Variety (December 1950)

Published Weekly at 154 West 46th Street. New York 19, N. Y., by Variety, Ino. Annual •ubscrlption, $10. Single copies, 26 oenta ' Entered as second class matter December 22, 1906, at the Pos t OfClce-ait New York, N T.. under the act of March S, 1879. COPYRIGHT^ 1950. BY VARIETY. INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED VOL. 181 No. 3 NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY,PECEMBER 27, 1950 PRIGE 25 CENTS Any picture starring Ingrid4 Bergman and directed by Roberto Rossellini will not get a Johnston office seal, a Mexican group that contemplated such a picture has I'eportedly been told by Production Code Administrator Joseph I. Breen. The Mexicans, headed by producer Oscar Danclgers, have dropped the project as a result. Danclgers, a former European filmmaker and now a successful Mexican producer, was approached by Rossellini through emissaries some months ago. The Italian pro- ducer-director wanted to make a film with Miss Bergrtian, his wife, in Mexico if the Mexican group would put up the entire produc- tion cost. Danclgers figured budget would rim about $200,000. For that Mexi- can group would get western hemi- sphere rights, with Rossellini and Miss Bergman to reap their return from the rest of the world. Mexi- can outfit thought' it a good deal and was ready to go ahead until Danclgers went to see Breen. That changed his mind, since most of the income to recoup the produc- tion cost would have to come from the U. S., and most important the- atres in this country won’t play a pic without a PCA seal. Rossellini, who is reportedly in need of coin, has recently been in Paris trying to promote a similar deal there. He wants a French (Continued on page 47) I The “tomorrow we die” aspect Of nitery spending that characterized World War II cafe grosses has failed to assert itself so far. Boni:* faces report that the holiday spend- ing has been following the pattern of previous postwar years with little difference one way or the other. Up to this point. New Year’s Eve reservations have been com- paratively sparse. There’s been no special rush to insure space during the big night. As in previous years, nitery owners expect that most available cafe space will be sold during this week. The Xinas business was on the ; level of last season. The three-day holiday weekend resulted in g^rosses, that were on par with 1949. There were no complete sellouts, pi on Saturday (23) in some of the top spots. Sunday and Mon- day dinner business was good, but fell off for the late shows. This year N, Y. nitery ovvners are insuring themselves against a last minute bad weather break on the Eve. There will be no con- firmations unless a substantial de- posit accompanies each reservation, t his procedure has been followed past, but not as ngidly as fis been this year. Cafe men ascribe the unusually (Continued on page 39) I And die (Prize) Fur Flew NBC, Louis G. Cowan and Maxi- milian Furs are being sued in New York Federal court by a giveaway winner, who alleges the defend- ants misFepresented the value of her prize. Action was brought last Week by Ann Notre, who claims that she won a coat represented as being worth $3,500 on NBC’s late-lament- ed “Hollywood Galling” in August, 1949. She charges that when she had it appraised it was valued at only $4()0, and she^ asking for $3,500. Key locals of the American Fed- eration of Musicians began laying the groundwork this week for a major fight against the displace- ment of live musicians by mechani- cal devices on radio and television in upcoming negotiations with the major networks and indie stations. Reps of the New York, Los Angeles and Chicago locals began drawing Up a joint strategy in Chicago to^ day (Wed.), with AFM prexy James C. Petrillo sitting in on the dis- cussions. Attitude of the ranks and leader- ship of the AFM, as Indicated by tesolutions and speeches/ points to a showdown fight against the broadcasters around the central is- sue of the use of disks and kine- scope recordings on radio and TV. Leaders of New York Local 802 have already gone on jrecord in favor of a sweeping ban against the use of disks on all broadcast out- lets between 8 a.m, and midnight. Possibility that the other locals will follow suit is strengthened by the fact that Petrillo has okayed the Local 802 recommendation. Present contract with the net- works and local stations ends Jan, 31, and negotiations for a new pact are expected to open right after the New Year holidays. Petrillo, repping the national office, will bar- gain for the network pact, while the AFM locals in each city will handle the negotiations with the local stations. Leaders of the N. Y., Chicago and L.A. locals are aiining at the for^ mulation of parallel demands in each city in the first attempt of the union to impose a national scale for tooters in local stations. Wage rates, however, would vary in each station, depending upon the classification of the outlet; More important, however, is the locals’ effort to draw up a uniform strate- (Continued on page 46) By HERB GOLDEN After a period of stringent economy which has left them with virtually no new stars of impor- tance currently, major film studios are again beginning to build up stables of youngsters they hope to develop into stellar names. A re- turn to greater emphasis on stars as marquee lure is in the making. Most top production execs on the Coast will say they never stopped their efforts to build new names. That’s true, bUt the attempts were relatively half-hearted as compared with. the energy, imagination and care that went into the process In the past. Whether consciously or subcon- sciously, Hollywood and the indus- try as a whole has lost a good bit of its enthusiasm for stars as b.o. insurance in the past three years or so. And with good reason, since pic after pic with highly-regarded players found little audience re- sponse and piled up losses. With