Variety (May 1938)

VARIETY RADIO REVIEWS Woduesilay, May II, r938 «4th KENTUCKY DEBBT FREDRIC MARCH AT DINNER With Ted Huslne, Bob Traill With Flprenee ■ Eldredce, Newbold BkOWN-WlLLIAMSON Morris, Dorothy Dunbar Bromley, Satuiday,:C:15 p,iii. Rev. William Ward Ayer WflAS-CBS, Louisville From Hotel Breveort YB.BD <&6) 30 MIns.—Local |D.D.tf. qi w ■ AMERICAN UNION FOR DEMOC- America's top racing event has ' j^xcy asMiincd a perrhanerit place.in c6m-.j jy^^j^y g WQXR, N. If. Follow Up Comment nVc cial bi'badcastini;. Classic, nuw ticci to present sponsors for live yeii.s. Saturday's race was-precedcd by several airings of various typos. nio.:tly , commentators who outlined clilmccs of-.the different horse.s, :their pa^i: records, iiifo on the jockeys, and ill fact every bit of dope on the private, and public, lives ot tlie thoi'oughbreds,' their trainers, own- er.?, admirers, and what have yon; (Fir.st airing of the Derby wa."! back in 1924^ with Credo -Havri.s., ■present.Radio Director of .WHAS at the nnlte. Later years saw Graham Mac'Namce doing the calling of . the race, a task at whidh he showed little familiarity.)' Husing came through .AvitK smooth and Duent description, although his handling.of the race seemed rathei ■ colorles.s,. compared to the xapid.' staccato, and feverish commentaVies of Clc'm McCarthy and Bryan Field in previous derbies. Htising handled cro.wd color in 1934, at which time he was n.the fence with regard to the pro r'designatibn of the race. Upon tlie su.^gestion of local radio officials, he called the race the 'Darby.' later coiiiprorhising by dubbing it 'Derby Darby.' This year, probably shuffling off.; restraint, both- Husing, Trout. Farley, Gov. Chandler, and other cclcbs all were.'unanimous In pro- nouncing' it 'Derby,' and shunning the English pronunciation entirely. Kcntiickian.<< insist''on calling it' 'Derby.' and right or wrong, will not adoDt the imported title. Husing gave a'Clear account of the horse.^ at the post, and followed them ai< thev shifted positions throughout the mile and a quarter trip. Husing at all times seemed to see them and call them .accui'ately. Probalily his co'olness and lack of exeitability helped him .to avoid errors, and no douht gave the listener, a true pic- ture of the race. Ceremonies incident to the' pres- entation of Derby Cup and floral horseshoe were well handled, .and celebs weire introed with a minimum of confusion. Altogether a well- rounded airing, of this country's premiere tiirf event.. .Hold. After-dinner talk. And pretty dull talk it turned but to be. As a rally for deniocracy it was ait orgy of platitudes and pompous prattle that stacked up. as misguided. Needed stage "direction badly.: Reeked of self-co'n.scious ring-round-rosi in the playground of iittellectualism.. Long-winded readings in reply to .•simple verbal questions. After pro- longed drenching in words, more Words and then conversation, .some- one said, 'But.letV get dowiv to cases.' So they had'10 minutes more' of words, more words ^ind conversa- tion. • Democracy, on a .basis of this one, should be prot ted from i'>s friends, Lan SONNV MICHON With Forrest Willis 3* Mias.—Local COMMODORE CLEANERS. Sunday, !• A.M. WABY, Albany A year's broadca.<stmg—from stage of V/arrier Bros.' Troy. theatre, Troy —indicates popularity. A keen-eared, disinterested dialer .may note the flaws usually, found on' sifcb pro- grams: ail overdose of precosity, ■ cx- hil>itionism, i itativeness and num- bers lyrically unsuited to treble- vojced teensters. An hicident on one shot furnished another crilicisin ot free-for-all airing by kids. Small girl, opening show, broke into piteous sobe, from overwrought nerves, after warbling a few burs. Proliablc that' combined mike and stage appearance has a disturbing effect on the emotional balance of •some