Variety (August 1953)

MISCELLANY Wednesday, August 5, 195$ nt. Hollywood, Aug; 4. A hug and a kiss from Eddie • • London, Aug. 4, .-f-—■ 1 ; ' '' .■ ' ■. . : ■ The British press has : started . : T - J punching away in its own defense l nice iicnocQ at jabs let loose by Dean. Martin ■ Hollywood, Aug. 4, ($t jerry 'Lewis),": who declared that Sequence showing the; sign* '‘British critics s'tink’^ upon his ar- ing of the. truce in Horea, rival in the U. S. several weeks photographed by Gwen Grump, ago/following an engagement at will be included in the Hal-, the Palladium here. ' V Wallis production, “Cease. ; ; Paul IIoHj London Daily Herald Fire.” critic, denied any : anti-Americah : Historical-event will be used ■■'^':|)las’in■ f ' , his^VieWb'.■'■Ill’■•li^s..cQlunih as-the .Climax of the picture, Of July 25 ■ Holt declared, ’.'Walt which, depicts the operations Disney has rarely missed superlu- of a combat company at the lives in praise. When Danny Kaye : front.; { was ignored , by •' Hollywood and found New York'indiherent; Lon- . .. . ‘'on s applause turnod him in]o„ a ; £ |(, SS for fontor was iri trouble, British praise put ; Ffntll TTV fhAnilPC her back on her feet; ; Ask: Bob ; f IUIII J I f vliUI lUCu Hope and Jack Benny, what they PW Pvnlilom think of London’s press applause, fOSCSTay 1^X0016111 arid their eyes grow misty with / Hollywood; Aug: 4. pleasure. It is only when a world A hug and a kiss from Eddie figure does not, live up to expecta- Gantor Ought to be worth some- tions that there is trouble. Mickey .^{ng, the pop-eyed eomediari Rooney was scolded for a bad cipined last weekin a: dead-pan fe-: show- Martin & Lewis put on an quest that aFTRA set a scale for act which was poor in songs and a |f ec tion via the tube, The , pitch weak in Jokes. , was. made iii a letter, penned by “U was the clowns themselves, Samuel Sacks of the William Mor- • arid not the critics dr the audi- ris office/ in which Cantor gal- crice, -who ,were: aware pf an anti- lantly agreed to upgrading the pay American sentiment. When I saw of three gals' who had appeared them; in their dressing, room after I ori the May. 10 teleshOw. . . the boo^v^^du^to The ^xecU- AFTRA said a study of the kine thin Of th(‘ Rosenberes the atom the show revealed that, the gals sDies P th l t (1W ’ I corrected him —Jane Fischer, Nancy Kilgas and a of jabout 45 seconds. This took them speech of tjUMj-ks. 'J®.j out of the ranks of just chorus tiu ned a 1 otful fcW| in tfie aud -1 dancers and put them in the cate- ence . into • •nvti.lc.ohte-nts. Next per-1. - H'lricefs-in a erouri of two ' iormancc, ho took my advice and that they be paid the ^oos stopped. . _■,. ■ ; .. . v , x $ j3 5() over the $i40.50 they had ,:,?Wl conlinued, A^^cntic,. M ielfoady received. AFTRA letter (Continued on page 54) t noted that ‘‘they not only •danced : -'' ' . 1 with ••'Mr/Cantor, they kissed.arid AFTER RECENT SURGERY ; .',v £..“V''i“. j. J. Shubert, who has been in | tomary since he became active in ill health, is. reportedly riiueh inir television that when the girls proved.. Theatre operator, who un- .kissed arid hugged him, Mr; Cantor derwent a prostate operation, re- was paid $20 by each girl;.. Therc- centlv, is also understood to have fore, he is^asking that we have the a slight heart condition. ! young”ladies send him $6.50 each, . He Was well enough to spend.) which will even up the score. Mr. last weekend at; the place he and , Cantor considers this a very big his elder brother, Lee, maintain ; bargain because in. his youth; when at Mamaroneck, N. Yv he was ir^the Zicgfeld Follies each . , vof the girls used to pay him $100. ail ■■ o n . at fi i: per performance for similar serv- Abbott & Costello oock ices.” I n 11 * J* D i Sacks , added that since Cantor til ralladnim KCtlirn never takes issue with a union rul- Hedda’sHotfoot HORACE HEIDT FOR LUCKY STRIKE . Under Personal Management JOHN LEER 111 Fifth Ave., New York N. Y. Daily News did some fancy be tween-editions scissor- ing on Hedda Hopper last Fri- day morning (30). Early (pink) edition carried an item by; the Hollywood synidcated .. columnist to the effect .that fadio is the cheapest adverti& : ing buy today in America; also postscripting an inferential • " swipe at TV as well. ■ As far as the N..