Variety (March 1956)

RADIO-TELEVISION pfatlETY Wednesday, March 2l, 1956 40 Tele Followups Continued from paste 22 fusal to grow old gracefully—and there was no attempt to candycoat the characters. Everyone sounded just as they might have in real life. “Doll Face,” costarring two per¬ formers with a long and distin¬ guished showbiz record—Glenda Farrell and Frank McHugh-told of a" former, beauty queen who could never live down her moment of glory. During a visit to a con¬ vention, where her husband hopes to get a promotion, she turns her charms on the boss. It is a rude awakening for her when the hus¬ band loses the promotion on her account. Yet, and every tv viewer should be eternally grateful to scripter Ross for this, the ending didn’t bring on the traditionally sudden reformation in which, in the space of five minutes, a character is able to gain .complete insight into him¬ self. As a matter of fact, in “Doll Face,” it appeared that the wife realized only dimly her shortcom¬ ings. Her first reaction was to blame her failure on a poor job done by the hairdresser. Miss Farrell gave the part of the matron- life, bounce and vitality. It was a firstrate performance. One could feel sorry, for her, even dislike her, and yet she also held the audience’s sympathy through¬ out. McHugh was warm and quite wonderful in the role of the weak husband. Possibly the most engaging and exciting performance was given by Nancy Malone, a pretty and extra¬ ordinarily winning young actress who brought understanding to the difficult part of the daughter. Miss Malone made a very distinct con¬ tribution and registered via her unaffected simplicity. Here’s a gal Hollywood should rush out to get. In the smaller parts, Addison Powell did very well as the young new owner of the firm who suffers under Miss Farrell’s uninhibited attentions; Gene Lyons as the press agent etched a convincing por¬ trayal and Jeff Harris did a surpris¬ ing lot with the-small role of the bellboy. Scripter Ross can take a bow for HAL HIXON Formerly Ziegfeld Follies and Club 18 Representing ■ Chrysler Manhattan Company, Inc. A Direct Factory Retail Branch Can Make You the VERY BEST DEAL in All of Greater New York f CHRYSLER PLYMOUTH IMPERIAL Call HAL HIXON At ClrcU 6-4342 For Complete Details-— And a Money-Saving Deal Beautiful Charcoal Portrait Done Fjom Your Photo $10 Unusual Gift JOHN WALENCIK 17 N. STATE ST. Rm. 1704 CHICAGO 2, ILL.- a perceptive play that never went overboard in emotionalism. “Doll Face” was extremely well balanced comedy-drama. Director Sidney Lumet, in much better form than two weeks ago, handled his players deftly and -action kept flowing smoothly. Final scene was done very skillfully and the lensing on the whole was imaginative. It was a show to remember. Hi/t. U.S. Steel Hour Last week’s (14) “The Candi¬ dates” on CBS-TV's “U.S. Steel Hour” was a cliche-ridden piece attempting to latch on to the “smoke-filled room” phase of a national political convention. The jockeying for ballot position in the S.S. Schweitzer hocus-opus was headed up by Ralph Bellamy as a veteran senator who missed the nomination several times before and figured this was his last chance. Rival was a younger sena¬ tor, played by Larry Gates. Between the two of them, plus their henchmen, the country would be in a bad way if either was nominated and elected. That’s how “Candidate” struck home in a negative way. Daniel Petrie di¬ rected the Theatre Guild produc¬ tion with a good feeling for pace, the closeup.? of each camp in ac¬ tion on the maneuvering for dele¬ gates’ votes were skillfully exe¬ cuted, and only a play was miss¬ ing. The lead characterizations were inconsistent, with show plac¬ ing it for suspense to throw a viewer off. Truth to tell, the tipoff came al¬ most at the beginning >vhen the convention chairman was shown behind a battery of microphones— all of them “CBS.” Were they kid ding J Bellamy and Gates did the best they could. Among those in the cast were the able Russell Collins as Bellamy’s principal ad¬ visor and Joan Wetmore as Gates’ wife in a couple of bits wasting her talents. Ttciu. Ed Sullivan Show Ed Sullivan did well with some of the top talent in several fields with, his Sunday (18) edition on CBS-TV. The sole drawback seemed to be in the quality of the filmed sequence by Marcel Mar- ceau. Much of the fine detail of’ his pantomime was lost, but even in a haze, this speechless wonder impressed as one of the fine art¬ ists in this endeavor. Sullivan went through some de¬ partures, particularly his use of Joe E. Lewis, who toastmastered the Friars dinner honoring Sul¬ livan few days earlier. Normally, Lewis’ brand of humor isn’t for family consumption, but this cap¬ suled dosage of the nitery head¬ liner stayed on the right side of the Comstockiah line. There were a couple of moments in which a hep ; viewer wondered how he would ektricate .Jiimself. Lewis managed handsomely