Variety (January 1954)

By JESSE. GROSS > Process of turning .pop songwriting into a payoff operation in the U. S. S. R. is as different from the proceedings fdllowed in the U. S. as is the Kremlin from the Brill Bldg. Sheet music and recordings, major coin factors in the U. S., are of little value to the Russian tuneamith. Attesting to the variance between the countries is Julie Whitney, Russian wife of AP correspondent Tom Whitney. Mrs. Whitney, who was recently permitted to leave Russia after a nine-year wait for a. visa, had beeir a pop lyricist-composer In that country. In the U. S. only three months, she already has five tunes being considered for publication by Mills Music. Mrs. Whitney collaborated •on the lyrics ■ to the quintet of songs, •. all of which are her own composition’s. According to Mrs. Whitney; a Russian songwriter doesn’t pen a tune and then attempt to get it published, as is the case here. Initial step for the Russian; tunesmith is to sell a performer on the song’s merits. The performer, who belongs to one of the various entertainment organizations such as The All (Soviet) Union Stage Concert Bureau and the Moscow Regional Philharmony, then introes the song to th^ proper authorities iii his org. If the tune is liked it is then submitted to the Repertory Commission, 0: subdivision of The Ministry of Culture, which has to (Continued on page 70) Is Sex Necessary? Maybe there’s not so -much, after all, to the familiar theory that plays without romantic angle, especially those, with all-male casts; lack bpxofflce appeal. "Mister Roberts” was figured an exception, not only because it. had one femme character, but because of its emphasis on sex. “Stalag 17,” however, had no femme characters dnd little reference • to “Caine Mutiny Court Martial,” however, tops ’em all in this regard. Herman Wouk dramatization of ■ . a ■ chapter from his own bestseller, which ppened to unanimous raves and smash attendance last. Week at the Plymouth, N. Y.f not only has an all-male caist but has only three' or four, references to women, all incidental. WW& wMSm ■ I*. fa. ^ ' Ottawa, Jan. 26. Gerald Clark who Is syndicated to 23 Canadian papers is back from Russia with the lowdown on the Bolshevlki’s night clubs. He reports Moscow has half a dozen blrd-and-bottle cafes where romance for two (dancing but no floor show)' figures $30. Girl with a tray meanders about' She’s not the cigaret gal. She’s peddling pink lemonade. Dances are .waltzes and a sovietized foxtrot Music is capitalistic but dated, like “Melancholy "Baby,” “Sunny Side of the street” and "“Rose Marie, I Love You.” The system for drunks on the town is simple and efficient. Tw o militiamen grab the' drunk by the feet, toss him in the back of a .truck. At the sobering-up station,' the customer is elbowed into a steam room, revived, allowed to dry out overnight, and sent on his way home— first paying a few rubles for the service.” HORACE HEIDT, Currently Hotel Statler, New York . . Under Personal Management WALTER PLANT Statler Hotel, New York City, N. Y. Private Vs. Public Service 'No Death Struggle’ Says Nightie, Mink Coat Theft In M’treal Bring Lamour Call to FBI, Monnties Mofitreal, Jan. 26. Dorothy Lamour, who finished a short engagement at the Chez Paree Monday night (25), lost a $7,500 mink coat and a $350 camera early last Thursday morning (21) when thieves broke Into her penthouse apartment at the La Salle Hotel here. First reports that jewelry and Other valuables had been taken proved unfounded. Overlooking more expensive cameras in the suite, the burglars took only the coat, one camera-— and a blue nylon nightie, Local police werffe a little slow getting to the scene of the crime because Miss Lamour chose a rather roundabout way of contacting them. First she called the FBI in Washington, who in turn called the RCMP in Ottawa, who in turn called the Montreal RCMP detach? There will be slim pickings for the Academy Award-winning song of 1953. Unlike previous years, When there were at least six top songs battling for award honors, tradesters view the '53 tune sweepstakes as a tWo-way race between “That’s Amore” and “Secret Love.” Tune list was pruned this year by Academy rules. Top tunes eliminated from the race were “Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo,” ‘Song From Moulin Rouge,’’ “From Here To Eternity” and “Ruby.” Latter two are ineligible because lyrics were added after the film was shown. ?Moulin Rouge” was knocked out because a different set of lyrics from those used in the pic got the song off as a pop hit, and “Lili” was sidelined because the lyrics had been published in a mag prior to its use in the film. “Amore” and “Secret Love” are currently riding high in the wax market. Doris Day is rolling strong i with “Love” on the Columbia label while Dean Martin has