Variety (Aug 1940)

MISCEtLANir Wejnesd^y^ Aiigiisl 7, 1940 Reidi^talo Fin^ mMSo GayParee (Ed noie: ^the wrXiet uias. ^i7^T^l]■'J■:^9^^i[f,^.■z=-z:'\ Scre6ll Rblc ilie French cdpitiuuiion to the Nazis "VAfiiKTT cprTesportderii iri Parift. One\ of [the, last id I6a^v'e^ ial, albrip with biher. foreign cofre- apofiAenis,: he . joined the botidtuai/pn io Touts intd Bdrileauicy where th c. prGvisiprtfll french cdiJcr^iTneWt 4r«s set iipy ' He is presently . in Mfidrid.' The ioregoirig is orte - of the first '. nuthe.jiU(;y .cpmpfehenSive. stories, lo,; emttiiai'e frovt,.Ffarice . o?i the French '. Hhqw : bitsiTiei$ and' the Ffench <?-1 piie in. Benerrtl—^and ti'itfroiU the :'J>e - j lilted; via Berlin' qiiptfttion; . t ■ Lee -MiHar, radio ' canineV ini-..;. fjersoriator,. didhl^ to bite . B dog ic^ break into tKe niews. He out-barked seven of them and. >von a job as a.pooch ypice. in .'8 -.Metro, jpicture. ere m By JOSEPH P. RAVOTTO . ' Vichy/France/Jul>v 25.' • French Motion pictures,. which .unr .ill . September ^occuipied^. fi^^^^^ place among, the Country's : industries, ,has been dealt a .kayo, blow by Ihe Ger- mah occupaU Legit, itiusichalis, night; clubs^,^ danceries, radio and. others . foi'nis ; , of /entertainTnent; which in theiif ensemble rfepreseriled hundred^ of. miliipris' oi francs and gave employ men t, to rnillions of JTrehch. arid, foreign actors, enter- tainers,' technicia^as ani othier ern-- pii)yeis,v have also taken .a 'terrible .pounding.: ;'. ' 'V> Allhpiigh lieast affected, riestau- lants and cafes are hot idoing the . biz ,pl! a year ago, nbr for, that matt^r^ of: i^ie jpetiod juist. prior to the German' :1nvasion of the Low countries;. Food and liquor shdrtagiss arid lack, of; *peincling money supply the answers although j list . many clien ts can , .(Contlmied Pri page 4'?) loses ;it^^; t^ .' - . . .Los'Ahfieles; Aug. 6^ "■ ; John .Br^rvyrnpres- weekly . 'allpw- ahce" : was raised from $1,000 .to ii .175 a;. week by Erhest. R. Utley,.' jreferee in bankniptcy, but the extra $i7i5 goes. to. Ihe.sTjppbrt pf his three ! cjii 1 di"!?n.'11 if .daughter;. Diana,, gets SSCl ; \vcek and the rest is " turned to Dolores ■Cbs'tello, . former, w'ife; f or .the care of; hi?, two other .offspring. ■ : '.. ^' ■,. "■ •• Under e .debtpr's extension ar- rangeroerll, the.: bankruptcy cpurt Jakes over ;the rest of Barrympre'? earnings .io clear iip debtS; amoiint.r; ing to ?6i5.021,. H is salai-y in his; next; picture will be $5,000 a Week.' LUCY MONROE ^-Stair'Spangled Sopi'ano" StaV. of .'^-xnvf.ric'rm. .tiibllc^,'" New. York \Vorl(l\« Kail: 1^4(1; .Just, cpm- piet(-.<l a:!th .wfclc^ 12 niofo weeks ip fbll(i\\v Cloi»ing' p(tObtT,271)1. .. Guest star on R.aymond' Paige's "Musical AnKM-ioanu'-: Ntfw' liiakinf; her. first records for:>'ieior Bed Seal. pcince.i't .MaTi'sififment. . / v .. Arihur Judson, Inc. lia.Wesi r.Tth.Snt-t-t' Mew York BRITISH FIRM WOULD ItHiRmCRO^YARN In South AmerKa i Ho^ Beating; the Nazi Ban ■ Hollywood, Aug; 6. .. One of Myrpn , Selznick's ciiients in Faris wanted to gel. in tbiich . with^ J^afr>' Ham,;' the agency's Lpiidon representative, biit found there" waS: no cbmrriur. nication between; Fraiice arid England. . ' . So the message was cabled in French to the .Selznick office here and" relayed to London, IN AIRsSERIES ONBENEFTTS Complete fcontrbl oyer theatrical fcehejits ;has :.been -Wken . put; of .the ihandst . .of Theatre Authority and Willi in'futyre, be, administered by a; comjrnittee; = representihg the Assp,-' ciat.ed. Actors & Artistes pf America,. I'ive.