Variety (Dec 1944)

Wednesday, December 27,. 1944 39 CHATTER Broadway Jean Geiriiigei- (BMI) back from Hollywood, . Cari Brisson set for 10 weeks, this lime at Veirsaiiles, Beatrice Hcnclric"ks' husband a prisoner bt war in- Gerniiany. Xnias Day marKed tlie.6th anni of Billy Roses Diamond Horseshoe. Lt Ed Seay, U.S.N.r:, ex-Rainbow Room asst. • managing director,- due for a discharge. S\i Slate (.1 Slate Bros:) out. of the Avjny; medically discharged. Brothers Henry and. Jack still in. ■ Capitol theatre threw Tommy Dorsey and cast of stage show a Christmas Day party between shows. Mose Gamble, WB piiisic man, will spend New Year's Eve on the Cen- tury route back from Hollywood to N. Y. ■■ Bill Gucringer and con-sort in New York from New Orleans for the 'steenth time to see.,a white Christ- mas. It rained. V James S. felliott- promoting—Too Hot for .Maneuvei-s," which Harry Wagstaff Gribble may stage. Ben '. Stein . associated. • ' ■ Annamary Dickey forced:.out of the Waldorf's Wedgwood. Room by sore throat for a Couple of day.s last ,\veek; John Hoysradt substituting. Slella-Adler to-.stage "And Never ' Yield" for Mike .Todd,-pjiay being authored by Betty Smith, whose best seller is-"A Tree Grows in Brook- lyn." .. :•• ■: Al Hildreth, who quit the St.James ("Oklahoma!") boxoffice last sum- mer, saying the work was too tough; Is treasih-er of the Adelphi C'On the Town"). S. Barret McCormick. RKO di- rector of advertising and publicity on the Coa.^l, to confer with Charles W. .Koei-ner, v^p. in charge of RKO production. Al Selie. 20th-Fox exploiteer, had two vertebra bones broken Jirhtn sudden train lurch, on trip home from Washington last week, knocked hfm unconscious. Gypsy Markoff, singer-accordion- i.st, takes I wo-week respite from Caisino Russe to fly to Havana over weekend at invitation of Ramon Grau-San Martin, president ot Cuba. Celeste Holm, doubling from "Bloomer Girl," and Gali Gali suc- ceed Hildegarde at the Hotel Plaza's Per.sian Room next Wed. (Jim. 3), latter shifting to the Palmer House, Chi. Urgent biz keeping ' Hildegarde east; instead of training to Holly- wood Jan. 3. as originally intended, to originate her "Raleigh Room" pro- gram from HoUyvi'Ood for a couple of weeks:. Native Baltimorcans Donald Kirk- ley and Howird Burman. authors of "Happily Ever After," which WB is financing, insisted oit. only one play production provi.>;o: that it: doesn't break-in in Bplto. MCA thre\v two parties a week apart, the one last week beting a pre-' Xmas'shindJg by the radio dept. at the Stork, wliile the prcceditig week the Jule.s.C. (Doris) Stoins hp 'od all show biz f allowing "Dear Rutli ' '"re- pot,' won; his wings at Pcnsac'ola Naval Air Ba.se. Ajthur Murray; opening dance .'<ludio for motion picture vacationists in Palm Springs. Mii.ior Jack Holt, out or ihe Army afler two years, huddling with Metro on a picture deal: Louis;de Rcrchemont awarded hon- orary academic degree by the Uni- versity of California. Sam Gardner arrived from Salt Xiake .City lo. become Los Angeles branch rhartager for Metro. John Flinn returned from two hionths in Ne\y York and Washing- ton ori Government business. X^vier Cugat's home damaged $300 worth by : a Christmas .'tree fire, caused by a. careless cigaret smoker. Nap Harrison, screen publicist, dis^ charged from the Army Air Force after 50 missions as a ball turret gun- ner. ; W. I. Fabrey, Hungarian cartoon producer, in town to helpi Hugh Bar- man with five U. S. Government shorts. . , •. Lieut. Richard Webb, formerly with Paramount, returned to the old home lot to make an Army training filni for Uncle Sam. Freddie Bartholomew's Christmas gift from Uncle Sam was the right .to deduct $14,402 from his 1944 income tax to cover legal. expenses of the battle for his custody. singer, to record exclusively for .Decca upon his discharge from the Army. Pittsburgh By. Hal Cohen SinKor Sliciryj