Variety (Jan 1932)

Tueiday, January 26, 1932 ^AUIIE HOUSE REVIEWS VARIETY 39 RKO, L. A. liOB Angeles, .Jan. 18. Switch In the RKO's opening day froiti Thursday to Saturday comes after live yearsi of-Thursday start- ers. This week's gross so far Is about (600 over previous weekends and 1700 over the average first three days of the Thursday .openings. Bill ' consists of Frank Wilson, bicycle act; California Quartet: William and Bill Groh, dog act; "VVllma and Earlyne Wallace, flve- people flash; Bob Nelson, monolog' 1st; Owen McQlveney, and Anger and Fair, hoke comedy. 'The Wager,' afterpiece used In conjunc- tion with the McGlveney act for the . past ten yearis, follows the regular bill. First three acts are the locals. Rest Is the regular Intact unit, - Wilson's bicycle work as- the bpener - la okay. Nothing new, biit ^eta the bill started. California Quartet (New . Acts) follows, the inlzed group continuing their sing-, jng to operatic numbers which are threadbare.. . William and Bill OrbbTT-the 'BIH' Is the dog—go through a drunk bit similar to that used by the late Of- ficer Volks and Don. Qroh and the 'fioe are dressed In sailor costumes; with the dog continually doing back beiids. In the trey spot ' the act pleased, but would have helped the running of the. show if spo'tted be- fore the quartet. _ Wllma and Earlyne Wallace, dancers, are assisted by three boys who fill the change waits. Girls ai^e plenty of - entertainment and class alone, with addition of the boys making a flash out of a good danc- ing team. , Bob Nelson followed with a line of meaningless chatter. Including -Almee, prosperity, Austin and pro- hibition gags. He Is in need of material. Owen HcOlveney next with his protean act, though not seen here In several years. • McGlveney goes ' through his tfve-mlnute murder mystery with plenty of salesman- ship. Despite his I-play-all-the- parts-myself speech, many ih the audience didn't believe It Anger and Fair next to closing. Fast workers, they chattered quickly to good returns. Material not the best, but Anger's delivery, plus a fOce-slappIng bit with a seven-foot 5i**SS*' a laugh relief following McOlveney's heavy acting. 'The Wager- closed, with Anger featured. Act has lost plenty of Its laughs since .first played by Bert Wheeler and the Mandel brothers. Qull^ Generation' (Col) the fea- ture. Pathe news clips fill. Can. HIPPODROME Things have changed a little over w tlie big baby under the Sixth avenue "L' for the current week. patrons something oft the S;£'»*^f has been beaUng elght-oct bills, SJr* *h« new Larry Rich nnit Into the place and mokes It pad -wi* minutes. Question 1^ Whether that was a mistake or not 1**^ ^"^^ the Hipp regulars Into thinking the house has taken a rijn-out on the long elght- .acters, without doubt a draw over nere. Rich and what he calls his Ene- ?!. »T?^- V^f Blues are heading for He has a company wnicii by count numbers a band of il/Including a girl banlolst, sP««Ialty artists In addition 1^^**^?.'' *'n>eelf and his ever-pres- •nt. Chert . . ^°ng drawn-out affair as played over here, but for that the house must make apologies, with S-l!. *^*<• give an 80-mlnute Show. Booked In to helpf fill out Is *n«L ^ance trio of Falls, Redmond . and_ Bolce, but still It's a long tr6k "If.n and his company have In making 80 minutes. Even so. the winning time fell a little under at Saturday's mat, totaling a flat 76 >nlnutes. boiled down to Its meat for tne Intact, when Rich shouldn't do J""'* t*"^ 65 or 60 minutes. It 11 be fast-moving, rapld-flre en- wrtalnment. With the gravy laid ?n heavy here, as Rich mentions at the finish. It's difficult to Judge the .unit on InUct possibilities, but from the looks of things, there's enough surefire substance In. the unit, to jnake It first-class vaude when tightened up. Rich Is around almost constantly, breaking up numbers, working In eong-and-donce bits, clowning a good deal and In many spots either leedlng for or pulling gags. The comedy Is at all times pleasant and rresh, even If it never ofteis a big sock. ^ ■ Plenty of dancing abounds, and "leres also a good deal of singing. J-o olrset, numerous novelty and comedy snatches have heen pro- vided. Including quite a few walk- acrosses. for laughs, Interruptions, etc. Additionally, there's a midget 'n a couple song numbers; Rufe and AI, hiUblllx team; Phil Rich doing & hick, character; a lank fellow do- ing Somei fair Juggling; some Chi- nese stuff from England Ong, and a few other oddities. Thus the Rich unit holds considerable variety. Second half-of the show brings on the band, with a harmony trio (girls) spotted In it for numerous numbers that com6 over very n)cely. Triumvirate is apparenUy Ruby Stinson, Fern Shutler and Catherine Hinz. Billing of people- In the Rich unit makes It dlfllcult to Identity more than a few of them, and sev- eral announcements from the stage don't help out much. Cheri works about the middle In a love scene with Rich that has its moments In a hodge-podge of sing- ing, ' dancing and clowning. Bal- ance of the company, ois billed, in addition to those already mentioned, are Alice Adair, Tommy. Long, Toma Genaro, Murray Wood, Hughey Q'Donnell, Andrews Sisters, Joe Bohn, Lorraine Furen, Leo Leonard, Leonard Olsen, Joe Bell and Audrey Nelson. O'Donnell, who's announced for a special 'Hiick Finn' number eai-ly in the routine; is apparently the same kid doing the single and double' later. He looks like a midget, but has a very clear voice, one that even carried on the sleeper -Jump here from stage' to balcoh^,. Miss Genaro Is .the aero dancer and a swell one. She's engaged, to Joe Bell, sliver-throated musician in the band, with the two to be mar- ried on the satge here Tuesday night .(26) In. line with an ezplolta-. tion idea. Joe Bohn Is. also from the band. He doubles for a fast buck dance. - Rich's unit Is effectively staged lA several scenes, with an apparent bankroll spent In giving it looks. In elddltion to the feature, 'Dance Team' (Fox), which should be driawlng better, Hipp resurrects Jock Dempsey In "Lure of the Ring,' a short. . ^ ' ^Business Saturday afternoon at first vaude show considerably off. Rain, which should have driven a tew indoors, evidently didn't. Char. DoWntown, Detroit i>etrolti Jan. 23. There will be no kicks about, this sock show, the first since the open- ing bill here. Show moves along with each act doing plenty good. Outstanding mop-up was by Frank Radclilt, assisted by Gene Rodgers.' B. & B. Harris with Lo- retta Allen opened.. This act played the Michigan about three weeks ago with a slightly different routine. As working here, the girl gets more, of a break with her own acrobatic number -that helps along. The adagio finale put it over big. Radcllft. on second and used up the most tlm6, but contributed the real sock. Show really looked, up with the appearance of this colored duo. Radcliff got them with his singing but no small share of the success of this combo-Is due to the personality of Gene Rodgers. A large fellow for a piano player, he also works on the dialog, both send Ing and receiving. Lillian'Roth, headlining, on third and did herself no harm. This girl has played here before on personal appearance in presentation. In vaude she appears to belong on her own, with the picture rep an added advantage. Does three songs. Sec- ond chorus of 'Sinners' into a smooth dance. Not good as dancing goes, but not bad for a singer from the filckers. Then Into the 'Vaga- bond Lover' song In character with the talk. Nicely over with this and left them that way. On fourth is another who hasn't been In ITetrolt In a long while, Os- car Lorraine. He follows three acta that had them warmed up nicely and added to the gaiety. Stopped the show for the third act In a row to- do 80. Nina Olivette and her Nine Cheer Leaders closed and put a fitting cli- max to ah all around good show. She did her usual clowning. Business at this house had start- ed to peter out One reason may have been that the vaude did not come up to what the people want. This one surpasses what anyone wants and will spread the word. Let. 86TH STREET Heralded appearance ^of Belle Baker for this' half was canceled, due to Illness. Daphne Pollard (New Acts) substituted in her first vaude date In some yeal-s. Mfss Pollard shares billing with the fea- ture film, 'Husband's Holiday' (Par). Those drawn Iri the^ theatre by her won't be disappointed. Biemalnder. of the bill holds up but fairly. It rates better than usual only through Pollard. St. John Brothers (New Acts) open with acrobatics. Three young- sters who perform nicely. Jean (Sranese, supported by an- other man and a femme warbler, deuced. Opening, with the two men In the audience Interrupting the girl's warbling on the stage. Is the strongest bit Straight singing rounds out the turn with the girl's, voice showing up best. Rome and Gttut earned a fair hand In the trey. Comedy dances of the diminutive and elongated partners sto6d out. Patter Is fair." Both take to clarinets toward the finish of the act for som* additional hoke. Jack and Kay Spangler (New Acts) followed, ^, , Honorable Mr. Wu and Chinese Collegians trouped on after Daphne Pollard and closed