Variety (June 1953)

so mid umoKWS Wednesday, Jane 3, 1953 •* CLASS OF *53 With Aim date Supreme Cosri Jwtirt WflUm O. Dwf!n, air- ralor; other* Pr«hieen Irvin* Gitlin SvpfcrsivMr: Sfaart N«riia $# Mins.; FrL, 9 jjjsu. Sttsta!afiic CBS, from New York (tape) The tape recorder, that ingeni- HHUH ♦ t i THE RAILROAD HOOT >,! With Gordon MaeRae, ! Radio FoDow-Cp f< H h» » » 44tM4 M M + M 4 44 4+ 4 ; Julian T. Abeles, show biz attor- ney who journeyed to Tokyo on behalf of the American music business, film, broadcasting and ous device whose potentialities ra-j recording, interests, for whom he dio is just beginning to exploit j has evolved a better copyright: NBC, from Hollywood „ . , Horcihy j WarenskJoW, Isabel Jewell, Car-; men Dragon Oreh, Norman I«* boff Chorus; Marvin Miller, an- nouncer Producer: Murray Bolen Writers: Jerome Lawrence, Robert E. Lee 39 Alins.; Moe u 9 ram. ASSN. OF AMERICAN RAIL- ROADS on a mature level, was used with immense human interest effect for thic documentary last Friday 0). ^Cllass of *53* is the third of CBS- Radio’s hour-long series, planned by ; its Public Affairs Director Stuart Novros, to tackle modern social problems. While the first,! "Bomb Target, USA,” grappled with civil defense, and the second,;! “The Green Border,* delved into the dilemma of Iron Certain ref fo- rces, this one attempted to peer into the lives of teen-agers with j| a view'to answering the question: “Is this a lost generation?* Irving Glfiin, who edited taped Interviews with youngsters from over 100 points across the II. S-, is to be commended for his judici- ons sense of balance. He could have presented either a rosy or a sensa- tional picture of modern youth, as, several of the slick magazines have glibly attempted. Instead, he offered a pretty realistic^ crosssec-j iion, at times heartbreaking in its! tragic overtones, at other times: giggling in optimistic hope, but at all times revealed in a perfectly natural way. Associate Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas served as nar- rator in a restrained, literate fash- ion. He didn't know whether our present-day youth were a “beat generation” or root-suiters, or neu- rotie drug addicts, as the news- paper headlines suggest, but he;] was ready to listen. Along with; him, the audience heard a group' of kids ringing hymns around a . cafeteria table; a gang ruffian teS- ing how he 4 hled like a pig” ^ in alley brick wars; a girl unmarried mother telling from a Salvation Army cot how she got onto her fix; ; a young cop-hater telling how his neighborhood was "“for the binds”; and “who's got a chance when be ain't got no education?”; a young] married couple solemnly discussing^ the problem of paying their domes-! tic the young son of a pastor: being inducted into the army and: telling -Ms Md brother to be good while he was away; a sorority in-! itiate s ringing “I am crazy! I am ] nuts!!”; and a girl intelligently re- : marking her generation was : neither no better nor no worse; ihayi the last one “who went to] the dogs in a horse and buggy, just ] as we do in a Jalopy.” Justice Douglas wound up the: absorbing hour by concluding that] we cannot group any generation! Into one category, and our elders’ criticism of today's youngsters is] a boomerang. Indicating that in- stead of talking about the new t generation, we should be ready toi listen to them talk out their tor-* 1 menls. Husk. treaty, gave a doseup on Japanese on show biz that was arresting Pegeen (& Ed) Fitzgerald’s WABC «Benton & Berries $ ‘The Railroad Hour” ushered in Its summer format, this week. <N. Y.) early a.m. AMer. As a ; Scripting team «£ Lawrence & Lee show biz personality in his own, &ave prepared 18 new musical right, the Atoned Forces Radio j comedies, first of which, a free Network had • him doing Tokyo- j adaptation of Sir James M. Bar- originated