  (from  the  NBC -TV  color  production  of  "Shirley  Temple  Story  Book")  47/20*7148 

|DDY  ARNOLD  **  |  NEED  SOMEBODY 

TOO  SOON  TO  KNOW  47720-714$ 


Witch  for  thes*  HOC-TV  Mtawt Hum  hi  »t»r  »i*d  ttack-awl-wWt«...THE  PERRY  COMO  SHOW.  THE  GE0R6E  A  PrA^SrTmj 
GOBEL  SHOVE  THE  EDDIE  PISHER  SHOW,  THE  PRICE  IS  RIGHT,  TIC  TAC  00U6H...aH<ponMi*d I*...  W  *ttA.Ylla3y^' 


!★**★*****★*★★★★★★**! 


62  MUSIC 


Roulette  Hops  On 
HirdkuuTLPFive 
&  Toscy  Tapes 

Roulette  Records  swings  Into  its 
1958  packaged  goods  season  with 
the  introduction  of  a  new  Jazz  line 
known  as  the  “Birdland  Series." 
Five  albums  have  been  set  for  re' 
lease  this  month  to  introduce  the 
new  series. 

Lead,  album  in  the  ‘‘Birdland" 
push  is  “Basie,"  which  features 
the  Count  Basie  Orch  playing  orig¬ 
inal  numbers  written  and  arranged 
by  Neal  Hefti.  The  other  albums 
in  the  kickoff  release  are  “A  Man 
Ain’t  Supposed  to  Cry,"  with  .  Joe 
Williams;  “Movin’  In,”  with  Specs  . 
Powell  fit.  Co.;  “Appearing  Nightly," 
with  the  Mitchell-Ruff  Duo,  and 
“Life  Is  a  Many  Splendored  Gig,” 
With  the  Herb  Pomeroy  orch. 

In  a  switch  from  jazz  to  long-.  ; 
hair.  Roulette  also  issued  its  first  - 
classical  LP  this  week.  The  album  * 
Is  a  two-pocketer  titled  “The  Or-  ^ 
chestra  That  Refused  to  Die— Tri-  • 
bute  to  Arturo  Toscanini."  The  ; 
album  consists  of  tapes  of  a  con-  < 
cert  given  by  the  former  NBC  - 
Symphony  in  honor  of  Toscanini,  ‘ 
who  had  conducted  the  group  for  - 
17  years.  Album  also  will  include  4 
a  reprint  of  a  Reader’s  Digest  ar-  l 
tide  written  about  the  concert  un-  < 
der  the  heading,  “The  Orchestra  4 
That  Refused  to  Die.”  * 


Kate  Smith  Ta Woos’ 
Feather  in  Dare’s  Kapp 

Kate  Smith  will  swing  back  into 
the  disk  groove  via  Kapp  Records. 
She’s  been  set  by  firm’s  prexy 
Dave  Kapp  to  wax  an  album  of 
pops  and  standards  under  the  title 
of  “Fabulous  Kate.” 

The  album  will  be  cut  In  mid- 
February  under  the  direction  of 
Frank  Hunter.  Warbler  recorded 
an  album  under  the  Capitol  ban¬ 
ner  last  year. 


Buddy  Belt  orch  began  a  two-  \ 
week  engagement  at  New  York’s 
Roseland  Dance  City  last  night  [ 
(Tues.). 


DICK 

HYMAN 

GOOD 

TIMES 


■'SniETY 


_ _  Z'SkiETr 


JO  Best  Sellers  on  Coin  Machines^ 


2.  AT  THE  HOP  (1) 


5.  GREAT  BALLS  OF  FIRE  (4) 

6.  ALL  THE  WAY  (3) 

7.  YOU  SEND  ME  (11)  ....... ....... 

8.  I’LL  COME  RUNNING  BACK  (1) 

9.  KISSES  SWEETER  THAN  WINE  (7) 
10.  STOOD  UP  (1) 


Second  Group 


PEGGY HUE 

HEY  SCHOOLGIRL 

FOR  SENTIMENTAL  REASONS 

JAILHOUSE  ROCK 

SAIL  ALONG  SILVERY  MOON 

THE  STROLL 

DESIRE  ME 

WHY  DON'T  THEY  UNDERSTAND  , 
DON’T  LET  GO 
MAGIC  MOMENTS 


Danny  fit  Juniors  . . . 

...ABC-Par 

f  Bill  JUstis  . . 

.... Phillips 
Dot 

, tFmie  Freeman  . . ... 

. .  .Imperial 

Jerry  Lee  Lewis  . . . . 

Frank  Sinatra  . .  v. . 

.. . .  Capitol 

(  Sam  Cooke . . 

Sam  Cooke  ........ 

.  .  . . .  .Keen 

Jimmie  Rodgers  * . . . 

. .  .Roulette 

Ricky  Nelson . 

. .  .Imperial 

Buddy  Holly  ....... 

Ricky  Nelson  v.... 

. . . Imperial 

Sam 'Cooke . . 

. . . . .  .Keen 

..Elvis  Presley  ... ... . 

Billy  Vaughn  ....... 

Diamonds  , . 

, ...  Mercury 

Sam  Cooke  . :..  . ..4, 

Keen 

.  George  Hamilton  .... 

.  .ABC-Par 

Roy  Hamilton  ...... 

Perry  Como  . . ... . . . . , 

.....Victor 

-t Figures  in  parentheses  indicate  number  of  weeks  song  has  been  in  the  Top  101 


HETAIL  SHEET  BEST  SELLERS 


Variety  ^ 

Survey  of  retail  sheet  music: 
best  sellers  based  on  reports 
obtained  from  leading  stores  in 
13  cities  and  showing  com¬ 
parative  sales  rating  for.,  this 
and  last  toeek. 

•  ASGAP  t  BMI 


National 
Rating 
This  Last 

wk.  wk.  Title  and  Publisher 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


^  Victor  s  Virtuoso 
Gait  on  Vanessa’; 

it  <>.:■ 

jl  Same  Opera  Cast 

^  I  Within  12  hours  of  the  preem  of 
- 4  the  new  American  opera,  “Van- 
71  ;;  essa,”  at  4he  Metropolitan  Opera 
,1  last  Wednesday  (15),  RCA  Victor 
;;  wrapped  up  a  deal  with  Rudolf 
”  !  ►  Bing,  Metopera  manager,  to  put 
11  «►  the  Samuel  Barber-Gian-Carlo 
n  V.  Menotti  opus  on  wax  with  the  orig- 
' .  inal  cast.  Victor  will  release  the 
e  4  opera  via  regular  retail  channels 
il  while  the  Metropolitan  Opera  Rec- 
*  •  ord  Club,  operated  by  the  Bobk-of- 
s  •  the-Month  Club,  Will  sell  it  to  sub- 
;;  scribers.  The  disk  club  Is  not  con- 
'  •  nected  with  the  Victor  disk  club 
44  which  is  also*  operated  via  the 

I  ::  BOM. 

,l  4  4  Cast  members  on  the  disk  to  be 
“  ’  cut  the  first,  week  in  February  will 
n  include  Eleanor  Steber,  Rosalind 
r  ; 4  Elias,  Regina  Resnik,  Nicholai  Ged- 
.  ■  !  da,  Giorgio  Tozzi,  George  Cenon- 
4  •  ovsky  and  Robert  Nagy.  Maestro 

I I  y,  will  be  Dimitri  Mitropoulos,  who 
.  >  has  been  recording  for  .  Columbia 
44  Records  as  maestro  of  the  N.  Y. 

r  ; ;  Philharmonic  symphony,  ain  assign- 
. ment  which  Leonard  Bernstein 
4  4  takes  over. 

r  ] '  Victor  entered  into  a  similar 
4  ►  deal  with  the  Metopera  for  the  re- 
lease  of  the  VTerichoIe”  opera  on 
wax  last  year. 


Mickey  Scopp,  general  manager 
of  the  Big  Three  (Robbins,  Feist  fik 
Miller),  left  for  the  Coast  yester¬ 
day  (Tues.)  for  confabs  with  firm’s 
Hollywood  branch  and  huddles 
with  the  film  studio  execs  on  up¬ 
coming  musical  product. 

He’ll  be  accompanied  by  Ed 
Slattery,  coordinator  of  the  pro¬ 
fessional  department. 


1 1  J 

til 


i  §  I 

o  5  m 


ihi 


)ril 

All  the  Way  (Maraville) , . . 
ech 


*  Around  the  World  (Young) 


tKIsses  Sweeter  (Folkways) 


tSugartime  (Nor-Va-Jac) 


8  10  tSilhouettes  (Regent) . 


♦Twelfth  of  Never  (Empress) . 


MANDOLINS 
OF  VENICE 


Jocks,  Jukes  &  Disks 


^  Continued  from  page  58  — 

DON’T  HURT  ANYMORE”  (Hill  &  “MY  JOHNNY  LAD’’  (Sangat)  is 
Ranget)  Is  an  okay  light  rhythm  a  snappy  folk-styled  item, 
ballad.  Pat  Shannon  (Decca):  “MAY- 

Jo  March  (Kapp):  “JO’S  RIDDLE  BELLE’’  (Copar-Ridgeway t,  a  rbck 
SONG”  (Garland*),  the  old  folk-  ’n’  roll  entry,  registers  as  a  solid 
song,  is  dressed  up  with  a  beat  and  commercial  possibility  via  this 
vocalled  stylishly  by  this*  canary,  yodeling  slice.  “KNOCK,  KNOCK’’ 
■  ■  .■ .  ■■ 1  ■  ■.  ,  _  (Forrest-Rodgewayt)  is  a  cute  song 

takeoff  on  the  parlor  game. 

h  mm  m  ■  hb  ■  ■■■  mm  J  Vera  Lynn  (London)  “ACROSS 

m  m  Mk  |  *  THE  BRIDGE’’  (Piccadilly  t),  a  fine 

If  II  ■  ■■  If  ||i  ■  ^  II  If  If  >  ballad,  is  delivered  effectively  in 

vniBEimEi  wnnn 

The  ED  SULLIVAN  SHOW,  Jan.  19  SSKS&s. 

r..rrc»n4lx#  *•  ING  FANCY”  (Coca*)  is  a  neat 

Currently  ^  ballad  slickly  .  piped  by  Carmen 

TOWN  TAVERN  Torftn+A  >  McRae.  “AS  I LOVE  YOU”  (North- 

I  WWW  I  HvUIiif  I  oronio  *  ern*>  is  a  classy  romantic  number 

THEATRICAL  LOUNGE,  Clevelped.  Startlag  Joa.  27,  to  Be  Followed  by  *  .,T 

OTTAWA  HOUSE,  Hell,  Geebec;  RIDGECREST  INN,  Rochester!  J  WANT  IT  TO  BE  RIGHT”  (Gate- 

STORYVILLE,  Bostoe;  CELEBRITY  CLUB,  Provldtece  J  way*),  a  lovely  ballad,  gets  a  sen- 

»  u-i rEAircnuBuieii  .  .  . :  •  .  .  .  *  sitive  vocal  by* Dorothy  Collins.  “I 

Per*.  Mgt.— GEORGE  TREADWELL  •  Roelette  Records  J  LOVE  A  VIOLIN”  (Thompson*)  is 

—‘ASSOCIATED  BOOKING  CORPORATION- 

JOB  GLASER,  Pro*.  the.  smash  of  several  years  ago,  Is 

MS  Fifth  Av*.  IIS  N.  Wabash  Ave.  W  Lincoln  Rd.  Wl*  *omet  Blvd.  fn^ere^ing  &  resists  8  f“RUBBING 

New  York  SX,  N.Y.  Chfceso.  HL  MUml  Beach.  Fla.  H'wood  4*.  Cellf.  NOSES  IN  THE  MIDNGHT  SUN” 

Plioiier  Pfione:  Phpnor  phonar  (Fairway t).  has  a  clevet  lyric 

PLe»  9-MN  central  «445i  jKffarson  M3IS  OLympl.  i-M4e  Ernie  Freeman  Orch  (faSerial)^ 

“THE  TUTTLE’’  (Stanfordt)  is  a 


catching  instrumental  which  could 
catch  on,  with  the  rocking  teen¬ 
agers,  “LEAPS  AND  BOUNDS” 
(Billacet)  is  a  bouncing  uptempo 
entry. 

Gus  Gordon  Sc  Darnels  (Bana). 
“IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE 
ROSES”  (Davidt)  is  a  pleasing  bal¬ 
lad  handled  with  a  light  beat  and 
attractive  pipes  by  Gus  Gordon. 
“MY  LITTLE  HOMIN’  PIGEON” 
(Davidt)  Is  routine  rock  ’n.’  roll 
material. 

Peter  Kim  (Web):  “SILENT 
PRAYER”  (Bathgate-DeFazio*) ,  a 
slow  ballad,  is  belted  with  classy 
tenor  pipes  by  this  new  newcomer. 
“LOVE  TO  HAVE  YOU  AROUND” 
(Earlet)  is  a  rhythm  ballad  also 
handled  neatly. 

B  ttp*  e  o  (Challenge): 

MAYBELLE”  (Copar  Ridgewayt) 
gets  an  effective  slice  by  ‘Dave 
.Burgess  whose  vocal  may  take  off. 
“TAKE  .THIS  LOVE”  ((Golden 
Westt)  is  a  routine  item.  ' 
♦ASCAP.  tBML 


Frau  Wurm’i 
Buattfil  tfeUM  frui  tbe 
Warur  tm,  predwtlw 
“SaiMM” 


KATSUMI 
LOVE  THEME1 

Horton  OouM  RCA  Vktor 
torcy  Foftfc  Cohmihla 
Idroy  HetmM  MOM 
Frnk  ChaktRoM  Undwi 

mlwitmarkrsohs 


Smash  Hit! 

PERRY  COMO’S 

MAGIC 
MOMENTS 

n(  a\  srrop 

FAMOUS  MUSIC  CORPORATION 


A  GREAT  SOUND  I 
GORDON  MacRAE 
SINGS 

"NOW" 

By  PAT  BALLARD 
CAPITOL  #3IM 

BOURNE,  INC, 


Record, 


AB€-Par’$  Encore  Meet 

ABC-Paramount  has  set  a  Coast 
repeat  of  Its  eastern  distributor 
conclave,  held  last  week,  for  Jan. 
24.  Prexy  Sam  Clark  accompanied 
by  veepee  Harry  Levine,  sales  di¬ 
rector  Larry  Newton  and  artists  8c 
repertoire  chief  Don  Costa,  left  for 
Hollywood  Sunday  (19). 

The  conference  will  focus  on 
diskery’s  February-March  album 
promotion  of  22  LP’s. 


a  wonderful 
seasonal  song  ^ 
STYNI  AND  CAHN'S 


m 


CAHN 

MUSIC 

COMPANY 


MUSIC 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


Listed  below  in  alphabetical  order  are  the  top  50  sheet  music 
best  sellers  during  1957,  Compilation  Is  based  on  the  information 
contained  in  Vabiety’s  weekly  Retail  Sheet  Sellers  charts. 

TUNE  publisher 

All  Shook  Up — . . . . . . . Presley-Shalimar  (BMI) 

Almost  Paradise -  .  .  _ . . . .  .Peer  (BMI) 

An  Affair  to  Remember— t“Aff air  to  Remember” . .  Feist  (ASCAP) 

Anastasia — t“An astasia”  .  . . . .  . .Feist  (ASCAP) 

April  Love^-f “April  Love”  .  . . Feist  (ASCAP) 

Around  the  World — t“Aronnd  World  in  80  Days’ -.Young  (ASCAP) 

Banana  Boat  Song  .  .  . . . . .  .Marks-B  (BMI) 

Butterfly  ..... . . . . ..Hill  &  Range  (BMI) 

Bye,  Bye  Love  ... ....... .  ; .-. .... . ... . , ,  .Acuff-Rose  (BMI) 

Chances  Are  . . . . . . . . . .... . . Korwin  (ASCAP) 

Chantez,  Chanter  . ....... . . . . .  Chantez  (BMI) 

Clnco  Robles  - - - - - ... - - - - - - - - ... . . . .  Warman  (BMI) 

Dark  Moon  . . Dandelion  (BMI) 

Diana  . ......>  ..... ... . .  .Pamco  (BMI) 

Do.  I  Love  YoU: .  . . . . . .  .Williamson  (ASCAP) 

Don’t  Forbid  Me  .  .  .... . . . . iRooseVelt  (BMI) 

Fascination— f“Love  in  the  Afternoon”, ; _ Southern  (ASCAP) 

Four  Walls  ..  . . . . . Sheldon  (BMI) 

Girl  With  Golden  Braids . . . . . . . .  ,  * . . .  Roncom  (ASCAP) 

Gone  .  . . . . . .  v ... . ... .  .Hill.&  Range  (BMI) 

Ganna  Find  Me  a  Bluebird. . . ..... , . .  .. ..  . ...  .Acuff-Rose  (BMI) 

Gonna  Sit. Right  Down. .  . ...... ^ ... . . .  ^  .Chappell  (ASCAP) ' 

Honeycomb  .  - .............. _ Joy  (ASCAP) . 

In  the  Middle  of  Island. .... - - . . .... .-. . . .  .Mayfair  CASCAP) 

It’s  Not  for  Me  to  Say-^f  “Lizzie” ............  Korwin  (ASCAP) 

Jailhouse  Rock— t“Jailhoiise  Rock”  . . . Presley  (BMI) 

Little  partin’  ....  ...  .  . : . ..... .  .Excelloric  .(BMP. . 

Love  Letters  in’ the  Sand — t“Bernardihe”  .  .  .  .Bourne  (ASCAPV 
Love  Me  , . .  Hill  &  Range  (BMI) 

Marianne  ..  Montclare  (BMI) 

Melodie  D* Amour,  . ,  Rayven  (BMI) 

Moonlight  Gambler  - ... _  _ Meridian  (BMI) 

My  Heart  Reminds  Me  — . . . :  Symphony.  House  (ASCAP) . 

Old  Cape  Cod. . , . . . . . . . . Pincus  (ASCAP) 

Party  Doll  _ .  .  . - . , ...  . .  Jackie  (BMI). 

Rainbow - ..... -  ....................  -Robbins  (ASCAP) 

Round  &  Round  Rush  (ASCAP) 

So  Rare  .  . .  .Robbins.  (ASCAP) 

*  Tammy— f “Tammy  &  the  Bachelor”. .... . * . .Northern  (ASCAP) 

Teddy  Bear  /. . . . . . . .  . .  .Gladys  (BMI) 

Teen  Age  Crush  . .  - . . . . . . . . .  .  .  Central  (BMI) 

Too  Much  ....  .  .  .  .  .................. .Southern  Belle  (BMI) 

Wake  Up  Little  Susie...... . . . ...  Acuff-Rose  (BMI) 

Walkin’  in  the  Rain . . ; .  . . . . . .  Golden  West  (BMI) 

Whiter  Silver  Sands  . —  ................ ... ... .  .  Southern  (BMI) 

"Who  Needs  You  . . . . ... . .  .  .v.;. . . . . .  Korwin  (ASCAP) 

Why,  Baby,  Why  . . .... ................ _ _ _ _  _  Winneton  (BMI) 

'  Wind  in  the  Willow  .  .  Broadcast  (BMI) 

Wringle  Wrangle  . . ........... - - - - -  .Disneyland  (ASCAP) 

Young  Love  ....  Lowery  (BMI) 


t  Film 


Album  Reviews 


;  Continued  from  pace  "58 . « 


‘ -Steeplechase,”  which  fills,  one 
side  of  the  LP,  they  participate  in 
a  superb  round  of  solo  perform¬ 
ances.  In  a  different  tempo,  they 
also  cut  each  other  in  a  Gillespie 
original,  “Tour  De  Force.”  Gille-r 
spie  and  Eldridge  also  have  long 
solo  turns  oh  a  couple  of  ballads 
apiece.* 

“The  General  Motors  50th  Anni¬ 
versary  Show”  (RCA  ,  Victor), 
Taken  from  the  soundtrack  of.  the 
click  GM  two-hour  spectacular  on 
NBC-TV  late  last  year,  this  set 
preserves  the  musical  highlights  of 
that  Stanza.  The  varied,  pleasing 
program  includes  Hugo  Winterhal¬ 
ter  orch’s  playing  of  the  “Happi¬ 
ness  Theme”'  and.  other  instrii-'J 
mentals;  Pat  Boone’s  singing 
“Where  Are  You”;  Steve  Law¬ 
rence  on  “Far  Away  Places”  and 
then  joining  with  Dan  Dailey  and 
Carol  Burnett  on  “The.  Bullfrog 
Patrol”;  Cy  r  i  1  Ritchard  and 


Theme  Melody  of  the 
20th  Century-Fox  C.nemoScope  Production 

“THE  GIFT  OF  LOVE" 

THE  GIFT 
OF  LOVE 

ROBBINS  MUSIC  CORPORATION 


Claudia  Crawford  on  “Mutual  Ad¬ 
miration  Society”;  Doretta  Morrow 
on  “Hi-Lili  Hi-Lo”  and  “My  Ro¬ 
mance”; -Dinah  Shore  on  “These 
Foolish  Things”  and  with  Dailey, 
“They  Say  It’s  Wonderful”  and 
“Taking  A  Chance  On  Love,”  and 
Howard  Keel  “Where  Or 

When.”  ..  . 

.  Katie  Lee:  “Spicy  Songs  For 
Cool  Knights”  (Specialty).  This  is 
a  clever  program  of  naughty  folk- 
songs  delivered  with  gusto  and 
humor  by  Katie  Lee,  a  Coast  ball¬ 
ade  er  arid  nitery  performer.  The 
“leer-ics”  to.  these  songs  are  con¬ 
siderably  stronger  than  found  in 
the  worst  of  the  rock  ’n’.  roll  num¬ 
bers,  but  these  songs  are; (1)  not 
designed  for  .the  kiddies  arid  (2) 
have  presumably  grown  respect-, 
able  through  age.  . 

,  Bob  Ross:  “American  Folk  Songs 
For  Men”  (Folkways).  Bob  Ross 
approaches  his  folk  tune  repertoire 
with:  an  appreciation  of  the.  mate¬ 
rial  and:  an  awareness  that  inter¬ 
pretation  is  the  thing.  He’s  able 
to:  work  such  well-known  items  of 
the  folk  genre,  as  ‘‘Down  Iri  The 
Valley,”  “The  Riddle  -Son  g,J 
“Greensleeves,”  “Foggy  Dew”  and 
similar  grooved  pieces  into  fresh 
and  delightful  items.  He  self- 
accomps  on  guitar. 

Johnny  Pate:  “Jazz  Goes  Ivy 
League”  (King).  Johnny  Pate, 
bassist  Who  has  now  come  to  the 
fore  with  his  version  of  “Swinging 
Shepherd  BlUes,”  beads  a  smoothly 
swinging  sextet  In  this  set  of  his 
original  compositions.  Lenny 
Druss,  on  flute,  gives  this  Crew  an 
attractive  lead  sound  on  such  num¬ 
bers  as  “Blues  For  The ,  Ivy 
Leaguer,”  “Soulful  Delight,”  ‘  Cur¬ 
rant  Jelly”  and  others.  Herm, 


i 


Kitty  Kallen 


.  Kitty  Kallen  has  wound  up  her 
'pact  with  Decca  Records  after 
three  years.  .In  that  time  she  re¬ 
leased  14  singles,  biggest  of  which 
was  “Little  Things  Mean  A  Lot.” 

Budd  Granoff,  thrush’s  husband-  ! 
manager,  currently  Is  negotiating 
a  deal  with  another,  company. 


Carmen  Cavallaro .  has  •  been, 
elected  to  ASCAP  membership  as  g 
a- writer;  Pianist  wrote  “While  the 
Night  Wind  Sings,”  “Wanda”  and 
“Masquerade  Waltz.” 


J'fiftttfrr 


63 


64 


MUSIC 


PttdE&i 


Wednesday,  January  22 \  1958 


On  The  Upbeat 


and  production  assistant  at  KDKA- 
TV  .  Tony  Little  Trio  renewed 
for  another  six  months  at  Carlton 
House  Town  &'  Country  Lounge. 


Victor’s  ‘Track’  Records 


New  York  | 

Roger  Coleman  set  for  nine  days 
at  the  Laurel  Hill  Supper;  Club, 
Columbian  s.  C.,  beginning  Jan.- 2$ 

.  .  .  Bill  Hegner  handling  press  for 
thrush  Dolores  Morgan  ;  ■ ,  ,  Dive 
Berger,  ;AHQ-Pararaount  promo* 
tion  man,’  recuperating  from  a 
heart  attack  at  Beth  Israel  Hospi¬ 
tal  .  .  .  Judy  Seoft  guests  on  Merv 
Griffin’s  ABC  Radio  show  Jan.  27- 
29  .  .  .  Publisher  Paul  Siegel’s 
mother  died  of  cancer  Jan.  11  .  :  . 
Jack  Perry  joined-  Sidney  Mills' 
music  firms, 

Bobby  Scott  began  a  four-weeker 
at  Cafe  Bohemia  Monday  (20)  .  .  . 
Ray  Meinberg,  promotion  man  at 
Big  Records,  hitting  the  midwest 
on  a  push  for  “Hey  Schoolgirl”  .  .  ; 
Helen  Tobin,  who  handles  Cleve¬ 
land  deejay  promotion  for  Epic 
and  MGM,  in  town  last  week  for 
homeoffice  huddles  .  .  Harold 
Beebe,  writer  of  Patti  Page’s  new 
disk,  “Bring  Us  Together,”  is  musi¬ 
cal  director  of  the  Horn  &  Hardart 
Children’s  Show  .  .  Composer- 
arranger  Phil  Moore  handling  La- 
Vem  Baker’s  forthcoming  “Bessie 
Smith”  alburn  for  Atlantic  Records 
,  .  ,  Raymond  Horricks*  "Count 
Basie  and  his  Orchestra”  set  for 
February  release  by  Citadel  Press. 

On  the  road  for  Roulette  this 
week  are  national  sales  manager 
Don  Carter  and  national  promotion 
chief  Mel  Turoff  .  .  .  Morris  Dia¬ 
mond  will  handle  promotion  for 
Carlton  Records  out  of  New  York 
while  Ruth  Clenott  will  take  care 
of  the  promotion  end  in  the 
Boston,  Rhode  Island  and  Maine 


The  Big  Three  (Robbins.  .  Feist  & 
Miller)  acquired  world,  rights  to 
Rudolf  Friml’s  newest  work  “In  a 
Classical  Mood”  ;  ,  .  Phil  Kahl 
going  50-50  with  Bonell  Music  on 
“Swinging  Shepherd  Blues.”:  There 
are  five  records  out  on  the  tune 
already. 


London 

Close  harmony  vocal  group.  The 
Stargazers*  skedded  for  tv  spot  in 
‘'’the  state  web’s  “6-5  Special”  Jan. 
30  .  .  .  Clarinetist  Pat  Rose,  long¬ 
time  resident  with  Laurie  Gold  & 
His  Pieces  of  Eight,  planning  to 
emigrate  to  Australia  .  .  .  Hedley 
Ward  Trio  dickering  a  two-week 
stint  in  Germany  at  .  Weisbaden 
commencing  April  14.  .  .  Trump¬ 
eter  Vic  Robert  has  left  the  Johnny 
Parker  baiid. 


Hollywood 

Johnny  Desmond,  who  j  appears 
In  the  tv  series,  has  been  set  to 
compose  and  record  a  new  theme 
song  for  “Sally”  which  stars  Joan 
Caulfield  .  .  .  Ernest  Gold  will 
score  Warners?’  “Too  Much,  Too 
Soon,”  Diana  Barrymore  biopic  -  .  . 
Howard  Keel  talking  a  Decca  term 
deal  with  label’s  Coast  topper 
Sonny  Burke  .  ...  .  Leonard  Rose- 
man  has  been  ,  set  to  compose  and 
conduct  an  original  score  for  the 
Robert  Snyder-Roberi  Crandall 
science  pic  “Small  World”  ,  .  .  Jo¬ 
seph  Gershenson,  head  Of  Til’s  mu¬ 
sic  dep’t.,  will  use  nine  leading 
L.A.  jazzmen  in  recording  Henry 
Mancini's  score  for  “Touch  of  Evil.” 


Chicago 

Count  Basie,  well  enough  to 
travel  after  a  recent  gall  bladder 
attack,  moves  into  the  Blue  Note 
Jan.  22  for  a  two-weeker.  He’ll  be 
followed,  also  for  two  frames,  by 
the  Teddy  Wikon  Trio  and  chirper 
Joya  Sherrill  (ex-Duke  Ellington), 
starting  Feb.  5  .  .  .  South  side’s 
Crown  Propeller  Lounge,  now  firm 
for  modern  jazz,  gets  Australian 
Jazz .  Quintet  Jan.  22  for  a  single 
stanza  .  .  .  Carmen  Cavallaro  into 
London. .  House  Feb.  19.  for  four 
frames  .  .  .  Harry  James  brings  his 
new  band  into  the  Blue  Note  April 
16  for  a  week  .  .  Pat  Moran 
Quartet  ended  its  long  run  at.  the: 
Cloister  Inn  by  disbanding.  Eddie 
Higgins  Trio  and  singer  Kim  Kar- 
ter  have  supplanted  .  Chuck 
Cabot  orch  opens  Jan,  27  at  Pea¬ 
body  Hotel,  Memphis,  for  two 

Chico  &  Harpo  Marx,  in  'ore  of 
their  rare  teamings,  booked  for 
Roosevelt  Hotel.  New  Orleans,  for 
a  fortnight  starting  Jan.  23  .  .  . 
Singer  Patricia  Wilson,  current  at 
the  Crescendo  in  Houston,  joins 
Dick  Shawn  for  two  weeks  at  the 
Chase,  St.  Louis,  Feb.  20  .  .  .  Jana 
Mason  and  the  Piero  Bros,  paired 
for  a  pair  at  the  International  Club 
of  the  Shamrock,  Houston,  open¬ 
ing  Jan.  23  .  .  .  Sonny  Howard  set 
for  a  fortnight  at  the  Adolphus  in 
Dallas,  starting  Jan,  30  .  ...  Davis 

&  Reese  open  Feb.  20  for  two 
frames  at  Dallas’  Statler-H’lton 
. .  .  Constance  Moore  began,  a  two- 
weeker  yesterday  (Tues.)  •  at  the 
Monteleone. Hotel,  New  Orleans. 


San  Francisco 

Carl  Ravazza  booked  into  Bim¬ 
bo’s  365  Club  starting.  Feb.  6  .  .  . 
George  'Shearing*  into  the  Black- 
hawk  Feb.  14  .. ..  .  Fred  Peterson’s 
the  hew-  drummer  with  Pete 
Daily’s  Chlcagaap*^  at  the.  New 
Alpine;  ,  .  >Hari6^nntei  rettuhed 
to  Fred  Kuh’s  Old.  Spaghetti  Fac¬ 
tory  : . .  Ronhy  Draper  and  Hermie 
King  celebrated  their  first  anni  at 
Bimbo?s  Trophy  Room  .  ...  Patsy 
Kelly  into  Ann  Dee’s  440  Club  Feb. 
.4'  ..  .  Harry  Brooks  joined  Turk 

Murphy’s  Easy  Street  crew  as  in¬ 
termission  pianist  .  .  Harold 
Wiley  at  the  Cellar  .  ;  Carol 

;  Channipg,  after  some  backing  and 
filling,  due  Jan.  30  at  the  Fair- 
!  mont’s  Venetian  Room  .  .  .  T-Bone 
Walker  in  for  a  couple  of  weekends 
to  sink  the  blues  at  Oakland’s  53 
Club; .  ..Dave  Brubeck’s  European 
tour,  starting  Feb.  6,  will  include 
a  two-week  swing  through  Poland. 


Pittsburgh 

[  Walt  Harper  filled  in  a  Crawford 
Grill  with  his  combo  when.  Stan 
Getz  had  to  cancel  out  on  illness 
.  .  New  Coral  album  by  Johnny 
Costa,  staff  pianist  at  KDKA-TV, 
is  a  Gershwin  collection,  “Galley 
of  Gershwin,”  and  features  three 
other,  keyboarders,  Eddie  Costa  (no 
relation),  Dick  Marx  and  Hank 
Jones,  with  a  32-piece  orch  .  .  > 
Ray  Zimmerman  now  88’ing  in  the 
lounge  of  Bali-Kea  Mon.-Tues.- 
Wed.  .  ,  Janet  Noel  Farrell, 

pianist  in  Ankara  Lounge,  haiiied 
head  of  radio-tv  of  .U,  of  Pitts¬ 
burgh’s  public  relations  division. 
She’s  studying  for  her  Ph.D.  there 
and  was  formerly  an  accompanist 


St.  Louis 

Ralph  Sutton  Trio  due  in  ;  J an.  27 
for  a  week  at  Town  &  Country, 
which  plans  to  do  its  hookings 
through  Chicago’s  London  House 
.  .  .  Charlie;  SpivaMs  orch  slated 
to  replace  Rriph  Flanagan’s  crew 
on  the  Chase  Club  bandstand  Feb. 
-6  for  six: .weeks  .  >... Frank  Harris, 
pianist  aE'jYrontlgr  Room,  now  in 
the  composing  tfeMrtment  as  writ¬ 
er  of  a  song,  “PoCo  a  Poco,”  re¬ 
corded  on  V.I.R.,  a  local  label,  by 
St.  Louis  thrush  Mary  Norleen 
Sammy  Gardner’s  Mound  City  Six, 
longtime  headlined  at  the  Spa, 
signed  for  the  comity,  fair  circuit 
next  summer  ;  -  .  Joe  Bakalor, 
violinist,  and  Pete  Flanders,  pian¬ 
ist,  in  their  umpteenth  month  at 
Petit  Pigalle. 


Kansas  City 

DeCastro  Sisters  will  return  to 
the  Coast  after  they  close  in  the 
Terrace  Grill  Jan.  30.  They’re  set 
for  the  Moulin  Rouge,  Hollywood, 
Feb:  7  for  a  4-week  stand  .  .  .  Ken 
Harris  orch;  will  move  out  of  the 
Muehlebach  Feb.  13  and  open  at 
the  Statler,  Buffalo,.  Feb.  18,  in  the 
Rendezvous.  Harris  and  crew 
opened  the  room  about  two  years; 
ago.  .  This  time  they’re  in  for  12 
weeks  .  .  .'  Carl  Sands  orch  is  due 
to  replace  Harris,  at  the  Muehle¬ 
bach  Feb.  14  coming  in  from  the 
Brown  Suburban  Hotel,  Louisville 
.  ..  Roberta  Peters,  in  .  a  concert 
for  the  Ruth  Seufert  office  Friday 
(17)  in  the  Music  Hall,  and  well  at^ 
tended  .  . ..  Four  Coins  helped  on 
publicity  for  the  polio  campaign,  by 
visiting  the  teenagers  ball  in  the 
Municipal  Auditorium  night  before 
they  left  town. 


RCA  Victor’s  program  of  film  soundtracks  will  rise  to  a  crescendo 
in  the  next  few  months  with  the  release  of  a  flock,  of  top  pic  scores. 
Coming  up  very  shortly  will  be  the  track  from  “Raintree  County,’* 
packaged  In  both  a  two-LP  set  and  an  abridged  single  LP;  “Seven 
Hills  of  Rome”  starring  Mario  Lanza;  and  packages  framed  around  the 
“Peyton  Place"  and  “Bonjour  Tristesse”  soundtracks. 

In  March,  Victor  will  release  the  soundtrack  of  the  “South  Pacific" 
pic  version  In  a  deluxe  album  and  a  regular  package.  Also  due  that 
month  is  the  track  from  the  “Marjorie  Morningstar”  film. 


Where  Is  Stereo  Steering? 

— — Continued  from  page  57  — — — 


obtained  from  a  worn  prC-hign- 
fidelity  record, ’Even  with  the  best 
of  high-fidelity  pickups  how  avail* 
able,  some  stereo  records  played 
monaurally  also  exhibit  consider¬ 
able  distortion  on  the  first  play. 
Another  problem  is  that  music 
from  the  two  channels  of  a  stereo 
recording  does,  not  always  combine 
properly  to  give  a  satisfactory  out¬ 
put  . . ,  We  definitely  are' ccnvlnced 
that  stereo  disk  is  not  a  replace¬ 
ment  for  the  present  day  fine 
groove  record  as  far  as  high-fidel¬ 
ity  monaural  sound  is  Concerned. 
However,  played  on  proper  stereo 
equipment  which  is  not  yet  on  the 
market,  the .  stereo  disk  will  give 
full  dimensional  sound  now  found 
only  on  tape." 

Cartridges  Go  to  Market 
Pickup  cartridges  for  stereo 
disks,  are  already  being  readied  for 
the  market,  by  such  companies  as 
Electro-Voice,  Pickering  and  Fair- 
child.  The  Pickering  company,  for 


one,  disclosed  a  few  weeks  ago 
that  such  pickups  will  not  be  cheap, 
ranging  around  $60.  Also  necessary 
are  dual-channel  amplifiers  and 
speaker  systems  to  get  the  benefit 
of  the  stereo  sound. 

It’s  expected  that  such  phono¬ 
graph  manufacturers  as  RCA  Vic¬ 
tor,  Columbia  Records  and  .  others 
will  come  up  within  the  next  few 
months  with  mass-produced  stereo 
machines.'  These  units,  however, 
are  not  likely;  to  be  cheaper  than, 
current  monaural  hi-fi  equipment. 
In  fact,  the  stereo  machines  are 
virtually  bound  to  be  more,  ex¬ 
pensive. 

But  while  stereo  disks  cannot 
be  played  with  acceptable  results 
on.  monaural  equipment,  it’s  been 
demonstrated  that  good  quality  can 
be  obtained  from  monaural  disks 
played  on  .  stereo  equipment.  In 
short,  the  advent  of  stereo  will  jiot 
automatically  make  obsolete  pres* 
ent  libraries  of  LP  disks. 


RETAIL  ALBUM  BEST  SELLERS 


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MY  FAIR  LADY  (Columbia) 
Original  Cast  (CL  5090)..... 

;3 

2 

..A.. 

3 

8 

5 

1 

2 

1 

8 

4 

5 

3 

2 

t. 

1 

10 

1  130 

2 

3 

JOHNNY  MATHIS  (Columbia) 
Warm  (CL  1978)  . . ...  ... .  . 

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7 

1 

1 

6 

i 

3 

2 

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10 

2 

8 

2 

5 

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4  126 

3 

3 

AROUND  THE  WORLD  (Decca)  - 
Soundtrack  (DC  9046)  .  _ _  2 

9 

1 

4 

4. 

3/ 

8 

2 

7 

2 

4 

1 

1 

.. 

i, 

8 

2  112 

4 

4 

RICKY  NELSON  (Imperial) 
Ricky  (Imp  9048). . . 

l 

;4" 

3 

2 

5 

3 

2 

2 

3 

4 

4 

4 

5  100 

5 

.  5 

PAL  JOEY  (Capitol) 
Soundtrack  (W  192);  .  ; . 

4 

1 

6 

3 

5 

2 

8 

2 

4 

4 

1 

8 

7 

87 

« 

6 

PAT  BOONE  (Dot) 

Pat’s  Great  Hits  (DEP  307) . . , 

5 

io 

3 

4 

2 

1 

5 

1 

2 

66 

7 

..  8 

OKLAHOMA  (Capitol) 
Soundtrack  (SAG  595) ; ...... 

1 

9 

3 

7 

9 

io 

o 

... 

6 

34 

8 

17 

APRIL  LOVE  (Dot) 
Soundtrack  (DEP  9000)  : . . . . . 

8 

7 

... 

5 

4 

8 

3 

31 

9 

9 

KING  &  I  (Capitol) 
Soundtrack  (T  740) . 

9 

I 

... 

3 

7 

5 

,, 

30 

10A  12 

NAT  KING  COLE  (Capitol) 
One  of  Those  Things  (W  903)  . 

.. 

8 

9 

5 

9 

4 

6 

9 

27 

10B  11 

TENNESSEE  ERNIE  (Capitol) 
Hymns  (T  756) . 

8 

7 

4 

8 

6 

9 

8 

27 

12 

FRANK  SINATRA  (Capitol) 
Como  Fly  With  Me  (W920) . . . 

6 

io 

1 

10 

.... 

.  2  • 

26 

13 

14 

ROGER  WILLIAMS  (Kapp) 
Fabulous  Fifties  (KXL  5000). 

7 

3 

10 

8 

3 

24 

14 

15 

JIMMIE  RODGERS  (Roulette) 
Jimmie  Rodgers.  (25020)  . ...... 

5 

1 

5 

... 

22 

15 

13 

NAT  KING  COLE  (Capitol) 
Love  Is  the  Thing  (W  823) :. ; 

2 

..7., 

8 

7 

20 

16 

TENNESSEE  ERNIE  (Capitol) 
Spirituals  (T  818).  : .  ..  . 

7 

4 

8 

6 

19 

17 

7 

FRANK  SINATRA  (Capitol) 
Where  Are  You  (W  855) . . 

T" 

8 

3 

5 

7" 

.v 

17 

18A  21 

PERRY  COMO  (Victor) 
Dream  Along  (CAL  403) , . . . 

7 

8 

2 

16 

18B  10 

JANE  MORGAN  (Kapp) 
Fascination  (KXL  1066) .  . . . . . 

10 

6 

9 

T 

3 

16 

20 

ROGER  WILLIAMS  (Kapp) 
Fabulous  Forties  (W5003)  , . . 

... 

9 

7 

10 

8 

•  4 

9 

14 

21 

18 

FRANK  SINATRA  (Capitol) 
Swinging  Affair  (N  803) . . 

8 

8 

... 

... 

3 

J3 

22 A  20 

PAJAMA  GAME  (Columbia) 
Soundtrack  (DL ;  5210) . '. . .  . . 

3 

* . 

7 

IT 

_12 

22B  25 

WEST  SIDE  STORY  (Columbia) 
Original  Cast  (CL  5230)  . 

6 

4 

_12 

24 

RAY  CONIFF  (Columbia) 

’S  Marvelous  (CL  1074)  , . . ; . 

10 

6 

6 

11 

25 

MANTOVANI  (London) 

Film  Encores  (LL  1700)  .  . .  t 

5 

8 

9 

Wednesday,  January  fe  1950 


VAUDEVILLE  _ 63 


On  Ringling  Show  After  MexTour 


Ringling  Bros,  and  Barnuni  &.41 
Bailey  Circus  has  been  placed .  on 
the  unfair  list  by  the  Assn,  of 
Theatrical  Press  Agents  &  Man¬ 
agers  for  failure  to  hire  two  union 
pressagents  for  a  tour  which  start¬ 
ed  in  Shreveport,  La.  Action  fol¬ 
lowed  breakdown  in  negotiations 
between  the  union  and  .  ..Harry 
Dube,  who  represents  the  circus 
In  New  York. 

The  difficulties  started  after  the 
circus’  tour  in  Mexico,  when  it  was 
decided  to  continue  the  itinerary 
In  a  number  of  cities  instead  of 
starting  the  hibernation  period  at 
Sarasota;  Fla.,  RBB&B  winter 
quarters.  Pressagents  were  dis¬ 
missed  prior  to  the  tamale  tour, 
since  the  Ringling-ATPAM  agreed 
merit  doesn’t  cover  that  country. 

When  circus  returned  to  the  U.S. 
and  with  new  bookings  in  Shreve¬ 
port,  Nashville,  Little  Rock,  Mont¬ 
gomery,  Tampa  and  Miami  set, 
ATPAM  insisted  that  the  show  re¬ 
sume  with  two  union  pressagents. ; 
Circus  refused  Ori  the  grounds  that 
its  contract  with  ATPAM  had  ex¬ 
pired  Dec.  31,  and  until  a  new  pact 
was  negotiated  it  said  it  would  get" 
along  srins  ballymen.  They  also 
claimed  that  between  Jan.  31  -and 
the:  time  it  opens  at  Madison 
Square  Garden  in  April,  it  was  not 
obliged  to  carry  two  ATPAM 'mem-, 
bers;  '  . 

Thus  far,  no  other  uriions  have 
Joined,  with  ATPAM  in  declaring 
the '  circus  unfair.  Should  ATPAM 
start  picketing,  it  would  probably 
ask  the  aid  of  the  American  Guild 
of  Variety  Artists,  which  covers  all 
the  performers  in  the  Ringling 
show. 


EARTHA  Kin  WALKS, 
MONTREAL  OPENS  GATE 

:  Montreal,  Jan.  21. 
Eartha  Kitt,  in  for  10-day  en¬ 
gagement  at  El  Morocco  ending 
Sunday  (19),  was  cancelled  oil  the 
last  night  by.  bonif ace  Peter  Van-, 
der  North  when  she  walked  out  on 
third  show  ;  Saturday  (18)  night: 
Contract  at„$li;000  for  the  10  days 
called,  for  three  shows  Friday- 
Saturday  nights. ; 

Singer  refused  to  diseuss  the 
contract  obligations,  telling  North, 
"See  my  agent.”  Miss  Kitt,  along 
with  the  American  Guild  of  Varie¬ 
ty.  Artists  and  the  AQVA  and  the 
William  Morris  Agency,  were  noti¬ 
fied  Sunday  of  cancellation  by 
management  and  that;  the '  no  -play, 
.no  pay  clause  would  be  invoked. 

it’s  understood  that  dispute 
arose  over  the  number  of  shows'  to 
toe  performed  at  the  Cafe.  Policy 
of  the  house  is  to  have  a  third 
show  on  Fridays  and  Saturdays/ 
Comedian  Charlie  Manna,  enlarged 
his  act  to  fill  out  the  time  that 
would  ordinarily  have,  been  done 
by  Miss  Kitt. 


A  Talent-Travel 
Rap;  Skip  Port 

.  The  general  strike  ,  in  Nassau  in; 
the  Bahamas  has  -upset  travel  as 
well  as  talent  bookings  in  New 
York  arid,  elsewhere.  The  top  hotels 
oh  the  island,  booked  by  indie 
James  Grady,  have  shuttered  tight 
and  all  talent  contracts  are.  being 
held  in  abeyance  until  the  situation 
eases.  The  British  Colonial  and 
Emerald  Beach  inns,  have  shut 
tered,  with  the  latter  boarding  up 
as  a  precaution  against  looting.  The 
barriers  are  generally ‘used  during 
hurricane  conditions. 

The  acts  that  were  working  Nas¬ 
sau  came  back  Friday  (17)  on  the 
S.S.  Nassau.  That  ship,  incident¬ 
ally,  cancelled  the  trip  to  Nassau, 
which  was  scheduled  to  depart  the 
same  evening,  but.  going  out 
again  tomorrow  (Thurs.)  on  a  trip 
to  Nassau  and  Havana.  There  is  a 
possibility,  that  if  conditions  do  not 
change  in  Nassau,  the  ship  will  put 
Up  at  Havana- only. 

Strike  started  out  as  a  protest  by 
.the  island’s  taxi  drivers  against  the 
practice  of  the  tourist  bureaus  Of 
transporting  passengers  to  the  new 
airport  in  their  own  vehicles. 

.  (Continued  on  page  66) 


NIXES  3-A  NIGHT 

In  New  York  the  Willioiri  Morris 
Agency  explained  that  the  contract 
between  Montreal’s  El  Morocco 
.and  Miss.  Kitt  had  been  negotiated 
about  dine  months  ago  and  called 
for  three  shows  on  Fridays  and 
Saturdays..  However,  because  of 
the  fact  that  Miss.  Kitt  plays  few 
nitery  dates  these  days/,  she  has 
ince  established  a  personal  policy 
of  doing  a  maximum  of  two  shows 
nightly.  * 

Agency  stated  that,  on  the  first 
Friday  (10)  of  her  engagement,  she 
explained  to  the  Cafe  owner  that, 
because  of  the  condition  of  her 
throat,  a  third  show  would,  impair 
her  work  on  subsequent  days. 
However,  she  did  the  .  third  show 
the  following  day.  The.  following 
weekend,  the  agency  said,  the  Con¬ 
dition  of  her  throat  couldn’t  permit 
the  third  display.  She  had  been 
treated  for  a  throat  ailment  by  a 
Montreal  medico.  As,  a  result,  Miss 
Kitt  was  let  out  of  her  engagement 
one  day  early,  the  Morris  office 
explained.  French  singer.  Marjane 
started  to  headline  on  Monday 
(20). 


Lou  MoscOni  Jr.  starts  a  stand 
at  the  Village  Barn,  N.Y.,  Jan.  28. 


Mont’I  Windsor’s  Names 

Montreal,  Jari.  21. 

Windsor  Hotel  here,  now  owned 
by  European  interests*  is  stepping 
up  its  recently  revived  entertain¬ 
ment  policy  with  names. 

First,  thrush  Evelyn  Knight, 
opened .  there .  Friday  (17 ) . 


Bob  Marshall,  an  AGVA  member 
who  .  has  been  identified  with  the 
insurgent;  movement  seeking  to 
prevent  what  he  terms  raids  upon 
the  union  treasury  to  pay  off  per¬ 
sonal  debts,  is  attempting  to  organ¬ 
ize  a  “watchdog”  organization  With¬ 
in  the  union  to  safeguard  union 
assets  ’and  to  force,  all  actions  of 
the  administAtion  into,  the  open.. 
At  the  same  time,  a  Chi  member 
is  spearheading  a  drive  against  the. 
present  adininistratiori. 

Marshall  aims:  to  ;  form  commit-] 
tees  in  every  key  city  where  AGVA : 
maintains  a  branch.  One  of  his  im¬ 
mediate  objectives  is  to  raise  suffi¬ 
cient  funds  from  interested  mem¬ 
bers  to  test  the  legality  of  the  trearj 
sury’s  action  in  settling  the  libel  ac¬ 
tion  of  Dick  Jones  against  Jackie.  I 
Bright  for  $20,000,  a  settlement] 
which  also  called  for  Jones  to  drop 
a  pending  injunction  suit  against 
the.  union.'  He  is  seeking  to  get  a 
large  enough  bankroll  to  start 
legal  action.  However,  it’s  im¬ 
probable  that  he  will  be  able  to  get. 
a  court  determination  in  this  mat¬ 
ter  before  start  of  the  quarterly 
national  board  meeting,  to  be  held 
next  inorith  at  the  Hotel  New 
Yorker,  N.Y.  He’s  hopeful,  though,, 
of  getting  the  matter  into  the  Court 
prior  to  the  national  convention,;  to; 
be  held  in  June  in  Mexico  City. 

For  a  start,  Marshall  is  seeking 
to  get  permissidri  to  sit  in  as  an 
observer  at  the  national  board 
meeting  arid  perhaps  get  some  time 
alotted. to  him..  This  board  meeting 
will  hear  Jones,  who  has.  been 
given  one  hour’s  time  to,  present 
his  case.  Jones  is  expected  to  blast 
the  present  administration  in  sev¬ 
eral  matters  that  transpired  during 
his  tenure,  in:  office  as  eastern  re¬ 
gional  director; 

In  -the  past,  it  was  the  custom  of 
the’  AGVA  national  board  meet- 
irig  as  well  as  the  national  conyen-: 
tidn  to  permit,  observers  from 
among  the  members,,  as  well  as 

.  (Continued  on  page  68) 


Motion  to  Censure  Bright  &  Atty. 

Gets  Lost  at  Slim  N.Y.  AGVA  Meet 


Coniine  Calvet’s  Cafes 

Filmster  Corinne  Calvet  is  start¬ 
ing  a  cafe  career  in  the  spring. 
French  actress,  who  was  brought 
into  the  U.S.  a  few  years  ago  by 
Paramount  Pictures,,  has  been 
sigried  for  a  stand  at  El  Morocco, 
Montreal,  starting  April  13. 

Further  dates  are  being,  arranged 
by  the  William  Morris  Agency. 


in  The  Area 


.  Atlantic  City,  Jari:  21. 

-While.  skysCrapef  hotel  building 
on  the  beachfront  seems  to  be  a 
lost  art  Currently,  26  motels  have 
been  constructed  in  the  city  during 
the  last  few  years,  plus  some  100 
or  more  doing  business  on  the  re¬ 
sort’s  outskirts. 

..In  addition,  17  more  are  being 
constructed  for  occupancy  this  sea¬ 
son.  While  some  are  located  oh 
street  ends  hard  by  the  ocean,  most 
of  them  are  being  built  on  Pacific 
A ve.,  replacing  old  rooming  houses 
which  were  once,  in  the  early  ’90s, 
beautiful  homes.  Cost,  of  motels  is 
about  $7,500  per  unit,  including  fur¬ 
nishings.  Most  motels  have,  their 
own  swimmirig  pools,  and  all  have 
parking  facilities,  of  course. 

Last  major  hotel  erected  here 
was  the  Claridge,  built  just  before 
the  great;  depression  of  the  early 
’30s.  Whjie.  most  big  hotels  have 
been,  added  too  or  renovated,  there 
has  been  no  major  building.  Last 
big  beachfront  structure  was.  the 
Warwick,  ari  .apartment  in  the 
lower  part  of  the  resort. 


— f  Sparse  attendance,  coupled  with 
'  pressure  by  board  members  of  the 
American  Guild  of  Variety  Artists, 
resulted  in  the  shelving  of  a  mo¬ 
tion  presented  on  the  floor  of.  the 
N.Y.  membership  meeting  Wednes¬ 
day  (24)  which  would  have  censured . 
national  administrative  secretary 
Jackie  Bright  and  attorney  Harold 
Berg.  Motion  asked  that  the  Asso¬ 
ciated  Actors  and  Artistes  of  Amer¬ 
ica.  remove  Bright  and  Berg  and 
Sought  repayment  to  the  union  of 
the  $20,000  shelled  out  by  AGVA’s 
treasury  to  settle  a  libel  judgment 
awarded  to  former  eastern  regional 
director  Dick  Jones  against  Bright. , 
AGVA  was  dismissed  as  a  defend¬ 
ant  in  this  action.  Motion  also 
asked  that  the  national  board  mem¬ 
bers  who  voted  for  the  motion  be 
held  responsible  for  the  repayment 
of  that  sum  to  AGVA. 

Meeting,  started  off  with  fire¬ 
works  as  an  AGVA  organizer 
wanted  to  bar  a  reporter  from  the 
meeting.  Meeting,  upon  a  vote,  took 
the  stance  that  this  was  a  member¬ 
ship  meeting  to  be  run  by  the  mem¬ 
bers,  and  therefore  the  press  was 
invited  to  stay. 

Dismissal  motion  was  introed  by 
Bob  Marshall  and  was  followed 
with  a  rebuttal  by  board  member 
Cy  Reeves.  Between  formal 
speeches  there  was  a  lot  of  pande¬ 
monium,  with  chairman  Russell 
Swann  attempting  to  restore  order. 

Withdraws  Resolution 

Discussion  continued  until  the 
meeting  dwindled  because  of  the 
hour.  Marshall*  realizing  mostly 
administration  votes  remained,  de¬ 
cided  to.  withdraw  his  resolution, 
which  will  probably  be  presented 
at  the  next  regular  membership 
meeting,  scheduled  for  March. 

According  to  insurgents,  the  ad¬ 
ministration  blueprint  called  for 
delaying  tactics  until  most  of  the 
(Continued  on  page  68) 


Armstrong,  Great  American  Boy 


‘  Boston,  Jan.  21. 

Boston  newspapers  laid  out  the 
claret  carpet  for  Louis  Armstrong 
before  and  during  his  week’s  stand 
ending  nine  days  ago  at  BUnstrub’s 
1,700-seat  nitery,  where  he  played 
to  SRO  throughout  despite  severe 
rain  and  snow  storms.  Radio  and 
tv  similarly  devoted  large  amounts 
of  time  to  the  Satchmo  in  inter¬ 
views. 

The  Boston-  Traveler  gave  Arm¬ 
strong  a  big  space  barrage,  in¬ 
cluding  two  Page  1  features,  three 
eight  -  Column  '  banner  headline 
stories,  three  three-colurim  stories, 
topped  off  with  a  five-column  P,  1 
photo  of  him  and  his  band  playing 
in  the  House  of  .Representatives 
at  the  State  House  after  receiving 
a  citation  from  :the  legislators. 

Other  Hub  newspapers  and  .wife 
services  also  fully  recounted  Arm¬ 
strong’s  activities,  Stanley  Brins- 
trub,  operator  of  the  region’s  big¬ 
gest  nitery,  set  a  precedent  in 
booking  the  jazz  performer,  where 
formerly  he  has  used  only'  top 
name  singers; 

Big  b;o  on  Armstrong  has  con¬ 
vinced  Blinstrub  that  there  '  is 
money  in  jazz,  too.  Armstrong  was 
in  at  $5  minimum  fpr  the  first 


Hub  &  All  That  Jazz 

Boston;  Jan.  21. 

Jazz  is  infiltrating  Boston 
night  spots:  that  have  never 
played  it.  before.  First,  Louis 
Armstrong  played  to  SRO .  for 
week’s. '  stand  at  Blinstrub’s 
1,700-seater  (Jan,  6-12). 

Next,  Toshiko,  Japanese  jazz 
pianist  and  her  trio,  opens  at 
the  Bradford  Carousel  Room, 
in  the  first  jazz  date  for  this 
.  spot,  tomorrow  (Wed.). 

Up  to  now,  jazz  has  been 
Confined  to  George  Wein’s 
Storyville,  'Mahogany  Hall, 
The  Stables,  Hi-Hat,  and  a  few 
small  spots. 


show,  $3  .  fOr  the  second,  and, I 
jammed  the  club  every  night. 

Another  .  precedent'  wax  set  by 
the  state  legislature  when  they 
presented  a  citation  to  Armstrong, 
after:  he  played  for'  the  solons  t  at 
thewState  House,  Which  read: 

“Whereas,  Loids-  Armstrong,  the 
world's  greatest1  trumpeter  in  the 
field,  of.  jazz,  music  is  about  to 
celebrate  his.,  fiftieth  year  as  a 
musician;--  and 

“Whereas,  Louis  Armstrong 
has  risen  from  humble  origins;: 
to  a'  preeminent  position  in 


the  world  , of  music  and  enter¬ 
tainment*  and  is  a  true  exem¬ 
plification  of  the  strength  ,  of 
democratic  principles  and  a 
shining  example,  to  all  who 
aspire  to  greatness;  and 
“Whereas,  Louis  Armstrong 
by  his  artistry  has .  through 
■-  the  universal  language  of 
music  brought-  comfort,  pleas¬ 
ure  and  understanding  to  peo¬ 
ple  throughout,  the  world,  and 
is  properly  recognized  as  the 
outstanding  ambassador  of 
good  will  of  our  country; 
therefore  be 

“ Resolved *  that  the  Mas¬ 
sachusetts  Senate  extends  its 
.  best  wishes  to  Louis  Arm¬ 
strong  and  wishes  him  many 
K  wyears?  of  health  and  happiness ^ 
[so  that  He  may  [continue  to 
,  spread  happiness  for  ail  peor 
pie;  and  be  it  fufther  ‘ 

.  “Resdlbed,  that'  copies  ...  of  . 
these  r resolutions :b&  ^'trans¬ 
mitted  forthwith  by  the  clerk 
of  the  Senate  to  Louis  [Arm¬ 
strong/' 

Then  again  Louis  responded 
with  his  five  All -  Stars  at  the 
State-House  by  playing  the  “Star 
Spangled  Banner”  straight,  fol¬ 
lowed  by  a  lhalf-hour  jazz  concert 

(Continued  on  page  68) 


After  March  1st,  1958 


Newsstands 


Subscription 


Per  Copy 


Per  Year 


See  Details  Page  51 


B.O.  TAX  YIELD  TO  U.S. 
OFF;  CAFES  STILL  20! 

Washington,  Jan.  21, 

Admissions  tax,  including  mo¬ 
tion  picture  admissions,,  has  be¬ 
come  a  minor  source  of  income,  for 
Uncle  Sam,  President’s  budget, 
sent  to  Congress  last  week,  esti¬ 
mates  that  this  source  will  bring 
in  only  $55,000,000  in  the  current 
fiscal  year  which  '  ends  June  20. 
The  same  amount  is  expected  i 
the  following  fiscal  year. 

In  the  last  Federal  fiscal  year, 
it  yielded  close  to  $76,000,000.  At 
the  height  of  the  overall  20%  ad¬ 
missions  tax,  it  used  to  bring  the 
Government  over  $300,000,000  an¬ 
nually. 

The  20%  bite  on  -nitery  checks, 
which  continues  unabated,  should 
deliver  $45,000,000  to  the  treasury 
this  year  and  an  estiriiated  $47,- 
000,000  riext  year.  Last  year,  the 
budget  shows,  it  brought  over  $43,- 
000,000. 

The  tax  on  amusement  and  gam¬ 
bling  machines  is  figured  to  pay 
$17,000,000  to  the  Government  this 
year  arid  $18,00(T,000;  next  year; 
The  license  fee  on*  bowling  alleys, 
billiard  and  pool  tables  ifr  ’ esti¬ 
mated  good  for  $3,000,000,  as 
usual. 

Uncle  Sam  apparently  looks  for 
a  con' inning  bright  future  for  the 
Sale  of  radio  and  tv  sets,  phono¬ 
graphs,  records  and  musicannsiru- 
ments.  The  estimate  is  that  it  Will 
yield  $179,000,000  in  the  current 
fiscal  year,  and  climb  to  $194,000,7 
000  next  year. 


Jerry  Wayne  Triple  Times 
On  Cafe,  Pic,  Deejay  Tour 

Singer  Jerry  Wayne,  Who  has 
been  working  in  Britain  for  the 
past  few  years,  will  dp  triple  duty 
in  the  west  and  northwest.  He’s 
being  booked  op  a  nitery  tour,  and 
will  also  double  with  appearances 
on  behalf  of  Rank  Distributors  for 
“As  Long  as  They’re  Happy”  which 
he  filmed  while  abroad. 

At  the  same  time,  he’ll  work  dee- 
jay  stops  to  plug  his  MGM  disk- 
ings.  Cafe  dates  are  currently  be¬ 
ing  line  up. 


VAUDEVILLE 


Vaude,  Cafe  Dates 


New  York 

Bernard  Bros,  and  Sallie  Blair  to 
head  the  Latin  Quarter  show  April 
17,  when  the  Miami  Beach  LQ  pro¬ 
duction  moves  into  New  York  .  .  . 
Adrienne  &  Margrit,  voice  and 
harp  team,  start  at  .Max .  Loew’s 
Casanova  tomorrow  (Thurs.).  Adri¬ 
enne  is  the  daughter  of  former 
Metop  singer  Margaret  Matzenauer 
.  .  .  George  Matson  to  the  Cafe  de 
Paris.  Miami  Beach,  Feb.  15  .  .  . 
Smith  &  Dale  hitting  Las  Vegas 
with  a  stand  at  the  Dunes,  Feb.  6 
.  .  .  Wyoma  Winters  preems  at  Le 
Cabaret,  Toronto,  Jan.  27  ; .  .  Mary 
Ellen  &  Cohorts  on  the  Jerry  Les- ; 
ter  biE  at  B&B  Club,  IndianapoEs, 
Jan.  27  .  »  .  Harold  King,  past  N.Y. 
State  commander  of  the  Amvets, 
organizing  a  theatrical  chapter  of 
the  veterans  organization. 

Hollywood 

The  Sportsmen  will  ohe-nite  in 
Salt  Lake  City  Feb.  8  .  .  .  Three 
Continentals  hold  over  through  Fe¬ 
bruary  at  Art  WiUiams’  Caribbean 
.  . .  Marshal  .  Edson  and  Mike  Garth 
holding  talent  auditions  every 
Monday  ight  for  their  Ye  Little 
Club  ;  ..  George  Gobel  signed  a 
two-year  deal  with  the  Riviera 
Hotel,  Las  Vegas,  calling  for  a 
four-week  engagement  per  season. 
He  opens  at  hostelry  July  9. 

Atlanta 

Entertainment  in  niteries  and 
danceries  and  eateries  is  tinged 
with  the  Continental  motif,  with  a 
goodly  mixture  of  exoticism  tossed 
in  for  good  measure  . . .  Marie  Ber¬ 
nard,  French  thrush  and  the  daugh¬ 
ter  of  Countess  de  Sevignes,  opened 
at  Leb's  Pigalley,  coming  here  from 
Miami  .  .  .  Another  French-fried 
personality,  Anne  Bouche,  bowed 
at  Atlanta  Biltmore  Hotel’s  Em¬ 
pire  Room  on  bill  with  Freddie 
Martell . . .  Two  exotics,  Lee  Wong 
and  Nanna,  and  Lorraine  A  Mac, 
comedy  team,  top  the  bEl  in  An¬ 
chorage  Room  of  Clermont  Hofei, 
where  Mickey  Morano,  manager, 
offers  a  package  including  meal, 
two  beverages  and  entertainment 
for  price  of  dinner  alone  .  .  .  Two 
Egyptian  dancers,  Delilah,  and  Del- 
bah;  a  pair  of  exotics,  Maureen  and 
Desiree;  rural  comedians,  Ma  &  Pa 
Perkins;  and  a  dance  group,  Stroud 
&  Co.,  are  on  tap  at  Clovis  Club, 
Atlanta’s  only  showbar  .  .  The 

Harem,  Atlanta’s  newly-opened 
supper  club  offers  new  four-act 
show  headed  by  Sharon  Knight; 
Lorri  Stevens,  ,  and  Miriam  Sage’s 
Six  Hollywood  Starlets  ...  Jack 
Marshall  is  headliner  at  Henry 
Grady  Hotel’s  Paradise  Room, 
backed  up  by  Sinclair  &  Alda, 
dance  team,  and  Err  Hinkle  orch 


and  Four  Larks  .  .  .  Nejla:  Ates  is 
staying  another  week  at  Domino 
Lounge  in  Imperial  Hotel,  with 
Chuck-a-Lucks,  singing  comedians, 
'emcee  Hank  Conran,  and  Tokyo 
Trio  rounding  out  bill  ;■> .  Alls  Les¬ 
ley.  billed  as  femme  Elvis  Presley, 

:  continues  her  .stint  at  Club  Peach¬ 
tree  downtown  on  same  show  with 
Joey  Altee,  hoofing  emcee,  and 
Cheyenne,  an  exotic  . . .  Roy  Topps, 
300-pounds  of  piano  thumper,  con¬ 
tinues  at  Danny  Demetry’s  Zebra 
Lounge  in  HoweU  House,  lobby. 

Philadelphia 

Myron  Cohengoes  into  Celebrity 
Room  Feb.  4-15;  Jackie  Miles 
booked  in  spot  March  1-8  .  .  .Cozy 
Morley  at  Andy’s  Log  Cabin  . 
Marty  May  emcees  show  at  Mur¬ 
ray’s  Inn,  in  Jersey  .  .  .  Mickey 
Shaughnessy  at  Erie  Social  Club 
(25-26). 


Mathis  in  9-Day 


VARiHfi'i  . 


LIBERACE  SKIP-WEEK 
STANDS  IN  AUSTRALIA 

Hollywood,  Jan.  21.  ' 

Series  of  12  Australian  dates  for 
the  Liberace  show  have  been  lined 
up  by  promoter  Lee  Gordon,  begin¬ 
ning  Feb.  27.  Unit  will  include 
Liberace,  .  Syd  Krofft’s  puppets, 
singer  Christine  CaUas  and  Gor¬ 
don  Robinson. 

Show  wtil  play  Sydney  in  skip- 
dates,  Feb.  27-28  and  March  1 
and  March  6-8,  and  Melbourne 
March  3-5  and  10-12.  .  FoUowing 
these,  Liberace  may  appear  at  an 
Orient  Fair  in  Manila. 

Negotiations  also  are  near  com¬ 
pletion  for  a  string  of  dates  in  the 
British  Isles  in  the  spring. 


wry  eyes 


Flop;  Port, 


Portland,  Ore.,  Jan.  21. 

Johnny  Mathis  and  his  variety 
show  wound  up  a  nine-day  tour 
of  one-nighters  at  the  Civic  Audi¬ 
torium  here  Sunday  (19)  night  with 
a  sad  $4,100  for  two  evening  per¬ 
formances.  The  two-hour,  layout 
presented  in  two  parts  included 
the  Hi-Lo’s..  Linda  'Leigh  and 
Keith  WiUiams  orch  of -18. 

Outfit  started  in  Phoenix  Jan¬ 
uary  10  and  played  Tucson,  Al¬ 
buquerque,  Colorado  Springs,  Den¬ 
ver,  Spokane,  Vancouver,  B.C.,  Se-; 
attle  and  Portland.  Trans-World 
Attractions  of  Los  Angeles  pro¬ 
moted  the  tour  with  spokesman 
Mike  Tancino  stating  that  the.  en¬ 
tire  nine  days  was  a  financial  flop 
and  that  he  could  not  savvy  reason. 

The  3,600-seater  here  was  scaled 
at  $3.75  with  meagre  audience  en¬ 
joying  the  show  thoroughly.  The 
Hi-Lo’s  stopped  the  show  and 
only  Mathis  could  top  them. 

[  Seattle  OK  $8,000 

Seattle, 'Jan.  21. 

Johnny  Mathis  with  the  Hi  Lo’s 
and  Linda  Leigh  at  Civic  Audito¬ 
rium  Saturday  (18)  night  grossed 
satisfactory  $8,000.  House  was 
I  scaled  to  $3.75. 

I  Take  was  two-thirds  capacity. 


Boston,  Jan.  21., 

Dry  Salisbury  is  looking  to  return 
to  Equor.  A  bill  authorizing  voters 
of  the  beach  resort  town,  which 
once  boasted  a  lush  nitery  strip, 
to  vote  in  Marqh  on  a  referendum 
proposing  the  legaEzing  of  the  sale 
of  Equor  was  acted  on  favorably 
by  the  committee  on  towns  at  the 
State  House  in  Boston  Friday  (17). 

The  biE  now  goes  before  the 
House  for  action.  Also  before  the; 
House  will  be  a  companion  bill 
authorizing.  the  Salisbury  select¬ 
men  to  appoint  a  seven-man  Ecens- 
ing  commission. 

By  unofficial  referendum 
vote  conducted  by  nitery  and 
.liquor  interests  early  last  Novem¬ 
ber,  a  mail  vote  indicated  that  856 
Salisbury  voters  were  in  favor  of 
petitioning  the  legislature  for 
another,  local-option  election  and 
565  against. 

Salisbury:  went  last  January  as 
result  of  an  anti-liquor  vote  in  the 
November,  1956,  election  referen¬ 
dum;  At  a.  public  hearing  on  the 
biE,  It  was  pointed  out  that  biz 
in  the  resort  town  had  dropped 
off  as  much  as  60%  and  the  tax 
rate  ,  had  jumped  $8  since  liquor 
was  voted  out. 

Teddi  King’s  Cork’er 

Houston,  Jan.  21. 

Teddi  King  has  opened  a  stand 
at  the  Cork  Club  here  to  inaugu¬ 
rate  a  new  poEcy  of  two  shows 
nightly. 

Ran  WEde  orch  also  opened  a 
stand  there.  - 


USriett 

-Pat  Windsor  impresses  as  being 
plenty  O.K.  for  sound  (and  sight)  in 
anybody's  bistro.  She  has  instinctive 
showmanship,  attractively  accoutred 
and  possessed  of  indubitable  talent. 
Miss  Windsor  is  plus  value.'1  Abel. 

New  York  World-Telegram  and  Sun 

"Pat  Windsor,  one  of  the  loveliest  and 
best  singers  of  the  year.  A  golden 
tressed  beauty  with  starlight  and  moon- 
beams  in  her  *  ROBERT  W.  DANA, 


Royal  York  Hotel,  Toronto. 

"Dear  Pat  * .  •  I  have  heard  nothing 
but  abundant  praise  on  your  talent 
charm  and  femininity— and  we  anticipate 
a  repeat  engagement^  as  you  belong  in 
our  room."  CAY  MOORE, 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


Inside  Stuff— Vaude 

Toni  Carroll,  thrush  currently  at  Henri  Moreault’s  Circus  Lounge, 
across  the  river  from  Ottawa  in  HuE,  Que.;  garnered  a  column  fea¬ 
ture  (with  tWo-column  photo)  by  vet  scribe  Austin  Cross  in  Ottawa 
Citizen  last  week  (17).  St.  Louis-born  brunet  claimed  two  No.  1’s:  first 
girl  to  volunteer  to  trek  to  the  moon  with  the  U.S.  Navy;  and  first 
American,  niterjr  singer  to  volunteer  to  Work  for  Lester  (Mike).  Pear¬ 
son,  Nobel  prizewinner  and  former  UN  president  who  now  heads 
Canada’s  Liberal  Party.  “I  Like  Mike,’’ she  said,  simply.  She’s  done  a 
film  stint  in  “The  I  Don’t  Care  Girl,”  biopic  of  Eva  Tanguay,  who  was 
born  in  Marbleton,  Que.,  not  far  from  Ottawa. 

Edouard  Lefebvre,  22,  took  a  two-year  prison  term  in  Montreal  last 
week  rather  .than  accept  probation  with  a  ban  on  niterygoing.  A  first 
offender,  convicted  of  participating  in  a  poolroom  buYglary,  he  turned 
down  as  “too  tough”  these  terms  of  probation  till  next  Dec.  31:  “No 
night  clubs,  no  dancehaEs,  no  taverns;  11  p.m.  nightly  curfew;  four 
visits  to  the  judge  at  specified  intervals;  perfect,  conduct  at  all  times”; 
sUglitest  violations  to  bring  him  two-year  sentence.  Parole  would  have 
been  in  care  of  his  father. 

WhEe  Elwyn  Shaw,  Boston-based  magico  pocket-picking  act,  was  do¬ 
ing  his  act  on  stage  at  a  Barre,  Vt.,  date,  a  pro  pickpocket  was  doing 
his  “act”  in- the  aud.  When  the  gendarmes  nabbed  the  dip,  he  con¬ 
ceded  that  Shaw  “had  the  best  act.”  The  foEowing  night,  doing  a  Ki- 
wanis  club  date  in  Plymouth,  Mass,,  Shaw  “picked  the  pockets”  of  the 
same  Kiwanian  he  had  worked  on  a  mpnth  previously  in  Buffalo.  “How 
many  times  do  I  have  to  work  with  . you?”  queried  the  victim. 

The  value  of  an  act  tb  a  giant  corporation  is  apparently  increasing 
[  with  the  growing  importance  of  industrial  shows.  Inasmuch  as  the 
[  team  of  Florence  Henderson  &  BiE  Hayes  have  been  closely  identified 
with  Oldsmobile  during  the -course  of  a  tour  of  the  Olds  show  for 
dealers,  and  their  performing  of  the  commercials  on  the  firm’s  tele¬ 
show,  Frank  Egan,  veepee  of  D.  P.  Brother  advertising  agency  for 
!  Olds,  is  producing  the  act  which  will  be  launched  at  the  Detroit 
!  Athletic  Club,  .  Detroit,  Jan.  24.  Egan  is  apparently  interested  in 
seeing  to  it  that  an  act  so  closely  identified  with  the  product  will 
reflect  only  credit  upon  the  firm,  especiaBy  when  performing  at  the 
DAC,  which  includes  among  its  membership,  some  of  the  top  execs  in 
the  auto  industry.'  Besides,  Olds  might  Eke  to  get  some  commercials 
thrown  in — subtly.  - - — 

Thirty,  years  ago,  Kay  McLaughlin  and  her  dance  partner,  Pedro 
Batista^  disregarded  the  warning  of  friends  and  were  married  on 
Friday  the  13th.  They  recently  sent  out  announcements  that  the 
union  is  still  in  effect.  Both  are  .now  out  of  show  biz.  He’s  a  textile 
designer  with  an  avocation  of  a  master  bridge  player. 

A  benefit  party  for  Vivian  O’Brien  was  held  Monday  (20)  in  the 
Emerald  Room,  Houston,  with  the  tab  at  $5.  Miss  O'Brien,  a  songstress, 
has  been  hospitalized  for  the  past  two  months  with  injuries  suffered  in 
an  automobile  wreck.  Her  show  biz  friends  in  the  Houston  area  are 
donating  their  time  and  talent. 

- — : - - - : - - - : - ♦  '  ■■  —■ 

St  Loo  Nitery 'S  L  Bahamas 

"  Continued  from  pace  65 

iftA I  Normally,  this  is  a  $3.50  ride, 

UUlHll  livgllvr  which  the  cabbies  sought  to  get. 

■  The  disaffection  among  the  cab 

St.  Louis,  Jan.  21.  drivers  grew  to  other  workers,  with 

The  avant  garde  Crystal  Palace  M  _ 

will  usher  in  a  “first”  for  a  St.  result  that  the  business  section 
Louis  cabaret  Feb.  3,  with  a  full-  along  Bay  £t.  was  closed  tight,  and 
scale  dramatic  production  at  thea-  planes  were  warned  not  to  land, 
tre-type  prices.  You  pay  your  Actually,  observers  report  that  the 

K.&  a;  ***** 

The  play,  Samuel  Beckett’s  con-  ve  w“k'rs  d‘f 

troversial  “Waiting  for  Godot,”  tion  with  Bay  St.  Merchants,  which 
will  run  throughout  the  month  with  they  claim  controls  the  island’s 
curtain  time  at  8;,30  on  weekdays  legislature.  Among  some  of  the  de- 

ssffissssrss#  5.“  n"g  madf !!  thrd 

p  m  of  discrimination  against  natives 

“Godot”  WiB  be  presented  by  an  wanting  to  go  into  the  first-line 
,  off-Broadway  troupe  of  actors,  With  hotels. 

Theodore  J.  FEcker,  who  created 
the  successful  .  Compass  Players  at 
the  Crystal  Palace  last  year,  as 
producer  and  director. 


PAT  WINDSOR 

Currently  (Jan.  23rd -Feb.  5th) 

Radisson  Hotel 

Minneapolis 

Musital  Director:  CHAM.ES  D.  READER 


Detroit  Cafe  Op  Loses 


Detroit,  Jan.  21. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Morton  Mifler,  part 
owners  of  Club  509r  Detroit  nitery, 
were  held  at  gunpoint  in  their 
home  for  three  hours  by  two  band¬ 
its  who  threatened  the  pair  and 
their  children  with  death  unless 
they  revealed  combination  of  the 
safe  in  the 'Club.  After  Miller  re¬ 
vealed  the  combination^  one  of  the 
bandits  left  for  the  club  and  took 
$2,000  from  the  safe.  He  tele¬ 
phoned  the  other  bandit,  who  took 
$1,200  from  MiEer  before  leaving 
the  house. 

The  MiBers  and  their  two  teen¬ 
age  children,  who  Were  unaware 
of  the  robbery,  were  unharmed. 


“THE  COMEDIAN” 


THE  LATEST  —  THE  GREATEST  — 
THE  MOST- UP-TO-DATE  ST 
Now  In  Its  S7th  Issue,  containing 
stories,  ons-llntrs,  poomettos,  sons 
titles,  hecklers,  audience  stuff,  mono¬ 
logs,  parodies,  double  gags,  bits. 
Ideas/  Intros,  lidprosslons  and  Im- 
parsonatlons,  political,  -Intarr options. 
Thoughts  of  tkb  Day,  Humorous- 
Vlows  of  tho  News,  etc.  Start  with 
currant  Issua,  SIS  yearly  —  1  years 
S2I  —  3  years  S40  —  Single  Copies 
$2.00  —  N9  C.O.D/s 

BILLY  GLASON 
200  W.  54  St.,  New  York  1* 


YVONNE  MORAY 

LARRY  POtlCR'S  SUPPER  CLUB 
North  Hollywood,  Calif. 
ASSOCIATED  BOOKING  CORP. 
JOB  GLASER,  Pres. 


CAL  TJADER 

Currently: 

BLACKHAWK,  San  Francisco 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


67 


PtifoUEff 


VAUDEVILLE 


Overhead  Rise  May  Force  Minn. 

Fair  to  Seek  Aid  from  State 


^ARMEtY 


NEV.  RUNS  QUARTER 
1NT0$2-Ma  TAX 

Carson  City;  Nev.,  Jan.  21. 
Nevada’s  gaming  tax  hit  a  new 
I  quarterly  high_  for  the  three 
j  months  ending  Dec.  31;  1957.  The 
state  levy  ,  on  gross  gambling  win 


Minneapolis,  Jan.  -21.  ♦ - r—~- — “ - -  '  “  "  - — —  inonths  ending  Dec.  31;  1957.  The 

fihandfi  Ibsiu"!  SinSa  Dinkier  Hotels  Opens  ^  'l“  rs'eaS  2* 

State  Fair,  which  has  been  a  big  Biff  Ritlk  Near  Atlanta  ^or  the  9uar^er  was  $2,103,918. 

moneymaker  in  most  Of  its  years.  pig  "ua"ld  Previous,  high,  set  m  1956,.  was 

may  have  to  seek  state  aid. in  the!  $1,809,291.. 

future,  the  Minnesota  State  Agri- f  aSfSv?  Clafrk  -County  accounted  for 

cultural  society,  which  manages  the  $l,136,91Uof;  the  total  tax.  Washoe 

exposition,  was  informed.  Belyede£e  Motel hn near-  Cotm{  returij  was  about  half,  With 

.  ’  ■  by  Decatur,  a  virtual  suburb  of  At- 

This  is  because  even  average. laEta  This  is  Atlanta's  second  ice  , 

maintenance  costs  are  threateningly^  first  bein„  located  at  city-  -  Tne  -tax-,  actually  reflects  the 
to  absorb  the  fair’s  yearly  gams  cuned  Lakewood*  Park,  an  amuse-  Business  during  the  height  of  the 
and,  accordingly,  cash  reserves  ment  cantre  where  the  South-  summer  season,  July  through  Sep- 
aren’t  adequate  for  future  nfeds  western  Fair  is  held  annually.  tember. 

accordin  to  the  society  s  president  Belyedere  Rink  is  managed  by  -The  Tax  Commission  says  .that 
Henry -Lie.  Norwegian  figure  skat-  the  take  for  1957  .  was  nearly  $139,- 
A  rainout  some  year  ^  /hampion  and  “Ice  Capades”  000,009,  or  $19,000,000  above  the 

would  send  the  fair  to  the  state  perfoi.meir  Adults  skate  for  80c,  1956  gross.  : 
legislature  in  a  hurry  he  said  youngsters  under  16  pay  55c.  There  '  ^ 

The  fair,  said  to  be  the  only  js  a  Seated  spectator  lounge  and  .  .  >  CCttP- 

major  one  -anywhere  operating  m  if  costs -25c  to.  sit  in  it.  fW'  KMffQ'  .IJlRl 

the  black,  sans  taxpayers’  hclo.f  Dinkler  Hotels  Co.  operates  IWgWO  tWVM 

once  gut  a  $50,000  annual  state  chain  of  hostelries  throughout  .  I* 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


Chi— N.Y.’s  ‘Clean  Up  AGVA' 

Continued  from  page  65 

the  presa,  to  sit  in  on  the  delibera-  American  Guild  of  Variety  Artists 
turns.  For  about~three  years  now,  continued  apace:  this  week  as  he: 
the  union  toppers  have  preferred  u)  CaUed  for  iegislation  to  cur. 
to.  operate  m  secrecy.  ,  ..  J 


Dave  Byron’s  ‘Points* 

•  Chicago,  Jan.  21. 
Dave  Byron’s  word-war  against 


Cl)  Called  for  legislation  to.  cur¬ 
tail  the  present  powers  of  the 
union’s  national  administrative 
secretary,  (Jackie  Bright); 

(2)  Demanded  fuller  reports  to 


QUO.OCa,  br  $19,000,000  above  the 


legislature  in  a  hurry,  he  said. 

The  fair,  said  to  be  the  only 
majo*’  one  -anywhere  operating  in 
the'  black,  sans  taxpayers’  help, 
once  got  a  $50,000  annual  state 


"  ;  ,  ,  .  ,/  j.  \  tAidiH  VL  iiuoicuica  wuvusuyut 

appropriation,  but  hasnt  maas  any  sCutheast.  including  Dinkier  Plaza 


request  for  aid  since  1932,  Arens  j  Atlanta 
pointed  out,  .  ■' . _ . 

plant  is  aging  and  that  its  present  fBoston  Park  Solohs  Nod 

$11,000,000  investment  probably  n  . ,,  -  ,  - 

would  have  to  be  doubled  in  the  rDDllC  Uard€0S IQF 

next  10  years.  He  said  parking  _  „ 

still  is  the  fair’s  No.  1  problem  and  _  ^  A  -  Boston,  Jan.  2 

that  on  this  Item  alone  the  society  „  The  Boston  Harks  &  Recrea 


SoyR^ers'SSOG 

For  five  Yippees 


the  national  leadership  of  the  AGVA’s  membership  as  to  status 
■  nf  its  welfare  fund: 

H  y  .»  Byron,  a  hypnotist  and  an  AGVA 

Censure  Motion  member  for  about  a  year,  has 

- continued  fr.ni  „«  «s -  ur6?d  >  into  the  con- 

.  ‘  ■  troversial  $20,000  IrtiBl  settlement 

members  had  to  leave.. For  exam-  maderecently  to  Jbn<is  with  union 
pie,  it  was  pointed  out  that,  at,  the  ^  motlon  £or  a  probe 

outset,  an  announceipent  was  itiade,  waa  adopted  unanimously  Jan.  8 
asking  for  a  volunteer  from  among  at  a  regular  .  membership  meeting 
those  present  who  could  take  down  Of  AGVA’s  Chicago  branch.'  The 
the  minutes  of  the  meeting.  There  complaint  now  reposes  in  -New 
_  j.  *  x-  '  .j  York  with  the  executive  committee, 
was  an  immediate  reaction,  and  it  with  thc  Chi -rebel”  expecting  to 
was  then,  decided  that  a  secretary,  hear  from  that  body  “any  day.”  At 
an  ’  employee  of  the  union  office,  this  writing,  .he  hadn’t. 


be  commandered  to  tyke  down  the 
minutes  of  the  session.  Thus,  the 


Eyes  Senate  Committee 

If  the  complaint  is  brushed 


oston  rant  colons  hog  * 1  ■  Roy  Rogers  will  pocket  for  him- 

n  | x,  .  .  Vro  self  $550,000  for  five  rodeo  dates 

rDDllC  Gardens  for  5olthis  year.  The  bookings  arranged 

mum,  wumuaivi^w  by  Art  Rush,  his  agent-manager, 
Boston,  Jan.  21.  will  consume  39  days'  and  from  his 

The  Boston  Parks  &  Recreation  ’  take  the  cowboy  star  will  pay  off 


powwow  slated  for  2  p.m.,  finally  aside,  Byron  said,  he’ll  instruct  his 


was  started  an  hour  later. 


attorney  to  take  the  issue  immedi- 


piobablv  will  have  to  spend  at  i  Commission,  after  a  plea  by  Mayor  his  troupe  of  performers.  One  of 

i  .  .  .  •  .  TaKh  71  Uvnoc  .  rolontoH  an/i  ii.*.  j.i...  /y  — 


least  $225,000  soon  because  with-  John  B  Hynes,  relented  and  the  dates  is  Madison  Square  Gar- 
out  adequate  parking  facilities  okayed  use  of  the  Public  Garden  den,  N.  Y-»  which  the  Rogers 
attendance  .can’t  be  increased.  for  the  .1958  Boston  Arts  Festival  troupe' will  play  for  the.  10th  time. 
Also,  a  $90,000  rebuilding  job  on  in  June.  Rush  is  negotiating  a  major  re- 

the  racetrack  and  enlargements  of  A  battle  has  been  on  between  lease  for  an  indie  picture  Rogers 
a  number  of  buildings  are  needed  -  the  parks  commissioner  and  the  js  planning  to  make* 

The  fair’s  .1957  net  profit  was  cuffo  cultural  combo  in  which  — ■ - - 

$97,383.  compared  with  1956’s  Frank  R.  Kelleyi  chairman  of  the  n  >  ;  V  i.  in 
$201,617,  the  decrease  being  board,  wanted  the  festival  barred  |?£FlOFin6r  ASS8Ull6fl  D? 
blamed  on  the  fact  last  year  there  I  because  of  damage  done  to  the  -  ....  n  ». 

was  rain  on  seven,  of  the  10  days  grass  and  flowers.  Puffnii  lilCpC  1  (Ifllli  Slllt 

and  three  grandstand  perform-  Art  devotees;  won  over  the  hor-  l  «IUU  1VUU  OUU 

arces  were  lost.  However,  the  ’57  ticulturists  with  the  five-man  Vc  A  C  Niioru  Onaratnr 
fair  set  an  all-time  gate  admis-[  board  voting  3  to  2  to  rescind  its  ?  O.  il.v.  lillCl  j  VjICI  aiUI 
sions  record  of  1,054,484.  The  previous  unanimous  denial  of  the  Atlantic  City;  Jan.  21. 

1956  attendance  also  rah  over  premises  to  the  festival ’org.  A  nitery  singer  who  claimed  she 

1.000.000.  Total  1957  income  was  Last  year  the  .  cuffo  festival,  lost  her  voice  because  of  an  assault 
$1,306,675  and  expenses  $1,209,293.  which  put  on  a  legit  play;  jazz  by  a  patron  at  the  club  early  one 

- — — — - - -  night,  poetry  night,  ballet,  opera  morning  three  years  ago  .was  re- 

Tim  Burkina  "Emrppihfr  plus  art  exhibits,  drew  400,000  fused  $100,000  damages  for  which 

Jim  t^CHlxS  umceemg  from  June  6-22.  she  sued  before  County  Judge 

St.  Paul  Winter  Frst 1  George  T.  Naame  here  last  week 


!  Also  weighing  the  meeting  in  ately  to  the  Senate  Labor  Rackets 
favor  of  the  administration  Was  committee  . and_to  provide-  a  -full 
the  feet  that  the  national  board  J****  thf  A^fSO,  with  which 
members  present  at  the  confab  de-  the  um°n  is.  .And 

mended  the  right  to  vote  on  the  may  seek  an  mjuncOpn  to  impound 
resolution  presented.  Opposition  umon  tdhds.  .he  declared.  . 
took  th^  Viewpoint  that  since  the  Byron  said  he  hopes  to  wage  an 
motion  involved  them*  they  ought  in-person  fight  for  his  legislative 
to  be  kept  out  of  the  voting,  since  proposals.  He  disclosed  he’ll  run  as 
they  would  normally  have  no  right'  one  four  Chi delegates  to 
to  pass  judgment  Upon  themselves:  ne?|‘  national  convention 

There  were  five  board  members  at  Mexico  City  in  June.  HI  also- 
present  oiit  of  about  a  total  35  in  pe  at^the  next  national  boityd  meet- 
attendance.  Board  members  at  the  ing  (Feb.  11)  in  New  York  as  an 
meeting  included  Swann,  (nor-  PDserver,  of  course. 


Vs.  A.C.  Nitery  Operator 

Atlantic  City;  Jan.  21. 

A  nitery  singer  who  claimed  she 


mally  not  an  administration  spokes¬ 
man)  Reeves,  Sally  Winthrop, 


Wants  Bright  ‘Relieve^* 

The  current  hassle  resulted  with 


she  sued  before  County  Judge 
George  T.  Naame  -  here  last  week 
(15).  ' 

The  award  was  sought  by  L-orna 
Tompkins  of  New  YPrk  from  Ja^ob 
(Jockey)  Hyett,  for  years  Opera¬ 
tor  of  the  midtown  Jockey  Club. 


‘Irving  Grossman  and  Johnny  Wood,  the  revelation,  after  the  Settle- 
Postponement  of  the  meeting  orte  ments  to  Jones,  that  a  New  York 
week  from  Jan.  8  to  15,  is  also  said  Federal  Court  had  ruled  that 
to  have  hit  attendance;.  AGVA  itself  was  exempted  from 

The  tabling  of  the  resolution  th(v  ^gatioii.  leaving  oniy  Bright 
means  that  it  wiU  have  .tq.  intro-  and  Irving  to  face  the  charges, 
duced  again  in  March,  and  there-  Byron  asserted  he  w’ants  Bright 
fore  would  have  no  affect  in  the  relieved  of  his.post  until  an  invest- 
deliberations  of  the  quarterly  na-  igation  exonerates  him— if  there  is 
tional  board  meeting  to  be  held  at  one>  and  if  he’s  cleared. 


St.  Paul,  Jan.  21,  -  -  -  (15). 

Jim  Backus,  star  of  his  ow  APIIISlrilllE  I  The  award  was  sought  by  L-orna 

ABC-TV  show  carried,  here  by  .  "1Bo  .  Tompkins  of  New  Ydrk  from  Ja£ob 

WTCN-TV,  has  been  signed  to  em-  Continued,  from  page  65  ss  (Jockey)  Hyett,  for  years  opera- 

cee  this  city’s  1958  Winter  Carni-  , .  .  .  . .  ,  .i,  ■  tor  of  the  midtown  jockey  Club, 

val’s  opening  night  festivities  this  featuring  tunes  associated  with  Entertainer  claimed  she  was  struck 
week.  him.  This  was  the  first  time  that  and  injured  by  an  unnamed  patron 

Backus  will  also  crown  the  car-  music,  let  alone  jazz,  had  ever  Qf  the  club  early  on  the  morning  of 
nival’s  king  on  the  preem  night  Been  played  in  the  hallowed  halls,  Qct  31^  1954.  Blow  was  delivered, 
and  the  next  day  he  and  Michael  decorated  with  paintings  and  busts  on  he/  throat  and  damaged  her 
Ansara.  who  portrays  Cochise  in  of  the  founding  fathers  of  the  larynx  and  Vocal  cords  so  that  her 
the  ABC  “Broken  Arrow”  series.  Commonwealth.  singing  voice  was  lost  and  her 


Saranac  take 

By  Happy  Behway 
Saranac,' N!  Y.-,  Jan.  21. 


the  ABC  “Broken  Arrow”  series.  Commonwealth. 


another  WTCN-TV  program,  will  Some  of  the  unusual  radio  earning  power  reduced.  She 
be  among  the  personalities  fea-  tributes  included  one  from  Norm  claimed  Ityett  was  negligent  in 


tured  in  the  carnival’s  parade. 

SMASH  HIT  | 

THC  GLAMOROUS  NEW  | 

hotel  i 


Show  ^olkvjg.  ravipf-abtHJt  fi»e  :|f 
all  tai^:g 

beafWliifif|i|;  1 
witl3yB^jth  ihd  tfltyiskm;.  ^ 

AVERY  4  WASHINGTON  STS.  1 


Prescott  of  WBZ,  who  played  four  that  he  dfd  not  eject  the  rowdy 
continuous  hours  of  Armstrong  partoii  earlier, 
records,  including  many  collectors’  .  HiTn..  ■  -T.  .  ,-4.. 

items;  an  interview  with  Norm  ^ 3 nf 

Nathan  at  WHDH  that  lasted,  one 


KEN  BARRY 


hour;  John  McLellan,  WHDH  jazz 
expert,  devoted  90  minutes  to 


sault  and  could  not  detect  any  dif¬ 
ference.  in  her  Voice  then  as  com- 


W’-  Bnh  na^nr  wrtTm  7=  pared  to  before  the  incident.  He 
iSnStes  Clayton,  WHDH,  75  ^dded  that  he  her  as  s 

During.  Ms  stay,  Bix  Beider-  dancerandrefused  to  aUow  herto 
becke’s  sister.  lte..Maiy  Louise 
Shoemaker,  of  Lexington, 

brought  in  BIx’s  old  cornet,  en-1  entertainers 

OTsvpfi  7m  Hi*  imiT  “Rtr  i  Q97  *•  ^  club  employees. 


graved  on  the  bell,  “Bix,  1927.”  w-wun- wnpiqyw  ; 

The  Satch  had  his  picture  taken 

ftTe  ‘  BeS^To™  ^d^tSe  Tempest  Stoim  Pelts  Out 

pix  of.  Beid'eibocke  when  he  Vs.  Rival 

wij^i  .Paul  Whiteman,  along  with  ‘  F^aNdf.Gre.;  Jan.  21. 

"Mrs:  Shoehijiker  and  hep  son.  Styippefc  ^FeSipest  Storm  hit  town 

Bekfeiheckea^Annstyong  said:  $1,000  out-of- 

in  e§c*n,  *e’d  e0Mo,dn  with  snit  that  originated  In  1953.  -The 
horn.  When  all  the  cats  left,  we'd  legal  action  Was  result  of  a  hassle, 
lock  the  doors  and  jam-  all  nighu  referred  to  locally  as  “John’s  other 
Our  styles  vert  different,  but  he  i  wife,”  that  involved  Miss  Storm, 


1  was  one  of  the  greatest” 


1958  EDITION  COTTON  CLUB  REVUE 

Starring 

CAB  CALLOWAY 

Fourth  Weak,  COTTON  CLUB,  Miami  loach 

Miami  Na w»— "Collowy,  tfi*  ww  wft»  n«v«r  rows 
old,  it.  slick  in.  top  rot*."— Hath  Kaily 

Mgt.  II  LA  MITTLEt.  161t  headway.  Now  YoHi 


TW  Amaslag  Stan  of  **WHArS  ON  YOUR  MIND" 

Lucille  and' Eddie  ROBERTS 

Held  Over  Until  Jan.  24th— B&B  THEATRE  RESTAURANT.  Indlanapblif 
Opcmnq  Jaa.  31st— Emerald  Beach,  Nassau,  B.W.I.  Met,  M.C.A. 


husband  John  Becker,  and  latter’s 
ex-wife,  Arabella  Andre.  | 

Miss  Storm  came  fully  prepared 
to  defend  herself  against  Miss  An¬ 
dre,  who  used  to  be  a  stripper  in 
her  own  right  The  two  fought 
when  each  was  peeling  at  rival 
burlesque  spots  in  the  city.  Becker 
and  Miss  Storm  had  Miss  Andre 
picke.d  up  mi  mental  illness 
charge  ^hat' .bobmeranged,  hence  : 
the  lawsmt. 1  ) 

The  triaHcaito  gohn  last  Thurs¬ 
day  (10)  with  both  femmes  arriv¬ 
ing  frotn  Los  Angeles  geared  for 
battle.  Both  attorneys  talked  it 
over,  settled,  the  case,  and.  the  la¬ 
dies  wished  each  other  luck.  Miss 
Andre  quit  stripping.  Miss .  Storm 
is  still  battling  with  John  Becker, 
whom  she  divorced  a  year  ago. 
Two  weeks  ago  he  allegedly  tried 
to  run  her  off  the  freeway  in  Los 
Angeles.  She  hopes  to  do  a  film 
apd  is  currently  studying  voice. 


the  Hotel  New  Yorker,  N.Y^  next  Both  Byron  and  the  staffers  in 
month.  ,  the  Chi  AGVA  office  credited 

— 1 — - - —  — —  Variety’s  Jan.  15  account  of  the 

0  f  t  membership  action  here  for  a  raft 

daranac  LaK6  Of  mail  and  scores  of  phonecaUs. 

By  Hanov  Beta  wav  B.was  learned  the  union’s  local 

Saranae^N  Y  Tan  9i  office  received  over  50  calls  last 
The  Saranac^ ^  Laka  wSer  fee  Friday  (17)»  .P1^  ^  aBnost  cbnw 
Carnival  'is  skedded  for  Feb.  7-9.  ?f  me“bers  request- 

Top  attraction  wiB  be  a  minstrel  amplification.  By  late  Friday, 

show  at  Schine’s  Pontiac  Theatre  ?aidxhe  d  Veceived  several 

by  the  Rotary  Club.  Your  old  min-  hundred  letters  “from  all  over ,”  as 
strelman  Happy  Benway  is  pro-  *s  many  phonecalls,  some 

during  and  writing  the  material  from  other  cities, 
for  the  production  to  be  directed  .  '  ■  ■  —— . 

by  :.  Jack  Roosa,  ex-vaudevilllan 

now  owner  of  the  Lake  Clear  Inn.  IfpAi  11111111/  1 

(This  is  a  new  angle  in  show  biz;  KILN  DAKiC  ■  I 

the  Show  is  being  produced  and  I 

written  at  the  bedside  of  Benway  ~  ' 

at  the  Will  Rogers  Hospital  and 
sent  to  the  various  rehearsal,  halls  ; 

by  remote  control).  Many  local 
civic  leaders  and  businessmen  will 
take  part  in  the  show,  including  the 
Paul  Smith  College  Glee  Club  of 
24  voices;  Dr.  Henry  Leech,  one 
of  the  old  NVA  sanatorium  medi¬ 
cos  of  the  early  ’20s,  will  act  as  lifECf  iKimee  >>mci 

interiocutor;  Charlotte  Roosa,  for-  ■•65T  INDIES  CRIIISI  . 

*Peer'  ia  vals?  a  Thanks  Bramson  Office 
member  of  the  cast;  music  by  Joe 

Boland  orchestra  in  the  pit  Mgt.:  Sti$  Will  Weber.  Mew  Yeik 

Thanks  to  boniface  Benito  Col- 

lada  and  Rosita  of  El  Chico  Club  s========  1  1  ■  ■== 

cheerful  holiday  greetings.  HI  GINO’S  SUPPER  CLUB] 

...  Evelyn  Ellis  (of  original  produc-  Audmonins  N*w  Nam** 

^or8y  &  B0Ss  ),  a  new  ■nt*rtaln*r*  In  Spanlih 

^ival  .on  our  third  floor,  fr  show-  *nd  Afro-cobah 

ing  definite  progress.  Ditto  Joe  _  .  mi  ^  . 

(LATSE)  Dietrich  Sr.,  theatre  elec-  G  I  N  ,0  9  S 

i  x  x«  «.  ...  656  Flandom*  Rciad 

Write  to  those  whp  are  ill.  M*nhatt*i,  l.  i.  ma  mw 


WEST  INDIES  CRUISI 

Thanks  Bramson  Officei 
Mgf.:  Sa|  Will  Weber,  Mew  Yavfc 

GINO’S  SUPPER  CLUB 

Audltlonln*  N*w  N«m*t 
■nt*rt*ln*r*:  In  Spanish 
and  Afra-Cubah 

GINO’S 

156  Plandom*  Road 
Manhattan  L.  I.  MA  7-M1Y 


The  DEEP  RIVER  BOYS 

Starring  HARRY  DOUGLASS 
9th  Inlernationol  Tour 

TOWN  CASINO  ^ 

Dirodien:  WILLIAM  MORRIS  AGENCY  Tgfll 

Pan.  Mgn  ED  KIRKEBY  Jf  ^ 


Iff  H  I  III! 
EH  A  Ai  l  11  Is 

All  ■  Communications  to  Mr.  Mark  j.  Loddy  46  Watt  46th  St.  Now  Yyrk,  N.  Y. 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


Aussies  Dicker  (or  Jap  Invasion* 

Seek  First  Look  at  Nip  Performers 


Tokyo,  Jan.:  14.  4r — v  H - ..  ; - ?— 

Finalization  was  expected  mo-  «  .  ■ 

mentarily  of  a  pact  that  will  send  SCO!  ACt$  ASS61DDled 

Japans  parformers  to  ^  &X<fflCeriOlir 

Harry  Wren,  topper  of  Down  Glasgow,  Jan.  21. 

Under’s  Celebrity  circuit,  breezed  Kenneth  McKellar,  rising  Scot 
into  town  to  put  finishing  touches  tenor,  is  pacted  to  head  a  vaude 
to  negtiations  with  the  Toho  Co.  unit  for  a  Canada  and  U.  S.  tour  in 
to  transplant  the  latter’s  Nichigeki  the  fall.  He  will  plane  out  Sept. 
Theatre’s  ‘‘Autumn  Dance”  of  last  10,  with  comedian  Aly  Wilson,  mu- 
October  to  Aussie  stages.  The  steal  duo  Margo  Henderson  &  Sam 
i.  ....  .  _  bin«nm  Kemp,  and  musician  Bobby  Mac- 

show,  retitled  Cherry  Blossom  Leo(f  Another  act  Is  being  set. 

Revue”  will  open  at  the  Sydney  Neil  Kirk  Scot-born  agent,  in 
Empire  with  Vice-Regal  per-  fr0m  N.  yM  pacted  the  Auld  Lang 
formance  March  14  aind  close  12  Syne  acts  for  his  annual  national 
weeks  later  in  Melbourne.  concert  tour. 

A  troupe  of  60,  including  Japa-  McKellar  is  fast-climbing  singer 
„  -w  here  with  a  national  tv  series  com- 

nese  film  fitw  Fubuki  Kosiji.  ^  up  Unit  is  strongest  to  be  set 
crooner  Jimmy  Shigeta,  thrush  f0r  Canada  from  Scotland  for  some 
Peggy  Hayama  and  possibly  pert  years. 

singing  youngster  Izumi  Yukiraura,  — — — - •“ — ^ 

will  be  airlifted  several  days  ni  -  11  I  A 

earlls  ft  fstumes' etc- wm  Mieraton  tins  A.L. 

precede  by  boat. 

Heavy  toll  of  transport  will  ■%.  m  Jl  /  U#1 

bring  about  an  innovation  in  Aus-  Klfa  Iai*  M.Va-I?|1I 
sie  show  skedding,.  according  to  1V1  y  v  ” 

Wren,  with  the  Japanese  unit  Atlantic  City.  Jan.  21: 

working  14  shows  a  week  instead  Biggest  winter  deal  here  was 
of  the  Usual  eight.  Two-a-night  ci0Sed  last- week  (15)  when  Shera- 
Will  prevail  except  on  Wednesdays  tonCorp.  of  America  acquired  the 
and  Saturdays  when  matinees  will  i7-story  Ritz-Carlton  Hotel,  located 
be  added.  Aussie  theatres  are  pn  the  lower  Boardwalk,  for 
dark  bn  Sunday.  $4,250,000.  It  is  the  47th  hotel  prop? 

Wren  anticipated  no  serious  op-  erty  owned  by  the  corporation, 
position  to  the  Japanese  perform-  Hotel  and,  adjacent  convention 
ers  in  a  nation  where  war  mem-  hall  and  stores  fronting  Boardwalk 
cries  are  still  nursed  bitterly  by  had  been  owned  by  Edward*  N. 
some.  Wren  has  solicited  the  Margolin  and  A.  T.  Orleans',  the 
backing  of  each  country’s  govern-  former  with  the  late  Harry  Katz 
ment  on  his  project  and  feels  the  acquiring  it  from  J:  Myer  Schine  in 
show  will  benefit  in  goodwill  at  1952  for  $3,250,000.  Acting  for  the 
least  as  much  as  the  respective  Sheraton  Corp.  was  Robert  L. 
pocketbooks  of  the  showmen.  Moore,  of  Boston,  chairman  of  the 

During  Prime  Minister  Kisi’s  re-  corporation.  « 

cent  visit  to  Australia,  Wren  was  Improvements  contemplated  in- 
the  only  theatrical  representative  elude  installation  of  a  swim  pool, 
invited  to  all  the  functions.  class  restaurant  and  air-condition- 

To  assure  authentic  duplication  ing  of  all  sleeping  rooms. 

Of  the  predominantly  extravaganza.  Top  Sheraton  executives  here  for 
Wren  had  the  show  taped  and  the  deal  included  Elmer  E.-  Boswell, 
filmed  in  color  and  sent  to, Aus-  pf  Boston,  senior  vicepresident; 
Jralia  for  study  by  technicians.  Irvine  Shubert,  New  York,  vlce- 
Show  blends  modem  'Japanese  president  and  general  counsel,  and 
numbers  with  Western  routines,  h.  Mx  Smith,  of  Boston,  Vicepresi- 
Wren  cut  several  of  the  latter  dent  'in  charge  of  sales.  Resort  ho- 
from.  the  original  to  add  more  felmenwith  city  officials  and  press 
Japanese  flavor.  and  radio  attended  a  “get-ac- 

If  the  show  proves  a  click,  Wren  quainted  party”  as  final  papers 
will  return  to  Japan  and  produce  were  signed, 
papers  that  give  him  exclusive  "With  a  sales  staff  of  150  working 
rights  to  the  Shochiku  all-girl  re-  to  bring  conventions  here,  new 
Vue  based  on  the  Kokusai  Theatre  owners  are  expected  to  hypo  off- 
here  for  October  production. _  season  winter  convention  business 


PSSEETt 


BERLE’S  KRAFT  TV’ER 
DELAYS  FLA.  LQ  BOW 

,  Milton  Berle’s  date  at  the  /Latin 
Quarter,  Miami  Beach,  has .  again 
j  been  postponed;  this  time  from 
Feb.  19  to  23,  to,  permit  him  to 
appear  in  a  straight  dramatic  role 
on  “Kraft  TV  Theatre”  Feb.  19. 

Originally  Berle  was  -to  have 
started  in  the  Florida  cafe  on  Feb. 
5.  However,  a  leg  ailment  forced 
the  original,  postponement  for  two 
weeks,  and  the  teleshow  engage¬ 
ment  for  another  four  days.  Orig¬ 
inal  stand  for  five  weeks  will  now 
be  limited  to  three  weeks. 


FUN-MASTER 

professional 

COMEDY  MATERIAL 
for  all  Theatricals 
"W*  Service  the  Stars" 

Big  Cleae-Oet  Special  or  Alt 
35  Gag  Piles  for  Oely  $15 
Pies  $1.00  Postage 
e  3  Parody  Books,  Per  ■*••••  *!?• 
•  4  Blackout  Books,  Per  Bk.  .  i.SSS  e 
O  Minstrel  Budiet  .  : . . .  «5  e 

Mew  to  Mister  the  Cersmenles 
<S  per  Copy 

No  C.O.D's  .  "Always  Open" 

BILLY  GLASON 

200  W.  34th  St-  N.Y.C.,  1*  Circle  7-113# 
(WK  TEACH  EMCEEING  ondCOMEDY) 
(Let  e  Reel  Professional  Train  YOU) 


LEONARD  GARR 


His  Plane  and 
Sena  Styllna 

Currently 
3#th  Week 
PIANO  BAR 
Sen  Francisco 


ANTHONY 

AGENCY 

Pelrmont 


San  Francisco 
DO  2-SM7 


Atlantic  City,  Jan.  21. 

Biggest  winter  deal  here  was 
closed  last- week  (15)  when  Shera¬ 
ton  Corp.  of  America  acquired  the 
17-story  Ritz-Carlton  Hotel,  located 
on  the  lower  Boardwalk,  for 
$4,250,000.  It  is  the  47th  hotel  prop¬ 
erty  owned  by  the  corporation. 

Hotel  and,  adjacent  convention 
hall  and  stores  fronting  Boardwalk 
had  been  owned  by  Edward*  N. 
Margolin  and  A.  T.  Orleans',  the 
former  with  the  late  Harry  ’ Katz 
acquiring  it  from  J:  Myer  Schine  in 
1952  for  $3,250,000.  Acting  for  the 
Sheraton  Corp,  was  Robert  L. 
Moore,  of  Boston,  chairman  of  the 
corporation.  « 

Improvements  contemplated  in¬ 
clude  installation  of  a  swim  .pool, 
class  restaurant  and  air-condition¬ 
ing  of  all  sleeping  rooms. 

Top  Sheraton  executives  here  for 
the  deal  included  Elmer  E.'  Boswell, 
of  Boston,  senior  vicepresident; 
Irvine  Shubert,  New  York,  vice- 
president  and  general  counsel,  and 
H.  M,  Smith,  of  Boston,  Vicepresi- 
dent  ’in  charge  of  sales.  Resort  ho- 
telmen  with  city  officials  and  press 
and  radio  attended  a  “get-ac¬ 
quainted  party”  as  final  papers 
were  signed. 

With  a  sales  staff  of  150  working 
to  bring  conventions  here,  new 
owners  are  expected  to  hypo  off¬ 
season  winter  convention  business 
on  which  not  only  hotels  but  much 
of  the  rest  of  the.  community  de^ 
j  pend  upon.  " 

Ritz-Carlton  was  built  at  a  cost  of 
$6,250,000  and  was  opened  in  the 
summer  of  1921. 


NX.  Fair  Advances  Dates 
In  Bow  to  Graham  Crusade 

Charlotte,  N.  C.t  Jan.  21. 

The  Southern  States  Fair  will  be 
held  at  Charlotte  two  weeks  ear¬ 
lier  than  usual  this-  year  io  avoid 
conflict  With  the  Billy  Graham 
Crusade.  J.  Dorton,  general  man¬ 
ager  of  the  fair,  has  set  the  dates 
of  Sept.  16-20,  two  weeks  earlier 
than  heretofore, 

Dorton  explained  that  the  Char¬ 
lotte  and  Shelby  fairs  simply 
switched  dates.  The  Shelby  event, 
usually  held  the  last  of  September, 
will  he  held  Sept.  30-Oct,  4. 

“We  don’t  want  to  compete  with 
Billy  Graham,”  Dorton  said.  “We 
rejoice  with  Charlotte,  in  getting 
him  here.  I’m  highly  in  favor  of  it 
arid  Charlotte  is  extremely  lucky 
to  get  him.” 

The  Billy  Graham  Crusade  will 
open  in  Charlotte.  Coliseum  Sept. 
21  and  will  run  for  four  weeks, 
with  possibility  of  a  fifth. 


For  ‘Capades  In 
Hub;  Air  Ads  Help 

Boston,  Jan.  21. 

Extra  advertising  expenditures 
poured  into  radio  and  tv  helped 
“Ice  Capades”  attain  a  new  record 
during  its  17-day  stand  at  the.  Bos¬ 
ton  Garden,  ending  Jan,  12.  Show  ; 
scored  $531,000,  nearly  $100,00a 
more  than  the  previous  high  mark 
set  in  1947- 

The  gross  is  considered  Amazing 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  advance 
was  only  $8,000  more  than  last 
year,  when  -  the  show  didn’t  have 
one  of  its  better  stands  in  this 
town. 

Generally,  the  Garden  as  well  as 
the  show  management  spent  mini¬ 
mal.  sums  in  radio-tv,  and  the  en¬ 
tire  push  was  made  in  newspaper 
ads  and  publicity.  Apparently  the 
increased  expenditures  paid  off  in 
the  top  take,  especially  when 
coupled  with  the  fact  that  “Ice 
Capades”  drew  the  strongest 
views  it  has  had  in  years. 

Safchmo,  Carol  Channing 
Set  for  K.CZ  Auto  Show 

Kansas  City,  Jan.  21. 

Annual  K.C.  Auto  Show  here  Is 
going  in  for  a  bevy  of  big  names, 
the  committee  planning  at  least 
four  for  the  nine-day  run  which 
begins  March  1. 

Already,  set  are  Carol  Channing 
to  open  and  play  the  show  March 
1-2.  Following  will  be  Louis  Arm¬ 
strong,  March  3-4.  Other  names 
are  being  negotiated  and  will  be 
announced  shortly,  according  to 
Music  Corp..  of  America  which 
holds  the  talent  contract  . 


VAUDEVILLE  69 


Powwows  Cue  Overall  B.O.  Increase 

The  convention  business  is  be- 4 - : - - — - — - 

brassiere  show  and  the  outerwear 

IE  SsSiSkfZ  4»».  These  two  displays  hav* 
cttie&  WiUi  the  giant  confabs  .(hat  pu|Ie(j  in  a  jot  ot  t,uyers  in  ,gdl- 

«on  t0  the  normal  complement  of 
fiir  mercantile  house  representatives 

^p^a^toSf  lt  lmtb^meV  *h° «  «»me  in  at  this  time 
according  to  one  boniface,  the  tail  „  _  ,  * 

that  Is  wagging  the  dog.  .Jew  York  generally  gets  around 

.  T  XT  “  T  ..  .  .  .  _  700  conventions  per  annum.  Th# 

o rnni f n ^ p t  fhp  N*  Y‘  Convention  Bureau  is  trying 
**  Motorboat  Show  at  the  to  t  flgure  up  to  1,000,  dif- 

N.  Y.  Cohseum  has  given  the  aura  fer|nce  to  b|  str#t?gically  slotted 
5f-?la?P?"^a^f*are-*le,re-a®a*n-  so.  that  the  new  biz  will  not  strain 
^Th^^iMn0  Dn^rter  h»tel  capacity  at  normally  busy 
side  inns.  The  I^tin  Quarter,  tjmes  0f  year.  The  convention 

*8sre  doesn,t  *”clude  sales  and 
biz  on  the  dinner  shows  and  good  company  meetings,  a  count  ol 
b.o.  te  the  late  semester.  The  .whicFh  ^  ,mp0Ssible  to  determine. 
Copacabana,  with  Nat  King  Cole  _  v  .t.  *•  .  . 

heading  the  bill,  has  been  doing  In  both  the  convention  and  sales 
excellently,  but!  an  'extra  push  is  meets  the  per-capita  average  zoomi . 
being  enjoyed  because;  of  the  add-  because  of  the  fact  that  most  ol 
ed  influx  of  the  amateur  mariners,  them  are  on  expense  accounts  oi 
The  boat  show  has  had  the  effect  on  specific  invitation  of  their  re-. 
Of  putting  a  lot  of  business  info  active  *rms.  Thus,  an  extra 
the  westside  hotels..  The  eastside  drink^or  an  extra  guest  is  of  littlB 
inns  have  had  the  benefits  of  the  consideration  in  most  instances. 

.  .  ■ "  .  _ _ _ ^ _ _  There  are  a  lot  of  minor  conven- 

i  tions  which  scarcely  cause  a  ripple 

l  IV  1  ■*  I  I  *f  in  the  amount  of  hotel  and  cafe 

rniflPnmi  I  ITP  business.  The  bulk  of  these  are 

1  1  UUvUlllU  lilt  v  merely  included  In  the  overall 

count  of  out-of-town  business.  The 
HP  I.  1JI„L  DlJ^  extra-added  hoxoffice  comes  pour- 

laKes  niectL  Didsf.  ^ in  wuh  ^  wg-wf*^ 

auiivo  ivivvui  “O  Bonifaces  throughout  midtown 
p  *tnn  T.n  91  New  York  have  long  felt  the  bene- 

Mechanics  BuUdta™'whiehfor  ■“ ‘ha“nfS,S  tSZEaS: 

j  Jr.  it,. v>*x.  „„„  seum,  which  has  been,  responsible 

i  many,  years  served  as  Hubs  con?*  -  ■  „  .  ,  ,  _ 

nnvif iiin  -  an/i  eh/uii  Vioii  j,  ,miir  for  a  lot  of  extra  coin.  It -saddens 

pro^rty“te?rudential  LUe  U-  ‘ha™ldt0™ 

ciiponon  Pa  W-l!,-|  nonnWe  *-  DUSlUCSS  QUlluCr  Of  tlldTl  Rll 

surance  Co.  rlnal  papers  nave  been  ^  .  . .  -  « 

with  mimhacp  nripp  rpnnrt.  couldn  t  be  repeated  at  the  Coli- 


passed,  with  purchase  price  report¬ 
ed  to  be  $800,000; 


seum  because  of  prior  commit¬ 
ments  by  the  building.  This*  was 


The  Mechanic  Charitable  Assn.,  the  auto  show.  The  boat  ahd  the 
which  sold  the  property  to  Pru-  flower  show  are  next  in  line, 
dential,  ^immediately  leased  it  slmU  situa0ons  prevaa  ln 
back,  and  will  continue  to  use  it 

until  Prudential  is  *ady  to  start  ev®  ly  city*  ,  fny 

raring  for  the  building  of  Hub’s  •  Paries  ..have,  gone  in  for  auditori- 
"Rorkpfeilpr  ripntrp'"  um  and  arena  construction  in  an 

Kocxefeuer  centre.  effort  to  entice  extra  trade  into 

^  A  three-year  lease  was  inked  by  their  bailiwicks.  More  business- 
t^e1.»S5?ciaiti0nw,f°fJ:contl^ued\_,ise  men  providing  support  for 
of  Mechanics  Building,  but  there  convention  bureaus  ahd  chambers 
is  a  sixmonth .  cancellation  clause.  0f  commerce. 

Exact  date  for  raring  and  start  of  Meanwhile,  talent  agencieshbotel 
construction  for  the  multi-million-  organizations,  restaurateurs  and 
dollar  Prudential  Centre  is  not  yet  Cafe  ops  have  come  to  realize  that 
.known.  the  entertainment  industry  is  rely- 

Test  borings  and  soundings  of  ing,  increasingly  on  convention 
the  property  site  have  been  going  business..  It  is  no  longer  an  in- 
on  for  many  months.  One  of  the  centive  toward  added  revenue,  but 
early  sections  of  the  new  centre  actually  the  difference  between 
to  be  started  will  be  the  new  6,500-  profit  and  loss,  and  may  even  de¬ 
seat  Civic  Auditorium  and  Con-  termine  whether  operators  can 
•ventlon  Hall.  stay  in  business: 


WILL 

JORDAN 


Opening  FEB.  3rd 

BLINSTRUB’S 


Boston 


RD  Headline  Engagement 


WILLIAM  MORRIS  AGENCY 


Personal  Management! 

ROY  DUKE  . 


71 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


$t.  RegIf,  X.  V. 

Doretta  Morrow  (with  Don  Pip-: 
pen,.  August  Lamont),  Milt  Shaw 
Orch*  Ray  Bari  Ensemble;  $2-$3 
cover , 


They  should  -export  her  to  Italy 
and  have  Hollywood  rediscover  her 
as  Doretta  Marano. 

Under  that  qr  any  other  family 
name,  including  the  professional 
handle  of  Doretta  Morrow,  here’s 
a  singer  and  personality  maderto- 
reorder  for  the  St.  Regis’  Maison¬ 
ette  Room  or  any  other  poshery  on 
the  saloon  belt.  She  not  only  has 
what  it  takes  but  takes  what  she 
has  seriously,  enough  to  produce  a 
warm,  elegant  and  altogether  in¬ 
gratiating  performance. 

When,  some  five  years  ago.  Miss 
Morrow  had  a  crack  at  Metro’s 
“B.ecause  You’re  Mine,”  the  Mario 
Lanza  starrer,  and  that  was  that, 
it  -may  have  been  because  .one 
couldn’t  see  the  Morrow  for  the 
Lanza,  or  because  “Hollywood  is 
like  that”— a  sometimes  one-time 
thing.  •  ^ 

If  she  were  called  Gina  or 
Sophia,  she’d  mayhap  be.  obliged 
to  pore  on  the  Italo  stuff.  Actually, 
in  her  Maisonette  menu,  she  puts 
a  short  medley  in  that  tongue  at 
the  forepart,  with  a  bow  “to  my 
mother  (in  the  audience)  who 
taught  me,”  She  chirps  the  group 
like  she’s  just  off  the  S.S.  Vul- 
cania;  and  when  she  goes,  next  and 
to  the  tape,  into  vocals  in  English, 
the  Italo  has  been  so  effective  that 
one  expects  her  to  have  an  English 
accent  for  the  carryover  stint.  (Her 
articulation  in  American  is  perfect, 
not  because  she’s  American  but  be¬ 
cause,  she’s  Doretta  Morrow.)  It’s 
a  remarkable  illusion  that  she  sets 
up,  consciously  or  no. 

Miss  Morrow’s  is  a  clean  act  in 
more  ways  than  one.  Her  lofty 
soprano  is  sweet,  warm,  pure  and 
Idyllically  at  home,  in  the  register; 
so  only,  “cleanliness”  fits.  The  only 
concession  to  a  bit  of  tabasco  is  . in 
one  song,  the  breezy,  jaunty  and 
only  slightly  leerish  “Kisses 
Sweeter  Than  Wine,”  which  it  so 
happens  is  one  of  the  best  from 
her  shelf. 

Curiously,  Miss  Morrow’s  sole 
little  troubles  are  at  the  mike; 
away  from  it,  she’s  smash,  since 
she  has  legit  operetta  pipes  with 
thrilling  trills,  bub  at  the  infernal 
machine,  where  she  has  to  be  a 
bit  husky  and  in  the  more  popish 
groove,  the  gadget  is  against  her. 
Moreover,  it  was  not  properly  lev¬ 
eled  at  her  dinner-show  premiere 
(16).  -  A  small  criticism. 

Fjrst  part  of  her  turn,  wham: 
warmup;  last  part,  surefire.  For¬ 
ward  from  the  middle,  it  consists 
of  a  smartly  handled  package  of 
“Sentimental  Journey,”  “By  Light 
of  Silvery  Moon,”  “Hi-Lili”  and,  to 
no  one’s  surprise,  “Stranger  in 
Paradise,”,  f  r  o  m  her  “Kismet” 
musical  of  a  few  years  hack.  For 
“Silvery  Moon”  (she  takes  the  corn 
out  of  that  wunherful  warhorse) 
she  even  essays  a  bit  of  lively 
terpsichore.  At  bring-back,  again 
with  the  personal  but  Unspoken 
and-then-I-appeared-in ;  touch,  she 
handles  a  twosome  from,  her’s  “The 
King  &  I”  which  she  says  are  not 
often  heard.  Maybe  if  “We  Kiss  In 
a  Shadow”  and  “Shall  We  Dance?” 
(plus  her  /The  Song  Is  You” 
thomer)  were  sung  the  Morrow 
way  R&H  yould  get  a  lot  more 
mileage  out  of  these  two  beauts. 

If  Miss  Morrow  weren’t  also  a 
curvaceous  looker  with  taste  and 
dignity  in  the  couture  department, 
she’d  still  be  a  large  click  on  voice 
and  projection.  She  does  better 
than  a  half-hour,  which  is  lotsa 
trackage  for  this  slim-trim  gal;  not 
long  ago  in  her  cafe  act' she  was 
Wont  to  break  it  up,  via  guitarist 
solo,  for  a  costume  change..  At  her 
return  St.  Regis  stand,  guitarist 
August  Lament  is  still  around  and 
a  fine  supporter;  and  that  goes 
double  for  her  pianist-conductor 
Don  .Pippen,  backed  up  by  the.  old 
reliable  Milt  Shaw,  with  the  Ray 
Bail  group  on  the  .dansapafion. 

Trau. 


Flamingo,  Las  Vegas 

Las  Vegas,  Jan.  17.  , 
Alan  King,  The  Goofers  (5), 
Dolores  Hawkins;  Marilyn  Van  Der- 
but,  Don  Kirk,  Flamingoettes  (13), 
Jack.  Cathcart  Orch  ( 15) ;  choreog¬ 
raphy  by  Jean  Devlyn;  produced  by 
Jack  Cathcart;  $3  minimum. 

■  Alan  King  finally  made  it — he 
headlines  the  show  here  after  be¬ 
ing  featured  and  extra-added  on 
umpteen  Flamingo  Room  bills  in 
the  past.  To  no  one’s  surprise, 
King  socks  across  his  standby  com¬ 
edy  routines  in  a  manner  which 
clearly  indicates  he  Could  have 
handled  the  top  spot  long  before 
this.  His  one-liners,  situation  gags 
and  topical  observations  (“Elvis 
goes  into  the  Army  soon,  so/he’s 
making  six  movies  within  the  next 
four  days”)  got  warm  response 
from  firstnighters,  and-  the  strung 
support  he  gets  from  the  Goofers 
(5)  and  Dolores  Hawkins  makes  for , 


t  well-balanced,  fast-moving  show. 

Marilyn  Van  Derbur.MiM  Amer¬ 
ica  of  1958,  is  a  Special  attraction, 
being  lhtfoed  by  King.  The  poised 
beauty  chats  briefly  with  the  star, 
but  does,  none  of  the  chirping 
which  helped  her  win  at  Atlantic 
City. 

The  Goofers,  longtime  .  Vegas 
faves,  haven’t  changed  their  zoom¬ 
ing  act,  but  nobody  seems  to  care. 
The  acrobatic  musicians .  present 
their  rapidly-paced  mixture  of 
sdngology,  slapstick,  pogo  stick  and 
trapeze  stunts  which  build  to  a 
frantic  finale..  It’s  an  act  that’s 
hard  to  follow,  but  Alan  King  does 
it  gracefully. 

Dolores  Hawkins  makes  her 
Vegas  debut  jn  this  one.  The  per¬ 
sonable  looker  clicks  with  engaging 
personality  and  animation,  putting 
distinctive  styling  into  such  songs 
as  “Where  or  When,”  “My  Man” 
and  “St.  Louis  Blues.” 

Don  Kirk  is  effective  with  his 
delivery  of  “Night  and  Day”  in  the 
opening  production  number,  which 
is  danced  with  precision  by  the 
Flamingoettes  <13)  and  backed  with 
the  proper  flair  by  Jack  Cathcart’s 
orch  (15).  Duke i 


The  Largo,  H’wood 

Hollywood,  Jan.  21. 
Four  Preps,  Sue  Raney,  Eddie 
Grady  Orch;  $4  maximum. 


Chuck  Landis’  $4  maximum  for 
all  the  hootch  you  can  drink  in  an 
evening  at  his  Largo  Sunset  strip 
nitery  won’t  be  of  any  particular 
concern  with  Current  booking  of 
the  Four  Preps  and  Sue  Raney. 
Both  acts,  under  pact  to  Capitol 
Records,  are  in  the  teenage  bracket 
and  will  draw  this,  trade,  with  the. 
older  patrons  attending  out  of 
curiosity  Or  as  chaperones.  At  Fri¬ 
day’s.  (17)  opener,  the  house  was 
packed  with  teeners  (menu-men¬ 
tioned  via  "minors  soft  drinks 
only”),  who  greeted  the  entire  show 
with  much  enthusiasm. 

The  Four  Preps,’  one  of  the 
newer  vocal  groups  to  hit  the.  disk 
market  and  all  alumni  of  Holly¬ 
wood  High;  have  a  good  chance  to 
ibreak  big — that  is,  If  their  biscuits 
go  over  as  well  as  they,  did  during 
their  30-minute  turn.  They  score 
solidly,  both  in  Vocalizing  and  per¬ 
sonality.  They  have  a  charm  and 
appeal  which  exemplifies  the  typi¬ 
cal  American  youth,  and  these  can 
be  their  biggest  assets  in  climbing 
the  ladder.  Surprising  is  the 
group’s  avoidance  of  the  rock  ’n’ 
[roll  numbers.  In  fact,  they  mimic 
a  song  of  the  genre,  which  actually 
seemed  to  please  the.  crowd.  . 

Also  billed  is  Miss  Raney,  who 
proves  a  capable  singer  and  an 
easy  one  to  look  at— but  she  will 
nee^  more  of  a  distinctive  style  to 
hit  major  stature.  Chirp,  still  in 
her  teens,  is  reminiscent  of  the 
typical  singers  heard  so  frequently 
in  the  days  of  the  big  bands.  She 
could  /have  picked  up  this  styling 
during  her  three'  months  at  the 
Palladium  with  Ray  Anthony’s 
orch.  Eddie.  Grady’s  band  back¬ 
stops  both  show  and  dancers. 

Kafa. 


Beverly  Hills,  Newport 

Newport,  Ky.,  Jan.  17. 

Beverlee  Dennis,  Little  Buck, 
Donn  Arden .  Dancers  (10)  with 
Clay  Mundey,  Mary  Fassett,  Mar¬ 
lene  Powers,  Gardner  Benedict 
Orch  <10),  Jimmy  Wilbur  Trio; 
Larry  Vincent;  $3  minimum,  $4 
Sat. 


Beverlee  Dennis,  chic  comedi¬ 
enne,  and  Little  Buck,  Jet  hoofer, 
combine  with  this  plush  casino’s 
popular  production  ensemble  and 
musickers  for  a  sprightly  flOorshow 
in  the  current,  fortnighter.  On  re¬ 
peats,  both  singles  boost  their  rat¬ 
ings  with  Greater  Cincinnati  Cafe- 
goers.  v 

Miss  Dennis  makes  her  half-hour 
on  the  boards  pass,  quickly  with 
sparkling  material  and  personality 
with  showmanship  tor  match. 
Fetching  in  a  short  black  strapless 
gown  and  a  distinctive  do-it-your¬ 
self  hair  bob,  the  dashing  diminu¬ 
tive  clown  is  at  ease  in  banging 
home  saucy  patter.  Ditto  for  her 
impersonations  and-  singing;  The 
Sophie  Tucker  takeoff  Is  a  classic. 
Her  treatment  of  the  Yiddish 
square  dance  caller  in  the  Catskills 
and  the  star,  who  marries  his  critic 
are  standouts. 

Little  Buck,  billed  as  “rhythmic 
lightning,”  racks  up  heavy  applause 
over  a  13-minute  route.  Hits  high 
with  Impressions  of  the  Four  Step 
Bros,  and  motor  and  train  sounds. 
Makes  good  use  of  a  mike  pickup 
from  floor  for  tapping;  dresses 
neatly  and  wears  white  shoes  to 
focus  attention  on  his  business 
tools; 

Classy  “Bon  Voyage”  and  “Span¬ 
ish  Rhapsody”  numbers  by  the 
Donn  Arden  line  have  Clay  Mun¬ 
dey  and  Mary  Fassett  on  vocal 
duets  and  Marlene  Powers  as  bah ' 
let  soloist.  Session  opening  Jan.  31 
has  Jane  Morgan  as  headliner. 

Roll, 


NIGHT  CLI7B  REVIEWS 


PA&iEff 


Bine  Angel,  N»  Y. 

Bobby  Short*  Jorie  Remus,  Caro¬ 
lina  &  Beleh,  Bob  Lewis,  Jimmy 
Lyon  Trio,  Bart  SWift;*$6  mint- 
mum. 


It’s  hot  often  that  the  Blue  Angel 
gets  a  pair  of  acts  that  can  attract 
different  types  of  audiences  and 
keep  the  place  hopping  with  enter¬ 
tainment.  satisfactory  to  all.  The 
Herbert  Jacoby-Max  Gordon  spot 
has  that  combo  in  Bobby  Short  and 
Carolina  &  Belen  (latter  New 
Acts),  who  bring  in  diverse  Crowds. 
Short,  with  a  successful  record  in 
N.Y.  eastsideries,  has  an  actual 
following  who.  come  early  and  often 
dining  his  cafe  recitals.  Carolina  & 
Belen,  a  mother  &  daughter  team, 
have  admirers  in  from  various 
language  Colonies.  Others  on-  the 
bill  are  Bob  Lewis,  also  New  Acts, 
and . Jorie  Remus,  a  repeater  here. 
Altogether  it’s  an  entirely  satis¬ 
factory  session. 

Short,  playing  his  first  date  here, 
gets  along  excellently  with  some  of 
the  top  musical  material  extant.  He 
goes  for  musical  comedy  tunes, 
gives  them  force  and  individual 
treatment.  The*  Negro  singer  pro¬ 
vides  his  own  piano  acComp,  which 
adds  more  color  to  his .  off ering. 
He’s  proficient  in  both  depart¬ 
ments.  Short  seems  to  lean  to. 
Rodgers  &  Hart  in  doing  some  of 
the  better  known  tunes  from  many 
of  the  great  tunesmiths  as  well  as 
the  lesser  known  efforts  of  these 
top  men.  It’s  an  offering  of  great 
variety  that  gets  top  response. 

Miss  Remus  hit  an  excellent 
stride  at  show  caught.  Her  mate¬ 
rial  is  well-tailored  and  cut  out  to 
raise  laughter.  She  plays  this  spot 
often  and :  seemingly  has  a  good 
time  in  it.  So  has  the  crowd.  The 
1  Jimmy  Lyon  Trio  backstops  capa¬ 
bly.  Bart  Howard  emcees.  Jose. 


365  Club,  San  Francisco 

San  Francisco,  Jan.  16. 

Peggy  Ryan  &  Ray  McDonald, 
Paul  Desmond,  Dorothy  Dorben 
Dancers  (10)  with  Bob  Thompson, 
Allan  COle,  Alex  Duchin  Orch  (9)  ; 
$1-$1.50  cover. 

Peggy  Ryan  <&  Ray  McDonald 
are  an  engaging  pair  of  dancers 
who  get  a  nice  hand  from  the  cus¬ 
tomers  in  Bimbo’s  latest  55-minute 
show.  Femme  handles  the- comedy, 
end  and  the  male — a  really  fine 
dancer— bolds:  up  the  terp  values. 

.  After,  their  opener;  they  offer 
their  version  of  “The  Old  Soft 
Shoe,”  go  into  a  dahdy  English 
clog  dance,  do  bits  a  la  Pat  Rooney, 
Eddie  Leonard,  Bill  Robinson  and 
Eleanor  Powell,  and  wind  up  with 
a  cute  and  funny  Charleston  that, 
gives  Miss  Ryan  a  chance  to  Clown 
briefly. 

The  rest  of  the  show,  unfortun¬ 
ately,  is  not  so  spritely.  Paul  Des¬ 
mond  starts  out  as  a  standup 
comic,  with  some  fairly  feeble  ma¬ 
terial,  then  switches  into  impres¬ 
sions  of  nine  pop  singers  (not  all 
at  the  same  time):  the  latter  is 
received  fairly  well.  The  Dorothy 
Dorben  opening  and  closing  num¬ 
bers  seem  sub-standard;  less  imag¬ 
inative  and  less  well-rehearsed 
than  usual, :  though  dancer  Bob 
Thompson  and  singing  emcee 
Allan  Cole  come  over  well.  Alex 
Du  chin’s  orch  has  some  cue 
trouble,:  but  sounds  good.  Show  is 
booked,  for  three  weeks.  Stef, 

Old  Romanian*  N.  Y. 

Ted  Lewis  utith  Eddie  Chester . 
Cathy  .  Basic,  ,  Beverly  Marshall,. 
Boots  McKenhd’s .  Guys  and  Dolls 
(15);  $4.50  minimum,  $5.50  week¬ 
ends,. 

The  indestructible  Ted  Lewis, 
with  considerably  more  snow,  at 
the  temples  today  but  definitely 
no  loss  of  swagger  and  zing  in  his 
voice  or  clarinet,  is  in  for.  four 
weeks  at  the  new  Old  Roumanian. 
It’s  a  merry,  capacious  carton  of 
nostalgia  that  Lewis  serves  the 
seltzer-braving  customers  at  Jack 
Silverman’s  uptown  bistro. 

Lewis  has.  surrounded  himself 
with  sturdy  talent,  notably  Beverly 
Marshall,  a  gamine-like  creature 
who  sparks  the  vast  room  when¬ 
ever  she’s  performing.  She’s  a  par¬ 
ticular  standout  in  her  gifted 
drunk  routine  of  “Cocktails  for 
Two”  ahd  in  a  droll  “Dragnet” 
takeoff.  In  the  latter  number  she 
has  the  true  pro  sujpport  of  Lewis 
and  Eddie  Chester. 

As  for  Chester,;  there’s  nothing 
shadowy  ,  about  this  half-pint  foil 
for  the  topper.  Lewis  has.  had  a 
number  of  “shadows”  working  with 
him  during  the  many  warblings  of 
“Me  and  My  Shadow”  but  Chester,  , 
the  original,  is  with  him  .  for  the 
run  at  the  Old  Roumanian,  and  dis¬ 
plays  his  skills  time  arid  again.  Of 
course,  Lewis  and  Chester  orbit 
in  with  “Me  and  My  Shadow,”  fol¬ 
lowed  by  a  rousing  version  of 
“Rock  and  Roll.” 

After  a  fetching  opening  pro¬ 
duction  number  by  Boots  Mc¬ 
Kenna’s  eight-girl,  line,  Lewis 
I  comes;  on  with  “My  Hands,  My 


Hat;  My  Cane  and  Me,”  and  soon 
has  the  patrons  mitting  him 
aplenty.  Cathy  Basic,  with  consid¬ 
erable  class,  and  Lewis  do  a  med¬ 
ley  including  “After  You’re  Gone,” 
“Great  Big  Beautiful  Doll;”  “There 
Are  Smiles  That  Make  You  Happy” 
and  score  on  this. 

Lewis,  durable  as  ever,  goes  on 
to  do  VSunny  Side  of  the  Street” 
and  then,  reaching  for  his  clarinet, 
serves  up  a  sizzling,  strutting  ver¬ 
sion  of  “Tiger  Rag,”  and  a 
schmaltzy  “These  Are  , Things  That 
Will  Never,  NeVer  Change,” 

Lewis .  has  crackerjack  back¬ 
ground  music  support  from  Sol 
Klein,  on  the  fiddle,  kahd  Lee  Ber¬ 
ger  at  the.  piano.  The  revue  adds 
up  to  excellent:  entertainment  and 
the  happiness  man’s  smashed  silk 
topper  never  appeared  any  brighter. 

Rans. 


Tropicana,  Las  Vegas 
(FOLLOWUP) 

Las  Vegas,  Jan.  16. 

Jane  Kean’s  Vegas  debut  sans 
sister  Betty  presents  her  in  a  made- 
to-order  bistro  turn  that  should  re¬ 
gister  handily  in  any  nitery.  First- 
nighters  cheered  Miss  Kean’s  33- 
minute  act,  which  is  classy  and  de¬ 
lightful  from  the  intro  when  she 
Walks  out  6n.  a.  mink  carpet,  then 
smoothly  plunges  into  a  series  of 
songs  and  devastating  impreshes. 
Choreographer  Ron  Fletcher  is  ber 
silent  partner,  and  he’s  neatly 
woven,  into  the  festivities  with  im¬ 
aginative  and  nimble  terping. 
Fletcher  also  staged  the  act,  which 
blends -into  the  general  high  tone 
of  both  the  surrounding  Monte 
Proser  Tropicana  Revue  and  the 
dignity  of  the  hotel  itself.  Miss 
Kean’s  special  material,  her  gowns, 
the  settings  and  the  musical  back¬ 
ing  by  Nat  Brandwynne’s  orch  (18) 
are  all  top-level. 

Celeb  takeoffs,  complete  with 
costume,  include  Louella  Parsons, 
Zsa  Zsa  Gabor,  Bette  Davis,  Mae 
West,  Marilyn  Monroe,  Judy  Holli¬ 
day,  Julie  Andrews,  Lena  Home, 
Eartha  Kitt,  Sophie  Tucker  and 
Judy  Garland,  latter  getting  big-, 
gest  yock  with  line;  “Somewhere 
over  the  rainbow,  there’s  &  land  I 
believe — where  they  never  heard 
of  a  New  Year’s  Eye,”  which,  of 
course,  refers  to  Miss  Garland’s 
recent  Flamingo  Hotel  beef. 

•  Duke. 


Chi  Chi,  Palm  Springs 

Palm  Springs,  Jan.  15. 
Liberace,  Christine  Callas,  Sid 
Krofft,  Bill  Alexander  Orch  (10); 
$2.50  cover. 


Billed  aS  “Mi:.  Showmanship,” 
Liberace  presented  his  new  90-min¬ 
ute  show  before  a  capacity  audi¬ 
ence 'in  the  Chi  Chi  Starlite  Room. 
Presumably  he  will  retain  this 
modest  hilling  in  his  world  tour. 

It’s  a  Well-paced  show,  building 
to  a  couple  of  tour  de  forces'  that 
put  Liberace  into  a  fine  sweat  and 
the  audience  in  hot  pursuit. 

.  While  he  is  making  his  fantastic 
changes  in  evening  clothes,  Chris¬ 
tine  Callas,  a  20-year-61d  singer 
with  a  beautiful  contralto  ‘  voice, 
and  Sid  Krofft,  a  prince  of  pup¬ 
peteers  Librace  brought  over  from 
the  Paris  Lido  where  Krofft 
played  for  two  years,  fill  in  .  what 
would  otherwise  have  been  stage 
waits. 

As  supporting  nets,  they  are  tops. 
Miss  Callas  has  beauty,  charm  ,  and. 
singing  range  that  will  take  her 
far  in  this  biz,  and  the  world  tour 
should  give  her  the  experience  that 
she  may  be  lacking  at.  this  stage  of 
her  career. 

As  for.  Krofft,  he  even  had  pup- 

ets  handling  puppets  and  one,  ri 

upe  of  Liberace,  even  played  a 
piano.  This  may"  have  been  carry¬ 
ing  inbreeding  a  little  far,  but  it 
may  be  necessary  in  areas  nf  the 
world  where^  selling  Liberace  is 
not  the  pushover  it  is  in  Palm 
Springs,  where  he  has  a  winter, 
home. 

His  self-depreciation  as  a  singer 
and  dancer  and  his  glowing  praise 
of  the  rest  of  his  cast  all  tend  to 
show  a  side  of  him  which  makes 
him  a  good  act.  to  follow. 

He  didn’t  quite  go  from  Bach  to 
boogie  woogie,  but  he  did  a  medley 
of  George  Gershwin,  winding  in 
and  out  of  his  interpretation  of 
“Rhapsody  in  Blue”  .that  was  just 
right  for  the  saloon  set. 

As  a  finale  he  asked  for  songs 
from  the  audience  and  wove  most 
of  them  into  a  pleasant  contra¬ 
puntal  exercise. 

George  Liberace  .  was  not  with 
him.  He  explained  that  his  brother 
is  now  making  frozen  pizzas  and 
doing  Well.  After  all,  people  must 
eat  and  he  doesn’t  seem  to  mind 
if  they  make  noises  doing  it  while 
he  plays.  ... 

Bill  Alexander’s  orchestra,  a 
house  fixture,  gives:  him  good  sup¬ 
port..  Though  going  around  the 
world  on  his  own,  “Mr.  Showman¬ 
ship”  may  do  more  than  his  share 
to  offset  the  ahti-American  bias  in 
many  areas  of  the  world.  Scul, 


I  Hotel  ifaeUebadiy  K.  G» 

Kansas  City,  Jan.  17. 
DeCastro  Sisters  (3),  Ken  Har¬ 
ris 'Orch  (8)  with  Lorraine  Daly; 

!  $1-$1.50  cover. 


The  Terrace  Grill  of  the 
Muehlebach  has  one  of  the  better 
names  of  its  present  season  in  the 
DeCastro  Sisters,  making  their  ini¬ 
tial  bow  in  the  room.  Following  the 
Four  Coins,  the  gals  give  the  room 
a  month’s  run  of  the  calibre  of  act 
it  should  have,  and  a  continued 
entertainment  policy  on  this  level 
would  undoubtedly  build  higher 
patronage. 

The  m.c.  honors  are  done  by 
orch  leader  Ken  Harris,  and  the 
three  femmes  take  it  right  away  to 
segue  through  a  couple  of  numbers 
before  breaking  into  any  chatter. 
They  do  “Send  for  Me”  and  “With 
My  Eyes  Wide  Open.  I’m  Dream¬ 
ing”  before  announcing  they  are, 
left  to  right,  Babette,  Peggy  and 
CherL  In  all  they  wrap  up  10  num¬ 
bers,  including  a  Cuban  cha-cha 
version  of  “Birth  of  the  Blues,”  “I 
Know  Plenty”  in  rockabilly  fash¬ 
ion,  their  big  RCA  platter,  “Teach 
Me  Tonight,"  and,  others  in  a 
sweeter  vein. 

Their  established  style  has  the 
low-voiced  lead  of  Peggy,  with  the 
othens  on  top.  It’s  this  characteris¬ 
tic  sound  and  style  the  audience 
seems  to  want,  and  appears  happy 
with  all:  With  Herbie  Dell  at  the 
piano,  the  girls  make  it  a  high- 
styled,  beautifully  gowned  turn 
ahd  keep  it  moving.  It’s  a  bright 
30  minutes.  They’re  in  through 
Jan.  30,  Quin. 


Ottawa  House,  Hull 

Hull,  Que.,  Jan.  14. 

Toni.  Carroll,  Canadian  Jazz 
Quartet;  75c.  admission. 

Toni  Carroll’s  chirping  in  the 
Circus  Lounge  of  the  Ottawa 
House  is  nicely  constructed,  and 
so  is  she.  Canary’s  songalog  is 
solidly  produced,  tune  by  tune,  for 
strongest  impact,  it’s  strictly  com¬ 
mercial  and  the  customers  buy  it 
all.  She  Works  close  to  the  table- 
sitters,  uses  audience  participa¬ 
tion  several  ways,  including  haul¬ 
ing  a  male  stubholder  to  the 
podium.  One  such  male  aide,  after 
briefing  oh  his  chores,  stood  silent 
at  cue,  replying  to  her  urging  to 
do  his  lines,  “I  wasn’t  listening,  I 
was  looking!”  She  has  clicko  pipes 
but  could  sell  her  stanza  on  scenic 
value  alone.  Sjhe’s  here  to  Jan.  25. 

Showbacking  is  by  the  revamped 
Canadian  Jazz  Quartet  which,  in 
backing  and  filling,  gets  plenty 
customer  kudos.  Working  in  the 
downstairs  Grill  at  the  Ottawa 
House  is  canary  Naha  Leigh,  a 
blonde  looker  who  surprises  with 
solid  reception  in  a  room  accus¬ 
tomed  to  rock  ’n’  roll  and  calypso. 
She  sings  operatic  and  musicom- 
edy  tunes.  Gorm. 


Steuben’s,  Boston 

Boston,  Jan.  16. 
Johnnie  Morgan,  Harbers  &  Dale, 
Laurie  Stuart,  Don  Dennis,  Tony 
Bruno  Orth  (5),  Harry  Fink  Trio;  : 
$2.50  minimum. 


.  Johnnie  ”  Morgan,  crew-cutted 
standup  comic,  is  off  on  a  round 
of  Miami  and  topical  gags  for  the 
edification  of  Steuben’s  partyites, 
to  top  a  well  balanced  layout  in 
this  400-seater.  Caught  opening 
night  (16)  and  in  for  two*  weeks, 
Morgan  works  along  these  familiar 
lines  with  the  fire  engine  gag  and 
throws  in  a  rash  of  rapid  one-liners 
on  medicos,  horses  and  femmes  for 
good  returns.  His  dancing  spoon 
in  bottle  comic  magico.  bit  nets 
heavy  rounds.' 

Morgan  unleashes  pipes  for  ”1” , 
to  nab  mitting  anil  is  way  ahead  as 
be  goes  into  a  psycho-comic-  kick 
for  bowoff. 

Harbers  &  Dale,  class  dance  act, 
win  on  all  counts  from  start  to 
finish  with  great  terping,  overhead 
spins  and  twirls.  Blonde  lad  in 
tails  with  brownette  partner  in  full 
length  tulle  gown  are  eye-pleasers 
and  paint  terp  impresh  to  minstrel 
medley  along  With  a  hotsy  Mexi¬ 
can  dance  to  handclaps.  For  fin¬ 
ish,  lad  spins  femme  airplane  spin 
almost  brushing  stage  roof. 

Don  Dennis  does  kingsize  job 
emceeing  and  takes  a  spot  for  pip¬ 
ing  of  “Red,  Red  Robin,”  “All  My 
Love”  arid  /‘In  Your  Arms.”  He 
wins  encores  from  the  femme  con¬ 
tingents  partying.  Tony  Br  uno  cuts 
the  show  niftily.  Harry  Fink  makes 
nice  music  in  the  dance  interludes. 
This  layout  holds  through  Jan.  29. 

Guy. 


GOODMAN-PREMIERE  DEAL 

Martin  Goodman  office  of  New 
York,  and  Premiere  Artists,  Holly¬ 
wood,  have  niade  reciprocal  repre¬ 
sentation  arrangements  for  its 
artists. 

Agreement  extends  to  tele  arid 
variety  fields. 


72 


LEGITIMATE 


py&uEftf 


Wcditegday,  January  22,  1958 


Shows  Ou 


Cloud  7  . 

New  Haven,  Jan.  15. 

Milton  Baron  &  Marshall  Earl  produc¬ 
tion  oE  three-act  comedy  by  Max  .  Wilk. 
Stars  Ralph  Meeker.  Martha  Scott;  fea¬ 
tures  John  McGiver.  Mary  Cooper.  Anne 
Helm.  Richard  Hamilton.  Mary  Bell. 
Staged  by  Dennis  King;  settings  and  light¬ 
ing.  Albert  Johnson;  costumes.  Alice  Gib¬ 
son.  At  Shubert:  -Theatre.  Hew  Haven.  Jan. 
15.  '58;  S4.8.0  top* 

Mary  Reece  . .  ..  — ....... ..  Martha  Scott 

Sally  Reece  . Anne.Helin 

Russ  . Teiry  Doyle 

Newton  Reece  ..* . —  -  Ralph  Meeker 

Commuter . Richard  MacMurray 

Biessmuller  Richard  Hamilton 

William  Doubleday  Robert  Eckles 

Marlowe  ........  Charles" C.  Welch 

Fiona  Bostwick  . .  Mary  Cooper 

Delivery  Boy  .... _ _ _ . .  James  Valentine 

Mrs.  Potter  _ * . . . .  Cele  McLaughlin 

Mrs.  Doubleday  . .  Harriet  MacGibbon 

Mrs.  Finch  . . .  Mary  Bell 

D.  Barstow  Trumbull. ....  .John  McGiver 

Dudley  R.  Bostwick . . Charles  White 

Helga  Quinn  . .  Louise  Hoff 


A  point  in  favor  of  this  Max 
Wilk  comedy  the  dearth  of  good 
competition.  This  isn’t  exactly  a 
smash  but  with  effective  polishing 
It  should  be  diverting  enough  to 
hang  around  a  while.  It’s  ideal 
stock  material. 

Script  involves  a  New  York  food 
company  exec  who  gives  up  the 
commuting  grind,  .to"  rusticate  in 
Connecticut  with  hobby-puttering 
and  love-in-the-afternoon.  Ensuing 
complications  clutter  up  his  idyll, 
however,  and  he  decides  to  return 
to  the  treadmill,  but  even  that 
doesn’t  work  out  as  hoped. 

Playwright  Max  Wilk  has  a 
knack  for  witty,  phrases  and  down- 
to-earth  dialog,  relying  for  comedy 
more  on  wordage  and  characters 
than  on  situation.  The  cast  and 
direction  haye  combined  well  to 
keep  the  humor  credible. 

Balph  Meeker  and  Martha  Scott 
hit  it  off  as  a  likable  couple  who 
disagree,  over  his  declaration  of 
independence.  Both  fill  *  the  bill 
nicely.  John  McGiver’s  expressive 
mug  and  droll  delivery  draw  ample 
laughs,  and  added  humor  is  con¬ 
tributed  by  Mary  Cooper  as  a 
drab-twined-glamorious  wife*  and 
Mary  Bell  as  a  PTA  femme  with 
literary  ambitions,  and  amusing 
bits  are  contributed  by  Charles  C. 
Welch,  Bichard  Hamilton  and 
Charles  White.  Harriet  MacGibbon 
plays  a  straight  role  well  and  Anne 
Helm  is  a  cute  and  competent 
teenager  offspring. 

Dennis  King’s  direction  punches 
laugh  lines  and  sets  a  generally 
interesting  pace.  Albert  Johnson 
has  designed  an  attractive  living 
room  centerpiece  flanked  by  re¬ 
volving  cut-ins  that  interject  minor 
Scenes  effectively,  and.  Alice  Gib¬ 
son’s  costumes  blend  well. 

Bone. 


Interlock 

Wilmington,  Jan.  16. 

Richard  Myers.  Julius  Fleischman  8c 
Walter  E.  Trenerry  presentation .  of  two- 
act  (six  scenes)  drama  by  Ira  Levin.  Stars 
Celeste  Holhi,  Maximillian  Schell.  Rose¬ 
mary  Harris.  Staged  by  Philip  Burton; 
setting  and  .lighting,  Howard  Bay;  cos¬ 
tumes.  Robert  Mackintosh.  At  Playhouse, 
Wilmington.  Jan.  16,.  *58:  4:80  top. 

Hilde . . . Rosemary  Harris 

Paul  . Maximilian  Schell 

Lucille  ................ .v  Georgia  Burke 

Everett . .  John  Marriott 

Mrs.  Price  . . . . Celeste  Holm 


There  are  times  when  Ira 
Levin’s  new  drama  attains  sus¬ 
pense,  but  there  are  too  many 
draggy  moments,’  permitting  the 
audience’s  attention,  to  w a nder 
from  the  main  theme,  of  two 
women  battling  over  a  man. 

It  tends  to  be  Celeste  Holm’s 
show,  and  when  she  is  onstage 
things  generally  are  satisfactory. 
The  tension  is  built  on  a  new  twist 
of  the  old  eternal  triangle,  and  if  i 
the  lulls  can  be  eliminated  “Inter¬ 
lock”  should  be  good  for  at  least  a 
moderate  run.  It’s  ,  likely  material 
for  Hollywood  and  summer  stock. 

The '  yarn  involves  a  rich  hut 
embittered  widow,  confined  to  a 
wheelchair  by  a  boat  mishap,*  her 
employee,  a  German  refugee,  and 
the  latter’s  fiance.  The  crux  of  the 
situation  is  the  man’s  desire  to  be 
a  concert  pianist  and  his  final 
choice  between  sweetheart  or  ben¬ 
efactor. 

Miss  Holm  demonstrates  her 
versatility  in  the  unsympathetic 
role  of  the  scheming  widow.  It’s  a 
top  performance  of  a  difficult  role. 
Bosemary  Harris  gives  a  warm,  and 
glowing  interpretation  of  the  refu¬ 
gee.  Desoite  a  thick  accent.  Maxi¬ 
million  Schell,  making  his  U.  S. 
stage  bow  conveys  the  complexi¬ 
ties  of  the  fiance  satisfactorily. 

Bounding  out  the  excellent  cast 
are  Georgia  Burke  as  housekeeper 
and  John  Marriott  is  butler-chauf¬ 
feur.  Howard  Bay  has  provided  a 
stunning  living  room  setting  and 
superior  lighting  effects.  Philip 
Burton  has  staged  with  an  eye  for 
detail,  and  gets  maximum  response 
from  the  cast. 

“Interlock”  should  appeal  espe¬ 
cially  to  women.  Kipp. 


D.  J.  Snip  van  went,  on  for  sev¬ 
eral  performances,  last  week  as  sub 
for  Dean  SWkwel*.  costar  of;  “Com¬ 
pulsion,”  at  the  Ambassador,  N.Y. 


Baek  to  Methiualeh 

Miami,  Jan;.  11. 

Theatre  Guild  Jk  Arnold  Moss  produc¬ 
tion  of  two  act  (six  scenes)  condensation 
by  Moss  of  the  G.  B.  Shaw  drama.  Stars 
Tyrone  Power,  Faye  Emerson.'  Arthur 
Treacher;  features  Moss.  Valerie  Betti's, . 
Roger  Evan  Boxill.  Staged  by  Margaret 
Webster;  scenery  and  lighting.  Marvin. 
Reiss;  costumes,  Patricia  Zlpprodt.  At 
Dade  County  Auditorium,  Miami,  Jan. 


G.  B'.  Shaw’s -treatise  on  man, 
his  mores  and  morals  from  Adam 
through  the  ages  and  far  into  fu¬ 
ture  centuries  has  been!  given  a 
slick  condensation  and  apparent 
updating  by  Arnold  Moss.  With  it* 
boxoffice  insurance  has  been  pro¬ 
vided  in  Tyrone  Power,  Faye. Emer¬ 
son  and  Arthur  Treacher  in  the . 
starring  roles.  * 

The  insurance  has  already  paid 
off  in  sellouts  of  initial  stops  on 
the  show’s  44-city  tour  prior  to 
Broadway.  The  SBO  signs  were 
up  in  Sarasota,  Orlando  and  on 
its  arrival  here  for  two  showings 
at  the  2,500-seat  auditorium: — 
something  of  a  record  for  this 
normally  tough  town,  on  legit 
tourers. 

Margaret  Websteris  fluid,  imagi-r 
native  direction  has.  eliminated 
much  of  the  static  quality  con¬ 
tained  in  the  Shaw  work,  although : 
there  are  still  plenty  of  overlong 
Shavian  preachments.  The  Shavian 
premise  that  man  does  hot  live 
long  enough  to  realize  ori  ihe 
knowledge  he  acquires  during  his 
alloted  span  comes  through  con¬ 
vincingly  in  the  climax  scenes. 

Moss,  besides  contributing  a  good 
job  on  the  abridgement,  also  turns 
in  an  excellent  effort  as  b etwee n- 
scenes  narrator,  appearing  with  a 
G.B.S.  beard,  plus  the  familiar 
Norfolk  jacket  and  knickerbockers. 
Throughout,  interest  is  heightened 
by  inventive  sets  and  lighting  cf 
Marvin-  Beiss,  including  an  elec¬ 
tronic  World  of  the  future. 

Power  gives  a  strong,  assured 
performance,  giving  Impetus  to 
the  wordier  passages,  although  not 
entirely  succeeding  in  animating 
the  more  obtruse  points.  Despite  a 
tendency  toward  stridency  and 
monotony,  Miss  Emerson  comes 
through  with  an  intelligent  per¬ 
formance. 

Treacher:  is  very  effective,  with 
perfect  timing  of  the  Shavian  lines. 
Boger  Evan.  Boxill  and  Valerie 
Bettis  are  attractive  in  supporting 
roles,  while  M’el  Dowd  is  effective 
in  a  brief  bit. 

As  a  touring  show,  “Methuselah” 
seems  a  safe  bet  on  its  marquee 
names  alone.  For  Broadway,  they 
may  have  to  carry  it,  too.  Lory. 


Much  Ado  About  Nothing 

.  Philadelphia,  Jan.  4. 
American  Shakespeare  Festival  Thea¬ 
tre  8c  Academy  revival  -of  comedy  by 
Williaih ..  Shakespeare.  Staged,  by  Jflhn 
Houseman  and  Jack  Laudau;  jnude.  Vir¬ 
gil  Thompson;  scenery  and  costumes, 
Rouben  Ter-Arutunian;  lighting,  Tharon 
Musser;  dance  staging.  John  Butler.  Stars 
Katharine  Hepburn,  Alfred  Drake.  At 
Locust  Street  Theatre.  Philadelphia.  Dec. 
30,  '57;  .$5.40  top.  '  "  ■  .  . 

Leonato  .  ..... _ .....  John  Colicos 

Soldiers.. William  CottreB,  James  Cabin 

Beatrice  . . .  Katharine  Hepburn 

Hero  . .  Dina  Doronne 

Don  Pedro  . . . .  Stanley  Bell 

Benedick  . . . .  Alfred  Drake 

Claudio  .... ... ..  . .......  Richard  Easton 

Don  John  ..............  Richard  Waring 

Conrade  . . . . . .  Mitchell  .  Agruiss ' 

.............  Jack-  Bittner 

. Will  Geer 

- ...  John . Kuhn 

Sada  Thompson 
.......  Jacqueline  Brookes 

lafry  Gates 

- .  - . . . ... .  Ellis  Rabb 

Friar  Francis  . . Pat  Hines 

Sexton  John  Frid 

Offstage  Singer . .  Russell  OberJin 

Soldiers,  servants,  etc.:  Benita  Deutsch; 
Michael  Kasdan,  David  Milton,  Joe  Myers;- 
Diho  Narizzaho,  Judith  Steffan.  D.  J.  Sul- 
livaii,  Peter  Trytler.  Jack  Waltzer, 
Miehael  Borden,  .William  Woodman. 


Borachio 
Antonio  . 
Balthazar 
Margaret 
Ursula  . 
Dogberry. 
Verges 


Although  glowing  reports  on  the 
revival  sifted  to  Philadelphia  last 
summer  from  Stratford,  Conn., 
this  novel  and  spirited  edition  of 
“Much  Ado  About  Nothing”  cap^ 
tured  the  hot-quite-capacity  audi¬ 
ence  for  the  break-in  performance  | 
of  its  scheduled  tour.  After  what 
might  have  been  a  cautious  atti¬ 
tude  during  the  first,  act,  the 
Philly  first-nighters  lapped  up  the 
show. 

The  imaginative  angle  of  the 
present  revival,  a  19th  century 
American  southwest  locale  instead 
of  16th  century  Italy,  provides  a 
'  zestful  base  for  what  turns  out  to 


be  a  romp,  with  Katharine  Hep- 
bum  adding  a  sparkling  touch  as 
the  volatile,  hoydenish  Beatrice. 
There  is  also  an  amusing  portrayal 
by  Alfred  Drake,  costarred  as  a 
more  restrained  but  resonant¬ 
voiced  Benedict. 

One  of  the  assets  of  the  produc¬ 
tion  .  is  the  nice  balance  between 
established  pros  and  talented  new¬ 
comers.  Notable  among  the  former 
are  Larry*  Gates  as -Dogberry,  Bich¬ 
ard  Waring  as  the  appropriately 
blackrgarbed  Don  John,  Will  Geer 
as  Antonio  and  Stanley  Bell  as  Don 
Pedro,  while  the  standout  younger 
players  Include  Dina  'Doronne, 
John  Collicos,  Sad#-  Thompson  and 
Jacqueline  Brookes.  The  co-staging 
of  .  John  Houseman  and  Jack  Lan-1 
dau  is  expressive.. 

The  main  elements  of  the  Strat¬ 
ford  physical  production  have  been 
retained,*  including  the  framework 
before  which  scenes  changes  are 
made  in  full  view  of  the  audience, 
and  the  picturesque  southwest  Cos¬ 
tumes.  As  a,  boxoffice  draw,  the 
show  may  start  with  the  handicap 
of  all  Shakespeare  revivals,  hut  it 
should  get  enthusiastic  reviews  and 
is  likely  to  build  at  each  engage¬ 
ment.  Business  boomed  after,  the 
Philly  opening.  Waters. 


In  Your  Hal 

Toronto,  Dec.  27. 

Terry  Fisher  presentation  of  James 
Paul  Eiler  8c  Rick  Besoyan  production  of 
an  intimate  revue  in,  three  acts  (35.  scenes). 
Music,  lyrics  and  dialog  by  .  Rick  Besoyan. 
Staged  by  Ray  Harrison;  decor,  costumes 
and  hats,  Howard  Barker:  lighting.  Robert 
HoUoway.  Musical  director,  John  Holmes. 
At  Avenue  Theatre,.  Toronto,  December 
26.  *57;  $3  top. 

Cast:  .  Barbara  Sharma,  Chanin  Hale, 
Eileen  Brennan,  William  Graham,.  Neal 
Kenyon*  William  Nix.. 


With  professional  knbw-how  on 
propulsion  and  swift  staging,  “In 
Your  Hat”  is.  a  welcome  revue  that 
has  some  tunes  that  merit  record¬ 
ing,  plus  some  sketches  that  war¬ 
rant  inclusion  in  a  bigger  show.  The 
three  girl  principals  are.  nifty  from 
an  eye-and-ear  standpoint,  with 
the  blond  Chanin  Hale  an  outstand¬ 
ing  comedienne,  and  Eileen  Bren¬ 
nan- arid  Barbara  Sharma  also  good 
-  to  listen  to  anl  look  at. 

On .  flash  production,  the  chief 
satire  comes  in  the  second,  act,  this  i 
devoted  entirely  to  “Little  Mary 
Sunshine,”  a.  take-off  On  the  1919 
formula  for  musical  plays  in  the 
Homburg-Friml  style,  with  the 
exaggerated  “action”  songs  of  the  j 
robust  and  gaily-uniformed  For¬ 
estry  Patrol,  the  comedy  maid,  the 
!  saccharine  heroine  and  the  brunet 
soubret,  the  Indian  war  dances. 
This  is  a  splendid  spoof  ,  of  tire  one¬ 
time  operetta,  finishing  with  a 
snow-storm  and  patriotic  waving 
of. The  Stars  and  Stripes* 

Obviously  in  such  a  difficult  me¬ 
dium  as  the  intimate  revue,  there 
are  certain  numbers  that  don’t 
arouse  certain  numbers  of  the  cus¬ 
tomers,  but  here  is  a. blend  of  bal¬ 
lads  and  clowning  ranging  from 
“lost  love”  to  calypso  take-offs, 
spirited  spoofs  or  Shakespearean 
festival  madrigals  to  leather-jack¬ 
eted  rock  ’n’  roll  delivery  for  sin¬ 
uous  pelvic  gyrations. 

Outstanding  is  the  French  com¬ 
edy  song  number  of  Miss  Hale  for 
her  phonetic  pronunciation,  plus 
her  “Hot  /Tamale  Tango,”  and  the 
lady-like  and  true-voiced  singing 
of  Miss  Brennan  in  “Have  You 
Heard.  I’m  Falling  in  Love,”  and 
the  dancing  of  Miss  Sharma.  The. 
floor-slides  and  singing  of  such 
male  principals  as  William  Graham, 
Neil  Kenyon  and  William  Nix  are 
also  up  to  par. 

On  youth  and  freshness  of  new 
faces  and  talent,  together  with 
stage-speed  that  shows  no  lapses 
in  scene  Changes  or  blackouts,  “In 
Your  Hat”  adds  up  to  a  fine  blend 
of  revue  entertainment;  with  a  bow 
to  Kick  Besoyan’s  lilting  on  some 
of  the.  music  and  lyrics;  the  excel¬ 
lent  costuming,  by  Howard  Barker; 
the  expert  staging  of  Bay.  Harrison. 

■—  McStay. 

Louis  M.  Simon,  has  resigned  as 
of  next  Friday  (24)  as  director  of 
the  American  Theatre  Wing’s  Pro¬ 
fessional  Training  Center,  He.  will 
take  an  executive  post  with  the 
N;  Y.  Training  Center.  He  will 
takes  ,  an  executive  post  with  the 
N.  Y.  Players, .  a  project  combining 
training  with  public  performance. 
NYP  was  originated  by  Tad  Dan- 
ielewski  and  Arthur  Hanna. 


Take  the  Cash  and... 

The  Shuberts  are  either  becoming  modest,  or  they  are  more  inter¬ 
ested  in  money  than  glory.  They  recently  had  a  three-sheet  sign  placed 
on  the  wall  of  the  Shubert  Theatre,  N.Y.,  facing  Shubert  Alley.  It’s 
one  of  a  long  line  of  such  ads  for  various  current  Broadway  shows, 
the  management  of  which  pay  the  Shubert’s  rental  for  the  space. 

The  point  is  that  one  of  several  newly-placed  signs  covers  a  bronze 
plaque  put  up  several  yeare  ago  in  honor  of  Lee  Shubert  (since  de¬ 
ceased)  and  his  brother,  J.  J.,  the  survirig  partner  of  the  firm.  There's 
some  question  around  Shubert  Alley  who  presented  the  plaque  &nd  how 
the  inscription  reads,  but  recollection  is  that  the  Broadway  Assn,  was 
the  donor.  It’s  a  tough  one  ’for  Variety  to  check,  this  sheet’s  relations 
with  the  Shuberts  being  what  Jljsy,  pffc  * 


So  They  Say 

“In  all  the  50  theatres  of  Paris  you  will  find  not  one  play  deal¬ 
ing  seriously  with  contemporary  French  life.  Marital  farces,:  trump¬ 
ery  trompery,  scuttle  lifelessly  through  half  of  them,  and  import¬ 
ed  successes  fill  most  of  the  rest . . ,  Consumed  by  a  sick  mingling 
of  xenophobia  and  self-disgust,  of  chauvinism  and  cynicism,  the 
average  French  audience  seems  to  be  in  grave  danger  of  becom¬ 
ing  an  audience  of  neurotic  simpletons.”  Kenneth  Tynan,  drama 
critic  of  the  London.  Observer,  in  a  recent  column  from  Paris. 

“In  literal  terms,  'Suddenly  Last  Summer,#is  his  most  devastat¬ 
ing  statement  about  corruption  in  the  world,  and  his  most  deci¬ 
sive  denial  of  the  values  by  which  most  people  live  .  ; .  Everything 
in  the  written  play  evokes  in  dramatic  movement  the  central  mood 
of '  evil,  decadent  luxury,  cruelty,  voracity,  tropical  degeneracy.” 
Brooks  Atkinson,  in  a  N.Y.  Times  ,  followup,  column  about  "Garden 
District,”  the  off-Broadway  twin-bill  by  Tennessee  ;  Williams,  at 
the  York  Playhouse,  N.Y. 


“What! if  Tennessee  Williams’ 'visjon  of  the  world  is. dark  and  tor- 
mentet?  What  if  his  dramatic  themes  are  gloomy  and 'foreboding 
and  his  main  characters  mentally  and  morally  distraught  to  the 
point  of  being  psychopathic?  .  .  .  There  seems  to  be  .  a  hint  of  sus¬ 
picion  in  this  hostility  (of  other  critics.— Ed.)  that  the  dark  vision 
is  a  sickly  exotic  growth  not  in  keeping  with  the  healthy,  whole¬ 
some  tradition  of  American  tradition.’-  Richard  Watts  Jr.,  critic  of 
.the  N.Y.  Post,  in  a  followup  column  on  “Garden  District.” 


“It.  is  generally  and  rightly  believed  that  actors  are  bum  judges 
of  plays  because  they  think  only  of  their  parts  in  them.  There  are 
exceptions,  of  course.”  John  Chapman,  critic  of  the  N.Y,  News,  in 
a  column  about  the.- current  Broadway  play,  4‘Miss  Isobel/’ 


“I’m  sure  I  first  thought  I  wanted  to  be  an  actreSs  when  I  was  8,” 
says  Teresa  Wright.  “That  was(  just  after.  I  had  been  hit  over  the 
head  with  a  croquet  mallet  and  l  couldnt’  spell.”  Quoted  by  Bobert 
Wahls  in  the  N.Y.  News. 

“It’s  the  kind  of  acting  that  is  so  reverential  in  its  observation  of 
*  tiny  details:  that  it’s  absurd,  incredible.  “The  Method”  has  become 
a  cliche;  so  much  so  that  you  see  it  in  tv  soap  operas/’  Peter 
Ustinov,  as.  quoted  by  Ben  Gross,  in  the  N.Y.  Daily  News. 


dhow  on 


Two  for  the  Seesaw 

Fred  Coe  production  of  three-act  (nine 
<  scenes)  comedy-drama  by  William  Gibson. 
Staged  by  Arthur  Penn;  scenery  and 
lighting,  .  George  Jenkins;  costumes.  Vir-: 
ginia  Volland.  Stars  Henry  Fonda:  fea¬ 
tures  Anne  Bancroft*  At  Booth  Theatre, 
N.Y.,  Jan.  16.  *58;  *6.90  top  ($8.35  open¬ 
ing). 

Jerry  Ryan . Henry  Fonda 

Gittel  Mosca  _ _ _  Anne  Bancroft 


Here’s  a  new  hit  play  by  a  new 
dramatist,  with  a  new.  director  and 
a  new  leading  actress.  It’s  just  a 
little  play,  but  a  good  one;  and 
just  a  little  cast,  also  good.  It’s 
going  to  be  one  of  the  miist-see. 
commodities  of  Broadway  for  a 
good  many  months.  With  at  least 
one  boxoffice.  name  it’s  a  cinch  for 
the  road,  also  a  natural  for  stock 
(with  a  simplified-  backstage  hook¬ 
up)  and  potential  material  for 
pictures. 

“Two  for  the  Seesaw”  is  a  two- 
character  comedy-drama  about  a 
man  amh  a  girl.  It’s,  considerably 
more  than  a  boy-meets-girl  exer¬ 
cise,  however,  since  the  romance 
is  less  important  than  the  fact  that 
the  relationship  enables  the  two 
principals  to  learn  to  understand 
themselves  and  thereby  develop  as 
characters.  They  are  thus  more 
mature,  better  adjusted  and  more 
likable  at  the  final  curtain  than  at 
the  start. 

The  play  is  astonishingly  expert 
for  a  first  effort.  Not  only  does 
author  William  Gibson  keep  the 
action  in  motion  With  only  two 
characters,  but  he  uses  the  numer¬ 
ous  telephone  calls  with  uncanny 
skill,  almost  invariably  making  the 
,  Confab  affect  character  and  propel 
the  story.  Moreover,  the  playwright 
is  not  concerned  merely  with  en¬ 
tertainment,  but  he  is  clearly  try¬ 
ing  to  express  philosophic  truth. 

It’s  a  much  better  show  than  it 
starts  out  to  be.  The  opening  cur¬ 
tain,  revealing  grubby  one-room 
apartments  at  opposite  sides  of  the 
stage,  has  the  man  enter,  obvi- 
,  ously  in  a  state  of  raw  nerves  and, 
when  a  coat-hanger  falls  to  the 
floor  with  his  topcoat-,  on  it;  he 
snarls,  “You  son-of-a-bitch,”  and 
savagely  kicks  a  piece  of  rickety 
furniture.  Then  the  other  apart¬ 
ment  is  spotlighted  and  the  girl 
enters,  spills  a  package  op  the 
floor,  and  snaps,  “Oh,  for  cryin* 
out  loud.”  Everything  seems  to  be 
set  for  a  grim  evening  with  an 
American  angry  young  man. 

