Variety (September 1957)

40 TELEVISION REVIEWS Wednesday, September 25, 1957. SUNRISE SEMESTER (Comparative Literature 16) With Dr. Floyd Zulli Jr. Producer: Warren Kraetzer Director: Robert Goodman 30 Mins., Mon.-thra-Fri., 6:30 a.m. WCBS-TV, New York | “| First college course-for-credit ‘ in New York television was! launched this week by WCBS-TV ! in cooperation with New York U.,! with Dr, Floyd Zulli Jr. of the uni| vers.ty’s department of romance i lnnguazes conducting a 15-week ; course on the modern novel. The; time slot has been a sore point between WCBS-TV and some crit.cs since the project was announced— |} the five-a-week course airs at 6:30 | to 7 a.m. ; The s:ation and NYU maintain | they want to reach not only the| housewife, but all the adult mem| bers of a family, and since WCBS-; TV is sold out at night, the mor-! n'ng is the oniy time the show can i be done. Further, it would rather | do the show then than not at al’. Whatever the merits, there have been re rly 10,000 written requests} for information on the course and | some 5U0 applications in the processing Sstage-—at $73 a crack (though the applicant need pay only $5 to start, with the balance lateri, Not a substantial figure in terms of ratings, but certanly in terms of high education’s expansion. On first viewing, the course lInoks like a good one. Dr. Zulli will cover one novel each week, starting with Stendhal’s “The Red { and the Black” and finishing with ! Hemingway. Far his first show, he covered briefly the history of the; novel, in far greater detail the biography and the historical setting of Stendhal, and even got sub-! stantially into the novel itself. Dr. Zulli doesn’t shape up asa major potential star for television; he’s got toa much of a platform : Manner, for one thing; for another, his speech patterns (particularly a slurring of the “r”’) leave much to be desired; finally, his style is tco pedagocieal, he procedes in so logical and determined a manner as to he virtually cut-and-dried in his approach, with little in the way |! of digression. ! But he’s an enthusiastic, knowing and highly competent lecturer on his field. In fact, after a somewhat slow start, one could see him | warming to his subject and becoming not only more fluent and fluid, | but adding a little verve to his} ‘descriptions. He can't be charac| terized as amusing or entertaining, : but Dr. Zulli knows his business and turns in a highly informative and sensit ve lecture. For those able or brave enough tu get up every day at 6:30, the! WCBS-TV-NYU_ effort in educational television should prove a rewarding and enriching experience. Chan. CIRCUS BOY With Mickey Braddock, Robert! Lowery, Noah Beery, Gu'nn Wil| liams, Sterling Holloway, Stan-: ley Andrews, Bill Hale, others Writers: Various Directors: Robert G. Walker, Fred: Jackman | Blackburn, : Producers: Norman Herbert B. Leonard 30 Mins., Thurs., 7:30 p.m. MARS, INC., KELLOGG CO. (Alt.)ABC-TV (film) | Kner Reeves (Marsy, Leo Burnett (Kellogg) Formerly aired Sundays on NBCTV in the 7:30 p.m, slot, “Circus Boy” has switched to ABC-TV with a new day and sponsors but with: the same time. This moppet-aimed show is a lot more suitable for the fresh bankrollers—Mars _Inc., eandy firm and Kellogg, a cereal maker — than Reynolds Metals ; wMbich picked up the tab last year. ; With aluminum to sell, Reynolds | o-viously required an adult audi-: ence and it’s a mystery why it! thought “Cireus Boy” could reach this market. ; Presumably this half-hour film show will retain the smallfry viewers who became followers of Corky. a circus orphan, when the series was an NBC-TV Sabbath evenng regular. At any rate its ABCTV Thursday '19) bow was in keeping with the format that the Screen Gems-Norbert Productions brainchild has. been pursuing since its inception. On hand again aside from Corky, + a} tured. among them her agent, Her| bert de Leon, director Carol Reed SALUTE TO SHOW BUSINESS With Margaret’ Lockwood, Julia Lockwood, Joan Newall, Hugh Miller, Herbert de Leon, Stuart Nichol, Ernest Butcher, Sir Caro! Reed, Phyllis Calvert, Les lie Artiss, Leslie Frewin, Val:tors Equity, delivering an