Variety (Nov 1932)

52 VARIETY R A D I O E P O R T S Tuesdaf, November 8, 1932 THURSTON THE MAGICIAN With Cliff Soubier, Carl Brickert, Artl-iur Jacobson, and William Kephart COMMERCIAL WLS, Chicago Concerning this program, J. Wal- ter Tlionipson has from the besln- nlng of the negotiations maintained a,n e.'i.boratie secrecy as formidable as the veil of mystery Thurston himself would set up concerning his major stunts. Agency denied out- right or refused to discuss the Thurston show as far back as last July; Meanwhile numerous otorSes have been printed, and the great trembling apprehensions of the agency that someboly might appro- priate their idea and hire a rival maglofan have proved to be, as most agency timidities usually <lo, wholly unfounded. The Thurston show arrived Thursday (3), with a second Install- ment Friday. Broolcfleld Batter, a Swift product. Is ;the beneficiary of the plugs. Merchandising point concerning which much Is expected is the offer to give away small magic tricks in exchange for the empty carton of this brand of but- ■ ter.: It is quite likely that the ex- pectations in this regard will be fulfilled. There are hundreds of , thousands of magic fans in the four ' organized groups of sorcerers alone. . Ten to mystify seems Inborn In klilg' and many adults. Any question) of pirofesslohal pro- priety on the part of Thurston In ■ giving away tricks to laymen Is prob&bly answered by the. fact that the. gadgets will be primitive and elementary, such as can be bought -without credentials by anybody throujgh magic shops or by mall order. First stiiat was an antic for two playing cards whereby they ap- pear to chainge plaices. Now it is, now.lt Isii't. V No easy problem was the framing of the Thurston show. John Guion, scenarlst-ln-chlef at NBC, Is au- thor of the script Into which a great deal or telescoped action Is packed. Practically all lines are plot. lines. Sound . effects include an opening gibberish ot witches in w^lrd, un- earthly squeaklnfT voices, reciting their rigmarole over frog ehtrtiils. When finally the actual action be- gins, Thurston Is found In his dress- ing room .waiting for a performance tP: begin. This construction permits the In- troduction of Cliff Soubier as a ne- gro servant for comedy relief pur- poses. Soubier, under his own name aind as 'Old Pappy/ Is well known and popular over the-Chicago NBC channels. Other characters Include ' a- Uttle girl called Jane (not Thurs- ton) who asks questions of the ma- gician and elicits from him anecdotes of his world travels as a magician. ' These In turn are flashbacks dram- atized Ih 90 seconds or so, and In- troducing other voices. For exam', pie, Arthur Jacobson played a Brit- ish army officer, figuring in one Of the flashbacks. Jacobson was re- cently barred from NBC^s own tal- ent lists for appearing on Columbia programs. Wallace Butterworth, number one N'BC announcer, -flatly refused to appear on the Thurston program unless plaid extra, but Swift wanted . and got a studio'announcer gratis. To fill this Important commercial .announcing assignment KBC had to shift-William Kephart, who ordl narlly reports for work at 6:30 a, m. Which makes Kephart's houris long, Indeed. He did a very nice job on the opening performance and ought to be paid for It. He got the as- signment on the afternoon of the initial broadcast. Executives close their eyes to the bad effects of such piker tactics on studio morale. In general the Thurston program was ■ well written, produced and acted. A possible criticism Is that the mechanics of presentation are somewhat complicated which may or may not- make the action hard to follow for kids. Thurston him self is, of course, a .sure-fire attrac tion. For 30 years or more he has been a lieadlng if not the leading exponent of his craft. He is Instl tutionalized and comes to the radio with a reputation that has tlie .addi tlonal advantage of exciting curi- osity. Uncounted myriads will want to know what manner of radio show can be concocted lor a man who tv.1 his life has traded upon the swift ness of his hands and the slownesi of the human optics. Now he Is dealing with human ears. Land, ANN HARD Current Event Talks Sustaining WGY, Schenectady A new and interesting