Variety (February 1954)

Wednesday, Febrpgiy IQ, 1954 WEEK OF FEBRUARY 10, 1954 Nvmiriti In connection wlfh bill* below Indicate opening dayol show whothor full or- opllt week '■ ' Letter in parenthem Indicates circuit. (I) Independent; (L) Loow; <M> Moss; (P) Paramount; (R> RKO; <f) Stoll; (T) Tivoli; .(W) Warnar • ; NEW V>RK CITY Music Hall (!) .11 Marilyn Murphy 4 St?p -Bros Eric Hutson Janet Gaylord Victor Moreno Anthony Makes Rockettes Corps de Ballet 8ym Ore Palace (R) IS Canton Bros. Martin & Florenz Chocolateers Satlslflers A1 Gordon . FAS Barry Benny Meroff Marcellt & Janls . CHICAGO, . Chicago <P) ( 1S Gilbert it Russell . Bobby Jttle Larry Best L Armstrong All S MIAMI Olympia (P) 10 Novellos Baron Buika Joey Forman . Wanda It Amand Gene Nelson AUSTRALIA AUCKLAND St. James (T) 8 Walton St O’Rourke Charly Wood Co . Lowe & Ladd Cook & Jeans Daresco 3 Guy-Nelson Chevalier Bros B Vaughan Renita Kramer Bouna Bert Duke Sc Joy Sonya Corbeau Dorothy. Hall Show Girls Nudes Dancing Boys Ballet MELBOURNE Tivoli (T) 8 Guus Brox O'Hagan St Stead John Blythe Balcombes Gloria Dawn Merenos Muracs Max Blake. Seyler Heylen Betty Meddings Frank Cleary John Bluthal Male Ballet Ballet Girls BRITAIN BLACKPOOL Palace (I) • Tommy Fields VogelbelnS Bears Arthur Worsley . George A Lydia Dave King Evy Sc Everto Barbour Bros St J Wallace & Bingham Margaret A Maurice BRIGHTON ■ Hippodrome (M) I Laurel St Hardy Harry Worth . D Rosalre Sc. T 3 Jills * • Alan Rowe _ Ursula Sc Gus - Roy St Ray B Kayes. Pek.es . Paul Arland BRIXTON Empress (I) • jimmy Young Michael Bentlne Benny Hill Joan Hinde E aker & Douglas es Spanglers Marettas Merle St Marie CHELSEA Palace <0 S Max Miller Roy Stevens E -A Collins Terry Scott Lois Bard Co Alton Puppets S Warehan it B arbara - Statson CHISWICK Empire (S) B Kamon Andrews Monty Norman : Mavis Whyte Victor Seaforth Musical Elliotts 3 Mazurs K Sc P Lewlngton. J - St S Lamonte CAST HAM Granada (I); I Kenton & Keen Swan Sc Leigh Stan Jay St Joan Speedacs . Metropolitan Cl) I Eddie’ Gray . Arthur Englash Clarkson St Leslie Lynn St , Mergot Maggie Fltxgibbon David Hurst ~ Peppinos Circus Seaton O'Dell EDINBURGH Empire ;(Mi • Peter Brough Ronald Chesney Ossie Noble- Peter Madden Les Raynor A B D Dandles Sc E Edward Victor Michael Mitchell Jimmy Gilmore FINSBURY PARK Empire '(M> ■ Roy Belles Frankie Vaughn Keefe Br # Sc A Dawn Whn.e Co W . St Cooper Ganjou Bros St J Joe Church .. David Hurst Fayne Sc Evans GLASGOW Empire (M) • Lee Lawrence Hylda Baker . C Willoughby Co . Montons Terry Hall . Rey Overbury Sc S Shipway Twins GRIMSBY Palace Cl) • Eric Williams Mary Harkness Jack Sherwln Harry Allen Mavis Groom 3. Lees Ken Baker Les Watson Jean Peters E Sc G Noack Skating Maids HACKNEY Empire (Ml • Leo Fuld. Joan Turner Johnny Lockwood Tanner Sis Pharos & Marina Nelson Bros J Jeff & June 3 Sterlings NORWICH Hippodrome (I) I Ronnie Ronaldo O'Nell Sc Haig Nat Hope Tony Sc Ruby Rexanos Les. Traversos 2 Lions NOTTINGHAM Empire (M) I. Hutch Philip Harben Suzette Tarrl Mongadors Peter Raynor 3 Hellos Ronnie Collls Bill Giles L Trots Poupee PORTSMOUTH Royal (M) B El Granadas St P Jimmy James Rita Martell Donald Peers Donald B Stuart Rayes Osborne St S B St B Adams SCUNTHORPE Savoy (I) • Eve Boswell Kirby & Hayes D St J De-Mott P St J Yullle Billy O’Sullivan Skating Vogues Julie - A Marie Sheba SOUTHAMPTON Grand (I) B Prince Zahoor Joe Stein Noon Bros Josie Jack Grieve Marsh A Lorraine Billy Gay M Rouge Girls SUNDERLAND