Variety (December 1950)

Published Weekly M 164 Wrat 46th. street, New York 19, N. r„ by Variety, Inc. Annual subscription. $10, Single copies, 26 centA. Entered as second class matter December 22, 1906, at the Post Dfllce at New York, N T., under the act of March 8, 1879. COPYRIGHT/ 1950, BY VARIETY, iNC, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED VOL. 181 No. 1 NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, DEGEMRER 13, 1950 PRIGE 25 GENTS VIDEO COMEDY 15 Years on Toe Art By ARTHUR BRONSON * A fantastic total of over $5,355,- 000 has been poured into the dance field in America in the past 15 years. Practically all of this coin has gone for the classic ballet (with a little for the modem dance), and most of it has been contributed by Individuals (as against organiza- tions). And most of the money has been donated without any expecta- tion of return.. In no other art field in modern times has so much coin been laid out by beneficent angels. It’s an e.xhibition unmatched since the days of Otto Kahn in the Met Op- era, and unequaled in other show biz fields except in such rare in- stances as an Edgar B. Davis in legit with his $2,000,000 contribu- tion in 1926^27 to keep “The Lad- der” afloat on Broadway. In Broadway productions, unlike ballet, individual contributions gen- erally are not big (although there are e.xceptions, as with Gilbert Miller’s, investment of all of the $ 91,000 required for “Ring ROund the Moon” or Dwight Deere Wi- man putting up $57,500 of the (Continued on page 79) Entertainment Buys Seen Spurred by Biz Controls; No General Slrfesck Seen Mary Martin, Son Team On Columbia Recording Latching on to the public en- thusiasm for family talent records generated by Bing and Gary Crosby, Columbia has cut two sides by Mary Martin and her 17- year-old son, Larry. Songs are “Get Out Those Old Records” and “You're Just in Love.” Pair will record together in the future if response to the initialers is favorable. Pro.spect of a general business recession early next spring, which mi.alit be reflected in .a boxoffice downbeat, .is now figured to be unlikdly. Clovernment experts have boon predicting that there would be a temporary “transitional” pe- riod of curtailed output, lower em- ployment and reduced payrolls durin.g the switchover of industry from consumer to military produc- tion. But the armament program IS .now reportedly in high enough gear to take up any production or employment slack. , . it's conceded that there inay be a prpduetion lull, with resultdnt unemployment in some manufac- turing lines, but the boom.iii heavy industry, sparked by the armament speedup, will more than offset it. bo no general employment decline is anticipated. Moreover, in view 01 the Various industry-wide wage Doost.s based ojr the cost-of-liying rise, payrolls aiid mbney-ih-bircu- are .expected, to increase. Lhats hMieved xiertain to be re- jected in hypoed spending for en- teFtainment, which means more b.o. _ J. fills far, despite the latest cost- oi-llving jump from 173.8% in jjeptember to 174.8% in Getober, had apparently as much ^Jhationary effect as anticipated, possibly as a result of credit con- ieV' ®ut some further inflation ‘ hgurod inevitable and a return ■ controls is probably only _ matter of time. As in the last fU', restrictions on the production . consumer goods, coupled with pi j<^rols, is a cinch to spur htertainment-buying. - • Pressure is being exerted on 20th-Fox to shelve its projected feature, “Take Care of My Little Girl;” which will expose certain evils of the college fraternity and sorority system. Inferential threats have been made of the displeasure of the sev- eral million graduate members of the Greek letter societies unless the story is scrapped. Spyros Skouras, who has even been told that anything anti-fraternity is “Communist-inspired,” is appar- ently going to ignore the pressure and produce the film, which is tentatively scheduled for July, 1951 release. According to the 20th production Ciiarts, pic will feature Jeanne Crain, Jean Peters, Mit; 5 i Gaynor and Helen Wescott. Jean Negulesco is slated to direct, with Julian Blaustein as producer. Some of the fraternity people first got Word of “My Little Girl” last September and decided to take action. L G Balfour, chairman of the Interfraternity Resoarch and Advisory Gouncil and head of a fraternity jewelry firm, wrote to Skouras that the stOry was “Com- munistic inspired propagainda” and would “give comfort to the ene- (Continued On page 79) Find Religibso Tunes In Bar Jukes NG for Biz Chicago,'Dec. 12. Juke operators, with a large cir- culation 'in taverns, are turnipg sour on the flock of religioso tunes now being issued on wax by all the companies. Some of the ops have apparently made the mistake of placing these disks in tavern coinmachines, with a resulting fall-off in liquor sales. Juke ops, under prodding from the barkeeps, are now asking the platter compunies to make com- munity singing sOngs, which not only spreads good will, hut in- ereases bat* business. By GEORGE ROSEN TV’s “primer boys”—the A-B-C- D’s of video’s comedic pattern-—are as baffled today oyer how they’ll eventually fit into the coast-to- Goast program schedule as in their pre-telecast days. Pour of the alltime greats of radio arid show business—Fred. Allen, Jack Benny, Eddie Cantor and Jimmy Durahte-^are agreed on one basic premise: there’s more impact coming out of the TV screen than any other previous facet of show business. But beyond establishing that point, they’re all confused; the con- flicting viewpoints of the Four Horsemen of the Kinescopes would suggest that TV program- ming is still in an embryonic era which must eventually give way to solidify the medium’s economic pattern and meet the requirements of the stars. Allen, convinced that the, once- a-month “Comedy Hour” showcase is not the ultimate