Variety (August 1949)

VOL. 175 No. 12 !•' Publiahod Weokijr at 164 Woat 46th Streot. New Tork It, N. T., bjr Variety. Ine, Annual aubacriplinn, |t9. Sinaia roplea, >■ cenliL Katarad as aacoud claaa matter Derainber 22, 1905, at the Poat Orrtca at New Tork, N. T.. under the act aC March I, lilt. C/'OrVBlUUT. J»49, MX VAKIEIX, INC. ALL KlUHTS HRSRHVKD. NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 1949 PRICE 25 CENTS H’WOOD’S TIGHT BACK’ DRIVE Color Video May Be Final Cfincher To y|||J[SiWith Legit Fmaneing So Scarce, Bring Film, TV Indnstries Together | yj ||jIllCK[[|S You, Too, Can Now Be an Angel • Color television, which this week> looms closer to commercial reality, may be the motivating factor in finally cementing the tie between the TV and film industries. Since very few, if any, video broadcasters have had any experience with color, it is believed they will be forced to turn to film technicians | to get them started on the tinted ! road, j That belief, already being aired ' by spokesmen for both industries, i is based, of. course, on the as- ; sumption that the Federal Com- j munications Commission will green- j light color TV in some form at the > hearings scheduled to open in Washington. Sept. 26. Disclosure by RC'A laS! week of a new all- electronic system which can be linked directly with present broad- ' cast standards, coupled with CBS’ request that the FCC detail the information it wants on its sys- j tern, presages an early FCC go- | ahead for some form of color video. 1 Link between the two indu.stries , as a result of color TV’s immi- J nence was pointed up “this week by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. Organ- ization, which voted to include TV i technicians in its membership only last spring, had selected color pho- tography as the keynote of its con- vention. which tees off on the Coast in October. Following the (Continued on page 63) BEHE DAVIS IN PAR’S ‘STREETCAR’ PACKAGE? Bette Davis, as her first role since breaking her 18-year associa- tion with Warner Bros., may play the lead for Paramount in a filmi- lation of Tennessee Williams’ hit legiter. “A Streetcar Named De- sire.” Unusual package deal with William Wyler as director has oeen set up and was awaiting the return from abroad yesterday (Tuesday) of Par prexy Barney Balaban for final okay. Pulitzer prizewinning play has bad such a high price tag hung on it that studios have shied away from it. It was offered for bidding last winter at a starting price of ■round $4.‘S0,000 plus a percentage. It is in the complicated package arrangement with star and di- rector at $150,000 plus a percent- age. Play is now in its 91st week on Broadway. Wyler i.s included in deal de- apUe the fact that he is under con- tract to Par. He’d be borrowed by the ’’package” and loaned back to the stucUp as part of it. Radioes Singin’ Sheriff Seguin, Tex., Aug. 30. Music may be a strange weapon to find in the ar.senal of a Texas sheriff, but P. M. Medlin. the “Singin’ Sheriff’* of Ciuadalupe county, finds i that it comes in mighty handy j in his work. 1 Each Sunday at 6:30 p.m. the j ' law officer parks his pistol and handcuffs atop the piano here at KWED, and with his theme,, j "Marcheta.” presents a half- ' hour of songs. Too-Quick Rise May Hurt Vaude j The RKO circuit is now' starting to worry about the rapidity with 1 which its vaude-policy Palace shows are growing. Not only has public acceptance of the eight- acters built up competition for the I chain in two situations, but the number of acts suitable for the Palace-type layouts are insuf- ficient to meet the demands of those entering into this kind of programming. Chain toppers feel I that its too-rapid growth will I create a bad standard of show'man- j ship that will harm the vaudeville revival. ^ Situation was brought into shbrp focus last week when the Adams theatre. Newark, advanced its preem of the eight-act policy from Sept. 1.5 to Sept. 8. the day after 1 (Continued on page 50) Radio Takes a Hand In Milking Contented Cows I Minneapolis. Aug. 30. Minnesota State Fair has given permission to Mueller & Sons, Arlington, Minn., to install a radio in the cattle barn on the grounds where the firm is exhibiting its prize herd of cows. Karl Mueller explained he in- stalled a radio in a cattle barn at home so that he wouldn’t mi.ss U. of Minnesota football games broad- casts while doing his chore.s, and that, following the games, he lis- tened to the ensuing musical pro- grams. He said he noticed that during the music the cows seemed more quiet than usual. This led him to put the radio on again at milking time for music, and he I found the cows milked more easily. ! By HERB GOLDEN I (’hicago, Aug. 30, Verbal brickbats with which ' Hollywood has been habitually - slugged for years will no longer go ; unanswered, it appeared virtually j certain here today (Tuesday!. For j the first time in film history, those | who malign and discredit the in- j dustry, wliether for fun or for ! I profit, can be sure of having the j lie tossed back in their face—and of getting, additionally, a positive j slant on the virtues of the industry. , j While it may yet take some time ! i to work out details, one thing on which major execs at the all-indus- Otlior vf’wx of the film in- dnstrif's public relations con- feroice in Chicago on Page 3. try public relations conference! j here appear to agree on is need for j