nicely. JEFFERSON John Barrymore ('Mad Genius,' WB) and Trlxle Frlganza are the marquee names and near-capacity' attendance at the supper show, of this 14th Street spot looked better' than normal. Which of the ex- ploited names deserves credit Isn't clear. -Picture was rated on pre- release at less than average by- the trade and one would expect indif- ferent word of mouth, so that the answer ought to have shown In the Monday-Tuesday trade. At any rate it was the silver haired veteran comedienne who gave the. stage show Its fillip, and flavoring. Rest of' the bill (Miss Frlganza was next to closing where she be- longed), was of .unusual pattern, chiefly due to its composition and the now familiar use of a flash spe- cialty revue number' in the flnale spot. Idea of. such use for a num- ber of that kind . Is debatable. The audience, has sat. through a spe- cialty hill iCor more than , an hour, a program that ought to build up to a climax. The logic of ending the program with another specialty group, which gives the audience the feeling of starting the- entertain- ment all over?again; doesn't com- mend itself. Sam' Heggen'a RKOllans, pit crew, start the session with a neatly handled overture, the point of which is a mixture of melodies of the old fashioned kind, blended for capital contrast effect, with- modern .hot Jazz. ' Device Is not a new one, but well managed here. Gray Family, four girls and two boys, open with modern dance dis- play, shrewdly paced in. routine, but dressed' In poor ta'ste. At the open- ing girls are in long skirts for tap ensemble. Two of the girls pick up the running, stripping to ex: tremely short skirts and bare legs for a duet of legmanla. Thereafter they never get away from the bare legged technique, going more and more toward undress as they pro- ceed. Case Is a good one to make the text of a sermon, because, all six young : people are flrst class dance specialists and In their youth and whblesomeness make iein en tlrely desirable Impression - of being a nice family group of youngsters, ah Impression that is constantly In conflict with .the strip flash. Other- wise a brisk and. pleasing dance turn, built along the lines of the old Ford family. Two - of the girls do an agreeable bit of harmonizing. Finish has all six in line out in 'one' In an impressive precision Idea. . Betty Lou Webb' opens with a male impersonation, singing a pop In muddled diction, but redeeming the opening with a clean-cut rou tine of taps. After two more pop songs 'River, Stay Away' and TU Try Somebody Else,' done without much spirit, she is.off, while her pianist flUs In the gap with no great spirit and returns an agreeable slim figure of a girl in a long skirted evening gown of white. She does another pop here without dis tinction, but once.agaln sella herself with a beautiful bit of control danc- ing, ending on the right side-of the ledger. Charles AJthoS No; 3 had flrst go at comedy and made the grade with his comedy old man character type, flddUng and a. k. comedy business with a flashy young Amazonian girl, an eyeful In the briefest of bathing suit get-ups. SVeddle Pisano hais a good Idea for a sketcli surrounding for his. wop dialect talk, being supported by a girl who does little, and a high tenor who plays-a traffic cop char- acter, which gives background to the Pisano talk, besides helping the bulld-up with a couple of song nunrbers. Somebo^ly ought to flx ownership of that 'Narcotics' gag used in 'Flying High' and also In Bert Lahr's vaudeville hit from that muslcaL Pisano iises It here. Sing, High and Low (New Acts) follows here, holding up the pace, while Miss Frlganza takes the next- to-shut position. She has switched her material somewhat the changes all being Improvements, particu- larly her flnal number, for which she now uses a semi-undress cos- tume which Is much better than her old Idea of rompers. This veteran Is- vaudeville at its best Her comedy Is vigorous hoke that sells Itself and with her personality t>e'- hliid the Idea of a silver-topped a. well nourished hey-hey old girl she gets It across with vaudeylUe punch that conceals a flnesse worthy of her class musical comedy back- ground, George WIest and Ray - Stanton and Co., with sub-billing for Sahdra Word ^ve the show Its flnale, a situation which puts them under a handicap, since their revue flash is scattered enough as. it Is for any position, but certainly too lacking In unity' for show closing. Rush. Nprtfacenter, Chicago Chicago, Jan. 23.' After months of futile experi- ments with auction nights, amateur nights, beauty-rcontest nights, and so.