Variety (January 1944)

PiCfURES Aiinlcei'^ty Janiia^^^ 5, 1944 la Strttngest^^^ leaving Many IssuBS Unsettled By-'B,ELii r , '" f IJmied Press )P«r Correspondent) / . ' , . London, Jan. 1. . ' . As I temeniber it, ’Mevt Akers, my; city editor at United Press, thought a foreign sti^ would be good for me; .‘Get you ,; away froni BrdadHvay for a \vhile,’ hO' said., So. one chill day with the fir.st Hurries of .snow whipping across LaGuardia Airport I .took dif for Europe-and the life: bUa loreigii .corre'- spondent. ‘Get away from Broadway’.. .that’s what Akers said Five hours after the takeoff the Clipper set down on an island and 1 climbed out and alniost on top of Ahe Laslfogel of the Wiliiam', i\toB then.:,just v,returning from .-a Eurojpean-'trip.as^^^ I told Lastfogcl I wa.s ., going abroad to. help cover the war. No more Broadway, I said,,and,he looked; at me deadpatt .said he thought it .was ■ ; a. good idea,.too;; .-And ;if Ahe.rs .jenew,, what- La.stfogel.knew ,I ... probably would,be potiriding the beat betw'een Times Square'and , Central parkof boning up on Russian topography (Musol i.s U. P. Russian Front expert—Ed.) and joining';.the ' heartfelt - chorus . when . planes ' hum-, ;acrQSS, the? blackout—’one of ours, I ho)>e.’ ,. Meeting Lastfogcl so. .soon after .getting that pep talk from r A.gers was quite a'setback,- .but it was nothirig to \vhathd me . at' a. ia.ter landing,; when a dark .little man ,with. iotslOf white ' teeth. Osked :nie still :did the rhumbO..., This; .is ;rather. a ■. staiffing question:'to.haye. popped at ..one a; few, I'nirtutes after ' smacking down, o'h, the heavy/ swells;.,so -I -said yes 1; Used : to . . rhumba,: butdhat;all behind: (if that's the-Word) ine now- and 'heSides. hbwinell, did anyone in .the Azores :know I 'r.Hunibae.d,.i .Hei.grlnn.ed. three, inehes; .'wider.; and 'said; quite .. .dramatica'liy that;he,/ u^ sce. me dqing sai'helin El Torea-- . ■ dor, oiie of the pioneer Latin-Amcrican spots which stood at ,„ noth street five or six years ago. He added that he was a waiter, and there we left it. • :' In Lisbon I didn’t run into a single familiar face or figure in .spite of looking at lots of the latter, nor did I meet any , show biz’ folk in Ireland, so I decided that perhaps I was . really out of that groove for file duration and now for some real old cOncenUatibn on la guerre. A ,fast plane got me to England and, to borrow,;a’phrase, after that the deluge; It seems that lots. of people over there had written lots of people over here that I .was en route (a really touching.ges- . ture) and hardly a: week goes by that sqmeope doe.sn’t call me up for a spot of ma.sochistic reminiscence about cheese- cake at Lindy’s or roast beef at Toots Shor’s, or gay times at an.v one of a dozen N. Y. spots. Coiniy from Home The other day New 'York advised us that Martha Raye had gone west for a divorce. I was scanning the. dispatch. when the phone rang. It wa.s Willie Sliore, Who was a wow comedian at the Hurricane .at the time I left:.and has since, been one of the most popular comics ever sent across, by ’USO. Willie said he was sitting around a hotel room with . George Freems (another fli'ie comic.. .hadn’t seen him’ since we gagged together at Herman . Schubert’s; Pelham Heath lnh),-Capt;:Eddie Dowling and Major Neal Lang. I wqtehed . the tang-Haye romance blbssohi ln.Miami Beach a couple of years ago, so it was probably fitting for me to inform the ; Major (in peacetime; a; member of the, Rockwell-O’Keefe Agency) that the romance was done. He said Ho Hum and . ■why not come over? • ■ ■■• , ■ ■ Remembering Akers I told him I wa.s off Broadway. Drop- . ping into a Red Cross Club.I found Adele Astaire -(Lady. Cavendish) acting a.s hostc.s.s. Last week Jim Proctor (the Broadway legit press agent) called at my apartment in dun- . .garees: and a sea.go.ing jacket announcing he was in the merchant marine. We bounced around looking at old-time ; :.' bomb damage, with Jim getting a terrific boot out of the: .: - town. We had