NBC Transmitter (Jan-Nov 1942)

4 NBC TRANSMITTER SHOE ON THE OTHER FOOT Radio— not movie— names rule Hollywood air By Sidney N. Strotz NBC Vice President, Western Division • Before I crossed the Hudson River to brave the wilds of the West, I found that many Radio City natives had a number of peculiar ideas about radio in Hollywood. One of these ideas, I found, was so peculiar, it was virtually a myth — a myth I am now about to explode. This is it: that most of the NBC Hollywood programs are carried by top-ranking picture names. Pure bunk! As a matter of cold fact, there is not a single broadcast series originating in NBC Hollywood that stars a top movie name. Every mother’s son and daughter on our movietown airlanes has been a radio, vaudeville or stage star before coming to the cinema capital for a fling at pictures. Bing Crosby, for instance, was on the air with Paul Whiteman before he even had a very small part in “King of Jazz.” and was radio’s ace crooner before he ever faced a camera as a featured player in films. As for Jack Benny, he had five years of radio and a dozen years of vaudeville to his credit before he ever crashed a movie lot. Abbott and Costello, who are box office dynamite these days, did much radio, vaudeville and burlesque before putting on movie makeup. Bob Hope bas been going on the air many years before tbe films even considered him. Rudy Vallee is nearlv as much a radio institution as is radio itself. And Edgar Bergen was in radio’s top ranks before pictures ever gave him a second look. One of the best examples is Fibber McGee and Molly. Marian and Jim Jordan were doing a harmony act in NBC’s Chicago studios nine years ago, have been doing Fibber and Molly for eight years, and just now are coming into their own as potent picture material. Then there is Red Skelton. When 1 was in Chicago, Red was doing fairly well as an up and coming young radio comedian. He came to Hollywood for pictures and there, too, did fairly well. But when Red started on his present radio series, the ball really began rolling for bim, and as a result bis current success on tbe air has pushed him even further up the ladder of motion picture success. Burns and Allen are among the kilocycle pioneers. Their brand of comedy has been a favorite of network dialers for a good many years — long before they ever dreamed of coming to Hollywood. Now they do very well, indeed, as a picture comedy team, and Gracie has even stepped out on her own as a comedienne. Lum and Abner are synonymous with radio. Chet Lauck and Norris Goff started in NBC’s Chicago studios nearly a decade ago, and have been at it ever since as one of the top dialogue teams on the air. Two years ago they made their first picture, and because tbeir air following was so large and so loyal, it made a great amount of money. Result: a contract to make nine more films, the first of which is now screening around the country, and doing even better than their first effort. Kay Kyser was moving along quite well as a dance band until he began bis College of Musical Knowledge on NBC. He gravitated to outstanding national prominence, and R-K-0 signed him for one trial picture that was so successful he has done two, and is signed for more. Fanny Brice is a stage veteran who was well established in that field before sbe came West for pictures. Now she confines her activities entirely to radio. Eddie Cantor has been almost an habitual radio star with movies as a sideline. And the number of radio writers who either make film writing a sideline, or have stepped completely into that field from radio is so vast it is nearly impossible to list them here. As a matter of fact, just glance over the entire list of names I have compiled, and you will see that the shoe is on the other foot. Instead of Hollywood radio being dominated by movie names, it is just the other way around. SIDNEY N. STROTZ