Variety (November 1954)

’«» • <=r.... Published Weekly at 11S4 West 46th Street, New York 36, N. Y , by Variety, Inc. Annual subscription S10. Single copies. 35 cents. Entered as Second class matter December 22, 1903, at the Post Office at New York, N. Y.. under the act of March 3, 1879. COPYRIGHT, 1954, BY VARIETY, INC., ALL RIGHTS RESERVED VOL. 196 No. 11 NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1954 PRICE 25 CENTS Moving picture theatre operators- rival department store buyers in the range and variety of items. they purchase. While the main business of a film house is, of course, en- tertainment delivered in steel cans, candy, popcorn, soft drinks, and other food items (to which full- bodied cofnbeef sandwiches have recently been added) also elicit the exhibitor’s business judgment. A wag has said “it’s harder to pick the right candy than the right pic- ture.” i A breakdown of-the number of salesmen peddling different items who call on theatre operators would surprise the average non- theatrical businessman. The past two years, of Course, has seen a considerable. stepup of purchases of protection equipment, including screens, lenses, and sound sys- tems. In addition to these buys to maintain a showcase for the show- ing of the new process films, there are basic replacement items, such as seats, carpets, carbons, and other equipment involved with Real Captive Audience Washington, Nov. 16. An experiment to determine the feasibility of teaching prisoners in penal institutions via educational tv is being carried on in Pitts- burgh through noncommercial sta- tion WQED. Among the 680 students enrolled in the station's “High School of the Air” are 25 inmates of the Allegheny County Workhouse at Blkwnox, Pa. The inmates, selected from .75 applicants, have paid the regular enrollment fees of $5 from their own personal funds. Course offered this semester by WQED are Eng- lish, algebra and world history. Students passing the courses receive full credit toward a high school diploma. daily operation. Add to these such items as air- conditioning and ventilating equip- ment, amplifiers and amplifying tubes, architectural and theatre de- sign materials, lighting equipment, boxoffices and accessories, cabi- nets for film and carbons, change- (Coritinued on page 79) w Janet ( Altoona) Blair ; Has Hometown on Edge For Ado Annie Guester Altoona, Pa., Nov. 16. As far as AltoOna is concerned, there’s no show business like Janet Blair. The actress-singer a hometown girl,. With* the bus-truck touring edi- tion of “Oklahoma” scheduled to play here Dec. 2-3, co-producer Nick Mayo recruited Miss Blair (Mrs. Mayo) to take over the role of Ado Annie just for the occasion. When that was announced, the two scheduled performances were vir- tually sold out, so the engagement was extended through Dec. 4, add- ing a matinee and evening show: It will be Miss Blair’s first pro- fessional appearance in her home- town since : she left about a dozen years ago to break into show busi- ness as a vocalist with the late Hal Kemp’s band* During her long tour s Nellie Eorbush i “South pa-, cific,” ^ the actress-singer never Played Altoona, but on the; show’s first'engagement in Pittsburgh, t^e Pennsylvania .Railroad ran a spe- cial show train the 90 miles there and back with 700 of her home- tbwners: .' This; performance took, place on Miss Blair’s birthday arid the capa- city audience, included author-pro- ducers Richard Rogers and Oscar ttaitfnierstein 2d,’ who made the trip. from New York for the oc- casion. Here to Suburbia’ The postwar population shift to the suburbs is now catching up to the nitery industry. The lesser number of urban cafes is amply compensated for by the largeseat- ers in the outlying districts. Virtu- ally all of them have big capacities, . and large parking areas. Because of the tremendous seating, they’re able to charge comparatively low prices and get by with only a week- end trade. Another point making the path of the suburban spot a lot easier lies in the fact that many of them are in neighborhoods that enable them to get a lot of family dinner trade. Virtually all of them have erased the prewar “roadhouse” (Continued on page 06) As Video Policewomen Boston, Nov. 16. Speaking, before the National Council of. Catholic Women at their convention here last week, Mrs. Winfield D. Smart, national vice-chairman of the organization’s public relations committee, urged the council’s 8,000,000 members to join in demanding proper tv pro- grams for youngsters. Mrs. Smart asserted that “women are the buyers and sponsors listen to them; 30 letters can effect any program adversely.” Continuing, she declared, “In Chicago there are more tv sets than bathtubs and it’s safe to pre- dict that by. 1960 there will be as many sets, as there are families. It is our duty to question the value of programs that feature crack- ing pistols, barroom brawls, grue- some villains and excursions into i space as fit fare for our children,” The nation’s film theatre busi- ness currently is reversing the downbeat trend that started