Among the people who appeared on the NBC station that month were Ray Heatherton, a musician known to many today as the father of a girl named Joey; Percy Kilbride, who co-starred with Marjorie Main in the “Ma and Pa” movies at Universal; dance guru Martha Graham, and J. Fred Coots, whose 700-song list of compositions includes “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” Singin' Sam, the Barbasol man, was scheduled to show up but refused.
The station continued to go on location, televising a boxing match from Madison Square Garden. The King and Queen of England appeared from the World's Fair. Also picked in the month of June at the World’s Fair was NBC’s Television Girl, Caryl Smith. She later married an artist at the Leon Schlesinger (Warner Bros.) cartoon studio named Bob Givens.
Patricia Murray's name pops up. She emceed at DuMont during the war years and received good notices. There was a revolving door of hosts during the month.
W2XBS was airing a five-minute newscast on weekday afternoons. Whether this was simulcast from WEAF or featured Lowell Thomas, at this point, is unclear. Ray Forrest said he used to fill in for Thomas until he took over the newscasts himself, but when in 1939 Forrest was transferred to television from the NBC junior announcing staff is information that must be hiding out there somewhere.
There’s little non-NBC news for the month, though there is a situational story on W6XAO in Los Angeles and more news about the founding of Paramount/W6XYZ/KTLA. We have omitted stories about television demonstrations in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Chicago. They were all closed-circuit affairs, from what I can tell. The one in Chicago was staged by RCA, though the city had an experimental station run by Zenith on the air.
The Baird television people of England decided to show off their "large screen" television in a demonstration at the Gaumont offices at 1600 Broadway. A W2XBS evening broadcast was projected onto a 12-by-9 foot screen. It was designed for theatres.
The listings below are from a combination of sources, including the Daily News, the New York Sun, and the Brooklyn Eagle (for the last part of the month), the last one publishing a weekly schedule, the other day publishing daily listings. They don’t always agree. The truth, I suspect, is buried in the NBC schedules at the Library of Congress. The listing about “Making Statuettes of Toast” got up my curiosity and I found something in the June 1936 edition of Popular Science.
Thursday, June 1
11 A. M. to 4 P. M.—News reels and short subjects. Film programs, designed as demonstration material for World’s Fair visitors, will also be transmitted on the following schedule. While these programs are not a part of the National Broaccasting Company’s regular schedule for the public, and are subject to repetition and change without notice, they may be picked up from Station W2XBS on receiving sets in the metropolitan area. Special studio or outside television programs will, in all cases, take precedence over film transmission where the two schedules conflict. (Brooklyn Eagle)
9:00 P. M.—Baer-Nova bout and preliminaries.
Tracks Barred from Turf.
The greatest obstacle was presented by the location of the trucks, which because of their weight could not be driven on the turf of the ball park and had to be stationed in the "bull pen" 285 feet from the camera. All of the sensitive control apparatus is designed to be used with a maximum of 250 feet of cable connecting camera and control devices, and any extension beyond this limit calls for intricate adjustments and compensations. With little time in which to complete the changes, the unit got on the air with images which amazed viewers by their clarity and scope.
"The location of the iconoscope camera was another of our troubles," said Crotty. Under our agreement with Mike Jacobs, the fight promoter, the camera had to be placed so that it wouldn't block the view of a single cash customer.
This meant keeping it at ring level at a point about 30 feet from the ropes. Although we duplicated the line of sight of the ringside spectator it would have been better if we could have raised the lens about a foot. In this way we could have given the audience e clearer sight of knockdowns when they occurred on the far side of the ring."
Normal Lighting is Enough.
All tests but one were conducted on Wednesday night when the engineers tried out the lighting system. It was decided then that the normal illumination supplied by the 50 kilowatts of light would be sufficient for television purposes. But during the preliminary bouts Crotty realized that the 6 1/2-inch lens of the camera would show small figures when the action was farthest away so an experimental shift was made to an 18-inch lens for part of a round. This lens provided close-ups but the rapid movement of the fighters around the ring made it difficult to portray all the action taxing place, and the remainder of the fighting was covered by the shorter lens. A lens approximately midway in length between the two would have proved ideal for the purpose, in Crotty's opinion. It is probable that future cameras will be equipped with two lenses arranged for instantaneous change-overs so care for both general views and close-ups.
Since most radio stores with television receivers held "open house" during the fight, the NBC estimates a viewing audience of 20,000 scattered over an area represented by a 50-mile radius from the Empire State Tower, where station W2XBS is located.
Active only a month, NBC has already televised a college baseball game, an intercollegiate track meet, the six-day bicycle race, a professional bout and the opening of the World's Fair. Since both tennis and rugby have proved to be good television drawing cards in England it is not unlikely that tennis and football games will be made available to American viewers during the coming seasons. (New York Sun, June 3)
NEW YORK, June 2.—(UP)—The day when Mr. Average Citizen can sit at home and view a million-dollar prize fight via television from ringside seat may be a decade or more away, but its coming was portended by the telecast of the Lou Nova-Max Baer bout to thousands in the New York-area last night.
The telecast, seen in the eight-by-11-inch receiving mirror, left a lot to be desired in detail and color, but it didn't take an expert to see who was winning the fight.
The facial features of the fighters were unrecognizable, but Baer's mop of black hair and the different shades of their trunks always made them distinguishable. The blood which the vocal accompanist described could not be seen. Figures of the men were three or four inches high.
Every move and every blow struck was truly recorded. Baer's piledriving rights ear in the fight kept the 50 spectators in NBC studio on the edges of their seats.
There were a few times when a fog seemed to drift over the screen, but it vanished almost instantly.
The spotlighted ring was the only thing in the focus of the iconoscope camera, and ringsiders appeared as black silhouettes. The camera was located at the edge of the press section about eight feet from the ring apron—and a 300-foot cable carried the picture impulses to a mobile television transmitter. It was then relayed to the station by a directional radio beam from an antenna on top of the grandstand.
Friday, June 2
4:30 to 8:30—Films.
8:30-9:30—“Jenny Lind,” first in a series of documentary presentations built around the New York City of yesterday, and Tom Howard and George Shelton, famous comedians, will be the highlights of the regular NBC studio telecast. The Randall Sisters, a singing trio, another act yet to be announced, and films will complete the program. (Brooklyn Eagle)
Reviewed Friday [2], 8:30-9 p.m. EDST. Style—Variety, using live talent and film. Reviewed on RCA Television Receiver. Station W2XBS.
