Variety (Nov 1948)

28 TELEVISION REVIEWS Wmlnesday, November 24, . 1948 ABC's Try at Delayed AM B'cast Of TV Show NSG for Both Media ABC web's first experiment with|' —■ « telecast and subsequent radio re-1 reservations CoUyer did a good broadcast of the audio portion of the ^the stanza's short- show made out none too well Mon- ■ comings probably stemmed from day (22) night. Show selected for 1 basically mistaken concepts of en- the test, "On Trial," was a wise tertainment, rather than from his choice, since the simulated court- performance. The grass-skirted, room format required little visual j hobby - horsing housewives who •id in the AM rebroadcast. Fpr that, took part in the gaiety, and the same reason, though, it was not a non-participating studio audiences good TV show, emerging as one of , seemed to be havirig a wonderful those programs in which the tele ; time The entertainment va ue for vipwpi- poiild rlosp hi^ eves anrt eet the home viewer is debatable, viewei couia ciose nis eyts ana gei ^^^^ Bab-O commercials were Just as much info. But; because the show was done on tele first, it also lacked punch In its AM version. For one thing spliced into the stunts themselves, and were a little overpunched but not too discordant. Camera work was good on the whole, only now the transcription of the audio end ' and then getting, lost among the of the TV program was technically ' grocery shelves, poor. Sound faded in and out at . several points during the opening minutes and the background noises, such as chairS: being moved around, while easily understand- able on TV where the audience could see what was going on; caused only undue interference on AM. In addition, there was an un- explained time lag on . the radio ON TRIAL iVith Judge Ferdinand Pecora, Lloyd Paul Stryker, William B. Herlands, Charles P. Grimes, William G. H. Finch; :. Bob Sabin> announcer TV director: Jean Heaton SO Mins.; Men., 8 p.m. (TV), 10:30 p.m. (AM) Sustaininer ABC, from N. Y. Bhow while certain bits of action, easily discernible on TV, were be- ing carried out. Thus, the tele au- dience could watch a . character :i j; u' ■ j „ ^ „„*„rf„»„™A«f ipnvp his phair nn +hf> spt and walk «how from an entertainment leave his chair on the set ana waiK |>t3„^poi„t npnetheless uccom- plishps its purpbiO. Freeii) pro LAMP UNTO MY FEET With Riverside Church educators, choir Producers: Ruth Ashton, Elinor ■ ■ Inman ■ . Director: Frank SchafFner 30 Mins.; Sun., 5 p.m. Su^tainine CBS-TV, from N. Y. "Lamp Onto My Feet" Is a new type of video religious program, designed to promote understand- ing of various faiths among view- ers by showing qhlldren's religious activities. As such, it should be to the liking of tie Joint Heligious Radio Committee, which decided last week in a series of huddles on TV programming that straight Blunder Pumping propaganda with a hidden purpose into kinder- garten aged children is not go- ing to win friends and influ- ence parents in favor of Bob Smith and his "Howdy Doody" show. This is iJBC's current pet matinee half-h«ur via , video. The incident took place last Thursday (18) when the entire second half of the program was devoted to ridiculing quiz shows and, believe it if you can, telling the tots to listen to Fred Allen. It is possible that Smith thought he was merely doing a fellow station performer a favor. But if so he ad libbed himself into a bad blunder. Bringing children into a net- work's commercial quarrels is . asking for the kind of trouble that's never hard to find. Be- sides, it's to be doubted if the inference that he needs three- year old listeners will please Mr. Allen. p.S.—^The episode was not repeated the next day. i Tele Follow-up Comment ADVENTURES OF UNCLE MISTLETOE With Jiennifer HoU, Johnny Coons, Skeets Minton, Sam Singer Writer: Raymond Chan Director: Grees Garrison 15 Mins.; Mon., Tues., Wed., FrI., 6:45 p.m. MARSHALL FIELD CO. WENR-TV, Chicago (Footc, Co7iP & Bclding) "Uncle Mistletoe" of this series is the puppet likeness of the Pick- Wickiim gent developed two years t^t« » * * > ♦ "Phllco Television Playhouse", scored with another click in its presentation of J. B. Priestley's "An Inspector Calls" on NBC-TV Sunday night (21). In trimming this mora,lity play down to 60 min- utes, less time-out for Philco's pro- longed plugs, director Fred Coe lost notliing of the original's flavor and gained considerably in pacing. In all its "phases of performances, settings and camera-work, this pro- duction was a polished and deep- toned piece of video entertainment. First rate cast was headed by Walter Abel, as the other-worldly police inspector, and George Cou- louris, as the tight-fisted, narrow- minded bourgeois who denied that he was his brother's keeper. They carried the drama with good sup- port from Margery Maude, as the mother, Jean Maclntyre's perform- ance