Variety (August 1957)

Wednesday, August 28, 1957 TELEVISION REVIEWS Tele Follow-Up Comment Face The Nation Boris Morros, the impresario who acted as counterespionage agent for the U.S. against the Rus¬ sians for the past 10 years, was not too communicative pn the CBS-TV “Face The Nation” stanza Sunday afternoon (25). On*a cou¬ ple of occasions when the news¬ papermen were pressing him on some sensitive subject, ’ Morros waved the questions aside as if top secret factors prohibited him from answering. Morros did not disclose anything new. He stated flatly -at one point that there were numerous Ameri¬ cans still working for the Russians, but moderated this later to a few. Americans* mostly scientists and engineers, now abroad. Such in¬ teresting psychological questions as the motives of people spying for Russia were also brushed off by Morros who called the Russian agents “misled fanatics and fools.” Morros touched on his relation¬ ships with the Alfred K. 'Sterns, alleged spies who fled behind the Iron Curtain, and the Jack Sobles, the confessed spies whom Morros bossed in the Russian setup. Mor¬ ros was also intent on making re¬ peated plugs for the FBI as the most effective intelligence service in the world. But, most importantly, Morros, although experienced in show biz, failed to get across the drama and melodrama involved in being a double agent where one mistake would have been his last. Herm. Steve Allen Show If the Steve Allen Show delivers as well this fall as it did last Sun¬ day (25) night, Ed Sullivan is against the stiffest competish to date in the nets’ rivalry for 8 to 9 dominance. Sunday’s Allen show was smart¬ ly paced, the acts, with few excep¬ tions, building to a click peak for the hour musical variety format. Allen, participating comfortably in .most of the acts, handled himself adroitly and made a big plus con¬ tribution. It was one of those outings when the skits came off. Registering high was a satire on the current Senate labor rackets probe. With a bow to Washington (Allen saying how high he really holds the com¬ mittee’s work—hardly necessary), Allen and his crew took off on the proceedings with some hilarious results. Playing the part of the >young interrogator was Don Knotts, .with Louis Nye sitting in the hot seat as the crooked labor leader and Tom Poston as his lawyer. Al¬ len assumed the role of commenta¬ tor and questioning Senator. If the Senate and organized labor cannot get rid of-the hoods, lam¬ pooning such as this should help to laugh them off the national scene. Unfortunately, some of the bite and wit was taken out of the skit by a crazy ending, with the crooked witness unveiling himself as a government agent in disguise. But such stunts are Allen’s weak¬ ness. Joe E. Brown as one of the head¬ liner guest made a solid contribu¬ tion in a panto clown act. It came off With finesse and charm, evidencing some real artistry. Hedy Lamarr was fetching and her skit with Allen, while entertaining, was slow. Irish McCalla, the Sheena, of telepix “Sheena, Queen of the Jungle,” provided some fun with her African curios, her chimp,; and her chitchlt with- Allen. The Coasters were on hand for a rock ’n’ roll number “Searchin’,” okay; vocally, but performance-wise they didn’t have much to. offer. Allen’s novelty curtain number “You Got to Have Something in the Bank, Frank,” staged in a side show set¬ ting, came off neatly. The Skitch Henderson Orchestra lent a fine assist. Horo. Mike Wallace Interview Mike Wallace engaged in an In¬ conclusive 30-minute sparring match Sunday (25) with Fred Otash, chief investigator for Con¬ fidential mag’s Hollywood Research Inc. With the current Coast con¬ spiracy trial against Hollywood Research giving the dailies their biggest Hollywood story in years, Wallace couldn’t have come up with a timelier guest, with the possible exception of Confidential publisher Robert Harrison himself (whom Wallace has already tackled). HOME FARE With Ernie Tetrault, Sunnie Jen¬ nings, others • 30 Mins.; Mon.-thru-Fri., 9 a.m. PARTICIPATING WRGB-TV, Schenectady • Program, which continues the live pattern of the preceding two- hour “Today” NBC origination, is an amalgam of interviews, news, public service features, entertain¬ ment and novelties, featuring Ernie Tetrault and his attractive vis-a-vis. Sunnie Jennings. It de¬ monstrates the difficulty of pro¬ ducing a consistently interesting daily 30-minute local studio morn¬ ing show. Some of the blocks move smoothly and' tightly; others tend-to bump and drag. The for¬ mat, with live and filmed commer¬ cials interrupting, - has' a jump- around aspect that needs modifi¬ cation,- if not elimination. Tetrault, who debuted as an¬ nouncer in his high school days over WTEty at Troy, is a friendly, personable and photogenic chap, with a light, kidding touch, some¬ times overdone. Finper direction might bring out untapped poten¬ tials. Among Tetrault’s top inter¬ views were a series on “Discrimina¬ tion,” which included quizzings of State officials. Mrs, Jennings’ best were a weeklong group on “Child Adoption.” She also regis¬ tered, perfectly, in an exchange with J. C. Penney, fatherly-type chain store magnate. The vivacious Virginia-born gal —surprisingly slim for a mother of several.children (to whom she often refers, on the air)—should strive to soften