Variety (March 1956)

74 CHATTER Wednesday, March 28, 1956 Broadway Charles Vidor in from the Coast. Robert Flemyng, British actor, is coming ovei tu work for Para¬ mount. Max E. Youngstein, United Art¬ ists v.p., back in town after nine days on the Coast. Bernard Kamber left last week for Rome and London anent the promotion for “Trapeze." The Nat (King) Coles in New York taking in the legit shows as part of their eighth anni celebra¬ tion. Charles L. Glett to West Palm Beach for RKO huddles with Dan¬ iel T. O’Shea and Thomas F. O'Neil. Eugene Picker, veepee of Loew’s Theatres, Inc., announced engage¬ ment of his daughter Jean to Paul B. Firstenberg. The Julius Schacters (she’s vo¬ calist Joan Edwards) sailed Satur¬ day (24) on the Mauretania for a 15-day West Indies cruise. Teddy Heath. British bandlead¬ er, his wife, and 19 members of his orch, in from London yesterday (Tues.) on the Queen Mary. Cary Grant sailed for Spain last week on the S.S. United States to start filming Stanley Kramer' “The Pride and the Passion.” Robert Rossen came in for to¬ night’s (Wed.) opening of “Alex¬ ander the Great’’ at the Capitol. He lensed the film in Spain. Vet Hollywood showman Arthur S. Wenzel to Miami Beach arid Havana oh pleasure-business and possibly also a Gotham detour. James Harris and Stanley Kub¬ rick, new independent film pro¬ ducing combo, went west this week to roll product for United Artists. Academy Award winning de¬ signer Helen Rose, who designed Grace Kelly’s gowns for “The Swan," due east next week for a bally tour. Richard W. Altschuler, Republic Pictures sales chief, due back the end of the week from the Coast where he presided over several sales huddles held at the Rep studio. Attorney Mortimer Becker, of the Jaffe & Jaffe firm, planes to the Coast today (Wed.) for huddles with actress Eva Marie Saint in connection with her new deal with Metro. Mrs. George E. (Cam) Price, wife of the actor-stockbroker, who paints under the nom-de-pastel of “Cam," being “hung" at Collec¬ tor's Gallery, West 56th St., as part of a newcomers’ art collec¬ tion. Flacks Paul Benson and Bernie Green will be co-toastmasters of the dinner to N. Y. Journal-Ameri- can syndicated* „ columnist Louis Sobol by the Overset Set, an or¬ ganization of pressagents in the entertainment field, at Toots Shor’s next Monday (2i on his 25th anni as a Broadway pillarist. French government nixed the 1956 appearance of the Jean-Louis Barrault-Madeleine Renaud Co. in N.Y. Felt it to be too soon after the Comedie-Francaise. Sol Hurok will thus put off the N.Y. date until 1957. Mother of J. Arthur Warner, Wall Streeter w.k. in show biz as film financier and legit backer, in Mount Sinai hosp with fractured hip and arm because of a fall sus¬ tained in their Greenwich (Conn.) home. She was moved to the N. Y. hospital from Greenwich Hospital. “Weekend at the Waldorf" now comes in 2- and 3-day packages (Friday through Sunday, or just Sat.-Sun.) at $60 and $70 tariffs per couple which includes accom¬ modations, dining-dancing in the Empire or Starlight Roof and breakfast in the Norse Grill or Peacock Alley. Eileen O’Dare, home on a sab¬ batical from the Will Rogers Me¬ morial Hospital, making good progress residing in Manhattan with her family. May return to the Saranac Lake sanitarium late spring before final discharge. Dancer contracted illness, because of overwork, in Europe, returning to the U. S. last- year. Daughter of Priscilla and Lacy Kastner (prez. of Columbia Pic¬ tures International), the Marquise Pamela Wilde Kastner.de Coninck, formally engaged to wed NBC’s Dave Garroway. She- is a producer- coordinator with Elliot, Unger & Elliot. When her father was Col’s Continental chieftain, headquar¬ tered in Paris, she married the Marqui3 de Coninck. It’s a second try for both. Danny Thomas will head the en¬ tertainment for the 1956 biennial convention of the national Jewish Welfare Board at the Waldorf- Astoria April 5-8 at which the speakers will be Admiral Arthur W. Radford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Mrs. Eleanor Roos- ?M : v C T h T anC p e ? or , Henr y T. Heald rr Charles I Schottland, U. S. Commissioner for Social Se¬ curity; and JWB president Charles Aaron, Chi attorney. Col. Serge Obolensky, vice- chairman of the board of the Hotel Ambassador, heads a group which has purchased the 12% block of stock held by Floyd B. Odium’s Atlas Corp. L. Boyd Hatch, long with Odium and now head of his own Knickerbocker Investing Corp,. is chairman of the board, and Robert K. Christenberry, long at the Hotel Astor, remains prez. Hatch’s group bought control of the Ambassador from J. J. Atkin¬ son in 1954. Pioneer Broadway columnist S. Jay Kaufman who suffered a stroke in London last July and could not walk for quite a while, after hos¬ pitalization abroad and in the U. S., cheering for Aurora, a Ryp (N.Y.) rest home which taught him how to walk, and which did the same thing for Guy Kibbee and others in show biz. Kaufman’s N. Y. Globe (now defunct) “Around The Town" column is said to have set the pattern for the present-day “Broadway" cols. Paris By Gene Moskowitz • (28 Rue Huchette; Odeon 4944) Sol Hurok signed the Russian folklore Ballet Moisseiev group for a U.S. tour. Nicholas Koudrievtzoff, Mont¬ real theatre owner and impresario, in to line up talent for his house. Julien Duvivier preparing a sketch pic, “Le Grand Amour.” Pic is to' be made in France, England, Italy and Germany. Joan Greenwood to star opposite Micheline Presle in a Franco-Ital- ian film to be made here, called “Beatrice Cenci." Cannes Film Fest, which will unspool April 23 to May 10, will have 32 nations presenting 38 fea¬ ture pix and 40 shorts. Dido Sayers, previously with New York City Ballot, now danc¬ ing with the Grand Ballet Du Marquis De Cuevas here. Jean Genet, an ex-thief turned playwright, will have three plays performed here next season. First will probably be “Les Negres.” Norman Katz, Associated Artists Prod, head, in to look over Con¬ tinental film product for future tv and theatrical release in the U.S. Georges Aranud’s play about brutal police tactics, “Les Aveux Les Plus Doux” (With All Best Wishes), will be filmed by Charles Brabant. Gina Lollobrigida in to begin rehearsals for “Notre Dame De Paris" to be made in French and English with Anthony Quinn to play the Hunchback. Allied Artists is to distribute the Anglo version in U.S. * William Faulkner’s “Requiem for a Nun," in an adaptation by Albert Camus, will be done at Theatre Mathurins next season. Though never done in U.S.. this is second mounting for it on the Con¬ tinent. Mexico City By Pete Mayer (Tel. Tlalpam 264) Month of April to be devoted to Mexican films only in seven Cuban cinemas. Three more U.S, productions due to start at Churubusco Studios in April. Local actors union suspended Spanish dubbing on “Last Fron¬ tier,” (Col). A1 Lewin finishing the cutting of his “The Living Idol" at Chur¬ ubusco Studios. Katherine Dunham going into the National Auditorium after her present Versailles nitery stint. Simone Si&noret, Charles Vanel and Georges'Marshall here to do “Death in the Garden" for Oscar Dancigers. Walt Disney has hired Carlos Arruza, Mexico’s top matador, as technical adviser on a new bull¬ fight cartoon. Jackie Bright topped his recent visit here