Variety (April 1932)

32 VARIETY E V ■ E W $ Tuesday, Aprfl 26, 1932 HOLLYWOOD, N. Y. (Continued from page 30) . • part specialty Is by Jackie. Heller from the Benny Davis bunch.. Hid- ing behind a mlkc,,, the southijaw uke player lets his pipes do the •work, and they don't miss. Two. en- cores for Jackie and they wanted more. Part Two's fourth specialty, kid Is Sunny O'Dea, tnp dancer, ■who's riding with many others on thi crest of the present day danc- ing wave. Her stuit is too formal to set her away from the pack, but personal ability seems present and the girl is young. . They round up the company for a School Days finale that has every- thing but .Oils EdwardSi : As usual, it's built oii a bladder, with Benny as the school teacher, pitching, and Fields in short pantg catching, HoKz draws a few laughs,: which is the: extent of the scene's .effectiveness. It draws to an unsatisfactory con- plusldn a bill that starts much bet- ter than It ends. . Bige. Paramount^ Newark M.iich better this w6ok. Unfor- tunately for everybody, Jean Callor way and her band were all in, due to a long trip, and the music could have been better. However, .Miss Galloway showed plenty of person- ality.. Advertised as the originator of 'Minnie the Moo.cher,' her version disappointed,'biit she atoned by aii apparently sirhple dance that. was the last word In smooth rhythm., House added to her act a team of five men ^and one. duo who did long dance routines. The house brch had to play their music,, which did not beip the band. Jordan and Grace opened with the man doing baton juggling, accom- panied by the girl playing a banJo; He then cleverly Juggled sticks, spun a gun arid whirled a heavy wheel on his head, ending by skipping, rope, with tlie wheel revolving. Lang, and lAwley do some. worth - while singing, interspersed with comedy. One produces some sus- tained notes as a tour de force, Anally using a high falsetto. They register strongly. Theodore, Enrica .ji,nd Novello, the men in full dress and the girl in a pr^tty.blue, do ball- room dances verging on adagio, and follow with a waltz, with one man out. This ends with a tirlcky fast spin. Another girl plays an accor- dion, and then'the scene changes to a Spanish set with a huge wine cask. A dijferent sort of Spanish dance is executed .by the three in costume. A brief bit of apache stuff follows, with <>ne man tieing the other to the cask and throwing, knives at hlih; the girl gets in the way and catches the knife In her heart. Henry Webb went well, using a plant in a box for old stuff. A woman gagged with him, - the plant returned as funny stooge and Webb ending with fast stepping while the woman sang. House almost full. 'Misleading Lady' (Par) was liked. sesaisd by the other threesome is a deliberate effort to weir out their welcome with enough ^Veak material to practically insure that,. Trio uses a mlko that isn't hooked up, as though broadcasting, but. malte little use of it other than in a novelty way. Only the hoofing bits and the singing by Miss Adams seems to possess value above the small-time grade. Feature current is 'Scandal For Sale' (Radio)v Its draw is doubtfuj. : Char. 86TH STREET PALACE, CHICAGO Chicago, April 23. Five acta once more, and arranged like five acts; not stretched or sliced to make It look like six or seven. Result is a well-balanced lineup that at least has solidity and body. Originally was slated to have been, another six-act arrangement, but the sixth turn, Coscla and Verdi, although, trallerlzed last week as a coming attraction, was. a last-min- ute withdrawal from the show. Present bill brings four standard, names, known in vaude, pictures arid legit, ;arid a fifth turn to get the swell opening reception. That was nothing, however, compared to the one they got at the finish. Stoopnagle and Bud work In one, with a mike on the stage and am- plifiers in two cabinets at both ends of the proscenium. It'sj. baj3ically their twice-weekly, CBS quarter hour^ but they sell it well getting loads of laughs where laughs are Intended and hitting strong on their impersonations. Hand they got first show this afternoon indlciated plenty of air listener^ in the a,udlence and they later won over a flock of strict- ly theatregoers. Chorus opening led by Ivan Trie HIPPODROME Vaudeville bill looks like a cheater this week. And it plays that way, with no act of the eight delivering a punch. It's one of the poorest shows this stage has had, and will do more toward keeping people out of the house in future than drag them back. Nearest approach to a standard name act is Nina Olivette, in next^ to-closing. A light