Variety (Feb 1948)

32 RADIO RKVIBWS Wednesdiy, Febraai^ 11, 1948 KADIO NEWSBEGli With recorded on-fhe-spot piekups; Phil Tonken, namtor; Merton Koplin, music Writer; Jack Fern l>roduc«r: Artbur Feldman Supervisor: Al»e Schechter IS Mins.; Mon.>tlirtt-Fri., 9:16 p.ni. (tST) Sustaining Mutual, from I9ew York It's sbout time one of the net- works got around to a show lilce this, since it's the most logical format imaginable for the medium. Obvi- ously, it's far more expensive and complex than standing a newscaster in front of a mike with prepared ticlcer copy. It involves elaborate preparation, far-flung cooperation, and much care and news-sense in the as-ssmbling. But Mutual, which hasn't tlie trembling fear of the re- cortied word which some of its com- petitors narbor, has brought the idea to life in an . eKceedingly creditable manner. (Not only th^t* tlie web inlced a bankroHer before the show had gone beyond the audition stage. Zenith Radio will pick up the tab starting March I,) . ■« Listening to "Newsreel" constitutes a sunplement to spot newscasts, like looking at Life, mag or seeing a newsreel after reading the daily paper. . It constitutes sort of a daily documentary, btmging sharply to life people and places in the news, •plus a look-in on a famous or inter- esting personality. On the teeofl edition.the first of last week (2),, for instance, "Newsreel" brought in: The House> roll-call on the Knut son tax bill, with the author speak- ing briefly in explanation of the measure (via WOL); Sir Harry Lander from Glasgow,- singing and addressing a crowd at the docking of a food ship from the XJ. S. (via BBC): Robert Stimson reporting from India on Gandhi's funeral (via shortwave pickup); Les Horodsky, unemployed auto worker, describing conditions in-. Detroit (-via CKX.W); Joe Varssa, California farmer, telling about the drought out there (via KHJ); Emily Post in New York, ap- proving , of dunking, on the proper occastens: Gen, Le^ie- Groves in Washington, announcing his resigna- tion from the atom project; and two zookeepers in Philadelphia trying to count a herd of squeaking, squirmy monkeys (via WIP7. Initialer had some - production flaws, but a sampling of two editions following it showed these mostly ironed out and. the show hitting its intended stride. Overall effect is •punchy, dramatic and authentic, a series of reaWife vignettes conveying the color and mood of each occasion, The'quality of the recordings is, in- evitably, somewhat varied, but much worse is heard on many network overseas live pickups. Merton Kop- lin's music bridges are apt and well executed. Jack Fern's scripting is skilled and concise, ser^nng as briefly S5 possible to intro each succeeding pickup. PhiV Tonken does a compe- tent reading, Arthur Feldman rates a nod on the production chore. Major laurel goes to MBS veepee Abe Schechter, whose baby, this show Is and who has brought forth a long- overdue news format that's a real credit to Mutual. • Doan. TWELVE PLAYEIIS WiUi liurene Tuttle, Jack Moyles, Jay Novello, Bee Benadaret, Ed- mund MacDonald, Cathy Lewis; VirBlnta Gren, John Ii»ke, Johii Brown, Howard McNear, Uerbettt Itnwiinson, "Buzs" Adlam orch; Lou Cook, announcer Writers: Warren Spectpr, David Elite Director: Bay Buflum 30 Mlns:; Mon., 8:30 p.m. (EST) Sustaining ABC, from Hollywood ABC has latched on to a unique radio stock company idea, A group of Hollywood's most sought-after secondary leads and supporting play- ers in radiq have banded together with their'own package in which all or a few of the talents will be utilized from week to -week, ABC has put it in the. Monday night segment previously occupied by "Opie Cates." For the initial broadcast, a drama titled, "Dino Is Dead" was presented. As a curtain- lifter, it left something to be desired. In line with the tendency of late to portray the common peoples of a land as endowed with a pure wis- dom that is above human weakness, "DinO" was a tale of punishment meted out to an Italian collaborator by his townspeople. Had it: been told as an allegory or'Si fantasyi the characterizations might have held UP. But this was intended as stark real- ism, and as such the mother and the