Variety (Jan 1932)

40 VARIETY YAUDE HOUSE REVIEWS Tuegdaiy, January 12, 1932 PALACE HARRY GREEN MoholoBiat 12 MIna.; Onj Palaoa (St. V.) Since Harry Qreen dld as well as he did at the opening Palace shov/ after solngr Jn on leas than a, day':, notice, It's a cinch he can do a'lot better with more time to preparr. Vaudeville can usj Green for hi;; picture name besides his ability, and maybe Green could use some vaudeville playlns unlessr he's look- Iner for a show, only, with a film return not bw-ed either. Green's Palace routine comprises a few dialect stories, a dialect Imi- tation of Calloway sipglne 'Min- nie' and a repeat of the comic's tor- eador number from a Par musical talker. No mention of Aim stuff, un- til the toreador, which closed. For this Green was aided by l;ester Al- len, on the bill earlier, and back In Green's act for a sag senorlta Im- personation. It looked easy for Green to work and get by aa he did at the first matinee. He has a world of person- ality for the stage, while his vaude- ville past gives him'the necessary background and experience for stage playing. Blge, . WHITINQ and BURT Songs 16 Milts.: One RKO Hillstreet, L. A. George Whiting and Sadie Burt are making a vaude comeback.. Both have been resting here for months, with "Whiting occasionally essajrlng writing or publishing a song. On personality. It's the same team as years go, with Sadie Burt Just as cute a trick as ever before. Nor has their work radically departed ' from their past proved, successes of pleasant memory. . That they should fare so mildly «9r6ves lots of things about vaude ^ and Its presentrday class of audi- ences. Either the parade has passed the vaudevHIlans by or the public tast« is' different. In Whiting'and Burt's.case It's the latter, for they .are too astute a pair of troupers not to keep pace. The very class and air of their songalogs, all.spe 'dally restricted stiiSi evidences that from the l>arrler. It's not like some ' of these outmoded hoofers or comer dlans who forget that the dawn-of' 1932 customers 'already think back to 1931 as ancient history. ' Here are Whiting and Burt who ' have a nitty sense of vaude values .—a team that rates in the vet class without being a.k; or by a;ny meians ready for a Fanchon & Marco 'Stars of Yesterday' Idea^-and yet who aV most lay an egg. They have a rather smart opening number to set their motifs of duets portraying Love a la Chinatown, Love a la Mexico and Liove a la Hollywood, as the placards on the easel announce later on. The chink stuff rings in their old standby, 'Chinese Blues,' still .an okay lyric. Their Mex number with the 'best caballero in all Mexico* is very a la 'The Dove' and in suit able dress, and the Hollywood duet Is a bit perkier. In the latter, per' haps, Miss Burt was unwise In her sartorial exterior. For a routine finale encore 'Whlt Ing announces that he and Miss Burt had an argument last nfght over the next number, which he thinks is something they woii't like, but here goes anyway. It's a bridal number, and unfortunately he's al- most 100% right It was too quiet a get-oft. That spiel might be the McCoy, as this Is strictly a break- In for the team. That WhiUng and Burt will not find their level is almost beyond be lief, as their native' shrewdness of vaude values alone nullifies any such negative thought. Perhaps Whiting, who showed he could write lyrics with the sensational 'My Blue Heaven,' will have to dig into the trunk or the skull for new Ideas. However, az Iz it's weak. Ahel. HEUEN QAHAQAN (1) Songs. 9 Mine.; One Palaee (St. V.) With an Important legit rep and tthe billing of 'David Belasco's Be- loved Star' behind her, and a nine- nninute routine of four songs as an lact, Helen Gahagan. is not for vaude- fvIUe. : The Palace, where she Is playing this week, is the only house :si(ltable for her, even if she deliv- 'ered a be.tter turn than she showed Saturday. .' Bad advice or hone at all as to vaudeville decorum was behind Miss Gahagan's embarrassing flop at the opening Palace performance. She was extremely nervous. Her four numbera 'were crbsses between pops and classics, mostly lyrical ditties with vague meanings. The Palace audience failed to get the signlfl. cance of any. Another legit habit that hurt was the tendency to walk off cold with her pianist after the first pair of numbers, with the obvious Intention of making the return look like something extra. The applause didn't