Radio daily (Feb-Mar 1937)

Wednesday, February 24. 1937 RADIO DAILY 5 commtnTS On Current Programs MILTON BERLE'S first Gillette broadcast from the coast, and incidentally the initial airing from the newly acquired CBS broadcasting theater in Los Angeles, went □ff very neatly. A portion of the show was enlivened by the guest appearance of Joe Penner. Which will probably result in Berle returning the favor by visiting Penner's program some future Sunday. And so the scrambling of stars continues. JOE PENNER, by the way, has developed his radio comedy style to a very entertaining degree. His present skits are a pretty far cry from the "nasty man" and duck busines that once threatened to mark Penner as a transient oddity of the airwaves. A delectable item on his programs is the crooning of Gene Austin and his neat little trick of sliding into the program without fanfare. HOME INTERVIEWS, the Sunday afternoon WJZ feature, invaded a home last Sunday and brought to the mike a chap who would make a swell radio actor. He said he was a butler — not English, but Scotch, and presently unemployed. His conversation was very pleasant to the ear. ALEXANDER GRAY and his ringing baritone voice enriched the Ed Wynn program over WJZ on Saturday night. Gray sang a couple of numbers, including "One Alone" from "The Desert Song" in which he has no peers, and also did a little clowning with Wynn. Any vocalist with a voice like Gray's ought to be heard more frequently on the networks. SID GARY is another robust warbler whose voice has been showing steady improvement with frequent usage over WOR, WMCA and elsewhere. On Saturday evening he graced the Benay Venuta variety hour, along with Willard Amison and others. Miss Venuta always puts on a good show, and this goes for her vocal efforts as well. ONE MINUTE INTERVIEW EDGAR A. GUEST "The thin? that awes me about radio is the fact that It plays to such a universal audience, with listeners from prison cells to palaces; and another thing about it is that it has made the nation iamiliar with things they knew nothing oi 20 years ago, when the best singers and opera were ior the rich only." "BILLY GLASON'S FUNFEST" Sustaining WMCA (Inter-City Group), Sundays, 6-6:30 p. m., EST. VARIETY SHOW BOWS WITH SEASONED TALENT FAILING TO PLEASE. Billy Glason, a headliner from the two-a-day era of vaudeville, made his debut with a variety show, hoping to get his spurs into the Sunday night comedy class. As Billy put it during the 30 minute routine: "The Stuff is here and it's mellow"; the "stuff" was there but not used to advantage. Show features Carl Fenton and his orchestra, Jerry Baker, longtime favorite of WMCA, Lorraine Barnett, contralto; Dick Porter, rhythm singer, and Howard Doyle, announcer, as straight man. To the tune of "Crazy Rhythm" of Fenton and the boys, the program telegraphed a fast moving performance. Then announcements with another band number. Glason came forward with an ancient black out followed by a vocal from Lorraine, who sounded just all right. Baker was out of form with his offering of "I've got the Rocking Chair Swing." Another band number, another timeworn skit, into Porter's routine, another gag, a bit of recitation from Glason, which was the high-spot of the show, and another disappointing rendition of a song by Jerry. Seems that the musical part of the show, except for the band, were in poor form. Nervousness cannot be attributed as the cause, since all are seasoned performers. Probably an off-day. Glason definitely needs material. His delivery and timing are o.k. The show has a fast pace for a background, but fails to hold during the individual spots. "LET FREEDOM RING" Sustaining WABC-CBS Network, Mondays 10:30-11 p. m. EXCELLENT EDUCATIONAL DRAMATIZATION OF STRUGGLE TO WIN CIVIL LIBERTIES. Presented under the auspices of the Office of Education, U. S. Department of the Interior, this weekly series will attempt to educate listeners in the matter of civil liberties and the early-day struggles for such constitutional rights. Judging on the basis of the first program, the series should be both instructive and entertaining. Initial broadcast was devoted to dramatizing a factual story telling how the Bill of Rights was written into the Constitution. Succeeding issues will tell how various other personal rights were brought about after strife and even bloodshed. The series is being produced by the Educational Radio Project, using