Variety (Feb 1947)

88 BABIO REVIEWS WedncBday v February 5, I947 BABBIT GRAY ON BROADWAY With Barry Gray, Guests J*ek Bar- rett, Marion Colby, Walter Gross, Olsen & Johnson Producer: Phil Tonkens 30 Mins.; Mon., 10 p.m. Sustaining WOR-Mutual, N. Y, This new show for the first tinfie gives acid-tongued Barry Gray a chance to advance his searing opinions on a network broadcast. This is the guy who as an all-night disk jockey on WOR the past couple years has stirred up more contro- versy in the music and radio trades than the atom bomb. Gray is a clever adlibber when a situation sujts his fancy. He has frequently shown flashes ot ability that promised or promises to mean something new and fresh to radio. However, too often things get away from him on his own a.m. show or he gets into a line of argument about which he knows nothing and stub- bornly blasts ahead like a bull in a China shop. And things wind up in a beautiful clambake. That, unfortu- nately, is what happened on his net- work debut. Gray's new show is based on his favorite subject—controversy. It's ad lib repartee with guests over a chosen .subject. This program was partly devoted to "are critics neces- sary?" and dialect comedy, a cam- paign of Walter Winchell's in recent weeks. Out of the whole thing there were a cauple of sane, intelligent observations by Olsen and Johnson, on the latter item, but all in all the clambake this time was done to a turn, although it's understood it's not easy to hold a verbal free-for- ■ all down to one voice at a time. Gray made his mistake in selecting the "critics" routine to chew over. And he kinda left himself wide open since he sets himself up as a forked.- tongued critic of things with which he has had comparatively little ex- perience; At any rate, the point under fire was that most critics aren't qualified to judge their sub- ject. The point is untenable and not worthy of such discussion since it's widely known that men with vast experience in producing shows, selecting hit songs, pictures, and anything else you might think of, often err in judgment. It's a contention that can go around in circles forever, like the dog chasing his tail, without proper answer. And Gray and ,the kids helping him debut on the network didn't clear it up. In fact it was more muddled thereafter, and so seemed the participants. Especially since they-couldn't seem to make it clear what t- le of critic they were roasting i.e., legit, nitery or what have you. There's no question but that Gray has something for modern radio if he can only keep both feet planted while his quick tongue soars and ■ sears. But this show wasn't the answer. Wood. TIGHT SURPRISE SATUBDAY PARTY With Art Ford, Hot tips Page, Pete Johnson, Sid Catlett, Pete . Johnson, Boy Boss band, Frances Wayne; .announcer, Bill Williams Producer-director: Ted Cett S3 Mins.; Saturday, 8:35 p.m. Sustaining WNEW; N. Y. Seldom have the latent possibili- ties of the much-bruited jam ses- sion been so well realized, radio- wise as in this new series by WNEW. The term itself has been abused by4' almost every station on the air .""ap- plied to the well-rehearsed pash of mickey mouse bands, when its real connotation is one of informality and usually good jazz music. Informality is certainly a keynote of "Saturday Night Surprise Party," and the mu- sic is, for the most part, excellent. With talent rounded up and shows Organized by station manager Ted ott, this program will probably wind up a must on the listening list Of jazz aficionados, and could well provide .hefty competition for the nets on the general listener market. Ford, who usually makes a point of exhibiting his broad knowledge of abortive jazz terminology, stays pretty much in the background, let- ting his string of talent intro their own numbers and explain their choices; On the show caught (1) his lineup was tops, with Hot Lips Page leading off after the station group came in with a singing station iden- tification. Page opened with "Open the Door Richard," assisted by Sid Catlett, ace drummer-man. Studio aud, obvi- ous swing :T:ns, came in on the chorus for a nice off-the-cuff touch. Trumpet man followed with "Take Your Shoes Off, Baby," and then did "St. James Infirmary Blues," tune he recorded for Artie Shaw. Informal note was struck when Page had to run out of the studio for a different mute for. his horn. The hot trumpet was much in evidence between vpcals. Robbins paid off the guest shot by making frequent ref- erences to Page's' new Apollo recording of "Open the Door." Frances Wayne, ex-Woody Her- man chirp, followed