Variety (Oct 1933)

$4 VARIETY RADIO REPORTS Tuesday, October IQ^ 1933 SATURDAY NOW ^ By one' of those shifts, Saturday iDtlte .has become a hot radio ever v'talngr. liong reputationed as a slufCo 'dial 'Session. oh the sound! theory that the Saturday nlte boys and 'girls have more cQmpelllngr Intisr- . estS than ether on. their miiids; coxhr 'merclal sjponsbrs shied from sub- sidizing time on. that day. Througrh a booking condition and Other circumstances, Saturday has become one pf the best program eveiiings. of , the week. As the Terra- pilahe (Hudsoh-EsSex) sponsor^' mtiestro, B. A. Rblfe logrolled, his 'welcome' back (in a sjpeechlet) to Jack Pearl, and the nbw Leo.llels-. :inan^ show (None Such Minco M;ea:t) Is great stufC .for all concerriedi .The more good shows that night the niore .concentrated fan att.entloh, and- that's what the sponsor wants. Ah idea of twirling the dials for the major stations.can start at 7:30 ■p.m.-for .ex^ample with the Kings Beer show on WABC including Jane Fromah, Charles Carlile, Freddy Berrens orchestra • and; j^s .-in this case,' John J. McGraw 'guest artist. At 8 p.m. . Gonnie "Boswell's song- Ology on^the CBS major link Vies swith. .another beer shOW; featur- ing Ray Perkins, Shirley Howard. iJouis A. Whitteh and a guest hand -^thiS time the> crack Henry King .jconibo. from the snooty Hotel. Pierre -.^Oh behalf of Li6bma,nVs Rheln- =g01d,bre'w: ' . "That's become a canny show un- dei* Whitteh and the Hanf¥-M6tzger Agency's • groondng. Perkins' style is smart,- fly and sophisticated, but jiot too. jiirivoh so. Miss., Howard's! Siongs are in the popular vein. The dea of. sTV.itching. from, class hotel .to another Is smart, vtilizing. the •aVira of a'swank hostelry or nitery 'Sis-settlhg for th6 script The Wal- :dOrf,'Central ParK'.Casino, Blltmore and now the Pierre have^een' in .sequence. It's a great break for the vj^Atel.. In fact, the manner in which uie debutante season at the Pierre was plugged the hotel could almost have been a co^sponsor along with the beer produdtt-:.' • The ' nervous di&l-twltchei's, at "8; 16-8:45 p.m. Saturday nights have Elder SOlohioii Liightfobt Michaux's icolored congregation from the banks .■of the Potomac to «iye them an idea of Dixie revival hey-hey. That's ^still one of the most natural pro- etrams on the air. Eldfer Mlchaiii^ lindoiibtedly bedevils Satan in all sincerity but his flock yeah-ncans and verifles . the gospel In most en-^' tertaining hotcha, manner.- At 8:30-9 p.m., throi^gh the fa- cilities of the Canadian Radio Com- mission and the .I^BC, froni Mon- treal, comes, a charming Anglo- French program featuring Caro -Lamoureux, sopranos liudovic Huot, tenor, and a crack - orchestra that plays continental music like only Frehch Canucks probably could. A switch to WABC brings in the exotic and very hey-nonny-nonny Gertrude Niesen's ultra- modem songology for. 15 minutes from 8:45 p.m. onwards. Then at 9-9:30 Baron Munchausen Jack Pearl, back on the air again, .with the same formula of advertis- ing pattern. Formerly the biggest commerciai hour on the air, Xiucky Strike is now a half hour and quite formula with its statistical manner of plugging the tobacco product. Pearl and Cliff Hall, his straight, do their fantastic punsterlng in noW familiar manner whicb probably •evidences to the sponsors an im- mediate necessity to switch the character or take him far afield into new channels, Al Goodman's or^ chestra, of course; is tops. The band iS;.iamohg riadio's ultra-ultra and under the new auspices fur- ther fbrtifled by. vocalists via, the De Marco Sisters, Robert ♦Simmons, tenor; and the iiea,ders quartet, but otherwise np vocal soloing. Right on . its heels Comes a new and expert half hbur by Leo Rels- 'man; Yacht tJlub Boys and Vivien Ritth, a new voice on the klr, from 9:80-10 p.m. WBAF-NBC, and on tojp of that B. A, 'Rolfe's Terraplahe orchestra for