Variety (Jul 1948)

OBITUARIES DAVin WAKK GRIFFITH David Wark Griffith, 73, pioneer producer, whose "Birth of a Na- tion" set new pattern in film pro- duction, died ia HoUj'wood, July 23. Further details on Page 17. LEO BirtGAKOV' Leo Bulgalrov, 60, *ctor-pH»- ducer, died in Bin^amton, N. Y., July 20. Bulgakov, Russian-bom, came to this country with the Moscow Art theatre, of which he was a member from 1912 to 1923. He appeared with it in "The Brothers Karama- zbv," "The Lower Deptlis" and "Un- cle Vanya." He drew Uie attention of the critics as well as the oe^tor- tumst eye of the late Morris Gest. Gest, casting about in typical tiimult for « produetion of "Tlie Bfiracle,'' succeeded in convincing Bulgakov to give up his coveted po^on with the Moscoviaa group. Subsequentlyi there were some uncertain seasons here for Bul- gakov and his wife, Barbara. As a member of the .Grand Street Playhouse company, he was seen in September, 1927, in .Artzy- bashefTs "Lovers and Enemies." He was one of four actors to en- dure the four-act marathon called "Spring Song," and later appeared in "Gods of Lightning," the Maxwell Anderson-Harold Hicker- son play based on the Sacco and Yanzetti case. In November, 1928. he directed "The Cherry Orchard" for the Yid- dish Art theatre to celebrate the 30th anni of Uie Moscow Art the- atre. In succeeding years he staged, appeared in and produced many Bro^way attractions. Bulgakov's last Broadway ap- pearance in 1945 was in "Ho^ fiw the Best.;' His other acting stints included, "Another Scene" and "Billy Draws a Horse:" Among productions lie directed were "Close Qarters," "Prologue to Glory, "Lend Me Your Ears," "The Night Remembers," "Come What May," "Amourette," "Devil In the Mind," "The Life Line," "Courte- san," "This One aaan" and "At the Bottom." Besides Ms wife, he. is survived by a son. BILL CHASE Bill Chase, 61, pianist-enter- tainer, died in Las Vegas, July 19. Chase was in show business for 46 years and toured U. S. and Europe in own and with other acts. He was pianist for Grace LaRue, vaude headliner, and also member of vaude piano team of Chase & Westerly. Survived by wife. EL3HER S. OASOLTON Elmer J. Hamilton, former actor and manager, died July 21 at Glens Falls, N. Y. Survivors are wife, and two brothers. Hamilttin had been associated with &e Schine Tlieatres in Glens Falls. N. Y., for the past 15 yeais. Prior to that he managed lestt pro- diactions, indudincf "lAy Soldier Girl." GEACE OiaiTE WILEY Grace Olive "l^^tey, 64, nationally known betpetologist, died July 19 in Long iBeach, Cal., after being bitten by a coin's. For years JUxs. : Wiley suplied film companies with reptiles for jangle pictures. GEORGE A. MAIIREB George A. Maurer, 97, for SB years with the South Bend (Ind.) Tribune, spending' most of this time time as manager of the Misfoawaka office and as drama critic, died July 15. AUGUSTUS H. NANTON Augustus H. Nanton, 42, operator of The Playhouse, Manchester, "Vt., died in Montreal while on a recent business trip. Survived by wife. SUSAN GLASHPELL Susan Glaspell, 66, Pulitzer pr]% - winning playwright and credited with "discovering" Eugene O'Neill and giving him his start in the theatre, died in -Provincetown, Mass., yesterday <27). She was the widow of George Cram Cook, witli whom she founded the Provincetown Play- house where O'Neill's first plays were produced. Her play "Alison's House" -won the Pulitzer priie in 1930, when it was produced at Civic Repertory theatre, N.Y., by Eva LeGalUena. She was author of a number of other plays and novels. She and her late husband with a small group of writers and artists founded the Provincetown Playhouse ia the old seaport. Later they moved tli«r troupe to a converted stable in Greenwich village, N.Y., to cany on the cycle of O'Neill and other contemporary playwrights. Her writing career started as a legiidative reporter for news- papers in Des Jdioines. MAURY RUBENS Maury (Maurice) Rubens, 55, songwriter and musical director, died in Hollywood, July 23, after a Jieart attack. . He was stricken while direct- ing telecast of "Sandy Dreams" on KTLA. After having been musi- cal director for the Shuberts for 17 ?SIE*' *» Hollywood in i!H7 and established a successful school of theatre. I.EROY ALEXANDER Leroy Alexander, 56, died in Chicago, July 20. He was sales- jnan for National Screen Service Uiere for past eight years. Pre- viously he was western sales man- ager for Universal-mtematitmal, and poor to Uiat was formerly in- sinimeatal in theatre circuits. Survived by wife, three daugh- ters and two sons. _ DR. HAIUCY KATZ Ur. Hany Katz, 54. prexy of Monarch Theatres, operators of tteatres in Indiana, Ohio and t^^sylvania, died in Chicago, i^L.