Variety (May 1946)

PICTUBES WwlnesJay, May 1, I944; Paramount's Television Setup Menaced If Govt Wins Scophony Suit Scophony anti-trust suit took on* krcater significance this week as it •was disclosed by the Government that under existing FCC regulations, Paramount Pictures, one of the de- fondants, will be refused licenses tet- any communications, including video stations, if the Government wins its 6uit. Leader, among the major film companies iil the television field, Par lias already sunk several million dollars into video experimentation and development, ail of which would be lost if it lost the suit. With that in mind. Par reportedly was willing to settle for a consent . decree, whereby the defendants would give the Government the re- lict asked for. It's understood, how- ever, that General Precision, of which 20th-Fox is the principal in- dividual' stockholder, stymied any move for a consent decree, desiring to continue the 'light against the j suit. GP, as exclusive licensee of all Scophony patents in this country, re- portedly has faith in the feasibility o( the Scophony patents for full- screen sized' television, despite its constant contentions that the Sco- phony system has not yet proved its -worth. Government wound up its deposi- tion against W.G. Elcock, director of Scophony, Ltd., of England, late Monday (29) night, obtaining what was considered to be valuable in- formation relating to the question of whether the U. S. Justice dept. has jurisdiction Over a British concern. Scophony. Ltd., and Elcock must now file answers to the Government complaints within the next 10 days, either admitting or contesting juris- diction. Case took its long-anticipated turn Thursday (25), date set for tiling of answers to the Government charges by the other defendants, as Scophony of America filed a counter-claim against its co-defendants, for $1,500,- 000 and "additional amounts yet un- known," with damages to be trebled under the Sherman Act. In moving'for dismissal of the case against itself on the grounds that it didn't know about the alleged mono- polistic practices entered into by the other defendants, SCA asked that its co-defendants be enjoined from in- Goldwyn's $17,500 on Spec For Gabriel's Next Book Samuel Goldwyn" is putting a $17,500 down payment oh the line for a projected novel by Gilbert Gabriel on the. period of Marie Aii- tionclte. Titled "I Thee; Wed," the work is expected to be finished by the end of the year with Mac- Millah the most likejv publishers. . Initial payment will' be supple- mented by additional coin if the book hits the best seller lists or is selected for circulation by the Book of the Month Club. Gabriel's, next book. "Love' From London," is being released in July by MacMillan. Joan Leslie Drops 1st Round in Pact Beef Los Angeles, April 30, Joan Leslie lost the first round in her suit to terminate her player contract with Warners, signed four years ago when she was 17. Judge Henry M. Willis in Superior court ruled the contract still valid, even though she has passed her 21st birthday. Case will be appealed to the State supreme court. Miss Leslie is seek- ing to end her ticket with Warners in order to accept a role in Seymour Ncbenzahl's indie production, "The Chase;" ♦•♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ ♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ MMMM » ♦♦+♦++ X U.S. Taxes Show'Poor Little Feb.' a Very Big Boxoffice Month Washington, April 30. February, a 28-day month, was one of the all-time high months' for show biz-, on the basis of tax figures re- leased Sunday (28) by the Bureau of Internal Revenue. Total admissions-(ax collection for the nation was $36,374,650. the third highest-under the 20";. bile. It was only $200,000 below the figures for October, 1945, second hishest on'rec- ord and a 31-day month. The February lax was almost $5,- 000,000 belter than January. 1946, and almost $6,000,000 above February, 1945. Almost 90 r o'of the total is cs r timatcd to- have come from film the- atres. Broadway, which often reverses the nation trend, shared in the boff b.o. Collections in the Third Inter- nal Revenue District of New York, all of Manhattan above 23d street, amounted to $6.0Q8,504 on theatre ad- missions, nearly $2,000,000 better than the preceding month, and one of the best records Broadway has ever chalked up... Manhattan's nite- „ . ... .. . .. ries also had a fine month, paying a terfering with its business in the ,, v „„„,~. u . C. ■ « . . . * . . . ... . I tax of $762,700,-which was very good, future and from voting their slock [ , llh „,l ch ;,. h „,„„, t,....