Variety (March 1944)

Wednesday, Match 1, 1944 KAaiO REVIEWS 43 6*. <'NEGRO NEWSPAPER WEEK" With Dr. ClKyton Powell) Canada Lee, Willie Bryant, Paul McNutt, Thomas Younfi Randy Dixon, David Ori-o, Ollie Stewart, Mary Iiou Willl»mS) Kennetii Spencer, Writer: Richard McDonaKh Direetdr: Ira Avery One week (Feb. 27'March 4); 1 p.m.; 30 Mins. ■■ sustaining WEAF-NBC, New York ■ ■ Hadio, perhaps, has been slow in contributing its time to extolling the virtues of the Negro race. Now, perhaps, that deficiency has been overcome, and it couldn't come at a iiiore. propitious momenta . Such programs as '-Negro News^ paper Week," which; this week, over NBC, IS emphasizing the Negro contributions to the war effort, and the American way of A lite in gen- pralj cannot !do anything but serve the public interest. Radio, with the greatest communications^ audience ol any show business medium, is .thus to(fst equipped to emphasize a demor cratic precept that has, figuratively, given the Arnerjcan Negro an equality aetuajjy deqied them by-ex^- prcssions ot social barriers. "Negro Newspaper Week'' pays . tribute to Negro heroes in the vari- ous theatres of war. It emphasi/es the white ■ man's recognition of the Negro's contiibutions to literature, the professions and entertaihment, C?nada Lee, the actor, emceed this show, and the tulenti mf th« N^fircr w«re emphasized in th« Introduction of the people who took part In the initial program last Satui?day, Mary Lou Williams played boogie woo£ie. on the piano and Dr. Clayton Ppw- •11, Harlem minister and publisher of the Amsterdam News, spoke about the value of the Negro presSi That's really a parlay. Four correspondents of colored newspapers were interviewed on the program relevant to some phase of Negro war-effort contribution, three from the NBC studio in New York and one from London. From the midwest, Paul McNutt was piped in for a fine, tribute' to the race, and others who appeared were Willie .Bryant," comedian, •■■ and Kenneth 3pencer, who sang Langston Hughes' "Freedom poad" as the program's climaxer. Program was arranged through ;the ■ Negro Newspaper Publisher Assn. K«/m. Smith's WLW War Stint Cincinnati, Feb. 29. iCharles A., .Sniith,;'chief ot:the-:INS bureau m London,..is WLW's new war correspondent, succeeding Leo Dolan, resigned. Smith's weekly re- ports are broadcast on the station's "It Happened There" Sunday a.mv seiies. "IT PATS TO BE IGNORANT" With t'om Howard, Ocorfe SheUon, Harry McNaughton, Lulu McCon- • nell' Producer: Herb Folesie Writers: Ruth Howard, Bob Howell 30 Mins.v Fridays, 9-9:30 p.m. - : ^ PHILIP MORRIS &, CO. WABC-CBS, New York (Bioic) Zany quiz session became a spon- sored entity again last Friday (25) after a checlcered career, Stanza first hit the air waves as a WOR- Mutual sustainer in July, 1942, and went commercial over wOR, N. Y., in December of that year, . They were on that net for almost a year) ioining the Kate Smith program i» November of the past year; Proceedings remain the same, gag- stretching; caricature of the quiz format. Howard plays the exasper- ated quizmaster who suffers through the tired corn dispensed by the others as a panel of experts. 'This is quite a switch from .the dignified ap- proach of the Playhouse, which the "Ignorant" session replaced/ Commercial copy was effectively terse and intruded little on. the body of the program. Tv.ro. Hlfide Horizons Dual Preem Misses Mark As Straight Show and Video Coulter Has f neumonia . Doug Coulter,; CBS veepee in charge of program.^, felled by pneu- monia. ■ He's bedded at home. "WIDE HORIZONS" With Eddie Dowlinir, Ben ^Harrod, Marie Mendoza, Bill Leach, Glenn L. Martin, Casey Jones, Art ,Hot' !S, David Mendoza orch, others Producer: Thomas G. Sabin . ; Writer: Gene Wang 30 Mins., Sun,, 4 p.m. BOOTS AIRCRAFT NUT CO. WOR-Mutual, N. Y. (Ceci! & Prcsbrei/) Eddie Dow ling's return to the au'- lanes Sunday (27) on "Wide Hori- zons" could hardly be hailed as trniinphant. Progiam whipped to- gether. by Thomas G. Sabin flashed nothing, new m. the way of radio en- tertainment' and the. so-.so script wasn't helped ; any by emcee's too frequent fumbles, and fluffs, : Format is a talent opportunity springboard provided by Dowling to help people find their ''wide hori- zons" with tiein between aviation in- dustry and; returning servicemen after' the. war; Glinner'is. Mate Ben Harrod, of the Coast Guard, was. a happy choice ,%s featured guest and,; except for one or two minor script reading difficulties, breezed through HERE is Advertisement No. 2 in The Blue Network Year* round National Campaign. Like the first, this ad will run nationally—in newspapers and magazines. It will also go out Oil the air over BLUE stations to millions of homes. In tliis advertisement we carry our theme'o^^e .step further- by telling the story of radio in terms of the world's drama— by relating the whole movem ent of liisto r y to radio—and by relating the listener to history tlu-ough radio. It is our belief that by assigning to our audiences a specific place in the whole "world of radio," we