Variety (Jan 1949)

■"ji-2-And-Even "As You and I j fey H. I. PHILLIPS sucker for horsetips. Not i like that Caliope III!" he exclaims, so much as r once was, but stUl; "Where didja get him? ' an easj push. Citation at even! At first I think he is tadding. m^mev' He's a bum! Stymie at 8-5 but it turns out he is dead serious fn& li h s best? Geddaway froml "Didn't you have him?" I asked, me' Armed at 2-. against a field] "Naw. How could anybody figure of roaches? Too big a ri.sk! But him? What coald get him up there? m"«nv old eoat, nine years'Where didja ever get him? Who give him. to you?" "You did," I said give me any old goat, nine year and up, with all four legs ban- daged, blind :n one eye and indis- posed to work up a sweat, at 20-1 and I will trample women and chil- dren in the rush to get down a "Me!" he gurgles, weaving badly, : "Sure. A coupla weeks ago. Re- member?" deuce. I He groans, drops slowly to one So naturally I meet a lot of boys, jj^ije, gets-up on" a nine-count and with good things and have fun, if' ^jjen I last see him he is jumping nothing else. But the experience | jnto the infield lake, taking a I like to recall came at Hialeah a j flamingo with him. few seasons back. Ah, those daysi Moral: A horse is a horse, but when I played 'em at Hialeah^ in the ends vary, the afternoon, rushed out to buy a dogform at dinner time, and then jet-planed to the dogtracks for the night, stopping to play some quarter-machines and maybe take a fling at the quaint game of chance Wherein a fellow held a box with a mou.se in it and invited you to bet which hole it ,would go into! Anyhow, tarly in: the Hialeah meet a horse follower (arid not a tout) took me aside one afternoon and gave me a skinner we will call Steam Galiope III, as a twp- year-old. "This thing is greased lightning," he said. "It'll come down in telephone numbers; It should do iti first time out, but anyhow, if it don't do it then, fol- low it up. Don't let it get away from you." Came a day a week later when Steam Caliope HI was on the pro- gram. I made my $2 plunge. "He ' run "ninth," as they say. A littlp later he was in again. So was I. The beetle finished eighth. With me an improvement is an. improve- ment. , Ten days later Steam Caliope III Is out again and I go for it on' the nose again. It is no contest, The oatburner wins off by himself and pays $86.20. I am at the window, collecting, and using a large wicker Ijasket Nothing (?) Ever Happens in Chi By IRV KUPCINET (Kup's Column, Chicago Sm-Timcs) Chicago. and still 2,000 Jniles from the latid of sunshine. Nothing ever happens? Let's MARTHA SCOTT To too many persons speeding from one coast to. the other, Chi- cago is only a stopping-ofE place, a sort of oasis in a desert of rail- road tracks, where thirsty travellers may halt tempo- rarily for the pause that re- freshes and then continue merrily on their way. . To these folks, Chicago is a "nothing- ever-happens" , irv Kupcinet village; som« , , „ „ , 900 miles due west of. New York The Truth About Roger Broom Hollywood. Hollvwood has more press coverage than any other city in the world. And yet, tlie biggest story that ever happened in Hollywood never even broke into priiit. There were a feW .guarded rumors around, but they were quicWy Md piysteripusly scotched. This was something no one dared talk about. I stumbled on the story quite by accident several years ago, and until now have kept my pledge of silence. But ': yesterday I read that Roger Broom has gone to his final r^t. vSfrf h?re, for the; first time, is his story.- What happened to him wSs . horrible and grim, but in a sense fitting, becajise Roger Broom, an active member of ihe Screen Wi'itersrGuild, dared, tci break Hollywood^ gteStest unw^ ■ment. .■ \'y^:'' ^ I met Roger Broom shortly after T arrived in Hollywood. A successfui playvwight, he had yielded to the blandishments of Hollywood; jihd had quickly established himself as a top movie writer. Without meaning to be a namedropper, I met him one night at the palatial trailer of Serena Drudnick, ward- robe mistress at oiie of the larger studips,. , He seemed a modest; unassuming man, and yet he had an air of independence whieh I admired. I noticed it immediately; AU of Sered^s^arti'es, d^^ course, are white tie, and Mr.