-miiri committee,.; -r epresentin g the varipus Fput. A's .uriipns in- volvedj includes;' Florence • MarstPn, ; Screen Actors Guild; Paul Dullzell, Equity; Jo Tpnge, American Federa- tion of Radio. ; Artists; Blanche .Withersppoh, .American . Giiild of Musical Artists, and Hoyt Haddock, American G.uild Pf ;'Vafiety Artists. Resplutioh; calling, fpr 'the change was passed last week ;by '.the Thea- tie Authority board, after haying (Coritinued on page 44) • •■■ London, Aug. 6. ■■, : A report, here that British Holly- wood) tes hfve abandoned production of a talent-pooJed briefie, earnings from which would go to Red;Cross Society, has given grpunds to an ^n- noiincement from British Interna- tional Films that it; will produce a feature dealing with inception of the first aid outfit and in. which the so- ciety will cooperate as well asrxer ccive all funds.. Mile?;' MaiJeson. . Scripting the yarn; director and casting yet to be assigned. • ■ ' ' ' ■■■ : :;v Hollywood, Aug. 6. ' Joan Blohd^']]; wil] star in '1 'Warit a DiyorVe'-when, the, latter program returns this; lall starting Oct. 5 on CBS, Saturdays si 7:30 p.m. Si- multaneou.«!ly . the. release of Para- rripunt Alrn of same .title with Miiss Bldndell and Dick Pow^ell. will serve as a tie-up for the program, which, as. before, is cooperatively spon- sored acros5 the nation. ■ ,:EmiI Briscacher, Davis .&. Staff, San Francisco and jLos\ Angeles agency, produce the program.. Schipa Furore m B.A. Has Repercussions; WB He^ Evacuate Kids Of Its British Employes; Guarantees U. S. Home . London, Aug. 6. Considerable, publicity and public appreciation flow iri the wake of Harry Warner's bid to- helj in: child evacuation from Britain. Burbatik chief cabled recently that his oi'gan- Jzatibn, through .. its :p,er5pniiei^_ was: piepared tp guarantee accommoda- tion to offspring of 'VVarrer staff this side. ' Funds for the. youngsters' educa- liori,: and; care, , plus the nece.ssary fiiiaiicial':assurances. tp\ the State, would be pmvidedby the Holly Wood ;rew Slid guaranteed.'jby. ihe, Warner company. .vMax Milder, latlers man- ager here, preparing the groiind for .ihPse pf his .stkff.-arixipus to: de> cifate their chiidreri: in . eri the War- ner chief's pffer. pf a Hollywood honie. ' Rose Cool to O.K. Oleson's Aquacade Bid for H'wood Proposition has been made id Billy Rose by Otto .K. Oleson, Coast light-- ing. tycoon, for: presentation of the Aquacade in Holly wood Bowl. - Rose has requested more partitulars on the deal from Oleson, but is frigid to the idea. Producer maintains a miriimum of 1,000,000 admissions is 1 necessary to meet the nut, and said last week that he :c6uldn't see how that .number could ppssibly be ob- tained out of LyA.'s population with- out, some other . more concentrated attraction than the film studios to bring people from other parts of the coimtry,; : Rpse declared he > as received numerous propositions, particularly from Atlantic City, Florida and Chi- cago, but the latter is the only one that' appears as a gopd prpspect at the mpmenl fpr an Aquacade.. And he'e even doubtful, he said, that Chi's population is enough to guarantee a prcMV Building must be put up from; scratch, to bie satisfactpry, he asserted, and the cost . is $150,000- $200,000. ■: Cheaper version Pf the show cPuld be put on, he admitted, hut s^id he felt that it wouldn't do "business. ah<i \vdultf ruin the idea for the future, ' . , ;:'. '-v ■ Aquacade at the ; N. .Y. Fair- will play to 3.000.0(ib people this year, arid; at the S. F, Fair t6 2,000.000, Rose ■estimated," He; declared it i.< c.urrcriti.v playing Id 28% of the front gfite. in N. Y. and 37% in S, P, .'■ . Buenos Aires, Aug. 9, Refusal of Tjtc Schipa to'sing at a CPn.cert in. provincial Entre Bios, nprth of here;- on Argentina's Inde- pendence Day has caused a string of repercussions that / may; wreck the sinjger's Solith. American career. Schipa Tefu.