Variety (June 1957)

2 MlSftXLAZVY ares’ Dlemma: 'Adult’ Themes Appealing to the 15-24 Age Group Veteran producer ■' Lawrence 'Weingurten maintains that no pic¬ ture can be a hit in today’s market unless it appeals to tlge J.5 to 24 ace croup. “We’ve arrived at this conclusion,” he said in New York, la-t \.eek, ‘ by a careful analysis cf ike preview cards.” Asked if that meant that Hollywood was abam'osi'n.R adult audiences, Wcih- ga*-i<*:i termed the query as the r, etc:-'; -I question.” He Insisted, l:Ov.e\e*. that pictures in order to he -cv.-lot have to he escapist in *:• tu 1 r ul have to draw the youm er Ri neralion. We':- ; i ten, a film producer for some yearv. recently joined with Ramiro S. Be. mcn, another veteran film ;tv to organize Avon Pro¬ ductions, an indie firm which will be financed by Metro, with which both principals have had a long association. Under terms of the deal. Avon will make 12 pictures for M-G release over a three-year period. Company, which has ac¬ cess to Metro's library of proper¬ ties*, has geared its program to, de¬ liver the* first six pictures within 18 months. First fflm under the new arrangement, “Don’t Go Near the Water,” has been completed and will be released shortly. According to Vcingarten, both Berman and himself will work jointly* on each picture on. their program although only one of them will take producer credit on desig¬ nated films. While Vv'eingarten will, he listed as producer of “Don’t Go Near the Water.” Berman will have the main credit on “Jailhouse Rock.” the Elvis Presley starrer currently being filmed on the Metro lot. Pair have a diversified list of film scheduled, ranging from the Presley entry to “The Brothers Karamozov.” Also on tlielr ini¬ tial slate is “Cat On a Hot Tin Roof.” “The Reluctant Debutante,” t ? Continued on page 22)' ANOTHER SZELL-MGR. QUARREL DETONATES Fang claw and meow stuff in symphony orchestras as detailed in Variety during 1956, was again ventilated'over the weekend with the resignation of George H. L. Smith, manager of the Cleveland Orchestra. He quit in Europe and blamed “intolerable treatment” by conductor George Szell during the current overseas tour for the U. S. State Dept. An official said Smith was “fired.” Smith, is toppled after a brief tenure, having succeeded William' McKclvy Martin as orchestra mgr. only April 1. The backstage feuding in Cleveland, an open secret never published in the local press until first published in this trade organ last falL Szell has thrown his weight in administrative matters for years. He’ is now in Europe with only wealthy lawyer Efank E. Taplin on the business side. Taplin jg due to join Princeton U. soon. CLAUDE RINYON'S STAGE PLAY Visits N. Y. With 7 His Mysterioso M. D. Collaborator Scripter Ciaudej Binyon and his anonymous collaborator, Dr. “Max Edwards,” a Los Angeles medico who really wants. to disguise' his : true identity, were in and out of. New York within;. 48 hours to hud¬ dle v. iih George Abbott and experi¬ ence a professional reading of their play, "A Soft Touch.” It’s an Octo¬ ber entry via Abbott, who will stage , and co-produce with Harold Prince and Robert E. Griffith. Frederick i Brisson, usually associated with the three, is not in on the “Touch” pro¬ duction. Binyon had to be excused for his N. Y. quickie from a 20th-Fox writ¬ ing chore for Henry Ephron, who is producing the filmed version of Paul Monash's video play, "The Singing Idol.” Incidentally, this is. Binyon’s first . New York visit since 1945 and also his first play. Reason for the L. A. medico’s insistence on anonymity is because the play treats with hos¬ pital staff behavorism and is said to be too clinically authentic to some incidents. Adenoidal Songs Fade; Hawaiian Musk Revival? Boston, June 4. • Calypso Is^ on the wane and Hawaiian music will make the com¬ plete circle and cojne to the fore¬ front in a resurgence bigger than- the late 20’s within a. year, because America's musical ear has been too long tortured by non-melodic forms, rock, r & b and calypso, too; So predicts Dolphe Martin, the Harvard medico grad who gave up a physician’s career for music, did the score for “Roll, Sweet Chariot” on Broadway, two musical films in Europe, created and produced “Youth On Parade” in 1941 on CBS radio, and is now back in the Hub reactivating the latter locally on WBMS. Says Mariln: “We’ve gone through the