Variety (Jan 1932)

Tnesday, January 26, 1932 FILM HOUSE REVIEWS VARIETY DENVER Denver, Jan. 20. The overture by Fred Schmttt and Ilia orchestra nicely framed. It waa «|)ersonal ia.ppearance,' each Instru- pient being featured either In a solo «r with otherB. Numbers played were well chosen for Idea, with the exception of the piano solo, which yiaa not adapted for picture houses. 'Manhattan,' the Fanchon & Mar- co'Idea, centered around Gotham _POta, while a smooth running stage show, could have more solid pnter- talnment In It. The Brun ■ "Welse trio Is the high spot, wltji one of them lying on his back, playing a ^oUn while balancing a ladder on Us feet on top of which a partner to'posed on his head. Swov and Ooode, blackface ' comedians, stage A Blow, motion poker game and folr ]ow It with somo clever chatter and dancing. . Jack Sidney, in peddler character, pushes , a \«getable cart and sings. Jack Lester entertains - with tap dancing. The line make their In-. Jtlal appearance In ragged, and torn • clothes, In keeping with the Bowery setting, and do a rough and tumble ^(ince—after a cop strolls across Btage. Second setting Is from Greenwich : Vlllose, with an artist and sculptor painting and carving, tlio latter naing live figure. Jack Sidney war- bles In this scene. Next scene haa 'huge painted head of savage, with line glrlis making entrance out of mouth and' doing an African dance —a lot of hard work in this dance. The girls are always pulDng after a hard danbe here, as this altitude is tough on them, coming almost di- rectly from - sea level to a mile above. Swor and Goode work their act on the waterfront and the final flash, with the line in golden pa- Jamas, is with a Broadway scene. All- the men are dressed In evening clothes except the blackfaces group, who are saluting the statue of .Lib- erty. PARAMOUNT, L. A. FOX, FRISCO Sa,n Francisco, Jan. 22. The largest theatre In the west with the largest weekly overhead is the Fox, San Francisco, of 6,000 seats, on upper Market street, . where things have been plenty tough lately. House rolled along Us first year and a ^alf making splen- did profit and hitting an average weekly gate of $41,00.0. With the opening'of a first-class house by United Artists, another by Warners aiid a division of the Metro, Para mount and Fox product to the other local Fox-West. Coast houses, this Big Bertha has had Its hands full, particularly the. past six Bionihs. Average of late around $29,000, whichi means red here, House has two good draws Iti Fanchon & Marco Ideas, long the most, popular of all picture house stage offerings In this section of the state, and Walt Roesner's Mu- sic. Roesner, of the original Paul Ash band at the old Oranadd, has trumpeted himself to the head of the town's favorite permanent stage personalities! With the exception of a brief six months' spell In New Tork, Roesner has been on the street for fully five years, dividing his time between this house and the F-WC Wai-fleld. He has the largest band In town, 36 pieces, and Undoubtedly the most popular or ganlzatlon on the street. Roesner has been staging his own produc tlon^ overtures, assisted by Earl Sharp, arranger. These get audience . appreciation regardless of their theme and the fact that many times they take broad musical liberties, Roesner Is the man Mike Marco took to New Tork last year to show the Roxy staff how production overtures get over week after week In Frisco. This week the overture, leading oft the front show, features Dvorak compositions. Packs a punch in its finale, through a rewrite of 'Largo' and a synco-symphonlc Instrumen- tation Interpolated. The ultra accept It as well as ' the gang from the Mission district, who, though' senS' l.ng a mlxup of the works of the masters, like the way It is served. Lighting good and. should be. House has the best equipment In town , with plenty of side bridges as well as majors and border lights to draw from. Gives the overtures a clean, refreshing setting. B nuntber by Roesner has Joaquin Garay, 20-year-old tenor, now In his 83i'd week and still pulling loud applause. Warbled 'Blue of the Night,' doing one and one and en- coring cftslly. Kid's voice showing imppoveniont through recent clas- sical study. Fanchon & Marco stage show Is LImehouso Nights' (reviewed In Los Angelos), well presented and received, though Val and Ernie Stanto.n'a comedy failed to click at the late show, caused somewhat by size of this house, which makes a stage face a blur in any section oC tlio house behind the IJlh row main loor. 