Empire (M) 8 NAN Grant Nitwits Jeffrey Lenner Diana Decker 3 Robertls Kirk Stevens Woods A Jarrett 1 Austral Cabaret Bills NEW YORK CITY Blue Angfl ■ Anita Ellis ■ ■ ’ Josephine Preinlce Andy Griffith Jorie Remes Bart Howard Jimmy Lyons Trio Boh Soir Jimmie Daniels Madmoiselles ' Oliver Wakefield Kaye Ballard Three Flames Dolores Brown .Cafe Society Coofers 4 Tunes Jimmy Lewis Anthony Roberts Celebrity Club- Emil Cohen .Marty Gumty Ed Schaefer Stuart Harris Alfred A Lenore Roger Steel Ore - Chateau Madrid . Alfredo Sadel Tanya Reyes Pupl Caihpa Oro Lubov Hamsbay- -Mlsba Uzdanoff Senlq Karavaeff Misha Markoff . Hotel New Yorker Arnold Shoda Joan Walden Dru It Dijon Ernie Rudy Oro A Rolllni Trio Hotel Plorro Denise Darcel Mata A Kara Stanley Melba Oro Chico RelU Ore Hotel Plaxa Mindy Carson Ted Straeter Ore Monte Ore ' Hotel Roosevelt Guy Lombardo Ore Hotel St. Regis Russell Nype Milt Shaw Opr Horace Dlar Ore 1 "Motel Sherry* . ... Netherland Alexander Bros Lester Lanin Ore Jan Brunesco Ore Hotel Statler Horace Heldt Hotel Taft Vlneent Lopez Orr - Latin Quarter Doodles A Skeeter L A M Murray Mon Toy Darvas A Julia Lee Sharon Rob Murray 7 Ashtqjis Ruby Richards Art Wane; Ore B Harlowe ore Le Ruban Bleu Julius Monk Jonathan. Winters Isabelle Robins Artie Johnson Jackson Slsterfe N Parris Trio ' Versailles'- 'Nice To -See You' Fay DeWitt Don Llberto Al Norman Leu - Nelson Dorothy Keller Patti Ross Linda Lombard Margy Duncan Paula Stewart Carol Ohinart Salvatore Gioe Otr Panchito Ore Village BBrn Rachel Ellen Jack Malone Carcll A Carlyle* Larry MaoMahon Joe Furst Hal Graham Ore Village . Vanguard Enid Mosler Will Holt Trude Adame C Williams Trio Waldorf-Astoria Connie Russell Hamilton Trio . N Brandwynne Ore Mischa Burr Oro CHICAGO Bluo Angot Tahy Roman. Neville Black Val Navaro Grace Nichols Bob WeDyck ..Trio . Black Orchid. Josh White Lurlene Hunter -Ann Russell Ken Sweet . Trio Chez Pares Helen Traubel Buddy Hackett Du Pree Trio Brian. Farnon Ore Chamaco Band Conrad Hilton Hot'l Margie Lee PaDAlf Lippe A Balisch Bobby May Bob Bromley Bill Griffin N A J Waldo Boiilevar-Dears (7) Boulevar-Dona (6) F Masters Ore Crossroads Buddy De Vito .. Dorothy Langdon Gloria Brooks Bdgawator Beach Rosalind Courtright Johnny O'Brien Dancing Belmonts Bob Kirk Ore -Encore Arthur Walsh Leo DeLyoii Sheila Arnold Palmer House Romo. Vincent Robert Maxwell" Federico Rey Pilar. Gomez Empire Eight Emil Coleman Ore ICS ANGELES Ambassador Hotel Gordon MacRae A, Allyn A Hodges Benny Strong Ore Band Box. Billy Gray. Moore A Lessy - Larry Green Trio Bar of Music Arthur Blake Jayne Manners E Bradford Ore Blltmore- Hotol Tyrrell A Winslow Ladd Lyon Artie James Hal Derwin Ore Clro's Nat “King" Cole Dick Stabile Ord Bobby Ramos Ore Charley: Fov's Weir Bros Manon Smith A Browne Ore Mocambo Amalia Paul Hebert Ore - Moulin Rbbgo B Minevitcli H R De Castro Sis (3) Dominique Chlqulta. A Johnson Louise Hoff Barbettes. (5) Gina Genardi Tom Canyon Fluff Charlton Bob Snyder Ore D Arden Dancers Statler Hotol Continentals (5) . Clifford Guest Ralph A Lorraine Frankie Carle Oro : Ron Perry Ore.. MIAMI-MIAMI BEACH .Freddie Alonso iarlta Herrera Copacabana Tony Bennett Myron Cohen CerneyS Lorraine A Brunner Sandy Evans M Durso Oro Frank. Marti Ore Hotel Ambassador Jules Lande Ore La Vie Eh Rose Vic Damons Lenny Kent Rose Marie Van Smith Ore No. 1 Fifth Avo Jimmy Komack Charmonizers Bob Downey Harold Fonvilla Hazel Webster Old Roumanian Sadie Banks Billy