Variety (August 1956)

Wednesday, August 22, 1956 P%RJETY RADIO-TELEVISION 21 WANTED: CONVENTION ‘FORMAT’ TV’s $17,000,000 Goof Whatever the merits of “converting” the national political conventions to the electronics medium—and at this point they seem highly dubious—it’s a certainty that things will have to be radically different four years hence. (As a matter of fact that’s what they were saying back in ’52). The inescapable truth is that the “big show” out of Chicago last week was a tv bust, both as a “journalistic spec” and in terms of commanding coast-to- coast audience interest. Stripped to its essentials (and no mat¬ ter how much the networks tried to implement it wih offbeat touches) it added up to a dull gabfest for perhaps 90% of the time it monopolized the spectrum. If the nation’s viewers were inclined to feel apathetic about the whole thing—which was borne out by the ratings and share-of-audience figures—it was a justifiable reaction. With the Dems now out of the way and the scene of operation shifting to Frisco for the current GOP show, there’s little evi¬ dence thus far that things are any different or that the lessons learned from Chi can be translated into an exciting video plus for the Republicans. Only one sure fact has been established, on which there will probably be months of postmortems and self-examination— wherein lies the wisdom of the tv -networks in committing them¬ selves to a $17,000,000 outlay (only $14,000,000 of which is recap- turable in sponsorship coin) and disrupting two weeks of pro¬ gramming schedules, if the end result borders on boredom? It’s true that, in the interest of public convenience and ne¬ cessity, the tv networks are faced with an obligation to carry the conventions. Similarly the burden of expense «and the ob¬ vious economic facts of life dictate the need for bringing a West- inghouse, an RCA, a Philco or a Sunbeam into the sponsorship picture. But somewhere along the line, despite all th'e months of pre- arations and promises, somebody up there goofed, and goofed badly, in effecting a “tv streamlining” of the conclaves to satis¬ fy the needs of the American viewing public. How does one reconcile a Westinghouse plunking down $5,000,000 (enough coin to underwrite a full 52-week season of network program¬ ming) for a two-convention spread that translates itself into longwinded oratory calculated to invite wholesale tuneouts? It figures that a sponsor next time out is going to demand a bet¬ ter shake for that kind of money. Certainly last week’s Chi shenanigans demonstrated that the most updated gadgetry and wizardry out of the electronic shops is a poor substitute for the “content” of the show itself. The “format” of last Wednesday night’s Chi fiasco was a case in point. Faced with an hour’s lull in the Amphitheatre proceedings in the caucusing over the civil rights plank, the net¬ works made some desperate tries at filling the void with the expected but|onholing of key delegates, but for a good part of the hour the newsmen wound up interviewing one another. And with the major interest centering on the outcome of the civil rights issue, the viewer was compelled to suffer through end¬ less hours of dull platform oratory before reaching the crucial plank. As it turned out for those few who braved the 2 a.m. ordeal, it all proved anticlimactic, but that, of course, is beside the point and hardly the fault of the networks. If an electronic age puts the politician and the strategists in the spotlight, then perhaps the time has come for a radical change in the method of nominating a President. What might have been exciting and valuable backroom politicking for the on-the-scene delegates in bygone days adds up to poor fare for the tv viewer, not to mention uncomplimentary exposure to the constituents back home. It could well be that, within the limited sphere in which a convention functions, the networks have been exercising all their ingenuity and utilizing every device to give it movement. Since the basic function of the network is to report, with interspers¬ ing of Information, and editorial comment, the Chi and Frisco conclaves may well/represent the best of all possible jobs." * . But it isn’t enough. 'To the tv viewer it's been a poor substi¬ tute for excitement and entertainment and the end result hasn’t' warranted the endless hours of viewing. Rose. DEMOS WELSH ON TV-AM NEWSMEN Chicago, Aug. 21. At the same time that Demo¬ cratic chairman Paul Butler was attacking CBS for allegedly break¬ ing a promise by not carrying the entire convention documentary film, Butler’s National Committee was welching on a promise of its own to the broadcasters. The Committee has assigned a block of seats to the broadcasters, covering the convention. But it sought to swipe' these and turn them over to people who had no tickets for the section. This brought an angry statement from the Radio-Television Correspon¬ dents Association: “The Democratic National Com¬ mittee violated its commitment to the industry by preempting the (Continued on