Variety (March 1932)

S6 VAKIETY FILM HOUSE REVIEWS Tuesday^ March 8, 1932 ORPHEUM, L. A. ('LY8ISTRATA') Loa Angeles, March 5. What may be a theatrical eold mine, dug up three yeard ago from Greek literature, reached the cpm- mpn herd this week at the rite of 35 cents until 1 p. m. Common herd thundered under the barrier and averflowed well down the- street. It •was the. final, but presumably, hot the lea^t profitable cycle of 'Ly- sistrata's' history. Starting In New York as a $5.50 legit, later toured at ?3, still later done in stock where .it shocked small towns and did business fn bigger ones, T.ysistrata' condensed to an hour, seems destined to- help from the stage the business of pic- ture houses from whose screens it Is forever barred by censorshiu. Strange spectacle to ilnd trans planted lowans dipping into clas- sical literature lii. this : roundabout manner and largely because the po- lice raided 'Lysistrata' when it was a legit locally. They came to bo shocked, but; found few .breath takers still left in the expurgsited family version. As a picture liouse added attrac- tion, Xpyslstrata's' value is probably limited to cities in which legit booking has preceded, Soiho ex ceptions possibly, but showmen will want a test in some city not visited by 9. legit troupe. Present George Robersoh production, especially the veteran Naiice O'Neil Is able and adroit In telling how the" Greek wives ended the war. Grpheum has been struggling previously. at $6,000 and $6,000 wefekiy with straight pictures. It enters Its third week of added at- traction cycle that has brought financial Improvement of up to 400% Increase. In business. Which rather proves how little the picr tures available . to house matter; That would, particularly be the ca^e this Week with 'Prestige,' Which took a. bad drubbing from the dallies. Land. PARAMOUNT, N. X IMPERIAL, TORONTO Toronto, March 4. Apparent budget skimping at the Imperial this week hiakes for a mediocre stage presentation that w£s minus a line-up and went to the same ^extreme by Including an acrobat and an animal act, good though the; two acts be In their class. Customiers have gotten used to the ballet and. omission drew murmured proteists as bill pro- gressed without the damsels easing on. Klkutas, Jap juggling and acrobatic octette, six men and two women, closed the bill and scored heavily, but despite Jap numbers, the line-up was conspicuously missed and iglrly draw Just wasn't there. . Bill opens with Oaylene and Du- Rayne, personable blonde-bruhet duo, with girls before scrim, band In background,, for solo acrobatics and high-kicks. Girls worked hard and went over nicely, but stage looked &3 big as a desert. Scrim up on a tropldal whart-iscene with ship's prow on backdrop and pit. boys in a sOrt of bandstand. AI Gordon on with dogs, these pleas- ing In bar-balancing and full-twist somersaults,, with lazy mutt for comedy effects, Bryants trail in their standard pantomimic act and Blow collapses still drawing mild laffs. Ryan and Noblette closing first half with. glrJ doing a dumb act and traveller closing for a baby- talk song In 'one' by the girl, one of those 'nobody-loves-me' numbers. More cross-fire and girl into gawky eccentric that registered. Jap acro- bats and jugglers close and get nice hand for daring mountrwprk and foot catches. Feature Is 'Tomor- row, and Tomorrow' (Par). McStay. PARAMOUNT. L. A. Lios Angeles, March ,3. Current week's show is labeled •Beach Club Idea .' which sounds much' more Fahchon & Marcolsh than Lt is. Thin on talent, since it boasts hut three acts, running time la about 10 minutes overboard and will probably be cut to half an hour. Two dance routines by the line of 16 were tepid and of the order done many times before in this and other local houses. Bruce and Gibbons male dance_t<fart,: encored imblush- ingly withoM''excuse or; encourage- nienr, dolhg Sammy Cohen's panto '. boxing scene ahd another act's slow motion fight, Then aggravated, the 'situation by encoring again.with Charleston. . Max Lerner, the permanent tenor, warbled a number with the George Stoll band, around which the show was supposed to revolve. Sweet girl followed with two pop deliv erics that depended on her over use of a auppcscdly naughty wink. Spotting of Moro' and Yaconelli standard Wop -musicians next to closing. Was the wisest move in the building of the bill. Smacked ove solidly with their clowning. Paramount Kcws and . 