Variety (May 1932)

40 VARiETY Tuesday, May ID, 1932 STATE, N. Y. (Continued from page 39) board with a prop camel used In place of the more familiar settee or chair. They pack a lot of work into eightvmtnutes without stalltrgr. Film fare is Barbara Stanwyck In 'Shopworn* (Col), 'Sharks and h'wordflKh,' a Metro flshlner short, and the Metrotone news, which on Saturday showed ia, comprehensive sectuence on the Chelsea piers fli-e. of the day before. House full on the second show: and starting to fill again at seven- o'clock. PALACE, CHICAGO Chicago, May 7. . Color scheme of this vaude bill is the best thing about it. iSix blondes and as many red heads in four of the Ave turns. But for box office purposes those bright tresses mean nothing. ;. Esther Ralston and Harry lAng- don divide top honors and the Frank ajid Milt Britton bUhch 'take sec- ondary billing to supply the one and only punch on the show. Just vaudeville, even though' good, has ceased to mean anything where there is no b. o. attraction. Xang- tlon's routine "of talk is not nearly as funny, as anything he's done In the past. Only thing that remains is , his style and mugging. With no real oomedy on the bill up to this point Liangdon failed to: come throiiish.w'ith the expected sock..His bits with Lilliain White approached a somewhat belated attempt to get that big.laugh over but which only got as far as the midrlft. .Talking was never Langdon's long suit and here he. Is doing more than he should, possibly side stepping-the Issue of his mugging and eccentric- panto .personality with which > he's beeii identifled for years. Miss Ralston apparently decided to take ho chances on her own abil- ity as a performer, although she has nothing to worry about at any time, and surrounded herself with a Cast lineup of ..redheads, who are' spe- cialty girls all the way. Presence Eddie; Prlnz in the linieup is no drawback ieltlier, with Prinz not only accounting for himself with a coiiple of corking dance routines, but re« spohislbl^ for a similar stepping spree by the blonde screen girl, which won't be anticipated. Aerial acts at the Palace are not as commonplace as . they used to be and Lya and Wolf h&d to turn over some unusual tricks to get across the footlights. Girl here was first of the ensuing parade of blondes, Working the trapezd in ia smooth and workmanlike xnahner. Opening, act could be speedied up ti>t better re- sults. Four Goldeti Blondes, sub billed as 'Jest Girls,' looked like the runaway fouir in skirts. These girls have be6n around for. json^e time with several acts,. but hew around here. Material is much better for Broadway thain Main street Femmes .compose ai talented group, but a bit too fast; for^the hinterlands. They do everything from straight har- monizing to burlesquing of radio names and even go in for a dramatic character number that will have most pit orchestras worried. That Britton Gang literally mopped up on the closing end. Hoke band was a loud gufCaw' from start to fin- ish, with Gene Cory, the gag vio- linist, smacking 'em all over the place. More lumber broken up on the stage In this act than in ia Can- adian camp, but great for laughs Both the Brlttons. take a back seat in the Jamboree, leaving it to Cory and Tito, another one of their lads, to carry on, which they do to the pitch of exhaustion. This turn turned, out to be a life saver for the show.. ^. More tha>n the usual opening d^y numl>er..of waifs, probably due to the several full stage'layouts. No headache for the manager to com pute . this week's time, table. It's a fast running , sliow, clocking less than an hbur and a half, and maybe it will look bettter with more peo pie in the house: Usual fllUlns from trailers and newsreels, topped by the feature, •Devil's Lottery" (Fox). Span. Her llmitaitlons, in the typical vaudeville manner, are defined by her material, but she can' skip along safely as is. Senor Zelaya, a product of Mexico! continues to demonstrate with what utter simplicity of hokum an audl.