Evening star., 1952-03-24
| On the Air.
Pokine Fun
| At yideo
| Ism Safe
~ Horry Macarthur

they are, 1t still Is not advisable
to use q mechanical device to at
tack an electronic device. Gears
can lose their teeth just as easily
|as tubes can burn out.
Providence. furthermore. seems
to be on the side Of teleyision. II
could be that the HOLLYWOOD
ovie-makers have twisted the
long arm Of coincidence so many
times In the practice Of their ari
that coincidence now lies In wait
for every opportunity to twist
right back.
What has happened before hap
pened again at the Capitol The
ater the other afternoon. Love
Is Better Than Ever" was rolling
along at its normal "a frames pei
second and arrived at q point
where televised baseball game
gets into the plot. The standard
comedy treatment Of television Il
employed. A singing commercial
interrupts the action and ther
the picture won't stay put. I,
rolls over and breaks up into chaos
at critical moments in the bal
game.
Retribution was not long ii
coming, with the slickest timing
fate ever managed. In the very
next sequence. within minutes
there was Q crack. q bloop and
the screen flashed white, then
went dark. For q moment an was
quiet, then the Metro lion was
heard to growl fltfully q couple OF
times. Shortly the broken iiln1
was n1ended and the Capitol's
screen had q picture again-just
as clear as the picture on o prop
erly adjusted television set.
= + ~
With the Times - There arr
those in the entertainment art.
who keep up with the times anc
are quick to take advantage o1
the advances of science instead 81
ridiculing them. One Of these j.
Arturo Toscanini. conductor ol
the NBC symphony.
.Toscanini has been plagued 70,
years, as have other symphony
conductors, by orchestral scores
calling for the sound Of an or
stage instrument. An on-stagt
instrument played softly won't
do: it has to be really on f-stage tt
sound off-stage. The difncIlty i
that q musician dispatched of
stage too often finds himself out
OF sight Of the conductor and the
two have q terrible time getting
together.
The problem came up again
during the dress rehearsal for last
Saturday evenings concert by the
NBC symphony. Respighi's "The
Pines Of Rome" one of the num-
berS included. has . passage re-
quiring an off-stageS trumpeter,
This. naturally. came as no sur
prise to Toscanini. but he was
given a little pause when Trum-
peter Harry Glantz. who drew the
assignment, took his position and
couldn't see the conductor.
The two had quite q time trying
to coordinate their tempos fol
o while. but. fortunately, this con.
cert was being televised as well q,
broadcast. The television people
were running their dress re-
hearsal. too. and they had q quick
solution for the problem. They
just put . monitor screen in front
Of the oif-stage trumpeter and he
watched Toscanini the same way
you watched him at home. Worked
out nne.
&&&
Experiment nt-WNBW Is leaving
pretty much up to the viewers
whether or not q proposed series
Of programs is televised. The first
program. q film titled Behind
These Walls" is q record Of ''the
most dramatic moment In q pris-
oner's life-his appearance be-
fore the California Adult Author
ity to appeal for parole" It viii
be telecast by WNBW on Wednes-
day night at 1(1.3O.
The proposed series shows va
rious phases Of the rehabilitation
program Of the California Depart
ment Of Corrections and exam
ines the activities Of the Adult
Authority. This rehabilitation
program carried on by the De-
partment Of Corrections and Adult
Authority In California Is . unique
one. employing modern develop
mentS In criminOlOgy.
The showing Of Behind These
Walls is regarded at WNBW a
a test Of the public's reaction.
Viewers win be invited to express
opinions as to whether there Is
q place in television for programs
Of this nature
It Is the feeling Of the stations
programming department that
Behind These Walls" could be
zone Of the most powerful crime
deterrents. and extremely valu-
able In the combating Of juvenile
delinquency. Behind These Walls
is not q pretty picture. It's Just
as grim as the penitentiary itself
--as stark as crime. It ID q
aim Of actual prison PROCEEDINGS,
with actual inmates, and is not
some producers conception Of
what such hearings might be-"
NHA
Backstage - Al special once.
and-done program has been
scheduled for Wednesday at l pm.
by WMAL-TV, to show house,
wives and other available viewers
the behind d-the-scenes activities Of
q television station. Actually, It
has been scheduled to be part Of
the program at q Rotary Club
meeting, but It win be on the air
for all Channel z viewers. Bryson