-^'' -^* 6a*e «P iiis medical practice m 1929 to enter the film business. .„^f»iving are hi.-; wife, and nwther, a brother, Sam Katz, vcc- pee of Mctro<3toldwyn-Mayer, and two Sistos. UMbu*, 61 Of Harold J. BusseU, who won an Oscar for his pertorm- anoe as handle war vet in the film, -'Best Years of Our Lives." died in Cambridge, Mass., July 21. Mother, of Mary Naybor, ass't to ArtJiur Steagall, manager of Ori- ental theatre, Gliieago, died in that city, July 19. Conrad Jes»«rsen, 65, Fremont, O., musician who traveled with many welMcnown bands, died JOly 19, in that city. Dr..S<awitt M. Hiner, 76, musician well konvm in sbow business, died July 19 in Hpllywood. B. L. PenningtMi. S8. musician, died at Veterans hospital, Savttelle, Cal., July 16. Mrs. Mary" Vedder, 70, mother- in-law of Dennis Moiigan, film actor, died in Hollywood. July 20. tiuts one reason why the project, outside of eastern cities, is still in the future. It will await the laying "ationvWde net of coaxial cables to which many theatres will tie in, or else the linking of those theatres via point-to-point micro- wave relay. Par itself, in its theatre demon- strations, has generally not been i picking up programs off the air, 1 but has had them piped In thiou^ the co-ax, thus eliminating possible distortion. Larger theatres through- put the country are expected to do the same thing, while the smaller outlying houses will probably pick up the shows from central rettans- mitting points when the legal and exclusivity angles are worked out. Par bought rights for the Para- mount theatre to the Beau Jack- Ike Williams fi^t in PhiladelphU July 12 on a per-seat arrangement. Total for the 3,664 seats was some- thing around $1,000, although it was reported around town that the figure was much higher. Company feels it was well worth while, aside from the experimental angles, in that boxoffice figures that night were well above the preceding and following nights, desidte the fact that only minor advance publicity was pemitted and restricted to the night of the fight. Par preceded tiie fi^t with shots of the Democratic convention in Fbilly. Combination of the two events on the one night was so successful, company announced that it was .going to incorporate fuU-fcreai video into the regular entertainment policy of ■ the the- aixes It is now casting about for further events it can handle, TV Wffl He^pPix Houses Says Seattle City Mgr. Seattle, July 27. Herb Sobottka, city mantiger of Hamrick^Eveisreen Tbeatres here, is optimistic abont televiisaon in re- lation to theatres. Theatres will use television for spot events, so it will help rather than hurt them, he claimed. On the long-range' view, Sobottka envisioned film companies even eliminatbig prints by TV use. This he admitted, might be 20 years hence, but it wotdd ef- fect big savings in film distribu- tion. It looks to me as if television js more' closely related to pictures' and, the theatre than to radio," he said to Variety. "Thus I look for it tin the theatre way rather than the tmlio way. Theatres may buy exclusives on certain sched- uled events, like a prbee fi^t, which would mean providing a big drawing card for the theatre buy- ing such rights." 97 Par's Viiteo PJan ;ss Comtinuett from page 1 = video rights to championship fights and other sports events, as well as fast-breaidng spot news that its regular newsreel wouldn't get to a theatre for days. Exclusivity angle, is of course, one that is bothering Par execs. One of the solutions being thought of, as previously suggested, is that with enough theatre accounts they, can stEige their own championship fight or other events or could out- bid dn adveitiiang sponsor for ex- <ciusive video rights. Even forgetUng exclusivity, tiieie'ace other angles seen by Par. however. One is tliat exhibs will need the major events as self-pro- tection if they are carried by regu- lar video to set owners. As is evi- denced by what radio does now to theatre audiences on the night of a fight or political convention, video will keep people at home by the millions unless they can be assured of seeing the same thing in the theatre. 