Variety (Sep 1947)

28 RABIO REVIEWS Wednesday, September 10, 1947 I960?? JIMINV CRICKET! tyith Cliff Edwards, Clarence Nash, Robert Dry den, James Goss, James ' Boles, Art Carney, Louis Neistat, John Griggs, Scott Tennyson, Ian MacAliaster Writer: Lou Hazam Director: Charles Harrell Producer: Robert Saudck Music: Bernard Green 60 Mins.; Mon, (8), 9 p.m. Sustaining ABC, from New York Give ABC an A for effort to begin •with. But add a special A for will- ingness to try new things, with a nod in particular to Bob Saudek, ABC's director of public affairs. A lot of ■wiseacres wagged their heads skep- tically when the word got around that Saudek was going to use Donald Duck to report on the ponderous contents of an 812-page scientific treatise entitled "America's Needs and Resources." Walt Disney car- toons had been used during the war, of course, for instructive purposes— but this was a radio documentary, and dealt with a much more com- plicated subject. One thing freely admitted in advance was that Saudek and ABC had nerve. It could be a terrible flop. It wasn't. It wasn't half-bad. Of necessity, it must have skipped over at least 800 pages of the book, but it seemed to have picked out the 20 pages that count. These the scripters rewrote into simple facts, which they then embodied in a fanciful dramatic framework employing Jiminy Cricket as the narrator, with Donald Duck and the Seven Dwarfs as participants, and a symphony orch and chorus for embellishment. The main objective was to stress a portion of the Needs & Resources re- port which forecast U. S. living con- ditions in 1960, all other conditions being normal. Many of the facts and forecasts •were dished up in ditty form, as •when the Dwarfs sang about the Jiopulation by 1960 being "15 mil- ions more than we had in ''44." Some cf the facts came out in fantasy, as •when Jiminy took Donald and Grumpy on a soaring swing around the land, and the earth below told them in rumbling voices of the min- eral deposits it held. Some of the facts took musically descriptive form, as when Jiminy "drew" a tone picture of power lines. Other facts came out of brief skits, such as when Jiminy, Donald and Grumpy knocked at Uncle Sam's door (after knocking at the doors of Mrs. Nussbaum, Ajax and Sen. Claghorn!) and asked him how he'd be spending 51 billion dol- lars in 1960. The show bounced along like that for most of its 60 minutes. It slowed up a little here and there, as when it made slightly too much of the business of J, D & G's buzzing across the years to 1960 aboard a 2,000- mph rocket. And too much, perhaps, on an effort to depict a graph of production climb via loud gratings of a hoist shooting" Donald up and up. But if these were flaws, they were Jininor. The major flaw, sad to re- late, was Donald Duck's (Clarence Nash) virtually unintelligible quack- talk. No doubt the producers antic- ipated this, somewhat, inasmuch as Jiminy repeated nearly everything Donald said. But Donald really con- tributed little to the production alter his' initial outburst. The Dwarfs ■were much more effective and amus- ing, and it's a pity only Grumpy was employed to any extent. The others i only came in for the opening and I closing scenes. They were cleverly employed in the windup to tell, in their own fashions, the credits • for the show. Donald quacked "This is ABC, the American Broadcasting Co."—catching the N. Y. flagship, WJZ, offguard and resulting in a full minute of dead air! Cliff Edwards, as Jiminy. did a superb job. He didn't bother to accent Cricket's character, but gave the main narrative job a fine touch ■ cf feeling in keeping with the light vein of the show yet artfully getting across the facts of the case. Bernie Green's music and the chorus including several brief solo spots contributed mightily to the stanza's high score. Only segment of the show which seemed entirely*misplaced and un- necessary was a brief straight news- cast tagged anti-climactically at the close dealing with current problems ...of.housing, etc. It.told,informed .lis- teners nothing and effected a let- down in the windup. """--Charles Harrell's skilled direction was apparent in. the show's overall pace. Scripting, mainly by Lou Ha- zam, was artful and imaginative.' Saudek and ABC ought to take gambles like this more often. So should some others. Doaii. TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES With Ralph Edwards, Harlow Wil- cox, announcer; audience partici- pants Producer: Edwards Director: Murray Bolen Writers: Phil Davis, Bill Burch, Bill Hawes, Paul Edwards 