other youngsters. Sonny Michon, ^raduat* of WGVs Children's Theatre of the Air,.re-' cently has been pacing show. Is a. glib, breezy, 'professional' youiig- stiM-, with a world of confidence. illis handles himself well, both as emcee and spieler.. Advertising themer tonsilled by a boy is ri.s.g. Prizes ot ^ and $2 are, awarded to winners selected by luvisible audience. They do a repeat the following week. Ballots are mailed to sponsor Neophytes' draw nt box. olTice. They give an added show ;in theatre. Jnc FRANK BUCK Transcrlplioii ' 1.1 Mins. DUNLOr RUBBER Friday,:8 p. m. 2UW. Sydney Nice Piece of canned entertain- ^B.\NGING THE BIG DBUM' With Ivan Samson, Philip Wade, Nor man Shelley, Gale Pedrick,. Ifor VinosradoS 45 Mins. i^rl., April 29» 8:4$ p. m. B.B.C., London London, May 3. imed at recalling historic pub- licity stunts of the past, and rapidly surveyings development. of the art from earliest times, this was a B.B.C. slip-up, coming out as a sketchy and disjointed lieview padded out with much irrelevant material. Whisre play might have been made with the exploits of Harry Reichenbach, Bar- num and other great stunt showrhen, tWese names were ' ihentiohed only cursorily, bulk of air time being de- voted to potted. sermons by a busi- ness man,' thieafre publicist and post office public telotibns officer; Whole trend of sequence was.dull and slow,-opening phase dragging, in many pointless small advertisements from early newspapers and endeav- oring to contrast the traveling barker of Elizabethan times with , the' high- powered exploiteer of today. Attempt Ayas made at dramatic reconstruction Of a passage from Dickens' 'Nicholas Nickleby.' with 'Vincent Crummies the dowdy actor managisr. but which had little point as far as banging the: drum is concerned, and a later part, which 'recalled an accident to the Big Wheel at the Earls Court Exhibition early this century, apparently had no other purpose than to oermit a wom- an who was involved, to-recall the event,, REV. PAUL SIIULTE The Flying-Priest' Religious melodrama Transcriptions 15 Mins. WHAZ, Troy A series of transcriptions draina- tizing events in the life oC and the worK carried oh by the' Rev. Paul Shulte, 'The Flying iPriest.' Broad- cast over, many stations. <the discs have a commercial angl^ listeners are invited to contribute to "the sup- port of the missionary eft'oHs, con- ducted mainly' through the use of airplanes in Africa, Cahadit, and- other far off spots, by Father Shulte and the organization: which he heads. Autographed photo offered to every person writing, him at Washington, D. C. Episodes are built around the padre's exploits as a flying mission- ary. One heard was laid in Canada, where he piloted several' sisters , or- nuns to a desolate point at which their services were .needed. Another dealt with his establishing of plane and au'.omobile contacts with distant mission posts in Africa. Diamatic. even melodramatic, especially in scenes ot. the second plaUer where Father Shulte becomes delirious from a tropical fever. Pretty broad stroked both in scripting and acting. The latter ap- parently is handled by professionals, whose speech does; not always sound like that of the reli ioiis. 'jaco. meiit. Buck, is known here'.through '■ ^ succc;>s of his animal pix. .'This j'UNFINISHED HEADLINES'. wa.Ncr should have little difficulty i Willi Lew Danism Eileen Whyie, Al in finding a spot in the homes. Rigail, Betty Woodlock and Three Deals with the catching of a black | Little Funsters, cobra, and although Buck becomes j Dramatic over-dramatic at timM, nevertheless 3* Min.<).^L6caI the interest is held from needle slaiH i SACHS FURNITURE to stop. Brief spot of commercial is I Wednesday, 8 p.m. presented by home station an-i WMCA,'New York nouiicer. but in no way is the enter- ! Unfinished Headlines splits a 30- I minute bill with the Three i,ittle Funsleis; Program presents listener taiiiinent value placed below tl"? sell- ing cliatter. ict. Iftr.X EXCHANGE 3t nilus.