Variety (March 1932)

44 VARIETY REVIEWS Tuesday, Marcli 29, 1932 STANLEY (Continued from page .42) two -wind up strong with a classy challenge flash. Powell Is behind them, but his m.c. duties end here, \vlth Rubin coming on, telling Powell to 'isltal-ew,' and then pulling his 'who's running this show?' patter with Haley. . After that they're on and off. all of the time, Haley singing, Kubln doing a bit with the band and then his sure-flre comedy :dahce, both of them getting over their blackouts. Powell is called upon, too, In sev- eral skits, and there are four others, two men aiid two girls, with the tiubin-Haley turn. Sandwichifed ' ctween all this are two other acts, Kthel Norrls o.nd Lorrraine Manners, latter recently of the Hollywood, where she worked the Mihsky bit- with Lou Holtz. Miss Nbrris sings one number alone and second to Powell, while Miss Manners and Powell work on full stage with chorusMn a production numben It's a neat Job, m.c. war- bling through a mike as the striking red-head does a Hatty danciQ; spe- cialty in front of line girls. Finish, has Rubin and Haley un- dressing In that 'shirt off my back bit;' coming back on in bathrobes to go tliTough a hoke ballroom dance with chorus as cui tain drops. They laughed here plenty the second show, this, afternoon, even after Stanley's offlclal: censor board had cleaned things up a bit. Whatever was eliminated apparently didn't matter, for It was smooth sailing for the name. acts. Be^rnle -Ai-mstrong's organlog a community sing: of light opera, bal- lads, organist telling <tudience through a mike that he wanted to get away, from the popular jttifC for a change. Customers apparently liked It, for there was an excellent response. Dave Broudy'a organlog an appropriate Ilaster medley, with Margaret Daum,. air singer here at KDKA. as soloist with The KOsary.' Business okay and pretty much of ii surprise for Good Friday. Cohen, STATE, L. A. Los Angeles,..March 23. . With the Gthel Meglln kiddies M^the chief draw, 'Exotlquo' Idea looked pretty weak. The juveniles are going out Sunday and back to school (27) after Ave days and the Ghezzl brothers take their place, -JS^hlch ought to strengthen the unit considerably. Unit will play Loew's 10 days altogether. House chang- ing Us opening day from Wednes- day to Saturday, and running its present show ('Hell Divers,' Metro) through next Friday (1). .Miss Meglin, whose contract and financial tidup with Fanchon & Marco .calls'for 'ah Easter week local booking among other annual dates, usually brings so many kids around they get in the audience's hair. This time, she cut down on the procession, which added con- siderably to the interest in the .juve talent she did display. There . were lots of klda in the audience Ifit the first evening' show, and added to sailors from the newly arrived fleet, the house was' nearly full down- BtEltrs, although. the balcony" was feeble. 'Exotlque' Idea showed here first with 'Hell Divers' at the Chinese. Only the scenery.and girls are left, all the acts being new. Eddie Foley . and Lea Leture, comedy couple, and Ramon and Vlrjglnla, adagio, were the only apts apart from the Mag- Uns. Paul and I^lno Ghezzl, acro- bflit balancers, have played two pre- Tlons dates here and were liked. They should help the unit when going in Monday (28). Foley and Miss Leture got laughs ^Ith their hoke gagging as the opener. Kiddles on next, and do everything. Example of stuff they try was attempt of one six-year old to Imitate Fannie Brlce's 'My Man.' Itambn and Vlrgflnla didn't show anjrthlng In the . way of adagio, but girl balances nicely on. one leg on upstretched palms of her partner. One of the dance roiitincs, called the tom tom ruitiba in which the girls work with 15-inch drums, stood out. Unit lacked polish but wJiJl, .^yrxubably show more when finally set for the road. It ran 37 minutes, but will be 33 on the road. Newsreel completed-the program. sixteen line up and do a smart rou- tine. . Grauman, Hess and Valoe, with contagious smiles, tap dance In duo and trio, girl wearlns red suit while boys sport brown suits, a cross be- tween a bellhop and a chorus man. Their slow-motion flght is capital, tlje slow motion even extending to the facial features, showing all grades of pain, surprise, triumph and other emotions; The girl, an Interested spectator, goes through the slow motions with the lads, showing her at times separating them when they transgress the rules of the ring.. The second lineup routines before a drop picturing a huge flowfer gar- der with white blooms, and Don Neece, looking almost like an un- dertaker,^ sings thataway also: Marietta, with her bushy head- of black hair and flowing sklrt> does a session of artistic dancing—almost too much so for.a picture house. Line does a bit more routine and on comes A. Robbins, the walking music store. . The scene for the closing, number was a big flash, the rear being a large number, of sil- vered mirrorlike panels, the floor sloping and made of the same ma- tei-lal; At each side of the stage two theatre boxes. In which per- formers sit while not acting. The line, assisted by various: of the acts, does d fast and hard routine on the sloping floor. Must have . rubber soles to be able to stand up on the Incline. Marietta closes the Idea with a dance number. - DENVER , . Denver, March 23, Fred Schmltt and his orchestra observed St. Patrick with an 'Irish Rhap.sodles' overture. Curtain fliWcd with green lights while musicians played Irish numbers, Closce with 10-yeai:-bld girls, dressed clleen style, singing 'When Irish Eyes Are Smiling' and doing a clog. ' 'Reflections,* a Fanchon & Marco Idea, <ls'strong on the flashes and not so strong on acts. The settings are mlrrorlstlc, In silver and black, and ^omo startling effects are ere ated. Opening shows three huge frames, . appearing to bo mirrors. I^art of the line does a routine in firont of mirrors, and what appears to be their reflections danco In bad of the frames. After the routine those in back shove aside the black MU'lm and step to the front and the CHICAGO Chicago, March 25. Good Friday and this big B&K. house stood 'em out at the close of the first show. For the same period of the'day the Chicago was 'way ahead of Its contemporaries along the street And the reason- un- doubtedly .appeared to be the screen's femme fayored leading man, Conrad Nagel. . Nagel switches to Publlx from out of Detroit after completing a round tour of eastern houses for Loew, which originally arranged thie Nagel act for its stages in a deal with Its own producer, Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer. As far as the B&K houses here are concerned they'll play any and all kinds of name attractions, no matter where they come from or who delivers them. It's been a pretty steady grind at both the Chicago and Oriental for star acts, with each house bettering its grosses despite the opposition from each other. With Nagel this week the Chicago should show in the money, accounted for by femme trade. Besides, It will be soon dis- covered that Nagle has a better act by far than most of the other screen celebs who have come through here. Maybe that's because Nagle is an ex-leglt actor with a knowledge of the stage. Anyway, the 20 minutes Nagle does Is sufficient proof of his ability In a light and diversified and dra matlc wiay. Ruth Marsh with Nagle looked very good from a local view- point, with Nwgle no doubt respon^ Bible in a good measure. His trailer is another novelty, presenting him In douhle shotis of himself. It's evi- dent that the screei. player has tucked away plenty of work with this act. Its smoothness and polish shows it, ■ With Nagle working In full stage It was necessary, to sandwich Stuart Barrle's organlog between this and the F&M unit, 'Lltnehouse Nights, which preceded. Latter is not up to standard, although it has Val and Ernie Stanton doing their best to get the only laughs In the show. It was tough sledding though for the brothers, even the old ones muffliig. Other specialties In the. lineup are contributed by the Wing Wah troupe, Chinese acrobatic and stunt performers; Don Carroll, vocalist; Armanda and Llta^ dance team, and a mixed ensemble. H. Leopold Spitalny's last week In the pit, marking the end of an elghtr year run for him for B&K In Chi cago. Spitalny's baton will not be so easily replaced, and that he will be sorely missed goes without say^ Ing. His last overture was in the usual. Spltalny, arrangement, a blending of the classical In a popu lar mood, with Frank Wilson solo Ing In song from a pit chair. Spl- talny, it must beirememberedi went from a 45-piete .orchestra to less than half that number, but retained the class standard of his music to the last. On the screen 'Alias the Doctor' (FN), supplemented by usual trail- ers aiid newsreel. Span, Will Harris East Chicago, March 28. Winding up his affairs here after leaving the Publlx-iBalabani. & Katz production department, Will J. Har- ris left; for New York Saturday (26) takliig his wife and family with him. ■ ■ ■ Harris wound up a local stay of more than 10 years for B. & K. as a stage producer. DOWNTOWN (Continued from page 43) them strong.. Their finish, a series of fiylng wings, ore pretty hot and get them away to strong