Inside facts of stage and screen (October 18, 1930)

PAGE TEN -wa INSIDE FACTS OF STAGE AND SCREEN OCT. 18, 1930 Vaudeville and Presentations LOEW’S STATE LOS ANGELES (Reviewed October 9) “United States Indian Reserva- tion Band,” led by Chief Shunatona, has the main spot, supplying good orchestrations of popular numbers, outstanding of which was his ren- dition of the Robbins hit “Just a Little Closer.” Chief Shunatona has a good stage personality, work- ing on his audience with a deft touch, who gave him full measure of appreciation, for his special song and recitation. He has an ex- cellent speaking voice that should be okay for pics. In fact, Shuna- tona’s personality carries the Indian part of the show almost entirely upon his shoulders, and he puts over his jokes with telling ef- fect. Band as a whole would be a little more effective if they stuck closer to tunes with an Indian back- ground. Rube Wolf put over a good song number about daylight savings time, helped by Harry Vernon, who passed out the comedy gags with great effect. Rube then joined with Muriel Gardner in a humorous- sentimental song, which went over well. Excellent features-of the bill was Miss Gardner’s acrobatic toe offering, in which her pivoting split brought great applause. Her tech- nique was flawless. Mss Gardner proved a great foil for Rube Wolf and her work drew a heavy hand. Albertina Rasche girls followed, with a combination tap and toe, which was slightly ragged. Rube Wolf just about stopped the show with his punning about Indian his- tory. Brenck’s Golden Horse came on and gave nice effects. Girl was unbilled, but she added greatly to the effect of the number with some very nice posing. Act fitted in nicely with the whole entertain- ment. Had the girl been dressed as an Indian, the act’s value might have been heightened. Kerr. PARAMOUNT LOS ANGELES (Reviewed October 9) Horace Heidt and his Californians hit the acme of entertainment value in their great stage show, current at the Paramount Theatre. They lived up to their reputation. Out- standing features were tempo varia- tions, versatility, and originality of ideas. Opening with a fast Tiger Rag, the boys then swung into the tunes of “Monte Carlo.” “The Twelfth Street Rag” gave them the oppor- tunity to use four or five different instruments with great effect. Then a trio, Dinny Moore, Harold Plum- mer, and Jerry Bowen, sang ‘Swing- in’ in a Hammock.” By this time the show was hot. The Dance of All Nations, featur- ing Dick Morgan in an eccentric shuffle, brought down the house. Clarence Moore put Lobo, the po- lice dog, through a v?ry entertain- ing act. Boys put over the Cali- fornia Glee Club Songs, and fol- lowed with a very clever caliope number. Song with gestures, “Three Blind Mice,” was good, and the boys did a dancing specialty, featuring Heidt and Ralph Lykins. Heidt then introduced Stuart Grow, who played “The Carnival of Ven- ice,” on the cornet, doing excellent triple tongue work, hitting C above high C. Back again to the whole bunch with the “Bells of St. Mary,” and for a curtain encore, “Johnny Smoker.” Act was greeted with a great ova- tion before the curtain rose and the enthusiasm grew as the act pro- gressed. Heidt and his band make an ace bet for any show, cabaret, or ballroom. Rubinoff got a very good hand with his overture, “Chansons Russe.” His skill as a violinist does not need commendation; it was properly appreciated. Due perhaps to the nervousness incident to a first show, Rubinoff over-stepped in con- ducting, at times getting ahead of himself; but he appealed to the au- dience, and his technique will be- come more precise. Kerr. RKO THEATRE LOS ANGELES (Reviewed Oct. 13) Whoever booked this unit of four acts can step right up and take a bow, for he certainly sent in a pip of a show, that had about every- thing from soup to nuts. Units like this carries the “bring ’em back” flavor. Opened with Alice and Sonny Lamont, assisted by fern and male seniors. Alice Lamont slayed ’em with her wire walking, tap routine, with ditto for Lamont senior, who can gag plenty funny, while Sonny is a hefty looking wise-cracking m.c., who hoofs excellently and clowns for heavy belly laughs, keep- ing the tempo at lightning pace. Fleurette Jeoffrie, coloraturo so- prano, was in the deuce spot, with a repertoire of classics, that, after