—local SusLilnlng Sat. .8:38. p.m. WilN. Netv York with an ethical probrem and audi ence is asked to write its own ticket for the finish. Writers, of two best letters are awarded Beni^us watches. Sketch in this case presented prob- lem of whether or not a doctor Idea Itself i.s-.novel and could be should commit a 'mercy murder.' worked up to a good thing. But not) Idea of -the program is interesting, a< it is nOw. It's exactly what it is i.but execution could , be improved, tabued, an idea exchange. Listeners i Actors ought to watch diction more wrila in to th6 station giving ideas! caicriilly as voices had a muddled on how to improve certain things. | qu.ility when caught. ' etc. Trouble with it is it seems to j Applau.se at the end of the .sketch h-ive become jnore a pet peeve outlet had; a studio-maiiutactuied quality, than an exchange of constructive I Out.Midc of these small ' technical ideas. Idea.s submitted for last week's bi'0<iH('a«;t concerned economics, gov- ernmental improvement.s, al particu- larly humorous one on a method of directing traffic via' a loud speaker sysiem on each busy -corner, nd Others, points, program.had sufficient inter est to appeal, to'ah averagii. listener and draw a response. Needs clcuning up prnductionally. For the rest ot tlie program Three ' Little Fiinsleis do a few vocal rou- ! 'tiiics. 'On this show they are billed ' as Three: Little Sachs, Coca-Cola 'Song Shop,' after sponsor: thought to break off the ozone for summer, will go on for a while 'as is. So the cast which airs Friday nights over. CBS went merry in celebraitidn on the recent, chap- ter (b'). Delved into tlie bag and did aii anthology of the' songs and music which had: been trotted put in public during the season. It made for nice listening, circ,umventing the shoals of monotony, WhicK' isn't ea.sy for a layout spohsor-^limited to only lyrics and inusic. Nadine Conner coloratura so- prano'd Victor Herbert's . Sighing Alone' and aced on''Blu Danube,' Baritone Reed Kennedy was clicko for a .'Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody' and 'dr Man River,' the Jerome Kern notable which is the manna in the _vocal desert, it seems, for all baritones. \ Rhythm singer Alice Cornett mid- way in 'prograim offered 'St. Louis Blues,' routine shining with especial help from a: smart arrangement. GociarCola group 0( windjaminers did agaiii that slick concert arrange- ment of 'Sweet Madness,' also solo'd with variations of 'Nola;' . Chbral group opened with 'Stput- Hsarted Men' and paved way for Miss Cornett's number with 'Dream, Can't I?' Usual all-hands' par- ticipation finale brought forth the inevitable medley of Mother songs, Del Sharbiitt continues to do a bright job of combo m.c. and bjlurb duties. Plugs, incidentally;-are still at a minimum on this show and sewed into the running almost un- noticeably. GLADl'S GEORGE With Don Ameche • 'He' CHASE & SANBORN Sunday, 8 p.m. WEAF-NBC, New York (■/,/Walter ThoJdpsonJ Incomprehensible bit of casting wasted Gladys George's comedy talent. Part she was called on to play-is the whaling captain's jitteyy wife who . goes crazy in Eugene O'Neill's tense drama of 20 years ago,; "Hie.' About as much sense as cast- ing. Fannie Brice as 'MadanVe X.' But maybe Miss Geoi-ge.. is another clown who wants to play Hamlet. - As an added puzzle to this guest shot, the actress was definitely in the. supporting iiart lo. Don Ameche as the stern skipper. And; Ameche has been getting atrocious casting lately. Also, "lie' is not fitted to radio requirements. Its stark force heeds rriore buildup and much of its cffectivenc.<» lies in the !