radio and television ap-; rie's "Quality Street, 1 ” started the pearances, mad it was in the course •! of this that Afoeles was surprised •[ in the leads, the ] to learn that American GIs are j -girrmp y jfiot wasn’t of Import. The most curious about “"what commer- cials” Groncho Marx, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby are on. This ,; floored him until be was told by CpL Bill Adler tex-NBO), one of; his Interviewers, that the Yanks, hold these comedians In high! favor—and in that order—and '( they “are Just curious whether Chesterfield or who stall sponsors” j this or that artist. 1 Mis. Fitzgerald, working solo■ while her husband-partner is fees-- jatalked, the week before had : Lord Donegal! as a guest and.he: Is ia making commercial.: riaoits especially ter the British; tommies In the farflung war the-; atees so that they, tea, don’t for- get Rcrvril, Schweppes, RBMmaa, j] Truman rtbeeri, Players, and^the Hake. Abeles detailed how Japanese ! mothers* carrying their babies: papoose-like on their b&cks, attend ; films, their ehaMren propped overij the backs of their seats, and the ,' amazing part is nary a whimper :] out of the kids. The endless noises: of teeming Tokyo; the incessant 1 ' usage of canned music on streets) aringfat, advertising tins or that pair did so3M musical jobs on a number of classical and public do- j{ main melodies, using the story of a soldier returning to claim Ms love more as a background to the 1 music than anything else. a Carmen Dragon ©teh gave top- notch backing, and his arrange- ments were right in the comic opera groove. Norman . Luboff ] chorus likewise added a feeling of i richness to the numbers, which] were called from such various sources as T>h, Dear, What Can ?| the Matter Be?” and “Invitation to the Waltz.” On the acting side, MaeRae and Miss Warenskjold were good .and. Isabel Jewell gave excellent support. Commercials were straight and to the point And the entire production had a sense of freshness and directness that radio can use more" of. Chon. WORLD MUSIC FESTIVALS With James Bassett, narrator; Leo-, poll Stokowski, Santa Cedfiaj Orth Producer: Fassett St Mins.; Sam, 2:30 pm. WILLYS-OVERLAND CBS, transcribed In Europe ] {CosmmJosJ, Ewell & Thurber) For summer Sunday longhairs, CBS has conceived a transcribed tour of the music festivals that’ll be taking place in Europe during the next couple of months. With James Fassett in the narrator's slot, dialer is assured of a slick . and assured commentary to guide him through the musical presen- tations. Added fillip is Fassett’s flavorsome background info of the orch and the festival. Kickoff concert Sunday (31) came from Borne, with Leopold Stokowski conducting the Santa Cecilia Orch. The maestro led the symph through some exciting ma- neuvers in Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor,” ‘Three Sar- dinian Dances” by Porino and Brahms’ “Second Symphony.” Fassett’s intermission briefing of the Teatro Argentina, where the concert was performed, and his ^ lively description of the people k and places of Rome were socko ■ fillers. JF Series is skedded to run through Oct. 4 with Wiilys-Overland pick- ing up the tab. It’s a series any sponsor would be proud of. tiros. Alex Buchan's Shift Alex Buchan has resigned as sta- tion manager of WCCC here to ac- cept* similar post with WEOL in Elyria, O. He is su«£ed$d by Ralph Klein. 