Variety (June 1957)

Wednesday, June 5, 1957 BILLY GRAHAM CRUSADE - HELEN O’CONNELL SHOW With members of evangelistic Producer-Director: Greff Harrison team; Cliff Barrows, music di- Writers: Earl Hamner, Robert Ce Jf orSt- Ge^« Be?- SlStert Director: Morion Evans Xlhe,;vS; B«sed chou. *<*•*-. PSrie^ty TEI.EVISIOA' REVIEWS of 1,500 voices. 60 Mins.: Sat. (1) 8 pjn. MOREY AMSTERDAM SHOW’ With Morey Amsterdam, Tony Romano Qrch, Corky Hale, ffuests. Producer: Amsterdam Director: Robin Clark 60 mins., Mon.-throuffh-Fri., 11 and 11:30 p.m. BILLY GRAHAM N.Y. CRUSADE, j jy£ a y 28 kickoff stanza, it's If this summer series can main- PARTICIPATING tain the breezy originality of the KTLA, Hollywood A Coup fTV Racked Up by CBS as It Catches Khrushchev at the Kremlin INC. _ _ __ ABC-TV, from New York standout performer and personality with n.s.g. results. Difference here, inw Andrews Ed & on Sunday (2) with’its "Face the (Walter F. Bennett) in Helen O’Connell to handle the and an important one is that this Pereen Fitzgerald, Lee Hall,: Nation” afternoon panel show, Billy Graham, whos been pack- vocals and on the preem, showed is a strictly pro outing. Morey euests ; scoring the major'news coup of ing them in nightly at Madison enough imagination to make the Amsterdam 1st a glib, showwise per- _ ( ^, ii/i4w p the year with -a. full hour interview Square Garden, N. Y., gave coast- viewing as easy as the listening former, with a genuine talent for Patrlcia Parrar * Roone of Communkt pSrtv ^iS Nikita to-coast viewers a sampling of Opener used a denuded tele- off-thecuff foolery. Result is a Arledge . KhruXTwv fthe Kre« his personal magnetism Saturday vision studio, with all the wires, pleasing melange of music and gab, Director: Marshall Stone h,? TtYi-Te ofYnYT night (1) in the first U. S. telecast booms, moving cameras, etc., visi- which should gather a strong fol- 120 Mins.; Sun., 8-9, 10:30- i? .J of a Billy Graham crusade. As a ble to the home viewer. Setting lowing against opposition old pix n.-snsm ominous, it not an electronics ex- one-man evangelism show on ABC- off this background were some at this hour. WRCA-TV New York erc=se in futility, which only time mxr o Mica x v, new x uriv can tell. Having established The informal live night show bit 1 A musical session, show has a has been tried on KTLA before, | SUNDAY’S SCHEDULE By GEORGE ROSEN CBS-TV made Page 1 headlines of a Billy Graham crusade. As a ble to the home viewer. Setting lowing against opposition old pix 11.a m | ominous, it not an electronics ex- one-man evangelism show on ABC- off this background were some at this hour. WRCA-TV New York j erc=se in futility, which only time TV (picked up direct from a jam- simple props keyed to each of Miss Amsterdam, who doubles as pro- . e ' Haying established packed Garden), it was a revela- O’Connell’s selections. Tops was ducer, has mounted a flexible " reasonably good service laea CBS resourcefulness in moving its tion and a closeup insight into why the latin "Hotta Chocolatta” num- format, including guest star inter- which could be done in 15 minutes cameras and crack newsmen into audiences respond to this religioso her in which the technicians came views, songs, dances, musical num- is stretched to two hours in “Sun-, a heretofore unattainable area, the phenomenon. into view draped in Mexican bers and patter. Another skedded day’s Schedule” a two-hour filler!program was momentous in bring- night had all the click elements 1 neat bit-followed the “You Make ing night ran 10, minutes over with 8 to 9 a.m. ana at iunju to u:du,j cin j showed him to be an as- that, translated, say, into the pop Me Feel So Young” song when still no tiibe for that. sandwiching the 90-minute NBC, tule politician capable of utilizing music area, make a Lawrence Welk Miss O’Connell switched off the On& reason show ran over was educational project kinescopes. | a u tb e tricks’ in controlling and tick. And as surefire as the tech- “enthusiastic” canned applause guest stints of'derry Lewis, Rose The interesting element is a Sun_ ! capturin" his audience niques used by Ralph Edwards in coming from a sound effects ma- Marie and Ray Malone. Lewis day morning preview of events and} l, _ J* '* going after the “heart,” so is the chine. Other songs niftily sold trouped gallantly and generously, where-to-go, wbat-to-do on a Sun-!. Ubs Analrs major scoop Billy Graham pitch for the “soul.” were “Love Letters In The Sand”"* although it was obvious that he day afternoon. The rest is pap. j in penetrating the Kremlin for a As the “great common denom- and the theme, “All of Me.” w r as dead tired after a long day, jf “Sunday’s Schedule” defies t go-round with the most powerful inator,” be it religion or any of the It was a very fast 15 minutes. at that late hour. However, he classification, it’s because the sta-i Ji 8 ure in the Soviet Union (a feat facets of show biz, he demonstrate Herm. mugged, exchanged repartee with tj on bas thrown everything it cani evcn l* 1 ® Russians themselves ed beyond any doubt why he’s tre*- - Amsterdam and closed with a dev into it, cartoons, Teligious sermons, I haven’t been able to maneuver) mendous boxoffice. SPORTS FOCUS liberately off-key lampoon of his news, weather, interviews, discus- ? had more than its quota of historic Few performers, whether on tv. ^ith Howard Cosell singing style. But with Lewis so s ion, travel films, etc. This isn’t-overtones. As Daniel Schorr, CBS stage or film, have the dynamic Director: Mickey Trenner obviously beat, this bit went on too programming, it’s an abdication of 5 correspondent in Moscow; Stuart qualities of a Graham-, or are as 15 Mins., Mon.-Fri., 7 p.m. long, since the strain began to programming responsibility, or atjNovins. the regular moderator of sure of themselves, or can treat AB(>X y f from New York show. ^ „ least programming effort in short ] the series, and B. J. Cutler, Mos- a script with such positive ag- Howard Cosell has a little of Rose Mane was considerably an easy way out of - filling two j cmv correspondent for the N Y - gressiveness. There s no unctuous Wallace in him It’s his * T ’ oc,1Ar 071,1 van throimh » rnunlp v>n„r^ nt tim» tt™* nn« nf tv»A f«-n .. .. — ~ . — - “. gressiveness. There’s no unctuous Mike Wallace in him. It’s his fresher and ran through a couple hours of time. For one of the two. lIerld Xribun „ rifled v * quality- no sanctimonious P«- awaieness of Wallace preemi- of her nitery routines and clowned top stations in the nation’s biggest suasion. The voice is strong, con- nence as an interviewer that seems u P_a torch version of “My Blue tv market, it shows a curious, lack 5 * Iie trolled, never borders on hysteria. f 0 en b c e e S h £d^^ ne w ed /e on ^ Helven” to good effect. Malone, a of intiative and imagination. j idl Wl {* a simultaneous eesturlnff^nev^ac’ alread y considerable talent as a pleasing terper, dragged in his b^- Johnny Andrews handles his: s ° cr it was°the revealing camera the constant gesturing is never ac- ^ CoselL who worked b °P puppet creation, but picked hosting jobs pleasantly and easily, 1 , rs > u . was t ine revealing camera cidental, for the vast sweep of both strictly f or tbe jjadio net- U P considerably in a later chal- which^makes the pill a little easier: ^ loscu P treatment, much more so brands and arms propels and work,got a des^ved crack at lenge-dance with Amsterdam. to’ swallow. Butyls interview ef-j thrn the Red chief s repetitous holds the visual attention. This, in ’ 1 Producer Amsterdam has sur- fnrf with sonewriter (“New Girl and unabashed rpologia for the addition to the voice that never (3)°he C< Wan a^ummertoie^week- rounded himself with a good stet hTTown”) Bob°MerrUl,'was^"a mu-{Soviet way of l-:e and thinking, falters, never gropes for a word or he^began^ s^mermne week musical crew T ony Romano’s vo- Sal- admiration - society attempt. 