Standard vaude, a dramatic presentation touching upon P. T. Barnum’s promotion of Jenny Lind as a singer in the United States, and a travel film made up this tele program. Talent ranged from good to indifferent, but one of the most forceful lessons brought home by the program was the fact that the camera boys will have to become more tricky in order to make the talent more photogenic. Strong lighting in the tele studios together with tele’s use of camera close-ups often show every facial detail—and the results are sometimes disastrous. This was particularly so in the case of the Randall Sisters, vocal trio, whose singing was good but who did not show up well visually. Motion picture camera men have developed greatly along these lines; in tele it is a tougher proposition but probably can be done.
Tom Howard and George Shelton, standard comedy team, did very well, building up a situation intrinsically humorous. They presented no difficulties, photographing well and remaining easily within the camera’s scope.
John Gallus, novelty clarinet turn, played the instrument while juggling and then manipulated six marionettes. Scarcely entertainment.
Margaret Vyner gave a fashion talk, presenting models wearing dresses designed for Queen Elizabeth. Coincidental with this, Emil, hairdresser and make-up adviser to NBC tele, illustrated hair-dos. Frothy stuff of feminine interest.
Patricia Murray emseed well and was surrounded by a production idea in that she played the role of a World’s Fair hostess. Burford Hampton, cast as an admirer of Miss Murray, takes her to dinner and tells about old New York—which finally boils down specifically to P. T. Barnum and his promotion of Jenny Lind. Dramatized rather well.
Pic, travel stuff. Paul Ackerman. (Variety, June 10)
Saturday, June 3
4:00-9:00—World’s Fair Demonstrations.
Sunday, June 4
UPSTATE observers in the foothills of the Adirondacks report that they are looking in across the Catskills on New York’s television shows.
Using a standard tele-receiver in Heideberg Mountains, 130-mile bee-line from Manhattan Island, and about midway between Schenectady and Albany, engineers affiliated with “the House of Magic” have seen the theory upset that television’s tiny waves invariably leap off the earth at the horizon seldom to be seen beyond fifty miles. They describe the reproduced pictures and sound as “exceptionally good.”
“We figure that the receiver was located approximately 8,000 feet below the ‘line-of-sight’,” said one of the spectators. “We used a temporary directive diamond-shaped antenna suspended from four masts, and about forty feet above the ground. The receiver was mounted in the back of a truck for convenience in selecting a location. Power was obtained from a small gas-driven electric generator. The picture as viewed was 8 by 10 inches, and the sound was reproduced by the same set.”
Reception of telecasts “below the optical horizon” as viewed from the aerial mast of the sending station is not unusual on warm Summer nights1 according to O. B. Hanson, chief engineer of the NBC. “On warm evenings there may be a high layer of hot air with a cooler layer nearer the ground,” he explained in accounting for the 130-mile range. “Refraction occurs and bends the waves toward the earth. Conditions in air density might exist which would bend the television waves so that they might be picked up 500 miles or more from the transmitter.” (New York Times, June 4)
Monday, June 5
Don Lee Broadcasting System will enlarge its television activity shortly without outdoor pickups of sport and civic events. Order has been placed in New York by Thomas S. Lee, president, for a complete multi-camera portable television pickup system to be operated in connection with its visio transmitter W6XAO here. Equipment will be the first to operate outside of New York where recently RCA-NBC began remote pickups, included among which was a big-league baseball game. According to Don Lee’s general manager, Lewis Allen Weiss, the new tele equipment will be put in operation here this summer.
The portable apparatus, which is being manufactured by RCA, involves two or more cameras, camera control equipment, synchronizing apparatus, an image monitor and portable transmitter. It will be mounted in suitcase size carriers each weighing less than 50 pounds. Transmitter will operate on a high frequency of 325 megacycles with directional antenna employed to beam signals to W6XAO where they will be intercepted by a new rack receiver and fed through a line amplifier to the Don Lee tele wave. Equipment will be completely mobile for operation either from a truck or other vantage point, according to Weiss. (Hollywood Reporter, June 5)
Tuesday, June 6
11:00-4:00 World’s Fair Demonstrations.
Wednesday, June 7
4:30-8:30—World’s Fair Demonstrations.
8:30-9:30—The studio variety show will present Bert Lytell and supporting cast in "The Valiant;" the Kim Loo Sisters, singers and dancers, and the first of a series of debut programs with Allen Prescott as master of ceremonies.
Determined to bring television to the fore by modeling it in as true vaude fashion as possible, NBC presented seven acts in quick succession in an effort to please its small but growing audience. No alibis were offered for this broadcast with the exception that Allen Prescott, emcee, said the first 30-minutes of the program had not been rehearsed. When the last half of the show had been presented, enabling comparison, no one doubted Prescott’s word.
Millard Hooper gave a demonstration of how, as unrestricted checker champion of the U. S., she plays. White and black checkers were used on a black and white board. The audience could easily follow the movement of the white checkers on the black spots. Naturally, there was no contrast with the black checker on the black spots. Since the scene was confined to the limits of the checker board, camera had little trouble in following the action.
With Sprague and Chevale, experts in Jujutsu, NBC’s camera had a busy day. Only in fast tumbling was the act lost to the audience. Joe Lenzer, as a hillbilly, did a routine with musical saw. On close-ups facial expressions were in good contrast. Close-ups of the bow and saw left much to the imagination.
Emery Gondon, free-hand artist, engaged in a conversation with the emsee. Gondon, most adept with the crayon, was lost to his audience on several occasions when he stood directly in front of the easel, allowing the camera to shoot over his shoulder to show his work. However, at no time was the audience unable to follow what was going on.
Czechoslovakian folk song and dance act by Carol Margot had NBC up a tree. Several times she danced toward the camera only to be lost in bad focusing. Prescott began his conversation with her before walking into camera range. A little better timing here would have helped greatly in putting both parties in sight during the dialog. Musical glasses played by Marshall Rogers easy to handle.
In the second half of the show, the Kim Loo Sisters, dancers, proved a little too much tar the camera’s action. The trio rendered in dance A Bit of Modern China. As much as possible they remained in range, but the one at the left of the screen was chopped partly off any number of times during the act. In singing Jeepers Creepers as a solo the singer either had too much or not enough arms. Had correct composition been employed—as in stills—this portion of the act could have been as clear as a movie. When the quartet danced the full view was good. Close-ups of an individual showed half of a partner on both sides.
The Valiant, play starring Bert Lytell, and using six people, with the main scene in the warden’s office, was received better than the other part of the show. An adjustment was made to the receiver which brought out fine detail in the close-ups. The switch of scene to the governor’s home was as smoothly done as in the movies. However, the march to the gallows should have been taken from the front rather than from the side. Abbott. (Billboard, June 17)
BERT LYTELL
‘The Valiant’ with Flora Campbell, Al Webster, Lionel Adams, Arthur Maitland, Joseph Smiley
30 Mins., Wednesday, 8:30 p. m.
NBC-RCA, New York
NBC television proved last Wednesday night (7) that given the right script and some skilled players it can deliver potent dramatic fare. The script was the old vaudeville standby, ‘The Valiant,’ and the two performers largely responsible for investing the half hour with a high quality of entertainment were Bert Lytell and Flora Campbell. The television version left nothing wanting in the matter of mood-pitching, smooth story-telling and emotional pull.
