Variety (December 1950)

TEKEVISION TY —— long, involved set of lines, as w;ell as singing several tunes prettily. Tele Follow-up Comment iviv ■ WiIVtt Mp WViHiiiViili Hatter. Ralph Riggs’ Continued from pase 27 Mock Turtle and RilT McGuire’s . . ■ , . . \ t and Jack hemmon’s Tweedledee obviously involved intricate pro- economies in their being used for ■ Tweedledum. Play had ex- duction techniques, had Allen as two_telecasts. cellent production for the most Continued from pase 27 Santa Claus, who refused to ride “Ford Theatre” this Christmas because of the classic last Dt world’s state of affairs, Skit show- , minute Version j ♦ M Ai««ff' Cellent production for the most Ford Theatre^ 4ih the Alcott ■ some fine niusic accom-, classm last ^Decembei^ m a ^ Handling of t h e minute Queen’s procession, for instance, as Jo and Patricia Kirkland, ace direction and lensing. Lockhart^and i EfTect of making Alice first smaller, sisters. While that excellent P^P"’i fiyf,,, larcrpr rlpverlv executed. ing the effects of TV on a nine- as Jo and Fatncia ivirKiana, .June year-old Who obtained all his edu* Lockhart and Kim Hunter as her cation from the video screen was sisters. While that excellent pro-^ sharp, mostly because it had some' duction had better marquee of Allen’s; incisive \vit. values, “Studio One’’ matched iV Ex •^ Metopera soprano Eileen -^and the expansion to two. houls Farrell registered strongly Avitli added, new values. There w as. no her “Un Bel Di" from •‘^Iadame‘ need, for example, to have a nai- Bulterfly.” but there must be at rator . v Xea.st. one olher aria; which would . Betty . Furness be suitable for these guest trillers good job on the - Westmghpuse on TV, Christianis scored witlv commercials; tlveir iot-pacecl aefo routines, and, , . • A1 Goodman and his orch backed ;’ At. Morgan’s Monday night half-' tire .show capably. Commercials hour oh DuMont from WGN-TV, for the several Colgate products Chicago, has undergone some, re- vere standard. 'furbishing. Format remains ba- v \-"- . . isicallv the same, with Morgan car- -V’c -QtnhiO nn.r:' nvikina Of tllC SllOW' wilh lllS IV ^ singing and keyboarding. But since an excellent choice ot Chnstmas johnnv King’s recent takeover as prosramming .selMUd Loiu : produaer, more en'ective staging AlooU s ' and smoother production has given ',rI cn""- * 15 ; the session added \nftving val,ue.s, eventful novel into a ^O-minpte : pP g new. set and bet- production,, producer Worthington , ( integration of the weekly guest W'ncr divided It in two houiMong ■ gj^ve to make the show Queen’s procession, for instance, was ace direction and lensing. ! EfTect of making Alice first smaller, ! then larger, was cleverly executed, duction haj ‘ and thefe were similar highgrade, I touches thToughout. Grace Hous- I ton’s costumes, copied from the faihous Tehniel drawings, were good, and on. color \Tould have been sock. Dorothy Jarnac, who rates a nod for the choreograpliy/j also did a neat job as The White | : Babbit. . .. I Wecjnes^fEij, December. 20,. 1950 Same Old Bridges I MINN. HIGHWAY CALLS re.y%^«KS HURT WTCN RECEPTM musicians^ are running into a problem — repetitiousness of Mmneapolis, Dec. Id. themes and bridges. There’s Calls from the Minnesota high- one catchy little humorous way commission’s radio station n u ni b e r which, frequently KAB 247, re-broadcast throughout turns up on the Douglas Ed- Wisconsin on a 74.5 megacycles wards newsreel strip foi^Olds- frequency and put out fronv Meno- mobile on CBS-TV, \yhen a j^inee, Wis., less than 25 miles film clip with an amusing an- from Eau Claire, Wis., are inter- gle is screened. That smne fering with WTCN television re- £ vr^hovvrod net- from Minneapolis in Eau works last Thursday (14h At ^ numerous eomplaihts, Eau Claire city ofTiciaJs have stavU ed cbnsuUatipiis with \JiscQti.Jii people, in charge of the radio re- broadcast, to determine if the .calls can be radioed on, another fre- quency to eliminale tiie inlerler- ence with the T\^ reception, Al Morgan’s Monday night half- hour oh DuMont from WGN-TV, Chicago, has undergone some, re- furbishing. Format remains ba- sically the same, with Morgan car- r.s’ing mo.st of the show with his , singing and keyboarding. But since Johnny King’s recent takeover, as . producer, more effective staging: and smoother production has given ! the session addedwn^ving values;; The addition of a new set and bet- • DuMont’s, late-evening entry. “Once Upon a Tune,” attempted to satirize the . obvious in a show titled “South Terrific” Thursday .night (14'. .Apparently, time and ng^g mS l^i'boardilS; Biit since ; etVort expended on the ^'oducUon, ohnnV- king’s recent takeover, as . have made it good comedy nVnrp obPrHvP staffing' mpre capable hands. But, as