Variety (Jan 1941)

Vedncsdnyt January V 1941 HilSCEtliAKY S Between 'official protesls by Ger- 'man and Italian embassies and/al- legedly 'spontaneous' demonstratiorvs bV Nazi and Faiscist ; sympathizers scaring exhibs,. American distribS are fltiding : it: increasingly difficult to obtain playing t''^^ ^" ^*^" Ica ibr fllins with anti-Axis angles. Priiicipaliy a'ffected is Charles. Chap- lin's'The Great,Dicta tor,' while also suffering are James Rboisevfelt's ' 'Pastor Hill; 26ih-Fok's 'The Man I Married.' Paramount's 'The World in Flames' arid .Warner Bros.' reis- ■'. siie of 'Confessions of a Nazi Spy.' • . Latest ban cartie .in Argentina last Friday (27) .against Vrhe~Dictator,' following protests jriih the Italian. - Embassy. Argentine tpreigh 'office ia Biiteribs .Aires announced that Mayor Carlos. AlbeTto • Pueyrredqii " had inipos^d.. the nix after Italian ambassador .Raffaele Boscarelli . had prptested to. the fdreigri office that tKe picture 'attacked , the Italian regime.' Municipal film censoi: board previously had authorized the' C.hap- iin satire: while, cdnflrming an earlier . ban bn "^Nazi Spy./ - Meantime, in Mexico the Ministtry of Foreign Relations rejected ah o(: (Continued on page 47) Triple Jebpardy : Hollywood, Dec. 31. • One cop ph Sunset boulevard was . enough to censor la motion : picture in the old days; but now it takes three governments, • 20thtiE'px is'filming 'The Eagle - Flies 'A^^^ a . story .jof .;the ^American volunteers in - the' .libyal Air Fbrce, under techni-. cal'supervision of officials from the U. S., Canada and Grejit . Britain. ■..':■;•;• Jdhn F: Royal of WBC Meh-^ tioiied By ffaihe in. One A t tack — *Prof essionkl Spatoiards' JStir OW Affec- tions, Old Prejudices ALSO DECRY PiX And That's Terrif . Amusenrtent business was t^rrir , flc in Manhattan .ov^r tlie week- ■end,' ',' So much io it was even impoS' : sible to- get curb- space;-at-46th ~ street arid Broadway to view the Wilson ; whisky .animated sign. Lazaru^ Can't Off Col 's $30,000 That Was for H500 That Is ■ Milton Lazarus, whose 'Every Man for Himself! was recently purchased by Columbia tor $4,500, is burning at the Dramatists. Guild, which refused to relax its xegiilar . rules to permit him to accepti. an offer of $30,000 from the same studio for. a piece of the show, and the film .rights- before the Broadway opi^nlng. Author has . been huddling on the matter- with . his attorney; H. William PiWlson. Under the Guild's minimum basic Bgreeriient with the Broadway .man agers, the, film rights to avlegit pliay may not.b€! sold aintii after three weeks' run on Broadway or 75 per- formances puf of towri. Rule also forbids the author or producer to negotiate for such a sale. However, Lazarus claimed to have a deal tentatively set with. Columbia at the $30,000 price, but the Guild declined to make an exception, so the pact chilled. After the play flopped at the Guild, N. V;, Lazalrus quickly accepteij Colutnbia's offer of $4,500, the only bid available. ■ Show was tried put on the CoaSt prior to the Brpadwiay presentation, but was originally . tested several . seasons ago in the east, under the title 'Once Upon a Night.' Lazarus- was reported miffed at the Guild at that. time on the ground that the organization's restrictions on fiilm ■ flnancirig were holding Up a pro- '. fessed desire by 'Wai'nei: iBroS. to back a-legit prbductipn of the .play. Ada? In . .the dailies . Monday.' (3()) for 'Johnny Belinda,' at the.