Variety (December 1954)

24 RADIO REVIEWS , WedoMda^ December 29, 1954 VOICES AND EVENTS—1954 With Morgan Beatty, other* Supervising Producer: William Me Andrew Producer: Joe Meyera Editor: Chet Hagen 60 Min*.. Sun. (26). 6:30 p.m. TRAVELERS' INSURANCE CO. NBC, from New Yortr i Young & Rubicam ) In the ’30s and early ’40s the most recognizable political voice belonged to the President. Frank- lin Delano Roosevelt. In ’54, how- ever the current President’s voice | seemed unfamiliar; It • was the angry, nasal tone of Joseph Mc- Carthy, the Senator from Wiscon- sin, which was most w.k.—prob- ably because he took up so much more room in the news than Presi- dent Eisenhower. The NBC radio r resentation, "Voices and Events— 954,” for Travelers’ Insurance Co. last Sunday <26» devoted near- ly a quarter of its time to McCar- thy and to comments about him. The one-shot show, running for an hour from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., was a rather complete if editorial- ly weak taped rundown on the sounds of this past year. In a some- time chronological, sometime suit- jour-fancy order were heard Ei- senhower. McCarthy, various NBC commentators • on various topics, Judy Garland. Frank Sinatra, Her- bert Hoover. Joseph Welch. Win- ston Churchill, Connie Mack. The Dionnes, Secretary of Defense Charles Wilson, Sen. William Knowland. and, among a few others, the late Lionel Barrymore, who closed the audio hoifc with a recorded interpretation of the re- habilitated Scrooge: “Merry Xmas to Everyone and a Happy New Year to All the World.” Morgan Beatty tied together the series of non sequiturs with su- perficial yet well-delivered lines. NBC could have substituted an editorial thread for such diversity; that’s probably the trouble with any show which tries to jam in as many of the voice and events of one year as possible in only an hour. Such things are usually meant to evoke nostalgia. Unfor- tunately 1954, with McCarthy, Indo-China warring, the “shootup” in Congress by fanatics, Bikini blasts <and with only a few excep- tions like Winston Churchill "I’m now nearing the end of my jour- ney” and Connie Mack's selling the Athletics), was not a nostalgic year. Art. RITTENIIOUSE SQUARE Producers-Directors-Writers: Jack Charest, Harry K. Smith 15 Min*., Mon.Fri., 3:45 p.m. Participating WCAU, Philadelphia Described by its writers. Jack Charest and Harry K. Smith, as a radio novel, “Rittenhouse Square” serializes the heart-throbs of one of the classiest named casts in soap opera. Grade AA Philly resi- dential sectors inspire such mon- ickers as Dr. Richard Carthwright, young psychiatrist; Pamela Tres- cott, from a Main Line family, and Cynthia, an advertising exec and former model, both of the latter in love with the Doc. It is Ted (Pamela’s brother) who brings in the seamier characters such as Nick Molani. Clincher for one episode—"Why did Nick Mo- lani strike terror into the heart of Pamela Trescott?” The narration and Carthwright’s asides have heavy musical backgrounds. Dr. Carthwright seems to be suffering from a respiratory ail- ment—either that, or he’ll become known as the “sighing psychia- trist.” The authors also have the most polite people in radio, they Alphonse and Gaston each other through the entire segment. They also indulge too frequently in those time-consuming repetitive questions, so favored by air scripters. Local angle, however, is good for tie-ins—theatres, clubs, con- certs. etc. Several of the charac- ters have already dined at Long- champs. The final adjuration, “Any relation to characters living or dead is purely coincidental” mere- ly points out an oversight. Gagh. THIS YEAR AROUND THR WORLD WlthNJohn Daly, other* Producer: Don Coe Director: BUI MacCallum Writers: Daly, Vince Dempsey 60 Mins., Sun. (26), 8 p.m. Sustaining ABC. from N. Y. (transcribed) Ten top news stories of 1954 as selected by ABC’s news editors are likely to coincide with any other