Variety (December 1954)

MISCELLANY Wednesday, December I, 1954. Show business will be given an elaborate exposure at the Belgium World's Fair set for Brussels in 1958, according to Baron Moeris de Fernig, who heads the project. He returned to his homeland last week following an, extensive U. S; visit. He toure.d key cities and called on Government officials in Washington ’ and United Nations delegates in N; Y, to seek coopera- tion. The U. S/ already has ■of- ficially. voted to participate in the Fair, which has been in the plan- ning stages since 1948. Among the highlights, said Baron de Fernig, will be Hall of Arts in which each participating country “will, show some charac- teristic masterpieces as a dramatic demonstration of its contributions to the culture of the world." As for the specifics, the visitor laid invitations to perform will be extended to Russian ballet troupes, Sadler’s Wells, London Philhar- monic, the Metropolitan Opera Co, and similar groups in various coun- . (Continued on. page 68) Rice Will Eat Contract In Macy’s Window, If Hemingway Is Tied Up If Frank McCarthy can produce 'A valid contract showing that Ernest Hemingway has a picture commitment with him, Heming- way’s lawyer, Alfred Rice, Will eat it. Rice is boiling over a Coast announcement by McCarthy claim- ing the tieUp with Hemingway. The attorney in N. Y. yesterday (Tues.j. made the crack about par- taking of the pact —- in “Maey.’s Window” yet—in stressing there’s no such agreement. All started when McCarthy, who’s a 20th-Fox public relations exec, said in. a press handout that -he. and William Lowe, former editor of Look, had an option to picturize the next Hemingway story,. still unfinished, Next came a denial from Rice. His “correc- tion” also said Lowe made it clear, that he, Lowe, held no such (Continued on page 68) HAL WALLIS FURIOUS Says Kaufman, Gordon. Broke Word on ‘Solid Gold Cadillac' Hollywood^Nov. 30, Hal Wallis has blasted George S. Kaufman and Max Gordon for “unethical, unprofessional tactics” in reneging on agreement to give him first refusal /.on “Solid Gold Cadillac” which Columbia acquired in deal closed by Harry Cohn after Wallis had negotiated for several weeks. * Wallis explained he was not ired at Howard Teichmann, who co- authored the play, since he wasn't involved in negotiations and mere- ly went along 1 with decisions of other two. Wallis disclosed he first offered a percentage deal which Kaufman and Gordon nixed in . favor i of! straight cash., _He then offered $250,000 with, he said, the, under- standing that if they got higher offer he would, have change to meet it or nix deal. Wallis de : dares Kaufman and Gordon failed to do this. First he knew was when he. read they had sold the property to Columbia for $260,000, only $10,000 more than his offer. HORACE HEIDT Box 472 Van Nuys; California Washington, Nov. 30. , An invitation audience of high government Officials* members , of Congress, etc,, will attend the formal unveiling tomorrow (1) of the new D, C. studios Of Voice of America, the radio-tv branch of the U. S. Information Agency. The move of “Voice” operations from New York to Washington, as ordered by Congress, was com- pleted recently and the studios have been in full operation for the past few weeks. USIA now broad- casts in 38 languages oyer a net- work of 78 transmitters, with 77%. (Continued on page 68) Enclosed find check or m.o. for $.. , Send Variety for year two years NAME ADDRESS • • •• ZONE. .. * STATE . Indicate if gift card desired □ NAME ADDRESS CITY..ZONE.. STATE. One Year—$10.00 Two Years—$18.00 Canada and Foreign— $1 Additional per Year P'Skiety Inc. 154 West 46th Street New York 36, N. Y, New Arthur Murray Book, Despite Its leky Tide, Bright Show Biz Mirror By ABEL GREEN Under: the icky title of “Down Memory Lane,” subtitled “Arthur Murray ? s : Picture Story of Social Dancing” (Greenberg; $5), is an affectionate chronicle which, like almost every pattern of show biz, is. a reflection Of our times. Like pop songs and plays, film plots and mari-i -the-street catchphrases, the nation’s dancing moods mirror the days of Our years. Authors Sylvia G> L. Dannett and Frank. R. Rachel, both obvi- ously danceophiles, have edited a compelling picture story book that displays the urge to