Variety (September 1953)

80 TELEVISIO.^r IIE^^Em'A Vedne»<lay, Sgptomher 16, 1953 THIS IS SHOW BUSINESS With riifion Fadimaa, Gearce S. Kaufman. Sam l^cvenaon, Gloria ' SwanMin. Jack E- l^onard Toni Ardrn. l.ou WilU. Jr.; Ileniy Sylvrrn. muair • Produrrr: lr>inf ManKfirld liirrrtor: Byron Paul 30 Vfinh.: luea., 9 p.m. SUIfICK. UARTFR UBS'IV. from N.V. I Kuiint r, ■ l‘* t iunnffy uj*r no lon^'» i iny! {;f o>j1».'i/i* " at ttj»' pan«‘l ne- for* yojf»y into lh« jr act on “This I* Sti'm Hu'inc-' As the filth nidj'lv, nor v,i-rc the "|>i ofilcrns.’ loi that rij.’iltM, '1 hr chanye in tnliniMiic r too rliyht to alliM t thi* sliow s '.atos «ith«i v.ay, • ince fill II Mil's iiM Ihi- paiM 1 hinyes on )iow the lO'tniMi joki-MiTs hanill»- the i|ui r- ii s 'I hey (an evi'n lall o'ov. n in tfic Ion (I* par iMicnt hei aoM; pait ol tin- payoff ^tlli stems from the ai tv proper Anil Ifiis is one Jayool that usually hooks the hi-tter tuiii.-. 'Ihe opener had a couple of fre- (|ui nt letiirnees in ( oinedian Jack K f^eonaid and sinyfi ’loni Aiden (the ampliludjnou.s f^eonard was <rTi lor his steenth time and Miss Arden is not far hehindt, plus liooler Lou Wills, Jr. It was a yood ftan/.a if ,figured solely as a con- <lensed variety session. With the hack and forthinys hy reyiilais Cleorye S. Kaufman and Sam Lev- (tnson and yuestar (ilona Swanson, whatever lun < ame out was strictly velvet, it could he that the "prols- Jem” posi'is artificial and con- Ilived as most ol them wen*—per- imtted yreater leeway on the part of till* panel (and proddinys liy conferencier ('lifton Kadiman>, hut tlie ncw-st\le pitch is okav when Ihe nueslions are sufficiently lo.ided. Tanel couldn't do loo much with Wills’ query whether tlu*re should he a law vs. showiny hahy snaji- r^tiols. liclter ammunition was pro* Vided liy Miss Arden's ' "averaye audience’ c|ui/./cr. Leonard re- versed the field liy avkiny the ex- perts whetlur they fiad anythiny to expound on weiyht reduciny. Overall, ttie panel setup at first outiny didn't seem to he too aleit to the possihllities. hut the acts had no troulde scoriny with tlieir set pieces. Wills with lus da//liny feet in tap. aero and one-yam side somt*i vault,V. LcM.manl via hr standard slandupisms. <a\orliny and fianama whirls, and Mi^s Ar- <h'n wilh “Daruiny in the Dark'’ from ’'Hand VVayoii." After last season’s imident re- vohiny arouml Kaufmans (’hrist- loas < ra( k that was heard ’round the country, (ir(*cipitatiny a hasty CMt hv laicky Strike, with t’HS therealter sustaininy the scyment, " riiis Is .Show Husiness’’ now find'- ilscit with a pair of altcrnatiny sponsors who lucsumahly are not so naive as to exfiect any of the participants on tiu* dais to check- icin their conversation |)icces so lony as yood taste is not violated. It’s that kind ol show and it’s in- ficrentlv a yood one and. as it has oit«*n proved in tlie past, a supe- iior one. Tran. EXCUitSION With BnrceM Meredith. Thumat , Mitchell, Eddie Albert, Sugar I Kay Roblnaoii. Clifford Tatum; Kyle MacDonnell, gueat; music. Jack Shaindlin Workshop Director: Robt. E. Saud- ek Producer: Jerry .Stagg Director: Dan Petrie 30 Mina.; Sun., 3:30 p.m. \BC-TV. fiom S. Y. ■’Excursion” rates a* one of the top clicks in the fast-huryeonir.y 1953-54 television season. This 2fj- week senes of the Ford Founda- ! tion’s 'I V-Kadio W oikshop is aimed at youny people '8-lfj; with a how in the dirertion <>/ parents, hut at initial Sunday <131 viewiny seemerl yrari'd to intr-rest oldri yrrmps as well in an interestinylv I paftcrnerl catcfiall format. Ovr rall ' objective is to lender slices ol literature, scicric»*, sports, art, the theatre, caM-er-hiiildiny, yov( rri- ment and othrr fields. It miyht he well for .Morn and I'rij) and rdder vivfrr and hiother t(i look in r>n this romp for tfie m«»ppcls to n-r acrpiaint thernselvrs with tfu* tavtr-s, prr ferr-m # s anrl fiahits (>{ ; tin* “child mind.” I ''Excursion” ti-cd off siynificant- , ly and snappily with the Duke and j Dauphin viyrjct from Mark Twain’.s "Huckh'ljerry Finn” 'Adventures jof), with Eddie Alhr'it’s Duke and I Thomas Mitclu'll’s Dauphin liyht- iny up the tiihr>s in a deliyhtful j represr*ntation of Twain’s twain of boastful, Iraiiipish r-haractr-rs. Off almost to file side in watchiriy I heir shenaniyaris sucfi as re- fuarsiny the Halcony Seem* from “Hotneo A Juliet” and yiviny a .