and pro¬ vided a lot of laughs in the process. On the classical side, Sullivan brought in a pair of Metsters who did right handsomely by the tunes assigned them. Roberta Peters in “The Doll Song” from “Tales of Hoffmann” while Caesare Siepi executed “La Mer.” In the legit field, Ell Wallach headed a troupe of actors who did the early part of “Teahouse of the August Moon.” It constituted a good teaser for the company em¬ barking on a tour. Other plus values were con¬ tained in the songs by Nat (King) Cole in a smooth delivery of a trio of tunes, and the Charlivels aided by their father, one of the leading circus clowns In France. The trio are one of the more versatile acts extant. Jose. Shower of Stars Jack Benny has found the video equivalent of his famed screen blooper, “The Horn Blows At Mid¬ night.” It’s‘George Kelly’s vintage one-acter, “The Flattering World.” The playlet, penned in 1918, took up the major portion of CBS-TV’s “Shower of Stars,” which comes out once a month in color and black'-afid-whttc: Its only distinc¬ tion, however, is that it was an off¬ beat entry in a variety show for¬ mat. Play, pegged on a bluenose’s attitude toward show biz, is a light hearted caper in the writing but came heavy and sluggish in the playing. Benny surrounded himself with some all-star players but they never got in tune. Aside from some expert mugging by Elsa Lanchester, there was little to laugh at or com¬ mend. Benny was stolid and un¬ inspired as a bluenose college dean, Peggy Lee was miscast as his wife, Fredric March showed some spirit as a ham, Miss Lanchester played the housemaid and Sharon Bell essayed her young daughter. Ralph Levy’s direction didn’t help either. Fore and aft, the stanza was back on more familiar vaudeo lines. Benny's patter was mostly unin¬ spired, Miss Lee* came off okay warbling “Riding High” and “Mr. Wonderful” and the foursome, Benny, March, Misses Lee and Lan- chaster, romped through “Heart,” from the legituner “Damn Yan¬ kees.” In addition to the Chrysler plugs, neatly, handled by Bill Lundigan, Benny got in a line for his Lucky Strike show, Miss Lee got in a phrase about her stint at.the Coca- nut Grove and March got in para¬ graph about his upcoming pix, “Alexander The Great” and “The Man In The Grey Flannel Suit.” Miss Lanchester said nothing. Ap¬ parently, she’s at liberty. Gros. CBS-TV Chi Shift ■ - - Continued from pace 21 view color as something for the future. “When there’s enough demand for it, we’ll be ready for color,” Chi veep H. Leslie Atlass asserts. Columbia’s “no color now” stance for its Windy City o&o is in sharp contrast to NBC-TV's WNBQ which is currently going through a com¬ plete remodeling itself for an April 15 debut as the nation’s first “all tint” station with all its local live shows getting the rainbow treatment. The t new CBS quarters include four tv and five AM studios, plus a brace of • recording rooms that can also be used for radio. Video’s Studio 1, the largest of the quar¬ tet, measures 63x80. feet and has a 40-foot scenery loft. It’ll be used as the main audience studio with a. seating capacity of 300, using fold¬ ing chairs. It also has a builtin two-lane bowling alley which is floored over when not in use.- The other three tv studios meas¬ ure 50x60 feet. The entire video layout is on .the groundfloor, thus eliminating the elevator problem. Dallas — Jimmy Mundel of WFAA-TV here has been elected prez of the Dallas-Wort Worth News Photographers Association. Other officers are Hal Hunt, KRLD-TV, Dallas, veepee and Key Herbert, WBAP-TV, Fort Worth, also a veepee. .1 CINCINNATI, With a mighty 29.1 ZIV-TV’S CISCO KID (Duncan Renaldo) gives the bum’s rush to a long list of big-time operations on the Cincinnati scene, ! including TV Play¬ house, Climax, Jack Benny, Comedy Hour, I Love Lucy, etc. To get command of a bigger TV audience, get in touch with • CINCINNATI CHICAGO H«W YORK HOUVWOOO Television Reviews ; Continued from pase 22 ; simple, sober, non-sugarcoated yet never morbid approach that earned the respect as well as attention of the viewer. It was not only dis¬ tinguished public service; it was also a compelling tv drama. And though it had its faults, it was very sensitive, adult treatment, and its overall effect was impressive. Produced by CBS Public Affairs in consultation with the American Psychiatric Assn, and National Assn, for Mental Health, show, built its emphasis mainly around an actual filmed report of three months in a patient’s life (and treatment) in a California hospital. There were vignettes on other patients that were fascinating, amusing or depressing, by turn. But the progression of 13 • weeks, as a doctor brought a woman out of mental darkness, was the main subject. Rather slow moving, the program nevertheless, always held interest. When the doctor, after 10 weeks, brought the mute woman to utter her first remark, any viewer must have experienced