Variety (May 1935)

Wednesday, May 8, 1935 RADIO REPORTS VARIETY 57 KING GEORGE V JUBILEE Empire-Wide Piek-Up. 80 Mins, 8u«taining WABC, WJZ, New York BBC repeated its New Tear Britannic cavalcade of the air for nie Jubilee celebration Monday (0) and made It count.. A natural foundation of tradition behind the occasion, but the main trade point js that the program evidenced •howmanshlp. , , ,, . Borrowing 'Time's' Idea of multl- Dle announcers these men called off the long list of British possessions and cued Into the countries to • be heard from by 'London caning South Africa, Australia, India,' etc., with top governmental offlclalfl an- Bwerlng In turn. ■ This skipping over the world was musically dramatized by a big or- chestra giving each called country a brief Instrumental buildup. Swell Btuft which only might have been further dramatically enhanced by handing each relay a time date line and announcing the clock In the respective locales. Pretty hard for the average listener ' to grasp the ecope of such distance swallowing when radio makes It this easy, ikence, the hunch on the time an- nouncements to make an audience . fully realize the breadth of such a hookup. For Instance, at 1:45 p.m. standard time In New Tork on Mon- day It must have been early Tues- day morning In Australia—the odd • twist of the Antipodes broadcasting back Into yesterday to most of the world. Tet nothing to emphasize this point was offered. It was Just Australia, a long way away, and .that was that. Likewise BBC continues to re- frain from Introducing royalty. (There was no Introductory for the King whatsoever. It must be the custom. Following the International messages, finishing with Ramsay MacDonald, the orchestra went Into 'God Save the King' (and you could tell they meant It by the way they played It) after which His Majesty was suddenly and abruptly on the air to his Empire. No question that this program was a standout with plenty of thought behind It. The Instru- mental phase was an Inspiration and a tip to any future undertaking of similar speciflcatlon. It was all on and off in close to a half hour with reception In New Tork partic- ularly good. Both Columbia (WABC) and NBC (WJZ) rebroad- cast it here. LOIS RAVEL Songs COMMERCIAL WEAF, New York Due largely to the astute Bar- numesque advance ballyhoo of her manager, Ben David, this new and unknown girl singer making her radio debut on the Flelschmann program probably had an audience of Important tuner-lnners whose Interest and curiosity had been aroused. Girl, who Is doing a chore currently at the swank Rainbow Room atop Radio City, came through her Initial radio test with, plenty of distinction. She has a deep voice and a per- eonallzed approach to her assign- ments. That takes care of her air chances nicely. If her personal presence Is equally pleasant, she has a strong beginning for a money career. Land. PINKIE LEE Nut Comic COMMERCIAL WEAF, Now York When Pinkie Lee, from vaudeville, was heard on the Rudy Vallee pro- gram It was obvious that he has Individuality. Rapld-flre diction and a novelty manner give him a lot to sell. He Is not the creature ol his material since Its the delivery rather than the substance that's clever and comical. And with radio, the champ carnlverous vul- ture of material In the history of Bhow biz, anybody who relies upon inate personality rather than gags and routines has been well-treated by a benevolent Providence. Lee sounds like somebody that will be catching the public fancy In a big way sooner or later. He's a hard-worker and an engaging ec- <=«ntrlc. Land, "TODAY'S BASEBALL Jack Fraser 15 Mtns. COMMERCIAL WMCA, New York Dramatizations of the day's dia- mond results. Studio gets behind Jack Fraser, spieler, and goes 'ylp- Pee!' when there is a strike or home-run. This goes on Inning by Inning. To some it might seem that broadcast was being sent direct Ii'om the field. Atmosphere rings true In this line although entire game Is boiled down to quarter hour run. London Tower Gin first took the series for thrice weekly, but swelled Us schedule to a dally spread after the first week. Now to run throughout the summer season. Fans are requested to send in sug- gestions, but Just what for is rather hazy. Program depends on plenty of flexible Jaw work and little time Out for breathing. Delivery oke for the ball-toselng' legion. Material Kleaned from the B- o'clock editions. On at 7 p.m. EDST six days weekly. SOPHIE TUCKER MUSIC HALL