Variety (Jun 1944)

Liter all ; .__JL L i_te's D -Day R eplati ng ; . Life mag did a bofflbb bn covert age of D-Day invasion news despite having gone to press night previous to newsbreak (5). When radio blasted out the news at 3;?.0 a.m. on Tuesday (6) editors and writers were summoned to editorial rooms in New York via a previously setup alert and were all at their desks by 5 a:m. Over 800,000 of the week's issue (10) had been printed and enroute before word of invasion came. These nat- urally could not be recalled. j .V /■ However, editors and staff went to; work on remake which entailed a, new 14-page newsfront section, change of editorial page with mag substituting General Eisenhower's address to invasion troops for. the former editorial. Also inserted close- up sketch on General .Beadle Smith, Chief of Staff pf the Invasion Forces. In toto. makeover entailed . writing and editing some 22 pages of hew. copy. .This was done'in a. minimum of time and planed to - Chicago on regular mail plane. A , messenger with duplicate copy Was flown to Chi in'case the mail plane should miss or lose original copy. By 5 p.m. Tuesday (6) N.'Y. staff was not. only all cleared up on invasion but had also completed 28 pages for the sub- sequent issue of June 17. Most had worked 36 hours. Overtime could not be paid workers because of War Labor Board regulations, but Henry Luce, editor, distributed gifts (not cash) among them for their good work and loyalty; '.; !; . ;. By 6 p.m. presses were again roll- ing in Chicago and the new material inserted in the remaining 1,700,000 copies of the mag. . V - etc, take the reader over a zany yet - "deeply • patriotic—tfSQ-Camp Shows tour. All. royalties to Na- tional War Fund.: Beatrice (Mrs. George S.) Kauf- man and Joseph Hennessey have done a good editing job of "The Letters of Alexander Woollcott" I Viking; $3.50). :"'".•., % Good Show Biz Books Bob Hope's "I Never Left Home" (S&S), in $1 and $2 editions, a la the Willkie book ("One World"), is dedicated by the author "BH to GI." It's a breezy account of Hope's over, seas travels, and the sundry subcap- tions give an idea of the generally informal manner of reporting. Bri- tain Waves the Rules, We Play Ham- lets, We're Off on the Road to Mo- rocco, Africa Speaks Hope Listens, Everything Was Just Great, Britain, Liberty Buys Pic Fan Mags Liberty Magazine has' bought Screenlan'd, Silver Screen and Movie Show from Hunter Publications. This brings'all publishing interests headed by Paul Hunter under one corporate setup, i: "■'; : -- ,'; ... •' . Hunter was publisher of the three screen mags prior to 1942, when he became president of Liberty. ■' .. . ''. ■',' Newsweek's Invasion Insert Newsweek won verbal plaudits in publication circles last week for the enterprise exhibited in getting out the June 12 edition. Deadline for the. weekly is Monday but when the magazine appeared on the stands Thursday (8), the regular release day, there was an eight page invasion in- sert. As D-Day came on Tuesday (6), it was clear that Newsweek's .editor? ia'. offices in. New York stepped on it to get invasion copy to Akron, where the mag'is printed; v ' In getting the issue out to sub- scribers and stands first class mail and air express were used. As the supplement had to be inserted by hand it was a tremendous task, but whether the entire edition of ap- proximately 2,500,000 had the insert is not definite. . ". . • Libel Action vs. Dan Parker, Mirror Three pronged libel suit in which Herbert Swope, chairman of New York's Racing Commission and H. L, Straus, head of the mutuel totalizator used at race tracks, ask for $7,500,000 damages, has been filed against Dan Parker, sports editor-columnist of the N. Y. Mirror, Charles McCabe. pub- lisheix of the tabloid, and the Mirror, Inc., Dick Berlin, president. Plain- tiffs seek $2,500,000 each from the three defendants. Action is based on one of Parker's columns which in- Penalty of Fame Reading the recent. Collier's article on Broadway press agents reminded Roscoe Fitts, Harvard, '23, and one-time footbajl great, that he had lent fellow-school- mate and athlete. Ivan Black $230 for tuition 20 years ago. Black had lost track of Fitts in the intervening years until the latter, now with Lever Bros., Syracuse, contacted him because of the article, dicated that Swope and: Straus, as owners or part owners of Tropical Park track, Miami! Beach, Fla. had dealings With Frank Erickson, notor- ibus bookmaker whom . Mayor La Guardia has been trying to chase Out of New York for years..' . Parker said he is flattered that the plaintiffs believe he has such an amount-of coin as they seek from him. r •'' '-''v'. ■ ; ' :■.'