Variety (October 1954)

Wednesday, October 6, 1954, 75 . BEV. AMBROSE R, HYLANp Rev. Ambrose R. Hyland, 52, ratholic chaplain at Clinton, N.Y., Prison, and* a fa»iliar figure to fhowfolk, burned to death Oct 3. vhen his parked car burst into flanies near Schroon Lake, N. Y. miring his 16 years at the prison, he Avas instrumental in bringing about erection of a church within the institution by means of funds largely contributed by radio and tv audiences. Father Hyland also authored . book on life, within Clinton Prison, which is more popularly known as Dannemora. Screen rights to the. work were purchased bv Metro some years ago, but the film was never produced. Several adaptations are believed to have been made. JOSEF TURNAU Josef TurnaU, 65, director of the opera workshop in the School of General Studies of Hunter College for the last eight years, died Oct. 1 i New York. Born in Prague, he worked with Richard Straw ; codirector Of the Vienna State Opera Co. and later was general manager of the .Breslau Opera House and the opera house in Fiankfurt-auf-Main. Turnau, with Leon Barizini of the National Qrchestra Assn., formed , and directed' what is believed to. have, been the first opera workshop in ^this .country. His most recent production was Handel’s ‘’Xerxes" for the Hunter College Opera Assn, in March, 1953: His wife survives. VITALIANO BRANCATI Vital iano Brancati, 47, Italian novelist and screen writer, died in Turin, Sept.. 25, following an> op- eration. Born in. Sicily, he later moved to Rome, where he Won fame with the tome, "Don Giovan- ni in Sicilia." It was published in 1942. Brancati . subsequently authored a number of other bestsellers in- cluding "II. Vecchio Dagli Stivali," which was adapted for the screen as “Arini Difficili” (Difficult Years). Among his more recent projects was a script collaboration with Roberto Rossellini on ‘‘Journey to Italy.” JOHN C. McCAFFERY John C. McCaffery. 70, past pres- ident of : Showmen’s League.. of America, died in Chicago Sept, 28. One of the best known general agents in outdoor. showbusinesS, he owned the Fairgrounds in Bir-. mingham and controlled show lots throughout the country for his own ihows and his competition’s. McCaffery had . been general manager of the Western Vaude- ville-Managers Orpheum circuit and vice’ president of Rubin & Cherry shows. He was also a vice prez. of the United States Tent & Awning Co. and co-owner of Amusement Corp. of .America, HOWARD CROFT Howard Croft - (Peter Flitcroft), musical director, was found dead of natural causes at his . home in Glasgow Sept. 24. For years he fas musical director at the Pavil-1 10n Theatre, Glasgow, and wrote hiany arrangements for the late Sir Harry Lauder and Will Fyffe. A native of Lancashire, feng., uoft began as a pianist in theatre orehs. He retired briefly in the early 1930*s, hut returned to the Podium to conduct orchis at Kelvin , Hall,. Glasgow, circuses. ‘ ROBERT CAMPBELL Robert Campbell, ‘84, former theatrical manager and secretary of Actors’ Fund of America since 1924,.died Sept. 29, ini New York. A member of the Fund's board of ^stees smee 1922, he was a son. me late dramatist and author, Jartley Campbell, who wrote "My Partner" and "White Slave" among other plays. . His wife, Lillian Lee Campbell, • retired actress, and a son sur- ALEx K. EVIDON ‘'Kelly" Evidon, 56, )nri?^ er Q f the Minneapolis fil iSS’y for 25 years, died Se{ a long illness in his hon lian* * Ile time of his death 1 | 3 n^r bcen manager of the Minn chai ls Independent Poster F he^V 01 ’ years. Prior to th iVar iheTV 01 ’ 1U y ears - ; 7,fl d been in charge of .. mer Buds’ shipping departmei fcini U i v ! ving are his wife,’a s< a daughter. 