Variety (Aug 1940)

12 mTERllAXIONAI. VTARIETt'iB' LONDOSi dFFlCB I 6t. Miirtlh'ii TIhi-c^ TiwtalirMr Bqnare Australiait Pictur^^ Favor {Sydheyi Juljr 24. . Iritensiyc checkup !by; Vabiety re- peals that Aussie pic-gqers, educated thusly oyer a, ptoloniged termi, de- imand duals'' w buying screen . fate, and moire so than ever, it's the duals that, bring payees iirom their xi^dics to: seek reiaxation frorn: vfar headaches. In the industrial sectors it'., must be. duals particularly if biz is to continue, .and, this also applies in the stiic. Aussies are jgiyen three . hours- pic enterteinnient for 25c,^ahd nothing liess than the latter ' vwill ihakie them walk, to the boxpflices. -1 This, is contradictory, io the genetxil vieujppint oi Arne^rican hudiences ioho. y<ivor .singles.] . City shows change their policy 4rbm 11 to time to fit " .with the .product, .on tap, but.'mainly^ t^ stitk to duals, because they find them, the .most; payable in the long run. When 98 % of city; housies . spot duals it's a good indication which way. the b.o.. v^ind blovirs,. and in the' jnabes and stix the .percentage reaches the J00 mark. " linder the dual idea.: it te^^ a , lot: of .fare tpi keep Australians 1,375 thea-' ires operating, and the only chance for singles •vi/puld ,be shoqld there b^ a heavy cUrteilmeht of 'U:..?. pro .ucti . something whic^^ .;man;y liiiajor execs here. fear jhay, con^^ to paSS owing to wartime crippling of :boat- ing facilities, plus the possibility ; of a. U, S.; production, curb insofar as this, territory is concerned. Charles. Munro, bf- the Hoyts chain, has al-: xeady suggested thai' distribs should endeavor ; to keep ^thre^ , months' product on: hand td meet any possible setbacks. . V' For. year ending July,., 1840, the number of features released here amounted to. 453, made up as |pl- Ibws: Par, 57; RKO, 56j 20th-Fox, 54; Universal, 50; Col, 49; Warhers, 49; British Empire, 47; Metro, 41; UA, 22; G-Bi. 19; Contihfental, 8; Atlas, i; Oct. 1 Trial Ordered In French 'Sereinide' Case ' American company fpreign depart>; ments have been advised by their' iricnetary experts that riestrictipns on foreign currency will continue in the niext 12 months ^nd that the Oniy •way additional restrictions may be halted will be to ^djiist trade biU ■■• iances' with Various foreign nations yhere; y. S. distributors hope to ex- pand their businessj siich as iii the Latin->Americas.. Efforts are being made to establish a .big revolving credit purchase fund lor the /South American market. Dispute oyer, the .. tights to .the U. S. distribution of the Frenctf iaimj 'Serenade,' starring Lilian Harvey, was ' 'siettled temporarily Monday (12) in N. Y. supreme court, when Jiistice j< Sidney Bernstein derjied ah application for ah injunction by the plaintiff; Arthur, Ziehiil, Inc.j, and ordered trial for Oct. l.- iiefendant. is Leo Films, :Inc;, .against\w^^ injunction, accounting of profits arid damages is sought. It is ciairned by the plaintill t^ on Aug, 10, 1939, it . purchased the U, S, distribution rights for' $5,000 ffojn. the producer, Societe Symr phonie Filmis of France.;- .It received a print Mi^y 28, 1940, and the .de-r fendaht also acquired .a print and is. threatening distTibutioni : The: de- fens(^, on. the other hand, claims that Astra-Paris Films is ; the ^actual pro- ducer, and that. it purchased thie distribution rights for: 87,000 francs from Astra. - It asks a dismissal of th€;-suit and a dePlaratioti.; that the Ajnii belongs to Leb. The rights are Valued at a minimum of $100,006. : STOKISYMPH GETS BIG SO. AMERICAN BUILDUP Buenos Aires, Aug. 13. Leopold StokowSki and the AH- Ameirican Youth Orchestra, due here within the ne^t week,.;are getting a film road-shpw buildup. .■ In contrast to Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symph, which iplayed the mu- nicipally-owned, No. 1 house, the ColPn, StPkPwski is booked fpr the Gran Rex; dieluxe film emporium on Gorrientesi Broadway of B.Ai; In .addition, local exploitation is being handled by Nat Leibeskind. EKO'i South Amierlcah maha^ batflt has also been getting a big byildup in Rio, where it ppen^d last Wifeek. .(8) to a tumultubus pyation. MdorerMicCormack Steamship Co. offices xeyealed that they had agreiEd to delay the ' sailiiig of the 1S,S; trrugiiay—the same boat thi^t car- Tied the NBC crew—for 90 minutes Jn the,:. Brazilian' capital in order to ; fjlpw Stoicowski to fulfill the first cngagenient there,. ; Time is to be made up before thte liner reaches Santos.. Foiir concerts —twp on the southbound and t\vo on the northbound trip—are being giveri Jn Rio;, four in Sao Paiilo, four in. Montevideo, four here and one .iri Rosario. • :,. Sydney Bans 'Susan *hd (God* Sydney, July 24. Censor has banned. Metro's 'Susan and God.