Variety (Feb 1941)

82 LITERATI Wednesday, February 19, 1941. Deny PM's 'IT - Notice Reports that;Marshall Field III has Erovided PM with enough coin' to ist. through':May, and that unless the new daily. is selfrsustaihing by that time, it will fold, were denied : ln various quarters this week. It Was admitted by one.'source, how- ever, that'May has been , set by Field tor a 're-.examinatiPn ■ of. the situation to see, at that time 'what the paper gives promise of.* ■.. Publisher Raiph Inger.soll, in de- nying the report, declared that -Field has set no date by which. PSrI must support itself 'as loh/; as it cOnr tinues to move satisfactorily towards that goal, as it Is doing.' Field has made clear, Ingerspll scVid, that he-is not 'endowing', the sheet. V . v . / . PM circulation,, the publisher as- serted, is above the .100.000 mark, hitting 130.000 occasionally, depend-. Ihg upon what It offers .any particular day. , It must reach 200.000 to be self-supporting without paid adver- tising. Number of...- changes re- cently, it was said; have- reduced expenses by almost ^pne^ialf. ^Prin- cipal saving ...has been .in production, methods, including-" the cut- to one edition daily, instead of the former three. Staff cuts have also helped. Feared slide- In circulation - with the inauguration of the single edition eoming out about 9 a.m; has not ma- terialized, Ingersoll asserted, , and there has actually been a slight up- turn. This is because distribution is more efficient, papers are oh the Stands more hours of the day and the; paper is better edited because the staff can put in;16: hours of con- tinuous work on it instead o£ ; tne two or three hours between editions.. ■; Heaviest losses were taken last Au- gust, it was said, when circulation hit its low/ Since, then .it ', has crawled up and economies have been instituted to make income more nearly approximateexpenditures. •■ Ben Robertson, sheet's Londoh cor- respondent, who has been in the U. S. for' about six' weeks, returns' to England by boat on Saturday (22). British Writers Hypo-Output . Apparently. accustoming them- selves to the conditions and difficul- ties of war, British novelists are! said by New York agents and publishers to be resuming work on a large scale. While until recently the flow of manuscripts to the United States from Britain was slowed.to a trickle, It is how beginning to regain some of Its pre-war proportions. Some of those from whom yarns have recently been received, or whp have at least communicated that they •re working on books, are V. Sack- ville-West, Richard Lleweliyn, Sir Philip Gibbs, Elizabeth Bowen and many others. . Output, hpwever, can be on ho regular basis, as the au- thors get in work when they can, but are frequently delayed from a few hours, to !a few, weeks by bomb- ings or requirements by the govern-, ment on their services. I llursley, daughter of the late Social- list congressman Victor L. Berger; as editor. . Staff/ is largely recruited from . ranks of erstwhile /employes of :P^1, New York tab daily... Rich-, ard O. Boyer will be associate editor, His wife, Sophie,, former head of Oie League .pt Women Shoppers/will be an editorial assistant. : Marion Bachrachi alijo from PM, will man- age eastern bureau, arid Leo .iliiber- nian, former: PM labor editor,:- will also be. j>W staff/: :'-{''■■ /.-',/' U, S. Week.' to: be 'liberal' and is being financed by tiye:; Vyilliaiti :EV Do'cld: foundation. Dddd's son, Wil- liam, Jr., wilj be a contributor.-.. Dee Lowrarice Joins.NEA Dee. I^owvance has resigned as fashion editor ;at Paramount: Pictures 1 and will write fashions and special j features for -Newspaper Enterprise ! Association. ■'■ \ ;'. Paul Harrison's NEA column from ] Holly.wood is presently being done by his wife, Lucie :Har.rison, while he is covering..national, defense activities . on a s\ving. af bund the-country. .. Night Club Reviews ^Continued from page 44 ; Minnesota Terrace, Mpls. ■■ \ B'klyn Eagle-Post Merger Off .- The Brooklyn 'Eagle,,in a page one bpx : yesi^rday':/(Tuesday) •'icyonlpd that'-.its projected = niergei;...witlV the New York Post is co)d. :'■ Box, headed 'An End to,Rumor's,'.read: ; •■' •-, '. ■' F/Or.-sohie' weeks "-there/ have:. .'