Variety (October 1954)

TELEVISION REVIEWS pg&jETY VedneaJay, October 20, 1954 CALIFORNIA . ' With Thomas Mitchell, narrator; Jack Benny, Anna Marla Alber- ghetti, Paul Kelly, Ruth Hussey, James Gleason, John Carradine, Joy Lansing, Bonita Granville, James Craig, Robert Strauss, Richard Jaeckel, James Rdwards, Gregory Ratoff, Roy Fltzell, Carole Cohn, . Mickey Callinl, Leona Irwin, Meurisse Duree, Wanda Olson, Gene Reed, Pat Tribble, Jerry Jackson,. \yanda Harbour, Francine Savery; Nel- son Riddle Orch producer: Jack Denove Director: Robert Stevenson Writer: Larry Marcus 60 Mins., Sun. (17), 8 p.m. BANK OF AMERICA All California stations (film) The greatest captive audience in the history of television eaves- dropped on the Bank of Americans, love letter to the State of Cali- for ’ on the 50th anniversary of their courtship Sunday (17) night. Eavesdropped, or abandoned tele- vision in the hour-between 8 and 9 p.m. for the Bank's anniversary program* produced by .Jan Produc- tions, was ori every one pf the 27 television stations in the state of California.' It preempted the time of such Sunday stalwarts as Ed Sullivan’s "Toast of the Town” and '•’Colgate Comedy hour” in a burst of state chauvinism worthy of the sovereign state of Texas. As a love letter, "California” was ; In the proper, groove, ranging from the interesting to the informative to the sachharirte. Inevitably, how- ever, the Bank of America may find that its paean of praise to the Golden State has created some animosity; there are other motion picture, studios in California beside Warner Bros.-—although only the Burbank lot was mentioned and clips Were shown of the late Al Jolson in "The-‘Jazz Singer” and of Doris Day singing "Secret Love” from "Calamity Jane.” Along with these: clips was a plug for the current WB film, "A. Star Is Born.” And there are other television networks beside CBS (and they were all used last night.)) which received its plug via use of a film clip of last season’s Jack Benny prograi wherein he seeks a film role from Gregory Ratoff. Thomas Mitchell narrated the story as written by Larry Marcus, the yarn attempting to trace the state’s history from the earthquake and fire, when Ainadeo P. Gianqini expressed-his faith in the future of San Francisco by making loans to anyone who would, promise to stay on and rebuild the devastated city, to the present day. On the dra- matic side, Paul Kelly and Ruth Hussey skilfully portrayed a Nob Hill couple ruined by-the holocaust but ready to start again (bad scrip- ting brought an unexpected laugh here) and Anna Maria Alberghgtti made the first of two excellent appearances as the .; diva, Luisa Tetrazzini. In other dramatic bits,. James Gleason, John Carradine and Joy Lansing did a fine job of ortraying the early film days; onita Granville and James Craig were effective in limning farmer hardships before irrigation systems were completed; and Robert Strauss, Richard Jaeckel and James Edwards captured the post- world-war-two fever of. the GI’S who decided to settle here. Entertainment-wise, there were many lags in this one-shot film, apparently because producer Jack Denove and Marcus were staggered by the enormity of the task they attempted. Robert Stevenson’s di- rection was similarly erratic and David Lichine’s choreography, cleverly executed by Roy Fitzell, had a tendency to be too busy for telescreen viewing. Film ; reflects top work done by Ernest Fegte on the sets, Harold Sti on camera .and Nelson Riddle’s fine musical direction. Kap. OPERA CAMEos With Giovanni Martinelli, Host; Beverly Sills, John. Druary, Frank Valentino, others Producer: Carlo Vinti 30 Mins., Sun., 7:30 p.m. PROGRESSO QUALITY FOODS DuMont, from New York The Progresso Foods . opera troupe is back at. its old DuMont stand for the fifth season. This "Opera Cameos” series is undoubt- edly sure of its audience for it hasn’t changed its formula of scissoring the musical classics to fit into a 30-minute rufimng time (less time out for the Progresso' plugs, of course) or capsuling the libretto with English titles at the bottom of the screen. Series can’t do anything, about the digest pattern; which prohibits n the full flavor of the opera le chopped libretto ppny surely can be eliminated or at, least adjusted. As it stands now, the English titles are distracting to those who don’t need any help in understanding the opera and the lettering is, too small for those who need the English lingo crutch. In the show’s favor is the pleas- BEST OF BROADWAY (The Man Who Came to Dinner) With Monty’Woolley, Merle Oberon, Joan Rehnett, Reginald Gardi- ner, Bert Lahr, William Prince, Zasu Pitts, Buster /Keaton, Cath- erine Doucet, Margaret Hamil- ton, Howard SL John; music, David Broekinan Producer: Martin Manulis Director:. David Alexander Writers: Moss Hart, George S. Kaufman (adapted by Ronald Alexander) 60 Mins., Wed., 10 p.m, WESTINGHOUSE CBS.