Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 13

6" 9 7" 05 1 The Feature Page 1 4 ii'i 13-A SATURDAY, DEC. 22, 1973 ipiipijl IHUIIUIIIUU THE JAPANESE have cornered another market. Dollar-wise, says Bob Martin of "Gaines Inc." at 263 Pierce Birmingham, the "pachinko machines are the No. 1 seller this year. There are some 8,500 pachinko parlors in Japan and every two years they replace their machines, which are reconditioned and sold in this country." Martin is a trend-spotter.

One thing he's discovered is the total refutation of the theory that games and novelties would be very easy items not to buy when times are tough. He says, "We are running ahead of last year, which not many retailers can probably say. I watched the items that were going out of the store and it's obvious people have decided to stay home and play. That's the type of items they're buying." A quick check of area liquor stores shows the same thing: people are buying more booze and are doing their drinking at home. "People who used to buy three or four bottles, now buy by the case," one store-owner told me.

The shortages in everything are also a concern to a game store owner like Martin. "When's the last time you saw a simple' thing like wooden checkers?" he asks. "Only one company in the country makes 'em and they can't get enough wood. The William Drueke Company in Grand Rapids makes a lot of great items for us like 'Shoot The Moon' and and these are made of wood. It's getting harder and harder to get wooden items." As far as other hot items this Christmas, Martin says the new Scrabble Sentence Cubes where you ANOTHER YEAR-round thing is the need for blood in our community.

It always comes to a critical shortage this time of the year, says Pat LaNoue, because there's an unavailability of blood donors in December and January. This year the problem is complicated even more by the auto layoffs. But, she points out, "the situation could be remedied somewhat by the new 17-year-old donor population who can contribute now." Blood may be the one thing you can give without worry so call 833-5533 and find out where you can do so. SOMETHING VERY beautiful happens tonight at Jim's Garage. It's the 40th anniversary party for Jeanne and Ben Feldstein, which their son, Attorney Bob Feldstein and his wife Adrian, and daughter, Lenore Dis-kin and husband Sam, are putting on.

Their anniversary is actually Christmas Eve, which means they had the love and faith to get married Christmas Eve '33, at the height of the depression. Jim's Garage is appropriate because Ben has been in automotive parts and transmissions all his life. One of the remarkable things about this couple, says their proud son, "Is that in 40 years of marriage they have never been away from each for as much as a day. Even when dad had business trips out of town, he took mom along." EASTSIDERS who have missed out on Christmas Carol singing elsewhere because of the weather and fuel shortage get together Sunday night at St Rene Parish on Ryan Road, between 15 and 16-mile, in Ster- K1TY LEPINE has a little saying she thinks is pretty good and so do so let's share: "Love is never having to say 'Take the GIGI FLORAL Fashions of Detroit have the most unusual floral delivery service of the season: real, live pixies, elves and gnomes. As one women's lib pixie told me, she's a "Ms.

Gnomer." Anyway, these Elves are certainly brightening up people's lives as they give out over 8,000 candy canes to the children along the way. GAIL RUMOHR of Copycraft Inc. is like so many of us who get tired of the duplication of calendars and business gifts this time of year. "That's why," she says, "I was delighted to get a card from Staff Builders Medical and Temporary Personnel Services which said that instead of sending out gifts this year, it took the money and gave a needy family of six a complete Christmas tree, clothing, presents and a turkey dinner." They got the needy family through a United Foundation-Torch Drive service. Peggy Turner is supervisor of the Visiting Nurse Association which matches generous Detroit area people with folks who need help to have Christmas.

The generous people provide food, clothing and toys. One westside working girl found she was spending $200 a year on two nephews, and she says, "They really don't need it, so I put that money toward someone more needy." One young woman asked for the birthdates of the children in the family she's been assigned because, "I don't want this to be a once-a-year-thing, but year round." make sentences out of words on cubes is the biggest single item in the lower price range. Backgammon is also hot, and Monopoly is still the No. 1 board game as always. "Something interesting about that," points out Martin.

