Variety (Sep 1933)

Tuesday, Seplember 19, 1933 RADIO VARIETY 35 Radio Reports CYRENA VAN GORDON With Walter Golde, John Holbrook COMMERCIAL WJZ, New Yopk 3Djer Kiss, Avent on. the air Wednesday (13) ■with a class con- cert, so labele<J, headlining Gyren'a Van Gorddn; A contralto capable of leadlngf. roles with the Chicago Civic Opera over a period of time and scheduled to join the .Metropplltari this ;Seaspii; Miss Van Gordon's voice" is scarcely up for Judgment, except as. it may adapt itself to the Icilocycles. Arid on that score there is no criticlgm, It's, a good voice on Wacker Drive, or WJZ; Evidently the advertiser seeks to reach the higher levels of the radio audience, since a singer of this cal- ibre obviously would.have scant ap- peal to girls, from Woolworth's. In keeping with. tb© bori ton. stuff, but of questionable effectiveness is An- nouncer John Holbrook's fancy, pro- nunciation. With htiti odor is 'odpdeur,' and a number of other words which xnay hive been French certainly are uniiltelliglble to Eng- lish-tuned ed,rdrums. This may be a calculated, effect based on definite^ snobbish princi- ples. What snobbery niearis. in ad- vertising is well .knowriv;. A male .reaction of 'aw;.riuts'.rtiay be beside the pointj since the program Is. aimed for women. Even so, it's de^ batable that, Park avenue lisp is going to set well -with gals out in Peoria. Whatever else may be said agaiflst announcers, they, generally, can be understood. Holbrook at several points wasn't talking the native language. In her repertory on the inaugural program Miss Van Gordon' seemed best advised on 'Drink to Me, Only with Tiiine Eyes,' and least adapted to the new media with that numbier wherein she screaif^-lji the middle of the lyrics. This is the type of thing they burlesque in vaudeville. Land. ELDER MICHAUX Revival Meeting .30' Mins. Sustaining WABC, Ne>y: York Elder. Solomon Lightfoot Mi chaiix does his congregational stuff somewhere 'on the bank^ of the Potomac,- presumably not far from Washington; as the CBS capital link picks up this colored holly-roller session, every Satiirday night at 7:30-8 p.m. and brings, it into New York via WABC iat thiat hour. Elder Michaux is unconsciously , one of the best radio entei'tairiiers extant. Ho sells religion with Harleni Variations, He may be doing it as 'deliberately'as Almee struts her stuff in Los Angeles, but he cer • tainly is doing an entertaining job He's a Rev. in the Cab Callowar manner. He speaks in rhythm and his flock, give out 'yeah riiari' .af firmations in hotcha manner. They may mean to say 'amen' but it .,comes but 'yeah.man,' from whence probably the current Harlem idiom, Elder Solomon Lightfoot Mi chaux Is certainly, patriotic In spades. He's for the NRA twice Once as Gen. Johnson would have it, and the other idea of NRA is his own—National Revival Admin istrations.. And how he administers revival stuff. With a hey-nonny- nonny and a ha-cha-cha. Elder Michaux has made many converts to' the'' CBS air waves at 7:'30-8 p.m. Saturdays and seems to b6 doing it more and more every week. He's a haturaL -Abel. TREASURE ISLAND Serial Drama COMMERCIAL WJZ, New York Jeddo-Highland coal has .elected to dust off some of the moi'e or less; blood and thunder and thunder classics as an aid to garnering :a,t-. tention for its message about , the Hazel' Brook and J-H Premium brand of anthracite.. It's slated to follow up the serialization of 'Trea- sure Island' with similar treatments of 'Robin Hood,' 'The Three Muiska- te6rs'. and 'Oliver Twists' Appeal here, is primarily directed at kids, but the program's spbttirig,. 7:15 p.m. EST, is so designed as to catch the eai' also of those in the family, who do the coal buying. The hookup is limited .to a group of stations along uhe eastern seaboard. With the first broadcast the' ad- vertising set, out .to learn whether they weriB listening. To fetch the mail it offered a ntap of the mythical island that Liouis SteVenson made famous. For the yourigstfers it was described as something to play with, V(rhile th^ adults could use It to- fill that vacant patch On the living i-poitn or librkry wall. As for enactment of the first few- episodes of the. 