Variety (April 1953)

VOL. 190 No. 6 West 46th Street* New_ York 35, N. Y., by Variety* Inc.* Annual subscription $10. Single copies* 39 cents. Entered as second class matter December 22* 1905* at the Post OCfioo at New York, N. Y.» under the act of March 3* 1879. COPYRIGHT. 1953* BY VARIETY, INC.* ALL RIGHTS RESERVED NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 1953 PRICE 25 CENTS INDUSTRY-BACKED “STAR (Mir Agencies Grazing Mountain Pastures Figure 9-12 Legiters (With ‘Can-Can,’ In College Try to Develop Talent TIES TO TfiLENI ‘JuIieO ToTLast B’way Summer Grind Major talent agencies are now-f shopping around for mountain summer resorts where they can spot some of their fledgling talent for the entire season in the hope Laughton as ‘Duveen’ Hollywood, April 14. that they can develop repertoires Charles Laughton after a cycle and possibly make the break for Ifflt readings, returns In a full- video in the fall. Feeling is that length play next season, to star m if the agencies can get talent, writ- ers and choreographers working to- the title role of “Duveen*” Sam N. Behrman is dramatizing 4e h for a seasoTthen acts and ^ofiles'' on the New York and nnmniPtP will he London art collector which he possibly complete packages will be first m fQr Th& New Yorker ^ b °The Morris office has taken that pub “ shed * n bo ° k „ form ' *>£ step in spotting Dick Shawn and House. Paul Gregory will Pat Carroll at Camp Tamiment, produce - Tamiment, Pa., for the entire sum- mer. Both are regarded ds promis- n 1 ¥T T¥/1 i ing newcomers in the Morris sta- VaIaha If/vf a Iff A ble/ They’ll be working there with OUlUllu T lilt/ lY Vli radio and tele writers Danny & Doc Simon, choreographer Lee ^ « m¥f fl Sherman and producer Moe Hack. I a| A u I 1/ Morris office figures that past t/OlOl .1 I uVSlvIIl history may repeat at that spot. «/ mental in developing Max Lieb- Jw T [am Uivltlvsi r.man, producer-director of the NBC- flcdlJV 1 (1| riinilL , TV “Your Show of Shows.” Lieb- j iv» i umaav ‘ man worked there for many years. iniIW uarv Green- Mansions, Warrensburg, By. JOHN horn N. Y., is also being spotted as a Princeton, April 14. hideout for promising acts, writers, A special color TV broadcast songwriters and others. Ernest D. utilizing compatible RCA equip- Glucksman, producer of the Don- ment and signal specifications re- ald O’Connor, Martin & Lewis and cently approved by the National Ben Blue layouts on NBC, was Television System Committee, an signed from that camp, all-industry group, was viewed to- Feeling among all the talent of- day (Tues.) at the David Sarnoff flees is that any fresh comedy name Research Centre of RCA here by has a chance on tele, . members of the House Committee Over Boston nas a chance on tele, . members of the House Committee — on Interstate & Foreign Com- notim | • merce. Rep. Charles H. Wolverton' K JfrlJ I Qlnflfr ;(R.» J.), who heads that body, lllXIl IClIlllU: Was accompanied by representa- O lives of the Federal Communica- gx »v tions Commission and the press. I InAu K/kol'/km l n the personal opinion of chair- tlVCl DUN II III man Wolverton, the demonstration proved the system is “ready for the Now Rodgers & Hammerstein public ’’ A major portlon ? £ the are taking over Boston Having (Continued on page 51) more or less taken title to Broad- th if last 10 years ’ the y^e: m 7 \ I 7 ssxy&r p > c ™-„ T ™‘. “"“j 5 ^f a ''OWahom a '' e o P e^ra d Tche^ Cop N.Y. frltlCS Plaudits) f5te1 t s r b f th tbe u ^: * Theatre Guild’s Two Wins kTchavH r T) tu J n io X the ori e inal “Picnic,” by William Inge, was stein 5lii if rs '5 scar Hamme r- named best play of the season ye$- “Awav wf°S a k? ra ?. on » ^ en titled terday (Tues.) by the N. Y. Drama iS w?n’ whlch triefl out in Critics Circle meeting at Hotel Al- the miiiUfJi 1 ? y ? ars ag0 - Although gonquin. ‘‘Wonderful Town” was hiehi +u Cal ■ ^ QoIce( i for* a fort- rated the best musical and “Love extend***?« engagement could be of Four Colonels,” by Peter Us- eX In n f1f^i*H^ ua£pa ™ arrap£ ^ n . tae iatter case. theroM tinov, the best foreign play. R & w 1 i 1er case * there’d be two three winnahs were correctly fore- currphHxr 810 ^ * n . *ke Hub con- cast last week by Variety. and TniL»\. a ** the new musical, “Me In the balloting, 11 of the critics week w;’* ls t sl ated for a three- cast their votes for “Picnic,” four yout stand at the ShubfeTt' wefe for Arthur* Miller’s “The Cru- (Continu ed on page'20) (Continued on page 24) First major step toward creation, of commercially sponsored in-per- son shows was taken last week when the William Morris Agency and Cappel, MacDonald & Co., a premium and sales incentive firm, made an agreement which calls for the talent agency to be repre- sented by the merchandising con -1 cern in the industrial field. It’s the first direct tieup between show business and industry for bigtime in-person entertainment, and one which puts the major names of the show biz world at the command of industrial giants. ! Hitherto, industrial concerns