the pressure for budget economy that began in 1947, it thus became a natural to pare the lists of established players and to save what coin was ostensibly to be saved by a minimum of effort in developing new ones. Relatively few new contract players have been hired in the past three years. Talent departments have had in- structions to consider virtually no one unless the studio had a specific (Continued on page 47) Ken Murray s TV Cavalcade for ’50 Ken Murray, as a special pre- New Year’s Eve production on his regular CBS-TV show this Satur- day (30), has lined up a string of w:k. personalities whom he con- siders the best in their respective fields this year for a “Cavalcade of 1950” program. List is topped by Dr. Ralph Bunche, Nobel prizewin- ner, and includes Mtilton Berle, whom Murray has selected as the “Man-of-the-Year” in TV, even thotigh Berle’s Texaco show is aired on the rival NBC/J web. Others on the Murray list, all of whom have wired their acceptances to appear on the show, include heavyweight boxing champ Ezzard Charles; Phil Rizzuto, N. Y. Yan- kees’ shortstop; Navy football coach Eddie Erdlatz, Whose team knocked off Army this year; chan- nel swimmer Florence Chadwick; Gloria Swanson, chosen by Murray for her film “comeback” in “Sun- set Boulevard”; basketball Coach Nat Holman, whose College of the City of N. Y. team last season emerged as the only twin-title win- ner in the sport’s history; N. Y. Mayor Vincent R. Impellitteri; vo- calist Eileen Barton, for her “If I Knew You Were Cornin’, I’da (Continued on page 40) As Good Chicago, Dec. 20. For the past year Jim Moran, auto dealer^ has been advertising On his teevee program^ “Courtesy Hoim,” that he will pay transporta- tion, costs to his showroom to any car buyer. Last week he had a taker—but from Australia. Moran wrote, out a check for $708, plane fare from Down Under, However, there’s been no ex- planation as to how the Australian had seen or heard of the offer. House Would Give Washington, Dec. 26. possibility looms of a new probe into alleged Hollywood Reds by the House Un-American Activities Committee. This one, however, would be a more friendly investigation, with film industry name figures who have been ac- cused of Communist leanings in- vited to come forward and clear their reputations. The idea developed last week, after Edward .G. Robinson went before the committee w i t h his records to back up his statements that he had never been a Commie. Robinson, Who had earlier appeared before the Un-AmerJcan Activities Committee investigators at his own request, came back to take his (Continued on page 40) WUr Emergency Kiboshes Chi Fair, N. O. ’51 MCsta Chicago, Dec. 26. U. S. Govemhient state of emer- gency was blamed for the decision to skip having a 1951 Chi Lake- front fair, but board bf trustees recommended that lease on prop- erty be extended in case condi- tions permit another exposition. Fair lost several hundred thou- sand dollars last year, blaming loss on adverse weather. N. O.’s Defense Pitch New Orleans, Dec. 26. The Spring Fiesta for 1951 has been cancelled “owing to serious conditions prevailing throughout the world/' Mrs, Henry Landry de Freneuse, president, announced Thursday (21). At the same time, Mary Evelyn Dickerson, director of the Louisi- ana State/Dept, of Commerce, said the state would abandon all tourist trade advertising. She said that her department would concentrate I on getting defense contracts and new industries for Louisiana. Philadelphia, Dec. 26. It’s a safe bet that when Ted Mack comes down here on Jan. 1 as chief judge of the traditional Mummer’s Day Parade, he’ll be Wearing a Special coat of armor. No sooner did the word leak out in this City of Brotherly Love that Mack and the management entour- age of his Original Amateur Hour were to officiate in the judging of the competing Mummers—-thus up- setting a precedent dating back to the parade’s origin — than things began to hum. The main noises, which precipi- tated the greatest scandal in Mum- mers history and a subsequent po- lice investigation, came late last week front an automatic pistol, which was aimed at a Mummer of- ficial, barely missing him, but in turn resulting in serious wounds to a passerby. Within the next 24 hours an at- tempt was made to throw acid into the face of a Mummer exec re- sponsible for the designation of “outside” judges. As with the acid, the shooting Was attributed to those within the competing Mummer or- ganizations protesting the designa- tion of non-Philadelphians as judges. M For years the Mummer’s Parade has been strictly a “local baby,” with invariably widespread reports of factionalism in the judging and competitions. It was when the top Mummer officials decided to “play it straight” and designated Mack to officiate that the fun began. Police fear it Isn’t over yet, , ■ \ Met 'Fledermaus' Hottest B.O. Prospect in Years; B’way Slant a Factor By ARTHUR BRONSON Hottest boxoffice prospect In years at the Metropolitan Opera, N. y., seems to be the Met’s new production of Johann Strauss’ “Fledermaus” (“The Bat”), which preCmed last Wednesday (20). That performance had been sold out for some time previous, due to its be- ing included in a package deal with two other special “first nights” of the season. . But even before the preem, and tfie gener- ally enthusiastic press notices of the next day, there had been unusual interest at the b o. in the operetta. Management reported a heavy mail-order from hon-sub- scribers for that evening or for sub- sequent performances, “mostly from foreign names.” “Fledermaus” probably has caused more excite- ment than any other production this season, said one official; “every homesick Viennese in N. Y. wants to come.’' The second and, third perform- ances of “Fledermaus/' skedded for tonight (Wed.) and Sunday (31), were both sold put a week ago. Tonight’s performance ii the first, of the regular subscripilpii (Continued on page 47)