Variety (Dec 1929)

VARIETY FILM H@USE Jflednesdzyy December 11^ .192$ PARAMOUNT (PAR(S) (Presentation) Paris, Nov. 23, . • Discounting that this was the sec- ond anniversary program, a house review of the Paramount may be important to American distributor^ theatre operators whp ai-e, or! may bo, planning new theatres on the grand boulevards. The |Paramount is a great house to cue from. It's a Parisian coun- terpart of a true sample of Publix service, and malce believe the na- tives don't go for it in a blfif French way. If noticing else, aside from the quantity and quality of the pro- gram, the natives liave nothing, on the legendary Scotch for joiickel- nursing. So when they miist give Up the regulation SO-centinies or bne-franc (latter sciale for "Ameri- cans arid British esijecially) to be seated, or pay two and tbree francs for their programs, it was a cinch they'd welcome a theatre where the tipping thing Is absolutely out. Even to the tourist it's a relief to come into a theatre manned by efficient two-digit aisle and seat guides; to recline in a comfortable chair, note the absence of the "strapped-ons" (the supplementary aisle seats which the chiseling tlie- atre operators foist oh" the public); be greeted with marily, military- trained, uniformed barkers 6E the approved six-foot height and. with It, get a stage program that's the greatest value of its kind in Paris. Is the Paramount cleaning up? It Is. There's a mob outside this house' any evening or any Saturday and SundaJ- afternoon, and ofttirhes oh midweek mats. They've pii't on an extra frolic, making ■ five istdge , sliows daiily. Klnda toiigli on. the Tiller, girls, but economically that Is counterbalanced. Iii Doris Niles, for two y^ars the premiere danseuse of the Capitol, New 'Tork, this theatre has a terp feature wlxich they should keep. She's set for six weeks with a year's option for the Paramount ^ijiciur, as it is called here, taking -JJ?" seven Par houses in France. Miss Nlles was specially invited dver for a dance recital in Seville, coming to Paris from Spain, and Is set here for a long while. This second ariniversai'v program was the greatest insfltutiorial plug- fest ever pulled on a paying public under the guise of entertainment, and don6 so skillfully by Francis A. Matigan that they loved it. Entire stage presentation was evolved from the familiar Paramount trade- mark, the pyramid with lis sAow capped peak In a circular area. Thus, the second milestone In the theatre's history carried with it a .resume of past proved screen sucr tesses, denoted by title on these hoops. Paramount, through the eye of a perspicacious personnel, hsis seem- ingly plumbed the French mind. Knowing the natives' love of quan-j, tity, they are giving them that as well. No„ native ,theatre, especially the varieties and musicals, let out much before midnight. Hence, you'll find a first part film program comprising six short subjectSi The featui;e, "Something Always Hap pens" ("Epouvante," In French), with Estlier 'Ralston and Neil Ham llton. was current Nov. 22-28. Phyllis Haver's "La Blonde de Singapour" ("Sal Of Singfipore"). sound also. Is slated the following week. The Par is Western Electric wired, the first ERPI house on the Continent. Show opened with a special local reel of news topics, this time de voted to Georges . Clemenceau— great patriotic stuff. Next a Fitz Patrick (Par) Music Masters' short based on Franz Schubert, either poorly synchronized or suffering from faulty reproduction. Followed Fox Movietone, Paramoixnt sound and silent news, all' clips selected with an eye to local appeal; thence a "Koko".-Par animated cartoon iPferre Miilot. Paramount's general musical maestro, then conducts the orchestra in Von Suppd's "Une Jourhee a VIenne" ("A Day at Vienna"), preceding Tito Schipa in a good Paramount short. The tenor does three numbers, each In dlf ferent costume. Anniversary stage festival had a special theme by Ferntind Vlmont and Roger Bernstein, with music by the eminent French composer Sylviano. around which Mangar developed a sprightly and colorful ■ ^revuette. Mangan coVnmutes be- ,tween Paris and London resrularly •eS.feh week, his trans-Channel cross- ings- now being well over 200 since he's been here. Mangan is a stand .'ard in America, well known around Chicago, and doing good things here, Andre UUmann is the Par amount's managing director, Abel. street, and the- picture was "Som- braa Habaneras" (Havana Nights"), made by Cuban International at the Tec Art studio here. House wa^ crowded.. Half a reel of squawks and groans instead^ of dialog. Then the audience started hissing, sliouting ■ and stamping. Continued for another reel and a half, and tlieii