30 Mins.; Sat., 8:30 p.m. •<" PROCTER & GAMBLE NBC, from Hollywood (Contpton) When NBC started becoming sen- sitive recently about the avalanche of hitch-hikes, cow-catchers and other commercial intrusions in pro- gramming, it's a pretty safe guess that the web's watchdogs must have had in mind, among others, the 8 to 9 Saturday night back-to-back pro- gramming of Procter & Gamble's "Life of Riley" and "Truth or Con- sequences." For make no mistake about it,.P & G is in there swinging hard and fast on behalf of its Prell, Duz and what seems like a multi- plicity of other P & G products that are thrown in cuffo, thank you, no extra fee for listening. More's the pity that the gangup in plugs seems to come between the "Riley" fadeout and the Ralph Ed- wards "T or C" bow-in, for it isn't exactly conductive to a "stay-tuned" invitation. For Edwards served no- tice in preeming his new season last Saturday (6) that he's worth hanging around for. Quite a showman, this Edwards, who has been favorably likened to the late P. T. Barnum in his ability to parlay out-and-out stunts with a fine, expert sense-for the dramatic that frequently merits headline attention. A half-hour with Edwards and one feels that, if the "T or C" quiz type show is what the public apd the sponsor want, then there ought to be a way to permit Edwards to circuit the lot of them. There was one stunt in particular on last week's opening show that proved anew Edwards' terrific show- manship flair. It was a stunt so nicely executed, in extracting a blending of nostalgia, color and drama as to excuse his subsequent recourse to the old pie-throwing technique. (Why, of why!) Edwards brought on a couple from Decatur, 111., married for 37 years. They came armed with their wedding party photographs and other remem- brances-of-things-past, the idea be- ing to reenact the scene on stage for a faithful reproduction of the orig- inal photo. During a lights-out switch, the original wedding party was brought on for a face-to-face re- union with the couple. Edwards built it up step by step, perhaps a bit too slow at the start, but with a dramatic payoff that gave the whole idea a sort of inspirational quality. Edwards took up where he left off eight weeks ago, bringing back the Mr. and Mrs. Al Anderson who were told to go forth in quest of ex- Mayor LaGuardia's hat band, a cigar from Churchill, an autographed ham bone from B. G. Show, etc. Some- how it all appeared anti-climactic following the full-blown "produc- tion" given the Decatur incident. It didn't really seem to matter whether they got the items or not. Rose. EVALYN TYNER 500 stations praised Allah when Lang-Worth re-signed the "First Lady of the Piano" to an exclusive series of transcription:! The sparkling rhythms and inimi- table style that captivated New York's Waldorf and Rainbow Room, Washington's Embassy Room, and devotees of the National and Cleve- land Symphony Concerts will be re- leased immedately. LANG-WORTH, INC., NEW YORK Transcription Review HOMEKEEPERS CALENDAR With Dick Keplinger, Ruth McCloy 30 Mins. Mon. thru Fri., 3:15 p.m. Participating KOMO, Seattle "Homekeepers Calendar" is a com- pletely ad lib show, with basic idea of casualness and flexibility well handled by mike-vetcran Dick Kep- linger and able foil Ruth McCloy. Commercials, all slanted at the haus- frau, are blended nicely with the homey spirit of the program, with both gabbers doing their share of the cash-producing plugs. Along with news, reminiscence •nd chatter, guests join in "Calen- dar" each day. On day caught Dr. Taylor Whiteside of the Univ. of HOUR OF CHARM With Phil Spitalny's all-girl orch, Glee Club, Joanne, Evelyn; Paul Brentson, announcer Director: Joe Ripley 30 Mins.; Sun., 4:30 p.v. ELECTRIC COMPANIES CBS, from Baltimore (AT. W. Ayer) Phil Spitalny's all-girl band, a ra- dio staple for more than a decade, is by now as institutional as the com- mercials for the Electric Companies Advertising Co., its sponsor. Its en- tertainment formula is virtually the same as it was during its early days, but embodies latter-day refinements, which have permitted it .to keep abreast of the public's taste. Spitalny's highly disciplined and talented femme unit has by now reached its alltime peak that pro- vides a relaxed mood through inter- est-laden orchestral and glee-club ar- rangements. Unit is self sufficient as far as entertainment values are concerned, inasmuch as it's one of the rare musical shows that gets by without name guests, and manages to retain a sizable audience. Proof I that the Spitalny crew