Variety (December 1953)

• Deceml>® r ' 23*. 1953 RADIO-TELEVISION 31 Tele Followups Continued from page 29 rtVif nprformed her chores duti- r a n5 h lVs e recalied that on the first |is mother doing * short bit. O’Connor went In for a couple of wirv!rnipk<? on this 'show. He ex- hibited k coaches* of teams partici- patinff in the Rose Bow* Gante _»5 W ell as the Rose Bowl Queen *nd tp P court. It was a sequence that meant Very little. Not enough was made of a showboat scene in which Seatman Caruthers beat out a bdefie song and JjnaMaSon went overly-dramatic on Cant Help Uvin’.that-Man” V, % - - Charles Cpbum also had a few moments of good comedy. He made [he most of his role as an instruc- tor in a school for Santas, but ideally. a good idaa went awry in t b i?r W riting. K Other bit in which he participated was in a scene depict- ing wandering carol singers. As usual, the most rewarding scene of the session is the song-, writing bit between O’Connor, and the talented Sid Miller, This, too, handicapped by bad material the day in' question, the hubby battles his conscience and decides to bring the flowers. He gets to the flower shop“t6o - late _ ¥nd'returns home empty-handed. Spouse is disappointed and prepare- to walk 'out on him when the florist showB up with a bouquet and explains the hubby got to nis shop when it was closed. Clinch and fadeout. Interspersed between the flora* shenanigans was an okay dream ballet and a couple of tunes. Melo- dy and lyrics were routine. . .The Champions were assisted by an able'supporting cast, sharp di- rection and imaginative set. Musi- comedy, showcased on Lux as a pilot for a potential series, was scripted by Joseph Cochran with music by Albert Selden and lyrics by Taylor Williams. Mike. NB C-TV Scent Deaigher William G. Molyneux hoi ci bright piece pit Jt r s All Ojifit lri - 60 Minutes one of the many byline pieces , In the npcomlng 48th Anniversary Nu m her , of was mid- at the start, but toward the LsoctionJthey^M^ _. . .» • t. X wlk «*Aa»*e It closed in high gear. It seemed that- the staff was awed by the pre-Christmas theme, aiid lost sight Of the fact that the show dwells mainly in comedy. Jose. Color TV Reviews Continued from page’ 29 tion or contrast. Also, it’s increas- ingly apparent that the' fringe s o f If there’s to be a future for original muslcomedy on TV, it will have to be made of stronger stuff than “A Bouquet for Millie,” which hit the airlanes via ‘‘Lux Video Theatre” on CBS-T.V. last Thursday.! (17). It was a flimsy yarn tied to- gether by an uninspired scorp. Stanzas’ only assets-were its stars, Marge and Gower Champion. They’re a charming couple but even they couldn’t pull the half- hour over the hump. Plot Had Gower Champion as the aggressive, toughie hubby of Marge. He is sentenced by a judge to bring a bouquet of flowers to Marge for TO .straight daiys as penance for socking her. He fulfills this chore despite embarrassment, and jibes fibm his cohorts. Big test for the wile, though, was whether he’ll bring flowers on the 11th day. On tfie^'sc'reeh' an<J7or pefformers’ex- tremities go errant purplish at the oddest times, particularly when the actors employ the most normal of motion, such as gesticulation. Over- all, however, this was highly satis- factory colorvision, especially so when set against the monochrome show seen later and wherein the absence of tint in several instances would be the persuader in a home- owner's boarding up his screen "after "he has seen both editions. “Peace” was a click effort, with warmth, high humor and a clever treatment of the basic philosophy of life as expressed by protagonist Fred Stewart, as Father Geronimo, in what was probably the finest performance of his legit-TV career 1 . Solid supjport was. turned in by Arnold Moss, as the general of Napoleon come to “rescue” the padre from his humble surround- ings to join the Emperor of France in Paris after it’s discovered that the priest is the Little Corporal’s uncle; by the padre's housekeeper. Dora Merande; by Florenz Ames, aging medico seeking a better live- lihood than the “healthy” village can provide; and by looker Judith Braun, Ray Danton, Joe E. Marks, Joseph Boley, Micbail Enserro, Malcolm Beggs and Auguste Me- righl in other roles in a large cast. Director-producer Harry Herr- mann staged the play shrewdly tq give power and sweep to the action while not subordinating the run -1 llirig Tfieme of a forthright clergy- man’s incorruptibility in the face of great temptation. Play Was orig- inally written in Italian by Gia- vacchino Foranza and KraftVer- sion was an adaptation by George Faulkner of a Victor Rietti transla- tion presented on the British stage. All in all, as a colorshow and a play, a click, job by ail concerned, with special kudos reserved for the sponsor’s mouth-watering franks- and-cheese and Philly Fudge blurbs. Tran. || D ire ctly a f tdp-WQR York, moved its. transmitter last week from 760-fpot tower in North Bergpn> . N,. 