Page with "Passe" and "I Love You for Senti- mental Reasons." Her husband, Niel Hefti, was called up to accompany her on, "Hapniness Is Just a Thing Called Joe," using Page's trumpet, and it came over nicely after a little Addling with various keys, Miss Wayne evidently needs a full hand behind her nt all times, since she INSIDE STORY With James OrgHl, narrator; John Price, William Boehm, Buth Lee Jones, Joseph Berg, Bert Brown. Blaph Edgar, announcer Writer: Sidney Vincent Producer: John Saunders 15 Mins.; Sunday, 1:45 S" staining WGAB, Cleveland In this, the second year of the atomic era, when racial and religi- ous bigotry appear on the increase, WGAR's "Inside Story" becomes so vital a program. Blunt, without seeking to pacify any group, and calling a spade a spade, WGAR, m dramatic fashion, highlights actual incidents in the city's racial and re- ligious background that have flared into open battles. . , Through the use of . narration by James Orgill, producer John Saun- ders has built a- vehicle that in the series of 10 incidents portrays the pertinent need for a community to fight for tolerance. The script, through a deft touch of ridicule, points out how racial and religious hatred grows from small, misunderstood incidents. The effec- tiveness of thi program comes from the pen of writer Sidney Vincent of the Jewish Community Council, who knows, first hand, the story be- hind the incident. ; . . . One story tells of how a high school basketball team became di- vided, player against player, because of a false thought that a Polish lad, "a foreigner o{ different religious belief," attempted to "steal all honors.". , Another tells how distrust and misunderstanding almost brought a race riot in a high school between Negroes and whites. ' The programs' formation began many months ago when civic groups, including the Council, the Urban League, Cleveland Community Re- lations Board, an organ of city gov- ernment, headed by Frank Baldau, and others looked for an effective medium to combat intolerance. They plotted their programs, pre- pared the copy, and then asked WGAR if time were available. Presented with good material, com- petent organization, well-thought- out scripts, "". 3AR's program man- ager, Dave Baylor, snapped at the opportunity of doing a job of "pub- lic service" and cleared "A" time Sunday afternoon.. Community agencies, such as the. library, are cooperating through recommending and displaying lit- erature in connection with the sub- ject to be presented each week. Also, the library is printing bookmarks announcing the series. With a cast of good voices, with incidents of dramatic value, this is a series that should not'run for a limited time. Rather, its value should be enhanced through the greater use of background music and made a "must" in public service shows for months to come. "Inside Story" contains a positive punch. It is one of the better rec- ommendations for community ac- tion, through education, in combat- ing intolerance. Mark. ♦ ♦MM »♦♦<•»♦♦♦♦««♦♦»♦»»♦ \ Transcription Reviews H < * * * * * * * * * * «*♦♦■■* ■+ ALL-AMERICAN BOOK PBE- WmfZck Goodman, Eric Hodglns, Dr. James F, Bender, Marilyn . ^"cer-Director: Al Westbrook 15 Mins. CO-OP * J (All-America R« dio Forum) A gabby interview program designed togarner listeners. wilto* better-than-average quotient of erev matter, "All-American Book Reviews" has already been sold on a co-operative basis to several of 5» X. top publishers• ActuaUy the title is misleading, since the discussion makes no attempt at re- view but spoons up a lively ana iSsting insight into the mental workings of. author, publisher and "cfn^he preem platter, Eric Hod- ffihf author of "Mr. Blanding Bufl'ds ffis Dream House," and Jack editor of Simon & main attractions Goodman, Schuster, were to in an interview -with Dr. James TP. Bender, director of the National Institute of Human Relations, Off- the-cuff comment, was quick and engaging, with this particular book open to humorous treatment This series looks promising but will have to be spotted carefully to order to catch the particular type of audience to which* the programs are pitched. Tomm. DID JUSTICE TRIUMPH? With Julian Noa, Chester straiten, Earle George, Al Hodge, Lawson Zerbe, Nancy Sheridan; George Carson Putnam, narrator Writers: Barth-Conry Producer-director: Jock MacGregor 30 Mins.; Wed., 10 p.m. Sustaining WOR-MUTUAL, N. Y. Program, based on the N. Y. Daily News Sundav feature o£ the same name, is just another whodunit se- ries, mystery crime yarns being culled from the newspaper files and