Evening star., 1952-02-05
On the Air
No, Faye, It
Wasn't Our
Washington
By Harry Macarthur

Iit was hardly an unQuallned sue.
cess. Miss Emerson, an old White
House daughter-in-law herself
came no closer to capturing the
true essence of Washington thar
any who have failed before her
Her Washington. as q matter
of fact, might have been imagined
by a scriptwriter who never haG
been here and only knew what
Ihe had read sketchy accounts o1
lin newspapers. 1t consists of young
Government workers (who are
thrilled to be IN ON THINGS).
Senate Represented by Senator
Margaret Chase Smith, several
noble monuments, parties which
Drucie Snyder Horton reported
almost too exciting for words and
other parties where Big Things
are Talked Over. Lots of Pepsi
Cola is consumed here, Miss EN-
|erson pointed out.
A true picture Of Washington
lis too complicated and too kaleido-
scopic to capture in a half-houi
television program, of course. AS
la matter of fact, it is the quick
personality sketch rather than the
true and complete portrait which
Miss Emerson must be satisfied
with on all her visits to the cities
of the land. She missed even this
in the case of Washington, how
ever.
This might, Of course. have been
another pleasant Wonderful
Town" television show to non
Washington viewers. There ought
to be some way to tell said viewers.
though, that Miss Emerson's re-
port on life in the Capital, II
entertaining, was more that than
illuminating.
4 + ~
More Successful-A pair of other
sepidocumentary TV entertain
ments which turned up over the
week end came off in fine style.
These were Ken Murray's salute to
so years of movies on "The Ken
Murray Show" (WTOP-TV-
Saturday, 8 pm) and Ed
|Sullivan's salute to Bea Lille on
Toast of the Town" (WTOP-TV
Sunday, 8 pm.).
Mr.. Murray, tracing screen
entertainment from that old black
shed of Thomas Edison's to the
yet-to-be-released Stanley Kramer
Western, High Noon" was taking
in a lot of territory. He managed,
though, to cover most Of it. at
least sketchily. and he dredged up
a lot of good, old-fashioned
nostalgia to good purpose.
He had Ruby Keeler to come out
of retirement to dance and re-
mind us of all those musicals OF
the '30s and he had Buster Kea-
ton and Billy Gilbert to enact in
person an old slapstick comedy
in high style. He also had a lot
of historic film clips as he swept
his hat in a deep bow toward
Hollywood, most notably, perhaps.
a fondly-remembered sequence
wherein Charlie Chaplin tried to
flee down an up-rolling escalator.
This brief moment. alone, was
enough to make Mr.. Murray's
hour with movie history well
spent. -, :.
Mr.. Sullivari's biography Of Miss
Lille was a success more because
Of her. presence than because Of
new he had to tell us
about her. It was quite a treat
to have her whizzing again
through some of those musical
comedy sketches she has made
famous and she even proved there
was still some mileage in that
Double Dozen Damask Dinner
affair. Not as much as
there used to be. but some.
1t was a treat. too, to have
Les Compognons de la Chanson,
the current Shoreham Blue Room
headliners, on hand to assist Miss
Lille and to sing their special
songs including the wonderful
one about lie Bon Roi Robert. I"
Authors At Work - Groucho
Marx is writing book about his
experiences in show business
some of them, at any rate. Re-
ports he thought he got of the
hook by allowing the publisher
to print some Of his letters. due
soon in book form after appear
ing in Look, but this only made
the publisher more insistent than
ever. The second book by
Meredith Wilson, conductor and
regular panelist on ABC-TV's
1.-THE Names the Same, viii be
published Thursday by Doubleday.
It's novel titled who Did What
to Fedalia?" His first book was
an autobiography titled And
There I Stood with My Piccolo. +"
!. i. Lady With a. WILL" in which
Ann Sothern appeared last week
on Playhouse of Stars" was first
written for the stage by Ward
Morehouse and Peggy Wood, star
of CBS-TV's Mama" Miss Wood
played in it on Broadway, where
it was titled Miss Quiz"
Programs and People - Victor
Borge will make two appearances,
the first this week, filing in for
vacationing James Melton on
Ford Festival" tWNBW-Thurs-
day, $3.50 PM. :. Pianist Evalyn
|Tyner will make a guest appear
|ance tomorrow on ''The Kate
Smith Hour" (WNBW-4 PM.
:. Dancers Hoctor and Byrd viii
appear on the same show on FRI
day afternoon. Donald O'Con-
Inor, occasional Comedy Hour
star, has signed a contract for
three Paramount films. Gets