weeUdaj- morning feature over the NBC red network. Presented by the wife of William Hard, Washington corre- spondent and news commentator for NBC. Mrs. Hard's talks cover .nar tlonal and international questions— as do her hu.sband's—with added comment on lesser topics in the day's news grist. . » She has a widie, background of Journalistic experience, here and abroad, on which siie draws for In-- terprotation of current events. Sub- jects range from sports and politics to iriaval cruisers and world-wide disarmament. Last named is a fa- vorite of her. While Mrs. Hard's grasp of im- portant questions is undoubted, it is probable that the average woman auditor likes best her word pictures of spot developments Ih the news and of lntln(iate gilTnpses of famous persons. Such things as a sketch of the scene at a campaign recep- tion to Governor Roosevelt In a rail- road depot, of President Hoover's domestic habits, and of Queen Marie receiving Interviewers In the royal castle at Bucharest have a strong humain Interest appeal. Mrs. Hard has both the knowledge and the style to make bits of this kind stand out; more of them would lighten the sometimes heavy mental fare for women she .serves.. Now and then Mi's. Hardi turns aside for philosophical comment, such, as importance attached- to number of hours of sleep| needed. Mrs. Hard talks In a conversa- tional tone, entirely natural. On the first three broadcasts she spoke so rapidly that it was an effort for listeners to follow her remarks, biit this fault hais been corrected. ' A high-grade ' broadcast; partly educational. Programs of this sort do not, however, readily find com- mercial sponsors.. JacQ, VIC and SADE With Bernardine Flynn and Art Van Avery ■ Domestic Skit Su&taininjg WMAQ, Chicago NBC's Chicago branch sanguine ly anticipates a bright future for this 8:30 a. m. dally program. Al though still unbankrolled after sev eral .months the mail response sug gests that the public is sympathetic and interested. Program Is typical family small happenings. As everydaylsh as ham and eggs. Mliss Flynn and Mr. yan Avery have pleasantly companionable voices, sweet, but not too affected in the direction of melting butter. Paul Ryhmer, staff scenarist at NBC, authors the scripts and Is credited with an able Job of Infinitely detailed petty Americana. Lqnd. .. DENNIS and REESE Songs, Talk IS Minutes Sustaining WJZ,N«wYork There's nothing startllngly new about the idea these lads, Jay Den- nis and Ted Reese, are trying to propound as part of their NBC buildup, biit with a little less forced attempt at comedy they may be able to put it over and make themselves, eventually, commercially valuable. Gist of the Idea Is getting the audi- ence to suggest song titles, With the team writing the lyrics and melo- dies around them; From the harmony angle ihe boys shape up as promising contenders for network attention, but .the same can't be salcl for their patter ex-' change. At no'tline during the debut broadcast (2) did It Impress as having the. necessary humor. Boys must be writing ,their own cross- fire, arid, if so, a'little outside aid and steering would be desirable. Here's a sample of their stuff 'They're saying that somebody blew up the battleship Maine.' 'Why that happened back in 1898.' •Well, how should I know- Vm a stranger around here.' Wouldn't be a bad idea tor the yodler partner to try to pipe his voice down a Utile during the talk- ing passages. There's an ear-grat- ing quality about it as it now comes out of the loudspeaker. On the other hand, Dennis would do well to raise the volume of his voice when he goes into his sotto-voice asides. What he had to Interpolate came out on that Initial broadcast hardly Intel ligible. Odec, SPECIAL AGENT 5 Serial COMMERCIAL WEAF, New York. With Lucky Strike still intent on proving that the 'long arm ot. the law reaches everywhere* and 'crime does not pay,' the listener has a new series of criminal hunts to keep liim awake between shifts of the 'magic carpet.' From the pro- duction angle and general structure of the stories there's little to dis- tlhguish the new folios from the Tom Cut>tin police cpis9des. And if there are any differences in the matter of . interest maintenance they're all in favor