Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-11-20
On the Air.
|PIoywriieht's
Words Make
Lively TV
By Harry Macarthur

oy 1orry MocArthur
With THE Comedy Hour" safely
in the hands of Abbott and Co.'S
tello. who aren't likely to come up
| with anything new at this late date,
| Sunday at 8 seemed q good time
! for a periodic check on the &C.
! tivitieS of Ed Sullivan on Toast
of the Town" tWTOP-TW. Mr..
Sullivan was engaged in another
of his biographical sketches. this
one THE Robert E. Sherwood
Story" and the going was pretty
lively.
| Mr.. Sherwood was more respon-
sible for this than Mr.. Sullivan,
which, come to think of it, is
not very profound comment; it
is like saying Sam johnson was
more responsible for his life story
than Boswell. But the fact is that
Mr.. Sherwood has, through his
play-writing years. written some
singing prose in support of de-
cency.
He has not seen the theater
as place for frivolity, but instead
, has used it as the place to get
something said which he believed
needed saying. He has said i'll
within the confines of stimulating
entertainment and it usually has
been something pertinent.
Whether man will prove to|
have the good sense, to solve his
problems and make democracy
firm, with which Sherwood credits
him in his liberal mind remains to
be seen, but the authors message
at least is one Of hope. 1t is en-
bodied as well as anywhere in the
speech of the doctor hero of the
anti Communist There Shall Be
No Night: THE real defenses are
still behind the forehead"
! X \
In selecting the scenes to make
up this biographical sketch, Mr..
Sullivan naturally chose dramatic
highlights. The result was that
Mr.. Sherwood's passionate belief
in the rightness of democracy and
in the necessity for defending it
with the utmost effort became a
theme connecting series of I'M
related items.
1t gave The Robert E. Sher-
wood Story" a unity and a sus-
tanned drama which none of Mr..
Sullivan's previous television ef-
forts in this line have had.
1t started out close to the
present, with a film clip of the
Fredric March homecoming scene
from the Samuel Goldwyn film,
The Best Years of Our Lives"
and flashed back to an impas-
stoned speech from "Acropolis,
delivered by Helen Hayes. From
there it went on to an ironic |
comedy scene in Road to Rome"
Games Mason and Pamela KEEL
lino) the newly elected presidents
farewell to his neighbors in ABE
Lincoln in Illinois" Raymond
Massey and that bravely hope
full scene in There Shall Be No
Night" (Alfred LunN.
/ The conclusion was speech of
President Roosevelt's with which
Sherwood had nothing to do, the
first inaugural address. 1t was a
fitting climax. with that nothing
to fear but fear itself" added to
the Sherwood thoughts on the
same theme.
All things. considered, it was
rewardfng television hour which
Mr.. Sullivan arranged. The only
real complaint is that it also
was a teasing one. arousing in at
least one living room the desire Z
for another full-length look at
Massey in ABE Lincoln" or the ,
Lunts in There Shall Be No
Night" A production of Road
to Rome" starring Mr.. and Mrs.
Mason could be worth seeing, too.
If television isn't careful it's ,
going to rejuvenate and spread
wider the interest in the theater y
with such things as this.
Disaster-A note from Henry j.
Tucker, jr., who is going to be
one of many aroused viewers,
voices his alarm. L
please tell me-" he writes, chat \
it's just idle rumor that NBC-TVI
would do such sacrilegious thing
as shorten the 'Kukla, Fran and
Ollie program. If this is so. could
you mention in your column to
whom protests should be lodged {
against this move" II
Well. it isn't any idle rumor, but G
is as cold and cruel fact as ever
faced us. Unless MICS plans are Il
changed, 'Kukla, Fran and Ollie"
will be cut to IS minutes early d
next month. the latter quarter Is
hour to be replaced by an I'M L
identified program which Variety {
says is described as having better 4
audience appeal"
Sylvester L. Weaver, jr., is the
NBC vice president in charge of
television. His business address is
80 Rockefeller Plaza, New York
20. N. Y. 1t may not be entirely
his fault, so don't be harsh with
him. But be firm!
X X X
Good News-Edward r. Murrow
is one of those newsmen-they
seem to be a distinct rarity in
broadcasting-Who knows that a
good story can speak for better for
itself than any one can speak for
it. This quality is one of the lead
ing assets he brings to "See It
Now" television version of radios
Hear 1t Now" which made it's
bow Sunday at $3.50 pm. on CHS
(WTOP-TV). Under Mr.. Murrow's
guidance this turns out to be
something more than just a news
review of the week in pictures. 1t
puts television to work as a re-
porter and demonstrates that 1t
has a fine talent for the iob Mr.