the clicko cut of “Amore” on Capitol. “Amore” is from the Martin-Lewis starrer, “The Caddy” (Par), and "Love’’ is from Miss Day’s Warner Bros, pic, “Calamity Jane.” Remick Music, firm in the Warner Btos, pubbery group, is publishing “Love” and Paramount’s own CHI TYPIST NOW ment, who finally turned the mat . . ter over to the city; gendarmes for music firm is publishing 4 Amore.” investigation '' i Ballots for Academy Award . ; nominations were sent out last I week to 13,075 members Who’ll ] make the selections. Polls close .at lirv TAinc nnATrrr 1 midnight Jan. 30 and nominations MELTON S PROTEGE 1 win be announced Feb. 15. Las Vegas, Jan. 26. During his current stint at The Thunderbird here, singer James Melton has been introducing a new singer, and looker, Eleanore Warner. It’s a Cinderella story in that Melton chanced upon the girl singing on an obscure Chicago tadio station. She had been a secretary. Melton goes into the Cocoanut Grove in L. A. on March 3 for two Weeks, An infrequent performer in the cafes, he’s mulling an offer to play Mexico City and some Latin, dates. Minneapolis; Jan. 26. Academicians connected with the U. of Minnesota are showing increasing exasperation at the “demagogery” (as they privately term it) of a near-campus film exhibitor* Sol Fisher, who has been ’giving the college administrators a hard time because of on-campus film showings to which the general public is admitted. Fisher has kept the publicity tomtom going for months and now is trying to sic the appropriations-controlling state legislature on the university. At a hearing of the legislature’s research committee Dr. J. L. Morrill, university president, and State Senator Emmett Duemke exchanged philosophical observations. Said Duemke: “The Issue is whether a huge, nontaxpaying, taxsupported public corporation shall enter a field where free competitive enterprise is doing or can. do the job.” Said Morrill “I am disappointed that the senator feels the university is a giant and sinister octopus Seeking to devour private enterprise.” Morrill liked Duemke’s phrase of “citizen stockholders” because that is What Minnesota residents are in relation to the university, and the board of regents is their board of directors, but declared: ‘ This is an issue of policy, not of law. The legal aspects of universities engaging in selling enterprises have been tested again and again.” . He concluded: “I don’t like the overtone of this being a deaith struggle between private and public enterprise. I am sorry . these* issues have been raised.” Producer Ernest H. Martin, who went to LondQn lust week ahead of his partner, Cy Feuer, to dicker tor the U. S. rightsto the British musical comfedy hit, “The Boy Friend,” ; was met on arrival by his production assistant, Arthur Lewis. From their hotel, they put in* a phone call to the show’s agent, Joan Reese. After giving their names, they said they were interested, In. the musical for Broadway. “Martin and Lewis? Oh no, not those crazy comedians,” the agent protested. “You • Wouldn’t be suitable for the show at all.” And she hung up. Number of British “quota quickies,” formerly in the vaults of the majors, are \ finding their way on to tv. in addition, the companies have relinquished rights to a group of indie pix which their owners Wanted, back for possible tv deals. ' Involved in letting go of the British films are 20th-Fox, Metro and Warner Bros. In most, cases* they were made in Britain to satisfy quota requirements during the immediate postwar years and never even got a release in the U. S. market. It’s estimated that, altogether, some 50 pictures have been made available for tv. In the case of the American productions, indie producers Who have distribution contracts with the majors have begun to needle them to reissue these films or else relinquish rights to them so as to make them available for tv sale. Zanuck Remembers Flood of Hack Politicians and Their W idows Who Ran Old Censorship an Darryl Zanuck has taken emphatic position on necessity for film industry to retain production code. Hitting at “publicity elimination of code,” Zanuck expressed 1/27 Subscription, Order Form Enclosed find check for $ Please send VARIETY for ?wo Yews To (Pleas* Print Name) Street City. . . . Zone. State. . Regular Subscription Rotes One Year— $10.00 Two Years— $18^00 Canada and Foreign— $1 Additional per Year PStSfETY Ine. 154 West 44th Street New York 34. N. Y. By HARRY. ALAN TOWERS London, Jan. 19. Despite the Increasing reports of the growth of television throughout the world as exemplified by those surveys issued by the United Nations and other official bodies, international television has as yet shown little prospect of bringing revenue to the television film producer. In Europe, even the BBC, with its comparatively large financial resources, offers