Variety (March 1955)

Wednesday, Hffareli ►+»♦♦»♦♦»♦♦♦ » „ ♦ » » . » >» 4 4M »»♦»♦♦♦ 4 »+ » ♦ »♦+♦♦•» »44» 4 | Tele Fdlldw-Up Comment j! 44444 ♦»♦♦♦ > ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ lEmm^tt Kelly, thfe clpvwi,, and" Emmett Kelly, the technical direc- toir> don't , talk. pQ each other. This may be because Kelly! never opens his trap -as Willie, the weary and tattered trabap ; dfRirigling circus' fame. TJlite .word trap'is used ad- visedly since, his-early work on. the smalltime tanb'ark was as a tra- peze artist in a "double, with his wiry Siva (nee Moore), In his au- tobiog “Clown,’’"written with Vet- eraii pressagentl/, Beverly Kelley and published last'year, the silent buffoon with-the wistful'puss does not link himself r Wittt the flying return gentry—*an aristocratic call- ing quite in contrast with the straight trapeze—yet this was—the springboard for the opening salvo of “Clown” on Sunday’s (27) “Gen- eral Electric Theatre” over CBS-. TV. Perhaps Kelly, as tech ad- visor, did not think the. difference matters, but the book .readers would, since the telefilm was pitched as based 'Oh episodes from the work. The joey’s, major contribution Was tutoring Henry Fonda in the art of makeup and training him in the Kelly gait. Basically, there were only a pair of Kelly’s w.k. gags, the peanut and sledgeham- mer wallop and broom and shovel employed to chase the spotlight out of the ring. Preceding ^inci- dents were routine, uninspired heartbeat in the Mel Goldberg- Richard Collins adaptation staged by James Neilsen. These were pegged . on Kelly's professional separation from\his wife to start his fullfledged career as a member of clown alley (they were even- tually divorced). There are some stirring events in the book not .touched in this small slice. Dor- othy Malone played the spouse, James Flavin the circus manager and George Givot had a s couple of colorful bits as the ringmaster. The circus music was okay, as were flashes of several turns and crowd scenes, but the whole Was no more than a lowercase treat- ment, of the world of sawdust and spangles. A viewer could not get a grasp of the substance behind Kelly’s stature as a clown. GE enjoyed considerable promo- tional values, what with Kelly do- ing a panto quickie on the preced- ing “Toast of the Town,” news- reeled in the night’s recaps and acting as a sort of advance guard for the Ringling show’s ooening today (Wed.). Trau. “Oklahoma,” the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical, was the meat of Ed Sullivan’s “Toast of the Town” stahza on CBS-TV Sunday night (27), but the seasoning was flat. The show iparked the 12th anni of the musical, but the stanza 'failed to come alive with any of the* freshness or vitality of the R&H original. Instead of doing tabloid version of’ the musical (which may have been precluded by other commit- ments, including the forthcoming, pic version in the Todd-AO proc- ess), “Toast” showcased the top songs in “Oklahoma” as per- formed, in some cases, by the original players in the 1943 legit production. The tunes, of course, were okay, but the production framework was lacklustre. The straight musical offerings, more- over, could well have used some comedy turn interpolations. Sullivan apparently likes" big choral ensembles so this show teed off with the Oklahoma Univ. Glee Club, in. a remote pickup from Oklahoma City, doing the show’s title song. Near the end of the show, another big chorus, the Augustana College Choir did “O What A Beautiful Morning” in Swedish. This treatment made both numbers massively dull. Far better were Celeste Holm’s reprise of “Can’t Say No” and “A Fella Needs A Girl,” the latter from another R&H show, “Alle- gro.” John Raitt, an R&H alumnus from the original cast of “Car- ousel,” and Florence Henderson, 1 currently in the Broadway musi- cal; “Fanny,” did nicely on “People. Will Say We’re In Love,” with Miss Henderson coming back again to do a “Fanny” number, “Be Kind To Parents,” with youngster Gary Wright. In order to give an idea of “Oklahoma’s” international cov- erage, Richard Collett, Swedish baritone, did “Surrey With the Fringe On Top,” in his native tongue. Barbara. Cook also came over nicely with her rendition of “Many A New Hay,” with backing from a ballet troupe. Sullivan