Variety (September 1950)

RADIO reviews 1VIIAT MAKES YOU TICK?^ With Gypsy Rose Lee; Or. Frank Foster, Mrs, Lee R* Steiner; guests; George Ansbro, an- nouncer Writer; jBernle Dougal Director: Art Henley Producer; Addison Smith 30 Mins;, Sat.* 9 p.m. Sustaining ABC, from N. Y. Apparently uninhibited by re- HALLS OF IVY With Ronald Colman, Benita llume, others; Ken Carpenter, announcer; Henry Russell, mu- sic director > Producer: Charles Henry Director; Nat Wolff Writer; Don Quinn 30 Mins,; Wed., 8 p.m. SCHLITZ BEER NBC, from Hollywood (Young & Rubicam) rent attacks on her from outside | Ronald Colman and wife (Benita show biz, volatile Gypsy Rose Lee j Kmc) Jtarted^tl^ew ?*S was back on the air Saturday NBC’S “Hall of Ivy” Wednesday ns her old self when “What Makes You Tick?” returned front its va- cation. Show claims to be psycho- logical shenanigans, and is just an- other audience . pafticipationer with the added gimmick oL-a couple of psychologists rating the contestants on their merit m varied categories. But the accent is on the light and frivolous, and Saturday’s < 16) show was no ex- ception. Miss Lee fired a. lot of simple or silly questions, and got some amusing answers. What makes , this program tick is the shrewd choice, of questions tor an equallv shrewdly chosen group ot contestants. Together with Gypsy s personality, they not only make it tick, but make, it entertaining. Miss Lee had as participants a sailor, a femme from Georgia go- ing to college- in N. Y.; a Brooklyn, insurance salesman, and an^ elderly femme immigrant. All had to _an- swer in capsvile form the question, •‘Who Are Y!ou?’V followed. .t>y a variety of queries. All guests on this session had a sense of humor, ©r quick tongue, arid give-and- take made for some amusing mo- ments; Gypsy handles, herself breezily and well. It . was a good- humored joshing program of no great significance, but with some laughs. Bron. CHALLENGE OF THE YUKON With Paul Sutton, others Director: Fred Flowerday Writer; Fran Strike 30 mins.; Mon., Wed., Fn., 5:30 p.m. QUAKER OATS Mutual, from Detroit (Sherman-Marquette) “Challenge of the Yukon ” which Quaker Oats has switched from ABC to Mutual, preemed on the new net for the sponsor with sturdy interest-holding values in- tact. The Trendall-Campbell ad- venture strip, angled at kiddie audiences, remains a fast-moving segment Which cashes in on peren- nial glamour of northwest mounted police. On this, session the cast was aided by a good script and realistic sound effects. .Story; following usual cops-and-robbers . formula, built to a strong climax without too much violence. Tale described north woods pursuit by Mouritie Sgt. Preston of a trio of crooks rac- ing through the wilds to^teft up some stashed stolen gold. Paul Sut- ton was unbelievably vigorous as the mountie officer and supporting players were competently. profes sional. Frame wound up with good teaser for next show. Commercial pitches were well- aimed and hardhitting. Dave . JUNIOR CELEBRITIES With Jack Barry, Billy Reed, others Producers: Barry, Dan Enright Director: Enright 30 Mins,, Sun., 12 (noon) Sustaining WOR, N. Y. Junior Celebrities on the Initial session, Sunday.. < 17) apparently bad difficulty in ' trying to decide r whether major concentration was to be on the offspring of notables gathered at Bill, Reed’s Little Club, N. Y., or their elders. There seemed to.be an almost equal di- vision of gab from both. Jack Barry, who has previously Indicated his talents at getting youngsters to express themselves ©ri a wide variety of subjects, is at the helm of this t: anscribed pro- * gram, and proves he can draw out the kiddies in an entertaining planner. On the initial session, there wasri’t much need to get the juves in a garrulous mood because night (13); and evidenced that the show will again be one of the more adult on the ail* this year. As Dr. William Todhunter Ilall, prexy of the college, and his wife, the Col- mans were handed a thin story line but some sock d i a 1 o g by Don Quinn and his scripting stable, and scored on all counts with their tine radio thesping. Program should at- tract a good quota of listeners, again this season. During the course of the script, Colmari tossed in a lengthy and sharply-pointed argument on the merits of the United Nations, with a general plea that its . detractors be patient until the world orgart- 1 ization gets a chance to square away the present conflicts. Whether such stuff belongs on a. show that is supposed to be basically pure entertainment, is in itself a sub- ject for argument. There can be no denying, however, that the script’s point was well-taken, and the; show is probably to be com- mended for having the courage to voice an opinion while it’s at the same time trying to sell its spon? sor’s beer. Story line revolved around a couple of fraternities bidding for the same new house and bringing their problem to