Variety (September 1952)

WMkly »t IM W<Mt mh. New Tedk M, N. hf Variety, 1a«. Aiuiul aubwarlptfoA. iMcle » ceelik. IMwrcd Mt eecowd claM wuitUr l>M«teber SX. IMS. Um fMt 6ttc« «t Naw York. “i. todetf the Sek «< Marcli o). Itm corriii«HT« iMi, kt variity. inm^ all rionts risravro VOL. 187 No. 13 NEW YORK, Wednesday, September 3,1952 PRICE 25 CENTS NEEDLING THE Statkm Primer for Deejays Warns Against Payolas, Cuffolas & Gimmicks With an incresBintf number o£ radla announcers around the coun- try moving Inito the. disk spinning Aeld, station managers are issuing primers for the tyro jockey. Ex- ample of the type of cueing being directed at the new deejays is the set of Instructions recently put out by. the management of WMFS, Chattanooga, Tenn. Tackling .the payola problem squarely the WFMS primer states, **A monster has developed within past she or seven years known as payola. Announcers are ap- proached by record cpmp^alies, pub- lishers, music stores, songwriters and record distritmtors. and asked to push their ' p^lcular record- ings or selections. The payola may he anything from a cigaret lighter, a $10 bill or the down payment on a new car, depending on the an- nouncer's importance , . . Any an- nouncer at WFMS who is found guilty of accepting gratuities (pay- Olas) will be immediately dh^ charged." In a- move to Umit the number of buffo plugs and to set up a dis- tincUon between a disk jockey and an announcer who spins records, WFMS insists that the platter spin- ner refrain from mentioning the name of the label or to express an opinion of the^ disk. The primer states, “Keep introductions to re- cordings short and to the point and avoid giving opinions of records. WMFS announcers are to introduce (Continued on page 55) Showflundqr Hypoes Big B.O. for Israel Eipo In N.Y.; 'Show' Extended Liberal applications of showman- ship have made the Israel Exposi- tion a prime attraction in the Rockefeller Centre, N. Y., area. Bisplay of products made in Israel h^ attracted more than 70,000 viewers at 25c a head since it opened July 17 and has frequently bad Times Square theatremen en- viously eyeing half-block-long weekend queues at. the entrance. Patronage has been so great that the exhibit, originally scheduled for a two-month run, has been ex- tended until the end of the year. That makes a problem' for the Is- rael Bond Drive, the sponsors, since it had intended sending the exposition on tour. It's now trying to set up a duplicate. Plan is to put the exhib on a train, similar to the Freedom Train which toured for the American Heritage Foundation some years ago. ^ If that can't be set up suc- cessfully, a fleet'of trailer trucks will be used- Take at the exhibit, to the sur- prise of the sponsors, is enough to make it self-sustaining. It has amounted to about $15,000 at the 21c net price. Exhibit is shut down Friday evenings and Saturdays in deference to the Jewish sabbath. It is set up in the former Radio (Continued on page 55) Coast Masquers Mark Show Biz' 200th Anni Hollywood, Sept. 2. Two hundredth anniversary of the American theatre will be com- memorated in “A Cavalcade of Showbusiness," to be staged by the Masquers Club as a benefit for the Motion Picture Relief Fund Sept, 24 at the Pantages Theatre. Show wUI be performed by out- standing names, including Jack Beimy, George Bums, Lionel Bar- rymore, Eddie Cantor, Edgar Bergen, Jack Carson, Charles Co- burn,. Ronald Cohnan, Dan Dailey, Phil Harris, George Jessel,, Will Rogers, Jr., Danny Thomas, Ann Sheridan, Jane Wyman and others. Off-Color Shows Miami, Sept. 2. Sparked by series of front-page articles in I^ami Herald “expos- ing" conditions among cafes here featuring femme impersonator shows, strippers and “B" girls, Miami city commission will take up the issue tomorrow (Wed.) with expected restrictive ordinances due to help solve the problem. Expose named names, with the straight bistros getting a clean slate. Miami Beach enforcement of- ficials have been working on the problem for some weeks, but are handicapped by old ordinance which, calls for “no mixing" by the (Continued on page 14) Noel Coward Deal On , To Play N.Y. lYaldorf Deal is cooking for Noel Cow- ard's New York nitery debut at the Waldorf-Astoria's Empire Room, this winter. Money details and time are being worked out. Play- wright - actor - songsniith is no stranger to saloon entertainment, having twice played the Cafe de Paris, London, at £1,000 ($2,800 at current exchange rate), which is deemed exceedingly fancy over there. The Waldorf is making a pitch for offbeat attractions, whenever, possible, such as Los Ghavales de Espana (The Kids from Spain), show band (not for dancing) now in its third month atop the Star- light Roof. From $3,500 a week l^in this showcase—and it required a bit of doing to get J. C. Petrillo's OK that this band would not dis- place any U. S. musicians—the act is going on tour and will get up to $10,000 while on tour. The future of summer theatres may depend on some of the leading managers working out a loose ar- rangement to produce their oWn shows cooperatively, rather than .booking expensive packages offered by agents or hiring overprised stars. That is the opinion of Rich- ard Aldrich, who returned froiu Navy service this season to resume active management of his three strawhats on Cape Cod. “Intelli- gently and calmly operated thea- tres will continue to stay in busi- ness -and make money, but those run by hysterical; boys and girls,' by dilettantes who have/such fUn' playing at theatre, will eventnaUy drop out," he says. Successful barn shows require careful long-range planning and painstaking execution, Aldrich bc-»; lieves. He cites as an > example of what can be done cooperatively by the silo managers, the case of “An Evening with Beatrice Lillie," which was probably the outstand- ing critical and boxoffice hit of the citronella