Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-07-17
On the Air
Inventory
Gets Down
To Cases
By Horry Macarthur

PM and the other is that
viewer of Guest House" (WTOP-
ITV-Sunday, 8 PM no longer is
submitted to the synthetic sar-
lcasm of Oscar Levant.
The third program in the
American Inventory adult
education series. THE Waste in
Crime" was a well-planned and
Iwell-executed documentary shaped
lin solid dramatic terms. Obviously
inspired by the televised hear
Iings of the Kefauver Committee,
1.-THE Waste In Crime" presented
la hearing Of a mythical Senate
Responsibility Committee"
There was q noticeable re-
semblance to the original Crime
Investigating Committee, with an
alert counsel In horn-rimmed
glasses firing searching questions
\ at the witness, Senator chair
man who conducted the whole
thing with calm and dignity and
a questioning Senator prodding
the witness conscience in a voice
which often sounded exactly like
Senator Tobey's.
The witness before the COM
mittee was a Henry A. Fellow, the
average man. He hadn't done
anything wrong and he knew it.
which heightened the dramatic
effect of the point, the program
pounded home. that public apathy
bears a large share OF the re-
Isponsibility for the yearly $40 bill
lion waste in crime.
/ George Lefferts wrote The
Waste in Crime" and can take
credit for thoroughly effective
ltelevision documentary.
/ \ X y
Politeness Sets In: With Dur
ward Kirby taking over as master
of ceremonies, quiz master, inter-
locutor or what have you, Guest
House" has become a well-man-
nered, thoroughly amiable variety
show. The Kirby approach is
straightforward, relaxed and al
lows the center of attention to fan
where it belongs-on the enter
tanners and on the panel trying to
answer the questions the enter
tainers pose.
Sunday nights roster of guest
talent, incidentally, was a good
one, with several dances by
Valerie Belts, some fine comic
moments by Eddie Mayehof and
a scene from Elmer the Great, :"
performed by Joe E. Brown. The
Mayehoff contribution. a descrip-
i ton and part enactment of what
he alleged was an opera, was a
comedy highlight of the week.
Mr.. Mayehoff is very funny man
and he ought to turn up more
often on television.
The passing of Oscar Levant
from this program probably can
be laid to the difference between
Itelevision and other entertainment
mediums. On the radio he can
get away with impish bad boy
pose and in motion pictures he
Ican play a humorous characteri-
cation of Oscar Levant. On tele-
vision, however, his studied rude
ness became blatantly offensive
through intimacy.
y $50
Reviewed in Brief: Go Lucky
(WTOP-TV-Sunday, 1880 p.m.)
doesn't have a great deal to
recommend it. It's another parlor
game performed on stage in a
television Observation-Disclosures try
to identify a simple phrase t"Do-
ling the rumba. walking the dog,
Ietco by questions answered yes
or no. The audience participants
are aided by pair of guest stars
/ (Janis Page and Russell Nype on
the opening show and Jan MUIR
ray is the master of ceremonies.
Plays straight at the studio
audience. The CHS outdoor
colorcast of Saturday afternoon
racing demonstrated several
things: l. Receivers for home
use will have to be simpler
than the one at the WTOP-
TV studios, which kept wandering
fout Of sync; 2. Fast movement of
the CHS camera along a white
fence breaks the white down into
a spectrum of three primary COL
ors, and 8. CHS can transmit
Ia bright, fire engine red (as
ion the track bugler's coat
that RCA has yet to master. !
It's that same red, of course,
which gives some other colors,
such as flesh tints, an artificial
look on CHS color. Red, in fact,
lis one of color television's major
obstacles. Summertime
Revue" CWMAL-TV-Sunday, z
:Ip.m.) is a pleasant half-hour, not
lnoticably different from 1.-THE
Paul Whiteman Revue" which it
lis replacing for the summer, ex-
lcept that it has no Whiteman
and more Earl Wrightson. In adj
Idition to Mr.. Wrightson's songs,
Hit has some by Maureen Cannon
land a weekly guest star and, all
told, it is tasteful musical in
terlude, attractively photographed
land easy to listen to.
Il ~
!: Programs and People: Larry
lStorch. young comedian known to
vaudeville fans here, will fill in
:Ifor Jackie Gleason on "Caval-
Icade Of Stars (WTTG) starting
Friday. Gleason will return
August II. -. Herb Shriner will
start his eight-week summer re-
placement stint on Arthur God
:lfrey's Talent Scouts" (WTOP,
IWTOP-TV-Monday $3.50 p.m.)
on July 80. Down You Go"
(WTTG moves this week from
Wednesdays to Thursdays at 8
:lpm.