Variety (Jan 1932)

38 VARIETY Tuesdaj, Japuarj; 5» 1932 R08C0E ATE8 (1) Chatter and Dano« ilO Mins^r On* .' toavv'a 8tat9« L. A. Roaco Atea has gotten away from the touUne reel of film whJch ac- quaints the audlene* with the work of . picture people appearing In ▼aude. H18 daughter, Dorothy BarUng, precedes him on the stage JAMES DUNN Chatter, songa _ 16 Miha.; One and Full Academy Jamea Dunn, from pictures, got to Hollywood Via ieglt stage. He dotisn't show It In this aot, which is a personal appearance thing. ' Fox evidently tbliiks his work la 'Bad Girt' was enough to get him audi- ence appreciation. Maybe right, to T^^S;^ iv:a.\!ri^iaiitn. \eaAm it he-1 oce appreciauon. Mayoe rigni, lo star, Rosco Ates, who appeared In «P^w nouee. So-ond-So and' So-and-So and So and-So, He attttters and I'm sup- posed to meet him here.' Ates, a standard vaude performer 1>ef6re he hit plctu»es,^0u1d be too smart for that type of stufC. He s known well enough to picture audi- ences without dragglntf out the .m- ' 'trodu'ctory gag. After some of the usual phony nervous business and gagging, Dunn does a pop number with a pianist. Not unpleasant voice but pretty, small. ' Sven "with the ampllfiers go- ing It was hai'd to hear hlbi In the rear. Some more gags 'arid all' moth' eaten. Dunn, even Uaeq that same Gags and the daughter's dancing one used by almost alt picture peo are unchanged from his previous 1 pie In yaude of readlnCr a fatri letter turn but the bit with the poUce I wWch turha iut to lie slgrts^ Trour dog and the dog Itself are missing. I Mother.' : Attd the dog Is mlsded. | To round he acts out the doctor Biggest change la Ates working In bit In 'Bad Girl,' which Is explained tt double-breasted dinner suit 'Few I ocat by someone else while the stage men look hot In this; type tux..and Ates coUM never pose for tyen- decker. Also, It's tough to try and be hokey In form« olothea De- spite; the suit, Ates Is still a. hokc comlcl ■ That ' plctiire rep won't satisfy thete after they hear the first stut- ter. From then on the audience ex- pecti" something. Present material is fiir from big tline. : If Ates m Is belnk'set. Short an$ efCectlve bit.- Kauf. aEltKE3 and 8VLLY Comedy 12 Mins.; One. Jefferson The Berkes In tills turn Is'. ap paurehtly'^ohnnla Berkes,' previous „ . ly with Vesta Wallaca In the' Tra- tends to get big money out of'vaude I hah-Wallace .copy act The pattern lor the next few inoritlia he'll liave [of this turn' still smacks of the to'Invest In material; "As his act | same istyle. Bh6ws,''it's' no next-to-clbspr. Can. VALENTINE and BELL Bteyole'Act 6 Mins.1 Full ,. , Hay market, Chicago ,*^irhere Is a good deal of solid bike [ i^^l c^SH in this act, but it Is ruined by gnuawk, .—some of the worst producUon and Berit«B' • showmanship- seen: here in many| «erKea There's a-piano on thO'stage, al' though barely' used. Beginning Is somewhat .crlglnal, . the. tall girl starting by. singing, and-Berkes; In comedy ohalk-face. Interrupting. It Is toward the finish where the gag- love stuff Is commenced that It're calls the other turns. Besemhlance- close enough to bring m^iSS?°1S?SducUon '.;iS'be"Vic^SSai danclpg. FtaSlh. wUh th^glruSSS- SS^^e oWe clrcuTstSc^rSS IjlO'™'»f?^Vi^„*o„^«'f ''^^ . This man and woman are good IP'?"*' bike workers;. some of their bits ore I 52 *'^*2L*L^^5i«J?lS *"fl^?wtoSk2 BROS. KIDPIE REVUE the ai)ove-menUone« Oi»woaMs.i.Q 5 . Q. . Their closing punches ore surefire I ^ Mini.- Puii for Miywhew, Final Is the partlcu-1 ??. . lar standout. 'Woman, standing on A pedestal,, hounds , by means of a ■ort. of miniature trampoline to the ■houlders of the man who is seated in a single-wheeled high mount, ibout eight feet tolL It's a nifty trick. Warners, Hollywood Nine kids culled-'by! Warners from the raft .of children offered around town for, the holidays.: All of them clever and. i>leaslng, minus moat of that' staged smartness that makes the average child entertainer 'V. i>.. As presently arranged, the turn a pain. Backed by a kid chorus and Would find Its best chances In the some unusual producUon Idea, this fair and circus fields. lAck of pro- would make a pleasing Vltaphone auction wouldn't hurt so much out-1 short aa is. Children range from Joors andl the bad showmfmshlp eight to 18 years in age, wouldn't be so notlceaUe. I Numt>ers are Introduced by Betty For theatre work the