unquali-}. Parnell, Dickie Valentine, The) fied plug for his union, which even Max Bygraves,|included an appeal to members to Brian Nash, Bruce Trent, Harry | pay their contributions on time! Robert ; Kaye Sisters, Lane, Paddie O’Neil, James, Gordon Phillpott, Jacki Hylton, Donald Scott, Mabelj Corran, Vie Wise, Paul Carpen-; ‘ ter, Hannah Watts, Albert Bur-; The comedy was only tepid, and Dickie Valentine,|the humor frequently misfired. Coral Fairweather, Mona Bruce, ! Breaks for commercials -were also Hines, | i den, Mrs. Sylvia Vaughan, Roy Penelope Horner, Douglas Stew-; art, Susan Burnet, James Hay-/ ter, Celia Johnson, Michael Red-| grave, Charles La Trobe, Dame; Edith Evans, Donald Hewlett,' Jean Stuart, Fay Compton, Philip | Ashley: Christine Pollon, Mary|LIFE WITH THE LYONS Ma!colm, Sir John Gielgud, Ber-| With Bebe Daniels, Ben Lyon, Bar-. nard Warwick, Ruth Trouncer, Julian Orchard, Anthony Watson, <Athene’ Seyler, Eileen Herlie, Ronald Howard, Felix; Aylmer, Sir Ralph Richardson, F'rth Banbury, Robert Bolt, Peter Sellers, Kenneth Connor, Richard Hearne, Richard Waring Writers: Hazel Adair, Cyril Bennett, David Freeman Producer: Peter Hunt Directors: Peter Morley, Joan Kemv-Welch 320 Mins.; Fri., 8 p.m Associated-Rediffusion from Lon on Commercial television in Britain, now two-years-old, made the grand gesture of paying a tribute to all other branches of show ‘business, as the highlight of its an niversary programming. It was a recognition of the debt owed by the electronic. medium to _ the friendly help and cooperation it has received. and without which it would be unable to function. The two-hour program, the longest ever presented on the commercial network, was divided into lthree separate segments, one spe cifieally concerned with films, another with vaudeville and the third with legit. The first two were inthe form of screen biogs, and the third told the story of one of London’s most historic. theatres. Largely prefilmed, but spliced with live-action shots, the show also included scenes of the previous night’s anniversary party aboard a motor -vessel. which cruised down the River Thames, spotlighting a few of the many celebrities who were present. The. spotlight, however, was mainly focussed on the big showbiz names who were featured ‘on the tv program. The tribute to motion. pictures came via the story of Margaret|’ Lockwood, the British actress who achieved stardom at a comparatively early age and has succeeded in staying on top. It was, perhaps, an odd choice, as this was a conventional yarn of a girl who went through drama school, was turned down by Alexander Korda who advised her to take up typing, but eventually made the grade by the famiHar combination of hard work, luck and talent. ‘The dramatization, narrated. by Miss Lockwood of her daughter, Julia, to play her mother as a young girl. Important ec her up: the Jadder were also and publicist Leslie Frewin. Far more dramatic in content was the biog of Dickie Valentine whose story represented the contribution by the vaudeville arm of show business. His is a story in the best tradition—of a boy who had a natural love for the theatre, whose first job was as a page boy in Manchester, and later had a similar post at: the London Palladium, where he was sacked for being cheeky. In a few years, ‘however, he was to return to Lon don’s ace vaudeville theatre as a headliner. It was fitting, therefore, that the Dickie Valentine story should have ‘been introed by Val Parnell, who is now only ‘the Foreign Television . | Asseciated-Rediffusion from Lon i version. ; oo, ; This zany family provided laughs’ Compton, Celia Johnson and Eileen’ Herlie.Unusual ‘features in this episode:. tv personality Mary Malcolm playing her grandmother, Lily Langtry, and Felix Aylmer, president of British Ac The weak link of the program was. the connecting material by Peter Sellers, an impressionist of unnuestioned talent and: versatility. mistimed; they should have been confined to separating. the three episodes, “and not intruded on the actual stories. All told, however, it was a bold effort and a generous and glowing tribute... Myro. bara