Variety (December 1954)

Published Weekly at 154 West 46th Street, New York 36. N. Y„ by Variety. Inc.. Annual, subscription $10, Single copies. 35 cents, entered as second class apatter December 22. 1903. at the Post Office at New York, N. Y,.; under the act of March 3. 1879. COPYRIGHT. 1934. 'BY VARIETY. INC.,' ALL RIGHTS RESERVED VOL. 196 No. 13 NEW YORE, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1954 PRICE 25 CENTS HAS ‘CULTURE’ Las Vegas, Nov. 30. . A The talent agencies are again scouting for ideas for Las Vegas hotels, Agencies are mulling girl shows, btg production ideas and even the possibility of intimate shows in order to make the lounges of the various Nevada inns attrac- tive to the gambling gentry. Revival of thinking along lines of new formats is sparked by the fact that they must keep on good te"rms with all the hotels in that area. With more hostels going up, they know that there won’t Jre enough names to go around for all. Many Of the top acts who are ac- customed to playirig—at one spot will not move to rival hotels, and there aren’t enough newcomers in the super-salaried brackets to get them to play the newer and spots still to be established; Fact tpat the LV inns, won’t be easy marks much longer is indi- cated by the Jact. that the Dunes Hotel will specialize in production. The inn originally wanted Billy Rose to be in charge of floorshows, but he declined and recommended the producer they did hire, Robert Nesbitt, a Briton. The Riviera has been angling for a N.. Y. cafeman. (Continued on page 66) What Price Censorship; Actor ‘Reads’ Deletion As Boff Curtain Line Boston, Noy. 30. Vincent Price "drafted” the Bos- ton censor as'a comedy scripter last week. As star of "Black-Eyed Susan,” playing a tryout , engage- ment at the Plymouth, the' actor took advantage of a deleted curtain line to get a howl from the audi- ence, Censor ordered the second-act line pencilled of the second night’s performance. Price felt the dialog was harmless, but since he was under official orders, he paused When he came to the. bowdlerized spot and said, "I have a line here, but the Boston censor won’t let me. use it.” It brought the curtain down on a boffola, so it was. retained for the balance of the run. Whatever the censor may have thought of the situation, he didn’t attempt to censor the ad lib or oiler public commefit. TO DIRECT A FILM Hollywood, Nov. 30. Russell Birdwell, who was a di- rector before becoming a publicist tn 1935, is returning to megging 9h "Closeup of Julie,” Anne Bax- ter starrer. Film will mark teeoff next year ^ new indie company formed by Baxter and Birdwell.’ ‘Billing’ Jolson and Cantor find them- selves billed vicariously at a Long island and a Yonkers, N; Y., nitery, both spots play- ing only,weekend dates. "The new A1 Jolson” is su- per-billed over Norman Brooks at the Casa Seville, Franklin Square;. L. I., and Bobby Breen’s booking at the Crystal Coronet, in Yonkers, is her- alded as "Eddie Cantor’s great discovery.” One way to put more money in the bank and build up“a life’s equity is to have a rival company hot for one’s services and then have them both compete to the point where "Operation Pyramid” sets in. It’s a good idea to have a going property tied up with the person — a showcase so valuable that the network just can’t afford (Continued on page 50) Hotel ‘Expenses’ Nixed Where an Actor’s Home Is Always ‘ Washington, Nov. 30. U. S. Tax Court recently handed, down an interesting decision affect- ing performers who have no fixed place of residence but carry their homes with them in the course of filling engagements. Case before the tribunal was that of Wilson J. Fisher, a pianist who works in such spots as hotel dining rooms and cocktail lounges. He and. his fam- ily went together from place to place wherever he had bookings. Fistter, whose total income was $21,000, deducted expenses of $14,- 000 but the Government disallowed $11,000 of the expenses. Among deductions claimed by the pianist and refused by the Government were those for "travel.” Tax Court held that these disbursements should riot have been listed sihee he Was never away from home— his domicile moved with him. Insofar as other expenses Were Concerned Fisher was permitted by the court to deduct expensed for miisic arrangements, office sup- plies, Christmas cards, piano re- pairs, union dues and publicity. In addition, lie was also allowed for the cost and upkeep of formal clothes and accessories which he. used only when working. By FRED HIFT Does "Culture”-—with a capital “C”—have a draw at the film box- office? New York showmen, with an eye (1) . towards the (to many) surpris- ing success of the' Italian opera film? “Aida,” in N.Y. and (2) to- wards. theatre-tv’s apparent yen for highbrow events such as the Metropolitan Opera premiere per- formance, are beginning to. wonder. Specifically, they think the "cul- ture” pitch could be shaped into a valuable addendum to the current drive to broaden film theatre at- tendance. Suspicion has lingered for a long time among the companies that “culture,” if properly handled, can pay off. "Hamlet” and "Henry. V” were examples of that, just how large is that intellectually-in- clined sector of the film audience? No one really knows, but it’s sus- pected that, counting more than just the hard-core of what’s jocu- larity been ‘called the “eggheads,” the number of patrons