ivarrant more, but Miss Ga- hagan of course couldn't withdraw at that point. The same thing "hap- pened after the third number, whereupon she came back for a fourth. . It's ail much the fault of the book- ing office as the act's. They must have been desperate for a name to take the turn in the shape it was in Saturday afternoon. Miss Gahagan Is not familiar to vaudeville play- ing, nor is singing her forte. These two facts alone should have de- manded caution and careful prepa- ration. After the matinee it was said Miss Gahagan's turn would be changed for the night show; but it was *oo late to revise the matinee impression. In a flowing white satin gown Miss Gahagan looked like an am- bitious lady giving a song riscltal in her own drawing room, aiid she worked that way also. Gluset»pi Bamboscheck at the piano and Just accompanying. Bige. CARNEY and WINTON Xylophonists. Mins.; One RKO Hillstreet, L. A. Male team at double xylos ham mering out their pops in fair It un- distinguished manner. They finale with a xylo dance. Costuming lacks class. They .wear silk shirts and tan trousers, no Jackets or anything, and look very aero in their get-up. Deuced acceptably, liocally booked. ADeU Lester ALLEN and Peggy HOOVER Song* and Dances 16 Mins.; One Palaee (St. V.) In Peggy Hoover, who formerly did 'an act- with her husband, -•■fiuddy Doyle, Lester Allen has his most proflcient vaudeville partner to date. Miss Hoover, a perfect dancing Ingenue type, is talented in mors than one way, which makes her eligible for musicals. In the meanwhile, in vaudeville 'with Alien, she has her share of the billing. Routine Isn't very different from the AlKin-Breen turn. After the In- troduction and the double in little girls' outfits, .they separate for their own specialties. Miss Hoover does a buck and a sort of essence with twirls OS her two -numbers, while .Allen again uses his song In the stream line tuxedo and. big shoes, later returning .for his acrobatic with taps. Two such capable people cannot but combine successfully. Bige, B. B. B. Talk, Songs 7 Mins.} One Pantages, L. A, Shouting down the boisterous re velers - in his cellar cafe for the many months preceding Its 'final visitation by the sheriff, Bobby Burns ISerman became accepted In Hollywood as a pleasant guy with a rough form of talent. But before the cellar closed—and perhaps also an- explanation for its closing — B; B. B. hopped into the coast pro ductlon of ' 'Girl Crazy' as head comic and surprised even his enemies with an Innate talent at reading lines and a distorted sense of mimicry which showed up much better on the stage than it had In the smoky aura of cellar life. This talent B. B. B. has trans- ported to his special seven minutes In the F. & M. 'Limehouse Nights, unit at the Pantages, but he is not the same comic he was in the mu- sical because there are no lines to guide him and he doesn't want to offend nice people with stuff that goes great for a night mob. B. B.'s mimicry of stage and picture celebrities Is unique because It Is a gross caricature of the orig- inal, and on this he could hang a sturdy vaudeville or picture house act He does none of them in his present turn, relying on aa open- ing song and .a medley burlesque of national and local radio programs. The burlesque, with more national scope and removal of a few dull lines, could also step into big-time company. In summary. B. B. B, has the ability for big league comedy troup- ing. He can wait until the right bt-eaks give him. ah opportunity to prove this or ho can bring It about himself hy giving most diligent study to the art of stag6 comedy. Few comedians of bis type arc being developed. Bang. RED CORCORAN Comedy, Banjo. 10 Mins.; One Hollywood, Hollyvveod How and. why they didn't curb Cprcoran~ on material and running time Is a reflection on whoever Is responsible for the pacing of these dull 9tage-band shows at "Warner's Hollywood. His stuff wad stale, dull and witless, which made an al- (SL Vaude) Current week-was suppoBed to be a sort of iuil before the scheduled Jack Haley-Benny Rubin bill which I was to have followed for a possible run. That being the case, the book- ing office's assignment for this week was Just a satisfactory on(-week layout But up to Friday morning the card was sttU without a topper. They finally, secured H^irry' Green on last-minute notice, and it looked like the Palacb might glide by with-- out muchi trouble while