Variety (Mar 1949)

TIBLKVISION REVIGWS 33 MARY KAY AND JOHNNY; Mary Kay. J«hn A. Stearns Writer: Stearns „ . ., Producer: Show, ProducUons 10 MIns.. Wed., 9 P.m. WHlTEHAtli PHARMACAL CBS, from N.Y. {Dancer-Fitzgerald-Sample) . "Mary Kay and Johnny," which originally debuted on WABD, N. Y. and then transferred to the NBC networlc before landing on rB'i is an unpretentious and amusing series of domestic come- dies/Allegedly paralleling-the ac- tual experiences of its stars, the nrogram has an unforced quality of naturalness which is its greatest asset Both Stearns and wite Mary breeze through their lines, cas- ually dropping gags and weaving the half-hour session around some SUSPENSE With Eddie Albert, Mareo, Rex JUUtrS CAESAR ("Studio One") O'Malley, Stefan Sclinabel, Ralpli With Wiliiam Post, Jr., Robert Camargo, Mary Stuarts Josephl Keith, John O'Shaughnessy, de Santis, tiilbert Macli; j Ruth Ford, Pliillp Bourneuf, Producer>director: Robert Stevens I others Writer: Franlc Gabrielson "' Producer: Worthineton Miner 30 Mins., Tued. (1), 9:30 p.m. > Director: Paul Nickell ELECTRIC AUTO-LITE I 60 Min.; Sun., 7:30 p,ni. CBS-TV, from New York I CBS-TV, N. Y. (Ncxcall-Emmett) ' CBS' "Studio Oiut" got in under u\iiieuMmneit) ■ ^^^^ ^.^^ Sunday (6) with the first ' BELIEVE IT OR NOT ; With Itobcrt L. Ripley, Peggy Cor- day, Mine & Linr> Fritz De W'ilde, Bob Stanton Producer}! Vic McLcod Director: Joe Cavalier 30-Mins.; 9:30 p.m., Tucs. MOTOROLA NBC-TV, from New York (Goitr/aiiiCobb) Widespread interest in Boji Rip- PREVIEW With Tex MoCrary, Jinx Faliien* burr, guests Producer: David E. Scherman -. , Director: Ellis Marcus I 30 Mins., Alon., 8 p.m. \ PHILIP MORRIS CBS-TV, N.Y. , (Biowt ■„■ This w.'is a fantastically bad show—at least as it unfolded in For Its television counterpart, ^ yide,, presentation of "Julius ley's "Believe It Or Not," which ' its CBS-TV premiere Monday <7) "Suspense" made an inauspicious i Caeser" (NBT has one coming up,i,_. h„„„ -n-j u. :„ vai-imiK fm-mo ^''^e liipley is that, after what wont - .....r:.. next month). Worthington Miner's i"'^^"**^"^"*"'"'"-'"^^'■"'"'^^''^'^^nn fnr an mlni.t,.s thov h:,r] Ih^ debut. It was as if Auto-Lite, the sponsor, were presenting a B film in its production of "Revenge." the Cornell Woolrich short story adapted for TV by Franlc Gabriel- son. The adaptation was wealcly motivated, and vail the perform- ances suffered proportionately. So did the direction. The play was a combination of live action and film on for 30 minutes, they had the production of this modern-dress j^oi' years, runs true to form in tele- ; courage to flash the credits on the version, plus Paul Niokell's direc- j vision. But not in the form pre- ] video screen. "Revenge," an adventure story stbrv on the preem program (2) I Key . , „ v, i , CBS revolved around the week-1 played afjHinst a Cuban back- end visit of the boss' nephevv, a nedantic 16-year-old student. After Stearns failed to loosen him up through dLscussiofts ot football, dancing and gals, a neighboring lass succeeded via the i-omanlic Jl""*-?,-A^i ^in^anneaUn^^^ with their lovers. All this, and p;u-ent the 'Miistory repeats itself''-1 ena, lo que^suons pui oy pnoiogei \?,hir/thP naWor sS "n^al crackers, loo. The objec-! parallelism, and the .similarity in Peggy Cordaj, were sketchy and . "l,^""f^t',.Y^P ovprtll feefol^^^^^^^ the situation ; all people whether Roman states- complete 1; or example, many vie *^^''?