Variety (Jun 1939)

38 VARIETY RADIO REVIEWS Wednesday, June 28, I939 Follow-Up Comment AI Mitchell, ex-maestro' .of Paul Whitemaa band units and picture house m.c, is a pretty good con- ferencier through the years on WOR as The Answer Man. Provident Loan is the sponsor and the Q. and A. routine glibly gets in a plug on.how to effect a loan, along with the rou- tine quizzes. What distinguishes Mitchell's pro- gram is a good editing job as he mixes up the wide assortment of in- quiries. Whether primed or just a judicious culling of queries, it's good showmanship. There's always a quota of Rlpleys — and equaUy strange are some of the odd things people want to know about Sir Percy Bates, chairman of the Cunard Line, and Mayor I^aGuardia were plenty Rotarian on the WOR- Mutual coast-to-coast hookup as part of 'Our Neighbors.' Mayor spoke to the Incoming new Cunarder, the Mauretania, at that time. 1,400 miles out at sea, steaming' west on her maiden voyage to America. Johnny Johnstone, WOR's special eventsman, first picked it up from Dave Dris- coll end Jerry Danzig, and thence put Sir Percy on. New York's Mayor spoke from Buffalo whence he had been called on a social confer- ence mission. The Little Flower put it on. plenty In behalf of the N.Y. World's Fair, ostensibly as host to the new Cun- arder's captain and crew, but seem- ingly with full knowledge of the vast U.S. hinterland, that was hooked up lor this radio-telephony two-way conversation. The Idea Itself was showmanly. LaGuardia didn't im- press as a radio voice with bis too deliberate enunciation, although that certalnljr insured clarity. Sir Percy imfalteringly crosstalked with New York's chief magistrate, and both made it almost a dual commercial— for the Cunard Line and its almost 100 years of seamanship, and for Grover Whalen's expo. As part of Our Neighbors—all of It's picked up from the N. Y. Fair- grounds—one Ted Goldstein, kazoo pitchman, was introduced for a spe- cialty. Goldstein sells the kazoos as part of a regular pitch—professes never to have shills — and demon- strates unusual skill on the cheap musical makeshift. This, coupled with a particularly good address, suggests him as a novelty bet with a band act, or the like. George Jeasel's Jamboree is a breezy half hour of this 'n' that on WJZ. Wednesday evenings, Reid's Melorol ice cream is the sponsor. Anything that's billed as a Jamboree almost bespeaks one of those Barn Dance or glorified hillbilW medleys. Jessel makes his pseudo-Uncle (Sam Colvin) a citT-slicker 'blllyi Ernest Chappell is the m.c and commercial spouter; Mary Small does pops; Stuart Allen ditto and Richard Him- ber, essaying for a new band style seemingly — more swingo — Is the musical backgrotmd besides handling some lines in fair fashion. . Jessel breezes through in nice ^We. jilvrays has a skit and finales with the Hello Mom phone routine. Thfc skits are spotfy; this past Wednesday's butler routine was one of the lesser efforts. . 'Bfh Bom* assumed the confer- encier assignment of the Kraft Mu- sic Hall last Thursday (22) with aU the necessary aplomb and the score on humor was pretty high. Jack Oakie was equipped with a script that was essentially funny and the cross-needling smacked of good taste and wit Harry Carey, the other guest from the film colony, packed lots of human interest fiavor and comedy Into bis recollections of his pioneermg days before the camera. As for the vocal department, the grogram is well set for Bing Cros- ys 13-week absence. The interim should do much to build Pat Friday, ^•..;^^J"'"'o^8''l' major favor with the fans. Her voice is clear, lyricu and likeable, while the Music Maids, rhythm trio, contribute the right amount of salt and pepper to the show's vocal casserole. The People's Platform (CBS) since Its transfer for a four-week period to the Pacific Coast has presented several markedlv calm discussions of stormy capital-labor problems in that area. Also a symposium on ♦Democracy and Motion Pictures,' in which Walter Wanger, Melvyn Douglas, Rodney PanUges and a stenographer (latter representing an approximation of average film fan) took part. Wanger and Douglas ar- gued for production of more fihns dealing reallsUcally with national and international questions' of the day. Pantages took the exhibitors' viewpoint that the primary aim of pictures should be to entertain rather, than to "propagandize.' The woman, weU spolcen, supported him for most part. Usual question as to what is Tropagandn' came up; no agreement reached.' Near the conclusion. Dr. Lyman Bryson interjected