Variety (Aug 1939)

40 VARIETY RADIO REVIEWS Wednesday, August 2, 1939 'MEET THE DIXONS' with Barbara Weeks, Dick Wld- mark, Charles DInele Serial 15 MIns. FRANCO-AMERICAN SPAGHETTI Dally, 9:15 a.m. WABC-CBS, New York (Ruthrauff & Ryan) Love that aspires to matrimon}r on $15 a week is dramatized five times a week for Franco-American spa- ehetti at 9:15 a.m. W6sley' (Dick Widmark) and Joan (Barbara Weeks) are beset with financial em- barrassments. Their parents can't help, being themselves poor. , Wes- ley's boss (Charles Dingle) ' is a skinflint old bachelor who edits the local newspaper. He refuses the raise and fires Wesley. These elements are easy to under- stand and provoke quick sympathy. It's laid on thick, but with some 'art.* The situation is obviously one with millions of variations in small- town, depression-haunted lives all over the land. It presupposes that many women will weep with the daily installments. Show's nicely set up as to script and John Love- ton's direction. Experienced per- formers make the characters plaus- ible. ■ • Goodness is stressed for the prod- uct, a subsidiary of Campbell-soup. Land. CHARLES STOOKET 'The Country Jonrnal' 30 MIns. Sustaining - Sunday, 5 p.m. WABC-CBS, New York One more in the farmer-rbmancing series of programs emanating from CBS. Stookey is said to be an ex- farmer himself and consciously or unconsciously manages to sound like' he was at home with farmers and not a professional network an-; nouncer. He will hit a different; community each week. | First one comprised interviews with homefolksy visitors to the! Cleveland poultry show. Stookey made it reasonably interesting. I PACEMAKER CHRISTENING 15 MIns. N. Y. CENTRAL R. B. Friday, 6:45 p.m. WABC, New York ^Lord & Thomas) This one-slwlicr w-s another ex ample of the frequent misuse of radio for commercial propaganda. . It represented a coin wastage by the N. Y. Central R. R. and time wasted by anybody, except possibly the r.r.'s officials—who, with Variety's re- viewer, nay have remained listening for the entire 15 minutes. It was a major dose of boredom. Action took place in Grand Central depot, New York. Friday (28), just at the initial departure of the Cen- tral's new 17-hour coach train to Chicago. Charles Poletti, Lieutenant- Governor of N. Y., acted as dedi- cRtor. deliverin" a long-winded speech that contained all the cliches of small-tinii; oratory. It was some- thing like '...from the rock-bound shores of Maine to the golden coast . .' plus shouted eulogies of the train that sounded hot nfT an unimagina- tive p.a.'s typewriter. Then the announcer breathlessly asked the listeners to hear the crash of the champagne . bottle on the train's prow. There was a {>ause, then'. ■.. pop... • It was as exciting as a poetic reading. Announcer also stated that such sports figures as Lou Gehrig. Jack Dempsey and Jockey Don Meade were at hand. Dailies the same day displayed pictures of Dempsey con- valescing in the country with his family; Meade was riding that day at the Emoire City track, in Yonkers. Strangely enough, when the an- nouncer figured on calling the sports celebs to the mike, they were on board examining the train and couldn't be reaclied. An American Legion commander, en route to Syra- cuse, was one of the layman eulogists dragged in by the heels instead. An early speaker was Richard E. Daugherty, v.p. of N. Y. Central, who introduced Poletti. A big ho-hum. Scho. STANDS^ OUT COLUMBUS ^//ifouHeediHCeMfra/OAi'o SOOOwflnSPAY 1000WflnS NIGHT JohnBlairSCa.l NAN WYNN ON "TIME TO SHINE" TuesdoYS 10 P^, EDST CBS Network Mgt.: Columbia Artists, Inc. GEORGE RAFT 'BuIIdof Drummond,' with Betty Winkler, Elliott Lewis PROCTER Sc GAMBLE Wednesday, 9 P. M. WABC-CBS, New York (Kastor) Playing the ro!e of the Enslish freelance sleuth for the Knicker- bocker Playhouse (assisted by Chi- cago players, Betty Winkler and El- liot Lewis), George Raft wasn't very convincing. Impression was not pri- marily the result of Raft's treatment but rather of weak writing. Whole thing seemed scripted with a tongue- in-cheek attitude and dialog that in- cluded sentences that rang hollow. Story concerned the rescue of a rich citizen from the hands of a gang that was keeping him under the in- fluence