Variety (May 1934)

S4 VARIETY R 4 D I IE P O R ¥ S T|icadfi7, Maj 2Z, X934 GENERAL MILUS SPORTS PARADE , , , With Benny p'ri^dman, flii^my McLarnin* .Ellsworth Vinet, Jd« McCapthy, Jack Dempsey, ' Ed Frahe,<3ene Sarazen, Mack 06her» T6d Husing, Custav Henso.hen, Songsmlthsi Betty Crocker, dhd Dbhald Davis 60 MIns. COMMERCIAL WABC, Neyy Vork About' a month prior to this ftill- hbtir assembly of champions -of the sports world the same , spposor^ General Mills 6£ AlinneapbUs, bank- rolled cL deluxe broadcast of stellar liames <>t motion pictures, including George Arliss,; Ronald Colinan, Predrlc March, Constance Bennett, Rupert Hushes, et al. Two pro- grams had the .same motivation,, al- though entirely different. 'Idea is l}y- a miarshalling of big names to cojmimand a tremendous audience for, si, oi»6't^'"® splurge. To that audience General Mlllsi^ gives one message--eat more bread, it is.. the basis of rtutritiOh^ It is riot fat-: tening. Each of the sports stai'S that came to this mike Saturday (19), at 8 p.m. E.DiS.T., had something to say about bread and the part it plays on. the .triaining tablie of athletes. It .was a gop.d ideav to associate physical prowess and stamina ' with bi-ead arid to qonibat the prevalerit.notlon that bread puts on Weight. A good idea biif rathet clumsily carried out, Goritinulties' wei*e not too ciever.<: SuWect. of. bread: was dragged in so. awk\>ra.j:dly thki. the effect waj .to we^kep siome. of the ehdors'emerits; ' , , . '. " In' "Essence this was 'a eO-mirtUte roir-call of paid endbrseriierits. Pro-:' grarii as a-program was badly paced despite the splendidmusical <sup- 'pbrt of Gus Henscheh and the S.O!ns- smithsi the professional entertain- ers spanning the chasm of tlirie between each-athlete.. ' < v. Benny Friedman (football) ; sj-rid ^oe McCarthy (baseball) cUriched first place ambng the sporting world participants- in the matter o'lldaylng something worth, hearing arid say- ing, it well. Ellsworth Vines (ten- nis") copped runner-up honors. However, most of tlw> athletes were J|»iexpectediy. literatfe and -Intelligi- ble. Jimmy McLarnin (boxing) giave a very decent spiel • on ■ his sport but 'fouled the word ?fo6a', which h3. continually pronounced, a; la; Milt .Grosls. Ed Frayne, sports writer, showed the greatesj . amqunt of microphone nervousness^ Buildirig a radio prbgrarii. Which furidameritiiHy means art' entertain-' ntient,; with npri-entertalners Is al- ways, risky, and General Mills did not put ovier a good entertainment Probably it was a . good stun,t be-, cause of the names arid the wide ■fap'followlrig. of the musculaLr gents,, although , seemingly the prograiri appealed exclusively to men. Not a single woman a:thlet^ was included. That seems like a major omission and a lamentable oversight; "Woriien, prestimably, have a iqif to. do with the almount of bread consumed In- America. Land, SILKEN STRINGS Charles Previa Orchestra 30 Mine.. COMMERCIAL WLS, Chicago Sirevin. has an excellent radio or- chestral idea here; a flock of violins backed, with one cornet and one piano, It has a powerful ejitertain- ment wallop over the loudspeaker; besides >tying in neatly with the hosiery angle of Real Silk. It's truly silken music i This is the second series for Real Silk,. The previous one had the Ted 'Weems orchestra and' guesters. It was only a so-so program because it was similar to. so many other programs. But this show is novel and distinct. On theme, style and idea association it clicks for this hosiery account. Commercial plugs for the most part okay but pccetsional dramatic sequences are out of line. One drama caught had a schooX teacher coniplalriitig to the principal that the childrfrni were poking fun'at the holes , in her stPckings, And the principal said; ''Well, use Real Silk hose'. This is absurd' stuff-.. arid hardly belorigs ori a program so generally