Variety (May 1950)

Record Details:

Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

Wfy. 1950 is GSNlBEOdO TOP* Generosb Popfe,' 59, Jtallan-bbni publisher,, Induetyi^ist^^^^oy^er of WHOM, Jersey City, died Aptil 28 at Post Gradttpte Hospitaly New. Yoi^k*" ' ■ ^ Petails in Hedloy set^ioiiv VBRA V^era Maxwelly 5flli former actress and dancer featured in the “Zleg- feld FolUes’" from 1910;1915. died in New York May 1, after a long illriess. Miss Maxwell, iyho retired from the stagClh 1928, appeared in a number of Broadway musicals, iricludinf /‘The Pink tjadyf” "^Win- some Widow/' and "The .Century Girl/' For a time she was teamed in inusicals With Billie Allen, dancer. Miss Maxwell, w.k. as a looker, was acclaimed the world's most beautiful woman by the French portrait artist, Paul Helleui in 1914.' However, this was Contested by Sir Philip Boume^Jones, a British art» ist, who felt that actress .Gladys Cooper deserved that honor. . Miss' Maxwell was an active meinher of the Ziegfeld Cltih until her illness. Her mother survives. « ; . - > HOBART CAVANAUGH Hobart Cavanaugh, 63, stfige and film actor for half a century, died Af ril 26 at the Motion Picture Country Home on the Coast. He recently returned to California after undergoing major surgery in Cavaiiaugh spent most of his ca- reer portraying Caspeir Milquetoast; roles and henpecked husbands. Born in San Francisco, he broke into show business with an Old schoolmate, Walter- Catlett; Ih a song and dance Set. After a: num? her of years on the stage ■ he switched to' the screen afid ap- peared in mote than 100 pictures. Two years ago he returned to Broadway where he played for 18 months in “As, the Girls Go" be- fore he Was stricken with his final Illness. COL. GEO. C: JOHNSTON Col. George Q. Johnston, 78, president of the Orlando Broad- casting Co., owner of radio station WDBO, died April 29 at Crescent City, Cal. of a heart attack. Col. Johnston practiced medicine for many years in Pittshurgh and dur- ing World War X was in charge of all medical field equipnient used by the amy of the AEF. He Went to Orlando, Fla., for his health In 1922 and became interested in broadcasting. In 1924 he gave Florida one of its first broadcast- ing stations, WBDO. V Col. Johnston Was. a radio* pio-^ .heer just as he Was orte of the first in the medical profession to see the great benefit of the X-ray. RITA NORTON Marjorie Rita Ha Noce, wife of Howard La Npee, stage manager of the Capitol Theatre, N.Y., died at Flushing, N.Y., April 30, Mrs. La Noce, whose stage name Was Rita Norton, appeared as a child in * the Gus Edwards Revues, and later was a showgirl with “Blossom Tiihe" and also appeared ln“Artists and Models," “The Rose Girl” and other musicals, A Requiem Mass will be held at St. Malachy’s Church, on Wednes- day, May 3 at 10 a.m. Ip addition to husband; survivors Include her parents and three sisters. HARRY ROSENBLATT Hairry Rosenblatt, 52^ Metro- 'Goldwyn branch nianager in New Haven, died in that city April 26. Formerly of the M-G Boston sales force, which he joined in 1920, Rosenblatt was New Haven branch manager here since 1945. Survived by wife, and a son. to in in of hC; ‘The L'C CHARLES M, McLEAN Charles Morley McLeaii, 60, former tenor with La Scala Opera lii Milan, died in Philadelphia April 29. _ Born in Port Hope, Ont./ Mc- Lean. worked as a vaudeville pianist until; he saved enough money ‘ finance: a . musical education Italy. He took voice studies Milan, where he was a member La Scala for 12 years. Iluring the first World War performed with a troupe of uian enteutainers called xu HumbbeUs" in engagements befor Lanadian units in France. ", . DUILid SHERBG Dmlio Sherbo, 68, musical di- rector of the Hbtel St, Regis, N.Y., home in Forest Hills, N. y., April 