Variety (May 1946)

BAMO REVIEWS P45tiEft Wednesday, May 8, 1946 •STAIRWAY TO THE STABS" With Paul White man Mid orch, Mar- tha Tllton; guests, Jack Owens, Lester Lleber; Glenn Biggs an- nouncer . Writers: Louis Qulnn, Russell Mc- cracken ; . Producer-director: Eddie Saulpaugh 30 Mlns., Sun., 6 p. m. PHILCO WJZ-ABC; N. Y. iHiitcliins) Philco's summer replacement hits the spot. Program offers the. deli music of Paul Whlteman and the lovely voice of .Martha Tilton, with added opportunity for rising'.radio talent to get another guest shot.on.a prominent program. Premiere Sun- day t'5) was a good sample—with a couple of drawback's. . Whlteman's new string section of- fered 'some■'beautiful moments with its choice arrangements of-"London Bridge Is Falling i)own," excerpts from Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto, and "My Romance,"- last named ber ing the finest bit on the whole pro- gram. Miss Tiltoh ■■rendered charm- ingly "Atlanta G. A." and "f Fall .in Love With You Every Day." latter also a new song on the way up the stairway to the stars." Of the guest talent, writer-crooner Jack Owens sang his own song, "Cynthia,' in a clear, pleasant voice, and Lester Lie- ber presented a neat novelty in a performance of "After You've Gone oh his toy whistle. Whitcman was the" amiable emcee as well as conductor, being a little too Whimsyish at times, however, with the commercials. And as for his introduction of his newcomers— the why and wherefore of the pro- gram-Mn his haste, Whiteman swal- lowed both names, so that neither could be heard distinctly over the air. Arid this, where names ^are so important, is inexcusable. "IT PAYS tO BE IGNORANT" With Tom Howard, Lulu McCon- ncll, George Shelton, Harry Mc Xaughlon; Ken Roberts announcer; Ksqulre Quartet; Harry Salter's bund . Writer: Ruth Howell Producer-Director: Herb Polesle ,10 Mlns., Frl., 9 p.m. 1'IULIP MORRIS WABCtCBS, N. Y. (.Btow) A vacation docs the nit-wit "It Pays To Be Ignorant" crew no ap- parent good. They're as balmy as ever; Returned to the air Friday i3) after a. two-month absence, the 'rowdy quartet of Tom Howard, Lulu McConnell, George Shelton and Hor- ry McNaughton were in prize form. McNaughton out-vicked Old Vic with his Oxford accent; Miss Mc- Connell was stridently bcllowsbme; Shelton sheered a mean sneer; and a slightly exasperated Howard tried to keep loose ends-from tightening. The .foursome still insulted one an- other; threw corny gags avidly broadcast, and answered silly ques- tions with irrelevant, punning an- swers. Show's as corny, and appeal- ing, as tcn-twerit'-thirt' vaudeville. Studio audience hilarity helps it tremendously, though; there must be something to watching these zanies perform. New to the program was Harry Salter's band, the group being smooth aggregation playing snappy music just in keeping with the flip program. Band came into its own with "Tico, Tico," in a mint arrange- ment, well played. Esquire Quartet, too, , was very good, in the same peppy format. Broir. \ Follow-up Comment JONATHAN TRIMBLE, ESQ: With Donald Crisp, Irene Ledro, Jean Gillespie, Leora. Thatcher, Roderick Thomas, Rltt Barnett, Earl Ross, Victor Rodman, Art Gllmore, Jack Slather; announcer, Tony LeFrano. Writer: Mort Lewis .. ■ Director: Thomas Freebalrn Smith Music: Jack Mcakln 30 Mins., Sat, 9:30 p.m. Sustaining . WOR-MBS, N.Y. ohmit I perauire oi iuj , phi mnnni Best thing.that can bc.sa.d about p ^ , ,„ w - , amimiti0 n; the scripting job on Mutual s -new cnture into the nostalgic is that the writer tried. He tried much too hard. Yarn is laid in the gaslight era, 1905, and locale Is a city of flO.- 000 population where Jonathan Trimble is publisher of a daily news- paper." A crotchety old conservative, TrirtfiSfc opposes women's suffrage, the automobile and presumably all P1 T?ic CSS producti6n was excellent, casting being good from star Donald Crisp down , £ r . th « ^T^""he I fortiuiate enough" in getting a par- Thomas Froebaim Smnn n™ ™ | ,i„,-, 1( , r i„ „h?i„ Broil. •NYU RADIO PLAYHOUSE' ("Woman of the Hour") With Georgia Heaslip, AUce Filter, Theresa Rhodes, Earl Breeding others Producer-Director: Wallace House Writer: Marguerite Brener 30 Mlns, Sat. (4); 3:30 p. m. WLIB, N. Y. This dramatization is one of a regular weekly series presented, by graduate students under the auspices of New York University's radio dept. and originating from the college s Washington Square studio. Experi- ments, even when failures, are to be lauded as long as they try to break into some new ground.. But, unfor- tunately, this play didn't have r trace of