Variety (Feb 1946)

RADIO MUSIC STAGE PHbUshed vWceUly at 154 West iCth Stiopt, Now Tork 19, N. To by Variety Singla cot>l'<.i. 2S cents. Kiilered' aa aouoiid-ulut^s matter Decmtibcr 2'.!, 19Uf>« .at the 1*oat. Oftice ut. New Yorlv,. 1*4^ .Y,, .under llie act oC Muruli 3, 1879. COPYKIGIIT, l»t«, MV VARIKXV, INC. .AIX. KKJHXS KICSISKVISU VOL. 161 No. 9 NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1946 PRICE 25 CENTS DIALERS SOUR ON FREE SUGAR Picture, Radio Names Doing Sizzle AtWyiingtoD K Lindsay-Crouse Worry About State Of Their Bankroll: Adding It Up Is Murder! Piircliase of screen rights to "State* <)f the Union" by Paramount last' week may well turn into the high- est price ever paid by Hollywood ior a legiter. If the picture is mod- erately successful, authors Howard ^liiSsay and Russel Grouse and pro- ducer- Cieland Hay ward could very conceivably divvy up much better than $1,000,000 as their, share. ' Deal is a 50-50 proposition be- tween Par and the authol's-produoer combine fitter all costs are taken out. Included in the charges are $300,000 which Par is paying right away to liincisay, Cvouse and Hay ward for ■writing and producing the legit ver- sion of "Union," • plus approximately 3i''i of the gross which" Par will talte out as its share for handling dis- tribution of the film. Other co.sts. of course, include production of the picture itself, printSi advertising and publicity,. Rough- estimate of tlie divvy can .be gleaned by taking soma' figures (for example. First, it is assumed tliat tlie negative cost will be around Sl.000,000, which is a likely figiirc. Add 'to tliat the $300,000 the autl«)rs and producer have already received, Tlieii, using a standard industry rule, add about $700,000 as the cost of dis- (Continued on page 57) iNEwlraCAL MOVE VS. SHOWBIZ Sliowhusiness is in danger nf be- coming a political footbliU in the 1946 and 1948 elections. Long a tar- get of vilification by the couiiUv's nglitist wing, showbusines.s is now coming under range of criticism bv a section of the Republican party ^mch franldy aims to put the na- „°;; °" a conservative diet. Loader o'lbe group is Pittsburgh steel mag- nate Ernest T, Weir, who is scndins; . l«''*°rs- to businessmen out^ "'I'tig his objectives. nrtiff^ ^^'^^^^ in pari: "Much dmcai propaganda emanates from oganizations that are avowedly rn,,' ^""^ political such as the communist Party and the CIO-PAC , • • • i-ins IS more or less, direct and (Continued on page 63) WeFnamesIiedge 0n p:a/s1n soph's pic inrt^^n!'^ Tucker, having m.-'de an mm production deal with John t'<in,i^"'^"''' *»er autobiograpliv, 'Some of These Days," is roiuul- Dav f^'"*^. "'■•'•"y Showbiz greats to "^''cipate in the film. ticl.,"?^ '^^ <ion't want to par- telin jr be-only a bit, ifiirot I. ■ their marquee names C\ Pi-otected—also well paid Harry Von Tilzer Biog For Screen; Dickers On Hollywood, Feb. 5. Deal is expected to be consum- mated shortly for screening lite of surfgwriter Harry Von Tilzer, who died a few weeks ago. Harry Fox, trustee of the Music Publishers Pro- tcclivE Assn., is currently here to ma lie the deal on behalf of tlie Von THzer estate. Fox has been huddling with a number of companies, primarily 20th- Fox, which purchased Iroin him recently "Hello Ma Baby,", biOg of Andrews Sisters Face Steel Strike Shutdown; Other Sponsors Scared Continuance of the steel strike may result in cancellation of tlio Andrews Si.sters Wednesday night .«liow on CBS, sponsored by Nash Kclvinator, ; However, the sponsor is holding off on a definite decish until the end of the month, pending development in the strike situation. It would be the first top-budgeted network show sponsored by strike- bound corporations or auxiliar.r out- llts dependent on materials held up by non-production. Strikes and general economic situ ation are also affecting other radio Ijankrollers, some of them being ready to pull in their horns for a vv'fiile until conditions clear up; Tliere was a report last week that Lever Bros, has nixed a summer replacement package, which would