Inside facts of stage and screen (May 23, 1931)

Saturday, May 23, 1931 INSIDE FACTS OF STAGE AND SCREEN Page Fiv# ^^sittin; in with the publw much superior to the average run of this line of entertainment. Ed- die Cantor, Fannie Brice, Maurice Chevalier and Helen Morgan were among her imitations, and each waa done with keen understand- ing of how to portray the essen- tial characteristics of the subject. She worked hard, kept up a good tempo and was rewarded with plenty of applause and enthusiasm. Three Jacks and a Queen (Jack Starnes, John Roper, Paul Tag- gart and Helen de Forest), of- fered a four-people acrobatic adagio turn that involved sensa- tional looking stunts. The act was set against a black eye with two of the men and the girl dressed in white and the fourth member of the team in.isible in complete black covering, which gave an ef- fect of the girl flying off into space and remaining poised in mid-air on the tricks. A smoothly worked-out illusion that got good results. Lee Wilmot and Ralph Peters delivered their comedy lines to laughs every time. Wilmot scored tions), is heavily featured in one istic setting was the big flash of of the flashiest offerings seen at the concert the Paramount for several weeks. Joaquin *Garay sang -Why But a heavy share of the stellar cu^„i tom j ° " , . ^"y honors go to a vivacious song- ^^^^^^'^ stress, Lorraine Tumler, singing T l^v o - .v, opposite Askam. In solos and du- i oung Smners held the screen ets she displayed a well-trained ^"^ business pretty good, voice, and such as is seldom heard —BOCK. here in picture house presenta- ' tions or musical road shows from FOX GRAND LAKE the East. Working with ease and Oakland poise and handling herself like a (Reviewed May 18) veteran Scandals prima donna, her * , striking looks and radiant person- , A Plenty hot and sweet show ality hit hard with the entire ^^^^ ^^^^^ o^^y and Jack house. She is the classiest bit of bonders giving a good account of starring material seen at this spot "^"^solf as m.c. over Peggy for some time. CNeill's stage show. Show started Askam, with his fine baritone, ^^^^^ ^^^^^ Karlin doing "When I stopped proceedings cold way intop^^^ Sugar to Tea," backed the picture at the close of the act. ^^"^ ^^^^^ Souders pre- And this with a house that was far h?"^^^ violinist, Millard Mar- from being packed to capacity. bowed **Caprice Ven- His reception on the "Riff Song'M ^^^^^7 ^ ^^^^ hand, and "Blue Heaven" proved that Tolman and Davis, cowboys, vocally he ranks easily among the ^o"o^vcd with hillbilly stuff and most notable baritones on the r^^^ Then came Scotty Wes- Coast. Wearing a red costume dancing gob, who contrib- similar to that worn in "The Des- ^^^^^ ^ ^^^^ ^^^^ number with the heavily with a punchy eccentric, ert Song," he made an effective ^"'^"^ ^ ^^^^ drum dance, routine that he put over in his appearance in a set representing -Davey, juggler, next, and over own strongly rhythmic style. There the French legation grounds in T^^^'^y ^'^^^ although on too long is a wallop in his stepping that Algiers. with some not-too-carefully select- never fails to click in any setting The supporting company inclu- chatter. Souders did well as in any house. Ralph Peters' spe- ded a male chorus and the Para- assistant. cialty was notable for speed and mount Debutantes on for theL, Souders and the band put over clean-cut performance that was a opening, and Edna and Johnny "^ Surrender" with the m. c. fea- please to the eye. Both boys pan- Torrance, whose aero waltz was a i^^a^ trombone solo, icked the matinee customers with a nifty piece of staging. A solo Then came Don Smith who their burlesque on iLathleen Kay's from the fem unfurled a mighty P^^^^^ tenormg a flock of semi- graceful Hawaiian dance. This neat floor routine which included h^^^^^^^'^'^^"^^^^^^J'^S ^^^^ girl led other numbers in a pleas- a complete front-to-back turnover P^^" Calling Me." ing and dainty style. from the floor, finishing with a ^^^^^ ^^^^ organed his usual Kirk and Lawrence, mixed team, back over that deservedly brought community sing. Picture was appeared as a pair of roping cow the heaviest hand of the evening. *'Never the [^wam Shall Meet" and hands astride prop steeds and