Evening star., 1953-01-15


gadget for silencing radio COM
mercials. To silence a radio COM
mercial is a little frustrating,
really. When you cut it off, it
ceases to exist. When it ceases
to exist. your protest against the
din loses some of it's meaning.
Television is something else,
however. The 33rd degree men,
bers of TVS anti-commercial
club do not suffer the Illustration
of their radio brethren. They,
in fact, enjoy the glow of positive
action. Viewers who have turned
this into fine art do not go out
to make a pot of tea or open a
can of beer when the man starts
the sales pitch. Instead, they
lean, walk or run over and flip
the volumn control back to zero.
The look of feigned sincerity
on an announcer's face as he
holds up the products and flaps
his teeth in silence is something
to see. The worse the CONNER
cial is to start with, the funnier
it becomes when given this
treatment.
This cannot be considered un-
ethical, either. If a man can't
make you want to listen, it is
not cheating to refuse to listen,
even If he has just spent $25, 900
trying to entertain you. AS a
matter of fact. this can have a
converse effect. You may re-
member the commercials you
turn off longer than the one you
leave on.
1t will do you good, though,
and you ought to join the club.
1t is heartening to know, some
how, that you have in one finger
the power to Illustrate somebody
else for a change.
X y X X
SAY AGAIN?-Additional con-
tributions from readers have
turned up for how's- -that-again-
department, the what-will-they-
think of ext-department, and
the out-of-the-mouths-of- babes
and-announcers- department.
First: Inga, of "Inga's Angle, "
explained on WNBW the other
day that one of the important
features of dress was it's "blow-
siness." You have to watch those
words that differ only in print,
girl.
Second: An announcer on
KOOK, singing the praises of a
hotel, declared proudly that
chilled ice water" is available in
every room.
Third: An announcer was ex-
planning that a new policy was
being put into effect on WTTG's
Academy Award Theater." )"
Hereafter" he declared, there
will be but two insults-I mean
l1lSCI US-4A tIlC pIOS GILL.
X X X X
NEW THEME SONG-As Of
tonight you should be hearing
a new tune often on the radio. It's
"A March to Eisenhower" words
by Hiram D. Hirsh, music by Jewel
M. Frank. published by Chappell.
It was selected by the President
elect himself from a number
offered and you'll also hear 1t
during the inaugural parade.
X y X X
LET-DOWN-Charles Laugh
ton turned out to be something
of a disappointment when his
new reading series started on
television (WTOP-TV-Sunday
6 p.m.). Disappointment, of
course. is not measure of merit.
It is a measure of the difference
between actual performance and
anticipation. Mr.. Laughton. his
past reading success in mind.
was anticipated with high de-
gree of eagerness.
1t seemed Sunday night to be
misplaced eagerness. though it
is entirely possible that subse-
quent films in the series may
make amends. Mr.. Laughton
never reads badly, really. and
these passages from tn Pick
wick Papers" had their moments.
It was a shorter Is minutes than
many on TV.
There were several things
wrong. however. 1t may have
been the fact that this was film
and some intimacy was lost.
More likely the loss in intimacy
was actually due to Laughton's
awareness that this was film. He
may instinctively have reverted
to the old movie rule about never
looking at the camera.
He also seemed to ham things
up a bit for the common folks
on occasion. Condescension is
one of the things the television
audience doesn't want. The ini-
tial Laughton TV reading session
here was marred. too, by either
a faulty sound track or faulty
reproduction at WTOP. A thor
oughly distracting hum accom-