Variety (December 1954)

RAMO-TBLKV1SION * Television Reviews : Continued from pane 27 euphemistic warning. He said that there been many “rumors” of fight fixes and that something must be done to keep the sport clean. The word “rumor” was meant to be inoffensive, or so it looked: less important men, have used a strong- er word. And it seemed strange that Kefauvcr’s tone conveyed only that dishonesty be ket>t out of boxing; it could never have been inferred that dishonesty was al- ready in. It doesn’t look as though sponsor (in all but the New York and New England areas) has a chance of getting tile full 15-minutes before 11 p.m. each Wednesday night. Many fights go the full 10 rounds. .Such being the case (as with the fight Jast Wednesday between lightheavies Harold Johnson and Marty Marshall), and with the lor.g closing Pabst commercial 10 or 11 minutes would be more like the time the show has. Barber, among the more experi- enced sports gabbers, seemed to have first nightitis. Art. HOLY NIGHT With Eileen Rowe, John Alvin, Stephen Chase, Trevor Bardette Producer: Rev. James K. Friedrich Director: John T. Coyle 30 Mins.; Sat. (25), 4:30 p.m. Sustaining CBS-TV, from N.Y. (color, film) This production by Cathedral Films, telecast in color, made for a reverent Christmas Day pro- gram. It attempted to transcribe several Biblical passages, concern- ing the birth of Christ, into a dramatic format and was largely successful. It’s a moot point, how- ever, whether this kind of literal depiction of events which have ac- cumulated highly symbolic signifi- cance adds anything to under* standing or belief, even for chil- dren. The opening sequences were most effective in their retelling of the story of the siege of Jerusalem 700 years before Christ. At this tyne. the prophet Isaiah made his prediction about the coming of the Messiah. The second half of the show centered on the story of the Nativity, from the heavenly an- nouncement to Mary to the birth in the manger. Eileen Rowe played the role of Mary with an appropri- ately saintly quality with other members of the cast also handling their assignments with a formality demanded by the script. Herm. TOTEM POLE MATINEE With Stan Richards, guests Producer: Kenneth Mayer 60 Mins., Sat. 2 p.m. HOWARD JOHNSON WBZ-TV, Boston While this newcomer to local programming will undoubtedly lure a fair segment of teenage viewers, for whom it is primarily intended, it’s unlikely that anyone outside that particular age bracket will give it more than a passing glance for it’s nothing more than a televised record hop emanating from the spacious and attractive Totem Pole Ballroom. During the hour-long stint, the camera roved from deejay Stan Richards, sitting at his turntable, to the teenage couples dancing identical steps to the fox trot, waltz and mamho, and to groups of youngsters sitting around the fringe of the ballroom floor. This does not add up to very interest- ing viewing for older dial twisters. Richards did arf okay job keep- ing the initial show’ moving, in- troing and interviewing guesters, The Crew-Cuts and Jon: James, who nabbed the spotlight to panto, before a dead mike, several dis- clicks. Guy also did a convincing job of handling the commercials seated at a replica of a typical Howard Johnson soda fountain. As an added gimmick. Richards in- vited four youngsters to serve as a panel to judge the hit poten- tialities of several previously un- released platters. Lone foray into the “live” music department was injected by clari- netist Fred Guerra, who batons the spot’s house band, aided by a trio of instrumentalists to de- liver a nifty rendition of Leroy j Anderson’s “Sleighride.” Show will bypass the next two Saturdays, due to network com- mittments by WBZ-TV, but is slated to resume Jan. 8. Elie. TASTYKAKE CHRISTMAS HOUR Wi h Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, Trapp Family, Anthony Tudor Ballet, Edith Evans, Adelaide Bishop, Ben Grauer 60 Mins., Thurs. (16) 8 p.in. TASTYKAKE BAKING CO. WFIL-TV, from Philadelphia In gratitude for the “loyalty” of its legion of customers. TastyKake | sponsored a charming gift package in its third annual Christmas con- cert. Program by the Philadelphia Orchestra had general appeal, be- ginning w ith Rimsky - Korsakov’s “Christmas Eve” and offering ex- cerpts from “L’Arlesienne Suite,” “Sleeping Beauty,” "Hansel and Gretel,” Morton Gou'd's full or- ■ chcstral setting for “Jingle Bells” and "The Lord’s Prayer.” i The Trapp Family Singers in l native dress and home-style vocal lent seasonal color. Their selections ‘ with the recorders had what the progressive ear might call a t "sound.” Ben Grauer’s beautiful narration of the Nativity from the Gospel of St. Luke was under- scored by Handel’s “Messiah.” This was followed by Soprano Adelaide Bishop’s rich and reverently supg “Ave Maria.” The Tudor Ballet was disappoint- ing, seemingly all costumes. The dancers were not helped by lensing 1 which cut off their legs below the f knees. Shots of Ormandy and the s orchestra personnel were good, f with interesting treatment . of the J various first chairmen in the string t choirs, woodwinds and brass. Ses- l