a drink at the Cheshire Cheese pub on Fleet Street - mentioned in; Sam Popy’s Diary. Proctor looked in such line physical shape the same course migiit 'pe recom- Y mended for his flabbier’colleagues. Teddy Brown invited me up for dinner, Teddy being one of the old settlors, since he came over 17. years ago bn the , invitation of the then’Prince of Wales who heard him play at the St. Regis. Teddy, all 500 or so; pounds of him. was one of Britain’s top society bandleaders, although now he ■ prefers solo accordion work. 1 was in hi.s place w’ncn I ;_: heard Hal Block had come to town on a'special radio writ- ' ing assignment,;,1 had ’■ last n-.et Hal With Milton Bcrle in Lindy’s and we di'd a little of what Block refers to as "hoot- ing”—doing the town—together. 'Only I remembered my ihstructions and pursued my military sources. 1 could go pu'like this ir.defmitcly to prove you can’t run away from Broadway or the people on .it .(arid: that means Hollywood, too),; ; You find them everywhere . . like diolitti. .the ^manager of(Quaglino’s elegant eatery, pointing but a gent in war correspondent’s regalia to me for ideriti- : ficalion. ; I • caught his eye and he, caught mine and we both fumbled with- names for a moment. Then we recognized each other, which is pretty good going for a two-year lapse. ' lt''Was,.:.Brucfi Manning ,cr,aekerj-,ack producer,, and he gave me a terrific feat-jrc story only to exact a promise 1 wouldn’t print it. . I didn’t, but I should have., ? / ': i; ; -;.M)ure':Faiinil;iar .Faces ;j:'„ Or the Major (now Lieutenant Colonel) at Eighth, Airforce Headquarters who turned out to be Ben Lyon and who said come home and m.eet the wife. Bebc Daniels. And Betty Knox of the Evening Standard staff, perhaps better remem- bered as the lovely Betty, of Wilson, Keppel and Betty, standard sand dance and .specially trio, and who looks too good to have a daughter old enough to take her place. in j the act. And Melvin, the InternatioMl Casino lovely, who . ; got married here .shortly after my ^arrival, making it niy , sad duty to tran.srriit the news to Jack Tirinan, the pros.-?, ...' agent, wko.^'c torch is visible on clear nights. ■; ' - Charley. Richmaii. who press agented the Bos.sert hotel, niin/ng nunierou.s other items, ' is -.a’ technical .sergeant and checks in .frequently. And Spencer Williams, the fine Negro compbsor-lyrici.st of ’ Basin ’, Street, etc., who lives. in - a quiet: . .town outside Loniion. and talks over old times with trie every now and then. Frances Day, who may be remembered . ./ aV’a’: Giiinan ■ beauty, is a top musical comedy -star here. ■ and .Evelyn Dali, another luscious blonde, was in a vaude- ville turn' in the . States: before Ambrose made her into a ■. filriv star. , Not to mo.ritioii Maurice. Colleano, ChniTey Kunz, Carole. : Landis. Kay .Francis,’ , Mitzi Mayfair, ■ Peggy . Alexander. Stubby Kaye, Paul LoPaul, Harik :Ladd, Hal Leroy, Irving Reis . . . rr . . . what was that? Honest, Mert. it ain’t m\ fault. ’i,; By BOY CHARTIER ■: Who wants what’.’ Will, it work? Who gets the ’ocs! of the ■. bargain:'? These and’other whtph deiy, an accurate - answer glide ihlo view as the industry nears the prospect of experimenting with .a iie.i^', consent decree. Time will tell. Over a period of many years the exhibitors clamored for legislation ..to outlaw block-booking and , so-called blind- selling. Their dreanis of a peaceful life and a New Deal for the theatres called tor- that,; they iinagined. They we«: re- lieved of block-booking in the form of the decree which was negotiated in 194Q arid placed into effect Nov. 20 that year for,, ■ five major Cbri'ipaiiieS—MCti'b,: Paramount, Warner Bros., 20th- Fox and RKO. The distributors who, at great expense, had successfully fought to retain the old manner of .selling -pic- _ tures in former years, resisted the decree but finally capi- tulated to it- Exhibitors .could see the pictures and then buy only five at'a : time. They were quick- npt .to Tike,'that.. As ■ rapidly, the