Variety (December 1950)

RADIO RE VIEWS Wednesday^ December 27, 1950 OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY With Arthur Kingsley, Ruth Gold- man, Draza Klein, Phillip Lewis, Jack Mabley, Fred Cherye, A-Gerry Cliff, Ronnie Engler, Richard Adams, Gloria Guil- fpyle, Darwin Opel, Joan Can^ tello producer: Ruth Moore Writer: Don Herbert 30 Mins.; Sun. 2 p.m. Sustaining WBBM, Chicago The Dec. 17 segment of the new Since Charles Dickens’ works are a traditional part of the Christ- mas holidays, Theatre Guild of ■ heads the school’s VOICES OF THE 30TH CENTURY With Bernie Lowenthal Trio 15 Mins., Sun., 1:15 p,m. WPEN, Phila A promotion gimmick for the 20th Century Institute of Music, “Voices” serves as a showcase for the talents of pupils of Artie series of documentaries aired by WBBM, Chi CBS key, in coopera- the Air” presented “David Copper- department. , Each week, a field” oh Xmas eve with a cast i gjj^ggj, is featured and of legit players headed by Boris i gg^g opportunity to do about Karloff, Flora Robson and others , numbers. There is a short I now appearing on Broadway. Rob-: interview, but it always draws the '; ert Anderson’s adaptation was a gg^g responses, the students being skillful editing job which touched ; virtually all headed for the same _ _ the highlights of the novel ^and j go 3 |g_^jnusical comedy, television tidn with the Welfare Council and v tied together the rambling story ' j.g(jiQ the Community Fund, pointed the I into a workable plot. The script :; thp calibre of the spotlight at television and its im- succeeded in evoking the Sickens g.pg ,| trainirig^is^ notice- phaet on family iaSih f« Us S Ruth Moore,^ra.dio director pF the ^ Tj^g. thesping, .mbreoyer, con- clarity of phrasing. Bernie Lowen-: Community .Fund, and scripted by ^ the v/;arm quality of the ^-^gi gi- piano is' ah enormous Don Herbert, program presented program. David Cole; as David, • j^gip tfje vocal aspirants, in the a . well-rounded picture of the nevy , ^gg excelleht as was Miss Robson,: accompaniments and his arrange- medium, ranging from \yrestling to his aunt. Boris Karloff’s portrayal pients are fine, having taste as educational TV. of Uriah Keep, in the spirit of theas variety. Like Singer, Thespers were used for the color ! novel, dripped witli minister hy-i £o^,enthal heads his department and statistics with taped interviews I pocrisy while Cyril Ritchard, as' gt thp school. with guest experts lending a note of authority. Setting up a “cham- pionship fight between TV and other forms of leisure activities,” it was dedlared that; visiting is down 5:0% in TV homes;/reading down 40%; evening radio listening down, 80% and motion picture attendance down 10 to 15% in TV cities. A by-product statistic reveal-: ed that since Hopalong Cassidy's video resurgence, :dne manufac- turer of black dye who ordinarily sells a few thousand pounds, a month, recently received orders for more than 15,000 pounds from a maker of Hoppy suits. Sound advice as hqw to handle the child-teevee situation was provided via interviews with Ruth Goldman, deputy commisSiorier of Chi Welfare Department, and Draza Klein, director of the Foster Care Division of the Illinois Chil- dreh’s Home and Aid Society. Mrs. Goldman recommended that moppet's viewing habits be .con- trolled by the parent rather than the child. Miss Klein suggested that undue, preoccupation with the tele set might indicate deep seated psychological problem needing im-j mediate attention. Educational possibilities of video were discussed by Phillip Lewis, teacher conducting a teeyee course W^outh Shore high school. Able defense of commercial program-, ming was presented by Jack Mabley. Daily News radio-TV edi- tor, who reminded listeners the “problem child” is not necessarily a phenomonon of the teevee age. Session was neatly narrated by Arthur Kingsley . with non-pro thespers okay in their bits. Dave. Micawber, played with^ properly ; caricaturized good-breeding. Show Sunday . (17) presented i Nancy Lewis, who did best oh A j • 1 u.hr. i “Stormy Weather” and showed Admiral Elias Zachanas, '^hp. pj,Qj^jgg The previous week’s en- had ch^ge of psychological trant Billy Dey, was much stronger against Germany and Japan m the . gj^^ gj^ggg^^j g night club engage- last world conflict and who au- (g^. Rendezvous) on the thored Behind . Closed Doors,^ i gtrength of the radio appearance, just published, gave ^. Penetrating each program is analysis .of ^the reasons the U. S. g^ instrumental interlude from ,hol(^ all the cards and can win Trio (piano, bass arid over Russia, if we play-them right, i «uitar) Gaah. in an interview (21) with