>ea atmos- phere,'none of which was atteniptcd via. production., What saved Misw George's ap'pear,- ahce from a complete blank was her brief bit with the StrOud 'Twins and Ameche. In her comedy medium, the actres.s' relaxed,' made her mild material seem almost' brilliant and made the chapter pleasant. It was by far the be.st .session the Strouds have: Uncorked in a. long while—and Miss Geor.se's contribu- tion seerned to supply the vital tang. Hobc. Buddy Clark's thrice weekly quar- ter-Hour over Mutual for Lucky Strike ha.sh't gained much, rii.omc-n- tum in the several stanzas, it .bas been going. Boo-boo baritone's warbling continues prime, but the human interest serialized: fiction portion of the program hasn't much grip on' listening. Story ' i.s labeled 'Alias r. Spatapachuli,' and has Clark as the hero in an 'iip-from-the-sliims' yarn about; a youthful warbler'shoulder- ing his way "to success,. Script was slow-paced when last caught (6), and about the only .living moments were those; sung. At present ^ bomT bastic and obviously phoney ,per- sonage, 'Col: Lucius Pi' Forte.scuc,' is hanging around trying to tie up to' the comer. A. rather vagiie charac- ter- is. the lodging slavey who's possessed of a cockney accent. Lo- cale is N. Y. Clark isn't much on. the line-lim- nihg end. but perked the period with three song snatches of 'How Ja Like,' Love Walkied In' and 'So Rare.' Hal Kemp's gallop for Griffin shoe polish follows-directly oh CBS after Benny Goodman heats 'em. up for Camels. In both cases the orches-. tras draw audiences that gO well be- yond mere applause and mere en- thusiastic endorsement Repeatedly they break into, cheers. Like foot- ball fans. A hot going-to-tpwh is a touchdown, and calls, for shrieks of . glee in the same vei Jerry Belcher, whom Fitch' cham- poo is renewing in the Sunday-night 30-inin, NBC-red niche, picked up his wandering vox-|>op program from Scrantoh, Pa., this week (8). Interrogating was pretty mild for the most part. After a fairly inter- esting first - half, . the questions descended to a trite, tepid level.. Mining and anthracite coal-diggers were the subjects. Nice start was made When Belcher quizzed a miner, his wife and their ten-yeair-old. son. Pick-swinger talked-of his 22 years at the trade, wife on her reactions to her husband's job. Swell human- interest touch was supplied vi;hen the boy eagerly, explained his ambitions —to be an airplane pilot. Lad. it was explained, was cuffed to a plane ride the day before by the company for which his pop worked. Tha.t was prime propaganda for the employei-. Last portion of the program brought another miner, who hailed -from Wales, followed by a laborer from the shafts. Neither could compete with what had gone before. And Belcher seemed to have exhausted his store of pointed, productive questions. Plugs, inserted from N. Y. by Ford Bond, were a bit gratliig; But 'then it is tough to produce copy for the product. ■■■ .Two-comedians-with-oneridea is a situation that has bobbed up re- peatedly through the present sea.son. And Sunday seems the one night when the odds favor.it It happened again (8) when Jack Benny, at'7, over NBC,, and Phil Baker, at 7:30, over CBS., had Mother's Day routines and also references (though here the resemblance was less close) to mayors. Both prograriis were puffing a bit from the hard, work of stabbing at the giggle-bag. Both h,id some clas.sy moments and funny gags. And both measured the: river bottom of humoiv - Lud Giuskin coine.s^up Sundays on CBS opposite the deadly competition of, Chase & Sanborn. But while names of that arr:iy and strength are. tough tu face. :the Giuskiii kind of music continues a blausible clalhi On listener loyalt.v. ■ Plenty of color, warmth and rich melody in the Gluskiii arrangeiticnts. BERNARD MULLINS With Fred Wade, Harold Kolb 'Stories in Song' IS Mins.