HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1956-04-26, Page 7'Live' Versus Canned' Television
In one of the better quips of.
the current television season
George Gobel observed, "This
program comes to you 'dead'
from Hollywood." The pint-
sized humorist was applying his
Own wry twist to the perennial
controversy over the compara-
tive merits of live TV and film-
ed TV. But he also was being
most timely, The case of natu-
ral television against canned
television is up for spirited re-
view in industry quarters.
One gen tl eman responsible
for the reconsideration is Jackie
Gleason, the rotund buffoon.
This year be chose to abandon
live TV and substitute a cel-
luloid version of the adventures
of Ralph, the bellowing bus
driver; the change was ane of
the consequences of Gleason's
much -publicized million - dollar
deal wherein he enticed Milton
Berle's old sponsor into grant -
ng him a tidy annuity. Appar-
ently the only minor -hitch in
the arrangement is that Jackie,
doesn't seem ao funny any
more; in fact, film has made his
program distressingly flat.
Gleason's case is not unusual.
A number of Hollywood lumi-
naries have been lured astray
by the economic or labor-sav-
ing advantages of film; invari-
. • ably their shows have lost
" iseinething in the transition.
Only a year ago, there was
frantic chitchat about doing
feature-length films especially
for television, even if it were
necessary to ask the home
audience to pay for them. Now,
all the excitement in TV is fo-
cused on ninety -minute live
dramas without, mercifully, any
serious thought of a toll.
Is live TV better than filmed
TV? Surely there can be no
serious doubt that it is. people,
of course, do watch filmed TV
and do, enjoy it because often
it is the only way to see cer-
tain shows and personalities.
But this does not mean that
they prefer it. Give the set
Iry Owner a chance to express a
choice and he would vote over-.
whelmingly in favor of "live."
Phil Silvers as Sergeant Bilko
and Lucille Ball as Lucy Ricar-
do are amusing on film, but
who would not rather see them
live?" The only real question
Is, why is this so?
The fundamental nature of
live TV provides the answer,
Alone of the mass media, it re-
moves from an audience's con-
sciousness the factors of time
and distance. Radio can let the
individual know what is hap-
pening at the moment it hap-
pens but cannot enable him to
watch it. The motion picture
can take one to the scene but
not at the moment that an
event takes place. In both eases
an intrusion by either time or
distance separates the individ-
ual from actuality.
'Live television, on the other
hand, bridges the gap instantly
and unites the individual at
home with the event afar The
viewer has a sense of being in
two places at once. Physically,
he may be at his hearthside but
intellectually, and, above all,
emotionally, he is at the cam-
era man's side.
Both the player in the studio
and the audience at home have
an intuitive awareness of being
' in each othet°s presence. This.
awareness, not anything elec-
tronic, is responsible for the
elusive rapport that can extend
from a Maine farmhouse to a
Hollywood stage.
The foundation of this rap-
port is a shared experience in
the immediacy of the present.
In filmed TV, one of the two
vital parties concerned — the
player — completed his emo-
tional involvement perhaps
weeks or months earlier; the
audience, in effect, is catching
up. But in 'live TV, both the
star and the spectator are tied
together by the strongej of all
. possible bonds. Neither knows
what the next minute will bring
forth; it has not been lived yet.
Both player and viewer know
this accord to be true, both feel
it and, most important, both
respond, to it. The actor versed
in all., media can attest that
there it a special hollow in the
pit of the stomach as one "goes
'on" in front of a live audience.
There is no turning back, no re-
takes, no second chance. It is
playing for the money. Even a
hardened viewer cannot be im
mune to the contagion; he com-
mits himself to the excitement
or apprehension of the moment.
Will the i• be a triumph or dis-
aster? Uncertainty is the price-
less stimulus on both sides of
the screen.
The question is often asked
why a filmed show, when made
under conditions seemingly
identical with those prevailing
in the case of a live program,
still should seem different.
There is ample, If there is one
thing in the theatre that can-
not be faked or simulated, it is
an opening night. And all of
live TV is an opening night.
There may be previews galore
and they should seem like the
real thing, but they never are.
Maybe the explanation is pure-
ly psychological, something that,
after all, perhaps should not be
explained, only appreciated.