excellent. Smoother i>lugs are necessary for such a smooth program.: Qold. HOLLYWOOD ON THE AIR With Diana Wynyardi Ffank Buck, Oi»ne' Austin, <|an Rubinif Candy ' and C^9 t 45 Mins. Sustaining K.FU Los AngelM While riiaterial ^was oke on the May 13th issue of this weekly 45- min. prograim frorii Hollywood, lack of variety arid repetition of RKO picture plugglrig handicapped. Only four iteriis on a three-quarter of an Hour program, heretofore diversified, were obviously too few for a na- tional networker. , vChlef offense in repetition and plugging was during the lengthy in- terview of Diana Wynyard by Jimmy Fiddler. Seerited as if too much ef ^ fort was taken to drive home the riariies of the various pictures in which this player appeared, Frank ■ Buck was 6ri for a relating of his jjiuigre' experiences, Which was ab- soirbirig brit again marred by the piifcture sellirtg spiels. " bright spot on the program was the crooning Of Gene Austin who did three riuriibers, but antics of Caridy arid Cbco, who troupe with- him and a natural visually, were lost.' Austin has a good radio voice and his material was jake, however, the stage mugging that goes with it ■from the two instrumentalists, espe- cjially from Candy at the bull fiddle, Jbst could not be put oyer through this medium.. . \ I Jian Rubinri orchestra 3tuff, and his,fiddle nuriibers, nicely, executed but "riot enough 'of It'oh a prpferarii' so heavy •w'ith .Cordage. ' 3,tan. ROCER H. talk llDfMins,. ISustai ing v y/GY; Sbheneefady ; DirfectOr'Of entertainment for the 'il^ritish •Broadca'sttng: Cbmi«riy on this, his first airi taik in the United States, guested- on- the Woman's Radio Rcylew. .over the NBC red rietwcirk. ..^-.ubject was *My; Impres- sions of Anierica,' .and contrary to what might have been expected, he spent little tlrinfe in discussing radio here. Eckersley." did Say that U. S. broadcasting .-was of high calibre In organization, technique and entei^- t&inment. j He- liad' .not been able to accustom himself,: he'stated, to the. 'advertis- ing interpolation*—of which there- ate. none In England'—and to con- • tlnuous broadcasting, with no piauses such are a regular part oi the BBC's schedule. ' Eckersley 'touched on the dlfCererice in the length of American And English programs, aerial talks in the 'Tight •IIIttle Isle' usually rurining for 20 .tnlnutes .or more and straight eri'* tertainment shots for an hour Or longer. StTflnge .as it may seem, in view of BBC directors' supposed pref- ererice for the highbrow and more pedestrian type of programs (froni the American viewpoint). Eqker- sley's talk revealed that he was in- terested in, atid impressed by, the quality of the entertainment arid the general elaborateness of New York cabarets. This was the only branch of American show, business on which he touched, except for thie forie^ remarks about broadcasting. Eckersley's impressions of the. U. S. A. led him to conclude "the United States and England are 'pretty much alike;' ' His . addrfess, or chat. Was not the easiest in the world to follow, due to the com-' binatlon of a decidedly English ac- cent, rapidity of speech, and a 6on- versaiional tone. Joco. MAXINE LASH Songs, String Ensemble 15 Mins.. COMMERCIAL WABC, New York Should the lower registers of the Maxine Lash larynx click on the air one. possibility presents Itself, and that Is an ensuing vogue for .bar! tonic . femme warblers. Perhaps radio Is primed for a freak voice »of :the Lash type, and If so the chances of thijs. rrtiss are bright. But before she can start to gar ner for herself real oracular atteh tlon. she'll have to overcome at least two riiarked handicaps... One is a tendency to over-intensify the emo- tional content of a song, and the other is lack of smoothness in rounding arourid a high note.. It la quite likely that the nervousness of a first program. (18) accounted for the