Variety (Dec 1944)

Record Details:

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S6 RADIO Wtfduesday, December 13, 1911 Radio Reviews ContliKicd ri'um |>.ii;e 34 Sunday morniiiss. There, isn't niiicli cliHi!)t' that most are taleiitpcl. biil sonu" failed to register, al least OJi till' proijiaiii heard last Saturday i9i. C'omiviurcials aro long-wiiulcd, and when spieled by lO-ycar-olri Roland Sin ill) in a screechy voiee^ thoy lack jmprcssi\criuss, Tex Antoine. NBC arniouncei, however, handles his end slronslv. Sie/i. "HERE COMES ELMER " WUh Al rcarre, Arleiie Harris, Mickey SillcKc, Smart Set (4); Wendell Mies, announcer Writer: Jack Hasty to iHlns.: Sal.. 10:1.1 p.m. I.EWIS-HOWE to. WABC-CBS, N. T. I Roche. Willinois t Crear\i) .\rier a respite ot several months. Al Pearce returned to the air last Saturday night (9) in still another series for still another sponsor, M-«-M'i "M wJc fo r MtlHeiM'' New C.tMEr rirOflRAM. Friday 10 p.m., EwT Mit.: LOU CLAVTON TiMiis for the tiiinmy. He delivers laughs for tlic belly. The guy's good, anti si> is (hi.-! program. As Klnicr BUul, the super-sales- man who never seems to be able to sell anything, Pearce has worked for ai least haif-a-<lozen sponsors dur- ing his l.T year.< riding the ether vvAvcs. He's done good jobs for all of them, and there, is no reason to believe he'll fall .short in his new a.ssignmenl. And he has talkative .■\rlene Harris with him, too. This time Miss Haiuis is a switeh- board operator at the Puny Plaza, who fixes up Elmer with temporary lodgings in the office of a doctor who has just left the crowded city. Unfortunately, he is mistaken tor the doctor s assistant, but is saved from having to prescribe for a pro.s- peclive patient by some, clever maneuvering. While all this is go- ing on upstairs, the phbiie operator i.^ chatting away like mad' iii mono- log fa.shion with several people at the other end of the line.. Mi.ss Harris Is still a veiy funny charac- ter. Music of Mickey Sillette and his orch is grooved in the popular vein, and vocals by the Smart Set Quar- tet add to the enjoyment of the half- hour. Jack Hasty gave both Pearce and Mi.ss Harris good material for their teeofT stanza. 5teii. GENE KRUPA [ V t R Y TIJ S T H Li I-' • A ' W-l-N-D CHICAGO , .. K . Si.ii);; A ■ T U 19 1 1 1} {> as iV A d ..1 PHILIP E. ANdLICK KW7 Broadtrny Nnw Ym*. N. V. Tfll.': Circle e-0«i6-« ACCOUNTANT and TAX IXPERT Far Ilia tliratra ■iid tlieatre folk If y*u want your k«tlii ir rMydi hart itr«lflit. tr If y%M liivt any*tu 9r«bltmi, I «ni *ur« I ran hnip ytii. , WILLIAM S. OAILMOR Commentator X« MInji.; Mop.-Thru-FrL, ll:es p.m. ^JICTRONIC COBP. OF AMERICA WJZ, N. Tf. (Sliappe-Wtlkes) Previously heard cross-the-board on WHN, N. "y., imder the same sponsorship (Electronic Corp. of America), Willia^n S. Gailmor in the brief span of six months has now moved into the Blue's key position, WJZ, via this 10-minute session (11.65-11:15 p.m.) as an analyst. In view of his brief radio career, ,his current sponsorship is ample evi dence of an unusual ability. It was apparent last summer -that Gaitmor was big-league stuff and, though it was inevitable that his capabilities would be recognized, that speedy switchover demonstrates that his N. Y. listeners were right in their acclaim. That 11:05 p.m. slot follow ing the flve-minule news roundup won't hurt, either, since the now world-conscious, .dialtwister has at. tuned himself to that late evening edition. Now, as. always, Gailmor retains his simple and positive mode of ex pression. He neVer parries. Black is always black and a spade is called a spade. 'Vet he never retreats Into the realm of words. Both the back ground material and all available knowledge on the subject he chooses is well authenticated and amply cor roborated. His is no mere amplifi cation of a news dispatch, but a hiS' toric documentation of the particular phase of politics or statesmanship chosen for analysis. His disclosures are sometimes eye-openers and his fads represent intensive probing. The guy's a tonic for radio. Gailmor's on five nights a week. Eleclrfinic Corp. sponsoring him Mon.. Wed: and Friday, with com mercials strictly along institutional lines aimed at labor-management re lations. Tues. and Thurs. night spots are suslainin.L'. Rose. suMeiirAtty, MY PIAn on. WATSON! The solution is ds simple as A-B-C. first W9 learned that WPAT's postman had been complafning of overwork. The cause . . . o huge flow of mail to thot station. I dipped into his pouch to open o few letterj with my specially heated knife. What were they? Fan mail from listeners, I think they call it. Then I looked at the rate card. Yes, Dr. Watson, it's JO very elementary, really! If you want to buy the largest block of productive time for the least amount of money, the solution is ...WPATI "FINISH