Variety (Aug 1930)

XTedneedayT An^Bt% 1930 VAttDE HOaSE REVIEWS VARIETY 47 PALACE (6t. Vaudfl) New palace bill Is rendered more •ntertalnlng by many degrees as iemilt of the bUs end blackouts !»;Sded here and there between Z Harry Rlchman, held over, ^ Mt to work through the scheme, « are Frances Williams and Jesse Block, latter of Block and Sully. All earn their rewards. Blcbman appears between vari- AU8 acts with gags, first appearing to do three minutes of talk, topping Irfth an mtroducUon of Claiborne Jofltei^s 'sketch, third. He is on Lain before Block and Sully take to the boards and again ln;a street BcOn<s that precedes Miss Williams, iyibo olosiBS Intermission. Blc^iman's time on the stage. In- cluding his own spot (next to clos- ing) totals 49 minutes. Of that he sMnds 10 minutes with Miss Wll- Uams during her act, 33 for his own and the balance m. c'lng. That pads "out-an otherwise short show. ; Some of the Rlchman material is old"and poorly done but some iUcka with a certainty, a lot of It getting acroBS properly because properly sold That one about the salesmen and the farmer who wanted some teana left for the next day knocked a -lot of present grownups out of cradles. There are a few others that have seen better days. Frances Williams and Jesse Block have a lot to do with making the 'Blcbman spot a showiStopper. As •did Benny Rubin laist week. Miss ■' Wlillianis' comic adagio with Rlch- irian shows her at her best as a light comedienne, which she seldom Is; considering her felft for song and dance. Of late years It has been much more song than dance, too, what with the breakup with Van- essi and the blonde's flair since for sMlliig both ballads and comical nXirob'ers. That blackout topping 6ft Rich- m&n's act having to do with the sign "women," which when held up high enough against the drop does . Interest Miss Williams a lot. in ad- ' dltlon to another blackout in which she appears, adds a zest to the new Palace bill that it should ha ire right along. . The blackouts are upottnd nicely, one to top off Miss Williams act, the other to touch off Rlchman's allotted spot. Miss Williams was on 13 minutes hbrself, singing four numbers and all Introduction for a tup dance that seiids her across nicely. Her act is not as strong as it has been ^n the past on Palace appearances, prob- ably because her numbers aren't as gqod. Outstanding ia "I Can Make ■Most Anything" and "He Goes For -Anybody But Me." Other two, "Big ger and Better Than Ever" and "They All Fall in Love" nothing to -g6 into ecstasy about. Miss Wil- liams' dancing is seldom, if ever, not liked. Why she doesn't break up her solo work with some mere -faooflng is difficult to understand. Jack Holland and June Knlgh'., tango team, are again with the ."Scandals" girl, doing the same routine as before to allow a change of costume. Block aijd Sully, with surefire talk by' Al Boasberg, are a brace In strong support to the Palace bill. - Block and his clever partner, Eve SvOly, are spotted fourth. They not only have strong crossfire material, with most of it original, but know how to send it over. What Block lacks in showmanship. If any, is made up by Miss Sully, and vice ▼ersa. A perfect working team. With a surprise song and dance number having speed and flash to take them olt. ■^ •The other mixed team, Madle and .HaVi nearly stopped the show Mon- «Mr night. They opened intermis- sion, and stuck around 13 minutes', Jirtually cleaning up in their care- JWe way. Whether It was that rav- UMng, cute little girl or the clever TOPerspinnlng stuff that got the ^aiace audience is a question. It was probably both, with the looker jeuntlng a lot. Her forte seems to .TO Acrobatic dancing,, with that em- rf°y«a Iri a clever rope-splnnlng feat ward the finish, while with the its that funny smile, plus the apiHty at the miniature lariats and ''^.ferated gum chewing. , Remos and Midgets fl??i !J& °" No. 2 was Helena Justa »na Charlie, colored team (New *r^J'' and Claiborne Foster, 3d, sketch, "The Marriage «eclpe," by Maxwell Anderson, arti- «nd of the elght- lv„ir ^ Be** Hamld's "Arabian timl typical of Arab acrobatic ?if "^""l** produces, fnr o ^emos act, nicely dressed up <^bange. scored better than It enno ^""^ winning its audl- llme ^'"^^'y through wasting no aitillfi? ^^oster hasn't a strong ffi^» • through the clever per- jwjnance she gives as the lovesick baiI<»^'"K * "ew recipe for hus- whln„ ST^^bing, the second part rltti'^V'J^^'' Into interesting mate- tlmL "'^^ Foster has Dorothy Mor- her T ^"'ord Armltage with in this condensed sketch An- derson has tried to write comedy that isn't, at