wife and all the oHiiee people in the shaaU toiwn vrhere DinO lived were unreal and too pure. The simple plan of ridding themselves of fascists worked perfectly in the script, but even in the smallest village it's hard to believe that all. people are good, pure, strong and brave. . It Was all. rather -melodramatic, yet both the-direction and perform- ances were adequate. . Rose. .: I Syracuse — E. R. Vadeboncoeur, veepee and general mawager of WSYR. has been named chairman of the Radio Participation and Work- ing Committee in Syracuse's forth- coming centennial obseirvance. . MUSICAL MILlKWAOON ' With Tommy. Port, Dinniiiir SIMers;- Ed Prentiss, annonncer; BowoMn Band : ■ . ■ Writer: Norman Betehin Director: Pet« CavsUo 30 Mlns.; Mon.^tbruvVrl., 113:15 p:in. BOWMAN MILK CO. WMAd, Chicaro (J. WoKer Thompson) As light luncheon fare, this five- a-week musical does the job very well, it's the kind you can take with the chef's special and cross-table talk, and no harm done to either. Show bowed in January, 1947-, but was reformatted a montli ago when it moved from forenoon to its.pres-^ ent time. In addition to organ, a piano, bass, guitar, and marimba have been added. Also installed was a ^'Laiigh Dividend"- device in which jokes mailed in by listeners for pen- and'pencil'. nrizes are enacted, with the help of femmes from studio aud. I Show caught (3) romped along in easy style, with the Dinning Sisters and Tommy Port .putting, a lilf on standards and pops. Port 'was okay in. his brace of solos and the sistei; trio did- right by Jack Fascinato's prime arrangements. As .a 'quartet, they turned in top treatment of "T06 Fat Polka." Ed Prentiss impressed as a deft rn.c. Quintet, cued by Fascinato's key- boarding, was pert and nimblOj both in accompaniment and on its own. A somewhat ambitious attack on the 'William Tell Overture" had Jose Bethancourt's marimba in front for excellent hammering. Group bears a pompous "misnomer — "Bowman Band" is slightly ridic for a rhythm fiver, i Commercials, handled by Pren- tiss, were firstrate. Baxt. ^Follow-up Comment Bine Crosby gave a showman's epitaph to -Mark Bellinger on his Philco program last Wednesday (4). Several weeks before the columnist's death, he appeareij as one of Crosby's guest stars and the plat- tered show was aired without any revisions except for one mention by Crosby that "just as . his friends would -like it, he's here with us to- night." And because this was one of Crosby's crackerjack sessions, Bel- linger's memory had a bit o£ lustre added to it. Hellinge^ gave a short plug to his film, "The Naked City," exchanged a. few gags with Crosby about the "good old days," and set the stage for Dick Haymes and Jim^- my Durante in outlining a mythical Broadway legit show. For the rest of the show, Hell-inger played straight as Crosby, Durante and' Haymes cut some incomparable vocal capers in a comedy tune about the passing of vaudeville. Every- thing and everybody clicked with perfect precision. It was a fitting farewell to H^llinger that M. should have appeared on this great show. ^CBS Is There" maintained its usual upper level, of quality,, taste and imagination in recr^ating^ last Sunday (8) ft chapter from the Drey- fus case. Ranking as it does as, one^ of modern history's most turbulent episodes dealing with individual in- justice, it was not an easy topic to conjure with without seeming to thread the thin line between storm- filled dram^ and tabloid melodra- matics. .To the joint credit of pro- ducer Robert X Lewis Sdayon and scripter Joseph Liss the recital was kept emotionally well balanced. The only tinte that the program seemed; to slip oil keel in the matter of the series' presumed aim of objective reporting was in a courtroom inter- view when John Daly as a CBS newsman, turned his questioning of the chief villain in the Drejrfus plot into an angry and bitter cross-ex- amination. Otherwise the mike "iJeporters" left the display of oar- tisanship crossfire to . the "acting" members of the cast. Skillfully tele- scoped within the half hour were the events attending and following Capt. Alfred Dreyfus' second trial before a French military court, after he liad already