segments. . First, titled ‘^Meg’s T Stm-y." was beamed Monday <18t ' unmie Scents ^ Second. “Jo’s Story:” in. wliich ! Juir Stanza Kent Smith will be added to the : a roun ca.sL as^ Professor Baher, will be | his own flailing screened next week. | accompaniment, whi The story of . the bu.stling ; his trademark. Goo feniinine household was giyeh a, registered Morgan’s toDflight nroduction with fine di- of selling a song, wh Morgan’s Oh this stanza (ID, singer, squeezed in a round dozen tunes with his own flailing arms keyboard accompaniment, which has become his trademark. Good camera work Z'.egistered Morgan’s friendly way of selling a song, which lends itself well to teevee. Guest Lorry Raines was neatly brought into the pro- gram with a nostalgic bit about old favorite recordings, which Morgan opened and closed with ‘‘That Old Phonograph Record.” Miss Raines kept to the theme with a good The story of . the bu.stling feniinine household was giyeh a topflight production with fine; di- rection by Lela Swift. Despite its years, the ya’’n holds lip nicely, involving human questibhs—the impact of war, money problems, the uneven course of ropiance, family relations, illness and the struggle for a career—that are still around and are still movihg. chii-ping job on “Two Cigarets in They were sensitively and tenderly the Dark” and “Don’t Worry About treated: The different personalities of the four girls were effectively deline- ated. Nancy Marschand was the self-reliant, tomboyish Jo and Mary Sinclair the pretty, lovestriick Meg. June Dayton as the quiet Beth and Lois Hall as the young Amy also scored; Rest of the well- cast players included Peggy Hillias as Marmee, Richard Purdy as Mr. March, Elizabeth Paterson as Aunt Marcl\, Henry Bernard as Laurie, John Baragrey as the tutor John Brooks, Berry Krocgei as the for- bidding Mr. Lawrence, Una O’Con- nor and Dorothy Blackburn. Sumner Locke Elliott’s adapta- tion caught the spirit of the family which manages to be happy de- spite its pinching and scraping, and the acting and direction gave the piece realism despite its sen- timental outlook, Sets were par- ticularly good -possibly reflecting Me.” ■ zf the Bd Roberts’ plugs for Fox Head eline- Beer were well written and ably s the delivei'ed. Mary ^^ truck ‘‘Ford Theatre’s” full-hour pre- quiet sentation last Friday (15) of ‘‘Alice In Wonderland” was an interest- ing and unusual event, and well proclucod by Bob Loewi and staged by Dick Rose, the satire was laid on so heavily that it almost seemed at times as though they were tak- ing the whole thing seriously. Show, as a result, resembled more than anything else one of those college, dramatic workshop produc- tions which get by mainly on their “cuteness,” Show didn’t use any of the “South Pacific”, numbers but rang in several other Broadway Show-1 tunes, along with a couple of non -1 impressive originals. Parts for the ; show were obviously juggled! around to fit the series’ regular cast members, which resulted in some strange characterizations, particularly on the distaff side. Phil Hanna and Gordon Dihvorth, Ed Holmes and Reginald Beane performed their thesping and sing- ing stints adequately but Holly Harris and Diane Courtney, while singing well, were woefully mis- cast. Kraft Music Hall’s version of A. A. Milne's “Michael and Mary” over NBC-TV Wednesday (13) was an entertaining 60 minutes that 10 p.m. it was pari of the “I Cover: Times Square’^ stanza on ABC-T V, which had a comedie twist. At 10:30 p.m. it was included on ^lare Dan- iels’ :“Nash Airfi>te Theatre” on CBS-TV, wliich adapted Ei'skine Caldwell’s amusing !short story, ‘'The ■Windlfall.” Explanalion probably lie.? in the fact that’ both (^BS and ABC are subscrihin g to t he same trariscription library; Finding canned tunes that . blend in, with tlie action on video theatricals is admitted- Iv a toughie. 'Yet il’;s one which 11 a s t o be m e t 6 n prog ram s saving coin oh live windjam- mers and aiTangcments. So- lution may entail goirig afield for waxed backgroundings, dipping more extensively into instrumental classics dr per- haps signing up yWith more transcription services. The part that the recorded music can play in evoking a mood is apparent not only in dramatic airers but also in news programs. 