Variety (Jan 1932)

36 VARiETY FILM HMSC REVIEWS Tacfld«7, Jmwuj 26, 1932 ROXY, N. Y. New York, Jon. 22. After trying a lot of names and paying large salaries, the Rozy has finally located a specialty headliner Who can sock In this large lH>U8e. Morton Downey, latest of the Roxy's series of heavy money stage names, Is the hub for the current bill at 14,000, single. He's the only person on the stage alone for more than a second this week, with the rest of the show composed of the usual colorful mass Roj^ entertainment, the Fred Waring band's pit present- ment, a Mickey Mouse cartoon and a Fox talker, 'Charlie Chan Carries On.' There Is seldom any falling down by the production end or house bal- let staff here. The bad weeks are' generally attributable to a stage name's flop oc a back-flip by the screen subjecL Currently the stage name hands strongly, e^nd the pic- ture satisfies^ which, should give the Boxy a pleasant turnover on merit this week. A medley of gypsy and Hungarian melodies is the Waring pitmen's opener. A late pop' Is worked up as accompaniment tor £yalyn Nair, who dancea alone on the pneumati- cally raised, stage In :back of the band stand. Her wamr'and very snaky eccentric cobch, preceded by a' starting' semi-strip, would be all right properly spotted, but the solo spot to .the rear of this large and Imposing ^bunch of muslclaos Is too heavy for Miss Nalr to carry. The sklmplnesa of this Item Js-fur- ther magnified later on when the house ballet and then the Rozyettea take over the same rostrum for some real maneuvers. Stage production Is split and billed In Ave sections—'Fainting,' 'Sculpture,' - 'Dance,' 'Miislc,' and ^rchltecture'-rall under the head- ing of 'Beaux Arts.' The opener (Painting), In which a framed pic- ture comes to life in the customary manner, is the most sightly of this week's numbers.- The ballet line, wearing a lot less than usual; nlftUy builds up Patricia Bowman and Ar- Mlr Mahoney's double. Mahoney's name doesn't blend with his adopted style of terpihg; but he's different. In the same nnmber Hilda Bckler, Betty Bannister and Margaret Sonde of the ballet corps do the in- troductory honors In commendable fashion. Sculpture's ofBcIal Rozy repre- sentative, the Romas Bros., work before the drapes in what corre- sponds to 'one^ on a vaudevUle stage. Dolled up In gilt paint, all over, the vet equilibrists slow mo- tion their way through a rhythmic routine of balancing and easily fill their spot. The theatre's superb lighting system gives them plenty of help. The Rozyettes have their own •pot also for a novelty precision routine that starts out as an old- tashloned In hoop skirts and wlAds up on a buck and wing in shorts, The evolution Is accomplished with two 6n-Btage changes, both strips. Any more stripping In this show would have provoked the Mlnskya Into Squawking oppoalsh. But Dow ney, who followed, kept all his clothes on. PARAMOUNT, N. Y. New York, Jos. 23. 'Cinderella Blues' current with the Boswell Sisters In second week of their engagement and BIng Crosby the stage features. On the screen Is 'No One Man' (Par). It all looks like merely another week. On the stage end the Cinderella theme Is carried out, wedding n'all, with the choristers In' white satin before a throne room set Into which strolls the Crosby arrayed In grey trousers, blue coat and'shirt, red tin and a still straw hat. Tou fig- ure tt out if It's Crosby or the other half of Laurel and Hardy. The Boswells are harmonizing ef- fectively for a tr}o of songs and serve to introduce theme of the Ipresentation lyrically. A hoke iidaglo trio (Lowe, Bemolt and Wensley),' for Comedy, round off be- tween which are those hoofing girls, the Three Queens. Crosby jnikes It a couple of times and that about washes everything up. . It's a Boris Petroff . effort and fair enough pic- ture house; material. However, there doesn't seem any particular reason for Crosby's, careless costuming. Friday's second show, Incidentally, held a .