Variety (Jun 1947)

#M 4 1947 SCREEN RADIO MUSIC STAGE £ubll>h«a WMbt/ *t 164 WtBt 46th Stre»t, Now York 1». N. I., by Varlaty. Inc. Annual subscription. 110. Slpacl* oopUn. ?5 o»ntt. ater«a an second-clam matUr December 33, 190B, at the Post Office at New York, N. Y., under the act at Maioh t. 1I7». OOPYBIOHT.' 1W1, BS VARIETY, INC. ALL RIWHTS RESERVED. .• VOL. 166 No. 13 NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4, 1947 PRICE 25 CENTS U.S. RADIO DISK-JOCKEY HAPPY J. t PETRILLO S DALE CARNEGIE PITCH James C. Petrillo, head of the American Federation of Musicians, apparently is no longer brushing off the lack of love displayed by the public and press toward his organ- ization. He wants to change the unfavorable tone of public reaction to the AFM snarls, which have been given front-page attention in recent years. To do this he is using the proceeds from his victorious battle with the recording companies for a royalty from each record they sell. Petrillo has impressed various AFM locals with the thought that press and public be told as often and as brightly as possible about the work being done by the AFM * to entertain crippled vets at hos- pitals. This entertainment, using musicians in-each local at scale pay, is being underwritten by the record royalty fund. More than $1,000,000 has been earmarked from the fund for such entertainment, which is covering schools, veterans' hospitals and the like. But, for the press, public and the AFM's aims, the lat- ter is emphasized. Most locals are prepping press books to show the boss how well they are drum-beat- ing the charity. Move is an abrupt about-face for Petrillo, who has always disdained numerous hints from his aides that he would benefit from' a public re- lations campaign. Now under fire from sundry state legislatures as well as on capitol hill in Washing- ton, the AFM prexy finally is mak- ing a stab at getting himself a glow in print to offset the attacks. Las Vegas, Nev., Peeved At 'Vicious' Reporting Las Vegas, Nev., June 3. This town, mecca of Coast fun- seekers, is up' in arms over what the local chamber of commerce de- scribes as "inaccurate and vicious" newspaper and magazine reporting of the burg's "wide-open" status. District Attorney Robert E. Jones has been asked to try and do some- thing about it. Newspapers and mags, finding the town a colorful subject, have played up the town's prostitution, gambling, "gang wars" and other items of a generally profligate nature. Las Vegas; the chamber empha- sizes, has 22 well-attended' churches and a recreational center for kids where Petrillo's tooters play gratis for teen-agers' dancing. U.S. Writers' Continued Emphasis on War Limits New Material for Films American writers' preoccupation with the war and its repercussions —widely ascribed as a prime factor in the limited amount of fresh story material currently available for pix—is still channeling the U. S. output after two years of peace. That's Metro's conclusion at the close of the company's $250,000 Novel Award contest last week for the first half of 1947. Peculiarly enough, according to John McCaffrey, director of the con- test. British authors have left the war behind and are pushing into new fields of peacetime scripting. Comparison was possible between the two nationalities because M-G, for the first time, threw the arena open to the British. Surprisingly large number of w.k. writers with previously established reps submitted new novels, McCaf- frey said. In all, number of sub- missions went far ahead of those received by the company in its pre- vious match which Mary Reneault won with "Out of the Night." Brit- ishers came through with approxi- (Continued on page 46) To Tell UN Story The Show Biz Way The United Nations" radio boys at Lake Success, N.Y., are ready to move' into high gear in giving a showmanship hypo to its program- ming in order to sell the peace to the nation and the world. There's definite recognition that something more than sledgehammer propaganda is needed to achieve maximum results; that when UN starts selling peace by adopting the techniques used by General Foods and Procter & Gamble to sell food and soap will it add up to a major contribution. UN has already gone showminded in preparation for Charter Day, June 26—marking the second anni of the signing of the San Francisco charier—with plans to integrate the UN story into some of the top shows on the air. The Advertising Council has already pledged its support, which means that the agencies will throw in their production weight in tieing in Charter Day with the com- mercial shows that have the multi- million audiences. Similarly, the net- works, scripters and directors are getting behind the venture with full- blown dramatic shows to highlight the significance of the event. Up to now, it's generally agreed, the UN Story, in terms of sock ra- dio coverage, has not been told, with the networks and stations for the most part merely paying lip service to the overall job of keeping the na- tion informed. But it's felt that the real fault lies in the failure to apply the proper showmanship techniques in place of the cut-and-dried spiels that have prevailed up to now. Frequency Before Public Deemed Best B.O. Payoff Demands "of certain film stars that they make only one or two pictures a year, so as not to wear themselves out in the public's favor, is gradu- ally being proved a fallacy. Survey ' rf the stars most popular at the bnxofl'ice today any phase of show business proves that it's the ones I (.Continued on page 47) DEATH TO TALENT The manner in which American radio has'gone disk-jock happy has had the effect of creating alarm in some quarters of the industry. Now that platter-spinning has graduated from the small indie station ranks into a major boxoffice factor on a coast-to^coast basis and is incubat- lT3 a flock o' show biz millionaires, repercussions are expected from several fronts. That James C. Petrillo, prexy of the American Federation of Musi- cians, will keep quiet for much longer as the Disk Jockey Sweep- stakes continues snowballing, is not expected from even the most optimistic quarters, despite ABC's assurance that the Boss Man gave the Paul Whiteman whirl his ad- vance "blessing." Similarly, there are reports of squawks from American Federation of Radio Artists quarters stem- ming from the same fears held by Petrillo—that every additional disk (Continued on page 26) Equity Library Theatre Seeks