Variety (Oct 1935)

'Wednesday, October 2, 1935 4 D I E P ¥ 5 VARIETY 41 BA^'P-LOUIS FIGHT Clim "McCarthy, Edwin C. Hill 20 Mini. COMMERCIAL WEAF-WJZ. New York with Clem McCarthy for the bout description and Kdwln C. HIU for b*tween-roundB analysis, the ether ~flehVlanr"Wieifr'*TC«t«d-by • an-«R-- Srely new repbrtorlal setup In Bulck's broadcast of the Baer-Louls ■ffeht' The arrangement had Its faults, but It wa.s the best handling to date of a major rlns event. McCarthy was not a perfect men- ial-picture artist In painting the action that transpired, but he does know the difference between a left hook and a lateral pass,- and thatis An impmyement. There were times when McCarthy'wia-S^ tod qurftt-ttrid matter-of-fact, and in the more "excltrrig"ni6m(6Tlta-'artm;^T^^ animation would have been okay. But to McCarthy's credit, when Louls hit Baer the customers were aware of It, and' the customary spectacle , of a fighter landing a punch to his own noggin was absent for the flrst time in a long series of. flght broadcasts. PMwln Hill's flowery word pic- tures of the arena and its occupants, his literary vivisection of the human mind In its reaction to gory specT tacles, bis exposition oh the primi- tive nature of modem mankind, all were interesting for the few mo- ments of airing before the flght, but after awhile they lost their kick. While Baer was bouncing around like a pogo stick, with the big ques- tion whether or not he'could come up for the next round. Hill's theories of evolution were Irritating and sur perfluous rather than informative or pertinent. He also forgot to men- tion whether the fighters were in the ring when he came on^. But he did get in the weather and the at- tendance. Still, intelligent chatter even In connection with a prize flght Is not entirely a bad Idea. The trouble With HUrs material on this occa- sion was that it was obviously pre- pared poetry, written In a strictly neutral sense and usable at the fight without alteration no matter Which man won. If he can also pick up the color in front of him, plus a few prepared paragraphs, then there Is a definite place for the Edwin C. Hill philosophy at sporting events. Anybody wlio can warm, over cold news and make it digestible, as Hill does daily on the radio, can cer- tainly be Interesting when broad- casting from the actual source of news. Hill's spontaneous reactions at a flght would be worth listening to, much more so than a prepared treatis4. Bulck, which sponsored the broad- cast, was content with brief and Infrequent, mention and throughout showed admirable restraint for an advertiser spending over $60,000 for a plug, But 'McCarthy's commer- claJ catchllne, 'The power of Joe Louis is like the power of the new Bulck,' was enough value for any advertiser's coin. Yet, fhe perfect flght broadcast Is yet to come. For it's still neces- sary, to read the papers to find out about the complete action. Which means that on sports the networks. In most Instances, continue to main- ly give just, the score. Blge, HAMMERSTEIN'S MUSIC HALL Ted Hammerstein, Blanche Ring, Guy Robertson, Louise Groody, Joe Weber. 30 Mins. KQLYNOS WEAF, New York (Blackett-Sample-Hummer t) Pi'ogram links Broadway of today with that of yesteryear, with the once celebrp,ted Victoria Music Hall of Oscar Hammersteln's as the frame. .His grandson, Ted Ham merstein, carrying on the name via etherizing, and reviving memories of thiat plush era. It's sentimental stuff, popular appealing, and yet primed with enough current flour- ishes.to hold general interest. Procedure. Is to pick out at least two stars of another day, place them up against present-day headliners lor 30 minutes. This time (also the premiere of the new fall series) in- cluded Blanche Ring and Joe Weber vs. Guy Robertson and Lioulse Oroody (though the last named has been off Broadway herself for sev *ral seasons). Show is presented in vaudeville order, eight acts, topped by the rousing martial send-off. of Sousa's St^rs and Stripes Forever' at the finale. Music end best conveys the easllght aura, being somewhat bla:- . tant and discordant, but i p to snuff ^hen the occasion demands. Miss King's chores included her' familiar RinBs' and 'Yip' ditties, presented quite lustily, with Weber confining "'s act to straight gagging, most of Which was spinning tall yarns. Robertson vocalized on 'The Blue iJanube,' with Miss Groody reviving one of her early Vincent Youman's songs. While the latter Is still a ?r°P"'^r piece ('I Want to Be In it?