'Dance Team' o:i the screen. Kurtz. with the familiar ChapIInlsms. Ac tually Julian Hall's impersonation Los Angeles, Jan. 21. I has the freshness of newness after What entertainment this presen- so many years of forgetfulness. So tatlon might have contained was much so that it would be better if muffed through a series of mishaps' the Chaplin were retained until at the performance caught. Royal later in the sequence of Introduc- Gascoyne, Juggler, had a cannot ball tlons Instead of being the first dropped on his head during his sec- Consuelo Gonzales doing Lupe ond trick. He was doing a nose bal- Velez is notably weak, for banlng ance, with the ball perched on top a common nativity there is no fur of three bottles, when the baU slid, ther parallel. She was held to the catching him on the temple. He nest to last. Better routining taggered oft. BotUes were smashed would sandwich her In earlier alohg ^hen they hit the stage. Harry with Lillian Price, whose Idea of Harris tried to sweiep the glass into Fannie Brice places an unendui- the trough, but enough remained to able burden upon the Imagination kill the work of the line girls and Gloria Pleasance, a.nliiible-diBlted the Four Covans, colored hoofers. harpist,, looked remarkably like During the orchestra's special. Ann Harding, and Danny Beck, d nuhiber the stage amplification sys- trick drummer in the Jack. Powell tern went haywire and drowned out manner, struck oft Harry Langdon the orcliestra with something like with, fair'fidelity to the pattern static, Silenced, It stayed that way Beck has one small bit of wiping his until the Haynes Twins started to nose with a drum stick. Good sing,, then, like a plant, it started all taste would suggest Us exclusion over again. Laurel aind Hardy ■ivere cleverly Barrls has cut down on his com- approximated by Sam Charln and edy this week and Is more partlcu- Earl Judy, who in size, make-up, lar In his selection of material. His and the attention to mannerism, work Is an Improvement over last were possibly the most effective of week, when he went wild with the impersonating brigade. Steve meaningless gags. Not so with Red Savage was a strong spot, but more Corcoran, hoke banjolst, who mugs James Barton than the Joe E. his way indifferently through tw.o Brown he was ticketed blue numbers. Corcoran Is a hold- Paul. Jon^s on skates and In tails over. came close to the gentlemanly ppls<! Four Covans did a fast hoofing md appearance of Robert Mont rouUne that is so familiar to local Spmcry. Making a double point for audiences that almost anyone could «t seems to have been overlooked hop up on the stage and work In berctotore by theatrical skaters that their challenge finish. On this par- a little class would make the ball tlcular bin the Covans, Gasgoyne bearing stuft seem more genteel and Corcoran are as well known to Actually Jones has some unusual A. audiences as their nextdoor feats of agility. _ neighbors. They've played every Anna Chang, a wobbling Chinese house in town within recent date, miss, tossed oft two songs, as Anna Haynes Twins are not so well May Wong. Nice but one would known, having played only tnree have been plenty. In fact too much local houses. encoring throughout made the unit Line is on twice with a tap and dIla.toij in ee"'"^. places. Hav^^^^ broom routine for the opening and a drained the value "^nM^f «"terta^ contact tap for the closing. Latter ment, individuals ^were Pern^l"*^^*? is done with the taps contacting tarry and antl-cllmax themselves, wires oii the floor causing sparks. Dorothy June.^ first to Perform, Many a guy has been kicked out 6t has a commandable acrobatic facll- HI Henry's Mi^istrels for just sug- 'ty along with her youth. Also gesting the spark business, but u present in this rather long cast or was probably new to the locals, for talent broupht together jinder the It was the only number In the per- supervisory eye of Gae Foster was formance that impressed. A danc- Ray Bradley, whose function was ng male octet was on for a flying to play gigolo to Miss Gompson. wing routine, which pleased. Out here, for from the sphere or Barrls did one of - those thinca T'^oatre Guild influence, the Fox wheri\lown ?n th^'auaie^^^^ cracked. After stepping to the foot- that business started as well as it lights and letting the mugg have it, did Wednesday (2<>) he apologized to the audience. But U-unt and Lypn ^ontanne The It didn't ease up an unprofessional Guardsman' (Metro). Jack Hoxiew act which had the audience uneasy ' known out here. L-ana. This about put the fln'lsh to an eventful first Show Thursday eve-1 MICHIGAN, DET. 