to Graduate To Commercial Production By ARTHUR BRONSON New York's Equity Library Thea- tre—claiming title ot world's great- est legit producer, with 56 plays staged this season—has just finished its fourth year of producing in pub- lic libraries, and thinks it's time to graduate into the more commercial field. The organizaSion, guided by Sam Jaffe (with an assist from George Freedley, heading the N.Y. Public Library's theatre division), is looking for a theatre as a perma- nent home, and would like added public financing- to put its produc- tion on a paying basis. Till now ELT has been staging shows with unpaid young talent, either from Equity or allied enter- tainment unions, with minimum out- lay on set?, costumes, etc., putting on performances free at various public libraries throughout N.Y. It put on 144 plays in four seasons—6, the first year; 34, the second; 48, last year; 56 the current season—to be tagged the world's largest repertory company. Production expenses have been running between $100 and $200 for. each play, all of which money, as well as administration expenses and salary for exec secretary, Benna Franklin, have been donated by John Golden, Although neither Golden nor ELT people wilf discuss the amount of Golden's contributions to the or- ganization, it's known to be in excess of $40,000. Golden has no intention of ceasing his aid to ELT. but group would like to dress up its produc- tions, house them properly, charge ! admissions, and pay the actors. Ac- I tors, directors and designers have 1 been content lo act for the experi- ence, and on the chance of catching some prou'essioual pr< '<.' er's or J (Continued on pa^e 55) uu r? r t .Gv«out THEATRE GUILD With Glamour tor Army Hollywood, June 3. It's Dorothy Lamour instead of Al Jolson who'll emcee the Army Re- cruiting summer show on NBC, tee- ing off July 6 in the Fred Allen Sun- day night segment. Film star will get "token payment" for her serv- ices, as will various other Hollywood personalities guesting on the stanza each week. NBC is donating the time and Music Corp. ot America will assist in the casting. Format provides for a comedy sketch and a straight dramatic briefie on each show. Glenhall Tay- lor will direct. Studio orch will be conducted by Henry Russell. Showi of course, will originate on the Coast. IN TELE Talent WiU Go To Sea Again Entertainment on ocean-going lux- ury liners will resume in the fall, when the greater part of the cur- rent travel rush, which is mostly confined to urgent business trips, is likely to be over. Already scheduled to book shows are the Cunard and Holland-American lines which have named Nat Abramson, of the WOR Artists Bureau, as booker. Cunard is slated to start off with shows on the Mauretania and the soon - to - be-commissioned Patricia, while the Holland-American line will have entertainment on the New Amsterdam and Vollendam. Pre-war cruises accounted for a hefty slice of the entertainment in- dustry. Frequently, short cruises booked an entire nitery show, in- cluding lines, while the longer 14- day cruises carried up to 20 enter- tainers per trip. Abrarnson is currently negotiating with the American Guild of Variety Artists for a basic scale covering this type of work. Question of musicians is still up in the air, but it's hoped to be settled by the fall. Rub in the tooter angle is in the ban on employment of for- eign musicians in this country by the American Federation of Musicians. In retaliation the British musicians' union has affected a similar ban on Yank bandsmen. Theatre Guild is currently negoti- ! ating with NBC television to pro. | duce a series of tele dramats over ] WNBT, NBC's N.Y. video outlet. I Details of the deal, including a decU ; sion on whether the Guild will pro- I duce shows for an outside sponsor, as it does its U. S. Steel spon- sored "Theatre Guild of the Air" on radio, or will use tele to show- case its new productions, have not yet been set. Final negotiations ai'«i currently awaiting - the; return to N. Y. from the Coast of Guild co- director Lawrence Langner. Deal between NBC and the Guild has been pending for some time, with CBS television having also shown interest in lining up the Guild in the past. Since CBS tele's national director Tony Miner is a former Guild producer, CBS was thought to have an inside track on the legit outfit. With the recent elimination by CBS of all live stu- dio programming, however, that deal went by the boards, leaving NBC a clear field. NBC also has a current arrange- ment with the Dramatists Guild, whereby the latter showcases plays of new playwrights on tele for the benefit of interested Broadway pro- ducers. Although that arrangement has been in operation for more than a year, however, only one show, "Mr. Mergenthwirker's Lob- blies," has been staged. Play was purchased several weeks after its t»le airing by Hollywood producer- director S. Sylvan Simon, who plans to adapt it for the screen. N. Y. Bistros Evading Tax With Danceless Dinners A possible new trend next fall of de-cmphasing dansapation in niteries, in favor of a 20% tax-less dinner clientele, with perhaps the cabaret policy obtaining alter 10 p.m. is being widely considered in cafe circles. Dario, for example, has that in mind for his La Martinique, class N. Y. spot, with a pianologist only for the dinner entr'acte music. When the after-theatre crowd comes in, the spot would then go supper club. The click currently of Billy Reed's Little Club. N. Y., where recording pianist Walter Gross does his stuff, is commanding -considerable attention for that reason. Emphasis thus is on the cuisine and atmospheie, at least for the dinner seasioua. Jolson Would Like To Be Neighbor Of Crosby on ABC Wax Hollywood, June 3. If ABC can line up a sponsor for a transcription show to either pre- cede or follow Bing Crosby, Al Jol- son will be interested. Net's sales crew is letting go with its Sunday pitch but so far only nibbles. Jol- son is eschewing all radio for the summer with the exception of an appearance on CBS' United Jewish Appeal program. He has no firm commitment with Bjing Crosby for next season and at this writing he isn't sure whether he'll do any more guesting with The Groaner. Benny'* 88G for 2 Weeks I Jack Benny's two-week stint at . the Roxy, N. Y., resulted in an all- i time high for any stage attraction to ' plav anv house with a total take of ; $278,000. Out of this. Benny and his troupe collect $88,000.