Variety (December 1952)

y-wwlav. December SI, 1952 PariEt? 53 1952-Big Grosses, Low Profits Continued from page 52' t levers notably “The Quiet h .° d ?-\? 1 jfrh 10 week* Elg in’s sister ] P^p^thT Little Elgin (operated h0U (Ui’al theatres, in one building « d e ther separate or combined as ®Jr{ has kept to an art policy fi ^ has done okay with it. Odeon, !Sv’s h second largest major Miner, f tte only one reporting no im- oortant biz increase. V Canadian Repertory Theatre, fit0 C ck company playing its fourth l«on in La Salle Playhouse, has had a better season than last, and Sieves reason is a better selec- tion of plays and institution of a subscription policy giving custom- 's five $1.25 seats for $5. CRT, u-hich scales prices from 60c to $ 125 , had biggest week of its ex- istence with "The Cocktail Party” in November. Orchestra biz is down a little. Decrease wasn’t in bookings but in the trend, which is general, to cut size of bands. Some groups that used to use 12 to 14 men are down to six now. There are seven bands on contract spots here, hotels and niteries. Niteries have done okay this Y ear with business up over last Jear’ Fairmount Club increased capacity and booked better type of show to get greater returns. Ga- tineau Club upped its promotion this year and plugged all angles of theatre-restaurant biz which, with better-type acts, got more satisfied customers, hence better biz, in spite of road construction in au- tumn between city and club, Ottawa gets only sporadic tele- vision reception from’ Montreal, and some U.S. points, so TV had no effect whatever on local show biz scene. Kansas City Spotty; Drought a Big Factor Kansas City, Dec. 30. Looking over the local show biz scenes, activity for the year would have to be tagged as spotty. Nearly every branch had its ups and downs, some branches sharper than others. Steady would • be. the word for some, particularly radio and pic- tures. Five principle radio sta- tions here have plugged right along, and all have had a good year. Most expect 1953 to hold the pace. A newsworthy event in'radio was the opening in Kansas City of KPRS as one of the few all-Negro owned and operated radio stations in the country. It was bought by Twin Cities Advertising Agency and moved here from Olathe, Kans. Another new station has been an- nounced for Kansas City, but is not yet under way. Picture biz held its own when the attraction was there, despite weather, television and many other distractions. But it was too far and few between ^attractions. The weather made its inroads into show biz, particularly film houses. The area was plagued by two drought periods, one in early summer, another in the fall, mak- ing these reasons shaky for the outstate houses. It was somewhat reflected in city biz, where thea- tres had a good run in early fall, out tapered off later when effects felt 6 l0ng diy Spel * began to be Essentially an agricultural econ- omy, the area basically benefited *rom the biggest wheat crop in his- tory and a sturdy corn crop, which ke ? t the income brackets up «na made recovery quick when the offer^ 11011868 lia d something to to °’ had a spasmodic year u-ifhHo It: ro<ie hig h at tin^s. S A n ,. South Pacific,” "Guys and h- w and “9 al1 Me Madam,’* but S i 0me dismal days, too, such tnn ,Pj rl 5 ness at Noon,” "Rose Tat- ' an< J others. Most attractions the ban;n er of the Fox nhfn ® St u Clrcuit in its deluxe Or- bu t the season was inter- tions avauabfe. n0t €n ° Ugh attraC ‘ veS* Ud A almost nil for the Clvdo w . itb Pa tti Page and a \ VP J IcCoy did moderate biz in whii! S, • 1 1 n c , the Midland Theatre, crew his all ' girl fall in thp i\r insh . in a Vvoek last *ome e ni?v ld i] ? whIc h talent gets town p i! a J. ls ni ghtclubs and hotel*, spot in h ?!? , a Angularly astute a dowriYm C d y s Res taurant. With tion whh loc , atI °n and no affilia- bl ’other& h Bo hote1 ’ the three Eddy 8 have operated for over two years now with a house orch .find change—of—acts.—every—twe weeks. They have veered into some of the better names and have done consistently good biz. The Tony DiPardo Orch is in its second year here. Otherwise, for night spots the town defends on the Hotel Muehle- bach, with its Terrace Grill and travelling bands; the Hotel Presi- dent and its Drum Room, with top- notch small comboes and occasion- al acts, and some deluxe dinner (with music) spots. Phil and Charles Maggio operated their es- tablished Southern Mansion for the early part of the year with name acts, but this fall and winter have gone along with a house orch and have omitted the acts. A single burlesque house, the Folly, has operated regularly dur- ing the season over the past few years on a five-day week, about the only outpost in the theatre world for live talent