priming It- self for the big one. On Friday evening Benny Rubin was rushed, to the hospital with an appendix that yelled for « Dr. Amey removal. So on top of the neces- sity of sliding by this wee]«, .lt looks like tlie Palitce will have to-slide by as best It can next week, too, with the Haley-Bubin combination not available. All of which sent Arthur Willi, the Palace booker, honie to bed Sat- urday morning.. He was suffering from booking office Influenza, a'pe- culiar occupational illness headlined by a headache. This forced Charlie Freeman to catch the Saturday matinee In Willi's place. Freeman stuck to the finish, and then It was his turn to go to bed. The two topllners, Helen Gahagan and Horry Green (both New Acts), didn't deliver as . topllners should, Green probably .through lack of preparation and Miss Gahagan be- cfiuse of bod advice. For' its chief effectiveness the show ' must depend on standard vaudevllliane,. since the outsiders hardly stand up. It<let Block and Sully, No. 3, and Buck and Bubbles, No. 8, in for the best returns, al- though the goings on up ahead weren't at all helpful to the former. Programmed to close the nine-act bill, Maurice Colleano and his fam- ily opened instead; switching spots with the Lee Twins, an Irving Tates fiash. The. psychology behind open- ing with Colleano instead of Carl- ton Emmy's dog act, which deuced, was not clear. The tumbling turn with its interpolated specialties pro- gresses slowly toward Maurice's punches, with the No. 2 spot much more suitable on a bill like this, The Emmy turn has the pace that's needed, but not present in the open- ing spot Block and Sully had to struggle at first In their position, but they made the grade after awhile, and had an easy time thereafter. When the Boasberg talk found its stride the couple earned their usual laugh re turns, while - the finish dance got them off strong. Bill remained all vaudeville through Barto and Mann In the next spot Colleano's tum- bling, especially his double somor' sault from the ground, which drew Its customary gasp, took some of the edge of Dewey Barto's flips at first, but not for long:. This near-midget succeeded' in breaking through the Ice along with his. elongated part ner. Show needed, vaudeville at that point, and they supplied it First part's closing spot was Miss Gahagan's, a disappointment on top of perceptible nervousness at the opening performance. .The Inter- mlsh wait and newsreel widened the already gap between the two halves, and that was what Lester Allen and Peggy Hoover (New Acts) walked into. Again experience in variety matters asserted itself, for once, this new team got a grip on their audi- ence they held it Harry Green- told a few Hebe stories in his own lilcable manner, then did a song in dialect An Imi- tation of Calloway's 'Minnie the MoocHer' and funny. He- brought Allen on again for foiling in a bur- lesque female Inpersonation during his repeat of the toreador number he played in 'Paramount on Parade.' Another Green-Allen bit came later In the running with a spot under the closer. It was announced by Miss Gahagan, who had consldr erable trouble talking over Buck and Bubbles' applause, as a con- densed version of Drlnkwater's ready overrlong running time seem worse. He's a good example of the gen eral mediocrity of talent obtaining at this house, holding the dubious distinction of establishing a- new low par. Corcoran onc6 before was around with a partner trying for the F. & M. grade at a show house many months ago. He seemed to evidence better possibilities with the pard than is now displayed on his own- some. Ahel. CORTELLO'8 HOLLYWOOD STARS Aorobatie, Dogs, Comedy 10 Mins.; Three RKO Hillstreet, L. A. Locally booked act to augment the regular RKO unit. Opened here and did nicely with Cortcllo. start ing oft with some snappy contortlve aero work, although his penchant for over-gesturing and raucous an nouncemcnt became tiresome as the canine stuff thereafter progressed . A'few clever dogs in the turn, do- ing dance and comedy stuff. Girl as- sistant helps. AieL 'Abraham Lincoln.