Variety (November 1954)

26 RADIO REVIEWS THE EDITOR’S DESK With Nathan Straus, Leon Gold- stein Producer-Director: Goldstein. 15 Mins.; FrL, 9:30 p.ip, Sustaining wmca n. y. Although the Federal Commu- nications Commission has okayed the right of station managements to. broadcast their views on con- troversial subjects, that privilege Is apparently still a highly danger- ous limb to go out on. Frank Stan- ton, CBS prexy, did a one-shot editorial recently in . behalf of . video coverage of the. Watkins Sen- ate Committee hearings On the censure motion against Sen,. Mc- Carthy. That was the sum total of broadcast editorial opinion up un-. til last Friday (19) when WMCA launched its. weekly series. "The Editor's. Desk,” which will give sta- tion owner Nathan Straus a chance to express his views on issues of the day. The conception and; launching of this series took considerable moxie since editorial opinion, on any side of virtually any topic, is certain to stir disagreement, and perhaps dis- taste, among one sector of the listening audience. That however, is. the point of- the show since it’s dedicated to the idea of stimulat- ing community thinking on. public issues. Perhaps even more laudable than the idea of a regular editorial stanza was Straus’ choice 6f edi- torial subject on the preem. He could have played it safe by com- ing out for . clean subways or against juvenile delinquency. That would have been a. bore, but no- body would have been irritated. Instead, however, Straus plunged directly into probably the most divisive subject in the U. S. today —the problem of the national ad- ministration’s lOyalty-sfecUrity pro- grain, Straus was not happy about the situation and he said so in sober, moderate, but unmistakable terms. He sharply criticized the loose cri- teria used to designate subversives and raised the fundamental point that bureaucratic dismissals of sus- pected disloyal. Government em- ployees violated the basic guaran- tees of due process and ;lhe right of appeal, Straus called for a thoroughgoing review of the mat- ter. Editorial Opinion on the air. Can be a double-edged sword. What a reasonable station owner can do, an extremist owner can do also. WMCA officials are evidently, aware of this danger and are pre- pared to air contrary opinions from listener’s letters in subser quent weeks. Also on the preem stanza, there was a roundup of editorial opinion from the N. Y. daily newspapers. This could have been an effective way of giving pro arid con opinion side by side with the Straus views, but the editorial excerpts were on an entirely different subject. This split, the show’s focuS, but it’s a fault that can easily be corrected. Leon Goldstein, WMCA program, chief who has* been instrumental in giving the station an intelligent, public-minded attitude for the past 20 years, handled the show’s, pre- amble capably and cued the read- ing from the dallies’ editorials by the various staff announcers. Herm. MacLeish on State Of American Radio: ‘The Bloom Is Off the Peach’ By ROBERT J. LANDRY Warren Bower : (asst, dean of NYU’s. General Education Divi- sion) brought Out some interesting comments on radio itself in his in- terview last week over WNYC, N.Y. (Tuesday, 9:30-9:55) with. Archibald MacLeish. Immediate occasion was a review of Mac- Leish’s iievv book of poems, “Songs For Eve,” just published by .Hough- ton Mifflin, but the talk* turned tb Verse dram fbr the air. Back in 1937 MacLeish’s "Fall of the City" was a sensation when produced by the late Irving Reis on the Colum- bia Workshop. The following year another MacLeish verge drama, ‘•Air Raid” was done by CBS. "What now?” Dean Bower asked and Prof. MacLeish (Harvard) an- swered. Today the American radio broadcasters are tired, bored and economically insecure. They . are married to an alternation of phon- ograph records and commercial plugs. Neither CBS nor any other organization on this side of the pond now has any interest what- ever in ..MacLeish’s work, or in verse drama. His recent “Trojan Horse” was given a 100% chill here but has been produced and repeated by the British Broadcasts ing Corp. MacLeish waxed lyrical about (Continued on page 34) BING CROSBY SHOW With. Buddy Cole Trio; announcer, Ken Carpenter Producers: Bill Morrow, \Murdo MacKenzie Director: MacKenzie Writer: Morrow 15 Mins,, Mon.