c6medlenne working a song-and-dance turn with six boys, she Isn't strong enough to be the best act of eight. Her act is much too long and draggy, running 16 minutes and with all numbers stretched out pretty far. Miss Olivette did orily fair on ap- plause returns Saturday afternoon before a sprinkled audience which toward the last seemed anxious to ecram out of the house. This, occurred just ahead of. the (encore by the closer, Brenck's Indian Revels (New Acts), which felthoggy and after a hand that didn't quite deserve it. In view of the time on by then, 12 minutes, did ttxi arrange- ment of 'St. Louis Blues' to plenty walkers. Show Is full Of novelty attrac- tions, opening with Junglelandi contortion trio as wild savages in a woodland setting. There Is too much stalling around the several worthwhile bits, topped by * bad finish. It may have been that , the etiage hands a:ided in flopping the closing number in which an effect of something unldentlflabie is at tempted in the dark. Another leaning to novelty the deucer, H.irry Foster Welch, with his variety of Imitation.'!. Two others are Col. Fred Lindsay, whip Cracker, fourth, and Annie, Judy and Zeke, hillbilly mixture, fscveiith. None'of those'acts did beLter..than fairly. Third and fifth hold.s,trios which Incline to comedy Jis a 'di^csslng for BOng-.?,nd-dance routines. King Bros, arid Scully, third, cn- feage in si good deal o£ rouphhouse and nondescript clowning in con nectlori with harmony work, talk and hoofing. On latter assignment they" are at their best. Other trio, Jackson fnd riarden, assisted by Dorothy / ' is, Isn't as good an act. Iri that it il-ics 17 min- mlnutea, one or its laults not pos- A cockeyed specialty layout this,, that starts with a $1,600 barid act involving, some 15 people, and then steals a Juvenile comedian from the Gus Edwards 'Stars on Parade' re- vue to do a"!!' extra lO minutes In 'one'—bf all spots—next to' closing and preceding the regular Edwards act. Even'at that they had to add a turn, apparently, at the last min- ute, slijppirig in Sunshine S£immy No. 3 to fill out the usual hour and a half of stage entertainment; Any- how, Sammy was billed for the sec- ond half and seeims . to have . been commarideered for the earlier half portion. ■Outside of that the bill IS lacking In a comedy sock, at legist, a laugh that the customers would. underr. stand. Planting Florence Richard- son and her band tO open the show is not without its comedy slant. This is Miss Richardson's first appearance in ..vaudeville in some time. Her girl musicians are no more, a group of 13 men functioning for this occasion and making .up an aggregation pretty spiritless in techhiquie to go against the compe- tition of modern band groups. Must be hreaklng in, for no finished turn would use ,the light plot they fol- lowed for this performance, with the leader's violin .solo dorie practi- cally in the dark when a baby spot went dim. Lighting throughout Is clunisy. As. a sample, band does a series of airs suggesting the national holi- days, while the back drop parts to disclose some sort of appropriate symbol. For March 17 they did 'Irish Eyes Are Smiling' and flashed a gigantic shamrock backstage. Light for this was a melancholy blue flood for the stage and a green spot for the shamrock. Best of the act is a dance solo by a loose- Jointed girl; with astonishing leg throws in the Charlotte Greenwood manner and the applause-getter of the turn. Name not announced. Following the full-stage opening, bill goes into 'one* tor three acts in succession, a design of program liayout that is unusual, hot to say goofy, and the succession is all male, running in this order: Eddie and Morton Beck, Sunshine Samniy and his three brothers, and Eddie Garr, Juvenile comic of the Edwards revue, who Introduces himself and his co-workers in a session on the apron. With this pattern of layout, the girly flash is held back to the very finale, and it doesn't help the gay- ety of the proceedings whatever. Eddie and Morton Beck did valiant service in the No. 2 position. Pair have an idea and develop it shrewdly. Two men with powerful voices of good quality use special lyrics and subordinate straight har- mony to good vigorous comedy, special trick being to travesty sen- timental songs, a device familiar enough, but taking special force here from the excellent quality of the two voices. One number is built out of: the craze for film thrillers, one doing 'Dracula' and the other 'Frankenstein' with a capital sur- prise tag line. Sunshine Sammy, once the pick of the 'Our Gang' screen comedies. Is getting to be quite a boy now, and he needs