originality in it, either in story material or radio treatment In fact, a. large part resounded strongly with echoes from a pre-war film by Ben Hecht, entitled "Nothing Sacred." Quality of writing, how- ever, was nearer the level of. a quickie soap opera. Point of the play is difficult to de- fine, with a mood ranging from, pathos to farce. Story, told through the familiar flashback technique, tells of an obscure washerwoman cata- pulted into the international lime-, light because of a pin stuck in her lungs. As tragedy, telling of the woman's submerged existence, the play was mawkish. As farce, de- scribing the widespread tendency to make notables out of nonentities, the humor doesn't jell. As a social doc- ument pn human exploitation, the play lacks essential realism. The actors did as well as could be ex- pected with their overdrawn roles. f 0 MMMMM <»♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ t ♦»♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ t>f ^ »♦♦♦ ♦»t+».M-»- M ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦■»♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ ♦ ♦ » H »><♦♦♦. the closing skit). Result: Even Walter Winohell went on the air Sunday'15) night for his "Jergons" show strictly against- his doctor's orders. He was suffering from an attack of laryngitis and a severe chest-cold, did the show with a tem- perature of ' 103°, but managed to Something like the ultimate in ra- I dio program, credits was . achieved |on Ozzle Nelson-Harriet . Hilliard (CBS) when April 28 show's credits included name of the man who owned the calliope heard briefly on . the program. "Thin Man" series resumed its I pre-war status Sunday (5) when Les Damon returned as Nick Charles on | this long-running scries. He was ' » ul " B ? k (..."ac'director and I ticiilarly sprightly script filled with whole thing togethei as « ,u t Damon Runyonesque characters that managed, to buiUl_somc^ccnc^nat | thls stal)(iollt . Damon stood out by themselves for crafts uir , h ■ ^ lost his knack 0[ manship. But the ™%i{™™cl & Pitting the characterization over, all thc^vay through. ( gespite his two years in service, and sludoo." a Miswun bo yj namcn l.,,.^^. sessi ^, had nim ,, oi ' ng a groovy performance. David Gothard and Les Tremaync tilled in while Damon was: away. Claudia Morgan as Nora Charles similarly -did a staunch job on this. program. 23-!»i\i\iw« " • . Harry Truman, a Detroit dreamer named Henry Ford., and^-the peeka- boo are obviously intended for fun and color. They were done so. un- subtly, however; .that only corn ie- SU With shakedown of the script, this show should make for good, lis- tening, the rest of the ingredients Kenny* Defmars breakneck speed couldn't prevent the- closing plug from being cut off by NBC's signa- ture. Blng Crosby, celebrating his birth- day on. the Kraft Music Hall over NBC Thursday <2) night, came up with one of the most hilarious shows in the soon-to-be-concluded series. Evidently ad llbbing most of the way, Crosby broke up the show sev- ' ernl times with aside remarks to the studio' audience and his guestars, Peggy Lee and Joe Frisco. Hilarity was topped .during the last five minutes when Bob Hope appeared unexpectedly with 'Bing's birthday cake and the. two let go with some unmatched witticisms. Sore spot td some listeners oc- curred, however, when the crooner went off the deep end with a 1 gag line to Eddy Duchin: "Fan your fanny over to the pianny and waft some music this ■ way." It might have, been better if Crosby, hereto- fore lauded for the clennncss of his shows and for the priest roles he's aortrayed in pictures,' had rcmcin- ■ sered that some parents object to their kids''listening, to such stuff on the radio. being there. Cars. The. breakfast-bruuch show to end all such presentations was wrapped up by Fred Allen and Tallulah Bankhcad last Sunday (5) night in 10 minutes of the most. hilarious radio many a listener had heard in years. Both Allen and Miss Bank- "POL1CEWOMAN" With Mary Sullivan, Betty Garde, . Frances Chancy, Mandel Kramer, Grace Keddy; Walter Herllhy, an nouncer Producer-writer: Phillips H. Lord Director: William Sweets 15 Mine., Mon, 10:45 a. m. Sustaining WJZ-ABC, N. Y. What looks. like an unusually. in teresting . crime : series is this hew program based on incidents in the career of Mary Sullivan, 35 years on N.