-.. been tumors . of a proposed '■■; merger - between .the Brooklyn Daily Eagle and the New York ■'.:'■ Pqai:' .Some of the stories' ■: had • '■: some. merit'. jn ■ fact; bthere were. < -■V-qu'itfe-fanciful.. -"' : There has been a consideration - - of the possibilities of such a merger between George Backer,; : ...•Publisher ; of. the- Post/ aiid ':rtiy- . "self. We have definitely come to "... tjbe. conclusion that to .' put the . two . papers ; together would not be journalistically sound. The idea has been.abandoned. . •: .-; . /The Brp'bklyjj.'PaiIy^Eaglie°'.wXl'' • strive to continue , to ..' improve upon its service to. this>'_ com- ■; • munity, and" tor', this .community -.. alone, " •, '■ ; V.'- :■ ';'. "■■' .Frank b; Schroth^ . Publisher, American. Home . Rechartered. : ' The American : : Home Magazine; Corporation, .New York, hhs changed its capital stock, from 5.000 shares to •4,000 preferred at $100 par value, and 1,000 common ut ho par - value,; to $300,000, $1 'par value;, '• . ''■ ■ , i' . .Beekmari, Bbguc, Stephens & Black are the attorneys. .'. • • - . ■ ' 'Jervls Bay* Published The Jervis Bay Goes • Down,' lengthy poem by Gene Fowler, which was recited on the air recently by Ronald Colmari, is: being pub- lished in book form by Random House. Author's royalties and all of the publisher's profit from the small volume are being donated to the Bundles for Britain fund. Book is being sold for 60c., H. Wolff, New York, the printers, • having produced It at cost, . /'■• .■ Fowler dedicates the. volume to Eddie Manhlx, Metro's- studio exec, who is a close personal f riend. Ask SEPost Ban in Canada A ban on the Saturday Evening Post in- Canada was asked by the Windsor (Ontario) Common Council in a resolution passed last week. The Council: wired to. the Dominion Gov •rnment ..urging that the circulation ' and sale of the ^Post. . throughput Canada, be banned at once. ° Controller Cyril ' Cooper,. In pre- senting tbe resolution, passed unani- mously by the Council, charged that 'anti-British* material constantly was appearing in' the; magazine; 'The continual presentation": of'- siich de- ■tructive material is ah affront to every true Britisher and a potential danger to publib morale/ he de- clared; Alderman J. A. Kehnedy. also asked that the Detroit Free Press be addeii to. the resolution, but Cooper de-. eJared he wasn't'familiar with the newspaper, which has a wide circu- : lation in the Windsor area. Kennedy said, 'The Free Press is worse : than the Post because It comes out •ftener.* PM Alumni Starts U. S. Week V. S, Week Is ,the name of a hew National wjeekly. newspaper to be published fin' Milwaukee, starting' about April 1, with Doris Berger -.'.' ; 80G Lost on Stage' Mar ■'•' Stage magazine, folding after publishing four : issues; . has . run thrpygh $80,000, publisher' Alex- ander Ince said yesterday • (Tues- day). Coin was provided by a num- ber of: European picture and flnanr cial friends of Ince (he's Hungarian, name originally Incze Sandor). Gil- bert Miller and his father-in-law, Jules Bache, are. also said to have been interested along with William Rhihelahdbr Stewart, who was presl-. dent of tlie publishing, company. : Money, Ince declared, went into preparation of plans for the mag be- fore it was, published, and later, Into production costs and promotion. It carried a' moderate amount of ad- vertising for a new publication. Ince said he hopes to start af.iin. after a 'financial reorganization,' possibly in May, but probably not until next September, if at all, \ This was the second version of Stage to fold, the original dropping put of the picture some years ago. Fingerprint D. C. Newsmen • Washington's correspondents got a taste of wartime. regulations when scores of reporters were herded, into a basement of the White House and photographed and fingerprinted (Feb. 5) by the FBI. ;"When the-newsmen beefed about the'long' wait -In line. the Bureau increased the number of employees taking the identification and warned those who yelped loud- est about being fingerprinted that unless they were willing to submit they would not be allowed into the War or. Navy Department offices. Restrictions had been on for weeks in these departments, but reporters were allowed to interview officers with White House, cards when accom panied by a guard. 'Sodom By. the Sea* ; 'Sodom By> the Spa/- the saga of Coney Island, will be published by Dbubleday-Dorari this summer. It's by; Oliver Pil^t, of : the N.V.