Lyon-Lyon, Richard leyon, Jack Buchanan,.Molly Weir, _ Frark Pettitt Writers: Bebe Daniels, Bob. Ross, Bob Block Music: Eric Spear Associate producer: Barry Baker. Director: John Phillips 30 mins., Tues., 8:30 p.m. don . Transferring a radio show to tv without, losing any of its impact is probably one of the most difficult things to do, but in the case of “Life With The Lyons,” the venture has come through with flying colors. On radio the program was a firm favorite with a large’ following. It can be safely assumed that the same will happen with the ty from the off, in a very lifelike set of their London home. Associated Rediffusion, the ‘originating pro-| grammers, felt that the show would. be’ better if it were telerecorded, and their decision was justified by | results. The program is streamlined, ‘snappy, and crazy though it may be, has an air of authenticity. The first offering, entitled “The Green Eyed Monster,” -was built round guest star Jack Buchanan, who, after a long absence visits the Lyon's den, and has Ben Lyon up in arms when he suspects that Buchanan has designs on his wife and that she is falling for his charms. Bebe Daniels as the scatter brained wife and Ben Lyon, her}. frustrated age-conscious spouse, ably supported by Richard Lyon, her adolescent son and Barbara, her newly-married but still déweyeyed daughter, were the tops. Molly Weir, .the family’s: Scots housekeeper, added to the fun. : SO ' Bary. SUNDAY NIGHT AT THE LONDON PALLADIUM . . With Harry Secombe, Shani Wallis, ‘Clarke .Bros., Dickie Henderson, Sabrina, Miss _Moon and. her Poodles, Max Russell, Joe Corne jius, George Mitchell Singers, George Carden’s Palladium Girls. and Boys, Cyril Ordanel and Palladium Orch. — Producer: Val Parnell Director Bryan Tesler ‘herself, was hypoed by the casting| 60 Mins., Sun., 8 p.m. ATYV,. from London : After a summer layoff Sunday night’s pop commercial vaudeville series returned to the London Pal ‘ladium with an unchanged formula | of spectacle, song and comedy. Only change is the substitution of Dickie Henderson in the emcee chore so long filled by Tommy Trinder. Henderson, who was aided. considerably by: star attraction, ; Harry Secombe, has an easy presence but on this airing did not click with the “Beat The Clock” interlude. “This. spot, favorite’ im _port from VW. S.; involves theatre | patrons in offbeat activities for prizes. Jackpot sequence currently demands patrons to juggle table-. tennis balls into teacups. Jackpot |. started with 280-pounds bait and will be raised by. 280 each Sunday till the prize. is successfully snagged. Harry Secombe, .a cheerful buf “ho's wistfully portrayed. by Mick-'! Palladium boss, but also a leading|foon who also boasts a fine tenor e) Braddock, were Robert Lowery, | a’ circus owner Big Tim Cham-} pion; Noah Beery, as a clown and foster father of young Braddock;' tuinn Williams, who appeared to he boss canvasman, and Bimbo, a ,pechyderm. In an episode tagged *Elmer the Rainmaker” these performers were adequate in carrying out the demands of the Kenneth A Enorhs script. Sterling Holloway registered nicely as Elmer. Robert G. Walker's direction was: brisk in this Norman Blackburn, Herbert B. Leonard production. Gilb. figure in commercial tv.. The third and final chapter was an uneasy dramatization of the Haymarket Theatre, with the narrative link provided by the ghost of John Buckstone (played by James Hayter) the actor and playwright, who scored some notable successes at that theatre before he died: nearly a century ago. Even though the story line was contrived, it served as a vehicle to introduce some of the greats in legit, among them Dame Edith Evans, Sir Ralph Richardson, Sir ‘voice, scored heavily with three or four amiable appearances. He was particularly notable in a_ brisk song-and-dance trio with Shani Wallis and Dickie ‘Henderson and in a. burlesque of a U. S. harmony trio called “The Top Graders,” which he was stooged by Max Rus sell and Joe Cornelius. He introed | his. stooges as Lew and Leslie, thus tipping an irreverent nod at the Grade brothers.: UK’s top vaudeville and tyv.10%ers. ~— ~~. Shani Wallis, a cute, bubbly