Colman, as the college prez, for a Solomon?type answer. Two fraternity reps, as editor arid cartoonist of the college daily, had both attacked the UN for its failure to solve the world's problems. Colman thus pointed out to them that the UN was Set up to arbitrate conflicts in the same way that he had been approached to solve the fraternity squabble. Script ' was not , all that serious, however. It gave . the Cblmans plenty of chance for their bright husband-and-wife banter, arid also introduced a co u pie of comedy characters in a real estate operator, and a member of the faculty, who tossed in plenty of chuckleful lines. Show was handed fine produc- tion backing by Charles Henry, and the top-quality work of the cast evidenced the deft directorial touch of Nat Wolff. Henry Russell conducted the short music bridges capably arid Ken Carpenter did his usual; quality spieling job on the Schilitz plugs. $tal. Wednesday, September 20, FALSTAFF’S FABLES 'With Allan Reed, Allan Reed, Jr., Dick Tufeld, announcer; John Duffy, organist Producer: Wally Ruggles Writer: Don Johnson 5 Mins., Mon.-thru-Fri., 5:55 p.m, MARS, INC, ABC, from Hollywood (Leo Burnett) HONEST HAROLD With Harold Peary, Joe 'Kearns, Gloria Holiday, Jane Morgan* Norma Jean Nillson, Ann Whit- field Writers: Gene Stone, Jack Robin- son Producer: Norman Macponnell 30 Mins,; Sun., 7:30 p.m. Sustaining Values of this five-minute cross- ' CBS, from *N. Y. LORRY RAINE ‘‘Stranger*'-—(London Records) “Strangers’V London’s No. 1 sell- er, lias good company in Lorry’s mellow.. “Harbor • Lights”.':— “Music, .Maestro, Please.’* ' Telegenic Miss Raine- got her start in California via '“Command performance”, Armed. Forces’ radio, Mark Warnow’s “Sound Off” and iri TV -with ■ ljudy Vallee. TIM GAYLE Publicity--Song and Record Explpitation-^—Management Shelton Hotel, New York the-board children’s segment are questionable. Programs are verse parodies of children classics; Initial segment was a takeoff on Longfellow’s “The Village Black- smith,” with Allan Reed narrating and his son, Allan Reed, Jr,, enact- ing the episode together with his father. > From the educational stand- point, the show had no value* what- soever. As for entertainment, script was in rather low taste, re- lying on verbal mugging and jokes that were considered worn out before radio’s inception. Both Reeds were a bit loud in their presentation, and combined with the organ and announcer . Dick Tufeld’s booming Milky Way ! commercials, they managed to get 1 more voluirie into five minutes than most shows squeeze into a 15-niinute Spot; There’s enough of romance and adventure in the children’s tales themselves to sustain juvenile in- terest for five minutes Without The necessity of parodying them. Fal- Harold Peary, who originated the •‘Great Gildersleeve” radio person- ality, has switched to another char- acter. He’s now playing as “Hon- est Harold,” an announcer in a smalltown station who manages to retain a close resemblance to Gild- ersleeve. He’s the same well-in- tentioned bumbler With the queer- ly crackling laugh and a reticence towards gals. This is the veriest ghost of Gildersleeve even though tile title has been changed and the situations slightly displaced. Fuf- themore, this show lias been direct- ly built to appeal to the same type of d ialers who followed Peary’s adventures under his Gildersleeve guise. Setting for,; the broad comedy situations is a tanktown station where Peary on the opening show (17) was precariously placed alter passing his own judgment on a sponsor’s product. Around Peary were introduced the conventional supporting characters of the sta- tion’s dyspeptic boss, a switchboard necessity or parouy ins t • operator, the town veterinarian staff’s Fables would do we i and other prop personalities, play the stories straight, c I • j Scripting quality is standard for CECIL BROWN 5 Mins.; Sat., 7:55 p,m. CHAMBERLAIN SALES CORP. Mutual, from N. Y. Cecil Brown, one of Mutual’s top news commentators, is supple- menting his daily quarter-hour broadcasts with this capsule sum- mary of the news.. Iri five minutes, Brown has little more time than to breeze over the headlines at a crisp pace. On the opening stariza, Brown naturally concentrated on the Ko- rean war developments. In this brief period there was no room for extensive reportage, analysis or opinion but is serves as a good news digest. . Berm. WALTER WINCHELL ! With Richard Stark, announcer Director: Paul Scheffels. Producer: John Bates 15 Mins.; Sun.j 9 iMti. HUDNUT ABC* from N. Y. . (Kenyon & Eckhardt) Back for his 19th consecutive season, after a seven-week vaca- tion, AValterWinchell was his old fighting self Sunday (17). His 15- minute rapid-fire melange of news* gossip, prognostication and. preach- ment had no scoops; no sock items or highspots, but it held to an in- teresting reportorial level. Mis- cellany divulged included the $!,- 