frankly , it &apos;s not for Frankie &amp;hellip; . next month that friendly , effervescent performer Frankie Vaughan will burst on to the London Palladium stage in a new show . to paraphrase his well-known ditty : he &apos;ll have the limelight , they &apos;ll give him the girls - and leave the rest to him . I have a hunch that he will feel more at home in the old , star-studded West End than he will ever feel in Hollywood . his American bosses , 20th-Century Fox , have recently given Frankie the full , razzamataz , red-carpet treatment . but they have n&apos;t done a thing for his film career that Anna Neagle and Herbert Wilcox were not doing better here , before the platinum-plated Hollywood carrot was dangled before his nose . in his first Hollywood picture , let &apos;s make love , he was swamped by the know-how of Marilyn Monroe and Yves Montand . against this couple Frankie , in a cardboard role , did n&apos;t stand a chance . now comes the right approach ( Rialto , A ) , and it &apos;s a glum business . he plays an aspiring actor - a selfish , arrogant , brash , ambitious , unscrupulous heel - who would tread on anybody &apos;s neck to get a break in the Hollywood ratrace . cynical . he double-crosses the five pals with whom he lives , cheats a waitress ( Juliet Prowse ) and cynically uses a magazine editress ( Martha Hyer ) to get ahead . Frankie Vaughan is too nice a chap to ring quite true as a smooth-tongued , ill-mannered Yank . his best moments are when he swings breezily into the title song . but 6,000 miles seems a heck of a way to go for a new hit song . he might be well advised to think hard and long before his next jump into the Hollywood arena . verdict : Vaughan should have by-passed this approach . Ronald Lewis has just left for his first taste of the Hollywood treatment , thanks to a sound performance in taste of fear ( Warner Theatre , X ) . he has earned his break . the film is a well-made variation on that sinister yarn in which half the cast try to persuade the heroine that she is out of her mind . despite flagrant cheating the eerie atmosphere is built up neatly . Susan Strasberg is the crippled damsel in distress . stepmother Ann Todd and doctor Christopher Lee are also effectively around . they provide some chilly red herrings in this find-the-body thriller . verdict : do n&apos;t believe all you see and hear ! not for the first time the homely mug of Sidney James has pumped life into a slim , strained comedy . he does his rescue act in double bunk ( Leicester-square Theatre , A ) . strength . navigator Sid is a tower of strength when newly-weds Ian Carmichael and Janette Scott let loose their ancient houseboat on a honeymoon trip down the river . the film starts off brightly enough but , half-way through , the plot ( as well as the boat ) springs a near-disastrous leak . familiar members of Britain &apos;s repertory team of comedy character-actors jump through equally familiar hoops to mild laughter . verdict : the bunk needed doubling . Donald takes the evening . last night &apos;s TV . by Clifford Davis . Donald Houston had a big success on ATV &apos;s drama &apos;61 last night as a smooth , scheming jewel thief in a play by Jacques Gillies , the takers . a polished production by Quentin Lawrence , here , held together by Mr Houston &apos;s accomplished performance as the master mind behind a gang of crooks . this plot to rob a French millionaire of &amp;pound;300,000 worth of jewellery struck me as ingenious . the play had style , moved at a quick pace and everyone did well . but it was Mr Houston &apos;s evening . earlier , on the Palladium show I found Stanley Holloway &apos;s act too long and not particularly entertaining . it was also a mistake to re-book Gene Detroy and his performing chimpanzees so soon after their previous appearance . their offering last night differed little from their earlier act on this show a week or so ago . but the Mudlarks , with Jeff Mudd out of the army and back with sister Mary and brother Fred , were in bright , zestful form . why only two numbers , though ? it was not enough . a Rix mix . by Richard Sear . a fair cop , the BBC Whitehall farce last night , looked like a rabbit warren in a field of corn . I can n&apos;t recall a production where so many comics bolted in and out of holes so often . the jokes were a reshuffle of the same old lot - this time Brian Rix lost his skirt instead of his trousers . the action moved at tremendous speed , backed by some wonderful timing by the cast . I especially liked the tea-cup scene where six of the cast changed cups with the dexterity of Chinese jugglers . Carole Shelley as the newly-wed and Larry Noble as Smiler Perkins were the most laughable . they alone used a sharp edge to their humour and cut through the gormless standing corn around them . perhaps it was accidental - I hope not . if ever a bag of humour needed a thorough shaking up the Whitehall farce is it when it comes to television . it &apos;s an old pianna pin-up . on the record . by Patrick Doncaster . how do you get on records ? well , you &apos;ve got to have something different . sing slightly flat . all the good singers sing in tune . twang a guitar slightly off key . everybody &apos;s fed up with the right way - so the best-seller charts say . play an old pianna instead of a new one . you got to get it into your head , son &amp;hellip; people do n&apos;t like things as they should be - not on record , anyway . thus , musician David Lisbon &apos;s chances of being a starred disc solo pianist were greatly enhanced when he dug out a packet of drawing-pins . why not , thought ex-soldier Mr Lisbon , who is twenty-three , and lives in Dagenham , Essex , press a thumb-tack into the nose of the hammers that strike the piano strings ? he did , on his piano at home . there were n&apos;t enough tacks and he got only the middle hammers done . then he tried it out for sound . um-chink &amp;hellip; um-chink ... it went . slightly flat and jangly in part . delightful ! he put the sound on tape . the tape went