Variety (Jul 1946)

16 ■AM* REVIEWS Wednesday, July 31, 1946 "FIGHTING SENATOR" With Richard Coo ran, Louise Fitch, Julian Not, Allen Hewitt, Nell Hsrrlion, Charles Webitcr, Edgar Stehll, Ralph Bell, Leslie Woods, Earl Hammond, Claire Nlessen; announcer, Cy Harrlce; Music, Lyn Murray Writers: Joseph Ruscoll, Larry Menkln, Irene Winston Producer: Louis G. Cowan tS Mlns., Mon., 8:30 p.m. lever bros, wabc-cbs, n.t; (Yoimp & Rubiooni) "Fighting Senator" is a- show with tremendous promise. But that- promise will never be fulfilled if everybody persists in getting into the production act. If half a bat- talion of people of undoubted ex- cellence • can pull, themselves together. and - decide on who's to run the show, maybe it'll have , a chance of getting somewhere. As it stands now, with its teeoff (29) air- ing over, one. must conclude that it's not the solon who's doing the fighting but the people behind the scenes. And the result of that con- fusion was unfortunately evident on the preem. "Senator" t8ok over the CBS Joan Davis slot with all kinds of preparations.. Louis ' G. Cowan ("Quiz Kids, - ' "Murder at Midnight," etc.) is the producer. He has Joe Ruscoll as editor, with the latter slated to share the writing, along with Larry Menkin and Joseph Liss. As if that isn't enough talent, Young & Rubicam agency has a batch of competent people in the kitclu-n, including Ed Merrill, Sandy Slronach, Edwin Duerr, James O'Neill and Carolyn Turner. For the revision of the first script, before it went on the air, the agency brought in . Irene Winston, and Frank K. Telfordjjk director, took his turn also at tne"iypewriter. Re- sult was that official credits listed Ruscoll, Menkin and Miss Winston as scripters (Liss sat this one out) and Telford as editor. Net con- sequence was: One grand'snafu. The show ended up as a horrible example of what not to :do when trying to combine a chiller with social significance. If the listener was very, very keen, he might de- tect .that Sen, Jeff Tyler, the hero of the piece, was fighting the po- litical machine of his state in an effort to clean up a messy situation in the state Institution for the mentally ill. But that point was so subtle it was almost non-evident. To boot, the, story . line which took the battling: legislator from one scene to another In the first half of the show'had the clarity of frosted glass and was about as brittle. Credibility was no greater, al- - though pace was steadier, in the sec- ond half—but meanwhile, a stupidly inserted sinking commercial broke up the musical mood set by Lyn Murray's orch. One almost felt that somebody was deliberately trying to do about everything wrong on the whole show to keep it from achiev- ing a clearly expressed .goal outlined by a group of thoroughly competent people. ' Within the limitations of the show the cast was tops. Cy Harrice's plugs for Swan soap were okay, aside from that middle commercial which he didn't warble. There's sock stuff in this stanza that should pay off all around — if the people concerned with it can pull themselves together and play on one team. Cars. -CAREER PERFORMANCE" With Henry Weber and orch, Carol Louise Smith, Tom Cafferty, others Writer-Producer: Jack LaFrandra 30 Mlns.; Frl., 7 p.m.' . Sustaining WGN, Chlcaco Opportunity to shine In their own show is offered Chicago and mid west professional vocalists and musi clans in this new WGN layout. "Your letters can make them stars," is the pitch announcer Tom Cafferty makes to listeners, and a not-at-all. implausible claim it is, in view of the excellent' performance put on by Carol Louise Smith, 20- year-old contralto who was judged best woman singer of the 1944 Tribune-sponsored Chicago Music Festival. Miss Smith hasn't had much recognition' since then, but she should get plenty now. Statement of conductor Henry Weber, who gave but with program notes and a review of Miss Smith's . career to date, was, "The midwest is overflowing with talent—good new talent—and now WGN will give lis- teners a chance to hear it. That his statement was true was immedi- ately demonstrated by the songstress with glowing interpretations of Bizet's "Seguidilla," Brahms* "Sap- pische Ode," "By the Bend of the River" and "Huguette Waltz;" Weber's dignified reading of pro- gram notes and Cafferty's announc- ing were right in Jtey, although the orch's doings with two warhorses, Brahms' Fifth Hungarian Dance and Godowsky's "Alt Wien," were strictly on the summer bandshell side. This "professional hour" got started as an outgrowth of a talent hunt begun on WGNB, sister fre- quency modulation station to