Variety (December 1958)

2 !lfI5€lZJLANY P^WFf Wednesday, December 3, 1958 U^Jo'Censor Bilt Nixes Some Films As Too Honest for Isolated’ Reds The U.S. Government stakes the4 position that it is unwise to send ‘ into the Iron Curtain countries American films that would lend themselves to misinterpretation by a people who would judge them without the proper frame of ref¬ erence. This is the explanation of why Washington has frowned on the sale to the Eastern bloc of such titles- as “Giant,’’ “A Star Is Bom,” “Rebel Without a Cause,” “Street¬ car Named Desire,” etc. i In discussing the attitude of the State Dept, last week, Turner Shel¬ ton, chief of the U.S. Inforraatton Agency’s motion picture division, stressed that it was, iii no sense a question of censorship. “With the exception of the countries where exporters benefit from the media guarantee program, and^ also ^ of sales to Russia by companies which want to work in the framework of toe cidtural exchange pact, we ex¬ ercise absolutely no control,” he laid. “We don’t have the authority to tell anyone what he can or can¬ not sell. “However, the people who deal with the Czechs, the Poles, the Hungarians, etc. quite voluntarily submit to us lists of pictures whmh they intend to sell, and they elicit (Continued on page 95) SHEILm(WAMmtS AIL IN mop INFIDEL’ By FBED^HIFT There is very little that Sheilah Graham does not tell about her¬ self in “Beloved Infidel (The Edu¬ cation of A Woman)” (Holt; $3.95). It’s more of a self-confession, at times even a self-indictment, than an autobiography and it makes the reader alternately admire the col¬ umnist for her individualism and aggressiveness, and also dislike her for her callous use of people as stepping stones in her quite re¬ markable career. But the real value of this book, (Ckratinaed on page 95) CaHas-Horok Separating? Have Sol Hurok and Maria Cal- las separated as concert manager and artist? Hurok isn’t sure, I says “it’s a long negotiation.” I Meantime Miss Callas has done 9 concerts for Hiuok. Currently in 1 Milano for her birthday, she’s due back in States in January for a television date set by Hurok, plus Philadelphia and St. Louis concerts and her “I Puritan!’ at Carnegie Hall for the American Opera So¬ ciety. Maria Callas, Clean Capacity San Francisco, Dec. 2. A concert by Maria Callas, ac¬ companied by San Francisco Sym¬ phony members under the baton of Nicola Rescigiio, grossed more than $35,000 at Frisco’s 8,500-seat Civie Auditorium last Wednesday (26) night' j House was scaled from $2.20 to ' $6.60 and sold out. 12,000 Hear Van Cliborn; Tex. Fees: For Kids, $500; 2-JO, $4,000; 5 PJL 6G Austin, Dec- 2. One Van CUbum concert wasn’t enough for Ontral Texans, so wheels turned at the last minute with the result that the Texas- reared pianist played two concerts in his appearance Nov. 23 at Greg¬ ory Gynmasium on the U. of Texas campus. Clliburn was originally sched¬ uled to play a single 3 pjn. per¬ formance, hut clamor for tickets was so far-reaching, extending throu^out Central Texas, that he was booked for a 2:30 and a 5 pm. performance. Arrangements were made by University’s Cultural Entertainment Committee, which ( (3ontinu6d on page 16) Gilt Snbscriptioii Endosttd find chock or m.e. for $ Sond Varhfy for on# yoar two years .. three years. ADDRESS .... CITY..... Zone.... STATE.... INDICATE IF GIFT CARD DESIRED fl NAME ...... ADDRESS^ ... CITY. Zone ... STATE. One Year —$15.00 Two Years — $28.00 Three Years — $39.00 Canada and Foreign —$1 Additional per Year Inc. 154 West 46th Street New York 36, N. Y. FROM TO NAME .... Fam 0 d Aothor-Afternay Morris L. Ernst details his. own 14-Pe!nt progrom in his Pitch For Culture V.S.A. * * * one of the many Editorial Feotnres in the npeoming 53d Anniversary IS umber of P^&mErr Canadas Laborh Rap Vs. ’04 Curb Of Sunday Films Toronto, Dec. 2. With an Ontario membership of 65,000, unanimous approval of a resolution calling for . Sunday mo¬ tion pictures acroi« Canada was carried by Local 112 of the United Automotive Workers of America (CIO), meeting in convention here. The resolution will be passed upon next week by the Canadian coun-. dl of the unidn, which is expected to follow the Toronto majority policy as in the past. (The only Province in this country allowing Sunday showings of films is Quebec, where those under 16 must be accompanied by parents or guardians.) Said Gerald Clarke, chairman of the Political Action Committee of toe . Toronto District Labor (3oun- cii, who proposed^ toe resolution; “Organized labor is for a more open Sunday in, Canada despite the claims of those who support, the Lord’s Day Alliance Act. This Act (passed in 1904) represents the feelings and opinions of a small minority pressure group.” Clarke claimed that the ban of Svmday movies in Ontario (which has a third of Canadas population cen¬ tralization) was “expediting the flow of Toronto citizens in par¬ ticular to Buffalo on Sundays where movies are shown.” Move follows the unanimous resolution of the Motion Picture Theatres of Ontario Assn., in con¬ vention here, that a survey shows 90% of the voters in favor of Sun¬ day movies; that chiefs of police want Sunday showings of films to keep ymmgstera off the streets— after church service hours. USSRS^tracks Prove Scratdi; Americans who have been screen¬ ing the Soviet films purchased for distribution in the .Stat^ say. they’re astonished at the poor qual¬ ity of the soundtracks in toe Rus¬ sian pictures. It’s a problem par¬ ticularly with