liave cost $20,000 for the hiatus period, on the grounds tliat it doesn't like the looks of things economicalb". ROSE CAN NAB 2 MILLION IN PAR'S BUY OF BIOG Hollywood, Feb, 5. Purclune by Paramount of Billy Rose's biography this week will not only give the midget showman an estinralpd $1,500,000 to $2,000,000 in the next 15 years!, but at the ehd Of (hat lime all. rights to the biog will rovcrt to him. ' He figures that by lOGl .so much more will hove hap- pened in his life, he'll be able tO sell five biog all over again. i'ic will carry ttxe same title as the Maurice Zolotow book, which Random llouse Will publish, "Billy Rose' of Broadway."' It will go Into, production quickly and be timed for i(>l!.-:i.so simultaneously witli the book. Ro.sc's pact With Par is probably llic ktrgost individual deal of its kind ever made, since lie splits profits w itli tlio company from the first.dol- lar after costs of production and dis- tribution. Contraot provide.s that Par can use- hi more than 10 min- utes of material out of any of Ro.se's sliows, such as "Aquacade," "Jum- bo," etc, , , , MIFFED llPLENiy By GEORGE RO«EN Fear of nation-wide audience re- pri.s'al.s in terms of boycott may nip in the bud the wholesale trend iu Commercial radio fowai'd hypoing listener interest via contests. At a time when the top radio sponsors are switching from the wartime in- stitutional phase of programining. into a "sell goods" era, the bid for increased audiences and' higher rat- ing.s has cued in recent months a contest-consciousness by bankrollers. The "I Can't Stand Jack Benny" so- licitation of letters, the car-a-day giveaways by Raleigh ■ cigarets, the $10,000 Guy Ijombardo song contest are typical examples of the postwar bid to reach additiorial millions of radio listeners, ■ : ' ' But today some radio bankrollers and advertising agencies' arc ques- tioning the wisdom of inviting a boomerang. For every one who cashed in on the "I Can't Stand" gag payoff, they seem equally con- vinced that there are now thousands of disappointed contestants who, in all earnestnes.s, can't stand Benny and the product he peddles on the air. And that, they contend, goes (Continued on page 57) Win by Esquire Backs Pix-Stage Censor Fight U. S. Supreme Court decision in the Esquire mag case Monday (1) gave strong encouragement to pro- ponents of a move, recently much- discussed,, to figlit state and municiT ■pal- censorship, of films and stage shows right up to the highest tri- bunal. ,, -Attorneys specialising ;■ in Con.stitutional law have been con- tending tliat viewing and scissoring of -pix^ and plays by governmental units could be eliminated by push- in,:;.a legal test, and the Esquire de- cisioii gives them a load of ammuni- tion. Court: wfis unahimous in repudi- ating tlio order of Frank C. Walker, former Postmaster General, barring E.squire froni second-class mailii).!?. priviiegos. In doing so. Justice V/i]^ liain O. DUUgla.s, who wrote the opinion, look a broad view in sup- port of the Court of Appeals docision oppo.siiig the right Of any gOycrn- jnentai^ageivcy to '.'compel,; accept- ance of its literary or moral stand-, ards rolatinc to material admittedly not'oiisocnci" "VVhal is good literature, what ha.s educational value, what is refined public information, what is good art, varies with individuals as it does from one generation to, another," Justice Douglas Wrote... . "But a re- quirement that literature or art con- rorm to some norm prescribed by (Continued on page,2): Tarmers'Use Radio Vs. UNO Dispossess With many of Connecticut's peas- ants in ermine exelcised about the possibility that the United Nations Organization may move in and evict them, WOR (N. Y.) this Week acted as the. relay voice for the protesting squires. Protest meeting held at a school in Stamford, Conn., last night (5) vyas arranged for wiring direct into WOR news room in New York, Spe- cial eventer Dave DriscoU planned to air the gripes over WOR -for 25 minutes, beginning 11:35 p.m.. then to send a platter of the .beefs to London for a playback before