^Broom was dressed entirely Being an'emotional egg, r am not | in plaid. If I had only had a prescience then, this being quiet about it. Suddenly at! sartorial independence might have given me an my side is the fellow who gave me I inkling of the tragedy that was shortly to happen, the original tip. He has bet on; But which of us really knows our fellow man? something else and looks very low. | About a year after I first met him, my agent, the miraculous Sam Weisbord, got me an assignment at the studio where Roger was under contract. Roger, would sit at the writers' table pceasiohaily, and at first it was rather JlattTOliig.^ut1:bward the -end his- presence made us uiiGorofPrtable. There was a strange tenseness about him^a brooding quality that began to cast a general spell of uneasiness. I Then, without warning, he disappeared. No one ever knew why he left. How had tliis happened to one of the most tal- ented writers in Hollywood? None of us had any idea: I recalled tha^ he had once done a script for, ray producer, and one day I asked my prodtitiier about him. I was taken off payrpli for wP weeksi- Guessing that my jlroducer didn't waiht tb talk-.^bpiit it, I said no more. But I couldn't put it out of my i'mind.' ■, ■ "Don't tell me you had the win- ner!" he cries. « "Yeah,"_I admit in my broadcast- ing manner, VWhat a" hdss!" What a price! What a killing!" ' The guy looks me up and down, ghakes his head and asks, "A bum WBFurtliersMovel To K.O. Co-op Adv. Move: disclosed by Warner. Bros, recently to eliminate cooperative | advertising of their pictures car- j ries to the uUimate a trend origi- have been trimming to the bone their budgets for this ^purpose, WB is not eliminating its coin al An Unoptioned Producer Tells AU - I Six weeks after I was put back on salary, I was nated"brallVompaniosTuringlhe 'able to have lunch again at Romanoff's. A producer past couple years While none of whose option had just been dropped flopped down the other major dVstribs is attempt-' at my table, ordered a lemonade and said: Ing to completely abolish the par-1 "You're the kid who was asking: about Roger ticipation in exhib advertising_, all Broom, aren't you?" My heart: quickened a little. I admitted I was. So that night I heard most of the story, The rest , 1. ^ . , „„ J. ;„ I I pieced together later. All of the accounts agreed locations to theatres at once It is, ^j^^^ ^„ ^^^^^ ^ ^^^^^ ^j^i^,^ ^ s contmuing wherever it has defimie j ^^^^ Hollywood, Roger Broom arrived at commitments with house 'Pera ors j,^^ ^t^^^j^ jp ^ jje seemed normal and was When these expire efforts will be i ^^^i .„ spirits-almost "elated," as one TtLt°. ln!!^^wft,ithn,,fin« n^ °f the Witnesses put it. He acted as if a great load tLtu r JTr^^ LT^^^ lnfnil^^^ been lifted from his soul. It was the carefree- ?nS «lfn nn? « T u^] "^ss of a man who had .just made a tremendously mg about $600,000 a year as its I ji^portant decision. contribution to local theatre ad- f, „ ^, , . „ , vertisiri|. ' At 11:17 the phone in the studio police chief s WB move has stormed up a bit' o"'''-'e rang. The chief picked up the receiver, lis- 6f a tempest from several angles. ■'-ened a moment, and his face went white. "I'll be Exhibs, on the one liand. are claim- 1'^'^'- ^^'^ voice was odd and ing they'll demand lower film rent- ' strangled. He turned to. the detectives ::in the room, als if they have to spend more One of them was busily perusing a rare edition of of their own coin.on advertising.! Baudelaire, another was translating a Sanskrit pas- Number of show-wise observers, on sage for his maid, and a third was making some corrections in Joyce's "Ulysses." : : "Emergency!" barked the chiefv ''Bogart, Powelli Ladd—I'll want you." : :-' -, '■;:; Swiftly the men rose. "What's up. Chief?" "Stage 10. They've caught a writer!" . By SIDNEY SHELDON animal. The crew edged away to let the detectives *""Nice work, boys," said the chief. ^'WhO Caught him?" ' V: "I did," said a gaffer. .