Evening star., 1951-09-25
On the Air
Look, Otto,
Those Are
Nice Girls
By Joy Cormody

By Joy Cormody
Handsome. high spirited Maggie
McNellis will be more careful in
the future about who gets into her
television china shop c'Leave 1t to
the Girls" "-WNBW).
Some ones reckless whim opened
the door Sunday night to Otto
Preminger and he had the place in
a shambleS within three minutes.
Preminger, movie producer-di-
rector most notorious for Forever
amber" seemingly came onto Miss
McNellis' program with the i'm
Ipression that he was to tangle in
la tag match with five female
wrestlers.
No male guest on the show ever
was more determined not to leave
lit to the girls. When they re-
covered from the shock of meeting
Preminger, there was nothing left
for them to do but grope their way
toward 7:30 with the hope that at
least television would last that
long.
This Gromyko," Robin Chan
dler said once getting in the best
counterpunch of the evening, but
Preminger overpowered her be-
fore she had a chance to finish
the sentence. The half-voiced
thought, however, must have left
the Leave 1t to the Girls" audi
ence with well-shaped impress
sion of Preminger's hold on the
panels affections.
Bald Man With a Horn
IBuddha-faced. balding (almostI
"balded" in fact) Preminger might
defend himself on the ground that
Miss McNellis gave him that horn
and told him to blow it whenever
he disagreed with any of the girls
on the panel. The trouble was
ne disagreed with them before
they said anything, thus estab-
fishing himself as the most dis
agreeable man Miss Chandler
Florence Pritchard, Eloise Nc
Elhone and Miss America ever
met. Okay, throw in the televisionI
audience also.
Leave 1t to the Girls" for the
benefit of those too innocent to
have heard of it, is a program
which presents a skirmiSh between
the sexes centering in questions
sent in by people named Perplexed
Mrs. E. L. of Hammond, Ind, etc.
Miss McNelliS is matroness of
ceremonies. Her panel consists
usually of four beautiful girls land
sometimes Dorothy Kilgallen) and
one male who is supposed to have
the rank of at least a minor
celebrity.
Sunday night, the latter was
Preminger.
Otto Blow That Horn-The pro-
gram opened with the standard
eulogy of a shapely cigarette.
after which Miss McNellis read the
first question, from Mrs. E. L. OF
Hammond, Ind
What Mrs. E. L. wanted to know
was how she, rich widow, could
be sure a pressing suitor loves
her and not her money.
Il think" Miss Chandler began.
opening up for the girls
She was interrupted BY a blast
from Preminger's' horn.
Women can't think" he under
took to correct her.
Miss Chandler looked aghast.
Besides" sale. .Preminger, jeop-
ardizing the whole future of ques-
tions and answers on television,
that question is stupid. Mrs.
E. L. is stupid. Sure, her suitor is
marrying her for her money. What
else would man marry woman
like that for?"
BY this time, the whole panel
looked aghast. as If it might, next
week. write itself the question:
What the ---- do you do with a
man like Otto Preminger?
This. however, was merely a be-
ginning. From there on, armed
with his horn. Preminger was
man driven by the conviction that
everything and everybody except
men with horns, was stupid. The
girls gave up. They sagged, a
brutal spectacle to a part time ad-
mirer who has never thought of
them as brilliant but always as
crisp and alluring. nevertheless.
! Even Miss McElhone abandoned
hope of sliding barbed word into
Preminger's act. The program
wound up with him asking the
question: why don't you like
me?"
Compared with the obtusenessI
of this one, Mrs. E. LIS question
was positively brilliant.
Coaching Error - Some alert
viewer-perhaps an investor in
the production for all We know
gave Celebrity Time and its man
Conrad Nagel a quick come up
nance during the show the other