Variety (Jan 1949)

8» TBUmSION REVIEWS Wednesday, January 26, 1949 "School House," Show SCHOOL HOUSE With Kenny Pelmar, Arnold Stanri Maureen Cannon, Betty Ann Nyman, Tommy Dix, Count Keno, Roger Price, Kenny Bowers, Wally Cox, Wendy Drew, Mary Ann Reeve Prod.-Dir.: Robert Gordon Writer: Joe Stein, Will Glickman 30 Mins., Tues., 9 p. m. DuMONT TELESETS WABD, from New York (Geyer, Notaell & Ganger) Ous Edwdlrds' "School Days" for inany yeai-s was one of the vaude- ville standard!? which produced many of today's stars. It was a great and entertaining vaude act that made the most of its possibili- ties and' showed fledgling talent off to its best advantage, and as a re- sult became one of the revered turns in showbusiness. The video edition of Days" labeled "School ' started- out: in reverse came up with top talent and disr sipated its: opportunities. ^ However, the heartening feature of this ^how is the fact that the program' shows possibilities. A talented cast made up of four alumni of "Best Foot Forward," plus acts that have become stand- ard in vaude, cafes and other fields, can be whipped into shape for good vaudeo. ■ .Preeni, unfortunately * suffered from several mishaps. Show was booked in a hurry without proper time to formulate detailed blue^ print of the proceedings. On top of that, Peter Donald, slated for the pedagog role, withdrew, and Kenny Delmar hurriedly stepped into the assignment. Two major-weaknesses were the absence of a suitable script and the faulty direction. There was no coherent pattern in the treatment of acts and commercials. The song spots weren't designed for maxi- mum effectiveness, and individual acts were showcased in an unin- viting manner. Arnold Stang, in a comedy spot, was wasted. He's a guy with one of the funniest kissers in showbusi- ness^and not a closeup In the lot Count Reno, in a bicycle act in the Joe Jackson tradition, was out of place, and it looked like he was being given the hook when cameras suddenly transferred back to the schoolroom set. Roger Price, do- ing a comedy lecture turn, didn't get proper spotting, either, inas- much as televiewers couldn't have been in on his act because of far shots. The melodic moments by Betty Ann Nyman, Tommy. Dix, Maureen Cannon and Kenny BoW- •rs. were okay vocally, but not vis- ually. Wally Cox, as a pedantic student, provided good contrast to the other classmates, but was hand- icapped by - script and faulty cam- era work. Commercial was similarly dis- mal, with Delmar and Cox spieling about the king-sized DuMont tubes with an obvious lack of authority. A flrmer hand from the top could convert this show into prime tele fodder, even with the present for- m'at. More vaude and vaudeo- minded direction could turn the trick. Jose. PONTIAC SHOW With Dick Hajrmes, Dorothy Shay, Gene Sheldon, Silver Streaks, Fred & Susan Barry, Ray Bloch orch; Ed Herllhy, announcer Producer:'- Mildred Fenton Director: Roland Glllett Set: Richard Rychtarlk Dances: John Wray 30 Mlns.; Fri. (31), 8 p.m. PONTIAC DEALERS WCBS-TV, N. Y. (McMonuSi John & AdoTOii ) Done as a one-shot presentation, this half-hour vaudeo offering was noteworthy both as an example of worthwhile promotion for a major product and for the intro to east- ern television audiences of singer Dick Haymes.: With, all the hoopla currently being given the new line of General Motors cars, unveiling of the 1949 Pontiac via video must have represented a worthy invest- ment for the sponsors, since the j show undoubtedly reached, consid- erably more people, than could have been hit had the same budget; been devoted to newspaper: or magazine space. Commercials plugged the ear- adequately Without being too ob- strusive. Early Cut to a remote pickup of the GM exhibit at the Hotel Waldorf-Astoria, N. Y., was good, even though the crowds al- most completely hid the two Pon- tiacs on display from Qamera view. Two filmed spots weire also run in, pointing up the car^s features in a standard but acceptable fasli- ion. From an entertainment .stand- point, the show was up to top- quality vaudeo standards. Haymes' singing came oil much better than his personality or emcee