soubret (making: her last UK ap John Gielgud, Athene Seyler, Fay | pearance before. cocking a specula ‘need more solid backing than that ‘ARMCHAIR THEATRE ‘Producer-Director: play yet to be seen on the inde stance was well served by his cast. doctor. the newspapermen ‘covering the ‘With Raymond Francis, Meredith Associated-Rediffusion in Reviews tive eye at U. S.), sang a couple of : peppy numbexs and the colored Clarke Bros. hoofed with smooth good humor. A French act, Miss Moon and her Poodles, offered an undistinguished pooch act. Sabrina, noted British blonde whose show biz fame has largely been built-up on a well-stacked shape, did a walkon gag as payoff to a Secombe-Hetiderson routine. The Palladium boys and girls were in their usual good form in some spectacular scenes and Cyril Ordanel’s baton work was slickly un-. obtrusive, Playing for safety Val Parnell has wisely let well alone and there seems no reason why, under: Bryan Tesler’s direction, “Sunday Night at the London Palladium” should not maintain its big, faithful following. Parnell may well find in future programs that his star will provided in this reentry into the commercial tv arena. Rich. (Now Let Him Go) With Hugh Griffith, Philip Ray, William Marvyn, June Thorburn, Frances Rowe, Philip Ray, ‘Ursula Howells, John Breslin, | Gerald Lawson, Frederic Schiller, others , ] Dennis Vance Writer: J. B. Priestley : 90 Mins.; Sun. (15) 9 p.m. ABC-TY, from London J. B, Priestley, having let com-} mercial tv settle down, has now decided to explore the new medium and “Now Let Him Go” was the world premiere of a drama that re-. vealed that Priestley has lost none of his dramatic craftsmanship. But, running 90 minutes (the longest pendent network on a Sunday night), it is doubtful if it would ‘have received an equally hospit able nod from the producer had it been scribed by a lesser name. Story concerned Hugh Griffith as an old, dying artist who, from his deathbed in a seedy Midlands hotel, fought his greedy relatives, goy ernment and art officials, who hover over his body and his paint-. ings like carrion. Eventually he disposed of the paintings to his own satisfaction before dying against the symbolic sounds of a trainwhistle and an unexplained, lugubrious trombone. . . Priestley’s. dialog was rarely more than plodding and the point of his play, which was that the individual must not be tramped on by National Trusts, seems slight for such. a lengthy work. Priestley’s strength was the brilliantly observant manner in which he built up his characters and in this in _Hugh Griffith gave a formidable dignity and humor to the dying painter. Frances Rowe as an alcoholic daughter, William Mervyn as his pompous son, and June Thorburn as his pretty, devoted grand-. daughter all took their opportunities with relish. There were also a: number of lesser roles which were extremely well. played, notably a4 half-witted potboy (Gerald Lawson), Ursula Howells as a sympathetic nurse and Philip Ray as a kindly Dennis Vance’s direction was adequate but seemed overawed by the reputation of his author or, surely, he would have firmly bluepencilled some of the inane and unrealistic dialog and actions of story of the artist’s last hours. Rich. THE MURDER BAG Edwards, Patrick Waddington, Victor Lucas, Oswald Lawrence, Willerby Goddard, Meadows White, Rose Hill, Ivan Samson, Deidre Williams, Frank Sieman, Richard Bebb, Andrew Kier, Charles Saynor, Eric Francis, Michael Harrison, James Lloyd. Director: Jean Hamilton Writer-Producer: Barry Baker 30 Mins.; Mon., 9 p.ni. from London This new Associated-Rediffusion erime series is said to be based on authentic police cases, Title of the: program derives from kits used by British cops which are more or less portable laboratories packed into leather bags, to aid them in track-. ing down criminals. The first case was that of a man battered to death | by a hammer. The local police didn’t feel competent enough to | handle it, so if was passed on to Seotland Yard, and then to Super| intendent Lockhart, the star of the {Continued on page 46) Jup. _|KOREA: THE FORGOTTEN FRONT { | With Peter Kalischer, Walter