Variety (Sep 1937)

RADIO REVIEWS Wednesday, September 1, 1937 Twelfth Night* Such a Click That Stars Even Apphud Technician A large cast, headed by Tallulah Bankhead, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Helen Menken and Estelle Winwood, brought CBS' Shakespeare to New York for the first time Monday (30) night—and also for the last time this season. 'Twelfth Night* was the first of the series to be produced in New York, but the general public had to t?ike the Bard over the loudspeaker as the CBS Broadway theatre was packed with specially invited guests, and even yellitig for the manager couldn't produce a ticket to the un- initiated, s - The cast appeared to enjoy them- selves as much as the audience— r."5-r«especially when Miss Bankhead lost a precarious shoulder strap, but not ■ her poise. She wore a backless gown ■ of heavy bluish white silk, molded to-the hips and springing out in tiny, fine pleats to the hem. Miss Menken was fragile in yards and yards of smoky, chiffon with fitted bodice, tiny sleeves and a bril- liant clip at the deep v-neck. Red heavy silk that looked like moire was Miss Winwood's choice. Slim, fitted gown with tiny train, topped with a tightly fitted jacket of . the quaint persuasion. Mutton leg sleeves and perky pleated peplum longer in the back with a cut-away effect, . ■ Shakespeare on the air is a noble experiment—but there are still a great many old-fashioned souls who like a bit of scenery and props with their Shakespeare, especially when it's a theatre broadcast The poet's resounding phrases and flowing style seem a bit cramped by thfe necessity of sticking close to the mike. The Bard's scintillant speeches just weren't meant to b6 delivered with both feet on, the grotmd and the mouth in a little black box. Biit the audience response was long and loud Monday, even without the assistance of the cheer leader who signals for applause. It was so vociferous and lengthy, ih fact, that the Misses Menken and Bankhead became a mite hysterical and insisted 'uWfr'a5PEEfi?HHg^=0He=of==^^ cians—the only one on the stage who hadn't received more than his share of plaudits. It's that kind of ap plause that causes the great unseen listening public to aittack the radio with a blunt instrument Squire, JOAN EPWARDS rtano, Son^s 15 Mins. TITednesday, 10:1 S p.m. ED ST yVJZ, New York By way of a sustainer buildup, femme warbltr is being ethered over the NBC Blue net under the billing, 'Joan Edwards Entertains.' Gal has plenty on the ball and, pro vided she gets the breaks, is a good bet to soar high. She's a niece of Gus Edwards. ProdUjCtion department rates a nod on this one. "Without attempting ELMER DAVIS News Comment 15 Mins. Sustaining Thursday, 7.30 p.ni., EDST WABC^CBS, New York Pinch-hittirig for H. V. Kaltenborn during the latter's European o.o., El- mer Davis is" turning in a forte job. Without attempting to turn the ses- sion into an exploitation of his own personality . or to air his private opinions and prejudices, he carries an air of genuine authority. Re- marks are well-informed, concise, while the explanation of world events is clear and impartial. , Oh stanza caught (26) Davis dis- cussed the Sino-Japanese crisis at some length, then swung briefly to the Spanish situation and wound up by a look-see at the recent session of Congress. His views on the Shanghai uproar were as saiie and well-seasoned as anything heard on the air since hostilities started. Davis obviously knows what he's ,talking about, but he doesn't try to pose as a khow-it-all. Yet the authority with which he speaks, plus an unr. ostentatious sense of humor, give the program a definite color. Voice and delivery are satisfactory. Davis is described as a former newspaper editor, siuthor of numer- ous books and articles and a lecturer. There's ample room on the air for him even when Kaltenborij returns. Hobe. MOONSHINE AND SAWDUST BIjiokface Comedy B Mins. GVIiF REFINING Sun, 7:30 p.m, (ffuests) WABC, New Tork (Young & Rubicatn) Although this team did a similar act in vaudeville some years back, the routine Is strictly of the Mo- lasses 'n' January persuasion. For Moonshine. and Sawdust (nee Law- rence Drinard and Stuart Brauer) last Sunday's (29) innin; was the first on a commercial cross-country hookup. The gags <Jripped with the stock stuff of ancient minstrelsy, with but the saving grace of neat timing • and . expert buildup. Pair ease over ingratiating personalities, and since the blackfaced assortment of joemillerisms still garners a heavy following in the limberlost, as at- tested by the long run of M & J, the chances of Moonshine and Saw- dust finding a network groove should be pretty much in their favor, Drinard and Brauer have been with WRVA, Richmond, consistently for the past two years. In that area they have also billed themselves as fc..