answer to fit- ting him into the medium for max- imum results, is checking Out after Sunday’s (17) videocast On doctor’s orders. When his health permits he’ll return with a half-hour, week- ly format patterned to the Allen pace and tempo through which he carved his niche in radio and on the stage. Durante, too, is anxious to beat a retreat back to the Coast and is searching for a TV formula that will be less demanding. Benny, beyond being convinced (Continued on page 43) Fix on Tele And ■ V f 0 i), Hollywood, Dec. 12. Group of nine pix recently ac- quired by KTTV will start heaminjg iocally arpuhd Christmas—in vixr tual day-and-date competitibn with nabe thea^es which will screen the same films. It is the first time in local television history that films hAve been made available* for tele use simultaneous with their release to the neighborhood houses. Closest competition in the pa.^/, came when KECA-T.V telecast the indie “Be- ware of Pity” two weeks after it had cohcluded a rv i at the Guild Theatre. Astor pictures closed the deal for theatre use Of the films shortly after Atlantic Television leased the video rights to K'lTV, Pix, all made before the AFM 1946 con- tract with film produters, are “The ! Bridge of San Luis. Rey,” “Dark Waters/’ “Christma.': Eve,” “Bed- side Manner,” “Bachelor’s Daugh- ters,” “Mr. Ace,” ‘.Sensatiens of 1945,” “Hi Diddle sDiddle,” and “Midshipman- Easy,” 175^ Profit on 200G ’Blondes’ Investment “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” which has just passed the one- year mark at the Ziegfeld, N. Y„ has earned a profit of $350,000 on its $200,000 investment. The Herman Levin-Oliver Smith pro- duction has already distributed $280,000 profits, and has accumur lated an additional net of about $70,000, including cash, bonds, etc. The musical has been earning a weekly operating profit of around $11,000, and is still receiv- ing a share of the net from the Coast company. WB, M, Metro Heir Stars on TV While several of the major film studios have considerably eased the “no television appearance” bans on their contract players, those which still are opposed to tbe practice are expected to con- tinue their adamant policy indefi- nitely. Reason is their staunch be- lief that the so-called glamor asso- ciated with their star talent re- mains one of their chief selling points. Once potential customers can sit at home and watch this glafhor on their video sets for free, then there would no longer be any reason for them to pay to see the stars at their local filmeries. Because of this reasoning, War- ners, 20th-Fo3c and Metro, which have probably the biggest star stables among the major studios, (Continued on page 71) Labor Trades’Pitch For Burley’s N.Y. Return The Fact Finding Committee of the Central Labor Trades Council is set to petition municipal author- ities to sanction burlesque shows in New York. FFC, comprising representatives of theatrical unions, is seeking to increase employment opportunities for its component uiiiohs and is preparing petitions to city officials for lifting of the longtime ban Dn these shows. , Burlesque has been, taboo in New York since 1941 when the late Mayor Fiorello Ht LaGuardia ban- ished it. Previous attempts have been made to bring it back. One of the more potent argu- ments to be used for hurley’s re- turn will be the necessity of re- taining theatre realty values. Film business has declined considerably and some hous(;s may have to] change policy v. ta »r^jpain Apen.. St. Petersburg, Dec. 12. A stepped-up struggle by the national pastime against radio and ^ i television is being forecast as a result of the meeting of the 16 club owners of the major league base- ball teams here this week. The surprise move not to renew the contract of baseball commis- sioner A. B. (Happy) Chandler, who holds the post through April, 1952, is viewed as a blow to AM and TV because of his strong pro- broadcasting stand. It was Chand- ler who inked MutuaTs five-year contract for the World Series and gave the web rights for “Game of the Day” co-op broadcasts. Ghand-. ler had said recently video rights to the series would soar in ’51 to $ 1 , 000 , 000 . Florida State League is first of baseball’s lower minors to ban broadcasts of home games, al- though in three larger cities FM ballcasts will be permitted on ttial. BrooWyn Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals also voted network broadcasting curbs. At the same time the club own- ers are pressing for stiffer charged to stations. Brooklyn Dodgers are reliably reported asking for more coin to their diamondcasts on WMGM, N. Y. The upped ante may backfire, a£; General Foods, which shares sponsorship of the (Continued on page 42) L.A. Niteries Find Take-It-Off Trend Has Profitable A-peel By MICKEY FREEMAN Hollywood, Dec. 12. Burlesque, almost a forgotten word here 18 months ago. is mak- ing a strong coineback. The town’s gone striptea^se happy and judging from the" way customers are pouring through the turnstiles, it’s here to stay. At this point, there’s no applauding the Los Aii- geles weather but local niteries are keeping the population warm. Admittedly this is an unusual heat Vvave, being confined mostly to LA’s niteries. Eighteen months ago there was only on^ hurley theatre in operation. Now three theatres are going full blast and the gals are peelin' in , 23 clubs through Los Angeles County. Each (Continued ph page 77) TV’s Newest Neck tine Cleveland, Dec. 12. Doctors at the American Medical Association convention in Cleve- land were told that television may cause a new type of headache. Dr. C. i-i. Hartsock of the Cleve- land Clinic said that the new type headache comes from straining the neck muscles by fixed gaze. He add- ed TV viewers should try looking around, flexing the neck, and not to look with a constant head tilt. The doctor said nothing about programming,. C. A.