tightness and Strain that made themselves evident In her work, and that subsequent - appearancifes Will show a decided easing. The girl's Voice has personality and power and tjiese should carry her a long ways. In instrumental support Miss X^ash has a foursome consisting 'of "Violin, cello, iiarp and piano; As Iri the case of. the vocalist, Phil Spital- Uy is responsible for. the arrange- ments . and general comportment of the string ensemble. Taking . .high spot In,this riiftily balanced combl- riation is'the .violinist, Evelyn Kay. Iri arranging the ensemble's stint,; Spitalny allowed, for shari)' musical (Contrast, white to'the warbler he al^ Ipcated pop ditties that brought Into iyil play, her penchant'fpc the .dra-' matlc. These numb&rs -were 'Boule-i Varda of Broken Dreams,' ^The B^t o' My Heart' and 'Temptation,' ! ..Probabilities are that Cherariiy. line., cosmetic manufacturer, went J^stray In.plcklrig 10:30 R M. EDST as the starting tlriie for this'stiictG/;; pastern release. Average housewife has seemingly :by. tills turn of the clocfc dectdisd to call it a day. ' : Ernest Chappell doubles from the ifitroducing of the numb^s to re- tailing thev. plug. Stressed is the firm's Aprll'^oWers brand .of tai-' cum with the odd price of 28c. a h.o'ii given repeat mention.' Made note of also in . the copy Is the dosriieti- "cian's perfume brand. For her theme nuriiber Miss Lash Is using 'April Showers.' With the same tune Al .Jolson .has always identified hiniself on the Air. But since he • has temporarily. retired from his.Kraft-Phenlx contract the chances are there -won't'lie any ob- jections. Dittisr • Is a natural for the account, but its previous attachment to the'Jolson mike, personality won't be of much help to Miss Lash. Odec. GEORqiE HINKEL Songs 15 Mins. COMMERCIAL ^NAC, Boston '^Reminiscent of the old vaudeville and minstrel shows. George -Hlnltel's pleasing bass-baritone voice offers fifteen riiinutes of not too hard. to ^^^take^dtversiori. Billed, 'The Street of Dreams,' also his theme song, tl^e program is built from requests of listeners and is pretty evenly bal- anced between the ..old timers and the pops of the ballad type. Having sailed along for a year on B sustaining basis, the station finally got a sponsor for the Street of Dreams. Cuticura Co. now paying the bills. Whether or not Hinkel writes his own dialog, it is deftly cued into the song titles as is thd •po|iBor's sales message. Plugging a shaving cream it can be said that -the pro.«;ram is Very much similar to the. CJBtS 'Singing ^am ' series,, POSEY PLAYLETS Mason Moltzner, Cpristanee Fo.ltz ' and Harry Davi Serial 15 Minutes COMMERCIAL KGtW, Portland Rotable ariiong the dramatic, pro- grariis produced over KGW, station of .. the Morning . Oregonian, is .'Posey Playlets,' each complete in itself. Notable, becau-se after play- irig 35 . weeks, the program, is still going strong and theres' a contract signed up for next year. .Imagine, If you will, a dramatic program' starting out under the handicap of such a moniker, 'Posey P,laylets.! Then suppose that each story had to be woven about flow- ers; finally, that such a program riiust draw visitors and customers t6 a floral house three miles from t^e center of Portland. That was the 'Posey Playet' setup at the start, biit it has been no stumbling block. Credit for the series goes to Mason Moltzner, former dramatic player, a^d now radio counsellor of an ad- vertising agency. Moltzner writes, casts^, directs • and takes a leadingr 1p6rt rir^FaclrTJlayr======--==-=^ 'Always it is a human interest story, iaind in one way or another flowers are brought into every drama; During the last eight moriths the program has been on the air, the sponsor has used no other me- dium of advertising. In addition to Mr. Moltzner, two other KGW players have long been identified with 'Posey Playlets.' They are Constance