Variety (April 1953)

28 TELEVISION REVIEWS vmmrt Wednesday, April 8, 1953 Television Followup Comment Donald O’Connor headed up aj lively stanza on NBC-TV s t-oi gate Comedy Hour”* last Sunday (5). He’s a thoroughly engaging performer who can make with tne song, the dance and the laughsf and is a genial conferencier he* sides. -The hoofing dynamo was before the cameras most of the way, taking time out only during the guest singing stint by Vivian Blaine and the GI skit by regulars Tom D’Andrea and Hal March. Sliss Blaine had a snappy two- songer in “Give My Regards to Broadway” with some updated ly- rics, and “Blues in the Night.” The D’Andrea-March cynical slice oi Army life as they were preparing for a getaway on a three-day pass was highly amusing and a model of savvy timing. Session’s high spot was the O’Connor-Sid Miller songwriting sketch, a permanent hit potion in the topper’s Colgate klatch. -They took off on nursery rhymes and latched on to Academy Award pi x for theme song inventions that scored in the higher brackets. Other skit had guester Brian Aherne, O’Connor and Scatman Crothers in a bebop custom, fitting at Aherne’s London haberdashery. . It was a real “gone” getup. O'Connor opened the proceed- ings in 'workmanlike.,fashion sing- ing and tapping “It’s a Lovely Day Today” production number. This segued into intro of “Call Me Madam” pic director Walter Lang and O’Connor’s briefie on “pre- 3D,” which • in turn led into the Star’s repeating his Charles Chap- lin characterization via silent tech- nique, with Anthony Dexter as Rudolph Valentino, It lacked the punch and chuckles of his first ef- fort along these lines last year. Closer was an Easter special in the bebop genre, with O’Connor, Crothers and the line. O’Connor knocked himself, out in the dance department, reserving just about enough wind to present Colgate's “most beautiful” and “most hand- some” centenarians, Mrs. Anne Milne, 104, of Salt Lake City, and Maximilian Von Stephany, 100, of Cincinnati, who were flown to the Coast for the occasion. Ernie Glucksman’s staging throughout was up to his usual high standard and the A1 Goodman orch was ditto. Trau. Ed Sullivan whipped up a tasty variety dish for his “TOast of the Town” show on CBS-TV Sunday (51. Hour had all the ingredients of socko vaudeo fare and each turn came through for top results. Show’s overall production values, plussed by Ray Bloch’s expert orch backing, helped make the stanza a surefire winner. Off to a brisk start with the pre- cision terping of the Gae Foster Girls in an Easter medley and a roughhouse turn by a flock of clowns from the Ringling Bros., stanza maintained a lively pace with the standard. turns that fol- lowed, Grocie Fields was socko in her songalog which included a . couple of briefies, “All For One and, One For All,’ and “Don’t Be Angry With Me Sergeant” as well as such longer items as “.Christopher Robin Is Saying His Prayers” and “Walter, Walter, Lead Me to the Altar.” Her snappy piping on the comedy tunes assured the yocks and her warm rendition of “Chris- topher Robin” was effective. In between, she related a couple of yarns that tickled. Closed strong with a rousing “Wish Me Luck.” Burton’s Birds offered a nice ^change of pace. The birds’ bag of tricks included tight-wire walking, somersaults, laundry washing, etc. Turn has been around for years but it never fails to amaze. The Szony’s (Francois and Gisele) ballroomolosy also was a standout sequence. Team's poise and easy- flowing movement were given ex- cellent camera coverage in their two dance interpretations. Cab Calloway’s energetic song styling made clicko items of “There’s a Boat That's Leaving Soon for New York” (which he sings in the current Broadway pro- duction of,“Porgy and Bess”) and “Tliat Old Black Magic.” He’s a vivid stylist and could have dou- bled liis repertoire - in this stint without tiring the viewer. Show wound with the Notre Dame Glee Club, in their third annual trip to “Toast.” choraling “Hallelujah, Amen,” an excellently arranged version of “Johnny Comes March- ing Home” and the fighting U. of Notre Dame theme. Gros. Video Theatre” as a drama by an 1 unknown write*, it would probably have been rejected cold as a trite, wholly unbelievable anecdote spun out to two acts. But since it was a television adaptation by Nobel Prize .winner William Faulkner of his own short -story, the pointless trifle was given a tremendous ballyhoo in newspaper ads. Lever Bros, acclaimed it as the TV writ- ing premiere of the Mississippi novelist, and considered it signifi- cant enough to mark the transfer of “Lux Video Theatre” from Mon- day to Thursday might (2) on CBS- TV, _ Faulkner’s adaptation is a sacr charine bowdlerization of the lit- erary qualities of his original story, and even does no credit to his rep- utation as a slick writer who did the film adaptations for “To Have .and Have Not,” “The : Slave Ship” and “Intruder in the Dust.” It’s a sunny version of the old Oedipus Complex, silver cord, or Momism, theme. In this case, Mom (Mildred Natwick) is a proud, bedridden Southern matriarch, who uses her convalescence to