Variety (Feb 1949)

20 PICTOtES Wedncsilay, Febrnaiy 9, 1949 Las Vegas' Show Biz ss Continued fram page 1 luxe hotels get pre-brunch crowds that would rival a gala night at the Sporting Club at Monte Carlo. The 1% rakeoiJi: to the state of Nevada last year accounted for $1,- 000,000 revenue, so the $100,000,000 annual gross to the sundry casinos in Las Vegas, Reno, Lake Tahoev etc., is easy to figure. This doesn't mean that the "handle" is limited to that amount, because there ore winners. The tax is predi- cated only on the yield to the ca to the pseudo-am prestidigitator. Haskell handles his timing effec- tively, and that is the prime novel- ty appeal of what might otherwise be a routine magi act. Standard etiuipment' at all the top hostelries are the lines of eight gals, who don't "mix"" however; just lend SB. and atmosphere, What's more, they're well trained and seemingly take their terp duties quite seriously. "In most cases, the head man of the troupe There are midget races, fights, an outdoor cinema "in season" (it's too cold now, what with this "un- usual" weather they're having oijt on the Coast), a minor league ball park whose team journeys to El Centre, Gal.; Kingman, Ariz.; Reno, Barstow, etc., for intersec- tional games. There are three or four picture houses and two legit groups (one at the Last Frontier), including a little theatre unit. There is a "Harlem," which creates only a minor problem to the, de^- luxe hotels when colored talent plays there. There is also North Las Vegas, Which, like Miami and Miami Beach, differs from Las Vegas, be sinos. No wonder that $6,000,000 I is on the scene to refurbish j i„g a separately incorporated com- edifices like the fabulous Hotel Flamingo and The Thunderbird can rise on the sands of the Nevada With that kind of a breakage everything about the operation is on a super-scale. You can see ex- traordinary floorshows for a beer or a- banquet. Neon lights welcome the towners and tourists alike to "come as you are.'' And they do. That means they wear dungarees, open-rtoe army shOes, slacks, poor man's Roy Rogers-type costumes, and the like. And then there are the tourists, of course, who wear coat and trousers that match, and the city slicker dolls who rough it in a dinner gown, if not going completely formal. But if you wear • shoes—and have money— that's formality enough here. Big: Talent Costs As a show town it's big time. The Xmas-New Year's spell, for Instance, saw the top hostelries shelling out $80,000 a week to tal- ent Such as Hildegarde at The Thunderbird; the Ritz Bros, at the Flamingo; Carmen Miranda at Hotel El Rancho Vegas; and Ina Ray Hutton at the Last Frontier. Last week the show lineup included Benny Goodman and his troupe (S6.000 item) at the Flamingo, «long with Pinky Lee, comedian; Nick & Taylor, cute ex-Katherine Dunham mixed pair of dusky ballot terpers; and a line called thie 8 Lucky Girls (Mitzi Bruggen's). Goodman's bandshow included Buddy Greco who made ■ good conversation p£ their coinci- dental BO initialing, proving a good foil for tfie rather solemn maestro; Terry Swope, blonde songstress; W.ardell Gray, colored saxer with the band; the Clarina- ders; and a personality drummer who looks like Mickey Rooney. Goodman ran the jazz cavalcade from BG to BB (Before Bop), in- cluding a Dizzy Gillespie takeoff in characteristic tarn and goggles. Bill Robinson is slated to follow Good- man, and upcoming . headliners here ai-e Connee Boswell, Tony Martin, Louis Armstrong, Dean Martin •& Jerry Lewis, Jerry Les- ter, Benny: Fields, Lena Home, Johnny Johnston, Danny Thomas, Harry James and Harry Richman. Hildegarde's Click They're still talking around the fashionable Thunderbird about Hildegarde's .click, even though Anna Sosenko made with the liglits and stopped service. Some of the competition couldn't see how this helps the gambling take, by kill- ing off so many hours, but the Thunderbird management' appears to have been plenty satisfied. Savannah Churchill, light-com- plected colored chirper, who re- minds of the late Helen Morgan cn looks, heads current show, sur- rounded by the King Gdom 4, Maurice & Mai-yea, danc- ers; The