Variety (June 1932)

Tues^y* June 21, 1932 VAUDE HOUSE REVIEWS VARIETY 3T •bunted for a good d^l more Juve-; Bile coins than the rest of the dpu- {le feature bill, made up of 'Youne Sflierlca* (Fox) and "Lena Blvera' iKlffany). , ' , \. TryOn has a whole kennel show ■fit miscellaneous purpis, most of «iem fox terriers, and has framed tiiem for a rowdy, noisy session of >omedy. He talks long and loud wti manages throughout to wprk np a boisterous spirit for the iact. 'All the dogs do Is to be unruly and aoisy for comedy effect, which, they achieve handsomely. Works in itone' without settings or : props, and Ml it costs to carry is the meat bill, ^ud and sustained lauhghter from tills crowd. ' Keo, Takl and Yokl, two Japs and a girl who doesn't look :C>rientali axe the only standard number in the quartet. Opod novelty material mixed with weak stalling, and all ^ved and clinched with the . com- edy finish of the pedal juggler, . much to * the nervous embarrass- fnent of the male piano player, Girl sings a. couple of numbers, does a tap routine and merely fills put the runnihg time. Bob Fisher belongs to a type of . 'single seldom seen any more. Works In blackface, peddling ballads and pdt-so-'new gags and wears slightly exaggerated straight clothes.. His assets are an uggriesslve manner of dealing chatter and a powerful tenor voice, and here they liked him Immensely, particularly his high notes and his sometimes Intimate Jests. . Closing was the flash in a dance, j-evue-^they nearly always close the iBtage show with a revue of some kind—of Jack .and Betty Welling. Jack does boob and Betty a patsy type, and they are surrounded by two .dancing girls and a threesome of tap stepping boys, all young , and personable, but the layout Is. loose and shapeless. Girls have a nice ^routine of control legmanla, and the boys do several buck and wing bits with heavy stamping of feet^ What pu',3 the turn over is a burlesque adagio by the principal pair, full of energetic knockabout, but lacking any distinction that' would earn It a hearing on a better grade show. Rush. . ALBEE, B'iCLYN Good all-around bill this week. Film is Radio's 'Bring 'Em Back. Alive,' playing, day and date with the Mayfair, New York, and draw- ing capacity and straggling standees tor the second show. Audience thinned out during the enisuing sup- per show, leaving but little better than half a house. Winne and Dolly, fast trapeze d uo, shoved off fast. Act is framed in full as a boat at sea. Man pulls a girl over the side, latter dressed as a mermaid, and going .into whirls }n midair hanging by her teeth. Double trapeze work follows, with the man's stunls on the bar, in mo- tion, the feature. Hilton and- Oarron deuced with a pmooth comedy turn embodying some: roughness for. two women. Patter is fast and aptly handled. Blonde girl is a swell comedienne. Her partner, tall brunette; foils ably. Smart femme comedy turn. Henry Burblg and the Funny- .l)oners, another of radio's attrac- tions to take the stage, followed. Burblg Is no longer on the air, but ■ the Funnyboners are a CBS feature. Burbig's Hebe dialect is amusing but lengthy. Type of material Is best suited to New York. Funny boners , are a polished harmony trio with various forms of vocal har- monics, individual and imitative. Boswell and Mills imitations show etudy. Mills, Kirk and Martin, three boys with a penchant for eye and nose gouging, clicked solidly and drew the best response of the bill. Ma- terial Is strong and well handled. Brief uke, guitar and hoofing bits Included. Living Jewelry pleased as a flash closer. Four scenes, with two or three girls, draped around various prop bits of Juweled bric-a-brac. Dance and song bits are spotted In front of the tableaux by two couples. Dance duo stands out with a ball- roonii and adagio. Winterg^rt^n, Berliii iSerlln, June 9. "The rfevue has been abandoned, and. the old varliety program has been taken up again. Something of the first method should be kept, Paul.Graetz, for instance; who tells original Berlin stories In the origi- !lf l Berlin; islang.' Best numbers of this bill are: the Four Bronzettls, *Y°v'"'^" as a weathercock, on a nigh steel bar, balanced by the man on the stage; charming girl, Mila Marx, playing all sorts of instru- ments, and Benga, the negro, a good