... Great Britain (ITV Thames) The Plank, 27 minutes THE first ITV entry was placed here and it brought the festival to life for the first time. Everybody laughed a lot. Everybody also mentioned that had the entry been in the humorous category B it surely had to be in the running for the Golden Rose. ...

... Holland (NOS) Jan J. de Bom, Before the Friend of Children, 30 minutes, English subtitles ONE out of a series for children which dealt with problems such as those at school, those with parents, homework, sex, and fear, this programme offended some delegates. The subjects in the series arise from letters sent in by young viewers. The Dutch chose the programme on sex for Montreux since it was ...

... Holland Martine Show, 38 minutes THIS was the first show in Category B. (Humour). The star, Martine Bibi, sings and goes in for sit com by the look of it, for here (and she was a co-writer of the show) we had an ironic look at Christmas rituals. She first sang in English accompanied by four girls dressed as Santa Claus before going into a sketch about a well known television quizmaster who ...

... Belgium Urbanus, Dead or Alive, 35 minutes, English subtitles THE name in the title belongs to the writer and star of the show. He is doubtless a clever chap but we very much doubt his sense of humour would be to British taste. He is bearded, long haired and of medium height. The story began with him going into a bank with a stocking mask on his head and being con- fronted by the staff who ...

... West Germany Nonstop Nonsense, 24 minutes, English subtitles A FAST Buster Keaton type opening to the music of the Donald O'Connor number Be a Clown was the intro for the first sketch with the star in all the main roles as a petrol station attendant for whom everything goes wrong when an attractive blonde turns up in her Mercedes. The air hose jams and one of her tyres blows up; the petrol ...

... France Collaro Show, 47 minutes, English subtitles (in blue) THE title came from the name of the writer and producer Stephane Col laro. Alas, it was another dud, un funny French show fussily put together. Television was meant to be the theme how to get- into it. executives, and how ideas are worked out. The linking was either the newsreader idea or by one of the performers. A still cartoon ...

... Hungary Toothache, 23 minutes, no subtitles THE middle-aged office manager goes to work with a toothache and it distracts him and he begins to visualise people's faces distorted. The office beauty is the centre of a lot of the camera's attention and in one sequence he pictures her doing a striptease on a table. He goes to a chemist, takes a pho tograph of himself in a booth to see what he ...

... Karel Gott Studio Please, 45 minutes, no English subtitles. THE star of this opening show is a Czech who is also very popular with East and West Germans. He is a tall, dark, young tenor who smiled incessantly to the camera and although he seemed likeable, nothing came across to the audience. The show began with a deserted studio where the cleaner is waiting for everything to begin. Star, ...

... Hit Parade Special, 52 minutes, no subtitles AS its title suggests, this was a mix ture of songs, pop and rock suc cesses that featured in the charts of Radio Tele . Looking for a way to present a list of numbers taxes the imagination of producers and the producer of this programme decided that the best way was to fascinate you with pictures: in me end it was an ill-judged assault. Watching ...

... Spain Christmas Time, 49 minutes, no subtitles CHRISTMAS festivities and a Christmas tale were the foundation of this studio production. There were songs from around the world sung in English. French and German with the performers in modern winter dress. The design was a simple street set backdrop in colours of muted brown and white. There was dancing in the snow with the star, a fair, ...

... Poland Beauty Parlour, 33 minutes, no subtitles THIS was ballet, music and pictures, an impressionistic idea of a beauty salon, with a style sustained to the end on the same pitch. It had a rock opening with some girl dancers in a sort of masked ball setting and the dance routines were very stylish indeed. Dress, sets and lighting were extremely well used and the dramatic tempo was held all ...

... Finland Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans? 36 minutes, English subtitles THE blurb said. What is jazz musici an's dream? That Rave the show away for this was a simple pil grimage to New Orleans. The idea was to show the Downtown Dixie Tigers, a jazz group, all but one of whom also had a profession, looking forward to going to the great jazz occasion. (The dentist in fact used jazz ...