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Show By INEZ GERHARD JOHN LAIR, one of the first to enter the so-called hillbilly field In radio, was well known on the air before he returned to his boy- hood home in Renfro Valley, Ky., to rebuild the old settlement and set up a shrine to American folk music. He originates, produces and emcees all radio programs eman- Si V i JOHN LAIR ating from the Valley, programs based on reality. If a possum hunt is to be broadcast, movable equipment equip-ment is taken to the woods and the hunt is actually staged. All of the program's personnel actually live in the settlement. Lair's music library is one of the biggest sources of music collections in the United States. Debbie Reynolds will probably succeed to the kind of roles that M-G-M used to assign to Judy Garland; Gar-land; apparently she is being groomed for them. So far she has made four musicals in her two years on the screen; now she is to be co-starred with Gene Kelly in "Singing in the Rain". There's a long, hard pull ahead of her if she is to take Judy's place. Did you know that there's a movie actress named Theda Barr? Either her mother doted on Theda Bara, queen of the silent pictures, or the young lady thought an adaptation of the former siren's name might bring her fame. Fans of "The Guiding Light", daytime serial, will act as jurors to decide the fate of one of the leading characters who is on trial for murder. Listeners to the current sequence have been asked to follow the testimony carefully, and at the end of the trial, late this month, to send in ballots as if they were jury members. Program's on CBS weekday week-day afternoons. Ben Grauer recently finished one of his most interesting reading assignments as-signments he recorded the entire book, "The Brave Bulls", for Talking Talk-ing Books for the Blind, making it available to millions of sightless persons. Harold Lloyd and Jimmy Con-lin Con-lin spent three weeks filming one sequence in "Mad Wednesday"; Wednes-day"; they are seen chasing a 400-pound lion up and down fire escapes, in and out of offices and along narrow ledges of a skyscraper. Ted Mack is amazed daily at the thousands of contributions received as a result of the appearance of the two Godfrey boys on his ABC Original Amateur Hour. The Muscular Mus-cular Dystrophy Association, which is trying to raise $250,000 for research re-search for a cure for the ailment, called the boys to his attention. They and their two brothers suffer from the disease. Curt Massey's rating, lor his afternoon, show, now matches that of any night-time quarter-hour musical, and deserves it. He and pretty little blonde Martha Tilton have two of the pleasantest voices on the air. Terry Moore decided she was being typed, after being seen with a collie in "Son of Lassie", a horse in "Return of October", a gorilla in "Mighty Joe Young" and a squirrel squir-rel in "The Great Rypert". All she needed was to appear with all those cats in Paramount's "Rhubarb". Instead, she breaks the sequence by co-starring with Victor Mature in "Gambling House". Producer Howard Hawks had to put on three additional guards when he sealed the set of "The Thing"; not only the hired help but some of RKO's top executives and producers pro-ducers were curious about the identity of it. He finally took a dozen of the latter on a personally conducted tour of the sound stages, but first made them promise not to reveal the secret. ODDS AND ENDS . . . Friends of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz say they may name the infant expected on July 4th "Desilu" . . . Paul Lees, the most decorated Marine of World War II, has a featured role in Paramount's "Submarine Command" Com-mand" . . . Rising beef costs and the threat of meat rationing m;ide it difficult for Warner Bros, to lease 500 head of cattle for a stampede scene in "Fort Worth" local ranchers ranch-ers didn't want their steers to go Into the movies . . . Randolph Scott carries his lunch to work. |
