Variety (Apr 1939)

RADIO SCREEN STAGE Published WMkly at 164 Went 4Sth Street, New Tork, N. br Variety, Ino. Annual sabBcrlptl6o, $10. Blnile copies, it oente. Entered u eecond-olaiia matter December 22, liOE, at the Post ORIce at New' 7ork, N. T., under the act of March t, lit*. PRICE COPTBIOHT, leSO, BT TABIE1T. INO. ALL BIGHTS BESERVED. Vol. 134 No. 4 NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5, 1939 56 PAGES N.Y. FAIR SLOWS BROADWAy AIR-PIC TIFF PUZZLE TO PALEY Hollywood, April 4. ■It's all too confusing to me, K the fllm heads have any grievance against radio they certainly haven't S9)d so In so many words. In one breath they say radio Is doing a great Job and then they turn around end blame us for bad business at ■ome of their pictures. WhatV it all ■bout?' William S. Paley, CBS prexy, had these comments to make on the state of affairs beftween the two great en- tertainment industries, which have been faking faces at each other-for many , months even though Paley can't make out the significance or provocation. He said he was ready to ta}k It over with the studio an- tagonists at any time but so tar had T^fved no overtures for a sesh at tUe Ironing board. -Td really like to talk It over with loine of them> to get a fresh view- point on what liarm we've done pic- ture' -real or 'fancied,' saild Paley. %o far I can't make heads or tails of what they Wnt us to do. If they want' to pull tueir stars off the air, well and goodr We^ll build our own have been doing. I think we'r; done a pretty good job of de- veloping people for pictures so they ^We us as much as we owe them. However, the two have been work- ing. tog^Uier very harmoniously and It Is :&nplausible to believe that they would want to break up a winning cohtblnation.' {Aside from assurances that Holly- Wood-would be a chief production cedter far many years to come and that' television's Imminence wiU be determined by the experiments in New York, Prexy Paley had litUe othei:;,trade comment to offer. He had been resting up in Arizona and returns to New York this week. Wmm FILMUSICAL : FROM DREISER'S BIOG , Hollywood, April 4. Theodore Dreiser's biography, "My Brpther Paul,* based on life of Paul Dresser, composer of 'On the Banks of jthe Wabash,' may reach the screen as a musical production. Book con- talna aU of Dresser's dltUes, ' .Universal has a lively interest In It^ possibilities and contracts may be signed shortly. Caruefle'a Acoordtoo Concert Charles Magnante has arranged an aU-accbrdlon concert to take place at Carnegie Hall, N. Y;, April 13. It will be built around a quartet which' appears frequently on radio programs, consisting ' of Abe Gold- man, Jo(: Bivlano, Cene Von HaU- berg and Magnante. Please, Mr. Rockefeller 1 itadio City Music Hall Is re- ported recently seeking a rebate or adjustment of playing terms on a Selznick-Internatlonal pic- ture. After preliminary negotia- tions, matter was taken up with .• John Hay Whitney personally. Whitney's rejoinder to W. G. Van Schmus, director ot the Music Hall, Is said to have been: 'Since when do the Rockefellers ask the Whitneys to excuse them from payment of their honest' debts?' FILM REALISM TO ENHANCE STAGE PROD. Borrowing the technique of the screen and the scope ot this medium for application to the stage for the first time, under patents that have been granted after years ot research by the inventor, a new form ot en- tertainment which may completely revolutionize the legit drama, at the same time affecting films because ot oppositional features, Is in' the proc- ess of being bom. Bobert Greathouse, who was as- sociated with D. W. Griffith for years and in addition to film con- nections has also been in legit, in- cluding with the late Florenz Zieg- fleld, has been granted patents on an original method ot synchronizing the technique of the screen with that of legit Among other things, he brought the Shadowgraph to the Ziegfeld 'Follies' years ago, a means by which characters or objects on (Continued on page 47) Kirsten and Lanritz Are Having More Fits After two years of backstage feud- ing at the Metropolitan Opera, N. Y, Kirsten FlagsUd and Laurltz Mel- chior have brought their tiffing into the open and no longer take cur- tain caUs together at the end of per- formances. Matter has caused con- siderable discussion among audi- ences and led to rumors that the soprano would not return to the Met next season. However, both she and Melchior have signed contracts to° be back again. Generally regarded as the Met's meal ticket because ot their draw in Wagnerian operas, Miss Flagstad and Melchior have been growing in- creasingly jealous of each other for several seasons, according to other members of the company. To pre- vent either one stealing too much audience attention, they had an agreemient that neither one would take a solo curtain call, either be- tween acts or at the conclusion of a performance. But now that's all over, too. LEGIT Bl HORT; SEE BOOM LATER Expo Working in Reverse as Theatre and Nitery Visi- tors Hold 0£F Coming to Metropolis Till After Opening—Film Houses Expect Slump First 2 Months of Fair, but a Bonanza Eventually ACTORS CLIPPED Letdown in theatre attendance on Broadway, complained about for some leading attractions but not ap- plicable to all, which started even prior to the peak date of Feb. 22 (Washington's Birthday), is believed traceable to fewer visitors to the metropolis. It's figured that out-of- towners who usually come to New York, have postponed the trip imtil the start of the World's Fair. This is now verified by the hotels. Film theatre operators and man- agers also predict that the first two months of the Fair scheduled to open AprU 30, will adversely