Variety (Jan 1937)

80 VARIETY Al< PEARCE GANG SonsSf Comedy^ Music 3» Miris. FORD Tuesday*. 9 p.m. WABC, New York (JV. w. Awry It's easy for sophisticates to eje Vate a snooty eyebrow 'at parts, of this half hour. But in so doing it's not improbable the .owners of the arched brows . may .be missing the point; which. * / that" Fbvd . wants a program to strike, the lower middle class Pbrdrbuying brackets. And for that' purpose what Al Pearbe puts out a^d the -N^ay he puts'it p.tit" is okay- It mpves along snappily. N6 stage waits, No straining. Simple in its component parts, in its pat*^ tern and in .its, comedy, iiot^^ ' , Best of ^ the ihdividUa[l . biits on the night .c$ught was Arline Harris, a femm.ie moholpgist with .lots ; of felicity and a brand :bf comedy that ir should strike a respohsive chord but ivheire they laiigh naturally without two-yay implications; There's an e^caggerated comedy character . named Lord Bilgew.ater who ■ mij^ht be a focal poirit for sophisticated critics. He's mildly funny. Yet not forced, or raucous as 'with, many flubdub humb^ eflEorts - oh. .present-!- day programs. There's .jilso an Elmer Blui:p and Eb and .Zeb; It's all in : the verniiculiar. of the sthalller towns. But the results,. minute, by hiinute, are not: inferior iii .genuine comedy and unpretentious diversion to that' achieved by more ; spectacular ; half hours! Al Pearce himself piresicles in a hbmefolksy vvay. Has rounded vocal' quality. i /JMusicaliy thie programi is cohsist- He)itly pleasant in a light harmbhy way» Syinphbnettes, girl trio, ex-. cellent, -iStuff is arranged in a slick inoderh Wa^y and ' delivered ditto. : Cbupte'. xtf ' guitiaf. massetirs, ; QarL .'Kress and Dick 'McDonough; ihake- i thciir Strings huni prettil^^^ ]• >:Jji'SteneirS'in the metiropolitan. Nlew York ^reai .are iiivited to write in .. tor . dtiqats to. studio ' broadcasts. . .^CHhenvise .the conimercials-are charr i la^icteristic. of ?'ord—'rteVeir very. loingj iicVer AT^ry insistent oh talking vp; .'the flh? points ;or. thc uniflue fear ;. tUrife^HBOhtent ihstbad ' to" punch, ;*watth the Fords go by.* Land. tiNA cbyiNtiTON kAitRELL '.News ' ■ ■ • ''lit'Mini)... .COCA^jdOLA., v trSOG, ipiialrlottc. ^ - iibttted Goca-Gola v is using this medium for promoting the csirtons 'Which they^are now using to handle .. bottled. :Cbca-Cblas for: home use. Program is directed primarily.: tu yromen, and contains items of local ■■■Ss well as. national hewSf .. . Stories are told in a chatty, Inti- mate Vray and include miiny human .inter^t details.- Announcements are ." made for local clubis, society events, ?'etcv: ' .. ■. ■ ■ ..; ^ . . Mrs. Harrell does hot cbhfine her tiews to the things usiialiy found oh T^)e Woman's Page; " If 'she hears Of ff-murder, she f^ets details hot usually Iiublished, and puts, them on her pro^ \ gram. A wreck may come in as a : flash with meager details, Lina icov- ipgtori ■ Harrell goes to the spot in search of details that hiave otherwise been overlooked in the usual chan- nels of niews reporting. - Period is interpersed with com- mercials tooting the merits of boftlieid ooca-cola; and recipes for.using it on . menuis,. as well as in combinations "With, foods, aiid especially introduc- ing-the convenient way of handling the bottles in the home, with thtf new carton. Herd., 'GOOD WILL HOUR' With John J. Anthony Talk isa MIns. Sustainiiig. Siin., .10 p.ni. WMCA, New York WMCA brought back the Good Will Court idea in a new dressing the past weekend (24). It was a quiet, easy-rgbihg version, devoid, for instance, of the argumental flareUps between interlocutor and judge, as often rriarked the stanza in its origi- nal form,.. No legalities pai:ticipate in ■ the new program and: Jn place of A. L. Aiexandeir, the original in- terlocutor, there's; John