Evening star., 1951-09-27
On the Air
Blind Date
Leaves Gap.
| In Life
By Joy Cormody

to run its program department.
Nevertheless, we would like t.
speak to ABC about its replace.
.ment of Blind Date. starting to.
night. with a series of Hollywood
film dramas.
The truth is that we have mo-
seen Blind Date for months, anc
maybe not more than six times IL
our mutual lives, but we always
liked to. think of it being there
It's listing. week after week, alway.
meant that Arlene Francis hae
another job. This was good.
Much better, however, was the
confidence Blind Date gave tx
people who were watching the pro-
gram instead of being on it. Moth
ing could bolster a mans feeling
that he was the urbane. persuasive
type so much as watching the
Blind Date couples cropping theil
way toward the inevitable bore
dom of an evening together.
Miss Francis was invariably 6
charming hostess but not one o1
her guests ever managed to lool
as if he were having a good time
In the case of the males, no matter
how well dressed they were wher
they were introduced, their sleeve:
and trouser legs seemed to grow
shorter. their minds became dis
Iheveled and a panicky wretched-
ness seemed to overwhelm theil
spirits.
The impression this created ir
the mind of the male spectator
was that everyone. except him
self, was callow.
AS for the girls, with the ex-
.ception of professional models
who always retain an icy, immac-
.ulate kind of perfection, they al
most never survived the first
sight of the supposedly eligible
males. When they did not crumple
physically. they crumpled men,
tally. Most of the time it wa'
both, save for one girl with a mag
nolia- scented brogue who obvi.
Iously was always at her best when
holding an option on three diff
Iferent males.
1t won't be the same world with
Blind Date gone. Nothing ever
quite gave a-man the feeling that
given a chance, he could make his
way safely through the most So
lphisticated salons: that he reall!
was Prince Charming, deserted il
infancy on the doorstep of thu
couple he had heretofore regarded
as his real parents.
* ~
What's the Ethic Here?-Speak.
ing of not knowing how to rur
a television column-which il
quite different from a drama ont
here's an ethical problem:
A woman we know. respect anc
admire volunteers the information
that the mystery melody on Stop
The Music is a tune Then I'll
Come Back to You" by John Brat
ton.
What does a man do with a
bit of information like that? Print
it, like Winchell, or suppress it
like Stain? Or, perish the thought,
suspect the Mata Hari who pro-
vided the name of the tune and
of its composer?
In the drama department. it's
not like this. There's an ethic
shared by entertainment makers.
audiences and critics, that no one
will reveal the point on which a
mystery plot turns. 1t is tradi-
tion, covered with moss, respect
able, and comfortable for al
parties concerned
Maybe television is too young
to have developed an etiquette or
matters of this kind. After all
commoners did not back away
from kings when both Of then
were young either. Times wha1
polishes the etiquette on occa.
sions. provides answers to dilem'
mas like whether to betray, or moi
betray, Stop the Music's secrets
II 4 u
Voices From The Past-Speak.
ing Of time, radios had quarter.
century of it and NBC has devised
"a series of programs that viii
make a dramatic recall of its 2;
years.
For the next three weeks or
Sunday night, Fibber MCGEE anc
Molly will emcee a special pro-
gram reviewing network programs
over the last two and one-hal1
decades. From the library of re.
cordings will come the voices oi
entertainers long since gone tt
their eternal rewards, DR.. Walter
Damrosch, Maj. Edward Bowes
Graham McNamee. Joe Pennel
and many others.
Naturally, too, there will be
many a recorded excerpt from the
early works of today's dominant
characters, Bing Crosby, Rudy
Vallee. and a slew of others.
What provision is televisior
making for its 25th anniversary?
A kinescoped remembrance o1
Blind Date, we hope, to give pos
terity the assurance that court
ship has always been sputtering
suffering, graceless thing.
Posterity must not be let down
X y x \
They're Not Just ViSual-Dear
Martin and Jerry Lewis will have
none Of this delusion that they
are strictly visual comedians
They are killing audiences on tele.
vision and in the movies, but they
will be returning soon to being
merely vocal on MICS radio net.
work.