* • An appeal has been lodged, but fuc^ess is doubted. Double features' apparent elimina- tion by executive order of the Nazis in German-contrpUed nations is des- cribed as a serious blow to American distribution efforts in Europe. 'While American pictures now are virtually banned by the Nazis is mpst Hitler- dominated countries, such summary orders may be tempered subseciuent- ly, according td vet picture company observers in N.Y. But whether the edict on the maximum' length ol a theatre's program will be lifted is another thing. Nazi rules for business in German- controlled Europeari countries make the maximum length of a theatre's screen program 3,800 meters or about 12,300 feet^ This precludes the use of two features, in the opinion of N.Y. .film officials. Such edict, of course, works to the benefit of Ger- many's film business, especially if the. Nazis dub a couple of hundred German features into French, as they intend doing. It lets in these dubbed, pictures and leaves out U.S. films on the preferential idea. Question arises before American film officials as to jiist how long such 3' Nazi regulation could hold up be- cause numerous European cinemas demand two features. Unless the German government wants to pay for operating theatres, exhibitors may be forced to shutter in many European . nations . if ,the Nazi rule stays in effect, these iexecs state. Industry chiefs recently back from Europe recall that double features have proved a godsend to American distributprs throughout; Eui-ope.;. In siich countries as France, Belgium; and Sweden, where istrong French or Swedish local product is ayailable, many theatres would be unable to find playing time for American fea- tures if two pictures were not shown. Censbrial Note : Buenos Aires, Aug. IS. .. .. Brazil has a censorship Pn alt musical programs' as the Mills Bros,, here for stage and radio appearances, discovered while in Rio recently. ^' Censor had manager Arthur Lake submit the list,. thuihbed through it till he eyed a number called 'Bam, He's,, the Rhythm Man,' Lake and the boys tried, ; to explain how it went. They called in couple of localites and tried to put the skeet-en skat-en into Portuguese. But no go, .N ; Finally, the boys were en- abled to:retain 'Bam,' having the translator explain that there was nothing dirty in. the number, which seemed tp .be the ppint the ■gbyeirnmerit: nixer was after. London, Aug. 13. Warners intend reopening its Ted- .dington studios for the productiprt of at leiast three, films at ah outlay , re- ported to be $300,000 for ieach. Negotiations, are on for the im- port of directors and. Stars from Hpllywobdi The Warner, home office in . New York reveals tentative pilaris for the production of four or five films iii Ehiiglahd, but. it's unlikely that stars or directors will be shipped to Eng- land for the pix. Original idea was to send Errol Flynn and Miriam Hopkins to Eng- land for one of the films, -Ypu Can't Escape Fprever,' but this has been shelved, with the likelihood that British players will be used instead. Menzies Eases Control Of Anlvs' Info Bureau Canberra, July 24, Following strong outcry against move by Sir Keith Murdoch, Min- ister of Information, to take complete control of press, radio and pic thea- tres. Prime Minister Robert Meiizies has decided to revise the setiip. Commercial radipers, while not pressing government severely, are said to be against radio control pass-' ing from Postmaster General "fhorby to Murdoch's^ department. Already cpmme;rcials are giving 30 minutes nightly to the . Information moguls for" a special news service, which means plenty in lost sponsorship. Radipers, while ready to aid the gov- ernment's war aims in every possible way, are not keen; to be curbed in any {undemocratic' fashion, seeing in a complete •governnient say-so.' the end pf free airways. It's anticipated npw, however, that governmental officials will play ball with the radio people in return for the continued splendid cooperation in evidence ever sirice war began. 