Variety (Sep 1948)

84 RADIO REVIEWS Wetinestlay, Seplember 22, 1948 Marathon Dedication for WMGM Bow Shows Here's Magic in Last 3 Letters By DICK DOAN That marathon dedicatory pro- gram which hit WMGM's (N.Y.) 50k\v kilocvcles last Wednesday (15) night, was still going last night <Tues.). It celebrated the Loews indie's switch in call letters from WHN and moveover into plush Fifth Ave. headquarters, add- ing up to a case of ho\s-spectacular- can-you-get? For it unquestion- ably is the most star-studded se- quence of programming ever to hit the air, and is unlikely ever to be duplicated, particularly by « noh-network radio station. As of last night no less than 150 »how business personalities, sports, civic and assorted other biggies had graced the new-named indie's eilier with kudos, chatter, song numbers, nitery acts, instrumental selections, reminiscences, ad in- finitum, a' total of 11 choirs and vocal groups, and 14 orchestras and bands had done turns. Giving WMGM's brass and everybody in' voived a lot of credit for the monu- mental task of rounding up such an array o' names, for a series of night-after-night "salutes" pretty €v9nly produced, there isn't any doubt, at the same time, but that the magical last three letters of the station's new name had much, to do with it.s ability to unfold such * dizzying whirl of headline talent. Station reached. out to Holly- wood to -pick up salutes .not only -from its own M-G studios, hut from Warner Bros., via that out- fit's KFWB; The U. S. Air Force Band and Singing Sergeants glee club was piped in from Washings ton.in;an AAF.-Salute. Other se- quences Iftcluded: congratulatory programs .:by . ASCAB, the night club industry, . the . sports world, Loew's Theatres, the Theatre Au- thority, the trade press, the record industry and the top bands^- The opening night's ; three-hour ■ parlay of entertainment, first with its cavalcade of , oldtime radio favesi' then. with Louis B. Mayer .trotting; out the whole stable of Metro pix personalities for 60-min- ute showcasing, and an hour 'i^alute fron? Manhattan, niteries, was strictly, bigtime showman.ship, even judged on network standards. ; Hollywood's Salute The Hollywood pickup, in par- ticular, from the George Murphy slick emceeing, through the Bed Skelton byplay on the WHN-to- WMGM segue, into the Walter , Pidgeon-Margaret O'Brien: sock , comedy insert, was strictly one: of those "dream, shows" that indie operations fall heir to once:m a lifetime. Aside from the air talent Involved, the show had a top writ- ing-production assist, and that went for the preceding "Caval- cade" session, sparked by Ted Hu- sing. One of. the few sour notes to . Come out of the. whole weekrlong affair developed as a result of in- appropriate handling, the ASCAP toppers felti of their memorial to Victor Herbert. Composers report- edly felt his music was too "jazzed lip" for the occasion, but they were powerless to do anything about it. Otherwise, this secondrnight ses- sion. (excusing the back.slapping) came off as a memorable reprising of ASCAP hits. The range was from longhair (Deems Taylor's "Through' the Looking Glass") to lowdown (W. C: Handy playing his oi-iginal arrangement: of "St, Louis Blues"). Fred- Ahlert, ASCAP prexy. emceed, With an assist from Gene Buck, The cross-country kudo from ■KFWBi noteworthy for. it.s parent competitor aspect, was courtesy of harry Maizlisb, with Thomas Free- bairn-Sinitli producing and emcee- ing, the talent including the Mod- ernaires, Ernie Felice Quartet, Joe Lyle, Paulina Carter, Peggy Mann, Jack McElroy, and the Califoinia . Junior Symphony. ' As the dedicatory marathon went Into its fifth round last night (Tue.) ■—the station took a weekend breather, resuming the big noi.se . 