Roth Foltz, popular Port- land radio player, and Harry Davis, who takes the rPmantlc Juvenile lead. Occasionally' bit players are added. A. E. MATTHEWS With Claude Rai Sketch COMMERCIAL WEAF, New York - , A. E Matthews and Claude Rains are *-lilgh-ranking members of the- legitimate, theatre. Both are ster- ling actors. Yet oddly enough they did riot shine out Iri this appearance pver the Rudy Vallee progrant. It was ofteii difficult to distinguish one voice from, the other. "Vehicle uFSied is by John Balder- 8ton> author of 'Berkeley Square.' It is an amusing trifle somewhat over-prolonged as rendered by Mat- thews and' Rains. It's what the musical revue calls a blackout and too long- in getting to the big punch or surprise twist is always danger- ous in that sort of thing. A man dies, wakes up .In Ihc other world. He Is assigned an omnipotent genii whose Job is to gratify every whim of the ex-mortal. Time transitions take the mari through the first weeks, months, and years of completely blissful grati- fication of all his desires. But after _a_time he growS; bored from lack of .soriietWrig he "can't; have arid ■ from lack of things to want jind work for. Rebelling at the kind of treatment accorded him, the former son of earth at last discovers that con- trary to his a.ssumption he's not in hieaven, but in hellv •That's the twist. MURIEL POLLOCKr VEE LAWN- HURST Piano Duo Sustaining 15 Mins.. ' VVGY, Schenectady ' A breakfast-hour program added to.the NBC red network chart with the switch. from standard to day- lilrht savinigr time. Girts reel off a series of pop numbers between 7:45 and 8 a. m. During the first week of the more-sunllgiit schedule, duo worked with Bill Whitley, a bari- tone, who .landed a sustaining con- tract after appearing on the riew talent 'Air l^-eaks' shot, but re- cently they have been playing alone. "-=Their^programs=furnIsh=-a^:=^Rlea.<i~ ing musical bacltground, against which listeners riiay breakfast, scan the headlines in the morning papers and go through the usual maneuvers preparatory to leaving the house for the daily grind. Miss Pollock and Miss I^awnhurst play current numbers briskly, although neither their arrangements nor their" Inter^ pretatlons impress as unusual. As is customary with femme air duos offerings pops, they stress fingering In the treble. Broadcasts pao'ked a little more punch when WhltWy warbled thereon. Jaco. YORK AND KING Comedy COMMERCIAL WEAF, New York Chic York and Rose Klng^ have been standard headllners in the varieties for 20 years or more. In the last few semesters of big time vaudeville's glory the '^tintype' late Viotoria.n hokum which :.they de veloped and popularized constituted one of the most, hilarious comedy acts In show biz. This, preface is for the bene fit of those within radio who do not know the antecedents of the pair, For the sad fact IS they virere not recognizable on the Rudy . Vallee Flelschman hour as ftin-makers.. York and iCirig's efiCectiveness • is. In large riieasure, due ori ihe visible stage to the amusing costumes they wear, the facial mugging and Sight buiarlness they use. All this was missing on the air and .in conse- quence what. came, over the kilo- cycles was dlsinteg.rated. dialog that failed to make clear '(Hrhat they were supposed to, be arid what they were doing. A preliminary Introduction, only partially succeeded' In' suggest-^ inig the s6ene. ' Pair were riot .well-advised in the riiatter of proper ihaterlai for- the air. Chic York'ia. iexpletlves ' a'd:- dressed to Miss King became the outstanding fact over .the: air. In yaudevllle these remarks, .'you old warhorse,' etc., are simply In- cidental, And .should' never be more than incidental. , . I Radio listeners. It's a fair gUess, 'ja,re totally unprepared for .a man' arid woma:n crossfire act In . which the-»esserice of humor Is liame-call- Ihg. Pair's