Variety (November 1954)

28 TELEVISION REVIEWS VAnibrY Wednesday, November 3, 1954 DISNEYLAND. With Walt Disney, Ben Sharpsteen, Norman Foster, Fess Barker, Ward Kimball, others; music, (George Bruns Exec Producer: Disney Producer-Writer: Bill Walsh Directors: Robert Florey, Wilfred Jacksbri 60 Mins.; Wed., 7:30 p.m. AMERICAN MOTORS; DERBY FOODS, AMERICAN DAIRY ASSN, (alts.) . ABC-TV, from New York ' ( Geyer; McCann-Erickson, Campbell-Mithun) ABC unveiled its Sunday punch In its revitalized programmi g. schedule, for the fall with the. re- iniere of ‘'Disneyland.” There’s little question that Walt Disney, on the basis of past film biz experi- ence and from the way me of the Dispey cartoons showed up on the home screens,: will prove .a- dominant figure ' this season’s televisi icture. That he’s caught the elements of rsal appeal. i$ simply to re- state the obvious-for-20-years, but the. point is that Disney is just :as riling on television, as it is in the theatres. From tli mpetitive.;, int of ,. he’ll unquestionably push ABC into the top 10 of all. and sundry rating-services' for the first time years, and furthermore provide for the network, what it’s lacked for so long-—an a.ttentio;;- getter that will establish an iden- tity in :th : e minds of the public. From this point, ori, it will natural- ly follow that other of the '.eb’s strong programs’like Danny Thom-:, as and the U. "S.. Steel dramatics will find their places in the Niel- :Wednesday night competi- tion is du for a licking, with one of the rating battles of the year shaping lip.in Disney v. Godfrey. With all these factors,! mind; It’s a little strange that ABC and Disney should-have Come u with a first §h w that served more as a trailer for the series than anything else. One would think that with the tremendous advance buildup the web has given, the show, it would have put its best ,1'obt for- ward with a socko presentation of the Disney talents, at their great- est. But instead, a disappointing first half was .completely • devoted to previewing the varied elements of shOws-to-come, and it wasn’t, till 8 o’clock that the program really began to move with a history;, of Mickey Mouse. From that time on. it was de- lightful, from the first Mickey Car- toon. (in -which he musses up hts hairdo look like Charles Lindberg) •through the introduction of other characters in the persons of Pliito, Donald DuCk and Goofy,: with the topper the completely captivating “Sorcerer’s Apprentice’’ ’ segment of “Fantasia.” - But that first hqjf,' With an introduction of the in-the- w.orks Disneyland park, along with scenes' from upcoming “Adventiirc- lancl,” “Frontierland,” “Tomorrow- land” and “Fantasy Land” seg- ments, was pretty much wasted.. However, it appears that from here on in. it’s going to be. solid enter- tai ment. with “Alice in Wonder- land” pencilled in for tonight (Wed.), Disney films, incidentally, are all being done in color, and more’s llie pity that ABC doesn’t have color transmitting facilities. Even; though tint circulation is so lim- ited right now,, it’s regrettable the web couldn’t take advantage of the opportunity it afforded. At the same time, to be congratulated on. having snared, the show to begin with, not only because -Disney ‘ a surefire bet, but because, NBC and CBS would have given their eye- teeth for the, use of “Disneyland” to promote color set, sa!e s s alone.; Apparently, Disney is all. set to use some of. his older, theatrical properties oh,the.■show., as well .as producing now programs-: in the four categories. A five-ni.i ute pro- view. of “Alice” Showed it to be the . bid theatrical version for the most part, and of course tile Mickey Mouse segments were origir rial I y theatrical releases. But it’s virtually impossible to prepare an hour of animation each week, and even the 30 film crews, out shoot- in “Adventureland” can’t fill that hour-a-week bill; From the physi- cal production standpoint, inclu- sion of theatrical releases is a necessity, and from the viewing standpoint, it’s a pleasure to see the oldies .again. Incidentally/ the Disney organization is doing some ©f the commercials, arid they were topflight, especially the one for Peter Pan (natch) Peanut Rutter, Chan. SHOWER OF STARS (Lend An Ear) With Edgar Bergen & Charlie Mc- Carthy, Gene Nelson, Sheree