Variety (April 1950)

April S* WSO profile OR the Miuile H«ll Hadio City MUde Hall, _N. Y., Woflled Itt the April iMue of Popu- C Mechanic* f'rfflll of a Thousand Illusions,’* is vjV eastern editor Bichard F. Dem- nfiwolff; It goes extensively into thS mechanics of the Rockefeller ihowcase’s backstage operation. -xJSded is a cutaway drawing the hydraulic stage system, plus four pages of color plx and four in hlaCkrand-white. Mag did .e - ordiiiotion on the yarn, including Slacing wraiipers around each copy plugging it. Headliners Awards Go On While the Headliners’ Frolic, which has brought some 2pQ newsv naper, newsreel and photographers here as guests of the city in mid- June for the past 14 years, seems, »- thing of the past, the annual awards Continuei Announcement of the' awards; came from city pub^ licist Mai Dpdsoii Saturday (1). Tom iPaprocki, Associated Press cartoonist, is chairman of the 1950 judging committee.; , ,. Only one award wss made in ra- dio, that to Merrill “Red’’ Mueller, of NBG, for consistently outstand- ing foreign news broadcasts from London during 1949, including aeven exclusive world hews stories. A posthumous award was voted for Lew Lehr, late of Fox Movie- tone News, as a '^commentator and perfdrmer without a peer in the newsreel industry, who contributed much to portraying the lighter side of the hews oh film.” The award for outstanding cov- erage of a news event went to War- ner-Pathe for its dramatic presen- tation of the return of the body of Private Rodger Young, backed by the ballad written about him; The Public Service by a news- paper award went to the Chicago Daily .News for, its consistently outatahding public service in gen- eral. but specifically for its Expose of “Skid Raw” conditions in Chi- cago, with special awards to re- porters William F. Mooney and Frederick H. Bird, jr. ■ Murray Becker, AP photogra- plierj won the best sports action picture award. Domenic Ligato, Philadelphia Bulletin, drew the award for the best human interest picture.- Jaras W.; Baldwin, of the Des Moines Register, won the award for the best spot news story picture. Two awards went to the Gom- mcrcial Appeal of Memphis. Lydel Sims got one for outstanding fea- ture column writing and Ellis Moore got the second for a series of stories written on the planned amputation of Betty Lou Mar- bury’S infected hand. A1 Gai*t\vright,' of the Wilmihg- ton, Del., News-Jourhal. won the sports column award. The exclu- sive domestic story award went to Dick Hyer, of the San Francisco Chronicle for “The. G.oheh Revela- tions,” the story of the recorded reports bn Mickey Cohen, The excluMve major foreign hews stories award went to Kings- bury Smith Of International News Service for his two exclusive ih- terviews with Stalin in 1949., Dpr- inan H. Smith, of N. E. A., won the award for outstanding editorial cartoons. History”. at the Lyceum, N. Y., in 1938, which she alsa directed, and authored a play for Maude Adams in 1935 which John Golden pro- duceil. Author has played stock, written and directed one-acters for Frank Keenan, Loii Tellegen and Vivian Tobin; when they essayed flyers into vaudeville in the golden era of the bigtime, and latterly has p^yed in pictures.^ . Lippiiibbtt Re-pacis Trapp Lippiiicott h a s ;sighed Mrs. Maria Augusta Trapp for a second book, this one bn religibh, as result of success of her first tome, •‘Story of ’Trapp Family Singers.” Bobk, bibg of the famed folksinging group, pubiishe d last November, has sold over 29,000 copies, and gone into its fifth: edition. Family. group of 10 is leaving Monday (10) for a three-month tour of South America, its first foreign jaunt sinbe arrival in America from Austria in 1938. It will return mid-summer for a fortnight : siiigfest in Vermont, then go to Europe for a lengthy tour.. ■ CHATTER Gypsy Rose Lee doing an article for the June 'issue bf Flair. ”The Circle bf the Day,” third novel by mbnbiogist-author Helen Howe, to be published by Simon & Schuster May 22. Manchester Bbddy’s Los Angfeles Daily 'News dropped its mbrning edition but will continue to pub- lish as a p.tn. ^heet.