Variety (Jan 1936)

34 VARJETV RADIO REPORTS Wednesday, January 8, 1936 PAUL WHITEMAN'S MUSICAL VARIETIES V/ith Harry Richman, guest; Bob .LawrenciBi_ . Ramona, ' Durella, King's Meny'^Jotinny Haiiser, rs. Dorothy Kent 8ongs, Band 45 Mins. WOODBURY PRODUCTS, Sun, 9:45 p. E8T. WJ2, New York (I^ennen «£• MitchcU) Paul 'WhUeman and his tioupe, aided and abet,ted ior the single inaugural occasion by Ilarry Richman, look over for Woodbury on NBC's blue link last Sunday night (5) and Unlimbered a pertorniance tliat was thickly studded >vlth the usual AVhiteman inslgnias of spai-kllng radio entertainineint and good showmanship. Whiteman was back selling' music in th© modern manner, with no comics, divers celebs or freak acts to mutilate the mood, and the results proved that the account had something that spells a surefire Sunday evening habit for a major segment o( the listeners. Initial repertoire was deftly blended and dovetailed, even though it was found necessary at Jater rehearsals to make substitutions for a number Qt Warner controlled compo.sition.s, such as "TJie Birth of the Blues,' 'Chinatown;' 'Sweet Music' and 'With a Song In My Heart.' With Whiteman functioning as his own m..c., the; program rnoved along at a smooth pace and nimbly linked together the various schools of modern music, which included a fetching arrangement, of Ravel's •Bolero,' the 'On the Trail' excerpt from Fcrdie. Grofe's 'Grand. Canyon Suite' and a niftily fused medley of •Red Sails in the Sunset.' 'Treasure Island' and 'Check to Cheek.' Of the ' Whiteman vocal menage • the standout performahde came from a male octet, which include^ the King's Men. and Bob Lawrence, In a finely colored Interpretation of ?Bootg and Saddles^' Dui-ielle and Johnny Hauser did nicely enough In a ronfiantic duet, while Ramona ■was allowed ample opportunity to air her knack for ti-ick lyrics in 'the fore part of the show. ' Richman fitted in effectively for two Innings. Commercial plugs could have l),een more suavely devised and In-: terpolated. Most telling piece of copy was the, dialog between two girls, in which they expatiated on the laboratory, research which the account's new 'Germ Free Cold Cream' entailed. As a device for fetching the mass mind the recital of scientific abadabk is usually Gureflre.. and it should have worked thusly in this case. Also rung in as part of the commercial palaver '^a.a a femme beauty expert and for the 'final lick the announcer told how samnles of two brands of cream, Woodbury soap and the company's face powder could be obtained for 10c. 'Janet Parker' }s Mrs. Dorothy. Kent. asst. program director at WINS, New York. As puestees Whiteman has bookea for this Sunday (12) Mor ton Downey, and the following week Jane Froman. Odec. ISHAM JONES With Seven. Singi 30 Mins. WHF.LAN DRUG STORES Sunday. 6 P. M. WOR, New York (Young, d RnVicavi) Same orchestra, same sponsor, same station, but on Fridays at eight (and different station hook up) instead of Sundays it six; so this isn't precl."?ely a new program It's titled 'Yours Sincerely,' and is lightly dipped into a musical letter continuity foi-mula. Some special lyrics carry out the Idea. Jopsig, old" timer in the dance biz, dishes out catchy melody; Vocals nice, too. Whelan commercials modest. A girl shopper is to call attention to bargains being pushed ieach week by the chain pill grinders. Otherwise Whelari plugs its prescription . department and the I'lfirorous standards enforced therein. This goes to WFIL, Philadelphia; nd WOL, Washington, al.«o. KRAFT MUSIC HALL Bing Crosby, Bpb Burna, Jimmy Dorsey, Kay Weber, Eleanor Whitney, Ruggiero Rieci, Paddy Patterson, Cecil B. DeMille, Four Blackbirds, Bobby Wilson, Bobby Grayson Comedy,. Songs, Band, Dancing, Talk 60 Mins. _ KRAFT OLD ENGLISH CHEESE Thurs., iO P. M., EST. WEAF, New York (/. Walteir Thompson); About the only thing missing froni the conglomeration of . entertainment that served to debut BIng Crosby 4s the master of this ThUrsda:y evening spot wa"s'a' pair of Australian woodchbppers. Program was' not only badly routined and paced but it talked Itself into a sta.te of painful, boredoqj. Even allowing for the fact that th(i producers of thei program equipiped him -with a lollapaloosa of a script, Crosby. must have been largely to blame for the fog he walked