work, possibly because of his uncertainty in working in the new medium., Dorothy Shay pleased with two of her hillbilly numbers, but her off- handed presentation made it look as though she were capable of a much sockier job. Gene Sheldon, on the other hand, was standout. Intimate TV cameras spotlighted the Harpo Marxian characteristics of his pantomime. Indicating he should be seen more often on .vi^ deo. Fred Sc Susan Barry were ex- cellent in a fast-paced ballroom dance. Silver Streaks, a group of three male and three female dancers, were equally good in a couple of numbers staged by John Wray. Stal. Oversight Some eastern stations, at least those in Manhattan, are not identifying the geographic source of video programs com- ing from the midwest, prin- cipally Chicago. It is'a' mis- take, because any sort of in- quiry will reveal an interest by viewers in cross-country trans- mission It's akin to the early days of radio and the magic of dis- . tance. Besides, such identifica<- tion would also act as.a dis- guised- plea regarding any de- gradation of image. > ♦♦»♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦»♦♦♦♦♦♦ TV Film Reviews ;: Tele Follow-up Comment INSPIRATION THEATRE With Roddy McDowall, Rhoda Williams, Skelton KnaK|S, Gus Tallon, Tom Kennedy Producer: Jon Slott . . Director: Thor Brooks $0 Mins., Mon., 9:90. pjn; Sustaining : KLAC-TV, Los Angeles Top line dramatic production and direction handled by Jon Slott made initialler in "Inspiration Theatre" series a video show well worth viewing. Program, also writ- ten by Slott, gave evidence of being carefully prepared and well thought out. "Thesping, headed by Roddy McDowall and Rhoda Wil- liams, was-fine grained. .Bit play^ ers, Skelton Knaggs; Gus Tallon and Tom Kennedy, rounded out a strong cast. "Inspiration," which is angled at presenting a highlight in the life of one of the world's great' poets, weekly, cume in for some bright scripting by Slott. Only flaw in the 30-minute presentation came with the use of a film excerpt. Film footage ran long and was badly hooked into show. McDowall portrayed Ernest Dowson at a period in his life when he was about to commit suicide. Miss Williams enacted a I NATURAL TREASURES With Ivan Sanderson, Radcliffe Hall Director: Jack Caldwell 30 Mins., Tues., Fri., 6:30 p. m. Sustaining NBC. from New York WNBT, N. Y. Ivan Sanderson,' who discourses on natural history over WNBC, N. y., proves that this subject can make suitable tele material as well. Sanderson it a polished and suav'e spieler with an ingratiating man- ner and an Oxonian accent,, who seems sufficiently grounded in a variety of subjects to make inter- esting televiewing fo« a half-hour period. i On 'session caught^ Sanderson lectured on cats-^from the alley variety to the blue-ribbon aristo- crats. After giving the role of the feline in natural and economic his- -tory, he demonstrated the- charac- teristics of a variety of breeds— with live models. Sanderson is aided by Radcliffe Hail, who intersperses with an oc- casional question and some obser- vations.: However, it's Sanderson who makes this session entertainr ing.' Jose. YOUR SHOW TIME ("The Diamond Necklace") With Arthur Shields, narrator; John Heal, Maria Palmer. Fay Baker^ Stanley Andrews . Director: Sobey Martin. Producers; Marshall Grant-<ReaIm - Productions Adapters:' Stanley Rubin, Louis. Lanltai 30 Mins., Fri., 9:30 p.Bl/ ' , LVCKY STRIKE WNB'T, New York {N. W. Ayer) This is "The Diamond Neck- lace," first in the Marshall Grant- Realm Productions weeldy film series being made on the Coast for American Tobacco. Not being a good. picture the three-reeler is not good television, either. The trouble is easy to find. Too much explanatory narration. The long opening commercial plus the narrator's lengthy introduction to the story uses up close to five min- utes before any dialog . hits the; sound track. It makes-a deadly beginning which can put the viewer to sleep or chase him to an- other channel. As also might be suspected there is little action in the rest' of the. film, too. It is one. of the DeMaupassant twist stories about a poor couple who borrow a diamond