-thru-Fri., 9:15 p.m. CBS, from H’wood- The Way they used to tell it, the sun never set on the British Em- pire; Der Bingle still retains an empire of sorts, (money aside), what with resurrection, of those platters far arid wide op the kilo- cycle horizons. It’s been more than a score of years now since Crosby started groanin’ low and high on CBS from.the top and bot- tom of the Decca; either way, he took command,. setting pace and records that figure to stand for- ever or, if not, to be enshrined in a special vault along with the anti- que statistics of a sports firma- ment he loves so well. He chalked up so many "firsts” that it’s be- come a cliche to call the roll. So now Bing Crosby is on a. CBS Radio eross-the-board quarter in the fractional 9:15 p.m. time that listeners are bound to find. He is now the elder statesman- singer, the doyen of his bracket, and as great a radio personality as ever. Continuing parallel are his leading corpsmen and friends— Bill Morrow ahd Murdo MacKerir zie bringing the show in, with Mac- kenzie also directing and fisher- man pal Morrbw ; doubling as writer—in a format that is both typically Crosby; and a bit be- yond the conventions. Bing is an exponent of the sing, but his talk is true, ah incredible combination that’s he’s made all his own over the years, whether on an -hour's kick or in tidbits of thisa or thata. Monday’s (22) opener seemed less than 15 mi utes; but even twice that much would still seem fleeting. It’s the one sure riiear sure of his standing as a per- former, and /CBS program veep Lester Gottlieb must have had to talk even faster and more engag- ingly to sell Crosby this daily deal.. After all, how much of the coin can he keep? More at stake, per- haps, was steady identification and prestige, with mebbe a bone thrown to Columbia to have it re- tai its strong competitive hold on nighttime programming, the best in the biz. Crosby said it right in the intro: not too hokey, won’t yock it up, will pitch encomiums, etc, But the songs are not mere postscripts, such as "This Old House!’ to the Buddy Cole Trio’s pianola stuff ola and revved up beat; a "Hey There” out of "Pajama Game” with its quiet, authoritative and almost new interpretation, plussed by the Cole group’s counterpoint; segue- ing. brightly into "But Not For Me.” And in between, the talk; it’s never small talk with the Ta- coma lad. Went from grid to golf to Georgia and a -hatchick, all at- tuned to the Morrow bag of con- versational tricks, with Crosby never varying from the vehicle status, so that It comes out with the pure Crosby imprint, with the light touch given to human inter- est quickies that seemed in the orthodox commentator’s groove, inspiration built in to boot, and may well have been designed to make the chirpings subordinate to the : informal analyst. Crosby’s snappers come off so easily, you begin to expect them. There will be guests—lots of them —but the preemer didn’t have ’em. The precious minutes were needed to set the stage and Crosby would rather be dead than not give a drop-in the full due. If “Amos ’n’ Andy Music Hall” doesn’t get its inheritance from Crosby and Crosby himself .doesn’t rate a rating, radio is indeed on the way to you know where. Train. CBS’ "Hallmark Hall' of Fame" paid tribute to the late Lionel Barrymore last Sunday (21). The actor, who died Nov, 15, at the age of 7:6; had hosted that program since September 1952. As a me- morial to Barrymore, the sched- uled Hallmark show was cancelled and a special