‘ide-splilfmy performance to the ratcalls of Die Mississippi riv<*r- towri populace- were Suyar Hay Holiinson as Jim, in hi.s first 'i'V dram.ilie roU'. and youy Clifford Tatum as lliick. 'riiouyh theirs were comparatively minor roles, tlie former rniiidleweiyht ehamp and 'ratum carried on ahly. Albert and Mitt'hell were intended to pro- duce the provocative situations and lauylis, and this they did in their scalaway capers. 'riius this junior version of the CffS-TV “Omnihus” can he .s»*l down as important in its promise for younysters of a Sunday after- noon. and a eredit to Workshop diri'ctor Robert E. Saudek. produc- er Jerry Stayy. director Dan Pet- rie, film supervi.sor Iloris D. Kap- lan (tlierc was some celluloid at opener and more i.s in the ofTinyl. the technical roster and, not tlie least, Burgess Meredith, superin- (eiidiny thiftys as cmccc, guide and poinl«‘r-ouler. 'J’lio easyyuiny mood was KUKI .\. FR.\N A OI.I.IE With Burr Tillstrom, I ran Allison I’roduccr: Beulah Zachary Director: I.cwls Gomavitz Music director: .Jack Fascinato 30 Mins., Sun., 4:.30 p.m. NR('-TV. from Chicago The return of the Kuklapolitan ll.iycis to their Sunday afternoon lurth on NFH’-TV. Sept 1.?. dis- pt Ilcd any dialer worries that some Continental sophistication riifibod off on Burr Tillstrom and Fran Allivun duriny tlieir summer jaunt to Kun'pc. They’re the same old yrout> — deliyhtful. disarminy and completely enohantiny. The only ehanyc* that has some semblance <'t a European influence* is Miv.j! Allivon’s new Italian hair-do.” but so many American cals have fallen i-oi the* style that it is no jarriny switch from the norm In fact, it’s quite hecorniny Cn hand for the openiny sfanra ''ere Kukla. Fran. (yHic. Macl.on Dylepuss and Beulah Witch Plot me took them all to a countv fair Dynfiyclen. Ind . via a series of comic Situations in an auto and a sonyfest at the fair. Miw Allison Jil.'h rendition of >Wien 1 Was \oiiny.” oiiir belted a jaunty version of ' Coiintv I-air and they .ill teamed up for <'n ( ountry Style*" Direction and nnivi,.d ha.kiny. h\ Le wis (lomavit/ and .l.,ck Favci- nato. respectively. \\,re v,,;rited l('o h.id therev ro aehMtisrr aiound who wantv to puk mo the -c^ros. 1 PEAK OF THE SPORTS NEWS W itb Red Barber, guests Producer: Judsou Bailey Director: Lloyd Groao 15 Mins., Sat., C:45 p.m. UOMMERCIAL .SOLVENT.^ CBS-TV, from N. Y. I I Fuller It Smith k Ross) • TBS-TV’s coveraye of the up- coming World Series and gridiron veason is in good hands. Jn Red Ba/ber, net’s counselor on sports, of the Sports News” has one ol the best spe^rlscasteis in the business who’ll draw a solid help- iny of fans who want their scores and inside stuff dished out breezily and informatively. That’s Barber’s specialty, so the quarter-hour stan- za can’t miss. Iheem show .Saturday tI2i kicked oil in Milwaukee 'series will origi- nate from New York for the rest of Its iiin», where Barber was cov- Inny the Brooklyn Dodgers-Mil- waukee Braves ballyame. Fortu- nately, ttie Brooks clinc hed the Na- tional League pennant that after- main and BarhcT and his guests had (ilerity to talk about. L'p first was John Quinn, general manaycT of the Milwaukee team. Haiher expertly guided Quinn through a neat ehatter ses.sion about the club, the new fans and Ihe* chance's to top the Dodgers next year. Barber similarly worked with Milwaukee player Ed Mat- thews and Dodger coach Jake Pit- le r. Each got in his piece and Bar- ber never let them stray too far afic'ld. Program probably disap- pointed some Dodger rooters be- ta u.se none of the team’s big guns inaele an appearance. It was prob- ably too tough an assignment for Barber to nab a player who had just secured a chance at the Se- ries’ loot. Pitler remarked that the hoys were whooping it up in the dressing room—which explained everything. Commercial pilches were neatly handled via film clips and Barber’s plugging. Cros. j Tele Follow-Up Comment MY FAVORITE HUSBAND With Joan Caulfield, Barry Nelson, Bob Sweeney, Alix Talton, others Director: Norman Tokar Writers: SqI Saks, Nate Monaster 30 Mins., Sat., 9:30 p.m. INTERNATIONAL SILVER CBS-TV, from Hollj wood (Young & Rubicam) There’s no question about it— CBS-TV knows what to do with young married couples. Net has de- veloped Lucy and Ricky into mu.st