least, weighty. •Hamid's "Arabian Frolics" (New Acts) is not faster than a sand- storm, as billed, but when one man demonstrates his prowess in sup- porting his nine colleagues, that's something. Business a little off Monday night, probably due to the heat that ^ay. Char. 86TH STREET After they took care of the appro- priation for the salary of Gus Ed- wards' Hollywood Proteges, there wasn't much left to spread out o\er tJie remaining turns on the four-act program. Edwards ballyhooed the young Armida plenty, naming the pictures she has appeared in and even inter- polating the "Texas Moon" pop number from one. The rest of the turn doesn't mean much, consisting of a pair of sweet-looking blonde sisters who played the violin and danced; young girl tap dancer andu boy haromnica-and-piano player. The violin playing girls looked as though they might have got some- where with a chance, but they were subordinated to the Mexican girl, a striking, vivid young personality and all that, but scarcely one to support a program, under this loose revue arrangement,, a catch-as-catch-can frameup held up by Gus* showman- ship. Supporting people who are new to the act are the Aber Twins, Ina Ray and Harry Adler. Marie Mang and Co. opened, turn- ing out to be a quiet starter, wom- an doing' routine feats on roman rings and web. She's wife of Mang, once of Mang and Snyder. Hus- band assists in turn. (Miss) Bobby Folsom fell into a tough spot No. 2, which called for a good rough specialty to break the ice and certainly not for a woman single doing a quiet comedy class song cycle. This young woman has developed something of a special niche for herself in the last few years, holding to strictly restricted song material—currently credited to NevlU6 Fleeson—and all of it trimly made in characterization and lyrics. But it was never Intended to. break the ice on a four-act layout with- out comedy ahead. That was all except Danny Small with Harry Mays, couple of colored singers and dancers, not to closing before the Edwards-Armida half hour. Small gets the program bill- ing, but he does no more than hold up his end of a two-man team. The pair, have a lot of weak gagging talk with no special strength In Ne- gro comedy character. They open quietly, go dull on the cross fire and then redeem themselves with step- ping finish. For an encore did a first rate military tap. Altogether an unusual grouping of material and far from a successful one. Screen feature, "For the Defense" (Par). Rush. 58TH STREET (Vaudfilm) 2Sc mat for women and kids still not much of a help. Saturday mati- nee saw a light, scattered audience. Six acts, running to 86 minutes, were a pleasant vaude combination, with the audience apparently liking It. One fault in spotting at this show was placing George Niblo and Co. (apparently a new addition to the. bill, as was not programmed or billed on the annunciator outside) and Savoy and Mann together. Both are the only two comedy turns on the bill, and would have made a cleaner sweep had another' turn been between them. It was a natu- ral place for Roxy La Rocca, who preceded both. Bert Nagle and Co., doing their cat act as Felix and Maria, opened. They are a mixed couple in the cos- tumies of tabbies. Purr and meow for comedy. O'Connor Sisters (New Acts), two girl harmonists who claim radio fame, deuced. Stick to straight warbling throughout. Did fairly. Roxy La Rocca, next, held 'em until finished. The nimble-fingered harpsichord player has a rep of class and pop songs. Gets Into the good graces of the customers by asking them to accompany the songs with whistling and singing. Niblo was the first comedy. He has two men, goof comic reminis- cent in mannerisms and looks to Stan Laurel. A femme is just at- mosphere. Theme is the two comics getting a martial drill in the han- dling of rifles from their captain. Funny neighborhood stuff. Savoy and Mann gave them one healthy laugh after another in quick and snappy style. Boob de- livery of Harry Savoy helped get It across. Turn is replete with a quantity of surefire "cracks." Quite a lot of blue chatter included, but of the variety which offends nobody. Savoy takes the solo spot for a little lyric comedy to the song "Ro, Ro, Rollin' Along." Miss Mann, who makes an able foil, warbles, but is constantly interrupted by the pat- ter of Savoy. "Mirror of Personalities" (New Acts) closed. Just another flash act. Weak on entertainment. "For the defense" (Par) featured. R-K-O Hollywood, July 31. Stage shows headed by picture names "In person" are to Los Angeles what a banged thumb is to a carpenteer's career; Just some- thing In the day's work. Which Is