'Arabian Shrelks' (Paramount), Smith and Dale short built around cutouts from Par's 'Beau Gleste' rounded ou the program, which top-lined 'Way- ward' (Paramount). Audience scat tered opening afternoon. ' New York, March 4, For some time how Publl]( has In cllned to names for Its stage which it is hoped will sell erratic picture product under adverse conditions. It is with this thought In mind that thei house plays Mme. Luisa Tet- rabbini, worldrfamed opera star, this week. : ■ The great singer of a bygone day, heavily billed above picture and everything else, will probably prove the strongest draw house has had on its stage in, a long time.; To- gethet. with Mme. Tetrazzinl, who appears as dri added attraction, pro- gram includes usual Ingredients, 'In the Bag,' Boris- .Petroff unit, 'Strangers in Love' (Par), with Frederic March .and Kay Francis, jcsse. Crawford's organ concert and a; Ear talkartoon, 'ehess-Nuts.* . Strictly as entertalnihent, current show;lifts itself a little more than a, notch above the average. With fea ture likely to arouse a fair follow; Ing as a worth programmer, ; .r.Tn-'n, rn';. .. ■ ■ , : ■■ -1 the Met Opera Company 10 years ago. Since then her voice has .mellowed; but It stilt possesses much of the charm tlia,t gave it world-Mrlde;re- nowui albeit the force isn't behind it that once it had. Mme. Tetraz zini is still mistress . of' her tech nique, but at the Friday night's first show, she exhibited a trace of lack of confidence. Doing four-..and five a day; here must be-a strain for the. opera p. d. Tetrazzinl ISv assisted; by Hans; Hanke, pianist. She works in 'two,' opening cold, on top of a trailer an- nouncement, with 'Caro. Nome' tron\ 'Rlgoletto.' She follows with a fav frbm 'Da Traviata,' doing. If called 'ipon. I-v . a!)p.;.".u.'«j to .eiicyre, "j-asL Rose of Summer.' On 11 minutes, Tetfazzini bears up-well under the weight of playing ah engagement such as tais. biie bows graciously after each number; and In no way affects the ritzy de- mea;nor. Tetrazzinl is a.Kate Smith plus on ayoidupois, but very effec- tive lighting plot for her act gives It a touch. The singer Is partly in a loft green light thrown on her by a flood, while a ibaby- spot in white brings .her face out in hol-i. re'lof. ' heavy hand greeted Tetrazzinl and . a heavier one bade her good, night Friday evening. In the the- atre people on all sides came/quick- ly, to attention when she was an- nounced in the trailer, indicating It was the former opera star they came to see. particularly. Stage unit Is iio great shakes. Its top name of Johnny Burke, who hals played this -theatre and the Capitol before, as well as others. He's given a SIno-Jap wdr buildup, coming on in a jinriklsha and going Into talk, before stepping forward to one for his regular routine, known by heart to most people, bui still getting 'em to guffaw. Most of the rest of the stage show Is around Ayers, Rene & Co., danc- ing act, working a Spanisli number with the ensemble early in the pro- duction and later a waltz number devised around the dream a erirl has of her boy friend, whose photo on her : dressing table starts a train of thoiight. As she dreams, the ballet goes into iein effective number on Its toes, .one of the .best It has ever , at- tempted. There are the 16 David Bines Girls, who reflect the able, training of their ballet master, a Russian of the old school. Group is split into two, eight girls doing classical bal- let for the windup sequence, the other octet jazzing it up on the toes The adagio waltz of the four peo- ple from the main act is quite long, If cut down a little, the last stanza would be immeasurably heightened in effect and showmanship. The Three McCann Sisters open th unit in a blackout bit, later ap pearlng with the ensemble for liar mony numbers. They are a fair harmony trio. A juggling act, working with hats and Indian clubs,, is introduced by the JMcCanns. They are the Five Nelsons (3 m. 2 w.), who in dex- terous and fs.st Juggling exchanges make the rtost.of an interlude In .one. , ■ Regular unit consumes 37 min- utes. It would play better if; five ifiinui.es or niore were trimmed out, Crawfb-d thi-si week offers 'Songs of the Day,' wliioh Is to say three pops. . Orchestra, v th show long and the house's maestro. Rublnoft, ovier in Brooklyn, in missing except for show and Paramount News. Chiir. DENVER Denver, March 2. 