Variety (May 1941)

MISCELLANY Wednesday, May 7, 19H Corwin s Ode on Tariety' Norman Coi win gave Variety a neat spoofing Sunday (4) night in 'Radio Primer,' tine first of his '2G by Corwin' series for Columbia Workshop. Show took the form of an alphabetical satire of the radio industry (further de- tailed in Radio Reviews). Portion referring to Variety follows: NARRATOR: V. V stands for Variety. What is Variety? SOLOIST: CHORUS O, pity on him— mAININGFUND'HELPS WASH. CRITIC IN ARMY man in the show game has no biz- No biz— No biz— IVs the mag — It's the mag — O, piliy on hi»n Who knows not uihot Variety is. A man in the show game has no biz Not to knou) lohaf Variety is. No biz— No biz— Not to know the main mag of the show biz. It's the mag — It's the mag — Its the main mag of the show biz. SOLOIST: Variety, Variety All radio society Deems it an impropriety Not to read Variety. Sing, Sing Variety. But toheresoeueT Variety is sung It must be in a strange and different tongue: A hundred is a C, A thousand is a G, A snowstorm is a bliz, A rainstorm .'s a drir. An independent station is an indie, Chicago's either Chi or it is windy; The cinema is Pix, The hinterland is Stix, The people there are Hix, And critics all are Crix. A good week's biz is perky or it's glossy. .Australia is a continent called Aussie. A premiere is preem. Good business is steam. The stage is the legit. And sex appeal is IT. What better jargon combo could a Mencken wish Than wow, bijf, baddie, duo, nabe ond oppostsh? To worfc on «(ie sfa;^ of Variety Your Tiame must /tave only four letters. (Although if one wants to buy it he Can, of course, spell his name with more letters.) Each name has a four-letter par. Such as Ibee, Wood, Scho, Flin and Char; Full many a turkey's been panned By a four-letter man named Land; And many a show sent below deck By the critic who calls himself Odec. And if a script's awful, then woe be If caught and retHewed by Hobe. VARirrY, Variety — All radio society ■ Deems it an impropriety Not to read Variety. Sing, Sing Variety. QUARTET: (Sings) That will be all for VarietyI Dong, Jr., Petitions To Cut Fairbanks' Widow's 3G Mondily Los Angeles, May 6. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., and five other heirs to his father's estate filed a petition in Superior court to adjust the $3,000 monthly allowance to Mrs. Sylvia Fairbanks, widow, on the ground that the amount Is ex- cessive. Petitioners were granted a hearing June 30. Complaint declares .Mrs. Fair- banks, the former Lady Sylvia Ash- ley, has received—$44,000- since the act:r's death, in addition to a $50,- 000 home at Santa Monica and that the other heirs have received noth- ing to date. Value of the estate is estimated at $2,627,397, a good part of which consists of English prop- erties. BENNY ANN! PROGRAM NBC Talent Lineap Completed Will Be Aired Sunday Special half-hour program (10:30- 11 p.m.) which the NBC-Red will put on as part of the Jack Benny festivities Saturday night (10) will include Amos 'n' Andy, Eddie Cantor. Die Olson (and Johnson) and Ed Sullivan. Also Alois Havrilla and Ed Thorgenson, who were the announcers on Benny's first program. All these will origi- nate from New York. The Quiz Kids will b6 cut in from Gary, Ind. Who Says If s Hearst? Hollywood, May 6. S. Sylvan Simon draws the direc- tor job on "New York Heartbeaf at Metro. Yarn deals with the career of a tabloid newspaper publisher. Sam Marx, who wrote the story, is producer. Binnie Barnes, Gwenn May Play in 'Arqnes' Edmund Gwenn and Binnie Barnes have been tentatively cast in leads of 'We Fought at Arques,' Frederick Hazlett Brennan play which Metro will produce on Broadway in late summer. Edgar Selwyn, nominal producer; Kenneth MacKenna, Metro's story editor, and Robert Sinclair, who were sent east to ar- range for the production, will re- turn to the Coast this week. Selwyn and Sinclair intend return- ing in mid-July to begin rehearsals and then will take the show on the road for polishing before opening on Broadway. Metro gave Brennan a record - breaking $50,000 advance royalty on 'Arques.' LILLIAN HELLMAN KUDOS Radio Salute to Author of 'Bhine' And 'Little Poxes* Bergen's Two Month Rest Chase & Sanborn Coffee show w' " take an eight or nine-week breather after the June'29 broadcast, Wi^e. Edgar Bergen and 'Charlie McCar- thy' also take a respite from the program. NBC-red hasn't decided what it willfise in the Sunday evening half-- bour as a filler. Bette Davis, Lillian Hellman, Dorothy Parker, Samuel Goldwyn, Herman Shumlin, Donald Ogden Stewart and the cast of the New York Drama Critics' Circle prize play, 'The Watch on the Rhine,' will participate in a special broadcast 11:30-12 p.fti. Tuesday (13) night over NBC blue (WJZ). Occasion will be a supper given by the cast for Miss Hellman, author of the play at the 'Tartin Beck, N. Y. All except Miss Davis "and Gold- wyn will broadcast from New York, with short .speeches and a scene from the play. Mi.ss Davis will do a scene from her forthcoming picture 'The Little Foxes," also written by Miss Hellman, Goldwyn, producer of the film, will introduce her. Washington, May 6. That $21 a month looks mighty small to the draftees, but Don Craig, drama critic of Washington Daily News and ex-associate Variety mugg, sent along by his draft board for induction Jnto the -ermy Mon- day (5), is better off. 