^^^ “Jackie Robinson,” Bill Roeder’s bibg of the Brooklyn Dodger and ABG commentator, due off A; ,S. B arnes presses April 25, Robei*t StrunSky, copy chief for CBS from 1945, until his resigna- tion last month, joined Simon Ac Schuster as directbr of advertising, Langston Hughes’ “Simple Speaks His Mind,” based on his Chicago Defender series, due for publication by Simon & Schuster April 14. Donald Windham, who with Ten- nessee .Williams co-authored the 1945 Broadway play, “You Touched Me,” has written; a novel, “The Dog Star,” which Douhleday is publish- ing April 20. Aberdeen (Scotland) U. will hold special graduation may 1 to confer honorary degree of LL.D. on Andre Siegfried, noted French writer. ,Prof. Was unable to accept honor ten years ago owing to war; tribute some snappy dance ar- rangements this week as well as expert backings for the acts., The Fanchbiieftes have two ^production numbers, opening with “Spring- time Fantasy/’ to . which Aladdin; first Addle, sings “Younger Than Springtime^” and closing with “Pbwder Puff precision.” Missing from the ‘ usual down-< town lineup this week i$. Ronnie Gibson, band chirp. Throaty vo- calist has moved out to the Holly- wood Paramount, along with Dick Wesson, for a Week, Holding over in Hollywood is Herb Jeffries. Ex- tension gives singer his third lo- cal week on the Paramount stages. Musical support is; being supplied by Dick Hazard’s four-piece com- bination. • 1 " I 11 -'. i".- €hicag 09 - : Chicago, March 3L ; Dick Stabile, Carolyn Gray, 4 Step Bros., . Dean Ma & Jerfy Lewis, HousO Orch; **Wdhash Ave.- (20th). ■■ ■ •• V ; » 4> » » » ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ 4 4 By Frunk SCGtty Fiction Writers Conference Iviarlboro- Fiction Writers Con- ference will hold its second session Aug. 16-30 at Marlboro, Vt., with Dorothy Thompson, Ely Culbert- son, Hemy Beston/Elizabeth Page and* Elizabeth Coats worth added to the list of lecturers. Among the ■49 lecturers who Will be reprised are Charles Jackson, Ludwi g Lewisohn, Dorothy CanAeld Fisher and Shirley Jackson. : Conference is directed by Dr. Walter Hendricks, Marlboro Col- lege prexy; John Farrar, of Farrar, Atraus; and critic-novelist Edmund FUiler; Latter will teach the novel *nd Mavis Mclntosb will prof the short story course. . William Wiegand, 2I-year-6ld U. of Michigan student^ won the fourth Mary Roberts Rinehart mystery novel contest, His' “At Last,. Mr. Tolliver," awarded $2,- 000 prize, will be published by Rinehart Sept. 22. W. A. Darlington, drama critic of the London Telegraph and reg- ular contribto the N. Y. Times, has tiirrted but; “The World of Gilbert & Sullivan” (Crowell; A3.50), with an introduction by Brooks Atkin- son, the Timeg^jj-^j^ Maurice .O’Sullivan, who * 811 - thored the 1934 bestseller, “Twen- ty Years A-Growing,” while serv- ing -with the Irish Police Force-— Garda Siochana—has returned to duty with the police from which he retired some years ago. He is currently writing a sequel to “A-Growing,” provisionally titled “Twenty Years in Blossom.!’ House Reyiews Continued from page ..-.j. V RarHJitouHt9 X A. : I by a straight newscast as Ernie Ford). Both his regular fans and those new to his type of humor and .song are finding he is stage- wise and capable of selling an in- , person • tu rn to solid ret ur ns, . “Ghattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy” and ' “Anticipation Blues” are his bther two vocal offerings. Toni Harper, the I2-year-old bleater of blues, has appeared lo- cally a number of times and cap- tures the audience, with her rhythm ability and showmanly de- livery. Standouts are “It’s a Good Day,” “Candy Store Blues.” “Rock- a-Bve Baby” and “Get Up, Get Hp,” Added on the bill are Don Cory and the Five Taylors. Former is a smooth-working comic who enter- jtained for 20 minutes at show ' caught with fresh and funny mimicking bf w.k. personalities. Ji novel, “Pay the Pipei'/’ just I His Frankie