-:Y. Daily News is concerned, it Was. two- : way hotfoot* Daily also Owns . the. WPIX video operation. West Seen in Bid for U.S. Pix, the boos stopped.” ; lioJt continued, . ‘‘A critic, Mi (Continued -Ori page -54) j. J. he was ir^ the Zicgfeld Follies each of the girls, used to pay him $100. per performance for similar, serv- ices. M London, Aug. 4. Sacks , added that since Cantor never takes issue with a union rul- ing, “lie is perfectly agreeable to pay the sum requested for this .... , , n .• .. . .. - i. 11. 1 II.HJ t>liU *5 . A V M-UVUWVU JLVI, I 14*0 . Abbott & Costello kept the I al- kissing arid hugging performance— latlvunv audience in guffaws at a nd that he will Waive his usual their iirst show yesterday (Mon.). £ ce ... i. Humor, culled mainly from their .. . .. . . films, kept the audience rolling' However, the letter added, one . Respectability has bitten off an- other vast chunk of New York's West 52d St. The ever-spreading Rockefeller Center will absorb the. bitildirigs no\v Containing five nit- eries on the south side of the street. They are Three Deuces, '.Samoa-, Nocturne, Famous Door and Del Rio.' Altogether, 30. build- ings h live been bought by Knicker- bocker Development, Ihe., a realty investment group headed by Leonard J, Beck. . Replacing the clubs will be a 35*Rtory office, biiilding wltlr shops and.restaurants. The-.barkers pull- ing in; the unsuspecting with “show now going on” and: getting them to invest a $3.50 minimum, will be replaced by . doormen. SWarik instead of squalor will be the keynote in the new develop- ment. ; : This is the Second invasion of the top monied interests oh this street of strips <and' swing. The Standard Oil Bldg, arid Crowell- Coliier previously eliminated a stretch of. the night club belt. For example, the first night club ori the street from the Fifth Ave. side starts, at, 38 West 52d Street Not too inany years ago. the Club 18 (at 18 W. 52d ) used to be one of the top spots on that part of (Continued on page 54) * for 50.minutes; Liziet & Etidie. u point needs to be cleared up. Con- teiim of Seandiiiavinn nefobatfc st'OUentty, Ab TRA was asked to set dancers, were used for breathers* a scale in case .he has * scene between A&C skits. The comedy be kisses and hugs the duo ha.d to beg off. This is the gn'is* team’s first appearance at this ; ^ ’’"'Tim snwry M^es, making tlieir ; FillIl Workers PaV Up seventh appearance here in five Hollywood, Aug; 4. years, were ,splendidly received. ...... v , - . Business at this house is excellent ^ G hhp.^d hP Film (The Ingenue)- fiy\ t Mill appt ai tl.iK'eV f Iv. X tr III- ii>v ; HOllyWOOd, Allg; 4. years, were ,splendidly received. ...... . , - - , . Business at this house is excellent U P and a big advance is in despite siibstaiUially .in June, California llio cuvront. hontwnvo horo Statistics Bullctiil reported* Others on the bill are; Billy .Rus^ ; /A^age ; weekly earnings ^ of sell, eharactcr comedian; Hal), , ^compared to $107 for May, Norman & Ladd, musical act; Alan j $113.68 for Jurie, 1952. Clive, impressionist; Waz/.an.’l Workers averaged 42.4 hours at Troupe .A byssiniari tu rri ble rs and -$2.79, Average working time in Eklirio &. Partner, slack wire jug- May was ’39.1 hours, last June 41.6 glers; . 