the mat- ter: 0/ censorship. Wanger, who slipped in plugs for two of his '(heme' pictures, was blasting at dif- ferences in standards of state boards, etd, as tnbie mikes were. silenced. Motion pictures also figured in the restrained discussion of the touchy (tor Californians) migratory work- ers' problem. Steinbeck's 'Grapes of Wrath,' its purchase by 20th Cen- tury-Fox, the fiood of protest let- ters from many parts of the cotm- try, an inspection trip of camps by Herman Joy with Tom Collins (to whom book is dedicated, although he has not read it), and Joy's re- mark to Collins, a round tabler, that Steinbeck could have put it stronger, were mentioned. Fred Allen wrung a stream of laughs from his interview with Jess Kizis, cameraman of Movietone News. However, he ad libbed . to the point where he made mistakes in reading set lines and overplayed to the studio audience. Latter habit or fault is noticeable on many of the Town Hall comedian's broad- casts. His asides to visuals, and sometimes to cast members, are much funnier to in-persons than to mere listeners. Allen had Kizis laughing from the outset when Fred stumbled on 'pos- terity' and then cracked 'I would not know how to pronounce that, I never met them.' One nifty, after Kizis said Movietone had kept In vaults negative of every one of the 50,000.000 feet it shot, was 'Add a 'Donald Duck' and a travelog to that and you will have enough for a pro- gram at a neighhorhood movie the- atre.' Another. concerned Allen's seeing Tony Galento on the screen; followed by a trailer for 'Dark Vic- tory.' LUIian GlBh, Introduced as a star of silent screen, spun interesting yams on European travels, in a guester on 'Hobby Lobby.' One con- cerned an incident in a tiny Al- banian town where a peasant woman gave Miss GIsh a wide berth, ap- parently believing she was a ghost. The reason: only film Albanian had seen, and that 'at the monaster^,' was 'White Sister,' in which Miss Gish starred. Another story was about detention in Serbia because of a misunderstanding as to sig' niflcance of red, white and blue bow around neck of a Scotty dog owned by Gish sisters. Closed with a joke about herself and nine weeks' run of last play in which she appeared. Esra Stone and two children of Elaine Sterne Carrington, radio writer, were attention-holding talk- ers on "We, tiie People.' Reason for Stone's appearance was to plug spotting of "The Aldrlch Family' as summer substitutes for Jack Benny program (same sponsor). Described as Broadway's youngest manager, 20-year-oId Stone told how he had taken over 'What a Life' on a co- operative basis with fellow actors, from George Abbott. Related exploi- tation stunts undertaken touched on his high school days in Philadel- phia, where classmates thought he was a bum actor, and yarned about casting break given by Abbott. Patricia Carrington, 14, and her 10-year-61d brother storied about The Jolly Roger,' paper they pub- lish with 'a nation-wide circulation' of 400. This bit was scripted with a light, deft touch. Fan letters re- ceived from Fanny Brice, Franchot Tone and Helen Hayes; one article by theiir mother rejected "because it was not up to standard'; dad writes a question-answer column. Gabriel Heatter,' program conductor, offered to submit a piece. Boy replied that if it were okay, Heatter would be paid regular rate, 'five cents a page.' Miss ■ Carrington's voice soimded very smooth for a girl of her age; suggested professional training or possibilities. Brother's that of tji>ical. boy. Alee Templeton, reviving all his nitery routines, is as new to the radio as was Edgar Bergen and his dummy when they first hit the air with stuff they've been doing for years In vaudeville, cafes and WB shorts. Templeon's radio satire Sim- day night (25) is a- sUndard with the blmd piano-comedian when he was first at New York's Rainbow Room. utilizing McCarthy as a comedy foil, of course, is Chase & Sanborn's own wrinkle, and very good. As was Templeton's musical impression of Don Amcche, which was glibly pre- explained, so that no interpreter was needed for this sort of Inter- pretative music.' Jack Benin's finale from Wauke- §an, ni., his Hoitae town, was good ual showmanship for Paramount's Man'>.About'-Town' film starring Benny and for Jello, his sponsor. Plus a good stopgap to break the jump from L. A. to N. Y. What's more, it was a brighter show than has been Benny's average in recent weeks. Getting the town's mayor to stooge that way for the Jello plug was just a shade overboard, so far as the dig- nity of that office is concerned. But