Variety (December 1956)

$0 RADIO-TELEVISION PfiiKti&Fr "Wednesday, December 19, 1956 Steps Up a Unique Contribution Armed with a mandate from the4j== Veterans Aomini^'ratlon, knowing from personal experience the need, the Veterans Hospital Radio Guild plans a broad expansion of its ac- tivitdes for 1957. * , The VHRG. members of which are really ambassadors of the en¬ tertainment industry currently services 43 hospitals, nine of which via persona] visits from VHRG vol¬ unteers. The immediate goal, in response to a VA request, is to ex¬ tend volunteer unit service to 16 additional VA hospitals, and script kit service to 20 more VA hospitals. The ultimate goal is to service all of the 174 VA hospitals in the U. S. and Dossessions with volunteer VHRG units. For a show biz industry activity that has won Congressional recog¬ nition and a warm endorsement from the VA—as well as the en¬ thusiastic participation of hun¬ dreds of VA patients—the VHRG has received relatively little pub¬ licity. In years past, when its scope was more limited, perhaps that factor was unimportant. At its inception in 1948, the organization just serviced Halloran Hospital. That is a far cry from the expand¬ ed goal of today of servicing every VA hosptial in the country. To do that volunteers from every section of the country are needed, as well as funds to buy microphones, tape recorders, scripts, props, sheet music, etc. , At the heart of the VHRG pro¬ gram is the slogan of helping the patients help themselves. Rather than bringing “spectator entertain¬ ment" to passive or non-partici- v pating audiences, VHRG teaches hospitalized vets to create their own entertainment. With the as¬ sistance of professional teams, drawn from many facets of show biz ranging from broadcasting to ad’ agency personnel, patients are invited to tape a recorded show. The taped show is then played over the “hospital bedside network." via earphones or loudspeakers. For a very simple idea, it has very bene¬ ficial results. Participating pa¬ tients in the show get a kick out of playing roles ranging from a “heavy to a vocalizing deejay. There always is an attempt to get as many patients as possible to par¬ ticipate in the going on and when the climate is favorable, commu¬ nity singing is held. And the “hos¬ pital network" airing gives the whole thing a local flavor, a tang all its own. Currently, teams composed of from eight to 12 volunteers are visiting the following VA hospitals once a week: Brooklyn, Manhattan, Kingsbridge, -Montrose, Castle- point, Northport, N. Y.; East Orange and Lyons, N. J., and Bos¬ ton, Mass. The remaining 35 hos¬ pitals services are via script kits. The VHRG has many success stories to tell, the tale of a para¬ plegic who upon leaving the hos¬ pital became a professional deejay, the story of a singer, now doing nitery dates, who began vocalizing as a patient at the “bedside net¬ work." These examoles, though are typical, the VHRG as an or¬ ganization shies away from at¬ tempting to make pros out of those patients participating in its pro¬ gram. The organizations’ big suc¬ cess story is that a great many servicemen are reminded weekly by show biz people that the world outside has not forgotten them, and that these ambassadorial teams fro mthe industry are on hand to help them in entertaining them¬ selves. And for those hospitals for which volunteer manpower is not avail¬ able, VHRG sends out kits consist¬ ing of scripts, directions on how to use them, sheet music, etc. But perhaps in 1957, with additional volunteers and new chapters else¬ where in the. country, as well as fresh money,* ex-servicemen will have the extra stimulation of visits. British B’casting ; Continued from page 26 not review books or direct letters to the editors or lecture or indulge in amateur theatricals. It was. of course, unthinkable that any BBC talent should also be heard on con¬ tinental stations such as Luxem¬ bourg, Normandie, Eire. x I Paulu rpports the magnificent* absurdity of the Lambert-Levita case of 1936. The editor of the BBC . publication, The Listener, amused himself with a description of a Talking Mongoose which was clairvoyant, able to read minds, identify motor cars, had killed 118 rabbits but refrained from doing so out of season, and so on. Lam¬ bert sued Sir Cecil Levita for slander because latter told BBC superiors that Lambert actually believed in the Talking Mongoose. Such a court action—possible only under British libel laws—and a verdict of $30,000 damages would have been unique if standing in isolation but it became involved with attempts to “intimidate” the BBC employe because Sir Cecil was a personal chum of the