Variety (March 1953)

26 RADIO REVIEWS PS&iffiY Wednesday, March II,’ 1953 THE CONTINENTAL' With Kenw> Cessna Director: Irwin Greenfield €0 Mins., Mon.-Sat., 11 a.m. Participating WMGM, N,Y. WMGM, N;Y. f Ih adding Renzo Cesana, the Continental, to its roster of disk jockeys, is attempt- ing to tap one of the more powerful markets. The Continental (“Don't be afraid, Darling, you’re in man’s apartmeht”) has been pur- ring dnto hidden mikes on video for some time and this is his first at* tempt on the aural medium with recorded accompaniment. The basic question is whether the housefrau, who’s sent the kids off to school and is busy preparing lunch, can absorb that sexy output so early in the morning or before lunch, depending-, on individual household habits. Freud \va% never as hardpressed as this reviewer in deciding such questions. It’s also a question of individual receptivity to such suggestion. The Conti- nental, of course, is pitching real hard for a wide matinee aridiehce. He isn’t/ sparing himself in getting the ear of the romantically inclined housewife. The Continental may have to come a’calling on several mornings before he may be able to make an . indent, and then possibly he’ll be able to pitch a lot of assorted feriii- nine items, such as beauty aids, perfumes, wine, etc. He’s liable to lose his appeal if he goes after mundane items. .The .ladies may think he’s becoming crassly- com-, mercial and will probably mutter Vail he cares about is my money-’’ Yet, many might be grateful for . that also. But that Continental is a Sly one and he’ll have his way with the dames yet. He’s got a lot of tricks to get attention and female mail. He’ll read love letters, and he vites replicas of billet-doux for prize money. He aiso. phones a femme—and that’s something for the- romantically inclined house- wife to look forward to. • There’s little.reason why Cesana’s fine Italian ’ voice *ahd ’ hand shouldn't knock off femme" resist- ance. He’s" aided by some well- selected .records, and r he’s also inviting the listeners' to * guzzle" Champagne with him, and those soft, purring pipes with the poetic quality shouldn’t do his cause any harm. On his premiere (9) he went heavy on the music. A sentence or so and off to tne turntable. He even spun One of his own disks. Most of the platters piloted could be con- strued ^s being in the romantic vein. It wasn’t until he was fairly deep Into the program" that the' ear became accustomed to his voice.. But even when the words weren’t intelligible,- the purr per -se might have had an .effect. • • He's on ‘from Mondays to Satur- days on this WMGM deaf. This hour .deal/ accordihg to station spokesman, will gross approxi- mately. $500,000 for the Continental on a four-year: pact. . Jose. . SCOTTISH HOUR With Peter Madren CO Mins. 1 Sustaining > * Radio Luxembourg Relaxed friendly style of micro- phone gabbing establishes this weekly stanza from Luxembourg, English-speaking • sponsored station. Peter Madren, British thesper and announcer, .has this flair. with dialers. Show caught linked lis- teners as far apart as the Persian Gulf and .Inverness, Scotian^. Tunes selected are for entertain- ment mainly of Auld Lang. Syne natives scattered in various parts of the globe. They ranged from Bing Crosby to Scot singer Robert Wilson, ; Perry Como to Scottish country, dance music, and had fairly wide entertainment value. ^ Program owes much to breezy in- formality and humor of its deejay,' Gord. 28 HRS. LIVE SHOWS WKLY. FOR WHUM-TV . Reading, March 10. • In the first two weeks of opera-* tion, WHUM-TV, the only local TV station on the air, offered 28 hourfc of live talent eaph week. Station hit the air Feb. 22. Humbolt J. Greig, president of Eastern Radio Corp, and manager of the station, stated they plan to continue the schedule of 28 hours with local news, sports and audi- ence participation programs. The station is UHF" and on Channel 61. ; Station boasts first use of re- mote control automatic cameras. All programs at present emanate from the new studios in, the old Tower Hotel on top of Mt. Penn, overlooking Re^ipg* j j { x j T , f , C’ett Si Bon National Assn..pf Education- al Broadcasters has come up with an unusual transcription series, classic French plays •performed in French by .the Comedie FrShcaise. Show was produced in France especially for NAEB stations by the French Broadcasting System.