distributors grew fond of the decree. They had , hated- to give up: block-booking, now they were glad. they • had. The oxhi’os wanted .something else, including a return to fulj-lme sellihg. So the distribs signatory to the dcciee went to work arid set up the United Motion Picture Industry. , The thought was unity and out of the UMPI project came a new system of - n'ierchari.d;isirig’. pictUiTs. Sin exhibs , didn’t like little blocks, the coftsenting,'Big Five agieed to raise the size of the blocks to 12 pictures, a portion to, be tradeshown,"the others to be .sold by do.signation. There was . to be a cancellation option ranging from 10';, to 20'(! on each , block, based, upon the ayerage '.rentals; pa:id the prior season. There, al.so, were to 'oe conciliation machir.cry supplemental . ■to arbitration, expansion Of the.latter,,arid other thirigs. Now, another group o’ojectcd. That was the newly-created Society of: Independent Motion-’ Picture Producers. Then former assistant attorney general Thurman C. Aniqid of the Depart- ment of Justice didn’t ca.re for the way‘things wCre shaping. , Out the window went ‘he UMPI plan and everyone weal back to where they were before under the old decree. ■ 1 Will New Decree Work? | That’s the story up to the time of the recent negotiations . for a .new consenting concordat between government, dis- tributors and oxhibitons-that will be-suitable to all sides. ;. ■ Whatever is decided upon, will it work? Will any happy me- dium : ever be found ,to ’govern the selling, buying and cx-.. hibition of film? There is room for doubtv judged by past cx- perience.s. ■■ ■;:-■. Were not nogotiation.s opened late last, summer for a new . decree to replace the old. then the Department of Jinstice ■ would have 'been, obliged to proceed with the anti-trust suit ’■ against not only the Big Five; but three other prodiicor-di.s- ■ tribut'ors which re.sultcd in the decree for five companies but not- the others. This would -have .entailed, as a p.rincipal. 'Ob-; ; jectivo. the divorcement of theatre chains froiri their distribu- tor owners. The D. of J. wa.s desirous of avoiding prosecu- tion of the suit due to the probable cost involved and doubt as to whether it could be won. Clark, who is characterized by distributor spokesmen as fair and reasonable,- recently indicated, however, that if it was necessary to go ahead with : divorcement, he would at the same time consider breaking up largo independent circuits. Industry leaders have won- dered what would happen if the prodiiccr.-dis.lributors were . - forced.to'divest them.seivcs. of their chains. "Would that mean the growth of even more powerful' independent circuits? They have believed it inevitably would. On the other hand, ;; if they lost their theatres and the large indie circuits were split up, that would va.stly increase the jo'b of se’.iir.g all the .independents that would com.e into existence. Al.so, how . large could; any. circuit be apd still not bo monopolistic to . some degree?. Who would decide that?. Even ari exhibitor with two (theatres in a town may' have things .his, own, way . and would object.il Someone came in to build a.third house in opposition to him. That miglil make him bid more for pic- . , tures, cut his admis.sion prices or adverti.se more in .thp,papers or in other ways. '■ I' ' ' ' ' , Distrihs: .Satisfied-. ; . ',| '. All distribs would 'oo just as .salisiicd to go along under the old decree, selling, p;ictur.es .singly;, in blocks of two,: three,; four and five, as desiring, or to as many, a.s 10 and 12. as Metro .has been doing, but they all; are. willing to make con- ' Gessions in order, to retaih" their theatres. And. selfishly per- , ' haps, to avoid the breaking up of large independent, circuits , which they .sell at one swoop -arid . which guarantee, them ’■ steady ..income, ;;■,■ ■•, . The new decree, as it now shapes, up. would provide for the elimination of all pooling and 'operating, agreements; as . well as court approval for the acq'.iisition of any