Variety (March 1950)

3USCELLANY Detail Ruga’s Bullish Show Biz Paris, Feb. 28. ./ ' / ' , . . Boris Morros* American indie .• ^ . - film producer and former maestro, ; Monty IjftnKS Leaves declared on his return to Paris i from Mol-ow last week that he had closed a deal for sale", to the Soviet of, 50 independently-pro All to Grade Fields Los Angeles; Feb. 28. Will of the late Monty Banks duced Hollywood films at $20,000 i named his wife, Gracie Fields, as each. Arrangement also allows, he ! sole beriefleiary bf his estate, vah said, for the Soviet to agent the T ued j* 1 excess of $200*000. pix to satellite? countries for sup- 1 Miss Fields asked the court to plementary coin subject to his ap- appoint attorney Joseph L. Reina proval. \ | and the Bank of America as ex< (In New York both major: and : ecu tors indie distrib execs expressed great surprise at Morros* statement. The indies indiy iduaily, as well as the Society of Independent Motion Pic- ture Producers, said that no pro- posals for sale of their films to Russia had been received from Morros. (They opined that/ at best, the Kremlin’s offer of purchase was ‘‘subject to screenings” That’s the same as the arrangement Eric Johnston negotiated for the majors in November, 1948, when the Soviet was said to have agreed to take .20 films at $50,000 each. Dif- ficulty in that deal is that the Rus- sians; after scanning hundreds of pix; claim they cah’t find a suf- ficient quantity they like.) Morros has a number of relatives WeJacgduy, March 1, - By JOE LAURIE. JR. Washington, Febv 28. v Screen Actors Guild : has been cited here by the American Vet- erans Committee for its work pro- viding entertainment to hospital- ized veterans. National committee of the ^VVC, in a meeting.this week, declared for the SAG for its .“mag- nificent record of service : to hos- pitalized veterans of both Wars/* Guild entertained in every vet hos- pital in the U. S. during 1949 un- der auspices of Veterans .Hospital Camp Shows. In citing the SAG, chairman Mi- thin g to provide; entertainment during the pressure of wartime and quite another to remember not to forget these same .men five years in Russia, including two brothers j ^ a - Who are reputedly high in the Kremlin hierarchy. A principal reason for his trip to Moscow, aside from seeing them, is said to | have been an effort to obtain U. S. ' ai * rights to RUsse music in. exchange for giving the Soviet rights to “Carnegie Hall,” the musical pic he produced in 1947. Morros is said to feel there is much coin to be obtained In the U. S. for the^ works of such world- famed composers as Khatchaturian knd Shostakovitch. Their music is now played in America despite legal differences between the U. S. and Russia over copyright arrange- ments. Morros apparently aims to clear this Up. ‘Anxious?* Morros declared that the Rivs By CORNELIUS VANDERBILT, Jr s Hollywood, Feb. 28. • This town alive with rumors again, most of them warlike, and some incredulous. Seme of these rumors: War pictures are, all. being slanted with a recruiting angle be- cause of proximity of World War HI. ' ‘ The True, magazine yarn about Sians are anxious to make a* deal the * ying disk? is 0It a , U ton ??es* A^SiUr. 0 Many claimants contend the disks American pictures, but | are actually rays from another that officials claim the arrangement a r* j. comet. Some believe they are made through Johnston is Cold be- cause he and Irving Maas, V.p. and general - manager of the "Motion Picture Export Assn:, didn’t give (Continued on page 16) Racketeer ‘’hemispheric-signals” fr o m the Soviet. __ Others feel _ they_, are thrown from. enemy submarines cruising off the west coast. The disks therefore are said to be the real reason for re-activatidn of air- raid^ warning-system in Washing- ton, Oregon and California as of Jailed for Year in L.A. Fe i b „te/nal Revenue Bureau be- lieved to be on the. verge of ^rack- down on the safety deposit boxes. The Drew Pearson yarn On the change of the color of cash thought by many a scarce-tlireat