Variety (Aug 1940)

R A D10 BANDS S T A G E San Francisco, Aug. 8- /. While the prbpbsition of Broadcast Mu^ic', Inc.; buying the ■ Metror ftobbins catalogs, has gone aglimmer> : irig, the more pptinilstic miembevs. of Broadcast Miisic, figure that this music will be available' to therri. Their hope is a philanthropic gestUrie on the J)art of CBS. ' Asi reported by BMI .directors to the National.Associatiqn of broad- casters,, now in convention here, the plan calls for Golumbia putting tip. the purchase.rnoney all by itself \yith a stipulation that BML could at ^ny . time ' obtain ownership of the cata- logs Irom CBS; without any profit to the network, The option' to ;B]VII would be for as long as five years. CBS -in turn would enter into a li- censing deal with.BMI whereby the latter would have; ai^hprity to sub-, license the performing rights of . the^ M-R catalogs to BMI ihembers. . To. itet : these riights the station rpen woiild be risquired to extend their present cdntracts with BMI for aii- (Gontinued on page 20) . Gkble Too IIe#iniiish To Play Simon Boli^ Latin-vlbierk^^ Claim GhiBLhgiiig Tiiiiies . .■ • Seattle, Aug.'6; V 'Midnight; Paris' v didn't sound top good in Canada, with Paree . not . so. •igay and " how : in- Nazi hands;: ■ So the reviie;; now at the.Palo- rnar here. Was billed as .'Mid- night Scandals' 'When playing the : BeaGon, VancPuvpr, . last Week. ' St; : Loiii»* Electric Phono- jiraphs A1 p n 8 Number 3,0G)0 knd Gross $2l>d60 a Week—Sb% Goes to the y: ^Operatprk'' BIG BIZ NOW AFTER HIGH Metro's announcement . that Clark Gable had been tentatively set to play the i*ole of Simon Bolivar in 'The Liberator,' stPry of the Bolivian national hero, has brought a storm of protest frorn Latin-American group.s. They claim that GabJe is not properly qualified, to play the Bolivar character because he's too rugged physically. ■, Main basis for these protests is that Bolivar wias a small, neryous in- dividual, who, despite, his energy, died of consumptioh; Several grotip.s have suggested anPther player be picked 'because.- thpy. say; Gable would be darrtaged as bojfoffice value in this market if he plays Bolivar. Al$o that it might hurt the b.o, chahpas of the picture. . . , Several, whP. might be. more siiit- able, including Leslie; Howard, • .one bt the favorites for ;the ch a rac te r, are mentioned; Charles: Boyer, Robert Donat; Spencer Traey and James ; St«wai*t are othersi . One of the pub- iications has started'a poll oC public opihiph ..in the Latin-Ameripas tp . spund out chbices for. the role. Heat wave which hdvered oyer .New York for 13 days was-broken Wedhesday (31) and the balance of the week wais suhiiy but cppl; .Effect. 6t the proloriged tprridlty on the surviving shows on Bi'oadwaiy: was to cut advance sales of tickets away down.. While a few attractipns are holding to gpodly profit levels, busi- ness is principally done directly at boxofftce just prior to curtain time. Not one show has been able : to register capacity of late and, despite the cooler weather, the trend con-' tinued away from theatres as shown by the grosses dropping even fur- ther.' . ■. ' ■■ ■ .-, Least affected is 'Louisiana 'Pur- chase,' Imperial. Side seats have gone unsold at most evening per- (Gohtinued, on page 42) FLORIDA NOW NEARER TO RINGLING'S MILLIONS Ann Corioi Jes* buiikiiigp lit Lreg^it -Tweeit Stripping: ■ ' /Guilford; Conn:,'.Aug.: 6. ' . Ann iGorip ha^ a legit yen; but isn't going to burn any of her bridges be^ hiiT.d her; Stfipper, doing strawhat duty at Chapel Playhouse here, says ■t ha t . barTesqtre ' h as' "been too . good to her to toss it into the discard; for ai gairible .on straight acting.. .She says the step would eiitail .too many sac- rifices on her part and she's just gp- i rig tp: try- to duhk herself intp legit gradually. Appealing here -in •'The Barker,' Miss .. .iCorio has-. drawn .