First, NBC cut its on-location TV broadcasts. Then, it cut its studio broadcasts.
What replaces that to fill the air-time?
Well, W2XBS had a problem there, too. The answer would be films. But in July 1939, the movie industry was paranoid that TV would put them out business, so the big companies wouldn’t sell their films to NBC. The company had to hunt down B-list features that it was still putting on the air eight years later.
You, therefore, won’t find too much exciting below as you read through the schedule for W2XBS for the month. Among the names you’ll see are Paul Whiteman, Mildred Natwick and Dean Jagger. Announcers include Graham McNamee, Ed Herlihy, Milton Cross and Hugh James (“The Voice of Firestone”).
A couple of “Travelaughs” starring John P. Medbury that had been released theatrically by Columbia got some air time, as did some shorts on aluminum. At least one Chevrolet newsreel was broadcast; they had been produced by Jam Handy in Detroit. There’s an update on what was going on at W6XAO in Los Angeles. One of the trades had a picture of the Kansas City experimental station; the war killed it. And we’ve included a story about why studio audiences are bad.
W2XBS—45.25 m. c.; 49.785 m. c.
Saturday, July 1
12:00 Noon—"Looking In on Radio."
12:15—Film, “La Ville Lumiere."
12:45—Betty Allan, songs.
12:55—Newscast.
3:30 to 4 P. M.—Musical ride of Canadian Northwest Mounted Police from the Court of Peace World's Fair.
A change in the content of television programs for the month of July made necessary by a decision to send the mobile trucks used for outdoor telecasts to Camden, N. J., for the addition of important equipment was announced this week by Alfred H. Morton, NBC vice-president in charge of television.
Beginning July 4, station W2XBS operating on the revised schedule will transmit special programs of feature length films on Wednesday and Saturday evenings from 8:30 to 10. Studio programs will be continued as previously on Tuesday. Thursday and Saturday evenings from 8:30 to 9:30 and the usual noonday features of one hour length will be telecast from Tuesday through Friday.
It is expected that the mobile truck will be returned to service on August 1. (New York Sun, July 1)
Numerous indie outfits are dusting off old prints and negatives, building up a catalog for submission to television outfits in the hope of ekeing an unexpected revenue from out-dated or heretofor unsaleable films. Film row is also going through its files for filler material reported to be badly wanted by eastern television. NBC reports numerous inquiries here in the past few days from outfits wanting to dispose of product to the RCA subsidiary which is understood to be in the market for pictures available for televising. Local office has referred all inquiries directly to the home office.
Shortage of film for telecasting by NBC is reported to have resulted from a major company ban against supplying prints for television. To keep its telecaster on the air, NBC is reported to be buying foreign and amateur product which can be cleared for air-release. (Hollywood Reporter, July 1)
LOS ANGELES, July 1.—After eight years of televising from W6XAO, Thomas S. Lee, president of Don Lee Broadcasting System, says plans for expansion of present visual schedule will be carried out as soon as new plant in finished in the Hollywood Hills. For the past several years the televising plant, supervised by Harry R. Lubcke, has been sending out around 24 programs per week, Monday thru Saturday.
According to Lubcke, very little time has been utilized for films. Majority of shows use live talent. On Monday and Saturday there is one hour devoted to newsreels and shorts. Other days are devoted to live shows.
Don Lee has not been paying for tele talent, players giving their services gratis, figuring an getting experience in the new medium. Lubcke says every effort is being made to hasten payment for performers. For some time talent hired by the web for sustaining shows has been picked for television possibilities as well as radio. Betty Jane Rhodes, who has been given a big build-up by the chain, is featured at least once a week on a television show. Same applies to Chicco and his orchestra. Web has been pouring dough into television for the past eight years and up to the present time hasn’t been able to get a dime of it back. However, Lubcke believes that within a year the FCC will take down the bars and allow sponsored visual broadcasts. Despite the fact that W6XAO is situated in the heart of the flicker industry, the station will not draw heavily on straight film talent, relying on performers who have had legitimate stage experience.
At the present time around 50 performers a week take part in visual broadcasts from the Don Lee plant, with talent expansion expected to begin when the new headquarters are completed. (Billboard, July 8)
Audiences should be barred from television studios in order to maintain illusions as well as to insure that actors perform only for the multitudes who are watching their efforts on the television screen, These arguments and others are in eluded in an editorial by Dr. Alfred N. Goldsmith, which appears in the current issue of Communications.
"In the first place," said Dr. Goldsmith, "it is bad showmanship to show the public the various detailed and sometimes disillusioning methods which are used in production. In the second place, studio personnel should be interested in the home audience and their specific and immediate production job only—and not be compelled consciously or unconsciously to pose for a gaping gallery. In the third place, the cost of providing adequate viewing facilities for the public would be unwarranted, particularly in view of the difficulty of placing the observers in such positions that they are not blinded by the lights.