terp from the days of the Romans to the rhumba. But the book gets really into high, and fortunately this comprises the more generous portions, wheh it reflects the dancing moods from the riraxixe to the nrambo. In between are an assortment of sometimes forgotten variations of the theme which were variously called the. grizzly bear and the bunny hug, the hesitation waltz and collegiate, the. Big Apple and the Charleston, the Varsity Drag and the Black Bottom.; From the Castle Walk to'the Valentino glide, from Joan Crawford and George |.Raft’s Charlestoning ,era to .Astaire & Rogers', from Zelma O’Neil and Gilda Gray to Katherine & Arthur Murray; the book is loaded with a well-organized display of the terps (Continued on page 68) No Passport for Robeson Washington, Nov. 30. State Department. disclosed last .weekend that it had refused to is- sue a passport to Paul Robeson to attend the Congress of Soviet Writers in Moscow next month. Robeson has-; been turned down couple of times in: recent years when he sought a passport to go abroad. Valuable Insight to Story Values Cited by Holly- wood Producer Who Bought Gilroy’s ‘Last Notch* ■— —-— ——• . SIN OVER SKIN Evangelist Draws Bigger Crowds Than Striptease Minneapolis, Nov. 30. The gospel has proved a stronger attractions than strippers at the local Alyin Theatre which a. year ago was converted from a bur- lesque house into a tabernacle. Rev. Russell Hi Olson outbid Charles Fox, burlesque ‘ impresario, for the theatre;. His-nightly attendance Of. 300' to 600 and Sunday audiences of up to 1*200 Is “far larger,” than the audiences which attended burr lesque in the same house the past several preceding seasons'. “Dealing with sift instead of skin,” as he expresses it, has been a profitable, operation for the Rev. Olson Who is extending his lease. This is a.! disappointment to Fox who had hoped to recover the the- atre and put hack burlesque. v. <1 • ’IsaKi By one of those strange coinci- dences, the two. tv “live” comics Who only recently put themselves on record that they were “going film” next season to ease the. strain, were simultaneously floored by ill- ness brought on by fatigue and overwork. First it was MiltOn Berle, who collapsed the same night he came off his Tuesday night show a cquple weeks back and still wasn’t up to guesting on Martha Raye’s show last week, necessitating a last-min- ute switch* (Iii fact; Miss Raye also came hear not making it because of a rundown condition.) On top of that, Red Buttons was! ordered to the hospital last week while he was rehearsing the show scheduled for last Friday night. Throat symptoms aggravated; by fatigue and overwork set in the week prior when Buttons spent his entire Hollywood visit in bed, with a recurrence when he’returned to N. Y. to work on his tv stanza. By WHITNEY WILLIAMS Hollywood, Nov. 30. Television is now looming up as A source for motion picture mate- rial alongside Broadway plays and literary bestsellers. This is the opinion.of indie producer Clarence Greene, who with his partner, Rus- sell Rouse, has ju,st purchased, film rights to ABC’s last season’s U. S. Steel Hour program, “The Last Notch,” fOr early filming. Subject is the first full-hour vid- show to find its way to the screen as a feature, although Warners and Jack Webb took latter’ half-hour “Dragnet” idea and title and devel- oped, them into a feature. Differ- ence here, though, lies in Greene- Rouse buying a finished teleplay, rather than playing with an idea, to build, their motion picture. “It’s plain common sense,? Greene points out, “to jscout tele- vision for possible feature material. It’s a question of either wasting it, taking advantage of it.” Dramatics involved, the tense situations and possible characteri- zations, were recognized • the Steel Hour show by the two pro- ducers, who could see their possi- bilities actually unfold before their eyes rather than visualizing what was possible in a feature. “We felt it was a tryout, without expense,arid had the advantage of no initial gamble, as in-the usual manner of buying stories*" Greene pointed out, in explaining the value of a tv show to film pro- ducers. Further, he stressed, there, are the additional facets of fresh direction* writing and acting which may be brOtight to the (Continued