Variety (Sep 1942)

SCREEN RADIO STAGE ^lETY VOL. 148 No. 3 Publlshtd Weekly at 1S4 West 46th Street, New Twk, N. I., by Variety, Inc. Annual aubscrlptlon, 110. BU<eI« eoplea t( Mnta Entered «a Second-claia matter December 22, 1906, at the Poet OSIca at New York, N. X., under the act ot ^arch I, 117*. COFTBIOHT. 1948. BT VABIETT, INC. AL,!. BIGHTS RBBEBVED NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1942 PRICE 25 CENTS N.Y. DIVES C UP SERVICEMEN — >* % Equity Asks H wood to Offset Talent Shortage By Encouraging Stock Cos. Guest Statesmen on High Crossley Programs to Project War Messages ■fi- As part of the OWI Idea of getting Important official messages across is a plan to spot a Donald Nelson or Cordell Hull on some big radio com- mercial, as a 'guester,' on the theory the past established listening au- dience will insure a ready-made, widespread, listening public for the 'serious' note. Heretofore, it's been proved that the important Washing- ton people don't figure so impor- tantly with the average listener, whereas, if slipped into a Kate Smith or a Bing Crosby show, it would really mean something. In addition, OWI's Bill Lewis, on the extension of the 'allocation' plan, figure; that certain artists can best project important sales messages, such as labor, salvage, conservation, but only if done in their own idiom. Bing Crosby jivin' about a serious wartime subject will get more real folksy attention than if it were given In stilted academic language by an inexperienced mike user, such as a (Continued on page 42) All Right, Who? Inasmuch as they're asking so many questions these days, an- swer me this, friend: Who would you say has made the most lasting impression on American ears—Berlin, Gersh- win or Sousa? Cleric Who Married The A. J. Balabans 25 Yrs. Ago Takes Encore •Variety's' rBle as Cupid's assistant nearly 25 years ago got a double- take Saturday (19) at the wedding in N. Y. of the A. J. Balabans' daughter, Ida Josephine, to Jean Aberbach. The same rabbi, Rev. Edward Lissman, now 70, whom 'Variety* recommended to marry the elder Balabans, performed the chore Saturday. ^Balaban himself recalled his com- ing to N. Y. 25 years ago with his fiancee, both strangers in the me- tropolis, and not knowing where they could get married. First they found they couldn't get a license on a Saturday and they spent that even- ing weeping over their dinner In the old Lorber's Restaurant. On Monday they got the license, but didn't know about a rabbi. So Balaban called 'Variety' and somebody on the rag with a connection or a memory rec- ommended the Reji. Lissman. The showman, now operating the Roxy, N. Y., in the intervening years had forgotten the rabbi's name, so his wife got the William Morris (Continued on page-52) SANDERS TAKING HIS PLAINT TO PIX CRICKS Hollywood, Sept. 22. George Sanders is trying a new tack to force 20th-Fox to give him more preferential roles. He's head- ing east with his agent to lay his cause before the film critics of east- ern dailies who gave him good notices on 'Moon and Sixpence.' Studio recently suspended him for walking out on picture assignment. 3-A Papas More Self-Conscious Today on Podium There are a number of fairly suc- cessful bandleaders and vocalists (who haven't yet piled up any size- able nest egg) who are diligently searching for some method whereby they can let it be known to the pub- lic that they are married and fathers and justified in remaining out of uni- form. One of them, the parent of two youngsters, asserted one evening last week that he's becoming in- creasingly conscious of his youthful appearance, which isn't being helped by occasional stares by passing danc- ers. He finds this quiet reproof more disturbing than any raucous one- nighter heckling. He's anxious to find a way to advertise his responsi- bilities. Another, a singer, is also bothered by the situation. He is mulling an idea to be used on his network sus- taining program, one that hasn't been deAnitely decided upon because its taste is open to question. He's think- ing of 'dedicating' one number each program to his youngster. Red Cross Is Seekmg London Theatre For Yank Troop Shows London, Sept. 22. The American Red Cross is ne- gotiating for lease of a West End theatre to be devoted solely for the entertainment of American troops and patterned after the New York Stage Door Canteen. Shows will be given outside of regular theatre hours to get all the star talent avail- able. Talent also is lo be imported from U. S. especially for the Red Cross shows. Tom Bostock. head of the Asso- ciated Theatre Properties, has been asked to negotiate, and is dickering for the Savoy theatre. Understood that if the house is unavailable, the government will commandeer one. TAKE 'EM HABITS United Nations' Soldiers and Sailors Chief Victims of Broadway and Side Street Joints and Phoney 'Host- ess' Routine—Mayor La- Guardia's Warning 'FREE' DANCING RACKET Clip joints, most of them the dime-a-dance joints on and around Broadway, are trying to get rich quick off the British, Fighting French, Dutch, New Zealand, Aussie and other United Nations servicemen on leave In N. Y. The matter has already been brought to the atten- tion of Mayor Fiorelfo LaGuardia's office. The danceries are said to be the principal violators, with the side- street bars and cellar cafes running them a close second. In the former it's a dry take, while in the latter the foreign soldiers and sailors are first tanked up, sometimes mickeyed, and then rolled or forced to pay (Continued on page 54) -'♦ Shortage Being Felt Getting so that the relatively lesser number of male civilians around New York town are get- ting more than their share of femme ogling. It's just a case of supply 'n' demand, but when the unies are on the streets, that's all brother! HITLER PUT THE BOUNCE INTO NITERYBIZ 'Schickelgruber is the saloon- keeper's delight nowadays,' observed one of the foremost cafe operators in New York. 