Variety (Dec 1929)

52 VARIETY VAlflJE HOUSE REVIEWS Wedhesday, December 11/ Berlin VaudeyiDe vocal trio, reappear with Murray after their singing in the deuce, and go with the Murray booking. Bay, Ellis and lARue, adagio trio with eccentric dancing man filling wait without billing, were a Berlin, Nov. 23. Wintergarten—One of the best I a „ , ^. , ^ i bills this house has had for some strong No. 3 in their undersea.flash time. Headllner is Ilse Bols from first used in "Delmar's Revels.' cabaret and revues. Although a The class of this turn In produc little over the heads of the audi- tion and people places it above the ence, her parodies clicked. Ditto average run of group adaglolsts. for the Three Cressos, acrobatic act the growing pumber of which type Which appeals on Its nonchalance. 1 Is bound to cause extinction Others were: Paul Remos* aero batlc midgets; IrVin Sisters, danc- ing twins; Jenny Stelner, imitation of Josephine Baker; Fritz Klein, Dempsey closed, the first part after Billy and 'BJlsa Newell (New Acts) had contributed the first share of comedy. Dempsey's 12 trapeze performer; Alfred Latell, mlnlites are preceded by five mln clown dressed as a dog; Arcanb, lites of screen flashes of Ills past comic magician; Dunlo and JDag- ring work. Ex-champ's .reception nar, street singers: the "Woman was loud, long and repeated at the With the Mask," singer; the Two | finish. Cavalinis, clowns, and Prank Jack- aon, rope twirler. . ■ Skala —Powers'• Elepi>ants top] and though this: must be their Miss Ralston reopened In whdt Is the most effectively produced film star turn to be seen in vaude since the deluge began. Strong assist fourth engagemient vhere, the^audir | ance from ber pianist; Bruz Flet-* Cher, who sings througVv a micro- phone duHng: the star's - three changes. While Miss Balston's dancing Isn't quite \^^haf you'd call dancing, and while she's, obviously not overly talented on a stage, the I edge is her appearanice. Vaude ence still seems .to enjoy them. Whether they are atlU a draw is another question. Chinese acrobatic troupe of. Hai Tung, is oiie of the best to play here. Can easily do a return en- gagement. Following also got over: Bernhard Btte's dance band; D'An- Uiu^liences seldom see such a woman Jails, jugglers and. acrobiats; Paul iti short wardrobe, which Is one Gordon, wire wlalker; Julius Fuetst, thing in her favor besides her name, balance act; Ger^ldine and Joe, hpi^e looks and the name for $2,000. dancing children (or midgets);J Ken Murray is a fa;mlllar at the Tamara, trapezei Arthur Klein, Palace, but this Is his first trip as family, bicycles, and Karl Napp| a single act without unit, con- with his usustl gags. ' Plasea—Popular priced house Is I keeping its bills lip to' standard.! Particular fav<jtltes were ^Karl Ro- bacht's jazz band; . Karl Krenio, nectlons. His turn of seVen wallops all the way . with laughs and at ' the.~ Palace • seemed . to be the best this new comic has ever done in vaude- He is strongly: acrobats; Heros, strong man; Fred guppbrted by Milton and Helein Scarletti's flying apes; English Academy Girls,- dancing troupe Cabaret der Komikef-rClass house appeals , to the; cream of Berlin audiences. Patrons understand and appreciate Int^irhational acts who speak qply in French or Engrllsh. One of the headliners on the pres-< ent bill Is Margerita Gilbert> French parodist who, In her dlass, cohi- pares with Elsie Janls. Although She Imitated Sophie Tucker, Mis- Charleston, the song trio and an, unmentioned girl with blacked out teeth. . Sige. STATE LAKE (Vaudfilm) Chicago, Sept. 7. This week's show, with splendid talent, turned Into an awkward, ttnguett.'"chevairer''and""j^^^^^ Baker, only one of whom has been Poo^ fPotting.^ ^i^f.°i^™«J^rf,n^^^^ tji-. Berlin, the house ate It up. minutes, had no speed or pace until Big draw is undoubtedly the Ba- ' the last two turns varian comedian, Karl Valentin, who, with his wife, tlsl Karlstadt, Several Inexcusably lon.g orohes- I tral overtures to a silent stage, be- has a corking comedy sketch about l^i^" ^%L^''\Z'^±^^Ji^^^l a small town photographer, Willi Schaeffers and- Paul, Nikolas are conversation .for entertainment's sake from the stage to the audi neat as m. c.'s, while Emtoerleh e^^c® Gondor, Hungarian caricaturist and painter, and the Vienniese come- diahs, Charlotte Wal4orf and Herr- mann Leopold!, complete the show; PALACE (St. Vaude) Hard hitting and doubtlessly box office current bill, centering on Jack I)emp^ey, runs into money. The ex-champ's $&,500 is highest among Individual salaries in the combined $12,000 cost of the show. Two othef names, Esther