-Y. police force, and ex-director of the Policewoman's Bureau, from which she recently resigned tO' head up this radio show,. . You feel the stuff is the McCoy. Judged by Monday's (6) prccm, program packs a punch, giving in 15 minutes a vivid, exciting dramatiza- tion of a crime story, background or incident, in a good mix of narration and dramatization. Scripting is hon- est, ; matter-of-fact, credible, with some relieving light touches. An experienced AFRA cast does the dramatic, briefles. Production-direc- tion have that smooth touch. Monday's program. narrated story of a girl suspected of a murder, and how Mary Sullivan-went into prison its a lellow-convict to get'the facts that proved the girl's guilt.. Miss Sullivan appears briefly at each pro- gram's close to comment on. the case, simply and uneffusively. Broil. Wtt D Nell*0^ E eefe?M«dred Mitchell, . Mac Shoub. Rudy Stoeckel, Albert head as his guestar proved attain Produce-r-Dlreetor: Bupert Caplan Music: Alan Mclver 30 Mlns.; Thurs., 8 p. pi. Sustaining CBC-CBM, Montreal. ThprpV one thing at least that Mac ... Shoub, demonstrates in this latest bit something else.. Once again, Xh of scripting- he's versatile. Here's a was laugh-milking (although not radio , play that is certainly neither - — : ; — the best or greatest thing that s ever | OXTAWA STRING ORCHESTRA that it takes sock showmanship and keen -understanding of timing, to make a script live: the thing could have died a corny death if It wasn't for their skill ln doing the bit which Closed the Allen show on NBC. Whether the sponsor was happy is ~ ' there in been written, but to anybody famil- | conducted by Dr. Allard de Rldder iar with the deeply and not-so- p r4> d uce |.. Charles Wright deeply imbedded socially sign.uncant Announcer Don p r |„j, e overtone usually found in. the Shoub 3< M ,„ s >sJ< p n) Wed scripts, this latest opus will come as SuaU | n | ng something of a revelation, ... CBO-CBC Trans-Canada (Eastern) It's a neat little bit of work.^wth | otUwa the rather : well-used motif of the misunderstood, boy who holds 'con- versation' with animals being han- dled in a charming fashion. As is to be expected, the lad runs away from home, gets together v/ith a dog who Using 18 players from the string section of the Ottawa Philharmonic orch, of which Dr. Allard de. Ridder is conductor, this airer differed from most string orch shows in that it played down the individual bow ^nageT'T'snZtn ge^ims"^""^^^ 18 strings. The effect "THE TRUE GLORY" With Quenlin Reynolds, James Mc- Callion, Ian Martin, Raymond Johnson, Robert Hastings, - Hester Sondergaard, Juano Hernandez, Richard Midgely, Royal Raymond, James Triex, Irving Morrow, Joan master, so as to be sold to the boy's father. . . '' .' Parts of the script have an in genious cleverness, while at other points the dialog is rather flat. So too With some of the climaxes; you know what's going to happen before it happens. ' The thesping is on the whole rather good, but a special nod should go to Neil O'Keefc, the young lad who played Russel. Boy shows great ease at the mike, with an un- canny flair for understanding of the role. ' Caplan's direction is much on the solid side, as usual, but it must be admitted that he didn't have the ma terial to work with this time that he's had before. The Mclver musical Warburton, Ed Kogan, MaJ. Gen.! backgrounding, for what is required, "THE PROMISE" i u l/ ,,,, v v With Jim Boles, Athena Lorde, Ellen W"-ABC. N. Y, Edward F. WlUell; Don Lowe, an- is up to par. nouncer Director: Charles Powers Writer: Ira Marlon :<0 Mlns., Sun. (5), 2 p. m. Sustaining w i'/.inf i Larn. Mahar Producer: American Theatre Wing. Writers: Marie Carroll, Nora Sterling. 15 Mlns.; Sunday (5), 8 pjn. Sustaining WLIB, N. Y. WLIB, N. Y., indie, devoted its ' entire day's operation Sunday (5) to a scries of short, dramatic skits, spot announcements, etc.,' on the problem of Europe's 500,000,000 starving peo- ple, tieing in with President Tru- man's food-saving program. ... A\l- day operation, titled "Lest Millions Die," added up to a sock public service program,. for which too much credit cannot be given WLIB. Many top civic and show biz names appeared on the station dur- ing the day to add their voices to the appeal. Illustrative of the type, of show presented was. the Ameri- can Theatre Wing's "The Promise." Although the script itself was a bit underdone, and the acting tended to be overdone, the 15-minule dra- matic skit nonetheless pointed up in stirring terms the effects of famine on the starving children of Europe. Title of the show came from the promise that the American people will see to it that Europeans have enough to eat. Scripters leaned over backwards in attempting to. steer away from'too maudlin dialog, and the actors sometimes leaned too far forward to get their point