'No One ^an' (Par) and the Detroit, Jan. 23 Harry' Barrls name failed to flll more than half of downstairs. Ush Grauman's Egyptian Hollywood, Jan. 21. Heire's the champ white elephant on Fox-Weat Coast's hands, an 1,- SOO-seater in an olready overpopu- latcd Hollywood blvd. sector, trying stage band policy to d 23 and 00- ceht scale—and wnn a $4,000 weekly rental to overcome. That the house grossed J2,000 last week, Us first, Ith Al Kvale waving the baton as m. c, in front of the Brick English- Hoot Gibson orchestra,' tolls the story In plenty of red-Ink. Figuring most conservatively, that Kvale- hestra-fllm-overheaa combo must eat up that $2,000 Intake and iliore. And where does' the '$4,000 weekly ental come from? F-AVC has been trying to recover the Egyptian. Abandoning a day- and-date policy with the downtown Criterion, which, has reverted to first runs, and with the Kvale stage band Idea plus five acts, it may in time get somewhere; ■ But what a handicap to overcome! Acts In sequence are: '\\'llfred du- Bols, stand.avd Juggler; Bud Over- beck, band vocalist; Bob and Eula Buroft, dancers; Florence Hodges, songstress;, aiid -Charles Lelitnd, comic interrupter of a sort, who Inds Xip ■with a hoofing medley. Fanchon & Marco, as with every- Kiuxo Liia.li iiui£ UA Quwjis»iaii-s. usil- I . ^^^^^1 thlS ^[^ek Is,^nlce e^^U^^' erets worked hard to dress the but suffers from a .couple o^^^ house, battling patrons'who wanted There 's^t ona sock _act^^ That to go down the center aisle. I 'eaves the Impression of_ the wnoie . Par Sound News and Par Souve nlrs rounded out the show. Call. as rather fiat when it really isn't There Is no m.c. for the first time In months. An m.c. might have sold the show better. That goes for Dezzo Better, who gets the Tiffany Twins to straight for him In place of the usual m.c. One of the out- standing elements of tbe success of the stage presentation was the evo- lution of the m.c. To remove them the show must be constructed so that the elimination isn't noticed It's very noticeable in this show, Show opens with a cbniedy car- toon drop with heads ciit out to al low characters to sing some mean Ingless song about hot-^-dogfi. Means little but different enough to afford mild amusement, Tiffany Twins on for two. num bers. a hot routine that, scored and a tap breakdown that didn't miss, To bring on Dezzo Retter the glrlf started to go into another number with Retter Interrupting. Then Into his hoke acrobatics. As seen first show his act was split with the self- wrestling left for later, when It failed to go over. Act better if left Intact. Blanche and Elliott with a ball room waltz very weak for spot Even with the build-up of the 16- glrl line doing a smart ballet routine In black and white against a black STATE, L. A. Los Angeles, Jan. 20, Appropriately enough, Ettty Compson has been surrounded by Fanchon & Marco with a Holly wood setting. It's supposed to be the Cocoanut Grove In the Ambas- sador hotel and Miss Compson's guests are Charles Chaplin, Ann Harding, Robert Montgomery, Fan- nie Brlcc, Harry Langdon, Anna May,. Wong, Lupe 'Velez, Joe E. Brown and Laurel and Hardy. Not rea.lly, of course, but by proxy through Impersonators. That's a showmanly conception possessing strong eitploltation r.os- slblllties and certain to entertain. That there are sloppy moments and one or two mediocrities Is no vital criticism; especially in the unit's first week with the surgery unper- formed. This one has a high per- centage of novelty. Slash about 10 minutes, tighten up the loose bolts and It'll be a trim entertainment After a decade oft the stage. Miss Compson returned without notice- able nervousness. She proved a gracious personality, If not a scnsa- _ tlonal entertainment. Nobody ex- I ,^4^5^^°"thJt"was~eirectlve, pects much from film stars in the'" - varieties and Miss Compson does as much, or as little, as the aver- age. Her gowns will thrill the la- dles and.her Marlcne Dletrlchs will call for comment. . Might Just as well cut that short bit of her leading the orchestra, as there will be too many -remember Ing Ruth Roland's similar chore for Fanchon & Marco some months ago. Out here B.B.B.'s imitation of Die- trich seems to be the standard as Lupe 'Velez Is In Chicago and pcints east. Indeed B.B.B. is understood to have coached Miss Compson, so iihe really was doing an Imitation of B.B.B. imitating Mdrlene Dietrich. Financial arrangement on Miss Compson Is unusual In that Fan chon & Marco practically guarartee that the star will have $40,000 In the till at the end of her tour. To make that net possible they pay her hotel, all traveling expenses, per- sonal maid, etc. P'&M may be dip- ping a little Into Its own reservoir tor the prestige of the star's name. It comes as something of d sur- prise to see a Charlie Chaplin imi- tation. Lots. 6t aqua pura has trickled under the trestle since every promWlng brat lii the country - was electrifying Its doting relatives I ment. L-^e Pert Kelton Is tlie name act and pleases in a mild way. Unknown here as a ndme, she contributes a series of burlesque imitations in pantomime that heeds a very good imitash of Chaplin to put the act over. ' „ . Following Kelton comes Retter for the second part.of his act, which Is the. usual sure-fire wrestling with himself; But it didn't mean a thing hero. Set used for the finale worth men tloning as quite different. A sort of 'Marble Halls' entrance to a library or other