Variety (Oct 1939)

36 VARIETY RADIO REVIEWS Wednesday, Oolober 11, 1939 JACK BENNY with M«ry Livingstone, Verna Fel- tun, R'ocliesler (Eddie Anderson), Phil Harris Orchestra, Don Wilson, Dennis Day 30 Mins. JKM--0 Sunday, 7 pjn. WEAF-NBt;, New York ^ (Young & HitbicamJ Willi every Jndlcation that he-will continue- to -deserve.^id . holcLJiis top-(>f-tl\e-pile rating, Jack Benny reltiiiicd Sunday at the same time and for the same sponsor over 80 NBC stations. It was a bang-up, high-.speed laugh-studded, premiere, a tec-off to serve as a master- model for all radio comedians to study. Whats is-notable-about ..these Jello stanzas is the amount of ad- vance study and preparation, edit - - .-. ■ , .u^-^^^or^r^-c- ing. lightening and timing that goes; participant.-; of. the PrpRra^* on the average, into the finished re- section. ;lf Var ety reviews thi sull. -" A cute novelty beginning opened the program without a commercial, a>- if the microphone was eavesdrop- ping upon Benny and Mary Living-, stone and later Don Wilson and Phil Hai i ls on tlieir way to the program.- Later the continuity skipped fnto the u.'iual musical theme and J-E-L- L-0 fanfare, which is the program's trademark. . Kenny Baker having gone his way the new singer is an unknown tenor, Dennis Day .(phoney narhe), who was introduced as guided by his mother, a triple-distilled blend of all the stage mamas, of fact and fancy. JThe character, as played by FRED ALLEN With Wynn Murray, the Merry Macs, rorlland lloffa, Peter Van Stecden, Harry Von Zell, Ned, Sparks Variety 60 MIns. IPANA-SAL HEPATICA Wednesday, 9 p. m. WEAK-NBC, New.York, (Young & Rtit)icniM) Frod Allen returned last Wednc.';- ■da)'-C=l) to his WBG-netrt-for-hi.-tsixlh- consecutive season, and came clo.sc to laying an e.gg. The proceedings at times .sounded as thou.gh Alien had by accident tumbled into the wrong show and w.is trying, despite the fog besetting him, to make head or tail of the occasion. Things got so run do^wn "at oh&~p'i'i'i''~tlral'Allen- beeaffl64 apologetic, remarking to the audience ' - -• ' quiz s and pans me. il-will pah you also.' The crack, only added to the di.scomfort of Young «t Rubicam's radio mentors. Last Wednesday's misadventure had all the marks of what usually happens when those concerned with a program decide that the old for- mula must , be made over. In this- instance the alteration gang was also concerned with woi-king in a carbon copy of a substitute show that had got a nice rating while the top per- sonality was on vacation. The pirtch KiffAf *i,3f? 'What'c Mv Mamp** anf hitter was 'What's My Name?' and .so Allen was roped and saddled with the role of another Professor Quiz. It was this segment of his progranv, which lasted about 10 minutes, that Verna Felfon, with timing as good bogged Allen down worst. When the as Benny's own, should_ shape j pai-iicipants were introduced, the av- up as a comedy gem: Day at the end slapped over 'Good Night, My Beautiful' in a classy way. Both as a. singer and a comedy foil, the youngster should do okay for Benny. Right name of singer is Eugene McNultv; He's reported well known to the -song publishing fraternity around N.. Y. The situational cross-fire, gag comedy wraoped in characterization, remains as tefore the clue to how he does it. Each player is given a role and the recurring emphasis upon well-known idiosyncrasies un- derscores the laughs. . After six years for Jello, the laugh pace is still terrific. Land. JOE PENNER With Dick Ryan, Gay Seabrook, Ross Brown, Kenny Stevens, Jacques Renard Orchestra, Jim Rannon, Larry Holcomb, Dick nierrill 30 MIns. WARD BAKING Thursday, 8:30 p.m. WJZ-NBC, New York (Sherman K. .Ellis) .Joe. Peuncr_r£turns to the air over 22 NBC blue stations in a dalYy- scssion following the formula-less formula of his previous frolics. After several years on the air, Penner is by now a clearly recognized enter- tainer-commodity. Like a certain type of act that always could be -reiied-:upon-to-wow-Jein-at_lbis_tliei 'SOCIETY GIRL' With Charlotte Manson, Arthur Vln ton, Carlton Yonns, Gladys Thorn- ton, Katherine Rogers, Arthur Elnier 15 MIns. CORN PRODUCTS Daily, 3:15 p.m. WABC-CBS, New York (E. W. Helliotff) For a daytime serial, this new- comer is an innovation -for once the heroine isn't a bravely-suffering poor j gal buffeted by a crool fate. This time she's the richest girl in the world, no less: the newspaper edi- tor's dream of a girl with money, beauty and style—in fact, the '1940 Glamor Girl No. 1.' What's