Variety (Feb 1932)

Tuesday, February 2, 1932 , VAUPE HOUSE . REVIEWS 33 RKO, L. A. Xios Angeles, Jaii. 23. It Isii't often that local vaude au- Jiencea enthuee sufficiently to halt Mie show five times, but that's what Bappeped at the RKO Saturday topenlng) nleht. Answer Is a great luee show, with'both the RKO In- tact' unit and the four local acta combining to make the bill one of the best played here since the Or- •taeum closed as a two-a-day house.' Moroni and Corales, acrobats; Corncob and -Seymour, hick comics and musicians; Frank Shaw, com- edy singer; Rita and Riibcn'.Trlo, adagio and acrobatic daiicers;. AUl- aon Sisters, tumblers; Dick ITender- ion> English comedian; Kramer and goye, hoke comedy ' team, and Imac's Rhtimba band appear in •rder named. First.four are locals, latter the unit. On paper It looks like an overdose ' •{ acrobatic and single comedians, kut it works out dilTerentiy. Bill . could be switched around to better advantage, with the Allison Sisters clbsiiig, the bond fourth, . Kranier and Boyle fifth and Henderson next to closing, but the art of spotting a bill la almost lost on the coast. '. Moroni and Corales, latter a neat- lobklng; temme, opened with fast' , band bialancing. Both are youthful and sell their stuff. Act is worthy eastern'bookings. Corncob and Seymour, father and ■on, have the youngster playing an •Id man and the father his son. ' Kid's work is excellent. : Both play banjos and harmonica. For the fin- ish the kid hoofs and plays a trick set of traps, similar to the gag used by the Weaver brothers. Halted the , show. Frank Shaw (New Actis) next. Shaw has been a club entertainer on the coast for years, having, m- c.'d at Coffee Dan's places here and in "FYlsco. He has plenty on the ball and a comedy mug. Second show- stopper. Rita and Riibeii Trio played at the Paramount two weeks ago, but come to this house with new ^ costumes, scenery aiid two new routines, which indicates what an act faces on the coast. Plenty of class to these danc- ers, who should be able to get out of the west. Their adagio', despite local bills lieing overloaded with this ■tuft, is tbpnotch. Rita has both tal- ent ana looks, while Ruben is there with the terp end and looks manly. ' Third member of the act is a grind dancer. . Allison . Sisters with their , fast tumbling routine followed.. 'Novelty of three classy looking girls doing acrobatics sold them from the be- ginning. Qlrls are exceptionally fast and deliver to solid results. ' . Dick Henderson, who was on the bill that closed the Orpheum, went into a hokey but smart monolog that never gave the audience a chance to settle back. Begged oft with speech. TCramer and Boyle next to closing %ith an act little, changed from for- mer offerings with exception of ad- dition of two girls. One of the girls sings a blues number, the other toe dances and plays a violin. Boys clown their way through 10 minutes of laughs, but dwell too long on a pansy bit. Another speech. Rimac's Rhumba bond closed. After it's all over it's a boy dancer Who sells this act, for the band is anything but a. rave. Musically they stick to Cuban numbers, with the 'Peanut Vendor' still relied on as a standout. Kid dancer is strictly a faker, specializ- ing in trick hocks, but selling: it completely. 'Consolation Marriage* (Radio), ' which previously played the Carthay Circle at $1.60, is the feature; Pathe • News completed. Business capacity for the second week of Saturday opening. 