got The girl is a natural for any class ^"^^^^^^ ^"^^^ good, every bit of comedy out of their presentation or musical. Para- —HAL. offering with expert showmanship, mount Debutantes were not quite Smart performers who know how up to their usual form in the cur- RIVOLIE THEATRE to build for laughs and where to rent offering. Denver, Colo. spot them most advantageously, Oscar Baum's orchestral offer- (Reviewed May 14) their offering added another hit to ing from the pit, "The Melting ^ i r,. the show. Flash finale with the Pot," is in line for praise. A med- ^^1^^/^ unsuccessful lljng fit girls as flowers in a garden set ley of national tunes put over inh drama policy, I-rank Mil- and Wilmot and Peters literally solo form by various members oil^^J^ .^l^S^ musical com- done up like pansies, made a clicko the band clicked solidly. Two n^^' ^^^^ ^ closing. men in the string section did ah^^^^T ^7^^ of offering a nine- Lou Kosloff got his usual big darb of a good job with "La Pa- P^^^^ ^'^^^ Buster reception on his violin specialty loma," the drummer pulled a big M^^'^^^^. ^ ^V-^ . , and the overture which was made hand and a big share of laughs Opening had line of nine girls up of two contrasting numbers, with a Scotch bagpipe number, the working before band. Girls are One was a "Study in Classics'' and cornet got strong returns on "0 P^'^^^^' well trained and offered the other a hot rendition of "Tie a Sole Mio/' and the third fiddler several neat routines that showed Little String Around Your Fin- did a hebe bit that included nice nP^"^^.- ^ , ger," in which six of the boys string work of virtuoso order and Bernice Gailey, new subrette stepped out on a runway buUt comedy effects. A German band Possessing plenty of charm and around the pit, tossing souvenir number and "Stars and stripes" Personality scored with a snappy strings to the house in best chorus as a piccolo specialty brought the song and dance, girl -tvie. overture to a flashy finish that Several good clean bits were was particularly well received worked in here and there, the FOX EL CAPITAN Baum's aggregation contains J materml jind handling leaving rio San Francirc? \^'^^^ team that is just about theh^'"Pla^'^t> /^^^ "^•fjJ''Tl ^""^ meviewra M.V 19^ ^^^^ West, and the custom- went over fine with the folks. ^Reviewed May 19) I ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ \ a new member of the Riviolie More than the usual quota of for this man's splendid musical M^ify^^'s, Jack Keating, put over specialty acts served to give this offerings. "Down by the Navy Yard, ' his Pfi&gry O'Neill show a variety of 1 hoofing going over big. entertainment. Jay Brower, that p(-|v Ray Bacon, trick pianist, play- master of the baton and type- . . I ed several numbers in various po- writer, officiated. S*** Francisco sitions, ending with a blind fold Brower and band had a duo of (Reviewed May 15) number that left you wondering numbers, the first a medley of "Thirty Minutes on Broadway" ^ow it's done, river tunes featuring Lou Shaff, l^r^ Pj.in2 called his current L Fanchon Milton, always a bi Lowell Hawk, Pic Smith, Henry which i^ minnn^oH fJ^^^onte here, came on for a song, Buettner and Bob Kimic and spot- f ^^'^^ supposed to j^^^fj^g a nifty military tap rou- lighting ''River Ste. Marie." Sec- ^^^^ contained some of the stuff ^^^^ excellent returns, end was a hoked up version of New York next sea- Keating and Hunter stopped w.k. classics and drew heavy son for Carroll and Ziegfeld. Fea- the show with a comedy song laughs. tured were Callahan and Jackson, number, hoofing to a flock of en- Giddy and Giddy, in hand bal- Harry and Frances Usher and the cores. These two lads are plen- ancing, pulled good applause. Abe G Sisters. ty funny and had them rolling Bloom, in his second week, sang Cute talking opening by the 24 in their seats. *'You Don't^^eed Glasses," work- gajg brought on the Sisters G who I Buster Graves handled the m.c. ing^with Af^iinda Smith and the L^e^t through one of their dances, duties^ in fine^style, with Keat- %'iice Hamilton copped a lot of ^^^^'^f '^}'^''^ P.