Variety (October 1954)

Wednesday* October 13, 1954 Ufi&lETY TELEVISION REVIEWS 31 THE MAIL STORY With Herb Nelson, Mary Alice Moore, Wesley Addy, Leslie Bar- rett, Tom Gorman, Jerry Eskow, Matt (Crowley, Richard Garth, J. Du Frayne Writers; Max Ehrlich, Paul Monash Producer: Robert L. Shayon Director: John Peyser. . 30 Mins.; Thurs., 8 p.m.. Sustaining: ABC-TV, from New York A Bernard J. Prockter package, “The Mail Stpziy” preemed on ABC- TV Thurs. (7) with an initial in- stallment that..augurs well for this, documentary, series on cases taken from files of the Post Office Dept. Work of postal inspectors for one reason of another seems to have been neglected by the melodrama mill and this fresh material doubt- lessly Will provide fascinating view?. , ing in the future if the dramatisa- tions are reasonably well done. Kickoff concerned . an Atlanta physi ian whose peace of mind and practice were being shattered by a mentally disturbed former patient; His .methods embraced the; use of threatening postcards and phone calls to harass! the doctor. While the victim’s reactions to the harass- ment.were too exaggerated to pro- duce a genuine, touch of realism for the viewer, nevertheless the painstaking techniques employed by postal inspectors to trace their man made for a wealth of suspense and interest. . Wesley Addy tended to overplay the role of , the tormented physi- cian.. However, Herb Nelson scored nicely as the relentless inspector who gets his. man; Mary Alice Moore was suitably sympathetic as the doc’s wife, and Richard Garth. Was irritatingly effective, as the poison, penner. Other supporting players were adequate. Producer- Robert L. Shayon wrapped the Max Ehrlich-Paul Monish script with okay, physical values arid John Peyser’s direction moved the yarn along at a crisp pace after; the preliminaries were established. Although minus a sponsor, “Mail Story’’ shouldn’t have too much difficulty in latch-! irig onto one soon. It’s curious, however, why ABCtTV follows this documentary on the -postal service with the similarly formatted half- hour “Treasury: Men in Action.’’ Maybe the net goes along with the theory that good things go in pairs. Gtlh. ON CAMERA (The-Error of Our Ways) With Frank Peddie, Marjorie Leete, Deborah Turnbull, Hugh Webster, Thorn Arngrim, James Annand Producer: Murray Chercover Writer: Foggy McKenzie 30 Mins., Sat., 9.-p.in. PROCTER & GAMBLE CBC-TV, from Toronto (F. H. Hayhurst & Co. Ltd.) Live drama with 'Canadian slant is scheduled for the 39-wefek "Qn Camera’’ series, little more than a continuation of a previous video live drama series Called “Playbill'' oh the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. web. “Playbill,” at a diffei'ent time, was sustaining. . Opener,-* ‘The Error of. Our Ways,” was an okay play set in ait isolated fishing village in British Columbia where an old fanatic who had practically assumed the role of religious leader and driven his family close to madness in regret of an old error vehemently resents the replacement of the usual visit- ing parson by a young pastor. Crabby old Fergus’ intentions to marry his daughter to an unwanted suitor are foiled by the new clergyman who aids Fergus’. wife and daughter in the young gal’s 'escape. Top thesping goes , to Deborah Turnbull who. turned in a smooth, convincing performance as the daughter Meg. The. part was thin but she chewed; all the meat it had with strong. teeth. Frank Feddie, longtime w.k, CBC radio actor, overdid; the part of Fergus but only: slightly for the role had to be hammed to a certain degree to make it believable. Adequate sup- port came, from Marjorie Leete as the beset wife, of Fergus, Hugh -Webster in a nasty' part as, the suitor, Thorn Arngrim on the weak side as the young minister, and the brief appearance of the 1 captain of * ship by James Annand. “On Camera” is wisely scheduled for Saturdays, a day overloaded with sports on CBC-TV. Announced titles of upcoming plays in the series show no comedy whatever and a heavy tendency to suspen- sers. This is probably the result of CBC drama producers deciding to stay exclusively with Canadian Writers who have previously written little brilliant comedy and Canadian actors who. do not include able comedians. CBC has aired some socko satire, however, and “On Camera” would be enhanced by the use of ohe or two shows of that type, even if it meant rehash- ing used radio scripts. Gorm. • a f.r l 1 1 < a y > i s -THE NAME’S 'THE .SAME With Joan Alexander, Bess Myer- son, Gene Rayburn, Arnold Stang; Dennis James* emcee. Producers: Mark Goodson & Bill Todman s . . Director: Jerome Schnur 30 Mins.