Variety (Nov 1948)

FILMS RADIO VIDEO MUSIC STAOE OPoWtaliBd Weekly at IM-West 46th Street, New Torlc 1», N, T.i by Variety, Inc. Annual sUbacrl{>tlon, $10, SlnsI* oopleVi t( cent*, : BntMeil aa aocoud claaa matter December 22, 1006, at the . Foat Office at New Tork, N, T., under tti* act of llarcb t. IkTS, .VCOrYBIbUX,' 1B48,'BT;VABIEXY, .ALi:.;BIGUTSvBESEBV£D : > ■■ VOL. 172 No. 9 NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY. NOVEMBER 3, 1948 PRICE 25 CENTS RADIO'S YEAR-ROUND 'BIG TIME' Columbia 'Gem of the Airwaves' If Benny, Harris-Faye, Bergen Coup Jells GBS board chairman William S.*' Palex . has. ■ been burning the |i jiiidniight oil over the past 481 Iiours waiting for a couple of fate-I full phone calls which, should' - they materialise, would practically clinch the Columbia appellation as the "Gem of the Airwaves." In a succession. of . maneuvers^ involving Music Corp. of America ^eals so imminent that CBS was expecting its decisions on jMon- ^ day (D. but was still "holding the line" jcsterday (Tues.), it would practically result in a switchover i of. NBC'^ Sunday night sock par- , lay of comedic talents to CBS. i Columbia execs frankly confess that they all may not jell (al- though they may know one way, or the other within the next 24 ,houi-s), but if it should, this would be the new Sunday night CBS ^ Wnoup: ' „ At 7 o'clock. Jack Benny and his Lucky 'Strike program. ■ At 7:30, Phil Harris and Alice Faye. V At 8 o'clock, Edgar Bergen. : I At 8:30, Amos 'n' Andy. ! To achieve such a sequence, it Would involve moving Amos 'n' . ■ (Continued on page 55) I Idle Film Hollywood,'Nov. 2. There's a flock of idle film out Jiere. It's the recently acquired batch of one, two, and. three-reelers made for televi- sion by both established and hastily formed indie film firms. Tlio pictures are finished, in the can, and open at both ends. Sponsors, via their agencieSj haven't touched them. The reels are simply laying on the shelf. They're called "dustgetters." Ontario Nix on Robeson Pic, as 'Too American/ Protested in Toronto Toronto, Nov. 2. Civil Rights Union here is up ill arms over the alleged banning in Ontario of "Native Land," in vhich narrative and songs are by ^ Paul -Robeson. ;! O. J. Silvcrthorne, cCnsor board chairman, says the 85-minute film has not been "banned." But the censorship board regulations cover ■public .showings of films submit- ted by a licensed film exchange: only, and this has not been done : in tlie case of "Native Land." I Jefferson Hiirley, executive sec-j retary oC the Civil Rights Union,] s.aid th.it Silvcrthorne verbally, turned 'lown the film for Ontario showings because, dealing with the Ku Klux Klan, reputed vigi- lante shootings of Southern share- croppcr.s. and attempts of "labor spies" to smash unions, it was "too American in subject matter." KAYE REPEATS SOCK AT! COMMAND APPEARANCE London, Nov 2 Danny Kaye, who stormed Lon- don earlier this year during his stand at the Palladimn. ropoated .his snia.sh:-before royalty al the,, Command Performance last nigiit iV. Tlie U. S. coiiiic liold the stage for 30 minutes, twice as long as, the time allotted oUier acts on the ■ sliow. He even had tlie royal fam- ily joining in on a-chorus of ''Win-! nio the IMoocher." The Command Performance, fori Continued on page 62) ' Aga Khan Into PixBizViaEL The. Aga Khan, spiritual leader of 70,000,000 Ismaili Moslems and reputedly one of the three richest men in the world, is taking a flyer in films. Through his representa- tivCj A. Zapelli, now in the Ui S., the Khan is closing with Eagle Lion for a joint distribution-pro- duction tieup in six European countries. Understood that the deal will, in all likelihood, be closed within a few days. Involved in negotiations are franchise rights to EL pix in France; Spain, Italy, Switzerland,; Germany and Austria. While de- tails are not available, it's under- stood that the films will be dis- tributed by a syndicate headed by the Khan with offices set up in LausannBi Switzerland. Films will be handled by the group on a percentage basis. Be- cause EL wants hard currency (Continued on page.55) JOHN aRFIELD LIKELY FOR NEW ODETS PLAY John Garfield is leaving for the Coast today (Wed.) after a quick vibit to N. Y. to discuss a Broad- wav play this season. It's by Clif- ford Odets, titled "Big Knife" (for- merly "A Winter Journey"), which Harold Clurman was to produce. Clurman has now bowed out, with another producer coming into the picture. Only hitch (as of last night) to Garfield's participation is fact that he wants to leave the play in June, to go to Europe for two nioijtljsVwkile ■ produ him on' a rah-of4he-play cbntraet, Lee Strasbcrg is set to stage the p'ay. Play is reported to be a bold yarn about a Hollywood wriler and loo hot, therefore, for filming, so no film rights are involved. The- matic material, reportedly, is an extension ofi ideology in Odets' ■Golden Boy," in which play, inci- dentally. Garfield also appeared. Garfield is definitely determined (Continued on page 53) s TO OFFSET TELE NBC and CBS have set into mo- tion almost simultaneously one of the most sweeping program policy, revisions in many years. It repre- sents the most ambitious attempt yet to give radio- a "year roundV, bigtime flavor designed to keep the Hoopers rolling in August as they do in December. It also marks the major thrust to date in the des- perate attempt by the networks to "protect radio" and its advertising during tlie transition into tele-, vision. ,• In efl^ect, CBS and NBC areeas' ing their tight ban on transcripr tions and have formulated indi- vidual program patterns in a bid to, get the top comics and other programs to remain. on the air for 52 weeks a year, with transcribed repeats during their summer: lay- off. As characterized by one . top network exec, it's the "beginning I of the end" so far as the transcrip- tion ban is concerned.; .. . CBS has already pitched up its new policy to the agencies and cli- ents, sending out notices this week. (Continued on page 34) Billy Rose Cashed In on Met Problems But Where s Our Cut?