returns. Manuel, Mexican wire: walker, next. This former standard act has been on the coast all winter and Is set with Sells-Floto for the coming season. His 'drunk' hit is. the high, spot... Lee Mason and Sunny, another standard, followed. Miss Mason is still doing her fake female imper- sonation. Audience went! for as a femme Impersonator after she doffed the first wig. I^Ater when she pulled the man's wlB disclosing her own bobbed hair she got a gasp. Not seen here in a number of years, Miss Mason has lost hone of her show- manship and sells, them, plenty. Rita Ruben. Trio. , local adagio act which has played everywhere in town, was satisfactory in the next spot with a usiicU line of fiylng catches. Joe De Lelr and Co., latter being a femme feeder for the dead-pan musician, followed. De Lelr got hot with an accordion, that had a razz attachment on one of the stops. Act is here for F. & M, and should fit into most any unit. . Monte and Carmel, midget comedy acrobats, are iringers here, being billed as Karno and Montgomery. Team ,go into F. & M.'s. 'Alickey Mouse' Idea and. wanted to keep their billing down. Oked with a good comedy line of burlesque hand stands, finishing with a. lieglt hand stand. ■ Wlllard Hall ToUowed. Hall acts as a subdued .m.c. throughout the bill, being content to introduce the acts and no more. which| is as it should be. Gabbed for a few' min- utes with fair material. Just oh long enough to be consideted an act. Viera Four, crack casting act, closed with a good-looking islrl tak- ing the short end of the casting. Finish of a double Over-and-under got a great hand from a house that is accustomed to long-dlsta.nce throwing. Call. ing stage attractton, didn't work so well Saturday afternoon. Coming on top of a lot of other trailer ma- terial, with house overdoing it this week. It had the folks fidgety when amplification failed. Usual Hearst-Metrotone News. Char. Charlie Hart in Act . After agenting for five years Charlie Hart, of the old tumbling act; 'Hart's Crazy Cats,' is return- ing to the stage. . Hart will head a seven people turn, 'Hart's Hollanders.' LOEW'S STATE Pictures making the big differ- ence at the box office, it looks like Loew's Broadway vaudfilmer Is in for a fine week. With 'Arrow- smith' (UA) on its screen, house had 'em ptvcked nearly to the raft- ers early Saturday afternoon, with more standees in evidence than in a long time. This Is quite unusual in view of the $2 run on the picture, plus re- ceht pop five-weeks' stay at the Rivoli. A lot. of people must have been waiting to see it when vaude- ville is included in the bargain. Thus stage shows are an Important element. ' ■ ■. . A fairly stron^r vaude bill sup- ports the picture. It's cut to four acts due to length of the feature, but still runs XO :mlnutes over an hour. . This is partly due to ab- sence of those six-minute opening acts and heavy running time on the Gus Edwards Radio Revue. Latter doea 27 mlnUtes, consider- ably under .what it did two weeks ago at the Palace. It's far more effective with the time cut down and the material tightened up. Some of the radio announcement material, all intended for laughs, could still be scissored a little. Eddie Bruce, doing Graham Mc- Namee, has been equipped with^alr material and sells it well, but Is Inclined to overdo the cigar biz and smoke-puffing. . oh whole the Edwards revue is pretty good entertainment, effec- tively, staged, with most of the peo- ple announced by names of radio stars they Impersonate and doing them on a. dark stage. Talent is headed by the four Albee Sisters, doing a Boswell in fine style, and Leota Lane, coloratura, who tops in a strong comedy bit with Bruce. There's a new girl in the act doing Kate Smith. She's Kay Fair and very good. The Ann Seymour act ahead also ate up a lot of running tlnie for slti attraction of Its type, doliig 17 min- utes. Miss Seymour starts out vei^y weakly, only getting anywhere near an Impression on the drunk char-, acter specialty. In this she deftly draws the picture of an 11th avenue girl trying to be Park avenue, and that's where the act should end. A tandem bike nUmber follows In^ stead for the close. It coUld sub- stitute earlier In the act for one of the other numbers, preferably the one around Adam and Eve, man-and-womari stuff. Miss Sey- mour took light hand Saturday: af- ternoon. No. 2 act Is Cardlril, who's as adept as they come with cards, cig arettes, golf balls and other objects used In his slick, slelght-ofrhand iJcrfbrmancO; This is one of the smartest deuce spot acts in the business and should always be working. Cardlni Is clever with his palming to begin