a quiet thrill. The sessions between the patient, a Doris L., and the psychiatrist, Dr. Louis Cholden, had a compelling honesty and intensity. Brief shots of other patients were no less ab¬ sorbing. Some were articulate, others mute. Some discussed their past hallucinations very fully and frankly. The film picked up won¬ derful moments—hands awkwardly covering faces, bedraggled hair, dejected figures; visiting hours, song' sessions, games. The care, solicitude and gentleness of doc¬ tors and attendants shone out. Format of the show was a little complicated. Perhaps it was neces¬ sary to get a name, and Orson Welles proved an ingratiating reader, reading parts qf a book on insanity in a Glasgow hospital of 100 years ago. He read simply and effectively, with no histrionics. Book was for contrast to the more humane conditions and treatment of mentally sick' patients today, but actually the real passages some¬ times confused a viewer, and might have been dispensed with. More effective were the cogent remarks and- explanations by Dr. William Menninger, as the program pro¬ ceeded. Program didn’t completely satisfactorily explain to this viewer what treatment had cured the pa¬ tient, Doris L., of her melancholia and recession—whether drugs had been used as well as psychiatry,, etc. But perhaps too much had been crowded into 90 minutes as it was. Event was a bold, adult and rare thing, probing into such a touchy subject. After all, as one medico (or Welles) said, there are no sharp lines between mental health and mental illness. The program not only threw penetrating light on what may be the nation’s-No. 1 health problem, but it also gave hope to many a viewer that was once regarded as definitively ill could be curable. Program point¬ ed up eloquently the need of care, as it demonstrated that most of the mentally ill could return home if money and doctors were avail¬ able. It can’t be too often said—CBS- TV can’t be too highly commended. Bron. sistants, circus acrobat Nick Cravat as a bearded mute who saved his physical feats for another occa¬ sion, and hefty Fortunio Bonanova the other faithful second. Cristo’ in this first- N. Y. showing, con¬ ceals his Dantes identity from Faith Domergue, deadpan beauty, who comes to him seeking her father’s murderer. It turns out that her fiance,'de Villfo^s (Sutton) is the guilty party, who is finally dueled into a corner by Cristo and turned over to Napoleon’s troops for final dispatch. Nineteenth century costuming is subdued but effective, and not much out of the ordinary is made of the camerawork, which is only adequate. As- for the selling potential of this TP A skein, Dolenz’s handsome maturity could easily have an im¬ pact on a goodly number of haus- fraus. Art. Robinson, Jones Continued from page 19 -■ - r Robinson is setting up two key aides to Bo|> Weitman, recently named veepee in charge of talent anjl program development. This particular unit is due for a major expansion, with a Weitman Coast aide and another functioning in the east. Thus the CBS-TV program dept, will move more and more in the di¬ rection of a major film studio, with the upcoming key appointments de¬ signed to implement Robinson’s new operational pattern for tv. In his new exec veepee status, Jones similarly will be divested of many routine chores but at the same time provide relief to tv prexy Jack L. Van Volkenburg. Jones will move into every promi¬ nent area of operation except net¬ work programming. Louisville —Bud Abbott, WHAS disk jockey and announcer, has re¬ signed to become public relations rep for Radio Free Europe in Mu¬ nich, Germany. COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO With George Dolenz, Faith Domergue, Nick Cravat, Fortunio Bonanova, John Sutton, Paul Cavanaugh, others Producer: Leon Fromkess Writer: Sidney Marshall Director: Bud Boetticher Distributed by: Television Pro¬ grams of America WABD, N. Y. Last Saturday (17) “The Count of Monte Cristo” got started on WABD, N. Y. Producer-distrib Television Programs of America reports it has the half-hour film series inked in some 90 markets. The George *JDolenz starrer strives for more realism than its many (of late) costume counterparts in vidfilm, but still it isn’t much more than standard period derring-do. Stanza is aimed more at adult viewers than at the kids, judging by the fact that the title character, as portrayed by Dolenz, shows his wrinkles more than most of the leading man breed. Nor does he escape getting cut up—neither do his assistants in many brawls with the faction of French nobility that opposed King Louis Phillip in 1834. Adapter Sidrtey Marshall skipped the Dumas’ transformation of Ed¬ mund Dantes into Cristo and plunged right into an episode in which the nouveau nobleman downs John Sutton, who greatly resem¬ bles the arch villain prevalent in the early days of costume talkies. 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