here. Music fares somewhat better, the Pla-Mor Ballroom bringing in the top bands, usually for one nighters on Saturday. Some big- name units also have played the Auditorium to satisfactory grosses. amusement park, chalked up a ban- ner year. Its Moonlite Garden, playing name bands, was up 8% on dance biz, Edward L. Schott, president and general manager, re- ported. Stan Kenton and Billy May were biggest tuggers. Addi- Hons of Johnnie Ray and Four Aces 1 for separate weeks brought re- wards. Kentucky spots still dominate Greater Cincy’s night life. Closing of Lookout House via liquor license cancellation leaves Beverly Hills as standout. Latter has a talent budget of from $4,000 to $10,000 weekly, varied by names. Latin Quarter puts out $2,500 to $3,000 weekly for bands and acts. Columbus B.O. Spotty; ‘Madam’ Topped Legit Columbus, O., Dec. 30. Boxoffice here has been spotty generally. Legit could be graded from fair to good, with only “Call Me Madam” doing top business, "Paint Your Wagon” did well, but Cornelia Otis Skinner’s "Paris 90” sketches hit a bad date (Thanksgiving), and weather crimped the American Savoyards here. The Slavenska-Franklin Ballet, on the other hand, came through neatly. Pix had their ups and downs, with this city pretty generally re- flecting the rest of the country, i.e., top-drawer product drew the crowds while the run-of-the-mill items served to keep things going profitably. "Quiet Man,” “Ivan- hoe” and some spectaculars were held over for a good return. The World, city’s only art house, hag developed quite a following. Some pictures, such as "The Promoter,” which got quick showing after N. Y. premiere, were held as long as three weeks. Only In neigh- borhood houses has television taken its toll of the crowds but just how deeply the cut is, no one has been able to figure. Concert biz is up over last year, although it nowhere approaches the number of dates played in the years right after the war. Deshler-Wallick Hotel has re* turned to name-performer policy for its Ionian Room after a layoff. Hildegarde did excellent business, Dagmar cost them money and Rudy Vallee did profitable biz. Pix Hold Own in Cincy, Cafes Off, Ditto Legit Cincinnati, Dec. 30. Cincy boxscore on 1952 show biz branches has more ups than downs, pointing to a general climb over ’51. Winners were led by records, with dealers chorusing claims for a best-ever year, and. included sheet music sales and u dance band draws. Pix trade at “least held its own, though eight more nabes folded. This came in face of continued climb of TV installations, now fig- ured at 400,000 sets and within 10% of the area’s saturation point. Nightclubs slumped in number, pa- tronage and talent buys, notably on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River, where the Kefauver quivers are still felt. ) Legitimate theatre is off about 15% so far this season. Vaudeville is a complete blanjc, the big RKO Albee, only house with such fare in recent years, being sans flesh for months and with no bookings in sight. Burlesque is holding its own at the Gayety, Jack Kane circuit link, with a $1 top for 29 performances weekly on probable 36-week season. Cincinnati Garden is recovering from financial reverses. The 12,- 000-seater had swell returns on "Ice Follies,” is doing big on ice- skating and has more basketball and show bookings than last season. Hockey team, Mohawks, in Inter- national League, is drawing only fairish. Sports and outdoor amuse- ments attracted more customers last year. . , , Coney Island, Cincy’s populai Niteries Lone Amus. Up in ’52 in Phoenix Phoenix, Dec. 30. Show biz elements here enjoyed anything but a banner year in 1952, lone exception being the nitery trade, which reported hefty in- crease:; cf from 20 to 25% over 1951. Fiim houses slipped last year’s grosses, and the town's only pro- fessional legit house, the Som- brero PI /house, also took it on the chin. Conversely, tlje Phoenix Little Theatre did okay. Upbeat biz among the niteries is attributed to the plethora of con- ventions that hit the town this year, with hotels also getting in on the boom. The visiting firemen invariably make the rounds of the night spots but pass up theatres. Legit and film houses depend upon local support for subsistence, and it fell short of the mark in 1952. Disiribs Face Continued from page 5 ment is that pix With definite limit- ed audience appeal should not be made. It’s for that reason that the baseball yams, although vaguely alluded to as such, were played up for broader acceptance, with the love interest obviously inserted to share the fenable customers. The sports-angled pix, according to the film peddlers, are just one aspect of the problem. They con- tend that there'are dozens of other examples of pictures