Variety (Apr 1938)

^^e<ap«8diiy; April 13,. 1938 RABIO RETIEWS: VARIETY WA'BNEBS' ACADEMT THEATBE or THE AIR <6NE-WAT passage,' B«b- aid ' B«fsii> Glerk DIsod, Heary p'Nclll Md •Uicrr TranacripUoa St Mfau. OBIJEN WATCH CO. Friday, 9:3* *.n. WMCA, KT. T. -AVarner Brothers' Academy, alias Cruen Watch, proved its merit in this broadcast which was a weli pro- duced and well-acted air version of Bobert Lord's 'One-Way Passage.' Film won an Academy award in 1932. Recordings are made in Holly- wood.. .. Ronald Regan was cast as £)an;.the convict and Gloria Dixon as; Joan,- who develop : a romancei headed for .frustration.- Henry O'Neill .was the doctor. ost of the action wa.s'set on the return trip ;from Shanghai. There w^re;two acts with the Grucn ^advertising sandwiched' between. . Jack Warnei- was on for a brief talk to say -that the Arm-had always hestitated to give ils .academy stu- dent actors: any publicity 'although secret performances' had been given for the firm's execs during the past five yearis. s Robert Lord, the author, Said ,.he was nervous, and Dick Abram, who is scheduled for the hext. broadcast in thie series, also spoke briefly. ' • Prograrn was tight job of radio -4cainatjgat iori. .wel l ^gduced and compelling.' ANDREANA CASELOTTI. .('Snow While') Sbocs, Talk SANKA ThHTfuUy, ':3* p.m. WARC-CBS. New Y*rk (Youno ■ 4 Rubticanv), is.^ Caselqtti, creator of the hero-' ' ine role in 'Show White,' is errierging: froni Anonymity,- Unbilled on the' screen and. unknown to the public the sheer iMipularity of the .Disney Aim novelty has created a commer- cial value for and a curiosity , in . the fenime lead. Her: appearance on the Sahka • 'We, The People! show pre'r ceded a booking at Chicago s College Inn. ■ It was a slick booking for the .isrio-. gram. On .th'e human equation aione that would be true. That the girl handles , herself v very well, both in talking and in singing, suggests that' other radio appearancefs. may be in order. And' that Sanka. got- enter- tainment as well as .novelty. In the nature of things/ on a program such as 'We, The .People,' this isn't always possible, although, the- .production staff, headed by' Hubbell Robinson, does artfully trick up a lot of the stuff so that the amusement poten- tials are. 6nhaihced. 'Remarkable little girl quality of Miss Caselotti's voice registers with exact fldeilty over the radio as upon the Screen. . It will be'\yel<SDmed on sheer familiarity. 'While nobody coiild predict the time, element that ihigbt be a.limiting factor to Miss . Caselotti's career at the present time she's a good bet. But' lacks buildup and name because of. the'absence of screen credit in the first instance and publicity menlion Until now.. On the same'proi^ram was Paul Vincent Carroll.,:Iri<;h author of the stage play, .'Shadow and .Substance,' who said nothing in oarticular in a pleasant brogue; Dr. Rene Krau.<:. air leijedl.y .jii.st off a ship from Austria, who tpld how Hitler put Austria and Schusch'nigg. in.his pocket; a 96-year- old clefgym.an, a.-U9-year-old woman flnd the claimed burchaser of the lir.