Variety (Dec 1929)

60 V A R I E T Y Wednesday, Deceinber 29, 1920 CHICAGO Variety's Chicago Office WOODS THEATRE BUILDING—CENTRAU 0644-4401 Englewood Mankln opened a nine act bill Tuesday night, with his frog: cos- tume and his contortion bits; splen- didly staged. Roberts .and ReneQ are good hoofers and should build that part of their turn. Their clownlner and slngingr not so hot. Renee even flopped with what Is usually a surefire comedy torch ballad. Jules Alberti and Co. (New Acts) followed. Duncan Sisters,, at the Palace these two weeks, on for a surprise act. Girls^ in costumes, worked for'20 minutes. Gray and White should cut their opening song and. get right down to hoof- ing. The boys deliver on hoofing and comedy instrumental lyork. Opening the regrular bill were Stanley and Attree, excellent teeth workers. Next Were Johnson^ Bros, and Johnson, who start slow and finish strong with song and danc6. routine. Their, clowning Is bad, and shQuld be, sliced to the bone. The comedy smash went, to Joe Freed and Co. with their three blackouts. . Two girls, and three men In some lieavy hoke clowning that pleased. Between bits, a girl manages to be vocally fairly entertaining. Ber- tram and Ralston (New Actd) n6xt. Closiner was International Rhythm, good dance flash, with two men and three femmes. Best,was the open- 'ing Indian bit,, doh^ with , a fine ■fountain scene drop. Act slows '4owii a bit but picked up at the Close with a good ^Oriental adagio. - "Night Parade" (Radio) feature, ."Business very good. Loop. ^Belmont With five of; the first six of the •Jilne-act" bfU'teihg .oonglomerations 5>f songs, with "Slngln* In the Rain" •;^ortured any number of times, Fri- ^[ay night's program was quite In- fierlor. ^ i , However; these pre-view . night .programs, with six acts and some- times' seve'tt working .gratis, no cinch to arrange in cold and un- pleasant weather, when the per- formers, anxious for the best pod- ';tiible returns,., are forced to worlc . .before a smallish and cold house* .Opening wrere two men and ia girl, whose pins would be a nifty hosiery ad,' lii fair harmony/ and When in Chicago ViBit The»e Hif AA. H. WOO.DS'J DELPHi Clark at MadtBon -. -^ LEW LESLIE'S Mats. Wed. & Sat. Fastest, Funniest, Most Tuneful Musical Revue Ever Presented OrlKlnal New Toik and raiis Oaist dances, but only one number, trio legging finale, showing merit. Nad and Edwards, after, their comedy Japanese entrance, amused somewhat with the girl's baby-talk and rompers, but bbred after her first two garga songs. If May Weir trio, two men and a girl, tpibd a fast entrance with ac- cordion, comet and banJo> and if the ban joist sang and cut attempt- ed comedy, act might be strength- ened for small time. More musical novelty and less straight harmony would aid, too. Lorenz and Tvette, man and girl, from manager- of Bellepark to aa- Bistant manager of McVlcker's; Ed NIkoden from manager oiC La Grange to manager of the Belle- park; C M. Kaiser from assistant manager of Bellepark to manager of La (grange. Cleve Adams, formerly, district manager here for FBO, and'now In New York ofiBce of Radio pictures, has returned for a couple of weeks tq help Bill Benjamin, new branch manager, gets set her^», OTTAWA, CAN/ By W. -M. GLADISH Joe -Franklin, manager, Keith's, has' been appointed civla publicity advisor for 1930 frpm the municipal government In. recognition of his community and tourist trade work during the past folir yettra. . ' The Magnoscope lia being used with all short film subjects at the Avalon, ' ^ The Regent here Is giving one C OR R E S P ON D E N C E All matter In CORRESPONDENCE refers to currant week unless otherwise indicatea. The cities under Correspondence in this issue of Variety are as follows and oh 0aaesf BAUTI MORE ......... v. 60 BROOKLYN .,.., ............. 