Variety (May 1957)

■WV&Mtday, May X, 1957 - __ PSRtETY _[_TELB\lHON WEV1KWS 41 " M» »♦■»»»+♦ > ♦-»»+»♦♦+ ♦♦♦»»+♦»»»»♦»♦ M w * ^ * \ ;; Tele Follow-Up Comment i: < 41 ♦ M f ♦♦♦♦++♦♦♦♦ ♦ ♦ + ♦♦ ♦♦♦ ♦ ♦»» ♦♦♦44-4“4- M -+++4-H-M-’ Caesar’s Hour That Mike Wallace has emerged as • a tv personality of no puny stature was demonstrated Satur¬ day night (27) when Sid Caesar on his NBC-TV hour put the. Wal¬ lace / closeup interview technique through the coast-to-coast: v satiriza- tion mill even before Wallace him¬ self had achieved network show¬ casing. (It wasn’t until the follow¬ ing night, in fact, that Wallace pre¬ miered on the full web cables via his new ABC-TV show.) With Carl Reiner in the Wallace interrogator spot and Caesar in the hot seat, it was one of those excruciatingly funny bits that every now and then project the "Caesar Hour” into the area of "classic comedies.” Indeed, it’s a sad ' ’ commentary oil ‘ American viewing habits and': social mores when, by - virtue. of his current plight and cancellation . of his weekly show, there’s no spectrum space of respectable ’dimensions for a continuing Caesar niche. For thera’s. no disputing the fact that he’s, one of the. genuine comics of our time. And as second and third bananas, Reiner and Howard Mor¬ ris are, along With Art Carney of the Jackie Gleason show, without peer, - • The closing 15-minute Jerome Kern calvacade. incidentally, was one of the high marks of the semester in. musical tributes. Caesar and his entire crew turned in a swift-moving production of sock and tasteful proportions in spanning a couple of dozen of the Kern gems in instrumental, vocal and choreographic vignettes in’ some stunning solo and group per¬ formances. It was a real treat and a deserving tribute to one of the greatest of the . ,20th Century eleffers. .. Rose. Kaiser Aluminum Hour Baseball took a beating from tv last week (23) in a musicalization of "A Man’s Game” by David Shaw with a score by Maddy Russell & Jack Siegel. Show was an adapta¬ tion of a previously telecast script by Robert Alan Aurthur. Despite a lot of hard work in the song and emoting departments by Nanette Fabray, the show remained a trite comedy effort about a gal pitcher and a hayseed husband who doesn’t want to sit in the bleachers with a scorecard. It’s all resolved before the opening day of the sea¬ son, when the femme terror of the moiind finds that she’s enciente and benches herself for the dura¬ tion. The Shaw script never developed more than the one-joke theme of a lady pitcher and the Russell- Siegel score was a moderate cleffing' job with nothing memo¬ rable ‘ emerging from their ballad or special production material. Supplying notable assists to the virtually all-Fabray.. show were Gene Nelson, as the husband, and Lew Parker and Paul Ford, as ball club’s manager and owner, respec¬ tively: Gros. Playhouse 90 First of the new 90-minute films being shot for “Playhouse 90” by the CBS-TV-owned Filmaster Pro¬ ductions clearly indicates how a good story treatment and direction can work wonders in the face of a tight budget. Filmed on location in Arizona at a cost of . only $150,- 000, “Four Women,in .Black,” pre¬ sented on the show last Thursday (25 )',' is clearly superior to the filmed' segments done for “Play¬ house” in the past and in fact bet¬ ter than a lot of. the premium- priced theatrical product emanat¬ ing from Hollywood these days. CBS plans to exhibit the Filmaster product .theatrically overseas, and should find little trouble in creat¬ ing a market for itself*. “Four. Women in* Black” ' is a triple-play effort for Bernard Gir¬ ard (6x-“Dragnet” and “Medic”), who wrbte the screenplay, pro¬ duced and directed the film. It’s also a triumph for Helen Hayes, making - her telefilm,. debut, and Ralph Meeker, who share star bill*, ing with Katy. Jurador and Janice Rule. ‘ Story simply details the journey across the Arizona desert of four nuns and an oafish cow¬ poke whom they run into. Meeker, as the cowboy, is on the lam from a clan of ranchers, the head of whom he shot on his last job. The nuns, who en route pick up a Mex¬ ican girl and her kid brother and an Indian