'Treasure Island'' tale it. measures up. to the usual run of network , script , sho-w-. Casting of characters, particularly that of Captain Billy,' jibes with the sketching that SteVenson has given them. Especially noticeable about the continuity as prepared by . joe A, Cross is the recognition of the fact that all thp: kid mind is ; Interested in is action and that Cross proceeded to give it. to them In -wholfesale lots from the opening of the initial; ep isode. Behind, the selection of this group of tales is a sly piece of maneuver- ing. Parent-Teachers' associations arid other similar groups laat season set upi a howl about the effect that the shockers on modern-crime were Jiaving ori the kids. Stories picked by JeddO-Highland can go on dish Ing up the same line of creeps arid Chills, .even- though they are of a less modern vintage, arid what Par ent-TeaChers eombine is there that will have the teriierity to cry down the classics, regardless of the grounds? Schedule is 15 .minutes each Thursday, iPriday and Saturday. Odec. KMTR REVUE With Kenneth Von Egidy, Sally Coy, Fern Dale, Stewart Sisters, Grace- FitQh, Four Clouds o >larm6ny, Shug Fisher and Dusky Stevedores SUSTAINING KMTR^ Hollywood Million. Dollar- theatre, 25c. top house in downtowri Los Angeles has booked this revile for an indefinite run for One half hour shoTV>riightIy, In opposition to the de luxers which fiaVe bieen going heavy recently for he outstanding coast air programs. Unusual feature is that contracts for tho air act riin on options for a year. Plan is to change the per- sonnel of a group each w.eek. .. Remoted from the stage first night's offering was better than passable and if the quality of the first holds up there seems to be no reason Why the theatre-air tieup can't continue. However, question is whether patrons ai-o pulled into theatres "to see their fav air act for the -novelty of the thing or for the entertaihnient offered. If It's only the former, as most theatre jMen clainji, Jhen^^^^^^^^ iiduTt to. get. repeaters. Produced and m.c:'d by. Kenneth Von Egidy, opening :Show was little too long ori the harmony stuff with three acts. Four Clouds of Hatriiony and Duslcy Stevedores both colored quartets, arid Ste\yar Sisters, supplying this type of vo calizlng. SaJIy. Coy sang a couple of popular number.^. Fern Dale was oke in songs mimicking Mae West and Zasu Fitta. Shug Fisher stut tercd comedy, but wasn't so hot. ALEXANDER WOOLLCOTT The Town Crier' Talk 15 Mi Sustaining WABC, New York 'Wbollcott is another kind of Broadway chatterer, but a hi-class spieler. He bandieis the names of the great and near-great about In, intimate chatty fashion and with an authority siibstantiated chiefly by own reputation as a mingler with the literati, intelligentsia and cognoscenti. Het stairts 61C with palaver about a party of six the other day In honor of Helen Hayes and from tha* goes into Lunt and Fontanrie, et al., eventually etherizing a radio thumb - nail biography Alfred Lunt. WooUcott is. tauxnan in., his, ad- dress, chatty, soft-spoken, by , nb means bombastic or possessed of the ,awkward manner of trying to be Impressive, such as pervades the Winchellian school of ether dishing. He's on twice weekly, and when caught, Friday night at 10:30-10:45, Woollcott Impressed himself exceed^ irigly well as claimant to the 'Town Crier* tltl6. Since the alpha, and omega of anything and .everything connected with radio is a commercial sponsor. It can well be said of Woollcott that he .ni(&rlts such 'financial -under- writing. ^ Aiel. Who says ,that a woman can't keep a secret? Here's one who can> but won't keep. this secret; The friends and associates of Jessie Li Dipperi of the NBC program department and Keith McLeod,. formerly an NBC musical supervisor, were married in the New London, Corin.,. City