Variety (November 1960)

35 Wednesday* November 16, Tins INFLUENTIAL AMERICANS (General Electric Theatre) With Howard K.. Smith, narrator Exec Producer: Fred W. Friendly Producer: : Arthur D. Morse. Writers: Morse, Frlendlj Cameraman: Leo Rossi. 60 Mins., Sun. (13), 9 p.m. GENERAL .ELECTRIC CBS-TV (film) - (BBDOv “The Influential Americans’' are. those, teachers with the specialized .knowledge and. the time and en¬ thusiasm to move students to learn. This -special edition of “CBS Re- ports.” preoared especially for Gen¬ eral Electric as a ptrb.affairs special preempting Its q\yn'“GE Theatre,” was deyoted to'the scattered inf stances -where such teachers are. being given their heads and where educational technology, is being• ad¬ vanced and .encouraged. As such, it was an encouraging report—th emphasis was clear that the exoerimentation demon¬ strated is extremely limited, but it also indicated that at the same-time there are forces within education at least: : a tte hinting to update the movement to the point where'the students can get .the best out ,of their teachers and schools. The CBS crews visited Lexing¬ ton, Mass,, where “group teaching’* utilizing;specialists in each subject, .with an . accompanying flexibility of the student body as tp levels of learning; is being practiced at the Franklin School. It was. a revealing and hopeful .experiment., but the program- failed., to make; .clear whether the students were average Or selected cream~oGt lie-crop group-i-the.v . looked like brighter - than, average.. Another segment, dealt with th. . midwest’s new Airborne Television Instruction program, and showed, some audition trices.already, being tried in ; tlie schools. Ari elementary schpql-Tevei program in French in- struction. ...played on the class tv. set; was - excellent. and the; kids seemed to enjoy it. Still another experiment, also in the foreign- language iield. showed , a Russian •language 1 course in. a Jefferson County, Col;, high school eqtiipped with a ‘‘language tab,’’ a series of booths equipped- with tape record¬ ers where the students could record and; play back their tapes for com¬ parison with expert linguists on tape., Still another area was a pickup of a highschool lecture on poetry by Ned Hoopes, a. voluble and en¬ thusiastic , Evanston, Ind., instruc¬ tor who made his subject .come alive. And a Harvard educational group-planning project was fairly impressive., Whether all the experi¬ ments can be :adapted to general Use. or whether they will work out well, at- all. .a; matter for the future: But the. sleepy character, qf American education is beginning to get some pinpricks, and as the program. • so .ably demonstrated, that’s to the good. ..The Fred Friendly production team did. its; usual excellent job: Howard K. Smith was a fine re¬ porter-narrator. And GE, which is very education-minded, may be encouraged by the results to de¬ vote more time to ptibaffairs pro¬ gramming through this : venture. Chan. PUREX SPECIAL FOR WOMEN (The Trapped Housewife); 'With Pauline. Frederick, .reporter; Phyllis Thaxteiy Michael Strong, . others Exec Producer: Irving Gitlin Producer-Writer: George Lefferts Director:Karl Genus 60 Mins., Thurs. (10), 4 p.m. PUREX NBC TV, frbm N. Y. (Edw. H. Weiss) It’s a cbinmendahie approach to sociological subject matter to dramatize it through , a case history; blit as with any fictional play* there are pitfalls in the way the material Is handled. “The Trapped Woman.” for instance; emerged as: a public affairs soap opera with its weepy, travailing heroine, its “can a house¬ wife find happiness?” the: , and ; its treacly musical backgrounds played oii a harp:; It promised to give the suffering hausffau an in¬ sight into her lot .but came up in¬ stead with a cupful of'satistics and some shallow philosophy. Unless , he intended the second Purex special. block .program¬ ming with the NBC-TV soaps, “Young Dr. Malone”Vand “From These Roots,’’ producer - writer George Lefferts should have strained to play down ; the melo- ~ dramatics inherent in his situation. If, however, he deliberately chose the detergent, idiom for the: pre- (Continued on page .54) 1960 PSSstiEff TRUEVISION REVIEWS THE NATION S FUTURE With John K’ M. McCaffrey. Dr. Leo Szillard, Dr. Edward Teller, .others' Producer; Robert Allison Director: Charles N. Hill 60 Mins.; Sat., 9:30 p.m. Sustaining NBC-TV from N.Y., Chicago, H’wood “The Nation’s Future’' which fol¬ lows a succession of actioners oii, NBC,., can. be an absorbing and worthwhile hour. There are lotsa bugs in tii debate format to be ironed out inasmuch as the prir. : ticipants are. the prisoners of the formulas set tip for them. .Again;, there is the .probability that the. program attempts too much by projecting itself on a national scale with questions coming in from studio audiences in. New York, Chi¬ cago and Hollywood; The spread is too great. The program sets out to do more than it .caff possibly accomplish and still throw .spine light op the issues involved. ! The distinguishing feature of • Saturday’s U2t semester was the ! discussion between two; top atomic |-scientists; Dr; Leo 'Szillard. ;a pan- i cer patient at th Memorial Hos- pital;'N;Y.- who aided; the. de¬ velopment Of, the .atomic bomb, arid Dr. Edward Teller, commonly known as lather of the .hydrogen: bomb. . These men are both eri- j-dowed. with tremendous knowledge ! of the subject arid-‘both . have .in¬ tense feelings on the social , and j. political aspects of; the. atoi" [question.. i Thediscussion was moderated ! by. John k; M. McCaffrey. Who ! lent m re than a little confusion j to the already complicated issues • and-..-'formats'. McCaffrey Was dog- ! matic in his atleriipts'to retain the [ strict, confines of the time limits i setup; by. the rules and was per- j haps overzeaious in his interpreta- I. tions and statements. He . assumed. ! for -example': that Dr. Teller had j already stated his attitude in favor of res uni tion of atomic testing, j when be hadn’t; Ilis immediate misstatements caused Dr. Teller to. dub him an. “immoderate mod¬ erator.” The question inypiyed was much .too .important to be Confined to • format, although it is conceded that; , operations... should be under, specified . procedures. .However; there are times When, it is more important to throw light oh the subject than, to maintain: the rules. Teller and Szillard, Who have been antagonists, made common cause in their attitude against McCaffrey. There Were indications, also, that they Weren’t/fair apart on some aspects of-the question: However,: the haziness of the discussion lead¬ ership hid the benefits, of the. show. As to audience participation, there Were too many complications in trying to get question? nation¬ ally. Perhaps had the queries been lined up in advance; the feature might have been more orderly. The importance of. the.question as well as the stature of the dis- eussionists. plus . the . prominent ■people who participated in the show, gaye the necessary aura : of importance.- But the bugs in the show militated against its informa- I tive values. Jose. \; ' . —■■■■ FRANK GIFFORD SHOW With‘’Chris Schenkel. Producer: Richard Kirchner Director: Anthony Farrar 15 Mins„ Sun.. 1:30 p.m. VAN HEUSEN WCBS-TV (tape) (Grey > WCBS-TV has studiously re¬ moved all the cliches Pf sportcast- ing .in this pregame warmer for New. York Giants, pro. football games. ■ j To begin with, musical theme for the show- is &. Cool jazz bit titled “Club Cool.” recorded by the Greenwich Group in England un¬ der the Synchro label. With a cool and relaxed mood thus set. Giants.’ player Frank [Gifford, and play-by- play er Chris Schenkel [casually dis- cuss the standings, upcoming game 1 and so On, On slioW caught■„ Sunday (6), Schenkel and GiffOrd .were joined by Gldnt’s defensive lineman Andy; Robestelli: . Working with a model girdirOn and figurine playeis, the trio discussed' a prime pitchout play of the Cleveland. Brovins with Robestelli explaining h[o\v : de¬ fensive players “key” their action to anticipate the offensive; It was an inside and interesting session, and. the easy-going , projection of all., hands made for pleasant, changeup from the .contrived excitement that’s Usual With pre¬ game telecasts. Bill. THE SPIRIT OF THE ALAMO With John Wayne. Richard Wld- mark,; Laurence Harvey, Richard Boone, Frankie Avalon; Patrick Wayne; Linda Cristal, . Joan O’Brien, Chill Wills; Ken Curtis, Carlos. Arruza, and, special guests, John.. Nance Garner, J. Frank Dobie; Lon Tinkle Writer: L. I. Salaman Producer: Perry Cross Director - coproducer: S e j m o u r ‘ Robbie j 60 Mins.: Mon., Nov.: 14, 9:30 p.m. 'ABC-TV (film) j ' (MacMamiSj John .& Adams) \ Largely because Dimitri-Tiomitin wrote very attractive music for John Wayne’s Uilli - million dollar, theatrical release; “Alamo,” this unique 60 minute tv trailer 'sponsored by Pontiac) for the .film wasn't completely . lacking in,.geriu- j.ine entertainment values.. High- j points of the show Were all musical —gritty .old Chill Wills and young Frankie Avalon ; swinging out with the lively “Here's to The. Ladies:” Ken Ciirtis crooning the -film’s “Lullaby.” and a mixed chorus, conducted by Tionikin; sirigirig the rousing title song rind the affecting “Green Leaves of Surrimer.” Otherwise, thl. “Spirit Of The i Aiariio.” was: all drumbeat, pub¬ licity-style. Touted as “an. expldrai- \ti6n into. the., significance of the i battle of the Alamo, and its meah- jing for the men who fought there for Texas independence.” it was ; rather;: aff exploration of the $13,r [ 000.000 investment, in exposed film [ and its meaning to anticipated dis- [tribution revenues. .[■' Wayne emceed With his usual nonchalance, the format being [tour of the giant BrrickeUville jiTCx.) .[film, set and a. gala post- ;.production party which offered ap- • p.roprjate cues for. the . musical numbers. Stars of the. film also turned up. during the course, of. things to give, brief personal plugs for the pic, rill of which were climaxed by a three-miriute clip from the fiim ! s climatic battle scene. An attempt to give the show a more general reason for being was an interview with fprmer U S. veep John Nance Garner, .filmed pptside his home at Uvalde: Though Garner touched briefly on the historical interest in the 1336 battle, :the most Important ques¬ tion put to him seemed to be whaf ! he . thought Wayne , had. wrought With this film. Said the veep, be- i fore being led off screen: Wayne is doing “a grand job “ firstly for the United States, secondly^ for Texas, aind thirdly for southwest Texas, In. his own modest Way, and from .the dispassionate vantage point which only 92 years of living can give a man. Garner did a grant} job for Wayne . by consenting to appear on th . show; Anby. FACE THE NATION With. Howard K. Smith, moderator; Sen. Mike Mansfield; David Niven, Roscoe Drummond, Philip Potter Producer; Michael J. Marlow Director: Bill Linden 30 Mins., Mon., 10:30 p.m. ESQUIRE, SCHICK CBS-TV, from Washington OJogul, Williams & Saylor; B&B) I Though “Face the Nation” is a ■sturdy old workhoiise of the CBS public, affairs stable, the network [ miglit have been a little mor ; imaginative in ils : choice of a show for'primetime exposure. “Nation,” with its inherent limitations as a q&a .format and its total depend¬ ence for excitement on the guest j of the morrtent, is better suited for | its old. Sunday afternoon spot than -the new Monday 10:30-11 posj, par- < ticularly wherixthat tin'ie offered ; the opportunity to showcase some iiewer and more, dynamic type of pubaffairs entry; For all it rigidities,. though, j “Nation” serves its. purpose ris a . newsmaker of sorts, though it will j undoubtedly, find it harder hitting Page Ones across the country in ' Tuesday editions: than in the tradi¬ tionally news-hungry Monday papers. Three-out-of-four-week j format, with the fourth turned | over tp local stations for pub- affairs, presumably, will give i “Nation” crack at lining up : ! better guests,, via the greater i’lexi- ; .