BBC chairman (not Reith). There was a frightful howl throughout the United Kingdom. Also fascinating this side are de¬ tails as reprised by Paulu of the bitter debate which preceded com¬ mercial tv. In that America was, to say the least, the much-cited “horrible example" used by oppo-i i_*;nts in Parliament. With so much material in hand it is perhaps quibbling (critic-like propensity) to regret the absence of a profile of Harry Towers (Tow¬ ers of London, of course), that amazing office boy-that-was of Radio Normandie’s English lan¬ guage concessionaires. He has since become a world marketeer .of British programs. This stunning career of young enterprise has never been adequately analyzed. Paulu’s knowledge of the pre- World War II period is necessarily derived only from sources. Nor does he refer to that delightful music hall spoof of the period, “We’re Frightfully BBC." The sheer labor involved in Paulu ’s “British Broadcasting" (possible only thanks to a Full- bright grant) cannot, however, but command great respect. Paulu writes well, marshals his facts in a way that proves his intellectual disciplines. He has organized the text to keep the up-to-date condi¬ tions foremost. As he should. Stu¬ dents will.be enchanted. In which regard not the least arresting data is Paulu’s description of the BBC’s Training Courses — all-important there since not one British univer¬ sity (until Bristol, just now be¬ ginning) has ever condescended to teach theatrical, much less broad¬ casting, arts. ABC Banking onKidpic Lead-JntoHypo ’Mickey’ Foremost on ABC-TV’s daytime agenda foir next fall is the blue¬ print of a half-hour kidpic variety stanza. Network aims at slotting jl- crossrlhe-board at _4U30 r back-to- back with “Mickey Mouse Club.” ABC is not yet at the point where it is seeking talent for the kid strip, but intentions are to call up a name star to head the casft. Show is cal¬ culated to help build the lead-in to “Mickey," which is Relatively weaker in the Urst half-hour. Though the network, would like to latch on to, some live daytime programming next season, if it in¬ tends to segue into “MMC” with al new offering, celluloid figures to get the nod because it is the only means of maintaining the 4:30 .to .6 block. Live could not be cleared uniformly around the country in the pre-“Mickey" time. Plans to do a liVe variety show,, first giving it a tryout on one of the webs o&o’s outside New York, have been postponed indefinitely. That this does not rule it ,out, how¬ ever. 2 Educ’l TV’ers Okayed Washington, Dec. 18. Outstanding authorizations for noncommercial educational tv sta¬ tions rose to 46 last week when the FCC issued permits for ETV outlets in Salt Lake City and Des Moines. Utah station will be operated by the U. of Utah. The school system of Des Moines will run the Iowa outlet. New Ch. 8 & Affil Lineup in Port. Portland, Ore., Dec. 18. KGW-TV, Portland’s fourth tv ‘station, went on the air last week after two days of dry run. The new Ch. 8 has grabbed off some of the top people from other tv and radio stations. The preem makes a big change in the entire-radio-tv picture here as networks have been shuffled high and low. Effective yesterday (Mon.), KGW-TV and KGW-AM are^the ABC affiliates. KLOR-TV was the ABC outlet, but is now indie. KGW-AM was the NBC outlet here for many years. Little KGON in nearby Oregon City Has taken on NBC after many indies here turned down the deal. KPTV continues on Ch. 27 as a TJHF setup still fighting for Ch. 3. Portia ndt’s first channel also re¬ mains as the NBC-TV affiliate. Ch. 6 , KOIN-TV, continues as CBS out¬ let. . Ditto KOIN-AM. Westing- house KEX is indie, having turned over the ABC network to KGW. After all the hassles, the scorecard now reads: (TV) * KPTV Ch. 27 (UHF)—NBC KOIN Ch. 6 (VHF)— CBS KLOR Ch. 12 (VHF)—None KGW-TV Ch. 8 (VHF)—ABC (RADIO) KGW—ABC KOIN—CBS* KGON—NBC KEX—Indie KPOJ—Mutual There are no other changes in indie stations. Storer’s Ch. 27 continues "its fight for Ch. 3 and a VHF berth. The new Ch. 8 is owned by the KING-TV outfit; in Seattle. KNOK Fetches 300G Fort Worth, Dec. J 18. John Flood Jr., prez of Associ¬ ated Broadcasters, Inc., has an¬ nounced that he has sold KNOK here to John Kluge of Washington,’ D. C., for $300,000. Flood, John R. Pipes -and George <3. McGown bought the station in 1953 lor $150,000. Chase Bank's WPIX Buys Chase Manhattan Bank has bought WPIX’s, N. Y., “4:55 News" and “Nightcap News," featuring Kevin Kennedy and John Tillman, effective Jan. 2. .. Both shows are slotted cross-the- board, with five minutes alloted to the afternoon show and 15 minutes to the evening wrap-up Complete sponsorship of the