It has been repeatedly stated by the writer that the entertainment industry should be conducted by sellers of illusion and vendors of glamor." Through receiver costs and its own time and attention the public seeking radio entertainment pays for entrance into a new world created by the entertainer, and it is both unwise and unfair to destroy the remoteness, entertainment appeal and psychological novelty of this created world by showing the public "how the wheels grind and turn."
"Broadcasting now has the rare and unique opportunity to rid itself of an unnecessary and purely extraneous element which should be foreign to the entertainment industry, namely, the intrusion of the public into the routine of entertainment production. If the advertising sponsor and his agency will forget their personal preferences and remember that the major function of broadcasting is to entertain the audience of prospective purchasers In the home they will wisely refrain from requesting the trivial gratification of inviting any portion of the public or their own affiliates to witness the production in the studio. It will be a disappointment to the public, a liability to the advertiser, an annoyance to the broadcaster and a financial drain on all concerned if this note of caution is not immediately heeded." (New York Sun, July 1)
Tuesday, July 4
12:15—Film, "Voodooland Travelaughs” (Columbia, 1932), "Lady Life Guards," "Boys Club.”
12:45—Interview with dignified hitchhikers.
12:55—Newscast.
8:30-9:30—Magnolia Floating Theater; showboat program with Josephine Huston, Dave Mallon, Roberts and Martin, the Southernaires, troupe of thespians, including Winfield Hoemey, Paula MacLean and John Boyd.
New 15-minute daytime programs that are televised on the noon period daily, Monday through Friday, by NBC-RCA are being sent out from the television studios employed as part of the NBC ‘Television Tour’ for which public is charged 50 cents a peep. Television programs are spotted at 12 o’clock noon and 12:45 p.m.
During the on-the-air periods, the Television Tour is closed to tourist visitors. (Variety, July 5)
Wednesday, July 5
12:00 Noon—June Hynd with representative of Children’s Welfare Federation, on "Sending a Child to Camp."
12:15—Films, "Chevrolet News," "Curiosities," "The Master Drink."
12:45—George Ross, columnist.
12:55—Newscast.
8:30-10:00—Film, “The Heart of New York," with Al Jolson, Madge Evans and Harry Langdon.
GEORGE ROSS, conductor of the “So This Is Broadway” column in the New York World-Telegram, on July 5 became the first name newspaper writer to enter the television field, when he started a weekly series of quarter-hour interviews with guest stars from the world of cafe society. Eleanor Holm, swimming star, was guest on the first program of the series, telecast by NBC’s New York transmitter, W2XBS, each Wednesday at 12:45 p. m. (Broadcasting, July 15)
Thursday, July 6
12:00 Noon—Margaret Byers, "Fashions in Figures."
12:15—Films, "On Two Wheels,” “Around the Village Green."
12:55—Newscast.
8:30-9:30—“The Services of an Expert," drama by Harry Keller, with Arthur Maitland and Ned Wever; "Time for Love," a musical by Dillon O'Ferris, with Enis Byer, John Woodford, Maxine Roscoe, Ethelyn Matteson, Richard Cowdery and Max Showalter.
Reviewed Thursday [6], 8:30-9:30 p.m. Style—Variety, using live talent and films. Reviewed on RCA Television Receiver. Station—W2XBS.
A one-act comedy on the last 15 minutes of this hour was choice entertainment beautifully adapted for the tele medium. Arthur Mateland and Ned Wever did swell jobs on Harry Stephen Keller’s The Services of an Expert, which offered a new turn on the detective-burglar plot. It was a lively, clean-cut number that turned the tide for the whole show.
Individually, Sylvia Froos’ singing, Vass Family’s hillbilly harmonizing and Rene and Estella’s dancing were good. Time allotted each act, however, dissipated the punch because the numbers on each one’s repertoire were too much in the same class. Had the Vass Family been limited to two numbers at one sitting justice would have been done to their talents without trying the audience’s patience. The four girls and fellow do a neat turn.
Having Miss Froos deliver Lady’s In Love With You, Don’t Worry About Me and F. D. R. Jones in one standing stretched a good act too far. In her own rights, tho, Miss Froos charms with voice mannerisms and dimple.
Doubling from the Havana-Madrid night club, Rene and Estella brought to the screen the more moderate of their Latin dance creations, La Conga and Begin the Beguine. Close focus of camera intended to emphasize footwork or hip movements magnified the performers themselves without helping their display.
