Variety (Dec 1944)

MISCELLANY We<lne'8dayf December 6* 1914 Rockefeller to Quit as CIAA Chieftain To Take Post as Asst. Sec. of State Washington, Dec 5. > Nelson A. Rockefeller; ,head of the ofl'ice of Coordinator of Inters American Affairs, who was : nomi- nated, yesterday , (4) by President Roosevelt to be assistant Secretary cf State in charge of Latin-American relations',' will take CIAA, with; its film and", radio, activities, into the] ■^tate'beptjAyith him^ ■■/;'■ ;'''. ) Aboyti; a year, ago ; "Variety"- dis-.j^ —cfesed--e->;G,l-u,'sively.. that this was in ; the works. The move Iras been slow j and careful, iii the .State Dept. tra- dition, which .is why it did not hap- pen sooner; . ' ^'V,^ Rockefcnei; will re-sigri a.s heaa, of CIAA to take his iiisw t30st, but will • cphtinue to. dii'ect'.the agei];Cy's jic-. tivities, gradually merging them into his division in the Husing Calls 'Em for .767 Ted Husing chrystalballed his way to a neat .767 average in picking the football winners for "Variety ■' during the season just closed. That includes 18,S w'inners and 51 losses, with 15 ties. Ties weren't counted'. ■- ; Cornell to Stay Overseas With'Barretts'Till Jan. 1 At Request of the Army : Katharinfe^\_Coi-nell. .will remain ci\'Er"sF'as, .appearing [or GI's near the - ISuropean war frohis in "The State'MDept. Barretts of Winipple .Street." until Actually, froin - the, lime it wSs authorized , in, M4.0, CIAA Has bech under the general supervision of State dept. but it has operated .in- ■dependently up to: now. The new. Rpckeffiller apppihlment, tContinued on page 22) Detroiter Posts $32,500 In Prizes for Symphony Aiding Pan-Americanism Detroit, Dec. 5. A symphony that will pull the Americas together is th?. aim of Henry H. Reichhold, head of a chem- ical company here, who has posted a .prize of $25,000 for the North or .iSouth American who submits the best "Symphony of, the Americas." A second award of $5,000 in being of- fered, and a third of $2,500, with a gold plaque for each national winner. , Reichhold, president of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and cretlited with its re-emergence, said the $32,- SOO in prizes ''are industrial Detroit's contribution to Pan-American unity and culture." Each of the 21 nations iathis hemi- sphere is to contribute a symphony, under the plan, with judges from each of the republics selecting the final national contestant to conripete in the herrii.spheric .finals. The . 21 1 symphonies,'which will be limited to ■ 30 rninutes, in length, ivill be judged in some American capital before the fall of 1945. Reichhold said that all govern- ments in the .Americas had. been .ap- proached on the contest, as well as the Rockefeller Committee in New York, and had given their indorse- ments. Marcial Mora, ambassador ; from Chile, announced, the competi- tion in both Spanish and English, on last Sunday's symphony 'broadcast from here. The winning selection will be per- formed at the Pan-American Build- ing, Washington, when Preijident Roosevelt will present the first awai'd of $25,000. the (ir-st of . the ye:ir; When the unit .ilcaded by /Miss-, Goriiell .and Brian .Aherne went' across -t^, tho foxhole circuit, it was agreed that she w'o.iild :appear .'.fbr ■ Iwp months;, the balariee of -the . ca.st (p remain fdr the Usual six-month period dur- ing which vthey Would do other plays. At the request of the Army the star extended her USO-Camp^ Shows' time,- officers rating .'"Bar- i retls'' an extraoi:dihai'y :?i,d. to .sol- I dier njoralev. f..\ .T:; V: .,\, I Her husband,; Guthrie McGUntic, ■who is with the troupe, may i-eturn some weeks ahead of Miss Cornell.,' When- the manager arrives he will immediately .start, vvork on the pro- duction of "Mr.; Tutt,"; a play based on Arthur Train's Sateveppst, stories, adaptation having been made by the author and MeClintic. Raymond Massey will-.make his stage reap- pearance as the star of that .show. Also slated for production by the manager ts 'The Deep Mrs. Sykes" by George Kelly. G.B. SHAW SAYS PSHAW TO U. S. TREK REPORT George Bernard Shaw over the past weekend denied that he was planning to leave England to visit the Tj. S. \ - ■ ■',;-;^; Statement was issued in N: ^. last week by United Artists that the British dramati.st was .scheduled to arrive in tiie U. S. some time in February to, -atterid the., preem. ol "Caesar and Cleopatra," which was directed by Gabriel Pascal under Shaw's supervision; 129lli WKEK ! KEN MURRAY'S "BLACKOUTS OF 1944" El Capitan Theatre, Hollywood, Cal. "I''r<r!iv.oi)<'- Iriwlliniui io,. iiho.