public building. The adagio team out for another number that scored much better than the first number, the waltz. ' The finale number by the line with Electa Leonard Is the usual stirring military number that misses. The miss may be due to the costumes, which are about the worst seen here. Costumes Msed this week and others are usually quite tasteful; but this week Mahleu must have slipped. ■ Overture, 'Irving Berlin Hits,' un eventful except for the fiddle play Ing of the director, Sam Benavie, who surprises once In a great while with his own taking up the Instru thing F-WC, books the spot turns, the acts In turn working for nominal dough wUh an eye to an F&M route. DuBols, accordingly,- Is a tiptop opener . with his snappy Jugglery, and oke for the grade. Bud Over- beck is a songster with somewhat of n local vogue over KHJ, who comes out of the bond .personnel with a prop fiddle for 'You're My Everything.' Kvale at this point starts evidenc- ing his Instrumental versatility with; reed arid brass solo interludes, be- sides pacing everything with breezy eclat. It is apparent that Kvale In . the early B&K era must have been a panic with the flaps ■who are now quite grownup matrons, while the new crop of flaps has other Ideas than In the pre-Paul Ash days. Bob ond Eula BurofI with . their. qOasi-Russe whirlwind taps and stepology registered quickly and off. Florence Hedges is a freak song- stress whose above-hlgh-C registers sound better'- in their altitudlnous.. reaches than when she essays nor- mal soprano ranges. Charles Leland with his comedy Interruptions flnally gets into a hooflng medley, which . registered nicely. 'Sooky' on screen this ■week and biz weak,- with the 'same nieagre $2,000 gross Indicated. ' A.X)Cl, ■ NEW YORK (Coutlnued from page 9). killed' (Par). . Accorded fine notices in New York dallies,, the Ernst Lur bltsch exhibit looks to be an okay '2 picture.; first SVj days' business, $9,600. •' Gaiety (S08; $l-$2), 'Arrowsmith' (UA) (Sth week). Closes Sunday night (31). Would stay a- week or two longer on strength .of business as' against low nut^ but is -n-aiited for the Riybll to succeed 'Jekyll and Hyde,' probably opening there Fri- day (Feb. 6). It's a very narrow gap between the $2 and the pop run, spoiling last-week chances in Gaiety. Paramount (3;664; 40-65-85), 'No One Man' (Par) and stage show. May do ■\vcak $56,000, House found disappointing results in. previous, in- ciintbent, 'Two Kinds of. Women,' which started out fairly good but slipped badly to $51,400. RIalto (2,000; 45-65-85). 'Cock of the ,Alr' (UA). Although It still might not have been a good picture nor a b.o. draw, the censors tore this one's chances down by severe cutting. If doing $15,000 on first week T.lll be fortunate. Chances for more than a week here remote 'Greeks Had A Word For It' is next on the schedule. Last week. Col's Forbidden' fell' to a very meagre $15,800. Mayfair (2,200; 35-65-85-$!) 'Pah ama. Flo' (RKO-Pathe). This one will bring in around $lo,000. Poor. Woman Commands' arrives on the scene Thursday night (28)'at a spe- cial premiere. • - Rivoli (2,200; 40-66-85-$!) 'Jekyll and Hyde' ('4th week). Probable.last week for the thriller-drama; it'll, get around $21,000, not bad con-- , sidering length of stay. Intake on third week $?7,800. Ro><y (6.200; 60-75-$1.50) 'Charlie • Chan's - Chance' (Fox) and stage show. Hitting for $70,000, not bad. 'Dancei Teani* last . week, with James Dtinn on personal ap- pearance, drew down nifty $73,600. . Strand (2,900; 86-50-75-$l) 'Taxi' (WB) (3rd week). That Cagney lure Is' keeping this housie iip and among those to be noticed. On the third week; picture Will be holding- nicely at $26,000. Last week'same film. $40,000; Warner's (1,100; 25-35-50-75), Safe in' Hell' (FN) (6th week). A long-5tayer on second run here. On fifth and probable final week, it'''** win dip to around $9,000. Fourth,. with Tulone-USC football talker . • shoved In, ■ lifted tho busiiiess to a • commendable $11,600. Winter Garden (1,418; 35-65-86- ' $1), 'Union Depot' (FN) .(2nd week). Standing Us ground flrmly,. around- $26,000 Is in' prospect, nothing to kick about. Probable four weeks will be picture's run. Initial stretch of seven days garnered $38,000.. Ufa-Cosmopolitan (1;130; 60-75), •Nle Wleder Liebe' (Ufa) (2nd •week); Musical riot drawing, but forced into a second week by prod- • uct shortage. Maybe $2,600. A weak $3,000 for its flrst-weekly run. - ;■ Theatres need attractions—and how Tell 'em what you've got Or who you are and why ■Tell it through Now is a good time to tell. Managers may be looking for you or whatryou've got They need it or you if it is Worth any- thing Make *em believe it. Then they will try Use ".Variety" It's the show business' best advance or selling agent "Variety" should be abk to sell you or what you've got if you. have or are anything Try itWariety"