^*. ' until the case is adjudicated. Ostrer Exits Rank But Is Not Joining Korda; Solo Indie London,. April 30. Maurice Ostrer, who announced over the weekend that he is pulling out of the J. Arthur Rank organi- zation, plans to produce four pic- tures annually as an independent. He will not link vip with Alexander Korda, as previously reported, it is understood. Ostrer has been, topper of Gains- borough Productions,, a Rank subsid. His resignation becomes effective Sept. 1. He has had disagreements with Rank, it is said, over difficulties put in the way of his getting stars and technicians for his productions. "Caravan," last Ostrer picture, for Gainsborough, is hitting lop grosses both in the West End here and in the provinces, Ostrer to Columbia? Reported here also that he'll sign with Columbia in the near future to produce pix. in England for that .company. Ostrer. along with Joe Friedman, Col's British chief, huddled iii N. Y. two weeks ago with Col. veepee Jack Cohn over the possibilities of inking Ostrer. Levey'* Counlerelal Arthur Levey, SCA prexy and also • defendant in the case, filed an in- dividual counterclaim against the co- defendants, asking jugdinent of. $270,- 000 and "additional amounts yet un- known." SCA claimed that the con- ditions under which its business had been. operated had been- pre- arranged by the co-defendants before the company had been born, under arrangements which the Government alleges to be a violation of the anti- trust laws. Par, Television Productions <a Par wholly-owned subsid), General Pre- cision, Paul Raibourn and Earl Hides, other defendants, filed their answers late Thursday. (25), all generally denying charges alleged by the Gov- ernment. All asked for dismissal of the complaint. Par denied charges that TP owned and operated televi- sion stations except one experimental outlet. Instead of the 50'.i. interest in DuMpnt, as claimed by the Gov- ernment,. Par declared its interest .was not more than 37'.;,. Hines and GP declared their ans- .wers to be a "complete refutation" of the Government's charges. They derided the Scophony patents, de- clared they had suffered a "complete Joss of confidence''.'in Levey and ad- mitted that they owned two-thirds^of SCA "B" stock, with.TP owning the other third. Rank's Twin Producers On U. S. Talent Quest Roy and John Boullin'g. co-pro- ducers and directors for the J. Ar- thur Rank organization, who ar- rived from London Sunday <28). planed to the Coast Monday 129). The Boultings, Identical 'twins, are on I the quest for an American .star lotop I the cast of "Fame Is the Spur," their I next Twin .'Cities-production. Hud- i dies with Malty Fox. United World Pictures prcz,'now in Hollywood, are also slated. The duo start work soon on "Fame Is the Spur," adapted from How- ard Spring's lop-selling novel. While serving in the British turned forces, they combined on "Desert Victory," "Journey Together" and "Burma although a shade below January Continued swing upwards at the boxoffice for all phases of show- business is reflected in statistics of internal revenue receipts for the month of March. Receipts from ad- missions to night clubs, theatres, concerts and the like jumped $5.- 729.400 over the same month in 1945, and yielded a total of $36,374,650. Phonograph records brought a tax yield of $399,400, a rise of $211,600. over last year. Sonja Too Neutral' Too Long Says Norse Paper Oslo, April 30. Although Sonja Henie visilcd Eu- rope, including Scandinavia, last year to entertain troops, skating star was criticized sharply in newspaper Verdens Gang here last week for "remaining 'neutral too lorii:," while her native Norway was overrun by Nazis. . Miss Henie was in the U. S. all during the war. According.to Thor Myklebost. Norwegian press attache in N. Y. during the war. who wrote the criticism,- skate star's aid was .sought for his Norwegian Informa- tion Bureau, as well as for various seamen's relief funds, .without any response from Miss Henie. "She didn't do anything for us." Mykle- bost wrote. "She stayed . neutral, a long time." Writer also coupled skater's name with ah attack.oh Kir.sten Fiasslad, Metropolitan Opera soprano, who re- turned to Norway in 1941 to be with her husband, an alleged quisling. Fox, Benjamin Huddle Goetz-Spitz on Coast Hollywood, April 30. Matthew Fox and Robert Benja- min checked in at International Pic- tures yesterday for conferences im- mediately upon Iheir arrival from the cast. The United World film chiefs huddled' with William Goetz. and Leo Spitz on release skeds. First film International puis out through UWP will