Variety (Dec 1931)

Tuesday, December 8, 1931 FILM UOaHE KEYIIiW» VARiETY .37 ; HOLLYWOOD ■ Detroit, 6. isouw bos recently reduced prices 'feild aeeme to be about holding its ^wn. Contlnulne with three acts of KKO vaude booked out of N. T. and with the band on the stage with Bddle Loughton the permanent m. c. kiow fn -his second year. To'etay ■Tyear In this house, located among •the factory-neighborhood, Is some- tblng, lA>ughton has them in his Vaude here ie apt to be hit or aiiss, with some very excellent bills ' shown at times that are worth more tiian the $1,600 to 11,760- a week • budget.' Playing a split week; th? talent uses , this house to break Jumps east dnd west. This .week's bill.is alniost on out- standing one for entertainment value. .Opening is quiet, but .tite ether two acts more than make up. The booker made amlstake in pick- ing three dancing acts. But even with that defect, the show stIU is good.. , Opening, McGary, Dawn and Mc- fioi-y- dancing, dull with the possible esceptlon of .a drunk dance by the two McGary's. . . Next' the band number, using • l^ow's the Time to -Fall in Loye," with the laughs furnished .by various dialect .choruses sung by members of the band, . with Loughton doing nance chorud'. ' ' ' Dezzo '. Retter, 'The Man "Who "Wrestles With Himself,' started off forte with'a series of good comedy falls. This- fellow keeps going all the time and builds up to his wres- tling bit for a sock ilnale.. Doing 13 minutes goes as a novelty. iPinal act was Madle and Hay, youthful boy and girl, with nice . d&nclng. Girl a looker who dances . gracefully, doing some outstanding acrobatics and boy doing a tap rour tine .also well over the 6rdinAry For th.e punch the boy does some nice buslnesa. with the loriats. The flnale brings the girl on for a diffl cult trick of rolling over' on the floor sideways while spinning the rope. . The boy and girl have sense of showmanship ; ' -Bob Clarke at the organ. Lee. LOEWS STATE, L. A. . Los Angeles, Dec. 2. About every flftli.week Fahchon Marco turn'out a unit which should be titled 'Hard-Working Chorus' Idea. .'Carmenesque' is one of .those. .Line girls open the presentation do- ing' a military routine balancing, themselves on large balls. For the closing number, the girls dd a lilgh- klcklng: routine on stilts. It's all. in thiflr day's work—four times a day. Presentation is loaded with talent and entertainment. Dave and .Joe P'Gorman, English comics; Ray Sax, saxophone soloist and tap dancer; Rose Valyda, double-voiced singer; "Three Matadors, male hoof- ing trio; and the Three Madrinas, toe dancers, are the acts. - Unit is well dressed, both scenic- ally and ih-costuming. It opened in Detroit sev'erail Aveeks ago to fill in on the eastern'P.ubllx . houses. Back in I,. A. It is picking up the regular F. & M. route. Idea is Spanish, as the title de notes, but only where the line Is concerned and In that respect only In costume. O'Gomians, .typical Knglish com- ics with the music-hall manner and delivery, arc above average F. & M talent and hand out all the laughs the presentation contains. Some of their gags are old, but their screwy manner manages to redeem the an- tiquity. Finishing with a fa.<!t ec- centric tap dance, they halted the proceedings. Rny Sax hops, the buck and toots the sax at the same time. Strictly a liovelty, he pleased ■\vltii this and a Ted Lewis Imitation. Rose Valyda solos with one num her In her double voice. Sliss Valyda is an F. & M. .standby and .Thvnys manages to hold her own in f<i.<!t cqmp.Tny. Chorus work behind -Iter. doing formations witli large .f;ins. ■ Three Matadors tap out one >lanoe, .a shadow routine, liuys have Kood r.ppe.irance. and their wcfik d.inning is held up by laugh.s when one of the lads loses Jils pan! s. A i;tMe crude but It saves the.day. Three Madrlna.?, who double from ilio line, do one toe dance for the opening, then drop back .ihio the line for rest of the show. Chorus line take it easy- tor the opening and closlris. . That's aa it should be. considering the amount "C wOrk they do In those two ap- l>i-arnnce'.<i. f.iae Fostor'.s >.'.siglng is jilmve par, Sam Jiii-k Kaufman; the n<-\v nr- "'hc-stra leader, In his spfoml week I'lit.s the pK buys ihr'oiiKh a meilley "t' po)) huniliers for the overture. Kr.ufnuin':! perstmallty should in.ike lilm n fiiviirliH )'(■)••• If -til-' liou.so •-ontinut'.'i to bulM lilm uii. 'Surrender' (rox>, the fi-.'ilure, with Meii-oione neiv.t .i-llp.f mul a 1 Inward Jones footliAll shnrt (TIC- -iiiyi rouniliii;; <iut the si'ier-n f.'ire. liusliK'sy I'diiil W(-(hi'.-.