1 hours, ■ •" J " Subscription Ordcr Forni ..; ■ ; ■ • •• . • * t - * . • Enclosed find check for $ Please send V ARIETV lor years To <PIease Prlnt Nam*) Street , . ; ; , s , . , , . . , t . . ; 4 v , ; ; ; / t # City, . . ; . * ., *. ,, . . , . . . , . Zone. .. . State. , . *.. Regular Subscription Rotes One Year—$10.00 Two Yoars—$18.00 Canada and Foreign—$1 Additional par Year 154 West 46th Street Ind. Now York 86, N. Y, lip until She is about 23 The ingenue is dedicated To her art. After that, she’s dedicated To.the art of Remaining an ingenue. She starts out by vowing She’ll never marry an actor; But she always does, With, of course, the idea. . That they will become The new Lunts. This lasts about two seasons And then she begins To look around for ': • ■ • A.little seeurityf Such as. a playwright, . , ; , A .producer,... Or,...best of all,.'.. ■ A .-rich agent. Railing in this. She finally: settles for any guy. Who’s got .a steady job • And says he Loves the Theatre. This also lasts - another two years Until lie gets fired of Oiling her TV cotiimercials And, picking her up I After performances.. Then she either goes home ■ To White Bait, Montana, Or ge;t$ lucky And becomes a real actress.- Which means sjie’s able to make, Her own living on television And now and then get a part In a Broadway flop. Now she’s more dedicated than ever,; -■ And pretty soon, "Before _ "slre'T{nows — it, • . .'T' She becomes A character actress.. Toin WcathcrJy. ;. Changing Russian attitude to- wards the West was expressed in two film developments last week when it became known that: the 'Soviets (1) want to reacquire the rights to rifne Hollywood pix which they released in the *30s and early ’40s, and (2) will participate in the Venice Film Festival: which gets underway Aug. 20* \ •RedS’ bid for the American films is being handled through Nicholas Napoli, prexy of Artkiho Pictures, whichi reps Sovexpprtfilrin in this country. He said; the. titles included twb Chaplin pix, “Modern Times” and . “Ci]ty Lights;” “In Old Chi- cago,” “100 Men arid a Girl,” ‘‘His Butler ? S Sister,” “The Hurricane “Sun Valley Serenadei” “The Great Waltz” arid “Charley’s Aunt.”- The Russians want the films for a five-year period. .. Distrib execs' commented in N. Y. that they saw no reason why Moscow shouldn’t get the; pix, pro- vided there could be an agreement on terrris. Some of the companies are handling the matter: them- selves, while others are referring it to the Motion Picture Export Assn, which, on paper at least, still reps the distribs iri the Soviet Union.. Arthur W. Kelly, Chaplin rep, said.that the two Chaplin com- edies would “certainly; be avail- able” if the Russians are willing to pay enough for them. Russian rights to these and the other films expired some time ago. There was some amused com- ment on tlie formal Soviet ap- proach since, in the past, the Reds haven’t shown .any such considera- tion. . Last year, pix like “Meet, John Doe,” “Mr. Deeds Goes to Towri,” “Mr. Smith Goes to Wash- ington,” “Viva Villa” and others blossomed out in Moscow theatres. Replying to American industry complaints that they had' no right to show these pix, the Soviets told the U. S. State Dept, that the films were “war booty.” A number of these pix had their endings changed to conform, with the Coiri- mie line. Last official approach on selling Holljkvood product to the Russians \vas made in 1948 by MPEA prexy Eric Johnston and involved 20 films. Reds saw over 100 pix but couldn’t agree on more than nine, and so ■ the matter was dropped. -JohnstQn said recently that, there hasn’t been an official, nibble from, Mosfcpw; since... Venice, participation iriarks the first, time that flie. Russiaris ..have entered pix.; in that event , since 1947. They’ll be flanked by . two satellites, Poland and .Czechoslo- vakia; Americans are sending four pix. ■- Paris, Aug. 4. Fall;fashion collections with th!