-* (RDF) : and it’s a sock offering for its limited audience. In New York it’s being beamed on Saturday after- noons at 2 bv the municipal station, WNYC. Initial pres- entation Saturday (7) was .Mo- liere’s “L’Ecole des Femmes” . (“School for Women”), star-; ring the famed Gallic thesp- ers, Georges Vitray, Renee' Faure i and Aime - Clariond. Their performances, even to ears with only high school and college French training, was magnifique, a chef d'ouvre. , Actually, there’s a fair-sized' audience for this kind of fare: ‘ French-speaking dialers (Who, in N. Y. at least, have no AM programming in their tongue),' students and teachers, and the UN corps. For those notjtoo- familiar with the. lingo, there’s an introductory segment in English explaining the story, It ? s a highly'commendable ef- fort. . ■ Bril. FUN FOR ALL . With Arlene Firancis,. Bill Cullen; Bert Bermahl organist Producer; George Spot* * Director: 1 -Art Henley Writer: Jay Jones ■ 30 Mins., 1 Fri., 8:30 p.m. TONI ABC, from New York (Leo Burnett) It’s to! be hoped that “Fun for All” won't be indicative of the new advanced; type* of programming that’s b^en promised since the ABC-UPT merger went into ,effect. This so-called quiz show hits a new low in all t departments, and it’s incredible that the network and the sponsor land agency should have' gone for:it... , Program* has' Arlene Francis and Bill Cullen acting out parodies .of radio and TV shows, songs, etc. Then they quiz 4 two three-man teams on the subject matter of the parodies. Questions are ridicu- lously simple, but no more redicu- lous or simple- than the parodies themselves. Sample of the so-called humor, on the show: “Did you remember to buy the fish?” “Yes/ I got a haddock.” “A haddock? So Why don’t you take an aspirin?” . 1 It’s a low form of comedy, includ- ing- dialect routines which aren’t even done well. And the quiz por- tion of the show is one which’would: suit a contestant of kindergarten 1 age. Chalk up a big zero for pack- ager Martin Goddriian arid his producer writer team of Qeorge Spota and Jay Jones. 'Likewise for ABC, Toni and LCo Burnett agency. . Chan— AN INNOCENT ABROAD With Gerald, Peters Producer: Frederick Tudor 30 Mins,, Sun. 4 ; p.m, Sustaining CBL, frbm Toronto Strictly on a fugitive from a guide book formula, plus plenty of good-natured spoofing,. Gerald Peters has whipped up a novel travelog' series that is being carried by 38 stations of the trans-Canada network. Several big-na^ne advertis- ers are. prepared to sponsor but, are stymied by the Stat^-operated Ca- nadian Broadcasting Corp. policy, to keep commercial programs to the minimuin. ! / Series * has been upderway 16 weeks, with Peters presenting his impressions of world-famous cities, some of these based on his visits when he served with the infantry in France and' Italy, plus his visits to other geographical points. Lad is a world traveller-journalist and deals this stint with Rio. On imagi- nary visits for hiS listeners, Peters describes the city and its life,, out-, standing buildings and native mores, with a wham finish at the original Copacabana. For this, he works in Latin re- cordings, with Frederick . Tudor ex- pertly interpolating a splendid sound background that gives a par-, ticularly live effect on crowd .noise, etc. In depicting life in a foreign city, Peters dresses up his travelog with music and humorous patter that skirts the' usual academic stuffiness. Opens with train whistles and shunting" engines; then the rubber-necking monolog. Description of a city and its life, plus Tudor’s sounds background, makes this a very, enjoyable lialf- i&qpr session ag-jq i c* 2*.