turn needs! Jone Graham (Miss Vltaphone) foew. arrangement, production and I who also does some neat stair tap- cdatumlng. It can be done and I ping. Joyce ShltCner opens the act made Into a nifty bike act -As ah I with eccentric stepping aided by a example, the man at the beginning | bend in the back that kids out here of the turn pulls out a bell and tells seem to acquire with the climate, the audience that he'll ring It every | Followed by an American Indian SYLVIA FR008,' Songs 16 MIna.; On* ■Palaco. A youngster with a remarkably mature vocal delivery. Already making an Impression over the «^Ir and asserting herself here ia a ca- pable vaudeville shigle, the amuse-^' ment branch which: first knew her aa Baby Sylvia. • Pleasa&t looking girl, Miss Froos, of some 17. or 18 years, who, despite her SLge, can unfurl the modern torch ditty with the best. Kemork- able part for the Palace Is that she U doing It the bard way, opening intermission with no assisting piano or pianists or special arrangements. Just In 'one' with the pit orew and Ave songs, the last an encore. If ever taking the time to acquire special orchestrations and varied Interpretations of songs this adoles- cent will find herself on the receP' tlon end -of much ' more. applause than, she Is now gaining. . And qhe did well enough at^the first show Saturday. 'The jroung woman Is le- git Ingenue material, unless radio, the picture and vaude houses proye the easiest way. Some time spent in learning - to- handle lines and dancing, lessons should take care of this opportunity, which seems Iwtmd to arise sooner .or .later. She's of the type who become- known over the ether and then bounce In and out of the variety theatres ^t four figures, • .Not much worry over .the pro- fessional .jCutura-of this lass, the ex- ception ' to. that rule- which says tew child, prodigies - realize: upon their early promise, or burn them- selves out before they reach ma- turity. Miss .Froos. reads a i^ng ex- ceptionally well, hoA the. -voice to sustain her Intentions, and for the most part deports herself like; a veteraui. Es^claVy. does she know how to use her, bands, a matter which handicaps more .than, -one in the coterie of. j>ertormers.to. which she belongs, ; 'The only thing resembling a geis- ture to.-get away .from the, usual in lier present routing Is a medley tjraclng the lineage of hlues num- bers. N;ot pattlovlarly Interesting or hoveL Otherwise, just, pop num' hers. But the public wlU uncon- sciously be ^nc^med when this i(ilss delves into' the. ditties . of the day, thereby permitting comparison with their favorites.- This mental 'weighing wlU not be unfavorable to Miss Froos either by the lalety or the professional element of whom the agrents wlU probably take an active Interest before the Pala-ce week Is out. A blind session-with.Mlsa Froos tlirough .a. loud speaker Indicates a girl who knows what It's all about and who can have .her. say at the ^11$ next November, A glimpse of this singer In person Immediately belles the second half of the radio Impression. Just a kid-who nor- mally would be up- at Emma. WU- lard, but who has been facing au- ditoriums more or less full since childhood and who has developed a sweet solprano. voice rating tlie attention . of .orchestrators and which will do much to hasten her progress. Sid, The time a good stunt la pulled, audience froze Immediately, _ .. 'BALLYHOOLIGANS' (2) Comedy 15 Mine.; One '. Jefferson ■Two boys have taken a cue from the mag 'Ballyhoo' in d burlesque. ., of radio programs. It Is ingenious , and new to vaudeville, Act Is unusually good, nearly ex- cellent, from all angles. Material Is . smartly written with none of. the .' burlesque bits dragged out too ,i much. Line are punchy and the „. boya Hhow 'talent in their burlesque Imitations, Both use mikea,. attached to am- •pllfled horns, with one of the boys ' sitting at the Ivories. Programs ' like those carrying BIng Crosby, Kate Smith, Singin' Sam, Rudy dance, plesislngly .mixing folk and ballet stepping, by Sdith Fellows, smalleat of the lot, who later finales strongly with a cute Hawaiian hula and song. Boy soprano, Pablo Cabezud, has the pipes to handle his eeml-classlc numbers, but could cut down on the rather affected use of hands and diction. Hit strong. Jane Slater, mixing a hot carol with musical comedy stepping, was a bit over- long, considering