Variety (December 1957)

; Vol. 209 No. 2 NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1957 ■ PRICE 25 CENTS +- way Chicago, Dec. 10. Edwi , Silverman, prez of Es- saness Theatres Corp., called special press conference today (Tues.) to Voice the prediction that “all major Hollywood studios en¬ gaged in. production Of motion pic¬ tures for theatres, With the pos¬ sible exception of one, will close within the next six months.” Sil¬ verman, recently returned from the Coast, said he based his opinion ^on observation and discussions “With industry. leaders. “ Declining to name ■ studios, he blames the doom he foresees on tv’s devouring of product without paying production costs. He says the studios cannot realize profits from commercial tv at present film rates. Anticipating the sale of Paramount’s library to tv, he said he is urging theatre operators to band together to buy the package first/ With a few exceptions, such as Desilu, even films produced for. tv have not paid for themselves, he opined, and these will not support the film industry if theatres die. Silverman has been engaged in telefilm production . himself with an ‘‘Ellery Queen” series. By Georgia High C’t As Its Character’ Atlanta, Dec. 10. Hanging like a sword of Damper Ies over the heads of Atlanta eat¬ eries, niteries and dine & dance' spots, is a recent decision of the Georgia Court of Appeals which held that sale of whiskey mixed with other ingredients cannot be held legal on the grounds that the mixture “changes its f Character.” In essence, this decision bans the. sale of mixed -drinks in Atlanta; Which issues, for $1,000 per annum, “pouring license” Under which -.mixed drinks are given a cloak Of legality. Decision upheld a Muscogee (Columbus) Superior Court in re¬ fusing a new trial to R, L. Raines, who was convicted of selling whis¬ key without a license. Raines had a retail wine but not a whiskey license,, court record shows. Trial record said Raines claimed in bourt that the alcoholic content of, the “drink was “less than 12% by “volume and contained ferment¬ ed: alcohol or spirits.” Judge Ira Carlisle held in his opinion that it would be “strange construction” to rule that the leg-, islature “intended to exclude from the provisions of the law” the-sale of mixed drinks." ^‘The mere fact that the legisla¬ ture failed to prohibit the sale of mixed drinks does not render the sale lawful when the act expressly (Continued, on page 79) ing in 6 Mos. WOULD HAVE SINATRA SHARE CUBA’S WEALTH Hollywood, Dee, 10. Frank'.Sinatra is reportedly ne-. gptiating a deal which will put him into the Setup at : the Havana Riviera Hotel, ,• Havana, which preems tonight (Tues.) with Ginger Rogers headlining. According to the deal under dis¬ cussion, Sinatra would get a slice of the inn in return for a stipu¬ lated number of appearances. Sin¬ atra owns several points in the Sands Hotel, Las Vegas, on a sim¬ ilar kind of deal.. He acquired a slice on initially, headlining at the hotel, and later bought into the venture as well. 7 lively Arts The CBS-TV Sunday.; afternoon “Seven Lively Arts” series has dwindled down to 10 shows, at which point the network will write if off as a $1,250,000 experiment. Network tried—but failed—to sell the series, with diminishing chances after the preem telecast which failed to generate any critical en T thusiasm. . Originally it was designed as a 26-week series, (Fourth show, “The Sound of Jazz,” was shown last Sunday (8). Later it was cut to 16 entries. Latest word now is that (Continued on page 50) And Can Also Give Washington, Dec. 10. A member of the House Armed Services Committee said today (Tues.) that Russia is developing a. “television, satellite” which is cap¬ able of controlling the world’s com¬ munications. Rep. James T. Patter¬ son (RvCowU, in a speech in Mid¬ dletown,. Conn., asserted that the satellite .would -not -only be able to jam radar, radio and television, but would.also, .be able to “broadcast its own.propaganda on any tv chan¬ nel anywhere in the world.” Rep.. Patterson said his informa- . tion.came from “most reliable and authoritative sources.” He said, the new. satellite woyld be a “big bro¬ ther” to the Sputniks already aloft, would weigh a ton and would or¬ bit around the earth at an altitude of 22,000 miles, making one revo¬ lution around the earth every 24 hours. By GENE ARNEEL . Motion picture industry is com¬ ing face to face with the prospect of releasing relatively new (post 1948) pictures to television inter¬ ests and the prospect, to many, is alarming though there Is no spe¬ cific evidence of a major-scale sell- off to tv at present. But such a move is “sensed.” Above all it is “dreaded” as a case of the film industry mixing its Own suicide potion. •A prominently-placed eastern film' industry official said he an¬ ticipates such unloading “within nine months.” Film .companies will do this because “they are financially under strain and. need the money.” An important producer,, visiting Gotham recently said frankly he’s fearful that the “sellout to tv” is a “distinct possibility” and if it j comes about it might reduce the United States exhibition market to 2,000 theatres, . : : Negotiations between the major film companies and the American Federation of Musicians concern¬ ing royalties on pix-to-tv are pend¬ ing. This much is clear: The nation’s theatremen and a