Variety (Jul 1941)

26 RADIO REVIEWS Wedncfsday, July 2, 1941 Checkmg Up on the Washtub Weepers . '} The daytime serials are better technically than their collective reputa- tion artistically. Some of them are downright good. Some range to pad- ding and excessive gobs of hoke. But alX Ja all, after careful, patiejt, and perhaps courageous, exposure to two dozen or moie serials in the last week or two Vambtv reviewers report that the scripts, the directing and the acting are generally better than a year- or two back. With, however, more than a couple conspicuous examples of sUghtly indigestible corn pud- ^'ihe plots of current sequences are touched upon in the follow-up com- ment below. The plots are the sum and substance of tiie soap operas, ■which is not to belittle the leading lady's tremolo. The daytime serials nut the housewives of America through a daily emotional wringer, and no wonder real-life husbands sometimes find the little woman preoccupied at dinner, the way she toiled over a h ot radio all day. 'StelU Dallas,' with Anne ■ Hum' mert given air billing as author, is currently involved in a tangle of husbands and wives, ex-dittos—ana their assorted offspring. Its appar- ently aimed at the self-analytical housewives who constantly examine their own situations to find out why life and love "and marriage hasn t been just all one long dream. Stella, a tough-voiced dame with a crude background, has been seeing her ex- hubby, to virtually everyone s. in- sistently-expressed disapproval. Ob- viously her intentions are the best, but of course no one else m the script recognizes that K^, indinea to be prett>- heavy going (NBC Red) and, to the casual tuner, rather too complex. On a recent Wednesday show, Beatrice di Silvara, who 3 ap- parently something extra-implressive in the beauty biz, appeared in person to plug Phillips' milk of magnesia facial cream. •Backstacc Wife' is weathering a terrifically tense sequence these days. It deals with gangsters, threatened murder and all sorU of skullduggery. Pretty hokey at times, but rather skillful, particularly the way the . script draws suspense steadily up- ward to the fadeout climax., Piano accompaniment to some of the action mars the illusion, and the way some of the characters talk to themselves to tell the audience what's going on Is a bit transparent But generally a credible stint Commercial punches ' hard on the fact the; Dr. Eyons is in ; powder form. On NBC-Red. 'David ' Hariun,' Babo's cracker- barrel .handyman and rural Good Samaritan on, the NBC Red. out- smarted himself recently, when he got the local halwkshaw so confused 'In legal complications that that >^ worthy g4nt resigned and handed ■ over his town constable badge and a baffling murder mystery to the old ' boy. So now Harum has to-Uncover the slayer of Gregory,, the knavish butler ot mystery writer Jefters. All the clues point to the author, but AOnt Polly (in one of the miost quavering trick voices ia AFRA his- tory). insists he's innocent In Its ■way, the show is palatable hoke. Title character is well scripted and ■ nicely' played, • but the whoduoit . author sounds almost as old-maidish as Aunt Polly. Chapter, caught built ; to a punchy surprise climax. 20 Winks tense. Then Dr- Alec went to see Tubby,' who, it seems, was knrfcked goofy by a gang of hoodlums. But hubby spurned his old pal. 'Get out' he ranted, ever more violently, 'get out, get out.' Wives at least learned that Bisquick is excellent for use for outdoor cooking on camping trips. * 'Life Can Be Beantlfnl' is stretch- ing the title a bit in its current se- quence on CBS. Story is about a gal named Patricia who, though married to a trainee named Barry, is sliding tov/ard an afTair with her old beau liOgan Smith (not to be confused v;itn essayist Logr.n Piersol Smith, as scripters Carl 'Bixby and Don Becker fall to mention). She's apparently kind of dim-witted, as well as self- centered, according to the dialog— will you go away if I kiss you good- bye?' Other character.<! 'on the show include a gal named Chichi, who isn't going to tell hubby about Patricia because Smith (a regular .serial heel) gave her a better job in his father's store if she'd keep quiet, a guy named. Steve and a Hebe-.ic'cented David .Solomon. Prqcler & Gamble's extra-length commercials for Ivory flakes are identical with those on Against the Storm' on NBC-Red. I "Martha Webster* continueis to be «ne of .the saintlicst of the serial . herpines — no mean achievement • She's such a tolerant, kindly, sym- - pathetic,. generous, courageous CBS , dame. However, the part Is w611 played and some of the supporting characters have enough color to re- V lieve a bit of the. script's saccharine. Current sequence has to' do with young Virginia and the wiles ot Lloyd, the husband from whom'she's separated.' Seems he gave an auto- . ' mobile to her kid brother, which' '.just goes to show what a cad. he is. Pretty homey stuff, , with Ralph Dumke still providing a lively In- , gradient Martha introduces the . chapters ' with philosophical solUo- . 