But that a viewer does let
a psychological prejudice play
a part in his attitude toward
film cannot be seriously Ills-
puted; he can hardly do other-
wise, becapse the television in-
dustry is determined to remind
him that there is such a diff-
erence between the two TV
forms. Instead of minimizing
the distinctions, TV, producers
seem to accentuate them. Not
Spring Fashions
or
*101,
-
-04:11444"tr
• recitAaatatiat
A-TISKET A-TASKET, DIG THAT CRAZY BASKET — With today's
food prices, a market basket this size would cost a sizeable
chunk of dought. Aquafly, t's an imaginative float parading
chunk of dough, Actuallq, it's an imaginative float parading
presenting the Bermuda Dept. of Agriculture, the basket won
the prize for originality. '
only do these policies add to
the woes of many types of film
shows, they are also adversely
live TV.
The basic trouble with TV
shows on film is the cockeyed
concept of perfectionism that
motivates their production. The
celluloid impresarios are so
preoccupied with technical fac-
tors that they are not unlike
the mechanic who finds an auto-
mobile's engine more interest-
ing than its passengers. To the
art of make-believe they apply
a set of calipers.
Perish the thought that an
actor should hesitate over a
line; far better that he be let-
ter-perfect, even if• he must say
the lines without comprehend-
ing their meaning. Let the cow-
boy sing as he rides the dusty
trail, but never let the audience
hear the sound of a horse's foot
or the rustle of a breeze. Na-
ture must be presented at 33%
revolutions per minute.
Take applause and laughter.
A situation comedy on film may
be quite acceptable until from
left field comes a wave of tinny,
doctored and apportioned guf-
faws. Strips of this pre-pack-
aged approval are .pieced into
the film in what some wan di-
rector hopes are the right spots,
Usually, he guesses wrong.
Above all, filmed TV fears
the lull. There must be no
pause. If a half-hour show isn't
uproarious, shoot two hours
and snip out with a pair of
scissors the best thrifty min-
utes. Even the amusing Groucho
Marx is caught in this cage of
the precisionists. His ad libs fall
out exactly on cue and his guests
never falter as straight men.
Groucho provides humor, to be
sure, but he cannot conceal
from the audience that it is
carefully pre -sliced. — From
The New York Times Magazine.
Amazing Facts
About Canada
The Mysterious North, by
Pierre Berton, illustrated with
photographs and maps. (Toron-
to; McClelland & Stewart).
Pierre ,Berton was born at
Whitehorse and grew up at
Dawson in the Yukon Territory.
As a newsman and magazine
editor he has returned many
times to all parts of the far
north, from the mouth of the
Mackenzie in the West to the
precipitous eastern shores of
Baffin Island. His book is a re-
flection of the attachment .that
grows on men who know this
primevally lonely land, an af-
fection that is not dulled by
subzero cold or the exploding
of glamorous myths by prosaic
fact. And fortunately it is also
as accurate, complete and read-
able a survey of arctfc and sub-
arctic Canada as has yet been
produced.
The thing that makes "The
Mysterious North" such spright-
ly reading is that it is peppered
with the sort of amazing facts
and legends that readers have
come to associate with books on
Texas. But since Texas would
'be lost in these northern terri-
tories, these Canadian stories
often are even more startling.
Considerthese:
The Canadian north contains
more lakes than all the rest of
the world put together.
It also,however, supports one
of the world's great deserts. the
arctic tundra, on a meager pre-
cipitation of between 2 and 10
inches yearly. Paradoxically,
thousands of the aforemention-
ed lakes happen to lie in this
desert.
Propriety is the rule tn al- •
most every northern boom town
and mining camp. Even Dawson
City, at the height of the Klon-
dike gold stampede in 1898, ob-
served ilia Sabbath so rigidly
that the Mounted Police put
men in jail for chopping their
own kindling on Sunday::
Great areas of the land re-
main unexplored, uncharted,
And yet no comparable area of
the earth's surface presents such
a record of sustained explora-
tion — nearly 400 years of it.
