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ESTABLISHED 1888 BArclay 7-5371 PRESS CLIPPING BUREAU 165 Church Street - New York SAN MATEO, CALIF. Times-News Letter Circ. D. 17,766 MAY 201353 Big-Pay Stars Are Real Shills In Las Vegas By BOB THOMAS LAS VEGAS, Nev. .(#) ?╟÷ This must be what the gold rush was like. You walk into any resort hotel at 2 o'clock iD the morning, arid the joint is jumping. The casino is noisy with the clink of silver dollars, the shouts of the lucky players and the moans of the losers, u;']^ Each week end an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 citizens, the majority from booming Southern California, crowd into this glittering town, doubling its population. The pleasure seekers or suckers- according to which view you take ?╟÷sleep in hotejf,motels or their own cars. Some^doirt sleep at all. They stand at the tables all night, transfixed by the frolicking dice. Stars Serve As Shills As in the gold rush days, entertainment is an important com- mo<ifty^?║i|rthe gambling halls. Stars of Broadway and Hollywood serve as the highest paid shills in the world. Shill: a person hired to stimulate gambling. You may have heard of some of the fantastic figures paid to entertainers by the Las Vegas hotels. Same are inflated by a press agent's pipe dream; others are fantastically true. Insiders here believe that the $25,000 weekly figure announced for Betty Hutton is close to reality. " "She might be worth that," said one operator. "But only she and a few others would be. The rest get around a third of her figure, which is an excellent salary for a week's work of an hour or two a night;" Others Angry Others are angry at the publicizing, of suchr; figures^ ""When you announce that you're paying Betty Hutton 25 G's," said one talent buyer, "hoiy are you going to hire Tony Martin for what you paid him last time? Hf'" "Prices are getting out, of hand. When you hire a star fd| 25 G's, your whole "show will run around $40,000. You can't hope to show a profit." W$\$s-Wt But most of the others don't seem to worry. They keep on.hiring the best names available at the-highest prices necessary. They hope that the gambling tables will assume any loss "on the* itigbt clubs, and they generally do. Here's an eXam?·]$&Qi the kind lay 7-5371 PRESS CLIPPING BUREAU 165 Church Street - New York NEW YORK, N. Y. TELEGRAPH Circ. D. 63,107 . '#?√ß JUN ^y 1953 Onrae Hollywood $yl Herb Stein No Release for 'Yankee Boodle'; Wyman Exclusively Warners'; \New Hit Tune forj0ayworth HOLLYWOOD, CaL/Ipe 2.?╟÷One of the big- Ibest grossers Warners ever had, "Yankee Doodle ?√ßDandy," rests in the studious negative vault, destined for complete oblivion. Seeihs the studio failed to pick <\ip the re-issue rights wi&J;|fciN George M. Cohan estate Vol* Jije picture can't be re-released."e^ti though it'd make a fortune. Tlie story rights reverted back to; the estate . . . As soon as Marie Wilson winds her "Marry Me Again" picture for Alex Gottlieb, she'll break in her night club act at Del Mar before her SaMg^ftofefcengagement in Las 'Vegas.. .Incidentally, CBS ?√ßwent all out in cooperating with Marie so she could I do this picture. Filmed and taped her TV and radio ?√ßshows in advance, so she'd have no extra tvork ?√ßduring the filming of the Gottlieb production... ISam Spiegel ran "Melba" for a select group at 1M-G-M, on Leo's wide-screen. He re-dubbed the [entire picture for stereophonic sound?╟÷and from [what we hear, it's a knockout. Could be another ["Caruso" f emalewise, Patrice Munsel delivering with ja wallop... Lotta stories around about Jane Wy- Iman doing this and that picture on a participation Ideal for various producers. Janie is tied' up ex- jclusively with Warners and unless! the Burbank J plant loans her out or switches her Contract to a I non-exclusive arrangement, she ain't making any 1 outside pictures anywhere. - .' I of shows that play here. Current headliners are Eddy Arnold at the Sahara; Jane Powell, Desert inn; Joe E. Lejsds, El Rancho Vegas; John Payne and Lou JHoltz, Flamingo! Rex Allen and Sons of the .Pioneers, Tpmderbird; Liberace an0 PhllT poster, Last Frontier; Beter Lind * and Mary Healy, ^^Sut^naT*isn't all. Each place \$s_Jpfo or three other top-flight jtcfsT plus eight to a dozen girls, most of whom could adorn any magazine cover. "Booking ^alcnt-ia ?