Variety (August 1953)

24 TELEVISION REVIEWS Wednesday, August 12, 1953 PENTAGON U.S.A. With Addison Richards, Eddie Binns, Gene Lyons, others Producer: Alex March Director: John Peyser Writer: David Swift 30 Mins.; Thurs., 10 p.m. PHILIP MORRIS CBS-TV, from N. Y. ■■■. < Blow) .. . • .- “Pentagon L/S.A.” was quickly rel it led from “Pcnlagop Confiden- tial”, when the N. Y. Dally Mirror > coilab team of Jack bait - aridLee Mortimer beefed that the original tag conflicted with their ‘Con OOPS, IT’S DAISY With Helen Halpin, Mary Costa, others Producer: Frank Tashlin Director: Lester Linsk Writers: Tashlin, Robert Riley Crutcher 30 Mins.; Wed. (5) 8:30 pm. Sustaining NBC-TV, from New York Despite the unhappy choice of its title, the; one-shot tryout of this situation comedy on NBC-TV last Wednesday (5| revealed that it ha,s all -.the potentialities of a saleable commercial property. The TidenUal” hooks. If the proem is j success of “Oops, It’S Daisy’’ seems lo.' strongly/ assured because it bears any indication, there appears: littl danger 'that, the; 'new series \yj I I i t h e coin l est ri p,. sla pst iek f ormul a cause even a tivihor perc(‘ntage : (>1. ! (>f a whole recent rash of situation the stir created by the. Lait-M.oili-[comedies, yet it also has a few mor exposes. “ingredients slightly different- from ‘xpost “Pentagon” purports to base its scripts on Case Jiistories embodied in U, S.' Army's cTuininal investigar lion fi les. That : may' be soh but. the initialer emerged as a ■ rather amateurish effort in its p layout and kept . its suspense intentions well hidden, behind a facade of cliche situationswhich ■ were not helped any by the sub-par. script and halting direct ion. 'John Peyser reined the opening, alternating with: Allen Re-isiier thereafter, and David :Swift is principal writer, with Alex March producing and Willi am Dozier t h e exec producer >. Story hadto do with a; lettcT threatenipg-assassination of a gen- eral if lie addressed a “Korea peace meeting” at. New York’s Carnegie. Hall. ; Eddie Binns as an Arhiyvinvest i'gatpr. and Gene Lyons as a .police detecti\e demonstrated how Hie crank was tracked down' via -heads-up analysis of.Uio typo- Krapliieal aspects bl the letter. Ad- dison Richards is permanently slotted as “TheColonel” in the Pcntat-dn; Bldg, and is also narra- tor; ‘Exportness was reflected in the . integration, of- liye : and film port bins. . ; Beginning Sept. 10 the Electric Shaver Division of Remington Rand i Young & Rubicanii w ill alternate sponsorship with . Philip Morris, batter ’plugged “Be wise “My -Little. Margie,” jrraa,” “Maisie” and My Friend “1 Married about salvo. king size” lor its opening Tran. AMERICAN LEGION BASEBALL With Dirk Siebert Froducer.-direttor; Clarcnee.: An- derson 90 Mins,; Sat. (8h 3 p.m. Sustaining WCCO-TV, Minneapolis Tn televising lwo of the Ameri- can Legion's state tournament o p e n i n g seven-inning baseball- games. an afternoon and evening contest,. \VCCO-TV • undoubtedly helped to stimulate attendance at thh noh-televised finals, boosted a Worthy activity and gdt. into Legion good graces. It also provided in- teresting entertainment for dialing diamond fans generally and par- ticularly lor those directly inter- ested for various reasons in the particular event. The evening game’s telecast was commercially sponsored, too. /"■ Ten teams, survivors in their dis- j tricts’- coni petit ion. participated in , the nine; games in, SI. Paul, w ith j the tournament; winner to re-1 present this' area in the regional | meet to select a national partici -1 pant. . { Afternoon telecastimmediately j 'followed the network presentation of the AtldetieSrTigers’ AnKM'icah .'