Variety (December 1943)

^ J ^^^^^^^_ ^^^^^^^ I'iiIiIinIk <1 W-rl-iy »i W.'nt -10(h Sir**M. NVvv York 19. N. Y.. hy V.ii i-My. In**. AnmiM subscription. HO. Single copies, 25 cerilM. KiiK-ntj m-.uh.I ■ ':i-*s in.iii-r I '•> >■ in lu-r ^J. lyuj. at Iho I'usl "Ortue l N-w Vmlc, N. Y., umler llio act of March 3, 187.11. COI'VltK.Mi, Jl>n, 11V VAKIKTV, INT. Al l, UK.UTS KKSRRVKD VOL. 153 No. 1 NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1943 PRICE 25 CENTS Liquor Shortage Increasingly Felt By Niteries; Seek to Up New Year Prices in.) I""" > ,:1 pi., before I lie New York Re- (;:„,.,,: OPA nllice luni set a ceiling oiory l.,ii:is [or New Year's Eve l ni lIn- bistros had fixed their os h; figures approximating laM '*. A> li-uigs stand now. most vs. with :heir liquor supplies j ,.,loly limited, don't figure lo j realize nearly the returns of pro-| \ ,,,.,s years, when New Year's F.ve | was tin- highest grossing night The ■ MMat'ion is generally true through- oui I lie nation. ! Present priees range widely from | $K per person at the Park Central Co--laniil Grove to $15 per person i„ the i lass spot:, such as the WcdR- w nod Hnoi-.i at the Waldorf-Astoria in,d Volsaillcs. El Morocco has she I::;!,. $:',."> a couple: at one lime ,1 vSCO i head. Prices include Mi,,;„-r. entertainment and lavors, bui t'.o di inks. Pals in Song, Too Capitalizing <|iiicl;ly on the headlines is m-iv lime tilled 'Franklin. Winston. Kai-Shek and Joe ' which made its appearance tins week, published by Mills Mu.vie- Wrilcr is c ,arcncc Gaskill. M I' ,an 50 nitcry and restaurant gni in under the OPA dead- hen- last week (11) to tile re- :> I,,-.' upiH-d covers on (Cunt inucd on page 54 ) New SELZNICK VAGUE ON ANY LEGIT PLANS on Mi Hollywood. Dec. 14. O. Solzniok's plan lo produce idway in tieup with Gilbert Michael Alcycrbcrg. et al.. i.s \i:\ \ai:uc a,',d nebulous at thi.s I,Sol/nick says he's been loy- i! ^ i ,i some time with the idea of pi .,,111, le,; stage plays and then lilm- n-g them. Inn no thing dclinitc has he," a: i ivod al. It,- lias talked to the Theatre Cuilil'. Lawrence Langncr hihI L,,is .lacoli.--. who have been heic. but it's largely regarding their properties for liln'.mg and not any lie \ out ure. BBC Bans Taper Doll' From Air As 'Insult To English Womanhood' London. Nov. 25. Peter Maurice Music Co.. English | publishers of 'Paper Doll.' will have 'plenty trouble getting this number jinto the hit class, i ritish l oadcasting Corp's Selcc- ; lion Committee does not like song's ' theme and has tabooed it from the ether, maintaining words are insult | to English womanhood and. if Bi- llowed to be broadcast, will cause j plenty of objection from the fcinme [iisleners. Aithur Bliss, highbrow musician and one of the committee, has described it as lowering the standard of pop' songs in the coun- t ry ' When asked by the publishers why they allowed the airing of 'Blues in the Night.' which is also unfavorable to women, the committee alibied it- self that it would have been a hard- ship lo that song Meanwhile. American boys over here are asking all bands to which Ihey are dancing to play 'Doll.' aware that the song has been sent over hero by the Army with the Hit 'it.' immediate thea- Few Pubs Allocate Xmas Bonuses; WLB Not Talking Broadway Music (Von Til/.oi ' h. ui'ied Charlie Lang, business ni.ni- a-i-i SUl.tiOU. and Nemo Hoth. con- . i. i, ' man. Sa.OUO lasl week as Xmas h,>: u-e-. Buddy Morris distributed ; nix w<-ek>' salary among employees oper.il ing Ins various catalogs. Majority of the firms still have thou hands lied hy the War Labor Hoard it's -.aid. resuiling in small or no bonuses at all. Broadway's arlion i- supposed to bo based on an accu- mulation owed Lang and Roth Kn n s major song this year was 'Put Your Arms Alound Me. Honey.' Morns had a siring ol hits tills war. capped by the current 'Pistol o:' Mama' and 'Xundav. Monda\. Always ' Top bonus distribution was made lal yo.ii hy Irving .Berlin. Inc.. * 'not-, cut up $25,000 among its cm- P'oyi-o However, no individual equalled Lang's SKi.OOd Jonio Taps, ^■'^''lal professional manager of SI , duo- ornstein. dre w $15,000 from :i ',t I'm,, several years ago. U.S.-Eng., Nazis Swap Pix For Showing to Prisoners Washington. Dec. 14. Deal for the exchange of motion picture films to be shown in pri.-on camps ha.- been worked out by U. S.. ritish and German authorities, ac- cording to word from neutral and Axis source- There has been no announcement in tins country,.. Under the reported plan. Nazis will send 25(1 pix to Germans in pri.-i.i: camps i-i the l' S. Groat Brit- ain. North Africa etc.. and British and Americans will -i-ul 150 films lo our sol.iiors w !