WGN, a few months ago, with the limited number of listeners to FM receivers around Chi. asking that the station develop a similar program on WGN. Mifce. "INNER SANCTUM** With Paul McGrath, Larry Haines, Mereedea McCambrldge, Berry Kroeger, Santos Ortega; Dwlght Welst announcer Producer: W. A. Tlbbals Director: Hlman Brown Writer: Michael Sklar SO Mlns.; Mon., 8 p.m. EMERSON DRUG CO. WABC-CBS, N. Y. (BBD&O) "Inner Sanctum" was back on the air Monday (29) under Broino- Seltzcr (Emerson Drug Co.) spon- sorship for the first time,, but it was the same old reliable chillcr-diller,. down to the. creaking door and Paul McGrath's mocking voice as "host." Murder, storms,. stalled cars in the rain, thunder, half-wits, bodies in the fleld, jealous husbands—all the old standby ingredients, gruesome, gory, tantalizing and exciting. Good stuff. Monday's opener, ■ titled . "One More Murder," dealt with two people who had driven out to the country to spend a weekend with friends, only to find them murdered under harrowing circumstances. That wasn't all. Before the sequence had ended, a half-wit had blundered into the proceedings, to be accused of mur- der; his father had been declared an'accomplice for shielding him, and the couple themselves had split up, long-standing jealousy' coming to a head, with man murdering woman just to. make it a triple killing. Gory business, what,? Drama was well acted, especially by Mercedes McCambridge as visit- ing femme.. Script was well written, and production had excellent pace, in quick, dramatic flashes. Commer- cials were also to the point, not.to intrude into the. bloody doings too long. When better murders are built, ' Inner Sanctum" will do them. Bron. INTRIGUE" ("Rogue Male") With Joseph Schildkraut, Tom Collins, ' George Sorel, Edwin Max, Alee Harford, Ray Law- rence, Earl Ross; Robert LeMond, announcer; music by Gall Kublk, conducted 'by Lud Gluskln Adapter: Robert Tallmaan . Producer-Director: Charles Vanda 30-mlns„ Wed., 9:30 p.m. ''■'•• Sustaining WABC-CBS, N. T. To the summer schedule, already overloaded with whounits, chillers, thrillers, creepers and just plain, cold-blooded murder; CBS has now added another spine-titillating num- ber. With character actor Joseph Schildkraut and equally competent Tom Collins as protagonists, it started off as a top production in Its classification when it teed off last week (24). Vehicle was Geoffrey Household's ((Rogue Male" .(adapted by Robert Tallman). Yarn is in the tradition of incredible tales executed, with so much skill that the listener forgets until after it's all over that a lot of the situations are about as. real as the imagined virtues of a corny commercial. But the execution, for which not only Charles Vanda and the cast deserve credit, but also Wilbur Hatch for his mood-setting music, was tops. If it's true that the nighttime listeners during the dog days must be served tall, cooling frappes of danger, duplicity and deception— this will do as well as any.Cars. "SQUARE TABLE" With Ken Meeker, Tom Brooks, Milton Metz, Robert Hulsell, Bud Abbott, Howard Hlatt, and La Murphy Producer: Ken Meeker IS Mlns; Sun., 9:30 p.m. Sustaining WHAS. Louisville As the title of this 15-mlnute clambake would indicate, it's a show to end alf roundtables, and the idea is very funny. Ken Meeker, staff spieler, is credited with originating the Idea, which probably germi- nated at some time when the staff was shooting the breeze in the an- nouncer's room. Meeker nils the moderator role, and he handles the job in a. boderate manner. ' Introed as a new venture into panel discussions, idea is to expose an item of news to a group of so- called experts, and they, in turn, discuss, analyze and tear: apart the subject under discussion, all for swell laugh returns. Lu Murphy, sole femme member of the panel, gets her share of laughs, and proves plenty quick at the ad lib repartee Sample question posed to the clownish panel was "Since week beginning Aug. 4 has been set aside by the Mayor of Louisville to com- memorate the 20th anniversary- of talking pictures, what, in your opinions, would be appropriate methods of celebrating this momen- tous anniversary?" Staff boys and lone gal took it from there, and it all adds up to numerous chuckles and an occasional guffaw. At least it's. a switch from the ' usual staid and dignified fare. Then, too,' it's a. real indication that the staff boys have their lighter moments and- a swell sense of humor, which they enjoy tremendously to share with their listeners. Show may have commercial possibilities after a lit- tle limbering and smoothing over an