•.■■''' '■;•'.•'.''■•'.' :''.'■ CHATTER Kyle Crichton in Hollywood for a month.Jo write about screen people. Yank, the Army weekly, celebrates its third .birthday With its June 23 issue. •'• ■ '\:':' Prunella Hall in Hollywood for two weeks. to write yarns for the Boston Post. ; . George Berkowilz ha$ resigned as assistant ed of-Click to join foreign affaix-s dept. at Newsweek. . . '."'.0 Frantic pleas of his publisher has prompted Charles Jackson.to start a sequel to his "The Lost Weekend." Jimmy Starr lecturing around L. A., still hoping to close a picture deal on 'The Corpse Came C O. D." Bess Lonergan, motion picture correspondent for British papers, hospitalized in Hollywood with a spinal injury. Waldorf's Ted Saucier collabed with Capt. William Crawford. Jr., USAAF, on "Gore and Glory" (David McKay). Louis Untermeyer has resigned from the Limited Editions Club to accept post with Overseas Pocket Editions, under jurisdiction of the War Dept. Gilbert Gabriel, now overseas for OWi, has finished a novel about Alaska today, "I Got A .Country," which Doubleday-Doran will publish in August. - <ffnn&t SPanelum £Pimcn and SPcAubteb /tab Me /lonoi to announce theg?8I^|^ - The Pu litz^ ^jpp^w inning the most sensationa^^g^^a colossal new a terrific - ^H^riost exciting The NolwPrize-Winning an amas A BOOK Bob Hope's Own Story of His Trip Overseas I NEVER LEFT HOME With 67 Illustrations by Carl Host • Paper-bound, $1.00; Cloth, $2.00 LEW KELLY . - Lew Kelly, 65, stage and screen actor, died in Los Angeles June 10. He had been a trouper for more than past 40 years. Born in St. Louis he began his stage career' in stock, then diverted to vaude and later in bur- lesque. It was in the latter field that he had seemingly found his niche. He was a definite name comedian in that division of show business, where he remained until collapse of the" Co- lumbia wheel. On latter circuit lie had been stellar comedian for a number of years With Jack Singer's "Behman Show," Barney Gerard's "Follies of the Day," both topflight- ers in the era of refined burlesque and for several seasons headed his own show. ■'''., When the Columbia Circuit suc- cumbed to lewd, undraped shows of the Mutual Circuit, with its strip- teasers and bumpers, Kelly diverted to musicomedy, appearing in_several ■Shubert and other musicals. They tried to lure him back to burlesque but no dice. Kelly wanted no part of the "dirt shows" then masquerad- itiSCas burlesque. For his burlesque jaunts Kelly had created the role of a lovable hophead, getting most of his laughs via his machinations and utterances while supposedly under the influence of a swig at the bam- boo or sniffle of "nose candy." His inventive genius while wooing the poppy-dust wherein he invented a fly trap was a standard howl for years, both, in vaude and burlesque. - He went to Hollywood about 15 years ago and had confined his acting to screen productions since then. One of his last appearances in films was in Hunt Stromberg's socko "Lady of Burlesque," released via United Artists. . .. . -.i Widow and daughter survive. . SIR HENRY COWARD Sir Henry Coward, 94, choral mas- ter, died, in Sheffield, England, June 10. He toured the world with the Sheffield choir and was famed for his Sheffield Musical Festival. Sir Henry learned to play the flute and violin without attending music school and formed his first choral group when only 18. Long allergic to jazz music, when he was 91 he led a dance band ,at a radio concert, explaining he believed the dance musicians far superior to the music they played. He was known as old- est of Britain's "musical knights!" Conductor of the Sheffield Music Union and Tonic Sol-Fa College in London, the establishment of the Sheffield Music Festival in 1895 gave him the chance to bring his abilities as a chorus master to a wider audi- ence. As head of Sheffield and Leeds choral groups he toured many countries. His publications included many cantatas, anthems, glees, part songs and a treatise on choral sing- ing. . " ' •"' ,' "••. V. •'-';'■'' ; Survived by four sons and four daughters. , :','-' CAPT. JEFFERSON D. DICKSON Capt. Jefferson Davis Dickson, 47, has been listed by War Department as killed in action. He had been a sports promoter in Paris, where- he had become known as the "Tex Rick- ard of France." According to offi- cial communique received by his widow in N. Y., he met his death in the air not far from Paris; After distinguished service in Sig- nal Corps in World War I, Capt. Dickson returned to the U. S„ Where he produced a motion-picture for j'lfir 1 rr..TfriT!twrf Thtrr> hriiaitortriW Paris; where''fee established the Pa lais