26. in Italy. Sherbo came tp the U. S. when a youth. After Pyy/ng cello in several orchestras, became a booker of pr- chfestras, most of which he had formed and batonned. At one time he had 32 units playing simulta- neously in New York hotels and ^ . Sherbo had . been with vhe Rdz for more than 12 HARRir H. golHstein A*”'® Goldstein, 93,^mid-east- ern aivisional sales manger for Paramount,^died of a heart attack in Cleveland, April 21. He was vwith Paramount since 1921, rising from salesman to division head last year. Before joining Paramount sales force, Goldstein was business mstti- ager fpr Olga Petrova, legit actress. Survived by wife, three brothers and three sisters. CHARLES W. COOKE ■ Charles*Wadsworth Cooke,' 29, head of the service art department for WFIL, died April 27 in Phila- delphia Naval HospitaL Cooke, a veteran of World War II, Was an instructor in scenery design at the Theatre Arts Insti- tute and at Barcum Junior Col- lege. Wife aiid son survive. ERNEST LAEMMLE Ernest Laemihle, 49, former Uni- versal director and nephew of the late Carl Laemmle, died in Holly^ wood. May 1, After leaving Uni- versal he was story editor for Preston Sturges; : _ For the past''year he was with a ceramics company. Wife and three ■ children survive. .. v./RALPH 'BLUM Ralph Bilim, Coast talent agent, djed in' Hollywood,' May; It of a heart attack. He went to California 20 years ago to practice law and later forme^ • thei,. Feldman-Blum Agency. He set up his own organ- ization two years ago. ■ Wife survives. Pittsburgh April 29, two days after raturiUng from i vacation in Flor- ida. . CAROLYN TURNER ; Carolyn Turner, 46, a senipr time buyer for radio and television for -Young and Rubicam,; Inc., N. Y. ad agency; died April 29 in New York.. . ' ■ Surviving are her parents, a sister and a brother. , HELEN BROWN READ Mrs, Helen Brown Read, 72, sitig? er, died in Jacksonville, III./ April 25,. She was a member of the opera company which accompanied balleriiia Anna PavloWa’* troupe. Survived by a sister. DOUGLAS M, STANFIELD Douglas M. Stanfield, 77, former legit actor, died in Morristoto, N. J., April 30. Stallfield appeared on Broadway irt the early 1900’a in several plays including “Best of Friends" and “Cyrano de Bergerac.” PAUL LAVEN Paul Laveh, 43, gag writer, died in Hollywood, May 1. At time of death Laven was working on gags for a Bob Hope film. He was formerly a Cleveland newspaperman. ADAM WIENAiwSKI Adam Wienaiwski, 74, Polish composer, died in Poland, April 27. He had been the\ director of the Chopin Academy in Warsaw since 1928. TED ZITTELL Ted Zittell, 44, manager of El, Patio theatre, HdUywood, and for- mer N. Y. publicity man, died there April 25 after a heart attack. Pr,6f. Wynant J. Williams, 66, ra- dio pioneer arid technical director of Rensselaer .Polytechriic Insti-^ tute’s WHAZ since the early I920’s, as wOll as a member of the scien- tific staff of WTIC, Hartford, died May 1 in Troy, N. Y. Dr. Williams began research in radio in 1909, four years after grad- uating fro ni RPL He had been head Of the electricat engineering de- parimerit. there; since 1940, Wito and two children survive. George M. Pearce; ; 31. former radio engineer . for KYW, arid WPEN/Philadelphia, died in Phil- adelphia A pril 25. Survived by wife and daughter, Heleii Shaughnes.sy, 44, liead of Music ,Gorp. .of Ariierica's account- ing dept, for the past l7 years, died in Brooklyn, N. Yi, April 28.' A brother and two sisters survive. Mother, 69. of Robeft Ro.ssen, film producer, died Apiil 27 in Hollywood. ' Father of Sam Shain, 20th-Fox exhibitor relations director, ^ died April 28 In Boston. Mother, ,70, of Jackie Heller, singer and 'nitery owner, died in' John M. Murray, 64, electrician at Grove treatre, Chicago; for 25 yearSi died