<!t automobile, Major Post. £ome question must arise in many minds as to the credentials of the persons. Mrs. Flora Williams prac- tically guaranteed disbelief in her 119 years; when she confessed she' didn't know how'old she'was at the time of her marriage and didn't take much account of such matters^ First car owner carefully avoided dates that could be challenged^ Other programs dealing In remark- able events and people, including Ripley, have been similarly vague of late. It would appear that failure lb authenticate would boomerang after a tirne. Land, TALENT MOLLS Ho. ^—W&t, Sohenec ay back when radiophone wa$ the latest 'craze' (almost as popular 'as put-and-take and mah-jong), the phrase 'This is the General Electric: Station, WGY, Schenectady,' became the college yell of what by ■ 16 years later, is a cohsi alumni. Kolin. Hager started as the 'Voice of W&Y' and has stayed on ever sin'ce as the station manager. A record, or near- record, in a new biz that has also been a biz of diiszily rapid- per.sonnei turnover; Rosaline' Green, James Wal- lington, Ix>uis Dean' (now Campbell-Ewald iexec), Frank S i n g h e ise r, Clyde Kittell,- Roland Bradley .and Tom Lewis (Young & Rubicarh) all learned to distihigUish between serious matters, .like participating an- houncementSi' and frivolous consideraitions, like ° ing piano fills. .at WGY. . ; Acting was the long, suit of WGY in the iearly ddy. Lale Edward H. Smith steered this. Of dramatics,'musicals and hill-^ _bi]lies WGY had more than the ■ average iahd~an' artists" bxireau~ to boot. Only one com.edian emerged from the dignified G.E. environment, . however'. That was Waldo Pobler,' pfofes"- siohally Joe Peno,' now with WTAM, Cleveland. ~ Bob Stone; bt NBC Thesaurus, Bill Fay ol WHAM, Rochester; Andrew Kelly,, "The Horse Sense 'Philosopher'; Caspar Reardbn,. the swing harpistr David. But-', tolph, now a cinematic musical •directbri are from. WGY. Leighton ■ tt N^l , Schenec- tady ..advertising' .agenc.v,' is' staffed tompletely by fugitives- frbm; WGY and D.eRouvilli! agency in Albany has another,- Marjorie McMulleni as radio di-. rector. BUDDY CCABK . v Wllh Frank Ndvak Orchestra, Ted ' DlCersIa, Ann -Elstaer, Naomi Caknpbcll 15 Mins. ^- LUCKY STRIKE M-W-F; «:45 p. WOR-Mutual, New York (Lord & Thomas) . uddy tiark, who has attracted ai- I tentioh in the last couple of years n:! a pop singer, bobs up under stranye' auspices and even- stranger' (for the auspices.) production surr6undihg.«. Impresario .George Washington Hill has gone, a long way experimentally In okaVijig a.'musical boarding house' as the scenario for a singer to work, strive, warble at convenient .jntcrvals ilhd rio doubt iii the richness of time to. fall in' love. Love was quite em- phatically hinted as a' poissibility. And love oh an American Tobacco, show is one of life's little surprises. John Tucker Battle 'is authcri '; George McGorrett producing. . Some years, ago, when 'Mu.sio at the Haydns' was- bravely trying to do fomething different and getting a kick-in the slats for its daring, the production trick was to populate ari apartment house -with persons of as- .sorte'd talents and emotional prob- lems. .Open a window and somebody was singing an ari Open anbthcf Aviridow and a .'romantic piccolo player rieeded stopping from a sui- cide attemipt. In the Buddy Clark story :lt.s doors that open and give glimps'es of quick- tb-sing and emotionally upset iiidi-' viduais. ";"n"7s'~|Je'rhap.srttntair to judge this p'rbgrnn-i bn its iir.st quarter hoUr de- voted altogether to setting the stage foi:'what's to come. Hbwever, it is within the province of constructive comment to say that the' boarding house slavey with, a cockney dialect is close tb.the line of phoheyTbaloney characterization that is; pretty 'dated' in histrionlcsi radio or other- wise, and. definitely pre-Clyde Fitch. Just before the sign-off Clark got hot . .momentarily..: -.Fingers .crb$?ed. on this one. ' L,an Variety Has Been For 15 Years-Started Radio May 10,1923 a4n increosino omount o/ rv^earch into ra io's hi.stori/ prorupt.T (he pri ing heretuitli 0/ the. fir.tt rwdio proorntu euer reuicijued bi/ t/iis piibUcntion. To fhfi-be,<it'0/ Variety's Jcnoioledf/e (lii.s rcu.icio u-iis ilie fir.