Variety (Sep 1946)

WcJneetTay, September II, 1946 RADIO REVIEWS 37 tnnwine what they're saying was Probably no more disiUusionins than the obviously staged way in which fhe whole "Consequences" program is presented. ^ The only other "act" on the stanza «,iiffht was the presentation to Ed- ward. oT an award by Vau.et^. The .ripntcr was introduced as Jack Kan (Helm), of the Daily Va- 5ety staff, but his clear diction S-shape tones and dis msu.shed Hflivcry tipped off that it was ac- tually an impersonation- by a pro-\ fessional actor. the show's commercial .setup, as in the same sponsor's "The Life of Bilev" immediately preceding, was a trifle over-involved. There was a musical-jingle opening, then the billboard and Edwards intro agamst " backaround of studio laughter. Be- "ide, the commercial involvinn the faked copy, there was a middle plug using a femme voice and a testimonial, a closing musical iingle and hurried closing a hitch-hike plug' for the Don Ameche series, Snother P. & G. property. '•THE SHADOW" . With Brett Morrison, Grace Mat- ibewsj Ethel Everett, Pattee Chap- roaii, Bernard Lenrow, I..«is Van Roolcn, Frank Bealinc; Don Han- cock, announcer Writer: Gilison Scott Fojt Producer-Director: John C. Cole. ■ miisical Director: Elsie Thompson 30 Mins ; Sundays, .5 p.m. D. L. & W, COAL CO. ■ WOB-Miitiial, N. Y. iHiahruuiJ & Rynii'i Back on the air for it.s 10th ycar ftfter a summer respite, "The; Shadow'' still oozes out of the loud- . speaker with th'at same creepy aura which has made it so popular with kid."! who can't go to bed without a ' : nightmare, weighing on their hrain. The sea.son's curtain-raiser pronii.sed plenty of chills which should keep the domestic coal company bank- roller happy. Brett Morrison, pliiy- ... ihg.the title role, opened with that familiar horrifying heckle and right to the signature," it was a case of brutal murders, vampire " bats, ::scream.<! in the night, and other spine-tingling gimmicks. With right ■ prevailing in the end, moral of ttie : , play was that crime does not pay, but parent - teacher organizations would probably advocate a less lurid way of drawing it. ■'Foi* its purposes, the drnmats are smoothly projected via a good cast of actor.s and double-quick time di- ■ rcclion. Script for the initial stanza , was well-knit; although if examined closely, the story of a schizophrenic author who wrote murder stones bv ■ day and committed them at night. ■ was basically absurd. But even if credibility was weak, the mood and tension were sustained on a high level which is all the whodunit • hounds ask for. Musical bacligiouiid' and bridges contributed to the total effect with a formula score. Carrying the heaviest thesping burden, Morrison plays his double : roJe as the —Sliadow" and detective- ; in that self-confident key common to ■ all radio .sleuths. Best' of the cant . : «new their way about the groans , ., and shrieks. Plug.s for tht spon.sor : S handled being both ; brief and informatively u.seful. •METROPOUTAN NEWS IIOIM,- With Tom O'Biica, Frank D. Sclu oth. ■Ir., Jvaeph F. Deiti, David Stair, xncodore Goetjt, Fred Heywood Pi'odnccr: Thoma.s B. McFaddcn 15 jMins.; MOn.-Fri., 1:>;15 p.m. siistaiiiing: , WEAF, N. Y. Hoie is loea) news rcportinu on a .euind scale; commensurate, with the m.-ivkcl covered by NBC's N. Y. flag- , sliip, WEAK After two wpel<s of drv \ '■''P*^' the .show as aii'od on Oie tee- , oit (4) IS still uneven, and Dicrc arc 7'",?'''nie Dugs to be picked,out., But on the whole, it's a very good job. doin.r credit both to WEAF's news •:,,^nd ,special events oliief, 'foni Me- ,': 'iiiti to the five t.yi-os {I'esh ■ ' t'Ut ot thtir new.spapcr cubicle^. : , ■ The idea :o£ tlie show is to take tlie , , ;"sneii_er on a quick trip around New ■ >'^i ,? ni< ti-opolitan area and give :, :him the highlifihts cf tlTe lbc;il news ix)'^''!. Brooklyn, Long Island, ■ Weslchester County, Newark :ui<111h'. ; ™n;4,.' E.KCcpt for Tom O'Brien. ■ Wfios a regular- WEAP newsroom fcuy, llie others are—or rather, were --<smateui-s. But yestorday;s aniateiir may be^tomorrow's star, if hc\ got , ; -ne stuff. None of these felldws on I ! stanza caught had the star dust; , a .eouple of them hadn't vet learned smoothly from item to item : , '^o as tp, separate the pieces in a war , . , ^eco.9nizable to the li.stener. But *VOTy. one.of them showed signs of ■ ^ cFadden's training and, as a whole. Old a creditable performaiice. _^*'ether the metropolitan area will 80 tM the kind of material reported '^L- "*^'^- people is something else .' ;'sa'n.: One isn't sure that the West- tnester listener cares much about an , ?