■ favprable comrrierit, and okay b.; p.. She made one previous cowshed stand in Maiiie aiv.d has been ;6ffpired • additiona^^ dates. ' Tallahassee,; Fla- Aug. 6. ;. . Flprida Supreme; court Friday (2). upheld John; Rihgling's. divorce in 1936 from Emily Buck Ringling. . v Decision mbved Florida that- much nearer to plossession. of multi-million dollar estate 'willed to state by circus magnate, whose death dccuried four years . ago." ^ ' Heleii Hayes for Liptpn Helen ':' Hayes,, ^may - star in a dramatic series; of haU^li.ours for Lip.ton's tea; this corning season, Matr ter: ■ in; the . coinfcrence stage at Young & Rubicarh in New York. , Would be Lipton's first pretentious radio prograin-'. . St. Louis, Aug. 6. ,■ The juke boxes' sweet and bounce music bouncing; ; the coin- rnachine industry into the big biisi- riess class. What was once a mod- erate income situatiph is now in the position of grossing .between $65,- 000,000 and .$80,000,000 this year. Authority for the figures is 13. C. StefTens,: president of the Intet^ha- tional Assn. of Automatic Electrical Phonpgraph. Owners, who dropped into town fpr a fe\v days. He stated; that the 3,000 ieiectric. phonographs in taverns, restaurants' hamburger stands, etc.j in St. Louis alone are harvesting ,approximately $21,000 weekly. . He estimates :30p;00q . to 400,000 machines are scattered all over the country. Stefferis e.stimated that the op^ra-. tors giet about 50% of the: total take but this IS cut sharply' when ex- penses, etc., are deducted. Currently the topitunes in St; Louis, accbrding to StelTens, are .'Imagination' and 'Woodpecker Song.' MEX BANS AUTRY PIC ON OIL-REVOLUTION Mexico City. Aug. 6, As the Mexican government is ap- parently sensitive about oil and revplulipn, the pic' censors clamped down fast on 'South 6E the Border' .(Rep), forbidding exhibition any- where in Mexico of the Gene .Autry starring vehicle. This banning en^barrassed the only American-operated cinema here,, the Cihei Olirripia,.'which had booked the pic and speht.niuqli coin .bailyhpeinig. it. The cinema hael to make a quick program, change at the ■ last, rninute. ■ Foreign oil ebmpanies and a brew- ing reyolutipn theme are .said to have been r^.sponsible for the pix bh 'Sputh; ■ ' ^r^: 'Ihsicle Gunlhieir' Jphn Gunther, who wrote 'In- side Europe' and 'Inside . Asia' and is currently doing 'Inside America,' Will: bp biographie(| by his wife, Frances, in the first issue of Fashioh, ne\y mag. Biog will, be called 'Inside Gunther.' ■' ■. ^ . . ■ wfmm The film industry; already, has placed its .shoulders Jo the wheela In the campaign to .carry the message of national preparedness to the people. Preliminary steps taken on production schedules reveals eight major companies, have 17 features and at lejist seven shorts expected to assist in the U. S.- defense, pro- gram. Doubtlessly will be bthersj and soriie of tho.se tehtativeily'^onr siderpd for patriotic treatment may be' ehanged in favor of . other; inore 'suited stories. . .' . Even^his tentative lineup is the miost comprehensive Industry effort ever undertaken since the World War. In bearing more than its share Pf defense bolsteting, producers haye carefully ducked outright propaganda; Where: such remains, it has been skilfully disguised; In others if^is more, apparent but in ■ extremely few pictu res i,s the story ' (Continued. oh page 461 '■■: '■ Chicago, Aug.' 6,. German program of the EinheitsV front," local German front prganiza'- tion, will go off station WHIP after next Saturday's (10) stanza. Doris Keane, secretary of the Haniniond- Calumet -Broadcasting Corp., owner of. the station, has notified the Ger- man organization that the serie.s i.