a film like “Swaij Lake,” where the music Is im¬ portant. Several executives familiar with the Communist orbit features say (the scratchy, noisy quality of the toacks comes as no sunnrise to them. However, they point out, the one exception in this respect Is Czechoslovakia, which has very i modem equipment and turns out sound ecruivalent to tracks record¬ ed in Hollywood. Old Order Changeth Taooos of toe Hearst papers have changed since 1941. When “Citizen Kane” was Is¬ sued theatrically in ’42, the N. Yi Journal American did not carry any ads on the pic and Hearst columns were de¬ void of any mention of the pic or Orson Welles, Film was seen as too close a parallel on the life of William Randolph Hearst. Since that time the elder Hearst died. When WOR-TV, N. Y., ran the film on its “Mil¬ lion Dollar Movie” last we^ the N. Y. Journal American, like the other metropolitan dailies, accepted a sizable ad - heralding the telecasting of the pic. ^Don Y Sass Boss \ Sez Roberta By ROBERT J. LAp5)RY Roberta Peters, a veteran of the Metropoitan Opera, this being her eighth season and she a “matron” of 28, is like colora¬ turas generally in that she drinks hardly at all and only champagne. Though there is little or no evidence that she was ever tempera¬ mental, her advice to “young” aspirants could be printed on the reverse side of Rudolf Bing’s calling cards: study hard, get plenty of sleepr be on time for rehearsals, know what you're doing, never sass the management. Miss Peters is an almost idyllic example of a feminine gender Horatio Alger. She proceeded in one unswerving line from age 13 when she was excused from the public schools of the Bronx to prepare (literally) for the Metropolitan. Everybody, including the girl, seemed never to doubt the destination as proven by a re¬ fusal at 16 of a bona fide job offer in a Broadway musical, though her parents were poor. It helped that Jan Peerce was a friend of the family but at 19, coloratura acquired a manager named Sol Hurok, who picked her from a studio audition. At 20, Hurok had her set to debut at the Met in a small role, she never having sung in her life on any stage. (The American Short-cut!) 'Then Nadine Connor came down sick. With a few-hours notice, and no run-through with cast. Miss Roberta proceeded to execute a true-life plot development worthy of a Mario Lanza film, going on in “Don Giovanni,” while her fellow-singers whispered stage business, and told her where to cross next. This season she’s singing “Magic Flute,” “Fledermaus,” “Rosen- kavalier,” “Figaro” and “Lammermoor.” On Feb. 22 she makes her 21st appearance with Ed SuUivan on tv, believed highest frequency for an operatic singer, |nd is a regular repeater on the Firestone Hour. " : =' ' • ‘ Gypsy Markof Rips GI Setup For Entertainers; Robbed, jigged, Starved Hworii^ Anderson Minneapolis, Nov, 25. A $550,000 new -wing and floor for toe $3,000,000 Northwest Vari¬ ety Club Heart Hospital on the U. of Minnesota campus will be named after Arthur W. Anderson, local Warner Bros, branch man¬ ager and a former chief barker who played a prominent part in making the entire project a suc¬ cess. The new portion of the hospital will be dedicated at a banquet on toe campus Jan. 15 when the uni¬ versity will be host to Anderson and Variety dub officers and members. Walt Disney to Enre^eans: ‘I Want My Films Sioini To Rnsuan Andimices’ Walt Disney would like to have his productions played in Russia. The producer stated this in a taped recording which he did for Radio Liberation and which was just beamed to the Soviet Union. In the broadcast,, hiade under the aegis of the U.S. State Dept., the producer said he has no thoughts about visiting Russia. But as for a deal for his product, “It is just a matter of being able to -negotiate proper arrangements,’’ he com¬ mented. Disney related that two years (Continued on page 16) "f Gypsy Markoff, one of the World War II “soldiers in grea^paint,” who lost permanent use of her right hand for her necessary pro¬ fessional accordion-playing, hut who was compensated in part by toe U.S. Government is back from a four-week tour of U.S. Army installations in France. and (jler- many with a decidedly dim view of entertainment and entertain¬ ment facilities. She and a line of eight girls, plus emcee Harry Ellis, reached the capping climax of a not too happy four-week tour when she and four of the girls in the line were robbed of $579 in the GI base near Toul, France. Tbehr handbags also contained Amexco checks but these were not touched. Miss Markoff lost .$250, one girl $100, two girls $IB() each and the other femme was robbed of $60. .While the commanding ofiBcer was incensed that Anjerican. GIs should be guilty of such larceny. Miss Markoff and the girls say “tjhe Army should be red In the jface for not having done something about it by now.” She detailed the personal hardships experienced chiefly because of long two and three-hour rides, in cold omnibuses through incessant rain, from the towns to the service clubs at which they entertained. In the-ease «f the larceny at Toul, drinking at GI service clubs is tabu but toe girls sensed immediately that sev¬ eral were "high.” Dressing room facilities are usually makeshift, ranging from writing rooms to la¬ trine retreats for any costume change^ so while the shows are (Continued on page 16) _ London WCl 8 St. MxrtiafM PL, Trafalgar Sg., COVent Garden 0133 DAILY VARIRTY (Publisbed In Hollywood by Daily Variety, Ltd.) 515 a year. 520. Foreign.