Variety (Jan 1949)

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nCTITBES Forty-third irciln«8diiy,'JiBauiii7 1949 'RIGHT IN YOUR OWN HOME' ; ; » M «By EDDIE DAVIS •♦♦♦♦♦♦♦»♦»<»*»»» In 1948 they began the gloomy predictions, and the handwriting was on the wall Experts from every field of entertainment came to their agreements after much solemn nodding of heads, and much wise strok- ing of beards, grown especially tor the purpose of wise stroking. Televisiocf was the medium, and no other. ■ : . , It wasn'tbccause television produced greater entertainment; it didn't. It wasn't because television introduced new faces; it didn't. Nor was It because television was relaxing; with those nervous screens, it wasn t. It was because-television brought the world of entertainment right intojTbur own home. It had turned man's castle into a vast public living room. And sure enough, the experts were right, and it came to pas*. One by one, the oppositicms to television folded. . ^ . Nite clubs wercf the first hit. The new toy, television,' fascinated the people. Singly i>nd in pa^rs they gJctinguished their neon signs, and, like the Arabs (God forbifl!) they stole silently away to other pastures. Movies died a lingering death. They held on with the pulling power of sensationalism, but they cou.'d not compete for long with a medium which offered itself free. Hollywood became a ghost town, so quiet that you could hear an option drop, - The theatre was not far behind. The death knell was sounded when the Theatre Guild went in for television, and Bodgers & Hammerstein wrote tab shows for Milton Berle's program. ' RadltKheld out for a last gasp. Only one program could be heard on all thKuther waves—-"Stop the' Music." But then they made the fatal error (if giving away television sets as prizes, and soon they too joined the ranjis of the extinct. . And it was all over. All other forms of entertainment were gone. There remained only television—the medium brought right into your ■■own-:home!". ■ There was Bo sense in going anywhere. There were no theatres, no movies, no nite clubs. Taverns had television too, so what was the ^ sense in getting blind with drink and then blinder looking at flickering shad^wB»-4hrough cigaret smoke? Everybody . sat home and watched their lOiniSh-to-52-inch screens, squinting through the gloomy living room at tlie televised offerings; • . V The repercussions were soon apparent. New services were offered, old iservices refused."^ One enterprising young man made a small for- tune installing popcorn machines in family kitchens. Another astute fellow corralled a fleet of jobless ushers and rented them out to sweep the living room rug of cigaret butts. In duplex apartments they in- sisted on smoking only on the upper floor. The bad side of the ledger showed the disappearance of the institutiop. of the baby sitter. Nobody went out anymore, they sat with their own babies. They sat in their own living rooms and watched: 1.) They saw lhat John was even prettier tlntn his oifyer wife. ' '2.) They ijoatched babies being born iw hospitals, oCtid realized thatDuzdidnotdoeDerythiag. /. 