another ha,lf hour, miakihg it obvious why the.maestro mildly welcomed-back the preceding • artists.' ... A switch from. Rblfe -WABC ^brings in another hew :'un, George Jessel (see Radio. Reports) with a corking half hbtir variety show; V Abeli QEORGE JESSEL with. Vivian Van,,Etpn Boys arid .Freddie Rich's Orchestra Comedy^ Songs, Music 30 Mins. Sustaining WABC, New Voric Premiere Saturday night at 10 :30 11 p.m. on WABG-CB$ of the first -of a new series- was am auspicious start for George Jessel and his sup- porting ta,lent. Coming at a good houTj the show should get better- than-usual Saturday hite attention and, On its merit, because of the basic ingredients, soon capture pub.' lie Interest. . ' .; Again It evidences, as with Cohan, Cantor, Jolson, ..et al., that the trah-^. sition of stage showmanship to; the mike fast asserts itself. Jessel's stage presence, and personality, with ah easy, natural, homely mariner of worklng-^rlnglnigr in his. momma, the telephone business, the recalcitrant kid brother^ the captious cohferen- cler,' et al.^got across the ether- wiaves with the same telling effec- tiveness as Jessel was Wont to milk his iCeith and Orpheum audiences (remember ?).- Fittingly chough, Jessel explaihs' that he's not been on the alf for a: year and when the pseudo-Freddie R>Ich seeks to further retard his re*- turh, it makes for a bright send-off. That *pseudo' ' is used advisedly, Rich's orchestra actually offlciatlrig, but an obvious announcerial Sub^^ stitute voice bflficlating in the foil- ing and -stiralghting for Jessel. There's a lot of fly stuff fhere- ifter. including a crack about sajrlng 'hello to Ida and the five children' (referring to ^the" CantOr family) that seemed , to go blig with, the visi- ble audience at the Carhegie (Cham- ber .Music Hall, from whence these Jesslei half hours -wilt be staged Sat- urday nights-. The telephone' patterh is merely a familiar setting for some new" stuff, all hlierhiy effective. That gag about Epstein Will pirObably get around fast* in between Jeissel vocalizing 'Talk of the Town* 'My Mom' (hia theme song, is 'My Mother's Byes,' from a, pioneering talker which he ' made years ago) and Vera Van* the Btbn Boys and the Rich orchestra like- ,-wise gct ln their innings. The Etons' vocal rendition of 'Tiger Rag,' with words. Was particularly outstanding. Miss Van- likewise; registered With /.This Time It's Love,' 'Shanghai" Lil,'! etpi The top-off, a repeat poetic rendition of 'Me and Mike' was deftly utilized for tan-mail catching, with a .casual offer to mail a copy to those Ihterested. The. poem is okay stuff for the ethier trade and the ..casual manner of mentioning it was wise, since it .wais not an obvi- ous bid for kind, mail applause.. CBS is said to have Jessel under a year's contract for a buUd-up. That may be the answer to lots of things about' radio—its recognition that it must go aft^r worthy talent and groom new Stars.. Jessel sounds a cinch. Abel. 2d Reviews Upon request and for sufll- Qlent reasoiia not connected with vanity or publicity-seek- ing, yixanx will re-teview any radio program. This policy Is in fairhesS to programs that may be caught: under 'bad con- ditions ,br. where bhahges have been made and a. supplemient- ary review Is warranted. Ad'vertlsing; .aj^encles fre- quently request VAribtt to re-review a Show arter its i)n- Itial shortcomlh^ have been recognized and corrected, 'LITTLE ITALY' With / Hiram Brown, Yorlie, Alfred TOWN & COUNTRY Fashions, Music COMMERCIAL WGL, Ft. Wayne Station has gone out of its way -.,^ to acquire talent-for -.this -fash ion . program. It . Is uhderstood shop . sponsoring the quarter hour 'wants nothing but the best, so as to get away from the usual monotony. First note of distinction Is Herbert 'Butterfleld, director of community Cb«atre group. Cohhie Beaver, ^ormei* theatre pianist, comes in sec- ond. A tenor billed as