which, if sold straight, would prove duds. Much of the doubt, they argue, could be eliminated if they were consulted prior actual production. Close consultation between sales 'hnd production at Universal has been cited for that company’s up- beat performances during recent years. It was at the urging of the sales department that U adopted its popular-appeal type pix, con- centrating on sex-spiced action and cornball yarns. Both categories ap- pear to have captured the fancy of the mass audience both in the U. S. and abroad. ‘Because You’ Continued front page 4 (AA) pushed up to ninth while “RnnnH Rarripr” HJA) was only Towne, Jax Park Continued from page 5 to set an important precedent since the city is uiidertsood to be planning similar assessments also on'the television networks and ad- vertising agencies striking prints in N, Y, Sales tax would be imposed_nn~ this basis.: Where the contract pro- vides for the producer to deliver the negative to the distrib, the city would collect 3% of the producer’s share of the world’-gross. Where the. contract does not specify de- livery of negative, a 3% compen- sating use tax would be imposed’ on the negative cost. Distribs hold that either basis-is illegal and un- enforceable. Reason for the Lopert Films as- essment isn’t clear since none of the other indie distribs has been notified. Lopert, whose product is mostly British, imports the nega- tive only and makes his black-and- white prints in N. Y. The Fox Movietone assessment was $100,- 000? It is understood that the Uni- versal assessment will come to ap- proximately $2,000,000 on the basis of the sales tax alone. Technicolor pix are not affected since there is no lab in N. Y. equipped to handle Techni prints. Immediate distrib reaction is that, if the tax goes through, they would transfer their printing op- erations to Coast labs. This, how- ever, still leaves the accumulated tax coin over the past three years unsettled. With the city trying hard to raise additional revenue, the distribs expect a hard fight on the tax matter. Misleading Ads Continued from page 5 Is given to the selection of titles, resulting in frequent changes, at the urging of the sales force, before the picture is finally released. Although there are many instances of title manipulations and ad- vertising switches, a good example of the process is a couple of base- ball pictures released during the past year. Both were fictional biogs of noted pitchers. Warner Bros.’ story of Grover ‘Cleveland Alex- ander was released under the title of "The Winning Team” after ex- periments with such titles as "Al- exander the Great” and "The Big Leaguer.” 20th-Fox’s tribute to Dizzy Dean ended up as "The Pride of St. Louis” after consideration of "The Dizzy Dean Story.” At- tempts were made in the bally for both films to play down the sports angle and build up the romantic aspects. Thinking of the sales forces was that baseball pix, with a few rare exceptions, are notoriously poof grossers, and, if sold as such, ap- peal to a predominantly male audi- ence. View of the distrib depart- ure fails to play out two week-run downtown. For those minor re- leases, 10 days clearance can be obtained. With the exception of one-week engagements at the Chi- cago Theatre, such releases fall in the exploitation or "B” class. Other than that pictures must go directly into the nabes unless played first in other than a B&K or RKO house. This gives the indie Loop operator an advantage in buying the major pix. Both distribs and B&K have peti- tioned for extended playing time, which has been granted rather liberally in the past year, but in each case Federal Jud^e Michael Igoe, in whose court jurisdiction for the decree lay, has refused waiting time. If and when defend- ants can crack that block, they will have accomplished their wishes for major reform of the decision. Tom McConnell, attorney for both the Jackson Park and Towne, has announced that he will carry the case to the United States Supreme Court. Husfon-Ferrer Continued from page 3 involved. As for Huston and Fer- rer, we think people should know they are being cooperative.” Gough, disclosed for the first time that the Legion has a five- point standard to be met by sus- pect personalities but stressed "we can’t clear people, but when we are satisfied with facts we will calll^essions them to attention of people; we will let them know they have met the test which we have estab- lished.” Five points are: (1) denounce and absolutely repudiate all past Communist Party or front connec- tions; (2) appear before the House committee, make full public ex- posure of all past Communist Party or front activities, identifying all those responsible for their own seduction from the path of true Americanism and loyalty; (3) join