Vine, Joe La Porte Ore P’Aquila Ore l Two Guitars i Vladimir Rozhen Atlantis Hotel Henry Tobias Sid Lewis Ore Pepe A Susie Algiers Hotel Buddy Walker Mai Malkin Ore Tony A Renea Bar of Music Bill Jordan Guy Rennie Harvey Bell Beth Challis Gina Valenta Ethel Davis Fred Thompson Blrdtand C Hawkins Ore Art Tatem Shoremede Preacher Rollo 9 Ray Mambo Ore Lynlta Beachcomber Frank Sinatra Dick Shawn . The Dunhills Harry Richman The Romaines Len Dawson Ore Casablanca Betty A Jane Kean June Taylor Girls Dave Tyler Ore Celebrity Club Alan Gale Freddie Stewart Larry Foster The Williams (2) Teddy King Ore Clro's Frances Faye The Red Caps The Treniers Clover Club Lena Horne Paul Gray Betty Luster Tony Lopez Ore Sohna Marlowe Line Woody Wbodbury Di Lido Hotel Ritz Bros Zlg A Vivian Baker Freddie Calo Ore Empress Hotel Hnl Edwards Orq M Darby DanceiB L'Alglon Chuy Reyes Ore L’Aiglon Strings •BflEs Tallulah Bankhead ■I Rancho Vaga* Harry James Ore Marilyn Canter Sahara Kathryn Grayson Jack Carter Sujata A Aaoka Cee Davidson Ore Sliver Slipper •- Maxie Rosenbloom Hank Henry Sparky Kayo*. Nicholas Trio BUI WUlard Jimmie Cavanaugh Virginia Dew ' BiR Willard Joan White G Redman's Ore Thunderbird Diosa Costello . Slate Bros Al Jahns Ore RENO Charlie Farrell Latin Quarter Jane Morgan Bernard Bros The Szonys . Veronica Bell Ruth Costello Ralph .Young Plroska Ernie Amato Cortez Ore Campo Ore Antone A Ina Sid Stanley Ore Allan Drake Lord Tarloten Jack Stuart Ore - Jeannie Moore Loon A Eddie's Myra PaVis Chuck Fontaine Acres. O'ReUly Jackie Gordon Billy Austin Nancy. Kent Charlotte Waters Bill- Gray Ralph Gilbert Nautilus Hotol Jean Carroll Antone A Ina Sid Stanley Ore Allan Drake ' Patio H Stern Strings Sans Souci Note; Carl Brisson Eddie Snyder Sacaras. Ore Ann . Herman Dcrs LaRue's Carmen Cavallaro Louis Adler Ore Ronov Plaza Milt Herth Trio George Hines Ore Saxony Hotel Los Chavales Trini Reyes Val Olraan Ore Helene Tony De. La Cru* Vagabonds Vagabonds (4) Maria Neglia Condos A Brandow Mary Ann Bentley Frank Linale Ore LAS VEGAS, NEVADA Mopes Skyroom B A R Goman's Naughty 90's Rev Mapes Skylettes E Fitzpatrick’s Ore Mow. Golden- Four Lads Joy Jayson Tony. Wing £ Young Ore Riverside MUls Bros . -Tanlk A Avnaut. Riverside Starlets DU1 Clifford Ore HAVANA MoRtmartro M dr Paris Orq Michelle Due Pedro Vargas Bergaza A- Terraza Rosendo Rosell Monsjgneur Orq E Antunez Orq-_ C de la Playa Orq Sons Souci Olga Chaviano Walter Nicks JuUet A Sandor Ray CarSon TondeMyo Dominicks . Helejna A Hector Cacnia ' . , . Fernando Valencia R Ortega Orq C Rodriguez Orq . Troplcana • S de Espana Orq . Celia Cruz _ , . Rene A C Delaine Mano Lopez .- Marta A Alexander PauUna Alvarez^ Kiko Gonsalves A Romeu Orq a S enen Suarez Orq Overseas Distribs Continued from page 5 55 Trinidad and Ecuador. Metro, in turn, has the 20th slate m Austria. It's thought likely that, with a*}.?* the 20th pix in Cinemascope, this deal may undergo some Changes since the split in the past has been based on accumulated b.o. experi- ences in a given area and Cinema- Scope appears to have outdated these figures. In South Africa, 20th handles the RK0- and Republic pix in addition to its own. it’s expected that, as 20th uses* up its backlog of 2-D pix abroad, the-company may go in even more for taking on the releases of other distribs, particularly, in areas where it has exclusive call on the playing time of a theatre, and inay not be in a position to fill it com- pletely. Furthermore, there are the many subsequent^ abroad that won’t be equipped for Cinema- Scope for a good while: If 20th wants to keep these accounts with- out going off the Cinemascope standard, it will need additional product. 