Mr. Berton is never merely
flamboyant at the cost of ob-
jectivity, however. He makes it
clear that to say the Canadian
north is all of a piece is a great
misconception. He emphasizes,
whether in puncturing the leg-
end of a hidden tropical valley
or in showing that a rich moun-
tain of mercury ore is uneco-
nomic to mine because of dis-
tance, that fhb, north is not a
continuous bonanza -land soon
to be as heavily populated as
the rest of Canada, He points
out that as yet the land has only
two important resources: fur
and minerals. Water power has
still to be tapped. And before
any real population growth can
be expected, man must solve
the problem of permafrost
which prevents systematic
plumbing and sewage use. Then
too there are social Piablerns.
In some places, for instance, the
Indian is as rigidly segregated
from the white man as is the
Negro in the American South.
Prayer by Phone
Thirty churchgoers in the
Scottish town of Ayr fight dis-
ease and death with a "prayer
by telephone" system by which,
their pastor said, "it is imposs-
ible to say how many our pray-
ers have helped to save."
"I think every church should
have a prayer group like this,"
the Rev, William Whalley de-
clared. "It is a wonderful
thing."
The Rev. Mr. Whalley, who
started the system in the west
coast Scottish resort, contacts
the members by telephone or
bicycle whenever he hears a
sick person is in danger.
No matter what the hour,
they all begin to pray.
Every week in his church,
the Rev. Mr. Whalley calls on a
100 -member prayer group to
bow their heads and pray for
the sick.
"We do not claim to have
saved lives ourselves. God
saves the sick, we merely pray
for them," the pastor said.
How Can 1?
By Anne Ashley
Q. How can I remove the
shiny parts from a woolen suit?
A Sponge with a solution, 1
tablespoon of ammonia to 1
quart of water. Then cover with
a wet cloth and press with an
iron not too hot. Follow by
brushing the garment with a
stiff brush to raise the nap.
• *
Q. How can I make candles
last longer? ,
A. Place them in the refrig-
erator for a day or two before
using, and they will last twice
as long and will not trickle
down the candlestich so readily.
0 *
Q. How Can 1 bring Out all the
lights in blonde hair?
A. Use a solution of a level
teaspoonful of borax added to
a gallon of water as a rinsing
water.
▪ *
Q. How can I change the
flavor of bread pudding?
A. When preparing, bread
pudding, sprinkle each •buttered
slice of bad with desiccated
cocoanut instead of currants,
and spread some on the top.
This will be a pleasant change.
* • *
Q. Row can I pack eggs sue-
CeSdnily?
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING
AGENTS ,WANTED
OILS, GREASES TIRES
Paints and varnishes, eleetrie mots,"
liobbyshop machinery, Dealers want-
ed. Write: wawa Grease and Oil
Limited, Toronto.
AGENTS wanted to sell Standard
Greeting Card a, with or without
Scripture. Excellent eonunissions, Send
for samples today. Standard Greeting
Cards, 195 Porth St. Brockville, Ont.
SELL ELECTRIC SHAVERS! •
Agents and distributors wanted to
sell World famous Rim Swisa Preel
sten Shaver; the finest precision shay.
Ing instrument in the, world. Clipper
head trims; rotary head gives closest
shave, Fully guaranteed for one year
against all defects. Complete details.
RIAM (CANADA) LTD.
345 Craig East Montreal
BABY CHICKS
AMES In -Cross, day old, started put -
lets. For high egg production at low
feed cost. Also wide choice breeds,
crosses in day old started pullets,
mixed chicks. Cockerels, June•July
broilers should be on order.
BRAY HATCHERY
120 John N Hamilton
THE demand for Weddle chicks Is
increasing due to the fact that we are
supplying our customers with some of
the best strains and breeds of chicks
It is •possible for us to hatch. Sure it
costs us a lot of money to buy our
foundation stock from some of the
best production breeders producing
broiler stock In America but it has
paid off. Send for 1956 catalogue giv-
ing full details about our special egg
breeds, broiler breeds and turkey
poults.
TWEDDLE CHICK HATCHERIES. I.
FERGUS ONT .
FOR SALE
110 volt light /dents. 32 to Ifft,:valt'
inverters. New Sperry Directional
Gyros, All items guaranteed. Write --for
prices. Bethke Electric, Bismarck,
North Dakota.