J. Anthony, described as. the director of ,the Marital Relations Institute for the past 11 .yeiairs.' Anthony appears: to be intent on steering the . mike- clients clear of ■courts and liiigatibn,. whenever pbs- sibic; His rble is obviously that of ' an ex pairte concilia ton He offers ho legal adyice, unless it is khosyl- edge common even to the laymen, such as v^hat arC: the. grounds': for divorce ,i Niew York or New : Jer- sey, but undertakes to .point out how the matter be adjusted by' a change of mental oir piersonal. appro'ach. Initial 'case* brought to. the mike for- .Anthony':^ administiration tended to give, the impression that the. pirb- gram ..was dxie for the old line of ultra-melodramatics, but the stories told and the. advice sought by the isubsequent clients indicated ain en- tirely different objective. The pro- gram was ihade no less, hiteriesting by its lack of Weeping women and extra-legal , s.ex tangles. .'Both: of, these elements were restricted to the- initial case, Which had obviously; been picked to start things off. with, a sock. The omission of that sock miight have been to the favor Of the .revamped: stanza. . , ./Doi^. Flamm introduced' the niyff iprogii'ibh.. He .'expressed his regret'M the acpon of the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Gourt in barring lawyers and judges- from giving advice Over the air and said that he was.not.seeking; any quarrel with thoise who had digged on the court in that direction. Flamm as- seirted.that he felt^ that there Was a place ■ . the" community fbr the 'services* that ..this prOgrahi sought to give. , 'Good Will Hour*, was to haive been, labeled 'Good WIU Glinic' but a legal hurdlie on the ^clinic' tag' accounted; for the switch; . Odeci PAt FLANAGAN'S NOTEBOOK Talk 15 MIns. NELSON iSTORAGE CO. MtW-F, 4:30 p.iii., CST WJBBM. Chiicaxro Gloom 'hanging heavy over the, wh.ble'city seemed to have its; effect even in WBBM's new studios,, for this program of odd facts from odd news and bdd headlines.' delivered by Pat Flanagan, certainly laCked the reputed cheery Flanagan manner. Whole 15-minute period is devoted- to a hodge-podge of assorted factsv some of them interesting and sbme in the so-what class.; latter in the majorityv Question box at the end. 'devoted td the answering . of lis- teners-.'queries, was much better, but the Whole sounded as though a small amount of material Was being .^retched .to fill, in a IjS-minute sppt. • Sponsored by NelsOn Bros.^ three long plugs Were given, and One extra ..mention. RILL STERN 'Doini; -the Town* 15 Mins. ^ BARNEY'S CIRCUS Mon. throngh tii^ 6 p.m:. WMCA/New York . rSchiUin) . Barney's street interviewing stunt has been , placed ih -the hands of Bill Stern,, who has done plenty of grid- iron contest m>ke reporting for NBG. Initial broadcast sets- a neat pace, with Stern ^rabbin^ some 9 or 10 for .Cross-examination oh. a specific question. Asked each one 'What wa3 the most important—health. Wealth or happinessr question being put to p^ersby in front of Strand, theatre oh Broadway; Nice tie-up, with this film house in: this instance because ducats were offered to each, person interviewed. Also give tickets to those submitting usable questions. Stem does well in maintaining in- terest despite ah admittedly inane question. Street .interviewer hops from one person to another with alacrity, but never sluffs interroga- tions, .description of' individual Or replies. Ad copy seems more perti- nent than usual .because brief. He replaces Jimmy Jemail, the Inquir- ing Reporter,* now on WHN, New York. Wean ^ ^URiqiNAL TASTYEAST JESTERS lifltlj^' Wamp Carlson; Guy Bobhau, Dwlglii Latham Jliisle^ , 15 MIns. TASTYEAST . Tti-W-.Tb/ 6:15 p. m. WfiNB. Cltlcaro iJ. M> Muiler Co.) ' jBilling stresses 'Original' Tastyeast . Jesters, but nothing original