program honoring the vet thesper Was substituted. Program included some, interest- ing anecdqt.es and personal com- ments relating to Barrymore. Sev- eral name actors, took part in the salute. Among those who partici- pated were Edward Arhold, Helen Hayes, Jimmy Stewart and Bing Crosby. Also on hand were author- biographer Gene Fowler, Metro production chief Dore Schary and J. C. Hall, prexy of Hallmark Cards, show’s sponsor. Show ' was done tastefully, It offered listeners a brief insight into Barrymore’s character via the re- hashing of certain incidents in his life. Dr. . Normari Vincent Peale I wrapped stanza up with a short I eulogy* Jess. J THE THANKSGIVING HOUR , , With Ethel Barrymore, Pat, O'Brien, Keefe Brasselle,. Bing. Crosby, Perry Como, Marina Koshetz, John Brownlee, Nan Merrlman, Alyne Dumas Lee,. Robert Wag- ner Chorale, others Producer: Rev. Patrick Peyton,. C.S.C* Directors: Lew Lansworth, Roqco Tito Musical Directors: Harry Zimmer- man & Emerson Buckley 60 M|ns., Sun, (21), 2 p.m. Mutual, from N.Y., H’wood Feather Patrick Peyton’s fifth Thanksgiving Week broadc a s t; transcribed for presentation over the Mutual network Sunday (21), under the aegis of Farnily Rosary Crusade, had for its theme, via drama and music, faith in God and faith in America. A serious and sometimes ■solemn program, keyed to the threat which the free world faces, the hour enlisted the serv- ices of a topflight cast ;in Holly- wood and New York. It was. com- petently and. in many places dis- tinctively produced, although there were moments of unevenness and drag. The dramatic and spiritual preachment pivoted on the story of a retired school teacher (played by Ethel Barrymore) who, having lost her purpose in life, starts for her home in Wichita, for Thanks- giving and for good. She meets on the train a disillusioned law stu- dent. Striving to restore his faith i. the U.S. and his future, she successfully does so, while regain- ing her own. In a series of flashbacks—to the Constitutional . Convention a n d Benjamin Franklin’s c o m merit about the country’s foundation oh faith in God; to Bethlehem at the Birth of Christ; , to Abraham Lin- coln and his dependence on Divine Guidance- in Civil War days—the message of faith and praydr was emphasized and reemphasized. Solo and; choral singing inter- spersed and intertwined the rather thin story line, always threaded to the thematic Faith and to Amer- ica. A summation by Pat O'Brien, who narrated an opening segment on the necessity for belief and the efficacy of prayer, posed the al- ternatives; "build up the whole world” through faith, or “blow it to pieces.” Then came a decade of the Rosary, with the Hail Mary re- cited and sung (striking Gregorian chant, presumably by Robert Wag- ner Chorale, lent a beautiful effect here), Father Peyton closed with brief words of thanks and a prayer —recorded and probably Used be- fore. Miss Barrymore gave a fine read- ing of the lines, the philosophy and the preachment, Keefe Brasselle. registered well in the role of a skeptical Blackstone stiiden t. O’Brien, like Miss Barrymore, a longtime faithful supporter of Fa- ther Peyton’s radio apostolate, handled the narration vigorously. . Minor parts were nicely. han- dled, there being several outstand- ing voices In the Bethlehem se- quence. Harry Zimmerman directed the musical portions from Hollywood; Emerson' Buckley, from New. York. Jaco. WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? With Horace Sutton, Harriet. Van Horne, Marc Connelly, Ernie. Kbvacs, Peggy McCay; Jack Cos- tello,/ announcer Producer: Jane Kalmus Director: Parker Gibbs 30 Miiis., Thurs., 9:30 p.m. NBC, from New York The list of panel stanzas where guessing, games are played has been increased by one. "Where Have You Been?” is the latest. The casing Wasn’t witty enough nor the topic sufficiently different to survive a stale format. Lineup called for Horace Sut- ton as