affect busi- ness at the boxoffice, but the months ot July and August should range anywhere from 25 to 60% better than for those months normally. A drop is looked for with, the spring opening ot the fair in the be- lief that New Yorkers will crowd out to see Grover Whalen's big show, (Continued on page 95) PRISONER'S SONG Got Voke Back So Ex-Badio Singer Wins Parole St Louis, April 4, Several years ago when Raymond Woods, a radio warbler of Joplin, Mo., lost his voice and his means ot livelihood, he obtained a gat and be- gan a stickup career. He was nailed and sentenced to five years in. the Missouri State pen at Jefferson City. While doing his' time he underwent treatment for his throat and was cured. Several weeks ago his sing- ing attracted attention from a Jeffer- son City radio station and he was given an opportunity to warble over the ether. His former employer In Joplin heard Woods sing and started pro- ceedings that resulted In Woods be- ing paroled. Redcoats Ride Kilocycles Yorkton, Sask., April 4. Fhrst use ot radio-equipped cars by Royal Canadian Mounted Police is skedded for this year. Short-wave station to be set up at central point in neighboring province of Manitoba. Cars probably will operate out of Yorkton. At present mounties use radio only In two dally newscasts from CKCK, Reglna. Moiin^i No. of Refugees Besieging B way Stymied by Equity s Alien Rule 3 Friendly 'Enemies* Hollywood, April 4. Playing bit parts in Metro's '6,000' Enemies' are three' old friends who once drew big money as directors. ' They are George MeUord, E. Mason Hopper and King Baggot ANTI-SALOON LEAGUE BACK AGAIN Washington, April 4, Old Man Prohibition—after more than five years In the security of the grave—last week picked on the brbadcasting Industry as first victim of his proposed 'comeback.' Before a senate Interstate Commerce Sub- committee Neville MUler, president of the National 'Association ot Broadcasters, 'warned that a 'danger- ous precedent' would be established if the Johnson bill, requiring prohi- bition ot all, liquor advertising over the radio, were passed.' 'If one well- organized minority can successfully prohibit one form of advertising,' he pointed out, 'other such groups will l>e encouraged to do the same.' Legislation drafted t>y Senator Edwin C. Johnson, Democrat of Colo- rado, was endorsed by Federal Alco- hol Administrator W. S. Alexander, Philip Buck, F.A.A. general counsel, and members ot the Antl-Saloon League, W.C.T.U, and other uplift organizations. A similar bill, which would inflict penalties on newspa- per and magazine advertising as well as radio, was ignored while the NAB and the dry leaders scuffled over dlscrlminatoiy provisions ot the measure. Marshall Goldberg's Pa Back to His First Love Pittsburgh, AprU 4. . Now that football days are over for his son, Marshall Goldberg, all- American halfback from University of Pittsburgh, Sol GoIdl>erg, former exhibitor. Is making plans to reenter the fllm biz. Goldberg here sold his Elkins, W. 'Va., house to Manos in- terests late last summer, claiming that he found it impossible to attend to business and follow the Pitt team around the country at the same time. Younger Goldberg graduates from Pitt in June and may turn pro in fall, although he hasn't yet made up his mind. Understood his father will go back into biz somewhere In West Virginia, although not in Elkins, his home town. Show business faces a complex problem of 'what to do about th* moimtihg liumber of refugee pro« fesslonals, artL{ts of the stage and screen, composers and playwrights. They are appealing to all branches of the amusement field for opportun- ity to obtain engagements of on* form or-another. For the most part there Is no bar to refugees, other than the lack of positions. But that does not apply to the legit stage, for which EquI^ has alien limitations that are usually strictly enforced^ The question of refuge* players has been Informally consid- ered, but Indications are that special provisions or concessions will soon be brought to the attention of Equity's ruling body. There Is ■ crystallzlng sentiment that some as- sistance should be worked out, de> spite the unemployment problem In the association's membership. First Indication that the refuge* situation was looming: in Importanc* was a concession granted by Equity to a group of professlonalir forced out of dictator countries, who will appear on the Coast Appeal for per- mission to form a type of sharing show, venture was made by William Dieterle, former German film direc- tor, who is an ace on the Warner lot DleterlM Oronp Dieterle, among whose successes was 'Zola,r stated that he is provid- ing all the funds necessary.. On* stipulation is that the refugee actors will receive not less than $40 mini- mum, the Equity requirement Th* venture Is to be daissed as an alien unit, for which there are special (Continued on page 56) EUROPEAN JHTERS CRIMP LONDON LEGIT liOndon, April 4. The West End legit here is experi- encing Its worst slump in years, even exceeding the poor biz that accom- panied the International crisis last September. The Associated Theatre Proper- ties, operating seven houses, claim that btz now Is the worst since th* firm began functioning 14 years ago. Reason for the skid Is. said to b* not economic, as money Is plentiful, but due rather to the present chaotic state of the European situation. High-Tone Burley Minneapolis, April 4. Harry HIrsch, the Gayety's burley impresario, who occasionally has tossed grand opera, Shakespeare and other bits of serious drama Into his offerings, now Is planning to supple- ment the stripping and rougher stuff with Gilbert and Sullivan. He'll swing a different G-S eiptf every week.