the Sercnader elhga twice. Announcer, whObti-ails - in with the station label, sbunds flat after Butterfleld's clearcut diction. CHICAGO NBC JAMBbiFtEE With Don McNeil, Arthur aftd Fl6r-. ence Lake, Edward Davies, Irene Beasiey, Moriii Sisters, Harold Stokes Oreh. 30 Mihs. Sustaining WJZ, New York Radio's typical filler-Inner is called a 'jamboree' a name dating back toVthe earlier days of btoadr casting'.when sponsorship 'was rare and time was plentiful. A jamboree might run indefinitely. It was strictly a pinch-hitting proposition and generally called for everybody around the. Studio to participate. It was the ideal opportunity for re- citing 'Boots' or singing "Mandalay.' This Chicago NBC jamboree is about as good or as bad as the jam lioree average. It is bad because the attempts at nonsense are. "Tb Don. McNeil, an agreeable personality, falls the test of courage, trying to be funny bn. the radio. McNeil leads the Crew in a type of nohsense. about as Close to: genuine nonsense as. number nine carbon copy is to the original letter. • . Certalh. bf the tricks of Bob Benchley, Fred Allen; Stephen Lea- cock> Corey Ford; Lewis Carroll, and that tribe of nonsense-spinners have been, noted but the.application lacks the essential ingredient of the natural mehtal gymnast. In conse quence the persiflage ;in Dishwater 'Manor manages to be silly ra.th.er than funny. ■ There is excbnence in . the singing and in Harold Stokes slick or dies tral isuppprt. Thus NBC leaves i good impression during the Inter ludea between the .groans that shbuid be laughs. Irene , Beasley emisre from Manhattan on an NBC ticket of leave, stood but. She must be fairly free of competition in her particular- lIne _,aroundl-thb ^iWlndyi Clty.y " Edward Davies ' is aT staff bassb and always, good. Morin . Sis- ters, harmonizing also dependable; An added team, was .^rthttr a,n(3 Florence Lake, film juves, lately In vaudeville. They did a couple of minutes before the mike along the lines of. their foptlight gagging. And a cute introduction to radio plusj the advantage of brevity. Chicai?o NBC has evidently established t>5C studio Jalmboreo as a fixed Saturday night show. -» Land. Ned Wever,. Rose Corn,. John Bartley TWice-Weekly Script: IS.Mins. COMMERCIAL WABC, New York Delaware, Lackawanna & West- ern Coal company is using art uri-r usual Slant. It" is going into the east- side-of New York and drama- tizing the intra-family. conflict be- tween the'forelgn-rborn iahd. Ame'rir canrborn generations Of an Italian brood. This appears to . be a defi- nite effort to reach the Italian popu- lation arid foreign colonies gener- ally. , Albany, Baltinnoire,: Bosto.n, ]Buffalb, Harrisburg', Hartford; New York, Philadelphia, Providence, Rbchester , and-Syracuse'. are tied in on a regional hookrup. 'Rise Of the Goldbergs' is, of; Course, a possible. precedent; and individual atations here and there ha.'ve had local j^rbgrams of strong racial trend, but this is sufliciehtly unusual to be interpreted as signifi- cant of network advertisers going after the sub-divisions within the. uatioh. It does hot follow that only Italians will like the Moreno, fam- ily any more Chan the audience of the 'Goldbergs' is limited to the Yiddish public; yet essentially the theme of 'Little Italy' is not univer- sal because. the problehis of the Moreno family are not the problems of all America. Generally adver- tisers seeking to tap racial groups have.uSed wa^ Instead of the jyebs. So the effectiveness of this program will form an. Interesting argumeht either way. In quality •Little Italy* listens like above average for scripts. While there isn't :much action, there is a good, deal of plausible humanity packed into this .15 minutes. Hiram Brown is the rugged pater of the family. His IdeaB of right and ■wrong collide rather violently with the free and easy casualness of his U. S. A.