<it o/ i(i kjn ci>er printed.dtii/tD/iere. CerlniTilj/ 171 n trnde priper. DOC SCHNEIDEB'S TEXANS. HlllltUly <i«MlDS.—Local SnstalnliBc WGY, Scheneciady On first week of Schneider'.<t re- turn ehgageinent, with a different troupe, his local programs were, not up to standard established during previous stand. :However, a shift to 7:35-7:45 spot, daily brought ah im- provement, ' Clipping of time neces- sitated a brake ,6ri Schneider's chat- ter and alleged comedy with. 'Ida May,' Kentucky mountain girl. ■. It is a faster moving turn in. 10 than in. 1.") minutes. On a'li outride :'pipe-to NBC red stations.'at :8:15, Schneider uses'.isome of the same numbers, plus additions, but hec*" do none of the p.a. spieling which slow »ip local shots. Sch; ider 'jok- ingly but truthfully stated, on. one. shot. that.p-.a.'S were troupe's bread and buUer. . Texans forte, with present person- nel, is instrumenttal work. Be.st voice in the brganization. belongs tb i a WGY singer, •'Vicky Colamaria taken on here: Jaco, ZUMBA . Transcriptioai' IS MIns. CELLIX-iSTBONGLITE Three 'iimcS weekly .2GB, Sydney Okay thriller for the kids ■with American players. , Spotted bn the early'evening sessioh, Seciires plenty of attention.from the grown-ups, tbb. Dialog is.okay and moves along .at a nice pace, with the suspense spot- ted right for the carryover;. Selling chatter comes before and after each installment tb plug- a local, product. It's nbt too long 'and Jakes' nothing, away from the entertainment value.- Station announcer heard had nice style of delivery. Although tran.scrlptlons iire gradur ally slipping from the-best night spots in Australia this ohe. never- thele.ss. 'shbuld-have little' .difficulty in finding 'a place on other units throughout the Commonwealth. Right'ribw the kids, are strong fbr it. Regarded as a top Arherican im- portation. ' Rick. STOOPNAGLE and DONALD DIXON Comedy, .iSong's i.*} MIns.;. Sunday . BROMO-SELTZER WOR, Newark-Nrw York Col. Lemuel Q. Stoopnagle (F. Chase T.nylor) sans.Budd. now hns Dbhald Dixqn ?s fo'rr~an'd vis-a-vis.. ■Dixon.is a somewhat scvious.sinacr. of nice vbice, so it .■rounds like a con- trnstln.c enbu.ah combo. .Somehow it doesnjt quite- work too hanpily. Ifs cliicfly due to. the too serious note iniecled by the bari- tone' 'Night and Dhy'; type balliid is ,his forte, but - when he tecs off vonally with a Paul Robesohe.soue, ballad, something a.bovit 'Vat GWine to Heaven,' it just doesn't blend. . Stoop's screwball brand bC com- Sflv brooks no serious compromise. It's all gibberish, studi-iuflv inane, sbotty but efTecfive. On f'lis. the second lap of the new sdrics. the irnnressibn wasn't as .socl<o their debut on - behalf of ''. Seltzer, Somehow the s i'Cnce with the ,Dutch Tad and Swede fall by Stotnna'le) sWpepsUikc - "inning Inmily didn't click. By and large it's k refre.chinc and Jinique twosonic, but productibn. pat- tern needs soijie fixin.e.. P'nr <ii/artcr hour groove esrlv in ,the evcninj.' of a Sunday it's okay. Abet. MAURICE RANDALL Garden Talks 5 Mins.