«ed to go on,, sujippsedly because, the house 'was so small that it could riot' pay hii jee.. He denied the story,: .which jjiad a. big Pi**y in the. press here;.'-,-'■■ Coming to 3uends Aires to sing ;in, opera at the riiunicipally owned Colon theatre, he's said to have been (Continued -tn page 10) J. J. MURDOCK'S SON REPRESENTS 7ELET0NE' J-. J. Mu^dock's sori, John, has the New ;. York-New Jersey territory rights on 'Teletone,' the nickle-in- the-slot jukebox gadget whereby eustdniers . phone in: their ; requests for. platters to R" broadcast central. From there a s.a.-voiced 'Betty- re- sponds with the proper request. Young Murdock is making tieups with, automatic vendors id place his 'Teletone' into their respective estab- iishmeht."?. such as. ;iGecream :;parlprs pubs, taverns, restaurants, dance- halls, etc. ■'■"/■"'■ . .- Benny Settles With Conn : •. ■ ■: . LP5. AngelePi; Aug.,6. ; Jack; B^-npy. ; and Harry Conn, ■ ; •■ ... Writer, settled their breach-of-con- MORRIS' ENCORE AT PAR \ tract suit Put' oL r durt, Action had been'hc*ldi.rfg' fire ior several months. Conn "h;id sued Benny for $40,000, charging the tprntdiari; iwilh break- ing a.:-.verbal agreeinen^ -. BKO SIGNS IT.Y. LEGITER ■ ' • : Hollywood, Aug. 6, ' J o sep h Eggenston, Broadway player, has ; been - brought here by producer-director David Butler for ' xole in RKO's 'Ypu'U Find Gut:' . Fait -worked tpgether in the old Morosco stock; corripany here. ' ' Hollywood, 'Aug., 6. ; Wiiyne Morris^, who ...shifted id ; Pfti-irripvint Jor one .job: a.« a football: : pli:ytr iri/ToUc'hdown,'rem«im'.s: thisrel 1 foi-. a.. chore a.S' a 'flyer, in 'I Wanted ' 'Wirigy.' ■ A'cidr-will be teamed with ' Rjiy Mil land r;n(| . Willijiirn Holden, with most of the action filmed on the iS,..^rmy;fiirficl.d-.jfitvSari Antonio. Tex. ■ '■ "} ' ' ■': • ■ '< Arthur Hfirriblcw, ! Jr,,.. producci: ind J. Theodore Reed directs. ■ SIGNE HASSE EN ROUTE Ihillywodd, Aug. 6. . Signe Hri'.^e, RKO's .Swcdi.v-h i.ih- ptrl.atinn, h'.tf :.iit rivtd in Kobe, Jji- pan, eri loutt .it, ^Hollywood for her .Arn«r.nc{ijrA sc.i c.tri (l<'biJt,' She i.'. dijc Hu e the end of August War Call of Younger Musicians Aids Vets' Comeback in England .' . . ; •. ; ' London,; Aug. 6. ; With the calling up for various forms of service of all those \mder 30, orchestra's; are. losing their -key- men in drdVeS, :• Aiiihrose has loist isix; Joe Loss is .irihinus. live. -H^rry Roy a like number, arid likewise Car-; roll- Gibbons. '-' v- This bias given rriuisicians of the over 30's a new lease pf life, and a bald head heire. and . there " no longer frowned JESSEL WINS COURT JOUST WITH AGENT Los Angeles, Aug, 6. Qeorge Je.^sel was awj^rded a de- cision by Judge Myron Westover iii the suit brought by Ed d ie R esni ck t p recover $3,600, allegedly due in cdm- missidns -for. setting a persona) apr pearance tour, .Court ruled that the William Morris office had arranged arid booked the tour and did all,the WPrk incidental;to the trip,.therefore was entitled to full commission: ■ Ruling $650: paid to Resnick by Jessel, claimed by agent to be cn account, court held that this; money was to be repaid, and was riot tc bt construed as paymerit ori .corimiitiion. By RAY JOSEPHS ■ Buenos Aires, Aug;.6. : ■' A. vast, practically untouched field for the U. S. ehtertainment industry —opera, legit, vaude, concert and riadio-T-now being .enlarged ; jit..^^ t mendoiU speed in South Am«Hca;^^t day face.s a danger of; going' flpppci. ; ' Cut off from Europe, its longiime No. .1 source, by the war, this tainmcht-loving coritirient is turn ing to the States fpr its tnlent; . B\it igV norancie pf cpnditipn.s here by AnSv.rr icr.ris who slipuld knp>y, . fsilijre in firganizatipn pf any sort of cdhcerted- ! South Americ:\h drive by le<ider.