Variety (Dec 1947)

nAiiio Pnblished Weekly at »4 Weat 4«th Street, IKew Tork 1(, N. T., by Vtirlety. Ine..-, Annual ■ubacrtptlan, fio. IHiigla eopleiL H c«nta Snterad, M ,,»flcana-claM matter DewmbBr 82., 1405, at the Foat Otlivi at NeV'Tork, N. X., under tlui act of Ifarch t, IMt. coPYBirciHT, im, m vssatsn, in(?. lucsHfs besbrved. ■ Y0Ij.'jl88 Tfo. ^. . NEW YORK, WEliNESDAY,:i)ECaglMB|^a, 1947 s H<uv necKiy Koyaiqr rram 'Sapennan on Fway, IstWritten in '03 , Georgif' Bernard Shaw, who wrote*- his first plajt, In ISMJ now has the' biggest hoxsKlce hit of his career. It is the'Mawrlce Evans revival oi "Man and Superman," which the 9U year-old dramatist wrote in 1903 and which, was first prdduced in London in 1905. , • The production at the Alvin, N. Y.', Is grossing apprjpximately $31,500. a Weelc, ^e exact amount depending on thft • nujiabep ot standees. At . Shaw's .regular 15% royalty, that amomkts to more .than $4,700 a weelc. course, ta^e^ here and in England take a major portion ot that (Shaw )s reported to have complained that •■ he actually Jveeps only about a phill- ,.jipg on.^very,pound)j.but it's! a,siz- : iincon)^ (Erpm. ^'44-year-old ilay, nojjethieless. > v^hi^rf! may have been short 4nter« . val& wTienJShaw has. carried higher Wyalties Ih&n he"«S -currently getting - on "1Vraii:'''))Ut, i^ so, Ifcwas- never. . over an extended period such as. the .• Evans presentation seems'certain to be. For instance, Katharine Cov- nell's aU-star revival o£ "Candida" in 1942" grossed $122,247 for 35 per- forwaftces, but it bad only ,that lim-, i^ted run. " ^ " ' 'piinilarly, .dttuinl' a short period in the spring of 1S40; while Gertrude Lawt^nce and ' Haymond Masscy '.^(Ppijtiijued pn pige 55) Victor Herbert's Pre-'09 - Soiigst|j(oyaltyTestVs, YictorfCoIumbia, Decca Consolidation of some 12 suits .. testing- a provision of the 1909 Copy- right '■Act was granted by Federal Judge John C. Knox, according to papers filed irt N. Y. federal court last'.week. Radio Coyp. of America, .'. CQlUmbia. Recording Corp, and Dee- . : ca W^rds; all of whom are de-' 1^ndant:s in infringement actions br.ought'-by the heirs of the late Vic- tor Herbert, Glen MacDonough and (Continued on-page 20) Santit Schhozo Milton Berle, who had his nose bobbed several years' ago, is so 'pleased with the result that he's giving, beak jobs to . associates and friend^ as birthday and Christmas presents, ' ■■ So far, he's presented schnoz iiiXSis to his-secretary''and the president ol the Milton Berle fan club. SecsDiskersOn I^mb if mm. SHERIFF DOUBLES AS KSTP DISK JOCK Minneapolis, Dec. 2. A county sheriff doubling as a disk jockey, with a deal which allows him to-scram his program any time he's tieeded officially as a sheriff, is'Jhe latest disk-.spinner ' wrinkle; here. Sheriff Ed Ryan is the sleuth turned music chatterer. He joined KSTP here Monday (1) night as co-pilot with Don Hawkins, of the station's H p.m. to 1 a.m. platter show for merly ridden by Sev Widman, who auit his post after a tussle with sta-' tion execs over an intervieow wMh screen actress Virginia Mayjt" , A veteran of World Vfm:V Hyan stayed in Ftanbe Several itesb after that, operating a film theatre. He's a longhair fancier. Rya«t has another angle he's put', ting to work via his part-time job. He warns motoring listehers ttf obey traftic laws, ' ' ■ Chicago, Dec," 2. "If PotriUo 'really wanted to get even with the record' business for' everything and for' all. lime,'* 'olj' serves Mje ^iik official-he has to do is call off the reiioJaing Ban-'and he'd have the disk people out oh the biggest limb. It's really a shame- •what