Variety (Oct 1931)

TaeBclay, October 20. 1931 FILM HOUSE REVIEWS VARIETY < 37 I ■ . JJdw Tork, Oct 16, ' Violet CarlBon opens the stiage -tew; taugh It Oft' (Cambria). It luu) evidence of talent juesUng. The apenlng Is bad technically, eould ^ve been better with the line of iOBter Girls and very ' punchy. ^ouKh for Miss Carlson, however, Jhat she etabs opener spot and goes SJer On the whole show offers •ven enterUlnment outside of tal- •nt arrangement Includes Charlie 'Aheam and band, two unnamed girl Saiicers and Tlta Coral, tenor. Fea- Igire. fThe Beloved Bachelor* (Par). But even as arranged the classy ■ Cambria Ughtlng on certain efCects MDd settings and drops ptay oft the talent to good reacUon. With Miss Srlson, Charlie Abearn, the two drl dancers, and the Alan Foster Hne no unit show can go altogether •rong. Doesn't look altogether like Cambria's own technique which ffives suspicion of outside Juggling. " Ahearn'a-stuB could have been «ut for speed. His trapdoor finish fall Is too sudden to get proper re- ception for a fliiale, with ^th« line ' almost on top of the hole. . 'Miss Carl^n lands for a full six minutes with two numbers plus a male pianist for opener.against spe- cial drops In 'three', that are not too glaring In color. Those drops add to Canibrla's color tastes. But beti^een Miss Carlson's open log solo and the two Crawfords' pfl' erlng-a slx-ttftnite organ duel that lacked something of the .i>unch ez- ' pected of this pair, the Foster. line 'could have Jumped In for better effect Paramount Just took the wrong time to be. different.. ' Coral is mild tenor lately seen at John and Chrlsto's FavlUlon Royal «nt liong island, way. Has femme lure In: his voice on the Spanish numbers, but the American tune proved too robust to fit the man. Dressed cafe Style and has a color- ful blue fish scale drop In 'three' for setting that went okay with the man's white suit On his third song the Foster girls came back for a! :modem waltz rumba or something ' and its snappy. Line costumes attractive with Judgment shown in letting shapes figure' actively. ' Superior to any- thing the Far has shown In the'way «( dancing girls for 6ome time. Two unnamed girl tappers who look like twins came about , center- wl^ in the show and socked. They do one of those Harlemaniac taps for the first number for a deserved ' hand. Coming right back they buck .and wing for another win. They're hitting right for big time showing and are lookers besides. Costumes ore half-way things between pajams and Mexican pantaloons in green or blue velvet That's, the biggest serious nioment in the unit which is otherwise built f6r' laughs with Miss Carlson and Charlie Aheom. Paramount info of late , is that attempts are' being made' to provide new-talent with opportunity at this house, and . the Brooklyn Par. 'Worthy Idea, 'but sounds like a long chance; Hits this week favorably but more than a meagre percentage . of wins Isn't to be expected. Paramount' News is other screen ' fare plus' trailers. RublnofC .ln an S-nilnute overture Is smcu-t enough ' to' hit loft' for the usual violin solo which gives the pit number punch. Elsewhere, Irving Talbot conducting and okay, with acts and units bene- flttlng. 'Where Rublnoft scores this week, ill 'Bouquet of Roses' overture which sounds like stock routine Is that . he doesn't become fanciful With the original composer's aims *nd plays tho tunes as the crowd understftncSs them. .Show runs 89 minutes. That's •gainst, .screen's 74. Altogether around 137 minutes. Good time. Shan. PARAMOUNT, L. A. (H. B. Franklin) Los Angeles, Oct.. 16. 'While actually the second week nnder Harold B. Franklin's operar tlon, this Is the first week of the Franklin touch to the stage presen- tations, and the Initial production by Lou McDermott under the . Franklin regime. Last wedk, as «ourlesy. Jack Partington stayed over from, the Publlx set-up to do a show until McDermott got set The type of show Franklin Is glv- •ng them re(],utres plenty of cour- age. Takes a lotta nerve to add on ♦6,000 to »7,000 worth of show, with the house requiring $21,000 to break. Judging by the opening matlnee's Wz the start was poor with the lower noor 50%, but if the Frnnk- lui ''■ ^^^<^ o^'t (he's alone on this ana the U. A. theatres, sans Howard Hughes), and If L. A. wants thl.s type of elaborate eiiter- lainment. Franklin is In position for » srona coup when and If his elab- entertalments click. If It's Jtiil a matter of film product. Rond 10 Reno' (current), and such, will not help him any. Current ballyhoo blasts forth ivitK ^vld Mendoza and a 6S-nian band, f'rnnklln palavered with the union ^nn got 'em at $70 a'man