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4a '\VN <^.f. V VARIETY Tiieadaj,. March 13^ 1934 8HELL SHOW With Marjorie Rambeau, Benny Fierdsy Edith EVans, Phelah & Hughes, Harmony Aces, Cheerily & Yarbutr' Georjoie Stoll'e or tehestra. . Rush Hughes, m. c. COMIMERCIAL KHJ, Lbs Angeles' . Recently swltcjied'from KPRG, iSa'n Francisco here Iti order, to avoid theatre opposition to free see and Ue^p-r broadcasts In the'' northern city, this weekly air vaude has beeri .c(>hsiaei'tibly strengthened through a change in managerial operation. ' Broadcast ig bef6re an audience at the Radio Playhouse, with the atres remaining quiet although do- ing plenty of talk .. of> opposition when it was first broached that the program would dome aouthi Show, which. seehned to be. falling out of favor; through too thuch re petitive coniedy stuff .of the Joe Miller variety, is a^rain finding it- . .S3lf with; a playing down of the qufesttortable laugh stuff and a build Ing. up of-the musical and dramatic values. . Program now is an outstaiider from the tune angle with Georgle Stoil's orchestra being given ah'op- portunity to deli^ver a brand of snap- py band jnatesrlal. A particular mu- sical highlight at program caught wa^ a violin, and guitar rendition of '01^1 Man River' by .Stpjl aiid George Smith, of the orchestra. j . Benny Fields continues to get oyer with the, ^hell listeners, with fOjUr , divergent numbers but ^how hohors are copied, by Harmony Aces, debuting on the air. in .a Mills Briitherg' routihp. Qiiartet get the hand of the evening fromi the free auditors, deservedly. They look like a cinch for .plenty of future coast Work, . ■ M&riJoiMe Rambeau pyts over a dramatic skit with a comedy tag that manifests that this legit-film acti^ss can . :>e as equally efiCectlve • on the air as on the st^e or ecreen. In this, her first air appearance pii the coast, she does' a badger game sketch with two male supports, names not arinotiricedi ' vEdith Evaiis, cohtValtb, sings two popular numbers effectively. R^st of ther program comedy hack and fprth stuff that sufferis in comparl- y^Jgn 'vvlth the class quality of the U.«iKieical and dramatic eontributions. _ ' ' Start.: ONE NIGHT STAND Pick and Pat, Melodi .nime. .Cjomedy, 30 :Mins. QQMMERCIAL WEAF, New York [f or months' Dltt'^ iSest (XJ. jS. Tor- baccb) was one of T^E&a loiie Sattir-' day ■• h%ht ciiStomeli^rf/ WltK the shift to - the- Friday • evehln^r niches last filled by Maude .Adams: for Pohii'ff thfe - tJlll ■.ishijridlg.' has - extended "the, hdokiip across :-<i<iuntty . to' I^an^as. Ctfty,' Inducted "a. ipait Of black^B^ce' comics and cha,ngetf litg blUinjg. filkje t^i^ : comedy _teani^ 'Ojje Night Stand' Idea derlv^js frojni MaWeTli House Show Boat.With»e^ pra- et^m thei'e^s a ^'n^yir',^de^)iKH[j^tlori ;;of. locale. : lAist Fi^ldils' t») SomerYMlie- waa itne honored-town.' . Vl- For a variety show the 15111 spec- imeA is deftly .routined and paced,; even-thoufeh the, eti:tei*talimieflt,. In- grt'dleiits . theiriaelVea faclt punch and sparkfe. As ustial. Pick and i*at regale the cusromeW yith persbnal- Itles that'rate 'away-above the ma- terial,. With the Meiodlera it?s eta.nd- ajrdfzed harhiohy bjit pleasant to the ear, with Josef pohlwe, staff 'cbh- dactoi* for' the 'MbCann-tSrlcksQn agency, does a stock job by the or- chestral interludes'.' ... Continuity gets ,^'moSit 6f its plug maftei:* out 6t the Tyfliy at tlie ^6re pai-t of the program: Thete's Ibts of it at tha;t pbirit'"Artd a bit'jtnQ»'e for the fadedul, with the copy.fash- ioned to cover the.:sloefc argiimeht^ of the everyday smioklng. tobacco ad. Shioker prospects' should be tickled •by ithe theme songi Warbled 'ttt thW. opening and flniishi ' it's an old uh- melodlc English ballad which tells of a 'young oM man with ain old, bid pipe and a'tin