April 26 in Chicago. Mother of Arnold Archer, mem- ber of musical act; the^ Chords, died in Boston; ApfH, 27/. ’ Helen HiHon, sister of Diilon Bros,; vaude act, died April 25, at Gortlarid, N. Y. Fother of John Larkinj Screen- Writer, died in New York, April 24. MARRIAGES :Joan Caulfield to Frank Ross, Beverly Hills, April 29. Bride is a film actress; he's a producer; Mrs. Ruth Favor Davis to Capt; Otho W. fiudd, Las Vegas^ April 27; Bride is mother of Bette Davis, screen star; he’s a i retired Army officer/- Jeaii Morris Peterson to William Hammefstein, Englewood, N. J., April 27. Bride is a showgirl: he's son of Oscar Hamiherstein II, lyr- Icist-produCer, / Helen Walker to Edward Nich- olas du Dpmaine, Palm Springs, April 29. Bride is a screen actress; Jean May Hallenbeck to Warreri J. Brockley, Hoosick Falls, N. Y., April 22. He’s producer of . “Eve- ning Time" on W;0K6, Albany. Jane Quinn to Scott Godrori, Chicago; April 22. Bride is a- tele ■emcee. .. Betty Groff to Jack Lazare,; New York, April 28. He’s an announcer at WOR, N. Y. . Yvonrie Adair to Harbld J. Pat- terson, Nutley, N. J.; April 29, Bride is currently appearing in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,’' at the Ziegfeld theatre, N. Y. BIRTHS Mr; arid Mrs. MoritC Proser, son, New York; April 29. Father is the legit and TV producer; and co-own- er of N.Y, Copacabana; mother; is former actress, Jane Ball, . Mr. and Mrs. Garry Steveris.i daughter, Schenectady, N. Y., April 29. Father, former band singer, is featured over WRGB and. WGY thele, Mr, aiid Mrs. Bertie Ellimari, son, Publin, April 7. Father is Irish manager for British Lion and Republic Pictures. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Truran, Jr., daughter, Washington, Pa., April 24, Father's a salesman^ for Natibhal Screen Service in Pitts- burgh. : ' ■ Mr. and Mrs. Ted Shuttleworth, daughter, Pittsburgh,. April 14, Fa- ther's with Superior Motion Pic- ture Supply Go: Mr. and Mrs. Mark, Finley; daughter, Hollywood, April Z9. Fa- ther is public relations chief for Don Lee NetWork. Mr. and Mrs. Ves Box, son, Dal- las, Tex., receritlyi Father is chief anriouncer for KRLD there* Mr, and Mrs. Clarence A* Shoop, son, Hollywood; April 26. Mother is Julie Bishop of the films, father is exec at RKO. Mr. and Mrs: John Gart, daugh- ter. New York, April 28. Father is iriusical diirector of radio and tele shows, including the Robert Montgomery stanza. Mr; arid Mrs. Henry Jones, daughter, New York, Feb. 24. Father is a legit actor; mother is model Judy Briggs, ^ ^ ^ Mr. and Mrs. Charles Freeman, daughter, Mt. Klsco, N,Y., April 20. Father is legit director* “Third Man Thcme'^ to release of the pic aud has profited Oil it. Job was made matorlaUy easier, how- ever, by the great. speed .With which / the tupe was' picked'. up* There have been 17 differeiit re- cordings of it, said to be more than anything since the "Show Boat" music of more thaii 20 years ago. Number of othet filiri tunes are on the most-played lists,*/but they're only secondary in their jpromotional value since they are riot title numbers. There are; for instance, "A Dream Is a Wish YOur Heart Makes" frpiri “Giriderella’' and "SuriShine Cake” from “Riding High.”: Also getting > heavy, plug- ging rioWi and expected, to soon climb the hit lists, is “Mona Lisa" from Paramount’s “Gapt. Carey.” Piq, however, has already played off many of its dates to; mild grosses..;.'