Variety (April 1956)

TELEVISION REVIEWS 'finiETY MARCO POLO. With Alfred Drake, Doretta Mor- thw, Arnold Moss, Paul Ukena, George Mitchell, Harold Vermil- yea, Jerome Kilty, Beatrice Kraft, others Producer-Director: Max Liebman Associate: Bill Hobin Writers: William Friedberg, Neil Simon Music: Clay Warnick, Mel Pahl (from Rimsky-Korsakov themes) Lyrics: Edward Eager Music Director: Charles Sanford (orchestral arrangements, Irwin Kostal; choral arrangements, Warnick, Pahl) Choreographer: James Starbuck Costumes: Paul du Pont Sets: Frederick Fox 90 Mins.; Sat., 9 p.m. OLDSMOBILE NBC-TV, from N. Y. (color) (D. P. Brother) Max Liebman brought in a lush, lukty and tasty dish in spectacu- larizing the adventures of Marco Polo Saturday night (14). It was a sumptuous production, romantic in the right places and a tongue-in- cheek romp in others, with pag¬ eant-like trappings of palaces and market places, from the Venetian kickoff through the Oriental safari of the 13th Century globetrotter. As to the latter, he had a sturdy, solid sender in the vocals and pre¬ tending of Alfred Drake and an attractive singing-acting teammate in Doretta Morrow, his vis-a-vis in the Broadway and British editions of “Kismet.” The score, built by Clay Warnick and Mel Pahl from the structure supplied by Rimsky-Korsakov, the stylish Scheherazadean, translated well to an updated idiom, as were the lyrics of Edward Eager. In fact, there may be one or two pop hits to come out of the splendiferous spec, particularly “Is It You?” as duetted by the principals, plus a couple of cheerful ditties like “Population” (Drake) and "I’m a Tartar” (Drake and the Warnick Choir). William Friedberg and Neil Simon went allout on the script to come up with a nifty ntu- sicomedy book that had that ster¬ ling Broadway look. The Paul du Pont costumes and Frederick Fox’s decor were in the fabulous groove that compatible color undoubtedly lifted to eye- arresting range for those lucky enough to have a tint machine at hand. As a topper, James Star- buck came through with surefire choreography, not the least of which * was the solo “Ceremonial Dance” of Beatrice Kraft, support¬ ed in spots by her troupe, plus other terping arrangements spread through Polo’s peregrinations from the courts of Kublai Khan, the Tibetan satrap and the Persian king. With Drake doubling as off¬ screen narrator, the bridges were deployed to introduce a series of bazaars and entertainments, set 6ff notably in the tumbling and pyra¬ mid building of the Wazzan Troupe, among other flashes by various components in furthering the story and action. Arnold Moss. Paul Ukena, George Mitchell'and all the others stood out in their straight acting roles, with Ukena as the Khan handling a song. It wasn’t all a steadily interest¬ ing progression. The second act tended to drag, though enhanced by a kind of unorthodox fencing scene between Drake and Jerome Kilty, latter as the son of Harold Vermilyea, the Baron of Tibet. But i It picked right up again in the j third act to flow evenly toward | overall sockola as a specola in all; departments. - i Drake and Miss Morrow carried | the burden of the singing assign- , ments to come off with honors I therein as well as in t.he emoting. j Charles Sanford handling the o>’ch 1 nobly to rack up a score for him¬ self. Liebman isn’t dead yet. I Trait. HOME THEATRE With Suzanne Executive Producer: A1 Sternberg 95 Mins.; Mon. (2), 11:25 p.m. Participating ' WTVN-TV, Columbus 1 Suzanne, billed as “a French , woman of mystery.” is a new addi¬ tion to WTVN-TV’s weekday lale evening movie presentation. Suzanne, who^e real identity the station is trying to keep a secret for the present, speaks little Eng¬ lish in introducing the night’s movie and buildup to the commer¬ cials. Her French is translated through English sub-titles on the tv screen. WTVN-TV states that eventually Suzanne will request help from viewers in improving her English. The gimmick, widely ballyhoocd in the city’s press through adver¬ tisements, caused discussion among viewers 'and is clever at present. However, it’s doubtful how long Suzanne can keep up the same rou¬ tine without becoming tiresome. .. The gimmick’s life probably will ‘ ■ be over in a matter <of months. ;• • Conn. ’ele Eollow-Up