Hall August 26. John Martin of the B.B.D;&0. agency, and Katherine Seymour (Mrs. Martin) of the continuity departriierit were witnesses. KATHERINE SPECTOR Soprano 15 Mins. Sustaining WRNY, New York Katherlne Specter was the 'Queeri Esther' of a recent rinbst;-beautiful- Jewess contest in Madison Square Garden, which landed her in Broadway musical.. Along with her looks .Miss Spfector has a pretty nice soprano, which she aired over WRNY in a, pop repertblre. She's on at 10:30-10:45 a.m. on this local New York station, which caters to a domestic listeriing audience. In view of .the title and the. hour,, perhaps, isome household commodity enjoying a sales public with Jiewish families.might be interested In un- derwriting this pleasing quarter hour of pop sOngs. Aiel. 'DESERT GUNS' Dramaltic Sketch, Sustainingr WJZ, New York. For the background of this series the writer elected the Foreign Lei- gion. It's a background that films, novels and short stories have popu- larized and made surefirei But for the purposes of this bunch of scripts the author could, have used any soldier encampriient, anywhere and anytime. Unlike the melodramatic series put on' by CBS under the 'Foreign Legioh' title for a couple seasons, this one passes up: plot and actibh for gag situations.. 'Desert Gun' episodes so far haye been weak stuff. Voice, casting, act- ing and direction on each .occasion have been superior to. the scripts. NBC muist have otherr stories lying around Its continuity departnierit more worthy of such pains^ ' One iriistallment had as the locale a grog .shop in Morocco. Judgirig from this sample,, farce comedy ori the aiir is where pictures were iri the John Bunny days. Odee. LUIS RUSSELL Orch. Sustaining WABC, New York Luis Tlussell, with Sonny Brad- shaW directing and vocalizing, is an after-midriite giver-outter of Negro syncopation, which aeemirigly is the liking of the ofay trade patronizing the Roselarid bal lroom in mid-^own Broadway. 'TJnqii^lSnSBly;" IfiT FRANK BONN Neyvs, Suataining, W MCA, New York. When the fad for the lads with the giittering adjectives and the knack of dressing up the obvious entertainingly starts -wanihg, into the news cotnmientator picture will come the type as represented by Dr Frank Bohn. His is a forthright, deeply probihg ahd scholarly, style of analysis aiid delivery that has no peer bn.either of the natibhal webs. The man ■ requires no staff to do the research or diggirig for hinl The, rich and inany sided back- ground as a. -writer and teacher are there. When H. V. Kaltenborn In his not long ago 'Brooklyn Eagle- days was giving those Monday cur rent events spiels to the elderly dame subscribers-and Edwin C. Hill was as the overglorifier of workaday happenings on the 'Morning Sun' the pride of Park . Row, Dr. Bohn down at the Rand School of Social Science was feeding them, the low down on sociology, ecorionaics and modern history. Frorii him- the hashing over of the diay's news grist obtains a trieatment that is reminiscent of his lecturing days. As ever, what he has- to say is laden with a keen regimentation of knowledge and sub-surface point of vie-w that not only stimulates but compels thought. It is adult in Its address. Of the nonoentertalner class, Dr, Bbhn is the top spot on the WMCA daily schedule. Putting him on at 7:16 p, m. makes It a little too early for those not yet home from the shop or office. A half-hour later would likely gain him a much wider audience. Revised schedule might put him in competition' with Boake Carter on WABC, but the worry wbuldn't be Bbhn'St Odec. dance, music arid nothing else. but. ' CBS etherizes it a couple of nites weekly from'1-1:30 a. m. and the brhnd- of syrico is well iri keeping with the unconventional hour. They're not too 'dirty' for , the average edification of the clientele or the ether listeners. It's plenty okay for the primary, purpose they're engaged in—dance music. That's more than can be said wr many a name band- Aocl.' the Less Editing (Continued from page 32) gram supporters turned for worse last season the stations agairi let down the bars and multiple were the outlets which through this source of income managed to meet the payrolls and the bills for elec trie juice. Even though they're again selling 'cm by the 16 minutes in , a big way these broadcasters re- member the bid plight and the sue cor they received from the ^9 and .166 .