Variety (December 1954)

SO RADIO REVIEWS NEW WORLD A’COMING (Free and Equal) With Louis Gossett, Maurice Tarp- lin, Jim Stephens, Anne PPon- iak, Lulu King. Sandy Bickart, Sidney Paul, Owen Jordan; mu- sic, George Gill Producer-director: Howard Phillips Writer: Edgar Marvin 30 Mins., Tues. (14), 9:30 p.m. WMCA, New York "New World A’Coming,” WMCA’s award-winning series of dramatic documentaries, returned for its 11th season last week with a study of the effects of the Su- preme Court ruling on segregation. Series, which will air on a once-a- month basis (with juvenile delin- quency as the next topic), is a laud- able public service effort by a re- sponsible indie. But if the remain- ing programs are as limpid as the opener, the series isn’t going to have much impact. Perhaps it’s the realism that tel- evision has brought to public serv- ice broadcasting that makes the so- called dramatic documentary on radio seem pale by comparison. It’s tough for AM to compete with that sound-and-picture impact of video documentaries, and thus it’s been radio’s taped documentaries, taken on the spot, rather than the drama- tized ones, that have been most ef- fective. Sophistication of the American audience has grown sharply over the past several years, and what once sufficed as a public service vehicle now seems inade- quate. At any rate, the dramatized story of a composite of the Dover, Del., school story and several others welded into dramatic form by Ed- gar Marvin lacked punch and pur- pose. It related the story of educa- tional integration in a small town as seen through the eyes of a Ne- gro schoolboy. At first, everything went smoothly, then the hate- mongers started their work and forced the Negroes back to their own schools, and then the good people of the town rallied. That was the story, and its ending ap- peared to dangle with no resolu- tion (although so has the entire in- tegration problem at this point). More to the point, the central character, as played by Louis Gos- sett (who achieved some fame for his performance in last year’s "Take a Giant Step” on Broadway), was all virtue, and the young heavy played by Sidney Paul was all evil. As if to strike a balance, Marvin wrote a cowardly friend for Gos- sett into the script, a virtuous and completely fair schoolmarm, and a friendly but confused white boy. "With none of the characters espe- cially credulous and with a situa- tion that was never Fesolved, the entire story fell flat. Acting was merely so-so, and Howard Phillips’ direction could never get the story off the ground. Chan. COMPANION With Warren Parker, Martha Greenhouse, Lon Clark Producer-Director: Drexel Hines Writers: Virginia Travers, Betta Ripley 30 Mins.; Mon.-thru-Fri., 11:15 a.m. ABC, from New York Collaborating with Woman’s Home Companion mag, ABC’s domestic relations "angle” evolved as almost a straight-line quarter- hour soap opera when launched last Monday (20). Show, called "Companion,” was supposedly based on the cases and counselling of Dr. David R. Mace who does a monthly feature Tor the 'distaff publication. However, what ever element of candidness and accu- racy there was in the script was by and large suffocated by overly familiar histrionic cornball. Some- how, the scribbling and direction reflected a fear that the hausfrau couldn’t take an untainted docu- mentary so early in the morning (11:15 am.), and documentary treatment seemed just what the slot needed. "Cases” are designed to run for an entire week, with cliffhangers to entice another day’s listening. First such was built around the roblem of a wife who was told by er husband of his temporary in- fidelity. While she forgave him verbally, she managed to carry a secret burn over the fact. What happened to her emotions became a matter for Dr Mace. Dramatic scenes were tied to brief expository sessions with Mace, played by War- ren Parker. Treatment failed as a deeply honest, hangup impact piece, be- cause of the superfluous dramatic dressing. Art. Liveright Upped in N. O. New Orleans, Dec. 21. Herman Liveright, production manager of WDSU-TV, was upped to program director of station Fri- day (17). New post gives Liveright full supervision of all tv programming. Radio FoDownp Martin Block probably made a lot of kids happy by making his "Make Believe Ballroom” a live affair at New York’s Manhattan Center Monday (20) but it came over as an unusually raucus ses- sion. Close to 5,000 youngsters jammed into the Center to get a first-hand glimpse of the platter spinner and his disker-guests. There isn’t much chance for these fans to get an in-person view of their wax faves and it’s quite un- derstandable that they’d act up. But background noises of a rowdy crowd hardly make for good listen- ing. The flock of recording