> Mon., 7:30 p.m. RALSTON PURINA ABC-TV, from New York (Guild, Bascopi. & Bonfigli) Everything’s the same about “The Name’s the Same” this .sea- son except, for a few personnel changes.. Dennis James has taken over the moderator’s chair, which once belonged to Robert Q. Lewis, arid Gene Rayburn' and; Arnold Stang have joined distaffers Bess Myerson and Joan Alexander' on the panel;. Mark Goodson and Bill Todman set Rayburn and Stang as panelists . late last season and they look, to wind up . as regulars on the show, • It’s a pat format, that the G&T combine have conceived for this panel-quizzer but the ingredients of celeb monickers plus a bright panel generally add up to some tele fun. Initial gimmick of hav- ing, a John and/or Jane Doe with a famous, name for the panelists to play with: is a laugh-provoking ■.start, so it’s up to. Misses Myerson and Alexander and Messrs.'Ray- burn and Stang to carry- the ball from there. On the preem show Monday (11they displayed only a flickering' wit in toying vytih such, monickers as Christopher Cqlumbus. A! Hio anl Dennis James, the emcee’s son. They managed to pull some laughs out of A. Hip, but most of it belonged to the innuendo groove that doesn’t belong on tv. Format of the prize-giving Calls for the panelists to shell out checks, on the basis of the number of questions asked, to the person they've third-degreed. Show also has the inevitable guest celebrity. Opening stanza’s star was Fernando Lamas and the panel' was asked to guess what he had learned. It seems that the screen star, who hails from Argen- tina and is married to Arlene Dahl, had learned "that American women are glamourous;” Panel played it straight and came up with the right answer. The guestar is allowed to pick up a check for his favorite charity whether he's working or not. Gros, IT’S GOOD TASTE With Amy Vanderbilt 5 Mins.: Mon. (4), 12:25 p.m. GRENNAN'S CAKES WCCO-TV, Minneapolis The Vanderbilt name - iii itself seems calculated to attract femme dialers for these syndicated briefie authoritative discussions on eti- quette, heard at different times in different cities. And the society leader, handling herself well be- fore the camera, should do a good saies job for the sponsor. , Mrs. Vanderbilt is distinguished looking and apparently to the man- ner born unbends sufficiently be- fore the lenses and possesses an effective if rather metallic speaking voice. She has poise, ease, and enough charm and her enunciation leaves nothing to be desired. How- ever, there’s an impression of hur- riedness to her spieling—her ef- forts would gain by less rapid de- livery. Also, a script with more simple sentence, construction and fewer multi-syllable words would give desirable spontaneity to her utterances and make them seem more natural and extemporaneous- ly conversational than memorized. But, on the whole; this stacks up as a clever commercial conceit from the standpoint of utilizing such a socially prominent person to sell food items via instruction in; etiquette. Introduced as “Amer- ica’s foremost authority on gra- cious looking,” Mi's. Vanderbilt must impress the average house- wife, dialer at whom the show is aimed. In between her short lecture on the part that ceremony plays itt weddings and the tips which she gave to prospective. brides, there were Scattered several: very short film clips; the one showing a family conference regarding a forthcom- ing wedding and other a bride and her mother putting their heads to- gether. These clips provided an added fillip and lent variety and additional interest to the proceed- ings. Mrs. Vanderbilt wound up by answering questions on etiquette submitted by members of her audi- ences. On this occasion there were two—-one as to what "high tea” is and the other regarding the pro-* priety of pipe smoking at social functions. , Commercials don’t consume too much of the five minutes and are well devised. Mrs, Vanderbilt even joined