the lights came up. An announcer stated that "evident- ly" something was wrong with the reproducing apparatus. . Rain checks were passed out and the liouse'went dark for a few days to install, new wire. Rain checks are. good for any night the openers see fit to use them. Ruth Roland, one of the. celebs On hand, slipped out after five min- utes of the squawks. Reproducing apparatus was tlie bootleg-type. CAPITOL ("L'Parfum''-Un;t^ New York, Dec. 6. TEATRO MEXICO ^ (SPANISH) Los Angeles, iDec. 1.0. Los Angeles' first Spahish flash opening was a washout. Premiere, at $1.50 top, attracted all the bor- rowed soup and fish In the Mexican colony. It was to be a gala night, with searchlights, celebs and all that goes with the usual Hollywood oponing. Teatto Mexico is on Main I "L'Parfum" Is Parisian for wliat pansies use on their, coat-pocket kerchiefsj. .-It's also the title of the Loew pi'esentation unit of that nam^, "L'Parfum" Is a sweet- smelling piece of picture house bologna, routined all the way In spe- cialty talent and- commendable chieflj' for its staging and dressing toward the finish. The dolled .up finale i'a draped around the quad- ruple adagio work of Fay Adier and Ted Bradford and their two assist- ants.' ' : Oh this stage with all of the back- ground the AdIer-Bradford four looked about 500% more proficient than when viewed 'but a week ago oh the bare stage of a. vaiide theatfe on 86th. street.. Most of the 600% diflierence is attributed to the Cap- itol's scenic cofntribution. " The lit- tle remaininir percentage can be laid to the. fact this hard working act worked even harder at the Capitol. Just dnotlier adagio combo there. A smash closer here. Ail, of which proves . nothing . the presentations haven't proven before. ■ d7o Adler and Bradford the con- tracting results : sliould hold much Information. And. while learning Miss Adler Is placing great confi- dence In her three partners without' definite knowledge that, tiiey'll .be right there when leaping 10 or more feet through the air. Granting, the Catcher will always be on the spot, and he'd better be, even completion of the catch is insurance, for he receives the girl with his arms stretched upright and grips her with his, fingers only. Down among the specialties. In the No. 2 position, are two songs by Peggy Bernier, a different per- son now than when the single sing- ing rage at the Oriental, Chicago. In those days, wlien there was no Helen Kane to contend with. Miss Bernier was the. star of the baby singiiig school. Now. she suggests i;he past only facially. Something Miss Bernier is striving for a,nd that others of her type are not, Is a new style. She's no. longer a plain pa- dooper. . She's smartly looking for a new way. At the Capitol Miss Bernier is seemingly aiming for a sktging comedienne style, that com- bines a stomp dauQing finish. It isn't a definite Idea and suggests the girl Is still trying to get set. If she does, she'll again be out in front while the otliers are still pa-doop- Ing. L'Parfum" opens in the pit with two feminine vocalists on the small elevating platfoi*m that formerly held Dave Scliooler's,piano. The lady at the perfume laden dressing table is Charlotte "Woodruff,. first sti^ing sopran<},>i and this unit's prima, Her voca,l accompanist is a blonde girl, unbilled- Miss Woodruff sings twice thereafter, last to lead the Oriental costume parade finale Mills and Shea, comedy acrobats whose variation is some plain and comedy grpund tumbling, were No 1 as the remaining specialty turn Wesley Eddy', current m.c, does not offend in his announcements and makes a play for versatile classlfica tlon in one solo routine before the band. He opens with a song, plays in turn, a hand.saw, horned violin, piano,, banjo, and closes witli hock Steps while fiddling. His many sided faking should fool most .any audience. • In-the stage band is a' woman vlo liniste, a novelty. Few women in picture house stage aggregations out.side of the all-girl bands, and most of them are harpists. Out west there used to be a girl bass vio- liniste, and she was the band's at- traction wherever 'playing. Cap- itol's feminine fiddler was darkly, gowned and not easily spotted among the tuxedo wearers. Play- ing h^r up witlv color would prove her value either way. Yascha Bunchulc's pit orchestra's number is "Singing in the Rain," from "Hollywood Revue," symphon- Ically arranged by Tony Gale. __Eelle Bgl{et\^ in CqhimWaX^'Song^ of love," Si-mrmtte""film," after "a short $2 run at the Cohan. . Capitol's biz under capacity Fri- day niglit. Two standai-d brands of perfume are handed swell plugs in the stage show. One is particularly plugged with the Chester Hale dancing girls in a downstage routine dressed In the fashion of the doll on the per- fume bottle: A .sliielJ in the rear bears the name of the other brand. LOEWS STATE ("Hot Dominoes"-Unit) Los Angeles, Dec. 7. Striking novelty flash punch of this Fanchon & Marco Idea Is not suggested in the title. "Hot Domi- noes" fits 'oi>e girl number and the decors. Thft Idea might as aptly be called "Minstrelsy" for its opener or "Ghanticler" (used in working) for the girl finale. But about the only title, to fit the Ideas as a whole would be "Grotesqerie.