tighten her grip on her adoring son (Dan Duryea). When he marries a train 'conduc- tor’s daughter (Sally Forrest), Mom disdainfully continues to lead her boy around by the nose. To escape the depressing atmos- phere of maternal dominance, the wife goes o&t every Saturday night, presumably to the Country Club, while her son dutifully stays at home to keep an eye on Mama’s health. The imitation of a plot hinges on the denouement that the wife hasn’t been out on sexual dalliance after all, but has been reading novels in a neighborhood rooming house. The showdown has the son becoming a Man as he tells Mom to shut up, Mom submissively han<ds over the family brooch to her daughter-in-law, and all three prepare to live happily ever after in their amiable little household finally freed of Freud. This soap opera finish is a sudsy contrast to . Faulkner’s priginal tragic story, which depicts the daughter-in-law as a genuine trol- lop who leaves the home when she is discovered, and concludes with a powerful scene in which .the son commits suicide by sticking a pistol between his teeth. The three principals, especially Miss Natwick, strive nobly.to inject some life into Faulkner’s watered- down Faulkner, but the author- adaptor has thrown too much soap in their eyes. “Arthur Murray Party” on Du- Mont Sunday night (5) was a cinch to grab a tall curiosity rating via the brief appearance of Christine Jorgensen, the male-turned-female, in her TV debut. She was one of three personalities making an ap- peal for the best of causes: Jane Pickens for cerebral palsy, Melvyn Douglas for United Jewish Appeal, and Miss Jorgensen for the Damon Runyon Cancer Fund. Latter was on last, after a sympathetic intro ! by hostess Kathryn Murray, and she finished the show. Her voice is a bit deep, but perhaps not more so than some born-to-the-sex femmes. Her elaborate gown did not seem to fall too gracefully upon her; perhaps she needs more ex- perience in accoutrements. She conducted herself well and spoke ditto. Show proper ha# singer Kitty Kallen, replacing Lisa Kirk who’s current at the Plaza Hotel and had to do an Easter night (10:30) stan- za; Charles Coburn in a sketch, “Easter Morning at Tony’s”; a vin- tage dance by Peter Birth and Mrs. Murray; comic Orson Bean, and the: segment’s usual “Mystery Dance,” which is no mystery—just a mail puller of the most elemen- tary order. Trau. segueing Into “1’ifl Alabamy Bound” and “Singing in the Rain,” along with “Bells Are Ringing” and “How You Goin* to Keep ’Em Down on the Farm” in his usual top nostalgic form. Calibre of the humor took a de- cided drop in a partly filmed sketch, during which. Jessel took Allen on a tour of Hollywood to prove that every joint there doesn’t come “with a built-in psy- chiatrist.” The duo rubbernecked a nitery, and a beauty parlor, where Allen, ready for some oo-la- la excitement, with the girls, was shocked to discover. his wife un- derneath a hair dryer. Then they wound up at Cantor’s home, where’ Eddie, “King Farouk of Beverly Hills,” was found surrounded by a harem of'fillies. Here again, it was a case of poor material foiling their.joint efforts. Miss De Haven chirped in a cou- ple of production numbers, one being “The. Old Soft-Shoe” before a replica of Hammersteiri’s Vic- toria Theatre, the other a bluesie version of ®Ain't Got No Man.” She displayed an opulent chassis in her low-cut strapless evening gown, but impressed as being too much of an exaggerated hand wiggler, and not putting enough melodic oomph in her pipes. Lay- out closed on a sentimental note, with Pet Milk wheeling in a moun- tainous birthday cake,' and Jessel, anticipating his future stint with ABC-TV, expressing thanks to NBC-TV for “having put me closer in one season with the American audience than in all my 40 years in show business.” George Jessel came up with a fairly satisfactory session for his Anal turn on NBC-TV’s “All Star Revue” last Saturday (4), gathering about him Eddie Cantor, Fred Allen, Gloria '. De Haven, Portland Hoffa and Senator dag- horn, Show’s best moments came in the banquet table session. Allen, who only a few weeks back was boffola in a Jessel guest stint, dis- appointed t.his time up, due chiefly to lackluster script material. The tomfoolery on this occasion was supposed to mark Jessel’s 55th birthday.- In a jesting turn- about, Cantor pretended to deliver an accolade on the highlights of Jessel’s career, but instead snatched off the glory for himself; Cantor would mention a year in JessePs life, remember it was also If “The Brooch” had been sub- the year when “Kid Boots” or witted to the script editor of “Lux I “Whoopie” preemed on Broadway, One of season’s major highlights for “Philco Television Playhouse” was Sunday nights (5) NBC-TV presentation of “A Young Lady of Property,” starring Kim Stanley. The show was as much a personal triumph for Miss Stanley as it called for kudos for the entire cast, director Vincent Donehue, and producer Fred Coe. Scripted by Horton Foote, play caught a mood from the first min- ute and never let it go until the fadeout. It was the story about a 15-year-old girl in- a'Southern