page 42) Femme Poll Chicago, Aug. 21. Poll taken by Chicago con¬ vention committee amongst femme conventioneers at Democratic powwow prod¬ uced some startling results. No surprise at all was score for leading Demmy of the cen¬ tury, with the late Franklin Roosevelt rating first; Adlai Stevenson second; and Harry Truman third. But, second only to Eleanor Roosevelt as “the woman my husband would most like to sit next to at dinner” was Marilyn Monroe! Clark Gable, the Duke of Edinburgh, and Peter Lawford beat candidate Stevenson as the most coveted dinner part¬ ner. And Ed Murrow was chosen favorite tv personality of the ladies; with Ed Sullivan second, and John Daly third. I Show Biz Fillip Spices Up GOP’s Lacklustre Opening Frisco Session By FARRELL DAVISSON Chicago, Aug 21. The chiefs of the three televi¬ sion networks have begun what promises to be a. drawnout “agon¬ izing reappraisal” of the medium’s role at the national political con¬ ventions now that the political strategists have become “tv pro¬ ducers” in plotting these quadren¬ nial epics. The fact that the packagers and talent roster of the carnivals in¬ clude the nation’s top political and legislative bigwigs makes this one of the toughest and most expensive dilemmas tv has yet encountered. And it has to be resolved in a con¬ text in which the politicos have al¬ ready declared open season on the network concept with charges of “monopoly” flying fast and loose. . The basic problem is this: just how do the webs reconcile the am¬ bitions of the politicians to get as much free tv exposure as possible during the gavel-to-gavel span of their clambakes with the showman¬ ship realises as demonstrated by the Democrats here last week that much of it was a crushing tv bore that put a big segment of the coun¬ try to sleep as indicated by the early ratings. Mebbe $5,000,000 Cost To Webs All this at the expense of a $14,- 500,000 tap to the advertisers in¬ volved, plus the chains’ “out-of- pocket” costs which are being es¬ timated somewhere between $3,- 000,000 and $5,000,000. The ironies of the situation were highlighted when during the dron¬ ing spiels of the secondstring speak¬ ers the tv cameras panned around the practically deserted Interna¬ tional Amphitheatre as the dele¬ gates themselves had long since sought refuge elsewhere from the torrent of gab. Democratic national chairman Paul Butler’s tirade against CBS- TV for its failure to carry all of the tailored-for-tv film depicting <?his party’s history dramatized just how far apart are the respective tv and political braintrusts on how the me¬ dium should cover these affairs. The whole import of Butler’s blast was that the tele networks were on hand merely to relay, verbatim and in toto, the Amphitheatre pro¬ gram and that they really had no independence to pick or choose ac¬ cording to the dictates of their news judgments. Rally Round Stanton That’s why ABC-TV prez Robert Kintner, in a formal statement, and NBC-TV chief Robert Sarnoff in a closed door huddle he and Kint¬ ner had with CBS topper Frank (Continued on page 42) Wasn’t a Show Chicago, Aug. 21. Charge of scalping tickets to the Democratic National Con¬ vention here last week was dismissed by police court Judge Joseph Butler. It was thrown out on the grounds the political shindig wasn’t a “place of amusement.” See Documentary Film Technique Politico ‘Must’ Chicago, Aug. 21. Innovation of the documentary film as part of the keynote speech at the Democratic national conven¬ tion is likely to be expanded and accented as the political campaign gets into full swing. Despite the controversy kicked olf by failure of CBS to carry “Pur¬ suit of Happiness,” the keynote short, in its entirety, tv reps and galleryites alike admitted it was an effective device. Paul Butler. Demmy national^ chairman, pre¬ dicted that the day of the 70-min¬ ute speech is past, thanks to dram¬ atic impact of the Dore Schary pro¬ duction. He told newsmen pic had accomplished its original purpose— to dramatize the Demmy story and to make more palatable the over- long floor proceedings. In addition to keynote short, Demmies also used clips from “Best Years” to background speech of former VFW head, Harold Rus¬ sell, armless hero of the Samuel Goldwyn film. Defeated candidate Averell Har- riman ran a documentary based on his political career on a grind policy in his Conrad Hilton h.q. GOP, which unveiled its Eisen¬ hower documentary on the eve of the ’Frisco huddle, also is distriu- ting an open end telefilm for use during tthe campaign. Local can¬ didates are free to add intros and finales for use on home stations. There is talk that Demmies plan a similar presentation “starring” Adlai Stevenson. The documentary technique will mean that political parties will court support of Hollywood more than ever. Democratic Flashbacks By FLORENCE S. LOWE Chicago, Aug. 2L Perle Mesta is frankly stage struck. Her proudest boast is that she is getting “the highest price ever paid for selling her life story to tv—“even more than Louella Parsons got,” she