additional .; (theatres. It ;s ’oeheved that the distribs will 'do allowed to ( rebuild old houses and that leeway .may bo provided to either , , acquire or build,a theatre in any town where the distrib’S ; ... ' product has been shut out. ■ ■' , ' ' ' ’ '. , In addition to revamping arbitration, a new decree is ex- pected to contain a cancellation privilege ba.sed upon the .size of the block.s .sold and the avera,go rentals formerly paid by accounts. While other di.stributors have, not done .so, Metro . has been yoi-antarily granting a graduated cancellation up to 20' c for some customers on its' blocks which so tar. this year . are m.ade up of 12 picture.s each.. Proposed under a new de- creo is. that cancellations may become cumulative; in other ■'; ', ;. word.s. .if an exhib doe.s riot choose to- re.ioct any picture.s in .('.., one black, the privilege .mi.i.;hl be extended to a .siibsoquent: : . group. The sale of one block, conditional upon the buying of a no'.her; is likely to b e an' n riditibnal provision. ; ' / - More Suggestions ■'.;/)( ' 'anumerable recommendations and suggestions have been .■■,'..■ made; by exhibitor a.s.sodat;on,s. and individuals to Clark in connection with framing a revised decree and arbitration, ranging all the way from the sale of one picture at a time to ' an entire .«ea.son’s output, .standard form of. contract, rental .. '.control and no designation o.’’ pictui'os after they have been. ; ,';sd,l'd-,''''"'''Id;’-.'-::,,'..,;',.: . ■. While it i.s problematical iwhat may be done with respect to improving arbitration, exhibitors far and wide have com- plained that the present machinery is unwieldy,, that, arbitra- ' ■:,'t'qrs.;..sli6u!d .be men versed in the intricacies of the picture in- - flu'-iry rind, amon.g other !h:sg.«. that the cost of trying cases (.,,'.siibiild(be, reduced. Exhibitors are also demanding the right ,. '.-lo '■ar.bHrale; for a specific run, but while it is doubtful .-' .wric-th'di’;. Girirk'.m^ td '..iri.sert tii,i.s into a rie.w. d;e- Ditto 25 Years Later (Editor, N. Y. Mirror) Just about 25 ycar.s ago, I took over the GMcagp: office ot •Variety.’ 1 wa.s theri doing a sports columri arid Sunday fic- tion on the Chicago Tribune.. I leaped, at the chance to have an excuse to stay downtown nights. We had one room in the Majestic Theatre Building. That room wa.s the concentration point for show busines.s in. those days, when Chicago had some. I. had been dramatic, critic of ;|he Chicak^^^ i American and knew my way around. But small-time, vaude itias a departure, in .slumming. .■: '■■,. Hal Halperin was my expert on en- tertainment outside, the Loop. He had haunted every dressing-room in every nickelodeon in the vast reaches of our Second City. I knew Aaron Jones, be- Jack Lait cause he had legit tentKclck But Hal fraternized with Frank Queen Doyle, the king of the '.smallies?; and' other pheriotriena strange: and ■ new to me, including lO'ccrs and amusement .shoppers; WVMA. Pan aud S&C bookers, and the perennial performers who’-made a career of playing Cliicago and its environs. 1 gradually acqiiired the idiom of the trade -as I con.scien- liously covered shooting galleries that Johnny O’Connor arid Jack Pulaski never kriew were in business. I knew every , brick in. the burg, having been a police reporter. I- had never : been insKio the.se proletarian temples, but I knew them all— and there were hundreds. 'Touring the town, I caught side-street joints that played . the-old arid fading, new and rising acts. Most of them had never been invaded by a reporter or reviewer before, and ; they didn’t know what to d’o with.me—welcome me with the. red carpet or .set the bouncer on me.- They had-all heard of . ‘Variety,’ but, couldn’t comprehend how' ’Variety’ ever heard of thorn. ' i.’.' yi'''.- :'' ■: They knew my- name, too, from the dailies, and couldn’t understand vvliy_ I ' would burn gasoline to reach for iJiese obscure and reri'iote crumbs/'Off;the rich banquet boardwdiich vaudeville then sprcfid. ■■ ;■,-:.