-w^prd'libys.'M submitted is of the objectionable sort they're ript turrilng 'em down tills season. Among the big spenders for spot aririouncements this year are the auto', manufacturers with , Chevrolet riatirig top. Bulova is still doling it out In big sums fbr time signals but the appropriations are way off frona the half million and belter levels of previous years. As a .trade group ihe proprietary drug mixers are still the leading users ot the classified air ad idea; Air Line News By Nellie Revell Nobody Else in Radi Now that Castorla has secured the services of Albert Spaulding, vio- linist, for Its- CBS series, Cascarets may di'op its plans for a radja pro^ grarn. : It had been dipkering with the artists' servi<;ea for Spauling when Castorla signied him.on the dbtted line. Grote and~T|nnTiT8rExit - Ferde Grofe has resigned frorii, the Philip Morris .progi'am and. Will' take with him the theme song now being used on tlie broadcast, a,s It Is part of his 'Gra:rid Canyon' suite. He is .being replaced -by Leo Rels- man, who ais,9 will conduct the Borden program for NBC. Casa Loma, Jones Over Casa Loma orchestra, headed by Glen Gray, will Open at the new room in the Essex House October 19. The place Vfill be managed by the personnel of the Glen Islahd -Casino. Tsham Jones goes intb the Corp;- modore. Both-will haye CBS wires. Rudy Goes Vaude . , Rudy Vallee Avill not . gb to the Cbast as he had hoped, because sponsor thinks the Chase & Sanborn Sunda;y program, which will comje from Hollywood for a dozen weeics, will give listeners enough film talent. Incidentally, Soiinozzle Durante stays on that-program, for a half - dozen weeks, arid othiers ai-e to follow. Valiee does ten weeks of VaUdeyille. Hbofirig Radi Katherine Speetor, who was awarded the b^iauty prize of-the Modern Queen Esther last Spring, and after a trip to Palestine joined the 'Mu$lc In the Air' company, cari do an Intricate buck routine as easily as she sings an operatic aria. She Is heard oyer WRNY. J. Green Looks Okay CBS probably will renew Johnny Green, composei-,, arranger, tor arid pianist, to a long-term coritract. The 24-year-old newcomer radio originally was sigried for four weeks,^^ut several commercials ar© in the offing. ^ Echoes From the NRA Parade Fifty-ninth street was the turning point for iriost of the people in the parade, and the jumiping off place, too. May Singhl Breen showed up at the fbrmatlpn of the parade with a camp Stool, but they wouldn't let her. carry , it,, She carried her knitting, though; and every time they had to wait for a light she began to kiiit. ^Joe White started out with his silver niaSk, .wore it from 9th to 11th street, then discarded it. Boswell Sisters appeared with Connie in a wheel cha,lr and recelyed terrific applause ^all along the line. And all of/those band directors who had never been heard of Until radio. Why "weren't they out on parade? Short Shots Howard Barlow, CBS leader, is in the hospital, apologizing to hla fstbm- ach... .Jack Arthur has formed a new progx-am With an ensemble of 12. No soloists. .. .Oiga Albani; after four years ,at NBC, asked for and received a release- on her contract last week. Hereafter .she will be. under the management of Herman. SchJiad.. . .Ted Lewis gets back to I^ew York October 6 to decide On radio offers... .Eddie Miller became a vocal teacher after leaving the old Avon. Coniedy Four. Milton Berle was one of his pupils. Now Eddie Miller and. Milton are appearing on the same program, and Eddie, is dplrig straight fbr Milton..., .'Grin and Bear It' goes on WQR five times weekly at 3:16 p. m., featuring, two youiig things who will commute frbm Boston, a boy and a girl.