dancer. ^ Hertha Romanes leads 20 athletes, forming pyramids, John Olms, the watch and . clock kirig, astoni.shes , jvith his bell ringing and Juggling. Os Walter Gers, two genuine Bra- zilian guachos, do class, acrobatics, ■wearing grotesque masks. Jenny and Piccolo, two trick elephants. Jonny proved to be a good arithme- tician and a good hairdresser-;—pro- vided the gentleman who was the customer did not have a headache 'afterwards. Mary Blank .jugglccl, I'eter Sache as conferencler. " Magnus. ORPHEUM, DENVER Denver, June 16. ^ Ebony Follies, four males and a femme, opened the RK.O bill, and could hold a better spot. They are fast steppers and singers. The four males do. a clown costume .number that is full of comedy and the act closes with, a rough and tumble finish. Healy and Cross, second on the bill, open with .'River, Keep; Away from My Door,' and if audiences in Denver' have to listen to that song many more tihies it will get a nice big razzberry. Duo try to force their humor too much, but still they are good for .a few laughs. Will and Gladys Aherh, with brother Don for a pianist. Bill as cowboy and she as Spanish^^enor- ita, pleaised with their dance; sing- ing^ and chatter: They do a few rope tricks,- and while Gladys twirls the hemp Will and Don sing, con- tinuing and use cone-shaped, hats for megs while Gladys does a Span- ish dance. The three do a bur- lesque of old '49 wild west days. Arthur and Morton are assisted In the headline by Helen .Lockhart, Denise Donley and Bud Williamson; the latter as captain of the ship on which the act is placed. The girls are Just a couple of passengers, but are good foils for the pririci pals. Their line of fast and heavy chatter gets over in nice shape. With Ann Harding In 'Westward Passage' (RKO) the Orpheum perked UR. ; CHICAdO (Continued from Page .36) attending this theatre each week and every week.' . ■ Selling this show and the shows at the Other deluxers as '1932 bar gains' is evidently having Its proper effect. They were standing 'em oiit in the lobby at the closV of the first performance Friday, and that' news. Heavy radio-listener crowd %vas In evidence from the large num ber of non-loopers In the house. Theatre Is using the public address system, the acts being announced jiot by. m. c, but by an off-stage spieler through the loudspeaker, Radio and the theatre are .becoming so Intertwined that now It's impos sible to tell where one ends and the other begins. This closeness of the two. mediums Is exampled In the entire lack of re- sentment In the use of commercial tags on the stage by the radio acts. Here It was made certain to mention Robert Burns cigars, the Lombardo sponsor, though clowned up some- Lombardo is doing 20 minutes here in the closing spot in. the plres- entatlon. Sticking right ^ to the radio techhigue,. playing only pop tunes in the smooth style that dem- onstrates that the Lombardo array rates It high position In the>pop or- cjiestra field. An 11-pIece outfit that sounds like much more. Car- men Lombairdo upholds the family name on the vocal calisthenics,, dp- ing the crooning job as If born to the tonsils. Leading up to the band numbers were' three acts. "The five Reilly kids proved themselves finished per- formers, each year finding. them better than the time befPre. Show- manly youngsters .who sell much and heated hoofing to the hilt. Stuart Barrie, the organist, was spotted right In the heart of the presentation. Using the stage con- sole, he ran off some chords on his own, and the stage faded into full for a production number headed by John and Edna Torrence. These two dancers are practically on the Pub- llx and B.-& K. payroll, it being an off week in which they don't show. But here repetition Is not so tough to bear, since these two dancers have grace and form, and, what's more Important, Ideas. They're go- ing somewhere. Besides the pro- duction number they were back later with the Lombardo act to present another excellent ballroom dancing bit that socked this house. . Weak link here wais Russ Brown and his femme stooge. Bro\yn bumps off the straight-away too many times to detour in the bad- taste niud. And those shady bits are not getting the laughs he's sweating for. He gets his best re- sults from Jokes which didn't make this matronly audience