With Lytell the script was practically an alter ego, since he has played it off and on for years, but it was the first time that he had done it before the electric eye. Lytell introduced ‘The Valiant’ in vaudeville over 16 years ago, and the work, authored by Holworthy Hall and Robert Middlemas, has been filmed (Warner Bros.) and heard numerous times in radio.
Lytell's was a clean-cut and self-assured job. There was no tendency to overstress his lines or overmug during the punch moments. Lytell took each situation in easy stride. He photographed well enough, but, because of the lighting limitations that the medium still has to contend with, his best breaks from the photo-electric cells came with the profiles and the intimate closeups.
In Miss Campbell Lytell had a happy case of co-casting. While the iconoscope could have been more kindly to her, she wove a distinctive sense of ingenue charm and appeal into the part of the doomed prisoner's sister. That natural lode of plaintiveness in her voice made it simple for this actress to give the scenes between them plenty of poignancy.
Others in the cast filled the requirements capably, even though a couple of them did no little fumbling of their lines. Al Webster played the warden, Lionel Adams the prison chaplain, Arthur Maitland, the governor, and Joseph Smiley, the prison guard.
While most of the action took place in the warden's office, the scene shifted on a couple occasions to a room in the governor's man[s]ion where the girl was shown pleading for an opportunity to interview the condemned murderer and see whether she couldn't break down the wall of mysterious identity that he had built around himself. The fade technique indicated much room for improvement.
The play as a whole was nicely paced and the general results disclosed that tremendous progress had been made by the medium in broadcasting drama within the past year, or that occasion just about a year ago when NBC televised an excerpt from 'Susan and God' with Gertrude Lawrence in the star part. Odec. (Variety, June 14)
Thursday, June 8
11:00-3:00 World’s Fair Demonstrations.
3:00-4:00—Winter Sports [from the Sun Valley Pavilion, according to the Sunday Times].
Friday, June 9
4:00-5:00—Frank Buck’s Jungleland.
5:00-8:30—World’s Fair Demonstrations.
8:30-9:30—The first television cabaret featuring Ella Logan, singer; Buck and Bubbles, dancing comedians; Billy Daniels and Mary Parker with Joseph Rines orchestra, and Bob Neller, ventriloquist with his dummy "Reggie."
Reviewed Friday, 8:30-9:30 p.m. Style—Variety, using live talent. Reviewed on RCA television receiver. Station—W2XBS.
Show was evidently planned around Ella Logan and Ventriloquist Bob Neller with Reggie. Miss Logan carried off the first part of the broadcast, with Buck and Bubbles stepping In for the lion’s share of the honors in the second part. Neller’s quick and lively wit furnished sufficient humor to carry the program over the humdrum spots.
Program showed how television opened a field to artists who could never work in radio. Jean and Frank Hubert, Joe Jackson Jr. and Charles Carrer were the symbols. The first two are pantomimists. Jackson a trick bicycle rider and Carrer a juggler. A number by Frank Novak and orchestra opened. Neller and his dummy, Reggie, emseed in an informal manner. Carrer did the regular old-time juggling and proved his ability when he mixed 10 cocktails at one time. His act of putting four eggs into four glasses simultaneously also howec1 his versatility.
Since the entire broadcast was from the Cabaret, NBC’s camera was able to follow nearly all events with little or no trouble. The singing of Miss Logan was especially well received on the act. There were no close-ups of the orchestra.
Frank and Jean Hubert broke away from a Broadway vaudeville engagement to try television, it was worth while and they clicked well.
Buck and Bubbles humor is rich. Bubbles sang It Ain’t Necessarily So, with the audience of the Cabaret joining in the chorus. Bucks dance, the first flip of which the camera used, was well executed and appreciated.
The camera man did a good job in following the Hollywood Jitterbugs, four couples from the West Coast. The act was nothing more than the winners of four jitterbugging contests coming together in a grand finale.
Joe Jackson Jr. could have used more space than he was allotted. However, even within the limits of Television Cabaret he was able to turn in an admirable performance. He kept his audience well entertained for the seven or eight minutes he was before the camera.
NBC is gradually working its television programs down to a fine point. The staff evidently realizes that for a broadcast of this type to compete with other entertainment it will have to present top-flight talent, as this show did, and have the entire scene confined to a small area. When these requirements are adhered to, then there will be other good television shows. Nevertheless, the show was tiring on the eyes—a definite strain. Edward Sobol was the producer. Abbott. (Billboard, June 17)
‘NIGHT CLUB REVUE’
With Frank and Jean Huber, Bob Nellor, Ella Logan, Charles Carrer, Buck and Bubbles, Joe Jackson, Jr. Eight California Jitterbugs
Friday, 8:30 p.m.
RCA-NBC, New York
By theatrical booking standards this was an excellent array (9) of first-rate and largely sure-fire acts. The Hubers are a knockabout team of comedy drunks who regularly wow 'em in vaudeville. Bob Nellor is a smart ventriloquist, Charles Carrer a slick juggler. Ella Logan is a song-scorcher, Buck and Bubbles one of the reliables of the negro end of the profesh. Joe Jackson, Jr., in turn is international entertainment coinage on his comedy bike.
All of this talent was presented in a night club setting, with a few 'guests' at tables for atmosphere. Each turn performed as it regularly performs in its usual medium. Each did okay, although some, by the nature of team work, had a photogenic edge. What the program in full conveyed anew was the giant and unsolved problem of showmanship. Television may use ingredients out of vaudeville and night clubs and so on, but straight-away borrowing without creative adaption isn't getting clear-cut results.
As with most of the programs telecast, however, the problem is so great that critical comment seems over-harsh if not premature. The engineers are trying hard and the actors are obviously being cooked alive under ghastly-hot banks of lights. Everybody is feeling his way. Comment is largely a matter for news-reporting rather than detailed show-criticizing. Hobe. (Variety, June 14)
Saturday, June 10
12:50-1:45—King and Queen at World’s Fair.
4:00-9:00—World’s Fair Demonstrations.
Television was used yesterday [10] to record a part of the three-and-one half-hours’ visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to the New York World’s Fair. The National Broadcasting Company produced the television program, which was transmitted clearly except for a few minutes when rain fell at the Fair soon before 1 p. m. and the skies were cloudy. The State Department gave special permission for the television program.
The program later picked up the King and Queen when they alighted from a car at the south side of the Court of Peace and walked north on the court to the Federal Building. The King and Queen could be plainly seen and at every few yards one could distinguish the Queen’s right arm waving in her characteristic appreciation of the cheers of the crowds back of the barricades along the Court of Peace. The tall Sir Ronald Lindsay, British Ambassador to the United States, in striped trousers and cutaway coat, was easily the most distinguishable person in the group.