„'i"Ji^itt ' itself, only in the unguarded way men or presentday gangsters. ers must have been anxious for age domesticity. _ .. „ . it was done. ! If there weve any distractions In; m<?i'e,'nfo;^n Eddie Albert friend of the ground,: deals with a racketeer and a wife who: flees his cruelty. She runs- out with her lover. : At 9:30 p.m., vhen kids are stealing their fin.il glances at TV, it's nice that video can teach them so blandly about wives wlfb flee husbands with their lovers. All this. plus tion, repi'esented a big step for- ward in mastering television tech- ^^ (Hhnfp fn the iminiirlv niques. The fine integration of 'H- « was a liibute lo tnc uniquely movement, lighting and camera, , mtcrestmg data that Ripley has plus the shading achieved in the | gathered from all parts of the Staging, helped considerably to- ] ^^^.1^ ti^^t his first video program, ward overcoming the limiiations ot i ^ , . , . . . „, . . video's range. The happ.v" combi-! sP°°sored by Motorola, held atten- uation gav to an exciting speare The controversial point as to whether modern dress makes sented on the first show last week \ Tex MoCrary's long - cherished ambition to "bring to life" on video a miigazine-format show, With the inevitable "Filrti of the Week;" ' "Pliiy of the Week,;- "Song of the Weelcy"retc.-, civnte; .a^^sroppfer alfttb iVom sei^Titch.: Granted fh ceptiori ' posed a nitiltiplicity :bf . .■e breadth and "intensity tion in spite of the obvious opening l^'^.};};^;;;^^,^'"^^;;.^;;^,;;,',"'^^^^^^^^ ating version of Shake- night jitters of all concerned. , hit a succession of embarrassing assing Criticism must start with Ripley ! snags that practically threw the himself, fle's pretty wooden, plus ■ "what-not-towlo" book at its TV Shakespeare more palatable is which he was plenty (ncoml'orlable j heightened in this instance because , ihe first show. Beyond that the ' Shakespeare in any form is still i..,,,,.^ . „,^,.„ : uncioubieciiy looked new to television. There's little K^\"tv H,?' nr^^^^ nfnw i ^'''i f ?^ question but that a modern garb jA'S^yiJ techniques, of i version does .iccent the timeless- attempted to pack too much into , cd mag material, ^ ss of the Shakespearean char;>c- : t'^e debut, which meant that Rip- i coming Hollywood pix, "preview" '•izations, and makes more ap-''e^'s explanations of his plienom-1 of a leijit out-of-town opening^ audience/ This is the kind of show that undoubtedly looked hot on paper—- the resources hewsreel,. print- clif)s from Up- Filmed plugs for the Kolynos dentifrice were brief, but socked home the sales message in a vis- ualized demonstration of the tooth- paste's action. Herm. MYSTERY CHEF Director: Desmond Mar<iuettc 15 Mins.: Tues. and Thurs.. 3 p.m. Sustainine , „ WNBT-NBC, N. Y. "Mystwy Chef" is one of the | pen.se" needs also is more billing latest additions to WNBT's con- for the ena, to questions put by photogenic , dramatizing a mag cover pic, etc. in- I But what unfolded Mond.iy was a view- hodge - podge of poorly - synchro-- nized talk-ahd-caniora sequence? th.it frequently fotind the caniera-! •t nlaved the' bov-i Hie CBS production, it stemmed l ^'■;'"eli. an Indian hand made inl^ man "a.sleep at second." What wil-e whose murder . more from inability ot some of the ! « »rtl>ng y-;h elike^^f.^ ^.t"."",'!':'""^ been.imaginative and failed to give excitement to the play, though the basic fault was in the script itself. And what"Sus- performance as the hapless Caeser gia by Miss Martin bantering with On the other hand, Philip Bourneuf Main portion of the: show wiis i her longtime aia-anger " with aii as Antony was at le.i.st able to'taken up by Kuda 3«x, ..Indian endless succession of stills, cards. stantly shifting d.iytime program ming format, under the station's experimentation to come up with sellable shows. This one, because of its very nature, might appeal suf- ficiently to the housewife viewers to gain bankroller interest, but it will require some production brushup first. : The chef is the sam* man" (for j the initial shortcomings, some