Meeker wounded, are determined to get to the mission In Tuscon to set up a hospital. Although' there are a couple of Indian attacks and gunfight epi¬ sodes and what amounts to a con¬ tinuous slow-chase, the story is told and directed strictly in comic relief 1 , pitting’ the calm, quiet and dignified determination of the sis¬ ters to get to their destination in the face of all obstacles and to do good regardless of the risk agaihst* the oafishness, impatience and practicality of Meeker;* He turns in a superb comic performance ranging from impatience to disgust to real warmth. In contrast, Miss Hayes, excellent as always, pro¬ vides the counterpoint with a steady glow of warmth, good sense and kindliness. Misses Jurado, Rule and Narda Onyx, as the other nuns, Lita Milan and Rudy Alonzo as the Mexicans and a topflight supporting cast make the acting uniformly good. In effect “Four Women in Black” is a lightweight entry, with¬ out any serious “message” or dra¬ matic impact, but it’s a charming offbeat kind of comedy that exudes good humor and is a perfect exam¬ ple of how this kind of subject should be handled. Girard can take the bows on this one for some topflight direction of his own ex¬ cellent script and for overall fine production values, not the least of which was the casting of Miss Hayes and Meeker. . Chan. Wide Wide World California, the ■ “land of prom¬ ise,” is a big place to cover in a mere 90 minutes but NBC-TV’s “Wide Wide World” made a laud¬ able attempt Sunday (28). For the roving live cameras of several of the chain’s affiliates took viewers on a Cook’s tour from the Mexican border to San Francisco plus a number of points in between. Perhaps the most interesting stop was at Chula Vista, where the “wetback” problem was explored via interviews with U.S. Border Patrol officials and a Mexican mi¬ gratory worker. Pages of history were turned back in a visit to Sut¬ ter’s Fort near Donner Pass. More than a century ago—4n 1846—some 42 travelers perished in the pass when trapped by snow. Mementos of that journey to the ‘land of promise” are preserved in the fprt< Among other glimpses of the California scene were views of Highway 101 as it wends its way past the oil fields of Huntington Beach, up the Los Angeles Free-' way and ultimately the Golden Gate Bridge. At the latter tourist mecca members of the San Fran¬ cisco ballet contribbed some im¬ aginative choreography. Califor¬ nia’s “greatest natural resources” —its youth—also came in for at¬ tention. Here the cameras focused on the UCLA campus in Westwood, where students rehearsed for a “Spring sing.” In addition, there were scenes of the “American Oberammergau” at Hemet, Cal. Here the townfolk have been' presenting “Ramona,” an outdoor pageant based upon a novel by Helen Hunt. Jackson, for some 30 years. “It’s the gaiety of old California,” WWW emcee Dave Garroway so aptly commented, “playerf by new Californians.” Withal, it was an hour and a half well spent with the NBC-TV elec¬ tronic magic carpet. California Gov. Goodwin Knight introed the program by citing his state’s ad¬ vantages. Plugs for sponsor Gen¬ eral Motors products failed to de¬ tract from the session’s overall im¬ pact. In fact some of the blurbs not only were entertaining, but instructional. * Gilb.' Entertainment Press Conference George Jessel revealed a lot of his inner workings .under the prod¬ ding of A1 (“The Great Man”) Mor¬ gan .and Mary Margaret McBride who has probably interviewed more personalities over the air than any other woman in the broadcast business. On last week’s session of “Entertainment Press Conference” (DuMont, Tues.,'8:30 p.m.) Jessel revealed himself to be a man of depth, charm and intellect, at least in the areas in which questions were thrown at him. Today, Jessel‘spends his time touring the country for Israeli- causes and does a lot of toastmas¬ tering: In his reflections, he indi¬ cated that this was a sad end of a man with the vast attainments that he has. He said that had he been in any other business than show business, he would have gone much farther. It was not said bitterly, since the entertainment industry has been