Lyiine okay again after having her tonsils removed. . Playhouse's ne*t show will be "Daiiie Nature," which opens Jan. 3. Dale Harkness, 7th Avenue hotel bandleader, in.hospital for operation. Jackie Heller opened a four-week engagement at Club Roy ale, Detroit, Sportscaster . Bob Prince and his family have left, for a month's vaca- tion in California, : Dick ■ Averre unit has set a run record at Hotel Roosevelt's Fiesta Room. .Now.in 32d week. Dan Dixoii Und his Airliners have replaced the Ike Robinson Chocolate Drops at the Hollywood Show Bar. Mary:: Martha Briney, nitery and- radio singer, guesting with Pittsburgh Symph at special concert riext month: Marty Schramm'? foursome has had. its option af Hotel Hi»nry's Sil- ver Grill picked up for 12 weeks more. Mexico tity . By.Dairclas i,. Graliame Yiiri Sablin, Russian dancer, sock hit at Wa.ikiki nitery. . Cihematograflca de duadalajara will- make four pix next year. Ranion Oban, top Costa Rican radio writer-pro^liicer, here on biz. Slation XEJC opened . new plant and studios to handle increasmg biz. ■ Elias Seiman Drake, distributor of Mexiciui pix in Chile, here booking for 1945. ' • Manuel Gonzalez Calzada quit as manager of station XEB to resume, pic work. - Fu Manehu.- magic, will open at the;Teatro Fabregas after he :finishes his la.tesl pic. Salvador Ossib. sales manager of Posa Films, back from a business trip-to Rio- de Janiero. ; Raul de Anda. pic producer, ha.s bought a portable pic-making, equip- ment from Axel Wennergren. Joaquin. Marti, distributor of Mexican pix in Venezuela, back to Caracas with a trunkful of films. Clasa studios. Mexico's biggest for pi.\. has installed a restaurant for staff, players, producers, ineggers. National CineinaloBraphic Indus- try Workers Union has a new local. No. 49. covering newsreels and com- mercial shorts. Carmen Guerrero supplanted Gloi'jii Lynch. Chilean actress, in the lead in "The Shadow" th-'t Tiio Goul is producing. Lcopoldo Ortin, veteran comic, b.ick to the stage after a long ab- sence ill pix. He's heading new musical at the. Teatro Arbeu. AKon.so Sordo Noriega, ace radio spori.-! commentator, obtained official lellerinir. XEX, for the 5,000-walt st;"(ioM he is le-tdying to start here. - ■ " ' - ' T -•--■ | '- . '--- V Holly wood Lloyd Bacon ailinf; with an infect- ed eye. Gail Rus.scll laid up with nervous Indigestion. Alan Ladd reiurned from tour of service hospitals. William Bendixes adopted a five- year-old d.iughler. . Walter Winchell to Florida after a muhlh in California. Joe Nadels celebrated their 3bth weddiiig anniversary. : Dr. -Raul Bobb, Brazilian consul ■ general, hosted by Walt Disney. Jeahette MacDohald returned from six-week ojaera and coijcert tour. ^Rudolph FrimVs son. William, playing piano at the Beverly Tropics. . Louis. Lurie in from Saii Tcaiicbicu to check over his various film inter- ests. • . - Sherriil Corwin, Orpheurh theatre • ("oj^y^'"""' from appendec- James . Grainger. Republic presi- dent, in from New York, for the holi- -.days. , Latie Adolph Rami.sh bequeathed $10,000 to the Motion Picture Relief Fund. .Peter O'Crblty.and Don Diamond checked out of the Russell Bird well agency, ■ ., . Merle Obcron announced her in- tention to divorce Sir Alexander Korda.. Miklos Rozsa lecturing on screen AngeleV ^"'^''^^''y of California, Los J. ^^"''ence Bates to Sari Antonio for A»i "9''days after playing in "San Antonio." Metro sending out Ziegfeld Follies -Slfndars, decorated with glorified 'heesecake. ' *rank Cot'lan. former screen moo- nicmbership includes 25 MexicaM.<:, 22 Spaniards, three Cubans, an .^nlcri(■nn, a Greek, a Peruvian and a Javanese. i. Pic iiidu.<li y's own bank, ' the Banco Cliieniatograflco, S. ■ A., fi- n.