about ..them« especially when they're at- teiini»ting comedy. One. of the cast does ah .Uncle Juliuis chatacter. When they're singing, they consti- tute a,'trio singing, nothing more, hbtbing less, * Did thiree. numbers in the episode caught and spaced them so far apart with the tincomical com- edy that the songs sieemed better than they actually were. DEXTER FELLOWS Talk 10 Mins. SHELL OIL Sat, P:30 p.m., EST. WEAF^ New York (J. Welter Thompson) His voice nicely suited jair transference, : Dextef Fellows would prove a welcome addition'to the ros- ter, of guest personalities. He could probably.- spin a lot Of; engrcssihg stories for;the unseen audience's. : On-the Joe Cook program, ■ aside from his arrest dn Evansville* Which sounded like a gag. Fellows, spoke of Buffialb Bill and cited the-time , when an old Indian .warrior, at One of 'Buff Biir^ cii'cUs performances, met up, With the general who years before had led 'White men against the red. A ,scehe ;: between the brave and the general was. enacted as part pf FelV lows' Veriii iscihg stint.. Ghftf. JOHN McMANUS .News is Mins. Sustaining; ;: Frid'ay, 8:45 p.m.. KXBYy Kansas CUy John McManus manages . LoeW's Midland' theatre and -doesh't .have any particular 'radio ambitibnsl His spiel is ah M-G7M commercial from start to finish aiid is the usual :trivia Of pi and personalities.. Doesn't- mention ; his oWn hbuse biit. doesn't have to ' -he talks MGM. exclu- sivelyi Script manages to hold interest biit McManus is. inclined ; to be overly careful With-his p~ronunCiation which makes for stilted delivery style: If he'll break doWh that ihcUnatiOn he may be able to; build ah audiehce. It's credit to his judgment that he dbesh't attempt to ape style' used by miost Hollywood gabbers. ; Missionaiy- worker donates his time and -the. station donates its time. A fialr exchange/ Hoyt. GUS CLARK With Myrtle Dyer Wllilams, Escorts, ' Benny Kyte'f orchestra Comedy, masic, household hints 15 Mins. NU-NUT FOOD PRODUCTS WXYZ, Detroit Here: is a- cuirious setup for a .sup- posedly 'hohie economics' program, but withal ah entertaining quartet hour. ,Gus Glark, a 'Bob Burns* type humbrist, hot only writes'entire sho-W. but is the prbgrani's hub. Formerly he conducted a 'Batting Practice* program of witty comments, about baseball players prior to Detroit Tiger , game broadcasts last summer. He's stooged by John Slagle, . one of station's spielers, and cOPking recipes (using spoiispr's creamed nut prod' ucts). are supplied by Myrtle Dyec Williams, :hbme economist.- Qn special half-hour introductory airing Stinday: afternoon (17): added -items wiere Benny Kyte's studio ork and the Escorts,, male, quartet, who ■gave show a nice sendoff. They'ire not included on i5-minute morning spot, howeveri V because of prog's shortness. Employing a; naturally 'hick* voibe, Glark's delivery sets well. He com- ments, gags and piins comically- about things; in. generial, but his material sags at.several points, With five pro- grams weekly Glark dbubtless Will have to delegate, some of his writing to a gag mah br let shpw bog .doWh. As it is he's too overburdened with program details to work very hard on his own material. Gommercial, confined to Miss' Wil- liam's* recipes, is nicely -worked in.. 'Fun in a nutshell,* introduction tO; program* tie.s in well with Glark as, well as products. Pete.' WALT DISNEY AWARD With. Will Hays/ Conrad Nagcl, Jesse L.:- Lasky, J^ P; McfevoV ' 30 Mins. Sustaining Friday, .7 p. m.; PST KECA, LOs: Ani;eles Walt Disney, producer of the Mickey Mouse and other cartoon films, was awarded the national dis- tingijfshed. service award Of ^ the United States Junior Ghamber of Commerce in a 'coastrto-coast Blue Network broadcast originating in Hollywood.