Similarly, Frakson, the magician, suffered from improper focusing. Camera failed to take In whole range of his act, particularly when the field of operation extended to the floor. Camera sacrificed that to ease visibility on the cigarets and eggs with which he was working. Act itself needed livening up.
Televising of teletopics was strictly a dud. One depicted scenes at Mahopac Lake, N. Y., and the other filmed an archery session. Both were undramatic and uninteresting, at least in the manner presented.
Bob Waldrop handled the announcements. Weiss, (Billboard, July 15)
Friday, July 7
12:00 Noon—"Looking in on Radio" with Melba Meredith, folk songs in costume.
12:15—Films, "Snow In the Dolomites," "Symphonies in Fragrance," "The Big Broadcast."
12:45—Adelaide Moffett, interview.
12:55—Newscast.
8:30-9:30—Film, “The Adventures of Chico,” documentary on Mexican peasant life.
Anticipating the possible transmission of television programs on a popular scale in the near future, station WTIC has made application to the Federal Communications Commission for renewal of its television broadcasting permit. It was stated Friday [7] at the office of Paul W. Morency, station manager, that if and when the application is granted, the station will complete plans for the erection of a television transmitter of 1000 watts maximum power at its Avon Mountain transmitting site.
No definite plans for the operation of such a plant have as yet been completed by the station. The publicity bureau of the Travelers Insurance Company, owners of the station, intimated that the move for renewal of the permit was more in the nature of preparatory step to be ready to send television broadcasts when the technique is perfected for such transmission that the prelude to actual sending in the immediate future. (Hartford Courant, July 7)
Saturday, July 8
8:30-10:00 P. M .—Film: "Heart of Paris,” in French with English subtitles. Raimu and Michele Morgan.
Outstanding discoveries of the eight-week study are that sports and other special event outdoor programs can't be adequately picked up with a single iconoscope camera and that studio presentations should not consist too heavily of variety shows. . . .
Another thing NBC learned through its initial video experience is that some events are better suited to television than others. The Columbia-Princeton baseball game, Hutchinson remarked, did not go over as favorably as the Nova-Baer prizefight. But even the latter event was hampered by the use of a lone camera.
Must Have Two Cameras.
"Basically," he said, "we must have one camera covering the entire field of action for overall and 'pan' effects and another for close-ups." . . .
"One important fact we learned," he said, "is that we should not build a program with the thought of the television medium dominating writing and production. Rather, we should build a show that would be entertaining in any medium and then get down to the task of televising it. It must, be a good show on its own merits and regardless of the medium through which it is viewed. The program isn't a television show until it goes on the air and it must be a good presentation on its own merits."
He disclosed that this method was employed in the production of "The Pirates of Penzance" recently and it turned out to be the first program to get 100 per cent approval from all lookers-in reporting to the network. . . .
It is important, Hutchinson observed, that every studio show should be held together by a central theme. . . .
"Just having a master of ceremonies to announce the numbers is not good enough. The night club technic of having one person introduce the offerings is not acceptable to television.” . . .
One of the biggest tasks confronting Hutchinson in the first few television weeks was in getting the co-operation of authors who can supply essential program material. Big-name authors, particularly, were not prone to fall in line at the rates television offers, Hutchinson mentioned.
But such difficulties were avoided in obtaining big talent names, prominent actors and actresses readily accepting NBC television assignments. (Samuel Kaufman, News Herald, July 8)
Tuesday, July 9
12:00 Noon—May Singhi Breen and Peter Derose celebrate their sixteenth anniversary in radio with Graham McNamee and Milton Cross. Paul Whiteman is a guest.12:15—Films: "An Evening with Edgar Guest," "Nassau In the Bahamas."
12:45—Mary Huntington demonstrating the theremin.
12:55-1:00-Newscast.
8:30-8:30 P. M.—"Confessional," drama by Percival L. Wilde with Wilmer Walter, Earle Larimore, Edmonia Notley, Helen Harvey, Cliff Carpenter and James Spottiswoode; Fowler and Tamara, dancers; Georgia Harris, comedian, and speaking choir.
Wednesday, July 12
12:00 Noon—June Hynd and Sarah Wheeler, “A Living Book Review.”
12:15—Film: “George Washington’s Virginia.”
12:45—George Ross, columnist.
12:55-1:00—Newscast.
8:30-10:00 p. m.—Film: "There Goes the Bride," with Jessie Matthews and Owen Nares.
Thursday, July 13
12:00 Noon—Madge Tucker and radio children.
12:15—Film: "The Negro and the “Y.”
12:45—Alice Mastin interviewing Dewees Cochran on doll modeling.
12:55-1:00—Newscast.
8:30-9:30 P. M .—Variety hour with Phil Loeb, singer; the Three Sailors, comedians; Jim Wong troupe and the Virginians.