'Don Craig Sustaining Fund' ir taking care of that. The idea might well be a precedent, it's held. 'It all started as a gag, when Craig was grousing about monetary aspects of his future £t critics luncheon with Louise Noonan Miller and Abe Tol- kins, operators of Little theatre, local class revival and first-run Brit- ish film house.' Critic declared there ought to be some share-the-wealth plan to fake care of a guy who was taking .such e salary cut for the cause, then he promptly forgot the matter. But not Mrs. Miller and Tolkins. Saturday (3). a cocktail party was stsged. at which Craig was presented with parchment scroll pointing out that his salary cs 'an apprentice de- fender of Democracy' would be small in comparison with his 'occupation- ally acquired taste for free cigarets. spirits frumenti and double-rich chocolate ice cream sodas,' pledging more than 50 of his undersigned friends to contribution of 10c a week toward his welfare. Ithe berle-ing point : I By Milton Berle Kyser Orch Busy Right Up to RKO Job June 10 Hollywood, May 6. One-night stands and personal ap- pearances at army camps will keep Kay Kyser busy until he checks in at RKO for his next picture, slated for filming June 10. Show is still untitled but it will be a musical, protiably based on a military camp story. David Butler is producing and directing. 'COPPERHEAD' ENCORES World War I Play (Lloner Barry- more) Recalled by F.DJt. Crack Last week's re-emergence of the term 'Copperhead' in the news re- called that Lionel Barrymore ap- peared in a play of that name at the Plymouth^ N. Y., during the season of 1918-19—the World War I period —and subsequently on the road. It was authored by Augustus Thomas and dealt with a spy for the Union Army during the Civil War, but who pretended lo be a Southern sym- pathizer to avoid suspicion. Actor did a tabloid version of the same play in 1934, while making a per- sonal appearance at the Capitol, N. Y. 'Copperhead' was projected mto the headlines again last week when President Roosevelt, in a White House l)ress conference, used the term in reference to Lindbergh be- cause of the latter's isolationist activities. Flyer subsequently re- signed his reserve air force com- mission. It" was noted that in referring to the Roosevelt-Lindbergh incident, Axis propagandists misunderstood the specialized meaning of the 'Cop- perhead' reference. They reported that the President had called Lind- bergh a 'poisonous snake.' Tom Mix's $35,000 Bus Gathering Dust in StL. St. Louis, May 6. The $35,000 bunk-house motor bus that the late Tom Mix left in St. Louis after concluding his p.a. with the 'St. Louis Cavalcade' is gather- ing dust in a downtown fire engine garage while Fire Chief Larry Cor- noyer, a friend of the screen and circus star, is awaiting wdrd from administrators of Mix's estate. Last September, Mix asked the Chief to put the bus in the garage, declaring he'd be back in a week or two. From St. Louis, Mix went to Chi- cago for a rodeo engagement and then • drove west and at Florence, Ariz., cn Oct, 13 was killed when his car overturned after running off the road. The Mix bus, equipped with sleeping quarters, bathroom and tables, was specially built 11 years ago and was used by the owner for living quarters on his travels. The speedometer shows 75,000, rpiles. Hollywood, May 6. Whew! One more'week to go on my picture, 'Sun Valley'—and then I can get myself defrosted. After working in this picture for six weeks, I can really call myself one of 'God's Frozen People.' . It was so cold on the set today when we filmed a hotel sequence, I had to wear fceskates for bedroom slippers. John Payne, the love interest with Sonja Henie, has had to drink a glass of anti-freeze before each take—to keep the love scenes warm. Hollywood is the only place in the world where you can freezeto death on a sound stage—and walk outside and get a sunstroke. , After the picture, I'd like to .buy a boat and spend my vacation ati 'Veronica Lake,' .,, ' I There's a sign in .a Palm Springs hotel