artists on Block’s guest roster was impres- sive. They all came through ad- mirably singing their disclicks but the babbling aud diminished all values for the dialer at home. Show was fashioned by Block as a special Christmas treat for New York’s Police Athletic League. It was aired over ABC from 3:30 to 4 p.m. and over the net’s Gotham key, WABC, from 3:30 to 6 p.m. Gros. THE JOYFUL HOUR With Irene Dunne, narrator; J. Carrol Naish, Ann Blyth, Steph- en McNally, Maureen O’Sullivan, Jeff Chandler, Marilyn Horne, Roger Wagner Chorale Writer: John T. Kelley 60 Mins., Sun., 9 p.m. Mutual, from Hollywood (transcribed) With a cast of Hollywood stars and the Roger Wagner Chorale group "The Joyful Hour” could hardly miss. It doesn’t. The film personalities not only are well chosen but come through with un- expected brilliance in this musical- narrative story of the first Christ- mas. Concentration is on the birth of the Christ Child. Irene Dunne, who serves as nar- rator, takes her audience back to Bethlehem and characters best known in events surrounding the birth of Jesus. Special Christmas music is interwoven, with the re- peated singing of the Lord’s Prayer. It is all done in such good taste and so intelligently that the full hour copies through with real Impact, /‘'especially for Sunday night audiences. J. Carrol Naish is good as Ben- jamin. in the Annunciation se- quence, while Ann Blyth is very strong as Rhea in "The Visitation.” Stephen McNally is the real stand- out as the Innkeeper in "The Na- tivity” episode. He fits in splen- didly in this character, contribut- ing a masterful portrayal. Maureen O’Sullivan, as Rachel, in the "Presentation” sequence and Jeff Chandler as Ezra in “The Finding,” measure up in fine style. Much credit is due Miss Dunne for her skillfull carrying of the story theme. Each of the episodes starting with "The Annunciation” is de- scribed as the first, second, third, etc., in the joyous mystery of the Rosary. “Little Town of Bethle- hem.” "Silent Night.” "Joy To the World,” etc., all typical Christmas songs or hymns, are introduced in keeping with the story. The single soloist in "Night,” is Marilyn Horne, and she is excel- lent. However, it is the magnifi- cent voice blending of the Wagner group which gives the show such a splendid musical backgrounding. John T. Kelley’s scripting is top- flight while Harry Zimmerman de- serves credit for composing the score and conducting a big symph orchestra. Father Patrick Peyton is intro- duced as the man who made the program possible, and one suspects he had much to do with its pro- duction. He deserves credit for a very fine program of its sort. Wear. NBC Radio Schedules Soapers for Morning NBC Radio will launch 1955 with "Operation Human Interest” cross-the-board morningside. To achieve that status, the web will schedule daytime serials in the ayem hours for the first time. The Mary Margaret McBride capsule fixture at 10 o’clock will segue to 10 minutes of clergyman Norman Vincent Peale, available for sponsorship. (Dr. Peale, author of marathon bestseller “The Power of Positive Thinking,” was coincidentally "Person to Person- ned” on CBS-TV last week.) The 10:15 to 10:45 pair of soapers fol- lowing the Peale stanza will be “Joyce Jordan” and "Doctor’s Wife.” MEET ERNEST HEMINGWAY With Leon Pearson, others 60 Mins., Sun., 7 p.m. NBC, from New York "I Remember Papa” is the tag NBC should have given its hour- long salute to Ernest Hemingway last Sunday (19). Stanza, which was put together by net’s news director William R. McAndrew and central news desk manager Joseph Meyers, featured recorded reminiscences by celebs of the Nobel-winning author. * Best thing about the hour was its novel approach. It spotlighted commentary that was for Heming- way as well as agin’ him. Too often prize-winning authors have been put on pedestals by radio profilers without any attempt at digging into the heart of the matter. In this instance, however, he was slapped down as often as he was revered. In the long run, he came out ahead but the going was lively and made for interesting listening all the way. Among the pre-recorded celebs who sounded off were Marlon Brando, Leonard Lyons, Cornelia Otis Skinner, Max Eastman and John Mason Brown. Leon Pearson, NBC’s "Critic at Large,” wove the whole thing together neatly. Stanza closed fittingly with a Hemingway statement to the Nobel committee. Gros. Pitt Telethon Hassle Had Nothing to Do With CPA Resignation: Kates Jerome B. Kates, the former Cerebral Palsy Assn, exec who was pinned with the blame for the failure of Gene and Fred Kelly to show at a Pittsburgh telethon, declared this week that he had never promised the Kellys for the stint—in fact had said they were unavailable—and that he had re- signed from