- 2 Cdritlnued from page 1 raisirig and lowering the curtain. Also on the company payroll are a property irian and assistant, chief electrician , and assistant, aild five eleGtriciaris (there are four switch- boards arid four, nuxiliary boards). As the show has only a single set, no Sceriery has to be shifted, blit a siriall coffee table has to be moved a feW feet at the eoncliisiori of brie scene, /pne man, ia em- ployed. to remove a plug-iii table lamp* arid substitute a hand, lamp after another scette. Some of the Wirlrig Was removed from the hand lamp to bring it within the “hand prop": category; The four stage- hands paid by the house include a property man, carperiter, assistant, and electrician, ; There are 31 employees on the production payroll, including 11 stagehands, six actors (two of whom haye\ ribn-speakihg parts), four understudies, two stage man- agers, cbmpany manager, press- agent and three in the wardrobe depariment. The house employees include four Stagehands, 11 ushers, two boxoffice men, manager; one ticket-taker, , two backstage door- men arid, ari engineer, BaRmiiHv TV *. • . ' ■ * * . ‘ cbntlaiied Igfim /page l both citieg' had a 90% radio' audi- ence pull, ■ ; Last year, :n Detroit, radio prilled 95%: Today the tally, reads; 38% for TV; 62% for AM,' Milwaukee; follows thb Same patteirn—90% of* the total broadcast audience a year ago; todays 32% J* TV arid 6S% radio. Meanwhile, the all-impoitant question, of what statioris (network or indies) are taking the major rap, as more and more audiences are being siphoned off into video view- ing, has' been partially answered with" telling impact in the release of The Pulse figrires for AprU in New/York'City,': • The Pulse radio breakdown cov- ering 7; p:m; to midnight—the / hours when the TV move-in is strdngest*^r(eveal that while the composite ratings of all the iftdie stations in the metropolitari NCw York area are up 20%, the com- posite raUngs of all hetwbrks are down 9%. (It's figured that what applies to New York City how will generally attend cbast-to-coast when video is entrenched riation- - tle',)'^ The indie upsurge: vs. iletworfc ! audience decline .points . up anew the radio industry’s awareness that the AM pattern of the future rnust lie irt speoialitod programming. The fact that this, has been the forte of, the N. Y. indies showing the ixTost marked increase in lis/ teners (WOV up 3%, WMGM up 32%, WINS: up 28%- WNEW up 16%, etc.) indicates Where the TV nighttime upsurge will hurt the least, Situation is thus seen analogous to the clothing business; i.e:, the networks cut thousands of pro-; grams arid distribute them whole- sale. The indies are doing a cus- tom-made job. Continued from page, 1 Disney Hixes TV Continued from page.-3 flux, he Won't move until indus- try* is Stabilized so film pro- ducers can get proper perspective on relatiori of tele to theatric.al films. His stand is the same as his feeling about making bid. car- toons, including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Silly Syinphony series available for 16m libraries. Six or eight black-and-white subjects, made 20 years ago, were given 16m trial about 10 years back but were subsequently with- drawn. Producer has, howcyer, made shOri clips of 50 and lQ0-feet discards for the 8m toy movie market. ib, 11 Continued from page 1 foolish Heart’ Continued from page 1 ther, E, M, Abbott, lumberman, | merchant and holder of a quantity • of other properiy in New Castle, j j He's delighted With the success of his son in runnirig the Operation for the past two years, but isn’t too optimistic on Jerry contiriuirig to take an interest in it. j “My older son was just as avid • about running the theatre aS Jerry j Of the potentiality for the pic’s gross is lost. V. ! is,” the ’ elder Abbott explains. Russell Downing, m^aging dir ‘^xhCri he got interested iri girls. [ rector Vf the Radio Music jjg hardly looks at the theatre HaU, N. Y., pointed up this delay I : 1 in a backward look keouple weel« j Jerry is well-known to distribs * ago at why -Foolish Heart ' did area, .He;fi^^^ pub- relatively weak bix at the Rocke- i jic