to force hoarded money into the open. D-Day for the gangster believed set by FBI, whom many claim is getting ready a nationwide crack- : LoS Angeles, Feb. 28. First conviction in the campaign against fake talent agents, was slapped on Boone Hazlett, Indian actor, who was sentenced to a year in county jail by Judge Charles W. Fricke in Superior Court, Hazlett was found guilty of posing as a producer and nicking Mr. and Mrs, Jack Hicks for $309 under promise of getting them j down, screen jobs,; He was *also ordered to return the $309; N.Y. BILL VS. BIAS Friar* Rehearsing Hollywood* Feb, 28. Local Friars went into rehearsal with an all-star cast for their an- nual Frolic, to be staged April 22! at the Shrine Auditorium^ : Troupe lined up thus far consists* of Bob Hope, George Jessel, Al JoJ- £on, Broderick Crawford* Abbott and Costello, Jack Benny, Paul Douglas, Tohy Martin, George Burns and pan Dailey. Albany, Feb. 28. Senator Nathaniel T. Heilman, Bronx Democrat, has introduced (.23) a bill making those in control of places of public assembly liable lor discrimination because of race, creed, color or national origin. It increases from $500 to $1,000 the maximum that may be recovered in a civil action. . The measure requires the Attor- ney General of the state to prose- cute. 3/1 WILL MAHONEY THE INIMITABLE ;justconcluded a delightful en- gagement at the' excellent FLA- MINGO HOTEL, Las Vegas. An Aokub wledgment with thanks to the I courtesy and efficiency of Head 1 Alan, Mr. Moe Sedgway, and his able executive, Miss Maxine Lewis. LATIN QUARTER, New York STARTING MARCH 12 Pi> ^ASSOCIATED BOOKING • CORP. Sir Harry Lauder has made his final farewell tout! Hearing of his going “Upstairs’* makes you wink back the tears for tills accomplished aqd loveable man who used a coal mine as a snrino board to fame and Knighthood! - Harry Lauder Was born in Portobello, Scotland, on Aug. 4, 1870. He took an early thrashing from life* working, in flax mills, then as a pit- head boy at the Hamilton Mines, became a miner’s assistant, then trap- per at the Eddlewood Colliery*. During his work as a minor he appeared one amateur night and won a goldless Watch. He tried a few more amateur appearances then got stage-struck. He received 35 shillings a week, for his 'first regular Stage job; He got enough jobs singing to save $60 and went back to the mines, practically a capitalist! A short time later Moss & Thornton, vaude agents, offered him a spiid route of six weeks and he gave rip the coal pits for ^ood, a decJjsion that A was just a miner loss for the coal pits : and a major gain for the amusement world. ’Arry (as he Was called, by his audiences) became the songster of the poor; With the language of the mineiy In a short time lie was a big card in the Provinces, but he was anxious to play London; He asked for booking there from a Mr. Gattis/ who claimed that many Scotsmen played London but always proved a failure. He finally lis- tened to ’Arty's plea and booked him against his better judgment, Harry Lauder was a terrific London hit! - Lauder took the speech and the wisdom and the humor of. Scot land and clothed it With melody and home-made laughs. He always did a' monolog between choruses . . . good solid homey; stuff . . always clean .. ; clean «s a kitten’s gum! He was an honest comedian who played to honest people. No tricks, just pure talent and personality! He wrote many of his own songs; and collaborated with any good mail that had For ‘Voice’ B’casts Washington, Feb. 28. State Department is saking $36,- 645,000: for its “Voice of America” radio program and $3,886,285 for informational motion picture work, for the fiscal year beginning July 1 next. The requests and testi- mony by officials of State Depart- ment’s Public Affairs Division be- fore a House Appropriations .sub- committee have just; been dis- closed : by the committee. The “Voice” request is $10,000,- 1 000 below the $47,300,000 for the current fiscal year. However, this year’s money included about $11,- 000,000 for