with, but he's also a shrewd showman. Norman Thomas iQuIntet opened up very rtlcely, dance team stand- ing out In their agile routines. Act worked, faster, here than It has in other houses when caught. That's part of its punch. A trailer on Esther Ralston, tom KEDZIE, CHICAGO Chicago, March 26, One of the worst-Jumbled up bills played leap frog with itself here last (Friday) night. Everything hap- pened. Eight acts were scheduled to show; but by the: tlme the first pierformahce went on, two acts hadn't put in an appearance yet, and from the way it turned out, one of these acts at .leastmlghthaye stayed away aiid saved itself a lot of em- barrassment. ; ,. What delayed them doesn't mat- ter, but P^hto and Zarett, two boys, finally made a belat-d entrance and were rushed on by their agent be- fore they even had time to put on their blackface. Result was pathetic, with the boys hot so much to blame as the-agent; . No necessity for such things hap- pening. If these shovings can't :be conducted on a more intelligent and showmanly basis, RKO might as well withdraw from the. whole proposition. Nor was this unfor- tuhate incident the only thing wrong here. Three Tan Tippers,, colored hoofers, decided to go for a walk. Maybe It was only coincidental that this act was .ilated to open the show and that they showed up suddenly after the fifth act. Why the man- agement tolerated such a situation, allowing the three hoofers to go on anyway, is a. mystery. It's not in every house an act could get away with such a play,. it was no wonder the rest of the show, got badly tangled up, .and the pit orchestra made It eveii worse. These musicians here were okay the first couple of weeks, but now ap- pear to be sitting back. They made a mess of Donald Kerr's act. with Kerr out here to show a new turn. It's Kerr and Ann Fay (New Acts) how, with the girl a charmer for looks, and Kerr Just as fast on his feet and with his cracks as ever. . Rest of the bill didn't make much of an impression. Openers were Frank and May Stanley Co.. rope spinning with a musiOal interlude that doesn't belong In it. Jarvisand Jay. mixed dancers, have a poor blending of stepping, from Bowery to Apache. , Tyrolean Troubadors, four people iact that might have got^ by a decade ago but not liow. Over-plump wo- men yodeling in the key of 'C are certainly no prize winners these days. And neither are the men in Bavarian shorts. Sargent and Lewis, mixed comedy team, next to shut and pattering away when not sing- ing. Sargent used to :work with one of Pop Cameron's daughters, and the change doesn't seem to have done much good. Closei-s yTere the Thre<6 Spartans, acrobats. ^ This week house goes to a new all-week picture policy, with the vaude showings shoved back to Wednesdays again. Span. ORPHEUM Denver, March 23. New Orpheum bill is one of the best since the opening. Feb. 11, but heavy snowstorm Sunday, making it sloppy for a couple of days, held gross below what It should have been. SI Willis ahd Joan Davis headline and rate well in that spot. Their chatter is snappy and most of it new. Some standard gags are given a new twist. On the opening show Miss Davis took what appeared to be a comedy fall, but it wasn't, and a doctor was necessary. His over- size straw hat and the Zeppelin egg are good for a laugh. Man uses the Zeppelih egg In some crystal-gazing chatter that Is smart and new. The Marcellus dancers opeh with some of the prettiest scenery used at the Orph. A mountain scene showing forest fire and waterfalls in action ih the distance, and Bud Marcellus exercises his vocal cords. Half a dozen girl dancers and a boy stepper add to the act In the finish the boy takes the role of slave driver while he and femmes do pyramiding, dancing and adagio In a way that gets applause, In the second scene Bud Marcellus is dressed as sheik and sings befoi'e Egyptianlzed scenery. The Three Yokoes, trick bicvcllsts, do a great variety of feats, some of them old and some not so old. Man takes bike apart and puts It togeth- er again whlie riding—most of the time on one wheel—and act closes jrith two high riding The Honey Boys, five of 'em, vocalize arid har- monize, their best being 'Million Dollar Baby.' . Only fair. •- Earle Kaye and his musicians ob- serve. St, Patrick in their overture. A Bit p' Erin.' Green floodUglits are. used and large green harps are hung on drop, with huge shamrocks to decorate the orchestra and organ lofts. The best of their selections was 'Mother Machree.' The brasses and reeds play 'Wild Irish Rose,'and for the close .the curtains part and in an electric-lighted swing are an Irish lass and lad. Boy in a good