-Post, and ^o Ranson, radio editor of the Brook- lyn Eagle. ; It ? s the most complete story of the. imtJsejnpnt., areia, which holds' the record Pf having grossed more from pleasure-seekers 'than all other amusement parks' the; ; world . over bunched together. . 'Coney Island,' a novel by Homer Crby, written some eight years ago, elimiriatedVusage of that title. PilatV Ranson's work is, a factual history. : $500,0*9 Libel Suit Angelica Balabarioff, wtid claims she is : '■'. ;'.internationally • known Socialist and author,' has filed suit against Macfadden Publications; Inc.i Fulton Oursler, editor, and Frederick E. Collins,, author, claiming she Was libeled in the October, 1940, Issue of Liberty. It was intimated plaintiff had. borne Mussolini ai child, story" having been written by . Collihs. Damages; of $500,000 are sought. LITERATI OBITS '.; Gordon Mackay;': 63,; former sports editor of- the : Philadelplna Record, died Friday night .(14) at the treiir; .tPn'.hbspHal/:^rci)tpn;'-Ni' j.; after: an illness pif • 18 nVonths.; One of .the nation's best-known sports . writers, his career covered 45 years on news- papers' in all parts of the country. He broke-.'' :. With the Boston Post '*nd r successiveIy v ; woi;ke4..on' the Bos-; ton American, iChristi'an', . Science; Monitor, Philadelphi . Press, ! In- quirer and Record; Hii last Job'was as coTumhi'st fof ' ; tbe" Camden : A$i: J.) : GOurier-Ppst. He covered Pershing's- Mexican'-expedition and. interviewed Peary on his return from the North Pole. .He . . was buried . yesterday (Tuesday ) in . Camden.. Odell Hauser, 54,. iPbil^'delphia^ newspaperman, • died last' Monday in a hospital in that city. Born in N^ew York, he' served as' assistant, drama critic on the New York Times, was editor-in-chief,', of theKorristown (Pa.) .Times Herald and political editor of the Philadelphia. Press and Public Ledger. Up to his illness he": was assistant In charge of: public, re- lations of the Philadelphia: Electric Co. .. William S. Allen, 62, telegraph editor of the Fitchburg (Mass.) Sen-' tinel and formerly connected with the Boston bureau of the Associated Press, died Feb. 15 in Fitchburg. . Bart B. Howard, -69, . editorial ■writer for the St. Louis Post-Dis- patch and last year's Pulitizer prize winner -for distinguished editorial writing, died of a heart attack Feb: 12 at his apartment in a St. Louis hotel. " Frederick A. Kaufniann, business manager of the Jersey Observer, a Hobokeh (N. J.) daily, died of a lieart attack Feb. 12 while. working at his desk in the Observer office. For 41 years he. had . been ah em- ployee of. the paper. John A, Hplderi, 85, one of the founders of the Bookseller's League and retired; business manager of the R. R. Bowker Co., publishers of the Publisher's Weekly and the Library Journal, died Feb. 1$ of pneumonia at his home in Mt. Vernon, N, Y. Howard E. Bangs, . 50, veteran newspaperman and editor of the old York (Me.) Transcript, died-Feb. 11 in York Village, Me.,-after a year's illness. He was a son of the late humorist, JPhn Kendrick Bangs. Troy X Jones, 54, conductor. of a humor column that appeared in sev- eral North Carolina newspapers, died at Silas Creek, N. C, recently. MaJ. Brace Craven, 59, former editor of .the Winston-Salem (N, C.) Journal, died Jan. 25 of a heart alK ment. '' ' .'/•;.' -'- '-;.:;'- Charles B. Kendall, 72, Who worked for the Greensboro (N. C.) Record before going to Florida to operate the . New " Smyrna , (Fla.) Breeze and the Palm Beach (Fla.) Tropical; Sun, dieid Feb. .3 at Greens- boro, N. C. ■■-.'.' .'..:.-.' ■ '.■'■''..', calls-, for!: restraint,- ■ the. Arnheim gang seems very much ut home.: Un- like some : of the ; outfits; recently sndtted- here, this orchestra eschews the extreme blasting which, "' a comparatively, small and. low-ceil- inged' ropm, rnakes iriore foi- pande- monium: than music, and its modu- I lated melodies' draw, a -warm wel- come. , ■ ' ■' - i Iii addition to Conducting the or- chestra and . einceeing the show, Ai f nheim takes a turn. at the piaiio to rattle off a few bars, including such of his own" compositions as 'Sweet and Lovely.' <I Cried For You' and .'I Surrender, Dear.' Floor show adheres •. to the usual Terrace 'formula—a topnotch dance team and vocalists. Katherine Joyce, the band's youthful singer, handles her pop numbers acceptably and Andy Russell and •'Mac' Stone, / drummer and : trumpeter; ' respectively;: step down from the platform for some warbling which ; evokes 'a satisfac- torv response; Russell .devotes him- self to romantic ballads while Stone takes a. fling . at comedy nurribers. which constitute the band's sole rib- tickling efforts:,' A highly attractive couple whose voices blend nicely, •' Marshall - and Shields do a good sales job on a 'Show Bpat' medley, 'I'm Falling In Love • with; Someone' and . 