Variety (Oct 1931)

Tueeday, October 2*7, 1931 VAHDE HOUSE REVIEWS VARIETY SS • PALACE (St. Vaucle) Just an In-betwMner this week, tooked with a prayer and a . pencil Everybody'9 waiting' for the Ciin- tor-Jesael layout, which. arrives next week, Meanwhile the booking o^Bce la holding Its breath. There has never been' as- much advance talk and Interest as there is over the Oct. 31 booking. That talk sub- merges the current program as it submerged last week's and the week's biefore. Fortunately the cur- rent bill turns out pretty good, per- haps better than was expected. 'For the real laugh ot the week or imonth, ' and -tdoi bad the; laymen among Palace customers, can't get it,'. Is .Charlie Freeman as a John Gilbert In the Pathe. newsreel. Is he hot? He looks hlnda bare on top, but the setting Isn't bad. The big desk that's weak on all sides from re- sounding those loud 'No's' .hides much of the Freeman, physique, irith Freeman seated, as usual. You get Just' enough to get the idea; Freeman's Idea . Isn't bad either, even for a booking office head. He picked Cantor and Jessel as stooges for his screen debut. Gus Edwards Is on first. Freeman is. in the open- ing scene and also in the second. In the second he points to his desk whll^ looking at Cantor and Jessel and says, and very nicely, too: •Here are your contraicts, Iwys. Go •head and sign them.' From- that you can teU he's only acUng. Bert Xabr, Nick Iiucas and N^rma Terrls,. last nam.ed holding over, are the names this week on a bill of seven acts and an afterpiece. Lahr Is still doing the cop stuff in 'one' and the test tube bit from 'Flying High'. Five of Miss Terrls' imita- tions are npeats from last week. The bill's only new routine is by the act that's probably played here most often, Borrah Mlnevitch. . It would be silly to' blame Lahr for repeating with an act that's BO longer flop-proof, for as long as the'Falace will buy it for HEOO Ta»iir would be foolish not to c^ccept. Bat it's a mutual fault that can't i«act favorably on either the the- atre or the actor. liahr Is a naturally funny guy. He proves that this week, not only in his own turn, but in the afterpiece with Miss Terrls, in. which he makes them laugh at lines that are terrible. - Sp' It's impossible for I^yir to miss a certain number of lauglfs under any conditions.' The disappointment Saturday, though, was the dillerence in response to Lahr's routine when first played kere for two weeks last spring, and .this week, when it looks played out. Miss Terrls started, with two new aubjects for her mimicry, BaqucI Meller and Blllie Burke. Neither teemed well known to this house and excepting for a few in the au- dience who got them, they were passed up. The Helen Morgan got her the first rise, making' the Hope Williams, Janet Gaynor, Helen Kane and Beatrice LllUe take-ofTs easy. She's doing Lahr again, but this time it's much stronger, with Lahr himself preceding on the bill. The Lahr imitation closed the act as the second or third encore and beat everything' else as an applause getter, as was only natural. It wait remindful of Cissle Iioftus when ClBsle'would Imitate the-other acts «n the bUL While Miss Terrls Is DO tibftus, she has become a keen observer and student of other art- ists; - probably more so than any ether woman mimic today. As Lahr ^as her most successful bit, while the only man among those Imitated It might t>e advisable for Miss Ter- Wa to try other men of the atage she progresses. Bath Bros, opened the bill with their slow calisthenics, as they have opened 'em before, and a flash with a girl in it seemed a bit different for the Palace deuce, though stick- ing to routine in all-danclhg. It is Van Betty Jano Cooper-Lathrdp Bros, turn with a third boy, un- billed, and a Tates special, Includ- ing the stairs. Just oR the intact touts and more intact than the »oute. Lathrops' walking buck with- out music was liked best. .Eddie Conrad had to struggle for many of his laughs, which isn't cus- tomary for him, but the struggle *as over when Miss Eddy began *^«Blng. They finished as usual. Lucas was also as usual in •bout six Bonga. After two numbers he asked for requests and sang what he wanted to. A i-lant on the Shelf helped a lot. lAhr and Miss Terrls sand- wiched Intermission, with the news- Mel and Freeman featuring the jatter. Mlhcvltch closed the regu- lar vaudeville layout with his har- monica kids, and this didn't depart ironi the ordinary either. Borrah HOt his customary recalls and didn't ja" to have the house In his mitt ■'' 'he '*vdy. He's getting more comedy than ever out of the mid- set and more music out of the boys. «lnevltch Isn't playing at all now, '"ough he should do one number. fcifJ'f^" Ferris and Lahr played t '^vas announced as a sequel ^. "/and Hotel' as Noel Coward jnisht write It. It's mostly a pan Coward. They take the double pratter from the couch to the floor after going through the - reverse make stuff and Miss Terrls ends it by asking the gentleman, his name. Previously Lahr, as a man with only six weeks to live, tells the Jady she's out o' luck b'ecause It takes Mm six -weeks to get Interested. A sign in the lobby advises the public to buy the' Cantor-Jessel bill tickets early. By. Saturday a $4,600 advance has. been already . regls- ' tered. According to the business in- side,-the Palace box office boys are mostly working oh the future .book. Blge. LYRIC MUSIC HALL (OPENING BILL) William and Harry. Brandt have taken over this, legit house on a reported two-year lease to try Vaudeville on 42d street, combat- ing the two burlesque theatres on' Broadway's most Important side Btreet. The Bntndts are running this .1,100-seater on a grind policy, four .shows a day. Two hbuM.are. devoteei to vaude, eight acts, and one hour to shorts and. newsreels. No feature. The Brandts are call- ing the Lyric a 'music hall.' . Full-week policy. Scale is 2Bc at all times, matinees and evenings, excepting Saturday and Sunday nights, when the ante Is raised to 40c. Arthur Fisher, booking the vaude here, did a jnice job with the eight- act opening bill. It is composed chiefly of standard acts, topped -by Moss and Frye'and Joe E. Howard. ' One big fault here is the break between the vaude and the pictures and again in the. change from pic- tures to vaude. Tgo mia.ny moments are allowed to elapse between the breaks, with intermission coming only when the show goes from the stage to the screen. Then the or- chestra plays a few numbers, but the time is too long and the orches- tra wasn't active for a few minutes while the audience' waited for the pictures to. start Caused an em- barrassing pause. Same thing hap- pened In the switch from the films back to vaiide, only this time the orchestra didn't play at all. That orchestra also needs plenty of rehearsing. Its timing was bad and didn't help the acts and It played too loud. Nine pieces in the pit. . Other faults included leaving the side, curtains: partially drawn dur- ing the pictures, which left those seated on the side out of luck. And the stagehands couldn't seem to pry the . curtains back enough in the wings, while . making plenty of noise. Three Aces, fast roller-skating trio, on first. Two boys and a girl in clever stunts on'the rollers. . .One boy taps and does an eccentric, dance with the skates attached. Edison and Louise (New Acts) fol- lowed in a novelty act of the famil- iar .variety, playing tunes on bal- loons from which the air Id escap- ing and novelty bits. Audience liked the hoke of George NIblo and Co.. Another chap comedes 'With NIblo, both supposed to be two old soldiers, while a straight Is the commanding .officer. Most of the comedy evolves from the boys' at- tempt to go through the manual of arms. ■ Joe' E. Howard' is on next, as sisted by four girls. Three work as a sister team, rendering erratic har- mony a la Boswell Sisters. Girls are good and went here. So did Howard. Howard announces he'll sing some of his old hits, and In- cludes 'Shine On, Harvest Moon.' Jack McBrlde's buffoonery Is'the sort of material this type house goes for. It's all low hokum, with stooges rjinnlng. on and oft and In- terrupting McBrldc. A small girl assists as a foil with songs and rough comedy. Another girl and a chap are also on as support. Mer- rell Abbott Dancers (New. Acts) are a. nice-looking enough dancing troupe, all girls, but suffered from the orchestra cuing. Moss and Frye goaled .them here with the same line of patter they have been using for years. Team hasn't, anything new to .offer, but what they have was liked. Young Kam Troupe, acrobatic Jap turn'of two men and five girls, classy closer. Three young girls were the hit of the act with some fancy joint displacements. on the film end were two comedy shorts, one featuring Elddle Buzzell titled 'CrIss-Crossed,' and the other Hotter Than Haiti,' In which Slim Summervllle la featured. Latter Is new, according to the files. Also a Mickey Mouse ^ cartoon, Pnthe Re- view and Universal Newsreel. Subjects were oke and sufficed to break the monotony, but a little dramatic short W9uldn't be amiss, seeing that most everything on both stage and screen was comedy. . Lyric held a good house Saturday, nearly. capatJIy and almost 1.00% jnale. • Thaf.s n.