Variety (Dec 1929)

72 VARIETY RADIO Wednes^y, December 11, 1929 Preparation for Television, With NBC Angling for Legit Supervisors National Brbadcastlhgr Co. li> re- ported looking for a Belasco and a Ziefffeld as supervisors of ether presentation of dramatic and mu- sical plays. Men who have established names and reputations In the theatre busi- ness for their particular work are the type desired. NBC is said to have approached all prr/nlnent legit and musical pro dn'-<«r3 and stagers with a view of paining their reactions or entering a deal with them, whereby they will devote their future staging to radio ^ One producer mentioned as in line for approach or the drama and straight comedy assignment is John Golden. This report is given cre- dence through Golden's presence on the directorate of NBC's new music publishing company^ Radio Music, and his close connections with the raolo organization In: , the past through broadcast of his shows. :■' None of the musical specialists approached has been nientioiier by name, but the report is that all Im- portant members of that field have been included. Whether NBC's engaging . of prominent stage craftsmen is. with a view in mind of practically de- veloping television, is not pa,rt of the report, but held likely. : In the same direction, from a:c- fcounts, is the appointment last V^eek of Reitiald Werrenrath, th^ Concert barftone, as "vocal super- Visor" of the NBC. Werrenrath's counsel on radio, voices will be ap- plied similarly to th of Walter iDaurosch on all musical presenta- tions by the NBC. ,,■> Werrenrath will be employed also •tor b;*oadcasts, being bound ex- clusively to • the NBC for radio work. He reserved the righb to continue his concert, appearances. . Reports are NBC in scouring the field for stagers did not omit direc- tor.; already weaned away from the ^eglt theatre by picture producers. gsamercy FROM ncs TO VICTOR RECORDING Gemiaii Gor'f Okays 8 Hew H^-Power Statipiis Berlin, Dec 2. ■ To protect Itself , against the hi^h- powered broadcasts' of Vienna, Budapest and England, the govern- nlent has authorized construction 6f eight giant stations to broadcast 6h wave lengths for cheap-priced Sets. - First station to be erected will be about 10 miles from the heart of Berlin. U. S. Tightens Rules On Broadcasting by Disks Washington, Dec. 10. Making of disks for broadcasting purposes solely aild not tQ be of- fered for sale is subject of a spe- cial ruling from the federal Radio commission. Announcers in this case must use this exact phrase: "This program la an electrical transcription made exclusively for broadcast purposes." Whole thing came about through « Columbia chain two hour program of foreign and American biand re- cordings going out from WMALi, here, and with Deems Taylor a,n- ' flouncing. Term "electrical trari- Bcrlption" was then used. This is first amendment to the ^J^canned music" standing rule of the 'commission. But In making, it an-^ noiincetnenta on general disk broad- casting was tightened. Now an- nouncer has a choice of three ways of telling It: "This is a talking ma- chine record," "This is a phono- graph record," or "This Is a grapho- .p^one record." No more fancy an- noyncements will go, with the or- der further stating that any me- chanical devices used must be de- scribed in the manner in which it can be readily understood by the public aiid in terms generally used by that same public. Par's Zmas Program ..OneL.of^.Pacanio.unt3l^higgest.v.alc programs wljl take place Dec. 21 .over the usual Saturday night C. B, S. national hook-up. It. will be named "Christmas Party" and the following Par play- era win be Included: "Skeets" Gal- lagher, Mary Brian, Lillittn Roth, Jack Oakle, Charles Rogers and Gary Cooper. Additional names are expected to be added to the present Radio is abandoning elaborate plans for its Victor acquisition and giving the phonograph company full use of ItSi Phptophone studios, Gramercy, instead; An economic move. ^ With Gramercy as the central point for all of its New York re- cording, Victor will shortly close the three depots it maintains. Photophone equipment, however. Is not being removed frbm Gram- ercy. It will be retained for the use of Radio's licensees. So few of them have availed themselves of it during the. past year, 'with the. big- gest conipany, Radio Pictures, cbn- Hning its activities to the West Coast* executive^ feel It will proye during 1930 to be little more than an emergency proposition. The change, virtually one