20 KILLED IN MEXICAN THEATRE COLLAPSE ■' Mexico City, Aug. 13. Mexico's worst ciriiema; disaster has. claimed 20 lives, including four womeri and five. children, when the roof of the Cine 'Teatro Mariano Esr cbbedo. at; Montempre^^ northwes- tern orange tovrn, collapsed during a tropical, rainstprm while the- house was crammed to. capacity. ". • , Seventy-five were injured. . Al Daff in U S. " - ^ : Hollywood, Aug. 13. Al. Daff, Universal's far eastern chi6f, has arrived from Bombay. He huddled with, studio execs be- fore heading east. BLACK SET ON THREE WEST END MUSICALS London, Aug. 1., George Black is playing a game of postoffice with' his three new shows due iri the West End. Teddy Brown, now in the Hippo- drpme shbw, 'Black Velvet,' goes into' the new Holborn Empire pro^ ductioh, cast of which Is headed by Max Miller. Florence; Desmbrid was to have: corstarred: with Miller, but will be out due to expected addi<: tipn td the family. Others in cast are Vera Lynri, The Dolinoffs and Ray^a Sisters and Doris Harei Show opens Aug. 19. Palladium show has Flanagan and Allen, Nervb and Knox,: Tommy Trin.der and Pat Kirkwood, who steps over from 'Black Velvet.' .Negotia- tibns with. Evelyn Laye fell through due; to disagreement on billing.,. This pne debuts Aug. 26. ; ; New. Hippodrpme musical, which won't arrive till late September, will haye Jack Buchanan replacing Vic Oliver, who has been at loggerheadis with George Black. Also signed are Bebe Daniels arid Ben Lyon, who were to have starred with Flanagan and Allen in the coming Palladium show. ■ . .... So. AmericaBs ■Another in a series on the increas- iftfir importance of show })usineas in South America). ; By RAt JOiSEPHS , Buenos Aires, Aug. 13. Soutb 'Americain theatre execs >Vho miake this : metropolis their head- quarters are now; squawking more than ever' that representatives of the North American. eritertainriient industry—the^ film companies with their permanent setups being an ex- ception—cbme down, thinking all the territory south pf the border is' one vast field of tropical, palrn treesj senoritas and guys; playing guitars when they aren't taking siestas. . ... What burns , South Americans is that they seem to know the States far better than the U. S. know their territory. The average South Ameri- can speaks two ; or three lariguages. He can; give ydu a price-over-lightly on U,. S. history .that would put a 42d streeter to shame. .And through newspapers, the films, radio and the phonograph, he has pretty good idea of what he likes for cntertain- inent. ■•■'.;' ^ ,N«itui;ally, conditions iri brie part of Sbuth America vary from those in another.'; Anbther difficulty is that. rripst .of: the artists who come down spend even less time i;ft any one; place than, most of the travel-, irig newspapermen. Two days in Rid while they unload the boat, or a stopover in Santiago,, Chile^ between planes seems to give most of the travelers time to break out in a full. expose bf the 'iriside' story on South Anierica, Argentina is the Nd, 1 market for fllnis; and entertainment in general, Buenos Aires is the top city of South America, With a pbpulation of almpst 3,000,000 it has many ultra- modern film hbuses. and newsreel theatres. There's : also a big con- cert-going audience. The Ballet Riisse de Mpnte Carlo gave more than 31 cbnsecutive per- formances recently and was stand- ing, them in the aisles when it left, Art'ur Rubenstein is able to tickle the ivories for; 15 concerts in four weeks without ishifting theatres. There are ' more theatres; pix paliaces, cafes, radio stations, etc., than in any other metropolis on the continent. Lead House in B. A. Is 3,500-Seat Goloh Gbvernment is very generous . to- wards visiting talent. There's a 3% tax on amounts up to $20,000 in pesPs and a sliding scale pf up tp 15% after that. But coming in and get- ting out is no trouble. Lead house is the 3,500-seat Colon. Owned by the municijpality (Buenos Aires Is a federal- capital, like the District of Columbia), it takes many U. S. opera stars, housed the NBC Symph and: personally handles such artists as Rubenstein and Heifetz. House produces its own operas and ballets, loses several million pesos every year, which the toWri papers make up without grumbling: Gieneral Administrator C. Grassi- Diaz is the permanent head. Others shift every season or two. Colon is operated by a non-salaried board headed by Dr, Adolfo Orma; a big- shot lawyer with a pile of cash. Only musician on the board is Rual Es- ppile. While foreign talent is hired either through the Met in- New York or agents, the local selections must have, more than a little of the 'whp- do-you-know.' Particularly with : the revolving stage and sets, the Colpn makes the Met look like a strawhat outfit. Visit- ing theatre men are usually ' a state for swooning after looking over the layout. Ballet is good but or- chiestra is second rate. The Colon operates a summer stbason^wipter here. is summer in the U. S.-^at popular prices in Palmero, a kind of local Central Park, Prices for this average 10c in Washington money. Colon prices go from five pesos— $1.25 U. S.