Variety (Apr 1938)

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.yARIETV BADIO REyiEW$ Wednosilaj, Apri] 1.1, 1938 FolloW'tlp Comment Amos 'n' Andy after 10 years ot 'Leo Reisman, mixed Up- his Latin bioadcasti.ig, still turniiiff out a leiiipos wjth Orthodox .loxtrotology. daily script that holds Up although and it.make.s for 9 mce blend, some intermittent weaknesses from < Frpm Boston .cotnes. Bakov, his tiriie to time. Witl)Out stooping too violin and his smooth terp tiines. much for hoke. they manage.:to keep From Philly there's Lou Breese, who uliraveling a perpetual yafn. Ghar- should make himself felt nationally aclei's have retained their ■ distinct 1 soon, personalities and there's always:^?'j .! oh WMCA for Sunday midday' clam- least one chuckle, which is never too hard to catch, in each Inning. {i'iljrwUh a'VitUe vWln.'"La"ttl Madison/ alias, the Modison. Auto few chapters have had Andy in the usual dumb-cluQk ■ difflculties. this BRITISH VARIETY SHOW >' With Lesll«; HutchlnsoD, Tonmy Trindlar, Dawn - Davit 4hd Len Burhara, Major, and Minor, Sid Walker and . Richard Murdoch, Claphan and Dwyer, Charles Siiadweirs Orch.' SO' Mins,—Trann'oceanle Siisteininr,^ Satardny, .3 p.m. WQR, Mutual, i)Iew York . In the series of' Saturday, after-; noon programs picked up in London by Bntish Broadcasting Co. from a music hall, and short-waved td.MU- lrMlatlnelv repetitious commetciaU, tual net in . the U. S., period-that time, witli,an,acquisitive gal ^nd a diamond rin Loan Corp. Maiiher.';, ' a hokey, bucolic twaiig, urges listener to drive auio or truck .up to Madison, or phohe-him^ at- the -station^ —Circle 6-2200—for all Ihe details. 'If. you iieed. ready money you can get it easily, in one Uimp sum, but you can Sing Crosfcy-Kraft. show yer ^„^,.^, ,., ,,„_..., WEAF-NBC last I'hursday . nisht'■ have up to il) months, almost two (7) had Gail Patrick and .Edmund . yg^^ (o pay it off in small, little Lowe, as guestersj but they weren.l; ((jgiiijie diminutive) installments so at the mike together. Part ot the , f,,jj yjjy hardly fool it." appeal of the. Crosby show is its in-,, ^eWe keeps calling the recording formality, with :the star and Bob; bands 'orch6stry,' Which is about _ woodsy' as I ' <ind filviry, but._.worse. In.tbetween Burns apt. to uncork some pre^^^^^^ is back woodsy'as tlie 'Weaver Bros funny stuff on short notice. Never-1 "Itj'"JJ-,?.,„, uf.. t„ u^t,.,^^r, Clem McCarthy has slightly im- proved .his' machine-gun shout de- livery for. his sports spiel over NBC for Kreuger" er, but it's still an ex- plosive style: ' Obviously, McCarthy couldn't hold up in a straight gabfest for IS min- utes. That monotonous delivery would, wear out the listeners'in no tim(», .so the session. Is divided.into various diffetent classiflcatiohs. On show caught (8) Ben Grauer first called the suliject,' then McCarthy spoke' a few;minutes. . Another sub- ject was then called, by Grauer and bombarded by. McCarthy. . In 'that way he coirimiihted on. Louis-Schmel- in'g, ice; hockey. Fans Club (trivia), Seabiscuit-War Admiral and Faces in the Grandstand (mOri trivia). Still fights the listener; IhelessT-tKat-very informality^bme-! j^^"-' ^."uai^ncc^ibSl^";^- ^^Sfj! ,n,i rrn«l.v exchaneed a' For a station of WMCA's calibre «\hr%t ISSLlS anent e^ch llher-s whiih, in iU new Broadway., hcad- f^n^nu ahm^ and klot refS^^^^^^^ brags about its sophistfca- a S? Spokane tr?p. but S^'^ bVt j tion, this is.stric.tly Ackgrman & Hai- was never quite tiied up—and the ris radio, loose ends tangled up the kilocycles. Miss Patrick's stint was apparently supposed to revieal her pash for col- lecting' copper and uncovered isome wacky gags. Again it didn't quite jell. In the case of Rudolph Gatiz, guest pianist, his iVory-massaging ■was skSfuU and to the point, so the ciowning served to set It Off a trine.