'Parker Bros, did very well during the depression because all people could afford to do was stay home and play Monopoly." SPEAKING OF GAMES, Walter DikoskI of Sterling Heights' "Stradivarius Inc." is stirring up a coming battle between and "purists" in the widening world of chess. i i created "Crescendo Chess," which, he says, compounds power and mobility, plus more ingenuity. His game allows the pieces to be stacked so that you eventually make moves on three different levels. "The chess purists frown on us," he says, "but I maintain 'Crescendo Chess' just makes a better conventional chess player out of you." The game is being sold and demonstrated at Jacobson's. My Jack O'Brlaii yum wnwm I kvd Ann Landers 'Seesaiv' Sets Marfe, A Low One Hubby's Lapse Costly to Her SViJ Where TV Goes Wrong In Judging Public I HAVE WRITTEN before, and I feel like writing again, about the familiar cop-out of the entertainment media and especially TV that "we're just giving the public what it wants." The truth of the matter is that the entertainment media and especially TV don't know what the public wants.

Equally true is the fact that the public doesn't know what it wants, until it gets it. If television programmers knew or even had a good idea it would not be necessary to cancel dozens of new shows every season after only a few weeks. It would not be necessary to blow millions of dollars on "pilots" that never make it, or other millions on slavish imitations of popular programs that also fail to meet audience approval. CONTRARIWISE, the programmers would not be so surprised at the success of a good show like "The Waltons," which the network was ready to remove from TV last season, until a groundswell of public support indicated that, despite moderate ratings, it commanded a solid and loyal corps of enthusiasts. The search for "popularity' as an end In Itself Is always futile.

By the very terms of its creation, whatever becomes popular fast is doomed to die away as soon as another fad begins to overtake it. It is no accident that few, if any, TV shows have won the loyalty and permanence of the old radio programs, which went on for 10 or 15 or 20 years with undiminished audiences. These programs were not junked if they failed to attract a massive audience in their first 13 weeks; they were kept on and nurtured and had a chance to develop their unique character, so that the public felt a part of them. THE SAME IS TRUE of the stations themselves in the days of radio, each station had its own character and personality, and did not try to compete with other stations or become all things to all listeners. With TV nobody knows or cares which channel is which; the channel is simply a neutral medium carrying programs we like or dislike; thus, channel-switching is pandemic, and this drives the sponsors up the wall: Another reason programming is so frantically (and futilely) competitive.

Nobody' in the popular media has any faith in anything, including his own judgment or taste. If one "medical" show succeeds, a half-dozen imitators rush in, failing to recognize that it is not the medical setting that makes the show attractive, but some special quality that cannot be duplicated merely by changing the actors' names to "Doctor." The public only knows what it wants after It gets it; it is fickle not because it is shallow but because it is restless for satisfaction. NEW YORK Broadway set a new negative record when "Seesaw" folded with a loss of $750,000 and it will total more by the time everyone starts suing and counting It's a wild deficit considering it was financed at a supposed $750,000 until the show fell into production shock even as it started The essential notion to muscialize "Seesaw" was weird: it was to be a tuned-up version of William Gibson's hit, "Two for the Seesaw," which had a cast of precisely Henry Fonda and Anne Bancroft, and ran for years Jacking up these two characters and pushing under them the razzle of a large cast didn't dazzle anyone from the beginning. Our spies in Detroit, where the show tried out, reported the dazzle was an immediate frazzle with major upheavals in vir tually every department, creative and administrative: Lai- Kazan is a zoftic Jewish me DEAR ANN LANDERS: Two years ago I married a man who had an out-of-wedlock child. The child's mother is a plain-looking, stupid, ignorant woman.

For the life of me I can't understand why he had anything to do with her. When the court ordered him to support the child he did the honorable thing instead of fighting it like some men do. (They bring in three witnesses who swear they slept with the girl and the case is thrown out of court.) Now we have a child of our own and it makes my blood boil when I think that he is sending a check to that little tramp every month money we need here at home. How long must a man pay for a mistake that was only half his? WANT JUSTICE. i Dear Want: Your husband is obligated by law to pay for "his half of the mistake" until the child is of legal age.

In some states it's 18 in others, 21. The alternative is jail. Dear Ann Landers: Our 13-year-old daughter is a very pretty and talented young lady. She has been in local theatrics since the age of five. Of course, she has her heart set on a career in the theater.

