Evening star., 1949-02-27

31OOuCCl I1dl IeOdCIl, 81, f4Os
will play it off to the last Godfre
Berle, Evelyn Knight, or whateve
AS set down by the Associ-
ated PresS's Wayne Oliver:
Roach thinks televiSion will
prove to be a great discoverer
of new Stars-"better than TO-
600 talent scouts"
Roach, who recently turned
the production of his Hollywood
studio over to making films for
television, says video will bring
to light new entertainers not
only for television but also for
the movies, radio and other
media. =,
The way he sees it, each sta
tion will become a showcase in
which performers can display
their wares and get much
quicker recognition than pre-
viously was possible. This is in
contrast. he explains, with the
movies in which few are for
tunate enough to get screen
tests-and the tests may be
seen by perhaps no more than
20 people.
The reaction from the public,
he told this writer, also will be
much faster to a television per-
formance.
A motion picture producer
has to wait until a film is COM
pleted and shown for some time
before the fan mail comes in,
and he can get line on public
reaction to a new performer.
But on television, Roach de-
clares, IF they like a girl
they're going to write in right
away and say so-and if they
don't like her, they'll write and
say so."
Roach said he turned to films
for television because his Or
ganization always had special
lied in short comedies such
as the famous Our Gang"
series and other films of the
type particularly suited for
television. He expects tele-
vision to require great amounts
of film and perhaps one-third
of it's programs to be motion
pictures.
But Roach predicts that the
business of making movies for
theatres will continue to be a
major industry because with
$4,000 theatres in the United
States. television never is going
to keep people home" He does
think producing for the
theaters and producing for
television will remain separate
enterprises.
Roach says you'll probably
be able to see most Of your
favorite movie stars on tele-
vision, but mostly in guest
appearances as on radio. How
ever, he expects some-also as
in radio-will have shows Of
their own on television.
That three-station (WMAL-
TV, WNBW. and WTTG sur
vey of viedo set ownership IN
Washington area produced its
most significant figure in the
disclosure that sets owned
here now number $500. In
the fashion of surveys. it did
not stop there but went on to
analyze ownership down to
such fine details as:
There are 1900 sets located
in public places. which have
an average seating capacity
Of 42.5 persons.
The number of persons per
family in television homes is
81, of which 2.8 are adults.
Forty-seven per cent Of the
homes have children under IL.
Occupationally. set owners
are found to be SO per cent
in the managerial, official or
professional classification: II
per cent are clerical workers:
8 are laborers or craftman; and
7 per cent are retired or un-
employed.
Distribution of seats geo.
graphically finds AZ per cent
in the Northwest section of the
city; 16 per cent in Montgom-
cry county: IA per cent in
Northeast Washington; 8 per
cent in the Southwest area; S
per cent in Alexandria. and
2 per cent each in Southwest
Washington and Prince Georges
County.
u * x 4
How would you like to get hi
in the face with pie 80 time
q week? Or have the shirt tor
off your back four times a day
That's what Jack Carson is dc
ing-and all for the love OF hi
CHS radio audience, he says.
The pie and shirt routines al
part of the comedians persona
appearance stage shows Che play
the Warner here the week {
March ID. He says the pr
mary reason for the tour is t
meet his radio public. The tim
is past, thinks Jack, when radi
performers can stay in Hollywoo
by a microphone and continu
to hold their audiences. TIL
tour has meant a lot of har
work and he's been fighting lal
yngitis from California to Ne
York, but it's been worth it.
Besides that pie topping is spe
cially made from soy bean oil an
washes off easily.
n n n II
Program notes: Effective Marc
2. the comments of Eleanor ar
Anna Roosevelt will be broadca
five times weekly in the aftel
moons instead of their currel