But  Gibson,  whose  previous  work 
has  included  poetry,  a  novel  (which 
was  adapted  for  the  screen)  and  a 
television  play,  is  understanding: 
and  sympathetic  rather  than  bitter. 
His  characters  grow  and  deepen  as 
the  evening  progresses,  and  he 
makes  the  audience  like  them  and 
care  about  what  happens  to  them. 
Something  fairly  important,  if  not 
terribly  big,  does  happen  to  them, 
and  the  bitter-sweet  finale  leaves 
them  resolutely  on  their  feet. 

The  author  is  unmistakably  an 
arresting  new  talent  for  the  thea¬ 
tre.  He  has  written  a  serious  play 
in  terms  of  .surface  *copedy,  but 


with  poignance  and  wisdom.  The 
comedy  touches  are  unerring,  and 
stem  from  character  and  situation, 
so  they  give  the  story  dimension! 
and  emotion'al  impact. 

The  play  is  as  “busy”  as  a  see¬ 
saw,  with  frequent  shifts  of  locale 
between  the  two  Manhattan  apart¬ 
ments,  and  with  the  setting  itself 
revolving  to  provide  a  different  per¬ 
spective  for  each  scene.  Also,  be¬ 
sides  -  the  numerous  phone  calls, 
there’s  an  unusual  number  of  props 
used.  Somehow,  though,  all  the 
elaborate  artifice  seems  natural 
and  believable.  The  tension  stead¬ 
ily  increases  through  the  three 
acts,  the  first  establishing  the 
basic  situation,  the  second  ending 
with  a  taut  scene  and  the  .finale 
providing  a  touching  bit  of  theatri. 
calism. 

Arthur  Penn,  a  recruit  from  tele¬ 
vision,  is  an  impressively  resource¬ 
ful  and  expressive,  stager,  while 
George  Jenkins  has  designed  a 
brilliantly  mobile  and  atmospheric 
setting,  and  Virginia  Volland  has 
provided  clothes  that  seem  exactly 
right*  Henry  Fonda  gives  one  of 
his  apparently  effortless,  expertly 
natural  performances  as  the  des¬ 
perately  lonely  midwest  lawyer 
who  is  trying  to  find  himself  after., 
fleeing  from- a  devouringly  helpful 
wife.  His  playing  has  more  vigor 
than  usual;  which  is  fortunate  for 
the  show,  as  his  is  the  more  hioti- 
vating  role .  and  his  drive,  though 
unobtrusive,  is  vital. . 

In  the  showier  part  of  the  seem- . 
ingly  flippant  would-be  dancer 
from  the  Bronx,  who  turns  out  to 
be  a  person  of  great  tenderness 
and  rare  courage,  Anne  Bancroft, 
making,  her  Broadway  debut  after 
several  pictures  and  a  number .  of 
tv  appearances,  is  a  revelation.  She 
was  apparently  thrown  momen¬ 
tarily  once  or  twice  in  the  first 
act  opening  night,  losing  a  few 
laughs  through  faulty  timing,  but 
quickly  settled  down  to  give  a  stun¬ 
ningly  varied*  progressively  plaus¬ 
ible  and  appealing  performance. 
She’s  an.  attractive,,  interesting 
looker,  with  a  striking  personality, 
and  is  a  prospect  for  a  big  career: 

As  film  material,  “Seesaw”  may 
have  certain  limitations.  The  fact 
that  the  man  aiid  girl  have  an  affair 
is  probably  just  an  incidental  in 
terms  of  adaptation,  and  the 
frankness  of .  the  dialog  also  should 
be  a  fairly  trifling  matter.  The 
most  serious  problem  may  be  the 
fact  that  there  are  only  two  char¬ 
acters.  That -will  obviously  involve 
bringing  some  of  the  offstage  peo¬ 
ple'  into  the  action,  and  develop¬ 
ing  them  as  fully  dimensional  char¬ 
acters.  Expanding  the  locale  of  the 
yarn  should  be  simple.  The  main 
things  are  that  the  principal  charac¬ 
ters  are  genuine  and  the  writing 
has  quality.  '*  Hobe. 

Pressagent  Bill  Fields  will  be  dis¬ 
charged  in  a  flay  or  two  from  the 
Leahy  Clinic,  Bostohi,  after  surg¬ 
ery  for  !a  duodenal  elcer.  He’ll, 
convalesce  for  a  few  days  at  his 
liome  in  SljfffieJflr  1  w  * 


73 


Wednesday,  Jannary  22,  1958 


%/UUETt 


LEGITIMATE 


The  Shuberts  are  having  one  of  4 
their  best  seasons  in  many  years, 
both  In  New  York  and  on  the  road. 
Not  only  hasn’t  the  Government’s 
consent  decree  hurt,  but  it  may 
even  have  bettered  conditions  for 
the  long-dominant  theatre  operat¬ 
ing  firm. 

Qn  Broadway  virtually  all 
Shubert  houses  have  been  consist¬ 
ently  tenanted..  In  most  of  the  roadi 
cities  where  they  still  operate  key 
theatres  they  have  been.  Similarly 
-fortunate.  At  the  moment,  four 
Shubert  musical  houses  on  Broad¬ 
way  have  smashes  current,  with  the 
other  two  spots  booked  for  incom¬ 
ing  shows.  Five  of  their  smaller 
theatres  on  Broadway  haye 
straight-play  smashes,  and  all  are 
either  tenanted  or  have  incoming 
shows  set. 

In  Chicago,  the  touring  produc¬ 
tion  of  “My  Fair  Lady”  is  a  fixture, 
for  many  months  to  Come  at'  the; 
Shubert  Theatre,  obviously  netting 
enough  for  the  theatre  to  carry  the 
so-sO  pace  of  the  Shuberts’  other 
houses,  the  Blackstone,  Harris  and 
Selwyn.  In  Boston,  the  Shubert 
Theatre  has  had  spotty  going  so 
far  this  season,  with  several  smash 
hits  and  a  number  of  dark  weeks. 
Under  the  terms  of  the  consent  de? 
cree,  the  Shuberts  disposed  of  sev¬ 
eral  other  theatres,  thereby  appar¬ 
ently  saving  substantially  on  up¬ 
keep. 

Philadelphia  has  been  haying  a 
strong  season  and  the  Shuberts 
have  been  getting  their  share  of 
hits  at  their  two  musical  houses, 
the  Shubert  and  Forrest  (the  latter 
also  booking  straight  plays)  and 
their  dramatic  theatre,  the  Walnut 
Street.  They  have  disposed  of  the 
Locust  Street,  which  got  few  book- 
(Continued  on  page  78) 


Says  ‘Angel’  Management 
Can’t  Help  Conditions 
At  Barrymore  Theatre 

New  York. 

Editor,  Variety: 

That  Legit  Followup  on  “Look 
Homeward,  Angel”  in  last  week’s 
issue  contained  several  pungent 
points,  but  neglected  to  clarify 
that  the  producer  and  staff  of  the 
play  have  nothing  to  do  with  the 
management  of  the  theatre,  which 
is  operated  by  the  Shuberts. 

Everything  stated  about  the 
Barrymore  Theatre  Is  probably 
true  enough — I’d  be  the  last  to 
deny  it  from  what  I’ve  observed 
for  many  years  at  that  and  other 
Shubert  houses.  But  for  such  con¬ 
ditions,  blame  the  Shuberts.  The 
“Angel”  management  and  company 
aren’t  responsible 

I  do  dispute,  however,  the  sug¬ 
gestion,  or  perhaps  implication  is 
a  better  word,  that  other  Broadway 
theatres  are  as  dilapidated  as  the 
Barrymore.  The  MOrosco,  Helen 
Hays,  46th  Street,  Coronet  and 
Bijou  (operated  by  City  Playhouses, 
Inc.— Ed.),  are-  handsomely: equip¬ 
ped  and  immaculately  maintained. 
The  Martin  Beck,  Henry  Miller 
and  ANTA  Playhouse  are  similarly 
anything  but  “tottering,  tatterde-: 
malion  houses.” 

All  these  latter  theatres  have 
expensive,  modern,  efficient  venti¬ 
lating  and  cooling  systems*  with 
comfortable  seats,  luxurious  car¬ 
peting  and  beautiful  decor.  One 
other  thing — you’ll  rarely  encoun¬ 
ter  any  discourtesy  from  a  member 
of  the  staffs  or  from  a  conces¬ 
sionaire,  at  one  Of  those  theatres. 

Mark  Harris. 


Gets  Dayton  Stock  Spot 
(He  Had  What  It  Takes) 

Dayton,  Jan.  2i.  . 

Paul  Winston,  a  local  producer, 
has  made  a  deal  to  lease  the  Mem¬ 
orial  Hall  here  next  summer*  for 
the  operation  of  a  stock  company. 
A  contract  has  not  been-  signed, 
but.  Montgomery  County  Commis¬ 
sioners  have  indicated  the  agree¬ 
ment  is  set. 

Frank  Kenley,  business  manager 
of  the.  Kenley  Players,  which  intro¬ 
duced  summer  stock  to  Dayton  in 
1957,  wanted  to  return  this  year 
and  said  he  had  a  .  verbal  okay  to 
lease  the  Memorial  Hall  again. 
However*'  Winston’s  backers  in¬ 
clude  Republican  county  chairman 
Howard  Young,  Democratic  leader 
George  Flanagan  and  a  number  of 
Dayton  businessmen. 


Viola  Roadie’s  Ahni 

Viola  Roache,  featured  as 
Mrs.  Higgins  in  the  original 
Broadway  edition  of  “My  Fair 
Lady,”  will  Celebrate  her  50th 
anniversary  on  the  stage  April 
20.  She  made  her  dehut  in 
“The  College  Widow,”  at  the 
Adelphi  Theatre,  London,  in 
1908,  at  the  age.  of  22. 

Her  daughter*  Philippa  Be- 
vans,  is  also  in  the  Broadway 
company  of  “Lady,”  playing 
ProfessOf  Higgins’  housekeep¬ 
er,.  Mrs,  Pearce. 


Arthur  Mfller  Is 
Okay  at  Conn.  U. 

Hartford,  Jan.  21. 

Within  hOurs  after,  a  news  story 
appeared  of  ■  the  banning  of  play¬ 
wright  Arthur  Miller  from  the 
campus  Of  the  U.  of  Connecticut  at 
nearby  Stores,  the  .college  presi¬ 
dent  reversed  a  ruling  of  a  lower 
exec  and  Cleared  the  path  for  the 
writer’s  appearance  there  during 
a  scheduled.  Fine  Arts  Festival  in 
April. 

The  school  paper,  the^  Connecti¬ 
cut  Daily  Campus,  reported  that 
Thomas  Ahem,  manager  of  the 
Student  Union,  vetoed  an  invita¬ 
tion  “because  of  Miller’s  past  ,  com¬ 
munistic  activities.”  University 
president  A.  N.  Jorgenson  later 
overruled  the  ban,  declaring  “If 
Miller  has  been  invited  by  the  stu¬ 
dents  and  he  accepts  the  invitation 
JJie  is '  welcome  as  far  as  I’m  con¬ 
cerned.” 

The  playwright  had  been  Invited 
by  John  M-  Brinnin,  assistant  pro¬ 
fessor  of  English,  to  attend  the  fes¬ 
tival.  The  move  was  at  the  request 
Of  students.  It  is  not  known  wheth¬ 
er  Miller  formally  received  the  in¬ 
vitation  or  became  aware  of.  it 
through  news  reports.  The  bid  was 
addressed,  to  Miller’s  publishers 
and  no  answer  has  been  received. 

Quick  reversal  of  the  ban  by  uni¬ 
versity  officials  may  have  for- 
stalled  a  student  uproar..  Attempts 
to  reach  Miller  at  his  home  in  Hox- 
bury,.  Conn.,  were  unavailing. 


A1PAM  STAKES  CLAIM 
FOR  PAY-TV  JURISDIX 

.  The  Assn,  of  Theatrical  Press 
Agents  &  Managers  is  moving  to 
get  ih  on  the  ground  floor  on  toll- 
vision.  The  union  haS  already  no¬ 
tified  the  League  of  N.Y  Theatres, 
Sol  Hurok  and  other  independent 
producers  that  ATPAM  has  juris¬ 
diction  over  all  live  entertainment 
on  “Pay  TV,”  That  means  that 
managers  and  publicists  ,  for  live 
productions  will  have  to  be 
ATPAM  members. 

In  stating  its  position,  the  Union 
also  requested  that  a  meeting  be 
held  to  work  out  wage  scales, 
working  conditions,  etc/ 


San  Antonio  Symphony 
Plays  Monterrey,  Mexico 

San  Antonio,  Jan*  21. 
San  Antonio  Symphony  Orches¬ 
tra  under  Victor  Alessandro  gave 
concerts  in  Monterrey,  Mexico,  last 
night  and  tonight  at  the  Elizondo 
Theatre  sponsored  by  the  In¬ 
stitute  Mexicano  Norte  Americano 
de  Relaciones  Cutturales  “with  the 
cooperation”  (Undefined)  of  the 
United  States  State  Dept  - 
Dr,  Bias  Galindo,  Mexican  com¬ 
poser*  has  been.  Invited  by  Ales¬ 
sandro  to  present  and  guest  con¬ 
duct  his  composition,  “Senes  De 
Mariachir”  on  the  Jan.  concert. . 


Equity  Drops  Chi  Dept. 
For  Industrial  Shows 

Chicago,  Jan.  21. 

Actors  Equity  office  in  Chicago 
has  shut  down  its  special  depart¬ 
ment  for  industrial  shows.  Carl 
Stohn  was  sent  here  to  head,  the 
setup  less  than  a  year  ago. 

Casting  for  industrials  in  the 
Windy  City  over  the.  past  year 
never  fulfilled  expectations*  and 
the  department  has  been  incorpo¬ 
rated  into  the  regular  local  Equity 
operations  under  Mrs.  Frank  Dare, 
and  Amelia  Lorence. 


'Journey  on  Road 

.Chicago,  Jan.  21. 

A  campaign  by  local  press  and 
radio  may  save  the  touring  com¬ 
pany  of  “Long  Day’s  Journey  Into 
Night.”  Sparked  by  followup 
raves  from  the  critics  and  a  bar¬ 
rage  of  plugs  from  local  radio 
commentators,  business  just  about 
doubled  last  week  for  the  Eugene 
O’Neill  -drama  at  the  Erlanger 
Theatre. 

.  As  a  result,  the  provisional 
Feb.  1  closing  notice  was  with-" 
drawn  and  the.  engagement  has 
been  extended  several  weeks. 
Moreover,  instead  of  folding  here, 
the  production  may  continue  its 
tour,  possibly  as  far  as  the  Coast. 
Receipts  the  next  ;couple  of  weeks 
will  probably  determine1  that. 

Following .  disastrous  engage¬ 
ments  in  Cleveland  and  Detroit, 
the  Pulitzer  and  N.  Y.  Drama  Crit¬ 
ics  Circle  award-winning  drama 
drew  ecstatic  notices  here,  but 
did  dire  business  for  the  first  sev¬ 
eral  performances.  Attendance  be¬ 
gan  to  perk  at  the  and  of  the 
initial  week,  however,  after  the 
critics,  .notably  Claudia  Cassidy,  of 
the  Tribune,  wrote  columns  to 
spur  public  support. 

Theodore  Mann,  co-producer  of 
the  show  with  Leigh  Connell  and 
Jose  Quintero,  summoned  general 
manager  Irving  Cooper  from  New 
York  for  confabs  with  the  com¬ 
pany  staff  and  theatre  manage¬ 
ment.  It  was  decided  to  continue 
in  Chicago  at  least  fiye  weeks,  and 
(Continued  on  page  78) 

PLAN  SUBSCR1B  DRIVE 
,  TO  REVIVE  A.  C.  LEGIT 

Atlantic  City,  Jan.  21. 

In  an  effort  to  revive  this  resort 
as  a  touring  legit  stand,  a  cam¬ 
paign  will  be  conducted  to  obtain 
4,000  subscribers  for  a  five-show 
season.  Tickets  would  he  priced  at 
$5  per*  show,  so  each  production 
would  be  guaranteed  a.  $20,000 
gross  for  a  week’s  stand. 

•The  Warner  Theatre,  a  4,200- 
seat  film  house,  would  be  re¬ 
designed  for  a  capacity  of  about 
1,500,  and  that  necessary  backstage 
alternations  would  also  be  made. 
Local  regulations  would  permit 
performances  we e ke nds,  when 
there  is  normally  a  visitor  influx 
during  the  off-season  period. 

Plans  for  bringing  back  legit  are 
being  worked  out  by  a  committee 
of  the  Chamber  of:  Commerce,  of. 
which  hotelinan  Michael  Fiore  is 
president.  The  group  conferred  in 
Philadelphia  last  week  with  Law¬ 
rence  Shubert  Lawrence,  represen¬ 
tative  of  the  Shubert  interests  in 
New  York.  He  agreed,  to  .try  to 
arrange  for  Broadway  .  shows  to 
play  this  resort  if  -  the.  $20,000 
weekly  gross  could  be -assured. 

At  the  start,  it’s  figured -on  hav¬ 
ing  the  five-show  season  from  Sep¬ 
tember  through  December,  blit 
Fiore  is  working  on  the  idea  of 
bringing  additional  productions 
here  and  extending  the  season 
through  May.  It’s  hoped  that  some 
of  the  shows  may-be  pre-Broadway 
tryouts  and  that  the  resort  may 
again  become  a  regular  break-in 
spot,  as  in  the  1920’s  and  1930’s. 


During  Last  Six  Months  of  1957; 

8  Hits*  7  Flops,  5  Not  Determined 


Spoken  in  Jest? 

Producer-realtor  Roger  L. 
Stevens  appears  to  have  a  real¬ 
istic  sense  of  humor  about  the 
way  he  initiates  numerous  legit 
projects  and  then  turns  them 
over  to  subordinates  with  off¬ 
hand  instructions,  “Now  you 
handle.it.” 

When  a  member  of  the  Play¬ 
wrights  Co,  staff  speculated 
last  week  on  how  the  pro¬ 
ducer-realtor  manages  to  be  so 
active  without  getting  ulcers, 
Stevens  commented,  “I  don’t 
get  ulcers-r-I  give  ’em.” 


Hub  Censor  Even 


Boston,  Jan.  21. 

“Cat  On  a  Hot  Tin  Roof,”  the 
Tennessee  Williams  prize-winner 
which  opened  last  week  at  the.  Wil¬ 
bur  Theatre  here,  has  since  been 
severely  laundered  by  the  city 
censor.  All  the  four-letter  words 
have  been  removed  or.  smothered. 
Other  lipes,  without  objectionable 
words  but  possibly  offensive  to 
southerners  or  the  south,  haye 
also  been  deleted. 

The  censorship  was  expected  by 
N.Y.  producer  George  Brandt  and 
the  management  of  the  theatre, 
but  there  was  no  pre-censorship. 
The  script  was  played  opening 
night  exactly  as  written  and  the 
censor’s  cuts'  were  ,  subsequently 
submitted  and  accepted. 


LONDON  ‘SAILOR’  ENDS 
LONG  RUN,  WILL  TOUR 

London,  Jan.  21. 
“Sailor  Beware,”  the  Philip 
King-Falkland  Cary  farce,  which 
opened  Feb.  16,  1955,  at  the  Strand 
Theatre,  ends  its  three-year  run 
there  Feb.  22.  It  will  have,  played 
1,231  performances  and,!  to  date, 
1,400,087  people  have  paid  to  see 
it.  *  y. 

.  The  show,  which  was  |the  late 
Jack  Waller’s  last  big  money-spin¬ 
ner,  brought  stardom  to-  a  preyi- 
oulsly  unknown  stock  character 
woman,  Peggy  Mount:  The  actress 
will  go  on  tour  with  the  produc¬ 
tion.  Incidentally,  “Sailor  Beware” 
is  not  to  be  confused  with  the  sim¬ 
ilarly-titled  Broadway  comedy  of 
1933-33  by  Kenyon  Nicholson  and 
Charles  Robinson. 


‘House’  Leaving  London 
For  Tour  of  Provinces 

London,  Jan.  21. 

Although  still  funning  in  the 
black/  “House  By  the  Lake”  is  to 
be  withdrawn  Feb.  15  from  the 
Duke  of  York’s  Tbeatfe  so  that 
Flora  Robson  will  be  available  for 
a  short  provincial  tour.  It  will  have 
played  737  performances. 

Peter  Daubeny,  who  presents 
the  Hugh  Mills  drama,  gave  Miss 
Robson  the  choice  of  continuing 
the  London,  run  with  no  provincial 
tour  because  of  other*  commit¬ 
ments,  or  halting  the  London  run 
and  touring  for  three  months.  She 
decided  on  the  latter  course.  After 
two.  weeks  in  nabe  London  situa¬ 
tions,  the  company,  will  rest  for  a 
fortnight  before .  moving  into  the 
sticks.  An  earlier  plan  for  MiSs 
Robson  to  toiir  in  Australia  has 
been  abandoned. 


After  March  1st,  1958 


Newsstands 


Subscription 


Per  Copy 


Per  Year 


See  Details  Page  51 


By  HAROLD  MYERS 

London,  Jan.  21*. 

Two  out  of.  every  five  shows 
which  -  opened  in  London’s  West 
End  during  the  second  half  of  1957 
are  already  In  the  black.  Only 
one  In  four  failed  to  pay  off.  There 
were  26  productions  during  the 
six-month  period  and  43  during  all 
of '1957. 

Of  seven  productions  whose  fi¬ 
nancial  status,  had  not  been  deter¬ 
mined  by  the.  end  of  -the  year,  at 
least  five  look  stout  prospects  for 
an  early  payoff.  And  the  number 
of  long-running  hits,  which  stood 
at  11  this  time  last  year,  has  now 
swelled  to  16. 

The  period  under  review  is  the 
first  full  half-year  in  which  legit 
theatres  have  been  freed  from  the 
admission  tax  toll  (abolshed  in  the 
last  Easter  Budget)  and  the  addi¬ 
tional  coin  accuring  to  manage¬ 
ments,  representing  about  14%  of 
the  gross,  has  hypoed  the  more  sue-"" 
cessfiil  returns. 

Among  the  hits  In  the  Half-year 
review,  “The  Entertainer/  in  which 
Laurence  Olivier  is  starred,  closed 
at  tiie  Palace  last  Saturday  (18) 
and  is  due  for  an  early  Broadway 
presentation.  “Man  of  Distinc¬ 
tion,”  with  Moira  Shearer  and  An¬ 
ton  WaHbrqok  in  the  leads,  ran 
only  about  four  .weeks  at  the 
Princes,  but  paid  off  during  a  sub¬ 
stantial  pre-London  tour  which  in¬ 
cluded  an  engagement  at  the  Edin¬ 
burgh  FestivaL 

"The  Egg,”  currently  at  the  Sa- 
ville  under  the  banner  of  Jack  Wal¬ 
ler,  Ltd.,  (the  company  formed  to 
perpetuate  the  name  of  the  late 
producer)  is  due  to  fold  next  Satur¬ 
day  (25)  and  looks  certain  to  wind 
up  in  the  red.  “Saturday  Night  at 
the  Crown,”  a  hit  at  the  Garrick  Is 
being  crowded  out  next  Saturday 
to  make  room  for  a  transfer  of 
“Share  My  Lettuce”  from  the  Com¬ 
edy,  and  will  be  compelled  to  fold 
unless  another  house  can  be  found. 

Three  of  the  long-running  hits 
are  due  to  fold  within  the  next 
(Continued  on  page  76) 


‘Night’ Not  Now  $24,500 


Goes  on  Subscription 

The  break-even  on  the  “Middle 
of  the  Night”  production  has  been, 
cut  from  $30,000  to  $24,500  for  the 
balance  of  its  tour.  The  reduction. 
Involving  salary  and  royalty  re¬ 
adjustments  on  the  part  of  the 
cast,  author  and  director,  was  put 
into  effect  by  the  show’s  hew  spon¬ 
sor,  the  Theatre  Guild-American 
Theatre  Society,  No  cuts  will  be 
made,  however,  on  weeks  that  the 
production,  grosses  over  $30,000. 

TG-ATS,  which  provides  sub¬ 
scribers  with  touring  presentations 
under  the  auspiefes  of  the  Council 
of  the  Living  Theatre,  took  over 
the  Edward  G.  Robinson-stareer 
from  Joshua  Logan,  who  had  plan¬ 
ned  closing  it  last  Saturday  (18) 
in  Washington.  Warren  Caro,  TG- 
ATS  executive  director,  negotiated 
the' sponsorship  switch. 

The  show  moved  to  the,. Great 
Northern  Theatre*  Chicago,  last 
Monday  (18)  and  will  remain  there 
three  weeks  as  a  subscription  of¬ 
fering.  As  such  it  win  be-  guar¬ 
anteed  a  minimum  $18,300  weekly 
gross.  The  show  had  not  been  play¬ 
ing  subscription  stands  prior  to  the 
TG-ATS  takeover.  The  Chicago 
run  will  be  followed  by  another 
seven  weeks  on  the  road,  and  the 
presentation  will  up  on  the  Coast 
as  an  item  for  new  subscribers.  - 


Performing  Arts  Center 
In  D.  C.  Proposed  Again 

Washington,  Jan.  21. 
Legislation  reviving  plans  for 
cultural  center  in  Washington  has 
been  introduced  by  Rep.  Frank 
Thompson,  Jr.,  (D.,  N.J.). 

The.  measure  calls  for  a  cultural 
commission  to  plan  for.  a  much 
smaller  national  cultural  center 
than  the  one  which  failed  to  pass 
in  Congress  last  year.  The  Center 
would  provide  facilities  for  opera, 
music,  legit,  ballet,  etc.  Ground 
would  be  provided  by  the  Govern¬ 
ment  near  the  Mellon  Art  Gallery. 


LEGITIMATE 


t<ARIETY 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


Shows  Abroad 


Husband,  Dear  Husband 

Glasgow,  Dec.  17. 

Rutherglen  Repertory  Theatre  presenta¬ 
tion  of  three-act  (four .  scenes)  drama  by 
John  O’Hare.  Staged  by  Charles  Baptiste; 
setting.  Peter  Wilson.  At  RUtherglen 
Theatre.  Dec.  9,  '57;  80c  top. 

Judson  Banning  ..........  Nevil  Whiting 

Sarah  Banning  . Rita  Laurie 

This  play  by  U.  S.  author  John 
O'Hare  shapes  as  fairly  gripping 
theatre,  and  fc  com.  mend  ably 
treated”  by  his  local  Scot  legit 
group,  featuring  London  actor 
Nevil  Whiting  and  local  actress 
Rita  Laurie.  Eerie  setting  is  a 
lonely  hunting  cabin  in  the  New 
Hampshire  hills  in  December,  y. 

Whiting  plays  a  man  who  mar¬ 
ried  for  money  and  Miss  Laurie 
is  also  convincing  as  the  wife  who. 
also  has  an  ulterior  motive. 
Charles  Baptiste’s  direction  height¬ 
ens  the  suspense,  and  Peter  WiL 
son’s  cabin  setting  is  authentically 
atmospheric.  “Husband,  Dear  Hus¬ 
band’’  appears  to  he  good  tv  mater¬ 
ial,  and  as  a  stage  vehicle  merits 
more  than  this  local  presentation. 

Gord. 

L’Adorabile  Ginlio 

(Adorable  Giutfo) 

Rome,  Dec.  17. 

Acbille  Trinca  presentation  of  two-act 
musical  comedy  by  .  Garinei  and  Gioyan- 
Tilni.  Stars  Carlo  Dapporto.  Delia  Scala. 
Teddy  Reno;  features  Paplo  PanelU, 
Mario  Castellan!.  Renata.  Negri,  .Valeria 
Fabrizzt,  Charley  Ballet  (18).  Directed  by 
Garinei  and  Giovannlm;  dances,  Donald 
6addler;  music.  Garni  Kramer; .  sets  and 
costumes,  Coltellacci.  At  Teatro  Sistina. 
Rome.  Dec.  15,  *57;  $6.50  top;  ,  ■ 

Glulio  Balth  -  _ _ _ •  Carlo  Dapporto 

Penelope  Balth. . Delia  Scala 

Benjamin  McNamara  . . ....  Teddy  Reno 

Aurelio  Fontanella. . .  Paolo  PaneUi 

Molly  Tann . - _ ...  Valeria  Fabrizzi 

Garinei  and  Giovannini  have 
given  Carlo  Dapporto  another  hit 
vehicle  to  follow  up  his  past  suc¬ 
cesses  on  the  local  musical  stage.  A 
class  show  In  all  departments, 
“L’Adorabile  Giulio’’  looks  in  for 
long  runs  wherever  it  plays  on  the 
Italian  circuits  and  could  rate  for¬ 
eign  attention  as  well,  in  properly 
adapted  form. 

Set  In  the  U.  S.  in  the  1890’s,  the 
plot  chronicles  the  past  and  pres¬ 
ent  amours  of  a  great  ham  actor 
whose  greatest  love  is  for  himself. 
Hatred  of  hostile  critics  results  in 
a  Romeo-Juliet  subplot  involving 
his  daughter’s  romance  with  a 
critic’s  son.  eventually  resolved 
when  the  star  for  the  first  time 
convinces  the  scribe  of  his  ability 
when  he  impersonates  a  foreign 
prince. 

Book  is  overlong  to  satisfy  local 
audience  love  for  late  evenings, 
but  is  intelligent,  witty,  as  well  as 
offering  comic  Dapporto  his  usual 
share  of  top  material,  with  which 
he  continues  at  the  top  of  his  field. 
The  show  is  also  a  triumph  for 
Delia  Scala  (as  the  daughter),  now 
firmly  established  here  as  the  best 
all-round  value  in  her  field.  Her 
“Matchiche”  song-and-dance  num¬ 
ber  is  a  wow.  Teddy  Reno  sings 
several  songs  for  top  effect  in  his 
first  musical  stint,  as  well  as  play¬ 
ing  his  role  pleasingly,  and  Paolo 
Fanelli  clicks  in  every  scene  he’s 
in. 

Teamwork  has  made  this  show 
what  it  is,  and  all  sectors  deserve 
plaudits.  Goml  Kramer’s  music 


and  songs,  among  his  best;  are  in 
the  Yank  manner,  and  the  three 
songs  he’s  given  Teddy  Reno 
(“Simpatico,”  “Tu  Sorridi  e  Passa 
Un  Angelo”  and  “Dillo  con  Ie 
Rose”)  look  like  strong  sellers. 
Donald  Saddler’s  terp  .direction  in 
the  “Matchiche”  number  as  well  as 
several  others  including  a  western 
saloon  brawl,  is  another  outstamL 
ing  value,  while,  Coltellacci’s  sets 
and  costumes — drawing  healthy  ap¬ 
plause  on  their  own — ssce  tasteful, 
functional,  and  accurate  in  repro¬ 
ducing  the -stateside  period  flavor 
in  colorful  manner.  Hawk. 

Te  Espero  En  Eslava 

(See  You  at  Eslave) 

Madrid,  Dec.  20. 

Luis  Escobar  presentation  of  revue  iii 
two  parts  (19  scenes),  with  text  by  Luis 
Escobar,  original  music  and  'musical 
adaptations  by  Fernando  Moraleda.  Over¬ 
all  staging,  Luis  Escobar;  choreography, 
Karen  Taft  and  Alberto  Portillo;  sets,  and 
lighting.  Emilio  Burgos;  costumes.  Ana 
de  Pombo,  Leo  Anchoriz,  Emilio  Burgos, 
Victor  Maria  Cortezo  and  Vicente  Viudes; 
orchestra  leader*  Fernando  Moraleda. 
Stars  Nati  MIstral,  Tony  Leblanc;  features 
Raquel  Rodrigo,  Vicky  Lagos,  Pastors 
Imperio.  Also,  Marla  .  Rosa  Enclnas, 
Estrella  Alsina,  Celia  Llanos,  Juail  de 
Juan,  Juan  Tolmos,  Pedro  Osinga,  Hebe 
Donay,  Eulalia  Soldevila.  Karen  Taft 
Ballet  with:  Maria  Luisa  Merlo,  Agustin 
Velasquez.  At  Teatro  Eslava,  Madrid,  Dec, 
20,  '57;  $1.50  top, 

Teatro  Eslava,  shuttered  for  over 
a  dCcade,  is  now  one  of  the  bright¬ 
est  legit  houses  in  Madrid,  offering 
the  biggest  show  in  town.  Catching 
up  with  its  colorful  music-hall  past; 
the  Eslava  brings  in  a  zestful  song 
and  dance  evocation  of  Spain’s 
musique  legere  staged,  for  over  half 
a  century  in  this  famous.  Old 
Madrid^thCatfe.  . 

“Te  Espero”  is  a  long  jaunt  down 
memory  lane,  held  together  by :  a 
literary  but  effectively  nostalgic 
narration  of  the  hits,  stars,  authors 
and  composers”  who  made  this  spot 
a  historic  haunt  of.  light  entertain¬ 
ment  Revived  and  lavishly 
mounted  are  the  highlight  se¬ 
quences  of  some  15  hit  musicals 
spanning  the  years  between  1880 
and  1940. 

Tony  Leblanc,  a  rough  and  tum¬ 
ble  popular  comedian,  is  spellbind¬ 
ing  as  narrator  and  incidental 
comic.  He .  sets  the  inood  with 
warmth  and  poise*  practically  elirrir 
inating  the  footlight  barrier  be¬ 
tween  cast  and  spectator*  yet  paces 
the  show  with  ,  precise  rigor. 

Revelation  is  Natl  Mistral,  a 
stunning  Spanish  song  stylist..  Re¬ 
turning  to  Madrid  after  an  absence 
of  five  years,  she  impresses  as  a 
vocalist  (and  femme)  U.S.  cabaret 
audiences  would  welcome.  Her  ver¬ 
sion  of  “Habanera”  (1888),  the 
more  modern  song  poem  by  Garcia 
Lorca,  “The  Kids  or  Monleon,”  and 
others  deservedly  score.  * 

Pastora  Imperio,  vibrant  giant  at 
70  and  queen  of  Flamenco,  partici¬ 
pates  with  telling  effect  in  a  single 
solo  bit.  Veteran  cupletista  Raquel 
Rodrigo  enchants  in  “La  Vende- 
dora  de  Besos”  (a  hit  in  1908).. 
Screen  starlet  Vicky  Lagos  adds 
beauty  with  each  appearance. 
Comedienne  Eulalia  Soldevila  also 
clicks.  Light  opera  sopranos  fulfill 
creditably. 

Ballet  ensemble,  with  the  excep¬ 
tion  of  Augustin  Velasquez*  is  Weak 
spot  of  program,  producing  several 


tedious  moments  In  the  second 
part;  Most  of  the  Spanish  ballet 
groups  or  regional  dance  units 
would  have  fared  better.  Choreog¬ 
raphy,  per  se,  is  sound. 

Overall,  Luis  Escobar  has  pre¬ 
sented.  a  diverting  and  splendidly 
staged  musical  anthology  and,  in 
so  doing,  has  'paid  a  moving  hom- 
mage.  to  a  landmark  Spanish  legit 
institution.  “Te  Espero  en  .Eslava” 
will  undougtedly  be  represented 
among  the  chosen  few  top  hits  of 
the  season.  Werb. 

Ciclo  Dentro  De  Casa  . 

(Heaven  is:  Home) 

Madrid,  Dec.  20. 

Carmen  Troitino  &  Manuel  Benitez 
presentation  of  four-act  comedy  by  Al¬ 
fonso  Paso.  Stars  Mary  Carrillo,  Enrique 
.Dlosdado;  features  Juan  Cortes,  Joseuna 
RobedO.  Staged,  by  Maiuel  Benitez;  as¬ 
sistant  director,  Diego  Hurtado.  At  Reco- 
letos.  Theatre,  Madrid,  Dec.  13,  *57;  $1.10 
top, 

Laura  .  ...  Mary  Carrillo 

Julio  ................  Enrique  Dlosdado 

Daniel  . . Juan  Cortes 
Susana  . . . .-.  Josefina  Robeda 

.  The  Recoletos  Theatre  has  dis¬ 
tinguished  itself  in  less  than  a  year 
for  the  quality  of  its  plays  (Spanish 
and  foreign)  and  the  adroitness  of 
its  house  troupe  headed  by  Mary 
Carrillo  and  Enrique  Diosdado.  Dis¬ 
tinction  is  maintained  with  “Cielo 
dentro  de  Casa,” 

In  this  hold  and  well-written 
copiedy,  designed  to  provoke  trou¬ 
bled  laughter,  Alfonso  Paso  inter¬ 
laces  social  satire  and  drawing 
room  mirth  within  a  contrived, 
cadre  of  fantasy,  and  successfully 
sustains  all  three. 

'  The  .  author  believes  a  martial 
union  should  be  frequently  re¬ 
evaluated.  Projecting  time  a  dozen 
years,  into  thtf  future,  he  permits 
a  poetress  to  visualize  basic  changes 
in  the  home  life  of  her  husband 
after  she  has  abandoned  him. 
process  is  skillfully  Inverted  for 
her  husband,  subjected  td  an  ex¬ 
amination  of  his  own  conscience  at 
a  moment  during  Spain’s  Civil  War, 
just  after  his  marriage. 

:  Miss  Carrillo  delights  as  the  wife 
who  learns  her  indispehsahility  is 
not  an.  inherent  natural  right.  Dios¬ 
dado  seasons  the  romantic  Impact 
with  the  proper  levity  to  round  an 
intelligent  portrayal  of  a  good- 
natured  psychiatrist  content  to 
make  his  foyer  a  comfortable,  self- 
centered  retreat.  Direction  and  sup¬ 
porting  roles  are  capably  managed. 

Werb. 

SCHEDULED  N.Y.  OPENINGS 

BROADWAY 

(Theatres  Set) 

Maybe  Tuesday,  Playhouse  (1-29-58). 

Sunrise  at  Campobello,  Cort  (1-30-58). 

Oh  Captain,  Alvin  (2-4-58). 

WInesburg,  Ohio,  National  (2-5-58). 

Interlock,  ANTA  (2-6-58). 

Cloud  Seven,  Golden  (2-11-58). 

Entertainer,  Royale  (2-12-58). 

Annie  Get  Your  Gun,  Center  -19-58). 

Portoflno,  Adelphl  (2-19-58). 

Day  Money’ Stopped,  Belasco  (2-20-58), 

Blue  Denim,  Playhouse  (2-27-58). 

Who  Was  That  Lady,  Beck  (3-3-58). 

Wonderful  Town,  Center  (3-5-58). 

Say  Darling,  ANTA  (4-3-58). 

Oklahoma,  Center  (3-19-58),  ' 

Love  Mo  Little,  Hayes  (4-9-58): 

(Theatres  Not  Set) 

This  Is  Googlo  Cwfc.  2-17-58). 

Actress  In  Love  (2-24-58). 

Waltz  of  Toreadors  (2-24-58). 

Back  to-Methussolah  (3-24-58). 

Hearts  A  Dollars  (4-3-58). 

Firstborn  (wk.  4-28-58).  . 

OFF-BROADWAY 

Boy  Friend,  Downtown  (1-25-58). 

Endgame,  Cherry  Lane  (1-28-58). 

Dmitri  Karamazov;  Jan  Hus  (1-27-58). 

Infernal  -  Machine,  Phoenix  (2-3-58).  - 

Enemy  People,  Provincetown  (2-25-58). 


Show  Finances 


Current  financial  status  of  New  York  and  touring  productions, 
including  closed  operations  on  which  payment  has  recently  been 
*made.  Investment  figures,  include  oyercall;  if  any.  (R)  designates 
amount  of  original  investment  repaid  to  the  backers.  (P)  designates 
amount  of  profit  distributed  to  the  backers.  Unless  otherwise  indi¬ 
cated,  the  backers’  share  is  50%  of  the  total  profit,  with  the  man¬ 
agement  getting  all  or  most  of  the  remaining  50%. 

Show  Title  Investment  Backers* 


Auntie  Maine  (N.Y.)  * . . . . . . . . . ...  .$179,307  *$ 

Jamacia  360,000 

Look  Back  in  Anger  40,000. 

New  Girl  in  Town  . .... . . ..... . . .  .*. .  300,000 

Romanoff  and  Juliet  . .  80,000 

West  Side  Story  . ^ .  300,000 

Dark  at  Top  of  Stairs  ...,* .  ... 100,000 

Long  Day’s  Journey  Into  Night: ........  80,000 

No  Time  for  Sergeants  (2  Cos.)  . . . . . ... .  100,000 

Diary  of  Anne  Frank  75,000 

Happiest  Millionaire  99,000 

CLOSED  SHOWS 

Janus  _ ... _ . ... ... , . : ... .....  60,000 

*  Backers  receive  34.471%  of  the  profits  . 

Off-Broadway  Reviews 


Investment 

Backers* 
Beturn 
To  Date 

.$179,307 

*$  84,308  (P) 

.  360,000 

72,000  (R) 

.  40,000. 

40,000  (R) 

.  300,000 

15,000  tP) 

.  80,000 

16,000  (R) 

.  300,000 

210,000  R) 

.  100,000 

50,000  (R) 

..  80,000 

45,500  (P) 

.  100,000 

553*142  ,(P) 

75,000 

99,300  (P) 

99,000 

45,000  (R) 

,  $  ^magict" — Bifly  Rose 

"superb!11— Bolton,  Telegraph 
•  "perfect!"— Dash,  Women’s  Wear 
•  "masterly!"— Pearson,  NBC 
•  "fine!"— Watt.  News 

"immensely  skillful!"— Bentley,  Nlghtbeaf 

•  V*  •  .  the  big  thing.  Broadway  should  grab  him  dnd 
keep  him.  He’s  got  it!" 

— Aston,  World-Telegram  &  Sun 

A  Contender  FoRTHE  VteAR&  Honors! 


I  n  —McClain,  Journal-Americah 

"hMJFDBFRG" 


wmme 


Winkelberg 

Lee  Falk  production  of  two-act  comedy- 
drama  by  Ben  Hecht.  Features  Mike 
Kellln,  Sondra  Lee.  Frances  Chaney.  Sor¬ 
rell  Booke.  Tom  Clancy,  Michael  Lewis. 
Norman  Budd.  Louise  Kirtland.  Jayne 
Heller,  Janies  MitcheU.  Staged  by  Falk;, 
setting  and  lighting.  Lester  Polakov;  cos¬ 
tumes.  Don  Jensen.  At  Renata .  Theatre, 
N.Y.,  Jan.  14,. *58;  $3.90  top  ($4.50  open- 

^Cast;1  Mike  Kellin.  James  Mitchell. 
Frances  Chaney,  SorreU  Booke,  Aza  Bard, 
Shirley  Smith.  Norman  Budd,  Robert  Earl 
Jones,  Tom  Clancy.  Louise  Kirtland. 
Helen  Waters,  Arthur  Anderson.  Michael 
Lewis.  Ernest  Austin,  Jayne  Heller.  Harry 
Holsten.  Sondra  Lee,  Bob  Sugarman.  : 

According  to  viewpoint,  “Winkel- 
beTg”  is  the  story  of  a  bum,  the 
sad  tale  ,  of  a  man  who  had  the 
Courage  (or  defiance)  to  remain  dif¬ 
ferent  all  his  life,  a  man  who 
learned  to  “face  'starvation  with  a 
well-turhed  phrase,”  or  the  saint 
of  Sleeker  St.  There  is  no  doubt 
about  author  Ben  Hecht’s  choice, 
for  his  attitude  toward  Jonathan 
Winkelberg  (alias  Maxwell  Boden- 
heim)  is  always  nostalgic  and  affec¬ 
tionate. 

Winkelberg  Is  the  last  of  the 
bohemians.  He  will  recite  his  po¬ 
etry  for  a  thimbleful  of  gin,  he  Will 
insult  the  publisher  who  can  rescue, 
him  from  the  dregs  Of  sked  row,  he 
will  attempt  to  strip  a  .woman 
at  a  party,  he  will  transcibe  the  will 
of  a  dying  flophouse  resident.  His 
credo  is,  “I  must  avoid  the  pitfalls 
of  riches  and  contentment.”  If  any¬ 
body  could  succeed  at  failure,  it 
was  Winkelberg. 

Actually,  “Winkelberg”  has  more 
validity  as  a  play  in  its  own  right 
than  as  Hecht’s  elegy  to  Boden- 
heim.  He  has  followed  him  from. 
Chicago,  “Where  the  wounds  be¬ 
gan,”  through  a  desolate  existence 
to  sordid  death,  and  he  has  sung 
the  man’s  undaunted  spirit. 

Hecht’s  skill  at  a  phrase  has  been 
put  to  the  ultimate  test,  for  nearly 
every  line  Winkelberg  speaks  is  a 
humorous,  hitter  or  sardonic  com¬ 
ment.  Only  in  the  play’s  latter 
reaches,  -when  Hecht  is  concerned 
with  the  man’s  affiliation  with  Com¬ 
munism,  does  the  play  lose  its 
lively  juice  and  sparkle. 

Playing  Winkelberg  with  much; 
savour  and  relish  is  the  young 
character  actor*  Mike  Kellin,  It 
is  a  whopping  part,  as  Winkelberg 
is  omnipresent,  but  Kellin  faces  up 
boldly,  parading  into  the  darkness 
with  beret  askew,  jovial  eyes, 
sagging  knees  and  a  quip. 

At  Bleeker  St.’s  Renata  Theatre, 
Lee  Falk  has  given  “Winkelberg” 
and  impressively  flawless  produc¬ 
tion.  There  are  46  parts  played  by 
by  18  actors,  and  except  for  the 
calculated  doubling  of  the  nian 
known  as  “the  enemy,”  the  tripling 
and  quadrupling  of  roles  la  prac¬ 
tically  unnoticeable. 

James  Mitchell  is  darkly  menac¬ 
ing  as  Winkelberg’s  nemesis,  and 
when  he  becomes  the  sailor,  there 
is  good  suspense  about  when  and 


how  the  inevitable  homicide  will  oc¬ 
cur.  Frances  Chaney  is  brisk  and 
rough  as  one  of  Winkelberg’s  early 
amours,  Tom  Clancy  has  concen¬ 
trated  .  as  a  .  down-and-outer  who : 
chooses  Communism,  and  Sondra 
Lee  drifts  in  and  out  like  a  path¬ 
etic  little  match-girl  as  Winkel- 
bergs  last  love.  * 

This  is  an  off-beat  Evening  that 
contains  more  piquancy,  and  fun 
thn  its  subject  promises.  It  is  not 
a  Bbdenheim  memorial,  despite, 
Hecht’s.  nostalgic  affection,  for 
Winkelberg  a  la  Kellin  is  an  in¬ 
triguing  theatrical  character  in  his 
own  right.  Gcor. 

Ais  You  Like  It 

N.  Y.  Shakespeare  Festival  revival  o£ 
three-act  comedy  by  William  Shakespeare. 
Produced  by  Joseph  Papp,  in  cooperation 
with  the  City  of  N.  Y.;  staged  by  .  Stuart 
Vaughan; .  technical;  direction.  Richard 
Robbins;  settings.  Betty  Matta;  costumes. 
Greta  Richards;  lighting,  John  Robertsonj 
music  composed  by  David  Amram:  chore¬ 
ography,  Herta  Payson.  At  Heckscher 
Theatre.  N,  Y.,  Jan.  .20,  *58;  admission  by 
contribution. 

Cast:  Robert  Blackburn,  Louis  Lytton. 
Sheppard  Kermaii,  Joel  Parsons.  Dana 
Elcar,  Cherry  Davis,  Nancy  Wickwire, 
Jack  Cannon,  David  Metcalf,  .  William 
Hindman,  Richard  Coate.  Jonathan  Mor¬ 
ris.  Arthur.  Watson,  M.  David.  Samples* 
Tom  Sahkey,  Lance  Cunard*  Joseph  Shaw, 
George  C>  Scott,  Anne  Meara,  Daniel 
Durning,  Sasha  voh  Scherler,  Jerry  Stiller. 
Edwin  Sherln,  Howard  Witt,  Katherine 
Henryk,  Marjory  Hirsh,  Wayne  Croft. 

Dancers:  Karen  Geiger.  David  Carlton* 
Patricia  .  O’Grady,  David  Zirlin,  Pamela 
Vevers,  Lewis  DeMarco. 

Nancy  Wickwire,  as  Rosalind, 
does  everything  within  her  con¬ 
siderable  ability  to  make  the  N*  Y. 
Shakespeare  Festival’s  revival  of 
“As  You  IJke  It”  the  rollicking 
Idyll  Wm.  intended  it  to  be.  Direc¬ 
tor  Stuart  Vaughan  has  brought 
his  inventive  Imagination,  into  full 
(Continued  Oil  page  76) 


noth,  president 

m 


American  Theatre  Wing 

HELEN  MENKEN, 

MRS.  MARTIN  BECK,  1st  ViM-PrasIdant  SOLLY  PERNICK,  3rd  Vle»J»re*W*nt 
JOHN  SHUBERT,  2nd  Vic*J>raiIdont  .  JAMES.  P.  REILLY,  Trtosurar 

ELAINE  PERRY;  Sscralary 

PROFESSIONAL  TRAINING  CENTER 

Spring  Semester— FEBRUARY  3  to  MAY  24 

ACTORS  WORK  GROUP  TELEVISION  ACTING 

MUSICAL  COMEDY  WORKSHOP  RADIO  ACTING 

DIRECTING  TV-RADIO  COMMERCIALS 

SCRIPT  WRITER’S  WORKSHOP  WRITING  FOR  MUSICAL 

SINGER’S  CLINIC  THEATRE 

FENCING  MAKE-UP 

PLAY  ANALYSIS  .  VOICE  AND  DICTION 

COMBINED  ESSENTIALS  of  ACTING  (Technic— Speech— Body  Training) 
COMPREHENSIVE  REVIEW  of  ACTING  (Shakespeare-Restoratlon-Shaw-Modern) 

Rcgislrollen:  Week  of  January  27— APPLY  NOW  I 

351  W.it  45  St.,  N.w  York  35,  N.  Y.  COlumbu.  5-5535, 


75 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


PfiRiET? 


LEGITIMATE 


Philadelphia,  Jan.  21. 

Business  was  brisk  for  two  of 
the  three  shows  here  last  week,  and 
activity  picks  up  a  trifle  this  week 
with  one  show  arriving  last  night 
to  take  the  place  of  one  that  left, 
and  another  new  entry  due  next 
weekend. 

The  future  hooking  schedule  in¬ 
cludes  the  touring  "Waltz  of  the 
Toreadors’*  next  Monday  (27)  for 
two  weeks  at  the  Forrest,  a  tryout 
of  "The  Day  the  Money  Stopped” 
next  Tuesday  (28)  for  two  Weeks 
at  the  Walnut  Street  and  a  tryout 
of  ‘-Who  Was  That  Lady  I  Saw 
You  With”  due  Feb.  5  for  two  and 
one-half  Weeks,  at  the  Shubert. 

Estimates  for  Last  Week 

Body  Beautiful,  Erlanger  (MC). 
(3d  wk)  ($6;  1,880;  $53,000).  Prize¬ 
fight  tuner  tryout  lost  the  decision 
here;  Ibadly  battered  $22,700;  pre¬ 
vious  week,  $19,700;  left  Saturday 
(18)  for  Broadway. 

Oh  Captain,  Shubert  (MC)  (1st 
Wk  wk)  ($7.20;  1,870;  $63,000). 

Legituner  version  of  the  film, 
"Captain’s  Paradise”  opened  a  try¬ 
out  Jan.  11  to  two  raves  (De- 
Schauensee,  Bulletin;  Murdoek,  In¬ 
quirer)  and  one  mild  okay  (Gaghan^ 
News);  over-capacity  $63,100  (be¬ 
lieved  to  be  a  house  record)  for  the 
first  full,  week;  continues  through 
next:  Saturday  (25). 

Sunrise  at  Campobello,  Forrest 
(D)  (1st.  wk)  ($456;  1,7.60;  $38,000) 
4Ralph  Bellamy);  Play  about  FDR 
op^ied  a  tuneup  last  Monday  (13) 
to  .  unanimous  critical  praise  (De- 
Schauensee,  Bulleti  ;  Gaghan, 
News;  Murdock,  Inquirer);  rousing 
$37,700;  moves  out  next  Saturday 
(25)  for  Broadway: 

Opening  Thhi  Week 

Cloud  7,  Locust  St.  (C)  ($4.80; 
1,580;  $43,000)  (Ralph  Meeker, 

Martha  Scott).  Max  Wilk  play 
opened .  a  two-week  pre-Broadway 
tuneup  last  night  (Mon.).  . 

Portofinb,  Erlanger  (MC)  ($6; 
1,880;  $53,000)'  (George  Guetary, 
Helen  Gallagher,  Robert  Strauss). 
New  tuner  plays  a  three-week 
break-in  opening  next  Saturday 
night  (25). 

Bns-Trock  ‘Yankees’  Co. 
Launches  Road  Tour  In 
Once-Lively  Altoona,  Pa, 

Altoona,  Pa.,  Jan.  21. 

This  oldtime  rialto  came  back 
to  life  again  last  Saturday  (18).  and 

?aid  out  $8,684.34  to  start  “Damn 
ankees”  off)  On  its  projected 
eight-month  bus -and -truck  tour. 
This  single-shot  gross  was  sightline 
-  capacity  in  sprawling  Joffa  Mosque 
and  a  record  take  at  the  $3.55  top. 

“Yankees”  Is  another  b.  and  t. 
booking  venture  ,  of  Broadway 
Theatre  Alliance,  Which  opened  its 
bumper  tour  .of  the  Broadway 
troupe  of  “No  Time  for  Sergeants” 
here  last  September.  Richard 
Horner  &  Justin  Sturm  are  man¬ 
aging  the  tour  for  Brisson,.  Griffith 
&  Prince,  and  the  company  is  al¬ 
most  the  same  that  closed  a  1,000- 
performance  New*  York  stand  last 
November,  moving  On  to  Las  Vegas 
for  four  weeks. 

Company  moved  on  to  a  split- 
week  between  Binghamton,  (sel¬ 
dom  played  any  more),  Albany  and 
Youngstown,  and  then  a  Week 
stand  opening  Monday  (2?)  at  Mil¬ 
waukee. 


HEPBURN-DRAKE  26G, 
‘WALTZ’  27G,  DETROIT 

Detroit,  Jan.  21. 

Betty  Field  replaced  Paulette 
Goddard  as  co-star  with  Melvyn 
Douglas  in  “The  Waltz  of  the  Tore¬ 
adors”  Vlast  Sunday  (19)  at  the 
Shubert.  “Much  Ado  About 
Nothing,”  starring  Katharine  Hep¬ 
burn  and  Alfred  Drake,  is  at  the 
Riviera. 

Preem  of  Huntington  Hartford’s 
hew  play “The  Master  of  Thorn- 
field,”  starring  Errol  Flynn,  will 
open  Feb.  10  at  the  Shubert  instead 
or  Jan.  30.  Robert  Denker’s  com¬ 
edy,  “Venus  at  Large,”  which  Was 
to  have  begun  a  two  week  engage¬ 
ment  Feb.  3  at  the  1,482-seat  Cass, 
has  been  withdrawn.  “Visit  to  a 
Small  Planet,”  starring  Cyril 
Nitchard,  is  booked  for  the  Cass 
the  week  of  March  24.  ' 

Estimates  for  Last  Week 

Much  Ado  About  Nothing,  Rivi¬ 
era  (C)  (1st  wk)  ($4;  2,700;  $50,000) 
(Katharine  Hepburn,  Alfred  Drake).* 
Fair  $26,000;  continues  this  week. 

Waltz  of  the  Toreadors,  Shubert 
(C)  (1st  wk)  ($4;  2,050;  $35,000) 
(Melvyn  Douglas,  Paulette  God¬ 
dard).  Good  $27,000;  stays  this 
week. 


‘CLOUD  7  FAIR  $12,500, 
5  SHOWS,  NEW  HAVEN 

New  Haven,  Jan,  21. 
Premiere  of  “Cloud  7”  at  the 
Shubert  last  Wednesday-Saturday 
(15-18)  drew  so-so  b.o.  response* 
hitting,  a  little  tinder  half  capacity, 
“The  Rivalry”  opens  tonight 
(Tues.)  and  plays  through  Satur¬ 
day  (25),  then  the  house  goes  dark 
till  the  Feb.  5-8  breakin  of  “Blue 
Dehim.’’  Due  Feb.  10-15  is  “This 
Is  Goggle,”  and  the  “Say,  Darling” 
preem  takes  over  Feb.  22-Mar.  1- 
Another  breakin,  “Love  Me  Little,” 
is  set  for  Mar.-  5-8,  and  “Diary  of 
Anne  Frank”  plays;  Mar.  31-Apr.  5. 

Estimate  for  Last  Week 
Cloud  7,  Shubert  (C)  (5  perfs.) 
($4.80;  1,650;  $26,000)  (Ralph 

Meeker,  Martha  Scott).  -  Biz  was 
light  at  $12,500. 


Pittsburgh,  Jan.  21. 

Despite  a  slow  start,  “No  Time 
for  .  Sergeants”  came  through  with 
a  good  $28,300  in  its.  first  eight 
performances  last  week;  at  1,760- 
seat  Nixon,  Top  was  $4.50  week 
evenings  and  $4.95  Friday  and  Sat¬ 
urday,  When  biggest;  percentage  of 
the  gross  came  in. 

Outlook  for  second  and  final 
week  is  much  better,  with  almost 
$20,000  in  advance  sale.  “Ser¬ 
geants”  will  be  followed  next  Mon¬ 
day  (27)  by  Constance  Bennett  in 
“Auntie  Marne,”  also  in  for  a  fort¬ 
night,  with  “Diary  of  Anne  Frank” 
due  after  that.  That’ll  permit  first- 
string  critics  to  cover,  the  one-night 
stand  Feb.  3  of  “Back  to  Methuse¬ 
lah”  At  Mosque. 


‘Interlock’ Mild  $7,700 
In  First  4,  Wilmington 

Wilmington,  Jan,  21. 

“Interlock,”  new  Ira  Levin 
drama,  drew  a.  so-so  $7,700  gross  In 
four  performances  last  Thursday- 
Saturday  (16-18)  at  the  1551-seat 
Playhouse,  at  $4.80  top. 

Next  booking  is  another  tryout, 
“The  Bay  the  Money-  Stopped,” 
opening  tomorrow  night  (Wed.)  and 
playing  through  Saturday  (25).  It’s, 
fifth  attraction  in  the  local  sub¬ 
scription  series. 


Columbia,  S.C.,  Jan.  21. 

Other  Troupe  $31,600 
The  bus-and-truck  company  of 
“No  Time  for  Sergeants”.  grossed 
a  good  $31,600  in  a.  four-Way,  six- 
performance  split  last  Week. 

Dates  played,  with  grosses  listed 
parenthetically,  were  one  perform¬ 
ance  Monday  (13),  Aycock  Auditor- 
ium/Greensboro,  N.C.  ($2,900);  two 
performances  Tuesday-Wednesday 
(14-15),  Oven.  Auditorium,  Char¬ 
lotte,  N.  C.  ($14,900);  one  perform- 
ahee  Thursday  (16),  Munici pal 
Auditorium,  Asheville,  N.  C. 
($3,900),  and  two  performances 
Friday-Saturday  (17-18),  Township 
Auditorium,  here  ($9,900). 


Tunnel’  Not  Bad  $10,800 
In  15th  Week  in  Frisco 

San  Francisco,  Jan.  21. 

Randolph  Hate’s  Coast  Version  of 
"Tunnel  of  Love”  perked  up  to 
$10,800  last  week.  Its  15tb,  at  the 
Alcazar,  up  $1,300  from  the  previ¬ 
ous  frame.  Russell  Nype  replaces 
Tommy  Noonan  In  the  male  lead 
tonight.  (Tues.). 

Alcazar  will  be  Frisco’s  only  op¬ 
erating  legit  house  until  Feb.  11, 
When  Noel  Coward  and  "Nude  with 
Violin”  arrive  at  the  Curran. 


(Figures  denote  opening  dates) 
LONDON 

At  Drop  ©#  Hat,  Fortune  d-24-S7>. 
■•lit  Ringing,  Coliseum  <11-14-57). 

Boy  Friend,  Wyndham**  (12-1-53). 

Bride  A  Bachelor,  Duchess  T12-19-3©. 
•Dear  Delinquent;  Aldwych  (0-5-57). 
Dinner  With  Family,  New  (12-10-57). 

Dry  Ret,  Whitehall  is-stH). 

Egg,  Seville  (10-24-57). 

Flowering  Cherry,  Haymerket  (il-21-57). 
For  Amusement  Only,  Apollo  (8-5-56). 
Free  As  Air,  Savoy  (6-6-57). 

Grab  Me  a  Gondola;  Lytic  02-36-56). 
Happiest  Mill.,  Cambridge  (11-15-57). 
Happy  Man,  Westminster  (12-13-57). 
House  by  Lake,  York's  0-9-56). 
Lovebirds,  Adelphi  (4-20-57). 

Mousetrap;  Ambassadors  (11-25-52). 

New  Crazy  Gang,  Vie.  PaL  (12-18-56). 
Nude  With  VJelTifr  Globe  (11-7-56). 

Odd  Man  In,  SL.  Martin's  (7-16-57). 
Fsddle  Own  Canoe,  Criterion  (12-4-57). 
Flelslrs  Do  Farls,  Wales  (4-20-57). 

Rape  of  Bolt,  PicadWy  (12-12-57). 
Repertory,  Old  Vlo  (9-18-57). 

Rear  Like  e  Dove,  Phoenix  (9-25-57). 
Sailor:  Beware,  Strand  (2-16-55). 

Salad  Days,  Vaudeville  (8-5-54). 

Set.  Night  at  Crown,  Garrick  (9-9-57). 
Strejjger  In  the  See,  Arts  03-27-57). 
Tempest,  Drury  Lane  (12-5-57). 

Tunnel  off  Leva,  Majesty's  (12-3-87). 
•Transfer  from  Westminster. 

..  SCHEDULED  OPENINGS 
Lady  at  Wheel,  Lyric  Hamm.  O-23-58). 
Icemen  Cometh,  Arts  0-29-58). 

Cat  on  Hot  Tin  Reef,  Comedy  (1-30,58). 
Touch' ef  Sun,  Saville  (1-31-58). 

Potting  Shed,  Globe  (2-5-58). 

Hunter's  Moon,  Wlnt.  Gard.  (4-21-56). 

.  CLOSED  LAST  WEEK 
Bidders,  Arts  (11-12-57). 

Share  My  Lettuce,  Comedy  (9-25-57). 


OH  TOUR 
Time- end  Again 
Where'*  Charley 


Boston,  Jan.  21. 

Local  legit  is  looking  up  these 
days.  There  were  three  shows  on 
the  boards  last  week  and  the  same 
trio  are  continuing  this  week. 

Next  week  brings  one  hew  entry, 
a  shakedown  stand  of  the  British 
import;  “The  Entertainer”  star¬ 
ring  Laurence  Olivier,  ..  opening 
next  Tuesday  (28)  at  the  Shubert 
for  two 'weeks.  Other  scheduled 
items  in  the  Hub  area  include  ah 
“off-Tremont  St.”  production-  of 
Truman  Capote’s  “Grass  Harp” 
opening  tomorrow  (Wed.)  at  the 
Charles  Street  Playhouse,  and  a 
double-bill  of  Martin  Halpern's 
“Mrs.  Namyreve’s  Descent”  and 
James  Noe’s  "The  Exiles,”  also 
starting  tomorrow  night  at  the 
Poet’s  Theatre,  Cambridge, 
Estimates  for  Last  Week 

Auntie  Mamie,  Shiibert  (C)  (4th 
wk)  ($5.50-$4.40;  1,717;  $47,000) 
(Constance  Bennett):  Ho'tsy  $46,700 
again  for  the  third  full  week;  exits 
next  Saturday  (25)  to  resume  tour. 

Cat  oii  a  Hot  Tin  Roof,  Wilbur 
(D)  (1st  wk)  <$4.95-$4;40;  1,241; 
$32,699)  (Victor  Jory).  Sensational¬ 
izing  ads  (including  a.  quote,  “Hub 
blushes  at  ‘Cat;’  from  the  Ameri¬ 
can)  and  :  the  censorship  angle 
hypoed  sellout  business  for  the 
tourer  at  about  $32,000;  announc¬ 
ing  “limited  engagement,  but  date 
is  not  given.; 

.  Winesburg,  Ohio,.  Colonial  (D) 
-(1st  wk)  ($4.95-$3.85;X500;  $35,000) 
(Dorothy.  McGuire,  Leon  Ames, 
J ames  Whitmore).  Tryout  opened 
Jan.  13  to  mildly  affirmative  re¬ 
views  (Doyle,  American;  Durgin, 
Globe;  Hughes,  Herald;  Maloney, 
Traveler;  Melvin,  Monitor;  Norton, 
Record);  fair  $20,000;  exits  next 
Saturday  (25)  for  Broadway. 


B  way  Dp;  ‘Seesaw*  21^C,  ‘Girl’  47G, 
liT  i^G,  ‘Game’  27G,  ‘Anger  20G, 
),  ‘Dancers’  $17,200 


‘TUESDAY’ THIN  $7,600, 
ROBINSON  $26,300,  D.C. 

Washington,  Jan.  21 
Legit  continues  mild  here.  Pre- 
Broadway  comedy,  “Maybe  Tues-? 
day;”  turned  out  very  ,  thin  for  its 
initial  Week,  while  the  third  and 
final  week  of  “Middle  of  the  Night” 
picked  up  a  little,  prior  to  moving 
to  Chicago.  It  is  also  booked  for 
Si.  Louis,  Kansas  City  and  Denver 
en  route  to  Los  Angeles. 

“Interlock,”  another  .newcomer, 
bowed  in  at  the  National  last  night 
(Mon.).  ‘‘This  Is  Goggle”  opens 
next  Monday  (27)  at  the  Shubert 
for  a  fortnight.. 

Estimates  for  Last  Week 
Maybe  Tuesday,  Shubert  (C)  (1st 
wk)  ($4.40-$4.95;  1,550;  $37,000). 
Trifling  $7,600  for  first  -week  fol¬ 
lowing  one  mildly  favorable  notice 
(Donnelly;  News)  and  two  so-so 
(Coe,  Post;,  and  .Carmody,  Star); 
continues  this  Week,  then  heads  for 
Broadway. 

Middle  of  the  Night,  National 
(D)  (3d  wk)  ($4.40-$4.95;  1,667; 
$41,000)  (Edward  G.  Robinson). 
Slight  pick  Up  to  .  $26, 300  for  the 
third  and  final  stanza,  making  a 
total  of  $74;625  for.  the  three  weeks; 
exits  Saturday  (25)  to  continue  tour: 
in  Chicago.  .. 


‘Millionaire’  Neat  $32,200 
For  7  Shows  in 


Minneapolis,  Jan.  14. 
'Happiest;  Millionaire,”  starring 
Walter  Pidgeon,  grossed  a  snappy 
$32,200  in  seven  performances  last 
Wednesday-Sunday  (15-19)  at  the 
Lyceum  here.  It  drew  enthusiastic 
reviews. 

The  production  is  current  at  the 
Pabst,  Milwaukee.  Next  scheduled 
legit  entry  at  the  Lyceum  here  is 
Constance  Bennett  In  “Auntie 
Mame,”  due  May  5. 


Helen  Hoerle  has  returned  to 
work  as  an  associate  of  Broadway 
pressagents  Sol.  Jacobson  and 
Lewis  Harmon,  after  a  recurrence 
of  Asian  flu.  Michel  Mok  is  also 
an  associate,  in  the  same  office. 


.Broadway  improved  last  Week 
after  tumbling  the  previous  frame. 
Riz  remained  generally  steady  for 
the  smashes,  with  the  upswing  ef¬ 
fecting  all  but  a  few  entries. 

Shows  selling  out  or  playing  to 
virtual  capacity  included  “Auntie 
Mame,”  “Dark  at  the  Top  of  the 
Stairs,”  “Jamaica,”  “Look  Home¬ 
ward;  Angel,”  “Music  Man,”  “My 
Fair  Lady,”  “West  Side  Story”  add 
last  week’s  sole  opener,  “Two  for 
the  Seesaw.”  '  * 

Estimates  for  Last  Week 

Keys :  C  (Comedy) t  D  (Drama), 
CD  ( Comedy-Drama),  R  ( Revue ) , 
MC.  ( Musical-Comedy )  ,  MD  (Musi¬ 
cal-Drama),  O  (Opera),  OP  (Op¬ 
eretta). 

Other  parenthetic  designations 
refer,  respectively,  to  weeks  played, 
number  of  performances  through 
last  Saturday,  top  prices  (where 
two  prices  are  given,  .the  higher  is 
for  Friday-Saturday  nights  and  the 
lower  for  weeknights),  number 
of  seats, .  capacity  gross  and  stars. 
Price  includes  10%  Federal  and 
5%;  City  tax,  but  grosses  are  net; 
i.ei, exclusive  of  taxes. 

Auntie  Mame,  Broadhurst  (C) 
(58tH  wk;  453  p)  ($6.90;  1,214;  $46,-. 
50Q)  (Rosalind  Russell).  Previous 
week,  $47,800;  last  week,  nearly 
$48,100.  Greer  Garson  succeeded 
Miss  Russell  as  star  last  Monday 
(20). 

Bells  Are  Ringing,  Shubert  (MC) 
(60th  wk;  476  p)  ($8.05;  1,453;  $58,- 
101)  (Judy  Holliday).  Previous 
week,  $52,200;  last  week,  over  $55,- 
100,.  With  Miss  Holliday  out  for  the 
two  performances  last  Wednesday 
(15).  " 

Compulsion,  Ambassador  (D) 
(13th  wk;  100  p)  ($5.75-$6.90; 
1,155;  $36,200)  (Frank  Conroy, 
Roddy  McDowell,.  Dean  Stockwell). 
Previous  Week,  $27,000;  last  week, ! 
nearly  $28,000. 

Dark  at  the  Top  of  the;  (Stairs, 
Music  Box  (D)  (7th  wk;  52  p) 
($5.75-$6.90;  .1,010;  $33,000).  Previ¬ 
ous  week,  $33,400;  last  week, 
almost  $33,600,  with  parties. 

Fair  Game,  -  Longacre  (C)  (11th 
Wk;  89  p)  ($5.75-$6.90;  1,101;  $32,- 
000)  (Sam  Levene).  Previous  week, 
$22,900;  last  week,  $27,000. 

Jamaica,  Imperial  (MC)  (12th 
wk;  92  p)  ($8.35;  1,427;  $63,000) 
(Lena  Horne,  Ricardo  Montalban). 
As  usual,  $63,700. 

Li’I  Abner,  St.  James  (MC)  (62d 
wk;  492  p)  ($8.05;  1,615;  $58,100). 
Previous  week,  $35,600;  last  week, 
nearly  $40,500. 

Long  Day’s  Journey  Into  Night; 
Hayes  (D)  (55th  wk;  330p)  ($6.90; 
1,039;  $30,000)  (Fredric  March, 
Florence  Eldridge).  Previous  week, 
$16,800;  last  Week,  almost  $18,600. 
House  has  “Love  Me  Little” 
booked  for  an  April  9  opening. 

Look  Back  in  Anger,  Lyceum  (D) 
(16th  wk;  127  p).  ($5.75;  995;  $26, 
400)  (Mary  Ure,  Kenneth  »Haigh). 
Previous  week,  $20,400;  last  week, 
nearly  $20,000. .  . 

Look  Homeward  Angel,  Barry¬ 
more,  (D)  (8th  wk;  60  p)  ($6.90; 
1,076;  $40,716)  (Anthony  Perkins, 
Jo  Van  Fleet,  Hugh  Griffith).  Pre¬ 
vious  week,  $41,100;  last  week,  al-. 
most  $40,900,  with  parties. 

Miss  Isobel,  Royale  (D)  (4th  wk; 
29  p)  ($5.75-$6.90;  1,050;  $35,000) 
(Shirley  Booth)..  Previous  week; 
$22,000;  last  week,  over  $13,000. 
House  has  “The  Entertainer” 
booked  for  a  Feb.  12  opening. 

Music  Man,  Majestic  (MCJ  (5th 
wk;  36  p)  ($8.0 J;  1,626;  $68,658). 
Previous  week,  $68,000;  last  week, 
over. $67,600,  with  parties. 

My  Fair  Lady,  Hellinger  (MC) 
(97th  wk;  771  p)  ($8.05;  1,551;  $68,- 
210)  (EdWard  Mulhare,  Julie  An¬ 
drews).  Previous  week,  $89,200; 
last  week,  same.  Show  is  selling 
20  balcony  seats  at  each  perform¬ 
ance  to  Students  at  70c  a  ticket. 
Mulhare  was  out  for  the  two  per¬ 
formances  last  Saturday  (18),  with 
Bramwell  Fletcher,  his  standby, 
subbing. 

New  Girl  in  Town,  46th  St.  (MD) 
(36th  wk;  287.  p)  ($8.06-$9.20;  1,297; 
$59,085)  (Gwen  Verdon,  Thelma 
Ritter).  Previous  week,  $37,100; 
last  week.,  over  <$47,000. 

-  Nude  With  Violin,  Belasco  (C) 
(10th  wk;  71  p)  ($5-75-$6.90;  1,037; 
$33,000)  (Noel  Cowardl.  Previous 
week,  $23,500;  last  week,  almost 
$21,700.  Ends,  scheduled  limited 
12-Week  stand  Feb.  8  and  moves  to 
the  Coast. 

Romanoff  and  Juliet,  Plymouth 
(C)  (15th  wk;  116  p)  ($5  75-$6.25; 
1,062;  $36,625).  (Peter  Ustinov). 
Previous  week,  $30,000; .  last  Week, 
almost  $31,500. 

Rope  Dancers,  Cort  (D)  (9th  wk; 
69  p)  ($5.7546.90;  1,155;  $31,000) 
(Siohhan  McKenna,  Art  Carney). 
Previous  week,  $15,100;  last  week. 


nearly  $17,200.  Moves  next  Monday 
(27)  to  the  Henry  Miller’s  Theatre 
to  make  way  for  the  Jam  30  open¬ 
ing  of  “Sunrise  at  Campobello.” 

Time  Remembered,  Morosco  (C) 
(10th  wk;  79  p)  ($9.90;  946;  $43,000) 
(Helen  Hayes,  Richard  Burton, 
Susan  StrasbergX  Previous  week, 
$41,100  with  Miss.  Hayes  missing 
two  performances;  last  week,  over 
$39,300,  with  Miss  Hayes  missing 
another  two  performances. 

Tunnel  or  Love,  National  (C) 
(47th  wk;  377  p)  ($5.75;  1,162;  $33,- 
000)'  (Johnny  Carson,  Marsha 
Hunt)'  Previous  week,  $11,700;  last 
week,  nearly  $14,200.  Moves  Feb. 
4  to  the  Martin  Beck  to  make  way 
for  the  Feb:  5  opening  of  “Wines- 
burg,‘  Ohio.”  It’s  scheduled  to  re¬ 
main  at  the  Beck  3  weeks,  having 
to  exit  that  house  to  make  way  for 
the. March  3  opening  of  “Who  Was 
That  Lady  I  Saw  You  With?” 

Two  for  the  Seesaw,  Booth  (CD) 
(1st  wk;  4  p)  ($6190;  766;  $30,500) 
(Henry  Fonda).  Opened  last  Thurs¬ 
day  (16)  to  six  affirmative  reviews 
(Atkinson,  Times;  Chapman,  News; 
Coleman,  Mirror;  Kerr,  Herald 
Tribune;  McClain,  Journal- Ameri¬ 
can;  Watts,  Post)  and  one  negative 
(Aston,  World-Telegram);  over 
$21,500  for  first  four  performances 
and  two  paid  previews. 

West  Side  Story,  Winter  Garden 
(MD)  (17th  wk;  132  p)  ($8,05;  1,404; 
$63,203).  Previous  week,  $62,000; 
last  Week,  almost  $61,700,  with  one 
party. 

Miscellaneous 

Chairs  and  Lesson,  Phoenix  (CD) 
(2d  wk;  14  p)  ($4.60;  1,150;  $29,392) 
(Eli  Wallach,  Joan  Plowright,  Max 
Adrian),  Previous  week,  $9,900  for 
first  six  performances;  last  week, 
nearly  $11,500. 

Opening  This  Week 

Marcel  Marcean,  City  Center 
($3.80;  3,090;  $61,812).  The  N.  Y. 
City  Center  Theatre  Co.  present* 
the  French  mime  as  the  preem  bill 
in  its  winter  series;  began  a  lim¬ 
ited  four-week  stand  last  nighi 
(■Tues.). 

Summer  of  the  17th  Doll,  Coro¬ 
net  (D)  ($6.90;  1,101;  $35,040).  The¬ 
atre  Guild  &  Playwrights  Co.,  t>j 
arrangement  with  the  Australian 
Elizabethan  Theatre  Trust  &  St. 
James’s  Players,  Ltd.,  presentation 
of  a  play  by  Ray  Lawler;  produc¬ 
tion  financed  at  $60,000  cost  about 
$40,000,  without  tryout  or  rehear¬ 
sal,  to  open;  can  break  even  at 
$16,000  and  net  about  $9,500  at 
capacity;  opens  tonight  (Wed.). 

Body  Beautiful.  Broadway  (MC) 
($8.05;  1,900;  $74,000).  Richard 

Kollmar  &  Albert  Selden  presen¬ 
tation  of  a  musical  with  b6ok  by 
Joseph  Stein  &  Will  Gliclnnan, 
music  by  Jerry  Block  and  lyrics 
by  Sheldon  Harnick;  production 
financed  at  $300,000,  cost  about 
$270,000  to  bring  in,  after  an 
approximate  $55,000  tryout  loss; 
can  break  even  at  around  $33,000 
and  net  about  $20,000  at  capacity; 
opens  tomorrow  night  (Thurs.). 

Off-Broadway  Shows 

(Opening  date  in  parenthesis ) 

As  You  Like  It,  Heckscher 
(1-20-58). 

.  Brothers  Karamazov,  Gate  (12-6- 
57).  : 

Clerambard,'  Rooftop  (11-7-57). 

Courageous  One,  Greenwich 
MeWs  (1-20-58). 

Garden  District,  York  (1-7-58). 

Iceman  Cometh,  Circle  in  the 
Square  (5-8-56);  last  weeks. ' 

Julios 'C aesar,  Shakespeare- 
wrights  (10-23-57);  closes  Feb.  2. 

Me  Candido,  RNA  (1-17-58). 

Threepenny  Opera,  de  Lys  (9-25- 
55). 

Tobias  &  Angel,  Theatre  East 
(1-2-58). 

Winkelberg,  Renata  (1-14-58). 


TEtLA’  SO-SO  $32,400 
FOR  1ST  WEEK,  CLEVE. 

Cleveland,  Jan.  21. 

First  week  of  “Most  Happy 
Fella”  on  a  fortnight  stand  at  the 
Hanna -collected  a  fair  $32,400 
gross.  Musical  featuring  Robert 
Weede,  scaled  at  $3-$6,  has  a  po¬ 
tential  of  $46,000  in  the  1,515- 
seater.  . 

Joseph  Schildkraut  in  “Diary  of 
Anne  Frank”  is  slated  by  the  house 
for  the  week  of  Jan.  27,  followed 
by  Katherine  Hepburn  and  Alfred 
Drake  in  “Much  Ado  About  Noth¬ 
ing”  for  the  Feb.  3  stanza. 


Former  burleycue  stripper  Ann 
Corio  will  star  In  “Will  Success 
Spoil  Rock  Hunter,”  at  the  ;Fred 
Miller  Theatre,  Milwaukee,  open¬ 
ing  Feb.  3. 


76 


LEGITIMATE 


f&tRM&f? 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


Chicago.  Jan.  21.  - 

“Long  Day’s  Journey  Into  Night” 
had  a  hoxoffice  surge  in  its  second 
week  at  the  Erlanger  and  how  is 
trying  for  at  least  a  five  and  possi-  ( 
bly  seven-  or  eight-week  Chicago, 
after  which  it  may  resume  touring. 

Despite  unanimously  affirmative 
votes  from  the  critics,  “Separate 
Tables”  got  off  to  a  slow  start  for 
its  31-performance  run  at  the 
,  Blackstone.  Sjhow  opened  last 
Wednesday  (15).  “My  Fair  Lady’ 

.  again  went  slightly  off  capacity  at 
the  Shubert  in  its  11th  week, 
“Middle  of  the  Night”  opened 
last  night  (Mon.)  at  the  Great 
Northern  oh  subscription,  and 
“Happiest  Millionaire”  opens  next 
Monday  (27)  at  the  Harris. 

Estimates  for  Last  Week 
Long  Day’s  Journey  Into  Night, 
Erlanger  (D)  (2d  wk)  ($5;  1,333; 
$32,800)  (Fay  Bainter,  Anew  Mc- 
Master). .  Spurted  to  almost  $28,- 
700  and  has  extended  its  run;  pre¬ 
vious  week,  $14,763: 

My  Fair  Lady,  Shubert  (MC) 
(11th  wk)  ($7;  2,10Q;  $72,979) 

(Brian  Aherne,  Anne  Rogers). 
Nearly  $71,800;  previous  week, 
$72,600. 

Separate  Tables,  Blackstone  (CD) 
(1st  wk)  ($5;  1,450;  $37,306)  (Eric 
Portman.  Geraldine  Page).  Opened 
last  Wednesday  (15)  to  unanimous¬ 
ly  favorable  reviews  (Cassidy,  Trib¬ 
une;  Harris,  News;  Dettnier,  Amer¬ 
ican;  Kogan,  Sun-Times)  but  disap¬ 
pointing  attendance;  nearly  $11,- 
100  for  first  five  performances; 
slated  to  fold  Feb.  1,  curtailing  its 
previously  scheduled  tour!. 

Opening  This  Week 
Middle  of  the  Night,  Great 
Northern  (D)  ($5.50;  1,500;  $35,- 
726)  (Edward  G.  .Robinson). 
Opened  last  night  (Mon.)  to  one 
favorable  review  (Dettmer,  Ameri¬ 
can),  two  lukewarm  (Harrin,  Daily 
News;  Kogan,  Sun-Times)  and  One 
pan  (Cassidy),  Tribune). 

Marceau  $9,700  for  2, 
Record,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Cambridge,  Mass.,  Jan.  21. 
Marcel  Marceau  set  a  record  for 
Harvard’s  1,200-seat  Sanders  Thea¬ 
tre,  grossing  $9,700  for  two  per¬ 
formances  at  $7.50  top  last  Satur- 
day-Sunday  (18-19). 

Ronald  A.  Wilford’s  production 
of  one-man  mime  show  was  sold 
out  on  the  Wednesday  before .  the 
opening.  The  star  arrived  Thurs¬ 
day  (16)  from  Paris. 


Canadian  Ballet  $14,168 
In  Second  Week,  Toronto 

Toronto,  Jan.  21. 
National  Ballet  of  Canada 
did  fair  biz  on  the  second  stanza 
of  a  four-weeks’  engagement  at  the 
Royal  Alexandra  here.  The  favor¬ 
ite  ballets  were  again  “Swan  Lake” 
and  “Nutcracker,” 

Estimate  for  Last  Week  . 
National  Ballet  of  Canada,  Royal 
Alexandra  (2d  wk)  ($3.50;  1,525; 
$30,000).  Grossed  -$14,168;  previous 
Week,  $15,915. 

‘Methuselah’  Boff  $46,400 
For  8-Perf.  South  Split 

New  Orleans,  Jan.  21 
“Back  to  Methuselah,”  costar¬ 
ring  Tyrone  Power,  Faye  Emerson 
and  Arthur  Treacher,  piled  up 
another  smash  gross  in  its  second 
touring  frame  last  week.  The  take 
was  $46,400  on  a  four-way,  eight- 
performance  split. 

Dates  played.  With  grosses  listed 
parenthetically,  were  one  perform¬ 
ance  Monday  (13),  Municipal  Audi¬ 
torium,  Savannah  ($6,800);  three 
performances  Tuesday-Wednesday 
(14-15),  Tower,  Atlanta  ($16,800); 
one  performance  Thursday  (16), 
Wescott  Auditorium.  Tallahassee 
(86,400),  and  .  three  performances 
Friday-SatUrday  (17-18),  Civic  here 
($16,400). 

The  previous  week’s*  total  gross 
was  inadvertently  reported  by 
Variety.  The  take  for  the  stanza 
was  $48,600. 


Suzanne  Pleshette  has  taken  over 
one  of  the  ingenue  leads  in  ‘Com¬ 
pulsion,”  succeeding  Ina  Balin,  who 
left  for  a  picture  Contract.  Miss 
Pleshette,  incidentally,  is  making 
her  Broadway  debut  after  under- 
studying  the  part.  She’s  the 
daughter .  of  Eugene  Pleshette, 
managing  director  of  the  Para¬ 
mount,  Brooklyn. 

Nancy  Andrews  Will  play  the 
Ethel  Merman  role  in  “Happy 
Hunting,”  opening  Feb.  11  at  the 
Miami  Music  Theatre.  The  show 
will  be  staged  by  Ed  Greenberg. 


“HUB  BLUSHES  AT  ‘CAT’” 

—American 

"POWERFUL 

A  tought  outspoken  and  powerful  theatrical  work. 
Victor  Jory's  fine,  roaring  performance  superbly 
effective."  -Hugh",  iwrf 

"VIOLENT 

Roaring,  violent  drama  intact.  In  the  performance  of 
Victor  Jory.  Boston  seeing  a  better  impersonati 
than  the  original."'  -Dvrgin,  G/obe 

"If  moves  violently  across  an  area  of  life  which  ’ 
the  drama  does  not  ordinarily  discuss/'-Norton,  Record 
"SHOCKER 

The  Broadway  shocker  that  won  both  the  Pulitzer  Prize 
and  Hew  York  Drama  Critics'  Award— had  some  of  the 
audience  blushing— but  this  did  not  interfere  with  their 
obvious  enjoyment.  Jory  is  excellent;"  — ooy/#,  Amiricgn 

"OUTSTANDING 

An  outstanding  touring  company.  A  most  welcome  op¬ 
portunity  for « Bostonians  to  see  this  vitally  earthly 
dram  a .' '  — Ma/oney,  Trova/or. 

"TEETH-RATTLING 

A  Teeth-Rattling  Theatre  Expert  ... .  Mr.  Jory  makes 
the  character  a  profane,  lecherous  man,  . bnt  awesomely 
vita  I,  clutching  bn  to  existence  !"  -Chri  ion  Science  Monitor 

PULITZER  PRIZE  e  N.Y.  CRITICS  AWARD!, 

2  YEARS  ON  BROADWAY 

VICTOR  JORY 

in  TENNESSEE  WILLIAMS' 


Off-B’way  Reviews 


play. 


i  Continued  from  page  74 

As  Yen  Like  If 

and  producer  Joseph  Papp 


JEAN  INNESS  •  OLGA  BEILIN » BILL  DANIELS 

FOR 

BOOKINGS 


Directed  by,. 

ALBERT  UPTON 


Contact  INDEPENDENT  BOOKING  OFFICE 
1501  Broadway,  New  York  City 


has  provided  the  tasteful  accoutre¬ 
ments  that  are  a  hallmark  of  his 
philanthropic  Shakespeare  festival. 
Yet  “As  You  Like  It”  seemk  a  long 
evening. 

There  are  plenty  of  moments  that 
have  Charm,  some  have  an  exquis¬ 
itely  delicate  grace,  and  there  is 
humor  both  refined  and  bumptious. 
Betty  -Matta’s  evocative-  scenery* 
made  of  screens,  tissue  paper  and 
canvas,  lighted  with  warm  preci¬ 
sion  by  John  Robertson,  is  debon¬ 
airly  gay.  David  Amram’s  miisic, 
done  on  string  and  horn  in  cus¬ 
tomary  Shakespeare  fashion,  sets  a 
proper  mood,  and  the  dances, 
staged  by  Herta  Payson,  are  lively. 

But  a  series  of  disconnected  vig¬ 
nettes,  a  chain  of  visual  pretti¬ 
ness,  capable  reading  of  gracious 
speeches,  do  not  necessarily  make 
compelling  comedy.  From  moment 
to  moment,,  it  is  possible  to  be  dis¬ 
armed  by  “As  You  Like  It,”  but 
nothing,  ever  happens  to  carry  the 
spectator  along  With  a  buoyant 
sense  of- amused  participation.  Pos¬ 
sibly  the  bucolic  is  no  longer  rec- 
6gnizable  enough  in  a  pre-domi- 
riantly  nojr-bucolic  age,  or  more 
possibly,  in  this  instance,  Shake¬ 
speare:  penned  a  divertissement 
rather;  than  a  diversion.  . 

Robert  Blackburn  is  a  handsome 
swain  who  can  also  act.  Jack 
Cannon  is  an  ebullient  jester, 
while  jerry  Stiller  and  Anne  Meara 
get  their  quota  of  laughs  as  coun¬ 
try  louts. 

George  C.  Scott  is  the  melan¬ 
choly  Jacques,  and  it  is  rewarding 
to  watch  him  get  maximum  impact 
With  the  hackneyed  “seven  ages  of 
man”  speech.  And  a  repeat  credit 
is  certainly  rated  for  lithe-limbed, 
rosy  cheeked,  blonde  Miss  Wick- 
wire  for  her  shining  Rosalind. 

Papp  and  his  Festival  have  been 
performing  Shakespeare  free  for 
four  years,  on  the  Bowery,  out¬ 
doors  on  the  East  River  and  in 
Central  Park;  and  now  at  the 
Heckscher  Theatre  by  Courtesy  of 
the  City  of  New  York.  Unluckily, 
the  courtesy  of  the  city  is  no  longer 
measured  in  .  dollars,  so  Papp  can¬ 
not  presently  foresee  continuing 
the  festival  beyond  Feb.  1.  It’s 
sad  state  of  affairs  when  you  can’t 
even  give  theatre  away:  Geor, 

Touring  Shows 

(Jan,  20-Feb.  2) 

Auntie  Mam*  (2d  Co.)  (Constance  Ben¬ 
nett)— Shubert,  Boston  (20-1).  : 

Back  to  Methuselah  (tryout)  -  (Tyrone 
Power,  Faye  Emerson.  Arthur  Treacher) 
—Municipal  And.,  Shreveport.  La.  (21); 
Robinson.  Memorial  Audi,  Little  Rock 
(22):  F.lli*  Aud.,  Memphis  (23-24);  Temple, 
Birmingham  (25);  Aud.,  Nashville  (27); 
Memorial  Aud.,  L’vUle  (28);  Municipal 
Aud.,  Charleston,  W. :  Va.  <29);  Keith 
Albee,  Huntington.  W.  Va.  (30);  Veterans* 
Aud.,  Columbus  .(31);  Music  Hall,  Cleve¬ 
land  (1). 

Canadian  Players^— College  Aud.,  North 
Manchester.  Ind.:  (20);  Contemporary  Club. 
Indianapolis  (21);  Southwest  Missouri  State 
College  Aud..  Springfield  (23);  Music  Hall. 
Kansas  City,  Mo.  (24);  Southern  Illinois 
U.  Aud.,  Carbondale  (27);  Duke  U.,  Dur¬ 
ham.  N.C.  (31). 

Cat  on  i  Hot  Tin  Roof  (Victor  Jory) — 
Wilbur,  Boston  (20-1). 

Cloud  Seven  (tryout).  (Ralph  Meeker.- 
Martha.  Scott)— Locust,  Philly  (20rl). 

Damn  Yankees— Capitol,  Binghamton 
(20);  Palace,  Albany  (21);  State.  Syracuse 
(22);  Palace;  Youngstown,  O.  (23-25);  Gar¬ 
field,  M'wkee  (27-1).  ' 

Day  the  Money  Stopped  (tryout)  (Rich¬ 
ard  Basehart) — Playhouse.  Wilmington  (22- 
25);  Walnut.  Philly  (27-1). 

Diary  of  Ann*  Frank  (Joseph  **Schild- 
kraudt) — American,  St.  Louis  (20-25); 
Hanna.  Cleve.  (27-1). 

Entertainer  (tryout)  (Laurence  Olivier) 
— Shubert,  Boston  (27-1). 

Happiest  Millionaire  (Walter  Pidgeon) — 
Pabst.  M'wkee.  (21-25);  Harris,  Chi  (27-1). 

Interlock  (tryout)  (Celeste .  Holm,  Maxi- 
miUian  Schell;  Rosemary  Harris)— Na¬ 
tional.  Wash.  (2Q-1). 

Lons  Day's  Journey  Into  Night  (2d-  Co.) 
(Fay  Bainter,  -*  Anew  McMaster) — Erlan¬ 
ger,  Chi  (20-1), 

Middle  of  the  Night  (Edward  G.  Rob¬ 
inson)— Great  Northern,  Chi  (20-1). 

Most  Happy  Fella— Hanna,  Cleve.  (20-25); 
Shubert,  Cincy  (27-1). 

Much  Ado  About  Nothing  (Katharine 
Hepburn,  Alfred  Drake)— Riviera,  Det. 
(20-25);  American,  St.  Louis  (27-1). 

.  My  Fair  Lady  (2d  Co.)  (Brian  Ahern*. 
Anne  Rogers) — Shubert,  Chi  (20-1). 

No  Tim*  for  Sergeants  (N.Y.  Co.)— 
Municipal  -Aud.,  Savannah  (20);  Tower. 
Atlanta  (22-25);  V.  of  Tennessee.  Knox¬ 
ville  (27);  Tennessee  Theatre,  Nashville 
(28-29);.  Tuscaloosa  (Ala.)  H.  S.  Aud.  (30); 
Temple,.  Birmingham  (31-1).  . 

No  Time-  for  Sergeants  (NatT  Co.)— 
Nixon,  Pitt.  (20-25);  Colonial,  Boston 
(27-1). 

.  Oh  Captain  (iryo ut>— Shub ert ,  Philly 
(20-25;  moves  to  N.Y.) '-(Reviewed  In 
VARIETY,  Jan.  15,  *58). 

Portofino  (tryout)  (George  Guetary. 
Helen  Gallagher.  Robert  Strauss)— 
Erlanger,  Philly  (25-1). 

-Rivalry.  :  (tryout)  (Raymond  Massey, 
Agnes  Moorehead,-  Martini  Gabel)— Vet¬ 
erans  Memorial,  Providence  (20)  Shubert. 
'New  Haven  (21-25,  closes)  (Reviewed  In 
VARIETY,  Oct.  9,  '57). 

Separate  Tables,  (Eric  Portman,  Geral¬ 
dine  Page) — Blackstone.  Chi  (20-1). 

Sunrise  .at-  Campobello  (tryout)  (Ralph 
Bellamy)— -Forrest,  Philly  (20-25,  moves  to 
N.Y.)  (Reviewed  in  VARIETY.  Jan.  1,  '58). 

This  Is  Goggle  (tryout)  (Kim  Hunter, 
James  Daly) — McCarter,  Princeton  (23-25); 
Shubert.  Wash.  .(27-1). 

Tunnel  of  Love  (Russell  Nype,  Wil¬ 
liam  Bishop) — Alcazar,  S.F,  (20-1). 

Waltz  of  .  the  Toreadors  (Melvyn  Doug¬ 
las,  Paulette  Goddard) — Shubert,  Det. 
(20-25);  Forrest,  Philly  (27*1). 

Winesburg,  Ohio  (tryout)  (Dorothy  Mc¬ 
Guire,  James  Whitmore,  Leon  Ames) — 
Colonial,  Boston  (20-25);  Ford's  Balto  (27- 
1).  (Reviewed,  in  VARIETY,  Jan-  15,  '58), 


London’s  West  End  Season 

JULY  1  TO  DEC.  30, 1957 

Key"  to  parenthetical  designations:  (C)  Comedy;  (D)  Drama:  (CD) 
Comedy-Dratna;  (R)  Revue;  (M)  Musical  Comedy.  Asterisk  denotes 
show  is  still  running.  * 

Hits  (8) 

Odd  Man  In  CC)*  Share  My  Lettuce  (R)* 

Saturday  Night  at  the  Crown  (C)*  Man  of  Distinction  (C)  . 

The  Entertainer  (D)*  Happiest  Millionaire  (C)* 

Roar  Like  a  Dove  (C)*  Flowering  Cherry  (D)* 

Status  Not  Yet  Determined 

The  Egg  CC)*  Dinner  With  the  Family  (CD),  * 

Bells  are  Ringing  (M)*  Rape  of  the  Belt  (C>* 

Tunnel  of  Love  (C)*  The  Happy  Man  (CD)* 

Paddle  Your  Own  Canoe  (C)* 

Failures  (5) 

Silver  Wedding  (C)  Royal  Suite  (C) 

Oh!  My  Papa  (M)  Be  My  Guest  (CD) 

Meet  Me  by  Moonlight  (M) 

Opened  before  July  1  and  still  running  Dec;  3Q 
Hits  (16) 

Grab  Me  a  Gondola  (M). 

These  Foolish  Kings  (R) 

..  The  Lovebirds  (C) 

At  the  Drop  of  a  Hat  (R) 

Free  as  Air  (M) . 

Dear  Delinquent  (C) 

Bride  and  the  Bachelor  (C) 
Pleasures  of  Paris  (R) 

,4 - •  •  — -T — ■ — : — - — - - 


The  Mousetrap  (D) 

For  Amusement  Only  (R) 
House  by  the  Lake  (D) 
Sailor  Beware  (C) 

Salad  Days  (M) 

Dry  Rot  -(C) 

The  Boy  Friend  (M) 
Nude  With  Violin  (C). 


West  End  Season 

w^mmm  Continued  from  page  73  == 
few  weeks.  Two  of  them,  “Dry 
Rot”  and  “Sailor  Beware,’’  will 
played  more  than  three  years.  The 
third,  “House  by  the  Lake,”  opened 
at  the  Duke  of  York’s  in  May,  1956, 
and  will  follow  its  West  End  run 
‘with  a  three  months’  provincial 
tour. 

The  lead  among  the  long-run¬ 
ners  is  still  held  by  “The  Mouse¬ 
trap”  and  “The  Boy  Friend.’  The 
former,  which  has  been  at  the 
Ambassadors  since  November*  1952, 
has  already  collared  the  title  of 
champ  straight-play,,  and  is  head¬ 
ing  to  overtake  the  “Chu-Chin- 
Chow”  record  of  2.238  perform¬ 
ances  later  this  year.  “The  Boy 
Friend,’  now  In  its  fifth  year  at 
Wyndhani's,  has  surpassed  every 
other  musical  on  the  London  stage, 
except  the  all-time  champion,  must 
nlh  about  another  two  years  before 
it  can  claim  the  title. 

Excluded  from  this  survey  are 
the  productions  of  the  Old  Vic, 
the  Royal  Court  Theatre  and  the 
Arts  Theatre  Club,  because  they 
operate  a  policy  of  either  reper¬ 
tory  or  limited  engagements. 
Shows  transferred  from  these  thea¬ 
tres  for  a  regular  ’ West  End  run 
are  Included  in  the  survey. 


‘Diary’  Moderate  $26,200 
Columbus-L’ville  Split 

Louisville,  Jan.  21. 

“Diary  of  Anne  Frank,”  starring 
Joseph  Schildkraut,  grossed  a  fair 
$26,200  last  week  in  eight  per¬ 
formances  split  evenly  between 
the  Hartman,  Columbus,  and  the 
Memorial  Auditorium  here.  The 
take  at  the  former  locale  Monday- 
Wednesday  (13-15)  was  $13,500, 
with  tha  local  stand  Thursday- 
Saturday  (16-18)  accounting  for 
another  $12,700  at  a  $4.50  top* 

The  production  is  at  the  Ameri- 
can,-  St.  Louis,  this  week. 

Kay  Fulmer  has  succeeded  James 
Hickman  in  the  Broadway  produc¬ 
tion  of  “Auntie  Marne,” 


Howard  Newman  Busy 

Legit  pressagent  Howard  New¬ 
man  is  maintaining  a  busy  and  di¬ 
versified  schedule,  .  not  only  as  a 
publicist,  but  also  as  an  artist  and 
staging  student.. 

As  a  p.a.,  he’s  currently  working 
as  one.  of  Arthur  Cantor’s  associ¬ 
ates.  on  the  Broadway  productions 
of.  “Two  for  the  Seesaw,”  “The 
Music  Man,”  “Long  Day’s  Journey 
Into  Night”  and  “Auntie  Marne.” 
As  a  painter  with  a  couple  of  prizes 
to  his  credit,  he’s  had  two  of  his 
canvases  accepted  for.  the  ART; 
USA:  58  Show  at  Madisop  Square 
Garden,  N.Y;,  next  .  Friday 

And,  for  Monday  evenings  he’s 
enrolled  as  a  student  in  Jose  Quint¬ 
ero’s  Directors’  Seminar  at  the 
Circle  in  the  Square,  N.Y. 


Would-be  playwright  seeks 
contact  with  young,  earnest, 
imaginative  would-be  produ¬ 
cer-director.  Object:  To  pro¬ 
duce  off-Broadway  comedy- 
drama  immediately.  Author 
will  provide  50%  of  financial 
backing.  Submit  brief  resume 
backgrounds 

BOX  1330 

Paterson,  New  Jersey 


PROFESSIONAL  CARDS  HONORED 

Theatrical  end  TV  Make  Up  •  All 
Leading  Cesmatic  Linas  •  Imported 
4  Domestic  Perfumes  •  Distinctive 
Fountain  Servlet. 

FREE  DELIVERY  OPEN  SUNDAYS 
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HADLEY  REXALL  DRUGS 

1111  4th  Avt.,  Cor.  44  St.,  NEW  YORK 
Talaphono  PLaza  7-0023 


New  Off-Broadway 
Theatre  Company 

R»w  Mbs  f«ra*d.  Eitabllihtd  Dlrtrterwlth 
3  mw  Krlsts,.  tsrrlfls  psvIs.Hteiitlal,  Mki 
tS;pr«dUMr,  actlvt  sr  illeat.  Writs  P.0.  Bsi 
I48S.  Grand  Csstrs)  Ststlsa.  N.Y.  17,  N.Y. 


NOTICE 


TENT 


OWNERS 

MANAGERS 


Special  concessions  will  be  given  to  ell  tent  owners  and 
managers  on  costume  rentals  and  purchases  from  the  larg¬ 
est  stock  available  In  the  country. 

For  many  years  wo  hova  serviced  such,  outstanding  companies  as 
ST.  LOUIS  MUNICIPAL  OPERA;  LOUISVILLE;  STARLIGHT  THEATRE, 
KANSAS;  OAKDALE;  WARWICK;  ALLENTOWN  AND  MANY  OTHERS. 

Come  In  and  male#  your  arrangements  as  soon  as  possible. 

GREAT  SAVINGS  WILL  BE  MADE  ON  ALL  CONTRACTS 
EXECUTED  BEFORE  APRIL  1. 

EAVES  COSTUME 
COMPANY,  Inc. 

SEE  ANDREW  GEOLY 

RAVES  BUILDING.  151  WEST  46Hi  ST..  NEW  YORK  36,  N.  Y. 
PLaza  7-3730 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


PSsHEF? 


umuTi 


Viter  ati 


•  Hit  Canada's  ‘Peyton  Place*  Ban 

Dell  which  published  paperback 
edition  of  Grace  Metallious’  “Pey¬ 
ton  Place,”  are  taking  legal  steps 
against  its  bah  In  Canada.  If  suc¬ 
cessful,  they  may  end  the  present 
import  ban  and  let  the  courts 
decide  bn  obscenity  as.  defined  in 
the  Criminal  Code. 

.  Dell  has  retained  an  Ottawa. law 
firm  to  appeal  to  the  tariff  board 
the  revenue  department’s  ruling 
last  spring  which  forbade  import 
of  the  novel  on  ground  of  immo¬ 
rality  and  indecency.”  The  publish¬ 
ers  then  took  it  up  with  the  min¬ 
ister  of  revenue,  without  success. 
S  nce  then  the  government  has 
changed  frorfi  Liberal  to  Progres¬ 
sive  Conservative,  and  Dell  has 
changed  tactics  too.  This  will  be 
the  first  time  any  publisher  has 
ever  taken  a  book-ban  appeal 
beyond  the  ministerial  level. 

Wideners  Bibliophile  Gesture 

Three  members  of  the  Widener 
family  of  Philadelphia  have  do¬ 
nated  a  gift  of  $700,000  to  the  Pro¬ 
gram  for  Harvard  College  for  the 
endowment  of  Widener  Library. 
Gift  is  in  memory  of  Eleanor  Elkins 
Rice,  who  originally  gave  Widener 
Library  as  a  memorial  to  her  son, 
Harry  Elkins  Widener;  '07.  George 
P.  *  Widener  and  Mrs:  Widener 
Dixsoh,  son  and  daughter  of  Mrs. 
Rice,  each  gatfe  $250,000  toward 
the  fund.  The  remaining  $200,000 
was  given  by  Mrs.  Anson  A.  Bige¬ 
low,  a  niece  of  Mrs.  Rice.  •  . 

At  the  time  of 'the  found1  ng  of 
Widener  Library,  central  building, 
for  the  largest  university  library 
in  the  world,  Mrs.  Rice  established 
a  fund  for  the  support  of  .  the 
library;  and.  especially  for  the  care' 
of  her  son’s  collection  of  rare 
books. 

Shifting  Critics  of  the  Beat 

Down  Beat  Mag  is  lopping  off 
feature  byline  reviewers,  among 
them  Leonard  Feather  arid  Ralph 
j;  Gleason  <of  San  Francisco)  plus 
Barry  Ulanov.  Meantime  its  Nat 
Hentoff,  who  exited  last  summer, 
is  doing  disk  expertese  for  The 
Reporter,  Esquire,  Nation,,  et  al 
freelance.  • 

Gleason  who  has  a  new  self-ana- 
others  anthology,  "‘Jam  Session;” 
due  on  the  stalls  is  now  a  contribut¬ 
ing  ed  (ditto  Hentoff)  of  Ziff  Davis’ 
new  HiFi  &  Music  Review. 

Screen  Sex-^-Discovered 

In  his  book  “L’Erotisrae  Au  Cin¬ 
ema”  (Eroticism  In  Filins)  Lp  Duca 
bundles  a  series  of  photos,  with 
some,  text,  into  an  affirmation  of 
what  everybody  knows,  namely  that 
in  spite  of  censors  and.  pressure 
groups  sex  is  the  mainstay  of  pub¬ 
lic  appeal.  , 

Text  is  glib,  rather  than  enlight¬ 
ening.  Published  in  Paris  by  Jean- 
Jacques  Pauvert  it  sells  for  $5, 
Cover  is  a  keyhole  outline  to  a 
lacey  pose  of  Marilyn  Monroe; 

Book  analyses  a  group  of  the. 
sexy  epics  including  venerable 
Czech  “Ecstacy,”  German  “The 
Blue  Angel,”  Yank  “Tabu”  and 
“Lady  From  Shanghai,”  Alfred 
Hitchcock’s  “Notorious,”  the  Italo 
“Bitter  Rice  ”  the  French  “Manon,” 
the  Mexican  “Los  Olvidados;”  and 
the  Swedish  “Miss  Julie”  and  “She 
Danced  One  Summer.” 

Superficial  in  approach,  book 
snap-judges  puritariism  and  mom- 
ism  strains,  in  Americans’  back¬ 
ground  and  arrives  at  deduction 
that  erotic  impulses  are  repressed 
only  to  rise  again  in  fetich  for  big- 
bosomed  actresses  as  exemplified 
by  Jane  Russell,  shown  in  20th  s 
'“Gentlemen  Prefer  Blondes.” 

ftlosk. 

Top  Air  Scripts  Annual 

“The  Prize  Plays  of  Television 
and  Radio:  1956”  (Random  House; 
$5),  has  recently  been  issued  under 
tiie  guidance  of  the  Writers’  Guild 
of  America.  Clifton  Fadiroari  sup¬ 
plies  a- short  foreword.  Judges  for 
.12  selections  in  the  book  included 
Groucho  Marx;  Jerry  Lewis,  A.  B. 
Guthrie,  Jr.,  Clifford  Odets,  Ronald 
Golman,  Gilbert  Settles,  Tom  Mc- 
Knight,  John  Daly,  Nina  Foch, 
Norman  Corwin,  Jim  Backus, 
Florence  Britton  and  Robert  Lewis 
Shayon,  among  25  “experts.” 

Following  scripts  are  reprinted 
from  tv:  “Requiem  for  a  Heavy1 
weight**  by  Rod  Setting;  “Goodbye, 
Gray  Flannel”  by  J.  Harvey 
Howells;  "A  Night  to  Remember” 
by  George  Roy  Hill  (director  of 
Broadwgy’s  cinTent  “Look  Home¬ 
ward,  Angel”)  and  John  Whedon 
from  Walter  Lord's  book  about  the 
sinking  of  the  Titaijjc;  “The  $99,- 
000  Answer”  by  Leonard  Stern 
and  Sydney  Zelinka;  “She  Walks 
in  Beauty”  by  /  Kenneth  Kolb; 
“Paper  Foxhole”  by  James  Ed¬ 
ward;  “The  Visito”  (one  of  the 
“Lassie”  tv  series  for  children)  by 
Thelma  Robinson,  Warren  Wilson 
and  Claire  Kennedy;  and  a  George 
Gobel  script  (Nov.  12,  1955)  by  Hal 


Kanter,  Howard  Leeds,  Harry 
Winkler  and  Everett  Greenbaum. 

Radio  is  represented'  by  Alan 
Sloane’s  “Bring  on  the  Angels”; 
“The  Penny”  by  Stanley  Niss;  an 
Edgar  Bergen  script  by  Si  Rose; 
and  “Decision  for.  Freedom”  by 
Robert  S.  Greene. 

Book  is  seemingly  planned  as 
first  of  a  series  of  annuals.  Previ¬ 
ous  a:r  script  selections  of  Max 
Wylie’s,  editorship  (and  others) 
did  riot  -  endure.  Rodo. 

Folklorists  Rallying 

Annual  winter  meeting  of  New 
York  Folklore  Society  on  Saturday 
afternoon,  Feb.  1,-  at  New  York 
Historical  Society,  will  bring  out 
large  delegation  of  Empire  State 
writers.  Shindig  Will  feature  Bill 
Bonyun,  folksiriger  and  recording 
artist,  for  Folkway  Records  and 
Heirloom  Records  on  “America’s 
Story  in  Ballad  and  Song”;  Ken¬ 
neth  Scott  of  Wagner  College  on 
“Counterfeiting  During.  American 
Revolution”  arid  Prof.  Bayrd  Still 
of  New  York  University,  author  /of 
“Mirror  IFor  Gotham.”  who’ll  dis¬ 
cuss  “The  Personality  of  New 
York,” 

Society's,  proxy!  is.  Marvin  A. 
Rapp,  Associate  Executive  Dean  of 
State  University  of  New  York- 
Honorary  veepee$  include  novel¬ 
ists*  folklore  fanciers,  among  them, 
Samud  Hopkins  Adams,  Ben  Bot¬ 
kin,,  Carl.  Caririer  and  Walter  D, 
.Edmonds. 

Eric  Maschwitz's  Memories 
Londbn,  Jari.  21. 

|  The'  well-paid :  frustration  of 
working  as  a  script  writer  in 
Hollywood  provides  one  of  the 
liveliest  and  observant  extracts  Jn 
Eric  Maschwitz’s  autpbiog,  “No 
Chip  on  My  Shoulder”  (Herbert 
Jenkins,  $2.50).  Years  ago  he  was 
there  without  apparently  doing 
anything  more  constructive  than 
pick  .  .up.  his  weekly  check  from 
Metro.  For  an  energetic  character 
like  Maschwitz-,  this  turned  out  to 
be  socially  attractive  but  profes¬ 
sionally  a  bore. 

Maschwitz  is  a  lively  hedonist 
arid  his  book  reflects  it.  He  has 
enjoyed  a  career  that  has  embraced 
broadcasting,  .  lyric  writing  and 
playwrighting  and  he  has  experi¬ 
enced  both  heady  success  and 
abject  failure  in  all  departments. 

As  a  lyric  writer  he  has  had 
such  hits  on  his  hands  as  “These 
Foolish  Things/*  “A  Nightingale 
Sang  in  Berkeley  Square”  and 
“Room  504.”  As  a  musical  play¬ 
wright  he*  has  scored  with  “Good-; 
hight  Vienna/'.  “Balalika,”  “Caris- 
sinia,”  “New  Faces,”  “Love  From 
Judy”  and  “Zip  Goes  a  Million."' 
Eiit  he  also  admits  equally  frankly 
to  his  flops;  “Romance  in  Candle¬ 
light”  and  “Dinner  for  13,”  which 
ran  for  only  one  performance. 

Show  biz  is  an  exciting  world  to 
Eric  Maschwitz.-  The  purist  riiay 
consider  that  the  book  is  peppered 
with  too  many  exclamation  marks. 
Nonsense!  Life  for.  Maschwitz  is 
one  long  exclamation  mark! 

Rich. 

Albany  Gnild's^Electlon 

Write-in  candidates  for  several 
top  offices  in  the  Albany  News¬ 
paper  Guild,  went  down  to  defeat 
in  last  week’s  election.  Francis  A, 
Rivett,  Times-Union  copyreader, 
triumphed  .over  the  incumbent/ 
Christopher  j.  Cunningham  Jr., 
Knickerbocker  News  display  adyerr 
rising  salesman,  who  drew  46 
write-in-  votes,  to  Rivett’s  straight  | 
77.  Rivett  had  been :  Guild  presi¬ 
dent  in  1951  and  1952;  Cunning¬ 
ham,  in  1956  and  1957. 

,  James  Gallagher,  travel  editor  of 
The  Times-Union,  won  pver  Theron 
Britain,  of  Knickerbocker  News 
Circulation '  Department,  also  a 
write-in  candidate.  Samuel  Sica. 
Knickerbocker  News  circulation, 
scored  against  R.  Stephen  Tread¬ 
way,  of  the  paper’s  classified  .  ad¬ 
vertising  department  —  a  third 
write-in  candidate. 

Mrs.  Ann  Bolicti,  Knickerbocker 
News  classified,  advertising,  was  re¬ 
elected  secretary;  G.  Paul  Lyman, 
Times-Union  accounting,  treasurer 
(for  a  12th  term).  ; 

The  new  officers  were  installed 
at  the  annual  meeting  Sunday  (19). 

Vancouver's  Chinese  Press, 

..  The  New  Republic  is  moving  to 
Vancouver.  It’s  not  the  liberal 
-Washington  weekly,  though,  hut 
the  oldest  Chinese-language  news¬ 
paper  in  Canada,  an  eight-page 
daily  published  for  past  45  years 
in  Victoria,  B.C.,  British  Colum¬ 
bia’s  capital  on  Vancouver  Island. 
Vancouver  is.  on  the  mainland,  and 
New  Republic  is  moving  there,  to 
meet  growing  competition  from 
two  other  Chinese  dailies  there. 
Vancouver  arid  environs  have  15,- 
000  Chinese,  Vancouver  Island 
only  2,000. 

Paper  gets  its  overseas  news 


by  short-wave  radio  starting  at  5 
jLin.  It  goes  to  press  at  5  p.m.  All 
type  is  set  by  hand,  blit  owners 1 
say  no  machine  has  yet  been  found 
that  can  work  faster  than,  a  Chi¬ 
nese  typesetter.  Latter  work  under 
direction  of  four  men  who  learned 
how  to  set  the  7,000-character 
alphabet  in  China. 

Welch  Fights  Cop  Censorship 

A  tty.  Joseph  N.  Welch,  who  fig¬ 
ured  iri  the  Army-McCarthy  dis¬ 
pute,  opposed  bills-  which  would 
establish  a  Massachusetts  censor 
'at  a  State  House  hearing  in  Boston. 
He  appeared  before  -the  legislative 
.  committee  on  legal  affairs  and. 
urged  the.  lawmakers  to  “shy  away 
from  censorship”  declaring  that 
present  statutes  are  adqriate  to 
cope  with  obscene  magazines, 
books  and  eonlic  books. 

Welch,  representing  a  group  of 
national  magazines  arid  several 
book  Publishers,  said  he  believes 
the  bills  would  lead  taxless  en¬ 
forcement.  “If  a  couple  of  state 
police  officers  were  appointed  to 
censor  books  as  one  bill  plans, 
there  would  be  a  tendency  for  the 
attorney  general;  the  district’  at¬ 
torneys  arid  the  local  police  to  sit 
back,  arid  conclude  it  was  some¬ 
body  else’s  job.  He  added  that  he 
did  not  “relish  the  notion  that  a 
state  policeman  might  some  day 
tell  hie  what  I  shall  read  and  what 
I  shall  not  read.”  Atty.  Gen. 
George  Fingold  has  consistently 
.  opposed  any  legislation  .  which 
Would  make  his  department  a 
censor  in  Mass. 

CHATTER 

Doubleday  sales  promotion  man¬ 
ager  Edward  Stoddard  becomes  as-, 
sistant  to  Jerome  Hardy,  publish¬ 
ing  house’s  advertising  veep. 

Ralph  Allen,  editor  of  Maclean’s 
Magazine,.  Canadian  biweekly,  has 
his  third  novel  just  out.  “Peace 
River  Country”  is  published  by 
Doubleday. 

A.  G.  Jeans  riew  managing  direc¬ 
tor  and.  editor-in-chief  of  Liver¬ 
pool  (Eng:)  Daily  Post  &  Echo,  Ltd. 
He  succeeds  his  father,  Allan 
Jeans,  who  is  retiring/ 

Baron  .  Valentin  Mandelstamm, 
former  French  government  repre¬ 
sentative  to  Hollywood;  off  to 
Tangiers  to  write  a  . series  of  arti¬ 
cles  for  the  Hollywood  Press  Syn¬ 
dicate, 

Retail  Publications  Iric,  has  .been 
empowered  to  conduct  a  publishing 
business  in  New  York,  Capital 
stock  is  1,000  shares,  no  par  value.. 
Walter  S.  Cooper  of  Manhattan 
filed  at  Albany. 

Martin  Abramson,  who  Co-au¬ 
thored  the  Barney  Ross  autobiog¬ 
raphy,  “No  Man  Stands  Alone/’ 
has  a  piece  on  Sain  Levinson’s 
technique  for  child  raising  in  -the 
current  Fainti  ly  Circle, 

Spiritual  Book  Associates  Inc. 
authorized  to  conduct  a  publishing 
business  in  Manhattan.  Capital: 
stock  is  200  shares,  no  par  value. 
John  C.  Holahan  of  Tarrytowii,  is 
a  director  and  filing  attorney, 

Robert  M.  Amussen,  formerly 
with  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons  and  more 
recently  with  the  McGraw-Hill,  has 
joined  editorial  staff  of.E.  P.  .  Dut¬ 
ton  &  Co.  His  brother  Ted.  Amus¬ 
sen  is  trade  veepee  of  Rinehart  & 
Co. 

■  Raymond  Walters  Jr.,  book  re¬ 
view  editor  of  “The  Saturday  Re¬ 
view”  since  1948,  moved  over  to 
The  New  York  Times  Book  Review 
to.  work  with  Francis  Brown  in 
assigning  books  and  planning  edi- 
:  torial  features. 

Dollar  Publications  Die;,  has 
been  authorized  to  conduct  a  print¬ 
ing  and  publishing  business  in  New 
York.  Capital  stock  is  100  shares, 
no  par  value.  Directors  are:  John 
Raymond,  Roberta  ;Rayinond  and 
Milt  Berwin.  Charles  H..  Green, 
was  filing  attorney. 

Edwin  Darby,  most  recently  chief 
of  the  Time-Life  bureati  at  Dallas, 
has  moved  to  the  financial  editor: 
ship  of  the  Chicago  Sun-Times, 
The  post  had  been  Vacant  since 
early  last;  October  when  Austin 
Wehrwein  departed  to.  head  up  the 
New  York  Times  Chi  bureau. 

“Disc”,  is  the  title  of  a  new 
weekly  record  and  musical  paper, 
which  is  to  he  published  in  Lon¬ 
don  next  month  by  Charles  Bu¬ 
chan's  Publications,  a  company  ,  in 
which  Hutton's  Press  has  control¬ 
ling  interest  The  first  issue  is  due 
Feb.  6  arid  Gerald  Marks  has  been 
named  managing  editor,  with  Alan 
Wilton  as  editor. 


Padding  the  Gross? 

“Please  Don’t  Eat  the 
Daisies,”  Jean  Kerr's  book  of 
sketches  was  No.  2  on  the  non¬ 
fiction  bestseller  list  in  the 
book  section  of  the  N.Y,  Times 
last  Sunday  (19). 

The  N.Y.  Herald  Tribune,  for. 
which  the  author’s ...  husband, 
Walter  Kerr,  is  drama  critic, 
listed  the  book  No..  1, 


SCULLY’S  SCRAPBOOK  : 

< ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦  By  Frank  Scully 

Hollywood,  Jan.  21. 

As  winter  closes  in  each  year  and  makes  one  wonder  if  spring  will 
ever  return,  I  turn  for  cheer  to  memories  of  Gene  Dabney.  Never  was 
there  a  hard-luck  /musician  with  ,  more  laughs  thgn  Gene,  Dabney.  ’ 

Though  be  had  made%a '  grand  a  week  in  his  time,  when  I  first  knew 
him.  he  Was  down  to  some  WPA  project,  playing  for  buttons  for  the 
•blind. 

I  He  was  tall;  .slender,  with  chiseled  features  and  about  40  when  1 
j  first,  met  him..  Our- house"  was  Layoff  Manor  in  those  days  and  even 
•I  worked  with  the  hope  of  being  interrupted. 

|  How  To  ”Own”  A  Car 

I  He  never  really  owned  his  car,  but  he  couldn't  lose  it,  either.  He  got 
!  so  many  dingers  attached  to  it  that  the  finance  company  wouldn’t  touch 
i  it  with  a  10-foot  pole,  let  alone  pay  for  dragging  it  off  for  nonpayments 
to  a  graveyard. 

One  time  he  and  another  insol vendo  coming  into  a  sure  head-on  col¬ 
lision  both  swerved  and  landed  locked  iri  each  other’s  fenders  on  a 
third  party’s  lawn.  Both  thought  the  other,  guy  Was  the  cause  of  the 
wreck.  Both  sued  for  $20,000. 

“We  got  our  case  thrown  out  of  court,”  explained  Gene  as  he  howled 
with  laughter,,  “but  the  guy  whose  lawn  we  messed  up  sued  for  $36 
and  got  a  judgment!  He  tried  to  attach  my  car  but  be  found  it  had  re¬ 
pair  bills  for  $285  against  it,  I  helped  him  fix  his  fence  while  we  had 
a  few  beers.” 

During  one  of  the  Presidential  contests  Gene  wrote  a  campaign  songv 

It  Was  one  of  those  “March  On  With  Roosevelt”  things.  It  wasn’t  the" 
best  ever  written  but  it  was  good  and  Jini  Farley  suggested  he  hud¬ 
dle  with  a  CoL  Adams  about  financing  the  tune.  They  lunched,  at  Levy’s 
in  downtown  L.A,  and  Gene  drank  more  than  the  celebration  called 
for.  He  was  sober  enough,  however,  not  to  drive/and  asked  a  cop  would 
he  please  flag  down  a  taxi  for  him. 

“You  know  what  the  stinker  did?”  Gene  said.  “He  flagged  down  a 
patrol  car  instead.  They  heaved  me  in  the  Lincoln  Heights  jail  and 
rolled  me  for  the  five  bucks  I  had  left!” 

Gene  was  the  first  guy  I  ever  heard  advance  the  idea  that  musicians 
j  should  hop  aboard  the  mechanized  gravy  train  and  collect  every,  time 
|  the  train  made  a  round  trip.  “You  mean,”  I  said,  “that  every  time  they 
play  they  pay?” 

“Exactly,”  said  Gene. 

It  Started  With  Gene 

We  discussed  it.  with  Joe  Weber,  who  was  then  prez  of  the  AFM,. 
but  he  -was  too  old  to  get  the  idea.  Petrillo  was  around  and  he  got  it. 
So  .  when  he  followed  old  Joe  Up  the  ladder,  the  royalty  idea  went  into 
operation;  grew  to  an.  enormous  pension  fund  and  became  a  headache 
fpr  Petrillo. 

i  Recently  Spec  McClure  was  reminding  me  of  the  time  he  and  Gene 
went  from  Hollywood  to  move  some  house  goods  from  Harry  Carey’s 
ranch,  where  we  had  been  living.  Mme.  Scully  was  driving  up  to  take 
down  a  load  bqt  there  was  a  stove  and  some  other  heavy  stuff  and 
Gene  offered  to  take  it  down  in  a  trailer.  We  gave  him  money  to  rent 
one:  but  he  knew  where  he  could  get  one  for  nothing. 

.  He  had  a  Cadillac  at  that  time.  It  was  old  enough  to  vote  and  like 
all  his  cars  In  those  days  was  hung  with  more  attachments  than  a 
Christmas  tree. 

By  the  time  they  reached  the  Newhall  tunnel  the  Cadillac  was  be¬ 
ginning  to  fume  at  being  spliced  with  a  .  poor  man’s  moving,  van. 

“We’ll  let  the  motor  cool,”  Gene  said  to  Spec. 

While  it  was  cooling  a  Keystone  cop  clattered  up  on  a.  motorcycle. 

“That  trailer  license  is  two  years,  old,”  he  said. 

_  “Is  that  so?  How  time  flies/’  said  Gene. 

“Let  me  see  your  own  license,”  demanded  the  cop. 

That  too  was  as  out-of-date  as  a  cakewalk. 

‘Your  white  slip.  Where’s  that?” 

Gene  didn’t  have  it  “Must  have  left  it  in  my  other  suit.”  • 

The  cop  began  writing  tickets. 

K  “Just  Mention  My  Name”  . 

“I’m  doing  this  as  a  favor  to  Flank  Scully.  You  know  him?  The  wri¬ 
ter?”  Gene  asked. 

“No,  *1  don’t  know  him,  and  if  he  were  around  I’d  give  him  a  ticket 
too,”  said  the  cop, 

“You  Wouldn't  even  give  me  one,  if  you  knew  him,”  Gene  said  in  de¬ 
fense  of  my  honor. 

He  handed  Gene  m  batch  of  tickets  and  said,  “Now  get  this  junk  ofi 
the  road!"  Then  he  rode  off. 

Every  effort  to  get  the  mess  "moving  failed.*  Gene  decided  to  relaj 
and  smoke  a  cigar.  While  he  was  puffing  on  the  el  ropo  segurido,  thi 
cop  returned.  He  gave  Gene  another  citation  for  smoking  in  a  closec 
area  where  it  was  defendu.  That  one  couid  run  to  a  fine  of  $560! 

“I  told  you  guys  to  get  this  junk  off  the  road.  Wanna  ticket  for  over- 
parking;  too 7”  1 

•‘We  need  help.  Can’t  you  help  us  pull  the  trailer  so  it  quits  curling 
like  a  rattier  when  we  back  down?” 

.  “That’s  not  my  work,  but  I’m  human,”  said  the  cop. 

Honor  bound  to  prove  it/he  stopped  another  car  and  among  them 
they  got  the  wreckage  through  the  tunnel.  From  there  it  was  all  down¬ 
hill.  ' 

Where  Was  Charlie? 

At  the  ranch,  five  miles  from  anywhere,  they  were  carrying  out  a 
stove  to  the  trailer  when,  like  a  wraith,  a  Salyation  Army  lassie  ap¬ 
peared  holding  a  tambourine! 

Can’t  you  spare  even  a  thin  dime?”  she  asked. 

“I  could  if  I  had  Written  the  tune,  but  Can’t  you  see  oUr  hands  are 
full?  You.  help  us  get  this  thing  on  the  truck  and  we’ll  tip  you.” 

By  the  time  they  got  back  to  the  Newhall  Tunnel  it  was  dark.  The 
cop  was  waiting  for  them.  He  gave  them  another  ticket— this  one  for 
driving  a  trailer  without  a  taillight.  By  then  our  laughing  boy  was  do¬ 
ing  a  slow  Ed  Kennedy  burn. 

“Don’t  forget”  said  the  cop.  “Superior  cdurt,  Newhall,  Sept.  21.” 

Gene  arid  Spec,  arrived  back  in  Hollywood  near  midnight  The  whole 
trip  should  not  have  taken  three  hours.  I  asked  Gene  for  the  tickets. 
“Forget  it,”  he  said.  “I  can  fix  these.” 

Cash  Settlement 

A  month  after  he  was  supposed  to  appear  in  court  he  was  still  laugh¬ 
ing  off  citations.  Fearful  he  would  land  in  jail,  I  drove  40  miles  and 
pleaded  With  the  judge  as  if  I  were  Clarence  Darrow.  I  got  the  whole 
mess  squared  away  for  five  bucks. 

•  Another  time  Gene  came  up  to  Bedside  Manor,  hut  this  time  he  was 
burning.  He’d  got  a  WPA  directive  to  appear  on  a  pick-and-shovel 
operation  in  his  working  clothes.” 

“Okiy,  Gene,”  I  said.  “Appear,  in  your  working  clothes.  Show  up 
with  a  pick  and  shovel  but  in  dinner  clothes.  We’ll  have  photographers 
there  to  catch  the  ‘Have  Tux,  Will  Dig*  comedy  routine.” 

Public  Herb  No,  1 

We  did,  too.  Some  gauleiter,  j.g.;  tried  to  stop  Us  hut  we  got  them 
and  printed  them.  Gene  was  promptly  transferred  to  playing  dance 
music  for  the  blind. 

And  what  happened  to  Gene  in  the  end?  Well,  on  a  rainy  night, 
shortly  before  Pearl.  Harbor  inade  American  heroes  a  dime-a-dozen,  he 
was  standing  in  the  rain  at  the  corner  of  Sunset  and  Vine,  waiting  for 
a  traffic  light  io  change.  He  saw  an  old  lady  crossing  against  the  light 
Cars  were  heading  for  her. 

Gene  rushed  out  pushed  her  out  of  the  way  and  saved,  her  life. 

.  But.  he  lost  his  own. 


79 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


OBITUARIES 


SIDNEY  WM.  WATTENBERG 
Sidney  Wm.  Wattenberg,  47, 
prominent  music  business  attorney, 
died  Jam  16  }n  New  Rochelle, 
N.  Y.,  after  a  long  illness. 

Details  in  the  Music  Section.. 


1936,  ‘‘Bachelor  Born”  in  1938,  the 
Katharine  Hepburn  edition  of  “As 
You  Like  It”  in  1950. 

He  also  appeared,  in  .various 
films  in  Hollywood  and  England. 
At  least  one  sister  survives; 


JAKE  FREEDMAN 

Jake  (Little  Colonel)  Freedman, 
64,  co-owner  and  president  of  the 
Sands  . Hotel,.  Las  Vegas,  died  there 
Jan.  19  of.  a  heart  attack  while  un¬ 
dergoing  treatment -  for  arthritis. 
He  had  been  in  poor  health  for  the 
last  eight  months. 

Arriving  In  Vegas  in  1952  from 
Houston,  where  he  operated  a  nit¬ 
ery  and  gambling  casino,  Freedman; 
formed  a  group  which  bought  the 
Sands  that  year  for  $5,000,000, 
Group  purchased  the  Dunes  hotel, 
another  desert  resort,  in  August, 
1955,  but.  took  a  $1,200,000  loss  on 
the  operation  and  pulled  out  after 
four  months.  In  a  strong  bid  for 


EDWIN  WELTE 
Edwin  Welte,  82,  German  In¬ 
ventor  who  devised  the  Welte-Mig- 
non  Reproduction  Piano  (1903), 
died  Jan.  4  in  Freiburg,  West.  Ger¬ 
many.  He  made  headlines  in  Ber¬ 
lin  two  years  ago  when  the  Ger¬ 
man  diskery.  Telefunkeh,  head 
that  he  had  saved  in  his  archives 
about  5j000  piano  rolls  whose  peir 
fqratioris  preserved  solo  perform¬ 
ances  of  such  musical  greats  as 
Grieg;  Reger,  Debussy,  B*Albert, 
Strauss,  Busoni  and  Mahler  in  the 
period  from  1905  through  1913. 

Welte  conceived,  his  instrument 
as  a  means  of  putting  piano  music 
i  on  rolls  of  paper  and  scores  of 


IN  MEMORIAM 

OSCAR  KARLWEIS 

January  24,  1956 


general  public  patronage  for  his 
hotel,  Freedman  contracted  such 
stars  as  Frank-  Sinatra  (a  share¬ 
holder),  Danny  Thomas,.  Nat  King 
Cole,  Lena  Horne,  Tallulah  Bank- 
head,  the  late  Ezio  Pinza,  Dean 
Martin,  Jerry  Lewis.  Freedman 
was  known  for  his  wide  charitable 
enterprises  for  children  as  well  as 
a  gambler  for  high  stakes. 

Survived  by  wife  and  a  son. 


RICHARD  MOONEY 

Richard  Mooney,  .66,  veteran 
newsman  and  pioneer,  publicist  in 
the  broadcasting  field,  died  Jan, 
16  in  Sunmount,  N.Y.  At  various 
times  he  served  as  press  represen¬ 
tative  to  such  show  biz  personal¬ 
ities  as  Morton  DownCy,  Edward  G. 
Robinson,  Phil  Harris  and  Paul 
Whiteman  among  others. 

A  native  Of  Utica;  N.Y.,  Mooriey 
Worked  on  newspapers  across  the 
country  until  settling  in  California 
where  he  became  editor  of  the  Hol¬ 
lywood  Informer  in’  1921.  He  re¬ 


mained  there  10  years,  then  joined 
College  Comics  as  associate  editor. 
In  1934  he.  switched  to  Radio  Fea¬ 
tures  Inc.,  a  radio  public  relations 
firm.  Subsequently  he  became  a 
staffer  of  the  Steve  Hannagan  or-, 
gahization  until  illness  forced,  his 
retirement  in  1950. 

,  Mooney,  who  had  an  uncanny  eye 
for  'talent,  is  credited  .  with  dis¬ 
covering  Mary  Martin  and.  re¬ 
portedly  induced  Paul  Whiteman 
to  sign  Bing  Crosby.  .  This  took 
place  in  .1927  when  Mooney  was 
the  publicist  for  both  the  Million 
Dollar  Theatre,  Los  Angeles,  and 
the  Whiteman  band;  which  -  was 
then  roadshowing  the  “Rhapsody 
'in  Blue”  unit. 

His  wife  survives. 


AUBREY  MATHER 
Aubrey  Mather*  72,  British  actor, 
died  Jari.  16  at  a  nursing  home  in 
London  after  a  long  illness.  His 

Remembering 

CHET  MARTIN 

January  23,  1 955 


last  appearance  was  in  the  role  of 
Mr.  Fowler,  the  retired  school¬ 
master  in  the  original  West  End 
production  of  “Separate  Tables.” 
He  was  forced  to  leave  the  casC 
after  having  a  stroke,  and  could 
not  play  the  part  on  Broadway, 

.  Born  in  Minchinhampton,  Eng¬ 
land,  in  1885,  the  actor  made  his 
first  stage  appearance  in  the.  prov¬ 
inces  in  1905  and  bis  London  debut 
in  “Brewster’s  Millions”  at  Wynd- 
ham’s  Theatre  in  19Q9.  His  first 
New  York  appearance  was  at  the 
old  Manhattan  Opera  House  in 
1919  ini  “Luck  of  the  Navy,”  and 
later  assignment  on  Broadway,  in¬ 
cluded  Poloriius  in  the  Leslie  How¬ 
ard  production  of  “Hamlet”  ’in 


noted  pianists-composers  of  that 
era  made  use  of  his  invention; 
Nearly.  50  years  later,  Telefunkeh 
waxed  these  piano  concerts  in  sev¬ 
eral  special  LP  series  titled  “Musi¬ 
cal  Documents.”  The.  domestic 
press  spoke  ,  then  of  “one  of  this 
century’s  greatest  sensations  in  the 
music  world.” 

HAROLD  (BUZZ)  DAVIS 

Harold  (Buzz)  Davis,  52,  account 
executive  for  CBS  Radio  Spot 
Sales  since  1949,  died  Jan.  .16  in 
New  York.  He  had  been  in  radio 
industry  since  1932.  His  first,  job 
was  in  a  Philadelphia  bank,  which 
chose  him  from  its  staff  to  do  a 
radio  program  it  sponsored .  on 
WDAS,  in  Philly.  In  1932,  Davis 
created  a  xadioprbgramfor  WDAS 
titled  “Radio  Discoveries,”  one  of 
.first  amateur  shows.  As  a  result  of 
the  show’s  success,  he  was  em¬ 
ployed  by.  the  station.  .. 

While  with  the  station,  Davis  did 
Philly’s  first  disk  jockey  program, 
titled  “Around  the  Town.”  He  was 
soon  named  the  station’s  program 
director,  a  position  he  held  until 
1943:  In  that  year  hie  join  e  d 
WCAU,  also  Philly,  arid  later 
moved,  to  the  station’s  N.  Y.  office 
as  assistant  commercial  manager^ 

MARY  DRISCOLL 
.  Mary,  Driscoll,.  77,  who  had  a  long 
association  with  show,  biz  in  Boston 
as .  .member  and  Chairman  of  the 
Boston  ‘  Licensing  Board  for  32 
years,  died  Jan'.  14  in’  Roxbury, 
Mass.  The.  colorful  board  chair¬ 
man"  was  appointed  from  governors 
of  .  both  parties.  She  made  news¬ 
paper  headlines .  frequently  with 
her.  supervision  of  Hub  night  spots 
;  arid'  comments  on  types  of  enter¬ 
tainment,  that  coiild  and  could  riot 
be  presented! 

Chairmari  of  the  Boston.  Licens¬ 
ing  Board  for  22.  years,!  Miss  Dris¬ 
coll  carried  her  fight  for  proper 
control  of  alcoholic  beverages  and 
entertainment  through  two  genera¬ 
tions.  To  make  sure  that  the  laws 
were  being  observed,  she  would 
tour  the  night  spots  personally .  and 
was  oft  compared  to  Carrie  Na¬ 
tion.  onaerusade.  . 

Surviving  is  a  sister. 

,  GIOVANNI  STROMBINI 

Giovanni  Strombini,  73,  first 
cellist  with  the  studio  orchestra  of 
WGY,  Schenectady,  for  10  years, 

..  died  of.  a:  heart  attack  Jari.  11  in 
Albany.  He  also  was  a  member,  of 
the  Empire  $infonietta  at  WOKO, 
Albany,  for  another  decade. 

;  A  native  of  Adria,  Italy,  Strom¬ 
bini  was  first  cellist  with  the  opera 
at  the  Royal  Theatre  in  Cairo  for. 
five  years  and  also  played  with 
the  Period  '  Concert  .Orchestra  in 
Stockholm. .  After  coming  to  the 
U.S.  in  1922  he  performed  for  a 
time  .  with  the .  Albany :  and  Cleve- : 
land  Syinphony  Orchestras. 

Surviving  are  two  daughters, 
twin  sons  and  two  sisters. 

ISIDOR  WEISS 

'Isidor  Weiss,  87,  founder  of  L 
Weiss  and  Sons,  riaakers  of  stage 
curtains,  and  decorations  for  the 
legit  theatre,  died  Jan!  6  in  New 
York. 

For  60  years  lifter  meeting  froiri 
Europe,  Weiss  headed  the  firm: 
Some  ,  of  the  Broadway  productions 
done  by  his  firm  include;  “Choco¬ 
late  Soldier,”  “May time,”  “Lilac 
Time,”  “Ziegfeld  Follies,”  “Sunny,” 
“Oklahoma”  “Carousel,”  “Annie 
Get  Your  Gun,”  “South  Pacific” 
and  “My  Fair.  Lady.”  He  had  been 
inactive,  for  the  past  six  years  al- 


iEfr 

I  though  still  a  partner  in  the  firm. 

Two  sons  arid  a  daughter  survive. 

jack  Severe  aux  j 

Jack  Devereaux,  76,  an  actor  who: 
appeared  in  numerous  Broadway! 
productions  arid  silent  filriis  in  the 
early  1900s  arid  ’20s,  died!  Jan.  19 
in  New  York: 

.  He  appeared  on  Broadway  in  “A 
Pair  .  of  Sixes,”  “Brewster’s  Mil¬ 
lions,”  “The  Aviatori”  "New 
Brooms”  and  as  Alan  Fair  in  the 
1919  production  of  “The  Famous 
Mrs.  Fair.”  He  played  in  silent 
films  with  Douglas  Fairbanks.  In 
1917,  he  married  Louise- Drew,  an. 
actress  and  daughter  of  actor  John 
Drew.  She  died  in  1954. 
i  His  son,  actor  John  Drew  Dever¬ 
eaux  survives. 

AMIEL  ALPERSTEIN 

Amiel  Alperstein,  77,  former  ex¬ 
hibitor  and  operator  of  the  old 
Crystal  Studios  in  New  York  in  the 
|  early  20’s,,  died  in  Los  Angeles  Jan. 
i  14  of  coronary,  thrombosis.  He 
came  to  the  Coast  in  1927  and  went 
into  the  exhibition  business  in  as¬ 
sociation  with  Harry  Vinnicof  and 
subsequently  operated  the  Melrose 
Theatre  in  Hollywood,  the  Spreck-^ 
els  in  Sail  Diego,  and  others;  He 
also  was  a  business  agent  for  indie 
exhibs  in  L.A.  . 

His  wife,  son  Jerry,  a  projection¬ 
ist  at  Technicolor,  arid  two  daugh¬ 
ters  survive. 

GUY  BEATTIE 

Guy  Beattie,  84,  former  owner  of 
the  circus  grounds  near  Watervliet, 
N;  Y.,  died  Jari.  14  in .  Wingdale, 
N.  Y.  Known  as  the  old  Schuyler 
farms,,  the  grounds  were  purchased 
by  James  J.  Strates  Shows  some 
years  ago. 

Beattie,  who  retired  in  1949,  is 
survived  by  a  daughter  and  five 
sons.  Of  the  latter,  George  T.  is.  a 
buyer  for  William  Goldman  Thea¬ 
tres  in  Philadelphia  while  G. 
Schuyler  is  a  booker  for  the  same 
circuit.  Beattie’s  daughter,  Mrs. 
Clayton  Eastman,  is  the  wife  of  the 
former  longtime  Paramount  branch 
manager  in  Albany, 

EMMI  LEISNER  I 

Emmi  Leisner,  72,  one  of  the  top 
German  opera  and  concert  singers, 
died  Jan.  10  in  Flensburg,  West 
Germany.  She  started  her  musical 
career  with  the  then-titled  Royal 
Opera  in  Berlin,  in  1910,  and  was 
long  associated  with  the  Berlin 
City  Opera,  / 

Miss  Leisner.  was  especially  re¬ 
nowned  for  singing  Wagnerian 
roles.  .She  was  a  guest  performer, 
at  the  famed.  Wagner  Musical  Fes¬ 
tival  in  Bayreuth,  and  also  guested 
in  opera  houses  of  Europe  and 
America.  i 


EDWARD  M.  COX 

Edward  .M.  Cqx,  64,  oldtime, 
vaude  and  nitery  headliner;  died 
Jan.  13  in  Chicago.  His  career 
dated,  back  50  years,  when  lie  was 
a  boy  song-ahd-dance  performer 
with  tbe  Dockstader .  arid  Primrose 
Minstrels.  Later  he  teamed  with 
stutteririg  comic  Joe  Frisco. 

[  Cox  was  godfather  of  film  arid 
tv  actor  Jackie  Coogan,  whose 
father ^  Jack...  was  once  partnered 
in  vaude  with  Cox:  %. . 

Surviving  are  a  brother  and  two 
sisters. 

f  - ■.• 

JOHN  McGLYNN 

.  John  McGlynn,  83,  onetime  actor 
and  retired  hotel  owner,  died  Jan; 
15  in  New  York.  Before  entering 
the  hotel  business  he  toured,  with 
the  Mortimer  Snow  Company,  in 
“Uncle  Tom?s  Cabin.”  He  por¬ 
trayed  the  role  of  .  Simon  Legree 
.  when,  the  Snow  troupe  presented 
the  drama  at  the  former,  Rand’s 
Opera  House  in  Troy. 

His  wife  and:  sister  survive. 

SAUL  SUBBER 

Saul  Subber,  65,  who  operated 
the  Saul  Subber  ticket  agency  in 
the  Park  Sheraton  Hotel  for.  37 
years  from  time  of  its  opening  as 
the.  Park  Central,  died  Jan.  11  in 
New  York.  He-  also  ran  the 
agency,  elsewhere,  for  10. years  prior 
to  that.  .  His  wife,  Rose  Subber, 
will  continue  as  head  of  the 
agency. 

His  son,  legit  producer  Saint  Sub¬ 
ber  also  survives. 

EDNA  PURVIANCE 
....  Edna  Purviance,  61;  Charles! 
Chaplin’s  leading  lady  in  many  Of 
his  early,  silent  comedies,  died  at : 
Motion  Picture  Country  Hospital 
in  Los  Angeles, .  Jari.  13,  after  a 
lengthy  illness:  She  had  been,  in 
retirement  since  her  last  picture 
with  Chaplin,  “Shoulder  Arms,”  in 
1918. 

T wo  sisters,  survive. 

DICK  WELLS 

Dick.  Wells,  64,  longtime  vaude 
performer,  died  recently  in  Long¬ 
view,  Tex.  .  He  trouped  with  the 
turns  of  Wells.  &  Montgomery  and 
Brdwn  &  Wells:  1 

Surviving  are  his  wife  and  two 
daughters. 

NORMAN  DUTHIE 

Norman  W.  Duthie.  71,  a  former 


chairman  Of  Citizens*  Theatre, 
Glasgow,  died  recently  in  that 
city;  He  was  a  founder-member  of 
the  Scot  legit  group,  and  was 
chairman  for  a  period  following 
the  death  of  Dr.  H.  O,  Mavor 
(James  Bridie,  the  playwright). 

He  relinquished  that  position  in 
1955  for  health  reasons. 


MAX  R.  WILNER 
.  Max  R.  Wilner,  78,  a  producer  in 
the  Yiddish  theatre  in  New  York, 
died  Jan.  9;  In  New  York.  During 
his  career,  which  spanned  40  years, 
he  had  been  associated  with  many 
performers  including  Paul  Muni; 
Joseph  Schildkraut  and  Jacob  Ad¬ 
ler.  ■' 

His  wife  survives. 


CHARLES  MASSINGER 
!  Charles  Massinger,  62,  mUSlcom- 
edy  and  concert  singer  and  for 
many  years  a  ’  lecturer  in  music, 
died  Jan;  6  in  New  York.  His  most 
recent  appearance  was  as  the  sher¬ 
iff  in  the  1956-57  Guy.  Lombardo 
production  of  “Showboat”  at  Jones 
Beach,  L.  I. 

Sister  and  brother  survive. 


!  DR.  PIERRE  B.  HILL 
Dr.  Pierre  B.  Hill,  80,  pioneer  ra¬ 
dio  minister,  died  Jan.  16  In  Sari 
Antonio.  He  began  radio  preach¬ 
ing  on  WOAI  in  1923,  and  follow¬ 
ing  h|s  retirement,  in.  1940  con¬ 
tinued  a  Sunday  program  called 
“TheJChurch  in  the  Hills” 

His  wife  .and  three  sons  survive. 

JESSIE  DUMBRILLE 
Mrs.  Jessie  Dumbrille,  67,  wife 
of  .  actor  Douglass  Dumbrille,  died 
in  Hollywood  Jan.:  12  after  -a.  brief 
Illness.'  She  appeared  briefiy  in 
Eastern  legit  before  her  marriage 
47  years  ago. 

In  addition  to  her  husband,  son 
and  daughter  survive. 

MARTTI  SIMILA 
Martti  Simila,  59,  Finnish  com¬ 
poser  arid  conductor  and  his  Coun¬ 
try’s  foremost  interpreter  of  the 
music  of  the  late  Jan  Sibelius* 
died  Jari.  8  at  his  home  in  Lahti, 
Finland. 

His  wife,  three  daughters  and  a 
son  survive.  .  . 


CHARLES  A.  NESBIT 

Charles  A.  Nesbit,  48,  manager 
of  the  B&K  Chicago  Theatre  in 
Chi,  died  Jari.  14  of  a  heart  attack 
In  that  city.  He  started  with  B&K 
as  an  usher  in  a  nabe  house,  arid 
had  been  with  the.  organization 
about  27  years. 

Survived  by  his  wife  and  a 

Alfredo  Gomez  de  la  Vega,  61, 
dean  Of  Mexican  dramatic  actors, 
died!  Jan.  15  in  Mexico.  City.  He 
inaugurated  the  government-admin¬ 
istered  National  Theatres  arid  had 
played  top  roles  in  several  Mexican 
films. 


Vittore  Veneziani,  80,.  for  40 
years  principal .  conductor  of  La 
Scala  Opera  House  choruses  in. 
Milan,  .-Italy,  died  Jan,  14  in  Fer¬ 
rara,  Italy.  He  retired  from  La 
Scala  in  1954. 

Sister-iri-law  of  Charles  A. 
Smakwitz,  Stanley  Warner  zone 
manager  in  Newark,  died  Jari.  14 
in  Albany.  Surviving  are  her  hus¬ 
band,  t\vo, sons  and  four  sisters. 

John  McGettigan,  75,  radio  sing¬ 
er  for  more  than  40  years,  ‘  died 
Jan.  15  in.  Philadelphia.  From 
1929  until  his  retirement  in  1947. 
he  owned  and  operated'  a  travel 
bureau  In  Philly. 

Charles  Brown,  65,  prop  man 
and  doorman  with  the.:  OrpheiimJ 
and.  Royal  Theatres,  Moose  Jaw* 
Sask., .  for  ,17  years,  died,  recently 
in  that  city.  His  wife,  two  sons  and 
a  daughter  survive.  - 

Wife,  61,  of  director  David  But¬ 
ler,  collapsed  and  died  Jan.  14  at  i 
Santa  Anita  Race  Track,  Arcadia,  ! 
Cal,,  while  awaiting  the  start  of! 
the  day’s  meet. 

Wife,.  47;  of  composer-music  de¬ 
rector  Raoul  Kraushaar,  died  in 
Santa  Monica,  Cal.,  Jan.  16  follow¬ 
ing  surgery.  Two  daughters  and  a 
son  also  survive. 

Humberto  Rangel,  32,  Mexican 
folk  singer,  was  killed  in  an  auto 
crash  Jan;  6  near  Ciudad  Victoria, 
Mexico. 


.  John  Burns  Scotland,  42,  come¬ 
dian, .  died  recently  in  Culross, 
Scotland.  He .  specialized  in  old 
man  character  studies.  j 

Griff  Barnett,  73,  veteran  char-  ! 
acter  actor,  died  in  Hollywood  Jari.! 
12  of  a  heart  condition  and  pneu¬ 
monia.  Wife,  soil  and  daughter 
survive. . 


Brother,  46,  of  Frank  Sennes, 
operator  of  Moulin  Rouge,  Holly¬ 
wood,  died;  Jan.  17  in  Los  Angeles. 

Miss  Zofia  Naliriska,  a.  retired 
concert  pianist  and  music  teacher. 


died  Jan.  13  In  New  York,  after  a 
long  IllneSs.  Her  sister  survives. 


David  Gould  Proctor,  77,  actor 
•and .  songwriter,  died  Jan.  19  in 
New  York.  HiS  sister  survives. 

Celia  Moritalvan,  59,  retired  ac¬ 
tress,  died  Jan.  10  of  a  heart  at¬ 
tack  in  Mexico  City.  Her  husband 
survives.  : 


| .  Mother, ;  80,  of  character,  actress 
Connie  Van_and  Chicago  dancer 
l  Maxine  Wolfe,  died  Jan.  5  In  Holly¬ 
wood. 

Father  of  Tommy  Hart,  of  nitery 
act  of  Mimbo,  Mambo  &  Mombo, 
died  Jan.  12  in  Pittsburgh. 


James  Davis,  film  director  at 
WPSD-TV  in  Paducah,  Kentucky; 
died  Jan.  18  in  Memphis,  Tenn. 


Father,  of  actress  Judy  Holliday, 
died  Jan,  15  in  New  York. 


MARRIAGES 

Saunie  Wagner  to  Danny  Martin, 
Pittsburgh,  Jan.  2.  Bride’s  a  model, 
he’s  a  nitery  singer. 

Lili  Gentle  to  Dick  Zariuck, 
Santa  Monica,  CaL,  Jan.  14.  Bride’s 
an  actress;  he’s  the  son  of  Danyl 
F.  Zanuck  and  v.p.  of  the  latter’a 
indie  production  company. 

June  Prichard  to  Bill  Hayes, 
Houston,^  Jan.  Iff.  Bride  is  a  for¬ 
mer  Miss  Texas;  he’s  owner  of  the 
Vagabond  Club  in  that  city. 

Margery  Maloney  to  Robert  E. 
Quirk,  Manchester,  N.H.,  Jan.  11. 
Bride  is  a  secretary  at  radio  station 
WGIR. 

Marie  Richardson  to  Hugh  Hern¬ 
don,  Hamilton  Air  Force  Base,  CaL. 
Jan.  11.  He’s  son  of  the  late  notea 
aviator  and  grandson  of  the  late 
W.  W.  Farley*  Albany  theatre 
owner. 

Debra  Paget  to  David  Street, 
Beverly  Hills,  Jan.  14.  She  is  a 
film  actress;  he’s  a  singer. 

Jane  Adler  to  Edward  G.  Robin¬ 
son,  Washington,  D.C.,  Jan.  16. 
He’s  the  film-legit  actor. 


BIRTHS 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jimmy  Henderson, 
daughter.  North .  Hollywood,  Cal;, 
Jan.  10.  Father  is  trombonist  With 
Lawrence  Welk  orch. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Matt  Jordan,  son, 
Hollywood,  Jari!  11.  Father  ia 
maitre  d*  of  La  Scala  Restaurant, 
Beverly  Hills;  mother  is  secretary 
to  Seymour  Heller  of  Gabbe,  Lutz, 
Heller  &  Loeb. 

Mr.,  and  Mrs.  Arthur  Paterson, 
son,  Baldwin,.  L.I.,  Dec.  20.  Mother 
is  a  former  newspaper  writer-edi¬ 
tor;  father  is  a  CBS-TV  News 
writer,: 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  jay  Eliasberg, 
daughter,  New  York,  Dec.  30. 
Mother  is  ex-tv  actress’  Ann 
Pringle;  father  is  research  direc¬ 
tor,  of  CBS-TV. 

Mr..-;and  Mrs.  Marty  Faloon,  son, 
Pittsburgh,  Jari.  14.  Father’s  a 
musician;,  mother  is  Patti  Eberie, 
a  dancer. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lany  Sterling, 

'  daughter,  Los  Angeles,  Jan.  .7. 

:  Father  is  an  actor, 
f  Mr.  and  .  Mrs.  Bill  Jenkihs, 
daughter.  Palm  Springs,  Cal.,  Dec. 
[  36.  Father  is  disk  jockey  on  staff 
.  of  KPAL  there. 

Mr.  and.  Mrs,  Marvin  Press,  son, 

!  Hollywood,  Jan.  15.  Father  is  an 
.  actor. 

|  Mr.  arid  ’Mrs.-  Danford  Greene, 
.son,  Santa  Monica,  Cal.,  Jan.  15. 
[Father  is  in  editorial  department 
[  of  Revue  Productions. 

!  Mr.  .  and  Mrs.  Al  Freedman, 
'daughter,  New  York,  Jan.  15. 
[Mothers,  the  former  Esther  Katz, 
Spanish  terper;  father’s  producer 
for  Barfy-Enright. 

Dr.  and  Mrs.  Myron  S.  Roberts, 
son.  New  York,- Jan.  16.  Mother  is 
daughter  of  Nat  Kalcheim  of  the 
■Williairi  Morris  Agency. 

Mr,  and  Mrs.  William  Freedman, 
son,  Toronto,  Jan.  11.  Father  is  a 
legit  producer;  mother  is  Toby 
Robins,  stage  actress,  tv  panelist. 

Mr.  arid  Mrs,  Richard  H,  Bur¬ 
dick,  son,  New  York,  Jan.  16. 
Mother  is  Elizabeth  Birdsell  Bur¬ 
dick.  former  director  of  the  Ameri¬ 
can  National  Theatre  &  Academy’s 
national  theatre  service  depart¬ 
ment, 

Mr,  and  Kirs.  Wayne  Ward, 
daughter.  New  York,  Jan. .  17.  Fa¬ 
ther  is  a  member  of  the  Buffalo 
Bills,  a  barbershop  quartet  fea¬ 
tured  in  Broadway  musical,  “The 
Music  Man.” 

Mr.  and  Mrs,  Jack  Garfein,  son, 
New  York,  Jan.  17.  Mother  is  film 
actress  Carroll  Baker;  father  is  a 
film-tv  director, 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dick  Tucker,  son, 
Boston,  recently.  Father  is  an  an¬ 
nouncer  at  WBZ,  WBZ-TV,  in  Bos¬ 
ton. 

Mr.  and  Kirs.  Tod  Andrews,  son, 
Santa  Monica,  Calif.,  Jan.  15.  Fa¬ 
ther  plays  lead  in  “Gray  Ghost”  tv 
series. 


++**+*+******+++*+***** 


Wednesday,  January  22,  1958 


WHAT  THE  PAPERS  SAY 


GRANADA  TV  NETWORK 


MISCEJAAJYY 


Teach’  Film  Art  In  970  Colleges; 

No  Help  From  Hollywood  Studios 


Motion,  pictures,  both  as  an  art*- — - - — • — - — : - — — 

form  and  a  technique,  are  being  ..  j,  - 

taught  in  an  increasing  number  Of  Dallas  r  ears  pexpot 

American  universities  'Which  recog-  Dallas,  Jan;  28. 

^  For  the  first  time  in  10 

n>Tlhoai!,<}«LSe?ia'th-  years  the  Balias  Motion  Pie- 

The  interest  in  the  commuiuca-  t  Board  of  Review  has 

ft1”*"”  asked  that  a  film  not  be  shown 

s^^ts-eo^er^tS ! 

courses  on  films  and  film  techm-  |^uir?  Theatre  not  to  show 
dues  are  vitally,  important  tp  Hoi.  5^ugench  pic>  .■A„i  God 

Sflit  ?ee  i«tfway&M  oSt°rigM 

tKew  talent“  SPUrCeS 

According  to  a  study  made  by  ’  and- other  points  of  sophistics 
Alfred  F.  Corwin  of  the  Motion  uon*  _  .  .  .  _  ,  v11  „„„„  - 

Picture  Assn,  of  America,  filins to-  C»ty  Manager  Elgin  (^ull  says 
day  are  a  classroom  subject  in  970  ho  attempt  will  be.  J^ade  by 
of  the  1,800  colleges  arid  universi-  the.  city  to  have  the .  niin 

ties  in  the  Sta'es.  Nearly  2,000  of  banned  as  long  as  attendance 
these  institutions  hare  studio  work-  is  “controlled.” 
shops  in  which  students,  who  have 

mastered  the  fundamentals,  are  ....  *  .  » 

given  a  chance  to  put  theri  know!-  Wjnror  Stank  56HS0D 
edge  to  a  practical  test  by  being  ,  -  -  ~  ■ 

given  a  chance  tocreate,  produce  Af  Ppo|rWifh  l  h-SlJOlS! 
and  direct  their  own  films*  *  v<II*  r  > 

Eight  of  these  colleges  and  urii-  Iflnrilla  I  nolle  Wlfll  5 

versities  offer  Bachelor  degrees  to  FiOlIUtt  LCduo  If  lUl  O 

students  majoring  in  motion  ,  pic-  The  winter  slock  scasori  is  riiov- 

tures  and. four  of  them  award  h  Jng  )nto  full  swing  this  month  with 
blaster’s  degree  in  the  cinema  field,  e  ‘  cll.,w!KM 

Among  the  universities  handing  the  opening  of  two  ne\  .. 

out  such  degrees  are  Southern  in  Florida  and  another  in  St.  Loins. 
California  at  Los  Angeles,  Colum-  The  debut  of  one  more  Florida  spot 
bia.  New  York;  City  College  of  eariy  in  February  will  bring  to  at 


Florida  Leads  With  5 

The  winter  stock  scasori  is  riiov- 
ittg  into  full  swing  this  month  with 
the  openirig  of  two  new  showcases 


in 1  America°  tod^y  Semplc^e  films  °as  {^lemMter*1  ^ 
teaching  aides,  and  here  the  film  thls  ser“est  .  ’  , 

companies  do  cooperate  by  making  The  heaviest  concentration  of 
available  prints  for  classroom  use.  theatres  is  m  Florida,  where^  there 
According  to  Corwin,  no  fewer  are  five  spots.  The  lineup  of  legit 
than  70.000  such  prints  are  in  use.  outlets  there  includes  tw  o  new 
It  has  taken  American  universi-  canvastops,  the  ¥iamla  .^^a1 
ties  a  lone  time  to  accept  the  cin-  Theatre, which  opened  last  Thurs- 
as  aC  subject  that  day  (16),  ^d  the  palm  Beae^usi. 
(Continued  on  page  71)  carnival,  opening  next  Friday  f24>. 

< _  . ;  .  .  Another  new  venture,  the  Royal 

.  .  _ _ ...  Poinciana  Playhouse,  also  in  Palm 

r.R  A Nil  nilKF  VLADIMIR  Beach,  launches  its  season  F eb.  3. 

tlKiUlU  UUI \L  fLHyimm  The  remaining  twQ  Florida  oper- 

claims  myB&.&z'sF&zz'gZnZ, 

Madrid,  Jan.  28.  ‘  house,  Sarasota.  A  new  300-seat 

Grand  Duke  Vladimir  of  Russia, '  Repertory  Theatre  was  scheduled 
feead  of  the  House  of  Romanoff,  '  -  i  to  open  last  night  (Tues.)  In  St. 
stituted  legal  proceedings  for.  crim- j  Louis,  while  the  Sombrero  Play- 
inal  defamation  in  Palma  de  Ma-  house,  phoenix,  began  its  10th  sea- 
Jorca  yesterday  (Jan.  23)  against  son  Jan.  7. 

Spanish  film  producer-director  Other  showcases  on  Equity's  list 
Juan  de  Orduna  and  national  film  of  bonded  theatres  include  the 
distributor  CIFESA,  .  .  Margo  Jones  Theatre.  Dallas;  the 

Alleging  a  sequence  of  4  Ultimo  piavhouse  and  Alley.  Theatres,  in 
Cuple”  (Last  Song),  in  which  a  Houston;  North  Jersey-  Playhouse, 
Grand  Duke  Vladimir  loses  his  in-  port  Lee  N.  J.;  Paper  Mill  Play- 


ebriated  noggin  over 


|  house,  Milburri,  N.  J.: 


chantoosie  and  gets  involved  in  a  Theatre,  Milwaukee;  Wagon  Wheel 
public  fracas  with  warbler’s  pro-  Theatre  Rockton,  Ill.;  Arena  Stage, 
tector,  constitutes  criminal  abuse  Washington,  and  the  Palm  Springs 
of  name  and  person,  the  Palma-  ,oal )  Playhouse, 

based  pretender  to  the  Russiari  _ _ 

throne  asked  and  received  an  in¬ 
junction  to  halt  further  projection  jblsoil  Estate  Gift 
of  “Cuple”  until  courts  rule  ori  his  T,n  >o 

charges  and  claim  for  10,000,000  Hollywood,  Jan.  Z8 

pesetas  ($225,000)  in  damages.  Estate  of  A1  Jolson  has  Vgifted 


“Cuple”  was  pulled  frofri  pro-  Cedars  of  Lebanon  Medical  Center, 
gram  at  the  Barcelona  ^  showcase  campaign  with  $120,000,  iaigest 
Cataluna  but  Rialto  in  Madrid  has  ,hn  ,inn  fVl-  _ 

received  no  word  of  court  order.  donation  this  3  ear, 

(Continued  ori  page  64).  1  It’s  an. $11,000,000  drive.. 


Trade  Mark  Resist 

FOUNDED  W5  by  SIME  SILVERMAN;  Published  Weekly  by  VARIETY,  I 

Syd  Silvermr.n,  President 

154  West  46tb  St..  New  York  36.  N.  Y.  JUdson.  2-2700. 
Hollywood  28 

6404  Sunset  Boulevard.  Hollywood  9-1141 
Washington  4- 

1292  National  Press  Building,  STerling  3-5443 
Chicago  11 

612  No.  Michigan  Ave..  DElaware  .7-4984 
London  WC4 

8  St.  Martin’s  PL.  Trafalgar  Sq.,.COVent  Garden  0135 
SUBSCRIPTION  Annual,  $10; ;  Foreign,  Sli;  Single  Copies,  .25  Cents  . 
ABEL  GREEN.  Editor 


Ralph  J.  Reason's  Book,  . 
'Jam  Session’  Makes  With 
Fascination  of  the  Beat 

By  ROBERT  J.  LANDRY 

Henry  Pleasants  in  one  of  the' 
pieees  in  the  new  anthology,  “Jam 
Session”  (Putnam,  $4.95)  writes  of 
his  wonder  at  “the  spectacle  of 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  words 
being  written  about  jazz  every  year 
by  joyously  partisan  arid  enthusias¬ 
tic  critics;  each  writing  from  a  dif-  ‘ 
f erent :  understanding  of  What  jazz 
is.” 

The  devastating  dismissal  in 
this  battle  royal  of  fanatics  is  the 
ex  cathedra  judgment,  “It  isn’t 
jazz”  or  “It  doesn’t  swing.”  Pleas¬ 
ants  documents  the  fabulous  dis¬ 
agreements  most  convincingly  but 
comes  out  with  the  conclusion  that 
its  more  a  war  of  words  than  of 
music.  : 

Expert  guidance  through  this 
“semantic  labyrinth”  of  jazz.  With 
its  many  twists,  :  turnings  .and 
genetic  muiatibris  is  provided  iri 
the  compilatiori  of  profilers  and 
pundits,  put :  together  out  of  riiem- 
ory,  research  and  wisdom  by  the 
San  Francisco  Chronicle  prophet, 
Ralph  j.  Gleason,  He  has  managed 
an  anthology  which  is  not  jumbled, 
Which  has  a  point  of  view.  He  has 
not  hesitated  to  impose  structure  ' 
and  unity  and  interpretation  while 
allowing  others  to  speak  for  them¬ 
selves.  .  y . 

The  range  of  iriformation  and 
taste  in  “Jam  Session”  is  wide.; 
The  reader  will  be  enchanted  to 
meet  soihe  of  the  :aliriost  savagely 
independent  and  incorruptible 
priests  of  the:  jazz  temple.  The  pan¬ 
orama  of  a  strange:  cult  is  painted 
with  sldlled  strokes.  This  is  a  first 
rate;  job  of  canny  sampling  and 
sharp,  salty  editing. 

GleaSon  On  Stage 

Some  may  fuss  that  an  antholo¬ 
gist.:  ought  riot  to  include  himself 
so  extensively.  Since  When?  And 
Why  not?  The  seven  pieces  of  Glea¬ 
son’s  own  authorship  are  among 
the  best.  They  fit  the  mosaic,  they 
inake  the.  picture  come  whole. 

Gleason  has  included  iri  all  the 
main  streams— ^rom  the  blues, 
spirituals,  New  Orleans  funeral 
marches,  ragtime,  swing,  boogie, 
bebop  in  rock  ’n’  roll.  He  has  the 
pioneer’s  appreciation  of  pioneer¬ 
ing,  and.  pays  tribute,  to  the  early 
jazz  critics  who,  cirpa  1935,  were 
very  far-sighted  gentry  indeed,  per 
(Continued  on  page  56) 

Callas  Can  Say  :  -They 
Loved  Me  in  Chicago’ 

Chicago,  Jari,  28. 

Mme.  Maria  Meneghini  -  Callas 
iriade  as  big  a  ruckus  with  audience 
and  press  here  last.  Wednesday 
(22 )  as  she  did  in  Itaiy  nearly  four 
weeks  ago  when,  she  walked  out 
after  one  act  of  “Norma”  at'  the] 
Rome  Opera  House.,  It  \yas  her  first  I 
stage  appearance  since  the  Roman 
fireworks  of  Jan.  2,  and  though  the 
uproar  was  probably  as  loud  as  the 
previous  one  she  had  created,  it 
was  exactly  opposite  in .  character. 
They  loVed  her  in  Chicago. 

Playing  a  benefit  for  the  Alliance ! 
Francaise,  for  which  she  reportedly 
Was  paid  $10,000,  the  soprano  drew 
a  sellout  crowd  of  over  3,750  who 
paid  as  high  as  $200.  for  boxes,  $25 
for  main  floor  seats,  and  $8.80  for 
‘folding  ehairs  set  up  at  the  lith 
hour  in  the  orchestra  pit.  The  con¬ 
cert  grossed  close  to.  $40;0Q0. 

Society  folk,  made  it  a  full  dress 
(Continued  on  page  68) 

Scot  Rock-’N’-Roll  Riot 

Glasgow,  Jan.  28. 

Teenage  patrons  flattened  five 
rows  of  seats  to  the  floor  in  a  cine¬ 
ma  here  .diiririg  the  last  showing  of 
the  Elvis  -Presley  pic  “Loving  You” 
(Par). 

_Youths  .wrecked  almost  100  seats 
in  the  baick  rows  of  the;  stalls.  They 
slashed  -Upholstery  and  tore  metal 
frames  apart; 


_ _ Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


New  York  Philharmonic  Economics 

[SEASON  1956-1957] 


1955-1956 

Season 


1956t1957 

Season 

RECEIPTS 

Concerts 

8  Regular  Series,  Young 
People’s  &  Special  Sat¬ 
urday  Evenings  .......  $682,268.75 

Broadcast  fee,  record  roy¬ 
alties,  &  other  earned 
income  ....... 208,076.31 

Spring  Tour,  Out-of-Tow 
&  Extra  1956-1957  ...  56,252.02 

European  Toiir,  1955-1956. 

Total  Operating  Income. .  $  948,587.08 
Pension,  plans 
Activities  &  Income 
from  Investments  60,796.51 

Total  Income — 

Concerts  and  Pension 
Plans  $1,007,383.59 

EXPENSES 

Concerts  &  Administra-  * 

tion  Cost  .  $1,256,543.95 

Spring  Tour,  Out-of-Town, 

.  &  Extra  1956-1957  :  51,651.69 

European  Tour,  1955-1956 . 

Pension  Plans 

Pensions  under  Volun¬ 
tary  Plan,  Contribution 
to  Trustee  &  Cost  of 
Activities  99,917.73 

Total  Cost  of  Operations  ,  $1,408,113  37 
EXCESS  OF  EXPENSE 
OVER  INCOME  . . , .  .  .  . . .  $  400,729.78 


The  Excess  of  Expenses  Over  Income  was  met  as 
follows: 

Contributions — 

Friends  Campaign  1956 

Radio  Meiribership  . . . . . . 

Special  Contributioris  for  Special  Purposes. , . .  . . 

Auxiliary  Board  and  Junior  Committee. ... . . . ... . . . 

Income  from  Investments 
Capital  Account 


1956-1957 

Season 


$208,030.00 

71,386.37 

40,000.00 

30,570.73 

50,493.51 

249.13 


Scully  on  Junk-el 


L -  .  — —  By  FRANK  SCULLY  — — — — - - •*' 

Palm  Springs.  Jari.  28.  Ventions  at  Atlantic  City  and  Palm 
Ever  alert  to  see  what  trends  Springs  and  Grossinger’s.  This  year 
the  economy  will  take  so  that  I  can:  becaifte  biz.has^een  bad  they  have 
tip  off  my  six  solvent  friends  on  had  three  conventions.  In  good 
how  to  stay  that  way,  I  accepted  years  they  don’t  haves  time  to  take 
ah  invitation  to  attend  a  junkmenJs  such  vacations  all  expenses,  paid, 
convention  at  the  swanky  picketed  which -these  things  are.  But  this 
El  Mirador  Hotel.  is  not.  a  good  year.”  . 

Victor  Shapiro,  who  was  gassed  ‘(What’s  the  scrap  metal  trade- 
in  World  War  I  and. paid  back  the  paper  called?  I  mean,  do  you  think 
press  for  years  as  p.a.  for  Fox  we  could  sell  them  Scrapbook  as  *. - 
Films,  United  Artists  and  other  title?”  I  wapted  to  know, 
gassers,  dropped  in  to  Scully’s  ‘‘My  knighted  Scully  wag,  don.t 
Madhouse  Manor  to  tell  us  thb  try  to  sell  these  operators  anything 
Colton  Metal  people  were  in  Palm  or  you’ll  end  with  a  hundred 
Springs  and  would  like  to  have  us  tons  of  scrap  metal  omyour  front 
for  dinner  |  lawn  payable  by  you  F.O.B.  Ne>v 

“Colton  Metal7”  I  asked.  Orleans.  Why?  Because  Southern 

“Sure  Martin  Field  and  Helen  Scrap  has  just  bought  the  42-year- 
Colton  Field  are  in  the  scrap  metal  old  mammoth  250-toj  crane  from 
biz  in  L.  A.,  and  they  and  their  AjaX  for  $142,000  and,  brother, 
partners  are  down  on  a  junket  of  are  they  itching  to  dump  tonnage 
the  National  Associations  of  Waste  oa  somebody,  and  it  might  as  well 
Materials  Dealers.  It’s  just  like  an  be  you.”  . 

exhibitors’  convention,  except  ^  that  bad. 

these  suvs  Wear  better  dinner  Bad.  These  groaners  can  tip 


exhibitors’  convention,  except  Yoli  b12  is  tnat  oaa. 

these  guys  Wear  better  dinner  Bad.  These  groaners  can  tip 
jackets,  smoke  more  expensive  you  off  to  a  stock-market  dip  two 
cigars  and  let  out  bigger  groans  weeks  before  it  happens  and  ?s 


abbut  the  state  Of  their  biz.” 

“You  mean:  Martin  Field,  the 
script  writer,  and  Helen  Colton, 
iny  pet  who  Used  to  write  features 
for  the  New  York  Times,  are  now 
trading  in  rags,  bones  and  bottles?” 

Junking  Sputniks  Already 


soon  as  they  know  it’s  ‘  going  to 
(Continued  on  page  64) 


The  CaU  Girl’ Profiled 

Dr.  Harold  Greenwald  is  author 


’‘Listen  pal/’  said  Vic;  “Wake  of  a  psychoanalytical  study  of  “The 
up.  This  is  the  middle  of  the  20th  Call  Girl”  due  out  in  February  vi 
Century.  “Junk’  means  everything  Bailantirie  Books.  .It  will  circu- 
from  battleships  to  outmoded  late  first  in  hardcover,  be  reprinted 
atomic  plants.  Some  are  iri  the  mar-  a  year  later  iri  softcover. 
ket  right  now  for  the  precious  Dr.  Theodore  Reik,  the  psychia- 
metals  in  sputniks  that  never  got.  trist,  and  Dr.  Margaret.  Mead,  tlie 
off  the  ground.  The  dealers  have  aritropologist  are  touting  the  book, 
daily  newspapers,  high  class  glossy-  believed  first  on  the  high  fee 
covered  trade  magazines  and  con-  “home  service”  operator. 


Bills 

Chatter 

Film  Reviews 

House  Reviews  . . . 

Inside  Music 

Inside  Pictures 

Inside  Radio-TV. 

International 

Legitimate 

Literati 

Music  . :  . . 

New.  Acts  - 


Night  Club  Reviews. 
Obituaries 
Pictures 
Radio  ..  . . , . . 

Radio  Reviews 
Record  Reviews  . . . . 
Frank  Scully 
Television  ...  - 
Television  Reviews. . 
Tollvision 
TV  Films 
Vaudeville 
Wall  Street  ....... . 


DAILY  VARIETY 

(Published  In  Hollywoodi  by.  Daily  Variety.  Ltd  J 
$13  a  year  $20  Foreign.  * 


For  Perspective,  Read  ‘Variety 

Tradestefs  who  recently  made  with  the  pros  and  cons  on  the 
merits  of  December  as  a  poor  dr  good  boxoffice  month  are  hereby 
apprised  the  controversy  is  not  a  new  one. 

“Whilethe  opposition  means  December  as  the  toughest  month 
of  a  tough  year,”  stated  a  Paramount  ad,  “theatremen  with  Para¬ 
mount  product  merrily  count  record  boxoffice  intakes  week  after 
week.  Paramount  has  risen  to  the  emergency  ...” 

The  ad  appeared  in  Variety  midrDecember,  1930. 