reason unidentified) who has J sponsor needs most t - been conducting-a-similac. program | sparkplug t o relieve on AM for the last 20 years. On of some of its. gas; the TV version, he seemed a like- able, albeit slightly nervous char- acter, with a cultured delivery and knowing way about >the kitchen. It seemed slightly incongruous, though, to see him puttering around with messy condiments while dressed fully in a bu.siness suit, French cuffs, etc. He could at -least don an apron and roll up his ■ sleeves. On the show caught" '3), he pre- pared a coffee ring. He was ob- Margo ''Suspense _ . independently of the radio series of the same name although there may occa.sionaHy be an interchange of "stories. Auto-Lite also sponsors the radio series. "Suspense" is a good TV pres- tige-builder for Auto-Lite, despite show. l ories. This dre\/- a big buildup The treatment of the- Soliloquies, from the "I'd Like" show (he left it by utilizing the disembodied voice ] to go uptown to do the trick for of the alter ego, was particularly Ripley's succeeding program), but effective. 1 the buildup surpassed the evcnr. But regardless of : the Brooks [Kuda Bux didn't ride in the race, Bros. vs. Roman garb controversial 1 ;,s it was said he would, he rode the rise to stardom. Next cami? a quickie fashion lay- out (with the first of a series of camera miscues that spotted Peggy Ferris, under.study to Patricia Morison in "Kiss Me, Kate," in the wrong place), with the latter WOMEN'S MAGAZINE OF THE AIR '49^ MAGAZINE OF TELEyiSlOK With Rita Hackett, Bob Duanc, Nancy Wrigrht, Jack Jellison orch, rWith RushHughes, Ruth Crowley, : Kuests I Mary Stuyvesant, t'eggy Cun- PrOducer-.Dircctor: Don Faust ningham, Carline Upchurch, )|rfei 20 .Mins.; Wed., 7:30 p.m. ; I Haley WLWT, Cincinnati ■; Director: B.wbara Corriing' There's no question about the i Pfoduc^r: Herhert S. Laufman popular entertainment value of this j 30. Miits^ Mon^^^ new weekly series. It is a switch fo | HYLAND ELECTRICAL CQ. video 'of a pattern that clicked on ■ WGN-fV, Chicago viously pressed for' time in the Croslev's clear channel WLW for l Premiere of this .show revealed short 15 minutes allotted the .show two years with the same Rita Hack- new type format for women s pro- and barely managed to get his pa.s-i ett showcasing names via inter- gi iim where everything went astray, try out of the oven and in under the vicw,s. '• Potpourn theme v\ iih magazine 1 are to be permanent members .ot I the Week" with Elsa Maxwell, Jim 1 Ripley's cast, as his "houseboys." I Farley, 21 Club boniface Mack iThey can be used much better than ) Kriendler and a Bell telephone 1 they wore on this show. For ex-1 exec spotlighted for a half-minvite I ample, the .studio provided for this i laugh (?) ciuizzer. The McCrarys'^ ' show (it looked like Ripley's apart- child, Paddy, enacted the "cover i ment), ; could be the scene- each I sequence" and while Tex & Jinx I week of a gathering of , friends were debating whether to dish up ! anxious to see and have his "Be- J the "Film of the Week" or news I lieve It or Nets" explained; that | photos next, t:he cameraman decid-. i would take Ripley off the spot of. i ed for them, with a few clips frorh nervously explaining them to the j Paramount's upcoming Ray Mil- ;:lens. And Ming & Ling could be | land starrer, "Alias Nick Beal" worked in as houseboy entertainers, j icalled, Nicholas by Miss Falken- There's a plenty that could be 1 burg). wire. That apparently was a lack of adequate preparation. Director Des- mond Marquette, whose work seems mainly to know when to cut in for the necessary closeups. han- dled his lenses, okay. Stol. VICW.S, Instead of the m.vihical "Cross- roads Cafe" atmosphere for the AM stint, Miss Hackett now uses a nightclub settling that IS a credit to television.' In it she visits from pages being turned to indicate new | sections resulted in helter-skelter i race against watch, with program ' winning by three full minutes. Co-reditors Rush Hughes and Ruth Crowley, apparently unre- done. But the opening show didn't. Wood. HOLLYWOOD IN NEW YORK ■ table to table, allowing closeups lor j^gg,.