╜ bc?╜r*?╜cfac^ said one show producer. "You not only have to fight the other places in getting the best talent; you also have to find talent that will stimulate betting." Best Attractions The best attractions for the heavy gamblers are old-time nitery stars like Joe E. Lewis and Sophie Tucker. Oddly enough, Bob Crosby's engagement was a stimulus to the tables- the explanation was that the Crosbys have many well- heeled friends. frggf ._ -x Spike Jones and others who at- tnact the family trade are great for dining room business ?╟÷ '*but the patrons drift out through the casino like a sieve%',-v,j^S5|. A surprise hit at the Sahara was Lauritz Melchoir . and his young, singers, said to be the best show e^r.in Las Vegas. Van Johnson wasVso a big draw at the ?√ßSands. l^^a^^ ESTABLISHED 1888 BAr'clay 7-5371 PRESS CLIPPING BUREAU 165 Church Street - New^ork Long Island City, N')%T. . STAR JOURNAL MAY?019?║& j ??AVID WAYNE climbing high in: drama world. Coming back tot iB'way'for topmost role in "Syca-| more Tree," Sam & Bella Spe- wack play, which starred" Alecl Guiness in London. Mr. W. not on' [stage since "Mr. Roberts" . . . Patricia Wheel and Bert Whitley, thesps, ain't actin' . ?╜,. Twins, gal! !& lad, for Joe Clairs. He's aide toj Martin Stone, TV packager . . .1 44th street not same sans "South Pacific," a fixture at Majestic, which it occupied from April 7, '49 | till last Saturday. (R. & H. masterpiece returns to B'way after 14-week stand in Boston) . . . Marguerite Piazza inked by Capitol | Records * , . Swell idea initiated by Calif, court, which approved 19-year-old Pat Crowley's Para-j mount pact, with instructions that! she put 15 per cent of salary in] JU. S. Savings Bonds jafttfi"/"Marry Me" to be followed by epic pegged "Marry Me Again." (Evidently first didn't take! -;?√ß/< ?√ß . _^.. MICKEY SPILLAlVE.toay dump Mike Hammer for anofffer character. Publishersj'T^^^j^de a survey, found reader^Miy Spil- lane, not his executio^^^', . Big nite for Bankhead^T1?^"' makes her bistro bow this' overling. At gt"Tfh. Ti?" v""-?Σ≤ . .Marilyn Erskine switched to Johh Hudson . Paul Lepere postcards from Rome: "Gasoline signs throughout *baly read Agip. And it sure is!" ESTABLISHED 1888 BArclay 7-5371 PRESS CLIPPING BUREAU 165 Church Street - New _M LAS VEGAS, NEV.r REVIEW-JOURNAL Circ. D. 12,535 - S. 13,116 J MAY \ 91953| \Jn the f^yc own ?√ß with alan jarlson- Scribblings From Hollywood ran )?p***f.: On a brief junket to Hollywood and right off the bat! ran into Bill Moore and Kell Housselsalso staving at the Roosevelt ... And the' Roosevelt brings to mind the Tommy Hull story. ?Σ≤^?·5ni?·! tF0"1?1^ who owns th?╜ H'wood Roosevelt and Sacra-1 memos M Rancho is, of course, well remembered with deep affection by Las Vegans. He set the stage thru his own valiant pioneering etforts in Vegas?╟÷when no banks would nut forth a nickel to build a resort hotel on Hiway 91. f- *Si? +H,u11 dug the money3frOm his own-pockets to build the} first hotel as a forerunner of the lush financial bonanza that now paves the Strip. ^^JmI ?? I recall that Hull shelled out eighteen grand which, at that ime, was the total sales price of a parcel of land which today ^ides the sites of Hotel El. Rancho Vegas and radio station KENO. Hull built El Rancho and went on from there . .. It's ack-| riowledged that he, more than anyone else, is the man responsible? for the lure that keynotes Vegas. Yet, today, having expressed to friends a thought that hi might return once again as a hotel operator in southern Nevadl the very men he benefited thru his pioneering in Vegas are pc?