the music publishers have done to some of us recording people/' he continued. "And, it's , worse that Wii've fallen-fot it." ' • , . He was referring to the amount o( advance > recording being done, and _ still continuing, in order to build ■ up/as big a .bacJdog between now and the first of .the year when the ban goes on. ; !'Many a stale song manuscript has (Continued "oij page 55) PALESTINE PARTITION SHOULD SPURT AMUS. " ■ ' 'Tel Aviv, Dec.2 ' Long-awaited, momentous decision to paitilion Palestine, greeted with 'enthusiasm by, Jews and with con* sternation by Arabs generally, should have its effect on «how bhsiness in this land of twO nations. Effects are likely to be good, giving impetus to Jewish talent now that the political pressjare is off, while disturbance Irom. disgruntled Arabs in form of rioting and possible shutdown of the- atres is minimized. Meantime activ- ily continues apace in such centers as Tel Aviv, Haifa and' Jerusalem* Palestine overnight Is Ijecommg the mecca of foreign vaude and^ nitery performers. Local agents are busy arranging importation of..many acts from abroad- Current cafe life is sparked by pianist-singer Sonya Wronkow. Here in prewar days, she later trekked to the U. S-, but now is back for "good. OthiSt-'acts here include Riccardo & Robby, a dog. act froirf The Hague, as well as a European acrobatic tur«, the Thfee Hatdens. "-XoU Can't Take It With You" was an outstanding success at the Cham- ber theatre here- But local critics failed to ahvvf much enthusiasm for {Continued on page 54) By fiEORGE ROSEN Despite .ominous rumblings, in J;he face of economic 'trendy, of an -wn- pending wholesale ."desertion,^'of bankroUers from r^dio, execUl|yes of the lour jxetwoyks are inclined to be optimistic, o^er the fihai^Slal picture as th^ year draws to i dl^se. True, the nine-months bill^gs gtory for 1947 isn't exactly one to'-.ln- vit:! handsprings, with only>thej^C network showing aft .advance; r-in. gross time sales over 1946. N^jve'r- theless, the feeling 'is that the'^o- bo^ganing of billin:gs, particularly on NBC and CBS, has been held to a respectable minimum when < con-, toasted with the overall industry's financial statement for the year,* . ^ Oniy Mutual appears to ^ave taken it 'on the cKin'to an ajp^fe-^ ciablp degree, oiiithe basis bf-'^lie firstn'inV-Waf^ltes-gibulation, wiiBf"its. apijroiimate ■'•$I6!;OilO,0OB - in' g^ss billings-represetiffiiig-'a,drop of T5.8%^ over the same'period last yearii;But Mutual, too, has had recent p^se for rejoicing, with its $3,0J)0;(i00 plus entry of- new commercial pro- (Coplinued on page-37) ' ; TeleV Bar jB.O. Baseball is tb^'best bqxoffice stimulant (no, p'tin i'ntende'd) for ■ the' bars; football the, poorest, because it's a longer time Ije- tween drinks dije to,the progres- pion of the action,^ Only'time- outs cre^'te a slaijkehing of inter- est, whereas -tlic^ >iiat)onal'{Sas- time permits, ^Wlde-an-inning hiatuses for tankihg up: . Gn the-'othefc hand the base- ball fans ". favor"", beer (the weather is the influence there); the gridcabt lookers' favor the harder stuff. , N.¥.Loe\w^s State, Joe Louis to (let lOOG ForWalcott,1nc] Radio, television Cut A probable $230,000 sellout af his 24th. title fight with Jersey Joe Wil- cott, at New York's Madison Square Garden Friday iS) will'give jjoe Louis something* close to $100,000, i including his cut of ..the radio and television money. His pet. is 45, Waleott 15. Louis is in line for a slice of the pix at the same figure,- these to be taken by Pathe and dis- tributed 6y RKO. If he lo^es, hjs (Continued on page-22> » MAUGHAM, AT 73, READY FORMBUTINmMS London, Dec. 2. 