-itural on 42d stHcet, as the Brandts probably sense, since they are employing good-looking girls as ticket takers, candy sellers and usherettes. If' Arthur Fisher ran continue booking bills that will hold up as good as this on a budget said to be about $3,000 per week, and' the Brandts straighten out the wrinkles the IJyrIc might make a Utile money. BROADWAY Television in Its first known dem- Qnstratlon-ln a theatre as a port of the regular program finds 19 min- utes reserved for It here on a show which in entirety runs two hours, 31 .minutes. It will draw the curi- ous, teasing'plenty past the box of-* flee to see what this here tele IB all about, regardless of whether it's good or bad. Supporting or sup- ported for current appeal Is a lym- phatic, programmer, 'The Tip OfT (RKO-Pathe), and a' 66-mlnutc stage show of revued^up -vaudeville which -will satiate sundry tastes. If the crowds drawn to the recent Madison Square Garden radio show to see television " exhibited meant anything, B. S, Moss' lone h'^lf-and- half operation oh.Broadwfty is In for possible business. With the house packed at an early hour Saturday afternoon, the audi- ence surprised by applauding the television demonstration, although It Is in such primary stages as an entertainment medium that strictly as' diversion It so far has nothing except novelty. Many' people ha.ve only a smattering Idea of what tele> vision is like. If they didn't see It at the Garden, and maybe if they did, they will , doubtless storm in here to get a slant at It. Tele shows may ' eventually be- come. practical in theatres, but un- less science and,development moves fast, It will be some time before broadcasting of images synchron- ized by voice, cain begin to compete with talking pictures. Or with radio, its first cousin. At the same time, show business cannot avoid the fear that televised shows may some day in the not too distant future become an opposition reality. That, is all the more for- bidding when it Is recalled how the earliest motion pIctui'eB looked with their poor reproduction, flickering, etc. Radio a bare eight years ago Is apother reminder of how fast science is marching. In the demonstration given here, the 10-toot screen of the Sanabrla Television Co., Chicago, Is hung In the center of the stage directly over a sound-proof broadcasting room which is almost totally in darkness as the televising is being done. ' Carveth Wells, explorer and au- thor, acts as m.c;, and attempts to allay any suspicions' in the audi- ence's mind, because the artists are televising from the stage, thi^t there may be something phoney about the proceedings. After talking considerably down- stage and introducing several ar- tists, all of whom do brief bits,, ac- tion moves to the actual televising. Wells first talks, Emily Day, sop, singing 'My Mother's Eyes,' and John Tlo offering his talking parrot in a very qhort.and undistinguished bit. A brief pau$e to assure the audience It's no fake and Vincent Lopez is conscripted from the audi- ence. He says a few -words, with Ruth Bums following in the chorus of a pop song. Actual televising consumes about 10 nilnutes. Scanning .disc lines show very clearly, blurring the Images simi- larly to the flickering of pictures in their earliest stages. Everything is In closeup, with only head and shoulders showing, but with the large screen two people in one In stance get within Its IlmltB. . Whether the novelty of television wears off before it is perfected' for practical uses is the burning ques- tion. Time win be the answer. The demonstration immediately follows the fourth Moss revue with Jans and Whalen, Bernlce Claire, Barto and Mann, Helene Brandt, Darling Twin's, and Jeonnette Brad- ley with the Albertlna Rasch string of girls. It's awell-.staged mixture of vaud along revue lines under a policy In- stituted by Moss up here that Is be- ing put to a test. It has good chances of surviving.that test. With good music in the pit, reminding of musical comedy crew work, and the entire show routined quite away from vAude standards with some similarity to picture house presen- tation style, complaint can come only from those who still demand their vaude, like their liquor, with- out any trimmings. Al Trahan, billed, disappointed with announcement that was. due to failure of baggage to get in from Chicago, Barto and Mann replacing In their socko dance-clowning turn. The Jans and Whalen twoln, doing most of their regular routine, siillt up throughout the show, also act as masters of ceremonies, and In bits wlil? Helene Brandt and others build up a lively Interest. . Bernlce Clair sends several strong song numbers over her easy-to-hear soprano. The Darling Twins do In- troductory work at beginning and end,' Willie Jeannette Bradley g^ts a couple singles to herself, with the Rasch s'lrls backing.. She falls to show up better than average In her work. The 12-scene show wa.