Variety (December 1957)

MISCELLANY East German Pix May Be Seen Via D.S. Alien Property-Custodian Distributors of German films in-4 the United States have been, in-: formed by the U.S. Government [ that they are now free to release' East German films provided such pictures are licensed to them by I the Office of Alien Property.. j The Government office maintains it has the rights to the East German: (DEFA) films on the theory that no ; peace pact was ever signed with the f East Germans. Furthermore, thej East Germans confiscated, some; American property and the U:S, has! no representation in that country, j At one point, DEFA productions ; (Continued on page 79) Montand and His Wife, Under a ‘Red’ Cloud, Bid: For U.S. Entry Visas Paris, Dee. 10. Yves Montand, top. singer- actor, : and his wife Simone Signoret, a film and stage star, have put in for their American visas. T^iis was two months ago and the question has not been settled yet. It is said that on-the-spot U.S. Embassy observers are for their visas being, issued, but it is being held up somewhere along the line. Both signed papers to the effect ; i that they are not or have ever been 1 Communists. They are liberals arid < have been associated with various , petitions that were Leftist-inspir- ; ed, they told Variety. Moritand ] made a singing torn: of Russia and .■< the satellites soon after the deba¬ cle of Hungary. He says he' did < this because of prior engagehierits. i He had Wanted to postpone it be¬ cause of his feelings on Hungary. < hut since he had already put it ; off due to film- commitments, and dates, had been sold out, he felt, i : as a showman, he had to go through With It. MANIE SACKS OUT AGAIN BUT IT’S NOT SERIOUS NBC program veepee Manie Sacks has. returned to his mother’s home in Philadelphia for further rest and medico checkup following his recent six-wisek: siege. What was believed originally to have been Asiatic flu turned out to be pneumonia,: arid Sacks’ return .to the network couple weeks back was premature. Sacks’ NBC associates minimize reports that, have been circulating that his condition is somewhat grave arid indicate that he should be “back in action” within two weeks. 'A&IETY Rap ‘New* Film Claim Warner Bros, has protested formally: to station WKRC-TV in Cincinnati against that star tion’s claim that it planned to show “new” Warner, United Artists; and 20thrF6k films on the air. : Claim was made in 24-sheets distributed'by the station, all over town. Posters said films made between 1952 and 1957 worild be aired. in its letter to the station, WB denied the claim and de¬ manded a correction.. None of the majors’ post-1948 is pres¬ ently being shown, though some indie films made after 1948 have gotten on tv. Wednesday, December 11, 1957 Paris Looks like a Stptz Bearcat As Show Biz Reprises the 1925 Era Own Ballet Also Minneapolis, Dec. 10. Buxom girls are staging a come- back, according to researchers for Twin Cities’ Brown & Bigelow, one of the nation’s leading publishers of calendars adorned with pin-up lovelies. (It was B&B that had Mariyln Monroe iri the altogether on one of its caleridars.) Accordingly, the BB .1958 calen¬ dars will feature the plump styling iri females. .. One of the company’s research- ers, U. of Minnesota art professor Malcolm Myers, was among those who put the approval stamp on the robust/ better Upholstered females. “Top artists now don’t want (Continued on page 79) Edinburgh, Dec; 10. . The Edinburgh Festival, one of the oldest and best-established of Europe’s' cultural annual hooplas, is establishing a ballet company of its own for next year. First tiirie that the sponsors have okayed any actual local ^production. Original intention', of calling it the Edin¬ burgh Festival Ballet has been scrapped and a differerit title will be chosen iri order riot to creaite conflict with names of other Brit¬ ish ballet companies. Idea was sold to the Edinburgh folk by Michael Frostick, a young London impresario, who is in charge. Formula is different from any existing companies. Idea is to present all-new ballets. Interna¬ tional name choreographers have been invited to create these bal¬ lets,, 12 . of them actually being cbmmissioned. Each ballet will be 20 minutes long (approx), with four to consist a program for a giveri night. # A company of 12 dancers (four male, eight, female) is being form¬ ed; Peggy Van Praagh (formerly of Saddler’s Wells) is choosing this basic company in London. Miss Van Praagh will act as " dance di¬ rector throughout the season. After the Edinburgh season, Frosticfr will bobk the troupe on art extended world tour, he hopes, expanding the basic company to 18 . and without the guest stars, of Gift Subscription Enclosed find check or m.6, for $..,.. Send Variety for two years Zone.... STATE. FROM Indicate if gift card desired Q CITY Zone.... STATE...... One Year - $10.00 Two Years. — $18.00 Canada and Foreign — $1 Additional, per Year PfotlETY In*. 