Variety (March 1953)

f HttCUANY Wediieaday, M«tfc 4^ 1953 Whs Wh in Tribute to BA Hope At Friars’ Testimonial in N.Y. By ABEL GREEN The Friars have batted a thou- sand three years running with its testimonials to Joe E. Lewis, Jack Benny and now Bob Hope, who was saluted Friday night (271 at the Waldorf-Astoria, N. Y., in a night that was, to com a cliche, "one truly to remember.” Once again, in the best show biz traditions the after-dinner speeches, sparked by toastmaster Georgia Jessel, must have parred and mayhaps even eclipsed the salubrious times to which Jessel likes to hark back so sentimentally as he name-drops Chauncey Depew, Rennold Wolf, Willie Collier, Raymond Hitchcock, George M. Cohan, Thomas A. Wise, CapL Irving O’Hay and others who undoubtedly made the hallowed bMT« of The Lambs and The Friars something to cherish. But none of the dais need have deferred to any of the yesteryear greats. The large newspaper con- tingent at Hope’s night as "the comedian of the year" were busy paying guests in their notes-taking oh the bon mots, nifties, intra-trade and general wit that flowed in a constant stream of high-level cali- bre from pros like Fred Allen, Mil- ton Berle, Jesse Block (& Eve Sully), who was roundly saluted for the hangup and painstaking job he did, alohg with Senator W. Stu- art Symington (Missouri), Cleve- land Press publisher-editor Louis B. Seltzer, Cleveland Mayor Thomas Burke, New York’s Mayor Vincent L. Impellitteri, Bernard Baruch, Alben W. Barkley, Maj. Gen. Em- mett (Rosy) "O’Donnell and Eric Johnston. Other dais guests were RCA prez Frank M. Folsom, NBC prez Frank White, dean of the Friars Harry Delf, and Adolph Zukor. Fred Allen’s Nifties Allen pulled the first 3-D gag when he put on his glasses to read his address, which rates as some- thing of a masterpiece in an affec- tionate, albeit cynical, doseup on the guest of honor. He. opened by observing that these affairs "for the guest of honor must be akin to coming back to life in a mortuary. (Continued on page 20) BELLSON QUITS DUKE TO DO HR. & MRS/ ACT Louis Bellson and Tony Scott, only ofay sidemen in the Duke El- lington orch, ankled the band last week after Ellington’s Apollo Theatre, N. Y., stand. Bellson, who’s been on drums with the Ellington crew for about two years, is prepping an act with his wife, singer Pearl Bailey, Scott joined the band to head up the sax section at the beginning of the Apollo booking. Jelke Case Prompts New Brit. Play, ‘Call Girl’ London, March 3. Cashing in on the publicity of the Jelke case, a British theatrical com- pany is rushing out a new play en- titled "Call Girl" The venture is being promoted by Johnhif McGregor and Pete Davis, Ltcf:, a local firm which in the past has been associated with revues and pantomimes. This is slated only for a provincial tour, and is unlikely to come into the West End. Ike’s C*y HajW Stact Saaiu D.CNews Diners Washington, March 3. Uncertainty dver whether Presi- dent Eisenhower will attend any of the new* correspondents? dinners this spring have scrambled plans‘of the various .associations, and is cramping the style of those affairs which lean on professional name talent. Recent dinner of the Radio Cor- respondents Assn.,, at which Bee failed to show after first saying "Maybe,” has put the damper on the other affairs. While the radio newsmen assembled a. top name show, it will be extremely difficult to do so in the future without posi- tive assurance that the President will show at the head table, since the talent is asked to contribute- its services. The White House Photographers Assn., which includes the newsreel lenser*, has indefinitely postponed the dinner it planned to have at the end of February. Gridiron Club has another ®r those "maybe" acceptances for its dinner April 11, and is going ahead with full plans. *White House Cor- respondent* Assn, is' planning a dinner in May, without any assur- ance that Ike will come, and ditto for the Women’s National Press Club. Latter affair is primarily keyed to the President’s wife each year and, if Mamie finally decides to attend, the chances are' that the President will come, too. Pina t Children’s Sat Enchanted Mornings As Disk Jocks on WNBC, NY. Ezio Pinza and his 12-year-old daughter Clelia will start a disk jockey program for children in the 9:30-10 a.m. slot on WNBC, N. Y., Saturday (7), period formerly oc- cupied by the Jackie Robinson show: Basso will also tell juve stories. • Produced by Steve White and written by Len Weinles stanza will be a music appreciation series, with each edition on a specific theme. Initialer will be on western music, with records rang- ing from "High Noon" to Aaron Copland’s "BiHy the Kid." Second frame will be devoted to nautical music, ranging from sea chanties to Debussy’s "La Mer" Later on in the series, Pinza will be joined by his nine-year-old son, Pietro. Senate Tightens Ban On ‘Lewd’ Shipments Washington, March 3. Senate last week voted two laws to tighten the ban against in- terstate shipment of lewd and ob- scene material, including motion picture film and phonograph rec- ords. The bills now go to the House for action. Under the new legislation, the ban is expanded to prevent move-, meat across’ State borders by pri- vate automobiles or any other way. The present law simply bans ship- ment by public carrier. 