^Long•; aerie, N.. Y., quoted drama reviews from nearly all' the^ iJ^ew Yotk'raidio stations covering; the Broadway the- atre, $0 far as kriown, it's the first tiriie a .legit rrtanagement has adver- tised the opinions of the radio critics in that manner.. Only missing one was JHoward Barnes, of WOR. Ad listed the quotes and stations, but not the nariies of the critics. Stations included were WNEW, WINS, whn; WBBC, waat. wmga, WEVD, WBNX and WHOM. Will Art For His Sbtter Firm flpllywooi Dec."31. ^^Rudy Vallee, is a double eritry in the -pirnciin-the-Slpt Handicap.- ;as 4 filfti jactoi- and president of the Vis-o-graph . Corp. of America, which has established .quarters in the Hollywood quickie sector;: . ■ Gertrude Niiesen has .b6en signed: to star in. four 16 mm. flliiis for the new company. ; K.O. $105,000 SLANDER SUIT VS. JIM TIMONY Hplly.wood, Dec. 31.. Slander, suit for $105,000 against James Timony, filed by Frank Wal^ lac6, who claims to be Mae-West's husband, was tossed out of Superior Court Monday (30> with: ruling by the bench that Wallace is not resi- dent/of the county and had not posted the. bond required from non- residents. ..Waliade clairried his. reputation was damaged by reriiarks of "Timony, who. is Miss West's business manager, that he Is a 'fraud,' sought to prove legality of their marriage. . ■ * ■ . , Attach Dietrich's $2,000 Frpm Radio Sponsor Forrester-Parant Productions, Inc., which Is suing Marlene; Dieti-ich for $98,450 for alleged breach of con- tract; Attached a $2,000 check sup- posed tb go to the actress for a radio appearance pn Dec. 12. Attachment was. /made from Sealtest,,: .Inc.;; the sponsprs, and:. McKee - & Albright, Inci,.the agency. ■'•::■•■ , .Plairitiff, a French rnpHpn picture producing company,^ clairiis the actress failed to .'go through with an. .agrei?riient: to\ make; a picture" iri^ Fiance for them.; Previously, ari; at- tachment was made -pn her N. Y. property.-through order of the N.. Y; supreme, cPurt, but. she had npthing, here to attach: ' PINALE TO MANY SUITS jack Hays Accepts . Settlement On SKIricry Temple Claim ]^y DOUGLAS L. QRAHAME ^ Mexico-City;: Dec. 31 Pro-Nazi., and prorfascist elements here haVe already displayed a grow- ing fury against; the, blandishriierits of Uncle Sami The nicer the United States treats aU the Latin .republics, the jTfior6 Mexicans arid Mother Spanishispeakirig P9bi>le tend to re-, turn the broad grins, the mpre inr' dignant the CSermans -and , Italiaris and their, agents, :; 'thie .'prpfessionaI Spaniards,' become; ~ ■ Ra4io is playing a conspicuous part iri^ Pan-American', harrhpny. With both big American netwijrks, NBC and CBS, showing interest "in Mexi- can radio and the possibility of a regular: CBS network in IMl, it is significant that a^ particularly violent blast (in Spanish) recently published here in 'Hispanidad' singled out ah American broadcaster, Jphn F. Royal of NBC, by name. . . As a sample of .the attacks upon Yankee mbtiyes put., out by pro- fessional Spaniards here some quo- tatibris from the 'Hispanidad' article are telltale.'. The publication is quite new, these remarks appearing under the caption 'South Arinerica defends itself againstv the. 'peace' invasion.' Mexican readers were told; 'The so-called 'continental darity' • that, is hieing wPven (Coritinued on page 21) soli- with in N. Y. . • David Hempstead, who recently completed .'Kitty Foyle,' -his: initial P.roductiori assignment for RKO, ar- .med. in 'New York Saturday (28) from the iCoast. He'll. reniain east Vacationing until after this .film's .Preem at .the iRivoll, N. Y.,. in mid- Vyatiuary.