'Cherry Blossom' Idea is ohe of the most lavish of Fanchon & Mafco's orlentallBh units. M. c.'d by %Tue Fpng. He introduces the act in a song, Wltiv the ilnc perched on a bridge In the Japanese garden dimly seen behind the scrim. The girls arc dressed in bright Japanese kimonos and carry strings of roses during the routine, a flower rtiill done while Dorothea Buck dances In slow waltz .time with Guy Buck. Eno Troupe—father, mother- and three : chlldr^n-^occupy . the deuce spot. The tsvo gir)s balancie um brcllas on foot, opening same while 30 doing, in unison. One of the girls limbers up and, while standing on hands on small Ixt^ places feet in back of her and stands up. Mother and daughter Juggle kegs In fast time with feet. Fong sings a snatch of grand opera" in original tongue and says he Is glad it is received so well—he won't have to' 'go back to washee in laundry.' Got a laugh In announcing next song, saying his mother, taught it 'to. him, then sings When Irish fiyes Are Smiling.' Second line number ■ with girls dressed as coolies, each carrying two tea boxes on yoke, which when stacked iri; order form picture for background for another dance by Dorothea Biick, a slow-motion af- fair on one foot Looked hard and ot a hand. ' Frdhk Gaby, headlining ventrilo- quist,, utilized plant In audience,, de^ tractlng about half. firom his act, which otherwise was okay. He has good line of chatter and songs. Final ilneup alnd flfish clever .and, while easily accoiiiplished, gets over in a big .way. ' Each of girls has two par- asols, one green and the other sil- ver, and many cbmbinatlojis are made in the routine^ JUst before the curtain the Enos, father and son, put on a fait balancing number. . Fred Schmltt's overture gave the orchestra plenty of work. RQXY New York, March 4. Stage show, in five sectfbns, is called 'Metallic,' each representine; a different inetal. . The mouhtlnfe-.'), costumes and action dreMmpresSion- istic, modernistic, futuristic—:.and punk. With 'After Tomorrow' (Fox) on the screen, it looks like a strug- gle for the biff ohe this week. Even Patricia Bbwman is 'off stride. 'The heavy production think- ing behind the symbolfc opener, 'Gold,' inspired a dance that's very different for Miss Bowman, in con- tent and effect . Miss Bowman is doiiig a sort of hybrid version of a Siamese angle dance, with the last several angles drawing giggles from the audience; Giggling at the Roxy is treason, but maybe justified this week. . , ■ . Two men , billed as the Roger Pryor Dodge Duo, aesthetic and ar- tistic hoofers, contribute more angle work just ahead; of Mis3 Bowman, while Harold Van Duzee sings a niiser song. The men are on later in the 'Iron' sequence. Ballet corps Is working hard in tliree. numbers, the second of which is one of the most monotonous line routines yet seen at the Roxy. The ^Roxyettes are also way below pur in their one nUmber, 'Steel,' In which they interpret a machine. These girls seemed tar away from their proper element In this dance. Their customary lighter ikrecision work ia a lot Diore suitable. ■Two of the five stage Items are economical affairs, with' no scenic help needed. One is the joint and challenge dahcing: by the Five Hot Shots, colored quintet, who rejpre-: sent 'Bronze;' and the Fred Waring pit orchestra. lx\ a kitchen Utensil drill, represnting"rin.' For the dancing act's background the. Roxy Is rehashing with a plece^ of scenery recently used for Morton Downey, something unusual for this theatre. Waring band's pit overture Is a medley of oriental airs, tunefully ex- ecuted, and . the current prof ram's most interesting number. A Krazy Kat: cartoon short and Fox news. Attendance light Friday lilglit. Bige. FOX, BROOKLYN Brooklyn, Marcii 6. Booking of radio artists who must broadcast concurrently with stage engagements is more likely than not to jam up running schedules.. Fox, Brdpklyn, Is learning that to its dis- may. Because Art Jarrett, hiere on his third Week, has to go on the air daily for CBS, the house has had to adjust its show accordingly, spot- ting Jarrett in between other units where most convenient. . The Saturday, afternoon show, as d result, presented a peculiar routin- ing of nmteriaL Instead of usual orchestra over- ture, news, organ, unit and feature in that order, this is the way . the .show, was built: Pit number with Freddy Mack singing and doubling for a bell- ringing bit in connection with ' chestra's own conception of 'Bell, A St. Mary's.' : 'Gay Vlenha,' Fanchon & Marco Idea. , . ' Art Jarrett, working In. one. ( Feature, 'Cheaters at Play' (Fox). Fox-Movietone News. Bob West ahd his organlog-song- fest ■ . 