North, Beverly. Tyler, others; Mario. Lanza, special guestar; Lud Gluskin, music eonductor; William - Lundigan, emcee-an- nouncer Producer: Nat Perrin Director: Seymour Berns Choreographer: Miriqm Nelson 60 Mins., Thurs., 8:30 p.m. CHRYSLER CORP. CBS-TV, from H’wood (Color) (McCann-Erickson) In a furtherance of the going- back-tortbe-files epidemic, Chrys- ler’s every-fburth-Thursday “Show- er of. Stars” took ori the job last week (28) of distilling “Lend An Ear,” a Broadway entry of six sea- sons ago. It was a kind of double bill, however; in a deliberately dis- connected :"extra added” spotting of Mario Lanza, back in the con- troversial slot to show that "L’Af- faire, Wax Museum,” with his vintage pre-recording chanteuring that precipitated.“Operation Raised Eyebrow” around the country early this month, was Strictly distasteful history. For Lanza .the Lip/ -other-- wise—known as . the disembodied voice, is as ’nothing compared to Lanza-in-the-Uve, About midway of the musical, you just had to lend both ears and eyes to Lanza the singer and Lanza the personality, a bit reduced in poundage but still capable, of shattering a picture tube or two. First, Lanza launched into an aria from Puccini’s' “Tosca” to demonstrate, under careful han- dling by Giacomo Spadoni, his per- sonal conductor, that the. tenor of his. ways are, whammo iri the grand opera department. And for his. second and windup try he ; belted out the lovely “Some Day” from “Vagabond King”—perhaps with less lift at the. finish than the “pop- ular” orthodox book calls for, but then again, might be a matter of personal styling, In total, and while not trying his f-ull energies, a re- sounding Lanza “comeback.” Although the Peck’s Bad Boy of the singing fraternity Was the No. 1 news,-there was a show attached —an innocuous sort of tabloided extravaganza that rode through steadily and here and there spirit-:'; edly without assaulting the eyes, or ears. It proved a special, romp, foi\ Sheree North, the girl who is all-girl, though perhaps more as another shpwcaser for her shake - and - shimmy, bump - and - grind piece-de-irresistible than in proof positive of her hoofing po- tential.. Still, with those uft.dulating. tactics, and her prime' physical en- dowments, who could ask for thing more? Miss North’s near souther ex-, posure Was Complemented by the long established gams of Gene Nel- son, with whom she .disported in a couple of actioner numbers, no- tably the frCe wheeling “Neurotic You and Psychopathic Me”, athlet- icism which rnight pass for a poor man’s “Lady in the- Dark” edition, though agreeable in the clearly de- fined lyric. Shifting in and owl of the hour was Edgar Bergen with his Charlie McCarthy in their usual rapidfire exchanges with the master as th' butt. Miss North paired with the alter ego in ciuickies that took off ori films in U. S,-Brit.-Gallic . styles. Preceding the Lanza brace of songs was Nelson’s big sequence ,<he was. in the original “Ear,” the show that brought him out), the “Friday Dancing Class” period piece, complete with a couple of dozen singers and dancers in a click Nelson centerpiece that showed off liis legmariia library; Cut in after Lanza Was an effective .skit-with-music plugging, the spon- sor's “Forward Look” theme, but the, Bergcn-Effie Klinker lampoon ■Qri: “Dancing. Class” seemed like an extraneous postscript and some of the saucy lines were, question- able, (Apparently it makes a tech- nical difference if the sexology emanates from a dummy.) a couple of planned., numbers were dropped, apparently in favor of extending spine of; the other sequences, but the finale stood as skedded in. what purported, .to be a clipped version of r it sez herb, “the sparkling in - sical hit of 1925, ‘The Gladiolus Girl . ' In the ’48 “Lend An Ear” this served as the first-act finale, but was deemed strong enough as a ■closer for the. televcrslon. There js no record, incidentally, of Gladiola Girl” (note- different spelling usage) on a Broadway run, although in a review of the open- ing Variety noted that the number was drafted from a roadshow mu- smal. It should have stayed there, for tv gave it- a labored hreller treatment of the “East Lynne” per- suasion, heavy on “look at me” mockery, anachronistic in the flapper approach and offering a splendiferous example of offish voice dubbing, particularly