* EZIO. PINZA’S CHILDREN’S SHOW Writer; Lew Weinles Producer; Steve White - 30 Mins.; Sat.,- 9:30 a.m. Sustaining WNBC, N. Y. - . Moving into Jackie Robinson s Saturday morning slot opened by the start of the baseball training season, Ezio Pinza is now heading a disk jocjkey stanza pitched fop the juve audiences. The basso may have considerable, appeal for older audiences but how the kids will react to this .stanza is difficult to estimate. Pinza’s chief" limitation is that foreign accent which may interfere with the juve’s . under- standing and appreciation of his chatter. 1 • This series, however, is well con- ceived as a music ' appreciation Course - without' getting heavy- handed. Each stanza is framed around a central theme , with the platter selections as illustrations. Opening show was framed around the wild west with Pinza playing several folk records about stage- coach riders, tfie pony express, In dians and cowboys. It was q highly listenable program which included a part of Aaron Copland’s “Billy The Kid” ballet suite'for 'the -sole longhair bit- but this was on the light side. Pinza also played a hokey western • tune . which, he sliced for-RCA Victor a couple of years ago .with the Sons of the Pioneers. .Pinza’S; child, Clelia, is also on the show 'for minor intros to some of the disks. She adds-a bright and attractive personality but Die show will have to stand or fall on Pinza's pull with the young- sters, a highly doubtful factor. Herm. PRESENTING ANNIE ROSS With, Maurice Little Rhythm Quartet Producer: Eddie Fraser It Mins, BBC, from Glasgow 'Annie Ross cloaks identity of Arinabelle Logan, of the w.k. Log- an family, Scot vaude group. • Chirper, backed. with nitery ex- perience in America and Europe, is a recent addition to the family act, after being ajvay since a tot, mainly ih the U.S, In program heard, ’she made her Scot radiq debut in. most promising "fashion. Gal gabbed with U.S. accent in a slickly-rhymed script, tracing her career from the time she left Scotland at age of two. She opened with “No Business Like Show Biz,” following quickly into “Rock-a- bye” and then “Louise,” latter siing a la Maurice Chevalier. Thrush showdd..' working knowl- edge of French lingo and accent in “Pigalle,” arid ditto of her na- tive Scotland, in a Harry Lauder- style tune,. “Qh, My,"Mary Mac- kay!” . She was ably backed up by the Maurice Little Rhythm Quartet. Program had fairly strong enterv tainment value, and could well be extended into a series. Gord. UTAH COPPER SYMPHONY HOUR With Utah Symphony Orchestra, Maurice. Abravanel ..conductor, Allen Jensen, Joe Kjar Writers: Nathan Berlin, Allen Jensen Producer: .Allen • JCrisen 60 Mins., Thiint.,' 8 p.m. KlENNECOTT COPPER KSL, Salt Lake City ( Adamson , Buchman) “Utah Copper Symphony Hour” is a good example of what can be done with good music; Maestro Maurice Abravanel makes few con- cessions to pop taste* in choosing the program arid comes through with a solid session of sound symph music. His' handling of the orch is clean and accurate. Allen Jensen handles* straight and commentary. Lat- ter, which he writes, is brief, in- teresting and to the point. -• Joe Kjars commercials are friendly .and straightforward without going overboard. Pitch is along institu- tional lines arid is angled to wide ownership by shareholders and benefits of such ownership to the community. As a locally produced symphony program, this stands up with bet- ter known shows and rates the solid audience it captures. 