-! 3S1 "ov gl ty or elaborate set-iip, it smipTy oilers' the pile coffitiB.'jySity . that is radio's best stock in trade— just music. But it's music that is shrewdly selected and deftly put across. Miss Edwards has an ap- pealing set of pipes, good range, in- teresting tone color and a sense of how to register a song. Although lyric stuff is her forte, she wisely varies her numbers and her enuncia- tion makes every word clear. Her piano playing is ialso standout, but she is smart enough not to overdo that, either. Hot arrangement of 'My Blue Heaven' on show caught (18) was weakest of the lot, but it served nicely as novelty. Orch ac- companies and offers one tune by itself. Program is strong stuff for the time of night and is a natural build- up for the singer. Hobe. IRENE RICH With Henry Hunter •War News, Exclusive' 15 Mins. WELCH GRAPE JUICE Sunday, 9:45 p.m. EDST WJZ-NBC, New York (H. W. Kastor) Sunday (29) edition of Miss Rich's new series of dramatizations for her long-term bankroller chinned itself on the bar of broadcast. approval without even breathing hard. Such a show, a quarter-hour dramatize tion series, that undertakes to com pete wit h the heavily armored, big T)aT{SfT5^~ "broaacasts---15S^ feundj nights, is taking a long chance. As a daytime, weekday show. Miss Rich's program Would be socko; in its present running, it'll have to ke'ep up. the peppery pace exhibited when caught in order to escape be- ing steamrollered in the jam. Piece played was penned by vet radio dramatist Arch Oboler. Fact that it clearly and cleanly estab lished the characters, sifted in some humor as well as suspense and a fairly deft finishing twist bespoke Oboler's ability when dealing with the air. Writfer is set to do most of the series' scripts. Though it wasn't definitely estab lished, the background of the dra matization was Spain's current frat- ricidal fracas. Miss Rich and Hun ter were Yank newspaper corre- spondents in love as well as com- petition. He saved her at the end as well as wSn. Ker HaniS,'anH the method of accomplishment likely satisfied the fireside brigade emi- nently. Especially good and a high- charged hypo to the program were the sound effects. "They were as thoroughly big-league as radio has as yet introduced. * Bert. 'HAY FEVER CLUR OF AMERICA' Stunt IS Mins. KDAL, Dulnth-Superior Station aired a good gag idea on tie-up with local Chamber of Com- merce, which got plenty publicity breaks. Result is it will be a weekly broadcast to promote the Duluth re- gion as place where hay fever suf- ferer can find relief. Broadcast packed plenty humor, including series of sniffles, snuffles and sneezes as sound effects. Per- sons who found area as the 'Hay Fever Haven of America' testified over the ozone. Bert. •LINDA'S FIRST LOVE' Romantic Serial' 15 Mins.—Local M. T, W, T. F, 3:30 p.m; Kroifer Bakinr Co. KROGER BAKING CO. W.fR, Detroit New . series of transcriptions plu'tging Kroner's Hot-Dated coffee d-aals with the doings of the Crock- ett family and covering get-rich schemes, Daughter Linda's loves, etc. It's well acted, characters (un- billed) .are realistic, and drama moves swiftly enough, • There|s a giveaway of silverware for carton tops. Pete. Smoky and Poky. Odcc. SALLY EILERS With Sterlhig Oliver and Betty Garde 'The Third Angle' 10 Mins. SEALTEST Sunday, 10 pju. ED St WEAF-NBC, New York (J. Walter Thompson) Dramatization on the James Mel- ton variety program was far' from auspicious, mainly because the plot of Florence Ryerson's little playlet has been done to tedium on the air. It was another slice of the fast thin- ning loaf of the wife who, through humor, subtlety and sophistication, drove- away women fishing for her husband and corrected his philan- dering. Such a plot should receive smart handling, but 'Third Angle' was not written adequately in that vein, and the humor was overlooked in many situations which cried for it. Miss Filers, just back from abroad, was about o.k. as the wife, Oliver could have made the husband into a character invested with more iron. Miss Garde was the best of the bunch as one of the other women. B£rt.._.. 