New York Clipper (Feb 1923)

10 THE NEW YORK CLIPPER February 21, 1923 BROADWAY Hie bill at the Bnoadway this week bad no .oatstaiidiog headliners, the features be- ing Ernie Golden and his band, held over for the third week; and Ed Leroy Rice's "Phenomenal Flayers," an old-timers act. Joe Browning was the other big act of the early morning show and shared with Gold- en the applause honors of the bill, Brown- ing having a sUgfat edge, if anything. Opening the bill were the Three Long- fields, acd their snappy and pleasing of- fering was well received by the early morn- ing customers, putting the loUca out .front m a good humor and startitig the bill off to a flying start. Wallm and Day. a man and woman had no trotible in the dence position. The girl is good-looldng and sings nicely and the man also handles him^tf well. Their "Side-by-eadh' song, for a finish is a good number. • Qn third were the Fbenomenal Flayers, a collection of old timers, three men and three woiaen, who do the things that broagiit' them fame in the Variety Halls durmg th<i "Good Old Days." In the act are Banks Winter singing "White Wings," M. H. Thompson, announcing and singing "When You and I Were Young_ Maggie," Paul Hamlin doing his millionaire'tramps Blanche Newcombe pving an impersona- tion of her father' singing "The Big Snii- flower," Maude Petty with a soft shoe danee using sand ai they used to do and Maggie McCIair with her great Irish char- acteruatioiL The act moves with sonips- mg speed for ah aggregation of this kind, and is handsomely dressed. Joe Browning, with his grin and wise cradcs, drew a hand on his entrance, kept the^IangUsg al} the way throng, and came close to stopping it at . the finun. It is suipi jsmg how Browning works in dif- ferent booses.' There is one house in New York where he b in bodily danger every time he puts in an appearance as the bunch on the shelf take his line as a personal affiront At the Broadway, they appreciate the litnnor of his bnrles^ne satire, trader- stand his line and sometimes bcathun to the •laugh. Wi« woilc must be ocdting. Bezazian and Whhe have a tastefully set act and are both fine artists. Bezazian. possessed of an excellent voice, sings off stage and makes his entrance through a vine-covered doorway for the opening, Miss White accompanying him on the piano. His voice is limited in range but of fine qtality. Miss White, besides play- ing the piano^ does a great comet solo, dmng one of the sinqile solos with varia- tions, her triple-tongtje work, more or less of a lost art, being exceptionally good. The duet of singer and comet is a charm- ing piece of work diamnnsly done and the vocal duet of "Solo Mia" for a finish gives the act the juup er touch for a finale. Lee and tSann, the college man and the rich man, worked -fast and got over well. The comediah, who claims to.be too rich to be intelligent, registers well with the ndicnce and the college man is the goat, playing his port naturally. One thing in particular that-must -fae rcomked about their act is the fact that when they do their seiies of parodies for a finish eadi of diese parodies is 'absolntdy dean. There is not a. 'Uue" gag in any of them, and. snrprisiitf as it may seem, the folks out freat enjoyed tbem, applasded them and langhed at them twice as much as if every line had been covered with smiit. Emie Golden and his band continued their snccess. Golden has again changed his routine, nsinjg "Pack Up Yoor Sins" with a hell-fire effect: "Dark Days" with a storm effect; "One Night in June" with a. water effect and dosing, as before, with "The Thief* changing his list of "steals." In spite of the'ostBl'Monday morning dif^ 'Gcolties the act' shows marked signs of impro veii i eiit and-is now right in the front rank. Walter MiantfK^.and Co.. and Pioto and Boyle were"not-<j^ti(3it at this diow. EIGHTYJTRST STREET Six unusually good acts of vaudeville' and Norma Talmadge in her latest cinema triumph, "Voices From the Minaret," shared honors on the new bill offered by. Manager Lewis at this house last Mon- day. It incorporated . practically every salient feature that goes to make a wdl balanced entertainment. Paul and Pauline, mixed team, opened the bill in a clever routine of acrotatics and balancing. They do most of their work on aerial rings and show a teeth grip that is a genuine thriller. Ruby Royce followed with a dancing single that showed _ practically everything that can be accomplished along the Imes of dancing. She.opened with a fast num- ber, followed with an impression of Mary Hay in one of her production dances and brought her offering to a dose with a "peppy" acrobatic eccentric Miss Royce has taken on considerable weight since her last appearance here, but even this Hoes not retard her nimble footwork. Grace Valentine and