served iive years on Devil's Island. Higblighted with a sharp regard for tenseness and econ- omy of scene, structure were the attempted. assiassination of Dreyfus' chief counsel during ,the. trial, the refusal of the court to admit the testimony of a German intelligence officer, world reaction to the second verdict'Of guUty, and the sudden pardoning of the accused - by the president of-r France. On the sheer iiuman interest side-perhaps the most sensitive piece of writing and acting was the interview of Mme. Dreyfus at her home after the second verdict. tvne-in tips ISY TED HUSINO I Sponsored Breview of Today's Top Radio Programs Gracie and Gary do a revise on "The Bachelor and the Bobby- soxer", but any resemblance is purely. WNBC (660 kc) at 8:30, Did you see that article in last issue of the American magazine about fan clubSi particularly the Dick Haymea clubs? Jt will revise your opinion of fan clubs, and give you a good insight as to what makes a singer popular with the young set. Dick Haymes has been a top favor - Several years before .the war I happened to be in* the Blackhawk Cafe in Chicago. The band, lend and swingy, was led by a round- faced young gent witb m bow-lie. He sang in a pleasant baritone^ with- the s'/foon effects, and took a tuniatMC-ing."That'*BobCro8by", they told ine, "Binges little broth- er". In spite of that fearsome han- dicap,' Bob makes the grade under his own power. It took n lot of one- night stands with the Bobeats,' but: here he is, on top, with a- star*' studded Club 15' show. And eliek- jngi Aqnick listen will tell you why, Margaret-Whiting sings "Close to Me*', the Modernaires come up with a Crosby arrangement of the *'Whiffenpoof Song". Bob tosses «ff *'LoveIy, Lovely" and "How Many Times". Club 15 on WCBS <880}Bt7:30. How do you like your news ... .hot or cold? Personally, I'll take the friendly, rather intimate reports of-- Ed ■Murrow. He makes it sound moro like a coox^rMti TUNE-IN TIPS CO. 121 Fiftfi Avshut, Nsw York 17, N.Y. , 'MOryayHlB ^OIW r*- This column gives you controlled radio pro- gram publicity week in, week out'.. . lists .cal times and stations ... costs sysc per l,o6o circulation « , . in 52 newspapers, major cities, 11 million circuio^- tion. Exclusive' tl m e franchises. Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" was handled with due respect by the Theatre-Guild of the Air Sunday (8) as Dorothy McGuire and Maurice Bvans sighed and heaved and died in the . one-hour adaptation. Unfortu- nately, the Bard didn't master the technique of radio scripting. His iambic pentameter packs too many difficult metaphors and too much concentration of meaning for easy comprehension. However, Evans and Miss McGuire made it as simple as possible for the average dialer by placing -careful emphasis on the sense' of the p'oetiy and not " on elocution. -Evans spoke or rather sang, his lines in a vigorous interpretation of Romeo while Mis.'? McGuire played a conventionally sweet and simple Juliet. A superb supporting cast and a firstrate cutting job helped in capturing some of the power of the tragic romance. . 'rihe Eternal; Light" continues to ,;be one of radio's' outstanding achieve- ments in" consistently hitting from week to week a serious, adult and. above all, a listenable quality. Last Sunday (8), in commemoration of Lincoln's birth and Nfegro History Week, it aired the story of Harriet Tubman, a plantation slave who emerged as a leader of the abolition- ist movement. Arnold. Perl's script was a right mixture of heroic legend and history that didn't bury pro- found feeling in mere professional competence. The cast wrapped up the show with sincere and restrained performances. BGFOICT IINCENSORED With Alma IMatz, Sunda Love, Russ Reed, Stuart Shiamm; Fahey Fiynti, narrator; staff orch dUreeted by Frank Smith Writer-Producer: Ben -Parlc 30 Mins.; Wed., 8;S0 p,int. Sustaining ; ' , WBBM, Chicago During a 13-week run last summer "Report Uncensored" rolled up its sleeves and explored root causes, of juve delinquency in Chi,and Cook County. The problem had received months of the standardt innocuous, W6'view-with-alarm treatment by the dailies and civic groups. It re- mained