m

B R O A D W Ay
/^VERHEARD at Moriarity's restaurant:
"An egotist is an I-dropper." * * * And a
waitress at the 51st Street Schraffs thought
that the RKO picture "Stage Struck" was
about a careless pedestrian in a western
town. * Abe Goodman, '' advertising director
*
of 20th Century-Fox, returned Monday (41
from a western division sales pow-wow. * * *
Ditto on the same day: Max Youngstein,
United Artists vee-pee, who held sessions in
Hollywood on the company's production program.
* * * Altec's A. J. Rademacher and M.
G. Thomas were making a swing of midwest
area operations and stopped off in Cincinnati
for the Allied drive-in conclave. * * * Speaking
of Altec, Fried-Reiss advertising agency
will handle the company's activities in the
motion picture, industrial and commercial
fields. Bert Ennis will create the copy and
Barry Nova will be account executive. * * •
Keeton Arnett has resigned as vice-president
of Allen B. DuMont Laboratories to become
executive vice-president of the Chamber of
Commerce of Greater Philadelphia. • ' ' Nat
Kalcheim, executive of the 'William Morris
office, will serve as chau-man of the entertainment
committee for the industry tribute
to Jimmy Durante at the Waldorf Astoria on
March 17. Eddie Cantor and George Jessel
will be co-narrators of the show business
cavalcade at the dinner.
mount gadabouts: exploitation chief Herb
Steinberg to Dallas; Morris Lefko to Charlotte,
and Charley Boasberg skated back from
Toronto. ' * * Al Lewin, producer of "The
Living Idol" for MGM, came in from Hollywood.
» • * From Paris we learn that a baby
son was born to Mr. and Mrs. Andre Hakim.
She is the former Susan Zanuck, daughter of
the Darryl Zanucks. Hakim is a producer.
The two glamorous stars of "Oh. Men! Oh,
Women!" Ginger Rogers and Barbara Rush,
are in town to publicize the 20th Century-
Fox comedy, which will open at the Roxy
February 21. Ginger also appeared on the
Perry Como TV show Saturday (16) and
the following day will throw out the first
ball at the World Championship Tennis
match at Madison Square Garden. * » *
Richard Widmark, who completed his role
of the Dauphin in "Saint Joan" in London,
is back in America to start his own production
of "Time Limit," also for United Artists
release, March 15. Rip Torn, New York TV
actor, has been signed for a major role in
this and will leave shortly for Hollywood.
• * *
Gary Cooper and his beautiful wife
are in Manhattan to see "Tunnel of Love,"
"A Visit to a Small Planet" and other new
Broadway shows.
UA Home Office Adds
Another Full Floor
NEW YORK—United Artists is taking over
the entire 11th floor at 729 Seventh Ave.
that was occupied by the Columbia executives
offices, bringing its total space in
the building to six floors. Columbia is now
at 711 Fifth Ave.
The 11th floor will house the board room,
personnel department headed by Norman
Hasselo, Jules Chapman's branch operations
staff, the television sales department headed
by John Leo, foreign accounting under Sidney
Landau, some units of the advertisingpublicity-exploitation
accounting department
under Jack Rothenberg and the mail,
mimeograph and teletype departments.
When renovation is complete, the 12th
floor, occupied by the advertising-publicityexploitation
staffs, wUl be altered to provide
for a staff expansion that has been
going on for two years.
United Artists is also taking over 650 square
feet on the fourth floor for a new telephone
switchboard facility, which will increase the
load capacity for both house and outside
calls and will eliminate the use of separate
house phones.
Occupation of the 11th floor will start in a
few days. The first units to move in will
be branch operations, personnel, foreign accounting
and TV sales.
h
Back at the console of the Radio City
Music Hall organ is Richard Leibert. Dick
has been on a coast-to-coast concert tour
giving organ recitals while on a leave of
absence. * * • Which reminds us of the story
about the editor who had to join the musicians
union because he put out a company's
house organ. * * * Charley Casanave is back
in town after opening a Fred Astaire Dance
Studio in Houston. Charley is president of
Astaire's vast dance studio organization. The
Houston setup is the first acquired by Texas
Interstate circuit on a franchise basis.