1 There's another angle in that, too, for not only will they be see- ing the same thing, but seeing it i so much better. The best of small- j screen home receivers will never be able to give an event the same clarity and dramatic impact pos- sible on a full-size theatre screen, once transmission bugs are ironed out. Thus Par feels it will have .some- thing reai to offer its theatre cus- tomers. Whether they wUi be charged a flat fee or a percentage of their receipts, which Par in turn wiU share with the sponsor of the event, is .still in the future. However, the company sees the whole operation as very similar to film Selling and distribution now. A major difference is tliat there will be no prints io deliver. And B'way Par Telecasts Pres. Truman^s Address Broadway Paramount theatre, continuing to utilize its Qieatre television system as a, standard added service to its customers, picked up President Truman's speech to the joint session of Congress from Washington yester-^ day (Tuesday) at noon. Session was televised by a pool arrangement among the east coast tele stations and carried to New York on the Bell System's coaxial cable, from which the Par theatre took a feed. Par paid the broad- casters an undisclosed sum for rights to use the show, which rep- resented, according to Par officials, its share of the pool cost. Since the broadcast was done as a public service, there were no other rights involved. Par didn't dose the deal until late Monday <26) night so couldn't advertise in the morning newspapers but hung a valance under the marquee to advise the public of the show. Flat Deals CentiJDiied Crara Jtaec 5 1 lions. With sliding grosses distribs have found their takings are oft" on percentage deals no matter how high thf percentage is set ''Selling pictures flat, on the other hand, will guarantee the distributor a fixed return regardless of the busi' ness the picture does. Exhibitors, of course, are already complaining the new sy-stem is ineijuitable, leaving the -advantage, as it does, entirely in the hands of the sellers. Distribs, however, hojpe soon to work out a system of Bat rentals that wir be eqaitable to all con- cerned. Current practice lies in basing the rate both on an indi- vidual theatre's past performance with certain types of pictures and what the picture does in the key city first run situation in each ter- ritory. ■ . . ■ ■ . Variety Oills WEEK or JUI.T2S Nrnncral* In coiincctloii with lillln Iwlow luilleitt* oprnilng day of «hMr wiwther r«U or iHpiit week. tatlw to pareBUHim UMimUa rtraHtt; <I) Ii ifkmts <IA Lonr: (M) JHomi ssisari (WS) WMtw r ' MKW YORK errs Apull* (I) 3t Woody Mc Vobby ' t;uirit«i (f>) «• stop tlie Mualc Hert X'arltK llarry ^:«Her Ore .Tacit Curler Trixte AIiiKlc Hull <l) «• HeleiMs Howard Van . CErimn .MancHTet Sande. 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Gordon Chester' Dolphin aelslaca (Vndy Bice ,)t KiliK ft ZorltA JLiola Ajneche^ Mike Youus Bill Cltandler Or« H Kdicienater Beuli Oleo Olsen One It Wllliajms Trio !>au] Sydell Ual Btiywitt Ketty Gray Dorothy Hlld IJanccra (ISi Gayaor & Boss dies name Danny l?hosaas Martha KjOK Majrc tk Knj-r T^niy Broe (t) »i Goald Ore <1«) Lane Adams 1) CltioHta Combo Berotliy OorKBiv' J^aacet!* Co ainfct .Steven*. '. Benny Stronu Oro B tc. r liallanl Hohn. Flanat^n Jean Arlen Jluian Siwlniaa SlratinE Blvdcara Bob Turk Rehtield & Del Ton Oofts . Donavaa. . wwnod i::!«.ri I'mmer Hawia Wberaco Clliloni Guest ■JI Abbott Uncra, I» Flnrlan iSaBach Oro Qiac'l)* A V Szyoal MAHRIAGES Pepi Braimbeaneer U> Irving Lamm, Los Angeles, July 73. He manages two L.A. film 'booses. Caroline Soolittle to Herb Stcin> berg in New York July 25. Bride is a model; groom is newspaper and column contact in Eagle Lion's iNew Yoilc flackery. Mrs. Oorothy Plehn to Hal Hode, Forest Hills, If. Y., July 21. He's exec assistant to Jack Cohn, Co- lumbia Pictures veepee. Huth Bange to Comer Heine. Los Angeles, July 22. He's a radio di- rector. Carol Nonaan to Jack White, Wai^ington, Joly 23. He's pianist- with Sam Jatik Kaufman orch at Loew's Capitol there. Christine Sebastian to Charles Burger, "Washington, July 17, He's manager of York Theatre, Warner nabe. , BIRTIB Mr. and Mrs. 13an«d Swidlcr, son, June 7Z, Santa lUtonica, June 28. Father is son of Alex Swidler, one of Chicago's early vaude bookers. Mr. and Mrs. Claude Kcnner, dsCughter, San Pedro, CaJ., July 20. Father is theatre manager. Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Shields, son, Toronto, July 22. Father is a radio singer; mother <Audrcy Neil- son) was in the Canadian Army Show. Mr. and Mrs. Harold Hecbt, son, Hollywood, July 19, Father is a film producer. Mr. and Mr.s. Eddie Grief, son. New York, July 26. Father is a press agent.