in one and qualified as an <^Hay saleswoman, R^es. ADVENTURES OF OZZIE & >■ HARRIET (The Wedding. Anniversary) . '. With Ozzie, Harriet, David & Ricky Nelson/'D 1 on DeFore, others Producer-director: Ozzie Nelson Writers: Nelson, Dick Bensfield, Perry Grant 30 Mins., Fri. (8), 8 p.m. HOTPOINT ABC-TV, from Hollywood (Maxon) It’s hot difficult to grasp the ap- peal of the Ozzie Nelson menage on tv. In the first place, physically ahd esthetically, they’re a; hand- some, wholesome family. More- over, their programs are built on natural;, bonafide situations. The joshing, that goes on may be mild; but it’s real and. tr , flowing, smbothly out of these natural in- cidents. The acting is underplayed, rather than' raucous/ there are. no caricatures. The airer leaves a nice .taste. Last Friday. night ( 8V- the Nelsons were back for: their third year in ABC-TV., It was also, in reality, ;the ,19th .wedding anni of Ozzie and Harriet (Hilliard). What more natural than to use the anni as topic for the tv program? And what more typical , than the Honest instead of . hoked-up approach to the event? Ozzie, of course, wanted to spend the evening but, celebrating the anni. But l/byear-old Ricky was troubled; fie was having a party that night. The Nelsons pere, and mere, felt they had to he home to oversee, to chaperone. Several neighbors were of the same mind; they wouldn’t let their daughters attend unless the elder Nelsons, stayed at home. So Ozzie and Har- iet dutifully stayed home, out of the way, upstairs, till curiosity about the doings downstairs brought them out-r-to discover it was all a plot, .with the neighbors and friends gathered in to wish them well on their anniversary. Surprise twist may not have been too novel,' but the program-had a lot of pleasant, honest quality to it., Bron. DING DONG SCHOOL With Dr. Frances Horwich, Helen Morton, organist Producer: Dr. Horwich.. Director: Len Salvo Jr; 30 Mins.; Mon.-thru-Fri., 9 a.m., CST GENERAL MILLS, GERBER FOODS, INTERNATIONAL SHOE; WANDER NBC-TV, from Chicago ( fatham-Laird, D’Arci/1 “Ding Dong School,” entering its third semester, shows no Signs of losing its appeal for the nursery, set; Masking a psychologically hep understanding of the moppet men- tality, Dir. Frances Horwich con- tinues to weave a spell over the kids and their appreciative Moms with her ingratiatingly intimate talkfests and demonstrations. While the tots may not be aware of it, they soak up a lot of informa- tion about the world about them, in terms of object identification and vocabulary as Dr. Horwich, as on the school visited (6), par- layed simple little games involv- ing a garage, a bridge and a dog- house. It must be a real treat for the conscientious mothers as they watch her cleverly work in little bits of significant information as she talks directly to the kiddies. Only possible flaw for the per- nickety is Dr. "Horwich’s direct product pitch to the tykes on be- half of the sponsor-. Her break- down of the OValtine sales . copy into words the pre-schoolers could dig, seemed incongruous in the otherwise careful production, ... Daily half-hour is sold in 15- minute , slices with bankrolled aboard: four. Dave. FINDERS KEEPERS With Fred Robbins, Peggy O’Hara Producer: Allah Wallace Director: Dick Sandwick Writer: Eddie Lawrence 30 Mins.; Thurs.* 7:30 p.m. COCA-COLA WARD, N Y. (Bilton St Rigyio) “Finders Keepers” is another giveaway without any particularly outstanding qualities. Gimmick this time is participants have to locate a hidden certificate within a lim- ited period of time. Paper is stashed away, in some part of a liv- ing room-kitchen set and contest- ants are given, various clues as to the location. Participants who find the hidden certificates are awarded prizes for their successful detective work. Quality of gifts given out On opening show, Thursday (.7) wasn’t too exciting. In some instances, contestants gave the Impression they had ad- vance knowledge of the hiding places and were just stalling until the. last possible moment. Home viewers are also given an opportu- nity to play the game.. Each week (Continued on page 40)' . <’T> T V) Vjt 1 11. i CLIMAX! (The Long Goodbye) With Dick Powell, Teresa Wright, Cesar Romero, Horace Mac- Malion, Tom Drake; William Lundigan, host. . Producer: iirct^ ine Windust Director: Wm. H. Brown Jr, Writer: E., Jack Neuman 60 Mins., Thurs!, 8:30 p.m. CHRYSLER CORP. CBS-TV, from H’wpod ( McCann-Erickson ) Having launched its. stormy j “Shower of Stars” headlining Betty Grable,. Harry James and the re- suscitated voice of Mario Lanza, the Chrysler Corp. continued pn with its Thursday representation last week by entering .its “Climax!” series, Which will three-for-one .it* with, the musical hours as Coast- based stanzas. Opener was a Ray- mond Chandler story, “The Long Gopdbye,” a whodunit Wallop in its slick production.: inciiiding the decor, ditto staging, ditto pace, ..ditto lensing and .?ditto cast, with. DiCk Powell and. Teresa Wright as the leads. ... - ' It was an auspicious, start in every department save, one, ...the play, adapted by E. Jack Neuman; In fact, so polished and. bright*were these basic elements, without which many a sound teleplay, has suffered in the telling in countless ! instances, that they, could easily have mesmerized some viewers into the. not unprecedented trap of regarding “The Long Goodbye.” dramatically, on an equal plane with the. purely production com- ponents. But “Goodbye” was a long way from home on the flirnsiness of its structure, the complexities ol' its narrative, and the. clumsiness of its logic. There’s a limit,. v ; should be, oh how far the imagina-. tion is expected to. be stretched even for. uiysteriosos, with their 'pat setting up of clay pigeons, ready, to be knocked off by any old private eye of which Chandler’s Philip Marlowe,' the sophisticated he-man hunter, is not, of course, typical. While whodunit plots are not; ex- pected- to be taken too seriously, the Marlowe omniscience as rep- resented in Powell’s playout was much, too pat and' pompous except perhaps for the “Howdy: Doody” set, and the romantically enacted murderess as repped by Miss Wright was about as subtle in the text as a Dusty Rhodes homer. It looked like a cracker jack play and the smart accoutrements gave it the dolled-up aura of a million bucks, but, despite its pretentions, seemed rather like an overex- tended half-hour exemplified in the routine hocus-opuses. Powell and Miss. Wright played it to the- hilt, while' Cesar Romero, as. a garnblezV i star co-billing, was so-sO in the couple of brief scenes allotted him for no special reason other than his marquee value since he’s long since shed those authoritatively menacing looks and gestures. Horace Mac- Mahon was his veteran realistic self in’ policeman’s part. Torn Drake did right by his "disappear-: ing act that looked like 'murder” i*ole, with Romero covering up for him on a dastardly deed while a viewer kept asking himself, i* terms of immediate logic, why the gambler should; (with the uisual threats) try to prevent Poweli from proving his theory (not upheld in the end) that Drake was murdered, it having been clearly established that Dicker-once' saved Romero's life-. That the "body” of Miss Wright’s husband (murdered by her, it de- veloped) should be . seen stealthily ci’awling off the set to make way for the closing action, was an un- fortunate incident that could not, except momentarily, impair the overall values. In view of the high production promise shown by the baptismal effort in the mellcr series, . there’s indication that "Climax!’’- means to stake out a large claim in the tv mines. But it’s elementary, my dear W : atson, f hat the play is. still the thing, in N. Y, Hollywood. Trau. U-AUTO-BUY With Lambert Bartak Trio, Melody Maids 30 Mins.; Tues., 10:30 p.ni. ROSEN NOVAK AUTO CO. KMTV, Omaha Well spotted to catch the late viewers, this bright half-hour pro- gram is one of the . best used-car auto selling shows in these parts. Old-fashioned, rapid-fire pitches by Rosen Novak salesmen take up nearly half of the 30-minute stints, are entertaining —> and no doubt sell plenty of buggies. Entertainment is handled by Lambert Bartak Trip, locals who are. show biz Vets and good video bets. Wendall Hall, who alternates between organ, guitar‘and bass is especially a standout. Melody Maids, girls quartet from Council'Bluffs, la;, just across the Missouri River from Omaha, , are okay in handling one number each Trump. HONESTLY CELESTE! With Celeste Holm, Scott MoKay v Geoffrey Lunib, Mary