erection of new short- wave broadcasting facilities. Thus; the mount asked for operating ex- penses is about the same. The mo- tion picture request was just a shade over the $3,800,134 for the current year. -. Herbert Edwards,—chief- of^ the International Motion Picture Di- vision, testified that the next fiscal year will see his. Unit turning out 97 reels Of film, comprising 65 dif- ferent subjects; this is the same as output for the present year. State Department will produce 13 sub- jects . under contract, and will ac- quire another 40 from American industrial firms which make pro- motional films. There will also be 12 issues of a news magazine of the screen, composed of partly original and partly acquired clips, : “Voice of America” spokesmen plan to expand their service next year by adding broadcasts in nine new languages-—eight from Eastern Europe and Hebrew, The new European languages are all in Iron Curtain countries. an idea. He wrote sqhgs with R. Beaton and j;. D. Harper: W Melville of Glasgow he wrote “Risin* Early In the Momln’.” The immor- tal “I Love a Lassie” was written with Gerald Grafton. He became a headliner in England but it wasn’t, until he came to America (a booking lie \yas very much afraid of not making good and losing his standing 'in England) that he became one of the world’s greatest minstrels! It was 1907 when KlaW & Erlanger started their opposition circuit against Keith and the United Booking Office. William Morris, Sr., one of the greatest showmen of our time, was the booker for Advanced Vaudeville (as the K & E Circuit AVas called). He booked Harry Lauder for $2,500 a week at the New York theatre (Broadway and 44th street, where the Criterion now stands). Lauder *Ayas on the stage over an hour; The audience just couldn’t keep their ears- off him. Alter The first show he was the talk of all. of show biz. And he remained all through the years as one of the greatest* if not the greatest* one-man show that graced our shores and theatres. But it was the great showmanship Of William Morris, Sr;, who made Lauder the great drawing card he was* In. 1908 when Morris became an independent manager he signed Lauder for $3,000 a week besides paying $1*000 a week to the English managers who had Lauder under contract. Bill Morris sent Lauder on the road in a special Lauder train, covering 15 Cities in 26 days. Show consisted of Vasco; Yama- moto, ^Three Cohstantine Sisters, Virginia Varrell, Willie Zimmerman and Emila Frassinisi. The, salary and transportation Cost $2,500 daily— the 26-day tour cost $65,000. Ted Marks was the manager of the show, Hugo Morris (Bill’s brother) was the office rep. They carried an or- chestra of 15, with Scotch pipers giving a street parade daily. An army of six advance men led the tour. Lauder played to $7,200 in Toronto one day, Philadelphia two shows $5,000, Detroit $6,000, Chicago ,i five shows) $18,000. He refused to work on Sundays, claiming people he played to were very religious. When Bill Morris took over the Amer- ican theatre in N. Y., and changed its name to the American Music Hal I, with smoking allowed all over the house, his attraction was Harry Lauder. Campstools had to be placed on the stage to accommodate the crowds at $1.50 a stool. . Harry’s success- prompted his brother-Alec Lauder to-come over in- 1909 and see if he, too, could gather some of the American shekels. He opened at the Fifth Ave. theatre in a skit called “The Christening/’ and was closed after the evening performance. He made another try in 1915 at Hammerstein’s with some Scotch songs; he just managed to stay out the week. There w as only, one great Lauder*—Har ry. I ' Jack Lait*s~Great Job I Enclosed find check for Please Send VARIETY for 2 ne Tf - II To • (PIea.s«"^ Print /Nam«):. Street v , •. • •. . • • # ' Stste • •. • * •' . - Regular Subscription Rates One Year^SIOeOb ‘Twa Years—$18.00 Canada and Foreign—$r Additional per Year 'Kriety 1S4 West 46fh Street Inc. New York 14, M; Y. i_By WILLIAM MORRIS, Jr.