Evening star., 1936-11-29

laboratories where trained showmen'
design new models of entertainment
> to meet the demands of listening
public that wants and gets progress,
and lots of 1t even though 1t doesn't
buy a ticket or pay nuisance tax for
the privilege of listening.
On short order the networks, each
having their own idea and program
factories, can produce anything from
Q one-man commentator program to
q 100-piece supersymphony spectacle,
with singers, tap dancers, comedians
and guest artists for trimming. Both
N. B. c. and C. B. S. operate big
artists bureaus which can provide
any sort of talent that program idea
men desire, for price, and they have
plenty of typewriter tappers who will
turn out dreamy lines for slumber
hour or droll drippings for a low
comedy offering, all for the asking.
Individual stations, especially in the
larger communities, have production
stats which are constantly contrib
uting novelties in the way of ether
entertainment. Naturally there Is
more doubling of duties, with one man
the script. auditioning the talent, re-
hearsing the cast, and producing the
finished program.
THE larger advertising agencies,
eager to gain huge followings for
their clients programs, are going in
for production on a large scale, this
trend being more and more apparent
each year. Since Hollywood has be-
come the second main source Of talent
and programs a number of agencies
have established branch offices there
to take charge of programs for their
clients. They are combing the net
work and station ranks for script
writer's and production men and in
some cases have hired their own an
rlouncerS.
Sometimes the agencies take entire
charge of the program, leaving the
network only the job of picking up
the program with microphones and
feeding it to the stations. Now and
then this idea backfres, as for in
stance in the Phil Baker program
when the accordion-playing comedian
is reported to have done some high
class pouting backstage when they
wouldn't let him write his own script.
Ed Wynn is another comedian who
likes to pen his own gags and insiders
are passing around the word that in
his latest program he would like to
have more to say about what he says
On the air.
EDDIE CANTOR, recognized in the
~ broadcast industry as a shreWd
salesman as well as Snowman, refuses
to sit on the sidelines when his pro-
gram is being plotted. Eddie wants
action and gags and situations, ana
lots of them. His million OF followers
know that he gets what he wants.
Recently Eddie used the lost script
idea to good effect type Of program
that a less skillful Snowman would
scramble numerically. The informal
note was carried through to perfec-
ton as he moaned that the program
continuity had been lost. despite the
hours of careful preparation that had
preceded the "impromptu' show.
incidentally, he repeated an old
stunt when he interviewed" Rubinoh,
master of the moaning Stradivarlus.
Eddie asked questions and Rubinoff,
who never speaks on the air, replied
with snatches of appropriate tunes
or symbolic savings on the high
priced violin.
Rubinoff is the most widely heard
OF all radio artists, appearing on a
C. B. S. network program and on
nearly 400 stations by means OF
transcriptions, yet his voice has never
gone on the air. Those who know
the maestro of rhythm explain that
his foggy tenor and accent clash
numerically with the kilocycles, an
acouStical phenomenon that can hap
pen in the best modulated larynx.
A GRIM-VISAGED hero, clinging
stubbornly to his post of duty
amid the crash of falling masts, the
booming of mountainous waves, the
screams of panic-stricken women, the
shouts Of sailors launching lifeboats.
The ship is sinking. Yet, our hero,
earphones clamped over his head,
does not bulge. He sits there until
the end, tapping his key calmly:
rs o S, S o S, S o S."
Such is the exciting picture Of
ships radio operator painted in the
public mind by millions Of feet Of
movie film, by thousands Of reams
of book and magazine paper where
on appear stories of the sea.