Variety (Dec 1944)

SCREEN RADIO MUSIC STAGE fnbllaheil Wukhr at 114 West 4<tb Street. N«w Tork II, N. T., by Variety, Inc. Annual subscription, 110. S|.ncle cpples. tc cent*. WSSyM^aS^A^h^ mMnV»Sm^ii 2S, 190». »t tU. Piit Office at New YorH. N. Y., under the act, if March 1. U7». OOFSBIGHT, IBM, B1 TABIET¥, IN'C. Af,L BIOHTS RESEBVEI). VOL. 157 No. 2 NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1944 PRICE 25 CENTS RADIOES BIG EXPANSION PLAN Taxe$ Don't Leave Bea UDie Enuf For Tea & Cmmpete Despite ^/^ Pay Around the Ziegfeld theatre, N. Y.,> where "Seven Lively Arts" is the attraction, they're calling Beatrice LIMIe the "poor little rioh girl." The toast of the first- nighters is drawing more money than any legit acli es.s .since the lata Marilyn MiUei-. Last weelt, for instance, the English oomedienne got more than $4,- 600 as Iter percentage bit from "Arts." But because of tax deduc- tions 'liat was practically a mythical flgure. Had .she known what she knows now. Miss Lillie would probably have ra:«.;ined in London. The net amount of her take from "Arts'" is so much at variance with her contrac- tual salary and percentage that there isn't enough remaining for her to pay her bill at the Waldorf As- toria. If she wants to stay there, she'll have to dig into her stocking, or wherever elst she does her bank- ing. - 'The reason why it will probably (Continued on page 43) Riith Gordon to Quit Acting for Writing Ruth Qordon advises friends she intends to quit the stage this season to devote herself exclusively to writing. Actress Is now on tour with her comedy, "Over 21," due to wind up on the Coast next spring. "Journey to a Star," which Miss Gordon wrote last summer, has been put off tin next season, when Max Gordon will produce with Qeorge S. Kaufman directing. Mayor Beats Sunday Blue Law in Mpls. By Dec.30*NewYr;sEve' Minneapolis, Dec.' 19, Mayor M. L. Kline has, by procla mation, officially designated Dec. 30 as "New Year's Eve." The gen- uine article falls on Sunday, the 31st, and Minneapolis has Sabbath blue laws. Action, is similar to that taken in other key cities, where many niteries are celebrating on Saturday night (30). The proclamation states that "for the purpose of the customary cele- bration" Saturday night will be "New Year's Eve." At the same time the mayor announced tliat the law prohibiting the sale of liquor on Sunday will be "rigorously en- forced." The town's two leading niteries, the Hotel Nicolet Minnesota Terrace and the Hotel Radlsson Flame Room, not only will be closed as usual on Dee. 31, but will not have a special New Year's eve party Saturday night—only their customary policy. Most of the other nightclubs, how- aver, will celebrate N»w Vear's.eve on Saturday and the theatres will nave their usual New Year's eve ■ ISth snows at midnight on the Cheesecaking British Pic Gals English film gals are due for a glamorizing campaign, in the Holly- wood cheesecake manner, under the long-range plans of J. Arthur Rank, London tycoon, to gain recognition of British product in the U. S. and British Empire markets. Idea is to overcome the lack, in English-maide Alms, of the pinup qualities of femmes photographed in California studios. Rank's representatives, inspecting the American scene, have discovered the boxoffice value of the Hollywood system—that of exploiting feminine pulchritude to the limit. Most Brit- ish film actresses to date have been drawn from the stage and are cap- able in acting, singing and dancing without, It's held, possessing great physical beauty. New strategy Is. to develop British glamor stars and exploit their [Jersonal attractions in the American fashion. For this pur pose, accordiqg to reports from Lon- don, Rank aijns to establish a glam- orizing staff to exploit new talent in England, with a branch in New York. Set $500,000 Price For Untb' Fifanii^ Joe Hyman, Bemle Hart, Music "*jy-<>' America, at al. are talking ■ W0O,OOO.|8OO.OOO film price tag on Noiman Krasni's- "Beat. Ruth" for Hollywood. MOA, via itiflew Wassennan, who put the entir* iM<ik«g« tbgether, may wind up liIraJ5g,it oa..* package " ••one before vri* tadlo «tar8-llk« Xdgir Bergen, AS SOCML FORGE By GEORGE ROSEN Quietly shaping up—with likeli- hood that 1945 will find the move bearing fruition via the establish- ment of an Academy of Radio Arts and Sciences—is the mo.st ambitious step ever undertaken aimed at rec- ognition of radio as a major social force on sn international scale. Already a number of separate .studies, designed to achieve a broad, democratic base on which to func- tion, are being worked out by vari- ous groups within the industry, in- cluding top network representatives, independent station operators, adver- tising agency reps, educators and various intra-industry guilds. Out of these studies, which have been going on without fanfare for the past several months, will come concrete proposals to be presented when all the component groups as- (Continued on page 24) Map Victory World's Fair for Chi Postwar; Backers From '33-34 Expo Ex-Newsboy