^urprlse for the customers In an unexpected appeairance of Paul liUkas, playing the. Brooklyn p'aramount, 'who came out for a bow Inasmuch' as he's, in the present film and also next week's main attraction. Newsreel Is only going four clips, with a fine audience razz for some- one defining the merits of prohibi- tion, and Rnblnott Is exaggerating, his way through a medley of pops as.an oveiiure. Both the Crawfords are at the stage consoles offering a Schubert medley developing Into a Romberg hit tune, which may fit the organists as providing a more liv.ely climax, but will hardly sit well with SIgmund because of the similarity between the melodies being stressed. Business okay Friday mat.Sul. They didn't give Downey much in a production way, but he probably didn't need IL Before a painted drop that's modernistic, futuristic or just a scenic artist's bad dream, Downey does his singing with the microphone between himself and the audience. The amplification system added power .to his pipes, and,' although at times giving the notes a mechanical ring, this help is greatly needed by the radio boy so- prano in a theatre of the Rbxy's size. Downey accomplished what no body else has or has not tried in this bouse—coaxing the audience into singing along. They responded upon Downey's requeab during his third nuinber. For the encore Mor ton used his ether theme song and slipped one In for his cigaret mike sponsor, He worked fast, sang hard and met with more success than his big name precedessors at the Rozy. The three rising stages are uii lized for the finale (ArchitiBcture) in which the ballet and Roxyetlos top their regimental hoofing by building a skyscraper effect In front of a New York skyline backdrop Although passable. It. seemed the scenic end could have been even more realistic, considering that this is the Roxy. Same Idea handled much better despite limitations In ^tJ'frent Broadway cafe floor show. Warlng's harmony numbers this week are excellent. The femme close harmony trio is kept out of . eight, and the way they blend In 'With the men recaptures the effect that Waring first Ihtroduced with fine results In vaudeville.' The or chestra is still shying. away from too much hot stuff, sticking mostly to symphonic arrangements of light operettas and past pops. Waring should try his o\vn orchestration of 7100010 Fete' when he gets the ebance, to determine how they'll go for somethlngr like that at the cathedral. . Next week Clark and McCuIlough at another |4»0«c ^if^e. CAPITOL, N. Y. New York, Jan. 22. They must have been confident .that the .feature, 'The Chomp,' just off its legit house ezploltation run, would hold trade up, tor the. house stager took plenty of chances In de- pending'upon Benny Davis and his kid group, billed as 'Future Broad- way Stars.' Davis has played the house before, but he doesn't belong In this mam- moth deluzer. Perhaps tor a mod- erately-sized house with a moderr ately-fastidious clientele his offering might sufflcoi but this spot calls for something more solid in entertain ment. thin Davis, his reputation as a lyric writer and his gathering of young specialists. For one thing the Capitol patron age drops in with the reasonable supposition that they're going to get something genuine in the "way of stage program, while everything Davis does is theatrical and syn thettc, as to his own personality, his' style of presentation and the layout of his turn, which, by the way, runs to 34. minutes, which Is a lot of time for a disciple of Qus Ed- wards. At moments the audience at the performance caught - monl tested a good deal of restlessness, mostly inspired by Davis' strpngarm efforts to make the audience like his youngsters. There is no special reason why a too energetic m.c. has to force these children upon any audience. The kids do specialties limited in scope, but entirely welcome, and Davis' determination to make them a grand success only arouses audience op position. Anyhow, the youngsters are spread out cafe scene style before a pent house back drop suggestion, with the stage band disposed behind them on a low platform. Group numbers 16 or so, but only half that number or less actively engage in the revel. The program data sup plied to reviewers by the house did not identify the personnel, who had to depend on Davis' none-too-clear Introductions. Youngsters are In troduced as a new group, and their typical vaudeville fiash opens with a trim blonde lass doing neat taps and identlfled as Sunny Day of Chi cago. Nice.footwork, with Intricate buck-and-wlnglng, with Davis fore Ing encores ikt the opening and throughout. Another bally goes for the Intro duction of Martha and Jimmy Belli who also do nice buck-ond-wlnglng, with on acrobatic dance routine by the boy following. Little Jackie Heller next does two songs In a typical radio crooning style, doing his own accompanying on the guitar. Seml-recitatlons of one verse of a ballad did the. boy^s specialty no good In this vast audi torlum, and Davis' ballyhoo did him less service. By way of contrast to a program laden to. the limit with neophyte tappers, the next number