'Weelt- end trade has built and the new opening date Is credited. CaU. MOSQUE, NEWARK Newark, Jan. 30. It is a question if this big house can keep going, but it is not the . fault of the stage shows. No better vaude is shown in Newark than makes up this show. When they give you eight acts and only one partly sou^—that'tf a high alverage. Opening are the Marcus Sisters and Carlton Brothers using two f-turlstlo drops. The men do acro- batics and risley'work with comedy and go over big. The girls dance, all novelty stops and in. Indian cos- tume continue their routines. They really like it. ^Reynolds and White, two men. .play with comedy on a trumiict and a little sax aiid shift to violins. One Of the vipUns (if it is one) goes on the blink and ilnally explodes ilght- ing a light in the man's nose. The house is convulsed with this hokum. The other man is revealed as- a girl ^no plays the violin straight. Ac claim on surprise ftnl.sh. «• Gloria Lee and the Shurr Brothers dance, with the girl going into kicks and acrobatics.' The men sing and In evening dress do a' drunken dance. The girl does taps on her .m '^"'^ "1* down stairs, sllll tapping on her toes. Men sing again and dance and all three turn Into blackface back to whites and again to negroes. Good novelty act ■well sold and goes great. Cliff Crane and Co. bring in straight and a comic with thP comic registering heavily. A girl In scant raiment does acrobatics and contortion.. More of the same fol- lows. , • . The Russian Revels use striking modernistic' drops 'with one parti- cularly bizarre and colorful. They employ a balalaika orchestra. They play, well and practically continu- ously. Among other incidents a girl dances with, vei'y fast spins and a mar. docs Uussiah hock routine. A gold seated figure is disclosed back and after some extraordinary haiid and arm; maneuvers comes O.owh and dances. The whole conception is unusual and did well. The show slow& down with Bert Walton In a' monolog. But as if he sens?d coolness he introduces a. ntan in the audience as Joe Brian, radio, star, and asks him to sing. ^ Radio star or not he vocalizes beautifully He later introduces Joe Pcnner, a favorite, in Newark. Penner has the same fiinny laugh, the same trick cigar, and the same comic move- ments aiid that is all he needs. He sipgs a topical song, tells it series of stories, sings again-and finally plays: the violin. Tom and Betty Walters do wire walking of a superlative kind Among other more usual stunts she jumps around biih,-<>ach one dances, sh^ does a split auvl Anally he car- ries her standing on'his shoulder.t and. she Jumps from the two-high to the wire. ' . ' -' A. iveak picture, 'Nice Womeii,' (Par.). HIPPODROME 86THST. No names for the marquee tills week outside of Gus 'Edwards, and a pretty thin looking lineup of nia terlal. But it's a combination that plays' surprisingly well and forms an exceptionally-strong vaude:pro- gram. With the Edwards act, 'Radio Un, derstudles' (New Acts), taking uji 30 minutes of the running time, It'i a natural standout: A pretty sure- flre novelty, it's nicely staged and thought out. Eddie Bruce, only name billed, handled the. comedy for the act with ease, and shows up bet- ter than he has previously, which Is no sl.am against Eddie. LUcy Gillette and Mdnh, Sisters (New Acts) starts the 'show with nice Juggling and dancing. Trio doesn't quite Jell but will with a lltr tie .more playing'time. . Four Flash Devils, deucing, make it a little tough, from a speed standr, point, for Robert Emmet Keane to follow. Keane still handles his comedy in the genteel manner and won the house' over about half-way through his act. But getting them interested in his slow chatter in this big hou's% was no-cinch. Red Donahue's familiar donkey act went as easily as usual. It's good comedy. Frahces Arms, next to.-closing, starts her act as usual with a pop number, which Just about gets by. She immediately swings into her special material, and then had them eating out of her hands. Miss Arms' character stuff doesn't seem to lose a bit of its effect, and she knowd how to put over her every line.. Leaving , the Edwards act to cloae with' a smash, and easily. Organist sefams to have disap- peared with six-act bills at this house, and perhaps just as well for a change. 