Reviewed Thursday [13], 8:30-9:30 p.m. Style—Variety. Reviewed on RCA Television Receiver. Station—W2XBS.
Television achieved a new and higher standing from the talent angle with this superlatively lined up program. Every act went over with a bang to make the hour a credit to both performers and producers. It’s a shame, to have to ring in here, however, the photographic short comings. There was an unusual amount of muddiness made worse by drab drops that made it impossible many times to identify the performers, to say nothing of the effect this blackness had on their appearances.
First up was Phil Loeb’s rendition of his famous scene from Sing Out the News, Up Fiorello. It didn’t matter that all the cast couldn’t fit into the tele screen at one time, so long as Loeb was there. He has tele technique mastered to a point almost beyond comparison. This reviewer has previously raved his acting and singing over the medium and can only repeat he is swell. The clarity and precision of his speaking and singing is a model.
Tied together by thee single theme of “Round the Town With Television,” the camera darted in and out of the city’s highways and street scenes bringing on the acts at geographical cues. Just as the Loeb number came on after a Cook’s tour of City Hall Park, so the Jim Wong Troupe followed views of Chinatown. These five men and a girl staged a terrific showing of acrobatics and balancing numbers. Their pyramid numbers were too high for the screen, but their performance, usually with only two or three stepping out together, was smooth, deft and graceful. Routines were out of the ordinary. Riverside Drive came into the picture next and with it came the Three Sailors. The comedians fitted in well, seeming much at home and well up on their trade tricks. Their presentation was evenly divided between verbal patter and knock-about comedy. Finale of tap dancing and jumping rope was a grand slam.
A musical interlude was supplied by the Four Belles, femme quartet which sounds and looks okeh. Between their appearance and that of the Virginians, male singing sextet, Orion Chantry, dancer at the Rainbow Room, tapped to entertain. She charms as she taps. The sextet as featured in F. D. R. Jones and Shadrack making a nice balance for the girl singers.
Tour finished up with the Savoy Jitterbugs in their native Harlem. They were speed personified, but they, above all, had their show spoiled by the muddy screen. What could be distinguished, tho, brought the bill to a fast finish.
Hugh James, announcer, appeared only once at the end. That idea and that of the program theme worked beautifully. Weiss. (Billboard, July 22)
Friday, July 14
12:00 Noon—Bastille Day program.
12:15—Films: "Gems of the Orient," "The Manufacture of Aluminum."
12:45—Wilma Baily, songs.
12:55—Newscast.
8:30-9:30 P M.—Pamela Nape and Jane Burkhalter, dancers, in "La Danse des Parfume Lentheric"; Dr. C. C. Clark demonstrating brain waves and Vaughn Deleath, songs.
[I]n honor of [Bastille] day... There was a television broadcast, transmitted through the National Broadcasting Company in which Pierre Cartier, president of the French Chamber of Commerce, and Capt. Maurice G. Roux, president of the French War Veterans and the Central Committee of French Speaking Societies, spoke. The program opened with the singing of the “Marsellaise” by a group of children, in costumes, from the French Folk Society. (New York Times, July 16)
Saturday, July 15
8:30-10:00 P. M.—Film, "Ballerina," with Mia Slavenska, Yvetta Chauvire, Janine Charrat and dancers of French National Opera.
N.Y Columnist Describes His Tele Baptismal
——————
George Ross Credits Eleanor Holm, His Aide, for ‘Saving the Day’
——————
By GEORGE ROSS
NEW YORK, July 15—I took my baptismal in television the other day. Assured that it would be a painless operation, I mugged it a bit in the new miracle medium—and found it a highly exciting adventure.
There was a beautiful lady in the act who aided considerably because she probably distracted attention from this nerve-twitched pan. The comedy femme was Eleanor Holm.Friends tell me that I screened well and that Eleanor was a comely complement to the brief appearance in front of the television cameras. But I would like to give even further tribute to the lady. She saved the day—or the ten minutes of the day—when this televised experience took place. Being poised and glib, she kept the conversation from gaps and lulls, and when her timid “leading man” was searching for the next sentence, Eleanor was right out there batting a thousand with informal chatter.
TELEVISORS HAVE MIKE FRIGHT, TOO
All in all, television is vastly more informal than broadcasts-by ear.
Scripts in the hand are forbidden on televised programs, for there would be no interest in performers who have to read their lines from paper. By an ingenious device of inserting some notes between the cellophane wrapper and a package of cigarettes, I felt safe when the ordeal began and the cameras turned. Sentences surely would form easily and bon mots would flow from the lips like a Niagara.