Monday night guests ant^^ now it looks like IJz and George Cooper will be steady Saturday night visi- tors. , - : - “My Favorite Hushand” i.s a do- suir[)li<*el at outset as McTcdith in-- mestic romwl'y s|H)tiiyhting.'tjhe an- troed the* pri*cm Inst ailment while lies of the Cooper couple, flighty standing by a holder, and he was ' Liz and steady Cleorye. Situation relaxed while on the moVe for j potential is unlimited and if the ( hatter chores. In an afterpiece, j s(*ries continues along the lines set he gave a pr»*view of coiiuny-u|) i on the opening show Saturday (12), attractions and siih^ccts (including. | it ('an’t miss, of course, former President 'rru- in.m's appearance next .Sunday) such as atomic energy, a dinosaur .'ind (leserilx'd a couple of film clips showing hi'.'ivy weight ('hall(*ny(*r Roland LaSta'/a in action (he'll he on the show Sept 27, three days after his fraeas with titleholder Rocky Marei;iiio>. In a change of pace fillip. K.\l«* MacDonnell neatly piped over a new, cheerful ditty hy Alec VVil<h*r and Mort Lewis called “Fm a Thing.” Judged off the how show, there's no doubt about ”Ex( III *-i()n”; it’s ”in ” T ran. cmccc; guest JUKE BOX JI'RY Wth PctcF I’otlcr, panel Producer: Potter Drcctor: Richard Gottlieb 30 Mins.; Sun.. 9:30 p.m. ‘^BU-TV, from Hollywood This show, which will be bank- rolled by the Hazel Bishop cos- metic company starting Oct. 4. is another attempt to come up with a s.itisfactory video format for a disk jorkuy stan/;i. In (his stM'ius Coast jockey Peter Potter has de- vised a panel-l\pe i(U'a with a foiir- m.an jury voting on whether the new disk releases will be hits or misses. The problem, however, of what to do with the camera while the Ihrce-mmute platter is spin- ning in the jiikt'hox still remains On the preem stan/a (13). a vari- ef\ of pictorial time-killers \v(*re used while the disks were bt'ing pla\ed. Title cards ol the numbers and artists were flashed along with stills of the singers. In the case (»t one disk. "Ebbtide.” Vic Damone. who cut It for .Men ury. was in the studio and his reactions were cut m via a split sc reen while the jiir\ was making up its mind about the release. .Muvt « fleetive routine w.is the camma (los,-iipv un the panel- ists faces while thiy were listening to the music. .Amung the first pru- gram's judges, ,,n'> Marilvn .Max- W('1I te\<‘;i!e(| anj f.'icial leaetuins to the songs. lh( ethfrs, .Ic.hriny Mt rier. .t.jne Pmw(I 1 and Roi k Hudson. pla.M'd it deadj.^n ihi(e sid, V w» ie Juiil.tion»d on Major cretiit for the show’s brisk and breezy pace belong to Joan (’aulfield (Lizi and Barry Nelson • George). Miss Caulfield i.s an ideal young frau—a looker with a sense of c(*medy timing lhal’jf surefire delight. Nelson, who has spent most of his time in Broadway legit, is a past master of light dialog. To- gether they set a funny, freewheel- ing pace The initial script, by Sol Saks and Nate Monaster, dealt with an upheaval in the Cooper family brought about by the return of George’s old flame. Stock formula of jealousy and misunderstanding was brightened hy the .scripter’s lighthearted approach and the thesps’ easygoing manner. Plenty of room was left open for sight gag situations and most of them came across with rib-tickling results. .'Mix Talton was okay as the old hcartthrob and Bob Sweeney got plenty of whim.sy into the role of her meek spoutfe. Norman 'rokar’s direction sus- tained the gay mood. Sets were pleasant and believable. Interna- tional Silver is picking up the tab on alternate weeks with the .Sim- mons Co. Gros. the show, with two being judged a hit and the other a miss. In the hit category were “Ebbtide” and Kay Starr’s ’’Swamp Fire” for Capitol. Rosemary Clooney’s ”Sfmo, Turkey. Shoo,’’ after getting a tie two-to-(wo vote from the jury, was nixed by the studio audi- ence which will be used on such occasions. This show is another twist on song-judging contests, except that in this case, professional talent is in the (iock rather than amateur clcffer.s. More scope for panelists’ (li‘-cussion of the disk entries would he helpful, although lime restric- tions obviously makes this tough if more disks are to be auditionecl, As emcec. Potter registers okay with an amiable personality and drawling delivery. H(* hasn't niuch to do except introduce the disks .'tnd announce