as the young girl was slightly too shrill in a shrill role. Two spacious settings also contributed; to solidity of this show. Definite drawback to this ses. 4-f which used lumilnous lights on TV for the first time, With the male member dressed in black and thus invisible and the girls in white, they were able to perform some balancing feats that looked like a floating ballet on the screen. Equally good was Pat C. Flick, as a stage^box heckler, who shot quips back and forth with Sulli-> van.from his scat in a stageside box. Sullivan displayed a neat penchant for comedy timing in the routine and the fact that Flick came on unannounced lent credul- ity to the affair until Sullivan identified him. Rest of the bill, too, was good. Blackburn Twins, videogenic guys now at the Copa- cabana, N. Y., with their precision tapstering and fake mirror routine, were grooved for tele. Comic Pat Henning shone with his zany im- personations, his standard barrage of intimate asides to the audience being a natural for the medium. Songstress Betty Jane Walson, currently featured in Mike Todd's "As the Girls Go" on Broadway, commercials which became almost a play within a play. Bert Lytell and Bob Stanton would be twice as effective if the plugs were halved. pickups 0-f services, either from a ; «f stories*! church or studio, wouldn't do the, r" „jip" « ™akes a verv ner- t^^l-^ri ±'I^L?!^l\Z Zouli i so^aMe'fon°whne U%f^^ winged a la Mr. O'Malley, spins up to take his place on the witness stand, but the AM .audience could do nothing but sit through the sec- onds of silence. ' - Show was carried on the ABC- TV east coast web at 8 to 8:30 p.m. of religious presentation have to be found. I yarns "about Wonder Land, a' bi- Lamp," while certainly not a , ^arre place that sounds suspiciously ' ^ like a toy department. Wonder Land is inhabited by Mieliael O'Hare, Tony the Pony, etc, and gram Sunday (21) presented chil- dren of the Riverside Church, N. Y., studying Bible stories under the supervision of the church's adult educators. Inclusion of a and rebroadcast over ABC-AM at, couple of Chinese moppets in the 10:30 to 11 p.m. No mention was [class got across nicely the churches made on either broadcsist of the t point that it's open to members of duplication procedure. In all, the all faiths Several of the scenes, shows represented a meritorious iiicidentally, particularly m the but unsuccessful attempt on the Bible class, resembled Jack Barry s part of ABC to trim costs. Expert-1 Juvenile Jury, ment reemphasized the fact that | Productionwiss, too, the show radio and TV are two separate and i was good. Use of a film clip intro, distinguished media and that any ' depicting the exterior of the attempts to duplicate shows on either must necessarily make con- cessions to the impact of both. Show itself, with w.k. New York attorneys arguing about the aclvis- church and other scenes, served to point up the religious motif. The church's choir hymned the neces- sary background music. Frank Schaifner, director of CBS-TV Mother Goose familiars Obligingly sketched by Florence the Pen. Preem (1,'5), geared narrowly to pre-grade school viewers, had Santa Claus in need of a helper, who turned out to b"e Uncle Mistle- toe. Telewise youngsters accus- tomed to horse operas^ cartoon films and Texas style rassUn' prob- ably found it tame stuff, but from the standpoint of parents and child psychologists it was highly accep- table. Commercials bordered on public service, with the visual sell reduced to mere bookend stills of the clock on Marshall Field's Loop store. Johnny Coons made adroit shifts in voicing the puppet and cartoon characters. S<im Singer wields sion, however, were the drawn-out! socked across a couple of tunes from the show. With her voice And beantectas appeAraftceu o^ tt^e scrieei(, 'sh:fe slidttlC grab the atten- tion of major;-film talent scouts, iibuis Arinstroiig and . his otch; all riainft.mtisicians in tlieiir own right,: did a bl'ace of songs in their usual, finei fashion but thby .would have pleased more with sbihethiiig like t Satehmo's disk; sihasfc ''Can't. iCrive You Anything But Love," instead of pluiggihg "Song Is Borrii" .Dan- ny Kaye starrer In.. whicli, Atmr ' strong appearis, \<*lth the ticOd title .song... . ..'