But such panic as seizes the victim when he is on the air and can’t bail out is unavoidable. And even the succor that comes from smoking profusely and “cribbing” from the cellophane is meager. The tongue slips a notch or two, the breath runs short and the thoughts run out.
That’s where the pretty Aquabelle came to the rescue. Originally, I was supposed to have been the interviewer and Eleanor, the interviewee. Though the roles were surprisingly reversed, no one was happier than I at the transposition. Those who saw our likeness in the receiving set panels within the fifty-mile radius, say they saw ma smile. If so, Eleanor’s quips and jokes must have been good. I don’t remember what they were now. I was too busy thinking of what to say in return. But our allotted twelve minutes passed quickly enough and the report was favorable. Television is here to stay. (Sunday Times/Home News, July 16)
Monday, July 17
A television studio has been set up in Hotel Coronado for a convention of radio dealers being held there. The station, set up by Kansas City’s Station KITE and W9XAL, yesterday broadcast a program of accordion and piano music from the studio to the hotel lobby, 50 feet away, transmitting to a screen 12 inches square. The demonstration was continued today. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 18)
Tuesday, July 18
12:00 Noon—Nita Carol, songs. 12:15—Films, Walter Futter's "Travelaughs," "Footsteps" and "Jack and the Beanstalk" (Iwerks, 1933).
12:45—Yella Pessel, harpsichord.
12:55—Newscast.
8:30-9:30 P. M.—Dean Jagger, in E. B. Ginty’s "Missouri Legend," with Mildred Natwick, Richard Bishop, Mady Correll, Sam Byrd, Norman Lloyd, Frank Tweddell, Harry M. Cooke, G. Pat Collins, Hans Robert and Herman Lieb.
A demonstration of Stromberg-Carlson television receivers was held Sunday, Monday and Tuesday [16-17-18] at the Coronado Hotel, with Kenneth Gilespie from Kansas City, territorial sales manager, in charge and engineers of Radio Station W9XAL, Kansas City, operating the television camera, studio lighting and television transmitter in a stutho set up on the same floor of the hotel. The large television receiver used in the demonstrations had a 12-inch television picture tube, which gave a 10x7-inch, picture on a screen. Persons were shown moving and speaking in the studio, Miss Lucia Powels playing an accordion, Mrs. Eileen Neiro paying a piano, and Will Lindhorst as he performed a number of feats of magic. The television camera was also turned on Lindell boulevard and passing automobiles and pedestrians were pictured clearly. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 23)
Wednesday, July 19
12:15--Films, "Fleet Ho," "Curiosities" "Love of the Harmonica."
12:45—George Rose, columnist.
12:55—Newscast.
8:30-10:00 P. M.—Film, "The Wave," documentary on life in Mexican fishing town.
New York.—Features from indies have been acquired by NBC for television here, with “Hell’s Angels,” the Walter Huston film “Abe Lincoln,” and Dude Ranger,” a George O’Brien, already in the NBC fold. An experiment will be attempted with “Hell’s Angels” with half the film being televised on Aug. 10 and half the following night. (Hollywood Reporter, July 19)
Thursday, July 20
12:00 Noon—Dennis Hoey, songs.
12:15—Films, Andre Lararre's "Screen Traveler," "The German North Sea Coast," "Getting Your Money’s Worth."
12:45—Aline Mastin and Ray Twyeffort, "How to Buy Your Husband's Hat."
12:55—Newscast.
8.30-9:30 P. M.—Sir Arthur Sullivan's light opera, "Cox and Box," with Colin O'Moore, Steele Jamison and Walter Preston. Television debuts, with Allen Prescott.
Reviewed Thursday, 8:30-9:30 p.m. Style — Variety. Reviewed on RCA Television Receiver. Station—W2XBS.
Entertainment on the Thursday tele program fair tho not forte, but interesting from the talent point of view. Allen Prescott delivered another of his television debut parades, bringing on some half-dozen people. Remaining time was taken by an adaptation of Cox and Box, one-act operetta by Arthur Sullivan and F. C. Burnand. Camera and production up to NBC’s par.
Cox and Box is a curio in the Sullivan repertoire, having been written without collaboration by W. S. Gilbert. Cast is very small, comprising merely Cox, Box and Bouncer, and the piece therefore is attractive for television production. The play’s screwball plot was acted and sung by Colin O’Moore, Steele Jamison and Walter Preston, who cavorted amiably and often humorously. Music by two pianists.
Prescott’s raft of talent included Katherine Murray, fair singer of Western songs; Ruth Bluestone, a pretty dancer with a terrific hank of hair, who did a Persian number; Howard Reed, nut Negro turn, simulating a tap dance by curious vocal and facial and dental gymnastics; Amy Sidell, rapid-fire talker; Jack Spoon, instrumental novelty act, and Nina Orla, Latin singer. Material in general was strong on novelty and refreshing when not ridiculous. None of the batch on the parade compared with the work of the trio playing Cox and Box. Prescott himself does his work with much breeziness and a certain cynicism, particularly in his brief chats with the performers.