'The same De- fense Dept, pix of retreating GIs in Korea \vere beamed by both CBS’s Oldsmobile show and NBC’s Camel strip Thurs- day, but with different musical tracks. The dirge-like accomp used on the CBS broadcast gave its version greater sol- emnity. Bril, Tele Reviews Continued Irom page 27 S5=sa tation. This sensitively told the effect of ear trouble on an ex-GI: worth the doing. Not altogether captui‘ed most of the essence of the eiiois on tiie ]OP, t ie iicieas successful as a television show, the production nevertheless hit a high average. Video adaptation of the classic made changes inevitable, of course, but at times it seemed more like a musical, or play with .music, than a satire or fantasy. Scripting was a little too literal, and production, somewhat noisy and boisterous. Otherwise, it had merit, with some scenes very highgrade. Little Iris, Mann displayed her. histrionic versatility as well as precocity in superbly handling a stage original. StoiT of romance, blackmail and an embarrassing death was tailor-made for video, and the bulk of the action came off well in a modest living room set. Milne tale was a yarn in which most viewers could readily generr ate a vicarious interest. Its dra- matic impact was also heightened with an occasional plot tw'ist. Fe- licia Monteleagre w^as believable as a young woman who remarried after her husband deserted her..; John Newland’s portrayal of the ; new .spouse w’ais warm and sincere. ing carelessness of his speech, his withdrawing from social life, etc. It then detailed the work of the VA ; in diagnosing the trouble, providing a hearing aid, auditory training, classes in lip reading and similar help. The documentary was put in human terms, Which ; gave it appeal. AUhoiigh it has! been seen on video before, the film ; nevertheless stands repetition, \ Walter Abel briefly introed the! celluloid and trailerized the com-! ing attractions, which will deal Sunday (24) with agriculture and forestry. Bril. .\Va$hihgtoh,:Dec. 19 J Voluntary radio and press cen- sorship. similar to that operating during World War II, is being con- sidered in connection with the Korean War. Gen. George C, IMarshall. Sec- retary of Defense. met yesterday (18) With top execs of newspaper and broadcasting businesses to study the problem, Their views are being forwarded to General Douglas MacArthur. Among those present W'ere Justin Miller, NAB prexy; and Ralph W. Hardy and Robert K. Richards, of his public velations staff. Dixie Lee in Net Drf>ut On Groaner Hubby Airer Dixie Lee (Mrs. Bing Crosby) will make her radio network debut on her husband’s CBS program to- night (Wed.) at 9:30 p.m., when the couple wtll perform in a holi- day skit with their four sons, Gary, Philip, Dennis and Lindsay. Guester marks Mrs. Crosby’s first professional engagement since 1935, when she appeared in the 20thrFox musical, “Redheads on Parade.” Actress Mary Jane Croft had originally been skedded to play Mrs. Crosby, but bowed out when the latter decided to come put of retirenient. THE JIMMY DURANTE TV SHOWS” ■‘GometJy as innocent as it is rare on TV.- -joiriing the throng of critics and reviewers' ejuoting the fresh gags and brand new roMtines frorn the Jimmy Durante show. L I—^ Continued from page 25 ^ shows—gets the most socko reac- tion. It’s explained undoubtedly by the fact that the closeup of the talent, in the confines of the home ■ receiving set. gives the public an intimacy and a tie with the . per- former as neither radio, pix nor stageshpws have done. Durante is an illustration of being “happy'now that I went into television.’ He was frankly op-; ■ posed to starting' it at first. Only his late . personal manager, Lou J Clayton, , and Lastfogers counsel-; ] ing swayed him into the NBC con- j I tract. : Clayton put it in a . race-j ^ horse parlance, “For once here's a , J medium where you’ll riart from the ■ i barrier with the rest of the field.” j meaning that in radio arid pictures i he was a latecomei-, Clayton felt ' ' that Durante “startihg with the | i field” would be not one of the top ■ 10 or five, but in this new medium ! he could Well become the pace- : maker for this new TV form of ' ' show business. Durante’s impact ^ thus far would tend to support that 1 thinking; ; Uastfogel is also concerned with » “the habit of even the best of ’em 1 knocking television.” “Sure,” he ' continues, “we all knovv it’s hard ■ work—what isn't? I wanted to add I one thing to VARiftTy/s story about ; the ABC&D; of Television Comedy,! and that is I wish the ABC&D^ I Allen, Benny, Cantor and Durante I —were only 15 5'ear5 younger. 1 This IS a really rugged and some- ' times grueling grind. In time it ' may become smoother, hence easi- l er. but it was; one thing to read’^ your scripts virtually at show, time, but another to get timing, re- ■ hearsal, makeup and 'bounce’ to co- incide when the TV shows go to Eileen BARTON December 22 CAVALCADE OF STARS-TV December 25 PALACEr Youngstown, Ohio Dir.; Music Corp. of America “MORTY” ’’AHTir* '’Af’jBHl •Currently ' Coraplcflng the Picture •LAUGH AND BE HAPPY" Direction: MUSIC COUP. OF AMERICA m Courtesy of M-6-M Now appearing with DONAtO O'CONNOR in '^THE MILKMAN” . (Universal-International) Manaoemeht WILLIAM MORRIS AGENCY