St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1951-08-10
Looking & Listening
BY Mildred JoVien
New Developments in
Amos n Andy Controversy

ttt>Atha' go " " N'AA VA 80 AAAA- wa
trovrrsy over the Amos n Andy
tclevision program. 4 vieo outlet,
WTMJ-TV in milwaukee, last
week decided to cancel the show
upon completion Of the first 13-
week cycle.
This action led to reports in
radlo-video circles that Blatz
Beer, sponsors of the TV version,
are shopping around for a new
show to bankroll. The milwaukee,
ChcCkout on the series is a parti-
cularIy hard blow to Blatz, since
the Wisconsin town is the home
headquarters for the firm. Blatz
contracted to the show for 80
weeks, but If the show is causing
the firm to lose prestige and Gus
toners, or If other stations follow
the lead of WTMJ-TV, Blatz may
find a way out of the deal
Possibilities for other canCella-
tons are seen in that CBS-TV
stations throughout the country
have received many complaints
about the manner in which the
program represents Negroes
Meanwhile, producers Freeman
Gosdcn and Charles Corren, ra-
dos Amos n Andy" and the ad-
vertising agency have asked the
NAACP for suggestions as to how
the program might be made more
acceptable. They are still await
ing a reply from the NAACP.
In another quarter, the Negro
lawyers of the country will be
aiming their guns against the
show at their st. Louis convention
If ]. Roberts Booker, attorney of
Little Rock, president of the
National Bar association, has any
thing to say about it. Booker says
the radio version of Amos n
Andy, disCredited Negroes who
practice the legal profession. II
usually portrayed the Negro
lawyer as a dwelling idiotic,
slicker who used meaningless big
words, a man usually better fit
ted for getting his client into jail
rather than defending him from
oppression. According to his plans,
the association will pass a protest
resolution and forward 1t Ia
Blatz.
Protests against the show have
the Negro actors, principally in
New York where most of them re-
side and work, stirred up nightly,
They are especially sensitive To
the attacks Walter White has
made in the name of the NAACP
They say White rushed to the
front of the stage on more than
one occasion essaying to represent
the Negro actor, but without con-
sulting them previously and with
out their authority. They see the
furore being raised a drive to
lessen their meal tickets.
Representatives. of Actors
Equity, the Producers and Mana.
gers association and TV authority
which represents those in that
medium have banded together to
work for a solution to the diem.
ma. Because employment is in
volved. the committee called in
the National Urban League, which
put Julius Thomas in charge.
Thomas at once sought a confer
ence with CHS, the Schenley Dis
tilling corporation (owners of
BlatZ) and the committee. The
sentiment expressed by actors
representatives was that the show
has excellent possibilities but
some phases of it had been over
stressed.
On radio, they said, Amos was
the kindly, Iovable, goOd-hearted
soul who won many friends TO the
program. His chaTacter iZatiOn
helped overcome some Of the
cruder presentations Of the other
characters"
In television, Tim Moore, who
plays the "Kingfish", is such a
terrific actor that the writer's
have written to him almost con-
stantly.
Barry Gray Of WOR, New York.
recently had Walter White and
Judge Hubert Delany talk on
Amos n Andy. Both decried
the formal. The following night,
he had Allan Mason, a white guest
from the profession, give his
views Mason said he thought the
TV program fairly stank". that
neither he nor his family liked it.
He added that in the Cold
bergs" which pOrtrays a Jewish
family. while the older genera
tions uses dialect, the, younger
group, born in the U. S., talk as
well as any other American. Like
wise, he said, the current Amos"
program showed depicted marital
strife, with wives and husbands
leaving one another. II tended to
prove that Negroes are not only
ignorant but dishonest. He felt
that rewriting could emphasize
some Of the virtues of Amos" and
improve the opus. Walter White is
said to share this view.
Last Saturday, Negro actors
Tim Moore, who pOrtrays the
"Kingfish", Spencer Williams, who
Is ANDY, and Alvin Childress,
Amos, were featured guests at
the Bud BiIIiken picnic In Chi