Comment Robert Montgomery Presents Robert Montgomery on Monday (16) took the first step toward the “canonization” of the late Albert Einstein with William Kendall Clarke’s “Portrait of a Man.” Father of the theory of relativity was portrayed in a semi-docu¬ mentary style in a manner that made him a flat personality. Pre¬ sentation was devoid of drama or humor, and the series of events depicted were such that it made Einstein an incomplete man. Montgomery acted as the narra¬ tor for the show, to tie in the various episodes in the presenta¬ tion. Unfortunately, neither the modus operandi, nor the hurried technique 1 of the writer, contrib¬ uted to the sum total of the know¬ ledge about Einstein. The show traced the professor’s career from a* youth who refused to indulge in playing soldier with other children, through his profes¬ sorships at various universities in Europe, thence through the Nazi persecution, and finally, his life in America. It’s a tall order to squeeze in a one-hour presentation, no matter what device would be used. Perhaps it would have been better to present a single facet of the scientist’s life and give it dramatic substance, whether through his humanitarian beliefs or his scien¬ tific teachings. What the NBC-TV show did was entirely inadequate, and did little justice to the great physicist. Robert Ellenstein played the title role and the camera never peered into his face. Such tech¬ nique recalls the early films which portrayed the Deity by showing various parts of his body, but never the face. Others participating in the show included Nina Hansen, Peter Von Zerreck, Ray Boyle and Beverly Lunsford, all of whom spoke their lines dutifully. Jose. Telephone Time “Man with the Beard,” presented last Sunday (15) on CBS-TV’s “Tel¬ ephone Time,” falls into the truth is stranger than fiction category. Without a factual tag. the story might easily tye attacked as a con¬ trived, unbelievable and elemen¬ tary attempt to point up the value of tolerance. But it actually hap¬ pened a number of years ago. A man in Fitchburg, Mass., was per¬ secuted by his friends and neigh¬ bors because he let hisovhiskers grow. The message was simple and di¬ rect. The man was considered a danger because he revolted, against a town custom by refusing to shave. That made him different. Not only was he attacked, but his children also. Donald S. Sanford’s teleplay, the performances and the camera¬ work all contributed ably in show¬ ing how violence is built up among people through ignorance, which breeds intolerance, which in turn breeds hate. It took time, but the townspeople finally realized the foolishness of their action. In the meantime, though, the man who grew the beard served a year in jail for at¬ tacking members of the community after being provoked by a gangup ■ on his daughter. | i Walter Coy did a fine job in the ! title assignment, with William j Ching, as a confused friend, and Beverly Washburn, as the daugh- ! ter, also registering effectively. The j balance of the cast handled their I roles capably, while John Nesbitt ■ hosted the session affably. Produc¬ tion moved at a nice clip. Jess. U.S. Steel Hour ! Imogene Coca, who’s been doing some guest shots since her last regular comedy series on NBC-TV failed to jell, switched networks and characters when she appeared i as a dramatic actress on a “United 'Slates SI cel Hour” play on CBS- TV last Wednesday night (11). But : the vohie'e, a Mel Goldberg play . tilled “Funny Heart,” failed to : roll. It was mired in a bog of cliched situations, tired hip talk and even more fatiguing hysteria. Miss Coca was not impressive in the role, of a famous comedienne who is in a panic about her hus¬ band's love, her own attractive¬ ness and her upcoming debut in video. Tne script had Miss Coed alternating between self-pity and ■ downright unpleasantness in a se¬ ries of stormy scenes with Jack Klugman. who was effective in the role of her husband. There was some interesting video backstage stuff, but the characters were strictly, stereo¬ types. The story line, which had Miss 'Coca finally making up her mind to be a wife and an actress, . was slightly jumbled at .times, but .for the most part,, folio wed the fa¬ miliar road-signs to its appointed end. Robert