'Monday fallowing the three-day se- quence of chest-puffing afl'airs last week^the indie took bows from a raft of showbiz vets includini? Georgie Price, Molly Picon. Joe Laurie, Jr., Jack Pearl, Cliff Ilall, Gus ' Van. Benny Fields, Bert Wheeler, Harry Hershfield, Block and Stilfj', Buck and Bubbles. Bob Howard, Smith and Dale and Pat Rooney. Honor of foi miilly changing over GABRIEL HEATTEB'S MAILBAG With Heatter; Arthur Van Horn, announcer Writer: Heatter Producer: Merrill Heatter 15 Mins.i Mon.-thru-Frl„ 11:30 a.m. Co-op MUTUAL, from New York Versatile Gabriel Heatter, al- ready busy ^\ith his nightly MBS newscast and editor of MBS' "Be- hind the Front Page" show on Sundays, now pops up with a novel across - the - board airer where he "reads his mail" for dialers. Opening stanza Monday (20) was liberally punctuated with Heatter's dry humor, his phil- osophy, and in one instance with some Ileatterian advice to the lovelorn. As worked out by Heatter, his nephew Merrill, and brother Max the letters chosen offer the com' mentator a wide range for com- ment. One woman who wrote in urged, a law to prevent married women from working., since her husband was cut down to four days a week at his plant because mope women had been hired there. Heatter didn't agree with her suggestion saying he felt such a statute would be: "contrary to equality.'"' : Another correspondent proposed a .sharerthc-wealth plan which Heatter scoffed at by rattling off the assertion that if this country's In c o.me Avere - divided equally among: - the popiilationi each: in- dividual would receive only ,$22.- 50. He , also disapproved of a twice-wed woman who was a firm believer in divorce;; Then^ rather than siding with one'letter writer who protested that his profligate brother-in-law had bought a car, refrigerator, television set and now was getting a baby on credit, Heatter telt that such a person was a ."miracle man.'.' As presently constituted, Heat- ter has an airer: charged with hu- man: interest; Varied nature of the letters combined with the commientator's droll; wit and ob- servations should find it an ample' housewife : audience in this pre- noon slot. While the show is on a sustaining basis this week on Mutual, it goes co-op next syveek when General . Electric dealers pick up the tab Monday-Wednes- day-Friday and B. C. Headache Powders on Tuesday and Thurs- day. Oddly enough, no mention of the forthcoming; sponsorship was made ;on the initial program. Glib. ; HARRY SALTER MUSICAL DIRECTOR Stop the Music—ABC It Pay« to Be: Ignorant—rCBS HOBBY LOBBY With Ditve Elman, various guests; George Hogan, announcer : Writer: Ed Ettingcr • Producer: Brooks-Elms : 30 Mins., Sun., 10 p.m. WOR, N. Y. ; Originally ;a sustainer on WOR- some nine yeai's ago. Dave Elman's Hobby Lobby is back on the same station minus a bankroUer fdr the time being. In the past the show has been on all the nets with the exception of ABC and has been backed by firms, turning out soap chips to autos. While Elman's package emanates solely from WOR at present, it's understood the airer will be transcribed for out^ofrtown outlets. On the basis of its second shot Sunday (19), it's obvious that Hobby Lobby still retains the familiar format, with the usual flock of hobbyists on hand to "lobby" for their avocations. One change,; probably for economy pur- poses, is the absence of the mu.sical background. Lack of an orchestral unit, Ijowever, failed to disturb the program's mood. Interests of the guestees ranged from collecting old shoes to raising giant goldfish: Perhaps the most intriguing guest was a New York lawyer who was , raised in the Virginia moun^ tains. His hobby .was the dulcimer, ancient stringed instrument. He played an Elizabethan ballad com- mon to his native region and also sang the l.M-ics in an engaging tenor. Several participants faltered in reading their lines. But after all. that's to be expected. lOhnan, who questions his guests, .smoothlv moves the exhibits through their paces. Gilb. THE ATOM AND YOU With Eddie Dunn, emcee; Frank McCarthy, announcer Director: Sam Levine Producer: Sherman: H. Dryer . 