'rhls is probably the first time that the management has swerved from the conventional routining of the show. In the past when added at- tractions, have been booked in they have followed the overture, a spot or two ahead of the F&M Idea. Immediately on top of close of the F&M show, Freddy Mack steps out to Intro Jarrett. The radio singer, \yho has also appeared In musical comedy, is assisted at the piano by Fats Waller, who Is also a composer and the author of a new song dorte this week by Jarrett 'If It Ain't Lpve.' Opening song lii a typical Ruiss Columbo'crooning' sttecial, but EMBASSY While, both theatres are leadiiig off with tiic Lindbergh story, Em- bassy lirovidcs alnaost newspaper coverage and. gives it more lootage than the overage news subject, Luxer/ by <3ompaiison, briisiies over the assie,nment, . First cosei of where a home movie record has been, conscripted' for public service it< probably in the miniature clips of the Lindbergh baby. Both reels v have eicparided these to standard width, and they project as though they had been taken by an expert cameraman. The Fox offering opens with a close-up of the parents aitter plane views of the house are shown; Sen- ator Patterson of Missouri and Rep- resentative Norton both advocate, capital punishment for kidnappers. The Lindbergh message to the ab- ductors then Is. flashed,, after wiiich it is read by a. police offlcer. FOx even shows the placement , of the ladder and the . spot where foot^ prints were detected. . Embassy has qOme stattllng views of Shanghai while actually under bonibardment. Planes are caught ovei^head dropping the niissilcs and flres are shown starting after build- ing targets have been reached. A S.hanghal Chinese offlclal is sh6wn being interviewed. An. unusual, fol- low-up made in the U. S. is the handshaking and pledges of two leaders of rivartongs to keep oiah peace while the big war Is on.. ' - Luxer cuts its Clilnd coverage to few glimpses of the mob. A corpse here and there is revealed lying crumpled in the street. Pathe covers a New York protest meeting of Chinese studen'.j.; Rest of the Embassy program Is mildly interesting, formal flller stuff of the conventional kind. Representative La GUardla gets applause'-whv'n he shouts for the rlgiits of the American people to vote on prohibition. Fat McManus, the contact man, goes actor again, this time noting the nfteasurements of a. beauty se- lected by chiropodists. Every time the Embassy needs TRANSLUX One of^ the most- vivid portrayal* of India noting Is providod by Para- mount's coverage! of a demonstral tlon by Gandhi followers. MlUinir crowds getting thwacked over crown and body, .ambulances rush about and unconscloua natives av© shown, ; Pathe got flcst views of the latest' Virginia mine disaster. Relatives of the entombed .miners and ah Inter- View with one of the. survivers giv9 this subject a gruesome touch. P'atne also was on the job to get the story of shipwrecked sallora Who were rescued by a coast guard cutter. A gag subject, evidently for pub- licity purposes. Is at both theatres. This shows a wrestler going through the holds with an elephant on Long ■ Island; Women's diaiy in Aurora ;ali6 was a general assightnent fpr the reel men.. ^ Seme bad spills. in' ah Oxford steeplechase were well cpvered by Pjiramount. Both houses got the didnts going through their training paces in Cali- fornia. While Fox obtained an in- terview with McGraw, Pathe added another spring touch With Ruth and the Americans out for their first day In Florida. . What, looks; like resurrections i:rom the vaults was a Pathe expe- dition' up Stromboli's volcano and Pavanlount's tying up. fleet maneu- vers with; conventional shots of a battleship going through the Pan- ama canal. Tunriey refcreeing. amateur bouts of ypungsters wjos generally cevcred. Luxerltes laughed, while, the Em- bassy didn't see. anytiilng fUnny. Breaking ice at Banger was alstt widely covered, as was the rehearsal pf Columbia college boys ih their female impersOnatipn rples. One Of these lads, incidentally, ehould be a .screen find. Waly. magazine stuff It uses the German girls and the .California lion tamer. Von Hindenberg ahd .