^ ). age of It almost places it «f J Vl**""""® category. Hammer- siein delivers the m.c. business flu- throughljut *^ modestly gracious i„|?°'>'"09 copy Is rather short, be- >>ia, Jff^^^y about the 'science of Pn^.,, I^'^**""-' et<s- Phraseology Is {-ornpiete 6n the commercial end. ^"\"ever enters Into a larrlng note *s me show progresses. LAWRENCE TIBBETT With Don Vorhees Orchestra Musical 30 Mins. PACKARD MOTOR CAR CO. WABC, New York . (Young & Rubicam). Tlbbett's radio career has pro- voked a lot of raised eyebi'ows. ftmottgr -tlw-bis'her-ups -In-tlio-fHualc- world. Squawk from that sector is that Tlbbett makes himself a bit silly,in 'slnglps down* to the masses. Start: of the new Packard series (24), however^ ought to occasion some counter' argunients. Premierie made it. patent that Tlbbett now proposes to choose songs with an eye mainly on their suitability to fit hie; chesty voice and swaggering de- livery. That some tunes occaslon- ilty creep'In ^Ich Won't qualify for music's hall of fame' might be alibied on-the-grounds tbat they vare needed for change of pace. All in all the Packard program is well constructed and should click. It has dignity and still doesn't lack the necessary flash that will attract a big audience. Tlbbett picked his opening night selections with nice judgment. Included two bona fide opera arias, a couple of colorful modern offerings, plus one song from his forthcoming film, 'Metro- polltain.' Excerpt from the latter (entitled 'Last Night When We Were'Young') was the only number, that didn't stand up well. By conr trast with . the rest of the pro- gram it appeared to be the slowrrhythm popular stuff that can hB-^ heard from naorn till night on an|y spot on the dial. Much better were 'Where E'er You Walk,' 'The Through Freight," 'Alone,' and an aria from the Barber of Seville. Tlbbett puts everything he has Into the 'Barber' number, and thus provided the program with , a punch finish. Don Vorhees' orch did excellently on its end of the job. Commercials are adroit and palat- ablie. Packard's president, Alvan Macauley did the spieling on the first program; being plugged }n es peclally from Detroit Macauley was obviously .rung In as a sop to Packard dealers (among whom he's supposed to have a.good reputation as. a square shooter). Handled his little speech OK. With such a well-rounded setup, this program can't miss. Whole thing radiates workmanship that wasn't patched together two min utes before the red light flashed in the studio: WXYZ DEDICATION Benny Kyte, Eduard Werner, Harry McDonald, Virginia Hooper, B. A. Rolfe, Bpswell Sisters, Morton Downey, Men About Town, John B. Kennedy Songs, Bands, Talk Sustaining WJZ, New York It wasn't a hearty welcome In an entertainment way that NBC ex- tended to WXYZ, Detroit, and WOOD, Detroit, Sunday night (29). The two stations on that day be- came part of the Blue (WJZ) net- work, and all that NBC could or would muster for the dedicatory was a group of artists brought In from the Bockwell-O'Keefe oflloe, plus Walter Winchell and the Men About Town quartet, ROK dele- gates were Morton Downey, the Boswell Sisters and B. A. Rolfe. Situation on the New York tend- ed to dampen the party as a whole. WXYZ lived up to Its. rep as a con- fecter of popular entertainment and came through with a smartly con- trived melange of song and orches- tral fare that brought plenty