Ralston and Ken Mtirray, are in for ?2,000 and $1,900 respectively, filllhs out a $10,400 trio. For the remaining five acts in encored In the third act. Layout was Chevalier Bros., acrb bats; Meredith and "Snoozer, Jr.,' dog act; Willie Solar; Pavley Oulc rainsky. ballet of 10 girls a,nd a man; Corinne Tllton, single come dienne, and Harry J. Conley and Co. With Conlejr third or fourth, and the ballet closing instead, show would have had twice as much vigor and value Chevalier brothers went big with their ■ tumbling - into hand-down stunts. "Snoozer, Jr." (man, girl; .dog and cat), pleased but too long. Light comedy by the dog went aptly, Solar, next, hit two encores with his Straight-faced jumbled songs, but proved no afct to precede the ballet. Miss Tilton, next to closing. the eight-act bill, around $1,500 left, with Bill and Elsa NeWell taking i 5 r»i. 1.-;:. i^^i,-^—♦4^«o ^rTA close to half. For the others, the ^"j' ^^^^^i^^+^f.^^i'i^^^w" li^^^^^ Palace salaries they accepted were h^o^^ "° ^^'^I?.''i?.*^twfi°n^^ witS accepted because it's the Palace. \f *='*"'®'^y7^°"!^?: "lL^°L^iJ,l^^ Dempsey drew an exceptional two men and Elris assisting, Saturday maOnee audience. AU Donley set them on fli^& for al^^^^^^ seats filled and 146 standing room f »«J""tes with his bashful rube admissions sold, Rear flooded with ^"^0™ the 145 footmen and probably as Business at flrst show, excellent, many cuffers. Even the bookers h^^t of the upper tiera on their teet Saturday mat. "Tinned Legs" (Radio) on screen. In buying Dempsey for $6,600 In • Loop. the veiT limited number of houses than can play him for that money, Keith's is also buying all of the natural publicity that accompanies I the magnetic pugilist wherever he goes and for whatever he does. Keith's press bureau couldn't buy In years what the boys on the dallies are handing out gratis this teeek. For tliat reason alone vaude' couldn't secure a more reliable hit- ALBEE, B'KLYN (Vaudfilm)' ^ Four acts this week, 'due to the length of the Waring's Penns band act. Even.so, the three, other turns appeared to have sliced off a bit of time to get the four shows, which are played each week-end, accord and-run freak than the Manassa l^ff to the schedule. Feature film man. With the newspapers letting "Painted Angel" (F.N,), and a flrst them know where he is, they're run but 68 minutes. Also Path€ bound to go. Dempsey is a plati num monicker for a fast one In any Vaude theatrb that can afford him, but Dempsey without the publicity wouldn't be worth a quarter. He Infers as much in one line in his stage skit, Dempsey's vaude billing, "most unique character In the blstory of boxing," was coihed by George Horace Lorimer,. big boss of the "Saturday Evening Post." WlHard Mack wrote his sketch, "'A Road- side Razz" (New Acts). House Is getting a break with thfe News (silent) was Cut to less than half. But three clips were sliown No talking newsreeL Vaude proved to be an all around pleaser. Played to -a sihall audience during the be iginning of the supper hour, but the house filled rapidly' toward cloiaing, Jean Garr, slim bfunet. with shapely gams, drew the ojpenlng curtain. After a bit. of tapology on a dancing mat brings on old couple aia paw and maw, Franklyn Ardell's "A. Swamp' skit, assisted by Sonya Swan,- land ed many a laugh but missed quite a iSvr money section, all of the acts few. Ardell's tongue was too glib sufflcjently strong to prevent -un balance, which could easily happen In a show that's so topheayy In the money line. Bill had pace from the start despite the grouping of the three names In one-itwo-three fashlonj^ ^Ith only Intermission sep for.the mob out front, and many air planed. Dizzy skit, auctioning ^fE lots, Ardell's old act. His persona^^l manner and natural delivery put it over nicely. • Moss and Frye In the trey had them doubling with their crossfire aratlhg Dempsey an3'^^ (b bS^ sliSayed'^S' and the lesser turns bunched at the close as possible for the week-end front. Standard novelties at both ends, the Lime Trio starting the bill ex- ceptionally well. Ford and Price, gbbd looking mixed team oh the tight wire, had the tough finish spot but held them fairly. That's an ^ , „ accompllshnient anywhere, but here chestra. Side hoke served vocally especially, since they followfed Mwr- and otherwise by Waring and vari fav'a complete tie-up of the works. oUs members of the band. Special . iroster, Fag^n and Cox, threo-man J ties of dancing helped diversify.. showing! .Nevertheless, no punch lost. Penhsylvanians, with Dorothy Lee big draw here and drew reception at opening. Waring's orchestral ar