Variety (Jan 1940)

86 RADIO Thirlyfonrth VARIETY Anniteraary Wednesday, January 3, 1940 WAS 'THE CIRCLE' THAT BAD? By Bob Landry In I9S9 a radio legend was born: that tlia worst program ever pro- diicod on big-time radio was the Kello?i!-.sponsorcd hour, 'The Circle.' The program ran an unhappy and uneven course and finally petered out. The chart of its path is punclu- atod by marks (•') which refer to footnotes reading: "at this point so- andso left the program, soandso had a quun-el wilh whatzisname.' By the time the pack was m full cry yelpiii;:; for sheer pleasure at a supposed failure, and the yum-yum prospect of grabbing a swcOl account, maybe, perhnp.';, the actual merits or demerits of The Circle" had long bc- ' fore coa. ed to be a matter of analy-1 sis and become a matter o{ being | smart. It was distinctly smart about, March. 19S9. to sneer at the pro-! gram.: which meantime was never «'or.<p thnn many programs that were warmed by general indulgence. And at its best, on paper, in basic conception 'The Circle' was often provocative, often highly imaginative and showmanly, and frequently de- serving of more .sympathy than it got. It fell away from its originality fell under the sway of Groiacho Marx, who stole the show—the show's idea—and threw it away. On nadio Criticism 'The Circle' is a good case history to use as a springboard for a few re- marks on the ungentle art and pro- fe.ssion of criticizing radio programs QUOTES FROM 1939 'VARIETY' REVIEWS Screen .\olors Guild <Gulf. CBSI —'Bright, brisk, inolessionuUv kven' clinllciiffcr /or iiiiporlnnt nuciitioiir . •Gateway (p Hollywood' iWrigley. ' CBS)—'Tliii! lateU amaleur prooram ■ has a (ic-wp tcitli RKO pieliircs. bnl ■ on n basis of its first brondvast that's about all it has yol.' Sam Lavene 'Royal Gelatine.: NBC)—'// the effort isn't to be an otieiiiiafpd clambake some i7iteii.sii)e^ turitinj; is Ticeded.' D'Arlega (Enna Jettick, CBS)—i '51iclc little pnclcnee 0/ nmsicdl en- tcrtaiiiiiiciK.' I Ra.vmond Palre (U. S. Rubber. CBS)—'Taclcled o tough assigm>ie«t and on first broadcast emerged bril-' lifliitly.' Mark Warnow (Lucky Strike, ' CBS) —'Best-batanocd,/osle.'!t-7>ioi>- ] ing and most 7iofable oj the Liwky Strike (jnllops.' .'Lite and Love of Dr. Susan* .(Lux. NBC)—'Euerj/tliing about the shoiu hews closely to the e.ftabtished formula of daj/tiiiie serials.' A. I.. Alexander's Arbitration (sus- tainin.;. WHN)—'Looks like a cer- tainly (0 nttract listener /ollowing." Tom Ilpward-Georee Shelton' (U. S. Tobacco. NBC>—'This one is right from the corn-crib.' Hal Kemp (Griffin. NBC)— CHAHLOTTE MANSON The Casting of (Charlotte Mun.son a.s •Society Girl' Is cllcko — A'AHihrrir. Management ROGER WHITE PRODUCTIONS, RKO Building, New York 5 STATIONS W ORKING OUT SEF-REG ITHE CHICAGO AGENCIES ^■»-f4'f ■»■»■»■♦■■»■»♦ ♦♦♦♦♦««♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ t ♦♦ * ♦♦ ♦ ♦-♦-♦•♦♦♦♦■♦■♦■♦■♦♦■♦♦^i • Blaokett-Sample-Hiimmert: Remains first in billing and fust in the thoughts (the hearts'.') of stations and station i-cpro.sentatives, Placine accounts wholes.Tle, the agency represents aggressive accounts. Ru.ssei M. Seeds: Practically a one-man organi^.ation and mc itioned sec- • ond for its remarkable rise in the radio picture in one year. That one man, Freeman Keycs, and his account is Brown & Williamson Tobacco company. In .some 18 months Kcyes has snatched Avalon, Bugler, Big Ben tobacco, all radio on Wings and a chunk of Raleigh cigarettes. And Keyes ! did it with a formula for essentially male appeal. He aimed low and will continue to aim low. according to his conviction that most of radio is shot too high for either the public or fbr genuine sales. Hokey-pokey shows are the Keyes formula, back-home humor and 1902 gags mixed with semi- hillbilly .tunes. These have been the Keyes rabbit-foot and Kcyes is too superstitious and too wise to change a winner combination. In addition ' Keyes has Pinex for a mammoth spot schedule and Schacfcr Pen which is I unconvinced about radio. Schwimmcr & Scott: Che ot the livesl and most progrc.