^' The flash Is used just befot-e the finale and announced as Les Klicks. Maybe Fi-ench for The Clickers. Act is from vaude. Lies Klicks are luminous puppets in weird and wiggling animal and insect forms who dance grotesquely against a black background behind the orchestra. Puppets are. put to- gether loosely and are: colorful and lighted from within. . , iThey api>ear or disappear in mid- air, or change color. I^hey • are of various sizes and previously Incon- ceivattle shapes. They dance and engage' In pantomime to musical background. Handling Is expett by assistants shrouded in black. Some Impossible bugs and a PJ^ir of- danc- ing bears are notable. Final apparition . Is a gigantic chicken of the same luminous con- struction. The Idea girls troop on for finale with glowihg lanternis, very pretty but -the set too dark to see exactly what they wear or are doing. Chicken does a clumsy dance and pecks-at-^he lights. . Ruth Hamilton, blond comedienne with a goofy pash routine with the m. c, plays with *'H6t Domiiioes" in Los Angeles but belongs .with the P/ & M. "Uniforms;" which she rejoins at Long Beach next Week. Pall Mall in cork, hands. over chatter with local flavor, with a medley burlesque of song, titles .run- ning heavily to double entendre. Dexter, Webb and . Diasr, blond danseuse and twd banjoists, ax'e on early; hitting best "vvhen the girl throws herself around to some Sousa. The unit opens with snap on 26 girls, legs arid tonsils vibrating, be- fore black arid white, drapes. Cos- tumes suggest '*mjlnstrelsy, exagr gerated black. Eton collars and over-stuffed black " gloves. Girls harve been coached In some cute hip- wiggles. They throw one in this number.with the big black hands on their hips. Later In a Chantecler number the girls rigged out as' roosters get a laugh with another quick tail wig- gled The Imiifiitibn of a flock of roosters crowing also good there; Middle number la the "Hot Domi- noes," the girls' tunics suggesting the game. Entrance is through a gigantic pair of lips and teeth' on black backdrop, which open and the girls step out. Stepping In this number ordinary but hits a surprise ending with the line of girls folding backward to the stage floor. Idea runs 35 minutes, and with a short feature, Greta Garbo'a "Kiss" (M-G), 63 minutes, therie's room on the bill for a talker comedy as well as five good clips of Fox Movietone news and the usual trail ers. Biz fairly good. post ofllce, and Tony Savg'H exhibi- tion ofi some wooden ■chlrpers.. Other clips '■ Included: Talk on drugs by Washington Official; Wal- ter Edge, new envoy to f'rance;. Swiss soldiers drilling themselves; 34-lb cat In Essex; England; South- ern Pacific R..R.'s hospital for loco'? motives; Six-^day bike races; Bowie race track views; cue champ mak- ing pockets; picking of all Amdrldan football team at Coach Rockne's bedside; Conrad, son iof Dr. Ijor- enzo, feeding .birds oii Austrian es^ tate. Showing, projected for about -46 minutes. Of the clips IS -were Foji and nine Metrotbne. . TTalj/. ORIENTAL (Presantation); . Chicago, Dec. 6. '. Only Bobby Gilbert, comic fiddler with, the Hebe dialect and two stepping numbers by. the Bourman ballet save this week's presentation from being a tw:o-act yaude show followied by a flasli band turn. Stage end ran far tod long at the first noon matinee,' draggihigr some 50 minutes. Oi>ened with tlie: Bourman girls in' shimmering silver ahdv TV^hlte shorts doing a marionette daince with ribbons and cymbals, .set in front of a ribboned scrlni, , which rises . for . the band's first specialty. ToQters, for diversion, wear* green berets, green coats and sashes. Three Traveling Salesnfien, danc- ers, ToUoW and just, fair, though comedy by the tall dne conrtecied. Somewhat, 6f a surprise after a Slow specialty by' the band/ was the reception for the abrobatlc team of Eileen and .iMa^geX-y. Stocky little Margei'y bo'wled ' them over with her tumbling, and headstahds. After which the Bourmdri ballet supports Kdsloff In a Violirt spe-: ciaity flaunting ■ Dutch" cos.tumeg. After the .usual' clog, carHed'"bas- kets have bells"which ring the mel- ody .while. the girls continue dahc- ing. Bobby