╜f fec-tly willing to sell him a hotel for-upwards of five million bucf If he had a piece of land he could build for far less,' and*T his established reputation, in no time at all could,.reach the-ad!--.. ment of anything we now* have ... The fantastic price which is admittedly acceptable for anyone else seems to me, insofar, as;! having Hull back on the scene is concerned, exactly that?╟÷fantastic. The Gorgeous Korjus: With Las Vegas launching its greatest! musical kick in history, as a parade of illustrious vocalists, led by I Melehior, MacDonald, Eddy, Pinza and others, have put the sup-f per shows over as a concert mecca?╟÷now a new name is about to e be added to our musical, history?╟÷but not ah unknown .. . Remember the great all-time musical hit, "The Great Waltz." The MGM 1 musical gave. Americans the wonderful Miliza Korjus. Now, Miliza,! is preparing to take to the nite club circuit. Instead of trying out at such places as San Diego's Tops, however" she will debut with! an all-girl violin section and entire revue in the auditorium at La4 Jolla next Friday.... Korjus' musical director, Sergei Malevsky,:' was the musical technical director and accompanist for Pinza in! "Tonight We Sing" ... One Las Vegas hotel has evidenced great! interest in securing the Korjus unit. Once the act is launched, no! doubt a firm bid will be made by one "of our top hostelries ... Welcome back, Miliza Korjus! fillpip The Midnite Prowl: Mary McCarthy, a young gal making al terrific comeback, 'was booked to open at the Flamingo May 24.' In the meantime, Mary got a bid for a major screen role at RKO.; There was no trouble. Execs at the hotel are permitting Mary to! avail herself of the film offer and must now replace her for the! Dave Rose opening. Swell gesture... Maggie Whiting, soon to | appear in Vegas, will feature a song called "One Armed Bandit! Boogie" .. . Can understand why Betty and Jane Kean are knock- i ing this town for a loop. Caught 'em at Ciro's and their new material is terrific. ^iilS It was wonderful to behold the tremendous line of kids at the \ box office of Warner's H'wood thtr. It cost each of them a buekj twenty (a special price) to see Cinerama. The most remarkable; objective reason one could arrive at, is that the yo$8?· of America is I O.K. When they can look towards a scientific n$w phase in mo-i tion pictures with such unbound enthusiasin, belief me, they've \ got a chance.... Saw Titanic at Grauman's Chinese thtr. Clifton I Webb surpasses anything he's done in films. The pi*eHuction as al whole" is superb ... "House of Wax," the 3^Der, is on tonite'$] agenda. .. Gloria Pall telling newsmen in the' filih |ity that she} played 258 shows in Vegas and dropped 40 pounds.'Asdds that she I and her new hubby expect to leave soon for-a belated honeymoon in Acapulco. Y WM*?·ltfi*k\ Felt Ike a shmo, fumbling with the TV;#|t. for the big! fight... Just got into focus as the announcer said*?;"And still the heavyweight champ, Rocky Marciano!"'.. . Thesfi^e been long counts?╟÷Walcott claims a short count?╟÷and I claim Wilis failed out j of seeing the gol-danged thing^ altogether . *-. LueJ^C.ime^dio was { turned on! :- ?╟≤;/;''.' '?√ß?√ß ?√ß?√ß-.',-.", iP*a&i At last caught *up with Jackie Gleason on television. This guyi has really caught On thru this mediar because all of hMpFast talent for buffoonery gets ithe ful| treatment... The Los Angeles area now contains more, than 1,434,600 video sets. Cities topping that totali include New York, with 1,450,000 and Chicago leads with 1,510,000! In town ten minutes and ra^i into Sands booker Jack Entratter; rushing into the Guaranty Bldg. (a#HtHWilywood & Ivar), and Gregory Ratoff. .. Nanci Crompton planning to return to the; Las Vegas spotlite at the conclusion of a current film chore.