on page 50) Johnston Calls Soviet’s THE CUT THAT HURTS Esther Williams, George Murphy Deleted From Metro’s ‘Heart’ . Hollywood, Nov. 30. Esther Williams arid George Murphy land on the cutting room floor in final editing' of Metro’s “Deep In My Heart.” They were teamed for “American Beauty” se- quence which has been deleted., , Howard Keel and his . “My. Mary- land” sequence is out of pic for Radio City Music Hall engagement since Hall has two hour limit on pix. His 12-minute sequence goes back ini for general release; As Jegsel Sees It . The N. Y. Times P. 1 arid P. 2 stories oii the seething Germanic v ultranationalism, and manifestations anew of extremists' apti-Semitic mani- festations at a last week’s po- litical: rally in Berlin, reminds George Jessel of his conver- sation with Darryl Zanuck some time ago. . Latter had been impressed with the Ger- mans’ rehabilitation job, and Jessel, then a 20th-Fox pro- ducer, cracked: “Yes, all that building is fine, but when they get one as high as the 14th floor they’ll still throw my Uncle Max off the roof!” Sydney, Nov. 23., Here on an. inspection, tour and riieetirigs with top government and film executives, Eric 'Johnston, Mo- tion Picture Assn; of America prexy, dubbed the Soviet policy as strictly 3-D. He said: “As a film man, I think of the Soviet policy as a ‘3-D’ one—di- vide, discredit and. destroy^’ He also said that “free exchange of goods and services are the things which enable us to raise the stand- ards of living.” Johnston has been hosted by many groups, being honor guest- of the -Motion Picture Distributor Assn, dinner at the plush Glen Ascham last week when guests in- cluded State Premier Cahill, mem- bers of his government, the Lord Mayor and Consular corps. He leaves for Manila this week. Bob Hope Envisions Global TV Networks As Aid to Understanding Hollywood, Nov; 30. Back from a six-week trek to Europe, Bob Hope said here he be- lieves global tv networks within 10 years will pave trie way for pro- motion of mutual understanding between the world’s peoples. There is “no question” but what tv is mushrooming as a “world lan- guage” and will assume that stat- ure in the next decade, said the comedian. Hope said he foresees such global webs linked by under- ocean cables over which shows will be beamed to tv audiences through;- out the world. “Entertainment will continue to be the corrimOn denominator for expressing mutual comprehension among the world’s peoples. There’s only one world for entertainment,” he declared. Hope’s NBC-TV show to be seen. Dec. 7 was filmed in Europe. The comic said rie foresees a trend toward educational expan- sion among American tele audi- ences, adding “the tv public is suf- fering from custard pie poisoning and is now demanding something, better than slapstick. Viewers in the States are shopping today. They are out to get top quality. They know what they want.” Hope checked into . Paramount for final editing of his latest “The Seven Little Foys.” The hazards of embarrassments to guests on tv’s pariel “guess- ing games” were once again brought to the forefront on last week’s edition of “Masquerade Party” on ABC-TV when; Edgar Bergen (who was in New York for ari Origination of his CBS Radio show) happened to be the party under panel scrutiny. Panel membersTrad pinned the guest's identity down to a Ven- triloquist. “Then it must be Paul Winchell,” One parielite. con- cluded; Bergen’s obvious embarrassment was intensified when another pariel member chimed in; “Then if it isn’t Winchell it can only be Burr TillstromV* Only a few weeks back on the same show a panelite Confessed out loud that he had never heard of Willie Mays, much to the chagrin of the. ball star (who was guesting on the stanza). Previ- ously Phil Rizzuto had been subjected to the same kind of naivete on another panel show. Not long back Universal-International, putting its best foot forward to earn a plug for one of its stars doing a Gotham p.ai., placed him on a panel stanza. They were trying to identify his studio and the guessers kicked around a half dozen, culminating in a 1 panelite’s observation: “Then,if it isn’t Warners, Metro, 20.th- FOx, Paramount Or Columbia, h* can’t be in pictures. They're the only big companies around,** UT hasn’t gone near the show