3/4 Subscription Order Form Enclosed find check for $ Please send VARIETY for To (Please Print Name) Street City Zone ... • State....... Regular Subscription Rates One Year —$10.00 Two Years—418.00 Canada and Foreign—41 Additional per Year liw 154 West 46th Street New York 36, N. Y. HORACE HEIPT FOR LUCKY STRIKE Under Personal Management JOHN LEER 111 Fifth Avfc, New York. Cuba’s “Razzle’ Too Much Dazzle For U.S. Gamblers By JAY MALLIN Havana, March 3. During 1952 about 200,000 Amer- icans visited Cuba and spent ap- proximately $45,000,000 on every- thing from hotel rooms to souvenir postcards. In addition to this, they expended at least another $2,000,- 000 in a generally fruitless attempt to enrich themselves at Havana’s five major gambling establish- ments. Thus, of every $23.50 which Americans left behind in Cuba, $1 ended up in the pockets of the gambling fraternity and their asso- ciated friends. ' This type of sugar closely com- peted with cane sugar as one of the island’s main sources of rev- enue. Or it would have If the funds remained in Cuba, which is highly doubtful in view of the number of Americans on the management side of -the gambling tables. Sans Souci is run by Americans; the dice table at Montmartre is American; the Tropicana gambling setup is man- aged by an American (but for Cuban interests). Only the Casino Nacional and the two gambling establishments (aside from the races) at Oriental Park racetrack appear to be cqntrolled locally. The Yankee gentlemen of games, include Norman Rothman, Edward (Eddy) Altman, M. P. (Kitty) Klein, Sidney (Sid) Jacobs, Dino Cellini and Sam Lawrence (Bratt). One or two have been involved in inci- dents with the law in the'U.S. over gambling matters. The names of others .cropped up during the Kefauver hearings. In fact it was the chill of the Kefauver hearings which to a large measure induced the Americans to seek warmer and more hospitable grounds to the south. Cuba, with its large number of fun and thrill-seeking tourist*, provided fertile land for the game- sters. Under a Cuban law promulgated (Continued on page 56) WW to Coast in April, Airing Some Shows There Walter Winchell treks to the Coast in mid-April and will orig- inate his ABC and ABC-TV gab- casts there, starting April 19, for several weeks. Winchell is interested in con- verting his show next fall into a simulcast. However, there’s the problem of clearances in TV for a 9 p.m. Sunday slot, his traditional time in radio. The tele edition is skedded at 6:45 pm. JTG to Mark Soph’s 50th Show Biz Atmi Sophie tucker’s Golden Jubilee in show business will be marked by the Jewish Theatrical Guild which will tender her a banquet Oct. 4 at the Hotel Waldorf-Astoria, N. Y. Miss Tucker was the guest of hon- or at a JWT dinner in 1946. JWT board member Harry Gould has been named chairman of the dinner committee and James Sauter, USO-Camp Show’s prexy, has been made executive vicepresi- dent of the committee. Of State Dept. Films, Etc. Washington, March %. . Sen. Bourke B. Hlckenlooper (R H IaJ will head a Senate Foreign Re- lations sub-committee which will investigate the oversea* use of mo- tion picture*, radio, press, libraries and other - informational programs of the State Dept. Although no date has been set for the hearings here, Hickenlooper said his group intend* to call repre- sentatives of government, motion pictures, broadcasting and other in- dustries to- testify. In addition, a "team" of Senators will be sent to Latin-America to study the effec- tiveness of the program there. Johnnie Ray Parlays. Ad Lib Into Foundation For Hard-of-Hearing An ad lib about a "foundation to aid the hard-of-hearing," which Johnnie Ray uttered at the Capitol during his past Winter’s Broadway engagement, has quickly snow- balled into the JR Foundation, Inc.; under his manager, Bernie Lang’s direction. When kids in the audience started raining down $1 and $5- bills, and similar amounts came anonymously through the mail, this hastened its functioning. The Foundation was capped on Ed Sullivan’s ‘Toast of the Town" CBS-TV show this past Sunday (1) when Hay’s $7,500 fee was allocated to the fund. Even before the Capitol Theatre sparking, when Ray was first at the competitive Paramount Thea- tre, he had allocated his (and Lang’s) cut from the souvenir pro- grams to P. S. 47, the elementary school on New York’s East 23d Street which particularly teaches the hard-of-hearing. (Ray himself has been that, since childhood, and during the 4 Sullivan show he publicly donned the hearing aid which he has worn off and on dur- ing theatre engagements, in re- cording sessions, and the like). The Par engagement also benefited the United Cerebral Palsy fund, in which Paramount Theatres’ topper Leonard Goldenson is vitally in- terested; Ray split his cut of the souvenir books 50-50 between CP and P. S. 47. Just pre-Xmas Ray came to New York ahead of sched- ule to play Santa to the public school children there. (His home town is Salem, Ore.). On-and-Off Probe of Cleffers’ Red Res Tin Pan Alley firms/ received a form letter from