Culp, who played the role of the director, turned in the top performance on the show.. Even though the role was not mo¬ tivated with perfect clarity, espe¬ cially ip a near-romantic episode ^between Miss Coca and Culp, the latter played his part with an au¬ thoritative air that carried convic¬ tion. Herm. Alcoa Hour Fine writing and some excep¬ tional performances distinguished Alvin Sapinsley" “Even the Weari¬ est River,” which the Alcoa Hour presented Sunday G5) via NBC-TV. But while this blank verse drama was rich in poetic qualities and an ethereal mood, its characters were hardly the types to be found in a frontier-days town on the Casper- Laramie stage line. If- the viewer, however, was will¬ ing to grant poetic license, then this was an eloquent, moving story of “three bodies on *a dusty street” and how they came to be lying there. In flashback, the town doc, Boris Karloff, philosophically re¬ lated the problem of aging sheriff Franchot Tone, who, held a wound¬ ed man as a long*sought stage rob¬ ber. , Tone knew the suspect was the wrong man, but lied to maintain his professional standing before the town’s irate citizens. Despite the fact that portions of the script were frequently telegraphed, author Sapinsley .managed to bring an air of suspense and ominous atmos¬ phere to the drama, which eventu¬ ally wound up with the sheriff, his daughter and the suspect all slain. By far the best lines were hand¬ ed Karloff, and he handled them in dignified, scholarly fashion that ac¬ cented the grim, fatalistic mood of the piece. While hot faring as well scriptwise, Tone was surprisingly believable as • the sheriff who creaked and groaned with the height of his years and problems. Christopher Plummer was impres¬ sive as the falsely-accused prison¬ er. Less impressive was Lee Grant as the sheriff’s daughter. She seemed more suitable for a Green¬ wich village meller than a saga of the old west. Physical values and overall guid¬ ance supplied by producer Herbert Brodkin were .topdrawer, as was direction of Robert Mulligan. But withal, tv’s limited studio space appears too much of a handicap for it to compete with Hollywood in the field of western drama. For thq sweeping action and broad ‘out¬ door vistas of the theatrical film are missed in the video version. Gilb. The Ed Sullivan Show Ed Sullivan’s offering Sunday (15) seemed like a throwaway bit. Tne CBS-TV stanza had a singular lack of .excitement, devoid of the stimulation that comes from sock talent or superior production. In the production end, Sullivan went a little pverboard in the corn de¬ partment. In the opening presenta¬ tion, that of the Naval Academy j Glee Club, there was so much double exposure that it seemed to I deliberately obscure the musical I merit of the lads. At times, it was 'hard to distinguish whether Sulli¬ van was offering sports and mili¬ tary shots on the split screen with vocal accompaniment or vice versa. In the case of Helen Traubel’s “I Could Have Danced All Night,” the opposite was true. The dancers that came on seemed to augment the vocal. The former Wagnerian soprano, now a lead in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Pipe Dream,” of¬ fered a robust type of entertain¬ ment which wound up with a rendi¬ tion of “Bill Bailey.” Her forays with Jimmy Durante several years ago have provided her with the basis of a lot of extracurricular activity. Ricky Lane and his dialect spiel¬ ing dummy, Velvel, are frequent repeaters on this session with gen¬ erally excellent results. This trip, the verbiage was somewhat under, par, but still funny enough to get' by. Sullivan also repeated, via kin¬ escope, a scene from Metro's “Good News,” with Grace Kelly and Ralph Meeker. Of course, this bit was disinterred because of the pending nuptials in Monaco, but it does serve to show that Her Serene Highness has gone a long way since that kine was made in 1953. An item of interest was the magic of Jackt Kapps, a Hollan- dische import, a clever kid with the prestidigitation. Other major offer¬ ing was a pitch for funds for the Connie Mack Memorial statue to be erected at Shibe Park, Phila¬ delphia, In this regard*. Sullivan presented members of Mack’s famed 1929 combo, and a-recital by Ed Gardner of the famous radio bit, “Two