Variety (Mar 1946)

SCREEN RADIO MUSIC STAGE HOLLYWOOD ON THE HALF-SHELL Protestants Warn Pix Not to Play 'Sugar Daddy to Indecent Novelists With a warning to the film inc|us-f- ti'y not to play "sugar daddy'' for publishers of indecent novels, the Pi'olebtant Motion Picture Council at its einmiHl luncheon on Monday (4,1 announced plans to extend its dis- til Ijiitioi) of advance ratings of Hol- lywood's products on a national scale 111 194fi. Dr. Daniel A. Polinsj, ectitoi' ol the Chi'istian Herald, the ' Gouiieil's sponsoring agency; Ray- mond Massey, and Francis S. Haiv mon, V,p. ot the Motion Pictuve Asr sociation, addressed the 325 dele- gates oi metropolitan women's clubs, paronl-lenclicr's organizations^: and relijjious yroups, ■ Dr. Polinj!, kcynoting the meeting, declined that although political ccn- sorslnp ot films is basically un- Aiiiei ican, in some cases it becomes the If.sscr ot two evils. Unless Hol- lywood responds to; *be desires of infoi'ined church and social groups as reprCicntcd at the conference, siiGlv censorship will become neces- sary. He sirid that stories which vio- late just- about every decency ot liome and society appear first tContinucd on pase 62) BENNY'S l-NITER TOUR OF 'CIVILIAN FRONT' Jack Benny may go on a one-night personal appearance tour at the con- clusfon ot this season's Lucky Strilie ail show as a means of getting ac» quainted with audiences in various Pints ot the country. Idea is an out- s'nwlii of his overseas tours with USO-C;\iiip Shows, and this time his personal appearances will be with civilian aiidienCes. A,&S. Lyons olTiee ha.q already taken .<,anipling.s of reactions ot pro- moter.s in various section!?, particu- larly in Tex£^,s, who declared they would like to play Benny under any terms. No contracts have been si'^ned yet, according to Jerry Tar- gill ot the Lyohs' concert depart- iiitenl.' ■;■ :'■ ■ Benny has not yet definitely con- senlert to th> tour. However, Ciiruill claiiiK ih.1t Benny is warm to the idea, and linal arrangements may be made shortly. Arthlu- Lyons, the «i!ency head, went out to the Coast Sat. ,(2) to discu.s's final arrange- .nietits.; - i ■ ;.. .: I( Benny does go out, tour will either la.st three or eight weck.«;. dc- Pi'Mdini; upon auditoriinns, travel and Benny's physical condition. He'll cany a name band and other talciii .■itill to be selected. ^Menagerie' Understudy May Get Selznick Pact Laura Walker may land in Holly- wood, on the strengtii of her; recent understudy appearances in "The Glass Menagerie," Playhouse, N. Y., when a throat ailment kept Laurette Tavlor out of six .performances. David O. Selznick had been inter- ested in securing Miss Taylor for the Coiist but the star is under a nin-ol-the-play contract which will keep her in "Menagerie" indefinUel.y. Alter .seeing Miss Walker in. the part, Selznick made a tentative offer. La'.t week tests of her were shot, then huriicd to the Coast. Miss Walker is also serving as understudy for "Dear Huth," current at the Miller. 52d Anni of Spoor's Pioneering Magnascope Passes Unnoted in Chi Chicago, March. 5. In the vault of George K. Spoor, 74. u'tirod Chicago pioneer lilm pro- ducer, stands an old magnascope. built for $55, from whiclT developed the (irescnt-day projector and a bil- lion-dollar industry. The 52d anniversary of the fir's! pic to bn shown on this machine p<i«'-cd with hardly a murmur last week The lilni was .shown Feb. 23, 18i)4. ill the old Phocni.x Opera House in Waukenan. In 1893 Spoor obtained some bioken films used in an Edison kiiKMo.-.i'ope opeialcd in a peep show in the Ashlancl Block at Clark and Randolph street. He took the film to E. II. Amet, a Waukcgan mechanic. Ainef built the first machine to pro- ject movies onto a screen. . Thi-v al.-o built a camera, poi- I'bl-aling iiTachinc, and printing' ma- chine. 