attention as the nation’s young:: feller showcase,. He came to the i ^gt exhibitor at 20th-Fox’s recent regretful decision that it had gone 1 showmanship meeting here. Other in too soon to cash in on the song.s J exhibs started asking who; was the; popularity. . serious kid sittirig ariibri Actually, Lynn Farripl, theni making notes on the various Gbidwyri’s pub-ad Chief, in/order . speeches. to speed the tune up the hit fist, j Moppet, regularly reads "trade- hired: his own ^lugger six weeks [ papers arid fan mags and uses the before the M. H: bperiing. It took | grosses in the trades as a guide in a long time, hoWeverj,fe|tfid pnly fast . bboking. As; orie salesnian puts it: Saturday (29) did “Heart" hit the j “He knoWs the demands of his par- up when interest in a game was high; and fell off 'when attractions had Less appeal. Meanwhile; With TV set circula- tion about twice What it was -last year, ratings for ballcasts are at ■ record marks. Tfieodore G. Strei- bert, w 6R-TV prexy, reports that the statioil’s rating for Saturday’s (22) Brooklyn Dodger game waS 20.5, highest' ever tabulated by Pulse for a daytime ballcast. Wed- nesday (26) event hit 27.0, Pulse’s record for a night diamond go. “TV Is meeting the same gripes that radio faCed in the thirties,” Streibert said; “when the baseball solons tried to keep broadcasters out of their stadiums. Yet today nobody blames poor attendance on radio. In fact, radio has helped the gate, and TV will also;” Streibert cited the experience of Madison Square Garden, which has now gone all-out as a TV advocate.. Although the Garden didri’t tele- vise last wipter before Feb. i. Wheri it permitted a sustaining Satftrday night ba.sketbair telerising, and mentioried an ordinary; court doubleheader shedding for the fol- lowing .Tuesday, advance sales jumped 2,000-3,000 tickets for the event. Garden also found hockey sales better after TV. This year the Garden has sold a Saturday evening package ‘in- cludihg track, rodeO, horse show, basketball and other events) to CBS-TV. WPIX, N. Y., has op- tioned a package of Sunday-to- Thiusday shows. Friday night boxing is also being peddled a.s i package. S.treitbert also cdntra.stod the experience of the roller derby, for which tele Was a terrific hypo, Avith pro football in N. Y., which.with- out teievision Was unable to get On its feet last year.; 5 continued from page 1 nuiriber one spot ori the Lucky Strike “Hit Parade/' It’s beeri- near the top, in a number of ver- sions, on Variety’s disk jockey aiid most-played^ lists for a number of 'weeks.;- Selzhick; Who had a bad experi- ence with “Intermezzo,” went to ^eat lengths to milk “The Third Man Theme.” ■‘Intermezzo’' tupe didn't get on the hit lisfs uritil a ticular situation." His buying problem, of course, is riot coiriplex in a 200-seater, where virtually all deals are small, fiaLreritals. Since contracts by a j minor are riot legal; they are; all i countersigned by his father. Jerry types all letters and orders i himself. Although definitelf adult' in booking of pictures, he has one weakness—he ,collects, stills of the year after the pic had b.ech rcr j stars. He firids Roy Rogers and j Icased-^to very peor returns. Betty Gtable top b.o. draws for the j As a result, DOS carefully timed 1 Masonic. ' thi'ce days after the , spon.soring Hanna Theatre, Inc,, placed a sin- gle ad in. the Cleveland Plain Deal- er announcing the ppenirig of ad- With Jinet Blair and Richard Ea.stham topllning riew troupe, which drew near-rave critical no^. tices,“South Pacific" arid pro- ducers were frpritpaged by drama reviewers for city's three gazettes. Richard Rodgers'and Oscar Ham- mcLsteiii XL stayed here entire week polishing arid trilritning show down to 135 minutes. On ; Aral night H ran to 11:40;