Last October we received a letter your letter will serve as a warning to others. Dear Ann Landers: Can stuttering be cured? I am not talking about a child. It's a grown man I am concerned about. He has stuttered ever since I met him, six years ago. It seems to get worse instead of better.

This person comes from a family of non-stop talkers. They won't let anyone get a word in edgewise. His sister and brother stutter, also, but not as bad. He is a wonderful person, very interesting, and has a lot to say. But he has such a hard time saying it nobody cares to listen.

Please, Ann, tell me if he can be helped. If so, how? HIS FRIEND WHO CARES. Dear Friend: Stutterers of any age can be helped, but it's more difficult for an adult. You realize, of course, that stuttering is a symptom of an emotional problem. Your friend must find out what is bugging him and learn to deal with it.

He must then get some speech therapy, either with a private tutor or at a rehabilitation center. I hope he will follow through. It will make a big difference in his life. Don't get burned by a "line" that's too hot to handle. Play it cool with Ann Landers' guide to "Necking and Petting-What Are the Limits?" Send your request to Ann Landers, Box 828, Detroit 48231.

from a theatrical agency offering an interview. They said they had heard about our gifted little girl and wanted to represent her. We filled out the form and the following week an imr pressive man came to the house and Lisa read for him. He assured us she had a great future. The only requirement was a photograph, which would have to be taken by them since they were "specific requirements in regard to uniformity." The picture and "fee" for evaluating the reading was "a mere $100." We paid the $100 and received one print of the picture (which was not good) and so far, Ann, we have not received a single phone call from the casting office.

Four phone calls from us have given no satisfaction. They keep saying, "We'll call you back," but they never do. I'm sure we've been taken in by some highbinders. What can we do about it now? We feel like kicking ourselves. BEEN HAD IN L.A.

Dear L.A.: Go ahead and kick yourselves. You've been had, all right. Now the thing to do is report the incident to the Better Business Bureau and the Chamber of Commerce. It might be too late for you, but I hope 'i i 't 1 Mi? A i girl hired to play a zoftic Jewish girl, and hardly had Lai-nie bounced into Detroit than she was proclaimed not the right type to play a zoftic Jewish girl But Lainie had been hired on a run-of-the-play contract and hung in there desperately while changes of practically everything twisted galvanically around her Ultimately she was replaced by Michele Lee, a considerably less zoftic Jewish pirl with a tailnrprt hnt- is Michele Lee: Up and Down on 'Seesaw' wwwwim Chuck Stone IV t)r. Steincrohn Smoking Perils Life and Livelihood ton nose and enough carbonation for a decade of seltzer bottles Lainie reportedly still is owed her tightly contracted salary; It still did not soften the pain of not starring on Broadway.

Director Ed Sherin quickly bowed out and Michael Bennett stepped in and ultimately was given program credit, or debit. By opening night at the big new Jim Nederlander-operated Uris Theater, the show had cost $1,250,000, at which time the professionally enthusiastic Joe Kipness looked around and found himself alone. Jim Nederlander, Larry Kasha and George Stein-brenner wisely withdrew before the red ink drowned them. Liza Minelli's three-weeker at the Winter Garden guarantees the ragdoll kid $150,000 Canada just suffered its own Play-boy-Penthouse-Oui-type girlyzine: "Success" it's called, and ain't that a kick in the cognomen The energy crisis doesn't seem to invade Elijah Muhammad's life: the palatial Chicago mansion he's building will cost more than a million Jack Carter's date at Mona Lisa East was the script for the maybe-musical It's not about Jolie Gabor, but Al Jolson Elvis Presley's three bespoke Stutz Bearcats may not be ideal for the energy crisis, but at least he can sleep on the floors: they're all totally carpeted in chinchilla Imagine the shock at Ford when Hertz' order for new cars was mostly for smallies with smaller lizzies to come. "Crown Matrimonial," still running in London after more than a year, flopped on Bdwy.