opening bars of her first number, had the audience completely at her will. Scored easily, and encored. Casa and Lehn, a pair of clown- ing but nevertheless excellent danc- ers, have a musical satire on Holly- wood that’s a riot. Assisted by four good-looking ferns. Miss Georgette, Yvonne Monoff and the Co-ed Sis- ters, who do song and dance spe- cialties in excellent shape. Fern takes some nifty falls for heavy laughs and hands. Act is up to the minute, dressed nicely. Ward and Van got a hand before they opened. Two encores were insufficient. Finally had to throw the lights out. Show closed with Bill Sharpies and his gang, local radio entertain- ers, as an added attraction. He had lots to offer in the way of en- tertainment. Introduced by Don Wilson, local announcer, whose diction could well be copied to good results. This boy has ease in front of the lights in the role of introducer. Sharpies has a western offering set in full that is nicely lighted and staged. Talent lined up pretty well. Led off with the Gold Medal Four, male quartette, who can hold their own any place as harmony purvey- ors. Bunola Kay next up with “Carry Me Back to Old Virginia” in excellent voice, also clicking. One of the hits of the evening, out- standing as a performer, was Clar- ence Muse, colored motion picture artist, in the role of Jackson. This boy is worth grabbing right now for stellar honors in colored roles. Sings well and knows his showman- ship. “Little Chester” was then intro- duced, doing a Peabody on a Pea- body banjo. His “St. Louis Blues” lacked the Peabody showmanship, and Chester would have fared bet- ter had he tried something original. Next up was Gramma and Gram- pa Sears. The elderly duo, with the lady at the piano and the male doing a fast “turkey trot” on the fiddle, scored easily. One of the outstanding hits was three good-looking young girls, “The Gingham Girls in Blue.” Here’s good material for any show, as the youthful ferns know their sweet harmony. Could have en- cored easily and should have. Pierre White, former musical comedy star, valiantly tried to sing against a cold, and like a good showman got across to good re- turns regardless, with a baritone solo, “Pm Coming Home to You.” Peaches Holden got over well with her “Dangerous Nan Mc- Grew,”. followed by Clarence Muse again in his own number, “Sleepy- time Down South,” scoring heavy. Chauncv Ramie, got a nice hand in a vodeling bit. Whole act was dressed western fashion, with Sharpies handling the role of m.c. in great shape. Used their radio sign-off good wish. Babi. FOX EL CAPITAN SAN FRANCISCO (Reviewed Oct. 10) Home coming week for Jay Brower, Czar of the Mission dis- trict and baton wielder over El Cap’s excellent stage band. Gone for two weeks, a crowded house of ticket buyers welcomed him back to the fold like a long lost brother who just struck it rich. Around the m.c. Peggy O’Neill built a neat and comparatively inexpensive stage unit, that had flash and speed. Brower turned in two band num- bers that were pips. First a classical selection, the sec- ond, another of Brower’s nut char- acterizations, more goofy than any- thing he has yet put on. Funny what two weeks’ vacation will do to an m.c. Feature announcement of the show was Benay Venuta, KPO singer. Nicely gowned, the blonde YVETTE “HALF PINT OF PEPPY PERSONALITY” In a Return Engagement Over the Publix Coast Route in * ‘Revue Moderne” PARAMOUNT SAN FRANCISCO FROM NEW YORK COMES LEE MURRAY “FOOTLOOSE DANCING FOOL” FOX EL CAPITAN SAN FRANCISCO Personal Rep.: BERT CATLEY, WARFIELD BLDG. CLAIRE DON CORTEZ and MARQUIS ( ARGENTINE SUPREME DANCERS Now Appearing at EMBASSY ROOM Hotel St* Francis San Francisco Booked for an European Tour Opening January, 1931 Foreign Rep: H. Ehrlich, Rotterdam, Holland songstress did but one number and that, “I Like to Do Things For You,” working with Brower for plenty of laughs. Customers went for the Venuta-Bower combination and forced Miss Venuta to two speeches and a bunch of btDws. Cowan and Gray, combo acrobats working as Chinese, got laughs and had to return for a couple of more tricks. Lee Murray was spotted throughout .the opera, opening with a drunk number, returning for a hot hoofing episode. Joe O’Leary clicked, singing “Future 'Jlust Passed.” Line girls had a brace of num- bers, including an opening sequence framed to