Variety (Mar 1949)

2 MISCELlJliW Vedneaday, March 30, 1949 TV s Fine But Has a Long Way Ta Go Before the Big Comics Join Up, Say Groucho, Fibber & Molly, Cantor Hope's Itinerary MoUywood, March 29. "We get lots of live television out I here in Hollywood, but it consists mostly oi girls talking through ^ u on dummies; animals pretendinR i Hollywood, March 29 they're people; round table discus-1 Bob Hope and troupe take off sions by squareheads; hordes of' after his April 19 broadcast for stunted looking professional kids lour of 16 cities and 13 states, who look suspiciously like midgets; j They open either in San Diego amateur boxing by professionals;' or College Station, Texas, April 20, and farm reports by a local Titus ' and have booked 20 other dates, Moody. But the big league stuff I which will keep them on road until Is all Kinescope." That's the I May 2. opinion of Groucho Marx. ! . :—— ' — '■ — : ■ — And, just as Marx believes that I pii^^ television is not yet ready for the , Jj\|\(^ 1AACO MlUW D.U. big-name comedians, other comics, such as Eddie Cantor and Fibber . McGee & Molly (Jim and Marion Jordan), believe they'll sit out the new medium for awhile. Cantor thinks the present TV audience is still far too small to entice the top entertainers. When the time UP OVER PREVIOUS MO. . Washington, March 29. January boxoffice tax figures bounced like a rubber ball, bettei> i ing the figures for the preceding month and also for January, 1948, 355th WEEK! 3,630 Perform«nce« All-tlme long run record tn the legitimate tlicatre.: ■ KEN MURRAY'S "BLACKOUTS OF 1949" El Capitan The«tr«, Hollywood, Cnl, And now in. woi'ld-wide release "BILL AND COO" K«n Miirr«y'» Academy Award Film ripe for their entry,'he thinks it! according to admissions tax totals will take far more money and pro-1 released past week, by the Bureau gram preparation than tele is now j of Internal Keveaue.' able to afford. The February,, admissions tax _The Jordans admit Jrankly they are scared of video and so "don't want to do TV shows until they're forced into them. In addition, they believe that tele will mean more to | was $25,410,738. General estimates comparatively unknow: talent than to the established performers, be^ cause TV has a far greater propen- sity for star-making. Marx continues: "Kinescope is unquestionably a wonderful device but I don't think at pre.sent it's the ideal method of transmitting entertainment unless you prefer your people, headless. A dancing' couple, for example, will. be clearly seen, their feet tapping Bergman Batkrpom Only Concrete Fact So Far In Rossellini Film Setup "T^-;.-; Rome. March 22. Roberto fepsSieiilnVs pic stirring Ingrid Bergman • is slowly taking here'^are TjjaFneariy 56%r of the ' shape. Proceeding in accordance bite, which generally reflects Jan- uary's turnstile music, was $26,907,- 384. Previous month the figure was $25,766,798, and a year ago it Drew.Pearson Sued For 300G for Press-Radio Charges Vs. Cal. Politico Washington, March 29. Suit was, filed yesterday (Mon.) in the U. S. District Court here by Atty. Gen. Pred Howser, of Cali- fornia, against Drew Pearson for $300,000 damages for "untrue, false and defamatory" statements via press and radio. Referring to Pearson's charges TOQUITAMUS. Washington, March 29. Conference of Mayors, in conven- tion here last week, unanimously , , . ., .. . ^ , approved a resolution urging Con- last April that he accepted "pro- gress to get out of the admissions tection money"_ from "a well- fieij so that the local govern- ments can have It for themselves. The Conference also called for a joint tax study of the overlapping fields of taxation between the Fed- eral, state and loc^l governments, and the: working out of an alloca- tion of sphei'es of taxation.' The-last actioii followed by only a day or two Treasury Secretary John Snyder's call for a meeting : with the heads of the leading state and municipal organizations to dis- cuss joint taxation problems. Meet- ing is scheduled for April 21-22. figures 'come f rpm motion pictures . Even nitery biz was improved. The February excise collection of 20% of the tabs amounted to $4,- 125.027, nearly a million dollars belter than the previous month and slightly above the February, 1948, collections. Third Internal Revenue District of New York—all of Manhattan with Rossellini's usual methods, only a brief summary of the plot has been written to date. Actual dialog will be written from day to day by writers on the set. . The production company, however, is i due to leave for Stromboli in a few 'days and the film, according ,to I Rossellini, will be finished in about known Long Beach gambler." Howser said he would sue Pearson "in every state where his broad- cast is heard, or where his column is printed," But, he said, he would not sue the various stations carry- ing Pearson's program or individ- ual newspapers. Advised of How.ser's action, Pearson said "My record in re- gard to libel suits is well known and I shall be looking forward to meeting the gentleman in court." ' The commentator said that Howser waited a long, time "to make up his mind that he was dam- aged." Judging from the manner in which Howser got out "a stam- pede press release announcing the suit," Pearson added; "he plans to try it in the newspapers-r-per- haps as a diversionary action to his present' unpleasantness wittf Gov: Warren.^l Pearson had~accused Howsei- of lobbying for Tidelands Oil. : . 1 XO WGcks above 23d street—turned in a very ^ ^ In unison, their knees in perfect good $5,084,503 for January's box- °^ ^'^^ ^•''l"'' problems to rhythm, and up to and including! ofiRce" This, however. Was a little I °^ licked is the language barrier, the neck a thing of syncopated I under the firie $5 651 000 of the!'^*^^ writers are It.ilian but Mi.ss month before. preceding month. Nilery biz in; Bergman will speak only English January ran slightly ahead of the while other members of the cast will speak Italian. Rossellini says, however, that language isn't nec- essary since the action will tell the story. Meantime, some technicians have gone ahead to Stromboli to „ , , . , ,, . , build a bathroom for Miss Berg- Holly wood received a drubbing | man. It will be the only one iri town. ■ ■ Lawson Raps H'wood, If That's Any News beauty. From the neck up, how- ever, a milky, white-substance en- . velopes them and until the MC. who also is minus a head* appears and informs you who the dancing team are their identity is as much a secret as though you were reclin- ing in a tomb in Egypt. ! ."Despite all this, with bloodshot' — - — eyes I watch this ogre night after a< the Mass Communications Panel' night, bored but nevertheless fas- I held at the Hotel Waldorf-Astoria, cinated by its potentialities. How I N. Y.. Saturday (26) under auspi- long can I survive on radio against j ces of thi Cultural and Scientific this new monster? When will I Conference for- World Peace. become a public charge? Long be- • Speaking on-"The Effect of the fore midnight this quivering and ' Cold War on the Film," John How- erratic- entertainment signs off and i ard Lawson charged it was hardly in a semi-stupor I grope my way to i necessary to emphasize the fact my bedroom where the butler feeds i that the "quality of American me a double Seconal, places ice! films has declined during the past packs on my eyes and until I fall i two yeiars." asleep chants over and over the im- Russian delegate S. A. Gerasi- mortal words of George M. Cohan, mov took up the cudgel laid down 'Don't w orry. Kid, the only thing ^ by Lawson. Introduced as a "film that will keep the average Ameri- writer, producer and director," he can at home is a dame." Thus I rapped the U. S. film industry! reassured ' ' - ' . , «-«-. , ber FILMERS' BIG L.A.