Variety (June 1957)

Wednesday, June 26, 1957 RADIO-TELEVISION 83 Radio Reviews FAMILY LIVING ’57 W?th Helen Hall; Rocky Graziano, Dr. Donald Stone,, guests; Guy Wallace, -announcer Producer: Edwin Lee ' 25 Mins., Thurs., 10;05 p.m. NBC, from New York (transcribed) “Replacing fhe six-week-old “ m hree Score and Five” on Thurs¬ day nights on NBC Radio is an¬ other public affairs program “Family Living ’57,” with Helen a web stalwart/ holding forth as moderator. Program itself less- ! ened its c^an^es the next weeks of its stand by premier¬ ing with a very worn topic and by treating it not differently enough, from dozens of other radio shows, j “Family” panelled ex-fighter- actor Rocky Graziano and Dr. Don¬ ald Stone, president of Springfield College, Mass., on a subject with r reasonably provocative title, “Delinquency—Juvenile or Paren¬ tal” but, perhaps because such sub¬ jects never have a clear and satis¬ factory answer, the 25-minutes led no place.* More than likely how- tver, the failure- was due to the way the program was presented— a hodgepodge of personal, impres¬ sions, not always .of sufficient au¬ thority or pertinence to grab and hold radio listener interest. Some credit should be given Graziano for injecting humor, though it was largely inadvertent Choice Grazianoisms On raising Junior:.“They should Usually get a bangupce in awhlie. Beat their brains in* or do something to ’em ... If they learn to idolize these kind of guys—me, Rocky Marci¬ ano, Dr. Middlecoff (et al,)—I think they’ll be a little better.” Aft . . ROLLING HOME With Bruce Bradley 155 Mins.; Mon.-thru-Fri. 3:30 p.m.! Participating <? WROW, Albany Melody takes precedence over the big beat in a new three-hour program deejayed by Bruce Brad¬ ley as part of the Columbia outlet’s increased emphasis on a' more re¬ laxing type of music for afternoon and evening listening. The pol¬ icy, ah apparent counter to that which has proved a commercial suc¬ cess at WTRY, Troy, for the last 18 months, and which seems to be gaining ground in a recent reshap¬ ing of format by^WPTR, Albany, is also an answer to criticism by older listeners of ‘rtfek. ’n’ roll and “noisy”, sound. In - the fiercely | competitive 4 market of today’s ra¬ dio, dialers have their choice of music fare and do, or should, in¬ dicate to individual stations their preferences. Bradley, also heard on a short¬ ened “Night Beat,” followed by a taped “Segue,” features vocals and instrumentals seldom appearing on current “First Ten” or “First 30” lists. When caught opening' week, he chiefly tumtabled older, well-liked selections by Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, Jo Stafford and Peggy Lee among singers; Per¬ cy Faith and Neil Hefti, among or¬ chestras. In turning the spotlight- on Miss Stafford, Bradley appeared to veer somewhat from slow bal¬ lads, of which there perhaps had been too many—fbr extended lis¬ tening. A Calypso was heard one afternoon, hut no rock ’n’ rollers (Bradley had indicated they would he missing). Final 25 minutes— there are five-minute news spots every half-hour—are given to in¬ strumentals. j Possessed of a good knowledge in popular music field, Bradley; employs a quiet, even controlled tone. It is pleasant on the ears. . Jaco. ; Radio Followup Ave Maria Hour Embattled Hungary which last fall revolted against the tyranny of its-Communist oppressors was sa¬ luted Sunday night (23) by the Graymoor Friars’ “Ave Maria Hour” in a moving dramatization of the trial. Imprisonment and re¬ lease of Joseph Cardinal Minds- zenty. Tagged “Voice in the Wild- ernesSj” the half-hour program was aired via some 300 stations. WMCA was the outlet in the New York metropolitan area. Written by Joseph Cdchran, the script of necessity was forced to omit a number of incidents associ¬ ated with .Taffaire Mindszenty. But these omissions failed to dull the effectiveness of this compel¬ ling semi-documentary. For, as it was pointed out, the Communist rulers silenced the voice of Minds¬ zenty but not the echo which; “whispered its Way in the wild¬ erness that was Hungary.” Relentless hold that the security j police exercises over the Hun-; garian populace wr# graphically; shown when a leading Budapest attorney was forced through fear to reject-the appeal of the'Cardi¬ nal’s mother to defend her son. “One muist learn to endure,” he told his own Ison. This endurance paid off some eight years later when Hungarian workers rose up in re¬ volt to demand reforms. The Car¬ dinal, who had been sentenced to life on a charge N of “treason,” was freed by the Hungarian people. The primate, who escaped to a