^. Simultaneously; in 360 other cities, local. Junior . Chamber of Commerce': organizations, 'made local awards. . Disney presentation was made for his distinguished service in the pic- ture industry in 1936. thiiS being first time the award has: been made to anybne ih pictures. Conrad' Nagel emceed. With the presentation speech being, made by Walter E, Holman, national president of the Junior G, of G.i from .Port- land; Disney, he said^ had been singled out because of 'uniquie ser- vice- to the nation, by giving/-the World ..the iantics of ..Mickey Mouse and> the three little pigs. His con" tributiohs tb'the library of screi^n classic^, Holman -said, had Won ap- proval everywhere. He then pre- sentied Disney with a diamond stud- ded key, on behalf of the 60,000 Junibr C of G members throughout the nation. ' . Disney responded, paying tribute to the several; hundred men of his organization as largely responsible fbr; whatever success-he may have: attained, and told of a forthcoming feature length, animated, cartoon he is preparing that will cost upwards of $1,000,000. ' Will-Hays spoke On. behalf of the. industry, while J. P. McEvoy chimed in that Disney. Was well deserving of the award because he made chil- dren laugh. ..Jesse L« Lasky alluded to . Disney as a man Who single- handed had wbrked a.: mitaCle, and characterized : him as: the modern Pied. Piper. ' Norris J. • Nelsbn, pirexy the HollyWpbd Junibr chamber, and the local award winner for. 1036, lauded Disney for his meritbriOus service as ah ambassador of good will.. y Edwa. 'BBC VARIETIES' With Gertrude Lutzl, Phil Henry, Mary Loii Moore, Clinton Buehl- man. 45 MIns. Sqstatnihff M-W-F., 8:15 p. m. WKBW> Buffalo . Attempt, here is . to . tie^ tbgether a period that has previously been; filled with hodge podge. Aim is pretty well accomplished, with Gertriide Lutzi singing a plenty gpod soprano and Phil Henry and Mary. Lou Moore, capably caring fbr the pop crooning. All backed very well by Parkes .Jeliey orchestra. . : , :' In i itlal stanza Herbert ice and Lorraine' Pankbw .did a 'Romeo and Juliet' balcpny. scene as a preview bf a three-installment production of the Shakespearean play scheduled 24. 25, 26. Fair enough for a sample and a good change of piace from the songs. Weak spot was the comedy turn bf Clinton Buehlman and Malcolm Bar- ney. Bpy.s were almost as bad.pff for a script as sOme of the network comics. Radcliffe- Hall makes a sat- isfactory m.Ci ' Reed. RAY KNIGHT With Arnold Johnson's crehcstra, Bay Kqlfht troupe^ Joe 'llolton, Eiffht Lovely Ladles. Variety 30 MIns, FEENAMINT, DILLARD'S ASPER- GUM Sunday, C p. m. WOR, New York (Ww. fisty) Thiis suffers from overworking an idea. Also from using: the speed-up system bn the commercials, of "which there were two *ih a row on the curr rent hearing (17), Thread on Which everything hinges is a gag that is eued in at the. start, but not capiied' until the closing minutes. ;Which meahs that 'the gag business has to be repeated continually to keep from getting, but of mind, and. resultantly falters from over-buildup at the end. Show at the present has not jelled, main requirements toward; correc- tion being a dose . of better scr ipting filus more: conscientious labor from he-supporting cast. : Knight replaces Benny Rubin in this setup;, change over taking placb at a time when the sponsor dimmed the lights on the'previous amateur stuff: and dieclded. on variety with guest; performers-' Guests- are sup- pbsed to be picked: after a kind Of pirq talent hunt) bjit little pr nothing tb that..effect is mentioned,. Eight Lovely. Ladies, vocal :ensemble, .got the visiting ..chores on this turn. . Comedy ais ladled out by Knight stilL adheres somewhat to. short hon-. sense bits interposed between or- chestra music,' but - the - protracted gag is an. ihnovation -that -doesn't size Up as particulariyi.pipomising. Supr port Avas especially, bad, and con- tributed 50% > toward isi : flat finish. Ide^ was. that Knight: was tb malice a dangerous skii jump against his will, with everybody -either trying tb save him or force him.. Finally, makes the' jumpiy landing successfully on his ■resources.