*" First elfflit of Allen as the Emancipator and Green as General Grant, besides Bubbles as a Chinaman, produced a laugh, but not many other laughs fpliowed. A dead finish made it a washout. The apparent, purpose was to tag it with an an. wer in Yiddish by the blackface.Chink, but they gave Bubbles a weak line that few in the audience got By the time the Lee Sisters ar- rived they were face to face with an audience that apparently realized things hadn't .turned out so well, with no chance for a recovery at that late point However, tlie flash, which contains a soprano a,nd ah acrobatic line of girls besides the nice-looking twins, held them pretty welL The F'alace won't see a lot. of business this week, but thalt won't hurt so much, because a lot wasn't expected.. But next week! Bige, ACADEMY The fixed, policy of this down- towner under S.kouras operation will be Tuesday land Friday changes, with Fanchon &. Marco, show plus acts (two currently) the long half, and regular six acts Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. That gives the Academy.- the Jump on RKO by a day on its changes, witii a .fresh show 24 hours before the Jefferson, hardly a block away on East 14th street, twice weekly. Currently the Skourases have a show In the Academy that should sell itself. In addition to k sureflre, flashy F. & M. Idea, 'Hacienda,' the Four Mills Bros, and Jim Toney are In the vaude. Mills are making their flrst ap- pearance in this neck of town, and though their foUowlng'ish't the big- gest on the radio, the air quartet ought to do some pulling. RKO has them booked for a few weeks, start- ing Saturday (16) at the Palace, and Is enough sold on their draw to play another ether quartet, 'Log Cabin Four,' this first half at the Jeff. Latter not well known around New York. The colored harmony crooners are spotted Immediately following the unit which precedes the vaudeville now rather than tailing it aa when Fox was in operating control. They're announced through ampli- fication as presented by NBC, and launch into 13 minutes of novelty singing and Instrumental hodge- podge, doing five numbers. Out- standing' by for Is 'Minnie the Mbocher.' Mills boys group themselves closely around a mike, with their work amplified, a manner of pres- entation pop with similar attrac- tions. Though far from a stento- rian hit down here, air act scored nicely Friday evening. Jim Toney, with bid brown derby, a lot of astutely-sold talk, some clowning and a gllm-getter assist- ant Gertrude Green, followed the Mills. Toney's aot is the type that has no trouble with 14th street audiences. F. & M.'s 'Haclei\da' is strictly Hispanic in color, but emphatically anything else In entertainment ex- cept for Adrlana, who disports her- self as .& mistress of ceremonies. She's billed as 'The Sweetheart of Mbxlco.' A looker, wearing a lot of personality and striking up an ami ability from the outset, Adrlana Isn't at all hard to take. Opening with a song, she does a Spanish dance, returning at a later point to do another number, a little more Mexican. Neither will crowd the Hoctors into the background, but they serve their purpose. Doyle and Donnelly ore where No. 2 would be in the presentation, with some talk and a song that makes the hurdles okay. A little of their material bears the marks of age, but it's all sold well. Another comedy act follows. This Is Sue Russell and Hlnky and Dinky. It's a trio with a Mutt and Jeff male team and a girl of medium height. Theirs is a goulash of clowning, acrobatics, dancing, talk and-slngr ing, with Miss Russell on the vocal assignment. Her one number, straight isn't so hot, but in bur- lesquing a snooty prima a|id com- Icklng up a classical dance number, she spells success. The trio do a funny adagio, in- terspersed by a barrel roll, for the run-a'way. Audience Friday night seemed to like this act second best, giving flrst preference to the Jug gling Jewels. This Is a quintet of girls who should make most male jugglers blush with the dextei*ous manner In which they swing Indian clubs around. Some of tlie combi- nations on exchanges are unusually clever. They were the right pick as the closer. Idea is set In an elaborate gar- den at the side of a Spanish ha- cienda that has that Calif, atmos phere all over it. Musicians are aa Mexos, but get no spot to . them selves. Lou McDermott, former Publlx producer, staged 'Hacienda' with-an eye both to flash and en- tertainment value. • . Picture, 'Her Majesty, Lovia' (FN). Foz-Movietbne News and overture. Char. PALACE, CHICAGO Chicago, Jan. 9. Can it be that RKO's material censorship is token lightly, or dd acts like Chas. 