63 'CHICAGO ••••••••»••«••• •••««^ GO DALLAS • •««*«•••••«#•••«•••• 60 DENVER *.««••«••••••••«•«•••■ 61 DES MOIN ES................. 61 DETROIT •«••••....•......... 63 KANSAS CITY................ 61 LOS ANGELES......... 62 MlLWAUKEE ................ 62 MINNEAPbLlS ..•.4......... 60 MONTREAL 62 NE^A^ARK «-<i«••••«•»^... 61 OTTAWA .'. ■.•*• • •>'.• •'..'« 60 PORTLAND, ORE..• 61 ROCHESTER..... ••••••«.•••.. 61 ST. PAUL. •(/'«•...•«•.•...*•.. 62 SAN FRANCISCO;,..,.;,r.... 62 SARANAC- •••••••••••«•••••••• 61 SEATTLE■ • 9 ••■••••••••*«*•• 62 WASHINGTON 61 SELWYN Tonight ^^^^/satf' SAM H. HARRIS Presents THIS SEASON'S COMBDT SMASH ^^Jiine Moon" By America's Foremost Humorists RING GEORGES. LARDNER KAUFMAN the man attempting an Oscar Lbraine, ^Ith comedy on violin and piano added, drew 'smattering of laughs from the children, but were on the stage five minutes too long. Birdie Reeves, , man assisting, showed her - usual wizard typing routine, which was a novelty. Clif- ford iand Lee, male harmony duo following, unsulted for vaude With their brash bellowing, sometimes called singing. All six of these acts In "one" .and hardly gave the bill variety quality, Oscar Martin and brother, under a handicap with the unwieldy house^ finally caught rfeturns with their hand balancing. Ned Norworth, next to closing, with usual. array of hokum and deprecation' of the audience and that "Mrs. Sch-warzenberger," showed he Ii^ still a good trouper and topped.- Closing was the dance and adagio flash. International ■ Rhythm^ four girls and two men, aiid went big. "Sherlock Holmes" (Ear). — Loop. "By 1" re-arrangement of Publix and B. & K. oflices In the Chicago Theatre and Loop Bnd buildings will be complete. Max Balaban will ofilce on the fifth floor of the Loop End, where the Great States . bookings departments also will be moved. Publicity offices now occupy one end of the fifth floor of the Loop End, and will later have publicity department of Great States an- nexed. Sixth floor of the Loop End now occupied exclusively by accounting departments. ILLINOIS Mats. lA^ed.-Sat. ZIEGFELD SENSATION SHOW BOAT (In the Flesb and Blood) With CHARLES WiNNINGER ERLANGER ^-*^o"S;?lw?r„1r ^"^^ BERT In "BROTHERS" Thrilling Romantic Melodrama R-K-O WOODS Radio Pictures* Triumph of Sons and Romance RUDY VAIXEE in "OSE VAGABOND LOVEE" Earl Ross will reopen his dramatic stock at the Warrington, Oak Park, Dec. 30. Marcan and Meredith, tab stock, opens at the Clinton, Clinton, la. Wm. Nayior Is ill at the Sherman hotel, Chicago. Condition not se rious. Everett Hayes, who managed the St. Louis, St. Louis, succeeds C. W. Bedel as manager of the Strand (Butterfield) at Lansing, Mich. ■ . ■ / ■ ~~~~~~ ■ Henry Santley, for some time as sociated vtrlth the local Morris ofilce here, has resigned. . '' ■ ■ Hinsdale theatre, Hinsdale, 111., owned and operated by the Evahem Theatre Corp., has closed and a re- ceiver appointed. William Epstein, agent, Is suing Harry Clark of Clark's Revels for $600 on a contract liquidation. Sheridan (Fox) has Installed a 30-foot screen for wide film. Ex- pect Grandeur early next year. Publix Greater Talkie theatre manageriaU changes: ^.Ted.