-Miared the -biz to the extent of $6,260,314.25 iMcx)—$1,359,000— up lo Nov. 30. Jose Calderon announces start of work in mid January on big and modern pic studios he and asso- ciates will build at Ixtapalapa, D. F., local^ suburb. Congress is debating a bill for a federal tax on amusement ad- missions, legalized betting and liuvury items to provide funds to feed undernourished children. . . Cinematographic Academy, pic acting school run by the National Cinematographic Industry Workers Union and. the Ministry of Public E^ducation. lias'6^6 students; 423 of thrtn, fpmmes. Chicago Judy Starr; Hollywood singer. In town to visit hubby Jack Shirre, who is stationed at Great Lakes. .Abe La.stfogel, head of.USO-Gamp Sho.w.s. Inc., was in for conference with Hal Halperin oh more activities in the rniddlewest. Art Goldie took over as manager of the Latin Quarter last week. Jerry Pdcggel, former manager,- resigned to make home in California. Jimmie Confer, Chuck Foster'.s vocalist, .<!tarrfed in "G. I. Dream'' mu.sical drama, aired over WBKB, televiviori statioh.'.Thursday (21). . ' Greta Christensen, RKO starlet, has retired from pictures, and will make her home in Chi with hubby Maurice Golden,' M-G-M talent scout, Jack Kapp. prez of Decca Records, while here last week .signed Corp, Bob Ebcrlc, former Jimmy -Dorsey Fred Allen Continued from page 1 synthetic of all, in a highly .synthetic biz.- Trouble, he d.eclared, lies with shuttling gag writers, whose sole in- terest is to peddle a joke; or two. in the hope that it will ultimately lead them into a film writing job with big money. Result, Allen believes, is that few Coast comedy shovyrs have any true ihdivifluality . and many sound alike. He believes it's an unhealthy situation fbr the busi- ness—few involved "are thinking about forribrrow.'" Will Stick t» N. Y. . If Allen returns to radio, this fall, he'll start virtually from scratch. His writers are in the Army; he has no manager, having split with Walter BatcKelor. and three of . the main- slays ,of, his troupe, John' Brown, Charlie. Cantor and Alan Reed (.Teddy Bergman), have bought, or are buying,; homes on the Coast Notwilh.standirig, AUeri will broad- cast,- if at all, from N. Y., where, he feels, far more material is avail- able in all directions. Meanwhile, pending a de.cision, Alieii is writing mag pieces ihe's done one for "Variety's'' Anniversary issue next -week) and helping pub- licize his new film, both through in- ter vie\vs and radio guest ishots. He was on "Info Please" Xmas day, and will be on the Milton Berle show, Jairi. 3. when. it shifts from the Blue to-CfiS. On the newspaper end,, he fays he's met more interviewers thaj) he knew existed and frbni "treep" papers, hitherto unknown to him. One gal, he insists, was the .ttra'-t'esl thing he ever saw. ''She- had no teeth, a dirty neck, and wore a coat that looked like it was made from fur a ferret discarded after one audition." MARRIAGES Lynne Roberts to Loiiis Gardella, .SaUmje. Ariz. , Dec. 16. B ride is a 's7re*e)VacT'i'S!i.s,'grolI>lil il Vrtl"U.'rj£.ii: Carol Deere to Cpl;-Dale Rowling, Los Angeles, Dec. 17. Bride is a .screen actress. Isabel Lopez to Tom Alfred, Hol- lywood, Dec. 17. Bride is a dancer; grooni -a Paramount publicist. Katherine Jane Baynes to Ensign James William Hoppers, Dec. 3, at Jackson, Tenn. Groom is a former announcer for W'TJS, Jackson, and the Mutual network. Patricia, Smith to Sigurd Bock- man,-: Pittsburgh, Dec.. 18. Groom's with Pitt Symph Orch. Reva Rosenberg to Lt. Haskell Goodman. Pittsburgh, Dec. 17, Bride's the daughter of M. A. Rosen- berg. Pitt exhibitor; Betty Klein to Cpl. Charles Price, Valley Forge, Pa.; Dec. 17. Groom's an ex-WB-manager now convalesce ing at Valley Foisc overseas wounds. - BIRTHS Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Vaughn, daughter; Santa Monica, Cal., Dec. 20. 