The best television view of the King and Queen came when they emerged from the Federal Building after luncheon. The camera was focused about twenty feet away from them and provided a close-up view on the television screen which made their features appear almost as clear as on a good camera film.
The program was relayed by two television trucks in the Court of Peace to Station W2XBS, the television transmitter atop the Empire State Building, which is able to transmit television programs for a radius of fifty miles. (Herald Tribune, June 11).
GEORGE VI AT THE FAIR
Saturday, June 10, 1939
RCA-NBC, New York
Spotlight advertisements in the New York dailies Saturday morning urged the public to hasten to nearby retail stores and see the King and Queen of England on television. To the public, to the dealers, and to RCA-NBC, the event proved a sorry disappointment for tie following reasons:
1. The skies were overcast most of the time with rain batterings.
2. The iconoscope was a block and a half away from the King and Queen when they did arrive.
3. The motorcade was extremely late and the review of the troops which might have been photogenic was eliminated.
4. There was 35 minutes of stage wait rendered dull and drab by weather conditions, the immobility of the iconoscope, the rigid etiquette of the occasion that kept all commentary within prescribed themes. The NBC announcer, Nobles, must have worn his imagination thin trying to fill in. Inevitably it was repetitious comment. With little support or variation from the camera and a bad let-down when the moment of climax actually arrived the program fell far short of the expected thrill.
Television quite frankly did not show the King and Queen at all, but some specks in the background. But later, on the after-luncheon stanza, the results were somewhat better. Land. (Variety, June 14)
The climactic point of NBC’s telecast, which was on the air more than an hour, came at 3:02 P. M. when Their Majesties walked down the esplanade of the Federal Building directly toward the television camera. (Ben Gross, Daily News, June 11)
Monday, June 12
The first television beauty contest will be held at the World’s Fair Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with all employes of the Fair corporation, concessionaires and exhibitors eligible. That includes every one working at the Fair from strippers to orange drink sellers.
The girls will parade on platforms at the Cavalcade of Centaurs exhibit every day at 4 p.m. and their likenesses will be sent to the RCA building at the other end of the Fair, where the judges will be.
The winner will receive a television set from the Radio Corporation of America and a miniature trylon and perisphere from the Fair corporation. (Brooklyn Eagle)
New York.—NBC’s search for television material is leading to the theatre. The broadcasting system has acquired tele rights to Guthrie McClintic’s “Missouri Legend” and is dickering for rights to several Noel Coward plays.
“Missouri Legend” will be televised in a one-hour version on July 18 with Tony Bundsman directing and Dean Jagger in the lead role he portrayed on Broadway. NBC has also secured video rights to a series of film travelogs produced by Andre LaVarre and will ether them once a week beginning July 20. (Hollywood Reporter, June 12).
Tuesday, June 13
11:00-4:00 World’s Fair Demonstrations.
Wednesday, June 14
8:30-9:30—Ethel Waters and company, in a scene from the Broadway hit production, “Mamba’s Daughters”; Joey Faye, comedian; Leslie Littomy and Phil Loeb in “The Pink Slip,” by George S. Kaufman, and Dr. George Rommert and his microvivarium, will be seen and heard in the regular NBC studio program.
Time hung too heavily on this telecast, composed of three excerpts from Broadway shows, an elementary biology lesson and a standard vaude comedian. Consequently, the dramatic climaxes were considerably diluted. The shortcoming lay not so much with the actors as with the material they had to handle.
Philip Loeb, legiter, opened and closed the hour with scenes from Sing Out the News. His starter the Yip Ahoy parody on Home on the Range, seemed pale isolated from its natural environs in the show. The meat of his act, facial expressions, was almost completely lost for the lack of close-ups. Lyrics carried little weight in themselves. On his return at the end of the program, Loeb, assisted by Joey Faye and Leslie Littorny, came into his own presenting The Flop Plan, also from the musical. In the order named, the lads took off Groucho, Chico and Harpo Marx, solving the relief problem in the United States. The unit was successfully run off. Loeb knows how to build up a denouement with a delivery so crisp and refreshing he’s a treat. Orally he came thru crystal clear, with all his fine intonations working the same wonders on this medium. Television or legit, Loeb is a grand actor.
Joey Faye’s comic antics in his solo spot, staging a wrestling bout with himself, took half his allotted time to get up steam simply because his lines were limp copy. After he dispensed a line of patter, which hopped from one unfinished and unrelated matter to the next or to an old gag, he was able to work up a really nice lather for the one-man bout. Dressed in lacy panties and hairy breastplate, he portrayed both contestants and the referee. The camera, fortunately, caught these moments at close-ups. His pantomimic dramatics of the referee instructing the wrestlers on the do’s and don’ts constituted an inimitable Faye.
The first scene of the third act from Mamba’s Daughters, starring Ethel Waters and members of the original case, was well adapted for television, justifying the the concern expressed by Miss Waters in the after-curtain comment on the subject: “I hope it (television) won’t keep people from the theater.” She brought more warmth to the role of Hagar than did Freddie Washington to Lissa. The scene, marking the return of Lissa after she achieved fame as a radio singer, offers Miss Waters the opportunity to sing Lonely Walls. Her dramatics were highest at that point.
Dr. George Roemmert’s illustrated lecture on micro-organisms is comparable to the educational reels which are fine in themselves but misplaced in some programs, as this one. Attempt to coat this very elementary biology lesson on the paramecium with an air of romance and tragedy made it appear farcical. With the use of electric arc lamps and transparent films the scientist illustrated the magnifying abilities of the microscope.
Bending backward to be simple, the running comments achieved absurdity. Blurs and frequent complete block-outs marred the showing here technically.
George Hicks handled the announcements. His lone applause at the close of the Mamba’s Daughters number, tho a small matter, might better have been omitted. It just wasn’t called for. Otherwise, his assignments were well executed. Weiss. (Billboard, June 24)
ETHEL WATERS
With Georgette Harvey, Fredi Washington, Georgia Buck, Ollie Barber, Phil Loeb, Joey Faye, Leslie Littomy, Edith Gresham, Dr. George Roermmert, George Hicks.
Variety Show
60 Mins.
Wednesday, June 14, 1939
RCA-NBC, New York
Still feeling around to learn how to use the visio-medium, NBC turned to radio for its show last Wednesday night (14), taking the pattern of commercial variety programs. Results offered share contrasts — all the way from deeply-stirring emotional drama to feeble slapstick comedy and not-too-effective scientific lecture. When it was good it was quite good, but when it was bad it was capital B.