- But tor the. two star Visitors, n.s.g. Always a danger that informality may lapse: into a suggestion of slovenly programmiing., Hollywood Hotel last Friday night (8) over WABC-TIBC only occasion- ally rang, the bell. Principal fault seemed to be muddled scripting, Tried to shoehorn too m?ny ingredi- ents into the show and consequently didn't get much of anything across. Entire fore-part of the stanza was a hodtee-podge . about 'Snow. White.' The Three Little Pigs' and other Disneyiles—not pVerly. funny, com- edy.' Frahk Parker did-right by 'The Ni^ht Is Young' ,and Frainces Lang-, ford went even, more sultry than lately with 'More Than You'll Ever Know.' Two .ended.. program by. joining Ah" JatiisoQ-.for a sock trio arrangement. - Dratnatization brought Victor c- Lagleh, Bri . -Donlevy and Louise "Hovick (Gypsey Rose Lee) in 'Battle of Broadway,' from the forthcoming 20th-Fox film. Plenty of the ex- pected roughhouse. with McLaglen and.Donlevy knocking each qtner.out over a golddigger.^ Surprise'^ ending could be seen a mile off. Not badly done by the players^ but.the produc- tion and direction were only so-so. Writing pretty obvious. Whltcman • Chestei^aeld program. ovsr WABC-CBS last Friday night (8) Anally showed signs of capturing style and zip. Pattern was more smoothly worked out. Paul White- man, carried the major burden with his band and the guest end held-up. Whiteman offered two numbers-as his more ambitious tur^s for the show. One vvas.'Dodgihg a Divorcee,' the other 'Dinner Music for a Pack ot Hungry Cannibals." Both were the slick orchestration jobs for which ^ ^ ■ Whiteman is noted and both were 1 of war and for their Latin American whanged ovef In good style. policy, Joan Edwards, one of. NBC's sus- ^-—- ■ tainer singers, guested to do two 1 Eoyal Crown Cola's show last;Fri- numliers, "Gypsy .in My Soul', and day (8) over WJZ-NBC with Graham *I G.et a Kick Out of YOu.' Gal has a- McNamee, Golden Gate Quartet, Tim voice with an enlivening rhythmic I and Irene,. George Olsen's orchestra, quality and she plays a torrid.piano.! Uncle Happy and Fredda oibsoh was First number -was up to her usual, 1 undistinguished and the. comedy but the second didn't have quittf the wntirig_efIorts still^weak timph she normal-gives:'em. Jimmy Dorsey sneaked away from'his own band' to return to his former team- mates for a guesler, SblO-ed on the fax and lunes e Bumble Bee.' Latter only so-so ; causing 'spud-pre.ssurc;' which laid a —il's now too lame for a novelty.and " large-size etherial fegg. There -was thafs all it was ever intended to be. some business wound aroUhd a visit ~ —T",,. ,. _ .1 to Cuban Pcle'.i;. Which was.unfunny. Edear fer^n. abd Charlie McCar.-. xim and Irene visited a department thy really laid an omelette AviUi that - store without nnding comedy.'Olsen's eau-laymg sequence,, that, t^ed off, hand and Fredda Gib.soh's singing Jack Benny and Phil .Baker both used a burlesque of Metro's 'Yank at Oxford' t)h their shows last Sunday; night (10); It. was particularly. Unr fortunate since the programs;are in sequence, although not on the same hetwort«s. . Behny show, over WEAF for Jelfo, was a punchy session for the series; particularly . in the early portion. Baker, show, on the other hand, .was a weakie.. .Flock of misfire gags and labored puns weren't ev6n close to average for the shOw. Oh more than one occasion the wait for an expected lau^h that didn't' come tossed :the timing off. Boake Carter's 'luck' of having big stories- break just in time for his broadcasts turned around and bit him last Thursday' (7). Jusrt after Uie commentator had finished giving his views on the President's reor ganizatiOn bill and offering some predictions,, the . Hoiise killed the measure in. a sudden vote. It left Carter,, who had gOne off. the air, rather out on a limb. Commentator served up some fav- orable