1 f emme§T v appear. commodity; the mammoth cabarets and ‘ stripperies; the modest fees) for the natives and the tabus j against western world gawkers j Into the niteries, were all part of j the barrister's graphic doseup of; the Japanese capital. Mrs. Fitz- gerald skillfully extracted the 'j show Mz highlights, amidst the I] Mr. & Mrs. team's usual galaxy of i commercials, but found it raeces-j sary to footnote a “continued next 1 Friday,” observing that Life should do a picture story on Abeles* findings of Tokyo, circa June, '53. Vaotett, incidentally, received calls that "Abeles should do a story” on bis show biz close- ups. The ailing (Lenox Hill hos- pital) male half of The Fitzgeralds phoned Ms wife, “From the listen- er’s viewpoint this* was such ex- cellent radio that 1 (almost) re- gretted the commercials got in the way.” Abet “Lux Radio Theatre,” after 19 years on the air, has shattered precedent both by continuing its drama series through the summer and by breaking away from its tra- dition of presenting only hour-long radio adaptations of film scenarios. On the first of its “Lux Summer Theatre” shows last Monday (1), producer-director Norman Mac- donnell wisely chose James Poe’s adaptation of Maxwell Anderson’s allegorical legit comedy, “High Tor.” By virtue of its poetic fan- tasy, encouraging listeners to use their imagination, Anderson’s play, ij which won the N.YI Drama Critics Circle award on its Broadway run, was admirably suited to the audial medium. The comedy, o£ course, is all about a man’s craving to commune with his Dutch ancestors high in the Hudson, N.Y., mountain tops. The rich humor is supplied by the living wraiths of those ancestors who one night wreak havoc on the plans of two scoundrelly promoters seeking to buy the mountains and two gunsels seeking to escape with a bank hoist of 25 grand. William Holden, gifted with a supple, sensi- tive radio voice, was fine as the botanizing dreamer and the sup- porting cast uniformly knew their business well in creating a bizarre juxtaposition between old and mod- ern times. Anderson’s comedy itself seems to have assumed more perti- nence for today, rather than mouldering with age, since it was first produced in 1936. Music di- rected by Hudy Schrager, veteran composer of the "Lux Radio Theatre” scores, contributed nicely to the mood. Ken Carpenter and Frances Scully delivered the pitches for Surf, Chlorident and Lux with their customary slick authority. Commercials, in describing the soap beauty care of actresses, also inserted generous plugs for the films "Desert Sbng” and "Invaders From Mars,” in which those V*-.. HOLLYWOOD SHOWCASE With Robert Aimbrusteri Jimmy WaffingtaxL, announcer 15 Mins.; Mom, 18:15 pja. Sustaining NBC, from Hollywood This NBC summer series dishes out a pleasant 15 minutes of tight musical fare that should find favor with the listening audience. For- mat allows for a maximum of ♦ I f tnf4 » M t »M f t ♦ » »» ♦»♦ M ♦» ♦ ♦♦ » ! » HHHUHIH4 4 From the Production Centres 4444444 444 4 44* 44 4 4 t ♦ M 1 IN NEW YORK CITY . . . Mutual won the Alfred P. Sloan Radio-Highway Safety Award and the National Safety Council’s Public Interest Award for 1952 by making available for NSC its Cedric Fester, Gabriel Heatter and Bill Henry shows to the group for transcriptions and public service messages . . . WNYC starts a weekly half-hour series, “The Seven Lively Arts ” with critic Gilbert Settles, author of the tome of the same name, presiding . . . Robert MandevHle named , v.p. and western sales manager of Everett-McKinney, station reps . . . Vincent Sorey’s “Biggest Little Orchestra im the World,’ 1 heard on John Gambiinjr’s 7:15-7:55 a. m. show on WOR, will also be heard on Gambling's earlier show, “Gam- boleers” airing from 6 to 7 ... Danny Stiles, deejay at WCTC, New Brunswick, N. J., moves over to WVNJ June 13 with his own disk show. Jo Lyons, CBS writer, off to an Italy vacation after attending the Coronation . . . Sylvia Davis subbing for Alice Yourman on “Young Widder Brown” . . . Added to new ‘’Front Page Farrell” sequence are Elizabeth. Morgan, Lawson Zerbe, Haskell Coffin, Man dei Kramer, John Stanley, Sylvia Leigh and Sarah Burton ... Nine-year-old Lynn Leriag, featured as Patti on P*& G’s TV soap opera, “Search for To- morrow,” has had