4uies. And Del Sharbutt suggests a ' ciiiile in his reading of the Camp- bell's vegetable, soup plugs. 'Boml-ot tife' (NBC-Red). 5s about to witness' some ultra-devious doings '' by members of the medical' profes- : cion. Asd when the daytime serials ' show doctors as anything but saints, -Where's the future-of romance? In , fact Avhere's ■ the future? 'Anyway,, It ;eems Dr; Jim Bent has a iealous rival physician who's out to. let him, ' Avlth no prescriptions barred. Ques- ,tion,' too, whether Dr. Jim-Is going to remain too blind to marry that 'pretty, nurse whp adores him so.' Two things appear obvious—Dr. Par- cons is a villain in medico's clothing and Dr. Jim Won't many the nurse. How can he? What would' happen to the rating? Chipso's commercials are cf the C.A.B.-defying length. ■ 'Valiant Lady' is getting the emo- tional works on NBC-Red at present But the serial isn't so named for nothing. Her hubby, Dr. Tubby' Scott may be going, loco, but she'll stay In there and suffer for dear old' Bisquick if she has to yank the housewife listeners' nerves to shreds doing it Meeting hubby's old fdend Alec, the brain surgeon, in a drug- store the other day she unburdened herself through the montage-chatter of customers, 'My husband Is de- ranged, doctor. He's out of his mind. He used to love me; he doesn't- any more.' Both were quavery and ultra- ■Bomanoe. of Helen Trent' on CBS. aims particularly at the yearning-to-' be-young-again housewives with the Intro that'romance need n'ot-be over for a woman of 35—romanc^-'may be.- gin at 35.' - Plot itself is now localed in - that gliamor capital. Hollywood',' Wednesday's (25).episode'Was mostly, a. long, • leisurely confab between Helen and hubby, the art director at. a film studio. Both were being pretty thankful that they're not-going to be blind after all—and because the baby Is.coming. Litt'e'action on the ^how and only a single scene change.. Commercials plug Bisodol as ci4re .for 'excess'stomach acidity' and./acid distress.*' Also mentioned an' illus- trated article about the program In a radio fan mag.' IVh^n » Girl Marrieis' she's apt to become involved in all sorts; of melo- drama, according to the serial's go- ings-on heard Wednesday. (25) 'dn CBS. Current sequence deal; -with'.a perjury-loaded divorce trial of Phit and. Eve Stanley. A low-life'named Wilde, has apparently cooked'up the! dirty ' work, topped wljen ' a' Mrs. Aslxby dropped dead on the .witness stand after giving a flock'of wl)opp'er' evidence.' Bad-rman Wilde, has. a con-: vinclngly sinister sound,-while abbut-^ torbe-dlvorced Eve Stanley was ultra-r; tremulous. ■ Prudential . Insurance commercial urged' listeners not 'to let policies lapse, lest they be unable to get another and because they'd be in a higher age bracket and thus pay increased premiums. . Those early morning pro- grams on New York stations all have one thing in corhmon—the engineering is awful. DifTer- ertce in volume between a com- mercial and the playing of a record drives a listener nuts. It means continous twisting of the volume control tor the listener. A fllm operator in the booth of a theatre can ruin a picture, so an engineer at the control panel can make a bum of a radio pro- gram. Take a bow, boys, you're lousey .... Manhattan has Ave stations on the air 'till 4 a.m., WHOM. WHN. WEVD, WNEW. and WOR. After four o'clock just WNEW and WOR figKt it out; WHN quits at three. But it plays the loudest records, positively. If a disk is just wild that's not enough for WHN, it's got to be frantic Sunday nights David Niles (WEVD) has New York to himself from three to four. And what does he do - with it? Nothing. Davey ought to change that maudlin para- graph Introducing his final 15 minutes in which he 'rests, re- laxes, and reminisces.' Hear it twice and it starts to take on a comedy angle, But Davey must like it because he serves it regu- larly at 3:45. Meanwhile, th» opposition-gets tougher. But WOR's .Jerry Lawr rence can't just, coast on . 