Variety (November 1957)

TELEVISION REVIEWS VARIETt Wednesday, November 6,. 1957 Television Followup Comment Omnibus c Life, the Henry Ltice variety, got 1 a fat plug on NBC-TV's ‘‘Omnibus’' i Sunday (3), and after this hour-long \ free commercial was over and done i with, the show devoted the remain- 1 ing time to the second of a fascinat- i ing series on “American Trial by i Jury,” introed by attorney Joseph i N. Welch. ' < Just what prompted the usually j astute "Omnibus” crew to give that much time to Life magazine is difficult to surmise. Had the J show bothered to look into the controversial aspects of the Luce policies in Time and Life, or even into the merits or- demerits of group journalism, this might have { been understandable. As it was, the c program made due note that Life = f had been on the stands for 21 years | c and then proceeded, in rather 1 1 sketchy manner, to dramatize how t Life got its news a.td went to press. \ Considering that “Omnibus” I presumably is pitched to an intel- s ligenl audience, the superficial quality of this Life examination z was the more surprising. Nothing t very new was revealed, the t thoughts were carefully guarded f to preclude opinions that might 1 throw some light on the “inside” 1 of Life, and the final byplay of c having Life photogs cover the s “Omnibus” coverage had a cheap i ancl gadgety quality. The bit was I (surprisingly) written by "Omni- 1 bus” host Alistair Cooke and nar- ] rated by him with the kind of en- i thusiasm he might reserve for s weightier issues or more profound z examinations. The only people < whom this segment of the .show must have pleased were the men in j the Life circulation department. ( It’s not every day that such an un- ^ qualified boost comes their way. j Though a couple of technical de- 1 tails went haywire with the Welch c portion of “Omnibus,” at least it t amply made up for the dull intro of i the Life segment. Welch has a mar- <: velous tv personality. He has spon- ( taneous wit and the kind of relaxed i delivery that makes him a slick , pitchman for the virtues of practi- - cally anything, even something as comparatively complex as the his¬ tory of the trial by jury. Stanza was built around a 1934 trial of two men accused of murder. Welch conjured up figures from the past to dramatize the evolution of Anglo-Saxon law and the con¬ cepts of a fair trial. There were some impressive bit performances by Jane McArthur fas Saint Joan), Mike Kellin, Fritz Weber and Jay Lanin. a Welch is a master at telling a story and at lightening what poten¬ tially might be a dry subject. There were some strange omissions in the show, such as his failure to mention the Inquisition when discussing ecclesiastical courts, and the de¬ fense of the British soldiers in Bos¬ ton «Welch’s home area) by John Adams when discussing the law¬ yer’s duty to defend unpopular persons. But, oh the whole, Richard Dunlap directed a cohesive, well¬ paced show that combined drama and information. Cooke makes a good narrator, and his little “interview” with Welch to fill the 12 minutes of which the show had fallen short • was a pleasant interlude that might have been a part of the program as originally skedded. The Life sequence contrasted sharply with the Welch segment. It was partly on poorly-photographed film, the sound was bad and the lensing unimaginative. Editor-in- chief Henry R. Luce came on for a brief speech, and so did a couple of other Life execs. Prexy Roy E. Larsen observed Life had learned easily not to underestimate the in¬ telligence of the audience. In this instance, the lesson appeared to ■ have been lost. . Hift.. ! Playhouse 90 The first of Screen Gems' filmed entries for the new CBS-TV "Play¬ house 90” season, “The Edge of Innocence” «31», was a disappoint¬ ment. The script by Berne Gilder was full of holes, unrealized char¬ acters. and wavering accents. The play in essence was a who-? duntt meller and when it stuck to i that it created some interest and! suspense. But it wandered all over! the map, alternating between play- { ing up a love angle to the morality | of lawyers in defending accused! murderers. Even the meller angle. j was weakened by stock character-- izations, unconvincing plot angles and in the last minute unveiling the murderer way out from left- field. Giving a lift to the entire pro¬ ceedings was Joseph Gotten wbp turned in a very workmanlike job, : despite the handicaps. Teresa Wright as his "Wife-to-be was com¬ petent, as was Maureen O’Sulli¬ van, wheelchair confessor to the murder. Lorne Greene as the husband of Miss O'Sullivan, the master of a socially prominent, rich household, was unconvincing and wooden, Beverly Garland did okay on the witness stand, but she should get out of the rut of speak¬ ing all her lines in one key. Direction by Arthur Hiller did nothing to left the drama from the “B” category. fforo. Gisele MacKenzie Show Gisele* MacKenzie was hit