Variety (Jun 1938)

VARIETY RADIO Wetlnesdaj, June 1, 1938 Tough Curfew In British Guinea But on Special Qccasiont Folks Can Listen After 11 EM. or Before 7 A.M. Trinidad, May 21. Receiving sets tuned in after 11 p.m. in Trinidad and British Guiana, South America, get the listener, if nabbed, the alternative oi for ing up a $25 fine or cooling his heel^ in tlife clink. It's against local anti- noise ordinances. Gurlew.is strictly enforced by the gandarmes and vio- lators are dealt witli iminediately. Rule covers morning listening ' as well, 6 a.m. being the earliest for pickups. E.Kceptions are allowed only on certain occasions and then only by official sanctipn of the Wireless Authority which runs okay notices on the front pages of local dailies. Then it's only for important sports events, etc., shortwaved Iroin the U. S. or EnglanQ For the Engineers San Francisco, ay 31. eard on a local radio trans- itter switchboard: ' ill you please lower the. power of your station right away? y" chil- dren are trying to sleep and the programs are coming in much too loud." Another listener phoned to report, 'Wayne King's music is uch too soft. Will you please try to make it louder? We're haying.a dance here.' iHT'L SILVER COMES BACK FREE SPEECH, AND PIENTY, ON PICK-UP Buffalo, Local listeners got the hottest ear- ful of sex arid crime heard over the waves hereabouts in many a long day when a talk by Leslie N. Ford, Buffalo newspaperman, to the Erie County Grand Jurors' Association was broadcast over station WEBR. Dilating on sex' crimes, Ford quoted various medical and psychi- atric authorities on. sex aberrations. Perversion was. intimately .detailed. In view of some of the restrictions recently imposed by the networks, the talk was doiible breath-stopping; Nancy Hard, blues: singer and staff artist at KTUL, Tulsa, to do three sustaining programs on NBC. Suigs under the name of Paula Durand. International Silver will return to the radio this fall. Probably in Oc- tober,' probably on CBS, but details not. set. Will be half hour of dramatics from Hollywood, as before. Rotating giiest stars. Young & Rubicam pro- ducing. SYMPH SANS COMMENT Organ Fill-In During Philadelphia Intermission At Bobin Hood Dell Philadelphia, May 31. When WFlt. pumps Philly Orch Robin Hood Dell concerts to Mutiial later this month, there'll be no.gabby commentators to fill in the intermis- sion. Sam Rosenbaum, WFIL prez, and v.-p. of tlie Orch Association, has ruled against it Program instead will be-returned to studio for organ interlude de- signed to fit in musically virith the Dell concert newsboy parade may make plenty of talk this week. 7he same boys four or live weeks from now will be just another parade • to ho-hum over. The first time it possesses novelty. On a repeat it lacks that essential quality. Which is not saying that the idea, will not be new again a year from now, If it is, iised in between something must be done to give it the sem- blance of freshness. Recently the United Artists staged a couple of juvenile parades in New York for Tommy Kelly, of 'Tom Sawyer' fame. Right on top of that the LOew theatres staged a kid pa- rade. It would have been a washout e.Ncept for' the fact that the Loew kids were all on roller skates. The novelty coriimandsd mSny times the- attention of the first layout. If an early repeat is had, the kids will cither have to mount bicycles or walk on-their hands. The Carpet Caf Once the late Ralph RufTner stretched a length of red velvet car- pet from the curb to the box office. It. 'woi-ked so well he decided to re- peat. But he knew that the second time it would be just a strip of bar- pet, so he provided his" uniformed porter with a broom to keep the carpet eleaii, and just to make sure,' he sprinkled the sidewalk on either side with talcum powder, and the porter kept busy. So did the ticket seller. There is no more widely used idea than the, names-inrthe-classified in which passes are. donated ais prizes arid the newspaper kicks in with a front-page box. One newspaper ran the gag for so long that, the advertis- ing manager finally threw it out, and it is going to be hard to get back in again. The contest was slightly varied from time to time, but the essential was not, and the advertising manager London, May 20. Quaintest reason discovered by B.B.C. for riot Introducing the spelling bee over Its Welsh transmitter, which puts pro- grams out in the language of Wales, was that contests would not have the appeal they proved to have on the