Variety (January 1950)

Record Details:

Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

48 RADIO-TBLBVISION Continued from pase 40 IVicGaughey, architect and artist and Hal LeRby, tap dancer, were handled intelligently. Evans’ calm hersuasiyeness causes interviewees to present their most delightful Bide;; McCaughey’s water colors showed up quite vividly, despite the black and white impression. Highlight Of the telecast was Le- Roy -s demonstration of dance steps. ‘Films; brief pne’-act sequences, and the multiscope news reports are show’s dullest pOirits. Ho\y- ever from the standpoint of acting as a breather for Evans and break for viewers, they serve; their pur^ /.•pqse-w^ih Because of tight quarters, cam- somewhat among area viewers. Format is woven around Steve Malibe, suave, case-cracking privajte eye. No leg- man^ Steve does most of his sleuth- ing from his desk. Flashbacks are used, liberally. While hard to handle technically and apt to; be confusing, they’re done well On this show and continuity is main-' tained.,. First show of second year, caught Tuesday (17), had Malice chilled in on case by. daughter of sick man. Baughter suspected nurse who was in love With in- valid’s son, who would be cut off penniless if he wed the nurse. In show caught, ; commercials were better. than camera work which suffered on occasion by era work appeared erratic, with wide angle shots suf a a • , - fering most, and closeups coming j ‘ out clear and effective. ' day night (23) in its standard slick style. Titled “The Devil to Pay,” the yam was a modem-dress ver- sion of the hardy legendary theme in which an old savant trades his soul in for youth and. power. Work- ing the parallel very closely, the chief characters in the play were named Dr. Fastmann (Fauw and Marion (Marguerite) with ah ur- bane devil in elegant mufti 'also in evidence; • Play was carried by Arnold Moss’ solid performance as an aged scien- tist who invokes Mephisto via the usual Latin abracadabra. Convinc- ing as an old codger. Moss also cut an incisive figure as a young man who tires of a romantic liaison with his fornierly muchrdeslred lab as- sistant, Alffeda Wallace neatly played the femme lead. Camera work in the magico sequences were excellent while Jack LaRue’s ma- cabre intro and the comniercials wore tied info the session’s super- ! natural mood; junottiy 25, 195(l) Doilge Mnlis TV (pontlhtied from pace 35 obvious commercial tieins for the sponsor. All proceeds are tp go to ANTA, same as with the radio show, which had been baukrolied by the Army. Series will comb all phases of the entertainment, industry for the topmame talent that ”makes a hit with AmeriOa.” It will also feature a permanent emceor for which job [MCA is now dickering with pon iAmeche* ANTA has not been reP" resented on video since two years ago, when a series of half-hour dra- matic programs Were produced on j NBC^TV under its aegis. ^ Gosch was producer for “Tonight on Broadway,” which wound a 13- week cycle recently on CBS. WHO? WHAT? WHERE? With Bill McReynolds, Bill Yaiicy Producer: Pick Perry Director: j. R. Duncan 30 Mins.; Tiles, 8 p. 111 . - , $ustaiiiing " ance: Gimmick is to spot the clue WOAI-TV; San Antonio before Steve tells all. In case you First local audience participation Show to make its debut is this opus ] titled “Who? What? Where?” Names of televiewers are selected FLe.ep your eye on the clu . as the program Opens; from the! ; - , • files kept by the outlet of those | FLETCHER BUTLER BHOW listeners registering their sets, j With Butler; Alan Harvey, an- Cards are selected at random and • nouncer . _ ^ theii sent upstairs to the telephone Producer: Jpnuy vran were Rhoda Ann Baker, Marge; ^ . Meyer, Art Hunt, Bob King arid Rather fanciful was “The Rock- Tranter/ All were good with, ingham Tea Set,” a melodrama Tranter, who is radio columnist on i which WestinghouSe’s Stiidio One operator who places the call so that there is very little time lost, • . Bill McReynolds serves as pro- 'gram m.c. and keeps the flow of i chatter setting the stage for each [ question. Questions are in the; form of drawings made by Bill Yarity. Each type of - question is Vrorfh varied amounts. The highest any- one can win is $10, which slides down on a time scale to $1. The answer to the rebus is $5. Yancy is good With the charcoal and his cartoon characters are very good. It possibly would be good station publicity to also award the winrier