credit, psirtliiularly, to Benny Kyte, Eduard Werner, Virginia Hooper, Salvatore Cucchlara and the choral ensemble. Richard C. Patterson, Jr., execu- tive v:-p., did the greeting honors for NBC. Paying tribute personally to George Trendle, head of WXYZ and WQOD, Patterson congratu- lated him on the high standard of public service and showmanship, for which he (Trendle) has made WXYZ notable. It has been this talent for showmanship, said Pat- terson, which has built a huge fol- lowing for the station. Any one can become, averred Patterson, a broad- caster, but without showmanship the - broadcaster won't have many listeners. Odcc FRANI^ CONNOFiS Song-Guessing 15 Mine. ASKINS CLOTHING CO. CKLW, Windsor, Ont. This new program, presented every Thursday and' Friday after- noons, had a tremendous response from first broadcast and is Increas- ing weekly. Gag is that Frank Connors, tenor at Fox theatre, sings four, numbers each day, two of them old favorites and two of the newer brand. Audience is to write In, guessing the names of the four songs. There are 20 winners dally, each receiving a pair of tickets to the Fox theatre for the following week, Connors, who has a big following here. Is loaned by Fox to„ A.skln's Clothing Store, sponsors of the show. Askln's also purchases the tickets as well as paying for the broadcast. Letters after flrst unannounced prpgrafn ran around 850, with total passing 2,000 mark, following sec- ond show. Response has main- tained a steady increase since then. Wemhoff. 'MAGIC KEY OF RCA' Milton J.,Cross, Frank Black, David Sarnoffr Maria Jeritza, Vienna Symphony, Paul Whiteman^ John B. Kennedy, Dr. Walter Damrosch, Amos 'n' Andy. 60 mins. RADIO CORP, OF AMERICA WJZ, New York (Xo rtf a g Xhtmas:). .. A family affair, this- 60-rninute run, with RCA plugging its several services and products. A Sunday afternoon hour and glamorous with production values and naries. Premiere was superior ,stuff. Man- ner and ease with which it was handed out branded it as deluxe. There was a certain note of excite- ment pushed into all build-up speeches,' no doiibt to make this far- flung .dla.lftr.«.j. wa'Ae .^of ,the.. threes, ring, .event. Portions such as , the sidlt^siefiond.JbLQPS .to. Tpklo, Geneva; were teases, but per itted sporis'br to expand over Its technical devel-- opments. Vienna stop-over Was not quite up to expectations, due mostly to Mme. Jerltza's audible nervous- niess and extended opening bo.w. Symphonic group, however, sort of smoothed over this hole with the 'Blue Danube.' Frank Black opened, welded and closed the show. Program Jumped' out to the S.S. Majestic, with David Sarnoff, RCA chieftain saying .'Hello.'. -Reception just fair.. Thence to Jeritza. Initial U. is. attraction to appear was Paul Whlteman, exploiting the American jazz motif, anddoing right by his reiJutation. Assisted by members of his crew, Whlteman played 'Belle of New Orleans' from his forthcoming picture 'Thanks a Million' (20th Cent), the first real sock on the show so far. Ramona well primed vocally and assisted by the King's Men for background har- mony. John B. Kennedy from Detroit fol- lowed, but just what he was . sup- posed to convey Is a puzzle. It was a conglomeration of Detroit's busi- ness revival, Joe Louis' hometown baseball, and see-you-next-week stuff, Kennedy is a fav spieler with big biz guys. Second half of the hour's run opened, with Dr. Walter Damrosch conducting a thundering excerpt of 'Das Rhelrigold' with choral en semble accentirtg the more demon stratlve moments. Carnegie aura gave this starter a spurt, and made it something of an occasion^ Short talk also added to the particular se- quence. Out to> Hollywood for Walt Disney's birthday party for his Mickey Mouse gang. It was a bar- rage of barnyard noises, which in otheir hands, would have been dull, but being able to visualize the Dis- ney characters In black and white, the act was a cinch. 