'Two Kinds of. Women' (Par) on the screen; Business Sat- urday afternoon pretty good. Kauf. DOWNTOWN, L. A. Los Angeles, Feb. 28. Budgeted.at $950 the five acts here this week ,are a bargain for the house. With 'Union Depot' (FN) on it's first run' downtown, Movie Al- bum, Ted Huslng's 'Sport Slants' and Universal News on the screen, it's also a bargain for the audience at BO cents. ^ Vaude bill consists of Three Bee Hees, two men and a girl; latter dances, boys, whang banjos; -Bird and Seed, colored tan, dancers; George Lord and Co. in a sketch billed 'Oh Nurse'; Anna Chandler and Parks and Clifford, hand-tbr hand balancers. As an opener Three Bees Hees, two boys with banjos and a girl, are fair, but should Invest in a ward- robe. In effecting, a. coUeglite a.U mosphere there is no need to be xfhkcmpt. Girl is a good acrobatic dancer and sells her stuff well. Bird and Seed, colored, nest with three hot tap routines. Team hos, been around hero for some time and played at the Hollywood two weeks ago, but with the sc.ircity of vaude acts Hollywood and downtown L. A. are not considered opposition Just now. George Lord and Co. in one of those my-unclo-ls-comlng-and-I- must-get - man-led - or - lose $30,000 sketches, failed to arouse more than'- mlld interest. Antiquated sltu.ntlon.s and gags. Anna Ch.indlcr, with some of the old-time verve gone but silll a ncaf performer, next to olnslng.. . Miss Chandler did her Ihreo f.m numbers and gathered rosulla. She has been out hero for the past six months trying to crash pictures. That her nome means .something -(vas shown by the reception. Parks and Clifford, imnd-lo-hand balancers, closed. noy.<! liavo a class routine of ."itlff tricks wUh a pip o£ a clo.scr. Understander lifts his parliier owrhoad from a licndlng position, pushing him up b.ickwnrds. Downstairs capacity for IIir first show Thursday (28) nvenlnp. rail. They do everything in a big way under the Sixth avenue 'L,' In'ac- cordance with the size of the big house. Eight acts, a feature, over- ture and. plenty of screen dressing, Including the newsreel combine to make a long If not too strong layr o«it for a. pop scale trade, Satur- day piatlnee played- to a big lower floor attendance. They never 'fill the. highest shelf, but the rest of the seats are of aufllclent number to keep things golngi A belief In the booking ofAce .is that all.first shows look compara- tively bad at the Hippodrome, with the difference between tlie first and second day' greater here than at any Other vaudeville theifttre.' It is supposed that the large void which all Hip acts must confront tends to- give performers the shakes for the first show oT two. Later on they get used to it, . Current eightracter strikes the Hip avei'a:g6 In vbliime and quality. There's nothing with a punch until the sixth spbt is reached, while the sock lasts only'through two acts.; But nothing is really .weak and the bill as a unit, plus - tlie screen fea- ture,: 'Panama Flo' (RKO-Pathe), provides value for the ihohcj'. Renoff,' Rehova and Beked (New Acts),'bin's only flash act, makes No. 6 the big position up to - that point through its adagio trio's ex- pertness and some helpful trimming by an unbilled sister team. The Diamond Boys are the natural next- to-cl'osers, working as hai-d here as at the Palace. . They're noted in vaudeville for never laying down, although taking more ' punishment than the average knockabout com- bination. And the Hip does thrce- a-day.; • Slight re-arrangement probably was .made after the flrst perform- ance, especially in the pace, with more speed needed in, the early sec- tion. Logical move would be a spot exchonge between Pepito, fourth', and the flash act; Latter has the speed for the earlier position, while the Spanish clown's strikingly mounted miniature production is Just as reliable in a late niche. Pepito has changed his routine considerably, not yet enough to rate as a. new act, but lndica:tIons are that he'll be doing a new one before long by gradual stages. It's true that the old turn, or at least the combination of old bits that - are now missing, was somewhat stronger, but it won't be long before Pepito will secure equally good