-N.Y. RUNAROUND VIA PLANE Number of filmit6s were swear- ing off airplanes this' week follow- ing a hectic Saturday-Sunday (26- 27) flight from the Coast that had them, among other things, even assigned to emergency exits. On the American Airlines plane were Boris Karloff, Helmut Dantine, Maurice Maurer, operator of the City Investing Co.'s film houses: Mrs. Malcolm Kingsberg, wife of the RKO theatres prexy, and Arn- old Kirkeby, hotel- man. NCA vs. Local Bite Minneapolis, March 29. Theatre owners in Minnesota are facing the prospect of being bitten by local taxes on admissions if and when the U. S. Congress re- peals the current national taxes. Under, a bill pending before the -state - legislature, muni_clp_alitiea_ would have the right to impo.se a tax equal to the cut made by the federal government. ■ Organized by North Central Al- lied, -indie exhibs are waging a vigorous campaign against the bill. Main pitch by the exhibs is that they are willing to pay the same taxes at the same rate as are levied against other businesse.s. but they don't want to be singled out for extra bites. Bluenose Blues Continued from page 1 broadcasters haye talcen the next be.st step. Every station in Ihe ThTy left 'loI Angeles Saturday l ^unt'-y has been furnished «ith a morning and when they got to ! P^Py of the film industry code and Chicago circled the field for more ' National Assn. of Ted Hammerstein Mayjkie On Aussie Oscar Hr Affer Melbourne, March 29. . Ted Hammerstein, here as stager of the musical click, "Oklahoma!", at His Majesty's for J. C. William- son, has threatened to bring legal than 2^! hours awaiting landing instructions. When they finally tried to land, the plane hit a high tension wire and then was told to go on to Indianapolis, rather than complete the landing. At Indianap- olis it was necessary to do some more- circling in order- to use- up all -the gas- to- prevenU a-fire-and .ex- plosion in the event the landing gear was damaged. Fire engines and ambulances met the plane, but there was no difficulty, When thfe group arrived in New York on another plane, weather prevented landing at La Guardia Broadcasters to use as guidance, and top industry officials are warn-.' ing them ;they must clean up their houses oii a station-to-station and network-to-network basis. Indicative of the growing con- cern of broadcasters over the cen- sorship problem and the methods they're" aclsptlns—to"- combat—it- action against well-known local; and they were shunted to Newark, bandleader and radio personality. Again they were unable to land and _ ^ Hector Crawford. That is if latter . were shifted to Washington. P.S.: isured I fall into a deep slum- without mentioning it specifically i ^"^^ ahead with a radio series on Most of them took a train from broken by a violent nightmare,' by nsme. "You all know in what' * commercial network titled "The , Washington. n^K^*/^-®* l"^^ ""^ < movies people are killed like flies,' iv^nHn^i*"'^®*'™ ^° . he ^M, and as a corttrastfadded vaJlTn i T n ». »r 'that "our (the Soviet's) concep- w»„tf; ^ "wV^i^ ^^T^ of life « one of destruc- Want to know what I think about .ion or violence " television? I think it's going to be violence. fine. But I think the only way one ' ,, . ^ . . , can see a TV show Is to have a Hurt in (aUn Accident ^^^^ 8reat big j Hollywood, March 29. iJnited States of ours I do not be- ! Joan Evans, teen-age star of lieve there are more than 1,200.000 sets, If there were five viewers for each set you have an audience o£ 6,000,000. Is that good? I believe ft might be very intimate for Jascha Heifetz to play his violin in a room with 20 people, but that (Continued on page 53) .loan Samuel Goldwyn's "Roseanna Mc- Amazing O.scar Hammerstein." Hammerstein. reportedly stated that the life story of Oscar* Ham-' merstein is not in public domain, belonging to his seven heirs. Ted is a grandson. Crawford told newspapermen that last year, Arthur Hammerstein had offered to make material avail- able, and, according to the mu- sician, had offered to make a trip Coy, has been hospitalized as a i to Aussie to help in the pi-oduc result of a gunshot wound sut- tion. Crawford added that about tered during lensing on Sonora lo-, $4,000 had already been spent on cation when gun carried by Farley' ' Granger accidentally discharged. She was wounded in the left wrist and forearm. Subscription Order Form Enclosed find check for $ Please Send VARIETY lor One Year ■ S. :!