such as General Motors, Westing- house, General Electric, Serve! and a few others which have staged traveling shows, have done so through their advertising agen- cies. ^ith the WM-CM tie, top producers and top talents will be harnessed to industrial sales. It’s envisioned that this type of show business will eventually be instrumental in reviving vaude- ville. It’s expected to be only a minor difference from playing what was once the Keith-Albee or Loew circuit to playing the Gen-. (Continued on page 79) Berle’s 35G-Whiz - New Vegas High; Town’s Lid Off? 1 Deal is being set for Milton Berle to go into the Sands Hotel, Las Vegas, July 16. .Salary under discussion, $35,000 weekly, is ex- pected to set a new high in the gambling resort’s payoffs. Pre- viously, Las Vegas inns had an agreement to stay within a $15,000 limit; However, in recent months this has been extended to $20,000. Berle would supply surrounding talent for his two-week show. While Berle may be just a rumor to Las Vegas which has no .TV, the Sands as well as other resorts de- pend upon visitors for the bulk of their revenue. Over the Ceiling Hollywood, April 14.* The price ceiling for acts playing Las Vegas is definitely off as far as Las Vegas hotels are concerned, according to some agents here. The $15,000 ceiling on acts was agreed to be unenforceable some- (Continued on page 64) Maggie T. Nixes Cafe Date London, April 14, Margaret Truman,, has turned down an offer to star in a West End cabaret during the Coronation season. Offer was made by cable by Alfred Barnett, joint operator, with his brother, of the Embassy Club. He received a reply from Mil- dred Shagal, v.p. of Kenneth Allen Associates, appreciating the offer, but explaining that Miss Truman will not be in Europe during the summer. Zanuck Briefs Ike On Sodder Pix Program Abroad Washington, April 14. Visit of Darryl Zanuck to Wash- ington last weekend ties in with the Eisenhower Administration study of a plan to remove the Voice of America and other for- eign information programs from the State Dept, and to create an independent propaganda unit. The plan is being considered in- side the State Dept., by the White House staff, by two Senate com- mittees and by the propaganda agency itself. Zanuck, invited here by the 'President, under whom he served in the North African campaign of World War II, sat in last Friday (10) with two top level Govern- ment committees and then' con- ferred with Ike Saturday morning. (Continued on page 70) Land, Sky, Sea Cops ’Guard’ Godfrey Troupe For Fla. Originations Miami Beach, April 14. Arthur Godfrey took over the town this week, arriving with a staff of 60 to stage radio-tele series of his shows through Friday, turn- ing the swank Kenilworth Hotel into what amounts to a complete indoor-outdoor video station. With him came the imposing of the tight- est “security” regulations since visits of ex-Pres. Truman to this (Continued on page? 79) ' Broadway is figured likely, to have a minimum of nine and maxi- mum of 12 legit shows running through the summer this year. That’s a slightly better prospect than for 1952, when nine entries managed to continue through the hot months. The nino virtual sure things this year include “Dial M for Murder,” “Fifth Season,” “Picnic” and “Seven Year Itch” as straight plays, and “King and I,” “Wish You Were Here” and “Wonderful Town” as musicals, with the fn- comiflg “Can-Can” and “Me and Juliet” as added starters with enough advance sale to guarantee all-summer runs. Strong candidates for spanning the brutal July, and earlyAugust doldrums include * “Porgy and Bess,” probably “Hazel Flagg,” both musicals, and “My 3 Angels” as. a straight-show prospect. Among the outside bets are figured “Time Out for Ginger,” “Chil- dren’s Hour” and possibly “Moon Is Blue,” the latter two having shown new stamina recently with two-for-one assistance. “South Pa- cific” and “Guys and Dolls” are vacating town for four and six weeks, respectively, for road en- gagements. Last year’s summer-stayers were “Moon Is Blue,” “Fourposter” and “Male Animal” as the only straight .shows and “South Pacific,” “Guys and Dolls,” “King and I,” “Pal (Continued on page 64) Fisher’s ‘Anytime’ 1st‘Golden’Disk Although the most consistent hit producer for RCA Victor over the past two years, Eddie Fisher has just turned up with his first 1,000,- 000-copy seller in “Anytime,” a click early In 1952 but which has been selling consistently ever since. Award of the gold-plated disk to Fisher will probably be made this week on stage of the Paramount Theatre, N. Y., where the singer is headlining. Most of Fisher’s other topsellers, such as “Wish You Were Here,” *Lady of Spain,” “Forgive Me,” “I’m Yours,” “Downhearted,” among others, have averaged be- tween 500,000 to 800,000. Fisher’s newest coupling of “I’m Walking Behind You” and “Just Another Polka,” got going this week with a 250,000 advance order, one of the biggest ever for Victor. 20th Annual Radio and Television Showmanagement Awards ' (Pages 33-39)