Variety (Oct 1936)

34 VARIETY ADIO RLPORFl Wednesday, October 14, 1936 Fiji Java, on Radio's Biggest 'Route; RCA Magic Key's First Birthday Suva, Fiji Islands, and Batavia, Java, were added on Sunday (11) to the international circuit of RCA Magic Key showmanship. Because the program was observing its first birthday the task assigned RCA ^Communications was exceptionally pretentious. Some day this sort of thing may -be commonplace . but . right now, and. probably for some ; time to come,-split-second switch- overs between Radio . City and points all over the globe rate re- spectful awe. • John B. Kennedy called the stunt •rapid transit world Wide wander- ings.' Some six European capitals, "plus Honolulu, Montreal; Buenos 'Aires, Niishville, Java and Fiji- Jack Knight aboard an aeroplane' high over Chicago—were brought in with instantaneous timing, Indeed ..the only pause on the program was not from distance but from Radio City itself when a' 10-se'cohd silence followed the half-hour station break. . Reception over the NBC blue net- work was. excellent in all instances save Rome and the,Fiji station. Fad- ing tendencies were present , in both these pick-ups. , London, Basle, Vienna, Batavia, Buenos Aires, Ber- •liri, Honolulu, Montreal and the aeroplane were bell-like. Paris was a' shade less on the nose, but very satisfactory in. toto. Which • is a score of about 95% in working some 11 casual miracles during the course of an hour's program. . . " John McCormack (who broadcast -for RCA as early as January, 1925) was the personality chosen to top the' anniversary broadcast. He was -picked up from Nashville with Ted Snyder at the piano. Eddy Duchin's orchestra, John B. Kennedy, Ben Grauer and Milton Cross plus the . regular NBC^symphony filled out the program. . . Etna Sack, soprano, from Berlin, and Eduardo's tango ensemble from Hhe Argentine offered samples of in- "fernational show biz. Other pick . tips offered mostly, samples of inter' national announcing. - 1 During its first year of broadcast- . liig the RCA Magic Key program has" used 38 opera and concert personal!' ties, 'seven symphony. orchestras, 13 choirs, five journalists, five scientists, three sports - personalities, 17 dra- matic play excerpts, 38 legit stage players, 27 film players, 25 dance • orchestras. Land. PATRICIA ANN: MANNERS Script Serial 15 Mins. ASSOCIATED LAUNDRIES M-W-F; 9:15 a.m. . WBBM, Chicago . (Spector & Goodman) ' '' Patricia Manners, who writes and plays the lead in this program, has something,in 'My Diary.' The title is .excellent showmanship on its own, and is even more so; because of its topical virtue due to the. inspiration of recent Hollywood court proceed- ings. Idea itself : is susceptible of . endless elaboration with a continued sock, for audience attention, espe- cially the romance-eager gals Of the .after-breakfast club. •' Program has a freshness of view^ point with an' occasional sly bit of clowning that makes it a genuine '. standout its romance-appeal is a cinch and the shift from, the diary soliloquy to'the straight dialog of the action itself is accomplished with all the ease of a motion picture fade- in -arid fade-out Clever stuff from every angle*. ; ■ Show starts right off with a bang and heart-to-heart gaff, the romance getting off on the right foot from the bell. Miss Maimers herself plays the leading role smartly. Has gauged a neat set of pipes that are suited exactly for the role. Timing and de- livering smooth. .. . Commercials are straight-forward enough, and <~ a good, solid job of .selling the laundry service of Cook county against the do-your-washing- . at-home campaign of. the soap and washing-machine companies. Show .looks a sure winner^ • Gold. ALVIN BUSH ENOS Safety Talks 5 Mins. TIDEWATER AUTO ASS'N. . ' Mon day, 7:40 p.m. 17TAR, Norfolk Safety theme with new setting in program just started by Tidewater Automobile Association over WTAR. Alvin Bush Enos got idea to inter- view Norfolk's leading citizens on safety after his road talks got a bit threadbare following the drop-off in tourist trade at summer's end.. Interview of Col. Borland, who's chief of- Police and carries more -Water locally than.'Jack and Jill com- bined, the prog,gave dire warning ,to the speedsters, reckless drivers -and the drunks. Chief Borland gave vivid replies to quizzes' as to how to assure safety for young and old. Judging by initial broadcast should captute lots of local listeners. FRED ALLEN With Portland Hoffa, Harold