in 1946. Gross income for the cur- rent year looks to hit $1,191,200,- 000, which is a jump of $183,700,- 000, or 18.2%, over 1953. Admissions, which hit a high of 82.400.000 as the weekly average in 1946, and had been falling reg- ularly since, toppling to a low of 45.900.000 last year, also are on. the upclimb. Total ticket purchases for the se'cond quarter of this year exceeded the same period of 1953 by 42,900,000, or, 7V^>r, and the same rate of improvement is evi- dent in the third quarter. Until the current year there had been a steady falling off, each year bringing admissions under the pre- vious year’s pace. The upbeat was disclosed this week by ti^e Council of Motion Pic- ture Organizations in a report on a boxoffice analysis conducted for this film industry outfit by Sind- linger & Co., independent research concern. Average weekly, admissions were up to 72,500,000 last July and 80,- 100.000 in August, according to COMPO. The gross take at U. S. theatres, (Continued on page 28) If No ‘B V Where Charlotte, Nov, 16. Hollywood’s concentration oh “A” pictures i ight jeopardize the development of new screen stars who. over the . years, broke in via the type of “B” product that is how being abandoned; Commenting on this, Leonard Goldenson, president of United Paramount Theatres, said either television or secondary leads in pix may now have to be the approach to player buildups; Addressing the Theatre Owners or North and South Carolina at a convention here yesterday (Mon.), Goldenson said his main concern (Continued, on page .79) Jocks Aiding Del. Cops In Juve Delinquency Fight Detroit, Nov. 16. Disk jockeys, in cooperation with United Music Operators of Michigan, have, donated their services at the request of Police Commissioner Edward S. Piggins in an effort to stem the rising tide of juvenile delinquency, in Detroit. The plan is to hold weekly dance parties' with UMQM,. an organiza- (Continued on page 60) i f • in it Frisco -Goofy’ Disk Nix San Francisco, Nov. 16. “Mama Don’t Allow No Goofy MUsiq in Here” is the new theme song of Oakland , radio station KLX, owned by the Oakland Trib- une, Station manager Bud Foster has just memoed the staff about the type of music, to. be played on the indie station, “We don’t wantfhat goofy, wide- >.eyed stuff on the air,” Foster’s memo said. “No face, liisic and no rhythm and blues,” it continued. Rhythm & blues records, inci- dentally, are enjoying an unprece- dented popularity in the Bay area with sales up almost 1Q% iii the last month. Most pop stations, since “Sh-Bobm,” have pro- grammed r&b platters. England, Too, Gets Las Vegas, Nov. 16. The odds are much greater on the “hard way” in this gambling community, but the payoff is big- ger. too—which may be why vet showman Alfred Gottesman wants to revolutionize Las Vegas nitery habits by shunning the easy way bf buying talent at Astronomical figures. At the moment it’s strictly a bnc-mim revolution, but show biz probably will be watching carefully to see how Gottesman makes out when he opens his new Dunes Hotel here next February on a show policy based on production rather than personality. "The constant demand for name talent at. increasing salaries,” Gottesman contends, “has got to stop somewhere. The hotels have created a Frankenstein monster that could easily destroy them if it gets much bigger. Everyone, knows that the casino has an edge, or percentage, against the players —but I doubt if. if is large enough to offset the extravagances to which some of the hotels are heading;” London, Nov. 16, . As an experiment, the Postmas- ter-General has given his okay for BBC-TV coverage of the England vs. Germany football game on Dec. 1 to be picked up live by a number of key picture theatres In London and the Provinces. This is the first theatrecast to be sanctioned since the Coronation in June' last year. It is believed that facilities will be 'limited to a total of eight theatres, comprising four in the Rank circuit, three news houses and one hair controlled by Associated British. Trie telecast will be. picked Up at the Odepn, Leicester Square and by other Rank theatres in Leeds, Manchester and Doncaster. The one ABC theatre is the Commo- dore In the London suburb of Harii- mersmith. ♦ Gottesman, onetime New Eng- land circuit exhib who sold his chain to Warner Bros, early in 1929 for $15*000,000, has been in both ^ (Continued oh page 66) No Respect for Symphs In K.C, as Fisher Fans Make Shambles Out of Concert Kansas City, Nov. 16,. Kansas City Philharmonic Orch played before one of its biggest crowds, 12,000 persons jamming into the Municipal Auditorium last** Saturday (13), but its playing fell on virtually deaf ears. Nearly 90% of the crowd were femmes and most of those were bobbysoxers who came to see and hear guest, artist Eddie Fisher. . The occasion. was the annual Katz-Philharmonic concert, which (Continued on page 60) a la porte ST. JEAN QUEBEC, CANADA Currently presents Tile Hour of Charm All .011*1 Orchestra and Clidlr Featuring EVELYN and her Magic Violin under the direction of PHIL SPITALNY