50,000 watts. It's nice, but it's not everjrthlng. ' Even the birds sound good some times at 4:30 - ... .Ear-catching themes: Duke Daly's, Charlie Teagarden's, Al- vino Rey's, Whlteman's Gene Austin could do himself, and WOR, a lot of good if the sta- tion would, give him 30 minutes and he'd give his routine some thought To suddenly hear someone who can really sing -a . Eong,' at 1:30 a.m., after Jt. salvo oi those hokey-pokey band vo- calists, is something. But 15 minutes for Austin isn't enough- except -if he doesn't care. Then .It's'too much. ... S^udderS '.of the week: Tea- . garden's (Charles) m.urderingof ' 'Aurora'? 'Vaughn Monroe's dirty trick to'PagUacci'? All singing song titles. Whlteman's 'Maria Eleha.' :Not because of the way he.plays It,-'but because of how often he pUys It the latter case, such as on the Wednesday ; (25) program; the dialog Is irom the following day's episode. Obviously, that's intended as a teaser to clutch listener suspense, but makes Uie'show that much more complex. Actress ;playlng lAicrece in the cur- rent sequence has a persuasive voice quality. Incidentally, since the pro- gram's title doesn't contain the name of any character on the show, the istoty- doesn't have to'stick to any particular person. Therefore, 'Storm' has- .no permanent lead,, as some serials do. FRONT r AGS FABBELL* With CarHon Toanr. Virginia Dwyer, Ethel Intropldl, Frederic Teiere, William Shelley, Laellle Meredllh, BUI Bond IS HlBs. Dally, 1:3* p.m. WOB-Mutoal, New Tork. (BUicIcett-Sample-Humniert) As the flr.st business given to WOR-Mutual by the New York of- fice ot Blackett-Saniple-Hummert, as well as the network's first spon- sored serial out of New York, other than recorded repeats, 'Front Page Farrell' is supposed to be some- thing of a test. On the. basis of the Wednesday (25) episode, the third of the series, it's also a test ot the American listening pub- lic. For if audiences will swallow such deliberate super-serial hoke as this, they will seemingly accept any- thing. It's as though B-S-H, the mass producer of serials, had set. out to <:how the ultimate In daytime clap- trap. It's a serial to end serials. Just consider: 'Front Page Farrell,' the by-line reporter of the New York Eagle, is so outraged when fellow- reporter Sally tells him she's going to many millionaire Everett Some- body, even though she doesn't really love him, that he 'sweeps her off her feet' (that's what the script said) and rushes her to the altar himself. While the gal's mother wrings her hands In anguished frustration, Far- rell and jilted old Moneybags meet and exchange Sunday-supplement threats. Sally keeps them from swapping punches, but she obviously can't help their corny dialog. Ap- parently no one can. 'I'll get you yet,' hisses the million- aire, in,' approximately those very words. 'When you see other women riding in the sort ot fine cars you could have, while you trudge the streets, you'll come back to me.' 'How dare you talk to my wife that way,' storms Our Hero. 'Why III spread your dirty past all over the front page of the Eagle. I'll print the dope on that crooked stock deal. I'll expose how that model com- mitted suicide off your yacht. I'll show she didn't fall overboard—she- was pushed.' '■JfCu try to smear me and youll have the same fate she had,' the Vil- lain sneers .in reply. 'IH ruin you if I have to buy your filthy paper to do it' And so on and on. Aside from the fact that the supposedly heroic newspaper man has very du- biou.s professional ethics, the dialog might have been lifted verbatim' from "The Drunkard,' or sdme other of those humorously-antiquated tear- jerkers. How can anything of the kind be judged by serious critical standards? It's Strictly incredible^ Of course, with daytime serials, any- thing is possible. According to the moron-audience school of thought 'Front Page Farrell' should be an exploitation bonanza for Anacin. If so, it's an appalling commentary on the intellectual level of housewife audiences. According to the credits, the show is scripted by Cecilia Lipschutz, from a story outline by Frank and Anne Hummert. Martha Atwell directs, assisted by Norman Sweet- .ser. Bill Bond is announcer, Carlton Young plays Farrell, Virginia Dwyer is Sally, Ethel Intropidi is the girl's mother and Frederic Tozere! Is .the rnillionaire. William Shelley and Lucille Meredith have supoortlng parts. Hobe. - 'Arnold Grlmni's Daqshler,* her brother.Tom and the-latter's wif? Bemlce. are all pretty upset because, the old man has . gotten in the clutches of:a scheming'dame-named Mrs. IStephanie Sommer^.'In.a single, conversatlon-lpaded scene Wednes- day (25) on NBC-Red,,they all bec labored'the su£iect until'finally Sen- ator Jeff Corbett, the swain :.df daughter Connie.