Variety (Jan 1949)

so PICTURES Forty-third P^jRjj^lff Anniv^riary Wednesday^ Jamuaey 1949 Growth of the Roofless Theatre; 750 Drive-ins Today Do Bi^ B.O. By WILLIAM! ORNSTEIN About th^ only thing new in tlie ■ Bernardino and a few more in Los motion picture industry tliis past Angeles. New England caught the year, generally speaking, was the lever in 1938. Manpower and war- iricui'sion of the roofless theatre,' time restrictions heaved a crimp the open air garages where .stars .on new building, but during the ca\ on on a screen stationed up past- two years new open airs have front and where more fortunate mushroomed in all parts of the stars dilly-dally contentedly in a country, with the same gusto as Jimitless blue blanket up above. new television stations. In other words, the' Drive-ln ^Sm/th is president of Park-In Theatre has definitely made it.s, T'leatrcs and Hollingshead, Jr., mark. What started as an experi-■ J^^'ce-Prcsident. V i g o r Cranston mr-U in 1929 now is regarded as a .J^'">t'i. son of the president, is vp d:finito adjunct to the exhibition m charge of contracts and techmcal arm. There are now some 750-, developments. He is a graduate of Leh'.gli Engineering. arm. Tliere are now some odd such arenas, built at an ag- gr.-gate e-xoenditure of approxl- malaly $70,000,000, now In ex- istencei This compares with 250 theatres co.^ting appro:i'mately $20i0aft,000 of two years ago. By the time summer rolls around, another 250 are . expected to be added to the list, This would sky- rocket the total outlay for con- struct'o.i and equipment up to $100.000 000, according to reliable soi'vccr.... : Actuallyj the Drive-In is a "de MONA FREEMAN PARAMOUNT PICTURES Mamagement: M.C.A. • Under the terms of each license, an applicant is required to pay $1,000; f or which he receives, a ser- j • .■—■,• .■ ■■■ . .■ ■ ies of plans from which to choose adults there are miniature ■ golf the type theatre to build. A per- courses, bowling alleys and other centage ot his business also goes , i i -ii.- ju to Park-In under the franchise | recreation, either on the (liconsei. | grounds or nearby. Candy and In the early days of the Drive-In, | food concessions do as much as one could build an "A" class out- mi of the theatre take, door theatre for $60,000, to hold » u r i r Today, this same struc-! ^^"""Se number of weeks of op- ■ - eration as 33, but m. the tvest and i 500 cars. ^, „„„ ,^ „^ I ture would cost from $150,000 to , $200,000. The smallest type of outdoor prsssion baby," for it was in the, . _, „ . ; „ , bleak days of 1929 when Richard!. ^smallest type of outdooi Milton Hollingshead, Jr., then em-1 "Peration can accommo- ploved by his father in the solvents i l^'e 240 cars, the largest 1,100 cars ployed ,by his father in the solvents ard cleaning liquids business, der c'.CiOd to . embark on his own. His chief interest at the time was to build a " de luxe gas station, one There arc several open airs in the midwest: with car capacities of 1,000 or over. Most of the larger theatres cost in the neighborhood of $750,000 to a million dollars and, with palm trees, shrub fencing.and ! . . „, ^ other accoutrements to make it " is Pointed out, the same type of unusually, outstanding and attrac'- tiv\ This ambition met? quick death construction and equipmeint that goes intp: a reguliar theatre obtains for the open air'. <, wiron"he"had"to "wait"on^a longll^^^^ >^For the fainily, the Drive-In at a New Jersey gas station before solves parking and baby sitter at a New Jersey gas station before he could get his tank filled. But while one idea died miserably another gave birth. "Why can't people have some form of entertainment while walt- zing to be served?" he asked himr .se'f. This was the keynote to the efforts that followed in a driveway of Uls home at Camden, N. J. The experiments spread over many, weeks, placing one car be- hind another 40 feet apart and facing a screen upon which IGm film was projectedi Blocks were •. placed under the front wheels of —botlwcars-until the; proper angle was achieved, so that the driver in the second car could get proper problems, two cardinal advantages which have proved successful to the operator. Mothers with babes in arms have at their disposal bot- tle warmers and other essentials necessary for infants. There are playgrounds for chil- dren at many Drive-ins. For southwest, where warm temper atures linger longer, the period of activity is greater. The tendency, according to spokesmen for Park- In, is for longer seasons, until the temperatui-e drops below. 