< ence may be persuaded to believe that it is. the only vaudeville audi- ence ip the world which will sit through classic piano renditions. And after all his deriding of popu- lar music the senor chooses to get himself off with 'Just iOhe Mpre Chance/ To a good hand, Inci- dentally. Cloising was 'Living Jewelry,' posing act with a dance team and a song duo working in front. Wear and tear on trappings has dimmed the act's previous flash, but the male member of the dance team compensates for this by wearing one of the scantest adagio step-iiis ever iseen in vaudeville. There being a piano slnjgle on the bill, the pit lieader lengthened the overture by playing a piano solo himself. Bang. RKO, L. A. Los Angeles, May 2, Don Zelaya, monologlng pianist, who contends from the staige that he has changed his act somewhat since he first played Log Angeles 20 years ago, heads an RKO uiilt of immaterial boxofflce substance, ^^hibined with 'Impatient Maiden' (Universal) It afforded the RKO mild attendance Monday night even though a diamond ring, on which chances had been distributed for one week Wtis handed to a Jubilant youngr lady f; orn the stage. This was a week's build-up Concentrated on Monday night iltt6ndai)ce, Orantos, three gentlemen with fv^le, hand-to-hand and head bal- ai.'Ang tidbits, started th$ show jlte shows are stai'ted. Then iC.^ tt^^rn and Grace, man and girl w'!' >i »4>j»g and chatter nonsense In-. ^ipjlt-jltJed by eccentric dancing, pfv\»^ a?vt<- ft'fvtral minutes that 11.;;^" .MJsfc hojs discovered uMii',' \vA\Cv\')*if fi-iAU^nciiH like In ,j»i> \' i'i V '. ivMMi.'^jis frma the ladies. congress; CHICAGO .. Chicago; May 6. Vaude back in this Balaban .& Katz nelghborheoder in the shape of from five to six-act showing bills every Wednesday night, making it the! secondpreview spot lii town. Other is RKO's at the Kedzie. Not exactly opposition,' with the Con-, gress showings primarily aimed by the William Morris office at Fan- chon & Marco .and B. & K. Just the same both houses are being covered by the same bookers, although, many, of the acts repeats Bookers' argument lis that every act should be seen at least several times In order to gfet a fair chance and welcome the opportunity of more than one showing house. At one time there were threie In to^n, and from the way it looks now there may be a couple of in6re added to the Kedzie and Congress this eum- mer. Showings here are on an equitable basis from the acto1*s' viewpoint, with Harry Singer; representing P. & M.v coming in every week from Milwaukee for a look, Acts seen are by no means amateurish. Most are standard turns, either with hew cbmbinations or new material. All this is tipped oft to the audience by Abe Piatt, house manager, in a stage speech, which may or may hot be the right angle. However, the bouse Is doing business on these showings and that's what counts. The acts aren't paid for anything outside of baggage right now; New poUcjr clicked - right away; with' the second week just as big. Considering the size. of the house, over 3,00a seats, that's going some, although, a drawback In hearing talking acts from- the balcony or main rear. Acoustics are none too good as it is, while another imndl- cap for acts, working' close to the. apron Is. the concave foots which throw shadows where shadows shouldn't be. Only way to get around that is to step back a little. With B. & k:. desiring to keep the overhead down as niuch as possible, a way out for a stage crew was found, with only act« in 'one' used. House has a deep stage, but for the past few years In straight pictures has had. the screen fastened^ In a stationary spot. On the musicians' end there are six men in the pit, headed by Art Frasik, formerly with RKO at the Belmont and later the Palace.. Last week's bill counted only five turns, but >;th the exception of one turned out some good, playable material. Four Jacks, male singing group, were supposed to open, but objected and were handed the sec- ond groove. Didn't make iany dif- ference. It's the old type of har- mony quartet that passed out long ago. Bob Witt took the ante corner and walked off easily with this audience after trying dut on them a variety of hillbilly instruments, including even a butcher knife. Witt knows his musical contrap- tions and is p - ticularly potent with somie glmmicked ^ up traps and drums. ■ Four Covans, next, turned out the fast and clever dancing foursome from the Coast, where they have worked for F. & M. for years. It's the same double combination aihd rapid paced as ever. B.. & K. booked this act Info the Uptown this week. Kane and Hnzelton, formerly Kane and Fills, mopped up . in the pre-shut spot. Still good, for the smaller houses especially. Miss Hazelton is a welcome replacement In the act, but on no account should she sing numbers like "Ylddishe Mamma,' particulatly in a house like this. Armand and Pere2, knockabout acrobats, recently at the Oriental, looked good enough for '^furthiBr booking on the closing end here. Boys don't stall in their routine and have some partiisularly attractive and punchy tricks. If business continues it might not be a bad idea to spi'ead the vdude to more than one day. Neighbor- hood is not as fertile for theatre business as it used to be, but there is still trade to be enticed if the bai.: is there. There is a free aiito park around the corner for patrons of the house. Scale run.s up to 40c with but one show a night starting MASTBAUM (Continued from p&ge 38) voice begins picking out the celebs. As the names of the couples are called, spotlight H flashed oh them, they atop dancing and go to their tables in the pit. That gets them out of the way In routine time and doesn't clutter up the stage for the rest of the performers.