Variety (May 1953)

28 TELEVISION REVIEWS pTmm Wednesday, May 6 , 1958 VKm W MI t I M M »M ♦ M ♦♦♦♦♦ » +# # M* » + 4+ + 4+ + 4 « • Television Followup Comment ♦ * . f < 111 tHttf ttff'H 11 ♦ 11 ♦ H* 4 *** TT » t t t T will discourage viewers from tun- ing into the second installment. London portion was simply an introduction, and as such,. didn t make much of an impression. It described Sydney' Carton’s (Wen- dell Corey) life as a wastrel, showed the c °urt scene in which foTSmt thrscenTcde- hVbigan his coromerdal by saying cated locally by the NBC Film Carton’s resemblance to Darnay minds see to it that tne sc the com pany was proud to Division. A two-hour version is (Carleton Young) results in the ^elopment vafues^^metimes the have been first sponsor on “Omni- being edited for pix-house show- tune entry will undergo such trans- SV 8 ’car^ ^ Raslc* ° rW * formation as to be in the satirical sel1 fl ulte a few cars * Kasfc * or ribbing class after, strangely * I “Danger” took the unusual step •Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis fell a notch below their usual form Sunday (3) on NBC-TV’s Colgate Comedy Hour.” Returning to the show after a couple of months ab- sence in their next-to-last appear- ance of the season, the team didn t expend its’ customary quota of eftergy, which perhaps explains the noticeable lag in several spots of the show. Prdgram, however, built as it went along, with the second half on the whole a high-powered af- fair. Lags were most evident in the first part of. the show. <*Last half started with a sketch that should become a classic in the Martin & Lewis repertoire, a bit out of tne Arabian Nights with Martin an Arab prince who can’t be struck or physically punished. A "whipping boy” gets the punish- ment that’s due the prince, and, of course, Lewis occupied that sta- tion. Pair milked the idea, to the hilt, making for a laugh-packed turn. Also effective in that second half was a well-constructed bit of busi- ness that had Lewis • accepting a trophy from a parents magazine for his work with children. As he made an. acceptance speech, the trophy started to tick, and the blackout had the thing exploding as he chased down the aisle with It after its donor. Pair closed the program with their customary non- sense with bandleader Dick Sta- bile, making five minutes of noth- ing a highspot of the show. First .half, pf the alr£r didn’t ""fare as well, despite a rib-tickling knockabout opener that had them appearing as gufest celebrities on a panel show which producer Ernie Glucksman didn’t take too much trouble to disguise as a takeoff on CBS-TV’s- “What’s My Line?” Pair broke the joint up when the pahel- ites couldn’t identify them even without blinders. Pace slowed ^during a “psy- chological” skit,- with each fear- ing the .other was out to.- kill "him for insurance money. They * added little, to the original idea, and what,might have been a good three-minute, sight bit was turned into a dullish overlong segment by the absence of any good’ ma- terial.' Sheldon Leonard gave a good assist in this one, but It came to naught. Martin was Okay in his vocal renditions of “Cheatin' Heart” and “Red, Red Robin,” vfrhile Lewis re- prised his now standard ■ game of hide-and-seek with the cameras. Mary McCarty gave things a lift with her flapper and silent film turns, but she’s beginning to re- peat the same stint too often on TV. Her. turn could use a little alteration. Production trimmings and tech- nical work we^e all on the credit side, especially the^work of the camera crew in keeping up with the antics Of the madcap duo. , Chan. latter’s acquital on charges of spy- ing for" France, and took the audi- ence through the successful court- ship by Darnay of Lucie Manette, with Carton’s subsequent disap- pointment but loyalty. And as~a closer, it set up th« next episode by having Lucie and Carton pre- pare to leave for France after get- ting the news that Darnay was imprisoned there. All told, the seg- ment had little action, little drama and