'Father is on'20th-FO3C publicity staff. Mr. and Mrs. William Kaplan, son; Hollywood, Dec. li. Father is Metro unit manager. ■ Mr. and Mrs. Hal Halley; (;laugh- Icr. Hollywood, Deic. H. Father is independent, publicist. ' Mr. and yifs. ' Eddie ■ Wcitz, daughter, Pittsburgh, Dec. .13. Father's the band-leader; and mother's, the. former Gerry Hicji- ards, his-vocalist. Mr. and Mrs. Carl Erdeke, daughter, Pittsburgh, Dec. _ 16. Father's WB manager in Greens- burg, Pa. CHRISTOFIIER II. BUCKLEY . Christopher H. .(Chrisj Buckley, whb entered the motion picture the- atre operation bu.siness in ■ Albany, fi. 'Y., 20 years 3Ao, died in Benning- ton, Vt., Dec. il. He owned two theatres' in the Vermont town, the General Stark and the Community, : Buckley, widely known in New York a nd Hollywood, began .in the real estaie piz in Albahy, Through one of his really transactions he. ac- quired the Leland. for .vears oper- ate(i by f; F .Proctor . He later ac- quired the Clinton Square and ih.e^ Empire ^Jpii<--Falls, Ni Y. Buckley presented firs! talkies musical flinis in Albany. Harmai. 1. Bleecker Hall, long a ' legit house and later playing a combiiiation-pol- icy, wis the third Albany theatre which Buckley obtained: Seeing that the future wps in. th<» picture, end, he suggested a larger theatre for Albany'. RKO thereupon fliianced the 3,800-.seat Palace, which opened in 1931 -with a . va'udftlm. policy. Buckley, rated wealthy, became its pperatbr. follo-wing a heart attack*. She had been mamed four (lays before taSgt. Forrest Brayton in Las Vegas, JTev. Best known on the .screen, as lead- ing lady, in several Charles Chaplin films, Miss Kennedy spent several years on the Orpheum. circuit atjd the legit stage. She was once mar- ried to Busby Berkeley, dance direc- tor.' -■ . HABRY L.\lS'G.DO\ Harry. Lahgdon, 60; film comedian, died. Dec: 22 in Hollywood.; after twq weeks'^ illness culminating in a heiart attack. Once a cartoonist and later a. vaude headliner, Langdon. became a fllin actor in 1924 in a. series of twb- reelers produced by JMack Sennett His success in short pictures led to u contract - with First National, . for which he starred in a number of feature length, comedies, with Frank Capra as director. Best known of his pictures was.'"The Strong Man," in which he played the role of a weakling. For a time Langdon faded put of the Hollywood scene but returned a few years ago as a gag i-iian. and writer of comedy sequence.'; on vari- ous lots. Recently, he came back as ari actor in a series of Iwo-rcelei's' at Columbia. JOHNNY M.\RVIN Johnny Marvin,. 47, singer and songsvriter, died Dec. 20 in Nprlh H(jllywood after a heart attack. His health had not been robust since his entertainment tour of the South Pacific with Joe E. Brown last year, but he kept up his camp show work and otfier activities until stricken with the fatal heart .ailment. In vaudeville at the age of. 10, Marvin wrote numerous western ballad.s, .'amone them "Dusf and '"Goodbye, Little Darlin'." He wais one of the earliest to cut we.stern tunes for records; beginning in the early 1920's and continuing until 1939. Associated with Gene Autry in the music publishing business, he wrote many of the cowboy star's film .songs. Surviving are his widow and two children. ARTUKO: CORTl -Arturo Corti, 71; Sa.Nopiiohist for j Tioyt; Than '^vc::rs. Died Dec. IT in : '• rcnce. Italy, he ciijiie .'States .iboiit IBPS:' He. (\aa a soloist for many years with Spusa'slbahd, Banda Ro.>^sl( and ;he Royal Marine band. . ; Survived; by; wioow, ',-,\-o daufh-. ters, a brother and a .«lster. ROBERT P\RKEK Robert Parker, 43, .'Vnrei.icin -nlm script writer, who had Ln;;;(iworking in Mexico City for cVbout a j-ear, d'ied as a result of poi.sbning in that;city; last week. Police state that i'; was a case of suicide, Parker. liaviMy taken poison after a quarrel w;ih;h;£ wile, Gladys, a Puerto Rican. >i:... ...._J!i!E>t BONOSHU . Neil Bondshu, 28: 'oand iciuler, died in San Franci.sco. Dec. 22. De- taili in Orchestra .-(cclion. Sam ilsrdwick 'Clark, C5. founder and publisher of Jim Jam Jem.