—Local Bradford Oil Burner Thnrsdity, 7:45, p.m. WTIC, Hartford This 15 minute dramatic, show scripted, by . Leonard Patricelli. is tagged 'Stories in. Soijg' with a new sketch eabh week. Combines drama i>nd romance brought to lire;tlu-bugh the voice of the 'Ol Colonel iBer- nard MuUins). .Stanza .caught tagged 'Knights of the Road.' had an appropriate Mothei-'s Day theme. Effectively acted by MuUins who handles all the character voices, each divorced from the other in tone and understand- able. Tbld'ot a young chap run- ning away from home. Takes to the freight yards. Runs into two veteran hardboiled hobos. After a few minutes of chatter one Of them suddenly becomes' softboiled: on hearing the name of. the boy, who reveals that he never .knew his father. Teeds the boy with advice and points him out the error of his ways.. Points-out that it is be.st that-he stay at home with mother, making a play for the'heart throbs, with plenty of pathos and bathos. When the boy turns: in his tracks and make.s for honie the audience learns - that the hobo is the boy's father. Which -is coincidence, in caps. . Interspersing the sketch are songs presumably sung by the hobos but actually sung'.' by Fred 'Wade. Throughout in the background are organ melodies, by Harold Kolb, varying with the mood of the plot. Show has nice family appeal. Good reaction; here. Commercials at start and eiid of program, each of 50 sec- onds duration, with GeOrge Bowe at the mike. £ck. BRASS BUTTONS REVUE With NBC Pages and Guides 38 Mins. Sustainilng WEAF-NbC, New York Brass Button? Revue, in the fourth annual edition unfolding talent possessed by NBC pages and guides Heard over the . red web Saturday afternoon. Smoother than the aver- age air show by:amateurs. Although it lacked variety^inging was the main item aijd inuch of this in poo style—the show had polish, for an effort of the kind. ■ • -n Obviously, Dorh Davis, editor of the NBC Transmitter, -rehearsed the young men plenty. They displayed a higher degree of mike poise than the usual neophytes presumably due to- daily contact ith professional broadcasters. Joe Allen, a drawling North Garo- linap, cmcecd the revue', presented 'before a studio audience. - George Brengel. a. student in' NBC . mike- men's school, announced it Brengel- soimded like a full'fledged wordman Allen handled himself well, although his breezy, wise cracking inanner' seemed imitative,. His final pun should have been tossed oiit a win- dow of RCA building. A contributing factor to smooth running of -the i-evue was the play- ing of a house orchestra under- Norman. Cloutier's direction. Tom Eldridge led off, with 'I Could Use a Dream.' Paul Owen following Kim, delivered' nicely as a tenor. Pat O'Connor soiig-styled 'Love. Walk In.' Incidentally, O'ConnOr. one ot two pages questioned by Allen as lb their, most unusual experience in' guiding, prbved to be a clear, ready talker—a potential' anivoiancer. Both incidents concerned failure to recog- nize a big.wig (a favorite subject with NBC pre.ss agentry): one. Joliii D,. Rockefeller, the other, arlciie Dietrich. Bill Gordon, a bass baritone, and Webb Tilton, a .baritone, displayed voices and styles of the more legiti- mate school, ilichard Barron warbl 'One. Song.' for the closer, Dwayne Stewart led a number bt his own orchcstr.ntion, and the; Locker Room Quartet hnrnionied well. Listeners were asked to vote their choice, the young man drawin.g the highest total: to ..receive an extra week's vacation with niiy. iaiers also invited to visit Radio Cil.v, Jiicp. 'THE UNION PACIFIC With Elliott Bereteld, John Dawson, Leon Marion; Bud I,ucketl,' Ed Harmon, Haskell Schwartibergcr, Viacent Vernon, Dun Zimmerman and Russ David's orch 30 Min.—Local ST. LOUIS S.