^ ; year’s revolutionary return to tne short skirt; which may result in all the gals in the; world being dres^ cl like Clara Bow and Mae ; 'Murr,iy before Xmas» have brought ino/e boatloads of American buyers uj . Paris than have been seen sincc -il.e lush, short-skirted ’20s. . Expense-account spending is. ;i ing pop local niteries a povveri nl boost during. what is usually iuc off-season summer stretch; Lido, * Nouvelle Eve, Bal Tabarin, Eve and Moulin Rouge ^-where organist Ethel .Smith is current headlinc-r-- are jairimed nightly including Mon- days, \vhich; are often, off at other ■ times. Smaller boites and many charisorinierSj having suffered poor biz earlier in the sumrner, have • closed down until September, per- mitting bigtime cabarets to grab all the trade. Legit and pix houses have not profited by the influx of buyer doj- . lars and report sluggish biz, One reason may be that collection open- ings conflict with theatre a rid pic- ture palace tiinetables, in addition to eonflicting with one another, Jacques Fath arid Patou openings occurred;sariie. night (27) With Dior; Balmain and Jacques Heim exhibits all on following night (28), and with Desses, Schiaparelli and Balenciaga. displaying their wares , •next night (29). Lanvin had i\o : rivals (30), nor did Givenchy !3Th ; . ., Folies Lorie Sellout / .Folies-Bergere show, “Reril Mad- ness,” is bnly nightly legit sellout, with Casino de Pans (“Urie Revue du Tonnerre”'—r-’Thunder Revue”) and Magador (“Belle of New York”) doing strong but not capac- ity biz.. Chatelet has, relit with corrieback of Francis Lopez oper- etta, -iSinger of Mexico,”. and. two intimate summer revues, “Ah, What . Wondci’ful Revels” at Daunou and “Paris Galant, ^53” at Capucuu\v are doing brisk ticket-selling. There are. 34 legit houses shut- tered until September, and only such longrun straight hits as “Cui- sine , des ; Ange$” (“My Favorite Angels’’) at Varieties, “When the Child Appears’’ at the Nouveautes, “I’m Here and I’m Staying” at Ariibigu, “Dialog of the Carnielites” at Hebertot, “Virgin from Auteiiil”’ at Palais-Royal, double-bill revival of “No Exit” and “Respectful Pros- titute” at Caumartin, plus a hapd-. . ful of offbeat, arty siriall-seaters, are braving the August hot weather exodus of Parisians. Top American pix and- most French ones are being held * with “Hans Christian Andersen” open- ing the late summer film season at Colisee Aug; 15. Present pix crop is made up of second-raters, with best biz being done by Spanish . comedy, “Welcome, Mr. Marshall.” Ferriahdel big-grosser, “Return of. Don Camillb,” exited from Colisec Aug. 1 after record : breaking three- month run, making way for “Call of Destiny,” Jean Marais starrer, which holds house until •'“Anclrr- sen” goes in. Vegas as Sub for Raft Hollywood, Aug, 4. The Flamingo, Las Vegas, hastily booked a return .date of Marge .& Gower Champioh, opening Aug; 27; to fill, gap occasioried when George : Raft cancelled out of a scheduled return to niteries with a Sammy Lewis package: . The Champions, played there three mont hs ago. L enn y Ke n t and the "BM r ry^Tstei's will sup'prirt/irT"the Aug. 27 date. Raft is suffering frorii a nervous allergy. ' ’N’ ANDY (NEGRO Hollywood, Aug- 4; '' Freeriiari Gosderi arid ^Charl Cif" Correll are putting toget h er a tab Version of their “Amps..’ri’ :.Andy'? for niteries and theatres. ,Long- time partners; hope to get ; in .: ori l the lush- Las Vegas coin and even-. tually. hope ,fo • put their sketch..into, the Palace, N. Y^ JwOra-day.,; ■. . Alvin .Childress^ Tim. Moore > and Spencer Williams will play Amps; Andy and;The kingfish, respective- ly; They have previously assumed - these roles in telefilms; Inasmuch, as CBS owns all rights to the pack-' age; it’s believed some :arrange-, riierit has been made, with the net- work. All-Negro show is slated to go into production some time after Labor Day. Joe Moskowjtz on Coast Hollywood, Aug. 4. 20tli’s Joseph H. Moskowitl : cheeked in at the studio for an TexterrsiA*e = stay7=planning=stoi-y^hudi= r dles: . ] He was last here three months I ago. , • ■/