rahgements are, as iSver, much dif ferent than that of any other or RKO (Vaudfilm) Loa Angeles, Dec 6. With the bill opening yesterday (Thursday) the RKO again has a vaudfilm policy. Five Keith acts playing four times dally here will be the only big vaude available to tios Angeles, with the Orpheum in filinas. Since the Hlllstreet Junior Orpheuni became the RKO, It has been a film hou^e with stage pres- entations. Opening show- caught ran 186 minutes, with the screen down 97 minuteis, and the. stage section stretched eight minuties for encores taken by Brady and Wells and Mor^- ris and Campbell. Schedule under, three hours and could have eight xbinutes edited out of the sotuid news and trailers to advantage. Stepanbff and CoV (7) flash open- ing the vaude end with fast dances in the Rubs spirit. Costumes and setting, -bright, four numbers full stage an4 in '-one" during changes. A blon4e gal's jazz toe-sttdttlng just before flnale .Is best. For, comedy a waltz buirlesque by man' and woman In .costumes of the woodcut - period gets hieavy hilarity. Joe Keno and Rosie Green chas- ing each other breathless In the mldclle sppt click In a nonsense rou^ tine. The girl takes most of the falls. Both work ; so hard it's ob- vious. Burlesque cossack stuff at close goes well, Keno's "hey-hey" with the pit boys Infected the entire house last nighty Florence Brady.and Glllbert Wells/ with the same southern pop routine usbd at the. Orpheum here four weeks ago, slow warming up, but gbt under the skin and Into the en- cores, ■■ ■■. * Joe, Morris and. Flo Campbell moved over fropi the Orpheum, Ed-, die Borden taking' their ;^pot at Uie Broadway house for the ikst per- formances bf swan ;sbng jveek. Mor- ris and Campbell's song and chatter go to 21 minutes> with a juvenile in kid qlbthes and another feolime help-, ing carry a, thread bf ^itory. Plentjf ( long: enough wlthqut. permitting an additional: three zninutea voluntary encoflng.as last, night. Ed Sawyer and Ruth Eddy close with Drdinary trapeze balancing, novelty being the man's weight. Their accompanying jpatter is a good Idea biit poor material. Film feature Is "Her Private Afr fair" (Pathe). Sound badly-matched opening, night, voice pitches altering from close-ups to'foreground shots, House has requisitioned a better print. Work . of Improving the RKO'S accoi^stlcB' continues, celu texlhg the waila now under way. A sound cartoon drawing laughs for sl:iC ntlnutes, eight clips of Pathe sound .news, and seven nilnutes' trailer ballyhoo on. the screen end The RKOllans in the pit. another man but without the band for an especially staged Apache. Acted out well, with two murders. Al Herman In next-to-closing just around supper time Saturday, and an easy way to Identify his stuff is to call, it Al-Herman-Playing-Sup- per-Show, Much talk with the audi-- ence, seeing that each newcomer was seated properly, and even one of those Herman confid^ntials about tills being the. show where nobody does anything much. When Herman walked off he had done 16 minutes of straight for an unconsclbusly comic crowd. Ah example of a good vaude single killing time effec- tively; applause for the blackface' veteran was hearty. Stooge in the box for a ballad finish, as^sual. Six Molays, Arab tumbling troupe, closed with five minutes of fast work"and hit... (New Acts.) "Saturday Night Kid" (Par), fea- ture in Keith met houses currently. Trade here Saturday good. Baiig, JEFFERSON (Vaudfilm) On 14th street, where a guy will demand his nickel back on a half eaten hamburger sandwich, shows must be entertaining or the theatre will have tb advertise Itself as an excellent site for a garage. Va,ude bills at the Jefferson, downtown, and the Hippodrome, uptown, compare this week as filet mlghon and biut- wurst. Fourteenth street gets what it wants. So may the Hip customers, eventually. • Opening the Jeffs good first half collection was Amao, illusionist. Using three large replicas of playing cards and a woman for a version of three-card monte, Amoc fooled 14th street every time in Its attempts to guess behind which card the woman was hiding. Cards were hanging on a wood frame, with the woman standing 'on stools behind them. All props apparently visible. Only change this English illusionist has made since coming over several y$ars»ag0 is elimination of his .offer Of $1,000 to anyone whb can tell how he does it. Lewis and Winthrop played the deuce with an assortment of Some times original hoofing. Boys have a nice little act. Third was Billy Maine and Co., tab comib with, sketdlilh which he Visits his gal at school, and fakes as'a visiting count after she throws him down be.cause he looks terrible. Real count Shows up latejp for complications. Maine, supported by tw'o girls and two men IS' a. snappy, miniature comic of especial appeal to those just this side of big time likings. Some danc ing and a song during the comedy. Primrose Semoh^ who starts her special series of songs with a ditty about redheads being hot and peppy stulf, lives up tb the idea. Good women singles are scarce, and Miss Primrose who until recently. had never appeared alone, is within the category. Honest effort which has been put into her numbers is typl fied in the finish bit—her Imperson atlon of that famous myth: Al Jol son'r "Mttfhffi2r.''