Company sounded the first comedy note of the evening in an entertaining comedietta, "Fourflush." Miss Valentine has the role of a mode', .'rom Lombardi's, who is masquerading as the fashionable Miss Pierpont. A supposedly wealthy youth has arranged a rendezvous with her in a private dming room of a fashionable hostelry. The first crack out of the Box the modd recognizes the French waiter as Jimmy, the singing waiter from a Bronx beer gardea Volstead and a teaser moustache has been' responsible for his present position. She bribes him to keep her secret The swell youth breezes in and they proceed 'with the din- ner. Molly Malone climbs otit of her shell of 'veneer and gives him the "low down" on her idemity and adds that she could not continue thdr association because of his social standing. Another break is made and she discovers the boy is also a four- Bush. It all ends with the trio on equal social standing and the. prcnnise of a ro- mance between the model and the stock broker's derk who had been masquerading luider the name of his boss. The piece has many ludicrous situations and some genuine breezy dialogue which Miss Valen- tine gets over in her inimitable style. B. C. Hilb'am, composer of "Buddies" and other musical plays, offered a piano- logue with the assistance of Jim Kilpat- rick. Hilliam opens with a selection "Caresses." Kilpatrick comes on and sings "Somewhere." They foltew with a duet, one singing "My Hero" and the other sing- ing a patter counter melody. Another novd feature was "What Was the Matter With Rachmaninoff," which jazzed up the prelude of that famous composer. Laura Pierpont has shelved her former vehicle, "The Guiding Star," for another protean novelty, "Women Who Pass in the Night" The playlet ^es Miss Pierpont an excellent opportunity to display her . talents as a character actress. The theme revolves around two chums who meet out- side a fashionable supper club. One has just married, the other has just been awarded his decree. Both begin sympa- thizing with each other. The married gent is of a mind that he plucked a quince in the love ^rden. He gives an id^ of the type of girl he should have married. Miss Pierpont parades by in the various types mentioned. First as the country girl with gold digging tendencies, then as the fash- ionable society dame who does so much clandestine lunching with other men that, she barely eats anything at home, and a' drug' fiend novelist. She later comes on as the 'wife which, of course, is the sweetest character of them all. The Cansinos closed the show in thdr familiar routine of Spanish danced which were elaborately moimted and gorgeously ' costumed. The ' dances, reflect the - fieiy spirit of the counby from whence these talented dancers originated and proved an artistic feature of the bill E.J. B.'. PALACE (Chicago) If ever there was a hundred per cent bill of vaudeville, not only from a viewpoint of entcrtainmenr; but' "names" as well, the Palace has it this week. Van and Sdienck, the headliners, are largely responsible for the S. R. O. sign being in evidence. May Wirth and Family, with Phil," were billed to appear, but owing to May's illness the family could not come to Chicago, and the act. dropped out Dainty Marie was called in .to replace th;m and held her spot very, nicdy. ' ■ ' ' ' The Three Mdvin Brothers start the proceedings with a routine of sensational gymnastic work, going over to a tremen- dous hit Gertrude Moody and. Mary Dun- can found the second spot easy to hold, and with their offering would probably find any other spot just as easy. They do very good harmony, and inject some comedy to good results. Ben Rubin and Charles Hall have a funny line of hokum and chatter and know how to sell it. The second edition of "The Little Pro- duction" was' offered by Bill Bailey and Lynn Cowan and Estelle Davis, with which they stopped the show cold. Bill Bailey can still pick his African harp in a manner which no one can ever equal,. and in a manner which everyone who plays a banjo would like to be able to equal. Lynn Cowan bounces here and there all over the stage, singing, playing piano, or saxo- phone, and is the very essence of ptp, while Estelle Davis draws gasps from the women in thdr admiration of her beautiful clothes, and gasps from the men in admira- tion of her b^utiful sdf, and applause from all with her saxophone playing. AU three work hard and make one of the most likeable acts in vaudeville. Dainty Marie followed with her aerial act and went over for a'Solid hit. Val and Emie Stanton offered "English as She Is Not Spoken," and as one man in the audience remarked, "I've seen them seven times and like wine they improve with age." These two "English Boys from America" put over their refined nonsense to a riot of laughs. Billy Arlington and