—Local DANKER, FLORIST Irl.t p.m., Sunday WGY, Scheii^cUdy YDe HouvlIIe), Randall, a popular member of WGY Players in the days they blazed a path in radio drama, te- turns on this program after a long absence from 790 k.c. band. Only flaw is that sbrne well meaning ad- viser apparently suggested ,-he be dignified and impressive. Rcsult: Randell, when caught, sounded af- fected—like an actor in. character rather than as a natural speaker. Gardening being as ntiuch a mailer of the hands as ot the head, there is no reason for an adviser on it to. be cerebral or artyi Randall pos- sesses a Bpodi voice and a. .clear de-: liver.v. With- his experience, there should be no difficulty in hitting a. natural tbne and mariner; Booklet offered. Jaeo. RAYMOND R; CAMP Huhtini;, fishing Talks IS Mins: Sustaining- Monday, 7:45 P. M. WEAF-NBC, New Yor Raymond B. Camp, by-liner o(! •Wood, Field and Stream' for the! N. Y. Timc.s :broadcast 'Hunter and I An,i?ler' Talks for some weeks on the | 11:30-45. a.m. .Sunday -.spot over i WEAF and NBC. This week pro-.! giam moved to a Mbnclay night btbck, theory being that potential listeners, especially fishermen, would now be but of doors on the- Sabbath. Chatty and will hold the intGrest.of tho.se at whom it is aimed. Occasionally a trace of imperfect' breath control creeps in, but dialers probably will not notice. Camp might give mbre attention to the question and answer angle of salvo. He is tabbed as a sports writer for a leading New Y-ork paper, not named. Jaco. 'SWAPPER'S CORNER' With Ray Rich, Harry Clark MAC PLAN . : , Wednesdav, 7:4.'! p.m. WPRO, Providence Rural New Ehgland€r.<f-nvilh~ fl; ' for swappi are re|jorled goin.H tor this one. Offers made with code letters. Rich nd Clark- rapid-fire ,nd i'b entertai ing. Pvoaram iii l.^th week carries over . ir old mag;'r/.ine and newspaper idea; ■■ 'Among swans offered last v/eck were nrttato Ohio chbpper .fof rock- ing-chair. 1929 Ford .sedaTi. for tractor' disk; la'row, black brnad- clnlli rpat for a sextant, pair of at oars ior'an aiitb battery 'with one- vear c.uaranlec), bike' for a doiible bass, violin, Affllo., Ilf-BOYS With Max Ramey, l.l MIns.—Local VA.V CURLER PRODUCTS R:45 .a.m... daily WG:¥, Schehcc(ady Hi-Bqys (Max Rahey and/pbyc O'Dell) h,nve welded a nriodcrale strong unit and built tip. a wi<lc li.slcniri.u audience since they split -,-i\vay fiom Doc Schneider's Te.Nan.s and returned to WG.Y for brbadca-st-s and . p.a. dates in 1936. They still .'ire striving to improve the .turn-ra fact nbticcable in sponsored shol.s. Introduction of comedy and novelty number.',, use ot a vocal trio, and greijtcr emphasis-pn ensemble sf ing Ere the .standout changes. HiKhjiiiksing is fairly entcrlainihg.. but the.hillbilly business tends to be a'; bit hpi.sy and di-scordant: . Of .course, there are. dialers who like it that way. Rahcy, O'Dell, and lim OWcn .solo and harmonize as .'Bunk" Hou.'^e Trio.' Flo.ssie (wife of one of (he prin(;ipals) also .vocalizes in a pica.sant but not a big voice O'D.cil does aJ'Pappy' cliaraclcr, .-ind Pat A(l:in, sliip bass player, Italian ialtct. Jaco. Out of the Ether CTIiis is (lie /Irst bccaston' on ir ich. « review of a complete -radio -pro- grairi has been attempted. Tlie pur- pose of the' reviexo is to give such exhibitors \cho are coniiitctinff large houses of the calibre of the. Capitol [a line on the ninnuer in tclticit S. L. RothOfel is broadcas(iTi0 and tWdizing the radio as a business ffeiter for Die 'C-apitbl, New.York, At this house there ts a micro- plibTie arranged to catch: the orclifs- tral mlistc as tucli.ns the tibcnl 7it<in- bers flireii on the stage of, tlie.Cnp- itol; incluciina the overture,a7id bal- let nittsic, the accompanitncnt for the news weekly ail , fincfllv, the tabloid impressions of the various 'operatic and light dperatic presentdt: ns. 'While the /eatwre picture-i.s being sftpWii'/ fhe ' prbflram is continued from:', the radio - broadcasting stiulio- which; operates through the WEAf stiation. The prbpratn is giveri.ort\\i on Sun-, day et;enin0s.'o/each .'uieelc. . The proBratn; h^re?.oii,h reviewed ■>••"') vfescnted Sv.'ndn.'