Shorty

A professional actor for 25 of his 27 years, Mickey Rooney has grown into a performer of considerable skill. In times past, he has been one of Hollywood's biggest box-office attractions. But he obviously cannot go through life playing Andy Hardy. (Says Mickey: "Let's face it. ... I'm practically an old roue.") Since his release from the Army two years ago, Mickey's future as a movie star has been problematical.

Last week, CBS presented him as a radio star in a new program tailored to his short, (5 ft. 2 in.), explosive measure. "Shorty Bell" (Sun. 9:30 p.m., E.S.T.), "a novel written especially for the air," is a continued story about a tough young newspaper circulation hustler who would give his brass knuckles to be a reporter.

To give the story "stark realism," CBS called in two ex-newspapermen as writers: Frederick Hazlitt Brennan, once of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (more recently of the Satevepost and M-G-M), and Richard Carroll, once of the New York Daily News. Their job is to make Shorty's episodes self-sufficient, but with enough continuity to hold listener interest over a week-long intermission.

In his first installment, Shorty: 1) got the brush-off from the managing editor when he asked for a reporter's job; 2) was suspended from the circulation force for slugging a taxidriver; 3) laid the foundations for romance; 4) fumbled a chance for a beat on a gangster slaying; 5) saw his pal locked up as a material witness. It all sounded plotty enough to befuddle the cast (including Mickey's father, Joe Yule, who plays a kindly oldtimer).

The show closed with Shorty soliloquizing: "I guess that's what they call experience. Gettin' your teeth kicked in like that by a guy you've always looked up to. Now I'm really learning what life is like. . . . Well, nuts to 'em all. I can play it rough if that's the way they want it. And it looks from here like it's gonna be rough.. . ."

After the show, Mickey mused: "Who knows, maybe they'll call me the midget Orson Welles."

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