two news fea¬ tures puts an SRO on all WPIX news programs. ituiali, James T. Aubrey Jr. A dark-horse won the coveted program chieftancy at ABC-TV. James T. Aubrey Jr. is leaving as general manager of the CBS owned & operated KNXT, Los Angeles, and as manager of CBS network programming jn Hollywood to fill the job vacated recently by Robert Lewine, who has switched to NBC-TV. Aubrey becomes ABC-TV’s boss of talent and programs and“ v will receive a vicepresidency at the American Boradcasting-Para- mount Theatres board meeting in January. He has already joined ABC-TV under veep Oliver Treyz. Aubrey, who has been man¬ ager of KNXT since 1952 and manager of CBS Coast programming since last June, beat out a batch of high-priced agency program¬ mers for the job. "Appointment of Aubrey is in line with AB-PT prexy Leonard Goldenson’s accent on Hollywood telefilms. It is believed that Aubrey, because of his years in Hollywood, will be helpful to Goldenson in making deals with Coast producers. „ . As manager of network programming for CBS-TV in Hollywood, Aubrey was under Coast veep Al Scalpone and Guy della Cioppa (ex-CBS Radio), director of CBS-TV’s Coast programming. Tom McDermott of Benton & Bowles; Dave Levy of Young & Rubicam, and Phil Cohen of Sullivan, Stauffer, Colwell & Bayles all were believed in the running for the Lewine vacancy. IN NEW YORK CITY ... Wally Stark, formerly with Grey Advertising, joined traffic dept, at WRCA and WRCA-TV . . . Phil Silvers received special award from AmVets World War II veterans organization . . . CBS newsreelmen Larry Racies and Charles Beckman opened a new business, a custom hi-fi shop they’re calling Hi-Fi HQ . . . Al Perlmutter, manager of spe¬ cial projects for WRCA news & special events, engaged to Priscilla Strauss of Boston ... Bobby Scott set for CBS-TV “Good-Morning" Dec. 27 . . John Henry Faulk celebrated his fifth anni with WCBS Monday -(17) . . . Holly Shivley, head timebuyer and business. mgr. of the Chicago offfce, and Allen G. Bishop, account exec and market¬ ing staffer, upped to v.p. at Ruthrauff & Ryan , . . Robert Rafelson, jusf out of; the Army where he was mews editor of the Far Eastern Network of Armed Forces Radio & Television# service, joined CBS Radio as a copywriter in program promotion ... Mil* 0 ** Berle was a “surprise” guest on WRCA-TV’s “Punchline" last week, teaming with Gene Baylos in a “This Is Your Life" take off . . . Bill Leonard, still convalescing from a heart attack, picked up an added assignment pend¬ ing his'return to CBS the first of February—he’ll handle all the Pan American commercials for “See It Now" . . . WRCA-TV’s Ray Forrest won award of merit from the N. Y. WMCA for his “Children’s Thea¬ tre” ... Sir Cedric Hardwicke signed for “Producers’ Showcase" of¬ fering of “Mayerling” Feb. 4 . . . Walter Latzko, writer for the Jack Sterling waker-upper on WCBS, andjhis wife Margie, formerly of The Chordettes, take a belatett honeymq^n (after two years), with a trip to Central and South America on Jan, 9 . . . Kajar the Magician booked on “Captain Kangaroo", Saturday (22) and on “Home" Dec. 27, and also appears on the Sylvania commercials on “The Buccaneers” . . . Harry Hess, former supervisor of broadcast film operations at CBS-TV, joined Dancer-Fitzgerald-Sample as administrative asst, to Norman Mathews, v.p. in charge of radio-tv commercial production . . . Frank¬ lin C. Ellis, financial analyist in the NBC controller’s office, named to new post of mgr. of business affairs for California National Produc¬ tions . . . Allen Swift, who does most of the voices in the Terrytoons cartoons, also writing several scripts for the new Terrytoon cartoon series, “Tom Terrific,” to be featured on “Captain Kangaroo” series next year . . . Betty Mandeville sneaked a week’s vacation in Miami between producing-directing chores on “FBI in Peace & War” on CBS Radio . . . Jay Barney commuting between his regular CBS Radio “Romance of Helen Trent" stint and the out-of-town tryout of “Eugenia,” with Tallulah Bankhead . . . Joyce Grenfell, British mono- l'ogist who guested on the Ed Sullivan show last Sunday (9), returned to London Saturday (15) on the Queen Mary. Warren Oates featured in Friday’s (21) NBC-TV “Big Story." in “Re¬ union" by Gail Ingram . . . N.Y. branch of Screen Actors Guild elected Norman MdcKaye prexy; Philip Foster, Bob Fitzsimmons, Tom Shirley and William Keene, v.p.’s; Hazel Mack, treasurer, and Joseph Bell, sec¬ retary . . . Peter Pool is newly formed Ivy Network Corp.’s first gen. mgr., assisted by biz manager Alan Lazarus and sales chief Robert Zeiger; Outfit is nine years old, but officially became a Connecticut