Good scouts: Morey Goldstein, Ben Kalmenson,
Hugh Owen, Charley Reagan and
Ed Walton. They are additional co-chairmen
of the motion picture committee of the annual
campaign for the New York Council of
Boy Scouts of America. The committee is
headed by Russ Downing, Rube Jackter and
Paul Lazarus, jr. * * * Who worries about
old stories? Bus loads of students go to the
55th Street Playhouse daily to see "Oedipus
Rex." A feller named Sophocles wrote the
yarn only 2,500 years ago. * • * Want to be
a screenplay writer? City College is offering
courses at night classes. Philip Freund, veteran
script writer and novelist, is the teacher.
It was a half-holiday in the film business
on Lincoln's birthday and a lot of home office
folk were seen going on a busman's
holiday—to Broadway theatres. • • • The
home offices will be closed all day Friday
(22) to celebrate Washington's birthday.
* * * Producer Howard Koch hopped in for
home office huddles with UA executives on
"Voodoo Island," "Phaxoah's Curse" and
"Revolt at Fort Laramie." » * * Russell Holman,
Paramount eastern production manager,
was back from Hollywood. • * * other Para-
Roslyn Brand, who was with the RKO publicity
department for the past several years,
most recently working with Alan Bader,
magazine contact, has a new job with Stearn
Publications, publisher of fan magazines.
* * * A Lincoln's birthday present for Sid
Retchetnik of the Warner Bros, home office
publicity department was a six-pound,
six ounce boy, born to Mi's. Raisa Retchetnik
at Doctors Hospital. Named Richard Ben,
this is the couple's second child. * » * Walter
Reade jr., who started Thomas Brandon's
series of notable French films at the Baronet
Theatre Friday (15), invited the heads
of all bakers' ajssociations and bakers' unions
to attend the lead-off picture, "The
Baker's Wife," on opening night.
Jerry Pickman, Paramount vice-president,
was host at a luncheon and screening of
"Fear Strikes Out" at Toots Shor's Monday
111). Attending were sports writers of magazines,
newspapers and wire services. The
honor guest was Jimmy Piersall, Boston Red
Sox outfielder, on whose life the picture is
based. * * * Kaiser, Sedlow & Temple, Inc.,
newly formed creative service for film advertising,
has opened headquarters at 21 E.
40th St. ' * Will Lindy's miss one of its
best customers now that Harry Greenman
has moved from the Capitol to Loew's State?
* * * Allied President Julius Gordon, in town
this week from his Beaumont, Tex., home,
said the only trouble with New York was that
he never can keep an appointment on time.
He's always dashing—dashing—dashing.
Max Cohen, president of Cinema circuit
who went to Europe last fall to scout a new
theatre television system, says perfection has
been reached insofar as a 3x4-foot screen
in concerned, but experimentation is continuing.
* * * Meanwhile, experiments are
continuing on 20th-Fox's Eidophor in The
Bronx. * • * Edgar G. Shelton jr., former director
of the U. S. National Security Training
Commission, has joined American Broadcasting-Paramount
Theatres, as assistant to
Robert H. Hinckley, vice-president and director
in charge of the Washington office.
* * « Mario DiPalma, expediter in 20th-Pox's
publicity department, received a Bachelor of
Arts degTee from Queens College. He
majored in dramatic arts. * * * Warners' Gil
Golden to Boston. * * * Director Archie Mayo
off to Europe to scout locations for Allied
Artists' "Beast of Budapest." • * * Competition
for the eighth annual Robert J. Flaherty
documentary film award has been
opened by City College's Institute of Film
Techniques which now is accepting applications
from filmmakers.
A well-known industry trencherman, who
can murder two steaks at a sitting, must be
thinking about turning to a liquid diet. He
recently wrote that he "imbibed some suki
yalci" with representatives of the Japanese
film industry. We ate ours, and with chopsticks
yet! * • * Dave Golding, vice-president
of Hecht-Hill-Lancaster, was in town
on promotion plans for "The Bachelor Party."
* * Also here for HH&L is Elliott Witt,
treasm-er and general manager. » • * Mori
Krushen, UA exploitation chief, is smart. He
headed for Miami—but strictly on business.
Maybe he read about the coming cold wave.
* * * Milt Cohen, UA's eastern and southern
division manager, came back from the
south. * • » Meanwhile, A. Schneider, first
vice-president and treasurer of Columbia
Pictures, and Leo Jaffe, vice-president,
headed for the Hollywood studios. * * ' Richard
Carlton, sales vice-prexy of Trans-Lux
Television, is back from a midwest and far
west tour.
(
E-4
BOXOFFICE February 16, 1957