reason enough why the current R-K-O coast unit, headed by the once pictorlally active Viola Dana, is not regarded as torrid theatre by peasants In the city of angels. Billed under Miss Dana and her comedy sketch are Lane, Osborne and Chlcco; Roy Rogers, and Ger- aldine and Joe. The layout budgets in the neighborhood of f3,000, and Is not under-average entertainment for places away from Los Angeles. "The Inkwell" Is the title of Miss Dana's sketch, and it was written by Anita (G.P.B.) Loos. Miss Dana has come to a lawyer's office seek- ing a divor:3 because her husband threw an inkwell at her. After sev- eral minutes of watching her play- fully tear up the office, the lawyer picks up the inkwell which she has brought as evidence and hurls it at h^r. Miss Dana plays the skit with an attitude more Juvenile than comic, and there is no actual fun until the last few moments. She is supported by a man and girl. One curtain bow sufficed at the opening matinee. Roy Rogers, in the deuce. Is a semi-contortlonlst, doing a stew. He is a reliable vaudeville standard, apt to be long winded but always satisfying in the end. Geraldlne and Joe, child song and dance team, are bound to click wherever there are audiences. They closed the bill here, winding up their own affair with an Apache made burlesque only by the size of the kids. Joe features a headspln in the routine, unique and bound to create gasps. Opening were Lane, Osborne and Chlcco, mixed song and dance team specializing In high kicks, supportr ed by a man and girl at the piano also doubling in harp syncopation. Arrangement' of specialties makes mild, - pleasant, entertainment. "Inside the Lines" (Radio) Is the screen feature. In the pit now is Danny Russo, who directed the card players for quite a few years in the old and new two-a-day Palaces In Chicago. Danny needs no cue sheets but he still laughs at Jokes.. Or maybe he's laughing about something else. Bang. FOX, BROOKLYN Brooklyn, Aug. 2. Fox's Brooklyn de luxer no longer seems the mausoleum it used to be. Anyone walking in at around 2:30 Saturday afternoon wouldn't think so. Bob West, organist, was play- ing with the audience singing loud- ly and good naturedly. From the applause and a couple of whistles it appeared they were sorry when forced to stop vocalizing the lyrics flashed on the screen through a good old magic laintern. Each time viewed, Brooklyn seems more and more like Chicago, both a couple of hick towns. Chi- cago-has its pansy gunmen /and Brooklyn its creeping trolleys. And both their singing audiences. The Fox was three-quarters fllled downstairs Saturday matinee, with the weather warm outside and the day suited to beach-going, espe- cially that long Coney Island beach. The seats were occupied In a large part by kids. That might be due to the reduced prices here, with the Sat mat scale for juves down to ISc. Adult tap is 60c. Were those 16-cent kiddies singing, and their 50-cent elders too? Name atop the marquee is Ed'^ mund Lowe's, with Lowe the star of the feature talker, "Good Inten- tions." Just below is the name of Frank Richardson, erstwhile boy soprano from Phllly and now a Fox feature player, here with '^personal appearance" ballyhoo. Third per- sonality is Sam Jack Kaufman, new house m. c. No wlmmln. Stage unit is Fanchon & Marco's "Trees" Idea, running an. hour with inclusion of Kaufman's pit cononict- Ing and m. c. work. Richardson-^ single and the comedy act of Jack McBrlde and Co. Latter spotted in "one** before McBride's own olio and looked like an addition for the week only. It helped a lot with comedy where comedy was needed, for the unit otherwise was barren of It. "Trees" Idea ends with an excel- lent novelty flash provided by a bird act. This winged troupe, di- rected by a middle-aged couple and a young girl in tights who had pre- viously done some whistling on her own. Is composed of a score or so of cockatoos and parrots of all de- scriptions. They walk balls and strut stunts of the usual, but one bird makes the turn with a count- ing and bell ringing bit. At the finale of the presentation the unit's 12 line girls are on webs, each holding a bird on a stick. A pretty picture and far away from the common closing flash boloney. How this unit runs ordinarily not known, for here It was broken into sections by the comedy turn and Richardson. Latter was recognized by most of the audience, going by the hand, and proceeded to tie up the works, for here is a film player able to carry it right with him onto the stage, thanks to a pre-taiker variety career. Richardson gives lots of stage exercise to the high pipes which set him for