emcee. It was felt that, was appropriate since he is an. expert on travel and, ostensibly, that's ..what the show Was about; As often: 'happens, though, a man with talent in one field (in. Sutton’s case it’s writing) doesn’t always succeed as something else, Sutton was a slight caricature of an announcer, sound- ing highly dramatic when he I should have been conversational Panelists were Harriet Van Horne, Ernie. Kovacs, Marc Connelly and Peggy McCay. Some of them were heard performing pleasantly at other times in similar panel quiz- zers, but their humor was tired when it wasn’t absent on the second week (18) , of the. NBC "Where” program. And it was the panel only that was being de- pended on for the show’s graces. The format itself got little at- tention. Even if there are no longer new ideas for panel pro- grams, those available must be de- tailed to perfection. Here the format failed to hold suspense ahd Was, additionally, often muddled. Guests piled up points for holding (Continued on page 34) J Wednesday, November 24y 1954 IN NEW YORK CITY ... Is : CBS bn the prowl to fill the "information adviser” vacancy created by the return of Jack Gould to the N.Y. Times? . . . Milbiim McCarty Associates opening p.r. branch oil the Coast with Ed Thompson and Nell McDonald in charge of the Sunset Blvd. setup. (Thompson, ex-radio ed of Milwaukee Journal; McDonald, ex-reporter of L.A. Examiner and Herald Express) . WRCA's Phil Alampi to attend -int’l Livestock expo and 4-H Club Congress i Chi this week arid next CBS’ "FBI in Peace & War” racks up 11th year on web tonight (Wed,) . Jim Coy in Kansas City last Weekend making Industrial film for Calvi Cor FCCommissioner Robert E. Lee and the Rev. Theodore Hesburg, prexy of Notre Dame, to speak r.t radio-tv-ad agencies’ annual communion breakfast at Waldorf Sunday (28) . . CBS newsman Ron Cochran permanently shifted from D/C. to N.Y, .. . . Dwight. Cooke on cross- country lecture kick . Milt Schwartz, WRCA-plus-tv A&P staffer, planing to K.C. for hometown gobbler gala . CBS exec producer (news) Robert Skedgell to Dixie with family for a week ..... . Addition to Earl (Harem) Harder’s WRCA traffic staff is Paula Powdermaker; Returned to station after long illness is newsman Clyde Kittell . Ted Wear, one of-the 24 Christopher Award winners and a brother of Mike Wear, Variety mugg, won his medal for being writer, of the radio show, (‘Proclaim Liberty,” in the NBC Inheritance series last July 4 . -., ABC Radio tapped Bill Hayes to star in a new half-hour variety sustained "Take 30,” -which moved into the Tuesday-aM0:30 slot last night . Martin Block doing, a monthly column on disks for Compact mag. Cleni McCarthy and Bill Slater given lifetime memberships in the Sports Broadcasters Assn. . . Ed Stokes to emcee a WMGM dee jay strip . . WQXR to give, over two hours to chronological rundown of Broadway musicals on Turkey Day (tomorrow).. , Kenneth Danielsen to Broadcast Advertising as reporter-writer on national promotion . . . Joe Rosenfield, WMGM gabber, to guest tomorrow (Thurs.) before Brooklyn Red Crossers , Don Reid is creator arid . co-producer Of "College Quiz Bowl,” now in its second year on NBC . . . Mort Bassett was appointed to John Blair rep sales staff . . Emanuel Bozeman to conduct WLIB’s "Gospel Train” . Gillette has inked to bankroll BluerGray grid game via Mutual on Dec. 25,. Ginger Rogers planed into N.Y. last, weekend arid guested with husband Jacques Bergerac on CBS’ "Make Up Your Mind” and solo on 'tv. "What’s My Line?” . . . Walter Bowe, ex-NBC, named radio-tv time buyer at SSC&B . . . Gail Clooney, nine-year-old sis of Rosemary and Betty, guesting on former’s CBS show tomorrow (Thurs.), IN CHICAGO John (Scotty) Keck has departed his veepee and radio-tv director post at Henri, Hurst & McDonald to join. Needham, Louis & Brorby as assistant to radio-tv chief Jim Cominos. Jim. Shaw, moved' up to. the HH&M berth . Chi NBC-TV sales topper Ed llitz marks his 26th anrii with the network Dec. 1, while George Diefenderfer, Chi NBC Radio sales headman, notches his 14th . . . Walter Kiernan subs for toastmaster Don McNeill on ABC's simulcasted "Breakfast Club” the week of Dec; 6 while .the latter travels south for a week of hunting . .... Frank Yahner joined Needham, Louis & Brorby as veepee and account supervisor on the Campbell Soup billings . . ! WBBM special events director Hugh Hill off next week for a three-week Florida hiatus . . , Bill Sriiutzer, ex-WBKB, new member of John Keys’ WMAQ- WNBQ ad-promotion staff , . . G. W. (Johnny) Johnstone, NAM’s radio- tv director, and Col. Barney Oldfield, Air Force information officer, in last weekend for the annual Radio & Television News Directors Assn, conclave . Mike Ferguson is WBBM’s new assistant promotion manager . . Larry Gutter, ex-WOKY-TV, Milwaukee, joined Angus Pfaff’s WNMP in Evanston to help launch the suburb’s UHF’er . , . Elly Reed is new WBBM staff vocalist'. . . Wyler Soups came through with a 52-week renewal for WMAQ’s noontime newscasts cross-the- board . * . An additional 15 minutes has been tacked on Henry Cook’s • morning deejay show ori WMAQ . . . Fels & Co. reordered a bundle of 40 one-minute blurbs on WGN’s daytimers. IN SAN FRANCISCO William Winter, KPIX newscaster decorated by the Moroccan gov- ernment for "understanding and objective broadcasting of the prob- lems of the Moroccari people” . . . William C. Dempsey, KPIX education and production director, is in Louisiana this week meeting with the State Educational TV Planning Commission to whom he has been asked to serve as a consultant . . "The Ali Baba Show,” first local remote from a ballroom, starts Dec. 3 on KPIX . . . KSAN hosted the trade at a cocktail party Nov. 18 at the Downbeat Club and showed an exhibit on the characteristics of the local Negro market. Enter- tainment was provided by the Vernon Alley Trio. Alley is a disk jockey on the rival KLOK. IN PITTSBURGH Wilkens Jewelry Co.’s "Amateur Hour” celebrating 20th anni on radio and fifth on tv this month ... Ernest Brown has joined the WCAE sales staff, replacing Alex Trust, who resigned to go back into the construction business in .Illinois . . . Dave Scott starts a new daily quizzer, Mon. thru-Fri. for 15 minutes at 6:30, on KQV Monday (29) ... -Hank Stohl, WDTV announcer, who was laid up for nearly tw.o months with the mumps and pneumonia, is back on the job again . . . Joan Reichjman, local girl formerly with the Kudner agency in N.Y., has gone with Jackie Gleason Enterprises as a production assistant . . , Eddie Rodgers, singer with the Coronets, passed an audition for "Chance of a Lifetime” and will be on the Dennis James networker Within the next morithi IN DALLAS X Buddy Harris, dean of local dee jays, upped to program director at KGKO, but continues his disk slot / . "The Pastor Calls,” religioso filmed here: by Coffman Film Co. for 50. tv stations, resumed on KRLD-TV . * . WFAA-TV sports announcer, Jerry Haynes also heading his own 30-minute midday variety show there across the board . ■/. Freddy Jenkins, ex-Duke Ellington sideman, now a deejay on KWBC, Fort Worth . . American Airlines sponsoring new midnight to 5:30 a.m. classical record show, six ayems Weekly, on KRLD : . Don Blotcky added to WFAA’s sales staff . . Don Robinson, announcer at KIXL, is new program director of KIXL and KIXL-FM * , . Donald S; Newbury, KLIF sales rep, resigned to become commercial manager at KFH, Wichita , Steve French joined sales force at KLIF. IN MINNEAPOLIS • Helen O’Connell to top United Cerebral Palsy Celebrity Parade telethon from St. Paul Paramount theatre stage over WTCN-TV arid WMIN-TV Saturday night (27).. . . Minneapolis and St. Paul American Association baseball teams set for 22 home games telecasts each coming season, instead of previous 16 . NBC’s radio "Quiz Bowl” “Continued On page 34)