With Al Fields, Rex Weber, VIra Niva, Ellas Broeskin, Sam Hearn, Gene Marshall Revue 30 Mins. Sustaining WHN, New York This is a notable program for sundry reasons. First it brings a stellar performer, Sophie Tucker, to an Indlo station. That in Itself would attract attention. Second, It purposes to introduce eacli week two or three professionals of prom- inence In vaudeville or elsewhere who are thereby to be showcased for the benefit of prospective spon- sors and radio talent scouts In gen- eral.. That, too. Is provocative. Thirdly, It employs the telephone voting system Inaugurated on WHN's amateur program, which gives the station concrete evidence of potential popularity of the vari- ous guests. Ail in all, Sophie Tuck- er's Music Hall stacks up as a corking Idea conceived In showman- ship and carried out with profes- sional eclat. Possibly the first program might have been tightened up In some small details. At the outset It seemed as if the musical accom- paniment for Miss Tucker's own stuff wasn't everything- that could be desired. Tet this was not par- ticularly questionable and may have been simply a result of nerves on a premiere or Insufficient acquaint- ance of talent and orchestra. Out- side of that there was nothing that did not smack of network quality programming. It was a sock pro- gram and a prestige-builder for the station that seems certain to roll up as the succeeding Thursdays ac- cumulate. Whether WHN succeeds In sell- ing the program Itself or secondly of attracting sponsorship for the various guest performers time "will of course disclose. WHN Is giving the unknown (to radio) talent swell build-ups. Possibly only the Rudy "Vallee program (an hour later, in- cidentally, on WEAF), provides newcomers with . such nice verbal support as was given to Al Fields, Rex Weber, VIra Niva and Ellas Breeskln. Over the course of the weeks to come the program should build a big audience If the entertainment quality and human Interest of the first sample Is maintained. If any Individuals are started on the es- calator to radio prominence as a result, or if the Music Hall Itself is bankrolled, as would seem quite likely, the program may easily be- come one of the standouts of radio. And as an essentially one-station proposition it's quite a surprise. Doubtful If there are a dozen Indie stations In America that could put together such an entertainment even if commercially sponsored at the getaway. And certainly few could do the trick sustaining. WDRO, Providence, WBX, Water- bury, WMEX, Boston, picked up program from WHN. And It should delight their audiences In their sev- eral communities. WHN comes to the plate with a large bat In the shape of Its tie-Ins with the Loew vaudeville circuit and the William Morris agency. With that bat the ball can be hit resounding smacks. And the Initial program was certainly a home run. Talent Is receptive to WHN because of Louis K. Sidney and the fact the station has a sympathetic attitude and talks show biz. Whereas many stations ask talent to gamble, few really do much to make the gamble attractive to the performer. If WHN follows through and demon- strates a real ability to mean some- thing to the pocketbooks of the per- formers, its name will be blessed to the professionals around Times Square. One possible but tem- porary disadvantage may be that the Tucker Music Hall gets under way at the tag-end gf one radio season and a trWe prematurely for the new season. Bryce Oliver; news commentator, who preceded the Tucker program, mentioned It Just before signing off. That was a nice showmanly touch in Itself. Gene Marshall announced the Music Hall with perfect diction. Miss Tucker herself did several numbers, with 'Some of These Days' as her theme opener-closer. Her radio style Is played down and strictly away from the night club paprika. Her dramatized song numbers with music and dialog dovetailed seem her best bet for the air. Little or nothing of this de- scription has been done on the ra- dio. Al Fields opened the program guestlngs with a clever rhyme on 'The Last Audition.* This recited the usual dlfilcultles of profes- sionals trying to solve the riddles of the Grand Central Zone. It ended with the pious hope that his WHN nppearance was his last audition. Fields was the headllner, Miss Tucker explained, on the bill at Ilammersteln's when she first madeTi that house. Vira Niva employed the over- rtone 'Dark Eyes' as her offering. Rex Weber did 'I Get a Kick Out o£ Tou' and later encored v/ith 'Three Square Meals a Day.' Both came over the ether excellently. Elias Breeskin, with the factory In- signia of Eddie Cantor, also re- vealed some exceptional orchestral harmonics. Sam Hcarn, not strictly gue.'