1 WELLINGTON E. WALES Wellipgtoii E. Wales, 68, Mary Pickfofd’jr manager when she ap-. peared in' silent films, died Sept. 29, in Binghamton, NT Y. Before retiring in 1942, he operated the, Wales Hotel in that pity for, a. short time. His first wife was Ethel Wales, stage and screen ac- tress, who died in 1952. , Surviving are and a brother. LEOPOLD ATLAS Leopold Atlas, ,46, screen writer and playwright, died. Sept. 30 in North Hollywood. v Among his screenplays were "Tomorrow the World" and "The Story of G.I, Joe," which gained him an Acad- emy Award nomination. . Atias also Wrote "Wednesday’s Child" for the stage. 'DAVID (CURLEY) ROSS. David (Curley) Ross, 59, long- time * theatrical booking agent in Milwaukee and Chicago; died in Milwaukee recently, from a heart | attack suffered in his room at the Royal Ilotel, where he'., lived arid maintained his booking office. His wife and two brothers sur- vive, WILLIAM KNIGHT William Knight,. 65, Veepee of the Makeup and Hair Stylists Local 706, died Of a heart ailment Sept; 29 at the. Motion Picture Country Home in California. For years he was head of Columbia studio’s makeup departemerit’. His wife and son survive. Joseph H. Fetter, 68, former owner and operator of the Gilger Theatre, Norwalk; O., which was sold in 1937 to Schine Theatres, died Sept. 25. His wife, .two daugh- ters, and three sons. survive. Frank Cresic, 23* writer-producer at WBBM-TV in Chicago, .was fatally stricken with, a heart at* tack Oct. 1,. while at work. He graduated from Northwestern U. in 1953 and joined the Chicago CBS station last summer after a short hitch with; WMCT;.Memphis. [ Louis J. Kaufman, 69, film buyer for Stanley Warner Theatres ' until Ins retirement two years ago. Was. killed Sept. 30 near Salem, O., When his convertible collided with a tractor trailer. His Wife and five sisters survive. . -Joseph Hartman, 52, film, sales- man, died Sept. 24, in Hollywood. He was on the sales force of‘Na- tional Screen Service for a num- ber of years before joining the Walt Disney organization. . Adam Earle Reynolds,. 85, holder of world skating titles in the 1890’s who toured 37 years in vaudeville and circuses, died in Lafayette, Ind„ Sept. 30, Roy H. Cole, 49, radio engineer with the St. Louis Post-Dispach’s radio station KSD, died of a heart attack Sept. 29 in St. Louis. His Wife and two children survive. L Edward S. Basche, 57, assistant director of plant protection at Warners, died Sept, 29 in Burbank, Cal., following a heart attack. He had been with the studio 21. years. Mother of Fred VanDevrinter, radio-tv. performer, died Sept. 28 at Franklin, Ind. He’s on panel tv show, "Twenty Questions." Dmitri Petrovich Ossipof, 46, conductor of the Russial National Orchestra, died recently of' a heart ailment i Moscow. Mother of Dave. Brown, RKO salesman in Pittsburgh and one of the original founders of the Variety Club, died in New York Sept. 20. Herman Krall, 59, Grand Island, Neb., dance b&hd leader, died there Sept. 28 after a heart attack. Wife survives. Mrs. Claire Noelke Webb, 74, former opera singer, died Sept. 27, in Tucson, Ariz., after a long ill- ness. Wife, 56, of publicist Don Hix, died. Sept. 30, in Hollywood. Her widower and two children, survive. Mrs. Bessie Cooke Cohn, Wife of J. J. Cohn, veepee of Loew’s, Inc., died Sept. 22 in Los Angeles, Father of opera singer Rise Ste- { yens died.JSept, 27 in New York. | • I * 1>' . i- *' > ». .1 r« % * Surviving, besides: his daughter, are his wife and a sister; Wife of John M. Steinberg, fls- taurateur and manager of the Hill- crest Country Club, died of a heart ailment‘Sept. 28 in Hollywood, John Willi&m Clark, chief elec- trician for over 50 years 'of the Op- era House, Scarborough,'Eqg., died in that town recently.. Son, 6, of Capitol Records* artist Vicki Young .died of polio Sept. 23 in San