■ ". ^producer's next assignment Is an- .;Other Ginger Rogers starrei:, 'Tom, Dick and Harry/ OGvier-Leigh Sail For Native Eng. at Peak Of Holy wood Careers Departure of Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh ;for England oh Satur day (28) has caused considerable Speculatipij ' jn the film industry British screen stars, who were mar- ried :on the Coast In August, were both at the. peak of their careers in this country and ther^ appeared tP be no tea^on for their unannounced takeoff.- ; . (iouple recently completed work m Alexander Korda's 'Lady Hariiilton.* British goyernmcnt; has repeatedly stated that Oliv.ier could be of rnore service in the United States than in tingland and^/eveh the unofficial (Coritinued on page 34)., ■/ . Phiiadelphia, Dec. 31. Tiie best- boxpffice years pf actors and actresses' are those in' which they're in bloom—and the . bloorii liasts longer With the male than with: the female; according to Dr. Harvey G. Lehman, of, Ohio University. Dh Lehnian prppoiinded this thesis be fore thef ■ sa\^ants gathered here. oyer the weekend at the American Asso- elation^ for ..the. Advancement of Scl ehce at Convention Hall. Statistics reveal, said Dr. Lehman, that male performers have their best years between the ages of 30 and 34, while, women hit the. peak of their boxoffice popularity between 25 and 29. 'The age curve when success comes is five years earlier for the actress than for actors,' Dr, Lehman asserted.; ■This finding implies that the profes- sional life-span of the actress is con- siderably; briefer than Is' that of the actor.. : 'Is .this difference due to the fact that women iend to age more rapidly than do men? Or is it due to the possibility that sorne of the actriesses may voluntarily, iabandbn their prbf fessiortal careers, to become wives and homernakers?' . Dr. Lehman declared the age curve for better actors falls, 'somewhat more rapidly than the Comriion or garden variety.'- ■ • As 'unusual exceptions' he cited the cases of Shirley Teriiple, who achieved stardom before she was 10, ,and the late. Marie Dressier, who reached the peak of her fame when she was past 60. Philadelphia'; Dec.. 31; ; ' Samuel Friedman, press agent for' the 'Sim.-Sala-Birn' - show,, yesterday :'. (Monday;^ swore ont a warrant for Dante; .the riiagiciari; charging the Danish sleight-bf-hand artist with socking hinl: in the jaw iri the lobby , of the Ritz-CarltPn. hotel here. FHed- man . said the :6ne-sided battle ■ hap** peried. on -Friday night. (2-7): and ; staiirted when Dante accused the flaclc- of 'slighting' Moi-Yo Miller; leading;, femme iri the corripany. in his pub-- licity..: A-ccording to Friedman, Darite ac- costed him", in .the' Ritz Ipbby as he was. posting a. couple ot letters and said, 'Well, Friedrnan, I see yoju got youf notice' .(earlier, Friedman: had :, receivfid his two \yeeks' notice fi'om Roriibat. 'Van Reerrisdyke, cbfnpariy .. managei:.). .'Now I'm going tb -make sure you're, getting it', said Dante, and with this let loose with a right hook to Friedman's, .jaw, the. flack, said.' ..' ' : ■ ■ 'I didnlt want to hit h'rii in returhV. said Friedniari, 'Dante is a: man close to .60'. Since, he was, socked, Fried- man said; he's been;Uhder the care of a physician. Friedman said the , al- leged . 