Variety (September 1950)

TELEVISION REVIEWS Wedntiday, September 20, 1950 DON MeNEIIX’S TV CMJB With Gloria Swanson, Johnny D*«- mond, Pa(py Lee* Sam Cowling, Cliff Petersen; Bob Murphy, an- nouncer; Eddie Ballantine orch Producer: Ivor McLaren - Director: Grover J. Allen 60 Mins.; Wed., 8 p.m. (CDT) PHILCO ABC-TV, from Chicago (Hutchins) Don McNeill and *The Break- fast Club” gang made the jump] into video Wednesday night (13) with free-wheeling format packed with a large bundle of first-rate tele entertainment. An imagina- tively produced session with only ft few slow spots; the show ranged the spectrum from corn to sophis- tication with resulting broad ap- peal. '..." Although guest star Gloria Swanson copped top honors on the initialer, more significant for the future. of the series was the; ex- cellent t e e v e e capabilities evi- denced by the regular members of the cast, McNeill, emcee and king- pin of the show, gains aded effec- tiveness in the new medium. It points to. his easily being, accepted as a video personality comparable to his radio success, which after 17 years - as- nn r AM- hea dliner-isno. mean feat. He and the rest of the regular crew—-singers Johnny Des- mond and Patsy Lee and comedi- ans Sam Cowling arid Cliff Peter- sen Succeeded . iri projecting a great deal of intrinsic camaraderie which should quickly gain momen- tum with family dialers. Preem definitely showed the •‘Breakfast Club” cast to be at home in video but raised some questions about the tele adaptabil- ity of some of the BC: format. Cer- tain of the BC staple features such as the moment of prayer and some of the interviews with im- ported non-pro guests came off okay. However, lulls and produc- tion hitches occurred during a couple of g u e s t interviews and other audience participation stunts. But the viewers who might have stiffed a yawn at the giggling grandmother describing her corset difficulty were more than re- warded by the appearance of Miss Swansbn, She was on for nearly the last 20 minutes of the show, not in the usual ornamental but insignificant guest star role, but as an active participant. Her repartee with McNeill was hilarious as was their skit in which he played the Latin lover to her femme fatale portrayal. Also topflight were the musical THE SPEIDEL SHOW „ ^ With Paul Wlnchell & Jerry Maho- ney* Jimmy Blaine, Patricia Bright, Sid Raymond, John Gart orch/ others „ , Producer-director: Sherman Marks Writers: J. Frank Clark, Alex Singer 30 Mins., Mon., 8 p.m. SPEIDEL CORP. NBC-TV, from N. Y. ( ssc & B) ALAN YOUNG SHOW With Gloria De Haven, ffuesta Writers: Leo Solomon, David R. Schwartz, Young Producer-Director: Dick Linkroum 30 Mins.; Thurs., 9 p.m. ESSO STANDARD OIL CBS-TV, from Hollywood (Marschalk &- Pratt; Ralph H. Tele Follow-Up Comment Jones) This show, which is produced in Hollywood and kinescoped, with This new LouTs'gT Cowan pack-! excellent quality in the east, con- - j tinues the same brand of whimsi- cal comedy that Alan Young car- age, which the Speidel watchband company has bought for the Mon- day night at 8 segment on NBC- TV, represents a novel integration of the Paul Winchell-Jerry Maho- ney ventro bits into the long famil- iar “What’s My Name?” audience participation format. With, an early evening showcase (7 o'clock in the midwest); it parlays a bid for both juve arid adult audiences and com- bines a sufficient entertainment quotient to appeal to varied age levels. “Name” was long familiar to ra- dio audiences, when Ed Byron originally packaged the show with Arlene Francis in the emcee role. For the visual; display, it lias been enhanced by some solid production values, ~ .with; the questions stacked against the participants translated into dramatic, fkrcical and musi- comedy. vignettes. For the TV version the Winchell- Mahoney duo share the burden of the emcee spot (along with Jimmy Blaine) and also participate in re- enacting the quiz aspects of the show. Material for the most part Was fresh on the opening stanza, although better pacing and some tightening up would appear to be in order/. Nonetheless, the basic values for a half-hour entertain- ment have been molded together. With John Gart’s