Variety (March 1950)

Television is challenging films foe the choicest entertainment night of the week. Video networks are. massing their heaviest talent and production forces in a concen- trated onslaught tp keep the pub- lic, at home on Saturday nights. Result is expected to be a head-on Collision with exhibitors, who have fraditionaliy counted on that night, flvith its teen-age dating and family Sorties to the nabe filmeries, as their best of the week. While TV’s actual impact on the ftlni boxoffice is still a matter of speculation among most exhibs, the neW video emphasis on Saturday night programming may provide them with a yardstick to determine exactly how much TV is responsi- ble for the current attendance slump.; Recent surveys have re- vealed that Saturday is the one night when video setowners still go out most often for their entertain- ment. If that now turns into the loneliest night of the week for ex- hibs, the blame can only be placed oh' TV’s competition, Swing towards Saturday night might also prove the acid test for (Continued on page 53) COMM’LS KEY TO MEET Chicago, Feb. 28. Aside from concentrating on cur- rent problems besetting coin-ma- chine industry. Music Operators of America will set its sights on at least two new moneymaking ideas at annual convention March 6-8 here at the Palmer House. v First question on the agenda is plausibility of Setting up coin-con- trolled television in taverns. Sec- ond is possibility of installing com- mercials in jukeboxes, to be played While machine is idle, Both are in for intensive discussion. --Key—ite m-nf—cu rren t—pr obi ems will be a report by Sidney Levine, MOA national, counsel, on copy- right legislation which may come before Congress this year. Urider such 'legislation/ jukeboxes would be subject to copyright charges. Also scheduled are discussions on merchandising and pubiic relations between Operators and location- owners, and a programming clinic for operators. George A. Miller, MOA national chairman and trus- tee, arrives; here tomorrow (1) to set up actual program and arrange for speakers. New coin bills in Congress will receive attention. Operators have gone on record as supporting mint; ihg of a 7V£c coin, claiming that 6 nickel is not enough, Also to be discussed is work of state groups to place, industry under Fair Trades acts of individual states. There will be a committee re- port on depreciation, and showings by 25 exhibitors. Approximately 500 operators are expected to at- tend. Farmer's Generator. To Rescue for 111- Concert Wheaton, 111.,* Feb. 28. With, Gov. Adlai 0 E. Stevenson asking legislature for a 25% cut in electric power due to the coal shortage, concert of English so- prano Kathleen Ferrier scheduled here for last night (Mon.) was cancelled by local managers Fri- day night (24). Singer's N,. Y. manager; Colum- bia Artists Mgt., however, dt ided to meet the emergency. They en- gaged a portable electric genera- tor powered by gasoline, such as the farmers use; moved it to the sidewalk outside the. hall, and the concert went off last night as ad- vertised. Artist bureau plans to do the same for its artists wherever power is cut. Washington, Feb; 28. Legit situation in Washington has broken wide open, With indica- tions that two and possibly three theatres may soon be available for touring shows, On one hand, the Committee of Theatrical Producers has entered, the picture in a move to take a long-term lease on the Strand there. On the other. Broad* way producers Harald Bromley and Eunice Healey have taken an op- tion on the Gayety, for the pre- sentation of a series of recent New York hits that have not played Washington. Meanwhile the Amer- ican National Theatre & Academy is continuing negotiations to lease the Belasco from the Government. The CTP, in cooperation with ANTA, has raised $60,QOO so far for the Strand deal. Gilbert Miller, treasurer of ANTA and member of the CTP, is in charge of lining up necessary finances. The idea of ANTA and the CTP is to have two regular houses for touring legit shows in the Capital. The Belasco, excel 1 pn t l y situated but with a seating capacity of only about 1,300 or so,, would be used for lighter- production straight . plays, while (Continued on page 60) The TV Circuit today is big time. The swing around the vaudeo play- ing dates f or pop entertainers. has become a booker’s delight, with probably more activity focused on the TV marts in New York than on any other facet of entertainment. On the basis of a one-shot-a- week engagement, there are now 16 v weeks of major TV playing time. There hasn’t been a circuit to match it since vaudeville started to hit the skids. The swing around the TV vaude circuit now encompasses; such at- tractions as: Milton Berle’s Texaco Star Theatre Ed Sullivan’s Toast of the Town NBC’s Saturday Night Revue Front Row Centre 54th Street Revue Cavalcade of Bands (for name band attractions) Cavalcade of Stars CBS’ The Show Goes On Abe Burrows Almanac This Is Show Business Inside: USA With Chevrolet Ken . Murray Show Perry Como’s Chesterfield Show ABC’s Paul Whiteman Show Bonnie Maid Show Arthur Godfrey’s T a 1 ent Scouts As for dramatic actors, be* cause of the mounting number of video dramatic shows, they are now in a position to earn sl livable year’s pay by concentrating-on TV alone. According to Fred Coe, exec pro- ducer of NBC-TV’s “Philco Play- house/' a good supporting actor is paid from $200 to $500 for each performance and, he said, there is nothing to prevent such players from doing up to 26 shows a year. Lead roles, of course, draw more (Continued on page 15) Plan Negro Troupe For Legitless Negro Auds An untapped audience composed of southern Negroes may soon get a looksee at their first legit;. The formation of a colored company to tour Negro sections in the south is being worked on by Warren Coleman, actor