'Mickey's Grand Opera' was the particular flash, and gave the Whlteman por tion a run for popularity bid. From here program did some fast hurdling, skipping out over the Pa- cific to Honolulu (it was 9 a.m. out there), on .to Manila and theii to Toklo and Geneva (where it was 9 p.m.). Fast and served the pur- pose clearly for RCA. Return of the Whlteman contin- gent brought the show around again, with Amos 'n' Andy holding the closing position. Two. c6mlcs sketched over their radio careers, and got sentimental over Pepsodent, NBC and the world In general. Kraft Cheese also rated attention as the whlteman band exited for the final time. Program nearly stopped then with four minutes left over to steam off commercial copy and Black's mu- sical flourish. Ambitious scope of the program makes It a stop-look- llsten hour, which Is hard to pass by. After first hearing, main Item to brush iip is the time element which must be (engineered to the nth degree. No ^question about the talent and the wofld cruise. Milton J. Cross handling credits and announcing. Broadcast Sun- days at 2 p.m. EST. BACKSTAGE WIFE Vivien Fridell, Ken Griffin, Henry Saxe, Mary McCormick, James Goss Serial 15 Mine. DR. LYON'S WOR, New York (Black€tt-Sd7nple-nummeit) There's a certain amount of dis- tinction to this serial, so planted as to ensnare femme Interest during those breathing spells away from household chores. Most of it come« from the story itself, framed around a matinee idol, his young wife from the hinterland, and the numerous girl admirers steppmg In his path. It's smartly developed, proceeds easily, and carries enough suspended action to run through the Monday to Friday schedule smoothly. It's been on for some time over Mutual, but has just been signed by R. L, Watkin.s (Dr. Lyon's tooth- powder), as its commercial pluK within the past two weeks. At thl.s hearing only three of the regular cast were etherizing. No particular sound effects or trick gag.s held up the episode, instead It wa.s straight dictlonlzlng. No stand out ill the performances, though the male role could probably be built up Ihto something of a vogue if delivered In punchier fash- ion. Colorless acting Is the only holdback i-ight now. Series airs at 9:45 a. m. EST, originating in WON, Chicago. FORD SUNDAY EVENING With Jascha Heifetz, Victor Kolar and the Detroit Symphony Concert 60 mins. FORD MOTOR CO. WABC, New York IN. W. Ayev) \s last year, dignity and class.are '.!4>,.kfvjyjl(f<j_j5f. _t|ii_s.-^^^^^ the idea inore than aptFy "geTs across. There is ho tampering with, condensing or popularizing, of the musft;. Comnierciars are absent, ex-- cept' that a .spieler In the. nliddle of the : stanza glorifies Ford's Ameri- canism (l.e„ rugged individualism). It's good stuff for Ford as any com- petent public relations counsel will attest, 'Association of Ideas' is the ttschnleal term for It. PremleCP .gf Jthe ^series (29) was reverently lauhcKed with a 44-Vbl<rea' choir slDglng^ 'Old Hundred.' Deftly cKjinflng" - "pace, Kbtar's ~"TO^plece symphony thereupon rendered the overture from 'The Bartered Bride.' Heifetz' fiddling occupied pretty nearly all of the remaining time, ex- cept for the Ford philospohy spiel (copies free on request) and a <;los-. ing mardh from the Symphony :Pa- thetiquc by the orchestra, Heifetz's performance needs no further- comment. He is one of the world's greatest violinists, and one whose reputatioil has always been stacked on matchless technical skill. Played first and third movements from Bruch's 'Concerto for Violin in D minor' accompanied by the orch. Then got piano accompaniment for 'Humoresque,'' 'Valse' and 'Hbra Staccato.' This is ah A-1 series of selections, without the slightest sop for the hoi polldl, and still oh; the fringe of the middle class listener's ken.