<i pieced to- gether by LeRoy Prinz, who until recently .staged units for Fanohon & Marco. Char. was Eddie Cantor. It's Cantor all ailong the street and through York- vllle for four days. He's Jamming 'em in. Even the early bird flrst of four dally shows at noon .had 'em. If vaude had 63 Cantors Its wor- ries would fade. He tells gags that others could tell without effect, but which in his hands rock the walls. He gets Intimate. They love It. He sings. THey whistle. He begs off. They Insist he stay. He does, and that's success, Itls gag about fruit in 'California looking like Sophie Tucker, the General Pershing and Roxy ushers bit; his fun. with Chase & Sanborn, for whoni he -broadcasts, and the scene In: 'two' with Janet Reade in which he can- cels half a sandwich order because she shoots herself 'were highly ajin- p.llfled howls. : Cantor could still b'o' on. The show set in with Cantor is np small potatoes, either. It marks dn initial vaude trip by Janet Reade (New Acts) and she is a natural for the. continuous. Sylvia and Clemeiice and Andrlni Brothers (New Acts) hit the open- irj spot and mopped up. Carefree youthfulness combined with things done a bit different makes this an ace act of-its type. If William and Elsa Newell play the l>alace this season the Helen Morgan imitation of Elsa's will create talk. It is startllngly funny and cruel. The Newells. can usually be depended on to hold their o-wn In most coses. They lightly poke fiin at vaude act construction In a suave manner,' A burlesque 'Bring Back Those Melo- drama Days' in a song is nifty, as Is the gag. ot bringing out the mother. She enters-wearing a fur coat and Billy cracked that his mother had ad.yahce rei>orts on the audience. 'Whoever doeis the exploitation foi^ this house'went for the works on cantor. No matter where one looks the phisog of 'Eddie peers out. - Meat' markets, stores; etc., have Cantor window cards. Screen attraction lost in the Cantor shuf- fle is.'American Tragedy" (Par.), Earh 86TH STREET ' The -staid S$th seemed like an- other . theatre In a different fipot Saturday. Audience Was In holiday mo'od. They laughed and applauded and behaved like opening day when vaudo' was voud^ A magician touched lilH magic wand to the usu- ally fiinTonl house of mirth. It PALACE, CHICAGO . : Chicago, Oct. 26. This week's bill at the' Palace re- minds of the punch line 'back to' two slices again' 'in the familiar hread story.:. After building up to eight acts last week that,' despite a disconnected' running order, was box office value, ' Chicago's only vaude stapd condes right back with a . grand gathering of three turns this. week. ' No matter how you figure it it's still three acts, even if the Weaver Bros, and Elvlry would do 40S min utes Instead'Of the 46 they actually do and -which Is plenty. It- would still be one act. Other two are Keller Sisters and Lynch and Gwynne, illusionist. What difference, does it make that the Weavers turn Is spilt up so'that part of the same act can be blUod as an individual act, which it isn't. It's true that people know and ex- pect a long act from the Arkansas handsaw experts, but how does such an In>jposlng layout of three (count 'em) acts look on paper? . Even with Olsen and Johnson the Palace never got away with less than four acts, so why make chumps of the Weavers? And' why put them In a spot so tough, following last week's eight turns? That's what's called killing the golden goose or something, considering the Weavers' popularity and drawing capacity In this town. And maybe the Weaver family didn't know the hole they were In when they got a load of the abbre- viated layout and realized what they had to follow? From report the mountaineer folk were plenty sore about it, but if anybody should have been mad It's the customers. And maybe they were. Next couple of weeks will tell, when the Palace goes back to flvo conventional acts and no outstanding headllners. So the Weaver clan practically trumped their own aces and tried' to' put on a show single handed. Re- sult didn't benefit the act. With nothing new to sell, it was a tough job to conyinco the audience, Whether the circumstances had anything to do with it or-' not El- vlry's usual dynamite was toned down considerably. Keller Sisters and Lynch were well recelv.ed and deservedly. Style ot harmony crooning by this estab- lished trio Is not the kind to go out of vogue. This Is one act that knows the value of dressing up a turn so that it will stand out. After three songs, some with -special patter, the blonde Keller girl tears off a nice roll of taps to break up the vocal refrains. ' - ' Gwynne, with his magic. Illusions and nlclght o' hand work, took the opening spot. Both Thurston and Blackstone have been around town recently but he went right ahead and turned