^i vin1:i,.MP'> fi. 1923, beffinning at 7:20 at conclud- ing at 9;). .-Rothafel.'siigns on' with a talk that reminds onis-somewhat of Will Rofer.s. It is away-Irbm the sler -: typed style of the average iradib "ah; n.ouncer, and; Roxy. informs .those who. are listening in that "This is the Capitol theatre of New York! which )s about to brbadcast its regu- lar maslcal program -that. is being p'rtsented for the week, and there will .be other features.*: He then gives a - brief sketch of What the regular musical program of the house is,: also informing .theni as tb the scenes In the weekly hews: so that they can visualize In.-thetr. nvinds the screen scenes according to. the tempo of the accompahiment. All this is done in. :'bree2y fashion, with an occasional gag foi: a laugh: The introduction of. the-artists who are to contribute to the program is-in^ eluded in this' talk. "Then in a. wait for the hookrup between the stu io and the stage for the opening of the brchestral- overture the manager de- votes his'time to answering some'bf thbse who have 'written in to the Capitoi management after listening to the concerts. This consumed ex- actly eight minutes. The bverture, ' "The Dance of the Hours,' from 'La Giocondp,' bpened the program at 7:31 and, together with the ballet present , ran 10 minutes; the news, weekly followed, consuming 13 minutes,- and then came the 'Impressions-of 'nigoletlo',' running from 7.-.'>3 to 8:09.. The 'i - prMsiohs' included three vocal se- Icction.s, which came across the ether in .splbndid manner, "This Is especial- ly .so of the two .solos given, the first, 'Caro Nonie,' sung by Editba Fleis- cher, followed by 'La Donna e Mobil*,* in which. Frederick Jagcl and Max Brefel alternate as the Duke. The quartet from the opera was less clear, due, no doubt, bc.- cau.se , the players were forced through the action of the business to turn from direct line with the re- ceiving instrument artists bf the bill, and this; sort of informal inti acj" broadcasting reli.shed by tli ing-in fans,'for'it i way from any- thing else they get on their machine?. 'There is No Death,' sung by a ale mernbcr, bf the Capitol force, .soored; folJbwcd by a 'cello .solo, "Somf-- whcic a Voice Is Callin;.',' and, i turn, a song, 'T^wo Eyes of Gray,* sung by Evelyn. It vvaS then B:'40. With .20, ijiinutes, tb go the gram' continued, with the cone mei.ster of" the Capitol brchesira. Eugene Dormonde .Blau, offering a >:olp, followed: by a duet, 'The Tlal- ter,' sung-;by .Betsy and Lbuise, or.' of the most pleasing numbers of the evening. Fbllowing,- Betsy sang 'Cheyenne' (to prove that she' came from Texas). At 8:50 Rox/ made 'rn annoijnpcment re.-jardihg Vaniiy Fair, the current werk's feature at the hoijse. and that Charles. Ray. in "The Girl I Love' is to be .presented next Week. The final nunjlJcr of the pro.nra was offered 'by the Capitol's - ttI vocal quartet, 'runnin-; th'Mugh- rhoriis medley 'of old-time ■favorites, b°.tinnihg wiih 'Aiild Laiig Syne.' and I hen', in. order, 'Ta Ra Ra Ra 800m- de-syc' The Bowery,' 'Sidewalks bt New, York,' 'IlQsie O'Crady;* 'Bicycle Built for Two,' 'Comrades,' 'She'May Hatlje SiseH Better Day,'" 'While- the. Band Played On' r>nd '. wri Where the W.ur?bur;;er Fldy;s,' which was interrupted byj a Ice that ;pro- claimed itself the censor nnd ordered it out, the rbutine'cbpoludJh.g with 'The Olden Dqys,' and the signing pfT by Rbxy c<3ming at.9 sh/> CE«AB SAERCHINGEI Talk IS MIns. Sustaining Friday,. 