Variety (Dec 1940)

MISCELLAmr Wednesdayf Deceniber 4, 1910 Of Thee They Sing / : By ALBERT'STILLMAN .: The turie has cbme ip: write; so I thought-Fd ' write it, A: piece -about songs on these igreat United Forty-eight perfectly marvelous States . , That everyone idves a First,, let: me^say; so thew V no niisundierstanding: ;My andestors landed on Plymbuth.Landing, ^ V . - ,. My. great-grandfather fou^ So:I;;gptta-right to deliver this seirnvbn;-;;; I went to school in; NeW-York Gity, ,;^; ^ ' Long, before the Diejs Committeie,^ - ; - ■ ; ^ -And i pledged, allegiance to my flag,, ' ■ And to. the repuhjic for. wHich it stands-r-^ pne..jiation,ihdivisible^ ^. .'^ With liberty and justice;, forv a^^ ;-j - And I thought theh;^I waS/still "a pup-r'- ■That those-words just ahptrf sumnied it, up^r Those words ahd The Star; 'Spa ■ ; What more did you have to. sjng. to say;'' How much you loved the U. S. A.? • v: , Well/the !S.:'S:: / iV Until about six months ago, . At which time every songwriter in the xpuritry; flmulj^ gbt the brilliant hbtion /'^;- ' y^.'' •'■■".- ■; /-, That jthis was ,th^ Land of his: Pevbtibn,, /. From ocean to ocean; .;'...'.■-■'-- That thb.coiintry Svas really terrific;. • From the Atls^tic to ttie Pacific; ^ Or; to make it plain, „• •" v'■ •-' ..W ' '• From California to ijaine; . ' Arid that h?, the songwriter, offered his Undivided Loyalty, Arid in return received the usual royalty— ; ■ So niuch per record, so much per sheet— . . - And some of the take was pretty sweet. ■ ; • ■ : "• (This is np reflection .on Irving Berliri who nobody doiibti Donated his entire royalty to the Boy Scouts. ) So how you get that -well-known statue ';-'.• Thrpwn right at you; .v\-' • . And the Liberty Bell Is starting to sell; '-- And Washington and Lincoln whose utterances the boys begin on^ . Are getting a lot of valuable publicity which others are cs^hlng In on. - Now I hate: Hitler, and when they flash him on the screen;' I'm the loudest hisser, .■. '.■'. ;:-.' '• ;-' -■--. But I object to haiving the American Flag waved right in my kisser ;S, By Buddy Davis, Toots iSTappleoh arid I-dori't>know-who, Arid. I should think the American Flag would object, too; This Is my country and I love It, \':.-:- -"r^ Ajid I don't have to be reminded of it On the red, white and blue networks, night and . day, • By Gray Gordon and; Sammy Kaye. . Mine ears have heard and have been badly bent . By patriotic compositions of indubitably nieritorlous Intend : - 6uch as: America, I Love You, God Bless America, Wake Up, Amrica, Speak Up, America, Shout, I Am an American, I Hear America Singing, X aiid Keep, the Light Burning, America; And I still like—so help me Hannah— Anierica and The Star Spatnglied Banner. IrynigBerl^ By HERB GOLBEN Irving Berlin last week. was. Tall Guy* for Circus Saints and Sinners. Which means, liberally translated, he was iriitiated into the .organizatipn of show biz people, doctors, lawyers, businessmen, congressmen and any- one else to whom the smell of a tan- bark ring, the sight of canvas arid the baying of 40 different kinds of animals transcends in the spring any thoughts of family, hbme or busi- xiess ■ - Shindig , to induct the songwriter niade stupendous, colossal and over- whelming seem as nothing. - It was the riiost tremendous luncheon—or any other affair—ever tossed by the Saints and Sinners, with more than 1,200 members, and guests filling the . Hotel Aster's (N.. Y.) ballroom fronri 12:30 to 4:30 in the afternoon as a tribute to the litt^le guy with horn- rimmed specs whP smiled through It ■.«". i 'v.--.: •:^'-' ■• : Corridors outside the; ballroom ;\v^er6. billed with 24.