Variety (June 1932)

34 VARIETY VAUDE HOUSE BEVIEWS Tiieflday» June 14, 1932 HAL LE ROY (3) . Dancing, iTalk, Singing 16 Mins.; Oho .Coliseum Last in iZlegfeld 'Follies' and do- ing a number from that show,. Hal Ii& Roy^ is now working with Jackie Heller and Doris Groday. Both are definite assets to his. turn, one that should not go begging for time any- ,where there are vaude. theatres left^ Le Roy, an agile hoofer, does not depend on that entirely to get across,' He Indulges In some clown- ing an<i talk with Heller atnd the girl, both, of -whom prop 'up the act- with single specialties. Heller , ef- fectively selling .a Bone and Miss Groday getting therd with a eong and.dance.. Le Roy oi the ganirly twisting legmanla does a routine dh -the «c- ceiitrlc buck order from the, 'Fol- lies' and later a soft ishoe creation of- his Qwn, his asalstis joining , hlin for a flnidh.- '.Act is liicely routined and set up. It can't fail to score anywhere. NORMA GAULO and PAUL TI8EN (6) • •• :•. Muiiica|» bainemg[ Flash 15 Mtrts.; Full (Special).; :. Colioeum'.:.:: • ^ ■ ■ ■•■■'V:. Nortdib' Gallo'^takes the .place; of. the g|rt specl2Uisi carried by I^ul Tisen'.iformerly... 'itf waa th0 Paul. Tlseii. and orchestra, a etFin& oiitflti. ^ith the specialty dancer aff welVas- a tango teau. Latter dropped; This Is a reunion of Gal^o and Tisen. Oallo^Tlseil's. jiiusicalnd^Yi^:^. flalsfi will serVfr where ilaeh Isv'wanted a&d the-ibottejc's Tight The''act opens' on the fl'ire-plece string outfit,"'With' . Tisen leading. .: Miss Gallo's first dance number-is an acr6batlc rou- . tine sii^Qothly done. She later does, an Egyptian, number that rune to the acrobatic,-, while forvthe close It's a ffest liigh kick, . ' '. In between; Tisen does < a.-violin 'isolo—standing t out in , technique. Guitarist at one point doubles on 'Song, of Songs' vocally, hacdly her type -bf numter.- Close flve.-aoter up here, golniE^ iover:,olaiy,. . Chdri ' PReStOM SISTERS (3) ' .Songs, Dance* ■ '\Z.'. li Mine.; One • ■ , .WarneriB, L. A. what opens . as a ttardiony trio aC a sw6et, demure nature turns into a trio of would-be hotcha dan- cers after the second niuhber, thus nullifying the entire efCect created by the three good-looking girls on their entrance. Girls won the local Whlteman auditions and are slated to go east in a month. .While their voice-blending can'. be improved, mainly in arrangements^ it and their initial appearance are the act's greatest assets. Going into enake hips is a mistake along with baring the legs for the dancing.. Middle girl was once known, as Esther Pressman and did solo dance work , besides supplying girl lines for ' club' dates. Here she does a -control kick number that is very effectlire, the only bit of hoofing that should remain in. First two songs, pop numbers, got over much better than the following mixture of warble and wiggle. BILL TELAK (3) Comedy 16 Mins.; One Metropolitan, Brooklyn Bill Telak, who has appeared in various combinations, takes the sole bluing fOr a turn -with a girl and a nance stooge. Still offers rather a formless idea and: lays oft much of the work of the aides, both of whom earn their money. , Opens -with the' glfl, a distinctly personable blonde, smartly cos- tumed. She' plays for an alleged song, broken by comedy, gags and interrupted by the atooisre. After, that it's mostly khoclca,bout: lintll the close,, when the girl takes tvhat lOoks to be the flhal bow in iigbts, which is:a tlpoff she can be coaxed. Doesn't take much coaxing for her to go into a so-so tap routine.. , Rowdy comedy is the chief offer- ing, and they laughed plenty oyer here, though some of the yanto gags are'ia bit .ra-w for a family house. That goes double for the. exposure of the stoOg's torso. Too deliberate to be funny and not offering any other angle. Good rough turn, for •the! two spot in houses where they are not faatldious, but too. unfln- lished to glide over'dthoothly. GORDON and REEDT Comedy, Sin^ihg, Dancing ,17 Mtiis.;: One 'GwO. H.,:-. •• . Too- much talk mounts the run- 'iiing time to 17 minutes, at least five more than should be done. On sb long, the dizzy daiite stuff is also somewhat .overdone in thO: hands «f the girl,.