Bernardino. -' I . Father, 78, of screen writer Ketti Fririgs, died Sept. 26 in Hollywood following a heart attack. William Ainger, 40, manager of Regal Theatre, Harrogate, Eng., died in that town Sept. 20. Wife, 48, of Joe Porgie, music publisher> died Sept. 22 i New •York. MARRIAGES Maria Uujsa Sanchez to Carlos Fradera Brunet, San Antonio, re- cently. He’s chief announcer for KIWW in that city* Martha Marlowe to Ray Lriube, Austin,-Tex.; Oct. 2. Bride is con- tinuity editor foi* WOAI, San An- tonio; he’s producer and announcer for WOAI-TV, Penelope Munday to Timothy Forbes Adam, Dundee,- Scot., Sept. 28. Both are thespers. Anne de Lacey to Lew Davidson, Toronto, Sept: 24. Groom. is an actor with Canadian Repertory Theatre, Ottawa, Where New Zea- land-born bride, property mistress. Ronnie Taub to Marty Weiser, Los Angeles; Oct. 1. He’s a pub- licist. Jeff Donnell to Aldo Ray, Qrinda,- Cal.,, Sept. 30. Bride and groom are screen, players; . Jean Carolene Marks to Arthur W. Murphy, New York, Sept 30. Bride is daughter of .music pub- lisher Herbert E. Marks. Dorothy Hall to Jack Brown, New York, Sept, 19; He’s staff cam- eraman for CBS-TV in that city. Jane Fischer to Sammy Fain, Lias : ;Vega$,.. Sept.. 11. Bride’s a dancer; I he's a songwriter. Patricia Wheel to Eric Teran, New York, Sept. 27. Bride’s an ac- tress. BIRTHS Mr. and MrS. William F. Broidy, son, Hollywood, Sept. 25. Father; is a film producer. • Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Connolly, son i; Hollywood, Sept. 26. Father is co-producer-writer of Amos ’n’ •Andy .radio shows. Mr., arid Mrs. James Leonard, son, Columbus, 0., Sept. 27. Fa- ther is manager of WjLW-C there, and a vice-president of the Crosley Broadcasting Corp. Mr. and Mrs. Burt Brooks, son, Blackpool, Eng., Sept. 16. Father is a comedy magician; Mr. and Mrs. Mike Eisenmenger, daughter, Chicago, Sept. 28. Father is manager of Chi NBC recording sales department. Mr. and Mrs. Stan Johnson, son, Oakland, Cal., Sept. 17, Father, is with sales staff of KCBS, San Francisco. Mr. and Mrs. C, W; Doebler, daughter, Chicago, Sept; 28. Father is sales promotion manager at sta- tions WBBM and WBBM-TV there. Mr. apd ^Mrs. Carl Dudley, daughter, Hollywood, Oct, 2. Father is a film producer. Mr. and Mrs. Robert Thomas, son, Los Angeles, Sept. 30. Mother is Camilla Wicks, concert violinist. Mr. and Mrs, Emil Sitka, Son, Hollywood, Sept. 27. Father is a screen Rotor. Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Donnen- feld, daughter, New. York*, Oct, 1. Father is v.p. of Princess Pictures, the telefilm production, outfit. •-Mi*, and Mrs. Roy Anderson, daughter, Jamaica, N Y.,.. Sept. 30. Father is assistant to United Artists- play date department man- ager, Neal Astrin, day series (with Fred Coe installed as overall producer). There had never been a handle for the Mon* day nighters, but last week NBC came up with a title that is .appar- ently aimed at demonstrating its humbleness and modesty. It’s now billed/ routinely as "Producers’ Showcase.’’ Liebnian's third gala, pegged around New York’s City Center, will unfold riekt Sabbath (10) as "Sunday in Town," a title hot usu- ally associated with, whammo pro- ductions. Heading up the troupe will .be Judy Holliday, Steve Allen • s i 1 1 r and comic Dick Shawn, It’s now figured that moderation on the bllh ing is rriuch more -becoming,., arid . will lessen downbeat critcism from those "iying in ambush." "Tonight at 8:30" will telede- but Gloria Vanderbilt as'an actress. (She appeared on Ed Murrovv’s "Person tq (Person"' last season, with her husband, batonist Leopold Sto*> >wski, but not as a thesp; her pretending talents Wei*e uncovered in her le.?it t debuj; last summer playirijg Mblh^i’s , ’The'^wah", ori; the ’strawhat circuit.) :Her role will be Sibyl In "Shadow P>ay;" the windup item 6n the 18th. Others cast for various /oles in the three- some are Gig Young, Trevor How- ard, Martyn Green (who’ll be in "Red Peppers’’) and Ilka. Chase, with Carmen Dragon showbacking. Herbert is doing the adaptation. mSSSm .