-^to 25 pesos on gala nights. "Throughout South America, incidentally, gala nights are special events held on patriotic holiday eves, at which .the same show' is sold for twice the money. And there are plenty holidays down here. : Next to the Cplpn, there are about 25 hpuses which operate in season, either with visiting talent or with stock; companies. The Politeama, which ranks next to the Colon, is an 1,800-seater, The Monte Carlo Bal- let, Ruth Draper, , Marion Anderson and others have played there. It's not considered a fashionable spot. The Odeon, closer to the center of town, has lately housed the Jooss Ballet. ;■ ■■ ^ Local Shows Fall Into Two Classes Local shpws fall Into two classe.s. Revues—either political satire as in the Maipo—or musical spiced with Ipcal, double-meaning humor; and melodramas, where they chew tbe scenery. Shows rarely mpve from the cajfiitaly When they do; they usually get good business, but the expenses are sp high that most lead- ing actors do riot consider the trou- ble Worth while. . The lack of touring means that there .' . no smalltown ' territory in which to train stars. Strawhat cir- cuits are unknown. . Of the regulars on the Buenos Aires stage, Rosita Morerio, who lives in Hollywood and spends. ' eral months a year here in musicals, is perhaps best known to U. S. show^' men. She's beert in several Cali- fornia-made Spariish language pix and has also played iri local flickers as well as having toured Central arid South America, Other stars include Paulina Sin- germari,: Arg4ritin^-born; of Lith pa- tents* Libertad Lamarque^^ onetime vaude star Who ; jumped ' boxof- •flce: value through the films; Mecha Ortiz; ymiddle-ag^d;; married to the nephew of ailing President Roberto M, Ortiz, has her own stock com- pany, 'and Rene Rocher, French comic who makes an annual visit with his own . company.' ! Male comics depend bri ! the double eriteridre and a lot of slapstick, •They include'Liiis Sandrini, who's worked with Miss Moreno and is always busy; Pepe Arias, who does his own dialog for shows and musicals, can best be described as a little like Slim Sumriierville and has a pile of .dough; Fernando Ochoa, who; does a light type bf comedy that kids the gaucho; Paquitp Bustds, rival of Arias. , '. Radio' is so linked with the stage that it is hard tp separate the two. Buenos Aires has about 15 statioris^ with only two on anything like a U, S: par. They are Radio Mundo and Radio Belgrano. Others—and the pair named—jam their programs with phonograph records, U, .S, jazz gets a big play in ^the:'mornings and afternoons and the tangoes fill in, . Mundo made a deal with the Mills Bros., Marta Eggert iarid others from the U, while playing here. A few of the other stations also dp this. Jean Sablon, who played as the fea- ture act of one of the local. revues, also did a radio stint. These- deals must .be worked out in advance they are . no go as. several visiting artists have discovered. Comedy shows take local talent almbst exclusively.. The language factor means that only U. !S, singers already known through recordings would be worth anything to local stations; . RCA Victor, which has a big plant here and extensive dealer tieups, could probably put across anyone it ■wished; to spprisor> but doesn't seem to feel the buildup is worth the trouble. Decca boosting South American sales, has done some work in this«direction. Surprising tp U. S. radio men may be the fact that Whereas San Fran- cisco and Schenec|ady, N, Y., are heard throMghout thie continent, there Is nd statipn dbwri hei-e big enough to compete. All South American, stations also fill you to the i^pewing '. . point : with ; cbmrriiercials... Three were recently ordered off. the air for a ^ day each because of cessive advertising gab. . Biggest Niteries Have American-Type Bands The biggest niteries, :Erhbassy, Giro's and Faisan d'Oir, have Amer- ican-type jazz bands. So has the Ta-Ba-Ris, only after-dark location using much imported talerit. Diffir culty that hinders shbVs is that thb license fee for a cabaret with floor shows is five. or six times as great as • that for a no;-show spot. The- smart local crowd doiesri't; care for the show arid therefore the Ta-Ba-; Ris gets a lot of the tourist trade and the pesos of the lads wealthy and interested enough 'to pay the Steep prices. ' ; ■''; ' : There is a big call for a personal of a U, S. nariie band. Difficulty, according tp local showrnen, is that the difference In; the exchange rate between the peso and the ddllar would make the deal almost pro- hibitive for any such unit.