Variety (May 1943)

WAR ACTIVITIES Wednesday, May S, 19121 New Stage Door Caoteeii. Sf ^ Has Gala Bow-ln; H(Kts 9,000 Service Men S:iii F^nnr^.-r<^. Mny 4. ♦ Nnv .Sl;i;.r IJtMir Caiilccn here \v!iii-li iipmcii Thur.-tliijr. t2B) i.>; a fiilid .«iu-i-:'.-.'-. bciiiK I he focal pi)iill of sorviccnien's Iiilcrcsl. as hiin- «lr(>ils limb it iiiuhlly. Cniilccii ue- i-iiinm<i(liili;s :<,(H)U. till.- lai-ficst of all liic WiiiK".- i>lai.-t!s for scrviceiiifii. Three liimv durinu the e\i-niiiK Ihc WB to Play Capra's Army Pic Over Entire Circuit Decision of Warner Bro::. to play lA. Col. Pi-ank Cnpra's Anny-made 'Prelude to Krecdom' over Its entire circuit, including the Strand and Hollywood. N. Y., is the first to be reached by any of Ihc circuits. On instructions from Many M. Warner hini.H-lf, annoiyiccment of the plan to play the tllni and iinmc- ... fiiali'ly .>.et up buukiniis wa.^ made Final conli act fur ftim riRhls to , |,y j,,^ Bcrnhard at laist week'.s zcino lli-y. n.iukie- was mkiic(I by CI. I ,f,,,.,„.<; ,n„„a,.pr.s'meeting at the WB W. W. Hick.-, lommiindant at V..rt |,„ pidure is sclieilulc«l fur na- Col. Films 'Hey Rookie' Iliillyvvood. May 4. Mai-Arthur, and William Belnikv, Canlern w:,< emptied and immcdi- ''rP''-->e''»''»« ' "'V'"'''" ^ atrlv lilli-O. total of 0.00U. ' f"" « ••ecreali..nal fund Fri.n) lliP time the canteen opencl ! Jay (."rney, Edward Wisru and Thur.-!day •2U>. It vva.< dcstini-d lliat , Myers, xvlio ave w. nnin the It would b« nol.scd around throuKh .<criiiiplay.. lyrics and music, have the fleet and in army camps tlial it \ ''cen uppod to a.vs.iciate pro<luci-is. va.<i the "one place" a IlKhtinx man j ■ ■hiiuld l>e .sur:- lo 'take in" in Friscn.. As Brnck Penibertcin. canteen rep ! for the American Theatre Wing said,! the openini: was 'the bl|!K<'--''>' f<"" I ©f the .-iorv icemen's centers »i)i'ned uniler .\merican Theatre Winn au.-pic<-.-'. and al.--<i tliat the decor «if the place wa.s the gayest of any of the .■<piit.<i yet establi.shfd. The ijay circus decor <if the can- 97 Tour Global Fronts for USO tionni release May 27. Scattered over the lilnbal DjthtiDK fronts and ofTjhore bases where U.S teen, with its red and vell<iw siriiieil j .servicemen are concentrated are awning 'Bij! Top.', lobbv caricatnic<! 9" performers who are tourine for bv T.1I1V .Sntomaynr. and "ilier fea- USO-Camp Shows. They represent ture.<, ha-s also had th servicemen 1 the per.Mmnel of 21 dillcrent uniti gue.sis widc-eved. ji;inain({ in size from three to 16 en- Caiitor a* M.C. • icrtaincrs. I.«ri.'est Kroup is cur- First nisht enterla!ncr.s included '■ lently vi.'siting the camps in Au- EiUlle Cantor, as ni.c, Kay Kyscr, ;lralia. Boris KarlofT unri other cast inem- I As of last April 2,1. the olTsliore bess of '.\r.senic aiui Old Lace,'j units were comprised of the foliow- Yeliudi Menuhin and J<ise Ilurbi. \wti- Ina Claire, honorarv chairman of ; Arthur Craits, Georue FarreJI. the canteen, reminded Ihc .•.ervicc Kvelyn Hamilton. .Tack McCoy. Carol men iluriiiR the opcniiiK night party: I Winters, Nancy Ilealy, Marple Ann •There will be another like itlLiczt. Jo Andrews. Judy Lane, •very nifiht—from 6 to 12. until vie-;Stubby Kaye, Julia Cumminn.s, Olya tory:' jKlem, PeKSy Alexander, Paul Le iPauI. Georiie Prentice. Bobby Del Durlni; the llr.st night of Fri.sco'.i 1 Rio. John Fogarly, Bobby Gilbert Canteen, proceediuKs there were en; I Barney Grant. Stan Kavanagh. Ralph into the broadcast of StaKe Door Kirk, Peter Kova, Pat Lane. Harry Caniet-n' oriuinatinn in N. Y.,' pro- viilinK somcthinK of a thrill for lls- tciier.s and participants on this end. Mumber of well knowas in the new Coast spot