Motion Picture Daily (July–Sept 1938)

Friday, July I, 1938 MOTION PICTURE DAILY Around the Country Hollywood The Radio Bureau of Missing Persons," formerly heard on KEHE, has been moved over to KFWB by its writer-producer, Robert Dillon. The California Radio System is taking the programs, done in conjunction with the Missing Persons Bureau of the local police department. . . . Jose Iturbi, Lotte Lehmann, Dalies Frantz and Joseph Bentonelli have signed through W. Arthur Rush of Columbia Management for appearances on Kraft's "Music Hall" in the future. . . . Martin Gosch, CBS director, is in Hollywood to record four new programs, and plans to remain a month. . . . Rosellan Callahan of the CBS New York publicity department, is in town. + Canadian Roundup Montreal — CBC's powerful CBF here carried President Roosevelt's address before the National Congress of Education Thursday . . . This city is now to play host to the CBC "Everybody's Haur," which leaves its Quebec City headquarters to carry on from here. Gilbert Dariesse still leads the orchestra . . . Richard Manning, tenor, former Montreal newspaperman, will star on a national network soon in Woodland Sketches ; he'll make his first air stab at grand opera. Halifax — Radio stars from two continents attending the International Rotary Conference here will go on the national hookup July 6. Headlines are Kathryn Beach, soprano, Chicago, and Irene Ballesteros, Puerto Rico. Joe Reis, educational director for Crosley Radio Corp., will be emcee. Prescott — A bell, memorial to a century of peace along the border, will be unveiled at Fort Wellington here today. CBC will air the event. Congressman Bertram Snell, legation officials and New York legislators will represent the U. S.. Prescott, Ark., and Prescott, Ariz., will send goodwill delegates. Ottawa — On Confederation Day, today, Canada will hear Vincent Massey, high commissioner from Canada in London, over the national network. The corporation will pick up the program from BBC at 7:20 P.M. E.D.S.T. CBF Montreal will carry it later that evening. Mutual to Air Golf The Mutual network, through arrangement with BBC, will broadcast the play of the British Open Golf Championships, July 7 and 8, from England. There will be four broadcasts in all, two each day. WHN, Hotel in Deal WHN has completed a deal with the Hotel Edison management whereby the "Broadway Melody Hour" program will emanate from the Sun Room of the hotel. The room will accommodate 600 persons. CBS Sets Plan for New Farm Forum The CBS program department has completed plans for an elaborate new farm forum. The forum will include three different presentations, "The Farmer Takes the Mike," "R.F.D. No. 1," and the "Four Corners Theatre." While the programs have been planned for rural listeners, the programs have been so designed as to have an appeal also for urban listeners. "The Farmer Takes the Mike" will start July 17, and Sundays thereafter from 4 to 4:30 P.M. The broadcasts will originate from various cities throughout the country where CBS stations are located, and farmers will air their problems before juries of country editors, educators and local farm authorities. "R.F.D. No. 1," featuring Irene Beasley, and designed for farm women, will start July 4, from 12:15 to 12:30 P.M. Mondays through Fridays. "Four Corners Theatre," consisting of rural dramas, will start July 19, and Tuesdays thereafter from 8 to 8:30 P.M. Kraft Renews Crosby Program for 1 Year (Continued from page 1) by the same agency. The renewal is for 13 weeks. The Howard broadcasts follow immediately after the Kraft "Music Hall." The J. B. Williams Shaving Cream Co. sponsors. J. B. Williams will be represented with another show on NBC, over the coast-to-coast Blue, beginning July 4, when "True or False" bows in from 10 to 10:30 P. M. "First Nighter" to Shift Substantiating long current reports, "The First Nighter," a dramatic series heard for many years over NBC, will shift over to CBS for a year's run starting September 2. It will be heard from 8 to 8 :30 P.M. Fridays and will originate out of WBBM, Chicago. The production will utilize 50 CBS stations. Aubrey, Moore & Wallace is the agency. Willard Alexander Wed Willard Alexander, vice-president of the Music Corp. of America, and the person generally credited with bringing about the present swing craze, will be married today to Peggy Kane, of Dallas, Tex., a non-professional, by Justice Ferdinand Pecora. Plan New CBS Program East & Dumpke will inaugurate a new sustaining series over CBS titled "Meet the Champ," an audience participation show. The presentations are to be heard from 9 to 9 :30 P. M., Wednesdays. Lewis in Agency Post Tom Lewis has been appointed radio production supervisor for Young & Rubicam here. Mr. Lewis joined the agency in February, 1937, coming from WTAM, Cleveland, where he had been program director. Close for Newscasts Philadelphia, June 30. — Greystone Wines, through the J. M. Korn agency, have signed a 13-week contract with WCAU for five-minute TransI radio newscasts. King of Swing Benny Goodman was