Standout of the bill was an extract from the recent Broadway play, Dorothy and DuBose Heyward's 'Mamba's Daughters,' with Ethel Waters playing the part that won her such praise from critics and audiences last winter. Although the isolated first scene of the third act necessarily lacked clarity and cohesion without proper buildup and explanation, Miss Waters' performance was glowingly simple and sincere and raised the sketch to an affecting emotional pitch. To put over that kind of inner-felt underplaying was a demonstration of visio's possibilities as well as thrilling performance.
Trouble with the comedy portions of the bill appeared to be the material, which wasn't too funny on the stage and turned out to be painfully flat via television. Phil Loeb and Joey Faye, who were in last fall's 'Sing Out the News,' brought songs and sketches from that revue, but they might as well have improvised, for the results were embarrassing as seen in the receiver. Without an audience for response, they were apparently bathing in sweat to put over their comparatively feeble humor — with disastrous result Faye's gesturing style of delivery is hopelessly unsuited to visio. One or two giggles, but mostly wooden silence from those at the receiving end.
Dr. George Roemmert struggled with pronunciation and was partly stymied by trying to focus his microscope subjects in the iconoscope in his scientific discourse. George Hicks was the m.c.-announcer. Hobe. (Variety, June 21)
The Chicago Historical society will present an “old fashioned” style show over the Zenith Radio company’s experimental television transmitter [W9XZV] at 8 p. m. next Wednesday [14]. Models will demonstrate hair-dos and hats that were in style during the last century. (Chicago Tribune, June 11)
Thursday, June 15
11:00-4:00—World’s Fair Demonstrations.
4:00-5:15—A session of the contest for the title of New York World’s Fair Television Girl will be relayed from the Fair grounds over Station W2XBS.
WORLD'S FAIR BEAUTY CONTEST
Thursday, Jane 15, 1939
RCA-NBC, New York
This was more of a filler for the televizing eye (no pun) than most of the production attempted by picture broadcasters recently. Idea is to select one girl from the ranks of female employees at the New York World's Fair and label her the Fair's Television Girl, selection to be based on photogenic qualities. Winner is to receive a RCA television set. Judges were parked in front of a receiver at the RCA Television exhibit while the broadcast was done from the Cavalcade of Centaurs.
Caught at NBC's Radio City studios, the picture was clear when focused properly, but it seemed that the engineers handling the camera were going out of their way to look for such grief in their method of introducing the contestants. Latter were lined up on a runway to the left of the lens and paraded down steps to the mike. As entrants came and went the lens would swing over to the runway, blur until it was focused, follow the girl to a closeup, blur again, then repeat. This went on for an hour.
If this broadcast did nothing else than provide experience for engineers, it proved one thine. Unless intensely interesting, there will be few full hours devoted to one subject. After 30 mins. or so of gazing at pulchritude, there was a definite weakening of the eye and interest due to the constant concentrating.
Ernie Chappell, commentator on the George Jessel radio program, and at the moment carrying out a Rip Van Winkle press stunt, in costume, was brought in for an interview. He added a little spice to the airing with his comments, some of which referred to the present-day female. He collared a guest booking on a future telecast as result of his impromptu showing here.
During the hour the comments of Jack Frazier, who handled the introductions and spiels in fine fashion, were often erased by extraneous Fair noises. Most of it came from a nearby concession which was ballyhooing with band records. Latter were picked up clearly. Might raise a copyright point in view of the unsettled situation between television and music men. (Variety, June 21)
Friday, June 16
4:00-5:15—Miss Television Contest.
8:30-9:30—New York World’s Fair Television Girl contest will be 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. Cobina Wright Jr. will be mistress of ceremonies which will include Marie Eve and George Lloyd, stars of Le Ruban Bleu international night club review; Helen Scully, Paul Ballantine and William Shea, in “Family Honor,” with an original musical score by Fred Ayres Cotton, and Jack Cole and his East Indian Dancers.
Judging were Sid Hydeman, art director of “Red Book”; Fred Farrar, art director of Lord & Thomas; Matthew Beecher, art director of the National Broadcasting Company; Nick Kenny, radio editor of “The Daily Mirror,” and Alfred Cheney Johnston, photographer. (Herald Tribune, June 16)
'FAMILY HONOR'
With Helen Scully, Pau Ballatine, William Shea
Friday, June 16, 1939
RCA-NBC, New York
(Baird large screen)
This one was an 'experiment.’ They said so in the beginning. The experiment was evidently into the realm of screwball comedy of the kind that had. a vogue in films a year or two back. A quilt-work script was alternately loaded with double talk, plot sight business and puzzlement There were a few giggles, but mostly impatience.
It all took place in a modernistic apartment where lived two brothers both writers. On the walls were family portraits with a propensity to gravitation if any member of the family told a lie. The small pictures kent falling noisly, but the larger one waited until the curtain when it came down all in a heap breaking, clown-like, over the head of one of the brothers. This was going back to Ford Sterling and Mabel Normand in the Keystone cop days. And the camera held the tableau for what seemed like minutes, a slow fade-out also reminiscent.
This item closed the show. It was much too-long and much too silly. But in the process it did carry through with a certain commendable tempo and well-rehearsed attention to small detail. What happened was not always worthy of first-rate entertainment, but technically making it happen was deserving of a few pats. Day by day and week by week the unfoldment of production skill can be half-seen and half-sensed in these transmissions.
The three actors proved themselves thoroughly professional under what must have been gruelingly difficult conditions. It is probable for one thing that theirs was perhaps the longest job of memorizing thus far presented on this side (plays up to 90 minutes are done in England.) Land. (Variety, June 21)
MARIE EVE, GEORGE LLOYD
Chanteuse, Mimic
Friday, June 16, 1939
RCA-NBC, New York
(Baird large screen)
Although announced jointly (because each is from the same night club), Marie Eve and George Lloyd work separately. She appeared first, he provided an interlude, then she reappeared in a change of costume. A surrealistic backdrop was appropriate to the slightly wacky 'advanced' kind of spoofery that each projects. They're of the continental intime style although Lloyd is presumably American.
Marie Eve does songs in French with much business and mugging. Some of her points were muffed at the non-European audience in the Gaumont British projection room. Nevertheless she came through clearly and was recognized as an artist, albeit her material was obscure.
Lloyd has a vivid, expressive face. He's on the pastel side in style but a performer of obviously maturing authority. He did two imitations, both possessing a strange flavor but an authentic touch. In one he did a dese, dem and dose tea-leaf reader faking a trance. In the other he hoked up the pantomimic labors of devouring a peanut butter sandwich. The almost-complete reliance upon facial expression put television to a test (how it came through on an ordinary home receiver would be of great contrast value) which, in the blow-up here enjoyed, delivered a high degree of genuine amusement. Which is saying a lot for a medium that has until now been predominately a case of putting the engineer in lights and the actor in shadows. Land. (Variety, June 21)
COBINA WRIGHT, JR.
