Film and Radio Guide (Oct 1945-Jun 1946)

26 FILM AND RADIO GUIDE Volume Xll, No. 3 The Story of New York's All-City High-School Radio Workshop BY VAN RENSSELAER BROKHAHNE It all happened with amazing simplicity — I mean, of course, the arrival of the news. Jim Macandrew was in Columbus at the Annual Institute for Education by Radio, and I was at home trying to recover from the dual responsibilities of the radio station. I was just leaving the house to inspect a leaky garden hose when the phone rang. I had just called back, “You take it,” when someone in the house replied, “It’s for you, and it’s a telegram !” Well, you know how that works in the suburbs — they read you the telegram over the phone and send you the original by mail two days later. So when I picked up the receiver, a young woman at the other end asked, “Are you Mr. V. R. Brokhahne?” When I assured her I was, she replied in a disinterested voice, “I have a telegram for you.” “All right,” I replied still thinking of the rubber hose, “let’s have it,” and so she did. A n d here’s what I heard : '‘Johnny Quinyi named best American high-school broadcast of year. (Signed) Jim.” I must admit that the significance of the message didn’t dawn on me at first, and so I said, “Will you please read that over again — more slowly.” Well, there it was, just like that : national recognition for the All-City-High-School Radio Workshop! After successive screenings by competent judges at Columbus, the Workshop’s Reprinted from “High Points,” May, 1945 Van Rensselaer Brokhahne, Production Manager of New York City Board of Education Radio Station, WNYE. production of Johnny Quinn, U.S.N. was declared to be the finest high-school radio broadcast throughout the entire country for 1943! Flash-Back Perhaps you are wondering why we at WNYE felt so elated, even perhaps triumphant, over the pronouncement of a simple telegram. Well, suppose we attempt a flash-back, four years before the award but actually five years from today. Then, the quality of our dramatic programs was, well, to be honest, not so good ! And there were reasons, good and sufficient. But through nobody’s fault. In the first place, there were mighty few good scripts available ; that is, royalty free. Secondly, we had few sound effects and less than few to handle what we had. Thirdly, we had a musical library that you could tuck under your tea table. And lastly, to omit a few other items, we sorely lacked dramatic ability. That was our most vital need. And that was a strange thing, too, because if there was one educational system in the country that teemed with talent, it was ours. But we didn’t get it! The young people who appeared at the studio for rehearsal were brilliant and enthusiastic, but their voices just didn’t create the characters required by the script. The lad who was going to do John Paul Jones sounded like “Johnny now returning to store windows and counters,” and Betsy Ross was a “dead ringer” for Margaret O’Brien. I think we would have been highly enthusiastic in those days if anyone of them had had the voice of Henry Aldrich. At least we could have written him into the script. Although these young people were clever and competent in their studies, they lacked dramatic talent. In those pioneering days the problem of casting was really a heartbreak, especially so because, while we were blazing the trail with tenderfoot talent and limited provisions, commercial stations with experienced travelers and ample supplies had long before created highways of progress. To be trite, comparisons were odious. And it was true with us. We just couldn’t compete. Whether or not we approve of the type of commercial programs leveled at our children today, at least we’ll have to admit that Dick Tracy sounds like Dick