■) To Street City. . (I'lease Prhit .Ni«.me> Zone. State. .. Rcgulor Subscription Rates for One Year~-$10.00 Canado and Foreign—$1 Additional P^MEfY Inc. New York N. Y. 154 West 4ith Street advance production plans. Mex Mixed on Satira Mexico City, March 29. Satira iPatricia Schmidt), Tole- do, O, Oriental dancer, here for a two weeks' booking at the Claridge, swanky new nitery, skedded to open April 1, got a big press when NBC7^1S"tTS^ittg most 0 on its program editors, who are instructed to rely on their AM experience with audience reaction for guidance. Mail response is given careful attention to spot trends in what listeners' like arid , accept and what causes negative comment. Since what happens on the screen isn't necessarily what's in the script, NBC editors are as- signed to all major show dress, ] rehearsals. On other telcca.sts, re- . j sponslbility for catching breeches I of good taste rests « with the NBCsi,, TU r OL TV producer. The basic TV code Is IV Lancer ahOW the same as the net's AM code, Milto.i Bene, star of NBC-TV's which means that the producer can rexaco Star Theatre," is sched-^ j,b)e * objcction- Femme Foundations Typical of problems raised by TV is; the question of, showing feminine foundation garments. Al- though these have been AM bank- rollers, NBC at first frowned on giving them TV time. However* bras and girdles are now shown, ■ hac <rAn» i,> I.'. „ . J 1 .i; provided they are not on live hp hrn^rli«Mn^', . 1% ''''''^.'^'' " '""dels or dummies. Slips can be %hnw^^h .h^, m ,^ * televised on models, if the camera thP nnH^MBrTl' ''^'■'"•'iri ""'keeps a respectable distance. k,M-irinvt„»^?i/^ '""^r'"^^ ^^''^ I Another hot issue is the designa- Vho "^.'f" .'•'r^f^^Y/J'e,^: tion of commercials, whether, if Berle's Marathon uled for a television marathon ap- pearance April 9 for the benefit of the Damon Runyon Cancer Fund. Comedian will take the air that day at noon and, with the exception of an hour-and-a-half of other programming, will stay on screen continuously until either he collapses or all the audience ?nnH H?,rint f K "le a gponsor has his trademark ori: a ihPmr.l3 ""^'/^ ''P '* ^""^ to curtain or on a display, that is ir« in Ith Pi',?"^ V'^^wvl commercial time. : t^ -"...c w« i-vorauie, ] „ L °\'l".,^'V'!f ?u "hie whether the display detracts from some a slam. Uh.,-.'!' their donations through ' the program value and the bank- La Prensa, imoortant tab In a ^ tn ho l.^ , ''V^"""-^ f hoard is roller's goodwill with the listeners, cover banner took a poke at Miss the amnun^ ^^f ^''^y «h«wi']S As yet not enough listt-ners have Schmidt, deploring her pt4senc^al^^^ .'"n"''^, | commented to establish a trend in iVlexioo and warning of disturb- wmln^v network. Twelve models NBC has no "taboo lists," but anccs when she opens f Berie win If.f'^'^n ^"''''^ ^medians are ca.'t-fuUy c.ii • Berle Will vary the program by watched at rehearsals for lavender- announccmonrn?'.hf. f^^'-^f interviewing guest stars and gen- .scented blue g^^^^^^^^^^^ r iZHr?^.^ shp L;I;.'^fA? °' Zf^r '•""•'"'=''"8 a vaudeo pres-! ity. Context is considered impor- co m" 4 V as . to h!7 enlat on. | t.,„t. por instance, when Bobby Ptn-m to do vSo U nf«nvi-^^/."°'f^^^^^^ shows to be aired during Clark did a female impersonation «tl • V ^''y ^'"e the horse-races from on a recent "Lambs Gambol" Mexica^ "'ae7or[''''u„fo„**''*-^"'f'".'t' f'^.'''"'"' '''' 3^30 | sTow^he turn wa^ S ed becau-se S's reaiferfor T?L.i,"T''! ^ Said That," the comic wore heavy shoes and bee usi sa?d H^e mlnutrv ' a vr^;^:^"^'' ST^^''^^ men's socks and was obviously not antecedcm s of Thi^ Jor*.ianir " fhlT-^'*^' off ■ its sponsorship of playing a weak-wristed role. Tal- ri-u-ift„ . ^""^ program from 9 to 9:30 fhni indicated p.m. Berle is to be seen on the £ eigailm^nl " ^ other, times, even ner engagement. (when he takes time 'off to eat,- ent on ad lib shows have been briefed on Ihe need for keeping the family nature o£ the tele audi- etice in mind.