by gremlins on Saturday's (2) seance over NBC-TV when the cable failed to carry the sound portion of the show for more than 10 min¬ utes, followed by a period of par¬ tial sound before the full program was transmitted. It becomes ap¬ parent immediately that sight is a small portion of a. variety show. However, even with the abbrevi¬ ated portion, Miss MacKenzie con¬ tinues as a personally impressive entertainer. The policy of one- guester, but a good one. seems to be working out for this half-hour layout. Eddie ^Fisher collated in duos, a sketch in which he was sawed apart, and did some solos for pleasant listening: He and Miss MacKenzie seemed to share equal¬ ly on time. Even on Miss Mac- Kenzie's gimmick of using four moppets regularly for her song support was. countered by Fishes’s accompaniment by four elderly la¬ dies. The novelty came over well. The guest shot situation, which has been plaguing many of the current variety .shows, seems to be working itself into a closed cor¬ poration on the 30-minute sessions. With only one guest used and re¬ ciprocal deals made, the present tenants of the spectrum are being used more widely, to the exclusion of those that have no show of their own. Net result of such maneuvers may be the complete wearing out of personalities by the end of one season, but right now, it seems like sound policy to work with show toppers exclusively. Jose. Steve Alien Show With the exception of a brief appearance by guest comedian Jerry- Lewis, the best and funniest segs on Steve Allen’s Sunday (3) NBC-TV showcase came from Al¬ len’s regular on-the-air crewmen, Tom Poston, Louis Nye and Don Knotts, all of whom, incidentally, mugg and cavort in an exhilarating style much like Lewis' own. Of the three other live guests only pretty singer Joanne Gilbert gave any cause for satisfaction, and this was mitigated by slow opening ma¬ terial. ' - Radio has a clear influence of some of tv’s comedic writing. Point was demonstrated again in the overlong colloquy by Allen and guest Dennis Day. Banter, pre¬ paratory to a couple of Day songs, one of which was an insipid rock! ’n’ roll parody, had the exact sound 1 of similar situations on the audio —overlyiprepared and listless. In¬ clusion of straight rock ’n’ roll later in the program by singer i Jerry Lee Lewis, a wild-haired, frenzied type, can only be judged; as a concession to teenagers. Other thing to be said about it, which might be construed as positive, is that it was uninhibited. * Allen reversed the tables on a plug for the hew flick, “Bridge on the River Kwai,” by following a filmed vis-a-vis with stars William Holden and Alec Guinness with a parody of the on-location events by his men Poston and Nye. It wasn’t 'the best humor displayed by these men that night, but it served its purpose in making the plug more than an unintegrated and gratui- tious advertisement. Art. Ed Sullivan Show . Flock of recording artists, several imports, plus some vaude-nitery turns comprised the talent lineup Sinatra: Singer or Salesman? One man’s cigaret is another man’s poison, which would also go for Frank Sinatra as a singer except that in the intra-trade pro¬ fessional ranks, at least, it’s figured that they don’t come much better. “Nobody sings a song like Sinatra” is almost an unpartisan remark these days. Chesterfield has tnade good with the puffers it serves, the weed being an intangible thing to begin with, hut Sinatra is. a spread-eagle star who’s made the grade, in spades— up from chant-fronting a band (Tommy Dorsey’s) to records, to H’woad, to bigtime presentation houses, to radio and tv and a few turns around the global arenas. He’s sure to round out his career some day as a “legit” performer. So Chesterfield must have sold him quite a-hill of goods in getting him to. huckster the Accure (whatever-that-is) in his new ABC-TV show. ' Sinatra isn’t the first and won’t be the last of the-entertainers to become a dollar-happy commercial pitchman, though rarely has an actor or singer of his stature (and he’s on the upstairs level in .both depts.) gone so heavy in personalizing the pitch. Does he need the money? Does Rockefeller? Is this a private deal? If so, maybe the public should be let on It (and that goes ' for other performers with such dual chores, so that they can make up their minds right-quick whether they’re listening to a songster or a salesman. ' - Obviously -there are better salesmen, but Liggett & Myers—. along with rival companies and those in a multiplicity of other fields^have figured out the obvious, that a Sinatra as a top enter¬ tainer can more than get by as a peddler. Otherwise* the indus¬ trial giants would send in the pick of the public speakers to pitch the product. There is never any question that a Sinatra would still have a series if he nixed the commercial prostitution. He’s sold as a piece 1 of entertainment, not as an announcer, which is a postscript. It’s bad enough