Variety (Aug 1939)

Record Details:

Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

Wednesday, August 30, 1939 RADIO VARIETY SI 4.4M < M ll ttHttftttf*ftttfffttttt1ttttfttttttft«t From the Production Centers 4M ««« MMHttftttttftttt«tftttttffftttttttffttft IN NEW YORK CrTY ... Soon after Norman Morrell, production supervisor on the show, lett for his vacation his associates jit Lord & Thomas tagged the chief menace in 'Mr. District Attorney' with the same moniker (Morrell)... .Tom Harring- ton,'Yoimg fit Rubicam radio director, will personally supervise the pro- cTuc'tion of the Fred Allen show. Other supervising producers for Y & R shows this season are Bob Welch, Jack Van Nostrand, Adrian Samish.,.. Harry Kerr, who used to push out publicity releases lor J. Walter Thomp- son, is now writing the framework of the Lux Theatre series under George Welles' direction. IN HOLLYWOOD ... Charlie Hamp and Morrell Hams will keep company for another 13 weeks on'KNX. Gagsters can really have some fun with that combo.... NBC is after Ralph Spence's 'The Gorilla' for televising. My fright wig. Otto Bill Morrow and Ed Beloin at Paramount confecting funny sUua- tlons for 'Buck Benny Rides Again'... .Lum and Abner leading the^vay back to work for Coast lay-offers Hormel Packing touring their young- sters, John Conte and Martha Mears Charlie Vanda cooking up a CBS special for Paramount's 'Geronimo,' which is to be previewed on the side of a mountain in the Indian country... .Charles Dant given baton at NBC as Waldemar Guterson exodused... .Danny Danker had visiting J. Walter Thompson execs meet most of the radio mob at a pouring... .Another social event was at the Fanny Brice Bevhills manor, where Good Newsers convivially proclaimed the new season, staxling for them Sept. 7. '■ — — : ■ ♦ — CALLAHAN QUITS WWL N. a, FOR BOSTON POST New Orleans, Aug. 29. A. J. Cummings, connected with WWL here for the past five years, has been appointed acting manager, replacing Vincent F. Callahan. Cal- lahan, general manager, of WWL for the past two years, Thursday (24). announced his resignation as head of the Loy«la U. of the South 50,000- watt station. He left the same day for Boston, where he took jver man- agement of the NBC's WBZ there. Cummings has se-ved as auditor of WWL, Rev. Percy A. Roy, S.J., president of I^oyola, said a decision on a permanent manager had not as yet been reached. Extend Venuta Benay Venuta and the 'Monday at 8:30' show on WOR, New York, has been renewed for another 13 weeks effective iSept. 11. Prograin emanates from the stage of the. Brooklyn. Paramount theatre. Detroit Envisions Hefty Fall After BigSunmier;KWK,SLtBizUpsl6%' Detroit, Aug. 29. .Finishing up a strong summer sea- son, local radio boys seie a plenty hefty fall provided European situa- tion doesn't upset applecart With upswing most noticeable in past two months, CKLW is just end- ing a summer season that saw local sales top 1936 by 68% and 1937, sta- tion's record year, by 30%. Accord- ing to Jerry DuMahaut, sales man- ager, outlook for fall is swell, with network (Mutual) biz.coming much earlier than a year ago. Also notes contracts from national reps are showing a decided pickup. Ditto St. Lonis St. Louis, Aug. 29. A general biz upswing'has reached this neck Of the woods, according to Bob Sampson, national sales man- ager for KWK. In a comparison of actual biz now airing with the billings of April, just before the summer slough-off, Sampson found a 12% pickup in local biz, a 7% increase in network billing and enough new signatures in the nt^tional spot field to bring the over-all increase in all departments of sales up to 16%. Fall commit- ments already set, but not yet en- tered on the station log, will bring the increase to more than 20%. Johnson Quits WSAY Albany, N. Y., Aug. 29. Kenneth Johnson, who came from WSAY, Rochester, last fall to as- sume the post of sales manager at WOKO, is out. Harry Goldman, sales manager of sister station, WABY, is doubling, at present. Al Kellert, whom Johnson suc- ceeded, is stiU on the WOKO staff. He is called 'special representative,' handling the Montgomery Ward ac- count, among others. Fan Clubs .Conllnued from page 1. that heralds her name, and more than once a trip to Hollywood and a personal visit to the star has been promoted through a contest or some other gimmick. That's said to be main, incentive for being a member in good standing. Fertile field for mushrooming clubs is in the middle west. According to Hollywood stu- dio flacks who send out fodder about the stars, they know more about what's going on here than the av- erage reader of the daily Hollywood columns. The sucker lists derived from the.<!e club rolls is the main gimmick. Run- ning into the thousands of all degrees of gullibles they are valuable to those who deal in various and spuri- ous promotions. Phonies adopt some Hollywood connection and go from there with varying degrees of suc- i-ess. Radio star.<; and band leaders have appropriated the fan club foi'mula tiirough the suggestion of their press agents and the maestros are making capital out of it for their records through a built-up following. Most active of the radioites in having clubs laimched for them is George Fisher, Hollywood's 'whisperer.' At one time he was mailing, in collab- oration with a picture studio, around SO.OOO pamphlets. Now he's sending out lapel buttons to his followers. It may yet spread to caps and sweaters. Dodge Upped at WFIL, Phillyvto Program Head Philadelphia, August 29. Fred Dodge, who joined WFIL two months ago as production man ager, was upped to program di rector of the station this week. Spot has been vacant since the resignation of Margaret (Mike) Schaeffer. Production job will be filled by Alston Stevens, chief announcer and news commentator. Dodge came here last May from WNBF, Bing- hamton. m m ■//■y'/iii. UlUIJ (JUL t< In Listener Interest, | 2. Advertising Preference, | 3< In Community Service. I 3 ■ America's Pioueer Station 1 \ Nolftiwl ffc^rvMafif/vM 9 I Gee. P. Hotfinqbcry C«. S BOONE COUNTY JAMBOREE ENTERTAINERS CONTINUE WIW "FRIENDSHIP TOUR" . . PLAY TO RECORD CROWDS! In the past it was seldom that any act, no matter how popular it may have been on the air, made a personal appearance oftener than once in three weeks. Since January, 1939, Boone County Jamboree entertainers have averaged 4 engagements a week (and these did not include their regular weekly appearances in Cincinnati's spacious Music Hall)—making a total of more than 200,000 people before whom these enter- tainers have performed! A part of the vast and loyal audience of WLW. This loyalty is made more tangible by the fact that from July 4 through September 15 these entertainers have been asked to appear at 38 State and County Fairs—in 8 States —and contracts for Fall and Winter appearances are in process of being signed. Because of the outstanding job these entertainers have accomplished as "Ambassa- «lors of Good Will" for the Nation's Station—and the friendliness that niust ulti- mately be reflected in ever-increasing good will toward WLW advertisers—all members of the dramatic and announcing staffs are available for personal appearances and speaking dates. A sustained and consistent program of action that will continue to unite busy towns and rural hamlets in their friendly loyalty to^-