revising Gramercy. from a picture to a re- cording . studio,: will; bring Walter Clark, Victor executive, as thei new head. Frank Ormlston. will also be retained as° studio manager. FDJII RACKETS AIR EXPOSED Egotistic Gems A young orchestra leader, who found fame over night. Is evidently developing a case of inflateid dome. He talks about hiniself in terms that would make a press agent blush. "The public," he says, "was disappointed In my appear- ance. They had been led to expect a tall, dark Latin type, • and Avhat they found was a ° placid, unassuming boy with a • Lindbergh exterior." Another modest gena is: "My voice would have sex appeal if I only announced stock quota- tions." RADIOHEARINGS SERIES OF IDEAS' Los Angeled, Dec. .10. Los Angeles police . department and the Better Business Bureau jointly will broadcast a series of lectures on rackiets tised to bilk the public but of money in connection with motion pictures. Scenario writing, song writing and picture schools will be dis- cussed In ..the exposes. With the influx of winter tourists this is the harvest time for racketeers. DIFFERING TASTES Chi Band Disliked Radio Account^s Music Prefereiiees-^Walked Chicago, Dec. 10, Waynei King, local radio band leader, walked oyt the Sonatron comp{|,ny, for whom he had been broadcasting over KYW every Sun- day evening; Orders were received from New York headquarters of the Sonatron company that King play certain nunlbers requested by executives. King refused, as he felt the num- bers requested were not the type he could do justice to. He had been contracted until March. . WJiiShlngtoh, ■ Dec. 10. ' After a week of hearings that principally centered, around the question of . station censorship of progra,ni8 and the general question of programs, Owen D. Toung, chair- man of the. board of General .Elec- tric, upset the proceedings: by de- claring for a giant, monopoly. This request, in connection with Senator Couzens' proposal to put all communications Under one commis- sion and do away with the radio controlling body entirely, brought about many clashes between mem- bers of the committee. Mr. Young. wants one company owning everything, telephone, tele- graph, radio, etc., and thiat com- pany regulated by the government. Oii the program censorship phase there were plenty of clashes alsd. Wm. D. Terrill of the Department of Commerce urged that Congress leave the phase as Is with , the sta- tions, adding that "if it gets worse, Congress will have to legislate." Chain broadcasting, which has caused much discussion, with the commission twice voting not to place restrictions on the duplication of programs, has not yet been brought up during the present con- gressional hearings. ' ^General opinion is that this will be left to stand as is until the Sen- ate committee reaches a definite de- cision as to general control. Present commission automatically expires Dec. 31. Berfin's Radio Play Berlin, Dec, 2. "Trial of Socrates" by Hans Kay- ser, an original type of radio play which might interest America. It could be adapted to almost any historical event. Trial and sentencing to death of the famous philosopher in Athens, 400 B. C, is reported as though radio existed in those days. It be- glns."Thls Is XY2 broadcasting from the Acropolis." Announcer first describes the market place and the arrival df the various participants in the trial arid then • shifts to the courtyard With the speeches of the accuser, accused, and the judges. Uuf6rtuna.tely the dialogue was left In the old classical form^ It could and should have been sufl^- clently brought up to da;te. IOWA STATIONS MERaE Davenport, Ia„ Dec, 10. Lloyd C. Thomas, Hastings, Nebr., for the past three years commercial manager for Westlnghouse radio stations. Is organizing a $500,000 corporation which as the Central Broadcastings- eo;----will---take--ovep woe in Davenport and WHO, Bankers' Life station In Des Moines. Central power station will be erected between the two cities. Thimas will be vice-president and general manager of the hew company; Prank W. Elliott, WOC, executive vice-president in charge of operations. Federal radio commission had ordered the stations to divide time. DIALING HOLLYWOOD New York, Dec. 10. On the'New York end the "Hol- lywood first night" broadcast for "Condemned" (U. A.) seemed some- what of a fizzle from the stand- point of failure to deliver big names before thia mike. While Harry RIchman constantly commented on the sea of celebrities surrounding him, the lay public