Report  Proxy  War  Facing  Goldenson 
At  AB-PT;  Ed  Noble  Seen  as  Opponent 


A  “rough”  annual  stockholders’*-^ - - — — - — • — ~  .  '  .... — — 

meeting  and  possibly  a  proxy  battle  .  -.L.  - 

is  foreseen  for  the  management  of  ,  GERALD  CANTOR  5  SHARES 

American  Broadcasting-Paramount 

Theatres  at  the  year-end  session  in  Acquires  Additional  15,000  Shares 
May.  Opposition  to  the  manage-  Of  National  Theatres 

ment  policies  of  AB-PT  prexy  Leon-  — — — 

ard  H.  Goldenson  is  said  to  being  B-  Gerald  Cantor,  National  The- 
organized  bjr  Edward  J.  Noble,  atres  board  member  and  partner 
chairman  of  the  company's  finance  in  the  Beverly  Hills  investment 
committee  and  one  of  the  largest  firm  of  Cantor,  Fitzgerald  &  Co., 
stockholders.  Before  the  merger  has  acquired  an  additional  15,000 
of  ABC  and  United  Paramount  The-  shares  of  NT’s  common  stock. 


atres  in  1951,  Noble  had  been  He’s  now;  listed  holding 
chairman  of  the  board  of  ABC.  100,000  shares. 

Noble,  who  was  instrumental  in  ;  ”  “ 

the  merger  of  ABC  and  UPT,  is  «  f  II  IT  rnvjf 

said  to  be  unhappy  with  the  irate  of  A  C  'AT  I\|A1A7  111  A  I  If 

progress  the  Goldenson  manage^  I  lUWj  llU  1  I 

ment  team  is  making.  It’s  felt,  ac-  7 

cording  to  reports,  that  Goldenson  A  11  it  Th  .  )in 

has  been  issuing  a  series  of  over-  V  All  ATT  I/aaI'  /IV 

optimistic  statements  of  what  the  JCllUll «  I  Uwl"  TUj 
company  will  do  but  that  many  of  r  7  7  . 

these  plans  have’  never  material-  «  ««*•  i  jv 

ized.  In  addition,  it V  said  that  the  I'Aliflf*  With  KOT 

Noble  group  feels  that  Goldenson  |  ClIUo  TT  1UI  101 

held  on  to  too  many  unprofitable 

theatres  in.  the  UPT. circuit  for  too  while  deals  are  still  pending  for 

long  a  period;  indications  are  the  sale  by  Paramount  of  its  pre- 
that  several  large  investment  trusts  1943  theatrical  features. to  telecas- 
with  substantial  holdings  inAB-PT  ters,  this  film corporation  has  eri- 
may  support  the  Noble  faction,.  tered  no  discussions,  nor  are  any 
It’s  understood  that  both  Noble  contemplated  for  the  present,  for 
and  the  management  team  have  the  disposition  to  tv  of  productions 
consulted  proxy  fight  specialists  in  made  after  1948. 
anticipation  of  retaining  their  serv-  significance  of  this,  of  course, 
ices  should  a  full-scale  proxy  war.  iigS  is  .the  fact  that  virtually  all] 
break  out.  exhibitors  and  many  Hollywood 

'• - : - - — unions,  have  stated  that  the  licens- 

■ _  ing  of  the  pictures  made  after  1948 

Taama^aua  DaIL  t0  tv,  and  consequently  the  pub- 

I  PPIKlfttHfQ  K3IIV  IJc  for  free,  would  mean  disastrous 

*  **vMtl2jvI.y  linilj  j  results  for  United  States  exhibi¬ 
tion. 

Da..!.taJ  0  ft  [|IIA  Features,  made  by  Hollywood 
llAVIVPn  ii"II  Blllfll  companies  prior  to  August,  1948; 
W  t  I  T  VU  V  1/  IfUIV  .  have  been  licensed  to  telecasters 
. .  _  without  any  royalty  consideration 

IL.  l  ^  Ilf*  A!!*  so  far  as  the  Hollywood  unions  are ; 
NAJf  111  W  Cn  ra  concerned.  It  was  via  this .  that 
ilvlll  ill  f  1  lvllllil  the  cutoff  date  was  established  and 

„r.  +  __  rid  studio  has  sold  to  tv  any  pic- 

Wichita,  Jan.  28.  tures  after  this  cutoff. 

Yesteryear’s  white  hope,  3-D  Par  sources  put  themselves  on 
pictures,  still  have  punch  if  an  record  ap  saying  there’s  no  predic- 
engagement  just  completed  ;  at  .  tion  of  what  the  long-range  future 
Wichita’s  Crest  Theatre  is  a  criter  holds  but  there  are  too  many  “un- 
riori.  A  week’s  run  of  “It  Came  from  certainties”  at  present  to  indicate 
Outer  Space”  and  “This  Island  any  disposition  of  those  relatively 
Earth”  in  the.  extra  dimension  new,  or  made-since-1948,  pictures 
grossed  sorriething  over  $4,000,  to  tvi 
considered  at  satisfactory  week  in  — - — - — — — 

the  house  arid  more  than  half  of  ;  _ 

what  the  pair  grossed  fi^  SnRflish  DIstHIl 
around  five  years, ago.  upfluiau  Ulolllimwi 

Precedes  Shooting  Of 

in  the  territory,  and  the  company.  tlfDL  i  LL-  D.,,1 

is^  readying  “Creature  from  the  If  D  S  JOJlIl 1  dUi  J0116S 
Black  Lagoon”  also  for  3-D  re-  *  Madrid,  Jan.  28. 

release  here.  Sam  Bronston’s  John  PauLPro- 

Crest  is  a  first  run- house^of  the  Auction  signed  last  week  with  local 
O.  F.  Sullivan  circuit  in  Wichita.  producer-distributor  Cesareo  Gon- 
Leonard  Kane,  Sullivan  city^  mam  zaiezjn  a  deal  involving*  multi-mil- 
ager,  indicatedhe  was  pleased  with  Hon  pesetas  privately  financed  and 


As  of  Now,  No  TV 
SeDoff,  Post-’48, 


Teenagers  Rally, 


^Because  of  the  spotlight  usually 
focussed  rfon  Hollywood  and  the 
film  industry,  there  is  a  tendency 
to  play  up  its  current  economic 
woes.  "In  nearly  all  the  reports, 
television  emerges  as  the  chief  vil¬ 
lain.  Occasionally  other  social  arid 
economic  factors  are  introduced. 
Only  rarely,  however,  is.  the  pres¬ 
ent  plight  of  the  film  business 
linked  with  the  overall  economic 
trends  iri  the  United  States. 

For  example,  only  last  week  the 
Labor  Dept,  designated  nearly  one- 
third  of  the  nation's  major  indus¬ 
trial  centers  as  areas  of  “substan¬ 
tial”  unemployment.  Many  areas 
have  more  than  6%  of  their  worker 
force  idle;  A  year-end  survey  by 
the  Labor  Dept,  revealed  that  job¬ 
lessness  had  increased  in  almost 
all  of  the  nation’s  principal  indus¬ 
trial  centers.  Iri  some  places;  it 
reached  the  highest  level  since  the 
recessions  of  1949  and  1953.  Over¬ 
all  unemployment  stands  at  nearly 
4,000,000  and  Some  labor  experts 
feel  it  will  hit  5,000,000  0r  more 
before  the  current  business  decline 
halts.  At  present,  one  out  of  eyery 
20  U.S.  workers  is  unemployed. 
Reports  by  the  Wall  St.  Journal  in¬ 
dicate  that  the  current  recession*  is 
causing  consumers  to  pay  bills 
more  slowly  arid  delinquencies  and 
prepossessions  or  credit-bought 
I  goods  are  rising.  Many  retailers 
are  working  harder  to  collect  and 
are  screening  new  credit  applica¬ 
tions  more  closely* 

Cutback  In  Budget 

With  so  many  people  without 
jobs,  its  stands  to  reason  that  there 
is  a  general  cutback  in  leisure 
spending  and  that  the;  film  biz  is 
one  of  the  hardest  hit.  “Going  to 
the  movies”  is  no  longer  ,  the  in¬ 
expensive  inass  .  entertainment.  The 
cost  of  roadshows  and  generally  in¬ 
creased  admissions  plus  the  cost  of 
parking  and  baby  sitters  is.  ob- 
|  viously  causing  a,  large  segment,  of 
the  population  to.  Stick  closer  to 
[  home.  No  matter  how  much  a 
family  enjoys  the  pleasures  of  “go¬ 
ing  out,”  they  no  longer  can  af¬ 
ford  them.  As  a  result,  they  stay 
home  and  watch  television. 

The  tv  sets,  to  many  families,  j 
represented  a  iriaj  or investment 
(Continued  on  page  18)  :  I 


a  5,  See  Film  Showmen  Plunging  Into 
IS  IDLE  ^ 011  Success-Makes^Success 
r‘anTS  Angles  Related  to  Coin-Raising 


60%  IN  SMALL  TOWNS 


‘Sayonara’  and  ‘Peyton*  Set  New 
High  Demands 


Minneapolis,  Jan..  28. 


■f  Hollywoodites  are  going  legit.  In 
some  cases  they  say  they’re  being 
driven  to  it  by  modern  show  busi¬ 
ness  economics. 

Although  only  a  few  months  ago 
the  film-makers  wrere  admitting 
fright  with  the  way  new  plays  were 
doing  quick  folds,  many  now  are 


A  new  non-roadshow  high  in  per-  more  convinced  than  ever,  that  a 
ceritage;  60.%,. for  small  towns  in  Broadway  exposure  is  worth  the. 
thiS  territory  is  being  demanded  by  risk  in  establishing  a  property  for 
Warner  Bros.,  for  “Sayonara”  and  (1)  the  immediate  profit  involved 
20th-Fox  “Peyton  Place.”  Previ-  and  (2)  the  subsequent  film  adapta- 
ous  high  was  50%,  except  in  the  tion. 

case  of  such  roadshow  attractions  Don  Hartman,  former  head  of 
as  Par’s  “Ten  Comrilandments.”  production  at  Paramount  now  op- 
“Sayonara"  ind  ‘'Peyton  Place”  **  an  independent  produc- 

are  now  playing  day  and  date  in  eT*.  observed  this  week  that  it  s  no 

and  the  iatter  in  Its  fifth  wee*. 

Both  pictures  have  been  doing  boards,  and  is  well  received  the 
smash  business  in  both  towns  at  picture  money  would  be  so  much 
the  advanced  $1.50  after-  5  p jn.  easier  to  raise.  Further  the 
admission,  In  place  of  the  regular  legit  investment  needn’t  go  to. 
90c-  much  over  $200,000,  uriless  a  fat 

— - — musical  is  blueprinted. 

--  ...  Another  point  made  by  the  cellu- 

llfLial  UovtaIIiI-A  loid  specialists  is  that  a  click 
fVflllT  fldVe  llllS  Broadway  property  is  becoming  too 
?  V  iiut  ASM  TV  ■  expensive  to  buy,  if  it’s  at  all  ob- 

_  --  n  || .  tainable,  when  someone  else  owns 

|M  fA«MiMAN  /  IIaI-  it.  For  the  Hollywood  impresario, 

In  UmmoM  Wot 

1  kv  intends  to  engage  in  legit  produc- 

li  nmiiiiln  ■  UriMlinn.it  tion  in  addition  to  pictures. 

rormuia  nanman  The  w  ^  been  shown.  0f 

l  VimuiuiUMiuiiuii  course.  The  Hollywood  team  of 
Norman  Panama  and -Melvin  Frank, 


erating  as  an.  independent,  wraps 
it  up  this  way:  “It’s' a  Sputnik  age 
—we  have  got  to  shoot  at  the 
moon.’*  This  is  his  way  of  ex¬ 
pressing  the  thought  that  the  film 
industry  is  going  the  way  of.  the 
legitimate  theatre  in  that  the  big 
ones  will  do  turnaway  business,  as 
per  “My  .  Fair  Lady.”  But  to  be 
big  they  must  be  different. 

In  New  York  with  his  adaptation 
of  Eugene  O’Neill’s .  “Desire  Under 
the  Elms,”  Hartman  made  the 
point  that  the  industry’s  top 
money-makers  currently — “Bridge 
(Continued  on  page  64) 


National  Boxoffice  Survey 

Biz  Continues  Strong;  ‘Sayonara’  1st  Again,  ‘Peyton’ 
2d,'  ‘Days’  3d,  ‘Raintree,’  ‘Water,’  ‘Woman’  Next 


Precedes  Shooting  Of 
WB’s  ‘John  Paul  Jones’ 

A  Madrid,  Jan.  28. 
Sam  Bronstori’s  John  PauL  Pro- 


the  revived  3-D  because  it  permits 


Spain-Portugal 


the  theatres  to  recoup  on  once  ex-  distribution  rights  to  “John  Paul 
pensive  equipment  and  because  jt  JoncS”  (Warner  Bros.),  an  epic- 
provides  another  attraction  for  the  sjze(j  Technirama  spectacle  to  he. 
box  office.  shot  here  starting  in  March.  Tech- 

Many  of  the  patrons  are  proving  nically,  Bronston-Gonzalez  pact  is 
to  be  teenagers,  who.  are  likely  a  only  a  financial  agreement,  with- 
strong  factor  in  the  new  success  of  out  coproduction  strings. 

3-D,  .because  many. of  them,  did- no.t  ■■roifiy  U  S  Production'  desfffnpr 

see.  it  the  first  time  around;  or  were  ,Borjg\  Leven  now  prepping  at  CEA 
too  y^ung  to  .reiuember  rt  Studios,  where,  half  the  100-day 

mg  to  Morris  Relder,  Universal  sj100ting  schedule  will  be'  iriteri- 
exefiange- manager  in  K.C.  ored,  Bronstori  and  Farrow  are  in 

Many.  th.eatr.es  still  have  the  3-D  New  York  to  cast, 
projection  equiment  and  the  chojce  of  jpj.has  been. reduced 
glasses,  but  with  some  p  Proy  to  either  John  Barryriiore  Jr.  or. 
ing  a  problemrto  revive  discarded  ^baritori  Heston.  Producer  and  di- 
equipment;  *  At  any  rate- a  flurry  rector  j0hn  Farrow  alsofinterid  to 
of  3-D  showings  .is  indicated  in  this  s{gn  prominent  Hollywood  and 
territory,  Relder  said.  English  stats,  (a  la  “80  Days”)  for 

—  “  such  supporting  roles  as  Washing- 

Archer  Kinston,  film  critic  of  the  ten,  Ben  F^nklin,  John^Hancock, 
NY  Post  off  ori  a  European  skiing  Jefferson,  Catherine  the. Great  and 
other  immortals.  _ _ 


.  Despite  the;  fact  that  numerous 
key  cities  are  swamped  with  hold¬ 
overs  and  that  some  new  product 
is  not  shaping  Up  too  strongly, 
many  communities  report  amazing¬ 
ly  strong  trade  for  biggest  takes  in 
months.  Snow  hurt  soine  midwest 
keys  but  stronger  fare  continued  to 
keep  the  wickets  revolving. 

“Sayoriara”  (WB),  champ  last 
session,  again  is  finishing  first,  mak¬ 
ing  the  fifth  stanza  in  a  row  it  has 
held  :to  the  top  rung.  “Peyton 
Place”  (20th).  again  is  winding  up 
second,  also  for  fifth  week  in  suc¬ 
cession:  . 

“Around  World  in  80  Days” 
(UA)  is  copping  third  position, 
iriakirig  the  third  consecutive  stanza 
it  has  held  in  this  spot.  “Raintree 
County”  (M-G)  moved  up  from 
fifth  position  to  fourth  this  week. 
“Don’t  Go  Near  Water”  (M-G)  is 
landing  in  fifth  spot. 

“And  Godr  Created  Woman” 
(Kings),  is  capturing  sixth  money, 
same  as  a  week  ago.  “Old  Yeiler” 
(BV)  moved  up  to  seventh  slot. 
“Tarnished  Angels”  (U)  is  winding 
up  eighth: 

“Search  For  Paradise”  .(Cirier-. 
ama)  is.  ninth  while.  “Seven  Won¬ 
ders  of  Worid”  (Cinerama)  rounds1 
up  the  Big  10  list.  “Ger.vaise” 
(Cbnt)  and  “Long  Haul”  (Col)  are 
the  two  runner-up  pix. 

“Farewell  to  Anris”  (20th) 
shapes  as  an  outstanding  new¬ 
comer,  hieing  smash  in  Chi, -fine  in 
N.  Y.  and  mo(Jest  in  L.  A.  Of 
.course,  “Bridge  -on  .River  Kwai” 


(.  (Col)  continues  to  roll.  It  is  capac¬ 
ity  iri  N.  Y;  at  Palace,  huge  in  Bos¬ 
ton  arid  .fancy  i  n  L  ;  A- 

“Deep  Six”  (WB),  also  new,  is 
okay  in  Boston  and  Frisco. .It’s 
fair  in  Indianapolis.  “Bonjour  Tris- 
tesse”  (Col),  fair  in  secorid  N.  Y. 
round,  is  very  slow  in  Philly. 
“Quiet  American”  .  (UA),  which 
comes  into  N.  Y.  Victoria  next 
week,  shapes  okay  in  Portland,  so- 
so  iri  Philly  and  Slow  in  L.  A. 

“Wild  Is  Wind”  (Par),  also  fairly 
neW,  looms  okay  iri  Chi,  torrid  in 
Boston  and  fine  iri  N.  Y.  on  long- 
run.  “Flesh  Is  Weak”  (DCA),  good 
in  Detroit,  is  fine  in  Balto. 

“I  Was  Teenage  Frankenstein” 
(AD,  which  preems  at  N.  Y.  Para¬ 
mount  this  week,  is  rated  great  in 
Buffalo.  “Hunchback  of  Notre 
Dame”  (AA),  mild  in  K.  C.,  looks 
okay  in  Cincy.  “Girl  Most  Likely” 
(U),  good  *  Denver,  is  big  in 
Louisville. 

“Razzia”  (Kass),  big  in  Boston, 
shapes  neat  in  Frisco.  "My  Man 
Godfrey”  (U)  looks  big  in  Omaha. 

“Rodan”  (DCA),  good  in  K.  C. 
and  fast  in  Seattle,  looms  smash  iri  | 
Chi.;  “Escapade  in  Japan”  (U), 
-Okay  in  Toronto,  shapes  good  in 
Providence.  . 

“Legend  of  Lost”  (UA) ,  slick  in 
Washington,  is  rated  fast  iri  Bos¬ 
ton.  “Paths  of  Glory,”  also  from 
United  Artists,  looks  good  in  N.  Y. 
and  L.  A.  .1 

.  (Complete  Boxoffice  Reports  on 
Pages  8-9.)  J 


(Continued  on  page  20) 

Semenenko  Sells 
MM  WB  Shares 
To  Allied  Group 

Serge  Semenenko,  Boston  hanker 
arid  top  money  man  in  the  War¬ 
ner  corporate  setup,  has  sold  80,- 
000  shares  of  his  WB  comipon 
stock,  leaving  him  with  a  balance 
of  82,000  shares.^  Stock,  currently 
trading  at  around  $17  per  share, 
is  down  from  a  high  for  the  past 
year  of  $27,87^. 

Reason  for  the  unloading  centers 
on  the  tax  situation.  It’s  believed 
that  Semenenko  took  a  loss  on  the 
stock  which  can  be  partially  offset 
by  capital  gains  in  other  fields  in 
1957. 

Financier  sold  the  80,000-share 
block  to  a  group  of  investors  who 
are  described  as  “friendly”  to  the 
Semenenko- Jack  L.  Warner  man¬ 
agement.  That  is,  they  bought  simp¬ 
ly  as  an  investment  with  no  thought 
of  any  kind  of  proxy  row.  David 
Baird,  Wall  Street  broker  long  as¬ 
sociated  with  the  film  industry,  and 
particularly  close  to  Warners, 
brought  the  buyers  together. 

Source  on  the  Semenenko  side, 
said  the  banker  will  “substantial¬ 
ly”  increase  his  WB  holdings  again 
in.  the  near  future. 

UNIONS  NIX  WAIVERS 
ON  OSCAR  SHOWINGS 

Hollywood  unions  have  thwarted 
exhibitor  plans  to  present  the 
Academy  Awards  television  pro¬ 
gram  on  theatre  screens.  Many  the- 
artemen  who  have  the  bigsereen  tv 
equipment  had  intended  to  offer 
the  Oscar  show  as  a  supplement  to 
their  regular  film  prograrfi  and,  of 
course,  at,  no  extra  price.1 

According  to  Roger  Lewis,  co- 
chairman  of.  the  Motion  Picture 
Assn,  of  America-  committee  in 
charge  of  promoting  the  ^telecast, 
the  unions  have  refused  to  grant 
the  necessary  waivers.  However, 
exhibs  are  .free  to  pick  up  the 
airer  on  receivers  in  lobbies  and 
foyers.^ 


Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


New  York  Sound  Track 


By  GENE  ARNEEL 


Clark  Gable  turns  57  Saturday  (1)  .  .  ..  Entire  marquee  at  the  World 
Theatre  covered  with  BARDOT.  Incidental  intelligence  passed  on  to 

— - -  the  public  is  that  Brigitte  Bardot  is  starred  in  “The  Bride  Is  Much  Too 

r  __  ___  -a--  Beautiful.”  .  .  .  Paramount  paid  $75,000  for  the  rights  to  Eugene 

FILlVl  MELON  FOR  1957  O’Neill's  ^'Desire -Under  the  Elms,”  and  in  installments  to  estate  over 

a  three  and  a  ^half-year:  period  .  r, .  Bud  Barry  to  London  this  week  to 
DOWN  R¥  Ann  Ann  sc°ut  telefilm  producion  possibilities  at  Metro’s  U.  K.  studios  .  .  .  Burt 
vyiUV'Ui  «j>J,uUU,VUv  Balaban  back  in  town  after  months  in  Europe  with  “High  Hell-”  He 
Washington,  Jan.  28.  co-produced  with  Arthur  Mayer  and  directed;  .. 


Washington,  Jan.  28. 


Today’s  film  industry’s  ad  copy  ,  AGENT  SUES  COLUMBIA  FILlVl  MELON  FOR  1957  O’Neill’s  ’‘Desire  Under  the  Elms,”  and  in  installments  to  estate  over 
writers, nften  tj^n..t°.taslc .for  ad-  — ^  ...riLlfl  lUfiLVJl  IV*  IUO.I  ,a  three  and  a  half-year:  period  .  .  .  Bud  Barry  to  London  this  week  to 

diction  to  hyperbole  and  just  plain  jaCfc  Linder  Claims  Rights  to  ‘Lady  DOWN  R¥  AAA  AAA  scout  telefilm  producion  possibilities  at  Metro’s  U.  K.  studios  .  /  .  Burt 
dishonesty,  actually  qualify  .  for  Chatterley’  l/U  If  II  Dl  Balaban  back  in  town  after  months  in  Europe  with  “High  Hell- ”  He 

scout  honor  badges^  when  compan*  ,  , ;  Washington,  Jan.  28.  co-produced  with  Arthur  Mayer  and  directed;  .. 

'SOi?Sw1K®  Hollywood,  Jan.  28.  diVMpnric  were  Quote  of  the  Week:  From  a  Redbook  mag  article  on  Marilyn  Monroe 

-VhiS  ^,hi^  nHnF<:  ve^i?^  The  Charging  copyright  infringement  ^  parted  stock-  arld  Arthur  MiUer*  A”1*  Greene,  wife  of  a  photographer,  who  was  Miss 

in  the  public  prints [years  ago.;  The  pn-  Dr  H.-  Lawrence’s  “Lady  Chat-l  jown  m  ^57  Reported  +stock-  M(mroe,s  formei.  partner  (until  she  tossed  him  out  of  her-  companv)- 

of  Va«Ity)-  ^  f  1  £rlyJ  ^v^’” /ack  Linder’  *****  $28d868  000*- "Marilyn  is  a  woman  Who  was  made  to  be  without  clothes.  The  view 

of  Variety).  ■  Broadway  producer  now  a  Holly-  rSSf-'S,?  ivifi  fS-  of  Marilyn  in  a  bath  from  the  back— it’s  something  to  be  painted:” 

(1)  ‘Paid’  With  Crawford  wood  agent,  filed  :suit  in  Federal  most  the  -  flg  Could  be! 

Fox  Criterion,  Los  Angeles,  in  Court  here  for  $350,000  damages.  ura  °_  *  1  ■  ......  .  ,  •  The  six  Japanese  actresses  here  for  the  Japanese 'film  week  have 

behalf  of  “Paid,”  Metro  offering  Named  as  deferidants^are  Kingsley  ,  U.  S.  Dept,  of  Commerce  points  been  shying  away  from  interviews.  Reason:  Hideko  Takamtne,  Japan’s 

starring  Joan  Crawford  centered  International  Pictures  Inc  ,  Co-  out  that  a  large  part  of  the  drop  heading  actress,  doesn’t  consider  “publicity”  dignified  shO  .  might 

on  an  embittered,  determined.  Joan  lumbia  Pictures,  Vagabond  Thea-  occurred  in  ^December  wheh  the  bave  a  point ...  The  Japanese  functions  have,  established  Taylor  Mills, 

looking  out  over  big,  block  letters,  tres  CorP-  dividends  totaled  only^  $4,467,000,  the  MPEA’s  p.r,.  rep,  as  toastmaster  par  excellence  Shlro  Kido, 

“YOU  RUINED  MY  NAME.”  She  Linder  in  early  1957  filed  similar  compared  with  $6,522,000  for  De-  head  of  Shochiku  Co.  and  prez  of  the  Motion  Picture  Assn.  of.  Japan, 


Continued:  “You  stole  my  youth  suit .  in  .  L. A.  Superior  Court,  but  member,  1956.  thinks  his  industry  should  veer  away  from  the  traditional .  samurai  ac- 

.  .  .  now,  your  name  is  mine  .  .  .  Judge  Kenneth  Chantry  ruled  ‘  ^  “  '  T”  tion  pix  and  more  towards  “exportable”  modern  films.  , 

oud  I've  only  started,  to  collect  ,  .  .  copyright  nature  of  suit  belonged  w  *v  Arthur  Knight  has  signed  to  do  a  book  On  United  Artists  for  Mac- 

before  I'm  thru  you'll,  pay  for  in  Federal  Court.  .  KAKrtyf  K  TAVlTIfY  Millan  in  1959.  He’ll  do  for  UA  what  Bosley  Growther  did  for  Metro 

everything  you  caused  ine  to  lose  .Plaintiff  contends  he  acquired  ,|\{J|JvI  I  JL  UllilE  in  his  “The  Lion’s  Share;” .  .  Frank  Gervasi,  the  new  Motion  Pictur 

in  life JT  stage,  screen  rights  of  Lawrence.  aJ  Export  Assn,  rep  in  Rome;  (and.  the  Mediterranean),  nixed  some  lucra- 

The  ad  writer  took  it  from  there,  'novel  in.  1936  from  Samuel.  Roth;  — .  «  pii  live  writing  offers  to  take  the  MPEA  post.  He’s  how  back  in  Rome  after 

describing  the  actress  as  “Exotic  who  purchased  rights  .front  Law-  I  Im  H||||irt  holding  a  family  reunion,  with  hiis  two' sons  in  Boston. 

„  .  .  Reckless  ......  Empress  of  Emo-  rence  estate.  Suit  states  he  subV  Ulllg  111  1  JIIllu  i  Six-member  exhibitor  advisory  committee  which  sits  in  on  planning 

tion  .  .  .  in  a  role  hy  far  her  great-  scquently  wrote,  produced  legit  **  i  of  AB-PT  Pictures’  program  is  in  Hollywood \this  week  for  huddles  on 

est  .  .  .  Her  achievement.  .  .  version,  copyrighting,  it  1843-  A  Robert  R,.  Young,  who  took  his  >  future  production.  Cohimitteemen  will  meet  with  Sidney  M.  Marklcy 
Never  before  have  yoU  seen  THIS  decade;  later,  he  claims,,  he  offered  own  life'  at  his  Palm  Beach,  Fla.,  I  and  Irving  M.  Levin,  AB-PT  Pictures  prexy.  Men  aFe:  Louis  J.  Finske, 
Joan  Crawford  Never  again  to  sell  all  rights  to  Columbia,  fibriie  last  Friday  (25),  was  ..a  prexy  of  Florida  State  Theatres;  David  B.  Wallerstein,  prexy  of  Bala- 

such  a  story  ,  .  .  Gripping  .  ,  .  '  which  nixed.  Without  his  know-  financier  piaminent  in  the  railroad  ! ban  &  Katz  Corp.,  Chicago;  Henry  Plitt.  prexy  of  paramount  Gulf 
Spicy  ...  Thrillingly  romantic  .,  pledge,  consent,  picture  based  onflejjj  (the  Alleghany  Holding  Co.  I  Theatres,  New  Orleans;  Raymond  Willie,  interstate  Theatresv  Dallas; 
Daringly  romantic,”  |  “Chatterly”  was  later  made,  he  ^hich  fie^ ^  controlled  in  turn  con- !  Norris  Hadaway,  ad-pub  head  for  Wilbey^Kihcey  Circuit,  Atlanta;  and 

In  addition  to  Miss  'Crawford,  i  charges,  which  plaved  here  last  troffed  New  York  Central),  but  he  i  Jerry /Zigmond,  Coast  AB-PT  division  manager. 

.  ,  _ _  .  ..  ~  ..vfi  ar.  at  Vatfanfvnn  TnPfln’P  _ i— #j  ^  \  _ »  r m  _  i  i _ _ i-  .•  ur : Je 


thinks  his  industry  should  veer  away  from  the  traditional  samurai  ac¬ 
tion  pix:  and  more  towards  “exportable”  modern  films.  . 

Arthur  Knight  has  signed  to  do  a  book  On  United  Artists  for  Mac¬ 
Millan  in  1959.  He’ll  do  for  UA  what  Bosley  Growther  did  for  Metro 
in  his  “The  Lion’s  Share;”  \  .  .  Frank  Gervasi,  the  new  Motion  Pictur 
ExpOrt  Assn,  rep  in  Rome  (and  the  Mediterranean),  nixed  some  lucra¬ 
tive  writing  offers  to  take  the  MPEA  post.  He’s  how  back  in  Rome  after 
holding  a  family  reunion,  with  his  two’  sons  in  Boston, 
j  Six-member  exhibitor  advisory  committee  which  sits  in  on  planning 
i  of  AB-PT  Pictures’  program  is  in  Hollywood  this  Week  for  huddles  on 


the  picture,  was  “Featuring  a  Per¬ 
fect  Cast.” 

(2)  3Iore  Than  A  Picture  .  .  .  Life!  I 


•  year  at  Vagabond  T.h  eatre. 

Linder  also  asks  accounting  all 
.profits  picture,  which  he  says  had 


also  developed  a  substantial  stake  j  Akim  Tainiroff  set  for  the  principal  heavy  role  in  “Lawreilce  :of 
in  the  mpying  picture  trade. .  { Arabia,”  British  film  which  rolls  in  Africa  late  in  April  .  ,  Katy  Ju- 

Although  largely  ,  in  the  back-  :  rado  with  Alan  Ladd  and  Ernest  Borgnine  in  “The  Badlanders”  for 


In  Philadelphia,  the  Earle  with  try. 
“Man  to  Man,”  and  not  given  to 
understatement,  emblazoned:  “A 
marvelous  achievement  in-  heart-  ¥¥■ 
gripping,  soul-stirring  human  in-  ■  I] 
terest  drama.  This  was  a  Warner  V  j 
entry  with  Grant  Mitchell  and 
Phillips  Holmes  involved  in  what, 
the  ad  man  said  was  “More  than 
a  picture.  It  is  a  realistic  portrayal 
of  life'-.  .  .  stripped  of  pretense  arid 
artificiality  .  .  life  as  ft  really  is  : 


many  bookings  throughout  coun-  l  ground,  arid  therefore  rarely  iden- i  MQM  release  .  “Shadow  People”  set  as  the  first  of  two  films  Leon 


Up-Front  Film 
Ad  Placer 


tified  as  an  “officer”  of  the  picture  j  Chooliick  will  make  for  Colurnbia  release  under  the  Orbit  Films  ban- 
business.  Young  as  far  back:  as  !  ner  .  .  Bartlett-Jolley  Productions  optioried  “Death  Greets  Me  Daily,’’ 

1935  held  a.  position  of  importance  -  an  original  treatment  by  Jackie  Coogan  who  would  be  associate  prp^ 
iri  filiris.l  It  was  in  that  year  that ;  ducer  arid  play  the  top  heavy  role  in  the  .film  if  the  deal  is  finalized 
his  widespread  interests  stretched  : .  ^ .  Faith  Domergue  with“Victor  Mature  and  Elaine  Stewart  in  “Es- 


to  an  outfit .  called  First  Division  i  cort.  West”  for  Batjac  Productions. 


t  1  T\1  .  [Pictures,  which  operated  on  a  dis-  (Frorii  London)  Editor,  Variety:  We  are  preparing  a  book  on  the 

Plumps  Holmes  mvo\e  n  A«|  rlo/iAmOIlt  tribution  franchise  basis  *  five  life  and  works. of  Robert  J.  Flaherty,  the  explorer  and.  pioneer 

the  ad  man  said  ^  ttwn  flH  FliHXflKIK  maker  of  dticumentary.  films.  If  iny  of  your  readers  .have  .'letters, 

a  picture,  » a  _» im  i  mvwuvut  Young  took  this  over  in  the  MSS,  photographs,  or  personal  recotleetions,  we  should  be  very 

artineialltvrt  PP  Ud£e  as  it  really  is  ’'‘Up  front”  newspaper  advcrtis-  course  of  his  fiscal  maneuvers  and  grateful  to  receive  them  at  9  Great  Ghapel  . Street,  pndon  W  1. 

artmeiaiuy  .  .  nie  as  n  rea  y  .  I  ing  iik?1y  wni  he  given  4.  heavy  in  the  same  year  took  on  a  lawyer  Original  documents  etc.  will  be  carefully  kept,  and  returnedin  due 

and  hate  faith  and  ieaioiisly  !  play  by  United  Artists  as  a  result  associate,  Robert  S.  Benjamin/The  course.  Paul  Rothc 

and  sorrow  fear  and  courage’ .  . !  of  insertions  last  week  on  Page.  3  picture  enterprise  was  extended  to  Basil  bright. 

hpart-touehinff  screen  m  a  s  t'e  r-  ;  °f  the  New  York  Times  arid  Page  8  include  laboratory  work.  as  an  ^fr  Sweden’s  “Smiles  of  a  Summer  Night  (Rank  release)  joins  the 
niece”  6  [of  the  N„ :  Y.  Daily  .News.  The  ad,  filiate  Of  du  Pont  fie  Nemours  number  of  imports  with  a  Condemned  rating  from  the  National  Legion 

f  i  *  i»i  *  4  ,  \vhich  invited  readers  to  write  in  (Young  later  was  to  be  bought  out  of  Decency  because  of  “unmitigated  emphasis  Ori  illicit  loves,  arid 

13)  Evelyn  Brent  ifiaying  |or  invitational  tickets  for  a  pre-.  at  $15,000,000),  national  distribu-:  sensuality  .  .  .  .  Model  Sloan  Simpson,  former  wife  of  former  Mayor 

Meanwhile,  over  in  St.  Louis,1  view  of  “Witness  for  the  Prosecu-  tion  and,  production  financing:  William  O’Dwyer,  makes  her  film  debut  “The  Pusher.”  She  plays 

the  RKO  Theatre  of  1931  broke1  tion,”  drew  over  6,000  letters.  The  company  which  remained  the  rnother  of  a  20-year  old  girl  addicted  to  dope, 

into  .print  with  heart-to-heart  lalk  jmp0rtant  point,  according  to  UA  under  Young’s  domiriation,  subse-  Harry  Foster,  underway  with  his  production  Of  “Let’s  Rock.”  would 

about  Eveiyn  Brent  m  Columbia  s  ad.pub  head  Roger  Lewis,  is  that  quently  became  Producers  Releas-  fiave  us  believe  a  couple  of  dancers  listed  on  the  call  Sheet  are  named 

Madonna  of  the  streets.  ine  many  0f  the  - letter  writers  were  ing  Gorp;  and  finally  Eagle  Lion.  Pierre  Rocque  and  Susan  RohL 
top-oFthe-ad  copy  commumcateui  professional,  people  (lawyers,  doc-  Distributibn  contracts  which  the  Mademoiselle  advises  its  fair  readers  that  the  best  Way  to  keep  track 
T  vJr  /TivlrS  tors,;  etc.),  familiar  names  of  the  latter  had  With  independent  pro-  of  “scholarships  in  the  arts”  is  to  redd  sundry,  trade  publications,  of 
UNTIL  THE_R.IGH.T  MAN  CAME  society  pages  and  key  figures  in.  ducers  eventually  were  taken  over  which  Variety  “requires  persistent  weekly  reading,  no  hardship  when 

AT  AM  Cl.9?  Thon  in  cnial  lAi*  tvmiP- 1.  f.  ^  v'  °  .  -i  ■•  ’ «  .  i  ;  .  i  i  _  _ ...c  tr _ _ _ .1. _ un 


UNTIL  THE  RIGHT  MAN  CAME 


(Then  in  smaller  tyP^;')  organizations.  In  other  words,  the  ‘by  United  Artists  \vhen  E-L  ceased  the  reader  is  determined  to  get  sbriiewhere  An.  Variety’s  world” 


She  Loved  Luxury,  Champagne,  '‘Witness”  copy  attracted,  “irifliieri-  as  an  operating  entity  *  In  195i.  Liz  Renay  who  has  a  darice  part  in  “The  Naked  and  the;  Dead7  was 
Ermine  .  .  .  Ruthlessly  p  r  e  y  i  n  g  tials”  not  likely  to  be  reached  via  Board  chairman,  of  UA  today  is  originally  a  cafe  eritertairier  in  N.Y-  coached  by  Don  Costello  whose 
upon  men  .  ,  «  Making  toughness  a  the  theatrical  pages  of  the  press,  the  aforemeritionied  Benjamin.  I  previous  cafe  protege  Penny  Edwards  did  riiuch  filiri  work  uritil  marry- 


w  LXOHC  rasaon  nuwcr  lixeiy  wouia  ne  regaraea  as  some  the  contiriued  operation  Of  Pathe  which  locatioried  in  N.Y.  and  is  making  witn  tne  versauiiiy  via  ms 
“Passion  Flower”  with  Kay  Fran-  kirid  of  unreliable  gimmick  rind  Laboratories,  one  Of  the  operations  Echo  label  disk  of  “Yankee  Doodle  Samba”  while  also  finishing  3  stage 
cis-Charles  Bickford  embrace  sun-  ignored,  said  the  UA  exec.  he  picked  up  and  developed  in  the  play  .  .  Rltz  Brothers,  off  the  screen  for  many  years,  will  return  iri 

ply  and.  quietly  noted  that  -Her  In  addition  to  stirring  interest  .iri  course  of  .his;  picture  Career.  This  “Three  of  ri.  Kind,”  a  musicomedy  which  jack  Leewood  Will  -produce 
problem  is  the  Problem  of  Every  ‘‘Witness,”  the  “up^fi'orit”  approach  is,  noW  tucked  in  within  the  cor-,  independently  for  20th-Fox  release  .  .  .  Kirk  Douglas  stars  in  “Last 
Wife!”  A  few  more  provocative  jn  y.,  ris  well  as  other  cities,  is  poraite  /framework  .of  .Chesapeake.  Train  from  Harper’s  Junctiori”  .which  Hal  WalIis  Will  ipaker-at  Para- 
bnes  were  added:  _They  ^ Defied  providing  UA  with  a  mailing  list.  Industries  which,  •  in.  turn,  *  one  mount  in  association  with  Douglas’ Own  Bryna  Productions  .  .  .  Andrew 
Society  to  Marry  But  Then  the  Hus-  for  futUre  direct  promotion,  of  the  Alleghany  holdings.  (Continued  on  page  18) 

band  falls  under  the  Spell  of  an  _ — - - ■  ■  .  ;  ,, — . — . — ^ ^ - .  ,.r... — — ,  ;  ’  ■■  ■  ■  ...  ■ — — _ — _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ '•  .f-.y— - ■ — — — ; — — — — — ’ 


Exotic  Passion  Flower.”  This  was 
available  at  Loew’s  Theatre,  Ak¬ 
ron,  Q. 

(5)  Wife’s  Sables  And  Jewels 
An  insight  on  life  on  the  “real¬ 
istic”  side  also  was  indicated  in 
“Extravagance”  at  the  St.  Francis 
Theatre,  San  Francisco.  With  June 
Colly er  and  Lloyd  Hughes  chiefly 
concerned,  this  was  “a  fearless 
story  of  luxury-loving  women  .  . 


Only  Prof  it  Can  Stop  Liquidators; 
Bankers  Key  To  -New  TV  Selloff 


By  FRED  HIFT  !  and  union  obstacles,  others  may  by  leaps  and  bounds  jn  recent 

Though  exhibitors  aonear  grimlv  wish  td  fpllow :  simply  to  be  able  years,  is  a  negative  one,  confront- 
Ihougn  exhibitors  appear  grimly  ;  td  justi£y  themselves  before  their  ing  filmmakers  with  a  do-or-die 


and  husbands  who_  learn  ho\y  their  flow  0f  films  to  television,,  there 


determined  to  prevent  the  further  j;  st6iholders. 


wives  get  sable  coats  and  jewels1^  those  who  feel  that,  the  sole 


they  cannot  afford.”  .  _  I 

(6)  ‘Her  Racket  Is  Love’  I 

“The  Widow  from  Chicago”^ — : 
there  was  a  gal!  Alice  White  had 
(Continued  on  page  6) 


determining  factor  guiding  future  ! 


ockholders.  .  proposition.  “How  can  anyone  take 

Momentum  a  chance  under  these  conditions,” 

Then,  too,  there  is  . the  fear  that  ?®ked  °ne  industiyite  last  Week,: 
e  snowball  actually  started  roll-  ,  7!odajr’  ff  s  the  choice  of  makmg 


company  "decisions  on.  that  score  jtihe  snowball  actually  started  roll-  ^cnoice  oimaKing 

will  be  the  state  of  the  boxoffice.  ing  \yhen- RKO.  and  Warner  Bros.  K„s. ;Prv.  i- 

.  Reasoning  is  based  on  the  belief  sold  off  their  old  libraries,  and  that  -+?m^d  ,  ^JS.  CH' 

that  the  future  course  Of  action,  ‘  it’ll  have  , to  keep  . rolling  by  sheer  u,  feaii  ^or  ^  determined- 


Mlltlirll  C  good  of  the  industry,”  or  even  nec- .  of  the  old  films,  with  their  nega-  wai,lm»  over  the  ot 

ITillllivfl  I  l  UUlll/Vl  w  cssarily  on  the  basis  of  coriimon  j  tive  impact  on  the  b.0„  may  gen-  £>°°u  pictures.  , 

sense,  but  rather  by  the  banking  erat^  the.  need  for  additional  sales:  Some  significance  is  seen  in  the 
¥Y*  /\  -  houses  which  tend:  to  have  their  One.  leading  exhibitor  last  week  fact  that,  despite  the  suddenly 

ISlQItPV  1  Inf  Kill  °wn  slant  on  affairs.  (opined  that  the  theatres  could  farmed  attitude  of  the  unions  and 

1/lulitJ  Vpilvll  It’s  recalled  that,  when  the  com-.:  justifiably  engage  in  .  a  “genteel  guilds  vis-a-vis  tv  sales,  none  of 

\  p.anies  started  to  sell  off  their  pre-  ‘;  boycott”  against:  any  company  that  the  studios  except  20th-Fox  have 

Hollywood.  Ja  28.  >1948  product,  the  move  wasn’t  |  shp\vs  signs  of  parting  with  its  come  out  with  an  assurance  that 

Walt  Disney,  whose  Buena  Vista  .  triggered  by  a  desire  to  help  tele- post-148  erop  and  that  the  poten-  [hey  wotild  not’seff  off  to  tv.  This 
is  handling  U.  S.-Canadian  release  (  vision,  or  even  to  play  ball,  with- it,  tial.  loss  of  theatrical,  revenue  is  considered  a  reflection  of,  the 
of  “Story  .  of  Vickie,”  Romy  but  rather  it  was  dictated  by  the  \  would',  keep  any  management  from  more  cautious  “financial”  thinkirig, 
Schncider  starrer,  has  taken  option  harsh  realities  of  financial  state-  taking  liasty  action.  •  whicli  doesn’t  rule  out  liquidation, 

on  all  future  Europe;an  films  siai-  ments  and  the  realization  that  ]  He  recalled  that  in  days  gone  by,  whether  it  be  via  the  sale  of  new 
ring  young  ac  tress  turned  out  :  by  “others  are  doing  .it.”  ;  when  Republic  first.played  ball  with  pictures  to  television  or  otherwise. 

Herbert  Tischendorf,  Munich  pro- :  lt*s  this  tendency  to  “follow  the  tv,  some  theatremen  did  refuse  to  Entering  into  the  picture,  too, 

ducer.  :  leader”  which  is  worrying  those  |  book  Rep  product.  ;  Had  this  at-  though  not  yet  very  prominently' 

This  is  disclosed  by  Lea  J.  Hor- ‘  who  feel /that  the  release .  of .  the  j  titude  been  maintained,  much  of  is  the  companies’  generally  favor- 

Ster,  Disney's  Gex-man-Austrian  j  new  product  to  tv.  would  in  fact  [What  has' happened  wouldn’t  have  able  attitude  vs.  pay-as^you-see, 

rep.  Horster  planed  in  with  Miss  spell  ruin  to  the  film  biz.  They  '  happened,  he  held:  which  could  eventually  deliver  in- 

Schneider  and  her  mother*  German  reason  that,  if  one  company  makesl  To  some,  the  bankers’  influence,  come  (from  the  home)  on  the 

actress  Magda  Schneider.  1  the  move  arid  overcomes  the  guild  I  in  the  industry,  which  has  grown  .newer  films. 


in  many  of  the  companies,  will  be  i  force  of  momentum,  i.e.  that,  the  j  comm creial  treatment  of  .  films 


1  Illdiiy'  Ul  LUC  LUIUp<UllC5ir  Will  UC  |  1U1  tC  UJ,  iMVtlieillUlil,  l.C.  .lUdl,  L1IC  I  U  J  .  .  -  ,  Y- 

dictated  not  on  the.  basis  of  “the  ’  cause-and-effect  action  of  the  sale  ’  during  -1957,  has  seen  the 


critics  wailing  over  the  lack  of 
“good”  pictures. 

Some  significance  is  seen  in  the 


N.  Y.  to  L  A. 

Samuel  Bronstori, 

Donald  Buka 
Lew  Ghudd. 

John  Farrow 
Signe  Hasso. 

Diria  Merrill 
. J immie  Rodgeri 
Josepr  R.  Vogel. 

Euirope  to  N.  Y. 

Brenda  de  Baozi 
Neil  Kirk 
Duncan  McGregor 
Tony  Pelley. 

George  Relph 

L.  A.  to  N.  Y. 

Richard  Arlen 
Irving  Asher 
Levy  Ayres 
Marc  Brandel 
Johnny  Desmond; 

L.  Wolfe  Gilbert 
Edward  Everett  Horton 
Charles  Laughton 

N.  Y.  to  Europe 

Frank  Gervasi 
Alexander  S.  Ince 
Ilya  Lopert 
Emile  J.  Lristig 
Roger  L.  Stevens. 

Mar  garet  Webster 


Is  There  A  Hi-Fee  Psychology? 

[BOOSTED  ADMISSIONS  SPELL  PRESTIGE] 

Minneapolis,  Jan,  28. 

A  leading  local  exhibitor,  W.  R.  Frank,  fears  that  ordinary  “good" 
pictures  for  which  admission  scales  aren’t  boosted  will  suffer  in 
consequence  of  the  hew  wave  of  upped  price  offerings.  He  believes 
there’ll  be  adverse  psychological  effects  affecting  the  non-block¬ 
busting  attractions. 

Danger  is  that  the  public,  may  think  that  unless  the  admission 
scale  is  raised  for  a  picture  it  isn’t  sufficiently  meritorious  to  de¬ 
serve  or,  at  least,  require  their  patronage,  say  these  exhibitors. 

No  less  than  three  of  the  nine  local  loop  theatres  now  are  Charg¬ 
ing  more  than  their  “established"  90c  after.  5  p.m.  admission  They’re 
the  Lyric,  Radio  City  and  State  With  “Raintree  County”  ($2.25)  and 
"Peyton  Place"  and  “Sayonara"  ($1.50). 

Two"  other  downtown,  houses,  the  Century  and  Academy,  with 
“Seven  Wonders  of  the  World"  and  “Around  the  World"  charge 
up  to  $2.65  and  still  another,  the  World,  where  “And  God  Created. 
Woman”  holds  forth,  gets  $1.25  practically  regularly. 

'Sick  and  Baffled'  (Per  CBS)  Film  Biz 
Example  of  Bad  (and  No)  Policy 


GflL’S  EYE  VIEW  Johnston  Knew,  Companies  Didn't 
Of  TIRED  SELL  i^  Russo-Yank  Cultural  Exchanging; 

*  State  Vs.  Private  Negotiations 


By  MARJORIE  DAWSON 

(  Until  recently  Mrs.  Dawson  was 

Asst.  Director  of  Community  Re-  _  ,  , _ _ _ _ .  ..  . 

lations :  for  the  Motion  Picture .  '•  ’  ■  :  T  Washington,  Jan,  28. 

Assn,  of  America.— Ed. )  VAITWr  VUIIT  TYrr^  The  United  States  and  Russia 

Af  ,nmo  *imo  in  onth  IVUHu  I  AH IV.  EAIX  tJ  Monday  (27)  signed  an  agreement 

sg'  RED  FILM  DEALS 

■SJ  &  if  there's  going  8  »  Pnris  28  “  .“Sd 

movie  industry,  as .such,  and .not  Jay  J.  Frenkel,  Blryear-  old  t6urism  between  tfie  two  countries, 
just  a  purveyor  of  films  for  video's  American  executive  of  M.  J..  P.  t„  the  nerforimriff  arts  thp  deal 
smallish  box.  To  the  practical  Enterprises  is.  in  Paris  ^ 

mind  of  ’  a  woman,  there  is  some-  deal  for  Czech  cartoons  and  one  an  pv„hpnpp  nf  feature  and 
ing  very  touching  about  a  six-year-  Czech  “special  effects"  feature 

old’s  belief  in  the  Magic  Word  and  called  “Weapons  of  Destruction."  SSve  iountrS  3  the  pr£ 
the  Magic  Phrase,  but  when  the  Frankel  initiated  his  deal  when  in  Sion  of  dwumentifS 

believer  is  a  40-60-year-old-man,  attendance  some  months  ago  at 

the  spectacle  seems ^sorry,  indeed.  *  for  television  and  nontheatrS 

•srr  fm^^pSVisr11  *" the  respective  coun- 

world  where  words  are  facts.  Cjech  co-production,  “The  War  of  .  ,,  __ 

“ Movies  are  better  than  ever  the  Salamanders”  By  Karl  Capek  Eri®  Johnston,  prez  of  the  Mo* 


YOUNG  YANK  EXEC’S 


Eric  Johnston,  prez  of  the  Mo* 


Film  industry's  public,  relations*-^ — -  ■'  :  \ 

are  at  ebb  tide;  the  public  simply]  «T  lir  ...  —  linn 

has  lost  confidence.  This  is  to  be  fty  WolllfcVC  0D  Mi  EA 

drawn  from  the  prices  of  film  _ 

stocks  on  the  New  York  Stock  Ex-  Robert  S.  Wolff,.  RKO  s  man- 
change.  The  Exchange  is  where  the  agmg.  director  in  Britain,  has  de- 


.  «  ,  Get  more  out  of  life ,  Get.  out  to  shoot  this  "summer  in  Prague  in  HPP.  Picture  Export  Assn.,  is  Being 


“ — - .  to  a  movie  .  .  45,000,000  -Am^ri-  the  science  fiction  idiom. 

II  III  Iff  P  If  nr  1  cans  can't  bevorohg,  (but  what  does  .Youthful  Yankee  has  be 

HO  WOlIl  ijVC  0D  mi  JjA  make  the  even  greater  majority  Jpg  .  down  cartoon  pro 
Robert  S.  Wolff..  RKO’S  mM.  wbo  rarely  darken  our  Bucharest  and  Warsaw. 

Hiraafnr  In  POOTS ' )  -  v  ; 


the  science  fiction  idiom.  named  to  head  up  a  team  to  start 

Youthful  Yankee  has  been  track-  commercial  negotiations  with  the 
ipg  down  cartoon  product  in  Russians  in  the  near  future.  He  has 


confidence,  of  lack  of  it,  most  ac-  med  that  hes  interested  in  becom- 

curately  can  be  measured  and  the  in«  the  Motion  Picture  Export  tores  fated  sixth  among  U.  S.  m- 
nublic  has  been  scaredawav  Assn,  rep  in  London.  Variety  last  dustries;  today,  no  one  can  find 

Arnold  Bernhard  &  Co  Which  week  said  Wolff  was  understood  to  thena  on  the  big  list  because^  of  the 

luferest 

S^IL1**^**  la  theMPEAL0nd0Papi,°il>tment  cZ 


investors  are  aloof.  The  Eddie  Sil¬ 
verman  prediction  Of  a.  near-total 
collapse  of  Hollywood  studio  oper¬ 
ations  was  widely  covered  in  the 
press.  A  recent  issue  of  the  Wall 
Street  Journal  devoted  the  entire 
back  page  to.  a  Story  likening  the 
picture  business  to  a  girl  teetering 
oh  a  cliff  with  no  assurance  the 
hero,  will  arrive  in  time. 

The  “Seven  Lively-  Arts"  show 
CBS-TV  recently  sized-up  the 
picture  business  as  “sick  and  baf¬ 
fled/’ 


Jack  L.  Warner 
Raps  Rappers, 
Goes  (or  Cheer 


their  methods  are  well-known,  and  1 0*7  f  *f) _ 

they  work— only  we  just  don’t  iise  l0|  Ol  MB 

Yet  we  have  good  men  With  good  -  wnT  ««  atT1! 
ideas  ...  men  who  have  time  and  WOLFE  KAUF 

again  brilliantly  called  the  proper  Paris 

turn,  bowed  to  the  applause,  and  The  nice  thing  aboul 
quietly  subsided  as  their  ideas  jS  how  much  of  it  exist- 
were  swept  under  the  rug.  But  the  pros  don’t  suspect. 


been  kept  informed  on  the  State' 
Dept,  talks  with  the  Soviets,  but 
m  #  -  VT  wasn’t  at  liberty  to  pass  on  this 

reshval-HaDDV  “?«*  &  s?c!&  ».m  make 

*  ■  good  on  the  Russian  demand  for  a 

m  «  wide  playoff  of  Soviet  films  in  the 

KiHirAMA  llAAlAfl  States  isn’t  clear.  One  possibility  is 

JjIuODG  nOSlcfl  ihat  the  Reds’  features  will  be 

vw*vw  offered  the  theatres  for  free  by  the 
wA<-  A  U;  S.  distributors. 

1 07  Af  *1?-^  ,Lf7  It’s  said  that,  during  the  discus- 
J  (||  1)1  IyIiI  Iff  II I  sions  with  the  State  Dept.,  the  lat- 
vt  vi  ***  ter  “convinced"  the  Russians  of  the 

vv  itAttfmaw  impracticability  of  “reciprocity”  in 
By  WOLFE  KAUFMAN  films  relations,  inasmuch  as  Amer- 

Paris  Jan  28  ican  theatres  can’t  be  forced  by 
The  nice  thing  about  Show  biz  P13*’  *  picture  if  they  don’t  feel 
is  how  much  of  it  exists  that  even  likf  it  Presumably,  the^  Soviets 


__  were  swept  under  the  rug.  But  the  pros  don’t  suspect  understand  this,  but  there  is  a  feel- 

fAM  rLAAIi  words  are  not  deeds,  and  nothing  During  the  year  1957  there  were  inS  that  the  point  will  be  raised 

|]06S  IOr  Lirccr  g0l.S  done,  ,  ;  ,  ,  ,  .  187  “Festivals"  in  Europe  (hot  “6?^.  ■ 

wvv  VI,WVI  As  an  industry,  we  rely  instead  counting  the  three  or  four  special-  Its  stressed  that  the  whole 

Tank  L  Warner  nre^ident  of  the  coining [,qf  Magie  Slogans,/  izing  in  pix).  Only  about  40  of  agreement  depends  on  “good  will" 

JaCK.  L.  vyarner,  president  Of.  the  search  for  New  fJimmieks-  We  _ * _ _ t  on  cooDeration  on  hnth  sides.  The 


Other  Wall  Street  brokers  relate  Warnbr  Bfos  took : 'toe  initfative  -j1®  for  New  Gimmicks.  _ We  them  are  of  major  Import,  of  on  cooperation  on  both  sides.  The 

they’re  finding  less  and  less  activ-  ^  411  oft  fl?m  Sul ^tS^and^he  tJ  S 

ing  at  the  same  time  the  “publicity  ^Q  you^jn^istrv’j^oe.  w«I  do  liSise.68  *  & 


ic  uuuiuB  icso  a nu.  gcoo  auu.-  ior  me  upDeai  inis  weeK.  conaemn-  -------  ^  -..v... 

ity  in  picture  stocks  because  of  the  ing  at  the  same  time  the  “publicity  ^’( }  >^  qS ^  Indnstr^  ^ ’imaae  Moti^  feaiured1i  ^t  1£a?t  /  C0HpIe  to.p 

dismal  self-sketching  which  the  Sp?Ce-seekers”  Who  he  s£d  were  vatidn’ ^5uthe 
trade  itself  is  doing.  Prominently  “undermining  an  .  important  Indus-  industry  toDOer  as  far  back  as  an<hiLh  «  snndS’  salanes 

head-lined  in  this  connection  was  trV  ”  SS  1 5  as  high ^  as  $3,500  a  night  in  many 


head-lined  in  this  connection  was  try.” 

the  fear  expressed  by  the  Screen  “These  people  who  shout  about 
Producers  Guild  and  allied  organi-  every  Weakness,  while  keeping  si- 
zations  that  the.  sale  of  the  more  lent  about  all  the  strong  points  in 
recent  theatrical  productions  to  our  industry,  are  not  representa- 
teleyision  will  spell  doom  in  no  five  for  the  film  business  and  are 
uncertain  terms.  Too,  the  .stock-  not  entitled  to  speak  for  it,”  he  de¬ 
holder  fight  at  Loew’s  was  fully  dared.  ‘-‘With  their  onesided  state- 
displayed.  mentis,  they  are  looking  to  steal  for 

Tollvision  also  is  playing  a  part;  themselves  the  spotlight  which  is 
■Whether  it’s  to  be  cabled  or  aired,  focused  on  our  industry.  But  their 
feevee  is  presenting  the  picture  distortion  of  the  rounded  and  cOm- 
,  business  with  a  future  that  Is.  un-  piete  picture  merely  damages  their 
certain  and  a  current  status  that’s  own  best,  interest." 


1950-*52.  Nothing  was  done, 
(Continued  on  page  21) 


spots.  Unlike  the  strawhat  (legit) 
(Continued  on  page  18) 


Times  Frontpages  ‘OU  Movie'  Threat; 
Hereby  Raising  Latest  PR  Tiff 


available  pictures  and  the  U.  S. 
Will  do  likewise. 

.  Also  in  the  film  area,  the  ar¬ 
rangements  call  for  the  following: 

(1)  “To  make  provisions  for  the 
sale  and  purchase  of  motion  pic¬ 
tures  by  the  film  industries  of  both 
countries  on  the  principles  of 
equality  and  on  mutually  accept¬ 
able  financial  terms.” 

(2)  Simultaneous  film  premieres 
in  the  U.  S.  and  Russia,  with  Soviet 
pictures  to  be  shown  here  and  our 
pictures  to  be  shown  in  the  Soviet 
Union,  as  film  weeks  ibis  year. 


I  ALLIED’S ‘SELF-HELP’ 
SLANT  ON  PROMOTION 


ieevee.  is  presenting  me  piuvuic  distortion  oi  me  rounaea  ana  com-  -  (3)  Exchange  of  12  ta  15  docu- 

,  business  with  a  future  that  Is  un-  piete  picture  merely  damages  their  Film  trade  buzzed  this  week  over  public  interest  in  old  movies  on  mentaries  with  the  U  S1  informa- 
certain  and  a  current  status  that’s  own  best,  interest."  the  New  York  Times  frontpager  television  continues  to  rise.”  tion  Agency  acting  for  this  country 

shaky,  in  the.  eyes  of  the  public.  Warner  didn’t  make  it  clear  disclosing  the  contents  of  a  “se-  Death  Blow  Seen  (4)  An  exchange  of  leading  pic- 

All  of  this  adds  up  to  an  Industry  whom  he  was  attacking,  unless  he  cret"  report  prepared  for  Theatre  The  story  quoted  the  report  to  ture  personalities  scenario  wTitors 
just  too  chancey  to  warrant  invest-  meant  the  statement  of  Chicago  6wners  of  America  and  tracing  the  the  effect  that,  should  the  post-1948  an(j  technical  personnel  to  study 

ment.  exhib  Edwin  Silverman  in  early  effects  of.  homieViewing  of  old  films  product  be  released  to  tv,  this  production  methods  in  the  two 

Bernhard  believes  there’s  invalid  December  in  Which  Silverman  on  the  theatrical  boxoflfice.  “would  be  a  death  blow  to  theatres  countries  * 

reasoning  for  all  the  downbeat  A  prognosticated  the  closing  of  all  Study,  made  by  Albert  Sind-  and  to  production."  (5)  Creation  of  a  standing  com- 

(Continued  on  page  71)  but  orie  of  the  studios  within  six  li'nger’s  research  org,  cited  the  Film  execs,  particularly  those,  in-  mittee  of  two  Americans  and  two 

— - '  '  '■.'■= - months.  Actually,  Silverman  was  7,000,000  drop  in  weekly  attends  volved  in  business  building  activity  t>ussians  to  handle  nrohlemc  whirh 

M  ...  primarily  trying  to  warn  against  aiice  during  the  last  quarter  of  on  the  industry  level,  said  they  might  arise  P 

IflNCFR  rl  AY  the  release  of  new  films  to  televi-  1957,  which  it  attributed  to  the  were  stunned  by  the  piece,  and  . _ 

4ivl  tl  u  LV11UL1I  i  t  sion.  attraction  of  the  old  films  on  tv,  some  angrily  asked  whether  the  .  ^ 

WITH  AI  DltM  TIFIIPQ  There  was  no  reference  to  the  and  put  the  resultant  boxoffice  loss  Times  was  “out  to  ruin  us.”  Some  AI  I1I7IVC  <Ql!f  17  UFID’ 

Tvllfl  ALDUIVI  IlCUI  J  WB  intentions  vis-a-vis  the  release  at  $50,000,000.  Many  of  the  Sind- 4 admitted;  however,  that  the  article  ALLICU  u  uUir*nCLr 

Hollywood,  Jan.  28.  of  post-1948  product  to  tv.  There  linger  figures  used  in  the  report  merely  represented  normal  report-  £1  AMT  AM  DDAMATIAAT 

Indicative  of  the  constantly  have  been  attempts  to  get  industry  had  already  been  printed  in  the  ing  procedure.  The  Times  had  the  jLAHI  UH  I  llUluUllUH 

growing, film  interest  in  records  as  leaders  to  take  a  stand  on  this^ls-  Jan  15  Variety.  reportsince  last  Thursday  (22)  and  BeHeving  that  the  pr0Spects  for 

an  exDloitation  medium  for  films  sue.  The  only  company,  that  has  However  Sindlinger's  report  had  held  it,  8  «ac  ne s  prospecis ;  ior 

is  20th-Fox’s  current  concentration  flatly  stated  it  was  willing  to  grant  been  jealously  guarded  from  the  :  Statistics  and  conclusions  of 

exhibitors,  a  minimum  fiv^year  tradepress  by  TOA.  Its, impact  on  Sindliigcr  camo  under  attack  from  8^ 

an  aU-UmC^igh  nilSber  ofLP  Aim  clearance  over  tv  is,20tb-Fbx.  /  page  one  of  Tbe  Times  was  there-  several  quarters.  Argument  is  that  .*“*»“£»  tunetohelpthe- 

5a4aee?  in  Ih/sSreS  dr'  in  the  Warner’s  only  reference  to  tv  fore  the  more  stunning.  Story  was  he  pyer^mphasizes  the  impact  of  £ 

works^  four  being  now  in  release  came  when  he  pointed  out  the  need  written  by  Bosley  Crowther.  the  the  Old  -films  on:the  dir  and  fails  h .,fr/ nr1/./!!  OT> 

with  another  seven/cheduled  for  for  betted  entertainment.  This,  he  Times  film  critic,  and  started  off  to  take  Into  account  other  factors: 
handling  befoce -March  Only  three  said,  was  evident  from  the  fact  with:  “Financial  failure  looms  for  “This  kind  of  story  sets  us  hack  a 

of  the  eleven  are  frorn  musicals  that  even  free  television  programs  most  of  the  nation’s  movie  theatres  mile  in  our  efforts  to  create  audi- 

;  (Continued  on  page  64)  and  film  makers  if  fhe  trend  of  I  (Continued  oh  page  20) 

“Peyton  Place"  (Victor),.  “A  Fare-  ing  session  at  its  annual  drive-in 

well  to  Arms"  (Gapitol),  ana  .  Sing,  ’  convention  set  for  the  Kentucky 

Boy  Sing"  (Capitol)/ and_ “Gift  .of  A  .. _ I  m  ioed  Hotel  in  Louisville  Feb.  11  to  13. 

Love"  (Columbia),  ‘The. Long  Hot  ATT6r  lYlOrCtl  I  ST*  lv  JO  According  to  Allied,  business 

Summer"  (Roulette),  The  Young  building  will  be  the  principal 

Lions"  (Decca),  and  “South  Paci-  i  theme  of  the  convention  and  ex¬ 
ile”  (Victor),  all  slated  for  release.  11.,.,.^-,-,].  Ci* limi'itt.'AM  j  hibitor  leaders  who  have  success- 

in  the  next  eight  weeks.  rlBlVSSTQnOS  ^ SUDSCfiptlOn  j  fully,  promoted  theatre  attendance 

Deals  now  are  being  negotiated  £V  pair  w-.  /ffi  PP  j  in  various  areas  will  tell  the  as- 

for  “10.  North  Frederick,”  ((Frau-  J  k/|  UL  1  ;  sembled  drive-in  operator  what 

lein,”ahd  “The  Hell-Bent  Kid.  #•  ^7  Km  K  Wm  #T|7  1  ;  they  are  doing  to  improve  business 


Id  it  4,1111  Believing  that  the  prospects  for 

Statistics  and  conclusions  of  a«£*£  industiy  business  building 


Assn,  is  determined  to  embark  on 


After  March  1st,  1958 


Marc  M.  Spiegel,  who  resigns  .as 
Continental  manager  for  the.  Mo¬ 
tion  Picture  Export  Assn.  Feb  1, 
goes  to  Poland  to  wind  up  the 
American  film  deal  there.  Another 
deal,  with  Hungary,  has  been  set 
In  principle.. 


Newsstands 

35c 

Per  Copy 


Subscription 

115 

Per  Year 


See  Details  Page  47 


industry  drive.  Allied  will  feature 
a  “do  it  yourself”  business  build¬ 
ing  session  at  its  annual  drive-in 
convention  set  for  the  Kentucky 
Hotel  in  Louisville  Feb.  11  to  13. 
i  According  to  Allied,  business 
.  building  will  be  the  principal 
i  theme  of  the  convention  and  ex- 
j  hibitor  leaders  who  have  success* 
fully,  promoted  theatre  attendance 
{ in  various  areas  will  tell  the  as¬ 
sembled  drive-in  operator  what 
j  they  are  doing  to  improve  business 
!  in  their  cities  and  how  they  are 
j  doing)  it. 

j  Business  building  will  also  be  the 
;  top  topic  for  discussion  by  Allied's 
:  board  which  meets  in  Ebuisville 
‘  Feb.  9-10,  just  prior  to  the  con- 
•  vention. 


* 


n 


'  We<&Wciay,  January  29*,  11958 


Oregon  Passage 

(C’SCOPE— COLOR) 

Good  Cav«lry-Indian*  yanx  f or 

gatisf action  in  action  market. 

Hollywood,  Jain.  21.  --J 

Allied  Artists  release  of  Llnddey  Par- 
ions  production.  Stars  John  Ericson,- Lola 
Albright.  Toni  Gerry,  Edward  Platt;  fea¬ 
tures  Judith  Ames,  H.  M.  Wynant,  John 
Shepodd,  Walter.  Barnes.  .  Paul  Fierro, 
Harvey  Stephens.  Directed  by  Paul  Lam 
dres.  Screenplay.  Jack  DeWitt,  from  novel 
by  Gordon  D.  Shirreffs;  camera  (DeLuxo- 
color),  F.lljg  Carter;  editor,  Maury  Wright; 
music,  Paul  Duolap.  Previewed  Jan.  20, 
*58.  Running  time,  SO  MINS.' 

Lieut.  Niles  Ord. . . .  ..  John  Ericson. 

Sylvia  Dane  ....... _ _ _  Lola  Albright 

Little  Deer  - -  Toni  Gerry 

'  Roland  Dane  . . . .  Edward  Platt 

Marion  ......  i . -_JudithAmes 

Black  Eagle  - .......  H.  M.  Wynant 

Xieut.  Baird  Dob$otto»**»«  Jon  Shepodd 

Sgt.  Jed  Ershick  . Walter  Barnes 

Nato  . . . Paul  Fierro 

Capt.  Harvey  Stephens 

The  U.S.  Cavalry  gets  a  run  for 
Its  money  In  this  story  of  the  early 
Northwest,  When  peace  depended 
upon  the  capture  of  the  sole  hold-, 
out  against  burying  the  hatchet. 
Film  is  an  interesting  actioner  with 
the  type  of  movement,  backed  by 
effective  use  of  Cinemascope,  and 
color  to  lend  spectacular  pictorial 
values,  which  comes  off  as  good 
entertainment  for  the  playdates  at 
which  it’s  aimed. 

Paul  Landres’  direction  of  the 
Llndsley  Parsons  production  is 
fast,  fitting  the  rugged  elements 
of  the  Jack  DeWitt  screenplay.  Pic¬ 
ture  was  lensed  in  the  Bend  coun¬ 
try  of  Oregon,  which  provides 
atmospheric  backgrounds  for  this 
tale  of  the  cavalry’s  search  for 
Black  Eagle,  the  Shoshone  warrior 
who  refused  to  smoke  the  peace- 
pipe^  and  thus  bring  quiet  to  the 
Cascades  region  of  1871.  The  Sho¬ 
shone  character  is  based  upon  true- 
life  incident;  thus  film  benefits  by 
historical  overtones. 

John  Ericson  plays  a  young 
cavalry  lieutenant  intent  upon  cap¬ 
ture  of  the  Shoshone  chief,  whose 
plans  are  constantly  being  opposed 
by  his  new  commanding  officer,  a 
martinet  insanely  jealous  of  his 
wife,  whom  he  thinks  had  an  affair 
years  before  with  Ericson.  Com¬ 
mandant’s  ignorance  of  Indian  war¬ 
fare  leads  to  several  tragic  inci¬ 
dents  which  wipe  out  patrols,  de¬ 
spite  Ericson’s  warning.  When  his 
wife  is  captured  by  Black  Eagle’s 
men,  the.  commandant  tries  to  res-, 
cue  her,  but  both  are  killed.  Eric¬ 
son  makes  use  of  slick  strategy  in 
defending  the  fort  against  an  at¬ 
tack  by  the  Shoshone,  and  he  kills 
Black  Eagle  in  a  savage  hand-to- 
hand  fight. 

Entire  cast  perform  in  acceptable 
fashion,  Ericson  seen  to.  advantage 
In  a  hard-hitting  role;  Edward  Platt 
Is  properly  aggressive  as  his  su¬ 
perior,  who  allows  personal  feel¬ 
ings  to  color  his  judgihent,  and 
Lola  Albright  scores  as  his  wife, 
willing  to  doublecross  her  husband 
to  get  away  from  him.  As  an  Indian 
girl  whom  Ericson  rescues  from 
the  Shoshone  camp,  Toni  Gerry  is 
in  for  romance  with  Ericson,  well 
cast  in  character.  H.  M.  Wynant  is 
colorful  as  Black  Eagle,  and  bal¬ 
ance  of  cast  are  okay. 

Ellis  Garter’s  color  photography 
Is  particularly  outstanding,  Maury 
Wright’s  editing  is  tight  and  music 
by  Paul  Dunlap  well  done.  Whit. 

Chase  a  Crooked  Shadow 

(BRITISH) 


her  insane  and  then  murder  her 
o\€r  a  Jitti#  matter  of  costly  dia¬ 
monds  missing  horn  her-  late 
father’s  business.  Final  twist  is  a 
sock  climax; 

Director  Michael  Anderson  ,  has 
carefully  built  up  the  suspense  and 
at  one  time  or  other  even  the  most 
case  hardened  patron  will  be  won¬ 
dering  about  motives  and  who  is 
really  double  crossing  who.  There 
are.  also  the  advantages  of  the. 
breathtaking  Costa  Brava  scenery 
and :  a  rousing  racing  car  sequence. 
Anderson, .  an  ex-rsutter,  has .  edited 
the  film  with  Gordon  Pilkington 
very  ingeniously  and  there  is  one 
sudden  closeUp  which  is  as  drama-, 
tically  effective  as  anything  that 
has  been  seen  on  the  screen, 

ErWih  Hillier’s  lensing  Is  tOp- 
notch  and;  to  tie  up  with  the;  title, 
skilful  use  of  shadows  helps  to 
bring,  out  the  eerie  atmosphere  at 
which  the  director  is  aiming..  Act¬ 
ing  throughout  by  a  small  Cast  is 
smooth.  Miss  Baxter  gives  a  con¬ 
vincing  display  as  a  young  woman 
nearly  off  her  rocker  with  fear. 
Todd  is  a  suave  villain  and  Faith 
Brook  also  does  a  useful  job  as  his 
sinister  female  companion.  Her¬ 
bert  Lom  turns  in  one  of  his  subtle 
studies  as  a  Spanish  chief  of  police 
and  ,  Alexander  Knox  .'fills  a  com¬ 
paratively  small  part  with  complete 
competence. 

‘■Shadow”  has  most  Of  the  ingre¬ 
dients  needed  TO  keep  audiences 
absorbed  and  the  combination  of 
Todd  and  Miss  Baxter,  plus  Michael 
Anderson’s  name  as  director  will 
certainly  give  a  lift  to  the  film  in 
British  theatres.  Rich. 


Ike  Beggar  Student 

(*Der  Bettelstudent’) 
(GERMAN— COLOR) 

(  English  Titles ) 


Okay  escapist  entertainment 
with  an  art  house  potential* 
hut  lack  of  ' names  may  hurt. 


Sam  Baker  Associates  Inc.  release  of  a 
Carlton-Film  production.  Stars.  Gerhard 
Riedmann,  Waltraut  Haas;  features  Elma 
Karlowa,  Ellen  Kessler,  Alice  Kessler, 
Directed  by  Werner  Jacobs;  Screenplay, 
Fritz  Boettger,  from  operetta  by  Carl 
Milloecker;  music,  Bruno  Uher;'  camera 
(Eastmancolor);  Ernst  W,  Kalinke,  Heinz 
Schnackerz.  Previewed  N.Y.,  Jan.  22,  ’58. 
Running  time,  97  MINS; 

Symon  Rymanowlsz. . ..Gerhard  Riedmann 

Countess  Laura  . .  . .  Waltraut  -Haas 

Countess  Bronislawa  . ..... .Elma  Karlowa 

Katya  . . . .  Ellen  Kessler 

Mira  . Alice  Kessler 

Count. Kaminsky  .............  Dick  Price 

Countess  Palmatlca .......  Fita .  Benkhoff 

Jan  Janicki  .....  Gunther  Philipp 

CoL  OUendorff  ..........  Gustav  Knuth 

Enterich  ..  .... . . .........  Rudolf  Vogel ; 

Major  Wangenheim  .......  Karl  Lieffen, 

Lieutenant  Schweinitz . .'. .... Jost.  Siethoff 


.Smooth  absorbing  thriller 
drama  with  excellent  star  per¬ 
formances  and  more  twists 
than  a  corkscrew.  Good  book¬ 
ing  for  most  houses. 


;  London,  Jan.  21. 
Associated  British-Pathe .  release  of 
Associated  Dragon.  Filins  production. 
Stars  Richard  Todd,  Anne  Baxter.  Herbert 
Lom.  Directed  by  Michael  Anderson. 
Screenplay  by  David  D.  Osborn  and 
Charles  Sinclair;  camera,  Erwin  Hiller; 
editor,  Gordon  Pilkington:  music,  Matyas 
Seiber.  At  Warner  Theatre,  London.  Run¬ 
ning  time,  92  MINS. 

Ward  . . . . :.....  Richard  Todd 

Kimberley  . . .  Anne  Baxter 

Vargas  . . . . .  Herbert  Lom 

Cbandler  Brisson  — . . .  Alexander  Knox 
Mrs.  Whitman  ..  .........  ..  Faith.  Brook 

-Carlos  . . . .  Alan  Tilverri 

Maria  ........ :  Thelma  d’Aguiar 


"Chase  a  Crooked  Shadow”  is.  a 
glossy,  well-directed  drama  that  ’ 
has  its  fair  quota  of  absurdities 
which  occasionally  strain  credulity 
to  the  limit.  Nevertheless,  there  are 
enough  twists  and  artfully  planned 
kicks  to  keep  most  audiences 
guessing.  Both  in  Britain  and  U.S- 
"Shadow”  should  pay  off  as  a  safe 
booking. 

The  yarn  concerns  Anne  Baxter 
as  an  heiress  who  becomes  a 
frightened  lady  when  Richard  Todd 
arrives  at  her  Costa  Brava  hang¬ 
out  and  claims  to  be  her  brother, 
who  Miss  Baxter  knows  was 
killed  in  a  car  crash  in  South 
Africa  a  year  before.  What  is.  the 
purpose  of  his  visit?  Is  he  a  crook? 
A  fortune  hunter?  Todd  builds  up. 
as  much  evidence  that  even  the 
local  chief  cop  is  convinced  that 
his  stoiy  is  true.  There  begins  a 
nightmare  of  terror  for  the  stair,  as 
she  believes  the  plot  is  to  drive: 


Wine,  Women  and  song  have  al¬ 
ways  been  a  forte  of  German  and 
Austrian  film-makers.  "The  Beggar 
Student,”  based  on  the  operetta  by 
Carl  Milloecker,  falls  in.  that  tradi¬ 
tion.  For.  there  are  lilting  melodies; 
attractive  femmes  and  an  air  of 
fraternity  throughout  the  97  min¬ 
utes  running  time  of  this  German- 
made.  Carlton-Film  production. 

If  it  can’t  be  denied  that  the 
book  is  dated  and  the  Fritz 
Boettger  screenplay  does  little  to 
freshen,  the  original,  film,  nonethe¬ 
less,  has  an  art  house  potential  for 
those  patrons  in  search  of  escapist 
entertainment.  It  Will  need  strong, 
selling  since  the  cast  is  composed 
of  unknowns  for  the  American 
market 

Import,  incidentally, .  is  the  sec¬ 
ond  edition,  of  the  Milloecker 
operetta  for  UFA  released,  a  black 
and  white  version  in  1936  with 
Marika  Rokk  in  the  top  femme 
role.  Current  adaptation,  filmed  in 
Eastman  Color, ;  naturally  takes  on 
a  lavish  aura  due  to  a  wealth  of 
hues.  Print  has  adequate  English 
titles  for  those  who  don’t  savvy 
German. 

An  18th-century  period  piece, 
yarn  is.  basically  one  of  those  boy- 
meets-girl  affairs  in  Which  the 
lovers  finally  overcome  a  multitude 
of  adversity  to  live  happily  aver 
after  in  the  best  fairy  tale  tradi¬ 
tion.  Villain  of  the  piece  is  a 
colonel  whose  affections  have  been 
rejected  by  a  Countess. 

As  a  means  of  revenge  the 
colonel  deceives  her  into  wedding 
a  beggar  student.  But  things  aren’t 
so  tough  since  the  student  actually 
is  a  captain  in  the  Polish  army  and 
the  couple  have  found  true  love. 

Gerhard  Riedmann,  who  portrays 
the  title  xole,  dashingly  interprets 
the  part  and  sings  in  fine  voice. 
Waltraut  Haas,  as  the.  countess, 
pleasantly  moves  through  the 
creaky  plot.  Elma.  Karlowa  pro-, 
vides  occasional  comic  relief  as 
Miss  Haas’  always  hungry  sister.  Of 
a  decided  visual  asset  are  the 
Kessler  Twins,  Ellen  and  Alice, 
who  dance  most  appealingly. 

Gustav  Knuth  does  a  stock  char-, 
acterization  of  the  colonel’s  role 
while  Dick  Price,  Fita  Benkhoff 
and  Gunther  Philipp,  among  others, 
provide  okay  support  in  lesser 
roles.  Werner  Jacobs’  direction 
paces  the  proceedings  nicely  de¬ 
spite  a  lag  here  and  there  while 
the  .  color  lensing  of  Ernst  W.  Ka¬ 
linke  and  Heinz  Schnackerz  is  .  good. 
Bruno  Uher’s  musical  arrange¬ 
ments  are  highly  listenable.  Gilb. 


Japanese  Slowly  Turn 
Te  Self-Criticism  In 
Pix,  Visitors  Report 

Taking  a  leaf  from  Hollywood’s 
■book,  Japanese  films  are  only  now 
beginning  to  hold  up  a  critical  mir¬ 
ror  to  their  audiences,,  reflecting 
people  and  relationships  in  a  real¬ 
istic  .and  sometimes  negative  way, 
two  Japanese  film  personalities 
said  this  week  (27);  . 

They  are  Hideko  Takamine,  one  = 
of  the  leading  Japanese  actresses,! 
and  .  ;her  .  husband,  scriptwriter  j 
Zenzo  Matsuyama;  Both  are  in ! 
N.  Y.‘  for  the  Japanese  film  week,  I 
which  resumes  today  (29)  at  the ! 
Museum  of  Modern  Art.  | 

it  is  one  of  the  greatnesses  of  j 
the  American  film  that  it  can  deal 
critically  with  relationships  and,  to 
a  surprising  ’extent,  can  show  peo¬ 
ple,  the  way  they  really  are,”  said 
Matsuyama.  “In  Japan,  we  haven’t 
been  able  to  do  this  very  :  much 
till,  nbw.”  He  added,  that  he  had 
written  a. film,  "I  Am  Going  to 
Buy.  You,”  which  deals  with  Jap-1 
anese  baseball  and.  which  has  ele¬ 
ments  of  self-critcism;  However, 
the  picture  didn’t  do  well  outside 
the  big  cities,  and — in  Japan— it’s 
the  rural  areas  that  tip  the  box- 
office  scales. 

Miss  Takamine  and  Matsuyama 
have,  been  married  three  years. 
It’s  his  first  trip  to  the  States  and 
her  second.  The  actress  was  frank 
in  admitting  that  she  didn’t  care 
for  the  type  of  publicity  she  was 
being  asked  to  do.' 

’It’s  a  country  with  a  fast  pace, 
and  I  suppose  the  publicity  meth¬ 
ods  have  to  be  fitted  to  it,”  she 
commented.  In  japan,  ,  she  does 
little  publicity,  and  she’s  very 
rarely  on  television.  Japanese  tv 
still  makes  too  many  errors,  she 
explained,  "and  also  I  can’t  see 
myself.” 

Star  System 

Star  system  in  Japan  is  declin¬ 
ing  gradually.  Miss  Takamine  and 
Matsuyama  said.  Actually,  while 
there  are  a  lot  of  newcomers  who. 
shine  brightly  for  a  while  and  then 
fade,  there’s  a  .group  of  about  10 
top  actresses  and  it’s  very  difficult 
to  break  into  that  circle.  "Often, 
a  .girl  will  win  a  beauty  contest, 
and  then  they  right  away  push  her 
into  a  starring  role,  with  the  spot¬ 
light  on  her,”  Miss  Takamine  ob¬ 
served.  "I  am  sorry  for  these  peo¬ 
ple.  They  get  no  chance-  to  der 
velop.” 

Film  actors  don’t  receive  any 
percentage .  contracts  from  the 
Japanese  studios.  Miss.  Takamine 
reported.  She  herself  is  a  free¬ 
lance  and  gets  paid  on  a  per-pic- 
ture  basis;  How  much?.  The  ac- 
fress  would  only  give  a  round¬ 
about  answer.  “In  order  to  live 
decently,  and  meet  Pur  expenses, 
we  have  to  make  at  least  three  .pic¬ 
tures  a  year,”  she  said.  “That’ll 
give  you  .  an:  idea.” 

Miss  Takamine  and  her  husband 
said  there  were  three  types  of  so¬ 
ciety  in  Japan  today — the  pre-war 
generation,  the  generation  raised 
during-  the  war,  and  the  postwar 
generation.  Latter,  is  thoroughly 
western-oriented  while,  the  pre¬ 
war  group  is  conservative  in  its 
outlook,..  The  wartime  generation, 
to.  which  she  and  Matsuyama  be¬ 
long,  is.  caught  in  the  middle  be¬ 
tween  the  mores  of  the  old  and 
the ; .  progressive  and  modernistic 
thinking  of  the  young. 

Japan  being  a  very  literate 
country,  with  books  ‘read  widely, 
has  actually  very  high  film  stand¬ 
ards,  Matsuyama  held.  He  said  be 
wrote  many  originals  along  with 
the  screenplays,  but  also  adapted 
popular  novels  to  the  screen.  As 
in  the  U.  S.,  the  results  of  the 
transition  aren’t  always  appreci¬ 
ated  by  either,  the  critics  or  the 
public.  .  Matsuyama  pointed  out 
that  Japan  support  four  high¬ 
brow  mags  on.  film.  The  "samurai” 
action  pix  are  produced  primarily 
for  the  teenage  rural  market. . 


MS*  Japanese  Jftlm  3Heelt 


'  t:/  <  ; 


The  Sleepy  Family 

.  Toel-  Motion  Picture  Co.-  release  of 
Koichi  Akagawa  production.  Stars  Naotaro 
Nakamura,  Noriko  Haluoka,  Snsho  Mat- 
sumoto,  Directed  by  Hideji  Tashiro. 
Screenplay,  Nobuo  Shimizu;  original  story, 
Sayolo  Nakada.  Presented  in  N.Y.,  at' 
Museum  of  Modem  Art  during  Japanese 
Film  .Week,  Jan.  24,  ’58.  Running  t^jne, 
45  MINS. 


The  Japanese  apparently  have  a 
way  with  short  films  and  "The 
Sleepy  Family”  is  an  excellent  ex¬ 
ample.  The  45-minute  featurette 
is  simple;  yet  it  is  amazingly  ap¬ 
pealing  and  touching. 

It  tells  the  story  of  an  improver- 
ished  family  who  through  love  and 
understanding  manage  to  overcome 
economic  setbacks.  There’s  the 
hard-working  father  who  -likes  his 
saki,  the  mother  who  tends  house, 
the  cute  teenage  daughter  who  is 
studying  to  be  a  teacher,  the  bright 
kid  brother,  and  the  mischievous 
baby  sister.  . 

The  family’s  livelihood  depends 
on  a  horse  and  when  the  horse,  em¬ 
ployed  for  the  father’s  modest  haul¬ 
ing  business,  dies,  the  family  unites 
to  meet  the  economic  disaster. 
The  father  becomes  a  laborer,  the 
mother  goes  to  work  making  artifi- 
cal  flowers,  the  teenage  daughter 
gets  a  job  in  a  factory,  and  the 
twO  youngsters  perform  odd  chores 
around  the  house. 

At  school,  the  young  son  submits 
a  composition  in  a  contest.  It’s 
about  his  family  and  their  eco¬ 
nomic  problems  and  how  they’re  all 
so  sleepy  because  of  their  many 
tasks.  His  entry  wins  first  prize 
and  is  to  be  broadcast  over  the  ra¬ 
dio.  At  first  ashamed  because  the 
son  had  aired  the  family’s  woes, 
the  mother  and  father  are  proud 
and  pleased  after  the  broadcast 
when  they  receive  the  congratula¬ 
tions  of  their  friends.  The  com¬ 
position  serves  to  point  .up  to  the 
family  the  love  that  exists  in  the 
group. 

Naotaro  Nakamura,  Noriko  Ha- 
ruoka  and  Sensho  Matsumoto  are 
all  excellent  in  their  portrayals. 
Much  of  the  credit  for  the  picture’s 
success  is  due.  Sayolo  Makada  for 
the  original  story,  Nobuo  Shimizu 
for  the  screenplay,  and  Hideji 
Tashiro  for  his  sensitive  direction. 
Picture  might  well  go  over  as  an 
opener  in  an  art  situation  in  the 
U.S.  Holl. 


in  terms  of  physical  production 
but  is  primitive  In  motion  picture 
technique.  It  could  hardly  be  con¬ 
sidered  worthwhile  for  any  but 
partisans  of  the  film  industry  of 
the  Orient.  Commercial  values  iii 
the  states  are  nil,  excepting,  of 
course*  regular  Japanese  outlets. 

Feature  undertakes  to  relate 
Russian  aggressiveness  shortly 
after  the  turn  of  the  century,  a 
benevolent  Japanese  emperor  Who 
authorizes  war  after  extensive  ef¬ 
fort  to  effect  peaceful  settlement 
of  differences,  the  great  battle  at 
Port  Arthur  and  Japanese  victory. 

Kunio  Watariabe,..the  director, 
has  framed  the  battle  scenes  com¬ 
petently  blit  the  performances  of 
his  main  players  and  the  behaviour 
of  the  soldiers  are  so  Obviously 
Staged  as  render  the  work  ineffec¬ 
tive. 

Further  detracting  from  realism 
Is  the  use  of  an  off-screen  voice 
describing  what’s  going  on  on  the  . 
screen,  this  in  lieu  of  the  usual 
titles  translating  the  dialog:  In 
the  instances  /where  titles  are  used, 
the  brightly-colored  type  .  set 
against  the  illuminated  screen  is 
difficult  to  read. 

Numerous  walkouts  at  the 
screening  of  "Russo-Japanese  War” 
whenf  shown  during  the  Jag  Film 
Festival  at  N.Y.’s  Museum  of  Mod¬ 
ern  Art  attest  to  the  production’s 
inadequateness.  Gene, 

The  Lord  Takes  a  Bride 

Toel  Motion  Picture  Co.  release  of 
Hiroshi  Okawa  production. .  Stars  Ryutara 
Ohtomo,  Yumlko  Hasegawa,  Hiltomi 
Wakahara,  Eitaro  Shiijdo,  Takshi  Shimura. 
Directed  by .  Sadatsugu  Matsuda.  Screen¬ 
play,  Fumio  Nakayaina;  camera  (C’Scope), 
Shintaro  Kawasaki;  Estmh-Toei  color. 
Presented,  in  N.Y.,  at  Modern  Museum  of 
Art  during  Japanese  Film  Week,  Jaii. 
24,  ’58.  Running  time,  14.  M|NS. 


The  Lighthouse 

Shochiku  Co.  production.  Stars  Hideko 
Takamine.  Keiji  Sada;  -  features  Masako 
Arisawa,  Katsuo  Nakamura,  Hiroko  lto, 
Shizue  Natsukawa.  Directed  and  written 
by  Keisuke  Kinoshita;  camera  (color), 
Hiroyuki  Kusuda;  music,  Chuji  Kinoshita. 
Running  time,  153  MINS.  - 


Play  in  Selznick  Plans 

Hollywood,  Jan.  28. 

A  $20,000,000  production  budget 
has  been  set  by  David  O.  Selznick 
for  three  films  and  a  Broadway 
musical  version  of  “Gone  With  the 
Wind.”  With  the  $4,000, 000-plus 
spent  on;  "Farewell  to  Arms,”  this 
will  bring  Selznick's  total  alloca¬ 
tion  to  almost  $25,000,000  in  less 
than  two  years. 

Films  being  prepared  are  “Mary 
Magdalene”  and  "Tender  is  the 
Night;”  both  Jennifer  Jones  star- 
rers  to  be  released  by  20th-Fox, 
and'  "Vanity  Fair,”  based  on  the 
William  Thackeray  classic. 


Though  it  was  a  top  grosser  in 
Japan  (where  another  2;00Q  feet 
were  tacked  on  to  the  already  long 
runningtime),  "The  Lighthouse” 
isn’t  much  of  an  entry  for  the 
States.  It  has  many  things  to  com¬ 
mend  it— from  the  performances 
down  to  the  exquisite  photography 
— but  this  cavalcade,  telling  the 
story  of  a  lighthouse  beeper  and 
his  wife  from  1932  through  1957, 
moves  at  a  tedious  pace  .  and  it’d 
have  to  be  drastically  .edited,  for 
American  audiences. 

Top  roles  are  well  filled  by  Keiji 
Sada  and  the  beautiful  Hideko  Ta¬ 
kamine  and  the  production  values 
pf  the  film,  which  was  shot  all  over 
japan,  are  evident.  Yet,  the  jour¬ 
ney  from  one  lighthouse,  to  the 
other  barely  holds  interest  after  a 
while,  and  there  is  such  a  profusion 
of  climaxes  that  it’s  hard  to  stay 
with  it. 

Despite  many  emotional  and 
weepy  scenes,  the  plight  oF  the 
characters  never  becomes  real  and 
director  Keisuke  Kinoshita.  tends 
to  overdirect.  For  Western  tastes, 
the  love,  story  doesn’t  come 
through,  and  what  tenderness  there, 
is  expressed  mostly  in  the  dialog 
which  at  times  sounds  trite..  Also, 
the  English  titles  don’t  read  very 
well. 

Lenser  Hiroyuki  Kusuda  comes 
through  with  striking  shots,  in  ex¬ 
cellent  Eastman  color,  and  the  pas¬ 
sage  of  time  is  well  handled  in 
terms  of  the  lead  characters.  It’s 
an  ambitious  production  that  badly 
needs  trimming.  Bift . 


Emperor  ftleiji  and  The 
Great  Russo-Japanese 
War 

Shin.  Toho  Co.  release  of  Mitsugi  Oknra 
production.  Stars  Kanjuro-  Arashi;  fea¬ 
tures  Jyun  Tazaki,  Kan  Hayashi.  Directed 
by  Kunio  iWatanobe.  Reviewed  at  Museum 
of  Modern  Art,  N.Y.,  Jan.  23,  ’58.  Running 
time,  113  MINS. 


A  Nipponese  counterpart  to. 
"War  and  Peace,”  this  account  of 
the  Russo-Japanese  war  of  1904-05 
[rates  as  an  ambitious  undertaking 


The  Lord  Takes  a  Bride,”  the 
first  Cinemascope  film  produced 
in  Japan,  is  apparently  an  example 
of  the  country's  popular  film  fare. 
Viewed  tongue-in-cheek  from  the 
American  standpoint,  it  is  a  fre¬ 
quently  amusing  period  piece  as 
the  hero  out-Flynns  Errol  in  feats 
of  derring-do. 

A  young  lord  leaves  his  domain 
and  travels  incognito  to  the  nearest, 
large  city  to  perform  his  filial 
duty— -the  search  for  a  bride.  A 
naive  sort  of  a  guy,  he  is  fleeced 
by  various  characters.  During  his 
adventures  he  rescues  the  daugh¬ 
ters  of  a  rich  merchant  who  are 
about  to  be  kidnapped  by  rene¬ 
gade  samurai.  It’s. love  at  first  sight 
for  the  bride-seeking  lord,  but  his 
inexperienced,  oafish  wooing  of 
one  of  the  girls  hardly  gets  him  to 
first'  base. 

There’s  a  smashing  climax,  how¬ 
ever,  wfien  the  girls  again  fall  in 
the  hands  of  the  bandits.  Our  hero 
arrives  in  time  to.  respue  the  girls 
as  they  are  tied  to  a  stake  and 
single-handedly  knocks  over  sev¬ 
eral  dozen  villains.  It  has  all  the 
earmarks  of  an  American  cowboy- 
Indian  picture. 

There  are  good  performances  by 
Ryutaro  Ohtomo,  Yumiko  Hase¬ 
gawa  and  Hitomi  Nakahara,  all  cf 
whom  have  captured  the  spirit  of 
the  film.  Miss  Nakahara  is  a  looker 
who  exudes  considerable  charm. 

Technically  it’s-  superb.  And  once 
again  the  Japanese  reveal  their 
mastery  of  color  photography.  It’s 
not  the  kind  of  a  picture  that  will 
go  over  in  the  U.S.  either  in  gen¬ 
eral  or  art  situations,  but  it  has  its 
moments  as  a  dempnstration.  of 
what  the  masses  in  Japan  probably 
go  for.  Holl. 


Film  Copy 

SS  Continued  from  page  4  J 

the  title  role  and  the  Mary  Ander¬ 
son  Theatre,  Louisville,  stated  with¬ 
out  equivocation  that  “She’ll  put 
you  on  the  spot  and  kill  you  with 
romance!  Her  racket  is  love! 
What  a  Racket!  What  a  girl!  What 
a  show!” 

(7)  Boudoirs  Of  The  Eilerny 
New  York’s  Globe  Theatre  was 

in  the  running  with  "Boudoir  Di 
lomat,”  Universal’s  contender 
the  amour  sweepstakes  of  the  era, 
Ian  Keith  "Had  a  royal  command  to 
love;  he  won  victories  for  his  coun¬ 
try  in  the  boudoirs  of  the  enemy.” 

(8)  Clutching  Elsie  Ferguson 
Then  there  was '  Elsie  Ferguson, 

emoting  in  "Scarlet  Pages”  at  the 
N.Y.  Strand.  "I  killed  him  .  .  .  but 
. . .  I’m  not  sorry,”  stammered  Miss 
Ferguson.  "Oh!  how  to  escape? 
And  then  ...  that  night  .  .  .  his 
lustful  figure  in  my  room  .  • 
Clutching!  Tearing!  There  was 
one  way  out  .  .  .  Am  I.  to  blame!. 


Wednesday,  January  29.  1958 


US&IET? 


PICTURES 


OTHER  CRITICS  TOUGH  AS  TIMES 


Critics  Review  the  Book,  Too  DISTRIBS  CHECK  Wherever  Yank  Films  Popular, 

SelznickV /A  Farewell  to  Arms’  Plot  Liberties  M  V  (ITV  IplAIQ  Native  Politics  Devises  Noose 

Get  Plenty  of  Attention  ■■■  ■  *  II  LI  I  Lilli u  — ^  ^  « 


The  extent  to  which  the  critics 
are  influenced  by  and  compare  a 
film  with  the  book  on  which  it’s 
cased  is  emphasized  again  in  the 
reviews  of  David ‘O.  Selzriick’s  "A 
Farewell  to  Arms.”  Not  a  single 
review  failed  to  compare  the  book 
with  the  picture,  and  mostly  the 
comparisons  were  negative  for  the 
film. 

One  reviewer,  William  Peper  In 
the  World-Telegram,  turned  the 
tables  on  the  rest.  He  said  Selz- 
nick  had'  been  conscientious  in 
creating  the  film,  but  added 
"Maybe  It’s  the  Hemingway  orig¬ 
inal  that  doesn’t  soar  anymore.” 

In  the  Times,  Bosley  Crowther 
started  off  by  saying  "There  Is  a 
noticeable  difference  between  the 
structures  *  of  ‘A  Farewell  to 
Arms’  as  Ernest  Hemingway 
wrote  it  and  as  David  O*  Selznick 
now  presents  it  on  the  screen.  And 
it  is  this  major  alteration  that 
largely  accounts  ...  for  a  sense 
of  deficiency  and  inconsequence 
that  emerges  from  the  overlong 
film.” 

William  K.  Zinsser  of  the  Herald 
Tribune,  writing  with  redhot  an¬ 
ger,  said  Hemingway’s  story  was 
lean  and  compassionate  where  the 
film  was  “flabby  and  maudlin.’’ 


Humanized  Nazi 

In  the  upcoming  "The  Young 
Lions,”  based  on  the  Irwin 
Shaw  novel,  the  character  of  " 
the  Nazi— Splayed  by  Marlon’ 
Brando— has  been  “fiumarir 
ized,”  It  naturally  changes  the 
novel’s  original  character  de¬ 
velopment. 

In  a  Coast  Interview  last 
Week,  Shaw  cracked:  "I’ll  have 
to  see  the  movie  to  learn  how 
my  own  story  comes  out.,K 

Some  months  back,  author 
Ernest  Hemingway  disclaimed 
any  resemblance  between  his 
“The  Sun  Also  Rises”  and  the 
film  version  of  the  same  titles 

Only  83  Writers 
Working  Today 
In  Hollywood 


Whenever  the  Industry  has  been 
in  trouble,  and  the  success  or  fail¬ 
ure  of  pictures  have  become  cru-  .  . ,  ....  «  , 

dal  issues,  film  people  have  tended  - : — - — - - ■•+  The  "tax  war”  between  local 

to  give  the  critics  4he  critical  eye.  RESPONSIBLE  ATTITUDE  governments  and  the  American 
The  process  is  now  once  again  go-  aim  industry  is  hot  again  all  over 

^r."‘BdS“yncSe?S?thl  Tathte  KeUer^aM^d  °(  Film*  the  world.  From  the  Philippines 
New  York  Times.  In  Need  Thereof  down  to  Argentina,  tax  collectors 

-  What’s  generally  overlooked,  The  ChristorimrJ  which  cru-  Atch  get  their  fingers  on  the 
however,  is  that,  though  Crowther  sadea  for  “the  emplownent  of  v™-  American  revenue  and  to  find 
unquestionably  is  .the  most  influ-  S0^s0ff  GovSL  ^1hi<^^!sdunder  wWch  a  levy 

entiai  .  among  the  metropolitan  raent,labor,  communications,  etc.,  ca* be  T  e 

scribes,  he’s  often  no  toughCr  on  comments  on  the  motion  picture  to  some  Instances,  the  U.  S. 
films  than  several  of  his  colleagues  industry  in  the  current  tissue  of  firms  have  been  able  to  battle  the 
and,  in  many  ways*  is  more  con-  ^  News  Notes  "This  is  a  most  collectors  to  a  draw.  In  others, 
slderate  In  his  appraisals.  fertile  field  fbr  people  with  a  the  tax;  threats,  often  involving 

This  is  established  via  a  survey  strong  feeling  of  responsibility,”  retroactive  demands,  still  hang 
of  reviews  on  ten  major  American  states  the  organization  which  is  over  their  heads, 
features  released  since  early  De-  headed  by  Father  James  Keller.  In  Spain,  the  situation  has  been 
cember.  It  shows  that  the  Times  The  bulletin  urges  persons  of  somewhat  eased  by  a  new  law 
is  matched  by  the  Post  and,  in  high  ideals  to  move  into  the  crea-  passed  by  the  Cortez  in  Decern* 
terms  of  severity,  is  actually  out-*  tive  end  of  the  business  where  they  her,  imposing  a  15%  tax  on  the 
done  by  the  N.  Y.  Mirror  for  which,  will  find  “unlimited  opportunities  New  York  share  of  the  American 
Justin  Gilbert  reviews;  Following  to  incorporate  into  .films  the  posi-  companies.  This  replaces  a  much 
is  the  breakdown,  with  the  heading  tive  Values  that  they  often  complain  higher  combination  «of  taxes. 
"Good”  taking  in  everything  from'  are  missing.”  Question  still  remains  whether  the 

Fair-to-Good  up  to.  Excellent,  and  |  — ^ — - — - — r — - —  levy  is  to  be  imposed  on  the  net  or 

“Disappointing”  ranging  from  Poor  the  gross,  with  the  Americans  in¬ 
to  Fair:  IUammia  DAH«Ali  terpreting  it  as  applying  to  the 

"Good  Disappointing  DcYlIllc  JjPfPPf  former,  while  the  Spaniards  insist 

Times  5  5  vaaaaay  5w  on  the  latter.  Tax  in  any  case 

Tribune  6  4  e  VV(  would  be  retroactive  to  January, 

Post  .5  5  UwAMjIflAkAA  1955.  Prior  to  the  current  law,  a 

Mirror  4  6  JjrdUfllSIlCS  If IS  corporate  tax  had  been  ira- 

News  9  1  aaiv  posed. 

Journal  7  3  «  m  «  ■  In  Italy,  the  government  still  is 

Tele  ..  1. . .  8  2  111*1  I  trvine  to  interoret  the  status  of 


Wherever  Yank  Films  Popular, 

Native  Politics  Devises  Noose 
To  Choke  Off  Take-Out  Profit 


RESPONSIBLE  ATTITUDE 


i.n Dune,  writing  witn  reanot  an-  Hollywood,  Jan.  28,  Post  5 

it ik  s?  jss.  r  ••***  j 

film  was  “flabby  and  maudlin.’?  employment  at  the  major  film  stu-  News  9 

In  the  Post,  Archer  Winsten  not-  dips  has  skidded  to  an  all-time  low,  ijelej. . 8 

ed  that  Hemingway’s  repetitions  with  only  83  scripters  now  working  _  K  7  ’V 

onJthe  orbited  naae  has  “noetic  <>(  th.  .i  ha  Considering  tha 


Brandishes  His 
Old  Tomahawk 


Question  still  remains  whether  the 
levy  is  to.  be  imposed  on  the  net  or 
the  gross,  with  the  Americans  in¬ 
terpreting  it  as  applying  to  the 
former,  while  the  Spaniards  insist 
on  the  latter.  Tax  in  any  case 
would  be  retroactive  to  January, 
1955.  Prior  to  the  current  law,  a 
37%  corporate  tax  had  been  im¬ 
posed. 

In  Italy,  the  government  still  is 
trying  to  interpret  the  status  of 
the  operating  American  companies, 
as  “permanent,”  i.e.,  subject  to 
local,  taxes.  Till  now,  the  New 


^  V1U  Iuiuaua"n  * 

"they  are  merelv  something  said  Pct°her.  Contract  writers,  pumher-  films  of  the  year,  the  appraisal  of  Minneapolis,  Jan.  28.  local,  taxes.  Till  now,  the  New 

^  *  **  ^  revieWerf  might  ju&W  be  Bennie  Berger,  who  pepped  out  Ett** 

that  Hemingway  has  fashioned  an  aUJim.e  l0.w  of;24’  .  _  called  a  harsh  dne,  and  the  statis-  as  North  Central  Allied  president  (Continued  on  page  64) 

ending  that  had  no  “endless  senti-  .  Decline  m  writer  employment  re-  tics  back  up  those  who  have  long  under  the  throat  that  several  of  - - - 

mentality”  whereas  the  picture  had  fleets. brakes  being. .put  on. produc-  claimed  that  the  scribes  set  un-  the  largest  dues  paying  members,  t  I  m 

not.  tlon  at  some  lots,  also  the  trend  reasonably  high  standards  for  a  disapproving  his  belligerence  to-  KAIVA  Uau|*  I  Mldf 

- ; - - - __  toward  fewer  but  bigger  pix.  product  that  is  designed  for  mass  ward  the  film  companies  would  ItdfU  T dlK  lFtlhl 

Busiest  lots  for  the  scripters  are  consumption.  quit  the  organization,  has  bis  fight-  ® 

Pi,  P1*i  20th-Fox  and  Metro  both  of  which  This  goes  hand  in  hand  with  the  ing  trunks  «>n  again  and  is  lashing  n  n  -  1  1 

MArV  rfllmlfQ  haveW  writere  toiling  in  the  fact  that  the  quality  of  the  New  out  at  the  distributors.  \lllfo  \Atflafl 

UiVl  J  IdUllVlO  scripting  mill.  20th  figure  reps  a  York  reviews.  with  a  few  notable  Until  recently  Berger  has,  dur-  Ullllo  iJClIlCU 

slight  Increase  over  last  fall.  One  exceptions,  Is  dismally  low  and,  in  ing  the  past  year,  remained  almost 

Ol!l|  DUaaIL!na>  thr£eiiLUt^nrTfcfnt^fol  there—  thisparticular  respect.fails  to  do  completely  silent  whfietheorgani-  A  five-year-old  antitrust  suit 

Infill  Krparmnff  th  1  than  Ias*  year-  justice  to  the  better  things  in  mo-  zation,  re-named  Exhibitors  Trade  brought  against  RKO  Pictures  and 

DI  VUUIUI^  Metro  has  15  writers  under  pact  tion  pictures.  Analysis  beyond  the  Assn,  by  the  “conservatives”  who  its  subsidiaries  by  two  Rego  Park 

to  lead  far  and  away  in  this  cate-  most  superficial  aspects  of  films  ap-  took  over  its  various  offices,  has  L.  I.,  theatre  corporations  was  set- 
-i...  __  New  York.  gory,  and  right  now  two  of  those  pears  to  be  beyond  the  ken  of  most  been  largely  inactive.  tied  and -discontinued  Monday  (27) 

Editor,  variety:  are  on  loanout,  three  between  as-  reviewers.  But  now  yesterday’s  firebrand  according  to  papers  filed  in  N  Y 

One:  of  the  lads  in  the  Jan.  15  signments.  Next  is  Columbia,  If  complaints  about  the  review's  circuit  owner  has  started  again  to  Federal  Court.  Seven  other  majors 

Variety  page-wunned  a  gloomy  with  16  writers,  up  four,  and  five  on  the  domestic  film  crop  are  loud,  issue  statements  assailing  the  film  and  four  circuits  "originally  named 

little  dirge,  to  wit  “Film  Story  Ed,  of  them  under  contract,  an  increase  they’re  matched  by  those  of  the  companies  because  of  what  he  con-  in  the  action  which  sought  total 

Once  Trade  Hero,  Faces  Extinc-  of  one.  '  foreign  film  distributors  whose  ire  aiders  their,  harmful  sales  policies  damages  off  ,  $2  730  000  settled 

tlon.”  There  are  eight  writers  at  Para-  centred  mostly  on  the  Times,  and  attacking  local  bigwig,  exhibi-  earlier,  ’  * 

Come  now  sir.  The  slant  on  the  mount,  same  as  last  fall,  arid  none  It’s  generally  agreed  that  Crowther  tors  who  Want  to  put  this  territory.  Copark  Theatres  Ino  onerafnr* 
imminent  demise  of  the  species  is  are  under  termpacts.  There  are  Is  paramount  in  that  field,  and  the  always  an.  Allied  States’  strong-  0f  the  Elmwood  TheSre  f rnm  iOAR 

a  bit  premature  not  to  mention  also  eight  at  Warner  Bros,  six  less  ^djes  alternately  sing  his  praises  hold,  in  the  Theatre*  Owners  of  untn  1949  asked  $1650  000  who» 

half-cocked  and  inadequately  in-  than  last:  faff,  and  three  of  those  and  damn  him  to  heU.  America  camp  (see  separate  story  Sosmose  Realties  ^  Inn  ’  onpratnr 


Story  Editors 
Still  Breathing 


Rego  Park  Trust 
Suits  Settled 

A  five-year-old  antitrust  suit 


Editor,  Variety: 


half-cocked  and  inadequately  in-  than  : 


formed.  And  further,  the  lad  in-  are  contraetees,  two  under  the  fall  Conversations  with  the  critics’  herewith).  ’  from^  1949  Ito^date  wanted^Sl  080- 

dlcated  in  the  body  of  his  piece  figure.  critics  establish  two  main  points  of  Berger  even  has  sent  a  letter  000  Their ^comolalrit  ^wSd  thJ 

that  only  Fox  and  Metro  currently  Universal,  which  had  20  writers  !£mpl*£t:  (J?  Tf^eT  d°?sni  to  Dept,  of  Justice  (see  sep-  mSbre  ^ wdtb  favoring  larM^^ 

possess  fully  functioning  story  de-  working  last  October,  but  has  since  P£,a  F-lm’  fe  ^JPuldn  V g0  a1^  out  erate  Variety  story)  charging  to  3the  detriment  of*  the^lalntifFs’ 

partments  in  New  York.  Let  me  w  th|  brakes  on  future  product  \n  blastme  lL  This  was  brought  up.  Paramount  Pictures  with  “illegal"  house  Am^^  ntbpr  ^ 

hasten  to  add  that  Columbia  Pic-  tion  is  down  to  tlJee  screen-  ^  con^ection  with  Crowther  s  re-  action  in  connection  with  the  un-  charHed  tSt  the  dLfen^nf  di^HhJ 

tures  suffers  a  very  active  Eastern  Serf  on  ^payroll  todav  S  SLew  °f  Bod)°™  Tristesse .”  (2)  completed  sale  of  its  “Ten  Com-  refused  to 
Story  Editor,  namely  me,  on  its  Sd  Art£V^W?^ad  nS  writes ;  Tbf  blasti?g  ^emie^s  maiidwerits’' :  t°^ ^him  for  his  Fergus  the  Elmwood 

payroll— and  a  full  and  splendid  now  has  two  out  of  their  own  livelihoods,  by  Falls,  Minn.,  theatre,  witn  nrst  run  films 

staff  to  boot.  fall  srirvey>WRKO ^as  was^d^o  “  the  film  biz.  ‘®ven  though  certain  individu-  r3|ppad  by  attorney  William 

With  extraordinary  sincerity,  exist  as  a  major  studio  De^luhav-  ^  ?pd  reasi)nihS  is  tailor-  als  apparently  don’t  want  me  to  be  and  ^°fmo!e  re7 

Albert  “ Tnhr)/ri'>i,>  Tnhnctnn  in*  au  T>irr\  :'/i:  made-'  for  the  argument — -more  an  exhibitor  ‘leader’  anv  more  I’m  P^rtedly  won  an  undisclosed  cash 

Co^umbia  Sres  '  p52i'h«?rr  emotional  than  realistic-that  the  hook^  in  this  bus^^  settlement  from  RKO  plus  the 

Columbia  Pictures  ^  scribes  are  part  arid  parcel  of  the  theatees,  including  threl  S  Mirine-  rIght  to  Play  RKO-Loew’s  “split” 

Sve?a^ar  1  **  We“  have  some  sort  of  8poIls,  0*.  r™  decided  it-fttoe  Product,  Elmwood  is  said  to  M 

HARRY  rnin^THN  AC  y  Obligation  to  support  it,  even  If  again  to  fight  for  their  lives,  Sinas-  ®ne  o£  onIy  three  New  York  indie. 

iliUllil  UULUjlLm  AJ  they’re  displeased  with  the  prod-  much  as  others  in  the  business  houses  getting  such  pix. 

II  A  ’G  rflflDniMATAD  Cosmopolitan  Film  Distributors  c,°^Id  he  summed  up  here  don’t  think  it's  advisable  to  - - — 

U.A.  yiUUKUlMIUK  Inc.  has  boen  authorized^ ^  to^ ^^  con-  TAl’C  Alim  PPnin  itp 

Harrv  Goldstein  recently  een-  ^uct  t’O.slne.ss  In  New  York,  with  It  If  it  .s.hBd,  just  let  it  go  at  that.  (In  addition  to  being  a  theatre  iUA  S  OWN  SEPARATE 

narry  CrOidstein,  recenxiy  gen  capital  stock?  of  200  shares  no  oar  °ne  distributor  last  week,  in  all  circuit  owner  Beraer  alsn  owns  a  w  v  1,11  WI"  niinilJ 

SutleSaninerNew^ ^Yo?k’s  Tmfes  vafue.  Unger  &  Marten  of  N.  Y.  seriousness,  suggested  that,  partic-  prosperous  restaufant-night  club,  OZONERS*  CONVENTION 

S  HUV&K  ^  ttmvmw  n-Mbm.  (Continued  on  page  21)  (Continued  on  page  f8,  SlVeaf  ^77;!’;” 

United  Artists,  becoming  coordi-  ASsn  which  ha/ ^PnhnYHTntf 

fctaiyY-ca“-thel  tj  r*  ^  n  ,  J  n  ,  t 

Br°“n  zs&A  i93h3e  I  Horn  N.  Y.  Critics  Rated  Releases '  |  x 

Brandt  chain  as  an  usher  in  ia«.  ^  first  ozoner  meet  March  26-27  at 

He  subsequently  went  up  tlwlad-  ™  the  Mark  "Hopkins  Hotel  In  San 

der,  to  assistant  manager,  to  man-  ~  - -  ^Francisco.  The  convention  will  be 

ager  of  the  Central  Theatre,  man-  Following  are  the  review  ratings  given  to  ten :  American  films  by  seven  metropolitan  N.Y.  news-  held  immediately  after  the  mid- 


Sogmose  Realties  Inc.,  operator 
from  1949  to  date,  wanted  $1,080,- 


TOA’S  OWN  SEPARATE 

capiiai  siocic  oi  isuu  snares,  no  par  I  YX1C  ul3ltluULUi  w..  m.  an  .  circuit  owner,  Berger  also  owns  a  abait^a.  _ _ _ _ 

value.  Unger  &  Marten  of  N.  Y.  seriousness,  suggested  that,  partic-  prosperous  restaurant-night  club,  07(1NFR^  mNYRNTTHM 
were  fihng  attorneys  at  Albany.  1  (Continued  on  page  21)  1  (Continued  on  page  18)  uiiUiiLlW  bUll  f  Jill  1 1V1! 

:r*  '  -'W «« '«■ , 

j  How  N  Y.  Critics  Rated  Releases  |  iSSila*si 

|  1  first  ozoner  meet  March  26-27  at 

i  SltnJS,1?  ^?°pkin3  H^el  in..,San 

^  .  ^  ..  ■  Francisco.  The  convention  will  be 

Following  are  the  review  ratings  given  to  ten :  American  films  by  seven  metropolitan  N.Y.  news-  held  immediately  after  the  mid- 


HowN.  Y  Critics  Rated  Releases 


ager  of  the  Globe,  exec  assistant  papers.  E  stands  for  “Excellent”;  G-E  for  “Good-to-Excellent’ 
to  Hairy  Brandt,  head  of  the  f  for  “Fair”;  P-F  for  "Poor-to-Fair  ”  and  P  for  “Poor.” 
chain,  and  then  general  manager.  v  . 


Shutter  Capitol,  Dallas  “Peyton  Place”  (20th)... 

Dallas,  Jan.  28.  “Raintree  County”  (MG) . 

The  Capitol  Theatre  has  been  “River  Kwai”.  (Col)..... 

shuttered  here  by  Trans  Texas  “Enemy  Below”  (20th) . . . 
Theatre  Circuit.  The  downtown  “Paths  of  Glory”  (UA).  .  . 
house  was  closed  in  the  fall,  re-  “Bonjour  Tristesse”  (Col) ... 
modeled  as  a  Spanish  language  “Sad 'Sack”  (Par);...... 

house  and  then  reverted  to  its  * 

original  grind  policy  about  &  month  TVild  is  Wind  (Par) . . . . 

ago.  ^  ‘TareweU  to  Anna”  (20th) 


G  for  “Good”;  F-G  for  “Fair-to-Go0d”;  winter  meeting  of  the  exhib.  org's 

board  of  directors  arid  executive 
.  ...  „„  committee. 

- News  Journal  Telegram  Decision  to  hold  a  Separate  drivs- 

F  .  E  G  G  in -convention  is  based  on  the  groVT- 

-P  GtE  F  F  ing.  importance  of  the  outdoor -the* 

E  E  E  E  atres  in  recent  years  arid  the 

G  G-E  G  G  *  unique  problems  they  face,  partic* 

P-F  G-E  F-G  E  ularly  in  the  area  of  children’s 

P  F  P  ,  G-E  Playgrounds  arid  food  concessions. 

F  G  F  1  P  TOA  is  getting  off  the  drive-in 

E  E  E  G-E  meet  slowly  by  dubbing  it  a  “con- 

P  G-E  G  G-E  ventionette,”  with  the  hope  that 

G  G-E  FHGr  F-G  '  (Continued  on  page  20) 


Times 

Trib 

Post 

:  Mirror 

News: 

Journal 

Telegrj 

G 

F-G 

G 

F 

.  E 

G 

G 

P 

P 

F 

P 

G-E 

F 

F 

E, 

.  E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

F-G 

G-E 

F-G 

G 

G-E 

G 

G 

G 

G-E 

P 

P-F 

G-E 

F-G 

E 

P 

P 

P 

■P-V 

F 

p  i 

,  G-E 

P 

F 

F 

F 

G 

•F 

P 

G-E 

G 

E 

E 

E 

E 

G-E 

F 

G 

•;E 

P 

G-E 

G  ' 

G-E 

F 

P 

F 

G 

G-E 

FHGr 

F-G 

PICTURE  GROSSES 


"Raintree*  Great  97G,  6  LA.  Spots; 
"Glory*  Tall  $55,000  in  13,  "Angels* 
Oke  47G,  Also  13,  Teyton*  34G,  2d 


Los  Angeles,  Jan.  28.  4' 
Extended  holdovers  still  are  re¬ 
taining  honors  at  local  first-runs 
this  week  despite  a  number  of  In¬ 
coming  bills.  “Raintree  County,” 
in  first  multiple-theatre  run,  is 
main;  exception  since  looking  for 
big  $23,000  in  two  theatres  and 
mighty  $97,000  including  six  nabes. 
Weekend  rain  washed  out  ozoner 
trade  and  upped  hardtops  as  52- 
day  bus  strike  ended. 

•‘Paths  of  Glory,”-  also  on  initial 
multiple  run,  is  tall  $55,000  in 
three  first-runs  and  10  neighbor¬ 
hoods.  ‘“Tarnished  Angels,”  also 
new,  shapes  okay  $47,000  for  two 
first-runs,  three  nabes  and  eight 
ozoners.  ‘‘Long  Haul”  looms  dull 
$7,400  in  two  spots. 

“Peyton  Place’’  heads  the  hold¬ 
overs  by  substantial  margin,  with 


Broadway  Grosses 

Estimated  Total  Gross  ■■ 
Thls'Week  . . .  . .  $578,600 

(Based  on  27  theatres)  . 

Last  Year  , .  ......  $653,000  * 

(Based  on  24  theatres) 

"Rangers’  OK  17G, 
Philly;  "Quiet*  6G 


tetRl&TT 


‘Angels’  Solid  $12,000,  I 
BufL;  ‘Raintree’  23G 

•?  Buffalo;  Jan.  28.  | 

First-run  trade  here  currently  is 
displaying  surprising  strength  just 
when  exhibitors,  generally  look  for 
S' further  letdown  from  the  year- 
end  holiday  biz.  Biggest  newcomer 
is  “Raintree  County,”  rated  great 
at  the  Buffalo.  “Tarnished  Angels” 
also  shapes  solid  at  Lafayette  while 
“I  Was  'Teenage  Frankenstein”  is 
very  brisk  at.  Paramount.  “Sayo- 
jiara”  is  top  holdover  with  nifty 
takings  in  fifth  round  at  the  Center. 

Estimates  for  This  Week 
Buffalo  (Loew)  (3,500;  70-$1.25) 
—“Raintree  County”  (M-G).  Looks 
like  .great  $23,000  or  over.  Last 
week,  “Don’t  Go  Near  Water” 
(M-G)  (3d  wk-9  days),  $12,000  at 
90c  top.  ' 

Paramount  (AB-PT)  (3,000;  70-90) 
—“Teenage  Frankenstein”  (AI)  and 
“Blood  of  Draicula”  (AI).  Teenagers 
are  boosting  this  to  a  grand  $13,000. 
Last  week,  “Deep  Six’?  (WB)  and 
“Plunder  Road”  (20th),  $10,200. 

Center  (AB-PT)  (2,000;  70-90)— 

!  “Sayonara”  (WB)  (5th  wk):  Nifty 
$12,000.  Last  week,  $9,000. 

'  Lafayette  (Basil)  (3,000;  70-90)— 
“Tarnished  Angels”  (U)  and  “Slim 


Wednesday,  Jannary2£,l$58 


Haul’  Hefty  $16,000,  Del;  TUf 
12G,  ‘Woman’  Bolf  22Gm2d 


overs  by  substantial  ,  margin,  with  Philadelphia,  Jan.  28.  “Tarnished  Angels”  (U)  and  Slim 

sodc  $34,000  in  four  locations,  be-  .Cold  and  rai  knocked  out  big  C?arterl,(U)n:,  SoHd 
ing  in  second  week  at  Los  Angeles  w_  thie  cocc:nn  week;  “My  Man  Godfrey”  (U)  and 

and  seventh  in  three  others.  wee^end  Dlz  thls  session,  with  per-  “Quantez”  (U),  $9,000.  - 

“Sayonara”  still  is  hot  in  fifth  sonals  not  proving  much  help  to  Century  (UATC)  (2,900;  70-$1.25) 
round  at  Hollywood  Par.  “Don’t  new  product.  “Bon jour  Tristesse”  —“Peyton  Place”  (20th)  (4th  wk). 
Go  Near  Water*’  is  aiming  for  a  is  very  disappointing*  with  a  sad  Timn.  $19,000  or  better.  Last  week, 

stout  $14,000  in  fifth  Vantages. ses-  week  in  prospect  at  the  Mastbaum.  ...  ,, 

slon.  “Quiet  American”  looms  so-so  at 

“Bridge  on  River  Kwai”  is  rated  Trans-Lux;  However,  “Darby’s  $L20-$2.40)— “Search  for  Paradise 
Plump  $20,500  In  sixth  Egyptian  Rangers”  is  rated  fine  at  Stanley.  (Cinerama)  (16th;  wk).  Neat  $7,500. 

frame.  “Peyton  Place”  looks  smash  in  -  st  week,  $6,000. 

Estimates  for  This  Week  ‘fourth  session  at  the  Fox.  '  '  - - “ 

Fine  Arts  (FWC)  (631;  90-$l;5b)  Estimates  for  This  Week  ‘VJl-J 
— “Quiet  American”  (UA).  Slow  Arcadia  (S&S)  (526;  99-$1.80)—  .  f  PflWrlTllI 

$3,000.  Last  week,  “Paths  of  “Don’t  Go  Near  Water”  (M-G); (4th  1  V11VI  A  VTTV11UA 
Glory”  (UA)  (5th  wk-6  days),  wk).  Good  $11,200.  Last  week, 

$2,600.  $12,500.  (IT  AAA  •  l|*t 

Downtown  Paramount,  New  Fox  Boyd  (SW  -  Cinerama)  (1340-  Jl  I  II  llllil  111  IVIllIv 
(ABPT-FWC)  (3.300;  965;  9<MUJ>0)  $l.20-$2^)"“SeMch  f^  Para^  VltlyVW  111  lTl|Plds 
(Cinerama)  (17th  wk).  Fancy  $9,-  v  T 

“Flood  Tide”  (U).  Fair  $13,000.  500.  Last  week  $9  000.  :  Minneapolis,  Jan.  28. 

Last  week,  “Oklahoma”  (20th),  Fn_  to  wn,  wtiftnv  As  holdover*  continue  to  hang 

“Carousel”  (UA)  (reissues),  $9.000.  MP^On  pia"p./  ?4?hwiri"  on  stubbornly,  newcomers  again 

Hlllsfreet.  Iris  (RKO  -  FWC).  s3!  $25  T  S  wppV  sinffi  ^  sc^  and  there’s  only  one  of 
(2.752;  825t  90-$1.5O)— “Long  Haul”  $25,000.  Last  week,  $30,000.  boXoffice  and  quality  importance, 

(Col)  and  “Hard  Man”  (Col).  Dull  LGolJm^}  ..0A5®*  65i  "QM  - Yeller”  which  is  being 

$7,400.  Last  week,  with  Uptown,  a,  helped,  of  course,  by  reason  of  the 

“Teenage  Frankenstein’.’  (AI),  _Hard  Man  (Col).  Slow  $7,000.  limited  choice  of  fresh  fare.  It’s 
“Blood  of  Dracula”  (AI),  $13,600.  week.  Teenage  Werefolf  the  77th  and  29  th  weeks,  respec- 

State,  Hawaii  (UATC-G&S)  (2,-  (AI)  a^  invasion  of  Saucer  Men  tively,  for  the  "town’s  lone  hard- 
404;  -  1,106;  90-$1.50)— ' “Raintree  $8,000.  ticket  attractions,  “Severn  Wonders 

County”  (M-G)  (1st  multiple  run).  Green  Hill  (Serena)  (750;  75-  of  World”  and  “Around  World  in 
Big  $23,000  or  near.  Lastweek.  $l-25)(closed  Sundays)  —  “Cast  80  Days.”  “Don’t  Go  Near  Water” 
“This  Is  Russia”  (U),  “Simon  and  Hark  Shadow”  (Indie)  (2d  "  wk>.  and  “Peyton  Place,”  smash  box- 
Laura”  (U),  $8,500,  "  Fair  $3,100.  Last  week,  $4,200.  office  performers,  are  chalking  up 

Orpheum,  Hollywood.  Uptown  Mastbaum  (SW)  (4,370;  99-$i.49V  their  fifth  weeks,  and  “Sayonara” 
(Metropolitan-FWC)  (2,213;  756;  1,-  — “Bonjoiir  Tristesse”  (Col).  Sad  and  ‘And  God  Created  Woman,” 
715;  90-$1.50) — “Paths  of  Glory”  $8,000.  Last  Week,  “Graf  Spee”  also  b.o  champs  their  fourth. 

(UA)  (1st  multiple  run)  and  “Girl  (Rank),  $5,000.  Estimates  for  This  Week 

In  Black  Stockings”  (UA).  Good  Midtown  (Goldman)  n  nnn-  qq  Academy  (Mann)  (947;  '  $1.50- 

$14,500.  Last  week,  Orpheum,  Si^T^aihtree  ^ Couhtv” ^  (M  G>  $2  65)  — ’  "Around  World”  (UA) 
“Men  in. War”  (UA).  “Attack”  (UA)  (4th  wk)  Fancv  $12 nnn  Tart  ^  wk).  Healthy.  $8,500.  Last 
(reissues),  $3,600.  Hollywood,  “En-  ^eek  ditto  V  •  ,ast  week,  $9,000: 

•my  Below”  (20th),  “Plunder Road”  M  Century  (SW-Cinerama)  (1,150; 

(20thV  (3d  wk),  $3,500.  S'  $175-$2.65)  —  “Seven  Wonders” 

HoUywood  Paramount  (F&M)  *  (Cinerama)  (77th  wk).  It’s  the  final 

(1,468;  $1.25-$2.40)  —  “Sayonara”  Sock  $21,000.  Last  week,  $20,000,  six  weeks,  but  all-time  longrun 
(Continued  on  page  20)  «SW)  (2’900;  99-$1.80)—  record  here  long  since  has  been 

:  •  Darbys.  Rangers”  (WB).  Okay -broken  by  this  pic.  Nice  $9,000 

n  «  1  n  $17,000.  Last  week,  “Pal  Joey”  Last  week,  $8,500. 

LlllfV  nfpakt  mark  Fnr  (Col)  filth  wk),  $7,000.  Gopher  (Bergerl  (1,000;  85-90)— 

U1Can  '  main  1U1  Stanton  (SW)  (1,483;  99)— “Old  "Don’t  Go  Near  Water”  (M-G)  (5th 

longnms; ‘Search’ Fast  ;  Iw*.**?  *###-  Last  w“k> 

$15,000,  Teyton’ Big  10G 

CindimaU,  Jan.  28.  Sya>’ ’’  (Cwt’ 

uSSST&SgLli:  ^(GSdb<Sf  to9!  - 

with  winning  grosses  at  three  7^ ‘Sjns  of  Casanova”  (Indie)  and  Radio  City  (Par)  (4.100-  $1  2*u 
downtown  houses.  These  bellring-  Forbidden  Desire”.  (Indie)  (2d  $1 50)—' “Savoriara”  (Vrh)  (Zth 
ers  are  “Peyton  Place”  and  “Rate-  wk):  Hep  $4,000;  Last  week,  $5,500.  Bbff  $10OoT  ifast  S  $13  MO 
tree  County”  in  fourth  frames  at  World  (Pathe)  (500;  99-$1.49)^-  Moves  to  Lyric  -  T13’00^ 

the  Palace  and  Grand,  respective-  “Miss  Julie”  (Indie).  Fair  $3,800.  RKO.  Orpheum  (R:KO)  (2 800- 
ly.  Aiso  in  fourth,  Sc^onara  at  Last  week,  “Bolshoi  Ballet”  (Rank)  75-90)— “Old  Yeller”  (BV)  Mighfv 
Albee  looks  sohd.  Keith’s  has  the  (4th  wk),  $2,500.  (Continued  on  page  20)  8 

only  new  hill,  “Hunchback  of  - — — ^ ’ _ 

Notre  Dame,”  in  okay  stride.  Town  .  .  «  •  » 

m&SSm&Ti&lh&WM  Balt#:  w 

strength  with  approach  of  engage-  ■■ 

ment’s  end  at  suburban  Valley  -If  ^  1  ip  60  7- If  /  fi  f*  I 

TheatEstimates  for  This  Weak  OOt  14(l,  ^003^  MCD  5tll 

Albee  (RKO)  (3400;  90-$1.50)—  .  ^  *  1  *■ 

“Sayonara”  (WB>  (4th  wk).  Solid  _ir  Baltimore  Jan.  28.  ,  FiveWest(Schwaber)(460;50- 

$10,000  after  $13,000  third  frame.  warm  holdovers  and  hefty  new  $1.25)— “Nana”  (Indie)  (2d  wk) 


- - - — r - — '*  ■...  ,  ■  Detroit,  Jan.  28. 

*»  *%••_  it  Good,  brisk  pace  Is  being  sus- 

K<6?  Lit?  UT06S6S  tained  by  strong  holdovers  with 

i  •  ••  “  added  fillip  from  two  newcomers, 

,  “Long  Haul”  looks  great  at  the 

Estimated  Total  Gross  Palms,  “Flesh  Is  Weak”  is  rated 

This  Week  ........ $2335,000  good  at  the  Broadway-Capitol. 

(Based  on  23  cities  and  256  ..Peyton  Phico  _at  the  Fox  and 

-  Total*1  Gross^  Same  Week 

wSn^tertmfat  ttS? TrS^Sx 

(Based^  on  23  cities  <zncL241  Krim>  both  in  sepond  sessions. 
theatres.)  Last  days  ads  are  sparking  “Seven 

=5======  Wonders,”  In  78th  week  at  ;4he 

___  _  •  Music  Hall,  apd  “Around  World 

^lll amJaua  in  80  Days,”  in  57th  week,  at 

WnnnPK  lllr/ir  United  Artists,  to  solid  totals. 

■  •  Ulltivk  d  AJlvVAA  -‘Don’t  Go  Near  Water”  shapes 

a  AAA  A|I  slick  in  fifth  week  at  the  Adams. 

$13,00#  ffl  Qeve.  ^«?to^ek25/ 

VlUyVVV  U*  vlvfvi  $1.50)— “Peyton.  Place"  (20th)  (4th  : 

v  j  t  „„  wk).  Terrific  $24,000.  Last  week, 
Cleveland,  Jan.  28.  $27,400, 

“Seven  Wonders  of  the  World”  Michigan  (United  Detroit)  (4,000; 
opened  last  Tuesday  (21)  with  gala  90-$1.50)  —  “Sayonara”  (WB)  (4th 
$6,000  benefit  showing  for  K.  of  C.  wk).  Wow  $23,0Q0.  Last  week, 


Century  (UATC)  (2,900;  70-$1.25)  and  Catholic  Charities.  It  shapes  $25,000. 


sock  in  first,  five  days  at  Palace. 
“Tarnished  Angel”#  looms  hotsy  at 


Palms  (UD)  (2,961;  90-$1.25)— 
‘Long  Haul”  (Col  land  “Return  to 


State.  Otherwise,  strong  longruns  War  bow"  (Col).  Fine  $16,000.  Last 
continue  to  hold  sway.  “Peyton  week,  “Guns  Don’t  Argue?’  (Indie) 
Place”  in  fifth  week;  may  go  into  and  “Walk  Into  Hell”  (Indie), 
sixth  at  Hipp  while  the  Allen  is  $18,000. 


firm,  with  “Sayonara”  picking  up  Madison  (UD)  (1,900;  90-$i.50)— 
in  its  fifth  week.  “And  God  “Old  Yeller”  (BV)  (2d).  Sock 

Created  Woman, “  in  its  fifth  week,  $20,000.  Last  week,  same. 
has.no  closing  date  siet.  Broadway  -  Capitol  (UD) 

Estimates  for  This  Week  90-$1.25) — “Flesh  Is  Wea 


Allen  (S-W)  (3,800;  90-$1.50)— .  09nftA  t -f- 
“Sayonara'  (WB)  (5th  wk),.  Great ;  K.7 


Broadway  -  Capitol  (UD)  (3,500; 
90-$1.25)  —  “Flesh  Is  Weak”  (AI) 
and  “Blonde  in  Bondage”  (AI). 


$17,000.  Last  week, -$16,500. 
Embassy  (Community)  (1,200;  70- 


clops”  (A A)  and  “Daughter  Dr; 
Jekvll”  (AA),  $15,000. 

United  Artists  (UA)  (1,667;  $1.25- 


90)— “Satchmo”  (UA^  and  ‘  Gorl  in  $3_*-Around  World  in  80  Days” 
sxt0^n8§  .  ^A)-  (UA)  (57th  wk).  “Last  days”  ads 

$4, 00Q.  Last  week,  “Long  Haul  Ufting  to  great  $20,000:  Last 
(Col)  and  “Return  to  Warbow”  week  $16  ObO 
(Col)  $5,200  ^  _  n'  v :  W Adorns ^’Xlahan)  (1.700;  $1.25- 

Continental  (Art  Theatre  Guild)  ti  tm  _  "Tinn’t  fin  N##r  Watpr»* 


(Col)  $5400-  ....  Adams  (Balahan)  (1.700;  $1.25- 

..Contineiita1  (Art  Theatre  Guild)  S1.50)  —  “Don’t  Go  Near  Water” 
850;  $1.25)  —  .  Devil  s  General  (M-G)  (5th .  wk).  Slick  $10,000. 
DCA),  Oke  $2,m  Last  week  Last  weekj  $12,500.  I 

"Cmr  nf  PeeeeviAiTA1*  ITviHiaI-  (Ori  _ _  -  •  _ _ _ '  w 


“Sins  of  Cassanova’ 
wk),  $1,800. 


Music  Hall  (SW  -  Cinerama) 
(1,205;  $1.50-$2.65)— “Seven  Wori- 


nhea#ra  9,yild)  dws” ?  (Cinerama)  (78th  wk).  Last 
^92?’/1?1'25  w*£°d  i?re^ed  days  ads  bringing  ’em  in  to  tune 

an”  (Kmgs)  (5ttiwk).  Big  $6,000.  0f.  mighty  $15,000.  Last  week, 


Last  week,  $8,000. 

Hipp  (Telem’t)  (3,700;  $1.25- 


Lux  Krim  (Trans-Lux) 


Pe^t0P,  wPnPPe  T(20t1h)  (5t^  (1,000;  90-$1.65)  —  “God  Created 
wk).  Smash  $15,000.  Last  week,  Woman»  (Indie)  (2d  wk).  Mighty 

t°*  «  i,  />,  ..  ^  $22,000.  Last  weekV  $I9i500. 

i  Lower  Mall  (Community)  -  (500; .  •  ■  ■  - 

60-90)— “Third  Key”  (Rank).  Oke  ^  ■: 

$2,700.  Last  week,  “Bride  Was  SSw9  AaaJ  AflA 

Too  Beautiful”  (Ellis),  $2,800.  I/CCp  dlA  UUUU  f4.19VUVr 

Ohio  (Loew)  (1,244;  $1.25-$2.50)  hi.  U  1  7P 

—“Around  World”  (UA)  (33d  wk).  HOD!  WlDu  101X10  I  iU, 
Boff  $10,500  after  $10,000  last  {f%9  " .  , 

W?Pii»ce  (SW-Cinerama)  (i;523:  CerTJUSe  Mighty  12G 

$O5-$2.40) — “Seven  Wonders,  of  Boston,  Jan.  28. 

World”  (Cinerama).  Great  $13,000  Now  they’re  starting  to  call  the 
including  preem  in  first  5  days.  Hub  a  Saturday  night  town  since 
Last  week,  “Cinerama  Holiday”  biz  really  perks  only  on  that  day  of 
(Cinerama),  after  29  weeks,  $27,-  the  week.  However,  rain  was  a  big 
50£-.  .  help  this  session.  New  entries  and 

State  (Loew)  (3,500;  70-90) —  better  holdovers  still  are  big. 
“Tarnished  Angel”  (U>.  Hep  $12,-  “Gervaise”  looks  to  come  near  the 
0QQ.  Last  week,  “Safecracker”  record  at  Kenraore.  J'Deep  Six” 
$10,000.  .  .  is  okay  at  Paramount  and  Fenway. 

1  Stillman  (Loew)  (2,700;  90-$1.20).  “Wild  Is  Wind”  shapes  torrid  at 
—“Don’t  Go  Near  Water”  (M-G)  the  Astor. 

(5th  Wk),  Fine  $7,000,  Last  week,  “Peyton  Place”  swings  into  wow 
$8,000.  fifth  stanza  at  the  Memorial. 

- - — - r - •  .  “Sayonara”  at  Met  in  fifth  is  rated 

<DEVTA1I’  CU1CIT  OAP  solid.  State  and  Orpheum  are  hold- 

IIjIIUN  uDUAuxl  ZUu.  Ing  “Legend  of  Lost”  for  second 

nnA„  mMf„,  -  with  good  results.  “Bridge  on 

PROV.;  TELLER  9G,  2D  gl£t,^h?iGa““tInu“  great  *" 

Providence,  Jan.  28.  Estimates  for  This  Week 

The  “Objectionable”  label  placed  Astor  (B&Q)  (1,372;  90-$l. 50)— 


Angefe  lively  $10,000,  Bait#;  “Water  ! 

strength  with  approach  of  engage-  ■■ 

ment’s  end  at  suburban  Valley  -fi  a  1  i/1  60  7- II  f  r-  I 

TheatEstimates  for  This  Week  OOt  14(l,  ^003^3  IMP  TOG,  5tll 

Albee  (RKO)  (3400;  90-$1.50)—  .  ^  * 

“Sayonara”  (WB)  (4th  wk).  Solid  _ir  Baltimore  Jan.  28.  Five  West  (Schwaber)  (460;  50- 

$10,000  after  $13,000  third  frame.  warm  holdovers  and  hefty  new  $1.25)— ”Nana”  (Indie)  (2d  wk) 
Capitol  (SW-Cinerama)  (1,376;  entries  made  things  look  nice  this  Brisk  $3,800  after  $4,500  opener  ‘ 
$l,20-$2.65)  —  “Search  for  Para-  frame  Peyton  place”  at  Century  Hippodrome  (RaDDaDort)  (2?nn- 
dise”  (Cinerama)  (8th  wk).  Swell  sayonara  at  Stanley  both  50-$l  25)— “Dori’t  Go  Near  Wafpr” 

-i x  ci nnnn  look  good  in  fifth  v/eeks.  “Flesh  Is  -  -  ^uni  yo.ivear  water 


TEYTON’  SMASH  20G, 


Providence,  Jan,  28. 
The  “Objectionable”  label  placed 


$15,000.-  Last  week,  $17,000, 


on  the  book.“Peyton  Place”  has  the  “Wild  Is  Wind”  (Par).  Hotisy  $17,- 
adults  and  a  ,  heavy  measure  of  ooo.  Last  week,  “Raintree  County” 
teen-agers  flocking  to  see  the  pic  (M-G)  (14th  wk);  $5,000. 
of  same  name  at  Majestic.  Also  Beacon  Hill  (Sack)  (678;  90-$1.25) 
sturdy  is  Old  Yeller”  in  its  second  ^.“oid  Yeller”  (BV>  (5th  wk). 
week  at  RKO  Albee.  The  State  slick  $5,000.  Last  week,  $6,000. 
also  is  nice  with  2nd  of  “Raintree  Boston  (SW-Cinerama)  (1.354; 

; Elmwood  Is  rated,  slow  $i.25-$2;65)— “Search  for  Para'dise” 
y  ^t5o1Sh  st,^nza  of  Around  World  tciqerama)  (10th  wk).  Fine  $17,- 
m  80  Days.”  000.  Last  week,  same.  . 

Estimates  for  This  Week  Copley  (Indie)  (961;  90-$1.25)— 

Albee  (RKO)  (2,200;  65-80)—  "Grand  Maneuver”  (Indie)  (3d  wk), 
“Old  Yeller”  (BV)  and  “Gunfire  at  Mild  $3,500.  Last  week,  $4,500. 


Grand  (RKO)  (1,400;  90-$1.50)—!  Weak ’  is  warm  at,  th*  Mayfair  «Tal  Joey»  (Col)'(4th 
“Raintree  County”  (M-G)  (5th  wk).!  "Don’t  Go-Near  Water”  looms  fine  4th  .f  k/> • 

Hep  $8,500  following  last  .week’s '  -the  Hippodrome  while  “Tar-  tT^^^j^uchtman)  (980;50- 
$10,000.  Holds.  *  "  ;-nished  Angels”  looks  lofty  at  the  fi%25)v7T ■  ^-esh .Is-  Weak ;■  (DCA) 

Guild  (Vance)  (500;  50-90)— ‘All  j  New-  “Uncle  Vanya,”  with  a  rave  s°hd  $6,000.  First  Week, 

At  Sea”  (M-G)  (5th  wk).  Okay !  press,  did  nicely  in .  first  round  at 

$1,600  fourth  round.  Same  last !  the  Playhouse.  “And  God  Created  New  (Fruchtman)  (1,600;  50- 
week.  j.  Woman”  still  .. is  in  the  chips  in  $1.25) — “Tarnished  Angels”  (U). 

Keith’s  (Shor)  (1,500;  75-$1125)— :11th  round  at  the  Cinema.  ;■  Lofty  $10,000  in  first.  In  ahead, 

“Hunchback  of  Notre  Dame”  (AA),  •  Estimates  for  This  Week  “My  Man  Godfrey”  (U)*  $8,000. 

All  right  $7,500.  Last  week,  "Kiss  I  Century  (Fruchtman).  (3,100;  50-  Playhouse  (Schwaber)  (460;  50- 
Them  For  Me”  (20th),  $6,000.  ‘  $1:50)— "Peyton  Place”  (20th)  (5th  $1.25)  —  "Uncle  Vanya”  (Indie). 

Palace  (RKO)  .(2,600;  90-$1.50)— :  wk).  Neat  $9,000.  after  $12,000  in.  Nice  $4,200.  Last  week,  “Panic  in 

“Peyton  Place”  (20th)  (5th  wk);  fourth.  Parlor”  (DCA)  (4th  wk),  $3,000. 

Great  $10,000.  Last  week,  $12,000.  Cinema  (Schwaber).  (460;  50-  Stanley  (SW)  (3,200;  #50-$1.50)— 
Will  probably  hold  for  sixth  stanza,  j  $125) — “God  Created  Woman”  “Sayoniara”  (WB)  (5th  wk).  Sturdy 
VaUey  (Wiethe)  (1,300;  $1,50- 1  (Kings)  (ilth  wk).  Trim  $3,700.. Last  $13,500  after  $16,000  in  fourth. 
$2.50)— “Around  World  in  80  Days”  week,  $3,800.  .  Town  (SW-Cinerama)  (1,125; 

(DA)  (33d  wk).  Still  hefty  at  $9,-  Film  Centre  (Rappaport)  (890;  50-  $1 .25-$2.25 )— r“Seven  Wonders  cf 
COO,  with  notice  that  engagement’s  $1.50)— “Raintree  County”  (M-G)  World"  (Cinerama)  (5th  wk);  Oke 
end  approaches.  Last  week,  (4th  wk).  Brisk  $8,000.  Last  week,  $8,500  after  about  same  in  previous 

$11,000.  $10,000.  week. 


(M-G).  Fast  .  $14,000.  Last  week, 


Indian  Gap”  (Indie)  (2d  wk).  Exeter  (Indie)  (1,200;  60r$1.25)— 
Happy  $9,000.  First  Week  $15,000.  “Admirable  Crichton”  (Col)  (7th 

—"Around  World  in  80  Days"  (UA)  h  078-  fin  «  101— 

(^wk).  Fair  $7,500,  Last  week,  ^ward. 

Majestic  (SW)  (2,200;  90-$1.25)—  ‘T  Was  ^enlgf  °Franken- 

“Peyton  Place”  (20th).  Heavy  play  S’  (Al)^nd  ‘Sood^of  Stf 


on  book  censorship  has  crowds 
flocking  to  this  one  for  wow  $20,- 


Sifh  "Sayonara”  (WB)  “Bridge ' orRivei-  Kwai’;4Cpl)'(5th 

(4th  wk),  $9,000.  w)  Big  $18,000.  Last  week;  $21,- 

State  (Loew)  (3,200;  65-80) —  500y 

“Raintree  County”  (M-G)  (2d  wk).  Kenmore  (Indie)  (700;  8^$125) 
Very  nice  $13,000  after  hefty  $21,-  —“Gervaise”  (Cont).  Wham  $12,- 
000  in  1st.  00(1  or  near.  Last  week,  “Across 

Strand  (National  Realty)  (2,200;  Bridge"  (Rank)  (4th  wk),  $5,000. 
60-85) — “Girl  Most  Likely”  (U)  and  .  Paramount  (NET)  (1,700;  60-$.l) 
“Escapade  in  Japan”  (UT.  Steady  —“Deep  Six”  (WB)  and  "Wayward 
$6,000..  Last  week,  “Mister  Rock  Girl”  (Rep).  Good  .  $15, 500.  :  Last 
and  Roll”  (Par)  ana  “Devil’s  Hair-  week,  “Teenage  Frankenstein  (Ai) 
pi  ”  (Par),$5^00.  (Continued  on  page  20) 


(AI),  $7,200. 

Gary  (Sack)  (1,340;  $1.50-$2.75)^-. 


9 


Wednesday,  January  29,  195$ 


PTHkWrf 


PICTURE  GROSSES 


Chi  to  New  Peak*  'Arms  Wow  $60,000, 
‘Angels  Stout  23G,  ‘Rodan’ Boff  45G, 


Chicago,  Jan.  28.  4 

Spate  of  new  product  is  boost¬ 
ing  Loop  biz  in  current  week  to  its 
loftiest  total  in  recent .  months. 
“Farewell  to  Arms”  in  first  at  the 
Oriental  should  rack  up  a  Giant 
$60,000  at  upped  prices.  The 
other  big  opener  is  ‘‘Tarnished  An¬ 
gels”  at  State  Lake,  with  fancy 
$23,000. 

“Rodan”  at  the  Woods  looks 
mighty  $45,000,  while  “Admirable 
Crichton”  at  Surf  is.  Okay  $5,300. 
“Hell  Canyon  Outlaws”  and  “Hell 
Ship  Mutiny”  shapes  fair  $4,200. 
at  the  Monroe.  “Oregon  Passage” 
and  “Tall  Stranger”  tandem  at 
Roosevelt  is  a  neat  $13,000: 

“Motorcycle  Gang”  and  “Soror¬ 
ity  Girl”  combo  continues  strong 
in  third  Garrick  frame.  “Sayon- 
ara”  in  fifth  roiind  at  the  Chicago 
looks  still  llyely. 

“And  God  Created  Woman” 
shapes  trim  In  fifth  session  at  the 
Loop.  “Don't  Go  Near  Water”  is 
fine  in  fifth  at  the  United  Artists 
while  “Wild  is  Wind”  in  sixth  Es¬ 
quire  canto,  shapes  okay. 

Estimates  for  This  Week 

Chicago  (B&K)  (3;900;  90-$L80) 
—“Sayonara”  (WB)  (5th  wk).  Sock 
at  $43,000.  Lastweek,  $48,000. 

Esquire  (H&E  Balaban)  (1,350; 
$1.25-$1.50)— “Wild  is  Wind”  (Par) 
(6th  wk).  Okay  $7,000.  Last  week, 
$8,500.  / 

Garrick  (B&K)  (850;  90-$1.25)— 
“Motorcycle  Gang”  (AI)  and  “So¬ 
rority  Girl”  (AI)  (3d  wk):  Big  $10,- 
000.  Last  week,  $12,500. 

'Grand  (Nomikos)  (1,200;  90- 

$1.25)— "Winchester.  '73”  (U)  and 
“Criss  Cross”  (U)  (reissues).  Mild 
$5,000.  Last  week,  “Unholy  Wife” 
(U)  and  “That  Night”  (U),  $8,000. 

Loop  (Telem’t)  (606;  90-$1.50) — : 
“God  Created  Woman”  (Kings)  (5th 
wit).  Wham  $11,000  or  over..  Last 
week,  $13,300. 

McVickers  (JL&S)  (1,580;  $1.25- 
$3.30)— “Raintree  County”  (M-G). 
<14th  wk).  Okay  $14,000.  Last 
Week*  $14,500. 

Monroe  (Indie)  (1,000;  57-79)— 
“Hell  Ship  Mutiny”  (Rep)  and 
“Hell  Canyon  Outlaws”  (Rep): 
Fair  $4,200.  Last  week,  “Bayou” 
(UA)  and  “Big  Caper”  (UA), 
$5,500. 

Oriental  (Indie)  (3,400;  $1,25- 
$2.00)— “Farewell  to  Arms” .  (20  th). 
Boffo  $60,000.  Last  week,  “Enemy 
Below”  (20th)  (3d  wk),  $17,500. 

Palace  (SW-Cinerama)  .  (1,434; 
$1.25-$3.40)  —  “Seven  Wonders  of 
World”  (Cinerama)  °(58tli  wk). 
Stout  $18,500.  Last  week,  $19,500: 

Roosevelt  (B&K)  (1,400;  75-90)^- 
“Tall  Stranger”  (A A)  and  “Oregon 
Passage”  (A A).,  Good  $13,090.  Last 
week,  “Man  in  Shadow”  (U)  and 
(Continued  on  page  20) 


Teyton’  Bangnp  $12,000, 
M.O.; ‘Hunchback' Only  6G 

Kansas  City,  Jan:  28. 
Town  is  largely  hanging  on  to  its 
good  ones,  half  dozen  or  more  films 
being  in  fourth  weeks  or  longer, 
this  session.  Weather  played  a  big 
part  in  some  of  these  extended 
runs,  as  the  deepest  snow  in  46 
years  fell  Tuesday  (21)  and  slowed 
traffic  for  three,  or  four  days. 
Only  new  film  of  consequence  is 
“Hunchback  of  Notre  Dame,”  mild 
at  Tower.  By  week’s  end.  city  .was 
beginning  to  unsnarl  itself,  and 
films  got  a  new  lease  on  trade. 
Effect  is*  to  dampen  grosses  con¬ 
siderably. 

Estimates  for  This  Week 
Apollo'  (Fox  Midwest)  (1,050;  85) 
—“Rodan”  (DCA)  and  “Hell  in  Ko¬ 
rea”  (DCA)  (m.o.U2d  wk).  Credit¬ 
able  $3,500.  .  Last  week,  with' 
Brookside  and  Vista  coupled  '  to 
the  Apollo,  $9,000. 

Glen  (Dickinson)  (700;  75-90)— 
“Bob  and  Sally’  (Indie)  and  “She 
Shoulda  Said  No”  (Indie)  (8th  wk). 
Okay  $1,000.  Last  week,  $1,200. 

Kimo  (Dickinson)  (504;  90-$1.25) 
—•“How  To  Murder  a  Rich  Uncle” 
(Col)  (5th  wk).  Bright  $1,200. 
Last  week,  $i,400. 

Midland  (Loew)  (3,500;  90-$1.25) 
— “Don’t  Go  Near  Water”  (M-G) 
(4th  wk).  May  go  9  days  for  hearty 
$7,000.  Last  week,  $8,000. 

Missouri  (SW-Cinerama)  (1,194; 
$1.25-$2)  —  “Seven  Wonders” 
(22d  wk).  (Cinerama).  Acceptable 
$7,000.  Last  week,  $7,000. 

Paramount  (UP)  (1,900;  90-$1.25) 
— “Sayonara”  (WB)  (4th  wk).  Good 
$4,500,  Last  week,  $5,000,  in  face 
of  big  storm.  _ 

Rockhill  (Little  Art  Theatres) 
(750;  75-90)— “Time  of  Desire” 


(Continued  on  p^ge20) 


Estimates  Are  Net 

Film  gross  estimates  as  re¬ 
ported  herewith  from  the  vari¬ 
ous  key  cities,  are  net;  l.e* 
'ithout  usual  tax.  Distrib¬ 
utors  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.  S.  amusement 
tax. 


<1 


Paces  Frisco  Biz 


San  Francisco*  Jan.  28. 

With  “Peyton  Place”  great  on  its 
opening  week  at  the  huge  Fox  and 
both  “Sayonara”  and  “Don't  Go 
Near  Water”  still  doing  well  in 
fifth  and.  sixth  weeks  respectively, 
first-run  trade  currently  are  strong. 
"Raintree  County"  still  is  good  in 
fifth  Stagedoor  stanza.  “And  God 
Created  Woman”  continues,  smash 
in  fifth  sessions  in  two  arty  houses. 
"Gervaise”  looms  great  in  fourth 
session. 

Estimates  for  This  Week 

Golden  Gate  (RKO)  (2,859;  90- 
$1.25)— “Man  In  Shadow”  (U)-  and 
‘‘Doctor  At  .Large”  (U).  Mild 
$7,500.  Last  week.  ”A11  Mine  To 
Give”  (U)  and  “Looking  For  Dan¬ 
ger”  (AA)#  $7,500. 

Fox  (FWC)  (4,651;  $1.25-$1.50)— 
“Peyton  Place”  (20th);  Great_$29,- 
000  or.  over.  Last  week,  “Farewell 
To  Arms”.  (20th)  (3d  vfk),  $14,500 
in  8  days. 

Warfield  (Loew)  (2,656;  90-$1.25) 
—“Don’t  Go  Near  Water”  (M-G) 
(6th  wk).  Dandy  $9,500.  Last  week, 
$10,000. 

Paramount  (Par)  (2,646;  90-$1.25) 
—“Sayonara”  (WB)  (5th  wk).  Sock 
$13,000.  Last  week,  $17,000. ; 

St.  Francis  (Par)  (1,400;'90-$1.25) 
—“Deep  Six”  (WB)  and  “Parson 
and  Outlaw”  (WB).  Okay.  $12,000. 
Last  week,  “Eighteen  and  Anxious” 
(Rep)  and  “Girl  In  Woods”  (Rep), 
$11,500. 

.  Orpheum  (SW-Cinerama)  (1,458; 
$1.75-$2.65)— “Seven#  Wonders  of 
World”  (Cinerama)  (62d  Wk).  Neat 
$13,500.  .  Last  week,  $12,000. 

United  Artists  (No..  Coast)  (1,207; 
90-$.1.25)— -“Quiet  American”  .  (UA) 
and  “Buckskin  Lady”  (UA).  Slow 
$6,000  or  near.  Last  week,  “Steel 
Bayonet”  (UA)  and  ‘‘Man  On 
Prowl”  (UA),  $7,200, 

Stagedoor  ( A-R)  (440;  $1.50-$2)— 
“Raintree  County”  (M-G)  (5th  wk). 
Good  $6,000.  Last :  week;  $6,800. 

Larkin  (Rbsener)  (400;  $1.25)— 
“God  Created. Woman”  (Kings)  (5th 
wk).  Wdw  $7,000. .  Last  week*  same. 

Clay  (Rosener)  (400;  $1.25)— 
"God  Created  Woman”  (Kings)  (5th 
wk).  Boff  $6,000.  Last  week*  ditto. 

Vogue  (S.F.:  .  Theatres)  (364; 
$1.25).— “Pather  Panchali”  tlndie) 
(5th  wk).  Oke  $1,500.  Last  week, 
$1  900. 

Bridge  (Schwarz)  (396;  $1:25)— 
"Razzia”  (Kass)  (4th  wk).  Good 
$2,500.  Last  week,  $2,500. 

Coronet  (United  Califoria)  (1,* 
250;  $1 .50-$3.75)— “Around  World 
In  80  Days”  (UA)  (57th  wk).  Nice 
$i4,000.  Last  week,  $14,500. 

Rio  (Schwarz)  (397;  $1.10;)— “His 
First  Affair”  (Indie)  and  “On  Bow¬ 
ery”  (Indie)  (2d  wk).  Fair-$1,300. 
Last  Week,  $2,500. 

Presidio  (Hardy-Parsons)  (774; 
$1.25-$l-50)  —  “Gervaise”  (Cont) 
(4th  wk).  Great  $5,500.  Last  week, 
$6,000. 


<Rbdan>  Rich  $15,000, 
Seattle;  Teyton'  7G,  5 
Seattle,  Jan.  28. 

Standout  currently  Is  the  lone 
newcomer,  .  “Rodan,” .  which  is 
amazingly  sock  at  Coliseum,  :  “And 
God  Created  Woman"  still  is  boffo 
in  third  Music  Box  stanza.  “Say¬ 
onara”  is  rated  great  in  fourth 
round  ait  Music  Hall; 

Estimates  for  This  Week 
Blue , .  Mouse  (Hamrick)  (800; 
$1.50-$2.50)  —  “Around  World” 
(UA)  (41st  wk).  Record  run  In 
Seattle.  Still  hdfty  at  $9,000.  Last 
week,  $8,700. 

Coliseum  (Fox  -  Evergreen)  (1 
870;  90-$l. 25)— “Rodan”  (DCA) 

and  “Hell  in  Korea”  (DCA).  Im¬ 
mense  .  $15,000.  Last  week,  “Long 
Haul”  (Col)  arid  “Hard  Man”  (Col), 
$5,800  in  6  days.  j 

Fifth  Avenue  (Fox  r  Evergreen) 

( Continued  £n-p$g€<  29):  ;n  ] 


‘WOMAN'  ROUSING  UG, 
PORT.;  ‘PEYTON’  10G 

Portland,  Ore.,  Jari.  28. 

City  Is  filled  with  blockbuster 
holdovers  which  continue  to  do 
smash  trade.  “Raintree”  is  in  its 
fifth  week  at  the  Broadway.  “Say¬ 
onara”  continues  lusty .  in  fourth 
round  at.  the  Fox,  •  “Peyton  Place” 
is  moving  into  a  fourth  hefty  frame 
at  till  Orpheum.  “And  God  Cre¬ 
ated  Woman,”  day-dating  in  two 
art  houses,  looms  great.  Other 
newcomers  are  on  the-  modest  side. 

Estimates  for  This  Week 

Broadway  (Parker)  (1,875;  $1- 
$1.50) — “Raintree  County”  (M-G) 
(5th.  wk).  Nifty  $6,500.  Last  week, 
$6,200. 

Fine  Arts  (Foster)  (425;  $1.25)— 
“God  Created  Woman”  (Kings), 
also  at  Guild,  Wi  upping  $5,000. 
Last  week,  “Lady  Ghatterly’s  Lov¬ 
er*’  (Indie)  (2d  wk),  $2,300. 

Fox  (Evergreen)  (1,536;  $1-$1.50) 
— “Sayonaira”  ( WB)  (4th  wk).  Loud 
$10^00,  Last  week,  $12,000. 

Guild  (Forier)  (400;  $1.25)  — 
“God  Created  Woman”  (Kings), 
day  and  date  with  Fine  Arts.  Wow 
$6,000.  Last  week;  ‘Third  Key” 
(Indie),  $1,900. 

.Liberty  (Hamrick)  (1,890;  90- 
$L25)  —  “Oregon  Passage”  (AA) 
and  “Destination  60,000”  (AA). 
Modest  $5,500.  Last  week’  “Man  In 
Shadow”  (U)  and  “Floodtide”  (U), 
$4,500. 

Orpheum  (Evergreen)  (1,600;  $1- 
$1.50)— “Peyton  Place”  (20th)  (4th 
wk).  Smash  $10,000.  Last  week, 
$11,700. 

Paramount  (Port-Par)  (3,400;  90- 
$1.25)  —  “Quiet  American”  (UA) 
and  “Ride  Back”  (UA).  Okay  $7,000. 
Last  week,  “Tarnished  Angels”  (U) 
and  “The  Weapon”  (U).  $6,400. 


Louisville,  Jan.  28. 

Downtown  houses  are  maintain¬ 
ing  a  healthy  level  this  week  at  the 
wicket,  evenly  shared  by  strong 
new  product  and  h.o’s.  Surprise 
entry  is  “And  God  Created  Wom¬ 
an”  at  the  Brown,  with  a  bumper 
take  in  sight  “Long  Haul”  at  the 
State  looks  fair.  Girl  Most  Likely” 
at  the  Kentucky  is  fancy.  “Sayo¬ 
nara”  at  the  Mary  Anderson  and 
“Peyton  Place”  at  Rialto  are  still 
going  well  on  longruns. 

Estimates  for  This  Week 

Brown  (Fourth  Ave.  -  Loew's) 
(1,000;  85-?$1.25)  ^  “God  Created 
Woman”  (Kings).  Grabbing  wow 
$10,000.  Last  week,  “Around  World  j 
in  80  Days”  (UA)  (4th  wk),  $4,500. 

Kentucky  (Switow)  (900;  50-85) 
— “Girl  Most  Likely”  (U>.  Fancy 
$6,000.  Last  week,  “Tarnished 
Angels”  (U)  (2d  wk).:  $5,000. 

Loew’s  (Loew)  (UA)  (3,000;  50- 
85) — “Long  Haul”  (Col)  and  “Deci¬ 
sion  At  .  Sundown”  (Col).  Fair 
$7,500.  Last  week,  “Don’t  Go  Near 
Water”  (M-G)  (2d  wk),  $7,500. 

.  Mary  Aim  (People’s)  (1,000;  85-r 
$125) — “Sayonara-  (WB)  (5th  wk). 
Solid  $5,500  in  unusual  run  at  this 
house.  Last  week;  $7,500. 

Rialto  (Fourth  Ave.)  (3,000;  85-' 
$1.25)— ‘Peyton  Place”  (20th)  (4th 
wk).  Neat  $9,500  after  $12,000  last 
week. 


Omaha  Jumpin’,  Teyton’ 
Lofty  $16,500, ‘Godfrey’ 
Boff  7G,  Teller’  10G 

Omaha,  Jan.  28. 

Biz  is  really  jumpin’  at  down¬ 
town  first-runs  this  session,  with  a 
sturdy  crop  of  new  entries  provid¬ 
ing  biggest  week  in  nearly  a  year. 
“Old  Yeller”  Is  mighty  at  the  State, 
with  long  lines.  “Pejrton  Place”  is 
smash  at  Orpheum  while  “My  Man 
Godfrey”  looks  big  at  the  Omaha. 
“Esther  Costello.  Story”  is  fairly 
nice  at  the  Brandeis. 

Estimates  for  This  Week 

Brandeis  (RKO)  (1,100;  75-90)— 
“Esther  Costello  Story”;  (Col)  and 
“Brothers  Rico”  (Col).  Okay  $3,500. 
Last  week,  “LoUg  Haul”  (Col)  and 
.‘Town  on  Trial”  (Col),  $2, 9Q0. 

Omaha  (Tristates)  (2,066;  75-90) 
— “My  Man  Godfrey"  (U).  Big 
$7,000..  Last  week,  “Jamboree” 
(WB)  arid  “Green-Eyed  Blonde" 
(WB),  $6,000.  i 

Orpheum  (Tristates)  (2,080;  90- 
$1:25)  —  “Peyton  Place”  (20th). 
Lofty  $16,500.  Last  week,  “Sayo¬ 
nara”  (WB)  (3d  wk),  $7,500. 

State  (Goldberg)  (850;  75-90)— 
“Old  Yeller”  (BV).  Smash  $10,000. 
Last  week,  VDon’LGo  Near  Water” 
(M-G)  (3d  wk),  $3;300. 


Bway  Mark  Time  With  Holdovers; 
Lone  Newcomer  ‘FarewelT  Nice  90G, 
‘Sayonara  128G  for  $1,306,490  Run 


Broadway  deluxers  are  more  or 
less  markirig  time  in  the  current 
session  -awaiting  the  arrival  of  new 
product.  For  most  of  these  houses 
bringing  in  fresh  fare  it  will  rep¬ 
resent  the  first  -  change  since  the 
year-end  holidays.  All-day  rain 
Saturday  '  hurt  some  but  milder 
weather .  provided  something  of  a 
lift.  ...  '  • 

Lone  important  newcomer  Is 
‘•FarewelT  To  Arms”  with  stage- 
show.  at  the  Roxy  where  a  nice 
$90,000  is  in  prospect.  This  is  in 
the  face  of  a  rousing  beating  given 
the  pic  by  many  reviewers.  Second 
Week  of  “Bohjour  Tristesse' 
dipped  to  fair  $30,000  at  the  Cap¬ 
itol. 

“Sayonara”  and  stageshow  is 
heading  for  a  fine  $128,000  at  the 
Music  Hall  in  its  final  (8th)  session. 
Such  figure  represents  a  total  of 
$1,306,490  for  the  eight  weeks  as 
against  $1,391,000  registered  by 
“Great  Caruso”  in  10  weeks,  which 
is  the  all-time  high  at  the  HalL 
“Tarnished  Angels”  was  fair  $23,- 
000  for  its  9-day  third'  stanza  at . 
the  Paramount,  where  “I  Was 
Teenage  Frankenstein”  replaces 
today. 

“Gervaise”  is  doing  an  amazing 
$6,900  in  second  roiind  at  the  Fifth 
Ave.-  Cinema  despite  the  fact  that 
the  film  is  still  smash  in  12th  week 
at  the  Baronet.  “10  Command¬ 
ments”  is  spurting  to  about  $32,- 
000  in  current  (64th)  week  at  the 
Criterion  on  mention  that  it  is  ap¬ 
proaching  its  final.,  weeks. 

“Bridge  on  '  River  Kwai”  was 
capacity  $34,500  in  its  sixth  session 
ended  last  night  (Tues.)  at  the 
Palace. 

“Paths  of  Glory”  wound  its  fifth 
frame  at  the  Victoria  yesterday 
(Tues.)  with  good  $13,000.  “Wild 
Is  Wind”  shapes  fine  $14,000  for 
current  (7th)  round  at  the  Astor, 
with  “Witness  For  Prosecution” 
supplanting  on  Feb.  6.  On  same 
day,,  the  .Vic  .brings  in;  “Quiet 
American.” 

“Raintree  County”  looks  like 
splendid  $18,000  in  its  Sixth  ^week 
at  the  State,  but  is  down  to  about 
$5,900  at  the  Plaza  where-;” Witness. 
For -Prosecution”  comes  in  on  Feb. 
6,  day-dating  with  Astor. 

“Enemy  Below”  pushed  to  a  fSir 
$10,000  in  fifth  stanza  at  the  May- 
fair,  and  is  now  in  its  sixth  (final) 
week.  “Beautiful  But  Dangerous” 
comes  in  Feb.  5.  “And  God  Created 
Woman”  climbed  to  smash  $13,500 
in  its  14th  round  at  the  Paris,  pic 
now  being  in  its  15th  week. . 

Estimates,  for  This  Week 

Astor  (City  Iriv.)  (1,300;  75-$2)— 
“Wild  Is  Wind"  (Par)  (7th  wk). 
This  round  ending  today  (Wed.) 
looks  like  fine  $14,000..  Sixth  was 
$16,000.  “Witness  For  Prosecution” 
(UA)  opens  Feb.  6. 

Litile  Carnegie  (L.  Carnegie) 
(550;  $1.25-$1.80)  —  “Adultress” 
(Times)  (3d  wk).  Second  week  end¬ 
ed  Sunday  (26)  was  big  $9,800.  First 
was  $12,000. 

Baronet  (Reade)  (430;  $1.25-$1.70) 
—“Gervaise”  (Cont)  (12th  wk).  The 
11th  stanza  ended  Sunday  (26)  was 
srriash  $9,800  after  $9;300  for  10th 
week.  Playing  day-date  with  Fifth 
Avenue  Cinema  where  it  just  fin¬ 
ished  its  second  week  last  night 
(Tues.). 

(Capitol  (Loew)  (4,820;  $l-$2.50) 
— “Bonjour  Tristesse”  (Col)  (3d 
wk).  Second  week  ended  last  night 
(Tues:)  was  fair  $30,600.  First  was 
$40,000,  below  hopes.  “Cowboy” 
(Col)  is  due  In  next,  with  date  not 
set  so  far.  r 

Trans-Lnx  85th  St.  (T-L)  (550: 
$1.25-$1.65)  —  “Story  of  Vicki” 
(BV).  Opens  today  (Wed.),  day¬ 
dating  with  Normandie: 

Criterion  (Moss)  (1,671;  $1.80- 
$3.30)— “10  Coirimandmerits'1’  (Par) 
(64th  wk).  This  round  looks  t6  hit 
big  $32,000  for-u.  jal  15  shows.  The 
63d  week  was  $28,500  for  like  num¬ 
ber  of  perforinances.  Fact  that 
house  has  started,  to  advertise 
“final  weeks”  held*  responsible  for 
spurt  in  current  round.  Stays. 

Fine  Arts  (Davis)  (468;  90-$1.80) 

'• — “Gates  of  Paris”  (Lopert)  (3d 
wk).  Second  stanza  ended :  Monday 
(27.)  was  slick  $8,300.  First  was 
$10,900. 

55th  St.  Playhonse  (Moss)  (300; 
$1.25-$1.80)  —  “Bolshoi  Ballet” 
(Rank)  (7th  wk).  The  sixth  week 
ended  last  night  (Tues.)  was  good 
$4,500:  The  fifth  was  $6,000. 

Guild  (Guild)  (450;  $1-$1.75>— 
“Ship  Was  Loaded”  (Brest)  (2d  wk). 
First  session  ended.  Saturday  (25) 
was  good. $7,000,  “Spanish  Affair” 
(Par)  opens  here  Feb.  5. 

Embassy  (Guild  1  (582:  75-90)— 
“Golden  Aee  of :  Coipedjr”.  (DCA) 
(6th  wk).  Fifth  round' rinded  Moh- 

r 


day  (27)  was  solid  $8,500.  Fourth 
week,  $9,000. 

Fifth  Ave.  Cinema  (R&B)  (250; 
$1.80) — “Gervaise”  (Cont)  (3d  wk). 
First  holdover  week  ended  last 
night  (Tues.)  was  wow  $6,900.  In¬ 
itial  week,  $7,100,  new  house  mark 
here. 

Mayfair  (Brandt)  (1,736;  79- 

$1.80)— “Enemy  Below”.  (6th-final 
wk).  Fifth  session  ended  last  night 
(Tries.)  was  fair  $10,000.  Fourth 
was  $9;500.  “Beautiful  But  Dan¬ 
gerous”  (20th)  opens  Feb.  5. 

Normandie  (Trans-Lux)  (592;  95- 
$1.80)— “Story  of  Vicki”  (BV). 
Opens  today  (Wed.).  In  ahead,  "All 
At  Sea”  (M-G)  (6th  wk-4  days), 
fair  $4,000.  Fifth  full  week  was 
$6,500.  • 

Palace  (RKO)  (1.700;  $l-$3>— 
“Bridge  on  River  Kwai”  (Col)  (7th 
wk).  .  Sixth  week  concluded  last 
night  (Tues.)  was  capacity  $34,500 
for  10  shows.  The  fifth  was  the 
same  for  like  number  of  perform¬ 
ances: 

Odeon  (Rank)  (854;  90-$1.80>— 
“Graf  Spee”  (Rank)  (5th-final  wk). 
Present  week  ending  Friday  Is 
likely  to  get  mild  $7,000,  ^Fourth 
was  $9,000.  “Henry  V”  (Rank) 
opens  Saturday  (1)  on  reserved- 
seat  basis.  House  has  been  using 
“sneak”  previews  in  effort  to  bol¬ 
ster  biz. 

Paramount  (AB-PT)  (3,665;  $1- 
$2) — “I  Was  Teenage  Frankenstein” 
(AI).  Oprins  today  (Wed).  Last 
week,  “Tarnished  Angels”  (U)  (3d 
wk-9  days),  held  with  fair  $23,000 
after  $24,500  in  second  regular 
week. 

„  Paris  (Pathe  Cinema)  <568;  90- 
$1.80)— “God  Created  Woman” 
(kings)  (15th  wk).  The  14th  round 
ended  Sunday  (26)  was  smash  $13,- 
500.  The  13th  week  was  $12,500. 