the UNO full committee on location. Theatre Television Held Possible in N.Y. For Louis-Conn Fight Possibility^ that fight fans who can't crowdr their way. into the Yankee Stadium, N, Y . June 19, for the Billy Conn-Joe Louts bouti might be able to see the fight via television in a Broadway theatie, was seen in the statement of several Paramount execs this week that the company might have its full screen-sized, video ready to go before its presently- scheduled August date. Paul Kaibourn, chief of television operations for Par, said the company was trying to get the systern ready j "as soon as possible, but there are ! many difliculties involved." .Another Par exec declared thcr,e was a good possibility the company would be able to demonstrate the system "sev- eral months'' before August. Fact that Stanton Griffis, former chair- man of Par's exec committee, is chair- (Conlinued on page 63) With film and radio names doing a burn whose smoke could be de- tected all the way from New York to Hollywood—and particularly in Washington—on the treatment, they', received at the President's Birthday Ball in the capital last week,, event may well turn out to have been the last of the annual shindigs. Metro is bearing the brunt of the acrimony, film and radio names (and their flacks) not tied up with the coni-, pany moaning that they "won't play . extras again in a Metro production." Squawk of the pixites" is that Metro's Van Johnson and Margaret O'Sricn took'all the play, through the resourcefulness of Carter Bar- ron, majordojiio of the Loew inter- ests' in : Washington. Wails of the radio names, however,, wore evea louder, because they didn't get to any of the birthday balls which were being held throughout the city. They, sat this particular dance out in their hotels, , ■; Mad as anyone were execs of the National Infantile Paralysis commit-, tee, under whose aegis the annual capital parties are held. Headed by proxy Basil O'Connor asA a p.a., committee , took the radibites to (Continued on page 57) SONJA HEME REVEALS Rin WITH HORIELAND . Cliica.go, '"eb, 5. ■ Rift between Sonja Henie afad thc people of Norway, her. homeland, was reported here last , week, in The Vilving, Norwegian-language sheet printed ill Chi. Pete San.stol, re- porter for the publication, wrote liiat when, lie' interviewed the nkatcr at tlie Stadium .prior to her ioaving for N. Y. with, her 1040 '•Ilollj-wood Ice Revue," she told him .she'll havo ''nothingmore to do with Norwegians," because the last, time she visited Ilorway she was aalccd to leave the country. , Sanstol .said he asked Miss Henie t6, sand greetings to Chi's Norwegian colony, atid that was when , she gave him the ice treatment (non-rink variety), ALso told him that, the break willi tier people, which grow out of the war years, came about be- cause they think she didn't do enough for Norway war relief, and that she's disappointed in them, be- cause. She said, slie did help, BlAY PLAYS IN TELETRYOUTS VIA NBC Hollywood, Feb. 5. Three steps of great importance in advancing television as a prae-- tical show bi7. medium have been, taken during the past week. First is a deal concluded by John Eoyalv NBC veepee over video, with the Author's League of America where- by NBC-RCA will televise plays by Authors League-Dramatists Guild members prior to legit staging. Idea is a pre-production preview by Avhieh managers v/il I be able to see tryouts of plays witho.ut. expense, to themselves. It'll: be. a new form of legit break-in. Second important step occurred in (CentirtUGd on page C3) :■ BOGARISETASV IN STORY OF 'VARIETY' Hollywood. Feb. 5. Humphrey Bo.'^art is now dcfi-' nitely set for. the: Simc Silverman role in."Mr. Broadway," Warners' picturixatioji of the si »ry of VAMEir arid its late fount'cr. Switch may still be made, hou'cve", if producer Jerry Wald succeeds in present ef- forts to borrow S'lenccr; Tracy from- Metro for the part. ■ Meantime, preparation for filming, is going alirtad. with Richard Brooks doing, the screenplay from the orig- - inal by Variktv editor Abel Green.