1 no matter what the area of discus- a nhrase and is as assured as his ^ w lt good ^ at calizing is as smooth as ever, and The news was read off a clipboard sion, that sparked the drama in nSJS- 6 ce th ^ a lean day' for sports news,because his orch, including Murray by Lee Hall, the weather was in- this unprecedented hour-long in- All ^hi? the P ABC&TV cameras Cosell’s talents as a newscaster are McEaehern, one of the better complete (a report without a fore- terview. All tms tne ABo-iV cameras exceotional From a brief trombonists around, is a solid in- cast) and Ed & Pegeen Fitzgerald, -Vat+i'v -.iMt-aH in a caught most effectively, focusing £$n g arS the new? scene he strumental aggregation. Corky Hale who are supposed to handlea seg^ at “ re “,4 n f a for the most part on Graham*him- swing arouna ine news scene, ne tJr ._ Hvplv .bi ed •>„ fpmme vo- mpnt puIIpH “Mndppn T.ivincr ” rnn- slut and ivory shirt (he refused to self, yet panning intermittently “ heaw^ht champ who calist and pianist, accompanying tributed an interesting but totally ^ ear ma keup or use earphones on. over the vast expanse of the Gar- Ratte^n hea^eight.champ who bQth Rose Marie and Malone on irreleV ant discussion of “The Rise the assumption that it would be den to capture the reactions of g^bortly to deftnd ^ title versus tfae 88 Koue. of the House of Duveen.” Chan: undignified for his first U. S. tv ap- a rapt, tense audience. 4 And HmriMnc Jack^. Pattcajon was # . pearance), Khrushchev was the per- m.p ... ’ I calin^and 0 apparently"^pen ^and S & g ec?S-,& ug E h vi ro S. *cJ£S i: TpIp FftHnwJ In anxieties’ the hating lying, cheat- *SQ,t through to him with some ■ J. dC 1 Olli/W U IJ fjU lnili Ulll tra>ing a sense of humor. Hisire- ing and killings whether in New soUd questions. He began really .... . .f .... . . . , T ; s -?, on ^ e . s , w ^ re ^“s^ate^and^ full. York or Uruguay; the moral im- to put the heat on Cus D’Amato, ♦♦♦**♦*♦« When the questions posed had him perfections of a people creating a Pattersons contooversial manager, Mike Wallace gave his valedic- aminee, or both, would blow up. occasions^he t fell back°uDmi^his chasm between man and God, the and if there were more time, it , „ _* /011 Wac Waiiapp “cpncafinnai^ 1 ' run occasions, ne ieu Dack upon nis e5 from reSity. and the in- might have resembled any Sun- tory performance Friday (31) on Was WaHace sensational. Did well _ ver5ed ideo logy, yanking put evitable return to the thematic day at 10 on the same network. Af- WABD, the DuMont station m New pyrotechnics’ Was he as ^hSex-^ the standard and oft-heard Soviet u — soul is restless until it has ter those two, there wasn’t much York. In one season, the man on aminer, always the ’ intellectual [ P r °paganda line, found its rest in God/’ And the time for Emil Lence, promoter of tb e 11 o’clock “Night Beat" who peer of the examinee? (who in his- 1 If therfr was nothing particular- program faded off as the hundreds upcoming championship bout, bad become the most-talked-about tor y bas been?). Was he always !ly new revealed in the interview ^ T k^ C ° V Lf e wfth Were^Dromisi H Questions asked b s t was properly prepared, that is, did he; except for clear affirmation on the ^ I ° ns . !?? ^15 Uere promising. Art. nQw Washe / UD *» “bone up” well via the findings of j part of Khrushchev that there can < irrvr err,** CPnT vn In a ’ biuin«& notable for its bis legmen and researchers? Did be peaceful co-existence between a Producer Amsterdam has sur- J f or t t with‘songwriter (“New Girl falters, never gropes Tele Foliow-Up Comment foTW^and Jth were DromistaH quesUons ]®f a video personality in town, was properly prepared, that is, did lie; except for clear affirmation on the 225,“ IS? Uere promi s mg‘ Art ' now “all washed up.” bone up” well via the findings of part of Khrushchev that there can audiences, too embrace Christ. 4 FIVE STARS FOR SPRING In a business notable for its |j|f 1 1 ® t g ?oo Sny^f^his Objects Communist Saturday’s telecast of the Gar- With Nat Cole, Gordon MacRae, dealing m death and destruction too nany or nis subjects Communist and a capitahst state den pickup, -with the full visual Patti Page, Andy Williams, June to talent, there was one important fprung the trap’ “ bad u n d that they were ready to take ••production” of the 1,500-voiced Valli, Ricky Nelson, .Lou .Wills Jr massed choir, was the first of four Bud Collyer, emcee being sponsored by the Billy Producer-Director: Joe Cate» Graham Evangelistic Assn. Writer: Carroll Carroll Graham would not be Averse to a Musical Director: Paul Weston continuing 26-week cycle under- 60 Mins.; Sat. (1), 9 p.m. written by an institutional-minded bULOVA bankrolled - Rose . NBC, from Hollywood ____— (McCann-Erickson) IT’S A HIT “Five Stars For Spring,” a one With Happy Felton, others shot show filling the slot vacatec Producer: Gene Schiess by Sid Caesar, shaped up as 1 30 Mins.; Sat., 11:39 a.m. pleasing musical session. With j CBS-TV, from N.Y, minimum of production gimmicks Patti Page, Andy Williams, June w taient. mere was one important “ n2 th trao’ « «.i- , ■ ti * ^ Valli, Ricky Nelson, Lou-Wills Jr.; difference. Wallace was played out Thele and other Questions mere- the first , smaU ,f te , p t( » ward dls “ Bud Collyer, emcee locally, but, a month before in a j connoted that something new armament * nonetheless “Face the Producer-Director; Joe Cate» dual chore, had been launched as had been addtd totefevMon * atlon ” served to bring to the Writer: Carroll CarroU a network inquisitor. He had After half a dozen of mostlv DO- American public not the fabled Musical Director: Paul Weston mbved lock, stock and stiletto to j,, d gfpicfiy ve neer teleshows Ki ’ e mlin monster but a positive 60 Mins.; Sit. <1>, S p.m. ABC-TV-there to nde it out more s m C e about l951. o“ cBS and its Personalitj-, amiable in demeanor. BULOVA or less placidly for a few Sunday N y ^CBS-TV fiagshia, some intelligent and self-assured. Cer- NBC, from Hollywood stanzas until ex-gangster Mickey witb ex-wife Buff Cobb. Wallace tainly his willingness to appear on (McCann-Erickson) had emerged as one of the me- U: S. tv in the first place must be “Five Stars For Spring,” a one- s °f c c bestiation No\v Wallace dium . s great innovators. He had construed to all intents as evi- shot show filling the slot vacated bad a sensation going for him; entered ^ smaU drea m circle of dence of good faith. shot show filling the slot vacated * entered the small dream circle of dence of good faith. by Sid Caesar, shaped up as a be had^gotten.a lot,0^^mileage out * w . television, pathfinders—as Particularlv oertinent tn thi* tp pleasing musical session. With a of his fourth guest star who had contradistinguished from pioneers I v minimum of production gimmicks, £?me before the cameras to vent —such as Sid Caesar, Pat Weaver. j Vie " ' vas Khrusnchevs sounding “It’s a Hit” appears likely to live it presented a group of top Pop .fPmen on“j- Max L i ebm an, Robert Saudek “ th « “W? 1 4a °A of Up to its title. The show, a quizzer vocalists doing their stuff. stabularj, specifically Los Angeles (“Omnibus”), Lou Cowan (“864.- America broadcast, jamming ^ and ^with a baseball gimmick, is geared The most offbeat angle on the R°li ce Chief Parker. 000 Question”), Lawrence Spivak establishing of better cultural for juves and judging hy the re- session was the remote pickup His first three guests hardly and Martha Rountree (“Meet the relations between Russia and the action of the tv participants on the from the Chicago nitery, the Chez measured up to the Wallace ap- Press”), Ed Murrow & Fred-} y- . s -> tiemg in the latter with his initialer last Saturday (1) it has a Paree, where Nat (King) Cole was proach. Gloria Swansbn was not Friendly (“See It Now”), Ed Mur- insistence that, whatever the dif- home-run potential. . performing. It was not, however, “controversial” or -in the .news; row. John Aardn A Jesse Zousmer ferences in ideologies, there is no Youngsters oq opposing teams the best type of video showcase Eldon Edwards, the Imperial WLz- (“Person to Person”). Bishop reason why there can’t be peaceful get up at bat, swing at a baseball for Cole. He did a group of four ard of the Ku Klux Klan, said Sheen, and perhaps no more than co-existence. attached to 'a special shaft and numbers, including a rock ’n’ roll nothing—he was merely shown up two or three others whose names a wrv sense of humor earn** tn then answer questions to get on ditty, “Send For Me,” which was by the accurate cameras for the do not readily spring to mind. fore when in resnnndim? tnthp base. Each time the ball Is' hit a far inferior to his type of material, bigoted stooge he is. Author Philip The medium had great entertain- voice-iammin’p miprvlhp d^nrihpd scoreboard reflects whether it’s a The other singers were present- Wylie was crusty and cynical, too ers and great entertainments, yes. bic , single, double, triple, home run, ed against simple stage backdrops, much of an egghead . for tele- but the innovators were few, thei . ® if 6 « C ,fi walk, foul, etc. Once the effect of Being June 1, the sbo^ opened viewers. imitators many. This is how an 7°?”