25 Mins.; Mon., 9:30 p.m. Sustaining; MBS, from New York This is the most macabre show e\ er heard on the air. "The Atom and You," a four-program series, stemmed from the sound idea of putting educational material into a sugar-coated entertainment cap- sule. The, result, it was hoped, would be, a new documentary for-' mat which would appeal to mass audiences. The result, as it turned out, may have a wide listening re- sponse but it was anything but educational. Dealing as it did with the problem of atomic energy, the preem broadcast (20) was terrify- ing in its irresponsible lightmind- edness,; ■ The show transformed the atom b*»mb into just another gimmick for » quiz airer^ complete with giveaways, gagging emcee and howling studio audiences. The pro- gram originators may have thought that some valuable information would be sneaked across in this form but they succeeded only in reducing the atomic problem to a plaything or pHi-lor game, too trivial tor serious reflection, Eddie Dunn as emcee, pased the questions con' cerning the manufacture of atomic energy to studio participants who were;,as usual, rewarded with give- aways, whether they knew the an swer or not. Each participantwho failed to answer his question; however, was required to undergo some scientific experiment such as ;louching a high-volt generator or operating a radio-active measuring device. One w?oman was asked to smash a piece ol uranium with a hammer. It was the high point of the show. In the audible foreground, there was a sound eft'ect of an atomic explo- sion, an echo of Hiroshima; in the background, there was the con- vulsed laughter of the studio audi- ence getting a kick out of it all.., Herm. : BOB HOPE SHOW ^ With Dorl. Day, Bill Farrell, L*« Brown «rch; Hy Averback, an- nouncer . ; ; ^ ; Writers: Larry Marks, Larry Ge^ bert, Marvin Fisher. AI Schwartz, Mort l.achman, Cy Rose Producer: Al Capst.»fr 30 Mins.; Tues., 9 p.m. (EDT) LEVER BROS. NBC, from Hollywood (Young &"Rubicfl))i) After nearly a decade of ndmg the Hooper crest in the Tuesday night 10 o'clock segment on NBC, Bob Hope started running into plenty of rating trouble last sea- son. The general lament, both among lay and trade gentry was that "Hope's getting stale; he needs a new format.' This season his sponsor. Lever Bros., has given llie comedian more than a new format. Not only are the old Hope standbys (Vera Vague, Jerry Colonna, Frances Langford, et al) gone but his sponsor has moved him up an hour into, the .old Amos 'n Andy 9-9:30 tiirie, switched the product- plug from Pepsodent to Swan Soap (with the result that he's now op- erating out of the Young & Rubi- cam office), and inserted a new cast of characters, notably among them Doris Day, Les Brown's orch and an assortment of stooge characters. . . Unfortunately, the one basic in- gredient they lailed to provide, at least on last Tuesday's (14) open- ing sta.iza, was funny material. This year Hope has fortified him- self with a stable of six—count 'em—six script and gag men (in previous years he's : had as many as eight and nine). But what the sextet has come up with is form- less. The show hitches to nothing, lacks color, sustains no mood; in: short, provides filler material be- tween the Doris Day vocalizing. Certainly what it failed to bolster was Hope's top billing as the show's Essentially, there is no radical departure from the old Hope foirr mat, with his inevitable quips and- running gags for the opener, but with ' the . tempo considerably slowed down. But where the ,old- familiar Colonna-Vague comedy inserts; though not always hitting par, stamped the show by their particular qualities, much as a Bert Gordon has heightened an- .Eddie Cantor stanza over the years, Hope's crew of writers are now left to (he mercy of a .joke .book that they can't tag. It was a rud- derless show last week that prac- tically ■ floundered.: Hope Itas been jnore fortunate in his femme* singing choice, There's no mistaking Miss Day's naturalness and charm, and her "Tree in the Meadow," which she dueled '.vith Hope to the accom- paniment of some dt-amatized "forest come to life" funny busi- ness, was easily- the show's stand- out.