j a professional, full-time organiza-, i tion to enhance the now admittedly ! dim view that most of America j I takes of Hollywood. A secondary aim, of course, will be to promote I boxoffice receipts. j This will be the first time that I every facet of the film industry, as represented by the unprecedented gathering at the two-day conclave (Continued on page 25) Competitive Heat Off, I Agents Have It Tough I Booking Fla. Names i New' York talent agencies have little hope that the Florida cafe ; .season will provide the booking I bonanzas of former years. Up to j this time, not a single major name ! has been bought for a Miami i Beach spot. Last season at this time, most of the top talent were j already patted. ! Reason for the failure to sell the top performers in Florida is I the absence of a major competi- tive situation, such as existed last season, when the Beachcomber I and Copa City were dueling each other for draw's. Fate of Copa City is still to be determined. Operator Murray Weinger is currently in a Massachu.setts hospital and may not be able to raise sufficient coin needed to open the debt-ridden cafe. Thus Ned Schuyler’s Beach- comber, across the street from Copa City, may be the sole major cafe in that area. Another factor contributing to the buying decline I is Schuyler’s recent takeover of the Five O’clock club from Sam 1 (Continued on page 63) Nathan’s ‘Religion* George Jean Nathan is kid- 1 ding-on-the-square in enrolling j intimates in what he calts the new religious cult of ”lm- inunism.” i The veteran .scrivener then reels off' a (lock of things one can and should “immunize” against. , P.S.—He’s getting willing disciples. Soaps, Giveaways Tripe’: De Forest Chicago. Aug. 30. Tf the FCC enforces its ban on giveaways, it’s perfectly all right with Dr. r.ee de Forest, .so-called “father of radio.” The inventor celebrated his 76th birthday last week (26) by blasting “lotteries and soap operas’’ as “tripe.” “I had hoped that radio would improve our cultural lot by broad- casting interesting educational pro- grams and cultural music,” he .said. Instead, he claimed, radio i.s the communications organ for opera- tors of quasi-lotteries. De Forest works six hours a day at American Television Labs, per- fecting his color television inven- tions. but knocks off four months every year to rest at his L. A. home. “I guess the good radio has done outweighs its evils.” he said. But as for soap operas, “they could be ordered off the air very easily with- out much of a cultural loss to the American people.” De Forest predicted that devel- opment of atomic energy might have wide ramifications in the radio and TV industry. Pitt Progressives Pick Radioite to Run as Alayor Pittsburgh, Aug. 30. f’harles M. Kerns, Jr., freelance radio producer and former program director of WJAS, has been named by the Progres.sive Party here to run for the mayoralty in the com- ing city elections. lie’ll be unop- posed for the nomination in the primaries next jnonth. Kerns has Idng been active in local affairs of the Henry Wallace party and was a Congressional can- j didate on the ticket la.st November, but withdrew at the last minute. By HOBE MORRISON This may be the sea.son in which the outsider with a bankroll comes back into his own in the theatre. Signs point that way. With available production coin growing scarcer by the week, (he stranger with a collection of Gov- ernment bonds is becoming th« real Man of Distinction on Broad- way. No longer is he merely glanced at, sideway.s. down the nose, to be given a barely polite whisk or, perhaps patronizingly admitted to the suckers’ circle. Now, with the exception of very few managements, nobody has to introduce him and it doesn’t mat- ter where or even if he went to college. If he has a bank balance that can be had he’s in. with as many “auditions” as he and his Iriendsseem to require. And if he wants billing as associate producer, with perhaps the right to make suggestions about casting and this and (hat. he may be accommodated there, too. The reason for all this is plain enough. With the end of the war yeai's’ boom, the boxoffice subsided and grosses leveled off to normal or less. But while costs have re- mained high, profits have shrunk and ri.sk capital has become elu- sive. In fact, things have become tough all over. So, although such apparently (Continued on page 63» NBC, CBS IN GOLDWYN, SELZNICK TV DEALS? New tiein between indie film pniducer David O. Selzntck ana CBS. calling for Sclznick to pro- duce a series of tw'o-reelers espe- cially for CBS television, is ex- pected to be revealed when the producer returns from Europe in about two weeks. NBC television, meanwhile, may beat CBS to the I punch by announcing a similar , tiein with indie Samuel Goldwyn .some time this week. Deals by the two major web.s with two of the top indie producers j in Hollywood arc expected to pave ' the way for other film producers to turn their attentions to TV. With (•levision confidently expected to devour more film in a year than is presently turned out by all the Hollywood studios combined. TV spokesmen believe it’s only a mat- ter of time until even the major companies start Icnsing films H>r video. To date, several top indies, including Selznick, Argosy (John Ford-Merian Cooper), etc., have i (Continued on page 63) ARE YOU IN ? (],5flfl ALL-AMERICAN PREMIERE CONTEST c i OPEN TO EVERY SHOWMAN IN THE LAND