in the THE MARCH OF MEDICINE With Ben Grauer, Merrill Mueller, narrators Producer: Doris Ann . Director: Charles Christensen Writer: Lou Hazam 30 Mins.; Sun., 5:30. p.m. SMITH, KLINE & FRENCH LABS NBC-TV, from N.Y. Launching its third year on video, “March of Medicine” is an. adult series dealing with various developments in arid problems of the medical profession. Although this theme could be dramatized into some form of sensationalism, tile conservative auspices under which this series is being pre- sented and the straight documen- tary’ format precludes anything but a; straight factual approach. This fall’s preem show (31), which focussed on the delicate subject of irisanityi was typical of this show’s approach. With Ben Grauer and Merrill Mueller as nar- rators,, the stanza gave a rundown on how patients were treated at the Hudson River State. Hospital in Pbugheepsie, , N. Y. It was a big and complex subject and this show could . do little more than skim over the various forms.Of therapy employed at the hospital. A few other brief sequences were made in N.Y. Psychiatric. Institute where some of. the researchers were shown at work. The show had the laudable aim of trying to educate the public into, accepting mental illness on the same footing with, other diseases. This was stressed repeatedly by both. Grauer arid Mueller.. The preem stanza, however, attempted to cover so much ground that the impact was thin, Also,-the fact that the cameras deliberately; avoided the faces of the mental patients and concentrated almost exclusively on the institutional aspects of the problem, did not help ill humanizing the question. Grauef’s closing interview with a. former patient, now completely cured, was the most effective bit. in the halfrhour. . There were, no direct commer- cial plugs for the products “of Smith, Kline & French which pre-. sents this show in cooperation with the American Medical Assn. Heriji. WELCOME TRAVELERS With Tommy Bartlett, Bob Con- ningham Producer: James Colligan. Director: Lewis Gomovitz Writer: Frank Barton 30 Mins.; Mon.^thru-Fri., 12:30 p.m. PROCTER & GAMBLE CBS-TV, frqm Chicago (Dancer •■Fitzgerald & Sample) • A former radio interview show, “Welcome Travelers” has under- gone many changes during the course of its two-year tv scamper. The radio version for Procter & Gamble a longtime, morning NBC anchor, was dropped last, fall after, the /tele. show, was switched from NBC to Columbia last July. But .the most significant transforma- tion Jin terms of viewer appeal, has been the- Switch from the light- hearted approach of the early days to the straight sob sto.ry treat- ment. That there’s -an audience for daytime, weepers the P&G re- searchers probably .know better than anyone and they’re certainly getting their money’s worth of hearts and flowers here. Tommy Bartlett, assisted by Bob Cunningham, continues as head- man on the interviews besides dor ing some personal selling for the various soap products. Duo, with the aid of a couple of Telepromp- ters, has the soul searching, tech- nique down pat and on the stanza caught (27) extracted the last full measure of emotion from the sub- jects on deck. Guests are obviously picked be- cause of their happy recovery'from a bout of bad luck, with the tough breaks spelled out in much detail. First interviewee, 60-year-old widow, described h6\y she. was left with a $4,000 hospital Mil when her husband died. > Another told how she recovered' from a nervous breakdown when .her only' daugh- ter revealed her approaching mar-, ri’age. The third, a young mar- ried couple/ outlined how they took, .over th rearing of seven .brothers, 'and sisters of the bride when 'her mother was killed and the father injured in a car crash. AH were awarded an armful of boodle: for their time and troubles. Dave. Beverly Tyler title role. Nelson, Miss North and Bergen were okay in their spots, however, and the choreography, as elsewhere in the show, provided some engaging mfc inents. As a black-and-white stanza, the tones were mostly gray, arid gen- erally dull, thus operating as an assassin on the 31,000,000 teleset .potential. Judged as a tinter it proved anew that the West has yet to catch up with the East in delivering prismatic tones at their best. Trait* NBC OPERA THEATRE (The Abduction, from ilie Seraglio) With Nadja