3.) They imtched Milton Berle until every feimle jelt lilcc his . ■ ■ mother. ■ • •.: ■ ■ i.) And they icatehed Bergen's dummy, Allen's baggy eyes, Benny's toupee; Jolion's wheelchair, : Ctaitor'^ daughters, Crosby's shirts and Henry Morgan lose another sponsor. They watched and thru watched and thej/ watched. It was horrible. But they couldn't help it anymore. Turning on a television .set had become a national habit, a nervous habit, like a tic. Nobody could stop. So, nobody had any place to go: Families began to snap at each other. Husbands snarled at wives, < wives snarled at husbands, and children snarled at them both.' Familiarity had indeed bred contempt. In one family, a beautiful young girl took to visiting a disreputable (Continued on page 46) S43«l Week! 3,509 PerformanCM All-timo Ions run record In the leKilimate theatre, KEN MURRAY'S "BLACKOUTS OF 1949" El Capitan Theatre, Hollywood. Cat. And now in world-wide release "BILL AND COO" Ken Murray's Academy Award Film TaxFpresStmw OK '48 Pix B.O. Washington. ■ Despite the 'wailing of industiy- ites, an analysis , of the picture business for 1948 based upon the Government's 20% amusement tax shows that the boxofl^ice was al- most as good last year as it was in profitable 1947, Assuming that 80% of all amusement revenue comes from motion pictures, the industry grossed $1,546,000,000 in the continental U. S, during 1947, based upon tax receipts of the Bu- reau of Internal Revenue. . Total for 1947 is only slightly over the 1948 b,o. take, which is pointing for $1,500,000,000. Last year's business is based upon acr tual tax figures for the first 10 1 months of 1948, plus estimates for I November and December. Though not quite as good as 1947, last year's net profit?^are expected to be off considerably more, inasmuch as the industry overhead has (Continued on page 46) A HAPPIER NEW YEAR Television . . . capital gains . . . peak costs and dimipishing , profits . . . these have been the 1948 show business highlights. They bid fair to dominate 1949. A show business year that premiered with'much promise and finaled in uncertainty, 1948 saw the entire amuseittent industry digesting many things it didn't anticipate in the bright new promise of another annum. For '48 saw curtailed foreign mar- kets inroads of television and dwindling domestic boxoflice against a still-high cost base. All these presented a succession of crises. Peak investments had to be digested in lean income years. Adjustments had to become drastic and far-flung. Show busi- . nesses on varying fronts reappraised themselves in a determined effort to set their houses in order. • Wall Street is seemingly guessing, but on the downbeat side, whiie show business seems more ^aptimistic. For the picture Industry the inevitability' of divorcement is a matter of con- ■ tinuing uncertainty. This uncertainty, in fact, has stumped certain industry leaders,, heretofore never lax to express their views on the state of the' business and its near future. Several, frankly, don t know, or prefer a watchful-waiting policy. But those whose views are/ inscribed in printer's ink for all to see—running the gamut of the entire contents of this, Variety's 43d Anniversary Number —seemingly have a common conclusion. Whatever the branch of show business, the crystal-clear objective of all showmen is to return to that cardinal rule of the amusement industry: better shows. The master purveyors of mass entertainment havai't sud- denly lost their touch, observes one showman. Films ?