-'<lin ••vcplnL'. " Cull, DENVER Denver, Dec. 1, Fred Schmltt and his orchestra reproduced the first Thanksgiving musicolly in their overture, with scehes of 1620. John Stapp sang 'The Romance of John Alden and Prlscillo,' and. a trio, Stapp, Harry ■Wilson and Joe Clifford closed the overture. with hymns'. The stage show^ 'Co-Eds,' rather a lukewarm aflair, coaxed - a few chuckles but not much applause out of the Denver crowd. The Idea starts with a huge football being kicked by a huge foot and this drop when raised reveals' a gym interior , with the stage band back of the scrim, dressed In college Jer- seys and caps. Boys and girls form the Une, dressed in the first number-in ex- tremely loud college colors and they do a . regulation routine '<vlth vocalization. Hubert . Dyer and Barney Coyne furnish, most of the laughs with their acrobatic antics and Coyne's big feet and oversize clothes. 'The Doyle quadruplets, girls, Are wheeled onto the stage atop, a three-foot, piano, and sing, climb down and moan thru four megs. The Rdbblns trio, roller Skaters, fast and furious, wind up their act W'ith a sensational flying spin. .. . . Lois.and Tudy come-In with the second line, with Tudy in Lois' hip pocket. The second routine is with Indian clubs. Bussy and Case en- tertain with -juggling and chatter, accordion and dance and then the line is on with, the boys dressed as cadets . and. with accordions, . for vocal 'Million Dollar Baby' and the £lrls dressed that way. . Idea closes with all on the stage. A fair to mlddlin' show playing to good busi- ness. MOSS' BROADWAY New York, Dec. 6. . Change to the regulation picture hoiise stage band policy this week is said to be Just a breather until B. S. Moss inaugurates a brand new stage idui at. his -Broadway theatre. What the idea is hasn't been announced, but it must have been included in those mentioned as likely for this house, because that list Included about every form of stage show Known to the world. The only thing that hasn't been suggested to Mr. Moss thus far by the gratis advice bureau of the Main Steni is a revival of the Bat- tle of 'Waterloo. Such-a large num- ber of suggestions from so many sources would confuse anyone. Moss' friends don't greet him with the customary 'hello' anymore. In- stead they, go right into the song and dance: 'I've got a swell idea- for the Broadway..' So far nobody has 'declared himself In. So far there hasn't-been anything for anyone to dcclai'e himself In on. "What Moss needs more than Ideas Is a mathematician, A guy Who can figure out ho\# to start off with a $12,000 overhead on Saturday and wind up 'With an even break or betr ter on the ensuing Friday evening Is the person Moss has in . mind. In other words the veteran operator wants to learn a little addition for a change. He's Veen working oh subtraction long .enough. Current show is a lesson in re- verse trigonometry. The only cer- tainty is that the audience won't get the decision. It's a band show on Broadway long after the other Broadway theatres saw the band policy wash itself up, and a talker. Tiffany's 'X Marks the Spot,' that probably wouldn't see Broadway except for B. S. The stage performance shows the effect of last-minute booking and producing. A not bad list of spe- cialty acts and the Red Nichols'' orchestra tries hard, but makes little progress under the method of presentment. In the past LeRoy Prinz, billed as stager, has been a much better producer, than this show indlciites. Most likely he was handicapped. Ted Leary, m. c, manages.some- how to keep things going at a fair -pace. But for Lealy and the spe- cialists, the band background strangely seems - a hindrance . In contrast to the'slage band's former helpfulness In any presentation. Herb It appears the acts might have done better on their own before a drnpe. The 'Four Mullen Sisters, standard presentation harmony quartet of the type that used to call for a band b.acUgrr).und whenever submitted to a hoc-r.cr, could cer- tainly have had an easier time with- out the Nichols musicians' accom- paniment. At the end ot euch of the girls' two numbers the trumpet player In the rear let go ot a- blast that seared all altention.s away from the vocniist.M. ' The same trumpeter who doubles in ."ong as ii Cab Cal- low.iy imllalor. If. sent down to the foots" twice .for ehoru.'scs that , rate chiefly as lime killer.'--. Mullens are followed liy Dick and ICilItli Jiorstow. The brother and , .<ii!