currently appear- ing on Broadway in "Lost in the Stars.” Coleman is also angling for sponsorship of the project by a major corporation. Productions would be hew and .established works. Coleman feels that at a $1 Or $1.50 admission fee a large number of the Negro population would at- tend the offerings. Touring com- pany would be an outgrowth of Coleman’s recently organized Har- lem group, Actors Theatre. Gertie Lawrence q For R&H ‘Anna’ Tuner Gertrude Lawrence is the likeli- est bet to play the feminine lead in a-^-Broadway legit-mUsicalized version of “Anna and the King of Siam,” the Margaret Landon book which 20th-Fox ' filmed some years ago with Irene Dunne and Rex Har- rison. Indications are that Rich- ard Rodgers and Oscar Hammer- stei h, II, will . do the'. book and score, though there’s nothing defi- nite set on that, either. Miss Landon has expressed in- terest in having Cole Porter as ! composer of the score,, though Por- 1 ter’s selection of the librettist Would be a factor. Rodgers and (Continued on page 20) London, Feb. 21. ; Charles Chaplin has written a ballet for Alicia , Markova and Anton Dolin, and is at present completing the music. , Title of ballet is “Death of Co- lumbine.” English dance team ex- pects to - include it in their reper- toire .Whemth.ei’:' return lo .England next month. Dither About Zither Capitalizing on the zither . boom being cued in by Anton Karas’ musical score for “The Third Man,” WNEW, N. Y., will launch in three weeks a 15-minute zither stanza. Jndie is auditioning the nine zither players in Local 802, American Federation of Musicians. Problem the station faces is that while Karas plays the Aus- trian type of zither, some of. the AFM instrumentalists use a Bavarian variatloni Gov. Ellis Arnall, who spent al- most an hour with President Tru- man last week discussing film mat- ters j sai'd this week that the indus- try’s next step must be preparation of a specific program for presenta- tion to the administration; to get the Government’s support on inter- national film problems. Prexy of the. Society of Inde- pendent Motion Picture Producers stated that he would be in touch shortly with. Eric Johnston, Motion Picture Assn, of America topper, in order to get together on a group of specific requests that can be submitted to the Government. Arnall said he intends to follow through the huddle with the Presi- dent by holding sessions with other Administration officials. . Arnall’s confab at the White House was at the request of the President: The invitation, of course, f o l i o w e d considerable ground work which the former Georgia governor has carried on in Washington over the past year; That included; a session with the pre^ent^bbut- -a—year—ag^r—at- which time Secretary of State Dean Acheson was present. Arnall,. in a telephonic interview (Continued on page 18) Cantor, Romberg in 40th MW Two show biz vets will celebrate 40th anniversaries in their fields with special appearances in N. Y, this month, Eddie Cantor will appear at Carnegie Hall March 21 in a per- sonal cavalcade of songs and anec- dotes, with program titled, “.My 40 Years In Show Business.” Sig- mund Romberg will likewise bring his concert orchestra, and a quar- tet of vocalists, to Carnegie Hall March 17, for a typical “Evening With Romberg.” Second half of the program will be devoted solely to Romberg compositions. Com- poser will baton the evening, Ha. Cafe Salaries Miami Beach; Feb. 28. Florida’s uncertain political situ* ! ation, caused by the battle between reform and •‘wide-open’* elements* resulted in a sudden clampdown on gaming which closed La Boheme, Hallendale, and the Golden Shore, both near Miami Beach, Loss of these cafes, plus the probable cut- down on talent- buying resulting from the merger of the Beach- comber and Copa City, has forced a situation which may mean the end of the reckless talent buying in this area. Without gambling those $10,000 to $25,000 per week salaries are not justified. Further- ! more, those $7.50 and $10 mini- mums are not as popular with the masses nowadays. ! Situation is regarded as serious by the) major talent offices: In 1 fact, the William Morris Agency j d ispatched Sam Bramson to this ' resort late last week. Jpe Sully, (Continued on page 53) PAR JOINS WB. RK0 IN I Three-cornered race among ma- jor film companies has started to cash in on the public’s nostalgia via newsreel clips pieced together to make a feature. Latest derby entry is Paramount, preceded by both Warner Bros, and RKO. Par is now mapping a five-rdeler which will cover the history of World War II by the use of newsreel shots and a running commentary. Film is planned to run 50 min- , utes or so. It will be widely dis- tributed in double-feature territory for the second half of a dualer. Pic ! wil 1 be a project of the Paramount j Newsreel unit with A. J. Richard, > reel . editor, as producer, Richard ; previously brought out “World in ‘ Fla tries,”‘ another feature based on , clips, • . . _ Filmwillvie with W^riiers’ “I Can See It; Now” and the March ; of Time feaiture,; ‘‘The Golden ; Twenties,” which RKO will release, j The Warner pie, turned >u> by ! Warner Pathe News, draws from , neWsreel shots to give a sweeping story of the pasi 50 years. Pro- duced by Alfred Butterfield. Rich* "ard’s opposite numBer"at "WBrfflni • will be the first feature tryout of the reel. M of T’s opus, produced by Louis de Roch embnt, employs stock reel shots to depict the .public weH- knowns and events of the 1920s. Company releases its regular shorts through 20th but has pacted with RKO for the feature pic. • If the newsreel-feature idea clicks at the b.o., it should prove | to be a heavy moneymaker. Films are figured to cost somewhere be- tween . $50,000-$100,000 since most ; of the footage is already in com- j pany bins and only editing and 1 commentaries are required.