group’s choice, but that was just a pog for the web’s wrapup of the year’s big events. And wheth- er it was ABC or NBC or any other editors that selected the sto- ries. nobody can dispute their im- port or their fascination in the recreation. More important, pro- ducer Don Coe and narrator-editor John Daly did a fine job of turn- ing out an hour-long recap of the year that excited and thrilled (and awed, too) in the repeating. Device used in most cases to re- create the events was the on-tho- spot taped interview's or reports, culled from the web’s files. As a supplement to fill in where the on- the-spot reports were lacking, the web had some of its key corre- spondents turn out special tapes reviewing the events as they saw aj)d reported them as far back as nine or 10 months ago. Daly wove his commentary around this frame- work. Foreign and Washington correspondents on the show were Ray Falk (Tokyo), Robert Sturde- vant (Paris), Yale Newman (Lon- don), Gunnar Back and John Ed- wards, and locally, Quincy Howe. Julian Anthony and Daly himself. Top events, for the record, were, in chronological order: the shoot- ing spree of the four Puerto Rican nationalists in Congress; the March H-Bomb blast and the inci- dent of the Japanese fishermen: the fall of Dien Bien Phu; the Su- preme Court ruling outlawing school segregation; Dr. J. / Robert Oppenheimer’s failure to get se- curity clearance, from the AEC; the Guatemala situation; the three hurricanes. Carol, Edna and Hazel; the London Conference; the elec- tions; and the condemnation of Sen. McCarthy, the latter includ- ing the earlier Army-McCarthy hearings. All told, a wrapup worth hear- ing. although not comprising sheer pleasure. As a sidelight, it’s worth noting that some of the tapes actu ally were taken off soundtracks of television newsreel footage, and it’s a rather sad commentary that radio, with all its mobility and portability, couldn't have come up with more in the way of direct tap- ing of the events as they hap- pened. rather than relying on the soundtracks and the post-mortem recreations. This aside. Daly and Coe and his staff did a topnotch job in bringing the big news of the year to-life. Chan. THE BLACKSMITH With Sam Payne Producer-Director: Ray Whithousi Writer: Howard Rodman 30 Min*, FrL, 11:30 p.m. CBC Trans-Canada, from Van couver This touching and amusing littl< comedy of a horse manicurist’s de dining days—one of Canadiai Broadcasting Corp.’s “Vancouve: Theatre” 39-week series—was i credit to everyone concerned Howard Rodman’s script, however migttt have had a stronger ending "Automobiles are ruining th< world! They ought to tear up thesi pavements — too hard on th< horses’ feet. But you never saw ; broken axle.«did you?” grouses 70 year-old Andy Martin, lifeloni blacksmith, to the taxi driver whi drops in now and then to rib him and who also handles the occa sional relaxed narrative bridge. When Andy’s wife says she’< like to take a ride in an automo bile he almost strikes her. An< when a Youngster proudly bring a ong a toy fire engine to shov him, the smith denounces it a “just an old piece of tin” and tell h m fire engines are made o wood and drawn by “six big horse waitin’ to run their hearts out.” THE NIGHT WATCHMAN With Bo|> Lee 120 Mins.; Sun.-thru Sat., 11 p.m. Participating WOKO, Albany Bob Lee turntables a wide va- riety of selections on this show, one of the few- area late-nighters the week round. He spins many new records by established and little known companies; platters current hit tunes, oldies *nd stand- ards. Lee seems to possess a good knowledge of popular music. His comments are often brief; some- times he does little more than tab the title, featured artists and per- haps the waxing concern. Occasionally deeiay makes a cryptic observation, as in compar- ing the pipes of Betty and Rose- mary Clooney. And he knows re- cording artists. Jaco. The kid goes away in tear$, is almost run over by a truck