the encore- she took.' Toe work by . Doris . Dean stood up well, with the girl selling her pirouettes well. Comedy represented by Frances Gumm, with a shouter voice, plostlc niug and eccehtrlo hoofing. Girl scored etCectlvely but could be stronger if she sang to the lower floor Instead of the balcony. Betty Durae's contortion work pleased the torso-twist loVers th the audience, though the girl shbuld be toned down on that applause anticipation. Next to closing,•'Walter Moss dls- .Vallee, etc, are patrodled, The boys do about eight bur _ lesque ImltaUone. One straight bit I pl^y^'tlhe'Tmost°promisTng'^te^^ was. included, that of Maurice the aggregaUon with his Bill Rob Chevalier, delivered by tho boy at - - the ivories. Latter also did the Rudy Vallee gag Imitash, Hoke program announcements . plus gagging' the commercial names', like Scremo, for Cremo, and Bar< ^tlpole, for Barbasol, Included. A real smart vaudeville novelty that should go big anywhere. Inson type of tapping. He's plenty good and sells it all the way through. Entire act done In front of Jess Stafford's stage band. . BESSETTE and PARVI8 .-' Songs an'd Dances 6 Mins.; One RKO, L. A. . Nicely routined deuce act with the girl taking the dancing honors. Man sings one number while the girl changes. His voice is pleasing, but the dress suit he wesurs gets a I DIXIE HAMILTON Singing 10 Mihs.; One Orpiieum . Dixie Hamilton hasn't been caught as a. New Act since 1910 whe,n working with a, pianist and making a change of costume. Miss Hamilton's act is still No, 2 for medium grade houses. So spotted up here. Affecting a lively manner and projecting an amiable personality, songstress does three numbers. RICHARD KEAN Protean 7 Mine.: Full (Special) RKO. ll. A. Richard Kean 'was a standard turn for years and rated special billing, He returns to vaude again after four years In retirement, billed as Mr. Richard Kean. Novelty .of this type fict, the first here In several years. Is Its greatest asset, though the work of Kean la not to be dis- counted. Boolced as one of the locally spot-- ted four acts, Kean's was cut to al- low him only three characteriza- tions, but these were enough to halt the show and call for a speech. -^Taude patrons apparently appre- ciate the work of a heavy actor as much as hoofers or. stooges. With bushy hair and theatric cos- tume, Kean Is typical of the trage- dian of 20 years ago, .but his appear- ance'to a vaude audience calls.tor respect. It's something they've heard of but haven't seen for long. Opening with a short study of Uriah Heep addressing David Cop- perfield, he Jumps to Shylock. Plen-^ ty of contrast both In action and costume. His third and last effort Is that of a miser, announced as his own creation. Ijitter. Is his weak- est-and slightly gruesome, but oke for. those who believe that exag- gerated gesture Is good acting. Outside of New York, Ke'dn could At In nicely on most any bill and would be a welcome addition to the four-act units. He has stopped every show here this week. ' giggle. Girl is aces on her tapping and Opens with 'Roll On, Mlaaisslppl.' looks. Both are youthful. Finale, | pretty old,; turns to a special having an Irish Jig, is going back a bit and bMnld be dropped In favor of some- thing - inotfem. Okay for presenta- tions. ■■-v-J •• ' -"' . Oail, to do with a visit to the doctor and closes with a Harlem special In high yaller accent The dialect Isn't so good Char, PALACE Country's • ace' vaude hoiiae starts the new year'dlbiflaylhg V^udeyUle's hlghest-prlco act, the' Maifi Bros., and a blU which It Intended to keep two weeks and will stay one* There will be no run try •With this ^IB.BOO. lineup, of which th* Marx family will out up llOiOOO, lief this -week. BUI has Trlnl In a flash the construction of which la so old as to appear new again and which not more than a year ar two ago would have gotten around. 