-tcr tne-lap rtaneing team gar- j nereil tlielr customui'v l)at'h of I show liallinB plaudits and vamped witli tlie show's nrst tinkle. Auriole Craven (.Mrs. LoaiT) hail tlic ne.xj spot for a sopg and iu-r ne;it com- bination' e<mtrol waltz and liddlo specialty then her husliand Joined her to eiimplelo Ihei.r tall< and sons two-a't. The romance'of the L<'arya is one-of the pleasant heritages of the £tage band era. They were wed between the fifth and sl.xth shows one day. From his familiar stralghling with the wife, JJeary went into some unfamiliar stralghting for Bobby PIncus, nicely handled by the m. c. and probably with little or no preparation. Pinciis Is a knockabout nut single who kicks himself In the face and sings a song about loving to ptinch himself on the chin for plenty- of laughs. -He works hard,' wallops the audience and' rates his under the flnale spot on this bill. Nichols' band had. to overcome a handicap in form of' introductory .dialog .by the acts in a flnale com- pany rotindup. In order to slide Its final orchestration; Earlier the Nichols' bunch played-'Bugle Call Blues,' and very hot. 'Collcglana' is the' presentation's title. It's squared by-, a little open- ing talk between Leary and- PIncus and some college pennants on the music racks. For atmosphere the full size set Is dressed with four glrl.s and two . men in evening clothes. An Educational'travelog In. color is the current screen filler. - No newsreel at the' Saturday night show. Business was poor. Bige. SAN JOSE New 'York, Dec. 4. One of the lesser known and more Intere.sting'n'oveities In New York, .from an amusement standpoint, is this Spanish theatre tucked away on the fringe of Spanish village -at UOth street and 6th avenue. 'Not only first.-run Spanish . Alms are shown here, but a full Hour's stage show is thrown iii, most of it being pretty good. "With admission on a lo-50c scale the theatre is strug- gling to make a go of It,- another sign of the times. . Ihtei-estlng to note about the show that's put on. is the fact' that the theatre takes Itself very seriously on tliat score.. They have Fernando Luis with the title of 'Director Ar- tlstlco,' and Bardu Alls, who proudly Juggles the words. 'Maestro Coreog- raflco' after hfs name. There are a dozen dark-haired girls, a standing m.c. and a couple Of name Spaniards weekly, where and when available. Currently Miguel R'uggeri is tlie heavy name on the program, he be- ing a robust tenor with all the ges- tiires. That he doesn't sing any- where near as well as he looks probably doesn't matter. On the same bill, however, is La Olti- -anilla, whose name doesn't appear on the . printed program, lights or any place else. But she's such a pleasant voiced singer and Euch a graceful dancer that she'd do equal- ly well In any Broadway show shop at up at 110th street. ' Guillermo Moreno ii the funny fellow with the show. Only way a non-Latin, without ■ a distinct knowledge of the language, can tell that Moreno is funny is by the audi- ence reaction. Night caught ^ the audience laughed with him con- staritly. Interesting thought brought out by the curirent week's , show is that perhaps that rumba dance is done away with at last. Only instance of- It In this show is one mild rumba, and that so well disguised as to pass as a different Cuban dance. Alicia Rico did the dance with An- tonio Garcia, a pleasant black-face comic, to help her. Both are equally nimble on their feet. Bardu Alls, the 'Maestro Corcog- rafico,' probably tries too hai-d with his line of girls. He has them at- temiiting all sorts of complicated leg and arm wOrk for ellects. which would be good if the girls knew as much about dancing as he seems to know. At that, they almost get away with it, only one or two minor mishaps occurring. In toto, the ciirrent week's show here Is not as good a compilation of Spanish, musical comedy talent as is generally seen at this house, but a good half of it is entertaining to anybody. . Kaur. PARAMOUNT. L. A. Ixjs Angeles, Dec. 3. In shaving the Paramount's nut, Harold B. Franklin has cut on the stage show to'where it's now llttlC; more than a straight Orchestra pres- entation. "What talent apcars .is merely on the stage -to add atmos- plierc to the musical numbers. I'resentatlon this week bears the fnmiiii'.r title of "Venetian Carnival.' Little that happens on the stage, outside of the 40-plece orchestro'J offering.'', conducted by Carll Eli- nor, matters. Band rates aces, sell- ing all of Its niimbcrs with plenty of showmanship. Conducting of Klinor Is mold compared with the head-.md-arm-throwing of some maestros who have performed local- ly. .A.lK)Ut.the only fault found wllh liis work Is a tendency to play up Ills brass section, particularly the trumpets. .Male chorus In Its first oppearanee is In blackface singing 'When It'.s Sleepy Time Down .South.' It's a i.liltle remote from the Venetian at- mosphere, but the chorus work and orchestration was the higli spot of the presentation. Line girls came on for -one chorus of snake hips, ai.