CHINESE ELM HEDGE PLANTS
WILL quickly provide a five to fifteen.
foot hedge. Nine to twelve -inch plants,
04.60 per hundred. Edgedaie Thorpe
• Nurseries, Aylmer, Que.
HANK WILLIAMS
RECORD SPECIAL
69 Cents Each!
rhe MGM factory has offered us a
limited number of brand new
Items records at a substantial saving.
We are passing this saving on to you.
Order today by number with this
advertisement.
ACT NOW
IMMO OFFER!
1. Lost on the highway, I Just told
mama goodbye. 2. I saw the light,
Six more miles to go. 3. House without
love, Wedding bells. 4, Moanin the
blues, Lovesick blues. 5. I'm so lone-
some could cry, Blues come around.
6. My sweet love ain't around. Long
gone daddy. 7 Honky tonk blues
Long gone lonesome blues. 8. Your
cheatin' heart, Cold cold heart.
9. Satin' the woods on fire. Krawliga,
10. You win again, 1 could never be
ashamed of you. 11. Hey good lookin'
Half as much.
78 RPM ONLY
We cannot accept COD on this offer;
Order prepaid only, and add SR fer • -
mailing and handling. Shipments Peel.
lively guaranteed against loss or
breakage.
DESTRY RECORDS
P.O. Box 747. Montreal P.Q.
MEDICAL
IT'S PROVEN — EVERY SUFFERER OF
RHEUMATIC PAINS OR NEURITIS
SHOULD TRY DIXON'S REMEDY.
MUNRO'S DRUG STORE
335 ELGIN, OTTAWA
$1.25 EXPRESS PREPAID
POST'S ECZEMA SALVE
BANISH the torment of dry eczema
rashes and weeping skin troubles.
Post's Eczema Salve will not disap
point you. Belling scaling and burn.
ing eczema, acne ringworm, pimples
and foot eczema will respond readily
to the stainless. odorless ointment re
gardless of how stubborn or hopeless
they, seem.
Sent Post Free on Receipt at Price
PRICE 92.50 PER -JAR
POST'S REMEDIES
889 Oueen St. E., Corner of Logan
TORONTO
A. Before packing eggs, coat
each egg thoroughly with lard
and butter. Use a large stone
jar and place the eggs small
end downwards in layers of
dry salt.
• *
Q. How can I prevent water
bugs around the kitchen snik?
A. A little kerosene poured
down the kitchen sink at night
is a precaution.
* *
Q. How can I cut citron easily?
A. Steam it for a few min-
utes and it will make an easy
task out of a difficult one.
Q. How can I remove tarnish
from nickel?
A. By making a paste of
powdered pumice stone and
sweet oil. Rill) with this paste,
then polish with a dry, clean
cloth.
• *
Q. How can I remove worms
from cabbage?
A. Sprinkle ice water on the
plants. Spinkle during the hot-
test time of the day and the
worms will roll off and die. '
*
Q. How can I drive mice away
from closet sllelves?
A. Lay gum camphor along
the backs of the closet shelves,
or any other haunts of mice.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR
MEN AND WOMEN
BEA HAIRDRESSER
JOIN CANADA'S" LEADING SCHOOL
Great Opportunity
Learn Hairdressing
Pleasant dignified profession, good
wages. Thousands of successful
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America's Greatest System
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Write or Call
MARVEL HAIRDRESSING SCHOOLS
358 Bioor St. W., Toronto
Branches
44 King St.. Hamilton
72 Rideau St. Ottawa
FREE! CATALOGUE
CLOTHING, SMALLWARES
Write:
•••
ECONOMIC MAIL ORDER
2116 St, Lawrence Bled. Dept, W
Montreal, Que.
EARN 690 weekly addressing envel-
opes. Instructions $1. Write; E. Dorsey.
1215 E. Raymond Street, Indianapolis
3, Ind.
•
MAILING list 25 names and addresses,
61. Write E. Dorsey, 1215 East Raymond
Street, Indianapolis 3, Ind,
VERMICULITE IS RIGHT
LET this proven, guaranteed process
bring back new ear performance. Re -
Surfaces cylinder walls, piston rings
effectively, 03.95. Safety guard. Posi-
tie° puncture sealing compound la-
boratory tested and approved, 32.98.