-TV> from N.Y. (color) ( McCdnn-Erickson) Monty Woolley, as the man who came to dinner and stayed to dis- may, denounce arid discommode his Buckeye hosts, et al., remarks shortly after the play gets under- way,' "I may vomit!” One knows pronto that, this is a vid that's not for a kid. As the Hart-Kaufman 15-yearrold smash begins to Uii- fold, one. also becomes acutely aware that the Woolleyrsparked badinage, tabasco and ripostes, even in the necessarily trimmed version* are much too fast for the cameras. . Granting some gorgequs moments when the 'playwriting duo’s original chefs-doeuvre came through with striking, impact, the sum total tele wise was an elon- gated vaudeville sketch (full stage or everi. "ini one”) with which Woolley & iCo. could have, slayed ’ein at the old Palace Sunday night arid beeri ari indef. holdover. If "The Man Who Canie to Di - rier” weren’t so basically, uproari- ous as theatre-work, the reasons for its tv pratfall could easily be pinpointed with legit a$ the start- ing point culprit. What happened may be an over simplification; those , who mastermind Westing- house’s every - fourth - Wednesday "Best of Broadway” series failed to acknowledge that nearly match- ing tv’s strongpoints are tv’s limita- tions. Live video bears only a faint resemblarice to the fabulous invalid operating under the pros- cenium arch, arid the magic lantern of Hollywood nativity is something else agai ■ So despite any rumors to the contrary, tv has its inherent- weak- enesses, but since these are funda- mental arid no particular secret to knowing practitioners, candor compels an observation that awe- someness vis-a-vis script and stars does not make a click. The boun- ties of money are insufficient in themselves to hit the target. What seems Obvious is that Westinghouse in this, its second try, has been bamboozled into taking the name- crazy route with minimum regard, as it developed, for the tastes and habits of the tv audience way out yonder in the unknown, and for the proper blueprint. But the fact is that the cinema-seasoned Merle Oberon and Joan Bennett; to name but two of the large cast, repre- sented inoney not well spent save ! perhaps (perhaps* that is) for bill- ing purposes, since they were riot equal to the crisp requirements of their roles unless, of course, they Were merely keyed to the demands of both direction and script. Simi- larly/* Buster Keaton’s character- ization, a meaty part in the stage and film editionSr was flat, coming l out as a series of telegraphed in- terruptions instead of picking up the playout as per the original in- tention. Woolley, as the wheelchair wit in alleged lampoon of the late Alex- ander Woolcott, is of course married to the part, one of the great ve- hicles for, an actor and from the top shelf of the Hart-Kaufman farce larder. "Dinner” would have been a shambles without him; with, him, everi under an almost complete absence of buildup in. es- tablishing characterization, it pro- vided some diverting moments— more perhaps, because here, at least, was tv. shedding some of its prime tabus than because of any special skill in the transplantation. There wasn’t enough of Bert Lahr to bring out the brash sex quali- ties of the Banjo (Harpo Marx) part, but the Beverly Carlton( pre- sumably a takeoff on Noel Cow- ard) of Reginald Gardiner and a couple of bits by Catherine Doucet stood out boldly, Rounding out okay berths were. Zasu Pitts, Wil- liam Prince and Howard St. John; According to. printed reports,, the color values were extra-special, with, incidentally, little or no in- trusion on the play. CBS has this, at least, for a consolation prize. Trent. ant. singing company producer | Carlo Vinti. casts for each stanza. ; Principals arid chorus are all top- flight lunghairs and deliver With vitality ahd verve. On