even less study of character. Corey, as the dissolute Carton, did as well as he could with the material at hand. Young also was competent. Wanda Hendrix had little to do as Lucie, while Murray Matheson as her father was fairly convincing. But. major fault lay in the wooden script. Dimitri Tiom- kin’s specially-written score wasn’t particularly outstanding. A1 .Good- man’s sets were topnotch, however, and all the physical properties Snd Dik Darley’s direction were of * high calibre. ? real visual corkers, with fancy “If you aim at the stars, you some- glory of ultimate triumph, the sad- song-and-dance production (Hit times land on the roof.” ness at the human cost and the Pnrf fV Slneers & Dancers) and a - To avoid breaking into the com- happiness of homecoming. Admiral rommendable^attempt to alter the edy, two of the five sponsors deliv- Chester W. Nimitz, in a brief after-* mMifc the case of tunls which ered their commercials back-tc- talk, underscored the need for con- reoeS SvS t“e weeks WhM a back between acts. Bob Williams, trol’of the seas In times of emer- ^nceed and executed for announcer for Willys-Overland, in- gency. Ixtra-long “erlodsf the master- troduced a kind, hopeful note when The series is now to be syndi- enough, starting out as straighter two subs for Arthur God- last Tuesday of building its entire than straight. frey—Robert Q. Lewis on the a.m. CBS-TV meller around a ballad. The show’s solo fixtures are “Arthur Godfrey Time” and Garry The buildup was given to its theme Dorothy Collins, who doubles as Mopre on the p.m. “Arthur God- song, “Danger,” strummed mood- ciggie plugger; Snooky Lanson, a frey’s Talent Scouts”—last Mon- °lly on a guitar by Tony Mottola pleasant sort of chap who seldom day (4) had a similar humble ap- (its composer), which has been or never extends himself; Russell proach to filling the big man’s tricked up with pash lyrics by Sun- Arms, who’s really in the produc- sho$s. 4 , . ^kylar tion chanting bracket; and June After paying tribute to a great Records by ^ Johnny Lcsmond.^ A3 Valli, who bears the most legit entertainer and a great human be- a result, both the meller script by of the,“HP” voices and is usually ing,” Lewis recalled many substi- Kate Nickerson and the acting, the No. 1 choice to handle the pash lutions for Godfrey and said this headed by Desmond, played a stuff. Raymond Scott and his orch was “one replacement I .'wish corny second fiddle to what are called upon to score, and cue hadn’t happened. He asked the amounted to a half-hour song plug, what amounts to a.minnie musical audience to “hope together and The ^Immicked-up diama, called each week. This they do with au- pray together for ,aspeedyrecov- ^SmgJFor^ ^cur Life, ^ dep cted thority. ery to health. I love to be here, Desmond as a radio singer who but I wish this wasn’t necessary.” did his stuff from a cabaret. He T , , , • , . , , ... Moore opened the “Talent fell for a ripely-stacked blonde. Lucky s claimed check of disk scouts”’show with “This is Garry Joan Copeland, who got him to and sheet music sales, and jukes ;, Hch Moore—and wisn it Aside from the seven bestsellers (via and radio plays), “Parade” gives much sooner be home watching the killer boyfriend,"George Mathews, extras to round out the period. as usual » He sa id his job Desmond fell in the hands of the GaTYIO CAlirAAO COtT fVlA ChAin AAnln ° aVTT g _ . - «• -lil 11 1 A 3 * J !• . weren’t. I’d air a trick message summoning her Some sources say the show could T ,, x t u ^ .. * >j r-~---- --- - - rv • r, was “to keen the show alive until thug, but persuaded him to come • ? n to hoped that thersecond present the top JO by skipping the j ma ^*> returned. “Filling to the nitery before his getaway, installment makes .up for the first extras; but “HP” management likes ] n {Jr Arthur,” he said, “is like The hokum ended with Desmond that nostal- j n f or Dagmar. The spirit singing “Danger” so tearfully tRat . pie of sharp . w ming, bu t the flesh is weak.” the sentimental machine-gun hood- s how the Horn. lum blubbered that he wouldb’t in dramatic quality. Even if it does, the fillips as supplying that nostal though, much will have been lost gic touch. As an example * ' through the sacrifice of the first changing tastes, here half hour for the second. Chan. show stacked up last week as com- pared to the week before: “Mr. Peepers” is blessed with May 2 April 25 more than a good idea, skillful i t rpUpv* i Pr*>fond three-dimensional characterization. 