were introduced <hirins the prostram. SHOW BIZ REPRESENTED Mendoza, Nino Milo. Billy Rector. Bob Ripa, George L. Stal/.er, Bobby Hcnshaw, Jim Penman. Len O'Gunn. Wally Bouji. Mitchell Davidson. Fred LiKhtner, James A. Brown. Rodney Mc- Ijcnnan. Clia/Ivs Adler. Cicoriie Kelly. Iiew Fennard. Jack Snyder. Grac«* Drysdalc. Gypsy MarkolT. Yvette, Jane Froman. Will ti Ciladys Ahern. AT NAT'I WAR MPITT ^rank Paxton. Patti Cranford. Ray Al llnl L ITJin nUtlil conlln, Pat Moran. Ken Har\ey, Jim Burke, Bob Gilchrist. Kismet. Sammy Walsh. Frances McCoy, Leo Silver- man, LolltM Cordoba, Cordan St Sawyer. Jack Waller, Doryce Drew, Roy Doti;;las. Irvinx Harris. •Blossom .S'sterf, Coloi.el Jack Major. Ben UNITED NATIONS FILM POOL SET UP IN D. C WashinKlun. May 4. Selling up of a Unitt'd Nations film library in which all the pictures of the Allied liatlons would become availhble for <lislribution ami Kath- : ered in one spot under control of the Office of War Information is beiug put into motion here. Rippresentativca of the British, Canadian and Australian Informa- tion Services will confer later this week with OWI officials on the cre- ation of the Him pool. The idea, when and it it becomes effective, would be similar to the film library set irp in Washington by the Ameri- can and British Aritty, Navy and Air Forces fur pooling of all train- ing films. "Tile United Nations lllms would be kept in the OWI vaults and the British reps in attendance siiy they hope the Russians can be brought ii.lo the scheme and make their pic- tures avtiilable. Meanwhile, Norman Alley, one of tlie top nowsreel cameramen in the war zones and author of the book 'I Witness,' arrived in WashinKton to- d.iy (Tuesday) from Australia lo confer with War Department of- llciab. Alley had been desi;<naled for the Australian war zone news- reel pool. Show biz will play a prominent role ill the '.^rts and Lciter.s' panel •ke^lded for Sunday lU) as one of the features of the National Waitime Conference, tu be. held at the Hotel Commodore. New YAk. Several hun- dred delegates representing the i>ro' f«!..-lon.s. .sciences arts and while Klassen. Will Wright. Joe Rankin coll,-tr fields will take part In the'Sid Ra.v, Jerry Mann, Betty I.indc. conference, which gets under w ay ! Larry Adler, Bert Bedford, D«>rothy Saturday iSi. 'Sims. Beth Farrell. Nixon & Sands. With Jane diwl presiding, the I Vicki George. Pat Ogdcii, Aiiiiani.iry 'Al ls and '.cr.s' panel will 1;:ke Up the import;-iii'e of the yroup's con- tribution to war uHovt and to the Dickey. Frank Pajiile. Dolly neckles.s, Dorothy Wciizel I'ick tt I'at, G(<orge Frccms. Jo.seph- Don Rice. W.nlly West. Turner, Joan Brouks. Maxiiie pe.ice. and discuss the <ibstacli:s iiijine Del Mar, Rilss Brown. Benjamin the way of the fuUeyt pi.rticipatiun |De Loache, Steve F.vaii.s. Howard 111 ilie war «ftort. Out <'r it. ii's hoped |Kirn, J>ick 'I.imberlcg.s' fMwards. will come co:istniclivr su:!i;' .Uions for gftliiig around the ol>.st.''cl<-<. Ill addition to Miss Cowl, others «'hi) will huddle at llie panel coii- feri'iifo include John A>id('i'.-oii. <lramn critic tor the N. Y. J-iurii:il- Aineiicaii: Ito.-ainunrt (iildr-'. a-.so- <'i;;!e (liitur o( TJieatre Arts: .N'ornian Corwin, radio .scripler. v.lio will rep- ri'sriJI r:idio; Donald Ogdeii Stewart, l-epre-ieming fliins; (Joddard Li<'ber- •oii. head of Columbia AIa>tc. works recordiniis, who will .speak for- mu- j sic. and lleiu'ietia Buckma.stcr, ' ailihor of llie novel MiCl My I'i'opic; Cii.° repre.senling litcr.:tiire: Paul Manship. president of the N:<tional Sciilp'iire Society, will lalk about the ariM. PLENIY OF FREE fix . SHOWS AT WAR PLANTS Springfield, Mass., May 4. Checkup this week of local war plants di.