Variety (Apr 1942)

WAR ACTIVITIES VedneBdAjr April 1, 1942 Travel 8,000 Miles to Entertain 80,000 Men in 17 Military Posts Army's most ambitious effort at entertainment tor soldiers by soldiers In either this war or the last teed off Friday (27) in the second Corps Area (New York, New Jersey and Delaware). Largest soldier-theatre project in Army history will see five hojne-produced shows tour more than 8.000 miles, play to 80,000 sol- diers at 17 posts, will have 91 •oldier-entertainers, technicians and directors on the road at once, will pertorm more than 500 playing hours and will have at least three enter- tainment units performing every night lor 47 consecutive nights. Appearing in the femme roles in the three legiters on tour are six Broadway actresses who are being paid by USO-Camp Shows, Inc. They'll travel in staff cars, while most of the soldiers will get along in convoys of Army trucks which will carry the camp-built scenery and props. Project has been made possible by the blessing of Major General Irving J. PhlUipson, commanding officer of the second Corps Area, and has been spark-plugged by Pil vate Ezra Stone and his associates In the theatre section of the army's morale branch in New York. Stone, who .Is on detached service from Camp Upton,.is appearing in Three Men. on a Horse,' one of the two units sent out', by the post. The other Upton unit is- an orlgi' sal musical revue, 'We're Ready.' Pine Camp, N. Y.,- is contributing a production of • 'Petticoat Fever,' while Fort. Hancock, N. J., is sending out 'I^om Service',' and Fort Dix, N. J., a 90-mlnute variety show headed by Jack Lenoard, former warbler with Tommy Dorsey's band. Femmes in 'Three Men on t Horse' are Katherlne Wiley and Bar bara Lieeds. Soldiers include Alan Manson. 'Pinkie' Mitchell, Ross El liott, Gary Merrill, Dick Browning, Stan Soloman and Michael Wardell •We're Ready* revue "was written by Privates Ralph Nelson and Tommy McDonnell, with mtisic by Privates Herbert Pine and Ralph Kessler, Stone supervised the production. Upton band will accompany this unit, and be available for playing camp dances after the show, 'Petticoat Fever' cast is augmented .. by Minelda L,ange and Derby Rogers for f'emme interest. Carol Hill ^nd Helene Hawley are the gals with 'Koom Service,' which was produced by'Private Richard Weiss, who also has the top role. Fort Dix variety unit will carry with it Sergeant Herbie'Fields band, which will aKo ' be available for camp dances after the show. Cast. includes Corporals Art Bamett andrSld Tamber. Show was staged by Sergeant Sidney . Ordower, Fort Dix Theatre Section producer. Project is complete even to a 26- page mimeograph pressbook and ' manual, containing publicity- stories tor. insertion'in camp papers, radio . blurbs, suggestions for po.sters and exploitation tips. BRANDT LOST 80 MGRS. BECAUSE OF THE DRAH Brandt Circuit, wiih operating In- tc-ests in approximately 103 theatres in the New York metropolitan area, low staffed entirely with man- agers below draft age, many of the house managers being teen-age youngsters upped from ranks of ushers and assistants. Bill Brandt states that every one of his 80 origi- nal managers is now either in the armed forces or working in war manufacturing plants. . All promoti ms have been made with distinct understanding that y're 'temporary' with spots to revert to men .who formerly held them after the war, - Use of men below draft age is considered only a temporary solution to manpower shortage in theatre operation since majority of these become eligible for the draft within a yeq^ or two, Employment of women as house managers has so far been limited to small theatres under 800 or 000 seats, operators considering femmes not quite good enough "or important situatioqSi Stagehand and other labor short- age is also confronting theatre oper- ators. Reported '.that electricians have left.theatres to work in' naval and other war construction where rcte of pay is considerably higher, on a six-hour shift, an some of the men are working two shifts daily. CYNDA GLENN HELD OVER Tie Toe Club, Montr«al, Canada Excerpt from "Variety" review while at Bowci-y, Detroit, March 4, 1942 "Cynda dlenh, with her ellok roughhouslng on the piano, and her uncontiollable hands business was grooveil, too, for the crowds,- who yelled for more." Pool. ^ Hollywood. March 31. Bicycling la an aid tfr the conserTatlon' of rubber, but In Its early stages It is Blowing up production,on the 20th-Fox lot Employees, biking for ihe/flrst'tlme In yean, have discovered muscles and tendons long forgotten. It takes them half the day to recover from the morning ordeal and the rest of the day thinking about the long Journey home, ' . . . .