the State De- partment early last week request- ing that they screen all ’writers of material they were shipping over- seas for possible Commie or fellow- traveler association. The letter, however, was rescinded later in the week by a telegram from a higher branch of the State Department. Although the pubs didn’t have any time between the initial letter and the rescinding wire^to take any steps in the screening of their writers, switch in orders indicates that there’s some action afoot with- in the State Department to inves- tigate alleged Commie infiltration in the music biz. • The letter requesting the screen- ing process left it up to the pubs to conduct their own investi- gation. Pubs were asked to re- turn an affidavit that they had screened their writers. Rescinding wire said letter mis- interpreted a directive. Gershwin Manuscripts Given to Cong. library Washington, March 3. Valuable collection of George Gershwin original manuscripts has just been acquired by the Library of Congress, in accordance with the will of Mrs. Rose Gershwin, com- poser’s mother, who died a couple of years ago. Collection includes the original score of "Rhapsody in Blue," a pen- cilled manuscript for two pianos; pencil draft and full ink score of the Piano Concerto in F, originally entitled "New York Concerto"; piano vocal score and full ink score of “Porgy and Bess;” full score for "Cuban Overture," and several others. Most of the manuscri ,ts are dated to show when and for how long Gershwin worked on them. Hefis Pic Deal Forcing Fold Of ‘Shrike’ March 21 Chicago, March 3. "The Shrike," which had been .slated to tour to the Coast with Van Heflin as star, folds here March 21. Cldsing leaves a gap in the Theatre Guild-American Thea- tre Society schedule in Los An- geles, where Joseph Kramm’s Pul- itzer Prize drama was to have opened April •; arid subsequently in San Francisco. The situation is particularly embarrassing since subscription drives have just been \ opened in both towns. ! Closing of the show became nec- essary when Heflin exercised a four-week cancellation clause in his contract with producer Kermit [Bloomgarden, reportedly to take ! a $75,000 bid to appear in "Wings of the Hawk" for Universal-Inter- national. Actor had been expected to stay with "The Shrike" through the balance of the season, although hi* original agreement to do the show had only been until mid- ! March. Bloomgarden, who came here over the weekend from New ; Ybrk, at first figured on getting a [replacement to continue the tour, ! but was unable to do sa and an- I nounced the"March 21 closing. A pitch was made to persuade Jose Ferrer to return to the show, in which he was the original star, as well as producer^director on Broadway last season. It was hoped he might he interested in the prop- osition, particularly since it would enable him to be seen in an ef- fective stage role .in Hollywood, where he is known only as a film actor. However, Ferrer is current- ly involved in staging "My Three Angels,” due March 11 on Broad- way, and after that he reportedly has a commitment In England. Ironic angle on the closing of "Shrike" is that the production would presumably hive gotten into the black in just a few more weeks. Production has a fairly high operating hookup and has done uneven business on tour, but finally hit its stride in recent weeks and bad nearly earned back its investment* The show was backed by a.group of theatre man- agers in key cities. Heflin’s decision to withdraw from "Shrike" became known to members of the company only when It appeared in a syndicated [ Hollywood column a day or so j after the opening here. Immediate j reaction of the other actors is un- ! derstood to have been bitter, es- pecially since the news broke im- mediately after the appearance of the local reviews, which were mixed regarding the play itself, al- though favorable to the star. Gen- eral feeling was that the notices were negative from a boxofficc standpoint. SWEDES SWEET ON RAY, KRUPA, SINATRA, 3-D By BOB CONDON Stockholm. Gene Krupa has come and gone —real gone according to the jazz I critic*. They played a total of ■seven concert* here in four days , and did enough business to keep Eddie Condon in guitar picks for the next 300 years. The Swede* have become 3-D .conscious and one movie house is preparing to show the three old Metro shorts. We are in the last days Of shoot- ing and our picture will finish with a 9-week schedule. Signe Hasso and Bill Langford go on to Paris for a vacation, Ruth Brady returns to California, while Mike Road and I stay for cutting and humming tunes. The Swedes are amused with “The Thief,” especially Rita Gam, as gam means vulture in Swedish. My command of Swedish gets better; and better, i sent, a tele- gram* the' other bight and it was promptly delivered* to me in an hour signed with the name of the man I wished to send it to. But it’s always fun to get a wire. There is a plan afoot to intro- duce the Swedes to sponsors. The only commercial- advertising tied to entertainment are the short ad films that sell Swedish products before the main feature picture Starts. Radio is subsidized and TV will be too. But this summer (Continued on pagd 57)