to the atonal tune of nearly $200, 000; bad casting did it in: Wendy Hiller's superb London performance and the late Queen Mary of Eileen Herlie, whose only proper contribution seemed an authentic English accent; George Grizzard as the Duke of Windsor was about as English as apple pie "Gone with the Wind" (which aimed at but missed Bdwy. by a continent) deflated an investment of more than half a million; lots more Nice news for sore ears: the second rock-concert in a row cancelled by boxoffice apathy blunted plans at the Academy of Music, unwilling focus of noisome sound. Bob Hope will Christmas at home for the first time in 20 years, then dash off to Scotland; why not stay home? Too near Pay-TV via cable will explode everywhere in '74 Multimillionaire conglomerateur Meshalim Riklis is dealing to acquire the Kenton Corp. (Cartier, Mark-Cross, etc.) Columbia Pictures will buy the "All in the Family" "Sandford and Son" TV factory for millions unless handshakes are abrogated "Serpico" didn't get one unfavorable review from the 20 top N.Y.-based critics. It's headed for a $40,000,000 gross are okay.

Are they high in cholesterol? I love them, but don't want to eat them if they're harmful. Mrs. V. COMMENT: I agree with your doctor. They are A-okay in moderation.

Dear Dr. Steincrohn: I drink one cup of water a day. No coffee, tea or any other beverage. No exercise except just being up and around. I am 79.

One time a doctor told my father at age 77 to drink three quarts of milk a day. Only a sow could do that and survive. A hospital woman said she took three baths a day. Holy cow! With my dry, fine skin I wouldn't be around long. I seldom take a bath and hate it like a cat Mr.

P. COMMENT: The elderly have workable rules of their own. in its quality. So have one or two of my firends. I've told him so.

He laughs it off. He keeps on smoking. I keep thinking of cancer of the lungs. Or, considering the way his voice is changing, cancer of the throat. How can a normal person he's more than that, he's considered brilliant be so stupid? What more can I do? Mrs.

E. COMMENT: I hope you can get him to your family doctor. Perhaps he can scare him into some sort of sensibility. He may be able to convince him that he's slowly killing himself. Not only is he endangering his future as a broadcaster, but gambling with his life.

I'm tempted to climb aboard a platform and preach, offer statistics and almost bet him to quit. But like treating a BY PETER J. STEINCROHN, M.D. Dear Dr. Steincrohn: How stupid can you get? My stubborn husband is nearly driving me insane.

In spite of all my pleas he keeps on smoking. At least three packs a day. He says, "Forget statistics. They can lie. Take my father, for instance.

He smoked all his life and would still be here if he hadn't been killed at the earjy age of 47 in an auto accident. Now isn't that silly reasoning? How was he sure his father wouldn't get cancer before he was 50? One reason I'm worried is that I'm only 19 and pregnant with our first child. He is 32. What bothers me so much is that he is a broadcaster. His voice is our bread and butter.

I've already noticed changes chronic alcoholic, it would be a waste of energy and time unless the patient really wants to be helped. I recall a case history similar to yours, Mrs. E. This woman's husband was a 42-year-old broadcaster who had been making a lot of money doing commercials. He, too, was looking forward to his first child.

Like your husband, he believed that the dangers of smoking cigarets was exaggerated by do-gooders in the medical profession. He died at 44 of lung cancer. How do you stop brilliant people from killing themselves? Dear Dr. Steincrohn: I had a blood clot which resulted in a heart attack. I am on a low salt and low cholesterol diet.

My trouble is finding something to eat at lunch. I like peanuts. My doctor says they New 'Black Press5 Arises In the Major Media The headline read: "Black Muslim Group in Trouble From Financial Problems and Some Crime." The article was an analysis of the problems generated by the changing power relationships within the Black Muslims and the slippage back into crime among a few ex-convict converts to the group's religious ideology. Five years ago, such an article would probably have been written by a white reporter. And, inevitably, would have been denounced by the black community.

NOT THIS TIME. The article, which appeared in the New York Times, was written by Paul Delaney, one of the country's most perceptive black reporters. The story evidenced the quiet change in the nation's newspapers. No longer do the 216 black newspapers and 46 black magazines monopolize news about the black community or the role of blacks within the larger society. The "new black press" a growing cadre of black journalists on the staffs of major newspapers and magazines are reporting and interpreting the black community's setbacks and achievements.