as "Balnst the previous $75 scale. That means. $4,000 alone for that large wchestra, with Mcndozn, veteran ■"roadway picture house maestro, on loan from "Warner Bros, studio for the baton-wielding. Franklin has a wealth of show; perhaps too much, although it Is an engaging, melange of variety, taking In everything and not apt to bore. It strives for novelty In presenta- tion and achieves it with the massed musicians dominating the stage. Vocal soloists flank the or- chestra to the right or left and when there are terp or 'production' effects, they are seen on an elevated rostrum behind .the ork.. Par Is plugging the 'new style of' stage presentation' with an offstage voice via a mike calling himself the •Spirit of Music,' but it doesn't work out as hokey. as all that , Stuart Buchannon is the announcer. - Presentation crowds lots into 40 minutes, opening with a. medley of familiar classic airs, leading into Ruth Gillette vocalizing "Kiss Me Again.* The ballet next, followed by Maurine Marseilles (Mrs. Mc- Dermott), a personality wiubler, with 'Million Dollar Baby,* which has Myra Kinch and Fay Badger In a panto bit a la an. ill. song. An- other ' medley of musical comedy hits is followed by Miss Gillette and Fred Scott, latter In French mill tary' unle, ..dueting 'One Alone.' Thence another production tableau for Amy 'Way's sympathetic vocal Izlhg. of 'Russian Lullaby.' Fred Scott and a chorus ensemble do the •Vagabonds' song. Donald Novls, quick repeater, doubling from the Hotel Ambaissa- dor's Cocoanut Grove, stopped it cold with •Sweet and Lovely* arid 'Wasn't It a Dream?' the tenor's rich sympatehtlc voice having since proved itself on the .'air. A 'Spirit of the Tango' finale was a corking' :flnale, with , the girls flashing colorful cellophaneous cos tumes, probably as inexpensive as they are.'.flashy.. Tango starts- off with the orthodox Spanish; then Bradley, and Bernhardt chic and smart couple in a . modem.. version of the tango; and Kinch and Bad- ger with a futuristic, seml-acrobatlc conception of the tango. There's a lot of guts to the works Dances are by Val Rasset; vocal en-. seKible, H. Krage; (ibstumes, Albert Deano; scenery, William Jackson and Robert Leicester, all working well with McD.ermoitt's Ideas. 'When word gets around on the •big shows* policy at the Par It should show Itself materially at the gate. Maurice. Chevalier in person next week will be the convlncer oh the new policy.. Besides 'Reno,' the' usual Par newsreel, a ColumbiaTRockne foot- ball short and a Par songcartoon, are on screen, Aiel. FOX, BROOKLYN ■ Brooklyn, Oct 17.' More on the stage than the screen for the many kids In the house Sat- urday aftemcion. They liked the prop mule act and The Ushers' mind reading in F. & M.'s 'Bound the World' Idea and the staff or- gan team, Ron and Don. . Talker^ 'Smart Woman* (Radio), didn't rate so well with the Juve attendance. Unit opens and closes Just like the Ushers'. own vaude routine, with the team's drop also used at both ends. They perform their mlrid reading In the middle of the show, with the man in the audience for article grabbing. This is the second audience bit in the unit, following the 'mule* act, during which the ^rl In a Jackass unit takes a stroll over the backs of the front rows. At this matinee the stunt had the women and children screaming. Big surprise when the donkey head is doffed to-reveal a girl underneath. Another ghrl does straight without leaving the stage. Mixed line of six boys and six girls contribute the principal flash in a number ^hat serves as the full stage finale. They pair Off Into six adagio teams for standard lifts that become novel through the unison treatment ■ Fat boy and girl midget combina- tion, midge singing and dancing and bov playing the-banjo to top some -weak chatter, managed to do well on their specialties. Both have been seen in the east separately. The teaming looks . like an office Idea, and not bad. Wide physical difference . Is ; an reifectlvo fpunda- Gae Foster gets billing as the producer. She turned out a satis- factory entry and apparently beat the budget. . Theatre's organ team, one on the stage and the other at the pit con- sole, played pops with rewritten lyrics flashed on the curtain. The words were local gags, depending mainly on mention of various Brooklyn districts for humor. One verso concerned, a Carnarsle gar- bage man and the othcr.i followed the same Idea. Quality of the play- ing or wording meant nothing to this willing audience and singing response was heavy. . Sam Jack Kaufman, conducting m, c. who's been here for several months, played a piano solo after announcing .that this Is his final