pictures in this "personal appearance." He spared little, singing the best known pops from past Fox films, asking for one request, and then closing with "St. Louis Blues" of his own volition. Richardson can come around anytime in vaude or the presentations In between, before or after studio work. Kaufman, who formerly did his own planolog and later had a Jazz band in vaude. is a tall blond guy with enough for the ladies to like about him. Those front seats Mxouna Kaufman's spot on the rising pit were fllled as soon as they were emptied, with quite a rush noted going on in that direction whenever a squatter straightened out to blow. The m. c. sat down at the piano to accompany Richardson's blues, as an illustration of versatility. His one fault was with the makeup, too much rouge looking a bit radio so close to the customers. Kaufman is the best looking prospect at the Fox in some time and should stick for a while. - It was noticeable that the pit orch here is now scoring the sound new^sreel (Fox) and filling the dead spots between shots, not bad for the Fox, where ideas until lately were scarcer than scarce. Bige. STATE-LAKE ChlcagQ, Aug. a. This week threatens to be a cry of Joy for this house. The delight is definite on the stage, and seems set also at the box office. Trade heavy all morning, and second show started to capacity. It looks like this week this house is going to lick the Palace. Five sweet numbers on the line- up, and clicking both with the au- dience and the box office. Three surefire names, added to two excel- lent acts. Opening was Larimer and Hud- son, a neat bike novelty, with the riding getting the returns and the comedy clicking nicely. Boyd Sen- ter is getting lazy; using two boys to assist, with the couple deliver- ing instrumental and hoofing bits. Senter on and oft with his one-man band idea, and all over easily at the second show. Johnny Burke the Individual hon- ors. Burke is a performer who goes right through his ' routine at all times, never cutting material. Talk a riot, after reception; and closed with his using the band to Jumble several melodies into a harmony unit. Buster Shaver and his Tirty Town Revue continued the click tradition ' this afternoon, with his six midgets working hard to excel-i lent returns. Act has more finesse, and has a new touch of sentiment seldom found In. midget acts. Blossom Secley and Benny Fields and the fan came back to town to close the bill. Songs and talk^blg. Also the burlesque on "Command to Love." While objections of be- ing sophisticated may be placed against the bit, yet it deserves to remain because it gives the audi- ence a flash of the always welcome Blossom Seeley with the waving! fan and appropriate spice. Very big. "Inside the Lines" (Radio), fea- ture. Business excellent. Loop. 81st STREET Biz away oft Saturday matinee, despite an okay bill with a draw two ways for this uptown sector. What's socking the b. o. Is no refrig- eration. Bill was four acts plus "For the Defense". (Par). Tale University Band spotting closed the stage layout Anything that smacks like collegiate goes wow here. About 200'customers, mostly mid- dle ag'ed and elderly women, few men and kids saw the first perforcj- ancie on change day. That Yale U Band grabbed the cakes, showing off Just enough na- ivete and plenty of yoiith. On the strict technical end the organiza- tion's arrangements aren't real big league stuff. But the boys are in- telligent' musicians, wear conform- ing uniforms and give out ah ap- penllngly healthy and youthful look. Opener was Bee Starr. aerlallst> who went off with a big hand. Bill by no means a wow but spot- ting off with a girl In a fast nov- elty act- put the audience on the smile right away. > Comedy in the third act with Medley and Duprey, nut comic and a pretty brunet who has advanced since last seen to show some figure clothes that fit. Principal laughs gotten from man who yodels In high voice to catch fancy brickbats from hidden force behind drop. Ada Brown, colored Jemima, and her piano boy scored a good recep- tion on and off after several songs to come back with a supposed black bottom by Miss Brown. Not a dance and Miss Brown has become wise, showing It off on, the comic side. Negro rhythm tunes all the way and good. Band took the biggest slice, golnf^. 