Variety (Jul 1946)

38 RADIO Wednesday; July 17, 1946 Transcription Reviews "TREASUBY SALUTE" With Robert Waldrop, narrator; Mark Warnow and orch; Ben Grauer, Milton Cross, announcers Director: Ruth Glrard Producer: Brent O. Glints Music: Mark Warnow . Writer: Robert Waldrop 15 Mins. 870 stations U. S. Treasury's new transcription scries. inauRuialcd two weeks ago, is admirably pitched to the new ueacctime theme—the need to pro- mote a quiet confidence in the American future, and its precepts of Kood living, careful saving, etc. Sub- titled "The American Notebook," se- ries is a sentimental, appealing set o' Americana stories. Told in a com- bination of narration, dramatized bits and music, stories run gamut ' from homey talcs of a farm boyhood io individualized yarns built around the growth of U. S. industries and institutions. Variety is large, sketches dealing with industry, mu- sic. SDorts, etc. Many deal with epi- sodes from the boyhood of Callror- nian Robert WaldroD. who is author and narrator on the series, with their homey sentiment frankly aimed at the average American au- dience. Series should do the trick of •sat- isfying listeners and get them to buy bonds because of the friendly nature- of the programs. Waldrop's style helps, in a. sympathetic, easy mode of delivery that only occasionally is a little too sugary and sermonizing. His clear, simple, distinct speech fits in well, rating him a double bow for his writing-narrating double stint. Better known as commentator, Waldrop is bowing (effectively) as scriptor here. Early platters in the series Include such reDresentatiye samples af "Mr. Whistlcbritches." story of the adven- tures and mishaps of a farm boy; "From Timbcrline to Skyline," be- ginnings of the lumboc industry and how it spread across the country; "Any Mail Today," a salute to the RFD carriers, seen through the eyes of a little kid sitting oh a fence with his grandad awaiting a. letter, and "Look Away. Look Away," story of Dan Emmctt and the writing of "Dixie," and significance of the song to America. Music background and interplay, composed and conducted by Mark Warnow, is particularly noteworthy. Series has an opening-closing theme, too, that is quite catchy. Production, the dovetailing of narration, music and dramatic bits: sound effects, etc. show the skilled hand, for which pro- ducer Brent O. Gunts rates credit. Series, offered-twice a week, will run .on indefinitely, to aid sale of E bonds. It's now carried by 870 sta- tions (11 in N. Y.), with stations au- thorized to sponsor the 15-minute series locally if they wish. About 50% do. Show used a 15-piece or- chestra, occasional guest stars and radio toppers, and costs $l,800-$2.000 per show for talent, distribution, etc. Bron. Addison Pcllcticr is new to radio but her performance on platter heard was smooth and confident. Her- well-modulated voice • and chummy personal delivery add much to the 15-minulc show. Program design colls for Miss Pcllctier to relate, in the form of a letter to the listeners, her experi- ences of many years of prewar travel and to reveal intimate details in'the lives of people she has met around the world. Opening show featured a story of the dowager Empress of Japan and how she befriended the wife of an American diplomat in Japan who in turn was a friend of Miss Pelletier. Eugenia Price's script built the story up in a dramatic fashion and clever organ commentary by Adele Scott ■-• throughout Miss Pelletier's reading 'of her letter helped keep the show out of the also-ran class. Show is looking for a sponsor so no commercials were heard but sell- ing time was left open with Miss Pelletier pausing, without a break in the continuity of the script, to "advise" the audience to listen to some "good advice." Foos. ************************ rounding the halfway mark Our stations tell us hap- pily of the plus signs in their ledgers as they round the halfway mark this year. Put Weed and Company's staff of seven' teen men to Work and watch the plus signs multiply. "YIDDISH SWING" With Jan Bart, Barry Sisters, Sam Medoff and Yiddish Swlngette orch, Lewis Charles, emcee Writers: Herbert Rlklcs and Joe Gabbe Producer: Herman Younglleb Director: Paul Berkowltz 15 Mins. 12 Stations B. MANISCHEWITZ CO. (A. B. Landau) Swingy versions of Yiddish folk songs, as vocaled by the Barry Sis- ters and Jan Bart, with Sam Medoff's Swingtette givint even the gayest of the tunes' that mournful, Slavic background necessary for any pre- sentation of the race's Eastern Euro- pean music, is tailored strictly to sell Manischewitz Matzoths. Even so, the layouts have a light-hearted air and are very danceable, just as is one such that once topped the Hit Pa- rade: i. e., "Bei Mir Bist Du Schon'' It's 90% English, too—surprising, in view of the title. All of the songs are done in both languages, but the text is all English. "Hullie Coptzen ' and "Reb Dovidl," for instance, are translated into "Merry Beggar" and "Little David" by emcee Lewis Charles prior to renditions by the girl duo and the orch, and only a small part of the lyrics is Yiddish. Quarter-hour items are set for two local plugs for merchants selling Manischewitz products, and are cur rently on the air in N. Y., Chicago, Philly, Boston, Baltimore, Detroit, Milwaukee, Frisco, L. A., Washing ton, Pittsburgh and Denver. Format is the same throughout. On show heard, Barry Sisters led off with "Merry Beggar," Jan Bart showcased his sweet tenor tellingly in "Dreaming Shepherd Boy," orch ripped into thumping version of "Blue. Plate Special on 14th Street" and "Reb Dovidlj" and vocalizers and orch wound up with a jazzy "Vo- lekhl." Bart and the Barrys vocal ize well together and on their own. Makers of other kosher products— such as meats, gelatine, wine, soap and cleanser, etc.