2 ; p r “ t end 2'. Till I Waltz and a. star (Wally Cox) on which 3 Doggie in 3. x Believe the whole production sits like a well-fitted glove. The NBC-TV program^ a Pcatjpdy winner, has a number who squeeze of their parts was the turn gifted actress who plays Mrs. Gur ney, to take over* the burden of the play. Miss Lome, in previous appear Window 4. Till I Waltz 4. Doggid in Window lead his doxy into a life of crime, • . ujohiv -formidable but as be sprinted out Of the club, hnttl n Martin & Lewis Ed a cop, accidentally drinking a gin- competition of Martin fit Loewis, , nearbv mowed the muei! Sullivan’s “Toast of the Town,’.* f *' ale ***%*> mowea me mugg Sunday (3) on CBS-TV- didn’t go k,-c r«fo in « all out in its presentation of talent. braV u^'^a m P style more in keep- Of course, there was some name pravura ham style, more m xe p imiiia miiVi former heawweicht mg with an opera heavy than a value with former neavyweignt <Tal Jo?y .» type heps ter. Miss Copeland and Mathews were in good professional form, trying to inject a little believability into fonit in mn-l roles as maudlin as Little Nell. There was a major fault m ^rou I The ballad itself, about which all tugal Side Miss Valli handled “Moulin tining. Sullivan put on . Rpuge”. (Virginia Conway as danc- jerking items in a row. which th D^ st| rk per usuri debvered . er) and “Pretend”; Miss Collins was would put a pall on, even the most his ^SJ pUcR * ABC-TV may have bit off more than it can chew in its attempt to translate Charles Dickens’ classic, “Tale of Two Cities” to the video screen in a two-part serialization on its Sunday night “ABC Album” (“Plymouth Playhouse”, for the pine-week auto firm snonsorship). Problem, as DOted in the first in- stallment Sunday (3), consisted not so much in capturing the physical dimensions of the story but in at- tempting to focus its dramatic in- tensity into two separate (and sepa rated by a week) chapters. Exec producer Cecil Barker and producer Robert Banker rate praise for the topnotch technical job on the first show, to wit, the use of large, extensive -sets and outdoor stages, the. physical handling of a large cast of principals and extras, excellent lighting, staging and cam- era work. But much of the effect of their labors was lost in the manner in which it was decided to adapt the work. Adaptor John Blahos was given the assignment of arbitrarily dividing the story into two geo- graphical segments, that part o the action place in London going into the first segment, with the second episode next Sunday (10) having Paris as its location. This choice of division was per- haps necessitated by physical re quirements of the telecasts, bu was unfortunate all the same. For the dramatic punch of the Dickens tale lies in its Paris portions —’ London is merely a background to the action. And while ABC may feel that giving the background in the first episode will make ■ its viewers eager to see the second “April in Portugal," which-with, overtones, headed by Mefcefes Tnhi<5 n m«i “Mdulin” were the new entries in McCambridge and an unbilled .. threat-to-vour-ehildren fear the top .seven, was an instrumental moppet. By themselves or suffl- *“* } hreat t0 your cb,ldIe Vfc antl dancing stanza. Tran. ciently separated, they would have *?