also brought Oscar "• Hammerstein * 2d and Richard Rodgers for the expected questions about their technique- of collabora- tion. Rodgers closed the show by batohihg the ^orchestra in the title, song, with the lead singers ih : the “Toast” show as the' vocal en- : semble. Harm. , “Studio One,” currently in a ro- ’marttic-draina and comedy cycle, brought in one of its best of-the season Monday night (28) in Ernest Kinoy’s “Dominique.” A warm and; wistful romantic .comedy.with an occasional spurt of. satire, its theme and situation gave it enough of .a twist to make it-standout. Story of an Italian girl of an aristocratic family suddenly transplanted to suburban Long. Island as the wife of a highway engineer also served as the perfect vehicle for Marisa Pavan, the Italian import, and the role of the harassed hubby was a nice change of pace for Ralph Meeker. Plqy compared a series of in- cidents setting off the difficulties of Miss Pavan’s adjustment from the * casual and sophisticated life of the Italian aristocrat to the stuffy (by comparison) atmosphere of suburbia. Here’s where the satire came in, via a sharply etched vignette of an embarrassed but prudish neighbor who wants her nude statue removed from the lawn, as played by Peter Sturgeon, and a “good cheer lady” bit in* voiving Betty 4#dnc-air as the give- away girl who welcomes newcom- ers to the community with gifts from the local merchants. The naivete of the Italian girl toward American" materialism provided, a striking and amusing note. . All of which were added fillips to the main situation, the ups and downs of a romance complicated by differences in background and out’ook. Complicating the situation ! is the element of the triangle, with Phyllis Hill playing a childhood chum of Meeker's who’s been in love > with him all the time. The i crisis comes when, with customary directness, Miss Pavan tells Miss Hill that she ought, to stop being cruel to herself by seeing Meeker. This, Coupled to her failure to sign an immigration affadavit, sends her packing for home, but all. comes out nicely in the end. Kinoy might have used a couple of more incidents to bolster the plot, but as director Franklin Sehaffner played it out, the story ran at a leisurely but convincing pace. Miss Pavan brought direct- nessr warmth and credibility to her role, while Meeker showed sympa- thetically as the puzzled hubby. Miss Hill was fine, as. was Norman Feld as another friend. Everything about the production was excellent, including' a suitable bittersweet musical background and some im- pressive props. Chan. “Frigidaire Entertains,” which preemed last fall as a sort of week- end party type of show, is rapidly becoming a minor “-Toast of the Town” on the Canadian Broad- casting Corp. video wet*. Retaining its regulars—emcee Byng Whitta- kqr, canary Frosia Gregory, ba- toner Jimmy Namara and com- mercial gabber Beth Lockerbie— show is swinging more and more to acts from Toronto niteries and stage to fill its Friday 9 p.m. half- hour. Format is still considerably off- beat to the “Toast” style but it will take very little to swing it around to fit. Emceeing, of w.k. stocky Whittaker suits the show and Namaro’s band showbacking is socko. Recent appearances on the Frigidaire stanza included Lenny Collier, The Dyerettes, Larry Weeks, Barin-Bore, Bobby Joyce and Ginger, others. With closer knitting and smoother pacing, airer could be a top spot on the CBC screen schedule. Gorm. Tony Martin accented the pro- duction side of his 7:30 NBC-TV show on Monday (28). What with his romantic pipes and those ex- travaganza touches, it was a slick quarter-hourful that, for all its quickieness, operated at leisurely gait beamed for the dinnertime set. Martin opened with one-two punch of “In A Little Spanish Town” and “I Love Paris in the Spring,” then mixed quintet took over for the “Si Si” stuff. Star .joined them to front an Anglicized German folker bearing the produc- tion accoutrements in depth and followed up neatly with “April in Portugal.” As with CBS, the NBC web may find itself in the throe's of reshuf- fling the 7:30 to 8 song and news- cast stanzas (Martin's Monday plus the Eddie Fisher-Dinah Shore two! apiece rotation plus the J, C. i Swayze crossboarder), but" there should always be a Tony Martin around, no matter what the slot,. And ditto the other - pair of chirper*. TratL J BUFFALO BlLLHt. VS %■/' 1 With Hick Jones, Nancy Gilbert,, Harry Chesire, others Produced by: Flying'A productions 39> Half-hours '=■ . j, v MARS, BROWN SHOES (llO mar- .kefcs) i . .