sion originated from the Academy i of Music, where the big stage was ? arranged in two levels, the orches- tra in the foreground and the bal- let and soloists performing on the upper tier against a conventional forest backdrop. While a chorus, narrator, dancers and soloists would clutter up a regular Philly Orchestra concert, the variety deemed fitting both for the telecast and the season it celebrated. Simulcast the last two times, pro- gram this year went out over video i only. Sponsor got three commer- cials all suitably handled by Grauer who appeared completely at ease, whether with goodies or good music. . Gagh. ANIMAL CARETIME With Curley Bradley Producer-Writer: Morgan Perron 30 Mins.; Sat., 12 Noon Sustaining WNBQ, Chicago Like many another AM pro, Cur- ley Bradley has made the switch to tv with ease. Fore years one of Mutual’s singing "cowboys/’Brad-; ley has joined the Chi NBC-1 V station, specializing in moppet fare. Current assignment is a simple little weekender on the care and , feeding of pets. With its stress on kindness and duty it’s a construe- , tive half-hour for the kiddies. Bradley gives the unpretentious format just the right note of friend-: ly enthusiasm. - Lessbn on edition Watched (18) dealt with the handling of Christ- mas present pets with the message that it’s usually better to bring the new little dog or eat into the home a few days before the Y’ule festivi- ties to avoid undue excitement. There also was a midpoint film spelling out juve responsibilities of owning a dog. Ilighpoint was the visit of a trained Chihuahua with some interesting info by its owner , about the breeds' Mexican back- ground. . . No one can charge this project with giving the kids "wrong” ideas. Dave. WSAZ-TV * m. .uil- -* v - — ----- 400 M ^OO i mmm mm WMmsm Tele Followup Continued from paee 27 , - bright full-length cartoons, which was originally released in film theatres under the title of “The Three Cabrllerrts.” This Disney pie had a Latin American locale and, unfortunately, the splashes of color in the original were com- pletely lost in this monochrome telecast. Even in black and white, however, the film conveyed much of the film’s charm and originality. This was Disney’s first attempt to combine live actors and cartoon j characters in a single frame. The original cartoon was neatly edited down to the requirements of this 60-minute layout with the plugs inserted at the end of the various musical numbers. Disney supplied a brief intro to the show and finaled with a briefer holiday greeting. Herm. Sumner Locke Elliot whipped up a lightweight drama for Lee Ann Merriwether (Miss America) on her first pro excursion on NBC-TV’s Philco Phayhouse Sunday night (26). Seripter wrote the piece with Miss Merriwether in mind so the role wasn’t too taxing and show- cased as a -pleasant if not exciting ingenue. The Miss America prize won her a scholarship to the Pasa- dena Playhouse and her debut shows she has the material to de- velop. Drama, titled “Run, Girl, Run,” had a telebackground but skipped the behind-the-scenes stuff in favor of expounding on a young thesp’s insecurity which had been nur- tured since her moppet days by an overprotective father. Tossed for a loss in New York by a “disagree- able” director, she goes home to the folks where mother finally straightens her out about adoles- cent “need for everyone to like her.” Miss Merriwether was on-camera virtually through the whole hour and she handled the long assign- ment of the young tv actress with insight. Mary Astor gave a class performance as the mother and Robert F. Simon was properly dot- ing as the father. Supporting play- ers were all tiptop as was Robert Mulligan’s direction. Gros. Mooney Dickers WKGN Inside Stuff—Radio-TV Parker H. Ericksen, executive v.p. of Crosley and Bendix Home Appliances Divisions, Avco Manufacturing Corp. calls “completely without foundation” the report that the two Avco divisions would switch advertising agencies. Variety last week reported Benton Sc Bowles represents all billings for the two divisions. Ericksen pointed out that Benton &n Bowles handles kitchen appliances advertising, while Earle Ludgin and Co. of Chicago handles Bendix laundry equipment and BBDfcO handles radio and television. Ralph H. Jones Co. handles Crosley defense advertising. “We have no intention of changing agencies In any of these lines,” Ericksen sgid. Westinghouse is staging a musical revue closed-circuit telecast today (Wed.) from 6 to 7 p.m. to unveil its new line of radios and tv sets. Technical facilities are being handled by CBS which undertook the task since It is the outlet for Westinghouse’s weekly “Studio One.” Production is being supervised by CBS and Fuller Sc Smith. & Ross, Westinghouse’s ad agency. Telecast will be piped to 26 cities, with hotels the outlets in 13 and the remainder going to tv studios or Westinghouse regional offices. It’ll originate from the Barbizon Plaza, N.Y. Featured in the telecast will be the Honey Dreamers quintet, Joel Herron’s orch, Westbrook Van Vorhees, and Betty Furness. Perry Lafferty directs. Recent letter from BBC to Voice of America said the job of filming