<%FE DEPOSIT ASSN. Thursday, 9:30 p.m. KSp, SI, Louis (Jim Oangherty) . istory of building of Union Pacific railroad from.Omahai to the Rockies, grippingly unfolded, was another of the complete epLsodes in the Paths ot Destiny programs that are produced and aired from KSD. Program was chuck full of 'educational' value. Cast assembled by Frank Eschen, the station's program director, who produced the show clicked and Russ David's orchestra scored with.b;ack- ground music which the pr.ogcajn: c^olled for at frequent intervals. 'While more school' children might listen to these programs, were the lime ad.vanced a bit the . historical valu is Sufficient to make thorn miss an e.-irly retiring hour once a week. Dialers can thiiiik the banki ollcis for no interruptions as tile cOinnierciiils, refreshingly brief, came only at the beginning and end of tlie pr.ogi am. "(iliu. VINCENTE GOMEZ Gnllarlsl 10 Mins. CAMEL Tuesday, 9:,?8 p.m. WABC-CBS, New York , , (Esly) Spanish guitarist - who has won notice for his classy cla.s.sical string- twinging scored smartly guesting (26) on the Bcntiy Goodman show for the . ciggie ; account, bbodniaii caught him at Havana-Madrid, N. Y., ni,tery, and .used him as one of the few cla&sical-iiuisic dispensers, he has ever used, StOnt ;.was libt only iSomething of a volte fince for. the program, but the Goinez job- was in the groove for the program. Played 'Gran Jote,' one Of. the best known of all pieces pehfted for the guitar, and also one of his Own com- positions, 'La Farruca.' Strumming" was faster than that pace which Gome? usually affects. Probably Goodman wanted it that way.-, For the close student (or are there any appreciable iiumbers ?) of clii.ssical guitar the sneeded pace was not as enjoyable. For it obliterated .some of the niceties and iiilricucics ot Gomez style. art. RONALD GRAilAM Baritone 30 Mins. CHESTERFIELD Wednesday, 9 p:ni. WABC-CBS, New York (NeweU-EmvieU): Ronald Graham, bariton , st heard in musical show, 'Virginia.' fitted in smoothly on Grace Moore- Andre Kostelaiietz prograrri tor Chesterfield biggies: Did only ' ith a Song in My Heart' but put this across with verve. Got maxiniuiii of variation in this song. S6ems nicely adapt to air medium and suf- ficiently strong for a repeat. Graham has been^ signatured, for St. Louis concert season,, it vi/.-is aii'.- annpunced. Mr. McCORMICK-bEERINU .Varieties With Nick Scheel as ni.c. 30 Minx.—Local INTERNAT. HARVE.S'TER. CO. KGLO, Mason City, la. McCormick-Deering Varieties show May 3 was high-lighted with the gucst-artisl p.a. ot Phil Grogan. Or- rin Tucker's arranger. Giogan played the like, tickled the ivories aiid in- troduced the new tune penned bv. Tucker and himself, 'Especially for You.' . ■ Mac and His International Truck- ers supiily the music tor the .30-min- ule program, while the warblers arc Iroin the same crew. M.c. n this pleiisaiit 30. minutes of melody which hits the KGLO air- lanes each noon, " ick Scheel. He's! oC lib. FLOYD WALTER Orgahi.st 15 Miiis.—Loc'al WARNERBROS. Thursday, <l:30 A.M. WOWO, Albany Walter, who'has played the or.ijiiiv at man.v local theatres and. who iiow mai\ipulate.s the city carillon as well as directs church and other cliyrul groups, does a. stint here pii the studio console, arncr Bi'othois sponsors the program, as an 'adver- tisement for chain's Madison. It iJ listenable morning feature, althbu.^h. not quite up to the .standard ot sojnc others, which -Walter has pi-escnlcd during years of broadcasting u^er WGY and WOKO. One reason is fact. studio or.gaii docs not compare in lone and'elTodS (particularly the latter) with Ihe bi bonsolcs Walter played iii th'catros using a radio wire. 'Another cau-^rt at least on salvo heard—is the u.-ie ot too many 'wai* horses,' A i)."!- ter mixlure of current' tuns.s with tandard.s would raise the stiinrtard; entertainment—of .•<«t lea.sl. - ■'>f. Daut, 'showmanship. Jae».