--, died Dec. 20 at his-home in Los AnHeles. For a time he was hi.ayor of .Minot, N. D., .where he published the .Mjnot Reporter: Moving to Calffornia in 1936, he published Hollywood Life and Hollywood Red Ink until his re- tirement two years, ago. Paul Allison, 41, radio announcer, died Dec. 2.1 at his home in Lof Angeles after a brief illness. He had been .with KMPC for eight months, moyirig over from KMTR. Surviving are his widow, son and daughter. ^ . Joseph C. iSherman, 52. former, screen writer and pre:ss aijenl. died Dec. 19 in Tucson; Ai iz.. where he was a public relations executive for Consolidated Vultee Aircraft/Corp; '^i| DR. NATHANIEL MEF Dr. Nathaniel Lief, 51. dentist, musicomedy author and Broadway first ))ighter. died in N. Y., Dec. 21. He had written lyrics, books and Sketches for several mu.sic.nis and revues and had often collaborated with his brother. Mix Lief: stage and screen writer. Dr. Lief helped in writing ' Pleas- ure Bound," produced in 1929: the third "Little Show" in 1931: "Shoot the Work.s," "Hey Nonny . Nonny." He had also done skits for one of the Earl Carroll "Vanities" and "Greenwich Village Follies." He was a rhember of the American Society of Composers, Authors.and Publish- ers and Dramatists' Guild. Survived , by mother and seven brothers. " ■ . CAPT. JAMES W. COBNER James W. Corner, around 25.'a captain in the Army, was killed in action on German territory Dec. 2. He was a legit a(:tbr. Deceased ap- peared .in "Brothisr Rat" and other shows. Douglas Corner, a brother, is also, a captain in the Army and. also in Germany^ but no word from him has been received recently. In dif-. fererif American armies, thej' met by chance, after invading Naziland. They wrote about that, and a fe-w days after the letter was reeeived the casualty telegram arrived at the home of Corner's parents. MEBNA KENNEDY Merna Kennedy, 35, former stage an4 screen actress, died suddenly Dec. 20 at her home ln:Los Angeles, B'wajr Legit Continued fro;n p.-ige I Then one bowed in late la.>--t week' and two more joined the li.-l this week for a total of seven .up to New Yearns. • But there are at least six more to come, three tryiiig out cur- rently. In the music and dance cl^s-iifica- tioh - so far this . .season .-.uch pro-^ dtiction is far aflead of la.st ytar, too, when there v;cre 14 mdsical.*. .tix .of w hich w ere floppero^^ow niuch money was wasic'a"TipofI~the"lii'i ic-r has never been counted, but. the casualties doubtlessly cast more than !fl,000,000 for such mi.slakts as "My Dear Public,' "Dream With Music," "Allah Be PraiJiedl", "Jackpot." "Hairpin Harmony'' and "Bright Lights." Up to this l!me there has been but one musical /liv. "Rhap- sody." TTie percentage of clickers therefore is 'way ahead ol 1943-44, too. The production forecast for 1944- 45 indicated that there would be plenty of sb-called "oiiUside" money to back shows, and that was also accurate. Estimated that there are 200 non-manager angel.s willing if not anxious to. put: their coin into productions,- and that" number is constei-vative. : It i.s probable that the flow of moola from outside the the- atre was inspired .by sufh hits as "Life With Father" (still at the Em- pire) ^and "Arsenic and Old Lace." Even'Howard Lindsay and Russel Grouse, the producers, say v they- never actually counted the number of persons with pieces of "Arsenic." And "Father" has-quite a number of people who have been getting profit checks front Oscar Serlin for five yeau. .Wllfle -prpduction Is on the; upr gtade the quantity does not measure up to :that which prevailed when there were nearly 30 theatres oper- ating on Broadway and the road was vast compared to the present. But it's certain that Broadway hasn't vamped, as some iheatrlcel soothsayers forecast S'dozen years ago, and those -who like to gainble can name their own odds that It never .will.