Evening star., 1950-11-14
By Harry Macarthur

Night clubs can be sources of
trouble, leave us face it. In Holly
wood, they cause more expensive
trouble than anywhere else. If we
can believe press agent. But
don't start thinking along those
lines because that way lies mad
ness. Back to the subject.
1t is not real night clubs that
cause all this high-priced trouble,
but the ones erected on the sound
stages for movie scenes. Art di-
rectors earn fabulous salaries and
spend studio money like Indian
rajahs spend rupees in the never
ending attempts to make new
night club sets different from old
night club sets.
The latest art director to run
afoul of this problem, according
to the Warner Bros. press depart
ment, was Leo K. Kuter. He was
assigned the task of erecting a
night club for a picture called
Highway 301" and he did his
level best to make it different
from all other night clubs in the
movies, present and past.
He hung the room with garish
draperies, covered the floor with
ankle deep carpeting, lighted each
table individually and set the or
chestra in shell of pure, thick
silk. The tables and chairs were
brand new, never having appeared
in previous film. Finally Mr..
Kuter decided he had spent all
the time and money the budget
would allow. He summoned Direc-
tor Andrew Stone, hoping for at
least mild approval.
"H-m-m-m-m," said Mr.. Stone
as he inspected the movie bistro,
ut looks like a night club all right,
I guess; but then, all night clubs
look alike anyway, don't they?"
If it will cheer Mr.. Kuter any,
all night clubs do not look alike.
1t just begins to seem that way
to people who go to them.
Our advice to Hollywood In this
matter is to save it's money. Build
one lavish night club set, looking
like all other night club sets, then
never tear 1t down. Just use it
over and over again in picture
after picture. Nobody will ever
know the difference. People who
go to real night clubs often can't
remember the next day what they
looked like. Nobody's going to re-
member a movie night club from
one film to the next.
X X II X
The customers are complaining
again, or at least there is a man
around here who says they are.
Sam Harper. described by our in
formant as "a man-about-town
who has to drive all the way in
from Alexandria to make it." first
wants it understood that he is
second to nobody in his admira-
tion for Evalyn Tyner's music.
He also wants to be, however
first in his delight in Miss Ty-
ner's ballroom dancing. He would
almost as soon watch her dance
as listen to her play the piano. He
thinks 1t is highly remiss of us
never to have noted that Miss
Tyner and her partners are the
two most grateful people perform
ing on any dance floor within
miles of here.
Well. the truth is that the pangs
OF Jealousy are just too severe
1or us to watch Miss Tyner dance
with someone else and no one
should know this any better than
Mr. Harper's go-between, on the
other side Of this partition here
This Is all academic anyhow
because Miss Tyner is not within
miles OF here. Instead of being at
the Embassy Room where she be-
longs she is off touring the Stat
Ter chain. When last reporting she
was at the William Penn Hotel in
Pittsburgh enjoying what, because
OF the newspaper strike, she de-
scrloed as secret engagement.
Another customer was COM
planning the other day about re-
viewers who belabor the word
authentic" in reporting on en-
tertainment. "If it's high class
and you don't understand it." he
growled, "you guys call 1t authen-
tic. That means I'm a dope If 7
don't like it. even If nobody un-
derstands It,"
Ihis all came up during a dis
cussion Of Los Chicanos. the di-
verting entertainment group at
the Sazerac Room of the Old
New Orleans. Los Chicanos are
whether our complainant likes
the word or not, authentic. They
are Latin Americans who do the
songs and dances they have
learned in various Latin Aneri-
can countries. They did not learn
the samba by way of a corre-
spondence course.
Los Chicanos probably are not
shown to best advantage in the
Sazerac Room, but they whip up