out some neat and effec- tive tricks Just the same. Oh top of everything else the pic- ture, 'Wicked' (Fox) only ron 57 minutes, which, made It necessary to ring in additional fillers. No cutting on this vaude show, which copped 73 minutes ' Upan, \ STATE Four shows Saturday -with mor* set for Sunday made it a busy weekend for the vaude acts at-thft State. The four-show arrangement makcfs it necessary for all turn's, tft- stlck within allotted time and *iiot force encores. The State show ad.' hered, although there were Instances where the audience demanded sriore hxii didn't get It,. On the screen is 'Get Rich Quick Walllngford' (Metro) with th«i WU- Itam Haines and Jlinmy Durante combo; If the audience didn't get a laugh in the stage show, they got It from that Schnozzle. With the four , shows- the house lopped off Its overture and let Heai;8t hews open.. And It seemed strange not to have the organ do Us stuff.- Seven- Uyeno Japs opened the- vaude and gave the bill, a good, start. The men are fast, skillful, workers, with a routine a little bit ' different than the usual. Dolly Kay avos .second with songs and two pianos played by male ao- companl^ts.. She received entrance applause. Topical isongs (comprise Miss Kay's routine. Miss Kay ap- parently had made an effort to get away' from, her . former Sophie 'Tuclcer style by. lising a dramatic stance, . In this instance she would do well to obtain one or two si>e- ' ciols -which would, Rut her act in .a more exclusive niche. Her beat ef« forts were with the Tliver Stay Away From My Door,' which closed. Comedy byplay as used by Skmmy ' Lewis and Pattl Moore, and their c'oihpany of three didn't seem to'get them much in the big State at the start, but once Into their dancing the returns wore sure. Their tap- ping at the close is the clincher. Joe Wilton and Rex Wtlier never ' apipeored- to better advange than here and everything they, said aiid did struck the State crowd ob funny. Closing spot held by Harry Roye and Billle Maye; 'with the best dane-.' ing turn they have yet presentew^ They havo not only speeded up their routines but arranged their team work .especially for faster and more effective results. For' a flve-acter the show was nicely balanced and gave satisfac- tion. Mark, Parieunouiit, Newark Newark, Oct.. 24. Although not headlined. More- Yoconelll, two musicians, carry off .the laurels in this show. Using chiefly an accordion. and a violin; with much good humor and a little broad comedy, they sweep everyr thing before them. . A novelty Is Chase and La Tour. The s.et shows a street corner on one side of which a swell and his girl go through a quarrel and reconciliation, more, or less closely echoed on the other side by a tough egg and his Jane. They 'end in a song. It is pleasing Idea and wins. Artistically they hurt the effect by pretending to get laughing at their own stuff. . Abbott' and Robey do a. straight and comic with a girl aid to no striking results. The girl daqces later In close-fitting black net, and the comic plays a violin and sings. The Saul Freed Foursome, the opener, is an attractive dance act. Among other things, a girl In Chi- nese oos-:umo sings, and then two girls do taps.with Chinese trim- mings. The two men do a little rls- ley work, ending with a leap from a ladder to a small trampoline and to the bearer's hands. They finish la song with dancing. The headllner 'is' Von Grona and eight girls. The girls, dressed in sevei;al changes, mostly modernistic, are not So hot. Von Grona Is an artist. Behind a suggestion of cog- wheels and before his shadow In a.' bright orange glow, he does his now famous 'machine age' dance. Later In black satin, to the strhlhs of a blues with expressive face and realistic movemientB; he embodies a dance-niad and gln-niad generation. His work has cIsbs, but he is too outre for this houise. A striking scone neair the end with the girls shadowed behind a scrim admirably conveys the spirit of the African jungle. A Lyman Howe's Tidbits and a Par News back up the feature, 'The Beloved Bachelor.' Not capacity on- the opening. RKO, L. A. Los Angeles, Oct. 22. Eastrwest vaude policy of four acts contributed by each section of the country is now in its tiilrd week. Current eight acts are entcrlaih- ment, but no more. The eastern' contribution consists of Stanley 'fwlns, fia.sh dancing act; Eddie White, single; Ross and Bennett, comedy chatter and dance team, and - the llunaway Four, hoko quartet.' They comprise the last half of the bill and appear In the order named.. Locally booked four acts are Enos Frazcre, standard trapeze act;'Tor- rey's High Steppers, juve danetng quartet-: Adeline and her. saxophone band of eight men, and Johnson and (Continued on page 37)