Variety (January 1953)

S6 IAMO-TEUVISWIV \ t Tele Followup Comment Continued from page 2* with the second portion of the air- er based on the concept of Berle’s finding a tele show in which she j can star. This inspired a takeoff on a “You Bet Your Life/' tagged “Bet Your Boots/' with Berle decked out a la Groucho Marx. The Marxian spoof didn’t jell, Berle not quite coming up to Groucho’s brand of bite, although parts of the sketch were amusing, with Miss Truman and Lockhart as the hopeful pair. (One sock line was Miss Truman’s answer to the offer of being made quizmistress; “I’d rather be a contestant; there’s more money in it.”) Berle was funnier joshing, with gusto, Arthur Godfrey in “Cod- fry’s Talent Touts.” A kidding of “Meet the Press,” with a gag panel, Berle as a Dixie Senator and Miss Truman as the commercial spieler (she couldn’t get the refrigerator door to open) also pleased. Miss Truman registered well, with many of the lines cued to the impending change of White House tenants, the President's daughter participating with good humor and poise. Also among the guests was singer Johnny Johnston, who put over “Yours.” All in all, a bright, entertaining show, smoothly pro-, duced, although running overtime. Among the show’s regulars, Ruth Gilbert, as “Maxie,” and Bobby Sherwood registered potently. Gregg Garrison’s direction was smooth. Ventrilo Jimmy Nelson and his dummies, abetted by Lockhart, handled the Texaco blurbs deftly. Bril Abbott & Costello obtained the aid of a powerful battery of guest talent in heading the NBC-TV Col- gate Comedy Hour Sunday (11). Retinue made* the stanza *pay off in entertainment values. The A&C routines have varied results on virtually every show. Theirs is the type comedy that can be watched by a roomful of peo- ple and generally there will be as many pros as there are cons. You can't fight these things. The sure- fire elements are those contained in the surrounding ingredients. i In Victor Borge, the session had a five-minute session of truly lit- erate and high-level comedy, Borge is at times a brilliant performer. His pianistics and verbiage pro- Now starring on NBC's ,ALL STAR REVUI Saturdays, S-9 p.m., EST Mgt.i William Marrls Agency - duced guffaws at will. He showed nothing new on this program, but his end result could not have been sharper. Allan Jones showed an uneven vocal quality. There were times during his big numbers when he seemed to rely more on technique than on his natural pipes, but he showed up well tieing up his end of the session with “Donkey Sere- nade.” Also in the vocal sector Giselle MacKensie, who disks for Capitol, registered in her single number, “Don’t Let the Stars Get In Your Eyes/’ She was given good sur- rounding production. Final guest was Grace Hartman, who clowned nicely with Costello. She paired with the comic in take- off of Spanish terping and threw herself into the spirit of the oc<- casion. The comedians' contributions had varied results. There were some worthless sillies such as the Mex band bit. The opening sketch •with the trained mule was strong and the raucous finale also had some moments. The show was built around A&C’s trip to Wash- ington for the inauguration. It thus had some good political lines including the standard references to the outgoing administration and a Truman double parading through the proceedings. It also provided Abbott with the opportunity of throwing in a free commercial to an airline. End plug was devoted to the cause of retarded children. Jose. ABC-UPT H—a Continued from page 22 suzl “might well resort to various trade restrainingHevices to insulate their investment against the’ adverse effects of competition from televi- sion. In any event, the incentive to improvement that comes from active competition will inevitably' be lost under common control.” In replying, Walker pointed out that the Justice Dept, had. been kept informed of-% proceedings since their inception but that the Department informed the FCC a year ago it “was not in a position to participate formally.” Walker also reminded McGran- ery that “no request has been re- ceived from the Department of Justice . . . asking to intervene or to participate in the proceedings in any manner.” Commission topper further as- serted that “to the extent that the matters referred to in your letter have been incorporated into the record ... we shall of course give full consideration to them in reaching our ultimate determina- tion. I am sure you will appreci- ate that the commission is required to reach its determination ... on the basis of the record and the hearings before it.” Meanwhile, the Commission BLOOMINGTON Serving a 2 BILLION $ MARKET 34 r c of the PEOPLE 34" of the FAMILIES accounting for 35 " of the SALES in ALL INDIANA WTTV — affiliated with all rots — m a 0 * a. ^ ■ its own micro wav0 relay sy^-'m r>--t^ Cincinnati and Bloomington to nr mg lIV E network 5hows to viewers WTTV . ■ owr.