English stations due to every word in .Welsh, be- ing spelt as it is pronounced!. Americans who may not be fa- miliar with that crackjaw lingo might try out their pronuncia- tion on 'tilanfairwllgwyhByllgo- geL-ychwyrngroblllandysillillgo- goggoeh,' which is a real Welsh name! STEAL AOTO RADIOS New Rarket In Canada—-ThievCB Don't Touch Other Accesso'rUs Toronto,- May 31. Sequel to the recent outbreak oif daily thefts of cars equipped with radios, police liere are searching for the clearinghoiise and the- members of this specializing, ring. Procedure is to steal the parked car, later strip it of its radio, and then abandon the riiachine. In no case have isuch stolen cars been stripped of other accessories..- Police believis that the stolen radios are not being put back on the Torbnto market but are hieing taken to other cities and there disposed of through small garages or radio deal- ers. Difliculty of identifying such stolen'.sets adds to the problem. Air Rife with Candidates Try ins Regi to find anytlii eiec- watctied the response drop from 1,500 nio„ speeches on Saskatchewiin air replies the first week.to.28 letters m ' the third month. People had grown BEST BAND BUY OF THE YEAR! Organized lesi than six months—booked more than ;six nionths ahead! That's un- heard of in die hisnd busi- ness! From Victor Records to the RCA-Victor radio commercial to college proms to the Glen Island Casino, where the band is now a sensation, and alreadysigned for the Hotel Lincoln and Paramount Theatre in Oct. —that's the success story of tired of the idea through repetition Moreover the stunts must lie suited to the picture being sold. The. same sort of campaign cannot be used, for a Marx Bros, picture and a prestige feature such as 'Marco Polo;' yet Polo should have as many exploita- tion angles as the clowning, but those ■who will most, enjoy the Goldwyn production will not respond to the same rowdy: style of ballyhoo. One complaint, and it seems to be. logical, is that top many pictures fol- low a cycle. One manager wrote recently that he was getting, so rhanjr prison pictures from Warners that he let his prison lobby stand and just changed the title. He was do- ing nothing of tlie sort, but it shows his state of mind. But it is possible to vary even here. One alert exiiibitor advertised 'After the' Thin Man' by placarding all fire hydrants with -'Reserved for Mr. Smith,' that being the cast name of the pooch used in 'The Thin Man.' these days has dialers mifTed. A week ago stations here estimated two hours a day being average of talk. Bet now is, with election due June 8, air time will be doubled before thie cut-pfT, 48 hours before balloting. Provincial networks es cially heavy as each party, especially Liberal government party, seeks to grab .all air time in sight; Added to headaches of station ofTicials trying to satisfy everybody's demand for speech, ti is fact every speech most be subrnitt in advance and read by station exec, to eliminate stuff tabooed by CBC regulations. Social Credit workers have been thei only ones lax in getting air time. Just why is not understood.as .Social Credit swept to victory in Alberta, adjoining province, mainly by air stuff. Understood, however, that 'Professor Orthodox' is coming to join Premier Aberhart, already here, in a platform- and radio series. Arthur W. Wray (Prof. Orthodox) Larry Clinton and his orchestra In Canada No band ever went up so far so fast! No leader ever cut loose with five song hits (including: an ASCAP prize winner, "'Dipsy Doodle") in as many months! So no mat- ter WHEN you need music, for a ra<^ jurogram or what have you—get in touch with Rockwell-O'Keefe NOW to discuss Larry Clinton, the best band buy of this or any other year! Ernie Slronc, CKCK, Regina, en- gineer, back after six weeks' motor vacation In Chicago, Boston, New. York... Lloyd Westmoreland, an- nouncer, touring NBC studios in Chi- cago... Al Smith, pianist-salesman, back from visits to ontana and North Dakota. Here one picture was made to help \ generally has appeared in cap, gown its sequel. H"<1 ^^Ise beard to 'debate' on^plat- The gag wasn't In the press book. fo.i'm with Aberhart Usually winds The best gags seldom are. The press i up by entangling himself in his own book->writers cannot possibly Jive all questions, etc, new stunts on any picture when the boss wants to advertise '50 exploita- tion suggestions.' They manage to get some good ideas and fill in with' standard stuff, and if the exhibitor can get one or