around the dials must have wondered who Buster West, Sammy Lee and others were. Naturally the. absence from the lineup of Ronald Colman himself was conspicuous. Colman has a genuine abhorrence for all the ex- ploitation and flatly refused to as- sociate himself with the broadcast plan from the 6tart.' Ann Harding's talk was by all odds the most gracious^ and she added several cubits to her measure thereby. LoUls Wolhelm was next in the quality of his impression. These two were not the hurried, nervous, get-it-over-with actors the others were. What perhaps is now most, val- uable in connection with the "Con- demned" broadcast is the after ef- fect. Costing Samuel Goldwyn less than $5,000 there's n6 doubt the program vastly intrigued the pub- lic. Comment was heard the next day from odd sources: janitors, stenographers, hotel employees, etc. Among those programmed to par- ticipate and who did not were Janet Qaynor, Charles Farrell, Buster Keaton, Betty Compson and Jack Oakle.. Dolores Del Rio was the only United Artists star to turn out and Chaplin sent his unknown lead, Virginia Cherrill. Harry Richman talked inces- 5flatJx JiadiJErfiqufintly jrlth^^ w^^ gues^ was that he Xvas stallin? most of the time. Dlfilcultles of such a broadcast must have been stagger- ing. Af plan to broadcasit outside the theatre to get. the mob atmos- phere,- the arrivals, etc., was drop- ped after less than a minute. Leatrlce Joy was Introduced and spoke from Hollywood, a topsy- .turvy state of affairs as the actress was unquestionably in Providence, R. I,, at the moment. Figure it out. Larj(f. Hie Air Line By Mark Vance 'Walter Damrosch headlined from WEAF, with General Electric pay ing plenty. Floyd Gibbons, on for a talk on lightning during the hour, has developed into a. good radio spieler. WNYC -was ok early, and Just as well, with ltd cut-and-drled stuff. Red Nichols' band from the Holly wood restaurant can stand improve ment in its air selections froni WPAP, Will HoUender's band much along his. formier line. Some man during WABC'a finance period crack that the statue planned for the inventor of the ticker, has be come a bust Ted Florlto orchestra and the. Chicagoettes, femme sing^ ing combo, on WJZ, hold their own with the eaistern competition.. Fio^ rito's band plays well. Hice har monjr by the girls. Laimderland WEAF a musical mixture. Pleasing but nothing un- usual, . • Dramatic Reported A dramatic skit about a cub re porter on. WJZ lacked punch. Or- chestra enlivened "Mr. arid Mrs. Graybar" period on WABO. DX fans had their Inning via WOR. L. S. Kranz, president, of Newark News Radio club, enthused over progress long shooters had made. Gillette razor blade period, WJZ, had a blending of music. Russian alirs came over nicely. One pf Hadley's numbers was his own composition, "In the Palace of the Khedive." WMCA had two standouts, the new Spotlight period and the broadcast of the final hour of the six-day bike ra:ce In Madison Square Garden. Peppy Period During Spotlights^ stage folks were Introduced. Doris Hafdy sang and kidded. She sings well, espe- clnlly so for one who doesn't do it for a living on the stage. Mi^a Hardy's sense of humor helped make the period a peppy one. Jack De- mond sang and played, the banjo effectively. Lucky Strike orchestra seemed to have more pep than the last week. Same Numbers—No Requests The orchestras plied, up fast and heavy on the air. Janssen's (Frank Cornwell) was heard again from WOR. Lopez on WJZ. jPhil Spltal- ny zoomed over WEAF. Astor or- chestra from WOR. Guy Lombardo and Roy Ingram from WABC. And Rudy Vallee from WEAF. Dave Bernie from WOR. Abe Lyman from WEAF/ Most of them played the same numbers. And not by request. Schnozzle vs. Del Rio Clayton, Jackson and Durante at Les Ambassadeurs are back on the air via WMCA. Tftwsday night the trio seemed to be taking air bows on false pretenses. On a half hour the band did all the work. Lou Clayton sang phce by himselir, and being a hoofer, must have been glad when he flriished. Just as well the trio pasised the buck to the band, as the Hollywood first night stuff via WABC at the same time had Dolores Del Rio talk- ing, with Samuel Goldwyn paying for it. Fat chance for Durante without s. a. against Del Rio. Vallee Minus McNamee Little change in Dave Bernie's usual Thursday night grind via WOR. Welcome Lewis singing dur- ing the "7-11's" on WJZ sounds a whole lot better with a piano iri'- stead of orchestra accompaniment. Rudy Vallee onVWEAF missed his sidekick