considering the general .'hometown spirit It was acceptable, and prob- ably won't get the Mayors Assn. of America too peeved. Show ran nearly five minutes short, and the band Interludes had to be stretched plenty. • Grade Allen, trawlbig for laughs from the deck of 'Information, Please,' last week landed quite a few. These constituted cute seizures of several opportunities. They were obtained 'wfth vocal inflections and stock tricks. Quibblers may say—and are—that the quiz has hoked itself into some- thing quite different from what it started out to be. It appears to be a question of how many listeners the conscious playing for hoke pleases and attracts, as against how many the same technique bores and loses. Program must be plenty tough to handle. 'DEMOCRACY IN ACTION' With Henry H. Neely, Albert Hayes, Carol Evans, Reynolds' Evans. Don Baker, Walter Greau, Sanford Blckart 3t Mins. Snstalninr Sunday, 2 p. m. WABC-CBS, New York. Sunday afternoon sustalner series is broadcast in association with the Office of Education of the Depart- ment of the Interior and is aimed to supplement the U. S. Government exhibits in the Federal building at the New York World's Fair. Show Is produced and directed by Earle McGlU, scripted by Merrill Denison, with incidental music by Rudolph Schramm. - Stanza caught (25) was a sort of Cavalcade of American Industry, depicting the beginnings of the in- dustrial revolution, touching on some of the principal inventions that changed our mode of living, treat- ing oh the expanding functions of the Government to meet the increas- ingly complex setup and concluded on a note of uncertainty as to the unsolved problems still facing the country. Method of presentation used a combination of drama-and- flashback, March of Time, Living Newspaper and several other techni- ques. Show was surprisingly lifelike radio entertainment considering the impersonal and intangible nature of the material. Had clarity of theme and action and maintained pace. Was well, directed, but none of the parts offered opportunities for in- dividuality of performance. Hobe. ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦« Television ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦«♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦«♦♦♦♦' BAY PERKINS With Flfl D'Orsay, Conrad* Mas- ■agver, Martha Graham, Rani and Eva Beyes, Khnmba Band 8:39 PJtL Tharsday, June 22, 1939 BCA-NBC, New York Revue such as telecast by RCA NBC . Thursday (22) needs balancing but there is no doubt that the hour passes quick as m.c. Ray Perkins said it would. There is, of course, a distinct difference from radio pro- grams, there being no attempt to indicate the eavesdropping presence of an audience. Lighting department will stand plenty of improvement Noticed that the dark shades or brunet types are much clearer than blondes or inter- mediates. That was most apparent when Fifl D'Orsay came on, in place of Singin' Sam. It may be that the French lingo girl is more photogenic or more familiar with the requisite make-up, but she registered better than another dark-haired girl who sang with the rhumba orchestra from the Cuban Pavilion, located at the World's ^ir. Miss D'Orsay's top number was about a Scotch girl with 'If You Want to See Paree'. Okay. Ray Perkins introduced the CU' bans, mentioning the musicians as a quartette, though it is a quintette, not counting the eirl. warbler, who used a string instrument She amused with a lyric about how the rhumba started. It seems that a fiea hopped onto the shoulder of a girl dancer and she couldn't'get it off any other way, says this one from Havana. (In the interior of Cuba they have a different story to tell),. Raul and Eva Reyes, dance team from La Conga, did their ."stuff, while another item from the land of manana was the cartoonist Con rado Massaguer, who worked mueh the same as other sketch artists. Once the crayon dropped and that reproductidn was authentic. He talked clearly, wiped off the perspi- ration indicating he was cooking under high-powered lights, and sev- eral times the shadow of a hanging microphone flashed onto his face. Roosevelt, La Guardia. and Dewey were among the Massaguer draw- ings. Martha Graham, exotic dancer, had two numbers, one just fair, be- cause of lighting defects that still hamper television. The other was in modern costume and bit too long. Perhaps the best of the broadcast ^as a sketch running about 13 min- utes, it being Aaron Hoffman's The Honeymoon'. Except for Intruding noises the performance promises something from the drama for tele- vision and it would seem that per- formances from the stage are practi- cal if the problem of carrying through average stage presentations is solved here as it has been in Lon- don. Sketch was well rehearsed and the players made no mistakes. Perkins seemed at home. His songs 'Sing a Sons of Sunbeams' and 'Mr. and Mrs. 