-: In Bill Farrell. young Cleve- land kid, Hope also has a singer with: a- swell; set of pipes: Les. Brown's , musical backgrounding is tops. Hy Ai'erbaok;handles the Swian commercials effectively; Kose. WHAT MAKES \0\i TICK? With John K. M. McCaffery, emcee; studio contestants; Dr. IieoM Arons, Dr. Sidney Roslow; Cy Harrlce, announcer Writeivdirector-producer: Addison Smith !,■( Mins.: Mon.-thru-Fri., 11:45 a.m. PROCTER & GAMBLE ABC, from New York This, at least, makes a little more sense than the current run-of-ihc- mill quiz shows which merely use the q. and: a. routine as a moans of shoveling out giveaways. There's . entertainment in the "Tick?" for- mat and the gifts are incidental. Stanza, as it preemed Monday i20) on ABC, is a transcribed new quarter-hour, five-a-week version of , the weekly half-hour which pot a Mutual buildup via Helbros: spon- .sorship this past summer. Described as a psycholoRic<il quiz test, stanza has McCaffrey asking interviewees to "rate" themselves, from 0 to 100, on such matters as "How affectionate are you',"' or "How do you qualify as a bab>- sitter,?" etc., then answ^or . ques-. tions enabling two psychologists (Dr; Leon Arons and iDr; Sidney Roslow) to decide how the person rates on the subject. Interviewee rating' himself closest to the judges' figure wins the "grand prize" (last Monday it was an eleptric food mixer). Questions are often leading, de-: signed to promote fun, and succeed fairly well in doing so-^al( hough : at a couple of points in the initlaler the audience could only-: imagine what the studio crowd was guffaw- ing over. McCaffrey clicks as con- ferencier. ■-■ Listener- isn't allowed to forget the sponsor for any length of time..-; P&G not only lias Ivory Flakes blurbs at opening and close, and- two full-size plugs during the pro- ceedings; but works in "the- Ivory ' Flakes microphone," gifts "eom- pliments of Ivory Flakes," etc. W gets pretty sudsy. Doan. the call Iclteis last week went lo Mayor William O'Dwjer Messages w'ci'c r.cad li'oiii Gov. Thomas E^ Dewey, FCC CIrairnian Wayne Coy, among others. Xhp' bows, on WMGM's end, were shared by g.m. Frank Hoehrcnbcck, program di- rector Ray Katz, station director Herbert L. Petley and sales topper Bertram Lebhar, Jr. BIG TOWN With Ed ward Pawley, Fra n Carlon Writer-Director: .Icrry McGill 30 Mins.: Tues., 10 p.m. LEVER BROS. NBC, from New York Stepping into Bob Hope's former spot in the Lever Bros.' program reshuffle, "Big Town" will have no trouble in reassembling its follow- ing if it continues in the same bang-up and bang-bang vein. This show is straight: melodrama; spun out of a formula which is currently being used for at least half a dozen other crime-busters on the air. Instead of an FBI agent or private eye;or district attorney, etc., the super-sleuth m this series is a newspaper man. played by . Ed- ward Pawley in the traditional style of the grim-voiced guardian of the law. The market for this type; of fare is apparently inex- haustible. 'On the fall preem (14), the show slugged its way. from one violent climax to another without halting tor any dem.inds of logic. Track- ing down a murderous racketeer, hero Steve; Wilson bypasses the police and takes a powerful shel- lacking from the gang-sters but finally brings the varmints to book with the aid of his femme side- kick, Fran Carlon.; Each week, this plot soaftolding is filled in with ; enough varying details to make the yarn seem novel without destroying the i'amfliar pattern for dialers. Plugs for Lifebuoy arc; trip- hammered along the angle that .scientific ler,ts prove the soap washes "cleaner." It's a welcome switch from the discomforting body odoi* aecu.sations. Henti. CRIME, RADIO, FH.MS AND COMIC BOOKS With .Tustin Miller,; moderator 