Variety (Sep 1945)

SEP e SCREEN RADIO MUSI€ STAGE riililiiaheil VTeeklj' >t 1!>< Weat 4Cth Street, New Tork IS, N. T,. by V.-irietr^ Inc. Annual irul>9crlp(ion, itO. Sincia copies, St coni«,: Eiilered >■. secaud-ulaiis niuttet' DecenibiiT a, IDUi, at ilia I'ust Q![\ua ac New York, ti., v., uiidor tt» act ot Uaicii.«, 117* " COM'KIGIIT, ]!)4.t, RV VAKIGI'Y, IKC. ALI. ItlGIITS 'BKSKKVEIl VOL. 159 No. 13 NfeW YORK, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5. 1945 PRICE 25 CENTS FIX BOW TO HEP CUSTO Film Companies Ask Army Officials To Probe GI Racket on Rentals Film company execs have reportr t edlj' aslted Army olflcials .to. look into the allegedly grpwing practice by some Army personnel of showing ■1(5 mm. entertainment pictures in this GOLiirtiy. Thmg has reached the pro- poi lions of a "racket," it is s>aid. .Ai'inv olflMrs, reportedly booking ci\ ilun '■uhib dates" for their e'ltue pinjecUon paraphernalia at a stipu- lated tec, poqketfaig the dough with . /nobi>dy supposedly the wiser. . Major distributors point out thai the entertainment pictures aie given lo the anned forces free oX -charge vi ith the understanding that 16 mm. piint^ of major company releases . would not be shown in the U. S. Secondly, these Army men are com- .petmii vvith exhibitors who- have paid tor the right to Show the plc- . lures oil ,35 mm. screens in rcsiilar ' civilian..theatres. ■vArmy personnel allegedlv have -rented out their entire scieenuig set- ups: to social clubs, shown the pic- .> lures in ciimps and other; places. II . the "rycket" doesn't stop proiiio, ac- cord ms; to one film compaiiY excf, Armv personnel may be involved in ^/aSCilKcl^l. '■, '. V-;.;' yj;: ■■V-;;:..-.;;,,;. :■: Detroit Cafe Supplies . Bi^ With Nitery Show Detroit, Sept. 4. Customers at Mickey's Stiow Bar in this eity have been introduced to something new in nite club enter- tajninent. In addition to drinking; dancing and three acts, the owner, Mickey Jarvis. now gives his patrons pictures. .- " Playing thi.s weck is Major Glark Gable's "Com|)at America. " Coming ne.\t week. "The" Battle of Russia." (Hid) Mencken Cites Torture' Time Mag; Prefers 'Variety' Quick Death III "Supplement 1" to Ins cKi'.sic, "The American Language," II. I. Mencken pays a renewed tr.ibi.itc to tUe stylists of "Variety," saying that he nuich prefers their way of wvd- in'j. lo lhat practiced on Time. Time wrileis torture Eviglish where ' Va- ricl.v" vvriter.s simply use word.-i that are natural to them, but new, at leas^i tu readers who don't know Bioad- .wav or speak the language ol show busnuiss. But in his just-published ' Suoploment" Mencken makes , a ■ niislakei ' .,' . "' ■ ' , He licit only Writes out a Xamou.s heading; in accepted English, but puts the .WJ'Ong: word first. But he ex- .plains. the. famous heading correctly. It read "Stix Nix Hi.\ Pix" and was written by the late Al Grcason. who was a graduate of Columbia;and a'-iociatcd with "Variety" ffoni its ■' 'eavHost days. - ■ ^'^';; ■! ■.' , Though It is not generallj known , ■ . ^Continued on page 51) Jap Conduct Cues USO Pacific Plan Army reqiiircmcnts for troop en- tcrtaininervt in, the Pacitic .frorri here on ;)n;will be determined upon Jap behavior once occupation of the Jiipane.se homeland starts. Until it's determined how they'll act, the War Dept. it's believed, will hold up ,ils VrJ entertainment, setup from USO- Camp Shows. Whil'e the Jap envoj's are presently bowing and; scraping and feeling ,\:ery , sorry , tha,t they started , ,the whole thing, the Nip antics are liable ■to change, once American troops occupy Japan in force. It's not in^ coiieeivable that suicide squads mak- ing banzai charges will; harass the? occupation GI.s. Consequently, it's believed'that the V-.i entertainment blueprint will be held up until it's known what's likely to