-sheets of many a piast circus, and the ceiling' of the gigantic diriirig room was covered with • a, tent, as iS usual for. the monthly meetings.., Stage was sbriie- thirig of a surprise, however.; It was a replica; of Nigger Mike's,-on the (Continued on page 46) Hollywood, Dec. S. \ •Film colony Is gping in for art with an upper casa A. Fifteen .iHpily wbodert ara exhibiting their creations at tha Gump salon, which opened at tha Am- bassador hoteL Entries are Anna. Sten,' Reg- inald Gardiner^ Henry Fonda, Ginger Rogers, Gracia Allen, Richard Cromwell, Luiti . and Abner, Stuart Erwln, Vincent • Price, Gene Markey, Roland ; Young, John Howard, Tyrone Power and Mrs. Kenneth Mac- Gowan. ■ ' - Estate of $77,804 ' ■" ■■' ] Syracuse, Dec. 3. . . I^urt Eisfeldt, .'husband of the late May Irwin, famed ;actress of the niauye decade, whP di^d May"30, left an estate of. $77,804, accoi-ding to ah appraisal filed in Jefferson countyi Principal beneficiary. is a brother, GtJstave Eisfeldt,; of . Sti Louis, whp receives the residiary. estate and two iarnis at Clayton, N. Y., wh6re Miss . Irwin resided . with her husband, ■ a : former agent, on her retirement. A sister, Margaret £. Perley of Clayton, receives $10, Other bene- ficiaries are Frances Campbell and Georgina Truax, of N. Y., Grace Revel and John Seaman of Clayton., •i \:f -I f.C'V /),<:l n - f,'>/fill O-' ■; r. , . ' . .1 C 'it It) r.l-i<{: -. ■ \ , If Jessie Matthews Ca^ Come Over, Berlin W9I SlarHerin Irving Berlin Is planning: to c6- vStar • Jessie Matthewi ■ In 'Crystal Ball,'. a Broadway revue primed for the spring, providing the English comedienne can come . over In time. Indications, are that she ^ can. Dick Ppwell will be the Juvenile and, de- pending pn Bert Lahr's tour in/Du- Barry Was a Lady.r which Is doing very good business on the road, he'd be the principal funster. ' ■<'■.[ The stage revue was made pos- sible by an agreement to set back Berlin's Parairibuht; fllmusical com- mitment for Bing Crosby, Miry. Martin, and, probably, Fred Astaire. It's titled. 'Birth of the Blues/ a song cavalcade idea, which Mark Sand- rich willdirect and Berlin will co- prpduce fpr Par pn a straight 10%- Pfrthe gross deal. ■ SAILINGS Nov. 29 (Los Angeles to Honolulu) Bill Henry (Lurline). . Nov. 27 (Rio de. Janeiro to New York) Cynda (Glenn (Argentine). - ;.(!;. iiC y<ii,ni r-.',rSi... iH\-t[\-, i& Garbo Laughs Again ..I Hollywood, Dec. S. Next picture for Greta Giarbo at Meiro is a comedy, her second suc- cessive role in a light vein, slated to istart about March. 1. George iEukor is supervising the development of the yarn, still un- titled; •'■■'■■■ Melddraniatic Trial Of Mis^^^ Snil Ends, Settled ■ Syracuse, Dec. 3. '■■: After a brief trial which packed more- melodrama .than any of the films he used to sell, or in which his daughter takes leading roles, Jo- seph R,, Levy!s $150,000 libel action against Crowell-ColHer Publishing Co. reached a sudden settlement in Onpndaga 'County, su court Thursday (28). Interrupted for a day when Levy suddenly • collapsed the stand, shortly after the entrance into the courtroom of ari .unideritifled woinan whom .reporters at the trial projTiptly dubbed 'Madanie' .X^^^ about to resume on Thursday when .the lawyers went iri.to. a huddle. Levy had brought the actipn based on a story ih Cpllier's by Kyle G.richr ton in which it Was stated that Levy was not the. father of Paulette God- dard, Besides mental anguish, etc.. Levy contended that publication had cost him his job.. After .the conference. of attorneys with Justice Abram ZoUer, Donald (Continued on page 57) Brenda Joyce in Pitt on . Pittsburgh, Dec. 3. Brenda Joyce, with . the. Loiiella Parsons' stage, unit, currently ap- pearing at the Stanley here, was taken . to Mercy hospital today (Tues.) for. treatment for a blopd clPt on her arm that, has caused a semi-paralyzed condition. Inj ured several : weeks ago when : .he Parsons' troupe was playing De- xoit, .the bruise then suffered Was aggravated. last week when bumped sackstage while playing Steubeh- ville, O. ; ;^'.. .;. ; Miss Joyce will be out of the show for the rest, of this week and may have tp remai here for a while. Miss Parsons and her gang return, to 'Hollywood Thursday (5). ' Lewisohn's Play . ,pranrtatizatiph of Ludwig Lewi- sphn-s book, 'Last Dayis of Shylock,' has been made by. Elihu Winer, as- sistant eastern story' editor pf .Uni- versal. It Is urider consideration for spring presentation on Broad>yay. Lewisohn took ho active part In the dramatiiatiPn except to approve ihe final draft. .