more, she's a clear-thinking, unspoiled lit- tle number whQ yearns for the par- ental affection she has never known from her divorced ma and pa. In other words, it's heart-throb hoke in a sable wrap. Standard es- capist claptrap for the semi-con- scious housewife and, as such, prob- ably destined to garner its share of femme dialers—and buyers. Although obvious enough to drive a mere male listener dally, the writ- ing apparently achieves the desired sentimental effect. Scene in which a couple of newspaper editors dis- cuss the 'glamor girl' story is pretty terrible, of course, but otherwise it's just about the expected. Direction was rather clean for the opening program (Monday—9) and the casting of Charlotte - Manson as Gloria Glamour was clicko. Show U produced by Roger White, with David Davidson and Jerome Ross collaborating on the scripting. Plugs Kre-mel and Linit Hobe 'SHOW OF THE WEEK' With Horace Heidt orchestra, Budd Hulick, Skeets Meakin 39 MIns. HOWARD CLOTHES Sunday: 6.30 p.m. WOR—Mutual, New York (Co-op) Essentially a band show this pro- gram was a satisfying interlude from that angle, but tarnished a bit by the comedy of Budd Hulick and a news break-in by Skeets Meakin. Latter's few minutes is a. jarring note in as much as the data he compiles amounts to a resume of past nap penings any and all of which could have been read in the dailies of that day (9) or the day before. De- livery is okay. Hulick's attempts at comedy sank ■ pretty low'dn several instances and the rest Nvosn't much better. Con sisted- of a biographical exchange between the comedian and Heidt. He referred to Heidt's beginning as 'when Heidt's were low.'- Rest of it all bordered on the same stuff. Eventually relieved by the band playing, after its rise was detailed. 'Stranger Things Have Happened.' By accident or design? At one point in the comedy Hulick referred to Heidt's band, known as the Musi- cal Knights, as 'Heidt's Knighties.' Musically was okay. erage listeners' must have jumped to the conclusion, that the fad was due for some fast and funny kidding. In- stead, it was the same old now-drab routine, but with the 'committee' of participants picking them questions out of a grab bag, and dollar bills the payoff for the right guessers. Allen tried hard to interpolate laughs during the quiz, but the cir- cumstances were hopelessly against him. If the program must drag in some fads it could resort, to war bul- letins. European roundups, or a 'Pot of Gold.' Also, if the agency and account, thought so much of thej summer pinch hitter, it perhaps would have been the better wisdom to cut Allen to a half hour and run the quizzer for the second half of its 60-minute obligation. In this opening installment Allen was not only given the role of wet- nursing a quiz session, but, even stranger than that he was relegated to doin^ a he-who-gels-slapped straight for a guest comic, Ned Sparks. The exchange was anything but a witty give and take. Sparks was loaded down with all the asperi- ties, and the guy whose chief claim to fame in radio is a rapier tongue merely resigned himself to alternate exposure of each cheek. Nonetheless, Sparks' quota of laugh lines was high when compared to the rest of the event As for Allen's personal script con- tribution, it was pretty weak. The .sallies with his few surviving stooges were consistently unfunny, and the routine which Portland Hoffa was shouldered with ranked in innocuous desuetude with the put-down-your- end-goings-on in Walter O'Keefe's in- troductory stanza for Lifebuoy. Miss Hoffa's stint had to do with inter- rupting the' proceedings now and then with a poem of greeting which at no time got beyond the first line. Jack Benny abandoned this same gag seasons ago. The 'Mighty-Allen Art Players' item was spotted at the fin- ish, with a travesty on 'Stanley, and Living.stone' as the inspiration. It all built up to one good laugh at the blackout. The musical department seems solidly buttres.sed with Wynn Murray as the solo vocalist and the Merry Macs as dispensers of good rhythm n the current idiom. Miss Wynn shows a tendency to go metallic on her hard consonants, but this is a minor matter. Her voice and style should make her an outstanding asset on the .show. Bea Wain replaced Helen Carroll as the fefnme part of the Merry Macs for thi.s'show. Miss Carrol was out due to her mother's illness. Plans for giving Peter Van Steeden a buildup through the de- vice of having four or five guest conductors were dropped shortly be- fore the.series