diction, of-course,.'IS gjood. ...Land. The VAGABONDS Songs (Sustaining 16 Mirip. WQY. Schenectady-i<; ■ -i- 1 'This trio rolled. Intoi .WGy from WsM.,. Nashville, ._'fin«i, despite ', the ing, if is not likely that they , will hit. the rdad'"foi' ano'fhfer 'fit^atlori iri the near -future. Th6 young har-^ riionlsta pfCer a type of. program that, should make therii welcome guests via; loudspeaker to the ur- ban and rural audience which WC^T reached in' u^per New York. State fund New England. Vagabonds arc -Heralld' Goodman, second tenor and. announcer; - Dea-n Upsorir baritone- aud pianist, asid durt Poulton, baritone arid guitarist. 'Turn regularly employs four sirig- ers but one, Wilbur, who apparently takes the 'Vagabond' billing seri- ously, has riot yet come off the'road from Nashville, -::: Boys do close harmony, speclal- Izlrig on American, folk Songs, old- tinie' ballads, Negro 'spirituals and hymns. It is said that thej^ include curreht ppp^ numbers in their rpp- ertPire, but on the brbadcaists caught the Vagabonds stuck pretty close to. the- four types mentloried in the preceding sentence. .In fact, triors melodic theme mentions 'old tUnes.' Some of the- numbers are their own composltlonsi ' Voices blend smoothly and clever arrangements enhance the harmonic effect. It is ob'vlous that they have been singing as a unit for some time and It is equally obvious tiiat they are at hpme In the interpreta- tion of riative vocal Americana. Much of the trio's singing is to guitar ' accompaniment. Goodman, whose speaking voice is so similar to that of Bradley Kincaid, another WGY warbler from the South, that certain listeners, may confuse the two, tenors hymns in a light but pleasing. voice, He has an easy, natural manner before the mike; " Joce, CUSHMAN REVUE With Ray Perkins, Ben Selvin, Radie Harris^ Estelle Taylor Chatter, Songs^ Band 30 Mins. COMMERCIAL WOR, Newark Until last Wednesday night (1C> the Cushriian bakery chain of Greater New York limited its air representation to a weekly quarter hour on WOR with Ray .Perkins the sole isource of entertainment. Stretching out; of the time obliga- tion to 30 minutes brought with it a dance coriibo headed by Ben Sel- vin and Radle Harris to do her rou- tine of film gossip dishing and .screen celeb Interviewing. Initial half hour frame uiilimbered a lively and. diverting potpourri. Ray Perkins' running fli-e of nifties, in which he kfdded himself as well as the others on the pro- gram, containing the ^tuff that makes for choice loudspeaker hu- mor. For sl3i»plece3 th^ Selvln unit dld a swell job at zipping things up for Tin Pan Alley's latest composi- tions, while Radle Harris gave an up-to-the-mlnutene.<5a to. her chat- ter items and a keen touch of humari interest tor-her^int^View-wlth^Estelle^ Taylor. Exchange of questions and answers brought forth the Info that the questee had quit her screen career to become a warbler and that she currently was doing a turn in a Broa,dway nlterle, the Slmplon Club. She said she was trying- to create a new style In singing, that is, toward endowing pop musld with a classic interpretation. Sales copy was confined to calling attention to the : baked goods spe- cials offered by the Cushman stores for eacfr day of the current week. Odec. 'COBWEBS and NUTS' M«l Blanft One Hour' - OOMMEHCIAL KEX Portland For one hour each day, listen, ers of .KEX, 6,000-watt statiori of the Oregonian, chuckle and grin at the radio antics of one man—and what a. man it takes to hold their interest for a full hour six days a week! That's the achievement of Mel Blanc; staff funnyriiani with his dally tCbbwebs and Nuts' broad- cast. And he's been at It everi- week day since June, 1933. Start- ing then as a sustaining program 'Cobwebs anil Nuts' now has com». merclal' sporisors who confess, de- spite the fact that Blanc mostly kids them along ii\ his announce- ments, that