20 YEARS AGO—AND TODAY' News Dramatication .^0 Mins. „„.^„„ HEARNS DEPT. STORE Monday, 8 p-n». EDST. WOR, New York. First radio program sponsored by Hearns was selected with exceedmg care, and for what it seeks and con- sidering its setup, it's hangup. No news dramatization could today escape comparison with 'March of Time' technique, but the twist this weekly half hour puts on its han- dling will help much to gain it ratlng^ For a single station commercial, • it is of especially high order. Each event dramatized must have a parallel of 20 years ago to be in- cluded in lineup. And the handling is slick in that it must be more than just the fact there is warfare in the world now and was a double decade ago. There must be the tie-in. On opening program^ Japan was currently invading China. This week, 20 years back, a Nippon emis- sary wias in Washington greeting Woodrow Wilson and felicitating the U. S, on its entry into the World War to save the earth from 'im- perialistic military aggression. In Russia in '17, the all-lemme 'Battal- ion of Death' was fighting for the short-lived Kerensky regime; this week some of those same women are being executed by Stalin as traitors to the liberty they sought Six other historically analogous events were also inserted in the de- buter, dealing with sports, fashions, and humor as well as the profounder subjects. The plugs were orderly and well knitted into the program. Show is the first air production by Fanchon & Marco since that agency established its radio program build- ing staff several months ago, Robert Lewis Shavon authors the news dramatization. One point which might be brought up is 'the use of an organ to back- ground some of the scenes and split the sequences. An orch would serve better for dramatic impact although it would be costlier obviously. Bert. HAVEN MacQUARRIE 'Do You Want to Be An Acler?' Amateur Dramatics 30 Mins. Fri„ 8:30 p, m. KFWB, Hollywood Haven MacQuarrie is back again with what he prefers to call the '1938 version' of the amateur skit he did for Chase & Sanborn. It's difi'i- cult to discern where i1 differs from his coffee broadcast. True, it has been shortened to a half hour and many corners are cut but otherwise it's the same old trick of running 'em on and teaching 'em how to act. MacQuarrie is still a little rough in spots. For instance, the mild'rebuke that 'you're talking into his liver.' He did two bits, the first a romantic comedy and the aflerpiece a dra- matic sequence about a molher-to-be dying in childbirth. It seemed out of place and would never have been okayed by a sponsor, It looked like a bad choice of vehicles. One of the improvement? over 1he ^HOUR OF DREAMS' With Georse AIor£.an, Marguerite Werner, Al Chance Songs, Organ 15 Mins.—^Local Mondays, 10 p.m. Chrysler Air Temp WXYZ, Detroit This is a soothing quarter-hour show for the stay-uppers and has plenty of merit George Morgan's high baritone does a swell job with semi-crassical compositions, of a 'dreamy' nature. However, could inject a faster, or more familiar tune, once in a while to good advantage. Nifty organ accompaniment is provided by Marguerite Werner, who also contributes- a solo. Al Chance handles continuity of the showr, in poetic form, and spiels the commercial's .which concern air- cdnditioning unit . Pete. MODERN SCREEN MAG OF AIR With Lois Lee Film Chatter 15 Mins. Wed., 8 p.m.. Local MAURICE BALL FURS KNX, Hollywood (Lee Ringer) Only diff between this chatteroo and—thft- Qthers,.. i.s. that the mill- Tonners occasionally dish up some- thing that hasn't been inked in the pillars. Lois Lee, who found that tag. more euphonious than Louise Svens- rud, tries to make her over-the-fence gab listenable, and it probably finds willing ears, "but those who follow the daily gabbers in print won't send up many ahs and ohs. It's the usual celluloid claptrap that issues from the loud speaker, with plenty of openings ■ for An- nouncer Larry Chatterton to plug the fur house that foots the bills. He plays straight for both the gabber and sponsor and it doesn't require much provocation to toss in the com- mercial. Lee