-.,.The Hank Kenijys are expecting a loud speaker at their house, whose voice Harik won't be able to modulate Jike he does radio artists. lease Stand By George Shackley Is to direct a new series of broadcasts ,on WOR en- titled 'The Country Church,' a sort of a hymn slngl Continuity by Basil Ruysdael, with a mixed quartet for th« songs. .. .That bi^ canned soiup outfit which has been on the air twice before is auditioning, an<l so Is the biggest radio tube maker, -nrhlch wants—of all thlrigs-^ian Im*- itator... .The bnly radio studio ad libers Are H. 'V, Kaltenborn and the Voice of Bxpcrlence-^Dr. M. Saiyle Taylor. All others use scripts..,. Jimmy Dunne, old-time vaudevlllian. Is heard in: a program .of request arid pld'-tlriie favorites Saturday nights. Jimmy says he misses three sheeting before the theatre, and the morning minstrel, parade..Bide Dudley takes the place of Michael Young as WOR's theatrical reviewer, as of this riiinute... .Muriel Wilsori, kriown oh radio as Mary Lou on the.Shb-wboat hour, has. won herself a, commercial all her own, beginning October 15-"and sponspred by Father John's :M;ediclne.-i^-jDanrion Runypn Is the la,test big name to be lured into the network ofllce^ iarid to be apked if he'll audition. The answer is yes.. . .Sid; Gary, after Ws, pres- ent theatre, erigageriierits, will beconie a fea.turie of thei hew Amalgaimated.' chain, . ►.'The colored lad who holds.dowri the bass harmonica in Bprrah Minevitch'S riiputh organ band, speaks swell Yiddish, Idioms aind all.. '.-*.■ David Freedman is about to form a, program building corpoiration of his own within a fortnight.; BACK AFTEE FOUE YEAES Chicago, Sept. 18. After an absence of nearly fbijr years Hoover Vacuum Cleaner re- turns to , the NBC ether on Oct. 1 with a Sunday afternoori show to run 30., minutes each. Upturn of econofeip. cond for' vacuum cleanets better. Going on the Red Web with a production Idea using a 25-piece orchestra arid a 60-voice mixed choir, the latter being tiie Npble Cain choral organliation. Harvey Hays slated as narrator'. Erwln-Wasey. agency ' handling the account, which left the air for NBC in June, 1929, after more than one year on the ether. Gossip iPhll Spitalny and his orchestra were, heaird without JuHus fanneri, on the CBS Gbldenrod Beer program last Friday,. . . Sirens of Song, spme dusky, troubadbrs from 'Virginle,' plan to send out soriie heat waves from WOR: Mondays arid Wedriesdays.;.. Jack Benriey—and hlS; wife arid chief stooge, Mary Livingstone, with Frank filack, will return tb .a cOast-to-coast NBC network October .1. ...The Landt Trio and White, impressed -with the succe.ss of Pick and Pat in their new-riight club, on Long Island, are planning tp enter a similar projects.. .The Giiy Lomi,^ bardo band has taken an .entire floor in the Georgian, Evanstbri, 111,, hotel for their six-week engagement at the DeTls, Chicago. Scrambled Notes Gregory Stpne, NBC conductor and arrangeri was formerly musical arranger for .IIKO for three years under Milton'SchWartzwald.. . .George . blsen's contract with Standard Brands has been extended to the ertd of the _y ear .Floy d _Neale, WO It an n o^u li cGr, has ji vcd_ in. alsilo In the \fllds of""CQ.nnecflcut"0^ummer. Has it""fijred1up^life^tfie^^^ Chateau Frbntenac in Quebec, Rented it for $5 and .spends $50 a month iri getting to and from it. ...Anton Civoru waS a coricex't bas.sp before coming to radio to direct the niornlng kiddies' program on WRNY.... Bill Brenton of .Columbia's announcing staff goes to Chicago every Tues-' day to announce tho'Burns and Allen-Lbmbardo .Wednesday night pro- gram "rhc famous St. Peter'.«3 arid St. Paul's Russian. Choir is to alter- nate Sunday programs with the Kremllri Art .Quintet, both under the dlrectlori of Ivan T. .Mashihinin (try to pronounce that), beginning im- mediately on WOR The hiiffo demand for tickets for the Old Gold broadcast is giving the CB.S publicity department plenty of worries.