Talk, Song
Friday, June 16, 1939
RCA-NBC, New York
(Baird large screen)
Miss Wright, socially conspicuous, sings a little, emcees a little and gives out with the charm stuff, doing all three for a living. She was used by RCA-NBC as the chief 'name' on one of the regular studio revues.
Viewed on the Baird large screen (9 feet by 12 feet) her appearance may be regarded as successful. She was poised but not in the bumptious fashion of the over-confident debutantes. Her singing was thin but not disagreeable. She knew some of her Ones and had an off-screen memoranda to help her on others.
Finally, she looked well in an evening gown held up by faith alone. Land. (Variety, June 21)
JACK COLE DANCERS (3)
East Indian
Friday, June 16, 1939
RCA-NBC
(Baird large screen)
This was one of the best of the items for the purpose of registering the scope of the large screen in television. Cole, a muscular gent in a sarong, was assisted by two exotic females. They exuded an atmosphere of Bali. Two dance offerings were vigorous and colorful and in the relatively fixed focus depth of the iconoscope their performance was technically noteworthy at this point in sky-pictures.
Baird method permitted a recognition of the dancers merit. Cole impressed as a tyrant for discipline and perfection. His East Indian Swing was zingy. Land. (Variety, June 21)
Saturday, June 17
4:00-5:15—Finals of the New York World’s Fair Television Girl contest.
Miss Caryl Smith, twenty-one years old, of Everett, Wash., who is an acrobat in the Amazons concession in the Amusement Area at the World’s Fair, was chosen “Miss New York World’s Fair Television” yesterday [17]. Miss Smith received two prizes, a television receiver from the Radio Corporation of America, sponsor of the contest, and a model of the perisphere and trylon, from the Fair.The thirty contestants in the competition appeared on a ramp in front of the Cavalcade of Centaurs in the south end of the amusement zone. Each was televised individually for a period of two minutes. Fifteen of the finalists were selected on Thursday and the remaining fifteen on Friday. The judges based their decision on the girls’ “telegenic” qualities, rather than their beauty alone. (Herald Tribune, June 18)
Beginning Tuesday, television station W2XBS expands its programs to include more studio presentations in place of film periods, which heretofore have comprised the major portion of the telecasts. Under the new plan, as explained by Alfred H. Morton, NBC vice-president in charge of television, evening studio hours will be increased from two to three. They will be transmitted on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday evenings from 8:30 to 9:30. As added attractions the mobile unit will increase its output of special events to three a week on Thursday, Friday and Saturday afternoons.
An innovation will be four noon-day hours from the television studios in Radio City. These will take place on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and will consist of a half hour of variety and the remainder of films. (New York Sun, June 17)
Sunday, June 18
While television in this country is just beginning to emerge from the laboratory stage on a sizable scale, years of work and of expenditures have been required to bring the infant art to its present status.
In the Los Angeles area, since December, 1931, the Don Lee transmitter has telecast more than 11,000,000 feet of film including newsreels, feature pictures, trailers and carbons. A serial play recently reached its 50th episode. Engineers estimate that there are several hundred television sets in Southern California with some of the television fans near Pomona, about 30 miles from the Los Angeles transmitter at Seventh and Bixel streets. Others reside in Long Beach, North Hollywood, Tujunga, etc.
NEW STATION PLANNED
Plans for building a modern telecasting station on Mt. Lee, overlooking Hollywood are now being worked out by Thomas S. Lee, president, and Lewis Allen Weiss, vice-president and general manager of the Mutual Don Lee Broadcasting System, owners and operators of W6XAO, the only telecasting station in the West. The real estate papers for the 20-acre tract are now in escrow. This sire was selected because Mt. Lee is the second highest peak (1700 feet) in the Hollywood range, and the highest one accessible by road. As the curvature of the earth limits the telecast area, the higher the antennae, the greater the area the television beams will cover. Scientists are working on a number of ideas for refracting and booting television beams, which travel in straight lines instead of following the curvature of the earth.
This Pioneer television station, which is under the direction of Harry R. Lubcke, an outstanding authority and inventor in this field, is now rebuilding its cameras for 441-line telecasting. Receiving sets can be made, as many local residents have made them, or manufactured sets can be ordered or purchased through the stores, costing from $200 to $600. Manufacturers are reported to be filling such orders as rapidly as possible.
ADVERTISING BANNED
No advertising is permitted on television programs as the Federal Communications Commission grants only experimental non-commercial licenses.
Locally, considerable interest in the art is being stimulated by the Hollywood Television Society at its weekly meeting Tuesday nights at 7 p.m. in the Plummer Park Auditorium, 7377 Santa Monica Blvd., where amateurs who have built their own sets tune in on the W6XAO programs at 7:30 p.m. Those desiring to attend are advised to arrive early. (Los Angeles Times, June 18)
Tuesday, June 20
12:15—Film, “Men of Medicine.”
12:30—Film, “New England, Yesterday and Today.”
12:45—Interviews with 4-H Club winners.
12:55—Newscast.
8:30-9:30—“The Pirates of Penzance,” by Gilbert and Sullivan, with Margaret Daum and Ray Heatherton. Harold Sanford, conductor.
9:30—Close down.
Wednesday, June 21
12:00—“Let’s Talk It Over,” with Ray Shaw, sculptress, demonstrating the art of modeling famous hands; interview by June Hynd.
12:15—Film, “Sun Valley,” “In the Hills of New Hampshire.”
12:45—Ralph Dunbar and his Bell Ringers (Bernice Lamber, folk songs. New York Sun listing).
12:55—Newscast.
4:00 to 5:15 P. M.—Television Girl Contest from the World’s Fair. (4:00-5:00—Military Maneuvers at Governor’s Island. Brooklyn Eagle story. This evidently was cancelled).
Thursday, June 22
12:00—Fashion Show, with Cobina Wright Jr.; Anne Francine, debutante; Ann Miller, dancer, and Betty Burlingham, Vassar girl, modelling Kayser gloves, Dorothy Couteaur dresses, Sally Victor hats, Jaeckel furs and Trifari jewels.
12:15—Film, “Chevrolet News”; “Chinook’s Children”’ The Moselle” (travelogue).
12:45—Interviews with Caryl Smith, Television Girl, and Barbara Wall, runner-up.
12:55—Newscast.
8:30 to 9:30 P. M.—Studio program with Martha Graham, dancer; Conrado Massaguer, caricaturist; Rhumba Orchestra; Grazilla Parrage, guitarist; Carols and Carita, dancers; Singin’ Sam [did not appear], Fifi D’Orsay; “The Honeymoon,” dramatic sketch, with Percy Kilbride, Miriam Shockley and Edward Phillips. Ray Perkins, master of ceremonies.