Laine impresh is the PODJished by Cbward-McCann at! cleverest and a strong seller. Five Taylors are youthful. apros with ' pleasing routines that sold, nicely at opening show. Rube Wrbif and his orch con- S. Africa Ban On Maff Recent issue of the London Weekly, :Sunday Pictorial; has been banned in South Africa by the Mlnister of the Interior, because or a photograph showing .a Euro- pean boxer, Dick Matson, being Kaypedi by a Negro, George Wash- ington, during a bout in England, Present government considers such treatment of a white man by a Negro taboo; Adeiyn Bushnell’s 3d Novel Adelyir BushneU, Vet legit ac- yyess and playwright, has had her i has a show biz backgi’oimd • 5 singer is the central char- Mias Bushnell, now a Holly- wood resident, co-authored “Case Although there are only four acts here, ihcluding a sax sblo by band- leader Dick Stabile, hour long show is well , paced. Stint of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, While well received, might be trimmed fbr bet- ter effect, since they do about 35 minutes;: After fast' number by the house orch, Carolyn Gray steps out to maintain the pace. Blonde song- stress whips through “Just One of Those Things” with a sexy %eat and repeats with “Boogie Woogie Blues,” which, While good, could have been replaced by a stronger number. Dick StabilCr who fronts the house orch and ■ picks up chuckles straightihg for M & L, does neat. saxing on“The Man 1 Love.”:-- Four Step Bros, sew things up with their remarkable unison, and solo tap work. After seating to “Russian Lullaby” tehtpo picks up with gusto. Splits; spread eagles and triple taps gb over for a beg- off. . Martin; and Lewis have sapolied their bistro act, and retain just a few swish quickies. Which they could dispense with. Act seems fine for theatres of the faimily type such as this. Duo get hefty laughs throughout long routine. ^While it’s mostly Lewis’ facial and; body posturing, plus his quivering voice, Martin also gets some punchy stuff across. After a feW bits by Lewis, Mar- tin coritribs a fastie, “Darktown Strutters’ Ball,” and then switches mood with “There’s No Tomorrow,” first in English and then in Italian. His Jolsbn .impresh in “Rock-a-Bye My Baby” goes a bit deep. Singer heats up again on “Take the ‘A’ Traih” which brings back Lewis in a hilarious bandleading session as Martin tries to warble “Old Man River,” beset the constant. heckling of Lewis. Latter’s Ezio Pinza in- terpretation is rib-tickling. Pair segue into “Sabre Dance” and “Tea for Two” for strong closer. Zabc; ritBino9 Toronto Toronto, March 31. j Vic Damone, Paul Rich, Hanlon] & Murphy, Frisky, Jimmie^ Came-. ron- Charles Gregory Girts (18) . | Afcfiie Stone House Orch; ‘'Blondie ' Hits JackpqV* (Col). : , ;—i Vic Damone session looms as! one of the biggest here in many' weeks, with the squealing and/or moaning teenagers packing theatre ■ for all performances.. Riotous dem- onstration commences as soon as the singer steps bn stage. How- ever, Damone puts on a great show; and was particularly generous' when caught. Backed by piano, ba.ss and drums, he opens with “Wiiat Is Thii Thing Called Love?” and then into a reprise of such of his recordings as “Little Girl,” “This Couldn’t Happen Again,” “My Bolero,” “Too Marvellous for Words” and a wham finish with' “Why Was I Born?” Whether in robust delivery or sotto voce style, Damone scores, for a rousing ova- tion.;'/ Customers are also getting their money’.s worth ffoni the supporting hill, with every act clicking. Held over is Paul Rich for his harmonica act and showing nice vibrato work and double-tongueing in hiS blue.s medleys for sustained high notes and diapa.son finishes, with “In the ; Mood” particularly notable for ter- rific tremolo effects. On the novelty side, Frisky does his standard juggling act with ten- nis racquets, hats and balls; plus the sock finish of manipulating lighted torches oh a dark stage. His dexterity earns enthusiastic re- sponse. Tommy Hanlon and Mur- phy on the comedy end contrib. their