bring Brower on for his welcoming hand. Mel Hertz was at the Wurlitzer, still doing the community sing business of the town. Had a peach of a rap for daylight savings too. Picture was “Sea Wolf” (Fox). Hal. ORPHEUM SAN FRANCISCO (Reviewed October 7) Jack Sprigg brought all of his RKOlians to the fore for this week’s musical offering, giving each of the trench musicians a crack at the solo- ing. Started with Harold Harris and Harris Hoburn in a sax; duo; Mike Hawk and Wally Landis with steel guitar and fiddle; Jack Seltenrich in a hot piano solo; Harry Vanella and Ted McWilliams, two hot trum- pets; Arnold Hutto at the xylo- phone; Bill Weller and Sprigg in trombone and trumpet offering and Lou Martino in hot clarinet and bass sax, supported by Loren Mc- Carthy and Wally Landis. At the organ Buss McClelland did a medley of war tunes, closing by introducing a new tune, Berlin’s “Mani’selle,” with Harold Harris singing. Okay all the way through. Radio’s “Half Shot at 'Sunrise” was the picture. Hal. RKO GOLDEN GATE SAN FRANCISCO (Reviewed Oct. 10) Only three acts on this RKO unit, with most of the time going to Count Bernivici and girl band. Show opened by Dezso Retter with his familiar wrestling bit that has made him a well known vaude personality. Retter is now doing a lot of stuff he has never done be- fore. He clicked. Bob Carleton and Julie Ballew deuced it with gags and a little singing. Miss Ballew did the dizzy dame to perfection and Carleton proved a capable foil. Bernivici and band closed doing practically the same act seen last season. Ted Leslie, singer; Cecile Miller, dancer; and Darby Brown, comedienne, supported Bernivici. In the pit, Claude Sweeten and RKOlians did a novelty band num- ber. “Whistler and His Dog” which registered with the customers. Screen fare included “On Your Back” (Fox). FOX SAN FRANCISCO (Reviewed Oct. 11) A combination of Fox’s “Liliom” and rainy weather was enough to keep ’em away from this Saturday- midnight show. Fanchon and Marco’s “American Beauty” Idea was no bargain, and the show was topped by Walt Roesner, back at the helm of the concert orchestra, after an absence of three weeks. Roesner did a repeat on his pre- yious successful overture, “Memor- ies of France,” closing with a smash tableau that had eight trombones and 12 drums augmenting the or- chestra. “American Beauty” featured Huff and Huff, Toots Novelle and Eddie Hanley with his gang of stodges. Westerners, male quartet, and Ar- mand and Perez were on for this late Saturday night opera. Dorothy Goff, “Miss Universe,” got all the breaks of the shows. Sammy Carr, orchestra banjoist, also did a num- ber. # With Roesner in the pit was Joa- quin Garay, who sang “Kfss Waltz” to great response. Mel Hertz did a community sing at the organ, highlighting with a great slap at daylight savings. A clever but short comedy, writ- ten by James Gleason, and directed at daylight saving, lost its effect at this show when customers ap- plauded for Garay ’way into the comedy. Bock. “MOONBEAMS” DENVER (Reviewed Oct. 10.) Not such a big house for this second performance. What must a performer do, to get a hand? The Publix “Moonbeams Unit,” is one of the best ever. With beautiful settings and an abundance of talent, this unit should have knocked them dead. But many a funny gag pass- ed with only a snicker. Show opened with Fred Schmitt’s Denver Grand orchestra presenting “Drinking Songs of Many Lands,” members of the band singing a number of these in pleasing man- ner. , Unit opened with band on stage, Dorothea Berke girls going through a cleverly executed and difficult tap routine, holding stage while Mae Wynn did a keen tap number. Ashley Paige, called king of the wooden keys, is worthy of his title, and ends playing with 6 hammers on xylophone, hoofing throughout the number. Senorita Carita, a lovely song- bird, sings Spanish numbers, while girls do a pretty routine with Span- ish effects. Holland and Knight show real grace and dancing ability, and do a fetching tango, that draws a good hand. Eddie Lambert takes top^ honors on this bill and the crowd! plenty cold, thought Eddie funny and treated him accordingly. He’s a (Continued on Page 11) PLAYING TO THE LARGEST PAID ATTENDANCE IN LOS ANGELES OWEN FALLON AND HIS CALIFORNIANS CALIFORNIA’S GREATEST DANCE BAND NOW IN THEIR THIRD YEAR WILSON’S BALL ROOM