.League'game.,' arid as far as camera work anti narrative were concerned •■■was-about on a par .Willi the latter, Dick Siobort, the .announcer, is a former big leaguer anti present . U, of Minnesota baseball t lias had eons cnee. His accompanying Certainly, the characterizations drea riied up by writers Frank TashJiri and Robert Riley Crutcher a r c fa r from, original. Helen Hal - pin and Mary Costa are tw'p woik-: ing goils. Miss Halpin, an all- thumbs waitress, dreams only of nabbing a husband. Miss Costa, a bargain-basement clerk, has ambi- tions of becoming an opera singer. Nor was the situation the girls Were thrown into new. In an epi- sode highly reminiscent of an old Laurel & Hardy, sketch, the girls are alternately trapped in '-their pyjamas behind the folding wall bed of a henpecked husband who is nervously trying to*conceal their presence from his jealous spouse. There were, also such stock bits of burlesque business as two flirting painters on a fire escape .who keep getting conked oh the noggin with dropping, flower pots; One fresh note added into the proceedings, .hOw’ever, was live idea of using the dubbed-in voice of the girls’ dog, Rover, as the narra- tor. The pooch, who has a morose, view of fife, was given several very funny lines;.and the device s.eeiried a clevcr .w'ay for seguing into the scenes naturally. The other refreshing’ entertain- ment values contributed were the performances by the two girls. Miss Halpin, who has been appear- ing, as a raupous, loud-mouth, jun- ior version of Martha Raye on; '■Saturday Night .Revue.’”'' . toned down her excessive gyration’s.' Slfc projected a . sympathetic, gamin quality, and it she relaxes, a bit more, she shows signs of becom- ing a really polished comedienne. Miss Costa has the attributes of being a succulent .blonde dish, owning a pleasant voice, and has a likeable delivery With a gag line. Lester : LinAk directed w itli a . knowing eye for visual comedy. Funniest bit was when.Miss tlalpin gazed longingly at a wedding gown in a shop window, and. via a cam- era trick, the face of llnv model's dummy was transmuted into Miss Halpin’s -edntehted features.;. ^ \ At tlie end: of the show. NBC-TV flashed a message, asking viewers; to Write, if they wanted the com- edy continued as a series. Rask .. V' . .V/,.*. JIMMY NELSON DANNY O’DAY AND. HUMPHREY HIGSBYE PERSONAL MANAGEMENT LOUIS W. COHAN 1776 Broadway, N. Y. . not strong, enough to hold a minuter together, • u The headlirier load was earned by six-year, old Brucie Weil and 14-year old Jimmy Boyd. The iuwt were hurt by getting the same time - assignment. Both are cuFro m i v riding with platters Of “God B|<4 Us All” (Weil on Barbour and Bie j on Columbia) and it appeared that show’s producers coudn't- figure out who, should get the albim pert ant plug, . Song is a. cloying piece t iu,t isn’t, worth .all that, airtime .hut Sullivan made all,concerned liam,'' by; shilling, .the aud on the plaircrs, : It was Weil’s 7 tele bow arid although he looked a little fright-’ ened,' he delivered with plemv ( ,f schmaltz.. Boyd, on the other hand Was oool arid assured. He todk t he ’ cornball route in his turn at hat and gave the song a pleasant hijl- flavor. ^Television Playhousew Philco arid Goodyear sponsor al- ternately; 14st Sunday |9) turned in under the Philco banner an- other of its memorable produc- tions, of which at least a; dozen this season have been of the high- est quality, ranking with the best of this season’s legit. Among the topnotchers have been Paddy Chaf- efsky’s “Marty” and “The Big Deal,” and Horton Foote’s “The. Oil' Well,” “Young Lady of Prop- erty” and “A Trip to Bountiful,” In ‘‘Ernie Barger Is 50,” play of a. man w'ho discovers the-need of people; to be wanted, Tad Mosel has written a sensitive, ■mature: and moving script of intricate.interplay SARATOGA RACING HIGH- LIGHTS With Fred Cnposscla. others Producers: Ted Haiighn 15 Mins.; Mon, & FrL, 7:15 p.ni. FITZGERALD BREWING CO. W : RGB-TV,. Schenectady (Georye R. Nelson) Timely August program has Fred Cnposella. olfieial announcer all: New STUDS ’N': C1IET ' With Stud's Terkle, Chet Roble, Frank 1 y n MacCormack, . an- nouncer; guests Director: Dan Schuflfniari : 30 Minis., Mon., 10 p.m, ; . CREMO CIGARS WBKB, Chicago- (Guenther ■‘Brad ford). Basically. “Studs: ’in : Chet” is an interview show. Biit to get away, from the much overdone arid ri.dW stereotyped behind-the-desk chat- ting, the setting here