<i cancelled 'because the program aa now being presented is' of siich :c6h~ troversial nature as to make it'un- acceptable to Sjiany leading Ameri- cans.' Her letter added: 'In view oC the • present national emergency^ growing but of the internatioijal .sit- uation, we believe wholeheartedly lt\ promoting Air^ericah solidarity and unity.' . Einheitsfront^ or United Front or- , ganization, is alSo known as the Ger- man-American National Alliance ot Chicago, succeeded the Gerrnan- American Bund ias the fpremo,<>i;: spreader of Nazi propaganda: in thli area. ■ ;^ ' The particular spark that apparently; (Continued on page 44) A Hpt Eskimo ■ Death, of Dr. Frederick A. Cook in New Rochelle, N; Y.i Monday (5), and the subsequent rehash of his ex- ploits, as ah explorer, reminds of an experience with him 32 years ago, when he was making a personal ap- pearance at the Palladium, London, shortly after his return from' a sup- posed discovery Pf the North Pole. ; Dr. Cook had hardly been in the theati e an hour before he threatened to quit because his dressing roonri was too cold. Holden Learning to Fly While Making U.S. Shorts Two months leave of afwcnce has been grpnted by Columbia to Wil- liam Holden tp appear in- a .series of 16 mm. Techhicplpf .Shprl-s fot- the U. S; Civil Aeronautics AuthoN ity. V Holden . i.". . currently . .wo.rking in . 'Arizona.'.. Leave .yyill: begin as soon as. it winds up. .' •;. .. CAA' shorts will be aimed at pro- moting recruits for' the.: aviation training ^ course- being pffered. by. the Government to cdllege .stijdents, Holden will actually take the course during the filming and: will become an accredited civilian flier. . George M. Cohan'sVDiscs . George M. Cohan recorded two of his £!pngs, his- newest epmpo.sition; 'This Is diir Side of the Ocean' and the oldie, 'It's Grand Old Flag,' for Victor this week. . Leonard Joy conducted the p'rV chestral accpmpaninveht. Argentine 'Ear Men' Take Down Yankee Music Via Sliortwa?a Buenos Aire.?, Aug. 6. High import duties; lack of direct connections and increasing popu- larity pf U. S. music have developed a new industry in South America. Most bands now haye crew member or specially -hired ear man to listen; to short wavers from States and noto popular numbers. After a few lis- tens, they usually get it *mas o menos' which, in the local lingo, means 'more or less' and applies to Just about everything. T7ranscription» would be easier but there's little equipment available. Some bands use phonograph rec- ords—but this is also slow and cpsti dough. Still at the top ot popularity' Cole Porter's 'Begin' the Beguine.' Shaw arrangement, copied note for ((Continued on page 44) 14 AMERICAN ACTS IN ENGLANI) FOR DURATION London, Aug. 6. ■ There are, comparatively, fev/: American acts .remaining ' Eng- land. Some; have been naturalized, (one or two of the • .vomen by .mar- riage);, and . those Tcmainihg . hera . have decided to stay for the dura- tiPn. .;^ '':■,. .; ■';.'.■;,;, V; •;'• ! ■■ ; Among them, are; Vie 01iver,"Kim- I berly and Page, Clifford and Marion, ] Bebe Daniels, and iSen Lyon; NPrman ; Thomas . Trio, : Scott and Whaley^ Teddy Brpwn, Two Valors, Wilsoni Keppel and Betty, Charles Warren, Eddie Stanley and Mae, Leigh .Staf- ford, Michel and Hero, Tracey' and! Hay. : : 'li 'MHii