Is a re turn of Sunny Day, tapping some more to the accompaniment of Jackie's crooning. Billy Severn Is next In the batting order and takes a tough spot with another session of dancing, this time a tap routine mixed-with neat back somersaults and twisters without disturbing the rhythm. A collegiate i mixed couple here Qime forw^r^'fer; a comedy dance routine, but this re- viewer missed their names alto- gether due to the audience becom- ing restless at the moment, Davis seemed to teel that he wasn't work- ing hard enough, and he gave spe- cial strongarm treatment to putting this pair over, and succeeded only moderately well. ' Martha Ray turned out to be change of pace, of sort's, being a pretty slim young brunette with an agreeable contralto voice admirably adapted to 'River, Stay Away from My Door,' done with boop-a-boo incidentals -which did more to build up Davis' ussertlon that he discov- ered Helen Kane than It helped the singer. For. a finish Davis came candidly down under the spot and sang a medley of his own numbers of years and - years back, bringing scattered applause from audience members who remembered 'Margy' and. others. Overture is - a first-class sym- phonic arrangement of 'Rhapsoy In Blue,' with , a hot blues to top it off and a punchful number for this pro- gram Item that Is so often blah in most deluxers, but'Seldom so at the Capitol, - ■ Standee business at this show probably attributable to the pre release of The Champ.' H-M news- reel nicely framed for topical and general interest Rush. CHICAGO ('VAGABOND KING') Chicago, Jan. 22. Publlx-B. & K. again tries a new stunt for its stage show^ Spurred by the results of 'Girl-Crazy,' in a musical tab version which helped the deluxe B. & K. spots, the firm here Is again obvlonsly angling for that chance to' advertise the ' bar- gain catch-Ilne; 'A M;40 Production at Our Regular PriOes.' That is the way this 'Vagabond King* show, with Dennis King as the feature. Is being plugged. Ads offer 'for the first time on the stage of a motion picture theatre two stirring acts from the outstanding operetta success of all time.' B. & E. took extra newspaper display space to burl this at the public In Its z^ousness to give this impression of a regular legit show at bargalln prices, B. & "K.. this time probably overstepped the bounds. For the public Is not getting a legit show here; what It Is getting are the songs from the production ahd a couple of the cue-lines. There is no attempt'at either story or business. In short, other than the songs, the show Is no more like the '"Vagabond King" legit' musical than a regular stage unit. Show Itself is running very short, under the regulation stage shoW: time. This production is weaving its way through Its entire routine, which includes a couple of vaude. turns. In.less than S6 minutes. The 'Olrl Cra^ version had a large number of sets and scenes through 76 minutes, and was therefore more reasonably wlthm the field of legit versions. Whole thing Is of most Import- ance in demonstrating how anxious B. & K. Is to cut In on the strength of legit shows for their own stages. From the simple production cur- rent, it wouldn't be such a tremend- ous step to more Intricate and elab- orate copies of musical hits of for- mer yeors. If, instead of spending one week on the show, as with "Vagabond King,' the production de- partment had spent two or three, it possibly- -would have a ' TRANSLUX Best all-round' program seen at either newsreel house In months Luxer In addition. to the entertain- ment is 'way ahead on the news,' a real- effort seemingly having been made for this build-up which fully reflects the merit. Pathe scoops. on the Herndon wreck, close-ups oC the gap being photographed as ship was towed into New London. Commander and two of the gobs furnish the person- ality touch. . ITnlversal scores a beat on the Ohio murder case, the slayer, while being dose-upped, given an eerie touch by the talldng reporter. De- tectives and police officials who aided in the capture of the killer of the six-year-old girl also are Included in this clip. ' .Universal also shows first pictures of the cafeteria prison system and how It works in the Washington pen-at Monroe. XT, as usual,: is the only reel which evidently deemed covering the latest Manhattan com- munist demonstration worth while.' In the class of real novelty for the newsreel, Pathe hits par with a showdown on the sound tricks used by broadcastliig studios during the enactment of an air melodrama. What this will do to radio fans who believe