—could latch onto such a routine without the slightest feeling of pain, it would seem. Mike. a: .,) com ? \'.. \ IAII0 STATI6H lEPRESENTATIVES Hnr Twit • But* • Cttoft • Marts Ottnit * Sn Fraettae • tFollow-up Comment; Mrs. Offden Held, near the con- clusion of a leisurely but illuminat- ing interview with Martha Deane over WOR last week (11) on the Herald Tribune executive's recent trip to England, France and Ger- many, put in a strong ad lib plug for advertising as a medium for education and as the sine qua non for a "free press." She was joined by Miss Deane, who said she grew tired of hearing people criticize' ra- dio commercials, unaware that, "it is the only way to have a free ra- dio .'. . . otherwise there would have to be government-subsidized radio." Miss lieane added, "We have heard radio-subsidized-programs all. over the world," and they were not too good. Radio Reviews Continued from pace 26 Fletcher Markle, out of Toronto by CBC, ran the CBS "Workshop" course last Sunday (14) (his second this season), having been brought down to New York to write, produce and direct a half-hour of his own. What resulted was something more than a mild gesture in the direction of politeness to a Canadian ally. Markle showed himself a true craftsman in all three phases of his triple-play tajent chore. The Canadian put on three short plays, all of ther.i tied neatly into one package entitled "Three's Com- pany." One theme—broken mar- riage—ran through the three pieces. The manner in which each segued neatly into the other, carrying the main idea along, was in itself a tribute to Markle's writing skill. Add true casting, and direction which was as well-paced, thorough- ly integrated and sure as anything aired over the net's "Workshop," and you have the sum-total of high craftsmanship all around. True there was no deeD message in what Mar- kle had to say—but the way he ex- ecuted his assignment made the half- hour top radio. ADDISON PELLETIER Producer-Director-Writer: Eugenia Price Muslo: Adele Scott, organ 15 Mins. (MCA) This package, a cross between a soap opera and a news commentary should appeal to the daytime house- jylf^ajjdjenM^c^McljjtMsjie^ged. SURE THING! We can deliver Radio's Fatted "GOSPEL SINGER" EDWARD MacHUGH For Live Show Or Transcribed 420 15-Minute Programs Available A ItEADY-MADE LOYAL AUDIENCE AWAITS NATIONAL, REGIONAL OR LOCAL, SPONSORS Write or Wire for AvaUablllitet WICKERSHAM 2-3338-9 B'way to Get Bard S^s Continued from page 1 other attractions fof next season. One is the Paris Light Opera Co. in a repertory of operettas, featur- ing Offenbach. Hurok also signed a young Spanish dancer, Maricmma, and tf young French pianist, Raoul Trouard. In addition, Hurok started plans for an international dance festival at N. Y.'s Metropolitan Opera House next spring, to which 10 foreign groims have, been invited. The Dan- ish govt. has. accepted for the Stock- holm Royal Ballet, and Boris Koch- no's Champs Elysees Ballet Co. plans to come. The Sadler's Wells troupe may represent England. Hurok hopes a Czech and a Polish troupe also will come. The festival, he says, will not only include for- eign ballet troupes, but' several of the name U. S. groups as well. Hughes s Continued from page 1 producer's ' complete recovery from his plane crash injuries. acted 6s interviewer, and tactfully dropped a quest ion here and there which brought out the salient facts about each. The program is con- structively working to make a bet- ter state, and improved living and educational advantages for its citi- zens. Each speaker gave a number of pertinent facts anent his subject, which would lead listeners to be- lieve that their slate has many things of which to be proud, and that it's backward reputation is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. Final . five-minutes was capably filled by Jim Walton, staff an- nouncer, who as the "Industrial Re- porter" detailed info about new industries which are coming into the /State, and various items which would indicate that economically, industrially and in the agricultural field, good times are ahead. Stanza indicates a serious attempt on the part of WHAS to lend its powerful voice to improvement of the state economically, and at the same time to deliver its message frankly, factually, and without any propagandizing or glossing over of tHe less praiseworthy facts which are as well known to citizens living in Kentucky. ' Show is straight discussion with no musical bridges or attempt at stereotyped production. Hold. "SO RADIO'S HERE TO STAY?" With, Bernard Braden, Barbara Kelly, Tommy Tweed, Don Har- ron, Hedley Ralnnie, Samuel Hersenhoren's Orch