town whose mother is dead and whose father is about to marry again. Her ^unhappiness and loneliness reach tragic heights when her father wants to sell the old house her mother had left her. In the end, all turns out well. ' Miss Stanley gave a delightful performance that was -alternately amusing and moving. With her voice and her whole being, aided by the topnotch script, she pur- veyed the characterization of the adolescent girl who dreams of a career in Hollywood but knows that actually she wants, nothing more than to stay in The little town that is her world, The rest of the cast backed her up admirably. Joanne Woodward, Miss Stanley’s understudy in the legit hit, “Picnic,” hit just the right note as the friend; Margaret Bark- er registered as Aunt Gert; Fredye Marshall did excellently as Ninna, the colored housekeeper, and Jim Gregory hit just the right note as the selfish father. Will Hansen, Dorothy Sand and Vivien Nathan rounded out the performers. Miss Stanley’s sensitive and in telligent performance was further underscored by Donehue’s unhur- ried direction which avoided any false notes. Coe’s production val- ues added to making this one of the most enjoyable plays in the Philco series. Use of the “Billy the Kid” waltz from the Aaron Copeland suite as part of the theme music was a bit of inspira- tion that paid off. Hift. Dave Garroway, with Faye Emer- son, participated via “Today” over NBC-TV Thursday * (2), in a light though serious, informal though moving, blood donation demonstra- tion on behalf of the Red Cross program. It was not the first time show biz names have given blood before the TV cameras, but it proved to be psychologically effec- tive. Garroway, master of the cas- ual style, did a fine interview with the highly attractive Miss Emersoh as she donated blood on a table. He followed with a revealing verbal exchange with a doctor, and a touching commentary-plea for widespread blood donations by viewers in the 41 cities reached by the early-morning show, as he stretched, for seven minutes, on an adjoining table to surrender a pint of the life-sustaining fluid. Camera wprk was exceptionally sharp, catching clearly the needle insertion in Garroway’s arm, and his face—also Miss Emerson's^r- while they were prone. He sought, successfully, to allay apprehension ? conversation. The performers* pe- at donating blood; ad libbed per- 1 * J suasively that “no excuse” held good for not offering blood to back up the forces in Korea. Episode represented television at its most effective level in dramatizing a patriotic message. Jaco . DuMont’s “Dark of the Night” has proved its noteworthiness in the past through its “on location” originations. Program last Friday (3) night made evident another noteworthy feature of the show, one which should make other webs sit up and take notice. ■ ■* This is its ability to create story mtfterial from the originating places. Friday’s telecast, for exam- ple,. came from the Joseph Bulova School in Woodside, L.. I. Jt’s a watchmaking school run for dis- abled vets free of charge to the Veterans Administration and the vets themselves. Writer George Lowther was quick to take advan- tage of the story possibilities, and in fact came up with a case his- tory as the basis for Friday’s drama. * Point -is that it represents a de- parture from established custom and could open a new field for those tele programmers willing to take the plunge off the beaten path. It could well be tagged “The Stories Around Us.” It’s a quasi- documentary proposition that’s not lacking in drama and is enhanced by realism. Story in this particular case cen- tered around a paraplegic who felt that life was a bite-or-get-bit prop- osition. Feeling extended to his wife, whom he accused of not lov- ing him (she really did) and stay- ing with him only because of his future potentialities as a watch- maker and • businessman.. His at- titude in the end was changed by schools’ directors getting him to help others, thereby making him realize the error of his, ways. While the happy ending wasn’t complete- ly convincing, story as a whole made for good tele drama. Acting was excellent. Robert Keith, Jr. scored as the paraplegic, while Mitchell Agruss delivered a sensitive portrayal of one of the vets he helped. John Stanley and William A. Lee as the director and supervisor of the school handled their assignments with skill and understanding, and Lois Nettleton was convincing as the distraugh wife. On-location background was highly effective, but producer-di- rector Frank Bunetta’s principal problem continues to be lighting. Effects were harsh and lacking in contrast where the portable units lit up a room, while unlit portions of the picture were too dark. What’s needed here, and it’s by no means an easy task, is the de- velopment of a mobile system that lights locations evenly. In all other respects, production was ex- cellent. Chan. “Fred Waring Show” on CBS-TV Sunday night (5) presented a pleas- ing session framed around the Easter holiday. While not socko in its impact, stanza displayed taste and dignity in its musical of- ferings. The