orch, Blaine, Patricia Bright, Sid Rayrnond and a chorus among the supplementary attractions utilized for the quiz facets, “What’s My Name?” sug- gests that Speidel has bought it- self an engaging package. Rose . ried off. successfully last year. Not all of Young’s bits is firstrate, but it is properly* slanted for a visual medium and it registers as pleas- ant TV entertainment on an over- all basis. A versatile comic and pantomimist, Young essays an unforced, mild kind of humor which emerges out of the sketches which he enacts. On the preem (14), Young scored best With his bit as a newspaper photographer searching for picture angles. Mayhem and suicides were taking place all around his camera, but Young missed it all while con- centrating on some cliched cheese- cake poses. Less successful was the sketch in which Young had to take care of his child during the night. This was -dragged—out--far; too long for the couple Of laughs contained in the routine. Young closed with a cute boy-1 oves-girl routine in which guestar Gloria De Haven socked over Rhe tune, “I Love the Guy,” to best ad- V3ntd^6, Plugs for the oil product had a strained quality which was out of tupe with the rest of the show. Straight commercials would have been far more effective. H&rhh AIRFLYTE RE- PENTHOUSE PARTY With Betty Furness, femcee; Don Cherry, Vincente Gomez, Anita Ellis; Senator Ford, Buddy Weed Trio Producer: Lester Lewis Director: Alex Segal 30 Mins.; Fri., 10 p.m. BEST FOODS, INC. ABC-TV, from New York (Earle Ludgin) „ Smoothly emceed by blonde Betty numbers, which registered well Furness, “Penthouse Party” got both visually and orally, thanks to away to a good start Friday (15) clever production mounting?. Miss 0 n ABC-TV. Half-hour show, built Lee and Cliff Petersen were show- around a guest format, was marked cased trickily in an oldtime theatre by an easy, informal atmosphere, set, complete with pit pianist, as Set resembled an oversized living *they sang “At the Nickelodeon room and the camera moved eas- Movie Show. Desmond s standout iiy from the sundry participants to treatment of Cest Si Bon was bring about a friendly bond be- fbetted ky a neat sidewalk cafe tween viewers and those on the layout. Baritone s song and dance screen. routine with Cowling as they For the preem Miss Furness had dotted Ain t She Sweet scored guitarist Vincente Gomez, songs- yell. Offstage backing by Eddie Bal- tress Anita Ellis and humorist Sen- lantine was consistently smooth. afor Ford as visitors. Permanent Segment was generously sprin- cast members are baritone Don kled with good visual gag^ situa- cherry and the Buddy Weed Trio, tions. Cowling, demonstrating a Each guest was briefly interviewed nice deadpan technique, was in- by the femcee whose effortless in-? Volved m most of them .for strong tros and general poise were a payoffs. Routine, ^satirizing TV s pleasant contrast to the failings of puppet era, which had comic danc- some of her less gifted contempo- lng from strings manipulated by a rar i es . ad e jftwist. Particularly well done was Miss Dne°f the besV gags of the show Furness’ simulated crooning of i; £ j 0 ’ ca ^ e< ? i 1 ? 1 e “Put the Blame on Marne.” Actu- which had a real-life Philco vee- the voice was that of Miss pee appear on stage end tear up Ellis who has been the offscreen toss it aside singing double of Rita Hayworth »* a and Vera Ellen among others. The Murphy faked routine was a heat intro for a set spial the chirper. Gomez guitared a fetching Spanish dance, Ford dead- WaS panned a yarn about “Dopey Dil- Gr °, v dock” while Cherry and the Weed Allen cued the show with a deft outfit supplied okay musical inter- hand. Dave . LET’S PLAY CHARADES With Nat Barrell, m, c.; guests Producer: John Hutchinson 20 Miris.; Sun., 6:30 p.m. GEORGE R. BENNETT CO. WBEN, TV, Buffelo ludes. Layout principally plugs Best Foods’ Hellmann’s Mayonnaise. Through some technical snafu sev- eral'slides demonstrating uses of the dressing were unaccompanied by a sound; track in the opening commercial. However, this defi- ciency was remedied in subsequent (Ellis) This show preemed (10) for a puffs, Also ballyed are BF’s Shin second year, after a summer