the drawing which he iden- tifies. It would also serve as a con- solation prize to those not winning. Calls placed not only include those here in the city but in other towns in an 85-mile radius. Prp- f ;ram serves a$ a good promotion or the outlet but Would make a good sponsored telecast, Andy. THE CLUE With Jini Tranter, others Writers: Fred Keller, Ray Wander Producer-director: Keller 15 Mins.; Tues., 7 :Z0 p.m. Steins Beer arid Ale WBEN-TV, Buffalo : (H. F. Weil) Snappy whodunit starring Jim Tranter , as Steve Malice riioves Into its second year. Show has shown consistent improvement in camera work, acting and sets over its 53-week run. Local actors turn in good character work and com- mercials are neatly handled with- out listener annoyance. As the only local dramatic video show to stand the test of time, ^‘Clue” has built a solid following Buffalo News, turning iri the best; presented pri the CBS-TV net Mon- job. Firiish was strong and con- [ day (23). Despite a brisk adapta- sideririg long run of show, was' tiort W y producer Worthington overall good commercial perform- 1 Mirier arid Matthew Harlib fforii : .r,. - ._ X- ___x x,-_ ^1..- the Virgmia Douglas Dawson short story, the nature of the plot prob- ably made it more interesting to read; than to view. Cast; made a valiant try to make the tale of a nurse, who’s haunted by the spirit pf a dead patient, ap- pear believable. Louise Allbritton, however, tended to overplay the role of a paralytic. Grace 'Kelly Was a demure nurse, while Kath- arine Wiilard was a typical, dutiful mother. Supporting players were adequate. 6:15 p.m. Contlnded from pas« 38 Director: Fred Mulleii 15 Mins., Moh.-thru-Frl ALLIED AUTO CO. WBKB, Chicago (Chatles S. Temkin) This 15-minute tele-segment fpat- tures Fletcher Butler, Negro pian- ist, a raspiy-throated vocalist who specializes iri jazz Interpretations of pop and oldtiirie favorites. Crammed with six numbei's and two long film comiriercials, the show is beset by a rapid pace. Camera angles are chosen with care arid ingenuity in an effort to relieve’ the repetitoUs picture pat- tern of this single act frame. De- 1 . spite these attempts to insure a lively program, contiriuous shoot- ing of Butler becomes monoton- ous, distracting from the overall entertainment value. Equally dis- turbing Is the set’s austere back- ground, The pianist sits at his in- Struirierit in frorit of a large open windowdfsuxTOunded by bare brick j walls that remind one of an'aban- doned warehouse.. Commercials are standard film plugs highlighting fine points of used cars; Good photography makes the old models seem spank- ly new, and arinouncer Alan Har- vey’s well modulated voice com- pletes the feeling that autos arc a good buy. Butler’s renditions follow a cab- aret style of intimacy which is well cut out for TV fare. He is neither ' TBACImie Continued from page. 33 to be topped by Kprineth W. Stow- man, sales chief of WFIL-TV, Phil- adelphia, giving the station view- point, and Linriea Nelson, chief time buyer for J. Walter 'Thomp- son, on the agency side. Paul Adaiiti, g m. of WHEN, Syracuse, and Jack Boyle, studio production manager of WAVE-TV, Louisville, Will lead the talks on program- ming problems faced by iiitercori- nected and noninterconnected sta- tioris. Afternoon roundup will stairt With Edward Lamb, prez of WICU, Erie, Pa„ discussing profitable af- filiated rfatioriSr Speaking pn packaged film programs will be Russ Johriston, sales veepee of Jerry Fairbanks, Inc.; Ralph Cohn, TV manager of Screen Gems, and Maurice; Rifkin. exec of Ziv TV Programs. Ernest de la Ossa, NBC director of personnel and labor relations, will talk on TV’s juris- dictional problems, while Ned exec Veepee of Madison Sq. t6 go farther afield than, usu$l in j his quest for fresh video talerit. He’s slated to do. an excharige guest shot with the Quiz Kids show. FreCocipus riipppets will ap- pear on next week’s (31) program; while Berle will appeiir on the Quiz Kids’ show Sunday (28), : Morris ^gericy is still usinig an- other angle to line up talerit. For exairiple the Oxydol show came east for a few broadcasts, and all were signed for individual dates on the Berie show. Dinah Shore appeared last week, and Jack Smith arid Margaret Whitirig apr peared last night. Miss Shore, incideritally, was also slated for a shot on the Ed Sullivan show , Sunday .