of Dill's-beside him etc.' ^ >'■ Program is alsb using guest HUeris For last Friday's event Sam Her- man plied the icylophbn'e.' Oiec. ^ TRUE^STORIES OF THE SEA Talkr Songs 15 Mins. COIMMERCIAL WOR, Newark It's salmon that the t6oi packer with the Del Monte label has to sell here, and even though the breed is a denizen of the rivers, the adver- tiser elected the sea story as the associate tie-In for the product. For stories about the wide watery spaces the batch dished out on this evening' segment are exceptionally tame and pointless. Splnnei" of yarns takes his cue from a bit of dialoer that follows the mixing of a sea chanty by a quartet. The formula is the same. A remark made by his feed reminds him of old i._Cflfi!i!uBjJC»^eft^.oflGlQm body in the quartet carols, 'Gather arbund boys, thet*e's a yarn acomln',' and the narrator ^keft the next 10 minutes to pad out an anecdote that p&Qlta .neither/excitement iipr humor. Ad copy I^y^ dQwnri t.wb, points^ and with them i-ests'^ts "cfitse: ;Tne braihd pi^'Mlmbrt Dei Moiit© piclca is of "the red varfetB' ^indfthlB-hajs tor its ori- srin the old Alaskan waters. Odee. GROUCHb and CHICO MARX Gags- 30 Mins. COMMERCIAU WABC^ New York .Two articulate members of tho four Marxes of stage and screen are here making a return radio appear-, ance. This one is for American Oil (Ambcp) and the broadcast occu- pies Sunday nights; Marxes . are in for weeks with' ril'nnlng options. Previously , comics were shyster, lawyers in a script authored by the late Richy .Craig. This time . Its principally gags of the type Iden- tified with them. For example: 'a . penny for your thoughts-^nd you'd better take It, it's the beat offer yoix'll get.' In this romping: fashr Ion Grouchb keeps, iip a cbnstant babble bfr wbt*ds, seizing, twisting, punning hot only othei*';people's re^ marks, but .commenting on his own comment. . , , Sunday (11). sample was fast and quite fdnny. It's a tough pace, how- ever, that they set' for themselves to follow. : Still, once, a. week md.y be: no strain. . hrOugh their nu- merous . ParamQunt pictures' the brothers are Widely known , and •Amoco can. rightly assume, a large probable audience. Men especially like the Marx brand of comedy and )nen, in general, buy the family ga.8 and oil. As to the commercial copy Its perhips a little more;blah-blah than the avei^aoe for gas sponsors. Land.. jCARLOS MOLfNA BAND' John Harringtonr announcer COMMERCIAL Disc WHO, Pes Moines Twice a .week .Magic, Soap and Protex Soap are being plujgged by radio'discs: to the housewives, of the middle west? The sponsor, has re&- brded . some .-2.7 platters of .Carlos Molina and band, .who haye spent the past year in the ballr.oom the Congress hotel, Chicago, and' acquire.d soniethlng of a re'putatlon. ; Discs :are. extremely'.well dphe bpth from showmanship ahd.re.cbrd- ing'angles.' .They were turned biit \n the RCA Vlctbr studios. . Molina band'delivers three to four numbers oh each disc. Band doles best with the South American tango tunes, though' It goes American oc- casionally with a Straight p6p tune.. Molina a:hnounces hie pwn. numbers with a belbw-the^EqUator accent tl^at fits his j)lug ilne, 'The Valett' tino .b^' the Baton.' Harrin'gtbh. on the. b'ommerplal end does..a' 'dapablb and clean-cut job. But, .finally, there's the Question of; whetber this program cah sell Magib :Soap ' dlsh^'Washing '-flakes- llousewives Worrying about the dli45y cllshes In thb ^ink are not go- ing tb' be kold by a sbclety band- ii-oih a Micihigan Boulevard hotel, t's a case of a show' being too. gobd foi";Its;spot:' r'/-'^ ■■Gpwi- I,;,;.;'.- ' I " ■ ' ' i ' ' ' J . ( •. .. • THE ITALICS Are Ml H. StokiDS Lott ramatie Sketch 0 Mins. : iistaining> 'Ofir Newark . In' adapting iSen liiician .Burma,n's ^hort-story collection,. 