40 de- grees. When the first Drive-ins opened a central sound system was em- ployed. Other methods were sub^ sequently tried until today the in-car speaker lias been found most practical of all. _ Up-to-date washrooms, clean- liness, .special usher service, mod- ern fronts are prime favors in operation of Drive-Ins t o d a y. Special attention is given to fami- lies and it is not a novelty to find children arriving in pajamas, ready to go to sleep at a given hour while the rest of the family enjoys the show. „■■■■ ■ A Due-Bill on a Holdup .By HY GARDNER When the visual effect he was I looked at iiiV wife She Iftolrpil af wio v^r^ after was perfected, Hollingshead I much as to say Vell%kel^-so^^^^^ then applied for a patent. In 1932. i There were four couples a"y Xvine 4p w^vlr»f I he secured No. 1,909,537 in his own point; the husbands at half a cent a pofnt %hat^s TZ r.n .ftWH " name from Washington. i one witty player chuckled. Finally sSbody said' 4ave a seat^'and I Financing ); ^ '"vself in partnership with my landlord. I thought this 'was a revealed his plan to cousin Willis rt ^.h^m iir , Warren Smith, successful insur-' nrobablv s^nil^n ?p.hneldered-three times in a row. They'll ance broker in Philadelphia and I u^^X il.f vl. fZ ""^""^ tomorrow to remove the old paint, operator of a chain of parking ' £61,0^1 wafnla^in^ a"^^^^^^^^ It's just that the places in New York, Washington, I somewOiere b,^ S bothered me. I knew I knew him from Philadelphia, Baltimore, Newark srutma "The And he wouldn't stop and Camden. i faZ 'd ry^.Xl IT ^T"" ' " " '""S enough to tell me. I Both Hollingshead and hi, i L°cl"r^^ke^ m\ Vrin\ThirS-e' 'f^^^^^^^^^ cousin put up $30,000 each and ' acquaintanceship ran back to the good old divs a^S n^'^in^ ' t°"' formed Park-In Theatres, Inc. with membered it well because the ni-ht 1 met thif i ^^'^ ^ "^u" headquarters at 840 Cooper St.. i ably was one of the few dLibillTSvw written^^ T """^ Vi'"*" C;,mden, the same building where I It happened like this ''"'''•"P- mic^s^^e^Kc-aledThi^e^r^', \ beLVslfoTuTfotl^^irT^r "--gers used to take a Hollingshead has succeeded to his Sn on^he Rrnnvi^^^^ those days I was doing the Broadway father s business, leaving Park-In ■ S^on^l^'^m^aS^^^^ aT^Si^ng'^LSV'^Cor^^Uy'ir^^I'l httle like Old Home Week when Dan Healy, the 3r of ceremon es o he "O • '^"^'^ f,^"'"/ as thougli my first wopIjs Sgoil to DC. O.K. guys, you're all pardoned!" "s ih^ir'yK' laughed to kiii, which many of them did. IncludinE the backstage hfer around whom this whole yarn is wrappeci ^- ^ You don t know me, Hy," he siarted. "I'm-iiot a big shot I didn't cale'""? k^new'^th^ ' ^^""f ^ed ;ftbor Maby. . Mine^ w^s a m^Sp S?^^- ^ "^pew the dame was two-timiiig, didn't have no raonev foi- divorce lawyers, so I figured I could Settlfe the WhblMhinl fS^wlt^^ a baseball bat. In my own set. though,'' he eont4uk,"fim quite a Here Today, Corn Tomorrow! By JOE LAURIE, JR. Alfred Tennyson's line, "The old order changeth^ yielding place to new," should answer many of the radio editors, columnists and even sponsors who have been worrying in and out of print what is to bei come of our radio comedy programs when the comedians who are now anchored to the nation's microphones have decided to retire on their laugh-dividends, or pass on to the Comedian's Valhalla! True that Father Time is throwing his'darts at most of our radio comedians and that they are getting almost as old as the jokes they are using. Some of them have even threatened to retire and spend the rest of their lives catering to their stomach ulcers, which they have accumulated in years of radio service trying to "get laughs." But don't sell your radio! Because, in every generation, people have worried about who were going to replace their favorites in pdlities literature and entertainment. . But. somehow or