CPA three days be- fore the Pittsburgh affair over "personal differences.” His resig- nation, he said, had nothing what- soever to do with the Pittsburgh hassle. According to Kates, he was ap- proached for talent for the WDTV one-hour YMCA fundraising show which aired in Pittsburgh Dec. 5 by Joe Feldman, partner in the Dubin & Feldman agency and one- time Warner publicist. Kates told Feldman, who had come to N. Y., that he’d let him know who he could round up. He then called Fred Kelly, in Reading for a Junior League show, abput the possibility of doing a CP telethon in Manchaster, N. H., but Kelly turned him down because of the Reading commitment. When he called Feldman a couple of days later, Kates says, he said he had tried to get Kelly but without suc- cess, that Kelly was unavailable. Gene Kelly never entered the pic- ture, Kates says, since he was in California all the time. What happened thereafter in Pittsburgh he doesn’t know, Kates says, except for reports in the newspapers that the Pitt dailies had carried big stories about the Kelly’s’ appearing on the telethon and of course their final non-ap- pearance. Why Feldman would have planted publicity about hav- ing the Kellys when he was told they were unavailable is what Kates can’t figure out, he says. As to Feldman’s charge that Kates had told them that the Kellys were booked for a telethon the preced- ing wekend in Baltimore, Kates says they were never booked in Baltimore and there was no pub- licity about an appearance by them in Bfelto. Regarding a final charge that he had falsely promised Bert Parks for the Balto stint, Kates says he called WAAM-TV general manager Ken Carter on Nov. 26 to inform him that Parks couldn’t make it. Kates, who formerly worked for Hal Roach Jr., Herb Moss Produc- tions and KRLD-TV in Dallas, joined CPA nine months ago as telethon coordinator and national talent coordinator. He resigned on Dec. 2, three days before the Pitt telethon but after he had sopken to Feldman. ■, Kates says the resignation was over a per- sonality clash, and adds that he expects to rejoin CPA as soon as the differences are resolved. Tacoma — Maurice Dallimore, formerly with NBC in New York has been named production man- ager of KTVW here. Dallimore was a writer and director of Brit- ish motion pictures before World War II and was active on the Lon- don stage and as a radio producer. # Wednesday, December 22, 1954 4 IN NEW YORK CITY . . . Jeanne L. Meyer handling radio-tv angles of Heart Fund drive for the Win Nathanson office . . . Anne Hummert (remember?) is still potent at Air Features despite its ownership by CBS, and her latest theory (actually a return emphasis) is that all daytime serials with femme central character ought to be written by a femme writer . . . Donald H. McCollum elected a veepee of Schwerin Research Corp. in charge of client relations . . . Starting Christmas Day morning (9:05 to 10) the "Rosa & Bill” show (Rosa Rio and BUI Yeoman) will air from their home in Shelton on Far Mill River via WELI, New Haven . . . WRCA-plus-tv staffers and stars at Waldorf tonight (Wed.) for annual Xmas party. Bill Berns, the NBC stations’ neWs-special events director, to Boston for holidays . . . Richard Essey, ex-Lever Bros., joins Grey Advertising as manager of office services . . . Mildred Fulton, until recently with Biow as head timebuyer on the Bulova account, moved over to McCann-Erickson for the same chore . . . John Lee Herbert, formerly with McCall’s mag, joined the radio sales staff of George P. Hollingbery station rep outfit. Irwin Greenfield to WMGM as staff director . . . Perry Como pre- siding this afternoon (Wed.) on special Xmas stanza on behalf of Cardinal’s Campaign for Foster Homes. WLIB will air . . . Bob Con- sidine grabbed off Mutual Benefit Health & Accident Assn, renewal on his Sunday quarter hour via Mutual as of Jan. 23 . . . Bill Snyder play-by-playing "Santa Claus Bowl” tot grid game on Mutual Dec. 29 . . . Mutual audio coverage on the Bowl games actually kicks off on Sunday (26) with world pro championship twixt Detroit and Cleveland, with Earl Gillespie and Chris Schenkel doing gabbing. Gator Bowl five days later goes to Bob Wolff and Art Gleeson and New Year’s Day East-West Shrine game to Harry Wismer and Mel Venter . . . Bob Leder back from fortnight in Bermuda . . . Actress Grace Kelly and father and brother, Olympic champs John and Jack Kelly, guested on Harry Wismer’s "General Sports Time” show via Mutual last Sabbath (19) to plug fund-raising for ’56 Olympics . . . Bill Lang shooting local ski conditions on nightly capsule via WMGM . . . Gabber Bert Wayne ankled WNEW last week. Station also recently released d.j. A1 Collins from contract so’s he could shift to WRCA. IN CHICAGO . . . Richard