-isive a.itencies I continued its climb during the past year. Aggressive and ambitious, out- I standingly No. 1 for local radio business during the past coiiple oC years, ■ S. & S. point to a spread nationally shortly for which they arc now aU I ready handling Wurlitzer, Lea & Perrins, Fox Deluxe beer and Wal- ! .green's. Flock of local accounts from clothing stores to biscuits to auto ' dealers make this place a hangout for time salesmen. An agency intensely i convinced of the power of radio and an agency which uses radio for almost every conceivable type of sales job. . Kaslor: Large user of radio time and willing to try anything once and therefore the field of action fee radio meii despite the belief of many sales- men that yoii have to leave an eye or an ear on the desk to walk out with a contract. In action for Procter Si Gamble's Drene and Teel, Campbell's Cereal, Tums and Welch Grape Juice. Leaning now towards strip shows and dramatic shows, and evidencing no leaning towards the u.sc of head- 1 liners or stars. Hartford, Jan. 1. Automatic granting 6£ juice jumps - , .1 J ,, • . ,j for five radio stations, operating on The Circle' was imperfectly drawn, |'Kemp s niol/a.^cs mn.tic should con- ^^^^^ j|,g yqq jj no doubt of that. Its initial fault limie to vlonsc as hf tctofore.' peeled if a plan now being worked Playhouse (Teel materializes. All stations will NBO-'fn.t.fll (t<.o programs /a'led , automatically have their power out- of that. was to overload with names, thereby creatin;' a staggering payroll, and then, suddenly economy conscious, to neglect the writing. If. ever a pro to disclo.'ce nit'ich.' Alec Trnipleton (John.'ion's Wax. put for day and night increased to ; gram W'ss to succeed or fail on its NBC)—'Can boast 0/ n qiialiti/ not writing, if ever a program idea was j so cojninon in radio, nanielj/; chani^.' only as f;Ood as its e::ecution, it was' The Circle.' In a very real sense. advanced big-time talent and form ula collided with old-fashioned penny-pinching on, the literary end. And tlicn. in the end, panic and , CroLicho Marx doing as he pleased. Had the program clicked, it would have encouraged a little novelty, originality, charm and a free-flying spirit in radio production. Because it failed, and that failure was so ma^nidcently publicized by enemies of the J. Walter Thompson agency, every pussy-footing, inspiration-dry agency lias seen* its own sterile con- cept ot programing confirmed as the height of everything right and smart. The Hop of 'The Circle' (and it did fIo|)i was properly a matter of re- gret, not of jubilation, in radio. It frightened the suspender buttons off the spon.sors, and it made difficult, if not im.Dossible, the chances of | persuading anybody to try the un- tried. Perhaps it is not an un- related fact that for the greater part! ot the year 1939, sponsors and agen- cies wanted to use cash giveaways instead of actors. Lifebuoy, Also It might also be asked with equal pointedncss whether the Walter O'Keefe program for Lifebuoy was 'tliat bad".' This, too. was a flop, al- though cftcr the first three or four weeks it had been put in pretty good shape. The truly terrible opening broadcast, defying explanation and beyond excu.^e, combines with the ca<e ot 'The Circle' to emphasize how tremendously important the first im- pressions are. Not because it is then that the professional critics tune in and hand down their verdicts (say what you will of professional critics, their importance or unimportance!), but because —sometimes forgotten— the sponsor listen.*:, too. He listens and he is not nearly as dumb about entertainment as advertising agen- cies and networks habitually kid them.selves he is. ■you can't alibi bad talent that gets thousands of dollars an hour in wages. Some shows do overcome bad starts, but its getting tougher every season to square 'The Circle,' 5,000 watts. Stations expected to benefit are B^b ZnrteVrchrstra TRCAyNBC WNBC, New Britain-Hartford KQV —■A digital virttioso 0/ hotcho. and 1 P'^'S'^^l'l. ^ass., WSMK, Dayton ^ good fun: O*''"- WKBH, La Cros.se, Wis., and I J. Walter Thompson: Inactive locally as far as radio is concerned, with little ether billing. Lord St Thomas: A big-time agency. See N. Y. Comment. Presba, Fellers & Presba: Ari unusual agency, with one man, Ed Fellers, knosvn personally to perhaps more individual station operators than any other man in the agency b'iz. Fellers hand-picks his stations for-Mantle Lamp, Hou.sehold Magazine and Ol.son Rug. all of which are looking for mail. Use.s"same type of time and shows and stations year after year and gets down to the cross-roads pecpul who dote on letter-writing. McCanh-Erickson: After a long dormant period, there are some signs of revival on the part ot the Chicago office of McCann-Erickson. Standard Oil of Indiana may even use some one-minute platters around this part of the country aimed at the farm audiences. National Biscuit has shifted to the N. Y. office. Maytag remains quiet. But agency hpre has replaced N. W. Ayer for branches and dealers using spot plugs around the midwest Ford Summer Show (CBS)— KOH, Reno, Nev. AU operate on; •Sluggishlv