for the tape recorder and "Report Uncensored" to dredge up the ugly facts—facts that spurred action—from the slums, reformator- ies and so-called parental schools. Resultant pious protests of stuffed shirts were proof the series hit tar- get dead center. When the documentary returned in mid-January radio-calloused cyn- ics predicted its facts would be wa- tered, its punch softened. So far this hasn't been borne out. The foUowup SQries, dealing with the bitter brew of ex-convicts, has all the guts and muscles of its predecessors. If con- tinued from season to season, the program might well be isubtitled "Ghi's Civic Conscience." As public service; it surpasses anything previ- ously done in these parts. Show caught (4) analyzed below- the-belt blows suffered by the fam- ilies of men in prison. First IS min- utes was drama in which six doncise scenes brought out the^socio-econom- ic and psychological beating absorbed by the wile, of a con. In addition to a starvation income for herself and two kids, frau's attempts to keep the family intact were undermined by her mother who advised divorce and aggravated by the'stir-sappy hus- band's insinuations of infidelity. Fadeout implied her pathetic eflons led nowhere'—that her husband, laced with social ostracism and low- wage Jobs upon release, would drift back into crimes with repetition of the cycle. Second half of show was a tapC' recorded interview with the mother of five kids whose husband, a second offender, is in the pokey until Jan- uary, 1949. In a tiredi; emotionless voice, she buttressed all, the brutal facts set forth in the drama. Basic income, she said, was $67 supplied every three weeks by Aid to Der pendent- Children. After payment, of rent and other bills, she had less thah $4 a week for food. Why didn't she whrk part-time? She had "tried that, but.had to .guit because of incipient. t,b. Her kids? The oldest boy, 14; already was. a juve delinquent. As a laundry chore, boy in parental school, he'd been thrown in with young thieves, per- verts. The future? She lived from day to day. As in the drama, the final impression was that here, too, unless the husband had a good job awaiting him on release, the pattern would })e" repeated through thft son, Fahey Flynn, who pointed up the drama with entre-scene comment and also handed the tape interview, cited the thousands, of ex-con fami- lies in Chi and put this question: "Maybe we should write a new law —a law that would put'a man's fam- ily into prison with him?" Through- out, he projected the. sincerity and controlled indignation that such material demands.. Role of wife in drama was well conceived by Sunda LoVe, -while the supporting cast held Up on all counts. - Scripting was tough-minded and realistic, with no cheap tear-ducting or phony erhotionals. - Validity of motive was shown by the lead-out in which Flynn urged consideration of inadequate ADC allotments and asked listeners to help ex-cons land jobs through the John Howard Asso- ciation. Last7 an organization that rehabili'tates men with criminal rec- ords, is cooperating in production of the series. • ' This is mature, adult radio. Ba«t, BROTHERHOOD IS PRACTICAL With Bernard Grant, Jane Harven 'Merrill C. Joels, Jack Farren, Cy Fried; Herb-Ross, announcer - Writer: Ira Marion Producer-Dlreetor: Phil Sterliiig 30 Mlns.; Sunday, 4:30 p.nk. Sustaining WNYC, N. Y. Almost a, decade after the New York dailies first went to town on the so-called legal operators and gorilla racketeers in the money-lend- ing business, the municipal station is putting on a series of five dramatic programs expo.sing the evil of loan- sharks, J^vcn though the ideas sound very old, they undoubtedly boar repetition at regular intervals. Pre- sented under the - auspices of the National Credit Union Assn., an em- plpyee cooperative bank offering loans at minimum rates, these shows are encasing their message of prac- tical brotherhood in a typical crime- busting format. In the stanza aired last Sunday (8), yarn concerned a young* family man who became caught in the toils of a usurer because his salary couldn't make both ends meet. Story wended its way along a conventional path with the; situation