Radio  City  Mnsic  Hall  (Rocke¬ 
fellers)  (6,200;  90-$2.75)— "Sayon¬ 
ara”  (WB)  and  Christmas  stage- 
show  (8th-final  wk).  This  session 
winding  up  today -(Wed.)  is  head¬ 
ing  for 'fine  $128,000,  very  big  for 
this  stage  of  run.  The  “Nativity” 
portion  of  the  stageshow  was 
dropped  after  last  Sunday  (26). 
The  seventh  week  was  $134,000. 
“Seven  Hills  of  Rome”  <M-G)  opens 
tomorrow  (Thurs.)  with  new  stage- 
show:  “S  a  y  o  n  a  r  a”  looks  to 

rack  up  a  wham  $1,306,490  for 
eight  weeks,  second  only  to  “Great 
Caruso”  (M-G)  which  was  $1,391*- 
000. 

Rivoli  (UAT)  (1,545;  $1.25-$3.50) 
— “Around  World  in  80  Days”  (UA) 
(68th  wk).  The  67th  round  ended 
yesterday  (Tues.)  was  capacity 
$37,700  for  11  shows.  The  66th 
week  was  the  same  for  like  number 
of  performances. 

Plaza  (Lopert)  (525;  $1.5Q-$2)— 
“Raintree  County”  (M-G)  (6th  wk). 

(Continued  on  page  20) 


‘Jamboree’  Okay  $18,000, 
Toronto;  ‘Escapade’  15G, 
‘Sayonara’  Big  28G,  2d 

Toronto,  Jan.  28. 

Despite  a  weekend  blizzard, 
major  cinemas  are  doing  good  biz 
on  such  newcomers  as  “Enemy  Be¬ 
low”  and  :  “Tarnished  Angels.” 
“Jamboree”  is  rated  okay.  “Es¬ 
capade  in  Japan”  looms  good  in 
three  houses.  Two  holdovers, 
“Sayonara”  and  “Don’t  Go  Near 
Water,”  both,  in  second  stanzas,  art 
doing  the  city’s  standout  biz. 
Estimates  for  This  Week 

Carlton  (Rank)  (2,318;  60-$l)— 
“Enemy.  Below”  (20th).  Good  $13,- 
000.  Last  week,  “Campbell’s  King¬ 
dom”  (Rank),  $7,000. 

Christie,  Danforth,  Humber,  Hy¬ 
land  (Rank)  (887;  1,330;  1,203; 
1,357;  $1)— “How  to  Murder  Rich 
Uncle”  (Col).  Nice  $15,000. 

Downtown,  Glendale,  Scarboro, 
State  (Taylor)  (1,054;  995;  698;  694: 
50-75)  —  “Jamboree”  (WB)  and 
“Hard  Man”  (Col).  Okay  $18,000. 
Last  week*  “Brothers  Rico”  (Col) 
and-  “Escape  San  Quentin”  (Col), 
same, 

Hollywood,  Palace,  Runnymede 
(FP)  (1,080;  1,385;  1,485;  50-$l)— 
“Escapade  in  Japan”  (RKO)  and 
“Finger  of  Guilt”  (Col).  Oke  $15- 
000.  Last  week,  “Story  of  Ethel 
Costello”  (Col)  and  “Last  Man  to 
Hang”  (Col),  $14,000. 

Imperial  (FP)  (3,344;  75-$1.25)— 
“Sayonara”  (WB)  (2d  wk).  Holding 
at  big  $28,000.  Last  week,  $32,000. 

International  (Taylor)  (557;  $1)— 
“Blue  Murder  at  St.  Trinian’s” 
(IFD)  (5th  wk).  Nice  $4,000.  Last 
week,  $4,500. 

Loew's  (Loew)  (2,098;  75-$  1.25)— 
“Don't  Go.  Near  Water”  (M-G)  (2d 
(Continued  on  page  20) 


io  nmnNATiONAi 


'VAtlSTY'S*  LONDOM  OPFICI 
t  1»«  Wiitin,>  fiiw,  Trifiliir  Squw 


Spain  s  Own  Production  Nil; 


in  January,  '5? 


Madrid,  Jan.  28.  + 

A  financial  crisis  has  again  de¬ 
scended  on  Spanish  film  producers/ 
Reports  from  Barcelona  as  in  Ma¬ 
drid  underscore  standstill  in  the. 
industry.  First  new  year  project 
has  yet  to  he  registered  although 
at  this  date,  last  year,  five  films 
had  already  entered  the'  *57  pro¬ 
duction  lists. 

Principal  reason  forwarded  here 
for  the  failure,  to  produce  is  that 
Sindicato  loans  are  not  available. 
{Sindicato  credit,  of  between  25% 
and  30%  of  pic  budget  is.  basic 
feature  of  government  film  pro¬ 
tectionism  without  which  majority 
of  film-makers  cannot  operate. 

Observers  here  relate  depleted 
Siiidicato  coin  to  the  continued 
crisis  of  goveernffient’s  production 
aid  fund  which  not  only  supplies 
credits  but  a  film  completion  re¬ 
bate  directly  to  producers  varying 
from  30%  to  .50%  Of  negative  pic 
cost  as  determined,  by  a  govern¬ 
ment-industry  classification  board. 

Government  loaned  production 
fund  25,000,000  pesetas  ($550,000) 
last  Oct.,  but  sources  here  say 
amount  was  quickly  consumed  by 
outstanding  rebate  obligations  due 
producers. 

There  seems  little  doubt  that 
Spanish  film  economy  has  been  out 
of  tune  for  the  past  nine  months. 
Suspension  of -Motion  Picture  Ex¬ 
port  Assn,  product,  with  substan¬ 
tial  resulting  drop  of  production 
fund  pesetas  from  steep  U.  S.  im¬ 
port  fees  has  crippled  aid  coffers. 

Current  production  halt  paired 
with  widespread  film  exhib  dis¬ 
content  are  grim  factors  facing  the 
Spanish  film  industry  this  week. 

Gina  Action  Vs. 
Rizzoli  Widens 

Rome,  Jan.  21. 

The  Gina  Lollobrigida-Angelo 
Rizzoli  court  case  continues  to  gain 
momentum  in  and  out  of  local  film 
circles.  Two  new  elements  have 
just  been  added  to  the  fracas:  the- 
Italian  Producers’  Assn.  (ANICA) 
has  officially  deplored  the  actress’ 
action  In  publicizing  the  fight, 
while  actor  Lex  Barker  has  filed 
suit  in  Roman  courts  against  Milko 
'Skofic,  husband  of  the  actress.  Bar¬ 
ker  claims  personal  insults  were 
made  by  Skofic. 

Sharply  worded  and  unprece¬ 
dented  ANICA  communique  sided 
with  producer  Rizzoli,  whose  “Im¬ 
perial  Venus”  they  claimed  an  im¬ 
portant  and  well  organized  pro¬ 
duction,  against  the  actress.  Letter 
deplores  Miss  Lollobrigida's  actioq 
in  breaking  off  her  contract  with-, 
out  submitting  to  proposed  nego¬ 
tiations  and  for  her  decision  to 
publicize  the  matter. 

ANICA  note  again  warned  all  its 
members  that  in  times  of  difficulty 
such  as  the  present  for  the  entire 
industry,  efforts  must  be  redoubled 
to  realign  salaries  (of .  actors)  to 
the  changed  film  economy  of  the 
moment  as  well  as  to  insist  on  a 
better  respect  of  agreed,  contracts. 

Barker,  on  the  other  hand,  filed 
his  suit  through  bis  local  lawyer, 
Giovanni  Ozzb,  taking  objection  to 
remarks  attributed  to  Skofic  by  an 
article  in  a  Rome  evening  paper. 
Both  verbally  and  in  writing,  Sko¬ 
fic  has  repeatedly  denied  making 
these  remarks.  Rizzoli-Lollobrigida 
case  is  up  for  initial  hearing 
Feb.  5. 


Menuhin  to  Brussels 

Frankfurt,  Jan.  28.  ‘ 
Yehudi  Menuhin,  who  is  due 
to  concert-tour  Germany  with 
the  Vienna  Philharmonic  Or¬ 
chestra  in  March,  is  set  to 
open  at  the  Brussels  World 
Fair  in  April. 

There,  he’ll  offer  a  new 
American  work,  Ross  Lee  Fin¬ 
ney’s  “Chromatic  Fantasy  for 
Violin.” 


Sees  Future  Jap 


German  *56  Hit  Record 
To  Be  Made  Into  a  Pic 

Frankfurt,  Jan.  28. 

Usually  it’s  the  title  song  of  a 
film  that  becomes  popular.  But 
there’s  an  unusual  switch  in  the 
making  in  Germany  this  year. 

Gloria  Films  has  bought  the 
rights  to  the  1956  big  record  seller, 
“Heimatlos”  (Homeless),  which 
was  the  No.  1  recording  of.  German 
schmaltz  singer  Freddie  on  the 
Deutsche  Grammophone  label. 

Gloria  will  make  a  film  titled 
"Heimatlos,”  with  music  by  Lotar 
Olias  and  Hans  Moessner,  who 
wrote  the  music  for  the  platter. 
Film  is.  sff^or, 
release  program. 


Exceptional  Fibi  Setup 


Tokyo,  Jari.  21. 

Shizue  Takase,  a  man  who  pre¬ 
pares  the  Japanese  titles  for  about 
half  of  the  imported  American 
films,  believes  the  day  is  not 
far  off  when  U.  S.  actors  will 
be  mouthing  Japanese  dialogue, 
dubbed,  that  is.  He  is  watching 
the  current  experiment  here  of 
Metro  in  having  the  “The  Invisible 
Boy”  dubbed.  It’s  the  first  such 
experiment  in  recent  years  after 
past  failures. 

“I  can’t  see  why  dubbing  can’t 
be  done  in  Japan  as  it  Is  in  Eu¬ 
rope,”  Takase  said.  “The  strongest 
opposition  to  it  right  now  is  a  feel¬ 
ing  that  it  wouldn’t  sound  right. 
But  I’m  rather  sure  that  once  the 
Japanese  audiences  get  used  to.  it* 
it  would  prove  popular.” 

Takase  saw  a  greater  future  for 
Japanese  product  dubbed  into  Eng¬ 
lish  for  export. 

Takase  heads  an  outfit  called 
Central  Production  Pool  whose 
services  often  include  editing.  Lat¬ 
ter  makes  him  an  influence  on  se-. 
quences  of  U.  S.  films  to  be  de^  | 
leted  for  Japanese  audiehces.  He 
doesn’t  always  take  the  initiative, 
but  his  recommendations  hold 
Weight  with  Yank  managers  here. 

Those  hit  most  strongly  by  the 
cutting  are  pictures'  about  the 
Pacific  War.  In  most  cases,  they 
call  for  some  editing  in  order  not 
to  bMt  the  feelings  on  the  Japanese. 
As  Takase  points  out,  because  the 
Hollywood  production  code.  Is 
much  Stronger  than  that  of  Japan, 
he  doesn’t  have  to  worry  too  much 
about  deletions  on  moral  grounds. 
Showing  bare  bosoms  on  Japanese 
screens,  for  example,  is  not  uncom¬ 
mon.  ‘ 

But  Certain  scenes  of  violence 
are  hit  by  Japanese  censorship.  A. 
switchblade  knife  is  taboo.  Local 
snipping  is  unofficial  here,  but 
distribs  usually  adhere  to  recom¬ 
mendations  Of  the  committee  for 
the  Motion  Picture  Code  of  Ethics, 
an  offshoot  of  Eireh,  It  was  not 
until  about  a  year  ago  that  the 
U.  S.  majors  joined  this  body. 


HKth  Chairman  Serving 

Rome1,  Jan.  14. 

The  “exceptional”  film  contro¬ 
versy  is  back  in  limelight  this 
week  following  the  announcement 
that  Nicola  DePirro  has  consented 
to  preside  over  .the  committee 
charged  with  voting  oh  the  special 
rental  status.  Though  named  to  the 
post  last  year,  DePirro  never  took 
office  because  he  felt  that  his  twin 
functions  as  committee  topper  and 
Government  Entertainment  chief 
were  incompatible. 

DePirro’s  absence  from  commit¬ 
tee  meetings  soon  helped  develop" 
an  jmpasse  in  voting  on  candidates 
for:  this  Tental  status,  which  allows 
the  pic,,  if  approved,  ceiling-free 
rental  negotiations. 

BFockihg  Of  votes  was  also  aided 
by  an  exhib  block,  which  automati¬ 
cally  voted  against  candidates  in 
an  attempt  to  further  its  fight  for 
lower,  rentals,  while  the  producer 
element  in  the  committee  generally 
voted  in  favor  of  “exceptionality.” 
DePirro’s  Vote,  in  each  case,  would 
have  been  deciding. 

Move  was .  made  following  a  let¬ 
ter  from  Government  Undersecre¬ 
tary  Giuseppe  Resta,  asking  him  to 
reconsider  and  to  accept  the  post 
“at  least  for  the  duration  of  the 
current  film  season”  and  on  an 
experimental  basis. 

The  tieup  developed  here  after 
only  one  film,  “10  Commandments” 
(Par)  had  been  approved.  Two  pix, 
“Sea  Wall”  (DeLaurentiis-Rank- 
Columbia)  and  “Pride  and  Passion” 
(UA),  are  waiting  for  a  deciding 
vote  following  a  screening  last 
year.  Three. other  pix,  “Sayonara” 
(WB),  “Bridge  oh  River  Kwai” 
(Col),  and  an  Italian-made,  “The 
Girl  and  the  Palio,”  have  still  to 
be  screened  by  the  elite  group. 


Big  U.S.  Loan  to  India, 

Now  Pending,  Likely  To 
Aid  Yank  Distrib  There 

Madras,  Jan.  21. 

The  announcement  that  the  U.S. 
would  loan  $225,000,000,  prospects 
for  foreign  pictures  shape  up  bet¬ 
ter  here;  Considerable  leniency 
has  been  shown  to  the  Motion  Pic¬ 
ture  Producers  Assn.  at  Bombay 
for  Import  of  photographic  and 
other  goods,  though  specifically 
limiting  it  to  members  of  the  As¬ 
sociation. 

Current  opinion  is  that  the  gov¬ 
ernment  of  India  would  allow  the 
import  of  at  least  50%  of  previous 
license  quota  held  by.  each  foreign 
distributing  company. 

Some  envision  that  even  75% 
may  be  allowed  entry.  It  is  under¬ 
stood  here  that  remittances  to  for¬ 
eign  homeoffices  would  be  limited 
to  12%%  of  total  annual  earnings 
-of  each  company  in  India. 


and  more  than  50,000.  copies.’ 


Reich  Orchestras, 
Vienna  Acad  Choir, 
Set  by  Mertens 

Concert  events  of  the  coming 
season  already  .cast  their  shadows 
via  Andre '  Mertens  of  Columbia 
Artists  Management.  His  array 
of  set  and/or  negotiating  deals  in¬ 
clude  a  six-week  return  visit  (far 
West  as  .  Chicago)  of  the  Stuttgart 
Kammerorchestra  (15  men)  under 
Karl  Muenchinger  and  a  projected 
1959  third  U.  S.  tour  Of  the  big 
Berlin  Philharmonic. 

In  addition  to  the  Mertens-cre- 
ated  “Vienna  on  Parade,”  now 
touring  the  States,  which  will  be 
invited  to  come  again,  Columbia 
has  contracted  the  26  voice  Vienna 
State  Academy  Choir  for  10  weeks, 
for  a  tour,  to  California. 

Among  a  variety  of  new  solo  at¬ 
tractions  Erika  Keoth,  26  year  old 
German  coloratura,  Will  be  flown 
to  the  Hollywood  Bowl  next  August 
for  a  single  U.  S.  date  (and  debut) 
between  Salzburg  and  Munich. 

FrenCh  military  is  furloughing 
violinist  Christian  Ferras  to  make 
a  three-week  tour  of  U.  S.  and 
Canada  in  the  fall  and  the  Hun¬ 
garian  escapee,  Gyorgy  Cziffir,  will 
arrive  for  piano  concerts  in  No¬ 
vember. 

Two  Met  Opera  personages, 
tenor  Flaviano  Labo  and  basso 
FernandO  .Corena  will  play  concerts 
for  Columbia  and  Guiletta  Sirai- 
onato  will  be  routed  in  and  around 
the  Chicago  Opera. 


Crawley  Updates  Catalog 
Of  Cuffo  Documentaries 

Ottawa,  Jan.  28. 

Crawley  Films  Ltd.  has  issued  a 
24^page  directory  of  sources  Of 
free  16m  sponsored  Canadian  mo¬ 
tion  pictures.  .  It  lists  295  sources 
from  which  11,000;  films  are  -avail¬ 
able  without  charge. 

This  directory,  started  h\  1952,  _ 

Jijs.  gone  through  thre^  £^^oi^sJ.jij<^ies  to;  be  held  here  eFob 


‘AngryMen,’  ‘Ram/  ‘King’ 
Up  for  Italo  Cm  Prize 

Rome,  Jan.  21. 

Two  Yank  pix  are  among  the  top 
contendere  for  the  Silver  Ribbon 
award  to  the  best  foreign  film  of 
the  year,  prize  given  by  the  Italian 
Film  Critics  Assn,  and  recognized 
as  top  "local  kudo.  Winner  in  this 
category  will  be  selected  from  “12 
Angry  Men”  (UA);  “Hatful  of 
Rain”  (20th),.  and  “King  in  New 
York”  (Ciheriz).  "Hatful”  has  al¬ 
ready  been  awarded  the  best  for¬ 
eign  pic  award  at  the  Venice  Fes¬ 
tival  of  1957* 

Running  neck-and-ncck  for  the 
Ribbon  as  best  Italian  pic  of  1957 
are  “Cabiria”  (DeLaurentiis)  and 
“White  Nights”  (Vides).  Final  vot¬ 
ing  will,  be  announced  at  cere- 


ruary. 


Tito  as  Paris  Arts  Tatron? 

By  WOLFE  KAUFMAN 

Paris,.  Jan.  28. 

An  important  new  slant  may  be  given  to  international  “cultural 
exchange”  programs  via  a  backstage  maneuver  currently  being 
studied  by  Yugoslav  and  French  officials.  The  first  actual  result 
if  it  works,  would  be  for-Marsball  Tito  and  his  entourage  to  visit 
Paris  this  summer  at  the  same  time  as  several  Yugo  stage  produc¬ 
tions  are  on  exhibit  at  the  Sarah  Bernhardt  Theatre. 

As  has  been  done  for  some  years  nOw,  the  Sarah  Bernhardt 
Theatre  will  have,  a  parade  of  theatrical  offerings  from  a  dozen  or 
so  different  nations  in  its  annual  Theatre  Festival  starting  late 
March,  England,  Italy,  Sweden,  Spain,  Argentina,  both  Germany 
and  Israel  have  agreed  to  send  troupes.  The  United  States  is  send¬ 
ing  Ballet  Theatre  and  possibly  two  plays,  Russia  has  tentatively 
agreed  to  send  a  troupe  or  two,  still  unqhosen.  And  Yugoslavia 
said  it  would  send  either  one  or  three  troupes,  depending  on  some 
current  discussions. 

These  troupes  for  the  Festival  always  come'  as  is,  complete  with 
actors,  technicians,  scenery  and  costumes.  The  originating  coun¬ 
tries  always  get  the  transportation  tab  picked  up  by  the  native,  gov¬ 
ernments  on  the  ground  of  “cultural  exchange.”  But  the  Yugo¬ 
slavs  now  have  come  up  with  the  thought  that  this  can  be  spread 
for  greater  significance.'  Thus,  they  reason,  if  Tito  should  “just 
happen  by  accident”  to  be  in  Paris  at  the  same  time,  it  would  turn 
a  mild  “cultural  gesture”  into  a  politically  important  move..  So,  if 
it  goes  through,  there  will  be  three  Yugo  troupes.  Otherwise  just 
one. 


American  Counterpart;  Marton 


- - - - - : - - - 

Yank  Films  Still  Pace 
Swedish  Market  Albeit 
Foreign  Pictures  Gain 

Stockholm,  Jan.  21. 

American  ■  films  still  dominate  • 
the  Swedish  market,  no  other  coun¬ 
try  having  as  many  films  released 
here  in  1957  as  the  U.  S.  But  com¬ 
pared  with  figures  of  four  to  five 
years  ago,  European  films  have 
started  to  overtake  to  improve 
their  status.*  Usually,  65%  to  70% 
of  all  Stockholm  preeming  is  by 
product  of  American  origin-  But 
last  year,  Yank  films  reached  only 
48%  of  all  pix  shown. 

Films  from  15  countries  were 
exhibited  at  Stockholm  first-runs 
last  year.  The  six  major  cuontries 
getting  dates  were  led  by  the  U,  S. 
with  179  films.  Second  was  Great 
Britain,  with  53,  followed  with 
France,  49;  Sweden,  30;*  Germany, 
last  year.  The  six  major  countries 
Greece  is  a  newcomer  to  Sweden. 
Its  “Barefoot  Battalion”  (in  Eng¬ 
lish  version)  islhe  first  Greek  fea¬ 
ture  pic  playing  Stockholm  first- 
runs. 

Interest  In  Russian  films  seems 
to  be.  at  rock  bottom,  with  only  one 
release  during  1957,  against  be¬ 
tween  five  to  10  annually  previ¬ 
ously.  There  were  370  films 
preemed  in  Stockholm  last  year. 
Compared  with  othenScandinavian 
countries,  Helsinki  (Fi  n  1  a  n  d) 
topped  the  list  with  409  preems 
(209  Hollywood  pix). 


Swedish  Censors  Show 
Politics  in  New  Bans 

Stockholm,  Jan.  21. 

The  Swedish  Censorship  Board: 
had  politico  charges  hurled  against 
it  again  in  1957,  with  four  films 
banned  because  of  “political  rea¬ 
sons.”  Three  of  them  Were  shorts 
from  Israel  and  Egypt,  and  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  censors,  they  were  too 
partial.  The  titles  are  “Egypt  To¬ 
day,”  “The  Law  of.  Israel”  and 
“Port  Said.”  The  American  film, 
“The  Girl  in  Kremlin”  (U),  also 
was  banned  because  of  the  Soviet 
angle. 

Total  of  14  films  was  given  white 
seal  (totally  banned)  by  the  Swed¬ 
ish  censors  last  year.  Of  these;  the 
Gorman  production,  “Die  Halb- 
starken,”  later  was  given  an  okay 
after  some  cuts.  “No  Orchids  for 
Miss  Blandish”  (British)  was  pre¬ 
sented  to  the'  censors  for  the  sec¬ 
ond  time  after  some  scissoring, 
but  was  still  rated  “too  cruel  for 
Swedish  audiences.’* 


Ill,  Hy  Chapman  Quits  ; 

Minneapolis,  Jan.  28. 

Becaiise  of  ill  health,  Henry  J. 
(Hy)  Chapman,  long-time  Colum¬ 
bia  branch  manager  here,  ,  is  re¬ 
tiring  and  will  be  succeeded  by 
Byron  Shapiro,  transferred  to  Min¬ 
neapolis  from  the  St.  Louis  branch. 

Chapman  recently  suffered  a 
heart  attack  and  just  was  released 
from  the  Northwest  Variety  club’s 
,U.i  9f  Mitw«sp$a  iheari. hospitaL  Jfr 
I  is  recuperating  at  home. 


Paris,  Jan.  28. 

George  Martoy,  20th  Century- 
Fox  rep  for  European  properties 
and  a  private  play  and  literary 
agent,  feels  that  the  American 
author  is  to  be  pitied  when  it  come* 
to  rights  and  protections  in. com¬ 
parison  with  the  French  authors. 

According  to  Marion  the  Ameri-  . 
can  author  is  over-organized,  over- 
mechanized  and  over-legalized,  but 
he  is  poorly  protected.  He  has  an 
agent,  a  business  manager,  a  lawyer 
and  a  psychoanalyst;  If  he  is  a 
dramatist  he  has  the  Authors 
League  and  if  he  is  Writing  for 
films  he  has  the  Screen  Writers 
Guild. 

The  Gallic  counterpart  has  no 
agent,  no  lawyer,  no  business  man¬ 
ager,  no  head  doctor,  no  gasoline 
and  no  heating;  and  is  tied  up  only 
with  the  French  Society  of  Au¬ 
thors.  They  safeguard  his .  moral 
rights  and  watch  over  any  attemp¬ 
ted  tampering  with  his  works. 

the  American  scrivener,  from  a 
play,  gets  a  sliding  scale  of  royal¬ 
ties  from  7%%  to  10%  of  the 
gross.  The.  legit  producer  also  has 
rights  to  49%  of  any  film  sales 
of  the  legit  rights,  and  also  takes 
a  .25%  cut  of  Subsidiary  gains  such 
as  foreign  sales.  Film  rights  are 
given  for  the  duration  of  copyright 
With  allowances  for  renewal  if 
desired. 

12%  Of  The  Gross 
The  French  playwright,  by  law, 
gets  12%  of  the  gross  receipts.  His. 
producer  has  no  share  in  any  film 
sales,  foreign  residuals  or  any 
other  adaptions  of  the  work  in 
question.  Film  rights  are  only  good 
for  a  maximum  duration  of  10 
years. 

.  As  for  budding  legit  writers,  in 
France  if  a  producer  decides  to  do 
a  first  play  the  government, 
through  its  Cultural  Ministry,  will 
put  up  50%  of  the  operating  nut. 
In  the  U.S.  the  newcomer  gives 
his  work  to  an  .  agent,  and  if  a  pro¬ 
ducer  likes  it  he  will  take  an  option 
and  go  through  the  painful  process, 
of  looking  for  backers  and  angels. 

•  Play  production  costs  in  France 
average  about  $15,000  to  the  $80,- 
000  Of  launching  an  .  American 
venture.  Weekly  grosses  in  the 
U.S.  average  about  $25,000  while 
in  Paris  they  can  fluctuate  from 
$25,000  to  $7,500  depending  oil 
theatre  size  and  hit  values.  “Tea 
and  Sympathy,”  with  Ingrid  Berg¬ 
man,  took  in  weekly  $25,000  at  the 
1,200-seater  Theatre  De  Paris,. 
Marcel  Achard’s  sock  “Patate”  got 
only  a  weekly  $13,000  at  the  600- 
seater  Theatre  Saint  Georges,  and 
“The  Love  of  Four  Colonels’* 
grossed  $7,500  at  the  400-seater 
Fontaine. 

Marion  opines  that  the  success¬ 
ful  French  author  is  a  little  better 
off  than  his  American  colleague, 
and  the  unsuccessful  one  is  just 
as  poor,  or  even  a  littler  poorer, 
than  the  American  loser.  Marton 
also  claimed  that  U.S.  legit  pro¬ 
ducers  usually  take  only  the  estab¬ 
lished  hits  for  Broadway  and 
always  demand  film  rights  also. 
This  can  add  up  to  a  loss  for  a 
Gallic  writer  who,  with  a  hit  and 
film  rights,  can  do  better  on  his 
own  market.  However,  the  lure  of 
the  U.S.  big  money  is  always  blind¬ 
ing  and  the  Gallic  writers  still  have 
ithejr  eye  on  Broadway  and  Holly¬ 
wood. 


•  •7tfyy,,..LoNbo* 

»  It.  Mirtln'»  Pine*,  Trafalgar  tquaro 


P^SsUEft 


INTERNATIONAL 


II 


900 


G.I.’S  HYPO  LOCAL  B.O. 

- — — — ■ — -4.  r— — --  ■  -  4 — — .  •  ;  — : : —  —  ■  — 

See  Peace  m  Offing  Between  Rant 
M-Fox;  CMA,  Indies  Split  Time 


In  Protest  Vs.  High  Ticket  Taxes  j|X  SERVICE  POSTS 


Rome,  Jan.  28.  4: 

More  than  900  .film  houses  in 
Rome  and  .  the  surrounding  area 
closed  down  Jan.  22  in  a  protest 
move  against  high  government 
ticket  taxes,.  The  24-hour  shutter¬ 
ing,  decided  on  at  an  emergency 
meeting  by  AGIS,  the  exhibitor 
group,  was  motivated  by  the  overly 
high  tax  bUrden  Imposed  by  the 
government,  competition  from  tel¬ 
evision,  and  for  "economy reasons” 
An  exhib  spokesman  didn’t  exclude 
that  the  shutdown  may  be  repeated 
in  future  weeks,  both  here  as  well 
as  In  such  northern  cities  as  Milan 
and  Turin,  4  similar  protest  shut¬ 
down  was  staged  in  Naples  last 
year. 

Spokesman  for  the  theatreown- 
ers  indicated  that  repeated  peti¬ 
tions  to  the  government  for  tax  re¬ 
lief  had  still  been  unfruitful,  mate 
lug  the  drastic  move  an  economic 
necessity  above  and  before  its  pro¬ 
test  function.  As  an  example,  he 
pointed  out  that  one  Roman  3,000- 
seat  showcase  on  a  recent  weekday 
grossed  only  $86.  With  some  $30 
going  for  taxes;  this  left  some  $28 
each  for  distributor  and  exhib,  and 
far  from  sufficient  to  cover  the  big 
theatre's  overhead. 

in  the  face  of  such  setup,  said  to 
prevail  at  least  two  and  three  dkys 
per  week,  exhibs  decided  on  the 
shutdown,  allowing  theatre  per¬ 
sonnel  its  weekly  day  off  without 
calling  in  the  usual  fill-in  workers. 
"Closed”  notices  went  up  bn  cine¬ 
ma  facades  all  over  Rome  today 
while  dailies  for  the  first  time 
failed  to  carry  the  usual  theatre 
ads. 

.In  addition  to'  their  gripes 
against  the  tax  burden,  tele  (where 
the  principal  target  is  the  .  17,000 
tv  sets  used  in  bars  and  cafes  in 
this  country),  and  frozen  pic  credit, 
exhibs  have  objected  to  the  still- 
increasing  number  of  new  cinemas 
in  this  country,  now  well,  over  17,- 
,000.  Surplus  of;  theatres  means  a 
"dilution”  of  grosses  but  the  bur¬ 
den  of  publicity  expenses  in  first- 
run  situations  continues  on. 


Edinburgh  Etbih  Blasts 


Poor  Dec.  Pix 


Edinburgh,  Jan.  21, 

Robert  McLaughlin,  a  leading  ex-, 
hibitor  here,  hit  out  at  remarks 
made  by  John  Boulting,  English 
film  producer,  in  a  tv  interview. 
Boulting  had  said  there  were  no 
good  films  to  be  released  during 
December. 

“What  are  going  to  do,”  asked 
the  exhib,  "when,  someone  who  has 
made  his  living  from  films  for 
years,  like  that?” 

He  called  for  a  tag  on  all  films 
•hown  on  television,,  saying  “This 
is  an  old  f  ilm  and  bears  no  relation 
to  the  films  in  the  cinemas  at  pres¬ 
ent/' 

The  Edinburgh  section,  of  the 
British  Cinematograph  Exhibitors 
Assn,  has  urged  that  films  should 
not  be  shown  on  tele  before  10 
.  p.m. .  on  Saturdays.  This  would 
avoid  peak-hour  screenings  in  cin¬ 
emas. 

George  Gilchrist,  Dunfermline  ex- 
hib.  said  that,  if  films  were  allowed 
to  be  shown  at  all  hours  on  televi¬ 
sion,  people  in  the  studios  would 
suffer  as  well  as  the  exhibs. . 

'  Jim  Poole  wondered  what  the 
position  would'  be  at  a  later  date 
when'  the  stage  was  reached  of  Us¬ 
ing  films  which  had  attracted  levy. 
"We  would  be  subsidizing  our  own 
opposition,”  he  said. 


NEW  ITALO  POSTER  ROW 

Parish  Priest  Orders  f  Gina; 

Film  Sheets  Removed 

Rome,  Jan.  21. 

Another  film  poster  controversy 
has  come  up  in  this,  country,  follow¬ 
ing  those  recently  involving  "Za- 
rak”  and  “Poor  but  .  Beautiful” 
(which  were  ordered  seized  In  sev¬ 
eral  Italian  cities  for  alleged  Im¬ 
morality).  ^ 

Latest  incident  occurred  In 
Melegnano,  in  northern  Italy, 
known  for  a  similar  case  in  recent 
years,  where  the  parish  priest  has 
ordered  two .  posters  depicting  Gina 
Lollobrlgida  in  “Trapeze”  (UA)  re¬ 
moved  from  town  walls.  The  owner 
of  the  town's  cinema,  Angelo  Ba- 
jetta,  protested,  but  the  priest  is 
said  to  have  insisted  on  the  poster’s 
immorality.  Following  a  heated 
controversy,  the  posters  were  re¬ 
moved. 


Mexico  City,  Jan.  21. 

Mexico  Variety  Club  is  headed 
for  the  ensuing  year  by  a  lawyer- 
exhibitor,  Roberto  Cervantes.  The 
new  veepees  are  Arthur  L.  Prat¬ 
chett,  Par’s  northern  Latin-Amer- 
lca  supervisor,  based  here;  Eduardo 
Vidal,  Mexico's  manager;,  and 
Francisco  Sumohana,  exhibitor. 

New  board  members,  include 
Alan  M.  Noye,  20th-Fox  manager, 
and  -Qarlos  Riebla,,  Metra  chiefs 


London,  Jan.  28. 

Under  the  heading  “The  Cinema 
Bores.  Me, ”J.  B.  Priestley,  several 
of  whose  plays  have  been  made  Into 
pictures*  used  the  whole  of  his 
Sunday  column  in  the  Reynolds 
News  to ;  give  his  views— as  a  cus¬ 
tomer — on  the  current  decline  in 
attendances.  Although  conceding 
that  tele  and  taxation  between 
them  were  responsible  for  most  of 
the  slump,  the  writer  opined  that 
something  must  be  qaid  about  what 
the  average,  cinema  .offers  the  pub¬ 
lic  for  its  money. 

He  then  proceeded  to  describe 
his  experience  in  a  West  End  first- 
run  situation,  having  paid  "a  stiff 
price”  for  bis  seat.  The  main  fea¬ 
ture  was  still  running  when  he  en¬ 
tered,  although,  according  to  the 
timetable,  it  should  have  finished; 
some .  minutes  before. 

The  actual  program  subsequently 
followed,  beginning  with  advertis¬ 
ing  films,  followed  by  a  “tasteless1 
Hollywood  cartoon.  The  third  item 
was  the  newsreel  about  which 
‘.‘some  of  us  were  protesting  over 
20  years  ago.” 

Next  came  a  screen  introduction 
to  the .  waitresses  selling  refresh¬ 
ments  and  finally,  before  the  main 
feature  pic,  the  trailer  for  the  fol¬ 
lowing  week's  production. 

“I  say,”  observed  Priestley,  "this 
is  not  good!  entertainment  and  not 
clever  showmanship.” 

He  thought  that  some  of  his  read¬ 
ers  would  have  better  ideas  but  he 
appealed  to.  them  not  to  send  them 
to  him.  It’s  the  showmen,  he  con¬ 
cluded,  who  needed  some  good  new 
ideas. 


Cepicsa  Seen  Mollified 
By  Republic’s  Proposal 

.  Madrid,  Jan..  28. 

Local  distributor  Cepicsa  may 
drop  its  lawsuit  against  Republic 
Pictures,  as  a.  result  of  a  concili¬ 
atory  offer  made  by  the  U.  S.  com¬ 
pany  through  its -Globe  Films  Int’l 
Iberica*  subsid,  according  to  Ale¬ 
jandro  Villamayor,  former  Repub¬ 
lic  representative  in  Spain.  > 

Cepicsa  sued  last  month  to  com¬ 
pel  Republic  delivery  of  “The 
Maverick  Queen,”  “Stranger  At 
My  Door,”  “Sante  Fe  Passage”  and 
“Timberjack,”  allegedly  contracted 
for  and  selected  over  a  year  ago, 
claiming,  damages  of- ten.  million 
pesetas  ($90,000)  if  films  are'  not 
forthcoming. 

Globe  Films,  now  exclusively 
Republic  distrib  in  Spain,  asked 
Cepicsa  yesterday  (Jan.  14)  to  ac¬ 
cept  delivery  of  the  four  pix  in¬ 
volved.  Cepicsa  has  taken  Globes' 
offer  to  the  Commerce  Ministry 
with  a  request  for  necessary  im¬ 
port  licenses  which,  if  conceded, 
would  -put  end  te-litigatiem  > 

.5  1  CL.  t  JViCL'0.3 


By  HAZEL  GUILD 

Frankfurt,  Jin.  21. 

American  soldiers  and  airmen 
and  their  families  stationed  in 
Europe,  a  population  estimated  to 
be  about  500,000,  ''  proving  a 
big  asset  to  film  theatres  across 
Europe  “  the  economy.”  Some 
of  the  military  men,  hep  to.  the- 
fact  tbat  films  shown  on  their 
own  Army  and  Air  Force  Film  Cir¬ 
cuit,  are.  censored,  are  proving  a 
big  plus  for  the  local  theatres.  It’s 
a  rule  for  the  Army  and  Air  Force 
Motion  Picture  Service,  headquar¬ 
tered  in  the  U.  S.  to  select  only 
those  pictures  that  receive  the 
Code  Seal  of  jthe  Motion  Picture 
Assn.  Hence,  films  like  “Man 
With  the  Golden  Arm”  (UA)  and 
“Moon  Is  Blue”  (UA)  never  reach 
the  military .  screens  in  Europe. 

Warners*  controversial  “Baby 
Doll”  was  never  selected  to  show 
at  military  theatres  overseas.  Also 
the  .  Service  generally  passed  up 
the  foreign  sexpots  —  girls  like 
Brigitte  Bardot,.  Gina  Lollobrigida, 
Marttoe Carol,  Guilietta  Masina — 
because  generally  their  pix, .  made 
in  Europe,  are  never  dubbed  into 
English,  hence,  they  ate  not  view¬ 
able  and  reviewable  for  offer  to 
the  military. 

Although  any  civilian  living  in 
the  U.  S.  can  make  up  his  own 
mind  If  he  wants  to  see  such  films 
as  “Golden  Arm”  and  “Baby  Doll,” 
tM*  choice  is  not  given  to  the  mili¬ 
tary.  An  Interesting  current  case 
is  the  Charlie  Chaplin.,  film;  “A 
King  in  New  York,”  which  will 
probably  never  be  offered  in  the 
U.  S.  because  of  its  anti-American 
slant  and  special  bias  ,  against  the 
Communist  investigations.  But 
during  the  film's  run  in  France 
last  fall  and  its  showing  in  England, 
many  of  the  people  who  bought 
tickets  were  American  servicemen 
and  their  families.  In  Paris,  it 
played  in  four,  theatres,  in  English. 
Abd  a  majority  of  its  patrons  were 
servicemen  stationed  with  SHAPE 
headquarters  or  the  Seine  com¬ 
mand. 

Taking  advantage  of  the  excite¬ 
ment  and  newspaper  space  follow¬ 
ing  Cardinal  Spellman's  banning 
ot“Baby  Doll,”  and  its  subsequent 
rejection  for  showing  on  the  mili¬ 
tary  circuit,  German  cinemas  in 
towns  having  a  large  population  of 
American  servicemen  scheduled 
special  showings  in  English.  Near 
sellout  biz  resulted.  When  locally- 
male  product  gets  word-of-mouth 
about  having  especially  sexy  or  ex¬ 
citing  scenes,  they  likewise  draw 
the  soldier  business. 

'God  Created  Woman*  Sock. 

Case  in  point  is  the  recent  “And 
God  'Created  Woman,”  Brigitte 
Bardot  starrer  released  by  Colum¬ 
bia  in  France  and  Germany.  Even 
though  the  film  was  shown  only 
in  the  local  lihgos,  plenty  of.  serv¬ 
icemen  decided  that  pidgin 
French  or  German  and  an  appre¬ 
ciation  of  the  Bardot  torso  would 
get  enough,  and  crowded,  in  to  see 
the  nude  scenes. 

Similarly,  an  off-beat  German 
film  about  the  problems  of  a  young 
man  who  fears  he’s  a  homosexual, 
Constantin’s  “Other.  Than  You 
and  I”  and  the  Italian  story  of,  a 
Streetwalker  “Nights,  of  Cabiria,” 
drew  big  military  audiences'  in 
Germany  in  view  of  subject  mat¬ 
ter.  Both  films  played  in  Ger¬ 
man  here. 

Motion  Picture:  Service  reps  in 
Germany  claim  that  they  ‘  do  not 
“censor”  films;  but  that  foreign 
pictures  generally  have  little,  in¬ 
terest  for  their  audiences.  .  Re¬ 
cent  release  of  “Richard  III”  on. 
the  military  circuit  was  cited  as 
doing  little  business.  But  if  he 
could  see  the  boys  in  uniform  lin¬ 
ing  upi- for  tickets  to  see  Miss  Bar- 
dot,  .he  might  change  his  mind. 
Meanwhile,  regular  exhibitors,  are 
profiting,  because  the  American 
military  pay  the  regular  scale, 
30c  to  $1,  as  against  the  across- 
the-board  25c  entry  fee  ut  the  mili¬ 
tary  houses*  ;  Ha  l.  f.J  j 


sabre  scar  backstage 


In  The  Wake  of  Callaa  Two 
Males  Make  Headlines 


Rome,  Jan.  28.- 

Latest  reports  (on  the  Corelli* 
Christoff  fight  during  Rome  Opera 
House  rehearsals  of  “Don  Carlos") 
indicate  that  basso  Boris  Christoff 
plans  to  go  to  court  regarding  the 
hassle  which  resulted  in  his  walk¬ 
out  of  rehearsals.  Singer  has  been 
replaced  in  the  role  of  Philip  II 
by  Mario  Petri. 

Reports  of  the  happening  are 
divergent.  Consensus  to  date 
seems  to  he  that  Christoff  object¬ 
ed  to  claimed  upstaging  and  other 
attention-focusing  tactics  by  Cor¬ 
elli  (who  was  Maria  Meneghini 
Callas’  partner  in  the  unfinished 
“Norma”).  A  fight  developed  on¬ 
stage,  with  Corelli  replying  to  the 
bass’  attack.  Result  was  a  cut 
finger  ascribed  by.  Christoff  to 
Corelli’s  attack  with  a  sabre.  Both 
singers  then  retired  to  their  dress¬ 
ing  rooms:  The  bass  demanded  an 
apology  from  Corelli.  When  none 
came,  Christoff  went  home.  While, 
the  rehearsal  continued  without 
him. 

Basso  is  protesting  Rome  Opera 
action  via  a  suit  which  is  ngw  in 
the  hands  ,  of  lawyer  Filippo  Un¬ 
garo,  claiming  his  replacement  il¬ 
legal  because .  he  was  bound  for 
four  performances  of  “Don  Carlos,” 
'and  was  never  called  back  for 
rehearsals  while  in  his  dressing 
room.. 


m 


Ropie,  Jan.  28. 

Ever  since  the  recent  "Callas 
Walkout”  at  the  Rome-  Opera 
House,  the  Italian  Opera  sector 
has  Ijeen  plagued  with  similar  in¬ 
cidents,  which  have  kept  the  local 
wires  humming  In  ai  contagious 
spreading  movement.  ' 

Oddly  enough,  the  first  of  these 
incidents  Involved  Anita  Cerquetti, , 
the  young  soprafio  who  eventually 
replaced  Maria  Menephtol  Callas 
iii  “Norma”  at  the  Rome  Opera 
House.  Miss  Cerquetti,  who  -  was  to 
sing  In  the  opening  presentation  of 
Bellini’s  “H  Plrata”  at  the  Palermo 
Opera  House,  has  renounced  the 
role  and  will  be  replaced  by  a  New. 
York-born  American  soprano,  Lucy 
Kelston/  Reportedly,  Miss  Cer¬ 
quetti  has  'a  nervous  breakdown 
caused  by  recurrent  amnesia  which 
prevented  her  from  properly  mem¬ 
orizing  her  role  in  “11  Pirata.” 
Things  came. to  a  head  during  re^ 
hearsals,  and  doctors  called  off  the 
engagement  and  prescribed  rest. 
While;  a  spokesman  for  the  singer 
blamed  the  -attack  on,  the  effort 
(both  medial  and  physical)  made 
by  Miss  Cerquetti  in  substituting 
for  Miss  Callas,  toe  Palermo  Opera 
management  indicated  it  would  ask 
fbi'  a  fine  to  be  applied,  pointing 
out  that  Miss  Cerquetti’s  contract 
for  “II  Plrata”  was  signed  June  19, 
1957,  arid  that  singer  was  sent  the 
libretto  immediately*  thus  giving 
her  plenty  of  time  for  complete 
preparation  for  the  role, 

.  Meanwhile,  illness  has  .  also 
forced  the  substitution  in  Bari  of 
another  Callas  replacement.  Cateri¬ 
ng  Mancini,  who’ll  be  replaced  by 
Aurora  Lintura.  Miss  Mancini  re¬ 
cently  subbed  for  Miss  Callas  in 
Bari,  where  latter  was  to  sing  fol¬ 
lowing  her  Rome  engagements.  : 

.  In  Naples,  illness  may  also  force 
the  siigstitutfon  of  Rbssana  Car¬ 
ter!,  who  was  to  sing  the  opener  of 
Puccini’s  “La  Rondtoe,”  by  another 
soprano. 

A  filial  incident  is  reported  to 
have  Occurred  at  the  Rome  Opera, 
scene  Of  the  Callas  episode,  dur¬ 
ing  the  trials  of  Verdi’s  “Don  Car¬ 
los/’  A  verbal  battle  Is  said  to  have 
started  between  Franco  Corelli  and 
bass  Boris  Christoff  for  so  far  un- 


By  HAROLD  MYERS 


khbwir*  fetfsbns. 

SJI.  ?3  C  C  3 


)i  •(  i*  >f  -  r.  si-  e  i  >  n 


London,  Jan.  28. 

A  peace  pact,  it  Is  understood, 
has  been  made  between  20th-Fox 
and  the  Rank  Organization.  Top 
industry  insiders  says  the  deal  was. 
inked  last  week  when  Spyros 
Skouras  returned  from  the  contin¬ 
ent.  Terms  of  the  settlement  are 
being  kept  a  closely  guarded  secret 
and  it’s  not  known  whether  the 
Rank  group  has  conceded  the  ques¬ 
tion  of  extra  playing  time  for  top 
grossers,  which  was  a  point  of  is¬ 
sue  when  the  split  first  developed. 
Under  the  newly-concluded  deal 
it  is  reported  that  20th-Fox  has 
made  an  arrangement  whereby  its 
production  will  be  divided  between 
Circuits  Management  Assn,  (the 
company  which  controls  the  two 
Rank  theatre  chains)  and  the  ma¬ 
jor  indie  groups  such  as  Essoldo 
and  Granada. 

On  the  estimate  that  they’ll  have 
24  top-ranking  feature  pix  for  re¬ 
lease  this  year,  20:h-Fox  will  di¬ 
vide  these  into  six  groups  of  four 
apiece.  Two  groups  of  four  will 
be  Selected  at_a  time  and  for  al¬ 
ternate  batches.  CMA  and  the  in¬ 
dies  will  be  given  first  choice.  On 
that  basis,  both  the  Rank  circuits 
and  the  independents  will  play  12 
top  20ih-Fox  feature  films  a  year. 

The  split,  which  dates  back 
some  four  years  from  the  time  of 
the  launching  of  CScope  and  the 
presentation  of  “The  Robe,”  led 
to  new  and  highly  successful  book¬ 
ing  format.  Up  to  that  time  20th- 
Fox  had  always  traded  with  CMA 
and  its  product  went  out  on  either 
the  Odeon  or  Gaumont  circuits. 
Indie  theatres  either  played  con- 
cuiTently,  where  booking  facilities 
permitted,  or  took  the  output  for 
subsequent-runs. 

When  the  company  lost  the  Rank 
ou’lets,  20th-Fox  created  an  indie 
chain  which  became  known  locally 
as  the  fourth  circuit.  The  major 
groups  involved  were  Essoldo  and 
Granada,  which,  between  them,  ac¬ 
count  for  around  250  theatres.  The 
former,  which  controls  just  under 
200  theatres*  .may  well  be  seriously 
affected  by  the  peace  pact. 

Many  of  the' Essoldo  houses  are 
in  competitive  situations,  not  only 
with.  Odeon  and  Gaumont,  but  also 
with  the  Associated  British  chain. 
Granada,  on  the  other  hand,  is  in 
a  more  favorable  booking  position 
and  may  well  be  able  to  show  some 
of  the  20th-Fox  releases  selected  by 
the  Rank  group. 

Worked  Out  Okay  for  20th-Fox 
Although  the  lack  of  a  direct 
major*  outlet  involved  considerable 
organizational  work  for  20th,  the 
company  bad  a  succession  of  suc¬ 
cessful  trading  years  with  the  in¬ 
dependents,  and  its  UK  grosses 
have  held  steady  at  around  $7,800,- 
000.  over  the  past  three  years. 

Reports  of  a  reapproachment  be¬ 
tween  20th-Fox  and  Rank  two  or 
three  weeks  ago  when  Spyros 
Skouras  came,  to  town  with  Murray 
Silverstone.  Then  it  became 
known .  that  they  had  met  with 
Lord  Rank  and  John  Davis;  Al¬ 
though  vigorously;  denied,  the  re¬ 
ports  have  persistently  gained 
strength  along  Wardour  Street 
(London’s  Film  Row)  and  there’s 
now  ho  doubt  that  the  breach  has 
been  healed.  Only  the  final  de¬ 
tails  of  the  settlement  appear  to 
be  lacking. 

In  the  issue  of  Nov.  30,  1955, 
Variety  reported  from  London 
that  a  romance  was  blossoming  be- 
tween  the  Rank  Organization  and 
2bth-Fox.  It  forecast  that  it  would 
take  two  years  before  the  recon¬ 
ciliation  was  affected. 


Doyle  on  Singapore  Trip 

,  Singapore,  „  Jan.  21. 

Art  Doyle,  Universal  Interna¬ 
tional’s  supervisor  for  Eastern  Asia 
and  the  Far  East,  timed  his  10- 
day  visit  here  with  the*  opening  of 
the.  company’s  “Man  of  a  Thou¬ 
sand  Faces”  (U)  at  Shaw’s  Capitol. 

Meeting  Doyle  at  the  airport 
were  Runme  Shaw,  the  latter’s 
general  manager.  Jack  Sharp  and 
livin'  C&ssell,  •  U-Lloeal  manager.  *  • 
3i;  rir*cii‘.fS3 


Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


Wednesday,  January  29,  19jf& 


I every  exhibitor  w*n~ 


/s... 


rrm  • 


SiNg 


Co-starring 


EDMOND 

O’BRIEN 


Produced  and  Directed 


IMSUWria  ^  'S&v'y 

_ — — TTtfhe  Southland 

id  they  «’k,^oooH*'»“*10B? 

oW  W-n  <■  w  Vrt#  a  teeno9®rs  * 

^vTrts)*'1  '°vc ** *h  ■ - 


„  HENRY  EPHRON  • * »  CLAUDE  BINYON 


Today’s  new 
singing  idol 
of  the 
nation . . 
launched 
by  20  th 
•the  same  way 
we  brought 
Elvis  Presley 
and 

Pat  Boone 

to  the  screen . . . 
with 

strong  story  ! 

sensational 

songs! 

sure-fire 

showmanship! 


Sample,  ofthe  sock 
ad  campaign! 
s  Get  the  press  book / 


Biiid  on  a  Story  by  Paul  Monaah  *  In  tha  wcmdar  of  STEREOPHONIC  SOUND 


14 


PICTURES 


pAkmtt 


Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


Salary  &  Severance  Terms  Revealed; 


Aggregate  remuneration  paid  to-f 
Loew’s  Inc.  officers  for  full  or  par*' 
tial  service  during  the  past  fiscal 
year  totaled  $1,525,066,  according 
to  the.  proxy  statement  issued  by 
the  company  for  the  annual  meet¬ 
ing  on  Feb.  27. 

Prexy  Joseph  B.  Vogel  i?  down 
for  $135,429,  figure  including  his 
salary  from  Oct.  18,  1956  to  Aug. 
31,  1957,  during  which  time  he 
became  a  director  of  Loew’s  Ific. 
Previously  he  had  been  prexy  and 
a  director  of  Loew’s  Theatres. 

Under  ah  employment  agree¬ 
ment  entered  with.  Vogel  oh  Oct. 
22,  1956,  he  is  entitled  to  receive, 
after  termination  of  -his  contract, 
$1,000  per  week  for  every  week  of 
employment  since  that  date*  pro¬ 
vided  he  renders  advisory  service 
as  set  forth  in  his  contract.  This, 
in  essence,  gave  Vogel  a  $1,000 
weekly  raise  when  he  became 
prexy  of  Loew’s.  Inc.  Firm  has  re¬ 
served  $45,000  during  the  past  fis¬ 
cal  year  ,  for  the  extra  payment  to 
Vogel. 

Ben  Thau,  studio  administrative 
chief,  is  listed  as  receiving  $156,- 
429,  and  studio  executive  E.  J. 
Mannix  is  down  for  $166,857. 

Charles  C.  Moskowitz,  who  re¬ 
tired  during  the  year  as  v:p.  and 
treasurer  and  was  succeeded  by 
Robert  H.  O’Brien*  received  a  total 
$156,429.  Former  prexy  and  board 
chairman  Nicholas  M.  Schenck  re¬ 
ceived  $35,769  from  Sept,  1,  1956 
to  Nov.  21,  1956,  after  which  date 
Schenck.  was  not  an  officer  or  di¬ 
rector  of  Loew's. 

Schenck’s  employment  termin¬ 
ated  Oh  Bee.  31,  1956.  Under  the 
.company’s  retirement  plan,  he.  was 
entitled,  on-terminatioh  of  his  em¬ 
ployment,  to  an  annual  annuity  for 
life  (and  in  any  event  for  10  years 
even  though  death  occurs  earlier) 
of  $47,508.  Instead  of- the  annuity, 
and  as  provided  by  the  retirement 
plan,  according  to  the  company, 
Schenck  elected  a  lump  sum  cash 
payment  of  $503,672.  This  pay¬ 
ment  Was  provided  by  the  Equita-i 
ble  Life  Assurance.  Society  from 
annuity  purchase  payments  pre¬ 
viously  made  by  Loew’s  from 
March  1,  1944  to  March  1,  1953. 

Former  sales  v.p.  Charles  M. 
Reagan  received  $45,625  during  the 
time  he  served  as.  a  director  (Sept. 
1,  1956  to  . Feb.  28,  1957):-  For  the 
period  from  March  1,  1957  to  Aug. 
31,  1957,  during  which  time  he  was 
an  officer  but  not  a  director  he  also 
received  $45,625. 

Under  the  employment  agree¬ 
ment  entered  With  Reagan  in  1952. 
his  exclusive  employment  with 
Loew’s  was  to.  terminate  on  July 
17,  1957.  ^Part  of  his  salary  was 
deposited  m  escrow  and  upon  com¬ 
pletion  of  his  employment  became 
payable  to  him  or  his  representa¬ 
tive  in  weekly  installments  over  a 
12-year  period  starting  July  19, 
1957.  During  the  12-year  stanza, 
Reagan  is  to  be  available  as  a  con¬ 
sultant.  After  termination  of  Rea¬ 
gan’s  contract,  his  exclusive  em¬ 
ployment  continued  until  Dec.  13, 
1957;  Part  of  his  Salary  after  July 
17,  *1957,  was  also  deposited  in  es¬ 
crow;  In  addition  to  the  $91,250 
he  received  during  the  fiscal  year 
ended  Aug.  31,  1957,  Loew’s  de¬ 
posited  $83,200  in  escrow  for  Rea¬ 
gan.  From  July  21,  1949  to  Aug. 
31,  1956,  Loew’s  deposited  a  total 
of  $452,200  in  escrow  for  Reagan. 

Former  pub-ad  v.p.  Howard 
Dietz,  now  serving  as  consultant 
at  lialf  salary,  received  a  total  of 
$104,286  during  the  fiscal  year. 
Benjamin  Melniker,  v,p.  and  gen¬ 
eral  counsel*,  is  down  for  a  total,  of 
$60,929. 

Only  business  scheduled  for  the 
Feb.  27  meeting  is  the  election  of 
directors.  4 


$15,000  Walked  Away 

Toronto,  Jan.  28..  • 

“Sayonara”  meant  good-bye 
to  $15,000  at  the  Imperial  The¬ 
atre,  this  being  the  amount  of 
weekend  -receipts  for  the  War¬ 
ner  picture  Which  a  bandit 
team  walked  off  with. 

Michael  Bihun,  treasurer;  of 
the  house,  left  the  inpriey  in 
two  canvas  bags  in  an  unlocked 
safe  in  his  mezzanine  office 
when  he  Went  to  the  washroom 
and  discovered  the  loss  upon 
-his  return; 

Service,  personnel  at  the 
theatre  saw  two  young  men  in 
the  office  but -thought  they 
were  seeking .  employment. . 


Jules  Furthman’s  1456 
Suit  Vs.Howard  Hughes 

Hollywood,  Jam  28. 
Attachment  suit  has  been  filed 
against  Howard  Hughes  for  $145,- 
833  by  Jules  .Furthman  Over  “Jet 
Pilot.”  Furthman  said  he  was 
hired  in  May  of  1956  at  $2,500  per 
week  to  produce  added  scenes  and 
discharged  a  year  later  at  Which 
time  Hughes  Owed  him  $135,000. 

He  also  asks  $10,833  under  pen¬ 
alty  provisions  of  California  labor 
code; 


Harrison  Stays  Cheery 

St.  Louis,  Jan.  28. 
“There  are  no  prophets  of  doom 
in  our  company,  and  statements 
niade  by  movie  prophets  of  doorri 
do  not  apply  to  us,”  Alex  Harrisori, 
general  sales  manager  of  20th-Cen- 
tury-Fox,  told  executives  and  sales 
representatives  of  11  of  the  com- 
panys’  Midwestern  offices  at  a  two 
day  meeting  here  last  week  (21, 
22). 

As  proof  of  the  pudding,  Harri¬ 
son  outlined  the  company’s  plans 
for  producing  55  to  60  pictures 
during  1958  at  a  cost  of  $65,000,000. 

‘‘This  will  be  one  .gf  the  biggest 
years  we’ve  ever  had,”  he  said. 
“People  are  not  losing  interest  in 
films— they’re  just  shopping.  They 
want  big  pictures  and  we  intend 
to  give,  them  big  pictures.” 


h  Loew’s  Tale 


“Which  statement  d’ya  read?' 
appears  a  natural  query  after  a 
study  of  Loew’s  Inc.’s  annual  re¬ 
port  which  was  issued  last  week. 
The  company  showed  a  loss  of 
$455,000  for  its  fiscal  year,  but  indi¬ 
cates  that  “our  earnings  would  have 
been  $745,000  had  we  continued 
pur.  past  accounting  practices.’' 

This  Comment  has  naturally  led 
to  speculation  whether;  or  not 
Loew’s  made  or  lost  money  in  pre¬ 
vious  fiscal  periods  When  a  profit 
was  shown  and  dividends  were  de¬ 
clared.  In  addition;  it  opens,  to 
question  the  financial  Statements 
of  the  other  film  companies: 

Of  course,  there  is  no  question 
of  doctoring  the  books.  Both  Loew’s 
present  accountants — Arthur  An¬ 
dersen  &  Co. — and  its  previous 
auditors-^Miller,  Donaldson  &  Co: 
—are;  reputable  and  respected  cer¬ 
tified  public  accounting  firms;  How, 
then,  can  the  discrepancy  be  ex¬ 
plained? 

,  Both  this  and  the  previous,  year’s 
statements  were  “prepared  in  con-; 
fonnity  with  generally  accepted 
accounting  practices.”  However, 
according  to  accounting  specialists, 
the  decision  as  to  a  company’s  ac¬ 
counting  system  is  not  made  -en¬ 
tirely 'by  "the:  auditors.  The  com¬ 
pany  can  establish  the  basic  audit¬ 
ing  pattern  Which  the  CPA  fol¬ 
lows. 

Because  of  the  change  in  the  ac¬ 
counting  technique,  Loew’s  latest 
report  cannot  be  compared  with 
previous  ones  of  the  same  com¬ 
pany  nor  can  LoeW’s  - be  .compared 
to  any  other  company  on  the  basis 
of  the  respective  reports. 

For  example,  according  to  and! 
tors,  “the  .accountant  can  generally 
conform'  the  reports  of  any  one 
company  to  a  single  system,  so  that 
they  are  comparable  from  year  to 
year  unless  conditions  changed 
radically.”  However,  it’s  stressed 
that  reports  of  two  or  .three  com¬ 
panies  cannot  be  compared  to  each 
other  and  that,  comparisons  be¬ 
tween  two  companies  in  the  same 
industry  “are  so  arbitrary  as  to  be 
not  only  worthless  but  dangerous.” 

On  the  basis,  of  this  feeling 
among  accountants,  it  appears  dif¬ 
ficult  to  determine  the  comparative 
success  or  failure  of  the  different 
companies  that  make  up  the  .film 
business.  This  becomes  more  so 
on  the  strength  of  the  remarks  of 
accounting  expert  who.  has  said 
that  it’ll  probably  corne  as  a  shock 
to  most,  people  to  learn  “that  two 
otherwise  identical  corporation? 
might  report  net  income  differing 
by  millions  of  dollars  simply  be¬ 
cause  they  followed  different  ac¬ 
counting  methods  arid  that  the  fi¬ 
nancial  stateidents  of  both  compa¬ 
nies.  might  ,  still,  carry  a  certified*  | 
public  accountant’s  opinion  stating 
that  the  reports  fairly  presented 
the  results  in  accordance  with  ‘gen¬ 
erally  accepted  accounting  princi¬ 
ples’:” 

Loew’s  decision  to  change  its  ac¬ 
counting  system  is  considered  pure¬ 
ly  an  administrative  decision  and 
is  not  to  be  regarded  as  a  reflec¬ 
tion  on  the  Ability  of  its  previous 
auditors:  Under  present  conditions 
faced  by  Loew’s,  the  company  prob¬ 
ably  feels  that  it’s  better  to  redord 
certain  losses  immediately  rather 
than  spread  them  over  a  period. 


Kansas  City,  Jan.  28. 
Biz  turned  up  here  by  “Rodan,” 
the  Japanese  import;  is  one  of  the 
most  sensational  of  '  the  winter 
season..  Playing  in  four  Fox  Mid¬ 
west  houses  scattered  in  shopping 
districts,  across:  the  metropolitan 
area,  day  and  date  in  situations 
usually  subsequent  run,  the  picture 
racked  up  $23,000. 

After  playing  the  first  Week  In 
the  Isis,  Vista,  ,  Brookside  and 
Granada,  it  played  a:  second  week 
in  the  Vista,  Brookside  and  Apollo, 
to  which  it  Was  moved  from  the 
hearty  Isis.  This  week,;  too;  was 
big  at  $9,000. 

No  small  part  of  the.  success  Is 
due  to  heavy  backing  given  .the 
engagement  on  radio  and  .tv*  ac¬ 
cording  to  Leon  Robertson,  city 
manager.  ■  The.  circuit  made  use  of 
an  impact  package  offered  by 
KMBC-KMBC-TV,  including  about 
50  spots  spread  over  radio  and 
television  opening  day  and  the  day 
before. 

The  tv  trailers' .have  been  cited 
as  especially  weir  done  and  effec¬ 
tive.  Station  also  conducted  s 
contest  asking  listeners  to  send  in 
drawing  of  the  monster  in  the 
picture^  and  this ;  drew  over  500 
entries;  it  was  reported  by  Don 
Davis,  station  president. 

Traffic  generated  by  the  picture 
even  brought  out  the  Kansas  City. 
Star,  which  did  .  a  feature  story 
aboiit  the  lines  of  patrons  waiting 
to  see  the  picture— like  old  times. 
Thje .  big;  business  came  at  a  time 
when  the  town  was.  loaded  with 
super  attractions,  all  doing  big 
trade,  an  indication  of  the  fact 
that  there  is  no  limit  to  What  good 
pictures  can  do. 


Greg  Bautzer  Ineligible 
For  Rhoden’s  Directorate 

Los  Angeles,  Jan.  28. 

Greg  Bautzer,'  on  directorate  of 
National  Theatres,  will  act  as  con¬ 
sultant  in  connection  with  NT’s 
production  activities,  prexy  Elmer 
C.  Rhoden  disclosed.  Bautzer  conse¬ 
quently  won’t  be  available  for  re-¬ 
election  to  board,  because  of  the 
consent  decree,  Rhoden  explains. 

Company  topper  also  stated  that 
the  subsid.  National  Film  Invest¬ 
ments,  Inc.,  prexied  by  Charles  L. 
Glett,  is  hopeful  of  shortly  getting 
the  green  .light  from  Justice  Dept, 
to  pursue  its  financing  of  indie  pro¬ 
ductions.  Bautzer,  said  Rhoden,  will 
serve  as  legal  consultant  for  this 
company  as  well. 


Four  New  loew’s  Directors  Almost 


One  More  at  U  Prior  To 
Five  Months  of  Hiatus 

Hollywood,  Jan.  28.  • 

-Universal  delays  Its  scheduled 
five-month  production  hiatus  tem¬ 
porarily,  to  roll  “The  Water  Witch” 
this  week.  Property,  an  original 
screenplay,  was  recently  purchased 
from  David  Duncan,  Will.  Cowan 
will  produce  and.  direct. 

Five-month  production  suspen¬ 
sion  was  decided  upon  last  week 
at  a  meeting  ,  of  top  echelon  U 
execs.  It  had  been  scheduled  to 
start  next  month  following  windup 
of  the  currently  shooting  “The 
Perfect.  Furlough.’*  Instead,  it  will 
start  with  the  completion,  of 
“Witch,” 

Local  Historian 
Gives  Canadian 
Fihn  Hard  Time 


Vancouver,  Jan.  28. 

National  Film  Board’s  feature.] 
film  on  British  Columbia’s  “Hang¬ 
ing  Judge,”  due  for  release,  has 
been  shelved  in  response  .  to 
screams  of  “travesty”  from  Van-, 
couver. 

Bruce  Ramsay,  as  spokesman -for 
city’s  Historical  Association,  cried 
halt  to  the  epic,  claiming  “The  dia¬ 
logue  is  idiotic  .  .  ^  and  'the  film 
Is  historically  and  geographically 
incorrect,”  Focal  point  of  local 
indignation  was  the,  title,  “The 
Hanging  Judge,”  implying  that 
film’s  subject.  Judge  Matthew  Bail- 
lie  Begbie,  was  another  Judge 
Jeffries  of  British  history  and  as 
bloody.  Feature  has  been  re- 
titled  “The  Legendary  Judge”  arid 
script  is  being  ^re-edited”  to  riiol- 
lify  complaints  as  far.  as  finished 
footage  permits.  : 

Ramsay,  as  “immediate  past 
chairman”  of  local  historical  ac¬ 
tivity,  fingered  scenes  showing 
Judge  Begbie  “patrolling  outside 
the  courthouse,  all  night,  which  is. 
silly!”,  arid  scripted  Begbie  dia¬ 
logue  where  in  court  judge  is  made 
to  voice  often,  "Now  hear  this!’- 
Which-  said  Ramsay,  “He  would  not 
say  that.” 

Begbie  is  shown  as  coming  down 
the.  Fraser  canyon  to  Yale,  whereas 
he,  by  topographic  necessity,  would 
have  to  go  “up.” 

Other  Ramsay  beefs  Involve 
dates  of  persons  then  Extant  as 
ex-San  Franciscan  toughie  Ned  Mc¬ 
Gowan  who  is  dialogued  as  here 
In  1861,  whereas,  said  Ramsay, 
“McGowan  was  only  here  during 
the  winter  of  1858-59.” 

Whatever  remedies  the  National 
Film  Board  may  take  to.  bring 
"The  Legendary  Judge”  into  line 
with  historical  fact,  the  filriv  seems 
slated  for  a  raspberry  style  recep¬ 
tion  in  B.  C. 


The  four  new  directors  proposed 
for  the  board  of  Loew’s: Inc.. own  or 
control  a,  total  of  172,488  shares 
of  the  firm,  but  their  holdings  are 
a  shade  under  that  off  former  dis¬ 
sident  Joseph  Tomlinson,  who  per¬ 
sonally  owns  180,000  and  controls 
another  5;000  through  a  corpora¬ 
tion  which  Indirectly  owns  Loew's 
shares.  Authorized  Capital  stock  of 
Loew’s  corislsts  of  6,000,000  shares, 
of  which  5,336,777  are  outstanding. 

Breakdown  of  the  holdings  of 
proposed  directors  Louis  A.  Green, 
Ira  Guilden,  Philip  A.  Roth  and 
Jerome  A.  Newman  Was  contained 
in  a  proxy  statement  issued  last 
week  for  the  annual  meeting  on 
Feb;  27  in  New  York.  It  shows 
Green,  with  113,268  shares,  as  the 
largest  stockholder  of.  the  quartet. 
He  has  played  a  leading  role  in 
the  peace  movement  supporting 
Loew’s  prexy  Joseph  R.  Vogel. 

Guilden  personally  has  1,900 
shares,  but  he  is  board  chairman 
and  a  stockholder  of  Baldwin  Se^ 
curities  Corp.j  which  owns  bene¬ 
ficially  27,900  shares  of  Loew’s. 
Newman  holds  3,340  shares,  his 
wife!  2,200;  through  Graham-New- 
man  Co.,  of  which  he  is  managing 
partner,  he  controls  another-  3,760 
shares.  Roth  personally  .holds 
only  100  shares,  but  he  is  also  as¬ 
sociated  with  Baldwin  Securities 
Corp. 

Although  Guilden.  and  Roth  have 
been  identified  as;  Vogel  support¬ 
ers,  they  were  not  proposed  for 
the  board  by  Green.  Benjamin 
Melniker,  v.p.,  general  counsel  and 
a  director,  and  William  A.  Parker, 
of  Incorporated  Investors  of  .Bos¬ 
ton  and  a  longtime  director,  both 
of  whom  are  .associated  with  the 
Title  Guarantee  &  Trust  Co.  in  ad¬ 
dition  to  Baldwin  Securities  Corp. 

JACK  JUDD  TO  DALLAS 
IN  COLUMBIA  SHIFTS 

Jack  Judd,  Columbia  branch 
manager  in  Pittsburgh  for  the  past 
seven  years;  has  been  promoted  to 
southwest  division  manager  with 
headquarters  in  Dallas.  He’ll  have 
supervision  over  Dallas,  Houston, 
Oklahoma  City  and  Memphis.  Re- 
placirig  Judd  in  the  Pittsburgh 
post-  is  Frank  Silverman,  who 
moves  up  from  salesmari  in.  that 
branch. 

This  is  one  of  several,  changes 
•in  the  Col  field  setup.  George  M. 
Josephs  was  shifted  from  circuit 
sales  account  exec  to  the  new  post 
of  homeoffice  eastern  sales  rep 
and  was  succeeded  in  .  the  former 
job  by  Jerome  Safron,  "upped  from 
Cleveland  branch  chief.  Cleve¬ 
land  spot  went  to .  Samuel  Weiss, 
Who  shifted  from  the  20th-Fox 
branch  in  that  city. 


Lament  for  B.O.  Stars 

Hollywood,  Jan.  28. 

“There  aren’t  as  many  names 
that  'mean  something  at  the  box- 
office  as  the  agerits  would  lie  us 
to  believe,”  producer  William  Perl- 
berg,  observes  glumly.  That  factor, 
he  added,  may  delay  thriee  upcom¬ 
ing  films;  from  the  Perlberg-Seaton 
indie,  unit. 

Within  the  next  si  weeks,  unit 
will  have  completed  screenplays  on 
“The  Cliff’s  Edge,” “But  Not  for 
Me”  and“The  Rat  Race.”  But  they 
won’t  be  made  until  they  can  he 
properly  cast— and  there’s  no  tell¬ 
ing' how  long  that  Will  take. 

“We  sat  on  ‘Teacher’s  Pet’  for 
three  years,”  Perlberg  recalls, 
“and  when  Clark  Gable  and  Doris 
Day  became  .  available,  “e  went 
ahead  With  it!” 

.  Perlberg,  believes  film  industry 
is  no  Ioriger  ri  manufacturing  busi¬ 
ness  Where  you  grind  out  a  product 
with  just  anyone.  If  P-S  can’t  get 
top  boxoffice  names  for  the  up-: 
coming  trio  of  films,  they’ll  be 
made  with  the  next  best.  “But,” 
he  adds,  “in  no  case;  will  we  com¬ 
promise  on  performances  and  the 
stars  will  have  to  justify  the  cost.” 


P.A/s,  Mgrs.  Adopt  Plan 
For  Sick  Pay  Split-Up 

A  plan  has  been  adopted  by  the 
Assri.  of  Theatrical  Press  Agents 
&  Managers  for  members  to  draw 
up  to  four  weeks  sick  pay  when 
replaced  on  &  job  because  of  ill¬ 
ness.  The  compensation  comes  to 
a  little  less  than  40%  of -.the  mi  i- 
mum  salary  for  pressagents  ,.or 
managers, whichever  the  case; 

The  weekly  split  in!  the  mana¬ 
gerial  category  is  $100  for  the  rev 
placement  arid  $65.38  for  the  sick 
party,  while  the  publicists’  share 
$140  for  the  replacement  and  $91 
for  the  sick  party.  ■  No  assessriients 
are  made  on  the  sick  member  and 
his  replacement .  is  riot .  subject.,  to 
the  associate  rule. 

If  the  illness  lasts  more  than 
four  weeks,  the  replacement  goes 
on  full  salary.  It’ll  then  be  up  to 
the  union’s  Welfare  Committee  to 
determine  what  should  be  done  for 
the  sick  member. 


Q.  F,  D.  Productions,;  Inc.  has 
been  empowered  to  conduct  a  mo¬ 
tion  picture  business  in  New  York, 
with  capital  ,  stock  of  200  shares, 
no  par  value.  Directors  are;  Ber¬ 
nard  and  Miriam  Baron  of  Forest 
Hills  and  James  A.  Gaffney  of  the 
Bronx.  Robert  Moinester,  Lyn- 
brook,  L.I.,  was  filing  attorney. 


George  Kraska  Trails  Sun; 
Boston  Showman  Retiring 

Boston,  Jan.  28. 

George  Kraska,  the  man  who  in*, 
troduced  foreign,  pictures  to  Boston 
and  began,  what  subsequently 
turned  into  an  art  house,  retires  at 
the  end  of  the  month  (31)  as  ex¬ 
ploitation  chief  of  Joe  Levine’s  Em¬ 
bassy  Pictures  Corp,,.  only  New 
England  national  distrib. 

Kraska,  in  the  picture  business 
for  35  yerirs,  will,  however,  he  con¬ 
sultant  to  the  Embassy  staff.  With 
his  wife,  Kraska  moves  to  Florida: 
in  February  and  plans  to  spend  the 
winters  there  and  the  summers  in 
Boston.  He  opened  and  ran  the  old 
Fine  Arts  Theatre  and  brought  the 
first  foreign  films  to  Beantown.  His 
operation  of  the  Fine  Arts  lasted 
15  years.  Formerly*in  the  publicity 
department  of  Loew’s,  New  York, 
he  was  also  instrumental  in  setting 
the  art  house  policy  of  Louis 
Richmond’s .  Kerimof e  Theatre  arid 
Ben  Sack’s  Beacon  Hill  house. 


Houston,  Jan;  28.. 

Harris  County  Grand  Jury  heard 
16  Witnesses  In  its  probe  Of  vandal¬ 
ism  at  the.  Brunson  Theatre  in 
Baytonw  and  promised  more  wit¬ 
nesses.  ' 

It  is  investigating  incident  of 
NoVv  27  in  which  vandals  caused 
about  $l!600  worth  of  damages 
mostly  to  the  theatre’s  screen.. 
Same  theatre  was  egged  by  youths 
year  before.  4. 

Six  youths  already  have  teen 
charged  with  malicious  mischief 
(felony)  in  connection  with  the 
uproar. 


Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


PTSsttRt 


MAKES  THE  BIG  SCREEN  BIGGER! 

Get  acquainted  with  ''UNDERWATER  WARRIOR”!  It’s  different,  unique! 

It  packs  the  big  CinemaScope  screen  with  ticket-selling  novelty,  action, 
romance  and  unbelievably  perilous  and  beautiful  underwater  scenes,  filmed 
in  authentic  locations.  It’s  dynamite  ! 

Here  are  the  daredevil  exploits  of  the  Underwater  Demolition  Team,  up  to 
now  one  of  our  country’s  carefully  guarded  secrets.  The  nerve-tingling  story 
Was  inspired  by  the  actual  death-defying  lives  of  U. D.T.  heroes! 

Dan  Dailey  delivers  a  superb  performance  and  watch  for  a  new  eye -full, 
Claire  Kelly. 

Go  overboard  on  "UNDERWATER  WARRIOR”! 


M-G-M  presents  “UNDERWATER  WARRIOR"  In  CinemaScope  •  Starring 
DAN  DAILEY  •  With  James  Gregory  •  Ross  Martin  •  Raymond  Bailey  •  And 
Introducing  Claire  Kelly  •  Written  by  Gene  Levitt  •  Filmed  by  Underwater  Pro¬ 
ductions  •  Directed  by  Andrew  Morton  -Produced  by  Ivan  Tors -An  M-G-M  Release 


16 


PICTURES 


Variety 


Wednesday >  January  29,  1958 


Perry  Nf  Selheimer,  the  Cine¬ 
rama  Productions  Corp,  director 
who  is  challenging  management,  is 
a  frequent  disturber  of  corporate 
peace,  prexy  Milo  J.  Sutliff  charged  — 
this  week  as  the  proxy  battle  for 
control  of  Cinerama  Productions 
entered  the  charge  and  counter¬ 
charge  stage,  Sutliff,  in  a  letter 
answering  the  first  proxy  solicita¬ 
tion  by  Selheimer,.  described  the 
latter  as  a  “self-styled  representa¬ 
tive  and  protective  committee  of 
stockholders.”  He  pointed  out  that 
Selheimer,  a  Philadelphia  stock¬ 
broker,  does  not  tell  the  stock¬ 
holders  who  their  reps  would  be  if 
they  sign  his  proxy  solicitation. 

Sutliff  charged  that  Selheimer 
has  launched  a  number  of  unsuc¬ 
cessful  proxy  fights  in  the  past 
against  other  companies.  He  was 
involved,  according  to  Sutliff,  in 
the  following  proxy  tiffs:  Founda¬ 
tion  Col,  1951;  Norfolk  Southern 
Bailway,  1951,  1952  and  twice  in 
1956;  Haskelite  Manufacturing  Co., 
1953  and  1955;  Merchants  Distil¬ 
ling  Corp.,  1955;  Iniercounty  Sav¬ 
ings  &  Loan  Co.,  1956.  It’s  stressed 
that  Selheimer  is  not  a  director  of 
any  of  these  companies  at  this 
time. 

Sutliff  noted  that  while  Sel¬ 
heimer  was  associated  with  Nor¬ 
folk  Southern  Bailway  in  a  non¬ 
operating  capacity,  he  drew  salary, 
bonus  fees  and  expenses  of  more 
than  $79,000.  Letter  states,  too,  that 
Selheimer  was  sued  for  malicious 
libel  by  the  then-president  of  the 
Norfolk  Southern. 

The  Cinerama  Productions  prexy 
declared  that  the  entire  board, 
with  the  exception  of  Selheimer, 
"had  approved  the  new  agreement 
with  Stanley  ' Warner  and  empha- 


‘Up  to  You  Adults’ 

Easton,  Pa.,  Jan.  28. 

The  Gap  Theatre  in  nearby 
Wind  Gap  is  making  a  survey 
to  determine  whether  ^  the 
town’s  residents  want  it  to  con¬ 
tinue  to  uhspool  flickers.- 

With  adult  patronage  down, 
George  Tomko,  owner,  of  the 
house,  has  mailed  letters  to  the 
town’s  3, 00Q  residents.  He  told 
them  that  if  the  theatre  is  to 
be  kept,  open, .  their  patronage 
is.  needed,  and  asked  them 
their  views. 

Tomko,  who  opened  the  the-  * 
atre  in  1948,  said  attendance  Of 
children  arid  teenagers  has 
been  good,  but  that  of  ;  adults 
has  been  dropping  .  off.  He 
noted  that  several  .movie 
houses  in  the  area  have  closed 
recently  and  that  unless  busi¬ 
ness  improves,  he  will  close 
his ,  house. 


LoDo  Returns  to  Boston 
For  Uncompleted  Chore 
Of  Opening  ‘Beautiful’ 

...  Boston,  Jain.  28. 
Gina  Loilobrigida  film  “Beauti¬ 
ful  But  Dangerous,”  which  was 
supposed  to  have,  opened  for  U;  S. 
preem  at  the  Memorial  Theatre 
last,  year  at  this  time,  but  was  can¬ 
celed  out  after  reported  “print1 
trouble,”,  and  not  heard  from  since 
here,  is  skedded  for  its  U.  S,  preem 
j  i  ,  ,  .  ...  -  !  at  the  1,700-seat  Pilgrim  Theatre 

sized  that  the  new  deal  will  save;*"  1  .  c 
millions  of  dollars  for  the  company )  rT*  TV;;  .  ...  ,  .  .  - 

and  would  not  necessitate  embroil-  The  Pilgrim  will  be  ,  cl°s®d  fpi; 

ing  the  firm  in  needless  and  costly  ;  the  day .  and  Phil  Engel,  field  ex¬ 
litigation  as  Selheimer  desired.  ploitation  chief  for  20th,  is  work- 


Expect  Intervention  By 
Walsh;  HY.  Local  H-83 
And  Distribs  at  Stall 

t^rchard  F.  Walsh,  president  of 
thdUttternational  Alliance  of  Thea¬ 
trical  Stage  Employees,  is  ex¬ 
pected  to  intervene  momentarily 
in  the  stalemate  that  exists  in 
negotiations  between  the  Home- 
office  Motion  Picture  Employees 
Union,  Local  H-63  and  the  film 
companies  regarding  a  new  con¬ 
tract  for  homeoffice  white  collar 
employees. 

The  deadlock  between  the  upion 
and  the  film  -companies  has  existed 
for  several  Weeks.  Talks  came  to 
a.  halt  when  the  film  companies, 
which  originally  offered  Local  H-63 
a  5 %  across-the-board  wage  hike, 
withdrew  the  offer.  Previously  the 
union  had  turned  down  the  5% 
offer. 

Walsh  returned  from  the  Coast 
this  week  arid  is  expected  to  par¬ 
ticipate  personally  or  designate  a 
representative  in  an  effort  to  break 
the  stalemate.  Policy  is  for  Walsh 
or  his  rep  to  sit:  in  on  the  talks 
between  the  local  union  and  the 
film  company  negotiators. 


Modest  Wage  Boosts 
Commenting  on  Selheimer’s 
complaint  about  salary  increases 
for  Theodore  R.  Kupferman  and 
Irving  Margolin,  operating  officers 
of  the  company,  Sutliff  asserted 
that  the  increases  were  modest  ,  and 
the  first  in  four  years  for  Kupfer¬ 
man.  *  He  charged,  too,  th£t  Sel¬ 
heimer  assured  Kupferman  and 
Margolin  that  if  he  gained^  control 
of  the  company,  he  would .  give 
them  both  substantial  raises. 

BE  OF  GOOD  FAITH! 
HEAR  JINGLE  OF  GOLD 


Stockholders  who.  have  long 
wondered  how.  Cinerama  produc¬ 
tions  could  rack  up  such  substan¬ 
tial  grosses  without  a  payoff  to  the 
shareholders  may  finally  be  re-r 
v  warded  for  their  patience.  An  ini¬ 
tial  dividend  payment  will  prob¬ 
ably  be  made  to  shareholders  of 
Cinerama  Productions  Corp.  before 
the  end  of  this  year. 

This  is  the  opinion  of  the  Wall 
St.  firm  of  Arnold  Bernhard  &  Co. 
which  ^advises  CP  stockholders  to 
retain  *their  present  holdings.  Rec¬ 
ommendation  is  made  in  Bern¬ 
hard’s  “Over  the  Counter— Special 
Situations  Service”  report. 

"The  Wall  St.  analysts  base  their 
view"  on  the  effect  of:  Cinerama 
Productions*  new  agreement  with 
Stanley  Warner;  “From  here  on,” 
says  the  report,  “Cinerama  Produc¬ 
tions  will  derive  a.  steady  income 
from  Stanley  Warner,  the  bulk  of 
which  is  likely  to  be  distributed 
to  stockholders.” 

The  Wall  St.  outfit  sees  CP’s 
prospects  for  the  coming,  fiscal  year 
as  the  brightest  in  the  company’s 
history  and  estimates  that  the  com¬ 
pany  will  earn  as  much -as  50c  a 
share  in  fiscal  1958.  Such  earr¬ 
ings,  it.  says,  will  “put  the  com¬ 
pany  above  water  and  in  a  position 
to  initiate  dividend  payments.” 


ing  out  celeb,  plans  with  the  Italian 
consul  arid  group  first  on  the  list 
of  notables.  Mis$  Loilobrigida  will 
fly  in  to  Boston  with  heir  husband, 
Miklos  Skofic,  for  the  preem.  She 
goes  to  Baltimore,  and  Washington 
for  p.  a.’s  with  the  film  following 
the  Huh  opening. 

The  film,  which:  is  reportedly  a 
big  grosser  in  Europe,  had  several 
scenes  cut  because  of:  involvement 
of  living  Italian  persoriality,  it  was 
said. 

,  Miss  Loilobrigida  came  to  Boston 
:  last  year  ,  for  ,  the  opening  of  the 
film,  which  didn’t.  She  was  guested 
at  a  charity  ball, 

“Beautiful  But  Dangerous,”  col¬ 
or  film,  is  going  into  the  small  Pil- 
grim,  because  all  the  big  houses 
had  locked  dates,  the  20th  office 
here  reported,  arid  it  was  the  only 
house  available.  Miss  Loilobrigida 
will  be  tendered  a  press  luncheon 
at  noon  on  Feb.  6. 


Lola  At  Press  Club  Gala  : 

Washington,  Jan.  28. 

It’ll  be  John  V.  Horner  who’s 
inauguarted  president  of  the  Na¬ 
tional  Press  Club  this  Saturday 
night  (1)  and  the  vice  president 
and  chief  justice  of  the  U.S,  Will 
be  among  the  guests  .  But.  the: 
top  figure  at  the  ceremonies  will 
undoubtedly  be  Gina  Loilobrigida. 
The  Italian  film  star  Was  due  here 
Feb.  3.  for  the  preerii  of  her  new 
20th  film,  “Beautiful  But.  Danger¬ 
ous.”  However,  she  has  accepted 
the  invitation  to  appear  at  the  an¬ 
nual  National  Press  Club  inaugu¬ 
ration  and  will  come  two  * 
earlier! 


JOHN 

RANK’S  POLICY 

London,  Jan.  28. 

Due  to  the  drop  in  attendance 
at  British  theatres,  and  the  re¬ 
sultant  depletion  of  the  Film  Pro¬ 
duction  Fund,  the  J.  Arthur  Bank 
Organization  has  adjusted  its  pro- 
duction  program  for  the  first  half 
of  1958,  according  to  John  H; 
Davis,  Bank  managing  director. 
Djavis  said  that,  nevertheless,  four 
films  are  current  at  the  Pinewood 
studios  (at  a  cost,  of  £1,100,000) 
arid  another  eight— representing 
an  investment  of  £2,100,000— are 
due  to  go  before  the  cameras  be¬ 
tween  now  arid  June.  None  of 
these  will  be  completed  until  early 
August. 

■Regarding  production  plans  for 
the- second  half  of  ’58,  Davis  said 
they  would  be  influenced  by  the 
degree  of  entertainment  tax  relief 
expected  in  the  upcoming  Budget 
“and  the  adjustment,  if  any,  to  en¬ 
sure*  that  the  original  distribution 
of  £  3,750,000  will  be  available  un¬ 
der  the  British  Film  Production 
Fund”  ~ 

He  estimated  that  the  Fund  for 
’58  probably,  wouldn’t  exceed 
£2,500,000  as  against  the  original 
Board  of  Trade  expectations  of 
£3,750,000.  Davis  said  attendance 
at:  British  houses  had  shown  un¬ 
precedented  deterioration  “the 
like  of  which  has  not  happened  in 
my  experience .  before.” 

Fire  Guts  Lake  City,  Iowa 


Omaha,  Jan,  28. 

Fire  Of  undetermined  origin  re¬ 
cently  gutted. the.  Iowa  Theatre  at 
Lake  City,  la.  The  blaze  was  dis¬ 
covered  about  one  hour  after  own¬ 
er  B.  M.  Bernau  had  locked  the 
house  and  gone  home  following  a 
midnight  show.  . 

The  hiousg,. which  was  destroyed 
by  fire  in  i939,  was  rebuilt  in  1940 
•arid  was  of .  fire-resistant  construe- 
days  [  tipn.  Loss  is  set  at  $150,000,  par- 
Itially  covered  by  insurance.  / 


Week  Ended  Tuesday  (28 ) 

N.  Y.  Stock  Exchange 


1957-’58 
High  Low 

Weekly  VoL  Weekly  Weekly 

Tues. 

Net 

Change 

17^ 

11% 

in  100s 
ABC  Tending  67 

High 

16 

Low 

15 

Close 

16 

for  wk. 

+  % 

.24% 

11% 

Am  Br-Par  Th  194 

15% 

14% 

15% 

36% 

23% 

CBS  “A” 

138 

27% 

26% 

26% 

~  % 

35% 

22% 

CBS  “B” 

27 

27 

26 

26 

—  M 

20% 

11% 

Col  Pix 

18 

13% 

13%. 

13% 

19% 

13% 

Decca 

113 

15% 

15 

*  15% 

+.. 

.15%. 

13 

Disney  ...... 

94 

.  15% 

15 

15% 

—  %: 

115 

81% 

Eastman  Kdk. 

89 

102% 

99% 

101 

+1 

43/4 

3% 

emi 

67 

•4% 

4 

4 

—  % 

10% 

7% 

List  Ind. 

47 

7% 

7% 

7%. 

— :  YS  = 

22 

11% 

Loew’s  ...... 

159 

14% 

13% 

14 

9% 

7. 

Nat.  Thea  . . . . 

45 

.8% 

.7% 

8% 

% 

36% 

28 

Paramount 

188 

36% 

3334 

36 

+2  ; 

18% 

11 

Philco  ...... 

103 

.14% 

13% 

13% 

+  % 

53% 

30 

Polaroid 

173 

48% 

47% 

48% 

40 

27  . 

RCA  ....... 

289 

35 

34% 

34% 

+  % 

8% 

4%’ 

Republic  .... 

247 

6% 

63/6 

6% 

+  %. 

13% 

9 

Rep.,  pfd  ■ 

9 

11 

10% 

11 

+  % 

18% 

13% 

Stanley  War. 

50 

16% 

15% 

16 

+  %. 

29% 

18% 

Storer 

24 

23% 

23 

—  % 

30% 

19% 

20tlv-Fox  .... 

106 

25% 

24% 

24% 

+  % 

25% 

15 

Upited  Artists 

33 

17% 

17 

17% 

+  % 

<30% 

18% 

Univ.  Pix  . 

5 

21 

20% 

20% 

—  % 

73 

65 

Univ.,  :  pfd . . 

*40 

67 

67 

67 

— 

28% 

16% 

Warner  Bros. 

13 

17% 

17% 

17%  • 

—  % 

140 

91% 

Zenith 

62 

129% 

121% 

127%. 

+  6% 

American  Stock  Exchange 


4% 

2% 

Allied  Artists  76 

3% 

3% 

3% 

10% 

6% 

APd  Art.,  pfd.  4 

3- 

8 

8 

11% 

6% 

Assoc.  -Artists  41 

8% 

8% 

6V4 

1% 

% 

C.  &  C.  Tele,  205 

%. 

7/16 

% 

6% 

3 

DuMont  Lab.  50 

4% 

3% 

4 

4% 

2% 

Guild  Films  290 

3% 

2% 

3% 

93,4 

5%* 

Nat’l  telefilm  36 

7 

63/4 

6% 

9 

3% 

Skiatron  68 

5% 

5% 

5% 

8%. 

2% 

Technicolor  129 

4% 

4 

4% 

5% 

3% 

Trans-Lux  1 

4. 

4 

4  • 

+  % 
'+  % 
+1/16 
—  % 
+  % 
+  % 
—  % 

*+.  % 


Over-ihe-Counter  Securities 

— 

Bid 

Ask 

....  52% 

56% 

+7% 

Chesapeake  Industries 

1% 

2% 

— ..% 

Cinerama.  Prod. 

2 

2% 

DnMont  Broadcasting 

7% 

8%. 

Magna  Theatre 

2% 

23/ 

+  % 

Official  Films 

1% 

1% 

— 

U.  A.  Theatres 

4% 

.43/4  • 

— 

*  Actual  Volume. 

( Quotations  furnished  by  Dreyfus  &  Co.) 


JOAV  Mysterioso  Conferences  On  a  Potomac  Boat 
Resulted  in  a  New  Ambassador  to  Denmark! 


Qnce  upon  a  time,  Theatre  Own¬ 
ers  of  America  decided  it  should 
have  an ;  executive  director.  It  had 
had  Gael  Sullivan,  and  after  him . 
Robert  W.  Coyne,  and  the  organi¬ 
zation  obviously  needed  someone  to 
keep  a  tighter  reign  over  the  mem¬ 
bership.  . .  . 

The  TOA  .  directors  went  Into 
endless  huddles  and  months  went 
by  in  a  fruitless  search;  for  the 
candidate  not  only  had  to  intelli¬ 
gently  represent  exhibition,  but— 
of  equal  importance— he  had  to 
have  prestige  and  contacts. 

Finally,  the  end  of  the  long 
search  seemed,  in  sight.  TOA  fast¬ 
ened  its  eye  on  Val  Peterson,  the 
Civil  Defense  Administrator  and 
former  Governor  of  Nebraska. 
Peterson  not  only  had  prestige  and 
contacts  (being  plose  to  the-  White 
House),  but  he. also  appeared  will¬ 
ing  and  interested  in  the  TOA  job. 

There  were  long  arid  secret  hud¬ 
dles.  Eventually,  a  TOA  delegation 
went  to  Washington;  hired  a 
steamer,  hoarded  it  in  great,  se- 


Bowen  &  Lewis  Open  Ozoner 
Dallas,  Jan;  28. 

Ed  Bowen  and:  Ted  Lewis,  new 
owners  of  the.  Cinderella  Drive-In 
Theatre  have,  reopened  the  ozoner 
which  had  been  closed  for  remod¬ 
eling.  They  purchased  it  from 
V.  M:  Post.  Bowen  also  operates 
the  Starlight  Drive-In,  a  short  dis¬ 
tance  from  the  Cinderella.  Lewis 
is  a  local  indie  booker, 

Post  opened  the  Cinderella  sev¬ 
en  years  ago  and  currently  oper¬ 
ates  the  Lancaster  Theatre  at  Lan- 
casJtei\Tex. 


U  Weighs  0’Seas  Slash  oi  O’Head 


Universal  is  currently  engaged 
in  an  intensive  study  of  its .  over¬ 
seas  setup,  aimed  at  elimination 
of  branches  to  cut  the  distribution 
overhead.  Company  is  one  of  sev¬ 
eral  which  are  .  studying  their  op¬ 
erations  in  the  foreign  market  with 
a  view  to  effecting  economies. 

Aim,  in  the  case  of  -U,  is  riot 
to  withdraw  from  ariy  market,  or 
to  hand  it  over  to  franchise 
holders,  but  to  contract  service  to 
key  branches  in  multiple-branch 
countries.  This  will;  allow  the  com¬ 
pany  to  reduce  personnel  and 
generally  cut  down  expenses  with¬ 
out  losing  accounts. 

I >  Problems  of  effecting  economies! 

*'!><•  t>.  cs  o  ©  *  <•  t*  m  *  *.  »  «  jr  «  •  m  « 


overseas  are  made*  more  compli-j 
cated  by  rigid  union  rules  which, 
in  severar  countries,  make  it  vir¬ 
tually  prohibitive  to  pull  out  and 
Close  shop  altogether,  even  if  only 
via  a  merger  of  facilities  with  an¬ 
other.  outfit.  '  ) 

The/ way  Universal  looks  at  it, 
and.  this  is  believed  to  be  the 
thinking  of;  foreign  general  sails 
manager  Americo  Aboaf,  the  com¬ 
pany  "can  and  must  cut  overhead 
without  giving  up  any  pf  its  ident¬ 
ity,  i.e.  without  letting  another  out¬ 
fit.  handle  its  product,. at  least  not 
sales-wise. 

Some  other  countries  look  at  it 
differently  .and^are^  said+o^ be  con¬ 


sidering  joirit  action  in  some  ter¬ 
ritories.  It’s  been  long  felt  that, 
particularly  in  the  smaller  coun¬ 
tries,  the  overlap  among  the  ma¬ 
jors  isn’t  necessary  and  is  waste¬ 
ful. 

Incentive  to  take  action  abroad 
is  naturally  strongest  with  the 
companies  which  are  in  trouble, 
i.e.  Metro  and  Universal.  Former 
has  had  a  bad  year,  and  latter  has 
a  studio  that’s  likely  to  stay  closed 
for  six  months.  Warner  Bros,  also 
is  economy-minded.  Only  company 
that,  for  the  moment,  appears  to 
give  no  though  to  contractiori  arid 
appears  instead  to  be  thinking  in 
(terms^of  .expansion  is  20th-Fox. 


crecy  and  proceeded  to  cruise  the 
Potomac  with  Peterson  to  settle  the 
deal  quietly  and  away  from  the 
eyes  of  prying  reporters  who  might 
be  tempted  to  put  two-and-two  to¬ 
gether  if  they  saw  Peterson  in  the 
company  of  the  TOA  group.. 

Everything  Was  set.  Peterson 
had-  agreed-  and  TOA  decided  to 
make  the  announcement  at  a  fancy 
industry  dinner.  Invitatioris  went 
out  to  thte  company  presidents,  to 
Eric  Johnston,  to  key  exhibitors, 
etc.  A  press  release  was  pre¬ 
pared. 

Foiir  days  before  the  dinner, 
with  all  arrangements  complete, 
Peterson  phoned  from  Washington. 
He  was  sorry,  he  said,  but  on  in¬ 
forming  the  White  House  that  he 
plariried  to  take  the  TOA  job,  the 
President  had.  offered  him  an  am¬ 
bassadorship  which  he  could  not 
refuse.  He  .was  going  to  represent 
the  U.  S.  in  Denmark. 

And  that  is  why,  today,  TOA 
doesn’t  have  an  executive  director 
and  why  it  isn’t  likely  to  go  search¬ 
ing  for  one  again. 

Cannes  Asks  for  20th’s 
’Long  Hot  Summer’  Witk 
Beaucoup  New  Faces 

The  Jerry  Wald-gOth-Fox  produc¬ 
tion,  “The  Long  Hot  Summer,”  has 
been  invited  by  the  Cannes  Film 
Festival  for.  1958  as  one  of  the 
U-  S.  entries.  Picture  stars  a  brace 
of  new  faces— Paul  Newman,  Jo¬ 
anne  Woodward,  Anthony  Fran- 
ciosa  and  Lee  Remick  along  with 
Orsbn  Welles1  and  Angela  Lans- 
bury,  . 

20th  is  the.  one  company  that  re¬ 
fuses.  to  submit  its  films  to  the 
Motion  Picture  Export.  Assn,  selec¬ 
tion  boiard  which  subiriits  entries  to 
Cannes.  Company  counts  oh  hav¬ 
ing  its  films  invited  to  the  various 


Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


"Jl\ 


"Intriguing,  superbly  acted  drama 
fashioned  with  power,  style  and 
appeal.  Will  go  over  big  with 
the  general  audience  as  well  as 
with  the  discriminating  patron/’ 
—Film  Daily 

"Quite  easily  could  lead  to  Acad¬ 
emy  Award  #5  for  Mankiewicz!  " 

—George  H.  Jaclcsori, 
L  A.  Herald  &  Express 

"Something  special!  Elements  of 
intrigue,  violence .. .  dramatically 
Interwoven.  Seething,  Jean, 
blood -chilling.  Murphy’s  choice 
as  the  shining  idealistic  Amer¬ 
ican  is  an  astute  bit  of  casting. 
More  potent  and  moving  as  a 
film  than  in  its  original  form!” 

— Jay  Carmody, 
Washington  Evening  Star 

"Mankiewicz  deserves  credit  in 
every  department!  Taut  action 
...dialogue  sequences  that  are 
both  challenged  written  and 
superbly  played." 

—Saturday  Review 

"A  fine  picture!  Made  on  loca¬ 
tion  . . .  the  street  scenes,  the 
carnival  excitement  of  the  cele¬ 
bration  of  the  Chinese  New  Year, 
the  appearance  of  the  natives, 
all  lend  immeasurably  to  the 
effectiveness  of  the  whole." 

— M,  P.  Herald 


The 

critics 

shout 

their 


for. . . 

rftis 


nm<A\ 


In  my  opinion  it  is  the  finest 
motion  picture  from  one  of  our 
Own  film-makers  since  ’The 
Bridge  On  The  River  Kwai’— 
and  if  that  seems  too  recent 
for  real  praise,  let  me  add  that 
we  shall  be  fortunate  to  come 
Upon  many  to  equal  it  in  1958. 
The  dialogue  crackles  like  the 
Chinese  New  Year." 

— Philip  Scheuer, 
Los  Angeles  Times 

“Brilliant!  Giorgia  Moll  seems  to 
me  the  loveliest  of  the  Italian 
screen  beauties!" 

-Richard  Watts,  N.Y.  Post 

-'I  liked  the  picture  better  than 
the  novel.  Direction  and  pro¬ 
duction  are  superb!" 

—James  O'Neill,  Jr, 
Washington  Daily  News 

"A  film  qf  distinction!  Attentiqn- 
fiolding.  Well- played  by  fihe 
cast!  Boxoffice  performance 
should  be  good!  Audie  Murphy 
enjoys  a  big  following  among, 
action  fans,  which  should  give 
the-  film  a  lift  in  the  general 
market.  Should  cause  quite 
a  bit  of  controversy." 

-  Film  Bulletin 


m  h&vJJv-r  1/1 


FIGARO,  INC,  presents 


NOW 

Watch  New  York 
Victoria  Theatre 
Feb.  S 


lAllIili!  Al!lijr?9  INI  IIH  8N  Kill  MlTillTS  iHJHlKl]  !(l]  fil  ltj[I] 


^Cim:fll9-»IMFF-KMln'  UIO -K!B"IIBII-«i 


fikiiiiu  nnrrur WritoalBr  tha  #n*« 

i  by  6RAHAM  GREENE  art  dinded  by  . 


JOSEPH  L  MANKIEWICZ 


raned  m  IociUon  teSaifoa,  Viet  Nam  and  at  the  Cinedtta  Studio*.  Roma  *  A  FIGARO,  tec;  Production 


1*  PICTURES 


Minneapolis,  Jan.  28. 

There  were  only  a  comparative 
handful  of  “important”  exhibitors 
invited  to  the  “shrouded-some- 
what-in-scenery”  meeting  called  by 
circuit  owner  Harold  Field  to  set 
in  motion  machinery  to  swing  this 
territory’s  independent  exhibitors 
organization  from  national  Allied; 
States  to  Theatre  Owners  of  Amer¬ 
ica  affiliation,  among  other  things. 

Held  behind  closed  doors  as  far 
as  the  trade  press  was  concerned, 
it  resulted  in  the  appointment  of  a 
committee  headed  by  circuit  own¬ 
er  Gilbert  Nathanson  to  arrange  a 
territoryTwide  exhibitors’  meeting 
here  March  13  to  consider  another 
switch  of  the  present  Allied  group 
to  TOA  or  to  the  organization  of  a 
new  TOA  unit. 

There’ll  also  be  a  decision  re- 
garding  joining  TOA  in  its  fight  to 
halt  further  “vaultie”  sales  to  tele¬ 
vision 'and .  discussions  of  ways  to 
improve,  the  bOxoMce  and  .  the 
probable  effects  of  the  better  spac¬ 
ing  of  top  pictures’  releases.  The 
latter  will  bfe  discussed  by  E.  L. 
Hyman,  United  Paramount  thea¬ 
tres  vice  president,  who  will  be 
here  for  the  meeting, 

if  the  new  TOA  unit  is  formed 
It  undoubtedly  will  sound  the  death 
knell  of  the  Allied  body.  Exhibitor 
Trade  Assn,  (the  former  Nofth 
.Central  Allied)  which,  since7  Ben¬ 
nie  Berger  stepped  out  is  presi¬ 
dent  this  past  year,  has  been  mori¬ 
bund,  other  than  conducting  nego¬ 
tiations  for  a  new  Minneapolis 
sooth  operators-  contract* 

The  group  behind  the  present 
move  to  put  into  the  TOA' column 
this  territory,  which  always  has 
been  exclusively  an  Allied  States 
stronghold,  is  led  by  those  who 
disapproved'  Berger’s  denounce- 
-  ments  of  and  fighting  with  film 
tompanies  during  his  regimes 
vhich  covered  most  of  NCA’s  ex- 
istance,  This  antagonism  created  a 
virtual  split,  and  resulted  in  Berger 
..stepping  out; 

It  developed  that  Berger  was 
among  those  who  weren’t  invited 
to  the  Field  meeting.  -‘If  I  had 
been  invited  I  probably  wouldn’t 
have  gone  because  I  understood 
they  want  a  TOA  organization  in¬ 
stead  of  the  present  Allied  States 
body,’1  says  Berger. 

“I  don’t  approve  of  TOA  philos¬ 
ophy  which  mainly  concerns  itself 
with  the  problems  of  large  chains 
and  big  exhibitors  and  has  little  or 
no  concern  for  the  interests  of 
small  and  smalltown  theatreowners 
who  are  in.  the  most  trouble  today 
and  who  comprise  much  of  ex¬ 
hibition  in  this  particular  terri¬ 
tory.” 

Among  those  present  at  the . 
Field  meeting  were  local  circuit 
-owner  Eddie.  Ruben  and  Charlie 
Wincheli;  the  latter  president-gen¬ 
eral  manager  of  the  Paramount  cir¬ 
cuit  here,  neither  a  member  of  Ex¬ 
hibitors  Trade  Assn.  Neither 
Wihchell  nor  any  other  U.  P.  chain 
executives  has  ever  held  member¬ 
ship  in  the  local  Allied  organiza¬ 
tions. 

Both  Field  (who  is  hoard  chair¬ 
man  of  the  Allied  body  here),  and 
Ruben  have'  been  TOA  members 
for  many  years  arid;  at  the  TOA 
convention  last-  year  Ruben  was 
elected  a  vice  president  and  Field 
an  executive  committee  member. 

Couple  of  years  ago  Field  and 
Ruben  were  hosts  at  an  exhibitor 
luncheon  at  which  TOA  executives 
spoke  and  at  which  an  effort  was 
made  to  set  wheels:  in  motion  to 
organize  a  TOA  unit  here.  The 
effort  was  unsuccessful  and  the 
present  is  the  first  move  in  that 
direction  since  then. 

O'SEAS  RADIO  SELL 

M.  P.  Council  Dickers  With  ‘Voice, 
of  America’ 


Hollywood,  Jan.  28. 
Motion  Picture  Industry  Council 
is  huddling  with  “Voice-of  Amer¬ 
ica”  reps  in  \Vashington,'for  a  15- 
minute  radio  program  tentatively 
tagged  “Report  on  Hollywood,”  as 
part  of  its  campaign  to  sell  Holly-: 
wood  abroad.  ^ 

Program  would  be  in  two  sec¬ 
tions.  First  would  encompass  im¬ 
portant  developments,  trends,  etc., 
in  film  industry.  Second,  personal 
interviews  .reflecting  human  in¬ 
terest  stories  on  the  lighter  side. 


B.  Barger 

Continued  from  pace  1  BSSSS 

a  half  Interest  in  an  Arizona  tele¬ 
vision  station  and  extensive  realty 
holdings.) 

Berger  alleged  Paramount  Is 
practicing  “discrimination”  against 
the  Fergus  Falls  theatre  and.  him 
by  demanding  a  $2,750  rental 
guarantee  before  going  through 
with  a  contract  ior  “The  Ten  Com¬ 
mandments,”  signed  by  him. 

Requesting  the  Justice  Deipt  to 
Intervene/'  Berger  claims  that 
Paramount’s  demand  for  the  guar¬ 
antee  is  the  distributor’s  "cute” 
way  of  trying  to  dictate  the^ad- 
vanced  admission,  price  -  to  be 
charged  at  Fergus  Falls  for  “Com¬ 
mandments.*  He  wants  the  consent 
authors  to  make  Paramount  fulfill 
the  alleged  contract. 


FesMIappy 

55553  Continued  from  page  5  ^^55 

houses  .  In  America,  these  festivals 
are  almost  never,  cutrate?  Talent 
is  Usually  paid  at  normal  fees  and 
sometimes  higher. 

The  calibre  Of  the  talent  involved 
can  best  be  gauged  by  a  once-over* 
lightly  glimpse  at  some  of  the 
featured  names  which  appeared  at 
various  European  festivals  during 
the  past  year:  Nathan  Milstein, 
Cleveland  Symphony,  Isaac  Stern, 
Artur  Rubinstein,  Comedie  Fran- 
calse,  Andre  Segovia,  Jeah-Louis 
Barrault  Company,  Fredrlc  March 
and  company  (in  “Long  Day’s 
Journey  Into  Night”),  Mattiwilda 
Dobbs,  Marla  Callas,  Pilar  Loren* 
gar,  David  Oistrakh,  Minneapolis 
Symphony,  Sadler’s  Wells  Ballet, 
Victoria  de  Los  Angeles,  Antonio’s 
Spanish  Ballet,  Henry  Szeryng,  Old 
Vic  Co.,  Laurence  Olivier  and-Vlv- 
ien  Leigh,  Rafael  Kubelik,  Dimitri 
Mitropoulos,  Bruno  Walter,  Eliza¬ 
beth  Schwarzkopf,  Robert  Casa- 
desus,  Yehudi  Menuhin,  Shakes-, 
peare  Memorial  Theatre,  John*! 
Barbirolli,  Benjamin  Britten,  John 
Gielgud,  Charles  Munch,  Pierre 
Monteux,  Otto  Klemperer.  > 

These  ate  only  a  sampling  of 
those  who  showed  up  in  various 
towns,  most  of  them  in  two.  or 
three  (or  more)  spots,  because  the 
time  spread .  of  these  festivals  Is 
rather  wide;  running  roughly  from 
about  mid-March  through  the  end 
of  September.  There  have  been 
several  attempts  to  set  up  a  Central 
booking  office  for  the  festivals  and, 
like  all  such  things  In  a  mushroom¬ 
ing  business,  there  are  at  least 
three  organizations  existing  with  a 
dozen  or  more  “festivals”  belong- 1 
ing  to.  each.  The  festivals  every¬ 
where  are  usually  at  leftst  partially 
municipally-owned,  for  the  purpose 
of  local  hoopla,  and  Usually  have 
considerable  freedom  in  the  matter 
of  spending .  money.  They  would 
welcome  an  overall  hooking  possi¬ 
bility  and  map-scheduling  centre, 
of  course,  but  are  scared  that  this 
may  result  in  money  squeezes.  And 
that,  tod;  is  not  new*  in  a  mush¬ 
rooming  Industry. 

Ail  this  activity  Is  fairly  recent. 
There  have  been  music  festivals  in 
Europe  for  many  years.  The  Salz¬ 
burg  Festival,  the  Venice  Festival 
the  Edinburgh  Festival,  and  a  few 
others,  go  way  back..  But  it  was 
only  since  the  last  war,  that  the 
thing  began  spreading  but.  And.  it 
grows  every  year.;  As  mentioned 
above,  there  were  187  festivals  in 
1957.  as  against  152  in  1956  and 
about  140.  in  1955.  . 

A  “festival”  usually  lasts  two  or 
three  weeks,  depending  on  bow 
much  coin  the  local  city  fathers 
want  to  spend.  Thus,  outside  of  the 
“name”  lures,  there  is  also  a  great 
deal  of  employment  for  the  lower- 
.  calibre  talent.  These  people  fre¬ 
quently  work  at.  lesser  than 
“normal”  fees,  either  because  they 
need  the  work  or  for  a  chance  to 
be  seen  in  good  company.  Or  both. 
Nevertheless  booking ^gents  claim 
that  there  is  now  a  sfzeable  list  of 
talent  which  exists. solely  on  “festi¬ 
ve1”  work. 

The  greatest  portion  of  talent 
(both  in  the  “name”  and  non-name' 
class)  consists  of  European  avail- 
a V. ilities,  naturally.  This  is  a  matter 
bf  transportation.;  Thus,  for  in¬ 
stance,  two  major  American  orches¬ 
tras  showed  up  for  half  a  dozen 
dotes  each  last  year.  This  would 
have  been  impossible,  if  they  did 
not  supply  the  overseas  transporta¬ 
tion  themselves  (yia  State  Dept., 
cultural  grants  in  both  cases). 

A.  by-product  angle  has  became 
a  boon  to  tourist  agencies,  a  .num- 
be~  of.  which  now  feature  “festival 
tours.” 


Connecticut  Is 
Feeling  Factory 


Hartford,  Jan.  28. 

Outlook  for  entertainment  in 
Connecticut  for  coming  year  is  so- 
so.  Factories  are  laying  off  state¬ 
wide,  with  unemployment  current¬ 
ly  more  than  double  a  year  ago. 
Unemployment  stands  at  more 
than  60,000  and  is  jm  increase 
every  week. 

Greatest  sufferers  in  show  busi¬ 
ness  field  are  films,  radio  and  ty. 
Pictures  ^  have  been  crying  “bad 
business'  for  a  long  spell.  With 
radio  and  tv,  many  of  the  antici¬ 
pated  renewals  and  new;- business 
figured  on  for  the  start  of  the  year 
did.  not  materialize?:  National  busi¬ 
ness  is  holding  up  at  both  the  tv 
and  radio- outlets  but  there  is  noth¬ 
ing  going  on  at  the  local  level,  with 
plenty  of  availabilities  at  all  sta¬ 
tions,  reported. 

Mixed  reaction  end  confusion 
ranging  from  pessimism  to  con¬ 
fidence  in  the  future  is  on  the  lips 
of  the  varied  ops.  The  most  opti¬ 
mistic  do  not  foresee  a  pickup  un¬ 
til  midsummer  until  after  a  hoped 
for  and  anticipated  government 
priming  of  the  pump  takes  place. 

.In  the  meantime  locally  pub¬ 
lished  figures  of  business  done  by 
four  Hartford  radio  stations  iq 
1956  showed  a  combined  profit  of 
$77,244.  Figures  are  from  FCC 
sources  and  show  that  WTIC, 
WDRC,  WPClP,  WCCC  had  ex¬ 
penses  of  $1,493,306  and  income  of 
$1,570,550.  Income  breakdown  as 
follows:  $115,116  from  networks; 
$1,194,957:  from  national  and  re¬ 
gional  advertisers  and  sponsors? 
$448,874  from  local  advertisers  and 
sponsors. 

The  New  Britain  and  Bristol 
area  radio  stations  made  $47,161 
while  four  in  New  Haven  area  had 
only  $12,465  left  after  expenses. 
Three  stations  in  the  Waterbury 
area  showed  !  loss  of  $993  in  the 
same  period. 


Blame  Economics 

Continued  from  pie*  S 

and  many  of  them  are  still  paying 
off.  Installments.  With  joblessness 
on  the  Increase  and  many  workers 
uncertain  about  their  future  status, 
spending  is  being  limited  to  neces¬ 
sities:  ;  j* 

Television,"  it’s  felt,  can  provide 
the  necessary  entertainment,  espe¬ 
cially  since  so  many  of  the  top  hit 
films  6V  the  past  Can  be  seen  on 
the  living  room  screens.  It  is  for 
this  reason  that  exhibitors  and 
many  others  are  fighting  so  Hard 
to  convince  the  major  film  compa¬ 
nies  not  to  unload  their  post-1948 
backlogs. 

Economic  experts  believe  that 
the  current  ,  recession  just  like  the 
setbacks  of  .1949  and  1953— is  a 
'temporary  one  and  that  once  busi¬ 
ness  conditions  improve,  the  public 
will  again  be  ready  to  spend  for 
consumer  goods  and  leisure  pleas¬ 
ure.  As  a  result,  there  is  a  feeling 
among  certain  industryites  that 
a  number -of  their  colleagues  are 
"adopting  a  panic  philosophy  too 
quickly  and  are  writing  off  the  'fiim 
business  prematurely. 

There  is  agreement  that  adjusts 
ments  should  he  made  iir  light  of 
overall  economic  conditions,  but 
that  there  is  no  reason  to  throw  in 
the  towel  and  disband  and  liqui¬ 
date  an  industry  that  is  still  strong 
and  powerful  enough  to  appeal  to 
the  entertainment  wants,  of  mass 
audiences. 

To  ;  be  sure;  the  film  biz  has 
unique  problems  of  its  own  that 
cannot,  be  associated  with  the  coun¬ 
try’s  Overall  economic  plight.  How¬ 
ever,  present-day  economic  condi- 
tioUs  may  provide  the,  impetus  to 
make,  the  adjustments  that  have 
long  been  overdue.  These  haye; 
been  the  high'  productions  costs, 
the  costly  distribution  system,  and 
the  Inflated  salaries  -of.  both  per¬ 
formed  and  top-echelon  execu-. 
tives.  One  company  president  who 
asked  not  to.  be  identified  com¬ 
pared  the- status  of  the  film  indus¬ 
try  to  a  ship,  that  has  accumulated 
barnacles  for  25  years  and  has 
never  come  into  drydock  to  have 
them  scraped  off.  “Even  the  bar¬ 
nacles  have  barnacles,”  he  com¬ 
mented.  - 


Wednwday,  January  29,  195# 


Authors  &  Actors:  Tux  Orphans  i 


Writers  Squawk 

it  for  tax  purposes  as  any 
other- kind,  of  property  owner 
is  able  to  treat  a  similar  in¬ 
come  from  the  sale  of  his  prop¬ 
erty. 

(3>  A  means  of  deferring 
tax;  liability  oil  sums  set  aside 
to  provide  pensions  or  annui¬ 
ties  comparable  to  that  en¬ 
joyed  by  employees  who  parti¬ 
cipate  in  company  sponsored 
pension  plans. 

In  all  three  of  these  cases 
authors  and  other  creators  of 
copyrights  are  presently  dis¬ 
criminated  against — obviously 
without  deliberate  Congres¬ 
sional  intention— by  various 
I  aspects  of  the  tax  laws.’' 

I  Howard  Lindsay. .  appeared  be¬ 
fore  the  House  Ways  &  Means" 
Committee  on  behalf  of  the  Au¬ 
thors  League  itself.  He  argued 
that  tar  as  applied  and  collected 
drives  the  writer  away  from 'writ- 
ing,  prevents  the  accumulation  of 
reserve  to  tide  him  over  between 
literary  works.  The  author  is  shut 
out  of  social  security  benefits  and 
persistently  denied,  what  other 
citizens  enjoy,  solely  because  of  the 
special  nature  of  his  livelihood. 

Unfairness  to  writers  continues 
after  death  with .  his  ■  heirs .  subject 
to  harshly  adverse  interpretations 
on  “inherited  property.” 

.  Authors,  and  publishers  seek  the 
enactment  of  a  tax  amendment 
[  proposed  by  Rep.^  Keough  (H.R. 
10)  which,  w-ould'  grant  authors 
right  to  “spread”  'their  income 
realistically  over  several  years  in¬ 
stead,  of  being  ruined  by  too  big  an 
income  in  one  year  after  a  period 
of  famine,  the  work  performed 
during  the  famine  producing  the 
occasional  feast  _ 


from  page  1 

Actor  Can’t  Save 

the  actor’s  diminishing  market 
value.*' 

Performers  can  go  from  a  si 
figure  income  to  one  or  two  years 
of  no  employment  at  all,  he  said, 
and  the  picture  industry  is  making 
at  least  100  fewer  pictures  each 
year  than  were  produced  10  years 
ago,  and  not  all  of  these  are  made 
In  the  U.  S. 

Overseas  production  by  major 
studios  increased  from  a  previous 
high  of  five:  percent  to  an.  average 
of  12%  of  total  output.  Indie  pro¬ 
duction  overseas  rose  from  a  pre¬ 
vious  liigh  of  37%  to  present  day 
average  of  63%,  Reagan  declared. 
Film  making  overseas  involves  One 
or  two  Hollywood  stars  per  picture 
but  entire  shooting  crew,  personnel 
and  supporting  cast  are  from  for-, 
eign  industry  “and  each  foreigner 
so  employed  is  matched  by  an 
American  worker  unemployed  ’* 

Asked  whether  a  film  star  would, 
.use  his  talents  fully  if  income  tax 
ceiling  were  held  to  50%,  instead 
of  91%  Reagan  replied:  “Yoii 
chose  the  figure,  but  if  I  could 
keep  50c  on  the  dollar  of  what  1 
earn;  I’d  be  too  busy  in  Hollywood 
to  be  here  today.” 

Performers  are  as  short-lived  as 
oil  wells  and  twice  as  pretty,  he 
said,  but  in  Hollywood  the  .worker 
knows ;  his  way  to  all  the  studios 
and  to  the  unemployment  office.  He 
ended  his  testimony  by-saying  the 
only  people  on  the  coast  with 
money  “around  to  invest  are  those 
who  were  around  before  high 
taxes.” 


Soundtrack 

5— — .  Continued  from  page  4 
Fenady  and  Irving  Kershner,  writer-producer-director  teamt  exited 
Warners  without  making  a  film  ...  Dorothy  Johnson^  Miss  Oregon  of 
1 1955,  set  by  Sam  Katzman  for  the  femme  lead  in  “The  Teenage  Story” 
opposite  Bobby  Driscoll  .  Columbia  Hought  “The  Beach  Boys,  an 
original  by  Julian  Halevy  and  Raymond  Marcus  and  set  the  authors 
to  write  the  screenplay.  .  .  .  - 

Metro  has  set  a  12-picture  schedule  for  production  within  the  next 
three  months.  Two— “Imitation  General”  and  “The  Tunnel  Of  Love” 
—are  already  before  the  cameras.  The  other  10  are:  “Ben  Hur,”  to  be 
filmed  in  Italy  in  MGM’s  new  Camera  65,  with  William  Wyler  direct¬ 
ing  for  producer  Sam  Zimbalist;  “Infamy  At  Sea,”  a  Virginia  and  An¬ 
drew  L.  Stone  production  starring  James  Mason  and  Dorothy  Dand- 
ridge;  “The  Badlanders,”  an  Aaroii  Rosenberg-’  Areola  production 
which  Delmer  Daves  will  direct  with  a  cast,  headed  by  Alan  Ladd  and 
Ernest  Borgnine;  “Cat  On  A  Hot  Tin  Roof,”  Elizabeth  Taylor-Paul  New- 
man-Burl  lyes  co-starrer  Which  Richard  Brooks  will  ,  direct  as  a  Law¬ 
rence  Weingarten-Avon  production;  “The  Reluctant  Debutante,” 
Pandro  S.  Berman-Avon  production  starring.  Rex  Harrison,  Kay  Ken¬ 
dall,  John  Saxon. 

William  K.' Everson,  the  old  movie  antropologist,  now  has  some  250 
rare  negatives  in  his  -collection  including  “Blood  and  Sand’’  and  other 
choice  morsels  .  .  .  the  Theodore  Huff  Memorial  Film  Society  which 
Everson  conducts  unspooled  Abel  Gance's  “Napoleon”  and  Thomas 
Ince’s  1912  “Blazing  the  Trail”  last  night  (Tues.)  .  :  .  believed  first  Show¬ 
ing  of  Gance  film  in  20  years  .  .  .  Cecil  B.  DeMille  has  long  been  and 
still  is  a  member  of  the  radio  actors  union,  but  in  bad  standing  .. 
Variety’s  Anni  Issue  Personality  Check-List  worded  the  facts  incor¬ 
rectly  .  .  .  it  was  .  a  1944  assessment  DeMille  resisted^  not  membership 
and  his  bad  standing  was  a  consequence  of  his  refusal  to  pay  $1  on 
principle  .  . 

The  French  are  in  the  stratosphere  again,  asking  $125,000  for  “Pot 
Bouille”  .  .  Joseph  L.  Mankiewicz  asked  United  Artists  and  Edward 
Small  to  postpone  the  Feb.  6  Astor  and  Plaza  day-dater,  “Witness  for 
the  Prosecution”  because  it  followed  his  “The  Quiet  American”  open¬ 
ing  by  only  one  day;  Small:  refused  .  .  .  Warner  Bros,  closing  its  Port¬ 
land  branch  .  .  “Sayonara”  expected  to  gross  around  $10, 000, 000. to 
$12,000,000  domestically.  It’s  doing  85%  “Giant”  business  in  the  keys 
...  The  Mayfair  has  a  couple  of  20tIi-Fpx  pix  slotted  to  follow  “Beau¬ 
tiful  But  Dangerous.” 

Now  that  the  spotlight  has  beenjriaced  on  the  over-use  of  the  word 
■•unprecedented”  in  press  handouts, 'film  publicists  have  discovered, 
“history-making.”  .  .  .  Van  Heflin,  Marilyn  Maxwell,  Barry  Sullivan  and 
Linda  Darnell  going  to  Rio  as  guests  of  the  Brazilian  government. 
They’re  joining  Betty  Murray’s  showplaqe  to  Brazil  leaving  Feb.  .  11 
via  Varig  .  .  Vidoscope  Cotp..  of  America  has  received  a  .  contract  to 

supply  the  Navy  with  16m  anamorphic  lenses  for  the  showing;  of  Cin¬ 
emascope  pictures  on  all  ships  ...  “Raintfee  County”  continues  to 
surprise  Metro.  Despite  the  so-so  reviews,  picture  is  in  its  fourth  week 
in  11  of  its  21  key  city  engagement.  At  Loew’s  State  in  N  Y.;  the  fifth 
week  has  topped  the  opening;  weeks  of  five  M-G  films  to  play  the  house 
in  the  .past  year  .  jack  Carson  is  the  latest  to  join  the  cast  of  Metro’s 
“Cat  on  a  Hot  Tin  Roof.”  .  .  . 

Jockey  Sammy  Remick  makes  his  singing  as  well  as  film  debut  in 
Budd  Schulberg’s  “Across  the  Everglades.”  ,  ,  ,  Films  of  the  Nations 
Distributors  has  acquired  50  new  documentary  films  in  16m.  Pi?c  were 
originally  made  for  theatrical  release  by  RKO  .  . ...  Selma  Lynch  is  cast-, 
ing  director  and  assistant  to  producer  Harold  Robbins  on  “The  Pusher.’ 
currently  shooting  in  New  York  .  .  .  Rouben  Mamoulian  making  his 
headquarters  at  Samuel  Goldwyn’s  Gotham  office  to  .  complete,  the 
casting  of  “Porgy  and  Bess,”  ;■  “MGM  Back  on  Top.  in  ’58”  has  been 
selected  as  the  company's  slogan  for:  an  upcoming  sales  drive  on  new 
product.  Drive,  which  will  include  the  U.S.  and  Canada,  will  cover  a. 
period  of  20  weeks — Feb.  7  to  June  26  .  .  . 


George  Baker*  Sylvia  Syms 


Peter  Arne ‘Marius  Goring 


•viiW! 


luUC 


FROM 
ASSOCIATED 
BRITISH 
ELSTREE 
STUDIOS! 

A  Solid-selling 
list  of  Box-office 
Products 

for  1958-9 


ASSOCIATED  BRITISH - 
PATHE  LIMITED, 

FILM  HOUSE, 

WARDOUR  STREET, 
LONDON,  ENGLAND 


t&»®! 


tefeCpM  wAlex 

I3M  John  MILLS  Sylvia  SYMS 

HIM  __  ANTHONY  QUAYLE 

V  41?  HARRY  ANDREWS 


HfeAreSwNs. 


Eileen  Herlie^ 
Mall  McGinnis  < 
Liam  Redmond 


Wbtuferlul  Things 

^  <}/*/£  Frankie  VAUGHAN 

BL  .  il  JACKIE  LANE* JEAN  DAWNAV 


Ac*'01* 


JEREMY  SPENSER 


H.M.S.(/I«|sses 


A  ^  o(id  th#  ^ 


Dangerous  Youth 

1_  Frankie  VAUGHAN 

George  BAKER 


PICTURES 


TZftmz? 


Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


Picture  Grosses 


'SEARCH'  SNAPPY  18G  Broadway 

vfc/u\vil  i)nm  1  1  lOU,  (Continued  from  oaee  9)  is  "And  God  Created  Woman" 

D.C.;  ‘LEGEND’  HEP  20jG,  stanza^  winding  toinorro\w  j  pj^e”°?s  rated^  big  ^'fifth^Dund 

_ (Thurs.)  looks  like  okay  $5,900.  of  .  th<*.  YVnfi-P  ‘*Savnnara’’  Innms 


‘Woman’  Bangup  $8,000, 
Denver;  Teyton’  11G,  5th 

Denver,  jan.  28, 

Biz  is  holding  very:  solidly  cur¬ 
rently  here.  Standout  newcomer 
is'  "And  God  Created  Woman” 
sockeroo  at  the  Tabor. ,  "Peytpn 


at  the  Centre.  "Sayopara”  looms 


.  .  vyasnington,  .Jan.  za.  The  fifth  was  $7,000.  "Witness  For  solid  ip  fourth  Paramount  week 

Mamstem  b.o.  bolstered  by  three  Prn-ppiitinn”  7tta)  oDens  Feb  6  v,„IOS  v  ■  /  - ou-  tu  r 

npwrnmprii  rnntiniiP<?  the  liv^lv  ■*? °-ycu“Pn  lUAj  op ens  reo.  o,  “OldYeller”  stays  for  a  sixth  stan- 
nacV  s^at’  the  ^ear’sSend  CTwo  of  Pi?yidS  day-date  with  Astor.  za  at  Aladdi 

th^trfo  :  of  entries^  Ivt  iock" ami  [  ****  (Nat’l.ThJ  ( 5,717^  65-$2^Q)  .Estimates  for  This  Week 

holdovers  remain  generally  steady.  ne,^arstaleihow  ArTnitiaf0tsession  Aladdin  (Fox)  .  (1;400;  70-90)— 
"Legend  of  Lost”  at  Loew’s  Capi-  ^sta^eshow  ( J,?.1."? !  i0(ft-Ho  “OId  teller”  (BV)  (5th  .wk)/  Big 

tol  opened  big.  "Old  Yeller”  at  $£000.  Holds.  Last  week,  $4,500. 

RKO  Keith's,  bowed  m  over  week-:  Veacd  “i^don  P lac?°'?20th)  arid  Centre  (Fox)  (1,247;  S0-$1.50)— 
end  in  time  to  garner  moppet  trade,  f^^ek  Peyton  J>lace  20th)  a  ^Peyton,  place”  (20th)  (5th  wk).  Big 


holdovers  remain  generally  steady. 


. cuu  in  tunc  w  gcuiici  mupticu  wuuc.rv.  wk-fl  HpvO  J-iace  uum;  oin  w* 

and  looks  best  at  this  house  m  |  ^J^rtstages -qw  (-  •  ■  days,’  $11,0001-  Last  week,  $10,500. 

months.  “Search  for  paradise”  at  ^  .  Denham- ICockrill)  (L429- 


montns  aearen  ior  paraaise  F  T ,T  ■  = .  .  .  Denham  iCockrill)  (1;429:  70-90) 

the  Warner-Cinerama,  now  in  ..  State...  (Lpew.)  .(3, -450,  50-$1.70)—.  T 

thii'd,  is  off  to  a  fine  start.  "And  "Raintree  County”  (M-G)  (6th  wk).  Good  $7  000*  Last  ^eek  $8  000 
God  Created  Woman,”  *  12th  Present  week  ending  tomorrow  - 

stanza  at  Trans  Lux-Plaza,  is  prac>  (Thurs.)  ^  heading  for  splendid  .<Decisimi  at  sundown’'  (Col)  and 


$18,000.  The  fifth  was  $21,000. 
Stays  on. 


stan^  at  xrans  i.ux-piaza,  is  prac-  ^xnar^;  "Decision  at  Sundown”  (Col)  and 

Ucally  as  good  as  new.  Th  f*th  ?21,000’  “Hard  Man"*"  (Col),'  Fair  $10,000. 

.  Estimates  for  This  Week  Stays  on.  Last  week  "Rndan”  (DC A)  and 

Ambassador  -  Metropolitan  (SW)  Sutton  (R&B)  (561;  95-$1.75)—  “Hell  in  Korea”  (DCA)  $10  500 

<1,490;  1,000;  90-$1.50J— "Sayonara”  "Smiles  of  Summer  Night”  (Rank)'.  Esquire  (Fox)  (742*’  70-90)  _ 

(WB)  (5th  wk).  Strong  $21,000.  Last  (6th  wk).  Fifth  week,  finished  Sun-  “Deadlier  Than  the  Male”  (Corit) 


week,  $23,000. 


Esquire  (Fox)  (742;  70-90)  — 

"Deadlier  Than  the  Male”  (Corit). 


day  (26)  was  good  $6,100.  Fourth  Good  $3,000/  Stays  on.  Last  week' 


Capitol  (Loew)  (3,434;  90-$1.2o)  was  $7,200.  “Brothers  in  Law”  (Cont),  $i:500. 

—  ^^genTd  ?f  L<?st .  U4h.  Trans-Lux_52d  St.  (T-L)  (540;  $1-  Orpheum(RKO)  (2.596;  90-$1.50) 

$20,000.  Last  week,  leased  ,  by  J<a-  $L50}_4<OId  Yeller”  (BV)  (6th  Avk),  ^-“Raintree  County”  (M-G)  (5th 
tional  Symphony  for  N.Y.  City  Cen-  pjfth  frame,  finished  yesterday  wk).  Okay  $7,000.  Last  week, 
ter  BaUet.  (Tues.)  was  handsome  $8,500.  $9,000. 

Lj6Wv  (1-154*,70:90)—  Fourth  was  $9,500.,  /  Paramount  (Wolfberg)  (2.200;90- 

$6  (K)cf  Last  week  “Enemy  Victoria  (City  Inv.)  (1,060;  50-$2)  S1.25);-‘‘Sayonara”  (WB)  (4th  wk). 

10K.ith-s  (RKO>  11.850:  85-S1.251—  ne!»r-  P°urt*>  .  ?0)— ^GqdXre- 


Paramount  (Wplf berg)  (2.200;  90- 


10  days. 

Keith's  (RKO)  (1,850;  85-$l-25 


Victoria  (City  Inv.)  (1,060;  50-$2)  J1.25)— "Sayonera”  (WB)  (4th  wk). 
—"Paths  of  Glory”  (UA)  (6th  wk).  $12,000.  Last  week, 

Fifth  round  ended  yesterday  (Tues.)  Y^OyO.  ^ 

was  good  $13,000  or  near.  Fourth  Tabor  (Fox)  (930;  90): —  God  Cre- 


*‘OldC  Yelle"’ VbvV^ ^Hotsy' '$17^ OoT  was  ^$17,000. ’  ‘ Wet  American”  ged  Woman”  (Kings).  Bpff>8,00ft 
OiQ  Yeller  (dvi,  tTaii  ■  tv?-  ■  ■^■'■■(UA)  oriens  Feb  6  Holds,  natch!  Last  week.  Around 

Stays.  Last  week.  All  Mine  to  opens.  reD.p.  World  in  80  Days”  (UA)  (36th  wk). 


Holds,  hatch!  Last  week,  "Around 
World  in  80  Days”  (UA)  (36th  wk), 
$8,000. 

Vogue  Art  (Sher-Shulman)  (442; 


-Give”  (U),  $5, 000,  !  Warner  (SW-Cinerama):.-.:(l,600;- 

Palace  (Loew)  (2.350{  90-$i.5a)^-l$1.80-$3.50)— "Search  For  Para-  *  Art  (Sher-SHulman)  (442- 

••Peyton  Place”  <20th>  (6th  wk>.  dise”  (Cinerama).  (19th  wk):  The 

Still  sock  at  $15,000.  Stays,  Last /18th  session  completed-  Saturday  <Cont>  Good  s1^0  ^  I?ast  week 
Week,  same.  (25.)  was  solid m8Q0  for-15 -shows.  Iffly  Reid*  (hMD  $T200:  > 

Plaza  (T-L)  (275;  90-$1.50— "God  The  17th  round  was  $27,800  for  -aPPy  KQaQ  »1>200‘ 

Created  Woman’ •  (Kings)  (12th  wk).  same  number  of  performances.  tiapt/nm 

Stays  right  up  there  at  $5,500  for  World  (Times)  (400;  95-$1.50)—  BOSTON 

lecond  consecutive  week.  Striys,-  "Bride  Was, Much  Too  Beautiful”  (Continued  from  Da^e  8) 
Translux  (T-L)  (600;  90-$1.50)-r  (ERis-Lax)  (2d:  wk).  First  stanza  t, 


BOSTON 

f  Continued  from  -  page.  8) 


AxausiuA  vwv,  Vv  ww.  him  duiiua  ot.j  «d1aaJ  /  a  t\  m 

**Pal  Joey”  (Col)  (12th-fioal  wk),  ended  Sunday  (26)  was  great  $14r  Inn  :Blood  pf  DracuIa  (AI),  $16,- 
Slight  $3,500  after  $3,000  last  vyeek.  00Q,  and  best  here  since  "Bitter  n  lnn.  C1 

••Bon jour  Tnstesse  (Col)  m  next.  Rice,”  years  ago.  In  ahead,;  “Raz-  »  r^1  ‘ 

Uptown  (SW)  (1,100;  $1.25-$3)-r-  zia”  (Kass)  (9th  wk),  held  at  lair  /lit' 

-Around  World”  (UA)  (43d  wk).  §3,200:  ^d  v-k).  Big  $16,000;  Last  week. 


Fast  $10,000.  Last  week,  $9,500. 

LOS  ANGELES  1 3or-1'?  Wa?  '.SP*®' and 

Trinpi^ma)  (3d  wk)  Fine  $16  000  n.  Decision  at  Sundown  (Col):  Re- 

J9S  lift  000 ^last^ ^J;eek  SclSdSe  (Continued  from  page  8)  turns  house  to  first^runs;  Good 
cut  from  previous  14  to  10  shows  (WB)  (5tli  wk)v  Hotsy  $20,900.  Last  $9  800.. 

weeklv.m  However,  special  group  week,  $23,70.0. ,  Mayflower  (ATC)  (689;  60-$D— 

ayem  "shows  booked  in  every  Sat-  Pautages  (RKO)  (2,812;  $1.25-  ‘‘Razzia’MKass)  and  "Triple  -Decep- 
urday  for  next  few  months.  Stays  $1.80)— "Don't  Go  Near  Water”  (Rank2  (3d,  ^k4)-OY,ABright 

on  (rn-o.J  (5th  wk).  Stout  $14,000.  Last  53.800.  JLast  week,  $4,200,  over 

.  week  $15  400  estimate.- 

‘Deep  Six’  Pair  $8,000,  ; ^ 

Indpls.;  Teyton’  11G, 

Indianapolis,  Jan.  28.  57AQ0.  Metropolitan  (NET)  (4,357;  90- 

Biz  continues- good  at  first-runs  Warner  Beverly  (SW>  (1,612;  90-  $1.25)— "Sayoriara”  (WB)  (5th  wk). 
here  this  stanza  but  has  levelled:  off  $1.75) —  Witness  for  Prosecution”  Solid  $17,500.:  Last  week  $22  000 
considerably  with  holdovers  still  (UA)  .  (6th  wk).  Strorig  $10,000  or  Trans-Lux  (T-L)  (724-  75-$l  25)— ^ 
dominating.  "Peyton  Place”  at  near:  Last.week,  $9,8Q0.  "One  Summer  of  Happiness”  (In- 

Indiana  is  leader  for  fourth  straignt  Chinese  (FWC).  (1,908;  $1.25-  die)  and  "Game  of  Love”  (Times) 
stanza.  "Sayonara  in  fifth  week  at  $2:40)— "FareweU  to  Arms”  (20th)  (reissues);  Fast  $5,100.  Last  week, 
Keith’s,  and  Don  t  Go  .  Near  (6th  wk).  Tepid  $5,500.  Last  week,  "Girl  on  Third  Flopr”  (Indie)  and 
Water  in  second  at  Loew  s,  $7,200,  total  including  three  nabes  "Fruits  of  Suiririier”  (Indie),  $4,000. 
okay.  "Around  World  has  picked  0n  special  roadshow  policy,  $22,300.  Orpheum. (Loew)  (2,900;  75-$1.25) 
up  some  in  24th  week  at  Lync  Egyptian  (UATC)  (1,503;  $1.25-  —“Legend  of  Lost”  (UA)  and  "Dal- 
smee  notice  of  final  three. wedg  $3,50)-"Bridge  bn  .  River  Kwai”  ton  Girls”  (UA)  (2d  wk).  Oke  $12,- 
was  Posted.  .  Deep  Sue  (Col)  (6th  wk)-  piump  $20,500.  5P°-  Last  week,  $15,000. 

opener  of  week,  looks  only  fmr  at  Last  week,  $20,700.  -  State  (Loew)  (3,500;  75-$1.25)— 

the  Circle.  r;  ■  ■■  Los  Angeles/Fox  Beverly,  Loy-  “Legend  of  Lost”  (UA)  and  “Dal- 

: Estimates  for  This  Week^  ola/Vogue  (FWC)  (2,097;  1,170;  1;-  ton  Girls’’  (UA)  (2d  wk).  Stout 

anrt0“:r!i°n  248;  «25;  $L25-$2.40)  —  "Peyton  $7,500.  Last  week,  $8,500. 

90)—  Deep.  Six  (WB)  and  Gan  pla,e„  (20th)  (2d  wk>  Los  Angeles;  -  '  :■/  -  /  - 

7th  \\;kr  others).  Sock  534,000.  Last  MINNF.APOI  IS 


Saxon  (Sack)  (L100;  $1.50-$3.30) 
— "Arourid  World  in  80  Days”  (UA) 
(42d  wk).  Big  $16,000;  Last  week, 
$17,000, 

Pilgrim  (ATC).  (1,700;  60-$l)^- 
“World  Was  His  Jury”  (Col)  and 
"Decision  at  Sundown”  (Col).  Re¬ 
turns  house  to  first-rims.  Good 


$5  Last' w^k,  “Oberammergau  Sock  $34,000,  Last  MINNEAPOLIS 

Passion  Play ”_on^ stage.  _  I.  Four  Star  (UATC)  (868;  90-$l-50)  ,( Continued  from  page  8) 

Slxon  PIac?”  (20th)  1Kfh  ?wkr  7T‘‘Wildo  Is  Wind”  (Par)  (7th  wk).  $15,000.  Last  :  week.  "Love  Slaves 
e>  ton  place  -  uutni  i^tu  wk;.  Lieht  $2,500.  Last  wppk  «4  nnn  .  Amajnnc”  mv  anH  “UnnAHtK 


“Pevtrm  PTa/»A“  190th)  (4th  'wkT  T  -  v u  ^  «n./.  ^u,uuu.  bast  wees.  jjove  oiaves 

onn  addini  uD  ^,500.  Last  Week,  $4,000:  Amazons”  (U)  arid  "Monolith  Mon- 

Solid  $ll,UUO,.  adaing  up  to  nearly  Downtown.  WiltCm  /swi  n  7R7*  efire”  mi  ca  son. 


fj^ono^fA^Sb^f^rSinS  tnHnvatiy  Downtown,  Wiltern  (SW)  (1,757;  st’ers”  (U),  $4,5007  “ 

$5K2it°h»s^  (P Tffi*  Sdl  25)  2,344;:  $L25-$2.50)— "10  Command-  RKO  Pan  (RKO).  (1,800;  65-85)— 

K!n£o"  (-?ai2  (14ith  ctVHbnSteady  Story”  (U)  and  “Land 

ooo' or  about^^^O  000  in  813^80°.  Last  week,  $15,000:  .  of  Unknown”  (U):  Satisfactory 

1  540,t,0U  in  A  Warner  Hollywood  (SW)  (1,384;  S4.500.  Last  week,  "Helen  of 
IoJwV  (LoeW)  (2  427-  75-90)—  fA*.20f2?5)/^ WGndqfs”  Troy”:  (WB)  arid  "Silver  Chalice” 
t/i  (Cme)  stated  34th  week  Sunday  (WB)  (reissues),  $3,500. 

Neat  S8  OOo'riftS  stouP  si^-  (26ri  aJier  gr^at„5?0’4°0  Ia^  w6ek-  State  (Par)  (2,300;  $1.25-$1.50)— 
000  onene/8’000  f  $  ’  6,^hay  (EWCV  11,138;  $1.75-  "Peyton  Place”  (20th)  (5th  wk). 

TvS  frn)  (850-  81  25  82  20)—  S--??fe^rDV?d  ^orld  in  80  Days”  Can’t  wear  out  its  welcome.  After 
“Around  W?rld  in%0$^ Dayf’^ ^rUA)  $2d 'm  *  Sllck  $20’^0Q'  ^ast  ^ast.Avee^  announcement  it;  still 

»*>• G00d  S9’000-  Lart  "f  (86^  41.^1., 5, 

*°’u  •  _  .  .  —  Gervaise  ’-  (Con)  (3d  wk).  Nice.1  Suburban.  World  (Mann)  (800; 

r'Utr*  \  nr\  j  $270D  Last  week,  $3,400.  L  85)  —  /"08/15” /Indie)  (3d  wk). 

LHILAUU  j  -  Crest,  Sunset  .  (Lippert-Cohen)  Great  $1,800.  Last  week,  $2,200. 

(Continued  from  page  9).  !|8-8;  8(4pj--  TFiai  •  World  (Mann)  (400;  85-S1.25)— 

“TTord  Man”  i-rn-l)'  I2ri  wt)  8i9  7no  fJnd.,e?l,"d  ^k  *  .^SG.  $3.200..  Last  “And  God  Created  Woman”  (Indie) 


r»tft/»APA  v  \  .  :  od)  -7-  uo/io '  -iin.aie)  esa  wk). 

LHILAUU  j  -  Crest,  Sunset  .  (Lippert-Cohen)  [  Great  $1,800.  Last  week,  $2,200. 

(Continued  from  page  9).  !|8-8;  84pj--  ^1:25^i^°A^7^abiTriai  '  World  (Mann)  (400;  85-SL25)— 

“Hard  Man”  .Col)  (2d  wk);  $12,700:  w?ek' $6000  ^  lsSQ  ?3*200*  ?  !  ^?d  %?d  W6ma^’ ‘1"?^ 

State-Lake  (B&K)  <2.400:  SO- :  5°’UUU*  ffth  wkk  Don  t  ..see. -any thing  like 

$1.80)  —  :“Tarriished'  Angel/’  *  L  ). !  .  -  .  /.  television  and  this  may  rie 

Good  S23.C00.  La-  we.k  ’  Old  Yel-  I  TORONTO  Ifelpmg  pics  chp.  Mighty  $6,000. 

ler”  .BV.  f4th  w.k».  $1$,00U.  ’  ]  ^  ^  1  Last  week,.  $7,000. 

Surf  IH&E  Balabait)  (685;  Si  50» !  ^Continued  from  page  9)  r — ■  — -  — - ; 

—-"Admirable  Crichton"  .Col),  wk).  Fancy  $16,000^.  Last  week.  •  ^F  ATTI  F 

Okay  $5,300.  Last  week,  "Gam-  of  :  $20,000.  1L,C 

Love”  iTimes)  l9tb .  wk/  S2.7C0.,  }  .  Tivoli  (FP)  (9.55; ,  $1.75-$2.40'—  (.Continued  from  page.  9) 

Todd’s  Cinestage  (Todd)  rl,036;} “Around  World  in  80  Days’  <UA'  (2.500;  $l-$l,50)-^-“Peyton  Place” 
$1.75-$3.30>— “Arourid  Woyld  .in  80i  «24th  wk):  Steady  $9,000,  Last  (20th) .  (5th  .  wk).  Swell  $7,000: 
Days”  <UA>  <43d  wk'.  Fat  $20,100.  !  week.  same.  Last  \veek,  $8,600. 

Last  week.  $20,000.  )  Towns  .Taylor)  (693;  $1'— "Time  Music  Box  (Hamrick)  (850;  90- 

United  Artists  .B&K)  (1,700; .  SO- ,. Lock”  ';IFD):  Sad  $3,500..  Last.  $1.25.— -‘Arid  God  Created  Worri- 
$1.50) — "Don’t  Go  Near,  -  Water” :  week;  "Lucky  Jii  ”  <IFD)  (5th  wk',  an”  ..Kings)  (3d  wk):  Socko  $5,000 
(M-G).  (5th  wk>.  Lively  $23.000. ;  $3,500.  Last  week,  $6,700. 

Last  week,  $25,000.  Uriiversity  (FP)  .  (1,233;  $1:50-  Music  Hall  (Hamrick)  (2.200*  90- 


KANSAS  CITY 

(Continued  from  page  9) 
(Indie).  Moderate  $1,500.  Last 
week.  "Silken  Affair”  (DCA), 
$1,100. 

Roxy  (Durwood)  (879;  90-$1.25- 
$1.50)— "Raintree  County”  1M-G) 
(5th  wk).  Sturdy  $5,500*  holds. 
Last  Week,  $6,000. 

Tower  (Fox  Midwest)  (2,0.00;  75- 
90)— “Hunchback  of  Notre.  Dame” 
(AA).  Mild  $6,000;  may  stay.  Last 
week,  "Peyton  Place”  {20th)  (4th 
wk),  $6,000. 

Uptown,  Flrway,  Granada  (Fox 
Midwest)  (2,043;  700;  1,217;  90- 
$1.25)— "Peyton  Place”  (20th)  (m.o.) 
Fancy  $12,000;  may  hold  over.  Last 
week,  “Man  in  Shadow” '(U)  and 
“This  Is  Russia”  (U),  $8,000. 

Pitt  100%  Holdover; 
'Peyton’  TaU  $15,000 

Pittsburgh,  Jan.  28.  . 

All  of  Golden  Triangle’s  first-run 
houses  have  holdovers,  and  three 
of  theiri,  “Sayonara”  at  Stanley/ 
"Peyton  Place”  at  Harris  end 
"Raintree  County”  at  Periri,  .will 
stay  again  on  strong  business.  Only, 
fall-out  is  "Tarnished  Angels”  ^t 
Futtori  Which  stays  .five  days  of 
second  week.  “And  Gcd  Created 
Woman'' "continues  big  in  sixth 
stanza  at  Squirrel  Hill  arid  also 
stays  on.  .,  . 

Estimates  for  This  Week 

Fulton  (Shea)  (1,700;  80-$l. 25)— 
"Tarnished  Angels”  (U)  (2d  wk). 
Holding  for  only  5  days  and  getting 
okay  $3,000  in  abbreviated  stanza. 
Last  weiek,  $7,000. 

Guild  (Green)  (500;  99-$1.25)— 
"Escapade”  (DCA)  and  "Panic  in 
the  Parlor”  (DCA)  (2d  wk).  Doing 
just  as  well  as  opening  week;  good 
$2,400. 

Harris  (Harris)  (2,165;  99-$1.50) 
— "Peyton  Place”  (20th)  (3d  wk). 
Lofty  $15,000  a  hardly  noticeable 
drop  over  last,  week’s  $16,000,  arid 
an  indication -of  picture's  strength. 

Penn  .  OJA)  ~  (3,300;  99-$1.50)— 
“Raintree  County”  (M-G)  (2d  wk). 
Solid  $14,000,  and:  more  than 
eriough  to  hold  again.  Last  week, 
$20,000. 

Squirrel  Hill  (SW)  (900;  99-$1.25) 
— “God  Created  Woman”  (Kings) 
(6th  wk).  Great  $4,000.  Last  week, 
$5,000. 

Stanley  (SW)  (3,800;  99-$1.50)— 
"Sayonara”  (WB)  C4th  wk).  Ter¬ 
rific  weekend  biz  enabling  this  to 
get  hefty  $15,000.  Gets  <at  least 
another  week.  Last  week,  $20,000. 

Warner^  (SW-Cinerama)  (1,300; 
$1.20-$2.40)  —  "Search  for  Para¬ 
dise”  (Cinerama)  (16th  wk).  Big 
snow  hurting  it  down  the  stretch. 
Off  again  to  $6,500.  Last  week, 
$7,500. 

BLAME  WILD  YOUTH 
ON 'SECULAR’ FILMS 

Albany,  Jan:  28. 

The  seethirig  within  the  Industry, 
Over  a  page  orie  story  arid  a  subse¬ 
quent  editorial  in  The  Times-Union 
on  the  vandalism,  violence  arid  mis¬ 
behavior  of  teenagers  in  Albany 
and  surrounding  area  theatres,  in- 
-creased,  with  the  publication  Fri¬ 
day  (24).  of  an  editorial  in  The 
Evangelist,  official  weekly  Of  the 
Albany  Catholie  Diocese.  It  sug¬ 
gested  that  "present-day  youth  are 
much,  the  victim  of  the  movies  and 
the  movie  Industry's  frequent  con¬ 
tempt  for  the  very  law  of v  nature 
and  the  Divine  Law  upon,  which 
basis  all  human  laws  must  be 
grounded  if  they  are  . to  endure'” 

The  editorial,  which  mentioned 
"the  battle  of  the  balcony”  arid 
other  angles  featured  in  trie  Sun¬ 
day  Times-Union's  report,  com- 
riiented  that  "while  many  movies 
provide  wholesome  entertainment 
and  riot  a  few  offer  sogie  substan¬ 
tial  moral  lesson,  the  greater  per¬ 
centage,  if  not  parading  crimes^of 
violence  and  sex,  teach  a  philoso¬ 
phy  of  secularism  that  promotes 
imitation  In  living  Orie’s  life  as  one 
pleases,  regardless  of  whose  rights 
are  transgressed.” 


ITALO  GOVT.  REJECTS 
TAX  RELIEF  PLEAS 

Home,  Jan.  28. 

Despite  the  government’s  tur 
down  (Jari.  23)  of  the  Italian  in¬ 
dustry’s  plea  for  lower  taxes,  film 
industry  toppers  here  indicated 
that  they  would  not  relax  their  ef¬ 
forts  to  bring  the  situation  to  the 
attention  of  public  and  the  admin¬ 
istration.  Consequently,  it  is  very 
probable  that  the  shuttering  of  all 
cinemas  in  Rome  Jan.  22  will  be 
followed  by  similar  moves,  in  other 
cities.  There  is  a  possibility  that 
the  shutdown  will  become  a  reg¬ 
ular  weekly  affair  on  a  national 
scale.  This  will  be  discussed  at 
coming  industry  meetings.  It  could 
mean  that,  all  17,000  would  close 
down  on  a  pre-set  day  each  week. 

Iri  his  talks  with  industry  offi¬ 
cials;  Italian'  Council  President 
Zoli  made  it  clear  that  a  tax 
duction  law  at  this;  time,  arid  with 
elections  pending  in  the  near  fu¬ 
ture,  was  "unthinkable.”  In  turn, 
AGIS  boss  Italo  Gemini  indicated 
that  exhibs  would  contiriue  their 
fight  With  the  shutting  of  all  the¬ 
atres  hinted. 

See  Showmen 

, .  Continued ,  from  page  3 

rnusical  comedy  now  in .  its  63d 
week.  The  film  foliow-up  is  some¬ 
where  in  the  future  but  definitely 
will  be  made. 

Hecht-Hill-Lancaster  got  in  on 
the  ground  floor  with  the  American 
presentation  (transplanted  from 
London’s  West  End)}  of  "Separate 
Tables”  and  will  have  the  film  ver¬ 
sion  ready  shortly. 

Joseph  L.  Marikiewicz’  Figaro 
Productions  tried  and  missed  with 
"Square  Root  of  Wonderful”  on 
Broadway  but  doubtless  will  have 
future  legit  representation. 

Dore  Schary,  former  production 
chief  at  Metro,  is  giving  legit  a 
whirl  with  “Sunrise  at  Campo- 
bello,”  which  he  authored  and  ' 
^presenting  in.,  association  with  th 
Theatre  Guild.  This  opens  at  th 
Cort  Theatre  tomorrow  (30). 

.  David  Q.  Selznick  agai  is  talk¬ 
ing  about  doing  a  iriusicalized  ver¬ 
sion  of  "Gone  With  the  Wind.” 
He’s  said  to  be  working  the 
tuner  and  figuring  on  a  presenta¬ 
tion  next  fall.  “The  Mirisch  Bros, 
are  to.  present  "Roar  as  a  Dove.” 

Howard:  Dietz,  until  recently 
Metro’s  ,  ad-pub- v.p.  and  veteran 
lyricist,  is  scouting  ideas  for  new 
work  in  the  legit  field. 

Factor  attractive  to  Hartman,  h 
said,  is  the  opportunity  W’hich.  a 
legit  producer,  has  to  correct  flaws 
in-  a  vehicle  before  the  official  un¬ 
veiling.  This  would  be  on  the  ad¬ 
vance  road  trip,  of  course.  After  a' 
picture  is  made  it  either  lives  or 
dies;  there’s  no  doctoring:  that  can 
be  done. 


Times  Page  I 


,  f4th  WkV  Don’t  see.  •anything  like 
(  this  on  televisiori  and  this  may  be 
Ifelpihg  pic’s  clip.  Mighty  $6,000. 
Last  week,.  $7,000. 

SEATTLE  j 

(Continued  from  page  9)  j 

(2.500; .  $1-$1,50)— “Peyton  Place” 
(20th) .  <5th  .  wk).  Swell  $7,000: 1 


Woods  lEssaness)  (1,200;  90-  S2.40)^“This  Is  Cinerama”  (Cine-  ^1.25?— “Savonara”  (WB)  (4th  wk) 

$1.50)— "Rodan”  t.DCA).  Wow  S45.--rama)  (14th  wk),  Stiirdy-  $12,000.  Great  $9,000.  Lastweek  $10  700* 
000.  Last  week.  ••Legend  of  Lost”  j  Last  week,  $12,500.  Orpheum  (Hamrick)  (2  700*’  90- 

(UAV  (3d  wk).  $12,000  in  six  days.  |  Uptown.  (Loew)  (2,098;  60-$I^  S1.25'— "Don’t  Go  Near’  Water” 
World  (Indie)  t606;  90)— "Don ;  "Tarnished  Angels.”  (U).  Fine  ( M-G)  and  "Careless  Years’’  (UA) 
Giovanni”  (DCA)  (5th  wk).  Luke-  .  SI  1.000:  Last  week,  "My  Man  God-  (4th  wk)'.  Trim  $6.000 -in  5  davs 
warm  $3,500.  Last  week.  $4,200.  |  frey’’  (U)  (4th  wk),  $6,(100.  f  Last  week,  $7  800 


TOA’s  Own 

Continued  from  page  7 

it.  will  be  expanded  to  a  full-size 
convention  in  the  future. 

Co-hosts  of  the  board  session 
and  co-chairman  of  the  ‘‘coriven- 
tionette”  are  Abe  Blumenfeld, 
TOA  v.p.  and  prexy  of  Northern 
California  Theatres  Assn.,  and 
Roy  Cooper,  assistant  to  TOA 
prexy  Ernest  G.  Stellings. 

Committee  representing  west¬ 
ern  TOAites  includes  Albert  For¬ 
man,  TOA  v.p.  and  president  of 
Oregon  Theatres  Assn.;  J.  J,  Rosen- 
feld,  assistant  to  the  TQA  prexy; 
Robert  Selig,  TOA  executive  com¬ 
mittee  merhber,  and  Nathan  Greer, 
I  assistant,  to  the  prexy. 


Contliined  from  page  5  — ^ 

ence  confidence  in  the  movies,” 
CQmmented  one  executive.  "Why  is 
it  that  the  industry  must  always 
Wash  its  dirty  linen  in  public?” 

Some  feel  that  it’s  one  of  Holly¬ 
wood's  important  public  ■  relations 
tasks  to  create  an  atmosphere  of 
optimism  and  confidence  in  good 
product,  not  only  within  the  indus¬ 
try  itself,  but  with  the  public 
which  tends  to  slough  off  pic¬ 
tures  if  it  gets  the  idea  that  the 
product  generally  is  disappointing 
and  that  the  industry  is  "dying.” 

It’s  this  kind  of.  reasoning  which 
has  top  people  in  the.  business 
doing  a  burn  both  at  the  Times  and 
ait  TOA  for  its  inept  public  rela¬ 
tions  handling.  "There  -must  be  a 
way  for  us  to  make  a  survey  about 
our  business  that  can  be  kept  out 
of  the  general  press/ at  least,” 
opined  one  man,  almost  despa  ir- 
irigly:  : 

^  lit  was  this  TOA  report  which 
formed  the  basis  of  a  meeting  on 
the  Coast  last  week  of.  various 
unions,  and  guilds  to,  discuss  -the 
release  of  post-’48  product  to .  tv. 
The  report  spread  gloom  at  the 
conclave  tori,  but  participants  re¬ 
fused  to  divulge  its  contents. 

It  became  clear  this  week  that 
Crowther"  will  hear  from:  variou 
indu s t r y  sectors,  including  the 
Motion  Picture  Assn,  of  America. 
Criticism  will  centre  mostly  on  ..his 
flat  acceptance  of  the  Sindlinger 
figures,  which  many  consider  un¬ 
reliable  and  deliberately  tailored 
to  “meet  the  occasion.” 


21 


Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


PICTURES 


Continued  from  page  5  ; 


Speaking  solely  from  years  of  ex¬ 
perience  with  ,  women,  I  can  say 
that  the  word  “Hollywood,’'  as 
used  to  describe!  a  movie,  is  prac¬ 
tically  a  term  of  opprobrium,  con¬ 
noting  something  cheap,  tawdry; 
sensational;  over-glamorous.  Poor 
films  are  rated  “typically  Holly¬ 
wood,"  but  the  many  fine  Holly¬ 
wood  films  are  never  typically  Hol¬ 
lywood.  In  no  Other  artistic,  area 
Is  the  quality  of  the  output  as  a 
whole  judged  by  its  lesser  achieve¬ 
ments.  We  need  a  new  image,  and 
we  need  it  fast. 

Jinxed  P.  R. 

(2  Y  An  Insiry-Wide  Public  Re¬ 
lations  Program  that  will  really  get 
Off:  the  ground.  (Who  remembers 
the  bright  dreams  of  the  original 
COMPO  prospectus?  )  We  des¬ 
perately  need  a  program,  that  will 
do  the  same,  quality  job  of  consum¬ 
er-relations  that  is  done  by  such 
companies  as  Celanese,  General 
Foods  and  the  Airlines.  At  the 
present  time,  plans  exist,  for  some, 
such  program. 

From  a  women’s  point  of  view, 
such  a  P.  R.  program  should  start 
with  awakening  us  to  the  excel¬ 
lence  of  top  quality  .motion  pic¬ 
tures,  specifically  and  individually: 
Then,  the  importance  and  value  of 
those  films  should  be  taken  to  the 
grass  roots  through:  schools,  col¬ 
leges,  churches,  club  arid  Civic 
groups,  together  with  dozens  of 
other  avenues:  designed  to  reach 
the  women.  For  Word  of  Mouth 
is  a  Women  and  word  of  mouth 
creates  climates  arid  establishes 
reputations. 

Successful  P.  R.  programs  serve 
the  public  as  the  most  effective 
mearis  of  creating  a  climate  favor¬ 
able  to  their  product.  But  most  of 
.  our  dimly-conceived  P.  R.  projects 
serve  only  the,  picture  and  the 
picture-makers— and  the  public 
sees  right  through  our  self-seeking 
efforts.  We  have  a  new  chance, 
right  now.  Are  we  going  t<f  get 
our  program  goirig?  Or  are  we 
going  to  sit.  back,  once  more,  with 
the  tranquilized  attitude,  that  we’ve 
got  it  down  in  words,  haven’t  we? 
Right  down  in  back  and  white.  So 
it’s  as  good  as  done.  Let’s  look 
for  something  new! 

Outsmarting  Customers  N.  G. 

(3)  Selective  Selling  of.  Select¬ 
ed  Pictures.:  Alone  of  all  the  in¬ 
dustries,  the  motion  pictures  try  to 
sell  all  products  to  all  people.  How 
old-fashioned  can  we  get?  Specific 
films  must  be  geared  and  sold  to 
the  specific  patrons  who  will  enjoy 
that  particular  picture.  Lure  a 
man  into  a  soap-opera  and  his  very 
teeth  ache.  Whereas  the  ladies 
avoid  all  .  movies  for  a.  long.  time, 
after  being  trapped  into  a  guts-' 
and-gore  thriller-diller.  But  the 
variety  of  films  is  such  that  there 
Is  a. film  f Or  every  audience,  if  not 
always  vice  versa.  What  We  need 
Is  forthright  selling  Of  a  picture' 
to  the  people  that  will  enjoy  it, 
in  terms  that  will  appeal  to  them, 
placed  in  media  that  they  pay  at¬ 
tention  to. 

(4)  More  Box-office  Greats, 

Perhaps  it’s  about  time  that  we 
learned  a  few  lessons  from  our  own 
lohg  list  of  outstanding  all-time 
hits.  These  are  the  films  . in  which 
we  hit;  the  jackpot  and  managed 
to  strike  a  common  Chord  of  enjoy¬ 
ment  in  large  audiences, -not  only 
here  at  home,  but  in  most,  of  the 
foreign  countries  where  these  films 
have  played:  The  great  Middle 
Majority  at  home  and  abroad  cried, 
“Well  done,’’  and  so  did  most  of 
the  critics.  If  we  study  these  re¬ 
markably  successful  pictures, 
helpfully  listed  by  Variety  each 
year  in  its  Anniversary  edition,  we 
will  note  that  66%  of  these  Were 
not  Censor-Bait,  but  excellent  films 
for  the  whole  family,  characterized 
by  good  taste  ( absolutely  essential 
for  the  women’s  audiences)  and, 
in  many  cases,  by  considerable  ar¬ 
tistry  and  inventiveness  within:  the 
framework  of  Middle  Majority 
mores  and  attitudes.  Furthermore, 
these  films  are  almost  unanimously 
characterized  by  endings  which 
confirm  basic  American  beliefs, 
unchanged  from  de  Tocqueyille  to 
Henry.  Commager,  that  the  individ¬ 
ual  can  achieve  a  worth-while  goal, 
that  the  future  will  justify,  our 
faith  and  effort.  ■ 

All  of  which  does  not  spell  the 

erid  of  experimentation,  of  fresh 
material,  of.  the. real  Realism  which 
is  always  compounded -of  joy  and 
sorrow,  blended.  .It  would  mean 
less  emphasis  upon  films  that  are 
unrelievedly  .  sordid,  unpleasant, 
down-beat  and  grim  .  .  :  of  filnis 
based  on  European  models  tpati 


were  never  successes  in  their  own 
countries.  Neo-Realism  is  not 
American  realism  .  .  .  is  not  true 
to  life  as  we  know  it .  .  .  is  rarely 
good  box-office,  either  here  or 
abroad;  Now,  more,  than  ever,  au¬ 
diences  crave  refreshment  and  re¬ 
creation  in  their  entertainment. 
They  want  to  leave,  the  theatres 
“feeling  better"  than  when  they 
went  in— -a  little  more  joyous — 
with  a  sense  that,  dark  trio’  the 
post-Sputnik  world  may  be,  there 
still  exists  gaiety  arid  hope  arid 
human  decency. 

Arid  lastly,  there  is  one  message 
on  which  all  phases  of  the  indus¬ 
try  shoiilci  concentrate  through 
every  media  at  their  command: 
that  tv  films  are  not  Movies  as  we. 
know  them  today  in  the  theatres. 
Let’s  ,  keep  the  word  “Movies”  for 
our  own;  it  has  a  proud  history. 
Movie-makers  cari  and  should  make 
telefilms,  bringing  all  their  talent 
and  imagination,  to  developing 
techniques  appropriate  to  the  tv 
medium  with  its  quitediffer- 
ent  set  of.  problems  and  circum¬ 
stances..  But  these  are  not  modern 
Movies  and  should  never  be  so  con¬ 
sidered.  The  color,  the  sweep,  the 
movement,  the  intimacy,  the  hi-fi 
scores  and  sound-effects,  the  en¬ 
velopment  of  the  large  screen,  the 
extraordinary  sense  of  reality  ,  .  . 
all  these  belong  to  the  Movies  and 
not  to;  the  home-surrounded  tv  set. 
Too  many  people  today  believe 
that  the  films  they  see  on  tv  are 
the  same  as  those  shown  in  the 
theatre.  This  is  just  not  so,  arid 
we  have  a  job  of  education  to  do. 
interesting  and  entertaining  as  tv 
films  can  be  in  their  separate  way, 
they  are  just  not  Modern  MoVies^— 
and  you’re  missing  plenty:  if  you 
don’t  find  out  the  difference  and 
see;  the  best;  of  both  foriris. 

So,  let’s  cut.  out  the  Magic,  arid 
if  we  must  have:  a  slogan;  for  our¬ 
selves,  pot  for  the  public,  LET’S 
JUST  GET  TO  WORK! 


Other  Critics 

Continued  from  page  7  s 

ulairly  iri  the  instance  of  a  film  that 
displeased  a  critic,  it  .should .  re¬ 
ceive  nothing  more  thari  a  capsule 
notice. 

In  the  . foreign  field,  several  in¬ 
dies  have  begun  releasing  pictures 
outrOf-towri  on  the  theory  that.  If 
theydpened  in  Gotham;  the  critics 
would  kill  ’em. 

Study  of  all  of  the  New  York 
reviews  of  American  .films  since 
DeCi  1,  1957,  establishes  Crowther 
still  the  toughest  of  the  lot.  Of  14 
films,  he  found  five  poor  and  only 
orie  excellent.  One  was  good-to- 
excellerit,  three  were  good,  three 
fair-to-gpod  and  one  fair.  At  the 
opposite  end  Of  the  pole,  the  N.  Y, 
Daily  News,  Which  is  virtually  val¬ 
ueless  in  terms  of  serious  review 
content,  found  three  excellent, 
seven  good-to-excellent,  brie  fair- 
to-good,  two  fair  arid  not  a  single, 
one  poor. 

(This  total  compilation  does  not 
include  the  “Farewell  to  Arms"  re¬ 
views  last  Saturday.  (25) ). 

There  appears  to:  be  no  question 
that  the  two  Hearst  papers  have 
“toughened  up"  during  1957.  The 
Mirror,  Out  of  14  pix,  found  only 
two.  excellent  but  rate  four  poor. 
Three  Were  good  and.  four  fair, 
with  one  rated  poor-to-fair.  The 
journal,  once  wholly  uncritical, 
found  only  two  excellent,  one 
good-to-excellent, .  three  good,  two 
fair-to-good,  three,  fair  and  two 
poor. 

It’s  worth  noting  that,  while  .  Gil¬ 
bert’s  Mirror  write  ups  .  have  be¬ 
come  more  realistically  hard-hit¬ 
ting,  his  reputation  as  an  “honest" 
critic  has  risen  and  the  companies 
now  pay  greater  heed  to  the  Mir¬ 
ror  reviews  than  before.  Though 
it’s  apt  to  complain,  the  trade 
generally  tends  to  respect  the 
’tough"  crix  more  than,  the  “soft" 
ones. 

Herald  -  Tribune’s  William  K. 
Zinsser  spread  himself  evenly,  with 
['two  excellent,  two  good-to-excel- 
lent,  three  good,  One  fair-to-good, 
two  fair  and  four  poor.  Many  In 
the  industry  feel  that  Zinsser’s  re¬ 
views  today  are  better  than  before 
and  that  he’s  growing  in  his  critic’s 
status. 

Archer  Winsten  at  the  Post,  who 
has  a  tendency  to  go  off  oil  intel¬ 
lectual  tangents,  found  three  ex¬ 
cellent,  two  good,  three  fair  and 
three  poor.  The  World  Telegram  & 
Sun  rated  two  excellent,  three 
good-to-excellent,  two  good,  six 


fair  and  one  poor.  “It  generally  hits 
a  middle  road.  .  j 

Current  mood  of  the  business  Is 
to  carp  at  the  crix  when  they  write 
unfavorable  reviews,  and  to  speak 
threateningly  of  “sending ,  letters 
to  the  publisher."  This  has  been 
tried  on  one  or  two  occasions;,  no¬ 
tably  with  the  Tunes;  but  has  rare’y 
produced  the  desired  results; 
There’s  no  question,  however,  that 
the  topic:  “What’s  the  function  of 
a  critic?”  is  going  to  be  extensively 
discussed,  during  1958.  ,■ 


Murdered  Besl-Sellers 

Continued  frompAge  1 

mass  appeal,  is  perfectly  logical: 
They  point  to  the  fact  that  the 
.term  “best  seller"  is  actually  hois-, 
'leading  sirice  it  implies — in  com¬ 
parison  with  a  film,  for  Instance--- 
very  limited  circulation. 

In  other  words,  while  millions 
may  have  heard  about  a  given  title, 
few  actually  have  read  the  book, 
and  they  will  tend  to  be  much  less 
critical  than  the  core  of  “intel¬ 
lectuals"  Who  are  apt  to  compare 
the  original  with  what  appears  on 
the  screen. 

Even  the  critics  at  :  trines  go 
along  with  the  theory  that  the  film 
should  do  no  more  than  reflect  the 
mood  of  a  book,  Most  of  them  re¬ 
viewed  “Peyton  Place"  With;  the 
emphasis  primarily  ori:  Isn’t  it 
marvellous  what  they  were  able! 
to  do  with  such  a  novel! 

Yet,  it’s,  conceded  that  many  of 
the  recent  ,  pictures  based  on  popu¬ 
lar  books  have  failed  to  capture 
the  essence  of  their  meaning.  This 
was.  true  of  “Island  in  the  Sun,” 
it  is  certainly  true  of  “A  Farewell 
to  Aims",  and  of  the  upcomirig 
“The  Quiet  American."  It  is,  as  a 
rule,  less  true  of  novels  that  con¬ 
cern  themselves,  primarily  with  ac¬ 
tion  and.  where  “meaning"  is  of 
secondary  importance,  such  as 
"Bridge  over  the  River  Kwai." 

Those  who  look  at  pictures  with 
a  critical  eye,  and  are  in  a  position 
to  forget  tfie  boxoffice  values,  tend 
to  ask,  despairingly,,  why  it  is  that 
Hollywood  appears  almost  delib¬ 
erately  to  drain  its  stories  of  signi¬ 
ficance  and.  meaning.  Point  is 
raised  in  connection;  with  such  films 
as  “The  .  Sun  Also  Rises,"  Which 
had  little  resemblance  to  the  Hem¬ 
ingway  original,  and  again  with 
“Farewell  to  Arms.” 

Asked  about  this  recently,  pro¬ 
ducer  David  O.  Selzriick.  opined 
that  he  actually  had  “handcuffed” 
himself  to  the  Original,,  and  that  it 
was  this  “slavish"  adherence  to  the 
book  that  might .  have  caused  the 
picture,  to  suffer  iri  parts.  On  the 
other  hand,  he  held,  “I’mv  playing 
with  other  people’s  money,  I  have 
no  right  to  piit  something  bn  the 
screen  that  doesn’t  look  or  sound 
good,  simply  because  it’s  in  the 
book  on  which  the  script  is  based.” 

From  a  commercial  poirit-of- 
yiew,  there’s  of  course  no  quarrel¬ 
ling  with  the  fact  that  many  of 
the  bestsellers  -  turned  -  into  -  films 
have  earned  top  grosser  status. 
Very  few  of  the  critics  liked  “Is¬ 
land  in  the  Sun,”  which' was  a  con¬ 
siderable  distortion  of  the  original; 
yet  it  cleaned,  up  on  the  racial 
angle. 

There  are. 'those  who.  maintain;: 
that  Hollywood,  goes  overboard  in 
hitching  its  star  to  the  bestsellers, 
and  .  that  it  would  be  wise  to  en¬ 
courage  a  greater  proportion  of 
original  screen  stories;  They  point 
to  pictures  like  “Raintree  County” 
and  ask  whether,  if  they  have  to 
be  made,  it  wouldn’t  be  better  to 
base  them  on  original  yarns  in-, 
stead  of  giving  the  critics  and  sec¬ 
tions  of  the  public  something  to 
snipe  at  via  the  unfavorable  com¬ 
parison  with  the  original. 