'slighting- of Miss Miller started after a -kidding' remark he had made to her that he 'wouldn't get any more stories In the paper (Coritinued on page 46); JULM DUVIVIER SUED OVER KORDA FILM H61ly\vood, Dec. 31. lifulien Duvivier, Firench director, named with. Alexander Korda Films. in a breach of contract suit filed in L. A.. by Transcontinental Films. Suit alleges Duvivier signisd a con- tract to make two pictures in U; S. at $80,000 per film, plus a percentage of the profi.t, but instead took a deal With Korda. Action .asks Korda .and Duvivier be: restrained from, continuing their business relationship. ALL-NIGHT BROADCAST FOR BRITISH FUND Hollywood;. Dec. 31. WACKY COMPROMISE 'W'ack?s Museum' Becomes 'Book by H. Allen Smith' ; H. Alien Smith, N.- y;. World-Tele- grarii feature writer, -and Dpubleday- Dbran are .Struggling-for a title' to-a: book .SHiith recently coriipleted -and which ,D-D will .publish : in. the • sipring. It's, a hijriiorous yoluriip, abbiat the ■ .writer's experierices iri interviewing celebs.. Stan Shaw;, whose 'Milkman's Mat- inee' i.s a recorded sessibn six early-' mornings weekly ovier WNEW, New York, had an all-live show ItT a. m. Sunday (29): Occasion was a Bundles for Britain: benefit, with guests includirig names frpm orches- tra, nitery, vaude. legitv; film and opera Circles parti.cipatirig. Many pf those who appeared had made no adyarice arrangchienis to do. so, but hurried' to., the studio when, they heard the. pfop r$ni via the air. ■ ■ Among-' .'the namie '' igiiests were 'Fredrlc Marchi: Florence Eldredg'e, Arthur : Treacher,' Phyllis ; . Brooks, :Wynn Murray, Sonya StpkoWslci, Lu- cille Manners. Jan,e Pickens;;-Bea .Wain, Hazel Scott. Jp.sephinc Ari- . tpine. Ella Fitzgerald, JOan Edwards; I'.i^ommy Dbrsey. Raympnd Paige,.Brll His original idea was to label it [RobinsPri! Count Basic, Gieriri Milleri 'Wack's Muiscum,' but the publish- - (jharlie; BarnCt and his. orchestra, ers balked for :fear those riientipned , Andy Ipna/ Sam.my Kaye; Rags Rig- in it might object to being'sp cate- |:iafid;and.Beriny,Leonard gorjzBd. ;Dbzen; or so other titles:-'a number of Iroprpriiptu.i jam sesr- were devi-sed, norte; of . Which satis-:| sloris . by bands corriposed of- name fied all .the .parties, . Firialiy, in ex-pleaders arid musicians' .Smith :.suggested ^'Let's. After .three ;unsuccessfui: attempts g^^l°[l'^opk by H. Allen. Smiths :, in •court trials to recover damages ftom the parents bf Shirley Temple, on Glaiins. he coached and .groomed the moppet for picture stardom. J^ck. Hays: on Monday (.30) accepted a 'Satisfactory ; settlehient' and the suit dismissed; • Terrtis. of, payoff nPt. disclosed. Hiys .claimed Shirley's parents re- And title. that: Frankie Bailey lU , ■ : , Hollywood, Dec. 3i;- Frankie Bailey,-early ;stage favorr ite, billed, 'the Girl .with ,$1,000,000 pudlated a- contract with him - arid;! tegs;' is seriously ;;in iri Los Angeles: turned her over to 20th-Fox. . i She is 81, \Vill probably be the 20th tO Filltl Cphan'S *Song and Dance Man ■ . : HpUywood, .bee. 3L George-M. Cohan's old Broadway play. 'SPng arid Dance Man,' hai been- handed oyer tP;: Don Ettlirige^ an?l ^ Edwjn Blum io be turned into a! screenplay for 20th-Fox. Producer Is Harry Joe Brown. ' Trade Mark' Reclatel-ed POUNDBD BT 8IME SII^VERHAN riibllahed WMklr bjr VAKIETT. Inc. Sid flllvflrman. Prtaldent 1E4 West 46th Street, New Y6i:k, N. t. VAKIRTV radio ..OIRKCtOKT (I'uUIIshe<i In N . annually) ■ 'IS per copy . . OAII.V VARIBT.¥ (Pulill.Mlied lii Hollywditd by v. X>ally Variety. Ltd.) tlO a year—1121. fiinelRn