will bo building more listening to radio—to The Blue Network and to all of our programs. From the advertiser's viewpoint the purpose of these adver- tisements may be summed up: more listening, better ratings, more sales, more value for every dollar inv&sied in The BLUE. As we have suggested before— THE ^S/ue IS GETTING TO BE A BETTER BUY EVERY DAY in fine style. He was gifted' by spon- sor at signoff. Soprano Marie Mendoza, war worker Bill Leach, who also; sang, ; and pianist Art Hodes neld down featured ,. musip Spots with plane; builder Glenn L. Martin and flyer Casey Jones on for brief speeches. Martin put in a he.ivy plug for a qo\eminent policy which would en- able plane manufacturers to build up financial backlogs to see them thioufih po.st-war days. ;,,T6 iijtro. Mariiri, playlet with,-^ay, Wesley, John Fai'rell and Ruth Gates was in.serted pointing up mother'', faith in yoiuig Martin's fly- ih.s!: .enthusiasrt!: which,: .aicopding''to;'" the .slsetph, v.was /'irowncd , :bn. ■by ^his'- fatHctv,;;.;,-, ■ ':,, \'., ■ .,-:;. Remote pickup £iom Baltimore brought in the manufacturer's 80- year-old mother with d brief mes- sage ;implbrliig all •p8rerits',;t6;;'haV faith 111 , their; youngsters'' ;Ahd',' the . future of the nation. ■ . . . .. . Although . Do.wUng,, flunched' -liomife;' fact that the' Boots cbmp'giiy's'(SiJtire', production is government earmhrked--. and,, sponsor had nothing ,to sell Hut,; "(aith." ■pliigs,; fai.led ;to. follow tjiis lTOeTaftd*reffiKi:tetedT-^ar-lh#-^^ of strai'ijht selling copy; settini; lorth virtues of Boots nuts. One eflective slogan,' stoiid, bu,t^fh,at about AmMi- .■ can\ warplanes.: "flying . w:i,th .their Boots on." All in all. preem performance was d}.sappointing first, because Dowhng cpijidh't- seem to find his urooye; and second,. ;becnuse aircraft .industry, usually forward looking and pro-; gressive; was expected to offer somer , thing new and ; different in radio rather than hackneyed format "un-- veiled. Doim. "WIDE HORIZONS" (TELEVISION) With Eddie Dowling, Marie Men- : doza. Bill Leach, Ben Harrod, Jean - Parker, Alice Ration, Jay Wesley, John Farrell, Ruth Gates Writer-Producer: Thomas G. Sabin 30 Mins., Sun., 8:15 p.m. BOOTS AIRCRAFT NUT CO. W2XWV-DuMont, N. Y. (Cecil & Presbrey) Repeat television pertormance of Boots, Nut Co.'s Mutual preem Sun- day 127): ■ was a praiseworthy idea ; and undoubtedly is a signpost point- . ing way to future advertising policy to be pursued "by many major ac- counts. Unfortunately, however, half-hour video • production was rough, not bnly arbuiid.the edges but ;: in -the. middle, as well-: R.-seeiried , apparent that pioducer Thomas G. Sabin, with his hands full on the straight air sliot, failed to give siif- 'ficient time and preparation efforts to the DuMont chapter. : The tele; caiTiera wasn't too kind . .to'Eddie Dowling, aging him tar be- Tfond his every day appearance, and although he displayed his usual deftness .'and confident , beai'ing, the star's engaging per.sonality tailed to come through on the screen as in the flesh. Unfiatterini; camera lines' marred .i rc-^t. of the ;.ea.st' as' ' well, with Alice Hattoh.-.'sohgstreSs-pianist,,; nffrnrially '; oi much better than average attrac- tivenes'=, emerging far from that in : the video version. Show followed pattern -. of, afternoon : MBS , .show ; closely - with . song specialties, by Marie Mendoz.i, Jean Paiker, Miss Tiatton and Bill Leach. Dramatic bit from lite of plane builder Glenn ' L. Martin was; also repeated but manufrcturer: himself did not dupli- cate hi,s earlier network appearance.. Producer-writer - Sabin, made a brief appearance on show before taiAniL' Ih'pps over to Dowling. It's planned to continue tele repeat: policy during life of the Mutual seiics but for punchy effectiveness video version mimt be ^.smoothed' con.'stde'Eabl.y: .with more time iiiven to-prfrpp 1 ni!-working_sctipLand re-' hear.sing before-• shows, hit ; :the; screen. Doiin. ; "THE C.WDLE AXD THE GUN" With Bill Quinit. Larry HaincH, Bob- bv Lee, Louis Sarin, Adelaide ; Klein, Ted Osborne narrator, War- ■ . rcn Sweeney,.. ■. ' Writer: Marl Vanofsky .Director: Marx Loeb Music: Bernard Herrmann Vi Mins.; Wed. 6:30-6:45 p., m. (single >hot) Sustaining .■ WABC-CBS, Vew York ; 'T^l'iis, Was.; prip;,of.-.those brief , .lude.s.- that 'Oc'casionaily; 'hit; fee' air..-," waves .lu-t fo prove how effective, .jifld nioylbg 'a'pcrfebtly^ of u .scrfptin.g can; jilt home.: Ivlai'i 'V'ahof-;- f!s>*^ 'Staff; KcriRter; iit .'WjflP. ;-Harris-: .bui'f.'. ';dc;iTi6'ri'.strata(3.; the.--facile ,a.nd.- t notion rousing technique which .''on the av ard of the National Con- 'crc'icp of Chri.stian.s and Jews for a,i p,teviouV''sinfiilatv' phore-vw lo(r?ii,ijt'a-tjob,:'-;" '-•.'':'.--■,■:,'■'.;■',■.■■■ :','■.;'' Story dealt vi ith a young Jewiih liKl.khofiight.s'.'a randie/pn the .ahri^^ ' vcr.<'£iry'..of, his father'.s de;ath ahd the oxplahaiion he give.s his Ii'ish iri'end t'or, 'doing :some.thing:like that ,ori, 'a, blac'Jieci-oui; transport h'e&ditig; over- ; (Continued on page 44) ;