^^^^ Callahan and the show honors with her old lady P^^^^ Jackson did the same line of character, which she sold to a ^^^fs they did there almost a year fare-ye-well. Four sailors followed a^o in Prinz' *'New Yorkers" Idea with several harmony numbers. for Fanchon and Marco. Pretty Finale featured *'Moonlight broad-minded material, especially Made a Lover Out of Me" sung the egg hit, which should have by Marceline Emory, followed by been eliminated. Bloom chanting "''Wabash Moon" ^ - n i .i . while Cotta and Esmerelda danced. ? ^^P^^ ^^"^^ ^^^^ Mel Hertz was at the organ for p^^*^ brought out the G s and then his community song workout. Pic- another drop to one where Harry ture was Will Rogers in "Con- and Frances Usher did their mind man Thomas quintette. Flemings opened the opry with their sensa- tional aerial work that drew them heavy applause. Baker, Dove and Allen followed with Indian club juggling, inter- spersed with some fair comedv stuff. ^ John Sully and Muriel Thomas took care of the show's comedy with their gags doing a good job of the entire affair. Norman Thomas quintette, col- ored, closed, and did it with a bang, the eccentric drumming of Freddie Crump providing a high- light of the show. — HAL. Vaudeville nnriH ut Yankee." BOCK. PARAMOUNT THEATRE Los Angeles (Reviewed May 21) Perry Askam> star of the "Des- I overture titled **Golden West" ert Song," Paris in Spring*' and in which he did a medley of tunes New Moon" (Pacific Coast produc-| arranged by Earl Sharp. Modern- reading act that was plenty smart and drew the applause. Girls on in aviatrix outfits to work into a finale that concluded what was only a fair show. Walt Roesner's contribution was ing, George Hunter, Onie Lea, Fanchon Milton and Miss Gailey handling the bits flawlessly. A fine show. This type of en- tertainment should prove quite successful in this house. —DUSTY. FOX OAKLAND Oakland (Reviewed May 18) Par's "City Streets" held this house up to fairly good biz while F. and M.'s *'Varieties" unit and Jan Rubini, in concert, supported. Rubini did outstanding movie themies of the past year for the overture doing it nicely, although the organ was a bit too heavy for the remainder of the orchestra. On stage were four acts: Aerial Flemings, Baker, Dove and Allen, Sully and Thomas and the Nor- GOLDEN GATE THEATRE San Francisco (Reviewed May 18) This week's .show at the RKO mint is the best balanced bill to be presented at this money house in many moons. Weaver Bros, and Elviry were the attraction and they more than jammed them in—and what a performance. With all due credit to the handsaw boys from Arkansas, other acts on the bill should come in for their share of the back-slapping. Bill opened with Mantell's Man- ikins, a standard act that has played everything all over the world. Mantell has a new act with many new novelties. Got the show away to a good start. Tyler and Saint Claire were next in a xylophone turn that pleas- ed. Leo Mason and Sonny fol- lowed with a different kind of "female" impersonation. Miss Ma- son could have taken an encore with her "She's a Man" idea. James Evans, who does more with his feet than most people can do with their hands has one of the best acts of its kind in vaude to- day. This man is a wizard and his finish shows that something can be new when brains are used. Three Silvers, unison dancing boys, took an encore. Very good routine of the variety of King, King and King. Two nifty look- ing girls and a boy that is long on personality, Donavon Girls and Bishop, were there a million ways with some very close novelty har- mony a la 1^ e 11 e r Sisters and LjTich. Hard to tell which is the better act. They could have taken a couple more bows and possi- bly an encore. Good showman- ship was shown by this trio in not milking. Next tame that funfest of the Arkansas hills. Weaver Bros, and Elviry. This act was divided into two stanzas, one of them divided with the home folks. Elviry was a show stopper, and Cicero clown- ed in his usual gawkish way to garner many laughs. And that Cicero boy is one of the best hoke musicians on the stage to- day. Abner acted as m.c. and introduced all the home folks and Elviry's chorus of sap femmes. This part of the act was a show stopper. The rube band and the specialties they presented were also applauded plenty. All in all, by and such, the Weavers and their clever gal, together with that bunch of goofy home-town- ers, can always be a welcome guest in any theatre in the world. We saw them twice tonight. The picture was "Hellbound" with Leo Carillo. Carillo is pop- ular and a draw here, Claude Sweeten's RKOlians did their duty in the pit in their usual fine way. —BOCK. carrying the laugh end to good re- turns, Homer Romaine, aerialist whose single would stand out on any bill, and Marve Jensen, cla.