comment about the . powers that be. Objects Of the praise were Roosevelt and Secretary Hull, for their efforts to keep the country, out aired (9) was fairly typical. That it Isn't ideal for listeners is evident, for the performers mUgg for thpir. visual audience.' It's radio having to conform to ijonditibns Of a stage- show, and not talent and ;:inaterial conditioned tOr air .presentation. - Layout--was extremely bad.i: this time and terribly conflicting. Tbat it; asn't timed for radio was ob- vious; Bow 'music at the flhale of the'program lasted niore thaii four minutes, during which no word -was spoken; Three male. comedy teams out of st.i acts. ,And types of the duos and tiicir . material were much alike. Next«-to-shut.aivd program's stand- out was freitiolorbaritone ballader Leslie. Hutchinson;' popular fav.e. in English variety halls. Did excel- lently with 'So 'Many Memories,' -Right or Wrong'' (new. number, ah- nou.iccd as getting' its debUt on Brit- ish ozone) and ;For So Long, Sweetr; heart.'. Tommy Trindlar. fast-paced mono-, legist scored^ .with swell- material: and ah. effective style; Wound up with a. smart and fUnny novelty song, '^igns of the Times.' Dawn Davis and Len-Burham. did duets of pop songs, for fairish' effect: Of the trio Of male comedy duos,. Major and Minors who .opened the show,. Seemed, best They at. least interpolated some songs to offset the sameness of style and matelrial. And, incidentally, their gag ai>out a girl walking .home from a: motor ride would be far too vermillion for Yankee radio and even some Anieri-. can vaude houses. . - Sid Walker and Richard Murdock engaged semirCockney. acceiits. in i torturedly dull sketch, that was-coh- fUsing and unfunny- Clapham and Dwyer, the third'comedy act, closed and almost with a thud. Charles Shadwell's orchestra did o.k. in backgrounding the rformers. . (Seweral names of the per/ormers listed TTUiv be -hiisfpelled. Tlietf foere plucked off' as they viere introduced on the air; and.'spelltiios in several triston'ces' toere bnsed on eiiphony. List 7I0C available America.) Berf. 'SCENES OF SOVIET RUSSIA' IS Mins. INTDUKIST, INC. Fridays, 9:30 p^ ra. WQXR, New York Series is! under sponsorship of Russia'S''bfficial travel agency, in the U. is. Mild selling stuff aimed to stimulate travel to the Soviet, Not convincing Conversational' sketch depicting; an- American tourist hear- ing from Russian farmers, ho\y much happier they are under' com'- munist rule than the old era. Shah. SIR CEDBIC HARDWICKE Interview Sustalnlnr Thursday, 7 p.m. WOR, New York Sir Cedrlc Hardwicke, English Icgiter currently in - 'Shadow - and Substance,' at this Golden, N. Y„ was: the interview, guestee- last Thursday* (7) on Radie' Harris' suslalner over WOR.,,, Actor -turned in vivid ap^ pearance. 'Questions were shrewdly, chosen and, brought out a number of absorbiiig items. Hardwicke made the most .of them, Miss Harris, per usual impressed. Has a powerful mike personality, clear and distinctive voice and wit that, sparkles through almost every, line. Natural for. radio dramatizar tions and a sure bet for interviews On rnajor network sho\vs. Hobc; Pat BABNES^ndBARNSTORMERS W4th Marcella Hendricks, Jack Ar-r thiirl' Al Bernajrd 30 Mins. , ' Sii'staihinj^ Saturday, 8:30 p. m; WOB; New York A novelty., variety program that should please the listeners finding time of Saturday nights, at 8:30 to listen in and one, suslai ing; at pres- ent, which might have fairly gOod commercial possibilities. Half-hour, show is compact, and nieaty.. It's al-: most a vaude show,in Itself, with, the: material varied enough that there is bound to be something of interest to everyone somewhere along the line. Pat Barnes himself figured when heard principally in . a skit of east side tenement life ih which he played all the male parts, there bein.? sev-^ eral, while Elizabeth