such patriotic organizations and otherwise support such organiza- tions’ publications and movements as are actively, intelligently com- batting Communism, and demon- strate by contributions of both time and effort that they are now willing to fight as hard and as loyally on the side of America as they had in past on side of enemies of this country; (4) make public declaration of condemnation of Soviet imperialism, aggression against world peace and amity; (5) solemn public declaration of as- surance against joining or support- ing any Communist Party fronts in the future by first investigating and checking on all appeals to join or support organizations of move- ments of this type. Gough has a meeting scheduled with Eric Johnston Office reps to discuss further elimination of any suspected industry workers but the talks have been postponed at least until after the holidays. a step behind in 10th spot. Runnerup films were. "Battle Zone” lAA), "Everything I Have Is Yours” (M-G), "Pal Gus” (20th) and "Happy Time” (Col), in that order. . Flock of Good Newles A long string of new, strong pic- tures was being launched as De- cember ended. "Million Dollar Mermaid” (M-G), currently in fourth weefe at Radio City Music Hall, shapes up as a winner. "Hans Christian Andersen” (RKO- Goldwyn) also looms ’ as potenti- ally sock based on its showings at two N. Y. theatres where it’s still smash in sixth stanzas. Danny Kaye starrer is going out into keys only gradually, with no blanket bookings planned. "Against All Flags” (U) teed off great in two keys the week before Christmas and is being rated a strong grosser. "Stars and’Stripes Forever” (20th) started off smash at the N. Y~. Roxy. "Blackbeard the Pirate” (RKO), also new, is faring well on initial playdates. "Abbott- Costello Meet Capt. Kidd” (WB) looms okay,, with Xmas week book- ings figured to help. "Bwana Devil” (Indie), third-dimensional pic, has done sock on its launch- ings in its first two cities. "Come Back, Little Sheba” (Par) teed off socko in N. Y. "April In Paris” (WB), another’ late-in-month newcomer, started solidly. "Limelight” (UA), now in its 10th sessions at two N. Y. houses, also had several’big weeks in San Francfe^ "The Savage” (Par) was uneven most of the month. "Outpost in Malaya” (UA) was mainly slow or dull. "Hangman’s Knot” (Col) cam* through with too many sluggish-to- fair sessions to rate high. "Mon" tana Belle” (RKO), a fairly fresh entry, was spotty. "Operation Se- cret” (WB) added some sizable coin to the money it rang up in November as fourth place winner. "The Promoter” (U) continued good to sock, pic being in its 10th great week at N. Y. Fine Arts. "K.C. Confidential” (UA) racked up some good to fast sessions early in the month. "Steel Trap” (20th), which had a few smart stanzas, turned up with others which ranged from slow to poor. "Thunderbirds” (Rep) regis- tered some good to solid totals. "Yankee Buccaneer” (U) added several profitable playdates while "Quiet Man” (Rep), which has completed the bulk of its principal first-runs, managed some stout Nixes ‘Privacy’ Suits Continued from page 4 Ferrer’s N.Y. Stopover Jose Ferrer, on the Coast for the preem of "Moulin Rouge,” will stop stop over in New York en route to London Sunday (4). Actor is due in London Monday (5) to supervise rehearsals of "The Shrike,” last season’s Broadway legit hit in which he starred. It’s •scheduled to open shortly in the British capital. visions of the Utah State and U. S. Constitutions,” and that the Utah right-of-privacy statute is not ap- plicable to pix containing por** trayals of deceased public figures. Judge Van Cott further stated that the rights and liabilities of the Donahue heirs must be determined by the law of the locale where the plaintiffs sustained injury and damage, if any, to their feelings and sensibilities. He said that since they were residents of Cali- fornia, "the rights and liabilities of the parties are to be determined under the laws of that state.” He pointed out that under the law of California the Donahue family had no right of action or right to relief of any kind, and said,, in ef- fect, that non-residents could not expect to walk into Utah and col- lect damages in that state. Beadier Continued from page* 3 to films, Seadler reasons, it passes stores and shops which use the newspapers* advertising columns. If these biz establishments lose the passerby trade, they might fold, > resulting in a loss of advertising / income for the newspapers, Seadler V explains. ‘ \ “Newspapers inevitably get ben- , efits,” he notes. “There are many reasons why films help trade. Let^ not be timid about mentioning ttiat sordid thing, money, in relation to sensible appeals to newspapers for [help to our business. It helps • them, too.”