1 Berle. Bishop Sheen Also Set For MBS Radio Series In order to reach the audience not being served by TV, Admiral Corp. is extending to radio Bishop Fulton J. Sheen’s “Life Is Worth Living” series via the Mutual web. Admiral also bankrolls the cleric on the DuMont cables. He debuts on the “new” medium f » f f f H4 ♦♦ » ♦♦♦ ♦+ M ♦ ♦ +- » ■»■» tUUMIMf* From the Production Centres « % * i - H 4 » » M U M 4 > 4 M f 4 I tlltMll l tl 4 4 4-44 4-4 4 4 44444 IN 1SEW YORK CITY ... « * Stuart Novfns, CBS Radio public" affairs chief, addressed National Conference of Christians and Jews lunch last week ... Charles Ayres, ABC radio veepee, went to Chi on Monday (9) to stir up some biz prospects . /. Red Barber and frau docked in N. Y. aboard the Inde-* pendence yesterday (Tues,). He heads for Dodgers’ Florida training camp Sunday . . . CBS Radio newsman Ed Morgan speaks to the Na- tional Religious Publicity Council on the web’s series, “This I Believe,” March 26 . . . Helen Gerald on ABC’s “Whispering Streets” last week , . . Frank Pulaski leaves Saturday (14) to play in “The Robe” for 20t)i-Fox. ... 1 Herbert Bayard Swope will, be toastmaster of Sports Broadcasters Assn, dinner April 13, with Don Dunphy, SBA prez, as general chair- man . . . It’s a girl, their fourth child, for the Wells Churches (he's CBS Radio 0 news director) . . . ABC prexy Boh Klntner is soliciting the AM-TV industries for the N. Y. Red Cross fund drive . . . NBC= sent out “tickets” for “Your Living Room Theatre” to plug its AM-TV pickup of the Academy Award fete March 19 / . , Bill Latttep, NBC trade press flack, is teaching the AM-TV publicity course at the New School . : .'William A."Wylie, ABC’s manager of AM-TV station rela* tions; addressed the Syracuse ad-sales club Monday (9) .•. . “Backstage Wife” completed its 18th year of broadcasting . . . Grant Richards- new to “Stella Dallas” . . . Court- Benson, Gene Leonard, Mary Michael. and Sarah Burton added to “Backstage Wife” . , . Frank Butler, Joy Hathaway, Sarah Burton, Mary Jane Hlgby, Mary Patton and Haskell Coffin in the new “Front Page Farrell” sequence . . Staats Cotsworth, star of “Front Page Farrell,” will have this .third one-man show of de- cent paintings at the Hammer Galleries . . . Cy Walters takes over a 13-week cycle on WNE.W’s cross-the-board “Piano Tops” . . , Walter Lewis, WHLI commentator, writing a radio-TV-theatre column for the Levittown,(L. I.) Eagle . . *. Ken Klein and A1 Jazzbo” Collins, WNEW promotion director and deejay, spoke at the annual Career Council for Paterson, N. J., Youth, Sunday (8). Helen Gerald on ABC’s “The Chase” today (Wed.) . . . Max Ehrlich back from Bermuda-Nassau trip . .'. Anderson F. Hewitt, board chair- man and chief exec officer of Hewitt, Ogilvy, Benson & Mather, re- signed over a* disagreement on policy decisions . ! , Lin Cook on “Big Story” and “Tales of TomorrQw” this wefek . . . Quincy Howe subs for Elmer Davis on ABC and emcees “Both Sides” Which preems on ABC- TV Sunday" (15) at 1:30 p.rhl . .' Jacques Kreisler watchbands hai switched from Hirshon-Garfield to Foote, Cone & Belding . . . Nick Keesley, Lennen & New.ell’s radio-TV chieftain, agiun will produce the annual show (at Convention Hall, Atlantic City, this Sunday) opening the National Assn, of Tobacco Dealers,, convention. Such Old Gold stars as Mindy Carson, Herb Shriner and. Dennis James will head up the entertainment shindig . , . Somer Alberr added to “Perry Mason” this week. ' 1 • } Ed Murrow, for second straight year, wins the George Polk Memorial Award of Long Island U. t for his “See It Now”. TV-er . . . WCBS’s Bill Leonard guests at a Port of N. Y. Authority dinner tomorrow .(Thurs.) . . . Stuart Weissman and N. R. Madonna added to the WABC spot sales staff . . . John Henry Faulk, WCBS humorist, elected prez Of the U. of Texas alumni association in N. Y. . . . Samuel Sutter named vice*? president in charge of the Creative Department at Blow agency. IN HOLLYWOOD ... Lowell Thomas must’ve heard about the mildest and driest winter coast guardians are passing through and set up shop for the next month! at nearby Balboa yacht harbor. He’ll take side trips along the coast and look in occasionally on his new baby, Cinerama . . . Jimmy Wal- lington went back to the hosp to have his broken w.ris.t reset . . 