—J It is not familiarly known, but Sir, Harry Lauder, more than any other artist in the profession, did more to develop the mechanical projection of entertainment. He was one of the fiftt artists to make gramophone records, ■ He Was; the first to make com- mercial singing and talking motion pictures which were presented na- tionwide in America in 1911. His was the first entertainer’s voice heard across the Atlantic by radio He made the first plarie-to-earth j telephone call in South Africa in ! the early ’20s. j - 'Hr'g2Ve tTir^firCIWrconcrrt” from ship to shore en route to Eng- land with small audiences in New York and Land$ End listening with ear phones. One of Lauder’s favorite sayings was:“The actor will gather the most bawbees when his personality can be projected ’rooned the worrrld.” Iii 1926 he visited the New York laboratories of Lee De Forest to take part in an experiment in tele- vision. . .; Just before he: was stricken in 1949, he was preparing a program to be kincscoped in Scotland and broadcast from Alexandria Palace in London. , You Can’t write about Lauder’s success in America without mention- ing Jack Lait (ex- Variety mugg and now editor of the N. Y. Mirror). Tie did a terrific job of press agentry for Lauder. He gathered all the old Scotch jokes and pinned them on his charge. ’Arty played along and soon had Lauder known as the stingiest Scotsman in the world, a la Jack Benny, Who came many years later with the same gimmick. The “stingy” gags preceded Lauder and also left a trail behind him . . . it was terrific publicity. This, coupled with Lauder’s great natural talent, made him the greatest boxoffice attraction of his time. It was in 1910 that Lauder made another tour. This time , in the private car of President Teddy Roosevelt (bad publicity, eh?). It was on that tour that an incident occurred at Seattle that gives one a slant at the little Scot; He was playing at the Armory* to an audience of about 4,000 in a big terrific. halh—no microphones, in those days. The Seattle Times reported the incident like this: “Some one yelled 'louder 5 and Lauder stopped his performance and said, ‘I’m not going to talk any louder. . If you’re deaf that’s your own fault. I have appeared,all over the United States in halls twice this size and this is the first time I ve been interrupted. Now I want you to understand that my reputa- tion extends further than..the back of this hall. If X came to this coun- (Contihued on page 63) -By S. SEIDMAN, C.P.A - Actors are entitled to many income tax deductions that do not- readily meet the eye. ^The following is a list of some of the items. However, io get the deductions, mere say-so or “guesstimate” is not enough, i«Cre must be some proof of the amounts spent, and that they are professional, not personal, items. c*;n > . re J )CLr ^i on ex Penses —-Research, cost of material, dialog, gags, inu- sic, special coaching lessons; costumes* \yigs, shoes, makeup; re pair* ,£££ ,aiidl,Xfijatal,ol ,4>rpf^essional^ardiiobe. rope vaTetf; studio*rentals, tips to studio employees; recording of voice or program; i Scouting • for eugagements, agent’s commissions, legal expenses on Contracts; , Traveling expenses-—Transportation, board and lodging away from nome* automobile.upkeep and depreciation* cabs from One engagement to anouier; > c^pehses-Development of public following, han- °, fan mail, photographs; complimentary Tickets, entertaining ^> Playwrights, critics, backers, agents, directors,etc.; club mem- e n |/ P I? 11 -?; advertising and publicity; press agent’s fees: . lisceuaneous expenses~y ariety and other trade papers; Equity and Siv2 r o U ” 10 ? ^ ues J telephone exchange; accompanist; accountants’ fees; ^ expense; household expenses, like rent, maid ^ ^ / tele Pj? one ’ i nsurancc, etc , if household is used aclivc; conferences with authors, writers, agents, or other- professional ..‘A ex Pcn Sfi i5:on trips taken to got material, background, or ideas W u Glk? J bea utifying, physicai Culture, bodyguard: ; in- come taxes paid abroad on foreign bookings.