other, new favorites came through. Humor is much too valuable to the world tt) pass on j with your favorite comedian. National humor, Irish, Jewish, Scottish Italian,^ English, French and American becomes, through press ahd radio, international, it establishes between all nationalities a bond of sympathy, wrapped .in smiles, and helps in this way to promote the brotherhood of mankind! And there will always be comedians to carry on the good work. And so, when the famous jesters and men of motley of the late '90s and early 1900s went to the Eternal Laughland, folks' said that they would never be replaced. And when you read the names of these men and women who were behind-the-fun in those days, it seems to us', who hold, their memories green, that they could never be replaced. Great comedians who made a nation laugh for nearly half a century, To name them is to miss them. Eddie Foy, Peter F. Daily, William Collier, Sam Bernard, Louis Mann, Weber & Fields, James T. Powers, DcWolf ' Hopper, Henry. E. Dixey, Harrigan & Harti John Drew, John T. Kelly, Otis: Harlan, Alison Skipworth, Raymond Hitchcock, Marie Cahiil, Harlan &; Hart; Nat Wills, Lew Dockstader,-Mabel Fenton, Bert Swor' Amelia Summerville, Honey Boy Evans, Jobyna Howland, Ward & Vokes, Marie Dressier, Ezra Kendall, Stella Mayhew, Will Rogers,' Maggie Cline, Harry Kelly, Florence Moore, Herb Williams, Chic Sale;. T. Roy Barnes, James J. Morton, May Irwin, Frank Tinney, Walter c! Kelly, Fatty Arbuckle, George Bickel, John Bunny, Joe Jackson, llari-y Langdon and the great Bert Williams. ! can mention so many many -more who belong in the Blue Book of Comedy. Some of us will say these were our greatest cDmedians, and some others will insist .that they don't compare to our living funmakers. How our memories 'can i differ; and be wrong! They shine the brighter in the domain of tt'hder ■memory..■ •■•..-■■'••.■■.'.■■.■■■..■.,••,■,.,.■...■:,•.,.,,.■■:,■■ As these great artists dropped out one by one from the Laugh -Par- ade, the ranks were quickly filled with recruits that didn't mi.ss a steip. Jet laugh-propellers like Ed Wynn, Bobby Clark, Victor Moore, Joo Cawthome, Leon Errol, Bert Lahr, Ray Bolger, Joe Cook, Jack Pearl, Roger Imhof, Jimmy Savo, Frank Fay, Joe E. Brown, Al Jolson, Jim Barton, Willie Howard, Danny Kaye, Olsen & Johnson, George Jesscl, Milton Berle, Lou Holt/., Frisco, Smith & Dale, Doc Rockwell, Joe E. Lewis, Phil Silvers, Martha Raye, Charlotte Greenwood. Joey Fav, Henny Youngman and Eddie Foy, Jr. They made new friends of hu- mor lovers. Most of the above mentioned mummers were never touched I by Radio's Magic Wand! Some of these • comics just don't fit into j radio (so some sponsors claim, my claim is that any good comedian has a place in radio, it is just a matter ot proper material and presentation) l and, some of the others just don't like radio work (Bobby Clark has ! never been on radio and doesn't even listen to it) and they confine their comedic efforts to the stage, screen and night clubs. Many of our favorite old show and vaudeville clowns have decided ' to quit the foot)ight.s and dispense their Memologues Under the moneyed . thumbs of a sponsor. And so we see a great array of "button-busters" I parading before our microphones. They have nearly all served a hard I apprenticeship in all forms, of show business, and although time may ihave aged their gags, _they_ personally are_young in jpirit and are the Elect of Radio. If they should show signs of weakening7"the sponsor's" "moneyed thumbs" make a gesture towards the exit! These comedians are no youngsters, nearly all of them have a quarter,of a century or; more of stage experience and know the secret of coinedy delivtiry^ timing!".'. . ■ ..■:.:i' Ace Laugh-Getterg operations most 1 y to Theatre 'Sniith. The first Drive-In was con- structed on Wilson Blvd., about a half mile from Camden's City Hall. Capacity wa.s for 400 cars This continued for about four years, then was moved to Union, N. J., vvhen car capacity was in- creased to 500. There were a lot of skeptics in guy." I nodded my head First beclusp'i^hnV.ah'nT'^iti"' " the industry who believed this was agree with him; secondly because I wan ed to make siL l'^ ?m'h^^^^ hj'-t^rrs^^^^ Jiioi^^htSenr^'^ ""^ ^"StaiSf^r dV ^^^^^^ ^^^^^^ o.