Variety (Apr 1946)

4'46C SCREEN RADIO MUSIC STAGE Pobllalicil Weekly at tE4 West 46th Street, New Tnrk 19, N. T., by Varlet7, Inc. Annual ■abavrlpllon, lit, BInEl* ceples, 2S eeata, IDoleiett aa ieeond-cliuia matter Decenibei-'2'J, ISIOS, at the 1*061 Onica at Now YorK, N. .T., under tlia act o( Marcb 1, lS7t. COPTHIOHT, I»I6, BY VAKIETr, IKC. ALL RIGHTS RtBEBTEU VOL.162 No. 4 NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 1946 PRICE 25 CENTS $20,000,000 IN TIN PAN GOLD 3-Year Boom for Pk^ S • . ■ SuiA'ey of prospective business conditions in Standard and Poor's ' The Outlook" last week predicts healthy profit^ for the motion picture business as long as the industrial boom is on. According to the .re- s£arcli marketing agency tlie general boom should last approximately three years. Pix biz is classed with such industries as brewing and distilling, coal, drugs and cosrnetics, Isoaps and steel, which are expected to move up and down in liarmonj^'^vith industrial conditions. Although pix costs arc expected to rise the expansion of foreign business and elimination of excess profit^ taxe.'^niake the proftt outlook favorable. It is pointed out,, however, that much depends upon whether inflation gels out of hand.' 26TRYOUTSIN OUT-OF-TOWN fOLDEROOS • A ■ flop production crop unpre- cedented in show business has been reared in Broadway's "backyai;ds," the'ti-yout towns. Up to April 1 .thcrp had bfen 26 tryouts witlidrawn without, showing on the main stem, one of the strangest features of the 1945-46 period apd an all time rec- ord. One major musical flop, "Spring in Brazil," figured to have dropped oyer $300,000; all the others being straight plays, including a re- A'iyal. ■ ■• ■ The failures were not only those (Contiuued on page 63) Cops Snag Dancer And Dnnuny for lewd' Act After 15-Md. Run Cleveland, April 2. Police chief took a terrific ribbing • last- week when liis over-zcalous gendarmes pinched Gail Parltfer. so- called "Devil Dancer," for an al- leged indecent performance at ■ Lenny's. Cafe. Even the cops who prnched her, after watching Miss fsi-ker dance with a Mephistopholcs dummy 'that made passes at her, .\Vc.i'e a bit confused. "Where have you two limbs of the (Continued on page 40j -Nathan, Shakespeare Collab on Coast Preem Pasadena, April 2. George Jean Nathan's "The Avon Flows." will be staged at the Pasa- dena Community Playhouse, May 15- 26. Play synthesizes three of Shake- speare's dramas, with a twist, having Romeo and Juliet settle down in marriage'instead of dying. BATTLE OF THE BULBS (EDISON) ON B'WAY ' Broadway - wise attorneys arc brushing off their Blackstones and ■ preparing to carry the Battle of Lights into the courts, with the poser b'eiiig: lf^*)ap bubbles are olmy on upectaculb*. what's the matter with 'loliabga "l^^ane"? - ■ Problftm 'becafne acute last week. Cops stopped a new flicker (in somethipR like Technicolor) lighted. ■ atop • 1485 Broadway, between. 42d a.nd 43d streets, by a newcomer, to -the spectacular field. Animated Ad- vcrtismg Co. This outfit projected •16m Castle films of "Ichabod Crane" sind"Little Black Samijo" on a spe- cial 0xl2-foot screen. A crowd of 5.000 stopped to look. The police got hold of C. L. Thompson, inventor, wlio had put up the new sign, and (Continued on page 27) N. Y. Critics Nix Play CJioxe Again For the second time in rec(jnt yeiars the N. Y. Drama Critics Circle failed to name a "best play" of the season at yesterday's (2) meeting. Nor was. there an award for a for- eign play. But the reviewers gave a special citation to "Carousel," .soon to celebrate a year's run, and it thecefore belongs with the 1944-45 product. Nearest to copping the Critics' award was "State of Tlie Union" which got seven votes but needed at least 10 in order to win. U had been intimated late last (Continued on page. 57) Big BONANZA SPLIT By ABEL CREEX .Almost $20,000,000 per year from just two avenues of its industry, not to mention the ever-multiplying in- come from {Standard hits for their Hollywood film usage, puts the mu- sic business in the best economic position in its entire history. Some $10,000,000 in phonograph record royalties in particular spells a growing bull market' for music publishers and songsmiths alike. ASCAP accounts for the other $10,- 000,000 annual potential. And there's no estimating the total gross from sheet sales. As assistant treasurer Irving Cae- sar reported at the annual meeting of the American Society of Composer.s, Authors and Publishers, in New York, the 1945 gross income exceeded $8,881,000 from a total of 29,489 licensees (radio stations, theatres, hotels, niteries, etc.), or a net of over $7,244,000. As industry expands, the music-in-industry potential alone may exceed the v.'ildcst expectations, (Continued on page 62) Shows for Detroit's Automotive Sesqui Fete Detroit. April 2. Logit and nitcry talent are being lined up in N. Y. and elsewhere for the scsquicentenicl celebration which the city of Detroit. In con- junction with the Automobile Assn. of America, is sponsoring May 31, June .1 and 2. City, will be cele- brating its 150th birthday, and the auto industry its 50th. Heiiry Ford drove the first auto but of his yard June 4, 1896. Thrcc-day celebration will include a community pageant, representing progress of Detroit from Revolu- tionary days Friday (31). and dinner that night when auto industry will (Continued on page.GS) JesseFs lOG Roxy Date Hollywood, April 2. George Je.sscl will draw the heavi- est salary of his career when he col- lects $10,000 weekly at the Roxy, N. Y., in advance of his latest 20th- Fox production, "Do You Love Me." Jessel will open with the film "Dark Corner" around May 8. . Following his last curtain call, Jcsscl will devote his full time to film production, aside from radio guest shots to exploit his pictuies. WALLACE DONATES HIS BOOK GRATIS FOR FILM Screen rights to fiis book,, "60,000,'- 000 Jobs," have been given by Sec- retary of Commerce Henry Wallace to the Independent Citizens Com- mittee. James Roosevelt, ICC exec, has turned over to a committee of Hol- lywood writers the job of studying the volume to determine if a screen- play could be based upon it. If de- cisipn is affirmative and a script can be worked out. ICC will seek a pro- duction deal for it, Roosevelt said. Legion of Decency in New Steps To Force "Cleanup of H'wood Pix Package Deal-:-1946 Hollywood. April 2. In Friday's "(29) Daily VAi.