Four tubes $11.92; literature agents
wanted. Arthur D. Baulne, Sales Agen.
cy, Box 234, Massey, Ontario.
GEIGER Counter; Build your own in
one evening, inexpensively. Parts list,
, circuit diagram, complete easy instrue-
` tions, 62.00. Dept. 5, Box 2723, Color-
ado Springs, Colorado,
..-POST CARDS! Old and new, worth:,
money; One set brings 0100. Learn'
. values: See Collectors Magazine. Sam-
ple 250 Box 432-C, Glendale California.
GET your free homemade cement paint
Formulas now! 18 beautiful colors.
Sensational new discovery. Guaranteed
50 years. Gallon costs only 01.00. Just
send stamp, Mason's Service, Nelson,
B.C.
NIGHTCRAWLERSt Terrific demand.
.. Steady income. New copyrighted book,
explains -how to raise, store and sell,
$2,50 Postpaid. Colonle Balt Farms
1273 Central, Albany '5, New York,
SAVE Money on Nationally advertised
Merchandise! Low prices on all Items,
rush $2,00 Immediately for big Cata-
log. Century Co., 1274 FlIhnore, Denver
6, Colorado.
FORMULA! Marvelous Paint for out-
buildings. Used four generations. Ens-
lly made at home. Lints sears, 53.00.
Mrs, M L. Buckingham, 505 West
Grove, Rantoul, Illinois.
CANADA'S LARGEST
HOBBY SUPPLIERS
EVERYTHING for the Hobbyist. Send
for free Bulletin or 251 for Illustrated
catalogue. 24.Hour Seryice. Leonard's
Iiobby Centre, 608 Bayview Avenue.
-Dept. "A", Toronto.
OPPORTUNITIES
MEN AND WOMEN
WANTED — young rnen for Telegraph
Jobs on Railway. Big demand. Union
Pay. We secure jobs.
ABC Shorthand qualifies for stenos.
rapher in 10 weeks at home. Free
folder, either course. Cessan Systems,
20 Spadina Road, Toronto,
1956 Coin catalogue 91.60. Handy coin
album 754 each, 3 for 52, Mr. Jacob
Dyck, 320 - E. 55 Avenue, Vancouver,
B, C.
NEW! Big Profits For Camera OWnerS;
5 tested ways to market photos with
profits. Full instructions and tricks.
300 Firms list, Will buy your photos.
Save C.O.D. fees, send 52.50. Photo
Service, Box 353, Victoriasille, Que.
bee.
PATENTS
FETHERSTONHAUGH S. Com pan y,
Patent Attorneys. Established 1890.
600 University Ave., Toronto. Patents
all countries.
AN OFFER .to every Inventor. List of
inventions and full information sent
free. The Ramsay Co. Registered Pat-
ent Attorneys, 273 Bank St., Ottawa.
PERSONAL
$1.00 TRIAL offer. Twenty live deluxe
personal requirements. Latest cata-
logue included. The Medico Agertey.
Box 22, Terminal "Q" Toronto Ont.
STAMPS
MONACO Prince Rainier set of 6. 250
with approvals. Clifford Ritchie, 194
Randolph Road, Leaside Ontario.
SWINE
LANDRACE Imported Swedish swine.
Just received a fresh importation of
13 bred sows and one boar. Four of
these sows bred to an outstanding
boar owned by Sir Winston Churchill.
If possible come and see this impor-
tation as well as the rest of our herd.
If you can't come send for photo.
Weanling sows and boars for Immedi-
ate delivery. Folder.
FERGUS LANDRACE SWINE FARM
FERGUS ONTARIO
WANTED
BEAR CUBS
WANTED 1956 bear cubs Send full
particulars to DON MCDONALD. 28
Wellington Boumanville Ontario.
WANTED to buy - atyrroxs from
elothes over forty YPirl7i old, button
Charm strInes. 4685 DELMORE AVE-
NUE, MONTREAL, Que.
DRIVE
WTH CARE
ISSUE fl — 1956