Von Zell, Town Hall quartet, Peter Van Steeden's orchestra Variety ' "\ 60 Mins. IPANA, SAL HEPATICA Wednesday, 9 p.m. EST WEAF, New York (Young & Rubicam) Same show, same cast (with ex- ception 4f Jack Smart -exit), and same socko results as last year. Which means that the amateurs, too; are back again to fill up the last half of the stanza. But Allen's ama- teurs are in a class by themselves, and serve a useful purpose. By oc- cupying the- tail end of the doings, they cut the chances of Allen's burn- ing up his material too rapidly by exactly one half. And there's no sob- sister harping on helping, these poor upstarts find a foothold on the stage. As much of the amateur stuff is ad- libbed comedy by Allen as tyro show-off. Forepart of the show debuted (7), in smooth order. Nicely timed arid rehearsed, "it gave a finished im- pression. Again' the tri-partite divi- sion of this half hour prevails-*- Allen-Hoffa crossfire,. burlesques, of newsreels, and burlesque drama. Commercials are cued in by Allen and read by Von Zell. Am section was. off .to fair results, barring two slight mishaps. One was clipped, timing. Other was a hefty blurb' for Pan Arrierican Airlines and Roosevelt Hotel used in connec- tion with a girl singer hailing from. Mexico. Latter smattered too much of commercial connivance. Edga. 'HOLLYWOOD. ROOM RECIPES' With Gladys "illler Talk 15 Mins. BIGELOW SANFORDv Tues, Thus., 9:45 ajn. EST. WOR, New York (Newell-Emmett)' • ' Carpet 'and.- rug manufacturer is trying to set up some Emily Post standards for parlor and bedroom; the while hammering home the no- tion that the floor is also part of the house. Interesting . on , the whole, even if currently in need of, minor revisions. ' Stanza caught (1) attempted to get away from routine spieling at the start via dialog, which is an old but satisfactory trick. In this .case, how- ever, Miss Miller's unnamed femm'e sparring partner waxed a little too enthusiastic on the strength of her script, which likewise was too hypo. Info garnered from the exchange. of phoney verbiage should nonetheless outstrip the sentence structure and delivery. Miss Miller next gives, a room recipe .derived from a Hollywood pic set. - Tie-in is good, and the recipe and photo 'will be sent on request. Conclusion has a contest offer, in which Bigelow ' Sanford will send some cutout models of rooms and furniture. The contestant is to paste these together along his own con- ceptions Of interior .decorating. It's a good idea, but this reviewer failed to hear where the cutouts can be ob- tained. Serious - boner to bury this intrinsic info so deeply.. Tripartite splitting 'of the 15-min- ute .stretch makes for escape from the hackneyed and would withal be nicely set up if those few finishing touches were added. . Show, origi- nally on WOR alone,. now is also going - to WLW as a Mutual account. Edga. H. C. POWELL 'KENTUCKY CLOCKER' 15 Mins.' SHEVLIN'S, FALLS CITY BEER Tiies.-to-Sat.; 6:30 p. m. WSAL Cincinnati ~' •■ ■ Titled dopester Is 4 H. C. Powe^l,- who follows the ponies at different tracks the year around. Here for the fall meeting at River . Down's, oval ; adjoining Coney Island, he's doing : mike chores that have been'his side- line in .track towns for past couple of years. This stanza, co-sponsored by. the burg's leading sea food and chop 1 house and the Falls City Brewing Co., whose beer the eatery dispenses, is aired nightly except Sundays and- Mondays at 6:30, originating in Shevlin's. Spieler, introduced, by staff an- nouncer, . opens with results and prices of day's card at the • local gee"- gee. course. Has a twang that's un- deniably feedbox. His rattling is steady, yet quite okay. for the folks who take their horse races seriously. Works in a complete line of thoroughbred lingo and, after nar- rating the results, goes to town answering queries pertaining to rac- ing facts and. oddities. Questions are fired by announcer, who invited lis- teners to ask whatever they want about bangtails and their perform- ances. Headliner also clever in touting auditors .to dine and drink at his sponsor's emporium. Speedy and entertaining from barrier to the finish line. Koll. GINGER ROGERS, WARREN WILLIAM With Alan Mowbray, Verree Teas- dale, Lela Rogers, Doris Kenyon, Cecil B. De MIHe *"» 'Curtain Rises' 60 Mins. LUX SOAP Monday, 9 p.m. EST. WABC, New York (J. Walter Thompson) Between entree and side dishes, Lux got off a creditable concoction on this occasion (12). For Ginger Rogers it