himself into. There were many mbinents in the session when hosts of listeners must have wished that the guy would . quit blabbering and go into one of his songs. Introductory sta:nza as fa.shioned and run off certainly did.Jlttle to bring Jinrimy Dorsey's linit into favoralble relief. Sparse -were the passages permitted this aggregation, while the selections^ \vith one exception, that whicli gave Dorsey free swing of his hot clarinet made this up and coming , outfit s.ound pretty thin. Bill mixed the boy. violin prodigy, Ruggiero Rlccl, with the innocuous patter of the gridiron berserkers, Bobby Wilson (SM:U) and Bobby Grayson (Stanford), the swift and finely clipped tap dancing of Eleanor Whitney %yith the a la Mills. Bros, harmonizing of th£. Four Blackbirds, and the tenuous vocalizing of Kay Weber with Cecil B. DeMille's -reniiniscences of his struggles, and early success as a producer. Crosby had to talk it over at length with each act before, they could go into their routine, but the top piece of awkwardly contrived self charalcterlzation came when the baritone assumed the pose of a little schoolboy baishfully asking question of the dean of Hollywood producers. It was a .self-effacing attempt that had phoniness written all over It. Nievertheless Crosby did a version of !Boots and Saddles' that was cooked to the queen's taste. Of all the sour and flimsy notes struck through the proceedings the most excruciating one developed during one of the plug interludes when a inale voice with a Piccadilly accent was. put on to testify ,.how he swooned -with joy when he fbund ■ that "you Jolly Americans' had a cheese (Kraft's 'Creanied Old English) which, any English gentleman would enjoy. Other theme on which the commercial copy played was that the way to make the head of a family happy was to feed him this brand of cheese. Odec. ADELAI Dramati iB Mins. FLEISCHMANN'S YEAST Thursday, 8 P. M.. E. S. T. (J. Walter Thovipson) For several years a bit player on various radio programs, Adelaide Klein made her debut on Rudy Vallee's hour as both an authoress and multi-role actress. "She's good at both, her portrayal of five different and distinct characters, in a weepy sketch laid >n a Chicago settlement house being especially noteworthy. Plot of the sketch, chiefly because it was so timeworn, was hardly as Import'Ant as her exccu-. tlon of the Ave women— ^Irlsh,"J-ewiflh Negro, uncultured American mother and 'well -Educated social worker. The different dialects were honest, thoush the fact that there -were so many impaired the action of MisB K)61n'3 script. She would probably Do even more effective with two nnd three-people bits?, her flair for rAdlo dramatics V>»lng quite' obvious. " flfc^'O. 'AT HOME ABROAD' With Howard Dietz, Beatrice Lillie, Ethel Waters, Eleanor ' Powell, Reginaild Gardner. Musical Revue 30 Mine. Sustaining Sunday, 8:30 p.m. EST WABC, New York Shubert. revue still running at the Winter Garden was aired in capsule form last Sunday, night under the direction of Howard Dietz one of the show's writers. Half-hour endeavored, to capture the crosscountry trot of the stage production, with stop-overs at some of the hot spots on the globe. Opening ditty 'Get Away From It All' sounded the key-note for the jaunt., Beatrice Llllie on twice for expurgated versions of 'Dinner Napkins' arid 'Paree,' thtf former having first been done last year on tlie comedienne's, commercial series. Ethel Waters sang 'Loadin' Time,' which highlights a heavy production number behlnd'>^.the footlights* and here used a choral backgi-oiind for best effects. Later she teamed with Eleanor Powell for 'Bran' New Suit' number, which permitted the tapstress leeway for her pxpert hoofing. It relayed clean. Reginald Gardiner -Was. spotted for his takeoff of 'Trains.' Tills was first etherized on the Vallce hour some few weeks ago, and it clicked then, and repeated here. He reyeals neatly clipped diction. Dietz discharged his own Job smartly. Bral. SYLVIA SIDNEY With Morgan Farley, John T. Dwyer, Selena Royle, Charles Slattery, Arthur Maitland, A. H. Van Beuren 'The Third ,Degree' 60 IMins. LUX SOAP Monday, 9 P. M., EST WABC. New York (J. Walter Thompson) Fine production values wasted on an antiquated piece of 10-20-30 melodrama. A hit in .lts day but its, day was before the war, "The