-reared children. Brown' is also the author. In both capacities he reveals talent. HIS dialog is natr {iral ahd his dialect Is not too thick. Children speak without any accent whatever. By this use of sound the characters are etched with consid- erable 'Vividness. It is a reasonable guess that mulr tiplied thousands of families whose roots are' still moist with Europe will listen tb' *Llttle Italy* sympa- thetically. That portion of the pub- lic that la ostentatiously native Stock may of Course sneer, but this gets down to fine distinctions more for the sociologist than the adver- tiser. Advertising; plug is brief and re- strained, confined almost entirely to. John Bartley's simple suggestions. Only criticism here, and that may not be valid. Is that Bartley's ultra vocal style is obviously Harvardish. Is it entirely appropriate to a pro- gram entitled 'Little Italy,' or would a more- chummy side-street manner get further? That question will be answered by the results. Land. CUBAN POLITICAL MESSAGE with. Pres. Grau San Martin, Ful- gencio Batista, Ruben Leon,, and the Cuban Army Band Havana Pick-up Sustaining, WEAF, New York American State Department re- ported okaying these broadcasts; with the Obvious motive on' both sides, Cuban and American, to use the Important propaganda Instru- mentality of the radio to pour oil upon the troubled waters. This type of thing always appeals tO NBC. It supports their assertions Of devoting hiuch time and attention to educa tlohal matters and identifies them with national affairs to the exclusion of purely mercenary programs: Picked' tip from the Cuban Tele- phone Company bfflces In Havana the program came through very well on the fenglneerlhg end., .Not as good as progita.ms picked up In. the States, of course, and the clarity also partly befoggred by. the imper- fect English of the Cuban-officials, but still serving Its .purposes. Cuban.:_ rh umbaa—mixed- in-. .with OLSEN and JOHNSON With Harry' Sosnfek- Orch, Doring Sisters, King's i|es(ers Comedy Revue 30 Mins. COMMERCIAL WBBM, Chicago . blSen and Johnson program for. Swift produced by the J. Walter Thompson agency is th» 'Follies' of all Chicago .broadcasting shows. It has class, comedy, speed, and tem- poed with ai. showmanship touch, that would do credit to. any Broad- way producer. This is '.one radio show that is legitimate show busi- ness, and could play tO: the public for a regular admissioix. In the 30 minutes the Swift show rides, over CBS there's comedy of all types, crossfire, business and hoke: 'there*re sOlo and ■ .ensenible wai'bling by femmes arid nieh, band numbers, piano specialties, all paced to. blend Into eaich: other-and build to a clim.axV . Olsen 'a;nd. Johnson. show idea on the air Is built Ground a ne'ivspaper called the Gonie^y News. Of which 6. & J. are the edltops; This makCs' fbr a tierin with, buyers in the Swift nieat stores thrbughout. the country, the Swift meat .dealers -givihg away copies of the four-page Comedy rag. On the show With the headllners is the Harry Sosriick orchestra, with Soshiok doing a piiano sblo. there are the t>oring jJisters trlo for their vocal cooing, also gMng a, new twist to. commercial plugiging by do- ing a melody liraierlck recitihg'the Sales lines, all bf which are centered oh Swift's Brobkfield butter. On the show is an.: act under a- Ibngi-term' NBC contract and booked oh this Columbia system show through the NBC Artists Bureau, Qh this program the act Is known as the Premium. Quartet. On Friday nights-when the Swift show $oe3 oh the air the Olseh and. Johnson legit 'Take a Chance' starts: at'9:30 at the Erlahger; The legft. custbm'ei-s from 9 to '9:30 listen to the Swift show hrouglit to them by loudspeakers. According' to their' contract With •' Swift, (ilsfen and Johnson must stay at least 13 weeks ih town, their total time on the. Swift show runhing 40 weeks. 'LEGEND OF AMERICA' Herbert J.