the results after the jianel is polled. l/croi. The "Ice Capades of 1953” is in N.y. and. as might have been ex- pected, Ed Sullivan’s “Toast of the Town” Sunday (13i over CBS-TV brought its viewers a slice of the Madison Square Garden goings-on. What little went on camera whet- , ted one 8 appetite for more and I certainly contributed to "Toast.” If there was any criticism of the skating pro( eedings, it wa* the camera handling, which wasn't al- what it might have been. "Jingle Polka” number suffered J-D’gm that and, to a lesser degree, nlfto the "Little Foxes” number. Insufticieht lighting for the many long-shots necessary may have been to blame, too. At any rate. Forgy Sc Larsen, playing a badminton game on ice, came over fine, and &o did Donna Atwood in her solo number, in which vhe exhibited a lot of grace and skill. Camera focussing was better in her number than in any others. Other big headliner on “Toast” was charming, ever-young Carmen Miranda, complete with hairdo and tropical fruit. Accompanied by a dance and <horal ensemble, she rhumhaed her way through the “Song from Anna” which fitted her energetic style and set it off to best advantage. Sound novelty number didn't come off as well ^ut proved that, on TV or off. Miss Miranda is .still one of the surefire showbiz personalities. Joe Jackson, Jr., and hi.s clown routines were funny in spots, par- ticularly after he got going with the bicycle act, which is a honey and a .strong laughgettcr. Jerry Coleman. N.Y. Yankee star, paid a return visit to the Sullivan show and .served as the entree for a colorful exhibition of skill and dis- cipline from a U.S. Marine drill team. Whatever talking Coleman did do was via a kine of his 1952 appearame on the Sullivan pro- gram. Short insert was effective. Harvc.st .Moon ball winners went through their paces for okay ef- fects. Why Sullivan climaxed his show by spotlighting various ce- lebrities in the audience is a mys- tery, since this is hardly the kind of stunt which let the audience out w/ith any great feeling of exhilara- tion. Bit could have been spotted earlier in the show and for the .same milts. Marge & Gower Cham- pion dance team took a brief bow, and so did Paramount’s Adolf Zukor. Sulliviin agiiin was in top tn.c. form. Hi.s etfortiess introes of iiis gue.sts can't be matched and he gives them a personal touch which viewers appreciate. Lincoln and Mercury lilmed plugs wisely keep in mind that the TV audience is as interested in looking as it is in listening. Hi/f. “Goodyear TV Playhouse” on NBC-TV Sunday '13) turned out a good if not overly aistinguished show that started off slowly but reached a sock emotional climax in the closing scenes. Play was scripted by Robert Allen Aurthur and acted out by a very capable cast headed by Eli Wallach. Theme of the yarn, titled “The Baby,” was the maturing of Joey, a 34-year-old Italian “boy,” who is shamed info fighting for his inde- pendence from his despotic father and his two brothers, both “pro- fessional men.” Joey has been a lailurc at e\«’r\lliing he's been told to try. hut he is good at fixing radio and TV sets. .And because of the outside pri'ssures. he has become a perfectionist at everything he docs. Wallach put a lot of heart and a warm, intelligent quality into the part of Joey, from his early moments to the finale when he escapes il.y’s hold and decides to with Anne Jackson, the loves him. Miss Jackson, ally, docs a consistently job and on Sunday’s sh„.. man.aged to he both appealing and convincing as the widowed mother who. like .loey, decides to face life on her own. Aurthur's script was hung to- gether somew hat loosely and could have stood some tightening up for better dramatic effects. Also, spot character changes are a little hard to take, even on TV where they may be needed to create dramatic unity. Jocy’.s final stanza had an abrupt quality that struck an un- real nrile. \et. there’s no question about it; it was effective aria one can’t blame .Aurthur for taking the easy way out. Fred Tozere played the father wilh gu.vto and communicated some of that severe Italian hcad-oMhe- family aititiu'e. softened by a fa- ther's natural pride in his sons. Peg Hillian was suhduecl as the kpinsicr sivfer and Martin Balsam did vciv well as Wallach’s long- time li lt ml who wants him to be- come a