Third Degree' of Ch -les Klein sounds hollow and phoney In 1936, It is no longer ne\ys to followers of popular fiction that the back robms of police stations are sometimes torture chambers and as here handled the ordeal is unconvincing as i.s the lise of a shiny revolver held to catch a bright light and bypnotize the suspect Into confessing a murder of which he is innocent. , Because the Lux radio theatre is pretentious and, because much that it has present'-'d In the past Is first rate, this sample mus be Judged by fairly high standards. Only the easlestrto-please and the» element lacking all capacity to criticize would gd for this story. As a tipoff on the Story the cHmax hlng^ upon the fact that there are two Mrs. Jeffries. One is senior: (Selena Royie) and her daughter-ip-law (Sylvia Sidney) Is junior, in view of the musty odor of the plot the acting 1.S inevitably dragged down to the level of the script. An Incredibly wish-washy and stupid 'hero' arou.«es contempt in the listener; In 1936 it's a crime to be as dopey as he is. And played in a high falsetto by Morgah Farley the dislike for the guy concerning whose fate all the sobbing is done becomes intense.. Miss Sidney Is about the same on the air as she . sounds on the screen, but her .deli-very is choppy at times. Piece must have been hard to direct in something like modern tempo. jMnd. MADISON SQUARE GARDEN FIGHTS With Bob Carter and Garnett Marks Sports 1 Hour, 15 Mins. Sustaining Friday, 9:45 p. m. WMCA, New York . Local station WMCA has 'based much of its showhmanshlp on airings of fisticuffs from the pai'den (arid other spots). Friday eve stanzas are fed to the eastern Inter-City hookup, and are generally sustalriers unless some big brawl' attracts sponsor. In the latter event, either Sam Taub or Clem McCarthy usually does the, spieling. Bill caught for this review (27) was one of those so-so affairs, being a series of a dozen scraps between colored lads, most of them only skedded for four rounds. Gardensparsely populated, and the back^ ground hullaballoo missing. Carter -\vaded Into his descriptive assignment in workmanlike fashion, and while this may ordinarily have helped accuracy It only served to emphasize the mediocre calibre of the battling in this case. One of those situations that's hard to ^olve for an announcer. Marks, until recently a news announcer over WOR, New York, gave the between -rounds dope, also relying on a pedestrian approach because of the pedestrian situation. Pair have clear, distinct voices, and Carter appears to be reasonably initiated into the mechanics of .slugging. Could Improve his stuff, however, especially when confronted with poor fights, by maklnj* more of the fighter's peculiarities of style and thus establishing him more clearly as a type with the audience. Pas.sable on the whole, though — arid better matches, better programs. HENRY FONDA 8 Mins. HOLLAND HOUSE COFFEE Fri„ 8 P. M. E. S. T. WHN, New York (BlackettrSampte'-numinert, Inc.) Clever production and copy marked this: ether interview Insertion In Holland Houso Coffee's weekly MGM Movie Cliab hour over the LOew Outlet. Radio Harris, regular spieler, had Henry Fonda on for the occajsion, using the telephone gag as a frame for the bit. It f elayed well. » 8ho. called the Hotel Gotham, started in asking the visiting film player for the radio date, and then continued with casual conversation which , revealed ' all there was to know about him, Outside of loo . many Omaha '/e-ah.s,' F o ^ a sounded okay. Brol EUGENE LIST Piianist : FLEISCHMANN'S YEAST Thursday, 8. P. M., E. S. T. WEAF, New York . (J: Walter Thompson) This 17-year-old concert pianist's bit was just a nice, highbrow interlude in the Fleischmann Yeast Variety program; the. former child prodigy, executing two difficult classical piano, pieces. Chief appeal of a concert pianist to the ordinary laymari is individual style; and this was hard to define through a loudspeaker in this instance. . Li.st,, who at 12 -was soloist with the Lbs Angeles Symphony Orchestra, made it even toughet on the listeners by choosing pieces more for their Intricacies than\jnusical appeal. As a result, the buildup given him by Rudy 'Vallee counted most, instead of the other way around, S.cho. TED H USING With The Charioteers (4) Talk, Mu«i 15 Mins. WILDROOT