gal writes pieces for Modern Screen Mag, which arranged the tie- up and takes its credit on the title sheet. Furrier goes for the time nut, all else being tossed in gratis. Fanner dggsn^ come out any too^ well on the explpitafipn witn the warfPfeJ^ver gossip th'at7s peddled in' its name. Gal's delivery is okay. Helm. NATIONAL AMATEUR GOLF With Ted Husing, Harry Davi^ 2 Hours; 45 lUEins. NATIONAL BISCUIT CO, • Saturday, S p. m. EDST. WABC-CBS, New York ted Husing's coverage of the Na- tional Amateur Golf finals from Portland, Ore., last Saturday was ex pert haivdling of a tough, job. Kent abreast of the match and brought out the details of the play—that is as well as possible considering the difpf culties of conveying to the listener the situations and picture inyoIyM Apparently Husing's golf knowl* edge is as sound" as his understandinc of other sports and certainly the game is much harder to cover than baseball. As usual,. Husing avoided dramatizing, simply following the action and leaving the listener to re- act as the occasion warranted. Husing followed the match with a short-wave'pack transmitter and was assisted by Harry Nash, sports scribe of the Newark (N. • J.) Evening News.. Broadcast ran 15 minutes overtime, requiring reshuffling GBS' evening schedule! Hobe. SMILING ED McCONNELL Dorinx Sisters, Linix Choir and Trendler Orch. 30 Mins. ACME WHITE LEAD Sunday. 5:30 p.m.^ EDST WJZ, New York ' After a respite from the air of nearly two months. Smiling Ed McConnell, self-styled singing phil- osopher of radio, is back with the same commercial that has sponsored him for a long time now. His new show, with the Doring Sisters and a mixed chorus that's called Linix after one of the products of his sponsor, is known as Sunday After- noon with Smiling Ed McConnell and proves very listenable. SelUng angle is 'come and sit down with us in the parlor for some singing, and friendliness.' It's the sort of ap- proach that's appealing, wholesome and a bit different McConnell's numbers are Appro- priately picked, even if some songs are far from being fresh off the presses but all of those done by McConnell,-the Doring sisters or the choir are nicely merchandised. A Negro spiritual is included by the Linix group, plus 'In the Garden' as a closer with McConnell leading the bunch. The Doring sisters are heard in an old pop Nearly in the proceed- ings. One of McConnell's solos is Tn a Blue Bonnet.' He lends a per- sanal~tauch- to proceedings much in- the manner of a parlor gathering. Program should have little trouble conlihuing. Char. Follow Up Comment Clem McCarthy and Edwin C. Hill turned in one of their typical misleading routines in the broadcast- ing of the Joe Louis-Tommy Farr bout Monday night (31) over the NBC red and blue links. It was their lourth like assignment and with Buick again the underwriter. As is usual with this teani of verbal jug- glers, the report they compounded was slightly at variance with what the sportswriters had to say in the following morning's editions. Reason was obvious. Like every- body else, McCarthy and Hill were so amazed by the showing Farr was putting up they fodused their atten- tion almost exclusively upon the Welshman, riding with every one of his gestures and blows, even though the vast majority of them wev6 flicked off by the Detroiter. McCar- thy's flow becsfme repetitious in quick time. There was a loud growl about Farr uncorking a smashing overhand right and then the muffled report that the blow had come to nothing. And so it went on, with Hill taking the between-the-round former turn is' that -MacQuarrie inlerludes, to reinforce . his col doesn't put them through Iheir pedi gree until they have delivered what he calls a good performance. That spares the 'volunteers' embarrasp-, ment Players on the night caught sounded stoo.