-callcd - vaudeville withacts at iS a head, Essaness has finally got- ten a true view of the cheap char- acter of that fake stuff and has pushed the whole mess Into the ash- can in favor of standard variety. Essaness theatres, like the other neighborhoods caught In the flood of double features, haven't had a particularly pleasant time these past few months, and on these grounds may be excused for Its wild-eyed attempts at spurious stage enter- tainment. But the firm evidently has finally realized that vaude at 35 per act Is not vaude, and that acts picked up off the corners by shoestring agents can't make the grade, and In the. end do m6re harm than good. Essaness now hus reverted to standard v.irlety at this large the- atre, delivering 'a stage band policy and four acts on a split week grind. Business h.is Jumped pleasantly. Indications are pointing to a stead- ily Increasing patronage. This house la managing to over-, come many natural disadvantages. Audllgrlum I'escmblcs a huge, bar- ren barn; seating, some 3,7Vp, most-, ly on the widc-opon nVnln floor. Or- chestra pU, at present unoccupied. Is big and wide, and m.ust api>ear to . the .perf oiiners ' ais a. great hole In the ground, producing a mental hazard. This will be remedied when Essaness spots a regular pit orches- tra in the house; Circuit'Is now using a . stage band, the 11-piece girl orchestra, Mary and Her Platl- ntim Blondes, Likely they will be moved shortly. The girls %re okay, but they've'been at the house long enough to be )io longer a novelty. Orchestra oh the stage also oramps the booking possibilities. With the band on the rostrum, the acts are forced to work In .'one,' pushing out all chances for the big- ger full stage flash turns, and- with- out these lai'ge-stage acts It's ditr. flcult' to deliver a regulation variety llne-up. . Show at the last half this week, besides the glrl-bahd, contained Buddy Lake, formerly of the act of West, Lake and Hane, as m. .'c; P'eggy Moore, a small but entertain- ing blues singer, the ever-present four Frankenburg Juveniles, and, as over, solidly effective with a neigh- borhood family audience, and Sweet and Proctor, man and woman com- edy team. List in Itself evidences the change in the character of the shows thalt the house Is playing. Present names arc nil standard ma- terial and. can be relied upon to deliver. In the mad. rush to deliver bar- gains to the public, tlie neighbor- hood exhibs are-bungling the Job badly. The Northccntor Is giving 36 minutes of vaude show besides two regular-length features, 'Pos- sessed' (M-G) and 'Girls About Town' (Par). Entire bill ran overly long, the stage show, when caught, starting its last. performance!, at 10:10 p. m. Stage shows In the loop ore under way by 9:30 at the latest And the Northcenter Is in a neigh- borhood where folks wake up the sun. There would seem to be no need for double features with stago shows of this cnllbre. One bad pic- ture rates as . a detriment rather than a help, for. llkel}'- as not the public hesitates to visit a double program to see one go6d film If they must sit through a boring one to so do. Northcenter,' however, can afford to run the long shows, one capacity for this huge seater bring- ing in plenty of admissions. Essaness bookings are at last In the hands of a standard agency, accounting for a sudden betterment of its show. William Morris office Is how supplying the talent with Nan Elliott bQoklng. There are indications that Es- saness, so satisfied with tlie results of this theatre, will spread vaude to Its other spots. The Embassy, which has been playing the flabby kind of cheap amateur shows. Is already set to get on the right side of vaude, playing week-end dates. Balaban & Katz nelghborliooders are also returning to vaude. Bel- mont, on the northwest side of town, is opposition to the North- center, and now Increa.sing Its vaude from Sunday to a three-day stand. Senate, on the west side, which has not played a live per- former In more than two years, next week returns to vaudeville. There Is one house In the Essa- ness group which all local show business Is watching for Its ret'urn to vaude, for It's history as a vaude spot tells of heavy profit.'