rock, most radio sta¬ tions have thrown it out, and we’re 9Q r c of the way through calypso. Calypso is giving way now to Ha¬ waiian music;” The only ihing new in rock melodically is the musical interval of a fourth, a new sound used to a “fare thee well, sometimes six or eight different times. with no chromatic intervals,” he contended. “Anyone with a good set of ade- < Continued on page 63) Subscription Order Form Enclosed find check for $ ..._tt a n n m n ; * _ On® Ye&r Please send VARIETY for Two Years (Pleas* Frint Name) Zone.... State. Regular Subscription Ratos On® Year—$10.00 Two Ytars—$18.00 Canada and Foreign—$1 Additional For Year 154 Wait 46* Street J^SRIETY Inc. t N«w York 3*. H. Y. P^KiETf Brunet's Carioca Honor The Officier Cruzeiro do Sul (the : Southern Cross) Brazil’s highest civilian honor, was awarded A^eade Brunet, veep and managing direc¬ tor of RCA’s International Division. Given to the American exec in Bra¬ zil, the award was for his “import¬ ant contribution to the mutual un¬ derstanding of, our two countries.” ■ Brunet, 35 years with RCA, is currently o.o.ling the company’s < Brazilian setup, RCA Victor Radio, ’ S. A. Big Earners Of Show Biz Unions Washington, June 4. Several leaders of show biz trade unions are among the big earners within the American labor move¬ ment, according to figures released by Senator Styles Bridges, chair¬ man of the Senate Republican Pol¬ icy Committee. He said the infor¬ mation was obtained from figures furnished to the U. S. Labor De¬ partment by the unions. Among those the Senator identi¬ fied were: John L. Dales, executive secre¬ tary of Screen Actors Guild, $25,- 475.64, tplus $1,373, (No explana¬ tion is given for the “plus” sums.) Walter Pidgeon, SAG prexy v , none. Richard F. Walsh, president of ( International Alliance of Theatrical ; Stage Employees, $26,450, plus $2,516:70. James C.'Petrillo, president of American Federation of Musicians, $23,000. (Dept, of Labor states that Petrillo’s total salary is $40,000, half paid by his local union in Chi¬ cago.) Lawrence M. Raftery, president of Painters, Decorators and Paper- hangers, which controls many of (Continued on page 22) Emily Kimbrough Party Cruise of British Casals With a New Book in Mind Emily Kimbrough who, when she did a Continental jaunt with Cor-, nelia Otis Skinner, came up with a bestseller, “Our Hearts Were Young and Gay,” which was fol¬ lowed by a sequel, plans to get a hook out of motor launch cruising holiday through the waterways of Britain. She is accompanied by her traveling companion, Sophie Yarn ell* Jacobs (who is president of the Urban League, N. Y.), play¬ wright Arthur Kober, and ditto (an4T also actor) Howard Lindsay and the latter’s wife, actress Doro- : thy Stickney. The motorboating through Brit¬ ain takes off in Stone, some three, hours outside of London, and will 1 traverse the canals, rivers, estu¬ aries, etc;, mooring each night and residing in some English roadside (or more strictly river-side) inn. All sailed on the Queen Eliza¬ beth last week on which still an¬ other playwright, Noel Coward, was aboard. Unique about Coward’s crossing this time is that it spelled a repatriation to his homeland after having declared himself an exp.a- • iriate (U. S. and British West In¬ dies) for tax reasons. NEW NAME FOR BINGO IS‘LITTLE MONSTER’ Ottawa, June 4. “Little Monster Night Bingo” at the Startop. Drive-In here (May 30 and every Thursday all sum- mem is the latest wrinkle to keep the ozoner filled. Theatres aren’t allowed bingo, and usually consider It stiff com¬ petition. . (This city is one of the few that permit bingo at all, and only for recognized charities.) So Startop donates the premises to South Ottawa Lions Club, which tees the bingo at 7:30 p.m. at 50c. After 12 games it’s around nine o’clock and dark, and the gamblers may either go home with their gains or their grief or stay for the- double feature, paying 65c. admis¬ sion. Most stayed at the opener “Untamcid” and “Demetrius and the Gladiators.” Word “bingo” Is rarely used In advertising such affairs, euphemism “Monster Night” being generally preferred. BATTLESHIPS $ ELEPHANTS Hillbillies, Jpse .Greco, Circus All Part of Giant Naval Review Norfolk, Va\, June 4. Show biz—from ice to ele¬ phants, with plenty of hillbilly and fandango—plays a leading role in the celebration of" International .Naval Review which opens