necklace to attend a social affair. The wife loses it, the husband digs enough money to replace it, and they spend the next 10 years in hock, The day they finally pay off the original owner returns to Paris to reveal that the borrowed necklace was a phoney. Cast and camera work are nor- mal with both the number of play- ers and production being modest. There are no names to cause a ripple. Direction is tight enough except for the narrator wfio keeps reappearing like a ghost to haunt everybody. It's a dull half-hour. Artliur Godfrey's second Wed- nesday (J9) 'round the clock for Chesterfield was more to the point than that first affair. Godfrey was not only on his good behavior, but someone had also figured a few things for Janette Davis to do with herself while singing. It helped. Yet as long' as Bill Lawrence re- mains stationary on a piece of fur- niture, so that the camera mei'ely delivers a portrait of ''boy sing- ing," he will be warbling an unin- teresting song. Godfrey has to re- vive the tempo of the show after one of these slow spots, and he has found a means of doing it by mov- ing over to a second piano to duet with the pianist in the orchestra. It's hardly news that Godfrey plays well enough and can clown it up sufficiently to make this an enter- taining episode. It Is when he takes off his coat to work in sus- penders, talks with a cigaret in his mouth, or becomes careless, that his video programs assume a Slop- py and slipshod atmosphere. And this show ' is constantly fighting Uphill, due to Godfrey's Monday night half-hour for Lipton. In toto, it all continues to add up to a lot of Godfrey, but on this Chester- field hour, when he feels a lull coming on, he can slide over to that piano and at least duet his way over some of the bumps. and Prejudice" on NBG-TV Sun^ day night (23) maintained the high standards of tills standout video program. It's getting so that view- ers can take for granted this show's superior taste and overall produc- tion excellence. This is video at its adult best. Samuel Taylor's literate adapta- tion of the 18th Century novel re- tained the flavor: of the original's comedy of manner. Fred Ccije's di* rection was fluid,: despite the epi- sodic character of the: drama, and a good cast played it to the hilt. Madge Evansi as the eldest of the Bennett sisters, scored heavily with an elegantly witty performance. 'Viola Roache, as^ mother of the Bennett Clan, etched a brilliantly comic portrait, and others in the cast and Harry Sosnick's score also contributed greatly to make this costume play a thing of grace and humor. Philco plugs were handled in standard cute style by Bob Stanton and Bert Lytell. : A. switch to straight commercials might - be a: welcome change. Cas Adams, ex-sports writer, and Dolly Stark, former big league um- pire, might do a better early eve- ning sports program for CBS if they'd: stop mishandling valuable guests. Tlie night they had Guy Lombardo,: neither Adams nor Stark Icnew what to talk alMut. It left Lombardo 'with little to say. For instance, Adams kept mention- ing the musician's one-mile speed boat record of 90 m.p.h. and asking about the time he was hurt at *'Jar maica." Lombardo is on tlie books for 118 m.p.h., and was tossed out of his boat at Detroit. It shows that neither principal even took the trouble to look up the file on their visitor. With fast boats head- ing into what may be their biggest I summer in years, due to the chal- | lenge for the International Harms^ I worth Gup. there was enough ma- terial in Lombardo to have held him there a half hour,. let alone an awkward 15 minutes. But so long as Adams and Stark dodge taking the trouble to familiarize themselves with the backgrounds of all their guests, just so long will their show stay on a treadmill and go nowhere.. :■ TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES Witli Ralph Edwar4s> varticipants Producer-director: John Gaunt 30 Mins. (experimental) KNBM-NBC, Hollywood Both NBC and Ralph Edwards have long been curious about the adaptability: to video of the zany antics he puts his patsys : through on "Truth or Consequences." Thai it came off