'lian-iiiiH the film out to dry on a lower 30 feet high Spoor or- yaiu/cd the Essanay Co, in 1908 and (CoiVtinucd on page G2) . Spi Jiive Jones ta Add Circus to His Corn Hollywood, Marcli 5. Sj)ike Jones and his "City Slick- er's" band will hit tlie i; d this summer to play state fairs, conven- tiorv, elo. In addition to musicrevv will add bareback riders, flrc- looii leajiers and clowns and put on "\o-liour novelty performance. Unit will tour with own .sleeping and bai-jjaqe cars and will :tart imikc'l in May. Hughes Sets Trans-U.S. Commercial Air Record Hollywood, March 5. Howard Hughes set a new com- mercial plane record Monday (4) in a flight from LaGuardia Field, New "^ork, to Burbank in nine hours and 46 mi miles, Wreaking the old com- mercial lecord of 10 hours and 4« iniiuitcs. Hushes piloted one ol the new Lockheed Constellations over the TWA route, and had 12 pasicn- ■gers aboard. They included Mr. and Mrs. Wilr Hani Powell, Gary Grant, Betty Hen.sol, Mr. and Mrs. Danny Kaye, Linda Darnell, Prince Carl Johan Bernadottc of Sweden and hi^ bride. Gov. M. C. Walgren of Washington, Dr. Louis Marks, and Johnny IVIycr.s. personal representative for Hughes. Party left LaGuardia airfield at 5 a. m, (EST) and arrived at BurbanU at U;4« a. m. (PST). PICTUBE CflPITm iofi[ mmw By ABEL GREEN Hollywood^ March 5. Hotlywo'bd on the half-shell today i.s more sophisticated than ever. No longer the "lost horizon," its mental attitude is more alert, the "grown- up village" aura has disappeared, and the awarenes.s about the rest of the world seems truer than ever before. The vagaries are still there, as they; are also in any other creative segment of the U. S., whether Taos, N. M., WoSd!ltodk,N. v., or Province- town, Mass/ But OH the whole, even the natives, i.e., the show biz na- tives—and they, of course, are ex- patriates from Vienna and Wahoo, Kas., from Pans and Waukegan, from Broadway and Sioux City—are concerned what tire easterner thinlw about them. , , In this town there i.s an intense desire to manifest appreciation of the better things, and there's a satisfac- tion that the auslander recognizes this new appreciation. It's mani- (Continued on page 62) Radio, Pix, Press, Tele Set for UNO Radio, television, film and pre.ss coverage of the United Nations' Se- curity Council meeting, which opens in New York March 21, is going to be one ot the most thorough shows ever staged. All other coverage to date, including the UNO;Assembly meeting ill London; and the UNO organization sessions in -San .^Pran■• (Continued on page 12) Miami Refutes Excessive-Price Raps; Magazine Blasts Held Unwarranted $5,000,000 in Kitty for 1st Of Chi's 'World Fairs' .. Chicago, March 5. Mayor Edward J. Kelly's com- mittee to get Chicago's first annual "harvest festival" rolling this fall, as detailed in VAiiWrr, Feb. ,13, an- nounceij Saturday (2) that they've got $5,000,000 on the line from private sources to finance the; first of the projected series of "World Fairs" for the city. Long^ange plans, according to Barnet' Hodes, corporation counsel and exec director of the private- citizen group planning the shindigs, are to "make each; year's spectacle greater than the previous one." Kate Smith-Ted Collins Crack at WB Pic Gets Byron Price's Action Hollywood, March 5. r Byron Price, in charge of Coast office of the Motion Picture Assn. of America, has made protest to Ted Collins and Kate Smith, charging their invidious crack on Friday's (1) noon airer, to effect that "I've seen 'Three Strangers' ... go by it fast ... it's terrible'.' is a gratitous slap at Warner BroSi MPAA exec is reported asking the radio figures how they'd like it it the films started making cracks at radio shows or at sponsors' product.s, like food. (.General Foods is Kate Smith sponsor). Crack versus "Strangers" came on heels of a Smith' plug for Para- mount's "Road to Utopia," which made matters doubly sensitive!.