tenor voice-sings 'Wlien Irish Eyes Are Smiling.' ' 'Carnival Boat' (RKO) an screen, RKO Haistreet, L. A. Los Angeles, March 25 Regular RKO unit of four acts lacks one solid: cjck to put It across In good vaudeville fashion. Deno and Roc.heile, Ray HulUng's seaL and the seven*Royal Uyenos, foot- tO-fOot tumblers, and Eddlei Nelson top lined, all individually okay but lacking that extra . and needed pound of steam. Deno and Rochelle's terbs have the advantage of a new slant; the exeoution of their ideas is smooth and showmanly. Over to fine re- aponse.. Thought of 17 minutes of seal an- tics doesn't sound anywhere nedr as encouraging as the Ra,y Hulling act turns out . to be. A natural, with the seal's, warbling in tenor and bass scoring, . Divested of his sailor uniform. Nelson is still doing the same type of act as beforei and is supported by Maria Naicha, local girl, in a: torrid hula. Plenty of. hokum laughs and over to a pleasing reception. Nel- son eases Into the closing act; clowning with the Orientals and. participating in several fake tricks. The tumbling troupe evokes plenty, of palm-smacking with thisir foot- to-foot catches. Feature was 'Nice Women' (UnU ' versal) and 'A Melon Drama' (Ra- dio), Clark and McCuIlough short, wowed 'em with its slapsticky situ- ations. House well filled. 86TH ST. Harry Delmar's Review of 1932: fills about 60 minutes of the vaude section at the 86th Street, which leaves little room for the booking of .other acts and only two others are employed, a slx-mlnute dance trio and the Princess Wah Let Ka, Indian mentallst and singer. The dancers are Hlte, Rennle and Casey (New Acts), who get the show off to a brisk istart which the Princess fails , to hold up. That's the trouble'with all mental turns. It's impossible to build up to a finish of any sort It doesn't seem possible to put a proper sock into advice about the future. She gets herself over, but leaves them cold for the finish. Delmar picked them up quickly onCe he worked into the comedy, with Chas. Kemper, but it is not a speedy getaway, working in the line for mild stepping and a song in which the entire seven girls scarcely raise volume enough for one regular voice. 'When Kemper comes along he starts to Jazz things and after that things went smoothly at this supper show, with the laughs coming more' steadily than Is usual here. It doesn't tike much of .an effort to get the point of Kemper's cracks. They are pretty ob'vious, but they cljck with the family trade. The three Martlne Sisters do a little harmonizing, that is passable, but no panic and Pat and Nat Remo go into a tap with the line in smart military costumes of black and red to spell ■ them. Later the boya stooge for Delmar and Kemper but fall to be funny. Lucille June warbles In a thin, high voice and Leta Wales roles up a better score with a comedy song followed by a daincing bit. Olive McClure does an outstanding bit in a contortion stunt in which: she works with her hands manacled. After that the turn tapers off to only a fair finish. Without Kemper the review might not fare so well in spite of a couple of rather rough bits of ;<;omedy^ but he carries it alohg and. the show Is helped by. the rapid succession of stunts, no bit being held until it becomes tiresome. The film feature Is 'Lost Squad- ron' (Riadlo), with a newsreel. Ow- ing to the length of the bill there is no room for a comedy and the overture is dropped. HIPPODROME First three acts. are slow, but thereafter layout peps up and iiolds to the pace. Gus Edwards' 'New Stars On Parade' takes tOi) billing and consumes 31 minutes. Radio's 'Lost Squadron,' featured, and the orchestra Saturday , matinee was capacity. Weather probably . helped, being rainy. . Moran and Wiser started off with their hat throwing. Boys use straw chapeaux which, when thrown, boom'erang back. For finish .and for a few laughs, hats are thrown among the audience to be throw"!* up on the stage, -vvhe-e one of the duo attempts to catch them on his head. Henry J. Kelly, Irish tenor in ai. Mexican outfit, deuced with a slo'w act. Kelly's patter is very weak and his singing, to which he devotes tlie majority of his time, a. times is indifferent. A girl is used for two brief dancing bits. Should-be used more. Kelly is not of a calibre to support an act alone. Rnynor Lehr followed In another slow turn which took a better speed When a slim colored youth came on. toward the finish for dancing. I-ehr starts with a medley of pop tunes for which he has provided comcily lyrics. This number is practically the same as that used by MlUon Berle. . After a bit of dancing, tlie (Continued on page 70)