chuckles. (Ru¬ mored Mesta fee—$15,000; Par¬ sons tab—$5^000). Famed hostess- diplomat heads for Hollywood mid- September to work on production of the Mesta story on CBS’ “Play¬ house 90,” Dec. 6, also to shop for studio to produce her film-biog with Rosalind Russell starring. The perspirinig, smiling man who batoned Lou Breese’s 50- piece convention orch through the state songs was AFM prexy James Petrillo, recognized by few Amphi¬ theatre spectators. But Harry Tru¬ man had a special nod for him as he waved his stick for “Missouri Waltz” Bearded Mitch Miller beamed nearby. * * * The 1952 conventions skyrock¬ eted CBS anchor man Walter Cronkite to the top of the tv news tower. This time, attention-get¬ ters were NBC team—35 yr. old Chet Huntley; 33 yr. old Dave Brinkley, both comparative new comers . ABC’s John Daly only web anchor man who actually over¬ looked the convention floor NBC’s three-man team, Huntley, Brinkley and Henry, played to a live audience for both conventions, thanks to NBC’s “Convention Cen¬ tral” format, with a store-window glass front which drew s.r.o. gavel to-gavel spectators . . . Walter Cronkite’s “electronic window” (a la “Person to Person”) made him look nearest floor, but actually he neither saw nor was seen. * * * The $40,000 nut for the RCA- NBC press hospitality trailer cen¬ ter would have been cheap at even more. (It is less, incidentally, in ’Frisco because of less space al¬ located by GOP). It was not only only best goodwill maker of week, but should boom sales of the new RCA portable receivers . . . Press, delegates, alternates, and platform brass monitored proceedings on the 100 sets scattered around Am¬ phitheatre. * + * Veteran newshens made like teen¬ agers when they discovered the handsome delegate-at-large from Philadelphia was John Kelly, Prin¬ cess Grace’s father. Kelly, incident- (Continued on page 42) By BILL STEIF San Francisco, Aug. 21. The story of the opening GOP session was all hurrah, hoopla and entertainment. The Convention’s ordinary busi¬ ness—speeches by Frisco Mayor Christopher, California’s Governor Knight and parliamentary routine —was spiced by Gene Archer’s singing (including the National Anthem). Perry Botkin banjo num¬ bers, a couple of songs by Dennis Morgan and three numbers by the King’s Men. Manny Harmon, up from Holly¬ wood, led the Cow Palace Band, composed of sidemen from AFM Local 6 here. Actually, the GOP was saving the most photogenic entertainment for the afternoon session, which because of three-hour time differ¬ ential took place on the East coast in the evening. First afternoon round included Ethel Merman doing “Great Day” and special lyrics for “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” Irene Dunne re¬ citing the “President’s Prayer” and Jane Powell singing the National Anthem. Presumably, the GOP figured it would stock up the most eye-appealing items for the larger, nighttime tv audience. Highlight of Sunday’s frantic efforts to get set up here turned out, surprisingly enough, riot to have been caught by tv. Citizens For Ike Show This was the National Citizens for Eisenhower show in the 6500- seat Civic Auditorium near down¬ town Frisco. Show, similar to the one the Citizens put on in Madison Square Garden six weeks ago, ran with clockwork perfection, had a smooth, professional polish. The Citizens’ C. Langhorne Washburn emceed, but was spelled off and on by actor Wendell Corey —a real Republican live wire— and Frisco telem'stress Marjorie Trumbull. In addition to the usual passel of politicians, Fred Waring and composer Paul Lavalle showed up, latter with what he called “A March in D, D and E—The Dwight David Eisenhower March.” High spot for the Barney Brees- kin band occurred when his 10 violinists stood on top of giant Ike “Bandwagon” which had been driven into the arena, fiddled through “DDE March” and then, as the lights were switched off, turned around revealing “Eisen¬ hower” spelled out in phosphores¬ cent letters on backs. Crowd .ate this up. Several smaller pickup bands were also employed for show, and pair of amateur choruses—one of boy sopranos—rated big hands, too. Climax to two-hour show was ^Vfc-minute (for tv) campaign film Brandt Enos Associates made for Citizens group. Black-and-white film is hard-hit- (Continued on page 42) ABC-TV Yields To Frisco Union San Francisco, Aug. 21. ABC’s John Daly had two close calls yesterday (Mon.), the second entirely unscheduled. Commentator flew from the Democratic convention in Chicago to New York^ did “What’s My Line” and planed to Frisco for the GOP convention afterward, landing here just four and a half hours before he was due on the air with his 11 a.m. show. Arriving at Frisco’s Cow Palace, Daly discovered that the NABET local was vastlv unhappy with the fact that- the engineering for his show was to be handled by ABC. NABET reps got stubborn and threatened to pull the plug on the show unless a union card-holder look over—so just four minutes before Daly was scheduled to go on the air ABC capitulated. A union mar took over.