Mathis, sensational uni- eycle-juggljng act, ex-Ringiing Cif* cus; Olgo, over-strenuous mathe- matical-mentalist act who is her- alded as from London but speaks his precise English with a Teutonic accent; and the Les Parker orch. Odom, who debuted at Le Ruban Bleu, N.Y., repeated his click 3,000 miles away'from East 56th: street. Louis Jordan succeeds Miss Chiir- chill. Hotel El Rancho Vegas' new show now has Frankie Laine top- lining, but preceding were Abe Burrows (with Milton de Lugg), Peg*Leg Bates, The Haskells, George Moro's Dancers (8 gals), and the Carlton Hayes band. Maestro emcees and does an authoritative job. Bob Haskell is typical of certain westerh acts who work at convenience. He's a successful Los Angeles routines constantly. Coming In with Laine to El Rancho Vegas are Clifford Guest, Rochelle & Beebe, plus the Moro Dancers, with the Hayes band holding over. Harry Carroll & Co. Hariy Carroll & Polly Baker, his wife, a very promising comedienne Who reminds of Joan Davis in personality and manner of work- ing, were caught at the Last Fron- tier. The veteran songwriter- entertainer comes on with a good fanfare to "Chasing Rainbows," "Trail of the Lone- some Pine" and other of his song hits. He's at the piano as his partner-wife cuts .up. If she's do- ing the Billy deWolfe routine about a corny nitery, by permis- sion or otherwise. Miss Baker should announce the source, be- cause It's been so well identified with the Paramount studio come- dian when he first did his stuff at the late lamented Rainbow Room in N. Y. Besides which. Miss Baker doesn't need to be a copy act; she's very funn_y dame on her own. 'Eddie Rogers is the regular band. Paul Regan, mimic, headlines; Perry Franks & Janyce click With their ballet taps, he making it look almost too easy; and John Verdaguer, French novelty juggler and fiddler, works on a lad- der. Altogether, this old-line ho- tel has a very satisfying show., While Regan is headlined tech- nically, actually Carroll-Baker are the show's hit and rate the top billing. The Last Frontier was one of the first of the de luxe hostelries. The Klwanians meet here. It's the site of the famed Little Church of the West, hence a popular Gretna Green, as is all of La Vegas for all faiths. Justices of the Peace and others authorized to officiate at nuptials have their places lit up in neon, with billing like the munity. Hannagan's Ken Frogley proposed to glamoMze N. Las Ve- gas by renaming it June, Nev.—so that everyone could say "I was married in June," regardless of the month--but that proposal has been politely tabled by the city fathers for future reference. That it was tied in with Warners' "June Bride" (Bette Davis) pic -perhaps won't further that idea. Ci!(juplers' Fancy . Pay Polite but firm entrepreneurs of the casinos tell you that their crou- piers are honest for a simple eco- nomic reason—^theirs isiio seasonal job; it's ii 365-days-per-year en- gagement. ' And at $20 to $30 per day. "That's an executive's pay, so why should they be silly and Hliii Reviews Continued from page 13 i Hasty Saves a IJf« title.. Moppet gang launches on a juvenile delinquent program that ; could give bad ideas to young ticketbuyers if they are impress sionable enough to be moved by the trite antics in the Brende Weis- berg script. When their malicious mischief catches up With the gang, they reform. So does the nephe.w, when he's rescued from drowning by the canine Rusty in a fantas» tically-conceived scene. Adults in this mild drama include Gloria Henry, Stephen Dunne, John Litel, Ann Doran and Thurston Hall, among oth^ifi. They try valiantly with little success. Young Donaldson, Ronnie Ralph, Dwayne HickmaUi David Ackles and Robert E. Scott make up the fang of typical screen juveniles, lame is good as the dog. Seymour Friedman gives the Wallace MacDonald production stock direction. Technical credits are adequate for the small budget. Brog, ■ The Passionate Friends (BRITISH) London, Jan. 26. GFD release of J, Arthur Rank-Clne- CuUd. (Ronald^Neame) production. Stars Ann Toddr Claude Baint, Trevor Howard. Directed by David Iiean, Screenplay, Eric Ambler, adapted by Xean, from H. Q. Viett^ novel I.ean, Stanley Haynes Camera. Guy trv Tnnnlrpv<!hinf«!" nh<ierv(>K iine I Green, Oswald Morris; editor. Geoffrey iry monKeysnineb, ooseives one | Foot: music Richard AddlnseU. At Odeon gambling impresario.' I London. Jan. 26. '49. ilunnlng time, 01 marquee of the Roxy, heralding 24- hour service, day and night, ready to tie the knot in package deals in- cluding license, .witnesses, min- ister, flowers, .honeymoon accom- modations 'n' everything. Reason for this is that the courthouse is always on 24-hour call, hence avail- able at all unconventional hours to issue the necessary legal papers and.the like. The Last Frontier, despite the above is the least musical comedy of the hotels, although the atmos- phere is picturesque. R. E. Grif- fith, the Texas theatre owner, built this hotel, and the lobby is adorned with constant reminders, in por- trait and otherwise, of "our founder." Selling' a Resort Las Vegas is staging a smart stunt in trying to sell itself as a resort and not as a gambling town. Steve Hannagan's boys — Neil Regan, Ken Frogley and Art Force, plus a corps of photagraphers—are headquartered on the scene, aided by Paul SneU, head of the Hanna- gan operation out of Los Angeles. They sell it for its • ranch life— many Texans fancy this Nevada sector for auxiliary residential purposes for its fishing, for its proximity to the breath-taking Boulder Dam in nearby Boulder City, for its mesas, its climate^ for everything but gambling. It's an exciting city. City slick- ers make like they're born to the saddle. The boots-and-saddles sourdoughs look like lammisters from a Republic they-went-that- away set in Gower Gulch (Molly- wood). The croupiers tell you that . many sourdoughs hold them: spell- bound in off-hours with fabulous panhandle-days stories. Many look like typical Panhandle Petes. In contrast, Rex Bell, cowboy- husband of eiara Bow, runs a smart western costume store where the There are occasional reports that certain houses' machines are "luckier" than the others. The slot-machines, they aver, are geared for a 16% edge, and the $1 macliines for "only an 8% edge"; i. e., 92c out of every dollar to the player. However, it seems that the higher the gauge the tougher it is to hit 'em, but that may be a cycle. It seems that luck runs oftener on the, penny—yes, they have 'em for Ic—-niekel, dime .and 25c machines, than with the 30c and $1 one- armed bandits. Incidentally, it's said that the penny slot-machines pay the nut of the Golden Nugget, for example, per day. Latter Is said to have recouped its $2,000,000 investment in less than two years. The Flamingo, of course, is the fabulous hostelry put up by the late Bugsy Siegel. Present oper- ators seem a conservative enough group, comprising * Moe Sedway, Gus Greenbaum, Benny Goilstein (who used to be a circulation and promotion man for Hearst In the east), and Abe Shiller, ex-Ciro's (Hollywood) p.a., handles press re- lations. All spots are set up with p.a.s. and all go in for giveaway gimmicks . of noyelties, ornate glasses, lighters; etc.,. with their trademarked insignia. While no road company Billingsleys, their generosity is on a mass-production basis. They are fast men with a buck or a drink; silly women who gripe over ill luck at the machined are given handful of "lucky" quar- ters cuffo; there is a nightly chuck- wagon (buffet) and square-dancing MINS. Mary... ... Ann Todd Howard Justin.., ... .9..,. . .Claude Rains Steven Stratton.. ...Trevor Howard Pat Isabel Dean Miss Lnyton.......... ...Betty Ann Davies Serv<mt .Arthur Howard Hotel Manager...........Guido Lorraine Ball Porter Marcel Poncin Chambermaid...........Natasha Sokolova Flowerwoman................ .Helen Burls Emigratloiji Official. Jean Serrett Charwoman'. .>...;.,.'