Variety (April 1957)

A VitAJAU JLW U lilltLf 111 V 111/ IJ V«V« + 4 - Fairy Tales Enchant TV Networks; 27 Specs Set; Shirley Temples Deal Strawhats Due for Upbeat Season, With Strong List of New Tuners Fairy tales are exerting an in-4 creasing fascination over television networks, execs and talent. So much so that Shirley Temple, for one, has b$en wooed out of retire¬ ment to host-narrate a series of 20 one-hour fairy tales for Henry Jaffe, who initiates his solo pro¬ duction venture with the new series. Also so much so that Saul Jaffe, his brother and former partner in Jaffe & Jaffe and in Showcase Pro¬ ductions, is doing two fairy stories as his first>entry. on his own. And so rriuch so that NBC-TV, besides listing Fred Coe for his return to the television wars-with five fairy tale spectaculars for next season, has firmed up Saul Jaffe’s two en¬ tries, orte of them as a Christmas night show. Under Miss Temple's deal with Henry Jaffe, she’ll host and nar¬ rate each show and will also star in the premiere layout, currently in the script stage. ^Jaffe doesn’t have a network commitment yet, but is showing the. package to agencies and sponsors as well as webs. Saul Jaffe’s two fairy tale ven¬ tures will be “Hans Brinker,” which he’s already cast, as an ice- spec with Dick Button,. Barbara Ann Scott and .Tab Hunter (who skates very well, even did an ice stint on the Perry Como show this season ), That’s the Christmas en- (Continued on page 94) CBS-TV Claims Over 100,000,000 Viewers For R&H ‘Cinderella’ An alltime high audience of “over 100,000,000 viewers” (actually, an estimated '107,000,000) is being claimed by CBS-TV for Sunday Right’s (31) telecast of Rodgers & Hammerstein's “Cinderella.” The figure is based oh Treijdex ratings and audience composition informa¬ tion, projected to a Nielsen total audience level. v The 90-minute musical scored a 43.3 average Trendex rating; this is an average rating reflecting the audience at any one minute of the Program. To arrive at a “total audience”—the audience tuned into the show at least once during-the.* 90 minutes—CBS is projecting this' Trendex to a Nielsen total audi¬ ence rating of 61.5, basing the pro- jection on the Trendex-Nielsen tiiiferences which, have occurred iivthe past on similar shows like Peter pan” and "Jack & the Beanstalk.” • A 61.5 rating translates into ap¬ proximately -24,200,000 television hoiri^s. Trendex also took a gpe- 4 <^ udience composition survey £? pHderella” and came up with ne fact that the average number • ^ ers per h °hie was an all- xime high of 4.43, This, multi¬ plied by the number of x homes, (Continued on page 94) U. S. Enlists Van Doren For Bond Drive Pitch • Washington, April 2. A new type tv star will meet a new type fan club next Wednesday (10). Charles Van Doren, the for¬ mer egghead champ of NBC’s “21,” Will he guest speaker at a luncheon of the exclusive'' “Little Cabinet Wives Club.” Latter consists of fraus of the President's sub-cabi¬ net. While he is here, Van Dor eh will be guest of honor at a late after¬ noon reception hosted by Savings Division of U. S. Treasury. He will be enlisted as a bond volun¬ teer, endorsing the government’s savings plan in a statement that will be exploited nationwide with a pitch of, “He.knows the answers to the bond question.” Equity Pushing Theatre Cleanup A cleanup of backstage condi¬ tions on Broadway and the road is expected to be a majpr Actors Equity demand in its upcoming negotiations with the League of N. Y. Theatres. It's figured the uhion will threaten to forbid its members from working in specific theatres unless unsatisfactory con¬ ditions are rectified. Meanwhile, Equity has sent let¬ ters of complaint to the N. Y. City health and building departments regarding conditions in eight Shu- bert-dwned Broadway houses. The action was taken by the union after the Shuberts had failed to make promised renovations or sanitary improvements in the various houses.. The .situation is regarded' by the union as okay, in all other Broadway theatres. A building department report* to (Continued, on page 95) Central Park Musicals Opposed By Terrell As An ‘Autocratic Giveaway’ A legal hitch is developing in the plans tp, present a series of legituners iii New York’s Central Park this summer 1 . A move is be¬ ing made- -by* -tent producer St. John . Terrell. .to restrain Park Commissioner Robert Moses- from going through with the deal. A Wire to that effect was. sent yester¬ day (Tues.) to Mayor Robert F. Wagner. Terrell is protesting the leasing of the Park's Wollman Skating Rink to Michael P. Grace and* Chris F. Anderson on the grounds that the park “is public property and that he (Moses) can’t do With (Continued on page 94) , By FRED HIFT Foreign film stars, most of whom are barely known among the American mass audience, are due for more of a buildup in the months to come. They are prob¬ ably also due for some “educa¬ tion” in American values and pressagentry. Move is part of the slow realiza¬ tion overseas that the States are as star-conscious as ever, that the public appears receptive to new faces, hence to new stars, and that it’s difficult to “sell” films in America with no marquee names. The French are starting the ball rolling this week with the arrival in Gotham tomorrow (Thurs.) of a group of French stars . including Micheline Presle, Jean Marais, Francoise Amoul and Gerard Philipe. Contingent has been lined up for a heavy sked of interviews and video appearances by the French Film Office and later will go on to San Francisco to attend the French Film