of the Curtln output.. At least the dettectlve partners in the police versions had a touch of human interest, about them arid, more Important, established a couple of character Identities thoit nniads the listeners particularly Interested in their personal Welfare. The 'Spe- cial Agent 5' affair lacks thesef ele- ments and i» as Impersonal as the much worn whistle attending the miagic carpet' New dramatic spasni Is : hullt pretty much to the old regulations arid specifications. In place of the police headquarters short wave warning there's now the rappliig out of the Morse code over the anttenae. Where previously Police Comnnis- sioner Mulrooney.'s name was used to attest to the authenticity of the Curtln thrillers, the listener now has' the word of J.'Edgar Hoover, director of the.department bf Jus- tice, that the Incidents herein dra- matized are the goods. .- It's' no longer 'All police cars stand by.' Clear all wires' Is the substituted cue. Outside of these slight changes it's the old story of how-the crime W&s coriimltted and how the crim- inals Were hunted down. For the Initial tale of the new series the ciggle accpunt picked one' that oozed with gore. It was a tral:i robberj' up In northwest Ore- gon, md before the bandits got away three of ■ the train crew were heard going through the throes;of a lead hall. Lots of sound effects were Jammed Into this chapter; With even the bloodhound elmlck getting an Introduction to the mike. Good casting all" through' this one, the pacing was'oke but- the exclt'fehieni petered out completely after the crime commlttaL 'Special Agent 6' doesn't look ad though he'll be able to keep them tuning In with a strong anti<;l'patory. zest for many more weeks. The ciggle account has ianbther script theme ready to take Its place. It abandons, crime altogether and goes In deep for romance, with stage names figured on for the casting. Odcc. TED MACK ORCHESTRA With Lefholts Sisters and Rhythmen Sustain NBC KOA, Denver t After listening to this group, one can readily see why the Pacific Coast stations Insisted on adding all they could of it to their programs Broadcasting once weekly, this or- chestra with their two trios, Ted Mack's. Harmonettes, girls, and the Khy thmen, their presentation is high class and satisfying. . Opening with their slg. number, 'Casanova,' the girls and Mack swing into 'Turn Out the Light' and inject novelty angles. Mack in his fine voice sings 'Voice in the Old Village Choir,' helped along by the Harmonettes and chimes effects. The four sing 'How Deep and How High A Spanish number with castanettes and other Castlllian accessories make a change of pace. Follow with 'St. Mary's and Notre Dame, but in 'Lonesome Road' Ted Mack' Harmonettes ia.re given a chance to extend their melodious voices and cover themselves With gloiT. Mack and the Rhythmen sing 'Just Like the Leaves,' an original by the leader and one of his men Lorn Wallace. Wallace does most of the singing here. This prograrii has had one of the largest hookups net for a Denver program, ancl has received fan mall in proportion. A fine program and listeners here expressed the hope It will be continued after Mack and band move to Texas to open a new night club at the Blackstone in Fort Worth. Inside Stdf-Radio With the purchase by 'Frank E, Gannett of a controlling Interest In Station WHEC, Rochester, the newspaper chain publisher now has a local radio tie-up for all his New. York State dailies. 'WHEC^ a 600* watter operated for some time by Lawrence G. Hlckson, will have news broadcasts and other features supplied by the 'Democrat and Chroniclflp (seven-day morning) and the T'Imes Union' (evening). Rochester, by. the. way, is the hub of the Gannett Wheel. Gannett has held an interest though not a; majority one, as stated la the first press release concerning the purchase oi: WHEC, iri WOKO since the latter, a 600-watt transmitter,' was transferred from Beacon to Albany about two years ago. The 'Itnlckerbocker Press' (seyeri-day morning) and the 'Evening News,' Gannett's Albany publications, wbric with WOKO.. Gannett recently acquired an Interest In a station at. Elmlra,, Where he has the newspaper field to himself with the 'Advertiser' (a. m.), 'Star-Gazettis' (p. m.) and 