30 Mins., 10:15 p.m.. Wed. KIRO, .Seattle - This roundtable discussion of the effect of radio, motion pic- tures and comics on youth was recorded while the American Bar Assn. was iiieetmg in Seattle. Tenor of remark.s of lawyers on the discussion was that crime shows and lurid comics have a di- rect beai'ing on juvenile crime, al- though they wfere opposed, to any form of censorship of the three media. . -Ken Yeend; program director of Kino, and only representative of the: industries on : the : program, was put on the spot several tunes in tlie di.scus,sion. but he had the answers and pointed. out that; there was no coirclation between the number of tiime shows and the amount of juvenile crime. His point was strengthened by Lillian .rohn-ion, ('\oc sfcictary of T^ylhor Child Center who said that in 15. years of work .with -children ,She had never; heard ;; of any delin- quency caused by radio, movies or comic books. Justin Miller. .NAB prexy, .Act- ing as inoderator; did a good |ob in holding the discussion to the subject, also getting in a plug loi the NAB Code, Basically there were three poinl.s: of view expressed in the discus- sion. That of Yeend and Miss Johnson that there were basic family, social and economic cau.ses for crime beside which the effect of crime shows and comics were minor; that ot sociologist Dr. Ruth Inglis who advocated research so effef^ts could be more definitely determined, and thi\t of lawyers who telt some curb was needed. Reed. HOMETOWN REUNION With Eddy Arnold, Duke of PadU- cah, Willis Bros. Trio. Annie, Lou & Danny, Hometown Band : & Choir, Barbershop Quartets .. Producers: Charles & Bin Brown ' Director: Charles Brown 30 Mins., Sat., 10 p.m. Sustaining; CBS, from Nashville One of the phenomena of show- business is the terrific pull of corn- fed hillbilly units in metropolitan as well as I'ural areas. Artiiro Tos- canini or Tommy Dorsey may not draw too well in the. cornbelti but yodelers,, rural; crooners and bu- colic humorists frequently fill big city auditoria. . This trend to rural revels has been pronounced since the stai-t of the war. Many city lads apparent- ly learned to. like the coimtrified form of entertainment while under the influence of country bumpkins in army camps, etc. Consequently, any well-produced jamboree is virtually guaranteed a sizable audience. "Hometown Re- union" falls into that categoiv. Without discussing its basic artistic merit, "Reunion" is a rapidl.\-paced and talent-laden collection that will provide a full measure ot entertain- ment to devotees of this type show. Participants are experienced hands in this kind of shindig, with name value contained in Eddy Ar- nold, one of the leaders in the hillbilly disk field, and the Duke of Paducah; whose maizey observa- tions at; least bring studio laughs... In addition, there's an assortment ol characters including Willis Bros, trio; Annie, Lou and Danny, and the Hometown band and choir. For added measure there's a de- vice to insure advance buildup in towns where the show Juts. Bar- ber Shop Quartet competuion.s are held by local stations with two win- ners appearing on the jret.woj fc air- ing. Final winner is selected by . audience applause. Initial two layouts in this series oiiginate in Nashville, and entire show travels to various other towns probably making converts lo this (ype ot entertaiAmcnt during its travels. . Jo.se. QUIET PLEASE With Ernest Chappcll, Dan Sutter, Peggy Stanley, Athena Lord, Al- bert Buhrmann, oreanLst; Ed Michael, announcer Producer-Writer-Dirce.tor: AVyilis ■ ■-, Coo.per; -■, 30 Mins., Sun., 5 p.m. Sustaining ABC, from New York Wyllls Cooper is apparently an experienced: hand in taslvioning custom-built chillers out ol tonir paratively insignificant occur- rences. IVfcmy of his "Lights Out," sessions contained that tlieme. With the added experience ot that series made good use of in his new show, "Quiet Please," new layout (Continued on page 32)