her contract renewed by Biow Agency. SbeTl also play a role on CBS Radio’s “Grand Central Station” June 6 . . . Joan Desberg, “Talent Scouts” secretary, engaged to Fred Elton, composer and accompanist for Robert Q. Lewis . . . CBS prez Fra nk Stanton, back at desk after European vacation. Board chairman Wiiliata S. Falej takes off next week. Fred Morrow of tele press and Bill Waroeekc ui photo dept elected professional-group representatives in CBS employe-management com- mittee . . . June a big month for John Karol, CBS Radio net sales Teepee. His daughter graduates from Oberlin and his son from prep school . . . Rosa Rio back from short vacation in the Virgin Islands . . . First performance outside Iron Curtain of Prokofiev's opera “War and Peace” skedded on “World Music Festivals,” CBS Radio, on Sunday (6). Lee Williams, ex-Chicago Foote, Cone & Belding veep, now with account management group at Biow . . . Allan Stevenson, after direct- ing “Hobson’s Choice” for ELT, resumed AM work last week on “Official Detective” (Mutual) and run on Peny Mason „ . . Millieent Brower, as the nurse, has joined cast of “Wendy Warren and the News” . . . Part of dedication ceremonies for Montana State U.’s $700,000 School of Music building broadcast, of CBS Radio last Sunday (31). Thomas F, O’Neil, Mutual proxy, back from Coast after month-long stay . . . Gerar d Willem van Loon doi ng a monthly program on the theatre on WHOM . . . Bill Kaland, WNEW program director, off for a BMI Clinic tour through the South . . . Kidder, Peabody, Co., brokerage house, adding to its local sponsorship with The Key” question-and-answer program, on WOR . . . ABC has signed Vincent Lopez to do a weekly half-hour show on Wednesdays, called ‘’City of Times Square” . . . Jea% Gillespie set for cast of "Wendy Warren,” June 3, 4 and 5, “Grand Central Station,” June 6, “Gangbusters” June 13 and “ABC Playhouse” June 11, Latter is on ABC, others CBS . . . Mutuai s softball team plays its first game of the season Friday *5), dio City Droh, conducted by Rob- \ aMinc * ert Armbruster, or by a guest vo- calist. Latter spot was filled com-1 f-«r Ag^g\ fortahly on preem show Monday | LtUlfiiln/ • • • fc fa iLted^be A sh^Sl ? J * ek MtGltire bas j° iDed Vawett as radio-TV staffer here ... Ed on airer each week. ^ ^ ^ ^ j Borroff joined ABC Central Division network radio sales staff . OpenWTiad Fanrell piping two I J ® s *P h M- Sciferth appointed flack for Jaeger & Jessen ad agency . . . nes in addition to orch’s delivery 1 O’Connor cla ims a new record with 286 quarter-hours of spon- ‘ Singer’s output ] dj. time per week . . . 115 people attended the clime of the National Assn, of Radio Farm Directors . . . Emcee Jack Eigen to play host to former Chez Show stars when the show starts its third year on Jun e 7 . . . Sportscribe Joe Diehl appointed Sports Super- visor of WBBM Radio and TV News Department . . . Ex Kaphas City <Lj., now a platter chatter man for WGN . . . Nancy Lee Terry, for- merly of Cleveland, to be the first member of the NBC announcing staff . . . Jim Hanlon, -publicity chief of WGN to participate in BALL Glinic Tour in Pittsburgh, Detroit and Columbus . . . Northwestern U. Radio Dept, producing a 13-week series of public service shows in cooperation with the American Osteopathic Assn. . . . Arthur C. Mdsefi,*Jr*» upped to exec v.p. at A. C. Nielsen Co. . . . Don McNeill to appdar at Bishop Shield CYO Benefit at the Chicago Stadium . . . Betty Ross of NBC staff on a cruise to Hawaii as a guest of the U. S. Navy . . . Ruth Moore, formerly radio-TV director of the Community Fund now on Girl Scouts’ public relations staff tunes of three numbers, comprised “I Concentrate On You and T Don’t Know Why, I Just Do.” Instrumentals included ‘’WhyS Shouldn’t I?” and “Lullaby of I Broadway.” Song introes were de- livered briefly