Was probably the longest single performance she's had on the ether, and she conducted herself with decorum in a role neither pert nor comic, Benjamin Kaye's 'Cur- tain Rises' is straight drama with a couple of pathetic notes divided be- tween Miss Rogers and Warren William. They shaped the some- what mediocre opus up glibly be- hind precise direction and timing. Most , of the play depends upon voice riuances for effect, and. to that extent it fits the ether very well. A be-spectacled wall-flower (Ginger ROgers) becomes impatient of her backwardness and attempts to hire a matinee, idol (Alan Mowbray) to give her dramatic lessons, mainly so he'll kiss her. Instead he sends his understudy (Warren William) who does such a good job of teach- ing that the erstwhile dud of a charm- er actually emerges as a finished actress and is given a starring stage role. She tosses it aside, however, to chase after .the understudy with whom she's fallen in love. Good half of this to-do portrays the-un- derstudy's dramatic, teaching, and requires . strict inflection to get across. Rogers-William combO tackled the job with gusto. Support by Alan Mowbray and Verree Teasdale matched up neatly. Balance between, starrers and sup- port went a long way toward proper polish. : DeMille's guest crew this time de- livered some of the best punches heard within the past couple of weeks. Lela .Rogers, .mother of Ginger Rogers and .director of RKO's Little Theatre, got,the floor at the half and proceeded to make a public announcement for, S. J. Briskin. Said that RKO, in the interests of helping the legit stage, will lend its tyrOs out free of charge to little theatres. .RKO got a sweet piece of publicity out of this maneuver, while the announcement itself fitted in as well with Mrs. Rogers* job as anything else she might have said. A Lux commercial, > of course, was bedded into the speech. Doris Kenyon drew the postlude. Screen star is now making a con- cert tour, and thus sang 'Thine Alone' (Victor Herbert). Voice and rendition were a complete credit to her. Miss Kenyon's talking was marked with poise and a becoming dignity, except for an escaping gig- gle when she spied a line in the script to the effect that she was tak- ing a load of Lux along with her on her tour. But then Lux pays for the thing, so it should be allowed ita fun, so long as it's funny to everybody. Edga. . FREDERICK UONAGHEY 'Tiie Reporter of Plays' Talk 15 Mins. Fridays; 9:15 pan. WIND, Chicago Talking about current plays and their actors Donaghey reveals an easy style, enthusiasm for his theme and a trick of covering a show de- scriptively in terse wordage, so that he takes in a wide variety- of items, giving to listeners a review in cap- fculci of each play. With his rep and unquestioned knowledge of his field, Donaghey looks a cinch for class appeal. His voice is fine over , the loudspeaker, with clean and crisp enunciation. Studio info <is that he speaks with- out script or notes at.d the result is a breezy period. WIND is one of the 22 stations on the Affiliated mid- west, chain which carries Donaghey's weekly look-see at the current drnma. ■ . ■ Title 'The Reporter of Plays' has been used for years by Donaghey in lectures on drama at universities. • ' Gold. ROB WAGNER 'Hollywood Portraits'" 15 Mins. Sustaining Thnrs., 7:45 \t.m. •KFWB, Hollywood ■ ■ ^ Wagner's been kicking around in the biz since 1912 and as the saying goes, you can't play around • with paint without getting a little on you. His style and delivery are not un- mindful of _Alex Woollcott and make easy listening. His series will -con- cern full-length portraits of names in the picture business and there are few he doesn't know intimately. He indicated in his radio bow that he'll go behind the private lives of his subjects. Signed in -as 'your Hollywood neighbor.' Wagner explained his air turn by saying he's a bit weary of the drivel being written about the colony. He also spoke of .'terrible tripe' and made it clear, that' he doesn't 'mess, around with scandal.' KFWB is out only the line charge for the remote, from Wagner's Script office in Bevhills. ' Scripter takes a heavy helping 'of blurbs for his mag in the exchange.' Wagner signs off with, the subscription - rate of his tome, more or less facetiously, but it's there. ' Helm. JACKIE COOPER With Victor Young, Guests Discs BLUE COAL Tues.