Variety (Apr 1945)

Pix Studios in Radio to Stay But Postwar Budget Slashes Seen Due Radio directors ol the major film < companies and their agency con- tacts are of the opinion that the cur- rent large-budget expenditures on the air by the film.companies will be jomewhat curtailed alter the war. but the film industry will still be an important nadio customer. Current overall gross by radio from pictures amounts to nearly $10,- 000,000 per year, which includes local shows sponsored by the major film companies, spot announcements ex-, ploiting openings and present attrac- tions on local outlets, and special promotional programs. After the war, according to plans being blue- printed by the major film distribu- tors advertising-exploitation depart- ments and agencies now, the adver- tising dollar will revert back to its pre-war state of division among vari- ous media, but more money will be spent on air promotion than prior to the current conflict. Before the war, it is pointed out by various admen, radio promotion and advertising began to pay off suc- cessfully, on the basis of per dollar spent in this medium. So that, now. when the pic companies are looking forward to the day : when publica- tions will again be able to accept large compaigns from the film in- dustry, with the release of more and more newsprint, radio figures impov- tantly in the plans of the majors. The film companies have definitely (Continued on page 22) Wanta Bet It's Wet? Los Angeles, April 3. ■ V-E Day means Dry Day in this vicinity, according to Ray Adams, prexy of the Southern California Tavern Owners As- sociation.. Not only taverns but retail and wholesale, liquor stores will shutter for the day as soon as the good news is flashed from Germany. FDR, Labor Heads, Stars Set for Closed-Circuit Radio Rally for 7th Loan Washington,. April 3. The nation's corps of Seventh War Loan salesmen will meet in Mutual Broadcasting System stations from coast-to-coast Saturday afternoon (7) for a closed-circuit rally over the network featured by pep talks and specialties from Government leaders^ and stars of Broadway and Holly- wood.: Program will be piped from 1:15 to 2 p.m. Dinah Shore Invited To Sing With Philly's Robin Hood DeU Orch Philadelphia's longhair concert- goers will get a pop singer when Dinah Shore sings at the : al-fresco Robin Hood Dell, July 5. Dell man- agement in the past, has frequently injected a lion-classic name, but it's usually been with a classical tie-in. Thus Paul Whiteman has frequently appeared there to do a program of Gershwin music while Benny Good- man clariheted. concertos. There is no such tie-in with Miss Shore any more than there was two seasons ago when Judy Garland was a guester. Dell has also set Jeanette Mac- Donald for July 19. While this is considered another . concession to the non-classicists, Miss MacDonald is expected to set herself with the longhairs with operatic and light opera airs before doing any pop stuff. • Both dales are being played oh a guarantee and percentage. ; SCULLY'S SCRAPBOOK Berle Faces Philly Rap In Broken Club Dates 146th WEEK! KEN MURRAY'S "BLACKOUTS OF 1945" El Capitan Theatre, Hollywood, Cal. "Other shows nmy vunie and b'O— need 1 say inure?" AL JOLSON. We Never Knew That Anyone on 'Variety' Looked Like An Philadelphia, April 3. The B'nai B'rith organization in this city is readying a protest to Equity against Milton. Berle for twice within six weeks failing to Washington portion will lead off i honor contracts calling for his ap with President Roosevelt followed by Sec. of the Treasury Henry Morgen- thau, Admiral King, Gen. Marshall, the AFL's Bill Green, ClO's Phil Murray and others. Bob Hope and Bing Crosby are skedded from Holly- wood along with Frank Morgan, Di- nah Shore, Joan Davis, Rita Hny- worth, Orson Welles, Edgar Bergen, Betty Grablc, Van Johnson, Kay Ky- ser, Jerry Cooper, Fred Astaire, ct a). Music contribs will be handled by Mark Warnow and Harry James orchs plus songs by Crosby and the Metopera's Robert Weede. Treasury participants include Ted R. Gamble, m.c, Ned Shugrue and Tom Lane. Event is latter's brain child. In addition, brief statements will be read from Henry Kaiser, Walter Gifford, N. W. Clement, Don- ald Douglas and other industrialists. Platter of the program will be taken off for broadcastings to the general public at later dates if bond: drive leaders so decide. 19th Century Schumanns Next Longhairs Into Pix Hollywood, April 3. Metro handed Clarence Brown his first musical assignment as producer- director for "Long of Love." Story concerns Clara and Robert Schu-. mann, pianist and composer respec- tively of the 19th century. Film will be based on a play manu- script by Bernard. . Schubert and Mario Silva. pearance at functions sponsored by the group. Initial instance of the comic's fail- ure to show up occurred Feb. 25 at a donor rally in the Academy of Music attended by 3,500 members of the lodge who paid $12 per person to get in. Berle, who was to. get $2,000 for the date, asked out one week before, because he was. booked into the Roxy, N. Y. He offered to pay- the ' difference between the $2,000 and the fee to have Frank Fay, Belle. Baker and Bert Wheeler appear. He also said, according to those in charge of. the affairs, that he would appear here on the cuff, at another affair scheduled for April 2. ' On the strength of Berle's promise to show, B'nai B'rith hired Town Hall for last night (2), plus an orch and a supporting