- •'' y ^ L. A. to N. Y. Henry Blankfort. H, N. (Jack) Brower. A. Ronald Button; ~ . Harry Cohen.; Linda Darnell.. Oweri Davis, Jr. Kay. English. :. Errol Flynn. Henry Fonda. ;r- Jimmy Fonda. Monroe GreenthaL Edmynd Gwenn. . Sir Cedric Hardwlcke;. . Hedda Hopper. Morey Marciis.. ,;'-' Grouchp Marx. ■ James Mulvey. Maui-een O'SuUivari. : ; Gene Raymond: Budd. Schuiberg, ..;' Murray-Si lyerstone.V; (.•■•■;>■! r N Y. to L A. Jpe Bigelow. Nate J. Blyriaberg. • ; Muhroe Brown. J. A. McFadden. Abe Montague. Hugh Prince. ; . ..' '. \ Don Raye.. : Arch Reeve. David Rpse.. Marvin Schenck; ' Bill .Scully; Jack Weiner. Jane Wyatt. • nARRIVALS Mr. and Mrs; Osciar Straus, David Rpse; Harry Pilcer,. !' *•// -J,I.- p,'ic'3 • \'.i.o\1'i.v-. '..fiv. r. » .<• t rt 1111111 f t f t tf t 11111 f ttttt t t ♦ I»»»♦♦>»oI n ^ ^ ^ : THE BERLE-ING POINT / By Milton Berle ♦ » ♦ ♦ ♦♦♦♦♦tMtf ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ f t i »♦♦♦♦^.^ " Hplly wppd, Dec; 3 Had Republican Thanksgiving dinneir at Jack Benny's home. Dinner was excellent and Jack^s prices were very reasohable. v Met Sidney Skolsky thiere. Told him I was getting plenty of mail fromi readers telling me what they think of my column.. Sidney replied, 'rdidn't think the ppstal inspectdrs permitted that kind of language ° to go through tti^ mails.' I wonder what he means? (But don't get me wrong, 1 love Skolskyp. •■ ^: .- There's* a new tiaffic law. put here.. Every car going alpng Hollywood Blvd. over 60 miles Jan hour must have, a driver. A Holly wood restaurant has. a sign, 'Special Today—What We Couldn't Get Rid of Yesterday.' \ ' .';'-:; All yoii have to do in Hpny.Woqd to get credit in a grocery; store. is; to walk in with makeup ph. 'Broadway Dept.. Leon. & Eddie have been • in. business so long they are begirining to trust each other. '■'■ ' ^ ■'. • .', - • Prince Mike Romanoff is Vaicationing in New YPrk and is still traveling with the upper set. . His dentist is keeping the lower until he paj's up. . Since I've been in Hollywooid I'm cpntinually singing a song didicated to the boys at Lindy'g titled, 'Please Do.ri't Talk About Me .When I'm Gone'. , ; My brother iiri. New York is so lazy that he: won't work any Week that has a Friday in it . ' .r"-:.' •■- ..-.'-.. Hollywoodiaiia Met an absent-minded producer at Central Casting who was looking fbr a couple of extras to use as bookends. '.'[ '• . Barney Dean was tellirig rrie about the new horse he bought. He said, ■If .my horse: behaves himself I'll give him food, that human beings eat—" if he's bad he'll have to eat what I eat.' • :'':'VV- Firially found but. why so many movie stars .wear dark glasses.' It's to protect ;thiBm from the glare of the other stars. George Raft gPes to Flprida next week fpr his healthr-^he left it th(?re last year./.; v ■;;;■■ :•; "--■:;■'■;' ■ ',■ •'•'• ■^.■; • .-• ' Iladio Dept. .-'•-.-' ''-^; '• ■ Tpld my uncle he'd never get- job if he sat around the house talking to himself. He said, 'That Edgar Bergen does bad, I suppose?' Heard Horace. Heidt's brother; Geziintheit, bri the. air the other night." He's nothing to sneeze at. . It's riot true that Nick Keriny Is going to sing in the Metropolitan Auditions of the Air. . ; < .