Variety (Dec 1939)

^niETY I»iiM|tii.fJ \V.»^kl)r Ht 1S4 West <filh Street. Now York. N. 7.. by Variety. Inc. Annual subscription. $10. .SI(ikI<» r.>|.!oi 2S c^nt* li:ii(t)i«a 6dci>ii(J-cla»s manor Deurniber 21, 1:>0S, ai ih« I'u^t Otdca at .Nu\r York, N. Y., under act ul MaicU 1, 18i9. PRICE 25^ corYRir.iiT, 1939. ni vakiett, inc. all rights rkserved Vol. 137 No. 1 NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1939 56 PAGES LECTURERS' BULL MARKET Claim Thone Surveys No Accurate Gauge on Ultra-Modem Radio Jive Manaiiers of tlaiice bnndj and their .)i)jkiin; oCnces are of llie opinion that the ratings ijivcn swing com- binations on conimcrcinls cannot .institute a true index to their liileiier popularity because of the very n.ilure of the system used by llicse pronram-chocking or^aniza- t: )Ms. They think that the only way that an account or agency can obtain a bona ltde count on a swing band's •liilin;; power is by rcstriclinK the checkups strictly to coincidental .)lii)i\e calls, and to pass up the recall iiK'tliod entirely. .^crordins; to the managers and »l;oiU<. most of the sponsored swinji uiiiii '^o on Ihe air at an hour when .In; cliccUcrs have already ceased their to-incidcntjl phone callinij for tlie evening and thorcfJie have to di'pcnd on wliat they re told the next luornin? for an insijjht into last evc- jun;'i late listening. I'ractically all lliosc who answer the phone \n llie niornini; are housewives and unless they are of the younR matronly ele- ment it isn't likely that they will re- call that the late evenins's lisleniit^ li id included a swiny band or two, b-'cauic the choice had undoubtedly been that of the youni; people in the family. Molhers. say the band reps, may readily recall the sweet style of a Ciuy Lombardo or Wayne King but the ihances of her memory havinp been impressed by the hot licks of one of the latest jilterbuj idols are voiy slim. Payoff on Peace New York bonifaces look to New Year's eve for a big killing Wwi year, the first time they've s|)okon so optimistically of th« situation in many a year. The American p.sychology of bcinit grateful that it's all hap- pening over there seems to b« interpreting itself already via advance reservations for the big niijht. fINCy FEES FOR GLIB GABBERS Interest in World Events Catapults Platform Per- formers Into Their Top Season — Mrs. Longworth at $1,200 a Talk — Eve Curie's $1,000 — Dorothy Thompson Refuses $3,000, Too Busy Griffith-Ullian Gish Cavalcade Film. By and With Them h It 50 Years Off LuDts Let Hollywood First Niters Have It For Barging in Late Los Angele.s, Dec. 12. Opening of 'The Taming of the Shrew" at the Biltmore turned into 'The Taming of the Late Arrivals From Hollywood," with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fonlanne wielding whips of sarcasm. Tardy aristocrats from the nim colony were greeted with genlle chiding as they strutted down the aisles, while the proletariat up- stairs reveled in the chastising. "^ilm players are people. Some of Ihem observe the amenities of civili7.ation and some insist on musJ- ging 24 hours a day. The muggers are a pest to stage players and gen- erally delay the ri.se of the curtain until 9 o'clock, to give them time to strut. Even then, the first net is ruined by whispers as an ermine wrap muscles in and tramples over a lerd of bunions in the third row. In walks Miss Mink and Mrs. Emeralds, accompanied by oh's and ah's. and I <e drama goes on with a fiat tire. U was popular stunt in the old udcville days, whittling a quip at 'e expense of a late customer. John darrymore has been bearing down them in his Chicago show, and 'Jw come the Lunts, sprinkling (Continued on page 53) Bankers' % Idea Anew for H'wood Stars; Economy In an effort lo uncover any reason- able new proposition, whereby pro- duction overhead in Hollyw'ood may be reduced. Wall Street bankers presently are toying with the idea of uri;ing production companie.i to realign their star and feature player salaries along percentage lines. The French idea of paying screen players on a |>ercentage basis is being ad- vanced most freely. I .'Vnother proposition taken out of i the mothballs is that of having the tudio pay Government taxes on tar salaries with Ihe estimated .iniount of lax payable being taken oil the \va!;e allotment. This idea has been advanced before but never viewed with much favor. However, the ou'right percentage arrangement is being advanced as liein.i; a logical solution for both the player and the producer. The plan provides that a player's income is ' largely spread over two years, there- | ! by materially reducing the total . ! amount he must pay the Govern- ] j ment in taxes and surtaxes. An- j I other strong feature of the per- centage plan is that it would pre- ' vent the burning up of talent and eliminate the crowding of playdates on films having the same stars. Further advantage to the screen player, as presently viewed, is that it would prolong his life in pictures. RADIO CAUSED IT By HERB GOLDEN Serious trend of world events dur- ing the past few years, pointed up by radio commentators, has catapulted the platform lecture industry in the United States lo boom proportions. Shooting into top money brackets are such insighters on affairs as for- eign correspondent H. R. Knicker- bocker, writer Thomas Mann, former First Lord of the British Admiralty Alfred DulT Cooper, military expert George Fielding Eliot, and such ex- ploitable names as Archduke Felix of Austria and William Patrick Hit- ler, nephew of Herr Adolph. [Both of the latter are anti-Nazi in their spiels! With the business this season in its biggest boom since pre-war days, Dorothy Thompson is causing man- agers to tear their hair. In far greater demand for rostrum appear- (Contiiuied on page 55) Equity in Move To Investigate 4A's, Its Parent Union Philadelphia, Dec. 12. Gilbert Seldes, chief of tele- vision for CBS, speaking at th« fifth annual Variety Club ban- quet her* Sunday (10), said television would never replace pictures as they are difi'erent en- tertainment media. 