haven outside Hungary, admon¬ ished listeners: “Do not forget this small, honest nation . . Like¬ wise, His Eminence Francis Cardi¬ nal Spellman at the conclusion of “Wilderness” recited his own op¬ position to Communism. “For I believe,” he said, “that rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.” Withal, this stirring dramatiza-- tion demonstrated anew the dan¬ gers of Communism to the free world and again showed how. the Roman -Catholic church is opposed to the Red menace. Ably directed bv Carlo de Angelo, cast included Abby Lewis, John Brewster, Mar¬ tin Newman, William Griffith and Kenneth Murdock. Now in its 23rd year of broadcasting, “The AVe Maria Hour” is produced by the Graymoor Friars in the inter¬ est of St. Christopher’s Inn near their monastery at Garrison, N.Y. Gilb. Nightline JNBC’s weeknight version of its weekend “Monitor” seems. to be getting down to cases, if last Tues¬ day’s (17) feature on Nathan Leo¬ pold was any indication.-^Leopold, of the famed Loeb-Leopold mur¬ der case, I? appearing before an Illinois parole board July 9 to ask for his freedom after 33 years in prison, and the “Nightline” staff and NBC Chi newsman Jim Hurl- but got out their research and tape machines for a topflight wrap- up on the story. The 15-minute feature included an interview with Leopold him¬ self, who made an eloquent plea for his release, claiming he’s com¬ pletely rehabilitated and knows he has no rights but is pleading for “mercy, not justice.” He wants to go to work as a lab technician at a church health center in Puerto, Rico. Also interviewed was Meyer Levin, author of the bestseller, “Compulsion,” the novel based on the Loeb-Leopold murder (which ‘Leopold said in his interview was 40% fact and 60% fiction). Levin didn’t take a stand on the parole plea, but insisted the novel has helped Leopold's case by getting sympathy for him from 80% of its readers. Hurlbut did a raan-in-the-street session in Chicago with the results about evenly split between those who thought Leopold should he paroled- imd those who opposed his release, and also interviewed two Chi newsmen who had covered the 1924 trial, and who both are opposed to his release. Hurlbut also spoke with the warden of Illi¬ nois State Prison, who though commending Leopold on his prison record, was cautious in equating his conduct with that of all other cooperative prisoners. In spelling out the background of . the case, “Nightline” used Ed. Begley of “Inherit the Wind” to read Clarence Darrow’s final de¬ fense plea, an effective means of introducing the feature. Walter O’Keefe, the “Nightline” host-em¬ cee, did an excellent narration- background job of the feature. If “Nightline” is to make a go of It, it’s this sort of informative, pro¬ vocative and'skillfully-handled ma¬ terial that Will attract and keep an audience. " Chan. Foreign Car Importer TestaTV Market in N. Y. A foreign car importer is trying television in.* move to get a fat¬ ter share of the auto market. Im¬ porter is Rootes Motors of New York,, which has the franchise on the British-made Hillman Minx. Bootes has ordered three 15-min- ute segments per week on the “Late Late Show" on WCBS-TV, N. Y. The deal, via the Erwin, Wasey agfency, is only a four-week cam- paign.lhaFs already underway. But if Its shortterm sponsorship, which is in the nature of an experiment, brings results, the auto firm Will move intp the medium on a regular basis, opening up a hew revenue source for stations. CeUer in Scathing Indictment Of FCC; Sez He’ll Tolerate No Nonsense’ In Pushing Network Probe Findings Framer’s ‘Lucky Lady* I Gets ABC-TV Aft Slot t Walt Framer’s “Lucky Lady” has been given the 4:30 to 5 cross- the-board slot on ABC-TV for fall. If the show is soldi It’ll become the first live daytime show on the network. The audience participationer, fronted by Keefe Brasselle and Virginia Graham, is slated to begin Sept. 30. Network has three other live daytime strips it’s pushing for fall sale: Dennis James-starrer, “What Makes You Tick?”; “Parlay” and “What's the Name of That Song?” with Robert^Alda. WBC Signs 3 Clients For Lateral Program Concept on Nile Radio Westinghou?e Broadcasting Co. has signed three national sponsors for its new nighttime "lateral pro¬ gramming” concept, with Texaco, American Tobacco and Time Inc. tossing in some heavy nighttime billings on four of the WBZ sta¬ tions. -The sponsor deals were made last week, before the new locally-programmed operation got underway on Monday night (24). Texaco, via Cunningham & Walsh (which only a couple of weeks ago reported nighttime lis¬ tening up in