lay- ola arid Rit. To the Sponsor’s off, using the same format as last credit; the blurbs aren’t as long- year, with actors Dorothy D’Anna winded as those on the majority of and Art Hunt'miming book titles, other shows. Gilb. songs, etc., and teams trying to guess them. A certain stiffness _ in the first show was eliminated M1EET ME AT THE EAGIJ5 in the second stint (17), when the With Betty Blair, Nancy Dolphin format was changed entirely. Nat Producer: Lamb ftp Keen, Inc, Barrell, who has plenty of show Director: Glenn Bernard . biz savvy, turned in an okay re- \: T P* m * laxed job as emcee. JOHN WANAMAKER New show is a definite improve- WCAU-TV, Phila ment. Now male and female „ Meet Me at the Eagle,” which teams play “The Game.” Song debuted last week, (11) represents title, proverb or what have you is tlie largest daytime television con* pantomimed against time. Teams tract written for -a department proved to be very apt. Titles were store to date,, an-hour-and-a-half given to viewers and flashed on daily across-the-board, totalling up screen. It might have been inter- to seven and one-half hours of TV •sting to hold back one or two, time weekly. Lamb & Keen to that viewers could guess too. agency, which haridles the account. When show gets rolling, it should have Worked up a show that com-i be a hit in this area* More ... (Continued on page 36) CHEZ PAREE VIEW With Dave Dursten, Joyce Sellers, Jim Dimitri, Meryl Weber, Rich ard France, The Meadowlarks (4), Chez Pare© Adorables (10), Cee Davidson orch (10); an noiincer, Russ Reed. ; Producer-writer: Nyles Palley Director: Don Cook 30 Mins.; ThUrs., 7:30 p.m. CHICAGO NASH DEALERS WGN-TV, Chicago (Geyer, Newell & Ganger) In what is- believed to be the first continuous program from • a nightclub floor, Dawson and Jack- son, package producers/ have come up with a first-rate idea, which besides selling the sponsor’s prod r uct, should also increase trade for the bistro. While half-hour show uses nitery talent, it smartly Veers away from standard bistro pro- cedure of using one act after an- other,’ blit ties things together with a permanent cast and a Weekly story idea. Camerawork is centered on all the facets of the Chez Paree, with the home viewer getting a ring- side glimpse of the proceedings, plus the antics of the Customers, which add a realistic touch. The band seems to fit naturally, al- though straight forward shots are tiring. The Dorothy Dorben dancers set the stage and then have several numbers, which back the efforts of the soloists nicely. - In the story about the Western dude ranch, Complete with so- called cowboys and gals from the east, permanent cast of Dave Dursten, Joyce Sellers, Jim Dimitri, Meryl Weber carry the slight story about the bashful Hand and the wilful miss. Dimitri, ro- mantic lead, does well as the cow- seed hero and clicked in singing several standards. Dave Dursten as the comedian "shows the most professiorial gloss and surprised with some baritoning and a bit Of terp. Miss Sellers acquitted herself in the sorig department, but was somewhat nervous in the acting end. Miss Walker did fine as the foil for Dursten’s efforts. Meadow- larks offered neat choral assistance as well as doing a part here and there. Richard France as solo dancer had some sock jack-knife leaps, especially as an Indian brave. Cee Davidson’s orchestra followed the brightly written special score of Bill Wrilker. Direction by Don Cook allowed no lags, but unfor- tunately the camerawork , negated much of his efforts as shots are either straightforward closeups, with little attempt made to. follow the action of the dancers from various angles or the positions of the others. Haying the simple prop set in front of the band is also a feeble thought, as much of the viewer’s attention was diverted by the playing of the musicians. With some brushup by the camera crew and tighter reading by the actors, show closely reined by Nyles Palley should gather large local following. Commercials, both live and film, are well Integrated, with Russ Reed doing a sincere and warm job, especially in the inter- viewing of Nash dealers. Thought of a review from the nitery floor is brainchild