Variety (May 1943)

S4 BAHIO REVIEWS Wednesday, May 12, 194S TOUB HOME-FBONT BEPORTEB' CMt: FlaMhcr Wiley, ElMnor Sleber, rraak Parker, Bach Cennever, D»tU Breehawn ereb Wrlter>Dlreetor: OordM Auchlaetoiit tS Mlas.; MMi.-Frl., 4 fja. OWENS-ILLINOIS GLASS WABC-CBS, New Terk (D'Arcy) Fletcher Wiley, the folksy-frank expounder of homely platitudes, is teamed with Mprano Eleanor Steber and tenor Frame Parker, with David Bi'ockman's orchestra, in a new 25- minutc series which Owens-Illinois glass is sponsoring as an institutional five-weekly. It's a curious combina- tion of program elements and, de- spite Wiley's skillful attempts as m.c. U doesn't quite jell Into a smooth Eattern. at least on the basis of the litial broadcast. As "Your Home Front Reporter, Wilev opened the premiere install- meni with an intense, direct personal spiel to the individual listener that he wasn't going to do 'any long- winded commercials, no boxtops. no free- packages of seeds for 10c to cover the cost of mailing.' No, he said, he just wanted 'to sell you on all-out cooperation in the war effort.' His formula on that was careful, in- telligent buying, using what hc^alled his 'inside lowdown' on foods, ob- tained through his research man in Washington. With his next exhortation, about Black Markets, Wiley really turned on the steam, calling the criminal operators 'lice' and 'vermin from un- der the woodwork,' and such terms, and, somehow, working from that Inio the announcement of the next musical number. For his- closing spiel he turned to philosophical bro- mides about pessimism. He flnaled with a plug tor Owens-IIlinols coH' tainers for home canning and an urge tor his audience to listen' next day to Kate Smith's noontime com ment program—incidentally, for different sponsor, agency, etc. For the musical portions ot the premiere, Eleanor Steber sang 'Annie IBENE'S GBAl'MAN APOLLO' WKh Irene Cowan, Keyes Perria 15 MIns.: Men.-Thu., 19M p. m. Soitelnlng WpB, New York Formerly heard over a midwest station, this wacky record-jockey program was recently brought to. I New York bv WOR and is being aired Monday - through - Thursday nights as a local .sustainer. it's kind of a cross between the Ralph Dumke- Budd Hulick 'Studio X' and 'Cham- b.,' Music Society of Lower Basin Street; It has possibilities of build- n*.' a fair local followin)!. Show is presented as a hokum t:.eatre.' with Irene as the organist ('she's now rising from the pit, breath-takingly beautiful'), leading lady, interviewee and general kib- bitzer. Keyes Pcrrin is announcer and stooge. It's all unabashed corn, though with occasional amusing touches on this hearing. Hobe. FoDow-op Comoent :: GAME PARADE' With Arthur Elmer, Renee Terry M Mint.: Sat.. 11 a. m. SaitalnlBf WJZ-Blne, New Tork Merely one more in the endless variations of the parlor game-quiz idea, 'Game Parade' is an innocuous item by and for kids. It takes five urchins from the vociferous studio audience and lets them compete on historical, practical and other ques tlons. and tonRue-twister quotations submitted by listeners. Prizes con- sist of war stamps. There's also a sibgon contest for dialers. Arthur Elmer is m.c. assisted by moppet-voiced Renee Terry. There's an organ tor bridges, etc. Hobc, Laurie' expertly: Frank Parker Bleased with *A Pretty Girl Is Like a lelody,' and they duetted with 'Only a Rose.' David Broekman's accom- paniments were passable. Hugh Con. nover is the announcer. Hobe. The Duse, you say! Yes. WOR-Mutual's new tbeatr* of the air is the same famous Guild Theatre that thrilled to the magic words of Shaw, of Shakespeare, of Molnar. And yes, the magnetic voices of the Lunts, and Dudley Digges and Helen Hayes helped to mellow its wood and hallow its name. Thou- sands have sat in the Guild audience in 18 years of good theatre. Now millions can flip their dial to "two-on- the-ai^le" at the New WOR-Mutual Theatre. Well, that's WOR for you. Ever progressive, thinking of its ^ responsibility to its listeners. If / you can be proud and humble at / the same time—we're that. And / e curtain V Basil BaUibone turned in a flaw- less performance as the Rudy Vallee Suester Thursday night (6) via NBC. le excelled both as a serious actor and as a comedian. His .serious con- tribution was the 'In Which We Serve' epilog, which had been se- lected by Hollywood network direc- tors as one of the two best bits ot dialog from a war Aim. It was done with great feeling and skill. 