* Shorter bits.'rat^ con» siderably. .better, though . tighter dia-i: log and si spreading out of roles to' lend' the impression .^of. bigger pro- duction Wbuld irnprove. Jbhhsbn's work is okay. , Gommer-. cials. are pretty- much hopped up, ; Ohe has a chorus of voices in'rec;ta. tive. While the .final batch comes- a^ ia - doubler<header in, .dramatization. Cbnfusing, and corny. Edflto.' JOE LOUIS EXHIBITION FIGHTS With Georf c Hlir|riiis; BldW-hy-blow descriptlbh -. SNYDER^S LIQUOR STORE W^^CN, Miniieapplis-St. Fatil -Unusual, froih beaucoup ahglies Cprbgram spohsbred by a: liquor store was originally promoted by Minne-. apolis Tribune, Co-owner . of WTGN, for benefit of .Parent-Teacher-Asso- ciation, which itself bars likker ads from its publications and programs), this stint last Thursday (15) night shaped up nicely, with George Hig- gins, station's sports announcer^ giV-. mg the blow-by-blow in nifty tempo, , Afternobn .of 'the' houts Louis was ihtrbduced to the Mihhespta House of Representatives, ;giving a spiel to the laiw-makers from the House rostrum. Said to be:the first time in history of the nation-that a legislative bodyorer cessed. to greet a pr.0 pug. George Barton, Tribune spOrts ed, presented JOe to the packed Hbuse assemblage and then engaged in a ;'miCrophOne tete-^a-tete. Bouis themselves lasted practically no time at all, with . Joe applying'the sleep-producer tO; Tiger Frank Thompson in less ;than a round, ditto with Jack Wright, theh mopping up with TOmi Jones in about one round and 10 seconds. AU Joe's opponents were Negroes. ; Payoff was postponing regular Tabernacle religious broadcast, reg- ular 10:30 p. m. 15-minute affair, in favor of the fisticuffs, description. Rash. CASPER REARDON Saturday Night Swinr Club 5 MIns. (Saturday Night Swing Club) WABC, New York . ; . Swinging it bn his harp, Casper Beardon Obtains novel results with such selection :as^ 'Washboard Blues.' He was sjpotted Saturday night (23) as one of the features of the :29th edition bf the CBS Swing Club program offered once Weekly,' other artists being Doris-Kerr, .swing; soloist, and the Raymond Scott quintet Paiil DPuglas is the swing cpmmentator. • .- Reardpri's - struniming at^ the harp in swing time brings uhi effects and it is quite entertai * Ghttr. JIM BRiTT Spbirts 15 Mins., socony vacuum M-S, 6:30 p.m. WBEN, BMffalp Newly imported frpm South Bend, Jim Britt seems tp be clicking with spPrting fraternity, despite' heavy cbmpetition from old hands here, Roger Baker (WGR> and Ralph Hub- bell (WBNY). Talks rapidly (which seems to be what the fans order in their sports announcers) aiid clearly, haS enough variety in vocabulary to keep from! sounding like a tabulation, and draws ion events he>'hiniself, has seen for mtich background, giving the talk an air of authority. Reed. ' ^ABMAND GIRARD Songs 15 MIns. LEWIS-HOWE MEDICINE Friday, 9:30 p. m. PST KPO, San Fninolsco (H. W. Kaatory .. Armand Girard, baritone, got his new.weekly song series for Turns off to A neat start. "Vocally in the pink Girard gaVe'dialers a group of selec- tions in ..Which he displayed to igood advantage his ability to sing well both drahiatic aind lighter, more lyri; cal number's. His songs included 'Without 9 Song,* 'Way You Look To- night, ■ 'Empty Saddles,* and the new Peter, de Rose tUne, 'Half bf Me.' /Quarter-hour'was heavy on sqles chatter..; Announcer Bertoii Bennett delivering three .plugs, in addition to a brief dramatized commercial done by actors Ted MaxWeU and Lou Tbbin. AJittle