coaching in comedy style. However, happily his dancing is enough to carry a 15-mlnute Irtter- lude. Both Sammy and his older brothers can tap for a falre-ye-well, with Sammy's Bill Robinson stair routlune right up with the best of the imitations. Very .shiall brother doing a song, in a kid soprano for isome reason provoked a tumult at this performance^ corivinp along to- ward the finish. Eddie Garr took the next-to-clos- ing assignment and did remarkably well with it in k series of imper- sonations, filling in 10 minutes and then, walking straight. On for the opening of the GUs Edwards turn directly following. - 'New. Stai's on Parade' has un- dergone some changes since its start a little .ov6r a year ago. "The Garr boy is a substitute, also the Keating Twins, pretty blonde hiarmonizers, replace the O'Connor girls, and Gloria Gilbert seems to be a newcomer. These changes have taken nothing from tho turn. Miss Gilbert contributed one of the standout spots of the half hour re- vue with a toe dance involving seemingly impossible spins on one toe. (Jarr as.far as the revue goes is Just nn agreeable Juverille singing arid tnllving m.c, having Used up his specialty in the separate, specialty alone. Doubling Garr may save tho house a salary, but It does the Ed- ward.s rovuo no good. . ■ Business on this first bright Sat- urday of tho spring was fair. Feature 'Alias the Doctor' (WB). Rush. other four, started properly, , The! sault arid sung by Ollye Sibley, with starting act was Justa Foursome, three men and; a girl in an acrobatic dancing iiiterlude^ The turn serves its purpose as a standard opening session. ■ In the deuce was Jack Whiting, from pictures and productions, with a /ehime partner, Dorothy Fltzglb- bon, and a couple of pianists; Edgar Fairchlld and R. Lyndholm. Whit- ing is best classed as personable; In line gals representlnjf wooden sol- diers and china dolls in the. num- ber With that .tag. Effective .start and followed by a whirlwind acro- batic dancer. Who kept up the p%ce. Following Stoopnagle and Bud, Trlesault and the chorus again ap- pear in a clever production number that might be shortened a. bit with.^ out losing any effectiveness.. Ballet master trying to teach a clumsy that musical comedy lead manAer. f^fO^P^* routine; he dismisses, them. then dreams they're doing It perr fectly only .to awaken to reality oneo more. It's a good Idea, but a trifle too long. Buck and Bubbles sewed . things up, and there's a pretty finale, too. No organlog or Overture at flrst show this afternoon, Hearst news- reel only thing in addition to fea- ture arid presentation. As it was,- bill.rati close to 160 minutes and COften. He sings with little effort and oke rcsiilts. The femme half fitted, into the picture nicely arid completed the musical comedy atmosphere on which this turn so much' depends. "The two pianists make the most of their stanza. They^ even drag in an accordion-playing bit. and make this an attempt at some novelty by hav- ing tK>th manipulate the push-box at the same tlrite. . ^^.wa *\^-ht^r.^A. Fast work backstage and a simple could be tig htened. set permitted Bert Lytell's fiiU-stage sketch to follow the full-stage Whiting turri. Lytell. still rates a fay standing locally. He drew a nice reception on his entrance In 'Valiant,' the flrst RKO-routed seri- ous sketch to hit this town in years. 'This audience enjoyed, the sketch and sent it: away well, In spite of the fact that the story mUst have been known to many through its ap- pearance somie two years ago as a screen play. Al Trahan. has added bits of neat touches to his roughhouse routine that give it rather more continuity than it formeirly rated. They re- membered Trahan here, and if they remembered the knockabout comedy it didn't prevent the mob here from exercising their laugh apparatus. Following the solemn ''Valiant,' it's about as sharp a contrast as pos- sible. : Al Trahan squeezes Into the Toto routine, which closed the afternoon, but it didn't help. Nothing can help the act Toto has arranged this year. It isn't worthy of Toto. He is cap- able of better stuff than this. Act has no production, ideas or laughs. He has. three stooges, and none of them rate anything in spite of the fact that one is very talU one is very short, and the other Is just medium- sized. Act has its best moments when Toto works alone, but when he attempts, to clown, with the stooges, it's a bust -There's one woman in this, act, but she hasn't anything to do except suddenly lose her dress. Even this didn't stir this mob. Toto has better ideas than this hidden away. He should make use of them. Feature is 