dramatized. Series, based on Wednesday's (29) opener, is made up of familiar stuff, familiarly pre- sented. Story, motivations, clues, etc., are obvious. Whole program shapes up as unexciting. But since whodunits are a staple of films, books and radio, there's no reason Why this * rogram won't fit into the general pattern. Especially since current program seems to be care- fully produced and interestingly presented. Wednesday's stanza dramatized a murder committed by an avaricious man, aided by his reluctant, weak son, so that i insurance company could be hoaxed into paying out a ■large sum. Writing was above par, if situations and development were not. Acting was quite good, and George Carson Putnam's narration ha I the necessary dramatic flair, free of patronizing. Rron. HOME EDITION With Albert I* Warner, Bobert Gard ner; Ken Powell, producer-an nouncer 15 Mins.; Mon.-Fri., 12 noon Sustaining . ■-. WOB-MBS, N. Y. • New news program is freshened up in several ways to make it an inter- esting addition to the daily commen taries. Two men carry the ball, Al- bert L. Warner, Mutual's D. C. news chief, being heard from Washington, and Robert Gardner, former maga- zine editor, coming in from New York. Gabbers alternate for two or three minutes each. Switches back and forth help build impression of wide news coverage, of on-the-spot reporting from the nation's two key centers. In addition, both commentators seem -well posted and are hep in the delivery. Warner's snappy style, Gardner's dramatic touches, enliven the news handouts. Coverage gives brief, but good interpretations of the day's highlights, with Warner add- ing a little human interest stuff to boot. Monday's (3) premiere had Warner discussing from the capital such matters as the Supreme Court sitting, Baruch and atomic energy, Congress, and Justice Douglas' 17- year-old daughter, who's working as a soda clerk. Gardner spieled about Palestine, Jap and German trials, the cold wave, a ship foundering at sea, farm production figures, etc. Pro- gram sounded authoritative and bright. Bron. ^SynMacCormaek. Ennfo Botognmi, Dave Bacall Producer: Jane Nulls « 15 Mins.; Mon., Wed., Frl., 11:15 f»- (CST) . „ . Chartock, Coleman Prod. HOLEPROOF HOSIERY WENR, Chicago (Ruthrauff fe-Ryan) This transcribed series has a format and style appeal aimed strictly at female audiences. Show caught featured romantic poetry, Stag of love letters and soft or- music, holding little, if any, in- terest for 'male listeners. However, show seems to be a natural for spon- sors desirous of catching the female Frankly n MacCormack is entire show. Reading love letters ot "anonymous" authors. MacCormack has a slow, silky manner of unfold- ing his stories, entirely in keeping with the material. . Using one letter for theme of each show, paragraphs are intermittently sprinkled with poetry and lyric quoting of pertinent sentimental ballads. -Drawing out his words, MacCormack could actually air the entire show in one-third the time. Average commentator reading script would tend to produce a monotonous spell which has been avoided here. _ Background music of cellist Ftamo Bolognini and organist Dave Bacall is well chosen and tailor-made for show's style. Without commentary fronting it, however, music would be too drawn out for consumption, be- ing altered to fit into MacCormack s slow style of romanticisms. didn't show to much advantage with only a small group. Catlett, who stayed with the show throughout as rhythm accompanist, came in for a 'solo on "Honeysuckle Rose." One of the best brush men in the business, Catlett stuck for Roy Ross' station group's arrange- ment of "Flyin' Home." Closer was boogie artist Pete Johnson, who rendered ."Kansas City Blues." Rolling bass and sharp right hand were a nice climax to the show, but a better one might have been to have Page, Catlett, Johnson and Miss Wayne work one number as a unit. With a little plugging this pro- gram could become a major Satur- day night air item. It's fine enter- tainment. Tomm. THE PLAYHOUSE OF FAVORITES ("Adventures of Don Quixote de la Mancha") „ With Joe di Santis, Burford Hamp- den, Eugenia Bawls, Alfred Shir- ley, John Carradine, Jean Gilles- pie, Frances Heflin, Chester Strat- ton, Alastair Kyle, Luis . Van Booten, Signe Hasso, Betty Fur- ness, Wendy Barrie, Arnold Moss, Elissa Landi, others; narrator, Ted Jewett Writers: Raphael Hayes, Murray Burnett, Max Ehrlich Producer-Director: Bert Wood Music: Jon Gart 30 Mins. CO-OP 107 Stations (NBC Recording) Another all-out electrical tran- scription venture by a network that won't allow