The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957)(about) |
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Monday 5 November 1956
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Some of the 1,500 people who saw the television opening at Prahran Town Hall last night.
"THIS WILL DO ME"
So television is really with us!
Watching my first TV show on a set in the city last night reminded me of an earlier his toric night in January,
1929 . . .
... when I heard Al
Jolson sing in the first talkie, "The Jazz Singer," at the Athe- naeum Theatre.
"It won't last," said the sceptics that night.. "It's just a novelty."
But I'll warrant there were no sceptics last night.
In spite of a few "shaky" moments-and the set I used for viewing certainly SHOOK -there could he no doubt that this was a mighty en- tertainment medium that had come to stay.
One thing was made clear to me in my mixed bag of viewing-that stage shows adapt themselves splendidly
to the medium, as was the case with the scenes from
the "Olympic Follies," trans- mitted from the Tivoli
Theatre.
This really captured the atmosphere of the show.
And I liked Eric Pearce as a compere.
His easy-mannered, genial
personality came right through the viewing screen
in the quiz show, "I've Got a Secret."
The quiz Itself had some dull spots-but livened up considerably when attractive Jean Moorhead (Miss Holly- wood of 1956) arrived in the show with her "grim" secret -woollen underwear for Melbourne's climate.
Another feature was photogenic Mary Parker's interesting manner of hand- ling the weather report.
She sketched it out for listeners on maps of Aus- tralia and Victoria, gave the forecast intelligently and brightly, and made a rather dull affair (for Melbourne anyhow) quite entertaining.
Eric Pearce's reading of the news was illustrated with appropriate newsreel
shots.
One of these was really "hot"-showing the smashed up car in yesterday's level crossing crash at Frankston
Preparations for the Olym- pic Games were well covered by the news cameras, and there was a comprehensive whip around of fairly cur- rent overseas news by
camera.
says F. Keith Mansie
"Our Miss Brookes," an American comedy series, with Eve Arden, promised a
lot of amusement in the first of the series aired last night.
The first episode of out- door adventure drama, "Robin Hood," wasn't quite as encouraging. By com- parison it suggested that in- terior comedy shows are the
"best bet."
Yes, rabid film and theatre man that I am, I must ad- mit I LIKED my first in troduction to television.
It's a big show, all right . . . but I don't consider it in any way competitive with stage and screen.
It is just an excellent ac- cessory to those two other forms of entertainment.