^Aii^Kaiis are open tb this little redhead. O'Hanlon and Zambllni, lEuropean dance team In .full stage with an eight-piece South American orches- tra and a black-haired song and dance girl, were cinch clickers. Or chestra la away from the conven tlonal vaude string outfit, giving body to its music with two accord ions and a drum. Billed team are before the band in a tango and adagio waltz, then in full stage with 86tH ST. (Vaudfilm) Shbw stronger than usual for Keith neighborhoods in this class, with five act? leaning heavily to- ward coxnedy. Any one of the. three acts under this head Is capable of holding n6xt to closing Ih most split weeks of the better class around here. Screen punch "Saturday Night Kid" (Par). Glenn and Jenkins,, closing the show- here,, something unusual for a turn of its. kind. Twain recently bCE a Publiit tour, and how have a young colored man wbrking straight to do a ntuslcal number. Most bf the original 'material retf^hed by the pair, but some, of the b^sf act ever had cut out;. Considering .po- sltibh, ' which ,:must have . seemed sti'ange to the team, tuim got-across Strong/ i Waiman aiid- Debs at other ex- treme end. ' It has" comedy though played down and Is In full stage, indicating bookers' are pretty gen- erally sticking to offerings ift full stage outside the "dumb" category for openers Qf bills. Waiman's on ^2 minutes and did a little' better than fair,, this hot being bad- in view of the minox'lfy of hands in the audience," with house less than half filled when first mat opened at 2:27. By end. of show - theatre had filled to only .a measure beyond half. Apparently holiday shopping on Saturday afternoon. Johnny Hyman No. 2 and satis- factory in his."Playing Pranks with. Webster.'' Using a prop dictionary in which the pages are blackboards, Hyman works for laughs through combinations of letters and words that are lined up as though re- sults of puzzles, with cuts made to reveal "angles," gags, etc. -Wliile k. for spot here, the Hyman sin- gle would be- weak farther down the bill in the better class stands. Four Diamonds in their dancing and comedy turn did. as. well' here as anywhere else. Act little slower than usual in getting audience to warm up, but toward the last over strong. That funny bedroom sketch, "The Nagger," with Jack Norwbrth and Dorothy Adelphi, assigned the next to closing spot. "Nagger" is ideal for neighborhoods like the. 86th Street. iBntire vaude, 86 minutes. Organ number by Jim Thomas, a conie-on billed as "Come In and Sing." Proctor's R-K-Olians, as pit band here is known, with Samuel Heg- gan conducting, doing pleasing overture. . Pathe Sound News only film filler. Char. PALACE ' (SL Vaude) Chicago, Dec. 7. Like old times at this house this week, with business excellent and vaude entertaining all the way. a. lot of Impromptu clowning, but the audience' here ate It up. ... Duncan Sisters "were the draw with Jack Benny sub-billed, Th^ Duncans, In for - two weeks, have aii act which they evidently slapped together on the train, but it never misses^ The girls do plenty of ad libbing but over every time on showmanship.. They sell their fongs and a snatch of melodrama, burlesque. No Topsy stuff, although "Topigy!' makes the most of "I Gotta Cold In My Head." The melodrama bit Is from their picture and could be omitted. They clbse with the burlesque on the quartef from "Rlg- bletto." Carelessness in the act and a fihloky person could find fault, but these gals never miss pleasing local audience. The eye^flllers were Sehbrlta Al, canlz and Co,» who opened. Some excellont Spanish dance and song bits, done in a pretty, set, and over bigger than one would expect from such a quiet act In an opener. Nashi and Fatelyr'next, and rather weak.. Get their latighs principally from the differences In sizes, although the femnae ahows sparks of clown- ing. ; The belly laughs go. to Will and Joe Mandel, a near riot, with their comedy tumbllngi, Owen