be released next January. Fox is slated to return to New York this weekend. L. A. to N. Y. Ingrid-Bergman William Boyd Bernard Brant Pat Coffin Helen Colton Stanley Cortez Brian Donlevy Cart Dudley . Martin Field Sydney Grcenstreet Alex Golilzcn. Connie Haines Stuart Heisler Miriam Howell George Jessel Dave Kapp Arthur W. Kelly Henry Levin Richard Lewellyn Harry Lim Mary McCall, Jr. Wally Moody Lyn Murray Eli Oberstein Vernon Pope Mrs. N. Peter Ralhvon Kenneth Roberts Henry W. Rogers Loren L. Ryder Oliver Sabin George J. Schaefcr Ethel Smith Dorothy Stickney Ralph Staub Andre Ullman Francis Sill Wickware George Zorltch N. Y. to L. A. Ethel- Barrymore Lorena Danker Me Ivy n Douglas George Frazicr Ben KalmenSon Harry Kurnitz Gregory La Cava Charles Ledcrer Carl Lcscrman Chico Marx i Robert Milford Adrian Soott Anne Shirley Spyros Skouras. Harry Kosiner Carol Brandt Monroe Greentiial N. Y. to LONDON Gordon Bostock LONDON to N. Y. i Plane) Vivien Leigh Laurence Olivier Old Vic Co. ' A Thttmbnose Sketdi—Fred Waring ♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦By Joe Laurie, Jr.♦♦♦♦ ♦ ♦>>»>>»> t »x It was in" June, 1900, that Mr. and Mrs. Frank Waring had on hand a son named Fred. It happened in the paper mill town o£ Tyrone, Pa., one of those towns where the wild boys go to Ihe grocery store nights to watch the new bacon slicer' work. Only fireproof building in town is the Re.ser. voir. One smart guy looked at little Fred Waring and started manufactur- ing Cloverine salve, a cure-iill.. -' Fred at the age. of two spoke a fine broken baby English, He then went to kindergarten where he sang bass in the kindergarten glee club, .The Warings lived in back of the high school, so when Fred got older he'didn't have far to go. He was always playing pranks (studying to be a'parlor entertainer) and drove three teachers nuts. They would send him home and his mother would send him back. He bounced between them. His molher called him "Innocence." She was hep, From looking into the windows, of the high school after school hours Fred learned enough to go to Penn State College where he studied architecture and engineering.. By this lime he sang In three, voices, high, low and his own. He wanted to join the glee club, but .when they got a load of his tenor voice that came from between his eyes, they put their feet and thumbs down on,Fred. He stayed in college but sulked vocally. He was a senior freshman, four years in one class. The only thing he got out of col- lege was an over-sized ROTC uniform. At drill he would stand at. alien, lion, but his uniform was.at ease. He soon left college to'become de*. .ignorizecl. It was in the Flapper Era of 1917 when Fred started playing the violin; in fact, he aud'Heifetz got their strings from the same cat. But our hero became allergic to catgut and soon took up playing a ukulele. He learned how to play it with his toes, leaving his hands free for self-defence. His j brother Tom and Poley McClintlc were already making plenty of dough I (if you can call $4a week plenty of dough) playing-lor dances. They had I a small "organization" consisting of pianoi and drums. I Fred and a-friend ot his chiseled in making it still a "two-piece" bund but splitting the short dough four ways. It was the only band where the .drums carried the melody. .Fred wanted to make.it an "orchestra" so he got Poley McClintic's father's banjo and .played it, slill thinking it was a ukulele. He could play it two ways, for pleasure or revenge, lie'also' played a musical saw (which is the only blot on his honorable musical record). By now he Was a real'music lover, in fact, to this day he likes music so much that when he hears a woman sing in a bath tub lie puts his EAR to the keyhole! '...'' The first big date the boys played was for the "J Hop" at Ann Arbor, Bill Holliday, manager of WWJ, Detroit,, heard them and. figured 11 was jiist what radio deserved. They broadcast and received 1,000 fan letters, but no dough. They split the letters four ways; Fred being.manager got a special cut of. all the envelopes and made-a little dough as he found seven uncancelled stamps. The manager of the Madison theatre,-Detroit, made them an offer which they grabbed, and they stayed 18 weeks. There were no dressing rooms so they made up in the furnace room. Fred put his cheeks near the hot furnace and' saved dough on rouge. From Detroit they went to the Tivoli theatre in Chicago. By this time they had added to the band and became a big "organization." Everybody, played by ear and it the applicant couldn't play in the two keys that Tom knew, they couldn't