-d and operated by Sarkes Tar:ic” a r 'ci Represented Nationally by ROBERT MEEKER ASSOCIATES, Inc. Now York ■ Cnicoqo ■ Lo< A n a |. c ■ : ' - r?r trf made public the text of a telegram it received last week from Sen. Charles W. Tobey (R.-N.H.) calling for congressional inquiry into the merger. The telegram follows: “The Senate Committee on In- terstate and Foreign Commerce will hold a hearing sometime in the next two weeks to determine whether or not the proposed ABC- Paramount Pictures (sic) merger is legal and whether or not in public interest and whether it would be helpful to prepare and pass legis- lation to prevent mergers of this kind in the future. Also to con- sider applications for TV channels for educational purpose*. Please transmit this information to each member of the commission and will advise you shortly as to time and place and especially request yohr attendance at this hearing.” (The telegram erroneously re- ferred to a merger with Para- mount Pictures). In addition to Tobey, who will be chairman of Commerce Com- mittee, Sen. William Langer (R- N.D.) has registered a protest with the Commission against Examiner Leo Resnick’s report favoring- the merger. Langer is slated to be chairman of the Judiciary Commit- tee which has jurisdiction over antitrust laws. Kansas City Star Faces Monopoly Rap; WDAF Cited Kansas City, Jan. 13. Charging violations of the Sher- man Anti-Trust act, a Federal grand jury last Tuesday (6) re- turned an indictment against the Kansas City Star, following several months of investigations here. The Star is the city's only daily, oper- ates the only television station, WDAF-TV, and . radio station WDAF. A half-hour after filing the origi- nal indictment, the Government filed a civil^ suit requesting the court enjoin the Star from certain practices it described as monopolis- tic and to revoke the licenses of WDAF-TV and WDAF. The two actions took place in the court of Judge Richard M. Duncan. . The indictment was based on two charges, ‘attempts to monopolize | and monopolization. Named as de- fendants were Roy A. Roberts, pres- ident and editorial head of the Star Co., and Emil Sees, a director and advertising director. Both were ar- raigned before Judge Duncan on Friday. Roberts made a reply to the in- dictment In a two-column front- page statement in the Kansas City (morning) Times Wednesday in which he said the Star will meet the charges head on and will look to the courts -and jury fqyr vindi- cation of the charges. The state- ment was published as an advertise- ment in other papers around the country in cities including New York, Washington and Chicago. The indictment charged that ad- vertisers were induced to use WDAF by special discounts, and that there were threats to refuse | television time to advertisers not using the defendant’s newspaper or radio station. No date for hearings on the in- dictment or petition have been set. The twp Star officials were ar- raigned without bond. HAWAII TV PREEMS 1ST JAPANESE SHOW Honolulu, Jan. 6. First regularly scheduled Japanese language TV program has debuted on KGMB-TV. Akiyoshi Hayashida is directing the hour show each Sunday after- noon, with. Kanichi Murata and Peggy Ohta announcing. Opening show featured Kurenai Michiyo and troupe; Asuka troupe, Tsuruta Rokuro, recording artist from Japan, and Bill Murata, maglciaq. Japanese language broadcasts get heavy radio time in Hawaii and as more TV stations go into opera- tion undoubtedly will play equally pi'ominent role in Hawaii. video programming. Yuma, Am. — Station KSWB, Yuma, became an affiliate of the CBS Radio Network as a bonus station to KOOL, Phoenix, effec- tive Monday (12). V^lnegday, Janu ary 14 . 