„ u The chief patted him on the back. There 11 be a nice reward in this for you." He turned to the quiv- ering Broom. "Do you want to make a statement? "1—I didn't know what I was doing,"; sobbed Broom. "Please let me go. I'll never do J* again." The chief shook his head coldly. ''The Boss is waiting for you," he said. Roger Broom was dragged from the sound stage, screaming. Twenty producers and a battery of attorneys were present in the Boss' office. And in his antique chair, behind his stone desk, sat the Boss himself. "It will go easier with you/if you tell; MS, fe^ truth," said one of the producers, pityiiigly, ; , "I—-I didn't mean to!" screamed Bropjn. "I; don't know what came over me.'^ "You didn't know you were going to dp It?'' "That's it!" said Broom eagerly. "Then why did you put on a disguise?" snapped One of ' the detectives triumphantly. "You're" lying." There was a pause. Slowly Broom straightened up and a spark of his old manhood flickered in his eyes* "All right," he said. "I did it. I couldn't sftawd it any longer. They were shooting my piictijre---aiiid I wanted to see it!" The others in the room blanched. "Do you know what 'wou're saying?" asked the. Boss, horrified: "You, a writer, admit that you deliberately walked onto a sound stage?" "I had to," shouted Broom. Vl've been writing pictures for 10 years and I've—tiis; Voice trembled-rr-"I've-never seen a sound stage." At his words, a shudder ran . through the room. -'.'Let me handle.him," pleaded the chief, reachm^^ for his gun. " 'Gh, soft yet awhile, stay thy hand,'" Said the Boss, gently. He turned to the miserable Bropni. "You were aware of what would happen tp you If you were caught?" Broom nodded, ; The Boss studied him for a moment, a baffled expression on his face. Finally he sppke^ "V/hy, Broom? Why?" "I don't know," admitted Broom. "1 must have been out of my head. I --^ r--' I wanted ^to:-see a: camera." , :. ■".'[." "Surely there are camera stores." "I I can't explain it," said Broom, "but it's not the same thing. I wanted to hear my dialog, to watch the director, to —• ■—'' "Stop It!" said the Boss, recoiling :in disgust. "You're a spy. - A traitor to your industry, and a disgrace to your guild." lie rose to his feeti hiS voice thundering. "A good writer's work, is ; fin-: ished when he'thinks of a title. We have hair- dressers and others to make the pictures." "I know," said Broom miserably. "And yet you deliberately walked onto a souhd see". . ,. ...... ■ Chicago is the town where a big • blonde movie star paused too long for refreshments just two weeks ago and almost wound Up: in a - local hospital. He made a pest of himself before some of the nicest toughs you ever met. He knocked on doors of his hotel, invaded pri- vate parties and in general became such a nuisance that the house dick had to put him to: bed. This didn't satisfy our movie hero. He sneaked out of his hotel room time after time, thus proving even a drunk can outsmart a hotel flatfoot. Our man was tabbed "tar- get for tonight" by one of l;he town's toughies who resented his intrusions. "This guy is not couth," said the-hwdlum,who \va.s about to slug the actor—until a consid- erate go-between stepped, in. In a sort of roundabout way, Chicago also is the town respon- sible for the wallop little Frank Sinatra packs in his fist (attention, Mortimer!). Many years ago, there was a popular fighter around town named Martin O'Brien. Unhke his name, he was an Italian who had adopted an Irish name because it was the vogue in those days. O'Brien developed quite a follow- ing because of his powerful punch. One of his fans was a young ' Italian boy in the east, for whom; O'Brien developed a fondness.- When the youngster decided to be- come a fighter, he quite naturally took the name of "Martin O'Brien,". his idol. Martin O'Brien .II: had only a few professional fights be- : fore retiring from the ring to be- ; come a flreman. in his home town, Hoboketi, N, ■ J. Just about that^ time, he was becoming the proud father of a boy. The lad grew up to become the idol of the bobby- soxers, Frank Sinatra. And papa Sinatra,, who learned to figlit from Chicago's Martin O'Brien, taught Frankie boy liow to hanflle .his dukes. It was in Chicago, too, that Sin- atra started the ball rolling to get the role of Father Paul in "Miracle of the Bells.'' Frankie read the book en route from L. A. to Chi-' cago. Upon arriving in Chi, he exclaimed to friends, "This Father Paul is described in the book as being very thin, with a sallow com-; plexion and-big-ears„ That fits