'Donkey Serenade/ the pair's charm, as well as their .vocalizing; helping: to. put over these genteel- numbers even at a- late hour, : when . lively swing might. haye seemed lihore: sure fire. - Theodore and Denesha, Latin-type dancers,-work fast and effectively, putting plenty- of zip' into the pro- ceedings. To an . applause accom- paniment from the guests,, thejr per- form difficult adagio feats and breath-taking acrobatic lifts and spins. 'A fast conga with plenty of twirls is a standout. Virginia Sanfbrd is a. character I reader and the Murray Dancers il- lustrate and teach the newest steps. Rees. ' BEACHCOMBER (CROWN HOTEL, PROVIDENCE) Providence, ft. I., Feb. 9. CWco Simone's . bond (8), John Goniales. Luis Torres Dancers (4), Gloria Belmonte, . The Continentdfe (5). she was a little. below her. own par When caught at the opening. . . The -band's Roseanne Stevens, vocalist, looks, . sings and acts like the original jitterbugs Her songs got .nice response; and. she follows through with a ,hot jam session with one of the boys in the band to click strongly. : : *' '--.' ■ : Dolores Gay, blonde looker with a hice chassis; billed as 'The VTorld'a Fastest. Tap panccr,' beats a . rapid tatoo with .her feet to get plenty of palm pounding- from the customers;"■ Her routines, however, are too sinil- • lar;. '. .''"V" .'.",• • . '.'' : Better on the torrid Latin selec- tions than . oh" the dreamy pieces are dance team Betty and Freddy Rob- erts. Especially noteworthy is' the femme's illusion of dancing without her . feet once' touching: the floor. Team got big. hand. " : The. slapstick antics and acrobatics of the Three Ryans netted plenty of laughs, but jokes were, feeble. Maestro and- aggregation lend fitting;, climax t td the: show \vlth-'a novelty number in which they /step into the role of a jukebox, respond- ing to the requests of all tyjjes-^the jitterbug, the old maid, the, drunk, the sentimental soul—and .close, with 'God Bless America,' for the patriot, to get big response.. Band provides :' excellent baeki ground for acts in addition to play- ing well for hoofing. Lixizza. . Supervises AGVA ^Continued from page « ; Chatter '- .: CPwardrMcCanri,. inp;,, has been chartered to conduct a printing-pub^ licity business in New.-York.,: ; Thelma Strabel, : whbse 'Reap the Wild yfind'^was one of last season^ best-selling s h6vels,' has returned . to New Yotk from. Florida artd is. at work- on, a new serial for American mag. /: . Marie Sale completing revisions on a biography of her late husband, vaudeville and film comedian 'Chic' Sale, ' whose The Specialist', became a humorous Classic. Title for the book hasn't been selected.''. • Ben . Robertson, English : corre- spondent' for'TsPM who last' month sighed a contract with .Alfred A. Knopf for publication of a book on his observations In wartime Britain, has just delivered manuscript to the publisher, title 'I Saw England.' . Since Ruby Foo took over. the Beachcomber, spot has been kept essentially the same and is still get- ting a; heavy play, Chico Simone and his cohga- rhumba band has. held over since the opening and is set for some time. Their rendition of Latin tunes, has struck the fancy of local devotees. Simone plays a fair accordion, doub- ling from baton wielding. His singer; John: Gonzales, vocalizes 'Havana for a Night" only sorso. . Luis Torres' congarhUmba dancers (4> present thr usual hlp-wlggling specialties of the Latins, but show little new in the routine. Gloria Belmonte; -pint-size in comparison with other members of the troupe, packs plenty of personality in her presentation of a Spanish peasant dance. Her work with the: castanets is also good. • Bill Morton, local boy and assistant manager, does a straight m.c. The Continentals fill in during the Simotie crew's breather. Spot has also incorporated several special features, among them Friday Celebrity Nights, at Which Visiting members of stage and radio who may be in town: drop in and take part in the show. A regular Sunday, afternoon swing session is also gain- ing quite a following.