Gilbert worked •with Kos- loff and the band'for Several min- utes. Before^. that he amused in masquerade as one' of the bands- men. Interrupting specialties by others of the orchestra. Show closed with a flash dance against blue drop of a series o^ runways from •which the girls, In blue flimsies, tripped down to the stage. About 10 minutes, for Preston Sellers', organlog. which had the whole house singing from the start. "Girl from Woolworth's" (FN), Lu- pine Lane talking short, news shots, two of them Par silents, and trailers.. Loop, EMBASSY (Newsreel) New York, Dec. 10. Very little spot or real news Mon day. Mostly features and familiar library stuff. Generally, fair ertter tainment. Embassy still standing them up, plus a line at the b. o.. around 8, Headlining, news Is AT&T's tele phonic hook-up with "Leviathan." Clip shows. President Clifford con versing. Voice, evidently that of the ship's Captain, reproduced. Liquor is rehashed In two clips Hearst is. credited •with the kick- less cocktail recipe of a Washing- ton hostess, while Fox shows tour ists drinking-at a Juarez bar.. Lat ter gets applause and noisy smacks from fans. • ' Another comparison that seemed deliberate Is the dip of Gene Turi ney returning with his bride, fol- lowed Immediately by Jfack Demp- sey Introducing Xmas Fund pugs Tunney-s English accent gets a smirk, while the house is all for applauding the natural Jack. A couple of plugs evideat. One has .. Mayor Walker boosting the newsreel theatre and urging loCali ties to patronize It every week, while the other supports Vallee's first feature by showing Rudy in his night club singing "A Little Kiss Each Morning." Comedy clips were the address of Bossy Gillls, as the only Amerl can mayoring a town (Newbury port, Mass.) while in jail, and Isa dora Duncan's brother on easy-to make gowns.. Sir Oliver Lodge's address on air, using various- kinds of metals as demonstrative of its Iniportance as 'd'materialisTiS features. Mighty interesting .clip forcefully put over by the simple lanRuage of the scientist. "i£ow Gamblers Cheat" was well Illustrated by tiick shuffli'ng . and handling-of a deck. . Fire Chief Kehlon, although sub titled for a talk on blazes, -wandered into a tliesis on golf, "which got a lau.s?h when he reached the "boldc.' Christmas came in for a little spirit with activities at the local PENN ("Song Shop".Unit) Pittsburgh, Dec 6. Pip of .a unit,, made more so by. Charlie King who goaled In half an hour of songs. Not much for Nat Nazarro, Jr., m. c, to do but sit around and watch. Nazarro's stay winds up here about Jan. 1 for a tour over the -Loew circuit with his owti unit. Chorus number leads Into the dance turn of Maureen and Sonny, youngsters,, seen at the Stanley not many months ago. Kids click, and their finale a sure shot. Nazarro leads band through some Iirtrlcacles of counterpoint. Injecting subtle comedy chatter, and makes way for Carlton and Bellew, man and wom- an, who stopped with their, hoke. On a couple of shows Carlton had to make the King announcement In order to get off. Finale was the prison scene from Gounod's "Faust," staged and lighted beautifully. Voices more than ac^ ceptable, it gave unit a fiash close wliich won plenty of approval. Breeskin In the pit Is getting across some real orchestra special- ties of late. This week "1812," ef- fectively Illustrated on screen with reel of that U. A. stuff. Liked. Leitaert, at the organ, gives the cus- tomers' lungs a rest, calling on one of the younger ushers to do a turn at the Wurlitzer while he accom- panies on the xylophone. Picture, "Taming of the Shre-iv" (UA). Biz okay. • Cohen. AVALON (Presentation). . . Chicago, Dec. 7. Stage show this week consists of two mediocre acts and Charlie Crafts, m. c. Two chorus routines are merely fillers. Crafts offers pop tunes and does fairly well by them. Acts are Jerrie Coe and Vox and Walters, getting across to a lenient family, audience. Jerrie Coe Is ft good accordionist and a fair hoofer. J»Iob liked his hip-waving, although Crafts stopped him. with a "not at these prices." Coe's forte is a slow-motion bit. Vox and Walters are ventriloquists . wh,o. have, gone pictur e house- from. Vaude. Appealed to all youngsters In the house. Man displayed poor judgment In ad llbb'ing to an indie agent out front. May be humor In the Woods building elevator, but not on a picture house stage. Following the stage presentation lights In the big sign were out. And, of moi*e irhpoi'tance, the box office was closed. An' employof* -said the b. p. liad been closed 'i-T minutes then, or almost a half houi' before the feature was screened, ' Loop. PARAMOUNT C^Mateh 'Box Revue"-Unit) New York, Dec. 7. Paramount Is