-Thnrs., 0:45-7 pan, WGY, Schenectady (Ruthrauff & Ryan) A group of Hollywooders, with Master Jackie. Cooper as emcee, work on this waxer, turntabled at an hour when listeners- are sup- posed tq be in-a rnood to hear'about heating. Proper ■ operation of fur- naces is stressed as strongly as is brand of coal tp stoke them. Program creates an atmosphere of informality, thanks to its youth- ful pilot and to emphasis on per- sonalities of guests. Some of the latter dO not trot out a great deal of sock material, but they sell themselves as likable humans; ' On names and entertainment this ranks well up for a transcription. First record aired' talk and sing- ing, by Fred Stone and daughter (the veteran did a comedy number from 'The , Wizard - of Oz'—men- tioned Dave Montgomery—which probably awakened fond meniorjes among the old-timers. (Second had chat on directing by Lew Ayers, and the third of a characteristic dialect bif by Leo Carrillo (pre- ceded by a- slightly lengthy ex- change with Cooper). That juve- nile plays up to and~~"interviews adult stars in winning style, h'is jemceeing being a combination of boyish earnestness and professional maturity. Emphasized is the' fact that Cooper is radio's youngest conferencier. Victor Young's urtit plays smoothly, Dorothy Bates doing a pop with it on each platter. A string of marquee names will be heard on rubbers to follow* • • Spiels about the D., L. & W.'s coal and local dealers' John Bar- clay-trained heating service are fre- quent. Station miker comes in for a sign-off on a cash-and-scholarshlp prize contest, entry blanks- and de- tails obtainable from Blue .Coal man listed in classified section of telephone book. ■ Joco. THE GUMPS' With WHnier Walter, Agnes Moore- head, Jackie Kelk Comic Serial 15 Mins, PEBECO • ' " Mon. through JEri., 12 noon EST WABC, New York (Lennen & Mitchell) Between changes in cast, direction, sponsorship and authors, this serial has managed to weather five years on 'the ether' since emerging from the comic pages of the Chicago Trib. Presently .it represents a pretty good writing . and acting job. Pebeco toothpaste foots the bills. Half a decade has somewhat di- vorced the stanza from its parent newspaper strip'. Characters of Andy, Min, Chester, etc., are vaguely like thier wacky forebears, but in ac- cordance with radio procedure they're currently involved in com- plicated serial plots and situations. Latter are screwy in the; extreme but within their lunacy, well con- ceived on the whole. Sample: Andy finds a box of gold in his back yard which a phoney newspaper man steals from him when he explodes a batch of tear gas that Andy .thinks is flashlight' powder for a photo. - Sample cited—which is thorough- ly typical of what goes on contin- ually—can hardly be called femVhe appeal stuff. It might get femme listeners, but predominantly it's.iam- ily fare. As used how, however, the show goes to the ladies at a ladies' hour. No reason why this should be. • Seems logical that a time „ spot later in the day would have more advantages. Wilmer W-lt.er. with a high- pitched voice that cracks, every .so often, gives a passable representa- tion to the ear of a character built primarily on" a visual base. • Ditto Agnes Moorehead as Min, and Jackie Kelk as Chester. Himan Brown is director. Pebeco commercials are about what would be expected. Lennen & Mitchell, which dishes them up. ap- pears to be- getting a. triple action' complex of late.. They've got 'triple action' Tydol (gasoline), on the. air, and now it's. 'triple action', Pebeco. Steady listeners could hardly,', fail to note this repetition of claims for totally dissimilar products/ even if steady listeners aren't usuallv' "ac- quainted' with agencies. Edga. 'FACT-FINDER' With. Benny Kyt'e's Ork, Rhythnieers Talk- and Music - ' 15 Mins. HI-SPEED GAS Mon-Fri. - WXYZ,. Detroit This 15-minute show, which began several months ago over WXZY and its state web, has grown into such favor that it's now fed to WSPD, To- ledo. Highlight is the 'fact-finder,' -who recounts great' industries, inventions and unsung heroes of biz. Stuff is cleverly written, and goes over well. Then there's Benny Kyte and his music, plus the Singing Rhythmers, who round out. a nice program; On show caught (8) Oriel Howick, local sax'ar'tist, came through-with a nifty solo; Advertising-is oke, and works in a plug for safety. Pete. . DR. ALLAN DAFOE With. Frailer Hunt, Ruth Carhart, Lindsay McPhall Orchestra 15 Mins. LYSOL M-W-F; 11:45 A.M. WABC, New York (Lennen & Mitchell) '. Doctor who rose to worldwide fame in connection with nig han- dling of the Dionne Quintuplets may be regarded as a sure-fire .Ejaoking for Lysol. He has previously com- mercialized for Pet Milk. In the present job for the Lehn Fink disinfectant, the doctor sits down Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in Callendar, Ontario, and spiels on babies in general and the quints in- particular. He does not ■mention Lysol, but the commercial announce- ment immeditely before and directly following his talk make the associa- tion of ideas.