to have a. performer “cue” the commercial without descending to the direct sell. Of course, there’s the “show proper” to consider along with the alleged improprieties, meaning the product salesmanship. As to that, Sinatra’s Friday (1) program, the first of his half-hour musical items, was just okay, though when he gets into the meat of a ballad he can rarely be topped. The show’s ballyhoo was weighted in favor of daughter Nancy debuting on tv in company of a couple of other 17-year-olds (Belinda Burrell and Jane Ross, yclept the Tri-Tones), She’s an attractive young lady in this "homihy” trio and her father bypassed the -obvious, to his credit, by having her spotted as a flank instead of in the middle' of the three¬ some, albeit she did a bit of “leading” by stepping away from the bench to Come front-off-center. Their song “Someone Exactly Like You” was a good arrangement for the young trio, with Sinatra as the fourth in the background as the tune- received some interpolated lyrics In the light vein.. As a foursome they also worked over “Side By Side” and all in all it was a good vignette accenting the not unreasonable daughter angle for viewers, though never at any time pressing down on this screenwise except in a slight visual byplay, Sinatra’s best was his high-rated “All the Way” (Capitol Hec- - ords), segueing into an- oke “Violets - for Your Furs” in which, he overcame the cliche, banal lyrics. There were a couple of Sin¬ atra reprises (from his preeming fullrhour show of a fortnight previously), “Look Down the Lonesome Road” and “Got You Under My Skin,” with typical Sinatra excellence. The instrumentation . on “Road” was especially crackerjack (Nelson Riddle orch). Also made with “So Nice to Come Home To” and “The Girl Next Door,” but these were both keyed to posing girls—somewhat monotonous—and there was a lot of bingcrosbyish fancy talk speculating on a world-without dames. A tv world without show business’ top talent making like drummers would he much better to dream about. Trau. for Ed Sullivan’s Sunday (3) CBS- TV session. While none 'of the acts was of top marquee calibre, their collective stints nevertheless added up to a cut above average enter¬ tainment.' For a’time the layout took on the aspect of a family 'affair what with the contributions of the Alber- ghettis—Anna Maria, sister Carla, and their mother, latter accom¬ panying the two singers on the piano. With the girls’ adept vocal- istics out of the way, Mrs. Alber- .ghetti clicked on her- own ^via > lively "classical selection” that had. strong boogie WQOgie overtones* •/; Jimmie Rodgers, wh05ejJ@|oriey- comb’ r has been making - some tumult on the. Roulette Jabel, re¬ prised that as well as another of his current hits. Sparkletones, rock ’n’ roll combo, worked over “Black Slacks” while Paul Anka crooned “Diana,” his ABC-Par hit.. Sam Cooke’s “You Send Me” is a best-: seller on the Keen label;, hut he was “real gone” when the show’s ' overlength abruptly cut him off ; with scarcely a note uttered. I As for the imports, the Dancers : of Bali were a distinct „novelty with | an interesting, often grotesque, terpsichorean creation known as “The Monkey: Dance.” Patachqu, I French chanteuse back on the Sul- llivan sesh for the first time in three years, provided a Parisian touch with a brace of delightful numbers. Arthur Worsley, an Eng¬ lish ventriloquist also doing a re¬ peat, registered nicely in a bit with his alter ego. Rounding out the bill were come¬ dienne Sue Carson, the Latinos, an acrobatic turn, and Joy Kay & Co., golliwog novelty. Miss Carson was particularly amusing in a Brooklyn accented number- called' “I See Every Pitcher Ann Sheridan Ever Made.” Latinos, a limber male-trio, scored solidly with their tumbling. Kay & Co. made for strong visual appeal. Gilb. Pat Boone Show Although an ABC-TV origination, since early in October, “The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom” is still cruising in shakedown waters. Dick Feldman took over the directorial reins from Frank Satensteih just before Thursday’s (31) installment while Thomas Naud this week re¬ places producer Joe Santley who claimed he was a victim of too much “interference.” ’ But despite the behind-the- scenes changes, this half-hour mu¬ sical variety session still shapes up largely as a hodgepodge with-lit¬ tle identity of its own except the Boone personality. Boone, course, is an ideal lure for the teenagers. He has a pleasant, wholesome manner and an en¬ gaging voice. All this was gen¬ erously displayed on last week’s outing as he crooned such tunes as “It’s a Good Day” and “All I Do Is Dream of You.” Guestars were Bea Little and Joel Grey. Appearance of the comedienne obviously was ar¬ ranged to insure a wider share of the adult audience. She warbled “I Apologize,” replete with emo¬ tional yaht^sTaiid^for a neat twist duetted a country music tune with Boone. Grey had little to do in a coupla scenes as a luncheonette boy. It’s almost like “man bites dog” to say that perhaps the com-, mercial had more viewer interest than the performers. But this probably was the case as the filmed plug revealed the ’58 Chevvy for the first time with its “sculptured beauty ,”etc. ?