occasional rough spot. It's a real venture in air comedy. Hold. "HARRINGTON'S SPORTRA1TS" With John Harrington, Bob Venables, Peter Lucas, John Dunham, others Writer-Producer: Tom Foy 15 Mlns.; Mon, Wed., Frl., 0:15 p.m. KBEML WBBM, Chicago (Erwin, Wfuty) John Harrington packs an awful lot—and all very iistenable—into this fast quarter-hour, There's never a dull moment in this overall picture of sport news of . the day to start, followed in quick succession, by a "story behind the news," a roundup of baseball games comiug up, a "sportrait" of the day, a roundup of sports the world over, a transcrip- tion of the day's feature race at Ar- lington Park, an interesting biogra- phy of a famous sports, figure, an- nouncement of sports events coming to Chi, and news of coming national events. On top of that, there's room for plenty of plugs for Kreml, plus an- nouncements on rod and gun, base- ball, tennis, etc., by .Bob Venables, Peter Lucas, John- Dunham and other, announcers, who alternate from day to day, to precede Harringtons', slap- dash montages: There's excellent teamwork, as. evidenced by the fact that the teeoff show didn't lop over, though it was bulging at the seams. The "Sportrait" shares honors with the biogs, but Harrington should switch 'em around, with the former towards the end of the show, to cre- ate suspense. The "Sportrait" is a listener-participation deal, with the audience'invited to write in about, a sports experience, with the daily winner getting a rod-and-reel (if he tells a fish story), golf gear if it's a golf yarn, etc., and also becoming eligible for the prize of the month— an outboard motor. Harrington's readings are punchy, as in the case of the one heard— about a guy who decided to take a last swing on his sorrowful way back to home base after a Ashless day. He caught one, all right, but got his line tangled around a stump and had to dive in and catch the big fella by hand. Fish measured 45 inches and weighed 17 pounds, too, by heck. Biog was about Joe Cronin, highest paid manager in baseball, and how he jumped from the sandlots to play with the Pittsburgh Pirates, then bounced back, but not too far; to the whistle-stops, being just a mediocre- shortstop. All that changed, how-, ever, when he joined the Senators and married the boss' daughter. He became a big league manager at 26, winning the pennant, but was traded by Clark Griffith, his father-in-law, for $250,000, because the Boston Red Sox wanted him that badly, turning the tables on the old man by becom- ing the top-salaried guy in his line. An amusing story, in the game's patois, well told. . Mifce. "UNDER ARREST* With Craig McDonald, Betty Garde, John Larkin, Patsy Campbell, Los Damon, Hermit Murdock, Sid Raymond; Ted Brown announcer Produoer: Wynn Wright Writer: Sam Ross 30 Mln., Sun., 8 PJU. Sustaining WOR-MUTUAL, N. T. , This is good . cops-and-crooks stuff. Story is rough, brutal but ef- fective, and scripting is hard-boiled, crisp and realistic. Incidents, es- pecially those built around an all- omniscient police captain, are a little far-fetched at times, while the romantic elements slow the story up a bit. But half-hour program, on the whole, is tense and dramatic, for an okay thriller. Opening stanza of series Sunday (28) was brutal, chilling stuff, the episode, subtitled "The Torch," tell- ing yarn of a mob who capture a rival gang, imprison them • in a penthouse and then set fire to the building, endangering the lives of every other Cliff-dweller there. Story moved fast, ■ hi quick,, short takes that kept it punchy. Script went out of its way a bit in sug- gesting to cops that, tbey handle mobsters roughly, but from some of the stunts the gang, pulled. latter certainly .ratcil it. Bron. "JIM ROGERS, CLAIMS AGENT" With Gene O'Donnell. Silvia Leigh, Bob. Dixon, announcer Writer: Frank Kane Producer-Director: Joe Braiialn IS Mlns.; Mon.-Wed.-Frl., 7:30 pjn. KREML WEAF, N. T. (Erujin Wosey) This Is another cops-and-robbers Item which doesn't add much to the genre's entertainment stature* Quar- ter-hour session is entirely too short to permit anything beyond a few quick strokes for a story outline, several organ fade-ins, and three "so-handsome-so-lustrous" plugs for Kreml. Given the time limitations, script found it impossible to supply that minimum of tension necessary to carry dialers from start to finish In the title role, Gene O'Donnell plays an insurance claims agent out to crack a gang of racketeers who collect damages on fraudulent in juries. Out of all the usual devices for solving a case, the script re- ported to the most unsatisfactory