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INSIDE HOLLYWOOD By Herb Stein HOLLYWOOD, Calif.. May 8 —In Irwin Allens The Story of Mankind. star-studded a la Todds "80 Days, Groucho Marx will play Peter Minuet buying Manhattan from the Indians. One of the In-d i a n ■ : Hollywoods No. 1 baseball enthusiast, songwriter Harry Ruby . . . Groucho. all shot up with You Bet Your Life" stanzas, vacations from May 29 to September 1 1 , moves I into his new 50,000 manse in a coupla weeks . . . Mary Morrison pours for a mob at Mocambo tonight to honor Monte Proser, who zoomed Vegas entertainment to an all-time high with his dazzling Tropicana revue . . . Pon W. Boardman I writes in the Saturday Review: For years I the cowboy has been the hero of hundreds of Western novels and movies. But did you I ever read about a sheepherder. or see a ! movie about a sheep owner? J. Frank Dobie raises this question in his foreword to "Sheep." a book first published in 1928, out of print for some years, and now reissued by the University of Minnesota Press. Says Dobie: "The idea of a screen drama embodying the spirit of a shepherd i beside still waters would be as odd as a ! debate in the United States Senate over j the intellectual fitness of a cabinet appointee. i A A After years of trying to lick the format for transferring "Baby Snooks" from the lateFannie Brices radio character to television, NBCs Jess Oppenheimer finally | came up with a pilot he thinks will do the I trick. Its "Martha and Snooks," starring j Martha Raye. who plays a TV comedienne I in the series and does a telecast within j the telecast of Snooks for about four minutes in each stanza . . . Billboard on the Sunset Strip reads: "Lonely. Gals? Call Old Bill" — and gives Old Bills phone number. We tried calling Bill and there was no answer. Hes either too busy or too tired j . . . Another 24-sheet on the Strip blurbs j the Royal Nevada in Vegas, implores in ! large letters BRING MONEY!" . . . Kept J awfully hush, but didnt M-G-M Greek I starlet Irene Paps get herself hitched in Vegas a coupla week ends ago to a Mexico City businessman? They thought they were operating on the q.t.. but RKOs top auditors and accountants were observed one day last week bringing the companys books to Allied Artists. Could mean one of any number of things, like the two outfits merging, or AA taking over RKOs physical property in its yen to expand. AAA Problems, problems. At Fridays May Day Dance of the Beverly Hills Hawthorne elementary school they were without a Maypole Queen for the first time. Reason: Every mother thinks her moppet merits the nod. and theres too much squawking when her youngster isnt picked. So. the school just ducked it and went queenless . . . On hand, though, for the kids dance, were Groucho, toughie Jack Palance shooting kid pictures like crazy1. Ralph Edwards with movie cam- era and telephoto lens». Harry Ritz and three or four hundred others.-i In Hollywood movie studios filmites in any position of importance invariably say "No" to those below them and "Yes" to those above. In television, it seems to be a J it tie different. At least, this was the! , experience of a coast pi-oducer who went ■ to New York with a new pilot to show his immediate toppers. He returned disgusted, said, "I wouldnt care if they liked it or] not, but they just wont give ANY opinion until the guy on top says something — and he wasnt around. Its like playing to no audience" . . . Herman Wouk in town fiom Tucson where he was working with legit producer Alfred de Liagre on a Wouk Broadway comedy for the fall. Wouks here now to discuss casting and script of "Mar-jorie Morningstar • with Milton Sperling. Wouk has femme star approval. Dr. Loyal Davis, famed Chicago brain surgeon and father of Nancy Davis Reagan, was a great friend of the late Walter Huston. He would always chide Huston about acting, saying it was no way to earn a living — just by talking. But they were chums and were together often. Huston would be stopped frequently for autographs, while the doctor waited patiently for Huston to oblige his fans. One day Dr. Davis and Huston were playing golf. A caddy approached them and asked Dr. Davis for his autograph. "Im sure youve made a mistake," said the doctor. "Mr. Huston is the gentleman about to tee off." "No, sir," said the caddy, firmly. "Its your signature I want. Mr. Huston didnt save my mothers life."