In fact, "Jet" magazine, relies heavily for its national black news on white daily newspaper stories in various cities. Not only are the "new black press" reporters reaching a much larger black audience than the black newspapers can, they are also touching a substantial number of white readers. AT LAST YEAR'S Democratic convention, I counted 33 black reporters from major newspapers as well as from the wire services and news magazines. Each of the three television networks also sent at least one token black reporter. However, black news reporters represent only 1.5 percent of all news-gathering personnel but, for continuous, in-depth coverage in the black community, some of the best reporting is being done by reporters on white newspapers.

Until 10 years ago, only the black press was confronting racism in its columns, while most white newspapers pretended the problem never existed. For years, the black press was an outlet for bitter frustrations, an inspiring chronicle of progress but above all, a sanctuary for dreams. Today the traditional black press is still and thriving with 216 newspapers having a combined circulation of 4 million. Meantime, black reporters on various local and national publications enjoy the binding unity of their blackness, reporting with all the authoritative "soul" of their black colleagues while striving for a level of journalistic excellence that enables them to compete in the general circulation newspapers. It's really the best of two worlds.

v. MGM to Utilize Grand Hotel on TV I I ft -J A THE TELEVISION wing of MGM's empire is planning to shoot two pilots utilizing the MGM Grand Hotel as the backdrop; One is a daily soap opera; the second is a situation comedy series A little memo here to correct a typo. We write that the MGM Grand cost $106 million to build. In the column it came out as $1.6 million dollars. Wouldn't we like to have the difference? Incidentally it cost more than $200,000 a day to operate the Grand.

Did I say "incidentally?" QUOTABLES: Dyan Cannon, co-hosting a week of the Mike Douglas show for airing in January, told Mike the kind of man she likes. "I like men that like women. There are men who really enjoy being with a woman. And there are men who have grown up not really appreciating or liking women. I can tell the difference now.

I used to like a challenge. A man that I couldn't have was attractive to me. Now, a man that I would really fight to get I don't enjoy that anymore." Hmmn, I wonder if she meant Cary Looks like Gower Champion will cast Robert Preston in the Mack Sennett role in the upcoming David Merrick musical "Mabel and Mack." And we know that Penny Fuller (Eve in is being considered for "Mabel" (Mabel Normand). Jerry Herman who wrote the score for "Hello Dolly" dittoed for "Mabel and Mack." Mike Stewart who penned the book of "Dolly" wrote the book for And you remember David Merrick presented "Dolly" and Gower Champion brilliantly directed it. The only one missing to make this theatrical reunion complete is Carol Channing.

Carol opens at the Palace on Broadway in "Lorelei" Sunday night Jan. 20. Comden and Green, have bowed out a directors of "Lorelei" and been replaced by Robert Moore. Wonder if it's true that the kids in the chorus signed a petition stating they won't rehearse any more new material? We do know that Ray Aghayan designed two new Christmas dresses for Miss Channing to wear offstage. One green white the other red and white.

Grant? W-E-L-L I still think he's worth fighting for! I SHIRLEBRITIES: Motion picture-length dramas which won't show up on the networks until 1975 should keep Jackie Gleason busy, starting after the New Year. Jackie wants to do drama and not comedy. He says there are "three studios working on scripts so we ought to get something decent." Jackie has also tossed in some original stories of his own Fredric March, who made his film debut 44 years ago, completed his 69th movie role as the tough old bartender in the film version of Eugene O'NeiU's "The Iceman Cometh," one of several classic stage productions being transferred to the screen by Ely Landau's ambitious new American Film Theatre Sam Levene, star of Neil Simon's comedy hit "The Sunshine Boys," celebrated his 46th year in the theater. We are told Simon asked, "Sam, would you do it all over again?" Levene thought this over for several seconds, then asked Simon, "For how much?" THINKING of forming a car pool during the gasoline shortage? Insurance experts for Business Week suggest checking your auto insurance coverage before joining. They recommend carrying bodily injury liability insurance of per injury and $300,000 per accident, and have medical payments protection ample enough to provide at least $5,000 for each person in your car.

Dyan Cannon 1 1 1.