join the band. The band was getting loo good for Fred's banjo playing, so one day Fred bought a Tollypop and after he sucked on it all day he didn't want to waste the stick, so he became the leader! j ' : GeU~M»ney-Minded "l ROACH STARTS SHOOflNG Hollywood, April 30. For the first time in four years. Hal Reach started shooting in his own lot, with "Curley," directed by Bernard Carr, as the initial entry. During the war the Roach studio in Culver City was taken over by the Army. He also sent for a book on "How To Become An Orchestra Leader." The boys never saw this book until years later, so they figured that Fred was just a genius. Fred was beginning to get money-conscious. He figured jf he could save $406 a year in 400 years he would have a nice nest egg of $160,000, not bad for just a kid. The band played and sang so loud that Sid Graumah heard them away out in Los Angeles and sent them a contract for his Metropolitan theatre, .without ever seeing their act. While in Los Angeles. Fred: got the "show-bug" and put their dough in a show called "Rah Rah Days," book by Pat Ballard and music , by the Warings. Fred was the hero and gave a fine performance as only he can admit. The paper said he was "fair to maudlin." The band doubled from pit to stage and back. Frank and Tom sang "Looking at World Through Hose Colored Glasses." They just sang; they weren't speaking to each other.. They lost everything except their instruments and Fred's baton and press nolices. They then trouped all over the country breaking records for seven years before coming to N. Y. Strand. They showed wise Broadway, which predicted failure, the greatest musical organization of its kind the big town ever saw, and were a terrific hit. Johiiny O'Connor, an old Vahiktv mugg and one of our smartest showmen, came back stage and said, "Fred. I can ■show you how to earn more dough than you're getting." And Fred *aid, "I'm doing that now." Johnny got the job as manager and still is manag- ing the organization. Their first show was for George Choos. "Hello Yourself," then "The New Yorkers." In 1933 they went on radio for Old Golds, then did programs for Ford, Bromo-Quinine. Chesterfield and now a great morning show for NBC. On stage Fred Is a veiy exacting taskmaster. He demands and Rets perfect rehearsals and shows. He works 16 hours a day. He finds relax- ing very tiring! Off stage he is a modest, bashful guy, whose voice even blushes. He can trade verbal punches with anybody; he can yawn with his mouth closed, He is nervous and hurried. He wears a wrist calendar. Believes every- thing should be done by experts, and even hires a paperhanger lo put stamps on letters. He is a great mixer. You've heard of the Waring mixer? Is married; has three, kids, and lives at Shawnee on the Delaware, where he is loved by everybody who doesn't come in contact with him. His hobby is the Boy Scouts movement 'rubbing two sticks). Was Shepherd of The Lambs and is. very proud of it. His life has been as clean .as a whistle. I don't know whether a doorman's or a policeman's, In these days when success, has turned more heads than halitosis, it's nice lo see a guy who has worked himself up from playing a uke to swing- ing an ermine, baton at a gang of swell artists, who, through his untiring cIToris and ideas, he has made the foremost musical organization in the country.. Their voices sound like 'cellos made of. maple sugar whose bows ha ve been rubbed with honey. Their .trick 'arrangements -and showmanship; are outstanding and all due to this orchestral orator, this poet in sotnicY Its the Waring method. The best success story is not about the guy who becomes a success but whose success becomes him. On Fred Waring i* look good! Kosiner West Harry Kosiner. eastern rep for Edward Small, left New York for Ihe Coast Monday (29) . to report to Small on his-recent trip to England and the continent. Kosiner returned to. the U. S. last "Wednesday (24). KORDA, GRAFT TO (LONDON Paris, April 30. Sir Alexander Korda and Cary Grant have'hopped over io London. Joseph Scidelman, who has left for Belgium, plans to plane to N. Y. from London, May 3. Popkin Heads Cardinal Fix, New Indie Outfit Hollywood. Aprij 30. Cardinal Pictures Corp.. new •»-«''«■ production Unit, was formed lure with Harry Popkin, Coast chain i :>':. hib. as president. New outfit has a program ot three pictures with an ovir-all budget of $4,000,000 for . its J94H-+7 program. First picture will he "Sheila," with $1,000,000 allocated to cover, production expeusi-s. f*'M>l ;m recently produced "And Then There Were None" for 20th_-Fox release.