(:t.iM', yiiii'j'e . K'o.t:, Ndnrt'tiiing.:■ J t'.s iho •liuiffh lit. \tl.ie ■ inoruii' .>iui«- eyfiy, ii'ion'tli." PAT O'BRIEN. NAGS NIP NABE BOFFOS AS H'WOOD PARK ROLLS ' Los Angeles, Dec. 5. ■ Recent boxoffice skid experienced by nabe and subsequent houses in this area, is attributed to horsse rac- ing at Hollywood Park. Managers ;poii3t ;. out ' that the decline is niost ■pronounced. ,.ia tos Angeles,, but' ::is ■not felt in other Southern Cali- fornia districts far from the race- track. : ■ Daily handle by the track mutuels averages, better than $1,000,000, and neighborhood bookies handle more thAn twice that amount of coin, Managers declare thousands of film cu.slomers^ nPW ...stay home at night studying form charts and holding back their coin to bet on next day's races. ■■■ .'■■■-. Sckoz's Costly (Very!) Excursion to Gotham Looks like .limmy the well dressed Durante couldn't get along without Broadway after all. The Schnozzle himself IS in New: York from the Coast for a week, just to breathe the Main Stem air and have a change of scenery, because lie has to scram back to Hollywood for more Metro assigiiments. He blushingly : admits tliat the little jaunt across ,,the con tinent cost him a neat !^G. Durante is biding his time until able to go overseas , and during the spring, he will reach the European f ront. Accompanying the Schnoz are Eddie, Jackson and Jack . Roth, who will accompany him across the pond, .First night in town Durante hit the high ; spots, going to Copacabana where he's known aplenty, then to the Greenwich Village Inn and other a.ssorted downtown .loints. He turned in at 3 a.m. an unheard of thing out in Hollywood. , ■ T aint Funny to Pitt Club When Elsa Maxwell Stands 'Em Up on Humor Talk . /.i;,.V;. PittsburjJ-,. Dec. ."). -. , Gilbert & Snllivaii .troupe of iS. H. Burnside saved the: day here . la.st T'ue.sday ; (28) for 2,000. wionien who had gathered at the Nixon theatre to hear a -lecture on "Where Is Your Sen.se ol Humor?" by Elsa Maxwell. It was the second time within, a month that Miss Maxwell had disap- pointed the 25 Club of Pittsburgh, which had booked her appearance as a benefit for the' Elizabeth Ste(;l Ma- gee hospital. First time, a few weeks ago, col- Umnist-actress-party. stager wired. 24 hours before that she was sick, and couldn't make it. Last Tuesday, shortly before noon. Mr.s. Leslie Reese, president of 25 Club, thought it would be wise to phone Miss Max- well's apartment in New York just to make sure she'd left. Miss Maxwell herself answered, and Mrs. Reese practically collapsed on the spot. Seems, according to Miss Maxwell/ her manager forgot to tell her that the train left N. Y. at 12 05 a,.m. and not p.m., as she thoughts Miss Max- well was scheduled to speak at 2:30 p.m. Miss Maxwell was all apologies, offered to take a plane here but learned that she couldn't make con- nections, and then offered to make a gratis appearance some time later, but that was refused. Miss Max\)vell then sent her own check for $1,500, which was to have been her fee, to the charity. Meantime, there, were the 2,000 women ticket-holders gathering at the .Nixdn. So Mrs." Reese, quickly contacted Sam Nixon, manager of the theatre, and asked him if it wouldn't be possible to round up the Savoy- ards for a performance. He phoned New York, obtained permission and then had his .^taff corral the perform- ers from all over town. Fortunately; they had an afternoon rehearsal scheduled, and most of them were al- ready showing up. On a momeft't notice, they put on "Pirates of Pen- zance." which was to have been their show that night. Only 24 women asked for a refund When they learned that Gilbert & SuUivain .werie pihch-hittihg for lMis.s Maxwell. Tom McKnight From Radio to U. Producer Hollywood, Dec, 5. :Tom. M'.-Knight currently produc- Jrig,, "Hall of Fame" airshow fpj- Phjlcij. .-igried v.jth Universal today <Tue.s.; h!-. p.-oducer. He reports at jstudio •.'