(22), but Berle’s bankroliers objected to her appearance oil a rival session im- mediately after her Texaco stirit. She’ll be on Sullivan’s program this week instead with Vic ; Da^ mone. CBS Cpntlnued from page 35 Garden Corp., N. Y., Will discuss original nor sensational, but his warmth and enthusiasm are enough Day s clinic will wind up with a to make him a Very likeable en- i^oundtable session on program- tertainer. continued from page 40 Ono of the Iqrqost compdhiot prodiioing •yndteofed rqdio pro- grdpis offers q fpp position to a properly qurillfied mcreliaridise mom. The man we seek Is at present employed by one ^5* networks, by o lorge agency, or by q priie merchrindlse orgqnizq- tion. He has q wide ricgudliiit- qnceshlp among mqhufdeturert. and on Intimate kfiowledge of the problems of rodio owords promo- tion. His job with us will be to effect premotipnal drroiiger ments with molor mdnufdctiurcrs seeking porticipdtlon oh qrie of the country's best kiiowh syndl- edted giveawoy programs. Pres- ent employment in simlldr work is qn essential qudiificotidn. Write fully giving previous ex- perience, present connections, qnd money Wonted. All inquiries will be held In the strictest con- fidence. Our employees know of this od. Address Box; y**9T62i Voriety# 366 N. Mlchigoii Ave., Chlcqgq 1, III. opponent, Charles Jordan as the crooked promoter arid Harry Bel- voice xri advance’for playback dur ' e snow on . abl radio and TV. program- ming practices in the.^ east, mid- west and on the Coast, with Paul ! Mowfey, national director of ABG- TV program sales, moderating. Milton^Berle, as a special limchepri giiest, will give his Views on the present state of TV programming. Also scheduled for the luncheon is an adaptation of “Stop the Mu- ' ing the fight sequence, incidentally,! toast- ' might have been a necessaiy story . the lunch, bridge becausri of the program’s short half-hour running time but it also helped negate the story; WOR-fK Continued fFoni page 35 “two For a Penny,” an Original senpt penned by Carol Warner Gluck, held the forf on NBC-TV’s i its offerings took a critical drub- Thetrire” Sun^ bight i bing, and the mariageirient has (22).,^ Pleas.antly-contnved story I since stated that it is pursuing a :.aT‘s “'S drama but made for okay week- i v end viewing. Both the script and . the station s new slants dialog became too cute and ploy- tlie appeal tp youngsters as ing at times, but Colgate’s pro-1 strong influences on family view- I ducers are still to be commended I )bS Patterns. The new cross-the- for taking a chancri with an origi- i board kid bldcfc starts at 6:30 p. m. Thesps handled their chores ac- ceptably, with William Post, Jr., and Neva Patterson emerging best i as the conscience^stficken parents who could find no way out of their dilemma. Norma Jane Marlowe; ! ‘“ the block Is “Comedy Camival,” moppetf escapfni’ S quarter-hour reels of old cPmedles, fault of Child* aCtoref 'eS t/^ ch^ Thomas a$ the school principal and ! th®^ sports, picture j except for the A. H. Van .Buren as'the :sehator I *«t““tes and the with “Mystery Bider,.’ which se- rializes western adveritures bri film. This is followed at 6:45 by “Time For Beany,” a puppet vidpic, pro- duced by Paramount TV Produc- tipris, which has been .aired on the Coast for a year. Final segment who finally set things straight'were okay in lesser roles. Show was di- rected by Melville Burke for‘ the l Esty-agency. “Lights Out” on NBC dished up another entertaining chiller Mon -1 TV. inking of the Brooklyn DPdgers baseball gariies. Station has also grabbed the Westitiinster Kennel Club . dog show from Madison Square Garden on Feb. 13 arid l4, which was airecl last year by CBS- Patty Painter, Columbia’s “Miss Color Television,” participating. A special night demonstration was alsp staged for members of a scientific committee appointed by Dr. Edward Condpn, director of the Bureau of Standards, to advise the Seriate Comriiittee on Inter- state and Foreign Commerce bn color progress.; Pres. Truman Has Set In addition to eight special re- ceivers installed at the Walker building, where public demonstra- tions are held, CBS has at least a dozen color sets distributed in im- portant homes in Washirigton. One of these is in Blair House, where the President is liviiig. Sets have been provided for each of the seven epmmissioners of the FCC. Others^ have beeri made available to Chairman Edwin G. Johrison of the Seriate Committee on Iriteiv state and Foreign Commerce and to Seri. Ernest McFarland, a mem- ber of the Committee. Othef In- stallations may be made. Although FCC has had no word yet fr om RCA as to whether it plans puDiic demonstrations; staff riiemhers were invited last week to the company’s laboratory in nearby Silver Springs, Md., to observe a new phasing system which has been incorpprated into its compati- ble color systpm; Previously, RCA’s top brass, includirig David Sarrioff, lirid members of the Joint Tecliriical Advispry Committee, an industry group formed t6 advise on TV problems, visited the lab- oratory to view programs which NBC has been broadcastirig daily in colpr from its video station here, London, Ont.