first rate can be cred- ited to NBC's Icnow-how crew, di- rector John Gaunt, and Edwards, himself, who can adlib with the best of them and -keep the laughs rolling. Show was fairly typical of what lias been airing over NBC for years and the only touch was a basketball game between his Bloomer Girls and a quintet of male midgets ___ _ There is considerable more mer- poor soul from the wrong side of i riment for lookers than listeners in London Who enlists McDowall'sitlie mad antics of the Edwards help just as he is to do away with . stooges. On view are the type of himself. Miss Williams manages ! characters Edwards picks from the the cockney accent admirably , audience for his daffy didoes and i While McDowall's English is cer tainly cultured. Comedy inserts are left to the bit players who add needed lift to show. Thor Brooks camera direction was adroitly handled. Brooks did most of them look the part. The ba.sketball players were broad- heamed matrons, who made a droll picture in their bloomers and even tunnier scampering over the court. 1( would not be an Edwards show TRANSPORTATION UNLIMITED With Wayne Howell, Connie Evans, narrators; David Lambert Chorus Writer: Ray Mauer Producer: Campbell-Ewald Agetacy 30 Mins.; Mon. (24), 9 p:m. GENERAL MOTORS CBS-TV, from N. Y. (Compbell-Etoald) "Transportation Unlimited," Gen- eral Motors film produced through Universal facilities for distribution in each of the 30 video markets; is a solid half-hour plug for GM autos but makes for only fair viewing. Film, covering the current GM ex- hibit at the Waldorf-Astoria, N. Y., falls short of its purpose by ren- dering its subject statically, in- stead of dramatically. Film also suffers on the technical count of lacking enough black:and-white contrast for maximum clarity on TV screens. Pic opens too slowly. Intermixed with glimpses of stage and screen celebs attending the exhibit are countless shots of GM execs who don't mean much to the average dialer. Heart of the film is the spotlighting of the GM autos. But the only excitement is found in the new streamlined designs without the camera adding much. Effort to impart a human touch through the use of models as stage props set' ting off the star role of the autos is stilted. Mechanical details of the motors, which could be interesting, are not spotlighted with sufficient emphasis or clarity. Narration chores are handled by Wayne Howell and Connie Evans in a competent style combining straight description and souped-up plugging for the bankroller. Back- ground music is futuristic wordless tune effectively rendered by the David Lambert chorus. Herm, "Acters Studio" is s h o w i n g marked improvement in the quality of its productions on ABC-TV. Last Sunday night (23), "The Lady in 142," the third James Thurber story adapted' for this- series, was given firstrate styling with cast, settings and direction merging into an amusing flight of fancc. Story re- volved about the Walter Mitty reveries of an insurance salesman who had been reading too many spy yarns. In a railroad terminal ; waiting to take off for a weekend vacation with his wife, Hiram Sher- man, skillfully playing the imagin- ative salesman, overhears some- thing about a woman in compart- ment 142 and constructs a lurid espionage drama to fit Major portion of tlie play, adapted by Michael Zeamer, ran off as a dream sequence that gently spoofed the conventional spy thrill- ers. Curtis Cooksey, as the leader of the spy ring,..was appropiately hammy and Jane Hoffman, as the salesman's wife, delivered nicely in a blase role. Drama cleverly wound up with the fate of the lady in 142 lost in a confusion of whispering between the train master and con- ductor. . not overplay his camera movfement without squirting seltzer, pie-in- but did manage to catch the mood the-eye. wallowing in mud and of the drama. KLAC art staff was other indignities so they were natu- rttponslble for nicely balanced |«!lJ' included. Brought on for a satttngs and fine lined mood crea- i>i iel turn was Joe Greb. who on tloni. ' ' Free. | (Continued on page 40) Chicago-^John W. Shaw agency has set up a-tele department un- der