good to him. But, here is a man virtually self-educated who has become one of the- more liter¬ ate after-dinner speakers, toast¬ masters, and frequently an enter¬ tainer of great depth. It is proba¬ bly true that other segments of so¬ ciety could have used his services for greater gaiifc than the amuse¬ ment world. Jessel spoke feelingly of a phil- (Continued on page 0 48) KATE SMITH HOUR With Gertrude Berg, Edgar Ber¬ gen, Benny Goodman, Boris Kar¬ loff, Ed Wyhu, Billy Williams’ Quartet, Jack Miller Orch, An-; dre Baruch j Producer: Ted Collins Director: Greg Garrison Writer: Gordon Auchincloss —60 Mins., Sun. (28), 9 p.m. i YOUNGSTOWN KITCHENS ABC-TV,“ from New York ( Grey) Kate Smith put on a professional show Sunday (28) on ABC-TV in the time slot generally reserved for the efforts of Ted Mack’s ama¬ teurs.' It was a display of class and charm with virtually all the per¬ formers being members of the same era when Miss Smith reached her apex. Nearly all were of the upper echelon in radio and who helped start television. The show was made up of the veteran re¬ serves who can deliver when called upon. Production was generally excellent and pacing was lively. Miss Smith, who has slimmed down somewhat, is a performer of stature and authority. Her song sessions, were made up usually of tunes that were written in an ear¬ lier era. However, she made a con¬ cession to calypso in company of the Edgar Bergen dummies, and even sashayed a bit on the boards with ‘.‘Old Soft Shoe.” Also in her efforts away from song was a bit with Gertrude Berg, whose Molly Goldberg character is a warm hit of radio and, video lore. This epi¬ sode had charm and ease and went over excellently. Bergen got a lot of mileage out of his two dummies. His bit was smooth and laugh productive. Bor¬ is Karloff changed character by essaying a recitative of “Septem¬ ber Song,” not his usual saucer of blood, but he showed a warmth in his bit with Ed Wynn. Latter who is in his 70s and who has found a new career in dramatics, was seen as attempting to peddle his inventions to Karloff who seemed to relish a trade of his— a set of macabre props. An ex¬ change was made. Benny'Goodman provided a ses¬ sion of literate and colorful jazz. Renditions of “One O’clock Jump,” “Stomping at the Savoy” and “Bugle Call Rag” were whiffs of a golden period in the band indus¬ try. Billy Williams Quartet, the opening act, did well. Miss Smith partook in the com¬ mercials for .Youngstown kitchens, which seemed repetitious and somewhat unimaginative. Jose. Foreign TV Review LIFE WITH TOMMY With Tommy Cooper, Hugh Pad- dick, Richard Waring, Malcolm Lockyer and orch, others Script: Dave Freeman and Freddie Sadler Director: Peter Croft 30 Mins. Mon., 9:30 Associated-Rediffusion from Lon¬ don Known to the British public as a crazy magician, Tommy Cooper has left conjuring out of his com¬ mercial tv series, but has retained the magic of his humor. Well over six feet in height and ruggedly I proportioned, Cooper is an artist perfectly suited to the visual me¬ dium. Dialog is of secondary im¬ portance in this show, which is made up of a series of sketches. The supporting cast is - allowed a great deal of freeway, which adds to > the crazy situations. Cooper’s main prop is Hugh Paddick, who’s proved his worth in the current West-End revue “For Amusement Only.” Camera work is straight-' forward, and production • ditto, al¬ though there are times when quicker reactions from the produ¬ cer’s box could save some unneces¬ sary, dull spots. Brightest spot of the show was a sketch involving Cooper and Paddick. Latter played a psychia¬ trist mistaken by Cooper as a den¬ tist. Malcolm Lockyer orchestra, which supplied the incidental mu¬ sic (there were no song spots in the show), sounded unrehearsed, and consequently unsure of the score. Bary. SPRING FLING With Sheldon Allmalr, Desmond Walter. Ellis, Peter Butterworth, > Angela Andersen, Pip Hinton, Joan Sims, Sheila “O’Neill, An¬ thony Bateman, Bill Hitchcock, Sylvia Winter, Isobel Luoas, ^Patricia. Webster, Jeanette Brown, Billy Ternent and his orch., others Director: Douglas Hurn 60 Mins., Thurs., 9 