by having AGVA send a $5,000 gift to the Mexican Nation¬ al Actors Academy. Sari Francisco By Bill Steif Claude' Mooney, top Australian ad man, flew in here and goes on to Hollywood and N.Y. to inspect teleweb properties. New San Francisco Opera chorus master next fall will be Gianni Lazzeri, an Italian, late of the Parma, Tunis and Cairo operas. Helen Ainsworth, up from Holly¬ wood to see her family in Frisco, said she's planning a junket to Europe, her first vacation in 24 years. Frisco Variety Club is sponsor¬ ing opening night of “Alexander the Great" March 28 at United Artists Theatre, with proceeds earmarked for club’s Blind Babies Foundation;. . London (Temple Bar 5041/9952) Percy Livingstone named gen¬ eral sales manager of 20th-Fox. Joyce Grenfell planning an American tour near the end of year. British comedian, Benny Hill, topper of “Sunday Night At the London Palladium." William Bendix series, “Life of Riley," starts a weekly BBC-TV run next Tuesday (3). Robert Rossen returned to N.Y. immediately after preem of his “Alexander the Great." Dorothy Dandridge opens her Savoy cabaret season £pril 16. Eartha Kitt bows at Cafe de Paris fortnight later. s Title change for Bob Hope- Katherine Hepburn starrer, for¬ merly known as “Not For Money.” Now called “Iron Petticoat." Testimonial concert to Sam Har¬ bour, general manager at London Coliseum for more than 25 years, held at house last Sunday (25). Oreste returning from Hollywood for Plaza preem of “The Vagabond King" April 5. Paramount is bringing his widowed mother over from Malta. Bill Owen, star of “Threepenny Opera," broke his ankle onstage last Wednesday (21), t'he night on which this musical transferred to the Aldwych. I Berlin I By Hans Hoehn (760264) [ Stan Kenton orch will appear at , Sportpalast next month. “Holiday On Ice" ensemble will appear 'here again next month at the Sportpalast. Boleslav Barlog, Berlin’s best known stage director, celebrated his 50th birthday. Warner's is the first company that announced its distribution program in Germany for the 1956- 57 season 20 films. “Kiss Me, Kate" marked its 100th performance at the Komoe- die am Kurfuersstendamm. It’s' still doing sock biz. New U.S. pix preems in town in¬ clude “Rains of Ranchipur" (20th), “Far Horizon” (Par), “Gun Fury" (Col) and “Hell’s Island" (Par). DEFA reportedly will continue shooting “Mother Courage" with Erich Engel doing the directing job. Lensing was halted some months ago. Berlin actress Renate Mann- hardt planed to N. Y. to join her American husband L. Dennison- Bement. Incidentally, she has a role in “The River Changes" (WB), recently previewed in Hollywood. Zurich By George Mezoefi ( Florastr . 32; 34-70-32) Schauspielhaus preemed Max¬ well Anderson’s “Winterset.” “Hallelujah" (M-G) (reissue) a surprise hit at artie Studio Nord- Sud. David O. Selznick in town to scout locations for one of his next pictures. Atelier Theatre Berne an¬ nounces Swiss preem of Richard Nash’s comedy, “The Rainmaker.” Komoedie Basle reviving Thorn¬ ton Wilder’s “Our Town,” a per¬ ennial U.S. favorite in this coun¬ try. Three U.S. firstruns on Zurich screens: “20,000 Leagues Under Sea" (BV), “Sitting Bull" (U) and “White Feather” (20th). A German road company from Hamburg will show Hans J. Reh- fisch’s drama, “Colonel Chabert,” adapted from Balzac’s novel, at Schauspielhaus. Frankfurt By Hazel Guild (24 Rheinstrasse; 776751) Margit Nuenke, Miss Germany of 1955, signed four-year contract with Beroliria Films. Erna Sacks, German coloratura, to make .film in Canada titled, “The Nightingale from Berlin." Frankfurt Opera Co; presenting “Rosenkavalier" three times in Paris, guesting