'Careless Lady* <Fox). Business was weak at the flrst show Saturday due to the extremely early start of the flrst show. Until wise to the revised schedule, the opening vaude show is going to play to many empty seats. Gold. FOX, BROOKLYN Brooklyn, April 23. More like straight .vaudeville here this w'eek than a unit, although It works under the tag; of Fanchon & Marco's 'Aloha' Idea. Freddie Mack's pit men are moved up on the stage back of the .acts to fill in the sklmjpy affair, and they do it nobly. Only one set, a none tOo nice one of a bandstand and an ocean llnef, though where the two get together is a bit difficult to figure out. Gaylerie and Du Bayne start things fast with some exceptionally flne kicking. Both are expert danc- ers and colorful performers. They ^ . ,t . . should have been allowed a spot .scene from Merchant of .Venice, of the lamented adagio wave of two years ago, but one of the fittest They hold themselves to two or three throws of the girl, keeping mainly to dance routine. House line on to wlndup with them. . Orchestral preliminaries from the pit go eight minutes, Georgle.stoll devotes it to numbers he credit's as' making yiarious leaders famous. Winds up with a violin duet be- tween himself, in the pit, and him- selw in a reel on the. screen. Clever, ly timed crossfire. House was full and lines outside - for the first afternoon sho\V. MICHIGAN Detroit April 25. . • Camel Quarter Hour with Its trio • of names here this week and stop- ping all shows on its own. Trio comes in with a strictly local air. rep. Air. rep is left in the discard in comparison with the stage enter- tainment as presented here. Trio offers a ntew high in entertalriment for radio names to shoot at. Could come in without any air bally and' stop shows on their own. With the air rep to pull them in the stag» . ability will send them out raving. Comparison of the. air personality of the trio with thelt- stage person- ality will undoubtedly crop up. But not to such an extent that it wili disappoint. Those who like 'Wons, arid. don't like; Downey may change their minds, and vlce yersa. Show ' runs 50 minutes, and every minute ' counts.: Downey-cames on late.'but the buitd-up is terrlflc. The tfaily for Camel clgs is every- • Where evident. R. J. Reynolds gets a credit announcement frOm Wons ' and the bandsmen have the, trade- mark on the front of their music, starids. Wons even paraphrases hls' usual announcement as over the air, telling the audience to relax and light' a Camel, then catches himself arid says wait till you get out in the lobby. Another item is the way I5owney jumps in as m. 0. and introduces a couple of boys in the band who do specialties that are very different and sensational in effect. Tony Woris pulled the almost Im- possible In giving them Shakespeare and making them like it. He did a farther along in the works. Mack's men do their specialty here, a neatly routined .10 minutes, which takes In a couple of songs, through a mike, by Freddie, a vocal quartet, and about four pop num- bers running along a,t a good pace. Mack seems to' know his muslkers, has stage presence, and is just cal- Isthenic enough with the stick to be interesting and riot annoying. taking the part of Shylock In the bargaining scene. It took seven minutes, but wasn't any too long, and over with plenty to spare. Jacques Renard got over on his violin solo and tho orchestrations of his band. This boy plays a fiddle to. the mike .in a manner that may have been heard loca.lly but never seen. The effect Jeft nothing to be deslredL Morton Downey, on third, sang Al Gordon and his dogs, with a orily torn numbers, but was remarki CAPITOL, N. Y. (Continued from page 31) 'Tarzari' and pending another jungle picture In the fall. It's a good builder-upper for Welssmuller arid should prove okay box office withal. Yasha Bunchuk went pop' for the overture, conducting a medley con- sisting of 'Lovable,' 'Paradise,' 'Mood Itidlgo,' 'Rain on the Roof,' 'Kiss Me Goodnight' (which a harp soloist tenored offectlvely from the pit), and flnaled with 'I'll Be Glad When You're Dead, You Rascal- You.' That's quite a contrast to their last week's.'FaUst' overture, but the Capltollans are versatile, on their JazziqUe as well as their operaticis, . Abel. nice routine of that sort, are fol lowed by the Briants, who are just about in a class by themselves. The Bredwins, recently Imported Euro-' peans, work somewhat in a similar style—or the central character does —but no other established act on this side. It's good stuff, that com- edy fall and twist being certain to get its effect. They've been around for years