week. He played It straight Instead of drifting back to the comedy planolog he once did In vaudeville, and they liked It. Abe Lyman plugged plenty on the screen and by Kaufman, on the .stage. Lyman starts a run at the I'bx next week. Bioc. ORIENTAL, CHICAGO Chicago, Oct 16. . . Publlx-Balabui and Katz history will mark in heavy type the 'week graced by the oha,mp wrestler, Jim liOndos, who pulled the bottom but of . the box-oiflce. It's doubtful whether they'll ever recover from the memory , of that terrific, loss. But the dive of the wrestling flop didn't hinder this booking office from.coming right back the'cur- rent week with another sports freak, Jacic Pepper Martin, who stole much of the headline space alotted to the St Louis Cardinals - Philadelphia Athletics world's series tiff. It's a cinbh that Martin will do better than Londos.. Baseball has much sweeter taste to. Chicago's public, both male and feimme. And at $2,600, Martin may earn hls keep, although thaVs high for an out-of- town fa-vorlte. . * Martin was Inserted Into the Fan- chon and Marco unit, 'Modern. Min- strels,* and took tho next-to-closlng spot, like a veteran. His act was molded along the regular personal appearance lines, with tho m. c, doing the interviewing lor 12 mln ute's of regulation question and .an swer business. 'Audlepce was plenty lenient, and laughed at stuff like:.'well I'd like to tell ,you .ladies and gentlemen that I'm much more nervous up here on the stage than on the ballfleld.' Martin spoke up nicely, got all his cues, looked presentable in his base- ball outfit and even managed to encore htanself off with a laugh yarn Regular unit had two placements; Tyler Mason coming in as black face Interlbcutor in place bf Harry Jolson, and the Page Trio, hoofers. Show had. a tough time' getting started, due primarily to the new hess of Mason in. the line-up; but should be worked out in subsequent shows.... Performance got off on the wrong foot when Mason' tried to start things with a slow tempo song, bad piece of business. Harry Van Fossen, in as chief end man, had difnculty throughout in. connecting, with most of the comedy material lacking wallop. . Best of the unit occurred In the middle where. three vaudQ enter, talnment bits were offered. Jug gling Nelson had some nice mln utes with balls and hats; Esther Campbell did an amazing show stop on her straight whistling niim her, and Frank Oren came through for another unexpected click with his barnyard and musical Instru ment imitations. Must be that this old stuff Is becoming brand new again. Frbm the way this audience gathered In the comedy rooster. Imitations and the trombone and cornet impressions. It's'evident that they'd hever heard the like before. It was accepted by this mob like a free feed. Three Page Boys have a clever hoofing routine, fast and snappy, particularly hitting .with their hot challenge finale. Al Kvale, m. c, stayed off for the entire unit, com- ing In Just to query Martin,' -vvhom he handled neatly. Kvale still rates as the ace comedy mugging m. c' . Kvale was down In the pit before the show for the overture, and to work with the Texas Drifter, the hill-bllly warbler. As. has become the custom recently around this town, the Drifter was a smash. He has been mopping up all through tlie neighborhoods, where the radio hounds chortle over the homely yod- eling. Only theatre in which he was weak -was at the Chicago last week where the smart femme crowd couldn't particularly see him. . Stuart Barrle had the organlog to himself, while the Audience sat quietly watching him pump out some neat musical arrangements. Five newscll'ps, and "Beloved Bach- elor' -(Par), feature, with Paul Lukos, and to whom much of the early show femme trade can be ac- counted. TRANSLUX Plenty of magazine material In tfle current prpgi&m with that fam- iliar flavor for regular attendees. Better coveraige of foreign topics, although why tlVe memorial serv- ices for the dirigible disaster of a year ago In Beau vis, France, was se- lected for the lead clip. Is not indi- cated. . Pa the went to the. trouble of get- ting H.'G. Wells aside for a special Interview. His remarks in this, however,..were, less pertinent than those made in general utterances to recorders aboard'ship. Pat he got a wide margin in en- tertainriient values In Its covernfe bf the Los Angeles' trapeze stunt wlUi a plane over New Xork; Ex- ceptionally good camera work shbwed the plane actually set Its hook. Work inside the dirigible at the same tlnie was cbvered trom stem to stern; . Paramount realized a real thriller in using two cameras In a looping plane. One photographer was seen strapped to the wing of the plane which was making the circles. The crazy turns of the ship looping over New York were edited In. • While on the foreign end Unlver; sol contributed scenes of the . recent Japan earthquate and inundated Hankow. Paramount followed Ghandi through the mills territory bf Manchester. Trick numbers Included a Holly- wood woman playing' with 'a 400- pound tiger; California trained db: doing their routine; six-year-old Cuban pltknl.st and. a German wed ding on single wheel bikes. ~ Under the heading pf .'Pathe Be view' Doc Rockwell told why. Maine will soon be tropical. He got a few mild laughs. The workings of the autoglrb with Illustrations were also .included. 