<)ueeh Mary, stage a. return engagement, one shopping, the other reviewing troops. Denmark's: monarch also is showa enjoying a stirrup cup; Waly. distinguished in the selling from the style of most ether workers appear- ing In vaude, with Jarrett exerting himigelf a little for a put-over. Jarrett is less thei crooner in do- ing 'Ain't Mlsbehavln',' the Waller song, and his closer, 'St. Louis Blues.' He ernploys a mUch stronger vocal technique than the general run of brethren from the radio, field and hardly needs the mike on the stage. A hit over here on the first Sat- urday mat, doing 11 minutes in all. Unit, 'Gajr Vienna/ is waltzy, as might be expected, and prettily staged by Leon Leonidoff. who for- merly was production manager at tl J Roxy under S. L. Rothafel. The clevierly routined numbers with the ensemble, notably one in which they uiso large fans and form striking combinatlpns, are outstanding in lending that Deonidoff-Roxy touch. Girls (12) are billed .as the Carla Torney Dancers. They display ex- cellent teamwork, particularly in the numbers that call . for drill maneuvers. Show opens with 'Two Hearts' for that gay Vienna touch and closes with the same number. Emma Woodland and Rpy Smoot vocal team, are spotted on opening in the center of a heart cut-out singing the German huniber. As the curtains part, the one heart dissolves into two, with Miss; Woodland riding oh one half to the left and Smoot on the other to the right. This open- ing ushers on the ensemble effec- tively, by M1.SS Woodlad and Smoot continuing the song downstage from opposite sides. It's a nice opening. For the flnale, the two singers take their positions, on the cut-put car- rying the two hearts again into one. Unit Is never a big sock, but it is also never tedlotis. . Two comea'y teams that score are carried. They are Bena and Rath- burn (mixed), who do a clever drunk routine with plenty of spills, and the Gauclsmlth Bros, with their amus- ing poodles and surjflre talk. . The stew twain recall the Hu- berts, but, while not hrwlng the pol- ish of the latter, they provoke the laughs as. easily. The girl takes the most surprising tumbles, most of them on her northeast end going southwest. Both, roll off to the wings for a neat finish. Kids went heavily for the Gaudsmlths and their dogs. For further Vienna flavor there's Duel de Kerekjarto, violinist, doing two classical numbers and playing a third as accompaniment to Miss Woodland's song. They went for de KerekJavto's nimble violin work, but. couldn't , give much to Miss Woodland's . vocal attempt as a single. Unit 33 minutes in running time. Business capacity at 2 o'clock Sat- urday, up to which time toll is a quarter* • " Cliar. ORIENTAL, CHICAGO Chicago, March 4.. Working with only three acts and a.dancing line, the B. & K. produc- tion outfit turned. out one of the neatest stage arrangements seen around here in. some tlnae. More comedy in this Ilneup than most units and proved to be the sort of material this audience wa? waiting for. It also brought Franklo Mas- ters, the one remaining m. c. of the local circuit, back into the loop after spending much of his life at the southslde TIvoll. As arranged by Will J. Harris, the show brought an Immediate novelty: note that smacked this audlertce^ In the laugh-center. It's a simple gag of getting the chorys behind the* instruments and' the musicians down behind the foots to toss off a siniple dance routine. Idea was biggest, on the manner in which the change was made. Opening chorus number was pushed into a mix-up by the band going into a discord and the gals getting their feet entangled. Chorus and mu.slclan3 get into an argument as to the" cau^e of the difficulty and they both blame the other. To solve the problem Masters orders, the pals to the Instruments ahd the mu- sicians to the platform. ; Chorus femmes toot on kazoos fitted to the instruments while the boys hpof through a simple dance routine. Totalled as a cinch giggle opener for this hoiise and put the medium- sized first ■ show crowd into great humor; This pleasantness was further aided by the turn to foUoWj the Vahderbllt Pour. This quartet has ah easy-going manner, and ma- terial that fitted perfectly into the spot Comedy chatter, song.s and hoofing are all effective stuff, and includes even some simple vocal cartooning' of radio crooners, which appeai-s to be sure-fire, stunt in vaude thtse days; It's a speedy routine that has no let-down, io well-kriltted and ; consecutive, de- spite the Wide variety of mAtoiial. _ More comedy from Armand and Perez, who odmc forward with some acrobatic clowning. Their comedy work is oke, though held liacK somewhat by the slow and heavy .musical background. Songs with a lighter touch would be more fuit* able for the occasion. And still an- other laugh turn was Hess a*^** Benhett. Jpey Rose was a former B. &"K. m. c, who used to head- quarter up in the . Marks Bros, houflca, Marbro and Granada. He now arrives with a man and wonitin dross-fire session, and it's COt plenty. The little femme partni'V 19 werking skilfully as the dumb' gftB character and managing tp keep, the large majerlty Pt the an3wer.<i rat- ing as laugh-entlcers. RpSs handles (Continued on page 38)