and know how to turn every movement Into a howl. Ryan and Noblette are a gooia standard vaude team. They've shied away from the Burns alrid Allen mannerisms and are more them- selves now. Girl's, song number somehow ...seemed more effective Saturday afternoon than It has in a long time, and both worked nicely. Sensational KIkutas closed the bill with ease. . Which riiade for a nice sequence of acts, though seehtilng a bit skimpy.. Probably it's the lack of girls, scenery and costumes able in being One Irish singer not to • sing 'Irish Eyes.' . That alone was enough, to put him over with a large part of the audience. Lc«, (kila Revival (Contlnued'from page 1) subscriptions.. Privilege costs $100 a chair, most of them being in- scribed with names of pioneers in., the west or players who trod the Central City stage at one time or another. . Central City is fifty miles west of Deriver at the end of a narrow gauge railroad. The Central City Opera house was built in 1878, by popular subscrip- tion when Denver was only a vll- PENN Pittsburgh^ April 22. Either Col. Stoopnagle and Bud, and Buck and Bubbles on the same bill is a tip-off on Pcnn's feature film, 'Night Court' (M-G) or an ef- fort :o . buck stage competition a block away at rival Stanley, where Marty Sampler's tab version of 'Good News' Is on view. Penn of late hasn't been sitting back permit- ting Stanley to toss names In its face week after week, but has been returning them name for name last couple of months. Present show. Is there in produc- tion as well as entertainment value; Smart move in spotting Stoopnagle arid Biid in the middle of the pres- entation, for if they had been al- lotted the custoriiary next-to-clos- ing given extra-curricular name acts, team Would have had a tough time following Buck and Bubbles. Latter crocked 'em, although that's nothing new. This colored team in- variably lands solid . around . here. Thpy remembered them from a pre lage. For years It was far off the Carelesri^dy" (Fo'x)"" on the beaten path but when the Tabor screen and bfz okay. Kauf. opera house at Deriver was bunt every production making It went on to Central CJlty. The play this summer will be 'Camille,' with Lillian Glsh heading the cast. . More than $60,000,000 in gold was taken from the mountains plose .by. then a slump in mining arid the Opera House was dark for years. When the theatre Is reopened it is the plan to riiake it a gala af- fair, with customs of th e m ining : period. PARAMOUNT, L. A. Los Angeles, April 21. Customers are treated to a stage show that is both conipact and nice- ly varied this week. The whole sec- tion, including . Georgle Stoll'S; or- chestral opening, runs JUst over 40 minutes. Thanks to the length of 'Scarface^V the live relief is about ideal; ■ Opening is a bacchandle minus grapes, with Leo Denny a satyr in a gold: breechclout, Isabel Mack and 16 assistant nyriiphs. All fast and pleasing. Then Taklami, Japanese top spin- ner, in a deft routine. Third, a girl trio billed "Three Shades of Blue,' working around a piano. Nice voices for a small hoUse, but throw- ing on the amplifier murders 'cm. Next spot held by Paul and Lee Rocky, with a song in French that - means, nothing, but the boys' rou- tine of mirror gestures keeps it from dragging. Into matched step- ping of tho continental type. These twins come back before the finale with a faster routine Of eccentric steps. : Odd novelty Uric number centers the show, the Paramourit girls working in the dark with luriilnous skeleton outllries on their costumes alone visible. . Ballet solo of a Japanese dance by Verna Gordon follows. Then Hadji AH, 'human vocano,' demonstrates his educated esophagus, swallowing, b6wls of water and imitating a fire- hose. : vlous Loew unit and the 'Follies,' Finale Is an adagio quartet, the latter couritlris" most, and won a' Olympic Four, apparently a survival Drink Spots Migrate (Continued from page 1) New York mailing lists, they are sending inembershlp cards to old patrons for their suburban spots. So far In Westechester no at- tempt has been made to Invoke the legal right to confiscate equipment and furnishirigs as in New York, This alone makes Westchester In- viting to speak proprietors operat- ing under heaVy Investment. With the Federals tightening up on New York, stem speaks are mak- ing Identifications more difficult. The old card index system in the moi'e meticulous places is now be- ing substituted by a method which requires the applicant to first prove he has a Job and a place of resi- dence. . • • Before applicant can .get a drink In these ispot;, he must have reply in writing from both.