^-'j ■'■ Emerson cbriim^tcials still leiEt much to be aesir,ed but onC' of tliera, in which orch leader Rai> Bloch gagged at'Ound with an- nouncer Ray ;MOrg!in, was pleas-? antly diverting; June Taylbr Itirte (6) did a capable job ih , backing Miss Watsoii, but who sleeted those ■ raincoat costumes? ability of using wire-tapping in had a tough job to pace the show news and educational programs, | Florence the Pen in sure style crime detection before N. Y. Su preme Court Judge Ferdinand Pecora, was more. down the line,s of straight radio, although the TV Bight factor did punch up the tele program. Use of actual attorneys and a judge lent the necessary au- thenticity and the series should -emerge :lnto a good public service feature, if confined to one or the other medium. Sial. but, with the exception. of over- doing, his slow pans across . the Bible class, mado out well. Stol. Skeets Minton lacks scope to dis- play range of puppetry skill, since his sole figure. Uncle Mistletoe, is limited to gestures of tale telling. Baxt. Inside Television "Ford Theatre's" presentation of "Joy to the World" on CBS-TV Sunday (21) was a slickly .executed comedy 'for the first 60. minutes of this one-hour show. Network com- mercial commitments, however, abruptly cut the play off the air a few minutes before the third act curtain, leaving the viewers some- what dangling in the unfinished business and spoiling an otherwise clever production. Rigid'.adherence to time schedules, a Sign of video's commercial coming-of-age, makes a cardinal error out of this failure to bring a show home on the nose. Framed within two well-con- structed office settings connected by. a door, the Allan Scott Broad., way play of last year was smoothly adapted to the needs of the TV screen. The action was firmly cen- tralized and the camera work was superlative in the handling of one ingenious montage eft;ect and its shuttling between the long and closeup shots. Matching the tech- nical cfEiciency, the ca,st merged into a fluid performance which; maintained a sharp edge in this mild satire on Hollywood. It took this video sliow to lift Eddie Albert out of his Hollywood type-casting as a yokel and give him a shot at a half-cypical, half- idealistic portrayal of a lilm pro'^. ducer. Albert was solid in a char- acterization that omitted his usual mannerisms. Janet Blair also played with finesse, as the romantic lead. Among the supporting play- ers, Myron McCormick, as the press agent, and Philip Loeb, as the repentant celluloid mogul, registered strongly. THIS IS THE MISSUS With Bud Collyer, emcee; audience participation Director: Ralph Levy SO Mins.; Wed., 1:30 p.m. B. T. BABBITT, INC. WCBS-TV, New York (Duane Jones) This replacement of the "Missus Goes A-Shopping" video show has all of the obvious faults and vir- N Y. Daily News' WPIX has been forced to run in those abundant Camel cigaret plugs on its college football games this year because the William Esty agency, which handles the ciggie account, is adamant against any other product being shown on the screen.; Five of the eight games picked up this season by WPIX were taken on a feed from WPTZ (Philadelphia). Games are sponsored over the latter station by Atlantic Refining, so that: the field clock used in Philly bears a Hi-Arc plug. Thus, every time the cameras swing over to the clock, the Hi-Arc sign is naturally shown. But the Esty agency, being against this^.tias ruled WPIX must cover the clock with a Camel plug. Clock is'-shown mostly only at the crucial closing minutes of .each half, which has put WPIX doubly on the spot. "Toast of the Town" look a definite upswing Sunday (21) night on the CBS-TV web with a talent- laden bill and some pleasant sur- prises Injected by emcee Ed Sul- livan. One of the surpi-ise clicks, was the Dclanoff & Rayes Sisters, DON LEE, TELEVISION WORK- SHOP With Mary Noble and Francis King, Vera Lee and Simon Semenoif, Bill Bryan Producer: Flanagan and Burt Pro- ductions Director: Carlton Winckler 20 Mins., Thurs., 8:30 p.m. Sustaining KTSL-Don Lee, L. A. Well paced show moved into KTSL as the initialer in "Don Lee Television Workshop" produced by Al Flanagan and Frank Bui t. Cam- era director Carl Winckler mastered some fine lens manipulation which kept the cast top bracketed throughout. KTSL is making the 'Workshop" a weekly feature and tues of similar radio olTerings The ' Television set manufacturers appear, to be among the: best speculative addition of sight comedy is a mix- stock buys for 1949, according to a memo is.-iued to Customers by Paine, ture of good and bad bits that can- Webber, Jackson & Curtis, N. Y. brokers. Ruling out TV broadcasting celout. B. T. Babbitt, Inc.j is spon- I stocks because of the "prospect for continued losses through next year/' soring every fourth show in the ' the firm declared 1949 should be a "brilliant profits year" for manu- series, starting with the kickotf-last: facturers because the "benefits of mass production should result in Wednesday (17). ■ | television affording a better profit margin than radio" and "a competi- With Bud ("Superman") Collyer tive battle for survival is not likely to develop until the latter part of as m.c. in the guise of a grocery 1949 or early 1950." store manager, "Missus" whips ' Following a breakdown of activities of the various manufacturers, " • "ift h* th* ^^'a' Jt^^^'^^ brokerage firm advised its customers to attempt to capitalize on might be the better word. The ac-, future through a package commitment rather than through special- wi^''f„S"«-? becomes over-breath-, j representation. Suggested buys were Magnavox, Motorola and usinc'ir'aTa nrovTnB'^r™';r„'H7n,.''