p.m. Associated-Rediffusion from London American singer Sheldon All- man scored well with his first British appearance on this show. It was the first time the public this i (Continued on page .’8). ’CINDERELLA (Producers’. Showcase) With Margot Fonteyn, Michael Somes, Frederick Adi ton, Ken* neth MacMillan, Franklin White, PIrmin Trecu, Ray Powell, Douglas Steuart, Leslie Edwards, Basil Thompson, Julia Farron, Alexander Grant, others; Robert Irving, conductor Executive Producer: Mort Abra¬ hams Director: Clark Jones Choreographer: Frederick Ashton Settings: Otis Riggs Costumes: Jean-Denis Malclcs 90 Mins.;. Mon. (29 h 8 p.m. RCA-WHIRLPOOL, PRUDENTIAL NBC-TV, from New York (color) (Kenyon & Eckhardt ; McCann- Erickson) NBC-TV’s one-month-later an¬ swer to Rodgers & Hammerstein’s modern musicalization of “Cinder¬ ella” was Monday’s (29) Royal Ballet (ex-Sadler’s Wells) produc¬ tion of the selfsame fairy tale star¬ ring Margot Fonteyn. R & H, Julie Andrews and the more conventional and favored musicomedy form being what they are, there will be no stratospheric Nielsens as a reminder of Monday’s stunningly staged ballet. Yet with¬ in the framework of this 90-minute “Producers’ Showcase” presenta¬ tion, some abundant elements of taste, imagination, skill and artis¬ try were captured. Ballet on tv has come a long way these past* few years, and it was strikingly evident in “Cinderel.a,” for the camera work was brought to a fine point of perfection, with many of the technique bugaboos overcome in covering the dance, whether that of a solo performer or of an entire corps de ballet. Technically, most of the problems were hurdled and tv gave a fluid ballet that danced beyond the lim¬ itations of the small screen. The performers and the brilliant cos¬ tumes, the color and the flawless complement of the Prokofiev score, the original sets that enhanced the elusive make-believe—all fused to transpose the “Cinderella” fantasy to a fairy tale of today that was acceptable in its charm and artistry. As* choreographed by Frederick Ashton to Prokofiev’s delightful score, “Cinderella,” one of the niost popular full-length ballets in the Sadler’s Wells repertoire, maintained an unflagging "pace,, punctuated at the right moments with an exaggerated buffoonery on the part of the step-sisters (per¬ formed to the hilt by a couple of gents, Ashton and MacMillan, with their monstrous caricatures and awkward gaucheries). Yet through¬ out there were a succession of peak moments^ with Miss Fontej'n as the glittering star. The second act was an uninterrupted dance in the fine tradition and .classic manner and permitted a virtuoso number by Miss Fonteyn that was breath-tak¬ ing. Michael Somes as the Prince was heroic in his flamboyant grace and the solo dancers as the sea¬ sons, the stars and the fairy god¬ mother, were accomplished and graceful. RCA’-s compatible tints gave the whole an even more fairy-like lustre. Rose. WORLD OF SPORTS With Stan Torgerson Producers: Dave Steele, Jack Dun¬ ning Director: Ed Greaney 15 Mins., Mon. thru Fri., 10:15 p.m. JAX BREWING CO. WMCT-Mempkis ( Fitzgerald ) Stan Torgerson has cemented himself in this sector’s top nightly tv show which is a cinch to become contagious as the season continues. Big Stan (The Man for Memphis)' certainly knows his way around the “World of Sports” bases piped five- times-weekly for the Jax Beer peo¬ ple out of New Orleans. In fact, WMCT’s Torgerson also proved his “in” with big names in the sports world when he brought before Channel 5’s cameras Harry Stuhl- dreher of the immortal Four Horse¬ men fame, as his preem guest sportstar. It was a “grand slam¬ mer,” scoring heavily with the na¬ tive? and WMCT’s huge Mid- South viewing audience. Torgerson, who is w.k. in both regional,and national sports circles, literally “owns” the late viewing audience here with the only late tv show spotlighting the variety sports picture. In addition to the usual audience-getter scoreboard of baseball results, “World of Sports” is well spotted with timely film clips of top sport highlights of the day with “Big Stan” doing a sock commentary stint in the