Variety (Jul 1946)

SCREEN RADIO MUSIC STAGE Pnbllxbed Weekly at 1G4 West 46th Btrset, New York It, N. T.. by Variety. Inc. Annual subscription, HQ. 6Ingl» copln. 2G Entered aa irecond-tlaao matter December 2-'. 1906, at III* Post Otflce at New York, K. Y„ under the aot ot March 8, ' COPYRIGHT, 1HI, BY VARIETY. INC. ALI< RIGHTS BE8EBTKD. cents. 1878. VOL. 163 No. 5 NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 1946 PRICE 25 CENTS BRITISH CHILL MOD INVASION* Long Weekend Proves Film B.O. Seasonally Normal With OPA's K.O. A slump at the nation's film thear t trcs, which . only a few exhibitors' expected to result from the death of the OP A last week has not mate- rialized so far. Soaring July 4 holi- day week biz enabled most theatres in key cities to show boxofflee re- ceipts this session comparable with bis grosses of a year ago, despite record crowds nt competitive out- door attractions. Belief in some trade circles that film theatre intake might be sloughed with demise of price con- trol .was based on the theory that the public would spend part of their amusement dollar for heretofore un- obtainable durable goods or wearing apparel. Also amateur economists ' figured that sky-rocketing prices for food and goods would pare the cin- ema patron's spending money. Both theories thus far have not worked out, there not being any great flood of "hard-to-get" goods into stores and prices on the whole have not climbed as high as some in Wash- ington warned they would. Picture grosses bore out past ex- perience — simply that it takes a heavy channeling of money into other buying before being felt at (Continued on page 5^) Att'y Gen'l Tom Clark In Juve Delinquency Pix . Tom Clark, U. S. Attorney Gen- eral, has' indicated to a number of major companies that he'd very much like to see them do a series of shorts on the juvenile delinquency problem. He has some ideas ' on what should be said in the Alms and how they should be handled and has stated that he himself is willing to ap- pear in theni and do the commentary if the companies consider that a sell- ing point. Some of the producers have ex- pressed interest and it's believed an arrangement will be -e't shortly with Clark appearing in the scries. Joe Breen to Cue Brit. Pix on U.S. Production Code, Save Costly Cuts Eagerness of British producers to get more playing time for their product in the American market tool; on greater significance with the departure for England yesterday (Tuesday) of Joseph I. Brccn. pro- duction code administrator for the Motion Picture Assn. ot America. Brecn sailed aboard the Queen Mary at the invitation of the British Film Producers Assn., who want him to advise them on how they can con- form their product to the American code before they begin lensing their films. Besides aiding the British industry. Brcen's trip is also expected to prove advantageous to the U. S. pro- ducers, since he plans to survey the reaction of British audiences to American product and report back to the MPAA on his findings. Ad- vice oh the latter problem, it's be- lieved, will help American producers ' from repeating their past mistakes (Continued on page 54) Barber's CBS Post Keys Sports Hypo With Ted Husing checking out of CBS on expiration of his contract Aug. 8, Walter. "Red" Barber moves into the network as director of sports. Appointment is effective im- mediately. Barber's entrance into the picture is seen, as prelude to an ambitious move by CBS to wrap up cream sports events on a year-round basis. While Husing was No. 1 sports an- nouncer for the web, vesting of Barbei" with a title is cued to the new emphasis being put on sports. (Jimmy Dolan, who was Husing'.s sidekick, becomes asst. director of sports). Barber will hold down an exec post, setting up programs and hiring announcers, etc., with likeli- hood that he'll do a number of broadcasts himself. New setup will not interfere with Barber's current contract with Old Gold to do the Brooklyn . Dodgers games. Contract still has. two years to run and he'll finish it out. Husing is leaving to freelance. SAY YANKS STALL London, July 9. British film producers, slowed in their own activities by an acute studio space famine, are beginning to show a chilly front to the inten- tion of American filmmakers to ac- quire production space in their country. According to the viewpoint gaining increasing currency in Eng- land, Hollywood-sponsored projects in the cramped and restricted avail- able English studios will indefinitely delay expansion of native product: Especially unreasonable is the need for such a delay now, when demand for British pictures is far in excess of the supply and likely to remain that way for some time to come. Announcement last week by Max Milder, Warners bureau chief in London, that WB plans to spend $4,- 000.000 on the reconstruction of two film studios at Elstree and Tedding- ton became an occasion for lambast- ing British producers for letting the ball be taken away from them. Under Warners' • blueprint, stars (Continued on pa£e 50; CAESAR'S'FRIENDSHIP' SONGS IN 7 TONGUES (i Irving Caesar, known for his 'Safely Songs", has just completed a new anthology titled "Sing a Song of Friendship", to be published in French, German, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish and Russian, besides the American lyrics. As title indicates »s planned to enlist United Nations interest via song. There have been bids from film Producers to make a pix series "»ased on the "friendship" songs. ROY ACUFF AGAIN NIXES CHANCEASTENN.GOV. Memphis, July 9. Roy Acuff, the singing hillbilly, has decided once more against run- ning for governor of Tennessee. And once again the politicians are breathing a sigh of relief. Acuff was named for Republican nomination by group of admirers several weeks ago, and was believed about to