Variety (December 1950)

Wednesday, December. 6, 1950 Billy Rose Blows lOOG a Year Showman^columnist Billy Rose* whose “Pitchihg Horseshoes" fad- ed from the journalistic scene as of Monday (4), sacrificed an annual estimated income of $100,000 by Jus decision to drop the pillar due to poor health and press of other business. Column would have reached its fifth birthday next April. After its inception as a paid ad in the N. Y, Daily News, the feature snow-balled through syndication by Bell Syndicate, Western Newspaper Union, Do- minion News Bureau and kindred distributing - organizations. His stuff was also widely reprinted, in Reader’s Dige;st, etc. In his final fling at the type- writer—subheaded "Bye Bye By- Line," Rose wrote: "The decision to say gopdby to my byline has been a tough one to make. For almost five years now this column has provided most of the fun and focus of my life, and emotionally it has meant more to me than anything I ever tackled. I've watched it grow from a paid ad ill The News to a feature syn- clicated in more than 2,000 papers (counting weeklies), and naturally an old showoff like me doesn’t like to leave the stage with that big an audience in the house. But; if it has to be a choice between hoopla and hypertensionj I gUCss 1 know which Side my bed is butlcred on.” Although discontinuing his brainchild. Rose is understood to be. free to resume the column any lime he feels inclined to do so, for Bell is said to have left a spot open for him. Meanwhile, the .showman is readying a trip to South America and expects to get away around Jan. 5. Soutli-oi’-the- border tour will be in the nature of a convalesceht junket, for. the 51-year-old showman - writer re- cently underwent an operation. In addition to his column, Rose has been busy producing a tele- vision show, and operating the Ziegfeld theatre, N. Y., which he owns, and the Diamond Horseshoe nitery, N, Y. . Cosmo’s Judy, Jplie Yarns Judy Garland has written her "My Story” for January Cosmopoli- tan, aided by Michael Drury on the ghosting. “The Real A1 Jolson" is Harry Akst’s story ini the Februai’y issue, “as told to Ernest Lehman." Songwriter Akst; was long-time accompanist and pal to Jolson. Iricidentally, Cosmo’s supervising editor Herbert T. Mayes, who also edits Hearst’s craCk companion monthly. Good Housekeeping, has been grooming John J. O’Connell for the executive editor post on Cosmopolitan, to which he has been promoted. Prolific Thyra Winslow Thyra Samter Winslow, in be- tween her Go mag columnizing, American mag short stories, etc., is priming a new novel of “New York life" for Putnam, for the fall A quicker commission is for Abelard Press, to be titled “Think Yourself Thin," It’$ the type of work that the tag implies. FDR Pictorial Biog “FDR: A Pictorial Biography," by ^Stefan Lorant, was published by Simon & Schuster last week in two editions, $3.95 hardcover and $1.50 paperboundi ^'t’he 160-page book consists of ; 300 photographs as Well as 40,000 , words: of text. Fleur’s Flair Folding ^ Flair magazine, one of the most pretentious publishing ventures Whose gatefold pages, special pa- pers and trick inserts made it one J*? ,^he most talked about (and kidded) journals of the. past year, lolds after the January, 1951, is- sue hits the stands Jari. 2. As edi* tciriaL wags put it. Flair saw a Jot of coin poured into the hole in Its cover—and finally disappeared down the hole itself. ^^Announcing its demise, CpWles Magazines prez Gardner Cowles said that production costs had ^isen over 35% Since Flair was first planned in 1949. “The very critical foreign situation, the cer- tainty of further increases in costs and the likelihood of limitations on paper availability in 1951 make unwise at this time continued pub- lication of Flair,” Cowles said. Mag had an average paid circu- lation of over 200,000. Its 90,000 subscribers will be offered a choice of a cash refund or of transferring subscriptions to Loolc or Quick, o^ther Cowles publications. Several staffers will be added Xo, Look and Quick mastheads, Cowles said, and 30 others ai-e getting severance pay. Flair was edited by Cowles’ wife.Fleur Fenton Cowles, Who continues as associate ed of the other two mags. Flair, in its eleventh and 'final issue, kids it- self with 13 satiric cartoons. CHATTER Tess Williams, formerly associ- ate editor of Seventeen, dnd before that with WOR, N. Yappointed mag’s press editor. Marguerite Higgi^^ N, Y. He- rald Tribune’s correspondent in Korea, has been signed for a series of lectures by the W. Colston Leigh agency. y David B. Whalen, former film and theatrical publicist, now flack- ing for the Catholic Digest, a monthly pocket mag published in St. Paul. ^ Louella Parsons, currently in her 29th year with the Hearst or- ganization, signed a