corp. this, month ... A. Altaf, director of school broadcasts for Radio Pakistan, hit New York Monday (17) for two-week study of American educational broadcasting at WNYC, city-owned station . . . John, T. Clayton is becoming director of WHLI (L.I.,) pubaffairs dept. . . , Rob¬ ert Dozier, back from H’wood after adapting his own tv original, “The Young Stranger," for motion pic . . . Ron Manders into station services at Radio Ad Bureau . . . Don Ameche*, currently rehearsing “Holiday Lovers" legiter, on “Person to Person” this Friday (21). Saphire Films, producers of “Robin Hood," “Sir Lancelot" and “The Buccaneers,” has opened a N.Y. office under playwright Peggy Phillips who will function as American story editor . . . Though the Presiden¬ tial inaugural is still a month away, MBS news and special events director John D. Whitmore is shuttling between N.Y. and D.C. setting up broadcast coverage plans . . . Allison Hayes has been signed for a featured part in Screen Gems’ “Here*Comes the Showboat” ... A major portion of Mutual’s pre-Yyle programming will be presentation of top college and highschool choral groups in seasonal music. Kicked off Monday (17), the presentations are aired in the 3:30 to 4 p.m. segment of “Lots of Muslp” feature. Reserve Officers Assn, of the U. S. awarded the CBS-TV “Playhouse 90” series its Distinguished Service Citation for the production of “Forbidden Area,” with exec v.p. Hubbell Robinson accepting the award for producer Martin Manulis, writer Pat Frank and the spon¬ sors . . . Mel Allen signed to do the NBC-TV Rose Bowl commentary for the sixth straight year . . . Sammy Kaye and orch to the Breakers in Palm Beach, so he’s taped his ABC “Sunday Serenade” shows in advance through March . . . Teresa Brewer guests on Perry Como show Dec. 29 . . . Jane Pickens and Maurice Evans serenaded 300 handicapped children with Christmas carols yesterday (Tues.) at Beek- man Downtown Hosp. , Martin Codel back at Television Digest desk after 14 weeks. Just back from Europe recuperating from grave illness . . . Rin Tin Tin and Lee Aaker, his partner in adventure, will appear as special guests on the “Tennessee Ernie Ford" Christmas show tomorrow (20) . . . Martin Starr, Hollywood commentator for MBS, will devote his entire “Here’s Hollywood” broadcast today (19) to an Eddie Fisher interview taped at Grossingers* Hotel, where a press preview was staged for the enter¬ tainer appearing in RKO’s “Bundle of Joy." Starr, keeping busy, em¬ ceed the world premiere festivities for the opening of “Baby Doll" Yesterday (18) at Broadway’s Victoria Theatre. Robert Q. Lewis did a Santa Claus stint at Macy’s last week and taped his Christmas Eve-radio show at the department store . . . Geno Sultan, who just wound an emceeing job in New Orleans, set an NBC- TV’s “Modern Romances” through Dec. 28 . . . Gabe Dell switching from niteries back to dramatics for a stint in “Armstrong Circle. Thea¬ tre” Dec. 25 in “Deep Freeze" . . . Maurice Evans guests on CBS Radio’s “Right to Happiness” Dec. 24 to .read Henry Van Dyk’e “The Other Wise Man” . . . Harry Landon, sales v.p. at Olmsted Sound Studios, named chairman of the Volunteer Radio & Television Commit¬ tee of the Greater New York Fund . . . Tony Perkins makes-his first singing appearance on CBS Radio’s “Wpolworth Hour” Sunday (23) . . . Ron Cochran, who never gets home before 12:15 a.m. except on Sun-, days because of his MCBS-TV “Late NewS,” is getting the Christmas weekend off, wjith Doug Edwards and George Bryan subbing him for three nights; Ned Calmer and Bob Hite spell him the same nights on “Seven O’clock Report” . . . William Hallahan moved from network operations at CBS-TV to the post of program services representative, acting as liaison with agencies and outside producers; he replaces John Bolton, who resigned . . . Karl Swenson into CBS Radio’s “Second Mrs. Burton” and Charles Montalban into same web’s “Road of Life"; Montalban is current in the oflHBroadway production of “Mr. Candido.*’ IN HOLLYWOOD . . . NBC’s Robert Kintner sqnning at Phoenix before going to work Jan. 2 . . . Despite that his agency lost its fattpst account (L. A. Soap) this year, Raymond R. Morgag bonused his 52 employes with $35,000 in holiday cash • . . Ken Niles, emcee, and Don Isham, veteran organist, are running on the rail as Ralph Edwards' choice on the reactivation of “Truth Or Consequence" a$ an NBC daytime strip ... If given his choice of any tv show for next season, Young & Rubicam’s coast vee- pee, Walter Bunker, would pick “Lucy” all over again. Agency has a client on the comedy leader, in fact it has clients on 25 of the net- continued on page 44)