Witkowska, Virginia Haskins; Davis Cunningham, David Lloyd, Leon Lishner, Nor- man Rose, John. Fleming, Mar- garet Types, Lucretia West, John N. Johnson, Charles Benjamin, Dotts Johnson, Clark Morgan, James E. Wall, John Philip Cobb and William Monroe Producer: Samuel Chotzlnoff Conductor and artistic director: Peter Herman Adler Director: Kirk BroVning Scenic and Costume Designer: Rouben Ter-Arutunian 90 Mins.; Sun. (31), 3 p.m. NBC-TV, from NeW York To start this, the sixth season of the NBC Opera Theatre, producer Samuei Chotzlnoff and musical and artistic director Peter Herman Adler last., week chose Mozart’s light arid wholly, delightful “The Abduction from the Seraglio.” It was a most auspicious beginning for the series and the work came; across with all the . charm arid humor inherent in it. The fact that it was also telecast in color gave the. Occasion another touch of dis- tinction for-overall.it was a stun-:, riing achievement, /For the black-and-white viewers, who are the ones that count, “Abduction” must have shaped as an hour-and-a-half of superb tv entertainment. Intelligently staged, properly balanced and beautifully sung by a cast that also managed to look right for their parts, NBC last Sunday did full 1 justice to Mozart arid deserves a vote of. thanks from that sector of the audience which is prone to com- plain of the mediocrity in tv pro- gramming, With some very minor .excep- tions, there was nothing lacking in any of the departments. Settings and costumes by Rouben Ter- Arutunian were .attractive, and pleasing, to the eye and they also allowed for a camera continuity that brought the whole thing into Sharp focus without any abrupt cutting froirn scene to scene. Musically, Adler, who. also con- ducted, did a remarkable job and succeeded admirably in the diffi- cult task of integrating the stage presentation to the. requirements of tv. He is a man of’ taste who knows when to. compromise on. artistic values and when the subject de- mands absolute integrity. The “Abduction” he presented Sunday was virtually flawless in its -concep- tion and avoided many , of the ob- vious pitfalls.- The singers, did themselves proud. Nadja Witkowska in the part of Gonstanza had ■dignity and delivered her difficult arias with beauty and-feeling.. Virginia Has- kins as Biorida, the English maid imprisoned with her mistress in the Sultan’s harem, sang her role with skill and spirit. Davis C.unr hingham. as Belmonte, Constanza’s. betrothed Who attempts to rescue her, has a rich, full, tenor Voice that was pleasing throughout, par- ticularly in his first aria which is full of. technical difficulties. As Pedrillo. the servant in love with B Ion da, David Lloyd displayed a fine tenon voice, and a real acting ability to go with it; Leon Lishner sang Osmiri. the Pasha’s general factotum, with spirit. He was par- ticularly excellent in his final aria when he expressed his delight as he envisioned the lovers swinging from the gallows. Norman Rose enacted the non-singing role of. the Pasha with becoming melancholy dignity. All of the NBC Opera presenta T tions are sung in English, which i's/| a fine idea and should win’ opera many new friends. Occasionally, this results in lines like “You’ll be Swinging ...when the hangman strings you up,” blit this no. one should mind. “Abduction” was. an added corivincer that opera in Eng-, lish is an [absolute ‘‘must” on tv and; that the work loses nothing via the translation.. While “Abduction” on the stage presents Certain, difficulties as Characters have to wait around while someone else sings their aria; the tv version was in a Way; : fortu- nate both via the judicious'pruning done by. Adler and the camera work of director Kirk Browning. A good example was the long scene between the PaslVa, and Coristanza. With Rose’s head iri closeup in the foreground, the camera -focused primarily on Miss- Witkowska. Musically; the scene was perfect. Visually, the angle exciting and different. Browning hit a happy medium in arranging his shots so. as not to let them interfere with the musical enjoyment of the opera. Yet he did introduce various snots that helped pace -the proceedings and contrib- uted to the dramatic qualities of the play, such as they are. Chatzi- noff and his crew proved last Sun- day that opera on tv can be as satisfying , as anything put - on.' a stage, and possibly even better. Their “Abduction” as a true Turkish delight. Hijt. WAYNE Sc SHUSTER SHOW With Arnold Stang, guest; Terry Dale, Dick MacDougal, Alex Mc- Kee, Irving Lerner, Marilyn Kent, George Elliott dancers. Bill Brady singers, Samuel Her- senhoren Orch Producer-Director; Drey Grossaii Writers: Wayne & Shuster 30 Mins.; Fri. 7:30 p.iri. CHRISTIE’S BISCUITS CBC, from Toronto ( McLaren) After , three years on radio with their current biscuit., sponsors, Wayne & Shuster have finally gone teevee, though putting it off for that length of time because of re-, luctance. With the lack 6f comedy existent Canadian . teevee, they/ve made a wise decision^ judg- ing front teeoff. Team has been on the radio for 12 years and it’s, been the usual case of^take-em^or-leave- em; you. like them or you twirl the dial. Via Visual, the two turn but to be amusing, comics. They’ll be on once a month for eight nibriths for Christie’s, iri addition/ to their weekly radio appearances./ for 26 weeks for the same sponsor, this on 27 • trans-Canada stations. On the CBC television, network, you can put down Wayne & Shus- ter as Canada’s favorite native comedy team on majority poll but the minority also highly vociferous. * TV debut of Wayne & Shuster has lots of / production values; they write „their own fnaterial and the sponsors’ prirse strings seem loose on surrounding buildup. For. guester on teeoff, they had Arnold String, the badgering stagehand of the Milton Berle Show, but the two Dominion comics can carry their own : weight without additional name-draw. : They’re over big on their own-written songs rind dia- log; and, after their lusty entrance in a convertible, are tops in com- edy in their takeoff of Liberaee and brother George; their dress- ing-room clowning with Stang; a satire on tv commercials, with Wayne & Shuster as. dancing bis- cuit boxes; these all included as the life-story of the comedy team, since their Army Show days iri ’45. Whole half-hour comedy riot is ably backed by . Sammy Hersen- horen’s 18-man orch; the choreog- raphy of Frank Westbrook’s eight mixed dancers for modernistic bal- let; the Bill Brady "choral group (three girls, five boys) and the solo work of Terry Dale and Marilyn Kent; with Nikolai Soloviov hefty on decor. Luts of verve and vital- ity in this hew medium* debut for Wayne & Shuster, with both lads Over to top returns., McSiay, THE PAUL GIEL SHOW With Paul Giel, Jack Horner, others i> Producer: Ken Barry Director: Dick Larson 30 Mins.: Sum, 1 p.m. KAISER-WILLYS AUTQ KSTP, Minneapolis In signing Paul Giel to an ex- clusive in-between-baseball-seasons contract, KSTP undoubtedly scored a 10-strike. That seems ob- vious because the young man is One of the U. of Minnesota’s all- time football and baseball greats, has a tremendous, following Uf wor- shippers and admirers, has been m'tich in the publicity limelight i the past four years and talks au- thoritatively on the pigskin sport. Belling his four shows, two of them on tv. must have been as easy as the Giants’ World Series’ sweep. And his sponsors are probably as lucky as the station. Giel was a unanimous All-Amer- ican football choice last season rind has been with the N.Y, Giants baseball team as a $65,o6o bonus twirler; On tv lie proves ex- tremely personable and good look- ing in a wholesome, boyish way. Arid he demonstrates faultless camera presence and an effective speaking voice, and displays a tal- ent for expressing himself easily and well sans script. ; In this; show, preceding the tele- casts., of the; professional football game of the day, Giel and Jack Hotner, KSTP spurts director, dis- cuss the Minnesota football, game of the day before and the upcoming pro contest, arid what they and their guests, who join them in the roundtable gabbing, haye to say carries weight.- Guests included Sid Hartman, Minneapolis Morning Tribune sports columnist, and Billy Mur- phy, assistant Minnesota football coach. There also were brief film clips of the preceding day’s Min- nesota-Illiruris clash to diversify the program which, . thus, was more than a mere gabfest. The halfdiouiv Giel “Follow Up"' show after the pro game also is de- voted to football discussion. So are his radio shows. And for this sort of airwave fare there’s a tre-, mendous fall audience in. these parts. Raes.