the platters on web fa- cilities, this series o» great stories features some of the best-known stage names available, plus top writ- ing talent. An individual outlet couldn't hope to approach these shows in either quality or budget. Series includes "Pride and Preju- dice," "Tale of:Two Cities," "David Copperfield," "Moby Dick" and "Treasure Island," among its 52 pro- grams. On the platter caught, "The Ad- ventures of Don Quixote," an- nouncer intros the dramat by ex- plaining that the story by Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra was a biting satire on the elaborate etiquette of knighthood. Spiel segues into the play, featuring Joe DiSantis as the addled knight and Burford Hampden as Sancho Panza, the rascal squire. While the show is pretty good, production occasionally shows spots of carelessness, especially where the scripter has given Don Quixote too much to say in one breath and Di Santis lets his sentences trail off in a gasp. Thesping, otherwise, is ex- cellent, and the show paces swiftly through the peregrinations of the old man who was born a couple of centuries too late. Sancho tells most of the story, bridging from the affair of the windmills to that of the freed prisoners, etc., in good style. Some of the other shows have top DALLAS SYMPHONY OBCH. 60 Mins.; "'hur., 10:15 p.m. PARTICIPATING," WFAA, Dallas. Latest sym honic group to join the ever-growing list of those on the air is the new-Dallas Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Antal Do- ratl. It's a far cry from Texas' early radio programs of cowboy and hill- billy music to that now being pre- sented by this group. Through a unique commercial arrangement, the orchestra is being presented for a series of 13 weekly concerts. Each one is ( being sponsored by a local business concern. On opus caught, the Byer-Rolnik Co., of Garland, Dallas County, were sponsors. They are the makers of the Resistol hats for men.- Broadcasts originate in the studios of WFAA each week and are at- tended by employees and friends of each sponsor. Through the broad- casts it can be heard how in little more than a year the Dallas Sym- phony has risen to top stature. Or- chestra is masterfully conducted by Dorati and shows real tone, depth and expression in its playing. Solo- ists on the program were Werner Gebauer, concertmaster, and.Zelman Brounoff, assistant concertmaster in the Bach violin concerto. John Rosenfield, amusement edi- tor of the Dallas News, is com- mentator of the airings, and does a nice job in giving a*brief resume of the life of the artists, and inter- esting highlights on the selections to be played. A salute -to the orchestra was made by Harry Rolnick, v.p. of Byer- .Rolnick, who also kudosed the deal- ers who handled the product. Commercials are handled ably and are of an institutional nature in most cases and are handled by Harry Harber, Coming .as it does at a late hour and on a 50,000-watt clear channel station, the orchestra should win for itself and for Dallas much good will, increase sale of recently made rec- ords made by the orchestra, and prove that down Texas way there is also a fine appreciation of good music, beautifully presented and well played. Andy. NEWS CONFERENCE With Jo Davidson, Hannah Dorm* Bill Holloman, Ed FuasV"ffi Morris, John Held, Harry fcaXS Moderator: Bobert Mansfield Producer; Jerry Heck 30 Mins,; Wed., 8:30 p.m. Sustaining KJR, Seattle This half-hour, the second in a series donated by KJR and produced under the auspices of the Washina ton State Press Club, reflects credit- on all concerned, particularly this broadcast which featured Jo David- son and Hannah Dorner of the Prog, ressive Citizens of America, in town on an organizing campaign. Davidson was bombarded with questions by the interrogators, made up of newspaper and radio reporters and he handled himself adroitly, re- vealing a new radio personality Questions were not as leading or difl ficult as they might have been, with a large portion of the time taken in discussing Davidson's artistic career his friendship with numerous celeb- rities of the past four' decades, and comments on-his work. Thus the PCA got across some good»points in a manner that would be impossible in the press here, the listeners were rewarded with an en- joyable half-hour, and a good public service program was further estab. lished for a goodly run on KJR. Jerry Heck, of McKay Advertising Agency, who produced the show for the Press Club, deserves kudos for his choice of both questioners and questionee; DickCrombie, announcer, and Mansfield as moderator both do tip-top jobs. It's an encouraging entry on the public service side of the ledger for radio in Seattle. SURPRISE PACKAGE With Bed Benson, guests 180 Mins.; Mon.