Program introduced and closed capably by Ed Herlihy. Paul Ackerman. (Billboard, July 29)
Application FCC (July 20)
Abraham and Straus, Inc., and Bloomingdale Bros., Inc. have applied to the Federal Communications Commission in Washington for a license to construct a station for transmitting programs, according to an announcement yesterday by I. A. Hirchmann, vice president of Bloomingdale’s. The application for the license was filed by Metropolitian [sic] Inc., a subsidiary of two stores high was specially organized for the transmission of programs. (NY Daily News, Aug. 3)
Friday, July 21
12:15—Films, "Aluminum Fabrication," "Ski Thrills."
12:45—Films, “Glasgow and Birt,” “Piano and Paint."
12:55—Newscast.
8:30-9:30 P. M.—Variety show with Mildred Fenton of "Leave It To Me," in songs; fashion show.
New York.—NBC is continuing its buying drive for pictures to be used in its new television schedule, and now has purchased rights to 18 features with the acquisition of “Le Grande Illusion” and “Mme. Mozart.” (Hollywood Reporter, July 21)
Saturday, July 22
8:30-10:00 P.M.—Film, “Peg of Old Drury,” with Anna Neagle.
HOLLYWOOD, July 22. — First battle over television billing was begun here this week, with possibility that Don Lee may take legal action to protect handle given Betty Jane Rhodes as “First Lady of Television.” Lee outlet claims Miss Rhodes was so billed over a year ago and has a priority.
Officials now claim that Doris Rhodes and Hildegarde are both using “First Lady of Television” as their billing in the East. There was every indication here that Lee would take the fight to the courts to obtain an injunction restraining others from using the billing. (Billboard, July 29)
Tuesday, July 25
12:00 Noon—Glasgow and Birt, “Piano and Paint.”
12:15—Films, “Abyssinian Travelaugh” (Columbia, 1932), news reel.
12:45—Interview.
12:55-1:00—Newscast.
8:30-9:30 P.M.—“Topsy and Eva,” with the Duncan sisters, Billy Kent, Florence Auer, Winfield Hoemy, Edwin Vail, William Edmundson, the Southernaires and the Chansonettes.
Reviewed Tuesday, 8:30-9:30 p.m. Style — Musical Comedy. Reviewed on RCA Television Receiver. Station—W2XBS.
Produced by Ziegfeld in 1924, Topsy and Eva in an adapted version hit the television stage Tuesday. And with it were the Duncan Sisters of the original production—now considerably older but young enough to play around with a new entertainment medium. Performance, of course, had a sentimental value; but in a more significant vein the program illustrated that the NBC producers were well on the way toward attaining a fine fluidity in certain phases of production, particularly camera work.
The “revival” had other fortunate aspects. Facial definition was remarkably good, and much of the facial distortion noticeable in other programs was lacking. Last-mentioned point has long been a sore spot in telecasting, and when the station’s lighting equipment undergoes a revamping next month it is expected that the producers will be ultimately enabled to dissipate hitherto noticeable harsh effects.
Standout performance of this nostalgic evening was far and away Rosetta Duncan’s black gamin Topsy, a sparkling interpretation. Vivian Duncan, playing Eva and relying on no such strong disguise as black make-up, could not jump the intervening years so successfully. Her performance was wistful and understanding. In view of the small number of tele sets extant, it had the effect of being in the nature of a personal reconnoitre over the past years.
In the cast were Florence Auer as Aunt Ophelia; Billy Marks, as Marks; Edwin Vail, as St. Clair; William Edmundson, as Uncle Tom; Winfield Hoemy, as Simon Legree, and the Southernaires as plantation singers. The actors were generally capable, and the music harked back to the days when rug cutting had not reared its head.
Version was written and produced by Warren Wade. All in all it was a good omen. Paul Ackerman. (Billboard, Aug. 5)
Wednesday, July 26
12:00 Noon—June Hynd and Betty Green, “Children’s Fashions.”
12:15—Films, “The Call of Hawaii,” “Curiosities,” “Archery vs Golf.”
12:45—George Ross, columnist.
12:55-1:00—Newscast.
8:30-10:00 P.M.—Film, “The Dude Ranger,” with George O’Brien and Irene Hervey.
Thursday, July 27
12:00 Noon—Fashion Show.
12:15—Film, “Venice,” “Getting Your Money’s Worth,” “General Germ Gets a Jolt” [aka “A Jolt For General Germ,” (Fleischer, 1930).