- The lady 'doubles' looked good; Jean Harlow, Clara Bow and Joan Crawford al-. most the McCoy, from the Mezza- nine. A go(9d stunt put over neatly. Mastbaum girls oh next as the cocoanettes for a regular routine In face and fringe get-up of the lamp- shade, variety. Wells, Mordecai and Taylor foHow with number of ifast and furious dance steps, put over with class. Zlzz Black, actihg as m.c, calls on Milton Charles and brings him up before the mike for a isohg. Ballet comes on in ttille eVer ning gowns. With the changing colors of the footlights creating a striking eitect. P^nsy SjinbQrne stiarts his curi- ous ehtrances. always good for a laugh and then his fine pantomime and work on the xylophohe builds his act to a real comedy feature. Maistbaum orchestra has its irin- 1ns; on the stage when David Ross takes the batoh. An. arrangement of 'Hohie' as Rachmaninoff, Kreis- ler, Spusa, Gershwin and Boss would do it. • ClifC Edwards on next,' using a platform over the pit. . He'scored neatly in the quiet way he put over his pupsi stories and tunes. Came back a couple of times, always for a strong hand. Show closes with the girls pairading. Then there Is a rather unnecessary tlie-up with, tele- vision with a scene high back of mother i&nd dad listening or looking in over their set and lots of flashes from the. radio towers. Milton' Charles' mother day offer- ing was 'My Moml' and then his regular song^fest. Picture is 'Two Seconds' (FN). Waters. • of tlie audience to demand Sow About Eyetallanr But she finished with a Jewish greeting and* c'alled it an apt. Eextras on the lineup were' the Preston Sellers organlog, standard here; 'Screen Snapshots' (Col) and ah overture led by Verhe Buck, now in charge of this pit band. Buck has thiis orchestra working smooth- ly at present, both on Its ewn and with the acts. He is an established dance orchestra leader in this town and his presence in the i>lt counts for something.' Feature is 'Woman in Room 18* (Fox). Gold. ■ ORIENTAL, CHICAGO ■ - . Chicago, May 6. Getting the top billing for the personals currently is Anna May Wong, Just a.dot In the long list of in-person showihgs that this house and its sister spot, the Chicago, have had In the past few months. There's nothing here currently to Indicate any strength at the front gate, and from the first show's half- filled theatre It's, likely that the housei will revert this week- to its home in the red. Big business Is being done at the Chicago, where •Three's a Crowd' revue is midget^ Ihg. And down at the Tivoli the tab' version of 'Zombie'- is starting a three-week neighborhood ride for Balaban & Katz. The Lpew unit having laid off last week for 'Zombie,'-the Fanchon & Mar^co presentation does the en- forced vacation act this week. This one is 'Forward March! and full of meaty material, delivering itself as: a unit with much talent ahd biilk. The only strictly presentation angle is the chorus, and these 12 femmes rate as a cinch act themselves, turning out a trio of routines that can stand on their own. They open on a strong tap and march number that ends In a flood of paim-smackng for the drill and raidlum sequence. Gals are back later towards the center of the show to. toss off a hotcha tap routine, both ensemble and challenge. On the act end were Terrell and Fawcett, ace turn of the show, their knockabout comedy and rougbhouse clowning hitting this audience in the ribs. The boys had to speech then)selves off. They've gotten their falls and tumbles down to a nifty comedy science; it's possible to clock the laughs In advance. The Six Candreva Brothers topting a sextet of comets In a pleasant musi- cal novelty routine, ranged , nicely from jazz to opera and finished the presentation on their march tune. One of the best-trained dog turns is the act of Loyalta Arabian Stal- lions. That stallions line gets its basis for the opening makeup as tiny horses, the dogs impersoriatlng ponies In a fake-off of a regiilar cir- cus horse turn.. Act is [Skillfully paced, mixing up comedy and straight stunts to build the entire routine to the closing jumping