Variety (Feb 1949)

RADIO VIBGO Publiahed Weekly iit West 46th Street, New Torlt 10, N. T., by Variety, Inc. Annual "subscription, $10. Single coiiien, St ccnta^ . Btttered an aeoond iclaas matter December 23, IDUii, at tlie Post Oftice dt New Yorl:, N'. Y„ under the act of March 3. 18TV, OOl'VKlGBX, 1049. BX VAJKIKTY, INC. AU BIGHTS JtGSKKVED ?(KL 173 No. 8 NEW YORK. WDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 1949 PRICE 25 CENTS lELE MOLDING H'WOOD FUTURE? ffwood Scripters Finding It Tough Getting Back to Writing for Stage ^■f'lDCk'of Hollywood scripters, on-f th* beach because of production' cittbacks, are currently entering Ihp depleted ranks of legit play- «r|dghts. But while Broadway is l^iicouraged by the prospect of gdinfng additional creative talent, . jbtamediate reaction to the HoUy^ .Woodite's initial eflforts is temper- ed with a wait-and-hope attitude, t Some Broadway play agents feel that Hollywood has been a poor training ground for work in the living theatre. The once-over- lightly technique of chraftsman- ghlP) which these agents say' is promoted in Hollywood, is being carrjled over into the legit field with .disastrous results. In many CiSSes, ex-Hollywood writers are producing unsuitable fluff because they've lost the touch in being ab- gent too many years from Broad- way, . . Leah Salisbury, New York play agent, observes that many Holly- . wood writers "are out of touch | with the theatre and must become part of it again" before they can I Show Insults. More extreme opin-1 ion holds that the. refugees from' the film studios are out of touch I With reality also and must undergo 4 complete reorientation in a dif- terent atmosphere. Miss Salis- bury, however, expressed confi- (Continued on page 53) Oh, Beautiful Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, Feb. 1. Jack Carson, who did. hi.; net- work broadcast Friday (28) from stage of Stanley theatre, where he's playing a week's engagement, had Mayor David Lawrenee written in'- to the show;. But His Honor took one look at the script and said no. He .objected to some of the refer- ences to Pittsburgh and said he'd exchange banter with Carson only if the objectionable (to him) lines were eliminated; P. Si: Mayor Lawrence wasn't on the program, His Honoi; is vei-y touchy on the subject of Pitts- burgh's smoke, smog, diit, etc. US' S[[ VEO i HoDywood Officially Stumps to End 'Depression Talk as Snipe at B.O. Hope^f ar iir^p^ As Comic Insists 0nl)oin|P Bob HoP IS ieuding ^Vith Par- amount Pictures because he \yants to go on television now and Par says "no can do." Hope is determined to have it out with Barney Balaban, prez. Latter feels Hope might .ieopardize his terrific b.o. draw if he does a video show on a regular weekly basis at this stage of the game. Hope leeis differently, He thinks the time is ripe to get: his TV feet \vet and that it would redound to Par's benefit as well. . . Hope, it's vmderstood, is so anx- «ides. etched by "known" Nazis. I ious to embrace video now tliat he Oapitol Weeding Out . Artists for UjS: In , German Disk Takeover Hollywood, Feb. 1. , ■; Capitol Records is cai'efuUy screening the vast Telefunken cat- alog it acquired to eliminate any Already tossed out are those by pianist Walter Gieseking, who was hurriedly routed back to Europe by «J» State Department last week be- wHS'Jhfe could undertake a planned concfert tour. , Gap 4l$o will discard sides made «nce 1933 by WUhelm Furtwang- «r, whose appointment as Chicago oymphony conductor created a fu- J™** that died down only when the outat reversed itself and can- MMed the maestro. In the case of *wtwangler. Cap is still trying to MCtde What to do, with faces he . wajttid before Hitler came to power. Waxery acquired the Telefunken "brary through the offices af the ™l>tary Government in Ber- w». The German platters will be released next month to blaze the *S c ?^ ^*P's ^"^'"y into the classi- f.,i.i ^'''"^ its own artists. Tele- lunKen arrangement calls for an would be willing to spend his be tweenTpictures time in New York for a continuing live--series>, (It's recalled that when Hope, sprae months back, did a "surprise" guest shot on the Ed Sullivan "Toast of the Town" on CBS-TV he was Widely acclaimed as a "video nat- ural,") Fact; that Balaban is determined to keep Hope ofl' video at this time perplexes many in the trade in view of Par's insistence on estab- lishing a bigtime franchise in the medium on stations and facilities. By GEORGE ROSEN Television may be the saviour of the film induistry, leading it out of its current financial difficulties. That's the growing conviction of many video-picture braintrusters who, with eyes.and ears^-dttuned to the constantly expanding TV pat- terns, are more convinced than ever that, rather than kill:of? the film biz, TV will be the instru- ment to mold the whole future of Hollywood and establish a new modus operandi that will pay off. As Hollywood struggles to evolve operational techniques that will keep it a going Enterprise in the face of the public's reevaluation of films and boxoft'ice prices, the amazing aspect is that the "form- ula for the future" is coming di- rectly from television