'Somerset Maugham is to start a film career at 73, with Sydney. Box to present him in '(Quintet," pic based on five of the author's short' stories written within. the last 50 years. " " - ■ With this production. Box com- mences a series of top'feature films which ^ill include famou^ writers among their stars, maintaining iiu- thors have had insufficient .promi^ nene^ on we screen up "till »ow. Loew's Slate ,on'^roadway,^ top yaudeville showcase in'tiite' country, is droppirtg stageshpwSjfaec, 24, after runni*^ that ■form ..of'entertainment Sinfce 1921, in favor^of at straight film ; policy, , Demise of, s3:agesl}6ws'.at this bouse Is regarded) as severe-a.viblow'to tKe 'cause of live, talent as -the shuttering' of vaude at the old Keith's Palace, a block up on Broadway and 47th, which touched off'a series'Of vaudfr-. ville exits in many hoiise^.through-- out the country, f ' While the reason ascribed toy Loew ejitecs for change In : policy is that vaude wasn't paying oft, talent agen* cies have been quifik to pofnt out' that the. high oi^erating expeu^ies^' .Because of inflated performeof 'Sala- ries, is one of the major reasons. It's felt that "normal and reason- able" salaries would have permitted the house to make a''sizeable profit,' <Continiied on pajg6'ssy .Miami Beach, Qec. 2, Florida nit^m^opera.tofs', "b'ecom'ing jittery ■ while waitijyt^for 'the fijfst major cold spell to hif Nfew York^ aj;e mulling installatiftn ' ot casino* despite such aiStivity ,,not being legal iii-Dade County,'jjvhich includes the Miami and Mi^mi'' Beach areai, where the majority ,of- cafes are located. ". ^ , - Current plan among bpnifaces .it- to confine the gaming activities to those well known -to operator.^. Whether these plans Will go through is still undecided, .but, itjs fairly deilnite ttiat unless Ijhe'major spend- ers hit llie resort to w'h^.soqn, casinos will bfr necessary to^mi^lce en^s mg^t. The rfiajority of'cIUbj^Jiave already made tremendous - talent ■ commit* ments, some running as high as $3^^T' OOO weekly, and according to indie's^ ; tjohs the current". season, will riot permit such huge pqrfbrmor..outlays unless other revenueforthcoming. It's been pointeflt out that the Miami Beach ^ituatiorSjluay'Resemble the current situation "ta-i-Ne-w' ISTork, where hotels are loaded, but amuae- raent biz is generally ofU The resort inns are similarly hgoHgd with r.e§er» vations, hut, with conditlbris as'they - are, it's not likely 'that amusement . CCiJntipued on!' page' 23) Kazan CetsRwd 20%ofPro|te,Slgre !ittrii^%Mi^' Evaluation of- a itagei-'fr service? reaches'* pew'high'.wifh-the advent on Broadway toni^it (3) of Ten- nesscu Williams' "A Streetcar Named . Desire." For h&' direction of the drama Ella Kazan will receive-20% of. the p'roilts, in ; addition to his •weekly share of the gross, said to be 3%. , Show'*s . presenter, Irene M. ] Sefernick, and ih^e vjtio .^atffepd.the; new' -(jrama aisfe.! conl^ttt' with"the; Kasan'Eleal, and New Yorkers iwho • saw the jiBow'out ot tojvn describe the ■dito.tipnal job as' "brilliant." ^Cazan's rajing as a director. extttU'da- ~ (Continued on pag».48) ' I II I I 'f i f |i i [i ii iii i %i l ir 1 III n fli l i li i i ir iii i i iil ii i iii ii ii i i un i- Tops of the Tops ,. Top Retail Sheet Music Setter "Near You" Top ftetaU lllsk Seller "Near You" "Near You" Top Seller on Coin Maebincs "Ballerina" Top British Shert Seller "Now Is the Hour" (Detail itt Music SeeUoni ED Saidf Add Milfft l^h Tour Cliri«ttnat..iStH»|>|Mfl{t tist: Th» CKristmvss Ca^^ftf fMI $|»ltiilny's Ail-Girl Or^lwtfM and Choir.