.... Frances Waring Bridge Guest........... Wanda Rogerson Solicitor.;....... .1... .Wilfred Myde*Wbite Polished acting, masterly direc- tion and an excellent script put "The Passionate Friends" in the top rank of class British produc- tions. The Cineguild team of David Lean and Ronald Neamie has pro- duced a worthy successor to "Brief Encounter" and it is an Intelligent entertainment worthy of consid- ered support from American audi- ences. ■ ■ • Eric Ambler's screenplay takes many liberties with the original H. G, Wells story, on which the pic' is based, but he has built up a powerful dramatic situation on the triangle drama. To all intents and purposes there are only three characters who matter, Mary, her husband Howard Justin and her former lover Steven Stratton, who comes back in her life after a nine year absence. For the first half hour the story Is related by means of a series of flashbacks, which inclines to some confusion, but it soon,settles down to straightforward presentation with none of the dramatic effect being lost in the telling. The three stars carry the picture with quiet dignity and restraint. Ann <Todd, beautifully gowned, rises to new heights as the girl who foreswears love for security names, hut the customers who can be drawn in tq see it should be impressed with this modest Brit- ish offering. "SileAt Dust" centers on a blind father with a fixation complex so far as his soldier son's memory is concerned. To perpetuate that memory the father plans: a me- morial to him but on the eve of: its unveiling the son, who had not fallen a hero but turns out to be a deserter and wanted for miu-der, returns to the homestead hoping for cash to start a new life. The theme unfolds with full measure of suspense and a deep understanding of the dramatic. Parental reverence dominates the story in a compelling mannw. The daughter-in-law is afraid to reveal that she has remarried, the wife hesitates to reveal that the erring son has returned and all these in- cidents logically lead up' to the terrifying tussle between father an4 son, in which the latter falls to his death over a balcony. This is strong meat, unrelieved in its suspense. Producer Nat Bronsten, has • obviously, concen- trated on the dramatic values and has scored 100%. This is by no means a flawless pie but it is an exaiiiple of what can he done in a British studio on a modest budget. The production is. dominated by just a few characters—-Sally Gray as the daughter-in-law, Nigel Pat- rick as the son, Stephen Murray as the father and Beatrice Campbell as the second wife. All play their' parts with cleat sympathy and definite understanding. Derek Parr Is smoothly competent as the second husband and there are de- lightful bits from Seymour. Hicks and Marie Lohr. Myro. Once Upon a Dream (British) London, Feb. 1.. GFD release ot 3. Arthur Rank-Sydney Box (Antony Darnborough) production. Stars Google Withers. Griffith Jones, Guy Middletop. Directed by Ralph Thomas. Screenplay. Patrick Klrwan. 'Victor Ka* tona; camera. Jack Cox, Len Harris; edii. tor, Jean Barker; music. Manning Sher- I win. At TivoU, London, Feb. 1, '49. Run- 1 nlng time,:uu MINH. I Mrs. Carol Gilbert .Googic Withers Jackson' . Griffith Jones I Major Gilbert............. Guy Midrileton Mile. Louise:............... Betty Lynne Registrar David Home Registrar's Clerk..GcofTrcy Morris Mr. Trout...............Raymond Lovcll Solicitor ; Noel Hewlett Aunt Agnes Agnes Lauchlan Conductress Mirren Wood Capt. Williams Hubert Gregg Vicar . Maurice .Denham Vicar's wife Mona Washbourne windup. And other ^mmicks and wealth. Hers is a flawless por- trayal and ranks with the best seen in British pictures. Claude Rains, in the role of the banker husband, is a model of competence and keep 'em up as late as possible. Psychology plays the rest. Who can pass a table or a slot-machine and resist? The Helldorado is the . annual whoop-de-do here, but this May marks the 100th anniversary of the '49ers, and this should really be a hu mdinger, showwise and other- wise. The time-honored squawk about mounting talent costs obtains in this lush gambling capital, as it does with the smallest-time man- agers. However, they recognize they must draw the towners from "downtown," hence the big napies are imperative, apart from their appeal to the hotel guests. One solution-^they think, but an un- likely one—is that "when we build This Is a little comedy, full of simple Innuendos, which will make small demand on audiences. A lightweight piece of entertainment, it will get by with patrons at home, but won't