1953 CBS Miilly Series | Continued from page 1% cast and crew running into hun- dreds. Leslie Urbach, director of dialog for films like “Murder, My Sweet,” “Cornered,” “Up Front” and “Meet Danny Wilson,” was brought in from Coast to serve as executive director. Frank Fisher is production manager, with John Ullrich and William Bode directing. Shooting will involve simultane- ous use of both interiors and ex- teriors. WCAU-TV’s two camera crews will work in all varieties of Philly weather, from blizzards to April showers. Action is purposely set in Montana, where climate ap- proximates local weather. Feb. 2' startings date finds, blue skies not the order of the day in this section. “Action” sets the clock back to 1890 and will attempt to illustrate differences in yalues in the culture of the Old West and today’s stand- ards. As for the actual stories, Vanda says: “They can be as'-mild as two old men puffing on their pipes, and as serene as a child fast asleep. Or they, can be as raw as men dead in the street at night, face down in the snow, their guns still hot from firing.” The writers plan to make Hu- berle, Mont. (alt. 2,291; pop. 486) live up to its “Actioji in the After- noon” reputation. They’ve cooked up everything from a lynching mob and an Indian raid to a village square dance and old fashioned courting customs. Program will star Jack Valen- tine, singing cowboy station brought up from Fort Worth. Fea- tured performers will be Jean Cor- bett, Harrise Forrest, Blake Ritter, Phil Sheridan, Creighton Stewart, Milt- Jacobson and Mary Elaine Watts. Basic story calls for 11 prin- cipals with dozens of supporting players. Lanny Ross Gets Sun. Sponsor Ride on MBS; Also Sets Concert Tour Singer Larry Ross moves into a 15-minute Sunday musical slot at 1:15 p.m. (EST) over Mutual, start- ing March 1. Tab for the show, to be carried by 554 stations, is being picked up by J. R. Wood & Sons, ring manufacturers. Deal was set by BBD&O. Ross, who has been airing a cross- the-board dee jay show‘for Mutual, is planning a concert tour, with the first recital scheduled for Sunday night at’ Town Hall. Singer will broadcast remotes during the tour and set up promotional tie-ins with Wood dealers. Mutual has also set two more sales. A. C. Weber Go., distributors of the Gertnan-made Pfaff Sewing Machine, moves next week into the heretofore vacant- 15-minute Wednesday time 1 on “Queen for a Day,” while Swift & Co. has bought new five-minute cross-the-board show, “The Recorded Music Box,” which will be aired at 12:25 p.m., (EST.) “Queen” deal, set by Bozell & Jacobs, now leaves only 15 minutes on Mondays and Fridays open. “Music Box” was handled by J. Walter Thompson. New GOP Congress May Lift TV Ban On 4 Congressional Hearings Washington, Jan. 13 Likelihood of more televised Congressional hearings under the Republican ~ controlled Congress developed last week when Rep, Joseph W. Martin, Jr. (R-Mass )* new Speaker of the House, said he would leave it up to each com- mittee to determine whether TV cameras will be allowed. A ban on radio, TV and news- reel coverage of House hearings had been imposed last February by former Speaker Sam Rayburn (D-Te$.) who interpreted House rules as forbidding use of the media. Immediately following Martin’s announcement, indications that there will be some televised hear* ings began to appear. Chairman Dewey Short (R-Mo.) of the Armed Services Committee, permitted newsreel services at hearings into Ail* Force crashes. Chairman Har- old . H.. Velde (R-IU.) of the Un- American Activities Committee said he frould permit TV at some hearings to “educate” the public on Communism and show that the inquiry is properly conducted. Chairman Robert W. Keen (R- N.J.) of a subcommittee inquiring into tax scandals said he will allow TV if there are no bright lights which “tend to make a show of the thing and destroy the dignity of Congress.” Chairman Kenneth B. Keating (R-N.Y.) of a Judiciary subcom- mittee investigating the Justice Dept, said he would be in favor of televising hearings having general interest. There has been no general ban on TV coverage of hearings in the Senate where the decision rests with each Committee. WFAA-TV's 'Pun' Show Dallas, Jan. 13. “Let’s Have Pun,” new 30-min- ute wekly show by Larry DuPont, bows a 13-week run Thursday (15) on WFAA-TV. Sustainer has a four - man “punel” board, with Jack Gwyn as moderator. AMERICAN MUSIC HALL and U.S. COAST GUARD SHOW KVERY SUNDAY, ABC, RADIO CORAL RECORDS Dlr.t MCA KDYL-TV...Now From 8,900 Feet! KDYL-TV Channel 4 NBC Network Sctlt Lake City, Utah National Representative Bloir-TV, Inc.