- Names like Borl, Crooks, Flagstad, Spalding, Levltzkl, etc., will decorate the series through December 20. W. J. Cameron, of the Ford bailiwick m Detroit, will administer the 'p.iln- less doses' of Fordian plhllosophy and Weltanschauung; All in all, the series continues to be one whose calibre sufficiently speaks for itself. It's the halo for Ford's head, Fred Waring takes care of the more hotsy-totsy end of things on Tues- day eves. BACHELOR'S CHILDREN Hugh Studebaker, Olin Soule, Pa tricia Dunlap, Marjorie Hannan, Marie Nelson Script Serial 15 Mins. OLD DUTCH CLEANSER WGN, Chicago (Roche, WUUarhs d Cunnyngham) Fair enough script as scripts go. They are running around, this tbwri like Harlem after Joe Louis' vie tory, but despite the crush of script •shows on the local ether, It's sur- prising to see how many of them get results at the grocery and drug- store counters, no matters what the artlstlcs may thinks about it, Hokey and corney and puerile stuff still sells goods. Wonder of It all is bow women can possibly listen to and absorb the plots Of 10 or 12 scripts morning after morning. Possibly they change off, and listen to 'em on a part time basis. But whatever the listening habits, those five times weekly shots at the femme ears makes it pretty certain that they're going the right com- mercial copy at one time or an- other. The average must eventually take care of. the advertiser ih get- ting his plug across. These shows never receive high ratings in the listener surveys, and the people Ih the cast never become box office names for vaudeville or picture, but somehow they do manage to sell product. That's the story of 'Bachelor's Children.' An obvious story setup built around a kindly youngish doc- tor who Is forced to take a couple of femme twins under his wing when his'pal kicks off. For more heart appeal there's the poor work- ing.girl who faints on the doctor's doorstep and who winds up becom- ing the medico's secretary. The kindly housekeeper for propriety and the boisterous chum for com- edy relief finish out the cast ranks. All good, clean comedy and dra- matics without too much plotting or action, but plenty of oozy heart-to- heart talks and simple phllo.sophy. For the matrons who can be roman- tic in the morning, thi.s will do. Old Dutch Is a Cudahy subsid. Plugs are sold by a femme In straight-forward selling. Odd. CHEERIO. Songs, Talk 30 Mins. Sustaining WEAF, New York Cheerio is an oldtlmer on the web during the morning hours when comntiuters are chugging into town and housewives are doing their dusting. Most notable thing abour, his turn is that it .spouts philosophy, poetry, soft mu.sic, birthday greet-, ings for the aged, wedding anni- versary announcement.s, etcr; while the surrounding network spots are carrying gab or straight music. Program has a smug mellowness to It that undoubtedly registers "With the femme-s. General tone of this offering la that of an almanac, or one of those 'thought-for-today' calendars. Ii^cluslon of names in th'e greetings lends the necessary homey touch. Probably goc.<« over best with the middle-aged and old listeners becau.se of the anniversary stuff and the far-away mii.slc. 'MARCH OF TIME' Dramatized News 15 Mins. TIME. REMINGTON RAND WABC, New York (B.B. D. it 0.) Results of putting • this erstwhile snappy stanza into mass produc- tion are by now apparent. It's about_the_same thing as.if the Rolls lioyce engineers "suclcrfeTllY'slrortDT^ the wheel base and used an assem- bly system. The reason for this second review of the pi-ogram Is that it is recognized as probably ihe toughest job on the air. What evidently prompted 'Time' to hack its original streamline pi^o-.. gram job up into five pieces was the heed of more selling talk. The 'March' of yesteryear sold nothing, hglng. a., pure' prestige builder with oudllfy as' tfie' phTy 'cbhs.fiteratTorr. ' But now^'Time' has gone into the picture' busiiieSs apd wants-to-.plvtg- films. So the 'March' is qulck- pteppetl. onto a five-a^week schedule with the result that speed and co*n- merciallsni are substituted for quality. Remington. Rand; co-part- ner, keeps