one last Friday (26)—a lie. detector. Use of a mechanical brain to ferret the truth is certainly an undramatlc and uningenlous tool for any radio sleuth. Thcsping on the show, how ever, was competent. OSCAR BRAND With Georgia Heasllp, Ben Irving, . Jason Wingreen Producer: George Ganek 15 Mlns.; Tuesday, 6 pun. Sustaining WNYC, N. Y. Revival of folksinging as a popu- lar art form is bringing a flock of new and refreshing voices to the mike. Among them Is Oscar Brand, who has built up this quarter-hour session out of some authentic Ameri- can folk tunes intertwined into a light comedy. story structure. Acr comping himself with a banjo, Brand handles the balladeering with a fine voice and a high sense of humor. Story framework doesn't equal the singing in quality, and only limits Brand's vocalizing, which should not be wasted; On the preem stanza (23), Brand gave snappy renditions of "Old Dan Tucker," "Casey Jones," "Kansas Boys," and "The Keeper of the Eddystone Light." Also called the turns to a pot-likker square dance number . which was transcribed, Other members of the cast played a collection of hillbilly characters in amiable fashion. "STOP V.D." With Drs. Thsodore Rosenthal, Vin- cent Juster, Erwln Drencher, John F. Ferree; Fred B»", announcer Producer-Director: Fred Barr 30 Mlns.; Thursday, 10:15 p.m. Sustaining. WWRL, N. Y. ) Sticking its neck out with a Ven- geance, WWRL, New York indie, has. come up with a program that squarely ' confronts the audience with one of society's most important medical ' and social problems; and it's a good bet that they'll get small thanks for it from anyone but the doctors and sociologists.. In presenting a highly civilized ap- proach to the subject of venereal disease, it seems likely that the station has included its listeners in a discussion which they'd just rather, not experience unless, of course, some sort of sensational as- pect is provided. Curiosity on the latter point may bring some first- timers, but continued listening will probably come from those who aren't particularly in need of mass education, on syphilis and other hush-hush ailments. On the show caught (Thursday, 25) four doctors, Theodore Rosen- thal, director Bureau Social Hy- giene, New York City Health De- partment; Vincent Juster, president, Queens Medical Society; Erwm Drescher, director. United States Public Health Service, District 1; and John W. Ferree, director of edu- cation of the American Social Hy- giene Ass'n and formerly in charge of the Navy's venereal disease con- trol, opened with a panel discussion on the need for educating people to report VD cases without fear. Dr.'Ferree was moderator. Particu- lar emphasis was placed upon the New York area, and the discussion gained momentum as the four ex- perts tossed the ball back and forth, with the first quarter-hour ending on an upbeat . Show's second portion is taken up by a platter series on symphilis, with all disks cut by WKY, Okla- homa City outlet, as an attempt to help slash the high VD in that area. Final 15 minutes is entirely devoted to these dramatizations of the con- sequences of syphilis, with program caught concerned solely with disease of a congenital nature. Thesping and direction in these disks are only fair, which is unfortunate, since a subject of this sort needs top pro- gram mountings to maintain listen- er interest. It is planned to have medicos in live discussions at least once a month, if letters indicate the need. . Unfortunately, radio audiences, seldom receptive to advice or re- buke, will probably give the show a quick listen and say, "My, what a wonderful idea—let's hear . some music." Tomm. ■ *. "HERE'S TO VETERANS" With Mark Warnow orch, Joan Ed- wards, Kenny Delmar 15 Mlns.; Monday, 9 p.m. Sustaining WNEW, N. T. Under auspices of the Veterans Administration and aired by indies across the country, "Here's to Vet- erans" is a neatly packaged series of electrical transcriptions prepared by high-powered air personalities and carrying important information for ex-GIs. Each program is a minia- ture edition of shows starring names like Fred Waring. Frank Sinatra, Danny Kaye, Hildegarde, Kate Smith and others, Preem show (29) featured Mark Warnow orch with Joan Edwards in a "Hit Parade" format. Kenny Del- mar handled the message to vets, which included advice on loans, in- surance, medical care, and educa- tional benefits under the GI Bill of Rights. Program wbb musically highlighted by Miss Edwards' bright singing of "Shoo-Fly Pie" and "They Say It's Wonderful." and the orch's solid sending of "Tico Tico" and "That'sa Plenty." "XOU AND THE ATOM" With Lyman Bryson, Norman Con. sins, Watson Davis ' Producer: Guy Delia Cloppa Director: Al Ward 15 Mlns.; Mon.