Satur¬ day (8) and runs nine days'In this City and nearby Portsmouth. • The festival, bringing ships of war from all over the globe, ties'into the 350th anniversary of .the first' permanent British settlement in the\ western world—at Jamestown, Va.,\ about 35 miles up the James River from here. . Entertainment lineup includes the following: Ice Capades of 1957, the new show, opens at Foreman Feld, an athletic stadium, on Saturday eve¬ ning and runs the full nine eve¬ nings. Same day a trade show will (Continued on page 61) Get Federal Arts No-Subsidy Plan RoBing-VIP-s No “subsidy” of the arts is asked or provided in pending legislation to set up a Federal Advisory Coun¬ cil under the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare. Moreover the hill has support from both parties. Hence every effort should be mustered to get the measure enacted and an arts-recognizing body established in Washington. Such was the message. of last week’s rally at the Whitney Mu¬ seum in N. Y. of The National Council on the Arts & Govern¬ ment, of which Clarenee Derwent and Harold Weston are the sparks. Signatures of *400 V.I.P.’s in and out of the performing and fine arts were secured for petition to Con¬ gress. Former Senator Herbert Leh¬ man of N. Y. actively supported a Federal arts project last year and his successor Senator Jacob Javits has been quick to keep the saddle warm. Greek Director Resists U.S. Boxoffice Names In . U.A. Deal on Euripides By GENE MOSKOWITZ Paris, June 4. United Artists is talking a deal to back a Greek film Version of the Euripides tragedy “Ipbighenia” by Michael Cacoyannis, the young" di¬ rector who attracted film 'festival notice via his three features, “Windfall in Athens,” “Stella” and “The Girl In Black.” (‘’Windfall” played the U.S. lingo circuits, “Stella” just opened at the World in N.Y., and “Girl” hits the Paris Theatre in N,Y. next October). Arnold Picker, UA foreign dis- trtb head, opened, the way for in- (Coniinued on page 63) . WednMduy, Tim® 5, 1957 Japs 7 Out ofl6 Awards at Asia’s Owa Film Fest By DAVID M. JAMPEL Tokyo, June 4. It was not top surprising that Japan monopolized the prize win¬ ning at the Fourth Film Festival in Asia (May .20-24), garnering seven of the sixteen awards, so. perhaps the keynote of the event that brought an estimated 400 Asian industry, leaders and stars to Tokyo can be identified with a remark made by Shiro Kido in his wel¬ coming address. Kido, prez of the Shpchiku Mo¬ tion Picture Co. and chairman of' the fest’s executive committee, de¬ clared on the meet’s opening night, that the event will be “carefully noted by the American and Euro¬ pean film industries who cannot ignore this new development.” The “new development” refers to the expansion in scope of the Asian organization, now operating under the new title of the Federa¬ tion of Motion Pictures of Asia. In addition to Japan, the Philippines, Malaya-Singapore, Indonesia, Re¬ public of China and Thailand, this year’s festival had a new member -—Republic of Korea—and reps of India and South Vietnam, present as observers. Japan won top honors in both the dramatic feature and documen- (Continued on page 63) STOCKHOLM FESTIVAL POOL’S STATE ARTS " ■ .. Stockholm, June 4. Annual Stockholm Festival, now in its fifth season, got underway Sunday (2) at The Court Theatre adjacent- to the Royal Swedish Summer Palace at Drottningholm outside Stockholm. For the first time the resources of the Royal Swedish Opera Ballet, the orches¬ tra and music section of the Swed¬ ish State Broadcasting Service, and the Royal Dramatic Theatre have been pooled for the occasion. At Drpttningholm, the focal point ’of the 12-day fest, audiences saw the preem of “Cupid Out of His Humor,” a 17th century ballet to music by Henry Purcell, and “Mas- . ter Peter’s Puppet Show,”- a one- act opera by Manuel da Falla. French conductor Albert' Wolff ba- tonned the Swedish Broadcasting Service orch. Number of noted Swedish opera stars have been rounded up to par¬ ticipate in the fest program at the Stockholm Royal Opera House. Tenor Jussi Bjorling, who sang at New York’s Metropolitan Opera last winter, will appear In “Aida” and "II Trovatore.” Others sched¬ uled include Set Svanholm, Birgit Nilsson, Sigurd Bjorling, Kerstin Meyer and Elisabeth Soderstrom. DAILY VARIETY (Published .in Hollywood by Dally Variety. LtdJ 813 a .year. 820 Foreign.