Company appeared in "Mistakes Will Happen," which added tremendously to the fun of the program. Eleanor Arlington and I. Taylor and Joseph Ward give able assistance. Everyone was waiting for Van and Schenck, who delivered the goods perfectly, not one in the audience being disappointed in any expectations he may have had. Praise is unnecessary for these two, as everyone knows what they can do and they do it Sacha Piatov and Natalie closed with a routine of original dances, making a great finish to a dandy bill. G. J. H. STATEpLAKE (Chicago) A very good show is being played here this week, Jimmy Carr and his orchestra walking off with the applause and hit honors when reviewed, and Al. K. Hall and Company running a close second. Mascot, a tiainal pony, opens the show with a wonderful exhibition of intelligence, doing bits of arithmetic and spelling, in addition to other things which' scored heavily for an opening act- Charles Irwin holds the deuce spot dish- ing out songs and chatter ■'with his inimit- able style, and that slight Scotch brogue running all through his talk. William SuUy aiid (jenevieve Houghton were great for the third spot, and would have gone over even better were it not for a tendency on the part of Sully to speak his lines in too low a tone, and the rear part of the audience had to strain their hearing in order to catch what be was saying. His dance work is very good, and Miss Hough- ton, besides being a sweet thing to look at. is the possessor of an exceptionally good voice. Crafts and Haley, two likeable young ; chaps, made a fairly good impression with a line of talk and songs, ^hich they han- dled weU. The first show-stopper came with Jimmy Carr and his orchestra, who were com- pelled to render several encores before they were permitted to leave the suge. The act is dressed eff^tively, and some clever scenic bits are worked into the routine. The only real comedy on the bill was ' furnished by Al. K. Hall, who kept the audience in an uproar every minute be 'was' on. His company renders capable support The Rath Brothers closed the show with thdr famous "slow-motion" acrobatic work, and held all in to the last stunt. R. E. R. ENGLEWOOD (Cbicaso) The house started its second week of Orpheum vaudeville Sunday, with Rae Samuels headlining a bill that is composed mostly of acts that have been seen at the Palace and State-Lake theatres earlier in the season. Business was good Sunday and the total receipts of the first eight days apparently indicates success for the En- glewood in its new policy. Frances Parks and company opened the show with an dectrical display which is a splendid exhibition of the usual stunts, with comedy provided by the plants in the audience. The plants come forward as a committee and subsequently give the of- fering strong comedy value. The Minstrel Monarchs, the combination of talent of four veteran minstrel artists, entertained with their songs and old-time style of minstrelsy, which registers un- usually well plus the touch-of sentiment This act of old-timers went over several times better here than it did at the palace- some time ago. Jarvis and Harrison presented their com- edy to excellent advantage and kept up the pace which the previous acts on the bill had established. Rae Samuels sang her way into every heart and registered about the biggest hit that the house has known since it has known vaudeville. She came back time and time again and finally begged off, after displaying her radio gowns. Miss Sam- uels, being one of Chicago's own, is one of the most favorite of comediennes, going equally wdl at any house in the city. Senator Frauds Murphy delivered his burlesque political speech which is rich in timdy material, and kept the laughter at the maximum all the time he was on the stage. His material, in addition to being up to the minute, is wdl written and he knows how to get the most out of it. Daly, Mack and Daly, replacing Dainty Marie, aerialist. who was called to the Palace to substitute for May Wirth and company, dosed the'show with a roller skating number in which comedy is promi- nent They held thera in nicely. R. E. R. FAMOUS HEARINGS APRIL 6 Washington, Feb. 19.—The Federal Trade Commission will hold hearings to determine whether the Famous-Players Lasky Corporation is guilty of having en- tered into a conspiracy to monopolize the motion picture industry will be held on April 5. This announconent was made simultaneously with the issuance of an amended complaint agaiiut the organiza- tion. The original complaint against the Famous-Players, was issued on .'iugiist 31, 1921. Further investi^tions of the commission revealed additional evidence, which resulted in the issuing; of ah amended complaint The commission be- lieves that the new . evidence has strengthened its case.