usual clever clowning and have no trouble getting over.; Gregory line girls have two plea!5- ing numbers/ With Jimmie Carne- ron and Thelma Frechette on for the vocals and Minib Elhlq doing a nice toe specialty. MeStay. HoUywood, April L Neither among thb special awards nor the awards for special ;bffecti has there ever, beehr an Oscar presented for; wAat Don .Quinn calls* (with displeasure, I suspect) the “gift'of grift.”' Yet here Is an industry-* within-an-industiy worthy of recognition if the natiQn’s economy’s emphasis bn brand’names is to ^et the sort of. nourishment it needs to survive..-/ ■'■■■..'.■■ ; if dialog like this isn’t worth some sort of reciprocal trade agree- ment,• what'/is?' : ; Rochester: Where’s ybur Westinghouse electric blanket," b Benny.Wedbn’thaveanelectficbianket,- RochestcriWedonoW.^; ' • Bciiny:AWestinghouse? v; ; Kpehester; Oh-^h, now we have t^ Twenty odd years ago i reihember Watching the late Sam W^ as he walked into a country store.ih Oracle, Ariz., and tobk a lot of mer^- chandise off a. shelf. He ^put: the products into a: miarket basket and had Dorothy Mbckaill walk but into the sunshine registering pleasure at the thought of a full larder after years of hard prospecting in nearby Gougeye. He made no eHort td conceal labels of the merchandise. Qn' the cbiitrary he played them up to give beKevability to the' scene bf a •dream ■.•come true..'v Today phoney labels would be put on . the merchandise lest picture^ goers should bolt the house, At least that’s what major producers, distributors and exhibitors would have you believe is behind their adamant attitude toward no advertising on the screen.; ; ; “ Newspapers (Which live by advertising and hate to give it away) once , held a similar view, but today il a plug gets in a still, editbrs feel it isn’t adding to the documentary character of tlielr biz to blot it out. But-pix/still.say,nix;-'/;-.. : The only persistent exception is Variety. Any timb a director isn’t quite sure that the; public believes his $5,000-a-week star is the lowly hoofer he is portraying on the. screen, he sticks a copy Of yARiETY in the actor’s hand and, voila, everybody believes he is the mccoy. Frank- ly, I anti always pleased at the appearance of such an authentic iiamer. brand, though I haiyb yet tb see a ham insisi that if he must be photo- graphed reading Variety, that; at least he' have it open at “Scully’s Scrapbook” as proof that, his i;Q. Was well above 102; But beyond this intra-trade plug most name brands in pix become a blur; Either that or phoney newspapers with mastheads I never have seen before are flashed on the screen bearing eighLeolumn streamers i never have- read; either. Together they seal off all human juices that might have been flowing between me and the actor up to that mohient; The New York Globe is not a paper to me. “rhe New York Times is. If while viewing a Metro picture a taxi in the scene turns from 42nd street .up Broadway and a marquee appears-to be advertising a Para- mount picture as “the best show in town,” or if a shot of Hollywood and Vine shows Miller’s High Life beer flashing on and oft vvhere flying saucers normally would be jockeying for position, I’d be the last to get up in a theatre and heckle the operator for Corrupting pure art with a beaker of hock. Ted Lewis, the Old Bantamweight? On a few independent productions I have run into a realist in this field Who shares my views. Ih fact he makes money at it, and he is in no sense a grifter, grafter or a barnacle on show bix. His name is Ted Lewis, the same as the owner of the battered high hat (Stetson?) and j sometimes confused with Joe Lewis because they share a sallow com- •plexibn and both came out of purple niteries in the hinterland. ! I met him mpseying around a set on the “Jackie Robinson Stoi’y,” I He Was turning a; prop so that the label faced the, cameras instead of some grip far piftscene. He had a vested interest in audience idenfifica- tioh of that products. Naturally he hoped the shot