'Who's "Who On Broadway* found Jessel and Cantor kidding each other over their return to Gus Ed wards. Charlie Freeman announced the opening date of the team at the RKO Palace. Another unique air clip was the steering of a planb, filled with pas sengers, by a robot The living pilot was exhibited abandoning the con- trols high up in the air. The auto-' matlc movement of the wheels thereafter was as uncanny to the Luxer attendees as It probably was to the passengers In the ship iat the time. A burlesque on hunting elephant's in Africa dipped Into the bag of film tricks. The elephants were Just doing their stuff on a Long Island plantation. ' ' Other items included those In the week's* general news coverage. leap up stairs, two at a time to greet his wife, (nd the relation with his men in the workshop, terminate the Edison clip. It Is the only bit in the entire program this week getting, cbnslstent ap- CAPITOL New York, Oct 16. Not that the stage show matters much during the stay of the new Greta Garbo celluloid appearance, but they might have devised some- thing for the occasion more stimu- lating than this succession of merely- pretty spectacles. With the Garbo addicts crowding in for a week—and on the week-end showing It will be two at leastT^the production staff had. a goldeii. opportunity to make hordes of new friends In the fan mob. ' Instead the stage doings ore Just pretty, without a spark of humor and from first to lost lacking In .th'e vigorous entertainment quality that appeals to the proletariat The sit- uation called fbr a rousing name personality as center of a fast-inovr Ing light entertainment, unless the Loew office said here's a chance to save some stage money. That's so. Item that gets the prominent bill- ing Is a chbreographic bit called 'The Afternoon of a Faun,' a heav- ily ladened artistic dance episode led by Ivan Triesault. It may be the last word in hl-hat dance, but (or the mob a line of precision danc- ers is more to the purpose. Dim stiige represents the pediment, or trinngul&r cornice, of a Grecian tem- ple. In its narrow space tho Vavm carries pii; a classical -flirtation In dnnce paintomlme with the virgins of the tcttiple, suggestion being that the dancers- are animated clas.slcal .sliitiics. Audience at the show here EMBASSY with Thomas Edison in the dally news during the past few weeks and his death Sunday, Fox Is pro- jecting currently on the Embassy screen what is probably the best character study of the wizard in sound film archives. Edison. laughs. Jokes, works, ex- periments and exhibits a sound physique in this clip which is really long enough for a short subject His crack about the Scotchman who took advantage of the .total eclipse of the sun to .demand night message rates Is getting a big laugh. The which is plaiise. It is hard for audiences to take H. G. Wells seriously in a' camera interview on the economic sltua-. tlon. Not..that he doesn't say something, because ha is'specific in his Fox talk since he recommends the world turning Itself over to' practical economists for the next five years. . But H. G-, in addition to possessing a voice that repro-. duces notes in the highest pitch,' has wrinkles around the eyes which causes him to register chronic mirth bn film. ■ Wllllum Jennings . Bryan, Jr., in an Interview with all the reels, gives a version for countries going bff~ the gold' standard. This Is the most concise explanation - yet of- fered, 'He blames the U. S. for im- posing the'tariff and then demand- ing payment in gold for foreign debts. The interview angle . is. being over-stressed at the Embassy. Commissioner Mulrooiiey delivers a long talk oh firearms which Is old news. This . could have been cut to a third of the foo.tage in which it is allowed to run. Then Jane,Ad- dams appears in two clips with more interviews. The first is about ■ disarmament and the second has to do. with her acceptance of the 'Pic- torial Review' prize. In between those talking reporters do their