«closed that several are using films to entertain workers during, before and after the day's chores. WcsHnghousc plant at East Springfield has been showing J6 millimeter Alms during 45 lunch periods,' while at the American Bosch Co., similar programs are given in the cafeteria prior to and following sliift change.s. Company personnel men report many arrive at work early in order lo catch pic- tures. Films are also u.sed as ediica-^ tional aids in training for special j<ibs. Music via records is aUo being em|>li>yed in some plants during working hours. Eastern States Farnir ers' Exchatige,. huge cooperative market agency, uses records during .leveral rest periods. Sam Weisbord Inducted with Sam Weisbord, in ehrirge of overseas operation for L'SO-Camp Shows. Inc.. inducted by the Army la.°t week. ('St execs frankly admit there's a wide-ujjen gap in tlie ad- miiiLftrativc .-etup that won't easily be niled. As ll.■'.^i<tallt to Al>e Lastfogel. Camp Shows pre.\y, Weisborih who was placed at Ihe disp<i.<al of the soldier-morale organization by the William Morris office, playe<l aii im- portant part in buildng ii|i the huge off.shore talent roster ■■iitcrtiiintng on the various global fronts. For the lime being no successor will be named. KOP's Hal Well I'pped la Marlaes San Franclsis). May 4. Hal Wolf. KPO announcer, coin- mLvsioned first lieutenant in Marine C<irp.-. and Bill Roddy, also KPO gabber, left for training at Catalina Island Maritime training school. ♦ X Uncle Sam s Callboard BUI lUlrien's AsslgnmeBl Wa.shiii;,toii, May 4. L)-tit. William Holdeii. fo:inei'ly .f Hollywood and now with the Fly- ing Training Command, has l>iH>n slill available and may appear as a solo riflcr in a new western .^ei ics. Report Army Pictorial Section Doe for Twrter* In .Srrvire There are 243 Ben Yost Niiix<-r.« in iraiisferuHl iiere to work.,oiil,.jii tin' 1 'he armed toJ'ccs. ri-.m-e.^eijiini; vocal- Revamp Washington. May 4. | Geiien.l rci<r;i:iiiization of Ihc Arinv l»i;'i.or:i'l Siction. now under Bri;::Vlicr Ucie.^l William II. Har- rl.>:on, has tiren goiir.; on quietly for Sii>))e lime v.illi the anno-jni-cment ' still ill the future and waiting for the jo!) t>i be coiiipleled radio branch of Army Public Rela- 'sts who have worked in various tions. Yost groups in the past cix years. Holdcn \t ill aid in nrodiirtiop of j During that lime.. Yost has organ- the radio Army Hour. Idea is lo I ized l.^Odifferent groups which have give hiiii an under.stunding of how j given employment lo l.OfN) singer.*:, the program is hanilled from Wash- ! Yost singer with l|ic highest rating inglon, so lhal he will have a goi>d j is Captain Phillip Shafer. a member i background of policy in conne^-tion j of the Air Force, with Army Hour pickups originatiig ill the Flying Triuning Command. l.l. Tannenbaum MIxKliig Washington, May 4. Lieut. Harold Tannenbaum, forino' , new.^recl' .-loniidman. was reported I mi.s.-'ing ill action April lli. presum- ably in. an air raid over the F.iiro- A number ot iinpor ant changes | |,(,„|, ^.^fuji,,.,,) • i c i iiliealKl iii llie otliiig. .some of ' jj^, ^^..,J. ,.^j„^ „ ..i„„„<|,„j,|, v.hiil! .nay nflcil llie motion picloie , ^viH, ibc U. S. 8lh Air F..ree. ba.sed till. CAFT. HUSTON TO D.C, Wa.-:hii\g'.on. Mi'y 4. Capt. John Hu<ton. son of Wal er Hii::lon, is expected back here rrom Ilo'lyv. iiod in a tew days. on Britain. frillop Beeomn .March Hollywood, May 4. Three MeMiuileers will gallop no more for Republic. Cowpoki- .••<-rles, six years old. has iH^eii dropp<<d from lie lia.