meaningful seg¬ ment of Hollywood’s film-making (Continued on page 70) CBS News’ Face l CBS News pulled boner of classic proportions last Friday. (6). when it flashed bulletins on radio and tv to the effect that the U. S', sputter-nik. Vanguard, had been successfully . launched. . All this while the other networks carried accurate reports on the fizzle and explosion of the rocket. It took CBS over four minutes following its 11:4.5 a.m. announce¬ ment; to come back on the air with (Continued on page 49) J Thai Explains It Never doubt the power of a legit manager to figure out an alibi for disappointing box- office., With traditional pre- Christmas attendance decline well under way, the lugubri¬ ous-faced company manager of a no-longer-capacity Broadway play was asked Monday night (9) by a colleague, “How ? s busi¬ ness at your show?” T he resourceful manager shook his head , and murmured, “Thank God for the subway strike.” SEEMELVYN DOUGLAS AS CHAMP ROAD STAR Chicago, Dec. 10. Melvyn Douglas is making a sub¬ stantial career of touring, especial¬ ly with Chicago engagements. In the last four years, he’s appeared here in three different touring shows for a total of 60 playing weeks.. Besides his costarring assign ment *with Paulette Goddard in “Waltz of the Toreadors,” which recently had a click five-week run in Chicago, he starred here last year in “Inherit the Wind” for 17 weeks and in 1954 he racked up weeks On the Loop as star of “Time Out for Ginger.” Prior to that* Douglas last appeared in Chicago in 1950 for 18 weeks in “Two Blind Mice.” Will Travel’: Private parties a la mode in New York are now going in for Japa- nese-style entertainment. Whether or not inspired by such films as ^the Teahouse of the August Moon”. rand “Sayonara,” talent bookers for the private celebra¬ tions- have been getting rush calls for Nipponese performers, includ¬ ing girls skilled in the art of gei¬ sha, a combination of Oriental danc¬ ing and singing. A flock, of geisha girls (“have kimonos, will travel”) are in New York. The Japanese trend seems to have knocked the calypso perform¬ ers out of the private party box for the time being. One idiom (Continued on page 70) 4- While- the top Broadway legits reported few cancellations because of. the subway strike, which has snarled Greater New York City, the niteries are crying murder. So are the night-shift cabbies. The daytime jehus have been given (or are tak¬ ing?) privilege of doublihg-up fares (providing the original fare is will¬ ing), because of the paralysis of the transportation facilities. But the post-6 p.m. taxi jockeys recog¬ nize “the public is so tired battling the mobs in the crowded bus and subway facilities such as they are, that people are glad to stay home and rest up for the next morning’s fight to get down to their offices and factories.” Pre-Xmas department store busi¬ ness has been badly hurt, and gen¬ erally the mistiming has antago¬ nized the public. Smart union leaders concede this has done more, on a vox»pop level, to militate against labor unions than anything in recent times. Radio and tv has been doing an intensive bulletin coverage on the strike’s progress—or rather lack of progress of transportation facilities —and it has been noted that, in light of the rapidly shifting trends, much of the information has been inept and ineffectual In fact, to add to the confusion, some of the a.m. newscasters and music-and- talk guys have openly so stated. One or two have gone the other way—being male pollyannas, a most unrealistic approach. Pix^b.o. and the moderate gross¬ ing legiters are being badly dented, Teddy Wilson’s jazz date for Sat¬ urday next at Brooklyn’s Academy of Music was postponed. Subway strike killed advance sale. Lena and Noel’s $12 Tops For New Year’s New Peaks Seems Everybody In Show Biz Has Gotta Touch Base With MCA The Music Corp. of America ex¬ erts so wide an influence in show business-that no person engaged in the industry can be relied on to be impartial iu a legal proceeding in which the agency is involved. This was the essence of an agreement reached last week in New York . . .. . • Supreme Court under which the Accenting anew the b.o, value] American Arbitration Assn, agreed placed on certain name performers{to constitute an'arbitration panel is the hike in ticket prices for thei with non-show biz members be- upcoming New Year’s Eve per-‘ cause of MCA’s status in the case, formance of “Nude With Violin.”] It was successfully argued that Top on the Noel Coward comedy;so wide is MCA’s Influence that is beiqg boosted .from $6.90 regu¬ larly to $12, believed to be a record high for a Broadway straight play in recent years. Tallulah Bankhead almost hit that mark two years ago in “Dear Charles,” In that instance the New Year’s Eve top was $11.50 com¬ pared to $6.90 normally. Both “Nude” and “Charles” failed to in¬ spire the critics, with the upped scales generally regarded as being (Continued on page 79) anyone~-engaged in show business in general and radio and tv in par¬ ticular could not be relied upon to be a disinterested arbiter because he probably is doing, has done or will do business with MCA at some time. Judge Arthur Markewich agreed and effected a compromise under which the AAA withdrew its insistence on using a panel con¬ sisting of radio-tv personnel. The hassle started when Remack (Continued on page 79) , a