across. Despite these minor, faults, how- ever, the Theatre Wing, as well as all those who appeared on WLIB during the day. deserve a decided pat for collaborating with the sta- tion on this all-important .problem. Stal. . Original illm commentary by Guy Trosper to the stirring incidents de- picted in the pic, "The True' Glory," would sound like a natural for a radio shosv. The vivid events in the lin'al push into Europe and to Berlin —Normandy, Brittany, Brest, Calais Dieppe, Dunkirk and the rest; the landings, the feelings of- the Allies the various types of nationalities their speech, their reactions—all should make exciting stuff. And this adaptation, which was Sunday's 15) -offering; oh "Warriors of Peace" for the Army's Recruiting .Bureau, was dramatic and frequently effec- tive. But. on the whole, the program seemed dated. Part of the fault, perhaps most of it, lay in the script Ira Marion made from the original.'. It was a little pseudo-heroic. Some of the lingo didn't- ring true. GIs didn't talk that way; what wounded GI ever used an expression, through clenched teeth, like "How's the fighting?"- Program also indicated liow far we've come since the war, how our interests have : changed, concerned now with the more imme- diate problems of the peace. Qiicntin Reynolds, as narrator, was usually effective, although occasion- ally too gushy. (Again, the script.).A talented group of actors performed the brief dramatic snatches, often very stirringly. Maj. Gen. Edward F. Witscll spoke from Washington, and General Eisenhower's voice, laken from the films' sound track, also was heard. Production and di- rection were superior. But we've gone ahead since V-E Day, and it takes a more gifted, script to^ariest our attention to the past. droll. Transcription Review "OPEN HOUSE" With Johnnie Neblelt, Venlda Jones Writer: Judy Tom Producer-Director: L. D. Barnbart 15 Mlns. Co-Op iNcblett) "Open House," Johnnie Neblclt's new c. t. show, is a combination of the live show of the same name that was on Mutual for a year and a half and his other transcribed layout, "So the Story Goes." It's escapist, syrupy stuff that will probably prove quite relaxing to the housewife with 15 minutes to spare. ' Theme song is "Long, Long Ago," as beat out on the organ by Vehida Jones, and that cues the reminiscent format of the 260 items. Neblctt rambles on engagingly—although occasionally cloyingly—for the first,' or "Open House," sector on subjects presumably dear to the hearts of his breathless femmo listeners. Miss' Jones noodles organic punctuation. Show heard had Neblctt discours- ing on the things kids dream they'll be when they grow up, and how dif- ferently they usually turn out. Scripting is pure hokc but his de- livery makes it sound fairly, logical. Organ also backs up the middle commercial spot—which,.. incident- ally,. Ncblett will record for local sponsors, though not for free—^and then he gives out with the "Story Goes" routine. Difference between these and the quarter-hour "Story" show is that these arc all romantic yarns, while the others are anything in the unusual-but-true line. Only complaint here was that more care- ful editing is indicated; otherwise, okay. ' ' Mike.' was pleasant and should be either continued or revived after the thrce : show series shutters May 15. In handling the strings: here. Dr. de Ridder showed the same technique in building a solid unit that he so successfully used in building the Ottawa Philharmonic in a city where only scattered and minor efforts had been made previously along the same line. Production by Charlie Wright, CBO mgr., kept the 'ajrer moving at a good pace, and Pringle' announcing was brief, concise. Program was built for the dialer, and included de Riddcr's (arrange- ment of two Grieg airs, "Heart Wounds", and "To Spring:" Thomas Dunhill's humorous "Dances Miniature" in four movements Henry Pnrcell's suite for strings in rive movements, and Boccherini' famous Minuet. Show is another of the acceptable broadcasts CBC skeds for early eve- ning. Kept from the western webs by time tangles which' sked news- casts at that time in the prairies and on the Coast, string show, if con- tinued, may get new time later in evening. Conn. One of radio's top comedy shows went absolutely mad last Friday night (3). Sticking to its situation formula very thinly, it went hor- ribly, gravely, deathly serious on its listeners. It dramatized, stark nun- • grr in India. Greece, Italy. It car- ried a line like this: "When famine strikes in India, it's the dogs that grow.fat." Or this: "Famine breeds Fascism.'' Or this: "Where the elite meet to eat—but not till the rest of the world docs." Which, or course. Identifies the show: "Duffy's Tavern.' 