4^,600. Now it's working.at much less than half that flgfure. Merely -cited as ah example of the change Induced by '31. There are the Diamond Boys and Barry and Whltledge, respectively Nos. 3 and 4, and a strong comedy sock in any theatre.. Barry and Whltlege, as fine a 12 minutes as vaude - knows,' 'were lifted from hh RKO Intact to fill In on this show apd will, rejoin their unit upstate. Both are splendid performers. MlSs Barry traces a-family line holding no mean- professional significance and which reputation will not suf- fer In her hands. . Mr. Whltlege con- tinues a - corking foil and rtolly something more than that, , the theory of this team being to shore alike on laughs. ' ; '. . As a: whole the Palace currently Is- not an applause 'show. Cardlnl, deuclng' It, and .his- suave- card manipulation hardly Instigates V»lld acclaim, though he entertains all the way. Same for Barry, and Whltlege. whose high-speed laugh chatter leaves no chance for a hur- •Tah finish:-and who must seek the major share of their satlstdctlon In the hilarity from out front The Diamonds and their slugging stand the -best applause chance' of the bill and won that election Satr urday afternoon. - Particularly en upstairs act, the trio had them whistling In.the gallery at the finish, lnfreq\i,ent-enough to cause mention. Previously the Tacopl Troupe had opened in a . gymnastic ' display which saw the men imuBlng' .their catches too often to rate as build- ups, though probing for full effect by this means on the climax trick. Seven .men and two women con- cerned,, with one of the latter doing a single somersault to a sheuld.er catch four high'off the springboard. An elaborate system of preliminary transfer bounding from one see-aaw to another until finally reaching the flyer is good showmanship and aa theatric as. actually unnecessary. Outfit works.fast and carries a cou pie of flyers who sell. For j9ome reason or other the Marxes are .Invariably a vaudeville disappointment on Broadway. There isn't a .genuine draw name In' the lineup outside themselves, but the rest of the bill la doing the major ahare of the entertaining on the In- alde. . Following the early comedy flreworlcs, not much doubt that the show seems to slow up a little with the Marxes unable to eradicate the impresalon. One solution might be to move Sylvia Froos (New Acts) to No..3 and let .the Diamonds open the second half in front of the leglt- plcture disciples. It sounds im- plausible and probably Is the wrong solution, but it giv.es an Idea how the Marxes are working and reg- istering. Once Inside It's still 'Josephine,' and If there had been a second week- It probably would have been .'Du Barry;' The boys Just don't seem to be able to work up any en- thusiasm for or in vaude audiences any more. At least at the Palace. They laughp«^:«g.ularty enough. forGroucbo la'still an ace comedian^ but. the howls were missing. And even Groucho .stepped over the line once or twice, possibly because ha detected a' hoHowness In the pat° rons' answers. Chlco still piaya the piano, and Hat>t>d the harp, and they're cleaning-It all.up tin 24 u|n. utes. 'While -closing the show. |n toto, It's a revlviU of 'Antmol Qraokers,' which, 'probably Is okay 'Out of town biit Is no smash for the Palace. . So- It' looks as If the Marxes cire through ae a 4Tth street panio until they get a. new act, and lor lb grand that shouldn't be too. much trouble. Or perhaps the Marxes give so much to the camera there's nothing 4eft for B'way. . Trlnl'a extravaganza Is closing in. termlsslOn and serving the purpose. Their haven't seen a production act like this, featuring a single woman, around. In some time, so there's a certain novelty concerned. Action Is In full stage with' a duet of ac- 'cordionlsta assisting, {U'also a male singer arid two dancers, one of . whpmi Bpeoiallzea '!ln one for a feathery and good acrobatic lack- ing a.finish; - . The Spanish heel-aiid-toer looks well and Is rounding out on a thinly themed charade of tb» Jeal9us lover shooting her ias she throws' herself In front of the othet- boy. It starts In 'one' with a song to which she tacks the final chorus.-' ' Miss Froos opened Intermission, none' too-lnvltlng spot for this' young girl who Is going up against em alone. She promises more than her present routine of songs is ol' lowlnig her to show. . House la getting a bit hl-hdt with its 2:3S or 2:40 overtures. It may have been due torliOu Forman being .delayed In Qerson's, as both Lou and Basil arrived -at the sctme time. Sid. FRANCES, HARRY and , FERNANDO Dance, Acrobatic 7 Mins.; Full Jefferson This turn evidently been around for some time, but new to ''Va rlety'a' files. Fair dancing act that should .fit the opening or deuce notch. Opens with the two boys in full dress for a bit of fancy ballroom: In this bit the boys -vie with each other-for the>glrL