Top Griiskin,” telling of a two-headed baseball player. Whether Gardner has. been away from the cameras for a long time,, or whether it was because of [Sullivan’s straighting, the punch of this piece was gone. Show wound up with the presentation of Jack Burke, winner of the Masters’ golf touriiament, and jockey Billy Pearson, who has reached the $32,000 level on the “$64,000 Question.” Jose. ■ Shower of Stars Chrysler’s “Shower of Stars” Thursday (12) on NBC started off with an excellent idea, an exposi¬ tion of the various types of Amer¬ ican music, with the initial prom¬ ise indicating that much of it would be in the- jazz idiom. Un¬ fortunately, the program -didn’t carry out this theme. True, there were bits of various kinds of mu¬ sic, but the generally unimagina¬ tive selections and presentation left the overall impression that the current native music is in a fairly sad state. The elements selected were fair¬ ly representative of their class. Frankie Laine is held in high es¬ teem by the disk-buying public, and Tex Williams is a good repre¬ sentative of the rural bards. There was a sampling of the mambo by Perez Prado; a ballad by Helen O’Connell, who also duetted with Laine, and a rock ’n’ roll demon¬ stration by the Teen Agers. A comparative note of reverence came from Jane Russell, Connie Haines and Beryl Davis, who com¬ bined on a spiritual. However, what really carried weight was the orchestral pairing of “Poor People of Paris” and “Lisbon Antigua,” with conductors Les Baxter and Nelson Riddle showcasing their bestselling disks. The other major event on the show was Joe E. Brown’s panto¬ mimic dissertation on baseball, which is a classic lampoon. Otherwise, “Shower, poured out a lot of mediocrity. J.ose. Screen Directors Playhouse Top Hollywood' directors lay their reps on the line when they go for that “newfangled” tv, be it live-or fiim. Some have made the grade, but very few via the half- hour teleplay. There jUst ain’t enough dimension in the bread & butter quickies to establish much. So why should a cracker jack like Fred Zinnemann . (“High Noon,” “From Here To Eternity,” “Okla¬ homa”) take the plunge, - especially j on “Screen Directors Playhouse,” which is an iffy Eastman Kodak I adventure to begin with? I They ballied this one real big, display ads and all, to focus on the fact that Ray Milland and Rod Steiger would star on Wednesday’s (11) segment over NBC-TV; plus billing Robert Louis Stevenson’s story, “Markheim.” It was sup¬ posedly RLS’ rehearsal ftr his classic “Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde” and maybe in the printed form it had more substance than the tele¬ play showed.^Milland as Markheim and Steiger as a sort of devil in the flesh were in there grimly try¬ ing to make sense of a little wick¬ edness* vs. morality script hinged on murder and Markheim’s final cleansing via the confession route. Dull. Trau. Playwrights 56 A winning team of a season ago played a mediocre game last week when Fred Coe brought back two of his old associates, director Del¬ bert Mann and scripter Sumner Locke Elliott, to produce “You and' Me—and the Gatepost” on NBC’s Playwrights 56. It was a far cry from some of those mem¬ orable Alcoa and Goodyear Play¬ house shows the trio had once turned out together. “Gatepost” was something of a mixture between melodrama and satire, with neither element com¬ ing into^ its own. It told the story of a socialite who had to “buy” her friends to keep them. She took on a’ young playwright, convinced him of his non-existent talents, almost wrecked his romance with “the girl from back home” and finally had to face the bitter truth about herself. Mary Astor as the socialite had poise and played the part well. She was reasonably convincing as she bestowed her largesse on the young playwright, George Grizzard, turning him from a modest young man into a playboy with illusions of “genfus.” Grizzard had an un¬ thankful role which he handled skillfully, even though there wasn’t much chance to etch out a • t (Continued on page 52). Wednesday, April 18, 1956 ► SALUTE TO BASEBALL With Art Carney, Don Adams, Mel Allen, Red Barber, Gertrude Berg, Eddie Fisher, Dave Gar- roway, Leo Durocher, Roy Rog¬ ers, Pat Brady, Sons of Pioneers baseball players; Art