'Slim' TImblln and Hal Jerome conveniently forget about It when they get away from uiO GttSCT Undoubtedly RKO doesn't expect perfect adherence to the 'Don't' code, but when an act tokes ad., vantage of a situation, like TImblln did at the Palace Saturday after- noon, and even with plenty dirt falls to register, there can be no alibi, Jerome didn't go that far though maybe the example set by the blackface comic ahead of him had something to do with it But - still Jerome gave ample hints os to: his adeptness along the blue - border, ■. Of the two turns, Jerome, with his piartner, Gloria Gray, clipped off the best results, from an audience viewpoint Following a chilled show that caught Lillian Roth, headllner, In a draft the next to shut wise cracks of Jerome and Gray managed to break the ice. irllss Roth has acquired a more steady poise, it seems, but doubt- ful if her more rigid manner has the advantoge over her former and more self-like expression that car- ried with it a lot more spontaneity and warmth. For her value at. the' box.office Miss .Roth must be re- corded as a trifle belated, if her latent screen acltlvltles ai-e to be token in account Yet she Is.not. just anotther picture girl, for Lil- lian and her sister, Ann, have been giving vaude; the once-over since they were knee high. So it's to be expected that Lillian will give a. good account of herself, barring such accidents as this particular bill and the cold reception it was ac- corded at the opening show. Tlmblln's futile effort in the No. 2 spot Is a point in consideration not only "for him but other standard acts that go along year . In and out with no other change thah a possible- quip or piece of business here and there. But not enough to make any difference. Tlmblin Is still doing his colored preacher, stopping at nothing to get a laugh and probably surprised when hfi doesn't get it- Same goes for Jerome and Gray, who possibly have the edge on Tlm« blin in antiquity of material. Je- rome has always been a local gag- ster and when in Rome he does as the. Romans do. They did snicker and even laughed out loud a couple of times so everything was Jake.. Nina Olivette, reliably clever, closed the show with a line of eight boys In support. Miss Olivette is doing a production idea, but evU dently finding it a bit difficult In creating her own comedy situations. For one thing, this nlmble-Iegg«d comedienne should have a good foil; another comic preferably, or at least a strong straight man. Sh« has neither in her present act and is compelled to do it alone. Still a good fiash for any major house. On the front end the Harris brothers, twins, 'with Loretto Allen, appeared a bit too slow in their adagio routines. Their opening tn •one' helped to retard the act and might be eliminated convenient!/. This turn was on. a local cafe floor recently, where at closer view it seemed much faster. It may be that all it needs is more stoge experi- ence. . Danny Russo is temporarily bacR in his old groove in the pit He's pinch hitting for Sammy Haas, re- cuperating from' illness. Screen portion topped by 'Unexpected Father" (U), with usuol newsreels and trailers rounding it out. Biz not particularly bouncing Saturday mat but satisfactory with five shows to be accounted for that day* Span. STATE Stote leans heavy on the stage side this week. Longer bill than usual, running 97 minutes at the second show Saturday. Judging from usual stond&rds, the layout is Just a bit above ordinary, with two comedy acts standing out. Because of Par's 'Sooky,' current this week, there will be plenty youngsters in attendance, and the layout Is one that will appeal to the kids, due to the comedy by Shaw and Lee and Sam Marks. Saturday matinee wos capacity with kids in abundance. Falls, Reading and Boyce open with dances and hand-to-hand work. Two boys and & girl. After some tap and eccentric dances by all three and then the two boys, lat- ter go into some acrobatics, the best part of the act. Don .Galvln, Spanish youth, plays a troubadour •with a guitdr and songs. He was evidently undeter- mined whether to use a Spanish ac- cent or not. He did during hia first song number, but forgot It during the remainder of the act. Has a, nice voice and some personality. A little chatter helps. Banjo instru- mentation rbunded out. Joe Marits is back on the main stem with his familiar and nola}' turn. For adults, it's too much nothing. But good for the. klda, even those who won't know what it's nil al>out. As usual, his piano comedy bit is the highlight witU (Continued on page 41)