thelr'air tables is one thing, but right now every audience in the Luxer is recording the maximum in laughs for this expose. NBC studios furnish the locale. Like Pathe used a Paramount cameraman to score a hit in a nance role. It does the same thing now with Fox's contact man, Fat Mo- Manus. Instead of taking the tiny dog show In New York seriously, Pathe plays backstage with cam- eramen and Interviews. McManus is shown cooing to a little pup—and the laughs are plenty. : Pathe as well- steps ahead of the other reels in getting ^Filipino spokesmen together with Roosevelt. It has Its own cameraman on board official army planes dropping food to those hungry Arizona Indians. Pathe continues along, lesser scoop trails with first views of the varsity taking to Camden's waters and the British fleet steaming out for Atlan- tic maneuvers.. Cyclone ravages of a -village In Alabama are also ex- clusive with the rooster camera. Paramount' boasts In a silent title of getting first sound pictures of the Sistlne choir, Rome, In action. Ef- fort to get a number of picture angles Impaired recording values, however. Obvious .'plug for tourists to visit a Berlin museum is contained in an- other Par clip. X30odyear is getting much advertising through Its blimp, there being one also in Los Angeles. The clip is a thriller, nevertheless, with a lad working on a trapeze over the city.' Judge Llndsey Is getting passe show that could make the tour of B. & K. de- luxers and probably Publix spots out of town R & K. has proven it con get these legit shows. Has paid a royalty of $600 for the rights to reproduce the music of . this show. Show in Itself Ip okay; it suffers only when it attempts to live up to lis billing. As locally produced by Will Harris, the production carries all the "color and costumes of the wardrobe. There is inuch choral work by a large group of singers, more than have been on this stage in some years. In the vocal end, Dennis King . naturally had the standout position, the other soloists being at a heavy disadvantage be- cause of the comparison, Show Is cut Into two 'acts' arbi- trarily, giving the chance to change 4ets and costumes, particularly for King. He switched from the vaga, bond's rags to an outfit more fiat- terlng,' First 'act' contains the 'Only a Rose' number as its big ses- sion,, while the second 'act' closes with the -walloping 'Song of the Vagabonds,' drawing heavy ap plause. For the wait between the acts were. La Salle and Mack, tumblers, who held up that spot solidly, get ting latighs on the comedy falls and hand-smacking for their real stunts, Opening , the second half also filled by a regular vaude act, Edna Covey, Who raing them bard with the bur- lesque toe-dance, specialty. . Miss Covey Is now on. an F. & M, route. Feature Is 'Lovers Courageous' (M-O): also flV9 Paramount news fUpa. <7«I<t. EMBASSY Weak and conventional in news coverage, the Etabassy would seem to bo reclining upOn past laurels. Mayor Walker's speech at the local Taimmany feed -closed one of the Saturday- matinees without murmur or a handclap, despite the thunder- ing on the screen. Embassy used It to lead off. Fox-Hearst followed the newspa* pers In Steve Hamas* hofn'e life. The clip is stilted In Us handling. Mrs. Hamas plays the piano one second and her husband Is hitting the punching bag the next. Too much of this back and forth stuff in' such limited'footage- Senator Shepipard, the teetotaler, ' Is being Bronx cheered In both houses. At' the late Embassy shows the catcalls-will probably wail out his last utterance that prohibition will be as enduring as the Constitu- tion. Although he makes the plea used every time by ontl-prohlbitlon- Ists a Maryland Senator, following Sheppard, Is certain of applause. Embassy 'hunted up Senator Wal> cott with the hope of getting an ex- planation of Hoo.ver's money plan. Walcott does his best, but there seems "to be too much money in- volved and too many complications for the speech to mean much to the by and large fan. Where the; Lxixer has Alfalfa Bill tell how he got his title, the L*m- bassy is content with. letting- Bill quoto Will Rogers. Members of the N. Y. Hebrew Orphanage getting a lesson In wrestling is Interesting, - the kids finally cluttering up the mat with an army of legs and. arms. Fox ge'ts first prints of Gandhi's arrival In Bombay, although . the Etebassy several weeks ago and a few days after dally papers carried the story of Gandhi In jail had a f^lklng reporter bring an old clip up to the times. 