Motion Picture Herald (Apr-Jun 1931)

April 11, 19 3 1 MOTION PICTURE HERALD 49 MUSIC AND TALENT NEW F. & M. PRODUCTION STUDIO ENTRENCHES STAGE ENTERTAINMENT New York Paramount Week ending April 9 The Boris Petrotf stageshow, "Carnival of Youth," featuring Charlie Davis and His Joy Gang opens to a spring-time setting in which the band, led by Davis, plays a hot number as little Tommy Wonder does a mean strut routine. Tommy incorporates solits, strut and snake-hips in this new dance of his and gets a good reception for it. His encore consisted of his well known waltz routine which he does with a girl dummy tied to each foot. Davis and his band of 15 musicians and showmen follow with the playing of "Reaching for the Moon" and "99 Out of 100." Davis proves himself a great leader, a personable and likeable chap and above all he and his boys are versatile. They earned the best applause of the show. A difTerent type of announcement, a singing introduction of Anna Chang, was next made by Davis, who led the band in Chinese music as Anna entered through a bower or arch of flowers. She appeared as a demure little girl in pajama costume, and then surprised the audience by singing, "When You Fall in Love," in a rnost pleasing blues voice. She received a fine reception. Charlie Hill, comedian, pianist and monologist, had the house boisterously laughing at his funny psychology on the origin of songs. He demonstrated and proved himself right to the amazement and plej.sure of the audience. Dub Taylor, harmonist, came in at the finish of Hill's act. Bernice and Emily, two young, good looking and hard working girls, received a great reception at the finish of their act of acrobatic dancing which they did mainly on a flight of stairs. The Allen Foster Girls do a "drum and tap" routine for the finale. The show caught was but half of the regular time for this unit. It was cut on account of the length of the feature picture, "Skippy." The house was packed and the audience apparently enjoyed the entire show. Paramount Names Kalcheim Head of Artists Booking Nat Kalcheim, formerly with the William ^lorris office, has been appointed head of the artists booking office of Paramount, replacing Earl Sanders, who died recently. Kalcheim was with RKO in Chicago before going with the Morris organization. King Back in Oakland Oakland, Cal. — Hermie King, former m.c. at the Paramount Seattle, has returned to the Fox-Oakland here. Anne Lee Anderson^ 35 cjfjgj playing Units of Fox Affiliate Quite the newest thing in theatre circles for the stale of Oklahoma, and as far as can be learned, in the entire Southwest, is the new mistress of ceremonies for the Warner theatre in Oklahoma City. The young woman is none other than the diminutive little blonde. Anne Lee Anderson, 18 years old, of Memphis, Tenn. Several weeks ago Manager J. F. Schoeppel decided to augment his RKO vaudeville programs each week with local talent. Miss Anderson, who had done similar work at the Warner's Liberty, was called in. Now in her pleasing Southern dialect she calls the numbers on the RKO bill, ballyhooing for the various actors and prepares the audience for the local talent number. She had not done public stage work before coming to Oklahoma City. During Easter week she had a life-long ambition realized when she was featured on the vaudeville bill in Southern melodies and special dance numbers. Boston and Seattle Organists Visit Noonday Club, N. Y. C. Ann Coffyn, organist at the Egleston theatre, Boston, visited New York last week for one of her short and snappy sojourns. While dining at Harry (Pop) Blair's Noonday Club she was introduced to Stan Cannon, erstwhile organist at the Paramount and Fox theatres, Seattle. Cannon is in town awaiting a new assignment. Plant on West Coast Has Floor Space of 50,000 Square Feet; 250 Employes By ED DAWSON Are talking pictures driving the stageshow into the discard? You heard a lot about it in 1929, less in 1930, and this yearCompletion of one of the largest studios devoted exclusively to stage production. And in Hollywood of all places 1 Throwing this defy at talkerdom are a sister and brother, Fanchon & Marco, who 12 years ago were a dancing act in vaudeville. Today they head a great organization affiliated with Fox Theatres Corporation employing 2,000 performers, producing vaudeville and unit presentations in 36 cities — a new act almost every week. Two years ago, when the talkies waxed so strong in the song-and-dance field that it looked as if the stage unit was doomed, Fanchon & Marco booked only 22 weeks. Because Fanchon & Marco believe the public fancy is veering back to live performers, this large stage studio has become a fact. Fifty thousand square feet of floor space are occupied by the studio: seven large buildings with a st.iff of 250 persons. In the new home an "Idea" can be conceived, cast, rehearsed and made ready for its nation-wide tour without any member of the production staff leaving the buildings. The month of rehearsal in the great rehearsal halls is interspersed with trips to the costume department. Costumes were designed and ordered weeks before the troup was engaged, and the garments rnust be fitted to the various troupers. A whole section of the Hollywood Fanchon & Marco "home" is devoted to seamstresses who make and fit the gorgeous costumes of an "Idea." The limitations imposed on garments by the demands of convention are lifted here. Gowns such as madame might not conceive are shaped in the deft fingers of the corps of dressmakers. Extravaganzas of what every woman would like to wear cover the tables of this extraordinary workshop. And there are crazy garments made in this place, too. Calico cows . . . skeleton costumes for chorus numbers . . . anything which has been ordered as a garment for part of an "Idea" i<; made here. The scenery and drop department is doing its own variety of stuf¥ while the acts are in rehearsal. In huge lofts skilled workmen are building, and painting, using tiny models from the designers as their patterns. White canvas becomes a_ vehicle for a trip into the lands of fancy. Skies are bluer, lakes deeper, mountain crags craggier . . . the world's wonders more UNIFORMS FOR HOUSE ATTACHES COSTUMES FOR STAGE PRESENTATIONS BROOKS 1^ B'way N. Y. City