'Steamboat; Around >the Bend' for' the mike. H. Steves liOtt,. who ^doubles as:narra- tor, might as well have eliminated ^11 dialog and luade- it a case of Straight synppsized yam spinning. Of dramatisied interludes there are few, (Since -Lott has assigned^ to his ijiarrator role practically all- that tbe- continuity has to> retail. Title bf this series refersMo- the ' narrator. S'tbrtlbns.iof the script* Judging from' ast''Wednesday .'night's.' (7) sample. The Saga of Dr. John,' Lott cer.^ ^miy likes his Italic^. .It's not a deft piece of transplant- ing-that. Lott is doing for Barman's folktales lof the baybus and'swatiips that dbt the lower Missisaippi. Lott shows' a knack' for dobbing^ in- back- grbtfnd swiftly.••and- effiectiyely but "^hen it comes: to effecting pace-and .Suspense through an adroit intet*- Vining of dialog and. narrative In-^ terpolatlons he falls^ far short of the expert touch. ■ ' Projection he and the. assisting players gave ?The Saga-of Dr. John' Contained little bf the color, excite- mierit or sympathy for thb central ipharacters bf the original, story, .pouple '.<)f :the ^ voice characteriza- tions, notably Dr; John's, were well done. Phillips 3. Barrison was credited with the program's direc tion. ' Odec. CAROL LEE Singer 15 Mins. Sustaining KFI, Los Angeleis, On the station two ■weeks, in a couple of bl-weekly 16-mlhute pe riods, Miss Lee Is an butstander for Coast blue Warblers. Formerly on the stage and more recently radioing from southern sta^, tions, the Singer, looks like a cinch for bigger radio spotting and per hsi-ps-picturesr She sings four pop numbers on each program and draws an audi- ence appeal from the different man- ner in . which she. puts them over. Her voice is full of personality and is easy tb follow due to an. apparent lack of straining.. Smooth effect 'of her renditions fit In with her air in- troduction as 'the girl with a velvet voice.' Btan. DOROTHY PAttKER 'The Waltz' COMMERCIAL WEAF, New York Best break a persbn like Dorothy Parker 'could geit over the air on a practically' maiden appearance is the kind of introduction Rudy Val- lee gave her. Whereas, Dorothy Parker is a Times Square symbol for devastating shafts of sarcasm at the, expense of other people many might be expected to await her own vulnerability with a, certain mall-' "clous ■ expectatipn of having the •final giggle, yallee, Instead, in giving her the :bullder-upper presented a mental picture bf a lady quaking in her oxfPrds from microphone fright. This confessional prelude had the effect of humanizing one . ma^ny think of as a vitriol atomizer. '• .^s a matter of, fact, any self- doubts, tormenting Miss Parker at the moment (or century) she. was on the air did not particularly register. .There was one moment when some- thing seemed askew but this might ,jrea'dily have been a musical mlscue, since a waltz strain wove In and Put of the elocution'' irecltal, given py the guest star. . 'The Waltz' is one. of Dorothy ^»arker's published papers. It is a thoUght-behlndrspeech .(Quality. She fiances with' .a clunisy colpiiel 'Whb brunches her toptsles. It is an in- terminable waltz during the agohles bf which as conveyed chiefly by the iwoman's thoughts expressed to her- self. ■ seems like hunian sufifering gbes pn unabated thrPUgh eternity. If available, the rbcit9'l~ought. to be a favorite with elocution pupils. It presents Ibts. bf."'scope. As a matter of cold fact she Is Pne of the least inipressive of the Flelschmann guest stajps. It hap- pens that she .wa3 . .the only name of the evening (8),. and It is qUite probable that she is not a namie In any sense at all butside the tribal zone of the Algpnquins. Lfind. RADIO PLAYBOX Children's Program 30.Mi*. Svstarnin^ CKCL, Toronto This, is the first known program in Canada to be aimed at child- listeners, Inasmuch as child actors are used in the enacting of story- book entertainment that will hold no interest for adults unless they are parents who like to hold the kiddies on their knees.for a pre-- bedtlme get-together. It's the' an- swer tb the complaint of Thbmas Maher, director of progranis fbr the Panadian . Radio' Commission, who recently stated, that, if child artists pn Can^diAh programs wpuld> pre- sent, entertainment, fpr listeners of thefr. 