Week there. On the British end, Kenneth More, star of J. Arthur Rank’s “Reach For the Sky,” is currently in New York and is being given the publicity treatment via the new Rank Film Distributors of, Amer¬ ica. The Rank unit promises many more British stars in the future and plans to tour them as part 4 )f a concerted effort to (Continued on page 94) Non-Vegas Cafes Gotta Break 20G The $20,000 ceiling for acts in spots outside of Las Vegas is being cracked with increasing regularity. There had been a period during World War II when several turns, notably Mahrice Chevalier and Danny Kaye,. got more than that amount in Florida, but since that time, Vegas has been the only spot in the country paying that kind of coin. Acts that have already broken the $20,000 barrier include Liber- ace, Harry Belafonte, Eddie Fisher and Jerry Lewis. Frank Sinatra has been getting these offers also. Other names are expected to enter this group in short order now that the path has been cleared. The 20Q limit has been in the guarantee department and not as a result of percentage .arrange¬ ments. Some cafes have the po-‘ tential of paying out more than $20,000 weekly, but deals have been made that that kind of coin shall come as a result of cover ( Continued on. page 84) ' Too Tough for Sheldon Keeping Up With Himself . Hollywood, April 2. Where to go In April? That’s the problem facing Sidney Sheldon.- “Buster Keaton,” which he di¬ rected, co-produced and co-script- ed at Paramount, will be opening next month. On April 27, his play “Always in Love” will open in Vienna. At the same time, re¬ hearsals start in New York on his revised version of “The Merry Widow” with the Kiepuras set for a mid-May opening at the New York City Center. And pre-produc¬ tion work gets started on his pro¬ duction “Zone of Terror,” slated to go before the cameras in Germany in August. Dalton Trumbo Gags "Rich’ Tale Hollywood, April 2. Dalton Trumbo today facetiously denied he was “Robert Rich,” mysterious winner of an Oscar for Best Original Story. Claiming to have answer, Trumbo declared “Rich” is Mike Wilson. He knew he wasn’t going to get chance at Oscar for “Friendly Persuasion”— which would have, won hands down—so he wrote “The Brave One” “to have something to show for his year’s work.’’ Pressed for definite answer whether he -had written story, Trumbo replied, “I have been ac¬ cused of writing so many pictures I long ago adopted the policy: If the picture’s any good, I simply say I cannot confirm, nor will I denrj authorship. That way I can stand a little credit for every good pic¬ ture, and never get blamed for any of the turkeys,” “The Brave One” impressed him very much. Wisecracked Trumbo: “It has no murder, no dope addic- (Continued on page 87) 93 Film Houses Going Up in Tokyo With Big Transit Firms Financing Tokyo, April 2. In an emergency meeting, the Tokyo Metropolitan Exhibitors As¬ sociation (Tokoren) decided to ask two railroad companies, Tokyu and Keio, to halt'plans for new theatre construction. The move" was made to “safe¬ guard normalcy” in industry. At present, 93 theatres are either planned or under construction in metropolitan Tokyo .With the two RR companies the leading builders. Their advantage was described as “conspicuous," with advantages of property ownership and trans¬ port being noted. By JESSE GROSS A busy summer is in prospect for stock this year. The bullish omens stem principally from the quantity and quality of new mu¬ sical releases. Breaking into the tuner lineup are five recent Broad¬ way clicks and a revue combining material from a past New York hit and flop. The new straight play releases also include the usual flock of prior Broadway winners. A sub¬ stantial 'batch, of fresh song-and- dance product, however, is rare since there are fewer original Broadway entries in this category. Generally regarded as the hot¬ test of the new musical availabili¬ ties is “Pajama Game,”, while efther first-timers are “Boy Friend,” “Can - Can,” “Silk Stockings,” “Fanny,” on a limited basis, and “New Faces,” utilizing material from “New Faces of 1952” (a hit) and “New Faces of 1956” (a flop). Packages of “Pajama,” “Boy Friend,” “Silk” and “Faces” are scheduled. Stanley Prager, John' Allen and Mary Stanton have the exclusive packaging rights to “Pa¬ jama.” Prager and Miss Stanton appeared in the original Broadway production of the musical. “Faces” is slated for separate packaging by Howard Hoyt and the Lenny-Debin agency. The latter office is also working on a “Boy Friend” production, which, with “Faces,” will be for tents only. It’s understood that Gus Schir- mer Jr. is contemplating packages of “Boy Friend” and “Silk.” Also skedded for packaging are the (Continued on page 94) Now It’s Oitt In the Open: Wrestlers Are Entertainers And Not Rated Athletes Minneapolis, April 2. Appearing f<?r the Minneapolis Wrestling Club, which stages weekly programs in the Auditorium here to big crowds, attorney S. G. Smllow told the Minnesota Senate’s civil administration committee that wrestlers are “entertainers” and ■ not athletes. Smilow vteis arguing against pro¬ posed legislation that, would put professional wrestling under a state athletic commission and levy a 5% on gross receipts, the same as boxing. Among other things, Smilow pointed out that “there are no punch-drunk wrestlers on any of the towns’ streets.” He denied that wrestling in the state nets an an¬ nual $300,000 profit, as claimed by the measure’s adherents.. Most promoters are lucky if they break even, he declared.. Action on the bill was delayed a week.