-,, are pi isiinci's nf war inside G,'i in.my Exchange will be handled I hi ou•.:':> Sweden ■CANTINFLAS' FOR U.S. PIX? l|,.:i\w.,od. Ore. 14. ,!u Mexican lil:,i and ■ ducor a-sricaled with here tmm Mc.xi, , City, no.toti.itions w ilh n to bring Cantmllas to Si.ii< - for pictures. I.V.nhi will purchase r liloi production in : : ing \, lodes lor Jorge I i [' Flu Hits Players in Hollyw( Bizet Boff Biz Wiz at $40,000 —'Turtle' Sets Fast Pace at $16,000 for First Seven Performances FLU BEING FELT Broadway legit's big boxofTice keeps rolling along, the usual pre- holiday slump having only a' slight effect this year. Major dent, how- ever, may be made this week be- cause of the flu epidemic, with ticket cancellations Monday (I3i being as high as 50' „ ot orders, at sonvj houses. A great pre-holiday hypo to (Continued on page 53; Cause to Cheer Jerry Lawrence, WMCA, N. Y., disc jockey, interrupted his Thursday (9) noori show for ah ecstatic flash: 'Frank Sinatra has just been placed in 4F. Come on—lei's give him a real round of ap- plause.' Balaban Gifts Bill of Rights' To U.S. Library The 'Bill of Rights' in manuscript form, only important historical docu- ment not included in official Gov- ernment archives, has been pur- chased by Barney alaban. prez of Paramount, and will be presented by him to the Library of Congress. An- nouncement of Ihe gift was made yesterday 114 i by the Treasury Dc- (Continued on page 54 > Han-...:. Ho. Ihcatr.ral pi POSA Eili-.- to coin Indo m.ijoi studio the l.'mlcd While bore, propel! io- 1 I ■ Mexico as -I. Ncgrele. 'Cant intl.is' comedian. Mexiios No. 1 P.A. Minds Kids for Critics; His Blurbs Are Probably On 3-Cornered Stationery Cleveland. Dec. 14. Need somebody lo look alter your children while nighlelubbing'.' Just call Mitch Plotkin. freelance nitcry pre.-s agent, who has organized a novel 'I'll-walch-voiir-kids-for-a- piug' service for Cleveland news, paper critics Gag was born when p.a. invited Omar Ranncy. drama re\ i, w er for Scripps-Howard Press hero, to have dinner at Alpim? Village, one of his downtown accounts. Newspaper inugg .said ho couldn't make the date since he couldn't get a neighbor or a hired hand to stav with his two youngsters that night. 'If that's Iho situation' replied Plotkin, 'I'll act as nursemaid so you and your wife can see the show.' PA. showed up at the critic's house with an over-nighl bag. books, toy.s fur the kids jr.d a bol'le of Scotch for himself. Sinatra's Pitt Biz Surprises, But In Reverse—It's 4F Pittsburgh, Dec. 14. Second week of Frank Sinatra's Ihealre engagement, at Stanley, is ah. exact duplicate of firs* in Boston, except in one very important respect; business. Swooner's draw, in fact, is proving the biggest disappointment in the history of the WB deluxer, and management caiv't put a Anger on it. In everything else, however, his Pittsburgh visit has been going ac- cording to rote. He charmed the press and grabbbed more space in the Ihree dailies than the Russian campaign. The bobby-sock brigade started to line up at the theatre 3 a. m. the morning of his opening, and that off-again, on-again draft status, which made it look for a time as if he'd have to miss most of Sat* urday. was good for column after column, of course. Stanley figured at first that school's warning to pupils they'd be expelled if Ihey played hookey to hear Sin- atra might have had something to do with the slim opening. First stage show Friday (10) went on at 9:45 and there was only third of a house on hand. Second wasn't much bel- ter. But when biz was way below expectations all day long, even after school had let out, house knew (Continued on page 52) Hollywood, Dec. 14. Epidemic of flu, .laryngitis and kindred ajlmenls during the last week cost Hollywood plenty in de- layed production, not counting 1h numerous hospital bills. In some case's the casualties were, so numer- ous that shpoling stopped : com- pletely. : Illness of Virginia Bruce cost RKO an ehlire week in the filming of ■Action in Arabia,' ldcaled in a hot, sandy country where flu is prac- tically unknown. Indirectly, the shutdown at RKO' "delayed the start of ihe Angelus production. 'The Moon Their Mistress.' which i* waiting for George Sanders to finish his chore in 'Arabia.' Roy Rogers, the hardy horseman of Republic, had flu with a touch of pneumonia, causing a month's delay in the shooting of 'The Cowboy and the Senorila.' originally slated lo start Dec. 1 but postponed to Janur ary. Jack Benny's laryngitis and Dolores Moran's 'influenza cost two days on the 'Horn Blows at Mid- night' at Warners, and a germ allack on Lionel Barry more stopped work: (Continued on page 52)" 802 MUSICIANS QUOTING $50 FOR NEW YEAR'S EVE . Prices for New Year's Eve club jobs . have been almost doubled by N. "V. Local 802, Musicians, for the coming' holiday, readers who have atlempled to round up club jobbers for work on, that night have rim into $50 per man quotations, plus transportation.,. In'former years the highest prices paid for New Year's Eve. work was $35 and as low as the $22.50 scale for Ave hours' work. The prices mentioned, of course, are-, not for organized ban'ds. They apply only to outfits made up for particular appointments from indi- vidual musicians. In such cases the leader hired for the work makes, his own salary deals with each musician.