re- sults from his new material. Con stant changing Is always the best policy for an act of this type, or any other act for that matter. The bookers' fav turndown answer, to effect that it's old, cannot be used when the' act constantly seeks Im- provement The early birds were still coming In when 'Mary Palmer's animal turn (New Acts) opened the show. No. 2 Is Sandy Derson, versatile in- strumentalist, who has switched things around slightly for the bet- ter, but still not'enough. He should And some new chatter for the early sequence, else drop the talk alto- gether. It's so bad it almost mur- ders what follows. And Derson's accomplished musical ability doesii't deserve such rough treatment. Not a single' member of the audience laughed at any of the opening talk, and that's usual, even at the Hip. Freddie Pisano, whose new turn permits solo billing, with no partner on equal footing this time, did all right in the trey, but Just all right. A girl is on for two or three lines at the opening, and then out for- ever. From then on It's all Pisano and his policeman straight, with the parodies and bass drum biz for the flnlsh. The cop straight gets the stage once for a vocal in the usual manner. Pisano's 12 . minutes' of dialect may slide him by In the nelghbs, but it's rather old fash- ioned in content and delivery to go far in present day vaudeville. George Glvot, who has vastly: im- proved through some Icgit work and cafe m. c.'lngj fs the bill's only single! and satisfactory No. 5. Ho needs work, with work the only thing that can show him whoro' the turn needs cultivating, most. Omit-' ting'the one too blue line would help his Greek monolog .scml-cll- max. The Knight Troupe, elght- pcoplo mixed tumbling and teeter- board workers, close.. They mlslit add another closing trick to dis- tinguish them from numerous other acts around. Pit orchestra conducted by Fred opening spot. Milo deuced with his offstage falsetto tramp g^tup. Imi- tations of birds and animals well done: Some patter helps. Best bit Is comedy Imltash of & train pull- ing out. • A singing turn, ,Bomby and His Gang,, all. supposed to have radio experience, treyed; Two girls and two men, oho of the latter Bomby, are the ■ vocalists. A girl accom- panies nt the I'\'oriRs and later has a solo bit, during, which she sim- ultaneously dances and plays. Har- mony has 'a' touch of class and pleiises, although the orchcsti-a ap- peared to-be too loud, in spots. Solo vocal, numbers . by a brunet soprnnb who doesn't' possess ' much stage bearing, but ,a. trained voice, and Bomby, ■ who has a ,.tenor that dcv livers. ■ ■ . Charlie Hill and I..aura Hoffman follow with gag'piano routine and songs. Hill gels the most response from the old gag of tracing the origination of popular n.iunbers. Into this he Injects considerable comedy. Miss Hoffman-is used for some warbling, during, which Hill comedes and winds up straight. Has a good voice. Act went big hero and Hill .had to beg off. Herman Tlmbcrg Would have a much bettor act and with more sock If he didn't dr.tg out his comedy bits. Some are noticeably long.. He could:chop some, of the 20 minutes he is now consuming. Three boys and a girl assist. The boys are of the stooge type, supporting with hoke. Girl used for a comedy bit and two short numbers. Fess Williams' band, colored, closes with' heated instrumentation of a catchy.nature. Two boys-and a girl used for hoofing.' Girl d.oes an imusual number, a semi-cooch while elevated on lier toes. Two boys arc used for duo hoofing, with a chal- lenge dance rounding out. Williams does one vocal, 'St. James Infirm ary.' Rest of songs all pops, with the exception of the closing num- ber, a Jazzed up version of 'Poet and Peasant'' overture. Williams band does but 14 minutes,, which is too short for an act of this sort. Bill Is lopsided' that way. Fox's 'Dance Team' feature, House near capacity at the first show Saturday. STATE, LONG BEACH Ijong Beach, Cal., Jan. 22. This house has the