'The comic sequences which preceded this delivery found Vallee. Joan Davis and Rathbone in top form. •Little Bloe PUyboase' offered a grade-reader sort of dramatized story of the lite of Gen. Jimmy Doo- Httle Saturday morning (8» on WJZ- Blue. The stock direction and per- formances accentuated the surfacey nature ot the show. In (iontrast, a recorded speech by Doolittle him- self, shortwaved from North Africa and inserted into the program, was natural and direct and effective. Some of the AFRA actors on the stanza should have heard the record- ing before they went on the air. 'AnswerlBf Tea,' the weekly short- wave confab series recorded by BBC and aired in New York by WNYC. was interesting and informative as heard Sunday (9). It dealt with the Black Market, its extent and meth- wis, and what is done to. combat it, in England and the U. S. When the prograin covers material of that na- ture It makes arresting listening, and. since It deals with evident truth, excellent propaganda. Incidentally. BBC wisely deleted part of the pre vlous week's broadcast, in which a mldwestem university profe.ssor re- lated a Jewish anecdote. The U. S. portion ot the show had originated at the Institute for Eduation by Radio, at Columbus, O. Tl|e<a Bara, siren of silent film era,' came put ot retirement Satur' day (8) to guestar on the Groucho Marx-Pabst Blue Ribbon Town pro- gram over CBS with effects that were altogether negative as to her seductive prowess. Despite a terrific buildup via Groucho's intro for the edification ot a new generation, the erstwhile charmer tailed to impress in one ot those typical Abou Ben Groucho skits that tried to take up where Miss Bara had left off some years ago. Fortunately, the scrlpter.s provided for just such an emergency, entru-st- ing to Groucho the burden ot the chapter. The comedian, in his usual ^stride, whammed over a sock Uu^h turn highlighted by a rendition ot a multiple-cadenzaed 'Til the Sands of the Desert Grow Cold.' Donald Dick- son, Virginia O'Brien, Robert Arm bruster and the Blue Ribbon chorus were also in fine fettle for the stanza now, we nng up on what we hope will be a fresh success. [ It mm fv«rW \ That power-fuU ttatioa at 1440 Broadway, in New York •MUSIC FOB AM HOOB' Casli rmeM OrMT. Draali DuM, BeaM Bablneff, aUMMi E«y«k Jm Blplafi AUrea WaUeMlela •rah, ChOTM Writer: Bobert A. Slmea Director: Becer Bewer M BlUf.: Ban, • p,m. Sutoialaf WOB, New Terk With musical shows sproutins like rumors this season, WOR, New York, last week began a new series, 'Music tor an Hour,' which Is now heard locally, but will probably spread to the network if and when a sponsored religious stanza can b« rescheduled. There's also- the prospect that if a bankroUer comes up tor halt the Srogram it might be sold that way. leanwhlle, it^ an appealing and impressive show on its own. The idea of the program is simply plenty of well-sun^ and played clas- sics and seml-dassics, with an occa- sional novelty arrangement or pres- entation for variety. Alfred wal- lenstein is, ot course, one ot the most competent conductors in radio, and he's up to standard on this 'Music tor an Hour.' Frances Greer is a pleas- ant lyric soprano, and Donald Dame an able tenor. Violinist Benno Ra- binoff and pianist Milton Kaye are also skillful artists, the latter doin^ a standout job as .soloi.st on 'Rhap- sody in Bl,ue' on the premiere broad- cast. Joe Ripley is the announcer. Kobe. 'March •( Time' Thursday night (6) was a series ot speeches. Except for a few brief intros the dramatiza- tion idea seemed to have disappeared from this program. Opening shot on the John L. L«wis strike offered splendid opportunity for dramatic excerpts: instead. It was a propa I ganda piece by Abe Fortas, Under- Secretary ot Interior, tuned in from 1 Washington. The three-dimensional I x-ray discovery by New York denl '] ists, Joe E. Brown's experience.': the Pacific, and the closing shot emphasizing the helplessness of field artillery without anti-aircraft all I made interesting listening material, but were still more spceche:>. PrO' gram opened with a closed mike. 'Grapevine Rancho' Thursday nigh (6), with Charlie Ruggles as guesi was well paced and well built. Leo Carillo's handling of one commercia avoided the usual 'commercial' let down, and the Carillo gag of want ing to be a movie star, so he could be another Leo Carillo. was cute. Ip.Q^ly ^polihaQ. \rncillated between I irhiTatm'g'Dur'an'te'and Ed Gardiner, and the pun gag at the begin ning about fraction-frlction-flction fracture was old when the dina'^aiir was growing up. •TranaaUanUc Call,' the CBS-BBC I exchange series, took the listeners of both links last Sunday (9) to the southwest corner of the U.S.A. for halt-hour ot sprightly narrated local color. The town wa.s San Antonio, and the