According  to  some  of  the  story 
editors,  the  presold  title  value  of 
the  bestsellirig  novel  is  apt  to 
prove  more  of  a  lure  to  producers 
in  the  future.  One  story  depart¬ 
ment  exec  last  week  held  that  the 
public  generally  doesn’t  expect  a. 
“true”  version  of  a  book  on  the 
screen. 

At  the  same  time,  it’s  recognized 
that  the  various  pressures  brought 
on  producers  from  the  Code,  the 
Roman  Catholic  Legion  of  Decency 
and  others,  tend  to  force  them  to 
distort,  and  are  sometimes  to  blame 
for  mediocre  quality.  Cited  is  the. 
screen’s  unwritten  obligation  never 
to  let  wrongdoing  go  unrevenged* 
a  moral  which  the  more  true-to- 
.  life  authors  tend  to  ignore  and 
Which  can  raise  havoc  with  an 
adaptation. 

At  the  opposite  end  of.  the  ar¬ 
gument,  It  is  agreed  that  there 
have  been  a  number  of  films  Which 
have  actually  improved  on.  the 
npvel  on  which  they  were  based. 


Theatres  to  U.S.  Pix  After  3  Years 


Slams  Arty  Fellows 

Dallas,  Jan.  28. 

“Arty  fellows  who  inhabit 
the  ivory  towers  of  Hollywood 
and  New  York"  are  among 
moviedome’s  worst  enemies, 
Samuel  Arkoff,  veepee  of 
American  International  Pic¬ 
tures,  told  members  ,  of  the 
TCxas  Drive-In  Theatre  Own¬ 
ers’  Assn,  at  its  annual  con¬ 
vention  here. 

Arkoff ’s  remarks  were  in 
reference  to  .  an  alleged  cur¬ 
rent  trend  of  releases  which 
“exhibitors  know  on  first  sight  • 
they  won’t  make  any  money." 

“Arty  thinking  never  solved 
any  problems  for  the  theatre," 
added  Arkoff.  “Pictures  that 
don’t  make!  money  hurt  every¬ 
body." 

Arkoff  also  scored  the  cur¬ 
rent.  tendency  within  the  in¬ 
dustry  Itself  of  “doom-monger- 
irig."  He  added:  “Movies  are 
not-  a  dying  industry.  We  are 
experimenting  a  revolution  in 
policies  and  alms." 


For  Warner  Team 


Continuing  its  retrenchment  pro¬ 
gram,  Warner  Bros:  cut  its  field 
publicity  staff  to  a  total  of  five  men 
throughout  the  country. 

Five  field  flacks  were  plnkslipped 
on  Friday  :  (24).  Those.,  given  no¬ 
tices  were  Irving  Blumberg,  who 
covered  the  Philadelphia-Washing- 
ton  area;  Art  Moger*  veteran1  pub¬ 
licist  in  the  Boston  territory;  Kevin 
Gerither,  Dallas;  Robert  Quinn, 
Denver,  and  Irving  Tombach,  Cin¬ 
cinnati. 

High  Schoolers,  Asked, 

Set  40c  as  Admission; 
Paper  Praises  Exhib 

Oakes;  N.  D.,  Jan.  28. 

Taking  a  novel  public  relations 
approach  to  cement  better  feelings 
and  gain  more  patronage  from  this 
community’s  teenagers,  .  Ken  Bross- 
triann,  owner  of  the  Grand,  this 
town’s  only  film  house,  irivited  a 
committee,  of  the  young  people, 
six  high  school  students,  to  meet 
with  him  and  figure  out  a  fair 
student  admission  price.  . 

The  conference  agreed  that  40c 
would  be  “fair"  arid  Brossman  will 
.give  it:  a  three-month  test.  There 
had  been  no  special  teenage  ad- 
inission — only  one  for  children  of 
12  arid.  undeY— and  the  adult  price 
is  75c. 

Commending  Brossmanri,  the 
t  own’ s  .newspaper  editorially 
thanked  him,  calling  him  a  “fine 
citizen;”  and  urged  all  teenagers; 
to  attend  the  theatre  “so  that  the; 
studerit  price  plan  will  work," 

OSCAR  MUSIC  BRANCH 
NEEDS  NEW  OFFSHOOT? 

Hollywood,  Jan.  28. 

Possibility  that  the  Music  Branch 
of  the  Academy  of  Mdtion  Picture 
Arts  and  Sciences  may  be  reqr- 
ganized  is  seen  here  as  a  result  of 
discussions;  following  the  resigna¬ 
tion  of  approximately  a  dozen  mu¬ 
sic  members.  Their  departure  was 
touched  off  by  the  recent  reduction 
in  the.  number  of  Academy  music 
awards  from  three  to  two.  How¬ 
ever,  it  was  emphasized  by  the  dis¬ 
sidents,  that  the  actual  reduction 
was  merely  the  final  fact;  that  their 
resignations  stemmed  from  long 
tirne  dissatisfaction  with  the  ac¬ 
tual  operation  of  the  branch. 

Academy  prexy  George  Seaton 
met “unofficially"  with  some  of  the 
resigneCs  last  week  and  it  was 
understood  that  further  discussions 
will  be  deferred  until  after  the 
Academy  Awards  in  March.  Dissi¬ 
dents.  are  understood  to  have  told 
Seaton  that  one  of  the  big  prob¬ 
lems  is  the  fact  that  the  music 
branch  is  a  heterogenous  group; 
one  possible  solution  to  the  prob- 
lein  was  the  suggestion  that  the 
Music  Branch  be  divided  into  two 
segments; 


*  By  HAZEL  GUILD 

Frankfurt,  Jan.  21. 
The  blockade  is  broken,  and 
Denmark  is  finally  opening  Its 
arms  and  Its  theatres  to  the  MPEA 
films  after  a  three-year  halt  in 
showing  of  American  product.  Last 
Monday  (20),  under  the  auspices  of 
U.  $.  Ambassador  to  Denmark,  Val 
Peterson,  a  meeting  was  arranged 
to  .  give  Fred  Gronich,  new  MPEA 
Continental  manager,  a  chance  to 
discuss  the  giant  impass  keeping 
the  Yank  films  out  of  Denmark 
with  Prline  Minister  Hansen  and 
Finance  Minister  Kampmann  in 
Copenhagen.  Also  present  was 
Harry  Frandsen,  leader  of  the  Na¬ 
tional  Exihibitors  Assn,  of  Den¬ 
mark. 

..  (The  American  films  will  go 
back  on  the  rental  terms  orig¬ 
inally  demanded  by  MPEA* 
with  theatres  divided  into  four 
categories  and  paying  flat 
...  terms  set  for  each.  MPEA  board 
In  N.  Y.  approved  the  deal  yes¬ 
terday  (Toes.).  In  the  past* 
the  theatres  wouldn’t  pay 
more  than  30%  tops.) 

.  Frandsen  arid  many  of  his  mem¬ 
bers  had  actually  wanted,  to  some 
to  terms  with  the  American  com¬ 
panies  for  some  time.  But  certain 
influential  distributors  in  Den¬ 
mark,  repping  Danish,  French, 
Italian  and  British  pictures,  had 
managed  to  tie  up  the  Danish 
cinemas  and  prevent  any  serious 
negotiations.  One  of  their  prime 
objectives  was  to  keep  out  Yank 
product  which  would  be  highly 
competitive  with’ their  own  Inter¬ 
ests.  Their  influence  with  the 
Danish  exhibs  had  represented  the. 
main  stumbling  block  for  negotia¬ 
tions  between  MPEA  and  the  the¬ 
atres. 

The  Danish  prime  minister  an¬ 
nounced  that  he  highly  favored  an 
immediate  solution  of  the  pro¬ 
longed  negotiations  and  asked  that 
the  matter  be  put  under  his  per¬ 
sonal  patronage  for  speedy  settle¬ 
ment.  Agreement  In  principle  was 
reached;  with  Gronich  active  in 
negotiations  here  for  several  days. 

Final  pact  Is  expected  with  the 
Okay  froin  the  MPEA  member  com¬ 
panies  in  Paris  and  N.  Y.  Darilsh 
exhibs  are  expected  to  sign  and 
settle  all  the  matters  within  about 
a  week. 

When  the  actual  date  for  the  re¬ 
lease  of  MPEA  film?  in  all  the 
houses  is  set,  it  will  be  the  first 
time  that  the  whole  Danish  film 
industry  has  had  American  films 
for  nearlv  three  vears.  The  Amer¬ 
icas  withdrew  their  films  In  May; 
1955. 

Excitement  in  Copenhagen 
Excitement  In  Copenhagen  was 
fantastic,  Gron;ch  reported,  with 
the  dailies  front-paging  stories  of 
the.  negotiations,  and  even  editori¬ 
alizing  in  favor  of  Immediate  solu¬ 
tion  of  the  lengthy  skirmish  so 
that  Aiherlcan  films  aga?n  could 
play  throughout  the  country. 

During  1957,  MPEA  had  made  a 
few  deals  for, single  cinemas  to 
plav  the  U.  S.  companies'’  product, 
so  that  the  year  actually  saw  a  few 
MPEA  films  showing  In  Copen¬ 
hagen.  At  the  years’  end,  5nst.24 
theatres  out  of  a  total  of  460  had 
made  separate  negotiations  to  ac¬ 
cept  the  Yank  fare,  often  at  higher 
terms. 

Interest  was  so  high  that  the 
houses  playing  Yank  films  did 
great  business.  Gronich,  former 
head  of  MPEA  for  Germany  and 
just  appointed  as  Continental  man¬ 
ager  to  succeed  Marc  Spiegel,  has 
wound  up  the  long-drawn-out 
Danish ,  problem  just  before  mov¬ 
ing  from  .  his  Frankfurt  base  of 
operations  to  his  new  office  in 
Paris,  where  he  takes  over  Feb.  1. 

17,809  U.S.  Theatres 
Exhibiting 

United  States  theatres  in  opera¬ 
tion  as  of  the  close  of  1957  num¬ 
bered  17,809,  according  to  market 
analyst  and  researcher  Albert  E. 
Sindlinger.  There  were  13,412 
four-wall  operations  and  4,397 
drive-ins. 

This  represented  a  net  drop  of 
1,210  houses  under  the  previous 
year,  taking  into  account  the  num¬ 
ber  of  newly-opened  situations. ; 


22 


-  ■  '  ht  r  t  l  «  r- 

1  nCllTlDBS 


f/ frmnaiy  20,  1958 


Universal  continues  as  the  enig-i 
ma  of  the  film  biz.  Less  than  a 
year  ago  U  was  often  cited  as  an 
example  of  how  a  film  Company 
can  operate  under  the  adverse 
conditions  facing  the  industry  as  a 
whole.  The  company  kept  a  care¬ 
ful  control  of  its  output  and  had 
no  truck  with  indie  producers.  It 
budgeted  its  pictures  earefully  and 
turned  out  what  seamed  to  be  mass 
appeal  films.  From  all  indica¬ 
tions,  U  policy  was  paying  off  and 
the  company  was  operating  profita¬ 
bly. 

Then,  suddenly,  U  shut  down, 
production  and  followed  this  move 
with  mass  layoffs  both  on  the  Coast 
and  in  New  York'  The  decision 
jolted  many  long-time  employees. 
It  now  seems  that  during  a  period 
of  six  months  U’s  output  was  not 
meeting  the  needs  of  today’s  box- 
office.  The  company  had  a  long 
string  of  modest  budget  films 
which  failed  to  induce  wicket  ac¬ 
tivity.  There  were  no  biggies  such 
as  “The  Glenn  Miller  Story”  or 
“To  Hell  and  Back”  to  make  up 
for  the  routine  pictures.  Seeming¬ 
ly  the  top  brass  decided  to  call  a 
hiatus  and  review  the  company’s 
program. 

It’s  been  several  weeks  now 
since  prexy  Milton  Rackmil  and 
his  advisers  decided  to  call  the 
halt.  So  far  there  has  been  no 
forthright  statement  from  Rackmil 
as  to  just  what  the  future  plans  of 
the  company  will  be.  Remaining 
staffers  are  performing  their  tasks 
in  a  vacuum  of  uncertanity.  The 
lack  of  word  has  resulted  in  an 
outbreak  of  “rumor-tism,” 

The  company  has  some  32  pic¬ 
tures  completed.  These  can  carry 
the  company  through  February, 
1959,  However,  if  U  plans  to  com 
Hnue  to  operate  actively,  it’s  felt 
that  some  program  for  the  future 
must  be  devised. 

There’s  general  wonder  if  U’s 
“little”  pictures  can  continue  to 
exist  in  today's  market:  Altering 
the  longtime  policy,  of  course, 
takes  time.  Rackmil  and  his  exec¬ 
utive  staff  have  been  holding  nu¬ 
merous  meetings.  So  far  their  rea- 
loning  is  a  well  kept  secret.  As 
long  as  it’s  kept  a  secret,  the  “ni- 
mor-tism”  apparently  will  con- 
tinue, 


PROF  JOINS  TELEPRQMPTER 

Edward  Reveaux  As  Producer 
For  Closed  Circuit 

Edward  Reveaux  has  joined  the 
Group  Communications  Division  of 
the  TelePrompter  Corp.  as  execu¬ 
tive  producer  in  charge  of  Writing, 
production  and  staging  of  in¬ 
dustrial  closed-circuit  television 
shows. 

Reveaux,  former  assistant  pro¬ 
fessor  of  play  production,  at  Yale; 
has  in  recent  years  been  specializ¬ 
ing  in  the  writing  and  production 
of  industrial  shows  for  such  com¬ 
panies  as  General  Motors,  Ford, 
Studebaker-Packafd,  Dodge  and 
others. 


Stars  Hard  to  Get  But 
Paramount  Increasing 
Production  By  3  Pix 

Hollywood,  Jan.  28. 

Paramount  is  upping  production 
program  to  22  features  this  year, 
three  over  last  year.  Major  probr 
lem  in  mapping  slate  is  shortage 
of  top  stars  “to  carry  heavy  costs 
pf  negative,” 

Most  of  deals  will  be  made  with 
units  associated  with  Paramount 
like  Perlberg-Seaton,  Shavelson- 
Rose,  Panama-Frank, 

Cecil  B.  DeMille  and  Y.  Frank 
Freeman  are  now  talking  about 
DeMiUe’s  next  film  but  admittedly 
its  tough  to  top  ^‘Command¬ 
ments.” 


Kroger  Babb  Loses 

Hollywood,  Jan.  28. 

Prelim  injunction  asked;  by  Kro¬ 
ger  Babb  to  restrain  Sam  Katz- 
man’s  Clover  Productions  from 
filming  “Pretty  Boy  Floyd  Story” 
was  denied  yesterday  (Mon.)  by 
Federal  Judge  Leon  R.  Yankwich; 

Defendants  immediately  filed  mo¬ 
tion  for  summary  judgment  to  be 
heard  Feb.  17.  Claim  there  are 
no  property  rights  in  Historical 
character,  therefore  anybody  can 
picturize  Floyd. 


r- RADIO  CITY  MUSIC  HALL-t 

Rxhefeltar  Cent  •  CIS-4600 

MARIO  LANZA  * 

••SEVEN  HILLS  OF  ROME” 

a-Jtm*  AENATO  HASCEL  *  MMISA  ALLASlO 
la  KM  Ulan  H  TttMim®  mi  HtWICKH 
cwd  SKCUCUUSTACt  rtBaWW 


Lou  Karp  Exits 
Famous  Players 

Vancouver,  Jan.  28. 

Lou  Karp,  longtime  booker  for 
Famous  Players  here,  and  em¬ 
ployed  with  circuit  for  29  years, 
has  departed  to  join  local  indie 
booking  agency,  Owen  Bird's  West 
Coast  Booking  Service  which 
routes  feature  films  into  indie  situ¬ 
ations  this  area. 

Karp  arrangement  is  a  co-oper¬ 
ating  partnership  with  Bird; 

30  FILM  ARTICLES  IN 
U.S.  INFORMATION  KIT 

U.  S.  information  Agency  -  has 
produced  a  package  of  30  feature 
stories  on  various  aspects  of  mm 
tion  pictures  for  distribution  to 
newspapers,  magazines  and  radio 
stations  all  over  the  world..  , 

The  storied,  ranging  from  past  to 
present  and  put  out  under  the 
heading  ‘.'The  American  Film,” :  in¬ 
cludes  contributions  from  Eric 
Johnston,  Alistair  Cooke,.  Kenneth 
Macgowan,  Gilbert  Seldes,  ;Prof. 
Robert  Gessner,  Lester  Asheim, 
etc.  ,  ' 

.  In  his  piece  on  “The  Motion  Pic¬ 
ture.  as  a  Stimulus  to  Culture,” 
Johnston  says  “We  shall  realize  in 
the  days  ahead  *  -....that  the  motion 
picture  can  also,  break  down  bar¬ 
riers  of  .misunderstanding  among 
nations  as  readily  as  it  has  broken 
down  lesser  barriers  within1  this 
country.” 


On  Pro-Fee  Petition 

Los  Angeles,  Jan;  28. 

Los. .  Angeles  City  Clerk  'Walter 
C.  Peterson  Has  begun  certifying 
signatures  on  a  pair  of  petitions, 
each  bearing  approximately  120,- 
000  names,  seeking  a  referendum 
on  the  proposed  ordinances  which, 
would  franchise  Skiatron  Tv  Inc.; 
and  Fox-West  Coast-International 
Telemeter  to  operate  feevee  sys¬ 
tems  wihtiiu  the  city  limits.  Peti¬ 
tions  were  filed  by  the  Southern. 
California  Theatre  Owners  Asso¬ 
ciation, 

A  total  of  51,767  valid  signatures 
is  needed  on  each  petition  to  force 
a  ballot  test  June  3  on  the  toll-tv 
proposals.  L.A,  City  Council  passed 
the  franchise  ordinances  last 
month. 


Washington,  Jan.  28. 

Toll  foes  In  the  Senate  yesterday 
(Mon.)  joined  in  a  “resolution” 
against  subscription  tv.  Seven  Sen¬ 
ators,  including  six  members  of  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Committee, 
went  on  record  expressing  “the 
sense  of  the.  Senate”  that  no  action 
shall  be  taken  by  the  FCC  on  fee¬ 
vee  until  Congress  determines  pub? 
lie  policy  on  the  question. 

'  Measure  was  introduced  by  Seni 
Strom  Thurmond  (D-S.  C.T  and  co¬ 
sponsored  by  following  Senators: 
Frank  J.  Lausche  (D-O.),  John  M. 
Butler  (R-Md.),  Charles  E.  Potter 
(R-Mich.),  George O.  Smathers  (D- 
Fla.),  Frederick  G.  Payne  (R-Me.) 
and  Frank  Carlson  (R-Kan.).  All 
but  .Sen.  Carlson  are  committee 
members; 


Boston,  Jan.  28. 

Home-toll  could  cost  a  family 
$475  yearly,  Arthur  E.  Fetridge, 
Boston  Herald  tv  editor,  said  in 
the  second  of.  a  series  oh  toll- 
vision  in  the  Sunday  Herald  (26). 

He  argued:  -  .  .  .  It’s  up  to  the 
people  to  decide  how  their  broad¬ 
casting  channels  are  to  be  used. 
However,  it  mqst  be  remembered 
that  once  pay  tv  comes  into  being 
you’ll  get  exactly  the  same  thing 
you  now  get  free, 

'Telemeter  would  charge  on  a 
program  basis  of  25c  to  $2  a  show, 
plus  an.  installation  cost  of.  $30 
to  $50.  Skiatron  wants  the  .  same 
charge  .a  monthly  rental  of  $2-$3 
even  if  the  set  wasn’t  turned  on 
to  one  of  their  programs.  Tele¬ 
meter,  talks  of  85c  as  a  reasonable 
charge  for  films  which  adds  up  to 
about  $175  a  year  at  the  present 
rate  Of  viewing.;  Skiatron  has  set 
50c  to  $1  for  a  ball  game.  At  two 
games  a  week  this  could  mean  up 
to  $100  a  year. 

“By  rough  calculation  and  set¬ 
ting  the  total  viewing  time  for  the 
entire  family  to  three  hours  a  day 
to  watch  two  ball  games,  two  films, 
two  plays,  one  opera,  two  top  va¬ 
riety  shbws  and  six  hours  of  mis¬ 
cellaneous  we  can  add  up  to  close 
to  $475  a  year.’’ 

Duncan  McGregor  Rales 
Paris,  NX  ‘Not  For  Sale’ 

French  Industry  has .  some  ex¬ 
cellent  product  available  for  the 
States  ancLthe  upcoming  films  show 
a  lot  of  promise,  Duncan  Mc¬ 
Gregor,  -president  of  the  American 
Pathe  Cinema  company,  said  in 
N,  -  Y.  Monday  (27)  on  returning 
from  Paris. 

McGregor,  who  .operates  the 
Paris  Theatre  for  Pathe,  denied 
reports  that  the  house  was  up  for 
sale  to  anyone,  and  he  said  he 
knew  nothing  of  a  plan  to  give  the 
Japanese  four  months  of  the  Paris’ 
playing  time  a  year.  In  fact,  said 
McGregor,  the  theatre  at  it  now 
stands  is  fully  booked  to  the  end 
of  the  year, 

Pathe.  exec  said  his  organization 
was  interested  in  acquiring  a  sec¬ 
ond  house  ih:  Manhatten  if  It  can 
find  cine.  It  already  runs  the 
World  Theatre  In  Philadelphia. 

Regarding  French  plans  for  the 
U.S.,  McGregor  said  he  knew  only 
that  the  Financinef  outfit  in  France 
was  set  up  to  acquire  interests  in 
theatres  abroad  to  stimulate  the 
showing  ,  of  French  films.  Group 
is  concentrating  for  the  moment  on 
Canada  and  the  U.  S.  Finacinef  is 
supposed  to  have  about  $100,000 
available.  Alojjg;  with  the  theatre 
interest  would  ga  the  right  to  book 
in  .  a  given  number  of  French  pro¬ 
ductions. 

McGregor  said  the  reports  about 
the  Paris  didn’t  make;  sense  in. 
that  the  house  already  was  devot¬ 
ing  most  of.  its  playing  time  to 
French;  product.  It  currently  has 
a:  big  hit  in  the  Brigitte  Bardot 
starrer,  “And  .  God  Created  Wom¬ 
an.” ;  He  said  he  didn’t  know  how 
the  French;  after  acquiring  a  thea¬ 
tre  interest,  would  decide  on  whose 
picture  is  to  play  that  particular 
house. 


Rank  Film  Distributors  pf  America  held  its  second  annual  sales  con¬ 
vention  in  New  York  last  week.  Keynote  was  set  by  prexy  Kenneth 
Hargreaves  who  said  the  outfit  could  look  forward  to  1958  with  “ob- 
timism  tempered  with  realism.” 

Sales  meet  heard  Hargreaves  call  for  concentration  on  the  drive-ins 
during  the  coming  year.  “In  1958,  we  will  intensify  bur  operations  with 
outdoor  theatremen  by  releasing  a  larger  number  of  commercial  and 
exploitable  product,” -Hargreaves  said. 

At  the  same  time,  he  held,  RFDA  will  launch  a  parallel  move  to  In¬ 
crease  the  sale  of  product  to  the  hard-toppers.  RFDA  sales  force  was 
welcomed  by  Irving  Sochin,  sales  topper. 

Irony:  While  the  distributors  maintain  their  embargo  on  shipments 
to  Spain,  Mike  Todd’s  “Around  the  World  in  80  Days”  has  set  a  new 
house  record  lii  Barcelona,  beating  “Gone  With  the  Wind”  on  a  week¬ 


ly  take. 

The  recent  Edward  L.  and  Doris  Bernays  study  of  anti-Americanism 
in  Britain,  with  its  conclusions  that -the  two  salient,  inter-related  in¬ 
fluences  are  (1)  sensation-pandering,  nationally-circulated  London  dai¬ 
lies  and  (2)  Hollywood  product  which  gives  a  semblance  of  plausibility 
to  the  type  of  story  the  London  papers  play  up,  has  drawn  a  rebuttal 
from  Eric  Johnston.  Though  somewhat  gently .  worded,  the  mimeo¬ 
graph  handout  from  the  MPAA  head  provoked  the  Bernays  pair  be¬ 
cause  it  was  released  pending,  and  in  lieu  of,  Bernays’  own  requested 
permission  to  release  Johnston’s  earlier  personal  letter  to  Bernays. 

The  Bernays  study  was  first  published,  by  Variety  Under  the  cap¬ 
tions,  “New  British  Sport:  Spank-Yank”  and  has  been  widely  repro¬ 
duced  in  English  papers.  Laura  Lee,  of  the  Philadelphia  Bulletin,  de¬ 
voted  three  Columns  to  the  material  last  week. 


American  interest  in  things  Japanese  1$  bringing  about  a  revival  of 
interest  in  old  Japanese  culture  in  Japan,  Hideko  Takamine,  leading 
femme  actress  of  Japan,  said  Monday  (27).  But  U.S.  fascination  with 
Japanese  ways  at  times  has  curious  results,  she  added. 

“If  one  goes  Into  a  Japanese  restaurant  these  days,  one  Is  apt  to  find 
the  .  Japanese  sitting  on  comfortable  chairs  and  visiting  Americans  do¬ 
ing  their  best  to  adjust  to  the  traditional.  Japanese  way  of  sitting  on 
the  floor,”  she  related.  "As  for  myself,  I  hardly  know  any  more  how  to 
sit  on  the  floor.  And  any  way,  it’s  very  uncomfortable.” 


Mervyn  LeRoy  concluded  two  weeks  of  shooting  “Home  Before  Dark” 
around  the  clock  in  Boston  and  Marblehead  Thursday  (23)  with  added 
scenes  in  front  of  R.  H.  Stearns  dep’t.  store  on  Tremont  St.  in  Hub, 
and  exited  with  his  film  crew  for  Hollywood.  Locations  included  Tuft’s 
College,  Danyers.  State  Hospital  and  Marblehead.  LeRoy  wanted  snow 
and  bad  weather  and  he  got  both  during  stay.  LeRoy  said  he  couldn’t 
duplicate  the  Marblehead  atmosphere  anywhere.  “The  picture  is  in 
black  and  white  but  the  scenes  of  Jean  Simmons  and  Efrem  Zimba- 
list  walking  through  the  streets  at  night  are  like  oil  paintings.” 


REP.  OREN  HARRIS 
SKIPS  TV  BUSINESS 

Washington,  Jan.  28, 
House-  Interstate  Commerce 
Committee.  Chairman .  Oren  Harris 
(D-Ark,)  disclosed  last  week  that 
he  has  gold  his  25%  interest  ,  in 
KRBB-TV  in  El  Dorado,  Ark., 
which  he  acquired  last  summer  for 
$5,000  with  a  $500  down  payment. 
He  said  he  sold  his  interest  Tues¬ 
day  (21)  for  What  he  paid  for  it 
and  has  resigned  as  vice  president 
of  the  South  Arkansas  Television 
Co.,  which  holds  the  license.  (The 
following  day,  the  Federal  Com¬ 
munications  Commission  granted 
the  station  a  power  boost  from 
24  kw  to  316  kw  and  permission 
to  move  its  transmitter  about  20 
miles  closer  to  Monroe,  La. ). 

“I’m  out  of  the  tv  business, 
Harris  said.  .  “I'  hope  that  a  lot;  of 
people  will  be  a  whole  lot  easier 
now  than  they  have  been  for  the 
past  several  months.  I  got  tired 
of  being  harassed  and  it  didn’t 
mean  a*  thing  to  me  anway.” 


0.  of  Kentucky  Profs,  Local  Clergy 


As  Goes  Maine? 

Augusta,  Me.*  Jan.  28. 

Maine  Federation  of  Wom¬ 
en’s  Clubs  voted  opposition  to 
tollvision  here  Friday  (24). 
Resolution  stated  “such  a  move 
would  constitute  an  imfasion 
of  the  channels  allotted  for 
free  broadcasting.” 

Opposition  to  billboards 
along  the  interstate  highway 
was  also  voted.  The  federa¬ 
tion  was  told,  however,  that 
pay-tv  might  come  unless  pro¬ 
grams  and  commercials  are  im¬ 
proved. 


Panavision  Idea: 
One-Yearly-Biggie 

Hollywood,  Jan.  28. 

Program  of  one  big  film  a  year, 
for  roadshow  presentation*  has 
been  mapped  by  Panavision  Films, 
production  subsidiary  .  of  Panavi¬ 
sion  Inc.,  designer  and  manufac¬ 
turer  of  anamorphic  lenses.  Orig¬ 
inally,  Panavision  prexy  Robert 
Gottschalk  had  announced  only  the 
production  of  “Owyhee,”  which 
Frank  Nugent  is  scripting  from 
Kathleen  Dickenson  Mellen’s  novel 
“The  Magnificent  Matriarch.” 

“Owyhee,”  to  be  produced  by 
David  Lewis,  will  be  made  :in 
Hawaii  on  a  $2,000,000  budget. 
Second  will  go  early  in  1959.  “Owy¬ 
hee”  will  be  the  first  film  to  be 
shot  and  projected  in  Panavision 
65.  Metro’s  “Raintree  County”  was 
shot  in  that  process  but  is  being 
screened  in  35m. 


VAJDA  OF  SPAIN  ON 
CANNES  FEST  JURY 

Madrid,  Jan.  28. 

Ladislao  Vajda,  Hungarian-born, 
film  director  and  Spanish  national 
for  many  years,  will  represent 
Spain  as  a  member  of  the  Cannes 
Film  Festival  jury  this  year. 

In  recent  years  Vajda  directed 
“Marcelino,”  “Afternoon  at  the 
Bullfight*”  “My  Uncle  Jacinto”  and 
“An  Angel  Lands  in  Brooklyn.” 
He  is  regarded  as  one  of  Spain’s 
most  distinguished  film  directors. 


Lexington,  Ky„  Jan.  28. 

“There  is.  danger  in  freedom,  but 
we  must  have  the  courage  to  take 
the  risks,  for  if  we  do  lose  that 
courage,  we  vttll  no  longer  have  a 
democracy.” 

These  words  were  spoken, 
strangely  enough,  during  a  discus¬ 
sion  of  the  French  film,  “And  God 
Created  Woman,”  at  a  U.  of  Ken¬ 
tucky  roundtable  in  which  faculty 
members  of  the  school  and  several 
clergymen  participated. 

The  man  who  made  the  state¬ 
ment  was  Rabbi  Joseph  R..  Rosen- 
bloom.  He  was  strongly  opposed  by 
several  others,  including  Dr.  J.  R. 
Schwendeman,  head  of  the  depart¬ 
ment  of  Geography,  who  said  the 
advertising  and  previews  of  the 
film  typed  it  in  the  “degenerate’, 
category.  Schwendeman  defended 
the  meed  for  censorship  laws.  Pic-' 
tiires  like  “God  Created  Woman’ 
can  .“start  a  trend  which  would 
degenerate  our  institutions ,  and 
eventually  destroy  them." 

The  French  import  has  been  “un¬ 
officially”  banned  here  in  Lexing¬ 
ton,  but  the.  banning  has  roused  a 
good  deal  of  controversy. 

Rev.  Charles  P.  Herndon,  pastor 
of  the  First  Christian  Church,  said 
he  hadn’t  seen  the  picture  but  that 
hie  generally  approved  of  the  ban¬ 
ning.  “Freedom  of  expression  isnt 
involved  here,”  he  held.  “One 
man’s  freedom  and  liberty  ends  at 
the  point  where  another  man’s 
freedom  and  liberty  begins.” 

Dr.  E.  G.  Trimble,  acting  head,  of 
the  university’s  political  science 
department,  noted  that  there  was  a 
point:  where  censorship;  may  be- 
come  necessary  “but  I  certainly 
don’t  .want  to  leave  the  decision 
up  to  officials  of  local  government. 
We’ve  had  to  fight  against  this  sort 
of  censorship  ever  since  Socrates. 

Rabbi  Rosenbloom  deplored  the 
type  of  motion '  picture  advertising 
which  “sell  the  wrapping,  not  the 
package.”  He  said  “God  ^Created 
Woman”  wtis  technically  beautfful 

and  that  It  had  a  moral,  but  added 

that,  going  by  the  ads  alone,  he 
probably  would  never,  have  gone 
to  see  it.  ’ 

Oil-Minded  Hollywooders 
Midland,  Tex,  Jan.  21. 

Scott  Brady,  Hollywood  movie 
star,  is  here  this  week  to  consider 
oil  investments,  and  appear  on  a 
March  of  Dynes  telethon  Saturday 
night: 


:■  Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


Stanton .  Seen  Good  Convincer  of  Congress— O’Neil 
Sole  Broadcaster  Favoring  Toll 


By  JACK  LEVY 

Washington,  Jan.  28. 

House  Interstate  Commerce 
Cqmmittee,  headed  by  Chairman 
Oien  Harris  (D-Ark.),  is  expected 
to  move  this  Week  for  a  House  reso¬ 
lution  requesting  the  Federal  Com¬ 
munications  Commission  to  hold 
off  oh  subscription  video  until  the 
public  policy  issue  is,  resolved  by 
Congress.  It’s  believed  that  a  move 
for  a  companion  resolution  will  be 
made  in  the  Senate. 

At  the  conclusion  of  hearings  on 
pay  tv:  last1  week,  Harris  said  he 
would  probably  call  his  Committee 
into  closed  session  this  Thursday 
(30)  to  decide  what  legislative 
course  should  be  taken  to.  prevent 
the  FCC  order  authorizing  feevee 
from  taking  effect.  The  Commis¬ 
sion  has  announced  it  would  begin 
to  process  pay  tv  applications  after 
March  1. 

While  Harris  would  not  say  what: 
he  expected  the  Committee  to,  do, 
he  hinted  that  a  resolution  would 
be  considered  in  view  of  the  time 
issue.  It’s  generally  conceded  that 
legislation  to  prohibit  subscription, 
such  as  embodied  in  the  bill  by 
Rep.  Emanuel  Celler  (D-NV  Y.), 
could  hot  be  passed  by  both  houses 
of  Congress  in  time  to  forestall  an 
FCC  subscription  authorization. 

Whether  a  Committee  recom¬ 
mendation  for  a  resolution  would 
be  adopted  by  the  House,  it  ap¬ 
pears,  would  depend  on  the  size  of 
the  Committee  vote.  Chairman 
Harris  indicated  that  .some  mem¬ 
bers  of  his  group  are  reluctant  to 
take  jurisdiction  over  a  regulatory 
agency.  However,  he  also  observed 
that  many  members  are  concerned 
with  the  economic,  effect  of  pay  tv 
on  viewers.  In  an  election  year, 
this  factor  might  determine  Con¬ 
gressional  action. 

Whether  a  House  resolution  in 
itself  would  stop  the  FCC  on  sub¬ 
scription  isn't  clear-  but  it’s  ex¬ 
pected  it  would  stimulate  a  similar 
move  in  the  Senate.  Under  Chair¬ 
man  Warren  G.  Magnusori  (D- 
Wash.),  who  favors  a  test  for  fee.-, 
vee;  the.  Senate  Interstate  Com¬ 
merce  Committee  would  be  ex¬ 
pected  to  hold  hearings  before  act¬ 
ing  on  a:  resolution.  However;  the 
Committee  could  be  by-passed  if 
sufficient  sentiment  develops  on 
his  floor* 


I  O’Neil,  “is  more  likely  to  build. 
I  talent  than  to  siphon  it.” 

O’Neil  said  that  subscription 
“will  be  a  boon  to  the  station 
Which  uses  it  wisely  and  programs 
around  the  few  big  events  with 
care.  The  station’s  increased  reve¬ 
nue,  and  the  greater  economic  sta¬ 
bility  that  results  from  the  pay 
programs,  will  make  it  easier  for 
licensees  to  do  a  more  expert  Job 
of  free  programming  both  for  spon¬ 
sors  and  public  service.  And,  in  the 
final  analysis,  the  ty  licensee  will 
control  all  programming  .  ,  .  and 
will  continue  to  be  responsible  to 
the  FCC  for  programming  the  sta¬ 
tion  in  the  public  interest.” 

Testimony  favoring  subscription 
was  also  given  by  Henry  C.  Wads- 
wqrth,  Delegate  from  the  Holly¬ 
wood  Film  Council;.  Norwood  J. 
Patterson, .  manager  of  KSAN-TV 
in  San  Francisco;  and  Raymond  F. 
Kohn,  UHF.  permit  holder  in  Allen¬ 
town,  Pa. 

NBC  Circulates  CBS,  ABC 
Chiefs'  Remarks  on  Toll 

NBC  has  taken  the  unusual  step 
of  circulating  reprints  of  state¬ 
ments  by  the  chieftains  of  CBS 
and  ABC.  It’s  all  part  of  the 
united  front  of  the  “free-tv”  force# 
against  approval  of  toft-tv  tests. 

Web  is  distributing  5,000  re¬ 
prints  of  the  prepared  statements 
of  its  own  preXy,  Robert  Sarnoff, 
along,  with  those  of  CBS’  Frank 
Stantqn  and.  ABC’S  Leonard  Gol- 
densOn,  made  last,  week  before  the 
House  Committee  on  Interstate 
and  Foreign  Commerce  hearings 
on  pay-tv^ . .  Of  the  5,000,  some 
3,500  are  going  to.  the  network’s 
list  of  agencies  and  advertiser, 
while  the  other  1,500  will  go  to 
affiliates  for  distribution  to  key 
community  leaders. 

NBC  ordered  the.  reprints  from 
a-  Washington  trade  newsletter 
Television  Digest,  which  ran  the 
three  statements  as  a  supplement 
last  week, 

•  : 

Carroll  &  Kuebler  Ino.  has  been 
authorized  to  conduct  a  business  as 
motion  picture  producers  in  New 
York;  Darnmann,  Roche  &  Gold¬ 
berg  of  Manhattan  are  attorneys. 


Standout  witness  at  last  week’s 
hearing  was  CBS  prexy  Frank 
Stanton  who  literally,  serenaded 
Committee  members  into  what  ap¬ 
peared  to  be  an  acceptance  of  his 
arguments  against  the  FCC  trial 
authorization.  Commanding  an  at¬ 
tentive  audience  which  questioned 
him  at  length,  Stanton  was  at  ease 
with  ready,  and  often  witty,  an¬ 
swers  to  sharp  interrogation. 

An  example  of  his  testimony  was 
shown  in  an  exchange  with  Rep. 
John  W. .  Heselton  (R-Mass.),  a 
ranking  member  of  the  Committee: 

Q.  Would  you  favor  an  eviden¬ 
tiary  hearing  by  the  FCC? 

A.  Yes.  But  the  issue  should  still 
be  decided  by  Congress. 

Q.  If  pay  tv  would  use  the  prime 
evening  hours,  would  you  favor  a 
test  excluding  these  hours? 

A,  A  real  test  must  be  made 
under  ideal  conditions ; 

Q.  Can  the  public  judge  without 
a  test? 

A.  Yes ;  There  is  no.  question  that 
pay'  tv '  would  black  Out  the  free 
shows  during  the  prime  hours. 

Heselton  gave  up  at  this  point. 
**All'  I  can  say,"  he  observed,  “is 
that  the  networks  certainly  have 
got  a  gbod  representative.” 

O’Neil  Hurried  Thru 

The  one  major  broadcaster  favor¬ 
ing  subscription,  Thomas  F.  O’Neil, 
prexy  of  RKO  Teleradio  Pictures, 
was  given  little  time  before  the 
Committee  because  witnesses  were 
hurried  through  to  wind  up  the 
hearings.  However;  O’Neil,  who 
owns  both  netWork:affiliated  and 
-non -network  stations,  was  per¬ 
mitted  to  file  an  extensive  state¬ 
ment  which  takes  issue  with  the 
arguments,  against  pay  tv. 

On  the  subject  of  talent  “siphon¬ 
ing”  O’Neil  pointed  out  .that  half 
of  the  10  top  motion  picture  stars 
in  1957  and  most  of  the  next  15 
make  only  “rare”  appearances  on 
television  ahd  that  the  same  is  true, 
of  such  Hollywood  favorites  as 
Danny  Kaye,  Cary  Grant  and 
James  Cagney. 

“Broadcast  subscription,”  said 


Most  of  the  toll-tv  proponents 
currently  believe  that  the  various 
systems,  eventually,  will  have  to  ar¬ 
rive  at  some  compatible  decoding 
system.  They  believe,  too,  that 
the  Federal  Communications  Com- 
mission  eventually  will  be  forced 
to  rule  against  the  overlapping  of 
pay-tv  programming  on  stations 
in  one  town; 

Asked  what  would  ,  happen  in  a 
four-channel  town  if  three  sta¬ 
tions,  decided  one  night  to  put  on 
tollcasts  the  same  ;  evening  hour, 
leaving  only  a  single  “free"  chan¬ 
nel,  a  pay-tV  exec  frankly  admitted 
that  he  didn't  knOw. 

James  M.  Landis,  general  coun¬ 
sel  of  Skiatron  Electronics  &  TV 
Corp.r  acknowledged  last  week  that 
the  situation  might  pose  a  prob¬ 
lem,  but  added  that  —  under  pres¬ 
ent  circumstances  —  it  probably 
wouldn’t  arise  inasmuch  as  the 
FCC  would  authorize  tests  only  in 
20  cities  “and  there  are  only  three 
serious  contenders.” 

Unanswered  Questions 

Despite  the  mass  of  “evidence” 
submitted  first  to  the  FCC  and 
now  to  the  Congress,  a  good  many 
questions  about  pay  television  still 
remain  unanswered,  and  there  is  a 
strong  suspicion  that  toll,  if  and 
when  it  comes,  will  be  somewhat 
different  from  the  way  it  is  now 
imagined.  , 

Assuming :  that  pay  video  has 
been  authorized  and  has  found 
wide  audience  acceptance,  the 
question  inevitably  is  raised:.  What 
happens  if  three  systems  compete 
in  one  town?  It  is  obviously  im¬ 
practical  to  install  two  or  three ; 
decoder  units  for  a  single subscrib¬ 
er,  giving  him  a  choice  among  vari¬ 
ous  systems^  As  things  stand  now, 
he’ll  have  to  make  up  his  mind  on  i 


'PSjttkTr 


Telemeter’*  Chi  Te*t 

Chicago,  Jan.  28. 

Telemeter  Corp.,  90%  owned 
by  Paramount  Pictures,  will 
demonstrate  its  pay-see  tv  sys¬ 
tem  here  Feb.  11  when  video 
cameras  pick  up  the  main  bout 
at  the  Midwest  Athletic  Club. 

Observers  will  see  the  box¬ 
ing  match  from  receivers  set 
up  in  the  Hilton  Hotel.  Dem¬ 
onstration  will  be  Telemeter’s 
first  In  ChL 


Says  Coin  Facts 


San  Francisco,  Jan  28. 

The  supervisors’  finance  com? 
mittee,  which  has  been,  considers 
ing  the  toll-tv  franchise  applica¬ 
tions  of .  Skiatron  and  Telemeter 
since  last  fall,  shelved  the  appli¬ 
cations  last,  week  until  “additional 
pertinent  information”  is  received. 

In  identical  letters  to  Skiatron 
vice-president  Alan  Lane  arid 
Telemeter  lawyer  Lloyd  Ditikel- 
spiel,  the  .  three-member  coiriihit- 
tee  pointed  out: 

(1)  It  was  riot  satisfied  with  the 
data  so  far  received  as  to  the  fi¬ 
nancial  responsibility  of  Skiatron 
or  Telemeter  or  the  financial  re¬ 
sponsibility  of  the  group  or  groups 
to  which  either  firm  might,  assign 
the  franchises; 

(2)  The  Pacific  Telephone  & 
•Telegraph  Co.  had  given  no  indi¬ 
cation  as  to  Whether  or  not  ft  was 
inclined  to  allow  use  of  its  wires 
for  toll-tv. 

It  was  the  latter  point,  appar¬ 
ently,  which  was  the  real  sticker, 
and  Skiatron  reps  on  the  Coast 
said  they  felt  that  there  would  be 
no  indication  from  Pacific  Tel  & 
Tel  until  the  parent  American  Tel 
&  Tel  makes  Up  its  mind  about 
feevee. 

The  finance  committee,  however, 
didn’t  shut  the  door  on  the  fran¬ 
chise  applications  entirely.  It  told 
Lane  and  Dinkelspiel  it  would  “re¬ 
sume  active  consideration"  at  any 
time  the  companies  thought  they 
could  come  up  with  fresh  data. 
This  left:  the  applications  suspend¬ 
ed  in  mid-air,  where  they;il  prob¬ 
ably  remain  until  Skiatron,  espe¬ 
cially,  finds  out  what  happens  to 
the  anti-feevee  referendum  sched¬ 
uled  for  the  June  primary  ballot 
in  Los  Angeles. 


one  system  and  ride  with  It  sight- 
unseen,  J 

There’s  a  strong  feeling,  how¬ 
ever,  that  the  engineers  eventually 
will  come  up  with  a  compatible 
device  that  will  work  for  ill  sys¬ 
tems.  Thus  he  .  may  buy  two  or 
three  decoder  cards  from  differ? 
ent  systems  and  use  the  one  for 
the:  program  that  appeals  ,  to  hiba 
the  most  at  that  moment. 

The  question  of  the  cost  Of  the 
decoders  themselves  remains  unan¬ 
swered.  Many  believe  that,  even  in 
mass  production,  the  currently  pro¬ 
posed  and  complicated  unscrambl¬ 
ing  Units  will  be  too  expensive.  Al¬ 
ready  there  is  a  report  that  Matty 
Fox  (Skiatron-TV)  has  no  inten¬ 
tion  to  uSe  the  Skiatron  Subscrib¬ 
er-Vision  decoder,  but  is  toying 
with  the  idea  of  applying  a  much 
simpler  tape-recording  device  de¬ 
veloped  by  the  British  Rediffu¬ 
sion  Co.  with  which  he’s  tied  up. 

Cost  Factor 

The.  cost  factor  is  particularly 
important  in  the  light  of  the  fact 
that  any  toll  service  likely  will 
start  off  at  a  Very  slow  pace;  It’s 
realized-  that  the  amount  Of  qual¬ 
ity  of  programming  for  which  the 
public  will  pay  is  limited,  at  least 
until  a  pay  service  has  sufficient 
circulation  to  warrant  exposure  on 
it  Over  other  media;  such  as  the 
theatres. 

This  is  orie  of  the  arguments  of 
those  who  maintain  that  feevee 
must  come  over  the  air  rather 
than  cable  ,  since  air  service  re¬ 
quires  little  additional  outlay  at 
the  broadcast  arid  transmission  end 
in  comparison  with  any  cable  sys¬ 
tem.  A  cable:  system  obviously 
will  have  to  be  fed  extensive,  pro¬ 
gramming; 

There  is  a  feeling  that  the  tomor- 


TOLLVISIOX  23 


David  Susskind  Plans  to  Play  It 
Both  Ways— The  Free  &  the  Toll 


BULLYONPIX,  BEARISH  ON  PAY 

TO  A  President  Gives  His 
Perspective  on  Amusements 

Greensboro,  N.C.,  Jan.  28. 

What’s  the  motion  picture  pros¬ 
pect  for  1958? 

Good,  from  the  viewpoint  of  the 
public,  says  Ernest  G.  Stellings,  of 
Charlotte,  president  of  the  Thea¬ 
ter  Owners  of  America  as  well  as 
of  Stewart  &  Everett  Circuit. 

“It’s  true  that  1957  was  not  as 
good  as  the  1954-55  level,”  said; 
Stellings.  “But  now .  the  distribu- , 
tors  are  determined  to  make  more 
good  pictures.  The  important  part 
is  that  the  theater  owners  have 
persuaded  the  distributors  to 
spread  their  best  pictures  through 
the  year,  rather  than  bunching 
most  of  the  goodones  at  peak  busi¬ 
ness  periods.”  * 

What  about  the  hints  dropped 
every  now  and  then  on  television 
that  big  theaters  are  closing  all 
over  the  country?  A  distortion  of 
the  facts,  says  Stellings.  “It’s  true 
some  theaters  have  closed,  but  lots 
of  other  businesses  have  closed. 

How  soon  is  Stellings  looking  for 
pay-TV  to  become  a  practical  busi¬ 
ness  reality?  Apparently  not  ever, 

Salant,  Bob  HaU  To 
Arpe  Pay  Vs.  Free  Issue 

Issue  ofvpay-tv.vs.  free  will  get 
a  televised  airing,  courtesy  of  CBS- 
TV,  on  Feb.  2,  when  WCBS-TV, 
the  web’s  flagship  in  New  York, 
presents  a  special  edition  of  its 
“Right  Now”  program  devoted  to 
the  topic.  Representing  tollvision 
will  be  Bob  Hall,  a  director  of  Ski¬ 
atron  arid  former  Yale  athletic,  di¬ 
rector  arid  chairman  of  the  NCAA 
committee  which  framed  the  regu¬ 
lations.  governing  teftvised  college 
football.  Representing  the  free 
forces  will  be  Richard  Salant,  v.p. 
of  CBS  Inc. 

In  order  to  assure  impartiality 
in  the  moderator’s  ‘  chair,  WCBS- 
TV  is  replacing  Ron  Cochran, 
show’s  regular  moderator,  with 
Prof.  George  Williams  of  New 
York  U.  Law  School.  Show  will  air 
at  2:30  to  3  p.m.  Sunday  instead  of 
its  regular  1:30-2  Saturday  slot  on 
that  date.  only. 


row  wiU  See  pay-tv  come  into  Its 
own  If  and  when  a  projection-type 
of  receiver  Is  developed  which  will. 
In  effect,  provide  a  type  of  home 
movie.  But  even  then,  the  big 
question  remains  of  how.  much  and 
how  often  the  public  will  be  will¬ 
ing  to  pay. 

Back  at  the  practical  end,  the 
question  of  servicing  the  pay-tv 
system  is  one  that  has  received 
little  attention;  The  regular  serv¬ 
iceman.  lsri’t  likely  to  tamper  with 
the  leased  pay-tv  equipment, 
though  it’s  connected  within  the 
set,  That  means  a  subscriber 
must  call  two  servicemen  if  some¬ 
thing  goes  wrong  inasmuch  as 
there  may  well  be  ai  connection  be¬ 
tween  the  iristallation  of  the  equip¬ 
ment  and  the  malfunctioning  of 
the  set: 

Another  question:  If  a  man  sub¬ 
scribes  to  one  of  the  systems,  and 
a  decoder  is  installed  and  the  nec¬ 
essary  set  modifications  are  made, 
and  the  tube  then  blows  oig,  who’s 
responsible?  It’s  questionable  that 
the  ordinary  ,  set  insurance  will 
coyer  iriishaps.  In  a  set  that  has 
been  tampered  with  by  the  toll 
people.  On  the  other  hand,  the  pay 
system: 'involved  Is  likely  to  deny 
Its  responsibility. 

These  are  Just  some  of  the  prac¬ 
tical  points  which,  rarely  if  ever, 
are  covered  In  the  toll-proponents’ 
briefs;  Even  those  who  so  vocally 
oppose  any  toll  service  have  con¬ 
centrated  primarily  on  the  com¬ 
mercial  and  ethical  side  of  the  is¬ 
sue,  i.fei,  how  it’ll  affect  their 
business  and.  whether  the  air  is.  in¬ 
deed  “free.” 

Latter  question,  it’s  believed, 
will  become  a  court  fSsue  even  be¬ 
fore  any  FCC-authorized  test*  of 
pay  television  get  under  way. 


t  By  ART.WOODSTONE 

A  producer,  vvell  entrenched  in 
commercial  television,  took  an  un¬ 
equivocal  public  stand  in  favob  of 
toll,  video  on  a  network  radiia 
stanza  the  other  night,  David  Suss¬ 
kind,  of  Talent  Associates,  ex¬ 
panding  for  Variety,  said  that  sub¬ 
scription  television  promises  to  do 
^'exciting  work”  since  It  offers 
“more  latitude”  thematically  and 
economically  than  does  free  tv  at 
the  moment. 

Susskind  (who  deals  almost  ex¬ 
clusively  through  BBD&O  which 
has  placed  a  host  of  his  specials 
with  CBS-TV  this  season)  plans.  In 
effect,  to  establish  two  branches  of 
Talent  Associates-^-  one  for  the 
continuance  of  commercial  video 
packages  and  the  other  to  do  shows 
for  toll  tv. 

Advent  of  toll,  he  said,  “would 
riot  mean  the'  end  of  free  televi¬ 
sion;  -there  would  be  a  wonderful 
competition  from  which  everybody 
benefits.” 

In  a  brief' final  note  during  an 
appearance  on  Mutual’s  new  post¬ 
midnight  Barry  Gray  interview, 
strip  last  week,  Susskind  said  es-. 
sentially  the  same  thing  nhtput  the 
healthy  competition  for  free  tv  that 
pay  tv  will  create.  He.  added  that 
the  networks  are  presently  resist¬ 
ing  the  idea  because  “the  Ins  in¬ 
evitably  resist  the  Outs.” 

Susskind,  in  delineating  his 
stand  later  on,  pointed  out  that  the 
additional  coin  provided  by  toll 
would  enable  producers  to  lift  a 
theatrical  production,  of  the  type 
appearing  on  Broadway,  and  bring 
It  to  the  homescreen.  Writers,  for 
one,  wouldn’t  have  to  limit  them¬ 
selves  in  the  amount  of  time  de¬ 
voted  to  scripting  for  toll,  because 
the  pay  would  be  higher  than  free 
tv,  nor  would  they  have  necessarily 
to  limit  subject  matter. 

“A  certain  kind  of  thematic  ma¬ 
terial  for  audiences,  who  could 
choose  to  take  it  or  not  to  take  it" 
will  he  available  via  subscription 
tv,  the  commercial  packager  said. 
Susskind  declared  that,  where  com¬ 
mercial  video  is  concerned,  the  tv 
Viewers  don’t  know  what  kind  of 
prograin  is  coming,  but  toll  pro¬ 
ducers  would  advertise  more  ex¬ 
tensively  about  their  product  and 
give  an  indication  of  what  it’s 
about,  and  the  “foreknowledge” 
would  give  pay  audiences  a  choice. 
“If  they  don’t  want  to  buy  it,  they 
don’t  have  to,”  he  said,  adding  that 
commercial  video  has  an  automatic 
open  sesame  to  every  livingroom 
today. 

When  toll,  tv  gets  rolling,  as  Suss¬ 
kind  sees  it,  the  quality  of  the  toll 
shows  will  force  commercial  ranks 
to  improve  their  product.  He  didn’t 
expand  on  the  amount  of  time  that 
toll  would  steal  from  shows  cur¬ 
rently  on  free  airtime,  largely  be¬ 
cause  of  that  license  of  “latitude” 
he  previously  mentioned. 

Turning  to  celluloid,  he  said, 
“I’m  not  against  film;  I’m  just 
against  the  cheap  television  film 
we  .  have  now.  Once  we  have  a 
Josh  Logan  or  an  EUa  Kazan  work 
in  toll  tv,  we’ll  get  better  film.”- 

Susskind  said  that  ethn  with  toll 
tv,  audiences  will  still  have  their 
choice  of  “Jack  Benny  or  ‘Mav¬ 
erick’  ”  or  the  competing  toll  show. 

TRAINING  COURSE  FOR 
EXECS  VIA  TELEPROMPT 

.  A  three-day  closed-circuit  s'ession 
from  March  4  to  6  will  be  staged 
as  a  training  program  for  business 
executives.  Telecast,  which  will  be 
handled  by  the  TelePrompter 
Corp.,  will  be  presented  by  Tele- 
Clinics  Inc.  under  the  direction  of 
Morris  I.  Pickus,  Tele-Clinics  prexy 
arid  executive  producer  of  the  ser¬ 
ies  in  association  with  Arthur  H. 
“Red”  Motley,  publisher  of  Parade. 

The  program,  known  as  Tele-Sell 
and  Tele-Manage,  is  expected  to  be 
seen  by  200,000  persons  in  62  cities 
iri  the  U.  S.  and  Canada.  New  re¬ 
search  techniques  will  be  applied 
to  sales  and  management  training 
during  the  three  90-minute  tele¬ 
casts  originating  from  New  York. 
Participating  in  the  sessions  will  be 
top  authorities  in  marketing  and 
management.  Sessions  in  each  city 
will  be  sponsored  by  local  sales 
executives  clubs,  junior  chambers 
of  commerce  and  colleges  and  uni¬ 
versities. 

Last  year’s  telecast,  the  first  in 
a  series  planned  by  Pickus  and 
Motley,  was  presented  in  34  cities 
and  is  said  to  have  drawn  an  audi¬ 
ence  of  40,000. 


24 


RADIO-TELEVISION 


PARIETt 


Wednwday,  January  29.  1959 


First  TV  Fightcast  Out  of  Cuba; 
BIow-by-Blow  'Castro  Insurance’ 


ABC-TV’s  Wednesday  night  fights 
card  will  be  the  first  pugilistic 
event  for  U.S.  tv  audiences  to  come 
from  Cuba  and  it  will  also  be  the 
first  show  to  fall  officially  under 
new  American  Federation  of  Tele¬ 
vision  '&  Radio  Artists’  ruling.  The 
federation  ukase,  made  nearly  a 
fortnight  ago,  demands  that  any 
domestic  network  or  packager  orig¬ 
inating  a  stanza  from  Cuba  during 
the  Fidel  Castro  revolt  must  pay 
for  a  $300,000  life  insurance  policy 
plus  a  $200-a-week  disability  pol¬ 
icy  on  each  of  the  AFTRA.  per¬ 
formers  appearing  on  the  show. 

On  Feb.  26,  fight  packager  Les¬ 
ter  Malitz  will  cover  a  lightweight 
bout  from  Havana  between  Joe 
Brown  and  Orlando  Echevarria  via 
ABC-TV,  It’ll  mark  the  opening 
of  the  new  20,000-seat  Sports  Pal¬ 
ace  in  Havana. 

Since  the  fighters  do  not  fall 
under  AFTKA  jurisdiction,,  Malitz 
will  be  responsible  for  insuring 
only  Jack  Drees,  his  blow-by-blow 
gabber.  The  packager  said  that  he 
has  his  lawyers  looking  into  policy 
plans  now.  (There  are  no  known 
policies  in  the  United  States  which 
offer  the  shortterm  insurance  cov¬ 
erage' demanded  by  AFTRA). 

Malitz  said  that  the  commercials 
for  co-sponsors  Menneri  and.  Miles 
Labs  will  come  from  Miami  during 
the  Cuban  across-the-water  tele¬ 
cast.  He  said  that  the  -plan  to  do 
the  blurbs  from  within  the  con¬ 
tinental  limits  of  the  U.S.  was  con¬ 
firmed  some  time  before  the 
AFTRA  ruling. 

Steve  Allen’s  Sunday  (19)  tele¬ 
cast  for  NBC-TV  was  from  Cuba, 
via  the  new  scatter  relay  system 
developed  by  International  Tele-] 
phone  &  Telegraph,  but  it  was  in 
preparation  prior  to  the  AFTRA 
rule*  However,  the  federation, 
after  sending  the  ruling  to  all  the 
networks  wired  Allen  that  his 
own  production  company  would  be 
held  responsible  for  maximum  in¬ 
surance  in  the  event  of  an  accident 
in  Cuba. 

Malitz  sad  that  since  Drees  makes 
about  two-thirds  of  his  annual 
wage  from  the  boxing  show,  the 
production  company  took  out  a 
$10,000  life  insurance  policy  on 
him  last  September.  Malitz  added 
„that  the  private  policy,  paid  for 
entirely  by  him  and  not  by  Drees, 
contained  double  and  triple  in¬ 
demnity  clauses.. 


Yoo-Hoo  to  UA 

A  local  New  York  television 
stanza  is  going  to  do  a  full- 
hour  "Salute  to  United  Art¬ 
ists0  on  Friday,  Feb.  7.  UA 
veep  Max  Youngstein .  will 
gueststar  on  "Joe  Franklin’s 
Memory  Lane”  seen  on  WABC- 
TV,  the  ABC-TV  flagship. 

The  "Salute”  is  one  of  three 
show  biz  specials  which  Frank¬ 
lin  has  done  or  is  doing.  On 
Feb.  14,  a  week  later,  Frank¬ 
lin,  who  has  a  daily  hour,  be¬ 
tween  12:30  .and  1:30  p.m., 
will  do'  "Fan  Magazines— Are 
They  Still  Popular?”  building 
the  show  around  Photoplay 
mag.  Three  weeks  ago,  Frank¬ 
lin  ,did  a  show  celebrating 
Radio  City  Music  Hall’s  25th 
anniversary  with  the  Hall’s 
prexyy  Russeli  Downing,  front¬ 
ing.  Another  local  Franklin 
special,  but .  one  which  jlid  not 
run  a  show  biz  course,  was  the 
recent  "Salute  to  Brooklyn.” 

Franklin’s  WABC-TV’er  gets 
a  lot  of  shortterm  advertising 
business:  from  motion  picture 
and.  legit  theatres  to  push 
local  openings.  The .  tv  emcee 
recently  got  :UA  advertising 
coin  for  the  first  time; 


Love  at  High  Noon 
on 


Air-Borne 
Show;  to  U.  S.  to  Film 
TV’er  With  Brit  Talent 

London,  Jan.  28. 

A  Jack  Hylton  television  pro¬ 
gram  is  to  be  filmed  in  a  BOAC 
Britannia  while  flying  the  Atlantic 
non-stop  between  London  and 
New  X0**-  The  aircraft  will,  take 
Off  bn  Feb.  6  with  a  camera  and 
sound  crew,  director  and  cast  and 
all  necessary  equipment  The  show 
will  be  networked  from  London  by 
Associated-Rediffusion .  on.  Feb.  17. 

The  taTent  lineup  for  the  show 
will  include  Hughie  Green  who 
will  emcee,  Winifred  Atwell,  Rosa- 
lina  Neri,  Ronnie  Ronalde  and 
Donald  Campbell.  Jack  Hylton 
will  also  be  aboard  the  Britannia 
with  Bimbi  Harris,  who  is  to  direct 
the  program.  Miss  Atwell’s  piano 
Will  also  be  taken  on  the  trans- 
Atlantic  hop.  j 

While  in  New  York  Jack  Hylton  | 
will  hire  a  camera  crew  from  NBC 
to  film  a  second  tv  program  which 
Will  feature  top  British  stars  cur¬ 
rently  appearing  on  Broadway, 
among  them  Sally  Ann  Howes. 
This  program,  also  to  be  introed  by 
Hughie  Green,  will  be  filmed  main¬ 
ly  on  location  and  will  follow  the 
route  of  the  recent  Royal  visit  to 
New  York.  It’s  also  proposed  to 
Include  interviews  with  Alan  Jay 
Lerner  and  Frederick'  Loewe  as  a 
special  tie-up  with  the  upcoming 
Drury  Lane  presentation  of  "My 
Fair  Lady.” 


CBS-TV  has  cleared  one  hurdle 
in  its  plan,  to  extend  the  "Love  of 
Life”  soaper  from  15  minutes  to  a 
half-hour,  blit  now  faces,  still  an¬ 
other  and  more  difficult  one.  Web, 
which  wants  to  drop  "Hotel  Cos¬ 
mopolitan”  :  at  noon  and  extend 
“Love”  from  Its  .  present  12 : 15- 
12:30  bertlk  to  cover  the  entire 
noon-12: 30  $alf-hour,  has  secured 
the  approval  of  American  Home 
Products,  which  owns  "Love.” 

But  American  Home  added  one 
provision— that  CBS  improve  the 
clearance  picture  at  12  to  12:15 
before  it  goes  ahead  with  the  ex¬ 
pansion  plan.  That’s  a  tough  nut  to 
crack;  since  several  major  markets 
now  program  12  to  12:15  locally. 
If  it  were  just  a  matter  of  a  local 
h omemaki ng  show,  clearances 
would  be  easy,  but  the  key  stations 
present  news  shows  at  noon,  and 
what  with  their  FCC  public  service 
logs  involved,  they’re  highly  relufr 
tant  to  clear  for  a  network  soaper. 
American  Home,  on  the  other 
hand,  won’t  permit  a  situation 
where  in  some  key  markets,  view¬ 
ers  are  forced  to  tune  in  at  mid¬ 
point  in  a  running  story. 

Unless  CBS  can  get  the  clear¬ 
ances,  it  will  have  to  come  up  with 
some  other  replacement  idea  for 
“Cosmopolitan:”  Trouble  is,  the 
web  'believes  its  rating  troubles 
stem  not  from  the  show  itself  but 
from,  the  physical  structure .  of  two 
15-minute  shows  competing  against 
a  h  a  lf-ho  u.i*  entry  (“Tic  Tac 
Dough”)  on  NBC. 


VGA’S  12  CATEGORIES 
FOR  TV-RADIO  AWARDS 

Hollywood,  Jan.  28. 

;  There  will  be  12  categories  in 
the.  second  annual  Writers  Guild 
of  America  tv-radio  Script  Awards, 
it  was  revealed  here,  as  members 
of  WGA  East  and  West  were  asked 
-to  submit  scripts.  Random  House, 
the  guild  expects,  will  again  pub¬ 
lish  an  anthology  of  the  winning 
scripts. 

Nine  tv  categories  are  half- 
hour  anthology  drama,  half-hour 
episodic  drama,  ^one-hour  anthol¬ 
ogy  drama,  half-hour  or  less  com¬ 
edy  and  sketches,  one-hour  comedy, 
western  (any .  length),  open  classifi¬ 
cation  of  any  program  over  an  hour 
long,  documentary  (any  length), 
and  children’s  program.  Three  ra¬ 
dio  categories,  are  drama,  comedy- 
variety  and  documentary,  all  any 
length.  Contest  closes  Feb.  1  and 
winners  will  be  named  about  May 
15.  Writers  must  submit  only  their 
own  :  work  and  only  one  script, 
which  must  have  received  its  first 
broadcast  during  1957; 


Lawyers  Say  OK 

Getting  a  go-ahead  from  its  own 
legal  counsel,  WABD  is  going  to 
put  bingo  on  television  in  the  New 
York  market.  Station  is  starting  a 
crossrthe-board-Iive  stanza  called 
"Bingo- At-Home,”  on  which  up  to 
$10,000  a  week  in  prizes  will  be 
given  to  homescreeners,  WABD 
said. 

In  the  last  state  election.  New 
York  voters  passed  a  referendum 
legalizing  the  long  outlawed  bingo, 
but  the  action  was  interpreted  as 
being  mainly  for  churches,  etc.  As 
yet  the  state  has  hot  legislated  the 
referendum,  a  step  required  before 
the;  vote  becomes  law.  However, 
WABD  said  that  its  understanding 
was  that  N.  Y.  municipalities  will 
individually  have  their  say  on  the. 
state  referendum  in  the  next  local 
elections,  but  that  it  was  none¬ 
theless  okay  to  produce  "Bingo-At- 
Home”  on  the  .  station  now.  ] 

The  strip  is  to  begin  Feb.  17  in 
the  3:3Q  to  4:30  period.  Instead  of, 
bingo  cards  distributed  at  public 
functions,  the  station  is  using  a 
telephone  directory  gimmick.  In 
brief,  viewers  will  be  asked  to  take 
five  telephone  numbers  from  a  lo¬ 
cal  directory  and  play  with  those. 
Ah  announcer-  will  call  off  the 
bingo;  numbers  In  a  studio  and  the 
first  viewer  to  match  them  to  his 
numbers  and  call  WABD  will  be¬ 
come  a  winner. 


lash 


With  options  oh  time  and  programs  near  the  dealine  NBf  tv 
Will  take  the  unusual  step  of  launching  a  mideseason  Vnr^,C‘^V 
advertising  campaign  to  promote  some  of  its  shakier  entries  wriES 
the  next  two  weeks.  Web  will  go  in  for  a.two5«*Si5{SSf‘'' 
splash  in  over  30  cities,  including  the  Trendex  markets  ta  hiSf 
light  its  weaker*ating  shows,  in  the  hope  thS  a”w0-  0r  thrle* 
point  Trendex  jump  can  save  them.  ree' 

Such  a  midseason,  campaign  is  unusual,  since  the  networks  ordi 
anly  expend  the  main  portion  of  their  saturation  budgets  at  fhi» 
start  of  the  season  to  get  their  new  shows  and  schedules  erf 
trenched  In  the  public  mind.  Afterwards,  it’s  a  matter  ol  exDendl 
ing  ad  coin  on  specials  and  individual  shows,  but  not  as  a  satura 
tion  technique  embracing  several  entries. 


Sid  Caesar’s  Laugher-Upper 

Ad  Lib  (?)  Yakking  From  Soloist  in  Audience’ 
Irritates  Some  Viewers 


Tex  &  Jinx  ‘Jury’ 

Tex  &  Jinx  (Falkenburg)  Mc¬ 
Crary  expand :  their  WRCA-TV, 
N.  Y.,  strip  to  an  hour  starting  next 
Monday  (Feb.  3)  when  they  preem 
i  new  1  to  .2  p.m.  format  titled 
‘Tex  &  Jinx  Jury;”  Program  will 
follow  an  interview  format  but  will 
be  pegged  on  controversial  themes 
with,  a  panel  voting  on  the  issue  at 
hand.  Show  will  continue  to.  origin¬ 
ate  from  the  Waldorf-Astoria. 

..  Expansion  is  cued  to  the  cancel¬ 
lation  of  the  NBC-TV  co-op  Chicago 
origiriatiori,  "The  Howard  Miller 
Show,”  which  decupled  the  1:30  to 
2:30  jp.m.  slot.  WRCA-TV  will  fill 
in  the  2  Jo  2:80  strip  with  film 
reruns. 


Louisville-— WAVE  Inc.  has  ap¬ 
pointed  Houston  D.  Jones  asst,  com- 
mercialmanager  for  WAVE-tv  and 
Clay  L.  Morgan,  asst,  commercial 
manager  for  WAVE-radio.  Jones 
has  been  a  WAVE  radio  commer¬ 
cial  rep  since  October,  1955.  He 
received  the  "Sammy”  award  as 
WAVE’S  outstanding  salesman  of 
1957* 


Gets  Sponsor  Axe 

Axe  has  finally  fallen  on  Shel¬ 
don  Reynolds*  British-made  com¬ 
edy  series,  "Dick  &  the  Duchess,’ 
with  alternate-sponsor  Mogen  Da¬ 
vid  Wine  taking  the  cancellation 
plunge.  Mogen  David  has  noti¬ 
fied  CBS-TV  that  it’s;  through  with 
the  show,  though  not  with  the 
Saturday  8:30  tiriie,  effective#with 
the  March  15  program.  No  re¬ 
placement  has  been  decided  upon 
yet,  but  a  rumored  move  of 
“Perry  Mason”  up  to  8  to  9  to 
fill  the  gap  Is  not  part  of  CBS’ 
plans. 

"Dick,”  which  has  been  among 
the  poorest  rated  of  CBS’  entries, 
has  had  a  couple  of  recent  leases 
on  life,  resulting  primarily  from  a 
visit  to  N.  Y.-  by  Reynolds  to  meet 
with  the  sponsors,  and  some  im¬ 
proved  episodes  resulting  from  the 
visit.  Sponsors  and  network  even 
footed  the  bill  for  star  Hazel  Court 
to  come  over  to  the  States  a  few 
weeks  back  for  a  promotional  tour. 
But  none  of  the.  measures  worked 
insofar  as  lifting  the  show’s  rat¬ 
ings,.  -so  the  ax  finally  came 
through.  Helene  Curtis  shares  the’ 
’’Dick”  sponsorship. 


O'Flaherty  *s  O’seas  Tiplo  Messrs.Bk 

Sari  PranHspn  .  .Tain  i  urnrwi  hr.  _ _ j  ___  .  ...  -=— •  L/ 


Needham,  Louis  Gets 
Upton’s  Canadian  Biz 

Chicago,  Jan.  28. 

Thomas  J.  Lipton  Ltd.  has  as¬ 
signed  the  Canadian  advertising 
for  the  Lipton  Tea  account  to 
Needham,  Louis  &  Brorby.  Crea¬ 
tive  work  will  be  done  by  the  agen¬ 
cy’s  Chicago  staff,  with  all  serv¬ 
ices  coordinated  through  its  To¬ 
ronto  office. 


Sari  Francisco,  Jari.  28. 

,  Terrence.  Q’Flaherty,  radio- tv 
coluinnist  of  ^  the  morning  San 
Francisco  Chrjonicie,  devoted  a 
stint  last  week  to  a  positive  sugges¬ 
tion  for  the  chiefs  of,  the  three  tv 
networks.  O ’Flaherty  pointed  out 
that  “one  of  the.  most  stimulating 
stories  of  1958”  will  be '  the  Brus¬ 
sels  Exposition,  where  plerity  of 
political  propaganda  will  be  dished 
out.  He  added  that  ?‘one  of  the 
saddest  stories  of  1958”  has  been 
U.  S.  failure  tri:match  other  nations 
at  the  fair,  especially  Russia. : 

O’Flaherty  continued: 

“I  have  a  suggestion  that  may 
help  and  it’s  directed  to  three  of 
the  most  powerful  men  iri  America 
— Robert  Sarnoff,  Frank .  Stanton 
arid  Oliver  Treyz,  presiderits  of 
NBC,  CBS  and  ABC,  respectively; 

"Until  now,  the  television  indus¬ 
try  of  America  has  been  exporting 
nothing  but  entertaining  junk  .  .  . 
the  murder  stuff  and  worst  of  situ¬ 
ation  comedies  which  show  Ameri¬ 
can  fathers  as  bumbling  idiots, 
mothers  as  ruin-soaked  harridans, 
children  as  spoiled  egomaniacs  ...  I 

"Networks,  ad  agencies.  Holly-; 


wood  tv,  producers,  actors  and 
writers  are  getting  fat  selling  this 
kind  of  high-priced  pap  to  England, 
France,.  Japan  .  .  . 

“Quite  naturally,  people  abroad 

who  seie  thisr-and  nothing  else _ 

have  come  to  think  of  the  average 
Ainerican  couple  as  a  redhaired 
ex-hpofer  married  to  a  bongo  drum¬ 
mer,  getting  loaded  on  firewater  on 
a  Cuban  holiday. 

"Have  the  British,  French,  Ital¬ 
ians  and  the  rest  ever  had  the 
charice  to  watch  See  It  Now,  NBC 
Opera  Theatre,  Halmark  Hall  of 
Fame,  Wide  Wide  World,  Omnibus, 
Camera  Three,  March  of  Medicine, 
20th  Century  or  College  Press  Con¬ 
ference? 

"You  bet  your  sweet  American 
dollar  they  haven’t! 

"They  haven't  everi  seen  the  best 
of  the  in-between  entertainmerit 
such  as  the  Dinah  Shore  show, 
Como  and  the  spectaculars. 

.  -“The  Belgian  Exposition,  pro¬ 
vides  a  nice  opportunity  for  the 
three  networks  to  uriderwrite  a 
plan  whereby  the  best  of  American 
television  can.  be  shown  on  a  con- 
tiriuous  basis  during  the  run  of  the 
fair.  By  showing  the  best  and 
labeling  it  as  the  type  of  entertain- , 


ment-and  information  which  is 
available  dally  and  free  in  the 
homes  of  America — they  will  be 
doing  more  to  give  a  true  picture 
of  this  nation  than  any  other  means 
possible. 

"Unquestionably  there  are  prob¬ 
lems  to  be  solved  before  such  a 
prograrii  is  possible  —  but  if  we 
can’t  lick  them  maybe  we  shouldn’t 
be  trying  to  play  Big  Brother  .at 
all. 

“The  programs  which  are  avail¬ 
able  on  film,  kinescope  oje  tape,  may 
riot  be  quite  as  immediate  arid 
colorful  as  the  Bolshoi  Ballet  and 
the  Moscow  Art  Theatre  which  will 
be  running  for  five  months  in. the 
Russian  Pavilion  —  or  Britain’s 
Royal  Ballet  down  the  street — but 
it  will  be  a  more  hionegt  demonstra¬ 
tion  of  What  America  can  see  every 
night  in  its  own  living  room. 
“It’s  a  cinch  the  money-changers 
in  Hollywood  and;  to .  a  lesser  ex¬ 
tent,  in  New  York,  are  not  going 
to  give  anything  away  for  nothing.. 
This  leaves  the  challenge  directly 
up  to  the  networks  —  specifically 
Mr.  Sarnoff,  Mr.  Stanton  and  Mr. 
Treyz.  . 

"I  think  they  can  pull  it  off  if 
they  want  to.” 


Telephone  lines  were  jammed  at 
ABC-TV  in  New  York  during  and 
after  the  Sid  Caesar  premiere  on 
Sunday  (26)  with  most  of  the 
callers  objecting  to  the  intrusive 
laughter  by  one  member  of  Cae¬ 
sar’s  studio,  audience.  Several  of 
the  phoners  alleged  that  the  visit¬ 
ing  laffman,  who  frequ  ently 
jimped  the  purichlines  by  Caesar 
arid  costar  Mmogene  Coca,  was  a 
member  of  a  professional  claque. 
There  were  literally  hundreds  of 
calls  during  the  9  o'clock  halfrhour 
stanza. 

Laughter  was  traced  to  an  un¬ 
named  man,  alleged  to  be  a  inem¬ 
ber  of  a  party  which  also  con-, 
tained  some  of  Caesar’s  writers. 
One  of  the  writers  who  was  iri  the 
audience  said  ,  that  the  annoying 
yakker  was 'not  a  member  of  his 
party,  but  did  admit  that  he  was 
approached  by  others  on  the  stanza 
and  asked  to  be  quiet  when  they 
confused  him  with  the  "intruder.” 
The  writer',  also  denied  the  noisy 
mystery  man  was  a  professional 
claquer,  adding  that  "Caesar 
doesn’t  need  professional  laugh¬ 
ter.” 


Lon  Rappel  Dies  at  54; 

He  Brought  City  Room  To 
Startled  CBS  (Radio  Era) 

Although  primarily  a  newspaper¬ 
man  and  magazine  editor  through¬ 
out  his  career,  Louis  Ruppel  who 
died  Jan.  24  of  cerebral  Tieirior- 
rhage  in  Queens,  N.  Y.,  at  54,  made 
something  of  a  mark  during  three 
years  as  publicity  director  of  the 
Columbia  Broadcasting  System. 
That  was  in  the  radio  era  and 
terminated  in  1941. 

Ruppel  came  Into  the  "smooth” 
CBS  organization  fresh  from  tri¬ 
umphs  as  a  hard-boiled  Chicago 
managing  editor  and  bringing 
along  to  485  Madison  Ave.  several 
members  of  his  newspaper  retiriue. 
An  energizer  and  a  loud  voice, 
Ruppel  and  CBS  had  a  nervous 
romance.  Rumors  at  the  time  gave 
Ruppel’s  CBS  salary  as  $25,000,— 
undoubtedly  exaggerated,  but  be 
was  probably  the  first  head  of  a 
network  press  dept,  to  be  paid  im¬ 
portant  money.  ' 

Trained  as  a  reporter  in  the  old 
Hearst  style  and  a  flamboyant  ex¬ 
emplar  of  sensational  journalism 
at  the  Chicago  Times  and  else¬ 
where,  Ruppel  was  out  of  his  ele¬ 
ment  at  CBS,  where  the  tone 
set  by  the  social  William 
S.  Paley  and  the .  intellectual  Paul 
W.  Kesten  with  overtones  of  N.  Y. 
Tiriies  quiet  imported  by  Edward 
Klauberr  then  the  CBS  executive 
vicepresident  and  a  Times  alliranus. 

During  Ruppel’s  stay  at  CBS 
the:  radio  industry  was  enlivened 
by  anecdota  of  his  "Front  Page” 
style,  but  .  the  fact  remained  he 
was  a  great  mixer,  a  colorful  fig¬ 
ure,  enjoying  the  friendship  of  lots 
of  important  personages.  Right 
after  leaving  CBS  and  while  em¬ 
ployed  at.  Collier’s  he  impulsively 
joined  the  Marines,  the  story  be¬ 
ing  that  he  entered  the  service  on 
the  very  day  he  was  to  be  elevated 
from  executive  aide;  which  bored 
him,  to  an  .editorship*  Years  later 
he  cooked  up  Collier’s  famed  "in¬ 
vasion  of  Russia”  special  edition 
with: a  lead  piece  by  Robert  E. 
Sherwood. 

For  a  while  Ruppel  ran  his  o\v 
little  sheet  in  a  small  Californi 
town  but  sold  out  and  bobbed  up 
anew  in  the  east,  this  tiriie  as  an 
associate  editor  of  American 
weekly,  the  Hearst  Sunday  Supple¬ 
ment. 


Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


RADIO-TELEVISIOtf  25 


.  The  House  Subcommittee  on  Legislative  Over^ht°wilf  probably 
***  '^uiry.  into  regidatoiy  agehcieit 
to  afford  opportiimty  to  members  of  the  FCC  to  answer  charges 
contained  in  a  memorandum  by  the  subcommittee  staff. 

As  the  subcommittee  began  its  hearings  yesterday  (Mon.)  chair- 
man  .Oren  Hams  (D-Ark.)  of  the  parent  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mittee  said  he  Wanted  the  group  to  set  aside  Feb.  34-3  to  offer 
perf£S  fldcusfd-  He  was  determined,  he  said*, 
that  the  Inquiry  does  not  become  a  witchhunt  or*  character  assas¬ 
sination. 

..  ,?aiJis  said  h®  wanted  the  subcommittee  to  determine  whether 
fraud,  corruption,  malfeasance,  wrongdoing  or  impropriety”  has 
taken  place  in  the  agencies.  But  if  there  is  no  basis  for  the  charges, 
he  said,  the  commissioners  should  be  “exonerated.” 

Denying  reports  that  the  subcommittee  plans  to  limit  its  inquiry, 
Harris  appealed  to- the  press  to  let  the  subcommittee  “do  the  job 
we  started  out  to  do.” 

Subcommittee  chairman  Morgan  Moulder  (D-Mo.j  said  he  agreed 
with  Harris  but  he  did  not  indicate  whether  he  would  carry  out  his 
desires.  However,  as  chairman  of  the  parent  group  and  ex-officio 
member  of  the  subcommittee.  Harris’  views  have  great  weight. 

Mai; Martins  CBS-Edsel Nix  On 
Crosby  Teamup;  Pepsi  Pushes  Tan 


CUFFOS.  CLAQUES 


IBE  ACCENT’S  Armstrong  Exec  Uncorks  Some 
UnNfi  PI  1CF  Revealing  Conclusions  About  TV 


If  Edsel  and  CBS  are  still  enter- 4—— — ■  . - .  - ; - -i. 

taining  the  idea  of  putting  on  «,  .  ,  „ 

another  hour  tv  sho\v  sometime  in  Manie  S  Top  filling 

February,  It  will  have  to  be  with-  That  “Get  Well,  Manie”  with 
out  the  services  of  Mary  Martin.  which  Sid  Caesar  closed  his 

The  plot  called  for  the  pairing  of  premiere  show  on  ABC- TV 

Miss  Martin  with  Bing  Crosby  as  Sunday  (26)  was  addressed  to 

the  second  of  the  Edsel  specials  Manie  Sacks,  the  NBC-RCA 

(first,  of  course,  was  the  Crosby-  exec  and  program  veepee  who  * 

Frank  Sinatra  teamup  last  fall).  is  gravely  ill  at  Einstein  Medt- 

Miss  Martin  has  nixed  it  On  two  cal  Center  in  Philadelphia, 

counts.  First,  she  feels  that  the  Both  Sacks  and  Caesar  have 

gimmick  of  matching  a  brace  of  long  been  close  friends, 

stars  with  those  dueting  sessions  FCC,  sponsors  and/or  other 
has  practically  been  worked  to  interests  allowing,  probably 
death  and  the  audiences  have  been  every  major  personality  on  live 
surfeited  with  the  idea.  (It  was  tv  over  the  weekend  was  itch- 
Mary  Martin  and  Ethel  Merman  ing  to.  bestow  some  similar  en- 
who  Incepted  the  two-way  yodel  dearment! 
some  years  back  under  Ford  spec 

But  major  motive  for  the  CBS-  MAV4  Alipqliomo 
Edsel  nix  is  the  possibility  of  Miss  lYlUH  /lUlClIlClIIlv 
Martin  doing  a  “Peter  Pan”  reprise 

in  April  around  the  Easter  period  a  •  /a  -  *  • 

for  NBC.  Understood  that  Pepsi-  I  ||«|to  MlCniPlAVt  • 
Cola  has  put  in  an  order  for  half-  IJ|||IN  lJUu UltslUIl  « 
Sponsorship  of  the  show  and  that  ^  T  vw“  > 

NBC  has  until  Feb.  15  to  make  a  a  -  ft 

definite  decision  on  whether  the  Vnro  l  ilt  gin  I  iTAVn 

show  goes  on/in  view  of  the  high  vJvlu  Ull  U1I  V  Wll 

cost,  it  isn’t  likely  that  NBC  will  :■  * 

pick  up.  the  other  half  of  the  tab.  Mort  Abrahams  is  resigning  as 

sponsor  of  Miss.  Martin's  “Annie  NBC-TVs  Suspicion  series  In 
Get  Your  Gun”  spec  a  couple  order  to/ fulfill  two  pilot  commit- 
months  back,  with  the  success  of  meats'  made  earlier  in  the  season. 


Sally/ '{Court’ Out; 
NBCs  3-Sponsor 
Sum,  FrL  Shuffle 


Sets  Up  on  Own 

Mort  Abrahams  is  resigning  as 


— - - - — ^ - - — : — - ♦  By  BOB  CHANDLER 

^  ^  ^  Garrowav’s  *Y esterdav^  Imitativeness  in  television  prtf- 

Washington,  Ian.  28.  ■-  nn  ^ gramining  makes  little  sense  to  the 

•The  Special  House  Subcommittee  advertiser  who’s  footing  the  bills, 

on  Legislative  Oversight,  better  JLV5  2®C'^l2f4)  Ratings  are  a  “false  god”  pur- 

known  as  the  Moulder  Committee,  '  iSf,  „cMV-?,ut"or  ®f  sued  by  many  advertisers, 

calls  up  the  Federal  :  Communica-.  .Winkelberg,  offB  way  pro-  Interestingly  presented  nroeram- 

tions  Commission- tomorrow^ (Wed.)  Hecht^was*  saying11  that  less  *ning  nf  the  documentary  variety 

as  part  of  what  is  supposed  to  be  Sfen^n  ^hoid  be*  naid  to  actually  has  more  of  a  “meat  and 

a  general  inquiry,  into  operations  worM  affairs  and  more  atten-  potatoes”  quality  than  straight  en- 

of  the  Federal  regulatory  agencies.  tertainment  shows. 

But  in  view  of  th® -“hlv  1p»v»  ,vF  tion  to  poets. 

the  memorandtun  DrCi^-ed  lor  the  “When  does  ‘WinkelbStg’  Those  are  some  of  the  forth- 
subcommittee  by  ^ts^ounsel  Dr  open?”  Garroway  quizzed.  right  views  of  one  of  the  men  who’s 

Bernard  Schwartz,  it’s  almost  per'  “Spoken  like  a  true  global  footing  the  bills  in  television.  Max 
Um  that^evSrks  ^lldlvelon  thinker,”  Hecht  snapped;  “Last  Banzhaf,  director  of  advertising. 

-week.”  promotion  and  Publicity  for  Ac¬ 

tions  regarding  conduct  of  FCC  ===— ae=^=  th® 

members  contained  in  the  in  11  9  4ft  -I  A  -  circle  ThSt^  o^CBS^TV  ^ut 

Schwartz  memo,  *uch  matters  as  I  AMirt  |||lf  *  f 

expefise  accounts,  color  tv  sets,  and  Uflllj)  vUlUl  willy  ih  or 

Other  Industry  favors  are.expected  * 

to  make  the  headlines  at  tomor-  lm/u  A  O  ful  thinking,  they  are  based  on 

row’s  hearing.  Some  of  the  com-  n(K|  A  \.\|lA||CAf  Sr£n!l®y  practical  reasons  and  ex‘ 

missioners,  naturally  indignant  ilDv  5^  V^OIIllllvUk  perlence. 

over  the  document,  are  expected  *  On  imitativeness:  “I  suppose  we 

to  demand— and  to  receive— op-  (V  fl  r  ni  /f|  could  hop  aboard  the  horseopera 

portimity  to  deny  any  improprieties  Vlin  MM  \Ii1IiTIa  bandwagon,  like  everybody  else, 

in  connection  with  payment  of  k/ tills*  1  11s  iHlUlllv  But  successful  as  they  are,  there 

their  travel  and  hotel  expense  for  are  going  to  be  so  many  of  them 

industry  functions.  A  complicated  sponsorship  re-  that  itTl-  be  virtually  impossible 

Doerfer  Cops  a"  Plea  shuffling  Involving  thr®®  sdver-  to  teU  who  sponsors  which.  In 

Commission  Chairman  John  C.  ?  involving  ^  three  adver-  fact  its  tough  to  tell  now.  An- 

Doerfer  took  immediate  issue  with  tisers  has  been  finalized,  at  NBC-  other  thing:  it's  much  easier  to  do 
a  charge  that  he  had  improperly  TV,  and  as  byproducts  of  the  ma-  a  good  programming  job  on  a  for- 
collected  per  diem  from  the  Gov-  neuver,  “Sally”  has  been  given  its  mat  that  nobody  else  Is  doing  than 
ernment  for  attendance  at  conven-  bancellation  notice  and  the  Good-  ta  g0  and  compete  in  a  field 
tion  for  which  bis  expenses  were  T  '  where  some  of  the  industry’s  best 

paid  by  the  industry.  The  charge,  son-Todman-Screen  Gems  western,  talents  are  concentrating.  After 
said  Doerfer,  is  “inaccurate  and  “The  Quill  and  the  Gun,”,  has  been  all,  there  aren’t  many  geniuses  in 
misleading.”  A  provision  in  the  set  as  a  new  Friday  night  entry  this  business;  good  programs  are 
Communications  Act,  he  said,  on  'the  web.  .Shuffle  involves  Old  achieved  by  a  lot  of  hard  work.” 
“provides  that  a  commissioner  may  Gold,  Chemstrand  Corp.  and  Royal  On  ratings:  “I  think  many  busi- 
accept  a  reasonable  honararium  ^cBee  Typewriters.  nesses  are  pursuing  a  false  god 

and  ^compensation  for  delivering  “Quill,”  which  is  to  be  retitled,  when  they  concern  themselves  only 
an  address.”  He  also  pointed  to  replaces  Old  Gold’s  “Court  of  Last  with  ratings.  Certainly  ratings 
language  in;  this  provision  which  Resort,”  Fridays  at  8,  effective  have  some  importance— you've  got 
permits^  hfin  to  accept  compen-  April  25.  But  Old  Gold,  rather  to  know  how  many  people  you’re 
sation  for  the  excess  when  ex-  than  continuing  to  pick  up  the  reaching,  and  nobody  can  live  with 
penses^exceed  a  specified  amount,  entire  tab,  will  take  only  half  of  a  six  or  a  nine-point  Nielsen  in 
Doerfer  referred  to  that  part  of  the  show.  Other  half,  will  go  to  nighttime,  not  at  those  prices.  But 
the  memo  which  said  the  sub-  Chemstraiid,  which  will  move  its  granted  a  reasonable  rating,  an 
committee  ^st3f f  had  evidence  inr  billings  from  Sunday  night  over  to  advertiser  can  do  just  ns  good  a 
(Heating  that:  A  commissioner  Friday.  .  Simultaneously.  Old  Gold,  commercial  job  as  a  top-rated  show. 
Was  fully  reimbursed  by  the  in-  to  retain  an  every-week  sponsor-  Or  conversely,  there’s  no  guaran- 
dustry  for  the  expense  incurred  ship  status,  moves  into  Chem-  tee  that  the  top  rating  delivers  a 
(Continued  on  page  43)  strand’s  Sunday  night  spot  on  an  good  commercial  job  for  the  ad- 
— 1 — - -  alternate-week  basis  with  Royal  vertiser. 

UjL  V  Tnmmonil  ‘  ',^5  curfeilt'J'  shaE?s  On  entertainment  programs:  “En- 

JflllC  (4).  S  lommanfl  time  with  .  Chemstrand  on  SaUy.  tertainment  is  basically  an  escape. 

niV«nnA«vAn/i  *•  M  Final  show  for  “Sally”  is  set  for  and  consequently  has  a  more  tran- 

l/isappedldnce  ,  new  March  30,  with  the  replacement  sient  quality  than  interestingly 
nt  ni  '  nry  due  to  begin  on  April  6.  Trouble  is,  presented  documentary-styled  pro- 

16X8C0  ullOWIO  WM  no  replacement  has  been  set  yet,  grams.  Look  at  the  kids,  and 
w  T  .  ,  ■  '  with  rietwork-Qld  Gold  talks  just  you’ll  find  that  they  will  be  bored 


By  JACK  LEVY 

Washington,  Iain.  28. 

•The  Special  House  Subcommittee 
oil  Legislative  Oversight,  better 
known  as  the  Moulder  Committee,  ' 
calls  up  the  Federal ;  Communica¬ 
tions  Commission  tomorrow  (Wed.) 
as  part  of  what  is  supposed  to  be 
“a  general  inquiry”  Into  operations 
of  the  Federal  regulatory  agencies. 
But,  In  view  of  the  "“big  leak”  of 
the  memorandum  prepared  for  the 
subcommittee  by  Its  counsel  Dr. 
Bernard  Schwartz,  it’s  almost  cer¬ 
tain  that  fireworks  ;will  develop. 

.  Because  of  the  serious  implies-  _ 
tions  regarding,  conduct  of  ;  FCC  " 
■  members  c  o  n  t  a  1  n  •  d  in  the  i 
Schwartz  memo,  luch  matters  as 
expefise  accounts,  color  tv  sets,  and  ,  I 
Other  Industry  favors  are.expected 
to  make  the  headlines  at  tomor- 
•  row’s  hearing.  Some,  of  the  com¬ 
missioners,  .  naturally  indignant 
over  the  document,  are  expected 
to  demand— and  to  receive— oii- 
—  portiinity  to  deny  any  improprieties 
in  connection  with  payment  of 
their  travel  and  hotel  expense  for 
industry  functions. 

Doerfer.  Cops  a  Plea  s] 

Commission  Chairman  John  C. 


(Continued  on  page  43) 

JaffeCo.’s  ‘Command 


that  hntryC  cueing  the  SttTrink  *£*£•#!  E-te^rljee.  which  having  begun  this  week.  Web  has  with  some  subtacts  ^hUchavtag 

company?  deciSSn  to  ridi  with  Grahams  had  scheduled  the  pilot  ^-cofflmrt-  been  pitching  "Morthwest  Passage”  fun  learning  about  others,  because 

“Peter  ”  if  a  second  underwriter  commitments  In  such  a  manner  Las  v^fas  at  Royal  for  the  Sunday  7:30  time  of  they  way.  the  teacher  presents 

cfn  he  fo^hd  “COnd  und?r^“?r  that  he  could  produce  them  while  ^  wnSenUy  ittewSe  slot.-  the  ?  «  «»  «•  the 

•  :  . _ -  .  dill  rotoinir,®  hi.  vfjT.-1 v  ’>  •  met.  with  mixed  reaction  from  same  thing  In  television,  we’ve  got 

— -  -  still  retaining  his  Susi£cio?  '^5  9°?'  Roy®!  execs  and  from  Young  &  something  that  sticks  to  the  ribs, 


|  II  n  _  but  a  diange  in  scheduling  of  the  ^^  .App^arahce''  series.  Jaffe  Rubicam,  the  Royal  agency.  that  people  remember  longer  thau 

ABC-RfiVlfti  Sfll  iiV;JgSi“?PlCi0n''  !h0WS  re3Ultid  ta  Teg^  E?C.  .S  eM  .  ,A»- to  ‘'Qum^'  deal  ^  ^  is  (continued  on  page  41) 
l/  ACVUC  JCI  He's  also,seUingup  hiS  ownpro- ;  *«««•  this  aa  ^S“LSn-Totoan  ahd  ISLeS  “  ' 

lWdUUlUtn  ,  flCII  ecU^'and^.a^erintimKidiie-  ZSrirSZZ* i  rounds  during  the  past  selling  sea-  VUIU  Hjlllg  IU 

tion.  Goodman  and  nrrh  titipd  son  without  much  success.  _ 

Pink  ftfhpi*  Pit  *  Shed  $5  #00(100 

riois  uiner  rix  ssft n LLBE  B0RGB &c°-  ™;u  ^,vuu,uuu 

.  ^  for  pontiac  1-shot  Gotham  Studios 

cussing  yidpix  deals  with  every  cion  bef  ore  Abrahams  _  was  jn  production.  Originally,  it  was  Victor  Borge,  who’s  been  doing  a  \IVMMlill  k/IUIUuu 
*  vidfilmery  and  major  film,  brought  in  as  producer,  and  has  Texaco’s  intention  to  bankroll  four  single  in  legit  and  television  for  rv,,Ti^T,f  ♦  •  -  *  j  ,, 
studio:  here,  has  wrapped  up  a  new  been  active i  on.  tha  script  end  as  “Command  Appearance”  specs  this  the  past  three  years,  has  decided  „ /^ont  is  taring  to  dump  its 
vidsen^  to  be  shot  in  association  well  since  ^iat  time.  He  won  t  take  season.  A  Cunningham  &  Walsh  to  abandon  the  one-man  format  f®7t“_Bt^e®t  offic®  ind  studI® 
with  Revue  Productions.  screen  credit  as:  producer,  in  line  spokesman  said  that  the  “Com-  for  his  annual  CBS-TV  one-hour  flantJn  MAnhattanL^h„i®ng®?® 

Deal  has  been  set  for  Revue  to  with  MCA  policy  on  staffers,  and  mand”  series  isn’t  necessarily  dead,  special  on  Feb.  19.  He’s  now  sign-  tVfn®d  ^  be  a  $5,000,000  white 
shoot  a  pilot,  “Roadblock,”  based  Will  probably  scout  for  another  but  that  if  Jaffe  came  up  with  a  ing  talent  and  an  orch  to  back  f^Pjant  to  the  company.  WABD. 
on  the  California  Motor  Patrol,  producer  to  take  over  the  show  as  good  one,  Texaco  would  buy  it.'  him  up  in  the  9  to  10  p.m,  one-shot  ibe  New  York  station  of  DuMont, 
Dick  Lewis  is  exec  producer  of  soon  as  feasible.  Abrahams’  resig-  Jaffa  unit,  however,  apparently  for  Pontiac.  already  has  looked  at  10  new  sites 

pilot  for  the  series.  nation  is  effective  immediately,  bn't  working  on  any  more  “Ap-  Already  set  are  Marguerite  f®r, a  sm^er  studio  setup,  but  the 


ABC-Revde  Set 
'Roadblock ;  Web 
Plots  Other  Pix 


IT’LL  BE ‘B0RGC&C0/ 
FOR  PONTIAC  1-SH0T 

Victor  Borge,  who’s" been  doing  a 


I  pearance”  ideas. 


After  March  1st,  1958 


on  the  California  Motor  Patrol,  producer  to  take  over  the  show  as  good  one,  Texaco  would  buy  it. 
Dick  Lewis  is  exec  producer  of  soon  as  feasible.  Abrahams’  resig-  Jaffa  unit,  however,  apparently 
pilot  for  the  series.  nation  is  effective  immediately,  working  on  any  more  “Ap- 

Plana  a  series  tagged  (Continued  on  page  30)  pearance”  ideas.  j 

•’Barbary  Coast,”  for  which  it  ori-  '  '•  ■  ■  .  .  .  — 

ginally  sought  Rory  Calhoun,  who  r=^^=^==g*=======  1  ■  ■  -■  .  == 

has  since  made  a  deal  for  his  own  ®  ■ 

series  at  Desilu.  Bob  Adams,  exec  Aff Or  Mnrrk  let  10^1 

producer  of  ABC  on  the  Coast,  MTTtJr  lYlQiCll  151/  l/JI 

will  .oversee  production,  and  Bar¬ 
ney  Gerard,  who.  is  writing  the 

PilWebCrisPdiscussingeth  Newsstands 

owned  by  Desilu— “The  Man  No-  O  f*  ^ 

body  Knows,”  a  Marie  Wilson  proj-  -v  jjr  ^ m 

ect  and  an  Air  Force  series.  It  also  1/  V/  K  A 

is  in  negotiation  with  Screen  Gems 

anent  its  proposed  Donna  Reed  Per  Copy  r  JL  MML  W  JW  ML 

situation  comedy .  series.  In  addi-  rg 

tion,  it  plahs  “Motive,”  a  mystery-  .  _  _  M  _ 

action-adventure  skein  to  star  Mike  Nfifi  D^tCI IIS  POCie  4 7 

Wallace  as  a.  newspian-narratbr.  ^  ( t  w; 

^dda^Spi^s  is  scripting  f  hr  pilot;  ^^^sssssssissA  i  •  ■  ■  ‘ 1  j  i  i  j  ''  1  X  ^  ~  = 


j  Piazza  and  a  40-piece  orchestra. 


Newsstands 


Per  Copy 


Subscription 


Per  Year 


See  Details  Page  47 


station  termed  each  of  them  “in¬ 
sufficient.” 

Five -studio  plant  and  offices, 
housed  in  a  big  warehouse-fronted 
building,  was  originally  revamped 
for  the  now-defunct  DuMont  Tele¬ 
vision  Network,  but  since  only 
WABD  remains ‘of  the  original  or¬ 
ganization,  the  station  has  found 
the  arrangement  too  costly.  Station 
tmly  uses  one  or  two  of  the  studios 
in  the  building,  others  are  for  stor¬ 
age,  and  at  intermittent  periods 
CBS  has  rented  the  larger  studio. 

The  television  station  owns  a  99- 
year  lease*  on  the  sizable  building 
and,  according  to  the  station,  is. 
willing  to  sell  the  lease  or  rent  it 
tq  9,new  occupant  once  it  gets  neir 

enara  *  °  *  ®  j  4  .v  ■*  t  « 


28 


Wednesday,  January  29.  1958 


RAMO-TBLB VISION 


FARIEtf 


Wyatt  Earp  Co.  Stops  Three  Mfrs. 
Dead  in  Their  Tracks  on  ‘Earp*  Tags 


Wyatt  Earp  Enterprises  Inc.  has4 
obtained  injunctions  against  a 
trio  of  manufacturing  firms, 
halting  them  from  twining  out 
“Wyatt  Earp”  merchandise  which; 
they  had  not  been  licensed 
to  make.  Court  rulings  are  sig¬ 
nificant  in  their  application  to  the 
sprawling  merchandising  of  prod¬ 
ucts  tied  to  show  biz  characters, 
some  of  whom  theoretically  are 
fn  public  domain. 

N.  Y.  Supreme  Court  granted  a 
permanent  injunction  against  Tri- 
boro  Hat  Corp,,  which  was  making 
Wyatt  Earp  hats  and  -the  N,  Y. 
Federal  Court  has  issued  prelimi¬ 
nary  injunctions  against  Leslie 
Henry  Co.  Inc.,  manufacturer  of 
-guns  and  holsters,  and  Sackman 
Bros.,  manufacturers  of  playsuits. 

Opinions  noted  that  $3,000,000 
has  been  spent  in  the  production 
of  102  telefilms  in  the  “Earp” 
series  thus,  far  and  that  a  similar 
amount  has  been  spent  by  spon¬ 
sors  for  telecast  time.  Courts  held 
that  while  Wyatt  Earp,  a  real  char¬ 
acter,  might  be  considered  to  be 
in  public  domain,  whatever  com¬ 
mercial  value  lay  in  the  name  was 
the  result  solely  of  the  tv  program. 


3  Stations  Form 


Chicago,  Jan.  28. 

Three  Wisconsin  tv  stations,  all 
basic  ABC  affiliates,  have  formed 
a  statewide  network  primarily  to 
improve  local  programming.  The 
Badger  Network,  as  it  is  called, 
hooks  up  WISN-TV,  Milwaukee, 
WFRV-TV,  Green  Bay,  and 
WKOW-TV,  Madison,  reaching  to¬ 
gether  around  86%  of  .  the  tv 
homes  in  the  state.  Emphasis  is 
on  live  programming. 

Web  came  about  in  a  pact  be¬ 
tween  station  managers .  John  B. 
Soell  of  WISN-TV,  Soren  Munk- 
hof  of  WFRV-TV,  and  Bep  HoVel 
of  WKOW-TV.  At  present,  the 
Badger  net  is  carrying  two  half- 
hour  daytimers  cross  the  board, 
“Homemakers’  Holiday”  and 
“Good  Housekeeping.”  Fact  that 
all  three  stations  are  ABC  aflfils' 
conveniences  clearances. 

Affiliates  to  ABC-TV: 
Hands  Off  the  Clock; 
Midwest’s  Status  Quo 

In  the  face  of  strong  opposition 
by  some ’of  ABC-TV’s  larger  mid- 
western  stations,  the  network’s 
plan  to  institute  "clock  time” 
around  the  country  next  spring 
and  summer,  when  Daylight  Sav¬ 
ings  Time  is  in  effect,  very  prob¬ 
ably  will  be  aborted.  Clock  time 
plan  would  have  all  the  ABCrTV 
stations  around  the  country  play¬ 
ing  the  nighttime  web  shows  be¬ 
tween  7:30  and  10:30  p.m. 

Stations  in  the  Central  time, 
zone  prefer,  however,  to  hold  to 
the  present  6:30  to  9:30  .  lineup  iii 
order  to.  leave  the  hot  9:30  to  11 
p.m.  span  open  for  strictly  local 
sale.  Clock  time  would  eliminate 
60  minutes  bf  the  best  time  the 
ABC  midwest  affils  have  available 
for  local  sale. 

Web  is  on  the  verge  of  closing 
its  order  for  summer  network  lines 
and  a  decision  is  expected  Within 
the  next  few  days  on  whether  to 
attempt  clock  time  against  the  ob¬ 
jections  of  the  key  midwest  af¬ 
filiates. 

SUGAR  RAY-BASHJO 
RADIO  RIGHTS  TO  CBS 

CBS  Radio  grabbed  off  exclusive 
rights  to  the  Carmen  Basilio-Sugar 
Ray  Robinson  middleweight:  cham¬ 
pionship  go  on  March  25,  which  is 
being  barred  from  television  by 
virtue  of  the  theatre-tv  deal  set  by 
TelePrompTer.  Web  scooped  up  a 
pair  of  sponsors  for  the  bout  im¬ 
mediately,  signing  Miles  Labs  and 
Mennen  to  foot  the  bill,  which 
comes  to  $65,000  for  lights  alone. 

Deal  was  Something  of  a  triumph 
for  the  web,  since  Miles  and  Men¬ 
nen  co-sponsor  the  Wednesday 
night  bouts  on  rival  ABC-TV.  Ra¬ 
dio  version  of  the  fights  was  pack¬ 
aged  by  Lester  Malitz.  Jack  Drees 
will  handle  the  ringside  commen¬ 
tary.  iIJ 


A  Turn  of  Phrase 

Alcoa  and  Goodyear  finally 
have  gotten  fid  of  their'  sub¬ 
title,  on  the  basis  that  “Alcoa- 
Goodyear  Theatre:  A  Turn  of 
Fate”  is  juSt  too  much  verbi¬ 
age  for  the  television  screen. 

As  of  the  Feb..  10  show,  the 
“fateless”  series  will-he  called, 
simply  “The  Alcod-Goodyeaf 
Theatre.” 


A  new  unit  operating  out  of  CBS 
public  affairs  and  dubbed  “Unit 
One”  has  been  ,  created  to  service 
CBS  Radio  with  a  series  of  one- 
hour  in-depth  documentaries  and 
to  come  lip  With  further  transat¬ 
lantic  "Radio  Beats”  similar  to  the 
recent  exchanges  between  U.S.  and 
Soviet  educators  and  scientists  on 
CBS. 

Unit  Will  present  five  one-hour 
"actuality”  shows  between  now  and 
July,  including  a  followup  to  its 
celebrated  documentary  of  last 
season  on  the  Galindez-Murphy 
case.  First  of  the  documentaries, 
to  be  produced  by  Jay  McMullen 
and  narrated  by  Edward  R.  Mur- 
row,  will  be  titled  “Who  Killed 
Michael  Farmer?”  and  Will  deal 
with  the  recent  murder  of  a  New 
York  youngster  as  the  peg  for  a 
study  of  juvenile  delinquency.  Date 
for  the  show  hasn’t  been  set,  since 
the  case  is  currently  being  tried  in 
the  courts,  but  as  soon  as  a  verdict 
is  reached  the  show  Will  foe 
slapped  on  the  air. 

Other  projects  in  the  documen¬ 
tary  series  will  cover  a  report  on 
Hollywood,  American  behavior  Un¬ 
der  fire  in  Korea,  a  study  of  labor 
racketeering  and  a  program  on 
narcotic  traffic.  The  "Radio  Beats” 
series,  two  of  which  are  planned 
for  the  near  future,  will  under¬ 
take  to  provide  a  show  featuring 
American  and  Soviet  atomic  sci¬ 
entists.  George  Vicas  will  produce 
the  latter  series.  Unit  will  be 
headed  by  pubaffairs  director  Irv¬ 
ing  Gitlin,  and  will  include  radio 
pubaffairs  chief  Ralph  Backlund, 
McMullen  and  Vicas.  Purpose  of 
the  unit,  as  per  CBS  Radio  prexy 
Arthur  Hull  Hayes,.  Is  "to  ferret 
out  provocative  stories  and  give 
them  the  kind  of  hard  hitting  treat¬ 
ment  that  network  radio  can  fur¬ 
nish  uniquely.” 


Chicago,  Jan.  28. 

Kraft  F oods  is  dropping  out  of 
daytime  .television  this  spring  and 
is  shifting'  to  print  media  some 
$2,500,000  previously  spent  day¬ 
times  with  NBC-TV.  This  was  re¬ 
vealed  by  Robert  A.  Davis,  adver¬ 
tising  manager  of  Kraft  cheese 
products,  in  an  address  to  the  local 
chapter  of  American  Assn,  of 
Newspaper  Representatives  last 
Week. 

Cheese  company  is  .continuing  in 
nighttime  tv,  however.  Shows  in 
which  it.  is  .dropping  its  participa¬ 
tions  are  "Tie  Tac  Dough,” “Mat¬ 
inee  Theatre,’’  "Comedy  Time”  and 
“Modem  Romances,”  all  on  NBC- 
TVi 

The  Real  Tiling  Always 
Better  Than  a  Trailer 

Los  Angeles;  Jam  28. 

ABC-TV  ;  personnel ...  currently 
housed  in  trailers  on  the.  Televi¬ 
sion  Centre  studios  will  move  into 
the  new  technical  facilities  build¬ 
ing  Saturday  (Feb.  1)  when  the 
first  floor  will  be  ready  for  occur 
pancy.  Second  floor  Will  be  ready 
March  1.  Trailers  will  then  be 
moved  off  the  lot. 

..  Meanwhile;  preliminary  studies 
have  been  -  completed  for  the  con¬ 
struction  of  two  stages  as  part  of 
the  planned  $30,000,000  building 


Jim  Kane  Back  East  As 
Bob  Blake  Gets  Top 
CBS  Pub  Slot  on  Coast 

CBS-TV  is  shaking*  up.  its  Coast 
publicity  operation,  with  Bob  Blake 
becoming  director  of  press  infor¬ 
mation,  Hollywood,  and  Jim  Kane 
returning  to  .  N.  Y.  after  two  years 
in  that  post  to  head  up  a  new  unit 
for  coordination  of  publicity  be¬ 
tween  4he  web  and  affiliated  sta¬ 
tions,  .publicity  operations. 

Blake  .  has  been  director  of  the 
web’s  exploitation  unit,  on  the 
Coast,  which  embraced  the  special 
projects  unit  handling  CBS  specs 
and  such  shows  as  "Playhouse  90” 
and  “Seven  Lively  Arts,”  With 
Blake  moving  up  to  Coast  publicity 
chief,  John  Walsh,  who  previously 
headed  special  projects  in  N.  Y., 
becomes  overall  manager  of  special 
projects!  Changes  were  effected 
this  Week  by  CBS-TV  information 
services  director  Charles  Oppen- 
heim,  who’s  currently  on  the  Coast 
for  that  purpose, 

Blake  moved  to  the  Coast  a 
couple  of  years  ago,  after  having 
been  publicity  chief  for  NBC  o&o 
stations,  publicity  director  of 
WCBSj  WOR  and  other  N.  Y.  radio 
outlets;  Kane,  who  had  been  CBS- 
TV  trade  editor  in  N.  Y.  before 
moving  to  the  Coast,  will  operate 
out.  of  the  press  info  dept,  but  co¬ 
ordinating  closely  with  station  re¬ 
lations. 


•  1  i* 


Business  in  NBC-TV’s  VToday” 
and  "Tonight”  shows  is  on  the  up¬ 
swing  again,  with  nearly  $1,000,000 
gross  in  the  form  of  199  participa¬ 
tions  set  since  the  start  of  the  year. 
Biggest  chunk  of  .  the  business  is 
from  Bird  &  Son,  through  Hum¬ 
phrey,  Alley  &  Richards,  which 
contributed  $300,000  to  the  pot  via 
56  “Today”  participations  and  21 
on'  "Tonight”  starting  April  1. 

Also  ordering  "Tonight”  were 
General  Foods,  via .  Young  &  Rubi- 
cam,  for  52  participations;  Polk 
Miller  Products,  for  17;  Van  Raalte 
Co.,  for  12  and  Lewis  Howe  Co. 
<Tums)  for  10.’ 

Other  ‘Today”  bankrolled  are 
Rock  of  Ages  Corp.,  for  10  partic¬ 
ipations;  Carew  Products,  for 
eight;  Amity  Leather  Products,  for 
six;  Shakespeare  Co.,  for.  three; 
Hawaii  Visitors  Bureau,  for  three; 
A.  C.  Smith  Co.,  for  one. 

*64,000  Question’  Leaves 
Lotsa  Loot  Behind  On 
Fadeont  Show  in  Brit. 

London,  Jan.  28, 

;  Associated  Television’s  top  prize 
British  quiz  show  “The  64,000 
Question,”  bowed  out  of  commer¬ 
cial  tv  With  a  flourish  that  sent  two 
contestants  home  with  the  jackpot; 
worth.  With  additions  to  the  fat 
$9,000,  just  beloW  $10,000, 

The  program,  which  is  the  Bri¬ 
tish  ...version  of  the  American  tele- 
quiz^' has  been  dropped  because, 
according  to  ATV  topper  Val  Par¬ 
nell;  it  has  lost  its  appeal: 

The  last  program  Was  taken  up 
by  two  contestants  who  had  reach- 
the  32,000  mark-^one  by  answer¬ 
ing  questions  on  Italian  opera,  and 
the  other  on  the  City  of  London. 
Both  were  allowed  to  take  both 
the  32,000  and  64,000  questions  on 
the  program.  The  competitor  ans¬ 
wering  the  opera  questions,  sailed 
through  easily  to  get  his  prize,  but 
City  of  London.;  presented  a  prob¬ 
lem  to  the  other  player,  Whb,  it 
was  discovered  after  the  show,  had 
incorrectly  answered  part  of  the 
64,000  question.  He  was,  however, 
allowed  to  keep  the  money.  " 

.  It’s  estimated  that/  more  than 
$160,000  has  been  won  during  the 
program’s  run.  "The  64,000  Ques¬ 
tion,”  is  being  replaced  by  an  ad¬ 
venture  series,  "Sword  of  Free¬ 
dom,”  starring  Edmund  Purdom. 


Ottawa— Alex  Barris,  N.Y.-born 
Toronto  Telegram  amusement  col¬ 
umnist,  has  his  own  show  .  again. 
After  .  13  weeks  off  CBC-TV’s  web, 
i  “The  Barris  Beat”  resumed  Wed. 
(22)  as  an  hour  late  show  (11:30 
p.m.) — it  was  previously  30  min— 
every  two  weeks.  Writers  are  Bar- 
ris;  Frank  Peppiajtt,  Saul  Ilson,  the 
Montreal  tunesmith  and  Allan 
iManfngs.  i 


-mm  »»♦♦♦♦»♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦>♦ 


♦♦ •••••>  t  t  a  a  4 J 

IN  NEW  YORK  CITY 

NBC  press  dept,  looking  for  a  new  magazine  editor  to  replace  Nanrv 
Hamburger  who’s  leaving  March  15  to  set  up  on  her  own  as  a  textile 
designer  on  a  Caribbean  island  off  the  coast  of  Yucatan  .  .  Bob  Svnes 
named  exec  producer  of  the  Tex  &  Jinx  shows  on  WRCA  and  Wrpa 
TV  /.  .  CBS  Radio  stars  doubling  into  legit:  Peter’ Lind  Hayes  &  Marv 
Healy  starring  in  Leland  Hayward’s  new  production,  “Who  Was  That 
Lady  I  Saw  You  With,”  opening  March  3  at  the  Martin  Beck  and  Alan 
Bunce  of  "The  Couple  Next  Door”  featured  in  “Sunrise  at  Cameo 
hello”  opening  tomorrow  (Thurs.)  .  .  .  Bill  Parish,  former  NBC  public 
affairs  producer  who  recently  returned  from  setting  up  a  television 
station  in  Saudi  Arabia,  joined  the  staff  of  CBS-TV’s  “The  Great  Chal¬ 
lenge”  as  liaison  with  national  educational  groups  which  will  partici¬ 
pate  in  the  show  .  .  .  Johnny  Falk  of  WRCA  publicity  penned  a  piece 
on  grouse  shooting  for  the  first  issue  of  a  new  outdoor  mag,  Gunspdrt 
out  this  week  .  .  .  CBS  Radio  station  administration  v.p.  Jules  Dundes 
to  San  Francisco  to  address  the  Ad  Club  there  and  then  to  Salt  Lake 
City  to  present  the  web’s  motivational  study  .  .  .  New  York  highschool 
editors  to  interview  Eric  Sevareid  on  his  CBS-TV  “Conquest”  assign¬ 
ment  on  Feb.  14  .  .  Touchdown  Club  of  New  York  conferred  a  spe¬ 
cial  citation  on  Ted  Husing  last  week,  accepted  in  ^using’s  absence  by 
CBS  Radio’s  Jimmie  Dolan.  Husing’s  own.  piece  about  his  return  to 
health  is  current  in  Look  mag  .  .  .  Sue  Ellen  Blake  featured  in  tonight’s 
(Wed.)  "U.S.  Steel  Hour”  :  .  .  Teddi  King  winds  up  two  appearances 
on  "Tonight”  tonight  (Wed.)  .  -  Harry  Junkih,  who’s  10th  script  for 

"Modern  Romances’”  is  being  presented  om  NBC-TV  this  week,  has 
penned  a  three-act  play,  "The  Kiss  in  the  Whip,”  which  NBC  com¬ 
mentator  Kenneth  Banghart  will  produce  off-Brpadway  in  March.  Play 
Will  star  Jan  Miner,  a  “Modern  Romances”  regular  ;  .  :  Ed  Sultan  put 
in  charge  of  sustaining  service  programs  at  CBS-TV. 

Richard  Simmons*  star  of  CBS-TV’s  "Sgt.  Preston  of  the  Yukon,” 
arrives  in  N.Y*. Feb.  8  for  appearances  at  the  Westminster  Kennel  Club 
Show  and  press  interviews  .  .  .  Priscilla  Failey,  former  casting  director 
of  NBC’s  Alcoa-Goodyear  hour  dramatics,  has  joined  the  William 
Schuller  agency  to  build  the  dramatic  talent  dept..  *  Allen  Ludden, 
program  director  of  WCBS,  lecturing  this  week  oil  .  the  humaiiities  at 
his  alma  mater,  the  U.  of  Texas  .  -.  .  Mari  Lynn  set  for  two  appearances 
on  NBC  Radio’s  “My  True  Story,”  Feb.  8  and  19  .  Bob  Windt  and 

C.  Langbome  Washburn  named  v.p.’s  and  members  of  the  executive 
planning  board  of  Bernard  Relin  &  Associates,  Gotham  public  rela¬ 
tions  outfit.  Windt,  former  p.r.  chief  for  CBS-Co.lumbia,  heads  up  the 
Relin  radio-tv  operations-.  .  .'Hume  Cronyn  left  for  the  Coast  Monday 
(27)  for  filming  of  a  “Loretta  Young  Show”  segment  in  which  he’s 
starred  .  .  .  Nathan  Straus,  WMCA  owner,  and  spouse  left  over  week¬ 
end  for  six- weeks  respite  in  Arizona  .  .  .  Bob  Callan,  WMCA  jock,  in 
Norwalk  (Conn.)  hospital  with  stomach  ailment  .  .  :  Bash  being  tossed 
for  John  Wingate  Sunday  (Feb.  2)  a^No.  One  Fifth  will  be  hosted  by 
Bob  Downey,  the  pianist  *  .  .  Scripter  Dale  Washerman  starts  Saturday 
(Feb.  1)  on  freighter  trip  to  South  America,  for  a  month  .  .  .  Alfred 
Simon,  WQXR  light  music  director,  in  Beth  Israel  Hospital  for  throat 
surgery  .  .  .  New  York,  film-tv  actress  Dina  Merrill  planed  to  the  Coast 
last  week  for  a  role  opposite.  Tom  Ewell,  in  “The  Little  Bank  That  Ought 
to  Be  Robbed,”  for  20th. 

Pat  Jordon  and  Wes  McWain,  producers  of  “The  Wheel  of  Chance” 
on  Mutual,  haye  another  MBS  show,  “The  Big  Decision."  .  .  .  Ballad 
singer  Bob  Ross  will  be  interviewed  on  the  Joe  Franklin  show,  WABC- 
TV,  Friday  (31)  .  .  .  Training  methods  ahd  facilities  for  recruits.  Of  the 
New  York  City  Police  Dept,  will  be.  the.  subject  of  a  special  program, 
"Training  New  York’s  Finest”  on  WPIX  Sunday  afternoon.  Program 
is  being  produced  by  the  Columbia  U.  Graduate  School;  of  Journalism 
in  association  with  WPIX  .  *  .  United  Ukrainian  Organization  ^of  N.Y. 
is  sponsoring  a  special  program  commemorating  40th  anni  of  Ukrainian 
independence  on  WOR-TV  Sunday  (Feb.  2).  GovernoF  Hariiman  Will 
be  among  the  speakers  .  .  .  Allen  Swift,,  who  hosts  WPIX’s  “Popeye” 
program,  named  “television  personality  of  the  year  for  children’s  pro¬ 
grams,”  in  an  award  presented  by  the  Jewish  War  Veterans.. 

John  M.  (Mac)  Clifford,  NBC  exec  v.p.  for  administration,  named, 
chairman  of  the  advertising,  publishing  &  entertainment  section  of  the 
1958  N.Y.  Red  Cross  campaign  .  .  .  Balladeer  Oscar  Brand  named  tech¬ 
nical  advisor  on  Sunday’s  (9)  ‘‘Seven  Lively  Arts”  version  of  "Gold 
Rush,”  and  is  writing  special  lyrics  for  the  production,  which  Agnes 
deMilleis  staging  .  .  .  Carroll  Bagley,  former  sales  v.p.  with.  the.  U.S. 
Production  Co.  and  ex-MC A,  has  joined  Screen  Gems  as  a  national 
sales  exec. 

Dick  Stark  ankling  as  veteran  iriember  of  ABC-TV’s  sales  staff  .  . 

Ray  Eichmann,  who  recently  joined  American  Broadcasting  Network 
as  director  of  sales,  development  and  research  (coming  from  the  Blair 
reppery)  is  quitting  for  an  NBC-tV  post;  . .  .  Son  born  to  Martin  Book- 
span,  WQXR  recorded  music  director,  in  Mf.  Vernon  last  week 
WNYC  chief  (Capt.)  Seymour  N.  Siegel  on  active;  Navy  duty  this  week. 
Same  station’s  music  director,  Herman  Neuman,  to  Miami  U.  (Ohio) 
this  weekend  for  honorary  Doctor  of  Music  degree,  station’^  exec  of¬ 
ficer  John  De  Prospo  will  have  been  With  the  city  for  40  years  (23  with 
the  station)  come  Feb.  6  .  .  .  Gabber  Herb  Duncan  h^is  just  voiced  a 
batch  of  animated  spots  for  Fedder  airconditioners  and  Glamorene  rug 
cleaner  .... .  Don  Morrow  into  CBS-TV’s  “Edge* of  Night”  today  (Wed.) 
to  pitch  for  Florida  Citrus. 


IN  HOLLYWOOD  * 

Louise  Squires  did  one  guest  shot  on  “Mr.  Adams  &  Eve”  and  now 
she’s  a  regular  .  .  .  Chet  Brouwer,  who  left  KNXT  when  “Panorama 
Pacific”  went  down  the  drain,  wants  to  be  sure  of  his  eats.  He  bought 
a  partnership  in  the.  Village  Cupboard  at  La  Jolli  down  the.  coast 
.  .  .  Radio’s  Edna  Harris  took  the  stage  name  of  Judy  Brent  for  “Uncle 
Willie”  because  Equity  ruled  she  can’t  use  her  real  name.  There’s  al¬ 
ready  one  of  that  monicker  working  In  legit  .  *  .  Metro’s  “Bud”  Barry 
will  soon  be  off  to  England  td  sell  “Northwest  Passage.”  .  .  .  Meredith 
Willson,  whose  “The  Music  Man’*  is  the  season’s  smash  musical  on 
B’way,  mobbed  at  the  Brown  Derby  when  he  showed  up  with  his  Rmi 
.  ,  .  Bill  Shafer  opened  a  Hollywood  office  for  ARB  *  •  •  Art  Linklet- 
ter  off  for  a  two-week  Caribbean  cruise  .  .  .  KCOP  finally  broke  L.  A.  3 
fight  fast  by  taking  the  weekly  bouts  from  the  Hollywood  Legion  sta-  : 
dium.  It  has  always  been  a  red  ink  item,  but  what’s  in  sports  now  that 
basketball  is  about  over!  .  .  t  Howard  Barnes,  CBS  Radio  program  veep, 
ordered  two  more  westerns  for  the  network  to  air  on  Sunday  after¬ 
noon  back-to-back;  It  was  KNX’s  “Gunsmoke”  that  started  the  western 
craze  on  tv.  Lucian  Davis;  interim  Coast  program  director,  was  in¬ 
stalled  by  Barnes  as  permanent  executive  producer  of  programs  from 
Hollywood  for  the  netweirk  .  .  .,  Dan  Natban  pulled  out  as  associate 
producer  of  “Leave  It  To  Beaver”  to  team  up  with  Jameson  Brewer  on 
the  pilot  script  of  “Ivy  League.” 

IN  CHICAGO  . , 

Broadcast  Promoters  Assn;  broaching  Vice  President:  Richard  Nixon 
to  speak  at  its  November  conclave  in  St.  Louis  .  WBBM-TV  equip¬ 
ping  its  four  news  cameras  with  magnetic  sound;  at  cost  of  about  $UJUU 
per  ...  Starting  Feb.  1,  WGN-TV  will  counter  WBKB’s  “Shock  Thea¬ 
tre”  with  a  new  inspirational  showcasing  for  Dr.  Preston  Bradley,  witn 
folk  ringer  Win  Stracke  assisting.  Dormesrer  Is  sponsoring  ...  Produc¬ 
tion  manager  Don  Dillion  was  fifed  in  a  hassle  at  WBBM-TV  last  week. 
I>1.  (ttiiilnttd  on  -*1  -11  s 

l 


Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


PiUssiEfr’ 


RADIO-TELEVISION 


If  one  didn’t  know  differently,  it  would  almost  sound  like' a  plot 
to  destroy  ABC.  At  any  rate,  some  day  historians  of  the  commer- 
cial  tv  scene  and  the  internetwork  rivalries,  may  look  back  upon 
,  ^f^uk  Sinatra  Story''  as  one  of  the  more  interesting  footnotes. 

This  is  the  season' that  ABC  plunked  down  $3,000,000  to  obtain 
its.  exclusivity  on  Sinatra’s  . tv  services;  So  what’s,  happened?  The 
three  major  impressions  Sinatra  has  . made  on  American  audiences 
this  Season  were  on  CBS  {via  the  Edsel  show  with  Bing  Crosby) 
and  NBC  (two  weeks  ago  on  Club  Oasis  arid  last  Sunday,  night 
teamed  with  Dinah  Shore.)  His  own  filmed,  entry  on  ABC  is  still 
finding  it  rough,  going. 

And  herein  is  where  the  irony  was  doubly  compounded.  Of  all  „ 
the  nights  for  the  ABC-“owned”  singer  to  choose  for  his  Dirtah ' 
guesting  on  NBC  and  of  alt  the  time  slots,  it  had  to  be  Sunday  at 
"9  at  the  precise  hour  when  ABC  was- trying  to.  make  a  major  Show 
Of  program  strength  with  the  Sid  Caesar-Imogene  Coca  comeback. 

True,  the  “show  of  strength”  Was  there,  as  reflected  in  Caesar  out- 
'Trendexing  the  rivalry  for  the  premiere  show,  but  more  than  one 
ABC  exec  must  have  wondered:  “What’s  our  boy  doing  over 
there?”  - 


By  JACK  HELLMAN 

Hollywood,  Jan.  28. 

Lou  Edelman  may  have  10  shows 
going  for  him  next  season  to  put 
him  in  a  challenging  position  ,  to 
Revue,  Desilu,  Screen  Gems  arid 
other  suppliers  of  filmed,  series  to 
the  networks.  Conforming  to  his 
own  pattern,  of  operation,  “I  won’t 
start  a  series  unless  I  can  get  the. 
right  people  to  do  it,”  Edelman 
is  taking  into  his  enterprise  two 
of  Hollywood’s  top  creative  pro¬ 
ducers.  One  of  them  is  Walter 
Mirisch,  indie  producer  for  United. 
Artists;  the  other  is  P.  J.  (Pinky) 
Wolf  son,  film  writer-producer. 

As  it  was  with  ABC  so  it  will  be 
with  NBC,  whose  Bobs — Kintner 
and  Lewine — will  have  the  first 
call:  on.  every  series  draft,  from 
Edelman  Enterprises.  If  they  like 
the  idea  well enough  for  a.  pilot, 
the  web  will  so  order.  The  close 
association  of  Edelman  With  Kint- 
ner  and  Lewine,  dating  back  to 
their  regime  at  ABC,  is  stronger, 
if-  anything,  and  as  Edelman  puts 
it.  “we’re  getting  a  team  together 
for  NBC.” 

Currently,  Edelman  has  a  finan¬ 
cial. stake  in  five  shows  now  on  the 
networks  under  full  sponsorship. 
On  his  planning  board  are  five 
certainties  and  one  on  the  border 
line.  The  Edelman  imprint,  even 
though  subliminal  on  some  of  the 
crawls,  are  on  the  Danny  Thomas 
..Show,.  “Jim  Bowie,”  “Wyatt  Earp,” 
“The  Real  McCoys”  and  MThe.  Cali¬ 
fornians.”  Whether  credited  or 
not,  he  owns  a  piece  of  all  five  and 
had  a  hand  in  all  of  them. 

Mirisch’s  Pair 

In  his  tv  entry  as  an: .  Edelman 
associate,  Mirisch  will  produce 
“Five-Cornered  Star/’  the  story  of 
the  Secret  Service,  and  prie  other 
of  his  own  selection.  Another  top 
producer  (can’t  be  named  yet)  will 
write  the  pilot  for  “Tin  Pan  Sally” 
and  have  a  continuing  interest  in 
the  series  as  consultant. 

.  Even  though  Edelman  staked 
his  claims  in  western  country  and 
struck  it  rich,,  he  is  moving  in  off 
the  plains  in  next  season’s  Output. 
Aside  from  “The  Raved,”  a  bio¬ 
drama  of  Sam  Houston  which  Bob 
.Sisk  will  produce  from  the  Pulitzer 
prizewinning  tome  by  Marquis 
James,  the  others  will  have  pyer- 
tones.  of  driama,  family  comedy, 
music  and  patriotic  fervor. 


Sid  Caesar,  whose  low  ratings 
led  to  his  parting  with  NBC-T  V 
last  summer,  bounced  to  a  fat 
Trendex  lead  over  his  competition 
in  his  ABC-TV  “Sid  Caesar  Invites 
You”  premiere  with  Imogerie  Coca 
Sunday  (26).,.  Caesar  grabbed  off 
a  Trendex  rating  of.  25.8  vs.  21.6 
for  “GE  ■  Theatre”  and  14.5  for 
Dinah  Shore..  Caesar,  incidentally, 
Cut  mostly  into  Dinah’s  audience, 
since  in  the  9:30  period,  she 
bounced  up  to  a  24fi,  topping  “Al¬ 
fred  Hitchcock’s”  22.9,  with  ABC’s 
“You  Asked  for  It”  running,  last 
with li.o. 

On  Friday  .  (24 ) ,  the  controver¬ 
sial  Maria  Callas  gave  “Person  ,  to 
Person”  its  highest  Tfendex  of  the 
season  and  its  highest  since  Mike 
Todd  and  Elizabeth  Taylor  guested 
on  the  show  midway  through  last 
season.  “P  to  P”  grabbed  a  28.1 
Trendex,  with.  NBC’s  boxing  pared 
down  to  a  mere  5.3-,' 

On  Thursday  (23),  “March  of 
Medicine”  suffered,  badly  at  the 
hands  of  .“Playhouse  90”  The 
NBC-T V  segment,  titled  “MD  in¬ 
ternational,”  managed  a  13.3  aver- 
He’ll ;  age  on  its ;  10-11  hour,  while  the 
haye  enough  westerns  going  for :  ‘  Playhouse  90”  average  was  27.2: 
him  next  season,  granted  thait  the  j  Breakdown  showed  “MD”  starting 
current  crop  gets  another  year’s  !  w  ith  a  .13.3  at  10  ys,  28.0  for  “Play- 
growth,  to  allow  for  the_diversifi- 1  house.”  '  At  1Q:30;  it  was  12.8  for 
cation  without  neglecting  his  first:  ‘  Medicine”  and  26.5  for  “Play- 
love.  |- house.”-, ' 

.Edelman  was  so  occupied  ‘with  '' 

his  Other  properties  that  he  had 
to  neglect  one  of  his  pets,  “It's  a 
Great  Country,”  an  anthology  of 
our  great  good  fortune  in  being 
Americans.  This  will  be  reacti¬ 
vated,  he  hopes,  in  time  for  the 
spring  selling  ’season;  “But,”  as 
Edelman  insists,  “they’ll  all  be 
ready  for  marketing  if  we  can.  get 
the  right  people  to  do  them.”  With 
the  addition  of  Mirisch,  Wolfson 
and  the  anonymous  producer  from 
pictures !  to  supplement;  his  current 
associates-^-Sheldon  Leonard, .  Sisk, 

William  Wright,  Felix  Feist— he 
believes  this  “department”  ill 
give  him  the  least  woppy^gu.i  no. 


Ad-Promotion  Budget 


Chicago,  Jan.  28. 

Whirlpool  Corp.,:  the  RCA  appli¬ 
ance  subsid,  has  budgeted  around- 
$21,0Q0;00d.  for  advertising  and  pro¬ 
motion  in  .  1958.  About  18%  of  the 
total  figure  is  to  be  spent  for  ijetr 
work  television,  and  the  remainder 
breaks,  down  to  30%  for  the  local 
newspaper  and  radio-tv,  17%  for 
national  magazines  and  35%  for 
special  promotions. 

Kenyon  &  Eckhardt  is  the  ad 
agency. 


Caesar Invites 


jrY  Snazzy  Nielsen 


A  daytime- tv.  program  for  kids 
has  achieved  the  Nielsen  heights 
that  many  prime  nighttime  stanza- 
wbuld  hope  for.  ABC-TV’s  Thurs¬ 
day  Kellogg  half-hour  (5  to  5:30) 
“Woody. '  Woodpecker”  hit  a  20.3 
average  audience  for  the  second 
December  Nielsen  report,  for  a 
50.4  share. 

Cartoon  stanza  beat  its  ABC 
back-to-backer,  the  highly  touted 
“Mickey  Mouse  Club,”  by  four  rat¬ 
ing  points..  Another  daytime  Kel¬ 
logg  show  on  ABC,  “Superman," 
average  audience  ratiijg. 


In  TV  Network  Friction  Vs.  IBEW 


By  LEONARD  TRAUBE 

One  of  the -more  creative  work¬ 
ers,  in  television,  a  guy  accustomed, 
to  brickbats  along  With  the  bou¬ 
quets  as  he  grinds  out  his.  “pretty 
good  living,”  has  a  phrase  for  some 
ad  agencymen  who  in  his  view- 
abuse  the  privilege .  of  responsibil¬ 
ity  by  dictatorial  decisions  on  what 
shall  or  shall  not  go  into  video 
programs: “The  Zero  Boys.”  “Zero” 
meaning  nothing  pleases  them  if 
they  can  find  even  a  bum,  ♦  hut 
logically  sounding,  .  reason  for 
wielding  the  big  scissors. 

...  They :  use  the  censor’s  mace,  it 
seems,  in,,  self-defense,  because 
they  are  in  the  hot  seat  of  trying 
to:  anticipate  what  the  sponsor 
might  think  of  given  passages,  se¬ 
quences  or  situations,  set  up  in  a 
script.  The .  trouble  isY  even .  spon¬ 
sors  are  often  baffled,  .before  the 
fact,  as  to  what  might  or  might  not 
precipitate  a  controversy;  cause  a 
national  brouhaha,  or  induce  a  per¬ 
son  to  becOriie;  an  aficionado  of  a 
competitive  product. 

The  issue  appears  to  hinge  very 
largely  pn  a  definition  of  the  w  ord 
controversy— in  television  terms, 
at  least— that  could  be  put  to  work 
as  a  guide.  But  this  is  a  trouble¬ 
some  area  even  whan  .there  is  a. 
definition^  mostly  because  no  Tw  o 
definitions  will “coincide,  or  there 
.will  be  enough  variations  in  a  simi¬ 
lar  point  of  view'  expressed  to 
throw  the  subject  back  .  into  the 
hopper. 

.  Actor  -  director  -  producer  Dick 
Powell  might  sound  off,  as  he  did 
recently  on  “interference”  by 
sponsors,  agencies.,  and  even  the 
networks  themselves,  on  scripts, 
and  David  Janssen,.  Star  of  the  r  - 
turned .  “Richard.  Diamond,  Private 
Detective,”  might  give  the.  ad 
agencies  a  roughing-up  based  on  his 
charge  that  the  Avenueites  want  to 
play  it:  safe  on  sex  in  scripts.  But 
these  charges,  by  and  large,  are 
pegged  on  tastes  and  opinions  on 
the  part  of  sponsors-agencies-net- 
works  that  have  ,  little  or  nothing 
to  do  with  “controversy.” 

Even  the  state  and  Federal 
courts  have  of  late  been  frustrated 
by.  semantics — wringing  their  re¬ 
spective  .hands  as-  to  an  exhaustive 
definition,  for  instance,  of .  .what 
constitutes  “obscenity.”  Regard-, 
less,  the  sponsor,  meaning'  mostly 
the.  agency  serving  in  his  behalf;  is 
not  so  much  interested  in  jhe.  legal 
slant  as  in  the  human  values  and 
in  the  “why”  and  the  “how”  of  the 
possible  adverse  influence  that 
dramas  (etc.)  have  upon  the  view¬ 
ing  population. 

Here  the  trouble  really  begins, 
because  the  agency  is  then  placed 
in  the  position  of  interpreting  the 
feelings  of  the  sponsor  or  the  spon¬ 
sor’s  infra-company  represent  a-^ 
'fives,-  Sensitivity  comes  into  play. 
If  the  sponsor’s  view ;  is  stated 
merely  as  a  routine,  the  ad  agency 
nabob  i/Pr  those  assigned  to  the 
sho\v,  may  exaggerate  the  routine 
view  out  of  all  proDortion  to  the. 
original  intentions.  It  is.  held  to  be 
a— logical  sequence  in  "brainwash¬ 
ing”  in  view  of  the  fact  that  when 
a  given  show  “gets  into  trouble” 
public  relations-wise.  it  is"  the  ad 
agency  that  becomes. the  patsy  and 
not  the  advertiser  as  such;  There¬ 
fore,  from  a  pragmatic  viewy  It  is 
incumbent  upon  the.  agencyman  to 
be  a  “pain,  in  the  neck”  watchdog 
in  the  good  &  welfare  department 
vis-a-vis ;  the  company  paying,  the 
freight. 

.  Although  discretion  ;  and  w  isdom 
—the  large,  all-encompassing  view’- 1 
point— seem  .  to  be  called  for  on 
the  part  of  the  agency  in  cases  at 
issue,  or.  which  the  agency  thinks  is  ! 
at- issue,  it  is  a  matter  -of  consider¬ 
able  hand-wringing  .  that ;  only  a 
handful  of  such  agencyman;  have 
the  savvy  properly  to  exercise  such, 
privilege. 

As  one  foremost  television  dra¬ 
matist  expressed  it  priva tel v  a  few 
days  ago:  “When  it  cbmes  down  to 
the  characters  depicted,  a  televi¬ 
sion  playwright  is  on  the  safe 
ground  in  ‘problem’,  or  'challenge’ 
roles  only  when  those  in  leading 
roles  are  white  Protestants.  The 
playwright  quoted  is  a  white  Prot-  | 
®stant.,  ,2ftrUns.V  { 


|WGN  Ups  Calibraro 
As  Quad's  No.  1  Aide 

Chicago,  Jan.  28. 

Daniel.  D.  Calibraro  of  WGN 
Inc.’s  public  relations  office  last 
week  was  named  administrative 
assistant  to  Ward  L.  Quaal,  v.p. 
and  general  manager  of  the  Chi- 
!  cago  Tribune  stations.  Calibraro 
had  been  assistant  to  James  Han¬ 
lon;  public  relations  director  for 
1 WGN-WGN-TV,  since  November 
[of  1953. 

No  successor  has  been  named  as 
yet  for  his  former'  p.r,  spot. 


]  “Quiz  insurance”  a  method 
.  for  providing  against  mammoth 
'  prizes  that  can’t  be  handled  in  the 
j  regular  budget  of  a  television 
y  showy  is  the  latest  wrinkle  in  the 
'  trend,  toward  bigger  ’  ’  better  re¬ 
wards  for  contestants  on  the  q&a 
route.  Such  insurance  coverage  is 
!  being,  contemplated  for  “Win-Go,” 
a  new  Jan  Murray  package  which 
,  is  currently  a  hot  contender  to  re- 
r  place  the  caridElled  Eve  Arden 
show  on  CBS-TV  Tuesday  nights. 

“Win-Go”  is  a  quizzer  ip  which 
the  big  prizes  are  governed  by  the. 
laws  of  chance,  so  that  tile  odds  are 
against  *  contestant  coming  up 
with  the  grand  prize  of  $250,000. 
Nonetheless,  the  chance  does  exist, 
not  only  for  the  contestant  to  grab 
off  the  quarter-million  (after,  only 
six  minutes  on  the  air),  but  for  the 
same  thing  to  happen  on  successive, 
weeks. 

Such  a  situation  occurred  last 
week,  according  to  Bud  Granoff, 
exec  with  the  Murray  packaging 
house,  on.  “Treasure  Hunt,”  u’here 
the  jackpot  is  hidden  in  one  of  30 
chests.  On  three  successive  days, 
contestants  picked  the  right  chest. 
With  the  prizes  substantially  icwrer 
oir  the  "Treasure  Hunt”  daytimer, 
there  was  a  strain  on  the  show’s 
budget,  but  one  that  couid  be  av¬ 
eraged  out  over  a  period  of  some 
weeks.  But  with,  a  $250,000  jack¬ 
pot,  “all  that  would  have  to  hap¬ 
pen;”  Granoff  says,  “is  for  someone 
to  hit  the  jackpot  four  weeks  in  a 
rowr  arid /It  would  take  us  three 
years  to  average  out  $1,000,000.” 

It’s  this  provision  against  which 
the]  Murray  office  would  lake  out 
insurance,  and  the  matter  already 
lias  . been  investigated  arid  found 
feasible.  Actual  policy  hasn’t  been 
taken*  out  yet  pending  the  sale  of 
the  program  to  a  sponsor,  but  once 
the  show,  is  set,  that  will  be  taken 
care  of.  As  of  the  moment,  “Win- 
Go”  and  a  new.  CBS-TV  filmed 
anthology  series,  ‘‘Rendezvous.” 
are  ..the  hottest  choices  to  succeed 
Miss  Arden  in  the  CBS  Tuesday, 
at  6:30  period  for  Lever  Bros,  and 
Shulton.  \ 

Lever’s  52-week  time  -contract  is 
about  to  terminate,  but  the  soap 
concern  has  indicated  that  if  it 
likes  either  “Win-Go”  or  “Rendez¬ 
vous,”  it  will  renew  its  contract 
for  the  time  and  buy  one  of  the 
show’s.  Shulton  is  committed  to 
the  time,  for  the  rest  of  the  season, 
so  its  role  p  limited  to  agreeing 
on  a  show.  If  Lever  decides  to  pull 
out  entirely,  the.  probability  is  that 
both  “Win-Go”  and  “Rendezvous” 
will  he  out  of  the  running  arid  new 
properties  taken  under  considera¬ 
tion.  Lever  is  supposed  to-rerider 
its  decision  by  the  end  of  the  week. 

“Rendezvous”  is  being 'produced 
by  Howard  Erskine,  former  legit 
producer  who’s  now  on  staff  at 
CBS-TV.  Though  on  film,  it  can  be 
used  on  short  notice  since  CBS, 
instead,  of 'limiting  the  series  to  a 
pilot,  ordered,  full  production  on 
the  show,  with  more  than  15  of  the 
episodes 


+  National  Labor  Relations  Board 
regional  director  last  week  dis¬ 
missed  an  unfair  labor  relations 
charge  against  CBS  by  Local  1212 
of  the  International  Brotherhood 
of  Electrical  Workers.  The  local 
filed  the  charge  after  taking  ex¬ 
ception  to  a  closed-circuit  speech 
last  July  by  R.  G.  Thompson,  CBS- 
TV  technical  operations  boss.  . 

Dismissal  of  the.  charge  elimi¬ 
nates  one  of  the  three  immediate 
points  of  friction  between  the  net¬ 
work  and  the  union  local.  On  Feb. 
3,  both  parties  are  going  before 
an  NLRB  trial  examiner  to  re-try 
IBEW’s  plea  that  an  .original  deci¬ 
sion  giving  the  network  the  right 
to  choose  its  own  remote  lighting 
union  was  based  on  incomplete  in¬ 
formation.  Then  there  is  the  CBS 
suit  for  $100,000  against  IBEW,  al¬ 
leging  1212  thwarted  a  sponsored 
telecast. 

All  three  actions  were  an  out¬ 
growth,  of  hassling  last  spring' be¬ 
tween  IB -and  the  International  Al¬ 
liance  of  Theatrical  &  Stage  Em¬ 
ployees.  over  which  was  to  handle 
remote  lighting  for  a  Pepsi-Cola 
sponsored  remote  from  the  Wal¬ 
dorf-Astoria.  CBS  wanted.  IA. 

Union  spokesman  said,  after 
NLRB  kicked  the  charge  out, 
Thompson,  made  a  speech  to  IB 
technicians  that  painted  the  net¬ 
work  “as  simdn  pure  and  the  union 
as  black,  specifically  saying  that 
the  1212  business  manager  (Charles 
Calame)  had  embarked  on  a  hate 
campaign  against  CBS.”  Network 
said  that  Thompson  only  told  em¬ 
ployees  that  if  they  have  any 
gripes “riiy  door  is  open  any  time.” 
NLRB  didn’t  think  1212  had  suf¬ 
ficient  grounds  to  charge  Thomp¬ 
son  or  the  web  with  unfair  labor 
practices. 

..  At  present,  CBS  and  IBEW  in¬ 
ternational;  are  dickering  a  new 
collective  bargaining  pact  jn  Wash¬ 
ington. 


Johnson  Motors 
Revs  Up  Boh  Hope 

Johnson  Outboard  Motors  is  ex¬ 
panding  its  stake  in  Bob  Hope  on 
NBC-TV,  Johnson  is  taking  over 
full  sponsorship  of  Hope’s  next  out¬ 
ing,  on  Feb.  6.  and  will  retain  half- 
sponsorship  of  the  other  two  Hope 
specials  this  season.  Originally, 
Johnson  was  to  have  been  half- 
sponsor  on  the  three  shows.  , 

Deal  leaves  NBC  with  only  two 
spots  to  fill,  half-sponsorship  on 
the  final  two  Hope  show’s  of  the 
season.  Web  is  continuing  to  dick¬ 
er  with  Plymouth,  which  sponsored 
the  third  Hope  show  of  the  sea¬ 
son  but  failed  to  pick  up  its  option 
to  bankroll  the  final  three  with 
Johnson.  There’s  still  a  slight 
chance.  Plymouth  can  be  induced  to 
share  the  tab  with  Johnson  on  the 
remaining  two  show’s,  following 
Johnson !s  solo  try  at  the  February 
entry. 


Fcwler  Quits  Coast-Bound 
Film  Section  of  ABC-TV 

Freelon  <Nat)  Fowler,  longtime 
head  of  ABC-TV  film  department, 
checked  put  of  the  network  this 
week.  He  said  prior  to  his  depar¬ 
ture  that  most  of  the  film  depart¬ 
ment  work  was  shifting  to  Holly¬ 
wood.. 

For  the  past  two  years  Fowler 
was  involved  principally  in  the  ac¬ 
quisition  of  free  film  for  the  web 
and  in  acting  as  liaison  betw’een 
w’eb  and  clients  on  placement*  and 
handling  of  commercials.  Before 
that,  Fowler’s  film  department  was 
involved  in  making  telefilm  pur¬ 
chases  for  the  ABC  owned  &  oper¬ 
ated  stations,  until  the  .  outlets  be¬ 
gan  making  individual  purchases. 

Jim  Levy  will  henceforth  be  in 
charge  of  ABC-TV  gratis  program 
acquisitions.  Tom  DeVito,  of  the 
web’s  program  operations  depart¬ 
ment,  Will  also  take  up -part  of  the 
slack  created  by  Fowlers  depart 
*4re.  - 


30 


RADIO-TELEVISION 


KARffiTT 


Book  Programs  Just  an  ‘Obit’  As 
Far  As  Most  Boasters  Are  Concerned 


Broadcasters  have  got  book 
and  they  don’t  want  any  more. 
Overwhelming  majority  of  radio 
and  tv  station  operators  would 
rather  call  a  bbok;e  than  tout  a 
book,  if  one;  is  to  judge  by  a  per¬ 
usal  of  their  daily  broadcast 
schedules.  With  few  exceptions, 
book  programs  are  relegated  to 
Class  C  time  peremptorily 
spiked. 

In  the  metropolitan  New  York 
area,  only  a  handful  of  broad¬ 
casters  are  Morocco  or  buckram 
bound  and  they  include  such  out¬ 
lets  as  WMCA,  WCBS,  WQXR, 
WNYC  and  WEVD.  The  others  ev¬ 
idently  read  the  book  with  the  red 
cover  arid  yellow  pages. 

An  educator-actor  named  John 
Dando,  professor  of  English,  at 
Trinity  College,  Hartford.  Conn., 
is  beginning  to  click  in  a  new 
softly-boiled  egg  book  series  on 
WCBS-Radio;  Tagged  "Backgrounds 
of  Literature,”  it  is  a  companion 
piece  to  the.  station’s  "Back¬ 
grounds  of  Music.”  “Backgrounds 
of  Li  erature”  aired  Sundays  at 
8:30  a.ml  has.  the  former  Shake¬ 
spearean  actor  turned  prof,  read¬ 
ing  from  the  classics  and  making 
arresting  Comments.  WCBS-Radio 
program  chief  __AHen  Ludden  re¬ 
ports  strong  mail  response,  to  Prof. 
Dando,  despite  early  morning  air¬ 
ing  of  this  educational  feature. 
Station,  of  course,  carries  the  dis¬ 
tinguished  CBS  ne'work  “Invita¬ 
tion  to  Learning”  later  in  the  day. 

In  connection  with  the  airings 
of  "Invitation  to  Learning,”  it  is 
revealed  that  transcripts  of  each 
program  will  no  longer  be  pub¬ 
lished  in  magazine  form.  Herbert 
Muschel,  who  began  issuing  the 
book  discussions  as  a  published 
quarterly  in  1950,  is  now  suspend¬ 
ing  publication.  With  Vol.  8,  No. 
4,  he  closed  .up  Shop  and  has  in¬ 
formed  subscribers  that  "we  are 
studying  hew  approaches  to  resume 
publication,  in  the  future.”  At  one 
time  "The  Invitation  to  Learning 
Reader”  had  an  annual  sale  of 
some  16,000  books. 

"Sunrise  Semester,”  of  course, 
is  WCBS-tv’s  darling  of  the  mo¬ 
ment.  This  early  morning  class  on 
comparative  literature  is  civilized 
viewing. 

WINS  is  reportedly  tinkering 
with  an  after  midnight  show  dedi¬ 
cated  to  readings  from  the  works 
of  Poe  and  other  writers  of 
superior  mystery  and  ghost  tales. 
Sidney  Gross  will  read,  the  thril¬ 
lers  in  a  30-minute  stanza  dubbed 
“The  Voice  in  the  Night.” 

WEVD,  once  one  of  the  most 
public-service  minded  indie  outlets 
in  the  New  York  City  sector,  is 
about  to  shift  its  venerable  "World 
in  Books”  program  to  a  hew  time. 
It  is  being'  moved,  effective  Feb.  6,v| 
from  Saturdays  at  10  p.m.  to  Thurs¬ 
days  at  10  p.m.  This  literary  en¬ 
deavor  involves  William  Kennedy 
and  VernOn  Brooks,  book  critics, 
who  appear  each  week.  wi*h  a 
guest  author.  Aside  from  the  cus¬ 
tomary  interview,  the  two  critics 
frequently  gander  the  current 
literary  scene  before  presenting 
their  guest.  The  show  has  been  on 
the  station  since  1951. 

Dr.  Highet’s  90  Stations 

There’s  nothing  high  hat  nor 
pedantic  about  Dr.  '  Gilbert  High¬ 
et’s.  “People,  Places  and  Books” 
on  WQXR  Tuesdays  from  9:05  to 
9:20  p.m.  It.  is  orie  of  the  few  lo¬ 
cally  sponsored  book  shows,  the 
tab  being  picked  up  by  Oxford 
-  University  Press.  Approximately  90 
stations  from  coast  to.  coast  now 
carry  Dr.  .Highet’s  book  talks.  He 
runs  the  gamut  from  discussions 
on  cats  in  literature  to  the  beat 
generation.  Virtually  all  his  talks 
windup  as  collections  of  essays, 
that  sell  with  reasonable  success 
in  the  bookstalls. 

WMCA  recently .  shifted  its  Satur¬ 
day  morning  "Young  Book  Re¬ 
viewers”  to  a  Sunday  9:05  a.m. 
spot.  This  25-minute  spontaneous 
program  of  Critical  discussion ,  by 
teenagers  is  emceed  by  Margaret] 
C.  Scoggin,  co-ordinator  ,  of.  Young 
People’s  Services  of  the  New  York 
Public  Library,  book  critic  for  the 
.  New  York  Times  and  Herald  Trib¬ 
une.  It  is  also  rebroadcast  weekly 
by  the  Board  of  Education  via 
WNYE  to  students  in  the  schools. 
Lilian  Okuri'  prepares  arid  directs 
the  series  arid  it  is  a  consistent 
prize  winner  in  educatiorial  circles. 
Book  marks,  with- a  plug  for  the 
program,  are  found  in  every  pub¬ 
lic  library  in  .the  City.  Program  is 
easy  listening  for  most  youngsters, 


save  the  switch-blade  set  in  Sew¬ 
ard  Park. 

Perhaps  the  best  rated  of  the 
adult  book  -  shows  are  currently 
aired  over  WNYC;  the  municipal 
outlet/  The  city’s  voice  ori  the  air- 
lanes  pulls  a .  healthy^  audience  for. 
Prof.  Warreh. Bower’s  old  reliable 
‘Readers’  Almanac’’  Tuesdays  ait 
8:30  p.m.  and; "Books  in  Profile,” 
the  sagacious  discussion  program 
Thursdays  at  8:30  p.m,  with,  the 
carbolic-phrased  Virgilia  Peterson 
and  Harding  Lemey  as  hosts/ 

Book  people  think  the  networks 
are  doing  very  little  to  bring  books 
to  the  attention  of  both  young  and 
Old.  They  cite  both  ABC-TV  and 
ABC-Radio  as  glaringly  deficient 
in  this  department  and  hand  down 
a  similar  indictment  for  CBS-TV. 
True,  the  recently-revived  "Last 
Word”  has  some  overtones  of  book 
talk,  it  isn’t  sufficient  to  satisfy 
the  appetites  of  the  American 
book-buying  public.  NBC-TV  and 
NBC-Radio  are  also,  on  the  list  of 
offenders,  according  to .  many  read¬ 
ers.  On  occasion;  there  may  be  a 
brief  comment  on  a  new  book  in 
the  “Today,”  "Life  in  the  World” 
or  ‘Monitor”  shows  but  .  nothing  of 
sustained  book  talk  is  evident  to¬ 
day..  Nor  does  MBS  transmit  a 
regular  book  program,  it  is 
charged,  and  WABD,  the  Dumont 
tv  outlet,  is  also'  neglible  in  this 
category; 

Public:  taste  in  book  reading  is 
growing  steadily,  according  to 
booksellers  and  trade-  book  pub¬ 
lishers,  but  radio  arid  tv  broad¬ 
casters,  except  in  isolated  instan¬ 
ces,  as  cited  above,  regard  book 
programs  as  something  akin  to  an 
obit. 


Barbasbl  has.  moved  back  into 
network  radio  via  a  $250,000  buy 
on  CBS’  "Sports  Time”  strip.  Bar- 
basol-  will  pick  up  .the  Monday, 
Wednesday  and  -Friday  segments  of 
the  7-7:05  ;  p.m.  entry,  with  Phil 
Rizzuto  as  the  commentator;  for 
52  weeks. effective.  Feb.  10;  via- the 
Erwin^  Wasey,  Ruthrauff  &  Ryari 
agency..  Other  three. nights  of  the 
strip  are  sponsored  by  R.  J,  Rey¬ 
nolds,  with  Herman.  Hickman  as 
the  commentator. 

CBS  also  sold,  another  sports 
package,  the  coverage  of  the  Se- 
bring  (Fla.)  Grand  prix  sports  car 
races  on  March  22,  to  the  Ameri¬ 
can  Oil  Co.'  which  sponsored  the 
everit.  last  year.  Coverage  con¬ 
sists  of  60  minutes  spread  from 
morning  until  late-night  in  pick¬ 
ups  of  from  10.  and  15-minute 
lengths.  Web  also  sold  Liggett 
&  Myers  two  "impact”  segments 
a  week  for  52  weeks  and  Curtis 
publishing  six  “impacts”  for  Feb, 
11  and  12.  Total  business  for  all. 
four  orders,  including  the  Barbasol 
deal,:  came  to  over  $400,000  gross. 

Cleveland  —  Carl  Byers,  former 
chief  of  suburban  Parma  schools, 
returns  to  the  WGAR  microphone 
with  a  five-minute  daily  5:05  p.m. 
chit  chat  session. 


BAKER  ENDS,  BARKER 
STARTS  ON ‘RAINBOW’ 

Hollywood,  Jan.  28. 

“After  emceeing  three;  “End  of 
the  Rainbow  telecasts  over  NBC- 
TV  for  Ralph  Edwards  Produc¬ 
tions,  Art  Baker  has  been  replaced 
by  Bob  Barker  who’ll  also  continue 
as  emcee  Of  five-arWeek  daytime 
"Truth  or  Consequences.”  “Rain¬ 
bow,”  which  showers  largesse  as 
it  travels  around  the  country.  Was 
iri  .  Denver  last  week. 

Barker  had  -quit  as  emcee  of 
"You  Asked  for  It”  to  ' take  the 
"Rainbow”  assignment,  with  Jack 
Smith  as  new  emcee  of  "Asked.” 


Future  of  "The  Big  Record,” 
Patti  Page  starrer  on  CBS-TV,  is 
now  up  in  the  air,  with  a  chance 
that  it  will  be  dropped  before  the 
end  of  the  regular  season.  No  defi¬ 
nite  decision  on  the  show  has  been 
made,  but  with  one  sponsor  al¬ 
ready  having  cancelled,  the  pro¬ 
gram  arid  the  time,  and  with  the 
remaining  sponsors  putting  pres¬ 
sure  bn  CBS  for  a  program  change, 
the  matter  is  .  expected  to  Come  to 
a  head  within  the  next  couple  of 
weeks. 

Show’s  three  remaining  sponsors 
are  firmly  committed  to  the  time 
and  show  through  September.  The 
other,  Kellogg,  whose  contract  ex¬ 
pires  during  the  spring,  has  al¬ 
ready  filed.  its  cancellation  notice. 
Pillsbury,  Which  with  Armour  and 
Oldsmobile  sponsors  the  remainder 
of  the  show,  has  initiated  discus¬ 
sions  with  CBS.  about  a  possible 
program  Change  because  of  the 
show’s  rating  picture.' 

The  hpur-lorig  Wednesday  night 
musical  has  been  gradually  slip¬ 
ping  on  the  Nielsen  front  after 
having  ^started  the  season  as  the 
top-rated  entry  in  its  time  period. 
On  the  last  Nielsens,  NBC’s 
"Wagon  Train”  and  "Father 
Knows  Best”  were  substantially 
ahead  of  "Record,”  while  ABC’s 
"Disneyland”  and  "Tombstone  Ter¬ 
ritory”  held  a  slight  lead  as  well. 
CBS  is  listening  to  the  Pillsbury 
pitch. 


Mori  Abrahams 

Continued  irom  page  25  - 

Since  the  next  live  show  in  the.  se¬ 
ries  isn’t,  due  until  Feb.  24. 

Abrahams  will  do  a  pilot  for  an 
hourriong  film  series,  "Wanted  By 
Washington,”  for  Frank  Cooper 
Associates,  and  a  new  science- 
fiction  half-hour  pilot  for  Screen 
Genas;  The  "Washington”  series 
deals  with  the  activities  of  the 
lesser-knbwri  bureaus  of  Federal 
government,  such  as  the  Monu¬ 
ments,  Fisheries,  ■■  Indiari  Affairs, 
etc;  Pilot  will  be  done  oir  location, 
with  mid-April  as  completion  date. 

DMA  will,  develop  a  film  version 
of  “Windows,”  which  Abrahams 
did  as  a  summer  replacement  some 
years  ago;  a  series  based  on  Irv¬ 
ing  Storie’s  "Men  to  Match  My 
Mountains”;  and  in  the  feature 
field,  a  pic  .  based  bn  the  Kurt 
Yonnegut  novels  "D.P.” 


Cleveland,  Jan.  28. 
Radio  Moscow  ended  its  .  inter¬ 
national  quiz  retort  with  .  Jim 
.Frankel,  Cleyeland  Press,  radio-tv 
editor,  by  sending  him  a.  407kopek 
sputnik  stamp  of  a  New.  Year’s 
card  of  a  boy  riding  sputnik,  and 
a  letter  from  Igor  Bestuzhev,  Radio 
Moscow  aide,  chiding  Frankel  for 
having  given  his  readers  the  an-, 
swers  to  a  Moscow  radio  contest; 
Wrote  Bestuzhev: 

"Since  you  claim  that  your  news- . 
paper  ,  serves  its  readers,  ,  we  think 
it  would  serve  them  much  ,  better, 
if  it  did  not  adopt  such  a  jeering, 
arid  I  would  say  unfriendly,  atti¬ 
tude  towards  everything  pertain-] 
ing  to  our  country.  Though,  ho 
doubt,  you  might  say  that  ,  a  ne  ws¬ 
paper  man  is  free  to  write  any¬ 
thing  he  feels  like., 

"I  hope  you  will  agree  that  it  is 
your  goal,  as  a  newsman,'  and  ours,: 
too,  bring  bur  countries  closer  to- 
c  ;i  >jr»iv  ti  quqsi  1 .{iit  i -i 


gether,  not  push  them  apart  . 

"We  feel  you  will  agree  th 
your  ‘practical  joke’  with  our  qi 
Was  not  a  very,  shall  we  say,  ethi< 
thing  to  do.  Especially  so,  siri 
you  misled  many  .  of  your  readi 
by  giving  the  wrong  answer  to  t 
fourth  question.  (This  dealt  wi 
Soviet  unemployment,  and  the;  a 
swer  depended  on  interpretati 
of  statistics). 

"But  taking  everything  in  a  spi 
of  good  humor,  we  send  you  a  cc 
solation  prize  of  one  sputnik  co 
memoration  stamp.  Sincere 
yours,  Igor  Bestuzhev.” 

Frankel,  in  replying  to  the  { 
viets  (24),  said  he  would,  tha 
Radio  Moscow,  but.  would  defe 
"Our  jolly  little,  stunt!” 

Radio  Moscow  has  sent  pietor 
awards  to  the  Cleveland  Pri 
readers  who,,  last  October,  wr< 
their  seven-question  correct  i 
i  swers  to  Russia, 
c  .  .j  -M:  ilut  ‘ ni  i e  *oi  c.  J 


Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


/iiiuui  ““***-“  vauauidu  piaywrignt  ot  the  year  for 

the  second  time  running,  m  Liberty  Magazine’s  tv  talent  awards  X 
rnounced  Monday ‘(271.  Judges  were  20fi  from  newspapers  and  tv  eta" 
tions,  Lloyd  Bochner,  who  acted  in.  the  Stratford,  Ont  Festival  5S 
summer,  won  acting  honors,  with  Paul  Kligmari  and  Winifred  Dehnis 
tops  in  character  work.  Best  comedians  were  Johnny  Wayne  and  Frank 
Shuster,  who  guest  on  "The  Rosemary  Clooney  Show?’  tomorrow  (ThursV 
Best  producer,  Robert  Allen;  variety  show  award.  Jack  Kane’s  "Music 
Makers  ’58,”  whose  Hi-Lites .  were  named .  best  group,  singers*  "Front 
Page  Challenge,”  best  new  show,  and  its  Fred  Davis  top  emcee  Svlvia 
Murphy  best  new  performer.  ‘  ’  \ 

Canadian  General  Electric’s  "Showtime”  nabbed  three  awards*  Joyce 
Sullivan  and  Bob  Goulet,  best  femme  arid  male  singers,  and  Cariu  Car¬ 
ter  Dance  Trio,  best  terpers;  top  kid  show,  John  Clark’s  "Junior  Mag¬ 
azine”;  best  announcer,  Joel  Aldred,  who  bicycles  between  Canada  and 


William  and  Mary  College  and  WVEC-TV,  In  Norfolk,  Va.,  are  joint¬ 
ly  launching  the  state’s  first;  for^credit,  city-wide  television  course 
With  credit  given  by  both  William,  arid  Mary  College  in  Norfolk  and 
the  Norfolk  Division  of  Virginia  State  College,  WVEC  will  do  two  16- 
week  courses— in  music  appreciation  and  literature  and  also  in  world 
geography.  Dr,  Stanley  Pliska,  head  of  the  W&M  social  studies  de¬ 
partment,  will  front  the  geography  course  on  tv*  and  Robert  F.  Young 
assistant  professor  of  music,  will  head  the  music-lit  course,  ’ 

New  York  Metropolitan  Educational  Television  Assn.  (META)  began 
its  first  series  of  out-of-town  feeds  last  night  (Tues.)  via  a  qne-a-week 
participation  in  a  Canadian  Broadcasting  Corp.  series,  "Viewpoint” 
Show  is  a  five-a-week  11:15  ,p.m.  strip  telecast  from  different  localities 
and  covers  discussions  and  interviews  on  public  affairs.  META  is  orig¬ 
inating  the  Tuesday  night  stanzas,  dealing  with  American  affairs,  and 
will  feed  the  show,  from  its  N.Y.  studios. 

George  R.  Oliviere,  executive  director  of  WGST,  Georgia  Tech  outlet, 
will  moderate  panel  on  merchandising  and  promotion  at  13th  annual 
Georgia  Radio  and  TV  Institute  at  Athens,  Jan.  30-31. 

*  Oliviere  will  be  accompanied  by  Atlanta  high  school  student,  selected 
on  basis  of  essay  contest,  to  observe  proceedings  of  the  two-day  work¬ 
shop  of  Georgia  broadcasters.  Gathering  is  con-sponsored  by  Georgia 
Association  of  Broadcasters  and  Henry  W.-  Grady  School  of  Journalism. 

Veterans  Administration  has  sent  out  three  scripts  dealing  with  Gl 
insurance  policies  to  radio  program  managers  with  an  appeal  to  use 
them  for  the  purpose  of  informing  some  6,000,000  veterans  on  facts 
relating  to  their  insurance.  Scripts,  Which  can  be  performed  by  a 
station  announcer  and  a  VA  representative,  run  fouj*  minutes  and 
30  seconds  each. 

Covering  letter  for  the  scripts,  incidentally,  worked  in  a  "subliminal” 
riiessage,  with  small-type  legend,  “use  VA  scripts,”  ‘  rted  through¬ 
out  the  text  in  mid-sen terice  several,  times! 


META  (Metropolitan  Educational  TV  Assn.)  js  producing  "The 
Challenge  to  American  Education”  for  Educational  Television  and 
Radio  Center*  Ann  Arbor,  MichL  Feature  will  be.  in  form  of  special 
“hearing”  before  cameras  on  Feb.  12  at  META’s  studios  in  N.  Y.  and 
will  consist  of  Herman  B,  Weils,  prexy  qf  Indiana  U.  moderating  a 
panel  on  government,  science  and  iriass  communication.  Two-hour 
long  programs,  resulting  from  the  “hearings,”  will  be  distributed  to 
30  non-commercial  educatiorial  tv  Stations  comprising  the  ETV  net¬ 
work,  Michael  Amrine,  Washington  science  writer,  will  produce  fqf 
ETRC,  and  Amram  Nowak  will  do  likewise  for  META.  ETRC  Will 
pick  up  the  tab  for  programs. 

A.  C.  Nielsen  marketing  research  firm  is  expanding  its  headquarters 
in  Chicago  with  li.OOO  additional  square  feet,  mainly  to  accommodate 
its  growing,  Broadcast  Divisions.  Nielsen  has  been  on  a  facilities  ex¬ 
pansion  binge  for.  some  time,  having  recently,  leased  31,500  square  foot 
of  office  space  in  New  York  after  opening  a  new.  European  headquar¬ 
ters  building  in  Oxford,  England.  In  addition,  the  company  not  long 
ago  constructed  a  new  wing  at  its  west  coast  shop  in  Menlo  Park, 
Calif. 

Nielsen  is  now  in  11  different  countries,  bills  more  than  $20,000,000 
per  year  in  service,  and  employs  art  overall  full-time  staff  of  over 
3,300. 


Windy  City’s  educational  station,  WTTW,  has  raised  about  $130,000 
in  its  current  special  gifts  campaign,  representing  more  than  qne-thrid 
of  its  overall  1958  goal  of  $340,000.  Iri  addition,  the  station  has  received 
more  than  $2,000  in  unsolicited  donations,  through  the  mail  from  view- 


The  Metropolitan  Educational  Television  Assn,  has  realigned  Its 
morning  schedule  of  programming  on  WPIX.  N.Y,,  beginning  Monday 
(Feb.  3).  “The  Living  Blackboard,”  cross^the-board  from  11  to  11:30 
a.m.,  will  feature  new  educational,  subjects.  “Problems  of  Everyday 
Living”  will  be  telecast  twice  a  week,  instead  of  tri-weekly.  “META 
Presents”  will  be  seen  Monday .  mornings.  "American  Foreign  Policy 
101-Eutope  and  Asia,”  a  one-hour  weekly  course  presented  in  cooper¬ 
ation  with  Hunter  College,  will  be  given  Wednesdays  from  11:30  a.m. 
to  12:30  p.m.  Additionally,  there  will  be  a  Friday  replacement  for 
“Problems  of  Everyday  Living.” 

Mutual  has  kicked  off  a  traffic  new  test  pattern,  serving  motorists 
from  Buffalo  to  Miami.  Started  Monday  (27);  participating  are  31  .MBS 
affiliates,  each  cueing  the  traveling  listener  to  a  Sister  affiliate  of  the 
net  for  further  traffic  news.  If  successful,  the  lest  will  be  adopted  for 
other  .regions  of  the  U  S,,  and  eventually,  perhaps,  cover  the  country. 

WPIX,  N.Y.,:  has  allocated  $250,000  for  new  equipment,  for  over¬ 
hauling  present  equipment  now  in  use,  and  for  construction; of  nil  em¬ 
ergency  antenna  atop  the  Empire  State  Bldg.  Station  also  is  installing 
new  monitors  in  its  control  rooms  and  has  completed  ^an  overhaul  of 
all  its  live  cameras.  s 


To  mark  the  25th  aririi  of  ABN’s.  “Breakfast  Club,”  BC  toastmaster 
Don  McNeill  has  commissioned  artist  Ben  Stahl  to  pairit  the  snow  s 
“moment  of  silent  prayer.”  “bf  all  our  show’s  features,’’  Says  McNelllj 
“thi;  :-j  the  one  for  which  we  would  most  want  to-be  remembered. 
Canvas  will  be  unveiled  June  23;  day  of 'the  Silver  Anniversary,  and 
probably  will  be  toured  for  display  in  various  cities  after  that. 

McNeill  will  also  change  his  signoff  slogan  for  the  anni.  Where  for 
almost  25  years  it’s  been  “Be  good  to  yourself”  the  closer  is  being  re¬ 
vised  to  "be  good  to  your  neighbor.”  _  ... _ _ _ 


Pulse  Opens  Chi  Office; 
Geo,  Herro  in  Charge 

Chicago,  Jan.  28,. 
George  Herro,  former  account 
exec  for  Mutual  Broadcasting  Sys¬ 
tem  iri  Chi,  has  taken  a  post  with 
Pulse  Inc.,  as  director  of  midwest 


the  radio-tv  research  firm’s  first 
windy  City  office  in  the  Tribune 
Tower, 

Herro’s.  function  will  be  in  sales 
and  service,  and  with  the  new  of¬ 
fice  Pulse  becomes:  the  tliird  rat¬ 
ings  service  with  a  Chicago  ad- 
!  dress:  Others  are  Nie.'sen,  which 
has  always  headquartered  here, 
[  and  ARB,  which  opened  its  bureau 
Jk  few  months  .agor< 


32 


Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


IsfaRlETY 


THE  SILENT  SERVICE,  our  submarine  series,  has  made  such  a  whale  of  a  splash 
that  39  additional  half-hours  are  already  on  the  ways. 

BOOTS  AND  SADDLES -The  Story  of  the  Fifth  Cavalry,  ourU.  S.  Army-Arizona 
Frontier  series,  is  riding  high. 

And  now  we’re  going  places  by  rail-with  UNION  PACIFIC,  our  new  Engines- 
and-Injuns  series  about  the  railroad’s  dramatic  push  through  the  West.  You 
know  it’s  on  the  right  track! 


|JBC  TEWJVtSIONJTOfeA  I>IVI9lON_OFCALIFORNIA  NATIONAL  PRODUCTIONS,  INa 


34 _ TV«FILMS  _ _  _ P&SUET?  _  Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 

^S^T-ARB  City-By-City  Syndicated  Film  Chart 


VARIETY’S  weekly  chart  of  rily-by-city  ratings,  of  syndicated  and  it<*> 
tional  spot  film  covers  40  to  60.  cities  reported  by  American  Research  Bur* 
eau  on  a  monthly  basis.  Cities  will  be  rotated  each  week,  With  . the.  10  lop* 
rated  film  shows  listed  in  each  case,  and  their  competition  shown  opposite. 
All  ratings  are  furnished  by  ARB,  based  on  the  latest  reports. 