poced, the items hop- "80 kc. All these stations expect to harardlu jumbled.' aPP^V to the FCC simultaneously for . Percy Faith orchestra (sustaining 'he power increase. In view of the from Canada. Mutual)—'Orchestra-,'"ct that all are applying for in- tions with the ripe lusciousness of crease and there is no one in the Kostelanetz - Spitnlny - Poige - Glus- band to oppose, expected increase fcin-Gould...consistently first rate will be automatically granted, and standout.' ' Understood also that a circular 'The Carters of Elm Street' (Oval- letter, explaining the scheme, is tine, NBC)— 'It still remains a puzzle making the rounds Qf the station lioiu unbelieuably bnnal scripts con managements and that all are favor- interest rhe busy housewife.' able to the plan. Local officials of Bob Hope (Pepsodent, NB.C.)— WNBC are quite confident that there 'Weli-planned, u'ell - supplied with are no obstacles to the scheme and aminunition, loell-relieorscd.' that they will be automatically 'Pot O* Gold' (Tums, NBC)— granted the increase, 'The program sumi up as a pro-; ^NBC was recently granted per- moter s idea of something slick. It mission to operate on 1,000 watts day is basically unsound as entertain- me7it or as radio with NBC's uiisdom strongly to he questioned in permit- ting the use of its /ocililics, which i cheapens all radio entertainment. I( is the giueotuay- to end all give- Qtoays.' 'Tom Mix's Straighlshooiers' (Ral- ston, NBC) — 'Good funny paper dramatUTgy.' Raymond Gram Swing (White Owl, Mutual)—'Colm judicious use of longiioge and restrained delivery.' Walter O'Keefe (Lifebouy, CBS)— 'The program jerkily unspooled with and night Station previously ppcr ated on 1,000 watts days and 2S0 watts nights. . Is an optional station on the I7BC Blue. Part of the Arde Bulova group. MBS TRYING TO HYPO B-S-H TO FULL HOUR FTC SURVEY SPOTLIGHTS RADIO BLURBS' PURIH ASCAP's Goodwill Reps Going Into Action This Chicago, Jan. 1. Mutual web here is making a con- certed drive to increase to a full hour the time sale to Blackctt-Sann- ple-Hummert agency accounts. Last week. Fred Weber, Mutual general nuinagcr. and Ed Wood, WGN'sales chief, set two 15-minute periods for Ovaltinu's 'Orphan Annie' and 'Car- ter.s of Elm Street.' WeJjer has returned to New York, with Wood continuing .alijiost daily confabs with B-S-H execs here. Washington, Jan. l. Microscopic percentage of radio spotty pcr/ornianccs adding to tlie' continuities contained any state- bad material.' | ments requiring more than superli- Kate Smith (General Foods, CBS) | cial checking by the' Federal Trade —'The whole program stacks up as . Commission during the year ended a good way to sell a lot of Crape- last June 30. Censor board's annual Nuts.' report showed better than nine- tcnths of the blurbs were beyond re- proach, indicating high degree of compliance with cease-and-desist orders, stipulations, and general ad- I vertising policies, plus various Fed- I eral statutes. W'lr» P*.«i. r««o ' "^^^ ^^'^ ^"^ periodical H, .iJCcH rrOS, LOnS! division ogled 643,790 individual con- ' tinuitlcs, comprising 1,384..353 type- . . . . , ^ written pages in the last fiscal yciar, American Society of Composers, i according to the annual report. T6- Authors and Publi.shers is^pulting i\s i,,, comprised 492,540 pages from iiet'- newly created station relations de-' partment into operation this week. If starting off with two such reps. Robert G. Paine and Richard F. Frohlich. Paine, son of John G. Paine, ASCAP general rnanager, will be routed among New England ^ station.s, while Frohlich .is .slated to ' of mTsceilaneouV kinds. Propaganda call on stations in Maryland, Penn- ! of this sort which necessitated invcs- .sylvania and New Jersey. | tigalion was 42.4':o-of the total, while The two young men will be on ' drug preparations, cosmetics, health tour for about two week.s. They will j devices and contrivance.?, and food then make their preliminary rcr.! ))roducls.!