'owh agjei,, he 'would hot. he .forced tb deplpre a situation in WhiPh children ibf tender 'years sing Mult and Baiabtolte 8phgs,'the lyrics pf which-.^ttid iperfoniiltig: tbts arid fche.ir listeners cah> havB .'do com- brehen^slpp, , •'.,, ,f ., .•:•; I Firat pr^esentatipn Ip ^The Radio Platyhbi: sei;i$8 is. .'Alice in :Wbnder- land,' Thiit It his the 7 -.So^S p.m. pvot is indicative of the' 'station management's kppraisal bf its merit. IQther adaptation of ths Lewis Car^ roll classic is written arid directed \y Phylls, -, Orant.<~ She is well- mown here fbr her childiren's thea- tre activities,, but this la the first tXtne , she has. been asked tb lend her professional talents to the ether angle of entertaining, Uses ten children In 'Alice,' these ranging from 6 to 12 years. Treatment is fvhimsical and Imaginative and held the attention. -Small orchestra'u^d fpr musical breaks., Kid actors are kood and appaj^ently .well-rehe^sed, judging from inflections And timing. : Next two programs are radio Adaptations by Miss Gfarit of'Bar- riers .'Peter 'Pan* .ahd Maeterlinck's iThe Blue: Bird.' Following come ^ther Interpretations of the better^ ^nown Gi^-inun's fairy tales, and-se- auencesbuilt a.bqut child-characters in the Dickens' classics, McSfay, J^6nES - AJ*I D • R S O N, DICK i WHARTON, MILTON SHATZ'S ORCH. Musical Revue ^0 Mins. COMMERCfAL : Wrp, Philadelphia ' This is a new series bankrolled by the. Penn-Jersey aUto lubi'icant concern, calculated tb bUck a rival Phllly concern: Show is neat and well put together*, btit talent Is just local. COmpetltlPn fromi thie net- works, Monday at 8 p.m., is slim, saving the program from a rout. Agnes Anderson, of the WCAU staff, cOmes over to do a couple of well-selected nuriibers, while Dick Wharton, usually Just a band vocal- ist, gets spot billing. Work is only fair, with top notes a bit shaky^ Major trouble Is with the band, ob- viously handicapped by little re- hearsing, and noticeably lacking in lift. Shatz, the leader, is branch- ing out from part of local ork crews to the baton-swinging assignment, and uses some sparkling arrange- ments-that-the-band-^tself=^abM't=€H^ hance very much. The Anderson gal sings through ai bad case of told, but dPes yeoman work to put over her IpW, throaty torch style. • Commercial.copy is handled nice- ly, neither, too .Ipng nor too h^avy, Anhounclnifer Bliglitly istentorJart, with the word-si>i^ler tryliig a'-bit harder than usual tb iren his'Jft-Pd- ' ucts. IVIINNEAPOLIS SYMPHONY Eug«ne Ormandyi 'obnvlUetorf Stan Thempaon 30 Mins. COMMERCIAL WBBM, Chicago • Through the Hays MacFarland agency in Chicago, this program rides on the Columbia web in op- ppsltiori to the Ed Wynn show on NBC every .Tuesday night. Paying the pipers is the Grunow : radio and refrigerator outfit. ShPw itself continues the current trend toward the 'better things' in radio, sweet music and bperatics Increasing number of sponsors are swerving away frohi comedy hoke to clasisical violins ahd colPratura sppranoS, : . Despite the fact that the agency and : client picked out a municipal symphony to sell the GrUnow prpd- iipts, both the ba:cker8 and the sym phony conductPc saw tb it that the concert didn't' get. tbo classical. At a press lunchebn in Chicago some weeks agb Ormahdy stated that the trend of: the public's taste In.riiuslc was to the topmost belEThts In classical music. .Yet, in this first show, Ormandy's selections wete barely Out .,pf. the senii-classical realm. There . were Dvorak,' Mendelsohn and : Percy Grainger. Perhaps it, wias for this reason, that the iahow lacked variety, 'color,,zip and'.punch. All in silica fine 30.