* ■ Distributor (fringe markets): CBS .Television Film Sales , (Leo Burnett) . . This Flying A - kidfilm was the! principal in a unique spot buy Via Leo Burnett some months.-ago, in which Mars has signed up for spring-summer bankrolling with Brown Shoes taking over when the weather grows a little colder. (CBS Television Film can sell hr mar- kets left, after the Burnett-Flying A , deal.) The half-hour vidfilm skein :was absolute in following the standard pattern of juve boss mellers. That Was quite clear when the initialer was viewed’via WCBb- Y., last Saturday. The show was slotted during the 30 minutes just prior to “Annie Oakley,” an- other Flying A pic series. Only difference was in sex of the leads. Flying A looks to have a real budget saver in this twin opera- tion: looks like same sets, loca- tions, houses, extras, etc., and, union rulings permitting, even the same scripts, -with just minor changes. The whole “Buffalo Bill Jr.” setup is geared away from taking chances. But while the kids aren’t getting anything very fresh, they are getting a type program that has evidenced strong audience support ih the past. ^ First show, with Dick Jones as the fresh-faced cowkid star, ran through B.B.’s efforts to keep the Apaches from’ saving their chief, Geronimo, from .a Federal prison. With the help and hindrance of his kid sister Calamity (Nancy Gil- bert), , who - tricked the villains throhgh knowldegtfof Morse code, the first show was, carried to a successful conclusion. Team was, in turn, helped, and hindered by Harry (Pappy) Chesire, as Judge Ben Wiley,, who, as stepfather to the hero and bis sister, was also a help and hindrance. It was chiefly Chesire who, by flagrant misuse Of his judicial powers and dullness, provided the laughs. The “Bill Jr.” production had just enough guns, blundering and fisticuffs to satisfy most juve video ev»n taken in a double dose with “Annie Oakley.” Art. Subscription TV Gets A CBS ’Omnibus’ Airing In Pro & Con Debate CBS-TV’s “Omnibus” on Sunday (27) tossed around the controver- sial question of subscription,,tv, with emcee Alistair Cooke inter- viewing some key personalities in show biz, sports, education and broadcasting and briefing the view- er on the rudiments of unscram- bling the home picture via the Zenith Phonevision decoder, (Cooke emphasized that he had i sought to interview some Holly- wood film reps on the subject but that all had turned down the in- vitation.) V At best, Cooke hazarded, it will be at, least another year before toll-tv becomes reality, even should the FCC agree that it’s in the public interest. Interviewed via film on the pros and cons of toll-tv were such di- verse personalities as legit pro- ducer Jean Dalrymple (with par- ticular reference as to what effect it would have on the N, Y. City Center opefa-ballet-drama season); Tom Hamilton, athletic director of U. of Pittsburgh; George B. Storer, owner of multiple tv stations, and Dr. David Henry, of New York U. Miss Dalrymple saw subscription tv as resolving all of the City Cen- ter financial problems but cau- tioned that a viewer, conditioned to free video, wouldn’t go for a toll rap unless it was a super-duper production in the sense of a “Peter Pan.” Nor could she see. toll-tv displacing free-tv. The Pitt sports director was bullish on the prospects of sub- scription tv resolving the eco- nomics of collegiate sports, but felt that controls were necessary to erase any stigma of college com- mercialism. As far as he was con- cerned, if toll-tv emptied the sta- diums, it wouldn’t be particularly important as long as the dollars Were coming in. 0 Storer, a major figure in the status quo picture of commercial video, couldn’t see the feasibility of toll-tv either for the big or the small station and predicted a public protest when “free” .hours of viewing were reduced or elimi- nated^ ' Dr. Henry expressed the hope that educational tv would be in- (Continued on page 4f) TELEVISION REVIEWS SI TOMORROW ... With Lynn: Poole* Vafineyar JRusIt, Robert MaddJo, Hr; J. H. Holld- mon