1 Sure, that's sheer madness—of the most methodical kind imaginable., The show started as usual, went into • the campaign to donate canned foods for the starving in Europe and Asia, and seemed about, to go back to the traditional ^Duffy's Tavern" shenanigans when the heavy artil- lery was put into action. From then . on. the barrage was thick—and shat- tering. Little was left to the -listen- er's imagination. Hunger, with all its physical horror and political im- plications was handled'with all the realism that ■ subject deserves, It was a total departure from all ordi- nary practice—and the impact was terrific. The sponsor gave up his middle commercial. But there's, no. doubt he got plenty of payoff—in self-respect, in sheer decency, in the : satisfaction of knowing he had really put. over a sock message in sock manner. "CLUB TIME" With Dorothy Golub Splra & Guests CITIZENS' UNITY COMMITTEE 30 Mins.; Tues. & Thurs., 10:45 a. m. WSNY, Schenectady Airing news about local women's organizations and interviews with their leaders, "Club Time" is an Un- pretentious but worthwhile public service" - program'. Its conductor Mrs. Spira, long "The Voice of Cen- tral Markets" on WGY. currently docs an "Aunt Susan" recipe stint on a Spry newscast over WGY morn- ings. Ah elocution teacher, she pos- sesses one of the best and most dis- tinctive women's voices on a Capital District station. "Club Time" is. presented under sponsorship of Schenectady Citizens' Unity Committee, which has done an outstanding job during the past six years in promoting closer, relations between ethnic and religious groups It starts with a timely- promotion: names of local women's groups, who have pledged cooperation in the Food Conservation program", of Federal government. Notes about coming affairs and interview comprise the balance of the broadcasts. Guest on a shot heard (2) was a representative of Schenectady local. Federation of Classroom Teachers In explaining why teachers should belong to such a union—they do not use the-".strike" privilege or weapon —lady said teachers had the same right to organize as "doctors, actors, musicians and other white-collar workers." ' VflCo; Lava soap washed all its inhibi- tions away last Thursday night (2) and bought itself a hunk of solid social significance with a whodunit called "the Strange Case of the Convenient Wife." The scripter ccr-.' tainly gave producer Max Marcin about 20 minutes of tough, meaty propaganda, against native fascists. Done with the slickness of the best of that type of air fiction, ; thc iin-. pact must have cost some'of the lis- teners a couple of hearty gasps. Story concerned a Nazi agent who married an American gal to appear more respectable in. his community. When she found out what he was about, he bumped her off. The rest was even more gory, but thoroughly credible in context and—of course— the FBI got their man. Significant was, however, the fact that the . stanza wrapped up the method of the pro hate-wiclder with stark realism of a kind seldom heard on any but longhair dramats. FBI and a few others in the harum- scarum category could use more of this type of hypo. Xewbold Morris, former president of the N. Y. C. Council and still . holding office in government, voiced his opposition to censorship of mo- lion pictures, plays and books, in an interview with high.school press edi- tors over WEAF. Morris, - who ap- parently had. ho script, said, "I am opposed to any form of interference with freedom of expression." He continued that censorship defeated itself and "makes the inartistic very profitable." When a picture or a play is censored in New York. Mor- ris continued, it causes a rush to the boxoffice for the Chicago engage- ment. Similarly, the censoring of a book in Boston increases the sales elsewhere. Among other th'nKs- Morris is serving as chairman of tne N. Y. Committee for Famine Relier. "People's -Platform" on CBS gave network airing last Sunday. (5) witn origination from the country s pi De- duction center—for a ^weekend, Columbus, to the FCC Blue Book issue. Lined up on opposite skics were Charles A. Siepm.ann, . authoi of the commission's polemic.^ ana BMI's vice-prexy, Sidney M. Kaye. Under Lymon Bryson's gentle guid- ance, the show brought two bene- ficial results: It let the general pub- lic know, for the first time, what the shooting is all about; and it put Kaye, as an industry spokesman, into closer agreement with 1 (Continued on page 40> FCC