-riilriUte inter lude and excellent ■ accompaniment ;tOithe evening bridge gaime. : There is nb doubt that the prograrii will get .Its listeners. . Better class music iis scarce at .8:30 CST on Tuesdays and . those of the public-w^ho want straight ■'forward • concert': stuff will :get it here.. But-the .show muiSt be classified as : a' gPod-'will .and in stltutional show rather than a direct selling program in Its present setup, i Thpmpson handles the^ cpmmerclal copy 'With a sure hand and proper .emphasis, but the dialog sequence was out of place ahd, incPngruPus m this type bf prograni.. It Is too harsh a contrast to ,the, symphonic, strains. Grriiahy,. in bis . bwn an-, nouncements, ' added '. a pleasant touch, to the shPw, his slight but noticeable accent being whblly suit able to a symphony baton-waver. GrUnow will get listeners In the Income-brackets that are In a posi tion. to buy the products. That much Is certain; . *^ ' Are tying a contest in with this show. Aiid again the fluestlbn airlses ■Whether those who tunb In Pn a Minneapolis Symphony will' hike It down ■ to the diealer foi* an entry blank to get Iri bn a chance to win a refrigerator, Gold. ^COF^EE FOR TWO' with' Elizabeth LoVe; IVIlllar'd Mitchell, Eddie Craven Playlet " .CCMMERCIAL WEAF, New York <:. This skit, by H: H. StinSon, was produced by NBC, Chicago, in Jilarch, 1983, urider the title, 'Trump- ing Hie Ace,' for the Luxor'Theatre of Romance; It is repeated in March, ;1934, on the Rudy Valiee . show; under' the title, 'Coffee for Two/ Not known- which -iS the authbr's title; Playlet comes from ihe Hol- lywood WHters -club literary eve^ Aings.' ('-•' -r' '\ Incident - may or • may - not: afford evidence of material scarcity 'on radio. Weekly ptbblem Pf filling that Fieischriiann hour with novel- ties of all. kinds must be tough. TraditIona:ily, radlP has eschewed ^repeats on material. Qf the. merits bf that, attitude something can be said both.in support and in rebut- tali . • ..Oddly enough and contrary to 'what might bp expected Clarence Menser's. Chiicago . prpduction. of 1933 excels in dramatic force and tension the repeat done for lyeast's sake. This is. explainable in t.erms of the -microphone; ine.xp.erien9e Pf the three young legit actbrs chosen jto - do. the skit in Manhattan. Adaptation is less skillful- alsb. ' Essence of the story is.a gang- ster's fear of dying 'cheap.' He is -marooned In. a- furnished roorii-. Outsidej miachirie guns of a rival gang -wait for hlni.. Thinking him- self pblsoried by drugged coffee and loath to . die ,an Inglorious non- fighting ..death the gangster gpes out. tb his doom. Denouement, is that . the coffee wasn't poisoned. Pseiido-waitress Is the sweetheart Of a man the hbodluni killed. : It's a playlet ideally adapted for the restrictions of the microphone but partly mUffed as presented by the Flelschmannltes, Land. ROY HEATHERTON Songs^ Sustai ing 15 Mins. ' WGY> Schenectady Tenor heard In a 16-minute song- alogue over the NBC red -network on Friday afternoons. Calls himself 'The Old Troubadour,' although his voice sounds like, that of a young man. In keeping with the billing, Heatherton warbles ballads, stand- ard and pop. r He^lKra-anplSffSlng-tjenPrTb^E'sbn^^ range and tone purity, and a style well adapted to the type of numbers he essays. = HeathertPn-takes a high note rather well and flashes a 'gopd falsetto. In Irish.' sPrigs,' he d(s- taays ■■ quite ii • broguet Heatherton announces his nunibeipS.iThe Graride Trio 'furnished the accPiripanlment/ A pleasing: aft^rnb&hi'Bhoti'''•■•■■ •■>'■'■''' /aco. BEATRICE FAIRFAX Advio* .