-Continued . from page 1 ss' their Sights whenever a ‘secondary’ play is presented. “We Cxpecf our farces to be bad; and are outraged when. Broadway, which insists that its farces' be good, sends us a. specimen as celes- tially gay 'The/Seven Year Itch;’ "The results of our culpable in- dulgence surrourid us," he contin- used. “No playwright rises above his audience’s expectations for very long: , why should he; do his best work, when ‘Dry Rot’and ‘The Love Match’ delighting the public with their worthlessness? Nobody wants to see the secondary theatre abolished, but. it is imperative that it should be judged by higher criti-. cal. standards. Weedy Gardens “Twenty-seven Wfest End thea- tres are at present offering light comedies and musifal shows, of which perhaps a dozen, are good of their kind. The number of new plays with a claim to serious dis- cussion is threje; ‘A Day by the Sea,’ ‘The Dark Is Light Enough,’ | and ‘I Am a Camera.’ | "One need not be a purist to be ashamed of the discrepancy. Our garden is beset with weeds. The secondary theatre must put forth better shoots, and fewer. It is so easy, as the elder Dumas said, not to write plays." With that as an in- troduction, the critic theii proceed- ed to pan two new plaj's: “No News from F a t h e r ’ ■ arid “Finishing School," London producer Henry ^Sherek got. into the act last week in a let- ter to the. Observer, answering Tynan’s, column. He asserted that West End. adrnission prices have risen very little since 1914, where- as production costs haver tripled. Commenting on Tynan’s, statement* that only three, current London plays 'are worthy of serious discus- sion, Sherek poirits out that two of them are excused admission tax. He inferred that abolition of the levy would lead to a general im- provement in the theatre: “With things as they are/LJie wrote, “the unfortunate manager has to give the pphlic what it wants in order to earn a living." Wilson’s piece about the negative reception of "Midsummer Night’s Dreapi" was headed, “Critics Turn Old Vic ‘Dream’ Into a Nightmare, But It Really Wasn’t So Bad." Story reported, somewhat clairyoy- antiy, that the prerriiere had re- ceived "the applause of an audience that clearly found $1Q a fair top price for. its seats." After quoting some of the un- favorably comments of Kerr in the Herald T^ib and Brooks Atkinson in the .TTjiries, the piece. Cited John Chapmari’s stateipent in. the News that , the production is "a vast arid incredibly beautiful, show.” It con- cluded with the critic’s, own quali-: fled praise of the; revival. Still-Hopeful In a dispatch filed the same day, urider the heading, "Why British Plays Are Flops ori Broadway,’’ Wilson repbrted, "There’s a healthy buss of British activity behind the scenes as the curtain rises pn Broadway’s autumn theatre season. My only hope is that this time all our exports live up to their prom- ise, for heaven knows we can do with a few success over here," London reviewer referred to the Broadway critics as "butchers" and quoted Atkinson on the differences between the London arid New York theatres. He concluded with a statement that at least British plays are produced ini the U.S., but quoted film producer J. Arthur Rank to the effect that British films are, in effect, excluded Jrom the : American market. Paris .Season CorttJiiucU ffom page 2 ■of-towners 'wanting to hear the naughty and irreverent troubadors. , First, p;ay. ( “Le^-Cy i eldpes ) ^ by Jiiles Roy, ribout duty , ’^nd ■ con- science, .amQjig? a .grpup of arijiy Peoplp apd,.engineers dpruig "the iesting p£ a npvV. jetfighter, gftded . rather than soared in. Its. problems of command avp iariijUaf. and lack the insight and ‘ dr turgy to make this the cfackling theatre iV should have been. However, this has the popular Pierre Fresnay, and crix bent over backwards laud- ing this attempt, arid it looks to break into a fair ru if not into the hit barri Biggest straight click is. “Ador- able Julia” at the Gym .trans- lation of Guy Boltoh’s dramatiza- tion of the. Somerset Maugham novel, “Theatre,” which only did soso biz in N. Y. and London.. Here trickily adapted by Marc-Gilbert Sauvageon and acted by Madeleine Robinson, a fine player; and legit- pix favorite, show is a sellout. The new season’s first real legit, smash. “Pprgy and .Bess,” which did record-breaking biz when seen here just before, its N. ,Y. engage- merit in ’52, opened at the Empire Sept. 30 to such heavy advance sale that it may hold., over its scheduled * three weeks if tour timetable can be rearranged. An- other hit of semi-American origin is the Anita Loos adaptation of Colette’s “Gigi," Svhich since its reopening at the Arts has been go- ing clean arid may switch to other house instead of going on tour when a new play, “Pirate,” moves into the Arts. “Je Viendral Comme Un Voleur" (I’il Come As A Thief), by Georges De Trevagne, is only an average boulevard comedy in a zany tale about a giddy woman who mistakes a burglar for the reincarnation of her missing nephew. Things take their usual turn, but wit and ele- gance are sadly lacking, to make this a probably shorttermef pn the legit scene. “Le Maitre Et La Servante” (“The Master' And The Servant”), by, Henri Lefebvre, is a try at im-^ posing a philosophy into dramatic terms by basing this story on > an early dramatic aspect in the Jove life,of the Danish philosopher Kier- kegarde. Hnwever, this never jells as drama and firstnighters laughed at this dramatic; pingpong game as two ill-assorted young couples play the game Of love and choice. This looks to be an early casualty, too. Looking like a probable season- stayer is Andre BirabeaU’s “Sou* viens-Toi MOn Amour” (“Reiriem- ber My Love"), a drawing room comedy with Claude Dauphin and Suzet Mais. This cast has a chance to play young people and crotchety old ones, reliving their amours, With Miss Mais turning in a deli- cious tour-de-force, and Dauphin filling in well. Play is well-staged and, except for a bad second act, has a nice edge and charm. sssss Continued from Rage 1 brina Fair,” drew a record take of over $65,000. In contrast with the Crit, the State Theatre was charg- ing 85c for the; early, shows and a top of $1.75 at night; Warners’ "A Star Is Born" will ripen Oct. 11 at brith the Paramount and Victoria at a $2.30 top price. This entry is now current at the Pantages, L; A., where the scale is $1 in the riioimfng, $1,80. for loges in the. aftetnopri and $2.40 at night. Columbia’s "The Caine Mutiny" is. playing at advanced prices around the country, as will "Born,” In both instances, exhibitors claim that. the rental terms are so high that they are forced to tilt the scales in order to make a buck. Raised admissions are expected with a flock of future films brought in at unusually high negative costs. These include Par’s "White' Christ- mas” and Walt Disney’s “20,000 Leagues Under the. Sea,’’ among others. ’Star’ at $1.50 Minneapolis,, Oct. 5. "A Star Is Born,” opening at the Minneapolis and St. Paul RKO Orpheum theatres day and date Oct. 6, will be scaled at $1,20 to 5 p.m. and $1.50 thereafter,: eluding tax. e It’s the highest tariff for any picture in the Twin Cities since the loop first-run Of "The Robe” which had Jt similar upped scale.