of dope, meanwhile bleeding him of his fortune via the forgery ability of one. Fare seemed in line with usual Drummond Alms as far as basic story went, but hardly summed up as an attractive trailer for them. Another thing very no- ticeable at times was the wide differ- ence between the Drummond role and Raft's usual film assignments. Story was split into two acts to al- low insertion of commercials. In this case it broke the continuity and made it hard to pick ud the thread, another fault of the writing. BEACH NEWS With William Elliott B MIns. BASK WICC, Bridgeport Sunburn product, Bask, is reaching the right market among Connecticut shore resorts. William Elliott, WICC station announcer-scripter, gathers news of events at beaches and puts it together into an interesting report of tide conditions, water temperatures, etc. Three flve-minuters are spotted Friday evening, Saturday a.m. and Saturday night, right times for shore addicts. Specialized service, and likely 1o Bet results. Elem. IMPORTANT! HER HONOR, NANCY JAJVIES is now available for new sponaorsliip. HER HONOR, NANCY JAMES with forty-three consecutive weeks on CBS for Klcenev lias become daytime radio's fastest rising—most dynamic Ave-a-weeker. HER HONOR, NANCY JAMES is now a proven, tested program with a large and loyal following. HER HONOR. NANCY JAMES is the best daytime radio buy today. I would like the opportunity of talking to you and telling you why. ED. WOLF, Wolf Associates, Radio City, N. Y. Mgr. "The O'Neills" (Ivory) "Hilltop House" (PalmoUve) HORACE HEIDT ORCHESTRA 'Could Be' (Game) 30 MIns. TUMS Monday, 9:30 p.m. WEAF-NBC, New York ■ (StQck-Goble) Heidt is just back liom an ap- pendectomy. Meantime, his program lor Turns has shifted from a Thurs- day quarter hour 19 a Monday half- hour. Program consists of inter- mittent orchestral numbers, vocals and a re-titled variation of- Heldt's familiar "Answers from the Dancers' as done at the Drake, Chicago, and the Biltmore, New York, on sus- tainers. The audience participation part is built UD into a 'game' called 'Could Be.' The formula for the show is as follows: (a) have married couple celebrating some occasion asked a silly au3stion that's apt to provoke an ami'sing reply or get a laugh of itself, (b) give a comedy 'sound ef- fect' which 'could be' one of three things; (c) have the orchestra play a 'musical clue'; <d) if the answer is corre'^t the winner dips into a treas- ure chest, if wrong, he or she walks the plank with comedy effects. The radio invitation to let Heidt know if out-of-towners will be cele- bratinT some ccca-^ioh in Manhattan on a Monday night assures plenty of volun;eors. He has develooed an in- nocu'"us semi-facelibus style. M^kes no effort to exploit visitors' peculiar- ities and sticks to a sympathetic ap- proach that prevents any tinge of smartaleckness. People and ques- tio"<i are copservalively han'l-^icked. However, the stunt was livelier as done Saturday nights from the Bilt- more. This may be due to the.over- cautious sponsor oolicy on. questions. Tends to get tedious and will need thought to breeze it up. The several performing members of the orchestra, notably Larry Cot- ton, break up the game with a little work. It all stacks un as a plausible way to peddle stomach pills. Land. Follow-Up Comment •UNCLE JONATHAN' Orth Bell Novelty Travesty IS MIns. 6:30 p.m. WABC-CBS, New York This is a gaggy, burlesqued rural type of program designed to amuse the hinterland element, put on by Orth Bell, a fugitive from New Jersey who does the character of Uncle Jonathan and writes his own scripts. Initialer of new series, on the air Wednesday (26), suggests that the new thrice-weekly program may catch on, particularly with the farmers, even if those laddies of the soil these days aren't as hicky as they're painted. Voices of the new program are in the accepted stage manner, re- flecting the farmer with the old s.traw hat, the funny beard and the blade of grass in his teeth. Nothing at all offensive about the way the program is done, however. CBS for a year or so now has been trying to build up a farmer, backwoods following, this program being presumably an experiment further in that direction. In addi- tion to gags of the saltier bucolic brand. Bell satirizes radio ads, does what he calls the animal poem of the week (with music) and, on his first program, a terror poem, 'I'll Tear Up Your Zinnias Tonight, Mayme.' 