new five-year contract to replace the old drie which had one. year to run, ; Peter Kavanagh, who wrote ‘ The story of the Abbey Theatre,*’ published recently by Devin-Adaif CO,v planning to leave the U. S. shorUy and return to Ireland. Life staffers (Miss) Murray Mea- land and Russell Scot Leavitt mar- ried in Fairfield, Conrk She’s the daughter of Dick Mealand, novel- ist and former story editor for Paramount Pictures. »: Crown Publishers have issued a “Treasury of Slovak Folk Songs," compiled by Leonhard Deutsch un- der the editorship of Rev. John J. Lach. Original words and English translations, are printed along with the piano music. Random House will publish Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s script of the 20th-Fox picture, “All About Eve," for the Christmas trade, with stills of Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, Celeste Holm, George Sanders and Gary Merrill. Authoress Mary K; Harris filed a $5,000 damage suit in N. Y. fed- eral court last Week against Gen- eral Artists Corp. She charges she sent a script of “Sabirina and the Porter" to GAC in April, 1948, but the agency allegedly never re- turned it. James W. Eagan, Jr., former ad- vertising exec with the N. Y. Times and the Hearst organiza- tion, named board chairman pf Chicago Stagebill, Inc. Latter or- ganization recently took over as- sets of Chicago Stagebill, a thea- trical publication, and Fieberg Press. . I obscenity of programs before the date of expiration of the license . . . in holding that the Com- munications Act precluded Penn- sylvania from censoring motion picture films used in television, the court below decided a Federal question probably in conflict with the line of decisions of this court, which held that police laws of a state are superseded only where the conflict is so direct and posi- tive that the two acts cannot be reconciled or consistently stand together." The bixef argued further that the High Court should consider whether the programs originate at Pennsylvania stations for Pennsyl- vania receivers. Brief said: “A television station in Pennsyl- vania broadcasts to many receiv- ing . stations located in Pennsyl- vania. This commerce Is intra- state. Interstate commerce is only involved if, and to the extent that, such programs are received out- side of Pennsylvania. “The fact that the film is made outside of 'Pennsylvania and sent to a broadcasting station in Penn- sylvania does not make the activity any less subject to the police pow- er, of Pennsylvania. “The sending of a film from New York City to a broadcasting station in Pennsylvania merely provides a possible. material for the use of the Pennsylvania sta- tion, The station may decide not to use it at all. The broadcasting or transmission begins at the Pennsylvania station and not be- fore." Masgi McNellis Continued from page 2 SCULLY’S SCRAPBOOK I By Franl$ Scully , Hollywood, Dec. 1. ; Multifariously prize-winning as Jose Ferrer's portrayal of “Cyrano de Bergerac" undoubtedly will become, thanks to the three-dimensional screen version of the Rostand classic as expertly manufactured by Messieurs Kramer, Gordon, Foreman, Glass, Tiomldn and Garutso, I feel an irritating sensation betweeri my eyes, and mouth (which could easily grow into a dissenting opinion), in this matter of their choice of a nose for the Gasconian gadfly. If interviewed I have no doubt that these gents Would pass the buck and blame on to Joe and Gus Nprin. pere et.fils, and theatrical tradi- tion for their choice of a schttoz for Jose. They in turn would probably testify that they consulted Dr. Harold M. Holden, author of a volume briefly entitled ,‘-Noses," a very learned fellow, a D.D.S, and a Ph D., as well as a top man ip plastic surgery. But I doubt that they were In- terested in beautifying the Beak, since the whole poetic plot revolves around his resolving his inferiority complex by. dirking, everybody whp so much as mentions a nosegay in his bristling presence. That such a complex is strictly literary and has nothing to do with everyday life can be proved by merely pointftig out that Ferrer and I both have big noses, and as everybody knows we are as peace-loving as eagle-beaked doves. Brilliant, yes. But not bellicose. I have never been one to fight at tlic drop of a hat. When the owner bent down to pick it up I have been known, of course, to kick him in the head, but this Was more ill. the realm of grand strategy than childish anger. Nice, Quiet ; I have fbund Jose much the same sort of fellow. Never one to be led around by his ample nose, lie has not sabered a critic in two merely because the poor Wight said the actor talked through his nose. Of course he talked through it, It’s a sounding board. He would never sound as inagnifiGent as he does if he didn’t