in the Champs Elysee Theatre. Students at Tubingen 'Univer¬ sity in West Germany formed a Student Union Against Jazz Clubs —to organize protests against in¬ ferior jazz. Anne-Marie Blanc and Gustav Froehlic to tour for two months in G. B. Shaw’s “Candida," play¬ ing in Switzerland, Austria, Ger¬ many and Luxembourg. Eddie Constantine, one of top French film stars, to do French- German co-production, “Bonsoir- Paris," in Germany this year. Mel- odie Films is the German partner, ana Boreal Films the French. Frankfurt Schauspielhaus, In¬ vited to guest again this year at the Ruhr Festival in Reckliugbau- i sen, *will present the first German staging of Eugene O’Neill'3 “Mar¬ co’s Millions." Hans Lietzau is to direct. Portland, Ore. ! By-Ray Feves “Jazz A La Carte," starring Dave Brubeck and Sarah Vaughan, inked for Auditorium April 12. Mills Bros, and The Jeffreys in at Amato’s Supper Club for two weeks. Estrelitta set to follow. Lawrence Welk Orch will do a onenighter at the Auditorium for the Central Catholic High School Dad’s Club June 6. “Bus Stop,” “Damned Yan¬ kees" and Victor Borge Show will appear under the Hugh Beckett banner at the Auditorium this summer. Frankie Laine, Vickie Young, Clark Brothers, Curtis’ Marionet¬ tes and George Arnold’s Orch in for 1956 Home Show at the Ex¬ position Building. « By Les Rees Tunetones into Augie’s night club. “Anastasia" cancelled Lyceum date here. Minneapolis Symphony on an¬ nual winter tour. Flame nitery has Jimmy Wells Dakota Roundup. Bob Davis’ “Rock ’n’ Roll" combo into Vic’s. Robert Clary continuing at Hotel Radisson Flame Room. Prom Ballroom had Stan Ken¬ ton, Four Lads and Teddy Phillips for one-nighters. Twenty-second annual Builders SJhow at Auditorium had WLS Barn Dance on stage. Locally organized Leonard Wheeler instrumental quartet a hit at Starlight club, - and will go on rohd. Santiago Nicanor Molinare back from Paris. Jose Vasquez Crisostomo -named administrator of Municipal Thea¬ tre. Ingrid Bergman and her “Joan of Arc” booked into the Municipal in July. Tahitian Jacqueline Carlson warbling at Radio Cooperativa Vitalicia. ' ' Radio writer Juan Ramon Silva named p.a. for Chilean National Airlines in Montevideo. Josefstadt Theatre group of Vienna headed by Hans Jaray and Nicole Heesters due here in July. State Department sending Span¬ ish company of “Teahouse of the August Moon" on Latin American tour. Eugenio Retes, star of Jose Bohr’s pic, “El Gran Circo Cha¬ morro" (Chamorro’s Big Circus), touring provinces with stock com¬ pany. Pittsburgh By Hal V. Cohen Hypnotist Sam Vine booked into Vogue Terrace for April. Eileen Rodgers goes into Fon- tainbleau Hotel in Miami Beach April 3. Comedian Rummy Bishop and his wife celebrated their 10th wed¬ ding anni. Local singer Jan Welles went in¬ to Miami’s Vagabond Club for one week, and being held for four. Chuck Carey, manager of Wil¬ liam Penn Hotel, vacationing be¬ tween Santa Barbara and Holly¬ wood. Frances Faye took off for Holly¬ wood and the Interlude Club after closing here at the Sonny Boys AA. Shirley Jones coming home to head the Easter Parade here which will be telecast. Omaha By Glenn Trump Shrine Circus slated for City Aud April 16-22. Don Romeo returned from jun¬ ket to Chicago to line up acts for the Seven Seas nitery and club dates. “Anastasia" will be Community Playhouse’s next offering, April 6-21, while Kingsmark Theatre Company will open “Male Ani¬ mal” on April 13 at Boys Town Music Hall. Chicago Universal publicity chief here, Ben Katz, back from West Indies cruise. for second year at -Daily Nei Yobth Rally April 22. Ex-trade reporter Steve Schicl introed weekly