of John Wiggins. Zabe. Ed Sullivan has unleashed a healthy bankroll to line up suffi- cient names to buck the NRCn Colgate comedy series opposite him. When not booking names purely for drawing ability, Sulli- vani has succeeded in hitting upon talent with a wealth of; entertain- ment ability. Overall results in Sunday’s (17) show were good. Most of the performers delivered handily. Headline values were contained in Hedy Lamarr and Pat O’Brieft. Latter has been appearing in cafes of late and has an act that Repre- sents a desire to do something for the folks. O’Brien introduced him- self with “Same Old Shelalagh” and carbonned Bert Williams’ Poker Game. He encored with a straight Recitation of “America” intended to show poetic quality in that >turie. O’Brien- j ustified his booking. Miss Lamarr made no such at- tempt. Apparently all she was hired to do was look pretty and she’s extr emel y capable in that de- partment. She sat still while A1 Kelly made an attempt to provide some entertainment with double talk, Sullivan interviewing her, had her sing “Rock a Bye Baby.” Miss Lamarr came as a sub for Gloria Swanson, whose appearance J on the show was postponed to next week. Otherwise, Sullivan provided a good show. The .Blackburn Twins did capably in the song and dance offerings, their best bit being a mirror number. Mitni Beiizell did excellently with rendition of “Merry Widow” excerpts, and Jean* Carroll socked her way round the parlor screens with a mbno- log; Eddie & Tony also showed up well in a record act. This is an unusual duo with one of them confined to a wheelchair. However, they get by purely on ability rather than a pitch for sympathy. The Ivanoffs’ bar acrobatics simi- larly hit its CBS-TY’s “Studio One” staged one of its best productions Monday night (21) with the presentation of George du Maurier’s classic, “Trilby,” Working with a fine adaptation by Joseph Liss and .backgrounded by Worthingtpn C. Miner's excellent production trap- pings, an exceptionally able cast made every scene a telling one in the story Of the Italian hypnotist, Bvengali, and his unnatural hold on the little Irish model. With di- rector Paul Nickell utilizing his cameras to great effect, the show built mood upon mood to hold viewers-for the full houR. Success of the Offering was due in great part to the adept thesping of /Arnold Moss, as Svengali, and Priscilla Gillette, as Trilby. Cos- tumed to look the part of the half- mad hypnotist, Moss underplayed to just the right degree, making the most of a role that might have been parodied in less Capable hands. Miss Gillette, Broadway musical soprano who made her bow as a dramatic actress on “Studio One,” effectively mirrored the warm charm of the model and then the mixed emotions of horror and insensitivity to her mentor. : She also scored, of course, in the sing- ing scenes. Small supporting cast was fine, including Henry Bernard as Trilby’s love interest, Richard Purdy as his friend, Catherine Wil- lard as his haughty mother and Henry Lascoe as Svengali’s violin- playing valet. Miner and Nickell together worked one of TV’s wonders in their staging of the Drury Lane concert, achieving via art overhead camera shot the illusion of a full auditorium. It was too bad the show’s mood had to be interrupted by the Westinghouse commercials but, since they Were, necessary, Betty Furness did a capable, job on them. cidentally, scored in a couple of skits with her w.k. man-crazy antics and Miss Swarthout, while faring none to well on her first tune, a Cole Porter ballad, came back to register solidly with the “Habanera” from “Carmen.” I That led into the grand finale, a parody on the opera, with Carter as Escamillo, Richards as Don Jose and Miss vague as Carmen. It missed fire because of a weak tag- line. Berry Bros, Impressed with their acRo-terping and Carter and Richards got .in a. couple of good licks against the current crop of cowboy merchandisers in a skit about “Skip-a-long Carter” and “Roy Richards.” Arlene Francis hostessed the second part of the show and, did an effective job. Caesar and Miss Coca, whether singly or as a pair, again proved their tremend- ous comedy talents'. Best of their