*’*“• good intention and quicksilver . . , been good as individual bits, but . memory, is a comic creation of the by i um ping them together, in a J« n « Taylor’s sizzling steppers first order. “Omnibus,” for its final install- concentrated dose of grief, it was are fast Teaching stature as among In last .week’s show, however, ment last Sunday (3), squandered more than any one-hour show the leading terproductlon groups the . theme . of which was built the talents of a top-rate cast of per- could carry. m tele. They are an important as- around her part, Miss Lorne of- formers who stirred about aimlessly Miss Dauberson, doubling from set in Jackie Gleason $ CBSatur- fered ample evidence of even in' a third-rate George Bernard Gogi’s Larue, N.Y., made a good day nighter, as evidenced m tlieir greater skill, that of making her Shaw potboiler. “Arms and the impression in her two numbers, pair of walloping workouts, one m audience : walk the tightrope be- Man” (not to be confused with the She’s a singer with depth and she the usual intro grove and the other tween tears and laughter. Good witty “Man and Superman,” which put some tremendous feeling in near the tail-end, last Saturday share of credit goes to writers was successfully revived on Broad- the French version of “Autumn (2). Jim Fritzell. and Everett Green- way two seasons ago) was, by Leaves” and “Slc-rrhy Weather” en Gleason s contributions, aside baujn, but Miss Lorne acted the Shaw’s own admission, one of his Anglais. from his regular opening monolog- serio-comic part to perfection. less pungent • plays even when he Former heavyweight champ shenanigans and .twixt-between Mrs. Gurney, it seems, oveV- tossed it together for the commer- Louis didn’t select the better por- conferenciering, were about par heard a conversation in which cial Avenue Theatre in London 60 tions of his act for his part of the for the course. “The Honeymoon- young. teachers were praised. She years ago. a Sullivan show. Ex-pug has been ers” with the fetching and barb- had taught for 34 years (rfiaking Ostensibly a satire on war, it wowing Harlem audiences at the throwing Audrey Meadows, the ex- her 54), and now seriously thought turned out to be a threadbare trifle Apollo Theatre, where he's playing tra-competent Art Carney and an- she was unwanted. In her acting, when presented on the full hour bis second engagement within a other couple, had some laughs Miss Lorne alternated inward hurt and a half of the CBS-TV stanza, few weeks. Aided by Leonard based on embarrassing situations and an aging woman's nostalgia Indeed, its sentimentally contrived Reed, Louis made with some ban- vis-a-vis the selfsame couple (the tl.'lfll Cfnn 11inA AAiyi in Kifr ».l in xi fm* ami inanf thrAiinli a 11tmliApiwrf t)OSS 311(1 lllS T^llIC A Tllfi’V mambo interpolation beanshooter out the window) "for schinalz operettas, arid any^ minute Joe Termini provided a bright Another of Gleason’s * running sack emotional impact. Natural- one expected a costumed tenor- to s P ot with his string instrument sketches, “The Loud Mouth,” with ly, Mr. Peepers melted the older spring out onto the stage and soar Pantomime. Opener was Dieter Carney as the helpless Clem Finch, teacher’s silly but human heart to into “Song of Love.” It contains Tasso, doubling from the Ringling seemed to telegraph its punches, al- tears; assured that she was loved, little of- Shaw’s acrobatic para- Bros * Circus at Madison Sq. Gar- though the Gleason-Carney tan- and got her to stay. It’s a rare doxes, so brilliantly agile in his den. who’s a dextrous manipulator dem is always sure to provide a comic talent that skirts outright later plays, and only one Shavian in lining up cups and saucers on quota of chuckles amid the welter caricature (and easy boffs) for a aphorism. hi* Hnmp w:iii>j li&innninc*.himcair nf alfalfa Thp pnri-im “Rudv the °M! ani v^ + nd + sympathetic Despite its careful TV staging by r U r^*rtp at « John Burrell, director of London’s hr^ a . C TT r0f , th , e °ld school, old Vic Theatre, this dpera bouffe talent and has -R’wider remained thoroughly antiquated, control. norn. j ean pi erre Aumont Strove nobly ¥i * cu-u * urrtL t. , „ to add some dash to his role as the Lucky SJrf£e a Hit Parade Swiss “chocolate soldier”; Nanette gave its 920th performance last Fabray was pleasantly