20 minutes. The others stood well within time and helped the general layout that way, besides themselves and customers in view of the heat. Vaude altogether went 53 which plus a couple of minutes wait and pit overture ran 59 minutes. Feature went 63 minutes. Newsreel and a Rice short spelled another 20, while six minutes of trailers also came In to give the screen end time of 89 minutes. Entire show went 148 minutes. PALACE (Vaudfilm) Chicago, Aug. 2. Not much doubt that Eddie Dowl- ing's olCtimers get the popularity returns for this week's bill. With the sentiment angle played up nicely by DowUng as m. c, they were nothing short of a smash. News of the oldtlmers must have gotten around, for the audience held a noticeable number of old boys and gals. Opening the five-act lineup were Muram and Griton, man and wom- an, in a fair novelty acrobatic turn. Ace bit was the bike work by the femme, closing with a neat bike somersault, great pinch for the turn. Starts too slowly, otherwise, with a number of small, rather meaningless stunts. Dotson, colored hoofer, was a somewhat quiet No. 2, but built his dancing and chatter to a nice close. Lulu McConnell brought a company of four In a comedy skit that waa all Lulu McConnell. Merely an im- pression of a dizzy dame who says she plays bridge but can't, doesn't drink, but does, and Is as client as a couple of 1917 Fords. A few laughs and the audience liked it. Eddie DowUng followed, and after a reception, proceeded In an easy way, to tell a few stories and sing a couple of songs. Then, after hav- ing already delivered one act, he threw in another, and a legitimate novelty, with his four old-timers. A clean-up all around. Closing was Don Azplazu and his orchestra from the Grand Casino. Band proper has 10 men, with two more doubling In vocal specialties. Act carries a regulation tango team, mostly atmosphere. Act is working In full in front of t. pip moonllglit outdoor set. Most of the material is native Cuban, with the boys tossing off one American Jazz se- lection oh the close. Azplazu at tb^ piano, and rather helpless as leader or m. c. Trailer helps sell the turn as a novelty. "Nlghtwork" (Pathe) feature. Business very gOod first show Sat- urday. Loop. STATE (Vaudfilm) Here's one spot where Loew can't very well take out vaude. "The Bad One" (UA) on screen, plus Hearsjt- Movletone News and five acts. A nicely balanced vfivde bill with more than the average laughs and nov- elty. Two heavy attractions- on third and .; closing .are Jean Bedlnl'a new act with Jules Howard and specialty artistes, and Henry Berg- man and His Black Sheep. Between the two the State provides variety and comedy with the trimmings. ' Bedinl and Howard (New Acts) b;>lng a new flavor of spice to vaude with several blackouts. of the bur- lesque or more refined Broadway revue type. Bergman recently played some R-K-O time with his act. Why ft isn't gobbled for one of those four- act Intacts, with more . variety needed . In .those, than on othfer shows, is a guess. The. act stopped the show here at the Saturday mat; With Mollno and Davis, in next to shut, three-fifths of the bill'from the end played for laugbb. ' This team, long around in .d turn Of hoii- sense, offset by a little singing'and dancing. Most of the material Is surefire, with Mellno aiding ita sale through aping jimmy SaVo,. Whom he resembles in -size, 'dress ahd gestures. Miss Davis a. 'good straight and an outstanding ass^t to the act through her eccehtrlo acrobatic dancing. Scored nicely.. Oh No. 2, the Three McCann Sla- ters are nice appearing young girls, bttter to look at than to listen t9. Harmony work a fizzle In a couple' hot Jazz numbers but not half .bnci in the amber-spot ballad specialty. One of the troubles seems to be the wi-a;.g type of songs. It would be far better to tty^ other songs, with the chances good the trio may- de- velop, A few attempts at ooniedy miss the mark but that might be -qyercome, too. Over fairly well, with the personalities helping a lot. Black and Gold (New Acts), acro- batic duo with eostumea and spe- cial drop carrying out the color motif, opened, to nice returns. Entire vaude show..84.minutes.. Saturday afternoon at 2 State hi^d pmntles but by' 3 they got olenty scarce. Cftar. R-K-O UNIT (Madison, Bklyn) The fourth of the R-K-O units is obviously the cheapest in "m^'* and also rates In proportion. Not bad but not quite as strong as the first three. The four acts consume 64 mlnutea up to Joe Mark's olio supplemen- tary hokum, which drags it along for another 10 minutes through the burlesk comic's desire to give 'em extra measure with his stepology and nonsense in "one." Some of it might go but not all. Archie and Gertie Falls opening consumed eight minutes; okay. Bert Rome and Henry Dunn took up 19; a couple or three mins. too many. The Vercell Sisters and Co. ran 14, and Marks' trio made It another 26 by the stop-watch. The Madison Is giving up $2.1t0 (Continued on page 56)