-iirrv an ad oA'ering an apartment for rent, including owner's talent and ability—in exchange for a movie contract. ' 20th to Produce 6-8 Big fix in Eng. London, April 2. Twentieth-Fox is planning to be- gin full-scale production in ^n.^land within the next year. Prexy Spyros Skouras told V.MUbTV that his com- pany is' forming a new producing outfit in England named 20th Cen- tury-Fox-Brltish Productions, which will produce six to eight super fllrns annually, averaging $2,500,(H)0 each. Skouras said he's presently negoti- ating for property to biiild a massive studio with six sound stages involv- ing close to $2,000,000, which will be erected according to his plans. Pro- duction . chief Darryl'F.'. Zanuck is expected to arrive here early in Au- gust to supervise the l^uilding opera- tions. Zanuck will appoint an exec producer to take charge of the new studio at that time. 20thTFox prexy declared that, be- sides laying 'plans for the new pro- duction outfit, he's also huddling with J. Arthur Rank regarding an expansion of Gaumont-British oper- ations overseas. Skouras said the production plans called for an inter- change of British and U. S. star?. Par s Gear-Image Theatre Tele Set; May Bow M Conn-Louis Fi|^t • An almost 100% increase since last Ifovember in pictures classified "ob- jectionable in pai-t" by the Legion of Decency has been the subject of huddles by reps of the Catholic or- ganization in New York during the past week. Monsignor John J. Mc-- ClafTerty," chairman of the Legion's board, indicated steps were in tlie making to force a cleanup of Holly-- wood product, but said exactly what procedure would be followed has not been decided as yet. ' Called .east to confab with Monsig- nor McClaflferty and Francis Cardi- nal Spellman was William H. Moor- ing, LD's unofficial repi and reviewer on the Coast. - Mooring is motion . picture editor of the Catholic Press. Service, reviewing pictures and writing a syndicated feature for be- tween 50 and 60 diocesan papers. H* is a frequent adviser to Hollywood studios regarding the Catholic view- point. . . Figures which have Monsignor McClafTcrty and Cardinal Spellman (Continued on page 26) ■ Possibility that fight fans may "be^ able to witness the Cpnn-Louis heavyweight championship bout in June at Broadway's Paramount the- atre has grown stronger with tlie report that Par engineers arc prac- tically ready to go with their inter- mediate system pf theatre television. Engiiieers have reportedly licked the fuzzy image problem by obtaining almost 95',;- perfect reproduction, with a time lag of less than two minutes from the moment the images appear on the kinescope screen until Ihey'rc projected onto, the full-size theatre screen. If ncsotiations to televise the fight are succes-stul, it's understood that the method would be used at a special uppcd-scale show. Otherwise the system will Be unveiled at the Paramount next August. Understood that at present the company would prefer . to disclose its interhnediale theatre tele at a special invitational (Continued on page 40) 'Private Network' To Air Morgenthau Henry Mbrgenthau, Jr., is going on the air with a 15-minute-commciitary program. A "private network" is currently being lined up for the for- mer Secy, of the Treasury, who had previously been rejected for rict- woTk auspices. ' Plan is to sell Morgenthau on a participating basis. ' It's reported he'il have a Coast outlet via KFWB, the Warner Bros.' station in Holly-' wood, with WMCA as the New'York obtlcl, and some New England and midwest stations included. There was some talk originally that WB was financially interested in the program to the' extent of de- fraying the line charges for the hookup. But just how far Warners will be involved in sponsor.ship of Morgcnthau beyond KFWB is not known. Radio-Phone Service For Antes m 20-Mile Range Seen by Antmnn Akron, April 2. A radio-telephone service for the motorist may become a reality in Akron by early, autumn, .accordiug to William G. Lindsay, district cojii- knercial manager lor the Ohio Bell Telephone Co. His company hps before the Federal Communications Commission its request for construc- tibii^ of the. Akron radio-telephone^ station. , ' The radio-telephone tower is ex-' peeled to be built atop the Ohio Bell building, and would theoretical- ly possess a reach withiii a 20-rnile range over flat-surface terrain. To extend this range, relay transmittois would have to be built. I The company anticipates, that it will have satisfied the pent-up dcr mand for regular telephone service installations by summer and be in position to make available equip- (Continued on page 63) : POLITICS AND HOUSING K.O. WORLD'S FAIR PLANS Foreign politics .•' together with need for' veterans' housing are the current stymies to ' Billy Rose's World's-Falrs plans in Mexico City and Detroit. Rose, who recently returned from a trip to Mexico, declared that v/o,rI: is likely to be delayed until after the elections there scheduled for Jul.v. With possibility of a change of ad- ministration, it's felt best that plans be held in abeyance until the then head of that country can okay the project. As far as the Detroit expo is con- cerned, the dire need for vet hous- ing will outlaw all amusement plans.