Finney, Mike Kellin, Henry Jones Producer-director: Joseph Scibetta Writers: Larry Gelbart, Ilal Collins 30 Mins., Sun., 9:30 p.m. BRISTOL-MYERS CBS-TV, from New York (Young & Rubiccnn) There’s probably been mor half-baked, hashed^bvef,: and .over- done .comedy material hashed up by the 5 industry’s writers and comics in this fledgling season than in any in past remembrance, but the' grand prize’ foi' temerity. will have to be awarded to the “crea- tive” staff of CBS-TV’s.nc\v “Hon- estly Celeste!” Imagine, preeming a. . $1,500,000 investment, with : as old a device as the suitcase switch, and milking, tlie gag for a complete half-hour.. If this is the kind of scripting that’s going to go. .into, iutur episodes about a hayseed hews- papergal,. then .“Honestly Celeste!” will merely, be another straggler along , Bristol-Myers’ and: CBS’ Sunday-at-9:30 ."frustration icw.” History of that time period and B-M’s efforts to find a hot property for it has been a~study in futility (Alan’ .Young,' “Mail Behind th Badge”), and the makeup of Ce- lerte Holm’s Vehicle, isn’t going to help. Apart from the use of a tired old device to sustain the comedy, th general format:, doesn’t look too promising. Miss Holm is cast as a .journalism teacher from a Minne- sota college who cpmes to N. Y. to get, real experience in the trade, banking on the. fact! that the editor of the N.Y. Express, is an old student pf her. fathev’s. Entire cast is composed of .stock and trite characters, with Geoffrey Lumb as a pompous and excitable, editor; Scott McKay,, the romantic interest, as the the publisher’s son and star reporter; Mary Finney Lumb’s wry secretary; and Henry Jones., as the prissy obit editor. Story line in the preem had Miss Holm cinching a spot as a reporter after starting in obits via the suit- case mixup, with Miss Holm pick- ing up a bag containing $400,000. and belonging to a bank robber who’s just finished a 10-year rap. but kept the dough hidden all that time. Gangster, played by Mike Kellin, follows her to the office, and filially she gets an exclusive intei'view. Humor was tired and lifeless in this episode, situation was completely trite. About the only laughs came from Keilin’s characterizations and Miss Holm’s offbeat personality as a naive but brash newcomer. It’s surprising that a yetei*an like Joseph Scibetta would permit such an obvioys mess of cliche to take to the air, and that Miss Holm, Who’s delicately skirted Video wait- ing for the right vehicle, should come • to the Conclusion, that this was it. And equally surprising is the fact that show-wise Young & Rubicam would permit one of its top clients to be drawn into such a show. But that’s the .way it is. Honestly, Celeste, you can do bet- ter than that! Chan. GUESS WHAT IT IS With Hal Tunis, Marilyn Cantor, Danny Scholl, Diane Herbert^ Maurice Dreicer, Guy Lebow Director: Lee Davis 30 Mins., Sat., 11:30 a.m. SHOWERMASTER WABC-TV, N.Y, (Tunis) It’S admittedly difficult to come up with some fresh ideas that are 'entertaining a/s well. The latest panel show coming through" WABC-TV hardly fills the - bill. “Guess' What It Is” is npt one of the masterpieces of its kind, since it doesn’t contain an idea , that is basically sound, !nor a. sparkling panel, that can be entertaining on its own. Hal Tunis, as conferencier, does a fairly good job considering the very Slim basis of the show, For- mat has a silhouette shown on the screen and a panel; comprising; Marilyn Cantor, Danny Scholl, Diane Herbert and. Maurice Drei- cer attempt to guess the object. At the preem show, it seemed that the objects thi’own on the screen were either too easy dr unfair. Guy Lebow identified the objects off- stage. The resultant gab Wasn’t too sparkling. Pei’haps this layout needs a. few shakedown shows, to get started, but at this point, it’s difficult to see how it could emerge as effective adult entertainment. Perhaps, it was meant for young- sters since it follows a juve show, but .it doesn’t, look like it could hang on to the audience that “Space Patrol” picks up! Tunis delivers the commercials for Shower Master and the selling is not too convincing. At one point, a phone number given out by Tr.nis was different than the one flashed on the Screen; There goes a whole selling campaign shot to