trimming in this end would improve the show -con- siderably. John: Ribbe produced^ \ . ' Elbs. llduSE ON THE HiLL'^ With Jean. Hersholt, Robert Barritt, Johnny Downs, Edith Fellows, Kay Linaker,. Dqrothy Whitney Flood Relief. Drama 30-Mins. Sustaining Monday^ ll;30 p.m. WOR, New York Special drama sent over Mutual from the Don Lee link was a show- manly effort to raise cbiii for flood suffererSf and stick a prestige feather in the co-operative web's cap (25 )i illustrated, probsi^ly better than any- thing else to date, the .value of the Coast link in getting Mutual name talent and.' producing shows, with the' showmanship tinge, syhonymbus with Hollywood. 'House on the 'Hill* had What it takes tb dramatize'a siliuatibh that ialready taxes; the imaginatibn.-.-Piece ended on a stark nbte, .that ordinarily would ' be too melodramatic or tob. grim, but currently.'strikes home' as- the truth. Deplcted:.varlous families in a farm area suddenly being hit by a flood after'a party dedicating a new farm: house. House,'of course,; is, sma'shed; one lad gets drowned, a: - woman neariy dies in childbirth, t>neumohia strikes one elderly gent, and a kid .frantically tries to - get help via an amateur shortwave trans- mitter. Fadeout has the pbwer fail- ingi and everybody wondering what, niorning will ' bring. Intimation is that all the dawn has in stOre is new floods and washed-Out dams. .Cast headed by Jean' Hersholt put oh a socko performance, abetted by ,ai neat niusical score. Script ambled along with a close doVe-teiling' bf the various incidents, and stacked up. as a crack, writing. }ob. £dga. FAMILY PARTY With Gienh Riggs, Paul Gannon, :bor- othy Biishey, Irene- Cowan, Dale Jackson, Umbeirto Eglsl's orch; 30 MIns. RIECK'S MILK Mon„ 7:30 p. m. KDKA, Pittsburgh . First airing of Rieck's new local series failed .to-, impress. Idea is ah informal party, with Glenn Biggs presiding as m C'>. at which guests are supposed to drop in for a. sbng, a joke or some such, biit whole: thing is produced haphazardly, routined poorly iand lacks punch throughout. Show never got started, «hd at half- way mark the egg-^layihg was com- plete. Riggs, KDKA*s No. l announcer, is < tops in .that field, but leaves some- thing, to be desired as an m.c. Hasn't apparently that Certain touch neces- sary tb, knit this sort of program to- gether, and his efforts at casual in- formality don't come Off. Session could stand Sbme comedy, only nod in this direction, being Irene GoWan's warbling of original lyrics in Hebe dialect to 'Prisoner's Song.* Orches- tra, hoWeVer,. buried her mbst of the time, and it came out pretty garbled. . Ork forgot tafade, too, on Dorothy Bushey's solos; but did all right by Paul' Gannon, tenor, and in its own musical interludes. Cockney stuff of Dale Jackson has possibilities, but he had no wbrthWhile material, and, re-' suit was negative. .; iPlug interludes, consist of the usual dramatization of the product's . tise- fulness- and handinesS, but handled listlessly. Colien. TOMMY Songs 15 Mins. ojTues.; 5:45 it. m. w ■■ OpN GLOW KfL, Lqs Angeles 0mil Bnsacher) .. Returning to the air after a Ibng absence due tb illnes^. Tommy Har- ris is hi old self again. His'voice;, is stronger; and he tises ..the. same showmanship that made him a prime faV in the bay region to the uPrthi He has a- way with the. femmes and should sell nail polish, With the aid of a piano and vi harp accpmpaniihent he put across thiree' numbers in" nice Myle. :;Hjs themer, 'Mboh Glow Lady/ has a soft lilt and should have a long life pn the Coast lanes, < Response to the; initialer has encouraged the agency, to bid for open transconti- nental time. -Emily Lee handles commer- cials in disarming fashion and Don Allen takes a detour frOm his Qr<3- duction tasks to sign the show ,in and out. Helm.