5,000 Foreign C’Scopers? — According to Silverstone, 20th expects to have 5,000 foreign houses equipped for CinemaScope by the end of this year. That still leaves about twice as many to be serviced. 20th’s foreign releases are anywhere between six months , and a year, behind the domestic sked. An Allied Artists spokesman this week said his company wasn’t con- cerned over possible kicks from in- die producers in deals where A A pix are handled by another com- pany. “We promise them the best possible b.o. performance,” he said, “and they just have to trust in us.” One of the objections to re- ciprocal releasing in the past has been that it might not give a fair shake to the indies releasing through a major outfit. This has been a particular concern to RKO. Latter, however, now is also* said to be scouting possibilities for re- leasing deals as an economy meas- ure. Chi Show Biz Continued from page 1 Ring & Piston Continued from page 2 Desert Inn Jackie Miles Les Charlivels Betty Reilly El Corlez Wild B Davis Trio Royal Guards E Skrivanek Ore. Flaming# Freddy- Martin Ore Last Frontier Marilyn Maxwell K Stone Quartette Three Holies Gariyood Van Ore Golden Nugget La-Marr A-Poppy Jimmy Vey Johnnie Turner Joe Venuti Ord had, because it is one of the best designed cars in the world. Real Plush *Jobs Rolls Royce and Bentley lent their elegance to the show with the Continental Bentley stealing the prize as best looking in the booth—at $17,320 it should be. A new 8-V Fiat Two Litre was a good example of the Italian school of design. There fire iiot many of these over here and they have yet to be proved in competi- tion, but should do very well in their class once they get started. American and Europeans alike haye their experimental cars and these were in evidence. The Alfa- ROmeo B.A.T. with Berton body was, as outlandish as any seen; the Kaiser-Darrin and Hudson -Italia are in better taste and may even be slated for production, The Hudson is the best bet of any of these jobs, and' may even prove suitable for competition wjth some modification. First day attendance of 20,000 was good and should improve as the word gets around. tre of the country. It is partly be- cause of the decline of the legiti- mate theatfe and night clubs here that entertkinment-hungry business gatherings have been forced to seek acts from, club agents. HoWever, in the process’ of be- coming experts: at this type, ot booking, a number of Chicago showmen have been able to attract lucrative contracts in other cities. Significantly, of four recent con- ventions in Atlantic City, three were “bpoked” from Chicago by, respectively, Marvin. Himmel, Mar- cus Glaser and Leo Salkin. Only one Atlantic City convention sec- ured its talent from nearby Man- hattan. ' ' ' / Shew budgets vary from $500 to $10,000 normally, though a talent nut of $25,000 occasions no sur- prise. The sales directors of; big American corporations don’t stint when they want to make an impres- sion. A good year for most' indus- tries is cause for celebration at the convention while a. bad year creates. a psychological need for intense sales meetings and bally- hoo banquets. In either mood, pro- fessional talent is summoned forth to enterfain. Fact that this has been found to pay