=^ itSdio LXnce nTtlfo^^^^^^ «s « $64 package available at 3.9 times this year's ' "'i:^,^,:if„^«„?^,?Ji"„8J™^^^^^ Iv housewfves flune themselves estimated earnings and yielding about 6.6%; Admiral, Magnavox and Into a series of dpvmsh ^harnrlps I Motorola, a $44 package also available at 3.9 times estimated 1948 and kid-gamesUh af eagern^^ 6.5%. and Admiral, Magnavox and RCA, de- that was startling and often almost scribed as a $40 package available at 4.5 times probable earnings with embarrassing to the viewer. » return of about 4.8%. Balanced package deals^ according to the Collyer is copipletely at home in brokers, "will lessen the risk of later intra-industry changes without the pilot's seat and 'handled his reducing immediate appreciation possibilities." emcee chores adroitly and with 1 much poise. Like so many other Acute shortage of space, both for studios anrt offices, is still plaguing ni.c.'s of -determinedly madcap the N. Y. television broadcasters. Latest to feel the pinch is CBS-TV, ladies shows he often talked loo tj-.g pj-ocess of compleUng its new studios in the Grand Central , Few video shows hang so com- pletely on the ability of one artist . as "Texaco Star Theatre" is draped , around: Milton Berle's quips and i antics. He dominates the hour so completely that every utterance is spotlighted. Which makes his con- stant repeating of "all kidding aside" that much more irritating. ; And he used it too often last Tues-. day (16). I Otherwise, this broadcast was I good; It was not quite up to re- cent shows because Berle himself < didn't tie it together as well as he: has ribboned past performances, but there were a fair enough mmi- , ber of solid laughs. Most of them ' sprang from: the finale piece be-." tween Berle and Red Buttons,. which wound up a blaze of howls. It was. based on a loan shark's of- fice, with Buttons cast as an ap- plicant and Berle the: boss. It was; downright slapstick and: excellentr^. ly topical video. Berle worked a few laughs out ■ 'of Russell Swan's guester, which consisted' of his Chinese guillotine i act, with Berle's neck involved. ' Perhaps more might have beefi wrung from it, but the trick doesn't, lend itself too well. Crackerjacks,. a four-ply terp ;and aero team, opened the broadcast in whirlwind fashion. . Arnaut : Bros., who. worked with Ed Sullivan's "Toast of the Town" show a few weeks ago, wisely did parts of their stage:: act that they hadn't included in I the shot with Sullivan, and they I worked up fine reaction, too. 1 Berle doen't work with pitchman ! Sid Stone so often anymore (per- I haps because Berle was stealing I his thunder). Buttons did that this week and didn't get in Stone's way at all while the commercial-bender eked out a few giggles.: Buttons'; ; own act, done during the initial half-hour, was fair. Ella Logan's overdone vocals closed the hour. She worked on "Sunny Side of the Street" anil "Little Bit of Heaven" and a brief bit with Berle as a bagpiper; Smartly costumed and rather plainly coiffured, the singer wasn't impressive. She's a vocal stylist assortment of live production ideas and makes the mistake of using much and too fast, however. Also Terminal VmilHincr his Interviewing could have been ^e"">"ai ouiiaing. improved. Too often ' his ice - breaking though per;Forming gotten over with as quickly as po.s-, . , , , . - ^ j ^ • j: n Bible paying ho attention what-1 personnel, meanwhile, is now quartered at six different office loca- ever'to the replies. But with those 1 tions around mid-Manhattan. brought in by local packagers. Sta tion will also present Us own works on telecasts. Song team. Noble and King, made themselves telefelt with "If This Isn't Love," "Rain Drops Don't Care" and "A Most Unusual Day." Pair dueled through the three tunes with ease and camera assurance. Mary Noble televises well and reveals a strong video per- sonality. Director Winckler brought Vera Lee and Simon SemenolT, standard melodies to project hei'T self, and they always wind up over- done. Material tunes, of which she has a good stock, would have been better in this instance. terp' routine with pantomine all of which proved very effective. Free. Eddie Condon's "Floor Show " continues as probably the one pro^ gram that gives the N. Y. Daily News TV outlet. WPIX, a distinc- tive flavor all its own. Last week Condon featured Johnny Mercer, Thelma Carpenter and . Pearl Primus, as well the assorted ja'/z virtuosi making up the Condon ensemble. It all added up to a zingy video stanza, That closeup of Sidney Bechet in action was one of the .Camera treats of the week.