Producers: Poole ill. association with Robert. Fehwich* John . Lockwood. -"V Directors: Kennard Calfee, Her- bert B. Caban 30 Mins.; Sat., 7 p.m. Sustaining f ABC-TV from Baltimore t- “Tomorrow/” an ABC import from WAAM ; TV, Baltimore, looms as an extremely important public service venture for the network. This program, with blessings from John .Hopkins U., is 1 directed* at youngsters looking at the roster of professions and vocations. It’s a tremendous aid in selecting; a career. . , Initial; - show, . “Metals by .the Mile,”..concerned itself, with metal- lurgy, of. which there is a . glaring, deficiency either to meet the grow- ing peacetime needs or those of national, defense. As it’s -been pointed out, there are only. 460 metallurgists being trained today. At the same time, it was noted, there were some 16 kinds of metail- in use in I960 and today there are- 321 known metals and alloys. So many phases of dpily living depend upon various kinds, of metals that a continued deficiency in personnel would impair, the normal rate of progress. The program is aimed at the! youngsters in the final stages of high school who must soon decide what to do. However, the language used on the-show is adult, and as non-technical as possible. The presentation is fair and isn’t in- tended to glamorize the calling. However, the literate and pains- takingly careful presentation makes the layout- absorbing at times. The Show started off with the historic development of metals, with film clips illustrating. Lynn Poole, of Johns Hopkins, does the moderating, with guest spiels by Robert Maddin, metallurgist at that'school’,'with Dr. J. H. Hollo- mon, of General Electric, telling more of that profession’s impor- tance and function. Dr. Vanne- var Bush, one of the more eminent scientists spoke on the opportuni- ties in that field. He predicted many years of prosperity if wa^ can be avoided and he said it can be done,if we’re intelligent about it. Jose. WENDY BARRIE SHOW With Sunny Abbott Trio, others Producer: Lester Wolf Director: David Lowe 30 Mins.; Mon.-thru-Fri., 11:30 a.m. Participating; WARD, N.Y. Wendy Barrie came back to video last week after a couple of months hiatus following her short-lived Ohio television showcase. The fourth day (24) of her new WABD, N.Y., half-hour ayem strip was a pretty lively compilation of hokum, music and song showbiz shop talk, latter delivered in the grand Broadway manner that would tend to impair the full sympathies of the homebodies the stanza seeks. Show subtitle is “Shop Talk.” Her telexposure began with a few minutes a la Kukla and Fran, only with less whimsy. She and a puppet, Arnold Ardvaark' by name, who gabs like a disenchanted German dialectician rather than a talking ardvaark, palavered with no special goal in mind. For vari- ety, the Sunny Abbott Trio sang and played “Them There Eyes.” Though their singing wasn’t much, style was peppery and their instru- mentalizing nicely, rounded the scene, One of the other touches was a session with one Connie Gordon, who gave out with a “do it yourself” potion in paints. Rather nervously handled, by Miss Gordorf, it seemed the stanza’s most direct approach to the fraus. Guest of this first Thursday’s telecast was video announcer Jack Lescoulie. This vis-a-vis gave the clearest evidences of the femme’s entertainment conditioning. Lingo Was far removed from the realities of everyday speech, but the “won- derful,” “very great,” “isn’t that something!” “just terrific,” as well as the saccharine “oh, you sweet thing” and “I’m just mad about him” weren’t out of place in Miss Barrie’s personality. She’s a ma- tronly, busy Woman whose bright delivery doesn’t allow dwelling on her colorful tongue. With all DuMont on a save-coin kick, it’s only likely that all o&o WABD’s morning shows be lim- ited to a one-camera operation. In line with that, the Wendy Barrie program was so neatly directed by David Lowe that the single camera limitation- went unnoticed. The lensing played easily about the modest set, With the stage business being diverse enough to aid inter- est. Miss Barrie’s commercial spiel was good. If the audience didn’t get a particularly good break, the bankrollert did when she let the. “buy this” chatter drip over into the entertainment portions. Art.' ; ENTERTAINMENT 1955 With ered Allen/Dinah'Shqre, Bob ’Hope, Jimmy Durante* Ralph Edwards, John Derek, Leontyne Price, Judy Holliday, Cesar Ro- mero, Bobby Hackett, Pat Car- ", roll, Tom Helmore,.Adolph' Zukor, Helen Hayes, Nancy Cole- man, Karl . Malden, Paul New- man, Josh Wheeler, others' Producer; Jack'Rayel'. Director: Dick McDonagh (Max Liebman for N.Y. cut-in) Musical Director: Gordon Jenkins 90 Mins.; Sun. (27), 7:30 p.m. SUNBEAM, HAZEL BISHOP NBC-TV, from Hollywood and N.Y. (Perrin Pans; Raymond . Spectdr ) NBC-TV dedicated its new $3,000,000 Color City in Burbank, Calif.