Morgan did the sole femi ine role. Sketch sells, on its ownj ih addition to having the added value of: Barnes' doing vari- ous characters, including in dialect. Band obened with 'March of. Mus- keteers,' Jack ArfhuV using this num- ber as a vocal' solo. He. has a good baritone voice and registers well An- other number for him is e and Marie' in the Gay Nineties rnanner, nicely rendered.' arcella Hendricks, rhythm singer, .iises 'Lost in Medita- tion.' He'fs. is a highly pleasing air voice. : , ,_ Lending the minstrel man touch, Al Bernard tells Stories in the ac- cepted dialect, having material that is fairly good for hiin; and tops with an bid novelty tune, "What the En-, gine'Done.' In addition to the skit in which he appears, Barnes paints some local Broadwaiy color up ahead as an introductory, for iss . Hen- dricks. kiRSTEN and KAREN FLAGST.'ID' With'Mpie. Marie Flwstad Sones BCA Sunday, 2 . p.m. WJIZ-NBC. New York ..RCA Magic Key program- over WJZ-NBC last Sunday (10) present- ed Kirsten. Flagstad, her'sister Kareh Flagstad, and their -mother, Mme. Marie Flagstad. It was the first U. S. appearance of Karen, although she had previously guested on the same sliow, but from her native Norw.-iy, with Kirsten at this end: Younijer Miss FlaRstad is a' musical' comedy singet and, like her ststcr.atthe Met a'soprano. She was introed by Kir- sten and soloed with 'Springtime,' from the Broadway mUsical, "Thre'e Waltzes.' Aside from her' obvious difCiculty with the- English lyrics,' Karen Flag- stad has an agreeable, melOdioii voice. It seems rather rich.and pli- able and; after a nervous start, Xah'ly siire. , Language difnculty.,.and her dramatic style require buildup. After irsteh Flagstad sang a hum- ber, the sisters dUeted with two Scandinavian songs, both preltyi at- mospheric 3nd both' charmingly done. Mihe. Flagstad, whOiif\_Kirslen described as their teacher^ piaho-ac- companied them for the ducts. Her share' contributed -little actli ali.y to the stint, but • was a; showmanly touch. So was tlie whole date, for that matter. Giiest on' the same program was Alexander Woollcott, 'who - was paid $1,500 by RCA ti tell the listeners he wants to buy a bound volume No.. 16 (1894-95) of Harper's YoUng People magazine. It took him about 10 miii- utes to tell about it, which-^as more -thaii it deserved. Idea is that the author-Kioitimentator-cHtic-actoryens i- sentimental return to his eight- yeai's-of-age boyhood via the mag. As usual,: the spiel, was cramrned with Woollcottism narrative—affect- ed and occasionally intriguing. He •was at some pains to inform tlie listeners he ea'n be reached by "ad-^ dressing'-him at his home, just plain Vermont It everyone hadn't, told WoOllcott he was a good stoiy teller he might be a better oh Sclf-coii- sciousnesshaltcrshi Hutie. Tim Ryan kidded with Olsen and McNamee about Ryan's work, saying there was too niuch. talk; which was tru . "Oncle Happy made a weak d clarinet for a couple ot his: crack about his red face being due then encOred with 'Flight Of to having eaten too many potatoes, their Sunday nightstint for Chase 4: ^nrev Sanborn. Long drawn out: arid 1 ^ rither much ado, it was below ppr.' n","''.i^ d'':;d=' Even the expert foiling by Bergen 'Ji-d^„nf tcfkilin,? i/at and McCarthy's Usually ingialialiiig ,:''^"''="' sciiplitig is at ...... -. ., ,. . .J I brashncss couldn't offset 'the ba.<ic' weakness of the script. McNamee plugs tVic $1,500 '1 w'eckiy prize slogan contest. 'With rmcrs it seems fault. liar. el Venter Union, where young Shostakovitch has alternated between being the ■fair-haired boy. and just a musical stepchild. Piece .is. in.four, movements;. . ith the last ttiiig off the fireworks. ■There is little melodic, line. to. the composition, with the exception of certain portions of the third (largo) movement. It Is strikingly orches- trated. All the uproar at the finale sug- gests what, .the Bethlehem Steel works niust have sounded like when the.news of the armistice -was re- ceived in 1918. While this newest Shostakovitch piece hardly- rates with the symphonic, classics, it seems an improvement on much of the.' 