staking Itself to » house record this week. Not in dough-7-the newsreel. Current eventn • arfe rulining 17 minutes. ProbablS world^s. record for Publix,, If anv- pody wants to go back through tha files. ;,Of course, that Includes th^ trailer for next week's dellght-rbut must you have everything? Prettv fair show, with "Half Way X Heaven" (Par) on top. Just 2:24 for those whb stick the full lap. Stage end Is using up 83 minutes of that with C. A. Nlgge- meyer's "Match Box Reviie." These ' Publlz units have an average payw off limit of $3,000, or a bit more. In. eluding the chorus. The rest Is split up among four. acts. Chain management Is now reported con- templating dividing the difference with but three acts,:, to get more' quality for that much-desired nekt^ to-closing sock. All things being equal it's not a bad hunch) although Edna Covey Is_ currently amusing the peasantry beyoiid their expecta- tions. Picture house audiences are In " this girl's lap when they buy. Does Bi. film house patron take his. st&ge' fare seriously? He's betting two to . . one on the picture when he comes ' In, biit for 60c he'll look at every, thing, including the lobby oils. So, Oh.Miss Covey's first.fall, he's ready to flash to a waiting girl that i'she's . lousy'-' and wait for the picture. At the second fall he starts to catch on, and by the third bump he "knew it all the time." ■ Are these film fans smart? Well, you'^ve been around. Anyway, the idea Is-that Miss Covey Is making -em gi^ve in on the 43d street corner. • ■ : Otherwise, the- -women appareintly think Al Gordon's dogs ate Cute, the kids love it,- and Gordon,'or; some- body, has got the act down to screen-stage brevity. Morriarlty and Burns are -just so-so hoofers, when you count the number of legs which ha^v^e been broken on picture hbuse stages this season, and the' Glersdorf Sisters are sneaking over an encore tor a'third, song ■which Isn't neces- sary even, if it's "Singing in'the Rain." Brox Sisters almost have an exclusive oh that one. In fact, if you lease a house In Hollywood the. first night you come home the Brox' trio. greet you singing "Rain" and all under that One hat. It goes with the lease or a Ripley cartoon. If Allah Foster could make those French phone operators undei'stand him, he'd probably call up and. give his girls a new routine. As is, they'll have to struggle •without him. A pleasure. Girls are okay and cos- tumed „to conform with the title of the unit as cigars, clgarets, etc. Foster can't sell a pack for 12c and live, but he can sell a dozen for $1,100 and do all right, and he's in Paris. Putting him one up on the U.. S. Tobacco Co., and his boot- legger. After teiling 'em that something besides dance music can be plucked on a banjo, Ben Black Is leaving 'em In doubt with "William Tell," and the band Is playing the show very well. The Crawfords are tak- ing out their proverbial seven min- utes In pop tunes to general satis- faction. Sound newsreel went to five clips and the big screen for the Army- Notre Dame game. Great. A week after the battle the title on this clip caught applause, which ought to convince somebody. Paramount isn't taking the time, or trouble, to slip Its titles a musical background as yet,^so the orchestra Is staying in the plt'for the news. Shot of Secre- tary Mellon reading his tax report was a nice plug for NBC, those ini- tials being prominently displayed atop the mike, but as all elevators will soon be stopping a,t the same floor It doesn't make much differ^ ence at that. House was enjoying Its usual ■Week-end business frolic, but the Mondays and Tuesdays make show business what it Is. ROXY . . (Pi*esent|ition) ^ ' New York; Dec. «. Current Roxy week stands to benefit from the all aroUnd good show. Both the picture and stage units have strength. Feature is "South. Sea Rose" (Fox). Nicely staged presentation as a prolog to the picture, -with the scrim again used to catch the lead title. Number is elaborate and calling "An Idyll of the South Seas." Harold Van Duzee, Merrlam Fields and Esther Shaw offer specialties, first mentioned singing, an . appropriate, Hawaiian tune. Mi^ Fields and ' Miss Shaw do song and dance num- bers, including the ditty ft'om the screen feature, with Eddie Shaw's HawaHans. balle t - cor ps .a nd .^the^ 32 Roxyettes for backing. Marlcert troupe pre-empts, the stage in an ensemble dressed in bright reds, yel- lows, and blacks. Following the overture of "Ray- mond" (73 men In the pit). Is a sombre but effectively done vlstial- izatlon of "Kamenoi Ostrow" with the chorus, as nuns, seen dimly through a scrim. Effect is that of lookintr through the arches of a cathediiil to get a partial glimp-'^e (Continued on page 55)