announcer, Graham Mc- Namee. Mound City Blowers were the Fielschmann extra. Jarred with the slow-tempo Vallee routine. demned," but .on the air yhe was opposite., To much effusive stuff Sid Grauman . forgot the name of the picture and was, prompted. It might have been a gag. Music Broadway Lights (WEAF) not so hot last Friday night. Feature was piano duetting of Muriel Pollock and Vee Lawnhurst. Pietro and Qavianl (WOR) giving entire pe» riod In accordion numbers. Enter- taining. Phil Carlin active with Triadors • (WJZ). Good orchestral jriusic. The Racketeers (WOR) didn't strike twelve. Van Heusen orchestra (WOR) can stand up with any of the air outfits. Bremer-Tully period (WABC) has its entertaining mo- ments, thanks to a good Orchestra. ' Air Mystery The old standbys, Billy Jones and Ernie Hiore, clicked with their usual efforts from WJZ. "Mystery Hour" on WEAF In its "continued in our next , style" a mystery as to ' why. it's on the air. Hotel St. Regis orchestra (WEAF) along familiar dance number lines. Armstrong - Quakers (WJZ) keep up musical pace; . "Fourth Floor Front" (WOR) a gfesture toward novelty, but does- n't hit. Talk uninteresting. Novelty Pa,ril Tremaine's band (WABC) istaged ohly novelty of the night. Tremaine had a number of spirit- uals In dance arrarigement Plus vocal embellishment came over in attractive shape. Tremaine's hit may, start something for the copy- ists. Duke Ellington on WABC after midnight zowied the eyncopated stuff. Quiet Saturdays "VVhy radio stations skimp on their Saturday afternoon programs is a . mystery. Outside of sports events, . i^henaats are below par; in fact very little to Impel one to spend Satur- day afternoon at the radio. Last Saturday unusually quiet on all the stations. WJZ devoted almost a complete afternoon to the Georgia Tech-U of Georgia football game, with .William Munday'd announcing coming through very poorly. WHN on the Sats seems a tryout" for voices, with few that displayed any real ability. Adrasol orchestra from WMCA with a routine that failed to lift it from the commonplace. Milt Shaw and band during Littman pe- riod (WABC) played well, but noth- i ng e xceptional. The Marionettes (WEAF) didn't get far from the beaten path. Guitar Lessons Steel guitar lessons on the air from WOR by Roy Sneck. Sounds too technical for a guy seeking air eritertainment. WEAF floundered arOufid with contraltos and so- pranos. Relief to have Ann Leaf pipe organlns it from WABC. One of the best Saturday features is the^ Emerson Male Quartet on WOR. Corking harmony. Nevins Hour Victor on WEAF eulogized In words and music the compositions of Nevins, who wrote "Narcissus" and "Mighty Lak a Rose," ' Nat Shilkret's orchestra did some fine work. Palm waving for the At- water-Kent midweek hour. Good music. WRNY bobbed up In the late hours with a band from a res- taurant in Coitsvllle, N. J. Enough said. Bands Alex Gi-ayson and St. Regis music not bad. Roy Ingram and Paramount orchestra (WABC) do- ing more muting and getting better resultSi----Hotel =--McAlpln-^-band- (WMCA) made no effort to get away from the beaten path. And the Les Ambassadeurs band (WM CA), which followed, wasn't any better. Prompting Grauman Harry Richman might have been a great announcer to the folks be- ing, introduced from Hollywood on the "first night" broadcast from the Chinese theatre there of "Con- Big Dough Big business paying big dough for radio programs. General Motors on WEAF had Ossip Gabrilowltsch and Detroit Symphony. "One hour of classy classics. Digging up some old bits , for the Henry George period (WABC). : Idea oke as long as the show shops stand for it. Voice of Firestone from WEAF had Frank- lyn Bauer tenorlng. satisfactorily, but the standout was Vaughan de Leath. . Firestone Orchestra excel- lent. The Empire theatre (WOR) keeps stabbing away at the class thing. The dialog between num- bers just a killer. Burns Panatella Country Club, WABC, has a new orchestra, Guy Lombardo and muflickers, corking asset and no mistake. Their music a real air treat. McNAMEE AS A U BEFOBTEB Universal has placed. Graham Mc- Namee imder a long term contract to do the "Talking Reporter" in its newsreel. McNamee will appear and Intro- duce the' various clips. Radib-Vaude Contract Margaret Shilling began a 10- weeks' radio contract with R-K-O last night (Tuesday), broadcasting weekly with the R-K-O hour over N. B. C. Also booked through Benjamin David for the same period of time over the met R-K-O houses, start- ing last Week.