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When theatre impresario Jack Hylton was awarded the contract to provide
fledgeling ITV company Associated-Rediffusion's entertainment programmes in
1955, he very much hoped that TV would begin to provide him with new hits for
the stage. Instead, he ended up using established acts from some of his shows to
fill the gaps in his programming schedule, creating plenty of free, but not
necessarily good, publicity in the process.
A prime example of this was The Music Box, which appeared on Friday nights
for a brief period at the start of 1957. It encompassed a different sort of
variety programme every week, ranging from extended extracts from a Crazy Gang
revue at London's Victoria Palace Theatre to actor Terry-Thomas introducing an
awkward mixture of comedy and song. Each programme had a different host holding
together an assortment of singers, novelty acts, dancers and musicians, ranging
from 'Monsewer' Eddie Gray and his comedy juggling to the high-stepping dance
routines of the John Tiller Girls.
Many famous names appeared in the programmes, including comics Max Miller and
Tommy Trinder, and American film star George Raft, who appeared as a favour to
Hylton when the scheduled bill-topper, George Formby, lost his voice and had to
pull out. None of the stars is shown at their best, but the smaller variety
turns give a flavour of what an audience at a 1950s theatre revue might see.
As with much of the Hylton output of the time, there is little about Music
Box that is unique or different. Several of the musical performers were in
Hylton shows then running in the London's West End, like the Crazy Gang's 'These
Foolish Kings'. Indeed, television critics of the day were quick to comment on
the detail that many of the programmes were little more than shameless plugs for
his theatrical empire. In many respects the series is little more than a
quota-filler, hastily put together in order to make up the number of hours of
entertainment Hylton was obligated to supply to Associated-Rediffusion. However,
it does give a modern audience some little gems, like the all-dancing appearance
of George Raft, an all-too brief glimpse of Max Miller, and Tommy Trinder in
drag.
Pam Rostron
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1. Dance routine (04:15)