going from bad to worse until a city investigator intervened to rout the forces of evil, A competent cast played it credibly. ■ ■Herm, ■ MAINE ON PARADE Witli Russell Dorr, Narrator Writer: Naney Hallet IS Mins.; Suttv l%:iS p.m. LAMET-WELLEHAN SHOE STORES :4V&AN, Portland, Me. Here's a bargain basement regional march of timer sans everything spelling production values that's been clicking nicely for 19 months, with the local Hoopcr running 10.6 or better at Sunday dinnertimes. It's just a staff announcer reading a punchy , rewrite on the previous week's local news, with accent on background stuff that the newscast listener rarely otherwise catches. Fuel oil shortage in- area back- grounded in this and previous week's session,^ Previous week had item re- lating how'local crisis was exacer- bated by big fuel supplier's accident- ally losing vital piece of plant equip- .ment ■ off truck. Irreplaceable gad- get's loss was holding ftp deliveries, so supplier "began buying space on front pages of local tiailies adver- tising reward for its return. This week's. session had modest Item re- lating how last week's signofl was followed by phone caQ-from listener who stated that he had picked up the gizmo and had been wondering what it was and where to return it. (Modesty might be explained'by fact that all local newspapers and this -station are in same ownership family.) Writer Nancy Hallett employs re- straint in limiting borrowing from lucestyle to its dramatic qualities,, eschewing word coinage and flos- siness. Material smacks of plenty of research. Mystery, however, is wliy narrator Russ Dorr isn't personalized throughout script. This former Atwater^Kent national prizewinning baritone doesn't just read anything in his announcer chores, but here.he sounds - up there with, some net oracles who also leave the writing to specialists. Dorm. Mutual's "True or False," settled in a groove now with Eddie Dunn selected as permanent emcee, took on Shotwell Candy bankrolling last Saturday (7) with a session Which strived hard to please. Despite a biked-up jackpot ($500) and Dunn's quip-a-minute quizzing, the recently revived stanza remained a formless, next-one-up run-through, With ques- tions ranging from the kind anybody could answer to the kind nobody could answer. Thanks to the 50-50 chance of the format, some of the quizees could walk off with $25 by just guessing. One femme who tSouldn't seera to miss, but never knew why the thing was true or false, prompted Dunn to crack, "You can give the right answers and the wrong reasons every time!" It's great stuff for featherweights. ;. Shotwell's commercials were good gooey.' • THE LONE WOLF With Gerald Mohr; Jay Novello, Dick Auranot Producer: Frank K. Danklg Director:, Larry Hays Writer: Louts Vittes' 30 Mlns.; Sat., 5 p.m. Sustaining MBS, from Hollywood The radio translation of Louis Joseph Vance's fiction character, "The Lone Wolf," is a highly sophis- ticated affair with an appeal aimed at adult audiences. - The retired jewel-thief is equipped with a brittle set of wise-^cracfcs, an equally urbane valet, and the usual type of- who- dunit plot to give this , airer par for the course. With more action written into the dialog. "The Lone Wolf" could be a standout for this type show, As it is, the air of sophistication is re- sponsible for too many static stretches of gab. A sapient mixture of both is needed to give this show its optimum effectiveness. Preem stanza's plot had three parties suspect as being picked for extinction. When the murder finally occurs, the Lone Wolf picks the cor- rect culprit. Gerald Mohr, who has played that role on the screen, does a competent job as the central figure. The others give good account") of themselves within the JJipits of thf script. Manhattan, Kan. — Kansas State College observed boost in power for its radio station, KSAC, with a dedi- catory program by Kansas leaders here Jan. 31. Speakers included Gov, Frank Carlson, Milton Eisenhower, president of the college, and Usle Long.sdorf, program director. DNITJED aXXALL OBDO COi „ WediMMAir, NBO, IO:SO IVK. B.S.T. M-G-M—'-Oa the blaiMl With Vea" "THIS Tine FOR KEEPS" . .« ,. Miti LIU' eiAXxmi..