'America' came over well. ibec. <THE ADVENTDItES OF ELLEBT QUEEN' With Princess Alexandra Krepotkln, Deems Taylor, Gellett Burgess, Ed Gardner, Hugh Marlowe, MarUn ShocUey, Santos Ortega, Howard Smith, Arthnr Allen, Den Costcllo, Kenneth Delmar, Hester Sender- gaard, Bath Yorke, AveriU Harris, James Van Dyke. e« Mins. Snstalning Sunday, 8 pjn. WABC-CBS, New York New whodunit sustainer' series Sunday nights over CBS is a twist on Mutual's 'Author, Author' stanza, which also features Ellery Queen and weekly guest fiction 'writers. In this version the mystery author'(ac- tually he's two persons, Manfred B. Lee and Frederick Dannay) is por- trayed on the show and has an ac tive part in the drama. He's prC' sented as a sort of super-Philo Vance with a precocious secretary- heart-throb, Nicki Porter. They stroll hand-in-hand into baffling murder cases and proceed to out-sleuth the professional coppers. . Just as all the facts are virtually In the bag. Queen steps out of char- acter and asks the assembled guests to guess who did what why and how. After some minutes of flound- ering and attempted wit, the pinch- hitters retire to the bench, while Queen and his sweetie unravel the final clues. Guest authors on last Sunday's 'Adventure of the Last Man Club' included Princess Alex- andra Kropotkin, Deems Taylor, Gelett Burgess and Ed Gardner. Attempt is being made to build Queen into a radio character, so the identity of the players who portray the author and Nicki Porter are sup- S>sed to be a . deep, dark secret owever, Hugh Marlowe plays Queen and Marian Shockley is the secretary-love interest. Former was vividly lifelike on the stanza caught but fluffed several lines. Miss Shock' ley was expressive and - animated, but the script over-emphasized the coyness in the part Others were pretty much standard. Lee-Dannay scripted the show, George Zachaiy. directs and Bernard Herman is composer-conductor. Hob«, CAPT. TIM HEALEY 'Science in the News' 16 Hlns.—Local SHEFFIELD MILK Mon.-Wed.-Frl., 6:39 PJW. 'WEAF, New York (W. W. Ayer) Capt. Tim Healey, the Uncle Don of the postage-stamps, now has a night-cap quarter-hour program for Shefflelds Milk, which he broadcasts from the RCA Bldg. at the N.Y, World's Fair thrice weekly, aided by Nelson Case, announcer. Healey's delivery is excellent for ether requirements. Speaking voice Is pleasant and clearly enunciated and tone ingratiatingly intimate and confidential Subject matter is wisely chosen. Should arouse keen interest among stamp collecting hobbyists and young students of history and geography. To illustrate last Mon- day (10) Healey told about the part memorial postage stamps played in establishing that the first white child bom in America was an Icelander, way back in 1009, and not Virginia Dare, in 1587. Other intriguing sidelights on his- torical points were dealt with in Healey's wide range of mental trav- eling. His description of Jain Temples and customs in India illus- trates the limitless scope of his talks. EBIC LLOYD THEATBE REVIEW' Snstalninr 15 Hlna.—Local Monday, 9:39 pja. CFCF, Montreal Authored by Kaye Morris, this 15- mlnute chat on films showing locally provides a guide to the relative mer- its of pictures. Theatre Review dif- fers substantially from current news- paper criticism in that it clearly rates weak product accordingly. With majority of notices either praising films extravagantly or avoiding opinions entirely, this stanza haa caught on solidly as a guide with listeners looking to it for a steer to the best shows in town. Eric Lloyd, commentator with an Oxford background, has engaging mike delivery. Not too blokey and easy enough to impress the average listener as well as the upper crust In addition to film criticism pro- gram covers activities of civic, col- lege and school amateur theatrical groups in Montreal as well as weekly comment on broad phases of develop- ments in the entertainment worlds tane. ■WOMEN IN THE NEWS' Phyllis Carter Sustaining IS Mlns.^Loeal Mon., Wed. & Frl.; 1:45 pjn. CFCF. Montreal Phyllis Carter, comparatively re- cent arrival on local air waves, is a pleasant femme chatterer, with Trans-radio copy limited to doini?.'