newsletter coveri advertising-music-radio field. Lois Solomon revived the C cago Drama Quartet featuri Sondra Gair, Muriel Monsell, Ri Reed and Maurice Copeland* ' I Hollywood Robert Siodmak returned after five years in Europe. Sir Carol Reed in from London for preem of “Trapeze.” Richard W, Altschuler in town for global confabs with Herbert J Yates. Sam Spiegel in town for hud¬ dles with Columbia about two film productions. Robert Ballin resigned from J. Walter Thompson Agency to join the John Guedel organization. Walt Disney cited by Mexican Legion of Decency for “his in¬ structive and highly moral pic¬ tures." Joe Kirkwood Jr., bedded by virus infection, forcing his with¬ drawal from NBC-TV’s “Matinee Theatre" shpw. Miami Beach By Lary Solloway Roberta Sherwood being paged for an April date by Eden Roc management. Fontainebleau closing the La Ronde on Mondays until next sea¬ son. Martha Raye ticketed for a sum¬ mer run (six weeks) at Beachcom¬ ber this summer. Imogene Coca will play lead in Coconut Grove Playhouse produc¬ tion of “Happy Birthday” in mid- April. MCA veepee Herb Rosenthal planed to N.Y. after settling his family at Roney Plaza for Easter holiday. Phil Foster and Barry Sisters make up last regular booking for Seville’s Matador Room. Manage¬ ment mulling change to nightly change of acts in lieu of closing cafe for lull period. Edward Arnold, Lee Cobb and' Patricia Medina joined “Shakedown On Biscayne Bay” unit at the Em¬ press hotel. Sam- Katzman’s Co¬ lumbia release will have a number of cafe-vaude acts currently play¬ ing the area in bits parts. Jake La Motta, ex-middleweight champ, also in cast. Cleveland By Glenn C. Pullen Joanne' Wheatley and Hal Kan- ner topping Statler Terrace Room show. Met Opera Co. checks into Civic Auditorium^ April 23 for annual six-day visit. Louis Armstrong and Woody Herman inked for jazz concert at Public Music Hall April 1. Tracey Twins, local singing sis¬ ters, getting disk jockey plugs for their first Reserve Recordings. Barney Zelek quit Ben Silver- berg orch to become pianist for Gayle Stafford’s new act at Siro’s Club. George ' Szell, conductor of Cleveland Symphony, had contract renewed another three years at same terms. Irwin Corey getting play at Alpine Village, with Undine For¬ rest, Oscar Strauss Jr., and Ira Lanner on bill. Johnny Price, Musicarnival pro¬ ducer, picking chorus singers and dancers for his summer tent straw- hatter’s third season. Crystal Beach Park starts its ballroom season May 6 with John¬ ny Long orch. Also booked are Ralph Marterie on May 6; Hal McIntyre, May )3; Buddy Morrow, May 27. Phoenix Dick LaSalle and his orchestra holding down the prized Backstage Club spot. Formerly of Persian Room, Hotel Plaza. N. Y. Ink Spots wrapped up four days of top business yesterday (27) at Koko • Club, where shows were upped nightly from two to three. Scottsdale’s Kiva Theatre has a lobby full of original oil paintings by local artists which can be rented for home decoration at $1.25 a month. Recent solar energy conferences at Phoenix are featured in the first issue of The Sun At Work, quar¬ terly of the Assn. For Ap¬ plied Solar Energy, out this week. Boston By Guy Livingston Jack De Leon current at the Bradford Roof. Liz Mulligan held over in the Rickshaw Ming Room. Duke Ellington opened Monday (26) at George Wein’s Storyville. Victor, Borge comes in for a matinee and night shows Saturday (31) at Boston Arena under spon¬ sorship of International Friend¬ ship League. Julius LaRosa’s. opening at Blinstrub’s had to be postponed from Monday to Tuesday night be¬ cause .-of Hub's big snowstorm Which dropped a total ’of 23 iriches. .1 I