run. But .last week he or- dered his name stricken, from ballot after thinking it over. Same thing happened two years ago. 10% of Construction Requests Denied By CPA Were for Amus. Washington, July 9. Roughly 10% of all requests de- nied throughout the country for commercial and industrial construc- tion under the current building freeze have been for theatres and other, amusement places, according to estimates of the Civilian Produc- tion Administration. CPA nixed 16,605 applications for construction totaling $723,033,000 during the first 13 weeks of the limitation order. PT Wildcatters, Out to Lose Money, May Get Rkh Anyway Via Pix Bids Artie Shaw's Tied Piper' To Mark His Script Debut The initial Coast-originating Col- umbia Workshop program on July 21 will also mark the debut of Artie Shaw, the band leader, as script writer. Scheduled for the July 21 airing will be the "Pied Piper of Hamelin," which Shaw has loosely adapted from Robert Browning's- poem. It will be done with music, with Shaw also doing the orchestra- tion. Ernest Martin. CBS Coast pro- duction head, will act as producer and Williaim N. Robson will direct. Congress Fails To Cut Admish Tax Washington. July 9. Congress, galloping toward ad- journment within the next three weeks without having done anything about the tax situation, has. in par- ticular, left untouched several tax reduction proposals which would have been a boon to show biz. These include the proposition to return the admissions tax to its pre-war level; to cut personal income taxes—which bite hard all the way down the line; and the corporate levies which alTecl a wide variety of amusement enter- prises. Present scheme is for Congress to adjourn sine die. which means that the 79th Congress will never return and the 80lh will come in during the first week in January, 1947. As a result there will be nothing done (Continued on page 50) Hughes Flight Into Film Biz As Adventurous as His Plane Career Twenty eight PT boat officers who formed Wildcat Enterprises, Inc., while on active duty in the Pacific during the war, for the purpose of making "only such investments as would give pause to a reasonably prudent man," appear well on their way to becoming rich despite them- selves. Two film companies—Colum- bia and RKO—have become in. terested in the Wildcatters and their financial shenanigans, with the re- sult that deals are in the making for permission to cook up a screen, story about the. "corporation." "Operation Wildcat" was formed three years ago when the Naval of- ficers were outward bound on the. tanker White Plains. There was no place to spend their pay and there were no amusements, ' aside from dreams of what they'd do when they got back. So each man. allocated $10 a month out of his pay to provide the working capital for the company. (It amounted to $7,200 when.the war ended.. They chose as their slogan "Caveat Emptor"—let the buyer be- ware. And they determined their investments must be such as "would lend amusement to the membership (Continued on page 54) U.S. Acts Nicked 10% On Takeout Pay In Canada's $$ Parity Montreal. July 9; All branches of showbiz were thrown into an uproar Friday (5) with the announcement by Finance Minister Ilsley in the House of Com- mons that henceforth the Canadian dollar would be recognized at par with the U. S. dollar and vice versa. Specially effected were the huvje mob of visitors here from below the border for the July 4 ..weekend. They'd figured on getting 10 cents more on their U. S- buck but now that the parity has been slapped on they'll just be able to break even. Previous exchange rales had been $1.10 payable for a U. S. dollar in (Continued on page 54) Broadway and Hollywood have often speculated on Howard Hughes' seemingly mad plunges into two so- called "hobbies"—aviation and pic- ture production—but actually it wasn't until the past weekend that he made his first "wrong" guess when he crashed while testing a new Army plane in California. As a "boy" producer in Hollywood 20 years ago, Hughes was the butt of the Coast film colony, being tabbed as a "sucker" and "playboy." In aviation, as a pilot, he had had several accident"!, in none of which, prior to Sunday's crash, he had suf- fered serious injuries. His interest in flying which became developed about 20 years ago, also tabbed him as a "sucker" because of the huge sums he would expend to satisfy seeming whims. Actually, though, he had fooled the wiseacres. He made both film production and aviation big-paying sidelines to the . fabulously lucrative oil-tool business lett him by his father. He was a major stockholder in the TWA air line. It's been difficult to determine which of the two, aviation or pic- ture production, drew Hughes' greatest interest. Of recent years, ot course, aviation occupied him mostly, but just when it ap- peared as if he had forsaken pix'for the former, back he came to - produce "The Outlaw," which has been a centre of censorial controversy ever since it was produced several years ago. Hufhes Entry to Pix The inside story of Hughes' bow. into pix is little known. It is an unusual story because of the way in (Continued on page 24) PAUL WHITEMAN NAMED PHflXO SHOW BIZ AIDE Because of its contact with the entertainment industry, Philco Corp. has set up a "show business con- sultation" division, with Paul While- man pacted by James H. Carmine* Philco veepce in charge of mer- chandising, to be the liaison between the manufacturer and radio, televi- sion, etc. It's one of the first instances of an industrial corporation pacting a top show ;biz personality for its contact with show people and the entertain- ment field in general. Whitcman's association with Philco dates bark to the debut of PhilcoV "Hall of Fame" program,, of which Whiteman has ' been . the maestro since It began three years ago,