small chance of a market for the American television film; As for the, rest of Europe, neither the content of the average American television property nor the price at which it could be economically imported suggest any immediate market. Even in South America where there has been a. rapid growth of commercial television stations in the past . year, the market is still comparatively small and in many cases the actual cost of dubbing is greater than the revenue in prospect. It is true that some of the larger distributors of television films have, as a goodwill gesture, made available to overseas television organizations some of the best of their product but this has been in the nature of a goodwill gesture and has brought little if any revenue back/ Those television film producers who have originated series in Europe have, in practically every case, either ignored all possibility of foreign revenue, or have, alternatively, sought and frequently obtained such revenue by selling the theatrical exhibition rights outside North America. Yet the very nature of a good television show tends to make its theatrical exhibition value a problem. Generally speaking, the (Continued on page 18) ANDREWS SIS TO GO ON deep concern that film industry would face chaos, if not extinction, should co.de .be dropped or so watered down that ,some producers could give unbridled, rein to their bad taste. Zanuck recalled not-so-happy days prior to code when the industry had to cater to tastes of some 37 state censors. Innumerable local boards hacked away at pix without a pattern to their objections. As an illustra tion, Zanuck said he frequently had to cut a picture three different ways to satisfy censor boards in Glendale, Pasadeqa and Los Angeles. Zanuck said if Will *Hays didn’t do another single thing for the film industry, his getting pix biz to okay code made the salary paid him Worthwhile since code eliminated most of the local censor boards. Zanuck points out that censors in most instances are hack politicians or widows of politicians Who think it necessary to justify sinecures by chopping up films. Prior to the code, expense to industry for lawyers to defend films before various local boards was (Continued on page 71) Hollywood, Jan. 26, Despite Patti Andrews’ abrupt ankling, the Andrews Sisters -will continue as an act. Maxine and Laverne have authorized manager Bill Burton to find an eye-filling chirp with good voice to take Patti’s place. Within a few months they hope to resume niteries, etc!, probably as “Andrews Sisters With* • • •” George Raft May Run Puerto Rico Gambling Hollywood, Jan. 26, George Raft flies to Puerto Rico today (Tues.) to double-6 New Normandy Hotel with eye to investing in or operating casino. Gambling is legal in this 'U. S. commonwealth. Caribe-Hilton has had no real gaming room opposition since its inaugural two years ago. . If and when Raft goes through with deal he will plan to book name floor shows as lure for tourists and opposition to Hilton hosterly. Raft’s deal with Chicago syndicate calls for his nominal <?ash investment for 10% stake in operation. Raft has alternate possibility of buying into Sands at Las Vegas. Vet filmster continues his celluloid activities and has an eye on vidpix. but is looking ahead to his future.. New For Single Advertiser Above Astor and Victoria Times Square Will get another gigantic electric sign which will be twice as big as the Bond sign. New spectacular will rise on top of the building housing the Victoria and Astor Theatres. Spec Will be eight stories high, 330 feet long and comprises 26,000 square ' feet of space. Made of frosted aluminum, sign wiil contain 35 corrugations, each of which will have an intricate lighting system which will afford a variety of effects to the lettering. Sign will be built by Robert W. Dowling, president of the City Investing Corp., which owns these theatres, and Douglas Leigh, who has promoted many of the specs. Cost of the new structure will be around $1,000,000. Space will be leased1 to a single advertiser. While refusing to divulge figures, Leigh stated that costs to the sponsor will range from 19 to 40c per thousand viewers. Leigh has control of 10 of the 16 specs now facing Broadway. He conceded <that it’s somewhat of a precarious business/ An empty sign; hd Said, eats up a tremendous amount of coin. The face of the Astor and Victoria Theatres will have to be changed somewhat. Both theatres will get a connecting marquee with: stores to remain between both houses. Tenants in. the building, however, will have to move — unlessAhey Want to. get along without air and light, as the sign "ill block off any atmospheric intake. Presently, Dowling is building a permanent underground exhibition hall between both houses. He stated that work will be completed | around Easter.