debuted, and the ini- tial stanza found him shelling out a nifty brand of modern dansapation. Allen and the agency face, quite a problem in remolding - this hour's pattern so that it can again snugly fit around his personality and as.sume the old entertainment stature. Con sidering the resourcefulness of the agenc.v and the star himself, that shouldn't be beyond expectation; Odec. aire or that theatre, Penner is sure to do okay in his own spots and in his own way.' This time he bears the euphonious radio billing: 'Joe Penner the Breadwinner.' With a ga-ga laugh, peculiar catchphrases, a goofy, disarming style and a bag of tricks, he skips along chasing gags like a professor with a butterfly net Russ Brown, 'Dick Ryan, Gay Seabrook and other silly-billies collaborate in carrying on the foolishness. It's good semi-rowdy slapstick. There's a cut-in from New York. These are for endorsements of the product. Larry Holcoinb, agency producer, quizzed Dick Merrill, the flyer. Copy was okay, but Merrill went sheepish just at the commer- cial's core. Holcomb has a nice radio way. ■ A better- than- expected tenor. Kenny Stevens, should, be popular, and Jacques Renard offers fiiiigcr- vating music. Glen Heisch produces. Lotid. 'ADVENTURES IN TEXAS HISTORY' Dramatic 15 Mins.—^Local RED GOOSE. SHOES Friday, 5:39 p.m. KABC, San Antonio This is a once-weekly series, each episode complete in itself, based on history of the state of Texas. Strong listening appeal for school children, but okay for the grown-ups also. Production suggests effort to make it appealing to we youngsters. Pro- gram opens with Peggy and Bill asking Major Adams questions con- cerning his early days in Texas his- tory, and how Texas won its inde- pendence from Mexico. Episode caught dealt with the capture of General Santa Anna, of the Mexican army by two Texas soldiers and of the meeting of Santa Anna and Gen- eral Sam Houston.. As Major Adams tells his story, several dramatic flashbacks occur which explain in detail through sound and the spoken word what oc- curred. P'eggy is played by Sun- shine Hull. 13, and the boy by Bill Mitchell, 14. ' Dr. Caldwell's Syrnp of Pepsin will bankroll Tim Doolittle and His Pine Center Gang, Monday through Frl day at 6:30 a.m. over WJR, Detroit ED THORGERSEN Sports 15 MIns. LA PALINA Saturday, 5:45 p.m, WOR, New York (Marshalk U Pratt) Thorger.sen. who maintains the same rapid-fire delivery that he Uses in his narration for Fox newsreel, touched baseball, dwelt on the sea- son's flnal stretch, and then skipped to football for most of his program detailing the outstanding games of that day and their highlights. Finaled with -lale scores. Typical radio sportcast Television Review WHEN THE NIGHTINGALE SANG IN BERKLEY SQUARE' and 'DR. ABERNATHY' With Patricia Calvert, John Moore, Lionel Glenlster, J. M. Dunn, Bruce Evans, Matthew Smith, Wil- liam Podmore, Robin Craven, Naomi Campbell, St Clair Bay- field, John C&rmody, Florence Fair, Richard Waring Playlets 65 MIns. Thursday (28), 8:30 p.m. RCA-NBQ, New York RCA's television program dept. ran into royalty trouble recently. After rehearsing 'Death Takes a Holiday,' it was found at the last minute, that certain claims to royalties had not been cleared and instead of the drama a 'B' film meller had to be hastily substituted. l,ast Thursday (28) they took no chances, having readied two play- lets which were dramatized by the staff. 'Nightingale' was adapted from a short story by Michael Arlen, script beiog by Thomas L. Riley, who did the staging. He also di- rected 'Dr. Abernathy,' which has been done by BBC in London. One playlet was described as dramatic and the other comic, but both were' dramas. Most of tlie shots were close-iips, requiring very little in a scenic or production way While the playlets did make up a televised interlude, impression was that known stage material is better as shown so far, even with the lim- itations of. television. There were seven players in each playlet, which means that about the average number of actors was u.sed as with a full length play. In 'Night- ingale' were- Patricia Calvert John Moore, Lionel Glenistcr, J. Malcolm Dunn, Bruce Evans and Matthew Smith. In the other sketch were William Podmore. Robin Craven Naomi Campbell, St Clair Bayfield John Carmbdy, Florence Fair ano Richard Waring. Use of the playlets is a change of pace in the studio. When n pro gram is rehearsed such as 'Holiday' and not televised it is wasted effort, but that is one of the angles that are