'And it will be at least 50 years before we will have tele- vision perfected,' Seldes said. 'About th« same time that they'll ba making pictures in New York,' was the retort of former Gotham Mayor James J. Walker, who acted as toaslmas- ter. Radio and Band NamesinPutsch For Fair Dates NEW STRAUS OPERETTAS t'rirbratinif French Clllifnship with One Ordlratcd lo Allies Paris. Dec. 12. OsiMr Straus is planning an op- eretta wilh a milil.nry theme to be dedicated lo the Allies in celebra- tion of his recently acquired Frcgch citizenship. He's also writin:; some new songs for Allied soldiers to sing, has a recently written operetta with a militarv theme opening soon in Zurich and another debuting shortly in Bordeaux. Equity has moved lo investigate its i parent union, the Associated Actors I li Artistes of America. While the | purpose of the action isn't disclosed, | Philip Loeb, chairman of the probe committee, has informed Four A's oflicials that Equity desires to study | the revisions in the Four A's finan- j cial setup, particularly in regard to j Equity's relations with its parent organization. Matter may come to a head at the meeting this afternoon (Wednesday) of the Four A's inlcrnational hoard, on which Loeb is an Equity repre- sentative. Expected that as chair- (Continucd on page 531 Harry Carey and Kids' Act Hollywood. Dec. 12. H;irry Carey hits the road in two weeks with his son Dobcy, 17. and his (laughter Cappy. 15, in a stage skit written by hmiscif, T.iur opens in Dallas. Texas, and carries throuuh the siiilh. midwest and east. Chicago. Dec. 12. Standard agencies, handling radio, variety and orchestra talent, made their biggest putsch into the fair and outdoors field last week, putting on a terrific drive for business and bookings at the annual convention of Fairs and Expositions here. Such offices as Music Corp. of America, William Morris, General Amusement and Consolidated Radio Artists had setups at the Sherman Hotel lo show their wares and were buttonholing fair secretaries lo get them lo signa- ture for radio, orchestra and vaudc talent for their grandstand showyi instead of the traditional circus and outdoors attractions. Fair secretaries were ivit unre- sjjonsive, manifesting a decided lean- ing tow^ard the more publicized, nationally-known variety talent as a replacement for the rather nameless circus acts with their strict emphasis on acrobatics as entei lainmcnt. MCA and the Morris agency made considerable progress in snagging (Continued on page 5:j» Screenplay which will be a com- bination history ot the motion pic- ture Industry and a biography of David Wark Griffith is being written by Lillian Gish and GrifTith. Miss Gish declares that the director and producer, now 60, will appear in the film, and that she may take a role in it also. Arrangements for production have not been completed yet, according to Miss Gish, but it is possible that she and Griffith will be co-producers. Distribution for the picture, to be called 'Silver Glory," hasn't been de- cided. Work on the screenplay Is about half completed. It was interrupted when Miss Gish came east about a month ago in connection with the engagement of her sister, Dorothy, for 'Mornings at Seven.' legiter cur- rently on Broadway. Writing will be continued when Miss Gish re- turns to the Coast shortly. Myron Brinig, pro scribbler, is aiding Miss Gish and Griffith on the technical end. The former screenplayer declared that the history ot the industry, as unreeled via the activity of Griffith, will be handled in a much more seri- ous vein than 20th Century-Fox em- ployed in the recently-released 'Hol- lywood Cavalcade.' She said it will start back with Griffith in his youth in Kentucky, carrying him through his first job as a mail-room helper on his brother's newspaper, his work as a reporter on the Louisville Courier-Journal, and then his intro- duction to stock, by which path he (Continued on page 14) BERGEN IN THE COIN Opllom Have Hiked VentriloqulsCs Saliry to Reported SS.UOI) Hollywood. Dec. 12. Edgar Bergen's new option with J. Waller Thompson for the Chase & Sanborn program will net him around $C.000 a week even though the java show will have its running time cut in half starling Jan. 7. Understood another boo.<t in 1941 will put him in the top coin bracket with Jack Benny. Bergen will do his cu-;l irn ny two sp.Tls with Charlie McCirlliy on the ;icw half hour setup. Paul Whiteman Orch With Rooney-Garland For M-€ Filmnsical A Metro fllmusical is in the brew- ing whereby Paul Whiteman and his orchestra join Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland as co-stars. Abe Last- fogel (William Morris agency) has been handling the preliminaries. Whiteman would take his entire crew to the Coast including Joan Ed- wards and Bob Hannon, latter a new tenor succeeding Clark Dennis. The maestro's last major film work w-as 'The King of Jazz,' a pioneer fllmusical a decade or so ago far Universal. Warner Bros, has set Whiteman for four weeks at the Broadway Strand Feb. 5 in combination with 'The Fighting 6Bth.' figuring en the two to offset Lent. The booking is strictly with an eye to beat the pre- Easter inroads, counting on a full Fnonth for both stage and piclurc. Whiteman is set for other vaud- filmcrs right after Jan. 7 when the band lays otT for 10 doays-following the completion of its Hotel New "Vorker, N. If., engagement. Bob Crosby succeeds at the Hitz hostelry.