vivacious as Saturday (2). Although this was on the pampered Bulgarian heroine; latter-day TV (via NBC), the arith- Kent Smith and Walter Slezak did metie refers to the combination of their best to inject a little dimen- radio ;and tele with the show sion into their roles as fat-headed l^ ncl ri!u ng liur lender the “Hit” aristocrats, and Martita Hunt and title. The AM and initiatory edition Mischa Auer were totally wasted as teed off m April 20, 1935, with papier-mache characters who were Lennie Hayton (since married to given little more than walkons. Lena Horne, and both now at Bill Alistair Cooke delivered a curi- Miller’s opening bill at his N. J. ous apologia as a curtain speech. Riviera) leading the orch and Gogo He seemed hurt that the critics had De Lys as the chirper. (The No. 1 taken the Ford Foundation to task song of the preemer was “Soon.”) for not presenting more experi- The orch-singer-annovncer succes- mental dramas and not giving - a sion over the span would today bigger break to new playwrights, constitute a sort of who’s-who in While admitting that several of the those categories, at least by re- -season's offerings had been “flops,” fiction. Cooke took comfort in the conclu- There's been a good deal of dis- sion that nearly 15,000,000 persons agreement over the years as to had • stayed with the show every whether Lucky really strikes the week. He hoped they would tune in proper sampling note in it? com- when the show returned to the air pilatlon of the bestsellers, week next fall,* and. in excusing any fol- WtfiWLr Biif me faP am fti* fliof lioil AAntriir/tfl VV ovv tiAC uvvVUUf I 1 It’s entirely possible that the static] after v.eck. But as far as the.Tyei-.l-lies that “limnibus'’,h#4IcopJjiy«4 quality • Of the- first 1 ' lJjiy* aiHuhtir sion 1» ‘concerned, ftV&H *of tlii 1 ' ’ - * ' this season, he' reminded viewers, his dome while balancing < himself of alfalfa. The end-up “Rudy the on a slack wire. He appealed on Repairman,” with diminutive Jerry this show last season whi-'e in New Bergen aiding JG in attempting to York witi: the circus. Jose. “Victory at Sea” showed the final instalment of the series over NBC-TV last Sunday (3); bringing- the Henry Salomon production to a rousing conclusion with shots of the Japanese surrender on the bat- tleship Missouri, victory marches of the Allied armies, and contrast- ing views of man’s despair (the pitiful survivors of the concentra- tion camps) and man’s joy (the arrival home of American fighting men). Last-chapter bits that sticks in the memory were Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s handing over the Japanese surrender pen on the-big Mo to an emaciated General Wain- wright; the broken hopeless look of those released from European concentration camps; an American soldier .kissing U. S. soil on arrival, and the universal joy of return to home after the war. Richard Rodgers’ magnificent score for ,the series had, in this final half hour, an almost limitless , yariety-7-the various ^trains, denotr ing Allied victory, the power *ria extricate a guy’s finger from a fau- cet. tried hard for its comedy ob- jective, even unto an explosion on the set, for a decently-contrived slapstick session. Guest singer Mary Mayo, who had opened previously, at Monte Proser’s La Vie en Rose, N. Y., did “Blue Moon” with tricky trill finish and standard versiofi of “Be- guine.” ' The Taylor terpers (16) teed off the hour in a terrif precisioner. In their second outing, they joined a Robert Alton group * and male Hawaiians in what was titled “On the Beach at Waikiki,” but proved more of a jungle jamboree, com- plete with war dances, hot chants and bongo- thuniping. The Tay- lorettes (in a group of eight) put over a tabasco coach and a colored duo operated well on the acro- maniac side. Ray Bloch’s orch showbacked creditably over the whole route. . „ Up front, Giant .catcher Wes Westrum . functioned, as a .stooge for a Schick shaver plug, for one of the ^ sillyniillies of the. waning (Continued on page 36)