[''bility, " ' ' Willi “Nation” going commercial ' and primetime. CBS News elected | to replace Stuart Novins with i Howard. K. Sir.ith as moderator! iid to make a few minor changes, i :'.including a news-story-type.resume :■ [ by Smith at the close; His wrapup ; xyasn’t a particularly good one, either as to emphasis on the im¬ portance of the statements made. , by guesler Sen. Mike Mansfield (D.-Mont;) or completely as to accuracy, . 1 Mansfield provided little, news. , . .He. said he hadn’t decided yet to publicly announce whether he would accept the majority leader¬ ship of the Senate if. asked; he said lie favors multilateral aid to Afri- .; can nations through the UN; he In- ; ' dicated he believes the debates j {[will continue in the next Presi- j dential election but didn’t think J •Kennedy should take .on an “un-} 'known.” Otherwise, he covered ground he’s already discussed in ! the press. i • Panel of newsmen. CBS’ Paul INiven. NY. Herald Tribune’s Roscoe Drummond and the Balto ! Sunpapers 1 Philip Potter, gave it • the old college, try but couldn't nudge much new information out j of the Senator. This might have been anticipated, and producer Michael. J. Marlow should have tried for a different guest at this 'eaiiy date. Esquire Boot Polish and Schick ( are the bankrollers. and CBS might |have tried for a better calibre. The topenihg Esquire commercial was j downright amateurish as well as iriane. Chan. Tele Follow-Up Comment jj Play of the Week Television-drama soared, to tri¬ umphant. ppetic dimensions in the four-hour rendition of Eugene O’Neill’s “The Iceman Cometh”' Monday (14) ight on WNTA-TV, Newark-N.Y. . indie. The horiie screen, usually so filled with for¬ mula, trivia, seldom has had so. many glorious moments. Th O’Neill outing on “The: Play of the Week” Was a. landmark for the. video medium, a reference point for greatness in tv drama.. . There surely will be squawks about some of the forthright lan¬ guage, quite: acceptable in legit, but never before heard on tv. “The. Iceman Cometh” is not a pretty parlor piece, but a bleak, relent¬ less,.harrowing search iff the dark corners pf man’s being. Iff that perspective,: the. gutter references are understandable. and ... pardon¬ able. WNTA-TV, tp its credit, posted a “for adults” notice in its ads ; heralding the O’Neill drama, and slotted, the series for a 10:30 p.m. start, yihen adults should have control oyer the knobs. The power of the dark drama appeared tp-gain momentum in the video version. The camera seemed to .edit for the eye. Many .of the [elements that seemed diffuse In ■the Broadway version in 1946 1 crackled with electricity under the • focus of the cameras. Moments which seemed rerriole on stage be¬ came intimate on the. home screen. O’Neill captured an agonized world ] iri his barroom, and National Tele- ! vision Associates vidyerldon sang ' O’Neill’s agony. !■•.. The sure, talented, creative i hands-of director Sidney Lumet ' seeiiied everywhere in evidence. Jason Robards Jr., as Hickey, de¬ livered a compelling performance, full of artistry and communicative gifts. Myron McCormick, as the dour,, philosophical ex-anarchist, Larry Slade, was forceful and ter¬ ribly alone in his inner paralysis. One by one, each of the cast lent their talents to this modern-day Gi.eek. chorus: There was a large cast, each having his or her mo¬ ments in the limelight. No one struck a false note. On the con¬ trary, each member of the cast made O’NeiH's poetry sing -with heartbreaking warmth, even while displaying all the ugliness and vio¬ lence within themselves. They played out their awful lives, tpucheff by an inspired poet’s pity. The cast Included Marrell Poi- ley as Harry Hope, James Brode¬ rick as Wilie Oban, Roland