would not land on the cutting room floor. ; Once a client seeing him do this; sent Lewis a check the next day. Lewis sent it back, explaining that shooting such scenes means nothing.. “If you eventually see the shot in your neighborhood theatre,” he wrote, “then send me the check.” His buriness, you see, since it deals with standard-brands, has standards. Anything left on a set after a picture is shot is for those who want the stuff, as far as Lewis is concerned. AH he wants returned are the dummy cartoris, prop bottles and things like that They’re hard to get. But the gift oF:grift is for tho.se who find a peculiar pleasure in a. giveaway, a pass or a bonus. He got into the biz from the top down. He once owned a nitriy called Backstage. It was next to the Avenue theatre, a burlesque house, on ; Woodward avenue, Detroit. Everybody dropped in there after the show. He became particularly clubby with Abbott; and Cos- fello. ■•, . His health went to pot some years ago and he; took up the pieces, including a comppund fracture, and repaired to Galifpmia. Among the. mistakes, he made was to take up picture production as a sort of occupational therapy; He had Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, Louis Hayward and Agatha Christie’s “Ten Little Indians,” biit practically no money. He changed the title to “And Then There Were Norie.” It turned out to be bitterly prophetic. When picked out of the cooperative' wreckage, Lewis had practically nothing left except his sallow Syrian complexion. Watching Abbott and Costello going through birth pangs with “Africa Screams” one day, he heard somebody scream, “Where are the peanuts?” It .seems; Costello wa.s gdirtg to feed some crocodiles with peanuts and somebody had .slipped up on the prop. No peanuts, no scene. Lewis said that if they’d shoot around the scene he'd get tjiem enough sacks of peanuts to dam a river. Costello wanted to know quanto costa. Lewis assured they would co.st nothing, provided Costello’s director wouldn't remove the labels and that Lewis could send the peanuts, after the shooting was over, to St. Mary’s Orphanage in Detroit. “You get the peanuts, arid I’ll deliver the scene your way/’ said Costello,, ; That started Lewis, He moved into Costello’s building on the. Strip. He became the unbilled half of Adolphe Weniaiid Enterpx'ises. Wenland was the giveaway king of radio. Ted Lewis became the prop boy-with-; a-purpose of pix, Ih; a year Lewis; got products'into 37 picture.s. He moved lip from peahuts to airplanes. He now represents 94 products.. Levvis’ biz climbed the more the picture biz felt the pinch of economy. This iyas particularly true; of the indies. The majors have most of the props needed for a picture, but none has all; By hoW they know that guy.s like Lewis can supply anything needed-for-free provided, of course, the label is not turned to the well. The manufacturer has been conditioned into footing the bill, He will pay Lewis anything from 200 bucks to lOG, depending how much the exposure of the manufactured produejL might be expected to in- crease sales in those theatres where the product might be seen coyly peeking from behind the hero’s left arm. I.iewjs even moved in Rmpng the majors with “Sunset Boulevard”’ Par wanted to shoot Schwab’s drugstore, but the place wRs too narrow for a camera setup and, besides, it> in biz. So Lewis offered to repfo-: diice the shop on one of Par’.s stage.s--bottle for bottle—everything from Mr. Phillip’s milk of mag to old man Zymole’s trokeys. He got paid by the drug houses. The shot didn’t even cost Par a sales tax. All this may come under the gift of grift to actors and, writers; hut to Lewis it’s a living. Lewis’s own estimate of the amount of advertis- ing their clients get in pix and on mikes would run as high as $20,- 000,000 a year, in good years, and if he nets onR-tenth of 1% of that for Jiimself, it ceriainiy is a modest charge; for such a big operation After all, benzoate, of soda has been charging ketchup that much for iears.-' ' ' '