This  VARIETY  chart  represents  a  gathering  of  all  pertinent  informa¬ 
tion  about  film  in  each  market,  which  can  be  used  by  distributors,  agencies,- 
stations  and  clients  as  an  aid  in  determining  the  effectiveness  of  a  filmed 
show  in  the  specific  market.  Attention  should  be  paid  to  time+rday  and 


time  factors ,  since  sets-in-use  and  audience  composition  vary  according  to 
time  slot,  i.e.,  a  Saturday  afternoon  children’s  show,  with  a  low  rating,  may 
have  a  large  share  dnd  an  audience  composed  largely  of  children,  with  cor¬ 
responding  results  for  the  sponsor  aiming  at  the  children’s  market.  Abbre- 
viations^and  symbols  qre  as  follows:  (Adv),  adventure ;  (Ch),  children’s ; 
(to),  comedy,  (Dr),  drama;  (Doc),  documentary;  (Mus),  musical; 
(Myst),  tystery;  (Q),  quiz;  (Sp),  sports;  (W),  western;  (Worn), 
women’s.  Numbered  symbols  next  to  station  call  letters  represent  the  sta¬ 
tion’s  channel;  all  channels  above  13  tire.  UHF .  Those  ad  tigencies  listed  as 
distributors  rep  the  national  sponsor  from  whom  the  film  is  aired. 


TOP  10  PROGRAMS 

AND.  TYPE 

STATION 

DISTRIB. 

DAY  AND 

TIME 

DECEMBER 

RATING 

SHARE 

(%) 

SETS  IN 
USE 

TOP  COMPETING  PROGRAM 
PROGRAM  STAT 

RATING 

BOSTON 

Approximate  Set  Count— A  ,400,000 

Stations— WBZ  (4),  WHDH  (5),  WNAC  (7) 

1.  Whirlybirds  (Adv) . , 

.  WBZ . . 

CBS. . . . . .  .  .  .  . 

-Tues.  7:00  7:30 

...  25:2..... 

....  69^0. .... . 

.,,36.5 

News;  Weather;  Sports ; . . . 

WHDH 

5.8 

Yankee  News;  Weather. . 

.WNAC 

5.8 

2.  The  Honeymooners  (Co) . 

.  WNAC . .  ► . . 

....CBS...... . . 

Sat.  10:30-11:00 

234..... 

....  464V;.... 

.  .  .  50.4 

Your  Hit  Parade. . . 

WBZ  .... 

....14.2 

3.  Federal  Men  (Myst) . 

.  WBZ. . . >  . . 

....MCA... . . 

.Mon.  7:00-7:30 

22.8..... 

....  611...... 

...  37.3 

Yankee  News;  Weather  . . . . 

WNAC 

8,4 

4.  Harbor  Command  (Adv) 

WNAC..... 

.  ..  .Ziv. . . . . . . . 

Sun.  7:00-7:30  .  .  .  .  . 

. , .  ,20.8. ... . 

....  40.9...... 

...  50.8 

26  Men.  . . 

, WBZ  .... 

....205 

5.  23  Men  (W)  _ . 

..WBZ: 

. .  Abc  . ^ i 

Sun.  7:00-7:30  .... 

...  ,20.5..... 

40.4..,.,. 

50.8 

Harbor  Command, , . . .  .  . .  t 

.WNAC  ... 

....20,8 

6.  Silent  Service  TAdv) . 

.WBZ...... 

.  .  .  NBC:  .  ...  ......  i  . 

Fri.  7:00-7:30 

...,203...,. 

602...... 

.  .  .  <63.7 

Patti  Page. . . . , 

WNAC 

9.6. 

7.  Decoy  (Adv)  . . 

.  WBZ  .  . .... 

. . .  Official.  .  . . . .  ..... 

.Sun.  10:30-11:00  ... 

....19,9...,. 

....  45.5...... 

...  43.7 

What’s  My .  Line . . . . . 

WHDH  .. 

.►..11.6 

S.  Amos  'n'  Andy  (Co)  . ...... . 

..WNAC.,... 

,^.CBS  . . 

M-F  5:00-5:30 

...19,3. 

48.9 . . 

... .  39.5 

Boston  Movietime . , 

WBZ  .... 

....155 

3.  Topper  (Co) 

:wnac.  . ... 

....Telestar.......... 

Fri.  6:30-7:00  - - 

c,  .  18.7  .  .  .  ... 

,,.,48.4.;.,., 

....  38.6 

Boston  Movietime . .  . . 

WBZ  .... 

...  .15.9 

10.  Annie  Oakley  (W)  . . . . : . 

..WNAC.... 

.  .  .  .  CBS.  :  ,,  .  . 

.Thurs.  6:00-6:30  . . ., 

...  .18.3. . . ... 

49.2;.... 

...  37.2 

Boston  Movietime  . . , . .,. . . . 

WBZ  .  .  . 

....17.6 

WASHINGTON 

Approximate  Set  Count— 800j000 

Stations — 

-WRC  (4) 

WTTG  (5),  WMAL  (7) 

,  WTOP  (9) 

1.  Highway  Patrol  (Adv). 

WTOP..... 

. ziv. . .... . . ,  . ... 

Sat.  7:00-7:30 

23.5..... 

51,2., . 

...  45.9 

Susie 

WRC  ... . 

....  10.8 

2.  Death  Valley  Days  (W) 

.WRC,..,.. 

. . . .  .Pacific-Borax. ... , . 

Mon:  7:00-7:30  .... 

- 17,7 . 

.  .  . .  44.1.  .  .  , 

40.1 

News- John  Daly, ; .... . . . . 

.  WMAL  .  . 

... .  .12.3 

3.  Sheena  of  the  Jungle  (Adv) . . 

.  WMAL. . .  . 

...  ..ABC........ _ 

Mon,  6:00-6:30 

.17.6. ..  .  . 

_  57.7...,,. 

...  30.5 

Record  Hop . . 

.WTTG 

6.0 

Early  Show  ........... 

.WTOP 

4.6 

4.  Gray  Ghost  (Adv)  — . 

.  .  WTOP: .  i . . 

....  CBS, . . 

Sat.  10:30-11:00  . . . 

v . .  .16.9. 

32.0 

52.8 

Safeway  Theatr  .......... 

.WMAL  ... 

. . .  .22.9 

5.  Science  Fiction  Theatre  (Adv)  WMAL. . . . 

_ 'Ziv  ...... 

Sun.  6:00r6:30  .  .  . . 

,...16.5 - 

....  40.1,...., 

...  41.1 

Meet  the  Press . . . . . . 

►  WRC  .. 

....14.7 

6.  Jungle  Jim  (Adv) 

..WMAL.... 

Thurs.  6:00-6:30  . . . 

..,.16.2  .... 

54.2., 

29.9 

Early  Show  _ ...... . . . ,  * . . 

.WTOP 

5.2 

.7.  Hoots  And  Saddles  (iV) 

wise...... 

;..  .NBC,. 

ThUrs.  7:00-7:30  .  .  . 

....15.7 - 

44.1...... 

.  . .  35,6 

News- John  Daly;;. ......... 

.WMAL  ... 

....12.0 

8.  Last  of  the  Mohicans  (W) 

WRC 

TPA . .  .... . 

Wed.  7:00-7:30  ... . 

....15.2..,.. 

. ..  .  37.9 - 

. . .  40.1 

7  O’clock  Final  . . . . . . 

.WMAL  .. 

....  i2.8 

News-John  Daly ......... 

.WMAL  .. 

...12.8 

9.  Sky  King  (Adv)  . . 

.  .WMAL.  . .. 

. . .  .  .Nabisco: . . .  .  . 

Wed,  6:00-6:30 

14.9..... 

31,2 

Footlight  Theatre . . . 

.WRC 

6.5 

16.  Brave  Eagle  (W). .  ..  ....... 

.  WMAL  .  . : . 

.  CBS... 

Fri’  6:00-6:30 

.  .14.7  .... 

. .  53,6...,. . 

...  27.4 

Record  Hop. .  . ,  . ......... 

.WTTG  .... 

....  5.2 

Early  Show . . 

WTOP 

49 

MINN.-ST.  PAUL 

Approximate  Set  Count’— ^515,000 

Stations — 

-WCCO  (4),  KSTP  (5),  KMGM  (9) 

WTCN 

(ll) 

1.  State  Trooper  (Adv) _ _ 

. .  KSTP . . .  .  . 

- - MCA-:-. ... .... ... . . 

rTues.  9:30-10:00  ... 

..,.23.7..... 

....  40.6 . 

. . .  58.4 

Wrestling  . . 

.weed.. 

....17.8 

2.  Popeye  Clubhouse  (Ch) 

WCCO*. .  .  . 

. ...  AAP, . , . ... , . . . . . 

M-F  5:30-6:00  _ 

.  ...  .  20.7  .;  .  .  .  . 

....  54.2 . 

.  .  .  38.2 

Mickey  Mouse  Club,,..... 

.  WTCN  .. 

....  .13.7 

3.  O.  Henry.  Playhouse  (Dr)  . . . . 

.  KSTP. 

Sun.  9:30-10:00  . , . . 

. . ,  -  49.7  - .  Vk 

_ 29.9...... 

..  65.9 

What’s  My  Line . 

.  weed  .  . 

. . .  ,30.9 

4.  Death  Valley  Days  (W) . . 

..wcco.,.. 

. ...  .  Pacific-Borax. .  . . . , 

.Sat.  6:00-6:30  ..... 

....,184. 

51.5. 

35.7 

Annie  Oakley;  Weather;.,. 

.KSTP  :.. 

.. .  .11.7 

5.  Dr.  Christian  (Dr) 

WCCO  ; ; . 

Sat.  9:30-10:00  .... 

...,18.2..... 

_ 34:6..... 

52.6 

Your  Hit  Parade, ......... 

.  KSTP  .  . 

.  ...  .16.1 

6.  Wild  Bill.  Hickok  (W) _ _ _ 

..wcco... 

Sat.  11:00-11:30  a.ni. 

. 15.8 . 

89.8 . 

...  17.6 

True  Story 

.KSTP 

1.9 

7.  Highway  Patrol  (Adv)  ..... 

..KSTP  .;.. 

. . . . .  Ziv 

Thurs.  10:30-11:00  . 

.. . . .  i5.6 . . . 

....  52.7 

29.6 

Your  9  O’Clock  Movie. . ... 

.KMGiVI 

6.9 

Men  of  Annapolis  . . . . . . . 

.wcco 

4.9 

7.  Sky  King  (Adv) 

WCCO  , . . . 

► .  Nabisco , 

Sat.  9:00-9:30  a.m. 

15,6. 

61.4...... 

. . .  25.4 

Howdy  Doody . . . . 

.KSTP 

9.8 

8.  Bugs  Bunny  Time  (Ch) . 

.  WCCO-.., 

►  .  .  :  AAPV.  .  .  ....  . . .  .  . 

M-F  4:30-5:00  .  .  .  . 

.  .,  .15.3:  .-.. 

....  484...... 

...  31.6 

American  Bandstand  . . . «, . 

.WTCN 

9.1 

9.  Ramar  of  the  Jungle  (Adv) 

wcco. 

TPA...., . 

Sat.  10:30-11:00  a  m. 

.15.2.. 

72.4 _ _ 

...  21.0 

Captain  Gallant ...... . . , . . 

.KSTP 

5:8 

10,  Mr.  District  Attorney  (Myst) 

KSTP _ 

...  .  Ziv.  , . . 

Wed.  10:30-11:00 

...,13:9... 

50.7...... 

..,27.4 

Your  9  O’clock  Movie . .;. . . 

.KMGM 

9.5 

Frank  Seifert- .... . 

WTCN 

4.6 

SEATTLE-TACOMA 

Approximate  Set  Count 

—500,000 

Stations — 

-KOMO  (4), KING  (5),KTNT  (11),KTVW  (13) 

1.  Search  for  Adventure  (Adv). 

...KING...,. 

, ...  .Bagnall. .... 

Mon.  7:00-7:30 

. ...  .31.2.,... 

50.3..,.. 

62.0 

26  Men  . . 

.KOMO 

.15.6 

2.  Gray  Ghost  (Adv) 

.KING..,.. 

.Sun.  6:00-6:30  ... 

....28.5..... 

.: ...  62i4.,  ... 

...45.7 

Meet  the  Press 

.  KOMO 

97 

3.  Death  Valley  Days  (W). .-. .  . . 

.  .KOMO..,. 

-ThursV  9:00-9:30  . 

...., 26.6,.., . 

....  44  3..... 

60.0 

Pat  Boone. . . .  ...i ..... 

.KING  .. 

. . .  .18.1 

4.  Silent  .Service  (Adv)... . 

.:king..;  ... 

....NBC.: _ _ _ 

Mon.  7:30r8:00  .... 

41.1..,, v 

...  60.6 

Price  Is  Right  .  . . . . 

.  KOMO  . 

. ; .  .21.3 

5.  Whirlybirds  (Adv)  - . - . - 

..KING,,... 

.,  .  .CBS: .  .... . 

Thurs.  7:00-7:30  ... . 

. . ...  .24.8. : . . ; 

.  . .  54.6 

Highway  Patrol ......... .... 

KOMO  , 

...24.1 

6.  Highway  Patrol  (Adv)  . . . . ..... 

..KOMO.... 

. . . .  Zivv.  . . , . . . , 

Thurs.  7:00-7:30  .v. 

. 24.1,.... 

44.1...., 

, . .  54.6 

Whirlybirds  . . ; . . . .  . ...... 

.KING  ... 

....24,8 

7.  Annie  Oakley  (W) .  ...... 

..RING . 

...  '.CBS  ,  .  ...  ..  ..  . 

.Thurs,  6:00-6:30.  . ... 

...,.21.6 - 

..,.49.3 . 

...  43.8 

Our  Miss  Brooks ......... 

KOMO  . 

....12,0 

8.  Last  of  the  Mohicans  (\V) . . . 

.  .King...  . . . 

.,  ..TPA _ .,. _ 

Mon.  6:00-6:30 

.20.7...., 

....  48.5..... 

. . .  42,7 

Mickey  Rooney 

.KOMO  . 

....12.5 

9,  Kingdom  of  the  Sea  (Doc)  .  . 

..KOMO..,. 

...  .Guild. 

Tues.- 7:00-7:30  ... 

37.5  .... 

. . .  54.6 

Phil  Silvers; 

.  KTNT  .  . 

,..,18.7 

10.  Sky  King  (Adv) 

.  .KING,.  ,  ; 

Tues:  5:00-6:30 

...20.2.... 

....  46.5  .  .  . . 

...  43.4 

6  O’Clock  News , ....... . . . 

.KTNT  .. 

...13,6 

COLUMBUS 

A pproximate  Set  Count 

—357,000 

Stations — 

-WLWC  (4),  WTVN  (6) 

WBNS  (10) 

1,  Highway  Patrol  (Adv). 

-.  ..WBNS. 

Ziy. . 

. . . . . . .  ...  .Tues.  10:30-11:00 

.32.2.. 

67.4. . . . . 

....  47.8 

Big  10  Highlights . . 

..WLWC  .. 

...;10.2 

2.  Our  Miss  Brooks. (Co). ... 

WBNS,. 

CBS.:... 

_ _ Sun.  6:30-7:00  ........ 

.  -  2o.4  . «. .  •  « . 

...  44.7. . 

....  56.8 

Best  of  MGM  . .... . . . . . . 

..WLWC  .. 

...21.1 

Z.  San  Francisco  Beat  (Dr) . . 

. . ,  .  WBNS;  . 

CBS..., 

Sun,  9:30-10:00  _ 

. ..  23:8 , . . .  . 

.  .  38.4 . 

....  62.0 

Chevy  Show. . . . . .  .  .  .  . 

..WLWC  .. 

. 20:9 

4.  Last  of  the  Mohicans  (W)  . 

....WBNS; 

TPA  .  . . . . 

.T .....  v .  Sat.  10:30-11:00  ...... 

..20,9 . 

.,  36.5. 

57.3 

Something  Different. .... 

..WTVN 

.20.6 

6.  Maina  (Dr) .  . 

....WBNS.. 

.Wed.  6:30-7:00  ...... 

.20:3....... 

.  .  53.6 _ 

. . . .  37.9 

Meetin’  Times  at  Moores. 

..WLWC 

8.8 

6-  Sky  King  (Adv)  ......... 

...  .  .  WBNS  • 

......  Nabisco... 

. Fri.  6;30-7:00 

..20.1...... 

..  60.4...,. 

....  33.3 

Johnny  Mack  Brown; 
Headlines  .... .,  .. .. 

..WTVN  ... 

....  8.5 

7.  Sheriff  of  Cochise  (W). . . . 

....WTVN,. 

.  Nt  a. 

.  ,19:5 . .  ; 

. .  36.8  . .  .  , 

....  53.0 

Person. to  Person; . .  ,i.. . . 

..WBNS 

. . .  .  27.4 

Annie  Oakley  (Wk ....... 

. . .  .  WBNS. . , 

CBS.;... 

. ,  19.1 

,  .  58 .1 . 

32.9 

Hopalong  Cassidy. , ... . ... 

..WTVN 

9.0 

f.  Cisco  Kid  (W).  .. 

.  .  .  .  WTVN. . 

...  .  .  Ziv. . ... .. 

. .  . i: ,  Sun... 5:30^6:00  , . ... . ; 

:  i8.5 . ... , . 

..  40.6..  .v. 

....  46.2 

Best  of  MGM - ....... 

..WLWC  .. 

. . .  .18.8 

10.  Popeye  Theatre  (Ch). . . . , 

....WBNS.  . . 

.....  .  AAP...  .. 

.  .17.8  .  , . . . . . 

51.3;.,., 

....  34.7 

Casey  Jones . ... ..... . , . . . 

..WTVN  ... 

..43-3 

Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


PlfailETY 


TELEVISION  REVIEWS 


35 


>ID  INTERNATIONAL 
(March  of  Medicine), 

With  Vice  President  Richard  M. 
Nixon;  Maryknoll  Nuns,  Dr.  Olaf 
Skmsnes,  Dr.  Phillips  Greene, 
Dr.  Harold  Brewster,  Dr.  Bethel 
.  Dr.  Carl  Friedricks,  Dr. 

Arthur  Curtis,  Emperor  ■  Haile 
Selassie,  Dr.  Ida  M.  Scudder,  Dx: 
Reeve  H.  Betts;  narrators,  Alex- 


IT’S  OUR  TOWN 
With  Lou  Tinney,  others 
Producer:  Gerry  Pearsen 
Director:  Tom  Masuccl  • 

30  Mins.;  Sun.,  1:30  p.m 
B’NAI  B’RITH 
WTEN-TV,  Albany 
rwAJ^ny-Seheneetady-Troy  B’nai . 

B  rith  deserves  great  credit  for  a ' 
public  service  program  of-  high! 

? 

panels,  looseness  in  irioderatorship,  I  €0  Minis.:  Tlufrs  (’TriO  am 
and  unsuitability  of  set.  No;  recent  SMITH  KLINE  &T  FRENCH 
video  senes  hereabouts  has  tackled  I  NbC-TV  (filmSolorl  ° 
as  many  pressing  area  problems;  :  (DorenmtWhelmari) 

slum  clearance,  traffic  congestion.  !  o,  a  f  ^  . 

the  aging,  postal  service,  educa- *  WlUlam  Osier;  the  wise 

tion,  government;  effect  of  broad- !  physieIan  and  medical  historian, 
casting-teleoasting  on  minor  league  ■  once  wrote  that  ’‘the  practice  of 
^  i5  , not  .  trade;  * 

Originally,  feitdre  ran  15  min- 1  "!8  I,ot  *  ^siness;  a  calling  In 

Utes;  with  the  end  of  professional  I  1  ch  your  heart  will  be  exercised 
football  season,  went  to  a  half-  [  equally  with  your,  head.  Often  the 
hour;  It  started  with  one-shot  mod-  best  part  of  vour  Work  will  have 
era  tors:  .  Elaine  Drdoz  (longtime '  nothin^  in.  j*  ...  -j 

airgal);  Bob  Wallace  (WTEN-i  *  Ip  do  with  potions  and 
WROW  staffer);  Gene  Robb  (pub-  i  pox\ders.  but  with  the  .  exercise  of 
li slier,  Albany  - Times  - Union), j  an.  influence:  of  the  strong  upon 
others;  For  some:  weeks,  however, :  the*  weak,  the  righteous  upon  the 
announcer  Lou  Tinney  has  helmed,  wicked  nr  th*  „„„„  +*,« 
Telephoned  questions  from  view- 1  "  •'  ol.  the  Wlse  upon  tl?e  f°o1- 

ers  are  accepted— sufficient  time  is  ;  ' 

.......  ....  .  ..  . .Thj§: 


THE  BRIDGE  OF  SAN  LUIS  RE Y  LA  PERICHOLE 
(Du  Pont  Show  of  the  Month)  (Omnibus) 

With  Judith  Anderson,  Hume  With  Cyril  Ritchard,  Laurel  Hur- 
Cronyn,  Viveca  LindfoFs,  Eva  Le .  ley,  Theodore  Uppman,  Paul 
Gallienne*  Rita  Gam,  Kurt  Kaszr  j  .  Frarike,  Osie  Hawkins, _Alessio  de 
nar,  Theodore  Bikel,  Peter  Cookr : 
sqn,  Steve  Hill,  Clifford  David, 


Miko  Qscard,  William  Marshall  '  Exec.  Producer:  Robert  Saudek 
Sandra  Whiteside,  others  Stagers:  Ritchard,  Richard  Dunlap 

Producer:;  David  Susskind  (Talent  English  Adaptation:  Maurice  Va- 


SID  CAESAR  INVITES  YOU 
With  Imogene  Coca,  Carl  Reiner, 
Jeanne  Bal;  Bernard  Green,  mu¬ 
sical  director 
Producer:  Hal  Janis 
P^olis,  others;  Jean  Morel,  con- '  Director:  Frank  Bunetta 
duc'tor;  Alistair  Cooke,  emcee  •  Writers:  Mel  Tolkin,  Neil  Simon, 


Associates) 

Director:  Robert  Mulligan 
Adaptation:  Ludi  Claire 
90  Mins.,  Tues;  (21)  9:30  p.m. 
DU  PONT 

CBS-TV  from  New  York 

(BBD&O) 


!  i 


often  not  alloted  for  this.  i  This  was.  brilliantly  demon- 

In  light  of  the  Strong  production  .  strafed,  in  ;the  hour-long  docunien- 
effort  (members  of  Albany  Civic  j  tary  Sponsored  by  Smith  Kline  & 

disappointing.  Set  seems  all  wrong  i  t?ie  American  Medical  Association, 
for  a  panel  show:  skyscraper  back- !  Tlre  ty  report  on  the  heroic  work 
ground,  with  the  p  ar tic.i p  a  n  ts  performed  by  American  doctors 
seated  on  platforms  of  varying  !  and  nurcpc  in  th* 
height  and  widely  separated.  This :  f  ®  C0.riJ®rs 

cuts  down  the  necessary  intimacy;  ]  of  t,le. slck  and  crippled  world  was 
requires  neck-craning,  which  ‘  j  a  vivid  testimonial  to .  this  coun- 
vlsually  annoying  and  ,  distracting. 


Tinney,  a  good-looking,  frieridly- 
ihannered  young  man,  is  off  to  left 
of  screen.  He,  on  occasions,  ap¬ 
pears  a  shade  immature  and  in¬ 
adequately  informed  for  the  seri¬ 
ous  questions  discussed. 

Panelists’  ,  range  and  depth  na¬ 
turally  vary;  some  of  them  lack  the 
quick  articulation  and  projection 
desirable  for  lively  video.  A  longer 
warmup  period  would  be  helpful;-, 
also  tighter  control.  A  midway 
B’nai  B’rith  message,,  in  which  pro¬ 
ducer  Gerry  Pearsen  •  interviews 
men  and  women  members  oh .  a 
particular  .project,  is  filmed. 

Jaco. 


BOWLING  THE  CHAMPS 
With  Eddie  Edwards 
Producer:  Marvin  Litman 
Director:  Bob  Wormington 
60  Mins.,  10  p.m..  Sat. 

WDAF-TV,  Kansas  City 
,  An  idea  which  started  here  late 
in  the  fall  is  now  gathering  the 
attention  of  bowling  fans  in  this 
;  area  each  Saturday  night  live  from 
the  Pla-Mor  Alleys  over  WDAFr 
TV.  The  idea  pits  a  top  local;  bowl¬ 
er  in  a  match  against .  a  leading 
national,  bowler. 

.  There  is  a .  weekly  rolloff  -for-, 
which  the  locals  qualify,,  the  wi 
ner  getting  to  take  on  the  champ 
brought  in  each  week,  as  a  guest. 

Already,  many  of  the  big  names 
have  appeared  on  the  show— Steve  !  sionary, 
Nagy,  Marian  Ladewig,  Rip  Craig,.!  tuberculosis 


try’s  global  thinking..  “MD  Inter¬ 
national,”  did,  as  Veepee  Richard 
Nixon  said  at  the  outset,  display, 
man’s  humanity  to  man. .  This  was 
American  diplomacy  at  its  shining 
best 

David  .Lowe  wais  the  producer- 
director  of  this  film  in  Color  made 
during  a  gruelling  79-Jay  trek 
through.  Korea,  Hong  Kong,  Ethio¬ 
pia,.  Burma,  Nepal,  Lebanon  and 
India,  With  a  cast  of  thousands  cf 
the  lame,  the  halt  and  the  blind, 
“MD •International?’'  presented  un¬ 
varnished,  clinical  as  well  as  human 
accounts  of  the  work  of  our  medics. 


The  documentary  opened .  with 
the.  dedicated  Maryknoll  Nuns 
helping:,  tortured  children  and 
adults  in  what  has  been  described 
as  the  biggest  charity  line  in  the 
w'orld.  The  faces  of.  the  misery¬ 
laden  were  caught  with,  terrific 
impact  by  the  cameras.  Then  fol¬ 
lowed  haunting  bits  Of  photography 
of  Dr.  Olaf  Skinsnes’  ministrations 
to.  lepers,  on  the  Isle  of  Happy 
Healing,  off,  Hong  Kong.  Here,  too, 
.the. pictures  struck  tv  viewers  with 
the  atomic  power  of  a  Goya  paint¬ 
ing, 

•Sarawak. ...  a  -  Borneo  outlet,  w*as 
next,  and  here  tbo  the  .U.S.‘  medics 
were  busily  at  work.  Dr.  Harold 
Brewster,  Methodist  medical  mis- 
s  fighting  malaria, 
and  dysenteries  and 


^nd  next  Buddy  Bomar.  *  ~  j  teaching  former  headhunters  the 

!  The  tariff  is  split  between  j  importance  of  hygiene  and  cleanli- 
Schneider  Homes,  Allied  Motors !  ness.  In  Burma,  the  cameras  cap- 
.  (Chrysler  Plymouth)  and  Best  Pakt  i  tured  Dr.;  Phillips  Greene  doing 
Frozen.  Foods.  They  put  up  a  jack-  i  orthopedic  surgery.  The  sequence 
pot  including  a  new  hom&  ($16,000  showing  his  effective  therapy  on  a 
one),  new.  car  ..and  big  prizes  for.  a.  young -Burmese  .Was  deeply  moving. 
309  game,  and  there  are  other  iii-  Dr. .  Bethel  Fleming  of  Chicago 
centives  along  the  way  to  bring  out  was  seen  conducting  child  and 
the  best  in  the  competitors.  ,  maternal  care  center  in  Katmandu, 
The  matches  to  date  have  been  Nepal,  in  the  Himalayas.  In  Beirut* 
spirited,  and  there  was  even  -a  case  Lebanon,  Dr.  Charles  Malik,  the 
a  couple  of  weeks  back  Where  the  country’s  foreign  minister,  inter¬ 
local  boy  took  the  measure  of  the  viewed  workers  at  the  Medical 
champ.  So  there  is  plenty  to  keep  school  of  the  American  Uniyer- 
up.  the  interest  of  the  bowling  fan,  sjty.  Also  powerful  tv  was  Dr.  Carl 
.  Present  format  has  Eddie  Ed-;,Friedricks’  daily  routine  into  the 
wards  doing  the  commentary,,  al-,  interior  of  a  remote  village  in  Tan- 
though  that  will  change  in  the  sing  where  no  one  had  ever  seen 
early  spring  as  he  goes  south  \vith  a  wheel.  The  camera  performed 
the  K.C.  Athletics  to  resume  his  stunningly- as  it  caught  the  expres- 
baseball  play-by-play  reporting.  sions  of  the  children  watchiiig  the 
Nevertheless,  as  a  figure  known  in  dedicated  doctor  from  Reading,  Pa. 
the  sports  world  here,  he  adds;  Kmperor  Haile  Selassie,  gave 


lency 

Composer:  Jacques  Offenbach 
:  90  Mins.;  Sun.  (26),  4  p.m. 

(  ALUMINUM  LID.,  UNION  CAR¬ 
BIDE  ' 

NBC-TV,  from  New  York 

(JWTr.  J.,M.  Mathes) 

Without  further  equivocation,  let  First  joint  effort  at  television 
it  be  said  that  last :  week’s  presenta- :  ®Per3 .  b^ween  the  Metropolitan 
tipn  of  “The  Bridge  of  San  Luis  :  ?p^a  and  Robert  Saudek’s  “Omm- 
Rey”  on  the  CBS-TV  “Du  Pont  i bus,  was  one  of  the  happiest  tv 
Show  of  the:^ ^Mohth’^  will  be  remem- 

bered  as  one  of  the,  truly  superla-  '  nf^i^PpriPh^  ain+hW 

tive  dramatic  offerings  on  -  tv. ! 

Ludi  Claire’s:  90-minute  vid  e  o  -  S 

brimant0nov°el  ^ em^lv^l Rth'P** \^lish  V  Maurice  Valency'  and 
S  w  staged  by  Cyril  Ritchard,  is  a  romp 

tury  Peru  and  the  collapse  of  the  |  iri  any  medium,  and  with  tele- 
bridge  which  plunged  five  persons :  vision’s  ability  to  close  in  on  the 


some  worth  to  the  show. 


al.  ;UA  i.  thanks  to  the  U!S.,  medics  arid  “MD 

Llfmsn-Stlve^MSgdfto7  alen®'  SS^SgCtagTS 

country.’  Plans  tor  this,  are  in  the '  f,crhlj^®^“\va“shownagoingrfrS 
ma«n^  Bgt  .haven’t  completely  pe“ 


lafiuon"^  the 1 


sports  followers  here.  It’s  not  much 
if  the  viewer  Js  not  a  keglirig  fan, 
but  for.  those  that  are  this  is  first- 
rate.  Quin. 


PULSE'S  CHI  OFFICE 

Chicago,  Jan.  28. 

Pulse  Inci,  the  rating  company, 
opened  a  local  office  here  this 
Week.  George  Herro,  ex-account 
exec  with  Mutual  in  the  riiidwest, 
becairie  difector  of  the  new  divi¬ 
sion. 

Company  .has  other  divisions  in 
L;A.  arid  London. 


spectacles  was  a  rare  and  moving 
spectacle,  indeed. 

Lou  Hazam  did  a  thoughtful,  sen¬ 
sitive  writing  job,  Geoffry  Gurrin 
and  lari  Struthers .  were  the  pho¬ 
tographers,  and  they  rate  kudos! 
for  a  thoroughly  professional  job; 
To  Lowe  goes  unstinting  credit  for 
a  high-ranking  production. 

.  Smith  Kline  &  French  Labs’  re¬ 
marks,  in  betweeif,  were  in  fine 
taste.  Throughout '  the  60-minute 
report,  one  felt  that  this  “March  of 
Medicine”  program  .  should  have 
been  billed  the  “Miracle  of  Medi¬ 
cine.”  Rans. 


to  their ,  deaths  was  possessed  of 
bountiful  virtues.. 

Under  Robert  Mulligan’s  careful, 
always  sure .  directorial  touch, 
it.  had  fine  sensitivity  and.  an  emo¬ 
tional  power  and  drive  that  gave 
full-bodied  dimension  to  the  in¬ 
terlocking  incidents  and  character¬ 
izations.  The  staging  Was  alive  and. 
fluid.  The  performances  were  su¬ 
perb.  The  entire  production  (out 
of  the  David  Susskind  Talent  As¬ 
sociates  shop)  was  a  stunning 
achievement  in  its  intricate  ,  hurd¬ 
ling  of  almost  formidable  obstacles. 
In  this  blending  of  technical  and 
mechanical  craftsmanship  and  crea¬ 
tive  know-how,  the  whole  cause  of 
“live  tv  drariia  from  the  east”.  Was 
given  its  staunchest  ,  support  in  a 
period  of  disturbing  transition. 

Thus  from  a  purely  “trade” 
aspect,  the  overtones  bf  this  Suss- 
kind-produced  presentation  on  such 
a  lofty,  ambitious  and  rewarding 
scale  merits  some  appraisal.  Cer¬ 
tainly  it  would  seem  to  point  up 
the  fallacy  in.  tv  of  trying  to  deliver 
a  qualitative  entry  on  a  week-to- 
week  basis,  regardless  of  whether 
it’s  east  or  Coast-berthed.  Perhaps 
it’s  the  reason  why  a  “Playhouse 
90,”  a  “Climax”  or  a  “Kraft  TV 
Theatre”  (the  latter  the  lone.sur-; 
vivoi*  among  N.Y.  live  drama  origi¬ 
nations  on  a  regular  basis)  are 
plunged  into  week-after-Week  me¬ 
diocrity,  with  only  an  occasional  re¬ 
warding  stanza  helping  to  dissipate 
the  lowercase  onus.  (One  meritori¬ 
ous  '  “Playhouse  90”  presentation 
can  help  erase  the  stigma  of  weeks 
or  even  months  of  previously- 
wrought  damage-^such  is  tv). 

At  a  time  when  the  networks, 
insofar  as  drama,  is  concerned,  have 
gone  .competely.  “film  star”  happy 
(a  premise  that  sent  “Studio  One” 
scooting  off  to  the  Coast),  Susskind, 
CBS  arid  Du  Pont  can  take  justifi¬ 
able;  pride  in  delivering  such  a 
brilliant  cast:  of  Broadway-indoc¬ 
trinated  performers  as  studded  this 
“Bridge,  of  San  Luis  Rey”;  offering 
— Judith:  Anderson,  Hume  Gronyn, 
Eve  Le:  GalIienne,..Kurt  Kasznar, 
Theodore  Bikei,  Viveca  Lindfors, 
Rita  Garit  ,  (the  latter  two ;  thoiigh, 
no  strangers  to  films),  Peter  Cook- 
son,  Steve  Hill,  and  others.  Their 
Hollywood  counterparts,  may 
may  not  exist,  riut  one  can  serious¬ 
ly  question  if,  in  toto,  a  more  bril¬ 
liant  cast -could  have  been  assem-: 
bled*  or  have  produced  such  emi¬ 
nently  satisfying  results. . 

But  of  eVen  greater  consequence, 
the  CBS-Du.  Pont  “Show  of  the 
Month”  formula;,  tinder  circum¬ 
stances  that  permit  a  Talent  As¬ 
sociates  to.  nurse  and  rehearse  a 
dramatic  offering  for:  weeks  or 
even  months; to  achieve  a  perfec¬ 
tion  comparable  to  a  Broadway 
stage  production— as  in  the  case  of 
“San  Luis  Rey”— would  seem  to 
be  the  Corrective  measure  for  tv 
drama's  “last  stand”  arid  definitive 
pattern,;  in  place  of  the  trifles 
dished  out  on  a  weekly  basis. 

:  In  any  event,  the  Thornton 
Wilder  play,  with  its  deep  and  elo¬ 
quent  espousal  of  the  meariing  of 
love,  its  intense,  beautiful  and 
moving  performances,  notably  by 
Judith  Anderson  and  Eve  Le  Galli- 
enne,  and  the  inasterful  Control  of 
its  artistic  and  dramatic  direction, 
came:  off  as  one  of  the  most  com¬ 
pelling  tv;  plays  to  date.  Rose; 

Pa.’s  'Radar'  TV  Buy 

State  of  Pennsylvania  is  sponsor¬ 
ing  two  one-half-hour  daily  pro¬ 
grams  on  WPTA-TV,  Harrisburg, 
dealing  with  highway  safety.  The 
state,  which  currently  does  not; 
employ  radar  on  highways,;  has' 
been  seeking  legislation  to  permit, 
highway  patrol  to  use  it.  I 


Mel  Brooks,  Mike  Stewart,  Dan- 
!  ny  Simon  (Larry  Gilbart  on  pre¬ 
miere) 

;  30  Mins.,  Sun.,  9  p.m. 

1  HELENA  RUBINSTEIN 
j  ABC-TV,  from  New  York 

( Ogilin/,  Benson  &  Mather) 
j  It’s  one  of  the  peculiar  plienome- 
|  ria  of  a  . medium  that,  barely  a  doz¬ 
en  years  old,  can  still  speak  of 
“major  comebacks”  and  welcome 
back  “vets.”  Such  is  the  telescop¬ 
ing  of  time  and  fame  on  video,  and 
such  was  the  interest  generated  by 
Sunday  night’s  return  of  Sid  Cae¬ 
sar  and  Imogene  Coca  as  a  team, 
this,  time  in  half-hour  format  and 
under  ABC-TV  network  auspices. 

The  conclusions  drawn  from  the 
preem  “comeback”  performance 
were  unmistakable  —  conclusions 
long  since  accepted  and  inscribed 
as  one  of  the  more  interesting  foot¬ 
notes  in  ty  programming.-  To  quote 
the  fan  mags,  “Sid’s  good  for  Imo¬ 
gen^  and  vice  versa.”  There’ll  al¬ 
ways  be,  an  audience,  even  though 
a  limited  one,  for  their  distinctive 
and  unique  brand  of  comedies. 

The  same  staff  of  writers  are 
back  (headed  by  Mel  Tolkin)  With 
their  combined  flair .  for  that 
Caesaresque  touch,  *  and  even 
though  the  opening  show  was  way 
off,  lackirig  much  of  the  brilliance 
and  wit  of  some  previous  excur¬ 
sions,  it  wasn’t  too  important  to  a 
Caesar-Coca  fan.  They  know  that, 
once  Caesar  has  grown  accustomed 
to  the  30-minute  short  rations  <he 
was  considerably  less  at  ease  than 
Miss  Coca),  there’s  nothing  to  fear 
about  the  duo  holding  up  their  end 
of  the  bargain. 

A  four-year  interval  (as  in  tht 
case  of  Caesar-Coca)  can’t  be  strad¬ 
dled  in.  just  one  show,  Caesar  par¬ 
ticularly  was  handicapped  by 
tenseness.  But  even  if  it  wasn’t 
smash  Caesar-Coca,  it  was,  thanks 
to. “The  Matchmakers,”  the  first  of 
the  show’s  two  skits,  at  least  good 
Caesar-Coca.  As  an  unmarried 
pair,  the  targets  for  the  matrimo¬ 
nial  eye  of  their  married  friends, 
it  was  for  the  inost  part  smartly 
written,  paced  to  their  stride  but, 
if  anythirig,  with  the  humor  too 
closely  reined:  But  it  was  real 
Caesar  and.  real  Coca,  biting,  yet 
warm  satire.  The  “Johnny  Hat 
Show”  takeoff,  on  guest  stars  on 
music  programs  didn’t  come  off  at 
all.  Caesar’s  was  a  brilliant  make¬ 
up  job,  but  the  material  was  too 
thin.  Nor  does  the  offkey  singing 
of  Miss  Coca  hold  up  too  well. 

,  Wi  Some  brand  new  obstacles  liav 
its  way  through  the  score;  the  cast  •  been  thrown  Caesar-Coca’s  way, 
was  fine;  and  everybody  had  a  good  namely  in  the  form  of  pretty  rough 
time,  especially  the  audience.  l  and  formidable  competition  from 
Chan.  the  rival  networks — Dinah  Shore 
'  • — - — —  on  NBC  and  the  rating-happy  “GE 

PEE  WEE  KING  BANDSTAND  Theatre”  on  CBS.  (Caesar’s  too 
With  Diane  Erhardt,  Redd  &  Gene  1  to  be  taken  m  by  hIs  -opening 

Stewart,  Gariy  Stonecipher;  Bob  i  runaway  Trendex,  with  all 


buffoonery,  it  was  an  .  especially 
felicitous  television  choice. 

With  Rjtchard,  xvho  shared  the 
tv  staging  chores  with  “Omnibus” 
staffer  Richard  Dunlap,  as  the  driv¬ 
ing  comic  force  in  the  cast,  “Peri- 
chole"  was  played  as  broadly  and 
as  noiightily  wide-eyed  as  possible,- 
so  that  in  its  straight  comic  as¬ 
pects  it  almost  carried  itself.  And 
■Offenbach’s  riiusic  certainly  is  easy 
enough  for  anybody,  opera-lover  or 
no,  to  take,  with  result  that  “Peri- 
chole”  must  have  been  ,a  crowd- 
pleaser  in  the  mass  audience  sense 
as  well  as  for  the^opera  buff. 

Production  was  excellent,  with 
Ritchard  at  his  capering  best  as  the 
Viceroy,  and  vocally  fine  for  his 
role  (hardly  an  opera  singer;  but 
mrire  in  the  Gilbert  &  Sullivan 
comic"  class,  which  after  all  isn’t 
very  far  from  “Perichole”).  Laurel 
Hurley,  in  the  title  role,  and  Theo¬ 
dore  Uppman,  as  her  husband,  were 
excellent  both  vocally  and  in  their 
stagewofk.  Alessio  de  Paolis  almost’ 
Walked  off  With  the  show  in  an 
putlaridishly  farcical  turn  as  the 
old  prisoner,  while  Osie  Hawkins 
and  Paul  Franke.  turned  in  good 
jobs  as  the  Peruvian  VIP’s. . 

Only  a  couple  of  faults  w^ere  evi¬ 
dent  .perhaps  because  of  the  lim¬ 
ited  rehearsal  time  available.  The 
chorus  wasn’t  clear  at  all  times, 
and  in:  fact  bn  a  couple  of  occasions 
seemed,  somewhat  out  of  kilAr. 
Met’s  ballet  troupe,  likewise,  had 
some  weaker  moments.  And  there 
was  a  tendency  to:  overload  the 
crowd  scenes  in  the  staging,  to  the 
point  where  some  of  the  ensemble 
got  in  each  other’s  ,  way. 

But  these  were  minor  flaws.  The 
orchestra,  under  Jean  Morel,  sang 


More  TV  Reviews 
On  Page  42 


Kay,  m.c. 

Director:  Bob  Brewer 
30 .  Mins;,  Thors.,  8  p.m. 

OERTEL  BREWING 
WAVE-TV,  Louisville 
Pee  Wee  King,  local  songwriter 
and’nbahdleader,  has  Come  up  with 
a  sprightly ;  half-hour  of  fast-rnm’- 
ing,  tuneful  songs,  music  and.  chat¬ 
ter,  which  should  please  viewers 
in  this  area.  King  and  his  boys 


At  show  caught,  theme  was  a  cruise 
down  the  Ohio  River  called  “Show- 
boat  Revue.”  Production-wise,  Seg¬ 
ment  certainly  cannot  compete 
With  network  fare,  but  real  sincere 
entertainment  is  there,  and  the 
King  group,  makes  the  most  of 
their  time,  on  the  local  screens. 

Some  production  is  evident  in 
the  showboat  set.  Fellows  are 
rigged  out  in  yachting  caps,  and 
most  of  the  tunes  are  of  the  rios- 
talglc  type,  like  the  opener,  “Here 
Comes  the  Showboat,”  and  “No 
Biz  Like  Show  Biz.”  Jean  Stewart, 
with  banjo  accomp,  has  a  real  flair 
for  numbers,  like  “Give  My  Re¬ 
gards  to  Broadway”  and  “Four 
Leaf  Clover.”  Redd  Steward  did  a 
swell  impresh  of  Gene  Austin  with 
a  -  tune  of  his  own  composition, 
“Just  Because  You’re  You.” 

Garry  Stonecipher,  slick  trumpe¬ 
ter,  gave:  an  impresh  of  Clyde 
McCoy  tooting  “Sugar  Blues  ”  and 
a  barbershop  type  quartet  vocalled 
on  several  meriiory  larie  tunes, 
with  banjo  accbmp.  The  dixieland 
group  came  through  with  a  lively 
medley  including  “Alexander’s 
Ragtime  Band.’’  King  introed  a 
comely  songstress,  Diane  Erhardt, 
y?ho  registered*  with  “After  The 
Ball  .  Is  Over,”  then  introed  her 
Victor  record  of  ‘Til  Wait,”  Gal 
has  plenty  on  the  ball  vocally  and 
is  attractive.  Show  wound  up  with 
Chuck  Wiggins  giving  a  .  punchy 
rendition  of  “If  You  Knew  Susie,” 

Commercials  were  delivered  in 
okay  style  by  Bob  Kay.  Show  im¬ 
presses  with  it’s:  informality;  and 
warm  and  spontaneous  entertain¬ 
ment.  Nice  direction  by  Bob 
Brewer.  Wied. 


hands  on  deck  to  wish  him  well). 

There  is,-.' to  Caesar- and  Miss 
Coca’s  credit  (and  don’t  underesti¬ 
mate  Carl  Reiner’s  pull*  a  dyed-in- 
the-wool  following  of  faithfuls  who 
will  countenance  no.  interference. 
The  answer,  of  course,  lies  in  tlia 
size-  of  that  audience  an  its  cost- 
per-thousand  sponsor  compatibil¬ 
ity.  That’s  why  Caesar-Coca  in 
half-hour  form  may  be  a  more  re- 


are  longtime?  fa.ves.  in  these  parts  J  yarding,  experience  for  the  client; 
■At!  shnw  p-aiicrFit  thPTna  U7DC  o  Arnica  .  something  he  can  “live”  with.  Tha 


something  he  can  “live”  with.  The 
house  is.  smaller,  but  it’s  a  select 
one.  Rose. 


PAUL  GIBSON  SHOW 

With  Paul  Gibson,  Hal  Stark, 

.  others 

Producer-Director:  Phil  Bondelli 
45  Mins.,  Mon.-Fri.,  7:15  a.m. 
PARTICIPATING 
WBBM-TV,  Chicago 

WBBM-TV  has  .  plugged  the 
morning  slot  vacated  by  CBS-TV’s 
“Jimmy  Dean  Show”  with  an  amor¬ 
phous  showcasing  for  Paul  Gibson, 
a  radio  personality  of  15  years  ten¬ 
ure  .with  sister  station  WBBM.  It 
Was.  conceived  as  a  show  that 
wouldn’t  necessarily  require  view¬ 
ing,  and  that’s  what  it  has  turned 
out  to  be — radio  with  the  option  of 
a  picture.  Yet  for  all  its  formless¬ 
ness  and  lack  pf  visual  variety,  if 
succeeds  as  reasonably  engaging 
morning  fare  through  the  glibness 
of  Gibson. 

He  Has  a  great  gift  of  -gab,  can 
talk  endlessly  without  a  script,  and 
guided  only  by  a  fact  sheet  lie  de¬ 
livers  the  show  straight  off  the  cuff.. 
To  his  first  video  outing  he  brings 
all  the  virtues  of  his  radio  Stint: 
the  distinctively  dreary  voice,  the 
pickle-barrel  philosophy  in  a  brine 
of  erudition,  the  '  readiness  with 
polysyllables,  and  -even  the  ability 
to.  misuse  words  unselfconsciously. 

Show  originates  each  day  in  a 
different  part  of  the  local  CBS 
plant,  giving  the  free  wheeling 
Gibson  added  latitude.  On  occa¬ 
sional  shows  he  brings  in  animals, 
or  works  the  stagehands  into  the 
act,  or  brings  in  guests  for  chitchat 
(but  not  for  interviews).  Les.  ' 


Wednesday,  January  29.  1958 


* 


We  at  WBBM-TV  are  anxious  as  a  mother  hen  to  know 
who’s  second  in  Chicago  television. 


The  latest  ARB  report  shows  one  station  in  second  place. 
At  the  same  time,  another  station  is  ranked  second 
by  the  Chicago  Nielsen  Station  Index. 


But  Nielsen,  Telepulse*  ARB*... all  agree  on  one  thing.*., 

W BBM-TV  commands  first  place  by  a  wide  margin , 

We  believe  that’s  what  interests  you. 

1  Showmanship  shows  the  way  in  Chicago  television.  The  same 
)  Showmanship  that  turns  your  advertising  into  Salesmanship. 

The  kind  you  find  only  on...  WBBM-TV 

Chicago’s  Showmanship  Television  Station-Channel  2 
CBS  Owned-Represented  by  CBS  Television  Spot  Sales 

— -  •December,  1957 


38  TV-FDLMS  PS&klET? _ _ _ Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


ARB  FEATURE  FILM  CHART 

Variety's  weekly  chart,,  based  on  ratings  furnished,  by  American  Research  Bu •  feature  period  and.  share  of  audience,  since  these  factors^  reflectthe  effectiveness 
reau*s  latest  reports  on  feature  films  and. their  competition  covers  120  cities.  Each  of  the  feature  and  audience  composition,  i.e.,  a  Tate,  show  at  11 : 13  p.m,  would  hardly 
.week,  the  10  top-rated  features  in  a  particular  city  will  oe.  rotated.  have  aity  children  viewers,  but  its  share  of  audience  may  reflect  dominance  in  . that 

Factors  which  would  assist  distributors ;  agencies-  stations  arid  advertisers  in  timeperiod.  In  the  cities  where  stations  sell  th'evr  feature  programming  on  a  multi 
determining  the  effectiveness  of  a  feature  show  in  it  specific,  market  have  ,  been  stripped  basis  utilizing  the  same  theatrical  throughout  the  week  a  total  rating  jor the 
included  in  this  Variety  chart.  Listed  below  is  such  pertinent  inf  ormatibn  regarding  total  number  of  showings  for  the  week  is  given,  the  total  rating  mot  taking  into,  account 
features  as  their  stars,  release  year,  original  production  company  and  the  present  the  duplicated  homes  factor.  Barring  unscheduled  switches  m  titles  the  listed  features 
distributor  included  wherever  possible  along  with  the  title.  Attention  should  be  paid  for.  the  particularly  rated  theatrical  filmed^show  are  as  accurate  as  could  be  ascer- 
to  such  factors  as  the  time  and  day,,  the  high  and  low  ratings  for  the.  measured  tained  from  a  multiplicity  of  station  and  other  data. 


CHICAGO 

TOP  10  TITLES  AND  OTHER  DATA 

TME  SLOT 

ARB 

RATING 

HIGH 

LOW 

SHARE  OF 
AUDIENCE 

DECEMBER,  1957 
TOP  COMPETING  SHOWS 

ARB 

RATING 

1.  SNAKE  PIT— 

Olivia  De  Havilland,  Mark 

Stevens;  1940;  20th 

Century  Fox;  NTA 

Movietime,  U.S.A'. 

Fri.  Dec.  6 
10:00-11:40  p.m. 
WBKB 

27.9 

29.8 

19.8 

58.6 

Standard  News  Roundup  , , 
Brother  Rat,  Feature  Film. .. 

WBBM 

WGN 

—  20.5 
8.4 

1.  WATERLOO  BRIDGE— 

Vivien  Leigh,  Robert  Taylor; 

1940;  MGM;  MGM-TV 

Best  of  MGM 

Sat.  Dec.  2 
10:00-12:15  a.m. 
WBBJfl 

20 

22:8 

17.1 

50.1 

Frankenstein,  Shock  Theatre  . . 
Wrestling 

.  WBKB  . 
WBKB 

_ ..19.3 

36 

3.  MILDRED  PIERCE— 

Joan  Crawford,  Zachary  Scott,  Jack 
Carson,  Ann  Blyth;  1945;  Warner 
Brothers;  Associated  Artists  Productions 

Courtesy  Theatre 

Sun.  Dec.  1 
10:00-12:00  a  m. 

:  WGN 

20.8 

23.3 

14.8 

477 

News;  Sports;  Weather  ...... 

The  Long  Wait,  Movie  5 ; . ... 

Immortal  Sergeant,  Prestige 
Performance 

.  WBBM  . 
.WNBQ 

WBBM. 

..,...,22.4 

9.4 

93 

4.  FRANKENSTEIN— 

Boris  Karloff,  John  Boles, 

Colin  Clive;  1932;  Universal 

Screen  Gems 

Shock  Theatre 

Satv  Dec.  7| 
10:00-11:30  p.fo. 
WBKB 

19.3 

202 

17.9 

37.7 

Waterloo  Bridge, 

Best  of  MGM . . . . . .  WBBM 

.21,8 

5.  DANGEROUS— 

Bette  Davis,  Franchot  Tone; 

1935;  Warner  Brothers;  Associated 

Artists  Productions 

Feature  Playhouse 

Mon.  Dec.  2 
10:00-11:30  p.m. 

WGN 

13.5 

'  ^143  . 

13.1 

36.9 

Standard*  News  Roundup . , . . , 
Death  Valiey  Days.v. . . , . . .  .. 
New&r-Harrington 

Way  Down  East, 

Movietime,  U.S.A. . . . ... , , 

WBBM  . 
,  WNBQ  . 
WBBM 

.WBKB 

7.4 

6:1 

1.  WHERE  DANGER  LIVES— 

Robert  Mitchum,  Maureen 

O’Sullivan,  Faith  DomerguC; 

1950;  RKO;  C&C 

Movietime,  U.S.A. 
Thurs.  Dec.  5 
10:00-11:30  p.m, 
WBKB 

12.5 

13.3 

11.4 

34.8 

Standard  News  Roundup. ..... 

In  Town  Tonight. . :  . . , 

To  Have  and  Have  Not,.- 
Thursday  Premiere... 

WBBM  . 
.WBBM  , 

WGN  .... 

....... 27;i 

,.....,10.7 

7.  THE  LONG  WAIT— 

Anthony  Quinn, .  Charles  Coburn; 

1954;  United  Artists; 

United  Artists-TV 

Movie  5 

Sun.  Dec:  1 
9:30-11:00  p:m. 

WNBQ 

11.9 

14.3 

9.3 

20.5 

What’s  My  Line  ..  - . - ; . 

News;  Sports;  Weather  . . . , . . 
Mildred  Pierce,  Courtesy 
Theatre 

.  WBBM-  . 
.  WBBM  . 

WGhr  .  . 

......358 

26.4 

8.  TENTH  AVENUE  ANGEL— 

Margaret  O’Brien,  George 

Murphy,  Angela  Lansbury; 

1943;  MGM;  MGM-TV 

Early  Show 

Wed,  Dec.  4 

4:30-5:45  p.m: 

.WBBM 

11.0 

111 

8,8 

39.7 

American  Bandstand . . . 

Wild  BUI  Hickok.  _ _ 

‘  Mickey  Mouse  Club  . .  .  .  . ..... 

.WBKB 
.  WBKB  . 
.  WBKB  . 

7.5 

.......  3:3 

..... .22.6 

9.  INTERMEZZO— 

Ingrid  Bergman,  Leslie 

Howard;  1947;  Selznick 

Studio;  NTA 

Feature  Film 

Tues.  Dec.  3 
10:00-11:25  plm. 

WGN 

16:9 

ii.9 

10.0 

30.8 

Standard  News  Roundup !  ! . . . . 

Studio  57  ...  . 

Johnny  Apollo,  Movietime, 
U.S.A. 

.  WBBM  . 

.  WNBQ  . 

WBKB 

9.1 

10.  WILD  BILL  HICKOK  RIDES  AGAIN— 
Constance  Bennett,  Bruce  Cabot; 

1941;  Warner  Brothers; 

Associated  Artists  Productions 

Mages  Playhouse 

Wed,  Dec.  4 
10:00-11:30  p.m. 

WGN 

10.1 

11.0 

9.0 

321 

Standard  News  Roundup - 

Sheriff  of  Cochise: . . . ..... . 

News — Harrington  ... . . ... . . , ,, 

Tonight 

.WBBM  . 
.WNBQ  . 
WBBM 
WNBQ 

6.7 

8,1 

SAN  FRANCISCO 

1.  MY  DARLING  CLEMENTINE— 

Henry  Fonda,  Linda 

Darnell;  1946;  20th 

Century  Fox;  NTA 

Fabulous  Features 

Sun.  Dec.  1 

5:30r7:00  p.m. 

.KPIX 

25.4 

26.5 

24,2 

55.9:. 

The  Lone  Ranger. . . 

Wake  of  the  Red  Witch, 

Movie  Time  — 

•  KGO 

KRON  . 

63 

Z. *  SUDDENLY— 

Major  Movi 

24.0 

24  5 

23.2 

70.8 

Colt  .45. . ..... ,. .  .  . . . 

.KGO  ... 

...... .11.0 

Frank  Sinatra,  Sterling  Hayden, 

Nancy  Gates;  1954;  United 

Artists;  United  Artists-TV 

Fri.  Dec.  6 
10:00-11:30  p.m. 

KRON 

Studio  57 .  ..... . .  .  .  . 

Cowboy  and  the  Blonde,  - 
Big  Hit  Movie. .'. . — . . ... . . 

.  KPIX  ,  . 

.  KPIX  ,  . 

3.  HEIDI— 

:  Shirley  Temple,  Jean  Hersholt, 

Arthur  Treacher;  1937; 

20th  Century  Fox;  NTA 

Holiday  Special 

Sat.  Dec!  7. 

4:00-5:30  p.m; 

KPIX 

20.8 

21.9 

19.4 

72.5 

All  Star  Golf... _ _ 

Happy  Holly. .... ... .... 

.  KGO 
.KRON 

.......  4,1 

5,4 

4.  WAKE  OF  THE  RED  WITCH— 

John  Wayne,  Gail  Russell, 

Gig  Young;  1943;  Republic; 

Movie  Time 

Sun.  Dec.  1 

6:00-7:30  p.ni. 

20.5: 

21.3 

20.0 

40.7 

My  Darling  Clementi 

Fabulous  Features . . . 

.  KPIX  . . 
.KGO  ,. 

King-Shore 

KRON 

5.  SNAKE  PIT— 

Big  Movie 

13.8 

17.7 

9.0 

52.1 

WpIIt’i;  Top  Tiiiip^  , 

KGO  .. 
.KRON  . 

.KRON 

.  .13.9 

27 

~  Olivia  De  Havilland,,  Mark 

Stevens;  1940;  20th  Century 

Fox;  NTA 

Mon.  Dec.  2 
10:00-12:10  a.m: 

KPIX 

Suspicion  . . . . . 

News;  Captain  John  Smith, 
Giant  Movie . ..... - ... . . 

6.  THE  DARK  CORNER— 

Big  Movie 

Tues.  Dee.  3 
10:00-11:55  p.m. 

KPIX 

13.3 

17.1 

8.7 

627 

Ppllfnrni^n€  .. 

.  KRON  i 

1 4  u 

Lucille  Ball,  Mark  Stevens, 

Clifton  Webb;  1946;  20th 

Century  Fox;  NTA 

News;  Killer's  Kiss, 

.KRON 

3,2 

7.  HIS  KIND  OF  WOMAN— 

Jane  Russell.  Robert 

Mitchum;  1951;  RKO;  C&C 

Big  Movie 

Wed.  Dee;  4 
10:00-12:10  a.m; 

12.3 

14.8 

8.7 

55.7 

This  Is  Your  Life. . . , . . . . . 
News;  Dragons  Gold, 

TVTnvip 

.KRON  . 

.KRON. 

25.2 

5.3 

KPIX 

t.  BUFFALO  BILL— 

Maureen  O’Hara,  Joel  McCrea; 

Linda  Darnell;  1944;  20th  Century 

Fox;  NTA  Film  Network 

Premiere  Performance 
Sat.  Dec.  7 
11:00-12:45  a.m. 

KPIX 

9.5 

10.6 

6.5 

43.2 

Top  of  the  World, 

Movie  Hits  . ...  .;"v  v. . . .  .  .  . . 

.KRON 

9.0 

9.  TOP  OF  THE  WORLD — 

Dale  Robertson,  Frank' Love  joy; 

1955;  United  Artists; 

United  Artists-TV 

Movie  Hits 

Sat.  Dec.  7 
11:00-12:45  a.m. 

KRON 

93 

•  10.3 

6.1 

40.9 

Buffalo  Bill, .  Premiere 
Performance  ... 

.KPIX 

95 

10.  THAT  WAY  WITH  WOMEN— 

Dane  Clark,  Martha  Vickers; 

1947;  Warner  Brothers; 

Associated  Artists  Productions 

Golden  Gate  Playhouse 

No  2 

Mon.  Dec.  2 

4:00-5:15  p.m. 

KRON 

7:9 

8.7 

6.1 

49.4  ■ 

American  Bandstand. . .... - • . 

Superman 

.KGO 

KGO 

4.9 

6.5 

Pfifclkff 


59 


Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


USES  TV-AND  TT  GUIDE 


In  10  years  the  people  behind  the  screen  who  make 
TV  tick  have  done  quite  a  job.  Today,  there  are  more 
than  100  million  televiewers  and  40  million  TV  sets 
—and  the  number  of  both  is  going  up. 


Acceptance  of  the  “fabulous  infant*1  has  been 
nationally  contagious— and  nothing  is  more  indicative 
of  TV's  impact  than  the  ascendancy  of  TV  GUIDE. 


Although  Only  half  as  old  as  the  medium  it  mirrors, 
America's  Television  Magazine  has  become 
the  byword  (often  the  last  word)  in  the  TV  home. 

By  capturing  in  print  the  excitement  of  TV's  people 
and  programs  it  has  become  the  authoritative  voice 
of  television  fbr  more  than  14  million  viewers. 


It  now  receives  one  of  the  rarest  tributes  a  magazine 
can  earn:  6,000,000  weekly  circulation. 


Its  circulation  performance  is  unequalled 
in  publishing:  five  consecutive  million-or-more 
per  year  gains. 

TV  GUIDE'S  outlook-like  that  of  TV— is  bright; 
It  is  clear  both  have  a  look  America  likes. 


America’s  Television  Magazine 


40 


RADIO-TELEVISION 


Around  the  Ad  Agencies 

—  By  JACK  BERNSTEIN 


In  preparation  for  the  1959  cen¬ 
tennial  celebration  of  the  oil  indus¬ 
try,  the  American  Petroleum  In¬ 
stitute  late  in  August  proclaimed 
that  it  was  shelling  oiit  over  $300,- 
000  to  create  a  feature  length  film 
to  tell  the  industry  story.  The.  oil 
gusher,  set  via  MGM  TV,  seems  to 
have  been  capped  by  the  Institute, 
at  least  temporarily.  If  the  pilot 
had  been  accepted  it  would  have 
been  the  forerunner  of  a  $3,000,000 
to  $4,000,000  deal. 

BBDO.  agency  for  the  API,  came 
out  with  the  statement  that  the 
“API  feels  that  in  view  of  other 
possibilities  that  the  industry 
might  develop  in  connection  with 
the  centennial,  the  present  tv  film 
project  now  underway  at  MGM  TV 
would  be  held  in  abeyance  while 
the  whole  subject  of  the  petroleum 
centennial  is  reexamined." 

W.  R..  Huber,  director  of  the 
centennial  for  API,  said  that  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  Institute  had  other 
ideas  in  mind. 

BBDO  officials  when  questioned 
as  to  what  “other  possibilities  and 
reevaluation”  meant,  said  that 
“many  new  suggestions  had  been 
brought  up  by  the  Institute.” 

Jack.  Denove  was  to  have  han¬ 
dled  the  assignment  arid  agency 
execs  indicated  “that  the  produc¬ 
tion  had  gotten  to  the  treatment 
stage  on  one  of  the  stories  while 
still  researching  three  others.” 

The  spec,  which  was  labeled 
'‘Centennial,”  was  to  have  pre¬ 
empted  an  evening  time  period  on 
one  of  the  networks. 

Stockpiling  Commercials 

It’s  no  secret  that  a  good  inany 
ad  agencies  are  stockpiling  com¬ 
mercials  in  the  advent  of  a  strike 
by  Screen  Actors  Guild  over  their 
demands  for  filmed  commercials. 
Agency  feeling  on  this  subject  is 
that  the  SAG  contract  for  1958 
leaves  little  room  for  negotiations. 
The  union’s  contract  terminates  on 
March  2. 

The  agencies  presenting  new 
products  and  those  which  have 
merchandise '  which  constantly 
changes  are  concerned  over  the 


matter.  Other  agencies  with  staple 
products  have  shelved  canned  com¬ 
mercials — just  in  case. 

Y&R  May  Get  Buick 

The  Madison  Ave.  rumor  mill 
has  Young  &  Rubicam  picking  up 
the  juicy  $20,000,000  Buick  ac¬ 
count.  Agency  men  reason  that 
Y  &  R  resigned  the  $4,000,000?plus 
Lincoln  account  to  throw  its  hat 
into  the  .  ring  for  the  Buick  busi¬ 
ness.  Young  &  Rubicam’s  assistant 
to  the  president,  Tom  Lapham, 
Would  not  comment  on  the  subject 
byt  those  close  to  the  top  feel  that 
the  dispute  with  the  Lincoln  egecs 
was  a  genuine  one  and  that  agency 
president  S.  S.  Larmon  would  not 
drop  a  $4,000,000  “sure  thing”  just 
to  be  a  candidate  with  seven  others 
for  the  Buick  busiriess.  ; 

Now  that  the  agency  no  longer 
represents  an  automobile  manu¬ 
facturer,  the  picture,  they  claim, 
has  changed  and  an  all-Out  bid  is 
being  made  to  park  the  Buick 
business  on  the  agency  lot.  Cur¬ 
rent  book  favors  Young  &  Rubi¬ 
cam,  with  Beriton  &  Bowles  and 
Leo  Burnett  listed  as  everi  money, 
’tis  .  A  Buyers’  Market 

Capitalizing  the  missile 

theme,  ad  men  proclaims  that  tv 
production  costs  have  reached  the 
point  of  no  return.  They  point  out 
that  the  shoe  is  now  on  the  other 
foot  and  what  Once  a  sellers’  mark¬ 
et  has  changed  into  a  buyers’ 
market,  To  prove  their  point,  some 
ad  men  state  that  shows  which 
once  had  the  agency  men  standing, 
in  line  how  can’t  find  any.  takers. 
Currently,  -“Robin  Hood,”  “Wagon 
Train,”:  ‘‘Suspicion,”  “Restless 
Gun,”  “The  Life  of  Riley,”  and 
Groucho  Marx  are  looking  for 
backers. 

Agencymeri  feel  that  with  three 
networks,’  clients  are  reaching  less 
of  a  share  of  an  audience  than  they 
formerly  obtained,  but .  that  .  the 
production  costs  of  the  programs 
keeps  soaring.  Circulation  has  not 
kept  pace  with  the  compensation 
that  the  client  gets.  Agency,  row 
also  says  that  many  tv  shows  have 
as  many  as  three  and  four  sponsors 


Variety 


to  split  up  the  tab,  one  client  not 
being  able  to  afford  the  whole 
show. 

■;  By  1960  it’s  figured  that  spon¬ 
sors  will  be  using  specs  picked  at 
a  time  when  sales  can  reach  a  po¬ 
tential  peak.  Thus,  clients  will 
avoid  tieing  themselves  down  to 
.firm  39-week  contracts  and* a  "$2,- 
000,000  to  $3,000,000  investment: 

Ad  toppers  sum  it  up  by  saying 
that  sponsors  now  realize  that  they 
can’t  reach  everyone  and  that  stak¬ 
ing  money  into  tv  is  income  re¬ 
spects  like  putting  money  into  a 
bottomless  pit— you’ve  got  to  stop 
somewhere. 

The  Kudner  agericy,  stiff  spin¬ 
ning  over  the  loss  of  the  Buick 
account,  has  more  personnel 
changes  this  week.  Robert  Betts, 
formerly  of  the  tv  copy  department, 
named  manager  Of  tv-radio  com¬ 
mercial  department,  and  Edgar 
Kahn  is  being  returned  from  the 
agency’s  Coast  office  to  take  charge 
of  tv  production. 

Chi  Agencies 

By  LES  BROWN 

Chicago,  Jan.  28. 

Although  the  account  doesn’t 
begin  formally  until  April  1,  Need¬ 
ham,  Louis  &  Brorby  is  now  doing, 
preliminary  work  on  a  program  for 
Renault  automobiles  in  the  United 
States.  New  York  office  of  NL&B 
will  handle  the  program  for  the 
French  company  which  sold  29,000 
cars  here  in  1957. 

Olin  &  Bronner,  Chicago,  is 
mapping  a  radio,  tv  and  newspaper 
schedule  for  Over  Fifty  Capsolets, 
new  vitamin  account  from  Geriatric 
Research  Laboratories. 

Mercury  Records  has  named 
Henri,  Hurst  &  McDonald  as  Its 
agency. 

George  C..  Ebbert,  formerly  of 
Pabst  Brewing  Co.,  joined  Goufain- 
Loeff  agency  in  Chi  as  public  re¬ 
lations  director. 

.  Pakistan  government  has  as¬ 
signed  the  advertising  account  of 
the  Pakistan  Air  Force  to  the  Kara¬ 
chi  office  Of:  Grant.  Advertising. 

Fairfax  Ml  Cone,  chairman  of  the 
executive  committee  of  Foote,  Cone 
&  Belding,  received  the  second 
annual  award  for  community  serv¬ 
ice  last  week  from  the  Chicago 
chapter  of  the  Public  Relations 
Society  of  America.  jAt  the  6ame 
time  he  was 'cited  by  the  Treasury 


'Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


Dept,  for  heading  a  public  rela¬ 
tions  campaign  to  sell  U.  S.  Sav¬ 
ings  Bonds  for  the  past  eight  years. 
Cone  is  an  officer,  or  member,  of 
some  25  civic  and  charitable 
groups  in  Chi. 

Blow  ‘Looking.  Around’ 

Hollywood,  Jan..  28. 

Gene  Kummel  (Norman,  Craig 
&)  in  L.  A.  to  negotiate  *a  merger 
with  a  coast  agency,  would  rather 
talk  about  acquiring  the  Zephran 
(fibre)  account  from  Dow  Chemical. 

Milton  Biow,  in  the  midst  of  all 
the  wheeling  and  dealing  at  the 
Beverly  Hills  Hotel,  says  he’s  just, 
looking  around.  Qne  report  has 
him  linked  with  General  Motors 
and/or  Buick  if  he  decides  to  get 
back  into  the  agency  biz. 

Leo  Burnett  came  to  the  Coast 
to  look  in  on  the  Star  Kist  Tuna 
account,  which  has  asked  for  pres¬ 
entations:  Honig-Cooper  now  has 
the  billing  of  around  $1,000,000 
a  year. 

Madison  Ave.  Moves  To 
5th;  Bates,  B&B,etaL, 
Shift  to  Tishman  Bldg. 

Ted  Bates  &  Co^  the  ad  agency, 
is  moving  into  the  new  Tishman 
Bldg,  at  666  Fifth  Ave.,  Feb.  14, 
leasing  100,000.  square  feet  of 
space.  Among  its  neighbors  Will  be 
Benton  &  Bowles,  Which  has  been 
occupying  130,000  square  feet  since 
last  month  when  it  gave  up  Madi¬ 
son  Ave.  quarters. 

The  first  tenant  in  the  41-story 
aluminum-faced  struct ur  e  was 
Warner  Bros.  With  100,000  square 
feet  of  space.  Other  tenants  in-- 
elude  the  Katz  Agency,  radio  reps, 
arid  Zenith  Corp.,  with  a  ground 
.floor  showroom  featuring  tv  re¬ 
ceivers  and  hearing  aids. 

A  plushy  dining  and  cocktail 
lounge  on  the  38th  floor,  is  under 
construction  by  the  Stouffer  chain 
of  restaurants.  Employees  of  the 
chain  are  being  asked  to  contribute 
a  fitting  title  for  the  upper  sky¬ 
scraper  eatery. 

.  “Top  of  the.  Tish”  and  “Upper 
Fifth”  have  been  ruled  out  as  too 
frivolous. 


PhQ  Silvers  To 
Fn.;  Swaps  With 
"Adams  and  Eve 

Phil  Silvers,  who’s  been  topping 
the  NBC-TV  George  Gobel-Eddi 
Fisher  teamup  this  season  but  has"' 
been  taklrig- a  Nielsen  beating  from 
ABC’s  Westerns  pairing  of  “Chey-‘ 
erine”  and  “Sugarfoot,”  gets  a 
new  lease,  on.  life,  starting.  Feb.  14 
when  his  Sgt:  Bilko  &  Co.  switch 
to  Fridays  at  9,  with  “Mr.  Adams 
&  Eve”  mjpving  from  that  spot  into 
Silvers’  Tuesday  at  8  period  three 
days  earlier. 

With  the  westerns  removed  -  as 
ah  obstacle,  CBS  figures  Silvers  is 
a  cinch  to  dominate  the  Friday  at 
9  field,  where  his  competition  con¬ 
sists  of  Frank  Sinatra  on  ABC 
and  “M-Squad”  on  NBC.  “Adams 
&  Eve,”  the  Howard  Duff-Ida  Lu- 
pino  comedy,  has  been  holding  its 
own  on  Friday  nights  (though  it’s 
only  half-sponsored),  but  CBS  pro¬ 
gramming  exec  v.P;  Hiibbell  Rob¬ 
inson  feels  that  it  has  a  kiddie 
appeal  that  hasn’t  been  properly 
exploited  and  Which  could  benefit 
frorn  the  Tuesday  lead-in  of 
"Name  That  Tune.” 

However,  what  with  “Adams  Sc 
Eve"  only  half  sponsored  and  the 
Tuesday  8:30  picture  somewhat 
clouded;  both,  sponsor  and  pro¬ 
gram-wise,  it’s  cOnceivalbe  that 
CBS  is  paving  the  way.  for  one  of 
several  hour-long  properties  it  is 
readying  for  next  season.  Robin¬ 
son  said  this  matter  hasn’t  come 
up  yet  and  a. lot  of  things  can  hap¬ 
pen  between  .  now  and  fall,  but. 
added  that  he’s  hopeful  “Adams  Sc 
Eve"  can  do  Well  in  the  new  time 
slot. 

Cleveland— Sounds  of  a  trai 
auto  accident,  in  which  one  person. 
Was  killed,  was  broadcast  by  KYW 
When  Allen  Shade  Jr.,  ,  a  collector 
of  train  noises,  happened  to  be  On 
the  scene  when  the  Nickel  Plate 
train  rammed  an  auto.  Shade 
brought  his  sounds  to  KYW,  which 
tied  the  recording  into  its  news 
programs  and  .then  presented  it  on 
a  special  “Program  PM”  stint. 


‘SEZ  WHOP 


'SEZ  WHO!’ 


‘SEZ  WHO!’ 


‘SEZ  WHO!’ 


‘SEZ  WHO!’ 


‘SEZ  WHO!” 


Best  Quiz  Show  of  7957 

“SEZ  WHO!” 


Set:  NATION’S  RADIO  AND  TELEVISION 
CRITICS  AND  EDITORS  IN  RADIO-TELEVISION 
DAILY’S  ANNUAL  POLL. 

Thanks  to -RADIO-TELEVISION  DAILY 

T/iaiMs  to-M.C.  HENRY  MORGAN  AND  OUR  WONDERFUL  PANELISTS 

Thanks  to  -HOWARD  BARNES,  HARLAN  DUNNING  AND  fHE 
CBS  PROGRAM  AND  SALES  STAFF 

Thanks  to -SIDNEY  REZNICK  WHO  CREATED  THE  SHOW 
Thanks  to -OUR  DEDICATED  PRODUCTION  STAFF 

and  of  Course,  Thanks  to  —  OUR  MANY  SPONSORS! 

This  advertisement  has  been  paid  for  hy  a  friend*. 

*  FRANK  COOPER  PRODUCTIONS 

Who  Produced  "SEZ  WHO!"  la  Assockrtloa  With 
CBS-Radio  ob  Sunday  at  7:30  P.M.,  E.S.T. 


‘SEZ  WHO!”  “SEZ  WHO!”  “SEZ  WHO!”  “SEZ  WHO!”  “SEZ  WHO!”  “SEZ  WHO!” 


Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


TV  To  Run  Short,  Fast  Track 

Continued  from  page  1  - 

gramming,  like  the  measles,  is  around  ■when,  the  ’58-’59  curtain 
something  the  network  and  the  goes  up: 

sponsor  will  henceforth  have  to  .  A?c  —  Guy  Mitchell  (already 
live  with  and  accept.  For  under  the  iyoice'  hi  5fkestSe“  teS^i’s 
present  26i-weekl  39-week  or  full  shopping  around);  “Telephone 
year  firm  commitments,  both  the  Time”  (notice  of  cancellation  al- 
networks  and  the  advertisers  real-  ready  posted)  ;  “West  Point,”  “Date 
jze  that  they’re  obliged  to  ride,  with  With:  the  Angels”  (format  has  just 
shows  neither  they  nor  the'  audi-  teen  revised  from  film  to  live); 
ences  want,  with  everybody  the  “OSS”  (network  couldn’t  even  sell 
loser.  But  contractual  obligations  this  one);  Patrice  Munsel  (got 
prevent  them  from  doing  anything  good  notices  but  ratings  bad)  and 
about  it.  the  “Walter  Wiiichell  File.” 

Since  a  13-week  commitment  is  CBS— Eve  Arden  Show  (already 
considered  of  too-short  duration  cancelled );  “Armstrong  Circle  The- 
and  a  26-week  firm  deal  regarded  atre,”  “Leave  It  To  Beaver”  (iffy 
as  too  long  and  an  unnecessary  with  its  half -sold  status);  “Dick 
wastage  of  coin  where  poor  shows  and  the.  Duchess.”  (Already  axed.) 
are  concerned,  it’s  estimated  that  it’s  still  wait-and-see  on  “Richard 
the  average  show  henceforth  will  Diamond,”  Which  has  just  been 
be  riding  with  either  an  18-week  or  installed.  Survival  of  “Big  Rec- 
a  20-week  firm  deal.  That  gives  the  ord”  will  depend  on  finding  a  bet- 
client  lots  of  mid-season  flexibility,  ter  time  period.  Survival  of  Phil 
If  the.  show,  makes  it,  it  stays.  If  Silvers  arid  “Mr.  Adams  &  Eve” 
it’s  a  “wrong  guess”— it’s  curtains,  shows  may  depend  on  what  Bap-- 
and  bting  on  the  next  one.  -P^ns  as  result  of  their  time  Swap. 

Since  there  just  aren’t  that  many  NBC  —  “My  Friend  Flicka” 
good  programs  to  go  around,  the  /forced  to  go  co-op  because  of  no¬ 
exits  and  the  entrances  ..will  be  sale  situation);  “Sally”  (due.  to 
stepped  up  next  season. at  an  urn  fade  in  March),  “Suspicion”  (rep- 
preCedented  clip.  It’ll  be  a  veri-  resenting  a  big  .loss  to  the  net- 
table  field  day  for  both,  the  live  and  work).;.  Eddie  Fisher.  &  George 
the  film  packagers,  with  the  Henry  Gobel  hour  show;  “Californians,” 
Jaffes,  the  David  Susskirids,  the  Rosemary  Clooney  and  Jan© 
Zivs,  the  MCA’s,  the  TPA’s,  the  Wyman  (both  suffering  from  bad 
Scr  een  Gems’,  etc.,;  even  now  ratingitis);  “Court  of  Last  Resort” 
champing  at  the  bit  in  anticipation  (Old  Gold  has  already  .served 
of  an  approaching  windfall.  notice  on  this  one);  “Club  Oasis” 

What’s  happened  this  season,  in  and^Gisele  MacKenzie;  “What’s  It 
a  period,  of  increasing .  economic  F°r”  (already,  bumped) ;:  “End  "of 
uncertainly,  has  been;,  a  key  factor  the  Rainbow”  (which  got  clobbered 
in  hastening  the  demise  of  the  on  the  ipreem  a  couple  weeks 
longterm  deal.  A  lot  of  sponsors—  back);  Polly  Bergen  Show,  and  the 
more  than  the  networks  wish  to  be  brace  of  7:30  entries,  “Truth  or 
reminded  of— have  been  saddled  Consequences”  and  “Tr  e  a  sure 
with  flops  or  near-flops,  but  have  Hunt,”  both  of  them  taking  a-Tren- 
been  contractually-bound  to  stay  dex  beating. 

with  them!  Some  have  managed  to  H’s  gonna  take  a  lot  of  new 
ease  out  of  their  dud  entries,  but  shows  to  fill  the  big,  empty  gaps, 
by  and  large  they’re  still  stuck  Line  forms  to  the  right, 
with  ’em.  — i— 

The  anticipated  30-show  casualty 
list  in  the  approaching  months  A  pmelMiitf  Cvaa 

ahead  will  find  all  three  major  net-  HlllISlI  vng  CAOv 
works  pressed  for  fresh  entries  for  ■  —  continued  from  page  25  ssssss 

the  new  fall  season,  CBS  is  perhaps  .  \ 

better  off  than  any  In  terms  of  a  straight  entertainment  offering, 
survivors,  with  only  about  half-a-  Tying  some  of  these  elements  to- 
dozen  shows  'facing,  season’s-end  gcther,  Banzhaf  expresses  himself 
axing,  ABC  will  have  a  few  more,  thusly:  “I  think  we  must  have  some 
NBC,  from  the  looks  of  things,  may  sense  of  responsibility  to  the^  pub- 
bear  the  brunt  of  the  casualties.  lie  in  our  programming.  Were  in 
Based  on  early  January  rating  the  business  of  delivering  impres- 
returns,  sponsor  unhappiness  and/  sions,  be  they  advertising  or  pub- 
or  other  individual  factors-  that  lic  relations,  ana  being  associated 
enter  Into  the  picture,  these''  are  with  programs  of  taste^and  Quality 
the  shows  that  don’t  figure  to  be  has  a  more  lasting  affect  on  the 
s==^^=^====m«========  public  than  being;  successful  for  a 

short  while  with  something  frivol¬ 
ous.  To  put  it  another  way,  we’d 
rather  please  10  people  than  dls- 

t“In  any  medium,  advertising 
foots  the  bills  for  the  editorial  con¬ 
tent.  But  in  television,  it  not  only 
foots  the  bills  and  selects  the  edi«? 
for  the  editorial  matter  which  sur¬ 
rounds  its  message.  It’s  the  only 
medium  in  which  the-  '  advertiser 
foots  the  bils  and  selects  the  edi¬ 
torial  content.  And  there’s  a  close 
public  identification  between  the 
u  -ur...  u  -  .  advertiser  and.  what  he  presents. 

Mgt.  Wiiuam  M«rn»  Agency  Dealing  as  we  are  in  impressions 

on  the  public,  the  right  impression 
— — — — — — is  as  important  as  the  right  com- 

mercial..” 

Banihaf  believes  that  “impact”  Is 
TELEVISION  SHOWS  (.growing  more  important  than 
,  “frequency”  in  television,  partic- 

ana  RADIO  ARTISTS  ularly  as  it  applies  to  the  Arm- 

T.  VAIBUTIIJB  C  Strong  line  of  floor  coverings, 

ine  valcniinb  yong  Reason  is  that  people  purchasing 

For  Your  Programs  the  Armstrong  products  do  so  at 

long  intervals,  about  one  every 
VAII’DC  Jft  five  years.  >  Hence,  it’s  not  so  Im- 

TUU  KL  H  portant  to  reach  them  regularly  as 

.  it  is  to  impress  them  when  they 

C1M rCTU C  A  DT  are  reached.  Nor  are  top  ratings 

OVVLC  I  nLHA  I  so  important,  since  Armstrong  is 

!  sure  to  reach  everybody  over  a 
JIMMY  McHUGH'S  !  span  of  years. 

Standard  At  the  same  time,  it’s  this  pur¬ 

chase-time  gap  which  makes  public 
^ 2'  relations  inseparable  from  adver- 
~  tising,  Benzhaf  points  out,  reiterat- 

ASjikT-  fOTfa]  ing  that  any  “impression”  on  the, 

rvtwoAr  ■mra  public,  be  it  an  advertising  im- 

every  CHANNitV - pression,  a  public  relations  impres- 

/b^TllDDAAlTC  sion  or  merely  an  impression  of 
t 1  -D  11. V/  Ulv  O  overall  responsibility  to  the  pub- 

Re  needs,  the  effects  are  equally 
Wm  COST  U  M  E  S  irnportant.  “We  don’t  believe  in 

•  Min&t  Fr  .  public  responsibility  from  a  moral 

swtuti.m^K.Y.c-YAPLY-wo  $ense  alorie,  or  because  it’s  the 

— ——  right  thing  to  do^ we  do  it  to  make 

.  a  profit,  and  we’re  convinced  that 

MADE  PEANUTS  public  service  in  whatever  form 

ON  FIRST  NOVEL  rGIn  ^his  regard,  Armstrong  has  j 

Writing  second  anyway.  Meanwhile,  COme  Up  with  a  powerful  offshoot 

I  r*Uglflun 


RADIO-TELEVISION  41 


TELEVISION  SHOWS 
end  RADIO  ARTISTS 
The  VALENTINE  Song 
For  Your  Programs 

YOU’RE  A 
SWEETHEART 

JIMMY  McHUGH'S 
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EVERYDAY 

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BROOKS 

COSTUMES 

f  3  Wml  Mit Sl^N.Y.C.-Tnl.  PL  7-5R00 


made  peanuts 

ON  FIRST  NOVEL 

Writing  second  anyway.  Meanwhile, 
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i*ase  creative  head  or  ;  strong 
back- three  fuli  days  a  week. 

721  VARIETY. 

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TELEVISION  REVIEWS 


Tele  Follow-Up  Comment 


Steve  Allen  Show 
Fatty  Arbuckle  played  the  Steve 
Allen  Show  (26)  and  added  consid¬ 
erable  vitamins  to  a  rapid  60  min¬ 
utes  of  both  song  and  low  comedy. 
Fatty  was  one  of  a  flock  of  oldtime 
film  idols  seen  in  film  clips  with 
live  and  frequently  pointed  pro¬ 
gram  notes  by  Allen.  In  this  treat 
for  silent  film  fans,  the  emcee 
flashed  bits  (nothing  subliminal)  cf 
Douglas  Fairbanks  Sr.,  Mary  Pick- 
ford,  William  S.  Hart,  Lon  Chaney, 
fiebe  Daniels,  Charles  Chaplin, 
Marie  Dressier.  Norma  Shearer, 
Lewis.  Stone,  Rudolph  Valentino 
and  Garbo.  A116n  dubbed  Arbuckle 
the  “Jackie  Gleason  of  his  day1’ 
and  Fairbanks  the  “Perry  Como  of 
his  day”  and  said  Valentino  was 
knfgvn  for.  his  burning  kisses  be¬ 
cause  the  latter  never  took  the 
cigar  out  of  ,  his  mouth.  This  old 
film  clip  routine  could  conceivably 
become  a  popular  weekly  feature 
oh  the  Allen  show. 

Standout  was  Martha  Raye  in  a 
slapstick  sketch,  about  pix  retakes. 
She  was  also  effective  in  the  waj- 
bling  of  the  Mercer-Arlen  number, 
“That  Old  Black  Magic.”  She  did 
the  tune  behind  an  effective  back- 
drop  while  wearing  a  sexy  bodice 
with  dark  solid  material  on  one 
bosom;  and  a  handsome  satin  stole 
attached  to  one  shoulder  and  ex¬ 
tending  to  the  floor.  It  was  the 
perfect  gown  for  the  delivery  of 
“Black  Magic.” 

Charles  Laughton’s  talents 
weren’t  utilized-  to  the  full  on  this 
occasion.  Allen’s  writers  came  up: 
with  some  mildly  diverting  “read¬ 
ing”  bits  for  Laughton  which  had 
him  doing  excerpts  from;  daily 
stock  market  reports,  women’s  col¬ 
umns  and  tidbits  from  one  of  Earl 
Wilson’s  saloon  gossip  columns. ; 
Laughton’s  tour  de  force  was  the  j 
delivery  'of  the  NBC-TV  station  j 
break:  j 

Rubinoff  (Dave,  .that  is)  with  fid-  j 
die  in  hand  and  an  assist  from  a 
mechanical  grand  player  -  piano ; 
schmaltzed  out  a  composition  of  his . 
own.  “Dance  of  the  Russian  Peas¬ 
ants.”  In  this  instance,  the  player-1 
piano,  with  music  pages  that  turned: 
by  . themselves,  robbed  the  show 
from?a,the  fiddle  player.  This  was 
also  the  debut  of  the  mechanized 
piano,  but  Baldwin  and  Steinway 
have  nothing  to  fear  from .  the 
sheriff.  i 

Jimmy  Dean  vocalized  “John 
Henry”  and  Erin  P’Brien,  garbed  ; 
in  a  splendid  gown,  delivered  "My : 
Romance.”  Miss  O’Brien  is  a  look¬ 
er,  not  to  mention  hgr  polished 
pipes.  As  usual,  the  Allen  perma¬ 
nents,  including  Louis  Nye  and, 
Tom  Poston,  turned  in  sound  per-  j 
formances.  Taking  as  the  -  theme, 
“Is  woman’s  place  ,  really  in  the 
home?”,  the  boys  had  themselves 
a  swishing  time  iff“female  toggery. 
Props  on  the  Timex  commercials 
continue  as  staggering  as  atomic 
reactors.  .  Rans. 


4  Person  to  Person 

For  the  fifth  season  now  under 
[Ed  Murrow’s  gentle,  prodding.  --- 
:  and  sometimes  with  no  prodding 
'  at  all — the  interviewees  on  GBS- 
ITV’s  "Person  to  Person”  have 
!  regaled  viewers  with  discourses  on 
j  their  hobbies,  tours  of  their  trophy 
rooms  and  kindred  subjects.  Fri¬ 
day’s  (24)  session  was  no;  exception. 

No  doubt  a  feather  in  the  “P.  to 
P-’’  chapeau  was  the  presence  of 
controversial  soprano  Maria  Callas. 
With  her  record  of  erratic  coopera¬ 
tion  with  the  press  and  public, 

.  soirie  viewers  perhaps  anticipated 
!  a  fiery  q.  and  a.  telecast.  But  here 
:'Miss  Callas  ;  proved  she  .  could 
’  reverse  her  field  if  she.  thought 
the  occasion  called  for  it  For  she 
was  anything  but  recalcitrant;  in 
the  remote  from  her  Waldorf 
Towers  (N.Y.)  apartment. 

The  celebrated  diva,  whom  Mur- 
row  said'  “has  restored  the  ancient 
lustre  to  the  title  of  prima  donna,” 
was  a  gracious  and  cordial  hostess 
in  tossing  but  the  electronic  wel¬ 
come  mat  Although  Murrow 
brought,  up  a  few  indelicate  mat¬ 
ters  such  as  the  star’s  .tempera¬ 
ment  and  her.  recent,  failure  to 
show  up  at  a  Rome  performance 
of  Bellini’s  “Norma,”  she  deftly 
parried  the  queries^  She  denied 
•she  haid  ever  thrown  anything,  at 
anyone  and  as  for  1’aff  aire  Rome, 
-‘T  just  happened  to  catch  a  stupid 
cold.” 

Visited  in  the  early  part  of  the. 

;  session  was  Mrs.  Charles  Ulrich 
Bay,  who’s  often  referred  to  as  the 
country’s-,  “first  lady”  in  the  finaff- 
:  cial  world:.  The  remote  from  her 
Park  Ave.  duplex,  as  per  “P.  to  P,”. 
!  tradition,  had  the  cameras  roving 
'  about  the  premises  to  show  the  i 
[viewr  from  the  windows;  a  view  of 
•  the  trophy  room  .  and  to  pick  up. 
j  a  family  scene  in  which  the  dig- 
1  nified  Mrs.  Bay  introduced  her 
j  three  small  children.  A  reserved 
[  individual,  she  epitomized  the  pop¬ 
ular  concept' oh  of  a  successful 
;  businesswoman.  Gilb. 

I  - - :  . 

The  Seven  Lively  Arts 
“The  Seven  Lively  Arts”  came 
through  with  a  sock  show;  and  tv 
journalism,  got  a  big  boost  Sunday 
(26)  with  the  CBS-T V  presentation 
;  .of  “Blast  in  Centralia  No:  5.”  It 
Was  a  forceful  and  courageous 
-  presentation  that  scored  with  its 
;  very  simplicity  ahd  pointed  in  a 
direction  that  has  barely  been  ex¬ 
plored  by  the  medium. 

“Blast”  was  based  on  the  John 
,  Bartlow  Martin  story  in  Harper’s 
j  magazine  and  was  adapted  with 
candor  and  common  sense  by  Lor- 
ing  Mandel.  From  the  script,  to  the 
performances,  to  the  direction,  it 
was  an  absorbing,  often  heart- 
breaking  expose  of  negligence.  It 
presented  the  facts  of  the  disaster, 
and  its  causes,  and  it  took  sides 


:  To  Settlt  Tht  Estal*  Of  EDITH  CONWAY  RING1ING 

J:  By  Order  Of  Edward  F.  Kelly,  Erecutpr 

•  4  PRIME  SARASOTA,  FLORIDA  PROPERTIES 

•  Will  be  Mold  at 


AUCTION 


J  Subject  To  Realistic  Upset  Prices 

•  *  3330  ACRES-IS  mi.  Southeast  of  Sarasotai  on  Route 

•  72  and  5  miles  east  of  Venice.  In  parcels  and  as  a  whole;  Upset 

2  price  570  per  acre,  70%  on  Mtge.  for  7  years. 

•  *  f^GUNG  RESIDENCE,  INCLUDING  21.52  ACBES-Bayshore 

•  -  Road  North,  566  Ft  on  Sarasota  Bay  —  Upset  price  $200,000. cash. 

•  ★  52  COMMERCIAL  LOTS  on  Ringfing  Boulevard  in  the  heart  of 

•  Sarasota;  Upset  price  $230,000  rash  ,• 

2  Ar  LARGE  COMMERCIAL  PLOT — fronting  on  RingUng  Boulevard 

•  *  and  adjoining  ACLRR  in  heart  of  ~5arasota;  Upset  price  5100,000 

•  cash., 

2  -Send  for  Booklet  S  Broker  Participation  Invited 

•  All  of  theforegoing  fa  subject  to  ‘Terms  of  Sale”  copies  of  which 

•  are  available  at  the  addresses  set  forth  below. 

:  SALE  SATURDAY,  FEB.  22  ipSfift3SL. 

•  ★  PERSONAL  PROPERTT  in  .  residence  will  be  sold  at  Absolute 

2  Auction  without  reserve  Feb.  24,  25,  10  AM.  Catalog  R, 


•  7  Dey  Street,  New  York  City,  Olthy  9-2000  • 

-v  •  Stephen  A.  McDonald,  President,  Auctioneer, -  Orange  Blossom  Hotel,  Sarasota,  Fit.  2 
**  Den  Boomhower,  Local  Representative,  1306  Mam  street,  Sarasota,  Ffa.  • 
2  Phone  .tingling  7-3H1  • 


A  \ck 


....  .  PfiSuMfy 


'  .only  by  letting  the  documented 
;  truths  spieak  for  themselves. 

.  “Centrailia  No.  5,”  aii  Illinois 
coalmine,  blew  dp  on  March  25, 

;  19.47,  killing  111  men  and  wound¬ 
ing  many  more.  The  disaster  was 
preceded  by  years  .of  warnings  of 
coal-dust  danger  and  generally 
poor  conditions.  They  were  ignored 

■  down  the*line,  though  the  miners. 
E  themselves  pressed  their  com- 

■  plaints  relentlessly  up  to  the  gov- 
'  ernor,.  supported  by  a  state  mine 
1  inspector  who.  could  see  the  hand¬ 
writing  off  the  wall. 

’  The  show,  narrated  effectively  by 
Jason  Robards  Jr,  and  directed  by 
i  George  Roy  Hill  with  a  fine -  feel 
'  for  -.  documentary  understatement, 
had  to  its  credit  not  only  an  aura 
of  realism  but  an  array  of  impres¬ 
sive  faces  and  expert  performances: 
Maureen  Stapleton  played  a 
miner’s  wife  and  she  delivered  a 
haunting  bit  when  a  reporter  came 
to  see  her  after  the  disaster  to  talk 
!  about  her  Tiusband  and  son,  both 
lost,  in  the  blast. 

.  Virtually  every  performance  was 
topnotch.  Milton  Selzer  played  the 
{inspector  with  all  the  desperation 
of  a  man  trying  to  stem  disaster  in 
the  face  of  massive  inertia:  Daniel 
Reed  was  perfectly  cast  as  the 
fumbling  Arthur  G.  Mitchell,  the 
state  mine  boss  unwilling  to  offend 
the  mine  owners.  .In  other  roles, 
Carl  Low,  Guy  Raymond,  Harry 
Gresham,.  John  Hamilton  and  Wal¬ 
ter  Burke  delivered  fine  portrayals. 
The  show*  . was  as  hard  on  the  mine 
operators  as  on  the  union.  Cliff 
James  delineated  the  union  boss  of 
the  area  Who  took  his  orders  from 
“above,”  i.e.,  Washington. 

Mandel’s  script .  caught  the  des¬ 
peration  of  the  men  caught  in  the 
huge  squeeze  of  -the  know-nothing 
minds,  and  he  called  a  spade  a 
spade  throughout.  “Centralia  N?.  i 
5”  shed  light  on  a  tragedy  after  it 
■*  happened,  pointing  angry  fingers, 
but. not  accusing.  It  was,  in  its  way, ! 
a  masterpiece.  John  Crosby  hosted 
as  per  usual.  Hift.  j 

Kraft  Television 

It’s  a  shame  producer  Stanley 
QCiinn  couldp’t  have  come  up  with 
a  better  vehicle  for  Pat  O’Brien. 
He  was  a  natural  as  the  fear-ridden  i 
cop  in  “Eddie,”  the  human  story  of 
the  life  of  a  patrolman,  telecast; 
Wednesday  (22)  evening  on  NBC-I 
:  tv. 

But  unfortunately,  the  story  by 
Sam  Dann  just  didn’t  have  enough ! 
meat*  It  became  much  too  talky 
and  obvious  for  an  emotional 
punch,  despite  the  schmaltz  poured  j 
on  in.  the'  script.  But  the  author] 
and  producer  should  ,  be  given  an  ; 
E  for  effort.  There  was  an  attempt  ; 
to  tell  a  human  story  in  human 
terms  and  there  were  fragmentary 
moments  when  it  came  off. 

0’BriCn  handled  his  role  with  the 
ease  of  a.  vet  performer.  He  was 
given  an  able  assist  by  Fay  Wray, 
portraying  his  wife,. and  Clay  Hall, 
as  his  son.  Ruth  White  as  a  color¬ 
ful  character  had  some  hokey  lines 
to  deliver  and  Rip  Torn  as  a  young 
juvenile  delinquent  appeared  *  to 
ape  the.  Marlon  Brando  style. 
Stefan  Gierisch  as  the  thief  was 
okay  and  Dick  Van  Patten  did  some 
effective’  offbeat  acting  as  his  ac¬ 
complice,  Direction  by  William. 
Graham  Was  too  slowly  paced! 

Horo . 

The  20th  Century 

“The  Twentieth  Century”  took 
its  camjeras  behind  a  progressive 
penal  institution  on  CBS-TV  show 
of  Sunday  (26)  and  attempted  a 
broad  canvas  of  the  steps  taken  to 
rehabilitate  the  inmates.  The  penal 
program  apparently  attains  a  great 
degree  of  success;  it  being  ex¬ 
plained  that  the  institution,  at 
Bordentown,  N.J.,  has  shortened 
the  average  stay  from  33  to  22 
months.  Thus  a  great  saving  on 
human  resources  ahd  on  the  tax¬ 
payer's  effected. 

The  program  includes  psychiat¬ 
ric  as  well  as  social  service  obser¬ 
vation.  There  is  careful  examina¬ 
tion  of  Both  facets  of  the  inmate 
by  workers  in  these  departments. 
The  inmates  are  given  opportunity 
to  get  the  roots  of  their  errors  out 
of  their  system  by  private  con¬ 
ference  and  group  discussions.  It 
seemingly  is  a  sound  program  that 
is  paying  off,  but  that,  unfortunate¬ 
ly,  isn’t  too.  widely  applied. 

"  However,  respite  the  general  ex¬ 
cellence  of  the  show,  the  produoers 
made  some  grievous  errors  in  at¬ 
tempting  to  condense  so  vast  and 
important  a  subject  into  one  hour. 
It  left  a  lot  of  holes  in  the  plot,, 
and  some  sequences  were  so 
isolated  as  to  be  seemingly  inde¬ 
fensible. 

For  example,  early  in  the  show 
(Continued  on  page  43) 


Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


Foreign  TV  Reviews 


JOHNNY  BELINDA 
With  Betta  St.  John,  James  Don¬ 
ald,  William  Sylvester,  Moultrie 
Kelsall,  John  Stevenson  Lang, 
Don  Gilliland,  Kay  Callard, 
Barry  Shawzin,  Joan  Heath,  Su¬ 
san  Richmond,  Jean  Anderson, 
Tony  Quinn,  Robert  0  Percival, 

!  David  Gardner 
!  Writer:  Elmer  Harris 
i  TV  adaptation:  Neil  McCallum  and 
'  Frank  Nesbitt 

.  Designers:  Stanley  Mills,  Tom 
I  Spaulding 
’  Director:  Cliff  Owen 
90  Mins.,  Wed.,  3:30  p.m. 
Granada-TV  from  Manchester 
Elmer.  Harris’  moving  play  about 
a  deaf  mute,  “Johnny  Belinda,” 
.which  in  its  screen  adaptation  won 
'Jane  Wyman  an  Oscar,  was  pre¬ 
sented  bv  Granada-TV  as  a  90- 
minute  teleplay.  The  program¬ 
mers  have  a  flair  for  bringing  off¬ 
beat  drama  to  tv,  and  have  notched 
a  number  of  successes  in  the„.past 
.with  some  out-of-the-rut  produc¬ 
tions.  but  with  this  emotional  en- 
-  trv  didn’t  quite  make  if  all  the  way. 

I  This  play  needed  elbow  room 
i  and  the  scope  of  a  motion  picture 
:  to  create  its  intended  atmosphere; 
in  the  confines  of  a  tv  studio  some 
of  these  essentials  Were  left  by  the 
wayside.  However.  Betta  St,  John 
as  Belinda  MacDonald  mid  James 
Donald  as  Dr.  Davidson  deserve 
high;,  praise  for  outstanding  per¬ 
formances: 

•’>  The  simple  story  of  a  naive  deaf 
mute,  leading  an  almost  animal- 
llike  existence  in  a  secluded  farm- 
ling  community,  until  she  is  be¬ 
friended  and  educated  by  the  .lo¬ 
cal  doctor;  being  raped  by  the 
•neighborhood  no-good  and  the 
subsequent  birth  of  a  son,  were 
enough  to  have  carried  the  produc¬ 
tion  through  -with  the  required 
result,  But  director  Cliff  Owen 
tried  too  hard  to  make  it  a  90- 
minute  weepy  with  overpowering 
results. 

:  Miss  St.  John  gave  a  beautifully 
j  controlled  performance,  making 
[her  hands  and  eyes  da  the  job  of 

■  her  voice  with  a  touching  effect, 

I  and  Donald  was  suitably  tender 

and  impressive.  William  Sylvester, 
j  in  the  role  of  Locky  McCormick, 

■  the  villain  of  the  piece,  was  as  dis- 
j  likable  as  he  should  have  been. 

j  1  Bary. 

•  DONNE  IN  ERMELLINO 
[With  Virna  List,  Carlo  D’Angelo, 
Luisa  Rivelli.  others 
Director:  Daniele  D’Anza 
75  Mins.,  Tues.,  9:00  pan. 

RAI-TVr  from  Rome 
Initial  dramatic  presentation  of 
a  new  series  slated  for  Tuesday 
night  viewing  and  announced  as 
consisting  entirely  of  Video  origi¬ 
nals  came  off  well  thanks  to  able 
thesping  and  direction  by  Daniele 
D’Anza.  Only  defect  was  a  slight: 
muddyness  in  the  script,  annoying 
in  a  detective  tale.~ 

Action  centered  around  a  dress¬ 
making  establishment,  where  the 
proprietress  is  murdered  and  many 
shady  doings  subsequently  come  to 
.  light.  As  usual,  it's  the  private  eye 
who  hits  on  the  solution  ahead  of 
Scotland  Yard.  (Accidentally  or 
on  purpose,  this  item  extends  the 


myth  that  detective  cases  must  be 
set  in  Britain— so  far  not  a  single 
one.  has  been  located  in  this  coun¬ 
try).  Teleplay  again  confirms  the 
rising  talent  of  young  Virna  Lisi, 
while  boasting  other .  good  per¬ 
formances  by  Carlo  D’Angelo,  as 
thfc  “inside”  detective,  and  Luisa 
Rivelli,  as  a  suspect.  Lensing  in¬ 
cluded  some  difficult  trick  wrork. 
with  lights,  and  sets  and  other 
credits  were  above  standard. 

.  Hawk. 


Foreip  TV  Followup 


Chelsea  at  Nine 

Douglas  Fairbanks  Jr.,  continu¬ 
ing  his  stint  as  emcee  on  this 
Granada-TV  weekly  offering;  made 
good  use  of  the  opportunity  to  plug 
the  picture,  “Chase  .A  Crooked 
Shadow,”  .which  he  produced  and 
which  was  preemed.  in  London 
recently.  Added  impact  was  gained 
when  the  star  of  the  film,  Anne 
Baxter,  came  along  to  fill  a  Spot 
in  the  show  (21 ). 

Miss  Baxter,  however,  broke 
away  from  the  crudities  of  a  free 
plug  to  recite  from  Stephen  Vin- 
cetit  Benet’s  “John  Brown’s  Body” 
and  paint  a  moving  Word  portrait 
of  a  southern  woman.  The  recita¬ 
tion  was  in  keeping  with  the’  gen¬ 
eral  policy  of  the  program,  which 
steers  clear  of  any  orthodox  vaude 
and  makes  a  bid  at  being  an  offbeat 
tv  entry.  The  program  has  been 
described  as  a  variety  show  rather 
than  a  vaude  show,  but  iri  recent 
weeks  there’s  been  a  .lack  in  the 
variety  of  acts,  and  what  were  once 
offbeat  entries  have  now  become 
stereotyped  and  familiar.  One 
reason  for  this  is  the  persistence 
in  holding  over  artists  for  two 
shows. 

On  this  occasion;  both  comedian 
Paul  Gilbert  and  singer  Thomas 
L.  Thomas  were  appearing  for  the 
second  time ;  within  the  space  of 
eights  days.  Gilbert  brought  the 
yocks  with  a  panto  sketch  about  a 
tired  hotel  guest  having  trouble, 
with  a  trumpet  played  in  the  next 
room,  and  Thomas  reaped  hefty 
mitts  with  three  pleasantly  relaxed 
renderings  —  one  operatic,  one 
Welsh  folksong,,  and  the  theme 
from  the  picture,  “Moulin  Rouge.” 

Another  American:  (making  a 
total  of  five  in  the  program),  classi¬ 
cal  pianist  Gary  Graffmari,  immac¬ 
ulately  performed  two  short  works 
and  received  due  appreciation. 
French  songstress  Dany  Raydel, 
introduced  by  Fairbanks  as  “the 
Nightingale  of:  Paris,”  couldn’t 
quite  live  up  to  that,  but  pleasant¬ 
ly  sang  a  couple  of  French  num¬ 
bers  in  typical  throaty  style  after 
conversing  with  the  emcee  in  her 
native  tongue  because  she  does  not 
speak  English. 

Fairbanks  turned  on  the  charm 
at  full  pressure,  which  in  his 
emceeship  came  across  in  the  form 
of  a  naive,.;bubbling  *dthusiasm  for 
all  the  performers.  The  Grena¬ 
diers,  topflight  resident  song  & 
dance  line,  maintained  their  high 
standard  with  effective  versions,  of 
“Blues  In  The  Night,”  and  a  new 
song,  “Love  Is.”  Bary. 


THEY  LOVE  ME  IN 

NEW  YORK 


23.4 


V  L 


WC&S-TV,  ARB 
$«+.,  Dec.  7th 
11:15  P.M, 


Contact:  RICHARD  A.  HARPER,  Genorai  Salei  Mgr, 
MOM-TV,  a  service  of  Loew's  Incorporated 
70!  7th  Avo.,  Now  York  36,  N.  Y.  •  JUdson  2-2000 


>\cc 


Fmnonol  Maneg*tngnt:  LYNNE  NOEL 
Ft  1-2345,  Ext.  2«0'  WE  5-905S 


announcing 

commercials 


“GEORGE  HERMAN  and  the  NEWS" 
“ERIC  SEVEREID  NEWS  ANALYSIS’* 

Sponsored  by  Aero-Mayf lower  Transit  Co. 

CBS  Radi 


44 


RADIO-TELEVISION 


Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


From  The  Production  Centers 


S~ Continued  from  pace  23  ; 


There’s  no  replacement  as  yet  .  .  ,  Chicago  Cubs  renewed  telecast  con¬ 
tract  with  WGN-TV  for  two  more  years  .  WBKB’s  Telechievers, 
which  has  won  two  Junior  Achievement  first-place  awards  in  past  three 
years,  starting  new  Saturday  moppet  series,  “Magic  Toyshop,”  on  Feb. 
1  WBBM-TV  program  director  Frank  Atlass  and  Earl  Muntz  are 
back  in  Dominican  Republic  this  week  dickering  purchase  Of  the;  coun¬ 
try’s  only  tv  station  and  its  most  powerful  radio  outlet  .  .. ..  AI  DiBitet- 
try’s  only  tv  station  and  its  most  powerful  radio  outlet  . .  .  ABN’s  Don; 
McNeill  kicking,  off  March  of  Dimes  Mothers’  March  this  year.  ..Adam 
Kennedy,  star  of  NBC-TV*s  “Californians,'’  has  a  greeting:  cards  side¬ 
line  here  with  Oliver  D*  Rogers  of  Rogers  Printing  Co,  Kennedy  is 
doing  the  drawings  „  .  Patty  Clark,  singer  from  Fargo,  N.D.  Whom 

WBBM  ^ais  been  grooming  for  several  months,  landed  assignments  on 
both  “Josh  Brady  Show”  and  “Fashions  In  Music”  on  the  station  .  .  . 
Frank  E.  Pellegrin,  partner:  in  the  H-R  reppefy,  addressing  the  Chi 
Broadcast  Advertising  Club  tomorrow  .(Thurs.)  ,  .  .  WBBM-TV  conduct- 
,ing  weekly  beauty  contests  for  gals  to  foil  Jerry  Colonna  on  his  new 
“Late  Snow”  hosting  chores. 

m  London 

Ann  Todd  in  from  New -York  to  begin  rehearsals  for  a  George.  More 
O’Ferrall  production  of  “Lac’y  Of  The  Camellias,”  which  will  be  aired 
by  ABC-TV  Feb.  16..  .  :  ^Tormal  transparent  costumes  will  be  worn  by 
sfec  girls  from  the  Windmill  Theatre  for  a  tv  excerpt  from  the  current: 
production  in" Associated-Rediffusion’s- “On  Stage”  show  Tues.  (Feb. 
4),  which  will  mark  26th  ar.ni  of  ibe  vaiidpry  Socialist  Party  has 
opened  its  own  private  tv  studio  at  its  London  headquarters.  Trans¬ 
port  House,  to  train  party  leaders  in  use  of  the  medium.  Studio  can  be 
linked  with  the  state  of  commercial  tv  wrebs  .  In  addition  to  the 
appointment  of  Andrew  Neatrour  as  public  relatipns  director  for  Jack 
Hylton's  tv  interests,  four  more  signings  have  been  announced.  .They 
are:  Thomas  Porter,  administration  controller;  Tommy  Hayes,  execu¬ 
tive  director;  John  Russell,  production  executive;  and  Josephine  Clinch, 
costume  design  and  makeup  director  .  Guest  panelists  in  Associated 
Television’s  “Tell  The  Turtli”  last  night  (Tims.)  were;  Lisa  Gastoni  and 
Frances  Day.  ~ 

m  WASHINGTON  .  t 

About  100  members  of  Congress  will  attend  a  “Congressional  Break¬ 
fast”  Feb  9  honoring  the  52  regional  winners  of  Voice  of  Democracy 
contest,  joint  project  of  NAB.  U,S.  Chamber  of  Cpmmerce,  and  Elec¬ 
tronic  Industries  Assn.  .  .  .  Laurese  Gordon  named  promotion  and  ad¬ 
vertising  manager  for  WTOP-CBS  radio,  replacing  William  Wiggins 
.  .  .^Ken  Evans,  yet  newscaster;  back  at  WWDC  after,  a  long  illness  .  .  . 
Actress  Joan  Banks  here,  to  pinchhit  on. tub  thumping  stint  for  hus¬ 
band  Frank  Love  joy,  who  broke  his  leg  during^filming  of  “Meet  Me- . 
Graw,”  the  NBC  teleseries  in  which  he  stars  .  .  .  Peter  .  James  named 
sales  manager  for  WRC,  replacing  Charles  dc  Lozier,  who  ankled  to 
open  his  own  ad  agency  ...  WWDC  aired  90-minute  broadcast  on  Rock¬ 
efeller  Report  past  Sunday  (26)  .  .  .  Tris  Coffin  and  Kelo  Henderson  in 
town  to  beat  the  drums  for  their  new  series,  “Twenty-Six  Men,”  which 
made  its  local  debut  over  WMAL-TV  past  week. 

IN  ^CLEVELAND  . 

Philip  Conway,  formerly  With  Disney  Pictures,  named  WJW  pro¬ 
motional-publicity  director  .  Linn  Sheldon  subs  for  Big  Wilson,  when 
latter  leaves  KYW  morning  disk  stanza  for  Florida  hiatus  ...  Will 
Dougherty,  WJW-TV  sales,  now  part-owner  of  Boardman  News  in 
Youngstown  .  .  .  Pete  French,  KYW-TV  newscaster ^  adding  6;30  p.m. 

.  cross-the-board  radio  news  to  his  list  .  Bob  Ancell  named  to  WERE 
announcing  staff  .  .  Leonard  Adams,  ex-WEWS.  joins  WDOK  sales 
apd  Red  Moseato  exits  KYW  for  WEWS  sales  .  WGAR's  Manager 
’  Carl  George  celebrated  20th  anniversary  with  station  .  .  .  WHK’s  Bill 
Gordon  survey  of  newspaper  “best”  had  George  Condon  of  the  Plain 
Dealer,  winning  the  radio-tv  columnist  honors  .  .  .  Paul  Bedford,  KYW 
announcer,  pacted  for  Halle  Bros,  hour-long  record  show  on  Sunday 
at  5. p.m.  .  .  Nada  Lane  named  WCAK  promotion-publicity  director: 

.  .  Ron  Penfound  replaces  Alan  Douglas  on  WEWS  1  p.m.  hour-long 
spiel  with  Douglas  joining  the  tv  sales  staff  .  Ronnie  Barrett  exited, 
local  disking  for  advertising  stint  Charles  Getz,  ex-New  York 

Giants,  named  KYW-KYW-TV  flack. 

IN  BOSTON  .  . 

Margaret  Whiting  and  George  DcWitt  flying  in  for.  the  $100  plate 
March  of  Dimes  dinner  tomorrow  (Thurs)  at:  Louis  XIV  Ballroom, 
Somerset  Hotel,  where  WNAC-TV  prexy  Norman  Knight  will  be  din¬ 
ner  chairman  .  ,  .  Jack  Chase,  who  celebrates  his  fourth  anni  on  WBZ- 
T’V  next  month  and  has  6,535  “on  -camera”  news  and.  special  events 
shows  racked  up,  celebrated  his  birthday  in  Miami  flying  50  Navy  per- 
taonnel  down  on  a  training  flight  > .  .  Prince'  Macaroni  Co.  inked  with 
•Yankee  web  for  heavy  sked  of  participations  in  four  Yankee  net  news 
seditions  and  two  weathercasts  .  .  Noxzema,  Cornell  Drug  and  Car¬ 

penter  Morton  Co.  were  added  on  Yankee  web.  for  news  and:  weather- 
.  ....  Emerson  Rug  inked  a  third  of  WBZ-TV  Sunday  p.m.  two-hour 
film  show,  “Starring  John  Wayne”  .  .  .  Embassy  Pictures,  Hub  film  dis- 
tribs,  inked  for  sked  of  spots  on  WBZ-TV  to  advertise  film  ,  acquisi¬ 
tions  . ....  Richardson  &  Robbins  renewed  their  spotsVon  “Yankee  Home 
&  Food  Show”  on  WNAC  and  29  Yankee  net  stations  .  ,  .  Highlights 
of  the  30th  anni  breakfast  of  Temple  jCehillath  Israel-Brotherhood 
were  shown  on  WNAC-TV  Sunday ;I26l \  *■  Duttcim  MaoPonald  hosts 
.Borton^luseum^^^a^^t^expertjBarbara^Wristonoirher^Y^nkee 


Home,  and  Food  Show**  today  (Wed.)  .  Arthur  C.  King  WEEI  director 
news  and  public  affairs,  cited  by  Muscular  Dystrophy- Assn.  .^.WNAC- 
TV  added  six  new  accounts  and  six  renewals  *  .  ,  Sherm  Feller  and 
wife  Judy  Valentine  interviewing  theatrical  personalities  from  sur- 
roilnding  legit  fheatres  and  night  clubs  on  their  new  remote  from 
!  Marty  Rubin's  “Players.” 

fiV  PHILADELPHIA 

.  Rupe  Werling,  former  v.p.  of  WIBG,  named  assistant  to  the  presi¬ 
dent  >of  WPGC,  Washington  .  ;  .  WIP  inked  new  contracts  for  exclusive 
services,  of  Bob  Menefee  and  Gene  Kelly.  Menefee  hosts  the  daily 
“Heading  Home”  session;  Kelly,  “Voice  of  the  Phillies,”  does  the  ball- 
games  plav-bv-plav  .  .  A1  Gibbons,  ex- W  VUE,  has  joined  the  WRCV- 

TV  sales,  staff : .  ..  .  The  American  Colleges  public  relation^  association, 
Middle  Atlantic  district,  presented  its  annual  award  to  WFIL-TV’s 
“University  of  the  Air.”  Series  marks  its  eighth  anni  ,.  .  .  Appointment 
Of  Joseph  C,  Winkler  as  commercial  mgr  was  announced  by  WFLN, 
He  was  an  account  exec  at  WCAU  .  .  WPEN  has  set  Its  annual  cock¬ 
tail  get-together  for  agency  and  trade  press  at  the  Drake  Hotel  Feb. 
i.3.- 

17V  SAN:  FRANCISCO 

KGO-Radio,  ABC  .o&o,  is  going  all-out  on  local  news,  hiring  three 
new  newsmen,  Paul  Obluda,  ex-KOA,  Denver;  Alan  Todd,  ex-KCRA, 
Sacramento,  "and  Jerry  Gordon,  ex-NBC,  Hollywood.  In  addition,  it 
brought  in  Gordon  Waldear,  ex-KQED,  Frisco,  on  a  temporary  basis, 
added  summer-reliefer  Bob  Heily  on  a  permanent  basis  as  running 
mate  to  oldtimers  Bruce  Polich,  Harvey  Sachs,  Dick  Moore.  Station's, 
also  . buying  a  Frisco-angled  daily  commentary  from  Jock  *  Lawrence  in 
Washington,  D  C.,  purchased  a  pair  of  station  wagons  for  news  cov- 
eiage;  is  revamping  its  big  Studio  B  into  a  newsroom  ...  Jini  Eakins, 
a  director  at  KPIX  ever  since  the  tv  station  opened  almost  a  decade 
ago,  was  pinkslipped  .  .  KFRC  hired  salesman  William  A.  Morrison 

away  from  his  job  as  national  sales  manager  for  KSBW,  Salinas,  and 
KVEC,  San  Luis  Obispo  .  '  .  A.  Richard  Robertson,  ex-KSL  and  ex- 
KSBW,  named  publicity-promotion  chief  at  the  new  Oakland  tele- 
station,  KTVII  .  .  Ralph  Glazer,  ex-CBS  spot,  sales.  New  York,  joined 
KSFO;  as  a  salesman  ,  .  .  Rumors  that  Bartell  Broadcasters  closed  $1  Vi- 
million  deal  for  KYA  this  week  are  hot  KGO  signed  Budweiser 
for  two  hours  cross-the-board;  six  nights  a  week  on  the  Bill  Anthony 
deej  ay  stint,  largest  sale  station’s  made  in  two  years  .  '.  YKA  picked 

off  a  38-Week  Coca-Cola  pact  .  .  .  Jon  Barkhurst,  former  KGO  prom^ 
tiori  director,  joined  the  Bob  Alderman  flackery  . 

IN  PITTSBURGH  .  .  . 

Marty  Wolf  son,:  artist-cartoonist  who  had:  his  own  show  on  tv  here 
for  years,  named  head  of  art  and  production  department  for  new  Feld- 
man-Kahn  ad  agency  .  .  Fred  Elliott  quitting  KDKA  radio  sales  staff 
to  become  local  and  regional  sales  manager  for  WHAM,  in  Rochester, 
N.  Y.  ...  Paul  Shannon,  tv  announcer,  and  his  wife  celebrated  their 
20th  wedding  aiini  .  .  .  Bill  Powell,  of  WEEP,  named  town's,  best-dressed 
deejay  in  a  poll  of  teenagers  .  Arnold  Jacobson,  former  Post- 
Gazette  copy  boy,  now  a  floor  manager  at  WQED  .  .  .  Jerry  Mon.  added 
to  WAMO  sales  staff  and  Marty  Krauss,  who  has  -a  country  music  platter 
show  there,  has  also  Ijeen  appointed  publicity  director  of  the  station 
Jim  Shannon,  former  KQV  announcer  who  recently  joined  Ch.  11,  has 
been  named  national'  sales  manager  of  the  NBC-TV  outlet  .  .  Mrs. 

A.  C.  Kennel  added  to  Ch.  13  to  do  community  relations  and  promotion 
...  A1  McDowell^  KDKA  radia  and  tv  newscaster,  will  head  an  air  tour 
to  European  capitals  in  April  .  Herbert  Irving,  KDKA  transmitter 
engmeer,  just  started  $4th  year  with  station. 

IN  BALTIMORE 

.  The  “Mollie-  Martin”  show  with  Mrs.  Cornells  Zaal  at  the  helm,  has 
departed  WB AL-TV  after  nine  years  with  that  station  and  two  With 
WBAL-Radio.  Early  morning  spot  is  now  filled  with  reruns  of  VStu 
Erwin  Show.”  .  .  Galen  Fromme,  newsman  and  moderator  of  WBAL 
Radio’s  ‘‘Open  Line,”  has  been  named  general  chairman  of  1958  Young 
Men’s  Christian  Assn,  annual,  membership,  drive  set  for  next  month  .  .  . 
‘Aaron  Sopher’s  Baltimore”  set  to  bow  Feb.  9  on  WJZ-TV.  Format 
will  have  Sopher,  well-known  local  Artist,  splicing  drawings  with  nar¬ 
ration  and  music  and  all  tied  around  city  .  . :  Gil  Kriegle  will  announce 
and  Ed  Fryers  is  director  .  .  “Major  Jeiff  Dane  Show”  is  now  Monday 

to  Friday  fixture  on  WBAL-TV..  Dane  serves  as  anchor  man  for  Leon 
ErroT  and  Edgar  Kennedy  comedies  .  Sylvia  Scott  of  WMAR-TV 
was  vacationing,  in  Bahama  Islands  when  strike  broke  at  Nassau.  Took 
filmSj  airmailed  them  home  and  station  used  them  on  nightly  news¬ 
reels  .  .  i  TKonias  Brown  and  Albert  E.  Moore  named  account  execu¬ 
tives  to  WBAL-TV  sales  department  .  Larry  H.  Israel,  general  man¬ 
ager  of  WJZ-TV  says  channel  will  carry  entire  Orioles  baseball  tv 
schedule  for  1958  season;  Gunther  Brewing  Co. .  comes  in  as  sponsor. 

IN  DETROIT 

..  Marshall  Wells,  WJR’s  farm  editor,  Will  receive  a.  citation  tomorrow 
(Thurs.)  for  “distinguished  service  to  Michigan  agriculture”  at  annual 
Farmer’s  Week  program  at  Michigan  State  U  .  .  “Up  for  Appeal, ,r  a 
new,  live  tv  program  depicting  the  problems  of  motorists  Whose  li¬ 
censes  hare  been  revoked,  will  be  a  6:30  p.m.  Tuesday  feature  of  WWJ- 
TV  beginning  Feb.  4.  Traffic  Safety  Assn.,  in  cooperation  with'  sta¬ 
tion,,  will 'present  reenactments  of  actual  cases  heard  by  the  state’s 
License  Appeal  Board.  Show  is  similar  to  “Traffic  Court”  which  Was 
forced  off  ail  when  Michigan.  Bar  Assn.,  objected  to  Traffic  Judge’s 
participation  in  program  .  .  .  “Your  Government”  will  be  a  feature  of 
WJR,  presenting  reports  by  Mich.  Sens.  Charles  E.  Potter  and  Patrick 
McNamara;  congres^riien  afiff'Gov.  G:  Mennen  Williams  alternating  on 
Tuesdays  at  8:45  p.m: 


4  OUT  OF  TOP  8 


YNDICATED  SHOWS 
N  SAN  FRANCISCO 


#1  HIGHWAY  PWR0L 
#5  MEN  OF  AHHAPOtlS 
#7  HARBOR  COMMAND 
#7  SCIENCE  FieTIOR  THEATRE 

Tifns  after  time  in  city  after  city  „ 

ZIV  SHOWS  RATE  6R«T  ^ 


ZIV  TELEVISION  PROGRAMS  INC. 


On  TV  for  ‘Crisis 


New  York  teachers  are  so  mad 
at  what  they  consider  to  be  an 
inadequate  educational  budget  that 
they  have  bought  time  on  WOR-TV 
for  half-hour  presentation  of 
“Crisis  in  New  York’s  Schools.” 
The  program,  sponsored  by  the 
New  York  Teachers  Guild;  fiFL* 
CIO,  will  be  telecast  Friday  (31) 
from  9:30  to  10  p.m. 

The  cost  for  the  time,  slot  is 
$1,200,  with,  the  teachers  union 
picking  up  production  costs  as  well. 
The  show,  aimed  at  garnering;  civic 
support  for  revision  of  the  educa^- 
tion  budget,  will  feature  a  number 
of  labor  and  educational  leaders. 
It  will  be  produced  by  Dave  Sel- 
den,  special  representative  of  the 
■Teachers  Guild,  and  directed  by 
Bob  Eberle. 


THIS  WEEK  IN  SCIENCE 
With  Steve  McCormick;. Dr.  Alan  T. 
Waterman,  Dr.  Harry  C.  Kelly, 
guests;  Robert  Callan,  announcer 
Producer:  Irvin  P.  Sulds 
Writer:  Hal  Goodwin 
30  Mins.,  Thurs.,  9:30  p.m. 

WMCA,  New  York  (transcribed) 
Science  has  become  a  big  com¬ 
modity  in  radio  ‘and  maybe  only 
slightly  less  of  a  commodity  in  tv. 
since  sputnik.  The  main  guest  on 
the  newest  science  skein  in  local 
radio  (over  WMCA,  N.  Y.)  sanc¬ 
tioned  such  information,  giving  his 
generic  approval  of  press-bFoad- 
casting  aid  in  fostering  a  funda¬ 
mental  knowledge  of  science.  Last 
week  WRCA,  N.  Y„  began  a  sci¬ 
ence  series  of  its  own;  called 
“Sound  of  Science,”  and  while 
both  stations  obviously  have  their 
hearts  in  the  crusade/  the  results 
were  not  overly  impressive. 

Last  Thursday  (23),  WMCA  be¬ 
gan  “This  Week  In.  Science,”  host¬ 
ed  by  Steve  McCormick  from 
Washington.  And  despite:  the  good 
intentions,  the  sins  of  the  host 
were  passed  on  to  the  show.  Mc¬ 
Cormick  showed"  difficulty  in  phras¬ 
ing  specific  questions  and,  his  dif¬ 
fused  quiz  style  sometimes  lost  the 
attention  of  this  listener.  By  the 
same  token,  however,  the  broadly 
phrased  queries  for  guest  Dr.  Alan 
T.  Waterman/  director  of  the  Na¬ 
tional  Science  Foundation,  gave 
Dr.  Waterman  a  chance  to  expand 
in  any  direction  he  chose  to  go. 

•  "Art. 


OX  CARTS  TO  ROCKETS 
With  Cedric  Adams,  E.:  W.  Zie- 

barth,  Bob  DeHaven,  others. 
Producer:  William  Schwarz 
Director:  Hank  Baysane 
Writer:  Chuck  Sargeant 
60  Mins.:  Sun.,  1  pjn. 

TWIN  CITY  FEDERAL  SAVINGS 

&  LOAN  ASSN. 

WCCO  Radio,  Mpls. 

With  “Ox  Carts  to  Rockets," 
dramatizing  "the  state’s  transporta¬ 
tion  history,  the  prosperous  live- 
wire  CBS  audio  affiliate,,  given 
to  noteworthy  accomplishments, 
launched  auspiciously  its  import¬ 
ant  and  ambitious  contribution  to 
Minnesota’s  Ceiitennial  celebration 
year.  It  comprises  a  dramatic 
series  of  12  one-a-month  60-minute 
programs  designed  to  bring  alive 
salient  milestones  and  develop¬ 
ments  that,  have  made  Minnesota 
great  and  to  extend:  another  100 
years  into  the  imaginary  future. 

From  the  research  of  Loren 
Kellsen  and  the  Minnesota  State 
Historical  Society  files,  scripter 
Chuck  Sargeant,  the  station’s  news 
editor,,  supplied  in  this  tecoff  in¬ 
stance  an  engrossing  and  informa¬ 
tive  documentary  notable  for.  its 
gripping  and  moving-  qualities;  En¬ 
gaged  in  the  effort  were  the  top- 
drawer  narrating  talents  of  the; 
stations  ace  staffers  Cedric  Adams, 
Dr.  E.  W;  Ziebarth  and  Bob  De- 
Haven  and  .the  outstanding  acting 
skills  of  localites  Don  Stolz,  Rupert 
LaBelle  and  Ken  Senn  of  the  Old 
Log  summer  theatre  here  and  Meg 
Kingbay,  another  WCCO  staffer. 

;  la  - vividly  recreating  this  saga, 
from  the  frontier  -days  of  the  mis¬ 
sionary  explorers,  through  the  crag 
of  the  Indians  and  French  voyagers 
and  the  horse  and  buggy  days,  and 
beyond  to.  future  passenger  rockets 
travel.  Sargeant  and  the  narrators 
and  cast  wove  a  thrilling  and 
occasionally~  amusing,  recital; 

Musical  accompaniment  and 
sound-  effect:  heightening  the  dra¬ 
matic  values,  were  of  a  high  order. 

Credit  for  this  meritorious 
achievement  also  goes  to  James 
Borman n.  the  station’s  pews  and 
public  affairs  director  who  super¬ 
vised  the  material  gathering  and 
preparation  for  .  this  preem  (as 
well,  of  course,  for  succeeding 
present  a  tioris>.  and  Loren  Kallen, 
especially  employed  for  a  halfryear 
of  intorsivP  research  in  coobera- 
tion  with  Minnesota  Historical  so¬ 
ciety’s  Bob  Wheeler;  Producer  Wil¬ 
liam  Schwarz  and  director  Hank 
Baysane  turned:  '  :  banguo  -jobs, 
too.  Rees. 


INSURANCE 

FURS  JEWELRY. 

DON’T  WAIT  FOR  A 
LOSS  TO  BE  SURE 

REctor  '2-0512 


Happy  Coat  Hangers  to 

UKriety 

DORSEY  CONNORS 

NBC,  Chicago 


Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


MUSIC 


45 


SPA  Projects  Centralized  Agency 


Another  large  step  in  the  direc¬ 
tion  of  more  control  by  songwriters 
over  copyrights  and  the  values 
deriving1  from  them,  is  now  being, 
hiade  under  the  aegis  of  the  Song¬ 
writer  Protective  Assn.  '  Under  a 
•  new  projected  setup,  SPA  would 
set  up  "effective  machinery"  to 
..collect  royalties  (other  than 
ASCAP  distributions)  and  audit  all 
statements  on  sheet  music;  disks, 
foreign  payments,  etc. 

SPA  queried  its  members,  on 
such  a  setup  in  a  communication 
mailed  ,  last  week.  From  early  re¬ 
turns,  according  to  an  SPA  spokes¬ 
man,  it  appears  as  if  an  “over¬ 
whelming  majority”  of  SPA  ranks 
are  in  favor  of  moving  ahead  to 
the  organization  of  such  a  collec¬ 
tion  and  auditing  agency. 

Up  to  now,  SPA  has  made  audits 
of  publishers’  books  on  a  period 
spot  check  basis  or  on  specific  com¬ 
plaints  of  its  members.  A  few 
years  ago,  in  auditing:  publishers’ 
revenues  from  the  sale  of  songs 
to  lyric  folio  books.  SPA  was  in¬ 
strumental  in  poUeting  and  distrib¬ 
uting  about  $70,000  for  its  mem¬ 
bers. 

Under,  the  projected  plan,  SPA 
would  no  longer  confine  itself  to 
auditing  hut  would  be  the  direct 
collection  agency  for  the  writers, 
in  their  dealings  with  publishers. 
The  latter,  in  short,  would  no  long¬ 
er  be  handing  out  royalty  coin  to 
individual  writers  but  would  be  re¬ 
quired  to  channel :  it  through,  the 
SPA’s  collection  agency.  Such  a 
centralized  office,  it’s  believed, 
would  give  the  writers  a  more 
decisive  means  of  getting  their 
royalties  on  time  and.  in  full,  since 
SPA  would  be  in  a  position  to  fight 
with  wider  resources  than  would 
be  available  to  individual  writers. 

According  to  SP A  prexy  Burton 
Lane’s  letter  to  the  organization, 
"the  service  viould.be  a  continuous 
one  and.  would  provide  safeguards 
to  preserve  the  confidential  nature 
of  all  such  information.”  The  serv¬ 
ice  would  be  available  “at  a  mod^ 
erate  cost”  to  songwriters. 


Gray-Flannelled  Cats 

Boston,  Jan.  28.. 

Huh  ad  men  have  formed 
the  JAM  Club,  "Jazz  and  Ad 
Men,”  with,  a  membership  of 
17  ad  cats. ,  JAM’S  prexy,  Dave 
Niven,  regional  Tep-  of  Life, 
says:  "It’s  our*  hope  similar 
jazz  clubs  will  be  formed  in 
other  large  cities  and  joined 
in  some  sort  of  a  national  as¬ 
sociation  of  ad  men  interested 
in  jazz.” 

All  that  jazz  began  when  a 
half  doezn  ad  men  found  they 
had  the  common  interest.  The 
club  meets  monthly  add  list- 
,  ens  to' jazz  records. 


Entry  Into  Stereo 

London,  Jan.  28. 

Within  a  year  Electric  ft  Musi¬ 
cal.  Industries  hope  to  put  on  the 
market  stereo  disks  with  the  neces¬ 
sary  equipment  with  which  to  play 
them;  Work  on  perfecting :  suitable 
reproducers  is  now  progressing  at 
EMI’s  technical  design  departments 
’  Britain,  Europe  and  America. 

Stereo  recording  on  disks,  which 
•  was  the 'Subject  of  EMI  patents  in 
1931,  were  not  developed  because 
the;  shellac  record  and  the  playing 
equipment  then  available  were  too 
crude  to  give  satisfactory  repro¬ 
duction.  The  advent  of  PVC  based 
disks  and  advances  in  high-fidelity 
reproduction,  together  with,  inten¬ 
sive  research  work,  have  now  made 
It  possible  to  consider  directional 
disks  as  a  commercial  possibility. 

Over  the  past  years  EMI  has.  de¬ 
veloped  a  library  of  stereo  tapes 
and,  therefore,  already  has.  the. 
material  for  supplying  the  public 
with  a  range  of  music  on  records 
in  the  new  medium. 


ROCK  ’N’  ROLL  REACHES 
HAWAII  &  MAKES  GOOD 

. .  /  Honolulu,  Jan.  28. 
Rock  ’n’  roll  arrived  a  little  late 
in:  Hawaii,  but  it’s  proving  to  be 
boffo  boxoffice  bait  for  promoters 
Ralph  Yempuku  and  Bari  Finch  at 
the  Civic  Auditorium  which,  de¬ 
spite  Its  name,  is  privately  owned, 
Turnaway  crowds  greeted  single- 
shot  performance  of  Jodie  Sands, 
Paul  Anka,  Jerry  Lee  Lewis,  Bud-4' 
dy  Holley  and  the  Crickets  last 
night  (Mon  ). 

Fat  crowds  were  lured  the  week¬ 
end  of  Jan.  17-18  for  another 
"Show  pf  Stars,”  with  the  Four 
Aces  starred.  Two  performances 


Stereo  Process 

’ .  The  road  to  unified  industry  de¬ 
velopment.  of  the  stereo,  disk  is 
opening  up  via  the  acceptance  of 
all,  the  major  ,  companies  of  a  com¬ 
mon  technical ;  standard.  The  en¬ 
gineering  committee  of  the  Record 
Industry  Assn,  of  America  has  rec¬ 
ommended  the  acceptance  of  the 
so-called  45-45  system  of  cutting 
the  stereo  groove, 

.  Under  this  process,  both  chan¬ 
nels  of  sound,  are  cut  into  a  single 
groove .  at  .45  degree  angles  to 
each  other, .  This  system  was  de¬ 
veloped  by  Westrex,  the  Western 
Electric  subsid  which  makes  cut¬ 
ting  heads  for  the  disk  industry. 
The  45-45  process  -  was  chosen  as 
against  the  lateral-vertical  system. 
London  Records'  last  fall  demon¬ 
strated,  a  stereo-disk  with  the.  lat¬ 
ter  technique  last  fall,  but.  Lon¬ 
don  will  go  along  with,  the  rest  of 
the  industry  on  the  4545  process. 

In  the  stereo  disk,  the:  single 
pickup  needle  will  be  designed  to 
be  sensitive  to  both  channels  of 
sound  which  will  require  dual  am¬ 
plifying  and  speaker  systems,  in  or¬ 
der  to  obtain  the  auditory  depth 
which  makes  stereo  superior  to 
monaural  sound.  > 

It’s  expected  that  some  of  the 
major  companies  will  be  issuing 
their  first  stereo  disk  releases 
within  the:  next  few  months.  At  the 
same  time,  stereo  playback  equip¬ 
ment  will  be  made  available  by 
phono  and  components  manufac¬ 
turers. 


For  8  Top  Pkge.  Sellers 

Mantovani  has  hit  the  quarter  pf 
a  million  mark  in  the  album .  field 
eight  times  oyer  the  past  10!  years. 
His  eight  gold  L'P’s  on  the.  London 
label  include  "Film  Encores,” 
"Music  of  Sigmund  Romberg, 
"Song  Hits  From  Theatreland,” 
"Christmas  Carols,”.  "Immortal 
Classics,”  ‘Music  of  Victor  Her¬ 
bert,”  "Strauss  Waltzes”  and 
‘Greensleeves;’* 

The  British  orch  leader,  who  ar¬ 
rived  in  the  U;  S.  last  week  for  a 
concert  tour  of  the  States  and  Can¬ 
ada;  was  awarded:  a  gold  disk  for 
his  album  sales  with,  an  inset  of 
ei^ht  miniatures,  at  ai  cocktailery 
atNew  York’s  Waldorf-Astoria  last 
Thursday  (24):  Presentation  was 
made  by  Franklin  D.  Roosevelt  Jr., 
general  counsel  for  London.  ^ 

Mantovani’s  concert  trek  will 
run  11  weeks  and  include  63  con¬ 
certs.. 

JOE  SHERMAN  TO  COAST 

Joe  Sherman,  artists  ft  reper¬ 
toire  chief  at  Epic  Records,  heads 
for  the  Coast  Feb.  3  for  recording 
sessions  with  Jack  Lemmon.  It  will 
be  latter’s  initial  disk  try. 

During  his  Coast'  stay,;  Sherman, 
will  prowl  other  screen  names  for 
disk  exposure.  1  ^ 


By  BILL  STEIF 
San  Francisco,  Jan.  28, 

Two  TecOrd  discount  houses 
here  are  fighting  “fair-trade”,  ini 
junctions  slapped  on  them  at  re¬ 
quest  of  the;  two  northern  Califor¬ 
nia  distributors  of  RCA  Victor  and. 
Columbia  Records. 

H.  R.  Basford  Co.,  Col  distribu¬ 
tor,  got  a  temporary  injunction 
from  Superior  Judge  Ray.  Arata 
against  California  Music.  City,  dis¬ 
counter  with  Frisco  and  Berkeley 
branches;  on  Jan.  3.  Discounter  is 
forbidden  to  sell  Columbia  or 
Harmony  disks  at  less  than  list 
price. 

California  Music  City  has  stipu¬ 
lated  it  won’t  sell  Victor  or  Cam¬ 
den  Records  (Victor,  subsidiary)  at 
less  than  list  price,  pending  de¬ 
cision  .  on  injunction  sought  against 
it  by  Leo  J.  MeybeTg  Co.j  big  Cal¬ 
ifornia  RCA  distributor..  Decision 
is  now  being  considered  by  Super¬ 
ior  Judge  Milton  Sapiro. 

;  California  Music  City  is  north¬ 
ern  California  arm  of  a  Los4n- 
geles-based  firm  with  11  Southern 
California  outlets.  In  addition,  both 
Basford  and  Meyberg  are  pushing 
for.  injunctions  against  Discount 
Records  Inc.,  New  York-based  cut- 
rater  with  stores  in  Chicago,  De¬ 
troit  and  Cleveland.  Discount  Rec¬ 
ords  opened  its  Frisco;  outlet  only' 
last  Dec.  1;  less  than  four  months; 
after  California  Music  .  City  moved 
into  Frisco  area. 

Frisco  is  only  major  centre  in 
(Continued'  on  page  52) 


Music  Business  in  Glare  of  Triple 
Congressional  Spotlight  Via  Hearings 
On  Copyright  BE  ASCAP,  Wehs-BMI 


On  Distrih  Of 


The  Federal  Bureau  of  Investi¬ 
gation,,  which  has  been  probing  the 
distribution  of  illicit  song  books 
for  the  past  five  years,  last  week 
arrested  Irving  Epstein,;  a  New 
York  musician,  for  infringement  of 
a  Cole  Porter  composition,  “Anyr 
thing  <5oes.”  Epstein  was  released 
in  $500  bail. 

He  was  charged  with  the  in¬ 
fringement  in  connection  With  the 
sale  of  a  song  book  known  to  pro¬ 
fessional  musicians  as  the.  "fake 
song;  book”  "the  black  book 
of  song,”  "the  music  bible”  or 
"over  1,000  songs.”  The  song- 
books,  which  are  distributed  over 
the  country  to  bandsmen  mainly 
through  locals  of  the  American 
Federation  ..  of  ■  Musicians,  contain 
the  words  and  music  of  over  1,000 
top  standards,  including  a  wide 
selection  of  fox  trots,  waltzes,  clas¬ 
sical  and  semi-classical  songs, 
Latin-American-  -times,  folk;  num¬ 
bers,  polkas,  marches:  and  various 
foreign  songs;  The  book,  which 
sells  from  $10  -to  $25  depending  on 
whaCthe  traffic  will  bear. 

The  distribution  of  the'  so-called 
"black,  book?*'  was  -  brought  "ttf-  the? 
attention  of  the  FBI  some,  five 
years  ;ago  by  the  Music  Publishers 
Protective.  Assn.  •  -The-MPPA  had 
already  obtained  civil  judgments 
against-  various  distributors  and 
printers  of  the  book  but  found  it 
impossible  to  nab  the  salesmen 
without  police  help. 

Epstein  was  arraigned  before  the 
U.  S.  Commissioner  in  the  N.  Y; 
Federal  Court  under  the  criminal 
section  of  the  Copyright  Act.  If 
convicted,  he  f  a  c  e  s  a  maximum 
penalty  of  one  year  imprisonment 
or. a  fine  pf  uot.more  than.  $1,QQ0, 
or  both.  .In  recent  years,  the  FBI 
has  made  other  .arrests  in;  con¬ 
nection  With  the  sale  of  the  black 
books.  . 


BM1  Repacts  lavefli 

Accordionist-composer  Tony:  La- 
velli  has  been  repacted  by  Broad¬ 
cast  Music  Inc.  to  a  new  writer 
deal. 

.  Lavelli  currently  has  a  Folkways 
Records  album  of  accordion  pieces 

fepefteiSuM**  a**  «  a «  a  *  *  *  | 


Chocolate  Biscuits 

Frankfurt,  Jan.  28. 

Latest  gimmick  to  crop  up 
in  the  .record  industry,  ever 
on  the  lookout  for  a  novelty 
to  tout,  its  business,  is  a  choco¬ 
late  with  a  disk  shape  that 
does  double  duty; — it’s  a  pretty 
unusual  plug  for  the  real  play¬ 
able  item,  and  after  you’ve 
read  the  message,  you  can 
chew  it  up. 

.  Item  brought  out  by  Beukers 
&  Riijenke  in  Rotterdam,  Hol¬ 
land,  has  just  arrived  in  Ger¬ 
many.  It’s  a  tie-in  with  a  disk 
company  with,  a  Melodise  la-, 
bel.  Chocolate  goody  inon- 
playable)  also  mentions  that 
.  the  real  record  can  he  pro¬ 
cured  at  any  record  ahop. 


'Gigi9  Tune  Sparks 


"Gigi,”  ti‘le  tune  from  the  up¬ 
coming  Metro  filmmusical,  -  is  al¬ 
ready  stirring  up  a  lot  of  heat  in 
the  trade  pn  the  counts  of  -release 
jumping  and  changing  the  ending 
of  the  song  vdthout  authorization. 

Score .  for  the  pic,  which  was 
written  by  Alan.  Jay  Lerner  and 
Frederick  LoeWe  and;  is  published 
by  their  Lowal  firm  via  Chappell, 
had  been  given  a  Feb.  14  release 
da*; ,  but  Mercury  jumped  the  gun 
early  last  week  with  its  Billy  Eck- 
stine  .version  and  Carlton  Records’ 
slicing  by  Charles  Margulies  went 
but.  a  few  days  later.  Letter  ac¬ 
companying  the  Carlton  .pressing 
explained  that  the  diskery  was  not 
jumping  the  release  date  but  it 
was  being  shipped  to  distributors 
so  that,  it  would  be  available  for.  I 
the  Feb.  14  takeoff. 

Release  date  jumping  has  be¬ 
come  something  the  publishers  and 
writers  have  learned  to  live  with 
in  the  past.  In  this  case,  however, 
Lerner  and  Loewe  and  the  studio 
got  steamed  up  over  the  Eckstine 
etching,  which  they  charge  was 
(Continued  on  page  55) 


Homegrown  Artists  Scram 
Tro-Yank’  British  Decca 

London,  Jan.  28. 

'  Several  British  recording  artists 
are  incensed  at  British  Decca  be¬ 
cause,  they  claim,  they’ve  been 
given  the  go-by.  to  make  room  for 
American  performers.  The  diskers, 
tita  Roza,  Jimmy  Young  and  Matt 
Munro,  have  quit  the  firm  -for  this- 
reason,  .  .-  .  - 

*They;  accuse;  Decca  ofearifingih 
on  the  teenage  craze  fnn  American 
rock  ’n’  roll  music  and  neglecting 
home  talent.  Miss.  Roza  is  reported 
to  have  6 aid:  "In  many  ways  Decca 
is  now  just  a  pressing  factory  for 
American  records.”  Jimmy  Young 
k  had  this  to  say:  "j  don’t  want  to 
"sling  mud<  but  Decca  has  too  many 
American  commitments,” 

A  Decca  spdkesman  told 
Variety:  "This  is  absolute  rubbish. 
This  ,  is  the  rock  ’n*  roll  age.  If 
people  are  popular  and  sell  rec¬ 
ords,  we’re  not  going  to  let  them 
go— we’re  In  business.” 

NeeV  Cleffing  Chore 

Berate  Nee  has  beeen  set  to 
write  the  title  tune  for  Para¬ 
mount’s  "Country  Music  Holiday.’ 
He’ll  also  record  the  tune  for  Co¬ 
lumbia  Records. 

Pic  features  Faron  Young  and 
Ferlin  Huskey,  who’ll  croon  their 
own  material  in  the  film  and 
groove  it  for  Capitol  Records. 
Title  .tune  will  be  published  by 
•*  ***** 


The  music  biz  will  he  under  a 
triple  Congressional  spotlight  this 
spring  in  hearings  to  be  conducted 
both  in  the  U.S.  Senate  and  House 
during  the  next  couple  of  months. 

Another  hearing  will  open  March 
11  before  a  subcommittee  of  the 
Senate  Interstate  Commerce  Com¬ 
mittee  on  a  bill  by  Sen.  George 
Smathers  (D-,  Fla.)  which  is.  de¬ 
signed  to  divorce  networks  from 
their  music  interests.  Subcom¬ 
mittee  is  headed  by  Sen.  John  O. 
Pastore  (P.,R.L)  with  other  mem¬ 
bers  being  Sens.  A.  S.  Mike  Mon- 
roney  (D.f  Okla.),  Strom  Thur¬ 
mond’  (D.,  S.C.),  John  W.  Briicker 
(.R.,  O.)  and  Charles  Potter  (R., 
Mich.). 

The  House  hearing,  due  in  Feb¬ 
ruary,  will  focus  on  the  operation 
of  the  American  Society  of  Com¬ 
posers,  Authors  &  Publishers  and 
will  be  held  by  a  subcommittee  of 
the  House  Small  Business  Com¬ 
mittee  under  the  chairmanship  of 
Rep.  James  Roosevelt  (D.,  Cal.). 
This  hearing  plans  to  probe  allega¬ 
tions  that  ASCAP  is  being  run  for 
the  benefit  of  a  small  group  of  top 
firms  in  the  Society. 

The  kickoff  hearing  ’Will  take 
place  Feb.  19-21  when  the  Senate 
Committee  on  Patents,  Trade¬ 
marks  and  Copyrights  opens  bear¬ 
ings  on  a  bill,  introduced  by  Sen. 
Joseph  O’Mahoney  (D.,  Wy.), 
which  would  remove  the  exemp¬ 
tion  of  Coin  machines  from  the 
(Continued  pn  page  52 5  * f 


Col  Pictures 


Columbia  Pictures  moved  into 
the  disk  business  this  week  with 
the  purchase  of  Imperial  Records, 
Coast  indie.  Price  was  undisclosed. 

Lou  Chudd,  Imperial  topper,  will 
Continue  to  operate  the  firm  under 
a  longterm  Col  employment  con¬ 
tract.  Imperial  hit  as  a  bigtime 
indie  with  clicks,  by  Fats  Domino 
and  eurrently  has  hot  platters  by 
Ricky  Nelson. 

Columbia-Imperial  tie  follows 
the  pattern  of  Paramount’s  buyup 
of  Dot  Record’s  last  year  with 
diskery’s  prexy  Randy  Wood  stay¬ 
ing  on  to  run  the  firm.  Since  them 
United  Artists  has  gotten  into  the 
disk  picture  with  its  own  label  and 
20th*Fox  is  now  mulling  the  for-, 
mation  of  its  own  label  after  .talks 
■With  Roulette  Records  had  fallen 
through. 


FOX  SETS  COAST  OFFICE 
FOR  AWING  DISKERS 

In  linemaUs-the  marked  upbeat 
of  disk,  eo^pany  activity  on  the 
Coast,  Harry  Fox,  publishers’ 
agent  and  trustee,  is  opening  an 
office  in  Los  Angeles.  Fox,  who 
handles  the  licensing  of  tunes  for 
most  of  the  major  publishers, 
plans  to  utilize  the  Coast  office  ex¬ 
clusively  for  auditing  purposes  and 
not  to  handle  the  licensing  phase 
which  will  continue  out  of  the 
N.  Y.  office.  Fox  plans  to  make  a 
tieup  with  a  Coast  accounting  firm 
in  order  to  be  in  a  position  to 
check  books  on  a  regular  basis. 

In  the  last  few  years,  numerous 
indies  have  begun  operation*  on 
the  Coast  Among  the  major,  com¬ 
panies,  Capitol  Records  has  its 
bomeoffice  in  Hollywood. 

RCA  Repacts  Reisman 

.  Joe  Reisman,  RCA  Victor  musi¬ 
cal  director,  has.  been  repacted  to 
a  new  deal  by  the  diskery. ' 

Hell  continue  to.  record  with 
orchs  as  well  as  perform  artists  & 
fiawpfsteirtotiiimraavVs*******  ' 


4 * 


music 


KAR1E1 T 


Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


Jocks,  Jukes  and  Disks 


By  MIKE  GROSS 


Jimmie  Rodgers  (Roulette).  “OH- 
OH  F  FALLING  IN  LOVE”  (Plane¬ 
tary*)  shapes  up  as  another  folk- 
flavored  hit.  for  Jimmie  Rodgers 
and  it's  probably  because  he  sings 
a  song  straight  and  honestly.  “THE 
LONG  HOT  SUMMER”  (Feist*)  is 
a  pic  title  tune  (20th-Fox  release) 
that’s  handled  with  class  but 'it  will 
be  a  tough  fight  to  get  the  plays 
away  from  the  other,  side. 

Jackie  Wilson  (Brunswick).  “TO 
BE  LOVED”  (Pearlt)  is  a  big  ballad 
in.  the  rock  ’n’  roll  vein  (broken 
notes  and  all)  which  Jackie  Wilson 
blasts  into  the  winner^  circle. 
“COME  BACK  TO  ME”  (Pearlt) 
swings  in  a  familiar  rock  ’n’  roll 
tempo. 

St&ey  Sisters  (Caineo).  ‘‘BAD 
MOTORCYCLE”  (Thornettf)  will 


“GLADLY”  (Marvellet).  has 
easy-going  ballad  .  quality  that 
seems  more,  suited  to  an  intimate 
nitery  showcasing  than  a  coin  ma¬ 
chine  or  a  dee  jay  turntable. 

Eddie  Cochran  (Liberty).  “JE AN¬ 
NIE,  JE ANNIE,  JE ANNIE”  (House 
of.  Fortune!)  is  a  wild  rocker  with 
a  frantic  vocal  attack  that  the  kids 
will  pick  up  for.  a  plenty  of  spin¬ 
ning  action.  “POCKETFUL  OF 
HEARTS”  (American!) .  has  the 
rhythmic  beat  that  the  young  juke 
market  goes  for. 

George  London  (London).  “THIS 
NEARLY  WAS  MINE”  (William- 
son*)  is  the  Rodgers  &  Hammer- 
stein  tune  out  of  “South  Pacific” 
which  George  London  turns  into 
topnotch  deejay  programming  ma¬ 
terial.  “THEY  CALL  THE  WIND, 


JIMMIE  RODGERS . 

.  ( Roulette )  . 

JACKIE  WILSON 

( Brunsunck )  ....... 

THE  STOREY  SISTERS 

(Cameo)  ....  . . 

STEVE  LAWRENCE  .... 

(Coral)  . . . 

JO  ANN  CAMPBELL  . . 

(  Gone) 


... . OH-OH  I’M  FALLING  IN  LOVE 

........... _ Long  Hot  Slimmer 

.  TO  BE  LOVED 

. . . .Come  Back  to  Me 

BAD  MOTORCYCLE 

. . . . . Sweet  Daddy 

. . .  . .'. .  UH-HUH  OH  YEAH 

..........  ;  .Lover  in  the  House 

.. . YOU’RE  DRIVING  ME  MAD 

Rock  and  Roll  Love 


ride  right  into  the  teenagers’ 
hearts.  The  beat  and  the  message 
Is  kinda  outlandish;  but  it’s  what 
they  seem  to  want.  “SWEET 
D ADD Y”  ( Thorn ettt)  has  the  rock¬ 
ing  /eel,  but  it’s  built  ori  a  weak 
foundation. 

Steve  Lawrence  (Coral).  “UH- 
HUH  OH  YEAH”  (Sunbeam!)  is  a 
neatly  fashioned  showtune  (“The 
Body  Beautiful”)  in  the  rocking 
mood  and  Steve  Lawrence  makes  it 
a  choice  spinning  bet,  “LOVER  IN 
THE  HOUSE”  (Maxana*)  is  just  an 
average  ballad  offering.  “ 

Jo  Ann  Campbell  (Gone), 
“YOlfH-E  DRIVING  ME  MAD” 
(Gilt)  is  a  high-flying  rocker  that 
will  pick  up  spins  and  cover  rec¬ 
ords.  “ROCK  AND  ROLL  LOVE” 
(Mark!)  tries  to  be  all  things  to  all 
teenagers  and  it  almost  works. 

Doris  Day  (Columbia).  “TEACH¬ 
ERS  PET”  (Daywint)  is  a  smartly 
developed  rhythm  ballad  out  of  the 
Paramount  pic  of  the  -same  name 
and  Doris  Day  takes  it  for  an  ear¬ 
filling  ride.  “BLUES  IN  THE 
NIGHT”  (Remick*)  is  worth  hear¬ 
ing  and  spinning  again  in  this  vocal 
dressing. 

Kalin  Twins  (Decca),  “JUMPIN’ 
JACK”  (Jason*)  will  pop  out  of  the 
jukeboxes  as  a  big  spinning  item 
because  it  has  all  the  teengredients. 
“WALKIN’  TO  SCHOOL”  (Jason!) 
has  the  beat  and  lyrics  that  the 
teeners  go  for  these  days  and  .it 
could  move  in  for  a  big  score. 

-Jimmy  McPartland’s  All-Stars 
(Epic).  “SEVENTY-SIX  TROM¬ 
BONES”  (Frank*)  is  set  in  a  dixie¬ 
land  groove  that  could  turn  this 
march  from  “The  Music  Man”  into 
a  stepout  side.  “MARIAN  THE 
LIBRARIAN”  (Frank*)  ought  to 
get  a  lot  of  spinning  bookings  be¬ 
cause  of  McPartland’s  tasty  instru¬ 
mental  flavoring. 

Tito  Puente  Orch  (RCA  Victor). 
“BE  MINE  TONIGHT”  (Peer!)  gets 
a  rich  chile-flavored  revival  by 
Tito  Puente's  exciting  orch,  “LA 
OLA  MARINA”  (Peer?)  should 
appeal  to  the  hip-swinging  terp 
fans. 

Bebby  Helms  (Decca).  “JUST  A 
LITTLE  LONESOME"  (Coparv) 
has  an  ear-appealing  shuffle  qual¬ 
ity  that  could  build  the  side  into  a 
commercial  slice.  “LOVE-  MY 
LADY”  (Lee-Bob!)  *  a  typical 
teen-pegged  rock  ’n’  roller  even 
though  there’s  “Lady”  in  the  title 
Instead  of  the  usual  “Baby/’ 

Gene  Vincent  (Capitol). 
“WALKIN’  HOME  FRO  M 
SCHOOL”  (Vanderbilt*)  is  a  sim¬ 
ple  rocking  treatment  of  the 
-walkin’  ”  and  “school”  motif  that’s, 
now  attracting  so  many  cleffers. 
“I  GOT  A  BABY.”  (Loweryf)  is 
about  a  “baby  still  in  her  teens” 
which  should  give  an  idea  about 
what -the  beat  and  the  lyric  idea  is 
all  about.- 

Eddie  Lawrence  (Coral).  “THE 
VISl¥t)R”  (Merrick!)  is  one  of 
Eddie  Lawrence’s  funniest  mono- 
logs.  It’s  an  ebigramatic  delight 
perfect  for  home-player  entertain¬ 
ment.  “FIX  YOUR  WATCH”  (Mer¬ 
rickt)  hits  the  funnybone  mark  as  ; 
Lawrence  shoots  at  the  ever-timely ' 
problem  of  ever-faulty  timepieces, 

Kirk  Stuart  (Josie).  “THE 
SWINGING  SHEPHERD  BLUES” 
(Kahl-Bennellt)  gets  its  first  Vocal 
treatment  here  and  it  should  follow, 
the  spinning  stride  already  set  by 
several  clicko  instrumentals. 


MARIA”  (Chappell*)  gives  London 
another  fling  at  a  showtune  but  of 
“Paint  Your  Wagon”  and  it,  too, 
should  help  the  programmers. 

AT  &  Dick  (Carlton).  “JUNIOR 
MISS”  (Lido*)  has  cleffers  A1  Hoff¬ 
man  &  Dick  Manning  singing  their 
material  with  relish  and  the.  beat 
makes  it  an  okay  juke  item.  “I’LL 
WAIT”  (Sapphire*),  has  ;a  pleasant 
old-fashioned  quality  in  song  con¬ 
cept  and  delivery,,  but  it  will  be 
a  tough  push  in  the  juve-controlled 
market. 

Ray  Martin  Orch  (United  Art¬ 
ists).  “SONG  FROM  THE  QUIET 
AMERICAN”.  (Unartf)  is  a  rich, 
thematic  instrumental  colorfully 
etched  by  Ray  Martin’s  orch  and 
chorus  with  a  standout  trumpet 
leading  the  way  to  some  spinning 
action.  “THE  GRAPE  STOMPERS” 
(Unartf)  has  the.  familiar  happy 
Italian  melodic  flavor  and  Martin’s 
orch  and  chorus  stomps  appropri¬ 
ately. 

Lou  Monte  (RCA  Victor)  “LAZY 
MARY”  (Shapiro-Bernstein*)  puts 
Lou  Monte  in  the  Italian-English 
groove  again  which  will  continue 
to  limit  his  spinning  action.  “AN- 
GELIQUE”  (Clara*)  takes  off.  on  a 
neat  rhythmic  line  that’s  good  for 
juke  play. 

•  Lillian  Brooks  (MGM).  “PEY¬ 
TON  PLACE”  (Brandom*)  is  a 
moderate  ballad  offering  pegged 
on  the  tiUe  of  the  20thrFox  pic, 
but  Lillian  Brooks  makes  it  appeal¬ 
ing.  “SAY  YOU’RE  MINE”  (Fred- 
erickt)  sets  up  a  melodic  pattern 


(Compiled  by  Sam  Goody's,  leading  New  York  disk  retailer 
whose  global  mail  order  operation  reflects  not  only  the  national 
market ,  but  internationally ). 


LAWRENCE  WELK 

And  His  CHAMPAGNE  MUSIC 

3rd  Consecutive  Year 
Dodge  ..Dancing  Party 
ABG-TV-r-Sat  9-10  P.M.,  E.S.T. 
For  Dodge  Dealers  of  America 
Top  Tunes;  and  New  Talent 
ABC-TV  Mon.  9:30-10r30  pm,  E.S.T, 
Dodge  and  Plymouth 
Coral  Records  , 
Thesaurus  Transcriptions _ 


Artist 

Title 

Label 

1.  Original  Cast 

The  Music  Man 

Capitol 

2.  Original  Cast 

Wert  Side  Story 

Columbia* 

3.  Original  Cast 

My  Fair  Lady 

Columbia 

4.  Sound  Track 

Around  World  80  Days 

Decca 

5.  Pat  Boone 

Greatest  Hits 

Dot 

6.  johnny  Mathis 

Warm 

Columbia 

7.  Ella  Fitzgerald 

Sings  Rodgers  &  Hart 

Verve  ... 

8.  Sound  Track 

Pajama  Game 

Columbi 

9.  Errol  Garner 

Other  Voices 

Columbia 

10.  Sound  Track 

A  Farewell  to  Arms 

Capitol 

11.  Frank  Sinatra 

Come  Fly  With  Me 

Capitol 

12.  Harry  Belafonte 

Calypso 

RCA  Victor 

1 13.  Nat  King  Cole 

Love  Is  the  Thing 

Capitol 

14.  The  Weavers 

At  Carnegie  Hall 

Vanguard 

15.  Original  Cast 

Bells  Are  Ringing 

Columbia 

16.  Sound  Track 

Pal  Joey 

Capitol 

17.  Pete  Seeger 

Favorite  Ballads 

Folkways 

18.  Roger  Williams 

Fabulous  Forties 

Kapp 

19.  Modern  Jazz  Quartet 

Modern  Jazz  Quartet 

Atlantic 

20.  Original  Cast 

Jamaica 

RCA  Victor 

in  which  thrush  gets  her  message 
across  in  fine  form. 

Dakota  Staton  (Capitol).  “THE 
LATE.  LATE  SHOW”  (Kahlt)  puts 
Dakota  Staton  in  a  neat  rhythmic 
mood  and  she  handles  it  with  a 
classy  vocal  approach. .  “TRUST  IN 
ME”  (Advanced*)  is  a  strong  bal¬ 
lad  which  will  build  her  stature  in 
the  femme  singer  sweeps. 

Arthur  Godfrey  (Columbia), 
“MARIAN  THE  LIBRARIAN" 
(Frahk*)  should  win  new  wax 
friends  for  Godfrey.  It’s  a  charm¬ 
ing  .material  piece  out  of  the 
Broadway  timer,  “The  Music  Man.” 
“SEVENTY  -  SIX  TROMBONES” 
(Frank*)  is  the  click  march  from 
the  same  show  And  Godfrey’s  ver¬ 
sion  should  help  it  swing  along  the 
jock  and  juke  trail. 

Ann  Reynolds  (Epic).  “SUGARY 
LIES”  (Commander*)  can  win  at¬ 
tention  because  of  its  nifty  beat 
and  topnotch  vocal  attack.  “I  LIKE 
YOU”  (Singular!)  has  an  interest¬ 
ing  ballad  style  but  lacks  the 
punch  for  a  pop.  move-in. 

The  Mariners  (Tiara).  ‘‘I  HEARD 
YA  THE  FIRST.  TIME”  (Torch*)  is 
an  attractive  slice  in  material  and 
harmony  departments  Which-  gives 
it.  an  okay  spinning  potential.  “I 
LIVE  FOR  YOU”  (Michele*)  is  a 
pleasing  little  ballad  in  a  quiet  sort 
of  way.  . 

Ken  McDonald  (Prep).  “ONE 
LOVE  ALONE”  (Moon  Mist!)  has 
a  frisky,  beat  with  a  lot  of  lively 
vocal  touches  that’s  sure  to  win  the 
juke  trade;  “THE  PICTURE” 
(Moon  Misti)  is  a  country-flavored 
item  which  Ken  McDonald  builds 
into  a  pop  potential. 

Wayne  Handy  (Renown). ,  “BET- 
CHA-  DON’T  KNOW”  (Renown!) 
is  a  rousing  swinger  that  could  pull 
Wayne  Handy  out  of  the  corn  field 
and- into  tile  pop  market.  “DON’T 
(Continued  onpage  56) 


“The  Music  Man”  (Capitol)..  The 
original  cast  set  of  Meredith  Will- 
son’s  clicko  Broadway  tuner  is  a 
shoo-in  for  a  hefty  sales  score. 
Package  Is  a  happy  blending  of 
marches,  ballads  and  barbershop 
quartetirig  that’s  consistently  ap¬ 
pealing.  Robert  Preston  gets  across 
the  grooves  in  a  likeable  manner, 
and  Barbara  Cook,  who  already 
has  a  couple  of  original  cast  sets 
under  her  belt,  has  the  mike  tech¬ 
nique  down  pat.  The  packaging 
job  is  topnotch  with  a  colorful 
cover  to  enhance  window  displays. 

“Raintree  County”  (RCA  Vic¬ 
tor).  One  of  the  most  ambitious 
disk .  productions  to  stem  from 
pic  soundtrack,  this  double  LP 
package,  contains  an  excellent  80- 
minute  distillation  of  composer 
Johnny  Green’s  background  music.' 
Green,  in  editing  the  soundtrack 
for  the  disk  version,  attempted  to 
create  a  musical  Work  of  independ¬ 
ent  stature.  Although  not  wholly 
successful  since  there  are  several 
bands  in  the*  dual  LP  set  of  insub¬ 
stantial  atmospheric  effects,  this 
work  achieves  considerable  impact 
via  some  vividly  dramatic  pas¬ 
sages  amidst  the  more  sentimental 
themes.  The  title  theme  song, 
with  lyrics  by  Paul  Francis  Web- 
ster.-is  attractively  presented  with 
a  choral  ensemble.  Green  conducts 
The  MGM  studio  orch  in  a  highly 
polished  .perfonnance. 

"The  Bridge  on  the  River  Kwai” 
(Columbia).,  Sam  Spiegel’s  got  a 
big  picture  in  “Kwai”  and  Colum¬ 
bia’s  got  a  big  record  In  its  sound¬ 
track.  The  Malcolm  Arnold  score 
paints  vivid  pictures  that  will 
serve  as  an  excellent  souvenir 
piece.  And  as  an  added  fillip 
there’s  the  Mitch  Miller  orch  and 
chorus  workover  ‘  of.  “Colonel 
Bogey”  and  “River  Kwai  Theme’1 
interspersed. 

“Spanish  Affair”  (Dot).  With 


I.  AT  THE  HOP  (2) 

Danny  L  Juniors  .... 

.  .ABC-Pat 

2.  RAUNCHY  (8)  _ . 

{Bill  Jusiis  .... . . 

.(Billy  Vaughan  ...... 

... ... Phillips 

. . Dot 

1  Ernie  Freeman  . .... 

. .  .Imperial 

3.  GREAT  BALLS  OF  FIRE  (4) 

.  Jerry  Lee  Lewis  .... 

L  SUG ARTIM|:  (2) 

McGuire  Sisters  . . 

5.  APRIL  LOVE  (10)  ... ... ........ ii... 

..  .  /.  ‘  '  V.-'  t 

.  Pat  Boone . . 

6.  PEGGY  SUE  (1)  . . . . . . .... ; ; . . . . 

.  Buddy  Holly  . 

...  .  .Coral 

:  7.*  STOOD  UP  (2)’ . . . . . . . .  .v . . . . 

.  Ricky  Nelson  ....... 

. .  .Imperial 

8.  ALL  THE  WAY  (4) 

Frank  Sinatra  .... . . 

. . .  .Capitol 

9.  SAIL  ALONG  SILVERY  MOON  (1) 

Billy  Vaughn . 

10.  YOU  SEND  ME  (12) _ . _ 

(  Sam  Cooke _ ■.....» 

*1  Teresa  Brewer  ..... 

. .  * . . .  (Coral 

Second  Group 

KISSES  SWEETER  THAN  WINE  ...... 

Jimmie  Rodgers  . , -. . , 

. .  .Roulette 

WAITIN’  IN  SCHOOL 

Rickey  Nelson  ...... 

. .  Imperial 

I’LL  COME  RUNNING  BACK 

Sam  Cooke . . 

THE  STROLL 

Diamonds  ......... 

* . .  Mercury 

DON’T  LET  GO 

Roy  Hamilton . . . .  .  . , 

WHY  DON’i  THEY  UNDERSTAND 

George  Hamilton 

, .  .ABC  Par 

FOR  SENTIMENTAL  REASONS 

Sam  Cooke  . . . 

.... . , Keen 

OH  JULIE  ....  .....  ........ 

Cresendos 

Masco 

YOU  ARE  MY  DESTINY 

Paul  Anka 

ABC-Par 

ARE  YOU  SINCERE?  . . . , . . . . . . . . 

.  -  Andy  Williams  * . v. . . . 

...  Cadence 

[ Figures  in  parentheses  indicate  number  of  weeks  simg  has  been  in  the  Top  10] 


this  film  located  in  Spain,  this  pic 
soundtrack  has  a  highly  attractive 
Hispano  musical  background  to 
sell  it.  Composer  Daniele  Amfi- 
theatrof  has  revolved  his  score 
around  some  authentic-sounding 
flamenco,  gypsy  and  bullfighting 
themes  for  a  striking,  unified  ef-.: 
feet..  One  pop  ballad,  “The  Flam¬ 
ing  Rose,”  with  English  lyrics  by 
Mack  David,  is  delivered  effec¬ 
tively  by  Carihen  Sevilla- who  also 
contributes  at  flamenco  dance  se¬ 
quence  to  a., traditional  “Soleares.” 

“Baby  Face  Nelson”  (Jubilee).. 
One  side  of  this  LP  is  the  sound¬ 
track  from  the  Mickey  Rooney 
starrer.  “Baby  Face  Nelson”  and 
the  other  is  a  six-tune  develop¬ 
ment  Of  themes  from  the  track, 
written  by  Rooney,  Van  Alexander 
and  Harold  Spina,  The  melodies 
are  in  a  contemporarv  groove  with 
the  accent  on  jazz.  There  are  also 
some  rbmantic  'ballad  themes  for 
change  of  pace.  Like  the  pic,  it 
should  get  a  fair  b.o. 

“A  Farewell  to  Arms”  (Capitol). 
Italian  composer  Mario  Nasclm- 
bene  rings  the  bell  with  his  score 
for  the  David  Ch  Selznick  pic,  “A 
Farewell  to.  Arms.”  Picture  covers 
a  lot  of  territory  and  Nascirabene 
has  managed  tp  fill  it  all  with  at¬ 
tractive  melodies  that  have  ,  sus¬ 
taining  power.  The  soundtrack. 
Was  recorded  In  Rome  with  Franco 
Ferrara  conducting.  The  sound 
reproduction  is  topflight  and  the 
nackage  should  do  well  in4he  mar¬ 
ket. 

Jimmr  Giuffre  &  His  Musio 
Men:  “The  Music  Man”  (Atlantic). 
Meredith  Willson’s  simple  and  at¬ 
tractive  score  for  “The  Music 
Man”  takes  on  i  new  dimension  in 
Jimmv  Giuffre’s  jazz  treatment. 
It’s  Giuffre’s  first  wax  outing  with 
tunes  written  by  someone  else,  but 
he  gives  it  the  care  and*  considera¬ 
tion  he  applies  to  his  own  works 
which  makes  the  set  a  jazzster’s 
delight  and  an  understandable  and 
enjoyable  item  for  the  showtune 
squares.  Giuffre’s  horn  Is  comple¬ 
mented  by  three  trumpets,  three 
saxes,  bass  and  drums  for  an  over¬ 
all  standout  effect. 

The  Chordettes:  (Cadence).  In¬ 
cluded  in  this  musical  roundup 
are  Some  of  the  best  waxines  put 
out  by  The  Chordettes.  Beginning 
with  “Mr.  Sandman”  and  running 
through  such  *s  “Humming  Bird” 
“Born  to  Be  With  You.”  ‘Just  Be¬ 
tween  You  and  Me.”  the  femmes 
hit  a  steady  happv  harmony  note. 

Count  Basie:  “Basie”  (Roulette). 
This  is  a  superior  jazz  blending  of 
performer  and  composer.  Per¬ 
former  is  Count  Basle,  of  course, 
while  Neal  Heft!  stands  tall  in  the 
composer’s  comer.  The  Heft!  orig¬ 
inals  serve  as  a  springboard  for 
Basie  and  his  bovs' to  take  off  on 
-energetic  musical  flights.  Set  is 
part  of  Roulette’s  Birdland  series. 

“The  Playboy  Jazz  All  Stars” 
(Playboy  Magazine),  This  is  Play¬ 
boy  mag’s  first  fling  into  the  disk 
market  and  It’s  a  beaut.  Set  stems 
from  the  mag’s  1957  jazz  poll  and 
features  all  the  winners  to  make 
up  one  of  the  best  waxed  jazz  an¬ 
thologies  around.  It’s  also  a  novel 
package  In  that  rival  labels  worked 
together,  for  a  change  in  getting; 
tfPes  of  the  winning  artists  for 
this  set.  The  two-DOcket  LP  also 
features  a  bourid-in  booklet  by 
Leonard  Feather  with  bios,  pix, 
and  diskographies  of  the  Winners./ 
Modernaires:  “Harmony  Is. 
the  Thing”  (Coral).  This  is  a  pleas¬ 
ant  potpourri  of  songs  to  sing; 
around  ttie  piano.  They  can  bo! 
delightful  when  the  harmony  is; 
right  and  The  Modernaires  get  it 
right  every  time,  “Heart  of  Mv 
Heart,”  “That  Old  Gang  of  Mine,” 


ttti.VA..  (Continued  on  page  56)  ’  j 


Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


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48 


MUSIC 


PBrieY? 


Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


Rock  n’ 


San  Francisco,  Jan.  28.  •* 

A  gimmick-laden  r  ’n’  r  format 
has  overtaken  half  of  the  10  major 
radio  stations .  in  this  area,  much 
to  the  delight  of  Bill  Shaw,  gen¬ 
eral  manager  of  independent,  mid¬ 
dle-of-the-road  KSFO.  Shaw,  ex- 
CBS  exec  imported  by  Golden  West 
Broadcasters  when  the  Los  An¬ 
geles  outfit  bought  KSFO  a  little 
over  a  year  ago,  feels  spread  of 
the  r  *n’  r  format  cuts  down  the 
audience  potential  of  all  stations 
adopting  it,  helps  the  other  out¬ 
lets*  ratings. 

Not  so.  Dave  Siegel,  ,  whose  pur¬ 
chase  of  KOBY  a  year  ago  Sep¬ 
tember  and  subsequent  introduc¬ 
tion  of  a  “Top  40”  format  has 
brought  on  various  forms  of  imita¬ 
tion  by  KYA,  ABC’s  o&o  KGO, 
KJBS  and  KROW,  Oakland.  Siegel 
lays:  “You  have,  to  have  the  feel 
of  it.  We  do.  and  that?s  why  we’re 
oil  top.” 

From  a  strictly  ratings  stand¬ 
point.  KOBY  still  spreadeagles 
the  Frisco  area,  but  the  latest 
Hooper  and  Nielsen  ratings  show 
KOBY  dropping  from  July  through 
November,  while  KYA  has  made 
Inroads.  Revamping  of  KGO-  and 
KROW  has  just  been  finished  and 
any  bite  into  audience  they  make 
won’t>be  apparent  for  a  couple  of 
months. 

Meantime,  KSFO’s  deejay  Don 
Sherwood  has  rung  up  greater  and 
greater  ratings— his  8:45*9  am. 
Nielsen  71  is  the  biggest  quarter- 
hour  in  Northern  California  radio, 
with  the  single  exception  of 
KSFO’s  November  pro  football 
(blacked  out  oh  TV). 

In  addition  to  KSFO.  the  other 
non-r  ’n’  r  stations,  KCBS.  KFRC, 
KNBC  and  KLX.  seein  to  be  hold¬ 
ing  onto  their  shares  of  the  audi¬ 
ence  well  and,  in  several  cases,  are 
building.. 

It  is  still  too  early  to  test  Shaw’s 
thesis  thoroughly.  Ratings,  as  time- 
buyers  should  know,  can  prove  al¬ 
most  anvthing.  KOBY's  slight 
slippage,  for  instance,  could  he  di¬ 
rectly  attributable  to  the  fact  that 
more  teenagers  were  listening  to 
radio  in  the  summer  months  than 
they  are  during  the  school  year.  But 
Shaw  feels  that  gimmicks  and 
r  ’n’  r  tend  to  he  self-limiting,  that 
the  teenage  audience  isn’t  the.  buy¬ 
ing  audience. 

*  Siegel.  KGO’s  Gil  Paltridee  and 
KYA’s.  Irv  Phillips  don’t  see  it  that 
way,  and  each  claim  adults  com-, 
prise  the  vast  majority  of  their 
listening  audiences.  Again,  figures 
don’t  mean  much— except,  to  time- 
buyers  who  are  3,000  miles  away 
from  the  market. 


Noro  Morales  Talks 
Up  Latinoed  Fotare 


Frankfurt.  Jan.  21 

“Latin  American  music  looks  like 
the  next  big  musical  craze  in  Eu¬ 
rope,”  siys  Noro  Morales,  who  has 
jUftt  completed  a  tour  of  TJ.  S.  mili¬ 
tary  installations  over  here,  head¬ 
ing  his  orch  as  part  of  the  Philip 
Morris  troupe. 

In  playing  before  the  military 
audiences,  and  in  visiting  the  night 
cluba  in  Germany  and  France,  Mor¬ 
ales  has  noted  that  the  most  popu¬ 
lar  requests  are  for  mambos,  sam¬ 
bas,  cha-chas  and  tangos — far  more 
appealing  to  the  dancers  in  Eu¬ 
rope  than  the  swing  and  rock  ’n* 
roll  and  jump  numbers. 

“Most  Europeans  who  dance  are 
trained  in  the  South  American 
steps,  and  do  the  tango  and  rhum¬ 
ba  with  skill— while  they’re  often 
too  dignified  to  do  the  bop  and 
jazz  steps.”  he  adds. 

Too,  in  £he  night  clubs  of  Eu- 


er  dances  instead  of  the  jump  num¬ 
bers,  he  feels  from,  his  rece 
servations  here. 

Morales  plans  to  return  i 
other  tour  of  Europe  wi 
crew  in  the  spring. 


’Lafayette  We  Are 
Here’— F 


Paris,  Jan.  28.  r 

The  jukebox,  is  now  a  fairly 
accepted  and  substantial  part  of 
the  cafe  setup  here.  There  are 
still  some  holdouts,  but  the  growth 
of  disk  sales  and  the  rebirth  of  the 
musichell,  brining  the  singers 
face-to  face  with  auds  have  helped 
push  these  machines  into  populari- 
tyi  About  5,000  venders,  who  have 
bought  or  rented  American  models, 
service  about  J.8,000  cafes  in 
France,  . 

At  5c  a  spin  the  boxes,  can  earn 
$1,500  to  $3,000  per  month.  Cafe 
Owners  reap  10%  to  .  20%,  which 
is  a  substantial  extra  for  them,  and 
SAGEM  also  gets  playing  rights. 

Different  parts  of  Paris  natural¬ 
ly  give  more  playing  time  to 
certain  type  disks,  and  savvy  on 
the  part  of  juke /Operators  helps. 
Jukes  are.  now  recognized  as  being 
able  to  help  a  song  rather  than 
only  perpetrate  a  hit. 

■  ■■■  — — r — • 

Boulton  to  W.  Germany 

London;  Jan.  21. 

Band  agent  Derek  Boulton 
planes  out  to  West  Germany  Jan. 
31  for  a  seven-day  visit  to  negoti¬ 
ate  tv  dates  for  the  Eric  Delaney 
band,  and  possibly  the  Ted  Heath 
outfit. 


British  Disk  Bestsellers 

London.  Jan.  28. 

Jailhonse  Rock  . . . . .  .  Presley 
(RCA) 

He’s  making  Eyes  .  .  Adams  & 
Otis  (Capitol) 

Balls  of  Fire  ... ;. ... . . .  .  .Lewis 

,  (London). 

Oh!  Boy  . .  . . . . .....  Crickets 

(Vogue-Coral) 

All  the  Way/, _ Sinatra 

(Capitol) 

Special  Angel  ; .  .M.  Vaughan 
(HMV) 

Peggy  Sue  , .  : . . . .  .Holly 

.(Vogue-Coral) 

Reet  Petite  .  .Wilson 

(Vogue-Coral)  • 

Story,  My  Life  ..... .Holliday 

(Columbia) 

Kisses  Sweeter : . .  ... .  Rodgers 

(Columbia) 


Brit’s  ’Hand-Jive’  Beat 

London,  Jan. -21. 

Current  click  craze  with  heat- 
happy  teenage  music  fans  in  Brit¬ 
ain  in  Hsind-Jlve,  a  set  series  of 
hand  and;  arm  movements^  per¬ 
formed:  in  time  with  the  Thythm. 
It  latched  on  fast  after  being  per¬ 
formed  by.  a  section  of  the  audi¬ 
ence  during  an  airing  of  BBC-TV’s 
teenage,  offering,  “6-5  Special,” 
and  has  since  ,  been,  the  subject  of 
a  rock  *n’  roll  number. 

An  instruction  booklet  has  been 
written  by  Jack  Good,  whp  has 
produced  “6-5 -Special,”  which  de¬ 
scribes  all  movements,  with  illus¬ 
trations,  and  goes  a  step  further 
with  information  about  formation 
Hand-Jive. 

Craze  is  reported  to  have  started 
in  a  London  basement  jazz  club, 
where  *  group  of  Af  rican  students 
.were  seen  performing  the  routine. 


Gillespie  Sets  Quintet  J 
In  Place  of  Big  Band 

Chicago,  Jan.  28.  j 

Dizzy  Gillespie  has  shelved  his 
big  band  for  the  winter  in  favor 
of  a  quintet.  Group’s  initial  date 
Is  the  current  Storyville  engage-, 
ment  in  Boston.-  Next  up  is  the 
Paradise  in  Brooklyn,  with  a  Goth¬ 
am  Town  Hall  concert  set  for  Feb. 
14.  Unit  may  play  some  midwest 
dates  en  route  the  Coast. 

Only  member  of  the  quintet 
plucked  from  Gillespie’s  regular 
band  is  88’er  Winton  Kelly.  .  It’s 
the  combo,  and  riot  the  band,  which 
Gillespie  will  take  with  him  .  when 
he  goes  to  Europe  in  April  for  six 
weeks.  Future  of  the  band,  inci¬ 
dentally,  isn’t  certain,  according  to 
booking  agent  Jim  Fleming,  al¬ 
though  it’s  expected  to  see  action 
at  least  for  special  dates  and  re¬ 
cordings^. 

Body’s  Dixie-Doodle 
At  N.Y/s  Carnegie  Hall 

.Dody  Goodman,  comedienne  on* 
Jack  Paar’s  “Tonight”  Show  (NBC- 
TV)  .  will  he  teamed  up  with  a 
flock,  of  dixielanders  for  a  bash  at 
New  York’s  Carnegie  Hall  Feb.  Y. 
It’ll  be  a  “Birdland  Presents”  pack¬ 
age  and  will  be  tagged  “Dody  In 
Dixieland.” 

There  will  be  40  dixieland  toot- 
lers  on  the  bill  as  well  as  bands 
headed  by  Bobby  Hackett,  Wild 
Bill  Davison,  Jimmy  McPartland 
and  Stan  Rubin. 

Miss  Goodman  is  in  on  a  guar¬ 
antee  and  percentage  and  it’s  es¬ 
timated,  that  if  both  the  8:30  p.m. 
arid  midnight  show  go  clean  she 
can  walk  away  with  $5,000  for  the 
night’s  work.  House  will  be  scaled 
at  a  $4.75  top. 


Walt  Disney  is  setting  up  an¬ 
other  disk  subsid.  The  new  line, 
called  Vista  Records,  will  groove 
personalities:  from  all  phases  of  the 
entertainment  world  for  the  pack¬ 
aged  goods,  field.  The  albums  will 
be  priced  at  $3.98. 

According  to  James  A.  Johnson, 
topper  of  Disney’s  music  and  rec¬ 
ording  enterprises,  the  Vista  line 
is  being  created  ,td  cater  to  the 
diversified  tastes  of  adults  and 
children  alike  and  will  complement 
Disney’s  other  disk  lines,  Disney¬ 
land  and  Mickey  Mouse  Club  Rec¬ 
ords. 

The  first,  (wo  albums,  due  for 
release  next  month,  will  be  “An 
Evening  With  Mary  Martin,”  ini 
which  stage  star  will  perform  songs 
she  sung  in  a  number  of  Broadway 
shows;  and  “Melodies  for  Mid- 
might,”  a  collection  of  standards 

Serformed  :^by  accordionist  John. 
a-Padula. 

Actor  James  .Mason  also  has 
been  signed  for  Vista  to  groove  two 
albums:  a  collection  of  horror 
stories  by  Edgar  Allen  Poe  and 
series  of  .poems  dealing  with  the 
sea. 


Stan  Cooper  on  Own 

Stan  Cooper,  general  manager  of 
the  Fred  Fisher  Music  Company 
for  the  past  couple  of  years,  has 
exited  to  set  up  his  own  publishing 
and  management  operation. 

He’s- setting  up  ASCAP  and  BMI 
firms,  as  yet  unnamed,  and.  has 
parted  Paul  Evans,  rockabilly 
singer,  to  a  management  deal. 


NEW  HOUSTON  BALLROOM 

Houston,  Jan.  28. 


more,  than  $155,000. 


BETJUL  DISK  BEST  SELLERS 


t<&RIETY— 

Survey  of  retail  disk:  best 
sellers  based  on  reports  ob¬ 
tained  front  leading  stores  in 
21  cities  and  showing  ,  com¬ 
parative  tales  rating  for. this 
and  last  week. 


National 
Rating 
This  Last 

wk.  wk.  Artist,  Label,  Title 


5! 

-  o 
a 

S- 

X 

i 

,t 


1 

1 

DANNY  &  JUNIORS  (ABC-Par) 

At  the  Hop:V.  . .  ....... 

1  •• 

•  -  1 

1 

6 

1 

8 

6 

l 

1 

1 

1- 

8  96 

2 

2 

SILHOUETTES  (Ember) 

Get  a  Job ......  r, .  . •  •  -  .  2  1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

4 

3 

1 

5 

...  86 

3 

9 

McGUIRE  SIFTERS  (Coral) 
Sugartime  f  T. ...  ..  . .  .  .. 

..  10  , 

9 

1 

8 

6 

6 

2 

2 

3 

■4 

3 

..  67 

4A 

17 

BILLY  VAUGHN  (Dot) 

Silvery  Moon . , .  . 

6 

10  ib 

3 

5 

3 

5 

2 

10 

7  48 

4B 

4 

DIAMONDS  (Mercury) 

The  Stroll . 

5 

3 

10 

JO 

5 

3 

8 

1 

6 

..  48 

4C 

11 

MITCH  MILLER  (Columbia) 

March  froin  River  Kwai . . 

5  5 

1 

i  ... 

6 

4"’ 

8 

10 

-  48 

7 

6 

BILLY  &  LILLIE  (Swan) 

4  .: 

7 

2 

7 

9 

..  36 

8A 

ELVIS  PRESLEY  (Victor) 

Don’t 

3 

4 

9 

10 

4 

3 

...  ^3 

8B 

16 

FOUR  PREPS  (Capital). 

Twenty-six  Miles  . 

1 

4~ 

1 

5  33 

10 

14 

RICKY  NELSON  (Imperial) 

Wilt  in  School . . . ; .  .  •  • 

5 

5 

2 

3 

8 

. .  32 

11  ;■ 

24 

FRANK  SINATRA  (Capitol) 
Witchcraft  .... 

:.  ... 

2  ... 

3 

1 

7 

31 

12A 

3 

BUDDY  HOLLY  (Coral) 

Peggy  Sue. ,  .v,..  . 

4 

9 

9 

7 

8 

4 

10 

..  28 

12B 

8 

RICKY.  NELSON  (Imperial) 

Stood  Up  . . .  .  .  ..... .  •  - 

10 

8 

5 

2 

2  28 

14 

10 

FRANK  SINATRA  (Capitol) 

All  the  Way.  ..  :;, 

.  >  . , 

.... 

2 

2 

4 

9 

•  27 

15A 

7 

PAT  BOONE  (Dot) 

April  Love  . . .  .  ... 

... 

.....  6 

3 

2 

7 

..  26 

15B 

ERNIE  FREEMAN  (Imperial) 

Raunehy .  .w 

3 

5 

7 

3  26 

17  A 

PERRY  COMO  (Victor) 

Catch  a  Falling  Star  . . .  .  . .  . 

3  v: 

10 

9 

10 

8 

1  25 

17B 

SAMMY-  SALVO  (Victor) 

Oh  Julie...... .  , 

1 

2 

10 

6 

.,  25 

19 

ROYAL.  TEENS  (ABC-Par) 

Short  Shorts  . .... 

2 

7 

4  19 

20 

JOHNNY  PATE  (Federal) 

Swinging  .  Shepard  Blues ......  . 

8 

5 

7 

10 

9 

...  16 

21 A 

JOHNNY  MATHIS  (Columbia) 
Twelfth  of  Never  . .  . 

5 

9 

6  13 

,  21B 

13 

ELVIS  PRESLEY  (Victor).  . 
Jailhonse  Rock. .  .  .  .... .  . 

7 

7 

6 

..  13 

ij  23A 

18 

G.  HAMILTON  IV  (ABC-Par) 

Why  Don’t  They  Understand, ... 

4 

10 

10 

9 

10 

-  12 

23B 

15 

ROY  HAMILTON  (Epic)  * 

Don’t  Let  'Go . 

. .  2 

8 

..  12 

t  |  25 

. 

PAUL  ANKA  (ABC-Par) 

You  Are  My  Destiny  / . 

9  .; 

8 

5 

11 ; 

BRITAIN’S  DISK-CLUB  ISSU 


Ambassador  Satch  Sounds  Off 


Jazzman  Want*  Wider  Exchange  of  ArtieU  to 
Lessen  World  Tension 


DJORS  NIK  AOS  lefeviskm  Tapping  Tm  Pan  Alley 
IN  'ClUB'  PRESS  Songswfts  for  Exec  Producer  Roles 


■  Albany,  Jan.  28. 

The  export  of  more  jazz  music 
and  musicians,  together  with  a 
Wider  exchange  of  artists,  could 
lessen  world  tension  so  Louis  Arm¬ 
strong  told  Variety  after  a  concert 


Chi  Label  Concentrates  |  :  * IMe-^ 

On  Catholic  Releases  „  ^l^a4,°.n,s  .^at , some  ^ior  Roger  Roger  Exclusively  expansion  or  musical  programming 

Chicago.  Jan.  »  ,  ’  Hoger  Roger.  Branch  composer. on  a  regular  and  special  basis,  iv 

Fatima  Recordings  Inc.,  new  music  papers  to reject  advertising  conductor-arranger*  bas  been  pact-  js looking  to  the  songwriter  for 


He-de-France  Wraps  Up 


Television  and  the  songwriter 
are  getting  to  have  more  in  com¬ 
mon  than  just  songs.  "With  the 


hi^aextet  eav^underTed  BavlWs  sma8  diskery  here,  plans  to  Con-  from  record  clubs,  have  brought  ed  for  exclusive  U.S.  representa-  production  aide. 
aSnte  ih  the  State  Armory  at  f116  *ts;efforts  to  religious  works  to  the  limeUght  the  operation  of  tion  by  Ile-de-Francje  Productions,  There’s  a  show  biz,  precedent  for 

Albany  recently  v0r  c?tholics.  Company’s  first  re-  subscription  organizations,  who  Which gets  rights  to  his  composi-  the  segue  of  the  composer  into  be- 

A;?a£  tf^hag  bee*.  la  and 

wiu  continue  to  be  ghod^musi^  devoUdn.  Most  01  the  sales  are  by  Action  by  the  majors  (It  is  suggest-  composer,  conductor  and  arranger,  ^  B  liSy«  tapped  cleffer  Ar' 

SdeH  Sa/it  mal1’ *ithP'1*h -the  disk  lb  available  ed).  carried,  an  Implied  threat  to  Ile-de-France  la  operated  by  thur  Freed  for  an  exec  producers* 

Ln!!?. i; in^efteet9  a  at  scattered  retail  outlets.  withhold  their  own  advertising  jack  vfolfe,  Herbert  M.  Moss  and  post  at  MGM  and  similarly  Buddy 

'  «»•*  mvMymU*  K6*  ***  Crenesse.  Firm  also  set  D.  Sylva  moved  over  to  a  top 

have  gone  to  the  world.  I  have  HehU  ^  wpjh. 


Albany  Vcently  for  Catholics.  Compands  first  re-  subscription  organizations,  who  which  gets  rights  tb  his  composi- 

AiDany  roceniiy.  lease  is  the  “Rosary  Record,”  a  12-  markettheiroutput  atprices  sub-  .-  ^  iT1  - 

:* Jazz  always  has  been,  is  and  inch  LP  adaptation  ofthe  Catholic  stantiallybelow  the  standardrate,  tjons’  recordings  and  services  as 

viU.  continue  to  be  good  music,’  devotion.  Most  of  the  sales  are  by  Action  by  the  majors  (it  is  suggest-  composer,  conductor  and  arranger. 


.t,^tlertd^S.SS£.r“*~~*  Wl thinjr  their  own  advertising 1  Jack  Wolfe,  Herbert  M.  Mess  and 
S&ta&UrttMl  '  «»•*  «-6*.  Crehesse.  Firm  also  set  D.  Sylva  moved  over  to  a  top 

have  gdne  In'*  the  worl£\I  hav.  K  1**^™™”*”***  were  PMb’  deals  to  rep  the  French  diskery. 

nafie  *  *  ag“Cy  "  “  :  The  spotlight  was  first focussed  W  ^  iholgiVftd^there  «e  clo?/e 

stood,  .  Armstrong  coiiuucntcd.  »  ...  •  oil' th£  controversy  bv  Frantic  Wil-  .ABC-Paramount,  in  Franco.  In.:  V^nTipn  thiiv  Pncp  Tfvitip  Bpr 

Jazz  not  only  has  a  strong  appeal  .Rosary  Record”  was  approved  ,0“  ctriS^Tvrnti  the  works  are  tieins  with  French  V?11!?’ 

in  Russia,  SatchmO  stated/but  Pnor  to  itsreleaseby  theCatholic  Publishers  and  rights  to  French  Ah,!? 

Russian  musicians  play  it  quite  chancery  office  here,  although  Natkm^  WmtoroS  ^edfto?  fUm  and  tv  properties.  STIS 

well.  He  based  the  latter  appraisal  Gorman  said  that  the  archdiocese  ia  '  i  V  - - r - — - - — ■  ?tem  and  Frank  Loesser  who  can 

on  experiences  With  Russian  must-  ^  no  official  involvement  in  of  the  Socialist  Daily  Herald,  was  be  listed  as  cleffer-originals 

ooir  fL  ir^n  Fatlma  H  publicrelations  advisor  to  CIement  -tt-Sa;  R^m  who  have  taken  a  crack  at 

d^l  Ar^SonFe  cm  Atlee  during  part  of  his  premier-  Elvl*  ™*  Bo®“  productioh.  Loesser,  Incidentally. 

«p9«S«  IS  shIp*  The  NS&N  is  an  Influential  :  London,  Jan.  28.  is  currently  involved  as  co-produ- 

jnil  h^nthpv  Koren to  E  B  Marks  political  weekly  with  a  pronounced  Opening  of  Metros  Jailhouse  Cer  of  the  Broadway  click,  “The 

only  listened  to  ine,  bqt  they  rworen  to  XL>  D.  lYlarKS  leftwing  slant.  Rock,”  starring  Elvis  Presley,  cur-  Music  Man  ”  as’  well  as  nublisher 

"tf’yS!?  ^  i^^he  ptor  With  the  issue  brought  into  the  rently  playing  at^ 'fhe !  Empire,  Lei-  &  the  Meredith  Willson  score. 


Elvis’  Brit.  Boom 

London,  Jan.  28. 
Opening  of  Metros  “Jailhouse 


Rc- reported.  It  was  “obvious  they  fessional  staff  of  E,  B.  Marks  Music  public  eye,  one  of  the  three  clubs  cester  Square,  has  lifted  the  Rock-  .  -  .  .  fniinump  ihp  iAari 

had  heard  my  records/’  jjere  ^he’ll  work  nnder^  .'Arnold.  ioSJrSt^ed  that^he ’rea-  ster’s  waxing  of  the  title  song  S?z  rivkfs  Ar 

“There  was  nothing  but  friend-  Shaw,  firms  general  professional  SOns  given  by  the  papers  for  the  from  nowhere  to  the  head  of  the  {{““cJS, t„i0ncf™' 
Jiness  between  them  and  the  manager.  rejecSn  of  edvertistoTtvas  “0/  British,  disk  Top  M)  In  less  than 

American  group  ”  Armstrong  con-  Before  joining  Marks,  Koren  had  satisfactory,  and  unconvincing  in  A  week.  nr^rptinn  lwntl^m  Srhuartr 

tinued.  been  with  Leeds  Music  and  Co-  the  main.”  One  editor"  who  had  Number  Is  on  the  RCA  label  £.ith  an  “in<?id*  wripy  a 

He  then  approximately  re.  Iiimbla  Pictures,  (Continued  on  page  55>  here.  few  yeais  b^k and  Styne  wUh  sev- 


marked-^-Satchmo  jargon  and  dic¬ 
tion  are  sometimes  baffling— -that 
“When  you  sit'  down  to  play  jazz, 
to  blow  with  Satchmo,  there  is  no; 
enmity.  One-man  rule  has  no  in¬ 
fluence  in  such  a  background.” 

The  jazzman  repeated  that  he 
was  “willing  to  play  in  Russia  or 
anyyirhere  else  in  the  world.”  He 
.  thought  it  would;  be  “nice”  if  “the 
:  Government”  sponsored  exchanges 
of  artists. 

-He  spoke  up  for  rock  *n*  roll. 
“It’s  got  beat  and  life,”  Armstrong 
explained.  “Rock  ’n*  roll  comes 
from  the  church,”  he  asserted. 

Arm  st run  g  revealed  that  he 
watehes  younger  musicians,  play 
rock  ’n’  roll  on  television,  and  likes 
them;  To  the  complaint  qf  older 
people  that  “rock”  is  “too  loud,” 
he  offered  the  advice:  “They  can 
turn  the  television  set  down.” 

•Armstrong  criticized  uqnamed 
bandleaders  “who  pay  too  much 
attention  to  the  bpxoff ice,  while 
their  music  suffers.”  For  himseif, 
Satchmo  wants  to  "play  well,  If 
there  are  only  100  people  present.” 
He  also  took  a  rap  at  musicians 
who  dislikd  riding  buses,  as  part  of 
their  employment.  When  they  de¬ 
velop  that  attitude,  they  are  “be¬ 
coming  tired  of  their  instrument,” 
he  contended.  Bus-riding  is  just  i 
“hustle”  to  the  onetime  poor  bdy } 
from  New  Orleans.  ! 

“When  I  go  back  to  the  hotel 
tonight,  I’ll  have  a  rubdown  and 
eat;  I  can  sleep  on  the  bus  the  rest 
of  the  evening,”  he  said.  His 
sextet  jumped  from  Albany  to 
Pottsdown,  Pa.,  for.  a  date — prior 
to  opening  a  week’s  engagement  at 
Blinstruh’s  in  Boston. 

Armstrong  disclosed  that  he  may 
make  another  picture  With  Bing 
Crosby  after  he  reached  the  Coast 
-r-possibly  in  March  or  April. 

Armstrong  does,  not  think  his 
style  or  musical  tastes  have 
changed  materially  since  the  early 
days,  but  he  hopes  and  believes  “I 
Play  better  now,”  Here  he  under¬ 
lined:  “Jazz  has  never  been  away. 
It’s  always  good  and.  always  will 
be  here. 


PAfttih  Scoreboard 

OF 

TOP  TALENT  AND  TUNES 

Compiled  from  Siaiistidat  Reports  of  Distribution 
Encompassing  the  Three  Major  Outlets 

Com  Machines^  Retail  Disks  Retail  Sheet  Music 

as  Published  in  the  Current  Issue 

NOTE :  The  current  comparative  tale t  ttrength  of  the  Artists  and  Tuiiet  listed  hereunder  it 
arrived  at  under  a  statistical  system;  comprising  each  of  the  three  major  sales  putlets  enu¬ 
merated  above.  These  findings  are  correlated  with  data  from  under  sources,  which  are  exclusive 
with  Variety .  The  positions  resulting  from  these  findings  denote  the  OVERALL  IMPACT  de¬ 
veloped  from  the  ratio  of  points  scored,  two  ways  in  the  case  of  talent  (coin  machines ,  retail 
disks)  arid  threex  ways  In  the  case  of  tunes  (coin  machines ,  retail  disks  and  retail  sheet  music). 


POSITIONS 
This  Last 
Week  Week 


Middle  East  &  Europe 

■  Ballad  songstress  Virginia  Davis, 
daughter  of  maestro  Meyer  Davis, 
is  currently  on  a  concert  tour  of 
the  Middle  East.  She’s,  slated  to 
play  in  Ankara  for  the  Iran-Ameri- 
ca  Society,  and  in  Baghdad  for  the 
U.,  S.  Information  jSeryice.  ; 

‘Shes’  also  set  to  do  a  recital  in 
Jerusalem.  Other  points  on  her 
current  itinerary  include  Cyprus, 
then  back  to  the  Continent  with 
stopovers  at  Rdnie  and  in  Switzer-, 
land. 


1 

1 

2 

7 

3 

4 

4 

5 

6 

6 

10 

7 

9 

8 

2 

9 

10 

8 

POSITIONS 

This 

Last 

Week. 

Week 

1 

8 

2 

1 

3 

4 

4 

5 

2 

6. 

10 

7 

5 

TALENT 

ARTIST  AND  LABEL  TUNE 

DANNY  &  JUNIORS  (ABC-Par)  At  The  Hopf 

McGUIRE  SISTERS  (Coral) . .  .  ..i.. ...  Sugartimef 

RICKY  NELSON  (Imperial) . Spho6lt 

SILHOUETTES.  (Ember)  Get  A  Jobf 

FRANK  SINATRA  (Capitol) . . --{^Thiway* 

BILLY  VAUGHN  (Dot)  .  .  . ....... ... .  .  .  . .-.  J*°°n^ 

DIAMONDS  (Mercury)  The  Strollf 

PAT  BOONE  (Dot)  . . .  April  Love* 

BUDDY  HOLLY  (Coral)  ................  Peggy  Suef 

ERNIE  FREEMAN  (Imperial) . . . . . ,  . ...... .  Haunchyf 


TUNES 


TUNE  PIJBLISHER 

*  APRIL  LOVE— “ApfR  L<iVe”-F. . . .... ..... ....... . .... . , .... . , .........  Feist 

fAT  THE  HOP  S-Sealark 

fSUGARTIME  . , . . . . . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .  .  . - - - - ^ ..  .  Nor-Va-Jak 

-ALL  THE  WAY— “Joker  Is  Wild’’-F  . . .  ;....J... . .  Maravffle 

•SAIL  ALONG  SILVERY  MOON  Joy 

fGET  A  JQB  . ........ .. . . ...... .....  . . ........ ....  Ulysses-Bagby 

fPEGGY  SUE^. ..... . . .  ^  J .  .  .  Nor-Va-Jab-Peef  Int. 

fRAUNCHY  Hill  &  Range 

f  STROLL . . . , , . .  Meridian 

f KISSES  SWEETER  THAN  WINE  ..  ...  ....  .......... ...  Folkways 

(*ASCAP  fBMI\  F-Films) 


example,  already  have  had  their  tv- 
production  baptism.  Schwartz 
51  with  an  “Inside  U.S.A.”  series  a 
few  years  back  and  Styne  with  sev- 
■jj  eral  “Showers  of  Stars”  stanzas 
and  this  season’s  Eddie  Fisher  out- 
nngs.  Styne  also  has  doubled  into 
legit  production  with  *Tal  Joey” 
(revival),  "Mr,  Wonderful”  and 
the  upcoming  “Say  Darling.”  Clef- 
tfers  currently  involved  in  tv  pro¬ 
duction  facets  are  Richard  Lewine, 

:  an  exec  producer  at  CBS:  Ted  Fet- 
.  i  ter,  exec  producer  at  ABC;  fiFton 
Drake,  associate  producer  for 
•  ‘musical  segments  for  CBS-TV’s 
:  “The  Big  Record.”  Drake’s  asso- 
|  ciate  producer  credits  also  include 
;  “The  Bachelor,”  “Salu*e  to  Base- 
{ ball”  and  “RCA  Galaxy  of  Stars,” 
among  others: 

|  Network  execs  are  hot  for  “the 
music  man”  because  of  his  intui- 
i  tive  feeling  for  some  programming 
|  and*  his  knowledge  qf  tune  mate- 
:  rial.  It’s  become  important  to  the 
|  network  brass  and  the  agency  boys 
as  well  that  no  segment  of  the 
audience  is  overlooked.  Therefore 
they  are  counting  on  the  songwri- 
|  ter-producer  for  the  programming 
tof  ballad  standards  and  the  cur¬ 
rent  rock  ’n’  rollers  and  still  re¬ 
tain  the  texture  of  one  complete 
show. 

-  Tv  pundits  who  see  an  increase 
in'  the  programming  of  staggered 
series  and  specials  also-  see  a  de-. 
velopment  along  the  lines  of^stag- 
gered  production  staffs  to* give 
writers  and  producers  a  chance  to 
develop  their  material  properly 
and  and  to  build  a  healthy  competi¬ 
tive  feeling. 

It’s  expected  that  wi’.h  this  new 
pattern  of  tv  programming-shaping 
up  that  more  production  men  will 
be  culled  from  the  ranks  of  com¬ 
posers  and  that  Tin  Pan  Alley  and 
Madison  Ave.  will  he  walking  hand 
in  haneb  '  ’  " 

On  "Anile  Blossom  Time’ 

Broadway  Music  and  Jerry  Vogel 
Music  jointly  filed  suit  in  N.Y. 

[  Federal  Court  last  week  against  the 
.  authors  and  publishers  of  the  tune,. 

I  “A  Broken  Promise,”  charging  that 
jit  plagiarizes  the  oldie,  “I’ll  Be 
j  With  You  In  Apple  Blossom  Time.  ’ 
j  Latter  tune’s  copyright,  dating  back 
j  to  1920,  is  now  split  between  the 
(  Broadway  and  Vogel  firms, 
j  “A  Broken  Promise”  was  written 
Mast  year  by  Sol  Winkler  and  Janies 
Goldsborough  and  published  via 
j  RosS;  Jungnickel  Music,  part  of  the 
i  Hill  &  Range  combine,  which  are 
j  also  defendants.  Tune  was  used  in 
ja  film,  -  “Jamboree,”  and  the  film 
producer.  Vanguard  Pictures,  is 
also  named  in  the  action.  Plaintiffs 
)  ask  for  impounding  of  all  alleged 
j  infringing  copies,  an  accounting  of 
;  the  profits  and  an  award  of  dam- 
I  ages. 


Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


VICTOR! 


MUSIC 


Diskount  Your  Blessings 


;  Continued  from  page  45  ; 


the  U.S.  today  where  records  are 
fair-traded,  and  both  discounters 
promise  fight  to  the  state’s  high 
court  to  get  what  they  consider  dis¬ 
criminatory  law  invalidated!  But 
if  courts  hold  for  Basford  and  Mey¬ 
berg,  trend  could,  go  the  other  way. 

Fair  Trade  &U.S.A 

That  is,  upholding  of  State  Fair 
Trade  Act  in  Frisco  would  inevit¬ 
ably  lead  to  crackdown  in  southern 
California,  where  discounting  -is 
rampant,  and  might  give  distribu¬ 
tors  in  other  states,  and  even  big 
manufacturers,  idea  that  fair  trade 
contracts  can  hold  up  prices. 

Basford  has  required  fair  trade 
contracts  with  its  retailers  for  past 
six  or  seven  years,  at  least,  and  has 
policed  them  fairly  well.  Meyberg, 
however,  didn’t  get  into  the  pic¬ 
ture  until  just  two  to-  three  months 
•go.  (One  explanation  heard ;  here 
is  that  big  downtown  merchants, 
who  handle  Meyberg's  RCA  appli¬ 
ances,  pressured =  distributor  to  en¬ 
force  fair  trading  because  johnny- 
come-lately  discounters  were  hurt¬ 
ing  their  record  businesses). 

Dieter  Preussner,  boss  of  Music 
City’s  two.  branches,  says  his  vol¬ 
ume  is  running,  between  9,000  and 
11,000  LP’s  or  about  $25, 000^-a 
month.  This  is  a  long  way  from 
the  450,000  LP’s  or  $1,250,000,  that 
his  firm's  11  southern  California1 
outlets  did  in  1957,  but  it  repre¬ 
sents  a  healthy  start. 

Of  his  total  volume,  some  40% 
has  been  in  Columbia  and  RCA 
product,  about  22%  Capitol,  some 
15%  Decca,  and  the  other  23% 
spread  among  120-odd  labels.  He 
points  out,  too,  "that  about  60% 
of  his  volume — far  above  the  na¬ 
tional  percentage — is  in  classical 
LP’s. 

Musie  City’s  3  Points 

Preussner  makes  a  starp  dis¬ 
tinction  between  distributors  who 
are  pushing  these  cases  and  the . 
manufacturers  who,  he  says,  “en-  ■ 
courage  discounting — they’re  justi 
interested  in  sales.”  His  outfit’s 
battling  for  ‘‘three  principles:”  ] 

1)  “We’re,  enjoined  from  cutting! 

prices,  hut  the  manufacturer  is ! 
not — so  Columbia’s  record  club  j 
goes  ofht  and  signs  you  up  for  a  * 
year  to  buy  four  $3.98  records,  and  • 
throws  in  three  for  free”;  i 

2) .  “The  Fair  Trade  Law  says  the  1 
product  must  he  in  free  and  open  f 
competition— but  if  you  want  to  : 
buy  'My  Fair  Lady/  for  example,  • 
you  HAVE  to  buy  Columbia";  j 

3)  “Are  there  separate  laws  for  ‘ 
northern  and  southern  California?  • 
Down  south,  discounting  is  the! 
ruler  there’s  a  lack  of  uniform  en¬ 
forcement  throughout  the  state.”  j 

Preussner  also  claims  that  ‘‘when  1 
We  first  opened  up,  Meyberg  threw 1 
its  doors- Open  to  us,  sold  us  all 
we  wanted  .  .  .  just  six.  weeks  ago  • 
they  asked  us  to  sign  a  fair  trade  \ 
contract,  and  wer  refused.” 

The  fair  trade  contract,  in  effect, 
gives  the  distributor:  .  '  v 

1)  The  right  to  set  the  day-hy- 

day  price;  j 

2)  The  right  to  require  a  dealer 
to  Carry  as  much  inventory  as  the 
dealer  not  lose  his  franchise. 

But  Phil  Barber,  a  .  Basford  exec,  i 
-•ays:.  ’ 

“Discounting  creates  an  un- ! 
profitable,  unhealthy  condition.  No 
telling  where  it  leads.  If  the  price  * 
isn’t  maintained,  the  customer  gets  - 
poorer  ultimate  service,  the  rec¬ 
ords  aren’t  properly  displayed  or 
advertised/’  j 

(Preussner  strongly  disputes ! 
this.  He  says  discounters  display 
and  advertise  much  more  than 
most  retailers.  .  He  claims  his 
policy  is  a  seven-day  time  limit  for 
returns — and  that  his  returns  run 
7%,  while  fair  trading  retailer 
won’t  take  back  any  merchandise. 
Preussner  also  points  out  that  his 
LP’s  are  all  plastic-wrapped,  while 
the  average  fair  trader  has  his 
merchandise  pawed  unmercifully 
because  it’s  tested  .listening 
booths.) 

Dealers  &  Club  Commission 

Barber  adds:  "The.  dealers  can 
participate  in  record  clubs.  All  ’ 
they  have  to  do  is  sign  up  members 
and  they  get  a  commission.” 

H.  W.  Glensor,  lawyer  represent¬ 
ing  Meyberg,  says:  "The  State  Su¬ 
preme  Court,  has  ruled  that  the 
fact  that  records  are  sold  cut-rate 
by  others  doesn’t  mean  the  dis¬ 
count  houses  here  are  relieved  of 
obligation  to  fair-trade.  Fair  trade  ! 
stabilizes  prices,  protects;  a  trade-  i 


mark;  the  court  decisions  are 
pretty  uniform  on  this.” 

Another  Frisco  area  distributor 
— none  of  whose  Items  is  fair 
traded— feels  this  way:  “Meyberg 
is  scared  of  shipments  from  out¬ 
side  northern  California.” 

There  may  be  more  truth  than 
tinsel  to  this  ,  statement,  for  the 
fact  seems  to  be  that  the  johnny- 
come-iately  discount  houses  carry 
such  big  inventories  that  they  don’t 
even  need  the  distributors.  .  Cali¬ 
fornia  Music  City,  for  instance, 
carries  an  inventory  of  35,000  LP’s 
currently  and,  according  to  Preuss¬ 
ner,  is  building  this  up  as  swiftly 
as  possible  so  as  to  be  in  a  posi¬ 
tion  to  sell  at  the  old  prices  when 
Victor,  Vox,  Westminster  and  Mer¬ 
cury  $3.98  LP’s  go  to*  $4.98  mi 
Feb.  1— Capitol,  of  course,  went 
up  Jan.  1. 

Another  angle  that  drives  the 
discounters  Crazy  is  this:  while  the 
Columbia  and  RCA  distributors  are 
making*  noises  about  fair  trade, 
Victor’s  Vik  label  and  Columbia’s 
Epic  are  hmidled  by  other,  smaller 
distributors  and  are  not  fair 
traded.  !  The  discounters  also 
point  out  that  both  Basford  and 
Meyberg  give  discounts,  below  list 
price,  to.  rack  jobbers,  a  practice 
the  discounters  feel  is  simply  an 
evasion  of  the  fair  trade  standards. 

The  Cases,  and  a  similar  one  in 
Fresno,  are  scheduled  for  trial 
within  the  next  couple  of  months. 
On  their  outcome  may  hinge  some  ] 
revisions  in  the  price  structure  of 
records.  i 


f&stiEtr 


UPBEAT  TOPS  IS  NOW 
MINDING  THE  STORES 

Hollywood,  Jan.  .  28. 

Tops  Records,  whlch  last  week  : 
disclosed  that  it  is  moving  into 
regular  music  store  sales  in  addi¬ 
tion  to  it$  supermarket  and  drug¬ 
store  outlets,  has  begun  building 
up  a  talent  roster  of  pop  names. 
First  to  be  signed  is  Johnny  Des¬ 
mond,  who  will  begin  recording 
shortly  under  a  longterm  deal. 

Tops  also  recently  signed  Connie 
Haines  to  a :  termer.  Heretofore, 
the  label  hasn’t  had  any  real  pop 
artists  on  its  roster  although  it  | 
has  issued  special  packages  by  film 
and  tv  names  such  as  Ann  Sothern 
Mid  Dan  Dailey. 

Use  Country  Music 

To  Hypo  Theatre  B.O. 

Fort  Wayne,  Ind.,  Jan.  28. 

Th^  Hoosier  Hayride,  a  country 
music  show,  .will  be  offered  each  * 
Saturday  night  at  the  Wayne  The¬ 
atre,  in  downtown  Fort  Wayne,  in 
conjunction  with  the!  regular  film 
feature,_starting  Jan.  25.  The  stage 
has  been  redecorated,  and  enlarged 
foi  the  program,  which  will  begin  : 
at  7  p.m.  and  continue  until  8:30 
pjn„  with  -  the  first  half-hour 
broadcast  over  WGL. 

The  Hoosier  Hayride,  organized  ; 
by  :a  group  of  Fort  Wayne  country 
music  enthusiasts,  has  just  com¬ 
pleted  a  13-Saturday  engagement  1 
at  the  Court  Theatre,  Auburn. 
Charlie  Walter  tmd  Joe  Taylor  will  i 
alternate  Saturdays  as  master  of  : 
ceremonies.  Area  entertainers  and  ( 
bands  will  be  offered  in  the  weekly  i 
shows,  in'  addition  to  the  regular  ; 
performers.  i 


Wednesday,  Jannary  29,  1958 


Music  Ufa  in  Congress 

_  Continued  from  page  45  a— ^ 


licensing  provisions  of  the  Copy¬ 
right  Act,  The  Copyright  Act 
hearings  Will  see  the  publishing 
and  writing  phase  of  the  music  biz 
ranged  against  the  disk  and  juke¬ 
box  industries.  Such  groups  as 
ASCAP.  Broadcast  Music  Inc., 
The  Music  Publishers  Protective 
Assn.,  Songwriters  Protective  Assn, 
have  come  out  for  the  licensing  of 
jukeboxes  on  the  grounds  that 
they  perform  music  for  profit.  The 
disk  companies  are  generally .  op¬ 
posed  to  the  amendment  since  they 
fear  it  would  hurt  the  juke  trade, 
one  of  their  chief  nutlets.  The  juke 
industry,  organized  into  the  Music 
Operators  of  America,  are  vigor¬ 
ously  against  the  bill  on  the 
grounds  that  the  licensing  socie¬ 
ties  will  tax  them  out  of  business. 

Knockdown  Struggle 

In  the  hearings  under  Sen.  Pas- 
tore,  another  knockdown  struggle 
between  the  ASCAP  songsmlths 
and  Broadcast  Music  Inc.  and 
the  broadcast  networks  is  due 
to  take  place.  All  interested  par¬ 
ties  are  being  invited  to  testify  and 
it  is  expected  that  some  of  the  tes¬ 
timony  which  was  given  In  1956 
before  the  House  committee  under 
Rep.  Emanuel  Celler  (D.,  N.Y.) 
at  the  Foley  Square,  N.Y.,  hear¬ 
ings,  will  be  reprised,  plus  new 
material  to  be  presented  by  both 
sides, 

The  Smathets  bill,  which  would 
divorce  the  networks  from  both 
BMI  and  their  disk  affiliates*  has 
obtained  the  support  of  the  ASCAP 
songsmiths,  some-  of  whom  are 
plaintiffs  in  the  $150,000,000  anti¬ 
trust  suit  against  BMI  and  the. ma¬ 


jor  webs.  Sen.  -Pastore  has  indi¬ 
cated  that  Only  the  “public  Inter¬ 
est  will  be  involved  hearings,  and 
not  any  particular  group  of  Indi¬ 
viduals. 

Rep.  Roosevelt,  In  announcing 
his  projected  hearings,  outlined 
the  nature  of  the  complaints  from 
publishers  and  writers  which  is 
sparking  the  probe  into  ASCAP 
“ASCAP  is  a  valuable  and  neces¬ 
sary  organization  vital  to  the  sue- 
cessful  operation  of  publisher  and 
composers  of  music,”  he  stated. 
but  added  that  reports  have  reach¬ 
ed  Congressman  “that  the  small- 
business  members  of  the  industry 
cannot  remain  in  business  if  the 
ruling  clique  continues  to  apply 
policies  described  as  highly  pre¬ 
judicial  to  the  small-business  mem¬ 
bers.” 

“There  are  indications,”  Rep. 
Roosevelt  stated*  "that  unless  ex¬ 
isting  or  new  legislation  can  be 
utilized  to  stop  these  alleged  prao. 
tices,  hundreds  of  small-business 
members  of  this  Industry  will  be. 
destroyed.”  Pointing  out  that 
ASCAP  Is  now  operating  under 
various  consent  decrees  intended 
to  correct  certain  conditions,  Rep. 
Roosevelt  stated  that  “complaints 
received  by  his  subcommittee  from 
the  smaller  composers  aiid  pub¬ 
lishers  report  that  new  and  differ¬ 
ent  problems  have  arisen.”  He 
disclosed  that  Victor  R.  Hansen, 
assistant  attorney  general  of  the 
antitrust  division,  -  along  with 
ASCAP  officials  and  other  Inter¬ 
ested  parties  will  he  invited  to 
testify. 


RETAIL  ALBUM  BEST  SELLERS 


-PfoniETY- 


Survey  of  retail  album  best 
sellers  based  on  reports  from  lead¬ 
ing  stores  arid  showing  comparative 
ratings  for  this  week  and  last. 


"S  1  l 

5  s  * 

6  S t 


National 
Rating 
This  Last 
wk.  wk. 


Artist.  Label,  Title 


&  i£: 


JOHNNY  MATHIS  (Columbia) 
Warm  (CL  1978)  , .  * . . . ,. ...  7 

MY  FAIR  LADY  (Columbia)  * 
Original  Cast  (CL  5090)  . :  2 

AROUND  THE  WORLD  (Decca) 
Soundtrack  (DC  9046) . ... ... ,  3 

PAL  JOEY  (Capitol) 

Soundtrack  (W  192).  .  ..  . .  . . .  4 
RICKY  NELSON  (Imperial) 

Ricky  (Imp.  9048) ,. . . . . . .  v . . .  ♦  1 

FRANK  SINATRA  (Capitol) 

Come  By  With.  Me  (W  920) . . ...  . 

PAT  BOONE  (Dot) 

Pat’s  Great  Hits  (Pep  307)  . ...  .  ,■ 

OKLAHOMA  (Capitol)  ' 
Soundtrack  (SAP  595) . . . , . 
KING  &  I  (Capitol) 

Soundtrack  (T  740). . . .  ......  .. 

NAT  KING  COLE  (Capitol) 

One  of  Those  Things  (W-903) . .  8 

ROGER  WILLIAMS  (Kapp) 
Fabulous  Fifties  (KXL  5000),  .  .  . 
TENNESSEE  ERNIE  (Capitol)  ' 
*  Hymnsr  <fo?56) .  ° .  . . 
FRANK  SINATRA  (Capitol) 

Where  Are  You  (W  855).,.. . .  .♦ 

GOGI .  GRANT  (Victor) 

Helen  Morgan  Story  (OLC1030).  . 
APRIL  LOVE  (Dot)  '  .. 

Soundtrack  (DEP  9000) . ... ..  . .  6 

MANTOVANI  (London) 

Film  Encores  (LL  1700) - - - -  ...  ♦ 

NAT  KING  COLE  (Capitol) 

Love  Is  the  Thing  (W  823) . ; . .  .  ♦ 
MUSIC  MAN  (Capitol) 

Original  Cast  (WAP  990) . . . . : .  . : 

JANE  MORGAN  (Kapp) 

Fascination  (KXL  1066) ..... .  .  . 

JIMMIE  RODGERS  (Roulette) 
Jimmie  Rodgers  (25020) . . . ...  , .  . 

ROGER  WILLIAMS  (Kapp) 
Fabulous  Forties  (W  5003) . . 

WEST  SIDE  STORY  (Columbia) 
Original  Cast  (CL  5230) ....  .  ■ , ...  . . 

RAY.  CONIFF  (Columbia) 

’S  Marvelous  (CL  1074)  . . .  .  . . 

SAYONARA  (Victor)  , 

Soundtrack  (LOC  1041) . . . 

JAMAICA  (Victor)  “  " 

Original  Cast  (LOC  1036) . . : . . 


1  3  4  .. 


5  5  . .  3 


5  2  4  148 
1  8  2  132 


-  4  4  2  .. 


9  .*  5  40 


. .  .  ‘  4  . . 


2  ..  ..  9 


..  7  . .  .. 


Wednesday^  January  29,  1958. 


Inside  Stuff-Music 

Rege  Cordic  Pittsburgh’s  highest-paid  and  top-rated  combination 
disk  jockey  and  contiic,  has  parlayed  the  lampooning  Omicron  routines 
on  his  early  morning  KDKA  radio  show  into  a  recording  contract.  Vic¬ 
tor  kas  signed  him  to  wax  some  of  the  bits  for  its  Bluebird  label.  Cor¬ 
dic  employs  a  regular  stock  company  for.  his  strip,  headed  by  local  radio 
personalities.  Bob  Trow,  Karl  Hardman  and  Sterling  Yates,  and  they’ll 
be  with  him  on  his  first  releases. 

He’s  still  another  Pittsburgh  radio-tv  personality  to  hit  the  disk  trail. 
Josie  Carey  and  Fred  Rogers,  who  have  the  daily  “Children’s  Corner’’ 
program  on  WQED,  educational  channel;  have  a  Coral  album  out. 
•‘Around  the  Children’s  Corner,”  and  Johnny  Costa,  staff  pianist  at 
KDKA-TV,  has  turned  out  a  couple  of  albums  for.  the  same  label,  to 
which  he’s  under  longterm. 


Modern  music,  ort  disks  and  tv — serious  and  popular  both^-“is-  one 
huge  fake.”  So  Dr.  Boyd  Neel,  dean  of  Royal  Conservatory  of  Music, 
Toronto,  told  the  Canadian  Press  last  week. ‘“You  can  be  a  singer,  today 
without  any  voice  at  all,”  he  said.  “And  yet,  if  you  make  $3,000  a 
week,  nothing  else  niatters.  Singers  sing  out  of  tune,  and  thefe’s  a 
modern  craze,  for  never  keeping  on  the  beat.  For  anyone  with  a  keen 
rhythmic  sense,  that's  torture. 

“The  average  long-playing  record  is  a  fake,  compiled  of  a  series  of 
little  strips  of  tape  for  ‘best  performance.’  In  the  old  days,  when,  we 
had  to  do  it  on  wax,  you  couldn’t  get  away  with  anything.  The  old  78 
way  is  the  right  way.  But  the  public  accepts  the  new  stuff  because  it 
is.  all  they  get  in  most  places,” 


The  “talking  piano”  accompanist  on  the  “Peter  and  Mary  Show” 
(Peter  Lind  Hayes  &  Mary  Healy),  which  opened  on  CBS  Radio  recent¬ 
ly,  is  composer  Robert  Allen.  Allen,  w  h  o  s.  e  official  listing  on  the 
“P  &  M  Show”  is  musical  director  and  who’s  a  longtime  friend  of  the 
radio-tv-nitery  couple,  has  cleffed  such  tunes  as  “It’s  Not  for  Me  to 
Say,”  “Chances  Are,”  “Moments  to  Remember,”  “No,  Not  Much,”  and 
recently  collaborated  with  Hayes  on  “Come  to  Me”  and  “Lilac  Chif¬ 
fon,”  which  were  written  for  a  Kraft  TV  Theatre  segment,  “Come  to 
Me.”  Wordsmith  for  Allen  of  recent  years  has  been  A1  Stillman,  lyri¬ 
cist  of  New  York’s  Radio  City  Music  Hall.  _ 


British  music  pubbery,  Campbell,  Connelly,  will  be  operating  from 
a  temporary  address  for  the  next  six  months,  while  its  permanent 
residence  at  10  Denmark  St.  (Tin  Pan  Alley)  is  being  reconstructed. 
The  building  took  a  hefty  shaking  during  the  war  when  a  landmine 
exploded  close  by,  and  Reg  Connelly,  the  company’s  topper,  has  long 
had  a  yen  to  pull,  it  down  and  rebuild.  The  new  building  is  scheduled 
to  be  completed  by  June  this  year.  Meantime,  CC’s  business  goes  on 
at:  Monmouth  St ,  London. 


Luigi  Creatore,  of  Roulette  Records,  has  put  “Seventy-six  Trom¬ 
bones,”  tune  from  Meredith  Willson’s  Broadway,  click,  “The  Music1 
Man,”  into  the  groove  for  sentimental  reasons.  In  the-  introductory 
lines  to  “Trombone,”  mention  is  made  of  some  of  the  great  band¬ 
masters  of  all  time  including  “the  great  Creatore,”  (the  late  Guiseppe 
Creatore,  Luigi’s  father).  Bandmaster  Creatore  was  a  contemporary 
of  John  Phillip  Sousa  and  Edwin  Franko  Goldman  and  was  one  of  the 
pioneers  of  symphonic  band  music. 


Marking  the  10th  anni  of  the  American  Heart-  Assn.’,  Coral 
Records  is  releasing  an  album  of  “heart”  songs  specially  cut  for  Ameri¬ 
can  Heart  Month  in  February  by  Lawrence  Welk.  The  set  is  titled 
“With* a  Song  in  My  Heart.”  Welk  and  Coral  are -cuffoing  the  album 
to  every  child  under  18  who  has  undergone  heart  surgery  in  the  past 


year.  - 

Marnel  Distributors,  Philly  outfit,  has  formed  a  new  branch  to  handle  : 
the  Epic  Records  line  in  the  Baltim  ,  Washington  and  Virginia  ter¬ 
ritory.  The  new  branch  will  be  khown  as  Marnel  of  Maryland  and  will 
headquarter  in  Baltimore:.  Sales  manager  will  he  Philip  I.  Markham, 
formerly  with  Schwartz  Bros.  Distributing  in.  Washington.  Paul  Lay¬ 
man  will  handle  promotion, 

Sandy  Taylor  Epstein,  former  dee  jay  at  WPTR  in  Albany  and  WSNY 
in  Schenectady,  is-  now  contact  and  public  relations  man  for  Leonard 
Smith,  distributor  of  MGM  and  other-company  records  in.  upstate  New 
York  and  Vermont.  Epstein,  who  at  14  won  a  school  platter-spinner  con¬ 
test  held  by  WPTR,  will  concentrate  on  radio  stations.  He  recently 
had  been  a  clothing  salesman. 


A  group  of  longhair  cleffers  on  the  Coast,  recently  organized  .into  an 
association  called  The  Bohemian  Composers  Group,  has  issued  its  first 
catalog  of  compositions  by  its  20  members,  including  orchestral  works, 
operas,  choral  works-  and  songs.  Otto  Bostelmann,  of  Los  Angeles,  is 
chairman’ of  the  group. 

=  1  .  '  .  ^ - - -  — - - - — 


Cugat  to  Stick  Around 
N.Y.  for  Hotel  Stands 

Xavier  Cugat  will  he  based  in 
New  York  for  the  next  several 
months;  Maestro  is  set  for  a  17- 
week  stand  at  New  York’s  Staller 
Hotel  beginning.  FCb.  7  and  then 
moves  to  the  eastside  for.  the  sea¬ 
son  at  the  Waldorf-Astoria’s  Star¬ 
light  Roof; 

The  Latino  maestro  recently 
exited  the  cast  of:  the  Broadway- 
bound  mpsical,  “Oh,  Captain.”  His 
wife,  Abbe  Lane,  continues  with 
the  tunen  '  .  _ .  .....  - 


*★* *  * * **★★★*★ ★★★*★**★***★★★***** 

*  TOM  BALL’S 


DIRECT  FROM  TOKYO 

HIT  OF  THE  ED  SULLIVAN  SHOW,  Jan. 

JUST  CONCLUDED 
Eight  Weeks.  DESERT  INN,  Los  Vegas 
Two  Weeks,  RIVERSIDE  HOTEL,  Reno 


•*: 

* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 

25 


OPENING  JAN.  30 

SAXONY  HOTEL,  Miami  Beach 


* 

*  ;• 


-ASSOCIATED  BOOKING  CORPORATION— 4 


JOE  GLASER,  Pres. 


745  Fifth  Ave.  203  N.  Wabash  Ave, 
Naw  York  22,  N.Y.  Chicago,  III. 
Phono:  Phone: 

PLazar  S-4400  CEntral  4-9451 


407  Lincoln  Rd. 
i  Beach,  Fla. 

Phone:  Phone: 

JEfferson  1-0313  CLvmpIa 


1619  Sunset  Bfvd. 
H'wood  44,  Calif. 


MUSIC 


53 


THE 

BEST  OF 
HOLLYWOOD 
IS  ON 


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Help  yourself  to  extra  profits  in  RCA  Victor’s  exciting  Movie  Fes¬ 
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Order  “  Peyton  Place”  and  the  five  other  great  new  movie  sound 
track  albums  from  your  RCA  Victor  Distributor  today. 


MUSIC 


.  54 


U&RiEfr 


THE 

BEST  OF 
HOLLYWOOD 
IS  ON 


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Order  “Seven  Hills  of  Rome”  and  the  five  other  great  new  movie  sound  track 
albums  from  your  RCA  Victor  distributor  toctoy. 


Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


On  He  Upbeat 


New  York 

Morganna  King,  who  opened  at 
the  Bon  Soir  Dec.  3  for  a  one-week 
stand,  continues  to  hold  over, 
through  Feb.  23  .  .  .  RCA  Victor’s 
soundtrack  set  of  “Marjorie  Morn- 
ingstar”  due  in  April,  not  March, 
as  err  a  turned  in  last  week’s 
Variety  ,  .  .  Mel  Reidl  will  stage 
the  third  annual  dance  contest  at 
Rose!  and  Dance  City  tonight 
(Wed.)  .  .  .  BMI’s  annual  rhythm 
&  blues  award  luncheon  set  for 
Feb;  13  at  Hotel  Pierre  ...  The. 
Modernaires  back  to  the  Coast  for 
a  string  of  one-nighters  after  cut¬ 
ting  several  'sides  for  Coral  in 
Gotham  .  .  Tom  Shells  arid  A1 

Bruno  have  inked  the  De  Castro 
Sisters  to  a  management  deal  .  . 
Carol  Richards  set  as  femme  vocal¬ 
ist  on  Don  McNeill’s  “Breakfast 
Club’’  out  of  Chicago. 

Irv  Jerome,  newly  appointed 
veepee  in  charge  of  sales  at  MGM 
Records,  was  feted  last  week  at 
A1  &  Di  .Vs  by  his  former  Capitol 
colleagues.  .  .  .  Veterans  Adminis¬ 
tration  awarded  Allied  Records  a 
“Commendation  of  Service”  for 
diskery’s  10-year  participation  in 
the  production  of  the  “Here’s  to 
Veterans”  series.  ' 

Erroll  Gamer  set  for  a  concert  at 
Boston’s  Symphony  Hall  Friday 
(31).  He  also  concertizes  at  the  U. 
of  Massachusetts  (2)  arid  Philly’s 
Town  Hall  (8)  .  .  .  Shep  Fields  orch 
in  the  Shamrock  Hotel,  Houston, 
for  the  next  12  weeks  .  .  Teddi  i 

King  lined  up  for  a  brace  of  guest 
shots  on  the  new  Dick  Haymes 
CBS-Radio  show  .  .  .  Accordionist 
Johnny  La  Padula  Inked  to  Dis- 
neyland  Records  .  .  .  Singer  Toni 
Arden  opened  a  two-week  erigage- 
ment  this  week  at  the  Statler  Hil¬ 
ton  Terrace  Room.  Appearing  on 
the  bill  with  her  is  comedian*  Danny 
Dillion  .  .  .  Gene  Krupa’s  stay  with 
his  quartet  has,  been  extended  in 
Florida  for  another  three  weeks, 
opening  at  the  Sierra.  Steak  House  ! 
in  North  Miami  Feb.  4th. 


London 

.  Fiddler  Johnny  Franks  being 
lined  Up  for  a  commercial  tv 
series  .  .  .  Ray  McKinley  &  Glenn 
Miller  Band  plane  out  for  Stock¬ 
holm  Feb.  9  after  its  British  con¬ 
cert  tour  .  .  .  Songstress  Anne 
Shelton  missed  out  on  the  first  of 
her  new  tv  series  through  illness 
>  .  .  Woolf  Phillips  was  a  last 
minute  sub  for  Harold  Collins  of 
the  “Frankie  Vaughan  Show”  at 
the  Palace  Theatre  when  the  resi¬ 
dent  musical  director  suffered  a 
leg  injury  opening  night. 


Hollywood 

Malcolm  Arnold  will  score  Carl 
Foreman’s  “The  Key”  for  Colum¬ 
bia  release  .  .  .  Vaughn  Wright, 
Coast  head  of  Mills  Music  Pubbery, 
talking  a  deal  with  Jimmie  Komack 
anent  publication  of  “The  Ballad  of 
Same  Case”  which  Komack  co¬ 
penned  with  Aaron  Spelling. 

Accordionist  Johnny  La  Padula 
signed  by  Disneyland  Records  .  .  . 
Dot  Records,  next  month,  will  re¬ 
lease  an  album  comprised  of  mu¬ 
sic  from  NBC-TV’s  spec  “Hans 
Brinker  and  the  Silver  Skates” 
which  will  feature  Tab.  Hunter, 
opera  star  Jarmila  Novotna  and 
Peggy  King  .  ,  .  Nick  Todd,  Pat 
Boone’s  brother,  in  town  rehears¬ 
ing  for  appearance  on  Bob  Hope 
show. 


Fairmont’s  Venetian  Room  Thurs¬ 
day  (30)  .  .  .  Kingston  Trio  winding 
up  thqir  Purple  Onion  run  and 
heading  for  Hollywood  to  record 
for  Capitol  ,  .  .  Li!  Greenwood  fol- 
lows  the  trio  into  the  Onion,  with 
Lou  Gottlieb  holding  over  . 
Genie  Stone  at  Charlie’s  Pent¬ 
house  .  .  .  Ernestine  Anderson  at 
Jack’s  Waterfront  Hangout. 


Philadelphia 

Dinah  Washington  was  ordered 
by  the  AGVA's  local  exec  board 
to  pay  $3,000  to  Bill  Gerson  for 
walking  out  on  week’s  engagement 
at  his  Pep’s  Musical  Bar.  The 
singer  is  seeking  to  appeal  the  un¬ 
ion  ruling  .  .  .  George  Wein 
bringing  in  Errol  Garner  to  Town 
Hall  (Feb.  8)  .  .  .  Harvey  Boys  cur¬ 
rent  at  Scholia’s  (Jan.  27-Feb.  11) 
.  .  .  Georgie  Shaw  into  the  Erie  So¬ 
cial  Club  (Feb.  15-16)  followed  by 
Danny  &  the  Juniors  the  next  week¬ 
end  (15-16)  .  .  .  The  Tyrones  work¬ 
ing  La  Maina’s,  in  Jersey  (27- 
Feb.  1). 


St.  Louis 

Freddie  Clemens  orch  just 
signed  to  fifth  sixmonth  contract 
at  Ambassador  -  Kingsway  Crown 
Lounge ...  .  .  The  Original  Three, 
on  bandstand  at  Beachcomber,  out 
with  a  platter,  backed  by  home¬ 
town  “angels”.  .  .  .  Pianist-com¬ 
poser.  Tommy.  Wolf  holding  forth 
nightly  at  Gourmet  Room  .  . 
Pianist  Frank  Harris  working  over 
a  brand  new  Steinway  at  Frontier 
Room  ...  Maureen  McCormack  &- 
Joe  Wray,  organ-piano  duo,  in 
their  umpteenth  week  at  Statler 
Lounge. 


Pittsburgh 

Miles  Davis  combo,  with  Paul 
Chambers  arid  Cannonball  Adder- 
ly,  plays  Copa  week  of  Feb.  10  .  .  . 
Horace  Silver  quintet  held  over  at 
Crawford  Grill  .  .  .  Lenny  Litman 
has  Four  Freshmen  comirig  to 
Carnegie  Music  Hall  for  one-night 
concert  March  21  .  i  Eddie  Foy 

orch  has  checked  in  at  Duffy’s  ^ 
Tavern  for  an  indefinite  stay  .  .  ^ 

Delta  Rhythm  Boys  locked  with 
Leo  DeLyon  for  two  weeks  at 
Holiday  House  beginning  April  28 
...  Platters  into  the  Twin  Coaches 
March  14  for  nine  days..  .  .  Sam 
Cooke,  Silhouettes,  The  Dubs, 
Drifters, .  Thurst o n  Harris  and 
Ernie  Freeman  orch  set  for  two 
shows  at  Syria  Mosque  night  of 
Feb.  8  .  .  .  Australian  Jam  Quintet 
goes  back  into  Midway  Lounge 
Monday  (Feb.  3)  for  a  fortnight  >  .  . 
Jack  Purcell  orch  played  annual 
Symphony  Ball  for  8th  straight 
year.  He  used  to  be  a  trombonist 
with  the  Symph.  .  .  .  Guy  Lombardo 
band  inked  for  Twin  Coaches  week 
Of  April  25  .  .  .  Dom  Trimarkio 
Trio  into  Town  House  Motel  for 
a  run. 


Vancouver 

Dal  Richards  orch  serving  dixie¬ 
land  jazz  at  Panorama  Roof  .  »  . 
Ernie  Blunt  Trio  into  residence  at 
new  Fantasia;  cabaret  .  .  .  Video 
thrush  Lorraine  McAllister  fill¬ 
ing  her  “Meet  Lorraine”  CBC-TV 
series  for  foreign  buyers  .  .  .  Dal 
Richards  edits  AFM  Local  145’s 
new  monthly  tabloid,  “Upbeat” . . . 
Master  Sounds  jazz  quarret  Pacific 
Athletic  club  for  two  weeks  .  .  . 
Pat  Walker  singing  at  Press  Club. 


Chicago 

J.  J.  Johnson  quintet  into 
Crown  Propeller  Lounge  for  -  a 
fortnight  starting  Jan.  29,.  followed 
Feb.  13  by  Chet  Baker’s  fivesome 
.  .  .  Barbara  Carroll  trio  skedded 
for  Chi’s  London  House.  April  16 
for  five  weeks,  then  two  stanzas 
May  19  at  the  Embers  in  Ft. 
Wayne,  Ind.,  arid  another  two- 
weeker  at  Detroit’s  Keyboard  June 
2  .  .  .  Brass  ricochets  off  the  Lon¬ 
don  House  walls  for  the  first  time 
Jan.  29  when  Jonah  Jones  quartet 
starts  a  five-weeker  .  .  .•  Don  Glas- 
ser  orch  plays  the  Peabody  in 
Memphis  for  three  weeks  starting 
March  10.  He’ll  switch  to  the 
Vogue  Ballroom  in  Chi  April  4  for 
an  indefinite  stay  .  .  .  Russ  Carlyle 
orch,  with  a  new  Coral  album  due 
soon,  opens  Feb.  5  at  Melody  Mill 
for  three  weeks,  then  moves  into 
the  Peabody,  Memphis,  for  a  pair 
.  . ...  Bobby  Christian  orch  has  soon- 
due  album  on  Mercury  .  .  .  Count 
Basie  band  to  tour  the  iriidwest 
through  February  and  at  least 
half  of  March  on  one-nighters. 


San  Francisco 

Jo  Ryder  on  the  bill  with  Mort 
Sahl  at  the  hungry  i  opening  last 
Sunday  (26)  .  .  Carol  Channing 
starting  a  four-week  stand  at  the 


DESIRE 

UNDER 


THE  ELMS 

ELMER  BERNSTEIN 

Dot  Records 

FAMOUS  MUSIC  CORPORATION 


a  wonderful 
seasonal  song 

STYNE  AND  CAHN'S 


* 


CAHN 

MUSIC 

COMPANY 


MUSIC 


55 


Wednesday,  January  29;  1958 


Pfatmir 


British  Disk  Clubs 


;  Continued  from  page  49.; 


originally  accepted  advertising'  A  10-inch  disk  costs  on  an  average 
copy  from  a  club  and  later  turned  $4.20: 

it  down,  revealed  that  a.  large  ad-  On  the  other  hand,  the  record 
vertising  agency  representing  two  clubs  are  issuing  12-inch  LP's  for 
bag  disk  companies  had  told  him  $3.50  and  less,  and  10-inch  LP’s  at 
that  he  was  free  to  accept  the  as  low  as  $2.10. 
booking  if  he  wanted,  but  if  it  The  World  Record  Club,  which 
was  accepted,-  he  could  hardly  ex-  does,  not  charge  a  membership  fee, 
pect  them  to.  place  any  more  ad?  issues  one  monthly  choice  at  just 
vertising  from  the  disk  majors,  with  under  $3 AO,  including  mailing,  and 
his  paper.  puts  its  members  under  the  obliga- 

Wholesaler-Retailer  Slant  tion  to  buy  One  monthly  choice  out 
It’s  clear  that  record  club,  with  ?;f  12-  Ju$t  over  15  months  ago, 


their  attractive  prices  for  LP’s, 
mainly  achieved  because  of  the 
tack  of  middelmen  between  the 
presses  and  the  turntable,  are.  re¬ 
sented  by  ^Wholesalers  and  re- 
tailers.  It  is  this  resentment 


the  club  widened  its  activities  by 
starting  a  normal  retail  label, 
“Conquest,”  but  claims;  that  during 
this  period  most  retailers  have  re¬ 
fused  to  handle;  their  issues. 

The  Classics  Club  operates  by 


which- a  number  of  the  publications  ch^rgin§  members  a  monthly  sub 
scnplion  of  35c.,  which  includes 
mailing  charges,  arid,  issues .  three 
or  four  disks  each  month,  which 
are  priced  at  $2.10  for  a  10-inch 
record  and  $3.50  for  a  12-inch  rec¬ 


are  giving  as  their  reason  for  re¬ 
fusing  record  club  advertising. 
Some  maintain  that  it  wppld.  be 
asking  too  much  of  retailers  to  sell 
a  publication  urging  consumers  to 
buy  disks  which  cannot  be  ob¬ 
tained  through  the  retailer.  Oth¬ 
ers  state  that  it  has  long  been 
their  policy  to  review  and  adver¬ 
tise.  platters  which  are  sold 


ord.  Members  are  riot  compelled 
to  buy  any  recording. 

The  third  club,  "the  Record  So¬ 
ciety,  has  a  membership  fee  of 
$1.40  a  year  with  no  obligation  to 


through  a  retailer,  and  do  not  in-  bUY  anydiskand  charges  $3.50  for 
tend  to  alter  that  policy  now.  a  J2'mc5  shghtly  t^low  $5  for 
As  one  of  the  disk  club  toppers  a  l^-mch  LP. 
told  Variety,  and  this  is  the  gen-  E.  R.  Lewis’  Views 

eral  situation:  “Anything  I  say  is  Decca  record  topper,  E.  R. 
difficult  to  prove.  There  is  noth-  Lewis,  expressing  his  views  on 
ing  in  writing.  They  (the  publica-  record  clubs,  said  that  anyone  was 
tions)  have  given  me  a  number  of  I  entitled  to  start  such  a  concern 
reasons  at  a  number  of  times,  norie  '  if  he  wanted  to,  but  he  felt  that 
Of  which  makes  sense.  I  have  no  such  organizations  were  a  bad 
proof  or  evidence  that  the  big  rec-  ,  thing,  for  the  industry.  This  was 
ords  concerns  are  putting  pressure  j  apparent  in  America,  he  said, 
on'  the  papers,  but  they  seem  to  where  several  disk  companies  had 
be  frightened.  We  may  take  way  j  formed  their  .  own  “clubs”  which 
a  small  percentage  of  buyers  from  J  in  his  opinion  was  only  a  form  of 
the  retailers,  but  at  the  same  time, !  undercutting  by  dispensing  with 
I’m  sure  that  we  will  create  a  hew  .  the  retailer.  As  for  the  allega* 
buying  public.”  j  tions  against  the  disk  industry, 

Record  clubs  are  comparatively  ;  Lewis  commented:  “There’s  not  a 
new  in  Britain,-  but  during  their  .  word  of  truth  in  it.” 
short  existence  have  built  up  a  There  appears  to  be :  no  doubt 
strong  following  because  of  the  that  record  clubs  will  prosper  in 
competitive  prices  they  charge  for  ;  Britain  despite  all  obstacles.  There 
LP’s.  None  of  the  clubs  would  i  is  still  a  wide  scope  for-far  greater 
disclose,  its  membership,  but  they  ,  sales  of  LP’s  here  as  the  Board  of 
were,  said  to  be  big  and  still  grow- •  Trade  figures  for.  record  produc¬ 
ing.  j  tion  indicate.  The  old  78  rpm  plat- 

Tracing  the  Growth  ■  ters  dominate  any  other  type  of 

Following  the  introduction  of  ,  disk  by  a  ratio  of  6  to  J,  and  the 
LP’s  into  this  country  seven  years  i  outfits  that  get  in  on  the  ground 
ago  by  Decca,  there  has  been  an  |  floor  with  attractive  prices  are  go- 
increasing  growth  in  the  demand  ing  to  close  that  gap  fast, 
for  classical  recordings,  but  .  de¬ 


spite  this  upsurge,  disks  frorh  a 
normal  retail  source  are  still  com¬ 
paratively  expensive,  With  classi¬ 
cal!  works  on  12-inch  platters  cost¬ 
ing  around  $5.60.  There  are,  how¬ 
ever,  a  couple  of  labels  which,  re¬ 
tail  at  slightly  under  $5  and  $4.70. 


The 


f  OF  THE 
WEEK 


DANSERO 

and 

LOVE  WORKS 
MIRACLES 

K 12607 


W 


.Continued  from  pace  45  LJJ 

changed  at.  the  ending  thereby 
making  the  disk  an  unauthorized 
version. 

Norinan.  Rosemont,  manager  of 
Lowal,  Wired  Mercury  that  “the 
liberties  you  have  taken.,  violate 
our  rights”  and  threatened  to  sue 
for  copyright  infringement  if  the 
disks  were  not  held  back  from  dis¬ 
tribution.  However,  r it’s  understood 
that  since  all  concerned  on  the 
Lowal  side  feel  this  Is  one.  of-  the 
best  disks  ’Eckstine  has  ever  cut, 
the  corporation  offered  to  pay  all 
expenses  if  Eckstine  would  re-re¬ 
cord  the  dumber  immediately,  but 
as  written.  Merc  claims  that  it’s 
now-  withholding  distribution  of 
the  platter  until  release  time  but 
is  quiet  on  whether  Eckstine  will 
re-record  the  tune. 

Lowal  squawk^was  followed  by 
one  from  MGM.  It  pointed  out 
that  the  Eckstine  version,  if  it  hits, 
will  weigh  against  other  disking* 
because  it  deviates  from  the  tune. 
Conversely,  if  it’s  out  early  arid 
attracts  no  attention,  deejays  prob¬ 
ably  would  riot  be  inclined  to  give 
any  attention  to  other  versions  and 
this,  too  would  hurt  the  tune’s 
chances. 

Other  versions  ready  to  go  come 
Feb.  14  are  by  Tony  Martin  (RCA 
Victor),  Bing  Crosby  (Decca)  and 
a  vocal  combo  on  MGM.  Colum¬ 
bia  is  mulling  a  slicing  by  Vic 
Damdxie. 


Dallas,  Jan.  28. 
Dallas  Symphony  Orchestra  has 
riot  yet  selected  a  conductor  for 
the,  coming  year.  Scouts  are  bear¬ 
ing  concerts  in  various  sections  of 
the  country  by  various  conductors 

and  making  recommendations  to 

an  executive  committee. 

Paul  Kletzki  is  under  option. 
Other  names  “in  the  pot”  are 
George  Solti,  Herman  Herz,  Vladi¬ 
mir  Golschmann,  Jose  Iturbi,  Nika- 
laus  Adschebarger  and  Andre  Van 
Der  Noot 


THE 

BEST  OF 
HOLLYWOOD 
IS  ON 


Exclusive  Original  Sound  Track  Recording 

RCA  Victor  is  making  news  with  ah  unprecedented  series  of  record 
releases— six  exciting  original  sound  track  albums !  ‘  ‘  Bonjour  Tris- 
tesse,”  ‘  ‘Peyton  Place,”  “Raintr-ee  County,”  ‘  ‘Seven  Hills  of  Rome,” 
"Sayonara”  and  “The  Helen  Morgan  Story.” 

They  mean  big,  big  sales  for  you.  Order  “Raintree  County”  and 
the  five  other  great  new  movie  sound  track  albums  from  your  RCA 
Victor  distributor  today. 


Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


Glenn  Miller-Less  Orch 
Just  an  Echo  in  London  | 


London,  Jan.  28. 

The  distinctive  band,  sound  cre¬ 
ated  by  the  late  Glenn  Miller 
brought  a  new  to  the  bread- 
aiid-butter  musicians,  and  gave  the 
customers  the  hind  of  mood  setting 
that  enveloped  them  in  a  smoochy 
musical  wonderland.  The  Miller 
band  played  With'  a  beat,  too,  but 
behind  that  beat  was  strong  emo¬ 
tional  appeal.  After  making  this 
impression  on  people,  the  .  band 
leader’s  death  left  behind:  millions 
yof  sad  folk.  The  recent  , motion  pic-; 
ture  based  on  his  life  brought  back 
many  nostalgic,  memories,  mainly 
to  the  over-30s,  and  now.  that  ex- 
Miller  drummer  Ray  McKinley  has 
reformed  an  outfit  along  the  same 
lines  and  brought  it  to  Britain,  it’s 
these  folk  who  are  flocking  in  to 
hear  it. 

Blit  they  are  coming  away  :  dis¬ 
appointed.  The  sound’s  there  but 
something’s  lacking.  That  ,  some¬ 
thing  is  Glenn  Miller. 

For  the  3,000  who  went  to  the 
Rank:owned  Dominion  picture  the¬ 
atre,  London,  for  the  opening  con¬ 
cert  of  the  tour,  the  band  played 
sweetly  and  smoothly  using  the 
original  Miller  orchestrations  on 
many  of  the  numbers.  McKinley 
explained  that  when  a  new  song 
came  along  it  was  arranged  in  the 
way  he  felt  sure  Miller  would  have 
cleffed  it,  but  after  more  than  two 
hours  of  listening  to  memories,  the 
result  la  jked  satisfaction. 

Numbers  like  “Moonlight  Sere¬ 
nade,”  ‘‘American  Patrol,”  and 
“Chattanooga  Choo  Choo”  clicked 
with  the  audience  who  :had  at¬ 
tended  expecting  that  kind  of 
music,  but  more  up  to  date  offer¬ 
ings*  including  a  rock  ’n’  roll  entry 
sung  by  the  leader,:  caught  on  only 
with  the  young  and  curious  ticket- 
holders. 

For  the  real  Miller  fans,  this  was 
a  group  of  musicians  gathered  to¬ 
gether  in  defiance  of  rock  and 
Skiffle  music,  playing  Miller  or-, 
chestrations  second-hand  and  reap¬ 
ing  applause  for  a  man  dead  for 
13  years.  Bary. 


'ARIETY 


RETAIL  SHEET  BEST  SELLERS 


—  P&KIETY- - 

..  Survey  of  retail  sheet  music 
best  sellers  based  on  reports 
obtained  from  leading  stores  in 
12  cities  and.  showing  com¬ 
parative  sales  rating  for  this 
and  . last  week. 

*  ASCAP  "  t  BMI 


National 
Rating 
This  Last 

wk.  wk.  Title  and  Publisher 


*  April  Love  (Feist) . . : - - - - - - - 

♦All  the  Way  (Maraville)  . . 
t  Sugartime  (Nor-Va-Jac) . : 
♦Leichitensteiner  (Burl) .... , . . . . . . 

♦Fascination  (Southern) . . . .... . 

tRaunchy  (H&R)  . . ; ...... . . . . . . 

f  Kisses  Sweeter  (Folkways) ... 
♦Silvery  Moon  (Joy).. 

iAt  the  Hop  (SMW)  ■  . . . . 

♦Aronnd  the  World  (Young)., . . . 
tPeggy  Sue  (Nor-Va-Jac) .  .  . . . . . 

♦Till' (Chappell)  . . .  . . ; . ... : 

♦Magic  Moments  (Famous) .  * . 
♦Catch  Falling  Star  (Fisher) ... . . . 

♦A  Very  Special  Love  (Korwin) . 


Coast  Tooters  in  New 
Legal  Maneuver  Against 
Music  Performance  Funds 

Los  Angeles,  Jan.  28, 
Coast  musicians  battling  the  Mu¬ 
sic  Perfomance  Trust  Funds  have 
launched  a  new  legal,  maneuver  to 
counteract  a  recent  setback  in  the 
State  Superior  Court.  » 

Petition  for  mandate  has  been 
filed  in  the  State  Supreme  Court, 
which  has  agreed  to  retain  Jurisdic¬ 
tion  in  the  issue,  contending  that 
Superior  Judge  John.  J.  Ford  was 
guilty  of  ap  abuse,  of  discretion  in 
denying  a  temporary  restraining 
order  and  refusing  to  appoint  a  re¬ 


ceiver  in  the  case  filed  against 
AFM  and  feature  film  producers: 
Lawsuit  had  sought  the  order  and 
receivership  to  halt  payment  of 
royalties  from  the  sale  of  feature 
films  to  television.  In  a  second 
case,  the  judge  did  grant  a  restrain¬ 
ing  order  and  receiYershi  in  cbn- 
iiection  with  the  channeling  to  the 
Trust  Fund  of  a  2 19k.  royalty  based 
on  the  wage  scales  of  recording  mu¬ 
sicians.  Plaintiffs  contend  that 
the  21%  originally  was  negotiated 
as  a  pay  hike  for  the  individual 
musicians  and  then  was  diverted  to 
the  Trust  Fund  instead  of  to  the 
sidemen: 

Expected  that  arguments  on  the 
petition  for  mandate  probably  will 
be  heard  next  week  with  a  decision 
to  follow  shortly  thereafter. 


Longplay  Stereo  Tapes 

Livingston  Audio  will  launch  a 
“Cpmmand  Performance”  series  of 
45-minute  stereophonic  tapes. 
Line  will  be  pegged  on  uninter¬ 
rupted  symphonic  works  which  un¬ 
til  now  have  been  unavailable  on 
tape  because  of  their  excessive 
length. 

Firm  has.  set  up  a  recording 
team  in  Europe  for.  the  stereo  tap¬ 
ing  of  the  works.  First  two  tapes  to 
be  releasfid  Feb.  1  are  Tchaikov¬ 
sky’s  Fifth  Symphony  with  the 
Manheim  National  Symphony,  con¬ 
ducted  by  Herbert  Albert,  and 
Tchaikovsky’s  Sixth  Symphony 
with  the  Sinfonia  of  London,  con¬ 
ducted  by  Muir  Mathieson. 


MUSIC  57 


Elvis’  20,000,000 
No.  I  in  $400-Mil 
Disk  Biz  for  1957 

Hollywood,  Jan.  28. 

Elvis  Presley  was  the  largest  sin-r 
gle  factor  In  pushing  the  disk  biz 
to  a  record  $480,000,000  gross  for 
1957,  according  Iff.RCA  Victor  vice- 
president  W."  W.  Bullock.  And  de¬ 
spite  recurrent  rumors -that  Pres¬ 
ley  is  “slipping,”  his  newest  "disk 
is  credited  with  topping  1,400,000 
in  two  weeksv  having  had  a  firm 
1,000,000  sales  order  before  it 
was  even  ready  for  distribution. 

Disk  industry’s  1957  gross  was  a 
jump  of  about  33%  over  the  . 1956 
tally,  Bullock  said,  adding  that  the 
1958  total  probably  will  be  about 
12-15%  over  the  *1957  record. 

Presley  (Victor  artist)  sold  some 
20,000,000  records  last  year,  Bul¬ 
lock  reported,  the  figure  including 
both  singles  and  a  pro-rating  of 
albums.  Bullock  guessed  the  sec¬ 
ond  biggest  seller  in  the  industry 
was  Pat  Boone  (Dot  .Records)  and 
added  that  Victor’s  second  place 
disker  was  Perry  Como,  with 
around  7,000,000  sales. 

Bullock  at  a  press  conference  on 
the  Coast,  reported  that  albums 
now  account  for  about “60%  of  the 
industry’s  total  business,  but  both 
he  and  Bob  Yorke,.  label’s  west 
coast  artists  &  repertoire  supervi¬ 
sor,  said  that  in  recent  months  sin¬ 
gle  sales  had  begun  to  pick  up 
again  and  the  firm  is  readjusting 
its  release  schedules  to  take  ad¬ 
vantage  of  the  new  trend. 

Victor’s  four-week-old  entry  into 
the  record  club  field,  in  a  tieup 
with  Book-of-the-Month  Club,  has 
produced. a  “phenomenal”  response 
to  the  initial  mailing.  Bullock  dis¬ 
closed.  Scheme  vfas  reported  as 
luring  more  than  180,000  subscrib¬ 
ers  thus  far.  Club  is  operated' with 
a  cushion  for  dealers;  they  get.  a 
20%  commission  on  any  member 
they  sign  or  any  club  member  who 
mentions  their  store  in  his  applica- 


Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


58 


VAUDEVILLE 


psmeFt 


AGVA  Suspends  Victor  Lamonte  In 
Wake  of  "Rebels’  Yells  Vs.  Regime 


The  administration  of  the  Amer¬ 
ican  Guild  of  Variety  Artists  is 
now  striking  baekj  at  the  insur¬ 
gents.  Victor  Lamonte,  representing 
the  “rebel”  group  which  has  been 
battling  national  administrator 
Jackie  Bright  on  what  has  been 
termed  the  “illegal”  payment  of 
$20,000  by  AGVA  to  settle  a  per- 
-  $onol  libel  claim  against  Bright, 
has  been  notified  by  registered 
mail  that  charges  of  “conduct  un¬ 
becoming  a  member0  have  been 
filed  against  him.  He  will  be  given 
a  hearing  by  the  executive  board 
today  (Wed.)  at  noon. 

This  is  the  first  action  filed 
against  any  of  the  group  currently 
battling  the  administration.  Others 
expect  notifications,  shortly. 

Lamonte  has  declared  that  the 


Pitt’s  Doris  &  Joe  Bianco 
To  Prep  Miami  B’ch  Cafe 

Pittsburgh,  Jan.  28. 
Doris  and  Joe  Bianco,  who 
owned  and  operated  Dore’s  supper 
club  in  Bast  Liberty  for  several 
years  before  selling  it  recently  to 
Nat  Kann,  are  reentering  the  busi¬ 
ness,  but  in  Miami  Beach.  They’ve 
bought  Angelo  Palange’s.  tavern  in 
Sunny  Isle  sector,:  at  163d  and  Col¬ 
lins,  and  will  begin  remodeling  it 
into  a  facsimile  of  Dore’s  when 
they  take  possession  in  mid-April. 

Spot  will  have  a  seating  capacity 
of  around  200  is  slated  to -open 
June  1.  Bianco  was  a  booking  agent 


Inks  AGVA  Pact 


charges  against  him  are  so  vague  j  in  York  before  .going  into 

,***  to  be  virtually  not  def endable  •  n^ery  business  here  with  his  wife, 
as  such.  He  has  written  the  union . 
asking  for  .  specific,  charges  instead  i 
of  a  general  series  leveled  against 
him.  He  has  asked  for .  particulars 
stating  time,  place,  and  the  specific 
nature  of  the  charges.  He  has  also 
asked  for  the  right  to  face  his  ac¬ 
cuser  or  accusers.  He  claims  it  is 
impossible  to  prepare  an  adequate 
defense  on  the  basis  of  that  which 
was  contained  in  the  letter.  |  Honolulu,  Jan.  27. 

Another  factor  that  indicates  a  j  Henry  J. .  Kaiser’s  Hawaiian  Vil- 
general  feeling  that  Bright  and  lage  Hotel  is  the  first  ihaj  or  Waikiki 
the  board  are  out  to  stifle  any  op-!  operation  to  sign  k  contract  with 
position  is  seen  in  the  fact  that :  the  new  Hawaii  branch  of  the 
Lamonte  will  be  tried  by  his  ac-  —  - 

cusers.  Letter  stated,  “You  are!  ,  . 
hereby  notified  that  the  national 
executive  committee  has  charged  j al  dir.®cj£r’  f 

you  with  conduct  unbecoming  a:  per  S1^-day  week  for^principal  per- 
member.”  Toward  the  end  the  let-!  formers,  $85  for  intepnediate^scale 
ter  read:  “You  are  hereby  notified  |  performers,  and  $75  for  chorus 
that  a  hearing  On  the  above  charges ,  (four  or  more  in  an  act)  members, 
will  be  held  Wednesday,  Jan.  29,  j  Mazzei  says  scale  is  substantial- 
before  the  national  executive  com- ;  ly  above  Hawaii  average, 
mittee.”  .  j  He’s  also  working  with  IL  S.  im- 

<  Lamonte  is  of  the  belief  that ;  migration  officials  to  make  sure  no 
fome  members  6f  the  exec  board ,  foreign  performers  are  imported  to 
and  national  board  may  bave  been  j  replace  unemployed  locJl-talent. 
the  subject  of  some  of  the  charges ,  '  ...  .  .  . 

that  he  himself  has  levelled  o?er|  Army^authprities  here,  also  have 
the  past  few  years.  Therefore,  they  I promised  that  no  more ;  military  per- 
would  not  be  considered  “impar-  sonnel  will  be  permitted  to  take 
tial”  judges  by  him.  j  entertainment  jobs  m  civilian 

Some  Observers .  feel  there  is  a;  hiteries. 

dangerous  precedent  in  that  the ..  ~ — ■■■'■• - 

action  against  Lamonte  sets  AGVA ; «  * 

on  a  cdurse  which  would  deprive  jjDeniCe  fcXIlS  MBS  dOUCI 
members  of  their  democratic  rights 
to  speak  out  against  the  adminis¬ 
tration. 

Until;  findings  by  the  executive, 
board  are  completed,  Lamonte  is 
under  suspension,  but  meanwhile 
he  will  be  allowed  to  continue  to 
work,  j 

In*  his  reply  to  the  unions  La-  : 


As  Entertainment  Head 
For  Management  Office 


Las.  Vegas,  Jan.  28. 
George  Liberace,  who  was  ap¬ 
pointed  entertainment  director  of 

monte  asked  about  his  status  while ;  nt 

under  suspension.  He  asked,  “If  Ii'«®?L 

work  and  W  the  insurance  fee  !  £on  ®°  he  can  devPte  more 
the  agent  pays  it— does  it  mean 

that  I  can  collect  insurance  in  the  ?rm  wlucb  IS  Ib^ated  m  Hol- 
event  of  an  accident — do  I  receive  _  ...  _  . 

hospitalization  and  any  other  bene- ’  Effective.  Feb.  IX  Sans  Souci 
fits  of  AGVA  which  my  dues  are  Prexy  George  Mitzel,  former  film 
supposed  to  cover  in  the  event  oV  producer,  takes  over  the  produc- 
such  emergencies.  Just  what  kind  ! tlon  reigns,  assisted  by  Lud  Zwllg- 
of  suspension  am  I  supposed  to  be  meyer.  Show  at  that  time  will  be 
enjoying?  a  Parisienne  revue.  Liberace  has 

“I  will  be  there  on  Jan.  29  at  been  presenting  lounge-type  enter- 
noon.  I  intend  at  all  times  to  op-  tainment.  from  9  p.  m.  until  3  a.  m. 
erate  within  the  AGVA  constitu-1  featuring  newcomers  fo  show  biz, 
tion- — and  hope  the  executive  com- !  bn  Feb.  17,  Liberace  launches 
mittee  and  its  employees  do  the;  a  series  of  coast-to-coast  personal 
’  appearances  fox'  -  young  talent.  In¬ 
cluding  many  of  the  performers  in 
his  stable.  He  also  plans  a  tv  tal- 
!  erit  show,  on  which  he’ll  efacee  for 
show  biz  fledglings. 


NEW  ENGLAND  BOOKERS 
FIGHT  OUT-OF-STATERS 

Boston,  Jan.  28. 

New  England  Theatrical  Bookers 
Assn,  is  again  fighting  out-of-state 
bookers  enroaching  on  Massachu¬ 
setts.  Under  Mass,  law,  a  booker 
must  be  domiciled  in  the  state 


Harris  in 

To  0.0.  Ice Talent 

London, -Jan.  28. 
John  H.  Harris,  head  of  “Ice 


and  must  have  a  license  issued  by!  Capades,” ^  arrived  in  Britain  yia 
the  Dept,  of  Public  Safety,  at  a  t  the  Queen  Mary  last  week  (24)  for 
-$100  a  year  fee.  _ 

Renewed  action  in  the  fight  Came 
last  week  when  the  Mass.  Fair 
Assn,  met  at  the  Bradford  in  Bos- 


Skiffle  Unit’s  Vaudert 

Glasgow,  Jan.  28.  . 

Stanley  Dale  has  set  a  new  skif¬ 
fle  package  show  for  a  U.K.  tour. 
It  will  feature  Jim  Dale,  and  Wally 
Wyton  with  the  Vipers,  Local  tal¬ 
ent  also  will  fie  used. 

;  Show  plays  the  Empire  Theatre 
here  Feb.  3,  following;  with  dates 
in  London,  Newcastel,  Liverpool, 
Bradford  and  Colchester. 

“Sleeping  Beauty  on  ice,”  blade 
pantomime,  will  play  two  weeks  at 
Glasgow  Empire  from  Feb.  10. 


Talent  on  Woes 


a  short  talent  prowl.  He  auditioned 
British  skaters  for  forthcoming 
productions  in  the  U.S,  before 

_ ^  planing.,  put  to  Germany  today 

"Hon  arid  big  bevy  of  out-of-twon '  (Tues.). 
bookers  came  in  to  seil  acts.  Com-  j  He’s  scheduled  to  make  an  ex¬ 
plaints  were  made  at  the  State  *  tensive  Edropean  tour  before  re- 
House.  Out  of  statebookers  have  :  turning  to  Paris  in  February  for. i 
been  sending  acts  into  it  .  at  step-  the  World  Skating  Championships.  ■ 

ped  up  rate  of  late,  the  AssOcia-  ,  .  - - — ■—.—■> — -  ;  i 

tion  prexy  Harry  Drake  reported.  I  PHILLY  HOTEL  JOINS  CO-OP 
and  local  bookers  are  up.  in  arms,  j  Bellevue-Stratford  Hotel,  Phila- 

- • — — : — : - r—  '  delphia,  has  joined  the  Distin- 

II*  t\  «  **  o  m  guished  Hotels, -  a  cooperative  net- 

riippon  Dancers  U.S.  lour  w°rk  °f  indie  p*.  it’s  the  isth 

i .  rs  hotel  in  that  system. 

«fTTanan^?fUka  Dance  Theafre  primary  purpose  of  the  organiza- 
l  o-o11  t.heT,U‘^S-'  m  tb<:  tion  is  sales.  Each  hotel  cooperates 
f  n  ^  A^09*  Alhert  £ir*s  ."  j1  in  getting  reservations  for  other 
the  .c?mpany  of  72>  includ* .  units  in  the  network,  via  teletype 
ing  20  musicians.  system.  There’s'  also  cooperative 

The  William  Morris  Agency  con-  advertising  and  convention  sales 
cert  division,  will  do  the  .booking. t  foi;  itf f 


By  TRANK  GORDON 

Munich,  Jan.  28. 

Many  Gerriian-born  naturalized 
American  entertainers,  temporar¬ 
ily  living  in  this  Bavarian  capital 
and  home  of  West  Germany’s  film 
industry,  are  .  every  month  being 
squeezed  into  a  creative  stalemate 
because  of  ramifications  of  the 
much-discussed  McCarran  Act. 

Under,  it  such  Americans  may 
not  “continuously  reside  in  the 
country  of  their  birth  for  a  period 
longer  than  three  years."  After 
that,  convenient  or  not,  these 
Americans  who  describe  theriK 
selves  as  “second-class  citizens,” 
must  return  to  continental  U:S.A. 
Not  to  /do  so  means  loss  of  citizen¬ 
ship. 

But  the  law  has  several  well- 
known  loopholes.  Evidence  of  em- 
ployment  “with  an  American  firm’.' 
or  doctor-certified,  illnesses,  how¬ 
ever  prolonged,  are  the  most  com¬ 
monly  used  gimmicks. 

Freelancers  seeking  work  with 
American  production  companies 
shooting  here  claim  they  cannot 
wait  around  hoping  for  a  break  as 
the  three-year  deadline  date  nears. 
A  contract  With  a  bona  fide  film 
company,  does,  of  epurs.e,  automati¬ 
cally  extend  the:  residence  period. 
Time  worked  for  American  compa¬ 
nies  cannot' be  added  to  the  three 
years.  Also,  travel  outside  Ger¬ 
many  may  not  be  considered 
Vgrace"  time.  A  If,  at  the  time. his 
residence1  period  is  expiring,  an 
artist  is  not  “U.S.-employed”  he 
must  return :  Stateside  or  accept 
West  German  citizenship.  Most 
go  home;  although  some  have  been 
unable  to. 

The  law  has  caused  much  bitter¬ 
ness/  among  entertainment  world 
people,  especially  script  arid  song¬ 
writers,  and  their  families.  Chil¬ 
dren’s  -educations  are  interrupted 
in  the  middle  of  school  years, 
transportation  -  can  be  a  problem 
during  the  tourist  season  and,  fre¬ 
quently,  funds  are  low.  Most 
point  nut  that  because  of  language 
(for .;  co-productions.  Scriptwriting 
for  Gerinan  companies,  song¬ 
writers,  etc.)  and  other  special 
qualifications,  they  are  better  able 
to  get  work  here  than  in  the  U.S. 
According- to  hiany,  when  “connec¬ 
tions”  here  should  be  paying  divid¬ 
ends  they’re  forced  to  return  home 
and  start  from  scratch.  The  fi¬ 
nancial  burden  too,  they  insist,  is 
more  than  many  of  them  can  bear. 
Also,  they  claim,  reissuance  of.  per¬ 
mission  from  the  State  Dept.' to 
return  to  Germany  is  often  a  long- 
drawn  out  affair,  usually  lasting 
over  a  year.- 

Other  foreign-borri  Americans 
have  the  same  problem  but  if  Ger¬ 
many  is  not  their  birthplace  they 
may  live  here  for  a  period  “not  to 
exceed  five  years.” 

Syirfpathetic  but  helpless  consu¬ 
lar  'Officials  say,  “Naturally,  there 
is  nothing  we  can  or  would  do  to 
circumvent  q  Federal  law.  We 
know  much  talent  is  being  forever 
lost  to  .  the  U.S.  stage  and  screen, 
arid,  that  the  Act,  in  many  cases, 
causes  undue  hardship,  but  we  are 
helpless.” 

Frequently  artists  .  have  been 
able  to  sign  “contracts"  with  non¬ 
show  biz  American  firriis  simply 
by  explaining  their  plight.  In  such 
cases,  usually,  the  deal  is  a  paper 
one  only;  money  or  services  are. 
seldom  exchanged.  The  State 
Dept.,  is /aware  of  this  but  cannot 
prevent  it. 

Rumors  among  entertainers  that 
the  law will  be  modified  and  the 
three-year,  period  extended  to 
more  realistic  five  or  seven. ‘‘in  the 
near  future”  have  no  basis,  consu- 


Havana  Shooting  at  "Stay  Longer 
Yia  Intra-Hotel  Divertissements 


City  of  Honolulu  Eyes 
Takeover  of  Big  Nitery 

Honolulu,  Jan.  28. 

City  is  taking  steps  to  acquire 
Queen’s  Surf,  one  of  Hawaii’s 
riiajor  niteries,  for  a  minimum  of 
$1,025,000  —  which  figures  out  at 
$13.25  per  square  foot  of  land^J 
and  will  convert  the  site  into  a1 
public  beach  park. 

It’s  the  former  home  of  the  late 
Christian  Holmes,  a  millionaire 
who  also  owned  Coconut  island. 
Queen’s  Surf  is  owned  by  Capital 
Properties  Co.  Nitery  jtself  is 
operated  by  Spencecliff  System, 
which Will  oontinue  as  is  Until  city 
gets  enough  money  to  go  iahead 
with  the  "park  project.  Spencecliff 
paid  an  estimated  $48,000  rental 
last  year  on  a  percentage  basis. 


Trip  on  Cuff 

Performers  of  stature  who  wish 
to  contribute  their  talents  for  even 
one  performance  at  the  United 
States  Pavillion  of  the  Brussels 
World  Fair  can  haVe  all  their  ex¬ 
penses  paid  (free  flight)  and  a  two- 
Week  tour  of  Europe!  This  offer  was 
made  by  Betty  Murray,  head  of 
American  Theatre  Institute  and  di¬ 
rector  of  Showplane  yours,  in  a 
telegram  this  week  to  Secretary  of 
State  John  Foster  Dulles. 

Action  was  prompted  .  by  fact 
that  Congress  axed  original  $15,- 
OOO.0OO  appropriation  that  will  cut 
U.S,  theatrical  offerings  at  the  fair. 


‘Holiday  on  Ice’  Hits 
Record  $257,489 
At  Milwaukee  Arena 

“Holiday  on  IcO”  scored  a  new 
record  in  Its  15-show  run  at  the 
Milwaukee.  Arena,  Milwaukee 
which  ended  Sunday  (26).  Layout 
scored  a  herculean  $257,489.  It’s 
the/second  year  in  a  row  that  the 
show  has  cracked  its  own  mark. 
Last  year,  also  a  top  figure  until 
then,  the  take  amounted  to  $239,- 
953.  Top  was  $3.60.. 

Effect  of  group  business  for 
“Holiday”  is  apparently  paying  off 
greatly.  Shpw  had  a  lot  of  business 
from  organizations.  For  example, 
one  night  was  devoted  Catholic 
organizations,  another  to  Lutheran 
men,  as  well  as  sundry  other 
groups.  .  In  addition,  there  Was  a 
heavy  ad  schedule  to  back  up  the 
group  promotional  efforts. 


Vancouver  on  a  Tricycle 
For  1958  Centenary  Ball 

Vancouver,  Jan.  28. 

Three,  of  Vancouver’s  plush 
spots  have  been  tabbed  by  the 
Centennial  Committee  for  staging 
novel  three-spot  simultaneous  Cen¬ 
tenary  Ball  next  fall,  says  Dal 
Richards,  top  maestro  here.  Differ¬ 
ent  twist  comes  With  bus  fleet  al¬ 
ready  booked  for  routing  bailsters 
across  town  from  ballroom  to  ball¬ 
room.  One  ticket  covers  all,  though 
price  is  not  set  yet. 

Dance  fest  embraces  Richards’ 
home  base,  the  Panorama  Roof, 
and  the  Georgia  Hotel  ballroom 
arid  the  Commodore.  While  Cen¬ 
tennial  Committee  has  bought  the 
affair,  deal  is  available  for  a  “spon- 
sof,”  Richards  said. 


♦  Havana  !s  now  starting  to  paral¬ 
lel  Las  Vegas  in  many  respects. 
For.  example,  Ben  Smith,,  an  execu¬ 
tive  In  the'  newly  opened.  Havana 
Riviera  Hotel,  Is  currently  in  New 
York  to  confer  with  cruise  ships 
and  airlines  to  provide,  more  trans¬ 
portation  to  the  Cuban  capital. 

This  has .  become  increasingly 
necessary  because  Havana,  like  the 
gaming  centre,  of  the  U.  S.,  has  be¬ 
come  a  short-stay  town,  says  Smith. 
It’s  not  that  gambling  casinos  drain 
the  vacationerf  he  notes,  the  pace 
of  activity  is  so  fast  arid  there  is 
so  much  to  do  that  by  the  end  of 
four  days  or  so,  the  tourist  is  about 
ready  to  either  hop  off  to  another 
resort  or  go*  Lome. 

In  an  effort  to  get  the  tourists  to 
slow  down  and  stay  longer,  the 
Havana  Riviera  is  starting  on  a 
program  of  house  entertainment 
(sUch  as  dance  instruction)  to 
maintain  interest  at  various  times 
of  the  day.  In  this  respect,  accord¬ 
ing  to*  Smith,  the  Havana  hotels 
differ  from  their  Las  Vegas  coun¬ 
terparts,  which  has  an  unconscious, 
casino  accent  despite  the  fact  that 
there  are  lots  of  other  activities  ih 
that,  town  openly  encouraged  by 
the  casino  operators.^  For  example, 
Vegas  hotel  literature  points  to 
the  fishing  at  nearby  Lake  Meade. 
Golf  is  stressed,  and  of  course,  the 
Omnipresent  svyimming  pool  is  an¬ 
other  peg.  However,  the  casino,  is 
Mr.  Big. 

In  Havana,  the  town  itself  has 
much .  to  offer  and  the  average 
tourist  tries* to  take,  everything  in 
during  a  comparatively  brief  time, 
Smith  points  out.  There’s  lotsa 
nightlife  and  enough  tourist  attrac-, 
tions  to  keep  the  vacationer  hop-? 
Ping! 

It’s  the  attempted  policy  of  mak¬ 
ing  every  facet  of  the  hotel  to  pay 
off  ion  its  own  that  prompts  the 
de-accent  of  the  casino  in  Havana. 
“We  don’t  like  operating  any  de¬ 
partment  at  a  loss!”  he  observes. 
The  hotel  rates  ,  are  sufficient  to 
keep  that  part  of  the  operation  in 
the  black.  The  dining  room,  can 
also  pay  its  way.  The  only  depart¬ 
ment  not  paying  off  at  this  point  is 
the  nitery  rooms,  but  Smith  says 
something  will  be  done  about  that, 
too.  There,  is  now  a  $5  miniriium 
in  the  Copa  Rooiri,  the  riiajor  nitery 
Operation  at  the  inn;  • 

Just  what  else  will  be  done  to 
get  that  part  of  the  operation  in 
the  black  hasn’t  yet  been  deter¬ 
mined.  Smith  feels,,  however  that 
the.  entire  project  is  still,  very  new, 
having  preemed  only  Dec.  10,  arid 
they’re,  still  observing  and  making 
certain  of  their  steps  before  chang¬ 
ing  any  policies. 

Smith  arid  his  twin  brother 
Harry,  who  is  prexy  of  the  hotel, 
are  old  hands  iiuthe  hotel  field, 
having  operated  the  Prince  Ed-, 
ward  Hotel,  Toronto,  for  many 
years.  Both  are  w!k.  figures  In 
show  biz,  having  done  outside  pro-  • 
motions  asr  well  as  bringing  in  top 
nappes  to  their  Toronto  spot.  When 
talent  failed  to  pay  off  in -Canada, 
they  turned  their  cafe  into  a  room 
hired  exclusively  for  functions,  and 
so  made  that  part  of  the  hotel  pay 
off.  Their  talent  buying  is  being 
done  by  the  Jack  Davies  office  out 
of  New  York.  Latest  booking  * 
the  Havana  Riviera  is  Jaye  P.  Mor¬ 
gan  who  preems  there  Feb;  4. ' 


CARLSEN  QUITS  MOSS  EMPIRES 

.  London,  Jap.  21. 

John  A.  Carlsen  is  ankling  his 
post  as  publicity  director  of  Moss 
Empires  (chain  Which  includes  the 
London  Palladium)  to  set  up  his 
own  public  relations  biz  in .  as¬ 
sociation  with  Leslie  Randall. 

Their  company  would  be  known  as 
Randall  Carlsen  Ltd. 

John  Neiman,  who  has  been  Carl- 
sen’s  assistant  in  the  Moss  Em¬ 
pires  press  office  for  the  last  three  _._o _ 

Jesmr c  ires,  i  groups-.  - 


MATHIS  TURKEY  SOURS 
VANCOUVER’S  GARDENS 

Vancouver,  Jan.  28. 

Flop  of  Johnny  Mathis*  one- 
nighter  here  11  days  ago  has  given 
local  “flash  .date”  promoters .  sec¬ 
ond  thoughts:  No  shows  of  similar 
calibre  are  booked  into  Exhibition 
Gardens  for  some  time,  said 
spokesman  J.  O.  Evans. 

Highly  touted  Mathis  date* played 
to  feeble  600  turnout  \first  show,  to 
1,200  on  second  time  around,  with 
a  preponderance  of  teenagers,  in 
an  aud  that  seats  2,700.  Gross  was 
roughly  $5,000,  half-covering  the 
show’s  ^overhead,  and  made  up  of 
the^  thrifty  end  of  $1.50-$3.75 
Wicket.  Hi-Lo’s  and  Linda  Leigh 
filled  the  bill. 

Brian  Foist,  CJOR  teeners’  dee- 
jay,  said,  “As  far  as  the.  kids  are 
concerned,  these,  shows  (single¬ 
name  stands)  have  been  killed.  A 
Seattle  outfit  brought  15  big  names 
here  in  one  show  a  while  back. 
Now  the  kids  won’t  settle  for  less.” 
Be  added  that;  Mathis  still  rates 
high  here,  disk-wise,,  with,  all  age- 


Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


PRuiETY 


VAUBEVUXE 


59 


Chicago,  Jan.  28, 

Chez  Paree  is  incepting  a  two- 
stars-per-show  policy,  as  often  as 
possible,  to  offset  the  weakening 
pull  of  playback  attractions  who 
are  being  depended  on  several 
times  during  the  year.  Case  in 
point  is  the  nitery’s  present  bill 
which  pairs  Ella  Fitzgerald,  a  first- 
timer  at  the  Chez,,  with  multiple 
repeater  Sam  Levenson.  As  far  as 
possible, ^says  Dave-Halper,  booking! 
braintrust  of  the  club's  owning 
triumvirate,  it’s  planned  to  con¬ 
tinue  pairing  a  comic  with  a  singer. 
But  making  the  new  policy  stick 
is  another  problem. 

Save:  for  three  or  four,  the;  fa¬ 
miliar  ....  Chez  headliners  haven't 
been,  luring  the  patronage  they 
used  to,  ^nd  Halper  believes  that’s 
the  trouble— familiarity.  Chez,  like 
other  dubs  of  its  rank,  has  been 
forced  to  reprise  the  familiar  faces 
with  more  than  desired  frequency 
because  of  the  severely  constricted, 
pool  of  available  top  names.  Helper 
would  like  nothing  better  than  to 
round  up  some  comparatively  fresh 
nitery  topliners  Such  as.  Frank  Sin¬ 
atra  and  Dinah  Shore;  but  those 
two  and  their  likes  aren’t  travel¬ 
ling;.  The  ’  Sinatras  and  Shores 
either  are  hung  up  with  tv,  which 
also  enables;  them  to  stay  home, 
or  they  shun  the  road  because  of 
the  forbidding  tax  bite  usually  re¬ 
sultant. 

"We’ve  got  to  give  audiences  big¬ 
ger  shows,”  Halper  says.  “Our 
theory  is  that  now  it  takes  two 
names  to  attract  the  business  for¬ 
merly  done  by  one.”  Not  only  big¬ 
ger  shows,  but  maybe  lower  prices 
as  well,  for  the  nitery  has.  aban¬ 
doned  its  $1.95  cover,  for  all  set 
ond  shows,  although  a  $3.95  mini¬ 
mum  remains. 

New  policy  of  playing  ’em  .  tan¬ 
dem  doesn’t  obiyate  booking  prob¬ 
lems,  however.  Shortage  of  avail¬ 
abilities  is  still  there  to  contend 
with  and,  in.  fact,  the  Chez  has  no 
two-for-one  shows,  inked  for  either 
the  near  oi*  distant  future.  Club’s 
next  show,  purchased  months  back, 
is  a  ohe-starrer— Gordon  MacHae, 
who’s  bringing  in  his  own  package 
for  two  weeks;  starting  Friday  (31). 
Tentative  for  the  future  are  Tony 
Bennett,  Sammy  Davis  Jr.  and  Nat 
Cole;  but  nothin’s  definite-  beyond 
MacRae. 


St.  Paid  Winter  Shovlr 
Changes  to  Cuffo  Policy 

St.  Paul,  Jan.  28. 

Because  last  year’s  big  indoor 
variety  show  with  admission 
charged  lost  $2,800,  the  St.  Paul 
Winter  Carnival,  annual  celebra¬ 
tion  being  held  this  week,  decided 
to  throw  open  the  municipal  Audi¬ 
torium  doors  and  present  this 
year’s  to  the  public  for  free.  Al¬ 
though  the  show  included  Jim 
Backus  and  Fran  Allison  as  name 
headliners  and  bevy  of  other 
well-known  and  highly  regarded 
Twin  Cities’  performers  and  was 
on  a  quality  par  with  those  of  other 
years,  Carnival  officials  were’ wor¬ 
ried  for  fear  there  wouldn’t  be  a 
capacity  crowd. 

It  was  much  cheaper  to  put  on 
6the  free  show  than  the  past  ones 
for  which  ;  the  Carnival  always 
charged  admission.  As  a  civic  or-- 
ganization  with  a  free  show  this 
time.it  got  the’ Auditorium  rental; 
free.  Also,  Backus  and  Miss  Alli¬ 
son  were  paid  by  the  corporations 
for  which-  they  toil  on  television. 
And.  because,  no  admission  was 
charged  the  local  talent  donated  its 
services. 


Sumac’s  SA,  Tour 

.  Yma  Sumac  has  been  signed  for 
a  four-week  concert  tour  in  South 
America.  She’ll  work  in  Uruguay, 
Brazil  and  Argentina.  She .  starts 
March  7. 

William  Morris  Agency  set  the 
deal. 


Bobby  Romm  to  Davies 

Bobby  Romm  has  joined  the 
Jack  Davies  office  where  he’ll  work 
on  bookings  in  all  fields; 

;  Romm  had  been  with  the.  Wil¬ 
liam  Morris  Agency,  for  several 
years  and  also  functioned  as  an 
iudie.  He’s  the.  son  of  Leonard 
Romm,  in  charge  of  the  General 
Artists  Corp.  Florida  operations., 


Mineola  Fair  Resuming; 
Elect  Valentine  Prexy 

The' Mineola  (L.I.,  N.Y.)  Fair  & 
Industrial  Exposition  will  resume 
this  year  for  nine  days  starting 
Sept.  6,  for  its  114th  season.  Event 
will:  be  held  on  the  grounds  of  the 
Roosevelt  Raceway.  Construction 
of  the  track  prevented  the  fair 
from  operating  in  1955  and  1956, 

J.  Harold  Valentine  was  elected 
president  of  the  fair.  James  W. 
Carpenter  and  Harold  Van  Sise 
were  named  veepees,  and  Raymond 
G.  Fish,  secretary-treasurer.  Harry 
W.  Gross,  superintendent  of  Nassau 
County  schools,  was:  added  to  the 
board  of  directors. 


Like  the  Arctic; 


Atlanta,  Jan.  28. 

A  corporation  formed  under  the 
title  Ice  Bowl  Inc.  has  been  grant¬ 
ed  a  charter  and  plans  to  build  a 
$1,941  ;800  skating  rink  and  40- 
lane  bowling  aiiey  in  Northeast 
Atlanta.  Outfit  has  optioned  37 
acres  on  Cheshire  Bridge  Rd,,  re¬ 
cently  .'rezoned,  as  Ideation  for 
modern  twin-building  sports  estab¬ 
lishment  Corporation  officials 
have  set  fall  of  1959  as  hoped-for 
date  of  completion,  for  sports 
cehtre. 

Bowling  alley,  will  be  100% .  auto¬ 
matic  and  rink  will  be  of  regula¬ 
tion  ice  hockey  dimensions,  100x200 
feet,  and;  will  seat  4,000.  It  will 
be  the  only  such  combination  rec¬ 
reational  plant  in  the  country. 

Larry  K.  Doyal  is  secretary-, 
treasurer  of  corporation  and  For¬ 
rest:  A.  Ragsdale  president-  Wil¬ 
liam  R.  Hunt  is  vicepresident  and 
a  director.  Doyal  and  J.  M.  Fam- 
brough  round  out  board  of  direc¬ 
tors.  ' 

Parking  facilities  for  2,000  cars 
will  be  provided  and  centric  will 
be  15  minutes  from  downtdwn  At¬ 
lanta  via  nearby  expressway. 

A  spokesman  for  corporation 
said  the  success  of  the  icC  rink  in 
Charlotte,  N.  -C,,  which  sponsors  a 
professional  hockey  team,  and  the 
demand  by  Atlantans  for  addition¬ 
al  recreational  facilities  prompted 
the.  idea  for  .the  Ice  Bowl.  Direc¬ 
tors  said  no  alcoholic  beverages 
will  be  allowed  on  premises  since 
Ice  Bowl  is  designed  to  encourage 
family  entertainment. 

Atlanta  has'  two  Other  ice  rinks, 
one  .  at  Lakewood  Park,  city-owned 
site  of  Southeastern  Fair,  and  Bel¬ 
vedere  Motel  Rink,  5, 000-square 
footer  opened  during  .  .Christmas 
holidays.  Both  are  doing  well  at 
boxoffice. . 


Vancouver  Expo  in  Bid 
For  1,000,000  Gate  Mark 

.  Vancouver,  Jan.  21. 
Pacific  National  Exhibition  is 
shooting  at  an  increase  in  attend¬ 
ance.  from  last  year’s  820,900  to 
the  1,000,000  mark  this  year.  Expo 
starts  Aug.  18  and  runs  to  Sept.  1. 
One  of  the  blueprints  toward  reali¬ 
zation  of  that  goal  is  an  added 
stress  oii  attractions.  The:  midway, 
previously  labeled  Happyland,  has 
been  rechristened  the  Gay-Way. 
It  will  be  an  entirely  new  construc¬ 
tion.  Shindig  is  part  of  the  British 
Columbia:  Centennial. 

Locail  firm,  O’Brien  Advertising 
Ltd.,  has  been  given  the  ad-pub 
assignment. 


Akron,  Jan.  28.  ' 
The  Musical  Bar,  one  of  two 
Akron  girlie-show  bars,  .  suffered 
unofficial  fire  damage  of  $75,000 
last  week. 

The  spot  was  operating  pending 
the  outcome  of!  an  appeal  filed  last, 
year  in  Columbus,  after,  the  Ohio 
Liquor  Board  revoked  its  license 
on  a  charge  the  place  permitted 
girls  to  solicit  customers  to  buy 
drinks, 


Chicago,  Jan.  28.  .. 

The  mushrooming  of  suburbia  in 
these  parts  has  finally  produced  its 
first  full-fledged  nitery,  the  Huck¬ 
sters’  Lincolnwood,  in  the  north¬ 
west  area  outside  of  Chicago.  First 
show  opened  _  yesterday  (Mon.) 
with  Russ  Arno,  Ann  Henry  and 
Marty  Brill.  Club  is  managed  ,  and--’ 
booked  by  ;  John  Carlo,  former ; 
agent  with  MCA  and  until  recent¬ 
ly  With  GAC  in  Chicago. 

Spot  is  a  four-time,  loser,  com 
structed  originally  as  House  of 
Pierire  and  having  undergone  three 
title  and  management  changes 
since,  always  as  a  restaurant.  About;! 
six  months  ago  the  property  was 
leased  by  Steve  De  Kosta,  owner  of 
the  successful  Hucksters  Key  Club 
in  Chicago*  who  made  the. Lincoln- 
wood  site  a  branch.  When  it  failed 
to  catch  on  as;  a  key  club,  De  Kosta 
opened  it  to  the  general  public,  with 
a!  show  policy,,  keeping  one  room 
for  key  customers. 

Main  dining  room  seats  about 
300,  and  there’s  a  $2.50  minimum 
for  the  shows,  Housei  band  is  Aron 
Monreal’s,  and.  Joe  Vera’s  orch 
plays  the  relief  nights. 


N.Y.  Latin  Quarter 
To  Get  Entire  Facelift 

The  Latin  .Quarter,  N’Y.,  is  go¬ 
ing  to  revamp  the  entire  room 
starting  shortly.  Stage  will  be  en¬ 
large#,  and  decor  will  get  a  face¬ 
lift  in  the  plans  now  being  drawn 
up. 

According  to  manager  Eddie  Ris- 
man,  spot  will,  remain /open  during 
the  facelifting. 


AGVA  Nixes  Chi’s  Dave  Byron  On 
Probe  of  20G  Settlement  to  Jones; 


Crummer  Corp.  Buys 
Riverside  Hotel,  Reno 

Reno,  Jain.  28. 

Sale  of  the  Riverside,  downtown 
resort  hotel,  to  the  Crummer  Corp. 
involved  between  $4,000,000  and 
$5,000,000. 

Mert  Werthheimer,  his  brother 
Lou.  Wertheimer,  and  R.  R.  Mathis 
have  taken  a  10-year  lease  on  the 
hotel’s  casino,  restaurants,  bars  and 
entertainment.  Crummer  Corp  for¬ 
merly  owned  the  Town  House  in 
Los  Angeles  and  stock  in  the  Mark 
Hopkins  in  San  Franciyo. 


Plus  U.S.  Names 


Paris,  Jan.  28.  . 

Bruno  Coquatrix,  owner  of  the 
Olympia  Music  Hiall  and  director 
of  the  Bobino  vauder,  is  now,  look¬ 
ing  for  offbeat  names  to  headline 
his  big  Olympia-  with  new  and 
promising  acts  being  channeled 
into  the  Bobino.  Fear /of  over¬ 
working  the  regular  singing  stars, 
plus  the  lack  of.  enough  of  them  or 
solid  Yank  replacements,  has 
brought  on  this  new  stance.  Co¬ 
quatrix  now  seems  to  be  going 
back  to  the  old  days  of  vaude  when 
a  unique  name  was  worth  more 
than  what  they  could  do  on  the 
stage. 

He  is  now  trying  to  get  diva 
Maria  Callas  for  a  one-nighter  at 
the  Olympia,  in.  the  wake  of  her 
opera  walkout  in  Italy.  He  also 
has  some  current  film  stairs  inked 
for  singing  turns.  Danielle  Dar- 
rieux  and  Martine  Carol  may  do 
three-week  song  shifts  at  the 
Olympia  next  season.  Coquatrix  is 
also  still  angling  for  big  U.  S, 
names  and  can  now  pay  the.  prices, 
he  says.  But  it  is  ticklish  situation 
and.  he  is-  more  cautious  sinco*| 
Frankie  Laine  laid  an  egg  here. 


Andree  Pousse  on  a  Bike  in  U.S. 


It’s  still  essential  to  come  to  the 
United  States  to  pick  out  dancers 
With  a  true  interpretive  feeling  for 
jazz,  according  to  Andree  Pousse 
(Roger  Bernheim  85).  Pousse  is  now 
in  this  country  to  select  dancers  to 
wgrk  at  the  Brussels  World’s  Fair 
and  to  line  up  headliners  for  the 
sole  music  hall  type  of  Operation 
at  that  expo,  which  starts  in  April. 

Pousse,  who  arrived  with  his 
choreographer, .  Velery  Camille,  a 
former  Jack  Cqle  .dancer,  believes 
that  despite  the  great  circulation 
of  jazz  and!  rock  Tn’  roll  on  disks, 
as  well  as  the  invasion  of  the  vari¬ 
ous  .American  troupes,  the  Euro¬ 
pean  dancers;  still  haven’t  got. that 
swing  down  pat.  Some  are  starting 
to  dig  the  jive;  but  generally,  the 
dancers  have  to  be  imported  from 
‘the  U.  S.  to  make  up  a  troupe  that 
can.  stomp  the  beat  with  authen¬ 
ticity. 

Pousse  is  engaging  talent-for  the 
Palladium,  the  only  variety  theatre 
at  the  Brussels  Fair.  Sam  Snyder’s 
“Water  Follies”  already  has!  been 


signed  as  a  .permanent  feature, 
Planned  for  -  the  Palladium  is  a 
daily  headliner  to  be  flown  over 
from  the  U.  S.  or  elsewhere  for 
one  day  only.  They  plan  to  get  a 
Schedule  for  the  top  names.  The 
Leon  Newman  agency  and  Mark 
Leddy  have  been  designated  as 
correspondent  bookers. 

Because  food  and.  housing  prices 
in  Brussels  are  expected  to  go  up 
tremendously  during  the  fair, 
which  opens  April  .  19,  new  per¬ 
former housing  is .  being  ,  con¬ 
structed  so  that  three  meals  and 
lodging  will  be  provided  for  $3 
daily.  The  builder^  .of.  lire  .project 
will  be  living  and-  lifting  in  these 
diggings  as  well  in /order  tp  prove 
that  it  won’t  be  substandard, 
Pousse  says.  Pousse’s  theatrical 
ventures  at  the  expo  will,  include 
a  modern  ballet.  Signed  for  this 
show  are  Les  Charlivels,  Charley 
Rivels,  and  Roly  &  Ary. 

This  is  Pousse’s  Second  visit  to 
the  U.  S.  His  first,  was  in  1949  as 
a  six-day  bike  racer.  He  was  a 
sprint  champ  on  the  two-wheelers. 


After  March  1st,  1958 


Newsstands 


Per 


Subscription 


Per  Year 


See  Details  Page  47 


Chicago,  Jan.  28. 

Executive  committee  of  the 
American  Guild  of  Variety  Artists 
has  turned  down  an  appeal  for  a 
formal  probe  of  the  recent  $20,000 
libel  settlement  by  the  union  to 
Dick  .  Jones,  its  former  eastern  -re¬ 
gional  director. 

Chi  AGVA  member  Dave  Byron, 
who  initiated  the  bid,  disclosed  a 
letter  from  AGVA  prexy  Georgia 
Price  nixing  the  inquiry  and  as¬ 
serting  that  Byron  was  in  violation 
of  the.  union’s  constitution  for 
making  public  such  union  affairs. 
Byron,  however,  jebuts  that  he 
has  revealed  nothing  that  wasn’t 
“public  domain.” 

Undismayed  by  the  Price  letter, 
Byron  said  he’s  conducting  his 
own  investigation  at  top  speed, 
promising  that  his  findings  will  be 
aired  “in  their  entirety”  when , 
ready.  At  his  own  expense,  he  had 
his  attorney  spend  a  week  in 
Gotham  checking  court  records  of 
the  two  Jones  suits  against  AGVA. 

Meanwhile,  the  Chi  “rehel”  said 
he  has  an  oral  promise  from 
national  administrative  secretary 
Jackie  Bright  to  air  his  side  of 
the  dispute  before  the  national 
board  at  its  Feb.  11  quarterly 
meeting  in  New  York-  According 
to  Byron,  either  he’ll  be  given 
time  to  address  the  board,  or 
Bright  Will  read  his  prepared  re¬ 
marks. 

Won’t  Tie  Up  Funds 

Byron  this  week  hedged  some 
bn  an  earlier  statement  that  he 
might  seek  an  injunction  to  tie  up 
union  funds  until  the  hassle  Is 
settled.  “I  don’t  want  to  do  any¬ 
thing,”  he  stated,  “that  will  cost 
the  union  money.  There’s  been 
enough  of  that  already.” 

Rebuffing  what  he  described  as 
“ce  r  t  a  i  n  distasteful  elements,” 
Byron  declared  he  has  no  inten¬ 
tion  of  persecuting  anyone  “to  jus¬ 
tify  my  inquiry.”  He  said  he  will 
not  permit  his  quarrel  with 
AGVA’s  leadership  to  weaken  and 
perhaps,  divide  the  union. 

“It  seems  that  some  people  are 
(Continued  on  page  60) 


Paris’  Folies-Bergere 
Shutters  for  2  Months 

Paris,  Jan.  21.. 

The  Folies-Bergere  closed  dow 
for  two  months  effective  this  week. 
However,  owner  Paul  Derval  made 
it  plain  that  it  will  reopen  in  March 
with  a  new  show,  the  first  in  four 
years,  called  “Folies  Legeres,”  with 
the  title  having,  the  traditional  13 
letters.  Derval  said  it  was  neces¬ 
sary  to  clean  house  and!  start  all 
over  again,  although  the  show  will 
be  in  the  same  mold  with  nudity, 
spectacle  and  meccano  effects  the 
main  draw,  all  done  up  in  lush 
manner.  Yvonne  Menard  comes 
back  to  star/ 

Derval,  who  never  forgave  his 
staff  of  300  workers  for  a  two-day 
strike  last  July,  has  paid  off  the 
wholeibatch  (about  $10,000)  and  Is 
nowufhmifig  <a'  completely  new 
group.  Only  specialized  personnel 
remains,  Derval  said  he. had  grant¬ 
ed  onewbge  raise  last  year  but  re¬ 
peated  demands  by  technicians  and 
cast  members  were  too  exorbitant. 
However,  even  With  a  new  grouo 
of  workers;  Derval  may  be  up 
against  higher  salary  demands.. 

Meanwhile,  the  state  subsidized 
Iegilers  (Comedie  Francaise,  The¬ 
atre  National  Populaire,  Opera  and 
Opera-Comique)  are  open  again 
With  workers  partly  appeased  by 
a  12%  rais^  rather  than  the  sought 
30%. 


Julie’s  London,  Rio  Cafes 

Julie  Wilson  has  been  signed  for 
a  couple  of  foreign  nitery  dates. 
The  singer  has  been  set  for  a  stand 
at  the.  Colony,  London,  starting 
April  1*,  and  will  follow  with  the 
Golden  Room  of  the  Copacabana, 
Rio  de  Janeiro,  around  May  30. 

For  the  London  cafe.  Miss  Wil¬ 
son  will  get  an  unusually  high  fee 
for  that  cafe.  She's  to  get  $1,400 
dAmeriaani).  ;i.i  4  j/.  ii  j  a  ju 


VAUDEVILLE 


Puerto  Rico  Rods  It  Needs  More 
Than  Hotels,  Casinos;  Martin  Set 


San  Juan,  Jan.  28.  * 

Puerto  Rico  hotels  are  taking  a 
leaf  out  of  the  Cuban  books  arid 
are  scouting  around  fpr  name 
talent  as  a  lure  for  a  greater  slice 
of  the  American  vacation  dollar. 
The  San  Juan  Iritercontinental  has 
booked  Tony  Martin  for  a  stand 
starting  Feb.  I.  Upon  completion 
of  that  date,  he’ll  go  over  to  the 
Fontainebleau.  Maimi  Beach. 

Fact  that  Puerto  Rican  hotels 
are  starting  to  use  names  and  even 
acts,  indicates  to  talent  agencies 
pthe  possibilities  of  starting  a  Car- 
ribean  circuit  with  Miami  Beach, 
and  Havana  as  the  focal  points. 
Puerto  Rico,  like  its  island  neigh¬ 
bors,  also  has  a  . thriving  casino  in¬ 
dustry,  although  not  as  large  and 
as  lavish  as  its  Cuban  Counterpart. 

At  this  point,  the  islands  in  that 
area  that  use  talent  are  Cuba, 
Nassau,  and  occasionally  Ciudad 
Trujillo  in  the  Dominican  Repub¬ 
lic.  Puerto  RiCo,  in  the  ,  past,  has 
used  only  occasional  shows  from 
the  U.S-  mainland.  The  Caribe- 
Hilton,  San  Juan,  has  a  one-act 
•policy.  A  few  years  ago,  the 
Escambron  Beach  Club,  also  San 
Juan,  had  a  full-scale  floorshow 
with  a  line  imported  from  the  U.S, 
However,  in  that  spot  there’s  local 
entertainment. 

Bulk  of  the  island  niteries  and ; 
hotels,  at  this  point,  use  either  lo¬ 


cal  shows  and  bands.  This  cur¬ 
rently  applies  to  Jamaica,  Ber¬ 
muda  and  a  few  of  the  other  Carih 
stops.  In  Nassau,  the  British  Co¬ 
lonial  and  Emerald  Beach  hotels 
use  talent  booked  through  the 
James  Grady  office  out  of  New 
York.  However,  there’s  a.  hiatus 
in  the  booking  situation  there,  be¬ 
cause  of  the  current  strike. 

The  talent  deal  in  Nassau  is 
made  possible  by  the  fact  that  a 
reciprocal  deal  has  been  worked 
out  by  Grady  between  the  hotels 
and  the  Nassau  Incres  Line,  latter 
providing  transportation.  It’s 
doubtful  whether  any.  of  the  hotels 
could  stand  the  rap  of  providing 
their  own  transportation  for  talent. 

However,  with  acts  working  out 
their  transportation,  plus  the  regu¬ 
lar  scale  on4he  cruise  ships,  the 
hotels  are  able  to  buy  the  acts. 

Apparently,  Puerto  Rican  hotels 
feel  that  they  ate  being  forced  tp 
enter  ,  the  talent  picture  because  of 
the  competition  from  Havana. 
Both  islands  have  gambling  and 
both  are  able  to  accommodate  a  lot 
of  tourists  who  would  come  in  for 
the  gambling.  Apparently,  the 'ho¬ 
tels  there  are  starting  to  think 
along  the  lines  that,  more  than 
hotels  and  gambling  are  heeded. 
They ’ll  try  names  to  hypo  the 
lure  of  the  other  elements,  namely 
names.* 

The  Troupers,  femme  counter¬ 
part  of  The  Friars,  launching  a 
10th  anni  celebration  with  a  meriir 
bership  tea  at  the  Harwyn,  N.  Y., 
Feb.  18, 


Emmett 

Saranac  Lake 

Saranac  Lake,  Jan-  28. 

.  Tony  Chok  of  United  Artists  in 
Singapore,  who  regained  his  health 
here  and  left  for  home  and  work 
in  1955,  was  handed  a  real  surprise 
jby  a  visit  there  from  Mrs,  Murray 
'  Weiss,  wife  of  Murray  Weiss, 
exec  of  the  Variety  Clubs-Will  Rog- 
|  ers  Hospital  Fund,  who  is  on  a 
I  world  tour.  . 

I  Lillian  O’Connell  (United.  World  ' 
j  Films)  after  four  months  of  rest 
I  and  good  care  here  left-  for  hdr 
[  home  in  N.Y.  where  she  will  con-  . 
:  tiniie  the  rest  routine. 

The  last  big  shindig  and  bingo 
]  party,  including  a  buffet  lunch 
and  entertainment,  was  made  pos¬ 
sible. by  Richard  Frank,  Paramount 
executive  of  Indianapolis,  He 
made:  the  grade  here  in  seven 
months, 

Write  to  those  who  are  111. 


_ Wednesday,  Jamrary29,  1958 

Niteries  Flop  As  Lobbyists 

Washington,  Jail.  28. 

Since  the  war  U.S.  night  clubs  and  qafes  haye  continued  to  car¬ 
ry  the  burden  of  a  20%  Federal  tax.  Hope  of  elimination,  or  at 
least  reduction  to  10%  has  persisted  despite  lack  of  encourage¬ 
ment;  Now  the  tone  of  the  new  Eisenhower  budget  seems  to  be  a 
fresh  negative*  since  it’s  implied  that  no  cuts  of  any  taxes  can  be 
looked  for.  ...  , 

Cafes’  sad  plight  12  years  after  the  war’s  end  when  so  many 
other  entertainment  media  have  obtained  relief  is  thought  due  tO: 

(1)  Average  Congressman  and  bureaucrat’s  mental  association  of 
cafes,  cover  charges  and  “gyp."  That  this  happens  hot  to  be  gem 
.  erally  true  or  fair  is  beside  the  point  which  is  that  there’s  little 
’‘sympathy’’  for  the  night  club  as  an  institution. 

(2)  Cafes  and  cafe  talent  have  been  slack  in  presenting  their 

own  case  vividly  and  with  sufficient  din  to  get  through  to  the  Wash¬ 
ington  mind .  v 

Vaude,  Cafe  Dates 


HERKIE  STYLES 

" FASHIONED  FOR  LAUGHS " 

PSkIETT  Dec.  4.  1957 


Sails  Soucl,  Las  Vegas 

«,  Las  Vegas,  Dec.  1. 

Herkie  Styles,  Barbara  Bill, 
Calypso  Joe- Sc  Coco  Te,  Joe 
Kirchen,  Jolcne  Lontere ,  Eddie 
Krieg;  Sans  Souci  Dancers  (4). 
Hoyt  Henry  Orch  (7)  ;  produced 
byJBob  Clemens;  no  cover  or 
minimum. 

Herkie  Styles  hasn’t  played 
the  Strip  in  several  years,  and 
his  return  is  indeed  an  auspi¬ 
cious  one.  since  it  is  generally 
agreed  that  he  is  the  sleeper 
comic  of  the  :  year  in  Vegas. 
(Since  opening  night,  his  late 
shows  have  been  visited  by 
most  of  the  show  bizites  in  town 
who  particularly  dig  him;  yet  he 
has  plenty  of  ydek  material  for 
the  non-hepsters.)  Styles  has  a 
masterful  flair  for  combining 
self-disparagement  (“.  .  .  this 
isn’t  my  regular  act — my  regu¬ 
lar  act  is  lousy!”)  With  audience- 
insulting  {“.  .  .  If  you  ever  get 
a  chance  to  be  an  audience 
-  again — don’t  take  it!’’)  into  a 
sustained  laugh  -  milking  gim¬ 
mick — which,  is  extremely  diffi¬ 
cult  for  most  comics. 

Most  of  Styles’  jokes  are  new 
to  the  Strip,  and  he’s  fast  with 
the  ad  libs,  socking  across  a 
‘machine-gun  delivery  Which 
causes  some  of  the  gags  to  be 
lost  in  the  laughter.  The  orch 
and  bosses  aren’t  spared  the  in¬ 
sults  (“.  ...  hfcPeVa seven-piece  ' 
band — and  they  sound  like  it!” 
"...  the  management  doesn’t 
pay  me  much,  but  they  have  my 
name  in  bigger  letters  than 
Dean  Martin’s  across  the 
street!”),  nor  does  the  girl  in 
the  huge  fish  bowl  (“ .  .  .  she 
doesn’t  get  many  laughs,  but 
she’s  clean!”).  Styles’  standup 
comedy  is  supplemented  by 
some  very  funny  tongue-in- 
cheek  singing,  hooting  arid 
drumming.  Duk 


Thanks  for  4  Weeks 

SANS  SOUCI  HOTEL 

Las  Vegas,  Nevada 


Just  Closed 

BLACK  ORCHID 

Chicago 


ABE  TURCHEN 
m  Street 

New  York 


Music— WOODY  HERMAN 
Jokes— MOREY  AMSTERDAM 


1958  EDITION  COTTON  CLUB  REVUE  ! 

Storriag  | 

CAB  CALLOWAY 

Fifth  Week,  COTTON  CLUB,  Miami  Roach 

Miami  Herald— "Again  Cab  Calloway  Is  a  star  .  .  .  I 
far  better,  Cab  puts  his  own  clincher  on  .  *  ." 

—George  Bourke 

Mgt,  BILL  MITtLER,  lMf  Broadway.  Now  Yo-k 


J  AGVA  Nixes  | 

|  SSb:  ■  Continued  from  page  59  — — 

under  the  Impression  that  they  . 
can  needle  me.  into  creating  a  sit-: 
uation  within  AGVA  .which  would] 
disrupt  our  continuing  to  operate  j 
as,  a  single  unit.  They  have  picked ; 
the  wtong  pigeon.  What  I  say  and  i 
do  are  strictly  my  own  feelings  ! 
arid’ thoughts.”  ! 

Satement  was  in  reference  to  | 
some  of  the  more  than  500  letters  j 
Byron  said  he  has  received  in  con¬ 
nection  with  his  stand  '  the 
affair.  He  said  he  Wants  ho  truck 
with  '‘radicals,”  and  alluded  to  a  j 
letter  from  a  Gotham  member  of 
the  union  which  pictured  Bright 
as,  among  other  things,  a  “gang¬ 
ster.”  “That’s  the  sort  of  libelous 
stuff  which  started  this  whole 
thing/’ Byron  snorted. 

Refuses  ‘War  Chest’ 

The  Chicagoan  cited,  as  the  sort 
of  divisive  action  he’s  spurning,  a 
check  for  $5,000  from  a  cafe  eper- j 
ator.  Check ,  was  made  out  to 
/‘Dave  Byron  Fund,”  with  the  op¬ 
erator  declaring  he  would  co-sign 
for  such  funds  as  it  would  take  to 
fight  the  national  administration. 
In  all,  Byron  said,  he  has  received 
about.  40  checks  t  o  t  a  1  i  n  g  over 
$6,00fiU- “all  of  .which  have  been  ,, 
returned/*  I 

“F  stand  alone  in  this  battle/’  j 
said  Byron,  “and  I’m  not  asking 
for  financial  help  from  any  source.  | 
Nor  will  l  permit  . my  name  to  be  j 
attached  to  any  unscrupulous 
propaganda  by  certain  elements 
w^o  to  me  are  distasteful.”  Byron 
previously  has  noted  his  financial 
independence. 

For  his  part/  he  said,  •  Bright, 
Jack.  Irving,  Price  and  Jones  are 
neither  “saint  nor  sinner,"  adding 
that  he  doesn’t  know  any  of  the 
four  personally.  “If  I  find  that  cer¬ 
tain  parties  involved  in.  my  investi¬ 
gation  are  absolved,  I  shall  say  so, 
so  that,  there  will ‘riot  be  a  blemish 
;  on  their  record.  I  want  to  go  be¬ 
fore  the  proper  authorities  with 
concrete,  documented  evidence  of 
any  wrongdoing,  and  I  shall  be 
just  as  harsh  in  my  insistence  for 
prosecution  as  in  my  demand  for 
complete  exoneration  of  innocent 
individuals  or  groups.” 

"  Although  his  guns  have  been 
trained  mainly  on  Bright,  Price 
and  AGVA  counsel  Harold  Berg, 
Byron,  is  now  publicly  voicing 
doubts  concerning  Jones’  devotion 
to  AGVA.  “If  he’s  such  a  good 
union  man,  why  didn’t,  he  insist 
that  payment  come  from  Bright 
and  not  out  treasury?”  (Editor’s 
Note— Jones  was  dismissed  from 
AGVA*  causing  the  suit.  The  court 
found :  against  Bright,  not  the 
union,  but  AG VA’s  national  board 
approved -payment  by  the  union.) 
That’s  the  crux  of  the  issue,  with 
Byron  and  other  insurgents,  chief¬ 
ly  here  and  i  N.  Y.,  charging 
illegal  payments  to  Jones. 

Dissidents  are  also  angry  with 
the  national  board  for  net  revers¬ 
ing  itself  and  taking  remedial 
action  once  it  learned  from  Berg, 
in  a  corrected  letter  to  them,  .that 
i  the  union  wasn’t  legally  involved. 


‘THE  COMEDIAN” 


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j  New  York 

[  Gretchen  Wyler-  on  a  return  trip 
to  Le  Cupidon,  where  Robert 
Crespo,  former  maitre  at  the  Ver¬ 
sailles,  presides  at  the  tape.  .  . 

I  Malagon  Sisters  join  the  Latin 
'  Quarter  show  Jan.  38  More 

'  poetry  iri  Greenwich  Village.  Ac- 
j  tor  Melvin  Stewart  started  Sunday. 
!  (26)  at  the  Village  Vanguard  . 

.  Pianist  Vera  Goldman  booked  for 
an  offshore  tour  of  military  instal¬ 
lations  .  .  Barbara  Carroll  opens 

at  the  Voyager  Room -Friday  (31) 

.  . .  Greek  pianist  Ismena  Yaquinto 
booked  for  the  season  at  the  For¬ 
est  Hills^Inn  .  .  Rhythmettes  to 

Club  Cliche*  Detroit,  Feb.  4  .  .  . 
Victor  Borge  to  appear  at  the  U. 
-of  Connecticut  on  a  Feb.  13  one- 
nighter  .  .  .  Richard  &  Edith  fiar- 
stow  producing  the  March  of 
Dimes  show  at  Waldorf-Astoria  to¬ 
morrow  (Thurs.)  .  .  .  Chris  Folcker 
of  the  Berns  Restaurant,  Stock¬ 
holm  visiting  New  York  for  talent 
)  buying. 

Corinne  Calvet  inked  for  the 
Statler-Hilton,  Dallas,  March  '20'. . . 
Martha  Raye  going  to  the  CoCo, 
Phoenix.  April  3  .  .  .  Ginny  Simms 
pacted  for  the  Copa,  Pittsburgh, 
April  7  .  .  .  Danny  Thomas  to  re¬ 
turn  to  the  Sands  Hotel,  Las 
/Vegas,  April  30. 

j  Fran  Warren  and  Helen  Hayden 
open  at  the  Latin  Quarter,  tomor¬ 
row  (Thurs.)  .  . .  Billy  Fields  signed 
|  for  the  Sophie  Tucker  show  at  the 
r Town  &  Country  Club,  April  21... 
Jean  Arnold  subbing  for  the  ailing 
Mary  Lou  Law  at  the  Downstairs 
Room  ...  Bob  Hamilton  (Hamilton 
Trio)  added  to  the  instruction  staff 
of  the  June  Taylor  Dance  School 
Mac  Robbins  and  The  Apple- 
tons  started  a  two-weeker  at  the 
Golden  Slipper,  Glen  Cove,  L.T., 
N.  Y.  ,  .  .  Hildegarde  to  the  Hotel 
Moritelleone,  New  Orleans,  Feb.  4 
.  .'Rita  Grable  pacted  for  the  Tic 
Toe,  St.  Louis,.  Feb.  3  .  .  .  Soler  & 
Lorca  inked  for  the  Elmwood  Ca¬ 
sino,  Elmwood,  On't.  Feb.  7  ... 
George  Matson  to  the  Blue  Angel, 
April  10  .  .  .  Buddy  Hackett  starts 
at  the  Sands,  Las  Vegas,  Feb.  19. 


Chicago 

Gordon  MacRae  bringing  his 
own  package  into  Chez.  Paree  Jan. 
31  for  fortnight .  .  .  Sarah  Vaughan 
playing  Black  Angus,  St.  Louis. 
Feb.  8  for  nine  days  and  joining 
Count  Basie  for  concert  at  U.  of 
Wisconsin  Feb;  18.  She  opens  at 
Mister  Kelly’s  here  Feb.  25  for 
two  weeks  ...  .  Prof.' Arthur  Ellen 
doing  two  frames  at  Northcrest . 
Hotel,  Ft.  Wayne,  Ind.,  starting 
Feb.  3  and  riaoving  to  Embers, 
Evansville,  Feb.  17  for  a  pair  .  .  . 
Abilia  &  Lamont  open,  a  four- 
weeker  at  Muehlebach  Hotel,  Kan-, 
sas  City,  April  18. 

Hollywood 

Toni  Harper  opening  at  Marshall 
l  Edson’s  and  Mike  Garth’s  Ye  Lit? 

!  tie  Club  today  for  a  two-week 
|  (Continued  on  page  62) 


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HOLLYWOOD 
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The  DEEP  RIVER  BOYS 

Starring  HARRY  DOU&LASS 
9th  Intentotionol  Tour 


STAGE  DOOR 

Toronto 

Direction:  WILLIAM  MORRIS  AGENCY 
Pen.  Mgr^  U>  KIRKEBY 


. . mum 


VARIETY  SAYS:  "HILARIOUS  SATIRE 
Laugh-a-Minute  Smash  Hit" 

PAUL  BENSON  ^ 

”THE  LAFF  AUCTIONEER11 


—  HELD  OYER  — 
ANKARA,  Pittsburgh 


aii'/iiiiiiffiiiiinniTtiitfii 


Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


*  P'BxiETr 


JULES  BOKKO.N 

Announces  : 


FOLIES-BERGERE 
OF  PARIS 


Director 

PAUL  DERVAL 


Staged  By 

M.  GYARMATHY 


THE  FIRST  OFFICIAL  TOUR 
OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 
1958-1959 


For  Information  Contact: 

ORGANISATION  DES  TOURNEES 

FOLIES-BERGERE  DE  PARIS 

PRODUCTIONS  PARISIENNES  ARTS  ET  SPECTACLES 

DIRECTEUR  GENERAL:  JULES  BORKON 
33  Chomps  Elysaas,  Paris  » 

Cable  PROARSPECT,  Ports 


62 


BKVXBWS 


miErr 


Wednesday,  January  29,  1956 


Roxy,  N*  V. 

Robert  C.  Rothafel  presentation 
of  “Moonlight,”  with  Harrison  & 
Kossi,  Roxyettes,  Skating  Squires , 
Robert  Boucher  Orch;  Choreog¬ 
raphy,  Ray  Frost,  Kenny  Springer ; 
sets,  Bruno  Maine;  costumes.  Win- 
niford,  Morton ;  special  music.  Berry 
Burgett ;  “A  Farewell  to  Arms ” 
reviewed  in  Variety Dec.  24,  1957. 

Managing  director  Robert  C. 
Rothafel  is  again  faced  with  the. 
necessity  of  shortening  the  stage 
presentation  to  bare  essentials  in 
order  to  provide  a  reasonably 
timed  turnover  for  the  lengthily 
clocked  “A  Farewell  To  Arms.” 
Thus  streamlined,  it's  a  punchy 
layout,  well-mounted  and  excel¬ 
lently  performed. 

The  proceedings  are;  themed 
around  outer  space.  The  costuming 
by  ^Winniford  Morton  is  fanciful. 
The  dance  routines,  designed  by 
Ray  Frost  &  Kenny  Springer,  fit 
the  theme  excellently,  and  Bruno 
Maine  seems  to  have  gone  a  binge 
of  imagery  in  designing  the  sets. 
Pictorially  alone,  it’s  a  slick  lay¬ 
out. 

The  sole  solo  performers  are 
Harrison  &  Kossi,  a  skating  pair 
who  distinguish  their  efforts  with 
a  lot  df  smooth  gliding  and  well- 
timed  lifts  that  provide  a  good 
basis  for  applause.  The  routines 
are  well  conceived  and  provide  an 
added  note  of  strength  to  the  show. 

The  lines  of  24  femme  skaters 
assisted  by  the  sextet  of  male 
bladesters  work  in  a  spirited  man¬ 
ner.  In  their  comparatively  brief 
show,  they  trot  out  virtually  all  the 
major  formations  in  the  book. 
Many  of  them  win  applause.  Rob¬ 
ert  Boucher  showbacks  expertly. 

Jose. 


Palaee,  London 

London,  Jan-  21, 

Frankie  Vaughn  with  Hetty 
King,  Raymond  Long;;  Nadia-  Ner- 
itta  with  Veit  Bethke  and  Corps 
de  Ballet  ( 12 ) ;  Petula  Clark  ( tgith  \ 
Bert  Whitton );  Bernard  Miles, 
King  Bros.  (3).  Tony  Fayhe  & 
David  Evans,  Harry  Worth,  Ugo 
Frediani,  Murray  Campbell,  Tiller 
Girls  (16),  Wolf  Phillips  Orch. 

Frankie  .  Vaughan,  a  powerful 
name  in  the  local  disk  field,  and 
recently  elevated  to  film  stardom 
under  the  Herbert  Wilcox-Anna 
Neagle  banner,  makes  his  West 
End  vaude  bow  at  the  top  of  an 
unusually  good  all-round  bill.  The 
season,  presented  by  Bernard  Del- 
font  fdr  a  four  weeks'  run,  he 
should  be.  a  hot  b.o.  attraction  and 
will  considerably  enhance  the  star’s 
already  high  reputation. 

In  the  years  since  diskerS  first 
became  top-of-the-bill  stars, 
Vaughan  has  been  one  of  the  few 
British  singers  to  achieve  a  British 
rating  comparable  to  that  notched 
by  visiting  U.S.  vocalists.  He  .  has 
a  big  teenage  following  who  turned 
out  in  force  his  opening  night  to 
give  him  ah  enthusiastic  and  high¬ 
ly  encouraging  sendoff.  Ecstatic 
squeals  greeted  the  opening  bars 
of  every  number  and  the  fans’  en¬ 
thusiasm  seemed  to  be  boundless 
when  the  star,  with  a  trailing  mike, 
walked  offstage  into  the  orchestra 
stalls  for  one  of  his  songs. 

A  particularly  warm  and  wel¬ 
come  gesture  is  the  inclusion  of 
Hetty  King,  a  vet  performer  who 
helped  him  in  his  early  days.  She 
comes  onstage,  first  in  a  solo  on 
"Piccadilly,”  and  is  then  joined. by 
Vaughan  for  some,  amusing  com¬ 
edy  biz.  Among  his  strongest  en¬ 
tries  in  a  solid  half-botir.  stmt  are 
"Give  M.e  the  Moonlight,”.  "Kisses 
Sweeter  Than  Wihe.^  Gardenl  of 
EdenH  and  a  novelty  rendition  of 
"Something  in  the  Bank,  Frank.” 
Entire  presentation  had  an  air  of 
professionalism  about  it. 

An  unusual  entry  in  a  Vaude  lay¬ 
out  is  the  inclusion  of  Nadia  Ner- 
ina,  a  top  ballerina  whose  inter¬ 
pretation  of  “The  Dying  Swan”  is 
in  the  highest  classical  tradition. 
A  subsequent  pas  de  deux  with 
Veit  Bethke  has  a  more  popular 
appeal,  but  the  accompanying 
corps  de  ballet  appears  to  be  par¬ 
ticularly  undistinguished.  Petula 
Clark,  another  pop  singer  with  hit 
records  to  her  credit,  tends  to  be 
unnecessarily  arch,  although  a 
fresh  and  youthful  appearance  is 
to  her  advantage.  An  unexception¬ 
al  but  moderately  popular  routine 
includes  “Some  Enchanted  Eve-: 
ning,”  “Cross  Over  the  Bridge”  and 
ft  medley;  of  rhythm  songs. 

Bernard  Miles,  a  distinguished 
and  versatile  artist  whose  special¬ 
ty  is  rustic  humor,  is  at  the  top 
of  his  form  with  a  non-stop  com¬ 
edy  spiel.  The  King  Bros.,  a  youth¬ 
ful  rock  ’n’  roll  trio,  give  out  vig¬ 
orously  with  .a  dumber.  of  beat 

;  63  ,1  ft  IJ  TTS-tt  U.  9a  r*;l  i 


tunes  including  "In  the  Middle  of 
an  Island”  and  "Wake  Up  Little 
Susie.”  Act  registers  strongly  with 
the  youngsters.  Tony  Fayne  & 
David  Evans,  accomplished  Im¬ 
pressionists  With  a  particular  gift 
for  takeoffs  of  sporting  commenta¬ 
tors,  make  a  strong  laugh  impact. 
Harry  ^Vorth,  the  comedian  with 
the  nervous,  hesitant  delivery.  Is 
deservedly  and  easily  the  comedy 
hit  of  the  bill.  Ugo  Frediani  adds 
some  fancy  footwork  to  his  jug¬ 
gling  routine.  Murray  Campbell 
blows  the  trumpet  while.. -the  Tiller 
Girls  are  going  through  their  pre¬ 
cision  routines. 

Wolf  Phillips,  normally  resident 
musical  director  at  the  Pigalle,  Pic¬ 
cadilly,  ‘took  over  the  baton  at 
short  notice  when  orch  leader  Har- 
‘old  Collins  was  taken  ill.  He  led 
the  pit  combination  in  confident 
style.  Myra . 

(L’Olympia,  Pari*\ 

Paris,  Jan;  28. 

Marino  Marini  Quartet ,  Colette 
Renard,  Tamers  13) ,  Pierre  Doris, 
Francesco  (2),  Anna  Arata  &  Co. 
(3),  Kling  Chimpanzees,  Irene  Ma- 
cedo,  Payo  &  Mai;  $2.50  top. 


Marino  Marini  Quartet  are  an 
Italo  outfit  who  give  out  with  a 
swingy  version  of  Neapolitan  folk 
and  pop  music.  They  have  become 
one  of  the  top  record  names  here, 
and  may  draw,  but  the  schmaltzy 
aspects  and  ditto  musicianship 
make  this  Continental  „  attraction 
with  dubious  U.S.  chances. 

Singer  Colette  Renard  (New 
Acts)  and  a  bevy  of  good  acts  plus 
the  Yank  calypsorfolksong  trio,  the 
Tarriers,  bundles  this  into  a  show 
that  will  probably  be  in  for  good 
biz  during  its  three-week  stay. 

Marini  uses  special  mikes .  for 
echo  effects  and  all  sing,  clown 
and  rap  out  their  flowery  rhythms, 
in  for  good  mitts  here.  But  for  the. 
U.S.  it  remains  mainly  okay  back¬ 
ground  music  for  Italo-type  outlets. 

The  Tarriers  give  a  Well  groomed, 
clean  production  backing  to  their 
calypsos  and  spirituals.  They  go 
over  well  despite  fact  that  the 
Trinidad  beat  is  in  its  trial  status 
here  as  far  as  pop  auds  go. 

Pierre  Doris  is  a  rapid  .patter 
comedian  who  has  amassed  a  flock 
of  American  jokes  worked  Into  a. 
good  standup  stint  for  yocks  here. 
But  the  lack  of  a  good  viewpoint 
makes  this  a  purely  local  entry. 
Kling  Chimpanzees  skate,  cavort, 
walk  the  tight  rope,  etc,,  for  always 
welcome  monkeyshines.  Irene  Ma- 
cedo's  carioca  shimmies  and  songs 
are  somewhat  lost  in  this  big  house, 
being  more  for  intime  rooms. 

Anna  Arata  &  Co.  (3)  has  a  fam¬ 
ily  wording  the  tight  rope  With 
solid  ending  in  the  femme  walking! 
it  with  a  boy  perched  on  her,  head. 
This  is  a  fine  filler.  Francesco  (2). 
are  a  unique  act  with  solid  U.S. 
potential.  Man  backs  to  a  table 
and  puts  gadgets  on  his -foot  which 
has  the  femme  shinnying  up  for 
headstands  to  .make  this  a  solid 
offbeater.  Long  poles,  over  10  feet 
high,  are  used. ' 

Payo  &  Mai  come  out  on  'high 
unicycles  and  juggle  atop  them 
adroitly  for  another  good  sight  act 
with  Yank  possibilities.  Mosk. 


Ing  of  Fernand  Dally,  very  funny 
In  a  Wrestling  sequence  with  him¬ 
self  or  as  a  Wild  man  of  Borneo 
with  all  the  traits  of  the  French 
layman,  and  Raoul  Delfpsse,  Phil¬ 
ippe  Parmentier,  Christiane  Ravy 
and  M.  ^Nagarro, 

Philippe  Gruss  uncorks  a  fine 
horse  bit  with .  six  Waltzing,  ele¬ 
gantly  groomed  equines,  and  a 
good  taming  interlude  with  10 
leopards.  Gyula  Szabo  is  a  young¬ 
ster'  but  already  with  a /top  pro 
aura  in  a  rapid  juggling  turn.  He 
is  certain  to  be  a  circus  regular. 
Lilian  Kenny  is  a  shapely  girl  with 
good  series  of  fallaways  on  trapeze 
and.,  adept  contorting  on  swinging 
bar, 

.  Saltano  8c  Monique  Dorian  add 
a  well  done  magico  turn  for  good 
mitts.  Joe  Kay  &  Co.  (2)  has  a 
little  man  trying  to  bend  a  pliant 
figure,  into  a  small  suitcase.  It  is 
alive,  and~!he  Wit  and  contortipn 
aspects  make  this  a  good  entry 
ripe  .for  U.  S.  vaude  and  video 
spots.  Najarros  (4)  are  a  rapid 
acro-tumbling  act  with  One  large 
woman  as  understander,  a  man  and 
tWo.  lesser  proportioned  girls.  It  is 
fast,  funny  and  a  good  filler. 

Slkis  (3)  are  a  down  act  with 
funnybone  slapstick  and  a  fine 
Seasoning  of  instrumental  carry¬ 
ings-on.  ViUers  (4)  are  a  swift 
roller  skating  number  that  adds 
zest  to  the  show.  Albert  Fratellini, 
in  a  comeback,  just  does  one  bit 
as  aud  plant,  with  sidekick  Loriot. 
nimble  emcee  and  the  Hubert 
Dewaele  orch  (12)  backs  the  show 
agreeably.  Mosk. 


Cirque  Hedrana^  Paris^ 

”  '  -Paris,  Jan;  28.  5 

'  'Jerome  "MedMfio  ^ presents  ■  'Cvr-, 
Cgrama  in' iwo  parts,' with  'Christian 
Duvaleix.  &  Jacques  .Meyran  Col 
.(7),  Philip pe  Grass  Horses  & 
Leopards,  Gyula  Szabo;  Sikis  (3), 
'Lilian  Kenny,  Saltano  &  Monique 
Dorian,  Joe  Kay  &  Co,.  (2 ) ,  tfajar- 
ros  (4),  Villers  (;4),  Drena,  Albert 
Fratellini,  Loriot,  Hubert  Dewaele 
Orch  (12);  $2.50  top. 


Constantly  evolving  one-ring 
setup  now  adds  a  leavening  of 
nitery  talents,  plus  ,  some  chanson- 
niers,  to  the  more  circusy  Staples. 
Result  is  good.  With  the  newcomers 
adding  some  yocks  in  a  series  of 
sketches,  and  the  show,  filled  out 
by  enough  inenagerie.  trapeze  and 
outright  clowning,  plus  aero  and 
derring-do,  to  make  this  a  three- 
week  stanza  that  should  help  this 
changing,  waning  show  biz  facet. 

Christian  Duvaleix  8c  Jacques 
Meyran  Co.  (7)  use  aud  plants  for 
heckling  purposes  and  trot  out 
some  risible  interludes  of  slapstick 
which  hits  highpoints  in  a  fireman 
routine,  a  customer  being  mal¬ 
treated  by  a  threatening  Waiter, 
and  others.  Duvaleix  is  more  at 
home  via  inventive  mime  while 
Meyran  is  at  ease  With  patter. 

f.ts »-  . .  i,c  -  4.1  ft?  3  ».l 


Miami  Chilblains 


Continued  from  pace  1  ;= 
Jackie  Miles  bringing  a  patronage 
pickup  to  the  Americana,  while 
Buddy  Haekett,  Gloria  DeHaven 
and  Johnny  Puleo’s  gang  are  ditto¬ 
ing  for  the  Eden  Roc.  With  such 
names  as  Liberace,  Tony  Martin, 
and  Frank  Sinatra  skedded  for  the 
Fontainebleau;  Joe  E.  Lewis  and 
Marie  MacDonald,  then  Nat  King 
Cole  for  the  Roc;  Betty .  Hutton, 
Tony  Bennett,  Frankie  Laine,  Jack 
Carter  due  at  the  Americana,  the 
big  three  look  for  a  continued  up¬ 
beat,  weather  or  no. 

The  smaller  hospices  are  strug¬ 
gling  along,  not  only  against  the 
big  rivals  but  for  fair  attractions 
to  feature  so  that  they  can  get 
some  of  the  trade  outside  of  their 
own  guests.  The  Deauville,  new 
addition  to  the  hugeries,  has  not 
found,  the  right  formula,  the  Leon 
Leonidoff  tevue  unable  to  bring 
them  In  against  the  name  policy  of 
its  long  established  rivals..  Result 
is  that  the  management  here  is 
casting  anxiously  about  for  a  top 
attraction.  Other  new  biggery, 
the  Carillon,  hasn't  officially 
opened  its  night  club.  The  750- 
seater  wasn’t  ready  in  time  for 
announced  Christmas  premiere,  the 
delay  now  regarded  as  .  a  iUcky 
break.  ;  The  spot  Will  unveil  on  Fri¬ 
day  (31 ).;  when  the  Andrews  sisters 
open..  Qh  the  booked  side  are 
Johnny  Ray  and  Marlene  Dietrich, 
indies  Hit 

The  indie  night  clubs  have  had 
rough  going.  Cotton  Club,  the  big 
bit  last  season,  is  experiencing  in- 
and-out  business.  despite  fact  that 
the  current  revue,  is  a  better  one 
than  the  original.'  Lou  WaBfcr’s 
Cafe  de  Paris  had  its  off  nights, 
until  arrival  last  ' week  of  Dick 
Shawfi.  and  return  of  the  Szonys,  to 
buttress'-  the  .  opulent  production 
and.  proyide;iie^ded>sqlp  ^ftct  spark. 

has“.  tieeji  op  rjfee;  since. 
Latin  Quarter  is-  in  its  vhnnual 
battle- to  draw  the'  erbwds  'from 
hotel  row,  the  Pditfi  Island  location 
midway  ;  between  •  the  Beach  and 
Miami  along  the  southernmost 
causeway,  making  it  a  long  trip 
from  the  feeder-hostels  located  in 
mid-and  north  Beach. 

Key  factor  is  the  big  night  club 
package  tour  industry.  Where  busi¬ 
ness  is  good;  the  calls  for  space 
reservations  to  the  various  cabarets 
are  their  savers  for  the  second 
shdws,  providing  the;  extra  dough 
heeded,  for  profit  margins.  In  re¬ 
cent  weeks  such  tour  package 
group^  have  dwindled  in  size,  to 
add.  to  the  ,  woes  of  the  operators. 
Again,  recent  nights  has  seen  a 
pickup,;  notably  on  weekends.  Tote- 
Up  at  end  of  February  may  well 
mark  the  announcements  by  some, 
of  earlierfthah-usual  closings  or 
cutting  down  of  shows,  unless  re¬ 
cent  years  trend  of  a  later  starting 
peak  period  ,  applies,  and  the  rush 
of  tourists  runs  into  a.  s  e  1 1  o  u  t 
March,  It’s  the  only  hope  for  a 
break-even  pullout  for  many  of  the' 
indies,  and  for  majority  of  hotels, 
which  can  mark  off  losses  to  “pro- 

In » .  l  vefciT  \.ea  tun 


PRINCESS  ABILIA  &  KING 

CHRISTIAN 
Dance 
8  Mins. 

Blue  Angel,  Chi 

This  interpretive  dance  duo 
serves  up  sexciting  acrobatics  in.  an 
Apache  number  that  rivets  audi¬ 
ence  attention  and  rates  as  stand¬ 
out  turn  in  an  otherwise  routine 
Blue  Angel  calypso  revue.  Self- 
titled  royalty  is  in  keeping  with  the 
calypso  tradition  at  the  club,  but 
the  terpers  are  Puerto  Rican  and; 
French,  respectively,  and  may  go 
out  in  the  future  underfilling  of 
Abilia  &  Christian  Lamoht,  Hold¬ 
overs  from  the  previous  show 
wherein  they  displayed  some  of 
their  other  routines,  they’re  not 
strictly  Apache  dancers,  but  it’s 
typical  of  the  passionate;  primitive 
dance  they  do. 

Audience  approval  punctuates 
the  team’s  flashier  efforts,  as  when 
he  spins  her  aloft  with  one  hand, 
or  when  she  dives  over  his  shoul¬ 
der  and  Is  saved  by  a  breathtaking 
grab.  It’s  a  routine  that  calls  for 
slick  timing,  and  they  carry  it  off 
well  to  a  furioiis  finale  replete 
with  sensual  screams.  With  sub¬ 
dued  hamminess  King  Christian  is 
an  excellent  complement  to  his 
diminutive  partner’s  sultry,  serpen¬ 
tine  role. 

Prior  to  the  passion  dance.  Prin¬ 
cess  Abilia  appears  in  a  sizzling 
solo  effort,  scanty  dressed,  most¬ 
ly  in  little  strawhats.  Both  the 
solo  and  Apache  turns  show  up 
well  in  a  cellar  boite  like  the  Blue 
Angel,  where^  the  dancers  are  head¬ 
lining,  and  the  act  could  also  be 
strong  support  fare  in  supper  clubs. 

Pit. 


TOSHIKO 
Jazz  Pianist 
30  Mins. 

Bradfprd,  Boston 

Toshiko.  the  Japanese  jazz  pian¬ 
ist,  Who  came  to  Hub  to  study  mu¬ 
sic  at  Berklee  School,  has  been 
88’ing  jazz  in  sp’ots  from  George 
Wein’s  Storyville  here  to  jazz 
boites  in  other  cities;  but  this  is 
tjie  first  time  she  has  essayed  a 
bona  fide  nitery  per  se.  It  marks 
first  for  her  and  for  the  room  and 
brings  up  the  ever  going  question: 
is  jazz  ready  for  the  saloon  trade 
Or  are  they  ready  for  it?  Toshiko 
comCs  on  in  same  fashion  as  at 
jazz  spots,  no  showcasing,  no  stag¬ 
ing;  Walks  on  in  Nip  costume  to 
sit  at  the  88.  Jazz  style  is  modi¬ 
fied  here  purposely  with  a  careful¬ 
ly  selected:  program,  She  is  not 
playing  with  the  freedom  of  the 
jazz,  boites,  but  melodic  standards 
to  suit  this  room.  Her  jazz  style  is 
tinged  with  overtones  of  Bud  Pow¬ 
ell,  idol  of  the  avante  garde. 

Attired  in  Japanese  Kimono  and 
obi  with  hair  in  pony  tail,  she  is 
winsome  and  appealing  visually; 
childlike  in  mannerisms  and  intros 
of  her  works.  With  Gene  Cherico, 
bass,  and  Alan  Dawson  on  the 
drumsr  she  goes -Into  an  Original 
jazz  suite,  “Tosh’s  Fantasy.”  Her 
jazz  interps  of  “Man  I  Love,” 
“Laura,’  “All  The  Things  You  Are” 
and  “After  You’re  Gone”  are  en¬ 
thusiastically  received  by  the  nit¬ 
ery  aud  which  in  thte  case  com¬ 
prises  a  mixture  of  hipsters  and 
those  not  hip.  Guy. 


LAURETTE  BLANCHARD 

Songs 

20  Mins, . 

Frolic,  Revere 

This  fresh,  vibrant  well-stacked 
blonde,  a  grad  of  Intimes  around 
Boston,  has  a  nicely  balanced 
songalog  of  showtunes.  Pleasing 
delivery  and  physical  attributes 
plus  stage  presence  puts  this  new¬ 
comer  in  strong  potential  class. 
Slick  costuming  with  skin  tight 
blue  gown  nets  her  complete  at¬ 
tention  from  walkon  to  bowoff. 

In  versatile  voice  of  lyric  quali¬ 
ty  she  runs  through  opener  “From 
This  Moment  Oh,”  segues  to  “Old  | 
Devil  Moon”  and  “I  Could  Have 
Danced  All  Night.”  She  registers  : 
on  “Lady  Is  a  Tramp”  and  take 
“Sorrento”  for  nice  ride5  In  high 
piping.  She  looks  to  make  impact 
in  intimato  rooms.  Guy. 

ROLAND  ~ 

Balancing 
6.  Mins. 

[  Ak-Sar-Ben,  Omaha 

Rolando  is  a  young  and  smooth 
balancer  who  features  the  fretween- 
halves  entertainment  for  the  Har- 
[lem  Globetrotters  basketball  ex¬ 
hibitions  on  current  tour..  His  act 
follows*  the  patteni  of  Unus’  fa¬ 
miliar  Ringlmg  Bros,  centre-ring 
presentation,  -opening  with  a  finger 
stand  (aided  by  glove)  and  then 
moving  oh  to  the  cane  balancing 
feats  while  twirling  hoops  on  his 
legs  and  around  his  neck.  He’s 
nattily  clad  in  a  blue  tux  and  works 
speedily. 

This  is  a  good  bet  for  all  visual 
mediums.  Trump,. 

BETTY  JOHNSON 

Bongs 

30  Mins. 

Lake  Club,  Springfield,  III. 

Betty  Johnson,  who  sang  for  a 
couple  of  years  on  Don  McNeil’s 
radio  “Breakfast  Club”  before  be¬ 
ing  “discovered”  by  Jack  Paar’s  TV 
"Tonight,”  is  a  relative  newcomer 
to  the  saloon  circuit.  From  open- 
mg  night  indications  at  the  Lake 
Club  she  has  what  can  be  called 
staying  power.” 

Picking  predominantly  upbeat 
melodies  for  her  cafe  turn,  Miss 
Johnson  has  an  act  which  is  fast 
moving  and  bright  The  accent  is 
on  singing  with  verbal  seguing  at 
a  happy  minimum.  She  socks  over 
her  numbers  with  sincerity.  She 
°Ji  “9atch  A  Falling  Star,” 
J.  the  Way”  and  “Gonna  Sit 
Right  Down  and  Write  Myself  A 
Letter.  ’Not  to  mention  her  record 
nits  I  Dreamed”  and  the  novelty 
opus  “Little  Blue  Man.”  Band¬ 
leader  Buddy  Kirk  does  the  hidden 
vocal  stint  in  the  latter  offering 
while  she  works  with  puppet  prop. 
Miss  Johnson’s  personalized 
Songs  You  Heard  When  You  First 
Fell  in  Love”  is  a  natural  nitery 
number,  elastic  enough  to  allow 
her  to  slip  in  assorted  standards 

Ilf 


LILY  YOKOI 
Cyclist 
9  Mins. 

Ak-Sar-Ben,  Omaha 

The  Harlem 'Globetrotters  bas¬ 
ketball  team  is  noted  for  the  high 
grade  of  vaude  acts  it  employs  on 
its  tours,  and  Lily  Yokoi  is  a  good 
example.  Diminutive  Oriental 
lassie,  garbed  in  bright  red  briefs, 
zips  through  a  series  of  standard 
cycling  tricks  before  going  into 
Viennese  pirouettes.  Next  she 
strips  her  bike  down,  part  by 
part,  to  a  unicyclfe,  then  puts  it 
back  together  again.  Finale  is  a 
boomerang  swing  in  which  she 
whirls  herself  completely  around 
the  bike,  going  20  times  around 
at  show  caught. 

She’s  definitely  one  of  the  better 
singles  in  her  field.  Trump. 


COLETTE  RENARD 

Songs 

20  Mins. 

L’Olympia,  Paris 

Though  her  grooming  is  wrong 
and  her  stance  is  still  gauche,  this 
young  chantoosy  looms  a  future 
singing  star.  Young,  muscular  girl 
wears  a  tight  dress  which  clashes 
with  both  her  physique  and  song 
substance.  Looser  garments,  to  ac¬ 
centuate  her  fine,  angular  features, 
would  help.  A  personalized  but 
still  slight  voice  rings  true  In  her 
hep  songalog  of  optimistic  love- 
songs  and  poetic  lowlife  ditties. 
Her  interpretation  denotes  a  deep 
understanding  of  content,  and  she 
sings  as  if  she  knows  what  it  is  all 
about. 

Unveiled  in  ^he  hit  musical 
Irma  La  Douce,**  Miss  Renard 
needs  some  more  road  work,  ,  more 
control  of  gestures  and  mike  pres¬ 
ence.  But  the  attributes  for  an 
offbeat,  intelligent  Gallic  chanter 
are  there,  and  she  should  be  ready 
for  specialized  Yank  spots  before 
long.  Mosk. 


Vaade,  Cafe  Dates 

5S5  Continued  from  page  SO^^s^a 

stand.  Carol  Brent,  singer-Wife  of 
20th-Fox  pactee  Ken  Scott,  is  also 
being  :  considered  to  play  spot 
which  hosts  the  theatre  gang. 

Earl  Barton  choreographing  new 
edition,  of  Monte  Proser’s  show 
which  opens  Feb.  15  at  Tropicana 
i . .  Charles  Pierce,  Frisco  favorite, 
headlining  current  show  at  Purple 
Onion.  On  same  bill  is  Tassie  Ham¬ 
ilton,  Ted  Derby  and  88er  Dick 
Hazard.  Co-owners  Keith  Rockwell 
and  Ray  Klein  are  holding  bill  for 
ao  limited  ’rim  with  .options. 

