Evening star., 1951-04-05
on the Air
On ", Too,
The Plays
The hing
By Harry Macarthur

It also ran into sitter compe-
ltition for works out of the theater's
lpast, as other drama shows came
along to join. the bidding for
lTV rights. The material shortage
has been serious in the case OF
l"Television Playhouse, since ii
started out with high standards
and has tried to maintain them
The words it devours must be well
put together.
They haven't always been, un-
fortunately. Still it has always
been interesting to watch Pro-
ducer Fred Coe get in there and
fight to keep the average up. When
he has struck out it hasn't been
because he was just standing
there; he has gone down swing
ling.
All of which is the long way of
backing into taking note of the
fact that "Television Playhouse
has come off quite well the last
couple of weeks. thanks to a pair
of well-done scripts. Bulletin
I120," presented on March 25, was
a dramatic documentary by Joseph
Liss. It investigated an unfamiliar
field-the fight against pellagra
in the Southland it reported ef-
Ifectively, dramatically and with
out undue theatrics.
The other work of note was last
Sundays ''Parnassus on Wheels.
Thomas w. Phipps' adaptation OF
the Christopher Morley yarn and
the playing by Muriel kirkland
and Russell Hardie were combined
in a romance of considerable
charm. Mr.. Coe also wove film
and live action together as cleverly
/ as it's been done.
"Television Playhouse" is as
dependable as programs come in
TV, but like everything else in
the theater it has to start with a
good script.
Trouble on High: WMAL-FM
isn't off the air Intentionally and
it will be back on as soon as pos
sible. The source of the trouble,
which silenced the stations FIN
signal on Monday night, has been
discovered-or, at least, its loca-
ton has been discovered. There's
something wrong in a piece OF
equipment atop the tranSmitter
tower and If the indignant young
man who protested to this depart
ment because he couldn't get
WMAL-FM wants to know a fact
Iof life, it is this. The radio-TV
editor is not going to climb that
tower and fix 1t. He is quite con-
tent to wait for the men the Phila-
delphia steeplejack firm will send
down to do the job. which 1t will
do as soon as possible. s
Too Effective: Gertrude Berg.
the Molly of 1.-THE Goldbergs. I"
wasn't sure whether it was good
or bad when her sponsor informed
her there was a temporary short
age of one of the products she
sells. I'm talking myself right
out of job." said Mrs. Berg with
some alarm.
4 \
Programs and People: Joseph
Calleia, Peggy Conklin and Muir
vyn Nye will have starring roles
tomorrow night at 8 in Might
Over Taos" on Pulitzer Prize
Playhouse" (WMAL-TV). The
Maxwell Anderson play was first
presented on Broadway by the
Group Theater in 1882, with
Franchot Tone in a leading role
and Playwright Clifford Odets in
a bit part. !. Jane Morgan. the
American girl who went to France
to win her fame as a singer. will
make another TV guest appear
ance, this one tomorrow night
on Morton Downey's "Star of
the Family" tWTOP-TV-10). /.
:. Tomorrow's March of Time
Through the Years" (WMAL-TV
10 p.m9 will be q comprehen-
sive discussion of the progress
of beauty and fashions. :. Milton
Berle will be absent from next
weeks "Star Theater" (WNBW-
Tuesday, p.m.}, soaking up
Florida climate. Jackie Gleason of
DuMont's Friday night "Caval-
cade of Stars" will fill in for him.
Ruby Keeler will make her
TV debut tonight on Truth or
Consequences" (WTOP-TV-10).
Wherever Bill Boyd goes he
finds new wealth awaiting Hop
along Cassidy" The enthusiasm
which greeted him on his recent
South American tour now has
him thinking of clubbing some of
his "Hoppy" films in Spanish, for
showing south of the border.
X X \ X
Reminder: Victor Borge
(WNBW-Saturday, Z p.m.) will
be at Constitution Hall tonight
to present one of his popular
Concerts in Comedy" Because
Iof the young audience which has
met him on T'V, half of the house
will be scaled below So, to ease
the strain on young pocketbooks
and allowances.