and lower a voice now hard and high; should work for greater poise. Lawn pickups—a Palomino horse exhibit, an elephant act from a carnival, a baseball warmup—gave life to the program, although the cameras did not always catch everything, quickly. Jaco. via his erstwhile WABD, N.Y., “Nlghlbeat” show). But Otash, a private eye who numbers Hollywood Research among his clients (to the tune of $25,000 a year, out of a $100,000 per annum business), proved an un¬ satisfactory though fully cooper¬ ative subject. Perhaps It was be¬ cause of the “groundrules” laid down prior to the broadcast, under which Wallace and Otash agreed not to mention any Hollywood names (a fair enough precaution, (Continued on page 38) ON THE CAROUSEL With Paul Tripp; guests, Marcella Schneider, Herbert Knobloch, the “Cuban Rockers” Producer: Tripp Director; Neal Finn 30 Mins.; Sat., 9 a,m. Sustaining WCBS-TV, N.Y. Presented by WCBS-TV Public Affairs Dept, and the City of New York’s Board of Education, “On the Carousel” started another sea¬ son Saturday (24) with the.-return of producer-host Paul Tripp from a six-week vacation. Half-hour show, is aimed at the smallfry and what Tripp had on deck for the season’s opener was more than enufi; to keep the kids interested. Foif this Emmy award winner, which has a catchy intro with scenes of a carousel and accomp- ing calliope music, came up with a coupla guests who helped make the program absorbing viewing. Herbert Knobloch, associate cura¬ tor of the education dept, of the Bronx Zoo, brought along two rep¬ tiles who didn’t crawl on their bellies but distinguished them¬ selves in an equally rewarding manner. Marcella Schneider, of the Cleanliness Bureau, showed What can be done with a little soap suds insofar as amusement is concerned. Also on hand were six boy musi¬ cians from P.S. 159, Queens, who bill themselves as the “Cuban Rockers.” Their calypsoing pro¬ vided a neat change of pace be¬ tween the snakes and the soap. Tripp, an ingratiating host, occa¬ sionally sings and handles the guest interviews with aplomb— even the snakes. Withal, “Carou¬ sel” is well worth any mopoet’s time. Gilb. Foreign TV Review CHALLENGE With Alan Taylor Devised by Bill Ward, John Irwin 30 Mins., Mon., 6 pjn. Associated Television from London Experiments with different types of shows on commercial tv in the past have been of a trivial nature. But then came the extra hour of transmission between 6 p.m. and 7, and the programmers cut loose with talks, debates and sometimes' programs which put notables on (Continued on page 38) DING DONG SCHOOL With Dr. Frances Horwich, Harold Turner Producer; Dr. Frances Horwich Directorf Dick Doerschuk 30 Mins,, Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m. Participating WGN-TV, Chicago “Ding Dong School,” which went = back on tv Monday (22), is regard¬ ed as “breaking in” until Pat i Weaver’s Program Service Net¬ work is ready for it, whenever that !may be. For the present, it’s Chi- I cago’s gain only. j Frances Horwich’s daily pre- I school sessions are uniquely dur- jable. Among lollipoppejs, the pat¬ terns of interest are pretty con¬ stant generation after generation. It’s as they grow up that they be¬ come dependent on the changing styles of entertainment. Dr. Hor¬ wich is plenty hep both to the concentration capacity of her tod¬ dler audience and to the needs of the television medium generally, and accordingly she conducts her show briskly and with diversifica¬ tion, never dwelling too long on a single subject. While the format and general character of her show are essen¬ tially what they were before “Ding Dong” was axed from NBC-TV, Dr. Horwich intends to add to the present series simple cooking in¬ struction once a week and a de¬ scription of various breadwinning occupations, so that the moppets may better understand their par¬ ents. As usual, she devotes the last five minutes of the show to the parent to make the understanding mutual. As before, she keeps the tri¬ cycle set fascinated with a variety of toys, puzzles, pictures and con¬ versation pieces with the suspense that comes from a bet-you-can’t- guess lead-in. She also feeds ’em an awareness to live music by bringing in momentarily^ the show’s organist, Harold Turner. It’s still one of the best education¬ al entertainments in any medium. Show has started auspiciously with 16 spot participations per week. One of them. Cocoa Marsh, - has debuted in this market coin¬ cidentally with the show and ex-, pects to graph the effectiveness of “Ding Dong School” by Its sales here. Ues. TOP 20 SHOWS NEW YORK ARB —August 1. What's My Line...... 30.0 2. ARTHUR MURRAY PARTY. 3 _ _26.1 3. Twenty-One ...... 25,6 4. Climax ........ 25.1 5. I've Got a Secret...................... 24.7 Gunsmoke . 24.7 6. Alfred Hitchock ..... 24.6 7. Steve Allen ........ 23.9 8. Playhouse 90.... 23.3 9. Nat King Cole. 22.9 10. Studio One Summer Theater............. 22.8 11. Father Knows Best.. ?..... 21.4 12. To Tell the Truth...20.8 13. Ed Sullivan . 20.6 14. Goodyear Playhouse .. 19.8 15. Millionaire .. 18.9 Best of Groucho..... 18.9 16. General Electric Theater.... 18.6 17. Phil Silvers ... 18.3 18. Lawrence Welk .. v ... 18.1 19. $64,000 Challenge ....... 17.8 20. 20th -Century" Fox.. 16.9 The Arthur Murray Party will be available for sponsorship after December 15th, 1957.