circuit this summer, Aldrich himself got the idea for Miss Lillie to do the revue and, with some other established man- agements sharing the production costs, persuaded the star to make the tour, helped assemble the ma- terial and assisted in booking it. Somewhat similar arrangements Were made for “Here’s Mama-," starring Peggy Wood, and “Danger-" ous Corner," with Faye Emersonu There is no general rule cover- (Continued on page 55) Sponsors Eye ’56 Polit. Conventions With the 19^2 Presidential nomi- nees only now swinging into their campaigns, sponsors are already making plans for the 1956 political conventions. At least 12 inter- ested clients have queried NBC during the last several weeks on the possibility of sewing up rights to the '56 meets, but the web is stalling off any commitments un- til it has more of a chance to re- appraise this year’s returns. It’s recalled that the $2,750,000 which Philco paid to banlbroll both the Republican and Democratic conventions this year on NBC radio and TV, plus the election night returns, fell, some $1,000,000 short of what it cost NBG. for its pro- duction crew and extra pre-emp- (Cj)ntinued on page 53) M&L for Coronation London, Sept, 2. Ddan Martin & Jerry Lewis will probably be the Coronation attrac- j tion at the London Palladium next I spring, I The team is planning its film and other commitments to leave I them f’*ee for Europe next year, in- cluding a long rest abroad. To Aid Legit, Prepped By Schonceit Arenas to Make Like met' YTitk Longhair? The Arena Managers Ass'n. is studying, possibility' of making a strong pitth for the longhair trade; AMA Is being 4 offered a healthy string of “classical attractions, in- cluding ballet, bjpera, and a Paul Whiteman pop concert stand. Those already submitted are a ballet unit to be topped by Mia Slavenska and Frederick Franklin. Ballet Theatre and'the Jose Greco troupe are- also being offered for a series- 0^-'dates. Another longhair item.is Lauritz Melchior to head.a group of singers. Feasibility of classical items in arenas has been proved with strong attractions. The AMA has played the Metropolitan Opera and large auditoriums have done handsomely with the Arturo Toscanini tour. American Leglpti membership may get a further picture of the Communist situation In Hollywood via the organization's magazine early next year, editor James P. O’Neil told VAmxTY last week. Le- gion’s director of publications in- timated that the story might well be a favorable one for the industry. He said it pretty much depended on the report . of the Legion's Americanism Commission to the national executive committee in Indianapolis November. Five resolutions introduced at the or- gapizatiop^a New York convention last week will also be reporied on by the Commission, to which they were referred. O’Neil, whose magazine carried (Continued on page 53) 'Wkistle Stop' Politico Series Set for CBS-TV f- Plans whereby a group of ticket brokers would participate in th« financing of Broadway productions has been suggested by Loulf Schon- ceit, head of the Mackey agency. Idea will probably be proposed formally .soon to the N. Y. Ticket Brokers Assn, or Individually to r number of leading agencies. Schonceit figures that of rihe 75-80 ticket brokers in the New York area, a dozen or so might put up, say,. $10,000 apiece as a popl for Investment in a number of pro- ductions. Selection of the show$ might be left to a committee rep^ resenting the broker group and the League of N« Y. Theatres. The in- vestment units might be similarly decided,' i^r might be set in ad- vance. AE such details could he settled when and if enough brokers ap-? prove the plan and agree to partic- ipate. Similarly, the amount to be put up by each broker, or whether the individuals would be allowed to determine the amount of their own share, with the returns allot- ted on a per-capita basis, could also be worked out later. Schonceit emphasizes, however, that nothing in the plan should involve ticket aEotments, either for the partici- pating brokers or for others. With only 10 shows current on Broadway for much of the sum- mer, Schonceit reasons that it's up to the brokers themselves to try to help stimulate production, if they hope to stay in business,. He be- lieves that financing, particularly under such tight-money conditloqa as exist at present, is a practical way to hypo production. Moreover, the Mackey chief figures that for the brokers to supply substantial production capital would refute (pontinued on page 53) Bishop Sheen Influence Eases TV Ban for Nnns In Catholic Consents Chicago, Sept. 2. Thanks to Bishop Fulton J. Sheen many Catholic convents whose rules prohibit television sets may relax the regulations at least to the degree to permit the nuns to view the bishop’s own show when it resumes on DuMont T ^ November. In an attempt • to--provide the r,.'- ^ l- j nation's citizenry with as close a' a question and answer picture of the poEtical campaigns i foEowing his talk be^re « they recervfed-dr the natlolal ^ teachers and nuns at the Col- 500 teachers and nuns at the Col- lege of St. Francis, Joliet, 111., last week. Bishop Sheen was asked by a nun E he wouldn’t use his- influ- conventions, CBS-TV preems a new half-hour jshow Sunday (7) wWclf udU^eompris? fifm^IooS'ge ! especially lensed on e‘ach of the j view him two major nominees' campaign ! bishop won a big round of trains by CBS - video cameramen- : applause when he replied: “Mother reporters. To be aired for nine ! Superiors everywhere, please let weeks, the show will occupy the' your nuns see my program." 3:30 to 4 p.m. spot. He told the group that during Web’s cameramen will be air- the past nine months he had re- mailing their films taken during i ceived 749,000 letters from view- the Dwight D. Eisenhower-Adlai (Continued on page 65) ers of the show, 40% coming from non-Catholics.