fe61 uncom- fortable. In the overture slug Charles Pre- vin Is still delivering a hotcha note in band directing. He's doing the 'Raymond' score this week and. a k. o. Prevln has the ability of.con- veying the tempo of the music to the audience by means of his ges- tures and gyrations. It comes un- der the heading of showmanship. Three Fox and one Par newscUp added to 'Thunder Below' (Par) as the feature totals the screen portion of the bin. Gold. week comfortably on Mr. Lewis' shoulders. Demonstrating that he Is worth the $4,600 Fox-West Coast is pay- ing for him, the emotional bar^d- master .has San Diego, San Fran- cisco and Oakland also lined up for repeats on his April engagements. . , Whatever material Lewis pullis from his trunk to embellish the new stuff has never worried theatre owners. Selling the ancient. and novel with equal dexterity, his 60 minutes are tight . with what It takes.-.' With Lewis and his 12-piece band are fouf colored dancing harmoYi- i.stSr a younger colored individual known as Snowball, a tiny choco- late drop who does his Strutting as though his life: depended on it, three dancing girls who shPw the usual .jLiewIs discrimination in at- tractiveness,.; and a small eccentric dancer who might be any age, They keep the stajge busy and Interest- ing at .all times. Among the Lewis repertoire of everrclicking numbers was "Peanut Vendor,' which tips all there is' to. tip about the quality of his show manship. . Whoever can sell 'Peanut Ven dor' in June, 1932, . can sell 'Yes; We Have No Bananas' in July, 1942. And that's no brocolll. . Bang, Amateurs Mixed with Acts at Audubon; Freak Policy Clicks mastbaum Philadelphia, June 18 Summer weather and a rainy opening day sent the theatre off to a bad start.. Show is down; to smaller pi:oportloi)S, with- notice- able let; down on name attractions 'Westward Passage'/ (RKO) oh screen. ; Show opens with Milton Charles Introducing Dick Powell, who comes on cold, makes a little. talk about his work 111 Pittsburgh and raises the curtains to conduct the orches tra. He made, a favorable impres .sion, singing a few songs in like able, manner, spoofing 'Crosby, Co lumbo and Vallee,' and acting as spry, likeable m. c. Powell is here for a two weeks' stay, after which he Is booked for a' short summer engagiement elsewhere,' and then he goes on to. fulfill his contracts in Hollywood. After Powell, the Mastbaum Bal let does a number with. Its hands and legs, still maintaining its rep fpr perfect precision. Allen and Canfield follow with a line of patter that won theih a fairly good hand despite the Indifference' of a rain- soaked audience. Yorke and Johnson, a couple of songsters, in gypsy attire, on next for some vocal acrobatics, during which the back curtains part to dis- close a very haphazard gypsy scene. Ballet comes on for a short gypsy dance, the entire affair being care- lessly put together, and the girls showing a tendency to depend too much on their routine line work. Ritz Brothers close the show with some things that arjei new and a number that are old. Boys would do wisely If they eliminated the older tricks as they adopted the new ones. There is a good Mr. Hyde, and Frankenstein skit that could be built up to a better finish, while the Charleston Impersonations and the Scotch method of celebrating could be put Mvay In camphor for a gen- eration. Milton Charles has a good tune in 'Lullaby of the Leaves,' which the Orchestra helps him to put over, and then he goes Into his exercises with the regular singing clas.?,. Orchestra steps out of the fa- miliar routine with- Mancinelll's •Cleopatra,' which JDavid Ross con- ducts in brilliant style. Waters. A few weeks back the Skourases, or their manager up here, who seems to: be on the Job, conceived, the idea for novelty's sake of having Ted King, pit maestro, and his mob work from the stage for a change, Oiit of this gradually grew the thought of giving amateurs In this section a chance. That was done, with some semi- professionals mixing into the ama- teur thing. Business more . than doubled through the gag, and Ted King began to receivie most of the billing outside. After, several weeks of this, with regular vaude show following King and his amateur dis- play, it was decided that the whole show could JUst as well be built around King. Out of it ail has evolved a stage band policy with King along more or less novelty llne.