^^^ ,^1^ through various in- lalks with guests, most ot wlio»« . |(?rludes representing home plan- -.v,iu»..„v,,,« ,1, tvom the entertainment held a .so ning. fashion, world events, liouse- With Wanda Hale; Julie Harris, give off with samples ot then siocK hold hints and cookery. Commercial I in trade. items are plugged in manual de.m- ' For ovcnill handling and selec- on.^lrations. lion of guests to date, the programs Show is good idCa. despite preem stack up with many in the variety snafus., Wholesale- rehash ,6f cori ' trend that the " ' '" " INDIVIDUALLY YOURS With Celeste CarLyle Director: Barbara Corning ;iO Mius., Fri., 1:30 p.mi BLAJR CORSKT CO. WGN.TV, Chicago ■ ' ; - : {Jones, Frctnkcl) ' ' ■, ■ Fashion consultant Celeste Car- lyle conducts a one-woman style show, using drawing board tech- "Slunt of the Week" for the windup was tabbed "Billion Dollar Glee Club," comprised of indus- trial and commercial execs led by Fred Waring. It the energies ex- pended in getting such top echelon together went into the TV produc- tion, it might have paid off : with better results. Rose^ ffuest Director: Clark Jones 20 Mins.; Sal., 8:10 p.m. Sustaining WPIX, N. Y. ■ "Hollywood in New Vork'V is 1 duced from film. , „ ,.„„ another attempt of the N. Y. Daily sm^rtd^-^s^J!'", '''T,*'^ ^.iii Ncw.s' WPIX to press into service advan age ol lacial and 1 an raake- the nPH-enanpi-'c" pnliimnicfs and up. ThCSe qualities were cmpUd f nlniv vvriWs "n\ c w-,nrtn .siz^^^ " 't'l Johnny Downs, Helen Gal- la.shion problems of studio guests, |, Il^rihe N™4' seco,^^^^^^^^ Powers and seven ofjiis —-.-.-^ '^H^^Hn. h H„ft 1 JACQUES FRAY MUSIC ROOM With Fray; Charles Stark, an- nouncer Producer: Jack Munhall station has repro- linuity would provide femme eye- ""i"<>'« ^haU-hour progrnn a mod ^™»^jeer-^^^^^^^^ . .Miss (Tackelt is a catcher, and make sock sales for i't housewives, and featuring show-! ,7$^?^^-. stt 8 nm •lu> Ilakes full <;.vm«m- Mart, ing ot Undergarments in a commer- 2r.„V'l"?l'„ " ' sponsor MANHATTAN SHOWCASE I'ith Johnny D( lagher, others mg ciaJ Sustaining ABC-TV, from New York crUic. luUerth^ sW de^oring | niodels during their guesting Bob , I..odue..: Barry^ W part of the time to reviewing cur- P"ane, dapper a'^,/'le n gl t 1 b Dncctors Kingman rent pictures and the rest to inter-^'.manager, eases _ the ^-M'l^'n^^toi y Stevens ^^^^^^ ood an T. Moore, Rob- Miss Carlyle straightens-out the, . . . , ... .c..=iiion problems of studio guests, i, t'his is a musical variety show, showing with deft pencil" strokes; style, .fhe setting is a hnw an old flrpss can hf marie into I tairlv large room with a classical teeling, and the camera opens on Jacques, Fray at the keyboard, Af- vicwing film'celebs who niight''^V'}''VP- ^'f happen to be in N. Y. at Ihe lime, with Miss Hackett. how an. old dress can;be made into a new spring suit; a'last year's hat into an Easter creation; a veil can be a charming head piece. The .lack Jelli.son's eight-piece combo Jl"*^"*"'"? 15- Mins.v Mon.