-»irlth man's impatience oVet it finally ceasing to be a novelty. Having punch in spots and some surefire gags, act more tban passes for houses of this caliber. COmbo of Davey Gordon and lone Reed. An intentionally lOusy imitation a;nd singing bit is worked by the girl to biiUd up laughs, with man following with pops legit While, his voice and diction are not first rate, he puts much into the selling as' aii applause puller. Later, through • a meg, his voice sounds better. , Spotted ne^t to shut on a four- acter Jli^sre;and over okay. Char', RUSSELL, MARCONi arid JERRY ! ; (3) domedy, Dancinii, Musical 12 Mins.; One Academy Russell and Marconi as a team have been together many years, one with the violin the other the ac- cordlan and using both mainly as a means toward a laiigh. In Jerij'y for, a trio setup, they've added a. girl who mixes goodTnaturedly into the clowning, does a dance specialty and plays both the accordian and guitar. Routine along conventional lines, with material hitting -with enough accuracy to Insure trio's chances most anywhere of getting across okay. . Did pretty well down here Thursday night , Char, THREE - MODERNS* (9) Dancing,' Singing ' 12 Mips.; Full (Special) Acarlomy. Nino-people all-girl eong' and dance attraction, with emphasis on the hoofln?, only singing at the openihff by the -trio. Mounted with taste arid etagfed effectively, the -work of the trio taking the. billing as well as that of the ensemble of 6lx rounds out a' flash which in all ^respects merits consideration. ' Name ti-io works ahead of the six 'girls and wK^b them, mixing in at the Jinlsh wh6n seme of the. en- semble, members step forward for specialties. Costume.s and numbers lean to the impresslojiistio In living up to the billing. A Harlemesaue routine by the trio, with odd touches, very effectively built up .toward the end as the big punch. : Over well on closing five-act bill ''here Thursday night Chan AL JOHNSON and GIRLS'(^ ' ' Xylophone, Dancing 11 Mins.; Two (Special) G. O. H. Mixed xylophone trio, two girl members of which double for a dance, stripping to lights for that. Qualifies as a novelty turn on smaller time bills. Playing of the. xylophones Is most of the time too noisy to be effective, espepially In niedium-sized houses. On top of the fairish sister team dance number, the girls roturh to their xylos for a medley close, man staying at hla pounding bench throughout. Opened here to fair reception. Char: REGGIE BOYD and GIRLS (6) Dance Flash 1Q Mins.; Full (Special) G. O. H., Enough talent and dress to this six-people dance flash to entitle It to booking in better type theatres. Reggie Boyd, all-around dancer, is assisted by five girls, four of whom work as sister teams, the other as a single. Act is well staged and routined, carrying special scenery and cos- tumes that gives It a touch not usually associated with the small- time. Boyd opens with one sis team in a trio dance, then does an acrobatic number with the other coinbinaition, < intfoed as Barbara Sisters. They top in. quality of their work the numbers of the other twain. Eve Lynn Is the slngle>and fair in an American Indian single about the middle and a toe specialty far- ther down. Boyd at one point works alone, turning in a neat soft shoe acrobatic dance. Char. THREE LITTLE SACHS Crooners 12 Mins.; One Orpheum, N. Y. Three'^ men who work before a dummy mike in radio style, grouped at a piano. Nice looking and well costumed. Mostly crooning with burlesque on announcing and th.e crossed channOl stuff in which a morning exercise broadcast gets mixed with a cooking session. This was funny when Bell in- vented the telephone arid the wires were supposed to be crossed. Still fUnny to most audiences In'^feplte of the- alriiost continuous use of, the idea. Good for a^ big laugh here and nicely handled. Voices blend well, and general effect is excellent. • Useful neat act for most bills if not too for dowik PALACE Grabbing a half-way d<'<2e'*V lay oiit when 10% of the bill eats op 70% of the salary budget waa the task glaring the booker in the phiz this week. The 'mtist' act was Ben Bernie'8 band at. $6,600, penciled In quite a 'While ago; leaving plenty of wide-open space* and not mnch scratch to fill 'em with. As usual in such cases, inoat of the ciirrent shd'w Is In oifie spot Balance Is rather lightly populated between the opener and Bernle, No. 7, and the same goes for the two acts fol lowing and closing. There are ^0 acts 'on the boards outside and in the newspaper ads, b'ut only nine on tite stage. The billed loth Is Pat Kennedy, , vocal soloist with the' Bernie band. They eveioi have a.special time allotted to Kennedy on the clock board out froht.tojimke it loOk good, although kenn^ly isym all through the Ber- nie turn. -'V^ Such comedy as is scattered along the way isn't very strong, but