HAIR TONi IMohday, 7.15 P. M. EST WABC, New York (B. B. B. <t o.y On the strength and Impetus of his autobiography, '10 Years Before) the Microphone,' Columbia's No, 1 chatterer has attracted a program in which he is the main works and sports is not the chief emphasis. Huslng is delving into the same reservoir of reminiscences he drew upon to wi'ite his book. Plenty of drama in the early , days , of radio and he shovels it out with a nice appreciation of its inherent dramatic wallop. Major White, the pioneer broadcaster who did so much for radio airid got ao little out of it, was the hero of Husing's first talV. As running mate the Charioteers, an uncommonly warm foursome' of scat singers, blister a collection of pops. They're standout. Commercial, In patrt of which Husirig participates, dwells upon the evil results of sopping the masculine thatch with water. This rots the hair. Avoid . and substitute Wildroot, says the sponsor. The spiels 'are plausible and not, too ver.^ bose^: Huislng is a good bet for the men ll.steners and the advertising is written on the right pitch. Lan , Follow-Up Comment ETHEL BARRETT Songs 15 Mins. Sustaining WGY, Schenectady A new name on WGY's program, schedule. Heard on a late-afternoon broadcast, .she sang pops in acceptable style. 'Voice not unusual, but suited to this type of vocalizing. Sense' of rhythm and articulation are okay. .Johnny Flnl; helps at the keyboard. Jaco. Aleic Hyde and Don Albert on WHN, New York, sustalners manifest unusual care for house bands. Ditto Leo Freudberg on "WOR. "All are painstaking with their arrangements, Hyde's is more pop; -Albert goes iri for tfie symphoniized syncopation. Horace Heidt's version of 'Broken Record' seems the best interpretation that tune has enjoyed over the air. lleidt used, the melody's repeat phrase to change key to simu-. late the phonograph running down. Not new, of course, as to idea, but a further twist was also trahsposing up, as if the machine were gaining speed. On final chorus band transposed both up. and down. Strictly okay and good enough for a repeat. Marriage of Amos and Ruby In the 'Amos and Andy' quarter-hour on Christmas night culminated long wooing that was made vivid from timeto -time in the series. Impending . weddirig-date had been so emphasized through three or four -weeks preceding Christmas, that there was expectation of postponement, or at I least ..of comic interference, with Aridy'dubious and the. Kingfish rather cynical as to whether the maiTlage would really take, place. Ceremony was made an episode all by itself in the Continuity. Claude Hopkins from Cotton Club, N. Y., isii't one of those colored bands that tries to be too ofay yet it knows how to mix up the hot 'n' sweet stuff for best audience results. When Orlando Robinson's sympathetic top tenor is to get in its innings. Hopkins gives out 'Please James' or a melodic indigo like 'Blue Illusion.' But in contrast the Hopr kinsites also know how to • go swingo with 'Honeysuckle R(?se' or that nifty, planologistic arrangement 'by Hopkins of 'Doing the Co-Ed.' While the -musicians unions In both Chicago and New York have prohibited remote band pickups from using the titles of pictures arid musicals from which resti:icted songs are. taken because of the commercial tlri.ge of the plug, Joe Sanders orchestra at the Blackhawk and over WGN, tho (phicago Tribune station, is starting to announce special numbers as haying Just been recorded by the band, and . 'hoping that the audience will like it.' Xayier Cugat's rumba verslori of 'Music Goes Round and Round' with a lyric in Spanish is a novelty and an oddity which Cugat ought to can for the Victor records. Heard over WOR from the 'Waldorf-Astoria. N. Y., It's hot-of£-ther griddle novelty iri orchestration. Healthy trimming of gab and more discretion in spotting of It has lifted listening appeal of 'Tea at the Rltz' broadcast which Pompelan uses three ■ time."