154 West 44th Street New York 36, N. Y. Wkt Tins Coaotry Needs (And Is Getting a Chi) Is a Good Five-Cenl Beer Chicago, Dec. 10. Five-cent beer and 15c cocktails return to -the Loop entertainment scene Dec. 27 when Dan Goldberg opens his Red Garter Music HalL Goldberg, longtime legit and strawhat producer, has located the theatre club in the former Bandbox pn Randolph St. Spot seats 180, with a 90c admission tap. Nickel beer and iow-priced highballs are only for the first round, seconds will be upped to comparable nitery prices. Although the entertainment will be titled “The Drunkard,” it’s not the same show that ran for inore than 20 years in Los Angeles. This one will be a series; of. blackouts, pldtime songs arid Comiriunity sing¬ ing. Two - pianists and 12 singer- actors will be Used. After several weeks of discussion as to whether the club 1 /ould come Under American Guild of Variety Artists or Actors Equity, jurisdic¬ tion was. assigned to Equity and a contract with that union was signed last week. Ricketson Again Prez Of Central City Group Denver; Dec. 10. Frank H. Ricketson Jr., -general manager of National Theatres, was re-elected tor the 13th year as president of the Central City Opera House Assn. The organization pre¬ sents annual sumirier-long play fes¬ tivals Iri the 79-year-old opera house in Central City, former mi - irig town iri the mountains 40 miles west of Deriver. Robert W. Selig, president of Fox Inter-Mountain Theatres, was re-elected a vice-president. DEAY ON GLOBE, N.Y.; WILL TOUR'MUCH ADO’ A nine-week tour is being sub¬ stituted for the cancelled booking of “Much Ado About Nothing” at the Globe Theatre, N.Y. Kather¬ ine Hepburn and Alfred Drake will repeat the . roles they played last summer in the American Shakespeare Festival Theatre & Academy production of the play in Stratford, Cohn. The tour opens Dec. 30 iri Philadelphia. The hike will be the first lii a contemplated series of annual tours of outstanding ASFTA pro¬ ductions; . The plan to present the revival at the Globe as the the¬ atre’s first entry in its return to the legit fold was scrapped when it was learned that reconstruction, of the house would not be. com> pleted in time for the scheduled Jan. 2 opening. Borges $45,111 Take-Home Week Victor Borge’s take-home for one-night stands last week (2-7) was only $115. short of a fat $45,- 000, done iri six performances. Four of the six were SRO. Pianist-comic’s week’s windup in Syracuse Saturday (7) marked the peak draw at $17,150, scaled $2 to $4, playing Onondaga County War Memorial under ... promoter Bob Sexton. Bdrge’s pull was 6,120 customers, against 7,000 capacity. He played the date on percentage, giving Sexton a profit. Another high score was racked in Boston: Up ahead in Syracuse, the Black Watch Regimental Band drew 3,400 for a $7,200 take, at $3.50 top. On guarantee basis, Sexton lost money. 22G in Day-Apari. 2 Boston, Dec. 10. Victor Borge set a record here in stagger dates at Symphony Hall, (Continued on page 79) CINERAMA ASSURED BRUSSELS’58 FAIR Cinerama will be seen -at the Brussels World Fair which ripens iri March, 1958, under Robin In- ternatiorial, the import-export firm which already operates Cinerama theatres in Erigland, France, Italy and Japan. Cinerama theatre at the fair will be specially designed and will have a seating capacity of 1,000. When the Fair is over, the Cinerama presentations will be moved to a theatre in the city of Brussels. First picture to be shown at the Fair will .be “This Is Cinerama.” y Paris, Dec. 10. The old saying goes, that there is nothing as permanent as change iri show biz, arid yet the current cycle here seems to be patterned along a bygone era. In a word, the year 1925 seems to bellowing and reflecting, itself again on the show .scene here.. The “new” femme styles of sack dresses arid long strands of pearls look from John Held Jr. The swank dancery boites are beginning to find as much call for the Charles¬ ton as the Latirio rhythms. New¬ comers with zest, directness and savvy are referred . to . as a new Mistinguette, Cheyalier or Joseph-: ine Baker. Raccoon coats are ex¬ pected and hip flasks can be seen from time to tiirie. Spec and strip and speakeasy-club like boites are the thing again. So are hopped-up automobiles. I Zizi Jeanmaire dons feathers and front’s a saucy, raucous song- alog to have her dubbed Uie new “Miss”; Patachou sings "Mon Hom¬ me” and Philipe Clay, and Henri Salvador have staple entries in, their stints about either a recal¬ citrant Charleston dancer or a nostalgic one. Leo Ferre and Jean Constantin bring back the lament¬ ing, lowdown ditties of the with such items as “Paris Canaille,?’.. “Le Piano Des Pauvres,” “Mets Deux Thuns’ Daria Le Bastringue,” “Jolie Pap-pap-Papillon,’? etc. . 'The late Sacha Guitry’s vintage entry,, ‘Faisons Un Reve” (Let’s Dream), is iri its second legit year. “L’Ecole Des Cocottes,” with gig¬ olos, cloche hats, etc., was a.smash recently arid is being turned into (Continued on page ’79) Lanza’s First British Concert Tour Already Shapes Smash Success London, Dec.. 10. •Mario Lanza’s first. British con¬ cert tour shapes as a smash suc¬ cess. Within four hours of open¬ ing, the boxoffice at the Royal-Al¬ bert Hall had sold all the 7,000 tickets for the singer’s first Lon¬ don date on Jad 16. A similar rush on bookings is ariticipated for Lanza’s second appearance at the Hall three days later. .Victor Hochhauser, who is; pre¬ senting the tour in conjunction with the Royal Albert Hall au¬ thorities, told : Variety that in all his years as a concert promoter he had never experienced anything like it. In the provinces, deriiande for tickets already was far greater than available capacities. Lanza will appear in most of the. iriajor British cities during his tour which will be spread out over a month. Tour opens at Sheffield Jan. 4. . The singer will riot be accom¬ panied by an • orchestra* Instead, throughout his stints, scheduled to run for around two hours, he will be assisted only by his pianist* Constantine Callincos. 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