Really Sincere

Judy Graves, the wistfully adolescent heroine of Junior Miss, was a smash in the New Yorker, on Broadway and in the movies, but radio audiences have always found her dull. Last week, after two dismal airflops, she was back for a third, determined try. And it looked as though the new Junior Miss (Sat. 11:30 a.m., E.S.T., CBS) might be a hit.

"But a Nice Pest." The trouble with the first two radio versions was that they strayed too far from the original of Sally Benson's bobbysoxer. The first try (1942), starring Shirley Temple, cost a weighty $12,000 a week, an expenditure that overshot the show's modest Hooperating. A second attempt (1946) made Judy into such an unpleasant young monster that listeners stopped listening. "After all," sputters Author Benson in recollection, "Junior Miss Judy Graves is a nice little girl--a pest, but a nice pest. . ." The new Junior Miss is neither overweight nor out of focus, and her first Hooperating, last week, was a healthy 6.1.

The current Judy is 16-year-old Barbara Whiting, pretty, pudgy kid sister of Songstress Margaret Whiting. Agent Barren Polan found her in a Hollywood record shop, where she was heard asking for some "really sincere" recordings. "I looked," said Polan, "and it was a perfect Junior Miss." It was, indeed. Barbara played a supporting role in the cinema version of Junior Miss, has grown up into an accept able lead. She wallows in a bubblegumbo of teen-talk ("Johnny had on a suede coat that just wouldn't quit!"), is really sincere about her role. She longs to become "a great actress -- I want so to be an actress!" With this objective, she scorns reading from the script: "I memorize it.

We want to go on television, you know." Next to acting, Barbara likes travel best. "I have a terrific yen to go to Bagataw or wherever that place is they're fighting now. Some day I may just chuck it all and go."

"A Squeak Like Mother's." The role of Fuffy, Judy's disconcerting chum, is also a neat bit of typecasting. She is Beverly Wills, 14, the strident, skinny daughter of strident, skinny Comedienne Joan Davis. Agent Polan vetoed more than 70 candidates before Beverly appeared, but Beverly was worth waiting for. With her mouthful of braces, untameable hair and raucous neigh, she out-fuffied Fuffy. Beverly is "just crazy" about Barbara, is trying to "develop more of a squeak -- like my mother's." The program rates her ultimate gush : "I'd listen to it whether I were on it or not." Creator Benson, now one of MGM's top ($3,500 weekly) writers, is the show's "supervisor," a position that permits her to collect royalties and lead the sideline cheering section. Last week, Sponsor Lever Bros, received a recording of her soothing words to Barbara: "You're too young, honey, to remember when Procter & Gamble had this show. But I have a feeling this time it will really float."

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