^Ung but rather a studio vl.sltor, ALINE MacMAHON With Charles Lawrence, Grant Mills 'Once in a Lifetime' (Excerpt) COMMERCIAL WEAF, New York Aline MacMahon, Charles Law- rence and Grant Mills made a nifty radio piece for the Flelschmann Hour out of the opening scene of 'Once in a Lifetime,' the stage play that had much to do with catapult- ing Miss MacMahon into the Holly- wood money and tungstens. Com- paratively little action, but due to the .swift pace of the direction and the crisp reading of the smart George Kaufman-Moss Hart dialog, it stood up and out. Maybe It proved something, too, about radio comedy. So much of the writing done for the mike is messed up arid befogged by excessive sound effects and hard- to-foUow transitions of time and place that a tlghtly-knlt episode that doesn't call for disconcerting and random action Is a boon to radio humanity. Dumbbell who eats Indian nuts throughout most of the opening dialog was done with much fidelity by Charles Lawrence. Each crack of the nuts that came over the air was graphic realism. VAmETT came in for a lot of kidding comment In this radio version as In' the stage original from which It was adapted. Land. COBWEB HOTEL Ellen Rose Dickey, Edna Ross, Harry Mack Serial 15 Mint. Sustaining WOR, New York On four different occasions Va RiETTT's reviewer found 'Cobweb Ho- tel' . had vanished from the WOR schedule only to be scheduled for ano'ther hour and a different day It's that sort of a program—strictly one to fill when the program de partment has 15 minutes open. Actually consumes only about eight or nine minutes, with the bal- ance of the quarter hour devoted to staff .music. Irregular spotting of program precludes any possibility of attracting attention either from the public or sponsors. Talent can put It down to experlenuce. That's about all they can get. Program may be described as a standard vaude gagging trio hav- ing to do In a general way with in- surance policies. It Is pretty foggy stuff. Lee Ferguson credited with scripting. Severe hrushlng of the cobwebs might Improve the tale. Hard to tell when It will pop up again on WOR listings. 'JUST ENTERTAINMENT' George Devron Orchestra, CM Arquette Music 16 Mins. COMMERCIAL WBBM, Chicago This Is the five times weekly shot for Wrigley grum to replace the "Myrt and Marge' show, which has quit, for the summer. Program fol- lows Its title as closely as possible. The plugs are restricted to the fore and aft portions of the period and are constructed In the lazy, simple 'Just entertainment' style. Doesn't try to sell gum for fallen arches or cauliflower ears. Just that summer time's here and picnic time and that gum adds to the enjoyment of life's simple pleasures. In all, it's Just memorandum copy and handled nicely by Arquette with that 'Tony Wons-Singing Sam' drawl. Program itself Is uninterrupted by any announcements of song titles. The program flows contin- uously with no mention of titles un- less it's mentioned when the chorus is being vocalized. Devron's or- chestra sounds smooth and full of class. Is going for rumba stuff and Is handling it cleverly. Gold. CHARLES DORNBERQER ORCH. Dance Musio <- 30 Mins. Sustaining WABC, New York Dornberger has been In charge of a high order of dance music for years, but has stuck to the out-of- the-way keys, so isn't the name in the larger centers that some of his contemporaries are. But this CBS ride from the Mt. Royal Hotel, Montreal, should Increase the geog- raphy of his following. He gives out nifty music. Has a hot piano and ellck or- chestrations. It's up-to-date, blg- tlme music. Dornberger does his own announcing and very well. Closes the show on Columbia Fri- day nights. Land. made his personality felt with some gagging. Hearn has had quite a spectacular Increase In fortune since at long last solving the radio puxzlo a few monthH ago. He be- .