! weekly over CBS. Program arrangers have taken full advantage of swell dansapation by Harold Stern's band and singing of Jerry Cooper, without -getting away from the idea that celebs yho have tea at the Rltz -Carlton are belrtg Iritervlewcd. Mai'garet Santry has toned down pxtravagant and over-effusive chatter. Apparently, the mikes have beeri better arranged which niakes for clearer picking:, up. This' was another Initial broadcast flaw. Herman Bernie has_ booked. Lou Holtz for his brother Ben's American Can program week of Jan. 28. Vinton Wight new addition to engineering staff of KOIT^, Omaha, Neb. KALTENMEYER'S KINTER. GARTEN With Bruca Kamman, Marion and Jim Jordan, Johnny Wolf, Thop Ericson, Merrill Fugit 30'"MinK QUAKER OATS Saturday, 5.30 P. M. WEAF, New York (Lord <S Thwnas) This program was eusUining ovei? NBC frbm' Chicago since Septera^ ber, 1932. In that respect It re^ mirids of the Sinclair Mlpfitrels which held oh for "three year.s be^ fore finally getting a bankroller. kihtergarten Is tlie Idea of Bruce Kamman, an NBC production staff member. Pretty much what the title 'suggests, it's 'School Days' hoke comedy applied to radio. Even down to the Bostonlan bl vocabulary kid whose excessively genteel manners, and ultra-ultra mater (who sounds like Beati-Ico LilUe), the program follows the pat-: tern found surefire for years on small time vaudeville. It's as corny as succotash, Humor is broad, slapstlcky, sometiriies infarillle. But the kids vflil probably giggle and there'll be adults who. will forget to be discriminating, too. Sponsor firm bears down heavily on the priyelege it has acquired (jjresumably by purchase) of saying: 'this morning the Dlonno Quintuplets ate Quaker Oats.' It's endorsement advertising with a twist that should be effective In impressing listeners with an association of ideas strongly favorable to the product.. 'School Days' stuff has been tried on the air before. But nobody has yet thought to try it with the man who oi'iginated it, who' kriows It bietter than anyone else, and who probably could do it better, too-^ Gus lEdwai'ds. Land. MELODY MATINEE With Muriel Dickson, Cavalier Quartet, and Victor Arden's or> chestra Musical15 mins. SMITH BROS. Sundays, 2 p.m. WEAF, New York (Brown li Tarchcr) Equipped with ari able cast, an extremely safe— though not unplea;sarit^— ^formula, and a minimum of coriimercial .palaver, this stanza opened (5) in the middle of a palisade of tough competish. On the other NBC web, the RCA 'Maglo Key' makes a bid for attention. On CBS it's Leslie Howard. And, locally in New York, Jl my Jemall, the 'Inquiring Reporter,' holds forth over WOR. These circumstances may or. may not take the edge off a iuther plain dish, palatable though it may be. At any rate, they'll assuredly be. the biggeiit factor when it comes to reckoning whether 'Melody Matinee' does or doesn't sell cough drops. Stanza ambles: along at an even gait from start to finish, and is scarcely ever Interrupted or bridged from section to section. Numbers are all pop tunes, delivered with zip by the Arden ork and the Cavaliers. Muriel Dickson, until x'ecently a Gilbert and Sullivan diva, offers the sole digression from the pop standard with a G&S selection, but later aliso works In modern melodies. Lacking material for a climactic soCk, the cast essays finished workmanship. Commercials ai'e models of Sunday sobriety. ORIENT REED Songs 15 mins., Sustai ing Monday, 9:15 P.M. WFfL, Philadelphia Husky-voiced blues cliarit.er brings slick aatchelful of sharps and flats from Nob Awlins for local dialers. Ben chirping from this outlet for last season and soun.ds about ready for.p.a.'s." Has lots of that ol' charm and can put it across the air. On show caught. La Keed mixed up ballads and rhythm numbers pretty much above average. U.^ed only piano accomp. Nice toucl), though nothiiig novel, is.' injectingan oldie on each show frommusical eedai chest. In this case 'Wlio' came in for beaucoup vocalizing, Ilohe, MAJOR BROADCASTER With Howard Jones Commentator 15 mins. MAJOR PETROLEUM CO. WIP, Philadelphia Here's, another example of ditnculty of. on.e-a-wcek news shots, Infrequericy is big drawback. Otherwise it's I'easonabiy neat job, Spori-. sor likes matters of local interest, but often gives prcccdPiioc to day's lead yarn. Program cau,p:l)t empha.slzed discussion on chance of war in Europe and whether U. S. ijould .stay out. Howard Jones, of WIP staff, docs spieling on show, witli cri.sp, direct manner and trace of Southern accent. Sci'ipt is by John Lfo. former Philly scribe, and sounds ■mthoritnUve enough. Style i.s -e-mcise und language should get acros.'< with anyone. Plug at end for (•or'ti^'ny's gasoline. Hole.