Cron kite, others Producer: Leslie Midgely Director: Vern Diamond _| Writer: John Sharnik 30. Mins.; Sun. (22), 5:30 p.m. CBS-TY, from N.Y. {live & film) First fruits of CBS news direc ‘tor John Day’s July tour of the ‘Far East were for the seeing Sun day (22) in “Korea: The Forgotten Front.” The special half-hour program consisted of film taken in Korea by a CBS crew and the live commentary in New York of Walter Cronkite. It was an important show, not because it had a fresh viewpoint, since what was said had heen said before in newspapers and magazines. If was iniportant because CBS forthrightness about some key and not pleasant Korean issues could be shown on television, where it should have impact on the American public—at least to whatever degree there were viewers available at 5:30 on a Sabbath afternoon. More than 30 minutes might have been devoted to the unhappy situation in Korea. Nonetheless, with Day behind the scenes and CBS Tokyo correspondent Peter Kalischer doing the interviewing and ‘film narrative and with Walter Cronkite on the live wrapup show said a great deal. First 15 minutes were devoted ta batkground; The patrolling of the’ Demilitarized Zone by ‘American GI’s and Koreans, the aging mili-. tary equipment’kept in reserve, the general distaste of Americans for service in the still backward country. In view of the fact that the network had relatively little time to make its point, there was perhaps too much devoted to this matter. oO . In the final segment, there was a brief, stilted interview by Kalischer with Gen. George Decker, United Nations Commander in ‘Ko~ rea, in which the officer reiterated: for tv the threat the armed camp ‘north of the 38th ‘parallel was poss ing by bringing in‘new equipment, contrary to:the agreement made by both sides in 1953./ Another short vis-a-vis was arranged with John M. Chang, vice-president of Korea and, paradoxically by American standards, a despondent and vocal opponent to the president. .The slam by Chang was. not: the only one Rhee received; Cronkite, delivering a script by John Sharnik, indicated the president’s warlike intentions in reunifying all Korea, and, in counterpoint, Cronkite did some interpretive reporting on why the United Nations (guided by the U.S.) was afraid of Rhee atid why it kept a body of 60,000 American GI’s on hand all the time and why Rhee’s 700,000-man army was kept on short rations. TheRhee interview by: Kalischer supported the contention that he sought war to. reunite North and South Korea. What was needed to increase the validity of “Korea: The Forgotten Front” was more time .and more detail to give Cronkite’s -interpretations more meaning and drama. ‘ a rt. THE FITZGERALDS With Ed and Pegeen Fitzgerald. Producer: Ed and Pegeen Fitzgerald Director: Ralph Giffen 30 Mins., Mon.-Fri., 2 p.m. Participating WOR-TV, N.Y. AS Ed and Pegeen acknowledged at the end of the initial halfhour outing, the show needed some better organization. The preem of the Mr. & Mrs. broadcasting Fitzgerald team was marred by lack of pace, a rooster cackling while Ed spoke and a live mink wandering {mischievously about. They came off best in their return to ty inthe husband ‘and wife | interludes, when she fold a story: and he commented “It’s a little windy,” or she trying to pencil in some hair on his receding dome..The mink and rooster got into the act as an illustration of unusual ‘pets and the Fitzgeralds’ interest in contributing toward humane: treatment of animals. Chitchat, other thari animals, coricérned the bringing up of Prince Charles, a book about a Scottish boy, their recent trip to ireland, and other light topics. Staging was made fo simulate a study and towards the end Pegeen. showed some of the paintings she does of prize fighters, fieing it neatly with the Robinson-Basilio match. Show opened weak with Pegeen reading an item about their forthcoming tv stint from an Irish mewspaper and Ed _ following through reading an item about the schooling of Prince Charles from the Manchester Guardian. It was too static for tv. The rooster, though, drinking tea over Pegeen’s shoulder, helped to liven things: : Horo.