com- edy Just the stime, and that more than anything else aided the. show to battle its general financial short- age. In looking for buys with a short poke, the booker apparently had comedy chiefly in mind, About five of the nine acts try for laughs and; while few' came from deep down, -therie were enough giggles Saturday afternoon to cover things up. ■ . • Harry Savoy takes the first crabk at the funny bones,, 'way up in the fourth spot, and he was welcome from the start Around for a long while as Savoy and Mann, and probably never nefore In the PalU ace. Savoy might stUl be vainly try7 ing to crash in had-not the change to fOur-a;day taken place. It's hot that Savoy wouldn't hs^ve made good at $2, just as well as he's doing this week, .but that the nervous Palace bookers .might not have risked the exp.erlment Sttvoy's. boob delivery Is refresh- ing at this t)ieatre, where strictly sophisticated clowning has been alone on the menu la.tely. It may take Savoy half the week-to leairn that; although it's now four dally. It's still Broadway, arid his tend- ency to milk the ladles and gentle- men drier than Pussyfoot Johnson mitigates iaigalnst him. . He used 17 minutes at tho opener and had to recover from stumbles quite fre- quently. A flve-mlnute slash would make hint a cinch. The unbilled lady who does the pitching, has a change of pace aind plenty of con- trol. To to followed, and also bagged a few laughS/. btit below his own par. That Toto Is still Toto Is guarantee enough against floppage,: but the contortlonlstlc clown's surroundings this time are not so good. He has had much better settings in the past for his individual work. Comedy vein continues in the sixth spot, filled by Jane and Kath- erlne Lee, about the most pleasant surprise of the afternoon. Beyond their names ' and the occasional lapses into goody-goody character by Katherine, these are far from the same kids that the present younger generation remembers as picture stars. The blonde Jane is now a first-rate femme coriiic, and the auburnThalred Katherine a peachy straight They were the 'first show's first smackerlno. In between the opener, Lester Cole and Co., and the Bernie Band, the five spots contain only 12 peo- ple. Without the. opeher, a buy at $460 for 16 singing men, the setup would have been mostly a flock of teams. The Cole act comes from radio and has been around In vaude-: ville for a short time. Only the well-filled' stage saved the singing In Its cold, opening and brought it into scoring position. Cole is a peppy leader for a full-voiced male chorus, and the turn oh the -whole very satisfying, for 15 minutes. Later spotting 'would be a lot more beheflcial. . Bill goes i^tiandard with. Snoozer, Jr„ canine deqcer, and Kitty Doner, in her eccentric dancing, . No. 3. Later , on arid next to closing are the DlaihOnd Boys, perhaps the most reliable of all the frequent Palace repeaters and the Only act on this bill that coiild have followed the Bernie band. James Edwards, pedal juggler and also standard, closes. Bernie and the boys were hot throughout their 26 minutes in a straight band turn. No specialties, unless the vocal Interludes by 'Ken- nedy and another boy, neither of whom plays ia.n instrument could be cla.saed as such. The maestro's chatter through a mike was special izlng enough for any band tlct. Stale or topical, old or new, the gags ■were, glazed with the Bernie finish and all sold out M.iislc Isn't a small part of the act, either. But for $6,500 they could have provided a suitable mounting for the band. It's on a bandstand be- fore a cheesey looking set of drapes arid square in the center l>angs the trademark of the radio commercial sponsor of the band. Ah old-time olio, with the Greek restaurant and Chink laundry plugs would have looked better, • • Aa usual .the bill played moire than half-'way before an audienoe showed up. At the finish they were standing in the rear. That's hap- pened every Saturday afternoon so far. The trouble Is that every day ha«n't been Saturday. <91(^0> STATE Cab Calioway'a band Is the front of the show this week and heading a set of five acts which go together nicely. Business excellent Saturday afternoon; but thin on the supper swing, though Just as enthusastlo All standard, stuff, well blended. Monroe arid draht open with'five riilnutes: on the trampoline. It's the same turn, including the oomedy truck, they have done since 1912, They 'work quickly and with siiro' ness, each taking half a dozen turns on the table and then Off