has done ivell for itself is seen in the fact that dur- ing its recent nationwide concert tour, "it was able" fb draw -sizeable houses in face of falling boxoffice trend. Layout has properly cased the middlebrow and middle clasp tastes, giving out with pops and pop clas- sics. Initial show (7), which came from the Lyric theatre, Baltimore, stayed on solid ground with tunes such as "Violeterra," "Great Day." "Whiffenpoof Song" and "Kentucky Home." Violinist Evelyn soloed with "You and the Night and the Music," and Joanne knocked off the difficult coloratura aria, "Lo, Hear the Gentle Lark." all with good results. Commercials, capably handled by Paul Brentson. are quiet in tone and institutional in nature and fit in nicely with the show's mood and tempo. Jose. on Illinois, and Mrs. Elba Crum of the ily problems. Reed. Family Life Education department of the Seattle Public Schools, were guests with emphasis on their soci- ological work resulting. Chatter was kept at a sprightly- level, while how- ever, poking over some good points the solution of some school-fam- TOMMY DORSEY SHOW Producer: Lou Cowan Participating 150 Stations (Lou Cowan) Tommy ' Dorsey appears to have come up with a solid idea for the use of the talent and vast experience he has gathered over the years as an outstanding musician and band- leader. He started' Monday (8) on a two-hour transcribed disk jockey show on WMCA, New York, which is sold on approximately 150 other stations throughout the country on a one-hour-a-day basis. Dorsey brings a lot of talent to the disk show mike. Not only is he one of the smoother-talking of the major maestroes, but he knows good music, and above all, should be and is aware of the value of pacing. Another angle, which is much more important is that Dorsey has at his finger-tips, after years on the road and years of close association with stars, a vast fund of anecdota. This is invaluable to a disk jockey, as any of them who try mightily to inject a personal note and a behind-the- scenes flavor to his or her efforts, will tell. For example: During the opening show on WMCA, which used a rather uninspired guest shot by Dinah Shore, Dorsey explained that years ago he had' been approached in Nashville by a gal who wanted a vocal job with his band. He fjointed out sadly how he fluffed the gal off. Of course, it was Miss Shore. Such items will be eaten up avidly by listeners who make the dozens of movie fan mags, etc., a big business, always looking for bits of gossip about the stars. Though the initial disk carrying' Dorsey's voice on WMCA was an early example of his efforts, there seemed to be one drawback. His Voice seemed high, which could have' come from the transfer of lines to record to air. Later, its tone dropped a bit and became easier and more natural (which 'may have been when Jie stepped into a WMCA mike to inject some live ad lib lines). At any rate, Dorsey's or anyone else's voice trying to sell something to the public is much more acceptable at a lower level and this should 1 be watched. "Otherwise. T.-D. did a swell job. And the pacing of disks used on this opening show might be taken by many rival jocks as an example of what can and ..should, be. done. He used a finely balanced mixture of vocals and band disks, using both pop and standard tunes. In present- ing his guests he inserts one of the latter's disks before and after. In this spot, he used a new tune by Miss Shore prior to and a comparatively recent one, which was unsuccessful, following. It might be wise to in- sert before the interview a disking' which helped make the guest a name and a current one following. That would add something to talk about, too. Though he's a name, Dorsey is in the same spot that any unknown disk spinner is in when he arrives on the air with a new show. As time goes on, the fact that T. D. is and has been a top b.o. footer will fade out in the minds of listeners through constant association with him via the series. At that point he will be forced to deliver. As it stands now he's doing just that and as he progresses his mike technique, sense of humor, knowledge of band business people and music should carry him all the way. He is a $ood' show. Wood. EDGAR BERGEN SHOW With Charlie McCarthy, Mortimer Snerd, Pat Patrick, Eddie Mayhoff, Anita Gordon, Ray Noble Orch; Ken Carpenter, announcer Writers:-Zeno Klinker, Royal Foster, Alan Smith, Harry Lawrence, Ed- die McKeon Producer-Director: Earl Ebi 30 Mins.; Sunday, 8 p.m. STANDARD BRANDS' NBC, from Hollywood (J. Walter Thompson) E_..k after a summer