is an intimate bistro^’ with Roble at the working end of a ’ pianq-bar, and partner Terkel enscoriccd behind the; tall mahogany variety. ; As the program opened to Rob- ie’s 88 ing, the camera panned to the long bar where Terkel Was al- ready deep in . conversation. with Chi Daily News sporlswriter. and onetime TV critic; Jack Mabley, on the N'agaries of newspaper readers, umpires, the Cliisox, etc. it was an interview, without the-; viewer being aware of. anything, but Sev- eral: guys talking at a bar As a eoncession to the ladies, the q&a session with gospel singer Mahalia Jackson was conducted in a booth of the bistro, and with .7- Up as the drink. This exchange was along, the. more conventional lines, but served as a. nice buildup lor Miss Jackson’s bouncy yet rev- erent “I Believe.” : . . In between interviews, »n w hich, hoth Rolile and Terkel participated, the former played several offbeat, tunes, with' vocals; at : the piahQ- bar. Only drawback on the show caught was the running argument between the two partners on the relative merits • of golf and ball: the. controversy Was a overlong and contrived. Low pressure commercials Cremo were < given by Frankiyn MacCormack in keeping with the casual style of the program. ’ In all. this one. had all the flavor of a refreshing, tall cool drink, spiced with grenadine, on a hot summer evening. . Jack. bit for at all New York (racks, dashing ’oach who if^ooi Saratoga to Schenectady after siderabi.0. video, experi- ! t.bp.Monday anti Friday cards, lor a. accompanying■ chatter -recap and integration of official vas 'interesting,- informative and race .films, • On alternate Thurs- wcll expressed. Data about the : days lie adds interview with Spa players' ages—they ranged from 14..; tM l ’t personalities. Latter program to 17 .vears.--;hpights. weights, base-; runs a half-hour. First week’s ball and other athletic prowess. ^ originations revealed moments, of aiuhi'tions: and’ : t lie names of t.lieii* 1 sppttiness, unevenness and lechni- : ! cal d^fveiem-ies. proTe^ionarTaVorites as 'wiTP as Dtlt fluvv heverflil- afipraisals: of fheir skills lent addi- H * ess held strong interest for horse tional spice to the show. " enthusiasts and probably for view- . AV'CCXI-TV televises a number of fbrs, sPldoni' if ever visiting . the. Mi.nneapiilis anxl St. Paul American.[ famed -Saratoga course. . Assp; league gain *>.s. d 11 r ing t h e sea-;. The pictures of throe eve ills on • son. so tbat".tlie erew'knew its way ■ t.Ive .flat and one through ibe field around. As is customary; two ( canieraj of tbi' T.luyj'in and p lives. Hher; impact .it..Rush-schedules bain Jdicapped in . some ; respects, . air 1 though he should be able to sur-: FOLLOW THE LEADER With Vera Vague Producers:. Paul Harrison, .Bern! V Gould - - Director: Johii Claar 30 Mins.; 'rues., 9:30 p.in. CBS-TV, from Hollywood .. As long as there .are people in. the audience wi'ffbg to come be- fore tlie .cameras to get a chance r atVvsonie .prized ; eoin T ^ there’ll be a tele producer around to dream up. another audience ; participation show. “Follow The Leadet', , ' in this case, .is the brainchild of two ; T\ r . proclu ceysv Paul -Harrison and Beriii. CToiild. They. can. split, .the | : sliare..of the ,blame beUvc.cn: tbein., of human emotions, in which the play’s title was lackluster. It’s reported that/ Mosel, on the basis of this: play;; has been signed by producer: Fred Coe to a; “Play- house” contract. Story is of Ernie .Barger;: who has plugged away at his chinaware business in the Ohio Valley for more than 20 years; ignoring: wife and father and pinning hopes on his son. But after graduation from college, his soil has no need. for Barger, who also finds: he’s urir wanted by ' his business partner, Who overrides him With progres- sive ideas, and his father, who iri old age has found a lonely life for himself; In his despair, Barger dis- covers the emotion he had created in his wife. who had turned hypo- choiidfiac for atteiition, arid a real- izatiori that, beyond love, they had a need for pne anpthev. ; . As