'Hour of the Soul' is' a burlesque on a soda fountain. In addition to writing his own material. Bell does his own produc- tion and sound effects for the pro- gram. He is radio-developed. Char. Erin O'Brien-Moore last Thursday (27) made her first professional ap- ' pearance since she was burned in a j cafe accident last winter. She guest- ed on the fadeaway Vallee program in a dramatic piece with Shirley Booth (currently in 'The Philadel- phia Story' at the ShXjbert, N. Y.) and Betty Garde. It was a powerful bit of writing, skilfully setting the atmosphere and characters in the first few ipoments, then punching over , a potent situation with a sock surprise tag. Scene was a beauty parlor, with Miss Garde the gabby proprietress. Miss Booth the vain and predatory grass widow who jilted the former sweetheart of Miss O'Brien- Moore, the smouldering employee in the shop. All three actresses gave sparkling performances, with Miss O'Brien- Moore eloquently underplaying the vengeful girl. Miss Booth brilliantly contrasting the comedy and hysteri- cal fright ih the widow role, and Miss Garde.catching just the right note of semi-conscious garrulity as the pro- prietress. Also guesting on the program were Alice Marble, tennis champ, and Carmen Miranda, Brazilian singer currently appiearing in 'Streets of Paris,' at the Broadhurst. N. Y. Miss Marble, who did a guester two years ago on the same program, joined Lou Holtz and Vallee in some rather in- nocuous banter, then offered a dem- onstration of her singing (she played a hitery- date last winter at the Wal- dorf-Astoria hotel, N. Y.). Has an attractive mike personality, a be- guilingly dulcet voice, but apparent- ly only a glimmer of an idea how to put over a song. Lacks authority, rhythm sense or style. Miss Mi- randa is a sizzling tamale with a rare knack of making the most of a decidedly metallic voice and a sense of rhythm. — Artie Shaw's band now alone (sans Benchley) on the Old Gold show Tuesdays has the maestro with a speaking role in addition to display- ing his virtuosity on the clarinet. Shaw showed lack of experience In the articulation^ but zoomed in his native musical lingo; Shaw has cre- ated a following in his first year. Warren Hull, of films, was the m.c. and paced the half-hour show nicely. Helen Forrest, Shaw's regular vocal- ist, handled that department expert- ly, while for comedy there was Al Bernie, mimic, who was on for his third summer guest shot. Knox Man- ning's announcing was professional. PERCY FAITH ORCHESTF ^ Pop Music 30 MIns. Sustaining Wednesday, 9:30 p.m. WOR-Mntual, New York From Toronto once week comes a half hour of music that ought to bring fame to Percy Faith. This Canadian has orchestrations with the- rioe lusciousness of the Kostelanetz- Spltalny-Paige-Gluskin-Gould type. Some of his numbers- reach a peak of sheer shimmer where the listener is inclined to stand up and cheer. The program is so consistently flrst-rate and standout (on a basis of several hearings ius' to make sure it was no flash- in the pan) that the recent action of WOR in canceling him out for a mere sponsored base- ball game must go down in the rec- ords as an act of artistic barbarism. Land. Betty (Barton) and Buddy (Ar- nold) might take stock of themselves with their 'Betty & Buddy' billing and perhaps be forced to conclude that this adolescent billing is what has been keping them WOR-Mutual sustaining so long. Maybe there's something in a radio name, for they're not only very adult in their song styles, but quite ultra in the choice of their material, phrasing of their special arrangements, and their general showmanship. The surprise is that this team, with its obviously painstaking attention to every number they do, has been twice-a-weeking, sustaining, without •being grabbed up. They do their pops in big league manner. They embellish them with all sorts of spe- cial tricks and niceties (and who- ever is their arranger rates as much as B&B for their interpretation) and get off their stuff in sponsor- deservant style. How come? Over WHBI, the