rather than the pic industry. ' . It is television, for examplei say the keener minds on the film scene, that will .show the way to the pro- duction of lower-cost pictures and the elimination of coin-consuming overheads. It is to television, they say, that the film industry can look for the formats that will strip pix of the highly-critici26d "Holly-; ' (Continued on page S5) Long Radio Pacts Getting Brushoff As Tele Beckons In signaturing a deal to return to the air next fall, Edgar Bergen I has nixed a two-year contract prof- fered by his new bankroUer. Coca- ICola, with Bergen agreeing only to a~ one-year pact. - - —. Bergen's move is considered Sig- nificant it the trade, for it reflects the new thinking on the part of top radio artists who, in the transi- tional AM-to-TV era, no longer are (Continued on page 55 • TV: Therapy Video Michigan City. Ind., Feb. 1. Indiana State Prison, which sev- eral months ago became the first such institution in the U. S. to present television to prisoners, re- ports that video has had a calming effect on the 352 mental patients I there. Carter Manny, cjialrman of j the board- of tvu^teeSj sfild fewer j .sedatives are being used now than \ at any other time in prison history. Television shows are presented two nights a week in the hospital, land on other nights to a limited number of: prisoners in the. chapel. I The television set was assembled j by an inmate, IBlame Television In Circulation Cut Of Daily Papers' Television, already accused of ; Cutting into tlie grosses -of every-, thing from sports events to taxis, ■ is now named responsible for the I slump in circulation suffered by | several New York daily newspapers ■ during the last yeary | Mqgt-seyl<>nsly.Jiit'%thexircu!a- tion ■ dip are the" evening news- I papers, such as the World-Tele- I gram and Sun, according to the I most recent Audit Bureau of Ciiv I culation figures. W-T exec editor I Lee Wood admitted there had been [ some discussion about tele's re- sponsibility for the dip but de- clared he would tend to doubt it If TV has any effect on ncws- papers,-he"Baid,-it can only berthalf (Continued on page S3) . By HERB OOLDEN "The End" has now been offi- cially stamped on the popular yarn of last year that the film-industry is suffering a catastrophic depres- sion. It has become industry pol-. icy, as far as any; such pten can become official, to promote'-public- ly the idea that things arto't so bad at all in Fllmlandia—in fact that; business is mighty fine, only being topped by the phenomenal grosses of 1946 and 1947. Eric A; Johnston, prexy of the Motion Picture,Assn. of America, , has signalized th^' hew policy with I two statements during the past two ! weeks. Both times Ife pointed out 1 that business is down only about 10% from the peak years and that patrons are still flocking to the theatres in tremendous numbers, MPAA publicists in Hollywood; New York and Washington are avidly beatmg the drums to get the same idea across, and a s^ate of statements to similar effect may, be expected from the top bras* of ma jor companies. I . New policy arises from eonvic-. I tion by indastiy execs that the 1 constant depression publicity is (Continued on page 55) • ■ .Met Opera Facing ; 500G 2-Yr. Deficit; ' Tour Can Save 50G I Metropolitan Opera Assn, execs { are concerned abou^.tihe deficit ol ' $233,357 for the 194^-48 season be- ! cause, contrary to published re- ports, this deficit hasn't been made ! good and isn't being takr i care of imminently. Deficit was a sock be- 1 cause the Met, for the season pre- j vious (1946-47), showed an .$11,000 I profit.. Management also estimates I it will have a sUnUar deficit of I about $250,000 this season. Both } deflcitsTVlU have-tcrbe taktfn cai'e" (Continued on page 53> Barred From Red Probe ' ■ ■ .Washihglon.Feb. 1. Radio, live arici recorded, news- reels, television and still cameras ^„ . „„ yesterday CVlon. i were ordered |*??ange of masters, the German , barred from future public hearings pressing and marketing Cap' of the House Un-American Activi- msKs on the Continent. ties Committee. ^ winartists whose works ! Committee, seMng to live down pi, "aekbone the releases are' its past reputation for hoopla op- p.rna back, the La Scala Symphony 1 eratlon ' S* Ji'ian and the Meng'eX'""'^' in a circus atmosphere, Amsterdam' ruled that hereafter only news- by WiUem' paper reporters may cover its pro- 1 ceedings. TEXACO RUSHES IN SUBS _ AS MILTON BERLE AILS I p Jack Carter and Budy Vallee i — g have been rushed in to substitute' for tlie ailing Milton Berlft in the _ video and radio editions; re'spec-1 =:| tively, of "Texaco Star ;Theatee." On both video and radio, emcee changes will be made weekly until Berle's return, which is expected for his Feb. 22 tele session. Pljil Baker emcees the Feb. 15 tele show. .; Berle was originally slated to take a two-week vacation starting after tonight's (Wed.) radio' pro- gram, but he was downed by a virus attack late last week,, and doc- tors have warned him to curtail his (Continued on page S5> I" Te/ephone CO-5- for All Business Concerning The Horn* Of Charm All Girl Orchestra and Choir under the direction of PHIL SFITAMMlt