opening show Sunday (17$, for example Verdi’s "La Traviata” (third act only) was given a rousing Workover by Bev- erly Sills, soprano; John Druary, tenor; and Frank Valentino, bari- tone. Cros, > BIG TOWN With Mark SteVeris, Trudy Wroe, John Doucette, Ellen Corby, others Producer: A. E. Sutherland Writer-Director: George Waggricr 30 Mins., Wed.; 10:30 p.m. LEVER BROS., A* C. SPARK PLUGS NBC-TV, from Hollywood (film) CD. P. Brosher, McCann-Erickson ) "Big Town” is on a subdued key now that Patrick MeVey has given way to Mark Stevens as Steve Wil-. son, managing, editor of the Illus- trated Press. Director-writer George Waggner has removed some of the improbabilities of newspaper life and simultaneously attempted more of a sleuthing touch., Stevens’ deadpan treatment of the lead role, , when caught: last week, was intended as hardboiled- ness. Rather it was a deadpan treatment of the lead Cole. To pro- vide the increased sense of reality in "Big Town,” for the first! time in the show’s audio or video his- tory Lorelei, the featured femme, stuck to the office like all good newspaperwomen. Trudy Wroe, blond arid attractive,.was the new siren who stuck to wisecracks and avoided. bold and dangerous lria- hueverings in the cause qf justice.: Miss Wroe, however, still seemed too young And insecure to be edi- torial success. Waggner forgot a plot in the latest chapter of the alternately sponsored Lever-A. C. Spark Plug vidpix skein. It was never clear how Stevens got tangled in track- ing down a band of arms smug- glers after a seeiriingly unattached murder had been committed. Any- way, he ran through a series of characters* including a worn old Woman whose son turned Commie, an FBI agent with a hook for a hand, a not-really-so-meari old publisher and a police lieutenant who even when smiling looked like a thug graduated to the police force, and yet came no closer to a solution than a bump on! the nog- gin. The FBI came up with the answer; all Stevens did was get in the way throughout. He managed a little cryptic philosophy'at the end of the story re the old lady ■ and her Commie progeny, but as with the mystery, he had no solu- tion. "Big Town” enhanced the low- key delivery With a familiar" musi- cal background. Leaning on the now-famous da-dee-dum-dum this pic had a reverberating kettle drum to hold the exciternent. Photography was very clear arid the lenser, whoever he was, bor- rowed On the also familiar trick of quick - changing close-up shots when two characters conversed. I Art. ADVENTURES OF RIN-TIN-TIN With Lee Aaker, James Brown, Joe Sawyer, William Forrest, Rod Redwing*, Rand Brooks, John Hoyt Producer: Herbert Leonard Director: Robert Walker Writer: Douglas Heyes 30 Mins., Fri„ 7:30 p.m. NATIONAL BISCUIT CO. (film) ABC-TV, from Hollywood . (Kenyon & Eckhardt) This Screen Gems' production, for National Biscuit Co. did little in its initial telecast (15) to raise jiive programming levels. The na- ture of'this old and woolly west ! formula is an Immediate bar to anything but a layout Of violence, and with video's critic$ on an anti- violence kick it’s a wonder the producers didn’t try to do some- thing else, It’s remembered when Rin-Tin-Ti was once; acceptable for showing in grade schools. The, "wonder, dog” and his: young blaster, with Lee Aaker in the role, were found by a U. S. Cavalry troop after an Indian raid on a wagon train, it’s revealed. But the story actually begiris when a soldier is attacked by Apaches only a few feet from the Army post. He's saved by Ri , arid de- livers a message that the spit-and- pollsh Colonel is coming to in- spect. For fear the boy and the dog will be banished from the in- stallation, they are ordered to hide. The two, along with the tough, dumb, but affectionate sergeant, who’s played by joe Sawyer, dis- cover Indian plot and save the Colonel. As a reward, the boy is made an honorary soldier and so is-the dog, so that their further presence on the post will not be coritrary to regulations. | The filmed stanza has few re- deeming aspects. Aaker* about 10 or 11 years old, is precocious in | the part of a bright and brave young orphan. He’s not helped much by the direction, which gives him a number of unnatural attitudes to. hold and situations to overcome. The dog does nothing exceptional either, . except look faithful at proper times, tear at , an