« of 1 the field in the U, S., and lack of I avoareness of important points may I kill; a' trend; just, -xyhen it. oughl - to have the most help. ■-'.-' :; In the ippinion . of .showmen and; trained observers in Buenos Aire?, largest (almost 3,000,000 pppulation) and richest ot South Americanjeities, l U. S. eiilertainjirlent; execs W to' cash- in on the .' nitirket .south cf ; the border rnust wake .up to .certain; things: 1. fWe hig talent sponsors. mwi personally look over the field io iei a real sampling of public iaste. 2. They rimsi prepare to shili <(. liiitfe'. dbufjh intp preparatiori:and e,i> pect io\ be paid in. curTency .Ihnt. doesn't rnnfc os hififh as the do:lj»iT. 3. Some sort of .cooperative effort ■ thai can. do for the cntcrt«.iTi7he7it ibfz I what Pon-Amcticrtn. Airxiiays- did in lis division will have io • be u^drked chd if aiiything resernbimg a paying South Americon circuit is to be tttbli.sHed. 4. Transportation, still the mr-sf . Expensive item both from ;« rnorie- .(.Continued on page lb) L.A. to N.Y. Lois Andrews; Lucille Ball. Phil Baker. Joan Beririett. i^Sani Berkowitz. .. Joe. Bernhard. • . - John. Bowman. Charles Brackett. Gene Buck. David Buttolph. Slam Coslow, : Meriari C. Cooper. Laraine Day. . John Ford. Myron Fox; . Sayde Gale. Wynne Gib.son. ■ William Gargari. Leland Hayward. Rpse Hecht. George Jessel.. Dr. and Mrs, Herbert T. Kalmuj, Jack Kapp. Noel Langley. Laudy Lawrence, ' Hal Leroy, Harry Lubcke.- /v-; -;. Al Mannheimei"; Marty Martyn. Arthur Murray. John McClain; . . John G, Paine. ' . Jane.: Pickens, ■ '; .:Lew Raderma .. , ;^ Louise Rdus.«-eaH< Myrpri Selznick,... . Arthur iShieldSi Al Span.. : ;■..;'•; .; ■ Laurence Stallings. Tamara, ■, ;''■••;.■■ Mrs! Ed Sullivan.. , Ddrothy . Thonrjpspn. '; . Kathleen Williams, Walter Wanger. . ■ . N Y. to L. A. AnHabella.. .-..•-.''. ■ Pat Casey, ■ . Dick Dprrance, ■ Lynn Farnol. Larhey Goddk.ind. Betty Hildebrandt. Morris: Helprin. Carol. Irwin, " ■ . :■ Arlene Judge.. : Dan Kelley. , Everett S16;me. TO REVIVE Charleston, V. Wa., Aug. The name John Robinson, Icnf famous in Ameirican. circu."? hi.<:tpry', will be seen soon again on biilbcardi; advertising ai. modernized' ver.sipn 'V.f the . old-time circus.' John Gilbert Robinson, Cincinnati attorney and grandson of the founder of Robin- son's Circus, one of the pioneers in this form of entertainment, has mad* the announcement. . . V Robinson and John >H. Marks, head; of the Marks Shows,.are.cPmplf ling plans to organize a circii.s-carnivnl, which will have its opening tt Lynchburg, "Va., on Sept, 2. The c'lr- ciis feature will be built sroiirid three ex,-Robinson . eliephants ; now WJl^i Marks.- Steps Not Stairway, Judge Rdes, Saving ,. Los Angeles. Aug. 6. When a customeir clirnisE up on Earl. Carroll's stage to dance, gihe i» doing-,it at her. own risk,, according to a decision by Judge C, M. Han.«.on, who . dismissed' ari injury : puit fi-r. $iO,0QO, brought in Superior .Coui'i; by Mfirian-Rebney: a^ains theatre-restaurant. PlaintiflE pharged that Carroll W£,e rieghgient * In" fa^ to - ieqijip the .steps with a hahd rail. Court rultd that the restaurant-to-stage. ulep^ cannot legally- be classed as a jiuihv stairway. . . ' .v- -- jtMEOlEGOEMEANIE fOR'WESTERN UNION' ' HollywdPd. Aug. 6. / Don Ameche loses. h is- sririile and becomes a baddie. for .the first time;:; in : his screen career in .*Wet-Itrn 'Union' at 2bth-Fox.- He does^^ sing 'Happy, Birthday to You;' Originally slated to start Aug. 2€, 'Western' has been moved bbck 1v Sept, 20,