Hoyt Bros., Inc., station of Newark, which has been ethercasting Rev. Coughlin's stuff ever since WMCA insisted upon first seeing the priest's scripts, comes a curious admixture of soothing Span- ish music and frank propaganda. It's bankrolled by Peninsula News Service, Inc., and shills for (1) Spain, a nationalistic tourist mag, with plenty of free-copy offers, and (2) expounds on Spanish tourism at low cost, courteous interpreters, no-tip- ping, etc. With it alternates a very choice repertoire of waxed Spanish music that is alone arresting. Casually tuning in on the program it sounds like one of those innocu- ous German programs that some- tim'es seep through the lesser metro, politan N. Y. stations, tied in with Yorkville delicatessen dealers, furni- ture stores, tourist agencies, etc., all emphasizing the yesteryear gemuet- llchkeit with which Americans have long associated anything Germanic Wisely, there is ho political pap or propaganda, letting the charm of yesteryear Viennese and Tyrolean music work whatever affirmative goodwill It may. But in the instance of Spain (the mag) and its Peninsula News Service, the soft-spoken spieler' very frankly utilized the time to 'irrevocably deny' the news that such-and-such Spanish capitan had been 'purged,' or some other official i-emoved from service by General Franco. It goes further by adding that while American news services 'erroneously' published the dire fate of some Moroccoan commander he was at that very time actually de- livering a patriotic speech. All of this is much-ado to anybody but the Spaniards in America, whom the propagandists now want to woo back, since they alone, as a class would be more familiar with the inner political machinations of post- war Spain than the. .average U. s. tuner-inner. To him, however, is directed a plea to read 'Spain' for •facts, not propaganda,' and learn how the country is fast becoming re- constructed; that religious freedom exists once more; that the country 'has been freed from communism,* etc. Anyway, it's swell Spanish music. Dnke Ellington may have made a good discovery. And like many good discoveries, very simple. He's cut his volume in half. The result over the radio is now termed 'whis- pering swing.' It suggests wider ap- peal beyond those already under oath to the indigo cult, of whom Ellington has long b^en archdeacon. The noise element in swin-' has often alienated the older boys and girls, whose reflexes ain't what they was. It may be a profitable line of ex- ploration for the- Duke. He's bearable over WJZ from the Ritz-Carlton, Boston. Glen Miller orchestra, originating a remote inning of swing from the Glen Island (N. Y.) casino over NBC red (WEAF) last Sunday night (30), unleashed some resilient dansapa- tion. Has lift, rhythm, distinctiv* arrangements and assured playing. But featured five-man sax section doesn't seem all it's touted on this airing while the vocals by Ray Eberle and Marion Hutton are sub-- average. Yet outfit sums up as class. Arrangement of 'Starlit Hour' was the standout of program caught. HILDEGARDE Making Guest Appear- ance on *'Summer Colony^* Program WABC, 8 o'clock, EDST, Aug. 3 Transcriptions Per, Mgr.—ANNA SOSENKO Ex. Rap.—JACK 'bERTELL means StUineU ut'Sattuncie PRESCOTT ROBINSON Commentator 10 MIns.—Local BRITISH-AMERICAN OIL Daily, Various Times CFCF, Montreal Peck Robinson, B-A Oil news- caster, has leaped info prominence locally as a distinctive purveyor of Trans-Radio copy. On the air twice dail" where other important spon- sored commentators have only a one- time spot, the double-header has lifted Robinson *into the front line quickly. -""ormerly an announcer and sus- taining news commentator on station CFCF, Robinson has a mired a fol- lowing since given billing under oil sponsor only a f<--v months ago. Has- pleasant, natural delivery, combined with ability to hiohltoht significant news items. Mori First hotel engagement—at Ralph Hilz' Belmont-Plaza—just concluded; returning to the air August 20lh as star of ENNA lETTICK MELODIES for Marschalk & Pratt, Inc., Sundays 5-5.15 P.M. on WEAF and 63 Red Network stations, Ayailablo for one addiliona/ program/ Personal Itepresenlalive * Frank Cooper ROCKWELL-O'KEEFE GENERAL AMUSEMENT CORP.