-. iH'eli on the CNiast aiding the production .s<!he<lide because B<ib Col. Daiyyl /.ahiiitk in llie ediiing otl.Steele and Jiinmie Dodds, two ofthe the .Meiiiion lllm /:;iiiirk iiii.ile forllrio. will N:H>n lie in Ihe Army. Uic Army. I Thiril' Me.Miuileer, Tom Tyler, is It's M, Loii MIndlInc \«w Chicago. May 4. I.ou Mindling did it the hard way: he's a Lt. ijg) in Ihe Havy, after starting as a yeoman in the band depl.. under Lt. Commander Eddie Pcniiody, head of Great Lakes naval music, and himself an cx-lroii)>er. Mindling is former personal man- ager fo)^ the now L|. Rddy Duchiii lUSN). Xiivier Ciigal and olher MCA li.n«ls: and latterly aide to CBS v.p. Bill Lewl.k on radio product ion. l.oulHlans IHnning Ktaahl St. L4iuis. Mny 4. Kdward Arthur. BMst. gen. mgr. of F'anchon Jt Marco enlerprises here, ill Ihe army. Whs lio.stcd by the local Vavif ly Club on Ihe eve of his liioiielioii, W. ,r. Saiiltar. manager of ihc Fox- ■ Continued on page 27> Its War Record Hollywoftd. May 4. Academy of Motion Piclure Art.'t and Sciences has issued a booklet report, detailing' its activities in the war effort under title ot The .Acad- emy in Wartime.* It's a concise sum- mary of Academy activities, from di.«closure of membership increase of 1»1 from Jan. 1. 1942. tu April 1.1. 1943. and total of 47 in the armed forces through various phases of col- laboration with Government am! armed service organizations on lllm anil enlistment matters. Re.'carch Council divisior's special photographic school—-.-et up for the Signal Corps cnlisleis iifler SC found diffleuhy in lill.ng require- i.ienls for .still and motion picture '■Hiiierainen and technicians — has been carrierl through gratis by total of M instructors eallecl from the top ranks of Hollywood film eiigiiiecrs and techirician.s. Result discio. i-s to- tal of 726 instnielional .<e.<!.-'ions. sup- plying 187 motion picture camera- men and 212 .still photographers for the Signal Corps. Cla.sscs co.st neither .-itudents nor the .Signal Corps any coin, as time of in.siriiet- ors and necessary equipment was doitated t'irough Academy contacts. Up to a few months a..o. when the' War Department conducted drive for <ipecial lllm production engineers and technicians for commissions and rat- ings. Ihe Academy Re.-iearch group .set up a special committee to ex- amine and pa.ss on applicants. Board pa.s.-,ed on 1,525 applicants, recom- mending 105 for .Xrniy commis«ions and 610 for eiilisLnenl. Currently, the Marines are etting similar as- sislance, with Council now training 50 enlistees in photography. Council pidduccd and ileliveivd 88 reels of Army training films prior I'J Pearl Il.irbor, and lia.s collali.irat- ed since in turning out an additi«inal .'124 reels. Signal Corps also hu.s ac- cess lo special conimiilee of 20 en- gineering experts to advise on pro- viding mobility for camera and .sound equi|imcnt. Since outbreak of the war. Acail- emy has set up Library of War Film.s. which files piclurcs from all Allied countries for ii.s». of producers and Government agencies. Peace- time functions of both the Ai a<lemy and the Research Council are being continued during wartime, according lo the report. i.v-:ued over the name I'f ;!k ir •i>t>e«H.;tnt. WaMtr V.'.intii i . Gable in Air Force Pic • llollywoiitl. May 4. Firsl of a series of' instruetion,',l films produced by the Army Air Foictf unit at the Hal Roach studios is •V/ing.s Up,' omcially okayed for public .showiims by OfHce of War In- formation. Exteriors were shot at the AAP Omcer.s' Candidate School in Miami, with Clark Gable appearing in sev- eral scenes and recording the narra- tive on the .Miundtriick: Piclure was originally intindeil solely f«ir niili- tiiiy showings but Washington of- ficials Ihought so well of it (hey turncti i( over lo the War .