Linkletter, s emcee 1 -Exec Producer: Linkletter 3 Producer-Director: Alan Handley f Writers: Ray Allen, Harvey Bul¬ lock, Bill Dana, Tom Naud, y Aaron Reuben N i' * ,, .90 Mins., Sun. (15), 7:30 p.m. * f* U; S. RUBBER, AMERICAN RA- !i DIATOR & STANDARD, MAY- v BELLINE i NBC-TV, from N. Y. and Holly- e wood 1 (Fletcher D. Richards; BBDO; s Gordon Best) e NBC-TV’s “Salute to Baseball,” on the eve of the new .season’s getaway, was a clambake with a „ topical peg. The national pastime only furnished the flavor and at- t mosphere for this color spec, but ■ essentially it was a pretext for a big variety stanza with some com- “ edy routines scoring enough hits t to carry, the 90-minute running [7 time. t . A big portion of the show was e pitched to the kids, and so Roy Rogers and his horse. Trigger were l_ part of the pickups from the Little League baseball field in Sherman t Oaks. Cal. Also, a lineup of top a ballplayers, like Willie Mays, Duke Snider, Yogi Berra, Bob Feller, et al.. must have provided some kicks for the juve fans, although they, didn’t have much to do except to -> hang around awkwardly for the most part. e . They did serve as adequate y straightmen for Molly Berg’s com- U edy routine. This was a sock bit n that easily could have bombed with some miscues, but Miss Berg han- ^ died the script without a flaw, and e she delivered a succession of big e yocks, as she toured the player- L " filled locker-room. , Art Carney also came through “ with a strong bit. He played a * dumb rookie pitcher being inter- a viewed by Red Barber, but it was s a spoof that may have puzzled e some hero-worshipping juves s - looking in. Same goes for the Don e Adams’ socko satire on the um- pires. Eddie Fisher was on hand for a couple of songs, and while he belt- Lt ed in his usual effective style, the' question must have arisen: how does this fit into a show about baseball? A couple of other mu- y sical sequences were at least based y on the “Damn Yankees” score. lt Even Trigger was decked in base- e ball garb in a Coast sequence with Leo Durocher and The Sons of the t Pioneers. » Some clips showing the exploits l of Babe Ruth, Carl Hubbell, Willie Mays and the throwing arms of the U.S. Presidents from Taft to l " Eisenhower were also interspersed y through the show, but in such a fragmentary way that they meant k little. Also the demonstration of how a curve ball curves didn’t ?. prove much either, since there’s e always the curvature of the tv d screen itself to be considered, s There was also a sentimental ex- ls cerpt from'the Lou Gehrig bidplc. s Art Linkletter and Dave Garro- >- way joined in a pantomime version is to the inevitable “Casey At The Bat” as classically recited by d)e- it Wolfe Hopper. Linkletter 'also J- hosted the show in a pleasant, n casual way, assisted by a pahel of n juves who didn’t always say the right thing. Herm. z- --- d il THE BETTY CROCKER SEARCH e. With Hal March,, emcee; Johnny Desmond, Paul Whiteman Orch Producer: Fred Heider Director: Marshall Diskin <o Writer: Jean Meegan ■k 30 Mins., Thurs. (12), 8 p.m. •o GENERAL MILLS 1 - ABC-TV, from Philadelphia ?r ( Dancer-Fitzgerald-Sample) iu There oughta be a law. or at in least a rule among the networks, a against “presentations” of various i- awards carried ort the air. Latest p- in an ever-increasing line of such ;e telepresentations was the General Mills one-shot, the* “Betty Crocker a Search for the All-American Home- id maker of Tomorrow,” out of the a- Bellevue-Stratford in Philadelphia, ry If “Search” was less painful than the others, it was merely because in it was shorter, a half-hour one-shot m in the time vacated for the sum- st mer a week ago by Bishop Sheen. ie Perfunctory is the word for this ly affair, in which the food company jt awarded a $5,000 scholarship to the winning -high school senior id picked out of a field of some 256,- 11 . 000 entrants. With some 50 girls as sitting at a couple of banquet ie tables and Hal March parading d with a handmike, most of the show ig was fill until the final award to a is Pert youngster from California. n _ For the fill, Johnny Desmond did >d nicely with a brace of songs. Paul re Whiteman’s orch played his no\v- a standard arrangement of ‘when . (Continued on page 52)