and Dorothy Deane, vocalist' Writer: Hugh Kemp Producer: Jack Rae 30 Mins.; Frl., 9 p.m. Sustaining CJBC-CBC,Toronto CBC has gotten away from pro- saic summer fare and has hit the jackpot, in this instance, with a situ- ation-comedy idea that is successful on novelty, wrapped up in solid pro- duction values, and proof again that imaginative scripting is the answer to perpetual complaints of program similarity. The new CBC show, sprightly and expertly tailored, takes the listener back-stage for eavesdropping on the breezy but often hearthbreaking con- ferences in which idea men attempt to sell their brain-kids to obtuse ra- dio producers, the logrolling and jealousies of casting, the behind- the-scenes intrigue creating bottle- necks, the excitement of this busi- ness called radio. It's written for full comedy values but ever shrewdly is the undercur- rent of the big stick, fear, frustrated hopes and disappointment. It's this warmth and understanding in the scripting that should hold adult ap- peal for listeners who are being given an unusual picture of what goes into radio program production weeks before the half-hour stanza hits the airwaves. Series will deal with the vicissi- tudes of mythical CHLK. the con- flict between the station owner and sponsors, the complaints of irate listeners. Bernard Braden is starred and there is no fault in the rest of the casting. Outstanding in the tee- off is his excellent reading, with Barbara Kelly, of the quarrel scene between* Richard and Anne in Shakespeare's "Richard III," this in- cidentally getting the nix from the producer who wants something lighter, on.the claim that "Shakes- peare has been done before" and lightly brushes off the recent suc- cesses of Olivier and Maurice Evans. It is such decisions as these which make Hugh Kemp's scripting par- ticularly biting in the asides. McStay. "RESEARCH FOR BETTER LIV- ING" P With Bruce Davis, Fran Maloy, Glen Elroy, Jim Lanti, Harry Grove, Jimmy Bunn Producer-director: Ken Heady' IS Mins., Tuesday, 8:30 p.m. Sustaining KCMO, Kansas City Purpose of this new public service stanza on KCMO. Kansas City's ABC flagship, is to show, what's being done for industry and agriculture in the midwest. Presented In coopera- tion with Midwest Research Insti- tute, a nonprofit KC organization that's staffed by scientists engaged in doing research work on a number of products, it's built bv a remark once made by Louis Pasteur—"Science and peace will triumph over ignor- ance and war"—and it pitches that message in an illuminating and al- ways engaging fashion. Show heard might well serve as a model on how to take an apparently dry-as-dust subject and whip it into shape for popular consumption. It concerned a weed that grows mostly in China and India known as "China grass," or "ramie," and showed how, through "the continuous, unending auest by the men of science for bet- - ter ways of helping industry and agriculture," our lives are enriched. Popularization of scientific subjects have been good copy, of course much further back than even Sin- clair Lewis' "Arrowsmith," and the MRI researchers and writer Sid Tremble have apparently absorbed a lot of the tricks. Thesping was excellent, especially in the case of Fran Maloy. Direction was right on the beam, and Tremble's script sparkled, being devoid of cliches and never averse to comedy touches, despite the serious theme— as in the case of the bridegroom's crack to the effect that there'd better not be any cravy spots on that shirt. Musical bridges, supplied via plat- ters, were tailormade to the mood. Mifce. KPO Newsies Hiked Hollywood, July 1G. News room personnel at KPO. San Francisco, has received a wage increase" from $205 to $30Q monthly. Agreement to hike their pay was concluded by Sid Strotz, western di- vision v-p of NBC, and reps of the Radio Writers Guild. Though the existing contract had to go until August, 1947, NBC agreed to nego- tiate the wage increase. The in- crease is retroactive to July 1. 97% HAVE RADIOS «./. of fo»Hl* Ho"? radio*—"/ *• Study. "IT'S POSSIBLE" ... ... Looks like the now cars must bo rollin' off the as- sembly lines. I passed a used ear lot yesterday and the owner and his accom- plice was changin* the sign from "USED CARS" to "JUNK YARD." "PHILIP MORRIS FROLICS" NBC, B p.m., Tuesday Dir.: WM. MORRIS AGENCY VIVV get Casliman iii Hollywood Hughes Improved Hollywood, July 10. Howard Hughes condition is re- ported improved by his physicians. Although he reportedly/ will be given blood, transfusion early today (16). Bulletin at Good Samaritan hospital stated that Hughes "had improved in the last 12.hours and has taken his first solid food in 72 hours. PROGRAMMING PROBLEM Small budget.:. big ideas WHAT: to: DO ! An NBC Cuslom-Built recorded prearam it the answer to,thi» one. Produced like a network show— priced to fit your budget-NBC-Recorded pro- duction! are built to your specifications. Distributed to as many or as few stations as you desire for broadcast when local time can be cleared. If yaur programming problem resembles this.. • «■•• Hie nearest office af the NBC Radio-Recording Division. NBC RADIO-RECORDING DIVISION Radio Crfy, New York • Chicago • Wathlngfon • ffellyweod • SanFrancbco - •