Tonmiy on “Welcome Traveler” Bartlett over NBC. The interview was ASSIGNMENT—1950 TEXAS ROUNDUP With Curly Fox, Texas Ruby, Del- more Bros., the Fox Chasers, Red River Dave, Curley Wil- liams, Lou Emerson, Bill Sho- mette, Mel Winters arid orch. Bob Wills and Texas Playboys 60 Mins.; Fri., 7 p.m. GULF BREWING CO. WOAl, Sari Antonio Greatest array of southwest tal- ent on a regularly scheduled radio series is being featured Friday night.s over stations of the Texas Quality Network in a full hour of w^estern and folk music which orig- inates from three of the TQN out- provocatiye and guardedly optimis- With George Ross, Don Nelson* Ed tic, worth a playback elsewhere, i Rarley Admiral Zacharias (retired) is a Writers; Sandy Sewell, Charles masterful speaker, with a superb ; Bornstein command of English and an im- • Producer; Sewell . pressive background of experience. :' 30 Mins., Wed., 7 p.m. He insisted that most of . mistakes have been in “evalua- j Beamed from their own FM stu- tion”; that official Washington is dios, the students of Enierson Col- too frightened about Russia. That j g jQ^g^ dramatic school, pre- country's great “vulnerability” is ^ ’ ifi oil supplies, the admiral declar- sented this one-shot documentary ed. Bomb them out, and the Soviet with professional skill arid solid will be powerless to. continue a - war, no matter how strongly itsi ’ a u forces are organized, The United j Story revolved about a student s States, Admiral Zacharias declared, • class assignment to highlight must be prepared to stand up to; events of 1950 as he saw them, re- an^l^TTh? levied know poft^g^ his reactions and views o£ wull not longer tolerate what has been taking place. Once Russia ; Narrated in down-to-earth manner understands that, it will “retreat jjy George Ross, as the student, Lenin ^describ^d^’^^ history, as j g^g^za moved swiftly, displaying none of the phoney heroics or his- trionics that might be expected from dramatic students. Instead, it stacked favorably with many professional jobs. Dramatization of student’s trip through the UN building, a simu- lated BBC broadcast and an actual newscast by WHDH news editor John Day, were handled skillfully, with music and sound effect inter- polations well done. Elie. Cleve/s Yiddish Jock Cleveland, Dec. 26, This city. has its first Yiddish disk jockey in the Jackie Herman show, heard on WSRS. He bills himself as “Jackele Der Jockele.” Program is Sold on a participat- ing basis. Washington, Dec. 26. j permit, that a transaction had been A 5 kw station in Milwaukee ' entered into with Uihlein as a (WMAW) and a long-established source of financing, lets, KPRC, Houston; WOAI, San ' 250/watr daytimer jn Trenton,! .The Commission decided /hat Antonio, and WFAA, Dallas, Each j N, J. (WTNJ) were ordered of/the , -deliberate deceptions were conv of the outlets is given 20 minutes ' the FCC last week on find-' muted under circumstances which for their origination iugs of violations of Commission ' make it clear that the responsible The show opens from Houston, regulations. In the Milwaukee case - parties were aware , of the nature the home of the Giilf Brewing Co i agency refused to grant a and desired effect of their acts.” bottlers of Grand Prize Beer and after, uncovering, “apparent I • Olsen’s Takeover is a honey. It’s all corn, pure and = misrepresentations and conceal- ] The basis on which the Commis- simple, but it’s what Texans enjoy. ! ments” as to the ownership of the sLon revoked the license of WTNJ The three different types give a station. In the Trenton case, the was Uncovered as a result of an good overall cross-section of music ; license was revoked for, among application by Charles E. and Julie which should please all types of listeners. other reasons, illegally abdicating ; V. Loew (brother arid sister), own- control of the station to a proposed ers of the station, to transfer con- From Houston, Curly Fox, Texas /Purchaser. ' trol to Erling C. Olsen. Through Ruby; Alton and Rabun Delmbre ! Cbmriiission . actiori on WMAW the application and through an iii- and the Fox Chasers hold sway, followed a, six-year effort on the dependent investigation, the ageri- Fox serves as m.c. and keeps the ' part of George E. Inghram, former cy said, it learned that Olseri “has show moving at a fast pace. Mu- j sales manager of a rival station,! assumed unauthorized control of sioal background is well supplied with the backing of the late Her- the licensee without the prior con- by the Fox Chasers. i bert E. Uihlein, Milwaukee mil- sent of the Commission arid in From San Antonio, cowboy sing-' lionaire, to establish the outlet, violation of . . the Communica- irig star, Red River Dave is fea- Inghram claimed he was be given' tions Act.” ^red. Bill Shomette serves as . a 50-50 partnership in the enter- j The revocation order further rn.c. and is also heard singing in ! prise and, following changes in the stated that Olsen “has hired arid liam?