Variety (April 1953)

+ lost Audience’ Back, Temporarily, Hollywood, April 28. Hollywood’* "lost audience” has been lured back to the fold, at least temporarily, by-* 3-D light in the window, but initial - reactions of patrons to the first major studio offering in three dimensions indi- cates that it will take more than gimmicks to recreate a permanent film-going habit with that segment of the population which has wan- . dered -to other me’dia in recent years. ■ Random checks of patrons at- tending Warners "House of Wax” showings here, in -Texas and in N. Y., underline the Hollywood be- lief that nothing since the advent j>f sound has created so much ex- citement. Both the filmgoers and exhibs, however, are convinced that the return of the "lost audience” will be on a sliort-visit basis only if “the industry is saturated with films which depend more upon startle .effect than on story. Frank Lovejoy, one of the stars of “Wax” and the first top film .name to return from a personal ap- .pearance tour with a 3-D film, emphasized that the hundreds of persons he talked to all expressed the fear that the stereoscopic sys- tems would prompt a Hollywood concentration on gimmicks. ‘‘There’s no question,” Lovejoy reported, "but that 3-D has created (Continued on page 79) DAR Claims Hoss Opera • ‘Ridicules’ West Point; It’s ‘Commie-Tainted’? Washington, April 28. * Daughters of* American Revolu- tion convention last week was told that a special .eye had to he kept on Hollywood because of the cases disclosed of Commie sympa- thies among writers and actors, and that some subversive propa- ganda has been detected in films by state units of the DAR "’motion picture committee: In her report, Mrs. F. Allen Burt, acting chairman of the DAR national motion picture com- mittee,'said: “Since many movie writers and actors have been either suspected of Communist sympathies, or proved to be members of the Communist Party, or of Red front organizations,, it is «all. the more important that we, of the DAR, be ever watchful to note subversive tendencies in motion’pictures. Sev- eral states report finding evidence of propaganda tending to arouse olass hatred, especially hatred for businessmen and capitalists. “On© special instance of anti- American propaganda was reported from Kansas: ‘As to traces of Communism in pictures, I think we are being fed class hatred and dis- respect of our American institu- tions very subtly and cleverly. ’ ‘During the mid-sepie^^r va- (Continued on page 79) Petrillo Bows to Queen On Coronation Vidpix . James C. Petrillo, American Federation of Musicians prexy, has bowed to British royalty and is okaying the distribution of British TV films of the Corona- tion in the U. S. and Canada. Petrillo wired the British Musi- cians Union that he would inter- pose no objections to Coronation films with music. The AFM chief said he was co- operating in' this project out of deference to Queen Elizabeth. Hardie Ratcliffe, head of the Brit- ish musicians s union, had been holding up agreements with the TV pix distribs pending the green- light from Petrillo. TV Helps, Hurts In Gab Circuit’s $6,000,000 Score By FRANK RASKY The gab circuit wound up its fair- to-middlin’ $6,000,000 season this week amid grumbles and smiles, both inspired by TV. Grumbles rumbled from lecture bureaus, squawking that video this year re- duced by at least 10% the national audience of over 70,000,000 persons who annually pay to be subjected to their gabbers’ brainbaths. Smiles wreathed many of these same’ impresarios, happy because TV appearances have enhanced— in some cases, revived or complete- ly built-up—the reputation of their clients traveling the dried-peas- and-leather-chicken circuit. Not since Charles Dickens gar- nered an all-time high of $228,000 in the winter of 1867 for jolly Well baffling American colonials with (Continued on page 78) VICTOR PREPS ALBUM ON QUEEN ELIZABETH . RCA Victor has set the middle of May for release of a docu- mentary album framed ground the major historical eVehts in the life of Queen Elizabeth. Set, which was •produced-in-cooperation-with th& British Gramophone Co, from BBC, broadcast tapes, will be tied in with the June Coronation-ceremo- nies. Set will include the voices of the Queen and her family plus those of Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Adolf Hitler and other public figures from 1926, when the Queen was born, to the present day. D.S. Zone In Germany “Worst’ Booking For Yank Acts; GI Posts Ineptly Run By VANCE HENRY NEW HORIZONS SHOWN INDUSTRY By GEORGE ROSEN Los Angeles, April 28, Gen. David Sarnoff, the RCA board chairman who has reassert- ed himself anew in the broadcast- ing medium which he helped pi- oneer by resuming his NBC board chairmanship role, is the unques- tioned “Hero” of this year’s Na- tional Assn, of Radio-Television Broadcasters convention here. If, on the eve of his official key- note address on “Facing the Fu- ture in Radio and Television Broadcasting” and his designation as recipient of the NARTB’s first annual keynoter award, there is . an air of expectancy among the un- precedented turnout of convention delegates, it’s because the Ameri- can broadcasters are looking to Sarnoff for a “Credo for Tomor- row.” Only^too well do the broadcast- ers recall—and particularly those who decided to play it the other way—how, six years ago, at the now memorable Atlantic City con- vention, it was General Sarnoff who sounded .the “go video” clar- ion call—the same' Sarnoff who, in the face of repeated cautions from station managers content to ride along with sound broadcasting to “soft-pedal” television, minced no words in urging the broadcasters to hop aboard the TV bandwagon. For television’s growth from in- fancy to its present dimension as a major factor in the American economy and society had its in- ception from that day, six years ago, when Sarnoff turned on the (Continued on page 38) Hank Williams Immortal To Gornball Fans Nashville, April 28. Within four months of his death, Hank Williams has already assumed the mantle of an immortal to his hillbilly colleagues and fans.’ The devotion to the late country com- poser and performer is one of the most unusual sagas in show biz annals. His passing was an event that was mourned, by thou- sands of hinterland folk and his sustained grip on the public imagi- nation probably exceeds that of the most noted stars of' the past. Williams, in fact, is enjoying a greater popularity dead than alive. Extraordinary demand • for Wil- liams’ disks, compositions, photos, autographs and other mementos are now at flood tide with no signs of an ebbing. Other country artists joined in this continuing memorial, and contributed to its mass conta- gion, with recorded tributes to (Continued on page 52) ‘Shim’ Shimmy Terper Christined In Mpls. Minneapolis, April 28. Alvin, local burlesque house, en- gaged exotic dancer Robi Del Mar in the belief he was a she. But when Robi refused to striptease, manager Charlie Fox, still unaware of his sex, dismissed shim after the opening matinee. The Saddle theatre-bar here then took Robi on, impressed by femi- nine looks and attire and- believing, too, he was a she. When Robi deemed it advisable, however, to rqveal his sex before opening, he found himself out of a job. Police regulations here prohibit female impersonations. As a he, Robi just has finished a St. Paul Club Capitol engage- ment and opens at the Club 26, Milwaukee; this week. Pocket Books Into Disk Biz With 35c Pops In a radical development in the pop record field-last week, Pocket Books, Inc., set the ball rolling for its entry into the. disk biz with a new low-price label, Bell Records. The disk will be peddled at 35c. Bell’s initial release is ex- pected td be out on the market Aug. 20. Broad trade aspect of the Pocket Books jump into the plattery biz is that the Bell disks Will have a ready-made distribution outlet and probably larger than any of‘ the majors. The disks will be distrib- uted through the same channels as the Pocket Books, hitting book- shops, newsstands, .chains as well as record shops/ Several of the (Continued on page 50) TOBIAS CLAN MAKES UP own tin pan Alley The Tobias family is copping all honors as Tin Pan Alley’s most numerous cleffing clan. With the recent introduction of Charles To- bias’ two sons, Freddie and Jerry, into the tunesmith trade, the fam- ily’s roster of writers now adds up to six. Besides Charles, his two sons and his two brothers, Harry and Henry, there is Mrs. Charles Tobias who, under her maiden name .of Edna Gladstone, wrote a hit, "The Cat’s Whiskers,” back in World War I on the theji-ixisting Benson label. The three Tobias brothers, Charles, Henry and Harry, all have top ASCAP tune credits/ Frankfurt, April 28. In all of my experiences in show .business, which has included work in motion pictures, television, theatres and -night clubs, I have nqyer seen a business so poorly run as that of the entertainment section of Special Services in Europe. It can rightfully be re- ferred to as a. business because they consume more entertainment than any other organization in the world, that employs variety acts. One post alone purchased over $700,000 worth of entertainment last year. Yet, while performing under their auspices, an .artist suf- fers more humiliation, hardships and unbearable conditions than you could ever imagine possible. The greatest majority of these con- ditions are due to poor organiza- tion and the fact that so many in- competent officers, with absolutely no knowledge of show business, are holding the highly important po- sitions of entertainment officers. In the U. S. Zone of Germany there are approximately nine mili- tary posts with their own indivi- dual entertainment office force headed by an officer ranking from Warrant Officer to Major. With only about three exceptions these officers know absolutely nothing about show business much less how to pick entertainment for (Continued on page 24) Last Week’s ‘Slaughter’ Keys TV Webs’Stronger Control of Fightcasts Reaction to last week's light- weight bout in Boston, in whicji champion Jimmy Carter subjected Tommy Collins to an unmerciful slaughter before the screens of millions, of NBC-TV viewers, ac- celerated the growing conviction in the television industry that the networks must exert a controlling influence on their televised bouts. What columnists have described as an "unhealthy” situation in the TV-fights setup has resulted from a number of factors: (1) the box- ing industry itself has been de- scribed as “gangster-infested” and "unethical”; (2), some networks have handed over control of their television packages to the very promoters who have come in for criticism; and (3), calibre of an- nouncers, according to sportswrit- ers, has been low, lending prestige to unqualified fighters and permit- ting the promoters to engage in phony buildups. Bout last week was set up be- tween the International Boxing Club and a Boston promoter. In that specific instance, TV was not a key factor, since the gate was nearly a sellout. But Collins had a local buildup via TV, as have had a number of boxers, and pub- lic and press were unanimous in calling the fight a complete mis- (Continued on page 68)