^- hoofer, also a single, are tli. bright spots on the line-up. Two harmony actfc, one a trio u fems, the other six male vocal- izers, a two-people comedy turn and a ring act for an opener, make up the rest of the bill. Al Erickson's overture was cut to a minimum at the performance re- viewed, and Charles Beynon's customary song specialty in this spot was missed in the current bill. Dave Apollon wa sin the closing spot, carrying an aggregation of seven mandolin and guitar play- ing Filipinos wno know their strings, Danzi Goodell, hooferette and warbler, and a dance team, Agnes and Adeline, who worked together very smartly in a nifty toe routine. Apollon, in addition to crossfire talk with his boys, a funny line of m. c.-ing, and ac- cordion and guitar playing, gave the act a wow finish with flashy hock stepping and fast pirouettes. Homer Romaine does his act without benefit of musical support. He worked in a neat-looking set painted with figures of oversize elephants, making him look very small and l.uman and daring in his routine of clever flying trapeze and ring .stunts. His gags are well worked into the act and spotted with a good sense of showman- ship. Marve Jensen got good results with tap routines, single, double, and triple time in a rhythm num- ber stood out as a classy bit of stepping. A novelty number, combining balance, taps and origi- nality, was performed on a stand that looked like a sawhorse gone stage-struck. Very nifty. Joe May and Dotty, in next to closing, wisecracked to fair re- turns. Some of their material is too old to be dragged out at this late time. Then, again, every so often they pulled a bright new gag that filled the house with glee. Both have pleasant personalities and make an excellent impression on appearance. Snell and Vernon opened with a man and wor^ an ring act in a rus- tic setting. Tricks were good, but not routined to set them off to their best advantage. Major, Sharp and Minor, fem harraoni.sts, were decorative, with red, blonde and brunette types well con- trasted. Songs were prettily blend- ed, but of no especial distinction, with the exception of the blonde's deep blue voice in **Song of the Fool," The Rangers, six male har- monists, had a mediocre line of numbers pleasantly sung. Legitimate RKO HILLSTREET Los Angeles (Reviewed May 21) A few acts this week that really look and sound like vaude shine out eflfectively in contrast to the rest of the turns that are more or less okay on individual numbers but don't stack up so well on form or presentation. Dave Apollon and his International Revue, mu- sic and dance flash with Apollon FERRIER S FRENCH San Francisco (Reviewed May 19) Ferrier's is the only theatre in San PYancisco producing plays en- tirely in French. It's run in con- nection with Andre Ferrier's French school, the work being done by students and patrons. M. and Mme. Ferrier direct, act and produce, and their little art center is immensely popular in the col- ony. They're in their tenth year. House, seating about 200, is in the basement of the Ferrier home, and is done in modernistic des'^ Admission is $1 and most scat sales seasonal. Current offering is **L' Arle- sienne," a lovely musical drama done by Alphonse Daudet, and is staged in a remarkable manner for so small a stage. The acting of Ronald Telfer, guest artist, is fine. Mme. Ferrier plays her part to perfection and Ferrier inter- prets Daudet to the nth degree. The play is long and difficult bui so cleverly produced that the au dience doesn't feel its length. Others taking parts are Charle.- Fallon, France L'Hermita, Priscill;. Ferrv, Helene Labrit, Rene Bor loz, Charles Resler, Francis Fer (Continued on Page 8) Featured Singer With 1 omorro w s otars Idea D orothy ^elch At Pantages Theatre Hollywood All This Week