<?, with amateurs mixed: in with profs booked in the regular manner; by Skouras. ' Up to now the house has been a regular vaude grind^ using on aver age five acts each half. Koav, and probably from now on, it'll be pres entatlons around King, who's stag- ing them; with whatever needed Ijobked from the vaude lists, along with attractions from other fields such as radio that might fit in... Starting off propitiously, it can't be tpld how long the idea will last, if it does; but In one respect at least the Skourases must be recognized as showmen.:' They arp always ready to try anything once and give it a chance.' They built up Ed Lowry in St Louis ail by ■ themselves. Perhaps they'll build up Ted King similarly through the Audubon, The tfiances are better than eyeri. Before coming in here. King was an erstwhile orchestra vaudevilllan with an act known as The Diplo mats. His start here was as an or chestra conductor, and It isn't many weeks back that ail he did outside of' baton-waving was to ahnpunce acts on regulation vaude show.. On current half, King's stage show Is 'Radio Revels.' It's an ad mixture of thlnefs ethereal and mln strel. A WOR novelty quartet, The New Yorkers, fits In With the Idea nicely, King otherwise . dressing it an up by playing interlocutor, with a couple black endmen; and .members of the talent line-up in between to form li»e line. Fast-stepping Page Boys, -who close up the unit with a mighty punch, and the Lorraine Sisters are spot-boOked for the house. Among others, most of the talent is. in the semiramateur class, with probably some vaudeville experience on the small time, excepting the WOR air. act. Frank Rogers,' colored ventrilo-^ quist' has been around In vaudeville.. Working as a Pullman porter, h© carries a .valise which contains a baby dummy, thie ventrllo gag being to do a crying, baby, Rogers is ex- cellent at it.. Another strictly novel and enter- taining singleton is Mac Murray, who sings a song while he chews up lighted clgarets, paper, and matches. His is a personality. which along with development of his routine, ought to set him In okay anywhere as a novelty, single.. Hit of show is ah amateur who has been -w'orking with King's band on recent amateur trys. He's Jones Prebble. With a voice that reminds a little, of Rudy Vallee, he can hit high notes without faultincss and . has more vocal resonance. PrebWe Is a little shy on stage presehce, but ought to develop in that direc-. tion. His voice would probably be great over the; air.:. While Prebble uses a mikp up here, the New Yorkers' WOR turn doesn't. In that respect they're entirely different from the average radio attraction. ■Quartet doies a novelty number, with the bass singer contributing to intended laughs. Their harmony work stands out strOngiy. Loretta Dennis, dolhg a soft-shoe with a xylophone number, and col- ored song-dance team of Conway and Parks, each act scoring nicely, have that • seml-amateiir touch in presentation. But both wHl get there. Belle Rogiers, wearing a white wig, is another specialty. Just fair. ... In between numbers; King- works gags with hid endmen. Show ran 58. nilnutes Friday night, and whether it was sympathetic friends who apr plauded most for the stiml-amateur contingent or not, generally tiie unit succeeds iil entertaining. 'For the Defense' <Col) on the screen. Char. Lotteries (Continued from page 1) fierlng honeymioons to trouble seek- ers and another store , is giving away a car. All on lottery. ' Theatre wasn't mad at the ex>- cuse to get out of continuing the loltery because despite the free goods business was terrible last week. At one of the drawings there were but 200 tickets eligible and the second hand car was valued at $50. LOEWS STATE, L A, Los Angeles; Juqe 17. Drawing like a new pipe, "Ted Lewis started his return date at Locw's State. Friday to holdouts and much enthu3ia.sm from the .sar- dined customers. Amid the hilarity a Hearst picture critic wailed that .he had to pay his -way In, which in, proof that bUsines^i was pert. '.Man About Town' (Fox) will ride the RKO, L. A. Los Angeles, June 18. Fourth week of Paul Ash had the band leader spending little time with his musicians, and giving