Barger, Ed Begley perforiried magnificently in the title role, making, tlie most, of a character, that, aroused compassion with his crumbling dreams and human fail- ing.. Carmen Mathews, one of the most skilled. and sensitive actress- es around, played the wife w»ith deep emotional perception. Her big speech in the third act, in Which she tells how an under-the-skin rash had developed on' her hands, was (with a bow to seripter Mosel) an understanding t h u m b n a i 1 sketch of the origin of psycho- somatic ailments as well as a testa- ment of courage in going op living after the reason for living, had "died.'...'' In tlie secohd ’ act, . Joseph Sweeney, as Barger's old Jather, st ole , the only scene in which lie appeared, Aged, cranky, unable to epneentrate; talking pf visiting liis wdfe’s grave. Worried about getting home on time; conscious of his; riced to see his son but oblivious to his-son’s heed; for him—Sweeney , made the. old man a: sharply etched, human being. . Good support was given in less- er roles by Howard St. John. Addi- son Rowell. John Connell, and Richard Davalos. Greatest strength of the play, however; was as. it should be in Mosel’s script, : which abounded with insights: arid ironies. Among them were Barger's forced boom- ing of pleasure at a bar to reassure himself against the harsh reality of disappointment in his son, his lying to himself arid his wife about the son’s “just fine” graduation, and his final awakening to his wife’s need (arid his own), when he can see the nonexistent rash on hands even in the dark. Since the rest of the script so skillfully accomplished, It regrettable that two flaws marred the total success of ‘Barger,” They were a confused sequence of action iii the third act (in which the son’s denunciation of. his lather uhex- plainably followed immediately after the latter had realized he was a business failure 1 , and an unclear cliaracterization of the son (who may havc- been • an'ogant, as claimed by the mother, or merely desirous of..breaking away from his: father s silver cord). , ' Direction by Delbert Mann was : professional:. throughput and. in I some touches, inspired, as ip thiv second-act opening on the wife’s To get away from the kidiskvrs Sullivan pulled Fritzi Schef); iroin the studio aud and got heiuto \in« “Kiss Me Again.” It was good 10 - see her again. Sullivan added a Charming touch by getting , ihe house to Sing : “Happy Birth da v 1 ’ to i her as a tribute to her 74th hi t fh- coiriing up Aug. 20. ; Miss Bergen sold ' “Old Black Magic” effectively ; and Brandt . scored With his graceful t.crps and aci ; o flips.- The Peirro Bros, shoved off some nifty .juggling twirls, 1 . Ching’s - rnagical feats pleased, tlie: Bells displayed some cffectivc.’ balancing stunts and. Re David’s .paddle-board expertncss won im .easy score. ' - The summertime . “Saturday-• ■ Night; Revue” on NBC-TV has been showcasing sonie topflight poten- tials,; but urifprtunately. the show . :as a. whole still : doesn’t seem hi coitiP to. life,.On Saturday’s exhibit, there : : Were. some, fine . lnomcnis such as David Rose’S efforts on .“Holiday for Strings” and there were, times When Paul Gilbert .In* . dicated that his. time would, pay off;, but then came % some dismal stretches and everything;ran into, a downbeat.' • , Hoagy Carmichael pays off per- sonally. His.informal and likeable song style, is easy to take and be provides sorne rewarding moments. It seems that too much stress whs placed on the Sara Berner-Ed die Foy, Jr. participation in the. “Eddie & Sara” bit which didn’t have too much writing to deserve the promi- nent slot. One bright spot is the singing by Gayla R^cvey who charmed with “God Bless US, All.’’ Comedy work by RickyVera also added . up . riicelj r , and there were some mo- ments. in the dissertations by Gil- bert and Dave Barry that went over. ; - ' •There Were some production bits that caught on, but generally, the tenor Of this 90-minute show seemed to proclaini the need of sharp editing. A layout Consuming half the time could say the same thing arid more entertainingly. . ; : / ' . ■■ Jose. was was • There’s nothing as pleasantly satisfying to .the'-male viewer ''and the female too, now that television has brought baseball into the home) as a good baseball story. Magazines have long realized it—so have films. And television too got into. tlie. act last Wednesday (5) via “Kraft. Tele- vision Theatre” on NBC-TV \yilh one of the most diverting plays in the now enormous catalog 0 1 the Series; “Old .MacDonald Had a Curve,” .' ' •. Rod Scrlirig's story of an. aged pitcher Who comes out of ret i it- ; nient because he’s developed * freak curve ball had all the proper, ingreclients-rra screwy plot, warm, 1 if el ike c ha racier^, and a n; at ip p 1 * phqre out of Ring Lardner, An” . an excellent .cast headed by D bit Howlin as -MacDonald made a memorable occasion., of the pla>.. • The Brooklyn Dodgers, it ^e n .’ |,; ; ^ „. iV . . are. in-fhe.cellar,-rind/one- oi.ipcm . lianils;..which was ."exCefferit use of ! mo ^t jimriediaffe needs is a. piten-T,. .: sj.mbalism;. With v Coe j Howlin, living .in .a honie for- tne from ;• “Play- i ((gedy gets a crick irihis should^i’ S FOULS 111G illAGHTS JVi.ih John FitzReraid, Schi‘o>der . .Prod.-tVriter: t’ilzftTrald ; Dirretor: Cliarles HaiiaUo v 5 Mimi.V Mon.-thru-Frii, li:15 p,in. CARLINGS XVX EL, Cleveland This late-hour sports review’ opens on a pleasant., (•oinforlabic pitch \\ itli sportscaster John Fitz- gerald moving up to the neighbor- hood’s beerstiibe counter,, getting a slionsored brew and enjoying a =neat^intrp^to--ft=eoiivmei‘ci.Hl^gini- mick tossed by attractive waitress Lucille Schroeder. It's a nice TV . Continued on page 34) Lucille ^mount them quickly; . “with John IT. Morris, .. treasurer, of Saratoga dciit of • Jamaica and Thorouglvbred. Racing ’Views secretary- presi- head of And tlie highly photogenic. Mrs. Morris 'Onetime, star tennis player) came off. reasonably well.' /Second set slated are vitli Alfred G. Vander- biIt', owner of cjiamp.iphship three^ year-old Native Dancer, Trainer .Bill Winfrey and Jockey Eric Guerin. to ...pantomime a-, scene and then, have: one. of the giiest. pariicipants carbon ■ her '.■performance,"Partici- pants walk into a .loaded set, of course, . for ■■ that’s where: . the 1 aughs'.:are. supposed to c 0 me from. Props fall ;.aparl, window shades won t;roll up. meatballs are mtule. of rubbei’. . etc. It’s yinlage .com- edy technique, and. not very good. . As femcee and the leader the participants have. to follow', Miss Vague appears miscast and ill-at- ca.se. Her panto bits afford little clowning opportunity since " It's played straight and her hostessing . standbys on Ncispn agency jingles, 1 vv h* v th® volunteer, do filmed singing commercials I John C’laar’* direction doesn’t i tore and aft. Joco. t help either. Gros. u nil ■ Uoe -awav from - “Play- j ^gcav. geis a cuck in -m house” fern .a .month, David Suss-1 Pishing horseshoes, ant kind/ is substituting as producer’ I dhion.enables him to tli His.' fine, work oh “Barger” indi-1 tristie curve,; so he leave/ . , ... ■ ■ .,. 'ger” vindn.. that “Playhouse” is far from ! cronies and 'the rtn'r.; j’o.w a lan- es' the hci 1 !)(* • to try put; for: Tlie nine acts asasembled for Ed- ivan’S' “Toast of ihe Town”' show on CBS-TV . Sunday (9) rounded out a below par outing for (lie vaudeo series. Big trouble with t he -stanza was that; it was loaded with “opening” acts and short on topliners. The novelty turns ^iPieiU’o^Bros.^and^Nickey^Re- David), the dancer (Bobby Brandt), the acros ' Howard & Wanda Bell r, magicp (Chirig), and the warbler (Polly Bergen) were all okay but tions, but inspires the team ou the ./cellar; But when he’s about jo • pitch; his. first garrie, his shou*ut;i slips back into place and lie ciui.r lbrow a, curve, and back : to //, home lie ^oes. Story ends with u A phoning Leo Durdcher '..and ; ...l/G. .Giants from the home soon.a A’ 1 * wards after a game of horscshm“ B&SLalckej^ But there’s much more to “ story than that. Seriing has drav . a touching picture of an old nu'* (Continued on page 38)