-about as hai-d 'lo' miss as traffic in Times-Square. Time may be considered okay and all-hi all there is every reason to surmise that the program Is an .ex- cellent buy for the agency-sjjbnsor collaboration. Nobody save perhaps an occasional crank or ethical per- fectionist will quarrel with the-spec- tacle of a doctor peddling a- germ- scorcher. . • • ; Cigarette advertisers, however,, may" not-fancy the doctor warning expectant and. nursing mothers against, nicotine poisoning. (On the other hand that's just one point brought up one day and may not be a major problem Of tobacco manage- ment). The spreading of ideas that become legends is well known for its ability to produce a sales re- sistance barrier. : Lysol itself seems superficially an Odd hook-up with Dafoe,. but this angle is not what many will per-? haps think—Lysol Is plugged as a solution in which to wash nursery linen and a bacteria foe. . v Not a great deal of production is needed or represented on the pro- gram. However, Lennen & Mitchell has put it together nicely. A pat- tern of lilting music is woven in and out of the show by Lindsay McPhail and strengthens the program by the fitness and pleasant tinkling quality of what McPhail dishes out. ■ Frazier-Hunt for comment Ruth Carhart for a snatch of song fill out the quarter hour. Dafoe talks about eight minutes in a kindly confidence- inspiring voice. Program—not Da- foe—makes a point of compliment- ing the two Canadian politicians, who, With the medico, have the guardianship of the kids. -Dafoe on the Friday (9) broadcast tossed a bouquet at the 'clean sturdy stock' of the Dionne parents—Ma and Pa are usually the missing equation in all the numerous advertising deals that involve the Quints: Land. LOUISE MASSEY With the Westerners, Milt Mahie, Larry .Wellington, Cameron Andrews, John Milton " 30 Minsl LOG CABIN SYRUP Tues., 8 p.m. WJZ, New,York (Benton & Bowles) 'Log' Cabin Dude Ranch' is the name of this session which seems oddly out of place on a major net- work at the cream hour of eight p.m. While an okay sample of what it sets out to be, the strangeness is rep- resented by the hillbilly formula. Its a throw-back for big time radio. Yet, rather nicely, put, together, albeit some of the commercial .-stuff woven into the script as a part of the characters' :dialog bruisesi.the \\-. lusion. Formula appears to be a .twist on the Show Boat idea—music^sing- in*,'a plot that never takes too much effort to follow, warm-hearted folksy sort of characters, a small needling pf sentimentality. • Would, seem' okay for the older listeners and ' those addicted to mountain music.. Larmd. 'WHAT'S IN A NAME' Disc . •'•• 15 Mins. GUNTHER BREWERY Mondays-Friday?, 7:45 p.m. EST WFBR, Baltimore;. WRC, Wash. . . (I. A. Goldman) This sponsor,--who has b.r.'d many programs on Wash, and Balto broad-: casters in-past-several year."; always schemes to get a showmanly. angle oh periods to get .public buying the brew, receiving a gift in return for number of bottle tops. This program has another neat - angle. - Each disc analyzes .namt of a notable (chiefly deceased) figure in U. S. history known to masses. Names are traced to derivations from original tongues and in that manner the characteristics the famed folk are said to have shown in life are rather sketchlly, but fairly satisfac- torily, brought into bright relief. ' Program -caught -treated of U. S. Grant, and several interesting- in- sights into occurrencea purported to have happened to him in his youth, with each event hinged on his name. Grant proved excellent subiect since he was christened Hiram U. Grant and was only at his entry to West Point that an error altered his tag for rest of his life. Sketch was nicely acted, written and produced. - Brewery gets. in • its licks nicely, offering listeners individual-analysis, of full names if sending in three ctfps. Program is handled in studio of WRC, Washington, and p'mcd over to Balto outlet. Each station, how- ever, inserts own plug copy. Bert.