distinction of being , the only independent vaude house on the coast that can be classed as de luxe. A l-500-seater, fronting on. Long Be'aich's main dtag and backing into the Pacific, it is the only theatre in this town of 160,000 population offering stage shows, and it has been offering them for 12 years. State is operated by William Fahey, and is booked by Bern Ber nard of the RKO office. During its vaude life Bert Levey, Western Vaudeville, Pantagcs and Orpheum have supplied the vaude. It's the break-In spot for picture names who fancy they have something for vaudeville; ' Many discover their mistake. It's a standard gag that Long Beach is tho Western capital of Iowa. Population Is about 75% for- mer residents of that state. Subtlety Is lost here' a'nd blue material calls for lynching. Monte and Carmo, midget acro-. bats; Carney and Winter, xylophone and hoofing team; George Yeoman and Lizzie, hoke comedy chatter team; Al Herman, blackface comic now doing white face, and Paulo and Paqulta, Mexican dancing team, make up the bill and appear In the order named. Monte and Carmo sufflco with their clowning and two legit tricks. Small stature of the men great for th^Ir hand-to-hand lift at the flnlsh. Carney and Winter acceptable whdmming out two pop ntimbei-s on tho xyl and flniiihlng with a tap. dance. George Yeoman and Lizzie, one- iimc blg-tlmc act, 'which la chicken ranching, out liero and occasionally Inlaying a few vaude dates Is still lislng the material' written by John P. Medbury. Act has been freshened up by a broadcasting station set. Material is hokey and sometimes stale, but several laughs remain. Al Herman (Xew Acts), next to closing, assisted by three fomme stooge's. Herman is working with- out the burnt cork, but retains the misfit dress suit and the fez. The former surenre comic falls to come JEFFERSON Clearing skies and abating rain heljpod bring the usual quota past this downtowner's box olTlcc. First matinee liad 'eiu packed in to ca- pacity. Clyde Cook on the stage probably doing some drawing. 'Two Kinds of Women' (Par) the feature. It may 'be,. drawing the men, with the tougher , sex In abundance, but chances ai.c two to one that 'Lure of (he Ring," short sketching .Tack iJempscy's r.quarod circle activities, Is doing the bus.'ness. Sfevcn-.ict stage bill of regulation typo and running gamut of variety from wire work to a band. House lately l>as been using only seven turns against usual eight; It ap- -. pears seven will be the policy here- after, with that' enabling the book- ing of at least a couple full-stage attractions, - Opener, Pago and Class (New , Acts), mixed wire team In a conven- . tlonal routine of' dancing, hurdling, etc. Outstanding a toe bit b.v . the girl. No.. 2, Allan and Gorman iNow Acts). Tomfoolery' brings relief to a batch of songs and dnhco.i, accom-: panied by a little talk. Passable. First full-stager appears with Lewis Mock (Now Acts), spotted third, with his four-people comedy 'setup. It delivers Its punch In the flrst half, showing weakness In the airport sequence. Apparently an Import, Bectollno, •who speaks w'lth'a French accent, Is spotted fourth. works In one, doing imitations, and ventriloquism, both with strong novelty appeal. As a dummy in his vontrllo bit, Berto- lino uses his flst to take. the. place of the head. Having good material, it gets the laughs. Bertollno Is a Che- valier type and his impression of the picture star isn't unexpected. Scored decisively down here. - Campus Frolics (New-Acta), flve- people collegiate affair, did very nicely.'