'J-'''*-' composer's work and is likely to be j commentatoi increasingly heard by syinph groups and via radio. Other selections, on tlie program included Weber's overture to . 'Obe- ron.' four Respighi arrangements of iGth' century airs, an Albisniz suite and three excerpts from Wagner's "Die Meisteirsinger.' Under Rod- zlnski's direction the NBC Orchestr had the businesslike sound of a con- fident, bigtime organization, one that has style and class, and knows it. Despite the repeated opi ibns of the music critics, the striii.cfs by no means overshadow the rest ot th'.> orchestra. HOUSE OF MELODY With Cy Trobbe's Qrch M Mins.—BegioBzl BANK OF AMEBICA Sundays. 7 p.m., PST KFliC, Sah Francisco . (Charles P. Stuart) Remodeled ..and, refurnished, the 'House of Melody* has returned to the air after some months' absence with the same sponsor, Bank of America, footing, the, bill for the weekly half-hour broadcasts of mu- sic of general appeal-..' Using ' the same program title"and theme as the previous series,'the new shOw is ber ing aired from KFRC. San Francis-' CO, over Calitorni ' stations of. the Mutual-DOn Lee web. Talent'In- cludes a 27-picce orchestra batoned by Cy Trobbe, a male choriis under Henry Perry's direction, and Mel Venter as commentator. Initialer 127) presented familiar selections by such composers as Lehar, Debussy, Victor Herbert, De Koven,-with tlie chorus joining the orchestra only in the opening and closing numbers. Orchestra's per- rformance throughout was smooth, precise, with emphasis on simplicity of treatment. Male voices, an' in- novation on the 'House. Of Melody,' were used to nood advantage, sound- ins full and wiill-blendedi Mel Venter makes an ear-pl sing Norma and Constance Talihadee's Metro-Maxwell House .show' over WEAF-NBC last Thur.sday niyht (7) did only one ot the two scheduled dramatic bits. Other, 'Port of Seven Seas,' 'ith Maureen .O'Sullivan and John cal. was nixed; repOrtcdly. school and those below high school 'HIGH SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS' Music, soDcs, dlsviisijlons 30 Ml -.—Local Suslalning Friday, 10 a. m. WAVE, Louisville Each week, WAVE .sends it's mo- bile unit, with an announcer and technician, to one of the city's high schools, to pick up a 30-minute ses- sion of school songs, mu.sic, ,etc.. At the stanza caught, the J. . Ather.ton SclidOl for Gii'ls, with lenVme .student body- assembled in the school aiidi- lorium, aired a':program of group singing, mu.sic by the school orches- tra,- and a current events diiscussion. Programs should bjjild plenty of good-will. Doubtful if of much in- terest to the raiik. arid file of listener, but to pafcrits of children in high JIMMY SCRIBNEB (the Johnson Family) Serial 15 mins. Sustalnlas Daily, 9:15 p;m. WOB, New York All. character voices' in this serial are handled by Jimmy Scribner. When heard and as family programs sUb-par. Devoid of humor. Story not e>igro,ssihg.' Throwing it- all back on the mere novelty of. Scrib-. ner's! vOcal .tricks. ost serials' have to be followed diligently to be understood. Some., of the better ones have'a knack of making each installment a stbry- withiii a story. That's where this ohc fails, ;even .though, the usual foreword explains the action .of the preceding episode. . Various personalities' assumed, 'Sci'ibnet are, however, clearly vorced in'tone, etc., and'are. easily understood, but he sometimes shitlS' froni one to another too fast. Brief pause between would be better. At present cbmes over like a monolojgiie. One of his- charac rS, that of tli head of the family, is pretty close; to the - style of Andy of Amos 'n' Andy. 