12:45—Alice Maslin and Wray Meltmar, “Make-up Magic.”
12:55-1:00—Newscast.
8:30-9:30 P. M.—“Hay Fever,” by Noel Coward, with Isobel Elsom, Dennis Hoey, Wesley Addy, Virginia Campbell, Lowell Gilmore, Barbara Leeds, Carl Harbord, Florence Edney. 'HAY FEVER'
Comedy with Isabel Elson, Dennis Hoey, Montgomery Clift, Virginia Campbell, Florence Edney, Carl Harbord, Nancy Sheridan, Barbara Leeds, Lowell Gilmore
80 Mins. 8:30 p.m. [27]
NBC-RCA, New York
Full length play running an hour and 20 minutes seemed too much for this type of telecast. It was the first occasion that the usual NBC-RCA hour was considerably exceeded. (Televised plays in entirety are not infrequent in London over the BBC).
Program was mildly diverting and that's about the rating 'Hay Fever' always had, the Noel Coward trifle however being used considerably in stock, although it was hardly a Broadway success. For the visio presentation there was an all legit set-up, cast coming from Broadway, while the director, Eddie Sobol, is of Max Gordon's legit staff.
Evidently there was little or no attempt to cut the script. Performance was in three acts, a three minute intermission between each being announced by screen. Only one player erred in the lines but all are doubtless familiar with the piece which is localled in an English country home, that of an actress, her novelist husband and their grown children.
'Fever' is a satire on the impoliteness of hosts towards their guests. Perhaps something was missed in the transition of the play to television useage for that point hardly got over. At intermissions there was music from 'Bittersweet' and 'The Cat and the Fiddle.'
One glaring defect was the dressing. It is expected that of a morning, the family and guests would assemble in flannels and such, yet everyone had the same duds then as on the evening before and none went in for dinner jackets, mandatory in English homes of this class.
Possibly the time between acts did not permit of costume changes or there are not requisite dressing rooms but if new stage plays are to be televised, as proposed, that problem should be solved for the benefit of television and illusion. Seemed, too, that some form of descriptive matter Should accompany telecast drama. There was opportunity when the intermissions were flashed and could easily be shown before the performance. 'Fever' was under a partial handicap because one of the three cameras required was out of order. Result was some too-sharp lighting contrasts and one of the men's attire looked much more wrinkled than it probably was.
Isobel Elson formerly a regular in A. H. Woods casts did very well as Judith Bliss self-centered actress of the play, who strikes the keynote of her family. Dennis Hoey as the author, Montgomery Clift as the son and Virginia Campbell the daughter are the ill-mannered family, each of whom invites a guest to whom none pays much attention. While the family are engrossed with themselves, the exit of the guests was none too well arranged, a likely defect blamable on the limited vision space. Florence Edney, another familiar legiter, played the maid, while Nancy Sheridan, Barbara Leeds, Lowell Gilmore and Carl Harbord completed the cast. Ibee. (Variety, Aug. 2)
Application FCC (July 27)
MIDLAND Broadcasting Co., Kansas City, owners and operators of KMBC, applied July 24 to the FCC for a television construction permit. KMBC, through its subsidiary, Midland Television Inc., was a pioneer in developing the modern 441-line electronic system, as well as the outmoded disc-scanning method. Dr. Vladimir Zworykin, who developed the modern Iconoscope, in the early days of broadcasting and television was associated with Arthur B. Church, president of KMBC, in another venture. Mr. Church said that Midland hopes to go on the air this winter with television. (Broadcasting, Aug. 1)
Friday, July 2712:00 Noon—Sue Read, songs.
12:15—Film, “Brittany.”
12:45—Pro. Wei Chung-Loh, Chinese music.
12:55-1:00—Newscast.
8:30-9:30 P. M.—Albert and Josephine Butler, dancing lesson; Leland Stowe, “Political Situation”; Ireene Wicker, songs; Pinky Lee, comedian; Phyllis Creore, mistress of ceremonies. LUCY MONROE
Singer
Friday, July 28
NBC-RCA, New York
Lucy Monroe registered a clear-cut click on television. She looked extremely good; Her smile and personality matched a voice that was distinctly something. A solitary flaw was that nobody told her to wear a gown that would contrast with the background. Her dress did not stand out. This same condition was also noted when the ballroom dancer, Jo Butler, did her stuff later.
The close-up at the end was a bit of a triumph both for Miss Monroe and for NBC. Negatively, however, it may be asked if any singer should be asked to skip from one song to another in rapid suggestion without change of pace. The policy of using talent as separate vaudeville acts and then getting on to the next turn is not the best kind of routining. Mixing up the specialties and the people seems in order.