.itbin next two wcek.s to •elect his firki .story for filming. He vas formerly a U '.vnter. I Eddie Dowling's Bids I No re-employment problem as far as Maj; Edward Duryea Dowling's concerned. Oak-leaferj ju-st mustered out of service has an offer from ■ a major pic company to join ranks as producer and a bid to produce an operetta ' to be bankrolled by- Ben Maiden. ex-Riviera, N. J. . Maj. ;jScl{:;Arkin, also recently re turned to, riiufti,: would be as.soeiated with -Dowling in the Marden ven ture. ' AUCE FAYE BACK Hollywood; Dec. 5. Alice Faye signed a-hew-pact With 20th-Fox today. Although she has no picture ,as- ifiinnent as yet,' inking ,in.d,icates ii'jti'csK will not retire as studio Of- ficial,"! at first believed. SCULLY'S SCRAPBOOK By Frank Scully SPITALNY AND METRO DICKER FILMUSICAL ■■ T>hil^:Spitalny hfis, .been talking witb Li K. Sidney for a Metro fil- musical next year. Maestro ju.st- returned from: the Coa.st where he completed a chore for Universal's "Here Gome the Co- Eds" (Abbott & Costello). This mikes Spitalny's second feature for U. UNRRA's WeUs to Coast To Set Peace-Theme Pix .,, . ■ Washington. Dec. 5. WilHa-m H. Wells.' iieW film head of UNRRA, headed for Hollywood last weekend to sell the studios the pic- ture pos.i3ibilities oi the problems of peace. Visit. was timed to coincide with the^ arrival on the Coast of John Grierson, Canadian Film Board chief, who is vitally interested in the work of UNRRA. Canadian Government has already contributed $.^0,000 to the motion picture activities of the international relief organizations •• www ••I•• Roosters Millions, Calif, Deo 3 If the rest of the world wants lo understand what really makes A.-nei ici tick it had better get used lo radio breakfast clubs. Insi.sting that "1 o's Angeles is not America!" will get them nowhere. Started in Los Angeles the early mealtime menace has practically encircled the globe in 20 Vcii V Tom Breneman's "Breakfa.it at Sardi's," which began four years ago is now the No. 1 daytime cereal of all the networks. Close on Breneman's pre-digested trachea is Don McNeil's "Breakfast Club," which has been broadcasting out ot Chicago for 10 years. But older than all of them, on the air 18 years.for an hour and a halt every Wednesday morning, is the Los Angeles Breakfast Club. This one laps members $4? tq join, plus $10 a month for chow, plus 20^; amu.se- ment tax. It has 290 member.s pledged to get up at the crack ot dawn each Wednesday morning, arrive at the club in a cheerful mood and .^ta.Y that way from 8 to 9:30 a.m. when the program gbes off the aii-. Talent on the original L.A.B.C. is lor tree, and it's surpri.iing how nimiv entertaiirers go for it ."because the. organization is not run tor. profit." No gals arc permitted lo membership. In consequence they have a Woiik p's Breakfast Club ol their own and throw a weekly breakfast at thr Am- ' baSsador;'hotel,. T'ap iS $2:50. This one is not. broadcast/ Noithsr are. male gue.st-speakers allowed to wear the ladies' hats for laughs ■■.■-.-.'.F-ounded . in.-.'25- This L.A.B.C. w-as formed in 1925 by a -guy named Maurice Dc'Mondi This is almo,st unbelievable because ''mond" is French for ''world;'' and' his idea has about encircled' it by now. . Just who worked out the routine of breaKfaiSt.club members, greetih^ e other "Hello, Ham!": "Keilo.'EMg!" aiid the reading of :a cryptogram wlrich begins ".F-U.-N-E7M'?'', \\'hich work.?;, out to ."Have yotr any ham'.'",, ha§ not beicii cleared as yet thrbugli Sidney. : But the gag, despite the fact that it has been coming on: the air weelc afU't week for 18 year.s-, seoms to convulse every audience. Much of live ritual of this original sunrise-su.stainer- ha.s been adopted with improvements by those who have .come in late. Iloneymooners, oldest married couoles, oldest old ladies, visitors wearing tunny hats, etc., are dragged before the mike and asked to "tell all." Wliatever they say is .seemingly side- splitting.' -. The premise that these early morning gaieties produce bUoyanGy;Vbptfni- ism and airy hope.s which la.st not only through the day but have even been, known to la.st throitgh the week, is something that, must bewilder continentals. To people wtio do not breakfast but do a.roll and coffee (and, take even that iii..their.room, if.not in bed):, this busitiess.of.p,ublic, laughter at dawn seems insane. Visitors on diplomatic missions: to we.stern America have had to submit to a cold shower around 6 a.m., a drive of 10 miles to a 7;30 or 8 o'clock breakfast, a round of handshakes, ribs and introductions, and then endure at least an hour of barbershop quartets, graduates ot whi.stling schools, speeches, gavel-banging, heckling, more .speeches, dames singing ofT-key, convivial embraces from .strangers on. either side of them at the table, and ham and.eggs. ■ Raised not to drinlc before sundown, or at the worst to taking an aperitif at noon, the visitor.s find there is no escape from these organized daylight delights, except to: begin the day on a bender and greet the sett mg sun with a hangovei; The gay est of gourmands has