Variety (December 1950)

TEUEVISlOrV P^RlSff DuMont Disclabns Status; Nasts Competitors’ DuMont network, after success- stock producer. DuMont also upped fully defending its hold on ‘;Caval-.: cade of Stars from a raiding at- ppogi-ain ehief of tlie Ambassador theatre, and Ralph Robbins to as- sistant to production facilities chief A1 Hollander. Continued from page 30 the nets because it had and the nets because it naa ex- pired on Oct. 31 and liad not yet been renewed. He pointed out that j works on Nov. 18 there were still points ' mise offer to SAG was designed so that TVA could eontinue to deal with agencies and nets while SAG would continue with studios it has under contract. Proposal, HeRer said, would permit SAG members to work in vidpix produced by net^ TVA has under contract without paying new dues or initia- Wednesday, December 6, 1950 PONTUC EXTENDS RUN OF ‘CAME’ FOUR WEEKS a tempt by ABC, gave notice to the trade this week that it no longer will sit back and be the industry’s “uglv duckling.” In an intcr-office ^ memo distributed this week to his stair. DuiMonl. network manager ; Chris J. Wilting,' referring to the “Cavalcade” renewal, declared that.^ •the web win. ‘•no longer tolerate improper competition but will em- bark immediately on energetic and well-planned counter measures that v.ill ensure DuMont its right- j ful piave in the TV network pic-! tUre.” ■ • j While Witting kVid not identify ; ABC in his memo; ■ It’s no secret , that that’s the web to which he re-'! ferred. He also didn’t elaborate on ' his charge of ‘‘improper competi- tion. ” A B C repo rt e d 1 y o ITe red. th e stations some kind of a deal but couldn't swing it because the sta- tions were already committed tO DuMont for the time slot. With-its “Pu'itzcr Prize Playhouse” now aired Friday nights from 9 to 10, ABC hoped that it could sew up the Friday night video audience by adding ‘■Cayalcade” from 10 to 11. According to Witting, DuMont •‘will fight, and: we have men, money and, materiel to make our success a . certainty;” In line with that, DuMont this week announced the pacting of Ted llammerstein Edward Dimond and Charles Fai- sons to join Dave Schooler .as exec producers, to work with program chief James L, Caddigan. With the four naw staffers. DuMont is in- - c.cpting a Unit system of produc-,^ tion. under"which each is to super- , vise a group of regularly-scheduled ' sliows. ! Hammerstein was stage manager j of Michael Todd’s current Broad- way logiter, ‘‘Peep Show” and; Jiave ^hooler. former midwest ^ and . eastern talent scout for War^ ners and supervisor of USO-Camp ■ Shows’ musicals during the war, was last musical conductor at the ! Broadway Strand. Dimond was also a Broadway, stage manager and ; Parsons was an actor and summer i WDTV’s Stalled by Pitt Of DepL Store Driyers of disagreement betwen the union and some chains. ‘‘Therefore, to indicate to members that there wa.s in existence a code, or any definite agreement between AFHA and the networks, was. I believe, misleading,’’, Reel wrote. Reel added tj^at although the lion fees. TVA members would have the sanie right in vidpix made by studios covered by SAG. Plan also envisaged joint SAG-TVA ne- gotiations for terms in vidpix, Coinpromise, Heller said, would have speeded up protection of all performers and incorporation of ! Pontiac has extended the run of its ‘‘All-American Game of the Week” for four more weeks on ABC-TV, carrying the stanza through Jan. 2, when a condensa- tion of the Easti-West ganie vyill be beamed. Series, originally skedded to run 11 weeks, has’a time-and-talent nut of $12*000 .weekly, backed by an- other $12,000 weekly for newspa- per ads ballyhooing the airer. Show,, which presents film high- union had considered passing no ^ ; lights of a top grid contest each -ruling bn the TVA situation, and webs,^ \vitlmut dencthy^ ^ ! 1. .11-- i-u-, : NLRB nrocedures. He also said ■ x . .7 * Pittsburgh, Dec. 5. " WDTV’s biggest time’ sale; to . Giiiibcl Bros., since going .live mid- dle of last month has yet to pay off, because of tbe drivers’ strike at' three downtown, department stores. | First account to lake an hour-long, across-the-bpard stretch Monday .i through Friday. Gimbels had; planned to launch its teevee audi- ence participation show from the ; studio of Channel 3 last week (271. ’ but was forced to put back the; preem until the walkout is over. leaving,the inalter to.the members individual discretion, this course was rejected “precisely because such action vvould not haVo afford- ed protection to pur members wild are under contract; that could onlS^ be given them by a definite rule.” Opinion on the rhle had been divided in New Ypi:k before the Nov. 18 meeting, afid a proposal that only Gotham members be in- structed to respect the picketlines had been mulled. One of the rea- sons why those N. Y, board mem- bers opposed . to respecting the lines changed their minds. Reel said, is that they learned that