which gets rescuer Andy instead—plus a blowout from a handful of horse- shoe nails in his pocket. Hospi- talized, the old man dreams the Devil comes to drive him to hell in an automobile. Play ends with narrator telling how Andy sits watching the youngster play “mail stage” with a horse s head he has carved for him on a stick. Might have been better ended with Andy and the kid actually speaking. Sam Payne, vet of Vancouver’s Totem and Ottawa’s Canadian Repertory Theatres, did a rich, de- lightful job of the crusty old die- hard. Shannon Fowler was easy and natural as the cab driver, anil Doug Haskins. Dorothy Fowler and Stan Jones were good in the other roles. Ray Whltehouse’s direction was warmly effective. Card. NEW MUSIC FROM HALLE' S With Wayne Mack Producer: Charles P. Hoover 60 Mins.; Sunday, 4 p.m. HALLE BROS. WTAM, Cleveland This is a pleasant hour of Sun- day relaxation, paced to the tempo of good taste, good music, and good listening. Although it’s in [ the disk jockey category, it is more than the usual put-the- , record-on-take-the-record-off vari- ety. Selections played are part of an overall script with short intro tie-ins used to connect the music. ■ In stanza caught (19) motif was Christmas music, that ranged from 1 Robert Shaw Chorale to Bach and | "Snow” from “White Christmas?” Selections, too. from “Milstein Re- cital” "Red Mill” and "The Robe” further indicated the scope of mu- sic covered. Spieling around the music is Wayne Mack’s professional presen- tation with a soothing, easy-to- listen-to approach. Overall han- 1 dling. with underplay of commer- , cial is in keeping w ith program’s dignity and taste. Mark. Foreign Langiage » Continued from pace II others in the Anglo-Jewish field and with four sponsors for approxi- mately half of the 47-game college basketball sked has given the Irv- ing Rosenhaus station a high de- gree of new biz. In Italian, La Rosa has pacted for an 11 to 11:15 ayem slot on weekdays, taking over 11 to 11:30 weekends. (All days will consti- tute live variety presentations, ex- cept the Sunday 30-minuter in live Italo drama.) Medaglia D'Oro is in at 11:15 to 11:30 weekdays and at 11:30 to noon on Saturday and Sunday. While the first half hour in the Italo sked is SRO, the sec- ond has six or seven quarter hours to go: to date Caruso Oil has three 15-minute periods a week at 11:30; United Warehouse has one, and Cinzano winery is very near patt- ing. according to one report, for seven 15-minute periods each week. Two drug names, Branca and Briosci. have separately pacted for 20-second ajancies to the Italo sked. This biz fills the better part of one hour a day (four hours daily was the original plan), but WATV is opening an hour and a half earlier in the morning (actual time depending on other billings in Italian) for Italo feature films— without titles and without dubbing. The pix are being opening by the station to non-Italo products which wish to reach the large Italian market in N. Y. Incidentally, the features—60 for now—were pur- chased from a firm run by Vincent Parisi and Martin Blau, who, it's understood, control in the vicinity of 150 Italo pix altogether. In the Anglo-Jewish field, Bor- den's and General Foods have signed on to sponsor a total of 45- minutes “in English with a Jewish flavor.” The sports sked of 47 metropoli- tan basketball games, has attracted so far Amana freezers, Esso, Phila- delphia Dairy and Wildroot hair oil. These four, according to WATV sales topper Bert Lebhar, constitute buying in about half the time available. Biow Continued from page 18 the overall objective. This is the essence of American progress.” Expressing himself as “fortu- nate” in finding two capable asso- ciates, Biow said “that is why I told Ken Beirn and John Toigo that I wanted their names on the masthead of the company, that I looked to them to help me guide the destinies of the company. The Biow Co. started 40 years ago—one small