off consistently is the chief reason for the phe- nomanal growth of the club date field in the past decade. All Kinds of Talent Conventions use every idnd of act, from singers and comics -to :>trippers, aerialists, trampolines, clowns and every sort 4 of circus act. Few shows actually require name'attractions, and a good club date act will be working as reg- ularly as it had in the early days when there were plenty of vaude- ville outlets. As a result, much tal- ent locates here to work the mid- west clubdate circuit : exclusively. From the. acts’ standpoint, club dates can afford as much security as the nitery circuit and . better working conditions to boot. Club date talent is less itinerant than the straight cafe turns. Its audi- ences are invariably easier - to please. An increasing volume of dates are for luncheon shows. . Some acts in the height of the con- vention season manage as many as three or four shows per .day. Case in point is Johnny Coons, a local ty favorite of kids, who worked five jobs for the towheads on Dec. 20 . Also, performers working three days at a convention frequently earn as much as they would in a full week in a regulation night club. Chicago bookings spread into De- troit, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, St. Louis and some of the smaller in- iervening towns, which has the ad- ditional effect of keeping transpor- tation costs down. Picnics As a Business Minimum pay per act is about $75 per one-time-shot and ranges upwards to the thousands. Off- season, in the summertime, talent picks up more than random coin playing company picnics and in- dustrial fairs, with the lower bracket performers chiefly working the smaller outings. Al Slavin, a local booker who handles the Olivia Country Club, so far this year has booked 43 pidnic dates for the upcoming summer—and the pay isn’t just peanuts either. On the music end, too, club dates have become a specialized field with several units, like that of the late Lou Diamond, never leaving the city limits. Lou Breese, who has multiple units bearing his name, has become the Meyer Davis of the midwest. Currently, he’s prepping a 10-man vocal group backed by a 17-piece orch as an ex- clusive Club date package. Ensem- ble as yet hasn’t been fully formed but already has a goodly number of bookings. - Bookers here are all members of the convention bureau which sends out advance lists periodically of upcoming conclaves. New ones are immediately bid for. by club date agents and special depart- ments of the larger agencies, but in the main the agents rely ujton their steady cpnv.ention and indus- trial accounts which they’ve built up through the years. Independ- ents are able to compete against the major offices because they have more cheap acts to offer to low budgets than do the large bureaus. The entertainment budget, or nut for the show, in most 'cases is turned oyer to agents like Art Goldsmith, Doris Hurtig, Jim Rob- erts, Mannie -Gotthelf, and Sid Tage who put. the shows together teaming their own jtalent with that secured from bookers like Harry Greben, Danny Qraham, Larry Lux Marcus Glaser, Al Botde and any number of others who locate them- selves in Chi. Larger offices like MCA, GAC, Morris, Associated Booking Corp., and McConkey Art- ists Corp offer package deals to .their club date, accounts, but there’s little Interchanging with the indies owing tb the- fact that most of the smaller, agents are pegged unfair by' the American