happen, ; However, the War Dept. by re- quisitioning 18 new units for Sep- tember indicates that present re- quirements will be normal. It's still not- known whether they're destined teonlinued on page 22) , BWEO FILMS lEPLIlCE 'CyCLES' 'Gyeles" of screen product have becomtj' so unpopular, in' the last 10 years that today most distributors have turned against a cycle or trend towards any definite type of picture. ♦Instead the industry is leaning on;a ^balanced program ot musicalsy gang- ster productions, melodramas; com- edies and war pictures. : . This industry*.attitude stems Xrom the; growth in inteUig5,nce of the" average picture theatre audience. Rrobably the best tipofl on how the' iintelligence of the,'theatre audience: jhas grown in the la.st decade i.s (shown by dratt-figures. Only, about b',( who iaced selective service were raledi'as illiterate, and'.few, of the.se were born in this couiitry. ' This gradual increase in mass in- tellisence is reflected in the diversit,y ot interests by the better educated. This in turn sjiows uip in demands-bf film patrons lor a variety of screen tare. Even the terrific impact of the , (Continued on page 22) ■ Radio, Pictures Can Do Terrific Job To Reconvert Naze, Says GxmA Ike Aussie Looking To U. S. for Performer.s .. Sydney, Sept. 4. With Australia slowly recovering from V-J, Aussie shpwmen are now looking overseas for talent. First executive to head for the U. S.. on talent-buying trek is David Martin, chief of Tivoli circuit and Minerva legit theatre holdings. Mar-, tin plans to build ^additional legit and va'ude- theatr-es early next-year. Following Martin on a talent quest will be Sir Ben Fuller and E. J. Tait. Arkansas Riled At 'Over 21' Fi m Slap Little Rock, Sept. 4. Avkaasas is plenty sore at Colum- bia. Pictures over a running ;ga£; in; ■the' conipany'S ; comedy, "Over 21.", Glenn Green, director of publicity .for the state, says he's plenty riled at repeated references in the pic- ture to a mythical ''Crocker Field. iArkansas,''. to which none of the Avlny's OCS- graduates want to be traitsterred'because it is dosciibed i^s "20 miles from nowhere" and "m a Swamp."' ■Giicen's office is lodtaing a com- plaint with the Will Hays ofl'ioc and U leqiid&ting all Arkansas thcaiies to refrain, from booking'the pic. Suing Wife Blames Pix For Inability to Meet Mate!s-S.-A. Demands Chicago, Sept. 4. A Chi housewife secured soparutc niiunteiianco m Judge Charles, E. Byrne's Superior Court chambers last AV'enk on :gro,unds that h^r hus- band'was .«o infkicnced.by movies- he sa\v that he wanted, her to>"act like ; Lauicn BacalJ. one night and Ma\- lorie Main the next." She never could meet his demand that she equal film sUmdi'.rds for wives Type of character he wanted hci lo be, 21-year-old Shirley Adlcr tes- tified, depended upon what tyiie of pie her husband, Melvin, 25, , had seen (hiif night . . ;, ' I - Judge Byrne awarded her $22.50 a week temporary support. He also told Mr.s. Adlcr it she and her hus- band ai c reconciled they should stay away from movies. EiNFELD PARTS WITH WB: RESIGNS Hollywood, Sept. 4. S. Charle.s , Eiiifeld has resigned from Warner Bro.': ellective im- mediately. He plans h vacation; The spilt came about over a new deal. Onevof the key men in the Warner organization, and: considered among the indu.'^try's- leading figures, Ein- fcld's deoarUire from Burbank con- cludes an afliliation , of 16 years; Ostensibly vice-president in charge ol publicity and advertising for WB, Einleld , has' long since gone beyond tho.'