THE JOB" WItli Major Samuel GraiiMD, Mro. B. Floyd Sims, Ralph Bellamy, 3%y Sims, Carl Eastmaii, Michael Ar- tist, Ronnie I,Ihs, Jackson Beck, Hermit Murdock, Richard Wid- mark, Vickl Vola, Joe t>c Sanlli, Jim Boles, Eric Linden, I,awson Kerbe, Rill Quinn, Larry Haliics, Philip Pine, .lohn MacBryde, Tony. Barrett, Ben Ludlow Orch Producer - Uirect«r: Robert Lewis Shayon Writer: Robert Sloane hi MIns.; Thurs., g-R:55 p.m. (One Shot) Slistaloinj; WABC, N. Y. There are many ways to soil War Bonds and this.program approached ts task by givin.g lislcners on insight into the sacrifices U, S. Aghiing men hav& made since Dec. 7, 1941. II was aired, fittingly, last Thiirs. (7). the third, anuivcrsiiry of the sneak puncli. Noi only did the approach rely on dignity, rather than fervid appeal lo patriotism or "look how much interest you get," but it made listeners realize the enormity of global war. This was accomplished by dramatizations focussed on eight spheres in which American soldiers, sailors, marines. Coast Guardsmen and merchant seamen have fought— and died—bvcrpoweringly making the point that bond buying is one way lo help "Finish the Job." Battle actions depicted on the pro- gram included events which took place in or oh Bataan, Guadalcanal, Murmansk. Tunisia, the Coral Sea, Salerno, Normandy and in the air over Germany. No attempt was made to.dramatize each battle; rath- er, the program told some personal incident in the lives of men con- cerned. It built up to enormous cumulative effccl. Most compelling was Major Sam- uel Grashio's account of the Bataan death -march, a record of brutality which . does not lose effectiveness with repetition but which, instead, becomes more awful. Maj. Grashio didn't try to act in recounting the experiences he and others went through, and hia fiat, bald state- hCienls, in what was almost a mono- tone, came over the loudspeaker with crushing impact. Another moving story of sacrifice was contributed by Mrs. E. Floyd Sims, mother of a sea- man reported missing in the sinking of the "Helena." Her siinple avowal ot faith undoubtedly hit home with the mothers of other servicemen. Productioii. acting and special score, contributed by Ben Ludlow, combined with what the program had to say and how it said it. added up to topnotch use of radio. iWerr. FoUow-up Comment Mike Todd was put in pretty fancy company by Mutual of Omaha, over WGN, Chicago, Dec. 1 when, as part of that insurance, company's "Free' dom of Opjjortuniiy" series, it drama- tized the career of "t;he contender for the title of America's greatest showman" unquote. Considering that MacArthur. Eisenhower ("cotrting Wendell Willkie") are part of the same series, that's pretty good ior the ex-flamedance impresario, whose career was boiled down into a meaty half hour. Factual and sounding au- thoritative ("Call Me Ziggy." "Hot Mikado," up to "Mexican Hayride") it was. a good job of radio dramatiz- ing his career. It was well played, b^t its chief distinction was the okay scripting and .production job. Todd is a Chi boy. hence it was a natural for the local-boy-makes-good-on- Broadway Algorism. Neatest trick of the week was that Jimmy Durante-Garry Moore cross- country banter interchange Friday (8) . with the Schnoz broadcasting from N. V. and Moore holding down the Coast fort. It went off without a hitch—except for the detail of pro- viding the boys with their usual sock comedy routine. The Schnoz's "So 1 Ups to Him." incidentally, is just as terrif now as it's always been. M'etropolltan Opera Guild's Victory Rally programs this year, broadcas't over Blue directly after Saturday matinee opera performance under Texaco's sponsorship, follow high level of previous season with im- portant discussions of" world-vital prbblems by responsible personali- ties, This season's general subject is "The Fight for Peace." Archibald MacLeish, Librarian of Congress, teed off opening session. Second rially, Saturday (9) had Jchn W. Da- vis, one-time Presidential nominee, disciiss the Dumbarton Oaks pro- posal for a United Nations police force, which he strongly urged as a deterrent to future wars. Opera that preceded rally wgs Mozart's "Don Giovanni," with Ezio Plnza as the Don. "or MEN AND BOOHII'' With John Maioii Briwtt IS Mlni.t Sat., p.H. SuBtainlDf WABC-CBS, N. T. CBS has rsalorad it« "M«« and Books" program to the air for iti eighth year, tnij season with a new commentator, John Mason Brown, former N. Y. drama origk and until recently on activ* duty ai a Naval officer. Ha is now on thf Inactive list and is associate editor of lh« Sat- urday Review. Bibliophiles who'vt bean loyal to "Books" in tha past year will un- doubtedly go for Brown's radio style. His air prose U graceful and literate, marked by_ occasional flashes of ex- cellent plTfa"3i^urntn(f7" Thus— he noted