- Biberman, Gale Sonder- gaard, Stephen Fox, Alyn Jos- lyn,. Ted .DiCorsia Drama Sustaining WABC, New York Insight Into the current level of columnist radio. Criticism may., be obtained froni the fact that two weekly samples of this series have already been released withoiit ex:- citlng a. single line of attention among the New York dallies. Through 'The Legend of America' presentation Herbert. J. Biberhiari, who comes Into the medium with a Theatre dfulld rep, has estab- lished himself as the kingpin of dramatic shbw produciers on the air. He's so far ahead of the pa- rade that it. perhaps will take the commercial-end of the trade, as It has the Columnists. . a long While to see or catch up with him. For the projection of atmds-. pheric and Icaleldoscoplc effects In the telling of a radio.-story Biber- man' is In a class by .himself. The fine and swift blendihg in . of one episode after another during the first installment of the 'Legend of America' series revealed a craftsr man of an order rarely known to radio. That first half hour seemed to have had too many historical .events, and personalities crowded Into it for listener clarity, but the; thing as a whole mOved along with enough dramatic color and smoothness Of narrative to put over the» general idea with a de- cisive wallop. .Biberman's welding together for the prelude fo his initial program of a ma.ss of slogans whose mouth- ings had a major effect bh the course of American history Was an uncanny pigce of. dramatic sugges- tiveniess; Also scoring ih his fa- vor was his method of Weaving irito sound effects and of painting a background 'With. Chants and rhob murmur. In unfolding the story bf America the Biberman prOduc-, tion, with . Earl Hlldreth respon- sible for the original script; started' back from ; the legend of Qlav ;ErlcsOn and his\. Norsemen arid nimbly but. graphically movlnig down thro.u&h- the centuries pa- raded the entry into the New York pictures of such, figures, as eolum"- bua, Gprtez, .Sir Francis Drake, etc; . Biberman has. -taken over for himself the narrator role. He has also surrounded himself with a cast whose diction should make llstehing for the more fastidious ear a ;keen pleasure. But despite the high level of the production, the script's prose .and the acting the series' following will likely be a very limited one. Odec, politics seemed an. odd Gomblnation, but a likely combinatloh to hold American listeners. A representa- tive of ..Ha-vana students, Ruben Leon, completely over-estimated the mentality and.influence in U. S. A. of college students. He addressed his salutations to the matriculates of America. Who probably were dls- cua.slng football over their cbrktaiis at 'the moment. An interest sample of thr» non- commercial side of radio. Land. Studebaker PARADE OF CHAM. PION8 :wlth Bihg Crbsby, Ruth Ettlng, Morton Downey, Willie and EugehoyHoward, Ethel Barry- njpro, David Ross, Raymond Paige Orch., Jacques Renard Orch. 60 Mins. COMMERCIAL WABC, New York inevitably must win a focusei audi- ence; Studebaker lipproached its onorhour. show ■with- a week's pre- Jlminarles, in Which each of the partlcijpating stars did a solo 15i. nUnut«L appearance, one a night. At the conclusion , of a week's artillery ipractlce Studebaker's big bei'tha was flred with the expectation, not foolish, that it would be a big noise. And undoubtedly it 'was. , . Apart from the.confidence in radio that, a contract such' ais this attests ■ It. bespeaks bn Studebaker's part a gambler's willingness to risk big stakes for., big wihhlngs and a cer- tain broadness of ^vision that in show business they flatter with the name, of showhianship. It was, all things considered; a shownianly en- tertainment that Columbia "and Studebaker put together Thursday (5). • Least effective were. Willie and Eugene Howard. Their material was not only bad, but because they openend the : performance it . may