(nd radio are still mass entertainments, vastly patronized, observes another. It isn't as if all boxofflices suddenly got JVIeasles' warning signs, and people stajsd. away in fear. It's chiefly * matter of getting more people back In the habit, and at the same time getting investments (show costs, etc.) down to a . surer margin profit. It's as simple as that, at least'in principle. The execution will, come, must come. It's on its way. Things have not been great in '48, and while we hope every- thing's going to be fine in '49, one sure way to further it is to cut the pattern to fit the purse. The costly digestive period of '48 should be capitalized with the dawn of another year. Happier New Year! Abel. C. p. Skouras Agree§^ To 'Dime' Hatpassing ACTORS GUILD TO HIKE DUES FOR LINING UP n Hollywood. Screen Actors Guild board meet- ing Jan. 10 will be asked to con- sider steps to offset "large expend- itures required to organize tele- vision/' as Well as increased oper- ating expenses. It's believed the NCCJ HONOR DEPINEI DUNNE, RODGERS & H. Ned E, Depinet, prez of RKO; film actress Irene Dunne, and com- posers Richard Kodgers. and Oscar Hammerstein ll, will be guest- kudoed at the annual luncheon of the National Conference of Chris- tians and .(ews. amusement divi- sion, Feb. 4. Affair will be chair- manned by J. Robert Rubin, v.p. and general counsel for Metro,'and it will be held at the Waldorf^ Astoria, N. Y. Guests will be honored for their contributions to show biz and brotherhood. Last similarly hon- ored were Spyros Skouras, 20th- Fox prepidcnl; • playwright Robert JE. Sherwood; and songwriter Irving Berlin, two years ago. The By-Linerii^ In This Issue (Regular Staffers aiwl Correspondenls Omilled) Ti'flile Mal'lt Registered Pl.ir.XDl'Ui BY SII..VBU.MAN , fiihlliiliril n'lirkly l>.v VARIETV, liic, ■ ■>Si(l ..silVi'i'iiiiin, President 15« Wisst: tlSih Hi.. New York 13, N T- MoMvM'Dod -JK CS'l 1 \ li»'c.a .Street ' . ^VnstilnutOH 4 i20!J NEiLitviijj.l. Prps.^'■Building ■1 IiiciiKo.. 1 , 3G^)^ Sn: hU'hiixvih'' Jiv^. ' ■ MiKloll' AVOS ■ 8 St; ■ Mil rtill's • i't, 'TfaCalgar Str., . Sl'.fWCniPTlON S'rimml.. .1 .. .$10 : ; ■ Foriign.;,:,. $h .SiriBle rwpi<^.< .'. . ,;. . .26 Cents Vol. 173 130 5s* N0h4 LNDEX Bills 247 Foreign 200 Legit 248 Music 171 Obits 274 Pictures 4 Radio-Television ' 93 Vaude 229 i>.\Fi.s v.^vniETir (PWlttislied in Hollywood bj nrMy.- VariPty. TAd.) ' |16 a Tcai!—tao Korptgn Julian T. Abeles 21 .John Abbott 206 .loey Adams 231 Larry ■ Adler ,... 24 Charles AHdredge ...... 5 Fitd Allen 12 Grade Allen . . . . . . . . ; 56 ■Theron Bamberger 250 Andre- Baruch 173 •Tack Benny ..,.. 8 Maurice A. Bergman .... 13 Sidney L. Bernstein,.... 11 Ciaude Binyon ........ 50 Norman Blackburn ...... 105 Hal Block 54 N. J. Blumberg......... 7 Irving Brecher 39 .Joe E. Brown .. ......... 29 .Toe Browning . ...;,.... 232 Ejgenc Burr 249 Ernest Byfield '. . 230 Kiiv Campbell .......... 14 Eddie Cantor 31 Elaine Carrington ;,..... 100 Carroll Carroll 93 Bennett Cerf 22 S.'imuel Chotzinoif 170 Clin 11 Clark 6 Sir Charles B Cochran ,. 249 Reg Connelly . .■ 173 Bob Considine •. 43* Norman Corwin 97 A'lred Cohn 23 \V;i.\ne Co> 93 Waller ■) Damm 104 Eddie Davis . ,. ; . ...... 4 JNed E. Depinet 9 Howard Dietz ........ 13 W. A. S. Douglas 10 Ken Englund . .• 42 Morris L, Ernsl 95 Martin Kield U .John Firman 174 Sterling W Fisher F6 Sir Henry French 2j2 Sir Benjamin Fuller .. 2>"4 John Garfield 29 Sid Garfield 15 Hy Gardner ....... i...., ' 30 .lamc'. ,1. Geller 50 Don Carle Gillette 56 William Goetz ....;. ...; - 6 John Golden ' 50 Nathan D. Golden ... 200 LeonardU, Goldenson ... 7 Samuel Goldwyn ....... 58 Ezra Goodman .......... 24 Mark Goodson . ..,—. 101 Lester Gottlieb 94 Mitchell Grayson 97 Charlotte Greenwood 248 Nate Gross . ...... 29 Arnold Hartley .... 96 Peter Lind Hayes 230 Art Henley . .' ; 99 Robert P. Heller . .. ..... 95 Arthur Hopkins 251 Rupert Hughes 15 Alan Hynd 35 E ' • - oi Hi Alan Jackson 50 George Jessel 8 Edward Johnson 257 Eric Johnston 5 Al Jolson 10 Ray Jo.'sephs 101 Milt Josefsbcrg C4 Emmerich Kaiman ...... 253 Hal Kanter 98 Charles O'Brien Kennedy. 