■... ... .,- ,”';■ I did It all for ’Variety.' But, rem.ember, 1. was. vv’riti-ng a-' weekly fiction story. I found character.s that I believe had never before been written;into general circulation. Hundreds ot tales' I wove around them, acquainting lay readers for the ,, . first time vvith-.the vernacular, pi:eserit)rig :tO u’ninia-ted eyes., the ’flesh peddler,’ 'dumb act,’ ‘.single,’ ’songplugger,’ ‘sister:, team,’ ’s!rai.uht man,’ ‘hoofer,’ ‘stooge,’ ‘topmouivan- and under.standor;’ ’act in one,’ and such trade terms a.s ’back- stage,’ 'out front,* ‘take it up on the long line,’ ’centre door fancy,’ 'back drop.’ (teaser,' ’roU’em in the ai.sles.’ ’panic,’ ’lay. a.i egg,’ 'off to Buffalo,’ ;.’nip-up,’ ‘coffee. and; , cakes,’: ‘split week,’ ‘jumps,’ ‘bilUhg,’:and?riext to closing.’ ' These talcs sold around-the w’oiTd and led to my first .over- . ture from a forcifin magazine-^’Wayside Tales,’ publi.shed in Australia. The editor asked me for a yarn, to be titled 'Small' Time.’ and added: . ’Please append a glossary. Your Chicago slang i.s bewilder- ing—-but fascinating. Fven our music hall artists don't falhoin it. We rather surmise it is all of your own.invention.’ ON WRITING A BOOK ABOUT ‘A GREAT LITTLE GUY’ B> W.4RD MOREUPUSE ;: I’ll try to give you something of the in.side-insidc in doing '.'a life story of 'a great lil'.io guy’ who knew.counlle.-s thou- sancLs of people in all walks of life. ; , ■ ,■’;. I began par.-.gi-aph one,, page one, chapter one of ‘Gcin'.go M. Cohan—’Prince of the .American Theater’: at-8 a.m... New ■Year’s Day. 1943, in an cigh.th-floor roorij ,at:;the./P.rovidci’ice,, ; Biltnibre Hotel, Providence, and wa.s apparcn'.ly flic only ’ man in all Rhode Island up at that hour'i ( As I indicated in ihc book’s foreword, the great, dinioi.illy ■ enebuntered in. wrlting(;Of Cohan a.nd his amazing career ..was that there were actually too many .sources.: I had in- : person interviews' vvitii probably 200 iicople. ’ I had curre- sponcionce and - telephone talks with twice that-,number,', and liicrc arc probably 2.000 with ma'.erial that would have boeri' readily, given, but to cover .them', all I would have .needed two more year.s—and a jeep. Many of those I did sCo wore so much on the garriilous side, and so inclined to.. b:e ;di.scprsive, that I frequently spent .ari hour or two with , a ’.source' only to - find myself .without;- one paragraph, one'. ’ .sentenee,' .One -word tli.at i, t-h'ougli.t'.ra.ted-.gDirig -int^^ bqok. - But there were, in compensation, other times when a chance remark, a tvvo-linc letter, a tw.o-iv.iimie telephone cqnver- '.sation. yielded rich and greatly liepded: information. .'; I did the groat bulk of the vvri'.H-ing ,in:'a river-front s'uite , ot the Chateau Frontenac, Quciioc: a lot of it in: late hours . in my office at.The Sun, arid a lot more at 1111 Pm-k Avenue; in '. the': Chanin Building, and in apartment 1.575. Waldorf- . Astoria. There was so rniich ty;.ic-.(ri‘er clacking for days .-at-a; time in 1575 thal the infcc'.ion spread and both the day and night makl.s were soon .working on.book.s. of. their (;qwri., /; ' "'(- -'■- ■ ,In Boston I received valiant a.ssislaiicb from many por- ’ sors. inciucling Anno Ford, Do’, and Ge:)rgo Holland, Denni.s F. Cohan. Iii Cleveland William F. McDermott,' dramatic (■■:■ ;■ (Continued on page .58) croe. he i.s reported favoring a c.han.eo which will not limit ' .'exlribitorS-, or circuits; ihs-.applying , for relict under arbitra- i ticn, including affiliated circuits. ■;,;-(: . A recent, recomniendation made to Clark by Monroe E. S'.ein, N. Y. film attorney who lias rcprcscr.’.cd various cx- , hibitors and circuits in arbitration proceedings, is i that "a,; panel of 12 arbitrators be .set up on a rc.gional basis to decide ' on eases in the variqu.s tcrriioric.s in which they.are filed. There has ’been no indication a.s to •.vhet'ior .a new decree vould be put on the books for an indcfini'.e period or for a ;.';slated; tern5 'of years; (Lattcf -is irib.s,l: likely