unfolding canva.s. a.s put m words by Alan Lomax and m.i-.'d by J. Frank Dobie, Texan folklorist. in eluded Mexican mine-sincGrs. a Mox ican poet, a Texas rancher, cowboy, old settlers and fledgling fliers from a nearby aviation cadet center. Earle McGIll directed. •BBAZnJAN PABAOr WMh Cearad Najel, Tito Ouliar. Genenl Enrico Oasfar Oatra, Bob Staalaf arch WrUer: lack BmcIi Pr*dM«r: Jack Beach S9 MiM, Satorday, 4M pm ROBERT BELLAIRE Conment IS MIns., Sunday, • a.m. Sustaining WJZ-Blue. New York Robert Bellaire is the.latest addi- tion to the Blue's commentator stall. Heard Sunday (9) on his second time out as a weekly analyst. Bellaire was, if anything, too polished in his presentation. This approach, while expected of an announcer, is not the best rec- ommendation for a news analyst. The analyst should sound as it he were deliberating the editorial sig- niAcance of the news.ahd not as if he were merely reading a script written by someone else, as does Bellaire. With a little more experience he should be able to overcome this shortcoming, for he has poise and an easy-to-take radio voice. He was more the commentator and less the reader-of-news bulletins when he discussed the Far Eastern situation. Bellaire was former UP bureau chief in Tokio and had been interned there for six months fol- lowing Pearl Harbor. Thus he was able to inject a conversational ap- proach in reviewing and predicting the course of events In the Orient. WOB-Mntnal, New Terk As a goodwill gesture, 'Brazilian Parade,' presented in cooperation with the Office of Coordinator ot Inter-American Affairs, has political merit. At entertainment, judged by the preem Saturday (8>, It just failed to click, despite Tito Guizar's spirited singing, Conrad Nagel's smooth nar. ration and a flowery dedicatory ad- dress, by General Gaqiar Dutra, Brazil's minister ot war, who spoke from Rio de Janeirp in Portugese. Gulzar mentioned that he had clicked in Rio with 'Home on the Range' blended with a bit of 'Chat- anooga Choo Choo' in Spanish. Per- haps he did, but It'failed to register on the air. He was, however, much more impressive with several Spanish and Brazilian numbers and got strong support from Bob Stanley's orch. Nagel's easy-going manner set the pace tor the entire show,, but aside from an interesting treatise on Brazilian rubber, there was little 'o indicate thnt our Latin American neighbor was being honored with a special series all of iti> own, and that this series would enhance U. S. prestige In Brazil. The spark that sets one program off from the rank and Ale was mis.sing. PMHAM NEW RADIO HEADOFERWINWASEY Charles Pinkham Is the new radio director for the Erwin-Wasey agency. Pinkhom, who is a member of the Boston family which controls the Lydia Pinkham compotmd, an E-W account, joined the agency's radio department about a year ago. GF's AnnouDcements On 103 Keystone Outlets General Foods has placed a batch of announcements, with the 103 sta* tions comprising the Keystone Nkt< work (transcriptions^ The sched- ule calls for three announcements a day, Ave days a week over a pe- riod of 26 weeks. The various Po^t and drape Nuts brands are involved. National Kward^ffinner 194^-194^-1943 Jack Elgen's show on WMCA Sun- I day night presented as giiest.< Ihc mothers of George Jesscl and Milton Berle ' in a comedy routine. The mothers did takeolTs on their respec- tive ofTspring in order to isctlle the question of better inheritance of the humorous approach to life. Their delivery was a little i^haky,' at the .start, but that fault cleared up as the program went along. The material was generally good. Mrs. Berle told one of the panhandler jokes in the typical Berle manner, while Mr.{. Jessel clicked with a Je.ssel telepone I routine. "LABOR ARBITRATION" Conducted by Samuel R. Zack "LABOR ARBITRATION" IS more than a radio program. It it a.i actual meant of tetdiog controvcrtiet between labor and management. Each Sunday night a case it contested and de- cided. Both tidet fight vigorously to win, tince the decision of the judgei it binding and may mean the avoidance of a strike, adjustment ofpay, or the lost of a job. 4K- No more imporunt problcfflf face the country today than the relationt between workers and employers. This program lights the way to peace- ful lettlements of labor'.disputes. «(> WMCA congratulates Samuel R. Zack, who conducts "LABOR ARBITRATION" for winning in three successive years the national a#ard of Ohio Sute University for Public Discussion Programs. "LABOR ARBITRATION - is heari/extlusivi/y »H WMCA tttry Sunday yoj— 10:00p.m. wmca NEW YORK AMtXICA'l lEAOINO INOtHNOtNt STATION