work was an hilarious pantomime sketch on the silent-era films, with Caesar miming Rudolph. Valentino ftrid Miss Coca doing a Theda Bara. Their probing irtto super- stitious cliches in a “Gypsy Tea Kettle” skit was equally sock, as was their sketch about a couple of new parents. Caesar scored with his dialectics as a Viennese animal authority, while Miss Coca smash- ed across her monolog on the strawhat operettas.. Marguerite Piazza, given fine production backing, did a neat job on “You Go to My Head” and teamed with Robert Merrill on an entertaining interlude of arias from “Don Giovanni.” Singer Earl Redding and dancers Nell Fisher and Jerry Ross pleased again with one of their folk-tune specialties and the Billy 1 Williams Quartet made for a nice pace-changer with their turn. Stanza’s only weakness, in fact, occurred in the finale, an overlong and rather pointless ballet featuring the entire dance ensem- ble in something called “Go West. Young Man.” Charles Sanford’s fine conduct- ing job on the Caesar-Coca show was evident throughout. Harry Sosnik did an equally capable musical job on the Carter segment. Second stanza in the new season of NBC’s “Saturday Night Revue last week (16) almost carbonned the initialer—the Sid Caesar- Imogene Coca-Max Liebman par- lay on the “Show of Shows” seg- ment was almost ptire sock, while the opening Jack Carter hour was weak by comparison. Caesar-Coca hour-and-a-half, in fact, was so good that the plethora of commer- cials, while denting the show’s pacing, failed to halt it as the cast followed each plug with a skit al- most .better than the previous one, Carter’s chief trouble seemed to be that he was punching too hard. He ,had some good guest talent in Vera Vague and Gladys Swarthout and regular Donald Richards turned in what was probably his best vocalizing job to date on the “Soliloquy” from Rodgers & Hammerstpin’s “Carousel.” Miss [Vague, who looks good on TV, in “Philco Playhouse,” which got off to a slow start with its new season preem Sept. 10, picked up considerable speed via NBC-TV Sunday night (17) With its presen- tation of Jerome Weidman’s “Long Run.” While the paring was spotty and William Kendall Clarke’s ad- aptation tied the strings of the in- tricate plot rather loosely together, the show a did achieve the suspense and intrigue to sustain audience interest. Fine job of casting, par- ticularly in the lead roles, made for top-drawer thesping, which contributed mostly to the show’s success. Francis Lederer, as a reformed dipso and • one of the five chief protagonists in the jterri, turned in. a deftly-shaded characteriza- tion. Vicki Cummings, as his un- principled wife, and Augusta Dabney, as the “other woman” idealist, contrasted nicely in their roles and both scored. Margaret Barker was good as Miss Cum- mings’ secretary and Francis Compton impressed as the fifth old friend whose lives were re- woven by the plot. Maurice Burke and Augusta Rolland fared, well in lesser roles. Program evidenced tqp production backings of Fred Coe, and Gordon Duff directed ex- ceedingly well. CBS-TV’s “This Js Show Busi- ness,” which has maintained a consistently fast pace since return- ing to air several weeks ago, did it again Sunday night (17). With regular panelists George S. Kauf- man and Abe Burrows in fine fettle With theiiv pointed advice to the guest participants, the show elicited a steady round of yocks. Adding to the general fun was comic Jack E. Leonard, who came in for advice on how he, too, could become a member of such a panel and wound up by completely breaking up not only the studio audience but also Burrows and moderator Clifton Fadiman. La- raine Day, as guest panelist, might not have been as sly with her com- ments as. Burrows and Kaufman but contributed the necessary beauty to the panel. Underlining the greater amount of production going into the show, vocalist Johnny Johnston teed off on a good rendition of “Septem- ber Song” against a fine-looking set depicting falling leaves. He also drew one of Burrows’ better barbs with his problem on how to eliminate the broad expanse of country between him in N. Y, ana his wife, Kathryn Grayson, who is (Continued on page 36)