its Videotown Survey, and followed through with the Texaco coin), bought 20 to 28 par¬ ticipations per week on each of WBZ-WBZA, Boston; KYW, Cleve¬ land; and KDKA, Pittsburgh; all over an eight-week span. Ameri¬ can Tobacco bought 20 to 26 par¬ ticipations a week on four stations (above three plus WOWO, Ff. Wayne) starting the last week in July and running through Dec. 15, via BBD&O. Time bought a two- week saturation campaign using two to three one-hour segments per week on three stations (WBZ, KYW and WOWO), starting this .week. RnmrilTs New Slick 3006 Rochester HQ Rochester, N. Y., June-25. Rumrill Co., billing itself as “the largest agency for advertising, mar¬ keting and public relations lo¬ cated between New York City and Cleveland,” opened a new $300,000 office building here. Prexy Charles L, Rumrill said the edifice, claimed as first in area to be constructed by an advertising house for its own use, was bought largely on profits from stock purchased in client com¬ panies (“none of them has lost money”). Company operates at a $9,000,000 annual billing rate, for clients in¬ cluding Bell Aircraft, Birge Co., DuPont, Eastman Kodak, Corning Glass, Endicott Johnson, Fanny Farmer Candy, Stromberg-Carlson. KTLA’s 2516 Telethon Los Angeles, June 25. A total of $251,227 was pledged at the windup Sunday (23) of the telethon staged by KTLA by the Greater Los Angeles Press Club and Friar’s Club for City of Hope Hospital. The .event began Satur¬ day (22) night. . The “Telorama” goal was $500,- 000 , but telethon execs said they expect the goal to be reached when the final pledges are in. Barry Gray emceed the parade of stars. Hub Raises 59G Boston, June 25. WNAC—TV’s United Cerebral Palsy telethon went off the air at 4:30 Sunday (23) p.m. with more than $59,000 racked up for the 1916 hour continuous videocast. In for the telethon were Randy Merriman, Betty Anti Grove, Cap-; tain Kangaroo, Buff Cobb, Charley j Applewhite, Betty Ancona, Astro: of the Space Cadets, Barbara Ash- ] ley and Tommy Mara, I Ekco'julOOG ABC Spread Ekeo Products of Chicago fed $100,000 net into the ABC Radio Network kitty this-week by making j its first use of network radio. The I past few days have been hot at the radio web, with $725,000 in net billings being signed all told. Ekco bought two segs of Don McNeill's “Breakfast Club” and one each of “My True Story,” “When a Girl Marries” and “Whis¬ pering Streets” beginning Sept. 30. Dancer - Fitzgerald - Sample signed the radio network pact. Yaska Frank, Herb Moss Set for Tinoccbio’ Spec Yasha Frank, radio-tv and legit writer-director, and Herb Moss, tv producer, have been engaged by David Susskind of Talent Asso¬ ciates to transfer Frank’s stage ver¬ sion of “Pinocchio" to tv as an NBC spectacular set for Oct. 13. Rexall Drugs will sponsor. Origi¬ nal legit version of “Pinocchio,” written and directed by Frank, was first performed at the Ritz Thea¬ tre in New York in 1939 and sub¬ sequently toured the country. Frank will stage the tv presen¬ tation and also write the television adaptation to fit Mickey Rooney and the other stars engaged for this presentation. Herb Moss will func¬ tion as producer of this special unit which will operate under Suss¬ kind in the preparation and produc¬ tion of large budget “specs" of children's material. SUMMER REPRIEVE FOR SPIKE JONES L&M Filters has come through with one of those last-minute pro¬ gram reprieves and has decided to continue “The Spike Jones” show through the summer in its Tuesday at 10:30 period. Show was to have gone off after last night’s telecast, but L&M last week ordered an¬ other nine weeks of the show, carrying it through Aug. 27. CBS-TV put through a fast call to stations to clear the time, after having first advised them that L&M was pulling out and it was relin¬ quishing the period to them over the summer. Renewal was set through Dancer-Fltzgerald-Sample agency. Norman New Prexy Of N-C-K; Kaufman Resigns . Norman B. Norman has moved up to the presidency of Norman, Craig & Kummel, following the resignation of Elkin Kaufman last week. Kaufman, who’H announce new plans soon, was the last of the'holdovers from the predeces¬ sor William H. Weintraub agency, where he had been exec v.p. for 14 years before Norman, Walter Craig, Eugene H. Kummel and B, David Kaplan bought the con¬ trolling interest in the agency a couDle of years hack. With Norman moving up to the presidency, Kummel moves up from v.p. and secretary to become exec v.p., and Kaplan, until now v.p. and treasurer, likewise be¬ comes an exec v.p. Craig remains V.p. in charge of radio-television. ! King-Size