Guild of Variety Artists. This latter situation arose about a year ago when some 60 or 70 local agents ankled AGVA in a body to form - the Entertainment Managers Association in refusal to pay a welfare fee of $1 par per . former per club date, after Artists Representative Association, their parent organization in New York, agreed to pay it. Theoretically, all performers working for . th^se agents are. unfair to AGVA, too, but the union so far has done nothing to alter the situation. Big agencies, unwilling to risk drawing AGVA’s retaliation, virtually re- frain from-submitting their talent to the club date agents. Still, some performers, presuma- bly without their booking agency’s knowing, offer themselves inde- pendently 1 to certain local talent reps for the club date placement. Mo§t of Chi’s present bookers were operative in the prosperous years before the small niteries and presentation houses began shutter- ing in a. wave. At the time most of them had exclusive booking-ar- rangements with small clubs on the outskirts, trading, talent amongst themselves and splitting , commis- sions at a time when acts were still cheap and abundant. Paul Marr was booking the Vine Gar- dens,. the Pastime in Des Moines, and the Lake Club in Springfield, which he -still has. Larry Lux and Bert Peck had the Cuban Village, Tweet Hogan the Isbells-Helsings chain, and Charles Hogan the Oriental Theatre. Oriental meant a good deal more to local Chicago agents than did the Chicago Theatre because the latter was being booked, and still is, in New York. Additionally, the Stratford and Englewood Theatres were running weekend shows, and bookers were reaching into clubs in such towns as Terre Haute, Dan- ville, Cairo, Wichita, and East St. Louis. . Chicago itself had, in addition to present niteries and supper clubs, the Rag Doll, 5100 Club, Rio Caba- na, Latin Quarter, Silver Frolics on the West Side, Bismarck, Black- stone and Sherman Hotels, arid any number of smaller clubs in the lesser neighborhoods. When all these began to go by the boards, circe 1950, night club booking be- came too competitive for the indie agents, and most of them ceritred on club dates which coincidentally began to flourish at .the time. Now the one-time-shots have become their mainstay. A rather unique operation in town is that of Harry Greben, who calls himself a “talent broker” for club dates and claims to be the first booker in town to swing ex- clusively to securing talent for the one-nighters. This .he did nine years ago when the niteries were going kaput. Greben handles about 35 acts, keeping some 25 in action steadily. With doubling and trip- ling, he set 40 club dates over a single weekend during the Christ- irias season, yet out-of-town biz comprises the bulk of his opera- tion,. “If I had to live on dates in Chicago alone,” he says, “I'd have been out of business long ago,” Revised Coife ss Continued from page I s be in line for a Code ■ okay. How- ever, a rewrite job on the Code, which has yet to be announced and consequently is not official, changes matters. The revisions include a firm nix on arty film dealing with a notorious criminal of current or recent times. Announcement of the Code changes' expectedly will be made before AA’s film is produced. Question now is whether there Will be Code acceptance in view:of the fact that the film company revealed its intentions uf making a pic on Gordon before the Code rewrite takes oit “official*’status.