^ T m? Wil- corporate setup which excluded ' fired personriel, obtained control Mel WiSers^^nd and reduced Inghram to a over the bank account or acounts the group Vamiel Mbdenm holding, “informed the Of the licensee, assumed full super* ’ Ihhst wiu; J b^d.^ M^”hS CommissiOri^ .staff of the alleged;^siori over the ,day-to-day opera- in a solo spot ^ ^ i misrepresentations and conceal -1 tion of the station and complete ;• Rounding out the airing are Bob P^^Wted the inves- Wil s and hi*? Texas Plivhnvc fi*nm • ■ j ovei-all station policy. Dallas, with Wills as m.c. Romona * Difficulties of WMAW, which re* :, in previous investigations, the Reed and jack Lloyd are heard ^ construction permit in | Commissiou found that the Loews singing with the; band. I early 1947, appeared To develop as have been living away from Tren- There are several commercials ' a decision to drop ton and had delegated full respon- in each portion, all in good taste com-1 sibility for the operation to the for Grand Prize Brew. “When It’s ^mwest Broadcasting Co., ; station’s general manager. Roundup Time in Texas” serves as*■ of the belief of the other ; The Commission ordered the a natural tor the program theme • that Midwest would license of WTNJ revoked effective played by each group. Show por- obtain a constructiori permit if , Jan. 10 but gave the station to Jan. tions are well., produced in each Uihlein remained as a stockholder ' 5 to request hearing. The revOca- keeping the program on a and director.” The Commissron tion order would be suspended un- igh level. Andy. found, however, after granting the i til the conclusion of the hearing. m NEW YORK CITY . . . Actor Allan Stevensoii on “Big Story” tonight (Wed.).. . .Ed and Pegeen Fitzgerald shift their WJZ-TV strip to 2:30 .p.m., which they figure is a better timeV. . . John B'^tes, Kenyon & Eckhardt account exec, in Minneapolis because of the death of his father in an auto accident .;,. WOR will air a four and a halfrhour stint pf dance remotes on New Year’s Eve. . . . Albert TilL 3d, has-joined theTV staff of Erwin, Wasey.,; WLIB ran a one-week pre-Christmas promotion con- teat for Raytheon TV. ' Van Heflin in from the Coast for “Theatre Guild on the Air” this Sunday (31) night. New York Fruit Auction Gorp. was so pleased with commefcials on . Walter Preston’s WOR show it contributed $500 to the station’s Chil- dren’s Christmas Fund .. . Oscar L. Germain new assistant treasurer of WHLI, vice Fred A. Curran, resigned... ^Organist Rosa Rio “talked back” on ABC’s “Talk Back” series yesterday (Tues.) ... Toffenetti res- taurant to back two quarter hours weekly on WNBC’s Tex: arid Jinx McCrary breakfasts. .. L. Rohe Walter, former ad-public relations tojp- per for Flintkote Go., has joined Erwin, Wasey & Co. in an exec ca- pacity.. i. WJZ-FM transmitter at Lodi, N. J., closed down yesterday (Tues.) arid will be dismantled for relocation atop the Empire State building on Friday (29) .. . . Burl Ives, Georgia Gibbs, Louis Jordan orcH and Men of Song to entertain at Bethesda, Md., Naval Hosp todaiy (Wed ) ... . It’s a boy for the Arnold Hartleys (WOV), bom Saturday night in French hospital, N. Y. Their third child.... Ken Williams new to “Ro- mance of Helen Trent” .. ! Bob Pollack joins “Nona From Nowhere” . Charles Dingle, Rupert La Belle and Lanni Carvel added to “Back- stage Wife”.... Dorothy Francis new “Front Page Farrell” player. m HOLLYWOOD . . . J". Walter Thompson’s “Corny” Jackson is shopping around for a site to consolidate the dovvntown L. A. and, Hollywood offices. Time and space departments vull continue to be separate ehtities. Reason for move is that television, now quartered downtown, rieeds closer prox- imity to the radio staffers... Bob Hopkins, who replaced Steve Allen on KNX midnight shift, came off with a busted beezer after a street tiff .... Eight stations in the San Diego area cancelled shoWs so that Charles Laughton could have the time to read The Story of the Nativity, spon- sored by 110 churches.. . Wally Boone, former controller of KNBH here, now managing a station in Yakima, Wash... .Frank Samuels* son, Jack, takes the marriage vows soon ,.. .Ralph Rose is packaging “Here Gomes Mr. Kitzel,” who is Artie Auerbach of the Jack Benny ‘ show, and gets a CBS audition 2’7th . . Harry Ackerman set Ezio Phtza and Eye Arden for guest shots on “Suspense.”