«poke the ex-vaudpvUllan's attitude that radio is the way out of the Jungle of technological unemploy- ment that has attacked bo many fine performers still in their prime. Telephone voting which continued throughout the program (and aftcr- ward.s) was tentatively tabulated for several announcements. It shov.'ed Sophie Tucker herself in the lead. This competitive voting angle sharpens the savour of the program. WHN walloped across Its first major offensive for advertising agency and sponfop pv.'itlge with this program. T,nwl. CORRIERE D'AMERICA Vincent Sorey's Orchestra, Amelia Sanandres, Eugene Cebelli Italian Musicale 30 Mins. COMMERCIAL WINS, New York Italian news - sheet, corriere D'Amerlca begins a 52-week run with this musicale series. Besides calling attention to Its own pages, several CD'A. advertisers are ex- ploited also throughout the week. Time is now divided up between Pastene company and Cosmopolitan Import house, both heavy space buyers. Friday programs are also piped through to WAAB, Boston, under the Pastene banner. Presentation Itself Is aimed point- blank at the foreign group, but pro- gram can be easily understood by the general public. Only Italian Jargon brought In is for a brief copy palaver half-way through the so-minute spread. Otherwise every- thing is in English tongue. Copy Is well constructed, this" case bringing In a young contest winner who is an expert spaghetti maker. Thus Pastene garnered some choice praise for its spices, oils, etc. Vincent Sorey's music Is light opera stuff for the most part. Now and then a rumba or a violin solo is thrown In for novelty. Entire musical outlay smacks of a Neopoli- tan air which Italian residents have a yen for. In closing, Sorey's con- tingent presented a rippling pot- pourri of Italian tunes covering all the provinces. As this series prog- resses, new warblers are to be added regularly. It is one of the major commercials sponsored by a foreign account on an English station and stacks up well as radio fare. Airs nightly excepting Sundays at 8 p.m. EDST. 'DUN AMATEUR SHOW' Truman Bradley and Amateun COMMERCIAL 30 Mins. WBBM, Chicago R. G. Dun cigar company has ef- fected three-way tie-up with WBBM and the B. & K. Oriental theatre for a once-weekly amateur show which figures as a good bet all around. It has meant additional business for the Oriental on the amateur night and Is a good general follow-up on the previous WBBM contest which sifted Vivian della Chlesa to regu- lar spot on Its transmitter. Dun show Is broadcast right from the stage of the Oriental theatre and Is slated to run for 10 weeks with the winner of each week's contest to draw a week's work from Bala' ban & Katz. The circuit will take care of that matter by shoving all 10 winners into an amateur unit which will play the Oriental maybe, but more likely one of the nabe spots. But the individual winners are a minor matter to the show as a whole. The talent Is pretty good for amateurs and delivers sufficient entertainment on its own. Would seem, however, that an amateur show of this calibre would be better suited for a general home product rather than a cigar. Gold. KEEPING UP WITH SCIENCE Dr. Kirley F. Mather and Family at Their Fireside 16 Mins. Sustaining WAAB, Boston Sugar-coated lessons In elemen- tary science, humanized by the simple, but effective, device of let- ting the listeners drop In on Dr. Mather of Harvard and his family in their home during a flreside dis- cussion. To dispose first of the only fault (and a pardonable one) at the out- set it was obvious Mrs. Mather and daughter, Julia, read their script. Dr. Mather, who has made a num- ber of science film shorts. Is more at homo at the mike and his natural enthusiasm carries the program through satisfactorily. When caught (30) the Mathers were chatting about petroleum. It all started by 'Judy' asking her dad about hot oil. And during the quar- ter hour, punctuated by leading questions from Mrs. Mather and daughter, the scientist develops a compact but comprehensive outline of the oil situation In this country, the estimated supply on hand, the world petroleum supply, and the al- ready perfected process of deriving gasoline from coal and oil shale. To brighten the script for non-techni- cal dialers, Dr. Mather injects slang occasionally; and to maintain the flreside spirit of the chat he concludes by suggesting that 'Judy' get back to her home-work. Smart educational program Idea. Fox. BILL HOGAN ORCHESTRA Edgewater Beach Hotel Sustaining WBBM, Chicago Newcomer to the midwest, Bill Hogan 'delivers melody, tempo and rhythm. Band handles nearly every type of rhythm, but particularly goes for that hot style of music which Is generally difficult to swing in over a loudspeaker. Hogan manages to acoompll.sh the trick without sound- ing messy. Clean-cut style through- out