7:15 p,m. WJZ-NBC, New York After.several years as foreign r4 resentative for CBS, for whoni he 1 ranged radio coverage of big ncJ events, and mike appearances for th^ European.:bigwigs,' Ce.sa^r Sacrchinger recently came back tb the U. S. and v/rote a bbbk about his expericnqc.s. He called it 'Hellb, America' and it drew nice reviews. Now he's bein:; given an' NBG; .su.staitier buii(lup rn this Friday evcning'spot. Session is tabbed 'The Story Behind the Head- lines.' . ' It's immediately noticeable about Sacrchinger that his voice: is n'-t resonent. However, it isn't a hope- less (Jaw, ifor the iist'eher sbon grows. accu.stomcd to. the'.sound of Saerch- ingc:-'s voice and thereafter it is fuir- ly pica.sant. Diction is good, lli.i ideas arc clearly ihou'-ht out and his remarks arc informative and seem impartial. -' Sacrchinger had a tough break rn last Friday's stanza, since he'd.iiriDCd himself with a sheaf of background dope on the issue of the President's reorganization proposal. Then . ju; t before he went oh the air the Hcu-'<i killed the measure and. he' was'left holding his satchel of material. How- ever, after .stating that the bill h.- been tos.sed out by the Hoiiw, Sacrchin.qcr went on to explain that the i.ssuc was a lon.'.;-stahding one and that it would undoubtedly come up a.'iain—and a.'.'ain'and again, lie Ihcn went b.nck to the Origin of the question and traced its history.. Good stuff, and Saerchingcr has a chatty manner of delivery. But he Thi.s concluded needs to put on more, of an act. All the regular program from the house 1 the name commentators have a deli- bill, and thereafter the special con- P''*-"ityle and air personality, Saerch'- tributions frbm the studio were of-I i"5'r. V ^"?y''?P that end. It fercd ; nasj'".'^ ^o do with the ipformati lauthcnlicity or authority of his CO Roxy, after again announcing that, mcnting, but is the quality .tb f.iniine it was the Capilul Theatre, New | listener imaginatlbn. Uobe. \oyV., through .WEAF,,'informed the lis'vcners 'there were a number bf distinguished ' perspna'ges present to v.itness the broadcasting, lle.r duccd several, including a rudi ."^pector, Mr. Bachelder. Iniliai offering in the studio wa? the 'Romania,' by Rubinstein, played-. BUD SPARK^i High Schobl Re 15 Mins.—Local Siislain:ng Mon.-Wcd;-Fri:, WPP, Phlfly; Young schbol teacher, recent nbr- mal .school, giad., writes and galj.i. by. .the "cello, violin, iano and Ihricc-vjcckly resume of e:tlra-etJr 'Italian whistles by four-nicmbfi's bf ''icul.'ir activities in about 2.5 cily iinrt the Capitol's orchestra. It was tol- ::-':uburban high .schobls. ' Includes lowed by Douglas Stanbury who ^JP"'"--'^ sang "Duria.' At 8:19 >EdnavBaldrich I ^EjV^^^''^,,^'!'',^,!^^!''''^""'' "^^Tl^"'- I ^ A^^'' " ''^^^'■r^'^y ^^^^s. H.dcr<f Cdl selection, followed by a ra^ ar-1 .,ome .cxlra-rurriciilar activily it fangcmcnl of 'When Will' I Know';' which Roxy used for ,another laugh replying, 'God Only "nbws.' Three. f<^hool paper, or .some kid trorn t inutcs of- cros.s-fire lib between Roxy and several of the artists, lowed. It finally, ter Inal Bol.jy ringing 'The' Rb.sary.' Bct.>;y and Louise is the m.inriirr in ich Roxy speaks pf two of the girl variouf; .schools, such as football cfip- l.n-n, head of di-a al e groun, cd of high, .'chonl.i^ who figured promiiicnl.y in hcw.i-of pa.s't; ivcjlc. Sp;irl-- voice .'-lightly rou".h and 1 .■illi mpf -.0 read sci-ipt in Ftnvfi ft'lj. hf.Df .^l.vlc .somelirries skip.': i/; ■ ,1 liii,"- U. go t)!ick. wlviclr 'ay w ^ •' tt/th liiyrc air cJfpericnce. llVi