... .If Arthur Godfrey would turn serious for a half-hour, they would'move the show to N. Y. to accommodate him ... . Doc Middleton is moving over to BBD&Q with Amos ’n’ Andy to continue as their producer on a freelance basis ... Vick Knight’s ad agency landed the Mills Music account .... Steve Sles- inger, who owns “Red Rider” and a half dozen other strips, won the annual award of Boys Clubs of America for his active interest in their citizenship program. At least once a year he gathers up a half dozen youngsters, transports them to his ranch high in the Rockies, where they live like real cowboys ,. . Nat Wolfe, who scripted and directed the audition that sold “The Blandings” to TWA, will continue as di- rector and occasional scripter... Two careers, apart as twilight and dawn, were welded by NBC when Michael Chapin, 13, shared.^the lead with Francis X. Bushman, 66, On NBC’s holiday special, “BeethoVen and the Child”... Desi Arnaz will have his own show on CBS in addition to working with his wife, Lucille Ball, in television.... George Fogle sold his interest in “Aunt Mary” and “Dr. Paul,” radio serials/to NBC but continues to supervise production, IN CHICAGO . . . Tommy BarUeti aired his Christmas NBC ‘‘Welcome Travelers” show from the William E. Old home in Norfolk, Va. The Olds had been selected after a six-week hunt for the family that “best typified the Christmas spirit all year long.’’ Federal taxes on the several .thou- sand dollars’ worth of gifts showered on the Olds are being paid by Bartlett Wesley Nunn, Standard Oil ad manager; Judith Waller* Chi NBC public affairs and education director, and Robert Richards, National Asm. of Broadcasters public affairs director, have been named to the judges panel for the National Safety Council's public interest award. George Jennings, Chi board of education radio-TV director, was appointed to the NSC jury, which will select winner of Alfred P. Sloan Radio Awards for highway safety ,. .Hills Bros, coffee will pick up John Harrington’s cross-the-board 4:40-4:45 p.m. newscast on WBBM next week. Don McNeill is mailing out 100,000 copies of his annual “Breakfast Club” booklet which sells for $1... . Jack Taylor and Wally Moore are new members of WLS’ Sage Riders.. .. Hallicrafter net income from last quarter hit $451,636 Compared to $229,776 for the same period a year ago. Radio-TV sales for the same three months totaled $11,881,263 against $5,560,206 in 1949 .. . . Singer-composer Carolyn Gilbert visiting Dave Garroway’s WMAQ airer Saturday (30)... .WGN beamed a special Christmas remote from the Cliff Johnson home Sunday (24)... .Fran Clark, Chi NBC press photo editor, off on a three-week sunning in Mexico. ■ IN WASHlNCtON . , . Julian Goodman named NBC director of news and special events for Washington, with Arthus Barriault assisting .. /.Frank Blair and Biette Bradley winning commercial auditions for their WNBW-NBC ‘‘People’s Playhouse” TV show.. • Morgan Beatty garnering kudos for his nightly I TV stint on WNBW-NB(i, a video news rOundup immediately following j his web AM newscast.. ^.. Don Owens terminating nearly three and a [half years of starring on WGAY’s “Radio Rodeo” show by enlisting in I the Air Force, >along with pal Ferry Westlandi hillbilly singer on the show.. . Marge Fee, ex^columnist of the Omaha World-Herald, has joined staff of WMAL-ABC as assistant to Ruth Crane, station’s direc- tor of Women’s Activities ... . Gene Davis, formerly of WQUE, Akron, takirig over WGAY’s Sports Circus, along with Ben Sworts, who moves over from job as assistant to station owner Chuck Dulane.. ...Ray , Scherer, WNBW-NBG news commentator, slated for a December aisle march with Barbara Alin He,tzner.. . Staff of ABC’s “Original Ama- teur Hour” for the Women’s National Press Club’s “VIP” version of the show. Jan. 25 begins .auditioning town’s brass for cast next week. : St. Louis-^Carter Ririglep, asst. gen. mgr. of KMOX, local CBS out- let, has resigned his post as of Jan. 1 and Will retire to a newly-pur- chased home in Florida. He joined KMOX as manager of CBS Radio sales in 1941 and became asst. gen. mgr. in 1946. He previously has been associated with stations WADC, Akron; KRNT, KSO and WMT, Des Moines, and KMBC. Kansas City. Legislative Pickups Des Moines, Dec. 26. ” KXIC, Iowa City, will broadcast three daily programs direct from the Iowa legislative sessions start- ing Jan. 8. KXIC farm editor, G. M. Ludwig, was elected to the Legislature last November. . This is the first time that reg- ular broadcasts have been aired from the state house by a member of the Iowa Legislature*