makes dansapatlon and listen- ing both plenty oke. Three Kittens, girl frin, aid with thP voral.M ninply, Gold. PIANO CARNIVAL 100 Pianos, 500 Voices 15 Mins. Sustaining WABC, New York Columbia squandered a swell novelty by not finding a spot for this program until 15 minutes after midnight. It was too gord for that kind of careless programming; One of the most unusual special pro- grams ever originated by a local outlet and should have been exploit- ed in greater style apart from the eerie hour. itTUL, Tulsa, gave this to CBS. It's a tie-up between local Instruc- tors, piano dealers and the piano indlistry generally, and as a pro- motional stunt It's a pip.. Too bad the piano industry didn't have lob- byists In Manhattan Influential enough to get a respectable niche when- the general public might have listened. to the minority gathering that probably got the program It was an arresting radio curio. There were 200 boys and girls in duet arrange- ment banging .100 pianos at th» Tulsa Coliseum. Later 500 Juvenile voices came in. First 'March Slav' and later 'Blue Danube' were of- fered. Lengthy numbers and they took all the time allowed. Playing was good, and sparkling as a dem- onstration of mass music challeng- ing. A swell community stunt that takes lots of patient preparation. Land. 'FLASH GORDON' Serial Melodrama 15 Mins. COMMERCIAL WMCA, New York Constructed primarily for juvenll* consumption, as It now stands, this Is the latest serial melodrama to be adapted from comic strips." 'Flash Gordon' Is a King Feature (Hearst). It Is skedded to ma^ce Its debut on all Hearst stations during the pres- ent week as an exploiter for their Sunday colored comic supplement.- Should fill this purpose admirably, Judged from the strength evident In the opener. It's much like other daring adventure serials on the air recently. Packed with action, thrills and enough noise to satisfy the most ardent youthful listener. Whole Idea is well conceived and carried out. Introduces Plash Gordon, de- scribed as woirld's greatest athlete* and his sweetheart, Dale Arden. Mad scientist transports them to a nearby planet where they are cap* tured by Ming, cruel ruler of thft land. Ming's fascinating daughter enables him to escape from a band- of red monkeys and In a later bat- tle. Flash Joins forces with the chief of the Llonmen. First chapter (cov- ering some 14 dlfferent_Qpjnio sup- plements) ends Just as he Ts about to see bis sweetheart married to Ming. Sound effects man has fine chance to produce weird noises since nearly all action Is on a planet Inhabited by strange folks and animals. Sounds of a rocket car, airplane, giant elevator and other mechanism depicted in the cartoons are heard. Seven different characters arc fairly well established as to voice even la the brief 16-minute broadcast. Planned to have each weekly broadcast! spotted to appear almost currently with the actual appear- ance of the cartoon In Hearst Sun- day papers, after the first five pro- grams when the serial will havo been brought up to date. Probably win be spotted" on air a day or tw» actually In advance of Sunday pub- lication. 'IRISH SHOW BOAT' McNulty Family Folk Music 16 Mins. Sustaining WHN, New York This la presumably the aulhentio article In native Irish music. Fid- dle-concertlna-zlther type of ac*. companlmcnt for the simple scral- welrd ditties of the moors. As a pleaser for the Irish Immigrant colony. It's obvious. Because of its nationalistic quality and the strange lilt of the music non-Gaelic eara may be less Inclined to listen and' more disposed to twirl the dials. Announcement was made that the McNultys will do personal appear- ance concert at the Brooklyn Acad- emy of Music. Program broadcasts once a week at C p.m., Thursdays. Land. COSMOPOLITAN STORIES Dramatized Short Stories 15 Minn. COMMERCIAL WOR, New York New scries sponsored by Coi- gatc-PalmoJive-Peet. Runs a little light. Counterbalancing this is the presence of music and neat ballad- Ing. For hou.'jewlfe consumption, for which it seems obviou.sly de- signed, tout ensemble may be okay for morning placements. Relates the progress of a Ilill- Ellly with his strumming music and songs towards fame and a radio contract. Possibly enough romance running through to catch the femme fancy. Outstanding Is Frank Luther ae the singing hill-billy. Heretofore confined to ballads and quartet work with the Revellers. Luther stef)s out in a spoaUIng r-ole, doing a vft trouper's Job.