Leads to a prop fight In whlcli both boys go through a little acrobatics. Girl troupes on for a short toe ballet number. It means nothing, but gives the boys a chance to change to strong men shorts. ' Boys on for an adagio, in which familiar routines are used. ST. GEORGE DUO Roller Skating ' Mine.; Full Jefferson Mixed couple In some snappy trick roller skating routines; Act fits either end of the bill. Couple probably have more rou tines than were exhibited heire, .bUt appear to have been cut to keep the show going on schedule. Along the lines exhibited by the majority of roller skating turns. DOUGLAS WRIGHT (4) Novelty 12 Mins.; Full (Special) Jefferson Douglas Wright Is evidently - one of the two men under the blankets of the prop horse. It is the prop horse that's the act. Two felrls 'are scenery, although they open the turn with some harmony and a lit- tle dancing. The ■ human antics and manner- isms which the prop horse affects arouse a few chuckles. It does a little tap dancing, takes a few falls and sits on-chairs. Despite the men Irislde are oCten visible, it never thcless gets some response- Included is a bit with a prop dog, who barks words. 1 - A soso novelty. Stratford, Ctiicago Chicago, Dec. 26. In line 'with the general up-swlng of vaude'. in the entire midwest, this Warner house returns to the footlights, playing six acts of vaiide on a split week policy. There Is a hot battle for the public's coin un- der way along this southstde ave- nue. Four theatres are engaged In the tiff: Acroa.<i the street from the Stratford, the -RKO Englewood has . dropped vaUde'and gone double fea- tures. Down the lane, Publlx-B. & K, has opened the new and flashy Southtown, also with twin pro- grams. Already there are Indications of how the southslde publlo feels about the bargain displays. The Engle- wood, which has tossed away flesh. Is not happy with its straight screen fare. For when It comes to films the Englewood-is getting the bad squeeze,-because -the Southtown, in the first Instance, has the pick of the better product, besides the lure of a new and gaudy theatre, and free parking space, which counts much in this district. And it it's price that annoys the public they can step across the street to the grind Linden where they can par- take of the double flicker banquet at 20c. per, a new low. In the final analysis then, it fig- ures that only at the Stratford are they getting the solid bargain for their kronen. At the Southtown the admlsh IS 30c.; at the Englewood It's 256. for the afternoon houra. Stratford meets all comers at the two-bits rate,' giving them a flicker and silt acts. How this all adds up in the books may be seen from the capacity audience In on - an after- ifoon show for Monday, though it also must be remembered that this was the post-holiday week. House formerly played a stage band and presentation hook-up, but sloughed it about two years ago in the epidemic slump of flesh locally. Its return heralds tlje comeback of the footlights In many Warner spots hereabouts, which takes In Milwau- kee, Racine, Sheboygan and several Indiana towns. It marks the first Warner areiia locally to tredd back to the stage, and may leOd to sim- ilar action for the Warner Avalon and Capitol. here. It has always been a heart-break- ing Job to book the Stratford, due to the exceedingly small stage; the full stage here not registering .more than 'two' on a regular stage. Which makes it impossible to spot tlie larger dancing, acrobatic and sketch turns, especially those which re- quire a passage-way behind the back-'drop. Currently there are six acts, which Includes Monk Watson, who is In as Interlocutor, for four weeks, Watson arrives here backed by a weighty rep established through four years as picture house m. c, at the LaSdlle and Grand Riviera in Detroit, being pushed out only by a flock of fractured bones acquired when he tried to clown with a tram- poline turn. He's all mended once more and okay except for a certain' anti-trampollne expression. He s safe here; there's no room for the bounding acts. Watson left dn unfinished impres- sion at this house for he made al- most as many-'hiuffs as hits. Much of his material was evidently stuft that he used four years ago in De- troit. This is another year and aiv- other town- Watson ovUlcntly nocrts time to get the swing o£ the audl- (Contlnued on page 40)