to be cleared,. Perhaps dress rehearsals will be filmed and tele- vised later or that method may be used, for rebroadcasts. , Jl'<^i: BURNS AND ALLEN With Ray Noble, Truman Bradley Comedy, Music 30 MIns. HIND'S HONEY & ALMOND CREAM Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. WABC-CBS, New York (William Esty & Co.) Burns and Allen are back for their eighth eon.seoutive year on the net- works- and. theic-flltli .spgnspij j).ed- dling the same line of auditory di- version and hewing to the same formula that has been theirs from away back. Here's one act that can be depended on never to throw its steady customers off k i lter with a nfc. innovation. By sticking to the sarrie groove B & A have made it possible for even the lowest i.q. among their fans to anticipate the blow-off line and the topper, if any, but that doesn't tend to depreciate the cus- tomers' pleasure in the least all of which is attested by the consistently major rating the turn has been able to chalk up from year to year. Everything moved along smoothly and entertainingly within this petri- fied pattern on the opening session for Hind's Honey & Almond Cream and about the only thing that might have caused some brow-raising in the trade was the fact that Gracic Allen stepped out of character to deliver a long and serious plug for the product. . Last season's musical support Is the same. Frank Parker whams his tenor over toward the femme bleach- ers for what undoubtedly is strong approval, while Ray Noble, when his British accent' isn't stooging, pro- vides much pleasant rhythmic re- lief. Truman Bradley fills the an- nouncing portfolio expertly. Two points highlighted in the copy were the product's inclusion of vitamins A and B and the assurance that through its use milady can always maintain those 'honeymoon hands.' Odcc. 'HILDA HOPE, M.D.' With Selena Royle, Richard Gor- don, Ann Shepard, House Jame- son, Vera Allen, Charles Paul (organist) Playlets 30 MIns. WHEATENA Saturday, 11:36 a.m. WEAF-NBC, New York (Coinplon) This is well ahead in dramatic story-telling to most of the morning weepers. Each broadcast wi|l be complete in itself, told through the device of having a woman doctor half-narrate, half-act out one of her supposed experiences. The first sample was the world's oldest plot, the triangle. Certainly in recent years, too, the- doctor- hospital background has been re- pealed so often as to lack all novelty, Noncttieless, the triangle and the doctor-neglecting-his-wife elements were welded together with enough writing-directing skill to make them stand up and out. Much credit is owing the players. These include Selena Royle, as the woman doctor who turns tale- spinner: Richard Gordon, who made the over-worked tragedy-wrecked doctor come alive: Ann Shepard, who knew her stuff as the self- pitying spouse, and House Jameson, who was the cad primeval. Only in the beginning, with the rather too-sloppy self-identification lines of Dr. Hilda, does the writing get too. far away from digestibility. On the whole it was a very profes- sional script straightforward, clear and plausible. Compton's spiel for Wheatena stresses that when hubby comes down to breakfast in the morning he has been on a 13-hour fast since the night before. Don't tell us no- body else raids the ice box around midnight! Land. 'MY SON AND 1' With Belly Garde, KIngsley Colton, Gladys Thornton, Agnes- Young, Andre Baruch 15 Mins. GENERAL FOODS Daily, 2.45 p.m. WABC-CBS, New York (Young & Rubicam) Another entry in the daytime serial sweepstakes, -My Son and I' should collect fi healthy share of the housewife following. Pretty much in the modest rut as to mental level, but somewhat above par as to writ- ing, production and playing. Also features Betty Garde, who's figured to have acquired a semi-name via her years of trouping in the ether emotcrs. Its her first radio 'star- dom.' . Yarn deals with the, widowed vaudeville actress 'who has appealed to her late-husband's flinty Aunt Addy so. her reared-iri-the-wihgs urchin won't be sent to an orphan- age; Aunty's one of those do-her- Christian-duty dames, but there's a .soft-hearted Aunt Minta who'll un doubtedlv rescue the helpless pair from a dire fate. Spon.sor is pushing Calumet bak ing powder on the unabashed claim that it'll produce the 'best food you ever ate.' Miss Garde is the widow. Kingsley Colton is the nioing-vbiced moppet and Andre Baruch spiels the commercials and intro. G. Bennett T.arson nroduces and directs while Fi;aiik Provo scripts. Hobe. ROBERT BENCIILEY With Artie Shaw Orchestra, Jimmy Durante, Del Sharbutt 30 MINS. OLD GOLD Tuesday, 9 p.m, WJZ-NBC, New York ILemieii & Milcliell) Although last sca.son the up-push- ing swing outfit, Artie Shaw, tended to overshadow the comedy founda- tion of this Old Gold program and still m'Ay 'account for a gobd piffl of its C.A.B. ralin.!