>ccounted for (i2.7'i of the ports on how the broadcasters re-' advertised articles given legal re- acted to them. Through this contact- ■ view. ing setup, ASCAP hopes to get its : own viewpoints about its service to | the broadcasters and to get at the , same lime the broadcasters' views toward ASCAP. Sherman K. Ellis: Has slipped into a pretty sound radio slumber follow- ing the departure ot Puffed Wheat and Puffed Rice to other outfits, and the remaining Aunt Jemima portion of Quaker Oats indicates little chance for an ether ride. Aubrey, Moore £ Wallace: There is always Campana; but, nevertheless, this agency has demonstrated what can be done with a single radio account. Many years with 'First Nighter' and now returning 'Clrand Hotel' for the same account. In addition handing out some .spot scraps for International Harvester and 20 Grand Razor Blades. • Has a feeling for radio. Erwin-Wasey: Up-and-downer from whom more is expected. Continues on the network- kir Carnation', but little other action at present, though there are hopes now that Irving Auspitz has joined the organization, since Auspitz is sold to the hilt on the efficacy of the microphone. Needham, Louis & Btorby: And then there is Fibber McGee and Molly. If for nothing else the agency rates in the upper brackets. But indicates a tendency to rest on its laurels of the great find it made for Johnson's Floor Wax. Have plenty of available accounts for radio, but despite this are using only a couple of spot plugs for Kraft's Parkay product and John- son's Gloco. Relricke, Ellis, YounEsren Ic Finn: Has lost ground and now being passed up pretty much by radio men who have torn their lungs out trying to interest this organization in radio. Presentations by the score have been sent in to them, but the boys here are busy looking out ot the window. Some spot shoLs for Burlington railroad, most of which are sold by the stations locally just about covers the radio picture here in.-an outfit that generally impre&es as lethargic as far as radio is concerned. United States Advcrtlslne Co.: At least this office has been out trying to sell radio, and is consistently trying to persuade Wilson & Co. meat ac- count to hop on the ether bandwagon. Has a "spot schedule for Wilson's dogfood and readying another for the lard product, but as yet hasn't been able to put over that convincer for the big-lime stuff. . Ruthraun Si Ryan: Plenty of action here in an organization which has spread its radio department considerably in the past two years, and under the present progressive operation of the radio department even more ad- vancement lies ahead. Benton & Bowles-Chicago: Three boys with a plan, and this small but active agency here is going stronger and better than many bigger and older agencies in town. Henri, Hurst & McDonald: Solid agency that goes along with a good radio job without fuss or fanfare. Loves Smiling Ed McConiicll; comes up with Tony Wons to .sell Hall's greeting cards, and has a talking dog for Morrell's Red Heart Dog Food. Of considerable importance in the radio picture and turns in consistent ether results. Roche, Williams & Cunnyngliam: Cudahy (primarily Old Dutch Cleanser's 'Backstage Wife") and Sludebaker with some Milwaukee railroad stuff. Big:time user of radio and buys time by the carload when they get started. Indicates a return to a lavish network show for Studebaker. .\n- other ujjit'antling agency'without frills or fancy steps. Stack-Gobic: After a couple' years of relative inaction, has returned to the radio fray with' both hands flying. Tums on the network. Grove's Bromo-Quininc on both network and spot and plenty ot spot stuff for works, which report weekly, and Swift's Sunbritc product. Agency is on the march and is rapidly picking 891,813 pages from individual plant.s. I up speed, and should pass by a flock of rival agencies durii^g the ISHO who are called on quarterly to file scramble. Nelsscr-Moycrhof: There is the Wrigley account which is nice and pli^as- ant. And then there is Kitchen Klenizer for which this agency has done and is doing a bang-up job wilh some fcmme-intcrview programs, and also some fine work for Sawyer biscuit. Hard-working organizalion. copies of the blurbs which they aib- As has been the ca.se for years, the questioned radio and printed adver- tising was preponderantly for drugs STRICTLY NET Sue; Carol Self-Books Herself on Texaco Show Myron MvCormick, legit actor, has joined the cast of 'Joyce Jordon— Girl Interne.' Voynow Quits WEAN Providence, Jan. 1. Richard Voynow, sales manawr wilh WEAN for pasl three years, rcsii,'ncd (30). Plans call for short vacalioii and then return to New York! Hollywood, Jan. 1. Sue Carol didn't have to pay the usual lO'.'u commission tor 1)cing booked into a guest spot on the Texaco program. Former film player did it herself, being an agent. 'Also the first lime a percenter was .sought for guesting. BILL HAY SETTLES LUM 'N^ ABNER SUIT Bill Hay .settled his suit a.;:iinst Chester Lauck and Norris C.dII' < Num 'n' Abner) out of court. Bucolic air comics were accused of ropwdialing an agreement which guaranti'i"'!' the Ainos 'n' Andy aiinouncor a ooin-- mission on radio work he socuri'd f')r the L, 4c A. team. Understood settlenioiit flmiie around $5,000.