office and myself, not even a stenographer. With the help of our staff over the year.., we have grown into one of America’s fore- most advertising agencies with a roster of approximately 500 mem- bers, and serving a list of leading American manufacturers. I will be your chairman, and like you, I will be working here.” Reviewing 1954, the board chair-, man admitted loss of some person- nel and clients, saying that “some left us” and “some we left” for various reasons. “What I am happy to report is that most of this busi- ness has been replaced with equal- ly distinguished names, adding to the strength of our roster.” if From the Production Centres j -»+♦♦♦♦»♦♦♦♦♦ ♦♦♦+ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ »»4 ♦♦♦♦»♦ ♦♦♦♦ ♦ IN NEW YORK CITY . . . Bill Bern*, WRCA-plus-tv news and special events chief, conferring with staff of Governor-elect Averell Harriman on a blueprint for sta- tions’ Albany coverage under the new Demo administration . . . Milburn McCarty, head of the p.r. firm, and wife (she’s in the firm) to Europe for three weeks to visit clients there, plus a quickie to New- castle-Km-Tyne in northern England to set up photo and feature coverage for Norwegian America Line’s new flagship, the Bergensfjord. now abuilding in yards there . . . CBS’ “Mr. and Mrs. North” marks 13 years on air Monday (3). . . WRCA publicity mgr. Bill Anderson planed to Dallas for holidays. Station’s Sydney Smith on two-week vacation in Mexico . . . John Ives, producer of the CBS “Gangbusters” and “21st Precinct,” bedded with pneumonia at United Hospital in Port Chester. N.Y. . . . Red Barber and John Derr off to Miami for Orange Bowl previews and broadcast of New Year’s Day classic via CBS. CBS scribbler Jo Lyons to Mexico for the holidays . . . Mutual prexy Tom O’Neil off on Caribbean cruise . . . Bill Leonard vacations from his WCBS “This Is New York” stanza New Year’s eve and is replaced by Auld Lang Syne perennial Guy Lombardo. . . . Dick Jackson, pub- licity head of WOR and WOR-TV,’ lectures on p.r. at Fordham on Jan. 6. Tape of stint will be later aired via WFUV, college outlet . . . Jackson's right hand, press editor Mary Jane McDougall, did similar guest lecture stint before N.Y.U. radio-tv p.r. class last week . . . Max Wylie’s “Cleared Channels” (on radio-tv industry) details facts re WCBS program director Sam Slate and station’s talent roster to bring out comparison twixt U.S. radio and that of England . . . WMGM shuffled around its midday sked to add 30 minutes to the Aime Gauvin-Dick DeFreitas “It’s a Woman’s World” gab session. Show hereafter runs from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. . . . 88’er Lalan Parrot returns to home, Oklahoma City, to feature with Guy Fraser Harrison and the Oklahoma City Symph for Mutual’s Sun. (2) broadcast by that group. N.Y. Times publisher Arthur Hays Sulzberger to deliver New Year’s Eve message via his WQXR. in rhyme, no less . . . Frank Campanella doing “21st Precinct” . . . WLIB has set a novel Xmas bonus: gift to employees of the radio station were insurance policies ranging from $2,000 to $7,500. depending on salary. Deal for insurance was made with the Radio-Television Industry Group Insurance Fund, with outlet paying entire premium (or for duration of employment) and no physical examination necessary. IN CHICAGO .... Jim Shelby is departing the McCann-Erickson Chi office this week after 14 years with the agency during which time he served as radio-tv director and later a specialist on a string of accounts. He’s revealing his new connection after the first of the year . . . Chi CBS veep H. Leslie Atlas* spending the holidays cruising aboard his yacht “Sis” off Ber- muda . . . John Keown resigned his Chi NBC producer chair to join the Cunningham & Walsh agency . . . Les Lear, general manager of CBS-TV’s "Welcome Travelers,” named chairman of the Chi Heart Assn.’s special events division . . . Francis Coughlin, WGN