ha've .seemed worse. Singers were the ^strehgth of the revue.'With; how- ever; plenty of sweet. music from/ Raymond Paige's Pacific musikers and . Jaques . Rehard's. easterners.. Progriam was an engineering; job of first class efficiency with the several switch'-overs between L. A. and N. Y, and Detroit nicely hahdled and WlthpUt a break anywhere. ; Crosby, Ettihg and Dowhey their sbverai vocal styles need no reviewing. .Suffice that each. con-, firmed previous judgments , by socko SOhg-peddllng'. Flr^t twolbroadcast from L.. A. Ethel Barrymore,. who had pre- viously done Sir James Barfle's '12 Pound,Look' for herrSept. 29 broad- cast from Detroit^ and previously on .the Flelschmann show, was; more bf name than an entertainment on the big show; That Was a question again of material. She lacked a Skit and she lacked a monolog, so she went back to St. Paul's epistle to the Corinthians ahd delivered a Bibli- cal homily on charity In line 'with Pros, ROosevOlt's recent talk. It was topical but so obviously a makeshift solution that all It provided in en- tertainment was a sami>le' of the unique Barrymore accent. Unac- customed to speechifying .as against regular acting, Miss Barrymoro regulated her breathing poorly and the deadly microphone caught every palpitation. Dayid Ross' conimerolal was an okay job along stereotype lines;. Probably Studebaker wanted that. Probably It's the way it ia^ures, the greatest number of cars can be sold, but 'Why advertisers Continue to prefer Old school oratory to the modern rational discussion' of a. product's good points Will continue to baffle. Land. P AtTLl NE^CATm=iSrcr^ETfY^ KENZIE Songs 1& Mihs. Sustaining WJZ, New York Nice, vocal team out . of Chicago on an NBC hookup Friday morn- ings at 10:30-10:45 a.m., ISST. ■fhey do pops in a pleasing morn- ing manner and undoubtedly get attention from the antt-recipe dial- innera. Abel. iPANA Troubadours Helen Hayes, Fred Hiifsmith, Frank Black, Dr. Rockwell, John Beals Drama, Coihedy,. Music 30 Mins. COMMERCIAL WEAFi New York Ipana toothpaste returned to the network. airlanes Wednesday (4) with a, manner of. putting on a va- riety show that bodeS "well for the new series. Behind the whole thing is a keen sense of showmanship. The dentifrice tries to get away frOm the standardized mode of rou- tining a stanza of this type and for the debut event It succeeded in turning out a package of auracular entertainment that cbhtained more than one good pointer. Combined here was an air of breeziness and freshness, plus a distinctive .knaclc for adapting material to the re- quirements of the miice. Blending and pacing Was okay all the way throuigh. the. half hour run. Prellmihary. jciatter between Helen Hay.es and John BCals over a couple pictures they made to- gether was niftily edited and made to sound faultlessly natural, Later bn ih the prograhi the dramatiza- tion of a scene from Metrb's 'Night. Flight' packed a heavy sob punch and set down the Hayes personality as. a. first-rate clicker .for air .Pur-i poses. Impression she made here should help' the fllm at the box- office. She gave 'em enough of a sample to'make 'em curious.^ Doyetaillhg of Dr. Rockwell Into the show came aS a sort of innova- tion. Had he not stayed ^o^ long the thing may . have been described ; as the. Introduction of the person- ality trailer idea in radio. Contin- uity had. him c'rashihg into the pro- ceedings- With the announcer-m.c., Ben. Graiier, who here proved himv '=SSlfTrhapPy't)lcft:'ror"n:Kl3^I6rtak^ ihg Rockwell on for a cross-nro passage which pretended: that the comic had come into the show • a week too early. Next Week's was the program for which he had been booked. Whole thing sufficed to dish out. a few laughs and at the same time whet the interest for Rockwell's subsequent appearance. Guesting With him on this session will be Frltzi Scheff, as announced (Continued on page 37)