4 This is to start a scrap book for Percy Green, 58 years a piano tuner and retiring at 73. He ministered to ailing 88’s for every station in ■town since radio came into being and for the past 17 years .tended .the keyboards -at CBS. This is perhaps the first mention he’s ever had in the trade press . ."■. Don Martin, who operates a radio show, puts his FM station on ,the air June ! . . , Adrian-Murphy, CBS-Radio prez, and Lou Hausman, general exec, joined Lester Gottlieb H here for program discussions with Guy della Cioppa . . . When the first flash on Stalin broke, KFWB’S deejay, Larry Finley, put through a phone call to Tass News Agency in Moscow hut got only a polite .brush-off. tass pleaded ‘bad connection” but Finley taped for broadcast what little he did get . . . Harry Kronman’s “Professional Father” is being packaged by CBS. Format deals with child psychiatrist, who has nothing but trouble at home with his own. IN CHICAGO Hooper White, former producer- of Mutual’s “Cliff Johnson Fam- ily , is new radio-TV production chief at the Earle. Ludgin agency . , . James Love, Ralph Ellis,- Howard Bede, and . Andrew Armstrong handed veep stripes at Leo Burnett agency . . . Pete Johnson and Frederick Schneier in from N. Y. for confabs with-MBS Central Division brass • ♦ • NBC’s farm gabber Everett Mitchell off on a one-month globe girdle for the International Farm Youth Exchange Program. ► Tape recordings to be aired on his “National Farm and Home Hour” . . i A ™ral Corp. has named Russel M. Seeds to handle its black and white billings for its TV and radio division, formerly booked by Crut- tenden & Eger . . . C&E co-owriers Ed Erer and Harley Hobbs joining Y" p ‘ s * ’ All ? n Napier of “Dial M for Murder” guested Cn ? ids Sund »y < 8 > : i • • Win Uebel rejoined NBC as assist- ant to Chi NBC sales service manager Tom Lauer . . . Larry Alex- ander, ex-WBBM, joins WLS announcery . . . Jim Conway launched a daily gab session via WBBM . . . Josephine Wefoler, WLS education director, sojourns downstate March 14 to participate in a radio-TV rela- J?* S ? US m 0I \ a * ^ 1 ^. nois State Normal ... Frank Hussey ties in 5 k 7 «J a mstation- rep firm as an account exec after a hitch with the Chi Tribune . . . Dale Harrison added to NBC’s “Welcome sta Hl e > * V ABC wiU web Ks-ww “Concert Studio”. Monday (16). Half hour of light classics by Rex Maupin W 55L 1 L te - eo 5 w -!i h Met tenpr » as « ue st. . . Salerno-Mego- wan renewmg with WGN for “Robert F. Hurieigh News” . . . Fair- banks, Morse sponsoring a' five-minute WGN riite newscast. • • • Thursday sloljs, IN CLEVELAND ... w?DT? ar ^ ■? , S U vJ c * e ’ WC2AU, has been named sales manager of WLKL . . Carl C. Byers, superintendent of Greater Cleveland subur- ban school system of Parma, has replaced Fred Ripley as WGAR’s Man About Town Reporter” . Pat Trese, former NBC sports writer wmbSY ^ Uncle Sam as a private*at Fort Meade » , * WNBK has added Ding Dong School” to its. morning programming. . . . Norman Cloutier, WTAM-WNBK program director, has written a song for the Ohio Sesquetennial entitled “Best Location in the Nation” . . . Bill Gordon, WHK disker, out of the hospital arid back at work, nis wife, Chris, pinch-hitting during his absence continues on her own TV commercial stint . . . Charles “Bud” Ford, WTAM producer, in New York for brief trip . -. . Stan Anderson, radio-TV editor; The Press, back from Now York writing visit * . . Ted Smoot, AFTRA exec sec- ; _ .-~ T ^tary.mFiorida hiatus . . . Johnny Andrews,-WTAM-WNBK, on three- 02) in the 9:05 p* m. 1 week Carib cruise and Dipk Brown in from New York to handle emcee - .Jiiec’tU »!.- .1 i li t «P).page 35)