num- ber. Pdrticularly effective is the feature dog's wire-balancing trick. Anna Wtay Wong walked into a re- ception and completely omitted the opening welcome talk, which was a point in her favor. She sang two songs in Chinese and a couple in English. First show she worked In front of a mike. Miss Wong doesn't need it; the mechanical equipment distorted her voice. When she moved away from the mechanism she carhe across the footlights in a better and morel entertaining man- ner. Botved nicely by voicing her thank* in several languages, biit omitted the Italian, whicli caused some of the obstreperous members at 8:45, with' a community singing spree induced by the pit orchestra under Frasik. Okay for the ftcts to bo showing here as long ds they get serious consi-leration from the bookers and are cover'^d. every, week, otherwise the whole thing .would be a gag, £>pan. FOX, BROOKLYjN Brooklyn, May 7. , Nice average show here this week with nothing startling on the stage end, but everything sufficiently sat^ isfactory. 'Fine Feathers'' is the niame of the Fanchon & Marco unit and just to be different it actually stresses the bird motlfi Theatre goes a bit out of Its way to build up for the stage end. Fred- die Mack'a pit men are rearranged and have done away with jaizz for the time being, t'he. orchestra at- tempting'symphonic effect. Medley of Victor Herbert's .numbers is not the happiest selection In the world for symphony orchestration but the lads put their point over pretty welli ■.- Also theatre is now beginning to splurge on George Kay, who Is being built Into a definite.. b.o. aid. He is an usher (not a plant) who asked for the chance to sihg a number couple months back. His pipes are 6ka,y, though needing a bit more training, and the kid has been used with the organ. every week since. He's limited to one number, which Is smart, and has actually begun -to mean somethihg to the customers, .his appearance Saturday afternoon bringing an ovation. Theatre has bought the kid. a new uniform with more'gold braid than the otheir lads get, doubled his usher's salary and is billing him outside and in. But It'll take, more than gold braid to hold him. • 'Fine Feathers,*^ by Gae Foster, opens.with a fair swan number by the 12 girls, leading into a beautiful travesty on the 'Dying Swan,' by Edna Covey. Noveille Brothers with th^Ir acrobatics and whistling con- tinue the train of thought. Their chatter at the beginning didn't carry beyond the third row ahd was com- pletely lost, but the whistling bit was a natural. Emllle and Romalne are a good adagio team, but not colorful enough in action to get their mes- sage over .effectively. Maybe it's that the bird costumes don't espe- cially bang on the particular num- ber they're using. Earl La Vere and Mildred Byram were a la8t.r minute substitution for Joe and Jane McKenna!, working effectively in one outside.an extra smart cur- tain. La Vere is a crowd-pleasing comlo and Miss Byram an eye-fllW Ihg lass who handles straight with the best of them. For a close the gals do a dance routine atop six-foot ladders, scram- bling up and off a bit too exr irtly. It looks easier than It is, and thereby loses half the effect, but sufficiently strong to close neatly. 'Trial of Vlvlenne Ware' (Fox) on the sheet, wide screen for 'Movie- tone News' (Fox) and a cartoon short, and capacity biz for the first afternoon show. Kauf. MINNESOTA Minneapolis, May 6. With two stage, shows each week in addition to the pictures and overture presentations, the Minne- sota leaves no cause for complaint. The extra show is staged by the theatre itself and consists of two locally recruited vaudeville acts and several numbers by the orchestra on the stage. Auditions are held by the theatre weekly to obtain the talent. Lou BreeSe, orchestra di- rector and m.c. and Harold Kaplan, house manager, stage the shows. For their initial, show, called 'Hot Cha,' Breese ahd Kaplan succeeded in lining up. a pair of pleasing acts. Contributed by. five yoiing nien, a trio of crooners and a team of tap dancers. The commendable feature was lack of amateurishness. Per- formers were neat appearing and personable and their routines, while not extraordinary, proved accepta- ble to the audience and evoked good, response^ Breese, as ms$ter of ccremon'.eB, announced to the audience, after a brief hot number by the band on a stage i)latform, that' the theatre wa,3 presenting 'its own little show,' then introduced 'The Three Shades of Blue' as local high school lads who have scored over WCCO. . The trio impressed by their appearance. Two pop selections were crooned and hummied nicely