-e deflned limits. His executive activities have included matters of policy, production, finance, distribu- tion, and theatres; • Not generally known is that Ein- fekl was a housic manager of the original Hlaza theatre oh 5?th street m New York,, a, famed spot iiv its da.v- -fw^-iiv —r-umpus-raiifiTrg—Parir A\enuc balcony clientele. But his (Continued on page 3> 5-7 Odds 'Okla.' Plays 5 Years . With the new season oh; a.s of this Week, plus iiidicatioris of highly competitive production, the longevity of the current Broadway hits is a matter ot speaulation among show people. , J „■, Odds are'qupted at 5-7 that "Okld- lioma!" (St- James), -which has com- pleted two and (5ne-half years on Broadway, wiU achieve a five-year run. It would break all records foi a musical.' Two bets are known to have been made on the staying chances of "The Voice ol the Turtle" (Morosco),;now in Its third si^fison, Ftve-tO*one that the romantic comedy, will play into next June i.s one wager and the ofpef at even money stipulates -it will, be pn.Broadwa.v in June, 1947. , ■ ;• ''Life 'With Father," longest-run-, ning comedy of modern times, enters lib seventh year in November. Play moves from; the Empire to the Bijou at the end. of this week and in the new location will .start a policy of two' Sunday peilormance.s, with MondEV dark. Bf ABEL GRKEV Frankfort;-Germany, Sept. 4. The terrific job i'adio can do in a denazification "program-; extending Irom 15 to 20 years was stressed to V: S. ether, execs on a European; juillcet by Gen. Eisenhower, who re- ceived them here, and Gen. Robert McClure, chief of the intormation control division, who; luncheoned groups in Wiesbaden on Wednesday ■(29).', ' ■ ■ J ."""Eisenhower pointed out that" the" homefrbnt radio can educate Ameri- can parents as to 'the need for an 'occupation army\^nd a military con- trail, aitlS^d at insuring peace. " Thitrg!; was no government when We, to'oK'over, he said, and now the four powers" must enlist ladio and screen facilities to gel Goi mans back on the democi^atic road. The Gcp^ral'iileolare^, thai 85)000,000 Ger- mans' -^re *'i/(jpc>ftant to the world's peaceful future .and added tlrat part ot a long-range program includes Iceeping them from starving and treezjng tp_ death this winter. Qen. Mcijlure conducted , an open (Contittiied-on page 22) New Orleans All Out ' To Recapture Prewar '" New Orleans, Sept. 4, . Now that the'Avar has been tucl:ed away. ><ow Orleans is shifting to • peace-time, pur>iuit.«, going all out to regain hci" -reputation as a •winter amusement center' She has large- scaic plans .'for po.st-war <lcveltip- mcnl. .- ; AnnounceiTicnt was made Thurs- day. Aug. 23, of the organization of Greater New Orleans, Inc., com- prised ot leading indastrialists, thea- tre men and (rilizcsn-s,' which through a vyst national aclvertising and pub- licity cainpaign' will go after tourist business in a big way. Hcibert J. (Continued on page 51) ^^iMiiiiMniiiiiiiiuiiniiinHiiiiiiiiHiinHniiiHiMiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinmiHniinuuHWiiHiiHVHHiiiniiiiiiiHin 1st Tel ivir ion Theatre | Will Be Built in.N. Y. | A television theatre, first ol it*- = kind in the WC.rld, will be built on o2d street and (ith avenue in New = York-Cily by Samuel Augeiiblick ' = who last iveek (29) purchased the = piopcitv at auction for ft873,000 tron-i' S the City ot N. Y. i Au^ifenblick. a real estate opcratoi < ^ and .builder, outbid 'William Kltin. 1 g Shubert attorney, and immediate]^ h . nnounccd his plan to eonstruct f thcairc and office building on the site, which is near Radio City, Un- derstood lliat ho will build the tc'c theatre for resale to well-known N. Y. theatrical investors. To iVlr. BOB WEmiAN | I^ltinugin;! Divorloi: 3 l^irainoiiiit Tlicatrr, INt-w 'i'ork • 1 Many Thanks for (Ct Most | Pleasant Six Weeks Engagement |- , . The Girls of | THE HOUR OF GHARM OrclVesirV 1 _ • .. ' . CoiMhu-lctl by ' 1 I ' . Pliil Spilaluy I iiiiiitiMiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiHiiMitmiiiiHiiiiUHiiiimniiihiHHimi iiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiHiHiiiiiiiiiiiinntininiittlliiuiliiS