the television greeting of Bernard Baruch to Winston Churchill on latter’s 80th birthday was so good it was used as a model to show others how to say “Happy birthday” to Winnie via tv. J. R. Poppele, director of Voice which arranged the filming, wrote to Baruch telling how much BBC thought of his filmed telecast. Letter from BBC said in part: “Mr, Baruch’s tribute was, in style and manner, so exactly what we have hoped that I have (and I hope Mr. Baruch will not mind this— I think we telephoned to ask you if we might) shown it to some of Sir Winston’s other friends who are about to record their tribute, in order to let them see how beautifully it can be done.” , % Teenage Public Relations, Inc. is going after the radio-tv money relating to the group from 11 to 19 years of age and has formed a division for that purpose. According to Joan K. Philips, prexy of the outfit which she heads with Earl S. Peed, a N.Y. public relations exec and former tv magazine editor-publisher, it will be the first commer- cial service in the history of audio-visual communications under which consultancy is made available to the trade, including agencies, net- works and packagers. In creating the radio-tv division of TPRI, Miss Philips said that “95% of all radio and television programs and commercials today are potentially adaptable to capturing a loyal and enthusnastic mass teenage audience. Consequently, they can open a new and important market for their networks and sponsors.” In addition to counsel, the intention is to create special teenage program ideas independently as well as in conjunction with the groups to which it will cater. There’s considerable year-end activity on the CBS Radio spot sales personnel front. Allan J. Hughes has been tapped as manager of sales development for the Central Division based in Chicago; Jack Woolley, as manager of the Los Angeles office; and Thomas J. Swafford as an account executive for the eastern office in New York. “Ethel and Albert” had an offbeat bit of casting last Saturday (18) via NBC-TV. The video situation cpmedy got Sy Siege), known prin- cipally as an educator and director of WNYC, the N.Y.C.-owned radio outlet, to play the role of an election commentator. For this, Siegel’s t first pro thesping experience, special clearance was given by AFTRA. KPIX Strike Continued from page 21 -A' * nt : Memphis, Dec. 28. George Mooney, w.k. sportspieler j n this sector, is repping a syndi- . cate to purchase WKGN, Knox- ville Mutual affiliate. Sale is sub- ject to FCC approval. Mooney’s partners include Don Lynch, formerly of WHHM here and now veepee of WBSR, Pensa- cola CBS outlet, and Abe Wald- auer, local barrister. The trio also o. and o. WBSR with Mooney as prexy and Waldauer as secretary- treasurer. Mooney also will head WKGN operation with Lynch 4 and Waldauer as execs. FCC was prompt to act on the pro- test of the station in the KPIX case, but had never even acknowl- edged receipt of the several pro- tests NABET had filed concerning management practices in the KEAR strike situation. (NABET ob- jected to station owner Stephen Cisler appealing for strikebreakers on the air.) NABET categorically denies all charges of damage to the station. “Everything was o.k. when we left,” Linehan says. Negotiations broke down com- pletely last week between KPIX and both unions after a series of meetings with Federal and State conciliators. No definite date for resumption of the negotiations has been set. KPIX, which operated for over a week with AFTRA per- sonnel passing the NABET picket line, is now using film to replace the program time affected by the AFTRA walkout. A Joint AFTRA-NABET “Spon- sor Visiting Committee” is can- vassing the stations’ sponsors “pre- senting the facts in the situation” with the result, says the union, of considefable loss of revenue to KPIX. Both unions maintain that the biggest stumbling block In their! negotiations is the desire on the part of the KPIX management to gain acceptance of various West- inghouse fringe benefit social se- curity plans which, according to the unions, are not as advantageous as those enjoyed previously at KPIX or at other local stations. The AFTRA strike was sanc- tioned last week by the San Fran- cisco Labor Council. Negotiations on both contracts have been going on since early November. FCC Orders Probe Washington, Dec. 28. The FCC has ordered an investi- gation into alleged sabotage of equipment by employees of West- inghouse tv station KPIX in San Francisco to determine whether operator licenses of persons re- sponsible should be suspended or whether criminal action should be taken. The agency said it -has informa- tion that damage to KPIX equip- ment'was such as to so disable the station that it was unable to broadcast for 12 hours on Dec. 14. This damage, said FCC, may have been “willful” and may have been committed by persons licensed as radio operators. In that event these operators (engineers or technicians) might be liable to license suspen- sion. WL ALLE flLLL at th« Piano • Organ • Celeste I REMEMBER MAMA * , e Radio Registry * ■vtav ear ON WIRY CHANNM V - BROOKS COSTUMES S W«l «M U.. N.Y.C. *f*L 7-MSO