- admits he^s known for some tijne that Grimhi Is going to.divorce his wife, (who wants him back, of course) and marry Mrs; Sdmmers. That was the 'clima:t and the only hint of antion-in the.'entire episode. Plot outline^'should last a long while at that rate.' Commercial .copy told about an avlatrix named Rolf, one of tbos*" 'women who. do things.' who eats Kixx. "In fact she even lets'her name be used for tes- timonials. l.-ZMa Perkins,' the veteran Procter & Gamble heroine on NBC-Red, is 'still In her rocking chair on the front porch back in RushviUe Cen- ter, but her daughter and son-in- law, the Paul HendersQ'tS, are at last meeting some pleasant bigwigs in Washington, where his work as Congressman has won him only ene- mies and abuse. Writing on the show has several original and effective slants. Author Orin Tovrov makes deft use of cut-backs to parallel scenes in different places. He also provides ' scope for musical back- ground to the action, at times using the- same music for different, but concurrent scenes. And he doesn't Immediately tip' off his characters. "FhUs,' a' seemingly gracious couple, the Bermans, with Mrs. Berman's friendly sister, may .turn' out to be as nice as they seem or villains in society clothing. Like all P. Sc. G. commarcials- the Oxydol plugs are plenty long. . Dorothy Lowell, In the title part of 'Our Gal Sunday' on NBC-Red, Is notable amid a welter of indistin- guishable actresses on daytime serials. Without overemohRsis, she somehow projects a blend of tremu-^ lousness and vitality that is quiet^, yet dramatically, appealing. Program is Wading in capital-lettered 'plot' currently, having wandered via a misdirected plane flight, to the East. Indies. There, «f course, tropical passions are. smouldering all over the studio. And the next boat won't be along for months. It's terrific. 'Against the Storm,' on NBC-Red, uses the curious and -somewhat puz- zling narrative device of a line or so of dialog at the Intro, before the opening commercial, and another at the close, after the closing plug. In •Gnldlng Light,' on NBC-Red for Procter & Gamble, is going through one of those sequences so typical of serials. Torchy, who shares an apartment with Judy, sees her room- mate in love with Gordon Ellis, a painter with whom she herself was once in love. She has told Judy of him only as 'Mr. Nobody from No- where,' but now it appears (in one talk-filled single, slo-w-movlng scene) that she'll have to tell 'all to poor little Judy. It's obviously apparent to the entire femme audience exactly what slangy, ungrammatlcal Judy is going to have to go through and how Torchy Is going to have to suffer with her. And obviously the audi- ence Is going to have to suiffer, too, which appears to be just dandy with housewife serial audiences. Opening musical theme on the show is rather loud organ chords, but the dramatic (Continued on page 28) 'MINNESOTA TO THE DEFENSE' With George Grim Drama IS Mins.—Lpcal Sustaining' Thursday, 9:4S a.m. WCCO, Minneapolis Inaugurated .with a visit to the Jostcn manufacturing-plant at Owat onna, Minn., - this transcribed .series; aims to publicize in dramatic form the state's defense activities and counteract an impression that little Government defense spending is tak- ing place In . Minnesota. - George Grim, the commentator and. pro- ducer, is Minneapolis Star-Joumal- Tribune newspaper radio director.- In accomplishing his purpose of ac qualnting the public with, the defense work in Minnesota and making th^ public defense activity conscio'iis. Grim has done a. workmanlike job for a starter. While entertainment value seems 'Impossible for attain- ment in this type of program, he nevertheless - has: Injected sufficient drama into the script to pake- it compelling. A bit of romance, at the outset found a girl and boy plighting their troth"-- following, high school com- mencement exercises. This opening scene, calculated to grab off audience attention, fits in because.the Josten plant manufactured high school com mencement rings before It received the Government contract to turn out surgical Instruments for the defense forces. Grim explained how such small towns as Owatonna may be fitted into the defense program. A visit to the factory followed. The establish- ment's vice-president. In an inter- view with (jrim, told the way in which the plant was converted from jewelry to surgical instruments. Sound of the machinery in action provided the atmosphere. Various employees were, interviewed and re- lated how glad they were to do bit In the defense program. Rees. PLATTEBBBAINS With iBob Bach. Milt Gabler, Leon- ard Feather, Be^ Wain, Tommy Dorscy QnU 25 Mini.