show, incidentally, marked the end of Waring’s fourth year in video. Program opened lightly with an Easter Parade” production num- ber and segued into a medley of oldfashioned-type special material tunes handled excellently by the large company. Particularly stand- out was the “Springtime Cometh” nipiiber, a clever novelty cleverly presented. Second half of the show featured the chorus in a group of Negro spirituals with lighting ef- fects used to dramatize the singing. General Electric confined its J plugs to two very brief commer- cials fori* and aft. Herm. riodic tries to sound British were more of a hindrance than an asset, particularly since the 'characteriza- tions were shaped to confprm with a typical American household, Ernest Truex did well as the quiet, all-observing if mildly dis- tracted father around whom the family’s affairs swirl in romantic confusion. Sylvia Field as the highly-emotional wife and mother in spots was guilty of bad over- acting which frequently deprived her lines of depth. Ernest Graves as the ponderous son, Claude; Hugh Thomas as, the second son and Mary Johnson as the daugh- ter-of-marriagable age did well within the script’s limits. Ray Boy re played. Roger, Thomas* boy- friend, who cohies a-visitirig and ends up marrying the girl. Helen Warnow took the part of the maid, Gladys,* who upsets Miss Field by marrying Graves. Author Savory staged the play on TV and Robert Blum was TV director of the Warren Wade Pro- duction. Whereas most of the action was routine, being mostly confined to one room, the camera work showed occasional flashes of im- agination in dealing with the es- sentially static situation. Hift, “Foolish Notions,” Douglas Fair- banks, Jr.’s presentation on “Rhein- gold Theatre” over WNBT, N. Y. t last Wednesday (1), had all the elements of a superior suspense play without the usual accompany- ing . hysterics or hQrror. ^ Th® British-made telefilm, under the production supervisioti of Tom Connochie, offered an ordinary group of humble English folk, and held attention by expert psycho- logical spinning out of a character study of an old and insecure woman. Beginning in commonplace vein, Gabrielle Upton’s original build up to an engrossing and warmly human glimpse of an aging wom- an’s heart, in which she had locked the reason for her being. The woman, in a superb performance by Barbara Mullens, was^a house- keeper* for a lonely man and his young nephew living in an English lighthouse. Destined to be re- placed and retired, she almost frightens away an ad-answering younger woman, as she had scared away others, by weird and untrue tales of her employer’s eccentrici- ties. The sudden flight of her possible replacements is explained by other lies. Caught finally in her web of untruths, she reveals, in a display of common human dignity, how'wanting to be needed forced her to unusual deception. .Backing Miss Mullens were able and realistic performances by Avice Landone, as the younger women; Clifford Evans as the lighthouse keeper and Derek Rowe as the nephew. The irregularities of the British faces, minus pancake make- up, were a welcome relief to eyes long accustomed to actors poured out of a glamor mold. Direction by Charles Saunders, a bit dragging at the outset, was toprate for most of the half hour. Fairbanks still gives the beer commercials a champagne touch, • although he has muted his rhap-" sodies. He revealed, in a com- mercial sidelight, that it was hiS friend Ed Sullivan (on the rival CBS-TV) who first introduced him To the brew that is now his sponsor. The film series is distributed by the NBC Film Division on a local basis. 44d George and Margaret,” last week’s Mon. (30)-Sun. (5) presen- tation on WOR’s “Broadway TV Theatre,” was billed as a “whimsi- cal farpily comedy,” and its setting was a London suburb, Unfortu- nately, and not through the fault of the very competent cast, it turned out to be neither .very much of a comedy nor anything resem- bling a British family. In fact, as is probably inevitable in all series of this type, “Geprge and Margaret.” based on Gerald Savory’s 1937 Broadway play which ran for 86 performances, turned out to be something of a low point and quite dull as TV plays go. Very little of the houivand-a- half show rang true, and the stan- za seemed to drag itself from half- hour to half-hour with more than customary sluggishness and im- mersed in a torrent of uninspired U. OF ILL. HOLDS OFF OH TV STATION PLAN Chicago, April 7. Univ. of Illinois has postponed its plans for erecting a TV station in Champaign-Urbana. According to prexy George D. Stoddard, the delay is caused by the new univer- sity budget being shy the neces- sary funds needed for such new ventures as television.. • Consequences of the lean budg- et means that the university may lose the FCC allocation for chan- nel 12 *and also the’ Ford Foundar tibn’s $100,000 which had to be ac- cepted by April 1. U. of I. had hopes of spending $289;600 needed for the construction and two years* maintenance of the proposed sta- tion. ’• Stoddard’ will ask the FCC and the Ford Foundation for an exten- sion of the deadlines.