Variety (November 1963)

rapa Published ‘Weekly af 164 Woot dat Stivat: New York, W. ¥. 10098, by Variety, Ine. Annusl-subscription, $13, ingle copies, 2 cents, _ 7 ° COPYRIGHT 4963, BY VARIETY, INC. Second Class Postage at New York, N. ¥ "ALL RIGHTS & RESERVED. By ROBIN. {HARRIS .. he: five-story mansion at. ‘gs, i West. 56th St, which has probably |. een the scene of more glamour |: and. excitement that. any building | the ‘size in New. York,: has. been | presented: to the Damon. Runyon | Memorial Fund for use as. its per-|. manent: headquarters. by” -Dr:: Frank] _;. Stanton, ‘president of CBS, and}. 7 -" wealtor “E. M. (Mike) ™ Simon, who | owned: it. in’ partnership. ws With .an . about $500,000, the gift is the most -: valuable real estate’ parcel “the: Fund. has ever received. Now lo| “gated at 730 Fifth Ave., the Fund |. “will move into the new: offices. in | *64,after. ‘completion. of necessary |’ alterations. «. . . No more. fitting . ‘site. ‘could: bel: ‘found. in the city’ to house: the}. _ charity bekriog the name of Damon | _ Runyon, ‘the -town’s best known | . “ighronicler. since. 0. Henry,’ for this | . building. has: encompassed the full fange of Gotham night life, from |. “) the he highest of high: society: énter-{] i ling to: the ‘murder of. gangster. . Fay. Runyon himself ‘spent |' “many a. night. there, ‘as did his | spal. Walter Winchell, the. Fund’s. founder and present ‘Treasurer... There are 90° many legends surrounding the . address‘ that it is | {mpossible today to separate: the |: * truth from the Broadway. folk-lore, | . but it.is known that the dime: store'| |. Wollworth “family. erected. it for] we their city residence. .around the |. turn of the: century. ‘Appropriately. for a place that was to see so mruc | (Continued on page $2). Ask House Seat Buyers For Contributions ToNew: Dramatists Group * Several Broadway managers. are: now sending out house. seat orders: with. -accompanying . envelopes ‘for contributions. to the* New" ‘Dranta-. .. tists Committee Inc.,’ : producer Alexander H: Cohen ‘and f Harold tiene head af “Arte |. " eratt ograp. rinting.-Co.} _ | ‘MPL,’ Tired Lady Indee this. program’ ‘started as a means} L, ry. 4, of securing funds for the -Play-| | “My Fair Lady,” which has-been Ine-; were instrumental. in: getting: ‘wrights’: ‘program. | : “Whe contribution énvelopes bear: : the. Management's. ‘statement, “There. is no charge to. you other. price of the. tickets. -However, the |. ‘theatre ‘asa whole will benefit through ‘a contribution to the New: Dramatists Committee, an organi zation for developing and training | hew American ‘playwrights,” .. ‘Maia Stem’ producers . currently. “participating in this phase ‘of the New Dramatists” fund-raising pro-. gram include Alfred de Liagre Jr.. (“The. Irregular ‘Verb to Love"), Cohen ' (‘“‘Beyond. the | Fringe”), ‘Morton Gottlieb (“Enter Laughing’ and “Chips With Everything”). and 7 Stuart . ‘Ostrow’ _estimated ‘worth of | Broadway | will be less ° the Broadway original . ‘made its ‘out-of-town. debut Feb. 4, 1956 in | -Yran-in New-York. from. Mareh -15,: 1956, to Sept..29, 1962, establishing: (“Here’ s Love’). noe Jessel. rare it . You. .name‘the past | Us: " Presidents since. World: War I: and George. Jessel -has . met: : them—with. the exception of . ~. Dwight. ‘D.. Eisenhower. | He's. -had: conversations. with War ; ren Harding; Woodrow Wilson, -. .. Calvin Coolidge, Herbert.” Hoover, Franklin D. “Rodse-velt, Harry: Truman: and J ohn — UF, Kennedy. . ‘Comes: Nov... 25° aud: Jessel will’ ‘complete his . person-to-~ ‘person: record with the. coun-.. ’ try’s chief execs: This. will be -. at the annual. ‘Motion Picture Pioneers dinner. in: New. York... “which he'll. toastmaster.. and _ -which will spotlight Darryl F. : Zanuck as Pioneer of the Year. :: Special” ‘guest .of -honor and’ principal. ‘speaker “will. be .for-" . Mer Pres. ' Eisenhower... . To US Fin Biz Rome.Noy. 5. ment: and -abolition of. recently: } : (Continued. on page. (18)! Closing After 8Years |! showing her. age onthe road re-. -eently, will.close Dec. 14 at the end. of: a. three-week stand: ‘at the’l. _ payment.: of * the’ : boxoffice.