stagehands, teamsters, technicians NLRB procedures; He also said that the re-Use restrictions oil ki- nescope recordings, part of the TVA code, would have been par- alleled by a similar restriction pro- tecting film in the same way. It \vas argued that the re-use prin- ciple would also help SAG in its upcoming bargaining with studios. TVA Chief declared its members insist on having all their prob- lems with their employers eovered in one contract and added he still hopes an agreement can be work- ed out if “personalities will be cast aside and both parties work i for *^110 good of all performers.” That is-due to the fact that the ! ^including radio as well as ^video) store is going to supply all of its own props,. chiefly items for. sale to be displayed, and can’t get them from Gimbels a block away to the Chamber of Commerce building, where WDTV is located, without the help of the trucking boys, who have been on the picket line now since Nov. 20. y ; . Gimbels- program will be prp- ! duced by Herb Davi.s, of the Enders I agency,- and its unlooked-for delay has scrambled WDTV’s daytime : programming plenty for the time N. Y. cm VIBPIC UNIT and other fcrafts were going to honor the lines. Reel stressed that TV head George Heller and counsel Henry! Jaffe. appearing before the AFRA I board, specifically stated that TVA j was not requesting its linos be re- : sp.ected. Afraris who supported; TVA, Reel said, did so “in the in-; terests of AFRA members and in ■ their future well being ” Board members in the east, who do or expect to do considerable! TV v'ork, may “feel differently.' about this matter than members in 1 L. A., where live television orig-! inations are few,” Reel wrote, i “During these years of television j . transition siich differences must be [ ^^Smn recognized and an attempt made to ; ^ resulting in TVA Rates Continued from page Four cameras are used—two in tile stands, one bn the field and one slow-motion. Program involves a complex pro- cessing setup. With the game be- ing played on Saturday, 45 prints ! have to be completed and deliv- ered by Tuesday at 8 p. m., when ABC-TV beams the show to 10 live stations. PfOgram i&'baiTied on a delayed basis Tuesday or Wednes- day by 44 other outlets, Grew shoots 10,000 feet of film, which is rushed to the Atlas Film Corp. in Chi for processing, edit- ing, printing and dubbing in narra- tion. First prints are shipped out Monday morning. Agency is Mc- Manus, Johns & Adams. Coorler.y of M-C-M Now appearing with DONALD O'CONNOR in ‘'YHE MILKMAN" (UniversaUInternational) Managemeht WILLIAM MORRIS AGENCY New York City television and film unit has wrapped Up two more vidpix. They are ‘‘A Home for Baby,” .dealing with the Welfare Dept.’s foster parents program, narrated by Jinx Falkenburg; and “Library on Wheels.” covering the public library’s bookmobile, with narration by WLIB’s Murray Jor-; dan.' Unit, headed by Clifford Evans, ' has finished shooting “Water,” a five-reeler telling the 8(017 of the 1 city’s water supply. Editing has ' just started. | “For the Living.’’ Fredric March-! narrated feature, In addition to' being screened on Gotham tele stations, has been showm by thea- J tres in various parts of the U. S. and in Canada, Italy* Great Brit ain, Sweden and Japan. prevent them from misunderstanding.” a service to the industry by con- tinuing'negotiations after the other webs broke off. When the others came back at 4 aun., Nov. 19, they were ready to sign anything. What they signed, however, was a docu- ment that was acceptable to NBC and to the Whole industry. It would have been a much stiffer settlement if NBC hadn’t continued bargain- ing.” Some agencies take the position that NBC was at error in agreeing to the per-insert clause in the first arguing that while NBC pay the commercial fees the advertisers will. NBC Lutheran Hour Goes TV From KSD in St. Louis St, Louis, Dec. 5. The Lutheran International Hour, originating from KFUO, Concordia Seminary. St. Louis County, has launched a TV pro- gram from KSD-TV, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch station. The first of six programs for the edrrent sea- son. on Thanksgiving Day, was piped to 20 other TV stations. Other programs will be aired at Christmas arid Easter. The initial program featured an address by Dr. John W. Behnken, continued from pa^e 31 i ot tlic Luthemn Church^ I Mi.ssouri Synod and a chorus from the Concordia Collegiate Institute, (51 that it had originally told TVA, ' and still feels, that unless the per- • insert rule is modified or interpret- ; ed in a looser way it “can be harm- ful to both the union and manage- ’ ment.” Bronxville, N. Y. The regular Lutheran Hour announcer, Rev. Elmer Knoerschild, was in charge of the program. Gene King Continued from p.ige 29 ( Still “ought to be enough to balance ' their judgment.” j “We’re still hoping tliat reason I and justice will triumph,”, he as- serted. Gen. SarnofU said he thought the public should be given , . , „ , a chance to see the RCA system, j BBC, will han- but added that no public demon-; I strations are now being planned. i _, -Fhanksgiving. Betsy King, He estimated it would lake a year ^*\V*Shter, who has been, to get into quantity production. j spinning kid disks at the staUonfor The company displayed a variety ,than_ two years each Sunday of sets, all using IJ^ o-inch tri-'a n^- on her ‘ Let s .Have Fun’ I color tubes. Larger tubes. SarnofT i sliow, played, an ET vnth greetings : ADVERTISEMENT Schenectady—Gordon Tuell is a new director at WRGB-TV in Schenectady. He comes from Se- attle, Wash. i! im iir&fitaWe itilmg said, would be easier to make. Dr. Jolliffe was unable to say when the tubes can be made avail- able to licensees. Those shown, he said, were all hand-made and con- tain 600,000 color dots on the face, or twice the number on previous tubes shown. f' Philly Squawks Continued from page 30 WDELTV WILMINGTON DELAWARE WeAL*TV LANCASTER STEINMAN STATIONS Clair R, McCollough, General Manager ft0pr»i0nt9J ky ROBERT MEEKER ASSOCIATES 4 Chicago < San Francisco Hew York Ldi Angeles I greatly increased* except for the i heavy buying occasioned by the Korean war, and the rush to get sets before the Government credit regulations went into effect. The Christmas boom has been another factor in putting fresh coin in the hands of these “risky and financial- ly unstable” contractors. These re- sulted in a temporary respite, but the real “showdown” can be ex- pected after the holidays> he warned. 'Principal complaints of . set own- ers are having to wait eight or 10 weeks for replacement parts which they were told they needed; not having ; Service calls answered at all; others were told to vCnd their sets hack to the manufacturer as the instrument were beyond re- pair; service policies , have been shifted from one firm to another without the holders being notified, and there were also many com- plaints over the wording of poli- cies. from the British kids, ^or the American contribution, King took an engineer and production man to Betsy’s school, and her entire class participated in a program of Thanksgiving songs and greetings which were recorded and later played by the BBC. Now Miss King is out to lend another helping hand by repre- senting all American kids at Christmas time on the BBC. For the first time, an American young- ster will read the classic story of Dicker’s,Christmas Carol, and this will be broadcast over the entire network of the BBC. SAG-TVA 5 CANDIDATES FOR Hollywood. Dec. 5. • [ Five candidates have been nomi-! nated for the presidency of Acad- ' emy of Television Arts and Sci- j ences to succeed Sid Cassyd, whose ; term expires Dec: ‘31. Ballots for ' the election now are in the mail! and results will be announced at ' the Dec. 19 meeting of the Acad- ' eniy. : ,■■ . "i Nominees for president are Mike • Stokey, Freeman Lusk. James T. ! Vandiveer, Klaus Landsberg ahd Robert Brown. H; L. Hoffman. Frank Wisbar, Hal Roach, Jr., and Don Lauritzen are competing for the vice-presidency; Betty Mears, i Jon Slolt, Dick Lane, and Dori I Balli for secretary; and Fred i Henry, Robert Guggenheim and Mark Finley, for treasurer. . ICoverNewlib MENS CLOTHIER GiMyson .Many visU(u\s to my new shop asli Nvhothor I'm. ilie same Ca'ay- son formerly on J'’il’Lh Avo. around the oornei'. Yes, .Kcntle- nien, the same Grayson. A Jiiile older, porhaps. A little wiser, 1 llOJU‘ . . I offer the same tastefully de- signed clothing, bill at a sub- stantial saving at 20% or more . . . Tha.t’s beoauFK' I pay less rent for my 2nd floor elevator loetUion... ami I'm reeoneilod to making a smaller i)i-olU. (So. i'll be a millionaire a year later!) Tnsi(‘ad of payin.c,- G-l for my (Iriiyson CJi-ad,. yon pa>' me only $49.50, saving almost 15 biK'ks: it's a 3-ljutton suit with natural slmiibh'r, soft-co'nslr\U'tlon, cen- icr-vent . . . Harris Tsveed. I'Miinnel. or .Worsted. ITajipy to see you, Hoiirs: 9. t o 6 T'morrow (Thurs) to 9 Closed Saturdays CR/iyso n 18 East ^6 St.--2(1 Floor and nets scales. Continued from page 31 with two separate wage Heller States TVA Case . In N: Y. TVA exec secretary XJeorge HeHer $ai<i thelicompro*i Detroit — “Sports Closeup.” in- terview show conducted by mem- bers of the Detroit News sports staff and featuring star sports fig- ures, has been sold to North Bros;, auto dealers, through the D. W. Hacker agency. Contract is for 13 weeks with show coming over ••r. Excellent stcretdry, presently em- ployed by law firm. Accomplished musician with wide musical back- .ground. Anxious to get back into entertainment field. Present saldty $65.00 weekly. « Please Call Miss Irwin TiE 8-9045 during the day# or write Box V-2479, Variety, .154 W. 46th St. New York 19, N. V. WANTED Comedy Writer Or team, lor TV Variety Show. Pic- ture Or Radio experience preferred. Top lob for good man. All replies confidential. Send brief blog to BOX V 124, Dally Variety, 6311 YUeca St., Hollywood 23, 1 >