the program has' brought them me'asurable Increases in business. Mel Blahc declares that the basis for his program is to fljgure but any kind of a situation, arid, then do Jt^st the bpposite-^in other Words fool the public. He uses only pho-- nbgraph records for music, but imitates as maiiy as 20 different Qharaipters on one .program, 'as- sisted now And then by his wife; • Estelle ,Blanc, Who takes the part'' of Mrs. Q. O. G. G.' McFlogppople. IV, in" burle.sque' dramatic skits; , A hallriiark of 'Cobwebs and Nuts' ip time signals. They ran'ge from clatter of. bells, chains, panSi horns 'a|nd tubs, to a 5-year-old girl in the audience calling'Mama.' Blanc explains tliaf OTide duWrig'. his first program he Was out in the studio hallWjay.taking a smoke, during a record arid stayed too long. Rush- ing back into the studio he tripped over- a «hair and. knockedthe mlpr9Piion,e>^ofiC,.tJi.e. .table- along,- with ai .opwbell. h^,was,usljng ori..a com.^' •riierjciftl .;^ai,nnounce.ment.., ".Jfte.., non-^ cha^iaritly picked .iip himself '(Bind , the' S'tcrdpht)rie and ahriouric'fed'"'Tihie Srial^leven 'fifteen ' and' three- <gu'arters. The. Station- KEX > in - Portland/: Listeners,; ■'believing it to be .a gag, were delighted, so he aVlded It to his bag of tricks. Noteworthy are the crowds-that appear faithfully, each .day at. .the istuiilp , to",' ■watch . and . hear -hirii/' Never^ a broadcast without an'au- di ejit^e.,..-, Exainpie of introductiori (differ-' eht 'each day): 'You' will now listen' tO' 'Cobwebs ' and -'Nuts'... Iritrodriclng . Uncle Cobweb, also iCnown as Chief ShalloWbrain,. the. bilg man With the Xtittle- Learn- i^»g.' I ■. si KOIN $YMP.HONY ORCHESTRA Joseph Sampietro, Director Classical. Music Sustaining KplN« Portland, j Fifty musicians from the. Port* land Symphony orchestra were di-*' rected by Joseph Saippietro, KOIN musical director arid ex-theatre maestro, in a concert ovfer the en- tire CBS network Sunday, May 6, with three more to follow. Sariipletro ciiose a' repertoire of classical selections with an eye for popular favor. Such favorites as Schubert's 'Rosamunde' Overture. •Valse Triste' by Sibelius,. 'Danso Macabre' by Salnt-Saens, Schu- bert's 'Symphony in B Minor' and ■rschalkowsky's 'Overture of 1812' formed the heayy portion of the program, while the lighter vein was delineated by such numbers as "The Last Spring' by Grieg, 'La Feria' Suite Espagnole by Lacombe, 'Artist's Life' by. Strauss and the 'Dance des Bouffons' by Rimsky- Korsakoff. Displaying good , judgment at all times, Sampletro's reading of the professio'nal classics . brought heavy response frorii the capacTty auaTerice at the Paramount theatre, where the broadcast originated. Particular mention should be made of Art Klrkman's commentat- ing. . His diction was particularly clear and his knowledge of his sub- ject . gavg. a. gi'eater understanding of the continuity. Nothing borii- ba.stic 6r too heavily pedantic en- tered fntp -his announcing. ChAZY RANGE RAMBLERS Songs, Patter 15 Mins. COMMERCIAL WMCA, New York When not sub.sldizing hillbilly quartets, Crazy Water Crystals runs to literary programs whereF the poetic excerpts get cloyingly sen- timental over the little shack on the hill once called, home, the lonely fireside and the old oaken bucket. A major spender in both network and spot broadcasting, the purgative =VeMaDl'=lTTt!5=1'n^g-blrtnketing=of-the^ eastern, southern and midwest areas confined Itself to the.se two types of loudspeaker diversion. . Oh WMCA nightly it's a hillbilly foursoriie which , provides both the vocal and Instrumental effects. Boys occasionally take time out from their harmony^ mixing on the back- woods and open country theme to dish a bit of patter. Apparently the talk has continuity' and plot, but It takes more than one program for a Hfiltener to get any inkling of what it's all about. Odec.