without annoying the customers, with at- tempa. at comedy. Only Ave mlri- utes. but four of those hard 'work The other minute Is the introduction of the trick truck which serves as the frame for the Oanvaa. - The crowd seeriied to like them; but for isot to applaud, . Donoyah' Girls, and Bishop;get sec- ond chance arid managed 16. get the crowd .warming lip. Thiey give the impression they coUld get better re: suits with a chango of style,- but the people like'what they haye.: .It's a sight as well as sound act with both girls, very easy on the optics; . Novelle' Bros, are third -with the musical clowning and bird courtship that is a family heirloom. Jt does not s^eiri to age,, though mfiiyin tho audience.probably^know tn^rtajfh .by heartv' , , ■ \.:,.^','r- iester' Alleri arid Peggy .ttodver did'not fare as' well here ad th€y did Uptowri. Allen managed'to-giet! them takirig-notice with his mock ballad, and' the last dance went, oveir to a satisfactory-bow. <'■'••; Part of, the trouble seemed to be that they were waiting for Calloway and nothing, else mattered much. Annunciator was .slow in' changing and Calloway got a harid before, his number -was posted. After that he kept, on getting applavse. : Collected strongly ori three songs, including 'Minnie, the Moocher's: 'Wedding Day," and' the band backgrounded h|m. nicely; Pete, Peaches and Duke,, in unison dancing and a chal- lenge, mopped, and a comedy dance duo also scored. And yet, after all the excitement, they let Calloway off without an encore when the curtairis closOd In. Took 26 minutes, but probably doing more when the house is filled.. ' ' . ■ • ' Film program is headed by 'Night Court' (Metro) and includes Tou're Telling Me,' a.Boy Friends-short and the newsreel. . WARNERS, L. A* Los Angeles, June 9. Current bill at this downtown house Is .all youth. While in many spots routining Is rough and gaga are childish, entire lineup presents a refreshing aspect of young per- formers on the upgrade, rather than the reverse. Burton Slsteris and Duke and Duke opened brightly. Four girls form a band with a male pianist. Their modest flash offering has lit- tle pretense, yet gets across by Its lightness and pep. Girls opened nt a Signal Hill tent show Sunday (5) for the summer, but. broke off. that engagement to play a week here. Duke and Duke are the regulation male tapplsts. Deuce spot was held down capa- bly by Takayama, Japanese top spinner and juggler, whose - seven minutes of toy twirling offered a pleasing novelty, well received. Preston Sisters (New A^ts); an- nounced as the winners of the local Whlteman talent contest, are not hep enough to showmanship to fol- low through their first impression. Did mildly w61l with preiserit rou- tine, Esther Preston working In gag bits. with Morrie Amsterdam, m.c, now In his third week- Dunn and Todd are overlong In gettlrig to the man's uke playing, toying with sappy gags. ' Much bet- ter. if In halt Dumb girl co\tld go a lot farther with better material. Another act that almost talked Itself out of favor was Marvin Jen- son, a class buck-and-winger '\vho cleaned up with his work on a nar- row rail. Has no business trylrig to be a comic, since his hoofing will carry him well enough. Amsterdam's specialty consisted of. a couple half-effective blackouts and a 'cello solo of a show tune. Act Introductions were alright Closing, the Three Rolling Stones are doing their same knockabout comedy even unto the face-slapping bit and flnlshlrig with their slow- motion flght. Act is really three well-dress freelance stooges, Except for a control fan kick number by Esther Preston, dancing was all tap work, with everyone using the tacit walkoff that was considered class several years ago. Runnlrig an hour and 20 minutes, this could be cut by. 16 minutes to a good, speedy show. Routined well enough and a great thedtro. buy at $800. House.solid downstairs bpen-^ ing show. Feature^ 'Two Seconds' (WB). PAI^CE, CHICAGO i Chicago, June 11 Life la a dizzy whirl for the vaude patrona at thla apOt They formerly used to count Ave acta before thev started to walk. Then they atarted the ahift aystem here, and audiences alt on the edge of their chalra try- lrig to flgure out when it'a time to leavoi . Four, acta, to five acta* then seven acta, then back to five acts and currently the shift gOes In again with alx acta oh the stage. They atarted to walk here at the flnlsh of the fifth act ao^ that Medley and Dupree, who delivered one of the better okea of the day, opened to a