talk through his nose. Neither has he frothed, with frenzy on being told he couldn’t see beyond his nose. His nose being what it is, that would make him a very long- sighted fellow. In fact to make the Philip Morris nose-test costs the tobacco people twice as much when they use Ferrer, for the simple reason that it takes: twice as long for him to inhale. I have never been used at all, because the overhead quadruples when the agency asks for me. ■ ent Search" and may even have; to extend her \yOrk dn it a week until after the Skitch Hendersons (Faye Emerson) get back from their honeymoon. According to present plans, however, Dec. 18 will be her last show for Vim’s, which is only local, whereas the Other two—r “Girls" and Maugham-^are full network shows. Henderson will continue on the Vim’s-Motorola show with another femme vis-a-vis. He and Miss Emerson, who also has a flock of video commitments, are trying to work out substitutions for more than a week in order to* make possible their Mexican marriage and a possibly extended honeymoon for over seven days. Durante-NBC-TV Continued from p.age 2 at the Copa for two weeks only, until Thomas’ advent (latter, how- ever, may be able to advance his pre-booked February commitment). The Schnoz is slated for a more extended run in March, for a min- imum of four or five weeks. In between he has a couple of one-nighters for Hadacol and a Gopa City, Miami, long four-day weekend over New Year’s, opening Dec, 29. This was a date his late personal manager, Lou Clayton, had made. It calls for $2,500- $3,000 a day for the four days, plus fares, expenses, etc. JSilvers, currently at the Gopa, while concededly doing a good act has been unable to stem the sea- sonal pf e-holiday slump. Durante is framing a- Jan. 24 show with Jose Ferrer—two “Cyra- nos"—and may defer Ferruccio Tagliavini, Met, opera tenor, until later, rather than follow one chirp- er on top of his last week’s click with Helen Traubel, Wagnerian so- prano. New Acts Continued from page 55 turn. Three men and a girl com- prise the act, with one of the men j working atop a high bar and the ’others off the trampoline. Comedy is supplied by one of the men, a midget, who misses tricks, does falls and loses his pants on the trampoline. The other man does some topnotch aero work, including a double somersault.. Girl does usual aero work with the high-^bar man. Turn is excellent for vauders. Chan. Continued from page 2 ROSS HARVEY Dancing, birds 10 Mins.; One Pfll3C0 IT* Ross’ Harvey has a turn that’s sure-fire in any house. Dancer works with five tiny lovebirds, terping while they hop from hand to hand. He opens With & pro- longed solo tap routine, then comes out with the birds. After transfer- ring them from one hand to the other, he goes into the audience and leaves them perched on the fingers of patrons. After going into another routine; he comes back for them and has one of them climb up his arm and leg, and follow him off. Appeal of the birds to the ajwdiftpce is I great, but Harvey could trim first : solo dance. Otherwise, he’s a fine novelty for vauders and nitefies. Chan, television case to be brought up to the Supreme Court recently from Pennsylvania, On Oct. 9, the Tri- bunal refused to take an appeal from a group of taproom operators. Latter were contesting the right of the state liquor control board to. hiake them take licenses if they showed television in their estab- lishments. In that case the U. S. third circuit ruled that such li- censes did not constitute censor- ship of TV programs. In today’s appeal, the Pennsyl^ vania film censors declared: “There is no evidence that the Federal Communications Commis- sion suspended licenses because of TONG BROS. (3) Aero t Mins. Paramount, N. Y. Previously caught as a twosome, the Tong Bros, have added another guy to their act, and have emerged with si smooth-working aero tirio, ‘Working on a table, the three do the better fun of aero turns. There is the bit in which the bottom' man, supporting one on his hands and the other.,on his legs, goes'through a full turn and back agamv; Best stunt, though, is one in which one gets on and off a table While balancing in partner on head. They work quickly and smoothly, abstaining from hokum buildups. Chan, So far you will observe I have not indulged in nosism, which is the practice of using “we" to project a strictly personal opinion, and I don’t intend to. It’s exclusively an editorial writer's occupational, dis- ease. But Ferrer and i know, even if nobody else does, that long before Cyrano became a 19th century stage character and now a 20th century picture star, he was a much more prosaic person in an even duller 17th century. Oh I know all about the era. Ffance as a country was hot even as old as Soviet Russia is today. Henri