direction of Robert Zelens, radio and video producer. New department will specialize in mar- ket tele testing for budgeting cheat programs. Ed Sullivan's "Toast Of the Town,'' to: ease the shortage -of available: vaudeo acts,- is' now pre- senting talent from current Broad- way musicals in the numbers they do on the stage. New idea preemed' Jan. 16 with Nanette Fabray doing a song from "Love Life " and fol- lowed through last Sunday {23} night on the CBS-TV web with per- formers from both "Where's Char- ley?" and "Lend An Ear." As One of thefirst fresh notes injected into the standard vaudeo format, the idea is a good one and opens up a wealth of pew talent to such shows. Bulwarked with these acts, plus a group of other standout perform- ers, "Toast" came off exceedingly well last Sunday. Holloway Sisters (2) launched the show on a bright note with two fine terping routines, which the camera caught neatly. Byron Palmer and Doretta Morrow, from the "Charley" cast* socked across "My Darling, My Darling" from the show, with both young- sters looking like good film bets. Dean Murphy, off to a false start when Sullivan introed him as "Dean Martin," ran through his standard impersonations in good style, getting a heavy hand from the studio audience on his FDR takeoff., Aided by good production, the I routine from "Lend An Ear" ran I smoothly, with Bob Dixon, Gloria I Hamilton, Gene Nelson and An- i toinette Guhlke trailerizing the ! show for home viewers. Manuel I Viera and Marita, with their I trained monkeys, were fine. Close- ups on the monks' faces gave added impact to the new act. Al Kelly, handed the same false start as Murphy when Sullivan introed him ' as Willie Howard, pleased with his standard double-talk routines. Songwriters Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne wound the show doing a medley of their hit tunes, with Cahn singing and Styne at the piano. Emerson commercials, con- fined to two spots, came oft' much better than usual. "Philco Television Playhouse's*' adaptation of Jane Austen's "Pride Entertainment quality of Milton Berle's "Texaco ■ Star Theatre," which has been; subjected to a much shakier tenure during the last couple of months than evi- denced by that No. 1 Hooper, took a sharp turn for the: better last Tuesday (18) night with a show that was standout in all directions. Talent-lineup, including three top- namers, was as good as any yet seen :in the series and producer . Arthur Knorr took full advantage of their capabilities to show them off to the ' best . possible advantage. Strangely enough, Berle started slowly with his opening monolog-^ and that's usually: been a tipoff to a sub-par stanza.. But not last week. Paul and Paulette trio, doubling from the Latin Quarter, N. Y., ran through their acrotwists on the trampoline with amazing agility. Act, given top production values, was a video natural, with Berle naturally coming in to try his hand at the springy net in a funny bit, English mimic Florence Desmond then took over with a group of nifty caricatures of show biz per- sonalities, topping oft" her stint with a repeat bdrlesqued takeoff on "Private Lives" with Berle. Two apparently forgot their lines and the requisite ad libbing, with no holds barred, made it all the fun- nier. Tony Martin, now headlining the Roxy, N. y., stagebill, telepreemed with top results. Once he sur- mounted an obvious ike friglit, he clicked solidly with a medley of his best disk tunes, projecting an infectious personality along with his ultra-smooth pipes. He came back later in the show for a zany Royal Mountie skit with Berle, holding up well in the clowning department, and then , shared the windup spotlight with Carmen Miranda. Miss Miranda, doing a "Texaco" repeat, showed as well as she did the first time out with a couple of her free-wheeling Latin tunes. Final production number, with Berle. Martin and Miss Mir- anda combining their talents, marked an excellent sendoff for_ the midwestern viewers who wet/e ogling the show for the first i^^fiie. Direct piping of the proigMjijfni to- the midwest was n\adlt;J^_J^^\W through the opening Of^/r&S ^ cable link Jan. 11.