-Wed.rFri., 7:^5 p.m. s k e t c h e s are accompanied by Only ; trouble is that Miss Hale wi-ites reviews much better than she can interview. On the night caught seemed extremely frightened at the camera eye. Her delivery was halting a«d lacklustre and those ,: , „^,.i,„i <iV,,.m a pauses. While she was obviously '^'"'^'f • Vn;. vnHcf' thinking of the next question to gucster and hotsy ot the none^ put to her guest, were embarras- ' Handlers of the Cameras are sing to the viewer. Belter prepara- .skillful. Presently t'lc time limila makes with the music in the tra- ditional Cro'sley -nianner. On the Ci) she 'program caught i2) it hacked Nancy '■ ^' liVright, stall: charm chirpcr. and ^fuiian : Patrick,: baritone; a guest: t'rom the Cincy Con-servatijry of CBS-TV, from N. Y. Johnny Downs and Helen Gal- Kigher have taken over the con- ferericiering ot "Manhattan Show- case." a replacement for another talent discovery format, "Places, Plea.se;" The 15-minute .session is enough feminine .jargon to make the program my.stifying to male vieweis and completely reasonable to their better halves. Thi.s show Will .stop all house- woi'k lor 30 minutes.: Miss Garlylc obviously knows what she is about in the style game. Her adlibs are hardly adequate lor the proper aw\ gu'^hy enough to make the bridge set take notice. ter ))laying a few bars. Fray ex- plains that he has several talented guests and that the best, in the opinion ot the .iudges, v/ill get a .special,prize. Two of judges (who are shown) are in:the studio, and one .iudge (.seen in a .still shot) is at home, phoning in his vote. On the show caugTit (5) the guests included Allan Wayne, bal- let dancer, who did a socko voodoo ritual; Elizabeth" Brovvji, a pianist with Juilliard musical and Con-? Camera is excellent on closeups, i over modeling background, play- w'hich necessarily dominate show. 1 i„g two Chopin pieces; Mimi Allan, presentation of three aCts plus bits by the show toppers. tion, or course, could help correct' tion is about the only Miortcoining ^get an^Salion^^th1!'^potcn- u";^'' 7'aup4's'"Der^rsT?rshow^^^ i i!'^ ^^°F"5T'*'''"«'-n"?J^^?h'',"' tliis. but Miss Hale ha.s still to of this setup. It bears stretching ' i,a,i,ies of the individual perform- L." trH.jinflnfm^M'finn^ and Mary mil Doolittle, denionst rate that e a s y g & ing run an smooth-flowing speech that's a pre- - requisite of any emcee. : . Otherwise, the .show has the I'lglit ingredients. What with the public's general interest in the ersm.Ui4f nuX;" Mit-andl.S 3fewe«'on^^^^^^^^^ -Jji^„'i i cellist,' who duoed on ^a Spanisi; 1 strategy is frequently good, for ^^^^ To'si^'up dress to" be^"aT- established entertainer, but in a "P oiess lo ot ai a poor ABC-TV on Skates ABC-TV will televise the Roller show that wants to acquaint the ^ sil;?.,hio'5fH"^''-'"'r'^^^^^^ starting March 17, for •''^^^^.i'J^^^i ^''^l.i^^y afli'able job. gifdles and bras." As a low budg- si/.eablc Saturdayinight audience it con.secutive weeks. uowii!, uiu a juhj^ uii«w.<. j" , ^_ .<T„ji.,i.^„_ flamenco huiitiber; arid Eddy Man- .son, harmonica player, who did Ehesco's "Rumanian Rhapsody," accompanied by hjs wife. AH the acts were fine musically and. Surprisingly enough, made good viewing, aidfed by excellent Miss ,jr"-"'"".M".B..v audience It consecutive weeks. chiming in with song and dance, eter for women only, "Individu-i camera handling. Lenswork on tl e'fiil L,^^*-^ coopera ion liom I .p, before the ■ ^^Jl"'5^ien Gallagher did a per- ally Yours" shows what can be the harp-cello team, utilizing bM set TeSr wt%l^^^^^^^ l'""'^'- '""^''^ """"8 Ihe i"e'bit in the same vein done with short cost .ind long through-the-strings angles w-as ^^ iiiisn set designer who woikcci .^^^j weekly .after- , show caught indicated that more brains to put video on paying basis, particularly noteworthy. I ray is ■ ■ ' — It also gives tipofl: that a natural I dignified bttt plea^^^^ viewer with various turns, more ; Commercials are handled neatly, time could be allotted, even if one starting with title roUup and work- ing into closeups ot sponsors