-to 'Lovelorn 1S Miha. COMMERCIAL WEAF» N«w York Smartly prpduced and adroitly handled network commercial on be- half of LaFrance soap flakes, took to the kilocycles Saturday (10) at :t|!30 p. ni.: Beatrice Fairfax, of course,, is your Aupt Tillie. There Isn't any such person. She's an office by-lirie on the Hearst dallies but her valUe to sponsorship con- sists iri being the first and the best knbwri - bf the. newspaper hetirt- throb dlsagnostlcians. LaFrance's-Beatrice la a syrupy- voiced lady who manages to be re- fined yet sympathetically dowh^to- case8> She talks tor a few riioments. then the script goes into a drama- tized eatcerpt of somebody some^ where who has a .sentiriiental prob- lem. These will apparently Veer to, ward jtbe Inarticulate husband who loves little Fanny, but never tells her. All women :seerii to complain ■that all men (gigolouses excepted) are lacking in poetry and gallant gestures. First plank on the Fair- fax ..platfbrnj Will be: 'husbands shpuld.lposen up with compliments, flowers, and JPve speeches.' ' All, of' which is dpriie very neatly ori' thie' LaFrance show. Script Is a gem ; fn accomplishing what It is !supp.bi9ed to. And, acid test, it steers betweeri 'the ridicule-inviting ex- tremp ;bf' gushlriess and Ihe blight- ing ab'cui^ii-tlon of Insinberity on the pthbr. ' It's good . radio showman- ship, .. ■ .' Land. KK TAXI RADIOS IN SOUTH AFRICA Capetown, Feb. 12. Taxi drivers here were all set to install, sm vll receivlfig sets when the',; Ppstniaster 'General , .hptified. eyerybPdy^ithe se.. would he illegal. Sbveral cabbies went ahead anyway andwere' ordered, to remoVe the gimmicks, even though they had paid for the license's. Several say they'll take It to court for testing. » i'" ' B. Si; Broadcasts Mihus Conunent on Frisco Seals San' Francisco, March 12. San .'Francisco -Seals -arid the Pa- blflc /jCPast; League .haver okayed 'broadcasting of -the- diamond; games this season and KYA -will put them bn .daily ,'Pxcept Sundays 'arid holi- days,, iirid.'ty/'o nl&hts. weekly. ^rriie Smi^th pf .Heairst r^'dio. serv- ;ice .iwiu, do .,tl>0 spieiiQg jibr the ^series; for'which spon8or:ls now be« lin^- sbugKt, but vfoyiw. of the :br'o^dCEL^tfnk '.tlgrieement ' jprohibita 'arinpri'iVi:ef ''fi'Oim commenting 'on any phases,." pif,' the gariie;. t^reather, crp;wds|. d.ecislpris, etc,.! . , Caite tariff at the' gjames, (niqlderi* tally,:: upppd >from 40.ci to, TBc thia seasori,'' despite last yea.r's red^ Isham Jones Walks Resentment over having his band's ' part in the program- grad« ualiy' clipped to make wa^-for tho ad^itibri .pf guest artists 'Wi&s re« sponsible for Isham JbnPs' waik-out' ipn^Ex .Lax. Blow-up came a couple of Mpndays ago, when iri the Iast« iminute.: revision of the show the producer relieved the combo- of Itfl ISingle Solo interlude, givlrtg it noth- ing^' to " do but accompiany the jwarbler on the bill. Jpnes has been with the., 'variety affair since It istarted Columbia early this set^spn. Ex Lax- is im witli -l^rno llapee; Nick Lucas on CBS Nick Lucas has been taken under CBS wing for an air. build- Starts March 21. At-present carded for 11 p. nl; Wednesdays and 6:30 p. m. Fri- da3rs. pBS thinks him: a commer- cial bet. FROVENI^EN IN AQENCt Washlrigtpn, March 12. Herluf Provensen, Herbert Hoover's favorite (NBC) announcer while the latter was In the White House, has joined Lewis Ewin Ryan, Inc., loca:l ad agency, as head of the radio department.- Provensen . comes from WLBW, SJrle, Pa., of which station he be- came jm anage r _ab out^„^ after resigning from NBC's Wash- ington staff. SEALED POWER STOPS i •■'.-■i •,' Chicago,-'ikarch 12. ^$eale4 Po^«r,,^ideiahpw.j program napvesijpjlje the wjres i.hext -week. i^ompletes; ;ia- 'Weekd ;«n .VSBG ftt that time.