been known to return to his native land a .sourpuss for the rest of his life. Even Frenchmen, to whom the crow of the chanticleer is-a patriotic battle-cry, can't tolerate the sound again after hearing a group of breakfast clubbers trying lo imi- tate roosters and being told by a ma.ster of ceremonies to say "Hello To the yolks back home," Two-a-Day-Yet Yet out of such melancholy beginnings have grown radio programs of surprising vitality and humor. Indeed, it they miss you between eight and nine, two of them do two morning shows daily to take care of those get- ting up between 7 and 10. McNeir.s program, in fact, still full of breakfaist: bounce, is heard beyond' the international dateline at 3 o'clock in -thp afternoon. Breneman's first urogram goes on at- Sardi's while Hollywood is .still wrapped in fog, smog and natural darkness. Furcoated women often line up for blocks long waiting to get in. Tickets cost $1, including breakfa.st, and most bookings must be made 48 hours in advance. Breneman is pi ac- , tically a one-man show. He plays himself and a character, Uncle Corny.; Bobby, a Filipino, and Carl Pierce are his supporting stooges. Pierce in- troduces Breneman in the manner of the negative buildup perfected by Jack Benny's writers, Breneman then follows with the best bftllylaugh in radio. He never quite drops it. It follows him and his wandering mike informally through the audience as he asks with charming politene.ss, "Who are you'.' Where are you from? Where did you get that hat.' I.sii't it awful? Let me try it on." This last command .simply slays 'cm. Such laughter in the world ha.s rarely been heard, They love it. 3 A.M. .McNeil McNeil's program has a much heavier nut^involving a ca.st^of .several performers and band; He has two singer.s. After one of them,'Jack, Baker, went off to the wars, McNeil picked up Jack Owens. Owens has developed a cruising crooner routine that sends women about as hysterically as ' Breneman's hat tricks. And Owens' squealers are not all old ladies from Dubuque. But McNeil also caters to the old people, newlyweds and visit- ing firemen. He is quite cute in his repartee, not as "fresh" as Breneman. Like Breneman, McNeil has been selling cornflakes and other foods for 10 year.s. In fact both oversell. One of McNeil's quarter-hours has to endure four commercialSi which shows how much people will take in America if you catch them early enough . McNeil's manduoation begins at 3 a.m. He has to' get up that early five days a week to prepare his program. It runs an hour :5n Chiciigo and ; shorter elsewhere. Recently the Blue biggies decided the network's west coast morning programs had too many "news" casts. They cut out two and inserted McNeil's opening quartets, which are unsponsored and have moments of fine entertainment. His breakfast now consumes an hour, east and west. It suffers, of course, from fieabitten mooehers, spot announcer.s; who leap, in every time the program takes a breath or pauses for .station identification. McNeil, has an easy, breezy way of interviewing people and, like Breneman, he gets them from everywhere. Service men always get a big play on both, programs. Recently a soldier ■ being asked what he wanted' for Christmas said, quite simply, ''A dis-- charge." .■■.-■ "No kiddiiig,'': Mcjieil pursued, - '"what . would you really like? Some cigarettes, maybe?" "No," cracked the determined dogface. "We get plenty of those and send'em to the, folks bt^ck home.'' McNeil cued for some music to pull them both off the air. That this .sort of thing w'lU eventually get into New York and .subse- quently into London, Paris, Moscow and' Chungking may seem lar fetched, but the d'ispensers of these cheerful carbohydrates have covered a lot ot territory in 18 years: Sardi's recently chopped a piece of tlie re,sfeurant off and built a booth for the network's technicians. As smiling Irishmen, both McNeil and Breneman agree that even ,if it means crazy hours they prefer it lo selling second-hand cars,- To bewil- dered continentals and their frugal breakfasts in bed it practically, repre' .. sents something el.se they'll have to worry about. Whiteman's Film Biog A deal for the-film biog of Paul Whiteman will probably be con- summated while the maestro is on the Coast with the Radio Hall of Fame (Philco program). Gene Fowler is scripting. Hitchy Back From Eng. V Alfred. Hitchcock has arrived in N.Y. following a siX"Wcek stay in England. He leaves for the Coast in Iwe weeks to fulfill directorial corttmit- ment with David O. Selznick.