own interviewing. England is reverting to the kin- dergarten If two clips on the sub- ject are considered a criterion. Col- lege girls sing and toss balls like youngsters. The excuse for this is that they are seeking poise. Black- pool's amuserhent park winds up the season with a series -of nursery rhymes in lights! Those sea llbns, whetlier in New York or Hamburg, and monkeys in any zoo never get old. It's sheep time again. Twice a year the Emvr . bassy shows sheep. In the sprlntr they go up to . the mountains and this time" pf the year they come down. The Mexican dancing girls are at last being given a rest. Fbr weeks they were held over nt the Embassy. That new censbr law in Mexico is ~ probably the reiuon for their vacation; - Athletics. are well covered, Fox.- Hearst again topping the. others In coverage ■ of football games. The two this week: are (3eorgla and Yale,. . The muddy battle between Notre Dame and Northwestern Is more spectacular in' the reelafie. School boys running the Van Cort- landt Park course; New England schooners.In regatta; Danbury auto races - and. a racing car - burning on an English track; Sun Beau captur- ing the Chicago prize—those are the: others.- - Embassy is leading, off with- faA miliar troop pictures in Japan and. China. Silent titles bring action up to date. . Christening of a new-plane. in a commercial air service and some excellent aerial shots of the- Royal Gorge bridge, also the - Inside nnd outside activities of a plane hooking up with the Ix>s Angeles over Man- hattan comprise interesting ether, activities. Waly. reported received It with utmost complacency. Scene liioves to 'Milady's Boudoir,' atmosphere being the French court of Louis something, or other when the court ladles wore towering head- dresses. Another stanza of uncomr promising art appeal to a clientele that loves to acclaim knockabout comedians and boop-a-doop song- stresses, preferably shapely and not too much dressed up. It .wasn't fair to MaJ. Bowles' public. Stage pic- ture was pretty. If you like, but ter- ribly- remote from a Jazz age Satur- day matinee. Action has to do with the belle of tlie court being, aided In her elaborate toilette. Thence Into ' 'Milady's Garden,' still another session of: dainty stage pictures, enlivened, however, by a capital gypsy dance by Joyce Coles, aided by Phil TUtman, for some leg- mania and a bit of adagio feats. Episode also Involved singing of 'Queen of the Night* aria from •The Magic Flute,' by. Louise Bave, color- atura soprano. Finale brings on the Chester Hale Girls, corps augmented to 50 for the week, for a spirited gypsy dance climax, which had at least, the vigor of motion and a punchy revel of bright color. Overture Is approprlsite at any cost, being a compilation of 'Ballet Melodies,' culled, like the rest of the art-burdened performance, from the oldest of old masters. One short 'Splashes,' a series of camera shots at champion bby nnd girl divers on the coast with a dubbed lecture and .lome polite, restrained gagglns. There was no comedy In thq news reel, and the feature, 'Susan Lenox,' Is no two-reel frolic, making It praitlcolly a laughlcss pcrroi-mnnc'>. JtusU. FISHER, DETROIT Detroit, Oct. 17. Instead of a folir-act vaude bUl this is a presentation show any way you look at it. And a superior en- terUlnment. Having four aqts to work with, a stage set was dug up and the band was put on the .stage. With that nucleus four semi-stand- ard vaude acts are blended into a presentation. The only one to ifefl- riitely benefit by the presentation angle is the headllner, Flfi D'Orsay. This girl would be okay with the straight vaude build-up, but she does get over a little better-as Is, ' due to her working with the m. c. Bob Nolan.' . But' vaude or presentation, this show builds frohi the'first act and doesn't let'down for a minute. Hec- tor and His Pals open; The feature Is Hector. Good for a lot of laughs for not only kids but grown-ups, too. Second is Earl La Vere, working with a girl La Vere hasn't changed his act beyond one or two gags since he played the Michigan on Publlx unlti(>, a couple of times. The only differ^ cnce Is that he has readied the act for vaudo by tho addition of the girl to foil. Act gpes over big. Jim Jam Jems a quintet of girl tumblers who do all the acrobatic dancing stunts, individually or col- . lectlvely, ploaso with novel stuff. Doing only 5',4 minutes, they pro- vide .change of pace and give D'Or- say, on last, a chance - (or a nice enlrnnce.. Fin h.is changed a lot since she fir.st pln.vc'd. the local Fox theatre. At thnt time .she was Just a personal appparnnce. NoW she has the added (Continued on page C2)