000,000 advance “Call Me Madam” has rolled up; rumor that Eddie Dyer might manage Brooklyn; Tito reportedly claiming t h a t World War III was due by next summer; break in the romance of La Bergman and Rossellini; hint pri the “Stop The Music” mystery melody, and gamblers odds on elec- tion wagers. There were a couple of eyebrow- raisers, this listener wondering j where Wincheil had learned that Soviet Russia has ordered Korea held at all costs. Probably WW had tongue in cheek when he as- sured New Yorkers they could re- lax against the fear of atom bomb- ing—especially when Malik and Vishinsky . were here, You may come away from a Wincheil broad- cast with one or several of a Variety of feelings—but never with- out a reaction. Broil. BORIS KARLOFF’S TREASURE CHEST ... ■ With Karloff; organist, Kay Reid* announcer. Bill Gordon Writer: Mort Levin Producer: Dick Pack Director: John Grogan i 30 Mins.; Sun.* 7 p.m. 1 'Sustaining ; WNEW, N. Y. .. . . . : ! It was nice to play himself for a change, said Boris Karloff Sun? day (17) as he began a stint on WNEW, N, Y. as a children s'disk jockey. Most dialers who caught the preem probably felt it was equally nice to have the onetime film badmari as conferencier of a bedtime .program for “boys and girls of all ages.” For Karloff s fatherly qualities, his. flair for spin- ning a riddle or a recording added up to pleasant listening. Half-hour show was pegged around. Karloff’s “treasure chest out of which he fished his stories, platters, limericks and other mate- rial that serve to keep youngsters contented at the time when the sun (and little children) go to bed. Whether it was a Burl Ives wax- ing of “Sarah the Whale” or Kar- loff’s own- reading of Lewis Car- roll’s “Jabberwocky ” the layout maintained a steady interest . Gilb. this homey type Of program with a liberal quantity of corny lines and punch lines that were set up well in advance. Peary waded through it all with the same jovial good humor that has proved in- fectious in the past. Her in. WE TAKE YOUR WORD With Abe Burrows, Lyman Bry- i MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS • With Peggy Ann Gamer, Agnes Yoting, Vinton Hayworth, Billy Redfield, Brook Byron, Raymond Johnson, Ethel Wilsoti, Jack Ed- wards; musical conductor, Vla- dimir Solinsky Writer: Russell Beggs Producer: Baron Polan Director: Fred Weihe 30 Mins.; Sun.» 10:30 p.m. NBC. from New York Escapades and shortcomings of teenagers who romped, at the turn of the century form the major part of NBC’s new family-situation comedy series, “Meet Me in St. Louis,” which bowed Sunday (16). As adapted from the Sally Benson New. Yorker mag stories by Russell Beggs, the half-hour session easily captures the nostalgic flavor of middle class domestic life in St. Louis. For the initialer* the script was built around a 15-year-old girl who participated in. a women’s suffrage parade to “show off” in front of her boy friend. Her subsequent jailing proved a considerable source of embarrassment to her father inasmuch as he as well son; John K. M. McCaffery, as his employer professed to be 5:30 HOOK, LINE & SINCLAIR Producer: William Gent 15 Mins.; Thurs., 10:30 p.m. FELLER’S ICE CFRB, Toronto (Garry Carter) Hottest and most, controversial program in the new season of Canadian radio, with listener rat- Sggs zooming, is the new series launched by Gordon Sinclair, for- mer Variety mu g g, and still a globe-trotting reporter,. He has built up a reputation for fearing rfo man and takes a delight in puncturing stuffed shirts in gov- SKY KING With Earl Nightingale* Cliff Sou- bier, Beryl Vaughan, Jack Bivans, others Producer: Chris Ford Director; Roy Winsor Writer: Dick Stenger* Fran Van Hartesveldt 25 Mins.; Tues„ and Thurs., p.m. (CDT) DERBY FOODS MUTUAL,/from Chicago (Needham, Louis & Brorby) This twice-weekly adventure series debuted with a new lead on Mutual after switching from ABC. Earl Nightingale is the new Sky King, replacing Jack Lester. Plus elements of the. show are the use of two kid characters for good audience involvement and the up- dating of the western motif with an aviator hero. First segment < 12) added up to only moderate attrac- tion for young thrill-hunters, main- ly because of a contrived tale that Unwound to a weak climax.' Also, Nightingale needs a few shows to get the feel of the i>art, bn show heard, his delivery was a bit too moderator; Ilka Chase, guest Producer; Werner Michel 30 Mins.; Fri., 10 p.m. Sustaining CBS, from N. Y. “We Take Your Word” returned to the. CBS radio web Friday night (15) after its summer vaca- tion to prove once again the nice- ties of sugar-coatecl education. As illustrated last season, the pro- gram, which has a panel of ex- peris guessing the derivation of various words or phrases submit- ted by home listeners, gets in a surprising amount of knowledge along with its entertainment opposed to extensive lights for women. Just when