- Speedy flash that's well staged and lit. The film comedian, - Clyde Cook, ran away with next to closing, assisted, by unbilled girl, ah eye-opener, .Cook saved that gag about the two sparrows for an en- core, where it fit like a glove. Nell Golden and Herbert Diamond Entertainers, an air combination of 10 pleces,.has been around since las,t.y^' June, when caught In a Loew house. In the interim tho oiilflt has Im-- provcd considerably for vaudeville ?urposes, despite that it has dropped lenri LaMotte, specialty dancer formerly carried.. Golden and his musicians, who double for numerous bits. Including a glee club special, are selling them- selves quite effectively now. A mike Is lUsed at all times to givte that brbddcasting touch, and while am- plification down here at the Satur- day mat brought some static at. flret, •It was finally corrected without in- terference. House demanded nu on- - core before quieting down. Char. Shakedown Probe (Continued from page 27) with a drastic reductioil In the number of agents the only solution. At present, with over 100 agents on the floor, there is almost one agent for every act playing the circuit. Breed, general manager of th» RKO Boston office, and Connally, who spends three days weekly in New York buying acts In. the capac- ■Ity of booking head of the. Boston exchange, told Boston police that Jordan threatened them with physi- cal harm .from himself and un- known associates If they refused to satisfy his demands. Jordan Is . charged with having been 'caught in the act' by a Bos- ton detective disguised as a booker. Connally offered Jordan $100 In the detective's presence,- but Jordan turned it down. Ho is accused of haying answered that he'd consider aoc'opting it in New Bedford, Mass., if Connall*^ -n-ould agree to meet him there. Morrison Matter crick O. Weper plays a modley of anywhere near his . r.^rnior show light operntlcs as an interesting overture. In a W'eek that's minus stifgo bands, the Pit crew has a' wido open spot, and it fft'fic.M ad- vantage of the opporlunily. Straight music and nothing fancy, but oke. Bige. ACADEMY ''■To keep the bill moving on" iim<- for Its schedule of four .shows, none of th<> acts were pcrmltte,d encores Saturday. In a few spots encore." we're Warranted .by prolonged ap- plause, but the acts managed to re- sist. .Six-act layout current boo'i<ed only fair, although tho oasy mob here afs it all up. Over 100 mlnutci fur dlx acts was overboard. .Alton Revue cxew Acf.s) Is .in-ex- pensive ddnc.e flash with 13 girls and 3 bo ys. As an act no so. Killed Die mdnship, Paulo .ind raqnlt.a close with- a first routine of .\loxlrrin dances. Team is assisted by a hot-looking femme slngi-r affccnng a Mexican accent, and Mae I'arkor, dancer. Costuming and spoclnl snoncrjr* very classy, ,1s Is lliolr rou tine. This is anollicr act that would r-nliaiicc any' ri£ HKO's units. Toain the coast for .vonio ilm" A complaint that has been hang- ing around ■ in the; RKO offices. for some tlmo Is against Charles Mor- rison, agent, entered by White and Manning. This complaint alleges tlio act paid Morrison $1,000 for an RKO Intact route. 'NVhlto and Jlan- ning have not received the route. James Turner and Roxy, of the RKO staff, appeared highly con- cerned In' tho act's complaint agaln.vt :siorrlson. The coinplalht was made direct to Turner by, i White and Manning,- It Is said, f)i:Ioni^ij rather than to (lie booking olfico ' where a charge of this nature should have been placed. There was talk that White and Manning had been promised a 25-wcel: TfKO the noxy, has plai<-d the big circnils in the . j„ ,i„,.i„;, , past but has been lianging aroUnd' H'o progress of ' „ jhcirlngs licfore Turner .Tnd T Bill at the State is biidgctod at $800 but gels v;uidc. much better than the fiKurc would Indicate, due to the hnvisc's reputatlim as a show- ing Sl)Ot. but If so, ho part of that route has been recf lved by the act to diite. Morrison denied tho ch.Vrge'_ in toto. In vaudeville circles the st'yry was given small credence. Business i.s con!,i,^tently good. Vic-j uocently the While .and Manning, ture contracts cull for Colimib a, L„ i, i„, „.„„ ,'.v„„,.^,i rp.,- UKO-Pathe and First • National remo>ed from Tur- prffOuct. 'Men in Her Llii^' (f ■ol.),! ""r -'i"'! ""xy us Investigators and Scrappy f'artoon and I'atlio -Nevi s! P''"''><' w'^h Kahanc In th« clips round out the show. Call. IKKO legal dept.