by Jimmy Walling- ton, who, besides handling the an- nouncing chores, also hosts the proceedings. Jess, THEATRELAND Producer: Eddie Fraser 38 Mins. BBC, from Glasgow "Tunes from click musical come- dies are surefire material for safe radio stints. Eddie Fraser, Scot light entertainment megger, fol- lowed this recipe in first of new Series, which shaped up as easy-on- the-ear fodder dialers, particularly older types with memories stretch- ing back to vintage-year musicals. Tunes ranged from “Riff Song” (from “The Desert Song"), well sung by William Thomson, to "Make Believe” from "Showboat” U.S. influence on musicals through the years was also touched on with Buddy Logan -and Bette Phillips warbling "That Certain Feeling” from George Gershwin’s "Tip Toes.” Show was crisply directed by Eddie Fraser, and gabbing kept to essential minimum. Gord. LOWELL’S EDUC’L TV BOSTON APPLICATION Boston, June 2. WGBH-FM here filed application Monday (1) with the* FCC to op- erate Boston’s educational TV sta- tion, Channel 2. Ralph Lowell, head of the Lowell Institute Co- operative Broadcasting Council and prez of WGBH-FM, said it would cost $450,000 to set up the new sta- tion and $200,000 to run it for the first year. Funds to run the educational channel have been made available by four philanthropic groups: Fund for Adult Education, the in- dependent corporation established by the Ford Foundation; Jhe Twen- tieth Century Fund; the Filene Fund, and the Lincoln and Therese Filene Foundation. A weekly schedule of 24 hours is projected by Lowell. I IN WASHINGTON . . . TV station WNBW-NBC cited by National Safety Council for “ex- ceptional service to safety" . . . Ruth Crane, WMAL-ABC femme top- per, singled out for award by the General Federation, of Women’s Clubs of the Philippines for her “splendid work in promoting women's club activities” via her radio and TV shows . . . Claude Mahoney, °T "CBS Radio Farm News’* chosen to represent of *28 ^ DePauw U (Ind.) reunion, even though he never made the graduation lists of the school . . . Ruth Hagy, producer of ABC’s “Junior Press Conference’’ in town covering General Federation, of Women’s Clubs powwow m her role of woman’s page editor for Philadelphia Bulletin ... James Silman, Jr., upp ed from assistant TV director to summer replacement director at WTOP-CBS, and William Randolph promoted from floor director to assistant direc tor ... A shaip upswing in vol- ume of national spot time sales on WRC-NBC reported by NBC v p. J? ne ™ 1 m *JS? er Canton Smith, with May sales topping a5 on«? * * * Mu JV| al ? ews commentator H. R. Baukhage »r^ T ° n June 15 * • • BBC’s Jules Menken a recent visitor at Library of Congress for research purposes. IN SAN FRANCISCO . . . air J show Demi A e n« an ^f? faX Ba « r 4 n * vei ? al slu S fest ©a latieris KLX airshow . . . Anne Jeffreys and Bob Sterling radio-TV guested during e JSagement ... KCBS Bossman Arthur Hull Hayes elected nerfv d KT'rf ^ f Ass . 0C1 . at ^ 0 ^ of Catholic Newsmen of S.F. James Con- mniam K 0 M^I^ eCted 1° B i° ard 0f Directors * - - KNBC changes: William K. McDaniel named sales manager, replacing AI Crapsey, who John b ThomSS e 2am th <i r f e ^ cu , tive duties * News and publicity head d stations program director. William Cothran matic station Mateo’s REAR using new Ampex auto- tl Frink Fnn P A ^ ^ sp ^ ed . r <**nt NARTB convention in L.A. TrH ’tu Exammer mie life columnist, shifted his ? nr° * hU ^ da ?:f’ n P- * KROWs Wanda Ramey New KCBS face? Cast ™ ^Bey” contests . . . New KCBS faces. David Coates, engineer; Ronald Tighe, news writer IN MINNEAPOLIS • . . H u!l>A_?T diSSOn Flame n0T ^ broadcasts over he**, nenvork Inursdays 10:30-11 p. m kCST^ SnU^ 5 At P blThSv radi0 “ am ' y “ d gnKr 5 ^ .he P ' S r, * Minnesota dairy farmers settmg aside one penny from’every pound . .. (Continued on page 36)