?. Thtatre is the Vogue, formerly known as the Chateau, under which name It played family time vaude to steady wlnnlngsl liocal- .show business be- lieves that If any house In town is In line for a comeback' to vaude, that Is It Oold. Paramount, Newark Only three acts this week. With 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. H.vde' taking more than the n.sual time and flvc shows ru;ining daily the house could make a record work, but that goal In question. House slowly filled but no hold-out Friday night and they were calling s<»ats In all parts of the house on the mat. -> Two Japs,' tlie Isaka Boys, stat-t off with barrel balancing. They use considerable comfdy. They end. with rlsley flash. Bob LaSalle- follows,- slnglng a sort of story through parodies. A girl .dressed In out- moded style sin^s and gags with him. Then LaSalle Introduces a man who dances cleverly. He gets hot oh his knees and goes out still Alabama, Birmingham : Birmingham, Jan. 25. The blU thls week at the Alabani* will get by the average theatre goer. Joe Laurie, Jr., headlines th* bill with a nice act. The program opens with an over* ture, the organ solo having been dropped completely... Adolphe Kom- span has been replaced by John Lampe as director and Lampe shows a bit of Improvement since his last feature solos before. Korh> spari came here. He appears to getting more out of the orchestr% Selections from 'Rio Rita' used for overture. The . Christensen Brothers open . with a dancing -whirlwind, assisted by two femmes who add looks. ' A drop carrying out' the South Sea idea Is okayi The. audiences In Birmingham are. getting . tougher . every day. Maybe It's the depres- sion, - Number 2 spot Is taken by Bay Hughes and Pam; a mixed double who click. Thelr's Is the usual chat- ter hokum, but Hughes, does some comic Juggling with a derby that brings laugh?. Although Lampe, the orcheetni leader, was not .blll«d in the act should ha-ve been. Judging from the -. way the two used, him for feeden*. Bernard and Henrie are two girls who sing three trick songs, one o< them being something on Frigid^ aires and Love, one on Adam ah4 snakes, and' another one on some goofy subject Fair returns. . Joe Laurie, Jr., closed the blB. Coming oh he talks a white fben In* trpduces a girl as his niece. Sh« dances, then he chata about money and his family and Introduces thre^. other 'nephews.' The act closes with the three boys doing some tap dancing. Laurie got his .gags oft In splendid style and few walked out on the latter part of the show whlcb Is long. Scenery was good, but hot elabo- rate for all the acts. Christensen Brothers probably had . the best backgrounds of the four aicts. 'Sh<|^ - ran smoothly. Three tons of coal given aw^ weekly and this may figure in aV tendance. Picture was 'Jekyil and HydeT (Par). Paramount newsreel, and shorts. Business moderately good. Amour a rAmericaine - (Continued from page 37) wide difference still, existing be- tween nations. It Is a picturizatlon of a stage farce, resulting in not one out of door shot but plenty ot dialog, which no effort has been made to minimize. Tempo is fair, but film Is made rather tiring.hjr the' excessive iise of needlesisly ab- normal camera angles. Worst part of the production Is the miscasting. Splnelly as the love crazy middle-aged American womad Is middle-aged all right but her fit- ness for the part ends-there, and she doesn't photograph well not does her high pitched voice register. Suzette Mais, dellglitful on the stage as the stenographer ih ''■I'-nnA Hotel,' falls flat as a neglected .-Ife, and the.whole comedy falls tm An- dre Luguet, who Is fair In a diffi- cult part. . The very unconvincing story shows an American millionairess Jilted by a French lover, going to France to trace him, and, mistaking for him a newlywed she sees In a night club, doing Everything she can to annex him despite the bride, and finally giving him up, when she has won the trick. Music pl.iyed by Jazz band of Ray Ventura, for whom the film is a big ad. Last' sequence showing bell boys i cMTyIng bogs In drill. Is a lift on I German films, A small programmer. Uoxl, 'Dinty' Moore Leaves RKO Columbus, Jan. 26. Byron F. 'Dinty' Moore, city maiw cigar for RKO since July, was .re- lieved of his duties Saturday (23).- E. P. Masters, former 'assistant' mana'ger of the Palace, Chicago, has ■ replaced Moore. Moore's future plana not yet defi- nite ■ '■ -=r« dancing flat on his back for a real ' ^ash. George Griffin and Co. use their own drapes with a scrim revealing a landscape. A man sings while a' pajamaed blonde danceis. She con- tinues with t-wo young men and then docs a tap solo. Two young men dance mildly In one and baclc ' In full the man sings with the' blonde dancing again. .She kicks and spins on one foot! She continues . with the m£h while another girl enters and docs a bit of adagio -with a. partner. The bin runs less than a half;, hour and. Is pretty tame vaude. TlM^j also get in.« brief . Par ne\M» -