bill, going into the hole for $1,500, which came from the organization's charity fund. ■ Yestci-itoy--- mwu4»s- iMe&doy), Berle wired the committee that he was grounded in Jacksonville, Fla., where he had gone to entertain troops at Avon Park. Leonard Or- ion", chairman of the,affair, said that he checked with the airlines and they said there were no planes grounded between Florida and Philly. • More than 2,000 persons showed up, members and prospective members, entering the hall free of charge. Everybody did a burn when announcement was made that the comedian wouldn't show. up. Memo to the Editor: What happened to me should 'only have happened to Sinatra. All be- cause I made the mistake of wearing a bowtie and have been accused of looking like a road company of The Voice—if you look real fast. My mistake was to accompany Sinatra to a Little Italy rendezvous of choice antipastp, and I wound up very anti-bobbysoxers after Ihe' paslo they almost gave me. The guy. they were after—Sinatra — lammed it through an open window across the backyard, but I did it the easy, frontdoor way. It wasn't so bad when they climbed down the sky- view lop of our taxi, but the insult- to-injury was their added ire when discovering I wasn't Sinatra but just another undernourished guy who happened to wear a bowtie. And I'd like to have had a rec- ord made of what that Columbia recording exec, Manie Sachs, who was with us, said after both of us took the rap for The Voice. P.S.—Sachs, incidentally, is just an undernourished guy who doesn't even look like Sinatra period. Bernie Woods alias Wood ♦ mmmmmmm By Frank Scully «"'» «»<>♦;: Futurama, Cal., March 31. Believing that "Variety's" duty to Its readers does not end with theatre grosses, our slanguage professors at the Jack Conway College have been hunting down the direction words and their meanings will take in the new world 1 order. People who scoff at long range planning will certainly not find much on which to feed their negations at the San Francisco conference or at San Quentin across the bay. The trend seems to be all in the direction of cooperation, mutual aid and a new language to handle a hew world. It will be more basic than basic English, more confusing than Esperanto but easier to learn than French. There are inmates of the world's largest canitorium, which San Quentin Is, working on 10-year plans. Because it runs under the beneficent baton of. Warden 1 Clinton Duffy, San Quentin is known- among the underworld cognoscenti as the original Duffy's Tavern. The "San Quentin News'.'is its trade paper. Here are some samples, as proof of the trend, which the rag is carrying among, its classified ads: "Wanted, partner. I am looking for a keen, intelligent, alert, quick- minded young man as partner in a mind-reading act. One doing. 10 years or more who will be willing to study and apply himself, Great possibili- ties. Apply the Office of the News.' Ask for Brains Monahan." Another advertises: "Palmist. Will read your palm and foretell the- future accurately; 17 years' experience as mitt-reader, with largest carnival".. in the world. I have helped thousands. Ask for the Professor. Sundays in lower yard." Still another: "Lifer wanted to go on 50-50 with me in purchasing a $25 I life-subscription to 'Reader's Digest;'' Taking no chances on these verbal contracts or unwritten.Atlantic Chartcrs. he adds, 'Answer by letter'." A fourth advertises: "Wanted, music copyist: men with experience in transposing preferred but inexperienced help will be trained if their quali- fications are satisfactory." Lt. Cdr. Eddie Peabody (Now Ex) Radio Guesting Eddie Peabody, vaude headlincr rc- _s.ejjtjx dispJiaEged; Jxm:. t.he_ : .N_v.y. where he was a lieutenant command er at the Great Lakes Naval Train- ing Station, Chicago, will .be doing radio guest shots before coming east. First commercial airer will be on April 7 for the Miles Laboratory "Barn Dance" emanating from Chi- cago. Others are being, lined up . by the William Morris Agency. BEARD EAST FOB LEGITER Hollywood, April 3. .Monty Woollcy winds up four months of guesting on the Rudy Vallee .airshow April .12, heading east for a Broadway stage-show.! Adolphe Menjou will replace. Joe L Brown's Repeat Overseas Performance Joe E. Brown has gone overseas again for USO-Camp Shows, for his fourth such trip offshore. Left Coast last week with a variety-unit of four people. Comedian will be away 10 weeks. And for a clincher: "Lost, a Dream Book, last Monday in the big yard. Needed badly. Please return to the.Office of the.News." . New Phrases Almost any letter in the modern underworld alphabet is so full of new twists and surprises as to confuse anybody resting on his dialectics since George Raft first flipped a silver dollar on the silver screen. Observe how far behind is "bumped off." Once as lethal a phrase as the language af- forded, it now means nothing more than losing a seat on a plane to some animal with a higher priority, Already it has been supplanted by "blazed" arid even that is fading.fast. In San Quentin their, goods are more durable.. How would you: for, in- stance, define words like "little brother?" Louse cage? Made? Mainline? Mark? Mechanical rat? If you heard a guy. say, "Well, I tell you I got a license to pack my little brother," would you know the diplomat meant a small revolver? You know what a louse is, but if you. heard two characters say, "The clerk of this louse cage is going to charge us extra if we