E. Hellyer, ex-Vogue-Wright, is WLS’ new manager of sales promotion, advertising and publicity . . . Joseph Keene, James Isham and John Nagel awarded veepee chevrons at Needham, Louis & Brorby . . . Chi NBC sports and news spieler Norm Barry and wife off to South America for a January hiatus. John Holtman pinchhits on his WMAQ morning news stint and Joe Wilson takes over his WMAQ-WNBQ sports shows . . . WFMT airing series of 13 weekly Fine Arts Quartet Tuesday nights from Kimball Hall with Daily News music critic Irving Sablosky conducting the intermission show. Allied Radio is bankrolling . . . WIND and the Chicago Church Federation combining forces on a "Christmas In Chicagoland” special airer Saturday afternoon (25) . . . Tom Mercein now supplying the chatter for WMAQ’s Saturday after- noon "House of Music” record roundelay . . . David Winton added to the Needham, Louis & Brorby traffic department . . . Standard Radio the past month has peddled its transcription library service and monthly Shorty-Tunes to 11 additional stations. IN WASHINGTON . . . Esther Van Wagoner Tufty, capital editor for NBC’s "Home” show, currently in the Netherlands as an official guest of the Dutch govern- ment . . . Enid Love, assistant director of School Broadcasting for BBC, back to her London desk after a four-month State Department sponsored tour of the U.S. for purpose of studying educational radio and tv in this country . . . Earl Minderman, onetime FCC exec and more recently on staff of the National Citizens Committee for Educa- tional TV, has been elected executive v.p. of the Greater Washington Educational Television Assn. . . . Robert M. Adams leaving WRC-NBC to return to WTOP-CBS as new director of promotion for tv, replacing Cody Pfasntiehl, recently promoted station p.r. boss . . . Mac McGarry replacing the vacationing Holly Wright as emcee of WRC’s daily "Terrace Room” airer from National Airport . . . Local radio-tv stations vying with each other to spread Yule cheer amongst town’s needy . . . Navy flying its famed Navy Band to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl telecast and to originate the "Navy Hour” immediately preceding game. IN SAN FRANCISCO . . . Dick Cook, hired as a temporary replacement for Herb Kennedy wh® resigned from KSFO staff, starts a new three-hour morning disk jockey show on the station this week. Cook comes from WLWD, Dayton . . . Chan Mueloy, a San Francisco State student, has been hired as Del Courtney’s assistant and has taken over Courtney’s KSFO disk jockey chores while the latter is on vacation . . . KPVR readying new office* in downtown San Francisco . . . Cottonseed Clark’s Western show dropped by KOVR . . . KSFO is getting ready to move into its new quarters in the Fairmont Hotel ... A new travel show sponsored by Pacific Grayhound debuts on KNBC next week. Ira Blue will handle it and Beaumont & Holden is the agency for the M-F 5:40-5:45 p.m. show . . . Russ Coglin ill with laryngitis and KROW staff filling out his chores. IN DETROIT... WJR has requested FCC permission to change location of its pro- posed Flint transmitter site which would put station out of Detroit coverage area. This move is expected to quiet Flint complaints that WJR is merely seeking to build a fifth Detroit tv station, rather than serve Flint primarily . . . Robert J. McKendrlck, from WLOK-TV, Lima, O., is the new assistant program and production manager at WWJ-TV . . . Soupy Sales, WXYZ-TV comic, is auctioning himself off to attend a private party of the viewer who writes the best letter—in 25 word* or less—why he’d like Soupy and his gang at the party . . . Ron Gilbert, formerly with a life insurance company, has joined the WWJ-TV sale* staff. IN MINNEAPOLIS ... WTCN-TV personality Jack Thayer, whose programs include a chil- dren’s show, held his first annual toy dance at Prom Ballroom to accumulate toys for underprivileged children. Admission was by toy . . . Black Hills Broadcasting Co. authorized to operate a tv station at Rapid City, S.D. . . . Minneapolis established as a permanent link in coast to coast Boxoffice TV Network . . . Produced by U. of Minne- sota radio station KUOM workshop, WCCO-TV’s new children’s show, boasting original idea, has Betty Girling, Minnesota School of Air director, stepping out of stagewagon to tell 15-minute stories about pirates, trolls, snowflakes and dragons, etc. . . . WTCN-TV and WMIN- TV jointly offering the series of 13 "Amazing Tales of Hans Christian Andersen” series filmed in Denmark ... U. of Minnesota Quiz Bowl team won seventh consecutive victory in NBC network radio college contest show with cash scholarships going to winning school. Last year it won eight in a row, a record not since equalled but now being (Continued on page 34).