|’ O'Keefe Centre, Toronto. The tour ing. production, : in which. Leland | ‘Howard and Gaylea’ Byrné are now | ‘eostarring . at. the. Auditorium, ‘Winnipeg;. began its: “road . trek |= ‘March 18, 1957. | The closing. ‘of the presentation | ht two months short | of the date eight years ago when New: Haven.. ‘That ‘production, .in . (Continued: on , Page 52) . Substantial: ‘improvements — of al ‘previously. worrisome: . (to . Yank | h | film’ interests) . situation: .in Egypt "./have’ been’ revealed. here. by. Leo |: a Hochstetter,. Motion Picture Ex| | port Assn.’s Mediterranean topper. 2 He. is backfrom a month-long. stay }-[in Cairo... ier | . Fhough word : waa. expected| ‘| nomentarily that negotiations | |} agreed upon verbally: and in writding” ‘had ‘reached. fruition, three -main areas. of. tension ‘appear to: have been © ‘ eased, _Hochstetter: ‘said. These. concern dollar trans-fers of -accumulated:: revenue; -a. clarification: of ‘changes in the "70> 40: to. 60-40. percentage. arrange “By GENE: ARNEEL Walter’ Reade-Sterling Ine, al | publicly-owned : corporation. ‘@n| gaged in’ theatrical exhibition and 7 _| production-distribution . of -theatri|. ‘cal arid television films; wants in. | on off-track betting. “Walter. Reade : sr. chairman, revealed last ‘week. : that the company proposes.to in-. vest. $7,500,000 to convert 14 thea-: “|-tres .and auditoriums around. New 1 York’s. five. boroughs. to betting. : parlors with-:the added: accommo ‘| dation of showing the flat .and:trot-'| 7 ‘ting -races -from: N..-Y. tracks, on: : slosed-cireult: television: . ‘Reade, of ' course, is. figuring on. off-track wagering. as a. thing . the legalistic future.. The «matter j ‘was -put before the. city’s: ‘Lyesterday (Tues.) in. the form ‘of. {an -advisory © ‘referendum. | “Mayor |...] Robert’ Wagner's idea was to dra|. =a | tatize to the state legislature. just . |where. the public's. sympathies lie} “1 so. far’ as. the issue ‘is. concerned, | . land in.this: way. induce legislation: | which’ would. enable N.. Y¥. C. to]. |move ahead’ with some. ‘ind: of legal off-track: operation. . “At a“meeting of city: and state (Continued on ontinued on page. 1 18). . | Si ying ing Now’ Tok c Bi $ a Hollywood, 1 Ni ov. 3 Disclicksare. full of ‘surprises, many offbeat, out-of-left-field skyrocketing . hits.” Latest in. the pop. vein: is unique to date—"The Sing ing ‘Nun,’ literally: . -: Philips. Records: (Holland-based_ waxery~ ‘whose product . is distributéd by. Mercury in US.) is on the receiving “erid with an album< of A that. title, and a ‘companion single, }*Dominique, * both appearing -like-. [ly to. duplicate their European suc4 cess here. They've’ just been | re leased. locally. Western ‘Record. Distributors, ‘which = handles’ Philips’ platters the. albums: two. weeks ago, hoping ‘to sell ‘them: to. Catholic institu-|‘tions. Therp’s now. a back order ‘of 5,000 for the. album and the. sin-} gle has ‘sold 13,000 in Los ‘Angeles 7 with orders piling up... “Reggie ‘Tobin, Western 's opera tion” manager, reports’ ‘200,600 al bum ‘orders nationally. ‘have .ac-' ‘Richmond, | Va., pressing. plant.. “Dominique,” he adds, Yacked up sales of 46,000. ast: week in. NY, and 20,000 in which Rex. Harrison! ‘and Julie New. Orleans, 1 Andrews were the original. costars;.