— Malo. blue room, n q. (HOTEL ROOSEVELT) Neiu Orleans, Feb. 15. Ozzie Nelson Orch, -Harriet Hil- Hard, Roseanne Stevens. Dolores Gay, Betty and Freddy . Roberts, The. Three Ryani.- ■ Ozzie Nelson and : crew fit' nicely in this swank nitery where the cus-. tomers are' as concerned. over the quality-of their .music as the food and drinks. It was a three-fold Val- entine Nelson presented to this full house—his pretty wife, ; Harriet, an aggregation of neat-looking musi- cians for the femmes iahd. a :teoer-• tpire of swing and sweet tunes Which the; b^nd played with equal - ease: The:boys had little trouble keepinjg; the dance floor crowded. Orch on the whole is well, balanced and versatile, mixing Latin melodies : With.sweet stuff and orthodox swing numbers;: Nelson batons the show nicely. The layout, while modest in ■■ quantity, makes up for any de-- i flciency In this respect bv being I high. in entertainment. : Miss Hllllard, looking trim and pretty In a powder-blue evening gown,, opens with a novelty ditty with her husband in which she pledges .her allegiance' to the band, and follows up with 'I Ain't Got Nobody' and .'My Heart Belongs to Daddy/ However, while above the average of the usual nitery warbler, and one of the Griffin brothers . op- erating - the iif. Y; Inquirer, SUnda'y paper/: has .. been a mpmber yf AGVA's riational board virtually since the union's formation a year and a half ago. He is sitting as temporary adminstratlve head In place of Barto and Haddock without salary. He also takes Haddock's place as AGVA's rep at Theatre Au- thority, the Four A's and the Central Trades and Labor CPunciL .-: While it will be up to a national board, picked in the coming election, to appoint, a permanent executive secretary, it's possible the joint ad- ministrative board will choose a temporary executive secretary to -fill in for the time being. Those on the administrative board from the Four A's are Jean Greenfield, chairman of the Four A's; Ruth - Richmond, Chorus Equity; Walter. Greaza, Ac- tors. Equity; Florence S. Marston, eastern representative; of the Screen Actors. Guild and Emily Holt, of the American Federation of Radio Ar-i tists'. Griffin, Joe Smith (and Dale) ,- Diave Fox, Hal Sherman, Prof. Maji. Bob Edwards, Alan. Corelli and others are sitting in for AGVA. Following the meeting at the Four A's last Thursday (13),.Frank -Gill- *more r president of the parent body, issued a statement regarding AGVA, which read in part: The Four A's is deeply concerned with the confusion and differences of opinion in AGVA of recent months, and its desire for the continued suc- cesful. operation of AGVA and' its intention to afford full and hearty cooperation with the AGVA mem- bership is evidenced by the com- mittee which will administer AGVA's affairs in the interim period.' Variety Actors Betterment Meanwhile, still another element -Injected Itself into AGVA affairs. Ah organization called the Variety Actors Betterment Campaign Com- mittee,, evidently headed by Murray/ Lane, sent out a statement signed by Lane which reads: 'The : executive board of the Variety Actors Betterment Campaign Committee (which represents 4,500 performers in the vaudeville and night club field) ■ today (Friday) voted the following statement on the situation confronting, the: American Guild of Variety Artists following Hoyt Haddock's discharge, as execu-- tive secretary; 'We demand that the new AGVA . executive secretary: be elected by a national vote of the entire; member- . ship ihstead; of being appointed by the. National Board-: with the.. ap- prPval of .the Associated Actors and Artistes of America as were, the past four AGVA secretaries; 'We demand that elections of the New York AGVA local be held on the grburtds that, the; elections last year lacked ^ 'quorum and included challenged, votes 1 ,and miscounts; .'•'• ; .'We .demand that the AGVA be ■ given true. autonomy, as are. the other branches of the Four A's, with '. the AGVA run by American Actors for .American Actors.' , Lane, working in. concert . with Lou Taylor and Sid Williams, is alleged • to be part, of a faction said to desire.. the return of Ralph Whitehead . to vaude-jnitery .Unionism.