pop was writhing with nervousness over his daughter’s miscue, the situation conveniently turns for the better when the boss' wife is disclosed as the parade leader. Performance arid produc- tion values were good. Peggy Ann Gamer was pert and winsome as the tomboyish cutup, Vinton Hay- worth was amusingly dignified as the father and Bfook Byron clicked as Miss Gamer’s fickle sister. Other players lent fine support. On the basis of the opener, “Meet Me in St. Louis” should have little tions. With his p res s and radio out-/ lets (Sinclair is the top newscaster in Canada and does his own fact- ©f Barry’s desire to get in paren- > finding rather than reading a news eminent or big business, plus his ieeis, aie iaise loiK-ways oi uaai- cf m . v hw* wiih fim I tal verbiage. Even if Barry disdains concen- tration on the younger set, pro- gram can pay off in name value by nabbing celebs in the guise of having them bring down the brats; On the initial stanza., Bob Hope and Bob Crosby, showed up. Neither brought their kids, but being fathers, they apparently bave the natural desire to talk about them. The show can pay ©ft* either way, and Barb’s pack- age looks like it will continue 1 on a good entertainment level for an- other season* Jose, room/script; is radio columnist for the Toronto Star, Canada’s, largest daily, and does considerable maga- zine writing), the new and in- stantly popular program maintains his reputation as a good-natured but ruthless debunker who softens part of the critical sting by his chuckling tolerance delivery rather than the usual vehement ranting that, otherwise might mar a pro- gram of this type. Story this time dealt with the pursuit arid capture of a quartet Of car rustlers. Aviation switch had the thieves using a transport plane to move the hot cars to Mexico with Sky King arid his gang spot- ting the secret landing field from their plane, During coprse of ac- tivities Sky King and friends got captured by the crooks but es- caped a bumping off when hero argued the bad men out of the idea, for a pretty flat climax. Berl Vaughan and Jack Bivans were okay as Sky King’s young as- sistants arid Cliff Soubier was a quality, with the two parlaying in-! difficulty in building a following, to a fine half-hour’s listening; Gilb. :bs* —— THE BOTANY SONG SHOP With Ginriy Simms, Buddy Cole Trio; Jimmy Wakely, guest; Har- ry Von Zell, announcer 15 Mins.; Sun;, 10 p.m. BOTANY MILLS ABC, from Hollywood (Alfred J. Silberstein, Bert Gold* smith, Inc.) . Botany Mills’ first venture into nighttime programming, this 15- minute spot should make Tor re- laxed Sunday night listening. Un- der the pleasant handling of song- stress Giriny Simms, the program has a casual arid unpretentious air about it that should attract more than just, the pop music devotee. Miss Simms handled both the singing arid emcee chores on the initial segment, sharing the vocal spot With guest Jimmy Wakely. Chirp did her usual fine job ori “Three Little W o r d s ” ‘and •Tenderly.” Wakely sang an okay version of “Mona Lisa”, and the two combined for a bright “Why Don’t We Do This More Often.” Miss Simms then read a letter from ] a listener requesting “These believable ranch foreman. Sup- i.u A ^ . i porting cast was good in minor i r bles. Narration arid commercials p0 . 1 / rie ^ 11 ^8 for; for Peter Pan Peanut Butter were nothing* Sinclan attacked the gi V en punch by Myron Wallace. (Continued on page 36) Dave t “Word,” the brainchild of CBS’ Werner Michel, started originally as a radio show arid then was adapted for TV. While the AM version (which is taped, incidental- ly) is standout on all counts, listeners who have become ac- quainted With the show via TV might be slightly disappointed be- cause of its enforced single-di- mensional quality. Panel, compris- ing Abe Burrows and Lyman Bryson as permanent riiembers and, on the new, season’s preem, Ilka Chase as guest,, apparently got in plenty , of heavy mugging. Initial stanza sparkled with the wit and banter of the panelists and moderator John K. M. McCaffery, even though they overdid the. pun- ning at several points. Part of the program’s, appeal, jay in the fact that the panelists themselves were having such an obvious good time, coupled with their almost amazing store of knowledge. Latter. factor is pointed up in Burrows, in whom that amount of erudition emanate ing from his Brooklyn accent was almost shocking. Program, samfe as last season, has the deep-throated arid anony- mous “Voice of Authority” on hand to fill in the correct answera to any questions that stump the panelists and also to dole out the penalties when one of the cori- . testants throws in. too sharp a pun. I Stal. ish Things,” which she rendered in fine style. Miss Simms handled song in- troductions neatly, While Harry Von Zell delivered his Botany commer- cials straightforwardly. Backing by the Buddy Cole Trio was e^^ n °nt, Chan,