-Johnson * What Next? New Haven, Nov. 2. As part of his coaching equipment, Yale's . football mentor; Herman Hiokman, has a video set in operation at his bench post 'during the big games. This enables him to- spot considerable action that he can't get from his position on the ground floor. FINAL DETAILS AWAITED ON DISKPEACE The American Federation of j Musicians and the recording com^ ! panies have not as yet dispatched I to the fiepartment of Justice the details of ■ the plan they agreed upon unexpectedly, last week for settlement of the recording ban. So far, the work of putting the en- tire idea in presentable, form has not been completed. And none of I the recording executives will even I hazard a guess as to when record- |ing will be resumed, since that I depends entirely upon liow. fast j the wheels of the Ju.'itice division 1 move once it's served with the ! papers. . It had been Tumored that disking '. (Continued on page H7j Authors League Television Pkge. Authors League of America tele- vision program, using dramatic, lit- erary, radio and possibly some film properties, is' being built by Music Corp. of America for presentation to prospective sponsors. Budget for the show hasn't been set, but un- derstood the deal will call for pay- ment of a fee to the League and to the writer whose work is used. Another pitch for a somewhat similar series has been made to the Dramatists Guild, an affiliate of the League, by Ernie Ricca, free- lance radio and television producer- director, and Bud Fishel, radio seripter-editor. It would concen- trate on legit script properties but be open for literary and radio ma- terial. t Billy Rose, says Edwai^d John- son, has made money out of th» Metropolitan Opera Assn.'s finan- cial problems-^by using them for material in his columns,: on 'the air, and in articles in Look and Collier's. "But he hasn't given u< a dime of it," wails the Met's «en- , eral manager. Discussing- for the first time Rose's criticisms of the Met and its management, Johnson declined to answer Rose's charges, saying they couldn't be taken seriously by anyone knowing the Met's setup or its history. Johnson did take Rose to task for smearing the Mett9 board of directors—a group of volunteers, said Johnson, who are doing a. civic job, gratis. "He can throw stones at us, the professional workers," said Johnson, "but it was unfair, to knock the board." Johnson also pointed out that Rose "finally ended fighting our battle." by stumping for $20,000,000 to be raised for a new opera house. "We want that, too," said Johnson. Subscription renewals this sea- son are already equal to List year, said Johnson,, and-' may even ex- ceed that. "That's the best vote (Continued on. page 55) TV COMPELS FASTER NEWSREEL DISTRIB Move to speed up the release of newsreels to theatres because of the mounting pressure of television competition is now under way. Major distribs' newsreel commit- teCi chairmaned by Oscar Morgan of Paramounti is meeting tomorrow (Thurs.) with the expectation of immediate action. Speedup will be concentrated in. the New York metropolitan area- for the time be- ing. Under discussion will be a pro- (Continucd on page 55) 200 Hollywood Lambs Form Coast Branch; Friars Ban Non-Pros Hollywood, Nov. 2. Formation of a Coast branch ol the Lambs Club is under way, with 200 members currently living in this sector, and the number con- stantly increasing. Local members have been, meet- ing informally for some time and - have been .authorised to form a new branch;' ' ; Hollywood's Friars Club, as a re- sult of the financial success of its recent Frolic, is closing its rolls to I lay membership. Currently the I membership consists of approxi- I mntely two and a half lay brethren i to one professional, i Under the. new plan, announced I by Jonie Taps, membership chair- I man, no lay members will be ad- I mitted as the old ones drop out. , The idea is to build a preponder* lanee ol show people. THE HOUR of CHABM A ■at ^ • V 1 m t jr • Under the Direction of All Girl Orchestra ana Choir vhu spuainy CURRENT CONCtERT TOUR^ Nov. 9, BIRiMINGHA.^ ALA. " 10, JACKSON, MISS. " 11, SHREVEPOBT, LA. " 12, NEW ORLEANS, LA. " 13, NEW ORLEANS, LA. " 14, HOUSTON, TEXAS Nov. 15, COLLEGE STA., TEX. " 16, ABILENE, TEXAS " 17, AlVIARILLO, TEXAS " 18, WICHITA FALLS, " " 19, ENID, OKLA. " 21, SIOUX FALLS, S. D. Nov. 22, FARGO, N. DAK. " 23, GRAND FORKS, N.D. " 24, ROCHESTER, MINN. " 25, ST. PAUL, MINN. " 26, TOPEKA, KANS. " 28, DETROIT, MICH. " 29, CH'RLST'N, W. VA.