^;*• “ ll -? a .§ a ? d the swat is determined, the batter brightly with the whole company Whereas Wallace, on his local obit might be written on the 10- ' ve ft?*}, 3a . m 11 *' * But - s is then asked a question according doing “June Is Bustin' Out All WABD show, had the benefit of year life of tv. . a voice uhiclT cute on the ear, then to the value of the hit The ques- Over.” Patti Page registered neat- four-a-week and an hour a night What makes Wallace tick? Is he “le people switch off their radio tion has to be answered correctly ly on “I’m Sitting on Top of the with two interviewees* to make a crackerjack interviewer-on-tv or jam it because the voice gets on for the hit to be counted. World” and “Old Cape Cod,” while hay, his coast to -coaster must because he needles, wheedles, their nerves. Again, in retorting The questions, submitted by edu- Gordon MacRae belted across' a make it within half that time, prods and hammers; because he is to the suggestion that the Party cators, are geared to the knowledge medley of romantic ballads for top once .a week, with one subject, tough an<T cocky; because he Is a rulers make all the decisions in •level of the average youngster in results. Lou Wills Jr. turned In And at-10 o’clock chain time in- bringer-outer and bring-abouter? the “competition of ideas” within the competing age group. The kids a neat hoofing stint to “Perdido” stead of 11 o’clock local time, the Most will answer in the affirma- the Soviet Union, Khrushchev involved in the opeqer, appeared* with the Honeydreamers vocaliz- competitive forces "Jure something tive. What was sam about him by tossed that one off with the as- to be a little nervous, but seemed ing. else again. Variety in the beginnings of his se rtion: “That’s an old tune, an old to enjoy the game. Happy Felton, Andy Williams scored on “I Get Above and beyond these con- JJ^ight Beat * still goes: Mike record, and no one listens to that who has his own ••Knothole Gang” A Kick Out of You” and June siderations one fact stood out. ^Yallace, who s done nearly every- record any more.” baseball-^bow for - juves on WOR- Valli rocked with “You Make Me Wallace had barely started on SS ng x. in J a £ i0 an „ d The failure to cement better TV, is the program’s question-ask- Feel So Young.” Ricky Nelson, son WABD when the news got around £ de “owdah on a pachyderm, is cu]fura , re T a fj 0 ns he blamed en- ing umpire. He does a satisfactory of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson who that there wi a “crazP guy^ on threatening to become as hot an- tirety on the ™ted State? aco^ job. Howeyef, he could give the also has a.hit disk riding with “I’m ty. A favorite question ewh mon- interviewer for the homescreens brel y on the united States accus- kids the correct answers fo ques- Walking,” is a handsome lad with ning in office? store, factor^ salon « Boswell was between covers vis- ^8 the U S. of domg all the dis- tions missed. This was only done a set of pipes that can pass as and subway was, “Did you see n-vis old Doc Johnson. His Nigbt |, g ’ , m ,f „,_ c occasiomdly on the getaway stanza, acceptable in the current state of Mike Wallace last night?” Big and- Beat , ^ baffo on . at . Ieast , J' v .° re^Srin?^ avowal th? 4nvfpf The show Isn’t sponsored, but the the market Nelson, however, was little controversies raged on counts, each, probably related. ■** w 5 p J? a *L *5.® 5?*?^ Sheaffer pen and pencil-company weighed down by an obvious run- whether such and so “gave it” to Since (1) Wallace pulls no punches ^ ver im^ises ideas on its people got a healthy commercial via a ning gag routine with emcee Bud Wallace or whether Wallace “gave and is strictly a spray hitter, it as lie made himself out quite the giveaway of Its product to each of Collyer which only emphasized the it” to him or her. The man in the seems inevitable that those sitting hero and the savior of the um- the participants on the program. lad’s professional callowness. street was making book on wheth- f° r their portraits will (2) get the verse as the chief opponent of en- Jess. , Hertn. er either the examiner or the ex- (Continued on page 38) mity. Quite a performance.