script writers and actors on its sta(T, with original music by Rudolf I Schramm. "KITCHEN CAVALCADE" With Crosby Gaige C. F. Mueller Co. (Macaroni) NBC-Blue, Mondays through Fridays, 10:45-11 a. m. Kenyon & Eckhardt, Inc. COLORFUL VARIETY SHOW COMBINI N G DIVERSIFIED ENTERTAINMENT WITH COOKING HINTS. This program ought to click not only with the housewife but also with any other grownup who happens to be around the house at 10:45 a. m. Crosby Gaige, the Broadway theatrical producer who also is reputed to have some culinary talents, makes a very agreeable master of ceremonies for the show, which aims to depict the drama, comedy and romance behind various food dishes. Dramatizing of historical incidents having to do with food, comments about the favorite dishes and snacks of theatrical celebrities, and other entertaining bits, including some nice accordion interludes, make up the routine, and there is no over-plugging of the sponsor's product. Jean Grombach, Inc., is producer of the shows. The first two programs were thoroughly enjoyable and marked Gaige as a good radio personality. NBC Guides and Pages Putting on Own Revue Seeking an award of a week's vacation with pay for the outstanding performer, the guides and pages of the National Broadcasting Co., in Radio City, will present "The Brass Button Revue of 1937", a program of variety entertainment, on Saturday, 4-4:30 p.m., over the NBC-Red network. The program will be written, produced, directed and acted by the guides and pages themselves. The only professional talent in the revue will be Jerry Sears and his NBC orchestra, who will provide the musical support. A cast of 25 will feature five solos by tenors and baritones, a travesty on the current Sherlock Holmes mystery plays, songs by the Brass Button Octet, and a round-table discussion of the Radio City tours, conducted by the guides. Letters from the radio audience will determine the winner. Voice of Southland on Trip Dallas — Voice of the Southland, program originating from WFAA with Clarence E. Linz, first viceprexy of Southland Life Insurance Co., as producer and master of ceremonies, will travel to Wichita Falls for its Monday evening broadcast. The program will salute Texas and Oklahoma bankers, who are convening there. PEC GRAM * I D EAT * What Local Stations Are Doing SOMETHING UNIQUE in the way of a behind-the-scenes broadcast was carried by KSTP, MinneapolisSt. Paul station as a stunt — an informal "tour" of the studios. Show went on for a half hour, giving listeners an informal view of all persons in the studio, showing just what makes a broadcasting station "click." The "tour" included brief interviews with the station personnel; broadcasts from various rooms, showing programs in preparation, auditions being run, orchestras in rehearsal, programs being routed, equipment constructed and repaired. In a second radio behind-thescenes broadcast as a follow up, the station took its listeners to Mid-West Recordings, Inc., in Minneapolis, to show radio transcriptions and soundeffects records in the making. A new series under the title of "The Civic Forum" was inaugurated recently by KDYL in Salt Lake City. The program consists of an informal, ex tempore round-table discussion by prominent educators, legislators, and business men on topics of current civic interest, and the panel is composed of men who represent various interests, with plenty of room for spirited discussion. Believing that plenty of people think they can be as funny as Fred Allen, Jack Benny, Jack Pearl or Ed Wynn, or that they can sing as well as the radio headliners, KSTP, Minneapolis and St. Paul station, is inaugurating a new program series, "Radio Doubles." The program is to be aired once each week, with the gates thrown wide for all imitators to give them a chance to prove the often-voiced threat, "I could do as good as that guy." Doubles talent was solicited through a series of minute announcements on the station and through stories in the station's affiliate, The Minneapolis Journal. Talent in quest of a sponsor will be rounded up by WSYR, Syracuse, and offered over the air in a Sunday night half-hour show billed as "Orphans of the Ether." Among the sustainers already lined up for the program are the Norcross Sisters, Big Freddy Miller, Fred Ripley and Fred Jeske. REEVES STUDIO RADIO TRANSCRIPTIONS Noiseless Film and Wax Recording • ALL WORK GUARANTEED 1600 Broadway MEd 3-1270 New York