-Sat., t p.m. PARTICIPATING WINS, N. Y. Red Benson is one of the live pieces of new talent being boomed by WINS under its Crosley Broadcasting Corp, ownership and in its revised program Setup. He runs a Monday-Friday show at 11:15 a.m„ and does a Mon- day-Saturday grind for two hours, teeing off at 2 p.m. Latter stint is labeled "Surprise Package." As heard last Saturday. (1), the sole surprise was that the guy, at the end of a week's tough riding, didn't sound a 1 bit tired. He was personable, like- able and fairly informal in his pre- sentation. , The job, of course, is pure jocko, including many of the commercials. As for the latter, it may surprise some who've taken the Crosley standards as the mccoy to find that Saturday's two-hour session had 16 spots on it, by actual count. How much more spotty a program can get is an open question. . ,. . An idea of Benson's music can be obtained from a listing of his guests on the show auditioned. These in- cluded Johnny Desmond, Jimmy Brown, Johnny Blowers—not to men- tion eight Conover girls, the giggling prexies of the Vaughn Monroe and Andy Russell fan clubs (respec- tively) and a studio audience of femmes left over from a morning show. ■ .. .„,,.„, But if disk riding is what WINS audience wants—this is probably as good as any around town. And 11 plug-loading Is the objective that goal seems just about attained too. Cars. film and stage names, such as Wendy Barrie in "She Stoops to Conquer" and "Vanity Fair"; Signe Hasso in "Anna Karenina"; Betty Furness in "The Necklace"; John Carradine in the two-episode "Hunchback of Notre Dame"; Elissa Landi in "A Doll's House," and Leon Janney in "The Wager." Tomm. HAUNTING HOUR ("The Uptown Express") Producer: Bert Wood Music: Rosa Rio 30 Mins. CO-OP 99 Stations (NBC Recording) With this top-budgeted transcrip- tion series NBC trades on the almost universal appeal of the whodunit, and with good effect. Show already has pretty wide distribution, and much is made of the fact in promo- tion material that several national advertisers are backing mystery airers. In "Haunting Hour" the net's recording division has made an at- tempt to combine the supernatural and the straight crime program. Re- sult is somewhat detrimental to each treatment, but the show emerges as better than fair radio. In "Uptown Express," story is told of a business girl who gets on the subway, closes her eyes for a mo- ment, and wakes up five years later to find herself married to a murderer against whom her brother, as district attorney candidate, is trying to prove a case. Kay Loring is starred in this entry in the series. Thesping.is okay and suspense holds well; sound ef- fects on the subway are excellent. Tomm. BARBECUED BIFFS With Studs Terkel, Charlotte Morris, Beverly Younger, Eddie Goldberg, Burr Lee, Ralph Martire orch Producer-Director: Phil Patton Writer: Marvin Davis 30 Mins.; Thurs., 6.30 p.m. (CST) Sustaining WENR-ABC, Chicago If a local disk jockey stacks up to terrific between platters, why shouldn't he fare as well with a live network shot? This may have been ABC's reasoning behind this new Studs Terkel package which, sur- prisingly enough, falls short of waxed Terkel. Based on Terkel's enthusiastic, Da- mon Runyon-like, banter about the music and musicians of yesterdays New Orleans and vicinity, theme seems to take on confusion when a parade of characters sets in. Format has Terkel as proprietor of a bar- becue joint that becomes infested with jazz guys, a newsboy, a blues singer and a disappointed opera star turned waiter. , • Preem (30) used eight pieces ol Dixieland stuff, which is set to alter- nate week to week with George Barnes swing combo. There isn t any question about the jazz being tossed off in great style. But will a halt- hour of old time, trumpet blaring, Dixie keep a dial in one place, even though the trumpet is good? Terkel's narration, in which ne brings in gimmicks from the runs Oliver and Basin street school, fit's the bill fine. However, mix it wltn situation stuff plus radio actors ana you sorta get lost. Charlotte Morris runs hot and cold between a Steinway and her Chirping chores. The 88 comes through nifty. As for the situation of the waiter,, with a Shakespearian twist, having a dislike for jazz and newsies—it was tough deciding if it were meant to De funny. , There is an idea here, but the show, as is, fails to ring the bell as sharpU as may be possible.