Swing (Jan-Dec 1953)

THE CREAM OF CROSBY 2UI much a show is advertised, no matter how loyal the star's audience, there are certain nights when we're all out of the house, quaffing strong waters or singing the old songs. Just at that moment, they sneak over a great show on us and it's lost forever to a great segment of the populace. Actually, that two-out-of-ten ratio is high. Of the television audience, estimated at 60,000,000 persons, it's a lucky thing if one out of twenty sees the fine shows. The Martha Raye show in which she teamed with Rocky Graziano, Cesar Romero and Rise Stevens in one of the funniest dinner parties on record, could be repeated without altering a single inflection. Another show that ought to be redone without changing a line was the first Ray Bolger show on Colgate Comedy Hour, one of the most exuberant hours television ever provided the customers. Bolger had been on TV only once before, as part of an all-star lineup for the opening program on WJZ-TV in New York. On the Colgate show just before Christmas, he had the hour practically all to himself and he filled it like a Christmas stocking with his boundless charm, laughter, his boneless dancing, songs and gayety. From the opening bit when he fell out of a revolving door to the closing when he danced off into the shadows after singing a Christmas song to some children, there wasn't a dead spot in the show. In between he did some of the best routines he has built up over the years — "The Old Soft Shoe," his crazy manual of arms, and his great song "Once in Love With Amy" which is a triumph of pure showmanship. Twice — in "Once in Love With Amy" and again in the Army routine — he got the audience to join in the fun with him and they seemed to be having the time of their lives. There was also a very funny skit with Bolger and Betty Kean demonstrating the home life of a department store window dresser, one of those things that could have been embarrassingly bad but was, under Bolger's skillful fingers, both charming and hilarious. Altogether it was one of those shows that leaves you feeling good for hours afterwards. There have been a good many other shows that afforded me great pleasure and that I'd like to see again. It would be nice to see Tallulah Bankhead run through her subway routine again, one of the funniest things ever seen on TV. I'd like to watch Donald O'Connor, one of the brightest new talents on television, do his parodies on Mack Sennett once more. Or Sir Caesar and Imogene Coca's magnificent take-off on "Streetcar Named Desire," which may ultimately become more famous than the original play. A good many of Edward R. Murrow's "See It Now" programs could easily bear repetition, but the one I'd especially like to see again was his film report on a mock bombing of New York which showed up the glaring inadequacies of our plane spotting system. Of the "I Love Lucy" series, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz have yet to top their opening show wherein Miss Ball struggled hopelessly with a candy conveyor belt. Among the hundreds of dramas I've seen, three stand out in my memory — "The Paper Box Kid," a really superb short story on "Danger;" Fletcher Markle's first production of "Studio One" called "I Am Jonathan Scrivener;" and Robert Montgomery's recent "The Closed Door" featuring a really fine performance by Charlton Heston. Two of NBC's television operas ought to be repeated and almost certainly will be — the Leonard Bernstein opera of frustrations in the suburbs called "Trouble in Tahiti" and Benjamin Britten's "Billy Budd." "You can stop worrying about me losing my job. I lost it."