>'*°"}ot>ile'theft in Jamaica, or that "f J^ew Jersey auditor is as much o7*''ef;ted as are those in New York minutiae of the Rrpiib- "van and Democratic state conven- uons. The the day-to-day nevv^ oieaks, and the skill to be shown oy the producer of the show will ioon provide that answer via Hoop- jratings. Certainly it's the type ol Show worth trying. Can. "CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR VIEWS THE NEWS" With Erwin U. Canham; Phelps Gates, announcer Producer: Ed Carroll 1.5 Mins.i Thurs , tl:lS p.m. CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR WJZ-ABC, N. Y, ^ (H. B. Hiimphrci;) As an air commentator, Erwin D. Canham, editor of the Chri.stian Sci- ence Monitor, has two important fa^tf leading: off in his favor. He's, chief of a paper that has an inter- national rep for its impartiality and .sobriety in handling news and he's got a natural radio voice that's clear, crisp and persuasive. In addition, the flow of Ganham's ideas is .simple in form but provocative in substance, a tot.Tl making for a valuable news session. On his opening program of the new season la.st Thursday 15), Canham loosely knit together a half-dozen significant item.s in the headlines tlirough an anal.ysis of "double-talli," I present in the .issues. Canham ieed I ofl' with a discussion of the current shipping' strike, stressing the dan- gerous inflationary tendencies impli- cit in the dem-mds for higher wages. On this point, union .sympathizers could no doubt detect the ax-grind- ing behind the note of objectivity. with a plea for understanding be- tween America and Russia. In not offering a straight newscast, Can- ham's special point of view, like any new.spaper editorial page, is bound to excite disagreement; but any dis- agreemeni: with opinions expressed on this program stem from; hone.st differences in approach, not from distortion of facti Who could ask for more'? . "ENDORSED BY DORSET" With Vera Holly, Dick Rogers, Four Clark Sisters, Herman Chittison Trio, Sy Oliver Orch, Tiny Ruff- ner, emcee Producer-Director: Dan McCullough 30 Mins.; Friday, 8:;{0 p.m; ■ SusteiininK WOR-Mutual, N. Y. , Goal of the producer of this show must be to earn the endorsement not only of Tommy Dorsey but the average run . of dialers. Otherwise, as it stands, it's merely a whoppo plug for T.D., whose name is men- tioned countless times, and :,a weak, variety offering, with little pace or imagination. Given a format that's less haphazard (which is no synonym for variety), the talent of the in- dividual performers could add up to "LISTEN CAREFtlllit" With Barry Kroeter, Joan Banks, Horace Braham, Lawcoa Zcrbe, Kan Swcnson; Roland .Winters, emcee; Russ Dunbari annouticer; Ray Bloch and orch Writer: Peter Barry Producer: Larry Dorn 30 Mins.; Tues.i 8 p.m. Suslulnine WOR-MUtual, N. Y. Mutual has been , using its Tuesday night at 8 slot for the last few weeks for a series of sustaining showcasers with possible network and commer- cial payoff.,: One Of the Showcasers, particularly, aired the night of Aug. 27, is worth reporting because it. has a fresh idea which—hoWever^was not carried out as successfully as it might have been. But, the possibil- ity is there and, with some sharpen- ing and tightenitig, "Listen , Care- fully" might, indeed, earn some in- tensive listening. Idea is to combine the viihodunit show with the quiz technique. Three audience participatipners are, chosen with instructions- (aired) to listen carefully to every detail in each of the show's three, ,acts.' Alter „each' act'f one Of the three :"typical" lis- teners is asked; by-the emciee certain questions tieid in with, the action he If he's quick and a greater sum total Emceeing the Show,;Tiny Ruffner f had just heard did the best he could with a .script hep, the listener gets a $10 note. At Canham also dwelled briefly on the ithat seemed to think that, the name the end Of the; third act, all three Paris Peace Conference and, the in- of- .Tommy DorseyV has a magic "typical" listeners can double their e*icapable atom bomb, winding up I charm.' s take by giving in writing the correct answer to a question aimed at th* Most of the questions asked had nothing vital to do with the progres* of the play, being on incidental mat- ters only. There would have to be very fine inter-meshing of the ques- tions and the play's action before the quiz part could become an in., trlnsic part of the show, rather than a mere outside gadget. If the exact street address (for instance) of a piece of action in Act I is a clue to action, character or situation-:rit's worth basing the question on it; jf it isn't, the question seems, and on the. preem . was, extraneous,-likely to re- sult in less intensive listening. The quiz angle could also, be tied in one way or another.,, with the lis-. tener outside the studio so that the guy at the dial at home could also get a piece of swag. As foi? the vehicle used on the opener, it was gbod but had one fault. Titled "Boomerang," the lis- tener, even if he wasn't too intense, had the denouement , telegraphed 'way ahead, with the result that the end was anti-climactic. However, except for the title (which m ay not have been his choice), scripter Peter Barry did a good, :tight job of the, type required on the stanza. Larry Dorn's production was good; Rich-- ard Lewis' direction .was firm; ' and the' acting ranged between the ade- quate for the minor roles to top per- formances by Barry Kroeger and i Joan Banks in-the leads. Car.'i. Just a reminder of -AMERICA'S FINEST TRANSCRIBED LIBRARY of WESTERN MUSIC I Tested and Proved Successful for * All Qualified Advertising! * Riidio Siaiions, Large or Small! * Markets, Metropolitan or Rural! The icalMl prices .H to 'ir7c of station und mw kft are designed to fit budget lyspropriations,; K WRITE orWIREfor further dctiillsand prices to GEORGE E. HAUEY,^ Mqnager svNDiCArEO rcAJunes' m AN ARTHUR B. CHURCH PRODUCTION I Pickwick Hotel, l<tansas City 6, Missouri I A Convenient New York OSicc at 475 Fifth Avenue