most of it m^c.'Ing the fiock of kids on the bill; School being out, RKO wants to cash in on the foot-loose arid carefree juvenile trade before youngsters go off oh vacations or elsewhere. With a little more time for the adults on the bill, which house intends to do, show will get enough kid trade to bo a. clieker. House felt past bills have been a ilttle too heavy on the- music side; 30 Ash had-only a single number. Mickey Conte, juvenile accordionist, is going off the bill, and about 15 minutes will be shaved from the kids and given to Charlie Leland and Harry Hume, comics. Acts were Cal Nbrris and mon- keys; Don Ilaymond,: Imitations; Jerry Mill, ukulele; Gareth Goplin, dancer; Huck arid Tom, whistling and harmonica; Joyce Relmer, acri.'xl and dancer, and Baby Alice, singer.. Baby Alice and Joyce Reimcr were the class of the kld.s. Alice,i.q billed as a. vest pocket .'.Sophie Tucker," which is a break for Sophie as far as looks go. Joyce is doing a ' i:)alnty Marie, combined with singing and athletic danciiig, which is much better than generally aeon in a kid show. Retting was school room with Axh waving a long.board marker Instead of the customary baton. Picture w?is 'County Fair*. (Mono- piam), Mickey McGuire comedy and Pathc News opening. Ottawa, June 20. The Ontario authorities here have put a. damper on giving away of radio, clocks and other prizes by theatres through the distribution of free coupons or prize tickets amorig patrons. In a test case "in which" a radio set and a large quantity of tlcicet^. were siezed, Judge G. E. Strike of Ottawia hand'^d down Jiidgment in -which he found Ca- mlUe Bernler, manager of P. T. Legare Co., the firm providing the prizes, guilty of the charge of dis- posing of goods by mode of chance. A nominal fine of $10 and costs was imposed. • The . ruling affects all drawings, friee or otherwise, and the distribu- tioh of merchandise as premiums or so-called gifts a.mong theatre patrons, it is stated. Roxbury, Mass., June 20. The Humboldt. theatre will give free to certain patrons shareij .of stock iliated on the New York Stock Exchange, The gifts have been designated as fi)Uows: Monday, .rails; Tuesday, utilities; Wednesday, motors, arid Thursday, indu.strials. Tex in Montreal Texas G.iilnah will cart a troupe of 2« people, mostly girls, to Montreal for a summer floor engagfement at the Frolics cafe there. Opens June 30. ■ Tex is .guaranteed 12 weeks at $3,500 per for herself and gang. Ez Keough and Jack. Fine arranged the deal RKO Employees' Benefit Fund front 10c Pass Taxes Latest of th^ companies to estab- lish an employees' benefit fund la RKO. It is planned on the usual basis, the fund to derive its pro- ceeds mostly from a 10c fee levied on all passes. New benefit fund will supersede the. former pension fund which RKO operated for old-tlm* em- ployees only. STROUDS F & M M. C.'S Los Angeles, June 20., Stroud Twins, -who closed hero with the Al Jolson show In April, have been engaged by Fanchon & Marco, as m.c.'s for the Blanche Sweet unit. Leorildoff is staging. Unit opens at Lbew's ..State here July 1. Detroit, June 20. The local pro-sccutor ha.s taken action, against local theatres in the form of letters advising that '^Ivp- away.s* in any form are illegal and against the lottery law. Warning given that unless all arc stopped aclioji will be taken with a penalty for conviction of two years and ?l,<)00..nne. Give-aways liavt hecn very prev- alent for the past two years' and iiave • been running unmolested. Co'riplaints to the prpsecut<ur, ITai ry S. Toy brought forth the. cim-ipaign to eliminate them. Ml theatres have been' offendc-rp with all but I'ubllx I'roriii.'jlng to ELLIOTT IN ST. CHAKLES Chicago, June 20. Nan Elliott. Is booking the Arcada, St. Ciiarles, lU. Playing three acts on the weokcridis. Miss Elliott is handling the house direct, out of the local William Mor- ris ofiice. St. Paul Split St. Pa.ul, J[unc 20. Local RKO situation at the Or- pheum-Palace will be pepped .up, according to orders from the home office, by shifting the full week combo policy to split week. The new idea .starts July 2. lay off. Publi* naeri't replied a« yet; Tim '.AFirror,' tab owned by tha Chi 'Trlb' lnt(«rest.s, la giving away $.25,00p,.ln c£i.'<h with theatres offer* Ing a.s higii as $2,000 a week.