mil perfectly." In the next breath, Sinatra viaS long-distancing his agents in Holly-: wood to start pitching for the pari,' Allen Carney is another whd credits Chicago with being his lucky town. It was a gag shot bjr Maurice Seymour the photograph- er, that helped land ; Carney his first film assignmeht. Carney was (Continued on page 46) Indies Blocli 44 Brazil Setdement the other hand, have criticized dis-: tribs for cutting advertising just' when it is most needed—during a period of business recession. | Warner stand is that theatres are l clearly the profitable end of film biz as compared vvith : production and distributiQn, so exhibs should shoulder the entire cost of adver- tising: the attractions in their houses. WB: execs point out pri- vately, too, the historical back- The sound stage was in a turmoil. Terrified extras were huddled against the wall. The stars had taken refuge in their dressing rooms. And,'the director was cowering: high on the boom. Trapped in a corner, held at bay by the electricians and the crew, ground of cooperative advertising, j was Roger Broom. He was disguised as an extra; It originated partially as a means dressed in a turban, a flowing gown, and a gay, yel- of rebatliig a portion of the film low yashmak. The chief took in: the scene at a rental to exhibs-^a charitable ges- glanee. Bravely he followed the detectives to where lure by. salesmen which does not the writer stood. Gone were Broom's famous appeal to distribs at the moment. ' aplomb and eqlat. He was a beaten, whimpering , , • . ,. • , . ,,,1 Smaller U. S. companies and in- stage—and when yonr o\en ptcture was being sliot!" producers are currently raising Broom lowered his head, guiltily. There was no the main roadblock to a settlement of the Brazilian price-contrPl squabble. Because - of; objections interposed by.-.these outfits, all members of the Motion Picture Export Assn. have deferred: any film shipments to Brazil while pressing their campaign for an easing of the 42% ceiling on rent- als whicli distribs can char{|e Brazilian exhibs. Question is now the hottest ,on. the: MPEIA calendar. Until tne issue is ironed out by a change jn position of the Brazilian price con- trol commission or ah agreemeni by the smaller outfits to go along, ho film shiipmeiits will be maae._ Big miajPr companies would satisfied with the 42% ceiling rentals sinbe their volume of o^": ness and diversity of product paai'^ the percentage a fair enough turn on bookings. However, .jn^ indies, in niany iHstahces, release only two or three pix Braju huailV, and M those mtisVf'":,.' more thati 42% average te their opelrations lucrative. : Percentage arrangement originally made by Gerald Wfy^! erstwhile head of the iniernatiow^ division of the IVIotion Plctw* Since then, • answer. ■ ■ ■ [ The producers andvlawyers wrangled over his fate until three o'clock in the morning, while Broom -waited in an -anteroom. For hours it seemed im-^ possible to reach a decision. There was never any question of his being allowed to live. For if word of this ever got out, other writers might get revolu- tionary ideas and spend time on the sets learning the craft and techniques of making movies. No, Roger -Broom must die. The problem was how. Some were for hanging him; A few favored shootr ing. A very hot oil. bath was suggested. But, fin- ally, it was the Boss who came up with the solution. "Gentlemen," he said. The room was instantly hushed. He turned to one of the producers. "Do you still have'the stake left that you used to burn Joan of -Arc?" The producer nodded. "That's perfect," he said, admiringly. There was a chorus of approval. "Bring him in." The' police chief opened the door to the ante- room, The room was empty. / ^"He*S gone." * * ♦ Broom left the country that night—a fugitive and an exile, a broken, ruined man. Now Roger Broom is gone, and the episode is closed. And yet sometimes, on a rainy night When I see a passing rickshaw, I can't help wondering what it was that Roger Broom saw before he died. And I can't help thinking that, somehow, in the end It was Roger Broom who triumphed. He fulfilled his destiny.. Some day, perhaps, tliere may be other Roger Brooms. was Assn. of America. j to series of huddles have fallea w win unanimous approval.