pace all around. ■ Three programs caught for this review (25, 26, 27) Indicate that the dubiouis requirements of more ad-^' vertlslng a.re, marching the 'March' into a tragic impasse. The . editors of JTIme,' having none-too modestly titled themselves as contemporai-y historians, must shove some history Ihto the stanza. The program's frequency makes the insertion of spot ne,ws equally mandatory. That situation Is a trouble brewer.' For when a day is loaded to the .gills, with news,, the 'March' can't possibly, present'as much'of it as a newscaster or a newspaper front pa^e can. And What, is presented is necessarily huxTled stuff. If, on the other hand, the day is* a blue Mon- day, the 'March' has to dig liito the morgue for feature stuff. That., makes boilerplate listening which doesn't sound like history because there , i.sri't enough time in the 1,5 minute period, to get around to de- cent build-ups. B.B, D, & O. can't wiggle out of that one. In the three abbye-mentlohed broadcasts, 11 Items were presented. Divided as follows: four were up- to-tiie-nilhute news; . three were news, but not spot stuff ; thjcfigjarere features; and the last was a hybrid. It was supposed to be news, but would more easily qualify as an ad- vertising plug for 'Fortune' (owned by'Time'). The four spot news items fared badly, bearing ail-the scars of hurry- Sound effects were missing. • No at- tempts made at sufficient build-up. What drama there was in them was framed against such a skimpy mechanical backgi'ound as two-way dialog or quotes. One episode—set- - tllng of the coal strike—was so meagre that It even faded Into the next episode and spoiled that. Only the Crempa shooting was passable. Three nearly-newe Items were better. These had occured early enough In the day—or had been In continuation such a length of time .—that the scrlptmen and cast had et chance with them. Consequently the Bngllsh boot . union's anti-Italian attitude, the Perth Aniboy appen-- dlcltls case-and the Bucyrus hos- pital escape might be classified as good In comparison with the spot news category. Best of all were the feature items. Here a spark of the 'March's' old finesse appeared, although the Items themselves weren't, much as sig- nificant historical stuff. The three Included the Morgan. defrauding, the Prince of Wales' revitalizatlon of the Falrbrldge project of colonies for poor children, and Dr. Goddard's stratosphere rockets. Goddard's work Is attention-worthy as science, but the Falrbrldge colonies aren't rhuch as sociology, and the Morgan defrauding is a pure curio.- Patched onto these 10 Items was ■the hybrid, and the heavy com- mercials. The former (excerpt from a 'Fortune' survey) was in espr^lal bad taste. If the 'March' can only present seven actual pieces of hews while the world , is spinning like a multi-colored top, the inchision of veiled advertising as a 'news' event looks like sheer slaughter. Possibly if the 'Miarch' Were new this year it Would get by. But be- cause listeners have, a comparison, the onetime prestige builder (for radio as well as 'Time') mav ranldlv fade- Into the limbo of mcdiocritv. Faced with a program illogicality and the spectre of speed, the gen- erals of the 'March' have no other prospects ahead of them except bad ones. AL POSKA 5 Mins. CRETE MILLS KFOR, Lincoln This dally program, with Al Poska doing the Interviews and Kay Buf- £am the. .scripting, Is .strictly fake and only to plug a $150 contest, which is offen-ed by the Crete Mills, makers of Victor Flour, Gag Is to find any woman who fits the voice typOr wanted on a given broadcast, give her a fake name, and Interview hor on some controversial subject—all the stuff being in script. Each program leads up to the 'question, 'What woiild you do If you were given $50?' and so into the ad announcements of the conte.st. Works out okay, and since short and only to last until contest sold to listeners, yvlll do the Job all right. Barney,