mean a great deal to America boxoffice. The slender plot Is built around a woman who dreams she has had an affair with her husband's ex- aide and wakes up in the morning believing it really happened. Sit- uation is developed along more obvious lines and is explicited to raise a chuckle now and then. Story unfolds with little move- ! Trevor Howard brings vigor and ! setting j polish to the part of the lover. ' • ' j Some sequences are over-drama- tized but the whole production has i been clearly keyed to the box- j office and should reap a harvest in I situations which appreciate sophis- ticated British entertainment. Mj/ro.. Silent Dust (BRITISH) London, Feb. 1. Associated Brilish-Pathe release of In- dependent Sovereign (N, A. Bronsten) production. Stars Sally Gra.y, StcpKcn Murray, Derek Farr, Nigel Patrick. Di IS an attractive country residence. Googie Withers and Griffith Jones suitably handle the main roles and Guy Middleton is admirably cast as the husband. Subsidiary ehai"- acterization are in the hands of experienced players. Mliro. Different Decree . Continued from page S : in excess of the average ffeaUire;. or If it Is "Of outstanding merit'; rcctcd' by Lance Coml'6rt"''Screcripiay by 1 Or deals With "outstanding or Mi,.h»»i Portu,^.. 1— „i»„ K,. .»:.;„_.,, I special subject matter such as Michael Pertwce irom play by Michael I our extra wings we'll rely on our i Cooper," Robert'0^^^'ed"tw''^Lito^t^^^^^ brief asks own house guests to stay on the i okay to roadshow it. and premises gamble." Almost ner, London, H? ,MIN.S. Feb. 1, '49. Running time. insurance man but recourses to his magico routine as fancy moves chaps and chapettes'pay a couple him; his wife, Madeline Haskell,: hundred for their chaps-and-spurs Who Is Chief aide, is a looker and ' fancy dress. Norma Talmadge, lends class to the combo. They Roy Rogers, Hoot Gibson, Miss have an unique routine where an Bow, Gary Cooper and others have how - to - do-magicrby-phonograph- or have had ranches here or near recording-instruction serves as the I here. straight man. The disk talks back i The night life isn't all {ambling. every major hostelry is expanding Hawiov " by adding rooms. ■• "•• '*' On tl^e subject of rooms, acts are not boarded. As in Florida, deals do not include suites, which ob- tains in many hotels where talent plays the downstairs or roofgarden boites. One more thing; actors are known for their gambling predilec- tions, but, if they must gamble, the hotel-casinos employing them for two or three-week engagements think it should be done on the homegrounds. ...... Sally Gray _ , ......Stephen Murray Maxwell Oliver..., Derek Farr Simon Rawley Nigel Patrick ■loan RawleyBeatrice Campbell Lord Clandon,.Seymour Hicks Lady Clandon. Marie Luhr NellieI ....'. .Yvonne Owen Pringle. James Hayler Foreman ,... .George Woodbridge Simpson........., .Edgar IsTorfolk Cook Irene Handl Cafe Singer .Maria Var Roland and Michael Pertwee's play "The Paraxon" was a natural as a motion picture; subject. Its translation to Celluloid gives tbe ■i«n,„*. ^ ,1. 1 original greater movement and Whats more, the 'ider canvas and with its tense situation becomes aggravated if re-' ports come back that Joe Headiiner Went tor his bankroll In the oppo- sition joint. That's not considered heat in Las Vegas circles. Ahel. dramatic thfeme should prove a I creditable boxoffice success In \ Britain. So far as American audl-i. ences are concerned, Its greatest 1 business policy on any run in any weakness is in its lack of marciuee competitive areai'* ' To avoid the general ban afjainst price-fixing, three companies ask the court to permit inssertion of admission prices "for the sole pur- pose of enabling such defendants to compute their .film rental." Franchises made "for the sole pur- pose of enabling such exhibitors to operate theatres In com pet ion with theatres in that area" would not be Illegal. Uniform clearance reasonable as to time and area which has been, arrived at by independent nego- tiations would not be declared in- valid. Finally, brief asks that it be held proper for a distrib to rent his pix "to secure the longest time possible consistent with sound