'yf*i to atop thO Empire Stajce Raiding a threat of legal ac- tion V) was / made ..-In’order to . force station epeeufciveff \o remove the original ,tqwer. as. a menace. ThC .‘Gpb'pf al Teleradio station be- gan^ ransmissldtl of Its signal from Empite.. Static., on ’pfc'c, 12; Recalling the recent accident in which former Michigan governor Kim Sigler, and three, friends were killed when their plane struck a similar tower In Battle Creek, com- missioner of Public Safety in North Bergen, Patrick Sullivan,- indicated that he would give WOR-TV a chance to bring the costly tower down of its own volition. He add- ed, however, that he turned the problem over ■ to township attorney Nicolas Schloeder for possible legal j steps. State Space lasf. Wed. (161, four days after the original transmis- sion signal wasmade from the new quarters. Although the building has seven other TV occupants (all of Gotham’s TV’eral, WOR-TV is the only one with, studios there. (Mlei Singer, chief engineer for tne local outlet, stated that the station would have been. tclecast- 4ng from the Bmpire State three' months earlier were it not for tech- nical problems encountered with NBC-TV, which maintained WOR- TV facilities would interfere with the former’s suxiliary transmitter. Empire State charges its video occupants $70,000 a year rental alone, plus $7 a square foot for space. Cost of some operations go as high as $150,000 to $200,000: an nually. ■ • . ’ The WOR-TV facilities in tin Empire State Building include a WOR-TV Planned to utilize the studio, a projection room, an an- J^se^L^tQwert-.loeatecLini-the^hea rt .i n ouncen’4s--boothT.S"newsrOom--a nd of North Bergen, as an auxiliary ' transmitter room housing the 50,- transmitter since it became the 000-watt transmitter. These in ad seventh and final member of the dition to other rooms occupy 3,001 Gotham TV family to move its ' square feet of space, technical facilities to Empire State;; Gordon: Gray, incoming chief of WORtTV, when informed of Sulli- van’s move,. said he had no pre- vious knowledge of the North Ber- gen commissioner’s intentions and that he would immediately notify his legal staff.' FAULK KEEPS STEADY COMPANY WITH ‘GIRLS Bea Kalmus Diilcgab Bea Kalmus returns to the late- night gab circuit via a six-nights j foundation and overturned.” . A , , u j .i v similar accident, occurred m Sche weekly schedule over WABG, N. Y. 5 from the Basin Street nitery. will air from midnight to 2 a.m. •r Former singer had a longtime show from Hutton’s restaurant on WMGM, N. Y.. which lapsed a couple of years ago. “Leave It to the . Girls” will un- , , . dergo a format change starting Speaking of the Sigler accident, , „ Sullivan said "Nat only did a wing Jan \ 2 ’ w,lb John 1Ienr> ? " U| of the plane hurtle to the ground joining the show on a permanent and the plane itself burst into b. is as a sort of biased moderator flames and skid 1,500 feet away, and Maggi McNellis stepping down but the tower Was lifted from its from her moderator’s seat to be- come “captain” of the girls’ : team. Fauk Will assist the male guest nectady not so long ago also, the of the evening, who on Jan. 2 will commissioner pointed out. arid he be Ralph Meeker. Miss McNellis felt that since the North Bergen will hive as a permanent member tower is not in constant use it of the squad Eloise McElhone. with would be senseless letting it stand two guest panelists. Rountree^Pres- ! in the midst of so heavily a popu- brey package continues under Ex- 1 lated area. ; Lax sponsorship in its Saturday WOR-TV began emanating some night. ABC-TV slot: Relax! Watch WLW-C harness Columbus . viewers and plow up greater sales V for you. How? With top talent and production facilities plus complete client service that exploits your ad message in tile field. Sit back. H itch you r advertising to WLW-C! first in central ohio -fjlOSlH JlUMMTINS [J EXCLUSIVE sales OFFICES* NEW YORK ♦ CINCINNATI • DAYTON • COLUMBUS • CHICAGO • ATLANTA • HOLLYWOOD