two helpful sugges- tions frorn any one press ttook, he has no kick' coming. He can take those and adapt them to local condi- tions. It is no alibi to complain about press books. The real hustler can always get some help, l^ut if he knows his business, he can think up better ideas for his house and his public than any long-distance press book, writer ever can. This is no time, to be offering ex- cuses, though plenty of alibis suggest themselves. It's a tinrie to be getting out and hustling, to be doing all possible to engage interest in the pic- tures being presented, always re- membering that it Is not what a stunt costs, but what it will bring in that counts. And it often will hap- pen that a stunt that costs nothing at all will bring in more coin than an expensive float or a brass band concept in the lobby. If a manager cannot think up .■sell- ing ideas, he is not a manageiv He's Gala Getaway For Buenos Aires City-Owned LSI uenos .\ires, Inauguration of the new city- owned broadcast station Radi u- nicipal (LSI), operated in connec- tion, with the" Colon opera house, took place last night Alfredo Sau7.e, LSl's artistic director, introduced the s tion, a 50,000 waiter, to foreign listeners,, his message t)eing trans- mitted over the short-wave stations LSK2, LSK3 and LSK4 of the Com- pania International de Radio Argen- tina, and afterward rebroadcast by the principal station in every South Americajn country. Mayor LaGuardia of NeW York made speech over NBC!- short-wave. After his greetings arid best wishe» to the new broadcast^ good-will mes- sages and congratulations followed from the mayors of London, Guate- mala .City, erne, Paris, Rio de Janeiro. Berlin, Lima, Rome, Monte- video and Asuncion, to each of whom Sauze. replied Individually acknowl- edging their greetings and thanking thiem for their good wishes.- bfficial part of the program lasted nearly one bour. Entertainment ran two. hours with about'50 different acts heard. Music ranged from Bee- thoven's 8th Symphony, executed by. the 90 members of the Colon opera orchestra, to the newest tango of the cPmposer-batonist Enrique San- tos Discepolo. Show was on a non- commercial basis. Only one an- nouncement had been given during the opening night, that a program, si ilar to that just produced, would be sent every Sunday in a total num- ber of 25, sponsored by ttie Ford Motor C;o. A swell extra break for advertiser. One disc was inserted, an aria, sung by Lily Pons.' It was to Im- oress the fact that the song.ttress be- longs to the artist list of LSI, when, and as her p.a. at the Colon o ra starts. Following orchestras, sirigers and soloists, were the prestige-buildei-s of Radio Municipal, LSI.: Colon opera symphony orchestra. Ilja Livshakoff' Viennese orches- tra. Paul Coelho's razilian orchestra. Jan Schaff's balalaika orchestra. Roberto Firpo's tango orchestra. : Enrique Santos Discepolo's tango orchestra. Pedro. Laurenz* tango orchesl Santa Paula Serenaders. Eddie Kay's Alabama Jazz, Sam Reznik Jazz. Kings of Rhyth Viennese Singin Blue Stars. Colon opera chorus. June Marlowe. Helen Jackson. Rosemarie Dyck. Perla Mux. Guy Montana. Jack Shirley. Hugo del Carril. Maruja Pacheco Huergo. La Serranita. Broadc is of opei-a from (Movent Garden, where season ends June 17, will be followed by transmission's from Glyndebourrie Festival, where B.B.C. will air first , act of Mozart's 'Don Giovanni.' Il'tvood Downbeat (Continued from page 1) ficed; second, the period when com- edy was added to music; third, the' stunt period, when amateur shows and other such riovelties hit ttie air- >A the hous. oponer_ and _s,u;Mer. j '^:^':^:\rZCH'i^'^ And we have far too many of these. ROCKWELL-O'KEEFE INC. iaW.VMK :« CMOOO • MOUYwew • un imnowo • ■«f IIJ »c.ji r 111 ttf^j?! 1. (41, ^ y > ; J V Gag College Decrees will come to the fore. Presence in San Francisco ot out- standing dramatic talent, workman- like personnel, appreciative public, Chick Webb to get an M.D. from and Coast headquarters of many pcnioj-s of New York University Juiie , leading agencies and sponsors, Ruff- ^ ' -- - _ ^^^^ believes, will assure the radio fiilure of San Francisco. Union mu- sicians also are available here at Couple of months ago he was tagged with an M.S. from Yale. All gag stuff, m.d. standin.e for master, of drums. Other stands for inore attractive rates thaix in Los master of swing. j .-^iigele-s, he pointed out. Studios at station CKGB, Timmins, Ont., have been completely, rebuilt. What b NEW In RADIO? See Page 39