—Local Friday, M pjn. WMCA, New York Informial get-together of 'experts' who try to answer musical quizzes filed by listeners with conductor Bob Bach makes up an interesting ses- sion. But it would be much more interesting and much clearer if Ba'ch could devise some way of .cqritrolling the board both in their answers to his queries and in extemporaneous remarks. This program 'came over a hodge-podge. • of ' voices, none too clear unless one got in his say alone. "Too, aU concerned are apparently grouped around one mike in a small studio. Permanent board ot puthorities on jazz, etc., is made up <* Milt Gabler, operator of Commodore Music Shop, N. Y.. who gives albums of record- ings to listeners stumping the ex- perts; Leonard Feather, jive author- ity from England, and two guests each week. Bea Wain and Tommy Dorsey teed-'ofl the guests. Except for her early answers, Miss Wain and Dorsey.almost were shut out by the other twol Program Is built on records and questions range from 'what band and . what, tune' to tougher things like 'who plaved the trumpet solo in this number?^ 'It's okay stuff, though its audience appeal is limited by an al- most strict jazz groove. That-was tipped off by Bach's early crack that 'very few ,'Hut-Suts' and plenty hot' stuff will be heard.' ' Wood. AMEBIC A THE FREE' With Vlotor Arden orch,,Myer Rap* paport chorns. Ford Bond 30 MIns. ANACIN Saturday, 10:36 a.m. WEAF-NBC,.New York (Blacfcetf-Sample -Hum nicrt) To its already extensive radio ex- ploitation, Anacin has added two more network shows', 'Front Page Farrell,' a serial on WOR-Mutual, and this •'America the Free,' , half- hour m'uslcal stanza Saturday morn- ings on NBC-Red (WEAF). This one seems expertly designed to catch mass appeal. Principal limit would seem to b(;.the size qt the potential audience for morning musical shows. As heard Saturday (28), the stanza was sub-billed, 'Songs of the Coun- try You Love,' ahd offered a mixture of current pops^ marches,, folk bal^ lads and a hymn. Latter, 'Battle Hymn ot the Republic.' was some- what Incongruously' (considering the feeling of a large part of the".south) announced as,'the s5ng ot a united , America.' As a matter of fact the title and the whole slant of the pro- gram seems a bit of an effort to grab the coat-tails of the current na- tionalistic drive. Opehing and closing with a march tune, the show caucht included the 'Hut Sut Song,' 'Billy Boy,' 'Yippee Klyay,' Things I Love' (without bill- ing for Tchaikowsky's original), 'Band Played On,' "Turkey in the. Straw,' 'Kentucky Home' and 'Battle Hymn.' Myer Rappaport -chorus supplied backgrounds for nearly all numbers but'the marches, with indi- vidual members ot the group pro- viding occasional vocal solos. As. usual with' Hum'mert-Victor'. Ardea presentations, the arrangements were unpretentious and made frequent use of the hokey 'Paramount finish.' Few announcements and those brief. Commercials followed Ana- cln's current theme ot plugging the assertion that 'your physician or dentist Ijas probably given you Anacin in an envelope' and that the product contains 'not just one, but several ingredients.' • Ford Bond de- livered them in his familiar high* voltage manner. . Hobe. THE MAN FROM WASHINGTON* Serial 20 MIns. Friday, 7:15 p.m. BBC, London Author of' this one flew in the face of tradition by having Scotland Yard stuck and obliged to send for an American G-Man.> If that's not enough, BBC Is fixing to have him clean up this messy drug-traffic busi- ness In six weeks—one ri;t each week. In case there might have been any mistake about that, the fella says so right out. and the Yard Chief says 'Marvelous' the way only a Yard chief- can. . Those responsible for. this script seem desperately anxious their au- dience should not be constrained to think. Every little move is staked out like a pelt the ingredients time- tried, pulp-lined and syrup-fed: question and answer dialog does more than its share, with each char- acter addressed by name in case voices on .their own are not enough. Script is weighty with 'Superintend- ent' and 'Mr. Cordell.' you can al- most feel them raise those hard hats with which Scotland Yard biggies are plctorlally invested. There's also a feeling 'The Mnn From Washington' has been here be- fore. In some guise or other. Pappy Cheshire, maestro of KMOX, St Louis, hillbilly galaxy, reports offer from 20th-Fox to do a picture based on the 4-H and to co-star with •Jane Withers,