layoff and braced by a whole division of gag writers, Edgar Bergen's fall teeoff on NBC's airlines for Standard Brands last Sunday (7) should have had some freshness and drive—but didn't. Instead, the show .was a tasteless rehash of the same old routines tha( caused radio comics to sing the blues last year. Nothing new has been added except some mold. Charlie McCarthy, who usually can be counted on for a couple of im- pish barbs, was suffocated by the preem's staleness. He never got started along that crackling line of comebacks that once used to cut a swathe of laughs through this ses- sion. Somebody (maybe it was the whole gang of scripters) wetted Charlie's powder. And as every student of trends knows, as Charlie goes, so goes the Bergen show. Mortimer Snerd, Charlie's dim- witted cousin, was desperately thrown into the breach on this stanza to supply some laughs. But while it was cleared that the scripters were better equipped for this rou- tine, Mortimer was bogged down in some unclever stupidity and flat- footed nonsense. Eddie' Mayhoff, new addition to the show, did manage to inject some raw vitality into the preceedings when he made his entry midway in the session. He rants like a Mississ- ippi politician and has a load of laryngal tricks to rig his gags. Danger here, of course, is that if overplayed, Mayhoff will soon be- come as tiresome as double-talk. Aptly enough, he played the role of a program consultant hired to cure the Bergen show of what ails it. He didn't have the answer. Mayhoff in- troduced Pat Patrick, in the guise of three amateur singers, who furn- ished a brand of off-key comedy singing that was broad, blunt and totally unfunny. Unless some sight gags were being Aised, dialers must have,wondered what all the studio hilarity was about. As such, these apparently unprovoked yaks act only as an irritant. . Ray Noble's orch and vocalist Anita Gordon nicely handled the musical portion of the program. Plugs for ,the Chase & Sanborn product, which were moderately sized and moderately "worded, were ?»orked over in typical zestful fashion by Ken Carpenter. Herm. QUICK AS A FLASH With Win Elliott, emcee; six studio contestants; Bret Morrison, guest; Cy Harrice announcer; Ray Bloch's orch Writer: Gene Wang Producer: Bernie Prockter 30 Mins.; Sun., 5:30 p.m. HELBROS WATCHES Mutual, from New York (Weintraub) Returning last Sunday (7) for its fourth semester on the air for Hel- bros, "Quick as a Flash" is a well- gimmicked audience participation quiz. Puzzlers on everything from nursery rhymes to news events are. presented via dramatic skits or Ray Bloch's music; six studio contestants push buttons which flash different colored lights and make dit-dit-dit sounds as soon as the quizees think they have the answers. First one with the right answer gets cash, plus a little personal quizzing and kidding from the emcee. » As a special feature, capsule who- dunits are presented with radio's leading sleuths in guest roles and the top prize of the stanza goes to the quizee guessing the tipoff clue in the mystery sequence. Bret Morrison, who'd made his fall debut in "The Shadow" during the preced- ing half-hour, was the initial guest on the Helbros preem.. (Next week: Casey, the Crime Photog. from CBS.) Morrison did his "Shadow" stuff in a murder briefie with a neat tag—the ' murderer " gave himself away by saying he was listening to "Quick as a Flash" on Sunday, Aug LUCKY STRIKE KIT PARADE With Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Ken Lane Chorus, Axel Stordahl Orch, Writer: Paul Dudley Producer: A. A. Coughlin 30 Mins.; Sat., 9 p.m. AMERICAN TOBACCO NBC, from Hollywood (Fpot'e, Cone & Belding) Lucky Strike brought its Hit Pa- rade back to the air for the fall and winter Saturday (6) with everything new but the format. This year it's Frank Sinatra, who did the show several years ago with Mark War- now's orchestra, but now has his own gang, conducted by Axel Stordahl, behind him, plus Doris Day and the Ken Lane singers. In all they do seven top tunes of the nation, plus three-"extras," which seem to be too many tunes packed into a half hour. Perhaps the most noticeable thing about this first show (6) was the work of Sinatra. He's been around for some time as the greatest name and performer since Bing Crosby be- gan earning a few bucks. And ho should know better than to step up to theyrrike on a debut show without proper rehearsal of the pop tunes he's being called upon to perform. That he spent little time going over them after a summer's layoff was obvious in comparing his