saying: 'Large rooms for public affairs—and small rooms for private affairs.' I like the telephones on the tables at the Brown Derby. If you're a. friend of the chef you can call and ask htm what not to eat. Ace cameraman Eddie Cronjager and I saw an 'A' picture last night— 'A' stinkeroo. Jack Oakie (my favorite) was telling me that he would like to get a part he could sink his teeth into—a few years ago he said the same thing about a steak. Broadway Department A certain actor is such a ham he just got a five-year contract from Armour & Co. Leon (fit Eddie's) just wired me his definition of a night club checkroom —a miniature pawnshop. Fred Allen swears that he saw Broadway Rose enter '21' wearing a strapless potato sack with open-toe Army shoes. Understand that things are so tough at a certain Broadway nitespot that the bartenders there are cutting the Coca-Cola. Oscar Levant says that after a Broadway producer-friend of his found out what a flop show he produced, he engaged 20 schoolboys to go out and sell raffles on his turkey. Hollywoodiana Saw a bad preview at Grauman's Chinese theatre last night. After it was over, as the star of the stinkeroo walked out, his own footprints kicked him in the panU.' Music Department Do you think BMI songs will bring back Ben Bernie's hair? Every time a bandleader comes into town, the mayor gives him the key to the city. In Richard Himber's case they gave him the- lock. Mack Gordon and Harry Warren are putting this phrase on all their compositions: "Do not use without the permission of the copy-cat owners.' Hangnail Descriptions Broadway Rose; Sleepy-Time Ghoul.Marlenc Dietrich's Hosier]/; Two- seams met...John CaTradiniB; Bony-Boy...Cary Cronf; 5, 10 and 15... Edtoard Arnold: Laughing Boy.. .Nelson Eddy: Annuities on Parade. Observation Department At Ciro's t'othei night, saw a busy busboy drop a tray of dishes on Harry Ritz—thereby hitting the crackpot. Eavesdropped at 20th-Fox commissary: 'Get her. She has an off-the- face face.' Eavesdropped at Beverly Hills Hotel Pool: 'He thinks owning a Royal typewriter makes him a blue blood.' Eavesdropped at Al Levy's: 'He and his mind are divorced.' There's a publicity man out on the Sunset strip who wants to marry a well-known actress so that he can get her account. Whatever Became of ? General Pisano & Co. Harry J. Conley Abe Reynolds & Co. Chain St Archer Homer Romaine Cassa & Lehn Afterpiece. The only Republic that hasn't been snatched by the European dicUtors is the one in Hollywood. GertUwrence Freely Uses DOROTHY LEWIS' PIC ASCAP for Overseas Discs ASCAP publishers have extended the freesAise of their catalogs to the 'Broadwai Calling' saries which Ger- trude Lawrence is recording for shipment to England. The discs will be aired by the British Broadcasting Corp. tor the entertainment primar- ily of its troops. NBC Radio-Recording Division is doing the cutting .job and is also clearin'g the tunes with ASCAP pubs. Miss Lawrence's initial .repsr- toire consists of 'When That Man Is Gone and Dead,' "Fine and Dandy' and 'Let's Be Buddies.' BREAK IN ICE FILM Rag'iand's M-G Chores Rags Ragland, hurley comic now in the cast of 'Panama Hattie' on Broadway, was tested last week by Metro for a role in 'Honky-Tonk.' Ragland has already been inked by M-G to repeat his legit role in the film version of 'Hattie.' Pact was signed without a screentest. Benn Jacobson, of Metro's eastern talent department, directed the 'Honky-Tonk' test. N. Y. to L. A. • Carmen Amaya. Carol Bruce. B. G. DeSylva. Gordon Douglas. Herbert Drake. Alan Hynd. Chic Johnson. Jack Linder. Sam Lyons. Kenneth MacKenna. Joseph H. Moskowitz. Ole Olsen. N. P. Pery. Judith Rutherford. Edgar Selwyn. Robert B. Sinclair. Ruth Warrick. Orson Welles. Richard Whorf. Hollywood. May 6. Though 'Ice Capades' has plenty of stars in the troupe. Republic is bringing Dorothy Lewis from N. Y, for the lead in the icetravaganza pic- ture now being filmed. Miss Lewis starred in the Hotel St. Regis' (N. Y.) ice revue for two sea- sons. Mae West, J. Barrymore Paired for 'Josephine' Hollywood, May 6. Mae West and John Barrymore are about to clinch as a co-starring team in a picture, 'Not Tonight, Jo- sephine,' the first ^ of a series to be produced by William Shapiro for Criterion Films. Release will be through a major distributing outfit, pot yet consum- mated. Filming starts shortly, based on a script by Edmund Lowe, Jr. L.A. to N.Y. Mary Brian. Katharine Brown. Trem Carr. Harrison Carroll. J. Cheever Cowdin. Danny Danker, Pa'.vicia Ellis. Florence George. Lou Holtz. W. Ray Johnston. Jeffrey Lynn. . Bud McAllister. Conrad Nagel. Nicholas Nayfack. Paul Radin. Victor Saville. William Scully. Leo Spitz. Gene Towne.