Indian's throat and run dozens I (Continued on page 30) i : Tele Follow-Up Comment ■! M l I M I MMM * M II M *> The Friars, one of the older the- atrical . organizations, took a turn on the Sunday night (17) Colgate Show on NBC-TV, which capital- ized on a wealth of memories stored up by the group. Some of the club’s membership roster were utilized. and : there were a -couple of femmes put'in for Visual in- terest. The program had its moments* even though nostalgia is no longer the boff it. used to be in the earlier days of video When the past )Vas relived on most of the important variety shows. There jwas a good amount of name value*with Milton Berle topping the proceedings; Others on the screen. included Smith & Dale* Mitzi Green! JariiS Paige, Georgie Price, and Joel Grey. There was enough talent on the show to make for fine variety. Format selected for the presen- tation was an imaginary Friars Frolic, Which provided an excuse for the femmes, to be present. It was unfortunate that* Berle con- tributed material that was so old. His major effort; aside from con- ferenciering (done with taste and dignity). Was devoted to a mono- log, backbone of* which was ‘She’s so ugly—’ jokes. He also took time out tb poke fun of the audience for riot: laughing and to show his technical knowledge of_the medi- um by asking the cameras to move in closer. This is from another era, but unfortunately, it hasn’t enough tradition behind it to be nostalgic. Joel Grey, although too young to have first-hand knowledge, of the guys he sings about, provided some good entertainment. With a tube theriied around a straw hat, he limned some past greats of the theatrical world. . Smith & Dale’s classic “Dr. Kronkhite”: sketch Was th strongest comedy bit on the session. This durable oldtimer has a lot of laughs no matter how many times heard. The femme contingent did well. Janis Paige with "Funny Valen- tine” dnd "Mari Who Got Away” got. herself a fair amount of ac- claim. Mitzi Green however, hit a jackpot, with her delineation of the. woes of a Brooklyn girl return- ing from a cruise. She also pro- vided a gliiripse into the past with he? impression of Fannie Brice. , The finale, devoted to the Friars upstairs, had bits by Georgie Price on Al Jolson; Beau Jenkins on Bill Robinson, and Marilyn Ross as Helen Morgan. Just how the femme parts fit in is hard to un- derstand on this . sequence sineb the Friars is an all-male organiza- tion. Arthur Knorr’s smooth produc- tion did much to make a good pat- tern of the patchwork. Al Good- man showbacked nicely, arid Edith Barstow punctuated the .show: with some good choreography. Jose . Stock a. show with stars of mar- quee magnitude, give them a script with the howling Velocity of a Hazel and you have a miniature copy of a spectacular. Jack Benny made this facetious reference to his bi-weekly outing for Luckies on CBS-TV, but the millions arourid the sets must have taken him at his word. It was spectacular in its conception and playoff, .a rousing half-hour of punch-packed antics that will challenge his best to come in the months ahead. The device for integrating off/beat tal- ents of Hollywood’s high ’ii’ mighty was absurdly ingenious, that of having, each play an instrument in a jam session at Benny’s home. Tony Martin blew clarinet; Fred MacMurray fondled a saxophone; Dick Powell scorched a trumpet; Dan Dailey whacked away at drums;, Kirk Douglas plucked a banjo, and guest conductor, be- cause it was at his house, was the fiddler front Waukegan. The caco- phony that issued from diverse in- struments was made more chaotic by interpolations of Douglas, who knew only "Bye Bye Blues.” The rest played "Basin Street Blues” but Douglas finally won out arid they all went “Bye Bye” in the finale. Few shows this season will run up as many; laughs to convulse the sitters. It was tv’s high comedy spot for the season and the byplay between Benny and the, bandmen was as sock as the jamming. He called them the lousiest musicians he . ever heard and for wrap-up held a $5 bill over the head of each with audience applause to deter- mine'the winner. Benny pocketed the fin. The writers gave Benny, Rochester and guest musiekers plenty else to keep the howls neaped high. Benny’s opening monolog bris- tled with sharp-witted comment on what critics had to say about his first show, and those who came- calling