partner in an appiiint# store. William Corrigan’s direction, ss usual, had much to recommend it for and created a believable at- mosphere. If “The Baby” dirir. t carry the mark of distinction to which the Playhouse can so offen lay claim, it certainly came acT(J^s with an hour’s solid entertainment Hiff. Kim Hunter and .Mildred Dun- nock were the stars on Gulf (jil « "First Person” show on .NBC-’i V Friday 'ID/and their expert per- formances, coupled with a perleit script from the pen of paririy Chayefsky, made this a memorable dramatic experience. Program h..s been good from the start and ,f anything, is building towards e\.n better things. Just as radio for a time had dif- ficulties coping with the strearn-(.f- consciousness problem until Aidi Oholer came along and used it as a novel means of oral expressinn, the ’’first person” technique on TV —as in motion pictures—has never really been given a chance. Pro- ducer Fred Coe has u'-ed imagin.i- tion here, letting the cameia .speak its own piece, telling the whole story as seen through the eyes of an unseen, aJl-observ ing onlooker. Chayefsky’s script last we(k corraled every dramatic possibility within a limited set, creating a fluid, highly emotioni)) piece to which Misses Hunter and Dunnodi contributed their best. Joseph An- thony provided the voice of the tortured father who sees his daughter almost making the same mistake he once made. Story wasn’t obscure. Its theme was the strong and the weak and who should be the master in the house. Miss Hunter played the young wife whose husband has left her and who has come home, con- fused and distresse(^. .Miss Dun- nock, as her mother, unconsciously wants her to do what she did when the same situation arose with her years ago. The father’s voice tells the tragic, unbalanced relationship that resulted. Miss Hunter is an actress with great .stage presence and a knack for finding just the right emotional level. Miss Dunnock. as the domi- nating mother and wile, was com- pletely convincing and brought the character into sharp locus. Both women completely accepted and furthered the idea of playing to the camera as the third person, bringing the viewer into miuh closer dramatic orbit. Camera han- dling was clever and aided no little in creating the visual impact, par- ticularly at the climax in which the unseen father and the daughter rebel against the mother and as- sert their independence. Providing it can maintain its present high level. "First Person” should easily rate as one ot the top dramatic efforts on TV. It ef- fectively disproves any theory that TV's insatiable appetite tor ma- terial inevitably breeds mediocrity. "First Person’’ is another teatlur in Coe’s cap. i/./f. carefree dramatic his fam- face life ^irl who incidwit- topnotch low again There's been a refreshing clianc’ in tlie format of Dii.Mont's "Lil»* Begins At Eighty" show ovir W.ABD. First revamped prograni went on last Friday <11) and im- mediately set a much livelii r pac e for what essentially used to he a panel powwow of octogenarian*-'. They’re still there, and very nunh in the picture, but a show biz note has been injected and it's Iivpotd procc*^dings very considerabiv, Affable imo. Jack Barry still pre- sides and scmie of the old favoritrt like Fred Stein and Mrs. Georgi- ana Carhart are around to contrib- ute their barbed and occasionally witty comments. But tlie accent is less on gabbing and more on entertainment, and that’s all for the best. In fact, the new pitch, which includes bringing on vet per- formers for brief stints, creates a pleasant atmosphere of nostalgia which should attract a lot of new viewers. Guest of honor at last Fridav’t session was Georgit* Price, first of the "Footlight Favorites” to ap- pear in the future. Price is an ex- pert in his craft and a big person- ality man. His impersonations whether of Jolson or of Cantor, came across fine. Duo pianists tf Fondville & Downey provided j strong support on Ihe kc.vs and should have rated credits. I Another performer was T» n Fletcher, age 80, in .show biz b-*) I years and still active. He did two ■short numbers and did them vtiv jvvcll, for a big studio audience ! mitt. Another new gimmick rn the show is the "Test Your .Mcir.- ory” phase, which invoIv(s show- ■ ing the panel an object ih( y mig t i (Continued on page 4(0