sloppy ren- dition of "Feudin' and Fightin'," which opened the show, and his later performance, as an extra, of "That Old Black Magic," which he recorded for Columbia and which he's been doing for some time. Brother, he sounded like two different singers. Same wordage can be applied to Sinatra's chirping of "That's My De- sire." The going-over he gave "I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now" was something else again. It was a job. Doris Day, formerly with Les Brown, did an unexpectedly good job on the tunes she was assigned— "Apple Blossom Wedding" and "Ask Anyone Who Knows." She had poise, good control and a generally good . understanding of the tunes. In other words, she apparently rehearsed them. As for the musical portion of the show. Axel Stordahl's 33-piece firoup did its usual crack job, although there were times when too much was going on behind the singers as far as listening to the latter was con- cerned. And nobody will ever figure out why, when Lucky Strike mod- ernizes its Hit Parade, it demands the so-called extras, which always are standards, must be played in the old Mark Warnow tempo. Perhaps it's felt that the modernizing went too far,, that some flavor of the old regime must be held over. As mentioned above, 10 tunes in a half-hour seems tight. This was obvious in Sinatra's performance of "Magic," which was hurried as against his usual performance of it and he wasn't able to give the tune what he has put into it in the past. Perhaps seven pops, and one "extra" to both the band and Sinatra would make for a freer race with time. Paul Dudley's writing of the show, what there was of it due to the rea- sons directly above, seemed fair enough. As for the commercials, they're the usual hammering tobacco auction angles. It's about time Lucky Strike came in on another beam. Wood. CHESTERFIELD SUPPER CLUB With Perry Como, Helen Carroll and Satisflers, Lloyd Schaefer Orch. Writer-Producer: Ward Byron 15 Mins:; Mon.-Wed.-Fri. LIGGETT & MEYERS NBC, from New York (JVetoell-Emmett) Perry Como climbed back on the airwaves Monday (8) for Chester-, field and it was just as if he had never gone off for the summer along with Jo Stafford, who occu- pies the Tuesday-Thursday slots, both having been seconded by Tex Beneke's and Frankie Carle's orches- tra. Nothing had been altered on the Supper Club scene since Como began relaxing for the summer (with eight weeks of p.a.'s. which isn't exactly relaxing) with the pos- sible exception of Como himself. Those eight weeks on the road made him a better performer. When he hit the air for his first show Monday (7) the difference was immediately noticeable. He's looser and seemed to display more personality than in past perform- 24, forgetting the show hadn't re^ L?"?i"g turned to the air then! Puzzlers on "Quick" serve no more useful purpose than those in most other quiz stanzas, but at least have the merit of being slightly bet- ter brain teasers .than the average. Win Elliott, who did his first turn as emcee of the show last Sunday, has had plenty of experience along this line (including "County Fair" on CBS) and knows how to keep a guessing session swinging along. There's nothing modest, however, about Helbrosl commercials. Deliv- ered in standard style by Cy Harrice at the 10-minute' and 20-minute marks as well as the opening and close—which is bearing down a little heavy—the copy employed the .following adjectives, to name "but a few: invincible, rugged, amazing, ex- ceptional, world-famous, handsome, sturdy, charming, remarkable, ac- curate, dependable, beautiful—and, low-priced. What would the copy- writers do without Roger's The- saurus? Doan. which always has been of the crack variety, although that seemed freer than ever, but more in his handling of lines. Musically, the first performance ' was in there. It showed Como at his best on "My Heart Is a Hobo," for a rhythm opener, then "When Tonight Is Just a Memory,"' a new ballad, which seemed to upset his audience when announced, and for a closer his disked arrangement of "I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now." For pacing, the Satisflers and Helen Carroll chirped in between the lat- ter two with a bouncy "Poppa Don't Preach To Me," a good selection for that spot. Lloyd Schaefer's band did right well with the accomp. In its commercials. Chesterfield started' a new pitch in addition to its ABC chant with the line "simple facts always add up." Neither of the three plugs, nicely intoned by Ben Grauer, disturb the program. They seem to fit in smoothly. Wood.