found slot machines con- cealed for Coke, apples, peanuts, cigarets and weighing. Don Wilson still pouted but finally agreed to do Mr. B’S Luckies commercial While skipping a rope. All due credit to producer Hilliard Marks, director Ralph Levy and writing staff of Sam Perrin, ; George Balzer, Milt Josefsberg arid John Tacka- berry. Helm, Ed Sullivan evidently, has a soft spot for Liberace arid gave him just about half of his. "Toast of the Town” stanza on CBS-TV Sunday night (17). That Liberace is a show biz pheriom is a cliche by now, but he doesn’t add up to a performer .who can carry a variety show, es- pecially when he spends about 10 minutes giving very folksy introes to the sidemen in his touring or- chestra, under his brother George Liberace’s baton, Otherwise, it was a firstrate ses- sion. marked by a topndteh film clip of a Sullivan interview: with Bing Crosby on the Coast. The Crosby bit was a plug for the Par- amount pic "White. Christmas” (which, incidentally, has been; get- ting a hefty slice- of cuffo time both radio and tv via Irving Berlin’s current pic and songplugging ac- tivities); but the Groaner was in his/niftiest form as a casual per- sonality and his relaxed way be- fore the cameras belied the ex- istence of what must have been , an arniy of Paramount technicians to make this ultra-professional look- ing "home movie” sequence. SuL livan opened with, a few remarks and Crosby carried the ball from that point onwards, chatting ami- ably, arid .delivering snatches of Berlin tunes Without accompani- ment except for one number, "Gee, I Wish I Was Back In The Army. It was a tip-top trailer. j Impressionist. Will Jordan and comic Orson Bean provided two more highlights for the show. Jordan again scored tremendous boffs with his . takeoff ; of Sullivan, a carbonic and almost carbolic tour de force, in it$ perfect mimicry of the show’s emcee. He did the same bit a couple of months ago on this show. Jordan’s takeoff on . Liber- ace, while good, did not have the same pointednesS. Following Jor- dan, Bean also registered'with his clever routine as the upstage an- nouncer of the Yale-Harvard foot- ball classic. Liberace, who closed the show with’ his "Rhapsody By Candle- light,” also was in the opening turn Via a rather iorig and bela- bored routine with Hal LeRoy and | “Peg Leg” Bates. The latter two contributed some fancy hoofing while Liberace. supplied the com- edy relief with home hokey chal- lenge terping vis-a-vis LeRoy and Bates. No question but that Liber- ace endeared himself to his fans with this type of clowning. Herm. Martha Raye, unlike the self- conscious Sid Caesar of a couple of "Person to Person” shows ago, was one comedienne who knew how to relax when out-of-character. She evidenced a surprisingly new side in her home life; her penchant for languages, deep-sea fishing, her at- tachment for her own daughter and the cute little colored daugh- ter Of her housekeeper at the Con- necticut estate they now occupy, Her predilection for clowns, arid a secret yen to do a semi-serious plriy about the clown folk, was also disclosed. Incidentally, whether by design or accident, the Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Mohammed Ali, hit a pub- lic relations jackpot not usually the destiny of international politi- cians. Ed Murrow’s closeup on the affable, good-humored yet author- itative Prime Miriister from the only Oriental nation which i geographically both .in the Middle East and Far East, undoubtedly gave the "Sundry press reports of Mohammed Ali’s weekend activities new values. His penchant for fancy headgear—he flashed a full Indian chieftain’s regalia, a cow- boy skimmer and the mortar-board he Word at the Columbia Univer- sity ceremonies earlier that Friday, when he received an honorary de- | gree—was a humanizing touch. And the Pakistanian PM’s powwow with the President in Washington the next day, and the likelihood we would accord his nation lend-lease financial aid, was a tribute to his personal charm. All of it, however, could never have been projected sans the magic of the CBS-TV pickup. Incidentally, both Murrow I and Miss Raye saluted the CBS technical crew for getting the Con- necticut pickup on the air, because of the Hazel holocaust that had cut telephone lines etc. in Connecticut. 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