Pittsburgh, June 25. Sleep is something Ed King isn’t going to get very much of these nights. Veteran KDKA staffer has just added two more hours of radio time to his schedule with launching of station’s new lateral | programming idea, along with other WBC properties. King and' his wife, Wendy, currently are on from 8 to 10 p.m. on “PM” and continue from 10:05 to midnight on their “Party Line” show, which has been one of KDKA’s mo$t popular stanzas for years. King’s barely in bed before he’s up again to be at the KDKA-TV studio at 8 a.m. to prepare for his daily half-hour “On Location” teeveer at 9:30. Comberg Exits NBC Sol Comberg, jwho has been di¬ rector of studio and plant planning at NBC for the past six years, is checking out of the network July 1. He’s setting up his own consultancy organization, Comberg & Associ¬ ates effective Aug. 1. Comberg designed the studios for the “Today,” “Home” dud “To¬ night” shows as well as remodel¬ ing the N.Y. Ziegfeld theatre Into an NBC Color Television Theatre.; He also designed Television City for the Granada Television Net¬ work in England. I Washington, June 25. What’s frequently said privately by critics of the Federal Commun¬ ications Commission was said here publicly last week by Chairman Emanuel Celler (D-N.Y.) of the House Judiciary Committee in one of the hottest blasts at the agency- hurled by'a person of such stature. In an address before the Federal Communications Bar Assn., Celler said, in effect, that the Commission needs a facelifting. He put it this way: “What is required is appoint¬ ment to the Commission of persons dedicated to serving the public in¬ terest. In my opinion, there has never been a greater need for qualified personnel* in the FCC, both at the staff and the Commis¬ sion level. For a number of years, the FCC has simply not measured up to the standard of public service required to inspire public confi¬ dence.” In the audience for the FCBA luncheon were two members of the Commission: Corar. John C. Doer- fer, who is expected to be the next chairman of the agency, and Comr. Rosel Hyde. A number of FCC staffers were also present. Celler’s speech brought an im¬ mediate protest from the three Re¬ publican members of the Antitrust Subcommittee whose recent report on monopoly in tv was the subject of Celler’s address. In a joint state¬ ment the Republican minority said they were “astonished” by Celler’s remarks. The Subcommittee report, they said, “furnishes no justification whatever for such an outburst. It is true that the Chairman wanted to criticize the members' of the FCC severely in our report but the * Committee rejected his extreme view. The Chairman has the perfect right to level any charges he wants to but he ought not to put words in the mouths of his colleagues. Poli¬ tics rather than the evidence must have been uppermost in his mind when he let loose with this blast.” The statement was issued by Rep. Kenneth B. Keating of New York, William M. McCulloch of Ohio and William E. Miller of New York. Celler served tfotice he intends to see that the Commission and the Department of Justice carry out the recommendations of the Sub- comittee report. He revealed that he has already requested detailed progress reports from these agen¬ cies as to steps undertaken to carry out the recommendations. Then, departing from his pre¬ pared address, he said: "I’m going to tolerate no nonsense, no pro¬ crastination. That’s a solemn warn¬ ing." With respect to recommenda¬ tions for legislation, he pointed out that he had just prior to his ad¬ dress Thursday (18) introduced a bill to amend the Robinson-Patman and Clayton Acts to plug loopholes which permit networks to grant special discounts to large adver¬ tisers. “I presume th^bill will be re¬ ferred to my own Subcommittee,” he interpolated, “and I can assure you you will get action on that bilL” Gillogly Tapped To Helm ABC-TV Chi Sales Chicago, June 25. ■William C. Gillogly, eastern sales manager for ABC-TV the past two years, has been upped to director of sales for the network’s central division. Coincidental with his ap¬ pointment, the web’s central divi¬ sion sales manager, Harold R. -Wet- tersten, has been given a special assignment to W’ork exclusively with the major ABC-TV accounts in this division’s bailiwick. Both posts were newly created I by ABC-TV central division sales veep, Jim Beach, and both become activated on July 1. Beach said the new positions were conceived out of a need to augment the midwest sales department “in view of the in¬ creased volume of business activity the central division is experienc¬ ing.”