^olsuneau. IN CHICAGO LINDY'S RESTAURANT On Randolph Street li Home, Sweot Home, to the Profession A Good Place .to Eat and Meet presentation only of "The Cockr Eyed World" for its first date, mak- ing the midnight sho^ New Tear's. It comes back later for a regular exhibition. The . Capitol Theatre, Hull, Que- bec, Is. being transformed Into an apartment' house. The Capitol was erected only three years ago but a jln^ has bung over It Its owner, Donat Paquin, also controlis the other two local houses,, the Laurier and Eden. . Helen Ohanping, New. York, has been . appointed . secretary of the been appointed secretary of. tho Film Board of Trade^ which has Jurisdiction over Quebec and East- ern' Ontario* yiWx headquarters in Montreal. Herbert.H.. HcElroy.has been ap- pointed, n^anager of. the Ottawti Winter Carnival the first week in Februsiry. Earnings'of Famous Players Can- adian Corp., with its 196 theatres, broke all records for any three months during the first quarter of the current fiscal year. L W. Klllam, principal stock- holder of F&mou.s Players Canadian Corp., has. sold a big block of his shares to Fisher Bros, Detroit. The Oscar O'Shea Players reopen the Embassy (former Galvin) Dec. 28. The house Is back on the union list with full staQre crew and or- chestra. • ■ . MINNEAPOLIS Metropolitan—Dark. Bhnbert—"Holiday" (stock). PaiitaKe»-r"Palnted Faces*'; vaude. hKO Seventh Street—"Romance, of Rio Grande"; vaude. Palace-r-"Xmas FolUeiT (stock bur.). Mlnnesot»^"Navjr BlueiT' and Publix unit, "Snap Into It*' ^-upiw Centpiy—"Sbow of Shows.** S.*S^?~:;"^i>® Marriage Playground." »Kp Orpheiun-r-"The Great Qabbo.'-' lyric—'*The Girl from Wooltrorth'o." Aster—"Big Time.'.' Grand — "The Trespasser" (second loop run). Gladys Hurlburt and Ruth Lee are succeeding AUys Dwyer and Dor- othy Lord as leading lady and sec- ond woman, with the Bainbridge stock. Miss Lee is a Mlnneapolltan Who has played leading feminine roles on Broadway In "Tenth Ave- nue" and other plays. Miss Dwyer said she had signed with Fox to play leads in talking pictures at Hollywood and will start work at once; The Shubert (Bainbridge dramatic stock) has scaled Its hiidnight New Year's eve show at $2.B0 top. It will be a nondescript vaudeville en- tertainment Instead of the regular dramatic offering of the week^ "The Front Pskge." PuWix houses also are glvThlg mldrilgh^^^^ shows. A pre-view local bhowing of "The Love Parade" Is announced at Century, all seats reserved. Stock burlesque Is dying a slow but sure death at the Palace. If the opening bill Is any criterion, vaudeville at the RKO Seventh Street, which reopened last Satur- day, will consist of four small-time acts with talkers^ comedjr and sound news. Initial show has Eddie Dale and Co, for headliner, Alex- ander Sisters, Don Cummlngs and Solardo Trio. "Romance of Rio Grande" on screen. With the reopening of the Seventh Street theatre by RKO, Prank Biurke has returned here as divi- sional publicity dlriector. He will be In charge of all pub- licity and exploitation for the four RKO Twin City houses now In operation. Burke had been Ih charge of the RKO St. Louis division. CJecU Miller has been transferred from. Tacomia, to the Seventh Street. Nat Wolf, recently appointed booker for the Publix northwest division, with headqiuarters here, has rearranged his department. Ted Volhlck will book northern Min- nesota and North Dakota; Vincent Coughery, Southern Minnesota and South Dakota. Twin City bookings win be handled by John BrantOn. Wolf formerly was film booker for the Orpheum circuit, with head- quarters In Chicago. Reopened with vaudfllm, RKO Seventh Street boasts the largest pit orchestra of any theatre in Twin City viaude history. Number's 14 pieces,T;he size having been dictated by the local musicians' union when RKO decided to 4o away Avith Its orchestra at