that Ernia Pyla is the "Gl'f walking delegate to history"—a su- perb summation ot that corrsspondr ent's place In thf history books-^and that whenever Pyle met servicemen, ■'they chiinned themselves on his every word"—again a mealy oom- nientary on the place Pyle holds. He . ives a good word picture, of the books under discussion, which, on the first show, were Pyle's "Brave Men," Margaret Bourke -'White's "They Called It Purple Heart Val- ley," and "Where. Away," by George Sessions Perry and Isabel Lelghton. Brown's mike style needs work, tt haS a tendency to go too sing-songy, and he fails to jjause sufficiently be- tween divergent topics. He want, for example, without a second's break, from a direct quote from "Brave Men" into a discussion on Miss Bourke-'White's book. Confusin', to say the least. Similarly, hli opening, comments on the tremendous impor- tance of books to fighting man led into his Pyle review without proper transition. From accounts. CBS plana to five Brown a buildup as a rlia6nt^F In the fashion of the lata Ales Wooll- cotl. On this program, hk eHhlbited no such slory-telllng tendencies. Actually, the injection of such anec- dotes, especially those based on Brown's own war experiences, would serve to broaden the program's In- terest. • JWerr.- "FA0T8 AND FICTION" With bon tyon IS Mlni.i Mon. io Friday, 9 p.m. $u«tialDinK WHN, N, T. Dob Lyon, who won the H. B Davis announcer award last year now has his own program. Currenl' ly a sustainer, station reportedly lia^ sponsor deal In offing. Lyon gears hit program to a 10- minute newt commentary, injectinst both human and colorful stance li; his reporting and tops off with a short short story. . Program caught Thursday night (7) was woven around a whacky guv who had been carrying on a flirla'- tlon with • department store femms dummy. Guy would stand in front ot window after closing time, casliiif; amorous elancet and mumbling to the plastio dame. This intrigued the clerk, who set hit own gal in the window. When she responded to the woo pitch, man became hysteri- cal. It seems he had murdered hii wife and thought the dummy resem- bled her. Both commentary and the short short, are handled adeptly. Edba. Loif LoDK'f "Chatham Shopper," once-weekly 15-minute stanza, is greatly improved now that the musi- cal portion ot the show has been taken over by the Three Suns, in- strumental groiip. Gives program plenty zip, with less <!hatter and natt music. A change for the bet- ter. "SUPPER INTERLUDE" With Joseph Enf elhardit * Oroh Producer: Palmer Clark Writer: Jean Slqipson 15 Mliv.; Mon.-Frl„ eM p. m. (OWT) W. S. McLAlIOHLIN CO. WMAQ, Cbleaio (Shermon K. Ellis,) Early evening musicale, conducted by Joseph EngelHardt, former assist- ant musical director of 'iVBBM-CBS, is perfect listening relaxation for the evening's beginning. Unusual instru- mentation composed of three violins, guitar, Hammond electric organ (played alternately by Helen West- brook and IrVna Glen), aivd the fea- tured piano playing of Frans "Tfau results In a quarter-hour of superior quality ear-soothing ^rousic. Celeste Is used from time to time.for added tonal effects. Typical tuna lineup include! such numbers as "Weddini ol tlia Painted Doll," "My i/fan? "I'n Be Seeing ■you," "Beautiful Dreamer," violin soloed by Maestro Bngalhardt; "Good Night Sweetheart," and closing with the lively Spanish "A Bunch of Roses." Main commercial for Manor House Coffee is done in dijinified manner, in middle-of program, by announcer Hay Oleson, with very short plugs at beginning anj end of show, which oan be classed a winner in every respect. Morg. New York.—Jane Tiffany Wagner, newly-appointed NBC Director of Home Economics, has been named national chairman of radio for the United Council of Church Women. Her term of olTlce in the new p6st is two years. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ LUX RADIO THIATRI, S4.0* Here's wbfre yea fet • ■■• Railaf, ■!• Slatle*, Muriiet. ' HftMT KiMm Wla.-Hr. lii<M II4|.'44 W T A G W 0 K C F S T E R BEST NEWS SERVICE AP-UP-IN5 W-l-N-D bbO K. .5000 WATTS IXPIRIINCID DRAMA TEACHER WANTID Man or wamaa, with radio, aad MIdvIMob ba<:1iaroilni1 n|ht nbflUv lo <«acb. fiDit oilpnnaiiUV tor uoofllA nS director of department, ot lurae rutabllHlied Mhool In Chlraao. Write J. H., Room tti:< 54 W. Randolph 81.. Ohiraaa 100 GAGS-SI.00 PMN'Motter aof NIa Net. 1-1-1 $1.00 lACH Slalif Chmlit PaTatile to PaHla Bmltb. Mall to "fUN-MASTKR." m W. M at., Holte 10-U, N. Y. ■• "PennlM! NlokeUt Dlmee! I with It wat full of Wheatlee!" Caught In the relentleat grip of a habit, .is your tru« Wheatiei jiddict. Enthralled by crunchy flaVe and nuttr flavor, he mtut Aim The CctmI. . . .~ But w*v shoMtt't he b* aiiktti to WkealUt? Thfey're flakes o»" whole wheat. AdrairaWy nutritious, as well at :tecond-he1[nnK tdod.