^'"^:^' ^Vord spread about the new-' chfnlNo' a'^it^rxSl'd^hafl^^ fancied theatre and from southern they say," he said, "but a lot of tL bovs doni knnvPn^ Cahforn a came .n application for and haven't got what to eat So they go in f^r stkLDs WUh^tw license from a group of three ex- card on you. however, you're as safe as if von Lm-o hi!.!' • ^ ^^^^ hib.tors and an outside associate j cell. Should you ever be stuck-up, don't ye7 don't r aS23aS j coL^^^th'^^1h-^Sl„^.^^"^^ - Sincerely over- theatre, also with 500-car capacity, if this letter of credit on rhnirin!, ;.^,^.! Lord I've never found out jva.s opened at Weymouth, Mass., | wond^-^^^^^^^^^ Subsequently, Drive-Ins were | Gardner ?s a tor?ln^^ Jf,?f 7" ''c'^ ""c^"" "''<1' "^'le bearer, Ily built at Burbank, Santa Ana.^San I iS.^'^'signe^d'JJIlS 1^^^^^ Ace chattologists, like Fred Allen, Bob Hope, Jack Benny, Eddie Cantor, Fibber McGee & Molly, Phil Baker, Fannie Brice, Frank Mor- gan, Bob Burns, Tom llowarci, George Sheltoh, Lulu McCohhcll and Harry MacNaughton, .Tack Haley^ Billie Burke, Amos & Andy, Senator Ed Ford, Harry Heishfield, Burns & Allen, Edward Everett Hoitoh; Joan Davis, Edgar Bergen, Abbott & Costellb, Red Skelton, A' Peaice, Jimmy XSurante, .ludy Canova, Eve Arden, Ed Gardner. Charlotte Greenwood, Ken Murray, Ann- Sothern, the Easy Aces, Victor JJbrge, are all. laugh-getting veterans. So what happens if they retire? Ab- solutely NOTHING! There are replacements waiting in the wings! Besides the comedy youngsters in the making, we already have an entrenched army of comedians that have potential star dust sprinkled over their efforts. Some of-these future greats have started as "stooges" (as the non-inlelligentsia call them). I like to call them "supporting players"—they have served radio comedy programs a long and arduous .. apprenticeship and will soon be ready to graduate from the School of Laughs! Some already have graduated but are still holding on to the sides of their comedy-crib. For example, Dennis Day, a fine comic and mimic; Phil Hariis, a bandleader, who has become so funny he can thumb his nose at Pe- tnllo, and Mel Blanc, a veteran radio handyman whom you've heard on many a comedy radio show. He does parts on the Jack Bennv and Judy Canova shows, also does the "Unhappy Postman" with Burns & Allen, and the "Stuttering Comedian" with Abbott & Costello. We also have the younger comedians like Alan Young, tlie Canadian radio product; Ralph Edwards, Jack Carson (with plenty of stage and pic experience), Happy Felton, Jack Bailey, Bob Hawk, Ward Wilson (a grciit a -round radio man, m.c. and sportscaster), Peter Lind Hayes, a *u '^eWolte. Henry Morgan, Garry Moore, Eddie Bracken, Ann sothern, Marie Wilson—yes, this younger set of the comedic art has a long tun-making career belore them. 1 know I have not mentioned niany many more youngsters whose names will be announced as "stars ot the show nol many years from now. Yes, there are many future stars waiting in the entrance ready fo go on. They are the boys and girls about whom people will say, a half century from now, can never be;replaced! ■ ..• .■• Besides, these kids are on a Joe Miller diet—they know that the most important factor of radio comedy is the gag-writer. They help make the comedian funny 75% of the time. When a comedian leaves this mundane sphere, he takes his personality with him and just leaves us memories ot his great art, but when a gag writer gets the "nod" trom the man with the .scythe, he has no personality to leave behind, Hr J«!.^ f iJ"* "gag-file," this he leaves behind him, later to be dragged from the-storehouse of memory of the younger gag-mcn who fZ!^?^ ''Jr^^^V^^ P'^^"" ^^'tefs fashion the nation's humor—and will oust the hies off to duty once more for future generations. m.?„°„'f*'* ""l ^ 'loPe present comics stay with us for many years, tor they make us feel like kings of old, we each tune in our favorite jester. But if anything should happen to theirt. there is a' «,rUo^l •'mT, ^'''*'"^',?'*y''* 'y""*" own home, and as long as the gag- writers will leave us their files—we will reap Cfora Tomorrow!