> Jan, 24. Forty to 50 television stations wilI4>e needed to cover Canada- Stuart M. Finlayson^ general man^ ager of the Canadian Marconi Co Mqritreal, told Canadian Clubbers here. Cost Of setting up the 7,000 iriiles of network and the stations will be about $40,000,000 and tele- vision can become Canada’s fourth or fifth largest industry, he said Only in Toronto and Montreal did Finlay son see any Teal progress iri establishirig televisipri. He said that by the end of 1951 there will be two to three stations iri each of those ciUes. Each station will cost about $50(),00(). In centres this size he estiniated the cost of a sta- tiori at $200,000; to $300,000. ' Buyers of television sets in Can* ada, need not fear that their re- ceivers will become outmoded, be- cause provision is being made to protect their investment, he said. A dozen Canadian coriipanies are prPducing television receivers at preserit but because there are rip Canadiriri stations iri operation, they are being used mainly at bor- der points and iri ceixtres in Eastern Canada near the U, S. In Witidsor, across the river, from Detroit, tele- vision is popular in the bars arid many homes ax'e equipped now. CKLW, prxyately-Qwned station in the Windsor area, has applied to the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.. for a, license but no action has been; taken by the CBC in girinting private fi'anchises. In fact,; the television work in Montreal is be- ing done by the natiorially^vvhed radio system. Unofficially^ it is reported Bell Telephone has piaris drawn up for iristallirig a coaxial cable from Buf- falo to Montreal. Toronto re- ceivers are repprf:ed getting good skip waves off Lake Ontario from television stations across “the line.” Finlayson claimed television is too big for ariy One gx’oup (infer- xung the CBC) to handle and xirged that CBG set a television policy for px'ivate television stations as soon as possible. In Westex’ri C.anada,\ the tele- vision screen looks dark. There are possibilities of ;television ap-! plications from private groups in Winnipeg and Vancouvex' onlyi Otherwise the centres which are small will need CBG help to cover the wide expanses of px’airie. Ciricirinati;^Hefbert Flaig has rejoined the Crosley organization in. which he filled executive posts for 13 years before trarisfeiTing early in 1949 to the Sci-ipps-Ilbw-. ard WCPO-T sales staff, ^ow he is contacting advertisers fox* ; WLW-T. ... RECORDATri^^ . Pittsburgh, Jari. 24;; yMue of a TV showcase at the bpxoft'ice was demonstrated here last week. When Al Morgari, Du- Mont rietwork star out of Qhicago, broke the alltime nitery . record here at the. Copai. Furthermore, he did: it in five nights, being un- aWe to show On Moiiday because Of his video show, in Chi. ■ On strerigth of Morgan’s show-, ling, Copa’s owner, Lenny Litmari; ! immediately booked him; for a re- tuxm ip March at twice the dough. Not only was his popularity Te- flected. in biz, but singing pianist achieved something of a matinee idol status, with ci’owds following hiriv every where. OLD-TIME PERFORMERS WRNTED Pld^imt lingerc, ebrnsdiant, dqncert, muticiant, aribbqts, ont-mah; bbiids, tow |ilciy*rs> animol oclc, ;*tc., for Full Hour Amqfbur Program. . . Oppor- tunity to .win $100 and Grand Prbb of $ 2 , 000 ; Winners determined by apploute meter; duplicate pri'^tp* awarded in 4 ase of tie. The older you ore the better. ; 8 end photo, deicrip- tlon of . yoiir act, your age and your phone number to BQk 74 ) 236 , VARIETY^ 154 W. 46 th St., New Ybrii 19 , N. V, pledie writo Immediately. SALESMEN WANTED by New. England 1000 Watt etatlon In city op 165.000. 'Excellent opportunities for experienced radio Mlesmen.. Sub- stantial base salary; and commissions. Write Box V-4144. Variety. 154 W. 46th Street, New York 19/ N. Y-