background. Incidentally, Torger- son’s easy spieling and camera style win him added spurs for an alK. around polished performance. Matt. HOI WALLACE INTERtlEWf With Gloria Ewanson, meat Prodaeert Ted Yates Jr. Director! Jack Sameth Researcher: A1 Ramrns 30 Mins. f Sun., 10 p.m. PHILIP MORRIS ABC-TV, from New York ( N. W. Ayer) Mike Wallace, one of the few tv personalities to create a stir this past season with his in-depth prob¬ ing of interviewees on his WABD, N.Y. “Nightbeat” showcase, is now utilizing the technique on a net¬ work basis with the premiere of his half-hour ‘‘Mike Wallace Inter¬ view's” on ABC-TV Sunday night (28) at 10.. Unlike his purely-local DuMont flagship program, which devotes a full hour to two "stories” four nights a week (and which in the aggregate piles up a lot of impact and mileage in the area of contro¬ versy) W T allace rides the coast-to- coast cables with'a single subject. If some of that selfsame impact was missing (and obviously some bewildered Duluth and Oshkosh viewers will be wandering “what’s all the shouting about?”) blame it on the decision to dissect the life and times of Gloria Swanson as the initial '‘hot seat” entry. A more cool,' collected and non-controver- sial subject could not hive been chosen for expose. In fact there may even be claims of false pretenses in Wallace’s dramatic buildup of the “profile of a legend” and a “controversial woman.” No less a revelation’than the love life of Cleopatra (or maybe Zsa Zsa Gabor) could have matched the billing. This, of course in no way mitigated against Miss Swanson, for she emerged as a charming, pre¬ possessing, intelligent and thought¬ ful woman. Unfortunately her “story” of the poor little rich girl in search of love and romance and someone to support her had about* ns much excitement or “controver¬ sy” as “Cinderella.” True, she acknowledged (and this was saved for the clincher) that she was 58; that good pictures are made today; that an unintentional affectionate pat by Francis X. Bushman when she was 14 may account for his recent pronounce¬ ment that any time, any place he’ll take Marilyn Monroe over Gloria in all her glory; that the roaring 20’s roared all over the world and not only in Hollyw'ood. In short Wallace is*a’fine inter¬ viewer; a very sincere salesman. Whether he’ll pack the same wallop and create as much excitement as lie’s done on "Nightbeat” still remains to be seen. Next week’s subject — Eldon L. Edwards, the Imperial Wizard of the Klu Klux Klan — might prove the point. Locally, he’s had a number of ex¬ traordinarily gifted and intelligent Negroes who have minced no words on the subject of segregation. On a national hookup and under big- league commercial auspices (Philip •Morris), it’s still to be determined whether he’ll have the same lati¬ tude and freedom. Rose. SARATOGA CALLS With Jerry Coyle, Earle Pudney Sc Trio , , 15 Mins.; Wed., 7:30 p.m. SARATOGA SPRINGS COMMIS¬ SION WRGB-TV, Schenectady Believed to be the first time the Saratoga Springs Commission has sponsored a televisipn programs on behalf of the “1300 Acres of [Healthland” at the State Reserva¬ tion, the quarter-hour features two WRGB standbys, announcer-tenor Jerry Coyle and pianist-singer Earle Pudney. They are supported by a trio, on guitar, piano-accor¬ dion and bass, consisting of Bill Sherman, Lou Podesa and Lou Sylvester. It is a pleasing modest-budgeter, which could be tightened, and would be improved if Coyle’s dual assignments were reduced. On show viewed he hopped from a nice rendition of “It’s Wonderful” into a commercial. Earlier, Coyle, former night club vocalist and a WGY announcer, teamed with Pudney (at the keyboard) for a smooth two-language number. They harmonize well. Pudney, also a WGY morning personality, plays the 88’s skillfully. His part here could be built. Trio acquits itself'creditably. Jaco. Goodwin Strip Axed Hollywood, April 30. Bill Goodwin’s hour daytime strip which started on NBC Radio Jan. 14 is being dropped because of net’s inability to clear enough sta¬ tions to attract sponsors. It .won’t be replaced. On the show with Goodwin were- comie Dave* Ketchum and vocalist Ro¬ berta Linn.