! of women locally and round the world. Natural delivery, with good sense of news values evidenced in timin? and emphasis, makes It 9 spell easy to listen to. Has developed consid- erable following among women lo- cally and is easily the outstanding program of Its kind here. Mori. •YOUTH Vs. AGS' With Cal Tinney Qnis 30 Mins.—Loesl 'VINCE Tuesday, 7:30 pjn. WEAF, New York {Warwick & Legler) Just another variation of the quiz fad, low on Imagination and enter- tainment It's father against son and mother against daughter, with Cal Tinney's crossroads brand of humor added to the general flow of dullness. Tlnnev gives the impres- sion of having the cues for his gaga pretty well catalogued in advance. For example, mention is made of Hawaii. Tinney rings in-the word 'hula hula' and that reminds him that he 'once came clo^ to marry- ing a hula hula girl, but she wriggled out of it' Here's a sample of the question. Which is heavier, milk or cream? And as simple as most of the queries were the percentage of misses was up In the 90's. It was either an un- lucky crop or it's typical of the class that the program attracts. Vince mouthwash is the product plugged. It. Increases your smoking pleasure is the angle stressed. When poured into the mouth thousands ot oxygen bubbles are released and the aural sensation is a resounding 'ffwishhh.' '^'f'" Odec. ISABELLE MANNING HEWSON The Morning Market Basket' IS Mins.—Local SHEFFIELD FARMS M.-T.-T.; 9:30 AJH WEAF, New York (W. W. Aver) Show, which got under way last week, presents 'fascinating little stories'—to quote Miss Hewson in her opener — and facts on prices and qualities of foodstuffs as reported by the New York Bureau of Markets. Sponsor is Sheffield Farms and there's no forgrl'lng it. It's just Sheffield, Sheffield, Sheffield, by the announcer, by Miss Hewson and even by a guest until the show is in dan- ger ot loshig all of its authority be- cause it sounds as if the only things recommended by the commentator are those which would be good wiUi the sponsor's products under then^ over them or in them. Even the fascinating little story' when caught was somehow made to wind up as a moral for Sheffield. And Miss Hewson's manner of deliv- ering it, strictly hush-hush, was meant for nothing so much as The Shadow.' She's better on her mar- ket reports, which seem to have good Eossibility of becoming valuable to ousewives if they were treated with more fact and less drama. Supposed sock of the show caught was the Introduction of a guest—chef at Schaefer Centre at the World's Fair, ballyed as the country's biggest restaurant His Intro involved lengthy indulgence by Miss Hewson in French dialect, at which she's pretty good if there was any point in it when the man being imitated was standing next to her and could well have delivered it hlmsell The guest sounded like he might have an interesting talk but it turned out he was only there to tell how much Sheffield milk Schaefer Centre uses every day and he's going to come back some time later to tell his story. Herb. 'NANCY DIXON,' BOB HITE Chatter IB Mins.'—Local Cooperative Dally, 9 aJB. WXYZ. Detroit Chief asset of the Detroit-produced show, one of several spotted over the country, are the two principals, 'Nancy Dixon' and Bob Hlte. Former digs up the day's specials offered by better-rclass Detroit stores, and they're woven into a breezy bit of chatter reeled off by the femme and Hite. Latter is especially good. Because ot the manner In which stuff is penned, plus principals' de- liveries, strictly commercial copy sounds anything but that Pete. V. W. PETEBSON O-Men In AoUen' IS Minutes—Local Snstalning Tuesday, 7:45 pjn. WNAC, Boston _ This has the F3X through V. W. Peterson, New England agent tell* ihg bedtime stories of famous des- peradoes and how 'Crime Does Not Pay' when the bureau gets on its trail. Second program, caught for review, was the life story of Eddie Bentz, 'King of the Bank Robbers.' Detailed and dry recital of the viper's background, life, hobbies and perpetrations made a rather cumber- some interview between Peterson and staff announcer. ' . Peterson sounds like the Voice ot Experience, but does not have or use material to wake up audience. He has been a G-Man for nine years, taking part in the Dillinger hunt and the solution of the Bremer kid- napping but none of the exciting personal adventure material to be expected, is aired. Program is re- ported as effort of F.B.I, to 'battle crime on a new front,' but they haven't got the range. Showman- ship is missing. Fred Waring, in shorts. wUI iudse and distribute Boy Scout bugles at the N. Y. Faj? Thursday.