Returns To Mpls. as 'Othello' Actor Minneapolis, Dec. 19. Four years ago Louis Lylton sold newspapers on a loop corner here to tide him over after he arrived in town broke. Last week he came back playing two important roles, the Duke and Gratiano, in the New York The- atre Ouild's production of "Othello," with Paul Robeson, at t\ie Lyceum. Archbishop Spelhnan Replaces 111 Maj. Bowes On Chrysler Xmas B'cast With Major Edward Bowes hos- pitalized, Archbishop Francis J. Spellman and the choir of the Pius X School of Liturgical Music, K. Y., will take over his Chrysler spon- sored radio program on CBS to- morrow (Thurs.) night at 9. While there will be no direct com- mercials for the auto account, there (Continued on page 37) B way Battle Of Legit Hits By JACK PULASKI Show people are likely to witness a battle of legit hits on Broadwaj'. It's unprecedented the way bo many sook shows have come In. It's a question of how many successes New York can support and whether some of the standouts will not affect the business of a percentage of ^ther clicks, all of them doing capacity so far. Wise ticket men say thai the more hits the merrier but whether that Is-fact or fallacy will be tested. No doubt at all that the flush of (Continued on page 18) 41 INVESTORS, RECORD, FOR NEW B'WAY PLAY What' is believed to be a record number of backers for one legit show appears to b.- the setup for Ihe newT" Howard LIndsay-Russel Grouse production, "The Hasty Heart.". Forty-one investors are listed. "Arsenic and Old Lace," with same producers and 27 backers, held 'what ostensibly was the former record. Investors In "Heart," John Pat- rick's drama of convalescent GIs In the Far East, run from the pro- ducers and their wives, director Bretaigne Windust, designer Ray- mond Sovey and pressagent Richard Maney, down to the three daughters of Elliott Nugent (Nancy, Barbara and Annabel). Frank Sullivan has a piece of the show, as have actors Boris Karloff and Louis Calhern. No Investor is in for more than $2,000; most are in for $900 each, for total .of '^0,000, Play set to oj>en at Hudaon, N. Y., jan, 3. LAMBS TO GAMBOL ON NEW CBS SERIES "A Night at the I^ambs' Club,'; half-hour variety shdw featuring topflight showbiz personalities who are members of that organization, is headed for network airing as a regular once-weekly series on CBS. Details being Ironed out currently by John Golden, Lambs' Shepherd, and Senator Ed Ford, with Nick Keesely, commercial program Sales manager, and Herb Polesie, producer, handling discussions for the network, When sold commercially, sponsor would give certain sum each week to the Lambs for privilege of using talent, facilities, title, etc., same set- up CBS" "Screen Guild" stanza, which donates sum to Screen Guild's Relief Fund each week. Vets' Rem Planned By Gracie Fields, Banks Hollywood, Dec. 19 Gracie Fields and Monty. Banks are working out an idea for a 1945 Broadway musical revue', with a cast composed entirely of discharged servicemen and women, except for Miss Ffelds, who will also star. Players will work on a copper**- tlve bas1% sharing In tn«.profits wen as drawing salaries. ' ~ *'*' Off the Nut Fast Nitery operator in a Long Island community already Is off the nut as regards, one act he's booked in for Hew Year's Eve. He's presenting a juve dance team from the neighbor- hood, layinjg out $15 for the turn. Already the guy's grabbed off - res- ervations from the kids' families and friends totaling more than 100 clams in cover charges alone, By MIKE CONNOLLY Chicago, Dec. 10. Pitch for a postwar Victory World's Fair is now being made liere by Century of Progress Asso- ciation, organized a year ago on the 10th anniversary of Chicago's last Fair. Backers include persons connected with management of 1933-34 Cen- tury of Progress, concessionaires and various employees, headed by Charles H. ThurmanJ who helped with management last time and is now operations manager for the Roscnwald Museum of Science and • Industry. Hoopla for.holding Fair here in- stead of in other cities centers around the fact that Chi, with 37,- 000,000 payees in two years, paid off a $10,000,000 bond issue on the Cen- tury of Progress exposition, plus 6%, three years before it was due, to- gether with all operating costs, with cash' left over, and is in fact the (Continued on page 37) Paper Shortage Cues New Cuffo Testimonial Deals; Publicity Is the Payoff Shortage of newsprint, with its re- sultant cut in publicity channels for performers in all branches of show business, has resulted in a change of attitude on the part of name play- ers towards giving testimonials to commercial products. Whereas; in the lush days, actors insisted on plenty of cash for endorsements, they are now giving their, okays cufTo. Payment is the publicity such tcsti-* monials bring via publication of ads in nationally circulated mags and dailies. Typical Instance is a deal just set by J. D, Tarcher ad agency for Per- sonna razor blades. Account has set Schnoz Durante for an endorsement, • (Continued on page 18) I OH I LLEVISlO>