Win¬ ters as the Boer general, Ronald Radd as the English captain* Harri- (Contlnued on page 46) OMNIBUS (He Shall Have Power) With Larry Blyden. Philip Abbott, Larry Gates, Michael Tolan, Harry Townes, J. D. Cannon, Tom Clancy, Roland Winters, Richard Shephard, Dana Elcar, Edgar Stehli, Leon B. Stevens, John Colicos, Chris Gampel, Milton Selzer, Edmond Ryan, Mercer McLeod, Eric Berry, Ludwig Donath, Glwilym Wil¬ liams, McGeorge Bundy, Ali¬ stair Cooke, others Producer; Robert Saudek Associ¬ ates Director: Fielder Cook Writer: James Lee 60 Mins.; Sun. (13), 5 p.m. ALUMINIUM LTD. NBC-TV, from N..Y. (tape) (J. Walter Thompson) “Omnibus” returned to televi¬ sion after a year’s absence to do an hour on the power of the Presi¬ dency that was intelligent instruc¬ tion but ineffective. drama. Exec- tive producer Robert Saudek hired James Lee to write about great moments of decision in the lives of Washington, Jackson. Lincoln, the two Roosevelts and Wilson, and rolled out about two. dozen N. Y. actors under Fielder Cook’s direc¬ tion to present “He Shall Ilava Power.” Cook made the great error of stressing imitation rather than act¬ ing. His performers, dressed and made up to resemble these ffien of the past and their contemporaries, always spoke as though they were on a public platform, although it seemed as if writer Lee meant ; them to be speaking dialog, even if many of the words were from speeches. Such “authentic” recre¬ ations are of dubious value on tele¬ vision, where intimacy invariably serves the viewer to better advan¬ tage, but Cook was obviously mora impressed by the brilliant mechan¬ ics of mimicry. .Larry Blyden’s Teddy Roosevelt, for instance, was so energetic that it was impossible to believe anyone could take his trust-busting deci¬ sion seriously. Larry Gates’ George Washington had the earmarks of a dollar bill or a statue, and Harry Townes’ Woodrow Wilson was ef¬ fete. J. D. Cannon’s Andrew Jack- son was bombastic and Michael Tolin’s Abraham Lincoln was like Raymond Massey’s, only more sotto voce. ("Omnibus” used clips of FDR, instead of recreations.) It’s true that these men of history ac¬ tually did possess the charactertis- tics attributed to them on “Omni¬ bus” last weekend, but they were human, too, and it ought to look that way on television. Harvard Dean McGeorge Bund’* commentary was generously inter¬ spersed with the action. However, the educator’s style had more of the lecturer’s pedantry than the narrator’s ease and ^conviction. “Omnibus” tried something dif¬ ficult and profound, and. in doing so. was informative. With a little effort, it could also have been en¬ tertaining. Art. DIRECTIONS ’61 With John Alcorn, Theodore Bikel, George Hicks, Helen Ha; es, John Daly, Father John LaFarge Producer: Wiley Hance Director: William Ayers Writer: Robert Crean 30 Mins.; Sun. ( 1 p.m* ABC-TV, from’ N. Y. An interesting religioso program preemed on ABG-TV Sunday < 13). It had an imaginative spark, both in concept and execution, which j set it apart from outings of similar ! intentions. Opening episode dealt with the Catholics, showing in pictures and words that faith’s celebration of the birth of a child. Tire arresting still shots of the birth was done by photographer Jacques. Lowe. The mother’s inner narration could have been more effectivr if it had been less wordy and flowery. The. inessage would have come off just as well. Helen Hayes came in for an in- | terlude. reading excerpts with wit, ; style and humor from Phyllis Mc- Ginley’s “Reformers. Saints and Preachers,” a collection of poems. | John Alcorn acted as host-narra- ;tqr for the Catholic episode. Sub- jsequent weeks the Protestant ard •Jewish faiths will be featured, [with George Hicks acting as Prot- [estant host, and Theodore Bikel as | the Jewish host. Windup found Father John La- iFarge commenting briefly on thn {election. Web’s news and pm)-af- fairs topper John Daly intros l the •program. Horo,