of Navarre had grabbed the throne and then tossed the crown to Louis'XIII, a niiie- year-old moppet who probably was more of a pest than a child star of Hollywood today. \ I leave all that to name-droppers. I’m sticking to the kid from the sticks. Sure, he had a nose. But it wasn’t a ski run. Just a nose. In fact; if anything, it went the other way. It shed rain instead of catch- ing it. So his nose did not go up as does the beautifully simulated prop employed by Jose Ferrer. This one, so beautifully photographed In three dimensions by the brand new lens of Steven .Garutso, seems to^ be modeled more after the lines of BOb Hope—With extended op- tihns. It follows Walter Hampden’s and Pasquale Amato’s models, but judging from photographs, it doesn't follow too closely Constant Cbque- lin’s model. They Cost Five Grand Anyway Ferrer supposedly wore out 52 of these remarkably made noses, though according to a checkup of my“fi6ses" (a bit of British slang meaning police informers), the count actually was far short of this. In fact there is photographic proof of Ferrer surrounded by his rubber- tired nosepieces and some statisticians have checked the number as 28. ITie highest count was 30. This is known as having a nose for news, or sticking your Hose into other people’s business, depending on whether you’re a peaceful fellow like me or a warmonger like my undistinguished opponents. The producers, being above all realists with an eye of money-saving short cuts, could have saved plenty ^by using Ferrer’s own nose. This would have been a fair compromise between the obvious fallacy of the contemporary conception of Cyrano’s nose and his actual pilot light. , Not Like the Pascal Celery? Among Frenchmen I’d say Cyrano’s nose looked like Pascal’s. 1 mean Blaise Pascal, the eminent mathematician, not .the modern dia- lectician currently warming himself in Bernard ShaW’s wornout tweeds. Blaise was a. contemporary of Cyrano’s. To those who can’t be bothered to go sO far afield for accuracy; Cyrano’s nose w^ more like George Washington’s. Or Jimmy Durante’s. Or even mine. In brief, a gripper, not a snow plow, I’m not being brushed aside either by Dr. Holden’s quotation from William Blake’s “Everlasting Gospel": Thine has a great hook-nose like thine^ Mme has a snub-hose like to mine. : Rostand being from Marseilles couldn’t help exaggerate. All char- acters from down that way are notorious liars. Naturalism and realism, or even historical accuracy^. are simply not in them. Thus they are mistaken for poets and dramatists. They have a zest that passes for action and can make a Thirty Years War pass in a matter of hours, In fact in “Cyrano de Bergerac" that's just about what Rostand did. His iiero was a wit, a duelist, a poet and a musician of sorts. He seems to have antedated the contemporary critics of my Sauceriari researches with “A Comic History of Travels to the Moon and the Sun,’• Which I have not read but must try my hand at some time. That doubletalk Ferrer uses while trying to-keep de Gulche but of Roxane’s garden was supposedly lifted from Cyrano's lunar migrations. Cyrano did write letters for another from the battlefield. But they were simple commuiiiques to help out a poor character who could not v»rite. Cyrano didn’t even know the guy’s wife, let alone love her. ’'r The Inside story. Eh? As for those duels 1 trail along with the answer of one who When asked by Cyrano, ‘‘Do you' know, how mafiy giiys I killed last night?’* replied, “Yes, half." . , Further private researches in files still marked confidential have revealed that Cyrano ran into a braggart frpni the Midi (Due; du Jerque) who said he killed a hundred men. Cyrano said, “Did you $ay you killed five (cinq)?" ‘i said I killed cent (100," the braggart replied Cyrano flipped the braggart for a pratfall. “This will take down your figure to within feason," Kc said. The Due du Jerque scrambled to hi$ feet and drew his sword. Cyrano ran him through without any more ado. “You may now in- scribe it in the Journal that I liquidated 101 men with one blow," said Cyrano. “And by the way, drop the Savinien from my name. It’s too Tonig for the marquees;" ^ ; Thus a duel that started because cinq and cent are easily confused in French dialects, which ended with one dead cavalier, ends today With 100 men attacking Jose Ferrer and being dropped one after an- other in as merancholy a substitution for excitement as I have seen in years.' ' • ■. . ' ^ • Still, I would not have the scene eliminated. After all, it did give bit-parts to 100 actors instead of five, and Jmder the'circumstances 1 favor the , more generous choice. They’re nice fellows in the Kramer dynasty, make a'fine commercial picture, but they still have to cater to actors who look on duelling as entertainment/ e'