'Sunday Telegram'. . Proposals at the Madrid-Radio Conference to widen the broadcast band used by commercial radio stations have been cues for a bitter fight in Wiashington betweeii broadcasters and marine interests. All schemes so far would appropriate additional Wave lengths from part of spectrum assigned tb maritime comrinunlcatlpn. Na.vy, Coast Guard and private shippers say they will resist attempts to cut in on their territory to the last ditch. Present broadcast band runs from 660 kilocycles to 1600 kc. Proposals are to drop the lower limit to 470 kc. This would take best frequencies away from seamen and abolish accepted frequency of 600 kc. universally used for S. .O. S. callSi ; Move Is part of atteiript to solve-trouble between U. S. and l^exlcb over wave lengths.' At present U. S. has nO: radio treaty:with Mexico and Mexican stations are increasingly interfering with American reception. Broadcasters argue that unless number of available channels Is in- cireas^d, U. S. stations will have to be reduced In power and number If Mexico is to be brought to agreement. ' - .Several prolonged conferences: at the State Department between the two factions have wound up. with each side more belligerent than ever. BILL, MAC and JIMMY ' Episodic COMMERCIAL KNX, Hollywood Leightoh'g Cafeteria, which Intro- duced the Innovation of 'come to our restaurant and see picture stars broadcasting and eat all ypu can for 45c, switches from an out-andrbut film personal appearance gag to a program, with an appeal only to children: Spotting Is psychological. Pro- gram Is on nightly' at the dinner hour, and It follows that the dials will be turned to It If there are any children in the home. Judicious spotting Is-to get an appeal over to 'eat out occasionally' when the family Is dining and the mlissus has Just finished her stint at the kitchen stove. Further to assure the kids turn- ing to this station are nightly an- nouncements as to giveaways, gen- erally pictures ot the animals that supposedly appear In the serial, tickets for which are given kiddles who go to the restaurant. Plot Is one of those roving affairs of two explorers and a kid, who are supposec^ly on a round-the-world trip. Currently the trio are in Af- rica, fighting with arilmals and can- nibals, with the kid JImmie always the hero to get the travelers-out of difflculty in the nick of time. Well acted and with good souiid effects it is okay Juvenile stuff, but carries no entertainment value for adults. Stan. DANCING IN MILWAUKEE Jimmy Gerrigan and Johnny Davis Orchestras WJZ, New York On a 30-minute schedule, two dance bands from the former beer city, under the inclusive caption of 'Dancing In Milwaukee,' was NBC- networked and brought into New York via WJZ. The first IS minutes were occupied by Jimmy Gerrigan from the Hotel *SchrOeder, and the second portion by Johnny Davis' orchestra from the Oriental room of Toy's, restaurant Charles Reriaud was prominent vocally In the Inter- ludes with Davis. Both are competent dance music purveyors and unquestionably the' best dance music right now in the entire city of Milwaukee, else the network would never accord them the . unusual distinction of such fancy - etherizing, even though It's way past midnlte that they hit the east. Davis' revlviol of 'Hot Lips' was noteworthy. In that It may start that old Henry Busse-Paul White- man tune back Into renewed popu- larity. • AheL The networks are about equally divide^ on the programs, CBS perhaps overbalancing a bit on .the quantity with 'the NBC scintillating: on the quality or. the .real .sock names, . NBC for example has .shining leaders in Ed 'Wynn (Texaco), Eddie Cantor (Chased- Sanborn), Rudy Vallee' (Flelschmann); the Lucfty Strike programs,, and. the elaborate. Maxwell - House 'Show Boat' hour. CBS on the other hsi.nd.still has Kate.Smith, Ituth Ettlng, the Boswells, Street Singer, Morton Downey,. Mills Bros., . Stdopnagle and Budd, Burns and Allen, Guy Lombardo, Gebirge Price. On script acts the NBC's 'Rise of the Goldbergs,' Amos 'n' Andy are staple, but . CBS .has the edge with 'March of Time,' 'Easy Aces,' My^t and Marjge and'Skippy.' . - _ . On bands, NBC's .outstanders on nariie value eclipse the' rival chains. They are "Whlteman, Ber'nle, Lppez, Denny, Olsen. CBS' has Lyman, Jones, Arnhelm and also Denny. Rather than have-the.programs intruded upon.by politics and elec- tions Lucky Strike cancelled both Its last Saturday's (5) and tonighfa (8) stanzas. Anticipating a lapover of th^ final R.oosevelt campaign broadcast, the ciggle account first ordered the weeic-end session out. When later advised that; NBC Intended tb cut Into the election night show with, return. announcements, Lucky Strike decided that It would also get along without tonight's hour. M. H. Aylesworth tried to prevail upon George Wiashlngton Hill, the American Tobacco proxy, to: reconsider, arguing that the account ought to take advantage of the audience made available for It that night, but the order stood. Of the 72 orchestras picked up by Lucky Strike from Nov. 3, 1931 to Nov. 12,-1932, 11 Were foreign. They include Carabelll, etherized, thre» times from Buenos Aires; Marek Weber, on two occasions from Berlin; Slboney orchestra, Havana; Jack Hyltbn, London; Cooper ore,- Paria;' Manolo Castro, Havana; Luigl Aomanelll, Toronto; DaJos Belas, Berlin; Siamsa Gael Band, Dublin; arid Jack Payne, London, one time each; and Charles Dornbefger, thrice from Moritreal. . . Top maestro for Strikes was Jack Denny, 21 times; Joe Moss, second^ etherizing 20 timcfs; (Seorge Olsen, 19 times; Anson Weeks, 17; Wayne King and Vincent Lopez, 11 times each. B. A. Rolfe has taken a nuriiber of old-time melodramas and whipped them Into elaborate musical dramas. He's now auditioning; several samples for Goodyear Tire. Stories he has given tunes and lyrics are of the 'Diamond Dick* and 'Old Sleuth' schools, with the cohiposer-maestro of the opinion that these paper-backs offer a mine of material that could be brought up to date In treatment and effect one of those boyhood reminiscent appeals for the adult. Feuding now going on between the radio pages of the Pittsburgh 'Sun Telegram' and the 'Press' . Is due to a recent innovation In WCAB pub- licity policy. Former sheet and the station are a part of the Hearst interests. Exchange pf brickbats broke out. between the respective radio chatter columns after Louis Kaufman, head of WCAis, Issued orders that the 'Sun Tele' get the first break on all news about the station's activi- ties. WCAE is a CBS affiliate. Listerine's 'The Country Doctor' is due for Its first major mail test in a couple weeks. At that time the program's schedule will be moved back an hour and a half to 8:30 p. m., with the antiseptic mixer announcing that the shift had been Influenced by a growing demand from listeners for an earlier clocking so that the children cbuld be in on the serial. Listeners will, then be asked to write in and tell what they think of the change in time. Hooked up with the letter appeal will be a giveaway inglei '■■'■. ■ ' ■ Walter Wlnchell at 9:30-9:46 p. m. Sunday nights, on the new Jergena program over NBC commencing Dec. 4, Is believed by his ad agency, J. Walter Thompson, to coincide well on the important Sunday night time schedule, coming on after Eddie Cantor (Chase & Sanborn), 8-9 p. m. over NBC; and Fred Allen-Llnit, 9-9:30 p. m., the most Important CBS comedy entrant that rilght. An advertiser protested to KNX, Hollywood, that he was. not getting any letters from his broadcast. He was reminded that probably his spot- ting time had something to do with it, as It was one bf those kid affaii-a with an announcement running: ?And naw children if you want one of our toy fire engines, writes to us at, etc/ It happened the program was running nightly from 9:46 to 10. Rphbins Music Co; by telegraph last week served notice on CBS and Blabkett-Sample-Hummert that henceforth the therne song of 'Easy Aces' must be identified by name. It is 'Manhattan Serenade' and has been used by the Lavoris program* without credit for the past yean Credit as demanded was broadcast from Wednesday on. KTW, WCFL, WJJD and WHFC, Chicago, all broadcast the religious propaganda of 'Judge* Rutherford, evangelist of Brooklyn, N. T„ who is one of the biggest users of radio discs in America. Time Is purchased brice or twice a Week from over 800 stations to sell the particular brand of doomsday-predicting to which Rutherford is addicted.