| : cumulated’ at: Philips” “The Singing. “Nun”: is. from © Dominican conven’. in’ Fichermont, Belgium. The 12° -folk-styled, Te— _ (Continued on. Page 52) voters |. Going to L | soft sell and: casu | tion, the. heavy load of. collegiate: °| favorites presented, and the new: } “Huckleberry 1 Fink? .Pubrelationer Jack Perlis. : feels the time is: right for a ““Jatterday “Pal Joey,” dedieated to “today’s amoral ado' Jescent withhisnicoteenage. values, beady eye on the main _chance,: ‘looking. down. his “Tunny nose at. ‘traditional standards. Of. morality,” to quote him. ‘ 7 rae ‘for. dt "Huckleberry = Ja 7] 7 ok Uhits By: LEONARD L.. LEVINSON Unique’ “participation: in show | biz by: Ford Motor got’ off to a} jackrabbit’ start with turnaway |" | ‘enthusiastic ac| ¥ ceptance. Friday night (1) at Car-|f {negie Hall, N.Y. when Ford. guar-{ anteed . against loss’. a campus‘| aimed folk-jazz: eoncert unit. Lat-: | ter. performs nine pre-Thanksgiv-| . ‘ing. college..dates from Maryland ‘to Vermont... If warm’ reaction. of: |New York students is contagious |. j along the Atlantic.seaboard, a con| cert -circuit of 75 to 350. college . dates a year -is in the offing. Unusual in such projects is the al. product men-. attendance ‘and ‘fiscal approach. . ‘Ford isn't gi ving the show away, but is. enabling th Students to. see the show at a reasonably lower scale and guarantecing. student auspices. against. loss, plus giving event a big -pubvad. buildup, and splitting the. take’ over the first $5006, tion: campaign, ‘paid: for hall and | Other expenses. ‘There was .a.$2.to $3.30. scale: and the date will literally: ‘set. Ford. back. “about 40 hereabouts, reluctantly took 25 of|.: _ (Continued: on Page. 62) Umberto of Italy Att. | ‘Top-of-Fair Dinner _ Former: ‘King: ‘Umberto: of Italy, winding. up aUS: tour is the (Wed,) $100-a-{ they would win. additional show draw: at : tonight's. head. Top of the Fair" “dinner at the N.Y. World’s Fairgrounds for benefit .of -the American Commit-: tee for Italian. Migration. | _ » Premier. ballerina Maria Gam-. | barelli, an old friend of the: for&imer: ‘monarch, .coordinated, the ‘show which will. include Licia:Al banese, Salvatore Baccaloni, Mario a Bragioltl and Adriana -Delamare. Via Ford Tio’ . } niteries, What's | doesn’t have to pay anything to see the headliners in the centres” cia ure potential customers for the aoe . Ford. | are concerned there has panies drew 54.6% of their total jincomes from territories outside .|the confines of thé United. States and Canada.. -Specifie dollar figures were with Also: to quote Perlis; he has... held by Hetzel, but MPAA member company sources estimated that -1$310,000,000 accrued to the Ameri can distributors from overseas cutlets, while’ domestically they drew 7 about $275,006,000. 1° The 1962 income represented an. | increase of about 4.3% over 1961.. These figures,relate only to the | atrical features,.as apart from tele| vision film ‘licensing, which doubt less would add. to the dollar volume from the foreign Minneapolis, Nov. 5. When it comes to bringing in ‘top name acts, shopping centres there are eclipsing . Twin Cities shows designed. ‘With names conspicuo by their absence in local night tube, the. Southtown shopping’ centre here, for example, booked the ‘Four. Lads for a heavily adver‘tisedtree..show last week. The recordbreaking public turnout un| doubtedly ‘benefitted the centre’s .Carnegie concert would have. shopkeepers, many of whom en ‘cost -a one-shot. promoter . around. ‘$7,000. in: -talent alone. pushed with a heavy ‘ad-exploita ‘joyed brisk patronage before and _after: the show. ‘Shopping. ‘centres. are mushrooming here and, as part of their layouts, most have theatres of a ‘sort. The competition. ‘to attract the public is increasing and, trying to outdo one another in gratis ‘| entertainment, they're digging deeper into their jeans for draw| ing cards.” ‘Lecal show circles point out that if this situation, or something akin to it, also prevails in many other cities it may prove to be a. ‘boon for nitery name acts. For cases, thus.spelling an increased demand for their services. As far as Twin Cities nightclubs been considerable act retrenchment the past -year. Whereas as. recent . as ‘1962. there were two supper clubs, | both in Minnéapolis, playing important name acts regularliy, there’s only one now. money abroad. : ey the. history of the | business, according to Ralph Het “| zel, exec y.p. of the Motion Picture Assn. of America. The. totals, he | said,. showed that the Yank com markets. ~MPAA’s Hetzel said that ‘Amerl~ Vd Pe ‘ ‘ ‘ir