'SWINCOLOGY' WItk Paul Leash's band, Monroe. 'Sephlsts-Kati,' the'Bachelors,''McrrI Music, Songs 30 Mins. Sustaining 3:30 p.m. Saturdays WWJ-NBC, Detroit Atter several months' tryout on WWJ, Detroit, this half-hour -Swin.K- ology' show is now beiiig piped to NBC Red, with the Southern supple- mentary net tossed in. Show's zippy within the swing category, and it brings to light local talent of merit. Initial airing abetted by Presence of Vaugh Monroe, barir tone with Johnny Hamp's band, curr rent at Book-Cadillac, Detroit. Built around' a 'college' -loti with 'swing classes loading to a de- gree of bachelor of swing,' show Ivjs benefit of expert production by .Jack Hill and nifty arrangements by Dun ' Preston. Especially, good work is turned in by Paul Leash's'siudia. band, and ditto ivir ■ the .'Sop.liislo- Kats.' 'Bachelors' and 'fiferrin^aids,' WWJ warbling groups. vte. reunion ;as a professiphal team, but becaus iss O'Sullivan was ill,' age, bound to arouse :curiosity, and .(in. the radio, as "part of the George i First was a reasonably - impressive ! parental pride, and a. consequent Jessel show,, is a better stunt as an crime meller with. Robert Taylor as' mellow attitude toward the station's idea than in.execution. For that mat tcr. the entire stanza having to do with their entrairimenl from Lps An- Kcle.s to Detroit., to play a pc'rsoiial QUKe a bit of fancy dansapation on-the airwaves these days. In.tact, it's become axiomatic that there are few it any really poor bands; it's principally a. matter of relative su- periority. Thas, NBC's 'RhytlVm by , , ,. j Roth' is a nifty brand of dance music; . there, was a let-down this Sunday batoned by Al Roth, originally out ot; • , St Louis,, coming to. attention o.i • NBC Symphony Orchestra last KMOX's 'St. Louis Blues.' . Saturday nighlvO) over WEAF-NBC Eriiie Fiorito oh WOR—no relation wda conducted> by ArtUr Rodzinski to Ted—has a contrasting style ot and included on its program the first sweet 'n' hot, that's-well, presented, i playing outside of Russia of the fifth Xavier Ciigst, also.a WORer, now symphony of Dmitri Shostakovitch; that he's the main band at the Wal- Composition Is said to have been en- dorf, durinj Ihe L^rilen droi^ouf ot .lhusiiislic-<«lly rotciwcd iu the Soviet j Chi.!'Ok* a smart detective and Sam ..Levene 1 programs; as a vicious killer who tried to but-I — with the , dick, Suipi-jse en Ing. j CHARLES MATtilKWS Well handled, | 5 Mins;^Local Taylor continues to click as m;c. ! STAG BEER ' arid Frank Morgan gets a reasonable | Daily; 10:15 p;m. nuniber of .laughs as general heckler WKY, Oklahoma City Hold. tor the: show. Fannie Briee, this time piped from New York, wal- loped another 'Baby Snooks' bit. Judy:Garland returned to the pro^ gram to sing 'Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen' aiid 'Sweelheart ot Signia Lad. has a nice voice for newscasl- ing that needs only trainliig. This, heard'Wed.,. April C, was his first crack at annouriclng for which he has been studying quite a spell (while pperatliig the 'WKY elevator liights).' Leu)i4. MUSICAL MkMOfiY fONTE.ST With Norman McKay 30 Mins.—liocal Susiaihini; Wednesday, 9 p.m. WQXR, New York ■Variation ot the .Sammy Kaye-Kay Kyscr gag, Norman McKay'i quiz is on classical music, lilies,, composerj,. differences t)elwecn musical themai,- types of inutilc, iri-Striiment idenlifiea-. tloris, etc. Hiis all the usual appeal of the myriad I.O.'s, However, that m ust be II I ted. Listeners submit qiiprrr--an awera and later pal-liclpale. it tlicj -want to. Cash prizes aiid pritiled monthly station programs go to vyin- ners, ' . . Identification of tnusic'etc,. is. don* to piano accomp for. few 'jars. Mc-. Kay's han ling ..of p'lrlieipanl.l; en- 1iveii,s proceedings : and. avoids any cmburrassmcnls. Htin.