'Stitch' McCarthy's pinochle con- test is a natural for laughs. The Eaststders and Ohioans start the game, break, and start iagain. - Both theatres also have the first woman U. S. Senator; snow scenes; Florida,, and the Akron tying up t» a ship's mooring mast. WaXy. to the reel fans. His observation about leap year doesn't rate a rip- ple. Leading off the Luxer pro- gram Is a dip on the sailing of the women' delegation for Geneva^ which was first projected on the screen by Pathe. An odd clip, full of human Inter- est, is that offered by Paramount on the nine-year-old violinist play- ing In a children's -ward In a Chi- cago Institution. Dark and white kiddles compose the' audience, and their expressions during the render-' ing of a classic are an interesting study to all types of tans. waXy. Warners* Hollywood Hollywood, Jan. 21. Those Hollywood personages who, with the proud disdain of stu- dio complacency, wait In the lobby nntll the presentation la over on the grounds that a mere stage show Is unfit for their regal o.o.. -were sus- tained and comforted in this in- stance. It' was the screen that counted and the stage part was a labor to be sidestepped rather than embraced. True, the stage part on the open- ing night was minus Gene Dennis. It does after all mean quite a bit to see a vaude lay-out with the head- Uner absent. Miss Dennis, wbose telepathic marvels have- been fre- quently reviewed by "Variety,* is a favorite and a frequent repeater out here. She will help by her presence from the second day on-ward, as her absence hurt at the getaway. Being a "Hollywood opening' there was a goodly delegation of stars in their fancy vestments and all the usual folderol of lights, gendarmes and. autograph-hunters. The studio folks and their next door neighbors, the yaps, received the stage portion with the alternate degrees of per- functory aind genuine applause that the layout warranted. Jesse Stafford's stage band, acutely unrehearsed, was the show's flaw. There were extenuating mo- ments but too fleeting and too widely spaced to alibi the general uncer- tainty of a ragged and amateurish performance In Which the. versatil- ity of the bandsmen was badly clouded by the totality. Of the individual talent Gertrude Fisher, a super-acrobat, took tops. Curry and Brown, eccentric hoofers ahd good, -\vere liked. Grace Poggl wasn't quite Spanish enough to make her dance In that garb and raiotlf outstanding. . S'<vectness of tone and ease of control placed Martha Vaughan safely over. Might be suggested that the frock she wore was too much Inprenue, and a gen eral Increase In dignity of carriage would help this artist. Announced as a New York lead Ing man. Glen Dala batted out a brace of tenor solos. No quarrel as to competence, but the vogue of the moment favors baritones. Vltaphone 'Old Time Movie Al- bum' was great laugh material for the Hollywoodltes. Wally Reld, 10 years dead, drew an ovation. RetU applause and enthusiasm of the eve- ning went to tho feature. Union De- pot' (WB) which earned itself a.- shower of roses. iMiid. IMPERIAL, TORONTO Toronto, Jan. 22. Terpsichorean field day at the Imperial this week with Del Chain and lAmbertI only exceptions. John and Harriett Griffith, adagio team, on three times, ballet out four times and Buster and Brown, knockabout tumblers and leg- maniacs, In second spot. Class presentation . -Went over nicely with daintiness in costuming and ladness of settings holding femme appeal. Del Chain, in post- man's uniform, acts as m. c. throughout bill without being ob- trusive and keeps up a rapid pat- ter of gags, in keeping with a show that seems to have been deliber- ately aimed at the women trade. Lantbertl with his xylphone only name-draw here and act fairly fa- miliar. Still scored, however, with Lambert! begging off a third en- core. John and Harriett Grifntb, personable-looking kids. In two ballroom numbers and an adagio In the finale, went over nicely. Ballet works hard with tour costume changes, but all dances of the semi- classical type and - eye-filling in costumes, setting and lighting. Only laft-puller, apart from Lam- bertl act, is Del Chain In a bur- lesque mInd-readIng bit -with Lam- bertl OS stooge. In contrast to stage bill, pit band departs from usual type of overture and offers a hot orchcsti-ation of St; Louis Blues,' with Gamble Brothers, local radio favorites, of- fering a pop-medley In pit. ' Not a man's show this' week but should dp well In that the femmes. have the deciding voice In saying what they wont to see. Feature film Is 'Ladies of the Big Jlouse' (Par). MQStay.