that might be attracted by offbeat presenta- tions is fairly large; certainly (Continued on page 20) Berlins Legiter Eddie Fisher rnakes his legit de- but in an Irving Berlin musical which the songsmith is fashioning expressly for the RCA Victor disk- er. It.will be called "East Side.” It is primed for next season and will not be the long heralded Music Box Revue which Berlin hopes yet to? do. Nor will it ,be "the Irving Berlin story,” although." there will be analogies in the script to suggest (Continued on page 74) America Dances Los Angeles,. Nov. 30, Sheree North’s dancing in some “home movie” films, made before she became a 20th-Fox conti’actee, .was de- clared legal by Federal Judge Ernest A. Tolin although hiz- zoner criticized the modern terpsichorean art. Films, dis- tributed by Joe Bonica, had been barred from the mails by acting postmaster Otto K. Ole- sen, Court ordered Olesen to resume mail service. "The movements of the sub- ject,” Judge Tolin said, "are not particularly different from those of the popular dances of the day. The postoffice has la- beled those movements ‘sexu- ally suggestive.' To so conclude would be to classify the great bulk of modern dancing as such.” Ham on Rye Day after Milton Belie col- lapsed at Lindy’S from over- work, ari unemployed comic cracked; "I fainted last week at the Stage Delicatessen. Under- work.” Wkly at NX’s LQ Mae West has frequently bragged that she. Was instrumental in Para- mount’s ’ paying off the mortgage two decades ago, when virtually everyone in the U.S., was repeating her taglipe "Come up and see hie sometime.” There’s no . visible mortgage at the Latin Quarter, N.Y., where Miss West concluded a six-week stand on Saturday night (27), but it's reasonable to assume, she could have paid off the encum- brance. During this run, Miss West aver- aged $92,000 weekly, a healthy fig- ure for a spot that normally seals under 60.0. The minimum .tab .eV- n for weekhights was elevated by $1 (Continued on page 20) DeMille’s ‘Commandments’ May Rent 5D Theatres Paramount appears plotting the acquisition of up t<t 50 U. S. the- atres, via four-wall deals, for the purpose of roadshowing Cecil B. DeMille's “Ten Commandments;” It's strictly tentative because of the legaiistics involved, plus the fact that the film will not be ready un- til the latter part of 1955. ? . But hohieoffice execs gaVe the idea a conversational Workout with. Dc- Mille in N. Y. last Week; If it goes through it would be without prece- dent. . On the basis of the prelimi ary talks, Par’s plan is to launch the pit*' on the' grand scale in the houses leased by the company it- self, similarly as “This Is Cine- rama” has been playing limited en- gagements. As these roadshows are. played out, the’DeMille entry would swing into Wide circulation via standard channels. Major film and theatre compa- nies are enjoined from exhibition expansion under court decrees un- less the Dept, of Justice is satis- fied that no trade restraints arc i - volved. Par’s four-wall setups thus would require ari okay from (Continued oil page 68) By BOB CHANDLER Motion picture industry "should have been in television long ago” instead of fighting, it, says Walt Disney. Now heavily engaged in television production via his ABC, "Disneyland” series, Disney Views the medium as a means of "creat- ing excitement” about good motion pictures and as an excellent means of getting people to go to the the- atres. People 1 will go to the movies if there’s a good show, but “we’vfc got to let them know about the show and create excitement about it.” His television series, he feels, is just the means to do it. Disney feels that exhibitors who squawk about his tv show aren’t justified, from a number of angles, For one thing, he’s certain that ty will help boost the b.o. on his pictures—the day after the tv show featured films showing how "The Vanishing Prairie” was shot, b.o. returns where the film was playing theatrically went up. For (Continued on page 68) .17 At Cambridge to Help U.S.Information Service An alf-day seminar on the United States “informational program” in foreign lands will take place Dec. 17 in Cambridge, Mass., at the Center for International Studies. Mass. Institute of Technology and Harvard professors are cooperat- ing, along with Ted Streibert ind other staffers of the U. S. Inforrna- tion Service in Washington, public relationist Edward L. Bernays and various, communications and social science, pundits. This is expected to lay an in- tellectual foundation for a drive for public opinion, and Congress, to the end that American prop- aganda shall be broadened both as to funds and personnel., USIS Di- rector Ted Streibert was once asst. (Continued on page 20) ABC-TV’S NEW YEAR’S A BO-TV is planr.rng' special New gear’s Eve show which would originate from the Stork Club. Package, which would employ a "novel" format and would have celebrities not only as interviewees but as performers, will be offered for sale as soon as the details are cleared up. It bears a “must sell” tag, since the web isn’t likely, to air it'as a sustainer, Web last year did an alhnight affair from its Ritz Theatre with i vited guests as a celebration of its acquisition of Martin Block, with the. disk jockey emceeing and all the net’s talent on the show. Stork Origination would be a one^our affair, running from 11:30 to 12:30 so as to catch the midnight frolic;