Motion Picture Daily (Jul-Sep 1956)

Jelevjs'ion Jo day Monday, July 23, 1956 The scene the other day as R. B. Hanna, General Electric Broadcasting Stations division manager broke ground at Schenectady, N. Y. for a new center to house stations WGY and WRGB. The Show-Makers Gale Gordon and Bob Sweeney will have the leads in the new comedy series starting over CBS-TV, Tuesday, October 4. Desilu will make the series on Hollywood, with Ed Feldman as producer, Hy Averback director and William Davenport responsible for the scripts. W. A. Shaeffer Pen Company and Procter and Gamble will be alternate sponsors. Jack Drees and Bill Hickey are the voices in Saturday Sports Mirror, new weekly sports feature produced by Jim Dolan and directed by Vern Diamond for CBS-TV. NBC Bandstand, new live twohour radio music show over NBC beginning Monday, July 30, will be on television also for a half -hour segment from 10:30 to 11 A.M., EDT, over NBC-TV. Johnny Mercer will be "Mr. Music," Bert Parks will be permanent m.c, and featured will be the orchestras of Guy Lombardo, the Dorsey Brothers, Wayne King and Freddy Martin. The Herb Shriner Show, a new half-hour variety series starring the Hoosier humorist, will be presented over the CBS-TV Network starting October 2 under the sponsorship of Pharmaceuticals, Inc., it is announced by William H. Hylan, vice-president in charge of network sales, CBS-TV. The new series will be presented every Tuesday evening. Alan Sherman will produce. Alan Ladd plays the starring role of a young policeman in "Farewell to Kennedy" on the General Electric Theatre, Sunday, July 29, over CBS-TV. Lisa Daniels, John Napier and Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., star in "Stop over at Sublimity" on the United States Steel Hour, Wednesday, August 1, on CBS-TV. The hour is produced by the Theatre Guild under the supervision of Theresa Helburn, Lawrence Langner and Armina Marshall. David Niven and Sir Cedric Hardwicke appear in "Tunnel of Fear" on Singer Four Star Playhouse, Thursday, August 2 over CBS-TV. Also in the cast are Walter Kingsford, Alex Frazer, Keith McConnell and Leslie Dennison. The adaptation for TV by Frederic Brady is from a story by Roland Winters. Roy Kellino directed. Hugh Beaumont stars in "Alias Mike Hercules" on the G. E. Summer Originals series over the ABC television network Tuesday, July 31. Appearing with him is Anne Kimbal. Hal Roach, Jr. produced and Bud Boetticher directed. Bette Davis and Gary Merrill star in a rebroadcast of "Crack-Up" on CBS-TV's 20th Century-Fox Hour on Wednesday, August 8. The program was first viewed in March. Featured are Barbara Ruick and Jesse White. Jules Bricken produces and Ted Post directs. Joseph Cotten is program host. Maxwell Reed has been chosen to play the star role in Captain David Grief, Guild Films' new television series based on Jack London's stories of the South Sea Isles. Helen Westcott plays opposite him. Others in the cast are Mickey Simpson, George E. Stone, Tudor Owen, Michael Whalen, Howard Petrie, and Larry Gelbman. The Jack Benny Show, currently off the air for its summer hiatus, will resume on CBS-TV Sunday, September 23. Who's Where Last week these changes: A series of new staff assignments has been announced by Irving Gitlin, CBS director of public affairs. James Fleming, former CBS newsman who most recently has been producer of NBC Radio's "Monitor," has been appointed producer of Good Morning with Will Rogers, Jr. Michael Sklar, who has been producer of the Rogers program, will begin research and development on a new series of programs for showing early next year. Ted Sack, producer of Look Up and Live, will become an associate producer of Adventure on a special research project; Carl Beier replaces Mr. Sack as producer of Look Up and Live. Shelby Gordon, associate producer of Adventure, begins research and development on a new program. Jack Kirk has been appointed to the WABC-TV sales staff as an account executive, it was announced by Robert L. Stone, general manager. Mr. Kirk had been manager of the political sales unit at the station. Barrett Geohagen, formerly with Station WPIX, New York, has been appointed manager of the WABC-TV political sales unit. Both appointments are effective immediately. Kenneth McKay, former assistant director of public relations for Madison Square Garden, will join CBSTV press information as sports publicist, effective July 23. Mr. McKay will work directly with William MacPhail, CBS director of sports, and will be responsible for publicity on all sports programs. Jane Nusbaum has been added to the legal staff of WABD, New York, it has been announced by Ted Cott, vice-president of DuMont and head of owned and operated stations. Appointment of Nox Lempert, veteran producer of public service films and commercials, to serve as production manager for Guild Films' commercials division, has been announced by Wally Gould, director of the department. Mr. Lempert comes to Guild Films from Filmwright Productions where he was executive producer since 1951. He handled the campaign for Better Schools, and commercials for Tide, Instant Maxwell House Coffee and others. Walter Kiernan, veteran political reporter, columnist and radio-TV commentator, has been added to the ABC news staff covering the Presidential Conventions in August. Bruce Eells, western division vicepresident of Television Programs Motion Picture Daily of America, has signed a new twoyear contract with the company according to Milton A. Gordon,! president. Mr. Eells and Hardie! Frieberg, eastern vice-president, i have been given extended sales ter-i ritory to supervise. HOLLYWOOD HOLLYWOOD: Young & Rubicam wants Peter Goelet's National AuJ dience Board to preview four ol its new teleseries slated for the! Fall: Broken Arrow, 77th Benga ; Lancers, Adventures of Hiram Hoi iday and Playhouse 90. NAB re! gional directors will notify alj groups of the air dates so tha; family reviews can be conductei on a national scale and ballot re suits forwarded voluntarily to th> agency. . . . Sunkist bought onei fourth of the Blondie series show produced at the Hal Roach Studios sponsoring the comedy series in 4l| markets on the Vitapix statio lineup. Wesson Oil has also bougW into the program covering 80 mai kets. Ned Koenig, head of sales fo| Roach, is offering the remainin; fourth of the tab to top regions and national accounts. M & A Alexander Films has at quired the re-run distributio rights, for syndication, to the "Bi Town" series, starring Mar Stevens. The top rated newspape adventure series will now be know as "Byline — Steve Wilson." Stanley Frazen left his pr< ducer-director post at McCadden commercial division after flv years, flew east to produce and d rect commercial for Filmways £ their Manhattan studios, and wi set up shop with a new affilatio on his return. . . . Ken Murray i back from his four-week engagi ment of "Blackouts" at the Rivier Hotel in Las Vegas. Hal Roach, Jr., chose Henr Greenberg as associate product of The Stories of John Nesbii teleseries for A.T. & T.'s Tel< phone Time. . . . National Va, Lines will plug Doris Day's con ing MGM release, "Julie," wit 740 radio spot announcements ov< 30 key cities, in exchange for qui tes on the nationwide moving coi vern. . . . Bob Crosby will toplir the California State Fair show i Sacramento in September. Ti Modernaires and regulars on h CBS-TV show are in the act. . J Four Star Films is backing act( Don Taylor on his film directori debut with a Stage 7 segmei titled "Family Affair," starrh Charles Coburn. . . . George Bils( has joined Briskin Production Inc., Screen Gems, to head a ne department developing ideas fi ! new film series. . . . Campbell Soi and Lever Bros, are the alterna sponsors of On Trial, the new tel film series, which Collier Yow produces. — S.D. 10