McGlve- ney, fbiirtb, again b^com^s .good vaude by the simple process of re- Veallhg - how he does . Ws . quick change • stunts. The skit Itself, as always, remains, uhintelllgible for the ipost part; but since the quick change Is the meat of the. act, no- body worries about that,.. , '.. Duncans opened intermission, fol- lowed by Jack Benny, who . is this week with Dan Russo band,. fron» the pit to the stage. Benny is not a smash comedian but always en- tertaining, and with the band held the large mob in this afternoon to the last curtain. Loop. FOX, B'KLYN (Vaudfilm) Co-ordinating the yaude Sliow with stage band and house gals still obtains here with- shows woven Into units topped off with a Fahchbn and Marco Idea. Current layout is a corker. Mel Klee, .blackface ccmlc, is m.c, and spots his vaude monolog in be- tween. Klee kept the mob tickled with Ills wisecrack introductories and provided additional mirth with his supposedly inside stuff bh the surrounding'bill. Ann. . Blackstone clicked hea'vy with songs and doubled with Klee for additional buffonery. The gal ensemble got their In ning In next spot tor "The Break way" sung and led by Gypsy Byrne, worked up well as to ryhthmlc hoof- ing and stage picture effects with the F. & M. group backing the house mob. Will Osborne, radio crooner and given feature billing here, satisfied with Herbert Diamond Entertainers backing him for the several niim bers he croons Into a "mike". on stage and amplified throughout the house. Osborne's popularity was manifest by the hand he^ received bh""iHtlSoducf ory ~ ahd"the""mbre" pr^^ longed palm slamming oh' getaway •^'Contrasts," mixed sextet of old timers followed and mopped with singing and dancing, hopping around like Juveniles and Ingenues despite their years. The old timers paved the Way for the usual classy F, & M. back up with everybody on for a fast finale that sent the show over with a bang. Good layout all the way. "Nix on Dames" (Fox) on screen. Edia. VICTORIA (Vaudfilm) Up Harlem I way they're already' ushering in bid man danta. Spangled borders, all lit up, stretch across l25th street where this Loew house is hemmed In between a bur- lesk spot and a straight grind. It's Broadway of the black b^lt, this sector. Bright lights, department stores, radios howlingj colored kids asking for tips from wayfarers Who chance to drop off In a taxi: medley of animation all around. Monday night a pretty vociferous mob was: not at all bashful In opln- lonating on the merits bf the show. "Why Bring That Up" (Par) got an even break. At least there were just as many applauding the finish of the picture as those who sat on their hands, Newsreel had five shots from Metrbtone. Four clips from International were silent. Evi- dently mixing 'em hbt so strong here. ; And then the .vaiide. Busang and Fox, mixed team of rings and trapeze workers, just got by. Could haVe done better by dropping the chatter. Kapp and Tish, youthful comedy couple, held the next spot nicely. .Kapp, former west coast m. c, totes a pretty hot cornet around a blaze of questions and answers, with the girl a neat little foil and there on looks. Ma- terial sounded pretty bright, except for a couple of "hells." Swift, McWilliams and Co. (New Acts) fared well with comedy and interspersed song and dance from a sister team. Faber and Wales, mixed combo, added more laughs in next to shut. Hackneyed dialog in this turn went like new here, so okay. But there's a lot of off color stuff in the act that's unnecessary and anyway team looks smart enough to handle better material. Hughle Clark and band, with Syl- via Rich, niade It a nifty closer. Clark's opening number, the old (Jerman band bit, went strong with the natives. Biz fair. Span. LINCOLN SQ. (Vaudfilm) Packed five deep for the second afteirnoon show Saturday. AH hoke- comedy - knockabout show. They love rough hoke here, and Loew'a feeds it in large, ■uproarious quanti- ties. Jess Libonotl, Bobble Carbom, Gertrude and Eleanor Bond, Penny* Rego and Gold and Katie Pullman and Charles Calvert's revue, last named taking up 50 minutes. Analyzed what the bill amounted was a novelty single musical opener to get a. start and then liberal 'el6whlngiaha"Rn^bcTtabbut,""wlth"^e^ soning bf specialty dancing and a flash for the flnish. All workable vaudeville for the class of the house, which is the kind that begins to laugh before the ccAilcs spring the gag, and nobody f urtlier away than H row hears much. Libonoti's xylophone has pendant gongs like bamboo chimes and an amplifier throwing the sound out. Quiet but good start in a pop. Then opening bars of "William Tell" (here