RAY PERKINS
With Fifi D'Orsay, Conrado Massaguer, Martha Graham, Raul and Eva Reyes, Rhumba Band
8:30 P.M.
Thursday, June 22, 1939
RCA-NBC, New York
Revue such as telecast by RCA-NBC Thursday (22) needs balancing but there is no doubt that the hour passes quick as m.c. Ray Perkins said it would. There is, of course, a distinct difference from radio programs, there being no attempt to indicate the eavesdropping presence of an audience.
Lighting department will stand plenty of improvement. Noticed that the dark shades or brunet types are much clearer than blondes or intermediates. That was most apparent when Fifi D'Orsay came on, in place of Singin' Sam. It may be that the French lingo girl is more photogenic or more familiar with the requisite make-up, but she registered better than another dark-haired girl who sang with the rhumba orchestra from the Cuban Pavilion, located at the World's Fair. Miss D'Orsay's top number was about a Scotch girl with 'If You Want to See Paree'. Okay.
Ray Perkins introduced the Cubans, mentioning the musicians as a quartette, though it is a quintette, not counting the girl warbler, who used a string instrument. She amused with a lyric about how the rhumba started. It seems that a flea hopped onto the shoulder of a girl dancer and she couldn't get it off any other way, says this one from Havana. (In the interior of Cuba they have a different story to tell).
Raul and Eva Reyes, dance team from La Conga, did their stuff, while another item from the land of manana was the cartoonist Conrado Massaguer, who worked much the same as other sketch artists. Once the crayon dropped and that reproduction was authentic. He talked clearly, wiped off the perspiration indicating he was cooking under high-powered lights, and several times the shadow of a hanging microphone flashed onto his face. Roosevelt, La Guardia and Dewey were among the Massaguer drawings.
Martha Graham, exotic dancer, had two numbers, one just fair, because of lighting defects that still hamper television. The other was in modern costume and bit too long.
Perhaps the best of the broadcast as a sketch running about 13 minutes, it being Aaron Hoffman's ‘The Honeymoon’. Except for intruding noises the performance promises something from the drama for television and it would seem that performances from the stage are practical if the problem of carrying through average stage presentations is solved here as it has been in London. Sketch was well rehearsed and the players made no mistakes.
Perkins seemed at home. His songs 'Sing a Song of Sunbeams' and 'Mr. and Mrs. 'America' came over well. Ibec. (Variety, June 28)
Friday, June 23
4:00 P. M.—Petroleum Industries exhibit at World’s Fair.
About 5:00—Docking of the new Cunard Liner Mauretania after her maiden transatlantic voyage. An NBC outside television feature. (Brooklyn Eagle).
8:30-9:30—A dance panorama, arranged by Paul Milton, editor of “The Dance”; Emily Genauer, art critic of the New York World Tribune; J. Fred Coots, veteran of Tin Pan Alley, introducing a new song for the first time on television, and others in a regular NBC studio program.
Reviewed Friday, 8:30-9:30 p.m. Style—Variety, using live, talent. Reviewed on RCA Television Receiver. Station—W2XBS.
Coming shortly after NBC’s comparatively lavish production of Pirates of Penzance, the Friday show suffered by comparison. In general, definition was good, altho some tele close-ups have a brutal effect on performers’ faces. Camera work lagged in spots, particularly when trying to keep up with dancers. Show’s entertainment value was not up to previous NBC-RCA standards. Program’s production idea was to present examples of the four arts—dramatic, music, painting and singing.
First spot to J. Fred Coots, songwriter, who was far and away the best on the bill, presenting an informal and completely enjoyable exposition of how he happened to write some of his hit songs. Coots did his turn seated at a piano, playing snatches of tunes. Appeared very well on screen, transmitted an excellent personality and was thoroly at ease.
Ernie Mack, known to vaude as the “man of 1,000 faces,” gave brief impersonations of a raft of pic personalities, including Charles Laughton, Stan Laurel and Groucho Marx, going on to caricatures of the European dictators. Mack did not show to good advantage, tele camera in this instance being too severe.
Emily Genauer, critic on The World-Telegram, spoke on art, illustrating with pictures from the world’s fair exhibit. Stuff was a scholarly dissertation, condensing much factual data into a short period. Audience for this material is limited, of course, but no one knows yet just what will click over tele, and you cannot blame NBC-RCA for trying.
Closing stanza presented a flock of dancers, brought together by Paul Milton, editor of Dance Magazine, in an effort to present different types of American folk dancing. Interesting material, with Paul Haakon and Patricia Bowman doing ballet; Dan Dailey illustrating styles of tap; Minor and Root doing ball room; Huapala contributing hulas, and Tom Reilly and Patricia Bowman introducing a new ballroom turn, Bumps-a-Daisy. Performers are all leaders of their fields and showed as well as the camera would permit. Milton, who has appeared on tele before, has improved much in his emsee technique.
Entire show was nicely emseed by Sue Reade. Paul Ackerman. (Billboard, July 1)
Saturday, June 24
12:00—Kay St. Germain, songs.
12:15—Film, “Sicilian String,” “Chance to Lose”: “A Day in Vienna.”
12:45—Interviews.
12:55—News.
4:00-5:00—Women’s Swimming Association Championship Meet, at Manhattan Beach, with Elizabeth Ryan, Olympic team star, Gloria Weeks, Helen Rains, Lorraine Fischer, Kit Karson and others. An NBC outside feature.
Tuesday, June 27
12:00—Greta Keller, Viennese songs.12:15—Films, “Death Valley Travelaugh” (Columbia, 1931); “Modes and Motors.”
12:45—The Strakes, Statuettes of Toast.
12:55-1:00—Newscast.
8:30-9:30—Moonshine and Melody, an hour variety program with “Moonshine,” dramatic sketch by Arthur Hopkins, with Theodore Nelson and James Bell; Melissa Mason, comedy dancer; The Philarmonicas; Walter Dare Wahl, comedy acrobat, and Charles Barber and his musical Hillbillies.
Reviewed Tuesday [27], 8:30-9:30 p.m. Style—Variety, using live talent. Reviewed on RCA Television Receiver. Station—W2XBS.
Departing from the usual run of televised shows, NBC-RCA presented a hillbilly show June 27 starring Charlie Barber as emsee. Show was well rounded, and definition in general was good. Some close-ups, however, lost detail. This didn’t do the performers any good.
Barber, who served as emsee while also handling the bass fiddle with his orchestra, proved himself versatile as a square-dance caller. He comes by this rightfully, having called at dances near Mountain City, Ga., which is sure enough red neck.
Opening with the hillbilly band, Barber followed with Donald Bain whistling parts of Listen to the Mocking Bird. Bain’s imitations of barnyard fowls and animals are enhanced by television. His mugging entertained as much as did the calls.