use the flit;" would 1 you know he is referring to a cheap hotel or a hat? He could be referring-to both. - ' . Most people think they know all the implications of "to make,"-but the modern underworld uses it for small time larceny, ie., "I don't mind being made for my cigarets but now I got a lot of useless matches left oyer." If you heard a guard say to a prisoner, "i don't care how hard you worked on it, you are going to stick to the main line," would you know he was referring to the ordinary prison fare as opposed to food 1 from the Vbonaroo?" If you heard a prisoner say to another, "He is so full-of lead that the. mechanical rat blows a fuse when he walks'through it," would you know that the mechanical rat is the electric eye-detector which is used to supplement the guards? "The McCoy" alone seems to have held its meaning through the years. That gives you some idea as to the changes which are already in the hop- per, and if speakeasies are functioning again you may as well know what the mobsters are talking about. It was not paying attention to what dreamers like Brains and the professor Were teaching that probably fin- ished off Flattop, the Brow. Gravel Gertie, Shakey, Measles, Pruheface and May and June, the Summer Sisters. Spitalny's Arena Tour? Phil Spitalny's Hour of Charm orchestra may tap a new field, the arenas and gardens, on the same setup as he's clicked in concert., -...inbn.. H....Hwi*-.aoi_L_his.' "eaieral. manager, George Tyson, came in from Pittsburgh to huddle Spitalny for a tour of the Arena Managers Ass'n stadia at a reported 50-50 from the first dollar deal. - WYKN SUIT BACKFIRES Los Angeles, April 3. Mrs. Verna B. Maloncy filed a $10,000 counter-complaint against Keenan Wynn's $80,000 damage suit for Injuries sustained in a traffic ac- cident Mrs, Maloncy declares it was the actor's fault Wynn has been In- the hospital ever since his'motorcycle and Mrs. Maloney's car Collided March 11. v Concert Songstress, 14, Gets Big Offers After Bow Highly laudatory notices accorded Elaine Malbin upon her initial con- cert 'last Saturday (31) in New York's Town Hall have excited con- siderable comment on Broadway. Child, jmcal nrad'gv- who ' s „ not v et 15, packed Town Hall, and early this week offers were made for appear- ances in several directions. Sigmund Romberg, who is in Mexico City, asked that she come there by plane to sing with his concert orchestra and also with the outfit's radio pro- gram. Telegraphed message was received by Dr. Leo Michel, Miss Malbin's uncle. The medico, w.k. as a physi- cian to show, people, is expected to handle her professional appearances. An offer for her services-, with an- other, name orch was also received, but the girl's mother will keep her in school for the next two or three .years. life With a Gagman's Son —.—_ By Alan Lipscott , :— Junior Cashes In ....... ._ Sacramento. April 3. How babies cash in on unemploy- ment insurance was disclosed by Sen- ator John Shelly as an argument to exclude minors from such benefits. Five-week-old child .played about two minutes a day for two weeks in a Hollywood picture at $200 a day. When, the kid returned to his cradle, his parents collected full unemploy- ment'insurance. Dear D addy: Hollywood, April 3. When will your show stop working the camps? I miss you so much. Will you please come home when I'm awake, so I can look at you r face. Otherwise I will never see it again, because you will have it buried in the big green file in- the closet. Daddy, will you play with me again, like you used to when you were demonstrating fountain pens and fruit peelers in the window of Lemke's drug store? Gee; we were all so happy then. Cut- ting pictures from comics is much more fun than cutting jokes from books. Even mother don't play with me anymore. She's too busy every night, sitting by the radio with a pad and pencil and all she ever .says to.me is "Shh, be quiet!" Once, when she was angry, she told me you never would have married her if she didn't know shorthand. I sent you the benza- drene you asked for by parcel post; also the 21 "Insults," the 31 "Mar- riages" and the six "Easters." (Remember your promise daddy? I get a nickel for every one that's a boff.) Mother wants we to remind you not to forget to.mention the butcher's name in the next broadcast, so we can get that steak, and also that she's gonna have a baby. ■ Nothing else daddy, except Al Schwartz called and said if you don't please stop using Bob Hope's jokes, some day he'll come into pur house and suddenly close your file, which naturally would crush your skull. Also the drift' boarcT caiied,' They saTd tliey heard'your last' show »'>d you're not essential. Your.lovin'son, • Pliilo. Todd's Coast Tan Hollywood, April 3. Mike Todd heads east Friday-(5). He's been sunning himself for three weeks at Joseph Schenck's Palm Springs abode. ' , Marx Bros/ Pic Return . Hollywood, April 3. Marx brothers are returning to the screen through a profit-sharing deal with. David; Loew. Their first pic- ture, still untitled, is slated to roll in August. GroucHo, Harpo and Chico have been away from films: since 1941, when they appeared in "The Big Store" under a Metro'contract. Hon Oscar for Tokyo'Rip' Hollywood, April 3. Nipponese version of this year's Oscar Derby was won by a picture titled "Rip Down the Stars and Stripes," according to radio reports registered here.:. . .'■'.-■'- Tokio production was awarded 5,000 yen. the price of a small Amer- ican bomb.