3 Ralph T. Kettering . . 253 John Kieran '95 Arlhur Knorr 104 Edgar Kobak 100 Artliur Kober 8 Les Kj-amer 244 Arlhur Krim 6 Irv Kupcinet .. 34 Lawrence Langner 2..1 Abe Lastfogel . . .-...... 16 Joe Laurie, Jr. . . ... : 30 Leonard L. Levin.son 38 Lloyd Lewis 94 Reuben M.imoulian 251 Mary Martin 50 E'sa Ma\woll 31 Leo McCarey 13 Howard S. Meighan 104 Blanche Merrill 102 Justin Miller 93 Edwin Claude Mills. ■ 172 ' Jame.s A. Mulvey 9 Harold Myers 201 Louis Nizer. 38 Elliott Nugent...... ..... 231 William Ornstein 30 Val Parncll 204 March of Dimes -made its first breach in the wall erected by large theatre circuits against individual charity collections when Charles P. Skouras, head of National Theatres; agreed to hatpassing in NT houses during the M. of D.'s 1949 cam- paign. Skouras' okay makes the fir.st time in three .years lhat a 1 , , . , , , .. . group of affiliated theatres has ^''^"" gone along. Collections will be 1 time in SAG history, to increase taken in all NT theatres, Jan. 24-31, dues which now range between week set aside lor cxhibs; $18-$100. Guild's problem was revealed in a year-end report mailed to niem- bers, which also disclosed that a recent vote to increase contribu- tions - to the Motion Picture. Relief ■ Fupd carried overwhelmingly. An increase; from to' 1% 'ivill triean approxiHiately ' $600,000 eon- Iributed yearly) it's beiieved. It'» understood that the 1948 contrihtt- lion was about $300,000. SAG financial i^eport for the.yeai; ending Oct. 3X. a duplicate of that heing i?led with the Labor Dept., shows income rah only $27,556 ahead of expenses during the year, Income was $250,938, as against expenditures of $223,381. SlirpluS ; from the preceding year of $558,- : 319, gaye the organization a total closing balance of $585,935. Dr. John G. Peatman 174 H. I. Phillips 34 Tlieodore Pratt . . .1. 31 George Price . ........ 31 Franklin Pulaski 100 Paul Raibourn . , ,. 103 J. Leonard Rein.sch ..... 103 Hubbell Robinson, Jr.;... 99 Benny Rubin 232 Harry Ruby 24 Norman B. Rydge 203 Dore Schary 6 Fred C. Sehartg ..... . ,. 254 Nicho'"s M. Schenck . . . 5 Al ;ind Sherwood Schwartz 93 Arthur Schwartz 250 Frank Scully 102 Gradwell L. Sears...... . 7 Arnold Shaw 171 Sidney Sheldon 34 Max Shulraan . ...... 10 Joe Smith & Charles Dale. 230 H. Allen Smith 38 Harry G. Smith.. ..... 231 Paul Gerard Smith. . .... 248 Harry Sosnik . . ....... 95 Bernard Sobel 253 Louis Sobol ..... . ., 43 Prank Stanton 99 Ashton Stevens 24 Albert Still man 29 Robert Stolz * 172 Ezra Stone 250 Arlhur-Su.ssman 105 Bill Todman . .......... 105 Niles Trammell 98 Sophie Tucker 202 Ernest TurnbuU 206 Teri-y Turner 39 C. M. Underbill 102 Solly ViolinsJty 229 J. L. Van Volkenburg 104 Jerry Wald l4 Jerome Weidraan 22 Lewis Allen Weiss 95 JgUffX Wilstacb i,. 252 Thyra jSaniter Winslow .TT 12 Mark Woods loo Ed W.vnn 8 Herbeit J. Yates 9 Darryl F. Zanuck 6 JVfaurice Zolotow 12 Loew-RKO Pool Delay Loew's. and RKO have vvon « three-month extension of the Dec. 31 deadline on all . pools in refer- ' ence to the Orpheum theatre, Den- ver. House, which is jointly owned by the two companies, will remain under their supervi.sion until March 31 at which time the part- nership must be dissolved. N. Y. to L. A. Paulette Goddard Mr. & Mrs. Abel Green Mr. & Mrs. Bob Hope Lena Home Alan Jay Lerder • Jules Levey Lauritz Melchior Burgess Meredith R. M. Savini Paul White L. A. to N. Y. Anna Roosevelt Boetligir Gene Fowler Ava Gardner Nat Holt William Katzell Nancy Kelly Peter Lorre John Lund William. Prince Virgil Reed . Rudy Vallee Richard Whorf Hagar Wilde Jane Wyatt