\clivilifs Commiilri: f/ir general relen.s'e. N.Y. to La. (Seorge Abbott. Itichard Boiirlli. Victor Borge. Charles Boyer. N'orman Curwin. Che.ster Halo. Arthur Piers^n. Jnme.*' Sti'n<K'k. Washington. May 4, Is the U. S. Army choice in nm-ic moving from swiiig to .<icrious i-mr- pn.«itioiis of the seml-cla.ssical ki'.il? Miijor Howard L. Bronson. of S|n- cial Services In charge of, jiiusle. thinks it Is. He cites figures to show an upward trejid In the ap- preciation of fine music. .\ cen.Mis taken one .vear ago showed that II2''>'' of the men canvn.ssed wanli-d swing. / In thl.0 year's poll the preferi-m-'e for serious mu<ic had grown in 42'i. with tlie solid-senders declin- ing to 92°;. IMajor Bronson traces the uplift for the more con.>!ervaiive rhythms to the visits of such head- liners aa Albert Spaulding, Yehiidi •Menuhin, John . Charle,s Thinn::.-:, Giovanni Mm'tineili, Gladys' Swanli- out and the camp engagements of the Metropolitan Opera Ironpc ::nd the various .symphony^ ovchesii;i.. Major. Bronson sa'id thai ihc Army is receiving grand coiiiic::!-' lion from the organized music in- dustry and the radio networks. T;<e boys, lie said, want music and they carry iikcleies,- sweet potatoes, fifes and harmonicas, and m.tke ihtir own melody. Special Services is now shipping ii<.-.ti-umeiits for .small dance band ciisemble.s and recently soin«' 40 midget pianas made to .^rniy specilication.s, went to the Soiilli ciflc area. However, name bands s'.ill liraw the largest crowds on camp visits. First all-soldier symphony orclie-i- tra ill America. compri..ing Hll inusi- cians. has been organized al Ft. Moii- inoiitl). the Signal Cnrixs base in N. J. The longhaired outHt was recruited from aiming servicemen formerly as- sociated with many of the top rank- ing .symiAh outfits in the country, in. clu<ling the Boston Symphony. Phila- delphia Symphony, N. Y. IMiillMi'* mimic, and otlieiv. Orchc.-Irn was organised an.I is coiiducle<l by Thor J<ihn.-^oii. enrrenl- jly stationed al Ft. Moninoiilh. and i lor years R.«.soi-iated with ll'e Inler- j taken music fe.stival.s. l.onKlialrs lo Tour i'amps (Sino Bjlditii, head of the coiu-crl.t ciivi'.ion for Camp Sliows, aniioiincrs that Bidu Sayao, the Met si>i>raiio, is going out for a scries of \oluiileer per.sonal appearance.s. with the ilales still to be -set. Also, Ptrcy Grainger, the piaiii&l. begins a tour of camps and Navy bases May 10 at Ft. Bi l- voir, Va. He'll play at 18 iMists tiirongh Ihe .'outh, winding up May i 2!t at Seymour Johniion Field. N. C. 75 Camoflenrs Sought Hollywood. May 4. W;:r Department in \V;'.siiil;;lon i has asked the film iiidus.ry to l-.ir- I iiish 73 additional teclmiciiins lor voluntary induction in the newly oi- ganized H40lh Engineer Camoiil!: ue ' B-ut.uliiin. Idea is to enli.*-! '■ •v '.■ervices of experienced slndi" workers, such as carpenter.".-, pmp- eny men. grip.«, riggers, ."••ene iiaint- cr.s. .sketch arsisis and land cip* architects. K.\hibition of Army caiiiouflage are being .-hoivii in film .'--tiiiiio> lliis week for technicians inleif-;iii ii! vrUintary induction. L.A. to N.Y. Hurry Adcrrhiaiv Kenny Baker. Sieve Broidy. I.I. Bruce Cahnt. Jack Cohn.' Jerry Diile. Hoy Disney. Helen Fer-^ii.son. Y. Fr;!ni: Frcemini. l.eon Froii>kr.s.«. • I'anlelte GiKldard. Frances Hyland. flex Ingr.im. Leonid Kin.skev. Vick Knight. " Andre K.-i.^telancI/. Willia.ni Liidwig. Iri-ne Manning, Victor Mature. M.igfin Maskel. flilberi Miller. Ben Piazza. Everett Hiskiii. t^icon .Sclilesinger. Abe Schiiclde. Mary .Shipp. Note Spingold. Sidney Strol/.. Merman Wobbcr.