Hollywood Studio Magazine (October 1968)

UNIVERSAL CITY STUDIOS by Francesa Dorsey SCALING THE LADDER Many of the MCA and Universal executives will view October’s activities from a new vantage point: Decca’s Vice- President of Special Markets, Marty Salkin has announced the appointment of Martin L. Weiss to the position of Direc¬ tor of Special Markets, a newly created post consisting in the development and expansion of the company’s merchan¬ dising of Decca, Coral and Brunswick product in the premium, incentive, gift, and awards area. Also assisting in this new department will be Don Hobens, who will assume the position of Manager of Opera¬ tions, Decca Special Markets. Hal Rose, formerly a key executive in the Canadian record market joins the list of new appointees as Product and Promotion Manager for Single Records for the three record labels. On the home front, Paul Donnelly, Universal production manager for fea¬ tures and television for the past two years resigned his position in favor of becoming a producer at the studio. A veteran of Revue Productions, the merger of MCA and Decca Records and the alteration of Revue to Universal Television, Donnelly has been with the studio for over 16 years. The former production manager has bequethed his duties to Marshall Green and Richard Birnie. Green joined Universal 19 years ago as an assistant director and was subsequently promoted to unit manager; in 1957 he became assistant production manager. Birnie has been Donnelly’s assistant for the past 10 years. Jay Stein, General Manager of the Studio Tours is newly located in the MCA tower, being titled the Vice President of Universal Studios Tour. He will be in¬ volved in the development of the tours and other projects relative to outdoor entertainment. Assuming Mr. Stein’s lead position on the Tour Hill is John Lake, formerly Jay Stein’s assistant. Harry Heath the chief accountant for the Tours steps into John Lake’s vacated post and is now the Assistant General Manager of the Tours. Moving in to the Studio is A1 Cirrone who now heads one of the most necessary and vital departments on the lot...the studio’s Print shop. Cirrone was formerly with Disney Studios. AIDOPS 'ARDO GRAS The festive and colorful Mardi Gras de Mexico which was originally slated for a July 19th-Sept. 2nd run, closed Septem¬ ber 15th after a two-week extension. An Artistic success, the Mexican spectacular marked a number of firsts for Universal. Universal is the first studio to have presented such an event and with the advent of the Mardi Gras, the studio was opened evenings on a regular basis. Most important, however, is the significance that such a project reveals, for it repre¬ sents the first step in the possible show¬ casing of other ethnic groups. WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN When the sun goes down on the studio and production companies reluctantly “Wrap!” until the next day’s natural light, all activity does not cease. When the sun set on September 27th, The Harvard Business School Club enjoyed a night on the top...on top of the Tour hill, in the Visitor’s Center. Members cocktailed and danced in the open-air patio of the Villa de Mexico and then enjoyed a sitdown- dinner on the terrace which overlooks the entire San Fernando Valley. October 12th, when the sun goes down, 500-plus guests of the Pasadena Symphony Assoc, will flock to the Tour’s Visitor’s Center for a fund raising Cocktail Dinner-Dance party. And when the sun goes down on the last Tuesday of every month, Wattie Watson, head of Universal’s Sound De¬ partment walks over to the Studio Com¬ missary for the monthly dinner-business meeting of the Audio Engineering So¬ ciety. LAST BLAST An end-of-the-season and end-all- parties party was thrown on the evening of Sept. 17th to commemorate the end of a record-breaking successful summer sea¬ son. The program of festivities included a preview screening, “House Of Cards,” a buffet supper in the Studio Commissary, dancing in Sound Stage No. 6, and most memorable of all, Burlesques on various members of the staff with definite and recognizable traits at which poignant witticisms were aimed. On hand to view the bar-none skitts were Albert Dorskind, Jay Stein, Brad Metcalfe (head of Trans¬ portation), Don Levenson (Tour Public¬ ity), Cliff Walker (Tour Manager) and their wives, as well as the entire ‘cast and crew’ of personnel that withstood the summer days to ensure the success of both the Tour and the Mardi Gras. QUICK QUIPS Roy Thinnes, the alien creature chaser from ‘The Invaders’, who is now starring with Lynn Loring in Universal’s “The Doppelgangers,” a science fiction thriller in which he’s still invaded by space creatures remarked, “Only these aliens make ‘The Invaders’ look like mother-in- law stuff.” Relating an experience about the time he did a radio show for a friend in North Carolina, Andy Griffith explained to Jer¬ ry Van Dyke that in appreciation the disc jockey sent Andy a beautiful watch. “But the fine print in my contract with my agent, Richard Linke, stipulated that I had to give him a percentage of every¬ thing I earned. So I called Dick every hour and told him what time it was.” Andy Griffith and Jerry Van Dyke re¬ cently completed Universal’s new comedy “An Angel In My Pocket.” When questioned about his impression of the jazzy linen Don Knotts finds on the huge, heart-shaped bed he wakes up in in Universal’s new comedy “The Love God.” Mr. Knotts answered “I guess they’re all right, but they make me feel I’ve been gift wrapped.” When director Abraham Polonsky re¬ quired constant camera closeups of four dead horses for a key scene in “Willie Boy,” he ordered four stuffed horses at $825 a piece from a Seattle taxidermist to make their “dead debuts.” The inci¬ dent caused star Robert Blake to observe: “As far as authenticity is concerned, it just proves you can’t beat a dead horse.” Upon being introduced to British model Judith Seal, appearing in Univer¬ sal’s “Heironymus Merkin.” Milton Berle quipped, “Miss Seal, I think I’ll throw you a fish.” Sharon Harvey, to be seen in a fea¬ tured role in “Sweet Charity,” was telling actor Richard Van Vleet the reason she prefers to travel by train rather than by plane. REASON: “In my heart, I have Page 9