de Sports, . In the- late 30s he returned to the U. S. and founded the Natchez Historical Association at" Natchez, Mif^s. He was married to Louise W. Edell, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jules E. Mastbauro, of Philadelphia, in 1938, They had one child, Chris- tine, now 3. Capt. Dickson applied for a com- mission in 1941 and was commis- sioned in time to go overseas in No- vember, 1942. He was shot down on July 14, 1943. according to word re- ceived by' his widow. •' MILDRED CASEY Mildred Casey, 47, former vaude performer and wife of Stuart Casey, Vaude and musicomedy performer, died June 6 at Saratoga, N. Y. ' • ', Mrs. Casey had appeared in vaude prior to marriage as Mildred Woods as a single and later was partnered with, Dan Maley. She later changed her name to Warren and teamed with Stuart Casey whom she even- tually married. Couple did a comedy act on their own for several years and were later featured by E. K. Nadel, vaude ./producer- in several acts authored 'jy Paul Gerard Smith, now authoring screenplays in Holly- wood, : '■■' .->'•.'.■■ '-"''""'"' ,'-'• .'':•': ' : Their outstanding success was in "Around the Corner, Since retire- ment of the act Casey has appeared in several, legit musicals and more recently in the revival of "A Con- necticut-Yankee." v::.'. HOMER GRCNN '-.,.-; Homer Grunn, 64, pianist and com- poser, died in Los Angeles, June. 6. He had been soloist with the Lbs Angeles Symphony Orchestra and. the People's orchestra. He was also founder of the Brahms Quintet and appeared with it for eight years. ; ; . Among his best known composi- tions are "Desert Suite," "Zuni In- dian Suite," and a symphonic poem, "Shadow World." His latest compo- sitions Were "Chanson Poetiqire." in 1941; "From Russia," a song, 1942, and "Music of the Brook," a song, 1943. V. ":".; :"';- -/' •.'.: ■■-;.; Survived by widow and - three daughters. -" .' '""'■:■',;? '. . ... EDWARD S. MOFFATT Edward S. Moflatt, 68, screen and advertising writer, died 1 in Los An- geles, June 8.. Bom in New Jersey, Moffatt went to the Coast in the early 20's, and was a prominent film writer for years. - ' . Moffatt most recently was connect- ed with Universal ahd Metro; He Was especially active in the old Writ- ers Club. '-.;>•':.• ■.'■'■; ■ ' Survived by widow, a daughter and three sons, all children now be- ing in the armed forces. ''\ MRS. LANGDON MITCHELL Mrs. Marion Lea Mitchell, former actress and widow of Langdon Elwyn Mitchell, playwright and poet, died in New.. York City June 7; . She had lived at the La Salle hotel, N; Y, . and also had a winter home at Santa Fe, N. M. ., A native of Philadelphia, Mi's. Mitchell made her stage debut at the Haymarket theatre, London, in 1882, as Audrey in "As You Like It". She subsequently appeared in produc- tions with Lily Langtry, Cyril Maude and Elizabeth Robins. She retired from stage in 1906 after appearing in the New York production of her husband's satirical comedy, "The frew York Idea," in w;hich Mrs. Min- nie Maddern Fiske was starred. Survived by son and two daugh- ters. ■ ARTHUR BENGALIA Arthur Bengalia, 61, managing di- rector of Hotel Plaza, widely known to show people in N. Y., died June 8 in N, Y. He had assisted in design- ing and constructing the $5,000,000 Royal Hawaiian hotel in Honolulu in 1927, and was manager until taken over by the Navy soon after Pearl Harbor. J On returning to U. S., he was man- ager of Town House, Los Angeles, and was named manager of Plaza last January, succeeding Henry A. Ross, made chairman of Plaza Op- erating Co. board. Bengalia had managed many hotels in all parts of the world. Survived by widow. JACK LYI.E Jack Lyle, 70, veteran legit come- dian, died in Toronto, June 11. He had retired from stage some time ago, but came out of it four years ;*«^***vw*MW«;i»:ii' , < ing service men in the Toronto area. Born in Toronto, he went to New . York in early youth. He started in minstrel shows and later was in a number of legit musicals bit Broad- way and elsewhere. .. ; . ALFRED T. LAWRENCE Alfred T. Lawrence, 60, died in Boston, June 6. He had been hos- pitalized for a year and a half.- He was building superintendent in Boston for M. & P. circuit, and father of William H. Lawrence, real estate executive of Wilby-Kincey circuit in the south. Also surviving is another son, Alfred, Jr., and a daughter.'./;: .";•>..'■"•. ' ;■' '■ i - . JOHN M. HIX :'•'•-' ''■,''-. John M. Hix, 36. newspaper artist, died June 6 in Hollywood, following a heart, attack. • In addition to his syndicated fea- ture. "Strange As It Seems," Hix made 45 Shorts for Universal and pioduced more than 600 radio pro-, (Continue on page 47)