Birds Eye open house

The series was a star vehicle for Dinah Shore, the Tennessee-born pop vocalist who'd climbed steadily up the ladder since her network debut in the late 1930s. Shore blended a jazz-conscious approach to the pop hits of the day with a breezy, easy-to-take microphone personality that made her a sensation on radio and records -- and her sense for comedy, honed by an early apprenticeship with Eddie Cantor, helps her carry off the non-musical portions of each week's program. She's accompanied by announcer Harry Von Zell, a practiced foil who'd worked with her on the Cantor program, and the lush melodies of an orchestra conducted by Broadway melodist Robert Emmett Dolan. But the real interest in the Birds Eye programs is in the guest stars, drawn from the top ranks of Hollywood comedy talent. No less a personality than Groucho Marx appears as a semi-regular on the show -- and while his characterization is somewhat muted by the demands of a scripted series, the programs offer a rare chance to hear the foremost Marx Brother experimenting within the framework of a wide assortment of sketch ideas and comic settings.