number of backs. They're atarting the first show much later now, with ohly four ahowa on. the Saturday grind in- steaid of five. At'th<» flnlsh of the show InVmld-afterrioori the houiae waa Just beginriing to. flll down- stairs, after the opening four tyrna had played to a sadly empty theatre. Somewhere there's a line about quality and quantity. At the two big competitive spots. In town this week there a.re the Mills Bros, at the Oriental, and a show headed by Rudy Vallee, Willie and Eugene Howard, Joan Abbott and Ray Bol- ger at the,Chicago; and both housea dralw the pick of flicker product lo- callyi,,.,It-then'sums up, as a three- cornered battle for the, patronage. Has'^<the ^^public made its choice? Well, both the Chicago and .the Ori,- ental started out to . excellent trade yesterda.y. (10), the Oriental with a lobby hold-out,, the Chicago with a full <maln--floor. At this'spot there ' was • vacancy, row on row,, for its week-ex^d getaway.; ^hlngs like that don't Just happen; sonie\yhere there must'be a reason. Thla show wasted muqh^tlme in gettlrig "Started, the two Opening turns sending the aftei-ridon, away with I ah'' unhealthy dullness, which the , subsequerit acts had a tough tlriie"Id',, overcoming. In' the first slug was 'FeodOr Maybaiirii and his *Russlah''R'evels.' There were hock ^t'ep'k tChd hock steps and hock steps. Theyi;pmycd all the famiUar Rus- sian music over again., There, are . 13 people in this act; d seven-piece orchestra, a couple of femme vlolinr ists \vho mean nothing, Maybaum who doesn't'.ddf anything but wave Ills arms and salute, a couple of spe- . clalty''jpfalg who have nothing 'new, and,,an. ,added attraction,' a hock- stepper who tosses off additional hock steps. Supposed sock of the turn was a daince by femme in sliver paint, i It didn't excite this audience. In the deuce the King Bros, and Ciilly arc trying to do a knockabout comedy " turn. The knoCkaboilt is tricrei-but the comedy Is.n't. They're evidently three hoofers, who are learning''to ' tallt. From- the short snatches'of legwork it appears that everybody would , bo happier If they stuck to the hoof. Queenle Smith and Harry Puck are manlglng to get by here strictly on their, personality and showmanship. Their material is falling apart from weakness, but by neat performances they are. able to Inject seme.pleasantness.Into the song-and-dance mlriutes. ' They should spend a few hours hunting up a routine, better built. Surprise of the afternoon was the Hobart Bosworth reception. Not heavily billed Os a subrhcadlincr, he drew the real reception of the after- noon. . Bosworth at .least. brlri,«:s a new. idea to the personal appearance angle. He worked strictly on the sentimental theme and brought forth the fli^t sock of the show. He's do- ing a^lecture on slides. The slldea are photos of the picture industry, running as far back as 1909. It's rather interesting stuff, thoxigh run- ning too lorig -and sadly lacking on the real laughs. But Bosworth is not too anxious to get 'em to laugh; he's strictly of the homey type here. He gets a re- action to his white hair, to the tale of his struggle against T. B. and poverty In his early days, and closes with an exhortation to the audience to stick and slug. It's old stuff, but Bosworth handled it cleanly. Even the bringing on of his wife and hla dog were manalged with a deft mitt; Perhaps stuit like this won't coririect , with thO'wlse mob, but for the reg- ular family trade this act was fitted. At this afternoon show they cot- toned I to. thei turn from the hop-off. Irene Bordbnl sang three songs and ' called' It an act It: wasn't strong, enough to repay for the headline position. Closes With an Impression of Chevalier as the strong bit of the act but it didn't hold up as well as expected. Medley and Dupree reallv woke this audi- ence up with their old hoke turn. They've added a stooge to the run- ning, but he doesn't Iriterfere with the regular clowning. After all, that fall-apart phonograph is still the best stooge, for this turn. ■ . 'Race Track' (Tiff) feature. \ . Oqld, . G. O. H* Now and then this downtowner vaudfilm grind varies its program, putting in a couple features and cutting the vaude show down from usual five acts. This half, with two „ Columbias on screen, 'No Greater Love' and ^Behind the Mask,' It trims its vaude to four acts. At the 25c top afternoons, includ- ing Saturdays, and 35c nights, it's tt lot for the money. Four-acter at. hand Includes a nice flash, a novelty (Continued on page 64)