- ■ A high priced' radio comedian was speaking; to Fibber McGee; Said radio, comediari, 'McGee, if I had a fabe like yours I'd be ashamed to show it.' McGee hiftied," 'Listen, Low Crossley, if I had a show like yours I'd be ashariied to face it. Musib Dept. Hollywood trade unions are all-powerful. In my. picture, 'Tall, Dark and; Handsome,' :I say, 'I feel as fit as a fiddle.' That same, afternoon I was told I had to join the riiusici&ns'; unlpn. . All bandleaders are singing the sequel to 'You'Ve Got Me Iri Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Seia' titled 'You'Ve Got Me In Between the ASCAP and the BMI.' . Harry Link, the Tiniusic man, is trying to arrange to give all prisoners paroled from Sinig .Sing copies, of Feist tiines. Link's slogan; 'You Can't Go Wrorig With a Feist Song/ ; Hangnail Descriptions Tommy Manmllc: Bringham Young. Sam Goldwyn: Pardon My Sudden Accent. William Saroyah; Gertrude Stein with a hangover. pbservatlon Dept. . but here the pedestrian only has the right of way when he's: in an ambulance. •;'';..->: ' •'--•'- ' . '■' Everybody here gives you cigars. I usiially carry so many my vest looks like a^pipie organ. , ' -v ■•■■:■-': .■■ ■ Everybody put here is sP prosperous the loan companies are putting In floor shows to attriact business. - :Wish ,I Weire a jitterbug—so I could wear my white shoes in the winter- time. ■ ' -■■■■^ • ' Eavesdropped at Casa Manaria. 'He's the kind of a guy who whi.stles pff- color songs.' ':'-.;: ',- - ^: -'. . v, ■ Found ..out why they call it ,Palm Sprjrigs—every where you go a palm springs out at you. .•■, ■:■■;■■ '•' , ' •;', Whatever'Becaime...orT; 7-, t■ Cole & Snyder • Dainty Marie ■■ Miss Vanessi Hurst & Vpgt Weber & Ridnbr Long Tack Sam Afterpiece ■ Met John Barrymore on Hollywood Blvd. He was very polite—I tipped my hat, and he tipped his ice-pack. ; : Finally Caught Up With Hollywood, Dec. 8. • Warners loaned Earl Baldwin to Cplumbia for an eight-week stretch to write an untitled musical for pro- duction by Sam Bischoff. In his 11'years on the Burbank lot. It is Baldwin's first loanoui.. . But Maraes Still Have M-G Pic'Comimttment Although Chicb Marx, libph his ar- rival in New Yprk; stated the Marx Bros, were splitting up, he to' iprm his own band, the trip have another Metro^ filrii cpmrnittment. Since Zep- po Marx went into the agency busi- ness, the other three have been casual about their professional chores, doing one picture every year or so. Their 'Go West' for; M-G Is awaiting release. • It's no secret Groucho Marx would prefer to continue gentleman-farm- ing in California, and -Harpb Marx has some sort of a concert tour awaitirig hinri whenever he wants to ti-y it. Meantime Groiibho Is driv- ing east on a holiday. V Pianist; Chicb is assembling his band arid auditioriing a feniime vocal- ist,. William Morris . will ■ back. ' • In laying out a stage routine Chico will include bits, of business which are more or less standard with him- self, Groucho and Harpp. using men frprii the. band made up to loolc like t|he other, two. ' ; Carol ^nice Continues On Radio, But 50% Of Pay Goes to Charily ; ; Carol. Bruce, songstress in 'Loui- siaria Purchase,' Imp^ial, N. . Y, whpse putslde night spot arid radio ; appearances withput, the consent pf Buddy DeSylva, shpw's producer, caused ::her to be-fined by Equity, has continued the microphone' stint on the Ben Berrile program but. urt" der an unysual arrangement. After the Equity action, DeSylva assented to .further .radio, engagements by Miss Bruce provided she turn over half .such earnings tP ' the , Actors Fund. . - Since then a check. for $212; has been tendered weekly to A. L. Ber- man, .■ general representative • for De- ' ; (Continued Oh page 62) : Ex-Mrs. Tom Mix Sues Los Arigeles, Dec, 3. Suit for $50,000,. demanding pay- ment pf a promissory, note, was flled against the Tom Mix estate by Vic- toria de Olazabel, one of the western star's fornier wives. .: Estate. Is estimated-Bt-$ 115,000. Lyons Brd$.T Swap . - Sam Lyons is exchanging offices with - his brother, Arthur, Tor e month. : Arthur got into New York Satur- day (30) and Sam, who flew out to the Coast-the week before last, wUi remain there until ISfQW ,Ye^V. vj.;;- ^r7b- :.|.(5.r-txvv ■ ^'