-o ill blackface. )■•■:• the finale, ori-heslra plays a • Continued on pa'ge H'J) HIPPODROME (Continued from page 35) with comedy.falls and finishes on a harmonica solo. A girl -also is Involved for a fast bit of stepping and , very little' clothes. Returns mild in this house, which discounts spoken gags. Donatella Bros, and Carmen were spotted two from the closing and gave the bill Its only specialty, flash. They did nicely, being one ot those family- affairs before a family gathr ering, but they spoiled a good score, by staying too long after the Intro- duction ot pop and mom. Girl of the quartet had to follow several. Other' contortion dancers, and it took something of an edge oft her perfoi-niance. ' AH nice-looking young people with a spirited per- formance. They would fare belter under more favorable circum- stances. George Bcalty was next to clos- ing, quite a spot! for a single talker and singer on an eight-act catch- as-.catch-cah bill In this house. He did rather, less than- fairly under the handicap of the space he had to fill and ills position at the tail- end of a lifeless performance.. Erma "Ward ond Girls is a now frameup. for this aerial girl and an Improvement over her old slngle et- fort. She features the Leitzcl sin- gle hand'swings, doing a scries of them counting about 100 as the climax' of a- dance and acrobatic session . by her. five slightly' hand maidens. Girls are energetic ground tumblers, mixing flip-fitt'ps and front-p'vers with dance steps and the like;. Nice unassuming closing turn and fitted here. . Rlish, STATE Current -bill at the. State is .one ot the strongest layouts this hoiise has had in weeks. Not ai weak link in the six-act layout, running 80 min utes the first, show Saturday.-. Jay C. Fllppen and Paul Tremalne's or chestt>a share the fetiture honors. At the first show Saturday the house was close to. capacity. Honey TroUpe fast acrobatic turn consisting of three men and three women, gave the bill a fast start Two-high pyramids and shoulder leaps featured, plus some ground tumbling. Femmes excel the men at the latter. Girls'are also used as often as the men as un^erstand- ers. Finish is a springboard leap by a boy into a chair supported on a pole by bne of the women. Johnny Hyinah's clever play on words novelty in the d4ucc spot got over well. Laugh attempts of Carl- ton and l^allew went, but. not as good as they should for this team, Chatter is tepid *for the main part, although one or two punchy cracks are spread through the act; Ma Jority of the . response la derived from Miss Ballew's dumbrdora an- swers and queries. A little warbling Is used toward the finish. Kings, and Queens _pf Rhythr.i (New Acts) is a snappy'group hoof Ing' act with a set of smart rou tines. - Fllppen followed 'with. his unusual' flip- cracks. . Blackface comedian had to beg off. His ma terlal is better than usual. . Tremalne's Orchestra is a good instrumental group. "Was allowed but 18 minutes, which -isn't much for a large band act.' Tended to hurry the proceedings. 86TH ST. RKO hasn't apparently solved the problem of drawing the people Into the 86th Street on a Saturday afternoon. Last Saturday was -no exception. Feature was 'The Rul- ing Voice' (FN) and apparently no b.o. help at all. -The vaudeville held pretty good entertainment. The acts deserve medals for putting forth their best efforts before such a slim audience. They make ho eftort to cut or stall. For Instance, Al Trahan. This comic could have chopped his turn right In halt, and the 86th audience or what there was of It might not- have noticed the diff. He received as much ajii^ausc as possible from a nilnlnium crowd and garnered what laugh honors there were' on the bill, The blonde with . hlni is giving admirable support and docs the low comedy without making It burlesky. Opening the yaudo section was George McKay'o!nd Co., latter being an attractive array of four women who give McKay some entertaining support. McKay was followed by Cardlnl, card manipulator',' who amazes with his deft and lightning palming. Ills cigarette bit at tiic close Is still a' novelty. What puz- zles the onlookers espeelaliy Is when and where does Cardlnl light the cigs. It's a whiz'of .a legerdemain trick and considered In American vaude as strictly ('ardinl's. . June Carr and Co, the laller a h.ml-work Ing young man who should share billing with .Mi.ss Carr, were well re(-elved. altlioiigh that 1>ailad stretch by tlic boy seemed to slow the; turn ii]i Just when it was hilling on all cylinders. Act slioul.d Improve as it works along. r.athn news and the usn;il pipe or-.'a'n session, il.e aiidlciu-e In- vited to .