Outstanding act of this program was the Philharmonicas, six harmonica players who went to town on Raymond Scott’s Powerhouse and Swamp Fire. One player used two harps each about two feet long. Close-ups revealed rare manipulations on the instruments.
Melissa Mason’s dance was another highlight. Starting with a rube’s attempt at singing an operatic tune, she gave up in disgust and went into a dance. The gal put on a real show. Monroe (Zeke) Lockwood yodeled for his part of the program.
Walter Dare Wahl and Johnnie followed with comedy panto. Wahl’s trouble in untangling himself from Johnnie climaxed the act and entertained well.
The Debutantes, six girls and a man, sang My Darling Nellie Gray, Wedding of Jack and Jill and Ferdinand.
Following the dance of Winfield and Ford, Moonshine, a playlet featuring Theodore Newton and James Bell, was presented and was nothing unusual. However, the mountain locale and plot fitted well into the trend of the program. Paul Ackerman (Billboard, July 8)
Wednesday, June 28 12:00—June Hynd’s “Let’s Talk It Over,” with Harry Hulihan, young father, demonstrating the correct care of infants.
12:15—Films, “The Book of Books,” “Curiosities,” “A Coach for Cinderalla” (Jam Handy/Monogram, 1937).
12:45—Novelty, “How to Sleep and Like it” with Roy Giles.
12:55-1:00—Newscast.
4:00-5:00—A Dramatized Safety Lesson, presented in co-operation with the New York City Police Department and the Board of Education. An NBC outside television program.
The Paramount-DuMont license application will, if granted, give Hollywood a third proposed television transmitter, predicting that the film capital will be advantageously prepared for the predicted swing to sight-sound broadcasting Don Lee operates the sole station here, but Earle C. Anthony, operator of KFI-KECA, filed for a license more than two months ago, and proposes to locate his transmitter in the Hollywood area at High land and Santa Monica boulevard. (Hollywood Reporter, June 28)
NBC is finding difficulty in lining up major film product for television programs. Most of the important film companies, including RKO Radio with its RCA relationships, are disinclined to supply film features.
Decision is partly due to the fact that they regard television as a possible competitive industry which will adversely affect motion picture theatre attendance. This is, however, way off. Mostly it’s because no appreciable revenue can be gained from NBC since telecasting so far is experimental only and without a backer.
One deal for product, however, was closed last week (28) between NBC and Tri-National Films, Inc., and Astor Pictures, Inc., to supply a group of 15 features, starting July 5, when the Astor release, ‘Heart of New York,’ with Al Jolson, formerly titled ‘Hallelujah I’m a Bum,’ will be televised at 4 p.m. Time selected was chosen because it is non-competitive as far as motion picture theatres are concerned.
Programs are designed purely for home consumption and among other films to be televised are ‘Vicar of Wakefield,’ ‘Heart of Paris,’ ‘Carnival du Bal,’ ‘La Kermese Heroique!’. A number of shorts will also be supplied by Astor.
John E. Otterson of Tri-National, R. M. Savini and C. J. Tevlin of Astor, and T. H. Hutchinson, Clarence W. Ferrier and E. A. Hugerford, Jr., of the NBC televìsion program department participated in the negotiations.
NBC execs estimate that only about 6% of the total amount of time devoted to television programs will make use of films, the same as it is in England at the present time. Greatest amount of time will make use of live talent. (Billboard, July 5)
Thursday, June 29
12:00—Fashion Show with hats by Lily Dache.
12:15—Films, “Ski Time in the Rockies,” “Navy Wings of Gold.”
12:45—Interview.
12:55-1:00—Newscast.
8:30-9:30—“The Donovan Affair,” drama, by Owen Davis, with William Harrigan, Laura Baxter, Henry Wadsworth, Matt Briggs, Horace Braham and others.
New York.—Boycott raised by major film companies against televising its product is forcing a wide search by telecasters for suitable program material with which to keep their transmitters on the air. Forced to look elsewhere they are now prowling through libraries of foreign film product and short subjects to meet a critical need. It is understood to have negotiated for telecasting these at an average feature rental of $150, while shorts drew as high as $50 for one-showing permit. Since most of the product is antiquated, with little more than curio value, the prices forced are considered clearly indicative of the dire predicament of the telecasters.
NBC’s buy includes “Heart of New York,” produced by Mary Pickford with Al Jolson, Madge Evans and Larry Langdon; Stacy Woodward’s “Adventures of Chico,” being distributed by Pathe-Monogram; “The Edge of the World.” “Peg of Old Drury,” “Old Curiosity Shop,” “The Wave,” “Ballerina,” “Generals Without Buttons,” “Heart of Pans” and “Carnival in Flanders.” The final four are French product with English titles.
Astor Pictures is distributor of “Heart of New York.” This company is understood to have many other English and American features and shorts for which NBC is bidding. (Hollywood Reporter, June 29)
Friday, June 30
8:30—“Television Debuts,” variety show with Allen Prescott.
9:00—Television Explorers with Harrison Foreman, Sir Hubert Wilkens, Vilhjalmur Stefansson, Lowell Thomas and J. Allen Dunn.
Reviewed Friday [30], 8:30-9:30 p.m. Style—Variety, using live talent. Reviewed on RCA Television Receiver. Station—W2XBS.
This show was divided into two parts, the first a discussion by explorers of travel photographs taken in Tibet by Harrison Foreman, and the second a television talent audition conducted by Allen Prescott. First was very interesting, more so than a lot of motion picture travelogs. Foreman, seated at the Explorers’ Club with Sir Hubert Wilkins, Julian Bryan and Maj. J. Allen Dunn, all noted explorers, discussed Tibet culture over Scotch and soda. Session was very informal, and when Foreman brought on his pictures the others continued to probe him for information. None of the gents were bashful or ill at ease, and the contribution was both entertaining and educational.
In second half talent brought on by Prescott was good and indifferent. Included were Ralph Martin, clever cartoonist; Bill Barr, who gave a good dramatized impersonation of an old man; Doris Bey, acro and contortion dancer; Larry Burke, Irish vocalist who screened well and delivered nicely; Hildegarde Halliday, who was exceptionally sock with a line of hoke chatter; Allen and Sunny MacDonald, kid song and dance act, and Murray (Loony) Lewis and Charles Harris, comedy team.
Lewis, nut comic, has much in his favor for tele, but his material was weak. His appearance is good for plenty of laughs, but the initial effect faded when he went into an old burlesque routine involving a play on words. Harris straighted.
Show in general was out of the common run, and while not presenting any sensational stuff, is to be commended for its experimental angle. Prescott, conducting the auditions, asked tele hopefuls to write in for a chance to appear.
Announcer was William Spargrove. Paul Ackerman (Billboard, July 8)
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