* on Sunday (27) with a 90- minute all-star tint display that, for the most part, played mbre like the show it Was competing against—“Toast of the Town;” And as though to Tub it in, Bob Hope, who was lending a dedicatory assist while the rival “Toast” was vying for the Sunday 8 to 9 audi-. ence, managed to toss in a cuffo plug to Ed Sullivan & Co. Only the .on-camera presence of prexy Pat Weaver and exec veepee Bob Sarnoff (along with sponsor Sun- beam factotum B, A, Graham to send Color City on its way) reestab- lished the fact that this was NBC s party and any resemblance to a rival show was entirely coinci- dental'. Show/which originated from the elaborate Burbank studios (save for a couple of pickups from the N.Y. end) managed to cram a lot of top talent into its hour and a half framework, with Fred Allen han- dling the emcee chores. (And, lp, after these many years still lack- ing the ease and casual. demeanor that’s* otherwise second nature to such a vet trouper). Yet while the salute was ^designed strictly in Burbank’s favor, it remained for the two Gotham-emanating seg- ments to pack the show’s highest entertainment quotient. These in- cluded'the reenactment of an excit- ing first-act scene from the smash legiter “Desperate 1 Hours” on the occasion , ef the tv.. announcement of its Antoinette Perry Award .(with Helen Hayes oh hand to pre- sent a “Tony” to author Joseph Hayes and another to director Rob- ert Montgomery, whose actress daughter Elizabeth accepted for him), and the opening and best comedy sketch of the layout, fea- turing Bobby Hackett and Pat Car- roll, with Tom Helmore doing the off-camera commentary. (This par- ticular sketch wa J S produced- directed by Max Liebman.) Otherwise “Entertainment 1955” was pretty much of an in and out affair, certainly not the distinctive and unusual show that should' have been blueprinted to symbolize such an important date and event in the onward and upward march of NBC. The “Toast”, format was in evidence throughout (as with the legit' “Desperate Hours” capsule). There was a good 20 minutes in the latter half that had more over- tones of a Paramount, rather than an NBC, salute, when Ralph Ed- wards gave Adolph Zukor the bio treatment, which inevitably invited “preview” film clips of Bob Hope’s upcoming “Seven Little Foys” and the James Cagncy-John Derek “Run for Cover” (with both Hope and Derek doing an in-person). Hope’s standup routine, inciden- tally, was a funny bit. Dinah Shore simulated a record- ing session in - her plattering of “Whatever Lola Wants”; Leontyne Price sang an aria from “Tosca” (with a capable assist from Josh Wheeler); Jimmy Durante played foil to Allen’s pitchman in a song sketch that failed to play as funny as the idea; Judy Holliday and Cesar Romero enacted a series of Mr. & Mrs. sketches that was short on inspired writing but frequently redeemed by Miss Holliday’s com- pelling mimicry. The Coast version of compatible tint was entirely satisfactory. Rose* WEATHER OR NOT With Scotty Scott 5 Mins., Mon.-thru-Fri., 6:55 and 11:30 p.m. CONSOLIDATED CIGAR,, BAR- BASOL WABC-TV, N. Y. ( Eruoin , Wasey ) Deal Erwin, Wasey got for two of its clients for a twice-nightly weather strip via WABC-TV will probably go down in history as one of the cheapest cost-per-thousand per commercial minute deals (it’s figured at about 10c) in television. Consolidated Cigar (Dutch Masters) and Barbasol alternate on the shows, with crossplugs, plus some extra run-of-station spots thrown in for good measure. But while the deal may be fine from the agency’s point of view, it isn’t from the, viewers. First of all, too much commercial time in the five minutes* a good incen- i (Continued on page 48)