On the high notes, the vibration from Miss Monroe's power-backed tonsils shook the 441 lines on the screen. Notable that the throat muscles and mouth formations were free of any tightness or strain under the close scrutiny. She was plenty pear-shaped. Land. (Variety, Aug. 2)
ALBERT and JOSEPHINE BUTLER
Rhumba
Friday, July 28
NBC-RCA, New York
Man and wife dance instructors broke down the rhumba to give a squirm-by-squirm idea of what makes it dancing. Butler himself kept up a running commentary on the main points. He showed a considerable talent for clarity and explanation, essentials of good pedagogy in any field.
All in all it was engrossing and a provocative suggestion of television possibilities. Land. (Variety, Aug. 2)
IREENE WICKER
Songolog
Friday, July 28
NBC-RCA, New York
Radio's 'singing lady' tele-photographs well. She happens, too, to be an okay performer. So her debut got over despite the deep corn payoff line when the immigrant girl on Ellis Island discovers, after singing several lullabys, that she's on the television. And is she surprised!
The general lack of stage management in these NBC tra-la-las also is something. La Wicker sat on one end of the bench. A long wooden affair. On the other end, looking as unnecessary as he must have felt, was her supposed husband, Guiseppe, an honest guitar-player to whom his wife never spoke. Nor did she look in his direction. The NBC producer apparently didn't notice him either. But the audience was painfully aware that the poor guy was stranded and uncomfortable. Land. (Variety, Aug. 2)
LELAND STOWE
Commentator
18 Mins.
Friday, July 28
NBC-RCA, New York
Stowe is a foreign correspondent and probably a good one. But as handled before the television iconoscope he served not to prove anything concerning his own value as a commentator, but rather to prove that exaggerated ‘informality’ can be more stiff and unnatural than just standing up before the lights in the orthodox spieling style and talking. Stowe had a divan to sit upon, a table for his notes, a tray for his pipe. And he settled down to amble along and chat liesurely [sic] about Danzig. That was the main trouble—too much relaxation.
Public appearances differ from a few friends hashing things over. Stowe acted as if he hadn't any place to go and was willing to spend the evening, His intermittent nervous fooling with the pipes and matches aggravated the feeling of unnecessary delay and dawdling in getting to the point. When after some 16 minutes he finally completed a somewhat labored examination of the background facts on the Polish corridor, he then said: "Surely I shall not be expected to venture a prediction on the outcome." It was a case of building up to a letdown.
Stowe is photogenic and looked good on the RCA mirror as received. He opened the Friday night hour. He never did get his pipe ignited, but in another few minutes under those scorching television lights it would probably have burst into flame. Land. (Variety, Aug. 2)
PINKY LEE AND CO. (2)
Hokum
Friday, July 28
NBC-RCA, New York
It appears that television, like the early cinema, has an affinity for slapstick. The rough-and-ready knockabout of Pinky Lee (girl and man assist him) proved quite amusing as painted upon the business end of a cathode ray tube. He registered most of his standard stage points with pretty steady accuracy in the new medium.
Noticeable that the crazy changes of pace and quick, unrelated transitions from one nut bit of biz to another did not create the confusion that might be expected. Roughhouse may be the belly laugh modus operandi of telecasting, as elsewhere. Some things may not be promising for the sky-pictures, but custard pie seems to lose nothing in the transfer. Land. (Variety, Aug. 2)
Saturday, July 29
8:30-10:00 P. M.—Film, “Carnival of Flanders."
Sports and other outdoor events will take the place of evening studio programs during the month of August on the schedule of telecasts transmitted from NBC station W2XBS, it was announced this week. Evening features will be reinstated on August 29.
According to Alfred H. Morton, vice-president in charge of television, one of the sports events will be the Eastern Grass Courts Tennis Championships, held at Rye on August 9, 11 and 12. It is expected that the second iconoscope, which has been added to the mobile unit, will double the effectiveness of outdoor events, when viewed on television screens.
In continuing a weekly schedule of ten hours, NBC will telecast three feature motion pictures a week. They will be run off on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday evenings at 8:30. Noonday hours will continue through August on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
Outdoor telecasts are planned for Wednesday, Friday and Saturday afternoons at about 4 o'clock. (New York Sun, July 29)
Four water-cooled quarts mercury-arc units containing twelve lamps and having a light output equivalent to that provided by 30,000 watts of incandescent lamps will supply the illumination required in the General Electric television studios in Schenectady. The lamps are about the size of cigarettes. Because of the intense heat, the envelope of the lamp and also the outer jacket through which cooling water is passed at the rate of three quarts a minute, are made of quarts. (New York Sun, July 29)
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