■•Ing; Mark. LOOP-END, CHICAGO Chicago, Dec. 6. This ■week starts an experiment with eight acts instead ot six, and it appears that the bargain policy is right tr'T this south end of the loop, where. the cheaper. crowds gather. Names, that this house used on its six-act bills were those in the Inr between class, not certain drawa in spite ot the rather large coin they demanded. Advertising eight acts hero likely, to mean more than a - weak picture or. radio hcadllher. Headlining, so called, are. Freda and Palace, who were at the RICO Piilacc some weeks ago. . On next to-closing and were the individual winner of the show. Applause for them held up tlie closing turn, the Franklin. Troupe. Latter offers, bits of everything—ladder work, tum- bling, pyramiding, risiey and a pair of performing dogs. A clever and interesting, turn, helped by two, pooches, especially. the pint-sized one, that tosses off some Intricate tront-paw balancing.' . Opening were' Dale and -Meyers, hahd-to-hand balancers'. Quiet but efficient workers. Dexter, the. ven-' trlloqulst with the-walking dummy, has something to offer in a coating of smoothness and smartness which he iniparts wltK his Engllshman-in- evenlng-dress manner and talk. LaFayette. and LaVerne deliver a couple ot neat dances, closing sharp- . ly on their apache wallop. These, apache hops are getting to the limit of tough arid slam-bang. This one Is cllmaxed'by having the girl swiing - around by her . hair and tossed through a paper window; In between dances Ruth Baldwin. handles the pop sharps and flats pleasingly. . Joe DeLlcr started with his com- edy accordion for laughs, • then swung into a regular push-box orgy and closed as accompaniment for lila femmo stooge, who, after heckling him from the audience,': came up behind the lights and warbled a' couple of tunes. Closing not as strong as it might be, being a let- down from .the earlier laughs. Dora Early and her comedy-char- acterizations next.. Fair enough, though surely, there^must be oth^*e«l^ comedy ideas, for femincs besides' the moth-eaten one about walking home from auto rides. McGrath, Deeds apd Travers a pointless but pleasant comedy turn. Act wanders about rather aimlessly, but manages to squeeze Out a quota of laughs; An all-around workable eight-act arrangement that , will satiety tho Loop-Enders, That' the: bargain is an attraction was evident from the trade .the house' was doing at the' close of the flrst show. Best bust- . ness since the flrst opening day. Feature was 'L,asca of the Rio Grande' CtT). WB DOWNTOWN, L. A. '.. Los Angeles, Dec. 3. Five Acta of vaude, Joe E. Brown In 'Local Boy Makes Good' (War- ners), Universal News, a, Vitaphohe short and Ripley's 'Believe It or Not' for 60 cents. Evidently L. A. thinks' that's a lot of show, for business was capacity all day Thursday (opening day). Feature attracted them. Strictly a Joe Brown audience, it went for the vaude all the way. Five acts current are about the best the house has shown since it adopted the vaudfllm policy, with the stage en- tertainment booked by Bert Levey. Bill is made up of.'-Paul Gordon and Fay Lo Roy, trick bicycle rid- ing; 'White and Stanley, man and woman comedy talking and dancing act; Meredith and Snoozer, Jr., edu- cated dog; 'William LeMaIre and Carol Bolston, blackfact team, and Bob Gilbert's Revue, two men and four girls flash act. Paul Gordon, standard high bike act for years, has added Fal L« Roy for a gam flash. Girl does a tap dance while Gordon toots a clarinet, . perched on a high wheel. Miss Le Roy also hoofs. That's about all she docs, but she manages to give the boys ' an eyeful. Gordon hasn't changed his .'routine or gags for' some tlme^ but they still please. -'White and Stanley next, with Miss Stanley doing a dumb dame. Mate- rial is familiar but gets over. Danc- ing for the -flnlsh Is oke. Meredith with . his educated collie, Snoozer, next. Dog is too fast for Meredith, going into each trick before ho can announce It. Bven when.tlie iiurp Is blindfolded It's ahead of its 'trainer. Audience wore out their hands f*# the pup in spite of Its knowledge of what was coming next. It has been, .some time since local audience got a load of the 'treat them with kind- ness' business. William L'e.MaIre and Carol P.al- Hton In the next-to-ciosing position. LeMaire hasn't done much changing since he wa.s a Keith act, btit his muslimoulh biackfn.ce character was n jiiisiiover here. Miss Kul.ston does a lil'.;li yellow stralglit and feeds Le.NIuirJ: neatly. liol) Cllbert Hcvuo closed.. Noth- ing out of the ordinary Just fast step- pini; by the two boys lind four girls, wllh CiToert soloing once In an ec- centric drjink dan;;e. Other work Is all tupping. (.'Ull.