- .. ' r . • Indusb^ Must Justify War Ratwg, Mellett Warns L A. Defense^oup MELLETT'S FIRST Spewaok's Cavalcade of Events Lcad- inr Into the War Volunteer Aides On Riseat N.Y. Theatre Canteen Irving Berimes 1942 Taphank' May Become An AR-Industry Film HlfOOD'S MASS TALENT DRIVE ON 25 CAMPS Hollywood, March 31. Hollywood 'Victory- Committee' massed tor a major drive this week on 25 Army and Navy camps, with special broadcasts and benefits scat tered about the terrain at strategic points. Stars of the screen, stage and radio, numbering 1V7, have contributed en- tertainment to the service men, in addition to hundreds of others ap- pearing daily in morale-building and fund-raising programs. Irving Berlin's soldier - show, the World War II counterpart of "Yip Yip Yaphank' <which, Incidentally, will not be the show title), may be filmed as an Industry project, rather than by one. film company. "The idea of a film, to swell the take for Army Jlelief Fund, came from the War Dept this tteing a 1942 inspiration since the idea never occurred in 1918 when 'Yip' was first ishown. Main idea is to utilize amateur soldier talent, and the ratio of only 25% professionals, in the ranks, as against 15%, will be maintained. It's Berlin's idea that these ams can thus assimilate enough showmanship to amuse others at their own camps, or overseas. Berlin recalls that many of the 'Yip Yip' boys later, when they went overseas, became the nucleus of their Intra-company shows. Berlin will call the musical "This Is the Army,' after a title song which he has completed, along with quite a few other numbers. He feels 'Army' will be the 1942 edition of 'I Hate to Get Up in the Morning* for general popularity. Entire show from boxoffice and. business management will be a War Dept." project. He will only author and assist in- staging it,' but having a fund ot professionals in- the ranks he may not even.have to collaborate production! As previously de- tailed in ''Variety,' Ezra Stone will be among 'iem. Joe Louis will be another, although BerUn adds, par- enthetically, that when a champ like the great colored pugilist can swell the Army Relief's funds by tens of thousands of dollars with one fight, it dwarfs the theatre project. ' None the less, the goal at $250,000 for the This Is the Army' show Is (Continued on page 52) Stage Door Canteen, one of the major activities of the American Theatre Wing, if not the topper of them all, seems to be drawing an increasing number of show people who volunteer to help one .way or another. A number of-, firms are keeping the place well provisioned. Word of the canteen's success has aroused much interest aifiong d- "vllians, who want to see what it is all about but, regardless qf their good intentions, none is admitted except those assigned to duty. A new high was registered last Thurs day when 2,334 men in tmiform were entertaised and given food, count on the week being 13,441, also a new figure. Word that the Canteen's fame has spread far is indicated by a gob who came in one hour after he got ashore. Asked how he knew about the spot, the lad said that a sailor on an outgoing ship wig-wagged the name of the place. Its location and the sign that it was really some thing. Amuiinc Remarks Committee people were quite amused at the remarks of other service men. One asked another whether there were 'good- lookers' at the Canteen, the answer being 'theire. sure are hut you can't get to first base with, 'em.' Rules are that there shall be no dates and no telephone numbers given by hostesses to the servicemen. A supply of cakes and sweets was the result of an appeal by radio last Friday (27) when three girls went on the air. Immediately the tele- phone! board ot the. station became jammed up with women asking for details on contributions. Saturday (Continued on page 54) ' Sam Spewack is currently com- piling the first picture actually to be released under the label of Lowell Mellett's Office of the Coordinator of Government Films. It will run about 60 minutes, giving a film history of events leading up to the war. Good possibility exists that the picture will be hand^ to a major distributor for regular commercial release, as was done with previous Government-made films; such as 'The River* (Par). Alternatives are for re- lease through the industry's War Activitieji.'Committee or by the Gov- ernment itself. ^ewack Is uncertain as to how soon he will have completed the compilation job, but,hopes it will be within a month or so.' Re Is shooting no new stuff, depending entirely on newsreel clips, material from the Government's film archives and similar sources. Spewack, who was in England last year working with the British Ministry of Information on Its output, prepared the outline of the' film himself aiid has also written the commentary. Work Is being done at the Office for Emergency Management film unit headquarters in New York. Los Angeles, March 31. Warning that the motion picture business, exhibitors as well as- pro- ducers, must justify their existence as an essential Industry during the current emergency was relayed to members of the Los Angeles Theatre ' Defense Bureau by D. 