^y and not plucked from the audience as the dialers are led to believe. lea.gue's impression that it was all even going. The general run of sports writers the next morning al- lowed Farr but three rounds, with but a slight minority giving him one cr two more out of the 15. Two mikesters crossed themselves AL MITCHELL Sports Review 15 Mins. Local DECKER BROS. SPORTING GOODS Daily, 6:15 p.m. KGLO, Mason City, Iowa Averaging close to 5,000 words a program, fast-talking Al Mitchell, sports ed of the Globe-Gazette, has passed his 200th airing on this pop- ular sports spot, one of the first KGLO contracts to hit the airwaves. Its commercials are short hardly noticeable in the 15 min. grist of sports items, Mitchell sprinkles the periods with celeb interviews now and then, and also takes his mike out on remotes on various stunts designed to uphold interest in the broadcast. Variety of . news handled . covers major leagues, collegiate circuits, high schools and semi-pros in territory. Program is directed primarily at the outdoors man. (This Al Mitchell is not to be con- fused with WOR's Al Mitchell, 'The Answer Man.') JOE FAY Sports Commentator 30 Mini?.—Local Dally, '1:30 p. m. WPRO, Providence, R. I. Difficult .iob of radio sports report ing nicely handled. In a town where the natives are crazy . over horses, this half-hour daily broadcast is iiot without interest Fayls main job is report oh the feature race every day, from the time the horses go on parade to the fini.sh of the race. He D.\LTON NORMAN and 4 DONS Novelty String: Ensemble and Solo« 1st 15 Mins.; Mon. to Sat BROWN & WILLIAMSON TO- BACCO WHO, Des Moines This new series of 15-minute pro- grams daily except Sunday is a happy choice for the Big Ben smoking tobacco advertising since both Nor- man and the Four Dons are entirely masculine in appeal and Norman's baritone fits well with the string ensemble either in western or Span- ish numbers. For their first program, their use 2J such naturals as 'There's a Home in Wyornin'g,\ "^mpty Sadie's,' etc., proverd a wise selection, and the Four Dons' 'sweet potato' arrange- ment of 'Merry-Go-Round Broke Down' provided novelty. Although first plans called for a girl soloist on this program, the change to Norman was smart since it keeps the gender right on the product end. Stan Widney takfes care of three short commercial announcements. Rather than give Norman the good- bye end of the program, however, Widney would do better to handle it, since Norman's speaking voice isn't on a par with his singing, and nothing is gained on the personality end. u , X,. , . i.„ , i ^^^^ That was in the eighth „. * , . . " - Punch of the show ).<: snll the gag- I round. Hill had Farr returning to ' listeners complete summary, Ring of MacQuarrie. Without it his corner showing signs of wobbly ' describes the big race as it is legs, while McCarthy the next mo- i being run. After that he fills in the ment assured the listeners that the ; lemainder of the half hour with Wel.shman's underpinning were in ! chatter on the first five races of the there wouldn't be much to write about. He is bowed in a Warner? own director and still tells the hope- fuls that he's goin.s; to see that the studio gives them a test. • It's still a better audience show t'lan one to catch off the set at )iyme. judging froiii the howls of the ni'jb inside. ,. Helvi, day. good shape. Hill and McCarthy kept the spon- 1 Only station in town catering to sor in m'ind cbnsistently. but not as: the racing fraternity, and favorable obtrusively as in the last melee when reaction has justified half-hour sus- t"^^.. ^ j- • » •„ taining period for duration of meet - eral sUyles of nuisic. sounding best i" until middle of September. 'Marc. Ithe quieter, suaver mood. Jc^"^ Hill was widely chided for his over- plugging, • . . SUMMER SYNCOPATIONS With Gordie Randalls' Orchestra, Annette McCullough, Charles Blancliard 15 Mins. Sustaining- Monday, 4:30-4:45 p. m.—Network WGY, Schenectady New program, riding the NBC red rim from WGY, moves along smooth- ly and rather rapidly. Not unusual in structure or pretentious in char- acter, this hot-weather serving ol light music compares favorably witn musical sustaincrs fed to the web by other affiliates, thanks to deft han- dling ' by sea.soned miker.*;. Miss McCullough, a contralto crooner. JS rated tops hereabouts in her fieia. Blanchard; who has sung with Ran- dall's band in niterie.s. is a tenor bai- ladist The Randall unit playiiS.J'; a. dates as well as working m tne studio, consists of musicians once employed at a Schenectady thcatie. No time is wasted in advancing fi'om one number to the next, tne vocal bits being noticeably hnei- Setup does'not .seem to give Miss McCullough quite the chance to «hine that is usually hers, although siie croons eftectively. Blanchard. ig"i of voice but sympathetic of tone, pops smoothly. Orchestra pla.vs sey- /