the Orpheum. . Just to make It worse, mercury slumped to 11 below zero In St; Paul and stayed there'over the weekend. only house that did Q|iy business last week was Publix's Uptown, class neighborhood site, which had to give away $100 in merchandise every night to do it. BALTIMORE ByBRAWBROOK Maryland—"Little Accident," Ford's—"Whoopee." Virginia Futrelle, soprano, daugh<^ teir ' Of the late Jacques Futrelle, short story writer, and ' wife of Charles Raymond, Loew's Baltimore manager, flayed her second engage- ment as soloist at the Century the- atre here'last week and scored. Picture license revenues for the state of Maryland increased this year despite the decrease of the number of theatres from 88 to 81. Revenues were $14,390.86 against collections of $13,623.76 for 1928. Station WBAL, Baltimore's super- power broadcaster,' is heading a fight before the National Radio Commission for an Increase o'f cleared channels, making a total of 60 Instead of the present 40. DES MOINES Aerehel—^Dark, ' Casino—Change. Sea Molaetf-^^'Par!*.** nunUy—"Should a Girl Uarrr.* Garden—"The Greene Hurder Cai Orpheam-^Vaudfllm. ~?ala«e—' Tawie —"IitfUg, Ijonjr Trail," Paranuyimt—"Half way to HeaveB.1 PresIdent-^Dark. ^ Shrine—"The Connecticut Tankee^ ! Strand—"18th Chair." ' George P. Ogden, promoter, aik« nounces La Argentina for city soma' time In January. Synchronization of broadcasting stations WHO of Des Moines and woe of Davenport, backed by a $900,000 station rehabilitation proj- ect throughout tho state, will b* achieved after January; 1. Dea Moines will be 'the broadcasting center. Damages of $2,600 are , sought against Publix Theatre^ Cor|». br Jennie Emery, who claims to hav9 been Injured in a fall at the Para« mount hW0 Nov. 1. . , Town'noTt^ has two (3eorge Clarks, both theatre' managers. Oeorga Clarke '-will manage' the President for Oberfelder-Ketcham, openina> Deo. 28.- George F. Clark, who man- ages the Shrine auditorium and Berchel, however. Is no relation. - DALLAS By RUDY DQNAT Hajestlo—'"Romance of bio Grande,^ Falaofr—"Tl^er Rose." Helba^"Polnted Heels." Old Mill—"Sacred «'iames." Capitol—^"Broadway, ^oandals." ITalr Fark—"The Miracle" (legit). Johnny "W^Inters, New York, re- p1a:ced Billy Muth a^ feature . or-. ganist for Palace :<F'ubllx) here and Alexander Keese Opened this week with au^ented. concert orchestras Muth traheiferred to Denver. Publljc Is' remodeling old Majestic, San Antonio, to take place of their Eniplre .' and PfIncesd; renamed State. Official: recognition been given station WACO, Waco, formerly WJAD. OperatiBd by Central Texas Broadcasting Co., headed by J. M. GilUam, with $50,000 invested. Only station In U. S. bearing Initials same as the town where locatf|4. Robb & Rowly, indie chain, haVe opened the new Texas at San An- gelo. Largrest picture house in Wert Texas. Bob Kelly, press agent, and Sol- man Swiger, manager. Palace (Pub- lix); have been transferred to Met- ropolitan^ Houston., ^ Ask Aunt of She'll tell you Hotel McCormick is her favorite Chicago hotel. She likes the location—^so near the loop, yet away from the noise and dirt. She likes the spacious, airy I'ooms, the smart and charming fur- nishings, the modem facilities of all kinds. The low rentals include complete maid. and hotel service, electric refrigeration, light and gas. tures as golf driving neb, handball ccurh, gjfmnaaium DDtlh latest health and reducing apparatus , , , all enjoyed by guests tpithoul charge. RATES Apartments for Two, $90 Mo. up Larger Apart- ments for Four. $150 Mo. up Hotel Rooms, '$60-$70 Mdrup ' Ontario and l|ush St«. Phone Superior 4927