and WGN-TV continuity director, conducting a tv waiters’ workshop at the U. of Chicago’s downtown center . . . Ned Williams, exec secretary of Chi- cago Unlimited, back at his desk after minor surgery . . . WLS director of education Josephine Weteler one of the seven winners of McCall’s mag's 1954 awards to top radio-tv femmes . . . Chi’s Findlay Galleries picking up the WBBM tab on CBS’ "Years Of Crisis” roundup Sunday (2). . . Frank McGivern signed on as a veepee with the Moore A Strand agency in Kankakee IN PITTSBURGH . . . Bill Burchinal, former New York actor now with Ketchum. McLeod A Grove agency here, will make his Playhouse debut as one of the Larabee sons in “Sabrina Fair” . . . WDTV’s Bill Jewett, when he taught stagecraft at Yale in 1946-47, had as a student Chandler Potter, now head designer for the Pittsburgh community theatre . . . Pat Klepser, KQV publicity and continuity girl, engaged to Bill McNamara. He’s a student at Pitt and a relief engineer at the station during the summer vacation season . . . Rita Gould, head of TV Guide program- ming department, on an lie de France cruise with her parents over the holidays . . . Pat Moreell, of Norman Burk agency, signed for role of Elvira in International Repertory Theatre Co.’s February produc- tion of “Blithe Spirit” . . . Felisa Conde, assistant choreographer for Max Liebman’s Spectaculars, and her husband spending the holidays with Miss Conde’s parents. Attorney and Mrs. Eugene A. Caputo, of nearby Ambridge . . . Elaine Beverly returning to WDTV’s daily "Meet Your Neighbor,” which also stars her husband, Joe Mann, on Monday (4) after a three-week maternity leave. Dottle Talbot subbed for her. IN CLEVELAND . . . WTAM’s Gloria Brown into New York for week’s hiatus . . . WERE’s Phil McLean emceed five-station hookup that saw Arlene Perry, offered through WSPD, named winner in Ma Brown’s Ohio Talent Hunt . . . WGAR pacted with CBS for 19th year affiliation . . . NBC Christmas features included General Manager Lloyd Yoder, in cooperation with Society for Crippled Children, distributing toys to needy moppets, and Maggi Byrne luncheoning 80 nabe chairmen of “Make a Christmas Toy Club” . . . Burt Schildhouse named general operations manager for Ohio Advertising . . . McCann-Erickson shopping for woman tv weathercaster . . . Bud Ford leaves WTAM production for WRCA. John Wellman moves over to handle Ford’s Bandwagon production and Jim Prunty enters production staff. Ji\ PHILADELPHIA . . . Ed Harvey is filling in for vacationing Ralph Collier on WCAU's “Hi Neighor” and Johnny Lupton is subbing for Collier on “Wonderful Town” ... Ed Hurst and Joe Grady’s Saturday noon tv show \vas dropped (25) to be replaced by network’s Tennessee Ernie program . . . Mary Jones, director of women’s programs at WFIL, will receive the 1954 McCall’s Award to women in radio and tv, for “The Mary Jones Hearth,” non-profit project which shelters stranded young women . . . WPTZ news editor Dick McCutcheon has received invitation to address student group at Columbia U. on racial integration . . . Bill Givens, Vince Lee, Mac McGuire, Ruth Welles and Jack Pyle, radio personalities of KYW, are conducting two weeks on-the-air campaign to collect used and cancelled stamps to aid four different religious charities IN OMAHA . . . Black Hills Video Co. of Rapid City, S.D., has asked FCC permission to build a $310,000 microwave relay system between Denver and Rapid City . . . WOW-TV last Saturday carried an original half-hour tv play of the Omaha Junior Theatre . . . Dick McGee, former KOMO and KJR staffer in Seattle, has taken over top ad post for Clay County News-Sun at Sutton, Neb. . . . David L. Scheie, formerly KOB, Albu- querque, has joined WOW here as staff announcer . . . Dick (Arch) Andrews, WOW’s new allnight d.j., is an ex-KCOM staffer in Sioux City . . . Bob Morey is play-by-playing Hastings College basketball games at home and on the road for KHAS