declared "king of swing" by Martin Block last night when Block broadcast the results of the "King of Swing" competition, conducted by WNEW. Sixteen swing orchestras were included in the competition. Larry Clinton's, Tommy Dorsey's and Chick Webb's orchestras survived to the semi-finals with Goodman. More than 60,000 votes were cast in the three weeks of the competition. WMCA Closes Deal With Paris Station WMCA has completed arrangements for the interchange of programs between America and Paris through a mutual broadcasting tieup between the New York station and Radio Cite, Paris. First of the programs t" be exchanged will be WMCA's "Gangplank" broadcasts in which passengers on the Queen Mary and Normandie are interviewed, and the weekly meetings of the American Club, in Paris. Recordings of the "Gangplank" interviews are to be made in French immediately following their airing here, and will be shipped to Paris for broadcasting there. Bernard Musnik, representative of Radio Cite in America, will handle the French recordings. Similarly, broadcasts of the American Club in Paris will be transcribed by Radio Cite and mailed by return boat to WMCA. Further plans for exchanges will be worked out by Donald Flamm, president of WMCA, when he visits Paris; in the fall. Wrigley's New CBS To Start On July 10 "The Laugh Liner" is the title of a new program for the Wrigley Co., which will start July 10 on CBS over 65 stations. The program will be broadcast from 6:30 to 7 P. M., E.D.S.T., Sundays, and will originate in Chicago. Billy House will be starred, Jack Fulton will be the vocalist, and Carl Hohengarten's orchestra will provide the music. The comedy series will be written by Hugh Wedlock and Howard Snyder. It is also understood that the Campana Sales Corp. will revive the "Grand Hotel" program for the fall on CBS. Campana's "First Nighter" moves from NBC to CBS in September. Heidt Group to Tour The Horace Heidt orchestra, broadcasting over NBC for the Alemite Corp., will leave on a summer tour following the broadcast of July 17. The orchestra and entertainers will be heard throughout the summer each Sunday at 10 P.M. from cities where they are filling theatre engagements. The first will come from Akron, July 24. To Manage Soprano Ben K. Pratt, executive associate of Harris & Steele, has signed Frances Verdi, coloraturo-soprano, to a fiveyear personal management contract. RADIO , Insurance Firm to Sponsor News Show "Five Star Final," on WMCA, radio's oldest news dramatization, has been sold to the North American Accident Insurance Co. for an indefinite period over the full Inter-City network, with repeat broadcasts on WDEL, Wilmington, and WPRO, Providence. The agency on the account "is the Franklin Brack Advertising Corp. Additional new business on WMCA is a series of 26 religious talks by Rev. Donald Gray Barnhouse of the American Bible Conference Association, beginning Oct. 23 for a half-hour weekly. WIP in Philadelphia will feed the talks to WMCA. Contracts for announcements for the Charles Marchand Co. and for the Railway Express Agency are in hand. The "Good Will Hour," sponsored by Ironized Yeast over WMCA and the Inter-City network, and over WOR, CKLW and WGN, of the Mutual network, has been renewed for a year through Ruthrauff & Ryan. Talk Compromise on Pittsburgh's Music Pittsburgh, June 30. — The proposal of Local 60, Musicians' Union, to make night clubs pay their musicians extra for radio broadcasts will be dropped, officers have announced, if all of the Pittsburgh cafes agree to employ local bands at least six months out of the year. At present, five big dance places use out-of-town orchestra exclusively. They have tentatively said, it is reported, that they would use Pittsburgh outfits four months instead of six providing the William Penn hotel is also included in the arrangement. So far the William Penn management has turned a deaf ear to the offer. The radio ban is at present set to go into effect today. Hope Is Signed by Pepsodent for Show Pepsodent has signed Bob Hope to head a new variety series on the NBC-Red, starting the first Tuesday in September. The program will be broadcast at 7 P.M., New York time, and will originate in Hollywood. Vocalist and orchestra still are to be selected. A guest star policy will be employed, with the guests primarily screen players. Lord & Thomas is the agency. Tom McAvity, production head of the agency, who is now in New York with Hope, will return to the coast within the next two weeks to begin production plans for the new series. Fischell Is Named Executive of WMCA Dick Fischell, special events director of WMCA, has been appointed to the station's sales department as account executive. His new duties will include both the sale of current sustaining features and new programs which are scheduled for the fall. He will continue his daily sports program. With the change, the special events department will be absorbed by the publicity department, of which Leon Goldstein is head. Assisting Mr. Goldstein in the joint setup will be Hal Janis of the news department.