to the Philips company . within two days Mr Lisbon had a record contract . and they hauled his thumb-tacked joanna the thirteen miles to London for his first session . now along comes his solo disc , featuring two of his own compositions , deerstalker and almost grown up . verdict : Mr Lisbon has it taped . and tacked . and he says : just as well I had only one box of tacks - it might have been so different &amp;hellip; . more news from the ivory-thumping dept &amp;hellip; . Russ Conway , who has tinkled his way to fame on an old pianna , comes in with another of his own works : parade of the poppets ( Columbia ) . but not one of his nimble-fingered best . cute . Germany &apos;s Russ Conway is a pianist who calls himself crazy Otto . but nothing crazy about his pianistics . he pounds merrily away at a piece called Piccadilly ( Polydor ) . I find it cute . American pianist Floyd Cramer , who played for Elvis on it &apos;s now or never , looks like having a success on his own with on the rebound ( RCA ) . new boy on the vocal front is Rolly Daniels , who comes 5,000 miles from India to seek disc fame . comedian Hal Monty saw him in Bombay , became his manager . and such is Hal &apos;s faith that he brings him to Europe . now Rolly gets his big break - a record , the modern Aladdin &apos;s lamp of show business . become a success with a disc and hey presto ! you &apos;re a star &amp;hellip; . Rolly sings with assuredness bella bella Marie ( Parlophone ) , a lively song that changes tempo mid-way . I do n&apos;t think he will storm the charts with this one , but it &apos;s a good start . Chris Charles , 39 , who lives in Stockton-on-Tees , is an accountant . he is also a director of a couple of garages . and he finds time as well to be a lyric writer . obliged . he writes with Tolchard Evans , composer of Lady of Spain and other big hits . Tolch , as he is known in Tin Pan Alley , likes songs with a month in the title . he wrote my September love , the big David Whitfield hit of 1956 . let &apos;s have another song with a month in it , said Tolch . Mr Charles obliged with April serenade . this week it appears , a tuneful melody sung impeccably by Robert Earl ( Philips ) . telepage by Jack Bell . a producer vanishes . producer Russell Turner , 33 , provides his last programme for the BBC tonight with Robert Harbin &apos;s mystery and magic ( 7.30 ) . after six years with the corporation , during which he started juke box jury and directed six-five special , Turner is aiming to go into free-lance TV , film and stage production work . I feel I &apos;ve done all I can at the BBC , he told me . we mutually agreed to part . escapologist Dill-Russell is a guest in Harbin &apos;s show tonight . boxing fans can see an eight-round feather-weight contest between Chris Elliot and Harry Carroll from Leicester ( BBC , 8.25 ) . national airs . a songs-of-Britain medley is sung by David Hughes in his make mine music ( BBC , 9.30 p.m ) . the numbers include Scotland the brave , men of Harlech , McNamara &apos;s band , Greensleeves and English rose . Fay Compton stars in no hiding place ( ITV , 9.35 p.m ) . she plays the possessive mother of a man whose hobby revolves round a doll &apos;s house . three people will be hypnotised in tonight &apos;s lifeline ( BBC , 10.15 ) . they will be asked to comment on the design of everyday articles such as a chair and a motor-car . what ? the idea is to see what happens when parts of the mind not normally available without hypnosis are used . ITV have postponed Malcolm Muggeridge &apos;s appointment with playwright Arnold Wesker . instead , Muggeridge &apos;s appointment will be with Sir Roy Welensky the Premier of the federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland ( 10.30 p.m ) . say Granada TV , the producers : we decided to make the switch because of the topicality of African affairs . the Wesker interview will be seen at a later date . last night &apos;s TV . the soldier who was scared . by Richard Sear . actor Tom Courtenay was an outstanding success last night in ITV Private Potter , his first big TV part . the play was a brilliantly-written essay on soldiering which stated that a fighting man could only be regarded as a machine . Potter screamed during an action , and was arrested . he claimed he had seen a vision of God - only the padre and his C.O believed him . Courtenay played the part with a gawky , northern defiance . the cameras played continuously on his craggy face , and obstinate , baffled eyes . they stripped him of his ugly battle-dress , to leave him for what he was - Potter , a frightened boy who had a vision . it was a splendid interpretation of the part . the rest of the cast were well chosen , with James Maxwell making a fine job of the sympathetic C.O . impossible ? - no ! Paul Daneman gave another first-class performance last night as a wartime naval officer in the BBC the little key . the play was no more than a figment of the imagination which asked the viewer to believe in a beautiful ghost . it would have been an impossible piece of television but for clever production by Michael Hayes . he captured the atmosphere of fog and mystery to great effect . not fair say viewers . last night &apos;s TV . by Richard Sear . more than 100 viewers complained to the BBC last night that an American film , Britain - blood , sweat , and tears &amp;hellip; plus twenty years , was anti-British . the film replaced what &apos;s my line ? and be my guest programmes because of an electricians &apos; strike . it showed Britain today through the eyes of an American TV reporter , Eric Sevareid , and British personalities . among them - Professor Dennis Brogan , Shelagh Delaney , and Alan Sillitoe . the film covered a wide aspect of the British scene , ranging from pubs , the Eton wall game , to the European common market . Shelagh Delaney and Alan Sillitoe attacked education . it was left to reporter Sevareid to make the strongest criticisms . he said that in the race of the modern nations , Britain was slipping behind &amp;hellip; . 