'Not only in this spot, are we doing record business, but the customers nowadays come in six de- licious flavors to suit every type of nitery, cafe, club, bar, pub, saloon, restaurant or whatnot, in and out of the big cities. 'I suppose it's true of almost all (Continued on page 48) U.S. May Call In Fihn Exec As Coordinator Of All Pix Production Washington, Sept. 22. Recurring repoiis are to the effect that a prominent film industry exec may be called in by the U. S. Gov- ernment to coordinate picture pro- duction with a view to insuring maximum wartime use of the screen. In the event of such a move, there Is a strong possibility that the picture industry representative (Continued on page 15) GreazaMayAsk Equity to Absorb Variety Actors Walter N. Greaza, after 18 WMks as administrative chairman of the American Guild of Variety Artists, is today (Wednesday) tendering a full report to the Associated Actors & Artistes of America, with possibly recommendations for Equity to ab- sorb the variety performers' union. Greaza would naturally neither con- firm nor deny that he was going to suggest such a drastic change, but did admit that his confidential re- port, which would give a complete financial picture of AGVA, would definitely call for a 'drastic revamp' of the present AGVA setup. According to the relationship of AGVA's finances and its present or- ganization, Greaza sees no hope of AGVA being able to continue as is. This alone suggests that more than a mere reorganization of AGVA Is in the wind, or at least being suggested. Greaza, who is assistant executive secretary of Equity, was drafted by the parent Four A's to administer (Continued on page 41) The prbblem of how to develop new talent has been taken up by Equity, which will put the matter directly up to Hollywood. Around 25% of younger legit actors are In uniform and a larger percentage of junior members will doubtless be called into the services as they reach the prescribed age. Equity, in a special story in its magazine, takes the stance that 'managers still seem content to sit back and wait for the right young man to turn-up and trust that they will be technically qualified for roles with which they may be entrusted ...we do not believe that youths coming up from colleges and ama- teur theatres will be good enough... in other times young men would have been seasoned by apprentice- ship in stock, but such companies have vanished (comparatively).' Equity argues that it is an emer- gency situation which calls for ac- tion by the managers, who could (Continued on page 42) Short-Changing Gimmick InDetJiteriesIsOKWith Uncle Sam—It Sells Bonds Earl CarroO Forced Ont of Chicago; muscle' ~ Methods Nix His Cafe Chicago, Sept. 22. Earl Carroll has been 'forced' out of town by 'muscle' methods. After coming into Chicago, getting him- self what looked like the biggest cafe setup of the entire city, and selling his concessions for around $40,000 in cash, the entire Earl Car- roll deal for the Terrace Gardens in the Morrison Hotel seems to be definitely off. He sold Leonard Hicks, the hotel's managing director, and the execu- tive board on possibilities of a big cafe show and received a contract. Carroll proceeded to line up a couple of name bands and 11 standard acts to start off his first revue. Every- (Continued on page 48) Detroit, Sept. 22. Short-changing by the barkeeps of the niteries and taverns here is o.k. It's for Uncle Sam. Latent >.'ad^et for building up bond sales in the.se parts is an accepted clip boing used on the patrons. It's mounting r.p into quite a tidy sum of War Bonds. For instance, the customer lays a flve-.;pot on the bar and gets his drink end change laid out. He picks up his drink and the barkeep picks up a dollar. 'Sorry,' he says, 'but you picked Uf. that drink with your right hanu. That's against the rules here. You're fined a buck.' In return^ he h?nds thr cu.slomer war stamps. The gaz ha.s been working swell. Customers are getting fined for everything from letting the ice in the glass I nklc on the side to hav- ing 'more than a quarter inch of foam on top the beer.' To show how the thing has built up. there's Lou Janssen, who runs Lou's Recreation, a combination of tavern, bowling alleys, etc. Right (Continued on page 52) OKAY FOR SOUND IF IT'S PRE-PEARL HARBOR Hollywood, Sept. 22. Not to be caught with its scripts down 20th-Fox Is dating most of its material for musicals before Pearl Harbor. Figured things are changing too fast and studio is not taking any chiinccs on topical sequences.