- Licensing Plan for Screen Writers, A la ASCAP, Proposed by Jim Cain Hollywood, March 5. Licensing plan, instead of outright sales of jicrecn stories, and a rating fund, along lines of the one used by ASCAP. should be established for the benefit of, all Screen Writers Guild members. So James M. Cain declared last nignt before the open board of: directors meeting of SWG. Cain appeared before the board to ask SWG backing ot Kctti Frings' legal action a.gainst David 0. Selz- nick as the initial step in a con- certed plan to protect writers' lit- erary rishts and better the position of pictuie penmen, Selznick previotLsly is reported to have ollcred Miss Frings $10,000 for her slorv; "I Know You," in order to kill it When she declined, stat- ing price was $50,000*—and she wanted it produced—Selznick put other studios on notice, a.ssorting it int'rinced on Henry James" "The tContinucd on page 12) "By LARBT SOLLOtVAT Miami, March 3. Blasts by Time, Newsweek and Life; against Miami in recent issues have added furrows to the brows of nitery operators and hotel owners in this area. Most of them are squawk-^ ing to city officials «n "weakness'' of city's official publicity, which is sup- posed to present the better side of the resort to.the national press.' In many cases the griping seems to be warranted for, as they point out, the high tariffs listed are way off. If that kind of money (.$1.75 for potato salad, $100 tabs) is around, they haven't been .seeing it, they claim. Nor do they have price. Iisl2i; warranting that kind of tab. Many of the big spots claim that major part of their, biz comes from' minimum prices, -with one club oper- ator insisting that on some Saturday nights there is over a thousand dol- lars left by payees who do not drink up the minimum. Average minimum in most rooms is $2.50 weekdays, $4 Saturdays. Dinners run from $3.50 to $6.50, and there's a $2 average. (Continued on page 57) Atomic Talent Will Get Real Chance to Prove It The Joint Task Force in charge of the atom bomb tests in May in the Marshall Islands will give entertain- ers an oppprtunily to claim they're really atomic performers. JTF is planning to have talent entertain the ob.=ervers while waiting for the big'blowup by dispatching enter- tainers to the Mar.shall Islands to disintegrate risibilities of Army and Navy personnel, congressmen and newsmen. It's planned to u.se four or five show troupes to entertain aboard various vessels while preparations are under way for the finale, The entertainment crews will leave this country before May and.will return in about six weeks when the tests are completed. ' TWO ROOSEVELT BOYS IN SHOW BIZ; PIX, LECTURES Show biz will be; reinforced by the Roosevelts, with two sons'of the late President ioining its ranks shortly. v James Boosevelt will re- join the film industry within SO daya, a deal now being set in N. Y. FDR's eldest son was a v.p.. of Samuel Goldwynj Inc., and exec producer of Samuel Bronston Productions betoj-e going into Marine Corps in 1941. New assignment will; not be in the pro- duction end. His brother, ex-Brig. Gen. Elliott Roosevelt, has been signed to a lec- ture tour for next fall by W. Colston Leigh. Although details"of tour have not been set, it's intimated Roosevelt will talk; on the aims and policies of his late father. Meantime, in Hollywood, Elliott's wife, Faye Emerson, has a.sked for and received her release from a Warner contract to resume private; life with hor husband. 'Tarzan' Siire Swings Fancy Coin for Author Hollywood's prime; literati money- maker isn't, as recent faney deals for screen rights 'would indicate, th« author of any current best-seller. Rather, , it is vet writer Edgar' Rica Burroughs, who has received a total , of more than $3,000,000 for rights to hi.s lamed jungle-man character, "Tarzan," it was disclosed this week. Current "Tarzan and the Leopard Woman," produced by Sol Lesser, is th'e 28th film in the series. First was made in 1918 and theyVe av*** aged one a year since then. Bur-, roughs' - current cut on each piff turned out is a flat $175,d00, «asi\r (Continued on page 62)