through mega- phones. A medley of pop numbers by the band wound up with Bi'ceae strum- ming, on the mandolin. Concluding act was the two Erhardt Brothers, clad in blue coats and white striped trousers. Whirling and toe taps were their best steps and merited the hand. prior to tbe stage show the band, with .Breese conducting, worked, in the pit, offering a succession of ef- fective arrangements o£ 'Di.xlc* as an overture. Good, ; Paramount I news preceded. Then a short, '^port Kitfdie Air Hour (bontlnued from page 1) three to 16 years in age, have been seieicted from the thousands who write for cards admitting them toi the weekly auditions. Twenty cliildren and their iadorlng Mammas. .That makes the difference. WIiDq Junior is over in one comer trying to break a.leg. off the piano. Mamma pursues .Qfflclala with last minute advice, or remitnds the accompanist to play the second chorus softly for the dramfitic. patter. Susan's mother is annoyed at Susan who la about to- cry because she can't find her music. -Tommy has misplaced hie tap shoes. The mother of last week's winner tracks down Mr. Douglas as lie nears escape to the control rioom. 'So you'll tell me a few words for my little girl'to say wheni she thanks you'for the. cake,' Futile RehearaalB . An hour's rehearsals precedes the' program scheduled for Sunday mornings at 11 o'clock, rehearsal that is futile for: the tiniest babies who want to be Colombos, Smiths and Croigbye. In the midst of their routines they've apt to become ati- sentmlnded and wander away from the milce. Another youngster may attract their attention and lure them into a game of patty-cakes beforis. an embarrassed mother can yank him off the floor. A four- year-old who urges the river to stay away from her doer may dra- matize her plea with geistures and veh.emence tO siidc^enly want to get that certain room down the cor- ridor. ■ . ■ \ Urbanely free of mlke-fright, ah embr>o .Jessell will suddenly be- come bored with it all. Those are the moments when sound balancers ru^h from the controls and silently, gently, but firmly, direct' attention back to etherizing. Those are also the reasons why sound balancers smile rarely, sigh a great deal, ahd have wrinkles at 80. Broadcasts, alive with worried under-currents, are dulcet com- pared to preliminary auditions held on Saturday piomlngs. Though the contestants are now limited to 36, at least 76 hopefuls may be counted on to show up, claiming official ad< mission. . . CBS officials know no fury like that of a mother whose , young has been .barred from competition. Each knows her child is a genius, and genius should be heard. What though she neglected to write for an audition blank—How can people be so mesin to a little child?' Wear and Tear.- At its inception, several years ago, the H&H program Issued a wholesale Invitation -to youngsters who wanted to air their talents.- Those were the days when they stornied the studio, 2,000 strong. Sponsors were delighted. Here was the surest evidence of a successful campaign. But advertising excite< ment was found not to be worth the wear and tear on the reception room, or on the frayed nerves of program arrangers. Though the contestants have been gradually reduced in num- bers, their intensity is undimin- ished. Apparently every Infant around greater New York Is radio conscious. They all have their llt^ tie parlor tricks. Radio has be- come the Incubator for the talent of tomorrow. " KEITH, ST. I,, DROPS VAtFDE RKO Keith's, St. Loulia, drops vaudeville May. 19 and changes to straight pictures for the summer. - The St; Louis house is one of the principal spokes in RKO's middle western wheel. Slonts' and, after, that, the Fan- chon-Marco idea, 'Art Gallery.' This latter was practically a straight succession of vaudeville acts, head- ed by the familiar Paul Sydell and his Tcmaritable balancing dogs. •Art Gallery' is distinguished by t:.e living statues in the interior art museum setting. In bronze ahd silver, they descend from their pedestals. to offer acrobatic and adagio numbers of average quality. Fourteen people participate in this act, which provides the Idea, with its flash and color. In respect to the latter, however, as ■well as to. general entertainment value, the idea rates below most of its pre- jLVecessors, Opening setting in 'two' repre- sents the art museum exterior ami. in addition to Sydell, a trio of male hard-.shoe dancers and Eddie Cole, (iernian dialect comedian, 'wltli his old Charlie Chnplin silent reel, per- ifonn before the curtain. , 'Sky Bride' (Par) featui-e, plea.sed hut did not prove a draw. Audlciice slim, , Pfc^-