■ Gilb , Dick and the Duchess Vet actress Margaret Rutherford was largely wasted in Saturday’s (2)-CBS-TV episode titled “Kissing Bandit.” As guestar in this Shel¬ don Reynolds-aeries, she portrayed a much tfiarried elderly widow, one of the victims of a kissing bandit. She gave the comedy situation .a lift, but her pro performance wasn’t enough to push the script by Ray Allen and Harvey Bullock out of its cliehed confines. Yet,' there were a few laughs, even though the real yocks were way be¬ hind the number in the sound¬ track. Principals Patrick O’Neal and Hazel Court turned in competent performances, as did the support¬ ing cast led by Richard Wattis, Michael Shepley and Alfie Bass. There was an attempt to mix mys¬ tery, sex and laughs, the regular diet of this filmed series coming out of London, with O’Neal por¬ traying an American .insurance in¬ vestigator married to fetching Hazel Court, a Britisher of royal lineage. Lack of freshness though, in the scripting department, weakened the effort. Producer Reynolds, who also directs,' appears deft in pacing and getting excellent production values on the screen. -Technically, it stands up Wfth the best of them. Horn, The Twentieth Century The Federal Bureau of Investi¬ gation seems like a natural for a hangup television documentary, but the show titled “F.B.I.” on -‘The ■ Twentieth Century” series Sunday (3) on CBS-TV was a dull stanZa. -.Written by Don Whitehead, author- of the bestselling “F.B.I. Story,” the show was an episodic rundown Of the G-Men’s “history without a clear narrative thread to wrap it up. The individual film clips of some of the FBI; exploits were excel¬ lent. Included were Shots of the gangster John : Dlllinger and an in¬ terview With the “Lady in Red” who tipped oft the cops that she was- aecomping Dillinger to the movies the night he was trapped. It was -a flat recital with no attempt at dramatization. Also shown were the capture of a Nazi spy, the trap¬ ping of an extortionist who wanted $5,000 from Hetty Grable in the early 1940s, the arrest of the Com¬ mie leaders and parts of the FRI training program. J. Edgar Hoover played a promi¬ nent part in the show with clips of the FBI chief-early in his career and more recently in talks warning the American people against “fas¬ cists, Communists and pseudo-lib¬ erals.” fferm. Kraft Television Theatre Struck by the similarity between its “Gun at a Fair One” original by Bruce Bassett and the current ;“West Side Story” on Broadway, "Kraft” did a hurried rewrite job on the script and came up With a confused and pointless*yam for which Bassett was probably only too happy to receive “based on a play by Bruce Bassett” credits instead of 4he usual “original tele¬ play” line; - • Scratch this one off as-a had deal .all the way round, for the show, writer, cast - and director. Love story of a slum youngster for the sister of a neighborhood tough who was sent to jail on the boyfriend’s testimony never came off. Lack of motivation,, inconsistencies in the characterization, a sort of semi¬ blank ending, all added up to a big zero for.this effort. Cast, headed by Burt Brinkerhoff, Nancy Malone* Ben Piazza, Aud'ra Lindley and Pat De Simone, tried hard, but couldn’t make their efforts very convincing. Arnold Nocks’ direction was likewise er¬ ratic—he couldn’t make the. story flow in a straight line, Chan. Color Renew NCAA Football ’ RCA and NBC laid an Easter egg in October with their World Series color receiver promotion campaign^ the color picture was bad most of the’way through the series and the black-and-white reception suffered as well. But for a couple of weeks now, the same NBC mobile unit has been doing NCAA football in tint and the results have been nothing short of sensational. Even accepting the fact that foot¬ ball lends itself more naturally to the use'of color, the technical im¬ provement .over the baseball tele¬ casts has been amazing. There’s no graininess, no loss of tone duo to shadow prea, and no blurriness in following the action. The pic¬ tures are aUper-sharp, the •colors fast, even in following the quickest plays. More to the point, football's a natural for color and seeing it in. tint enhances the enjoyment a hun¬ dred fold. Saturday’s Michigah- Iowa game, with Its blue-gold and orange-white uniforms, the deep green field, the colorful stands and. the marching bands, was a major show and had any of NBC’s most expensive spectaculars heat by a mile for tint values. If RCA hopped aboard .the | rid tintcasts with the same energy and expenditure it waster on the World Series, • it would find its merchandising job on color sets a whole lot easier. Chan .,