<. the chief appeal of the show is that it differs from the run-o(-mill comedy shows, of whom Jack Benny is the obvious Pied Piper. ■ This one is a different kind of comedy and as such .should rate its own special niche and its own special following. With the radio program structure long on imitation and short on originality, the peculiar nonsense of Bob Bcnchley, while not always of the belly-excrciscr type, is none the less entitled to the prai.se of being a first print, not a carbon. Shovir was a bit dull at start but warmed up and speeded up as it un- rolled. For the first broadcast of the 4939- 40 season, Jimmy Durante was broCight in. His lowbrow stuff con- trasted amusingly with Benchley and the total diversion was okay. Artie Shaw whammed across a few in his usual manner. Spiels concentrate on the conven- ience of the Old Gold packaging. Land. Since the program was reviewed, Artie Shaw has been luillulratuii. Separate news slory appears in tfiis issue. An advance intti)ta(ion of the agency's reaction to fan hostility cti- gendered hy Shaw's outspoken com- ment on jitterbugs appeared in lost week's Variety. ■BY KATHLEEN NORRIS' With Arline Blackburn, House Jame- son, Mary Cecil,. Santos Ortega, Lawson Zerbe, Mildred Baker, Florence Ma lone, Betty Garde, Et- fle Palmer 15 MIns. GENERAL MILLS Daily, 5 p.m. WABC-CBS, New York (Knox Reeves) On the strength of the Kathleen Norris name, this series should have a sizeable draw. Time of broadcast is a trifle late for strongest pull, as the male of the species might be at least approaching the dialis by then, but that should be only a minor drawback; Fact that the series will not be a continued one, but will be broken occasionally as each of the author's novels is used, may also create occasional lapses. (Piece, controlled by Phillips' Lord office was tried out in Philly last spring). 'Woman in Love,' the first novel to be adapted, is a typical Kathleen Norris best'seller of the post-war mass consumption market brand. Deals with the young daughter of • theatrical family who returns from a convent to find her San Francisco family'mired in the bogs of show biz depression. Apparently she's set to go to Hollywood, to be pursued by the wicked studio Lotharios, butulti<- mately win stardom and the femme listeners' dream of happiness. Aside from planting the mam character, played by Arline Black- burn in a somewhat thin voice but with persuasive sincerity, the initial chapter brought one of AFRA's paid- up members to the mike to imper- sonate Miss Norris in a 'me.ssage from the author.' It wasn't actually stated she was the author, but it the listener wanted to seize that impres- sion, nothing in the script contradict- ed it This a dubious practice as u amounts to hoaxing a gullible pub- He.- That is seldom 1007e showman- ship. Tricky. (Commercial copy, aimed to sell Wheaties to the housewife. stres.sed the nutritional value of the product but sought to imply it isn't fatten- ing. Part of it got pretty cutey— 'See if Wheaties at Seven don t help at 11.' The heroine curtain-called with come-on for the next day's stanza and a word for the spon.sor. Hobe. THUNDER OVER PARADISE' With Bill Crawford, Laurette Fill- brandt, Sid Elistrom, Mike Romano Serial 15 Mins. MUELLER'S MACARONI Daily, 10 a.m.. WJZ-NBC, New York (Kenyan & Eckhardt) This, mid-morning serial is by Fayette Krun. It seems likely .to catch on with the housewives, being romantic and escapist Perhaps the sheer concentration on doings in far places wilt be liked for its change of diet from the 'family' type of radio histrionics. In this case, the heroine owns a ranch in Central America and is smitten with a devil- may-care aviator (modern touch!), who is employed by a revolutionary general, who is slewing things up (promise of danger, action and clash). . . So often in the.se radio .serials it Js difTicull on a single hearing to sin- gle out performances and comment authoritatively. In this ca.se the players all seem capable and carr.v on the plot As with most radio plays, there are few 'big scenes' for individual actors, but rather a run ning on-handedncs.s necessary to af vancemenl of the story. Lono.