'V. Sturdivant, director, after an eastern. tour and conferences with Lowell Mellett, general coordinator of films. Sturdivant declared that there were small numbers ot exhibitors in. various parts of the country who had failed to realiz'e their responsibilities in cooperating fully with the show- lngs...of GovemmentrsponsOred vic- tory films. These pictures, he ex- plained, -have been carefully pre- pared by the Government and it is expected that preferred playing time and exliibition will be< given by every theatre in the country. Message sent by Mellett was that 'the motion picture has a great and significant duty to perform, but every member of the Industry,. regardless of his or her position, is expected to (Continued on page 55) Chas. Core's Son Wants Crack at Japs Hokling His Dad and Mother Jed Harris Just Couldn't Keep Pace with Headlines Hollywood, March 31. The Jed Harris producer deal at RKO, predicated oh a story to be de- veloped under his supervision, was washed up when yam failed to jell. It never got to the production stage. Story backgrounded against two world wars, couldn't keep up with the headlines, and studio decided to call everything' off, . Including the Varrii deal . H'wood's Wake Island . Pitched on a Desert Hollywood, March 31. - 'Wake Island' retains its salt wa ter tang even though it Is being filmed In the middle of the desert In Southern California, 200 miles from the Pacific Ocean. . Paramount is building location quarters on - the Salton Sea, a be- low-the-levcl saline lake on the road between Hollywood and Palm Springs. A second unit will do avi- ation shots around Salt Lake City, ^still farther froi^ ,ttie ttcean^ _ KANIN'S FINDINGS U. .8. Filmen Not Told .What ' Create, He Explains to Charles Core, United Artists man- ager in Manila; hasn't been heard from since the Japs took that city many weeks ago. His wife was' there with him. . Last week, Walter Gould, UA for- eign chief,' got a letter from Core's 20-yeer-old son, informing Him he has joined the U. S. Air Corps and is now- training for a shot at the foe who holds his father and mother. Another son is already serving at Pearl Harbor, having joined up be fore Dec. 7. ARMY TRAINING FILMS STEP UP IN ASTORIA Army's Training Films Production Laboratory, jcurreiitly In the process- of moving from Fort Monmouth, N. J., to the former Paramount studios at Astoria, Long Island, has stepped up production since Dec. 7 until It {a now turning out a reel -a day. It's nevertheless stiU far behind the demand of ' the various Army branches for training pix. Move from Fort Monmouth Is ex- -pected to be completed by a bout May I. The 300 men In the TFPL will.be boused in barracks now being fitted up In one of the studio buildings. Many of the Hollywoodites who were let out of the unit, because they wer« over 28, are now filtering back. Hollywood producers must deter- mine for themselves what pictures to make in aid of the war effort, Garson Kanin, speaking officially as a repre- sentative of the Government, de- clared Monday (31). Kanin pinch- hit for Robert'W. Horton, director of information for the Office for.Emer- gency Management, at a scre&ning of war shorts at the Astor theatre, N.Y. Those filmmakers who come to Washington and wait to find out what the Government wants them to do are going to wait a long time,' Kanin gave as the attitude of those officials charged with seeing t.o the partici- pation of films in the war effort. "The initiative must rest with the individual^' he declared. 'We have no propaganda program as such. The job is to provide information, inspi- ration and interpretation of facts as they arise.' Metro Calls m Another • IQIdare' to Sob Ayres , Hollywood, March 31. Lew Ayres has been ordered to the. 'C^nscicntieus -Objectors' -camp at Cascade Liocks near Portland, Ore., for refusing to accept army service. He leaves today (Tues.) to be confined for the duration. Classification as 'objector' was ap-. proved by the Diepartment of Justice. Metro studio, where Ayres has ap- peared in the. "Dr. Kildare' series, declined comment other than to in- dicate another actor would be chosen to continue in the medico role. Metro exchange said no cancella- tions or playdate switches on Ayres' current release 'Kildare's 'Victory' have come through. Neither Fox West Coast nor indies are pulling the picture, preferring to wait, for audience reaction. Ayres finished his last 'Kildare' at Metro two weeks ago, but studio declined any com- ment. More War Newt Wijl, bft jpunfi, ,<in, .Z<UUt. H DRE^EN-GIBBONS PIC 'Flghtlnc Jew' and Floyd Gibbons Careers InterBpllced Cartridge Priorities Too; Whither Westerns? Sixrgun action in westerns and shooting In other outdoor films may have to be seriously curtailed as a result of priorities with respect to airununitlon, It is believed in certain quarters ot the trade. Manufacture of blank cartridges used by cowboys,- Indians and menaces will probably be stopped altogether. Guns themselves may become a scarcity, also. It Is pointed out. L.A, to N;Y. - Irving Berlin. Steve Broldy. James Cagney. PhU Carlin. . Robert Carson. Joseph Cotten. Sam Dembow, Jr. . Leonard Goldenson. John Greene. Sir Cedric Hardwicke. Phil Karlsteln. Fred Kohlmar. Jock Lawrence. Jerry Lester. - Harry Maizllsh. Gilbert-Ralston. Clifford W. Smith. Ivan Stauffer. - Howard Strickllng. Kenneth Thomson. Spencer Tracy.. Joe 'Valentine. Herbert J. Yates. Hollywood, March 31. Picturesque careers ot Sam Dre- ben, 'The Fighting Jew,' and Floyd Gibbons, late war correspondent, are being combined by 20th-Fox in a picture which Arthur Caesar is scripting for Bryan Foy production Trail ot the two characters often crossed in World 'War I. N.Y. to L.A. Jesse Block. John C^arradine. CecU B. DeMiUe. L. Wolfe Gilbert. William. Helneman. S. Barret McCofmick. Jim Peppe. WUliani ScuUy. Ctiirl^.s^aunuk..... . .