-Frl., 11:15 p.m. Sustaining WABC-CBS, N. Y. CBS' course in atomics, which preemed 10 days ago (15), took a chance on getting Itself blown off the air when it brought Saturday'' Review of Literature editor Norm.m Cousins to its show on the fourth chapter (25). la The net's counsellor on public affairs, Dr. Lyman Bryson, who em- cees the shows, started off easily the first three nights by presenting an overall picture of the meaning of atomic energy. Then . he broucht Cousins on, and the SRL man came with fissionable stuff. Cousins re- iterated on the air the sensational disclosure he made in a lead piece in his mag a couple of months back regarding the top-secret report (lied with the War Dept. by . a group of atomic scientists who foresaw two months before Hiroshima what the full implications of the atomic bomb ■would be. Cousins boldly chnllcived the "moral, political or scientific rea- son" for using the bomb as it was used, and indicated his willingness to absolve CBS from brasshat cen- sure by declaring he was taking •personal responsibility" for his dis- closures. It was powerful stuff to put on the radio, and Bryson as well as CBS showed themselves courageous in giving Sousihs and Watson Davis the time to air their yiews. Davis, as a science editor, backed Cousins, and Bryson concluded by pointedly referring to the "new dimension in politics" brought about by the de- vclopment of atomic science. The show pointed up ■'. something else, quite incidental to CBS' sock job with this program—that Cousins an outstanding essayist, may well shape up as a personality in radio as well. cars. "BUREAU OF MISSING PERSONS" With Allen Earle, Bob Wright Writer-Producer: Art Llnick 15 Miiis.; Mon thru Frl., 11 a.m. Sustaining WJJD, Chicago Here is a program designed to locate missing persons. It's a re- vival on WJJD of a public service program first presented in 1937, and continued on various Chi stations till the outbreak of World War IL when the time was devoted to war- time promotions and other topical public sen-ice features. It has had a, L, ad,mr . able Bast - having located 3,000 such persons who got "lost" through one means or another, but the production job put into it doesn't bode'well for Its rating, sole ingredients being Allen Earle doing the narration. Bob Wright announc- ing and transcribed organ music for bridges. mJ ntro and bow-out, dealing with those countless missing humans, who march unknown roads," etc., are well written by Art Linick, originator of the show^ and are pro- jected in just the right mood by Earle, but the recitation of case his- tory after case history weighr heavily on the ear as the minutes drag by. Listeners are asked to send In descriptions of misslhg persons, and those who recognize the descrip- tions are asked to contact the sta- tion too. Material is gathered from letters, investigations and direct cor- respondence with local police au- thorities, and relations and friends ol the missing persons. No re- wards are offered, although in some cases rewards have been given by the parties seeking the lost or miss- ing individuals. A Chinese eong tees it off; indi- vidual case histories, which sound more often than not like a police station teletype layout, are pre- ceded by the flashing of telegraph keys; and Earle does his best to give the dry-to-dust factual material the old personal touch. Script Dorders on dramatic monolog occa- sionally, which helns, but what the show needs is another voice or two, for dramatization or contrast with Earle. J^ V L^ TO WARNER BROS." With Milton Berle, Earl Wilson, Andy Russell, Ted Mossman, Vickie Richards, Vlo Perry, David Brooks; Manny Hecklln orch; Vlck Bell, announcer Producer: Leonard Carlton 50 Mlns.; Tues. (30), 1:10 p.m. WLIB, N. Y. Going all-out in behalf of the Warner Bros, celebration of the zpth anni of talking pictures. WLIB, N. Y., cut itself a mouth-fllling chunk from the' "birthday cake" festivities that have been going on '". trie center island at Columbus Circle, N. Y. Formal pretext .for the show was the presentation of a congratulatory scroll from the N. Y. Post and its air subsid to the War- ners for their pioneering work in sound development; Variety entertainment on the broadcast had no particular rela- tionship to the event; but since lots Of it was of topnotch Caliber, it didn't matter. Airing outdoors from the top of a raised platform in the Circle, show, couldn't .avoid that catch-as-Catch-can clambake quality, (Continued on page 32)