The  Lettermen,  vocal  trio,  join 
Jackie  Barnett’s  '‘Newcomers-  of 
1928”  revue  opening  a  '  six-week 
engagement  at  the  Desert  Inn;  Las 
Vegas,  Feb.  25. 


St.  Louis 

Christine  Jorgensen  and  review 
in  for  a  week  at  the  Tic  Toe  Tap 
.  .  .  Sussy  Da  Che  in  her  bubble 
bath  at  the  Lyric  Burlesk  .  .  . 
Reina  Stein  featured  in  dance. ex¬ 
hibitions  at  the  Ambassador  Hotel 
Crown  Room  . .  .  Turn  Satana  head- 

l  bit  i.Bi; sq»  3 1 r,  3o  ji; 


63 


Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


PAiiiETr 


NIGHT  CLUB  REVIEWS 


ChlCbl,  Palm  Springs 

Palm  Springs,  Jan.  22. 

Andrews  Sisters  (3f,  Estelle 
Sloan,  Harvey  Stone,  Bill  Alexan¬ 
der  Qrch  (9)  ;  ^2.50  cover . 

Irwin  Schuman  still  believes  In 
priming  his  own  pump  in  a  tight 
money  market,  apparently,  because 
he  has  followed  Liberace  with  the 
reunited  Andrews  Sisters,  and 
segues',  next  week  with  Ginny 
Simms  and  Paul  Gilbert.  Only  Mr. 
Big  knows  what  Schuman  has  sunk 
into  his  Starlite  Room  since  open¬ 
ing  it  as  a  new  arid  enlarged  deluxe 
nitery  in  this  10  o’clock  Coney 
Island  of  the  Mojave  Desert.  But 
he’s  still  the  smiling,  gracious  bonir 
face,  acting  as  if  the  dough  were 
rolling  in,  instead  of  moaning  when 
the  blues  of  the  night  meet  no  gold 
of  the  day. 

Over  the  years  he  seerns  to  have 
grown  accustomed  to  this  melan¬ 
choly  economic  pace.  His  first 
shows  do  .  fairly  well  but  second 
shows  usually  play  to  waiters.  Cur¬ 
rent  bill,  however, .  has  done  better 
after  midnight  than  any  others  so 
far  this  season. 

Show  opens  with  Estelle  Sloan,, 
fresh  from  a  European  tour.  Last 
year  she  played  this  house  with 
Liberace  and  was  woven  into  his 
act.  This  year  she  opens  bold  but 
soon  warms  up  both  the  house  arid 
herself.  Patter  could  be  improved 
but  not  her  dancing.  Though  her 
spins  bring  out  the  heartiest  ap¬ 
plause,  it’s  her  :  Irish  dance,  her 
Israeli  wedding  dance  and  nfbst  of 
all  her  Metronome  Number  that 
deserve  the  biggest  hands. 

Behind  her  comes  Harvey  Stone 
and  like  all  comics,  here  or  any¬ 
where  else,  beds  and  buttocks  make 
up  a  major  part  of  his  humor.  Air 
Force  officers  had  ‘ringside  tables 
and  Stone’s  Army  routine  was  di¬ 
rected  toward  them.  All  his  asides 
involve  the  suspicion  that  he  is  not 
only  playing  to  a  half-empty  house 
but  the  rest  are  either  dead  or 
sleeping..  Oddly,  these  spaced 
asides  get  him  his  biggest  laughs. 

He  introduced  the  Andrews  Sis¬ 
ters  who  appeared  in  huge,  flaming 
red  coats  of  slipper  satin  that 
would  be  great  as  a  style  to  glam¬ 
orize  pregnant  little  mamas.  They 
open  on  ‘.‘Harmony,”  beg  not  to  be 
fenced  in,  begin  the  beguine;  wish 
they  could  dance  all  night,  try 
feudin’  and  a-fightin’,  add  their 
version  of  Working  for  a  Yankee 
dollar  and  finish  where  they  be¬ 
gan — on  “Harmony.” 

Halfway  through  they  toss  away 
their  carmine  cloaks  and  reveal 
themselves  in  lace  frocks  studded 
with,  rhinestones  over  faintly  tinted 

Sink  slips.  In  a  second  showing 
ley  change  to  blue  frocks  plug 
and  sing  snips  of  their  new  disks, 
convincing  the  house  that  when  it 
comes  to  harmonizing  and  original 
styling,  no  singing  group  can  top 
them. 

They  pull  out  some  high  stools 
with  apologies  to  Perry  Como  and 
try  some  harmonizing  sitting  down. 
They  sing  just  as  well  either  way 
but  they  are  so  well  nourished  that 
this  sort  of  relaxation  -  involves 
risks  that  may  send  them  all  to 
slenderella  mornings  if  they  don’t 
watch  out.  But  they  are  essentially 
ear  entertainment,  because  Miss 
Sloan’s  figure  had  previously 
proved  the  ayes  have  it. 

Altogether  a  well-balanced  bill 
but  tough  going  in  a  town  that 
won’t  stay  up  till  midnightteven  for 
Jack  Parr — for^nothing.  Soul. 

Eden  Roe,  Miami  Beach 

»  Miami  Beach,  Jari.  26. 
Buddy  -Hackett,  Gloria  DeHaven 
(with  the  Kirschner  Twins),  John* 
ny  Puleo  &  Harmonica  Rascals, 
Mai  Malkin  Orch;  $3.50-$7.50  mini¬ 
mum. 

Biz  is  on  the  rise:  for  the  Cafe 
Pompeii  with  advfent  of  this  cop- 
edy  loaded  package. 

Buddy  Hackett  has  become  a 
staple  hereabouts  and,  With  this  en¬ 
gagement  has  entered  the  near  five 
figure  bracket  on  the  payoff  scale. 
Going  on  What  he  accomplished  in 
way  of  draw  values  first  weekend, 
he  rates  the  hefty  jump,:  albeit 
there's  still  plenty  of  nights  to  run¬ 
out  against  the  tough-competish 
he's  faced  with.  Withal,  Hackett 
takes  to  the  big  Pompeii  with 
aplomb,  spinning  out  his  sock-yock 
filled  string  of  self-appraisals;  the 
pitfalls  of  married  life;  total  recall 
-^and  a  hilarious  one — of  birthday. 
There's  a  smart  insert  of  psycho¬ 
logical  undertones  in  his  material; 
notably  in  the  effect  of  legit  on  his 
stage  manners.  It’s  high  level 
laugh  plateau  he  strives  for  here, 
and  reaches  with  plenty  to  .  spare. 
A  new  bit  anent  arriving  eons  ago 
from  outer  space,  contains  solid 
topical  overtones.  The  begoff  isn't 
permitted  by  tablers  at  wind,  his 
trademarked  Chinese  waiter  served 
for  the  big  payoff. 

Gloria  DeHaven,  in  a  glowing 
enciente  state  that  calls  for  the 
current  hout-couture  (arid  attrac¬ 
tive  on  her)  sack*  dress;  works  out. 
a  trim  set  of  song  specials  arid 


standards  to  healthy  response.  The 
vo.cability  is  fair,  but  the  might, 
effervescent  personality,  still 
touched  with  the  Hollywood  lam- 
mister  in-person  glamour,  wins 
them  ill  the  way.  Inject  of  a. 
shortie  costumed  lyric  original,  is 
a  plus.  She’s  using  a  piano  team 
for  this  engagement  to  allow  ,  for 
solo  spot  while  she’s  off  for  the 
change  from  sack  to  short.  They’re 
a  fair  pair,  more  suitable  for  lounge 
dates.  Mai  Malkin’s  batoning  and 
fine,  crew  carry  the  de  Haven 
scorings. 

Johnny  Puleo  is: another  faye  in 
this  resort,  and  can  do  no  wrong 
with  the  regulars  who  frequent  the 
bigger  cafes.  Per  always,  his  panto- 
antics  with  his  mouth-orgari  crew 
iriakes  -  for  laugh-filled  sight  stuff 
that  stays  in  a  rising  reaction. 
Some  Of  his.  mixups  leari  overly  to 
the  broad  side,  but  the  arid  takes 
it  in  stride,  to  palm  him  and  his 
crew  into  a  solid  bowoff.  As  noted; 
Malkin  is  expert  at  the  conducting 
chores,  and  also,  at  doubling  as 
emcee.  Joe  E.  Lewis,  Marie  Mac¬ 
Donald .  arrive  Feb:  6th. 

Lary. 

Sands,  Las  Vegas 

Las  Vegas,  Jan.  24. 

jerry  Lewis,  Peg  Leg  Bates, 
Dick  Humphreys,  The  '  Mudlarks 
(5), .  Antonio  Morelli  Qrch  (22); 
created  and  staged  by  Jack  En- 
tratter;  $3  minimum. 

Jerry  Lewis’  latest  venture  into 
the  Copa  Room  displays  the  comic 
in  typical  Lewisian  fettle,  and  his 
fans  get  more  for  their  money,  be¬ 
cause  he’s  surrounded  by  a  smaller 
company  than  last  time  around. 
Ope  holdOver  •  from  the  previous 
romp,  terper  Dick  Humphreys,  is 
featured,  and  joins  Lewis  in  some 
classy  and  yock-pulling  dance,  rou¬ 
tines.  Lewis  gets  loudest  laughs 
from  his  classic  Japanese  character 
whose  dialogue  must  be  interpre¬ 
ted,  and  he  clicks  with  his  distinc¬ 
tive  chirping  of  special  lyrics  to 
“From  This  Moment  On,”  some 
oldies,  and  a  subdued.  Italian  song 
which  serves  as  a  bow  off.  - 

He’s  joined  in  one  number  by  a 
new  arid  good  group  of  songsters 
called  The  Mudlarks  (5),  and  as 
usual  shows  masterful  adlibbing 
when  he  gets  ringsiders  to  sing 
with  him.  Lou  Brown,  who  ac¬ 
companies  Lewis  on  the  88,  de¬ 
serves  special  credit  for  the  way 
he  guides  the  Antonio  Morelli  orch 
(22).  . 

Peg  Leg  Bates,  the  vet  monoleg 
tapper,  was  warmly  received  by 
first-nighters  with .  his  unique 
dancing  and  sprinkling  of  comedy 
lines.  New  production  numbers 
featuring  the  virile  voice  and 
showmanship  of  Bob  Kaye,  backed 
by  the  Texas  Copa  Girls  (12)  give 
smooth  balance  to  the  Jack  En- 
tratter  package  skedded  for  three 
frames.  Duke. 

Chateau  Madrid,  N.  Y. 

Beatrice  Kraft  &  Dancers  (3), 
Kitty  De  Carlo,  Mara  Lopez,  Ralph 
Font  &  Panchito  Orch;  $4,  $5  minir 
mums . 

Beatrice  Kraft,  once  a  minion  of 
Jack  Cole  and  who  has  been  suc¬ 
cessful  on  her,  own  for  quite  a  few 
years,  has  long  been  missing  from 
the  New  York  cafe  haunts.  She 
returns  with  probably  the  strongest 
act  in  her  career.  Her  local  reenr 
try,  at  Angel  Lopez’  Chateau  Ma¬ 
drid,  provides  a  strong  focal  point 
to  the  show.  Miss  Kraft,  assisted 
by  two  boys,  now  has  an  -act  that 
choreographically  as  well  as  sar¬ 
torially  fits  the  requirements  of 
class  and  mass  spots. 

The  act  is  excellently  disciplined. 
The  lads  in  her  troupe  are  strong 
solo  dancers  and  fall  into  the  ret 
quirements  of  the  east  Indian  style 
of  dancing  With  an  ease  and  grace 
that  contribute  to  the  all-around 
excellence.  Miss  Kraft  shows  quite 
a  variety  of  numbers,  all  in  the 
milieu  of  the  Kipling  country.  The 
dances  have  a  sly  touch  of  subtle 
humor,  there’s  a  trace  of  folkways 
in  the  work,  and  there’s  color  and 
vigor  in  the  terps.  Miss  Kraft’s 
costumes  arid  those  of  the  boys  are 
resplendent,  though  still  light 
enough  not  to  impede  the  move¬ 
ments  of  the  terpers.  With  ,  this 
turn.  Miss  Kraft  looks  like  she’s 
“in.’1  •  ' 

Other  performer  of  note  is  Kitty 
De  Carlo,  making  a  return  trip 
here.  Miss  De  Carlo  is  a  much  im¬ 
proved  singer.  She  seems  to  have 
found  direction  and  developing  an 
individualistic  style  that  encom¬ 
passes  a  sexy  delivery  and  a  man¬ 
ner  that  goes  well  with  either  pops 
or  Latin  numbers.  She  goes  over 
strongly  in  this  room. 

Completing  the  act  lineup  is 
Mara  Lopez  with  an  indeterminate 
kind  of  dancing.  She  works  like  an 
exotique  Who  has  been  iriistakenly 
booked  ,  at  a  church  social  and  is 
improvising  artlessly.  . 

The  Ralph  Font  orch  backs  ex¬ 
cellently,  while  Panchito  provides 
a  lot  of  drive  for  the  Latin  dancers. 

Jose. 


Palmer  House,  :  Chi 

Chicago,  Jan.  24. 

Nelson  Eddy  with  Gale  Sher¬ 
wood  (Theodore  Paxson),  Morli- 
dor  Trio,  Ben  Arden  Orch  (10);  $2 
cover. 


Musical  nostalgia  is  the  staple 
that  should  keep  the  Empire  Room 
a  happy,  populous  spot  for  the  five 
weeks  Nelson  Eddy  is  to  be;  there. 
He’s  a  prepossessing  performer. 
With  a  voice  that  still  rings  with  the 
quality  of  yore.  He  delivers  it  un¬ 
sparingly  and  effortlessly. 

There  is,  of  course,  “Shortnin* 
Bread,”  somewhat  altered,  but  the. 
baritone  clicks  best  when  he  War¬ 
bles  the  chestnuts— “Falling,  in 
Love,”  “Rose  Marie,”  “Desert 
Song”  and  “One  Alone.”  Blonde 
Gale  Sherwood,  with  obvious  phy¬ 
sical  assets  as  .  Well  as  a  good  oper¬ 
etta  voice,  does  a  polished  job  as 
Eddy’s  vis-a-vis.  The  duo  plays  it 
straight  with  a  romantic  “Out  of 
the  Night, ’’.then  scores  with  song 
parody  of  the  “Merry  Widow” 
(though  dialog  is  ^o-so.)  The  lady 
later  makes  a  wow  return  in  a 
scant  harem  costume  that  reveals 
wide  patches  of  her  torso,  and 
Eddy  engages  her  .  in  some  amusing 
byplay  along  the  “Desert  Song” 
route. 

The  baritone  surprises  with  some 
/pretty  fair  mimicry— his  "impres¬ 
sions  of  other  singers  Imitating  his 
“Road  to  Mandalay.”  Pianist  Ted 
Paxson  provides  deft  accompani¬ 
ment.  for  Eddy’s  solos. 

Morlidor  Trio  (two  femiries  arid 
a  guy),  in  a  seven-minute  warmup, 
wins  the  audience  with  a  clever, 
contortionist  turn  in  which  the  male 
does  an  amazing  simulated  golli¬ 
wog.  Ben  Arden  orch  provides 
'excellent  backstopping  for  the 
show.  Carol  Channing  follows 
March  6.  Pit. 


Stagier  Hotel,  X.  A. 

Los  Angeles,  Jan.  24. 
Gogi  Grant ,  Don  Josei  Eddie 
Bergman  Orch  (12),  cover  $2, 
$2.50. 


It’s  only  a  couple  of  years  since 
Gogi  Grant-  catapulted  into  the 
ranks  of  nitery  names  off  a  couple 
of  hit  disks  for  a  small  label.  This 
year,  with  the  credit  of  an  off¬ 
screen  singing  voice  in  “The  Helen 
Morgan  Story”  (plus  the  sound¬ 
track  album  from  the  film)  and  bol¬ 
stered  by  a  topnotch  vocal  act,  she 
may  well  climb  into  the  upper 
echelon.  Certainly  from  the  stand¬ 
point  of  pure  tune  entertainment, 
her  current  Statler  Hotel .  offering 
leaves  nothing  to  be  desired. 

Actis  wisely  tailored  to  35  min¬ 
utes  and  it  moves  along  without  a 
sag.  Miss  Grant,  a  fetching  song¬ 
stress,  is  completely  at  ease  and 
personable  on  the  floor,  she  has 
selected  her  material  with  taste 
and  care  and  she  uses  (arid  needs) 
no  tricks  or  gimmicks  to  sell  her 
wares.  Hers  is  a  rich,  true  voice: 
she  bits  every  note  squarely  and 
with  the  proper  emphasis.  And 
her  understanding  of  the  lyric 
content  adds  an  extra  Impact  to 
tunes  like  “Ail  the  Way;”  “Best 
Things  In  Life  Are  Free”  or  a 
Morgan  medley.  She  also  has  a 
fine  noveltune  medley,  reprising 
some  of  the  daffy  ditties  of  bygone 
days  in  a  commentary  on  today’s 
musical  output.  In  this  segment, 
her  patter  gets  a  trifle  strained  but 
it’s  easily  remedied. 

Show  opener  is  a  suave  and  slick 
prestidigitator  billed  as  Don  Jose. 
By  any  name,  he’s  Frakson;  long  a 
vaude  and  nitery  standby.  The 
monicker  may  be  new  (so  much  so 
that  he  still  forgets  sometimes  and 
refers  to  himself  as  Frakson)  but 
the  routines  are  generally  standard 
and  very  good.  He’s  a  whiz  with 
the  multiplying  cigarettes,  self- 
rising  cards,  arid  coins  from*  out  of 
nowhere  and  his  kidding  “It’s 
amazing,  madam,  amazing”  echoes 
the  ringside  comment.  He’s  got  a 
fine  disappearing  radio  trick  that’s 
new  and  he  packs  plenty  of  ring¬ 
side  response  into  his  12  minutes. 

As  always,  Eddie  Bergman’s 
crew  does  4  solid  job  of  show  back¬ 
ing  and  more  than  meets  the  terp 
demands.  Kep. 

Village  Vanguard,  PT.Y. 

(FOLLOWUP) 

This  spot’s  policy  Of  parlaying  a 
straight  nitery  act,  such  as  Prof. 
Irwin  Corey,  and  a  modern  combo, 
the  Charlie  Mingus  quintet,  has  a 
double-edged  influence  on  jazz.  On 
the  positive  side,  Corey,  who’s  a 
holdover,  brings  to  this  club  a 
class  of  customer  who  would  not 
ordinarily  be  exposed  ,  to  modern 
Jazz. 

On  the  debit  side;  however,  is 
the  fact  that  many  who  come  to 
hear  Corey  don’t  dig  jazz  at  all  and 
create  a  serious  problem  for  the 
musicians.  For  unlike,  traditional 
jazz,  such  as  dixieland  arid  swing, 
which  is  loud .  enough .  to  make  its 
point  whatever -the  audience  deci¬ 
bel  count  mav  be.  modern  jazz  is 


a  more  fragile  idiom  which  re¬ 
quires,  in  most  cases,  an  almost 
concert  hall  silence  for  its  appre¬ 
ciation, 

Mingus,  on  the  night  caught  last 
week,  was  severely  handicapped  by 
an:  inattentive  and  gabbing  crowd. 
The  management  recognizes  the 
problem  by  preceding  the  Mingus 
sessions  with  requests,  if  not  pleas, 
for  silence  during  the  music.  “If 
you  listen,”  the  announcement 
goes,  “you’ll  find  a  meaning  in  this 
music.”  The  trouble  is  that  few 
listen. 

That’s  unfortunate  because  Min¬ 
gus,  who- calls  his  current  group, 
a  “Jazz  Workshop,”  is  one  of  the 
most  dedicated  and  most  talented 
personalities  of  the  modern  jazz 
school.  His  music  may  be  turgid 
at  times,  but  he  achieves  moments 
of  intensity  and  power  which  go 
far  beyond  other  modern  combos. 
On  a  Haitian  folksong  number, 
Mingus,  through  his  long  and  sub¬ 
tle  solo  on  the  bass,  did  succeed 
in  earning  a  tribute  of  silence. 
But  on  the  whole,  it  appeared  to 
be  a  relentless  war  between  Min¬ 
gus  and  some  female  in  the  crowd 
who  persisted  In  her  E-flat  laugh. 

Herm. 


Hotel  Radisson,  Mplp# 

Minneapolis,  Jan.  25. 

Pat  Windsor  (2),  Don  McGrane 
Orch  (8);  $2.50-$3.50  minimum. 

Songstress  Pat  Windsor  proves 
to  be  a  welcome  new  face  for  this 
swanky  Flame  Room  and  one  won¬ 
ders  why  she  hasn’t  been  around 
before.  Tidings  of  whatever  suc¬ 
cess  she  has  achieved  during  ap¬ 
pearances  at  such  tony  eastern 
boites  as  New  York’s  Cotillion 
Room  probably  haven’t  percolated 
hither,  but  at  the  opening  dinner 
show  local  cafe  sodeteers  quickly 
took  to  her  enthusiastically.  Word- 
of-mouth  seems  certain  to  be  high¬ 
ly  favorable.  _ 

As  far  as  looks  as  well  as  voice 
are  concerned,  this  stunningly'  at¬ 
tired  chirper  resembles  another 
highly  gifted  Flame  Room  per¬ 
former,  Miml  Benzell.  She  Un¬ 
doubtedly  will  emerge  from  her 
current  fortnight  here  to  take  her 
place  with  this  spot’s  favorite 
femme  songbirds.  „ 

The  manner  In  which  Miss 
Windsor  gilds  her*cIeVeriy  rou¬ 
tined  original,  highly  effective  ar¬ 
rangements  of  his  showtunes,  cur¬ 
rent  pops  and  classical' selections 
with  dramatic  verve,  charm  and 
various  other  embellishments  gives 
them  distinctiveness  arid  freshness; 
In  doin£  so,  she  displays  an  ex¬ 
ceptional  set  of  pipes. 

In  deference  to  regular  and 
very  popular  conductor  Don  Mc- 
Qrane,  the  songstress  explains  at 
her  performance’s  conclusion  why 
Joseph  Reeder  has  taken  over  the 
baton  from  him.  It’s  because 
Reeder  is  “my  husband  and  I  never 
travel  without  him.”  This  proves 
to  be  a  gesture  which  is  nice  In 
several  ways,  giving  her  a  tighter 
hold  on  the  customers.  Reeder 
and  the  topnotch  orch  back  her  up 
flawlessly.  Miss  Windsor  Is  here, 
until  Feb.  5,  after  which  comedian 
Johnny  O’Brien  takes  over. 

Rees. 


Black  Orchid,  Chi 

Chicago,  Jan.  25. 

Jack  E.  Leonard,  June  Perry ,  joe 
Pamello  Trio;  $1.50  cover. 

Jack  E.  Leonard  and  this  in- 
timery  are  a  made-to-order  pair, 
even-  when  the  comic  works  with¬ 
out  a  discernible  concept.  His  sec¬ 
ond  show  openingcriight  (24)  was  a 
marvel  of  diffusion^,  which,  had  it 
been  essayed  by.  ra  lessor  -  talent, 
would  have  been,  a  large  embar¬ 
rassment  for  both  performer  and 
audience.  Instead,  Leonard  made: 
it  hold  up  for  most  of  the  50-inln- 
ute  turn.  _.j 

First  20  minutes  were  gobbled 
with  an  ad  lib  tour  de  force  as 
Leonard  introed  press  guys  and 
celebs  in  the  audience.  Needles 
and  non-sequiturs,  his  character¬ 
istics,  came  at  top  speed  to  rau¬ 
cous  laughs,  arid  the  bit  shaped  as 
the  summit  of  the  show.  After- 
Ward  It  was  format,  and  somewhat 
anticlimactic,  with  a  monolog  sand¬ 
wiched  by  his  vocalizing  of  “Sunny 
Side  of  Street,”  and  his  trade- 
marked  softshoe  business  capped 
by  the  spinning  hat  getaway. 

June  Perry,  a  stacked  thrush, 
puts  out  top  effort  in  a  13-minute 
warmup  to  a  so-so  reception.  Her 
otherwise  belting  chords  tend  to 
fade -distractingly  iri  low  register. 
She  makes  points  with  “Day  In, 
Day  Out”  and  “You  Make  Me  Feel 
So  Young,”  but  her  “Street  Where 
You  Live”  is  an  ilLconceived  ar¬ 
rangement.  Some  corrective  steps, 
however,  should  make  her  just 
right  for  a  spot  like  the  Orchid. 

Joe  Parnello’s  Trio  gives  solid 
backing  for  the  show.  Next  up, 
Feb.-  7; '  Jonathan  Winters  and 
Jennie  Smith.  Pit. 


The  Sahbro,  N.  Y. 

Shoshana  Damari,  Sara  Aman, 
Jackie  Clark,  Leo  Fuld,  Martin  Ro¬ 
wan  Orch  (23);  $3.50  minimum, 
$4.50  Sat. 


This  kosher  Israeli  nitery’s  ge- 
sheft  is  on  the  upgrade5  and  the 
current  erigagement  of  Shoshana 
Damari,  the  striking  contralto  from 
Yemen,  should  add  considerably  to 
the  worthy  rep  of  the  uptown  es¬ 
tablishment  Here’s  a  comfortable 
240-seater  with  decorative  murals 
by  a  sterling  artist  Yoram  Kaniuk, 
that  is  ideally  suited  for  Miss 
Damari’s  Hebraic  melodies. 

Leo  Fuld,  who  owns  the  Samira, 
said  to  be  the  only  Israeli  nite  spot 
whose’ nearest  rival  is  8,000  miles 
away  as  the  strudel  flies,  is  on  as 
master  of  ceremonies  and  does  a 
f atgnigen  (pleasurable,  to  for¬ 
eigners)  job  With  introductions  and 
vocals.  He  gives  out  with  “Song  of 
the  Negev,”  “Sonia  Is  Here  to 
Stay,”,  and  his  bestselling  “Where 
Can  I  Go  To,”  a  heart-wringer  and 
eye-moistener. 

When  Miss  Damari  comes  on, 
the  room  becomes  electric  and  the  -  • 
lass  from  Israel  has  absolutely  no 
difficulty  capturing  her  audience. 
Bursting  with  melodic  energy  and 
built  like  a  Rubens  model,  she’s 
an  eye-filling,  earthy,  provocative 
damsel.  Americans  may  recall  her 
performance  in  an  Israeli  flicker, 
’Hill  24  Does  Not  Answer.”-  She’s 
also  in  an  upcoming  full-length 
color  musical,  the  first  to  be  shot 
in  Israel,  called  “Homeless,”  and 
scheduled  to.  onen  shortly  at  the 
Paris  Theatre,  N.  Y.  After  her  en¬ 
gagement  here,  she’s  slated  for  the 
Brussels  Fair  as  representative  of 
the  Israeli  government. 

In  a  stunningly-tight  white  and 
gold  gown,  she  gives  forth  with  a 
medley  of  Hebraic  chants  and 
songs  including  “Facing  Mt.  Sinai,” 
“Camel  Caravan  in  the  Desert,” 
"Song  of  the  Negev,”  “Delights  of 
/Memory,”  “The  Way  We  Dance  In 
Israel.”  “We  are  the  Shepherds,” 
“The  Red  Puppies”  and  “I  Am  the 
Girl  From  Sufferth,”  Throughout 
her  performance,  she’s  accom¬ 
plished  in  both  Voice  and  stance. 
One  or  two  more  bouriev  numbers, 
however,  might  add  a  fillip  to  her 
present  routine. 

Jackie  Clark,  bill’s  comic,  is  iri 
from  the  Boulevard,  Queens.  In^> 
this  all-Israeli  atmosphere,  he  de¬ 
scribes  himself  as  the  only  “for¬ 
eign”  act  on  the  bill,  hut  the  audi¬ 
ence  has  no  trouble  grasping  his 
accelerated  natter  dealing  with 
psychiatry,'  drunks,  mothers  and 
other  surefire  matters.  He  hints 
that  he  mav  nlay  “Loew’s  Negev” 
after  this  date. 

Sara  Aman  does  rousing  ver¬ 
sions  of  Israeli  dances.  She’s  on 
for  two  numbers,  the  second  in  an 
abbreviated  piece  of  muslin  which' 
shows  off  her  umbilicus  to  remark¬ 
able  advantage. 

Martin  Roman  and  his  orch  are 
on  the  ball  at  all  times,  particu¬ 
larly  behind  Miss  Damari’s  thrush 
work.  Rans. 


Ambassador  Hotel,  L.  A. 

Los  Angeles,  Jan.  23. 
Frankie  Laine,  Farrer  Trio,  Ray 
Anthony  Orch  (15);  $2-$2.50  cover. 


By  the  time  canny  Cocoanut 
Grove  entrepeneur  Gus  Lamp* 
gets  through  with  his  scissors, 
he’ll  have  a  good,  entertainment  ’ 
package  for  the  current  fortnight. 
Combination  of  Frankie  Laine,  the 
Farrar  Tria  and  Ray  Anthony’s 
orch  can  register  with  the  .proper 
pacing. 

Admittedly,  it’s  not  easy  to  cut 
Laine’s  act  since  It’s  a  crowd- 
pleasing  melange  of'  his  better 
diskings.  Edited,  however,  it  would 
have  even  greater  impact  at,  say. 
40  minutes.-  HO  has  4  couple  of 
standout  segments;,  notably  a  pair 
of  tunes  from  .his’.ripcoming  album 
in  which  he’s  backed' riot  by  the 
orchestra  but  by  a  stereophonic 
tape  of  Michel  LeGtand’s  music. 
It’s  excitihg  nitery  fare,  particu¬ 
larly  since  the  Grove's  great  equip¬ 
ment  gives  a  living  presence  to  the 
instrumentation  and  to  LeGrand’s 
topnotch  arrangements.  Another 
Solid  hit  is  a  torch  medley  to  gui¬ 
tar  accompaniment,  with  Laine  re¬ 
prising  some  of  the  torch  stand¬ 
ards  to  top  response.  Other  high¬ 
lights  are  reprises  of  such  Laine 
oldies  as  “Black  and  Blue,”  “We’ll 
Be  Together  Again,”  “Jezebel"  and 
quick  excerpts  of  others, 

Farrar  Trio,  two  gals  and  a  guy, 
open  with  a  quartet  of  dance  rou¬ 
tines  which  should  be  cut  by  at 
least  one.  -There's  some  novelty 
in  the  manner  in  which  the  guy 
handles  a  dance  stint  with  both 
gals  simultaneously,  hut  it  wears 
thin  after  a  while  and  the  chore¬ 
ography  is  just  passable. 

Anthony's  "Slaughter,”  a  fine 
arrangement,  starts  the  show  with 
a  wallop  and  the  crew  ably  hacks 
the  rest  of  the  layout  in  addition 
to  keeping  terpatrons  well  pleased 
from  a  large  library  of  fine,  dance- 

ahlp  arraTiVpmpnts.  KVm. 


64 


PGOttETT 


Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


VARIETY  BILLS 

WEEK  OF  JANUARY  29 

Humirilt  hi  connection  with  bill*  b*Iow  Indicate  •p#nln*  diy  *f  show. 

t  whether  full  or  spilt  w«ek 

Letter  In  perehttiesee  Indicates  circuit:  (I)  Independent/  (Li  Leewi  <M)  Mots; 
<P>  Paramount:  (R)  RICO;  (S>  ffoll;  CD  Tivoli/  <W>  Warner 


NEW  YORK  CITY 

Music  Hall  <P>  39  ,  Lucille  Manners 
Corps  de  Ballet 
Jack  Reader 
Sondra  Barrett 
Rockettes 
Glee  Club 


Foursome 
Renald  &  Rudy 
Roxy  30 

Harrison  A  Kossl 
Skating  Squires 
Roxyettes 


MELBOURNE 
Tivoli  (T)  3 
Larry  Griswold 
&  Man 

-  Johnny  Lockwood 
A  Robins 

Rayas  A  Faye  .  , 

JUgoletto  Bros.  A  A 
Ann  Berryer 
Jfedlock  &  Marlowe 
Wtnnetou  it  Squaw 
Jimmy  Parkinson 
RAD  Stutchberry 
Edit  Juhasz 
Frank  Ward 
SYDNEY 


LONDON 
Metropolitan  (!)  37 
Be*  Gray 
Petersen's  Bears 
Les  Galantas 
Tommy  St.  Dennis 


AUSTRALIA 


5  Lombards 

3  Jays 
Janette  Fox 
Jap*  A  Josephine 
Peter  Scott 

NORWICH 
Hlppedreme  (1)  37 
Roy  Barbour  Co. 
NOTTINGHAM 
Empire  (M)  37 
Edmund  Hockrldge 
AAV  Shelley 


Tivoli  CT)  3 
Shirley  Bassey 
Archie  Robbins 

|  fJR  *Berde 
Christine  A  Moll 
[Neel  A  Newton 
[Easton  Harmonica 3 
Jimmy  Jeff 
Buster  Fiddeaa 
Darryl  Stewart 
[  Johnny  O'Connor  • 
Alwyn  Ledde 
Rae  Morgan 
Reg  Pries tman 
Norman  Thorpe 

BRITAIN 

l  Tanner  Sis 
Sharpe  A  Iris 
r  Renee  Strange 
Ron  A  Rita 
Ron  Parry 

3  SOUTHAMPTON 
Grand  Cl)  37 
Fran  Dowie 
Gay  Leslie 
Dick  Francis 
Sylvie  Drew 
Dev.  Shawn 
John  Clarence 
Alabama* 

John  Hughes 
Calvin  Lqwin 
HI-FI  Rhythm  Grp. 


Parisian  Dncrs 
Dancing  Water* 
Reyes  Orb 
Riviera 
Jays  P.  Morgan  . 
Mamie  Van  Doren 
Jack  Cole 
Anita  _Ellis 
Tybee  Afra 
Casino  Playa  Ore 
sans  Soucl 
Dolores  Perry 
Gloria  A  Rolands 
Rolando  La  Serle 


Cabaret  Bills 


Eon  Soir 
Kaye  Ballard 
Tony  A  Eddie 
Morgana.  King 


Blue  Ansel 

Bobby  Short 
Carolina  A  Belen 
Bobby  Lewis 
Jorie.  Remus 


Jose  Duval 
Marfrit  A  Adrienne 
Chateau  Madrid  1 
Carmen  Amaya  Co. 
Ralph  Font  Oro 
Panehito  Ore 
eopacauana 
Nat  King  Cole 
Alan  A  DeWood 
Axldentals 
Cindy  Tyson 
gammy  Devens 
Peggy  Womack 
Miphml  Durso  Ore  . 
Frank  Marti  Ore 
Downstairs  Room 
Julius  Monk 
Bonny  Graham 
CeUCabot 
Ellen  Hanley 
Jean  Arnold 
Gerry  Matthews 
Stan  Keen 
Lovey  Powell 
Warrep  Vaughn 
Brooks  -Morton 
El  Chico 
Marina  Terol 
Luce  rite  Tena 
Carlos  A  Myma 
xrrititaa  Del  Campo 
No  1  Fifth  Ave 
Bob  Downey 
Harold  FonviUe 
Joan  Bisbop 
Hovel  Pierre 
Stanley  Melba  Ore 
Joe  Ricardel  Ore 
Betty  Benee 
^  Hotel  Plaza 
Genevieve 
Ted:  Straeter  Ore 
Mark  Monte  Ore 
Hotel  Roosevelt 
Guy  Lombardo  Ore 
"  Hotel  Statler 


NEW  YORK  CITY 

Hotel  Taft 
Vincent  Lopez  Ore 
Hotel  St.  Reels 
Doretta  Morrow 
Milt  Shaw  Ore 
Ray  Bari  Ore 
.  Latin  Quarter 
Fran  Warren 
Helen  Hayden 
Malagon  Sis 
Los  Gatos 
Chandra  Kaly 
Martha  Ann  Bentley 
Jam  el  Twins 
Marilyn  Ross 
Bob  Kennedy 
Syncopated;  Waters 
Jo  Lombardi  Ore 
B  Harlowe  Ore 
La  Cupldon 
Gretehen  Wyler 
-  Old  Romanian 
Ted  Lewis  Ore 
McKenna  Line 
Show  Place 
Karen  Anders 
Barbara  Sharma 
Wm.  GrabarU 
Kenneth  McMiUen 
Wm.  Nix 
Natalie  Cbarlson 
Town  A.  Country 
Harry  BelafonXe 
MattisOn  Trio  . 
Buster  Bnmell 
Ned  HarVey  Ore 
Sicaris  Ore 
Viennese  Lantern 
Vicky  Autier 
Evelyn  Sharpe 
Ernest  Scboen  Ore 
Paul  Mann 

Village  Barn 
Billy  Kelly 
Mae  Sagan 
Larry  McMahon 
Irving  Harris 
Belle  Carroll 
Piute  Pete 
Bobby  Meyers  Ore 
Village  Vznguara 
Irwin  Corey. 

ChaYlle  Mingus 
Melvin  Stewart 
Waldorf-Astoria 
Pearl  Bailey 
Emil  Coleman  Orc:. 


l  <A  Larry  ElgartBela  BabaiOrc 

CHICAGO 


Black  orchid  i 
Jack  E.  Leonard 
June  Perry 
Joe  Parnello  (3)  < 

Blue  Angel 
"Calypso  Extrava-  | 
ganza" 

Princess  Abilia  A 
King  Christian 
Lord  Christo  ' 

Lord  Rafael 
Candelas  Trio 
Roger  McCall 
Blue  Note 
Puke  Ellington  Ore 
Chez  Pares 
Gordon  MacRae 
Chez  Adorables  .  ff 
Ted  Flo  Rito  Ore 
Cloister  Inn 
EddiC  Higgins  Trio 
Kim  Karter 
v  Conrad  Hilton 
"Big  Top" 

•  Glenn  A  Coleen 
Mencbassys 


Lupare&cos 
Paul  Castle 
Darlene  Sellik 
Jo  Ann  MqGoWan 
Fred  Napier 
Adrian  Swan 
Norman  Crider 
Tune  Tattlers  4 
Charlie  Fisk  Ore 
Drake  Hotel 
Betty  Madigan 
Jimmy  Blade  Ore 
Gate  of  Horn 
Brownie  "McGhee 
Sonny  Terry 
Sooja . Savlg 

London  House 
Jonah  Jones  4 
Mister  Kelly'S 
Smith  Twins  (2) 
George  Matson 
Marx  A  Frigo  (3) 
Palmer  House 
Nelson  Eddy 
Gale  Sherwood 
Morlidor  Trio 
Ben  Arden  Ore 


LOS  ANGELES 


Coconut  Grpve 

Frankie  tame 
attar  Trio 

-Ray  Anthony  Ore  ' 

.  Crescendo 
Mel  Torme 
Billy  Barnes  Revue 
Dave  Pell  Octet 
interlude 
Frances  Faye 
Shelly  Manne  Ore  • 
Largo 

Artbui  L.  '■ Simpions 
Jimmy  Grosso 


AJ  Escobar  Ore 
Mocambo 
Dick  Continiq 
Betsy  Duncan 
Paul  Hebert  Ore 
Moulin  Rouqe 
Will  Mastin  Trio 
Donn  Arden  Line 
Royal  Guards 
Eddie  O’Neill  Ore 
Statler  Hotel 
Gogi  Grant 
Ed  Bergman  Ore 


HAVANA 


Desert  inn 
Betty  Grable 
Dave  Barry 
Donn  Arden  Dncrs 
Carlton  Hayes  Ore 
Dunes 
“Minsky's  Treats 
of  Paris*' 

Carrie  Finnell 
Chlquita  A  Johnson 
Tana  Leigh 
T.isa  London  . 
Francis  Brunn 
Deon  Robb 
Joe  De  Rita 
Irv  Benson 
Tommy  Raft 
Murray  Briscoe 
Garwood  Van  Ore 
E|  Cortes 
"Rhythm  on  Ice" 
George  Arnold 
Buster  Hallett  Ore 
El.  Rancho  Vegae 
Joe  E.  Lewis 
Eyde  Gorme 
Dick  Rice  Orth 
Flamingo 
Alan  King 
Goofers: 

Flamlngoettea  • 
Jack  Cathcart  Ore 
Fremont  Hotel 
Nitecaps  ’ 

Make  Believes 
The  Victors 
The  Castles 


Hank  Penny 
Sue  Thompson 
Woodsons 
L  A  F  Maynard 

MIAMI-M1AMI  BEACH 


Capri 
Don  Cornell 
Tippy  A  Corbina 
Ethel  Martin 


Dick  Curry' 

|.  Nacionat 

iKatyiia  Ranieri 
I  Ray  Carson 


Victor  Alveses 
Miriam  Barrera* 
La  Serle  Ore 
Ortega  Ore  . 

Tropica  na 
Erllnda  Cortes 
Alberto  Rochl 
Blanca  Varela 
Gladys  A  Freddy 
Riveros 
Guerachero*  . 
Monica  Cast  el 
Troplcana  Ballot 
B  Snare*  Orq 
t  Borneo  Oro 


LAS  VEGAS 


Riviera 
Ginger  Rogers 
Ray  Sinatra  Oro 


Donald  O'Connor 
Sidney  Miller 
Mr.  Ballantlne 
7  Ashtons 
Cee  Davidson  Ore 
Louis  Prima-Keely 


Jerry  Lewis 
Peg  Leg  Bates 
Dick  Humphrey* 
Mudlarks 
Copa  Girls 
Antonio  Morelll  Ore 
Sea  Soucl  ' 

G.  Llberace  Show- 
case 

Hoyt  Henry  Ore 
Showboat 
Shirley .  Scott 
Garr  Nelson  - 
Showboat  Girl* 

Vie  Artese  Ore 


Candy  Barr 
Joey  Cowan 
Loray  White 
Annie  Maloney 
Jimmy  Shaw 
Jimmy  Cavanaugh 
Sparky  Kaye 
Mac  Dennison 
Geo.  Redman  Ore 
ThunderMrd 
Guy  Scallee 
Troplcana 
Jana  Kean 
Nolle  Adams 
Nat  " 


Americana 
.Betty  Hutton'  A  Co. 
Chuey  Reyes  Oro 
Jackie  Heller 
Lee  Martin  Ore 
Maya  Ore 

Avalon*. 

Hal  Winters 
Bobby  Dukoff  Ore 
Anita  Boyar  e 

Red  Smith  3. 

Balmoral 
Irving  Fields  3 
Billy  Mitchell 
Mickey  Gentile 
Jose  Curbelo  Ore 
Carllllon 
Andrews  Sisters 
Jaques  Donn  eft  Ore 
Cafe  De  Parle 
Dick  ShaWn 
The  Szonys 
Trio  Cottas 
Piroska 
Billy  Fellow* 

Jet  MacDonald 
Dick  Estes 
Dona  Nagy 
Chickie  James 
Doug  Scott 
Croft  Twins 
Ruth  Wallis 
Lyda  Fairbanks. 
Freddie  Bell  Bell¬ 
hops 

Cotton  Club 

Cab  Calloway 
Step  Bros. 

Paul.  Mears  A 
LaRaine 
Slappy  White 
Jimmy  Randolph 
Mari  Leighton 
Hines  Bros. 

Norma  Miller  Dncrs 
Tune-Drops  . 

Ed  Barefield  Oro 
Deauville 
Leonidoff  Revue 
Lessy  A  Moore  " 
Janik .  A  Arnaut 
Steve  Gibson  Red* 
caps  .. 

Damita  Jo 
Rosemarie  O'Reilly 
Caracolilo  A  Marls- 
Rosa 

Cover  Girls  (18) 

Tito  Puente  Ore 
Monte  Franklin  .1 

Di  Lttfo 

Bageltime  Revue  . 
Barton  Bros; 

Eddie.  Scnaeffer- 
Bea  Kalmus 
Bobby  Escoto 
Bernie  Sager 
Caney  Ore  . 

Eden.  Roe 
Buddy  Haickett 
Gloria  DeHaven  . 
Johnny  Puleo  A 
Harmonica  Rascals 
MaL  Malkin  Ore 


Sonny  Kendis  Orc 
Emery  Deotsch  3 
Louis  Varona  Ore 
Fontainebleau 
Rltz  Bros. 

Jo  Ann  GUbert 
Leo  Diamond 
Sacasas  Ore 
Ptipl  Campo -Ore 
LatlnQuarter 
Sue  Carson 
Bernard  Bros. 

Bob  DeVoye  Trio 
Rudy  Cardenas 
Quito-  Clayero 
Gina  Guardi 
Martha  Errole 
Walter  Nye  Ore 
Lucerne 

Havana  Mardi  Gras 
Diota.  Costello 
Milos  Velarde 
Don  Casino 
Tohia  Flores 
Tony  A  Francella 


David  Tyler  Ore 
Lula  Varona  Ore 
Malayan 

Pete  ..Petersen  3 
Bhama  Mama 
Calypso  Revue 
Murrey  Franklin's 
Terry  Haven 
Dick  Havilland 
Roy.  .Sedley 


Sue  Lawton 
Eddie  Bernard 
—  Nautilus 
Larry  Best 
Napoleon  Reed 
■Mac  Pepper 
Carlos  A  Yvonne 
Syd  Stanley  Ore 
Riot  Room: 
Don  Rickies 
June  Perry 
Bobby .Sherwood  3: 

'  Sans  Soucl 
Dick  Hall 
Freddy  Calo  Ore 
/Saxony  ^ 
Geisha  Girl  Revue 
Ruth  Wallis 
Charles  A  Faye 
Henry  Levene  Ore 
Jimmy  Grippo 
Fred  Thompson 
Tommy  Angel 
Seville 
Dave  Fisher 
Benitez  Sis 


Italians  that  the  Americans'  sub¬ 
sidiaries  In  Italy  are  not  perma¬ 
nent  establishment.  It's  hoped 
that  this  will  be  supported  by  the 
U.  S.  Treasury. 

If  the  Italians  win  their  point, 
the  loss  to  the  American  companies 
would  be  considerable. 

in  the  Fair  East,  the  Philippine 
tax  situation  remains  in  abeyance, 
with  a  possible  change  in  the  gov¬ 
ernment’s  attitude  indicated.  The 
tax  collector  there  has  assessed 
the  companies  on  a  retroactive 
basis,  with  penalties  included.  Case 
has  goneto  court,  partly  to  estab¬ 
lish  an  applicable  statute  of  :  limita¬ 
tions; 

In  Japan,  the  government  is  try¬ 
ing  to  get  a  uniform  franchise 
agreement,  which  affects  each  com¬ 
pany  differently.  20th-Fox  is  send¬ 
ing  Roy  Kimmerle,  its  foreign  tax 
expert,  to  Tokyo  soon  to  investi¬ 
gate. 

Latest -from  India  is  that  the 
government  has  resurrected  a  tax 
claim  vs  the  Americans. 

In  Nicaragua,,  a  12%  admissions 
tax  has  been  decreed  with  the  pro¬ 
vision  that  .9%  of  this  must  be 
paid  by  the  distributor.  And  fur¬ 
ther south,  in  Argentina,  the  gov¬ 
ernment’s  proposed  tax  on  imports, 
ranging  up  to  $5,000  per  film,  still 
has  not  been  applied.  Robert 
Corkery,  the  MPEA’s  -Latin  Ameri¬ 
can  supervisor,  is  due  in  Buenog 
Aires  soon  to  take  up  this  question. 
The  government  hais  promised  that 
this  levy  will  never  be  applied 
retroactively. 


Marti  A  Ruth 
Johnny .  Silvers  On 
Rey  Mamba  Ore 


Guy  Rennie 
The  Vagabonds 
Capplellos 
Leonard  Young 
Len  Dawaon  Ore 
I  Lord  Flea  Calypso 


Tax  War 


^  Continued  from  page  7  ; 

Italy’s  double  taxation  treaty  with 
the  U.  S,  The  “resident?’  label,  if 
the  Italians  can  .  make  it  stick. 
Would  change  this. 

The  Italian  situation  is  a  tick¬ 
lish  pne  and  the  Motion  Picture  Ex¬ 
port  Assn.,  representing  ,  all  the 
companies,  is  seeking  to  stay  out 
.of  it,  leaving  the  individual  com¬ 
panies  to  fight  their  own  battles. 
Reason  is  that  one  company’s  argu¬ 
ments  are  like  to  hurt  the  Case  of 
the  next,  and  the  Association  finds 
it  difficult  to  sit.  on  separate  chairs. 
At  the  same  time,  MPEA  is  taking 

Lftp.  .*wid.  -ft? 


Warner  Raps 

Continued  from  page  5  sss 
aren’t  viewed:  if  they^aire  of  in¬ 
ferior’  quality.  “We  must  produce 
ever  higher  quality  motion  pictures 
to  attract  greater  audiences  to  the 
theatres  and  it  is  towards  this  goal 
that  we  are  concentrating  our  ef¬ 
forts;”  Warner  held. 

•He  also  said  that  the  industry 
had  to  revitalize  its  "traditional 
showmanship,  methods  of  promot¬ 
ing  pictures,  so  that  interest  in 
fUms  can  be  solidified  and  extend¬ 
ed.  “By  bringing  the  highest  qual- 


Scully  on  Junk-et 


[  Continued  from  page  2  i 


happen  they  close  up  shop  and 
hike  off  to  a  convention  like  this 
till  the  skidding  stops.” 

“Well,  under  the  circumstances 
shouldn’t  we  invite  the  Fields  to 
our  frugal  Franciscan  table  Instead 
of  mooching  on  them?” 

Added  Attraction,  Clowning  Owner 

“HeU*  no.  The  company  pays  for 
everything.  They’re  paying  $80  a 
day  at  the  El  Mirador.  Bargain 
rate  account  it’s  so  early  in  the 
season.  For  that  the  hotel  throws 
in  a  free  showing  of  Proprietor  Ray 
Ryan  in  a  new  cowboy  outfit  every 
day.  Except  Wednesday  when  he 
goes  Bavarian  In  IS  incredible  a 
Tyrolean  costume  as  you’ll  find 
short  of  Minsky’s.” 

“Personally,  I  thought  Frank 
Bogart’s  ensemble  was  even  more 
incredible,”  I  demurred.  “He’s  the 
guy  who  used  to  manage  the  El 
Mirador  and  is  now  picking  up  his 
check  at  Desi  Arnaz’s  Western 
Hills  gasthaus.” 

“Well,  Will  you  come?” 

’‘Pencil  me  in,  if  the1  weather  is 
good?” 

“Weather  is  good?”  Vie  ques¬ 
tioned.  “Where  do  you  think  you 
are,  Florida?  .  Hear  the  weather 
is  always  good!” 

And  His  Frocen  Pennsylvanians 

“So  1  noticed.  Fred  Waring  and 
his  Pennsylvanians  played  out¬ 
doors  at  the  Marion  Davies  Desert 
Inn  the  other  evening  and  It  was 
so  cold  some  of  the  notes  have  not 
thawed  out  yet.” 

“But  this  junkmen’s  junket  is 
Indoors.” 

I  said  okay  and  that  we'd  be 
there  at  7:30  Saturday  night, 
which,  as  -every  songwriter  knows, 
is  the  loneliest  night  of  the  week 
anyway. 

It  was  cold  and  started  to  sprin¬ 
kle  when  we  left  for  the  gala  oc¬ 
casion.  Lady  Alice  was  dressed  in 
a  Parisian  frock"  of  block  lace  and 
silk  inserts;  and  wore  a  hand-em¬ 
broidered  black  mantilla  that  set 
our  dynasty  back  a  fortune.  But 
that  was  100  years  before  I  joined 
it. 

By  the  time  we  reached  the  El 


cular  fireplace.  There  were  cush¬ 
ions  around  the  circle.  Great  fop 
warming  backs  chilled  and  sprayed 
by  liquid  sunshine.  Lady  AllcQ 
even  returned  the  dinner  jacket  of 
Martin  Field’s  to  its  gallant  owner. 

In  the  lobby  we  met  officers  of 
the  association  until  their  names 
came  and  went  like  blurred,  ill- 
focussed  snapshots.  Only  one  prof¬ 
fered  a  card.  All  it.  said  wast 
‘Refugee  from  Occupied  Ar¬ 
kansas.”  Further  prodding  re¬ 
vealed  he  was  Sammy  Huminel- 
stein  from  Jonesboro,  Ark.;  who  is 
known  in  bis  set  as  the  “Cadmium 
King,”  and  thinks  Governor  Fau- 
bus  is  greater  than  Jeff  Davis  ever 
was. 

Cadmium  is  a  metal  found  in 
zinc  and  used  for  electroplating.  1 
found  that  out  by  asking.  I  knew 
something  of  tin;  copper,  lead,  zinc, 
mercury,  aluminum,  tungsten, 
nickel,  cobalt  and  magnesium,  and 
had  even  seen  gold  and  silver  in 
my  time,  but  of  these  miscellaneous 
metals,  of  which  there  are:  dozens 
bartered  every  day  like  brides,  1 
know  nothing. 

But  Vic  Shapiro  was  right.  These 
barterers  do  look  like  exhibbers 
in  convention  assembled  and, 
what’s  %iore  depressing,  they  act 
like  them. 


Ity  motion  pictures  to  the  screen, 
we  will  keep  faith  with  the  publlci  Mirador  the  pickets  were  gone  for 


upon  whom  our  industry  depends,' 
he  held. 

Warner  noted  the  recent  $1,500,- 
000  investment  of  :  his  company  in 
four  top  properties-^-“The  Dark  on 
Top  of  the  Stairs,”  “A  Summer 
Place,”  “Fanny” -  and  “Ice  Palace’ 
— and  -said .  Warner  Bros,  planned 
to  make,  the:  largest  investment  in 
specific  motion  picture  properties 
in  its  history  during  the  months 
ahead. 

‘The  motion  picture  industry  can 
look  to  the  future  with  confidence,” 
he  held.  Citing  “Giant”  and  “Say- 
onara,”  Warner  said  the  proof  lay 
in  the  fact  that  “important  pic-, 
tures  are  winning  more  public  in 
terest  and  are  doing  better  busi¬ 
ness  than  films  have  done  before.” 

The:  WB  prexy,  without  explain¬ 
ing  himself,  advocated  a  “policy  of 
modernization  and  flexibility  keep¬ 
ing  our  industry  in  step  with  our 
economy  and  our  times.” 


Hits 


-r  Continued  from  page  3 

on  the  HJhrer  Kwai,”  "Sayonara,” 
“Peyton  Place,”  ‘Ten,  Command¬ 
ments;”  “Around  the  World  in  80 
Days”— have  nothing  in  common 
With  each  other.  In  the  past  film 
financiers  often  insisted  upon 
formula  production.  Now,  com¬ 
ments  Hartman,  '  they  demand 
something  different  before  risking 
an  investment  of,  say,  $2,000,000. 

Today’s  film-makers  are  on  to 
the  change,  films  are  reaching  the 
age  of  maturity.  Hartman  offers 
as  a  case  in  point  his  own  “Elms’’ 
entry  which  contains  subject  mat¬ 
ter  G’Neill  himself  deleted  from 
his  original  because  of  fear  of  cen¬ 
sorship,  Picture,  which  has  Sophia 
Loren,  Burl  Ives  and  Tony  Perkins 
in  the  leads,  frankly  focuses  on  a 
woman  seduciijg  her  step-son, 
along  with  infanticide, 

“Elms”  will  open  in  two  New 
York:  theatres,  the  Odeon  and  Sut- 
•ton,  around  March  12.  It’s  been 
approved  by  the  Production  Code 
and  now  awaited  is  a  rating  by  the 
Catholic  Legion  of  Decency,  Pic 
is  the  first,  of  three  which  Hart¬ 
man  is  to  deliver  for  Par  release. 
Second,  also ;  finished,  is  “Match¬ 
maker”  and  the  third  has  yet  to 
be  decided  upon.  Hartman  in  as¬ 
sociation  with  Par  also  has  the 


the  day  and  at  least  a  hatful  of 
rain  had  been  tossed  on  the  desert 
sands.  It  was  getting  cold. 

In  the  centre  oMhe  hotel  lobby 
stood  a  huge  black  smokestack.  Be¬ 
low,  phony  logs  were  burning  gas. 
It  turned  out  to  be  a  modern  fire¬ 
place.  It  looked  good  and  felt 
good. 

Which  Kelly  Is  That? 

Helen  Colten  Field  greeted  us, 
dressed  in  a  Kelly  green  evening 
dress  which  was  topped  by  Kelly 
red  hair.  Martin  Field  wore  a  tux¬ 
edo  mit  cummerbund.  Shapiro 
and  I  were  dressed  in  conventional 
blue  flannel  suits.  And  why  hot? 
Wasn’t  this  a  convention? 

The  dining  room’s  tables  were 
covered  with  red  and  white  ,  ging¬ 
ham  tableclothes,  a  hangover,  ob¬ 
viously,  from  the  Bavarian  beer 
party.  Every  table  was  reserved— 
but  not  for  us.  We  were  offered  a 
table  outside  in  an  unheated  patio 
where  the  cold  cuts,  cakes  and 
fruits  of  a  buffet  supper  were  be¬ 
ing  served..  The  line  ,  was  as  long 
as  a  World  Series  overflow. 

Above  was  a  canvas  curtain 
which  could  be  pulled  across  the.| 
patio  like  a  roof  and  thus  close  the 
place  off  for  those  who  prefer  syn¬ 
thetic  stars  painted  on  canvas  to 
the  real sputniks.  Rain  began 
pounding  on  the'  canvas.  Soon 
you’d  think  the  place  was  rehears¬ 
ing  fpr  a  South  Pacific  pipy  featur¬ 
ing  a  bagslinger  named  Sadie 
Thompson. 

The  rain  began  seeking  places  to 
enter  the  patio  proper;  Within  10 
minutes  it  was  flooding  the  floor 
and  the  food  on  the  buffet  tables. 
Everybody,  from  dolls  to  waiters, 
began  ducking  the  downpour  that 
came  to  dinner.  The  male  trio  of 
Colton  Metals  removed  their  coats 
and  then  moved  our.  table  up  the 
entrance,  steps  which  had  more 
solid  protection  than  the  canvas  af¬ 
forded  those  below  the  salt.  But 
there  Was  so  little  room' on  the 
steps  that  a  couple,  of  chairs  slipped, 
off  the  cement  and  their  occupants 
took  nice,  formal  pratfalls.  More 
fun. 

‘Refugee  From  Occupied  Arkansas’ 

Soon  the  floor  glistened  like  an 
ice  skating  rink  and  a  sign  was 
hastily  put  up  (probably  by  John 
Harris  of  “Icecapades”)  warning 
( patrons  to  keep  off. 

‘  Dinner  about  completed,  the 
Colton  Metals  party  pulled  out  for. 
the  lobby  and  that,  giant  smoke¬ 
stack  which  wt i  guarding'  $bo  «irr, 


Grand  Daka  Sara 

Continued,  from  pate  t  ssSE 

Official  news  agency  reports  from 
Barcelona -say  CiFESA  regional  of* 
flee  there  has  already  turned  over 
all  prints  to  court  officials  and  that 
court,  action  would  eventually  im¬ 
pound  some  50  existing  prints  now 
circulating  nationally. 

Grand  Duke  apparently  planned 
to  sue  last  May  when  “Cuple” 
Opened,  in  Raima,  but  his  lawyer 
discovered  Spanish  libel  law  of¬ 
fered  only  press  and  recorded 
word  redress  with  no  provision  for 
motion  pictures. 

Heir  /to  all  the  Russias  subse¬ 
quently  put  bast  Barcelona  legal 
brains  to  research  film  slander 
precedents  in  French,  Italian  and 
other  Blackstones  and  substantial¬ 
ly  bolstered  court  plea  brought  in¬ 
itial  results. 

Producer-director  Orduna,  press 
adds,  entered  a  countersuit  for  15,- 
000,000  pesetas  against  His  High¬ 
ness  charging  latter’s  unjustified 
action  is.  murdering  “Cuple”  gate : 
in  that  amount.  Distrib  CIFESA 
showed  a  print  to  Madrid  magis¬ 
trates  yesterday  and  denied,  film 
contains  reference  to  Grand  Duko 
Vladimir. 

“Ultimo  Cuple,”  a  nostalgic  re¬ 
cap  musical  with  a  very  early  20th 
century  songalog.  delivered  by 
Sarita  Montiel, continues  to  shine 
as  a  fabulous  first-run  grosser  for 
almost  a  year.  Now  in  its  39th 
week  at:  the  local  Rialto,  trade  here 
estimates  distrib  “Cuple”  net  for 
Spain  alone  at  over  $1,000,000. 


D.H.  Waxworks 

S.  Continued  from,  page  1 

new  entry  has  a  promising  future. 
The  brain  child  of  Frank  Dennis, 
former  newsman  who  now  heads 
United  State  Information  Agency’s 
public  information  division,  the 
museum  will  be  located  in  Foggy 
Bottom,  an  area  about  one  mile  off 
the  main  stem,  which  is  currently 
being  reconverted.  It  is  near  Arena. 
Stage,  town’s  theatre^n-the-round* 
and,  like  latter,  occupies  a  portion 
of  a  former  brewery.  .  . 

In  addition  to  Dennisi  24  .  stock¬ 
holders  have  put  up.  a  reported 
$250,006  to  launch  the  venture.  Fig-  . 
ures,  made  of  a  plastic  -similar  to 
that  used  for  artificial  hands,;  are 
being,  made  in  Baltimore  by  sculp¬ 
tor  Henry  Berge,  at  a  cost  of  $900 
each.  Rent  will  be  shared  by  a 
souvenir  concession,  and  plans  call 
for  integration  into  capital’s  well 
established  tourist,  agenda.  _ 

In  addition,  to  replicas  of  such 
national  figures  -  as  Henry  Ford, 
Albert  Einstein,  Harry  Truman, 
President  Eisenhower,  and  Herbert 
Hoover,  there  will  be  a  series  of 
tableaux  depicting  such  historic 
events  as  Columbus  landing  in  the 
New  World;  Lincoln’s  assassina¬ 
tion;  a  Salem  witch  hunt;  and  Lee’s 
surrender  to  Grant. 

Interesting  angle  of  proposed 
project  is  fact  that  it  has  already 
sparked  world-wide  publicity. 

Scale  will  be  75c  and  50c,  and 


65 


Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


ftiUUETt 


LEeiTOfATB 


w  ■W'  -  W  '  ' 

Jobs  Are  Still  Scarce  for  Negroes 


Legit  is  a  paradox  for  the  Negro* 
actor.  It’s  a  medium  in  which  in¬ 
tegration  is  advocated  but  avoided. 

Highlighting  the  situation  is  an 
Actors  Equity  analysis  of;  Negro 
employment  on  Broadway  and  off- 
Broadway  during  the  last  two 
seasons.  According  to  the  approxi¬ 
mated  statistics,  fewer  N  e  g  r  o  e  s 
were  .utilized  in  shows  during  the 
1956-57  semester  than  the  previous 
season.  That,  incidentally,  was  after 
various  theatrical  organizations  had 
issued  appeals,  to  producers  for  in¬ 
creased  integration  of  Negro  per¬ 
formers. 

Only  two  of  last  season’s  Broad¬ 
way  productions  were  classed  as 
Integrated  offerings  in  the  Equity 
report.  The  shows, .  both  musicals, 
were  “Bells  Aire  Ringing”  and 
"Shinbone  Alley.”  Equity’s  tally  on 
Integrated  Broadway  productions 
for  the  previous  semester  was  six. 

There  were  four  integrated  off- 
Broadway  shows  in  1955-56,  but 
only  two  last  season. 

.  The  Negro  employment  total  on 
Broadway  for  1955-56  was  142;  in¬ 
cluding  61  in  the  City  Center  pro¬ 
duction  of  “Carmen  Jones.”  An¬ 
other  29  were  cast  in  “Mister  John¬ 
son.4’  Those  two  shows  thus  ac¬ 
counted  for  63%  of  the  total  for 
the  entire  season.  In  1956-57,  how¬ 
ever,  the  Equity  ' count  on  Negro 
employment  in  Broadway  shows 
was  36.  The  union  also  figured  an 
additional  39  performers  in. .  the 
Jones  Beach  outdoor  presentation 
of  “Show  Boat”  and  about  20  more 
in.  shows  held  over  from  the  pre¬ 
vious  season. 

Negro  employment  ©ff-Broadway, 
however,  increased  in  .1956-57  over 
the  previous  semester,  jumping 
from  25  to  43.  The.  drop  in  inte¬ 
grated  shows  from  lO^on  Broadway, 
and  off-Broadway  during  1955-56  to' 
four  last  season,  plus  the  overall 
decline  in  Negro  employment  has 
cued  a  renewed  appeal  for  in- 
(Continued  on  page  69 


TIP  Has  Sl&e  of  ‘Body*; 
Pat  Up  Money  for  Bond 

The,  coin  .necessary  to  cover  the 
Actors  Equity  bond  on  “Body  Beau¬ 
tiful,”  which  opened  last  Thursday 
(23)  at  the  Broadway  Theatre, 
N.  Y.,  was  put  up  by  Theatrical  In¬ 
terests  Plan,  Inc.,  a  legit  Invest¬ 
ment  firm.  The.  deal,  according  to 
a  TIP  rep,  actually  represents  a 
personal  loan  to  Albert  Selden,  co¬ 
producer  of  the  musical  with  Rich¬ 
ard  Kollmar. 

In  return  for  supplying  the 
.funds,  TIP  is  in  line  for  a  small 
percentage  of  the  potential  profit. 
The  venture  is  regarded  by  TIP 
officers  as  being  risk-free*  as  the 
money  is  guaranteed  by  Selden* 
who  *  privately  wealthy.  The 
firm’s  contract  with  the  production 
call  for  the  bonds  to  be  returned 
within  a  month  after  the  show’s 
Broadway  opening. 

TIP  has  no  regular  investment 
in  “Body,”  which  is  capitalized  at 
$300,000. 


Milanov, 

Scale  Now  $1.60  to  $3.75 

San  Francisco,  jam  28. 

Frisco’s  “doliar-opera”  company, 
the  Cosmopolitan,  will  stage  seven 
performances,  March  4  through 
March  25,  General  Director  Dario 
Sbindell  reported  last  week,  . 

The  Cosmopolitan— -which  is  no 
longer  a  doliar-opera  but  is-scaled 
from  $1.60  to  $3.75— will  use  3500- 
aeat  War  Memorial  Opera  House. 

Operas,  in  the  repertoire,  will  be 
“La  Boheme,”  “Carmen,”  “Faust,” 
“Rigoletto,”  “The  Barber  of  Se¬ 
ville,”  4H  Trovatore?  and  “La  Tra- 
viata.” 

Among  singers  engaged,  for  the 
three-week  season  are:  Zinka  Mil¬ 
anov,  Salvatore  Baccaloni,  Lucine 
Amara,  Robert  Roiinseville,  Jer¬ 
ome  Hines,  Eugene  Conley,  Eva 
Likova,  £esare  Valletti,  Jean  Ma¬ 
deira,  Barry  Morel!,.  Ellen  Faull, 
Cersare  BaredUi  and  Edwin  Dun- 
ning. 

Company’s  conductor  Is  Carlo 
Moresco,  stage  director  Glynn 


Says  Producer  Is  Also 


.  New  York. 

Editor,  Vamety: 

The.  letter  from  Mark  Harris  in 
last  week’s  Issue  makes  the  point 
that  the  producer  and  -staff  of 
“Look  Homeward;  Angel”  have 
nothing  to  do  with  the  manage¬ 
ment  of  the  Ethel  Barrymore  The¬ 
atre,  Ni  Y.,  where  the  play  is  cur¬ 
rent.  .  Perhaps  so,  but  the  play¬ 
going  public  knows  nothing  Of 
that  and  couldn’t  care  less, 

The  customer  can’t  foe  expected 
to  know  what  theatres  are  op¬ 
erated  by  whom.  He  purchases 
tickets  for  a  play;  not  for  a  house 
managed  by  this  or  that  firm;  The 
producer  who  offers -tickets  for 
sale  must  also  be  accountable  for 
conditions  in  the  theatre-— he  as¬ 
sumes  that  responsibility  when  he 
books  it  from  the  Shuberts  or  any¬ 
one  else,  and  he  can’t  get  away 
with  blaming  the  situation  on 
landlord.  The  producer  is  in  part¬ 
nership  with  the  theatre  in .  the 
presentation  of .  the  play.  In  fact, 
under  the  contract,  he  has  a  70% 
interest  in  the  partnership. 

Leonard  Traube  (Trau). 


Tickets  Brokers; 


re 


EtTu,  Burton 

British  legit-film  actor  Rich* 
ard  Burton,  currently  costar* 
ring  on  Broadway  in  -Time 
Remembered,”  is  giving  a 
course  in  Shakespeare  for  a 
small  group  of  .  established 
players.  One  of  his  students 
is  Robert  Preston,  top-featured 
lead  in  “The  Music  Man.” 

This1  week  the  class  has  bben 
studying  “Julius  Caesar”  and 
after  the  session  Monday  after¬ 
noon  (27),  Burton  said  to 
Preston,  “I’ll  keep  this  request 
in  character— could  I  get  your 
house  seats  for  Music  Man* 
for  the  Hes  of  March?” 


Philadelphia,  Jari.  28 

Although  Jacob  j.  Shubert  says 
he  “abhors”  ticket  brokers  and 
thinks  .  they’re  Till  “gyps,”  he  ad¬ 
mits  he  allots  them  tickets  fc-f 
Shubert  theatres.  In  fact,  he  adds, 
he:  can’t  stop  them  from  getting 
seats. 

Those  are  among  the  statements 
made  under  oath  by  the  head  of 
the  Shubert  theatrical  firm  in  a 
pre-trial  examinatibn  in  connection 
With  a  $3,150,000  anti-trust  suit 
brought  against  the  Shuberts  by 
Philly  theatre  operator  William 
Goldman.  The.  action  charges  that 
a  Shubert  monopoly  has  prevented 
Goldman  from  booking  legit  ,  shows 
for  the  Erlanger  Theatre  here..  A 
transcript  of  the  testimony,  taken 
in  New  York  last  month;  was  filed 
in  U.S:  Court  here  last  week. 

Shubert  claimed  that  he  is  “pow¬ 
erless  to  prevent  theatre  personnel 
from  selling  tickets— at  a  premium 
—to  favored  brokers;”  He  asserted 
he  had  no  personal  knowledge  of 
the  practice,  although  he  was 
shown  a  letter  from  Broadway  pro¬ 
ducer  David  Merrick  wanting  of 
(Continued  on  page  69) 


Lost  (or  Legit 

Minneapolis,  Jan.  28. 

The  Lyceum  Theatre,  local  legit 
house,  has  been  acquired  by  Soul 
Harbor,  an  Evangelical  group;  and 
will  be  converted  for  use  for  re¬ 
ligious  meetings.  The  property  is 
currently  under  lease  to  Bennie 
Berger,  and  has  two  more  legit 
bookings  this  season,  the  .  Jose 
Greco  Dancers,  due  Feb.  2-4,  and 
the  touring  edition  of:  “Auntie 
Mame,”  the  week  of  May  5, 

Soul  Harbor  is  paying  $285,000 
for  the  1,800-seat  Lyceum,  and 
plans  to  spend  $75,000  on  renova¬ 
tion  “to  get  -rid  of  the  theatre 
look,”  so  it  will  be  more  suitable 
for  religious  purposes.  The  group 
now  uses  an  800-seat  former  film 
house  outside  the  m|dtOwn  area 
and  formerly  had  the  Alvin,  which 
it  took  over  from  burlesque. 

Berger,  who  pays  $20,000  a  year 
rental  for  the  Lyceum,  could  have 
renewed  his  lease  beyond  the  Aug. 
15  Expiration  date,  but  would  have 
had  to  pay  a  $5,000  annual 
crease.  He  claims  he  “just  about 
broke  even”  in  the  three  years  he’s 
operated  the  spot,  and  has  no  as¬ 
surance  of  more  legit  bookings  in 
the  future. 

Having  the  local  franchise  from 
the  Independent  Booking  Office  in. 
New  York,  Berger  indicates  that 
belli  try  to  arrange  to  rent  the 
RKO  Orpheum,  a  2,800-seat:  film 
house  and  the  only  other  local  spot 
suitable  for  legit,  for  touring 
Broadway  shows  next  season.  How¬ 
ever,  Berger  says  that  plans  are 
already  under  .way  for  a  drive  to 
raise :  $500,000  for  the  construction 
of  a  new  legit  'theatre,  probably 
seating  1,500  and  situated  midway 
between  Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul. 


ALBANY  FILMER  LOVES 
THAT  FABULOUS  LEGIT 

.  Albany,  Jan.  28. 

The  Fabian  Palace,  a  local  film 
house,  is  legit-happy.  The  theatre 
management,  elated  over  the  sock 
business  registered  at  the  3,660- 
seater  by  two  touring  shows  this 
season,  is  on  the  prowl  for  other 
stage  productions. 

The  entries  that  played  the' 
house,  each  for  a  single  evening 
performance,  were  “No  Time  for 
Sergeants”  £N.Y.  company),  and 
‘Damn  Yankees;”  Both  offerings 
are  being  routed  by  Broadway1 
Theatre  Alliance.  “Yankees”  play¬ 
ed  the  theatre  last  Tuesday  (21)7 
grossed  yearly  $9,400,  with  the  at¬ 
tendance  hitting  3,200. 

“Sergeants”  grossed  over  $8,500 
in  its  Palace  stand  last  Dec.  13. 
The  attendance,  figure  for  that  per¬ 
formance  was  3,000.  The  theatre 
made  money  on  both  legiters,  but 
didn’t  fare  as -well  with  an.early- 
December  booking  of  the  American 
Ballet  Theatre. 


See  Low  Productkm  Costs  Factor 


Yale  Drama  Prof.  Going*  | 
To  Chile  for  Lectures 

New  Haven,  Jan.  28. 

Frank  McMullan,  Yale  Drama 
School  associate  -prof,  will  be  a 
lecturer  In  theatre  arts  in  San¬ 
tiago,  Chile,  for  six  months,  Start¬ 
ing  in  May.  Assignment  came 
through.  U.  S.  Fulbright  Exchange 
program. 

Added  functions  to  be  assumed 
by  McMullan  on  his  sojourn  in¬ 
clude  assistance  with  development 
of.  professional  theatre  schools  at 
Catholic  U.  and  the  U.  of  Chile; 
both  .  in  Santiago;  also,  staging  a 
Spanish-language  production  of  a 
Shakespearean  play,  by  the'  Catho¬ 
lic  U,  pro  company  of  the  Teatrd 
de  Ensayo,  and  teaching  directing 
and  acting  methods  at  U.  of  Chile. 

McMullan  will  resume  his  Yale 
post  in  January,  1959. 


No  Curb  of  Boway 


Roger  L  Stevens  Flies 
To  Catch  tondon  Shows 

Roger  L.  Stevens  flies  to  London 
today  (Wed.)  for  a  few  days  of  con¬ 
centrated,  playgoing.  He  plans  7t0 
attend  the  opening  tomorrow  night 
(Thurs.)  of  “Cat  on  a  Hot  Tin 
Roof,”  starring  Kim  Stanley,  at  the 
Comedy  Theatre  under  the .  New 
Watergate  Theatre  Club  setup,  in 
which  he’s  partnered.. 

He’ll  attend  the  first  rehearsal 
Friday  (31)  of  “Pour  Lucrece,” 
costarring  Vivienne  Leigh  and 
Claire  Bloom,  in  which  he’s  part¬ 
nered  with  Hugh  Beaumont  (H.  M. 
Tennent,  Ltd.).  The  producer- 
realtor  also  will  see  “Roar  Like  a 
DOve”  and  “Dinner  with  the  Fam¬ 
ily,"  both  of  which  he’ll  do  on 
Broadway  later,  and  a  tryout  per¬ 
formance.  of  “Time  and  Again” 
(formerly  titled  “The  Old  Lady’s 
Visit’’),,  starring  Alfred  Lunt' and 
Lynn  Fontanrie;  currently  on  a  pre- 
London  toiir  aiid.dile  for  NewYqrk 
next  season. 

Stevens  .’will  probably  return 
next  week,1' and  will  fly  to  San 
Francisco  for  the  opening  oL  Noel 
Coward’s  Coa£t  run  in  a  repertoire 
pf  “Nude  with  Yioli  "  and  “Pres¬ 
ent  .Laughter” 

Anthony  Buttitta  has  changed  his 
mind  and  will  return  as  pressagent 
for  another  season  for  the  -San 
Francisco  Civic  Light  Opera  Assn; 


'Employer  Rank 

Another  attempt  to  prevent  legit 
pressagents  or  managers  from  also 
holding  supervisory  or  Employer 
jobs  has  been  defeated  by  the 
Assn,  of  -Theatrical  Press  Agents 
&  Managers.  The  proposal  was 
vetoed  at  the  union’s  last  member¬ 
ship  meeting  by  a  143-to:112  vo'o. 

More  or  less  similar  moves  have 
been  made  several  times  in  the 
past,  invariably  Without  success. 
This  time  the  issue  specifically  con¬ 
cerned  Jean  Dalrymple,  director, 
and  pressagent  for  the  N.Y.  City 
Center,  and  Tom  Trenkle,  p.ai.  for 
the.  off-Broadway  revival  of  “The 
Brothers  Karamazov”  and  Miss 
Dalrymple’s  associate  publicist  for 
the  Ci-  y  Center. 

A  proposed  constitutional 
amendment  would  have  authorized 
ATPAM.  business  agent  Hal  Olver 
to  forbid  Trenkle  from  joining 
forces  with  .Miss  Dalrymple  and 
bringing  his  “Karamazov”  assign¬ 
ment,  into  her  office  as  One  of  the 
stints  permissible  for  an  “as 
ciate”  setup.  Olver  argued  that 
Miss  Dalrymple  does  not  actually: 
perform  the  p.a.  duties  for  the  City 
Center,  that,  her  listing  as  press 
representative  is  merely  a  subter¬ 
fuge  and  that  Trenkle  is  in  effect 
holding  two  jobs. 

It  was  Indicated  that,  given  the 
requested  authority,  Olver  planned 
(Continued  on  page  69) 


*¥  London,  Jan.  28.  . 

Perhaps  because  production  and 
operating  costs  are^comparatively 
modest,  London  has  a  theatre 
shortage  despite  40  houses  in  the 
West  End.  Low  production  costs 
tends  to  spur  the  presentation  of 
new  shows,  but  low  operating  ex¬ 
pense  enables  current  entries  to 
keep  going,  so  theatres  remain  oc¬ 
cupied  and  the  new  offerings  have 
to  wait. 

Besides  the  present  40  houses  in 
[the  West  End,  there  were  formerly 
seven  others,  of  which  four  were 
destroyed  during  World  War  II  air 
raids  and  three  were  recently  con¬ 
verted  to  commercial  use.  Of  the 
40  theatres  available  for  legit,  only 
the  Winter  Garden  is  cun-ently 
dark,  having  recently  closed  “Be 
My  Guest”  and  not  booked  until 
the  arrival  Feb.  26  of  the  Marc 
Connelly  play,  “Hunter’s  Moon.” 

Certain  houses  have  been  'write* 
offs’  for  some  time  as  prospects 
for  new  offerings.  Wyndham’s  has 
been  locked  up  with  “The  Boy 
Friend”  for  four:  years  and  shows 
no  signs  of  losing  it.  The  tiny  Am¬ 
bassadors,  thanks  to  the  imperish¬ 
able  “Mousetrap**  has  been  un¬ 
available  for  more  than  five  years. 
The  Whitehall,  first  with  “Reluc¬ 
tant  Heroes”  and  now  with  “Dry 
Rot,”  running  merrily  and  endless¬ 
ly,  offers  no  scope  for  the  inde¬ 
pendent  producer,  for  owner  Brian 
Rix  will  have  another  farce  ready 
when  the  present*offering  folds. 

There  are  fill-in  shows  at  Drury 
Lane  until  the  openingjof  “My  Fair 
Lady”  and  then  it  will  also  be  un¬ 
available  for  a  long  time.  The 
Windmill  is  the  permanent  home 
of  non-stop  vaude.  The  Victoria 
Palace  is  available  only  for  limited 
runs  between  Crazy  Gang  shows. 
Long-running  entries  such  as 
Sailor  Beware,”  “For  Amusement 
Only,”  “The  Bride  and  the  Bache- 
(Continued  on  page  69)  :b 


PEDDLING  450G  STOCK 
TO  BUILD  SF.  HARDTOP 

San  Francisco,  Jan.  28, 

A  new  California  company  Is 
trying  to  raise  nearly  $450,006  for 
construction  of  a  2,000-seat,  alumi¬ 
num-domed  theatre-in-the-round 
at  suburban.  Walnut  Creek,  some 
20  miles  from,  downtown  Frisco. 
The  promoters  are  offering  44,148 
shares  of  stock  at!  $16  per  share. 

Pavilion  Theatre/  Inc.,  plans  to 
start  construction,  df  therplayhouse 
next'  spring  witfi !  the  idea  pf 
senting  a  16-Week  atrawhat  seaseiL. 
Ten-acre  site  about  a  mile  from.. 
Walnut  Creek;  is*  already,  uniter 
option.  "  ,  .  •— 

Heading  the  firm  is  David'  Hue- 
nergaadt,  an  ex-actor  who  worked 
with  St.  John  Terrell  at  the  Lam- 
bertville;  (N.  J.)  Music  Circus.  He 
says  he’ll  lease  the  arena  for  sym¬ 
phonic  concerts,  sports  and  closed- 
circuit  TV-events  during  the:  off¬ 
season. 


After  March  1st,  1958 


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See  Details  Page  47 


Elsa  Maxwell  Rmont 
On  Nat’I  Symph  Benefit 
Boras  Bigwigs  in  Wash. 

Washington,  Jan.  28. 

Elsa  Maxwell,  outspoken  critic 
of  other  peoples,  was  on  the  re¬ 
ceiving  end  of  a  barrage  of  verbal 
brickbats  for  her  failure  to  keep  a 
skedded  appearance  at  a  National 
Symphony  benefit  last  Sunday  <  26) 
night 

The  party-giver  bowed  out  of  the 
cuffo  engagement  reportedly  to  ac¬ 
cept  a  paying  stint  on  the  west 
coast.  Left  holding  the  foag  were 
Mrs.  Arthur  Summerfield,  wife  of 
Postmaster  General,  chairman  of 
the  fete;  Eric  Johnson,  who  em¬ 
ceed  program;  and  columnist-hu¬ 
morist  George  Dixon,  who  was  to 
have  traded  quips  with  La  Max¬ 
well. 

Also  left  seething  were  600  ducat 
holders  to  the  “cents  and  non¬ 
sense”  supper  and  show  which 
kicked  off  National  Symphony’*- 
fund-raising  drive.  Included  were 
such  officials  as  Secretary  of  De¬ 
fense  and  Mrs.  Nell  McElroy,  and 
other  prominent  Capitalites. 

Affair,  held  at  Pan  American 
Union,  was  a  sellout  long  in  ad¬ 
vance  of  Sunday  night,  thanks  to 
announced  headlining  of  Miss 
Maxwell.  Her  non-appearance  left 
Symphony  reps  and  sponsors  boil¬ 
ing  withembarrassment  and  indig¬ 
nation.;'  , 


Feoer-Martm  to  Return 
To  B’way  With ‘Whoop-Up’ 

Cy  Feuer  and  Ernest  H.  Martin 
are  going  ahead  with  their  original 
Intention  of  producing  a  Broadway 
musical  based  on  Dan  Cushman's 
novel,  “Stay  Away,  Joe,”  which 
they  previously  decided  to  do  as  a 
Metro  picture  instead  of  for  the 
stage. 

The  producers  now  contemplate 
presenting  the  show  on  Broadway 
next  season  under  the  title 
“Whoop-Up.”  Arrangements  for-, 
them  to  undertake  the  venture 
have  been  completed  with  Metro, 
which  owns  the  film  rights.  The 
songwriting  team  of  Norman  Gin>. 
bel  and  Moose  Charlap  have  been 
approached  to  provide  the  score, 
with  an  adaptor  still  to  be  selected. 

F&M  are  currently  in  Hollywood 
readying  a  Metro  film  version  of 
their  Broadway  production  of  “The 
Boy  Friend,”  ~ 


66  UWIIMATB 


j&kb err- 


Wednesday,  January  29,  1058 


Shows  Out  of  Town 


The  Day  The  Money 
Stopped 

Wilmington,  Jan.  22. 
Stanley  Gilkey  &  Producers  Theatre 
presentation  of  two-act  drama  by  Maxwell 
Anderson,  based  on  the  Brendon  GUI 
noveL  Stars  Richard  Basehart;  features 
Mildred  Natwick,  Kevin  McCarthy.  Staged 
by  Harold  Clurmant  setting  and  lighting. 
Jo  Mielziner; .  costumes.  Betty  Coe  Arm* 
Strong.  At  Playhouse,  Wilmington,  Jan. 
h,  *58;  $4.80  top. 

Ellen  Wells  ...... 

Boaz  Bridges  ..... 

Richard  Morrow  .. 
kathie  Morrow  . 


...  Collin  Wilcox 
...  Taylor  Graves 
.  Kevin  McCarthy 
.  Mildred  Natwick 


Mayor  Bronson  .........  Howard  Fischer 

Photographer  . .  Beau  TUden 

Charles  Morrow  ......  Richard  r 


This  talky  drama,  in  which 
nothing  much  happens,  is  hardly 
A  bet  for  Broadway  in  Its  present 
form.  Maxwell  Anderson  adapted 
the  play  from  Brendon  Gill's  novel 
and  while  he  has  provided  some 
polished  dialog,  only  in  the  second 
act  (the  program  calls  them 
scenes  and  refers  to  the  intermis¬ 
sion  as  a  cigaret  break)  does  any¬ 
thing  approaching  effective  thea¬ 
tre  come  forth. 

The  story  is  based  on  a  conflict, 
over  the  father's  will  disinheriting 
a  ne'er-do-Well  son,  leaving  the 
bulk  to  his  stuffy  lawyer-brother 
and  their  sister.  The  first  act  in¬ 
volves  a  verbal  duel  between  the 
brothers.  The  second  picks  up  with 
the  black  sheep  son  rattling  skele¬ 
tons  in  the  family  closet,  threaten¬ 
ing  blackmail  and  carrying  on  in  a 
manner  which  erases  what  ,  sym¬ 
pathy  the  audience  had  for  him 
originally. 

There  is  a.  modest  attempt  to 
build  up  a  romance,  but  this  also 
fails,  and  the  ending  has  the  out¬ 
cast  winning  a  partial  victory  in 
his  fight  to  get  a  share  of  the 
estate.  The  acting  which  is.  excel¬ 
lent,  Bichard  Basehart  has  a  field 
day  as  the  westrel ,  son  who  ran 
through  over  $400,000,  but  the 
character  is  essentially  shallow. 
Kevin  McCarthy,  despite  an  excel¬ 
lent  interpretation  of  the  lawyer 
brother,  is  hampered  by  the  Bab¬ 
bitt  qualities  of  the  man  who  stayed 
home  and  tended  to  business.  Mil¬ 
dred  Natwick  is  fine  as  the  sister 
who  befriends  the  wayward  prodi¬ 
gal. 

These  three  carry  the  burden  of 
the  play,  although  Collin  Wilcox,  a 
blonde  looker,  brightens  up  the 
proceedings  as  the  secretary,  while 
Taylor  Graves,  as  a  veteran  em¬ 
ploye,  and  Howard  Fischer  and 
Beau  Tilden,  have  walk-on  parts. 

.  Harold  Clurman  has  staged  the 
show  and  Jo  Mielziner  has  provided 
a  conventional  law  office  setting. 

Klep. 


Tliis  Is  Goggle 

Princeton,  N.J.,  Jan.  23. 

Otto  Preminger  presentation  of  thrc 
-«Ct  comedy  by  Bentz  Plagemann,  adapt 
from  his  own  novel.  Stars  Kim  Hunt* 
James  Daly.  Staged  by  Preminger;  si 
ting.  Boris  Aronson;  lighting.  Lee  Wi 
aon;  costumes.  Anna  HiU  Johnstone.  . 
McCarter  Theatre,  Princeton,  Jan.  23,  *■ 

tr2E?ri,£da^s . .i.  James  Da 

wife  . .  Kim  Hunt 

Superintendent;  ‘I !  .* ! ) ! ! '  boAS 
. “*  —  -*•••-•  Seth  Edwar 

i-' ' '  ‘  . Leland  Mayfor 

&SVKane  . . Doro  Meran, 

ofccer  Keuy 

Mr.  Sadowsky  .........  William  Thourll 


“This"  Is  Goggle"  is  an  em] 
pjay  about  an  unpleasant  pretei 
ager.  Although  an  opening-nii 
audience  managed  a  few  laughs 
the  antics  of  the  bratty  child  a 
his  harassed  parents,  the  come 
is  unsatisfying. 

Bentz  Plagemann's  pedestr 
situations,  built  around  the  irrit 
ing  urchin,  his  equally  unattr 
tlve  pals  and  the  long-suffer 
parents,  are  tedious..  In  the  thr 
year  span  covered  by  the  play  i 
youngster  grows  from  a\thoroug 
obnoxious  brat  into  a  self-satisf 
png  too  old  for  his  years.  " 

„  The  title  part  is  well-played 
English  import  Michel  Ray,  cons 
ering  the  unsympathetic  nature 
character.  In  an  over-long  fi 
a?‘  P^y  shows  the  tribulatii 
of  .  ,e  author-parent  work 
against  the  odds  of  demonic  cl 
dren  m  a  small  Manhattan  apz 
ment. 

..But  a  move  into  the  Country 

tnen/^Wd^Ct  ,letS  the  SUdiei 
know  that  this  play  really  is  ab 
the  ,J°y  and  not  his  father.  1 
smalt-alecky  youngster  manages 
make  life  even  more  miserable 
*uS  ?^Fents  in  the  new  setting, 
the  third  act  the  lad  is  sent  to 
.League  boarding  school  t 
bis  father  once  attended  and  s 
denly  becomes  a  model  of 

correct”  behavior  fostered 
such  an  institution. 

James  Daly  manages  to  stay  li 
able  as  the;  father,  with  Kim  H 
ter  believable  as  the  mother.  ] 
the  play  really  begins  to  take  sh; 
midway  in  the  second  act  with 


entrance  of  a  spinster,  delightfully 
played  by  Doro  Merande. 

Producer-director  Otto  Premin¬ 
ger  has  his  work  cut  Out  for  him 
to  do  anything  with  *This  Is  Gog¬ 
gle."  His  cutting  started  before  the 
opening,  with  two  scenes  trimmed 
from  the  third  act  If  the  writing 
had  been  Up  to  the  creativity  of. 
Boris  Aronson's  unusual  sets,  the 
play  might  have  had  a  chance. 

I  .  ,  ‘  Bitt.  • 


Portofino 

Philadelphia,  Jan.  25. 

Richard  Ney  production  of  two-act 
musical  comedy,  with  book  and  lyrics  by 
Ney,  score  by.  Louis  Bellson  and  Will 
Irwin.  Staged  by  John  Larson;  chore¬ 
ography,-  Charles  Weldman;  scenery  and 
lighting,  Wolfgang  Roth;  costumes,  Pat¬ 
ton  Campbell;  musical  director..  Irwin; 
orchestrations,  PhU  Lang.  Stars  Georges 
Guetary,  Helen  Gallagher,  Robert  Strauss; 
features  Jan  Chaney.-  Dick  Price.  At 
Erlanger  Theatre,  Philadelphia,  Jan,  25, 
*58;  $5  top. 

Nicky  . 


Kitty  .  . . 

Padre 

Guido.  . . 

Angela  . . 

Sandro  ............... 

Tullio  . - . . . 

Tavern  Keeper  ....... 


.  Georges  Guetary 
.  Helen  Gallagher 
.  ;  Robert  Strauss 
,  .  Robert  Strauss 
Jan  Chaney 

. . Dick  Price 

:  Darryl  Richards 
Webb  Tilton 


The  new  musical  comedy,  “Porto¬ 
fino,"  here  for  a  scheduled  three- 
week  tryout,  is  apparently  beyond 
doctoring  hope.  It's  lamentably 
wantinff^Tn  virtually  everything  a 
good  show  should  have. 

The  setting  is  the  title  town  in 
contemporary  Italy,  but  the.  slow 
story  is  tactically  the  opposite  of 
the  intended  glamor  and.  seductive¬ 
ness.  The  operetta-type  libretto 
deals  with  a  cynical .  Italian  duke 
who  falls  for  an  auto-racing  Texas 
gal,  also  of  the  sbow-me  sort.  The 
duke's  son  is  also  smitten,  and 
added  complications  involve  the 
local  padre  and  his  sinister  double. 

Former  screen  actor  Richard  Ney 
is  the  show’s  producer,  librettist- 
lyricist  and,  according  to  the  pro¬ 
gram,  has  composed  one  of  the 
songs.  Louis  Bellson  and  Will 
Irwin,  credited  with,  most  of  the 
music,  have  come  up  with  a  few 
agreeable  tunes  .  In  “No  Wedding 
Bells  for  Me/'  “Beware  of.  Love” . 
and  “Isn’t  It  Wonderful,"  but  per¬ 
haps  the  best  to  be  said  for  the 
score  is  that  it’s,  better  than  the 
book. 

Among  the  amiable  and  willing 
[performers  involved  are  Georges 
Guetary,  imported  from  Paris  to 
sing  and  act  the  role  of  the  duke, 
Helen  Gallagher  as  the  American 
girl  and  Robert  .  Strauss  in  the  dual 
part  of  the  padre  and  an  Italian 
villain,  Jan  Chaney  and  Dick  Price 
:  are  pleasant  as.  a  younger  romantic 
team. 

Charles  Weidman’s  choreography . 
is  uninspired,  although  the  dances 
do  provide  interludes  from  the 
book.  Wolfgang  Roth  has  provided 
nice  scenery,  but  John  Larson’s 
staging  seems  merely  adequate. 

Waters. 


Stock  Review 


Heat  of  Noontide 

Dallas,  Jan.  9. 

Ramsey  Burch  production  nf  comedy  in 
three  acts  by  Kate  Farrtess.  Features 
Martha  Bumpas, 'Charles  Braswell.  Bruce 
HalL  Staged  by  Burch;  technical  direction. 
James  Pringle:  At  Theatre  '57,  Dallas, 
Dec.  31.  *58;  $3.50  top.. 

Alice  Hutchins  . . . . » .  Carol  Southard 

Helen  Newell  . .  Sadie  French 

Marcia  Clayton. .  .  .Ronnie  Claire  Edwards 

Guadalupe  OTIalloran _ ..Gerry  Johnson 

Jane  Sargent  ...  Bea  Shaw 

Sage  Kendall  . ... ,  ..... .  Martha  Bumpas 

Dr.  Thomas  -  Jeffcott - Charles  .  Braswell 

Dominic  DjakoVic  ....... .  .  .  Bruce  Hall 


This  comedy  succeeds  as  a  pleas¬ 
ant  evening.  The  chuckles  roll 
throughout  and  brighter  bits  even 
rate  yocks.  The  Kate  Farriess  play 
could,  have  a  future  on  -larger 
boards,  and  migh*be  tagged  as  film 
fodder. 

Authoress  has  channelled  her 
effort  in  familiar  ground,;  since 
she’s  the  wife  of  an  Arizona  med¬ 
ico  and  the  theme  uncovers  the 
gripes  of  four  doctors’  wives  in 
Tucson,  somewhat  suggestive  of  the 
femme  self-expose  in  “The  Wom¬ 
en."  The  first  and  second  acts  are 
brisk,  but  the  third  sags. 

Ramsey  Burch’s  excellent  direc¬ 
tion-  keeps  the  oomedy  ahead 
throughout.  Martha  Bumpas  is  ex¬ 
pert  as  a  faithful  wife.  Carol 
Southard,  Sadie  French  and  Ron¬ 
nie  Claire  Edwards  are  also  funny 
as  they  lament  the  shortchanging 
of  their  wedded  lives;  Abetting  the 
distaff  humor  are  Bea  Shaw  as  an 
unwed  artist  who  referees  roman¬ 
tic  problems  and  Gerry  Johnson; 
who  as  a  Mexican  maid,  with  an 
unseen  Irish  spouse. 

As  the  unattached,  pursuing  doc¬ 
tor,  Charles  Braswell  is  legitimate¬ 
ly  diverting  and  Bruce  Hall,  adds 
dignity  as  a  recently  bereaved  but 
again  willing  benedict.  James 
Pringle's  living  room  set  .  amply 
suffices  for  this  active  comedy. 

Bark. 


Off-Fway  Reviews 


Tile  Boy  Friend 

William  T^n«u«.  presentation  of  thf  New 
Princes*  Co.  revival  of  three-act  musical 
comedy  by  Sandy  Wilson.  Staged  by  Gus 
Schirmer  Jr.i  dances  and  musical  num¬ 
bers,  Buddy  Schwab;  settings  and  light¬ 
ing.  -Charles  Brandon;  costumes,  Joe 
Crosby;  musical  direction.  Natalie  Chan¬ 
son;  piano.  Miss  Charlson;  banjo,  John 
Monaco;  drums,  Marvin  Rubinstein. .  At , 
Downtown  Theatre,  N.Y.,  Jan.  25.  *58; 
$4.60  top. 

Cast:  Adele  Aron,  Christina  Gillespie, 
Gerianne  Raphael.  Michele  Burke.  June 
.  Squibb,  EUen  -  McCown,  Thom  Molinaro. 
Neal  Kenyon,  Evelyn  Page.  Peter  Conlow. 
Leon -Shaw,  Bill  Mullikln,  David  Vaughan, 
Phoebe  ’McKay,  •.* 


“The  Boy  Friend,”  which  hod  a 
485-performance  run  on  Broadway 
three  years  ago, -is  back  as  an  off- 
Broadway  revival,  and  nostalgic 
revisitors  may  be  a  little  disap¬ 
pointed.  Although  strict  compari¬ 
son  would  be  unfair,  the  economic 
factors  being  so  different,  it  must 
be  noted  that  the  present  show 
tends  to  translate  Sandy  Wilson’s 
Satire  into  burlesque. 

The  performance  quality  is  good, 
the  revival’s  broader  slant  appa¬ 
rently  being  the  contribution  of 
director  GUs  Schirmer,  Jr.,  who 
packaged  and  staged  the  same 
show  for  a  strawhat  tour  last  sum¬ 
mer.  The  laUghs  of  a  summer  night 
are  different  than  those  looked  for 
by  an  increasingly  discriminate 
bff-Broadway  clientele,  especially 
when  the.  latter  will  make  inevi¬ 
table  comparison  with  the  Broad¬ 
way  original.  ^ 

As  principal  hoofer,  Peter  Con- 
low  is  well  with  it,  his  “Won’t  You 
Charleston  With  Me?",  done  with 
effervescent  Gerianne  .  Raphael, 
setting  ai  promising  standard  in  the 
first,  act  that  isn’t  reached  again 
duriiig  the  show.  “I  Could  Be 
Happy  With  You”  is  as  appealing 
a*  ever,  and  Ellen  McKown  sings 
it  gracefully;  as  well  as  acquitting 
herself  with  individual  merit  in; 
the  role  that  Julie  Andrews  origi¬ 
nated  here. 

Leon  Shaw’s  fastidious  restraint 
as  a  middle-aged  Britisher  gets  its 
quota  of  laughs.  As  one  of  the 
perfect  young  ladies,  June  Squibb 
demonstrates  a  marked,  flair  for 
squealy  comedy,  while  Evelyn 
Page  is  in  excellent  voice  and  form 
as  the  head-nflstress. 

If  a  $4.60  top,,  and  seating  and 
seeing  discomforts*  aren’t  too  dis¬ 
couraging,  “The  Boy  Friend"  may 
linger  at  the  Downtown  Theatre, 
Audiences  bent  on  renewing  old 
acquaintance,  however,  may  reflect, 
that  this  isn’t  “The  Boy  Friend" 
they  used,  to  know.  Gear. 


The  Cocktail  Party 

:  Equity  Library  Theatre,  Inc.  revival  of 
three-act  comedy-drama  by  T.  S.  Eliot. 
Staged  by  M.  F.  Robel;  setting,  Dehorth 
Weissmam  lighting.'  Barbara  Richter;  cos¬ 
tumes,  Donnie  Esther  Welch.  At  Lenox 
HiU  Playhouse,  N.Y.,  Jan.  11.  *58;  admis¬ 
sion  by  contribution. 

Cast:  William  Harahan,.  Mas  Marmy, 
Paulette  Girard.  Nick  Savlahe.  Barton 
Hill.  Harry  Dinwiddle.  Gerry  Jedd,  Don¬ 
nie  Father  Welch.  Charles  Parmalee. 


Granted  that  T.  S.  Eliot's  ‘The 
Cocktail  Party"  is  a  difficult  play, 
requiring  understanding  direction 
and  expert  acting,  it  is  still  hard  to 
accept  Equity  Library  Theatre’s 
revival  as  a  professional  produc¬ 
tion.  Since  a  prerequisite  of  ELT 
casting  is  an  Equity  card,  however. 
It  must  be.  assumed  that  the.  com¬ 
pany  is*-,  by  definition,  professional, 
and  not  some  suburban  dramatic 
society.  By  the  very  mildest  stand¬ 
ards;  the  show  Is  a.  dire  effort. 

When  Eliot’s  religio-philosophic 
dramatic  treatise  took  New  York 
by  controversial  storm  In  early 
1950,  its  success  was  said  to  be  a 
considerable  surprise  to  its  author, 
as  it  certainly  was  to  its  detrac¬ 
tors.  A  play  of  ideas  is  always  a 
tough  production  assignment,  and 
when  it’s  a  poetic  play  at  that,  the 
task  is  harder  still. 

The  direction  has  not  had  the 
clarity,  emphasis  and  incisiveness 
necessary  to  meet  Eliot  on  his  own 
ground.  Nor  has  stager  M.  F.  Robel 
found  a  cast  capable  of  coping  with 
the  author’s  metaphysicisms,  Since 
it’s  open  casting  at  ELT,  either 
proper  actors  were  unavailable, 
uninterested,  or  Miss  Robel  .de¬ 
feated  herself,,  with  her  casting 
before  reheasals  began. 

Two  who  try  with  credit  are 
actresses  Gerry;  Jedd  and  . Paulette 
Girard.  As  a  wife  who.  successfully, 
returns  to  her  husband  after  es¬ 
trangement,  Mfcs  Jedd  has  suffU 
cient  energy  and  technic  to  draw  a 
concise  portrait,  while  Miss  Girard, 
as:  the  young  woman  whose  self- 
sacrifice  is  pivotal  to  Eliot’s  mes¬ 
sage,  has  an  evident  sincerity  that 
helps  her  transcend  some  of  the 
role’s  trickier  aspects. 

.  The  rest  of  the  company  brave 
it  out.  according  to  their  disparate 
gifts,  but  they  are  simply  the  vic¬ 
tims  of  a  -hard  play,  unfortunate, 
casting  and  limited  direction. 


Dennis  King  has  bowed  out  as 
director  of  “Cloud  7/'  now  trying 
out  in  Philadelphia. 


Show  on  Broadway 


The  Body  Beautiful 

Richard  Kollmer  Je  Albert  Selden  pres¬ 
entation  of  two-part  <18  numbers)  musical 
comedy,  with  book  by  Joseph  Stein  and 
Will  Glickman.  music  by  Jerry  Bock, 
lyrics  by  Sheldon  Harnlck.  Feature*  Mindy 
Carson,  Jack  Wardcgi,  Steve  Forrest,  Lon¬ 
nie  Sattln,  Mara  Lynn,  Barbara  McNair. 
Production  staged  by  George  Scheafer; 
dances  and  musical  numbers  staged  by 
Herbert  Res*;  musical  direction  and  vocal 
arrangements,  MUto.  Greene;  orchestra¬ 
tions,  Ted  Royal;  ha  t  music.  Genevieve 
Pitot;  settings. and  L  itlng.  WUllam  and 
Jean  Eckart;  costum.  a.  Noel  Taylor.  At 
Broadway  Theatre.  Jan.  23,  *58;  $8.05  top 
($11.50  opening). 

Dave  . . . 


Albert  . . 
Harry  .  .  .; 
Bob  . . . . . . 

Ann  . . . . . 

Dominic  .. 
Eddie  .... 

Richie  ... 
Florence  . 
Boxer  ; ... 
Handler 
Frank 
Nicky  , 


. .  Jack  Warden 
William  Hickey 
..  Lonnie  Sattln 
. . .  Steve  FoTrest 
Mindy  Carson 
Edward  Becker 
...;  Tom  Raskin 
.  .  .  Bob  Wlensko 
.  .  .  Jane  Romano 
...  Bill  Richards 
Knute  Sullivan 
.  Richard  Chltos 
Tony  Atkins 


Trainer  . . .  Albert  PopweU 

Boxer . Bob  Wlensko 

Marge  . . .  . .  . .  Barbara  McNair 

Jane  . .  Helen  Silver 

Kathy  . . . . . . . . .  Kathie  Forman 

Danny  ................  Tommy  Halloran 

George  . . Armand  Boney 

Artie  . Jeff  Roberts 

Josh  . Alan  Weeks 

Pete  , . . ; . . . Richard  DeBella 

Phil  . . Edmund  Gaynes 

Announcer ......  Jack  DeLon 

Reporters-. . Mace  Barrett.  Harry  Lee 

Bogers,  Mitchell  Nutlck. 

Stanley  Papich 

Gloria  . . . . . .  Mara  Lynn 

Campbell  . .  - . . .  - . .  Mark  Allen 

Men.. . Knute  Sullivan.  Jack  DeLon 

Ben  . -.  Joe  Ross 

Singers:  '  Dorothy  AuU.  Mace  Barrett. 
Edward  Becker,  Jack  DeLon.  Bette  Gra¬ 
ham.  Buzz  Halllday,  .Mary  'Louise,  Broc 
Peters.  Tom  Raskin,  Joe  Ross.  Knute  Sulli¬ 
van,  Bob  Wlensko. 

Dancers:  Bob  Daley.  Ethelyne  Durifee, 
Shellle  FarreU,  Jeanna  Belkin,  Patti  Kbit. 
Patsl  King.  Louis  Kosman.  Ralph  McWil¬ 
liams.  Mitchell  Nutlck.  Stanley  Papich. 
Albert  Popwell.  Nora  Reho,  Bill  Richards. 
Harry  Lee  Rogers,  Yvonne  Othon,  James 
McAnany. 

Songs:  "Where  Are  They?**  "The. Body 
Beautiful,*'  .  ‘Tffft,**  "Fair  Warning,** 
"Leave  WeU  Enough  Alone,*’  "Blonde 
Blues/’  "Uh-huh,  Oh  Yeah/*  "All  These 
and  More/*  "Nobility/*  “Summer  IS." 
"The  '  Honeymoon  Is  Over/*  "Just  My 
Luck,”  "Art  of  Conversation/*  "Gloria,” 
'A  Relatively  Simple  Affair/* 


They’ve  gotten  away  with  musi¬ 
cals  about  gamblers  .and  molls, 
baseball  and  the  Faustian  legend, 
and  even  about  ex-prostitutes  and 
juvenile  gang  warfare,  so  It’ll  be 
interesting  to  see  whether  the  pub¬ 
lic  will  go  for  a  song  and  dance 
show  about  prizefighting.  "Battling 
Butler,"  a  musical  comedy  about 
the  beak-busting  biz,  was  a  hit  In 
1923-24,  so  it  can  be  done. 

There’s  One  serious  hitch  to  “The 
Body  Beautiful,”  however.  This  ex¬ 
travaganza  about  pugs  and  stumble- 
bums,  conniving  managers,  avari¬ 
cious  strumpets  and  a  collar-ad  ro¬ 
mantic  twosome  lacks  the  sort  of 
inspiration  or  skill  of  a  “Guys  and 
Dolls,"  “Damn  Yankees,"  “New 
Girl  In  Town"  and  “West  Side 
Story."  This  is  a  routine  and  taste¬ 
less  show. 

“Body  Beautiful"  isn’t  down¬ 
right  bad.  It.has  amusing  moments. 
Grant  the  novelty  ,  of  the  subject 
and  characters*  but  the  Joseph 
Stein  and  Will  Glickman  book  Is  of 
about  the  level  of  “Stover  at  Yale,” 
and  the  songs  by  Jerry  Bock  (mu¬ 
sic)  and  Sheldon  Harnlck  (lyrics) 
seem  ordinary,  at  least  on  the  basis 
of  a  single  hearing, 

There  are  capable  performances 
by  Mindy  Carson  as  a  prizefight 
manager’s  melodious  secretary, 
Jack  Warden  as  the  harried  man¬ 
ager  just  a  kited  check  ahead  of 
two  grasping  ex-wives,  Steve  For¬ 
rest  as  a  stalwart  former  college 
boxing  champ  who  tries  to  make  it 
as  a  pro  in  order  to  Impress  a 
group  of  street  urchins  and  the 
manager’s  secretary.  Also,  Lonnie 
Sattln  as  a  fighter  who  knows  his 
business,  Barbara  McNair  as  his 
bright-eyed  wife  and  Mar&  Lynn  as 
a  droll  pseudo-innocent. 

A  somewhat  suspiciously  enthu¬ 
siastic  audience  just  about  tore  the 
house  down  on  various  occasions 
opening  night,  mostly  for  rather 
ingeniously  staged  numbers,  in¬ 
cluding  a  ringside  duet  by  Sattin 
and  Miss  McNair,  a  blatant  dance 
by  Miss  Lynn,  a  rock  ’n’  roll  num¬ 
ber  by  the  street  kids  in  the  Elvis 
Presley  planner,  a  relaxed  softshoe 
number  by  Warden  and  Miss  Lynn, 
an  unpleasant  song  about  marriage 
by  Miss  Lynn,  Jane  Romano  and 
Helen;  Silver,  and  a  funny  scene  in 
which  a  fully-dressed  Warden 
makes  a  deal  in  a  steam  bath. 

Miss  Carson  impresses  not  only 
as  a  singer  but  also  as  a  musical 
comedy  player,  while  Warden  has 
admirable  credibility  and  drive  as 
the  manager  with  an  unquenchable 
yen  for  acquisitive  blondes,  For¬ 
rest  is  believable  as  the  hunk  of 
man  from  Dartmouth,  Sattin  is 
convincing  and  ingratiating  as  the 
Negro  fighter  and  Miss  McNair  has 
contagious  sparkle  as  his  wife. 

Most  of,  the  William  and  Jean 
Eckart  scenery  appears  rather 
standard,  but  there’s  one  notable 
setting  that  turns  around 'to  reveal 
a  tobacco  smoke  -  fogged,  spot¬ 
lighted  fight  ring.  Noel  Taylor’s 
costumes  seems  passable.  The 
show  is  batoned  .with  apparent  skill 
by  Milton  Greene,  and  the  Herbert 


Ross  dances  stress  novelty  rather 
than  grace  or  attractive  patterns. 
The  show  is  presented  by  Richard 
Kollmar  and  Albert  Selden. 

Hobe. 


Sommer  of  tbe  1 7th  Boll 

Theatre  Guild  Sc  Playwrights  Co.;  by 
arrangement  with  the -Australian  Eliza¬ 
bethan  Theatre  Trust  and  St.  James 
Players,  Ltd.  presentation*  of  three-act 
(five  scenes)  comedy-drama  by  Ray  Law¬ 
ler.  Staged  by  John  Sumner;  scenery 
designed  by  Anne  Fraser,  supervised  -  by- 
Marvin  Reiss:  production  associate,  War¬ 
ren  Caro.  Features  June  Jago,  -  Kenneth 
Warren,  Ray  Lawler,  Madge  Ryan,  Ethel 
Gabriel.  Fenella  Maguire.  Rlchlrd.  Pratt, 
At  Coronet  Theatre,  N.Y., .  Jan.  22,  *58; 
$8.80  top  ($8.05  opening). 

Pearl  Cunningham. . . . Madge  Ryan 

,  Fenella  Magulr* 
.........  June  Jago 

.....  Ethel  Gabriel 

. Ray  Lawler 

, . .  Kenneth  Warren 
....  Richard  Pratt 


Bubba  Ryan 
OUce.  Leech  .. 
Emma  Leech  . 
Barney  Ibbot 
Roo  Webber  . . 
Johnnie  Dowd 


Having  chosen  fo  retain  the  in¬ 
terminable,  almosy  completely  ex¬ 
traneous  first  scene  of  “Summer  of 
the  17th  Doll,"  the  management 
should  leave  the  house  lights  on 
until  the  second  scene.  Without 
missing  anything  essential,  the 
audience  could  Use  the  time  to 
read  some  of  the  articles,  in  The 
Playbill,  including  an  explanation 
of  the  play’s  references,  .by  play-: 
wright-actor  Ray  Lawler,  and  a 
piece  by  Theatre  Guild  sachem 
Lawrence  Langner  about  the 
show’s  history. 

When  Lawler  finally  gets  around.: 
to  it,  along  about  the  middle  of  the 
third  act,  “Summer  of  the  17th 
Doll"  is  a  fairly  absorbing  play. 
The  exasperating  first  act,  however, 
and  even  much  of  the  second  act, 
are  a  staggering  hurdle  and  prob¬ 
ably  limit  this  Australian  import 
(by  way  of  London)  to  a  brief  run. 
It’s  a  cinch  to  make  money,  though, 
if  only  on  the  prior  film  Sale,  the 
Guild  subscription  sdpport  and 
sortie  advance  interest,  and  sale. 

“Summer  olthe  17th  Doll"  isn’t 
easy  to  describe  or  Summarize 
briefly.  Its  characters  and  situa¬ 
tion  are  presumably  indigenous,  to 
Australia  filone.  The  play  involves 
a  group  of  sugar  cane-cutters  and 
the  Melbourne  barmaids,  with 
whom '  they  dally  during  the  De- 
cember-April  summer  layoff.  Each 
summer,  one  of  these  brawny  Lo¬ 
tharios  has  brought  a  souvenir  doll 
(the  sort  that  used  to  be  called 
Kewpie)  to  his  sweetheart  as  a.  sort 
pf  sentimental  gesture. 

This  17th  summer,  however,  one 
of  the  barmaids  is  no  longer,  on 
hand,  .having  been:  married  while 
the  cane-cutters  were  working  up 
north.  Although  another  barmaid 
is  persuaded  to  subtitute,  she's 
squeamish  and  disapproving,  and 
things  aren’t  the  same.  There’s 
finally  a  blowup  in  the  third  act, 
and  the  author  makes  his  point, 
that  there  comes  a  time  when  $ 
everyone  must  accept  maturity. 

“Doll"  is  moderately  interesting 
as  a  picture  of  an  unfamiliar  way 
of  life,  and  it  is  played  with  a  sort 
of  earnest  vigor  by  the  original 
Australian  cast  that  appeared  in 
it  for  a  year  Down  Under  and  for 
seven  months  in  London.  There 
is  an  appealing  performance  by 
June  Jago  as  the  incurably  childish 
heroine,  while  Kenneth  Warren  is 
properly  rugged  as  her  ever-lovin’ 
cane-cutter. 

The  author  gives  a  hearty  por¬ 
trayal  of  a  garrulous  seasonal  lover 
who  isn’t  the  heart-breaker  he 

used  to  be,  Ethel  Gabriel  is  con¬ 
vincing  as  the  heroine’s  observant 
mother,  Madge  Ryan  Is  plausible 
as  the  stand-in  light  o’  love  and 
there  are  believable  supporting 
performances  by  Fenella  Maguire 
as  a  /positive  young  lady  from  next 
door  and  Richard  Pratt  as  a  virile 
newcomer  whose  arrival  precipi¬ 
tates  the  climactic  flareup. 

The  .  show  has  been  competently 
staged  by  John  Summer,  with  a 
passable  if  not  very  imaginable 
setting  by  Anne  Fraser,  Inciden¬ 
tally,  “Doll"  has  the  making  of  a 
fine  picture,  not  only  because  of 
its  colorful  and  unusual  locale,  but 
also  by  reason  of  the  sweep  and 
movement  possible  in  the  offstage 
action.  Hobe. 


Marcel  Marceau 


Ronald  A.  Wilford  Associates,  Inc.  Sc 
Jean  de  Rigault  presentation  of  two-part 
program  of  pantomime.  Stars  Marcel  Mar- 


There’s  not  much  to  be  added  to 
previous  comment  about  Marcel 
Marceau.  His  virtuoso  pantomime 
bowled  ,  over  New  York  two  years 
ago,  first  at.  the  off-Broadway 
Phoenix  Theatre,  then  moving  to 
the  Barrymore  Theatre  for.  a  Broad¬ 
way  run  and  finally  grossing  over 
$100,000  in  two  triumphant  weeks 
at  the  City.  He’s  in  for  a  four-week 
stand  this  time,  and  should  clean 
up  for  .hiinself  and  the  house. 

For  the  present  engagement, 
Marceau  is  offering  most  of  the 
same  of  his  own  selections,  but  has 
I  Gilles  Segal,  also  doing  solo  pan- 
1  (Continued  on  page  69) 


68 


legitimate 


Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


Tony  Pelley,  general  stage  man- 1 
ager  of  the  English  Stage  Co,, 
which  produced  “The  Entertainer” 
in  London,  arrived  in  Boston  last 
week  to  assist  in  mounting  the 
John  Osborne  play  At  the  Shubert 
Theatre  there  where  it  opened  last 
night  (Tues.l.  Neil  Hartley  is  gen¬ 
eral  stage  manager  of  the  presen¬ 
tation,  having  moved  over  from  a 
similar  assignment  on  the  Broad¬ 
way  production  of  “Jamaica.” 

Clayre  Ribner,  general  manager 
for  producers  Howard  Ersldne  and 
Joseph  Hayes,  leaves  next  Sunday 
(2)  for  her  annual  five-week  Key 
West  vacation. 

'  Don  Glenn,  assistant  manager 
and  pressagent  at  the  Shubert] 
Theatre,  New  Haven,  is  in  the 
Grace-New  Haven  Hospital  for] 
curgery.  .  .  ■ 

Phil  Adler,  general  -  company 
manager,  for  the  Broadway  produc¬ 
tion  of  “My  Fair  Lady,”  left.  New 
York  last  week  for  a  fortnight's 
Florida  vacation..  Sam  Handlesmah 
is  subbing  as  company  manager. 

Robert  Burton,  has  withdrawn 
r  from  the  cast  of  “Who  Was  That 
Lady  I  Saw  You  With?”  because  of 
revisions  in  the  comedy,  which  be¬ 
gins  a  pre-Broadway  tryout  tour 
.next  Wednesday  15). 

Producer  -  director  Herman 
Shnmlin  has  been  Called  in  as 
stager-consultant  on  “Interlock,” 
currently  breaking  in  out-of-town. 

Joe  Shea,  who  recently  finished 
his  advance  chores  for  “The  Rival¬ 
ry,”  is  going  out  on  the  road  again 
for  the  upcoming  post-Broadway 
•tour  of  “Visit,  to  a  Small  Planet,” 
which  is  scheduled  for  a  21-week 
trek,  mostly  as  Theatre  Gulld- 
American  Theatre  Society  sub¬ 
scription  entry. 

Morton  Da  Costa’s  royalty  as 
stager  of  “The  Music  Man”  is  3% 
of  the  gross,  plus  5%  of  the  profits. 
His  deal  for  “Auntie  Marne”  was 
for  2%  of  the  gross  for  both  the 
original  and  touring  companies  un¬ 
til  the  investment  was  recouped 
and  3%  thereafter,  plus  5%  of  the 
net.  His  royalty  from  “No  Time 
for  Sergeants”  was  1%  until  the 
cost  was  recouped,  then  2%  on 
both  companies,  plus  5%  of  the 
profits.  He  will  direct  the  film  edi¬ 
tion  of  “Marne,”  but  did  hot  have 
the  assignment  for  the  “Sergeants” 
picture. 

"The  Popiel  family  is  keeping 
busy  in  legit.  Louis  Popiel,  for¬ 
merly  head  electrician  for  Rodgers 
&  Hammerstein,  is  now  with  “Oh 
Captain.”  His  son,  Norman,  is  also 
an  *  electrician  with  the  musical, 
while  his  daughter,  Ruth,  is  a  pro¬ 
duction  assistant  on  the  Ethel  Lin¬ 
der  Reiner-Jack  Lawrence  presen¬ 
tation  of  “Maybe  Tuesday,”  cur¬ 
rently  trying  out  on  the  road. 

British  comedienne  Joyce  Gren¬ 
fell,  who’s  scheduled  to  present 
her  one-woman  show  on  Broadway 
this:  season  under  the  production 
auspices  of  Laurier  Lister  and 
Roger  L.  Stevens,  arrived  in  New 
York  from  London  last  week  on 
the  Queen  Mary.  Also  on  the  ship 
was  ballerina  Siren  Adjemova. 

Having  completed  three  years* 
apprenticeship,  Gertrude  Kirschner 
has  been  admited  to  membership 
in  the  Assn,  of  Theatrical  Press 
Agents  &  Managers,  and  is  now  an 
associate  with  Ted  Goldsmith  and 
Howard  Newman  in  Arthur  Can¬ 
toris  office,  handling  “Two  for  the 
Seesaw,”  "Music  Man,”  “Long 
“T5ay’s  Journey  Into  Night”  and 
“Auntie  Mame.” .  v 

Howard  Atlee  has  also  completed 
his  apprenticeship  and  been  ad- 


MAURICE  SEYMOUR 


PHOTOGRAPHER 
TO  THE  STARS 

ON  BROADWAY 
At  54th  St.,  New  York 

Phon»  for  Appointment  —CO  S-3133 


COMPOSER  -  CONDUCTOR 
SEEKS  CO-PRODUCER 

For  Off-B'way  Production  of  Interracial 
Choral*  in  unusual  musical  prasonta- 
ti  Investors  can  be  active  or  silent. 

L  A.  MIDDLETON 
CY  8-9865 


mitted  to  ATPAM  membership. 
He’s  associated  with  Robert  Gan- 
shaw,  occupying  the  former  offices 
of  Marian  Byram  and  Phyllis  Perl¬ 
man.  Mrs.  Byram  is  currently  in 
Naples,.  Fla.,  and.  Miss  Perlman  is 
out  ahead  of  Noel  CowaTd’s  “Nude 
With  Violin”  and  “Present 
Laughter.” 

Louis  Cnlp,  Ft.  Wayne  ad-pub¬ 
licity  man  and  former  manager  of 
the  Festival  Music  ^Theatre  there, 
is  recuperating  from  a  heart  at¬ 
tack  at  Parkview  Hospital,  Ft. 
Wayne. 

Richard  Homer  is  general  man¬ 
ager  and  Howard  Whitfield  produc¬ 
tion  stage  manager  for  the  upcom¬ 
ing  Broadway  production  of  “Blue 
Denim,” 


As  Critic  of  LA.  Times 

......  Los  Angeles,  Jan.  28. 

Edwiti  Schallert,  drama  editor- 
critic  or  the  LOs  Angeles  Times 
for  the  last  30-odd  years,  is  re¬ 
tiring  Feb.  15.  He’s  one  of  the  best 
known  legit  reviewers  in  the  west. 

Philip  K.  Scheuer,  Schallert’s  as¬ 
sistant,  will  take  over  as  editor  and 
critic,  with  John  L.  Scott  remain¬ 
ing  as  second-stringer  and  inter¬ 
viewer-reporter  and  Betty  Martin 

as  secretary. 

'ENTERTAINER’  ACTORS, 
SCENERY  EY  ASTRAY 

Boston,  Jan.  28. 

The  opening  of  “The  Entertain¬ 
er”  at  the  Shubert  Theatre  here 
tonight  (Tues.)  follows  a  series  of 
mishaps  m  the  overseas  transfer  of 
the  production  from  London,  Sev¬ 
eral  members  of  the  original  Brit¬ 
ish  cast  were  unable  to  phoneodi- 
rectly  to  their  destinations  because 
of  forced  landings  elsewhere.  The 
show’s  physical  setup,  instead  of  ] 
being  flown  directly  to  Boston  as 
planned,  wound  up  last  Wednesday 
(22)  in  New  York.. 

Laurence  Olivier,  who  costars  in 
the  John  Osborne  play,  was  due  in 
New  York  last  Wednesday  on  a 
direct  flight  from  London.  Adverse 
weather  forced  the  plane  to  land 
in  Baltimore,  however.  The  star] 
took  the  train  from  there  to  New 
York,  arriving  a  half-hour  late  for 
a  press  conference  at  the  Algon- ! 
quin  Hotel.  George  Relph  and  ] 
Branda  deBanzie,  also  costarring  in 
the  production,  didn’t  fare  any  bet¬ 
ter  than  Oliver.  They  took  a  differ-  I 
ent  flight,  but  also  landed  in  Balti¬ 
more.  =.  ] 

Richard  Pasco,  featured  in  the 
play,  was  luckier  than  his  col¬ 
leagues.  He  landed  in  Boston.  Joan 
Plowright,  who  also  appeared  in 
the  London  production  as^Dorothy 
Tutin's  successor  and  will  he: 
I  starred  here,  didn’t  have  any  trans- 
|  Atlantic  transportation  problem, 
[She  was  appearing  at  the  Phoenix 
Theatre,  N.  Y.,  in  the  double  bill; 
“The  Chairs”  and  “The  Lesson,” 
which  closed  last  Sunday  (26).  ”  | 

"Methuselah’  Wow  $52,000 
On  7-Show  Split-Week 

Birmingham,  Jan.  28.  • 

“Back  to  Methuselah,”  costarring 
Tyrone  Power,  Faye  Emerson  and 
Arthur  Treacher,  had  another; 
smash  frame  last  week,  grossing 
j  $52,000  in  a  five-way,  seven-per-; 
formance  split. 

Dates  played,  with  grosses  listed 
parenthetically,  were  one  perform-/ 
arice  Sunday  (19),  Civic,  New  Or¬ 
leans:  ($5,800);  one  performance 
Tuesday  (21).  Municipal  Audi¬ 
torium,  Shreveport,  La.  ($9,600); 
one  performance  Wednesday  (22), 
Robinson  Memorial  Auditoriurh, 
Little  Rock,  Ark.  ($8,700);.two  per¬ 
formances  Thursday-Friday  (23-24), 
Ellis  Auditorium,  Memphis  ($14,- 
300),  and  two  performances  Satur¬ 
day  (25),  Temple  here  ($13,600). 


P^RBEfr 

Bus-and-Truck  ‘Yankees’ 
$40,200  in  7-Show  Split 

Youngstown,  Jan.  28. 

.  The  bus-and-truck  company  of 
“Damn  Yankees,”  grossed  a  snappy 
$40,200  in  a  four-way,  seven-per¬ 
formance  split  last  week. 

Dates  played,  with  grosses  listed 
parenthetically,  were  one  perform¬ 
ance  Monday  (20),  Capitol;  Bing¬ 
hamton,  N.Y.  ($6,000);  one  perform¬ 
ance  Tuesday  (21),  Palace,  Albany 
($9,400);  one  performance  Wednes¬ 
day  (22),  State,  Syracuse  ($4,300), 
and  four  performances  Thursday- 
Saturday  (23-25),  Palace,  here  ($20,- 
500). 

'RIVALRY’ 22G  IN  6,  N.H.; 
MAY  NOT  PLAY  B’WAY 

New  Haven,  Jan.  28. 
Winding  up  ah  extended  tour, 
mostly  one-nighters  and  split- 
weeks,  “The  Rivalry”  started  slow¬ 
ly  but  built  tq  a  strong  weekend 
last  Tuesday-Saturday  (21-25)  at 
the  Shubert  Theatre  here.  There’s 
understood  to  .  be  uncertainty 
Whether  the  Paul  Gregory  produc¬ 
tion  of  Norwiri  Corwin's  historical 
drama  will  be  presented  on  Broad¬ 
way  next  season. 

The  Nixon  is  dark  this  week,  but 
future  .  bookings  Include  “Blue 
Denim,”  a  break-in,  Feb.  5-8;  “This 
Is  Goggle”,  tryout,  Feb.  10-15; 
“Say,  Darling,”  break-in,  Feb.  22- 
March  1;  ‘‘Love  Me  Little,”  break- 
in,  March  5-8,  and  the  touring 
‘.‘Diary  of  Anne.  Frank/’  March  31- 
April  5. 

Estimate  for  Last  Week 
Rivalry,  Shubert  (D)  (6  perks) 
($4.80;  1,650;  $33,000)  (Raymond 
Massey,  Agnes  Moorehead,  Martin 
Gabel).  Profital  $22,000. 


Hepburn  $38,000,  Det. 

Detroit,  Jan.  28. 

AH  three  local  legiters  are  dark 
this  week.  The  Shubert  relights 
Feb.  10  with  .  “Master  of  Thorn- 
field,”  starring  Errol  Flynn,  for  a 
single-week  break-in.  The  towing 
“Cat  on  a  Hot  Tin  Roof,’’  starring 
Victor  Jory,  is  slated  to  arrive 
Feb.  16  for  a  week  at  the  Shubert 
The:  Riviera  has  nothing  booked, 
but  the  Cass  relights  March  24 
with  “Visit  to.  a  Small  Planet,” 
starring  Cyril  Ritchard. 

Estimates  for  Last  Week 

Much  Ado  About  Nothing,  Rivie¬ 
ra  (C)  (2d  wk)  ($4.50;  2,700;  $50,- 
000)  (Katharine  Hepburn,  Alfred 
Drake).  Gorid  $38,000;  previous 
week,  $26,000;  exited  Saturday 
(25L 

Waltz  of  the  Toreadors,  Shubert 
(C)  (2d  Wk)  ($4;  2,050;  $35,000) 
(Melvyn  Douglas,  Betty  Field).  Oke 
$23,600;  previous  week,  $27,000; 
left  town  Saturday  (25).. 


British  Shows 

( Flgufes  denote  opening  dates) 
LONDON 

At  Drop  of  -  Hat,  Fortune  (1-24-57). 
Bells  Ringing,  Coliseum  *  (11-14-57). 

Boy.  Friend,  Wyndhsun's  (12-1-53). 

Bride  A  Bachelor,  Duchess  (12-19-56). 
•Dear  Delinquent,  Aldwycb.  (6-5-57). 
Dinner  With  Family,  New,. (12-10-57). 

Dry  Rot;  WhltehaU  m-31-54). 

Flowering  Cherry,.  Haymarket  (11-21-57): 
For  Amusement.  Only,  Apollo  (6-5-56). 
Freo  As  Air,  Savoy  (6-6-57). 

Grab  Me  a  Gondola,  Lyric  (12-26-56). 
Happiest  Mill.,  Cambridge  (11-15-57). 
Happy.  Man,  Westminster  (12-13-57). 
House  by  Lake,  York's  <3-9-56). 
Lovebirds,  Adelphi  >4-20-57)* 

Mousetrap,  Ambassadors  (11-25-52). 

New  Crazy  Gang,  Vic.  PaL  (12-18-56). 
Nude  With  violin.  Globe  (11-7-56). 

Odd  Man  In,  St.  Martin's  (7-1657). 
Paddle  Own  Canoe,  Criterion  (12-4-57). 
Plalslrs  De  Paris,  Wales  (4-20-57). 

Rap*  of  Belt,  Picadilly  (12-12-57). 
Repertory;  Old  Vic  (9-18-57). 

Roar  Llko  a  Dova,  Phoenix  (9-25-57), 
Sailor  Beware,  Strand  (2-16-55). 

Salad  Days,  Vaudeville  (8-5-54). 

•Share.  My  Lettuce,  Garrick  (9-25-57). 
Stranger  in  the  Sea,  Arts  (12-27-57). 
Tunnel,  of  Love,  Majesty's  (12-3-57). 
.^Transferred. 

SCHEDULED  OPENINGS 
Iceman  Cometh,  Arts  (1-29-58). 

Cat  on  Hot  Tin  Roof,  Comedy  (1-30,58: 
Touch  of  Sun,  Saville  (1-31-58). 

Potting  Shed,  Globe  (2-5-58). 

Hunter's  Moon,  Wint.  Gard.  (4-21-58). 

CLOSED  LAST  WEEK 
Egg,  Saville  (10-24-57). 

Sat.  Night,  at  Crown,  Garrick  (9-9-57). 
Tempest;  Drury  Lane  (12-5-57). 


George  Brandt,  producer  of  the  touring  “Cat  on  a  Hot  Tin  Roof,” 
starring  Victor  Jory;  denies  a  report  from  Boston  in  last  week’s  issue 
-that  the  Tennessee  Williams  drama  has  been  drastically  censored  in  its 
current  engagement  at  the  Wilbur  Theatre,  Boston.  As  approved  in  ad¬ 
vance  by  Audrey  Wood,  agent  fof  the  author,  certain  profanities  were 
deleted,  but  Brandt  says  that  he  .  persuaded  the  Boston  censor  to  al¬ 
low  references  to  sexual  relations  between  two  of  the  principal  char- 
actrs,  Big  Daddy  and  Big  Mamma,  to  remain  in  the  show. 

George  E.  Ryan,  drama  critic-columnist  of  The  Pilot,  Catholic  news¬ 
paper  in  Boston,  made  a  return  visit  to  “Cat”  and  commented  in  part, 
“Though  considerably  laundered  (of  certain  verbs  and  adjectives)  since 
its  opening  here  ,  .  .  ‘Cat  on  a  Hot.  Tin  Roof’  is  still  a  rasping,  uncom¬ 
monly  outspoken  peek  at  the  disintegration  of  one  southern  family. 
Many  of  the  really  offensive  words,  not  .  all  of  them  of  the  four-letter 
variety  and  some  of  them  significant  chiefly  in  the  land  of  corn  pone 
and  chitlins,  have  been  either  removed  or  are  so  smothered  as  to  be 
generally  inaudible.  For  this  .concession,  I  suppose,  we  can  be  thankful.” 


So  Buy  Say 

“The  terror  is  to  do  a  reading  when  you  $uddenly  don’t  get  your 
ability  and  knowledge  working  for  you.  That’s  the  horrible  thing, 
when  you’re  handed  £  script  ,  arid  you’re  expected  to  go  .put  and 
do  it,  and  you  haven’t  had  the  chance  to  study,  I  had  a  reading  for 
‘Say  Darling’  the  other  day.  I  felt  like  going  out  and  hanging  my¬ 
self  afterwards.  I  was  terrible  and  I  wouldn’t  have  hired  me,  al¬ 
though  I  think  I  was  right  for  the  part.  It  was  a  very  intimate 
.  scene  where  it  was  important  to  work  together,  arid  it  just  didn’t 
come  off.”— Ellen  Parker,  an  actress  whose  naine  was  picked  at 
random  for  the  purpose,  in  an  interview  in  the  Actors  Equity  .mag¬ 
azine; 


“In  March,  1957,  I  wrote  Mrs:  (Franklin  D.)  Roosevelt  asking 
permission  to  do  this  play.  My  letter  reaid  in  part,  ‘What  I  pro¬ 
pose  to  tell  is  the  story  of  a- man  and  the  people  around  him,  who 
after  an  ordeal,  emerged  strong  and  triumphant:  I  hope  to  write 
a  tribute  that  will  do  justice  to  a  phase  of  his  life.  I  pledge  my 
devotion  and.  whatever  skill  I  may  have  to  do  the  task’.”— Dore 
Schary,  in  .  a  by-line  story  in  the  N.Y.  Times  about  writing  “Sun¬ 
rise  at  Campobello,”  which  opens  tomorrow  night  (Thurs.)  at  the. 
Cort  Theatre,  N.Y. 


“My  royalties  from  ‘Winkelberg’  are  small,  but  I’ve  never  had 
more  fun  in  the  theatre,  or  seen  a  cast  hit  tlie  stage  each  night 
like  the  Marines  making  a  landing.”— Ben  Hecht.  Jn  a  letter  to 
John  McClain,  drama  critic-columnist  of  the  N.Y.  Journal-Amer- 
ican.  


‘INTERLOCK’ THIN  12G, 
‘TUESDAY’ $7,000,  WASH. 

Washington,  Jan.  28. 
Biz  was  slim  here  last  week  for 
both'  “Interlock”  and  “Maybe 
Tuesday.”  For 'a  couple  of  days  it 
was  uncertain  whether  “Interlock’* 
would  fold  at  the  end  of  its.  first 
Washington  -week,  or  whether 
drastic  script  changes  would  be 
made.  It  was  finally  decided  to 
take  the  tryout  to  Broadway.  Her¬ 
man  Shumlin  was  one  of  those 
reportedly,  called  in  as  play  doctor 
over  the  weekend. 

“This  Is  Goggle,”  a  tryout, 
opened  last  night  (Mon.)  at  the 
Shubert. 

Estimates  for  Last  Week 
Interlock,  National,  (D)  (1st  wk) 
($4.40-$4.95;  1,667;  $34,000)  (Ce¬ 
leste  Holm,  Maximlllion  Schell, 
Rosemary  Harris).  Light  $12,000; 
with,  one  favorable  notice  (Don¬ 
nelly,  News),  one  mixed  (Carmody, 
Star);  and  one  bad  (Coe,  Post- 
Times-Herald);  continues  this  week 
and  then  moves  on  to  New  York. 

Maybe  Tuesday,  Shubert  (C)  (2d 
wk)  ($4.40-$4.95;  1,550;  $37,000). 
Around  $7,000; !  previous  week, 
nearly  $6,000;  left  town  Satur¬ 
day  (25)  for  Broadway. 


Touring  Shows 

(  Jan.  27-Feb.  9) 

Auntie  Mem*  (2d  Co.)  (Constance  Ben¬ 
nett)— Nixon.-  Pitt.  (27-8). 

Back .  to  Methuselah  (tryout)  (Tyrone 
Power;  Faye  Emerson,  Arthur  Treacher) 
-rRyman  Aud.,  Nashville  (27);  Memorial 
Aud.,  Charleston,  W.  Va.  (28);  Keith 
Albee,  Huntington,  W.  Vw.  (30);  Veterans* 
Aud.,  Columbus  (31);  Music  HaU,  Cleve¬ 
land  (1);  Syria  Mosque,  Pitt.  (3);  Proctor's. 
Schenectady  (4);  Her  Majesty's,  Montreal 
(5-8)  (Reviewed  in  VARIETY.  .Jan.  22.  '58). 

Blue  Denim  (tryout).  (Chester  Morris) — 
Shubert,  New  Haven  (3-8). 

Canadian  Players— Southern  HI.  U. 
Aud.,  Carbondale  (27);  Duke  U.  Aud., 
Durham.  N.C.  (31);  Medical  College  of 
Georgia  Aud.,  Augusta  (4);  Wesleyan  Col¬ 
lege  Aud..  Macon.  Ga.  (5);  Barry  CoUege. 
Aud.,  Miami  (8). 

Cat  on  a  Hot  Tin  Roof  (Victor  Jory)— 
Wilbur,  Boston  (27-8).  o 

Cloud  7  (tryout)  (Ralph  Meeker,  Martha 
Scott)— Locust.  PhlUy  (27-1);  Ford's.  Balto 
(3-8)  (Reviewed  In  VARIETY.  Jan.  22.  '58). 

Damn  Yankees— Garfield.  M'wkee  (27-1); 
Murat,  Indpls.  (3-5);.  Purdue  U.,  Lafayette, 
Ind.  (6-7);  Paramount,  Toledo,-- O.  (8-9). 

Day  the  Money  Stopped  (tryout)  (Rich¬ 
ard  Basehart)— Walnut.  Phllly  (27-8). 

Diary  of  Anh*  Frank  (Joseph  Schlld- 
kraut)— Hanna,  Cleve,  <27-1);  Shubert, 
Cincy  (3-8).  1 

Entertainer  (tryout)  (Lauftnc*  Olivier) 
— Shubert,-  Boston  (28-8). 

8iSra*S!!l>M,r' PMseo”>- 

Int.r lock. (tryout)  (Celeste  Holm.  Maxi- 
millian  Schell,  Rosemary  Harris)— Na¬ 
tional, -Wash.  (27-D  (Reviewed  in  VARL 
ETY,  Jan.  22,  '58). 

Long  pay's  journey  Into  Night  (2d  Co.) 
(Fay  Bainter,  Anew  McMaster)— Erlanger. 
Chi  (27-8)* 

Middle  of  the  Night  (Edward  G.  Robin¬ 
son)— Great  Northern.  Chi  (27-8). 

Most  „HaiPPV  Fella— Shubert.  Cincy  (27- 
1); '  Blackstone,  Chi  (3-8). 

Much  Ado  About  Nothing  (Katharine 
Hepburn,  Alfred  Drake)— American,  St.  L, 
<27-1);  Hanna,  Cleve.  J3-8). 

My  Fair  Lady  (2d  Xo.)  (Brian  Aheme, 
Anne  Rogers)— Shubert.  Chi  (27-8). 

My  Fur  Lady  (Canadian)— Capitol. 
Ont.  (27);  Capitol.  Brantford. 
Out.  (28-29);  Palace.  HamUton,  Ont.  (3-1); 
Royal  Alexandra.  Toronto  (3-8). 

No  Tim*  for  Sergeants  (N.Y.  Co.)— U.  of 
Tenn.,  Knoxville  (27);  Tennessee  Theatre. 
Nashville  (28-29);  Tuscaloosa  fAla.)  H.S. 

Municipal  Aud.,  Thomasville, 
Ga.  (3);  Municipal  Aud.,  Orlando,  Fla.  (5); 
Peabody  Aud,,  Daytona  Beach.  Fla.  (6); 
Dade  County  Aud*.  Miami  -(7-9). 

No  Time  for  Sergeants  (Nat*l.  Co,)— 
Colonial.  B6sfon  (27-8). 

Portoflno  (tryout)  (George  Guetary, 
Helen  Gallagher,  Robert  Strauss) — Erlan¬ 
ger.  Phllly  (27-8). 

Separate  Tables  (Eric' Portman,  Geral¬ 
dine  Page)— Blackstone.  Chi  (27-1,  closes). 

This  is  Goggle  (tryout)  Kim  Hunter, 
James  Daly)— Shubert.  Wash.  (27-8). 
.Tunnel  of  Lovo  (Russell  Nype,  William 
Bishop)— .Alcazar,  S.F.  (27-8).  . 

Visit  to  •  Small  Planet  (Cyril  Ritchard) 
—Playhouse;  Wilmingtpn  (5-8). 

'  Wajtz  of  the  Toreadors  (Melvyn  Douglas, 
rietty  Field,  Lili  Darvas) — Forrest,  Philly 
(27-8). 

„  Who  Was  That  Lady  1  Say  You  With? 

(tryout)  (Peter  Lind  Hayes,  Mary  Healy, 
Ray  Walston)— Shubert,  Phllly  (5-8). 

Wlnesburg,  Ohio  (tryout)  (Dorothy  Mc¬ 
Guire,  James  Whitmore,  Leon  Ames)— 
Ford  s.  Balto  (27,1,  moves  to  N.Y.)  (Re¬ 
viewed  in  VARIETY,  Jan.  15.  *58). 


SCHEDULED  N.Y.  OPENINGS 

BROADWAY 

(Theatres  Set) 

Oh  Captain,  Alvin  (2-^58). 

Wlnesburg,.  Ohio,  National  (2-5-58). 
Interlock,  ANTA  (2-8-58). 

Cloud  Seven,  Golden  (2-11-58). 
Entertainer,  Royale  (2-12-58). 

Annie  Get  Your  Gun,  Center  -19-58). 
Portoflno,  Adelphi  (2-19-58). 

Day  Money  Stopped,  Belasco  (2-20-58). 
Waltz.  Toreadors,  Ambassador  (224-58). 
Blue  Danlm,  Playhouse  (2-27-58). ' 

Who  Was  That  Lady,  Beck  (3-3-58). 
Wonderful  Town,  Center  (3-5-58). 
International  Soiree,  Bijou  (wk.  3-10-38). 
Say  Darling,  ANTA  (4-3-58). 

Oklahoma,  Center  (3-19-58). 

Love  Me  Little,  Hayes  (4-9-58). 

(Theatres  Not  Set) 

This  Is  Google  6fk.  2-17-58). 

Artress  In  Love  (2-24-58). 

Back  to  Mathussalah'  (3-24-58). 

Hearts  A  Dollars  (4-3-58). 

Firstborn  (wk.  4-28-58). 

OFF-BROADWAY 

Infernal.  Machine,  Phoenix  (2-3-58). 
Obllgafto,  Theatre  Marquee  (2-18-58). 
Enemy  People,  Provlncetown  (2-25-58). 


Callas’Ghi  Mop-Up 

;  Continued  from  page  2 

occasion  and  turned  out  In  force, 
but  this  was  no  reserved  audience. 
It  gave  out  the  loudest  and  longest 
ovation  for  a  single  artist  heard 
here  in  years.  Even  Elvis  Presley 
.  at  the  Amphitheatre  last,  year  had 
nothing  on  Mme.  Callas.  She  sang 
approximately  45  min utes  and 
bowed  for  inore  than  the  remain¬ 
der  of  the  hour  in  a  Juror  of 
bravos. 

For  one  whose  choleric  tempera¬ 
ment  arid  “scenes”  are  probably 
more  famous  than  her  voice,  Mme. 
Callas  conducted  herself  with  ut¬ 
most  graciousness  and  charih.  *She 
was  not  only  refceptive  to  photo¬ 
graphers  and  press  onstage  and 
backstage,  she.  was  actually  sweet 
to  them,  and  they  descended  on 
her  Iri  numbers.  As  one  reporter 
described  it,  “The  press  covered 
the  event  as  if  it  were  the  Nor¬ 
mandy  invasion.” 

Next  day  the  Chicago  press  out- 
splashed  the  fonts  of  Rhine.  It  was 
frontpage  stuff  iri  all  but  the  Sun- 
Times,  and  even  in  tjhat  morning 
paper  it  was  thrice  covered — by  the 
news  desk,  arid  by  music  reviewer 
Robert  C.  Marsh.  The  Tribune  raif7 
Claudia  Cassidy’s  panegyric  on 
page  one— something  it  hasn’t  done 
in  over  10  years,  as  memory  serves, 
(the  last  review  to  be  so  dignified 
in  the  Trib  is  recalled  to  be  Miss 
Cassidy’s  piece  on  Dorothy  Doq.- 
egan  after  her  jazz,  concert  at 
Orchestra  Hall).  The  afternoon 
sheets,  Daily  News  and  American, 
each  gave  the  event  multiple  cover¬ 
age  and  a  frontpage  picture. 

Miss  Cassidy  stamped  the  Callas 
performance  as  “the  finest  she  had 
ever  sung  in  her  life;”  arid  all  four 
critics  rated  the  soprano  the  finest 
singing  actress  since  Sarah  Bern¬ 
hardt,  at  least.  Don  Henahan  of  the 
Daily  News  and  Marsh  of  the  Sun- 
Times  acknowledged  a  few  clinkers 
but  raved  over  the  performance  on 
the  whole.  Only  Roger  Dettirier  of 
the  American  dissented  and,  even 
so,  apologetically.  Dettmer  praised 
her  troupership  but  wrote,  “Maria 
Callas  sounds  to  be  in  big  vocal 
trouble-^how  serious  only  she  is 
equipped  to  measure  .  .  Unless 
cinema-slim  Callas  puts  on  20  lhs. 
(minimum)  while  completely  rest¬ 
ing  a  seriously  troubled:  soprano, 
there  may  be  rio  accounting  for  the 
consequences.” 

Mme.  Callas  was  accompariied  by 
the  Chicago  Symphony  Orchestra 
under  Nicola  Rescigno’s  leadership. 
Resclgrio  had  been  her  conductor 
during  her  two  seasons  with  Chi's 
Lyric  Theatre  (now  Lyric  Opera); 


Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


PfoUEff 


71 


obituaries 


ROBERT  R.  YOUNG 

Robert  R.  Young,  60,  financier 
and  N.Y.  Central  RiRi  chairman 
whose  interests  included 'the  mo¬ 
tion  picture  business,  Committed 
suicide  at  his  Palm  Beach,  Fla., 
home  Jan.  25. 

Story  in  picture  section. 

ROBERT  D.  LEVITT 

Robert  D.  Levitt,  .47*  former 
president  of  California  National 
.  Productions.- 'NBC’s  vidpix  subsidi¬ 
ary,  and  -former  publisher  of  the 
American.  Weekly,  died  J.an.  27  m 
East  Hampton,  L.  I.,  from  an  over¬ 
dose  of  barbiturates. 

Details  in  Television  Dept. 


WILL  KING 

Will  King;  72,  comedian.  Writer 
and  producer,  died  Jan.  22.  in  San 
Francisco.  .Mostly  associated  With 
show  business  west  of  the  Rockies; 
he  was  at  his  peak  during  the  hey-', 
day  of  vaudeville,  stage  bands  and 
traveling  shcW'S. 

He.  belonged  to.  a  generation  of 
Frisco  showmen  that  included 
Kolb  &  Dill,  Henry  Duffy,  Will 
Morrissey,  Paul.  Ash  and  others. 
Claire  Starr,  who  became  Mrs. 
King  in  1912,  appeared  in  many 
Coast  musicals,  of  King’s  devising: 
His  brother,  Hejrmie  King,  handled 
the  music  and  'doubled  in  comedy 
stooging.  *  * 

A  native  .  of  Brooklyn,  King  was 
brought  west  as  a  child  and  got  his 
start  as  a  ’.‘time  killer”  between 
vaude  acts  iri  Frisco’s,  old  Lyceum 
Theatre  at  the  turn  of  the  century. 
He  developed  as  a  Yiddish  comedy 
monologist,  teamed  with  Ben  Dil¬ 
lon  arid  Wrote  hundreds  of  musical 
travesties  in  which  they,,  together 
with  King’s  Wife,  played  the  leads. 

From  the  end  of  World  War  .  I  to 
1925  King  produced  vaude  road¬ 
shows.  In  1925  he  had  a  brief 
whirl  at  silent  fiifns  in.  Holly  Wood 
and  for  the  next  five  years  organ¬ 
ized  Fanchon  &  Marco  roadshows. 
He  quit  show,  business  in  1930  to 
operate  a  downtown  Frisco  restau¬ 
rant.  Seven  years  later  he  opened 
ah  after-theatre  spot  with  his  pi¬ 
anist-brother,  Hermie.  It  was  at 
Will  King’s  Koffee  Kup  that  singer 
Rusty  Draper,  got  his  Start. 

The  brothers  .  closed  the  Koffee 
Kup  four  years  ago  and  Will  re¬ 
tired. 

Surviving  are  his  wife,  brother 
and  two  sisters, 


GUSTAVO  CAMP  ANA 
Gustavo  Campana,  56,  leading 
Chilean  humorist  and  radio  Writer, 
died  Jan.  18  in  Santiago  of  a  heart 
attack.  Born  in  Punta  Arenas* 
Chile,  he:  studied  law  and  Spanish 
teaching  but,  according  to  his  own 
story,  graduated  as  a  humorist. 

He  originate^  one  of.  the  rriost 
popular  Santiago  radio  programs, 
“The  Chileari;  Family,”  14  years 
ago.  It  is  believed  to  be  one  of  the., 
oldest  radio  shows  iff  the  world 
for  it  is  still  going  strong,  arid  its 
characters  have  almost  part  ,  of 
domestic  legend. 

During:  the  course  of  Campana’s 
career,  he  also  wrote  30  plays  and 
40  musical  shows.  He  was  presi¬ 
dent  of  the  Chilean  Theatrical 
Authors  Society  and  director  of 
the  National  Drama  Department 
of  the  U.  of  Chile.  In  .  1957  .  he 
visited  the  U.S.  as  a  guest  of  the 
Slate  Department, 

His  wife  and  two  daughters 
survive. 


ing  the  Cort,  George  M.  Cohan  and 
48th  Street  Theatre. 

-  In  1937,  he  produced  “Young 
Madame  Conti  ”  at  the  Music  Box 
with  Constance  Cummings.  .  In 
.1945,  he  and  .Victor  Payne-Jen-: 
nirigs  roduced  “Happily  Ever 
After”  arid  “Therese;” 

Wife  and  brother  survive;. 


HARRY  JENTES 

Harry  Jentes,  a  pianist-composer, 
died  Jan.  19  in  New.  York.  Among 
his'  piano  pieces  were_  “California 
Sunshine”,  “Cat’s  Pajamas”  and 
“Spell  of  the  Bayou.”  His  songs 
include  “Put  Me  to  Sleep  With  an 
Old  Fashioned  Melody,”  “I  Don’t 
Wairit  to  Get  Well  (I’m  in  Love 
With  a  Beautiful  Nurse),”  “All.  By 
Myself,”  “Way  Down  Barcelona 
Way,”.  “Lazy  Mary  Will  You  Grit 
TJp  (Before  the  Sun  Goes  Down)” 
and  “Some  Girls  Dio.” 

V  His  wife  and  three  brothers 
survive. 


PHIL  ROSENBERG 

Phil  Rosenberg,  for  many  years 
booker  for.  the  I.  Hirst  burlesque 
circuit,  died  recently  while  vaca¬ 
tioning  in  Miami  Beach  after  a 
short  illness:  Rosenberg  had  been 
associated  with  the  top  burley 
houses  for  many,  years. 

In  recent  years,  he  booked  .riot 
only  the  Hirst  and  Midwest  houses, 
blit,  dispatched  performers  ,  to  in¬ 
dependent  houses  as  Well.  He 
booked  many  shows  for  the  Min¬ 
sky  interests,  and  had  been  talent 
consultant  to  Harold  Minsky,,  of 
the  famed  burlesque  dynasty,  who 
lately  has  been  producing .  cafe 
shows. 

SANTO  SANTUCCI 

Santo  Santucci,  74,  accordionist 
Who  .  played  the  old  Pantages  and 
Orpheum  vaude  circuits,  died  Jan. 
18  in  Chicago.  Since  1928  he  had 
been,  teaching  accordion  in  Chi. 

A  native,  of  Abruzzi,  Italy,  San¬ 
tucci  came  to  this  country  in  1907. 
He  gave  recitals  at  the  Panama- 
Pacific  Exposition  in  Frisco  in 
1915,  and,  according  to  his  family, 
gave  a  command  performance  be¬ 
fore  King  George  V  of  England  in 
1914 

Wi.fe;  two  sons,,  two  daughters, 
and  a  sister  survive 

CARL  L.  DUISBERG  .. 

Carl  Ludwig  Duisberg,  68,  Ger¬ 
man  actor  and  director,  died  Jan, 
17  in  Voinbach  and  Inn,  Germany. 
He  was  a  student  of  the  theatre 
under  Max"  Reinhardt,  and  follow¬ 
ing  the  path  of  his  teacher,  frorn- 
1932  until  ,  1934  he  was  director  of 
the  German  Theatre  of  Berlin.  . 

Duisberg  played  countless  clas¬ 
sic:  and  modern  roles.  After,  the 
war,  he  produced  plays  in  Vorn- 
bach  am  Inn,  and  introduced  such 
American,  hits  “The  Caine 
Mutiny.” 


ROBERT  F.  MORRELL 
Robert  F.  Morrell,  41,  general] 
manager  of  the  S.  &  S.  Amusement 
Corp.  circuit  of  theatres  and  drive- 
ins  since  1950  arid  former  Metro 
booker  in  Cincinnati,  died  of  a 
heart  attack  Jan.  25  in  Cincinnati. 

.  A  native  of  [Brooklyn,  Morrell 
located  in  Cincinnati  in  1940. 
S.  &  S.  operations  are  in  Greater ; 
Cincy;  Kentucky,  West  Virginia 
and  Maryland.  They-,  are  headed 
bv  Rube  Shor. 

Surviving  are  his  wife,  daughter, 
two  sons,  his  mother  and  a  brother. 


minute  program  presented  each 
Sunday  morning  over  WCBS-TV, 
N.Y. 

;  His  brother  survives. 


ISABEL  ANALLA 
Isabel’  Analla,  .38,  film  and  tv 
actress,  died  Jan.  17  in  Sari  Fran¬ 
cisco.  Mrs.  Analla:  had  known  she: 
had  cancer  since  1952,  but  com 
tiriued  working  in  the  Frisco-filmed 
tv  series,  “Lineup”  arid  “Harbor 
Command,”  'plus  such  motion  pic¬ 
tures  as  “Pal  Joey,”  “Among  the 
Dead,”  “Kiss  Them  for  Me”  and 
the  nbt-yet-r.eleased  “Vertigo.” 

"  Husband  and  three  sons  survive, 

HOWARD  GIBLING 

.  Howard  Gibling,  44;  an.  arranger 
for  Dorsey  Bros.  Music,  died  of  a 
heart  attack  Jari,  26  in  Ridgewood, 
N.J.  He  had  been  an  arranger  for 
the  bands  of  the  late  Jimmy  and 
Tommy  Dorsey,  Hal  .  McIntyre, 
Glenn  Miller,..  Larry  Clinton  and 
Spike  Jones  as  well  as  for  radio-tv 
programs  and  recordings.  . 

Surviving:  are  his  wife,  daughter, 
son,  his  father  and  two  brothers. 

JLTOUIS  RUPPEL 
Louis  ■Ruppel,  director  of  publi¬ 
city  for,  the  Columbia  Broadcasting 
System  for  three  years  ending  in 
1941,  died:  of  a  cerebral:  hemorrhage 
Jan.  24  at  his  home  in  College 
Point,  L.L  A  colorful  and  power¬ 
ful  eld  style  newspaper  editor  most 
of  his  life,  he  Was  known  through¬ 
out  the  country.  His  wife  ,  and  two 
sons  survive;  | 

Details  in  radio-tv  section. 

FRANK  AMOROSO 
Frank  -Amoroso,  76,  musician, 
died. Jan.  22  in  Philadelphia.  He 
played.  French  horn  under  Ernb 
Rapee  in  the  Fox  Theatre  from 
1920-22  and  was  with  Victor  Her¬ 
bert  at  the  Forrest  arid  Broad 
Street  Theatres,  all  in  Philly. 

Surviving  are  .  his  Wife,  two 
daughters,  two  brothers  and  a  sis¬ 
ter.  '  .— 

STANLEY  G.  LOCKWOOD 
Stanley  G.  Lockwood,.  72,  mem¬ 
ber  of  Warner  Bros,  electrical  staff 
for  the  past  33  years,  died  of:  a 
heart  attack  Jan.  23  in  Hollywood. 
He  formerly  was  a  Nevada  legisla¬ 
tor.;- 

Surviving  are  his  wife,  daughter 
and  two  sisters. 

Hedwig  Bleibtreu,  90,  Austrian 
actress,  died.  Jan.  24  in  Vienna.  A 
member  of:  Vienna’s  Burgtheatre 
for' nearly  65  years/^she  delivered 
the  prologue  at  its  postwar,  reopen¬ 
ing  in  1955.  She.  made  her  last 
'legit  apeparance ;  at  ‘88  ;in  Charles 
Morgan’s'  “Invisible  Chain;’’  .She 
also  appeared  in  the  film,  “The 
Third  Man.” 


Ros  Laharte,  67,  actress,  died 
Jan.  20  in  New  York.  Her  first 
legit  appearance  was  In  1915  in 
"Village  Postmaster”  in  . Philadel¬ 
phia.  She  later  appeared  for  four 
year  at  the  N.Y.'Hippodrome.  Her 
'last  appearance  was.  iii  “Matinee1 
Girl”  back  in  1932  when  It  played 
Philly. 

Arthur  C.  King,  90,  arranger,  mu¬ 
sician:  arid  one  of  the  oldest  ,  mem¬ 
bers  of  Local  802,  American  Fed¬ 
erations  Musicians,  died  Jan.  22  in 
Roekaway  Park,  Long  island;  Wife 
and  two  sons  survive. 

Mary  Hill  Tellman,  onetime  vio¬ 
linist  who  conducted  an  .  all  -  girl, 
orchestra  in  the  '30s,  died,  of  ' a 
heart  attack  recently  in  San:  Fran¬ 
cisco.  She  was  a  member  of  the 
Frisco  Theatrical  Club. 


ELMER  AVERY 
Elmer  Avery,  77,  disk  industry 
ioneer  arid  longtime  plant  super¬ 
visor  for  Decca  on  the  Coast,  died 
Jan.  20  of  a  heart  attack.  He 
started  in  the  platter  industry,  in 
1909  and  was  associated  with  Emile 
Berliner,  inventor  of  the.  flat  disk 
from  which  the  present  record  in¬ 
dustry  grew. 

Avery  founded  his  own  diskery, 
Combo  Records,  in  Canada,  and 
served  for  years  as  head  of  the. 
Brunswick  Records  operation.  Re¬ 
garded  as  one  of  the  most  versatile 
men  in  the  industry,  he  had  worked 
in  both  recording  arid  production. 

He  Supervised  one .  of  Birig 
Crosby’s  first,  hits,  “Out  •  of  NoWr 
here,”  for  Decca  in  1930  arid  also 
opened  the  first  Decca  plant  on  the 
Coast,  serving  as  superintendent: 
Present  Decca  Coast  studios  are 
located  on  the  site  of  Avery’s  old 
Recording,  Inc.*. 

His  wife  arid  son  survive. 

BERNARD  KLAWANS 
Bernard  Klawans,  retired  produ¬ 
cer,  died  Jari.  17  in  New  :  York, 
after  a  long  illness. 

For  19  years,,  until  his  retire¬ 
ment  in  1953,  he  was  head  of  legit 
production  in  N.Y.  for  Warner 
Bros..  In  that  capacity,  he  pro¬ 
duced  plays  on  Broadway  which 
Mere  later  given  filrii  treatment. 
At  one  time,  Klawans  also  man¬ 
aged  legit  theatres, in  N.Y.,.includ- 


.  FRANK  FARNUM: 

Frank  Farniim,'  69;  a  dancer  said 
tb  be  partly  responsible  for  popu¬ 
larizing  the  Charleston  in  the  ’20s,-' 
died  Jam  18  in  Chicago. 

During  the  ’20s,  according  to 
friends,  Fatnum  was  sometimes 
teamed  with  stuttering  comic  Joe 
Frisco,  notably  i  the  George 
White  Scandals  arid  Ziegfeld 
Follies.  In  recent  years,  he  had 
performed  un  niteries  and  for.  ben¬ 
efits; 

No  survivors  are  known. 


CHET  BREE 

Chet  Bree.  57,  a  Broadway  aetpr, 
died  Jari.  26  of  a  heart  ailment. 
Born  in  Burlington,  la.,  Bree 
worked,  with  Rudy  Vallee  for  four 
years  and  later,  appeared  in  legit 
shows  including  “DuBarry  was  a 
Lady,”  “Let’s  Face  It,”  “Heave  It 
to  Me,”  ‘‘Louisiana  Purchase,” 
“Anything  Goes,”  and  others. 

He  was  a  staff  member  of  the 
American.  National  Theatre  and 
Academy  for  the  past  10  years; 


WILLIAM  BUSH  BAER 

.  William  Bush  Baer,  55,  dead,  of 
the  University  College  Of  Arts  and 
Science  at  New  .  York  University 
for  the  last  16  years,  died  Jan.  21 
in  New.  York.  Dean  Baer,  a  mem¬ 
ber  of  the  faculty  siribe  1926,  was 
known  to  television  viewers  as  the 
sole  performer,  writer,  and  produ¬ 
cer  Of  “Our  Goodly  Heritage,”  a  15- 


.  David  F.  Ferguson,  65,  who  had 
worked  on  Pittsburgh’s  Film.  Row 
.45  yearsfor  a  number  of  exchanges, 
died  of  a  stroke  Jan. .  15  in  that 
city. 

Karl  Rebernigg,  78,  circus  owner 
who  Was  a  descendant  of  the  oldest 
big  top  family  in  Europe,  died  Jan. 
15  in  Vienna.  There  Were  Reber- 
nigg  circuses. .  touring  Europe  as 
early  as  the  18th  century.  ' 

G.  Lee  Mims,  68,  v.p.-treasurer 
of  the  Houston  Chronicle  and.  sec¬ 
retary-treasurer  of  the  KTRH 
Broadcasting  Co.,  died  Jan.  20  in 
Houston.; 

Mother;  72,  of  Sanford  Markey, 
director;  of  news  rspecial  events, 
KYW-KYW-TV,  .  Cleveland,  died 
Jari.  14  in  that  city.  Three,  sons 
survive. 

Dick  Inman,  66,  managing  direc¬ 
tor  of  New  Central  Pier  amuse¬ 
ments;  Morecambe,  Eng.,  died 
recently  in;  that  tow 

Mary  Fletcher,  49,  hilled:  as 
“Happy  Mary”  because  of  her  out-: 
size  weight,  died  recently  in  Black¬ 
pool,,  .Eng. 

Dot  Stephens,  vaude  producer; 
died  recently  .'in  Bilston,  Eng. 

Harry  J.  Hill,  45,  onetime  book- 
i  agent  for  the  Keith  Vaude 


circuit,  died  Jan;  18  in  Sunnyvale, 
Cal.  His  wife  survives. 


Ataulfo  Argenta,  44,  Spanish 
conductor  and  pianist,  ,  died  Jan.  21 
in  Madrid.  He  was  conductor  of 
the  Spanish  National  Orchestra. 

David  Fischman,  48,  former  ac¬ 
tor,  died  Jan.  24  in  Los  Angeles. 
His  wife  and  daughter  survive. 

Mother,  70,  of  Chic  [Murray, 
vaude  and  tv  comedian,  died  Jan. 
13  in  Greenock, .  Scotland. 


Mother,  56,  of  Elaine  Swann,  ac¬ 
tress,  died  Jan.  24  in  Baltimore, 
after  a  long  illness. 


Father,  80,  of  silent  screen  ac¬ 
tress  Mary  Miles  Minter,  died  re¬ 
cently  in  Sari  Antonio; 


Father,  84,  of  Don  and  Jim 
Ameche,  died  Jan.  23  in  Santa 
Monica,  Cal. 


MARRIAGES 

.  Charlotte  Ayres  to  Benjamin  C. : 
Moore,  Spokane,  Wash.,  Jan.  7, ■.< 
Bride  was  a  featured  dancer  with ! 
the  Ziegfeld  Follies  and  other 
musicals;  he’s  manager  Of  the 
Spokane  Coliseum  and  Memorial 
Stadium  there. 

Joan  Ham  to  Martin  Hirsch, 
Chicago,- Jan.  17.  Bride’s  a  .  secre¬ 
tary  for  a  record  distrib;  he’s  disk 
promotion  man  in  Chi  for  RCA 
Victor. 

Claudette  Thorton  to  Liam  (Bill) 
O’Brien,  Brentwood*  Cal.,  Jari.  18. 
Bride’s  an  actress;,  he's  a  play¬ 
wright*  and  screen  writer. 

-Alma  Young  to  Jack  Cullep, 
Bellingham,  Wash,,  Jan.  18.  He’s 
top  CFUN  disk  jockey,  sometime 
impresario. 

Joan. Schwartz  to  Jerry  Hurwitz, 
Los  Angeles,  Jan,  26.  Bride  is  sec¬ 
retary  to  Richard  Zariuck; 'he’s  an 
editorial  department  staffer  at 
TP  A. 

Mary  Hosford  to  Cornelius  Van¬ 
derbilt.  Whitney,  Carson  City,  Nev., 
Jan.  24.  Bride’s  an  actress;  he’s 
a  film  producer. 

Patricia  Ann  Turgeon  to  Harold 
F.  -Dyer,  Laconia,  N.  H.,  recently. 
He's  an  announcer  at  WLNH  in 
that  city, 

Kitty  Watkins,  to  Bob  Borah, 
Houston,  Tex.,  Jan.  27.  Bride  is 
the  distaff  star  of  “Sountrack”  on 
KTRK-TV  in  that  city. 

Jari  Werhsil.to  Marvin  Holtzman, 
Jan.  26,  New  York.  Groon»  is  art¬ 
ists  &  repertoire  staffer  at  Decca 
Records. 


BIRTHS 

Col.  arid  Mrs.  Jean  Kassarides, 
daughter,  Westwood,  N.  J.,  Jan.  6. 
Mother  is  June  Arnold,  the  teg 
skater. 

:  :  Mr.  and  Mrs/  Bill  Sullivan,  son, 
Pittsburgh,  Jari.  20.  Father’s  a 
singer;  mother’s  a  dancer. 

;  Mr...  and  Mrs.  Richard  C.  Sifarr 
ian,  son,  Santa  Monica,  Cal.,  Jari. 
17.  Father  is  a  screenwriter.. 

[Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fernando  Lamas, 
son,  Santa  Monica,  Cal.,  Jan.  20. 
Father  is  an.  actor;  mother  is 
actress  Arlene.  Dahl, 

Mr\  and  Mrs.  Gerald  Martin, 
da ughter,  New  York,  recently. 
Father  is  f  ormer  member  of 
Variety’s  advertising  staff. 

.  Mr.,  and  Mrs.  Stephen  Keegan, 
daughter,  New  York,  Jan.  23. 
Father’s  a  former  Variety  ad 
salesman;  mother  is  Jan  Crisler, 
ex-actress. 

Mr.  arid  .  . Mrs.  Syd  Freedman, 
daughter,  Vancouver,  Jan..  19. 
Father  is  manager  of  Studio  Art 
Theatre  there; 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  William  Kennedy, 
daughter,  Sariturce,  Puerto  Rico, 
Jan.  7.  Father  is  a.  former  Albany 
newsman;  mother  is  a  former 
dancer 

Mr.  and  Mrs,  Larry  Barnett,  son. 
New  Ybrk,  Jan.  22.  Father  is  an 
agent  With  MCA;  mother  is  actress 
Isobel  Bigley. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  M;  Peter  Keane, 
son,  New  York,  Jan.  11:  Father  is 
technical  director  of  Screen  Gems,, 
tv  subsid,.  Columbia  Pictures; 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ken  CoopdK-daugh- 
ter,  Vancouver,  Jan.  3.  Father  Is 
singer-emcee  at-Cave  Supper  Club. 

.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Morris  Tucker, 
daughter,  Chicago,  Jan.  22.  Mother; 
is  former  Eileen.  Parker,  onetime 
singer  on  ABC’s  "Breakfast  Club.” 

Mr;  and  Mrs.  Bob  Finnegan,  son. 
Chciago,  Jan,  17.  Father  is  pro¬ 
gram  director  of  WCFL  there. 

Mr,  and  Mrs.  Austin  .  Willis, 

•  daughter*  Toronto,  Jan.  19.  Par¬ 
ents  (Kate  Reid)  are  on  legit  stage 
and  radio-tv. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ace  Stebbins,  son, 
Houston,  Tex.,  recently.  Father  is 
an  engineer  with  KTRK-TV  there. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gilbert  Gilbert, 
daughter,  Hollywood,  Jan.  22. 
Father  is  a  soundmap  at  RCA. 


Film  Gonrses 

Continued  from  pace  2  sa 

warrants  examination  and  atten¬ 
tion  in  their  classrooms.  In  con¬ 
trast  to  the  States*  very  few  schools 
abroad  have  yet  taken  the  step, 
the  outstanding  exception  being  at 
Nihon  University  in  Tokyo  Which 
has  been  offering  film  study 
courses  for  nearly  30  years-  In 
all  of  Britain,  only  .Bristo  Univer¬ 
sity  has  courses  on  motion  pic¬ 
tures. 

There  appears  little  question 
that,  in  the  States*  the  rise  of  tele¬ 
vision  with  its  new  job  opportuni¬ 
ties  has  sparked  a  new  interest 
among  young  people  in  the  com¬ 
munications  arts.  And  while  the 
American  industry  on  the  whole 
has  Ignored  the  attempts  to  train 
new  people*  industry  personnel  has 
lectured  at  many  of  the  institu¬ 
tions  of  higher  learnings.  Sam 
Spiegel  recently  handed  footage 
from  his  “Bridge  on  the  River 
Kwai”  tri  UCLA’s  motion  picture 
department  where  students,  will 
use  it  to  fashion  a  documentary  on 
the  production  of  a  major  film. 

'At  Columbia,  a  film-  is  currently 
being  produced  by  students  on 
freedom  of  expression.  It  revolves 
primarily  around  the  “Miracle” 
case  and  the  issues  it  raised. 

One  of  thC  most  active  motion 
picture  departments  functions  at 
N.  Y.  U.  where,  this  year,  for  the 
first  time,  radio,  tv_and  pix  haye 
been  reshuffled  into  one  coordin¬ 
ated  department.  Theory  is  that 
the  arts  and  crafts  of  these  media 
shouldn’t  be  arbitrarily  separated 
and  all  students  should  have  a 
background  in  all  three. 

In  the  first  two  years,  a  student 
receives  a  fundamental  core  upon 
which  he  builds  and  out  of  which 
he  leads  into  his  specially  in  third, 
and  fourth  year.  As  Prof.  Rich¬ 
ard  J.  Goggin,  chairman  of  the  de¬ 
partment  puts  it:  “New  people 
with  a  broad  background  are  badly 
needed  today.  We  are  aiming  at 
graduates  viio  not  only  know  how 
to  operate  a  Bell  &  Howell,  but  who 
also  are  concerned  with  the  ideas 
a  film  represents.  Out  most  dif¬ 
ficult  task,  in  fact,  is  tb  get  stud¬ 
ents  to  think  in  terms  of  ideas  as 
well  as  techniques.  There’s  too 
much  of  a  preoccupation  with  how 
things  are  dene.  Craft  and  techni¬ 
ques  are  (he  means,  they  should 
never  be  the  end,”  he  commented. 

According  to  Associate  Prof. 
Haig  P.  M^noogian,  most  students 
are.  interested  in  waiting  and  di¬ 
recting.  Department  has  225  stud¬ 
ents,  a  large  percentage  Of  whom 
are  primarily  interested  in  tv.  In 
films,  the  job  opportunities  appear 
tb  be  primarily  in  the  commercial 
field. 


Michigan  State  Heard  From 
E.  Lansing,  Mich;,  Jan.  28. 

New  motion  picture  curriculum, 
emphasizing  “a  philosophy  of  film 
making  appropriate  to  the  ideals 
of  our  society,”  is  being  developed 
at  Michigan  State  University. 
Aim,  according  to  Dr.  A.  Nicholas 
Vardae,  film  and  education  vet.  is 
to  “develop  leadership  in  film 
criticism  and.  in  production.” 

New  program  is  being  offered  by 
the  M.S.U,  speech  departnrtmt 
which  is  part  pf  the  College  of 
Communications  Arts.  Facilities 
and  staff  of  the  university’s  audio-  v 
visual  center  are  being  utilized. 

“Our  goal  is  the  training  of  film 
wri'ers,  directors  and  producers 
as  well  as  audiences,  win)  will  be¬ 
come  increasingly  aware  of  the 
nature  of  the  social  and  artistic 
responsibilities  of  the  film  maker,” 
Vardae  maintained.  Both,  graduate 
and  undergraduate,,  courses  are 
undergraduate  courses  are  being 
offered  in:  Criticism  and  Evalua¬ 
tion  of  the  motion  picture;  Film 
.for  Television,  and  His’ory  of  Hie 
Motion  picture.  There’ll  also  be 
a  course  on  documentary  writing 
and  on  production  during  upcom¬ 
ing  terms. 


Sick  &  Baffled 

==  Continued  from  pa*;e  5 

flock  of  new  ‘pictures  are  making 
big  money,  it’s  pointed  out.  The 
"Wall  Streeter  thinks,  too,  that  the 
boxoffice  sluggishness  of  last  fall 
was  due  primarily  to.  the  Asian  flu 
epidemic,  and  not  the  pictures  oi. 
tv  for  free.  As  a  matter  of  fact 
telecasting  of  the  features  hat 
awakened  interest  in  the*  new  prod 
uct— in  theatres.  ^ 

“We  estimate  that  Hollywood 
will  show  improvement  in  calendar 
1958,  when  most  other  industries 
will  be  receding,”  states  Bernhard. 


72 


Wednesday,  January  29,  1958 


/ 


•  •• 
€ 


HOLLYWOOD— Sales  of  Dot. Records  for  the 
fiscal  year  ending  March,  1958,  will  reach  the 
$10  million  mark,  according  to  President 
Randy  Wood, 

Label  topped  all  other  firms  in  racking  up 
seven  records  on  The  Billboards  list  of  Best 
Selling  Records  for  1957. 

(The  Billboard,  Jan.  20) 


Scanned  from  microfilm  from  the  collections  of 
The  Library  of  Congress 
National  Audio  Conservation  Center 


Coordinated  and  sponsored  by 


H  E  D  I  \ 

HISTORY 


A  search  of  the  records  of  the  United  States  Copyright  Office 
has  determined  that  this  work  is  in  the  public  domain.